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V
ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA.
EIGHTH EDITION.
*
THE
UITANNICA,
ILLUSTRATED BY MAPS AND NUMEROUS ENGRAVINGS ON WOOD AND STEEL. ^
PRINCIPAL CONTENTS:
ENTOMOLOGY, FISHERIES, and EDWARD FORBES. By James Wilson, F.R.S.E.
EPHRAEM SYRUS. By Rev. Henry Burgess, LL.D.
EPISCOPACY. By Right Rev. George Gleig, D.D.
ERASMUS and FEUDAL LAW. By David Irving, LL.D.
EQUATIONS. By James Ivory, F.R.S.
ETHNOLOGY. By R. G. Latham, M.A., M.D.
ETRUSCANS, EUGENE, FENELON, &c. By James Browne, LL.D.
EUROPE. By Charles Maclaren, F.R.S.E., and James Lawrie.
EVIL. By Rev. W. L. Alexander, D.D.
EXCHANGE, EXCHEQUER BILLS, and EXCISE. By J. R. M‘Culloch.
EXTREME UNCTION, FATHERS, FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, &c. By Rev. J. Taylor, D.D.
FABLE and FALLACY. By Wm. Spalding, A.M., Prof, of Logic in the Univ. of St Andrews.
FALCONER, FARQUHAR, and FAIRFAX. By Robert Carruthers.
FASHION. By Dr Doran, Author of “ Habits and Men,” &c.
FERMANAGH. By Henry Senior.
FEZZAN. Revised by Augustus Petermann.
FICHTE. By John Colquhoun, F.R.S.E.
FIFESHIRE and FORTH. By Thomas Barclay.
FIGURE of the EARTH. By Thomas Galloway, F.R.S.
FILTER. By George Buchanan, F.R.S.E.
FLINTSHIRE. By John Girdwood.
FLORIDA. By J. Smith Homans, New York.
FLUXIONS. By William Wallace, LL.p.
FONTANA, FORSTER, and FOURCROY. By Thomas Young, M.D.
FOOD. By Thomas Lindley Kemp, M.D.
FORFAR. By James Cowie.
FORTIFICATION. By Lieut.-Col. Portlock, Woolwich.
FOSTER. By J. E. Ryland, M.A.
FOX, C. J. By John Allen.
Evidence,
Examinations,
Ephesus,
Epicurean Philosophy,
Essex,
Estremadura,
Etty,
Euphrates,
Euripides,
Exhibition,
Falkland Islands,
Fanaticism,
Faroe Islands,
Flamsteed, and
Vitrified Forts.
And a great variety of New Miscellaneous Matter and Extensive Improvements.
LITERATURE.
N.
vfD ADDITIONS;
NGS.
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ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA,
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DICTIONARY
ARTS, SCIENCES, AND GENERAL LITERATURE.
EIGHTH EDITION.
WITH EXTENSIVE IMPROVEMENTS AND ADDITIONS;
AND NUMEROUS ENGRAVINGS.
VOLUME IX.
ADAM AND CHAELES
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NEILL AND CO., PRINTERS, EDINBURGH,
ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA
ENTOMOLOGY.
Entomo- So numerous and diversified are the subjects of entomo-
l°gy- logical science, that a detailed exposition of the Class In-
secta is scarcely compatible with the limits usually assigned
to a treatise in a compendious work, such as that with which
we are now engaged. It may indeed be made to present
a general, and at the same time systematic, view of the
science, sufficiently ample to convey an accurate idea both
of the individual character and the general relationship of
groups, but it cannot fill these up in such a way as to ex¬
hibit the minuter features of their component parts, or their
delicate differences or agreements in structural form, in¬
stincts, and modes of life. The chief use of such a treatise
must ever be to serve as a guide or indication to the stu¬
dent regarding the sources from which he is to draw a more
extended and complete accpiaintance with a subject so won¬
drous in itself, that the more it is investigated and under¬
stood, the deeper and more delightful will become the in¬
terest by which it is naturally'invested.
The division of labour in natural history now implies not
only the separation, as distinct departments of study, of the
primary classes of the animal kingdom from each other, but
also the subdivision of those classes into many minor groups,
each of which by itself alone is more than sufficient to oc¬
cupy, if not exhaust, the entire attention of the most de¬
voted naturalist. It is thus that those who have sought
and found distinction in the scientific field have usually, in
recent years, confined their more sedulous and painstaking
researches to some special department; and in entomology
more particularly, from its vast extent and extraordinary
diversity, great advantage has arisen from its votaries se¬
lecting certain ordinal or other groups as the subjects of
exclusive study, instead of endeavouring to diffuse them¬
selves more widely and feebly over the entire expanse.
But this mode of treatment, and the amplification which it
admits of and requires, while beneficial to the science, have
caused its branches to shoot forth and flourish so luxuriantly,
that what was once a lowly shrub is now a lofty tree, the
flowers or fruit of which can scarcely be gathered by any
single unassisted son of Adam. Hence the difficulty of the
Encyclopaedist, who has boldly to present a picture of the
VOL. IX.
whole, while he knows in his heart that it consists of such Entomo-
an infinity of various parts as no man can number. We
found the subject sufficiently trying several years ago, when
the treatise here presented was composed. We find it still
more burdensome and laborious now, when the divisional
system just alluded to has been acted on so fully, and with
such success. A recent general system of entomology can
scarcely be said to exist, so independently have the ex¬
ponents of particular portions extended their researches,
each widening his scope in consequence of finding himself
disembarrassed from all consideration of the neighbouring
fields. To give therefore a satisfying exposition of the
science of insects, each great ordinal group would now re¬
quire to have assigned to it a treatise for itself. But this,
as we have said, would be incompatible with the compen¬
dious character of an Encyclopaedia, and so a general sys¬
tematic view must be taken of the entire subject under the
single head of Entomology.
After a careful consideration of the changes which the
science has recently undergone, and bearing in mind the
impossibility of including an adequate account of all that
has been added to the different orders during later years,
we have come to the conclusion to adhere to the system of
Latreille, the great French entomologist, as on the whole
the most satisfactory, and certainly the most generally re¬
ceived. But that the student who desires to extend his
more special researches into particular orders may be ad¬
vised regarding the best authors which treat of these, or
other great subdivisions, we shall prefix to our general
treatise a bibliographical introduction, which we trust may
prove of service. To increase the interest and instructive¬
ness of our list, we shall add a few biographical notices, and
arrange our subjects somewhat chronologically, under the
names of their respective authors.
An alphabetical arrangement, like an artificial system in
natural history, might possibly have been advisable, as more
convenient, and as admitting of direct reference to indivi¬
dual authors the titles of whose works the student seeks to
know. But we think that a near approach to a chronolo¬
gical arrangement has this great advantage, that it shows,
ENTOMOLOGY.
2
Biblio- as it were, the increasing strength and breadth of the great
graphy. entomological stream, as it flows downwards from an early
epoch towards our own days. To obviate, however, the
inconvenience of a lengthened search, we shall add an
alphabetical list of authors’ names, with a reference to the
page and column on which the mention of their works
occurs.
The number even of known insects far exceeds that of the
members of any other class of the animal kingdom. From
the general smallness of the majority, and the extreme mi¬
nuteness of many, it may be fairly inferred that a vast amount
are as yet unknown, especially in foreign countries where,
for purposes of traffic, large and showy species are usually
in most request. We have somewhere seen it stated that
beetles were of two kinds—the black and the brown. Na¬
turalists are now acquainted with not less than 35,000 in¬
sects of that order. Above 12,000 different sorts of butter¬
flies and moths have been collected; and in Britain alone,
though with somewhat of a cold and cloudy clime, we have
about 2000 species of the Lepidopterous order. Several of
the other great ordinal divisions contain an equal number
of component members, so that the entire amount of insects
now described by naturalists may be safely computed as
above 72,000. If we were to devote a page a-piece to these,
(and we have no desire to doubt that each deserves it), then
we should require to occupy about four times the contents
of the present Encyclopedia, to the entire exclusion of all
other subjects, which would be inconsistent with the object
of this great work.
It is more than 150 years since John Ray tried to astonish
the English public by boldly stating that so numerous were
both beetles and butterflies in this country, that he believed
the species of each kind might amount to more than 150.
“ The fly kind,” he continues, “ will be found in multitude
of species to equal, if not exceed, both the forementioned
kinds. The creeping insects that never come to be winged,
though for number they may fall short of the flying or
winged, yet are they also very numerous; as, by running
over the several kinds, I could easily demonstrate. Sup¬
posing, then, there be a thousand several sorts of insects in
this island, and the sea near it, if the same proportion holds
between the insects native of England and those of the rest
of the world, as doth between plants domestic and exotic
(that is, as I guess, near decuple), the species of insects in
the whole earth (land and water) will amount to 10,000;
and I do believe they rather exceed than fall short of this
sum.” The subject, however, seems to have grown fast upon
him, for at an after period he estimated the total number of
British insects as possibly 2000, and those of this terra¬
queous globe at 20,000. Now, in Mr Stephens’ Catalogue
of British Insects, published twenty-six years ago, we have an
enumeration of 10,012 species, and numerous additions have
been made during the intervening years. So far back as
1821 Mr Macleay calculated the number of the Annulosa
(Insects and Crustacea) preserved in the various collections
of Europe, as amounting to 100,000. It is not surprising
then that entomological science should now be so frequently
subdivided, and the practice followed of each order, or other
great natural group, being selected by different individuals
as the exclusive object of attention.
NOTICES REGARDING THE PRINCIPAL AUTHORS IN
ENTOMOLOGY AND THEIR WORKS.
We need say nothing of the remote history of insects,
as so little has been recorded of them by ancient writers.
Aristotle, the earliest, and still one of the most remarkable
of naturalists, appears to have separated the Crustacea as a
particular group, under the title of Malacostraca, from the
Entoma or other insects. These latter he subdivided into
Entoma ptilota and Entoma aptera—the winged and the
wingless tribes; and these again he further separated into Biblio-
various minor groups, for the greater part extremely na- graphy.
tural, even when viewed by the lights of modern know-
ledge. Aristotle’s attainments in natural history were truly
extraordinary, and many of the finest generalizations from
ascertained structure are to be found in his zoological writ¬
ings. His disquisitions on a group, the Cuttle-fish, not be¬
longing to our present department, may be cited as de¬
serving of the highest praise even at the present day, and
it is indeed only during recent years that modern naturalists
have themselves attained a sufficient knowledge of certain
truths of nature, from actual observation, to be qualified to
judge of and appreciate what he knew.
The works of Pliny and TElian need find no place in the
library of the entomologist. So passing over a period of more
than 1800 years from the days of Aristotle, we come to—
Conrad Gesner, a poor but industrious Swiss, who was
born in 1516, and is by many regarded as the restorer of
natural history. He became a physician at Zurich, and
gathered together all that was known relating to the history
of animals, thus filling five large folio volumes with that of
the Vertebrata alone. His posthumous papers on insects
fell eventually into the hands of Thomas Mouffet, and were
published by him under the title of Insectorum sive mini-
morum Animalium Theatrurn. Folio, fig.; London, 1634.
Gesner was one of the first, after the revival of learning, to
form collections of objects in natural history, his predeces¬
sors having chiefly confined themselves to writing commen¬
taries on the ancients, not seldom rendering “confusion
worse confounded,” and darkening knowledge by a multipli¬
city of vain words. He was a man of singular learning,—
monstrum eruditionis, as he is termed by Boerhaave, and
has been regarded by many as the greatest naturalist from
the days of Aristotle up to a comparatively recent time.
Ulysses Aldroyandus, also a learned and laborious
compiler, was contemporary with Gesner. He was a noble¬
man of Bologna, professor in the university there, was born
in 1525, and died blind in 1605. He wrote fourteen folio
volumes on “ Natural History,” which Baron Cuvier has
termed “ an indigested and wearisome compilation.” It is
certainly not very methodical, but many parts of it may be
read with amusement, if not with instruction. It was pub¬
lished chiefly by his successors. There are two editions in
folio of his treatise on insects, termed De Animalihus In-
sectis libri septem, Bonon., 1602 ; Frankf., 1618-23. He
divides them into terrestrial and aquatic, and the orders are
formed from the presence, the number, and the disposition,
of the legs and wings. His groups are often arbitrary and
unmeaning. He may be likened to Pliny, as one who made
a collection of almost all that was known on the subjects of
which he treated prior to his own time. The desirable
power of discriminating truth from fiction was not, however,
among his characteristics.
D. J. Hcefnagel was a painter, and a man of good ob¬
servation. He left behind him very exact representations
of a number of insects, which were engraved at Antwerp in
1630 and 1646, under the title of Diverse insectorum vo-
latilium icones ad vivum depicte. The plates constitute
its chief excellency, the letter-press being of less value.
—Archetypa Insectorum. 4 vols. fob, Frankf., 1692.
Thomas Mouffet, an English naturalist and physician,
died about 1600. His entomological work, which is remark¬
able as the first special one on insects, is entitled Insectorum
sive minimorum Animalium Theatrum. It was published
by Theodore Mayerne, a Frenchman, and physician to James
the First, in one volume folio, with 500 woodcuts, London,
1634. It is greatly in the style of Gesner, to whose manu¬
scripts he had access, and from which he borrowed largely.
  Aalborg. De Cultura Apum. Copenhagen, 1639.
— Tractatus de Apibus. Hafniae, 1642.
It was about this period that the celebrated Harvey
3
ENTOMOLOGY.
Biblio- ventured to controvert the ancient opinion regarding the
grapby. equivocal or spontaneous generation of insects ; and although
his philosophical aphorism of omnia ex ovo was some time
of receiving a general approval, yet his own experiments,
and those more especially of Redi and Malpighi, soon
afforded a firm and incontrovertible basis for the mainten¬
ance of that opinion.
Joseph Warden. This old writer devoted his atten¬
tion to industrial insects, and has published, Apiarium, or
a Discourse of Bees, &c., 8vo, London, 1676.—A further
Discovery of Bees, treating of the Nature, Government,
Generation, and Preservation of the Bees, by Mos. Rasden.
8voj fig., London, 1680.—The true Amazons, or the Mon¬
archy of Bees. 8vo, London, 1713.
Francesco Redi of Arezzo, a physician, and a man of
excellent literary attainments, was born in 1626, and died
in 1698. His observations were first published in Italian,
at Florence, in 1668, and afterwards at Amsterdam in 1671,
and following years, under the title of Experimenta circa
Generationem Insectorum. 3 vols. 12mo, with plates.
John Goedart published a work in Dutch, which was
afterwards translated into Latin: Metamorphosis et Historia
Naturalis Tnsectorum. 3 vols. in 8vo, 1662-7, with plates.
It contains some original facts, and the figures of the species
are still recognizable. This author was a Dutch painter,
and among the earliest to attend to the transformations of
insects. An English edition of his work was published by
Dr Martin Lyster in 4to, York, 1682.
Marcellus Malpighi was the author of some excellent
treatises on the anatomy of insects. His Dissertatio de
Bombyce explains the structure of the silk-worm. It forms
a small volume of 100 pages 4to, with twelve plates, pub¬
lished in London in 1669, and is reprinted in the second
volume of his Opera Omnia, 1686.
John Swammerdam, the most remarkable writer on the
anatomy of insects, was a Dutch physician, born at Am¬
sterdam in 1637. He died in 1680. He published a gene¬
ral history of insects in Dutch, about the year 1669, which
was translated into both French and Latin. We may here
observe, that the methodical arrangement of articulated
animals, from the time of Aristotle and other ancient writers,
down to so late a period as the days of the great Dutch ob¬
server, was extremely simple. The principal divisions were
formed in relation to the medium which they inhabit, the
presence, the consistence, and the number, .of the feet and
wings. But the work .of Swammerdam, republished at
Leyden in 1737-8, under the title of Biblia Naturae, sive
Historia Insectorum in classes certas redacta, &c., 2 vols.,
folio, with plates, created an epoch in the science. The
great merit of this remarkable writer consists in the light
which he threw upon the mysteries of metamorphoses ; and
a marked character of his classification results from his having
partly based it upon the nature of those transformations.
Swammerdam disposes of his articulated animals under
four principal orders :—The first comprehends all insects
(so called) which leave the egg in a completed state, and
provided with all their members ; they increase in size by
degrees, and their metamorphosis consist, not in any striking
transformation, but rather in a simple casting of the skin.
He here places spiders, lice (of the structure of which he
gives a very circumstantial account), ticks, wood-lice or
slaters, entomostraca, scorpions, earth-worms, leeches, and
others. His second order contains such as leave the egg
with six feet, and arrive at the perfect state through the
medium of nymphse, of active habits, and furnished with
the rudiments of wings. They become perfect by the
casting of their skin, and the great and rapid expansion of
their wings. Here we have the Libellulce or dragon-flies,
the Nepae or water scorpions, the Ephemerae, and other
tribes, which, in the modern systems, are classed under the
different orders of Neuroptera, Orthoptera, and Hemip-
tera. Swammerdam’s third order is composed of such in- Biblio-
sects as exhibit distinct members in the nympha state, but graPhy-
are incapable in that condition of locomotion, such as the
coleopterous and hymenopterous tribes ; he also here in¬
cludes such as undergo a more complete metamorphosis,
for example, the lepidopterous order, of the singular and
previously unexplained transformations of which he gives
an admirable account, by narrating his own observations on
the nettle and cabbage butterflies. His fourth order com¬
prehends those species which change into an egg-like or
obtected chrysalis, and corresponds to the order Diptera
of our modern systems. The work in general is of the
greatest value in the study of the organization of insects,
and abounds in curious facts illustrating the natural history
and anatomy of animals. “ It was a great point gained in
the science,” says Mr Kirby, “ to introduce the considera¬
tion of the metamorphosis, and to employ it in the extrica¬
tion of the natural system ; for though when taken by itself
it will, as in the table just given, lead to an artificial arrange¬
ment, it furnishes a very useful clue when the consideration
of insects in their perfect state is added.”
Martin Lyster, an English naturalist, and physician to
Queen Anne, died in 1711. He published in 1685 a metho¬
dical edition of Goedart, cum Scarabaeorum Anglicanorum
quibusdam tabulis mutis. He was a contemporary and
coadjutor of Ray, and by his various writings threw great
light on many points of Entomology. His character as an
entomologist, or rather as an arachnologist, was, however,
chiefly established by his excellent treatise De Araneis, in
which he describes the spider tribes with great accuracy.
Madame Sibilla Merian, a Dutch lady of German
family, was born in 1647, and died in 1717. She composed
several entomological works, some of which were published
posthumously. They are remarkable for the beauty of the
plates; and being rare from the small number of examples
thrown off, are rather sought after by the bibliographical
naturalist. Their titles are, Metamorphosis Insectorum Su-
rinamensis. Amstel. 1705.—Erucarum Ortus alimentum et
paradoxa metamorphosis. Amstel. 1718, with fifty plates.
She also wrote a history of European insects, translated into
French by M. Mairet, one vol. folio, 1730. There seem to
be various editions of her works, in all of which, however,
the plates are the same.
Antony Leuwenhoeck, a Dutch naturalist, famous for
his microscopical observations, and one of the improvers of
the microscope itself, was born at Delft in 1632, and died
in 1723. He published a work in five small 4to volumes,
entitled Arcana Naturae, ope Microscopiorum detecta.
Delphis, 1695, 1721. His Select Works were published in
English by Samuel Hoole, two vols. 4to, 1798. There is no
arrangement in his works, the objects being described as
they happened to occur; and though the style is rather
tedious from the laborious minuteness of his investigations,
he has thrown great light upon the history of gall-insects,
ants, bees, gnats, and the larvae of the genus Tenthredo.
Antonio Vallisnieri, an Italian naturalist, of a noble
and ancient family, was born in 1661, and died in 1730.
He was a man of learning, and an admirable observer and
narrator. His first work was published at Venice in 1700,
under the name of Dialoghi sopra la curiosa origine,
sviluppi e coslumi di varii Insetti. His collected works
form three small folio volumes, with many plates exceed¬
ingly w’ell engraved, and contain a mass of interesting in¬
formation, original at that period, and still held in estimation.
John Ray, an English divine, was born in 1628, and
died in 1705. He is admitted by Baron Cuvier to have
been the first true methodizer of the animal kingdom, and
the principal guide of Linnaeus in that department of natural
science. He published his Methodus Insectorum, seu In-
secta in methodum aliqualem digesta in 1705; but his
larger work, the Historia Insectorum (which, as appears
»
4
E N T O M
Biblio¬
graphy.
from his Philosophical Letters, was a kind of joint produc¬
tion of his own and Willughby’s) was published by Lister
after his death.
About this same period Sir Hans Sloane flourished in
England. His collections formed the original nucleus of
the British Museum, and he greatly contributed, by his
Zealand disinterestedness, to the general extension of know¬
ledge in natural history.
Eleazer Albin, an English painter, published a work
under the title of Insectorum Amjlice Naturalis Historia,
with notes and observations by W. Derham, London, 1731.
Rene-Antoine Ferciiaultde Reaumur, born in 1683,
died in 1757, was the author of one of the most important
works which has ever appeared on any branch of natural
history. It bears the title of Memoires pour servir a VHis-
toire des Insectes, and is composed of 6 vols. in 4to, which
made their appearance from 1734 to 1742. His skill and
patience in the observance of the manners of insects have
never been excelled, and the only objection to his incom¬
parable work is its want of systematic arrangement. It con¬
tains numerous plates.
Albert Seba, an apothecary of Amsterdam, born in
1665, died in 1736, published many figures of insects in
his Thesaurus, a work in 4 folio volumes, Amsterdam, 1734,
1765. The plates are good, though badly coloured. The
text is of no value. The author was a zealous and success¬
ful collector of objects in natural history.
Carolus Linnaeus, “ the immortal Swede,” professor at
Upsal, and the great founder or reformer of the modern
system and nomenclature of natural history, was born in
1707, and died in 1778. One of his many great merits
consists in his having given definitions of those generic
groups which his predecessors had merely distinguished by
the imposition of vague names. Another noted excellence
was the invention of trivial names. The older naturalists,
as Mr Kirby has remarked, used to treasure in their memo¬
ries a short description of each species, by which, when they
O L O G Y.
desired to mention it, they made it known. For example, Biblio-
in speaking of our common Lady-bird, they would call it graphy.
“ the Coccinella with red coleoptera having seven black
spots.” This long enunciation was first called the titulus
or title, and afterwards the nomen specificum, or specific
name. But as the number of species increased, it became
no easy matter to remember even a few thousands of these
definitions ; and, with a view to remedy that inconvenience,
Linnaeus invented what is called the nomen triviale, which
expresses any species by a single term added to its generic
appellation, such as Coccinella, septem-punctata, for the spe¬
cies just alluded to. In his definitions he confined himself to
twelve words, a whimsical restriction, which, while it avoids
prolixity, would, in our now immensely swollen faunas, con¬
found the species, by rendering the same expressions appli¬
cable to several different kinds. Although his system is
professedly artificial, his tact for the discovery of natural
groups in general seems to have been almost intuitive.
The entomological system of Linnaeus is founded on the
presence or absence of the wings, their number, consistence,
surface, respective position in repose, and the presence or
absence of a sting. This classification, so far as the orders
are concerned, has served as the basis of all that have been
since promulgated ; and it underwent various modifications
and improvements in the course of the numerous editions
of the Systema Natures. Of these, twelve were published
during the author’s lifetime. The first edition (1735) con¬
sisted of only 14 folio pages; the twelfth is in 3 vols. 8vo,
1766-68; the thirteenth was greatly enlarged by Gmelin,
7 vols. 8vo, Leipz. 1788-93. There have been numerous
reprints in all countries. The English translation by Turton
is in 7 vols. 8vo, Lend. 1806. The Fundamenta Erdomo-
logice, by W. Curtis (1772), and the Institutions of Entomo¬
logy, by Yates (1773), are transcripts from the Systema
Natures.
The following table presents a view of the Entomological
orders of the great Swedish naturalist.
crustaceous, with a straight suture,
semicrustaceous, incumbent,
imbricated with scales,
, . f unarmed 1
membranous. Anus j aculeate }
2, Poisers in place of the posterior pair,
0, Or without either wings or elytra,
Superior
All
Coleoptera, 1st order.
Hemiptera, 2d
Lepidoptera, 3d
Neuroptera, 4th ...
Hymenoptera, 5th ...
Diptera, 6th ...
Aptera, 7th ...
John Leonard Frisch, rector of the gymnasium of
Berlin, was born in 1666, and died in 1743. Besides his
well-known work on birds, he wrote on German entomo¬
logy, Beschreibunq von Insecten in Teutschland. 1 vol.
4to, with plates, Berlin, 1720-38.
J. Dulfield. New and Complete Natural History of
English Moths and Butterflies, considered through all
their Progress, States, and Changes. Lond. 1748—49.
B. J. v. Buckwald. Insectologies Danices Specimen.
4to, Hafn. 1760.
Roesel de Rosenhof, a painter of Nuremberg, was
born in 1705, and died in 1795. He was an ingenious and
accurate observer, and represented subjects of natural his¬
tory with fidelity. He published an entomological work
called Insecten Belustigungen, in 4 vols. 4to, with excellent
coloured plates, Nuremb. 1746, et seq. Besides the beauty
of the illustrations, the author enters into many interesting
details relating to the structure, the manners, and the me¬
tamorphoses of insects. A supplement (forming the 5th
vol.) to Roesel’s work was published by Kleeman, his son-
in-law :—Beytresge zur Natur Oder Insecten geschichte.
Nuremb. 1761.
John Hill. A Decade of Curious Insects ; sheivn in
their Natural Size, and as they appear Enlarged before
the Lucernal Microscope, in which the Solar Apparatus is
artificially illuminated. 4to, col. fig., Lond., 1773.
Charles Bonnet, a noted philosopher and naturalist of
Geneva, was born in 1720, died 1793. At twenty years of
age he published an excellent Memoir on the Aphides, or
pucerons, which is combined with many others in his Traite
diInsectologie. His works were published in 9 vols. 4<;o, in
1779. He was an excellent observer.
Jacob Admiral published a Dutch folio on butterflies :
Insectes graves en maniere Noir avec VExplication des
Planchesen Hollandais. Folio, fig. 1740. Itcontains twenty-
five coloured plates, deservedly esteemed by naturalists.
Charles de Geer, a Swedish baron, marshal of the
court, and member of the Academy of Stockholm, was born
in 1720, and died in 1778. His work is written in French,
though published at Stockholm, in 7 vols. 4to, 1752-1778,
and bears the same title as that of Reaumur {Mem. pour
servir d VHistoire des Insectes'), to which it may be regarded
as a sequel. The first two volumes are rare, and a general
abridgment of the whole was given by Retzius in a Latin work
entitled Genera et Species Insectorum, 1 vol. 4to, Lipsise,
1783. There is also a German translation, enlarged by Goez.
These celebrated Memoires are very similar in their
scope to those of Reaumur; but they are conducted, es¬
pecially the last five volumes, in a much more methodical
manner. The first volume contains sixteen memoirs on
caterpillars, and a seventeenth in which he describes their
enemies the Ichneumonidae, and other foes. The second
volume is divided into two parts, and is devoted to the his¬
tory of those insects which possess four naked wings ; it is
5
ENTOMOLOGY.
Biblio- preceded by several general discourses on the habitations,
jraphy. food, generation, and transformations of insects. The same
volume contains the insects with farinaceous wings; those
with membranaceous wings, the mouth without teeth or
trunk, which the author distinguishes from such as, likewise
possessing membranaceous wings, are provided with teeth,
and are inter-distinguished by the absence or possession of
a sting. In the third volume we find the history and de¬
scription of those four-winged insects of which the wings
are sometimes entirely membranaceous, sometimes demi-
coriaceous, and provided with a beak or sucker ; likewise of
those which correspond to the orthopterous order. The
fourth and fifth volumes contain the history of the coleop¬
terous tribes, classed according to the number of the articu¬
lations of the tarsi. We may here note, that these volumes
appeared in 1774-5, that is, ten years after Geoffroy’s pub¬
lication, to be afterwards mentioned, to which we owe the
first establishment of the characters drawn from the articu¬
lations. The sixth volume is devoted to the dipterous or
two-winged insects, and to the Coccus tribe or kermes.
The seventh volume contains the history of the apterous
insects. The system of De Geer, which is contained in a
posthumous volume published in 1778, may be regarded as
intermediate between that of Linnaeus and Fabricius, be¬
cause, though based like the former upon the organs of Biblio-
flight, and in its ternary groups equivalent to the Linnaean SraP Y'
orders, it likewise takes into consideration the parts of the
mouth, or organs of manducation, and may thus, as Mr
Kirby has remarked, have been the means of suggesting to
the latter the first idea of assuming the last-mentioned in¬
struments as the basis of a new method. “ But though
partaking of both, it is nearer to nature than either; and
had its illustrious author laid less stress upon the number
and substance of the organs of flight, it would probably
have been as near perfection in this respect as most that
that have succeeded it. But following too strictly these
characters, he has been led to place in different classes, or
rather orders, insects that ought not to have been so sepa¬
rated, as in the case of the two sections of the Hemiptera
and the Coccidce. In other respects, the whole of De
Geer’s Memoirs are a storehouse of valuable observations,
in which he has furnished many a clue for threading the
labyrinth of nature, and given most complete and interest¬
ing histories of the whole economy and habits of many
tribes and genera, as of the Trichoptera, Aphides, Ephe-
merina, &c.” The importance attached, both actually and
historically, to this celebrated system, induces us to present
its principal features to the reader in the following tabular view.
GENERAL CLASSES.
zfl
EH
O
a
m
I. Having wings.
v II. Without wings.
ORDERS.
r I. Four wings without
wing-cases.
II. Two wings covered
by two wing-cases.
III. Two wings unco- I
>. vered. J
r TV. Undergoing a me- I
tamorphosis. J
V. Undergoing no me¬
tamorphosis.
CLASSES.
I. Wings covered with scales. Tongue spiral. Lepidoptera.
II. Wings membranous, naked. Mouth without teeth or tongue. Tri¬
choptera, Ephemerina.
III. Wings membranous, equal, reticulated. Mouth with teeth. Rest of
Neuroptera.
IV. Wings membranous, unequal, nervures mostly longitudinal. Mouth
with teeth. A sting or borer in the female. Hymenoptera.
V. Wings membranous. Tongue bent beneath the breast. Homoptera
of Leach.
VI. Elytra half coriaceous and half membranous, crossed. A pair of
membranous wings. Tongue bent beneath the breast. Hemiptera
of Leach.
VII. Elytra coriaceous or semi-crustaceous, aliform. A pair of membran¬
ous wings. Mouth with teeth. Orthoptera.
VIII. Elytra hard and crustaceous. A pair of membranous wings. Mouth
with teeth. Coleoptera.
IX. A pair of membranous wings. A pair of poisers. Mouth with a tongue,
without teeth. Diptera.
X. A pair of membranous wings. "No poisers, tongue, or teeth in the male.
No wings, but a tongue in the breast of the female. Coccus, L.
XI. No wings. Six legs. Mouth with a tongue. Aphaniptera.
XII. No wings. Six legs. Head and trunk distinct. Hexapod Aptera,
Termes, Psocus.
XIII. No wings. Eight or ten legs. Head united to the trunk. Octopod
Aptera, Arachnida, Crustacea.
XIV. No wings. Fourteen legs or more. Head distinct from the trunk.
Polypod Aptera, Crustacea.
We shall merely add, that the two principal divisions
of winged and apterous insects, divided into the fourteen
orders above enumerated, comprised 1446 species, refer-
rible to 100 genera. How meagre such an amount appears
when compared with the extended lists of modern days!
Charles Clerck, a Swedish painter, and a pupil of
Linnaeus, published a 4to volume in the Swedish and La¬
tin languages, entitled Aranei Suecici descriptionibus et
Jiguris illustrati, 1 757, in which the habits of spiders are
well described. He was also the author of leones Insect-
orum variorum, 1759-64, useful as an index to the Lepid¬
optera described by Linnaeus from the collection of Queen
Frederica Ulrica.
John Henry Sulzer composed a work in German on
the characters of insects, Die Kennziechen der Insecten,
with figures, 1 vol. 4to, Zurich, 1761.
Peter Lyonnet, interpreting secretary to the united
provinces, was born in 1707, and died in 1789. He was
the author of the celebrated Traite Anatomique de la
Chenille de Saule, 1 vol. 4to, 1762. He himself engraved
the plates to the work, and both the letter-press and illus¬
trations are masterpieces in their way. They were declared
by the excellent Bonnet to afford a demonstration of the
existence of God. Lyonnet was a man of fine accomplish¬
ments, spoke nine languages, and was one of the greatest
insect anatomists that the world ever saw. The work above
named is an extraordinary example of skill and patience.
There are 4061 muscles enumerated as existing in the
head, body, and around the intestines of the caterpillar of
the Cossus ligniperda.—a number greater by about 3532
than is known to exist in the whole human body. Dr de
Haan of Leyden has published a posthumous work of the
same great observer, entitled Recherches sur VAnatomic et
les Metamorphoses des differentes especes d'Insectes. 4to,
1st and 2d parts, Paris, 1832.
Chr. Sepp is the author of a work in Dutch, on the in¬
sects of the Low Countries, entitled Beschouwing der
Wonderen Gods in de Minstgeachte Sehepzelen of Neder-
landsche hisecten, 3 vols. 4to, Amsterdam, 1762, &c. This
work came out originally in numbers, and perfect sets are
now extremely rare. The plates, in Mr Swainson s opi¬
nion, have never been equalled, far less excelled, by the
most successful efforts of modern art.
J. A. Scopoli, professor of botany and chemistry at
6 E N T 0 M
Biblio Pavia, born in 1723, died in 1788. He was the author,
graphy. among other works, of the Entomologia Carniolica, 1 vol.
8vo, 1763. The general arrangement of Scopoli in his In-
troductio ad Historiam Naturalem (Pragae, 1777) is bad;
but his genera are frequently well grouped, and their cha¬
racters judiciously constructed. Not a few of them may
be found in more recent systems under other names. He
appears to have published an incompleted sequel of plates
to the work first named. It is but little known.
Geoffroy, a celebrated French physician, was the au¬
thor of the Histoire abregee des Insectes des Environs de
Paris, 2 vols. with plates, 1764. It is a methodical work,
and deservedly esteemed by entomologists. His divisions,
deduced from the characters of the wings, accord closely
with those of Linnaeus; but the Hymenoptera and Neu-
roptera are included in the same order, and the Orthop-
tera form only a section of the coleopterous tribes. He was
the first to signalize and make use of the number of articu¬
lations of the tarsi, as we have already stated in our notice of
De Geer. The Entomologia Parisiensis, 2 vols. 8vo, 1785, a
youthful work of Fourcroy,tbe great French chemist, appears
to be a mere abridgment of that above named.
John Christian Schaeffer, a clergyman of Ratisbonne,
was born in 1718, and died in 1799. He published
Abhandlungen von Insec ten, 4to, Regenst. 1769-79; and
likewise a large collection of plates of the insects of his
own neighbourhood,—leones Insectorum circa Ratisbonam
Indigenorum, 3 vols. 4to, Regenst. 1766-79. The designa¬
tions are those of Linnaeus. The work is well executed,
and presents a careful development of the most important
characters. He at the same time published a separate
volume under the title Element's Entomologica, likewise
with coloured plates, 35 in number. To these he added a
supplement in 1777. Although the names of his classes
are different, yet the classes themselves coincide with those
of Geoffrey. There is a later edition of the leones, with
Systematic Index by Panzer : Erlang. 1804.
O. F. Muller, among numerous noted works in other
departments of natural history, published a Fauna Insect¬
orum Fredrichsdalina. Hafniae, 1764.
Martin Thomas Brunnich, a Danish naturalist, and
professor at Copenhagen, was the author of Prodromus In-
sectologice Zicellandicce, 8vo, Hafniae, 1761, and of Entomo¬
logia, sistens insectorum tabulas systematicas, Hafniae, 1764.
The latter work contains plates in outline, representing the
characteristic part of insects. In a short introduction he
also presents a view of the structure of insects, and then
furnishes us with a classification, not only of the insects
themselves, but of entomologists, or Insectistce, as he is
pleased to call them. The reader may perhaps like to see
his arrangement of these people. It is as follows :—
I. Entomologists. A. Collectors : 1°, Ancients or
Fathers (Patres), such as Aristotle, Pliny, Dioscorides;
2°, Commentators, the same ; 3°, Ichniographers or figur-
ists, such as Goedart, Hoefnagel, Merian, Vallisnieri, Al-
bin, Frisch; 4°, Metamorphosists, such as Swammerdam;
5°, Describers, such as Ray and Linnaeus ; 6°, Monogra-
phists, such as Lister, Schceffer, and Clerk ; 7°, Curiosi,
such as Catesby, Strom, Pontoppidan; 8°, Museographists,
such as Linnaeus and Poda; 9°, Topographers, such as
Albin and Frisch; 10°, Voyagers, such as Marcgrave,
Rumphius, Sloane, Hasselquist, and Osbeck.—B. Metho¬
dists : divided into, 1°, Philosophers, such as Swammer¬
dam, Reaumur, De Geer, and Linnaeus; 2°, Systematists,
the same ; 3°, Nomenelators.
II. Entomophilists. 1°, Anatomists, such as Malpighi,
Swammerdam, Leuwenhoeck, Lyonnet, &c.; 2°, Physi¬
cians, such as Dioscorides, Galen, Aldrovandus, Mathio-
lus, Glauber, Dale, &c.; 3°, Miscellanei, such as Bochart,
Desser, Lerham, &c.
Then follow the systematic and analytical tables which
0 L O G Y.
lead to the determination of the genera and sub-genera, Biblio
by the successive and compared examination of the various graphlBi
parts of the bodies of insects. We had the pleasure to
meet Mr Brunnich in Copenhagen, a considerable number p
of years ago, and were interested in seeing the earliest
author, if not the oldest man, among living naturalists.
J. E. Voet.—Catalogue raisonne ou systematique du
genre des Insectes qiion appelle Coleoptrees, 4to, Haye,
1766.—leones Insectorum Coleopterorum Synopsis, Obser-
vationibus Commentarioque perpetuo illustravit D. W. F.
Panzer, 4to, Erlangae, 1794. The plates are characteristic
of the species,—the letter-press is of little value.
J. R. Forster, born at Dirchaw in Polish Prussia, died
in 1798, was the companion of our great circumnavigator
Cook. In our present department he published Novce spe¬
cies Insectorum Centuria, 1 vol. 8vo, Lond. 1771 ;—and a
Catalogue of British Insects, 8vo, Warrington, 1770.
W. Curtis.—Fundamenta Entomologies, or an Intro¬
duction to the Knowledge of Insects, 8vo, Lond. 1772.—In¬
structions for Collecting and Preserving Insects, Ibid. 1772.
A short History of the Brown- Tail Moth, fyc., 4to, Ibid. 1782.
Benjamin Wilkes.— The English Moths and Butter¬
flies, together with the Plants, Flowers, and Fruits, whereon
they Feed, Sfc.,4to, fig., Lond. 1747-60.—One hundred and
twenty copperplates of English Moths and Butterflies. 4 to,
Lond. 1773.
Thomas P. Yates.—Institutions of Entomology, fyc.,
8vo, Lond. 1773.
Peter Simon Pallas, one of the greatest zoologists of
modern times, was born at Berlin in 1741, and died in 1812.
He was a copious writer, but his only entomological work
with which we are acquainted is the leones Insectorum,
preesertim Rossice Sibericeque peculiarum, published in a
small 4to volume at Erlangen in 1781. He spent most of
his life under the patronage of the Russian government.
D. Drury, an English goldsmith, collected a fine cabinet
of insects, and published a work in 3 vols. 4to, entitled
Illustrations of Natural History, 1770-82. It has scarcely
been surpassed in beauty, and accuracy of execution, even
by the more sumptuous efforts of the present day. The
figures are by Moses Harris. There is a new edition with
notes by Mr Westwood, Lond. 1837.
Marie Dominique Joseph Engramelle, an Augustine
friar of Paris, was born in 1727, and died in 1780. He is
known as the author of the descriptive portion of a noted
work,—Collection des Chenilles, Crysalides, et Papillons,
qui se trouvent en Europe, peints d'apres nature, 8 vols. 4to,
and Suppl., Paris, 1779-93. The text is held in no great
estimation, but the plates are faithful, and generally repre¬
sent the species in their various states. They were exe¬
cuted after drawings by Ernst, an artisan of Strasburg, who
possessed an extraordinary and self-acquired talent for the
representation of lepidopterous insects.
Peter Cramer, a merchant of Amsterdam, was the au¬
thor of another magnificent work on Lepidoptera, entitled
Papillons exotiques des trois parties du Monde, VAsie,
VAfrique, et VAmerique. It is written in Dutch and French,
consists of 4 vols. 4to, and contains 400 coloured plates.
Dated from 1779 to 1782. There is a supplementary vo¬
lume to the above by Casper Stoll, a Dutch physician. It
was published at Amsterdam (in Dutch and French) in 1
vol. 4to, 1790 et seq., and contains many interesting repre¬
sentations of insects in their larva and pupa states. In exe¬
cution these works are inferior to those of Harris, but they
are nevertheless highly esteemed by amateurs of books in
natural history.
John Christian Fabricius, a pupil of Linnaeus, and
professor of natural history and rural economy at Kiel, in
Holstein, was born at Tundern, in the duchy of Sleswick,
in 1742, and died in 1807. He was one of the greatest
entomologists of modern times, and published numerous
E N T O M
Biblio- systematic works on insects. The important influence
jraphy. which his writings exercised on the science renders it de-
sirable that we should present an account, however brief,
of his performances, and of the principles on which they
were conceived and executed.
The entomological system of Fabricius is founded on the
number, proportion, form, and situation of the parts which
constitute the mouth of insects, and is hence not unfre-
quently known under the name of the cibarian or maxillary
system. His intention appears to have been to effect for
entomology wbat his great master had done for botany, by
erecting his system upon a fixed and restricted foundation ;
and as Linnaeus had assumed the fructification of plants for
his botanical basis, so the entomologist of Kiel, perceiving
no doubt how important was the employment of the teeth
and jaws in the classification of the vertebrated tribes, deter¬
mined to make use of the analogous organs, so much more
varied and numerous in the insect world. De Geer had
previously employed the parts of the mouth, in addition to
the organs of flight; but Fabricius follow'ed out the system
both more minutely and with greater extension, and adopted
the trophi, or parts of the mouth, as the sole support of his
superstructure. “ Though nothing,” observes Mr Kirby,
“ seems to have been farther from his intention than to fol¬
low Nature, since he complains that Linne, by following
her too closely, had lost the Ariadnean thread of system, yet
it is singular that, by building upon this seemingly narrow
foundation, he has furnished a clue, by the due use of which,
instead of deserting her, his successors have been enabled
with more certainty to extricate her groups ; since the parts
in question, being intimately connected with the functions
and economy of these animals, where they differ materially,
indicate a corresponding difference in their character and
station.”
The foundations of this new system were first exhibited
in his Systerna Entomologice, sistens Insectorum classes,
ordines, genera, et species, 1 vol. 8vo, 1775. In the ensu¬
ing year he published his Genera Insectorum, and his Phi-
losophia, Entomologica appeared in 1778. In 1781 he put
forth his Species Insectorum, in 2 vols. 8vo ; and to these,
at an after period, was added a kind of supplement, with the
title of Mantissa Insectorum, sistens eorum species nuper
detectas, likewise in two 8vo volumes. From 1792 to 1796
he published the same works, remodelled and amended,
under the name of Entomologia systematica emendata et
aucta, 4 vols. 8vo; and to these a supplementary volume
was added in 1798. His systems of the different orders, or
classes, as he has chosen to name the primary groups, then
made their appearance, each in a separate form, according
to the following titles and dates: Systema Eleutheratorum
(Coleoptera), 2 vols. 8vo, 1801; Systema Rhyngotorum
(Hemiptera), 1 vol. 8vo, same year; Systema Piezatorum
(Hymenoptera), 1 vol. 8vo, 1804; Systema Antliatorum
(Diptera), 1 vol. 8vo, 1805. The Systema Glossatorum
(Lepidoptera) was on the eve of publication when the author
was removed from his accustomed sphere of action, and
called to that tribunal which awaits entomologists in com¬
mon with other men. Illiger has given us an extract from
it in his Magazin fur Insectenkunde, and the English reader
will find it exhibited in the Philosophical Magazine and
Annals for February 1830. The publication of so great a
number of w'orks proves the devoted constancy of the author,
and his unweared desire to perfect his favourite department
of science.
E. J. C. Esper, professor at Erlangen, published, from
1777 to 1807, a great work on the Lepidoptera of Europe,
under the name of Europdischen Schmetterlinge, 5 vols. 4to,
of which the first and fourth are divided into two. The
figures are exact and well coloured, and although the publi¬
cation was never brought to a conclusion, it is highly prized
by naturalists, even in its incompleted state. He is likewise
O L O G Y. 7
the author of Pie Auslandischen Schmetterlinge, 4to, fig. Biblio-
col. Erlang. 1785-98. (Reprinted, Erlang. 1830-34.) graphy.^
Caspar Stoll, formerly mentioned as the author of a
Supplement to Cramer’s Papillons Exotiques, also published
some excellent figures of hemipterous and orthopterous
species. His Representation exactment coloriee d'apres
Nature, des Spectres, des Mantes, des Sauterelles, &c. con¬
sists of eight numbers 4to (Dutch and French), 1787, et
seq. There are ten numbers of his other work, entitled
Representation exactment coloriee d’apres Nature, des Ci-
gales et des Punaises, 4to, fig. Amsterd. 1780-83. These
two works are of great value, on account of the figures of
the very singular tribes of which they treat; but the letter-
press is defective in point of observation, and faulty in its
synonyms.
Moses Harris, an English painter, and naturalist of the
old school, is known as the author of An Exposition of
English Insects, in English and French, 1 vol. 4to, with
coloured figures, London, 1781. He also wrote The Au-
relian, or Natural History of English Insects, namely,
Moths and Butterflies, folio, Lond. 1778; and was the au¬
thor of an earlier and more portable volume, entitled The
English Lepidoptera, or the Aureliarls Pocket Companion,
8vo, Lond. 1775. Harris was a first-rate entomological
artist.
F. de P. Schrank, a Bavarian naturalist, born in 1747,
professor at Ingoldstadt, published, under the unassuming
title of a catalogue of Austrian insects, Enumeratio Insec¬
torum Austrice Indigenorum, a large octavo volume, in
1781. This work is remarkable for a careful synonymy,
and the exactness of its descriptions. The Lepidoptera
are intentionally omitted, that order having been taken up,
over the same territory, by Schrank’s compatriot Schiffer-
miiller.
I. N. de Laicharting, professor at Inspruck, born in
1747, wrote upon the insects of Tyrol, Verzeichniss der
Tyrolen Insecten. 2 vols. 8vo, with plates, Zurich, 1781-4.
It appears to contain only Coleoptera.
Dominique Cyrillo, a Neapolitan physician, unfortu¬
nately executed for a misdemeanour in 1796, was the author
of a vrork in 1 vol. folio, with coloured plates, entitled En¬
tomologies Neapolitance specimen. 1787.
Vincent Petagna, another Neapolitan, composed a
work on the Elements of Zoology. 2 vols. 8vo. He also
wrote Specimen Insectorum Ulterioris Calabrice. 4to,
Frankfort, 1787.
Schiffermuller. Ankundigung eines Systematischen
Werhes von den Schmetterlinge der Wiener Gegend. 4to,
Wien, 1775.
J. A. Ben. Bergstrasser. Entomologia Erxlebiana
Scholarum in mum concinnata. 8vo, Hanau, 1776.—
Nomenclatur u. Beschreib. der Insekten in der Grafschaft
Hanau-Milnzenborg, fyc. 4to, fig. Ibid., 1778, 8vo.—
leones Papilionum diurnorum quotquot adhuc in Europd
occur runt, descriptce, &c. 4to, Ibid., 1779—81.
James Barbut. The Genera Insectorum of Linncem,
exemplified by various Specimens of English Insects. 4to,
fig. col. Lond. 1781.
Chari.es de Villiers. Les Insectes de France decrits
et classes selon la Methode de Linncem, dessines par Geni-
chon, et graves par les plus celebres Artistes. 4 vol. 4to,
Lyon, 1781-83.—Nomenclator iconum Entomologice Lin-
neance. Fol.—Linncei Entomologia, Speciebus nupernme
detectis locupletata. 4 vols. 8vo, Lugd., 1787. —C.
Linncei Entomologia Faunce Suecicce descriptione aucta.
4 vols. 8vo, Lugd., 1789.
G. Fr. Ahrens. Verzeichniss einiger Schmetterlinge, &c
Halle, 1783.
C. G. Jablonsky. Natursystem oiler bekansiten in-
und Amlandischen Insekten, &c. 8vo. Berlin, 1783-1806.
Gabr. Bondsuorff. Historia Naturalis Curculionum
E N T O M
Biblio- Sueci(B. 4to, fig. Upsal, 1785. We owe to this author
graphy. vari0us dissertations on the senses and physiology of in-
sects. . .
A. F. Fourcroy. Entomologia Parisiensis, sive Cata-
logus Insectorum qua in agro Parisiensi reperiuntur. 2
vols. 8vo, Paris, 1785.
N. Amoreux. Notice sur les Insectes de la France
reputes venimeux. 8vo, Paris, 1789.
John Charles Roemer is the compiler of Genera In¬
sectorum Linncei et Fabricii iconibus illustrata. 1 vol. 4to,
1789. This is chiefly a revised edition of Sulzer’s Ken-
zeichen der Insecten, with some additional plates.
NiC. J. Brahm. Handbuch der okonomischen Insecten-
geschichte, in Form eines Kalenders bearbeitet. 2 vols. 8vo,
Mainz, 1791. — Versuch einer Fauna Entomologica der
Gegend. um Mainz. 8vo, Giesen, 1793.
Spir. Giorno. Calendario Entomologica. 8vo, 1 orino,
1791.—Memoria Entomologica, See. 8vo, Ibid., 1791.
Th. Martin. The English Entomologist, exhibiting
all the Coleopterous hisects found in England, including
upioards of 500 species, arranged, &c. 4to, Lend., 1 /92.
—Psi/che ; Fiqures of nondescript Lepidopterous Insects.
4to, Ibid., 1793.
E. J. C. Esper. Magazin der neuen auslandischen In-
sekten. Erlang., 1794.—Die auslandischen Schmetterlinge.
4to. fig. 1785-98.
Fr. Weber. Nomenclatur Entomologicus secundum
Fabricii Systerna. 8vo, Hamb., 1795.— Observationes
Entomologicce. 8vo, Kilise, 1795—1801.
John Francillon. Description of a rare Scarabaus
from Potosi, fyc. 4to, fig. Lond., \ 795.—Catalogue of the
Collection of Foreign Insects. 8vo, Lond., 1818.
J. G. Kugellan, und J. K. W. Illiger. Verzeichniss
der Kafer Preussens, &jc. 8vo, Halle, 1798.
Carl Peter Thunberg, a noted naturalist and traveller,
has contributed greatly to our knowledge of northern in¬
sects, and of many others. He was a favourite disciple of
Linnaeus, and evinced a strong predilection for the study of
nature at an early age. He was the son of a Swedish clergy¬
man, and obtained pecuniary assistance from his friends to
enable him to proceed upon his travels. After visiting
France and Holland, he journeyed to the Cape, Ceylon,
Java, and Japan, and brought back from those far countries
many new and rare forms both of plants and insects. On
returning to tthe land of his nativity he became professor
at Upsal, was made a knight of the order of Vasa, and
enjoyed his honours to a very advanced age. We shall
name a few of his works. Many of his papers are in the
Memoires of the Academy of St Petersburg, and in the
Acts of the Society of Upsal. Dissertatio Entomologica,
novas Insectorum species sistens. 4to, fig. Ups., 1782—91.
—Dissertatio Entomologica, sistens Insecta Suecia. 4to,
Ups., 1784-95.—Characteres Generum Insectorum. 4to,
Ups., 1789, 12mo, Gott., 1791.—Descriptiones Insectorum
Suecicorum. 5 vols. 4to, fig. Ups. 1792.
Pietro Rossi, an Italian naturalist, professor at Pisa,
composed the Fauna Etrusca, sistens Insecta quae in Pro-
vinciis Florentina et Pisana preesertim collegit Petrus
Rossius, &c., 2 vols. in 4to, with coloured plates, Liburn.
1790;—also Mantissa Insectorum, exhibens species nuper
in Etruria collectas a Petro Rossio, &c. 2 vols. 4to, with
coloured plates. Pisa, 1792-1794.
Antoine Guillaume Olivier, member of the Academy
of Sciences, professor of zoology at the veterinary school of
Alfort, was born at Draguignan in 1756, and died in 1814.
Besides his Voyage dans VEmpire Ottoman, VEgypte, et
la Perse, 3 vols. 4to, 1807, he wrote two important works
on entomology :—ls£, The subject Insectes, of the Ency¬
clopedic Methodique, 4 vols. 4to. In this voluminous article
he follows the principles of the Linnaean classification, with
certain modifications from the works of Geoffrey, Schceffer,
o L o G Y.
and De Geer. He draws his primary characters from the
number and consistence of the wings and elytra, and he
then makes use of the wings, along with the parts of the
mouth and the articulations of the tarsi, for his secondary
subdivisions. The following is his nomenclature and ar¬
rangement of the orders:—Lepidoptera, Neuroptera, Hy-
menoptera, Hemiptera, Orthoptera (this is his own deno¬
mination, now generally received, and substituted by Olivier
for the term Dermaptera used by De Geer), Coleoptera,
Diptera, and Aptera. Each of these orders is divided into
many sections. In the last-named order are comprehended
all those insects of which the mouth is variable, but which
have no wings in either sex. Of these some have six feet
(pediculi), others eight (spiders)—while many (such as
crabs and Julidae) have a still greater number. We may
here note, in regard to the entomological portion of the
Encyclopedie Methodique, that several other authors have
contributed to its later volumes. Of these we may name
more particularly MM. Adolphe Brongniart, Latreille, Lepel-
letier de St Fargeau, De Serville, Desmarets, and Godard.
2d, The other great work of Olivier is the Histoire Natu-
relle des Coleopteres, in six large 4to volumes, containing
363 coloured plates, and 3162 historical and descriptive
pages. It appeared at intervals from 1789 to 1808. It is
a work of authority, ably executed, and professes to describe
and figure all the known species of the period. Vast addi¬
tions have been made to entomology since the time of its
conclusion, but it still presents the largest collection of
coloured representations of the coleopterous order which
we yet possess. In the later portions, the number of species
in certain genera having greatly increased, the author was
obliged to depart from his original plan of including all the
known kinds. This is chiefly perceptible in the great fa¬
milies of Curculionidce and Chrysomelidce.
John Daniel Preysler wrote Werzeichniss Boehmis-
cher Insecten. 1 vol. 4to, Prag. 1790.
John Berkenhout, M.D., in his Synopsis of the Natural
History of Great Britain and Ireland, 2 vols. 8vo, Lond.
1795, enumerates our native insects.
William Lewin, F.L. S. was the author of The Papil-
lios of Great Britain systematically arranged, and painted
from Nature. 1 vol. 4to, Lond. 1795.—A Natural History
of the Lepidopterous Insects of New South Wales. 4to, col.
fig. Lond., 1805.
David Henry Hoppe, an apothecary of Ratisbon, was
the author of Enumeratio Insectorum elytratorum indi-
genorum, with coloured plates, Erlangse, 1795,—a work
with which we are not acquainted, but which is said to be
a useful auxiliary in the study of the genus Donacia.
He also published Insecta Coleoptera, quee in itineri-
bus suis preesertim Alpinis collegerunt. Nov. Act. Nat.
Cur. xii. p. 479. The latter work is in conjunction with
Dr Hornschuch.
John Abbot. The Natural History of the rarer Lepi¬
dopterous Insects of Georgia, collected from the Drawings
and Observations of Mr John Abbot. 2 vols. fob, Lond.,
1797. This work was brought out by Sir James Edward
Smith, the great Linnaean botanist. The plates are by
Moses Harris, and are characterized by Mr Swainson as
the last and best of that artist’s performance.
Leonard de Prunner is the author of Lepidoptera
Pedemontana. 1 vol. 8vo, Turin, 1798.
Antoine Jean Coquebert, a naturalist established at
Rheims, besides various notices in the Bulletin des Sciences,
is known as the author of Illustratio iconographica Insec¬
torum quee in Museeis Parisinis observavit, J. Chr. Fabri-
cius. 3 decad. in 4to, Paris, 1799-1804.
Christian Creutzer published Entomological Essays,
in German {Entomologische versuche), 8vo, with coloured
figures, Vienna, 1799.
Pierre-Andre Latreille, of the Royal Academy of
Bibli.
graph
9
ENTOMOLOGY.
Biblio- Sciences, &c., vras born at Brives in 1 762, and died in 1833.
graphy. The importance attached to the numerous productions of'
this “ Prince of Entomologists,” as he is called by Comte
Dejean, inclines us to present the reader with a short histo¬
rical sketch of the principles and progressive improvement
of his system, in combination with our chronological notice
of his various volumes.
Latreille’s first work was published at Brives in 1796,
under the title of Precis des characteres generiques des In-
sectes, disposes dans un order naturel, 1 vol. 8vo. He
there divides the insecta of Linnaeus into fourteen classes,
of which the first seven comprehend such as are winged,
and are ranged in the following orders : Coleoptera, Orthop-
tera, Hemiptera, Neuroptera, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera,
and Diptera. The other seven classes are apterous, or
without wings, and are named and characterized as follows :
1°, Les Suceurs, Suctoria (Ilhyngota of Fabricius),—head
distinct, antenniferous, trunk articulated, inclosing a sucker
of two bristles; two scales at the base; six feet: 2°, Les
Thysanoures, Thysanoura (Synistata of Fab.),—head dis¬
tinct, antenniferous; mouth furnished with mandibles, a
pair of maxillae, an upper and an under lip, and antennulae
(palpi); six feet;—here are ranged Lepisma, Forbicina,
andPodura: 3°, Les Parasites, (Antliata, Fab.),—
head distinct, antenniferous; a very short tube inclosing a
sucker; in some a slight appearance of mandibles or maxil¬
lae ; six feet;—Ricinus and Pediculus : 4°, Les Acephales,
Acephala (Unogata et Antliata of Fab.),—organs of the
mouth appearing to replace the head; no antennae; from
six to eight feet (this is the class since distinguished by the
name of Arachnides, and already discussed under that title
in this Encyclopaedia): 5°, Les Entomostraces, Entomos-
traca of Muller (Synistata et Agonata, Fab.),—head con¬
founded with the body, which is inclined under a covering of
one or two pieces; antennae frequently branched, mandibles
without antennulae ; two ranges at most of maxillary leaflets ;
no under lip ; generally from six to eight feet;—Monocu-
lus, Cypris, Cytherea, Daphnia, Argulus, Limulus, &c.:
6°, Les Crustaces, Crustacea (Agonata, Fab.),—head con¬
founded with the body, which is usually inclosed beneath
a carapace ; four antennae ; many ranges of maxillary leaf¬
lets, of which two are inserted and couched upon the man¬
dibles ; no lips; generally ten feet: 7°, Les Myriapodes,
Myriapoda (Synistata, Mitosata, Unogata, Fab.),—head
distinct from the body, antenniferous; mandibles with a
conical advancement at their base ; scaly teeth implanted on
the contour of the extremity ; two rows of maxillae at most;
an under lip; fourteen feet, or more;—Asellus, Cyamus,
Oniscus, Julus, Scolopendra.
Latreille’s next publication w7as the Histoire generate et
particuliere des Crustaces et des Insectes, 14vols. 8vo, with
figures, 1802-5. It. forms a portion of the edition of Buf-
fon’s works published by Sonnini. His Genera Crusta-
ceorum et Insectorum, 4 vols. 8vo, was published in 1806-7,
and contains a further, and certainly very skilful develop¬
ment of what he regarded as a natural system. In 1810
appeared his Considerations generates sur Vordre naturel
des animaux composant les classes des Crustaces, des Arach¬
nides, et des Insectes, avec un tableau methodique de leurs
genres distribues en families, 1 vol. in 8vo. It may be re¬
garded as a review of his last-mentioned work, of the ma¬
terial parts of which it proposes few alterations,—but the
groups are fewer in number, and are sometimes founded on
more rigorous characters. We shall here give a brief ab¬
stract of his classification at this time. The Linnsean class
Insecta is divided into three distinct classes—Crustacea,
Arachnides, and Insects properly so called. It is of course
with the latter only that we are now concerned. He
divides them into eight orders—Coleoptera, Orthoptera,
Hemiptera, Neuroptera, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera, Dip¬
tera, and Suctoria.
VOL. IX.
ls£, The Coleoptera are divided into five sections: 1.
Pentamera, including nineteen families, viz. Cicindeletse,
Carabici, Hydrocanthari, Gyrinites, Sternoxi. Malacodermi,
Clerii, Necrophagi, Staphylinii, Palpatores, Ptiniores, Der-
mestini, Byrrhii, Hydrophilii, Sphseridiota, Coprophagi,
Geotrupini, Scarabaeides, and Lucanides : 2. Heteromera,
including six families, viz. Pimeliarioe, Tenebrionites, Py-
rochroides, Mordellonae, Cantharidiae, and GEdemeritae: 3.
Tetramera, including ten families, viz. Bruchelae, Curculio-
nites, Bostrichini, Paussili, Xylophagi, Cucujupes, Ceram-
bycini, Criocerides, Chrysomelinae, and Erotylenae : 4. Tri-
mera, including the family of Coccinellidae: 5. Dimera,
including that of the Pselaphii.
2d, The order Orthoptera contains six families, viz.
Forficulariae, Blattariae, Mantides, Gryllides, Locustariae,
and Acrydii.
Zd, The order Hemiptera is composed of two sections :
1. Heteroptera, containing the three families, Corisiae, Ci-
micides, and Hydrocorisae: 2. Homoptera, containing the
four families of Cicadariae, Psillidae, Aphidii, and Gallin-
secta.
Ath, The order Neuroptera is likewise bisected: 1.
Subulicornes, consisting of two families, Libellulinae, Ephe-
merinae : 2. Filicornes, consisting of nine families, Panor-
patae, Myrmeleonides, Hemerobini, Megaloptera, Raphi-
tlinae, Termitinae, Psoquillae, Perlariae, and Phryganites.
bth, The order Hymenoptera also forms two sections :
1. Terebrantia, including eight families, viz. Tenthredi-
netae, Urocerata, Evaniales, Ichneumonides, Diplolepariae,
Cynipsera, Proctotrupii, and Chrysidides : 2. Aculeata,
including thirteen families, viz. Formicariae, Mutillariae,
Scolietae, Sapygitae, Pompilii, Sphegimae, Bembecides, Lar-
ratse, Crabronites, Vespiariae, Masarides, Andrenetae, and
Apiariae.
6^/i, The order Lepidoptera is divided into three sec¬
tions: 1. Diurna, composed of two families, Papilionides
and Hesperides : 2. Crepuscularia, also composed of two
families, Sphingides and Zygenides : 3. Nocturna, com¬
posed of eight families, Bombycites, Noctuo-bombycites,
Teneites, Noctuaelites, Phalaenites, Pyralites, Crambites,
and Pterophorites.
7M, The order Diptera comprises three sections: 1.
Proboscidea, consisting of fourteen families, Tipulariae,
Stratiomydae, Tabani, Rhagionides, Dolichopodes, Mydasii,
Asilici, Empides, Anthracii, Bombyliarii, Inflata, Syrphiae,
Conopsariae, Muscides: 2. Eproboscidea, containing the
family Coriacea: 3. Pthiromyice, including merely the genus
Nycteribia.
Zth, The order Suctoria is formed entirely by the genus
Pulex.
In the year 1817 the Regne Animal distribue d’apres son
organisation, See. was published by Baron Cuvier, in 4 vols.
8vo. Of that signal work the entomological portion, form¬
ing volume third, was contributed by M. Latreille. In ad¬
dition to the preceding works, he had also at different times
contributed a great proportion of the articles on entomo¬
logy in the first and second editions of the Nouveau Dic-
tioyinaire d'Histoire Naturelle. One of his earlier works
is entitled Essais sur VHistoire des Fourmis de la France,
Brives, 1798. He was likewise the author of many papers
in the Annales du Museum, the Encyclopedic Methodique,
and in the Dictionnaire Classique d*Histoire Naturelle, as
well as of a separate volume of papers (chiefly, however,
extracted from his previous labours in the Ann du Mus.)
entitled Memoires sur divers sujets de VHistoire Naturelle
des Insectes, &c. &c., 8vo, 1819. In 1825 he published his
Families Naturelles du Regne Animal, which contains a
compendious summary of zoological classification, and an
arrangement of the insect tribes. In 1829 he gave to the
world his completed views on entomological arrangement
in the third and fourth volumes of the second edition of the
R
Biblio-
graphy.
10
ENTOMOLOGY.
Biblio¬
graphy.
Hegne Animal of Cuvier. As it is by this final exposition
that we are chiefly guided in the systematic portion of the
ensuing treatise, we need not here enter into further details.
Before proceeding, however, with our catalogue of authors,
we may remark that an excellent, and, we believe, novel
feature in the system of Latreille consists in the bestowal
of family names upon the groups of genera. The modern
families correspond in numerous instances to the old and
undivided genera of Linnaeus; and when, in the progress
of improvement, and the great increase in the number
and nature of species, it became necessary to subdivide
these genera into others of a less comprehensive charac¬
ter, the retention of the old generic name with a different
termination, and its application as a comprehensive term
to all the cognate genera, was an ingenious and useful
device.
The practice, indeed, was previously well known in other
departments of natural history, but it does not appear to
have been properly applied to entomology prior to the
example of Latreille. There is a want of uniformity, how¬
ever, in the nomenclature of his families, so that, unless his
work is kept in hand, we cannot ascertain from the name
of a group whether it signifies an actual family, or some
other sectional division. To remedy this defect, Mr Mac-
leay, in his Horce Entomologicce, follows the suggestion of
Mr Kirby, and designates his family groups by the patro¬
nymic termination in idee, which, though not classically cor¬
rect when the primitive has a feminine termination, is pre¬
ferable to any other plan, both for uniformity’s sake, and
euphonice gratia. The latest works by M. Latreille with
which we are acquainted are his Cours d’Entomologie, an
uncompleted publication, in one volume 8vo, 1831, and his
Discours a La Societe Entomologique de France, 8vo,
Paris, 1832.
George Wolfgang Francis Panzer of Nuremberg,
born in 1755, is the author of several excellent works on
Entomology, of which the earliest is the most important. It
is called Deutschlands Insekten, or Faunce Insectorum Ger-
manice initia, and has continued to be published at intervals
between the years 1793 and 1841. It is composed of nu¬
merous cahiers, or small collections of unstitched leaves,
each of which corresponds to a coloured plate of an insect,
of which it bears the description. According to this plan,
the figures and letter-press may be arranged according to
any system preferred by the possessor of the work. Each
fasciculus contains the figures and descriptions of twenty-
four species of insects ; and as the fasciculi (continued since
the 110th, by G. A. W. Herrich-Schaffer) now amount to
190, the total number represented and described is great.
It is consequently one of the most extensive collections
which we possess in this branch of science; and as the
plates are extremely correct, and the synonyms carefully
selected, it may be regarded as a publication of the highest
value of its kind. “ The figures are drawn and etched by
the famous Sturm, the best entomological artist on the Con¬
tinent, and are simply but accurately coloured,—while the v
descriptions, although frequently too short, are written by
the hand of a master.” (Swainson.) Panzer has published
several other works on insects.—Novce Insectorum species.
Sec., Norimb., 1790.—Faunce Insectorum America borealis
Prodromus, 4to, Norimb., 1794.—Kritische Revision der
Insektenfauna Deutschlands. 8vo, Niirnb., 1805-7.—Fn-
tomologischen versuch iiber die Jurineschen Gattungen der
Linneischen Hymenoptern. 1 vol. in 12mo, 1806.—Index
Fntomologicus,pars prima, Eleutherata, same form, 1813.
This author has confined himself to the description of the
external aspect of insects, and does not appear to have de¬
voted himself at any time to the observance of manners, or
the examination of internal structure. Non omnia possumus
omnes.
Augustus William Knock, a professor at Brunswick,
formed a collection of insects, which now composes a por¬
tion of the Royal Museum of Berlin. He is author of JSteue
beytreege zur Insectenkunde. 1 vol. in 8vo, with figures,
Leipsic, 1801.
James Henry Laspeyres, a municipal officer of Berlin,
composed a work entitled Sesice Europece iconibus et de-
scriptionibus illustratce. 1 vol. 4to, 1801. He is likewise
the author of Critical Observations on the Systematic Ca¬
talogue of the Lepidoptera of the environs of Vienna, in¬
serted in Illiger’s Magazin.
Jacques Sturm was an entomological artist of repute,
and an excellent observer of insects. We owe to him the
following works:—Insecten-kabinet, 12mo, Niirnb., 1791—92.
— Verzeichniss meiner Insecten-Samlung, oder Entomologi-
sches Handbuchfur Liebhaber u. Sammler. 8vo, fig. Nurnb.,
1800.—Abbildungenzu llligers Uebersetzung, von Olivier’s
Entomologie, oder ISuturgeschichte der Insecten. 2 vols. 4to,
N urnb., 1802-3.—Entomologische IIefte,enthaltend Beitrdge
zur weitern Kenntniss und Aufkldrung der Insehtenges-
chichte. 2 vols. 8vo, fig. Frankfort, 1803.—Catalog meiner
Insecten Samlung. I. Th. Kafar, 8vo, fig. col. Nurnb., 1825.
—Anophthalmus (BlindlaufEifer) neue Gatlung aus der
Familie du Caraben. 8vo. Nurnb., 1844.
Clairville, an Englishman, as we understand, by birth,
but an inhabitant of Switzerland, published a work in French
and German, called Entomologie Hclvetique, 2 vols. 8vo,
with excellent figures. Indeed Schellenberg the engraver
was his colleague in the undertaking. Both volumes were
printed at Zurich, the first in 1798, the second in 1806.
The chief defect of this work consists in the entire and un¬
necessary change in the nomenclature of his predecessors,
affected by the author, as will be seen by the following ana¬
lytical table of his systematic arrangement. We add the
ordinary names of the orders, which he is pleased to regard
in the light of sectional divisions.
f Mandibulata.
fPterophora, |
fi-
l2'
winged. -j
Insecta <|
f Haustellata.
1 Aptera,
l wingless.
f Haustellata.
| Mandibulata.
SECTIONS.
Elytroptera : crustaceous wings. (Coleoptera.)
Deratoptera : coriaceous wings. (Orthoptera.)
i 3. Dictyoptera : reticulated wings. (Neuroptera.)
f 4. Phleboptera : veined wings. (Hymenoptera.)
5. Halteriptera : wings with poisers. (Diptera.)
6. Lepidioptera : scaly wings. (Lepidoptera.)
7. Hemimeroptera : mixed wings. (Hemiptera.)
8. Rophoteira : suckers.
9. Pododunera : runners.
Clairville’s work is not complete in the description of
genera and species. The first volume, indeed, contains
only the coleopterous family of the Curculionidse, and is
furnished with sixteen plates illustrative of eleven genera.
It is. a minutely laboured publication, beautifully executed,
but more sumptuous than accurate in its typography.
J. Fr. W. Merest, a preacher at Berlin, born 1743.
Kurze EinleiUdg zur Kenntniss d,ei Insecten, See. 3 vols.
8vo, Berk, 1784—87.—Genres des Mouches Dipteres. 2 vols.
Biblio
graphd g
8vo, Zurich, 1802. Conjointly with C. G. Jabonsky, Herbst
has published Natursystem in-und Auslandischer Insek¬
ten, in 21 vols. 8vo. Schmetterlinge, 11 vols. Berk,1783-
1804. Kiifer, 10 vols. Ibid., 1785-1806.
Joh. Casp. Fuessli was the author of Magazin fur die
Liebhaber der Entomologie. 2 vols. 8vo, Zurich. 1758—9.—•
Neues Magazin fur die Liebhaber, &c. 3 vols. 8vo, Ibid.,
1782-87. ArchivderlnsectengeschichteAto, Ibid., 1781-86.
There is a French translation with the same plates. Winter-
E N T O M
Biblio- William Lewin, F.L.S., contributed to Entomology
graphy. TJie Insects of Great Britain, 1 vol. 4to, London, 1795. It
—contains the Papiliones only.
Frederick Weber, a German naturalist, and professor at
Kiel,wrote Observationes Entomologicce, 1 vol. 8vo, Kiel, 1801.
J. C. G. Illiger, professor at Berlin, an excellent natu¬
ralist, who died in early life. He terminated the catalogue
of Prussian insects commenced by Theophilus Kugelann,
under the title of Verzeichniss der Keefer Preussens, 1 vol.
8vo, 1798. Between 1801 and 1807 he published the Ma-
gazinfur Insectenkunde, 7 vols. 8vo ; and during that first-
mentioned year his Systematisches Verzeichniss von den
Schmetterlingen der Wiener gegend, in two vols. 8vo, like¬
wise made its appearance. It is a revised edition of the
systematic catalogue of the environs of Vienna. Illiger con¬
tinued the edition of the Fauna Etrusca of Rossi, com¬
menced by Hellwig, in 8vo, Helmstadt, 1807-
John Frederick Wolff, a German physician, has pub¬
lished four fasciculi of a work entitled leones Cimicum de-
scriptionibus illustratce, in 4to, Erlangse, 1804.
Thomas Marsham, an English entomologist, is well
known as the author of Entomologia Britannica, sistens In-
secta Britanniee indigena secundum methodum Linnceanam
disposita, t. 1, Coleoptera, 8vo, Loud. 1802. It is a meri¬
torious publication for the period, and has been serviceable
to the science ; but prodigious advances have been made in
all the departments of British Entomology since the time of
its appearance. Marsham also published a Monograph of
the genus Notoclea, in the 9th vol. of the Linn. Trans. These
insects are peculiar to New Holland, and are now better
known under the name of Paropsis, bestowed upon them
by Olivier.
William Kirby, A.M., &c., author of Monographia
Apum Anglice, 2 vols. 8vo, Ipswich,, 1802, and (jointly with
Mr Spence) of Introduction to Entomology, 4 vols. 8vo,
London, 1815-26. These admirable works are too well
known to require our praise. The latter has been the chief
means of producing whatever may exist of a general taste
for Entomology in Britain.—Fauna Boreali Americana (In¬
sects). 4to, fig. ed. Ipsw., 1837.— The genus Apion of Herbs? s
Natursystem considered, See. Linn. Trans, vol. 9th, p. 1.—
Strepsiptera, a new order of Insects proposed, and the cha¬
racters of the order, with those of its genera,, laid down.
Vol. 11th, p. 86.—A Century of Insects, including several
new genera, Sec.—A description of several new species of
Insects collected in New Holland. Ibid. vol. 12th, pp. 375—
454. This venerable and truly “ good old man,” the father
of modern Entomologists, died on the 4th of July 1850,
aged ninety-one years. He had been the resident minister
of Barham for sixty-eight years, and so we presume may
have been regarded as the father of the Church of England.
He was president of the Ipswich museum, an institution in
which, from its commencement, he took a lively interest.
Of late years he had been obliged to retire from active life,
whether clerical or scientific.
William Spence, F.L.S., &c., Mr Kirby’s able and ac¬
complished coadjutor in the principal work above named, is
also the author of various minor essays in entomology, of
which we shall name merely his Monograph of the British
species of the genus Cholera. Linn. Trans, vol. 11th, p. 123.
Adrian Hardy Haworth was the author of Prodromus
Lepidopterorum Britannicorum, 4to, Holt., 1802.—Lepi-
doptera Britannica sistens digestionem, &c. 4 vols, 8vo,
1803-1827; and of several contributions to the Trans. Ent.
Soc., &c.
J. R. Schellenberg, a painter and engraver of Zurich,
is known to entomologists as professionally connected with
two works, of which the text is anonymous. Cimicum in
Helvetice aquis et terris degens genus. 1 vol. 8vo, with figures,
Turici, 1800.—Genres des Moriches dipteres. 1 vol. 8vo, in
French and German, with coloured plates, Zurich, 1803.
O L O G Y. 11
He was likewise artistically employed on the Entomologie Biblio-
Helvetique, ou Catalogue des Insectes de la Suisse (of which graphy-
the letterpress is by M. de Clairville). 2 vols. 8vo, Zurich,
1798-1806.
John William Lewin, an English painter, son of Wil¬
liam Lewin already mentioned, published a Natural His¬
tory of Lepidopterous Insects of New South Wales. 1 vol.
4to, with coloured plates, London, 1805.
Gaspard Duftschmid has published descriptions of nu¬
merous families of Coleoptera in his Fauna Austrice, 2 vols.
1805-25.
A. A. H. Lichtenstein, a professor of oriental languages
at Hamburg, published A Dissertation on Tiro Natural
Genera hitherto confounded under the name of Mantis, in the
6th vol. of the Linn. Trans.
Palisot, Baron de Beauvois,of the Academy of Sciences,
was born in 1755, and died in 1820. He is the author of
a handsome work in folio, with coloured plates, entitled In¬
sectes recueillis en Afrique et en Amerique, &c. Paris,
1805 et seq.
Henry Smeathman has published a History of the Ter¬
mites or White Ants, in the 71st volume of the Philosophi¬
cal Transactions.
Christian Steven, director of the imperial botanic gar¬
den of Odessa, has published a Description de quelques
Insectes de Caucase et de la Russie Meridionale, in the
Mem. de la Soc. Imper. des Naturalistes de Moscou, t. ii.
 Baumhauer. Novelle Classification des Mouches
d deux ailes. 8vo, Paris, 1800.
C. L. v. Muller. Entomologisches Tasken-buch fiir
Schmetterlinges Sammler. 12mo. fig. Bresl. 1800.—Fauna
Lepidopterorum Silesiaca, fyc. Ibid. 1802.
J. Fr. Wolff. leones Cimicum descriptionibus illus¬
tratce. 4to, Erlang. 1800-11.
J. C. L. Hellwig. Systematisches Verzeichniss von
den Schmetterlingen der Weiner Gegend. Braunschw. 1803.
A. Afzelius (and F. W. Brannius). Achetce Guinen-
scs. 4to, fig. Upsal, 1804.
Mich. Buniva. Intorno agli Insetti nocivi. 12mo, To¬
rino, 1804.
G. F. Heutsch. Epitome Entomologies systematicce
secundum Fabricium, fyc. 4to, Leipz. 1804.
C. Iser. Svenk Entomologie. 8vo, Linkop. 1806.
J. E. Arrhenius. Monographia Cantharidum et Mal-
achiorum Suecice. Lund. 1807.
Fr. A. Bonelli. Observations Entomologiques. 2 parts,
4to, Turin, 1809-13.—Descrizione di sei nuove Specie
d?InsettiLepidotteri diurnidella Sardegna. 4to, fig. Torino,
1824. We have other entomological papers by this author
in the Mem. of the Turin Academy.
  Bayle Barelle. Saggio Intorno agli Insetti
nocivi ai vegetabili economici, fyc,, 8vo, Milano, 1809.—Degli
Insetti nocivi aW Uomo, alle Bestie, ed all' Agricoltura.
12mo, Mil. 1824.
M. J. Baudet-Lafarge. Essai sur VEntomologie des
Dep. du Puy-de-D6me. 8vo, Clermont, 1809.—Monogra-
phie des Carabiques du Puy-de-Ddme. 8vo, 1836.
A. Ahrens. Fauna Insectorum Europce ; cura Germar
et Kaulfuss. 18mo, 20 fascic., Halim, 1812.—Beitrdge zu
einer Monographic der rohrkifer {Donacia Fabr.). 8vo,
Halle, 1817.
G. H. Berglund. Anthracides Suecice. 4to, Lund. 1814.
J. J. B. Hemmer. Raupen und Papilions Kalender.
8vo, fig., Coburg, 1814.
F. L. P. Bracy-Clark. An Essay on the Bots of
Horses and other animals. 4to, fig., Lond. 1815.
 von Malinouzky. Elementarbuch der Insecten-
kunde. 8vo, Quedlinb. 1816.
Ch. Malo. Les Papilions. 18mo, Paris, 1816.—Les
Insectes, ou choix des plus jolis insectes de la France et des
pays etrangers. 12mo, Paris, 1818.
12
E N T 0 M
Biblio¬
graphy.
F. G. Champneuf. Considerations Medicinoles sur les
Insectes. 8vo, Paris, 1817.
G. Kunste. EntomologischeFragmente. 8vo, Halle, 1818.
Gustavus Paykul, a royal councillor, and member of
the academy of Stockholm, is the author of several very
valuable works. His earlier publications were monographs
of the genera Carabus, Curculio, and Staphylinus, after¬
wards incorporated in his Fauna Suecica {Insecta), 3 vols,
8vo, Upsal, 1800. These contain only the coleopterous
tribes. The descriptions are careful and complete. Of
the same author, the Monographia Ilisteroidum, 1 vol. 8vo,
Upsal, 1811, is deservedly held in the highest estimation.
H. M. Gaede has published Beytrage zur Anatomic der
Insekten, &c- 4to, Altona, 1815.
H. T. L. Reichenbach has published a Monographm
Pselaphorum, one small volume, with figures, Leipsic, 1816.
John William Meigen, a German naturalist, has pub¬
lished a very complete work on European Diptera : Be-
sehreibung derEuropdischen Zwerftilgeligen Insecten. 6 vols.
8vo, 1818-30. 2d edit. 1851. It is accompanied by coloured
plates representing a species of each genus, with the details,
chiefly deduced from the antennae, of the generic charac¬
ters. Meigen is, moreover, the author of—Abbildung aller
bis jetz behannten Europdischen Zweifivgeligen Insecten. 1
Hft. 8vo, fig., Hamm., 1830.—Handbuch fiir Schmetter-
lingsliebhaber. 8vo, fig., Aachen., 1827.—Systematische
Beschreibung der Europ. Schmetterlinge, mit Abbildungen.
4to, Aachen., 1827-31.
Louis Jtjrine, professor of anatomy and surgery at Ge¬
neva, is the well-known author of the Nouvelle Methode de
classer les Hymenopteres et les Dipteres, avec fig., Hyme-
nopteres, torn. 1, in 4to, Geneve, 1807. His classification
is based on the ramifications of the nervures of the wings,
and an acquaintance with his work is indispensable to a
knowledge of the Hymenoptera. He also published a me¬
moir in 4to, entitled Observations sur les Xenos Vesparum,
1816; and Observations sur les ailes des Hymenopteres,—
“ouvrage d’une admirable patience,” says Latreille. The
latter appeared in the 24th volume of the Memoires de
VAcademie de Turin.
Francois Huber of Geneva, born in 1750, died in 1831,
the celebrated author of the Nouvelles Observations sur les
Abeilles (2d edition), 2 vols. 8vo, 1814, was, though de¬
prived of sight, one of the most accurate and original ob¬
servers of the habits of the insect world. The second volume
of the work just named is by
Pierre Huber, the son of the preceding. The younger
Huber was also the author of Recherches sur les Mceurs des
Fourmis indigenes. 1 vol. 8vo, 1810; and of Observations
sur les Bourdons. The latter was published in the 6th vol.
of the Linn. Trans.
Charles John Schcenhemir, a Swede, has published a
work under the name of Synonymia Insectorum. 3 vols.
8vo, 1806-8-17. It contains only coleopterous insects, and
although not completed even in relation to those tribes, it
is a work of great labour, extreme accuracy, and consequently
high value. It is of indispensable service to those who de¬
sire to trace the mystified stream of synonyms, so frequently
confused and contradictory among the subjects of Entomo-
logy. Schcenherr is also the author of an excellent work,
entitled Curculionidum Dispositio methodica, 1 vol. 8vo,
Leipsic, 1826 ; and he has very recently brought out a much
more complete and extended publication on the same great
tribe, under the title of Genera et Species Curculioni¬
dum, cum Synonymia hums famUuB. 7 vols. 8vo, Leipz.
1834-43.
Leonard Gyllenhal, another noted entomologist of
Sweden, is the author of a work in several parts, called In-
secta Suecica. 1808-28. "I his is one of the few works on
the Coleoptera which has not been left in an uncompleted
state ; and the great accuracy oi the descriptions, expressed
O L O G Y.
in language remarkable alike for precision and perspicuity, Bibli
renders it a publication of the very highest value. grapt |r8
Ed ward Donovan, an English naturalist, has published '-•■‘v-
a considerable variety of illustrated works on natural his¬
tory. We shall here mention only his entomological pro¬
ductions: An Epitome of the Natural History of the Insects
of China. 1 vol. in 4to, 1798.—An Epitome of the Natural
History of the Insects of India. 4t.o, 1800-4. 2d ed.
1842.— General Illustrations of Entomology, part i.—An
Epitome of the Insects of Asia. 1 vol. 4to, 1805.— The
Natural History of English Insects. 16 vols. 8vo, 1792—
1813. The preceding were valuable and praise-worthy
publications for their time, though not in every respect
characterized by the scientific accuracy or critical skill
which distinguish so many of the entomological works of
the present day. .
Drapiez, professor of chemistry at Brussels, has pub¬
lished Memoires sur un nouveau genus dTnsectes Coleop-
teres, and Description de quelques nouvelles especes d’Insectes,
in the Annales Gen-rales des Sciences Physiques, Paris,
1819-21.
Ferdinand Ochsenheimer is the author of a German
work on the Lepidoptera of Europe, Schmetterlinge von
Europa, highly esteemed for its critical accuracy and ex¬
cellent descriptions of the species. The first volume was
published in 8vo, at Leipsic, in 1806. The author died
in 1822, leaving his work in an incompleted state, only
four volumes having been published during his lifetime,
the last of which appeared in 1816, consisting chiefly of
an improved sketch of his arrangement, from the first to the
eighty-seventh genus. Before his death, however, only the
first forty-three genera were published in detail, with the
characters and descriptions of their respective species;
these occupy the first three volumes, the last of which ter¬
minates with the genus Eyprepia, for the fourth contains,
besides the sketch of the arrangement, only notes concern¬
ing some of the species published in the preceding volumes.
The work has been continued by M. Frederick Treitschke,
and the English reader will find an abstract of it by the late
J. G. Children, Esq., F.R.S., with a list of the species of
each genus, and references to one or more of their respec¬
tive icones, in the Philosophical Magazine and Annals
for 1829. Where the generic characters appeared meagre
or defective, Mr Children has given additional ones from
the writings of other entomologists ; and he has also indi¬
cated in numerous notes the new lepidopterous genera
(chiefly by Stephens and Curtis), to which the British
species mentioned in the text are now to be referred. We
may add to the above notice that this great work on the
European Lepidoptera, Die Schmetterlinge von Europa,
the conjoined labours of Ochsenheimer and Treitschke,
is, if not completed, at least terminated, and now consists
of 10 vols. 8vo, Leipz. 1806-36.
James Hubner. Sammlung Europdischer Schmetter¬
linge. 5 vols. 4to, fig. col., Augsb. 1805-32.—Geschichte
Europdischer Schmetterlinge. 4to, Augsb. 1806—34.—■
Sammlung Exotischer Schmetterlinge. 4to, fig., Augsb.
1806-34. This author was a painter of Augsburg, and
his work on the European Lepidoptera is one of the most
complete which we possess. It has also the advantage of
being proportionally less expensive than many other illus¬
trated volumes, and it exhibits a great variety of Larvae.
Hubner is the author of several other entomological works
besides those named above.
Carl. Fred. Fallen. Observationes Entomologicce.
Lund. 1802-7.—Monographia Cicadarum Suecice. 8vo,
Holmise, 1805-6.—Monographia Cantharidum et Mala-
chiorum Suecice. 4to, Lund. 1 807.—Specimen Entomolog.
novum Dipterorum disponendi methodum exhibens. 4to,
Ibid., 1810-14.—Hydrocorides et Naucorides Sueciac.
4to, Ibid., 1814.—Aribii Suecice, 4to, Ibid., 1814.—An-
ENTOMOLOGY.
13
liblio- thracides Suecice. 4to, Ibid., 1814.—Diptera Suecice de-
•aphy. scripta. Vol. i. ii., 4to, 1814-27.—Specimen novum Hemip-
*^/~a**' ter. disponendi methodum exhibens. Ed. nov. 4to, Lund.
1823.—Dispositio Dipterorum synoptica. 4to, Ibid., 1817.
-—Monographia Cimicum Suecice. Ed. nov. 8vo, Hafniae,
1817-—Monograph/a Muscidum Suecice. 4to, Lund. 1820.
Monographia Tenthredinum Suecice. 4to, Ibid. 1829.—
Hemiptera Succice descripta. Parts i. to ix., 4to, Lond.
Gothor. 1829 et. seq.—Monographia Pompilcrum Suecice.
8vo, Ibid. 1829. Besides the preceding, Fallen is the
author of many minor treatises on particular tribes of the
Dipterous order. He was professor of Natural History in
the University of Lund.
Francis Klug, M.D., of Berlin, and one of the directors
of the museum there, has contributed many treatises to
Entomology. Of these we may indicate the following :—
Monographia Siricum Germanice, &c. 1 vol. 4to, with co¬
loured plates, Berlin, 1803.—A Critical Review of the
genera of Fabricius, derived from Apis of Linnaeus, pub¬
lished in Illiger’s Magazinfur Insectenkunde. 1807.—En-
tomologische Monographien. 1 vol. 8vo, with figures, Ber¬
lin, 1824.—Proscopia novum genus Insectorum Orthop-
terorum, in folio, with plates.—Entomologice liraziliance
Specimen. Dr Klug has published in German (IJericht uber,
fyc.) a Rapport on a collection of coleopterous insects from
Madagascar, 1 vol. 4to, with plates, Berlin, 1833; and he
is the author of an Entomological Annual*—Jahrbucher
der Insectenkunde, of which we are acquainted with only a
single volume, published at Berlin in 1834. In conjunc¬
tion with Ehrenberg he has figured and described various
African and Asiatic insects in Symbolce Physicce, fob, fig.
col., Berlin, 1829—30; and has published several monographs
of great value.
John Louis Charles Gravenhorst, of Gottingen, a
skilful entomologist, has composed the following works :—
Coleoptera microptera Brunsvicensia. 1 vol. 8vo, 1802.—•
Monographia Coleopterorum micropterorum. 1 vol. 8vo,
1806.—Monographic du genre Ichneumon. 1 vol. 8vo, with
figures, 1814.—Monographia Ichneumonum Pedemontce
regionis, forming a portion of the twenty-fourth volume of
the Mem. de VAcad. des Sciences of Turin.—Monographic
des Ichneumons Apteres. 1 vol. 8vo, with figures.—Con¬
spectus generum et familiarum Ichneumonidurn, in 4to,
conjointly with Nees ab Esenbeck.—Beitrage zur Ento-
mologie. 1 vol. 8vo.—Lastly, lehneumonologia Europcea,
in 3 large 8vo volumes, 1829, containing above 2800
pages, devoted to the Ichneumonidse alone.
Charles Schreibers, director of the imperial cabinet
of natural history at Vienna, among his other writings has
given us descriptions of various Coleopterous Insects, with
figures, in the 6th vol. of the Linn. Trans. 1806.
Marcel de Serres, professor of mineralogy to the Fa¬
culty of Sciences of Montpellier, has composed many ex¬
cellent articles on the anatomy of insects, printed in the
Mem. du Museum and elsewhere (see especially his obser¬
vations on the Vaisseau dorsal, ibid. 1819), and has pub¬
lished a Memoire sur les yeux composes et les yeux lisses
des Insectes, &c. 1 vol. 8vo, with figures, 1813.
William Elford Leach, M.D., F.R.S., &c., an Eng¬
lish naturalist of great zeal and intelligence, continued Dr
Shaw’s work, under the title of the Zoological Miscellany,
3 vols. 8vo, Lond. 1814-17. He was also the author of
various elaborate treatises on insects, published in the
Linn. Trans.,send in the British and foreign Encyclopcedias.
His enthusiasm for Entomology has been productive of
an advantage to the study in this country, which has now
spread insensibly far beyond the benefit directly derivable
from his own particular labours. His early death was much
deplored.
Nees ab Esenbeck, a noted botanist, has published
Monoqraphie der Ichneumoniden. 2 vols. 8vo, Stuttg. 1828.
—Also Hymenopterorum Ichneumonibus affinium Mono- Biblio-
graphice. Vol. 1st and 2d, Stuttgard, 1834. graphy.
C. A. Walckenaer, beside his Faune Parisienne, and
his works on the Araneides, has published Memoires pour
servir d VHistoire Naturelle des Abeilles solitaires. 1 vol.
8vo, Paris, 1817.—Also Reeherches sur les insectes nuisibles
d la vigne, connus des Anciens et des Modernes, et sur les
moyens de s’opposer d leur ravages. 8vo, Paris, 1835.
William Sharpe Macleay, A.M., is the author of a
work named Horce Entomologicce, or Essays on the Annu-
lose Animals, 1 vol. 8vo, in two parts, 1819-21, remarkable
for its elucidation of the circular progression of affinities. It is
a production of great value. The same author has published
Annulosa Javanica, part 1st, 4to, Lond. 1825, and has con¬
tributed various papers to the Linn. Trans., the Zoological
Journal, and the Transactions of the Zoological Society.
The Rev. Landsdown Guilding, of St Vincent’s, de¬
ceased, was one of the most active of the naturalists ever sta¬
tioned within the tropics. He was the author of several ento¬
mological papers published in the Transactions of the Lin-
ncean Society (1829, &c.), and the Zoological Journal.
John James Hagenbacii, who died in 1826, was one of
the conservators of the Royal Museum of Leyden. He
made known a singular coleopterous insect, from Java, in his
Mormolyce novum genus. 1 vol. 8vo, with a plate, Nurem¬
berg, 1825. He was also the author of Symbola Faunae
Insectorum Helvetice. Fascic. 1, with plates, Basil, 1822.
Aroid David Hammel wrote Quelques Observations
sur la Blatte Germanique, in 8vo, Petersburg, 1821 ; and
between that year and 1827 he published six numbers of
Essais Entomologiques.
Lepelletier de St Faroeau is known as the author of a
Monographie des Chrysis des environs de Paris, in the
Ann. du Mus. d'Hist. Nat. No. 58, and of a Monographia
Tenthredinetarum Synonymia extricata, 1 vol. 8vo, Paris,
1823. He has communicated to the Academy of Sciences
Observations sur les accouplements de diverses especes de
Volucelles, genre de Dipteres ; and has composed, jointly
with M. de Serville, the tenth volume of Entomologie de
VEncyclopedic Methodique. With M. Brulle, he has pub¬
lished a Monographie du Genre Crabro in Ann. Soc. Ent.
iii., 683 ; and in his own proper person is the author of
Hist. Nat. des Insectes Hymmopteres. 3 vols. 8vo. fig.
Paris, 1836.
C. R. G. Wiedmann, professor at Kiel, has written
Diptera exotica, 1 vol. in 8vo, part first, with figures, Kiel,
1821. He is likewise the author of Analecta Entomologica,
in 4to, with plates, Kiel, 1824, and of other works.
C. L. Sahlberg, professor of natural history at Abo in
Finland, commenced an Entomology of that country, under
the title of Dissertatio Entomologica Insecta Fennica
enumerans. 8vo, 1817-1823. He is also the author of
Periculi Entomographid. 1 vol. 8vo, with plates, Abo, 1823.
George Dahl, of Vienna, an entomological merchant,
or dealer in insects, and a well-instructed entomologist, has
printed catalogues of the different orders, particularly Co¬
leoptera und Lepidoptera. 1 vol. 8vo, Vienna, 1823.
M. Charpentier is favourably known as the author of
Horce Entomologicce adjectis tabulis novem coloratis. 4to,
1825. Libellulince Europece, descript, et depict. Lipsice,
1840. Orthoptera, descript, et depict. Lips., 1841-45.
John William Dalman, formerly director of the Stock¬
holm museum, is known as the author of the following
works:—Insectorum Nova Genera. 8vo, Holmiae, 1819.
—Analecta Entomologica, with plates, 1 vol. 4to, Holmiae,
1823.—Prodromus Monographice Castnice, with a plate,
1 vol. 4to, 1825.— Om nagra svenska arter of Coccus,
with plates, 4to, Stockholm, 1826.—A monograph on the
Chcdcidites, or Pteromalini of the author. 1 vol. 8vo, 1820.
—A Synoptical Table of the Butter flies of Sweden, published
in the Memoires de VAcademic de Stockholm. 1816.—Ev>he-
14 E N T O M
Biblio- merides Entomologicce. 1 vol. 8vo, Holmiae, 1824.—A me-
graphy. ui0ir on certain Ichneumonides. 1 vol. 8vo, 1826.—Also of
V'—a memoir in the Swedish language, on the Insects inclosed
in Amber. 1 vol. 8vo, 1826.
Gotthelf Fischer de Waldheim, a German naturalist,
is (or was) director of the Imperial Museum of Moscow. To
this author we owe innumerable papers, entomological and
other, in the Memoirs and Bulletins of the Societe Imper.
de Moscow, &c. We shall here name only some of such
as have been published apart. Ento mo graph ia Imperii
Russici (et genera Insectorum systematice exposita, &;c.)
4 vols. 4to, col. pi., Mosquae, 1820-43.—Lettre au Dr Pan¬
zer, contenant un notice sur plusieurs nouveaux Insectcs.
4to, Ibid. 1820.—Notice sur l’’Argus de Perse {Malleh de
Mianeli), decrits par les voyageurs sous le nom de Punaise
vsnimeuse de Miana. 4to, Ibid. 1823.—Lettre sur le Physo-
dactyle, nouveau genre de Coleopteres Elateroides. 8vo,
Ibid. 1824.—Notice sur le Tettigopsis, nouv. gen. d'Orthop-
teres de la Russie. 8vo, Ibid. 1830.—Notice sur Phlocerus,
nouv. gen. d’Orthop. de la Russie. 4to, Ibid. 1833.—Cata-
loqus Coleopterorum in Siberia orientali, &jc. 8vo, Mosc.
1842.
J. E. Fischek von Roeslerstamm. Ueber das Tbdten
und Aufu'eichen der Schmetterlinge. Prag. 1827.—Abbil-
dungen zur Bericlitigung und Ergrinzung der Schmetter-
lingskunde besonders der Mikrolepidopterologie als Suppl.
zu TreitschMs u. Ilubner's Europ. Schmetterlingen. 4to,
fig. Leipz. 134, et seq.
T. Babt. Fischer. Tentamen Conspectus Canthari-
diorum. 4to, Monach. 1827.
Leop. Henr. Fischer. Dissert, inaug. zooL sistens
enumerationem Coleopterorum circa Friburgum Brisg.
<$rc. 8vo, 1843.
A. M. G. Dumerie. Of the numerous writings of this
distinguished naturalist, we shall now name those on ento¬
mology alone. Exposition d’une methode Naturelle pour
Vetude et la classification des Insectes. 8vo, fig. Paris, 1801.
—Considerations generates sur la classe des Insectes. 8vo,
fig. Paris, 1823. He has published many excellent Rap¬
ports in the Comptes Rendus.
Leon Dufour, a physician in Saint Sever (Landes), is
the author of several highly esteemed contributions to ento¬
mology. We shall here mention Memoire Anatomique sur
une nouvelle espece d’lnsecte du genre Brachine, in the 18th
vol. of the Annales du Museum d’Hist. Nat. Paris, 1811.
—Memoires sur VAnatomic des Coleopteres, des Cigales, des
Cicadelles, des Labidoures or Forficulce;—sur une nouvelle
espece d’Ornithomyia;—sur le genre Ocyptere —all printed
in the Annales des Sciences Naturelles. 1824-28. He has
also written Sur VAnatomic des Scolies, in the Journal de
Physique. Sept. 1818; besides describing many new spe¬
cies of Coleoptera, and the anatomy of Ranatra linearis,
and of Nepa cinerea, in the Annales Generates des Sciences
Physiques. Among his other works may be mentioned,
Recherches Anatomiques et Physiologiques sur les Hemip-
teres, accompagnees de considerations relatives d Vhistoire
naturelle et d la classification de ces insectes. 1 vol. 4to, with
plates, Paris, 1833.—Recherches anatomiques, &jc., sur les
insectes Coleopteres des genres Macronychus et Elmis.
8vo, Paris, 1835.—Memoire pour servir d Vhistoire des
Odyneres,fyc. 8vo,Ibid. 1839.— Hist.desmetam. des Cecido-
myes. 8vo, Ibid. 1840.— Observations sur les metam. du
Cerceris bupresticida, fyc. 8vo, Ibid. 1840.—Recherches
anatomiques et physiologiques sur les Orthopteres, les
Hymenopteres, et les Neuropteres. 4to, Ibid. 1841.
A. J. Duponchel is the continuator of the Histoire
Naturelle dcs Lepidopteres de France, of the late M. Go-
dart, 11 vols. 8vo, Paris, 1821-40. There is a Supplement
to the preceding, in 4 vols. 8vo, Ibid. 1834-45. He has
published a Monographie du genre Erotyle, with plates, in
the 12th vol. of the Memoires du Museum', and is, more-
O L O G Y.
over, the author of the following works: Iconographie des
Chenilles pour faire suite d VHist. Nat. des Lepidoptercs
de France. 31 pl.col.8vo, Paris, 1832-42.— Tableau
methodiques des Lepidopteres de lEurope, distribues en
families, fc., pour servir de complement et de rectification d
VHist. Nat. des Lepidopteres de France. 8vo, Paris, 1844.
M. Duponchel has contributed largely to the Ann. de la
Soc. Ent., and other periodicals.
Robineau-Desvoidy, a physician of St Saveur, has writ¬
ten several ekborate treatises relating to Entomology, such
as Recherches sur Vorganisation vertebrale des Crustaces,
des Arachnides, et des Insectes. 1 vol. 8vo, Paris, 1828.—
Essai sur la tribu des Culicides, in the 2d vol. of Mem. de
la Soc. d’Hist. Nat. de Paris ; and a work Sur les Dipteres
de la tribu des Muscides, printed in the Mem. des Savants
Etrangers de VAcad, des Sciences.
John Curtis, F.L.S., &c., an English entomologist, com¬
menced and concluded several years ago a work entitled
Illustrations of the Genera of British Insects. “ Leurs
characteres,” says Baron Cuvier, “ y sont representes avec
la plus grande fidelite.” It may be safely asserted, that for
elegance of design and accuracy of execution, combined
with the most beautiful and exquisitely finished mode of
colouring, it is a matter of doubt whether any rival to its
plates can be found within the entire range of entomologi¬
cal productions. A new and less costly edition has recently
appeared. Mr Curtis has also published a Guide to an ar¬
rangement of British Insects. 8vo, 1831.
James Francis Stephens, F.L. & Z.S., published a
Systematic Catalogue of British Insects, in one large vo¬
lume 8vo, 1829. Although it presents merely a list of
names and synonyms, this is a most praiseworthy and valu¬
able work, and was the first to exhibit a systematic view of
our indigenous species. It enumerates 10,012 names of
native insects, a number greatly surpassing what could have
been anticipated a few years back. Mr Stephens is like¬
wise the author of a well-known work, Illustrations of Bri¬
tish Entomology, in 10 vols. 8vo, London, 1827—35. It is
pleasingly adorned in a pictorial point of view, and, con¬
taining very excellent descriptions, has not failed in being
classed by competent judges with the most successful efforts
in its line. By the same writer we have also the Nomen¬
clature of British Bisects, 2d edit. 1833,—a useful compen¬
dium.
H. J. Stainton has published several papers relating to
insects in the Trans. Entom. Society. By the same author
we have also the three following works:—Nomenclature of
British Insects. 2d ed. 1833.—An Abstract of the Indi¬
genous Lepidop ter a, contained in the “ Verzeichniss bekann-
ter Schmetterlinge” of Hubner. London, 1835.—A Manual
of British Coleoptera, or Beetles, containing a brief De¬
scription of all the species of Beetles hitherto ascertained to
inhabit Great Britain and Ireland. 8vo, Lond. 1839.
William Syvainson, F.R.S., &c., a noted naturalist, and
excellent draftsman, has published, in his Zoological Illus¬
trations (first series, 3 vols. 8vo, 1820-3, second series,
3 vols. 8vo, 1832-8), many beautiful figures of new and rare
insects, chiefly Lepidoptera. The careful study of Mr
Swainson’s Illustrations, as well as of those of Mr Curtis, must
prove delightful, not alone to the mere entomologist, but to
every eye accustomed to receive pleasure from the tasteful
representation of nature. The figures of our present au¬
thor are almost all drawn by hfmself on stone. His more
recent entomological work is, On the History and Natural
Arrangement of Insects conjunction with Mr Shuckard).
8vo, Lond. 1840.
W. Wood, F.L.S., is author of Illustrations of the Lin-
ncean Genera of Insects, 2 vols. 12mo, London, 1821; and
of Index Entomologicus, or a complete illustrated Catalogue
of the Lepidopterous Insects of Great Britain, 8vo, Lond.
1839-45. This useful and meritorious work contains 1944
Biblio.'
graph j! !l
lio
hj
ENTOMOLOGY.
15
coloured figures of butterflies and moths. A supplement
by Mr Westwood has since appeared, containing the re¬
cently discovered species.
Thomas Horsfield, M.D., an English naturalist now or
formerly in the service of the Honourable East India Com¬
pany, is the author of Catalogue of Lepidopterous Insects
in the museum of that Company, parts i. and ii. royal 4to,
London, 1828-29,—a work of great interest, from its excel¬
lent representation of the metamorphoses of many Javanese
butterflies.
Francis Gebler, a Russian physician and naturalist,
stationed at Barnaoul in Siberia, has published a memoir in
4to, entitled Ohservationes Entomologicce, besides various
papers in the Memoires de la Soc. des Naturalistes de Mos-
cou, chiefly vols. v. vi. and viii.; also, Catalogus Co/eopte-
rorum Siberice Occidentalis, &jc. 8vo, Berlin, 1830.—Notce
et additamenta ad hunc Catalogum. 8vo, Mosc. 1833. He
has done much to illustrate the insects of Siberia, of which
otherwise we know but little.
Ernest Frederick Germar, a German naturalist, pro¬
fessor of mineralogy at Halle, is the author of Dissertatio
sistens Bombycum Species, fyc. 4to, Leipzig, 1811. Con¬
joined with Zinken Von Zommer, he continued Illiger’s
Magazin fiir Insektenkunde, under the title of Magazin der
Entomologie, 4 vols. 8vo, Hallae, 1813-21 ; and with Kaul-
fuss, carried on Ahren’s Fauna Insectorum Europce. Fascic.
iii.-viii., 8vo, Ibid. 1816-22. In his Reise nach Dalmatien
(8vo, Altenb. 1817), he gives an account of the insects he
encountered. He is the author of Insectorum Species Novce
aut minus cognitce, fyc. 1 vol. 8vo, fig., Halle, 1824. Pro¬
fessor Germar has particularly applied himself to the Cur-
culionidce ; and in the work last named, in which lie de¬
scribes 891 Coleopterous species, 318 belong to that splendid
family. He has written a great many separate papers in the
Mag. der Ent, Silbermann’s Rev. Ent., and in a work con¬
ducted by himself, the Zeitschrift f ir die Eutomologie, 5
vols. 8vo, Leipz. 1839-44.
Jean Babtiste Godart compiled the article Papillons
of the Encyclopedie Methodique, and wrote the first five
volumes of the Histoire Naturelle des Lepidopteres ou Pa¬
pillons de France, commenced in 1821, and continued (Go-
dart being dead) by M. Duponchel. It now consists of 11
vols. (in 13) 8vo, Paris, 1821-40. The Supplements form
4 more vols. Ibid. 1832-45. We likewise owe to M. Go-
dart (in conjunction with MM. Duponchel and Guenee) Ico-
nographie des Chenilles pour faire suite d I’Hist. Nat. des
Lepidopteres, fyc., in livraisons, 8vo, Paris, 1832-42.
Francis Bonelli, director of the cabinet of natural his¬
tory, and professor of zoology, at Turin (now deceased), was
the author, among other works, of Observations Entomo-
logiques, in two parts, published in the Memoires de l’Aca¬
demic des Sciences de Turin, for 1809. Their object is the
genus Carabus of Linnaeus, which he has greatly divided ;
and most of his new genera have been received and adopted
by entomologists. In the thirtieth volume of the above-
named memoirs, Professor Bonelli has also published Des-
crizione de sei nuovi insetti lepidopteri della Sardegna, 4to,
Torino, 1824.
Charles Gustayus Carus, professor at Dresden, is the
author (we need not here mention his well-known works on
physiology and comparative anatomy) of a Memoir on the
Circulation of the Larvce ofNeuropterous Insects. 4to, Leip-
sic, 1827.
J. Chabrier has composed a series of memoirs on the
flight of insects, in which the muscular economy is well de¬
scribed. They are now published in a collected form, with
the title of Essai sur le Vol des Insectes, 1 vol. 4to, Paris,
1820.
C. G. Mannerheim, a councillor of the Emperor of
Russia, has contributed to Entomology:—Eucnemis insec¬
torum genus, 1 vol. 8vo, with plates, 1823:—Observations sur
le genre Megalope, in the tenth volume of the Memoirs of Biblio-
the Imperial Academy of Sciences of St Petersburg, 1824 : graI,hy'
—Description de quarante nouvelles especes de Scarabceides
du Brazil, in 4to, with plates, 1829. M. Mannerheim is
likewise the author of Precis d’un nouvel arrangement de
la famille des Brachelytres, in 4to, Petersburg, 1830; and
has contributed to the Bulletin des Nat. de Mosc. and the
Rev. Zool.
Straus-Durckheim is the author of a very admirable
work,—Considerations generales sur VAnatomic comparee
des animaux articules, auxquelles on joint Vanatomie de¬
scriptive du Hanneton. 1 vol. 4to, with plates, Paris,
1828.
Frederick Treitschke, a writer of authority on the Le¬
pidopterous order, has continued Ochsenheimer’s Schmet-
terlinge von Europa, 10 vols. 8vo, Leipz., 1807-35; and is
the author of Hulfsbuch fiir Schmetterlings sammler. 8vo,
fig., col., Wien. 1834.
J. Gust. Billberg. Monographia Mylabridum. 8vo,
Holmise, 1812.—Enumeratio Insectorum in museo suo. 4to,
Ibid., 1820.—Synopsis Faunce Scandinavue. 12mo, Stock¬
holm, 1827.
Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire. Memoires sur
Vorganisation des Insectes. 4 parts, 8vo, Paris, 1820. The
writings of this great anatomist are innumerable on other
departments of natural history.
Fr. Eschscholtz. Entomographien. 8vo, fig. Berk
1822.—Species Insectorum novce descriptce. Mosquae, 1823.
More recently we are indebted to this author for many ex¬
cellent contributions to the Mem. Soc. Nat. Moscou, fyc.
J. A. Arnberg. Diss. Entom. de Hemipteris maxillosis
capensibus. 4to, Upsal, 1822.
Baron F. de Lafresnaye. Reflexions sur les Localites
propres a certain especes d?Insectes. 8vo, Paris, 1823.
J. K. Broch. Correspondance Entomologique. 8vo,
Mulhausen, 1823.
J. Kochlin. Correspondance Entomologique. 8vo, fig.
Mulh., 1823.
C. U. Werterling. Dissert. Entomol. de Hemipteris
rostratis capensis. 4to. Upsal, 1822.
B. F. Fries. Observationes Entomologicce.—Monogra¬
phia Simuliarum Suecice. 8vo, fig. Stockh., 1824.—Mono¬
graphia Tanyporum Suecice. 8vo, fig., Lund., 1823.
 Jerm. The Butterfly Collector'sVademecum. 12 mo,
Ipswich, 1824.
B. Jager. Catcdogus Insectorum, quce in Chersonesum
Tauricum collegit. 8vo, fig., St Petersb., 1827.
J. Vander-Hceven. Systematische Beschrijving van
eenige Insecten van Noord-Nederland. 8vo, Amsterdam
1827.
A. Ingpen. Instructions for collecting, rearing, and pre¬
serving British Insects. 18mo, fig., col., Lond. 1827.
Ch. Lier and F. Duval. Collection des Lepidopteres
ou Papillons des Pays-Bas et de France. 8vo, fig., Brux.
1827.
Bern. Angelini. Ascalafi Italiani, con nuova Specie.
8vo, Milano, 1827.
M. Sonogla has contributed to entomology a work under
the title of,—Insectorum Ligurice. Species novce. 2 vols. 4to.
Genuae, 1827.
F. L. Lebreux. Hist. Nat. des Lepidopteres, ou Papil-
lon. 12mo, Valencien. 1827.
Al. Lefebure. Description de divers Insectes inedits
recueillis en Sidle. 8vo, fig., Paris, 1837. This author has
also contributed to the Ann. de la Soc. Ent. de France.
Gius. Bertoloni. Lettera a Conte Fil. Re Su Varii
Insetti nocivi all'Agricoltura. 8vo, Milano, 1812.—Memo-
ria sopra due rare Farfalle trovate nel Territorio Lunese.
8vo, fig., Bol. 1829.—Descriptio novce speciei e Coleopte-
rorum ordine. 4to, fig., Bonon. 1837.—Diss. de Insectis
quce hieme et vere ann. 1832-33 sata Tritici vastarunt in
16 E N T 0 M
Biblio- cams Italuz. 4to, fig., Bonon. 1837.—Fauna Insettologica
graphy. gei territorio Bolognese.
Thkod. Thon has published some representations of
exotic Coleoptera, under the title of Ahbildungen auslan-
discher Inseeten. I. Kafer, 4to, Jena, 1826-28.—Also ISeue
Schmetterlingsbelustigungen. Prospectus, 8vo, Jena, 1828.
O. G. Costa. Osservazione sugli Insetti deWOlivo e
delle Olive. Atti di Napoli, 1828.—Specie Nuove di Le-
pidopteri del Begno di Napoli. 8vo, fig., Nap. 1832.—Nu-.
ove Osservazione intorno alle Cocciniglie ed ai loro pretcsi
maschi. 4to, fig., Napoli, 1835.—Memoria degli Insetti
di terra Otranto. Atti Accad. Nap. \v—l)escrizione degli
Insetti cite vivono ne fumajuoli del cratere del Vesuvio.
4to., Ibid., 1836.
Fr. Frolich. Enumeratio Tortricum, &c. 8vo, 1 ubing.
1828.
 Berleze. Destruction de la larve du Hanneton.
8vo, Paris, 1828.
Leon Lalande. Manuel Entomologique pour la Clas¬
sification des Lcpidopteres de France, fyc. 2 vols. 8vo, fig.
Paris, 1829.
Francis Etienne Guerin-Meneville. This assiduous
author and excellent draftsman has contributed largely to
entomological science, especially in the way of illustrated
works. A great majority of his scientific papers have ap¬
peared in the Mag. de Zoologie, and the Rev. Zoologique,
of which periodicals he has had the direction. His Icono-
graphie du Regne Animal of Cuvier illustrates the class
Insecta (of which there are 111 plates), in common with all
the other great groups, and consists of 7 vols. 8vo, Paris,
1829-39. He has published a Magazine dEntomologie, ou
Description et Figures des Insectes inidits ou non encore
figurees, 8vo, Paris, 1830; and, jointly with M. Percheron,
Genera des Insectes, ou Exposition detaillee de tons les
caracteres propres d chacun des genres de cette classe d’ani-
maux. 8vo, fig. col., Paris, 1831-35. He worked the ento¬
mological portion of Duperrey’s Voyage autour du Monde
(fob, Paris, 1829), of Belanger’s Voyage aux Indes Orien-
tales (4to, Paris, 1831-44), of Bory de St Vincent’s Expe¬
dition Scientifque en Moree (4to, Paris, 1832-5), and of
Delessert’s Souvenirs d'un Voyage dans Vlnde (8vo, Paris,
1843). Along with M. Goudot he has given us an account
of Insectes nouveaux observes sur les plateaux des Cordil-
leres et dans les Vallees Chaudes de la Nouvelle Grenade ;
and (with Reiche) has described some Abyssinian insects
in the Voyages of Ferret and Galinier—of Vaillant and
Lefebure. Of these later essays we do not know the
date. M. Guerin’s latest work, to our knowledge, is his
Recherches sur les vers d soie sauvages et domestiques.
8vo, Paris, 1854.
Jean Macquart. This author excels in his knowledge
of the Dipterous order. Insectes Dipteres du Nord de
France. 5 vols. 8vo, fig., 1825-29.—Hist. Nat. des Insectes
Dipteres; ouvrage faisant suite d Buffbn. 2 vols. 8vo, fig.,
Paris, 1834-35.—Dipteres Exotiques nouveaux, ou peu
connues. 3 vols. 8vo, fig., Paris, 1836-40.—Memoire sur
les harmonies entomologiques, lu en seance generale du Con-
gres Scientifque de France. 8vo, Arras.—Memoires sur
les Insectes Nuisibles d VAgriculture Ibid. (Zuchold’s
Bibliotheca, 1854.)
John William Zetterstedt, a Swedish naturalist, has
published several works on the entomology of northern
Europe. Orthoptera Suecica disposita et descripta. 8vo,
Lundae, 1821.—FaunaInsectorumLapponica. 8vo, Hamm,
1828.—Insecta Lapponica. 4to, Leipz., 1838-40.—Diptera
Scandinavian disposita et descripta. 9 vols. 8vo, Lundae,
1842-50.
Jean Victor Audouin (now deceased), sub-librarian to
the Institute ol France, and professor in the Jardin des
Plantes, is the author of several signal works.—Recherches
Anatomiques sur les thorax des animaux articules, et celui
O O GY.
des Hexapodes en particuliers. 8vo, Paris, 1821.—Rech. Biblio
Anat. sur le Drile jaunatre. 8vo, Ibid., 1824. Conjointly graph]
with M. Milne-Edwards, M. Audouin is author of Icono- ' v-
graphic des Insectes, 32mo, Paris, 1828; and of Resume
dEntomologie. 2 vols. 8vo, Ibid., 1829.—With M. Brule
he has published Hist. Nat. des Insectes, traitant de leur
Organisation, de leurs Mceurs en general, &c. 4 vols. 8vo,
fig. col., Paris, 1834-36;—and Description des Especes
nouvelles ou peu connues de la famille des Cicindeletes,
faisant partie de la Coll, du Museum. 4to, fig. col., 1839.
Many years ago he gave an Explication Sommaire of the
entomological plates of the great French work on Egypt. His
latest and most remarkable work is his Histoire des Insectes
ibl
ap
■v
nuisibles d la vigne et particularement de la Cote d’Or, See.
(6 livrais.) 4to, pi. col., Paris, 1840-42. This production
almost equals in minute and laborious accuracy the famous
anatomical volume by Lyonnet on the Chenille de Saule.
H. Milne-Edwards. Of this distinguished writer on
comparative anatomy and physiology, the only work with
which we are acquainted relating specially to insects is the
Resume dEntomologie, just mentioned as a joint-produc¬
tion with M. Audouin, 2 vols. 8vo, Paris, 1828-29.
J. A. Boisduval. This noted entomologist was formerly
conservator of the collection of Comte Dejean, and has
published numerous works on insects, all of great value.
Notice sur cinque especes nouvelles de Lepidopteres dEu-
rope. 8vo, fig., Paris, 1827.—Monographic des Zygcenides
suivie d'un Tableau methodique de classification des Coleop-
teres. 8vo, Ibid., 1828.—Europceorum Lepidopterorum
Index Methodicus. 8vo, Ibid., 1829.—Partie Entomolo¬
gique de la Relation du Voyage autour du Monde en
1826-29, par M. Dumont d’Urville, 5 livraisons, fob,
Paris.—Faune Entomologique de Madagascar, Bourbon,
et Maurice; partie des Lepidopteres, avec des notes sur
leurs mceurs par Sganzin. 8vo, fig., Paris, 1833.—Faune
Entomologique de V Oceanic, contenant la description de
toutes les especes de Coleopteres, fyc., decouvertes jusqu d ce
jour dans cette partie du monde, et les especes des autres
ordres rapportees par VExpedition de i Astrolabe. 2 vols.
8vo, atlas, Paris, 1832-35. In this work the author has
given a descriptive catalogue of the insects of Australia, and
the islands of the Pacific, so far as they had been then as¬
certained, or his opportunities extended.—LEntomologie
du Voyage autour du Monde sur la Corvette la Coquille.
2 vols. 8vo, ph cob in folio, Paris, 1835.—Species general
des Lepidopteres. 8vo, Paris, 1836.—leones historiques
des Lepidopteres dEurope nouveaux ou peu connus. 8vo,
Paris, 1832-41 (par livraisons).—Hist. Nat. des Insectes
Lepidopteres. 8vo, Paris (in Suites a Buffon).— Genera et
Index Methodicus Europceorum Lepidopterorum. 8vo,
Paris, 1840. In conjunction with M. Lacordaire, our author
has published, Faune Entomologique des environs de Paris,
&c., Coleopteres. 1 voh 18mo, Paris, 1835 ;—with Dejean
and Aube, Iconographie et Hist. Nat. des Coleopteres
dEurope. 12 vois. 8vo, ph cob, Paris, 1829-40;—with
Leconte, Hist. gen. et iconographie des Lepidopteres et des
Chenilles de VAmerique Septentrionale. Par livraisons.
8vo. Paris, 1830-42 ;—with Rambhur and Graslin, Col¬
lection iconographique et historique des Chenilles dEurope,
&e. Par livraisons, 8vo. Paris, 1832-37.—M. Boisduval
has recently contributed to our knowledge of the Lepidop-
tera of California in the Ann. de la Soc. Ent. of France.
George Samouelle is the author of Nomenclature of
British Entomology, alphabetically arranged. 8vo, Lon¬
don, 1819.— The Entomologist's useful Compendium, See.
8vo, with figures. Lond., 1819.— General directions for
collecting and preserving Exotic Insects, Sec. 8vo. Lond.
1826.— The Entomological Cabinet. 2 vols. 8vo, Lond. 1834.
L. Arragona. De quibusdam Insectis novis aut ra-
rioribus. 8vo, Tic. Reg. 1830.—De quibusdam Coleop-
teris Italice Tentamen. 8vo, Tic. Reg. 1830.
E N T O M
iblio* James Rennie. Insect Architecture, to which are added,
aphy. Miscellanies on the Ravages, the Preservation for pur-
~ J poses of Study, and the Classification of Insects. 2 vols.
8vo. Lond. 1830. New Edition in Knight’s Weekly Vo¬
lume (vols. 39 and 40), Ibid,, 1845.—Alphabet of Insects,
for the use of Beginners. 12mo, Lond. 1832.
Chr. Zimmekmann. Monographic der Carabiden. 8vo,
Berl. u. Halle, 1831-32.
F. S. Hemprich (and C. G. Ehrenberg).—Symbolce
physical, seu icon, et des. Insectorum quce in itinere, Sc.
Folio, Berol. 1830-34,
 Franck. Catalogue des Lepidopteres de sa Col¬
lection. 8vo, Strasb. 1830.
Aloys Cadolini. Enumeratio Carabicorum Ticinen-
sium, &c. 8vo, Ticini Reg, 1830.
  Brambilla, Enumeratio Caraborum Ticinen-
sium. 1830,
P. W. B randsten, Bombi Scandinavice, monographia
tractati et Iconibus illustrati. Lond. Goth. 1832.
Maximilian Spinola, a Genoese of noble birth, and an
accomplished naturalist, is the author of the following works:
—Insectorum Ligurice species novce ant rariores. 2 vols. 4to,
fig., Genuae, 1806-8.-—Essai sur les Genres d’Insectes ap¬
purtenant d Vordre des Hemipteres, &c. 8vo, Genes. 1837,
Paris, 1840.—Essai sur la Eulgorelles. 2 vols. 8vo, fig.,
Genes, 1839.—Description d’un nouveau genre de Coleop-
teres Xylophages, et de quelques autres Insectes. 8vo, fig.
Paris, 1839.— Considerazioni sopra i costumi degli Insetti
Imenotteri del genere Sirex, Fab., e sopra il miglior porto
dei Sireciti nel methodo razionale. 8vo, Genova, 1843.—
Osservazioni sopra i caratteri naturali di trefamiglie d’In¬
setti imenotteri, le Vesparie, le Massaride, e le Crisidide. 8vo,
Geneva, 1843.—Essai Monographique sur les Clerites, in¬
sectes Coleopteres. 2 vols. 8vo, pi., col., Genes, 1844.—
Tavola sinottica dei generi spettanti alia classe degli In¬
setti Artroidignati, Hemiptera, Linn. 4to, Modena, 1850.
Signor Spinola has moreover contributed numerous ento¬
mological memoirs, of a more special nature, to the Avin.
du Mus., the Ann de Soc. Ent., the Revue Zoologique, and
other periodicals,
T. E. Kernell. Exercitationes hymenopterologicce ad
Must, faunam Suecicam. 8vo, Lond. Goth. 1831.
F. C. Kielsenn. leones Insectorum. 8vo, Hafn. 1835.
R. A. Philippi, in the form of an inaugural dissertation,
has given us Orthoptera Berolinensis. 4to,fig., Berol., 1830.
Max. Perty. Delectus animalium articulatorum quce
in Itinere per Braziliam collegerunt Dr de Spix et Dr de
Martius. Fol. fig. fasc. i.-iii., Monach, 1830-33.— Obser-
vationes nonnullce in Coleoptera Indice Orientates. 4to,
Monach, 1831.—De Insectorum in America, Meridionale
habitantium vita genere moribus ac distributionegeographied
Observationes nonnullce. Fob, Ibid. 1833.
T. Bruand. Entomologie. 8vo, Besancon, 1844.
Aug, Brulle. Coup-d’ceil sur VEntomologie de la
Moree. 8 vo, Paris, 1831.—Hist. Nat. des Insectes Coleop¬
teres. Paris, 1834.— These sur le Gisemont des Insectes
fossiles, fyc. 4to, Paris, 1839.—Also various papers in the
Ann. de la Soc. Ent. de France, and (with Guerin-Mene-
ville) the entomological portion of the French Expedition
Scientifique en Moree, 4to, atlas fol. To M. Brulle we
are more recently indebted for a work on the Ichneumons,
forming the fourth volume of the Suites d Buffon.
Giuseppe Gen^. Author of various contributions to
entomology in the Memoirs of the Academy of Turin,
and other foreign works. He has published apart, Su gli
Insetti pin nocivi. 8vo, con. tav., Milano, 1827.—Saggio
di una Monographia delle Forjicule indigene. 4to, Padua,
1832.—De quibusdam Insectis Sardinice novis aut minus
cognitis. Fasc. i. ii., 4to, Taurini, 1837-8.—Memoria per
servire alia Storia Naturale di alcuni Imenotteri. 4to,
Modena, 1842.—Saggio su gli Insetti pin dannosi alV Agri-
VOL. IX.
O L O G Y. 17
coltura, agli animali domestici, ed aiprodotte delVEconomia Biblio-
rurale. 8vo, Milano, 1827, 2d edit. 1836.—Istruzione su graPhy-
gli Insetti pin dannosi alV Agricoltura in Piemonte, e su
i mezzi pin facili di distruggioli. 8vo, Torino, 1840.
F. Villiers, and Guenee. Tableaux synoptiques des
Lepidopteres dUEurope, contenant la description, &jc, 4to,
fig., Paris, 1834.
A. Guenee. Microlepidopterorum Europceorum Index
Methodicus. 8vo, Paris, 1846. To this author we also
owe three volumes published in the Suites d Buffon, de¬
scribing the various species of Noctuce, and a fourth con¬
taining the Pyralidce. He is now engaged on the Geome-
tridee and Bombycidce.
J. W. Helfer. Terminoloqia Entomoloqica. 8vo, Ticini
Rez. 1832.
Fr. J. Pictet of Geneva, is the author of many excel¬
lent and elaborate works. Memoire sup les Larves des
Nemoures. 8vo, fig., Paris, 1832.—Recherches pour servir d
VHistoireetdVAnatomic desPhryganides. 4to, fig., Geneve,
1834.—Note sur les Organes respiratoires des Capricornes.
4to, fig., Ibid. 1836.—Description de quelques nouvelfes
espcces de Neuropteres du Museedes Geneve. 4 to, fig., Ibid.
1836.—Histoire Naturelle, generate et particuliere des In¬
sectes Neuropteres: I. Famille de Perlides. 8vo, fig., Ibid.
1841.
J. P. Rambur. Catalogue des Lepidopteres de l’Isle de
Corse, avec la description et la figure des especes inidites.
8vo, fig., Paris, 1832.—Faune Entomologique de VAnda-
lousie. 2 vols. 8vo, fig., Ibid. 1837.—A more recent volume
on Neuropteres, in the Suites d Buffon.
Vino. Kollar. Monographia Chlamydum. Folio, fig.
col., Vien. 1824.—Brasiliens Vorziiglich Idstige Insecten.
4to, fig., Wien. 1832.—A Treatise on Insects injurious to
Gardeners, Foresters, and Farmers. 8vo, fig. Lond.
1840.
A. Gust. Dahlbom. Monographia Chrysidum Suecice.
8vo, Lund. 1829.—Monographia Pompilorum Suecice.
8vo, Lond., Goth, 1829.—Bombi Scandinavice Monogra-
phice tractati et icon, illustrati. 8vo, fig. col., Lond. Goth.
1832.—Prodromus Hymenopterologice Scandinavice. 8vo.
Lond., 1833-36.— Clavis novi Hymenopterorum Systema-
tis, &c. Ibid. 1835.—Conspectus Tenthredinidum, &c.
4to, Hafniae, 1835.—Examenhistorico naturale de Crabroni-
bus Scandinavicis, &c. Lund. 1838.—Synopsis Hymen¬
opterologice Scandinavicce. 4to. Lond. 1839-40.—Dispo-
sitio methodica speciorum Scandinavicarum pertinentium
adfamilias Sphegidarum, Pompilidarum, Larridarum, &c.
Ibid. 1842.—Hvmenoptera Europcea precipueborealia, &c.
Lund. 1843-45.
Charles Nouier, a literary writer and tourist in Scot¬
land, has given us Bibliographie Entomologique, ou Cata¬
logue raisonne des Ouvrages relatffs d VEntomologie et aux
Insects, avec de Notes critiques et VExposition des Methodes.
12mo, Paris, 1801.—Examen critique des Lettres d Julie sur
VEntomologie,par E. Mulsant. 8vo, Paris et Lyons, 1833.
Thomas Say has added greatly to our knowledge of the
insects of the Western World by numerous contributions to
the American journals. These have been partially col¬
lected by a French author, under the title of (Euvres Ento-
mologiques contenant tous les Memoires que M. Say a publics
dans les Journaux Scientifiques des Etats- Unis sur VEntomo¬
logie e VAmerique du Nord, rec. et trad, par Gory. 8vo,
Paris, 1837. Mr Say is also the author of American Ento¬
mology, or Descriptions of Insects of North America. 3
vols. 8vo, Philadelphia, 1824-28.—Explanation of terms
used in Entomology. Philad. 1825.—Descriptions of new
species of Heteropterous Hemiptera of North America. 8vo,
New Harmony, 1831.—Curculionites of North America,
with Observations on some of the species already knoivn.
8vo, Indiana, 1831.—Descriptions of new species of North
American Insects, &c. 4to, 1833-36.
13
Biblio¬
graphy.
ENTOMOLOGY.
M. Solier is the author of various papers, chiefly on the
Coleopterous tribes, in the Annals of the Entomological
Society of France. 1835, et seq.
C.W. Hahn. JconesadMonographiamCimicum. 12mo,
Nurnb., 1826.—Die Wanzenartigen Insecten. 8vo, Nurnb..
1813-35.—leones Orthopferorum. 4to, Nurnb., 1836.
A. H. Halid ay. Hymenoptera Britannica. Oxyceraet
Alysia. 2 vols. 8vo, Lond., 1839.—Many contributions
to the Entomological Magazine, &c.
 Bektolotti. The History of the Flea, with Notes
and Observations. 2d ed., 8vo, fig., Lond., 1834.
A. Villa has published a catalogue of the duplicates of
his own collection—a work of a useful kind in facilitating
exchanges. Coleoptera Europce dupleta in collectione Vill^e.
8vo, Mediolani, 1833.—Alterum supplementum Coleoptero-
rum Europce, sive additio ad catalogum, ct supplementum T.
dupletorum coltectionis Vill^e, &c. 8vo, Mediol., 1838.
Note su alcuni Tnsetti osservati nel periodo delV ecclisse
del 8 Luglio, 1842. 12mo, Milano, 1842.
W. J. Little. This assiduous collector has added greatly
to our knowledge of the localities of Scottish Coleoptera,
although we have no separate work by himself upon the
subject.
Ant. Longhi. Abitazione dei Coleotteri e dei mezzi
acconci difarne caccia. 8vo, Milano, 1834.
H. Lucas. Hist. Nat. des Lepidoptercs dEurope. 8vo,
Paris, 1835.—Hist. Nat. des Lepidopteres etrangers. 8vo,
fis. col., Ibid., 1835.—Des Papillons, ou Vade-mecum, des
Lepidopterologistes. 8vo, fig., Paris, 1838. This author
has also illustrated the entomology of the French posses¬
sions in Northern Africa, by figures and descriptions of
many species of all the orders, in the third volume of the
great work published by the government on the Explora¬
tion Scientifique de VAlgerie.
Rudolph yon Jenison-Walworth. Die Insekten-
Doubletten aus der Sammlung des. 8vo. Miinchen, 1834.
—Beise durch Sad-Deutschland, u. Nord-Italien. 8vo,
Ibid., 1835.
Eb. Munck af Rosenschold. Prodromus faunce, Co-
leopterorum Lundensis. 8vo, Praes., 1835.
G. G. Kollar. De Cicindela Campestri. 4to, Get¬
ting., 1836.
Gustave Silbermann. To this author we owe numer¬
ous excellent articles in the Revue Entomologique of Stras¬
bourg (1833 et seq.), a useful publication containing origi¬
nal essays, and descriptions of species, with critical and ex¬
planatory notices of recent entomological works, chiefly those
of France and Germany. He has also written Enumeration
des Entomologistes Vivants. 8vo, Paris, 1835. This is a
work in which those whose names are now inscribed desire
to be continued in future editions.
Fr. Herold. Entwickelungsgeschichte der Schmetter-
linge, Anatomisch, &c. 2 vols. 4to, fig., Kassel, 1815.—
Von der Erzengung der Insecten. Folio, Frankf., 1834.
M. Poey has written a work named Centurie des Lepi¬
dopteres de VIsle de Cuba. PI. col., Paris, 1834.
J. G. Gebhardt. Die Schadlichen Feld, Wald u.
Obstbaum Insecten, See. 8vo, Hanover, 1834.
L. P. Cantener. Catalogue des Lepidopteres du Dip. du
Var. 8vo, Paris, 1833.—Hist. Nat. des Papillons diurnes des
Dep. du Haut et Bas Rhin, See. 8vo, Par. et Colm., 1835.
M. Carrara. Sulla Fosforescenza della Lucciola com¬
mune {Lamp. Italic.). 8vo, Milano, 1836.
Ioussaintde Charpentier. Verzeichni&sderEuropais-
chen Schmetlerhnge in Besug auf Hubner's Schmetterlings-
werh. Breslau, 1818.—See preceding notice of M. Char-
pen tier’s Works, p. 13.
W. de Haan. Memoire sur les Metamorphoses des Co-
leopteres. 4to, Paris, 1836.
- Bernard Deschamps. Recherches Microscopiques
sur Vorganization des ailes des Lepidopteres. 8vo. Paris, 1835.
Le Comte Dejean, a peer of France, and lieutenant- Biblio-
general, now deceased, was one of the most noted collec- Ptrapby,
tors of Coleoptera in modern times. He published the Ca- 'S—|
talogue des Coleopteres de sa Collection. 3d ed., 8vo, Paris,
1837-38. This work is interesting as exhibiting the amount
of species in each genus and as indicating their localities.
Species generate des Coleopteres. 6 vols. in 7, 8vo, Paris,
1825-39.—Iconographie et Hist. Nat. des Coleoptires
dEurope. 8vo, fig., 5 vols. 1829-40. In this work our
author was aided by MM. Boisduval and Aube. The first
four volumes contain the Carabiques, and consist of 46 fasci¬
culi, with 223 coloured plates. The fifth volume (by M.
Aube) contains the Hydrocanthares, and is ccmposed of 10
fasciculi, with 41 coloured plates.
A. De la Rue. Entomoloqie forestiere, Sac., See. 8vo,
Paris, 1838.
F. L. Delaporte De Castelnau. Etudes Entomolo-
giques, Sec. 8vo, Paris, 1834-35.—Essai d'une classification
deVordredes Hemipteres. 8vo, Paris.— Traite elementaire
dEntomologie. 12mo, Paris, 1839. In union with Mr Gory,
he has given us Hist.Nat.etlconog.desInsectes Coleoptires;
2 vols. 8 vo, Paris, 1835-40;—Monographic des Buprestides;
8vo, fig., col., Ibid., 1834; and—Monographic du genre
Clytus; 8vo, fig., col., Ibid., 1835. To M. Delaporte we are
also indebted for numerous papers in Guerin’s Mag. de Zoo-
logie, the Ann. de la Soc. Ent., and Silbermann’s Revue.
L. Gory has contributed largely to entomology in Guerin’s
Magazine de Zoologie, and, in conjunction with M. Dela¬
porte, is the author of Monographie des Buprestides. Paris,
1834. With that observer he has also executed a Mono¬
graphie des Genres Clytus, and the Hist. Nat. et Iconog. des
Insectes Coleopteres, 2 vols. 8vo, Paris, 1840 ; while with
M. Percheron he has published a Monographie des Cetoines
et genres voisins. See., Paris, 1833-36.
A. R. Percheron. Besides the works above alluded
to, this author has executed a Monographie des Passales,
et des genres qui en ont etc separes. 8vo, Paris, 1835. He
has contributed to Guerin’s Mag. de Zool., and is joined
with that writer in his Genera des Insectes. 8vo, Paris,
1831-35. He has also written Bibliographic Entomolo¬
gique. 2 vols. 8vo, Paris and London, 1837.
J. Th. Lacordaire. Essai sur les Coleopteres de la
Guyane Francois, Nouv. Ann. des Trans. Tom. ii., p. 35.
—Introduction a I’/tude dEntomologie, &c. 2 vols. 8vo, fig.,
Paris, 1834-37.—Monographie des Erotyliens. 8vo, Paris,
1842.—Revision de la famille des Cicindelides. 8vo, Liege,
1842.—Monographie des Coleopteres subpentameres de la
famille des Phytophages. In the Mem. de la Soc. Royale
de Liege. Tom. iii. v., Brux., 1845. These volumes have
since been published apart. They contain descriptions of
the species of Crioceris, Lema, Sagra, Donacia, Megalopus,
Clythra, Chlamys, Lamprosoma, and allied genera. It is
almost appalling to the entomologist to consider the dimen¬
sions to which a descriptive catalogue of even the phyto¬
phagous coleoptera must extend when completed. M.
Lacordaire has made many more special contributions to
our science, and is the joint author (with M. Boisduval) of
the Faune Entomologique des Environs de Paris. 1 vol.
18mo, Paris, 1835. But perhaps the most important of
our present author’s works is his general one, the Histoire
des Insectes, nowpublishing in the Nouvelles Suites a Buffon.
The first two volumes have appeared. The work professes
to be an “ Expose methodique et critique de tous les genres
proposes jusque ici.” He gives the characters of each genus,
and appends a list of all the species yet described. This
work is of great value, not only for classification anil cha¬
racters, but for general information on all that the author
touches. He professes to make the entomological world
aware of what is really known up to the present time,—a
bold and ambitious attempt, but as likely to prove successful
in the hands of M. Lacordaire as in those of any other.
ibl
apl
w
ENTOMOLOGY.
19
blio- J. C. Cheng. This author is now (1855) carrying on an
iphy. Encyclopedic d'IIistoire Naturelle, which, like others under
that name, is necessarily a compilation. It already contains
two volumes on Coleopterous insects, and the like number
upon the Lepidopterous order. Each volume contains many
hundred figures (woodcuts), with a representation of almost
every genus. The different departments of the work may
be had separately, and are remarkable for the smallness of
their cost.
Max. de Chaudoir. Tableau dune nouvelle subdivi¬
sion du qenre Feronia, Dejean, sulci dune caracteristique
de trois nouveaux genres de Carabiques. Bull. Mosc. Rev.
Zook, 1839, p. 26.—Genres nouveaux, et especes nouvelles
des Coleopteres de lafamille des Carabiques. Ibid. p. 27.
—Enumeration of the Carabidce and IJydrocantharidce of
the Caucasus. Kiew, 1846.
   Gaubil. Quelques Carabiques nouveaux pour
la Faune de la France et de nos possessions dAlgerie.
Rev. Zook, 1844.—Catalogue synonymique de Coleoptcres
dEurope et dAlgerie. 8vo, Paris, 1850.
M. Agdinet-Serville, a labourer in the entomological
portions of the Faune Frane-aise, and of the Encyclopedic
Methodique, published the last fasciculus of the work by the
late Palisot de Beauvois, on the Insectes recueillis en Afrique
et en Amerique, already mentioned. He is also the author
of a Nouvelle Classification de la Famille des Longicornes,
in the Annales de la Societe Entomologique de France,
1833-4.— Tableau Methodique des Insectes de Vordre des
Orthoptires. 8vo, Paris, 1831.—Insectes Coleopteres. 8vo,
Ibid. 1831.—Sur une Lettre de Westermann, sur les Mceurs
dlnsectes des Indes Orientales et du Cap de Bonne Espe-
rance. 8vo, Paris.—Revue Methodique des Insectes Or-
thopteres. Ann. Sc. Nat., xxii.—Hist. Nat. des Insectes
Orthopteres. 8vo, Paris, 1839.—With M. Amyot, In¬
sectes Ilemipteres, in Suites d Buffon.
H. M. Asmuss. Monstrositates Coleopterorum. Rigae,
1835.
A. Chevrolat. Coleopteres de Mexique. 8vo, Strasb.
1834.—Coleopteres de Syrie. 8vo, Paris, 1854. To this
author we also stand indebted for numerous articles in Gue¬
rin’s Mag. de Zool., and Silbermann’s Revue Entom.
Ch. Aube. Considerations sur la Gale, et VTnsecte qui
laproduit. 8vo, Paris, 1836.—Monographia Pselaphiorum,
cum Synonymid extricata. 8vo, fig., Paris, 1834. M.
Aube is also the author of that portion of Comte Dejean’s
Species g neral des Coleopteres, which relates to the Hydro-
cantheres et Gyrinites. 1 vol. 8vo, Paris, 1838 ; as well
as of the 5th volume of Dejean and Boisduval's Iconogra-
phie des Coleopteres dfEurope. 8vo, Paris, 1836.
Steph. Auboin. Entomologie, ou Traite des Insectes.
2 vols. 18mo, Paris, 1831.
George Robert Gray has contributed largely to many
departments of natural history, and described numerous new
insects of all orders in Griffith’s translation of Cuvier’s Ani¬
mal Kingdom, 8vo, 1829. We have also from the same
author Descriptions and figures of some new Lepidopterous
Insects, chiefly from Nepaul. 8vo, ph, 1846.— The Ento¬
mology of Australia, in a series of Monographs. Part 1st
fPhasma), 4to, London, 1833.—Synopsis of Insects belong¬
ing to the Family of Phasmidce. 8vo, Bond. 1835. Mr
Gray has more recently published a very handsome volume
on thePapilionidae of the British Museum, w ith many figures
of new species. This forms one of the series of Catalogues
by his brother, Dr John Edward Gray (whose varied and
valuable works on natural history we do not here name, as
they belong to other departments of the science), prepared
by direction of the trustees.
Adam White, zoologist attached to the British Museum,
has contributed largely to various departments of natural
history. We shall here name—Nomenclature of Coleop¬
terous Insects in the British Museum {Cetoniadaf). Lond.
1847.—Nomenclature of Coleopterous Insects in do. (IIy-
drocanthari). Ibid. 1847.—Nomenclature of Coleopterous
Insects in do. [Buprestidee). Ibid. 1848.—Nomenclature
of Coleopterous Insects (Cleridaf), with descriptions of 28
unrecorded species. Ibid. 1849.—Catalogue of Longicorn
Coleoptera, with descriptions of apparently unnoticed spe¬
cies in the British Museum. Part 1, figures. Mr Adam
White has moreover contributed many excellent special
articles to Maunder’s Treasury of Natural History, 8vo,
Lond. 1849 (3d edit., ibid. 1854), and has added to our
knowledge of new species in the appendix to Captain Grey’s
Western Australia, Lond. 1841 ; and in those of Eyre’s
Central Australia, Ibid. 1845 ; of the Voyage of H.M.SS.
Erebus and Terror, Ibid. 1846; of Dieffenbach’s New
Zealand; of Stokes’s Discoveries in Australia, Ibid. 1846 ;
of Macgillivray’s Voyage of H.M.S. Rattlesnake, Ibid.
1852. He has figured and described Longicorn Beetles,
in the illustrated Proceedings of the Zoological Society.
An ample and accurate list of his writings will be found
in Agassiz and Strickland’s Bibliographia Zoologica, vol.
iv. p. 557.
Francis Walker was the principal editor of the Ento¬
mological Magazine, 5 vols. 8vo, London, 1833—37, and
has contributed many papers to that work, and also to the
Ann. and Mag. of Natural History, and other periodicals.
Of separate works he has published—Monographia Chal-
ciditum. 2 vols. 8vo, London, 1839.—Insecta Saunder-
siana. Two parts of this work are devoted by Mr Walker
to the description of Diptera in the collection of Mr W.
Wilson Saunders.—British Diptera (in the Insecta Bri-
tannica). Of this work two volumes have appeared, and a
third is (1855) in the press.—Catalogue of Neuroptera in
British Museum. 4 parts, Lond. 1853. (We may here
note that the majority of the catalogues now referred to
contain descriptions of numerous new species.)—Lepidop-
tera Heterocera. 2 vols. Lond. This work contains the new
species in the collection of the British Museum.— Cata¬
logue of Homoptera in the British Museum. 4 parts, with
figures, Lond. 1851.
W. S. D allas. Catalogue of Coreidce in the British Mu¬
seum. Lond.—Catalogue of Scutelleridce and Pentame-
ridce in the British Museum, with figures, Lond. 1851.
F. Smith. To this accurate observer we also owe some
excellent catalogues of the entomological contents of the Bri¬
tish Museum. Of the extensive and difficult family of Bees
we have—Part I., The Andrenidce ; Part II., The Apidce;
with descriptions of many newr species, and illustrated by
outline figures of the genera, with details.—Catalogue of
the Hymenopterous Insects of the families Mutillidce and
Pompilidce, describing many new species in the Museum
collection.—Monograph of the British Bees, illustrated with
plates. This work also forms a portion of the great series
of Museum catalogues now in course of publication by Dr
Gray, the keeper of the zoological department. Mr Smith
has contributed many papers to the Zoologist, and the Ann.
and Mag. of Nat. Hist.
Edwabd Doubleday. This author, whose decease we
have now to mourn, had acquired a remarkable knowledge
of insects of the Lepidopterous order. Pie contributed
largely to the Entomological Magazine, and other scientific
periodicals, and described the Lepidoptera in the volumes
which Stokes and Eyre have respectively devoted to the
narrative of their Discoveries in Australia, as well as the
insects of the same order in the appendix to Dieffenbach’s
New Zealand. Pie formed the published Catalogue of the
Lepidopterous Insects in the British Museum. Part L,
1844; Part II., 1847. In union with Mr Hewitson, he
was the author of The Genera of Butterflies, or Diurnal
Lepidoptera ; comprising their generic characters, a notice
of their habits and transformations, and a Catalogue of the
species of each genus. Illustrated with 86 coloured plates
Biblio¬
graphy
20
Biblio¬
graphy.
ENTOMOLOGY.
from drawings by C. Hewitson. 2 vols. imperial 4to.
Lond. 1846-49. In this admirably illustrated work Mr
Westwood was also a collaborateur.
Henry Doubleday. List of British Lepidoptera. 8vo,
Lond. 1847.
H. Burmeister. Be Insectorum systemate naturalu
Hallse, 1829.—Handbuch der Entomologie. 4 vols., Ber¬
lin, 1832-47. The general portion {Algem. Entomoli) of
this invaluable work has been translated by Mr Shuckard
under the title of A Manual of Entomology. 8vo, Lond.
1836. Of the other volumes, one is devoted to Hemiptera,
another to Neuroptera and Orthoptera, and the others to
the Lamellicorn Coleoptera.— Genera Insectorum, iconibus
illustravit et descripsit. 8vo, Berol. 1838—46. Bemer-
kungen uber den allgemeinen Bau und die Geschlechtsun-
terschiede bei den Arten der Gattung Scolia. Mit. 1 tafel.
4to, Halle, 1854.— Uebersicht der Brazilianischen Mutillen.
4to, Ibid. 1854.—Entersuchungen uber die Flvgeltypen der
Coleopteren. Ibid. 1854.
W. E. Shuckard has made the following contributions
to entomology :—Essay on the indigenous fossorial IIy~
menoptera, comprising a description of all the British species
of Burrowing Sand-Wasps contained in the Metropolitan
Collections. ‘ %vo,Cox\&A%?>'l.—Elements of British Ento¬
mology, containing a general introduction to the Science,
&c. 8vo, Lond. 1839.—The British Coleoptera delineated
(with 94 plates by W. J. Spry). 8vo, Lond. 1840. On
the habits of the Aculeate Hymenoptera : Trans, of Ent.
Society, i. p. 52. Besides being the author of many other
descriptive papers in various scientific journals, he has contri¬
buted an essay on the Progress and Prospects of Entomo¬
logy to the 29th No. of the For. Quar. Eev. In conjunction
with Mr Swainson, he is the author of a volume on The Na¬
tural History and Arrangement of Insects in Dr Lardner’s
Cyclopcedia (Lond. 1840), and to him we also stand indebted
for a translation (as above mentioned) from the German of
Burmeister’s Manual of Entomology. 8vo, 1836.
W. O. Westwood, a skilful entomologist and accurate
draftsman, whose writings and illustrations are voluminous
and of great value. Referring to the 4th vol., p. 549, of
the Bibliographia Zoologica, for a list of his separate papers
in the Trans, of the Entom. Society, and the Ann. and Mag.
of Nat. Hist., we shall here confine ourselves to the indica¬
tion of his principal works:—Address on the recent pro¬
gress and Present State of Entomology. 8vo, Lond. 1835.
—Catalogue of Hemiptera in the Collection of the Rev. F.
W. Hope. 8vo, Lond. 1837.— The Entomologists Tejct-
Book. 8vo, fig., Lond. 1838.—An Introduction to the
Modern Classification of Insects, founded on the Natural
Habits and corresponding organisation of the different
Families. 2 vols. 8vo, fig., Lond. 1839—40.—British
Butterflies and their transformations exhibited in a series
of 42 coloured plates, by H. N. Humphreys. Demy 4to,
London, 1841.—British Moths and their transformations,
arranged and illustrated in a series of plates, by H. N.
Humphreys. Demy 4to, London, 1843-45.— Cabinet of
Oriental Entomology. 4to, London. In this work many
of the more showy insects of India and the Asiatic Islands
are figured and described.—Arcana Entomologica, or Il¬
lustrations of new, rare, and interesting Exotic Insects.
8vo, fig., Lond. 1841-42. Mr Westwood was connected
editorially with the republication of Drury’s Illustrations of
Exotic Entomology (3 vols. 4to, Lond. 1837,) and has
added notes and systematic names. He recently commu¬
nicated a paper, entitled Contributions to Fossil Entomo-
logy, to the Trans, of the Geological Society, London,
1854.
 Fortier. Observations sur le Puceron lanigere.
12mo, 1835.
Fr. Faldermann. Coleopterorum ab ill. Bungio in China
bor., Mongolia, &c., Missorum lllustrationes. 4to, fig.
Petrop. 1835.—Fauna Entomologica Trans. Caucassia.
2 vols., 4to, fig., Mosqu. 1836-37.
James Wilson. A Treatise on Insects, general and
systematic, being the Article Entomology’' from the 1th
Edition of the Encyclopcedia Britannica. 4to, with plates,
Edin. 1835. The same author (in conjunction with Mr
Duncan) has published Entomologia Edinensis, or a de¬
scription of the Insects found in the neighbourhood of Edin¬
burgh. (Coleoptera.) Edin. 1834.
James Duncan. In addition to his aid in the work last
named, this author has contributed the following volumes
(published in 1834-42) to Sir William Jardine’s Naturalist’s
Library. Introduction to Entomology ; comprehending a
general view of the metamorphoses, external structure, ana¬
tomy, physiology, and systematic arrangement of all classes
of Insects, with 38 coloured plates.— The Natural History
of Coleopterous Insects, with 32 coloured plates.— The Na¬
tural History of British Butterflies, with 36 coloured plates.
—British Moths and Sphynxes, with 32 coloured plates.—
Foreign Butterflies, with 33 coloured plates.—Exotic Moths,
with 34 coloured plates.
B. A. Carlson. Prodromus Hymenopterologice Scan-
dinavice. 8vo, Lundse, 1836.
C. A. A. Buhle. Raupen-u. Schmetterlmgskalender
der Beutschen Falter. 4to, Leipz. 1837.—Bie Tag-u.
Abendschmetterlinge Europas. 4to, Ibid. 1837.
J. D. Labram. Insecten der Schweiz. 2 vols., fig. col.,
Basel, 1836-38. — Singulorum Generum Curculionidum
leones. 8vo, Ibid. 1842-50.—The latter is conjointly with
M. ImhofF.
C. Wesmael. This author’s contributions to entomology
are to be found chiefly in the Bulletins des Sciences de
VAcad. royale de Bruxelles. Of his separate works we may
name the following:—Monographic des Braconides de la
Belgique. 3 vols. 4to, fig., Brux. 1835-37.—Monographie
des Odyneres de la Belgique. 8vo, fig., Ibid. 1835.—Revue
critique des Hymenopteres fouisseurs de Belgique. 8vo,
Bruxelles, 1851-52.
Osw. Heer. Geographische Verbreitung der Kafer in
den Schweizeralpen. 8vo, Zurich. 1834.—Observationes
Entomologicce continentes Metamorphoses Coleopterorum
nonnullorum adhuc incognitas. 8vo, fig., Tur. 1836.—
Fauna Coleopterorum Helvetica. P. 1, 8vo, Tur. 1838.—
Bie Kafer der Schweiz, mit besond. Beruchsichtig. Hirer
geograph. Verbreitung zusammengestellt. 3 vols. 4to,
Neuchatel, 1839-41.— Ueber Verbreitung und Vertilgung
der Laubkafer und Inger. 8vo, Zurich, 1843.— Ueber die
Haus-Ameise Madeira’s. 4to, Zurich, 1852.
F. W. Hope, a noted English collector, whose entomo¬
logical museum was one of the largest in Britain. We be¬
lieve it has now been consigned to the University of Oxford.
Mr Hope has published—Bescription of the Buprestidce
(in his own collection). 8vo, Lond. 1836.—A Catalogue
of Hemiptera (in his own collection) with short Latin de¬
scriptions of the new species. 8vo, Lond. 1837.— The
Coleopterist"s Manual, Part L, containing the Lamellicorn
Insects of Linnaeus and Fabricius. 8vo, pi., Lond. 1837.
The same, Part II., containing the predaceous Land and
Water Beetles of Linn, and Fab. 8vo, pi., Ibid. 1838-45.—
The same, Part III., Various Beetles. 8vo, pi., Ibid. J 841.
E. Heeger. Beitrage zur Schmetterlingskunde oder
Abbildung und Beschreibung neuer Sicilianischer Schmet-
terlinge. 4to, fig., Wien, 1838.—Beitrage zur Natur-
geschichte der Insecten. 12 Parts, Royal 8vo, Vien. 1854.
M. H. Dupont. Monographie des Trachyderides de la
famille des Longicornes. 8vo, fig., Paris, 1839. This ob¬
server has described many fine insects in Guerin’s Mag. de
Zool., for the years 1832-33.—Beitrage zur Naturgeschichte
der Insecten. 10 Fortsetzung. Mit 6 tafeln. 8vo, Wien,
1853.
E. Menetries. Catalogue d’Insectes recueillis entre
Biblio¬
graphy.
E N T O M
o- Constantinople et le Balkan. 4to, fig., Peterb. 1838.—
iy- Essai dune Monographic du genre Anacolus. 4to, Ibid.
1839.—Descriptions des Insectes recueillis par feu M.
Lehmann. 4to, Ibid. 1848. By the same author, we have
other papers in the Mem. Acad. Peterb., &c.
J. F. Menetries. Catalogue de quelques T^cpidoptercs
des Antilles; avec la description de plusieurs especes nou-
velles. 4to, Moscou, 1833.
L. Altmann. Abriss der Entomologie. 8vo, Leipz.
1837.—Die nxdzlichen u. schadlichen Forstknfer fiir Forst-
beamts. 8vo, Dessau, 1844.
Joh. Gistl. Enumeratio Coleopterorum agri Mona-
censis. 8vo, 1831.—Systerna Insectorum secundum classes,
or dines, &e. Tom. I., Coleoptera, Fascic. 1st, Mantichora
—Dromica. 1837. Fascic. 2d, Cicindela-Cymindis. 1840.—
Die Entomolgen Europas. Munch. 1834.—Hemipteren
■and Orthopteren Fauna der Schweiz. 1838.—Lexi¬
con der Entomologischen Welt, der carcinologischen u.
arachnologischen, Addressbuch der lebenden Entomologen
u. Entomophilen, &c. 8vo, Stuttgart, 1847.
C. F. Freyer. Beitrcigezur gesch. Europdischer Schmet-
tertinge. Nurnb. 1828-31.—Neuere BeitrdgezurSchmet-
terlingskunde. 4to, Augsb. 1831-46.—Die Schadlichsten
Schmetterlinqe Deutschlands, fiir Eorstmdnner, &c. 8vo,
Ibid. 1839.
Ant. Cornolli. De Coleopteris novis ac rarioribus
minusve cognitis, Provincice Novocomensis. Ticini Reg.,
8vo, 1837.
Chanoine d’Avriixy. Du Myzoxile, Puceron lanigere.
8vo, fig., Louviers, 1834.
F. M. G. re Tigny (and Alex. Brongniart). Histoire
Naturelle des Insectes, redigee suivant les methodes d’ Olivier.
10 vols. 18mo, Paris, 1799-1832. There is an edition by
Guerin, Paris, 1828, and also an Italian translation, 3 vols.
8vo, Livorno, 1835.
P. Congliani. Remarques sur la Faune Entomolo-
gique des environs de Reggio. Esercit. Acc. 1839.
C. F. Constant. Hist. Nat. des Papillons. 16mo, fig.,
Paris, 1839.
Henry Denny. Monographia Pselaphidorum et Scyd-
mcenidarum Britannice. 8vo, fig., Norwich, 1825.—Mono¬
graphia Anoplurorum Britannice, &c. 8vo, fig., Lond.,
1841-42.
   Deyillers. To this author (conjointly with M.
Guenee) we owe Tableaux Synoptique des Lepidopteres
diEurope, contenant la. description de tous les Lepidopteres
connus jusqu!d ce jour. 4to, Paris, 1835.
Guil. Feed. Erichsen. Genera Dytiscorum. 8vo,
Berol. 1832.—Die Kdfer der Mark Brandenburgh. 8vo,
Berlin, 1837-39.— Genera et species Staphylinorum Insec¬
torum Coleopterorum familice. 8vo, Berol. 1839-40.—
Naturgeschichte der Insecten Deutschlands. 8vo, Berlin,
1845.—Entomographien Entersuchungen in d. Gebiete d.
Entomologie, m. besonderer Benutzung d. Konigl. Samm-
lung zu Berlin, 1840.—Bericht uber d. wissenschaftl.
Zeistungen im Gebiete d. Entomologie. 9 Jahrgg. wahrend
d. Jahres 1838-47. Berlin, 1840-1848. Erichsen is the
author of many entomological essays in various Continental
periodicals. He has also described the insects of British
Guiana in the third volume of Richard Schomburgh’s
Reise, and those of Peru in Wiegmann’s Archiv. His
writings are of great value, and his untimely death was an
irreparable loss to the science which he so assiduously and
successfully cultivated.
Ed. Eversmann. Libellulince inter Wolgam et Montes
Uralenses. 8vo, Mosquse, 1836.—Fauna Lepidopterorum
Volgo-Uralensis exhibens Lepidopterorum species quas per
vigenti quinque annos in Provinciis Volgam jluvium inter
et monies Uralenses sitis observavit et descripsit. 8vo,
Casani, 1844.
Fel. Dujardin. The only separate work of this frequent
O L O G Y. 21
contributor to the Ann. des Sciences Nat., &c. with which Biblio-
we are acquainted, is his Promenades d'un Naturaliste— gr^phy.
Insectes.—Entretiensfamiliares, &c. 18mo, fig. Paris, 1838.
Lucien Buquet. To this author we owe many contri¬
butions to the Ann. de la Soc. Ent. and other periodicals.
Rev. Zool. 1838-40.
G. R. Waterhouse has contributed many papers on
Insects to the Trans, of the Entom. Society (1840-41),
the Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist., and other works.
W. C. Hewitson. To this author (well known for his
work on the Eggs of British Birds) we owe several entomo¬
logical papers in the scientific periodicals, and he has pub¬
lished many Fasciculi of Exotic Butterflies, being illus¬
trations of new species, selected chiefly from the collections
of W. Wilson Saunders and W. C. Hewitson. 4to, Lond.
1851-54. In this work he figures and describes entire groups,
especially of the diurnal Lepidoptera of South America.
He was conjoined with Mr Doubleday in his beautiful
Genera of Diurnal Lepidoptera. 2 vols. Lond. 1846-49.
Edward Newman is the author of numerous special pa¬
pers on entomological subjects. These have appeared
chiefly in the 2d series of the Magazine of Nat. Hist., in
the Entomological Magazine, the Entomologist, and the
Zoologist, of which last two periodicals he was the conduc¬
tor. His separate works on Insects are Sphynx Vespiformis,
an Essay. 8vo, Lond. 1832. A second edition was pub¬
lished us der the title of System of Nature. 8vo, Lond.
1843.— The Grammar of Entomology. 12mo, Lond. 1835.
—A Familiar Introduction to the History of Insects. 8vo,
1841.—Proposed Division of Neuroptera into two classes.
8vo, Lond. 1853.
G. A. W. Herrich-Schaeffer. De Generatione In¬
sectorum, &c. Fig. Ratisb. 1821.—Nomenclator Entomo-
logicus, &c. 8vo, Regensb. 1835-1840.—Die Wanzenar-
tigen Insecten. 8vo, Nurnb. 1836-46. This work now
consists of several volumes, and every species described is
also figured.—Systemat. Bearbeitung der Schmetterlinge
von Europa, als Text, Revision, und Supplement, zu J.
Hubners Sammlung Europdischer Schmetterlinge. 5 vols.
4to, Regensb. 1843-45.—Index alphabetico-synonymicus
insectorum hemipterorum heteropterorum. Alphabetisch-
synonymisches Verzeichniss der wdnzenartigen Insecten.
8vo, Regensburg, 1853.—Lepidopterorum exoticorum spe¬
cies novce aut minus cognitce. Collection de nouvelles especes
de papillons exotiques, Serie 1, Livraisons 1—17. 4to, Re¬
gensburg, 1855. Our present author, as already noted,
is the continuator of Panzer’s Deutschland Insecten.
George Newport. We have not many works of this
author published apart, but he has of late years made some
valuable additions to our knowledge of the physiology of
Insects. These are to be found chiefly in the Proceedings
and Transactions of the Royal, Linnaean, and Entomolo¬
gical Societies of London. His separate publications are,—
Observations on the Anatomy, Habits, and Economy of
Athalia centifolia, the Saw-fly of the Turnip, and on the
means of preventing its ravages. 8vo, Lond. 1838.—An Ad¬
dress delivered at the Anniversary Meeting of the Entomolo¬
gical Society. 8vo, Lond. 1844.—An Address delivered at
the adjourned Anniversary Meeting of the Entomological So¬
ciety. 8vo. Lond. 1845.—Mr Newport has, moreover, con¬
tributed the article Insecta to Todd’s Cyclopcedia of Ana¬
tomy and Physiology. Vol. iv. pp. 853-994.
Nic. Contarini. Memoria sopra una nuova specie di
Cecidomia, ed alcuni Osservazione sopra quella del! spe-
rico. 4to, fig. Venez. 1840.—Cataloghi degli Uccelli e
degli Insetti di Padoua e Venezia. 4to, Bassona, 1843.—
Discorso sulV utilitd dello Studio degli Insetti. Atti de
Aten. Venez. ii. p. 3.
Balthasar E. de Romaud. Tableau de Vaile supe-
rieuse des Hymenopteres. 4to, Paris, 1839.
E. Mulsant. Lettres ct Julie sur VEntomologique (en
22 E N T O M
Biblio- prose et en vers) suivies d'une description methodique de la
graphy. plus grandepartie des Insectes de France, ornee de lo pi. 2
vol>. 8vo, Lvon, 1830-31.— Cours d'Entomologie,reduit en
tableaux synoptiques; d Vusage des Ecoles. 8vo, Lyon,
lg33.—Histoire Naturelle des Coleopteres de France: lre
Partie, Longicornes. 8vo, 3 pi., Lyon, 1839. La meme,
2e Partie, Lamellicornes. 8vo, pi., Lyon, 1842. La meme,
3e Partie, Palpicornes. 8vo, Lyon, 1843.—Securipa/pes de
France. 1 vol. 8vo, Paris, 1842.—Hist. Nat. des Col'op-
teres de France: Sulcicoles R curvipalpes. 8vo, Paris,
1846.— Opuscules Entomologiques. 1-4 cahiers, 8vo,
Paris, 1853. M. Mulsant has moreover recently published
a Monograph of the Coccinellidce. It appeared originally
in the Annul, des Sciences Physiques, &c., of Lyons.
H. A. Hagen. Synonymia Libellulorum Europceorum.
8vo, Kcenigsb. 1840.
Em. Blanchard. Histoire des Insectes (Suite a Buffon
—Dumeril), III. Orthopt. Neuropt. Hemipt. Hymenopt.
Lepidopt. et Dipt. Paris, 1840.—Hist. Nat. des Insectes,
traitant de leurs maurs, Sic. 8vo, Paris, 1845. With MM.
Hombron and Jacquinot, M. Blanchard has described and
figured many insects from Australia and the Asiatic islands
in D’Urville’s Voyage a la Pole Sud.— Catalogue of In¬
sects in the Paris Museum.
Adr. Antelme. Hist. Nat. des Insectes et des Mol-
Itisques. 2 vols. 8vo, Paris, 1841.
Herm. Sciiaum has published Symbolce ad Monogra-
phiam Scydmcenorum ; Dis. Inaug. 8vo, fig., Halis, 1841.
—Analecta Entomologica. 8vo, Halis Sax., 1841.— Ver-
zeichniss der Lamellicornia Melitophila. Stettin, 1848.—
Pericht iiber die Wissenschaftlichen Leistungen im Gebiete
der Entomologie wdhrend des Jahres 1848. 8vo, Berlin,
1850.—The same for 1849. Berlin, 1850.—The same for
1850. Berlin, 1852.—The same for 1851. Berlin, 1853.—
The same for 1852. Berlin, 1854.
H. R. Humphreys. This author, conjointly with Mr
Westwood, has published on British Butterflies and their
Transformations. 1 vol. 4to, col. pi., London, 1841 ; and
on British Moths. 2 vols. 4to, Ibid. 1843-45.
Selys de Longchamps has, among other works, pub¬
lished the following: Catalogue des Lepidopteres et Tab¬
leau des Libellulines de la Belgiques. 8vo, Liege, 1837.—
Monographic des LibelluJidees d’Europe. 8vo, Paris,
1840.—Enumeration des Insectes L‘'pidopteres de la Bel¬
gique. In Mem. de VAcad. de Liege, 111.—Revision of
the British Libellulidee. In Ann. Mag. of Nat. Hist, xviii.
p. 217.—Lisle de Libellules dlEurope et diagnose de quaire
especes nouvelles. In Rev. Zool., 1848.
John Walton has contributed several papers, chiefly
on the Curculionidce, to the Ann. Mag. of Nat. Hist., &c.
J. S. Bowerbank. We owe to this author observations
on the circulation of the blood in insects, and other papers
in the Entomological Magazine, &c. He is an excellent
microscopical observer.
James Hardy. This pains-taking and accurate observer
has contributed t@ the Proceedings of the Berwickshire
]Saturalists> Club, and (with Mr Bold) has published a
Catalogue of the Insects of Tyneside and Durham. Trans,
of Tyneside Nat. Field-Club, i. 37.
F. Isnardi. Stona del Papilio Jasius, e della Seta che
sipiu ticavare del suo Baso. 4to, fig., Genova, 1840.
I. W. Harris. Report on the Insects of Massachusetts
injurious to Vegetation. 8vo, Camb. U.S., 1841-2.—Va¬
rious papers in Silliman’s Journal, &c.—Conjointly with
Le Conte, Dr Harris has described the insects in Agassiz’s
work on Lake Superior. Boston, 1850. He has written
A Ireatise on some of the Insects of ]Sew England which
are injurious to Vegetation. 8vo, Boston, 1852.
Boyer de Foscolombe. Des Insectes Nuisiblesa I Agri¬
culture. 8vo, fig., Aix, 1840. He has contributed various
papers to the Annales de la Soc. Ent.
O L O G Y.
T. Victor. Insectes du Caucase (Bulletin de Mosc.,
1840).—Coleopteres du Caucase (Ibid).
Fr. Berge. Schmetterlingsbuch od. Naturgesch. der
Schmetterlinge, mit 1100 ilium, abbildgn, gr. 4to, Stutt¬
gart, 1842.—Kaferbuch Naturgesch. der Kafer, mit 1315
ilium, abbildgn. 4to, Stuttgart, 1844.—Insetti osservati
nel periodo delV eclisse del 8 Luglio, 1842. 12mo, Milano,
1842. —Catalogo dei Coleopteri della Lombardia. 8vo,
Milano, 1844.
J. J. Bourasse. Esquisses Entomoloqiques. 12mo,
Tours, 1842-44.
F. De Breme. Monographic de quelques genres Cole¬
opteres, Heteromeres, appurtenant a la tribu des Blapsides.
12mo, fig., Paris, 1842.—Essai monog. et iconog. de la
tribu des Cossyphides. 8vo, pi. col., Paris, 1842.
C. R. Wulff. De Fabrica corporis Iusectorum Diss.
8vo, Lundae, 1842.
M. T. Boitard. Manuel d?Entomologie, ou Hist. Nat.
des Insectes. 2 vols. 18mo, Paris, 1843.
Chr. Keferstein. To this author we owe various articles
in Silberman’s Revue Entomologique.
L’Abbe Bourlet. Mem. sur les Podurelles. 8vo, Douai,
1843.
Bibli 3!
graph t
Fr. Goldfuss. Symbolce ad Orthopterorum quorun-
dam aconomiam. Bonn, 1843.
P. Joravko. Quelques remarques sur Varticle du
tarse des Hymenopteres, et Mannerheim, sur la r'colte
dfinsectes Coleopteresfaite 1843. (Bulletin de Mosc.)
J. H. Kaltenbach. Monographic d. Familien d.
Pflanzenlause, Aphidina et Hyponomentes. Aachen, 1843.
G. Th. Schneider. Monographia generis Raphidice
Linncei. Vratisl. 1843.
Cam. Rondani. Memorie per servire alia Ditterologia
Italiana. Tom. i.-iii., 8vo, Parma, 1840-1. — Sopra
una Specie di Insetto Diptera ; Mem. prima per servire
alia Ditterologia Italiana. 8vo, Parma, 1840.—Sopra
alcuni nuovi generi di Insetti Ditteri. 8vo, Parma, 1840.
—Progetto di una classificazione in famiglie degli Insetti
Ditteri Europei. 8vo, Parma, 1841.— Osservazioni sopra
alcuni larve di Ditteri viventi nel gambo dei cereali. 8vo,
Parma, 1843.— Quattre specie di Insetti proposti come tipi
di generi nuoci. 8vo, Bologna, 1843.—Ferdinandea,
genere nuovo dei Ditteri. 8vo, Bologna, 1844.
Ludov. Redtenbacher. Illustrutiones et descriptiones
Coleopterorum novorum Syrice.—8vo, Stuttgart, 1843.—
Fauna Austriaca. Wien, 1849.
Reyssier (de Villefranche). Destruction des Pyrales,
des Chenilles, et de toute espece d'Disectes. 8vo, Ville¬
franche, 1844.
G. D. Badham. The question concerning the sensi¬
bility, intelligence, and instinctive actions of Insects.
8vo, Paris, 1837.—Insect Life. 8vo, Lond. 1845.—Epi¬
sodes of Insect Life. By Acheta Domestica, M.E.S.; 3
vols. 8vo, London, 1849, et seq. The last-named work,
though under a fictitious name, exhibits an ample share of
the author’s lively and accurate manner of narration. It is
elegantly got up in respect to pictorial adornment, and
conveys a great deal of useful information in a pleasant
form, combining the popular and the truthful, in a way but
seldom manifested in zoological lucubrations.
P. D. Brodie. History of the Fossil Insects in the
Secondary Rocks of England, fyc. 8vo, Lond. 1845.
Giordani.' Nuova Biggatiera appropriata alia 4 e 5
Eta dei bachi da seta. Padova, 1845.
Bomati. Metodo di educare i bachi da seta. Milano,
1845.
Saccardo. Scoperta delle cause che producono il
caldno o mol del segno nei bachi da seta. 8vo, Padova,
1845.
Frid. A. Kolenati. Meletemata entomologica. 8vo,
St Petersburg, 1845.
E N T O M
o* Tramontini. Nuoco metodo di mantenere i bachi da
■Y' seta nella prima eta colla foglia secca. Milano, 1845.
^ Antonio Broglia. Metodo pratico di coltivari i
bachi. Verona, 1845.
Kirchbaumer. Ueber die Cerambycinen um Munchen.
8vo, Munchen, 1845.
H. M. Schmidt-Gobel. Faunula Coleopterorum
Birmanece adj. nonnullis Bengalice indigenis. 1 Bd.,
4to, Prag. 1846.
Chaudoir et Hochhuth. Enumeration des Cara-
biques et Hydrocanthares recueillis pendant un voyage au
Caucase. Kiew, 1846.
B. G. Gimmerthal. 12 neue Dipteren beschr. Riga,
1847.—Erster Beilrag zu einer kwftigen Dipterologie
Busslands, et V. de Motschoulsky, observations sur le
musee entomol. de Moscou. (Bulletin de Mosc.)
W. Dickore. Versuch eines Verzeichniss d. Schmet-
terlinge in d. Gegend v. Giessen. Giess. 1849.
J. C. Schiodte. Specimen founce subterranece. Kopenh.
1849.
Franz. Joserii Macbrer. Enumeratio Coleopterorum
circa Heidelhergum indigenarum adjectis synonymis lo-
cisque natalibus. 8vo, Heidelbergae, 1850.
Arnoed Forster. Hymenopterologische Studien. 1
heft, Formicaries, 4to, Aachen, 1850.
G. Grundler. Dissertatio de Parasitis Hominis. 8vo,
Berlin, 1850.
A costing Bassi. II fatto parlante sul modo di hen
governore i bachi da seta, e prevenire e curare il calcino,
fyc. 8vo, Lodi, 1850.
Christian Brittinger. Die Libelluliden der Kaiser-
eiches Osterreich. 8vo, Wien, 1850.
Luigi Patellini. Osservazione zootomicoJisiologiche
sul Baco da Seta. 8vo, Milano, 1851.
Care. H. Boheman has published Novce Coleopterorum
species descriptce. N. Mem. Nat. Moscou, i., p. 101.—
Caladromus genus e familia Curculionidum. Mem. Ac.
Stockh. 1837.—Monographia Cassididarum. 2 vols., cum
tabulis,8vo, Holmia?, 1850.—\nsecta Caffrariceannis 1838-
1845, a T. A. Wahlberg collecta amici auxilio suffultus,
descripsit. 8vo, Ilolmiae, 1851. There are now two
volumes of this work, containing descriptions of a great
number of Coleopterous families. We may here enumerate
them, with a view to exemplify the geographical distribu¬
tion of South African insects:—Buprestides, Elaterides,
Cebrionites, Rhipicerides, Cyphonides, Lycides, Lampyrides,
Telephorides, Melyrides, Clerii, Teredites, Ptiniores, Palpa-
tores, Silphides, Flisteres, Scaphidiliae, Nitidulariae, Crypto-
phagidae, Byrrhii, Dermestiori, Parnidae, Hydrophilidas.
De Paravey. Du pays primitif du vers d soie, et de
la premiere civilization. 8vo, Paris, 1851.
Alexandre Sirand. Lettres sur les abeilles, avec des
observations sur les precedes nouveaux. 8vo, Bourg, 1851.
Franz. Xay. Fieber. Entomologische Monographien.
4to, Leipz. 1844.—Bhynchotographien. Drei Monogra-
phische Abhandlungen. 4to, Prag. 1851.—Species generis
Corisce, monographice dispositce. 4to, Prag. 1851.—Genera
Hydrocoridum secundum ordinem naturalem in familias
disposita. 4to, Prag. 1851.
J. H. Hochhuth. Beitrdge zur naheren Kenniniss der
Busselkdfer Busslands, &c. 8vo, Riga, 1851.—Beitrdge zur
nacheron Kenntniss der Slaphylinen Busslands. 8vo, Riga,
1851.
J. L. Leconte. Descriptions of new species of Coleoptera
from California. 8vo, New York, 1851.—Memoirs on the
classification of the Carabidce of the United States, in the
Philidelphia Transactions, and various valuable papers on
entomological subjects in the American scientific journals.
Augusta Lombard. La veritable maniere d'clever et de
multiplier les abeilles, contenant, &c.. moyen de sefaire un
revenu annuel de 2600francs. 12mo, Paris.
O L O G Y. 23
Carlo Passerine Notizie relative ad insetti coleotteri Biblio-
dannosi, ad alcuni ospita7iti delle pianta del Ficus carica. 8raP^y*
8vo, Firenze, 1851.
M. Wocke. Catalogue Lepidopterorum Silesice. 8vo,
Breslau.
L. Agassiz. The classification of Insects from Embryo-
logical data. (Smithsonian Institution) Washington, 1851.
J. J. Bourasse. Esquisses Entomologiques, ou histoire
naturelle des Insectes les plus remarkables. 12mo, Tours.
L. Doyere. Recherches surVAlcite des Cereales, I'etcndue
des ces ravages, et les moyens de les faire cesser ; suivis de
quelques resultats relatifs d Versdagedes grains. 8vo, Paris.
Alphonse Gascogne. Excursion entomologique dans
les Alpes des Environs de Mont Blanc. 8vo, Lyon.
T. B. Gorski. Analecta ad entomographiam provinci-
arum occidentali-meridionalium imperii Rossici. Fascic.
i., 8vo, Berlin.
Achille Costa. Ragguaglio delle specie piii interes-
santi di Emitteri eterotteri raccolti in Sicilia, See. Esercit.
Acc. 1839.—Storia della Bombyce neustria, suoi costumi,
danni die arrecal, e mezzi per distruggerla, scritta per in-
carico del reale institute d'incorraggiamento. Sec. 4to, Na¬
poli, 1851.—Storia della Tenthridine produtrice della gale
dellefoglie del Salcio. (Salix Russelliana) 4to, Napoli, 1852.
M. Gemjpnger. System Uebersicht d. Kdfer um Mun¬
chen. Jena, 1851.
F. O. Morris. A Natural History of British Butterflies.
1 vol. royal 8vo, Lond. 1852.
P. C. Zeller. Lepidoptera microptera. quae J. A. Wahl-
berq in Caffrorum terra collegit, descripsit. 8vo, Holmiae,
1852.
Maria E. Catlow. Popular British Entomology. With
coloured plates, 2d ed., 12mo, Lond. 1852.
J. B. Gehin. Catalogue des Coleopteres de sa collec¬
tion d Metz. 8vo, Metz. 1852.
  Kelch. Grundlage zur Kenntniss der Orthop-
teren Oberschlesiens und Grundlage der Kdfer Oberschle-
siens. 4to, Ratibor. 1852.
Edouard Perris. Histoire des Insectes du pin mari¬
time. 8vo, Paris, 1852.
F. Marcotte. Tableau Methodique et Synonymique des
Coleopteres des environs d!Abbeville. 8vo, Abbeville, 1852.
Eugene Robert (and Guerin-Meneville). Notice sur
lesprincipaux resultats des educations de vers d soie, faites d
la magnanerie experimentale de Saint-Tulle, et ay ant pour
objet Vamelioration et I'acclimatation des races, Vetude des
maladies, et la production de graine etalon. 8 vo, Paris, 1852.
  Heydenreich. Lepidopterorum Europceorum
catalogus methodicus. Leipzig.— Verzeichniss der Euro-
pdischen Schmetterlinge. Ibid.
B. Gerhard. Versuch einer Monographic der Lycce-
nen als Beitrag zur Schmetterlingskunde. 10 heft, mit col.
taf., 4to, Hamburg.
M. Bach. Kdferfaunafur Nord. undMittel-Deutschland,
mit besonderer Ruchsicht auf die Prussischen Rheinlande.
8vo, Coblentz.
J. Rakeburg. Die Ichneumonen der Forst-Insecten
in forstlicher und entomologischer Bezeikung. 8vo, Berlin.
C. G. Mannerheim. Insectes Coleopteres de la Siberie
Orientate. Mosc., 1852. Beitrag z. Kafferfauna d. Aleu-
tischen Inseln d. Inselsitka u. Neu-Calif or nien. (Bulletin
de Mosc.).—Description de quelques nouvelles especes de
Coleopteres de Finlande. (Ibid.)—Memoire sur quelques
genres et especes des Carabiques. 1 partie (Ibid.) For
the earlier works of this author, see p. 15.
H. C. Kuster. Die Kdfer Europds. Nach der Natur
beschreiben. 27 heft, mit 2 tafeln abbildungen, 16mo,
Niirnberg, 1853.
L. L. Langstroth. On the Hive and the Honey Bee.
A Bee-Keeper’s Manual. With illustrations, 16mo, North¬
ampton, 1853.
24
ENTOMOLOGY.
Biblio¬
graphy.
Fr. W. Marlin. Beitrag till kannedom om insekternas
geografiska erdbredning i norden med hufsredsakligt af-
seende pa Skandinaviens och Finlands Fauna. 8vo, Hel¬
singfors, 1853. .11/^1
F. E. Melsheimer. Catalogue of the described Lole-
optera of the United States. Revised by S. S. Haldeman
and J. L. Le Conte. 8vo, Washington (Smithsonian In¬
stitution), 1853.
Emile Tarlet. Rapport sur l introduction en trance
des vers d soie sauvages de la Chine. 8vo, Paris (Societe
Zoologique d’Acclimatation). T _ 7
F. Grassner. Blicke in das Leben und die hnturch-
lungsgeschichte der Schmetterlinge, &c. Halle, 1853.—-/he
Ento'mologen, Europe?s, Asien's, u.Amerilia's. 12mo, Jena,
18Telephe Desmartis. Resume des Travaux de la
Commission Entomologique pour I'annee 1853. 8vo, Bor-
deaux.
Francis C. Woodworth. Wonders of the Insect
World. With illustrations, 16mo, New York, 1853.
Camille Jacquelin du Val. Manuel Entomologique.
Genera des Coleopteres d'Europe, comprenant leur classifi¬
cation en families naturelles, la description de tons les
genres, des tableaux dichotomiques, &jc., et pres de treize
cents insectes representant un ou plusieurs types de chaque
genre, &c. 8vo, Paris, 1854. (L’ouvrage sera public en
86 livraisons.)
C. L. Koch. Die Planzanlduse aphiden getreunaeh dem
Lehen abgebildet und bescrieben. 1 heft, mit 6 fern
ausgemalten kupfertafeln. 8vo, Nurnberg, 1854.
Andrew Murray. This observer has devoted himself
to the Coleopterous order, and has enlarged our knowledge
of the North British indigenous species in his excellent and
accurate Catalogue of the Coleoptera of Scotland. 8vo,
Edin. 1853. ? ? _
H. F. Saussure is the author of Monographic des Guepes
Solitaires, ou de la tribe des Eumeniens. 8vo, fig., Paris,
1852-53.—Etudes sur la famille des Vespides.^ Monogra¬
phic des Guepes Sociales. 8vo, fig., Paris, 1853.
H. Loew. Dipterologische Beitrage. 4 theil, 4to,
Posen, 1850.—Bemerhungen iiber die Familie der Asiliden.
4to, Berlin, 1851.—Neue Beitrage zur Kenntniss der
Dipteren. 1 beitrag, 4to, Berlin, 1853.
Leopold Heinrich Fischer. Conspectus systematicus
Orthopterorum Europce. 8vo, Lipsise, 1853. Orthoptera
Europcea. 1 vol. 4to, Leipzig, 1853. See also p. 14.
Otto Bremer and William Grey. Beitrage sur
Schmetterlings Fauna des nbrhchen Chinas. 4to, St
Petersburg, 1853. .
Victor de Motschoulsky. Insectes de Sibene. 4to,
Petersburg, 1843.—Die Coleopterologischen Verhaltnisse
u. die Kafer Russlands. 8vo, Moscou, 1846.—Etudes En-
tomologiques. 8vo, Livrais. 1-3. Helsingfort, 1853.
F. A. Pouchet. Histoire Naturelle et Agricole du
Hanneton et de sa larve, ou traite de leurs mceurs, de leur
deqats, et des moyens de borner leur ravages. 8vo, Rouen,
1853.
Lorenze Regona. Metodo semplice e naturale per
coltivari i Bachi da Seta. 8vo, Venezia, 1853.
H. D. Richardson. The Hive and the Honey Bee.
New Edition by W. O. Westwood. 12mo, London, 1853.
M. F. Chapuis et M. E. Candeze. Catalogue des larves
We shall now proceed to consider that great department in Zoology, the extent and importance of which are suffi¬
ciently indicated by the foregoing list of authors and their works.
des Coleopteres connus jusqu' d ce jour, avec la descrip- Bibli<
tion de plusieurs especes nouve/les. 8vo, Liege, 1853. graph
Otto Standinger. De sesiis agri Berolinensis Disser- v'—
tatio Entomologica. 4to, Berol. 1854.
C. A. Dohrn (Redacteur). Zeitung (Entomologische)
herausgegeben von dem entomologischen Vereine zu Stettin.
15 Yahrgang. Stettin, 1854.—The same for some preced¬
ing years.
C. F. Freyer. JSeuere Beitrdge zur Schmetterlings-
kunde mit Abbildungen nach der natur. 105 heft, mit 10
illuminirten kupertafeln. 4to, Augsburg, 1854.
J, F. Dawson. Geodephaga Britannica; a Monograph
of the carnivorous ground Beetles indigenous to the British
Isles. With coloured plates. 8vo, Lond. 1854.
Jacq. Duval et J. Migneaux. Genera des Coleopteres
d'Europe. Deyrolle, 1855. This beautiful work is being
published in parts from time to time. They figure a species
of each genus.
Claudio Gay. Historia di Chili. La Historia fisica y
politica di Chili. 8vo (with folio plates), 1853-54. In
this sumptuous, though still unfinished work, 3 or 4 volumes
are devoted to insects, in the hands of M. Blanchard and
others.
T. V. Wollaston. Insecta Madeirensia, being an ac¬
count of the Insects of the Islands of the Madeiran group.
4to, fig. col. Lond. 1854. This beautiful volume is one
of the most valuable and praiseworthy contributions to ento¬
mology which has appeared in this country for a length of
time. Under this bead we may state that in
  Webb and Berthelot’s Histoire Naturelle des lies
Canariens, the insects of those islands are described by M.
Brulle.
 Marsieul. This author is now in the course of
publishing in the Ann. de la Soc. Ent. of France, an admir¬
able Monograph of the Histeridce.
Leon Fairmaire et A. Laboulbene. Faune entomo¬
logique Franqaise, ou description des Insectes qui se trouvent
en France. Tom. i., 16mo, Paris, 1854.
Gabriel Koch. Die geographische verbreitung der
EuropdischenSchmetterlinge in anderen Welttheilen. Nebst
einer statistischen Tabelle. 8vo, Leipzig.
Vicomte de Metivier. Memoire sur les chenilles de
bois en general, et specialment du cheniliege ; leurs causes,
leur efifets, les moyens preservatifs et destructifs de ces in¬
sectes. 8vo, Paris.
J. T. C. Ratzeburg. Die Ichneumen der Forstinsecten
in forstlicher undentomologischer Beziehung. 4to, Berlin.
C. G. A. Brischke. Abbildungen und Beschreibungen
der Blattwespen-Barren §c., mit einen Vorworte von J. T.
Ratzeburg. 1 Lieferung, 4to, Berlin, 1855.
Caspar Czerny. Neuestes Schmetterlings-Biichlein.
Eine genaue Beschreibung der bei uns am haufigsten vor-
kommenden Schmetterlinge. Fur die- Jug end bearbeitet.
Mit 18 colorirten abbildungen, 8vo, Wien.
M. F. de Saulcy. Catalogue des Especes d'Insectes
Coleopteres, recueilles pendant le voyage autour la Mer
Morte. 4to, Paris, 1854.
Jac. Sturm. Deutschland's Fauna. Div. v., Insecten ;
part 22, Coleoptera. 12mo, with 16 coloured plates.
Nurnb. 1854.
A. G. Dahlbom. Hymenoptera Europcea. 2 vols. 8vo,
1854. See also p. 17.
25
ENTOMOLOGY.
r>€
lition. Entomology (from si/ro/xov, insect, and Xoyog, discourse'),
Y ' is that branch of natural science which treats of the history
and habits of the insect tribes. Its subjects are the most
numerous and diversified of any of those topics which engage
the attention of the student of nature; and as they exem¬
plify in a most surprising and admirable manner, both by
their structure and instincts, the wisdom of the author
and creator of all things, and form a highly interesting de¬
partment of human knowledge, we deem their elucidation
deserving of a lengthened dissertation.
The English term insect is no doubt derived from the
Latin word insectum or intersectum, signifying cut into or
intersected, in allusion to the obvious divisions of head,
thorax, and abdomen, of which their general forms consist.
The Greek word bears the same signification.
CHAPTER I.
DEFINITION OF INSECTS THEIR ORDERS EXPLAINED AND
THEIR STUDY DEFENDED.
In the article Animal Kingdom of this work (see vol.
iii. p. 192), we have given a view of the primary divisions
of the subjects of zoological science. The third primary
division, that of the articulated animals, consists of four
great classes:—1. Annelides, such as serpulae, nereids,
leeches, earthworms, &c.; 2. Crustacea, such as crabs,
lobsters, and shrimps ; 3. Arachnides, such as spiders, scor¬
pions, and mites ; and 4. Insecta, or true insects, such as
beetles, butterflies, and moths. The class Insecta of Lin¬
naeus included not only those last named, but also Crus¬
tacea and Arachnides, and was thus almost co-extensive
with what we now regard as a primary division under the
term Articulata. We have, however, already discussed
those two branches as distinct classes, under their respec¬
tive titles (see Arachnides and Crustacea), and we shall
not repeat the important characters by which they are dis¬
tinguished from genuine insects.
The term insect was anciently applied to a much more
extended series of beings than are now included under that
designation. It seems to have comprised whatever was
destitute of an internal skeleton, and exhibited a body com¬
posed of articulated parts. In this sense it accords with
its application in the writings of Aristotle and Pliny, with
certain restrictions however, for these authors were in ad¬
vance of their successors, in as far as they distinguished the
Crustacea from insects. Swammerdam and Ray adopted
the definition of the ancient authors, but erred in classing
the Vermes or worms with insects, a combination which
does not appear for certain to have entered into Aristotle’s
views. Linnaeus wisely separated these two classes, but at Definition,
the same time injudiciously joined the Crustacea with in-
sects, placing them in his order Aptera, along with spiders
and scolopendrae. Fabricius in that respect followed the
same general plan, and included all those living creatures
in the same class, notwithstanding the better example
shown by Brisson, who had separated all the species pos¬
sessed of more than six feet, that is, the Crustacea and
Arachnides of Lamarck. Since the death of the great
Swedish naturalist, our improved knowledge of the anatomy
and physiology of the invertebrated classes has thrown a
clearer light upon the subject, and many modifications have
taken place in the arrangement of the insect tribes.
Insects, properly so called, may be defined as animals
without vertebrae, six-footed, with a distinct head furnished
with two antennae and a pair of composite immoveable eyes,
and breathing through stigmatic openings which lead to in¬
terior tracheae^
As we shall have occasion to mention many terms which
may not be familiar to the general reader, we deem it ad¬
visable, instead of taking his knowledge for granted, to
commence with a brief enumeration and explanation of the
various orders in Entomology, so that their names, when
subsequently brought forward, may be associated with some
definite idea. We shall consider all insects as included
under eleven dilferent orders, as follows.
1. Coleoptera (from KoXsog, a sheath, and wings),
including all those kinds commonly called beetles. Their
membranous wings, which are the true organs of flight, are
protected by a superior and anterior pair of harder consist¬
ence, called elytra. They are all masticators, and are pro¬
vided with mandibles and maxillae. PI. CCXXXIV-XL.
2. Orthoptera (from ogdog, straight, and <irrspu, wings'),
including crickets, grasshoppers, locusts, &c. The upper
wings are of the consistence of parchment, reticulated, and
more or less incumbent. The mouth is provided with
mandibles and maxillae. Plate CCXLI.
3. Hemiptera (from rgiigv, the half, and rrrtga, wings),
including the cimices or bugs, the water scorpions, cicadae
or froghoppers, aphides, &c. A portion of their upper
wings is frequently membranaceous, or of the same con¬
sistence as the inferior pair. The mandibles and maxillae
are replaced by a sheath and sucker. Plate CCXLII.
4. Neuroptera (from vivgov, nerve, and vrsga, wings),
including libellulae or dragon-flies, ephemerae, &c. Both
pairs of wings are membranous, naked, and finely reticu¬
lated. Mouth adapted for mastication, and furnished with
mandibles and maxillae. Plate CCXLIII.
5. Hymenoptera (from a/A^v, a membrane, and -rri^a,
wings), containing wasps, bees, ichneumon-flies, &c., and
characterized likewise by membranous naked wings, which
1 The above definition excludes those many-footed species called and Scolopendroe, which, though still included by some modern
writers among insects, were established as a distinct class by Dr Leach {Edinburgh Encyclopaedia, vol. viii.; and Linn. Trans- vol. ix.)
under the title of Myriapoda, and were recognised as such by Latreille in his Families du Rtgne Animal, p. 322. Although we did not
allude to this class in our exposition above referred to (art. Animal Kingdom), we think that the removal of the two genera just named
from the Insecta is advisable, as it leaves the latter in a state to be more clearly defined, as well as actually composed of more na¬
tural constituent parts, or, as MM. Audouin and Milne Edwards have expressed it, plus homogene. “ En effet,” say these authors,
“ tous les animaux qui la composent alors ont le ccrps divise en trois parties distinctes, une tete, un thorax, et un abdomen ; trois paires
de pattes sont fixe'es au thorax; souvent deux ou quatre ailes sont suspendues a la meme partie; la tete porte deux antennes et deux
yeux immobiles; la bouche est garnie d’une serie d’appendices modifies pour broyerles alimens solides, ou pour pomper ceux qui sont
liquides ; un systeme particylier de vaisseaux sert a la respiration, et porte le nom de trachles; il existe un vaisseau dorsal qui n’est
autre chose qu’un coeur rudimentaire; mais il n’y a point de veritable systeme circulatoire; les sexes sont distinctes ; enfin, la plupart de
ces etres eprouvent, pendant les premiers temps de leur vie, des metamorphoses plus ou moins completes; mais jamais ils n’acqui-
£rent, apres leur sortie de I’ceuf, de nouveaux segmens ii leur corps.” {Resume d'Entomologic, p. 12.) All true insects, then, are hexapod,
or six-footed; and the few genera now or lately classed with them, but of which the amount of feet is greater than six, belong to the
Myriapoda—under which term the reader, in due time, will find their history and classification.
VOL. IX.
D
26 E N T O M
Definition, however, present fewer nervures, and are not reticulated,
as in the preceding order. The mouth is furnished with
mandibles and maxillae, and the abdomen of the female is
terminated either by an ovipositor or sting. Plates
CCXLIV-V.
6. Lepidoptera (from /.sir/5, a scale, and vriga, wings),
containing all butterflies and moths, and generally charac¬
terized by the farinaceous or scaly aspect of the organs of
flight, and the tubular or thread-like extension of the parts
of the mouth. Plates CCXLVI-L.
7. Strepsiptera (from a turning or twisting,
and ATf^a, wings), including a few peculiar and parasitical
species belonging to the genera stylops and xenos. This
order corresponds to the Rhipiptera of Latreille, but we
adopt Mr Kirby’s denomination, as possessing a prior claim.
Plate CCXLIV.
8. Diptera (from bie, twice or double, and trrEPa, wings),
including the house fly, and other two-winged kinds. The
mouth is furnished with a proboscis, and there are two or¬
gans called poisers or balancers (Jialteres) placed behind
the true wings, one on each side. Plate CCLI.
9. Suctoria (so designated from their sucking propen¬
sities) is constituted by the genus Pulex of Linnaeus, and
differs from the ensuing apterous orders in undergoing a
regular metamorphosis, and possessing what some regard
as the rudiments of elytra.1 Plate CCLII. figures 13,
13 a, 14, 14 a, 14 b.
10. Thysanoura (probably from to dance, and ot^a,
tail),'2 likewise an apterous order, including the Podurce and
other tribes. Plate CCLII. fig. 7, 8, 12, and 12 a.
11. Parasita (so named from their parasitical or adhe¬
sive propensities, because they dwell on the bodies of other
animals) contains the genus Pediculus of Linnaeus, and the
or bird-lice.3 Plate CCLIL fig. 10, 11, and 11 a.
The study of the structure and habits of this numerous
and diversified class of beings has long been a favourite
occupation with men of science in all the continental coun¬
tries of Europe, and has assumed of late years in the south¬
ern parts of our own island a character of considerable and
increasing importance. Works have been recently pub¬
lished in this country which need fear no comparison with
the most finished examples of pictorial representation ; and
when we consider how sparingly the subject of Entomology
has been hitherto patronized by the public, we cannot suf¬
ficiently esteem the exertions of those who have thus de¬
voted their time and talents to a pursuit which brings with
it no other reward than the delight which every instructed
mind necessarily draws from the contemplation of a favour¬
ite subject. Entomology, in truth, still stands in a difficult
and somewhat dubious position, and presents itself to many
under a far less inviting aspect than its beautiful sister-sci¬
ence of Botany. In connection with the latter study, the
very mass of mankind, even the profanum vulgus, however
ignorant of the technical details, have many early formed,
and therefore pleasing associations. Every country-house
has its flower parterres, and numerous cottages their glow¬
ing borders,—botanic gardens have been formed in the
vicinity of most of the larger cities, while nursery grounds
are frequent in the neighbourhood even of provincial towns,
—to say nothing of the “ flower enamelled meads” which
each sparkling spring and gorgeous summer calls into fleet¬
ing but constantly renewed existence. In addition to the
more attainable nature of this popular pursuit, some bota-
o L o G Y.
nical knowledge is also regarded as a requisite branch ofDefinitic
medical education; and although a tin box and a micro- ^
scope do not constitute a man of science, still the subject
derives advantage from that general though it may be su¬
perficial culture. But in Entomology every thing exists
in a different order of relation. No “ trivial fond regards”
come in aid of the impaler of insects; and even the crea¬
tures themselves are too often regarded with such abhor¬
rence, that one feels the more inclined to admire how those
who endeavour to hand them down to an ungrateful poste¬
rity, should themselves be accused of cruelty.
The time however is surely gone by when an apologetical
defence of the study might be required, or in which the
works of Omnipotence were regarded as important in pro¬
portion either to their magnitude or immediate subservi¬
ence to the human race;—and although we desire not to
fall into an opposite error by maintaining the greater beauty
and excellence of the more minutely elaborated designs of
the Creator, we yet feel that they are fully more calculated
to awaken our wonder and admiration. It would be easy
to say that the richest and most elegant apparel which
adorns the human race is the product of a caterpillar ; that
the blistering medicines so essential to the practice of the
sanitory art are compounded from a beetle; that honey
and wax, so valuable as articles of domestic economy, are
derived from the glad labours of a hymenopterous fly ; and
that even that splendid and regal dye the “ Tyrian purple”
of ancient days, supposed to have been obtained from the
Purpura patula, a shell-fish of the Mediterranean, is su¬
perseded by the tinctorial uses of the cochineal, a small and
obscure insect, which nevertheless the skill of the chemist
has rendered indispensable even to the garment of kings.
But in truth far higher and more delightful results ensue
from these researches, than can ever be named in the “ cui
bono” catalogue of a mere economist; for whatever tends
to elevate the mind of youth above the grosser pleasures of
sense, or even occasionally to disconnect our maturer years
from the more turbulent occupations and harassing cares
which life is heir to, assuredly carries along with it its own
reward. We doubt not that a more sedulous and frequent
attention to natural history would in active minds pre-oc-
cupy the place which is otherwise in after years too often
devoted to more perilous courses. Even the pursuits of
literature are often vague and objectless, and not unfre-
quently engender a sickly sentimentalism, or other morbid
affection in nowise akin to genius. But the objects which
attract the attention of the naturalist are not the melan¬
choly creations of the human intellect, which present so
often but a lurid brightness, or a dim eclipse, in which
noble thoughts are obscured by the “ darkening scales” of
vice or folly. They are the work of Him who cannot err.
and who has doubtless not only peopled the teeming earth
and the translucent waters of the “ great deep” with all
their innumerable and varied wonders, for a wise and be¬
neficent purpose, of which our instruction and amusement
form at least a portion, but has, by the implantation of that
strong instinctive love of nature which all ingenuous minds
possess, demonstrated his desire that we should ennoble our
humanity by magnifying his manifold works, the “ won¬
drous works of him that is perfect in knowledge.”
While the beautiful simplicity and regular order observ¬
able in those phenomena which proceed under the super¬
intendence of omnipotence, commonly called the operations
oiE n:
it
1 This suctorial order is named Aphaniptera by Mr Kirby, from ntpatm, inconspicuous, because there is an appearance of something
resembling elytra.
2 In allusion, we presume, to the springing propensities of the insects of this order, which leap bv means of a setiform process bent
beneath the abdomen. o * r r 1 ‘ F
3 Those who assume the occurrence of marked transformations as a basis for the grouping of the orders, will rank the first nine of
the above as Metabola, or insects undergoing metamorphosis, and the last two as Amelabola, or insects undergoing no metamorphosis.
ENTOMOLOGY.
lition. of nature, are well adapted to the comprehension of under-
,”v" standings laying no claim to the highest order, the more
complex relations of the subject present a vast field for
speculative or theoretical exercise, sufficient to occupy the
faculties of the most powerful minds. It is thus that, in its
totality, the subject of natural history holds out to each ca¬
pacity the allurement of an occupation suited to every gra¬
dation of intellectual power; for while in its mysterious
interconnection with other branches of natural science, as
well as in its own peculiar complexities, it cannot be effec¬
tively grasped by mere human understanding, its manifold
minor features may be scanned with intelligence by who¬
ever desires so to do.
If indeed the value of a pursuit is to be estimated by the
comparative ease with which it may be followed by persons
of the most moderate fortunes, few can rank higher than
Entomology. While the specimens sought for by the mi¬
neralogist and student of geology are frequently heavy
and cumbrous, and not seldom extremely expensive, and
while that sad representative of the beauties of the living
Flora, called a Hortus Siccus, is but a frail and fleeting me¬
morial of the “ days of other years,” presenting, even after
a tedious and troublesome process of preservation (by
courtesy so called), no trace of their original brightness,
the most exquisite examples of entomological beauty, if
not too roughly handled at the period of their capture, re¬
main, with the most ordinary attention, for a lifetime in their
pristine state,—and what that state actually is, all may sa¬
tisfy themselves in the course even of the most superficial
examination,—
 For nature here
Wantons as in her prime, and plays at will
Her virgin fancies.
Exceeding in amount of species all the other subjects of
zoology,—unrivalled in the dazzling brilliancy of their co¬
lours, which combine the clearness and decision of tint pos¬
sessed by flowers, with the exquisitely varied markings of
the feathered race, and the metallic splendour of the mi¬
neral kingdom,—surpassed by no other work of creation in
the wonderful structure of their parts, and certainly surpass¬
ing all in the adaptation of that structure to the perfect
fulfilment of those natural though to us still mysterious in¬
stincts, which in every age have excited the admiration
of mankind,—is it to be wondered at that the study of in¬
sects should occupy a prominent place in our pursuit of
knowledge ? Much more do we wonder that thousands of
the best educated, and in other respects most enlightened
minds, should still feel averse to a study which unfolds such
a world of unseen wonders.
The subject, too, is literally inexhaustible; and while
some who love to methodize, and thereby to circumscribe,
the subjects of human knowledge, or who err in their esti¬
mate of the perceptive powers of the human mind as ap¬
plied to other matters of enquiry, may be deterred by the
vague boundaries of such a field, a greater number, and
with more propriety it is hoped, may be induced to enter it,
from the very consideration of such a rich and unreaped
harvest. While a fragment of inert matter, which chemi¬
cal analysis determines to differ in its constituent propor¬
tions from other fragments previously examined, is once in
a lustre dignified by the name of a new species, and the
name of a Haiiy or a Dolomieu is bestowed on the uncon¬
scious mass,—and while, even in the richer domain of British
botany, the student of that science, however much he may
extend our knowledge of the localities of plants, labours
with but a feeble chance of adding to the actual list even
of indigenous species, and has probably no chance at all of
ever refreshing his eyes with the sight of a plant which
nobody ever saw before,—it is far otherwise with the innu¬
merable tribes of insect life. The “ gilded summer flies”
are numerous as leaves in Vallumbrosa. No recess of the
forest so obscure but there the “ winged messengers” are
seen to sport and play; and each summer sunbeam falls not
alone on the dewy herbage of the open glades, but lights
up the gorgeous hues of those bright creatures which a
mystical philosophy has ennobled as the types of the disen¬
cumbered human soul, and which even the sombre Dante
has named angelical.
Non v’accorgete voi, che noi siam vermi
Nati a formar I’angelica farfalla.
Every pool of water is pregnant with life ; each lonely moor
or old deserted quarry, which scarcely “feels in its barren¬
ness one touch of spring,” is the chosen abode of thousands
of living creatures, of small dimensions it is true, but
of singular beauty both of form and structure, and often
adorned with hues,
Which make the rose’s blush of beauty pale,
And dim the rich geranium’s scarlet blaze.
Even the pastoral melancholy of the green mountains is
enlivened by the occurrence of many interesting species.
One of the most beautiful of European coleopterous insects
{Cardbus nitens) occurs among the peat hags, and other
places where heath and turf abound, and where its spark¬
ling coat of gold and green, tinged with a brighter lustre
than that of rubies, is singularly contrasted with the black¬
ness of the soil in which it seems imbedded. The deso¬
late and cloud-piercing summits of the highest hills produce
several species, which are the more highly prized from their
scarcity, and the difficulties with which they are obtained.1
We have alluded to the ease and economy with which the
study of Entomology may be pursued, more especially when
our attention is confined to the species of a district. Of
course the collector of foreign insects labours under some
disadvantage, from the more multifarious nature of his sub¬
jects, their larger size, higher price, and more scattered lo¬
calities. But the home collector, especially of the Coleop-
tera, is more favourably situated.2 3 The total Entomology
of most districts may be amply illustrated within the bounds
of a cabinet of a few feet square, and the most ordinary
attention and regularity suffice for its preservation. Most
districts produce species which are comparatively rare in
other quarters, and thus by means of interchanges nume¬
rous additions may be made from time to time: so that
with a moderate share of assiduity and perseverance, a
large collection may be amassed with little or no pecuniary
outlay. In these and many other pleasant particulars, on
which we need not here dilate, Entomology possesses advan¬
tages over all the kindred branches of natural history.
We shall now pass to a short exposition of some of the
more characteristic features in the structure and functions
of insects.
CHAPTER II.
THE EXTERNAL ANATOMY OF INSECTS.
Our knowledge of the manners of these creatures presents
us with few general results, and this is scarcely to be won-
1 The foregoing brief “ defence of insects” coincides with that which, since the above was written, has appeared in our Entomolasia
Edinensis.
3 A glazed frame or drawer, lined with cork, and capable of containing many hundred species, may be made for a few shillings.
27
External
28
ENTOMOLOGY.
External dered at, when we consider with how small a number we
Anatomy, have any accurate acquaintance. It may even be doubted
whether we are completely informed of the history of any
one species within the entire range of Entomology. Of
some we know the perfect state, but have never seen the
larva ; of others the larvae are well known, but the perfect
insect remains in obscurity, so that when we consider the
numerous changes which these creatures undergo, from
their first hatching to their final metamorphosis, we need
scarcely wonder that even the most familiar species pre¬
sent points in their history, which it is by no means easy
to unravel.
It is otherwise however with the classification of insects,
which, depending mainly on an attentive examination of
external characters, is so far independent alike of anatomi¬
cal investigation and the study of manners, although these,
when ascertained, form of course the truest test by which
to appreciate the difference between a natural and an arti¬
ficial system.
The period is comparatively recent during which the in¬
ternal structure of insects began to be regarded as a sub¬
ject of interest. Their external characters were the first
to attract attention; and as a communicable knowledge of
these wras necessary for all the practical purposes of classi¬
fication, as w-ell as to establish the means of mutual under¬
standing among naturalists, it is well that that branch has
been rendered so complete and satisfactory. In former
times, whatever facts of interest might have been ascer¬
tained, were too often but of slight avail, in consequence
of our vague knowledge of the species to which they ap¬
plied. But the most ordinary attention on the part of the
anatomist, to the systematic works of modern times, will
now suffice to inform him of the place which his subject
occupies in the scale of nature ; and hence the importance,
not seldom overlooked by the physiologist, of even the
minutest external characters, when accurately ascertained
and clearly described. It has indeed been stated as a
truism, that whoever attempts to deduce the real affinities
of the animal kingdom from a consideration of the exter¬
nal characters alone, will in most cases mislead both him¬
self and others.1 But it must also be admitted, that
comparative anatomists have too frequently an idea that
nothing is or can be of importance which extends beyond
the sphere of their own exertions. They forget that the
general form and covering, and, in short, the whole of the
external characters, however they may labour under the
misfortune of being obvious to a common observer, are
just as much a part of an animal’s organic constitution, as
the nerves, viscera, muscles, blood-vessels, and bones, or
whatever else is most mysterious and recondite ; and that,
in fact, without a precise knowledge of the former, the in¬
formation conveyed by the latter would be uncertain, or of
no avail. The chief advantage of the internal structure is,
that it is less liable to variation from the influence of local
or accidental circumstances: its chief disadvantage results
from the difficulty of its ascertainment, and the contrariety
of opinion which exists among physiologists regarding the
uses of the organs, even after their conformation has been
ascertained. A mere knowledge of external character is
perhaps nearly as useful as an acquaintance, however inti¬
mate, with anatomical structure, when nothing is either
known or sought for respecting the external appearance, as
a necessary guide to the higher knowledge of animal in¬
stincts and modes of life, the uses of living creatures in the
general economy of nature, their exquisite adaptation to
the circumstances under which they are placed, their distri¬
bution over the earth’s surface, and other points of philoso¬
phical investigation. The mere anatomist may smile at the Extern f
mere collector of shells and butterflies; and with just as
much propriety may the mere naturalist or virtuoso smile
in return at him who, knowing, or supposing that he knows,
every convolution of a viscus, or ramification of an artery,
is yet unable to recognise, amid the perplexingly multi¬
plied varieties which may be presented to him, the precise
animal which has been the subject of so much anxious and
careful investigation. But when anatomy and natural his¬
tory go hand in hand, the obscure labyrinth of nature, so
far as human capacity can penetrate, receives its noblest
illumination.
Notwithstanding the meritorious labours of Swammer¬
dam, Malpighi, Reaumur, and Lyonnet, who were the first
greatly to signalise themselves in the difficult field of in¬
sect anatomy ; in spite of the more recent and scarcely less
successful exertions of Cuvier, Comparetti, Ramdohr, Tre-
viranus, Gaede, Sprengel, Savigny, Marcel de Serres, Geof-
froy St Hilaire, Carus, Meckel, Audouin, and Dufour (to
make no mention of many others who yet deserve to be
held in remembrance),—such is the immense extent and
variety of this wonderful class of beings, that we fall infi¬
nitely short of possessing any thing like a general or com¬
pleted knowledge of their structure. In this paucity of
well-established facts under which we labour, it would
indeed be unphilosophical to attempt the induction of ge¬
neral rules; and all that we shall here attempt shall be
to record such observations as seem likely to bear sub¬
stantially upon the subject, and to have formed an actual
advance in our knowledge of the anatomy and physiology
of insects.
The study of the interior structure of these creatures does
not at first sight hold out the promise of much that is either
interesting or useful. The enormous distance which seems
to separate all invertebrated animals from man, and even
from the lower mammiferous and other vertebrated tribes,
has induced the belief that no practical results can ever
spring from such a source. But the philosophical observer,
who knows how important is frequently the connection be¬
tween the greatest and the least of things, and how, like
the thread of Ariadne, the tracing of a slender chain may
lead to unforeseen conclusions of the highest value, will
not despise the lights which a better knowledge even of
insect anatomy may be one day destined to throw upon
some of the many still obscure points in the physiology of
man. The observations of M. Dufour and others have al¬
ready shown us what an admirable simplicity presides in
these despised tribes over the exercise of those most im¬
portant functions, which in red-blooded animals require
such a complicated organic structure as to be almost incom¬
prehensible. But as we descend in the scale of nature, w e
see more clearly the distinction between what is neces¬
sary, or merely accessory or superfluous, and thus by de¬
grees we may attain to a knowledge of the essential cha¬
racters of things.
Even in its more superficial bearings on natural history,
the dissection of insects is necessary to ascertain several
disputed points regarding the sexual distinctions of species,
and to verify our views of the structure of the organs of
the mouth, the antennae, tarsi, and other external parts, on
which our establishment of tribes and genera mainly de¬
pends. When it is desired to dissect an insect, it ought
to be placed on a piece of cork, immersed in pure water;
and the various parts, as they float in the liquid, may be
fixed in their most appropriate position by means of needles.
With a view to prevent deception from any alteration in
the relative position of the internal organs, it is desirable
rni
>»;
1 Wilson’s Illustrations of Zoology, vol. i. pref. p. 4.
ENTOMOLOGY.
29
£l£x
tuni
rnal to fix the insect in its natural horizontal posture, and to
'my. commence the dissection from the dorsal region down-
wards.
The following observations on the dissection of the mi¬
nuter animals may be of service to the student. “ The
first thing that I have to observe is, that all dissections of
small and soft objects, e. g. worms, zoophytes, insects, mol-
lusca, &c. where it is desirable to obtain even tolerably
accurate results, should be performed under water, by which
the parts are kept floating and separated from each other,
and consequently present themselves more distinctly. A
very simple contrivance for investigations of this kind may
be prepared in the following manner: A mass of tough
wax (not too soft) is to be laid upon one or more porcelain
saucers or capsules of different sizes, which are then to be
put in a warm place until the wax melts so as to cover the
surface evenly to the depth of a half or a third of an
inch. If the object to be examined be laid upon this sur¬
face, it may be fixed by needles in any position that is wish¬
ed ; and, when covered with clear water, developed and
dissected by means of suitable instruments. Of these, the
best are very delicate forceps; pointed, well made, sharp¬
cutting scissars ; and small knives like cataract needles,
some round, others with cutting edges, and fixed in slen¬
der wooden handles. For separating parts I have'cdso em¬
ployed small horn probes and fine brushes ; whilst for ex¬
amining them a good magnifying glass is frequently indis¬
pensable. If it is wished to preserve a preparation thus
made, wax coloured at pleasure, as for the purpose of in¬
jections, is to be formed into little tablets about a quarter
of an inch thick ; one of them is then to be placed upon
the saucer or capsule containing the preparation; the lat¬
ter may then be transferred to it, arranged suitably upon
it, fixed there by means of short needles, and both toge¬
ther placed in alcohol. Nor must I forget to mention,
that the examination of very delicate organizations may
frequently be conducted with greater facility and accuracy,
if the object be previously allowed to remain some time in
spirit, and thereby to become harder and contracted. This
applies particularly to the dissection of nervous organs,
and to the examination of very small embryos, of mollusca,
and worms. There are various ways of destroying worms,
insects, &c. for the purpose of dissecting, without injuring
their organization. Mollusca, snails for example, as Swam¬
merdam has remarked, are to be allowed to die in water,
because by that means their body swells, and all the parts
become more distinctly visible ; they may afterwards be
kept in spirit (though not too long) for dissection. Worms,
the larger zoophytes (for the smaller must be examined
whilst alive), caterpillars, &c. are best destroyed by means
of spirit; insects, on the contrary, by being dipped rapid¬
ly in boiling water, or in oil of turpentine.”1
SECT. I THE EXTERNAL COVERING OF INSECTS.
Our knowledge of the structure and anatomy of this class
may be said to be still in its infancy ; for although many
important facts have been legitimately generalized, we are
still in ignorance of the formation of a thousand species
for every one which has been examined. As the harder
parts of insects, to which the muscles are attached, are su¬
perficial, the class has been described as bearing their ske¬
letons externally; and a transcendental anatomy has not
scrupled to determine the exact analogy which each por¬
tion of their covering bears to the bony frame-work of the
vertebrated tribes. This comparison has been instituted
by M. Geoffroy St Hilaire, an eminent physiological natu- External
ralist of France, who maintains, with many of his country- Anatomy,
men, that all animals are vertebrated. The doctrine, what-
ever may be its other merits, is not entitled to the credit
of novelty, as an English writer of the name of Willis had,
so far back as the year 1692, published his opinion that
the external envelope of the body of insects represented
the internal articulated column of the vertebrated tribes.
M. de Blainville, on the other hand, regards the corneous
covering of insects rather as analogous to the skin or cu¬
taneous system of the higher classes.
The hardness of the calcareous or horny envelope of the
greater number of insects is owing, in Latreille’s opinion,
to the consistence of the excretion interposed between the
dermis and the epidermis, or what is termed in man the
mucous tissue. This excretion also contains the brilliant
and varied colours which add so greatly to the beauty of
the class.2 According to M. Odier, who has attentively
examined the composition of the harder parts of insects,
the substance of this envelope is of a peculiar nature. He
has named it chitine. He observes that the phosphate of
lime forms the great proportion of all the salts contained
in the teguments of insects, while that ingredient is but
trifling in the covering of the Crustacea, although the lat¬
ter abounds in the carbonate, which is not found in the
other class.3 The facts stated by him militate against the
analogies attempted to be established on the subject; and
the observations of M. Straus go far to demonstrate that
those teguments do not form a true skeleton, but really re¬
present the skin of the vertebrated classes. When we use
the word skeleton, then, in relation to insects, the reader
will understand its application merely to the external co¬
vering.
On analysing the elytra of the cockchafer, M. Odier as¬
certained the existence, ls£, of albumen ; 2d, of an extrac¬
tive matter, soluble in water ; 3c?, of a brown-coloured ani¬
mal substance, soluble in potass and insoluble in alcohol;
'k/c, of a coloured oil, soluble in alcohol; oth, of three salts,
viz. subcarbonate of potass, phosphate of lime, and phos¬
phate of iron ; Qth, of a peculiar substance which consti¬
tutes a fourth part in weight of the elytron. Albumen is
so generally distributed among the animal organs that its
presence was to be expected. But the oil is deserving of
further experimental observation. Robiquet found it of a
green colour in cantharides; while, according to Odier, it
is brown in the cockchafer, and red in a species of crioce-
ris. Now as each of these insects is itself of a correspond¬
ing hue, it is natural to suppose that the oil is the colour¬
ing matter. The peculiar substance which forms so large
a proportion of the elytra is named chitine by M. Odier.
If we plunge a coleopterous insect into a solution of potas¬
sium, and keep up a pretty high temperature, we shall
observe that the so-called skeleton neither dissolves nor
changes its form ; it merely becomes discoloured during
the operation, while all the viscera and interior muscles
disappear; and whatever remains of the insect is chitine.
This substance exists in the whole of the envelope, and is
also found to occur in the more solid covering of the Crus¬
tacea.
If however we compare the preceding results with those
obtained by M. Chevreul in the course of his experiments
on crustaceous animals, we shall perceive some remarkable
distinctions in the constitution of their harder parts. The
presence of subcarbonate of potass is a striking character
among insects. It does not occur in the class Crustacea. The
phosphate of lime, a sparing ingredient among the latter,
1 Carus’s Introduction to Comparative Anatomy, translated by Gore, vol. ii. p. 389.
2 Rigne Animal, t. iv. p. 2. 3 Mem. de la Soc. d'Hist. Nat. t. i. p. 29.
30
ENTOMOLOGY.
External forms a preponderating part of the salts in the envelope of
Anatomy, insects, while the carbonate of lime is absent, although it
forms the base of the carapace or covering of crabs and
lobsters. It has been stated as a regulating law in animal
chemistry, that the bones of the higher orders have more
of the phosphate and less of the carbonate of lime in their
composition, while the proportions were reversed among
the inferior tribes. But the observations of M. Odier show
the inadequacy of chemical character to serve as a basis on
which to found our analogies of organization ; for if strictly
applied to insects, that class must be removed from the
place which they now occupy in our system, and be com¬
bined with others of a higher nature, with which in truth
they have no connection.
The harder and more solid parts of insects are certainly
to them what the internal skeleton is to the vertebrated
tribes. They form the support and frame-work of the body.
It is on this account that the term skeleton, though not
strictly applicable, has been used, both in ancient and mo¬
dern times, to designate the corneous external system of these
creatures. This comparatively solid system is itself formed
by the union of many parts, which however have received no
general name; so that, while in discussing the vertebrated
tribes we merely say that their skeleton is formed of bone,
all that we advance in regard to insects is, that it is composed
of pieces. In the higher tribes each individual bone is well
known by its own distinctive name ; but the insect tribes in
that respect have been but obscurely defined. Guided by
the light of human anatomy, observers have sought to disco¬
ver in insects all those parts to which they could apply pre¬
viously established names; but analogies based upon mere
appearance are incapable of great or useful extension ; and
insects would certainly have been better known had they
been studied in the first place individually, and no far¬
fetched comparisons instituted till after a more ample know¬
ledge of actual organization. But instead of this, the best
determined functions of the superior animals have been
assumed as points of departure, and all the parts of insects
which seemed to fulfil the same purposes have been deter-
minately regarded as analogous. Now it is quite admissi¬
ble to say, that in insects, as among the vertebrated tribes,
there is progression, vision, manducation, &c. because these
are the attributes, more or less general, of all living beings ;
but it has not always been demonstrated that particular
and more special functions are always performed by the
same or apparently corresponding parts. M. Dufour, how¬
ever, has announced the following results in relation to the
articulated animals themselves : ls£, that the skeleton of the
Crustacea and Arachnides (two important classes already
described in this work) does not differ from that of insects
except by the mode of growth of the rings of which it is
composed ; 2d, that those two classes of animals and in¬
sects themselves do not differ among each other, but by
the greater or less extent in the development of the parts
of which they are composed.
The same may be asserted in regard to the disparities
observable between the different conditions of insects in
the larva, the chrysalis, and the perfect state. The vari¬
ous forms under which the same species is exhibited, and
the singular and sometimes sudden transformations to which
it is subjected, are found to result, when analysed, from the
growth of parts. This has been demonstrated by the writ¬
ings of Swammerdam and other modern writers on the ana¬
tomy of caterpillars, as well as by the beautiful and more
recent observations of Savigny on the mouths of Lepidop-
tera in the perfect state, compared with the same parts in
their earliest condition.1 The observation is particularly
applicable to the solid parts of insects. In the larva each
segment exists under a nearly uniform development, while
in the perfect state several of these segments have acquired
a prodigious increase. This is the cause of the vast dif¬
ference in their exterior envelope at different periods of
their existence. The nymph or chrysalis is in the inter¬
mediate condition, and is formed, like the larva, of simple
rings, which, however, no longer exhibit an equal degree
of uniformity. But the perfect insect is the final term
of transformation. Considered in a general way, its co¬
vering does not essentially differ from that of the larva;
but the three segments next the head have acquired a
great increase of bulk, to enable them to support the
appendages of legs and wings, which were merely ru¬
dimentary, or scarcely existent, in its first condition ; and
the distinction of head, thorax, and abdomen becoming
strongly visible, the entire aspect of the insect has under¬
gone a change.
It is highly interesting to observe the influence which
the decrease or development of one portion of structure
exercises upon another ; in other words, the constant and
intimate relation of the proportion of parts. The maxi¬
mum of increase in the metathorax is always in relation to
the rudimentary state of the mesothorax, while, on the
contrary, the development of the latter produces or accom¬
panies the decrease of the former. Thus also the parts of
the mouth, as demonstrated by M. Savigny, are sometimes
free, and capable of vaided movement, for the purposes of
mastication; while in several tribes they are brought close
together, lengthened, and as it were amalgamated in the
form of trunk or sucker; and so the segments of the tho¬
rax, in the different orders, more or less disunited among
themselves, support the wings, the balancers, the elytra,
according to the various kinds. From these and similar
considerations have been deduced the conclusion that the
increase of one portion exercises over the neighbouring
portions a peculiar influence, which explains whatever dif¬
ferences may be remarked in the individuals of each order,
family, and genus. And this general consequence, which
results from numerous observations, necessarily includes
and accounts for that incoherent series of anomalies so puz¬
zling to the superficial inquirer, but which are only regard¬
ed as such, because the labourers in the field of anatomy
have but seldom taken into their consideration the totality
of the articulated animals, and have more seldom still
thought fit to occupy themselves in a careful comparative
analysis of the parts which enter into the composition of
the external skeleton of these despised tribes.
We shall here briefly consider the essential characters
of the so-called skeleton among the articulated tribes. It is
composed of segments, which are themselves formed by a
determinate number of pieces ; but their most obvious cha¬
racter is, that they are provided with a pair of feet, and
with two openings to the respiratory organs. But along
with such segments as present these parts, we may usual¬
ly observe many others which are not so provided, or at
least in which the feet are wanting; and they may either
differ in their size and proportions, or closely resemble each
other in those respects. In the latter case, the most simple
form is exhibited; and if we ascertain the composition of
a single segment, and their amount, we have a knowledge
of the entire animal. This simplicity of form, however, is
not often observable ; for it more frequently happens that
the same individual presents great disparity in the size and
composition of its segments, and in the appendages with
which they are furnished.
The Scolopendrae (belonging to the class Myriapoda) ex-
External
Anatomy.
1 Mimoires sur les Animaux sans Vertebres.
E N TOM
External hibit, according to M. Dufour, one of the most simple forms
Anatomy. 0f the articulated- classes, in as far as they present the great-
est uniformity of character in the parts of which they are
composed. Even in them, however, we may observe, at
the anterior portion, some pairs of feet, which are rudimen¬
tary, and crowded together towards the head; so that it
would be possible to figure an animal still more uniformly
composed, by supposing that the feet thus thrown together
had been developed uniformly with the appendages of the
ensuing segments. We should then have had to recognise
merely a head, and a certain number of rings, all of a like
nature. But it might be possible still further to reduce
and simplify the proposition, by regarding the head itself
as an assemblage or union of segments, bearing appendages
merely analogous to the feet. Thus, to realize the suppo¬
sition of a skeleton uniformly constructed throughout all
its parts, nothing more wouid be necessary than to give to
the segments of the head a development equal to that of
the others, and to restore to its appendages (the feet) their
essential usage, that of locomotion, instead of the secon¬
dary usage to which they had been subjected. This view
has been presented in order to exhibit what has been re¬
garded as the fundamental plan of insect formation; for it
is in truth the corresponding or unequal increase of the
segments, the union or division of the pieces of which they
are composed, the maximum of development in some, the
rudimentary condition of others, that form the agreements
or differences of character in the entire series of articulat¬
ed animals.1 If the development is uniform, or nearly so,
in each segment, we have the condition of the Annelides,
of worms, and of the larvae of insects. If, on the contrary,
this equilibrium is destroyed, and the maximum of increase
takes place in the first, second, and third segments ensuing
the head, we have the form and character of a perfect in¬
sect ; if the change is still greater, we reach the Arachnides;
if greater still, the decapodous Crustacea.
The importance of studying the skeleton of insects is
greater than even among the higher classes, because, being
essential, it forms a genuine basis, and being at the same
time external, it offers to the eye of the zoologist a ready
mode of determination.
While engaged in the consideration of the various or¬
gans of insects, a numerous list of disparities in structure
might no doubt be collected, and the term anomaly, ac¬
cording to its frequent but by no means philosophical ap¬
plication, brought into constant use. That fatal word,
however, has been too often substituted in place of an ex¬
plicit interpretation of phenomena not in any way difficult
of solution, certain general principles being kept in view.
Of these, one of the most importance is, that all the differ¬
ences exhibited by insects, and all the so-called anoma¬
lous organs which they present, are the result of a greater
or less development of certain parts existing generally
throughout the entire class.2 The contrariety of opinion
among naturalists regarding the existence or proportion of
certain parts of structure, has arisen partly from a discor¬
dance in the use of terms, and partly from the organs
themselves not being submitted to a careful analytical in¬
vestigation. It is thus, for example, that the names of
sternum and scutellum, in place of being bestowed on por¬
tions of which the contours have been precisely determin¬
ed, have only been applied when these portions happened
to exhibit certain accidental and conventional characters.
By this means we read in almost every page of classifica¬
tion, that one insect possesses a scutellum and that another
does not; or that a particular genus is characterized by its
existence, and another by its absence ; while the fact is,
O L O G Y. 31
that these parts exist in all insects, although the names in Exterhal
their usual application have been bestowed only upon pe- Anatomy,
culiar and not very important variations in thejform.
SECT. II. THE EXTERNAL CHARACTERS OF THE PRINCIPAL
SEGMENTS OF AN INSECT’S BODY, VIZ. THE HEAD, THORAX,
AND ABDOMEN.
The form of the external covering of insects, even of
the same species, differs greatly according to the existing
condition of the individual. The segments of which the
bodies of larvae are composed are generally of a uniform
size when compared with each other, and the singular phe¬
nomena presented by metamorphosis consist chiefly in the
greater development assumed by certain segments than by
others. The nymph (called chrysalis among the Lepid-
optera) exhibits the intermediate or transitionary state. Its
segments are unequally developed, and this inequality is
greatly increased on the assumption of the final state, in
which certain segments are prodigiously enlarged, while
others suffer a corresponding diminution. In the imago, or
complete condition, the three segments next the head under¬
go the most notable alteration ; for, besides their increase
of bulk, they become furnished with wings and articulated
legs, which had previously existed in a very rudimentary
condition. In that state also the relative proportions of
the segments are so changed that the identity of several
becomes difficult to recognise, and the most obvious divi¬
sions henceforth consist of head, thorax, and abdomen.
These parts are severally characterized by peculiar attri¬
butes, the nature of which we shall now endeavour to ex¬
plain.
The head is by far the most complicated portion, and it
is necessary that its structure should be well understood,
as it furnishes the most important characters on which mo¬
dern genera are founded or made known. The parts most
deserving of attention are the mouth, antennce, and eyes.
The organs of the mouth present in their different com¬
binations a great variety of form among the articulated
classes. In relation to all such animals as are provided
with a head, more particularly the vertebrated tribes, the
term mouth is never of ambiguous application, but refers to
those parts which are placed exteriorly at the entrance of
the intestinal canal, and effect the process of mastication;
but in regard to the acephalous or nearly headless tribes,
such as annelides, worms, and the radiated animals, its ap¬
plication is less definite and precise. Among the great
series of living beings included by Linnaeus in the class of
insects, all of which are furnished with a head, the parts of
the mouth are no longer doubtful. It has been remarked,
however, that the sucker of the larvae in the last family of
the dipterous order being entirely interior when not in use,
presents a singular approximation in that particular to the
intestinal worms.
It will be readily conceived that the mouth of insects
must be adapted to the particular manners of life peculiar
to each natural group, and must therefore vary in accor¬
dance with their instinctive habits. It was thus that even
the earliest naturalists perceived and expressed the distinc¬
tion between insects provided with teeth or cutting jaws,
and those furnished with trunks or suckers. The use of
the microscope in modern times, and the deep desire which
prevailed towards the conclusion of the seventeenth and
commencement of the eighteenth centuries, to illustrate the
mysteries of animal organization, produced much more de¬
tailed and exact accounts of the parts of the mouth in insects
than were previously possessed. The works of Leeuwen-
1 Ann. des Sciences Nat. t. i. p. 115.
s Ibid. p. 102.
32
ENTOMOLOGY.
External hoeck, Swammerdam, and Reaumur are mines of informa-
Anatomy. tion; while Scopoli and Degeer still further generalized the
observations of these illustrious naturalists. Scopoli, we
believe, wras the first to apply the knowledge of these parts
in characterizing the genera of the hymenopterous and dip¬
terous orders ; but it is to a celebrated disciple of Linnaeus,
John Christian Fabricius, that we owe the first general
theory of the parts of manducation, and its application to
entomology in general.
The alimentary substances sought for by insects are
either comparatively hard and solid, or of a more soft and
fluid nature. Thence we find upon examination numerous
tribes of insects provided with a mouth so constructed as
to tear and masticate the substances on which it is design¬
ed to act; while many others are characterized by a tube¬
like mouth, or one resembling a delicate tongue extended
when in action, and spirally rolled upon itself when in re¬
pose. Hence the great primary distinctions among the
orders of insects, and their recognised division into masti¬
cators (mandibulata) and suckers (haustellata), the former
living on solid substances, the latter on such as are fluid.
Whatever may be the structure of the mouth in insects, it
is to one or other of those types of form that each must be
referred. We are indebted to the beautiful researches of
Savigny (1814) for the first accurate analysis and elucida¬
tion of these parts, and of their relationship throughout the
articulated tribes. Latreille, however, had previously insti¬
tuted a slighter comparison between the mouths of the suc¬
torial and mandibulated tribes, as Lamarck has admitted
in his report on Savigny’s work.
Savigny divides insects formerly so named into two
groups, the hexapodes, or such as have six feet, and the
apiropodes, or such as possess a greater number. The
mouth of the latter forms two proper types distinct from
those of the former; but it is with the polymorphous hexa¬
podes, or such as undergo transformations, that is, insects
properly so called, that we are now concerned. We shall first
consider the parts of the mouth in the masticating tribes.
They are essentially as follows: The labrum, the mandibles,
the maxillae, the palpi, the labium, and the mentum, the
two latter, according to the views of different observers,
sometimes passing under one and the same name. The
reader may here consult PI. CCXXXIII. fig. 1, a, b, c, d.'
The labrum or upper lip (fig. 1, a) is a flattened some¬
what deflexed portion, consisting of a single piece,1 2 placed
on the upper side of or above the mouth, and capable of
moving upwards and downwards, or vertically. It is vari¬
able in form, but is usually somewhat square, often wider
than long, and frequently notched or bifid. It is of a hor¬
ny consistence, sometimes coriaceous, or even approach¬
ing to what may be named membranous in certain tribes,
and is attached to the anterior portion of the head by a
very short articulation.
The mandibles or upper jaws (mandibulce, fig. 1, bb) are
two strong horny pieces, generally of a triangular form,
more or less curved, convex externally, concave on their
inner surfaces, and frequently toothed or serrated on their
interior edge. They are placed on each side of the mouth
by insertion on the sides of the head, immediately beneath
the labrum or upper lip, which usually covers their base.
They are each composed of a single piece of a hard con¬
sistence, and may be said to correspond to the jaws of the
vertebrated tribes, the process of mastication being princi¬
pally performed by them. They differ, however, in this
respect, that their motion, instead of being vertical, is ho- External
rizontal, or from within outwards, and vice versa. They Anatom)-,
vary greatly both in their actual size and relative dimen-
sions, being small and slender in the glow-worm {Lampyris),
and very large, projecting, and antler-like in the stag bee¬
tle {Lucanus cervus), the species which we have selected for
our engraved illustration. These internal surfaces are fre¬
quently parallel, but their dentations are not always the
same in each, the projections of the one being however fre¬
quently so arranged as to enter the concavities of the other
in order to admit of their closer union. But this is not
seldom prevented by the curvature of the tips ; and in se¬
veral instances, where the mouth is wide, and the mandi¬
bles rather remote from each other at the base, the blades
cross each other a little beyond the centre. The denta¬
tions of the mandibles, though sometimes called teeth, are
merely projecting parts, although in the orthopterous tribes
a coriaceous lamina seems in some respect to distinguish
them from the body of the mandible to which they are
attached, thus exhibiting an approach to that mode of fix¬
ture called gomphosis, in which one bone is fixed within
another, as in the teeth of the higher tribes. The mandi¬
bles are more variable in their forms than the maxillae, and
may occasionally be observed to differ (as in the genus Lu¬
canus) even in the sexes of the same species.
Immediately beneath the mandibles are situated the
maxillae or under jaws (fig. 1, cc), w hich are likewise placed
on each side of the mouth, and take their origin from the
inferior and internal part of that cavity, near the origin of
the under lip. Like that of the preceding parts, their ac¬
tion is horizontal, but their texture is less rigid, approach¬
ing to membranous, their colour usually paler, and their
internal edges toothed, or finely fringed with hairs. The
different portions of the maxillae have received different
names, such as the cardo or hinge, the stipes or stalk, and
the lobus or lobe (one or more) which forms the terminal
portion. The last named is the most important portion,
as it acts upon the food when preparing for deglutition, and
when armed with teeth its substance is as hard as that of
the mandibles. “ This part,” says Mr Kirby, “ is either
simple, consisting only of one lobe, as you will find to be
the case with the Hymenoptera, Dynastidae, Nemognatha, and
several other beetles ; or it is compound, consisting of two
lobes. In the former case, the lobe is sometimes very
long, as in the bee tribes, and at others very short, as in
hister, &c. The bilobed maxillae present several different
types of form. Nearest to those with one lobe are those
whose lower lobe is attached longitudinally to the inner
side of the stalk of the organ, above which it scarcely rises.
Of this description is the maxilla in the common dung bee¬
tle ( Geotrupes stercorarius), and rove beetle (StaphyUnits
olens). Another kind of formation is where the lower lobe
is only a little shorter than the upper ; this occurs in a kind
of chafer {Macraspis tetradactyla, Macleay). A third is
where the upper lobe covers the lower as a shield; as you
will find in the Orthoptera order, and the Libellulina, and
almost in Meloe. A fourth form is where the upper lobe
somewhat resembles the galeate maxilla just named, but
consists of two joints. This exists in Staphylinidae, &c.
The last kind I shall notice is when the upper lobe not
only consists of two joints, but is cylindrical, and assumes
the aspect of a feeler or palpus. This is the common cha¬
racter of almost all the predaceous beetles {Entomophagi,
Latr.).”3 This lobe, which has been usually regarded as an
1 a is the labrum, surmounted by its broad nasus ; & the mandibulse ; c the maxillae, with their jointed palpi; d the bifid labium,
with its two palpi and broad basal portion or mentum.
* In the female of a small bee of the genus Hatictus it is said to be furnished with a slender appendage.
* Introduc. to Entom. vol. iv. p. 442.
E N T O M
External additional palpus or feeler, is strictly analogous, in Mr Kir-
Anatomy. by’s opinion, to the upper lobe in other insects, and he thinks
' it ought rather to be called a palpiform lobe than a palpus.
When there are two lobes, the upper one is most common¬
ly the longer; but in many species of the tribe last allud¬
ed to, the lower equals or even exceeds the upper in length.1
Most of the predaceous beetles have the inner lobe of the
maxillae armed with a terminal claw, which, among the Ci-
cindelidae, is articulated and moveable, but fixed in the other
carabideous kinds. The maxillae are chiefly serviceable in
holding the food, and preventing its falling from the mouth
during the action of the mandibles, although in certain
cases they no doubt also act their part in comminution.
They are more fixed in their forms than the mandibles,
and are of more essential service to the naturalist for the
purposes of classification. Fabricius, indeed, has deduced
the principal diagnostic of ten out of the thirteen orders
(or classes, as he terms them), of which his system is com¬
posed, from these important parts*
We shall now briefly notice certain appendages of the
maxillae, the existence of which forms another distinction
between them and the mandibles or upper jaws, which
are never so provided. Towards the middle of the outer
edge of the maxillae are attached two slender articulated
filiform processes, known under the name of palpi (see the
figure above referred to) ; the longer pair being the exter¬
nal, the others the internal palpi. Both are called maxil¬
lary, to distinguish them from the labial palpi, afterwards
mentioned. According to the view expressed by Mr Kir¬
by in the preceding quotation, the reader will perceive
that each maxilla may be regarded as properly possess¬
ing only one palpus, although in certain tribes the upper
lobe being jointed and palpiform, has occasioned its being
regarded as one of these organs. The palpi are distinctly
articulated, or composed of several jointed parts, and are
capable of rapid and extended motion. They derive
their name from a Greek word, which signifies to feel,
and are supposed to constitute one of the principal organs
of touch. Their uses, however, in the insect economy have
been variously interpreted. Bonsdorf regarded them as
the organs of smell; while Knock, agreeing in that opinion
so far as regards the maxillary palpi, conceives that those
of the labium exercise the faculty of taste. Cuvier and
Kirby favour touch as their true function, and this view is
confirmed by the constant use which numerous species
make of these organs while walking, by applying them
perpetually to the surface of whatever objects they pass
over. That they perform that function is rendered ex¬
tremely probable by their structure, which is beautifully
adapted, by its peculiar pliancy, to the examination of the
substances with which they come in contact. They are
in some respects analogous to the articulated extremities
which form the principal seat of the sense of touch in ver-
tebrated animals. It has also been noticed that several
aquatic beetles, while swimming, bend back their anten¬
nae, and stretch forward their palpi, as if to explore their
way through the ambiguous and weedy waters. As acces¬
sory to the maxillae, they are no doubt also employed in
the selection of the most suitable alimentary portions of
whatever substances have been previously seized upon by
the more powerful parts of the mouth. In many insects
there is only a single palpus to each of the maxillae.
As the mouth is covered above by the labrum,, or upper
lip, so it is closed below by the under lip, or labium (fig.
1, d). The latter differs in its structure from the labrum,
being more complex than that organ, and composed as it
were of two portions joined together. It varies in its form,
O L O G Y. 33
is usually notched in front, and frequently furnished with External
a triangular tooth in the centre, which is sometimes bifid. Anatomy.
Mr Kirby defines the labium as a moveable organ, often
biarticulate, which, terminating the surface anteriorly, co¬
vers the mouth from beneath, and is situate between the
maxillae. It includes the mentum and labial palpi. The
more uncovered portion of the labium, or that which pro¬
jects from the basal portion, is now named languette or li-
gula by Latreille, in consonance with the nomenclature of
Fabricius. The mentum, or chin, is the lower joint of the
labium when the latter is jointed ; in other cases its base.
Some contrariety of opinion seems to exist in the no¬
menclature of these parts. Mr Macleay bestows the name
of mentum on the middle piece of the lower apparatus of
the mouth. Its anterior portion, to which the palpi are so
frequently attached, he calls the labium, while the basal
part of the mentum is designated the stipes. In this view
the labium of Macleay corresponds to the ligula, or rather
tongue, of Kirby, while the mentum of the latter is analo¬
gous to the stipes of the former ; for it appears that the
term mentum is only applied by the author of the Intro¬
duction to Entomology to the lower division of the labium,
when that organ (as in Hydrous piceus) appears to consist
of two joints or pieces. When there is no apparent divi¬
sion, or the only separation consists in a transverse elevated
line (as in some lamellicorn beetles), or an obtuse angle
formed by the meeting of the two parts, then the entire
piece (the mentum merging in it) is regarded by Mr Kirby
as the labium.
Among the greater proportion of masticating insects there
is placed anteriorly at each side of the ligula a small sup¬
porting piece or article, which takes its rise a little above
the pharynx, and is terminated by a projecting appendage.
These parts were named paraglossee by Illiger; and M.
Latreille regards them as the true representatives of the
tongue of the higher tribes. The labial palpi (Fig. 1, d),
are inserted on each side of the ligula, and are usually
longer than the internal and shorter than the external
maxillary palpi. These palpi have never more than four
articulations, in which they also differ from the exter¬
nal maxillary, which range from four to six. They are
called labial palpi, because in many cases they derive their
origin from the labium strictly so called; but in reference
to Mr Kirby’s nomenclature of the parts, they might with
equal propriety be denominated lingual palpi, since they
not unfrequently emerge from what that excellent observer
considers as the tongue. Among the predaceous Coleop-
tera, indeed, their source seems common to both these
parts, as their base on its upper side is attached to the
labium, on its under to the ligula or tongue.
In some insects, such as the Orthoptera and dragon-flies,
the membranous portion with which the anterior or inter¬
nal face of the ligula is furnished, is thick and dilated neai
the centre, in the form of a little tongue, and is often divid¬
ed near the middle by a groove. This portion, in the opi¬
nion of Latreille, probably occupies the place of the pa-
raglossce; for these latter/in the instances referred to, are
wanting, or not to be recognised.
These are the principal parts of the mouth among the
masticating insects. At the anterior root of the ligula,
and a little lower than the middle of the interior space
which intervenes between the mandibles, is placed the
pharynx. In many Hymenoptera this orifice of the oeso¬
phagus opens and shuts by means of an appendage, pre¬
viously noticed by Reaumur in humble bees, and taken by
Latreille for the labrum, in his observations on the struc¬
ture of wasps. Savigny has since paid particular attention
VOL. IX.
1 Jntroduc. to Entom. vol. iv. p. 442.
E
34
ENTOMOLOGY.
External to it, and has named it the epipharynx or epiglossa. La-
Anatomy. treille conceives it would be more simple to call it the sub-
labrum, because it is inserted beneath the anterior and su¬
perior margin of the head, immediately after the origin of
the labrum. It. is formed of two flattened portions, en¬
tirely or in great part membranous, applied the one upon
the other, and of a triangular form. The upper portion is
the most advanced. This epipharynx, instead of being
peculiar, as some have supposed, to the Hymenoptera, may
be safely regarded as existing in the other masticating in¬
sects, particularly the Coleoptera, among which it seems
represented under a modified form of structure by the
membrane which clothes the corresponding portion of the
head.
Although the hymenopterous tribes differ from the other
mandibulated orders, by the prolongation of the maxillae
and labium, and the valvular aspect of the former, yet the
parts of the mouth do not present any essential distinction.
A remarkable characteristic of these orders, however, con¬
sists, as Savigny informs us, in the absence of the men-
tum properly so called. They also exhibit this disagree¬
ment from the other masticators, in as far as their maxillae
embracing longitudinally the sides of the labium, these
parts unite together so as to form a tubular body or trunk
(promuscis), serving for suction. As their aliments consist
of softish substances, or of nectarous juices, which, passing
between the maxillae and the labium, by means of the suc¬
cessive pressure of the former parts upon the latter, eventu¬
ally arrive at the pharynx, they may in truth be regarded as
semi-suctorial. Even the Rhinchophori among the Cole¬
optera, and the Panorpati in the neuropterous order, are
furnished with an apparent trunk or prolongation of the
muzzle (prorostruni) ; but that peculiarity is nothing more
than an extension of the anterior portion of the head; and
the organs of manducation, placed at its extremity, though
of diminished size, in no way differ in structure from those
of the other groups of their respective orders. We may
add, that the labium or lower lip in the hymenopterous
tribes is generally moveable at its base, as may be observed
in the corresponding tribes of the suctorial insects.
In the suctorial or haustellated orders, properly so call¬
ed, the organs of the mouth appear at first sight to differ
entirely from those above described. The parts which are
regarded as analogous to the maxillae, and frequently even
those which represent the mandibles, are fixed and im¬
moveable, either entirely so, or towards their base, and (in
regard to the maxillae) as far as the origin of the palpi.
When the terminal portion is moveable, it is long, narrow,
linear, sometimes in the form of a thread or bristle, some¬
times resembling a dart or lancet, and fitted for piercing.
The pharynx is the central point around which these por¬
tions arrange themselves after the tubular form. Some¬
times the lower lip, united with the inferior portion of the
maxillae, and fixed like it, closes the cavity of the mouth,
and the maxillae then constitute a kind of spiral tongue.
In other cases it is greatly prolonged, and assumes the
form of an articulated tube, or of an elbowed trunk, usually
terminated by two lips susceptible of dilatation. In either
of the latter states it serves as a sheath to certain portions
of a scaly structure and piercing nature, in the form of a
bristle or lancet, and representing the other parts of the
mouth. Sometimes this sheath (as in Pulex) is bivalvu-
lar, but it more frequently consists of a single piece later- External
ally folded so as to form a tube open on the upper surface. Anatomy.
In this longitudinal canal or gutter, the preceding parts
are lodged, and compose by their general union the sucker,
or haustellum. In some instances the palpi have disap¬
peared, in others only two are visible. When there are
four of these parts, two of them, the maxillary, are ex¬
tremely small, or almost imperceptible. Sometimes, as
among the pupiparous Diptera, the lower lip is either non¬
existent or rudimentary, and the palpi become the sheath
of the sucker. Though we make frequent use of the lat¬
ter term, it may be remembered that its application is not
strictly correct, as it is not by suction, or the production
of a vacuum, that the alimentary juices mount towards the
pharynx, but rather by the continuous pressure of the
parts upon each other.
Of all the suctorial or haustellated tribes the Lepidop-
tera are those which differ least from the type of the man¬
dibulated orders in the structure of the mouth,—on which
account they have been made to follow in a supposed na¬
tural sequence the hymenopterous insects.1 Their mouth
seems to consist of a labrum and of two extremely small
mandibles; of a trunk spirally rolled, improperly regarded
as a tongue, and presenting interiorly and throughout its
entire length three canals, of which, however, the central
alone serves for the influx of the alimentary juices, and
formed of two linear or filiform bodies, surrounding the
pharynx at their origin immediately beneath the labrum.
They represent, under peculiar forms and proportions, the
terminal parts of the maxillae, united, hollowed into deep
gutters on their internal side, and bearing each a palpus,
usually very small and tuberculiform. There is also a la¬
bium or lower lip, of a nearly triangular form, immoveable,
united, as formerly mentioned, to the inferior part of the
maxillae, which supports the filiform or trunk-like portion,
and bearing two triarticulate palpi, covered with scales or
hairs, and placed on each side of the trunk, for which they
form a kind of sheath. The intermediate canal of the
trunk is produced, according to the detailed description
given by Reaumur, by the union of the gutters of the in¬
ternal face of the filiform or extended portions.
The sucker of the hemipterous tribes received from Fa-
bricius the name of rostrum, a term translated beak {bee)
by Olivier and other entomologists of France. A blade
more or less linear, coriaceous, divided into three or four
articulations, rolled up at the edges so as to form a conical
or cylindrical tube, always directed inferiorly while inac¬
tive, and presenting along the centre of its upper or ante¬
rior surface a kind of canal produced by the opening left
between the rolled-up margins,—a sucker composed of four
slender, capillary, corneous, flexible, and elastic threads,
disposed in pairs, but combined together, with the two in¬
ferior portions united in one at a short distance from their
origin,—a small piece in the form of a triangular ligula, usu¬
ally toothed at the extremity, rather coriaceous or almost
membranous than of a scaly texture, and covering from be¬
hind or from the sides of the tubular body the base of the
sucker, and inclosed along with it in the groove of the gene¬
ral sheath,—another piece of the same consistence with the
preceding, corresponding by its insertion, and the position
which it occupies, to the labrum or upper lip, covering
fi’om above the base of the sucker, most frequently itself
1 Plate CCXXX1II. Fig, 5 exhibits the structure of the mouth in Papilio Machaon ; a the head viewed in front, exhibiting the
round eyes, one turn of the spiral proboscis, with the pilose labial palpi on each side; 6 shows the tubular spiral maxillae (which bv
their union form the proboscis), with the vestiges of palpi at their base; the circular apertures on each side at the bottom of the
figure indicate the insertion of the labial palpi; c represents the cleft labium and the two palpi, the left one being deprived of its
scales to show the articulations ; d is the minute labrum, with the mandibles on each side of it, ciliated on their internal edge. Fig.
8 exhibits the mouth of another lepidopterous insect, the Lyndia cannarum of Savigny ; a the eyes, scaly spiral proboscis, and the four
palpi; b one of the maxillae, with its palpus ; c the labium and palpus; d the labrum and mandibulae.
ENTOMOLOG Y.
35
External likewise inclosed in the sheath, and of a more or less elon-
Anatotny. gated triangular form,—these are the parts which enter
into the composition of the beak-like mouth or rostrum of
the hemipterous tribes.1 The single superior portion which
Latreille regards as the analogue of the labrum, appears
to cover, at least among the Cicadas, the base of another
more elongated and pointed portion, which has been view¬
ed as corresponding to the epipharynx.2 The other single
and opposing portion, protecting from behind the origin of
the sucker, and placed immediately behind the pharynx,
represents, according to Savigny, the tongue or hypopha-
rynx. The two superior filaments of the sucker, or those
which are exterior, replace, or rather represent, the man¬
dibles, while the two others may be regarded as maxillae.
Finally, the tubular sheath assimilates to the labium or
lower lip, even in regard to its articulations. Sometimes
the sheath is bifid, as in Thrips ; sometimes it is divided
into two plates, as in Pulex. The first of these genera is
stated by Latreille to be the only one in which he has dis¬
covered palpi. He thinks that the parts taken for such by
Savigny in Nepa JVeptunia (PI. CCXXXIII. fig. 6, as
described in the preceding note), are more probably the
rudiments of an articulation of the sheath. Germar indeed
admits four palpi as characteristic of a new hemipterous
genus of the family of Cicadariag, named Cobax; but
Kirby, who about the same period published an account
of another generic group under the title of Otiocerus, and
which offers analogous parts, does not regard these as
palpi, but as simple appendages accompanying the an¬
tennae.3
In the dipterous order, such as gnats and common flies,
the mouth exhibits a great resemblance to that of the pre¬
ceding tribes.4 * The union of the different parts forms
what is usually in that order called the trunk or proboscis.
We can here also distinguish the component parts of sheath
and sucker. The former in dipterous insects is divisible
into three principal portions ; ls£, the support, distinguish¬
ed from the following by an angular elbow, and frequently
by a small geniculated article ; 2ri/y, the stalk ; 3dly, the
summit, formed by two lips, sometimes membranous, large,
vesicular, dilatable, striated, exhibiting through the mi¬
croscope a great number of tracheal ramifications ; some¬
times coriaceous, and either small and slightly distinct
from the stalk, or slender, elongated, and forming a more
obvious article, almost as long as the preceding division
(as in genus Myopd). The support is remarkable in this,
that it results from the prolongation of the cutaneous mem¬
brane of the anterior and superior portion of the head, or
the epistoma, united with the parts representing the la¬
brum, to the mandibles, the maxillae, and the inferior por¬
tion of the labium, as far as the mentum inclusive. This
character particularly distinguishes the present tribes from
those of the hemipterous order. In other respects the
sheath may be said to be constructed on the same plan.
The centre of the superior face of the stalk also presents External
a groove or gutter for the reception of the sucker. The Anatomy,
number of pieces in the sucker varies according to an ’“Y''1-'
arithmetical progression of three terms, of which the dif¬
ference is always two—2, 4, 6; but in all cases there are
always two portions which are not paired, the one superior,
representing the labrum ; the other inferior, placed behind
the pharynx, and the analogue of the tongue or hypopha-
rynx. Among the Diptera, as well as in the suctorial tribe
{Pulex), the latter portion is always scaly and piercing, and
contributes, in common with the others, to the purposes of
nutrition. It is otherwise with the Hemiptera, and this dis¬
tinction forms a new character of separation between that
order and the insects now under consideration. The parts
representing the maxillae always exist, and are frequently
accompanied each by a palpus; but these maxillae are sol¬
dered to the support, and are indistinct, except where
their apical portion becomes moveable and elongated, and
presents the form of a seta or horny lancet. This always
takes place when the sucker consists of from four to six
pieces. In the latter case two of them represent the man¬
dibles ; in the other, or where the sucker is composed of
only four setae, these are wanting, or merely rudiment¬
ary. Sometimes also the labrum, almost always vaulted
and large, seems to offer the vestiges of another piece,
which, under a fuller development, might no doubt be
regarded as the epipharynx. Sometimes the support is
very short, and in this case the pieces of the sucker leave
the cavity of the mouth, and the maxillary palpi are in¬
serted on the sides. The Hippoboscae, or pupiparous Dip¬
tera, differ from all the rest in the absence of the sheath ;
for the palpi, under the form of two coriaceous elongated
blades, perform its functions, and advancing in a parallel
direction, cover and protect the sucker.
In accordance with the observations of Latreille, as well
as with those of Savigny, Leclerc de Laval, and Professor
Nitzsch, regarding the structure of the mouth in such of
the hexapod insects as undergo no metamorphosis {hexa-
podes homotenes), the general plan of organization seems
in these to be the same as among the polymorphous or¬
ders. In Pediculus, properly so called, the only known
suctorial species of that division, the trunk (rostellum) con¬
sists of a small inarticulate tube, inclosing a sucker, and
withdrawing itself at pleasure within a muzzle-shaped ad¬
vancement of the anterior portion of the head. But the
organization of these parasitical species requires a renewed
and more careful examination. The genus Ricinus, al¬
though furnished with mandibles, maxillae, and an inferior
lip, has these parts greatly concentrated, after the manner
of the Suctoria; and the labrum seems to perform the of¬
fice of a cupping glass, a character unique and unexampled
in this class of animals, and one which, in combination
with certain other features, indicates a peculiar type.6
These are the principal modifications exhibited in the
1 Plate CCXXXIII. Fig. 4 represents the mouth of Cimcx nigricornis; a is the articulated labium, with the eyes at each side, and
the first joint of each of the antennae ; this is the sheath for the other organs, and exhibits the groove on its oral surface ; 6 is the
sucker viewed from above, covered at the base for one third of its length by the tubulated labrum, and exhibiting at the extremi¬
ty the straight united tip of the maxillae, and the recurved ends of the mandibulae ; c is a view of the same parts separated, with the
labrum removed to exhibit the expanded roots of the mandibulae and maxillae, the small opening of the pharynx, and the pointed lin¬
gua before it and between the maxillae. Fig, 6 represents the mouth of another hemipterous insect, the Nepa Neptunia of Savigny,
the labrum and palate being removed. The mandibulae appear at the external sides, their summits with reflected spiculae, and their
roots near the pharynx flask-shaped. The tongue (in the interior of the figure) is trifid at the apex, underneath which the maxillae
arise, and exceed the mandibulae in length. The labium, or central anterior portion, exhibits the groove for the reception of the
other parts, and the oval raised marks towards the narrow end are the (supposed) vestiges of palpi.
2 Diction. Ctassique d'Histoire Naturelle, t. ii. p. 434. 3 Linn. Trans, vol. xiii. p. 12.
4 Plate CCXXXIII. fig- 7, where we represent the parts of the mouth of Tabanus Italicus. At a the mouth is shown as if open¬
ed, or the labrum and the mandibulae and lingua separated, to expose the pharynx; b is one of the mandibulae viewed laterally;
c is one of the maxillae with the articulated palpus, the last joint of which is greatly enlarged; and d exhibits the labium, with its
fleshy lips.
* Diction. Classique d'Hist. Nat. t. ii. p. 43t).
36
ENTOMOLOGY.
External structure of the mouth by hexapod or true insects. In the
Anatomy, opinion of Marcel de Serres, the parts named palpi (the
antennulae of some authors) enjoy, at least in the Orthop-
tera, a peculiar property, that of being the organ of the
sense of smell. Lamarck again looks upon the palpi as ex¬
ercising the faculty of taste. Latreille regards these opi¬
nions as ill-founded, so far as concerns a great number of
insects, such as those in which the palpi are non-existent,
undeveloped, or extremely minute; but he views them in
a more favourable light in reference to certain other spe¬
cies. Thus, among the Coleoptera of the sub-family of
Xylotrogi, the maxillary palpi of the males are lacinated
or pectinated like some antennae. In many other kinds
the last article of the palpi is greatly dilated, and termi¬
nated by a pulpy substance.
We have not hitherto attended to the singular order
Strepsiptera of Kirby (Rhipiptera, Lat.), the characters of
which were first given in the Linncean Transactions. If
we regard the insects of this order as possessed of genuine
mandibles, we must of course include them among the
masticating tribes ; but as in many of the preceding orders,
in which the parts of the mouth are feebly developed, the
mandibles are observed to have become obliterated, there
is reason to suspect that the parts regarded as such in
Strepsiptera are rather maxillary, in which case the struc¬
ture would approach that of the lepidopterous kinds.
We have entered into the preceding details in conse¬
quence of the great importance which is now attached to
the study of the parts of manducation. Latreille indeed
seems to be of opinion, that whenever it is possible to cha¬
racterize genera by more obvious organs, the minuter parts
should not be had recourse to ; and he deems the principles
of the Fabrician system liable to abuse, especially when
Clairville’s example is departed from of employing only
the mandibles and palpi. But the truth is, that the use of
the compound microscope is scarcely ever required in these
examinations; and it cannot be denied that a knowledge
of such essential parts is indispensable in the formation of
natural generic groups. The general physiognomy is fre¬
quently deceptive, and we can rectify our views only by
recurring to influential organs. Thus the Sphex spirifer,
and some analogous species which differ from their conge¬
ners in the mode of providing for their young, and which
therefore form a good natural group, are also distinguished
by an alteration in the structure of the mouth, but could
scarcely be separated from the primitive genus by charac¬
ters drawn from any other parts.
Besides the parts of the mouth, the head of insects pre¬
sents some other component portions which have received
particular names. What Mr Kirby calls the nose is that
upper and anterior portion to which the labrum is attach¬
ed, and which corresponds to the clypeus of Fabricius.
(Plate C'CXXXIIl. fig. 1, a, upper portion.) The latter
term was originally applied metaphorically to the expand¬
ed or shield-like covering of the head of the Scarabaeidae,
and the expression was not inapt; but when it came to be
used as a general term in relation to the structure of all
other kinds, it lost its propriety of application. Hence the
term nasas or nose has been substituted, as well as that of
epistoma, which signifies the part above the mouth. Be¬
tween the nose and the labrum we find in many species
the nostril piece or rhinarium of Kirby. It is very obvi¬
ous in a New Holland beetle, Anaplognathus viridiceneus.
The postnasus may be seen under the form of a triangular
piece, below the antennae and above the nose, and separat¬
ed from the latter and from the front by a deeply impress¬
ed line. It is very distinct in that splendid Chinese beetle
the Sagra purpurea. The from or front of insects is the Externa*
middle part of the face, bounded laterally by the eyes, an- Anatomy.
terLorly by the nose or after-nose and the cheeks, and pos-
teriorly by the vertex. The vertex is the crown of the
head, and is bounded laterally by the hinder part of the
eyes and the temples, and posteriorly by the occiput, when
that part exists. It is the ordinary region of the stemma-
tic eyes, although these peculiar organs are sometimes
found to occur likewise upon the frons. The occiput, or
hind head, is that part which either forms an angle poste¬
riorly with the vertex, or slopes downwards from it. It is
bounded laterally by the temples, and posteriorly by the
orifice of the head, or by the neck itself. The cheeks,
gence, according to Kirby, usually surround the anterior
part of the eyes, lying between them and the mandibles,
or their representatives. The temples, tempora, form a
continuation of the cheeks to the posterior limit of the
head, forming its sides and posterior angles.1
The subfacies of an insect is the lower surface or under
side of the head, and is composed, \st, of the lora, a corne¬
ous angular machine, upon the intermediate angle of which
the mentum sits, and on the lateral ones the cardines or
hinges of the maxillae; it is by means of this piece that
the parts of the mouth (as in Hymenopterd) are pushed
forward or retracted ; 2d, of the jugulum or throat, which
is that part of the subface which lies between the temples.
The collum, or neck, is that narrow portion of a peduncu¬
late head by which it is connected with the thorax.2
The next appendages of the head to which we have to
direct the reader’s attention are the antennee. These are
moveable articulated organs, never exceeding two in num¬
ber in genuine insects, although their form, and the amount
of articulated portions, are extremely various. Their pri¬
mary use in the animal economy has not yet been ascer¬
tained ; at least a great diversity of opinion is maintained
on the subject. In numerous tribes they seem to exercise
a faculty analogous to that of touch, being employed in
exploring the depth of crevices, and in ascertaining by con¬
tact the nature of any opposing obstacle; while, on the
other hand, their extreme shortness in most Diptera, and
in many of the neuropterous and hemipterous tribes, does
not accord with that usage. Although of considerable
importance in our systematic arrangement of insects, the
development of the antennae does not seem subjected to
any general or conformable rules, and is therefore of less
value than that of several other parts of structure. For
example, we frequently find a considerable difference to
exist in the form of the antennae among species in other
respects intimately allied; and even between the sexes of
the same species a great disparity in size and structure is
observable. Where a difference exists, those of the male
are generally more developed than those of the female.
The antennae of insects are usually composed of small
cylindrical articulations, containing nervous threads, mus¬
cles, tracheae, and cellular tissue. Various terms are in
use to express their form, consistence, and mode of inser¬
tion. They are regular when the articulations follow a
gradual and progressive order in the modifications which
they undergo ; irregular, when their forms alter suddenly;
cylindrical, when rounded and of equal diameter through¬
out their length ; filiform, when the cylindrical shape is
finely attenuated, like a thread or hair; setaceous, when
lengthened, and diminishing insensibly from the base to
the point; subulated or awl-shaped, when slender, but short,
cylindrical at the base, and terminated by a stiff and sharp¬
ened point; moniliform, when each article is rounded like
a bead, and of nearly equal thickness ; prismatic, when ap-
1 Introduc. to Ent. vol. iv. p. 489.
* Ibid. p. 3GG.
E N T 0 M
External proacliing the form of a geometric prism ; ensiform, when
Anatomy, broad at the base, and terminated by an angular point;
fusiform, when shaped like a spindle ; serrated, when each
article is terminated laterally by a sharp tooth directed
forwards; 'pectinated, when these projections are straight,
lengthened, and placed above each other, like the teeth of
a comb ; ramose ox branched, when several appendages pro¬
ject from the main body of the antennae—they are regard¬
ed as simple when not in any way so adorned; perfoliated,
when the articles are flattened from the summit to the
base, and appearing as if strung on a thread through the
centre (it is usually the terminal portion of the antennae
that is so characterized) ; imbricated, when the articles are
threaded as above mentioned, and concave at their sum¬
mit, so that each covers the base of that which follows;
clavated or club-shaped, when thick or swollen towards the
summit. The club is solid when its parts are not separat¬
ed by any apparent space; perfoliated, when composed of
threaded articulations; lamellated or foliated, when the
parts of the club are connected laterally, and admit of be¬
ing opened and closed like the leaves of a book; securi¬
form or hatchet-shaped, when the last articulation assumes
the form of a compressed triangle, free at the base, but ar¬
ticulated by the apex. Antennae are also said to be un-
cinated or hooked when the extremity suddenly bends itself
towards the base; bifid, when divided into two; obtuse, when
terminated by a round or blunted articulation ; truncated,
when apparently deprived of a portion ; plumose, when
thickly branched on either side, like a feather. Many
other terms are in use to express the modifications of these
important organs, most of which, however, are of a suffi¬
ciently familiar derivation to explain themselves.
The antennae of the coleopterous order usually consist of
ten or eleven distinct articulations. The latter number is
the most frequent, although several genera present much
fewer joints, as for example Paussus, in which there are
only two. Others again have many more, such as a spe¬
cies of Prionus, of which the antennae of the female have
nineteen joints, of the male twenty. In some orthopterous
kinds these articulations amount to a hundred and fifty.
The antennae are inserted on the front of the head, ante¬
rior to and rather beneath the region of the eyes. Their
particular position varies, but they are always either in the
space between the eyes, or that below them. As their va¬
rious forms, as characteristic of particular groups of species,
will be afterwards described in the systematic part of the
present treatise, we shall not here enter into further details
of structure. The uses of these singular organs are vari¬
ously viewed by naturalists, and there seems even yet to
be more hypothetical reasoning on the subject than pre¬
cise induction from facts. Some regard them as the seat
of smell, others of hearing, a greater number as the organs
of the sense of touch. The indurated nature of the outer
covering in most insects would certainly lead us, a priori,
to expect a special provision for the reception of the last-
named sense. It is, however, extremely difficult, in the
present state of our knowledge, to come to any general con¬
clusion on the subject. We shall state the prevailing opi¬
nions when we come to treat of the senses of insects ; and
under that head we shall likewise explain the structure of
the eyes.
The thorax torms tlie second principal portion of an in¬
sect’s body. It is itself divisible into three parts, and its
component segments vary greatly in their relative propor¬
tions in the different tribes; the division which is merely
rudimentary in one particular group, being sometimes high¬
ly developed in another. These parts are named Xhoprotho-
rax, the mesothorax, and the metathorax.
The prothorax (from ergo, before, and thorax) is
the anterior segment, and corresponds to the corselet or
0 L 0 G Y. 37
collar of M. Latreille; the second segiment is named me- Anatomy.
sothorax (from peo-os, middle) ; and the third is known as \ ^ t
the metathorax (from pera., after). Each segment may
likewise be distinguished in reference to its inferior, its la¬
teral, and its superior portions ; and the whole united con¬
stitute the thorax, commonly so called. But although the
general name of thorax is applied to the parts just named,
yet the posterior two, that is, the mesothorax and the me¬
tathorax, are the most dependent on each other, and are
always intimately united; while the prothorax, as exem¬
plified in the Coleoptera, is often comparatively free and
distinguishable. It is this last-mentioned segment which
bears the anterior pair of feet, and it considerably exceeds
the others in extent. In the coleopterous order, indeed, it
is the only part that is visible on the upper surface, the
other segments, with the exception of the scutellum, being
connected beneath it and the elytra. The mesothorax and
metathorax unite strictly with the base of the abdomen,
and serve as the points of attachment to the other pairs of
feet. Of the mesothorax or central portion, the most ob¬
vious characters consist in its serving as a support to the
second pair of feet, and to the elytra or first pair of wings.
Its form, size, and consistence are extremely various.
Slightly developed in the Coleoptera and Orthoptera, it is
larger in the Hemiptera, the Neuroptera, and more especi¬
ally in the Hymenoptera, the Lepidoptera, and the Diptera.
Its excessive increase is always associated with a condition
more or less rudimentary of the other segments. Thus, in
the three orders last named, the prothorax and metathorax
are very restricted ; while, on the contrary, they are large in
the Coleoptera, among which it is observable that the me¬
sothorax is always compressed and narrow. The meta¬
thorax serves as the point of attachment to the third pair
of feet, and to the second or membranous pair of wings.
We have said that each segment may be described in
relation to its inferior, its lateral, and its superior parts. A
piece named the sternum constitutes the whole of what is
called the inferior portion. This is not, as too often sup¬
posed, an occasional projection, merely characteristic of
certain tribes. It occurs in all insects, and forms a dis¬
tinct character, though more or less defined and perspicu¬
ous, according to the genus. It may be regarded as gene¬
rally composed of three distinct pieces, resembling in this
respect the human sternum, which anatomists describe as
consisting originally of three bones. Each of these pieces,
according to Mr Kirby, is appropriated to a pair of legs,
and each of them has been called the sternum; thus, in
Elater the prosternum, in the Cetoniadse the mesosternum,
and in Hydrophilus the metasternum, have alike been dis¬
tinguished by the name. Each of the ordinary lateral por¬
tions of the thorax is formed of two principal pieces, which,
in combination with the sternum, is by some named the
pectus or breast. The anterior piece rests upon the ster¬
num, and is hence called episternum (from wrl, upoii). The
posterior lateral portion, called the epimera, is connected
with the preceding ; it also adheres to the superior portion,
and rests in certain cases on the sternum ; but it bears a
constant relation to the haunches of the segment to which
it belongs, and to these it articulates by means of a little
piece afterwards mentioned by the name of trochantin. It
derives its name from ivri, and pr^oi, thigh. Lastly, there
exists on these same lateral parts a third piece, in general
slightly developed, and sometimes imperceptible. It bears
relation to the wing and episternum, always supports itself
on the latter, is sometimes prolonged interiorly along its
anterior margin, or, becoming free, passes in advance of the
wing, or even places itself above it. It bears the name of
paraptera, from waga, near to, and cmgoi/, wing. Three
other portions of some importance may likewise be consi¬
dered as belonging to the general pectus.
38 E N T O M
Externa 1a/, Above the sternum, on its internal face, that is,
Anatomy, within the body of the insect, there exists a piece some-
 ' times remarkable for its size. It is placed on the median
line, and generally takes its rise from the posterior extre¬
mity of the sternum. It assumes various secondary forms,
and is generally divided into two branches. Cuvier named
it the Y-formed portion, on account of his having observed
it assume the shape of that letter. It is called entothorax
by M. Audouin, from wroi, within, because it is always
placed in the interior of that organ. It occurs in each seg¬
ment of the thorax, and seems to be in some measure a de¬
pendent on the sternum. Its uses are supposed to be the
protection of the nervous system, and its isolation in many
cases from the digestive apparatus and the dorsal vessel.
The entothorax exists not only in the thorax, but in the
head, in which case it is named entocephalus ; it has even
been noticed in the first ring of the abdomen in the genus
Cicada, and the portion named triangle ecailleux by Reau¬
mur may safely be regarded as its analogue. In this last
condition it is denominated entogaster.
2d, On the anterior edge of the episternum, sometimes
of the sternum, and even on the superior part of the body,
a stigmatic opening is observable, surrounded by a small
piece, of which the texture is frequently corneous. This
is the peritrema, so called from 'vsg/', round about, and
rprifia, a hole. It is not always perceptible, both on ac¬
count of its being sometimes too closely connected with
the neighbouring pieces, and because the stigmatic open¬
ing is itself sometimes obliterated. But when visible, it is
necessary that it should be distinguished, as its position is
of importance, and becomes a useful auxiliary in the com¬
parison of parts and in the determination of analogies.
2>d, Lastly, it has been already stated in relation to the
epimera, that it is connected with the rotule by means of
a small articulation, of which the existence was first made
known by M. Audouin. This is not an essential part of
the thorax ; but as it accompanies the epimera, and is as¬
sociated with the parts of the leg, all of which have receiv¬
ed particular denominations, its first describer has thought
proper to bestow upon it a name. He calls it trochantin,
in distinction to trochanter, or that portion of the leg which
is associated with the rotule and the thigh. The trochantin
is sometimes concealed in the interior of the thorax, and is
sometimes visible externally, according as the rotule is it¬
self more or less prolonged in its internal portion. The
ascertainment of this piece, according to M. Audouin, ad¬
mits of a direct comparison between the limbs of insects
and those of the Crustacea. Hitherto there were only five
parts in the former (the tarsi being regarded as one), while
there were six in the latter. But the trochantin completes
the number six likewise among the insect tribes.
We have now detailed the structure of the chest or pec¬
tus of insects ; so that whoever desires to view one of these
creatures anatomically, should, after dividing the thorax
into three segments, seek to ascertain, on the inferior and
middle portion of each, the existence of a sternum, and on
the flank or lateral portion, an episternum, a paraptera, and
epimera. He will also study the structure of the entotho¬
rax, of the peritrema, and of the trochantin. Sometimes,
however, the union of one or more of these parts with ano¬
ther is so intimate that they cannot be isolated or distin¬
guished ; but when we elsewhere, in such numerous cases,
perceive that the pectus is formed of a certain number of
elementary parts, it is more rational to believe that in all
instances these same elements are made use of, than to
suppose the frequent requirement of new.
We shall next discuss the superior portion of the thorax
of insects. In the coleopterous tribes the prothorax, as be-
O L O G Y.
fore mentioned, constitutes the principal portion, and its External
upper part may be called the thoracic shield. The only Anatomy
other part sufficiently distinguished prior to the time of M.
Audouin, was the scutellum or escutcheon. It is highly
developed in the Scutellerae, and rudimentary in most of
the Hymenoptera, Diptera, Lepidoptera, and some other or¬
ders. Its apparent position between the wings has occa¬
sioned its being regarded too exclusively as a kind of point
d'appui in flight. It is usually of a triangular form in the
Coleoptera, and projects backwards from the mesothorax,
with its point interposed between the elytra and the wings.
The scutellum was adopted by Geoffroy as the basis of his
arrangement of the genus Scarabeeus. It is, however, bv
no means a well-chosen characteristic of the greater divi¬
sions in entomology; for the accurate distinction is not,
as is usually supposed, whether the scutellum does or does
not exist in a lamellicorn insect, but whether it is or is not
apparent.1 It occurs very obviously among many of the
coleopterous tribes, but is most conspicuously developed
in that genus of the hemipterous order called Scutellera, of
which Cimex lineatus may serve as an example. Natural¬
ists have erred in regarding this portion as characteristic
of the mesothorax alone. It is often greatly developed in
the posterior segment. Numerous and varied researches
have led M. Audouin to conclude that this superior por¬
tion of the thorax is composed of four principal pieces, fre¬
quently isolated, sometimes intimately united, usually dis¬
tinct. He has deduced the following nomenclature from
their relative position in regard to each other. The ante¬
rior portion is named the prcescutum; it is sometimes
very large, and is usually concealed in whole or in part in
the interior of the thorax. The second piece is called the
scutum ; it is an important element, often strongly deve¬
loped, and always articulates with the wings when these
exist. To the next piece the original term scutellum is
applied ; it consists of the projecting angular point, gene¬
rally so denominated by entomologists. The fourth and
last piece is called the postscutellum ; it is almost always
entirely concealed within the thorax, sometimes united to
the internal face of the scutellum, and confounded with it,
sometimes free, and not adhering to the other portions,
except by its lateral extremities. These are the parts
which constitute the superior portion of the thorax, and to
which the general term tergum may be applied. Thus
we may speak of the tergum of the prothorax, of the me¬
sothorax, or of the metathorax ; but when the word tergum
alone is used, we are then understood to signify the union
of the superior parts, that is, the entire space comprised
between the head and the first segment of the abdomen.
We come now to the abdomen itself, an important por¬
tion in the animal economy. Anatomists in general appear
to have advanced from the study of the human frame to
that of animals, or at least to have applied to the parts of
the latter the same terms which they had previously be¬
stowed upon the former. In so doing, however, they have
been guided rather by the analogy of form than of func¬
tion, and hence the vague nature of many terms, as applied
to the inferior orders, and which, however correct in their
original signification, become either obscure, or altogether
inapplicable in regard to other classes.
The abdomen, among insects, is that part of the body
which is attached to the posterior extremity of the thorax,
composed of five or six rings or segments, unprovided with
locomotive organs, and always containing within it a por¬
tion of the digestive canal. If, as many suppose, its exist¬
ence depends upon that of the thorax, then the entire class
of Annelides or red-blooded worms may be said to be de-.
prived of it, as the thorax itself does not exist in that class.
1 Horce Entomologies, part i. p. 9.
ENTOMOLOGY.
39
External The term body is then made use of to designate generally
Anatomy, the whole of the animal. Although the abdomen cannot
w v''—' well exist without the thorax, the converse does not ap¬
pear to hold good, for the latter in many species seems to
constitute the whole body. Many of the Myriapoda, such
as lulus and Scolopendra, are examples of this ; for they
are composed of a series of segments, all furnished with
feet except the last, which has therefore by some been re¬
garded as the abdomen.
But among genuine insects, that is, the hexapod or six¬
footed kinds, the abdomen is obviously developed, and,
especially among the winged tribes, is very distinguishable
from the thorax. Among the apterous species the distinc¬
tion is less perceptible; and the same may be said of most
insects in the larva state. Among the hymenopterous kinds,
such as wasps, bees, &c. it appears as if it were pediculat-
ed or attached to the posterior part of the thorax by means
of a slender stalk; but minuter and more accurate obser¬
vation demonstrates that this neck-like restriction actually
takes place on the second segment of the abdomen, the
first of which is much more spacious, but so closely attach¬
ed to the thorax by its anterior edges as to become undis-
tinguishable. In the coleopterous order the abdomen is
usually convex, and of a harder consistence beneath, where
it is exposed ; but it is soft, and either flattish or concave
above, where it is covered by the folded wings and elytra.
On both sides of its segments there is a small roundish
opening called the stigma, which serves for the introduc¬
tion of air for the purposes of respiration, and of which we
shall treat in detail when we come to the consideration of
that function.
It has been noted that if an insect is naturally more ha¬
bituated to walking than flying, the breast or lower portion
of the thorax is expanded, and is furnished with more power¬
ful muscles than the back; whereas, if flight is the more
frequent mode of locomotion, an increase is observable in
the dorsal muscles. The locomotive organs are of course
the wings and legs, on which we shall now bestow a brief
consideration.
SECT. Ill ORGANS OF LOCOMOTION IN INSECTS.
1. The Wings.
These organs exist, effectively, in insects only in the
perfect state; for the larvae do not offer externally any
trace of them, and when apparent in the nymph or inter¬
mediate condition, they are merely rudimentary. No in¬
sect has more than four wings, many have only a single
pair, and others are entirely destitute of these parts. When
four in number they may be regarded as anterior or supe¬
rior, and as posterior or inferior ; and we likewise talk of
the first or of the second pair of wings. The coleopterous
order presents some peculiarities in relation to these organs.
The anterior pair (in all cases, as already mentioned, unit¬
ed to the mesothorax) consist of a hard or horny substance
similar to the envelope of the thorax, and are called elytra.
When closed, their junction usually forms a straight cen¬
tral line called the suture, which is rather apparent than
real in certain species in which the inferior wings are
wanting, and the elytra form a single undivided piece.
They are convex above and concave below, are fixed to
the mesothorax, and cover and protect the genuine wings,
which are of a much more delicate structure. These lat¬
ter derive their origin from the metathorax, and are the
actual organs of flight. They are membranous and trans- External
parent, and when unemployed are transversely folded be- Anatomy
neath their horny covering. We shall here describe the
structure of wings, and explain the terms made use of to
express the principal modifications which they undergo
in their various degrees of development in the different
orders.
The wing of an insect consists of two thin flexible mem¬
branous transparent plates or leaves, the one superimposed
upon the other, and variously intersected by darker lines of
a horny consistence, usually known by the name of ner-
vures. These nervures, which at first sight appear like su¬
perficial threads, of which the larger follow the longitudi¬
nal direction of the wing, are interposed between its mem¬
branes, and present two faces, of which the upper, fre¬
quently rounded and very horny, adheres closely to the
corresponding leaf, and the under, of less firm consistence,
and of a flatter form, may by skilful dissection be remov¬
ed from that portion of the wing by which it is covered.
In the opinion of M. Audouin, these threads are in fact so
many tubes, which diminish in diameter as they approach
the summit of the wing, and each of which contains,
throughout its entire extent, a spirally rolled vessel, by
some regarded as a genuine trachea. These tracheae re¬
ceive air from the interior of the body, and their forma¬
tion, according to Swammerdam, whose views have more
recently been confirmed and adopted by Jurine and Cha-
brier, is to strengthen the wing by distending it during
the action of flight. They are said to experience no sen¬
sible dilatation during their progress, whereas the corne¬
ous tubes which contain them present in that respect some
curious modifications,—for they sometimes spread out
suddenly, in such a way as to exhibit, for a short space,
a comparatively broad diameter. The colouring matter
being then disseminated over a wider surface, assumes so
pale an aspect that the nervure which leads into one of
those little expansions appears as it were interrupted.
Hence the name of Indies d'air, or air-bubbles, bestowed
upon the latter by the French entomologists. They oc¬
cur most frequently in the cubital nervures of many Hy-
menoptera, and their chief use is supposed to be to facilitate
the formation of certain foldings of the wing during the
periods of repose. The largest of the nervures arise from
the base of the wing, that is, from the point of its inser¬
tion in the thorax. A most skilful observer, the late M
Jurine of Geneva, has described the wings of hymenopte¬
rous insects with great accuracy, in a memoir to which we
shall make more special allusion when we come to treat of
that particular order.1
The general character in respect to form and aspect of
the wings of insects has received a great variety of names.
They are sometimes equal, that is, all four of similar size ; or
unequal, when one pair prevails over the other ; lanceolate,
when they become narrow, both at the base and apex ; fal¬
cated, when curved like a scythe or reaping-hook ; linear,
when narrow, with nearly parallel edges ; clavated or club-
shaped, when linear in their general extent, but perceptibly
enlarged towards their extremity ; rounded, when they ap¬
proach a more circular form ; oblong, when more lengthen-
ened than broad, and describing an elongated ellipse, ob¬
tuse at both ends ; rhomboidal, when they are longer from
the posterior angle to the summit than from that angle to
the base; deltoid, when they assume the triangular form
of the Greek letter delta; exserted, when the inferior
wings pass beyond the elytra; covered, when entirely
protected by those organs; plaited, when longitudinally
1 See Observations sur les Ailcs des Hymencpteres, in the twenty-fourth volume of the Mem. de VAcademic des Sciences de Turin.
Consult also, by the same author, Nouvelle Methods de classer les Hymtnopteres et les Dipteres. Geneve, 1807.
40 E N T O M
External folded, after the manner of a fan ; replicated, when, after
Anatomy, being plaited as just mentioned, they are again folded
's—transversely upon themselves ; incumbent, when the poste¬
rior margin of one covers that of the other ; extended, when,
in a state of repose, they are stretched on either side, leav¬
ing the abdomen visible ; erect, when, in a state of repose,
they are raised perpendicularly to the surface of the body ;
deflexed, when the summits and outer margins form as it
were a kind of inclined plane from the base and inner
margins. These are the principal variations as to form
and attitude, or position. The following terms are ot fre¬
quent use in entomology, when the surface or superficial
structure of the wings is sought to be described. They are
striated, when certain raised lines are perceptible, forming
slight parallel and longitudinal furrows ; reticulated, when
these lines are disposed like lace or network ; veined,
when distinct longitudinal nervures are observable, rami¬
fying into more delicate branches ; squamous or scaly, when
covered with minute powdery particles, which, when ex¬
amined with a glass, are found to be small scales imbri¬
cated or imposed on each other like slates or tiles on a
house top ; farinose, when sprinkled more irregularly with
fine particles resembling flour, and easily removeable by the
finger ; pilose or hairy, when the surface is more or less
covered by minute hairs ; naked, when there is no covering
of either hairs or scales. Other characters are deduced
from the markings of the wings in regard to tint and colour.
They are concolorous, when similar or unvaried in their
hue ; vitreous or windowed, when, opake over their general
surface, certain translucenc spots are here and there obser¬
vable ; ocellated, when they present circular spots of different
colours, resembling an eye ; pupillated, when the eye-like
spot has a coloured point in its centre ; fasciated, when
there are broad coloured lines or bands,—and these are
distinguished as transverse, longitudinal, oblique, lanceo-
lated, &c. according to their prevailing direction and cha¬
racteristic form.
The margins or edges of the wings have likewise re¬
ceived a considerable variety of designations, according to
the peculiar characters which they exhibit. They are
crenated, when they present an alternation of slight inci¬
sions and obtuse projections ; dentated or toothed, when
these incisions are deeper and narrower, and the projec¬
tions sharper and more defined; fimbriated, when the
marginal processes are lengthened, pointed, and close ;
cloven, when the incisions are few and deep; digitated,
when the parts cut into assume the aspect of a hand;
emarginate, when the incision is slight, and seems merely
to have scooped out a small portion of the wing ; caudated
or tailed, when the posterior margin presents a more length¬
ened appendage; ciliated, when the wings are bordered
by close-set hairs resembling eye-lashes. The points of
the wings are obtuse, when terminated by a rounded out¬
line ; truncated, when they appear as if cut; acute, when
ending in a point; acuminated, when that point is sharp
and prolonged.
These details, we doubt not, like all the other technica¬
lities of a complex branch of science, must seem irksome
to the general reader. Nevertheless, as they frequently
form important and sometimes indispensable elements of
knowledge, we must continue their enumeration. The
wings, in fact, have furnished the characters from which
the names and definitions of the orders in entomology have
been derived, and a knowledge of their forms and func¬
tions is required during almost every step of our progress.
A transcendental anatomy has no doubt thrown its ambi¬
guous light (lucus a non lucendo) upon these and other
portions of animal economy; and the wings, which in for¬
mer times were thought sufficiently defined when merely
named as the organs of flight, are now regarded by some
O L O G Y.
as legs, and by others as lungs. We still see, however, External
that they carry the creatures through the air, and we shall An^totny.
therefore rest satisfied by viewing them in accordance with
our accustomed associations.
Among the more remarkable of the modifications expe¬
rienced by the upper wings, is that corneous condition in
which they are known under the name of elytra. These
are particularly characteristic of the coleopterous order, and
derive their name from sXvTgev, a sheath or covering, be¬
cause they protect the membranaceous wings. They are
attached by their base, by means of several small pieces,
to the mesothorax. The opposite extremities are called
the points or summits, and the margins are known as ante¬
rior or external, posterior, and interior,—the last named,
when the parts are closed, and meeting over the back,
forming what is called the dorsal suture. As to their pro¬
portions, they are elongated, when they exceed the ab¬
domen ; abbreviated, when shorter than that organ ; and
various other terms of obvious application are made use of
to express their different degrees.
The elytra differ in their consistence, being sometimes
almost membranous, or scarcely firmer than the under
wings; or they are coriaceous, or of the texture of lea¬
ther ; semi-coriaceous, when, as among many Hemiptera,
the elytra are composed of two parts of different texture ;
pergameneous, or like parchment; flexible, when, yielding
to a slight impression, they yet return again immediately
to their original shape ; or soft, when they yield to the
same impression, but retain the alteration of form for a
longer time. As to form, many of the terms already enu¬
merated in relation to the wings in general, apply equally
to the elytra. They are also gibbous, when greatly round¬
ed or hemispherical; dilated, when more flatly expand¬
ed ; attenuated, when they diminish in breadth from the
base to the apex. The surface of these parts presents
many characters of great importance in the discrimina¬
tion of species, and even in the formation of sections or
subdivisions of genera. They are said to be chagrined,
when covered by minute raised spots; punctated, when
these spots are distinct and hollowed; tuberculated, wdien
the elevations are distinct and irregular; scabrous, when
the elevations are distant and unequal; verrucose or warty,
when they are large, cicatrised, and resembling warts;
striated, when marked with regular longitudinal lines;
striato-punctate, when in each stria there are depressed
points; punctato-striate, when the striae are themselves
formed by a consecutive series of these impressed points j
sulcated or furrowed, when the impressed lines are deep
and broad; ribbed, when between the furrows there are
raised lines; rugose, when the raised lines are irregular,
and divided in all directions ; reticulated, when these lines
are disposed with greater regularity, in a kind of network ;
crenated, when the lines are rather regularly undulated;
glabrous, when the elytra are smooth, or destitute of raised
points or other irregularities of surface; tomentose or cot¬
tony, when covered by a whitish down ; pilose, when hairy,
—also villous ; fasciculated, when the hairs are collected
here and there in little tufts; muricated, when the hairs
are long, raised, and almost prickly; spinous, when the
projecting parts are hard and sharp like spines ; squamous
or scaly, when covered by little scaly plates.
The elytra are said to be margined when their edges
are raised, or otherwise distinguished from the general and
more central surface ; sinuated, when there are sloping
notches on their outline ; serrated, when furnished with
little sharp projections like the teeth of a saw ; dentated,
when these are sharp and more distant. They are like¬
wise said to be mucronated when the apex is provided with
a sharpish point; bidentated, when there are a couple of
distinct projections ; obtuse, when the summits are blunt or
ENTOMOLOGY.
External rounded; truncated, when they seem as if a portion had
Anatomy, been severed.
We have already mentioned, that in many of the hemip¬
terous order the anterior wings are semi-ehjtrous, that is,
comparatively solid in one part of their extent, and mem¬
branous in the other. In fact, the order derives its
name from that character, as already mentioned in our in¬
troductory definitions. In the orthopterous order the an¬
terior wings, though much more membranaceous than those
ot beetles, yet approach the nature of elytra, and serve as
a protection to the under pair, which are more delicate.
Among neuropterous insects both pairs of wings are alike
in their general character of texture and reticulation, and
the same may be said of the hymenopterous order. Those
of the Lepidoptera are also similar to each other in their
substance and covering. With a few exceptions, in
which the wings are clear or diaphanous, in the last-
named gorgeous group they are thickly coated with mi¬
nute scales of various colours, which when removed exhi¬
bit the membranous structure of the parts. They present
several other peculiarities, which we shall notice when we
treat of the generalities of the greater divisions of which
the order is composed.
The wings, regarded throughout the entire series of hex¬
apod insects, are thus extremely varied in their form, con¬
sistence, development, and efficiency. The distinctions,
both of form and texture, show themselves, as it w^ere, by
gradation, and present no striking disparity among species
otherwise nearly allied. But the uses, and degrees of de¬
velopment, of these organs, vary greatly not only among
species of the same genus, but even between the sexes of
the same species ; for while the males of several kinds are
efficiently winged, the females are entirely apterous. When
the anterior wings, as in the Coleoptera, are elytrous (if
we may use the expression), they scarcely serve for the
purposes of flight. In the neuropterous and hymenop¬
terous orders both pairs are equally efficient, while in
the dipterous or two-winged tribes the inferior wings have
disappeared. In some cases, as among the female ants,
the wings fall off immediately after the sexual union.
The development of the wings always bears a relation
to that of the superior arc of the thorax by which they are
supported. It has been already noted, that if an insect is
more habituated to walking than flying, the breast or lower
portion of the thorax is extended, and is furnished with
more powerful muscles than the back ; whereas if flight is
the means of locomotion, an increase of power is observ¬
able in the dorsal muscles.
One of the laws laid down by M. Straus Durckheim as
regulating organic structure is the following :—that when
one organ governs another, or several others, these follow
the march of the dominating organ ; and that when the
latter disappears, those which were subordinate to it im¬
mediately assume their primitive form. This law may be
exemplified by the influence of the wings upon the thorax.
In proportion as the two pairs of wings change in form and
size, the two segments of the thorax which support them
follow the same progression, and become more and more
united to each other ; but no sooner do the wings disap¬
pear in the Aphaniptera (Pulex), than the two segments of
the thorax regain their primitive form, and separating from
41
one another, present the same appearance as in Lepisma. External
The wings being first introduced amongst the Coleoptera, Anatomy,
and the thorax of these as yet differing but little from that
of the fhysanura, it can easily return to the form it pos¬
sessed previously to its undergoing any modification. It
thence follows, that in such species as are deprived of wings,
the thorax returns more or less to its primitive form. This
is particularly remarkable in the females of many species
of Lampyris, which possess neither wings nor elytra; and
this return is moreover occasioned in the Coleoptera with¬
out wings by another cause, which acts in this case on
that part of the body; it is the diminution of the soli¬
dity of the integuments in those parts which are covered
by the elytra.
In the other order of insects, according to the views of
the last-named author, the two segments which bear the
wings having already experienced a very considerable
change of form, it would require a very powerful cause to
bring them back to their primitive form; for this reason
the return does not take place in Cimex cellularius, the For-
micae, &c. amongst which the imperfection (if it may be so
called) is only specific. In the Aphaniptera, on the con¬
trary, which we may in some respects consider as wingless
Diptera, the transformation of the thorax takes place in
consequence of a complete absence of the wings, brought
about by the degradation which these organs have expe¬
rienced in passing through the whole of the class Insecta.
M. Straus Durckheim, in the introduction to his care¬
fully elaborated work,1 has also endeavoured to explain the
laws which regulate the different changes of structure in
passing from one group to another. The most general law in
the organization of animals which he has recognised is, that
all the systems of organs are subjected to a constant varia¬
tion of form, and even of function, while passing from one
family to another. The first more special or particular law
which he evolves from the subdivision of the former is the
following: That the organs at one extremity of the scale
always exercise a very evident function ; whilst at the other
extremity they are constantly rudimentary and without
function, and at last entirely disappear. He here distin¬
guishes two kinds of cases. In the first, the organs pre¬
sent themselves at the head of the scale developed to the
highest degree of which they are susceptible, and decrease
insensibly, until they arrive at the other extremity of the
scale. Thus, for example, the posterior wings of insects are
“ introduced suddenly” into the organization of that class
at the highest point of perfection in the Coleoptera, where
they alone serve for flight. In the Orthopteraand Hemip-
tera they already begin to divide their function with the
elytra, and go on diminishing gradually until they exist
merely as rudiments in the Diptera, where they are repre¬
sented by the halteres.2 Finally, they entirely disappear
in the Aphaniptera. In the second instances, the organs
do not appear at the head of the scale in their most perfect
state of development, and only acquire it by degrees.
Such is the case with the elytra, or first pair of wings,
which follow a course exactly contrary to that of the infe¬
rior wings. They only appear at first as organs slightly
accessory to flight, in which state they remain nearly
throughout the whole Coleoptera. In the Orthoptera and
Hemiptera they begin already to take a very active part in
1 Considerations Generates stir VAnatomis Compares des Animaux articules, auxqudlcs on a joint l'Anatomic descriptive du Hanneton, 1 vol.
4to, ayec planches, Paris, 1828. An abstract of the doctrines of this work will be found in the Entomological Magazine, vol. i. '
2 I he name of Halteres, poisers or balancers, is bestowed on a pair of slender moveable appendages found on the hinder part of the
thorax in dipterous or two-winged insects. They are usually regarded as the rudiments of the second or posterior pair of wings, 
‘‘halteres rudimenta alarum posticarum,” as Fabricius has expressed it in hisEntnmologia Philosophica. This opinion, however, is be¬
lieved by others, and we think with reason, to be founded rather on the position which these organs bear in relation to the anterior
wings, than on their connection with the metathorax and its different parts. Latreille, a great authority in such matters, maintains
that the balancers do not correspond to or represent the second pair of wings, but are rather vesicular appendages connected with two
posterior tracheae of the thorax, and analogous in some measure to the processes which accompany the respiratory organs of the Aphro-
42
Externa]
Anatomy.
ENTOMOLOGY.
flight, but still preserve their primitive use. In the Neu-
roptera, particularly the Libellulina, they attain the develop¬
ment of the inferior wings, from which they differ but very
slightly. From this point they continue to surpass them,
until in the Diptera they become the sole organs of flight,
and of course have there attained their highest degree of
perfection. Arrived at this culminating point, they sud¬
denly diminish in Hippobosca, and entirely disappear in
Pulex.
We shall next devote a few lines to those portions of the
wings called ailerons by the French naturalists, known also
under the name of winglets or alulce.1 They are chiefly
characteristic of the dipterous tribes, and may be regarded
as appendages of the anterior wings, the sole pair in that
particular order. Their attachment to the scutellum and
the postscutellum of the mesothorax is sufficient evidence
that they are not the rudiments of a posterior pair ; for
these, if they existed, would derive their origin from the
metathorax. * They usually consist of two concavo-convex
pieces, intermediate as it were between the wing and the
poisers, and folded the one upon the other, like the parts of
a bivalve shell when the insect is at rest, but stretched or
extended during flight. Their special uses are not yet
known.
The poisers or balancers (halteres) have been sufficient¬
ly described in the preceding note. Audouin regards
them as the rudiments of the second pair of wings, of which
the extreme tenuity in the Diptera accords in his opinion
with the evanescence of the metathorax.2 Their use, like
that of the last-named organs, seems not to have been
satisfactorily determined. Dr Derham and others have
thought that, like the pole of a rope-dancer, they keep the
body steady in flight; while some connect them with the
noises produced by insects, and maintain that they act
upon the membrane of the winglet, as a drumstick acts
upon its proper organ, thus producing sound. Shelver’s
opinion is probably more correct, that they are connected
with the function of respiration.3 But the various senti¬
ments on the subject are as yet conjectural.
2. The Legs.
Having now endeavoured to explain the structure of the
wings or organs of flight, we shall next request the reader’s
attention to those other organs of motion, the legs of in¬
sects. With the exception of the Myriapoda (Centipedes,
&c.), which, with Latreille and Dr Leach, we shall form, as
already noted, a separate class, the number of legs in in¬
sects is precisely six. They are composed of the follow¬
ing parts : ls£, The coxa or haunch, which is the first joint,
or that which plays in the socket (Plate CCXXXIII. fig.
2, a); 2d, the trochanter or second joint, to the side of
which the thigh is attached, and by means of which it
inosculates with the coxa (Ibid, b); 3c/, the femur or
thigh, which is long, and usually compressed (c); Mh, the
tibia or shank, generally the longest joint of the leg, and
frequently notched on its edges, and terminated by spur¬
like appendages (d); bth, the tarsus, composed of articu¬
late portions, varying from three to five among the Cole-
optera and the majority of insects (e). The last articula¬
tion of the tarsus bears the ungues or claws (/). M- Au- Internal
douin and some other French naturalists seem to use the ®tructure*
term haunch (hanche) as a collective designation, including
an internal portion formerly noticed, called trochantin, along
with the rotule (our coxa), and the trochanter. In accor¬
dance with this view, the parts of the leg in insects may be
said to amount to six pieces, instead of the five which we
have just enumerated. These terms apply strictly to the
intermediate and hind legs. The anterior pair are by some
writers regarded as brachia or arms. The first joint of the
brachium, answering to the coxa of the legs, is named da-
vicula, or the clavicle, by Mr Kirby; its second joint, an¬
swering to the trochanter of the other limbs, is called the
scapula; the third and elongated joint, corresponding to the
femur, is designated the humerus; while the articulations
of the tarsus are known as the manus or hand. However,
the majority of authors seem not to express any distinction
between the parts of the fore legs and those of the inter¬
mediate and hind ones. The anterior pair, we may ob¬
serve, are in some cases convertible into organs of prehen¬
sion, and their tarsi are frequently dilated in the male sex.
The number of articulations of the tarsi varies in the dif¬
ferent tribes, and is not always the same in the different
pairs of legs in the same insect. Their amount on each
limb has been assumed as a basis for the formation of the
great sectional divisions of the coleopterous order, as ori¬
ginally proposed by M. Geoffroy, and so generally adopted
by the continental naturalists. The character, though ar¬
bitrarily chosen, and not seldom artificial in its results, has
proved upon the whole more compatible with a natural ar -
rangement than usually happens on the selection of a sin¬
gle and uninfluential organ. W e shall enter into further
details in relation to this matter in our introduction to the
coleopterous order, and shall merely observe in the mean
time, that pentamerous species, or those of which all the
tarsi are furnished with five articulations, are the most
abundant,—more than one half of the coleopterous kinds
being referable to that section.
These are the principal external parts of the structure
of insects.4 Their internal conformation has been illustrat¬
ed of late years by the successful efforts of several very
skilful and ingenious observers. We shall here notice the
dominating or more influential organs, and give a short
view of the important vital functions which they exercise.
CHAPTER III.
THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE AND PHYSIOLOGY OF INSECTS.
SECT. I. THE NERVOUS SYSTEM AND SENSES OF INSECTS.
The nervous system of animals in general, it has been
remarked, is one of the most wonderful and mysterious
works of the Creator. Its pulpy substance is the visible
medium by which the governing principle (To ’Hy^oiz/xov)
transmits its commands to the various organs of the body,
which instantaneously obey the impulsive mandate ; yet this
appears to be but the conductor of some higher principle, or
dites, or those of the aquatic larvae of Ephemerae and the genus Gyrinus. He founds his opinion chiefly on this, that the inferior
wings always take their origin from the lateral and anterior summits of the third thoracic segment, at a very short distance from the
superior wings, and alw'ays in advance of the two posterior stigmata of the thorax, whilst the balancers are inserted lower dowmat the
internal extremity of these air-conduits, or close by them. tSee Latreille’s observations in the 7th and 8th volume of the Memoires
du Museum d'Histoire Naturelle.')
1 We have made use of the term wing-scale in the systematic exposition afterwards given of the order Diptera. Meigen uses the
German word schuppchen (squama) in his Zweiflugeligen Insecten.
2 Diet. Class, d' Hist. Nat. t. ii. p. 141. 3 Wiedeman’s Archiv. ii. 210.
4 For some additional details, we beg to refer to a paper entitled “ Osteology, or External Anatomy of Insects,” by Mr New¬
man, in the Entomological Magazine, No. 1Y. We had not an opportunity of consulting it until our own abstract had been composed,
chiefly from foreign sources.
ENTOMOLOGY.
Internal more ethereal essence (language is ransacked in vain for an
Structure, appropriate term), which can be more immediately acted
upon by the mind and will. But this supposed principle,
by whatever fond or fantastical name it may be known,
whether as a nervous fluid or a nervous power, has never
been detected by the most subtile physiologist, and is known
only by its effects. It is, however, undoubtedly the centre
from which all power and function flow; and during the
absence of worthier substitutes we need not challenge the
vague abstractions of some metaphysical inquirers.
The nervous system of insects consists of a homogeneous
pulp, usually disposed in tw'elve successive ganglions, con¬
nected by a double cord. We first observe a double or bi-
lobed mass, which, as it is placed in the head, may be call¬
ed the brain. It is surrounded by strong muscles, and
from its anterior portion nerves are distributed to the eyes,
antennae, and mouth. Posteriorly two delicate recurrent
nerves proceed towards the dorsal vessel, and inferiorly
two larger nerves, after having formed by their branching
a kind of ring, which embraces the oesophagus, unite in the
form of a ganglion beneath the last-named organ. From
the posterior part of this latter ganglion a pair of nervous
cords proceed for a space, and then by their union produce
a second inferior ganglion, from which the nervous cords
again branch off posteriorly, and so uniting and ramifying
from space to space, they extend through the different seg¬
ments of the thorax and abdomen. The number of these
ganglia varies; sometimes they correspond to the divisions
of the body, while in many instances they are of smaller
amount. In the larva of the rhinoceros-beetle, for example,
the whole spinal cord (so called from its supposed analogy
to the part known by that name among the vertebrate
kinds) presents the appearance of a single ganglion, divid¬
ed merely by transverse furrowrs,—while in that of a dra¬
gon-fly, six have been observed in the thorax, and seven
in the abdomen. In the great water-beetle {Hydrous pi-
ceus) the head exhibits one ganglion, the thorax six, and
the abdomen only two. In the honey-bee there are three
ganglia in the thorax, and four in the abdomen. When
we examine these knots attentively, we may perceive that,
in addition to the double and longitudinal nervous cord by
which they are connected, they throw off laterally on either
side small nervous trunks, which divide into branches, and
finally ramify over the muscles, the intestinal canal, the
tracheae, and other parts. This nervous system differs
considerably in the larva and perfect insect, In the lat¬
ter the ganglia are usually less numerous, and the poste¬
rior appear formed by the close approximation of several
others.
The principal ganglia of the nervous system of insects
are frequently thus disposed. The position of the upper
or cervical ganglion has been already mentioned. The
others rest beneath the intestines, ranging along the infe¬
rior face of the body. There are three in what may be
called the chest; that is, one in the prothorax, which sends
nerves to the anterior legs; one in the mesothorax, which
supplies the elytra or the upper wings, and the middle legs ;
and one in the metathorax, which distributes its filaments
to the second pair of wings and the last pair of legs. The
other ganglia belong to the abdomen. Insects are charac¬
terized by the ganglionic distribution of the nervous sys¬
tem, in common with the Crustacea and Arachnides on the
one hand, and with the Vermes or worms on the other.
But in insects the ganglia are larger and less numerous
than in the still lowrer tribes, which gives a more decided
character of centricity to their nervous system. Indeed
the highest manifestation of this character is usually pre¬
sented only as the ultimate result of several metamorphoses;
so that while the larva exhibits a closer agreement with the
nervous system of worms, that of the imago or perfect in¬
sect assumes a higher development. It does not however
appear that the brain or upper ganglion of insects acts in
the capacity of a sensorium commune, as among warm¬
blooded animals, such as mammiferous quadrupeds and
birds; for many insects will live for a considerable time,
and even exercise their faculties of flight, after the loss of
parts which among the other class we justly regard as of
vital importance. The tenacity of life in horse-flies, for
example {Hippoboscce), is very remarkable. When deprived
of their heads, and replaced upon a horse, they will be per¬
ceived to run backwards and forwards and sideways, with
apparently the same ease as prior to their decapitation.1
The ganglions themselves frequently exhibit a bilobed
structure, which appears to result from the union of two
smaller masses, originally distinct. Comparative anatomy
tends to confirm this supposition. M. Marcel de Serres2
maintains that the nervous system of insects, and of all in¬
vertebrate animals, corresponds to the eccentric portion
of that system among the higher classes, that is, to the in¬
tervertebral ganglia and their radiations.3 In the primi¬
tive state of larva he deems the nervous system to consist
of two distinct portions, a right and a left; and he main¬
tains that the formation of the nervous system in all ani¬
mals proceeds from the circumference to the centre, and
not, as usually supposed, from the centre to the circumfe¬
rence. We know well, from the observations of Carus and
Tiedeman, that the organs of the inferior animals repeat,
as it were, the forms which present themselves only in the
embryo condition of the higher tribes. M. de Serres en¬
deavours to show that it is by the progress of successive
developments that the portions of the nervous cord in in¬
sects approach each other,—that they first join around the
oesophagus, then at the opposite extremity towards the in¬
ferior ganglions, and lastly in the central parts. He thus
admits three distinct embryo states in the condition of the
larvae; first, that in which the two portions of the nervous
system are entirely isolated and distinct; secondly, that
in which the cesophagian ganglia are alone united; and,
thirdly, that in which the opposite extremities arejoined
together. By means of this distinctive view, the French
physiologist connects the nervous system of insects with
that of the Mollusca, the latter presenting the embryo con-
1 Entomological Magazine, No. iii. 301. 2 Ann. des Sciences Nat. t. iii. p. 377.
3 The relation which the nervous system of invertebrate animals bears to that of the vertebrated tribes has, however, given rise
to many conflicting opinions. “ Among the various suggestions on this point, are that of Ackermann and Reil, who viewed the
nervous system ot Articulata as corresponding to the sympathetic system of vertebral animals;—of Walther, who compared it in
the Mollusca to the par vagum, and in the Articulata to the spinal marrow;—the most generally received opinion, however, is that
supported by the authority of Meckel, Cuvier, Blumenbach, Gall, and Spurzheim, who compare it in the Articulata to the cerebro¬
spinal cord of vertebral animals. The latter gentlemen, in particular, have furnished a strong proof of the correctness of this idea, by
demonstrating that the spinal cord of the superior animals actually consists of a series of ganglia with intermediate contractions,—a
structure most fully developed in the Articulata. Rudolphi {Physiologic, b. ii. s. 8, 1823) adopts the same opinion, and notices the
fact, that in Mollusca, Crustacea, Insects, &c. we find nerves of sense arising from the cerebral ganglia,—which by no means accords
with the character of the sympathetic system.” (See Note to Carus’s Comparative Anatomy, by Gore, vol. i. p. 89 ) E. W. Weber
{Anatomia Comparuta Nervi Sympathetici) appears to have been the first to suggest that the ganglia on the knotted spinal cord of ar¬
ticulated animals correspond to the intervertebral ganglia of the spinal nerves of the higher classes, rather than to the segments of
which their spinal marrow is composed.
43
Internal
44
I nternal
Structure
^  
ENTOMOLOGY.
dition of the former, that is, being permanently distinguish-
• ed by a characteristic which is only temporary among tiie
articulated tribes. This may probably be regarded as an
additional argument in favour of what we shall afterwards
endeavour to maintain,—the general superiority in the scale
of organization of the annulose classes over the molluscous
kinds. We shall conclude by observing, that besides the
general protection afforded by the external envelope of in¬
sects to their nervous system, it is specially protected by
the Y-shaped portion formerly described.
As the nerves constitute the principal media of sensation
in all animals, we shall here give a short sketch of the dif¬
ferent senses of the insect class.
Of the senses in general, as they exist in man and the
higher beings, physiologists and metaphysicians alike enu¬
merate the following five, viz. touch, taste, smell, hearing,
and sight. All of these, we doubt not, exist in the class
now under consideration, although we are not in every case
acquainted with the special organ by which each particu¬
lar function is exercised.
The sense of touch is usually regarded as affording ani¬
mals, and man especially, a more intimate and assured com¬
munication with the external world than those of either
sight or hearing, in as far as no intermediate substance
comes between us and the subjects of perception. Ihe
perfection of the sense depends on the quality of the skin,
the extent and nature of its surface, the number of its
nerves, its freedom from insensible parts, and the delicacy
of those appendages which are more particularly destined
to the examination of bodies. As touch is the most im¬
portant of all the senses, it may naturally be inferred to be
finely developed in the human race ; and we know that, of
all the vertebrated animals, man in that respect is one of the
most highly organized. But among the invertebrate kinds
the sense of touch improves in proportion as the others de¬
generate ; and those which have no other sense possess it
so exquisitely that some of them seem even to feel the
light.1
Among insects the sense of touch varies remarkably ac¬
cording to the condition in which they happen to exist for
the time,—their exterior surface, in which the function
exists, or at least through which it must be manifested,
being itself subject to great variation, even among indivi¬
duals of the same species. When soft, as in the larva
state, the skin is extremely delicate in its perceptions, and
capable of transmitting the most lively sensations; while in
the imago or perfect condition, more especially among the
Coleoptera, its harder consistence renders it chiefly service¬
able as a protecting covering. In this case the feet, palpi,
and, as many suppose, the antennae, seem the principal
organs of the sense of touch.
The sense of taste, which some regard as an exalted
modification of the perception of touch, is very obvious
among insects. We see many species, while searching af¬
ter food, reject or only partially consume whatever is dis¬
agreeable or unexpected, while they gloat over a more
favourite morsel. The organ in which the sense is placed
is not, however, so easily determined. Some regard the
palpi, and others the pharynx, as its principal seat. That
portion of the labium which the French naturalists name
the languette or ligula, has also been regarded as exercis¬
ing the sense of taste. It is certain that distinct nerves
are distributed to that quarter, as represented by Lyonnet
in his great work on the caterpillar of the cossus.
The sense of smell is exquisitely developed in the insect
tribes. No sooner has an animal fallen, from age or sick¬
ness, even on the loneliest and most barren moor, where
perhaps no vestige of insect life was previously perceptible, Internal
than troops of flies and carcass-eating beetles assemble Structure,
from every quarter, led by the emanation of the tainted
air.
It was in truth the influence of the sense of smell that
in ancient times no doubt gave rise to so many erroneous
ideas regarding the origin of insect life. Every animal
body in a state of decay being seen to present a crowd of
small larvae or worms, these were regarded as the produce
of corruption, whereas they resulted naturally, and accord¬
ing to the usual course, from eggs previously deposited by
parent flies or beetles, which had been attracted by the
putrid effluvia. It is not two hundred years since Redi
proved for the first time, by conclusive experiments, that
this was true. It is also known that bees will discover
and hover around a box containing honey, though their
prized treasure is screened from sight; and both flies and
beetles are so affected by the perceptions of this sense, that
even their peculiar and all but unerring instincts are occa¬
sionally deceived by its influence. They will deposit their
eggs on plants which are characterized by a foetid smell
(for example, on the Phallus impudicus), misled by the
resemblance of their flesh-like odour, which the experience
of the sense of sight cannot rectify.
The scent of many flowers is cadaverous, and is thus
the means of assembling around their deceptive petals nu¬
merous insects which feed on putrid matter. It is thus
that the spathes of the Arum dracunculus, and the corolla
of the Stapelia variegata, are frequently found covered by
Silphae, flesh-flies, and other species, which not only at¬
tempt to feed upon them, but also deposit their eggs in
what they conceive to be a fitting station. But the seat
of this indispensable faculty is likewise still involved in ob¬
scurity. On a subject so difficult of solution, and which
can only be solved by a consummate knowledge of anato¬
mical structure, viewed in relation to the uses of physio¬
logy, it would not become us to offer an opinion, or do
more than report the sentiments of those who are neces¬
sarily more experienced than ourselves. Many agree with
Dumeril in maintaining that in insects the sense of smell
is effected, as among the higher animals, through media in
very intimate connection with the process of respiration ;
in other words, that either the trachece or stigmatic open¬
ings are the seat of its exercise. Others again suppose,
that for the exercise of so important a function, a more
special and concentrated organ is required; and proceeding
upon the analogical relation of mere position, they regard
the antennae as its seat. These receive the first pair of
nerves, and so far correspond to the olfactory organs of
the higher animals, which are likewise connected with the
brain by means of the first pair. The question is one
which is extremely difficult of determination, especially in
reference to the singular experiments of Huber on bees,
which go far to prove that the sense of smell, at least in
these hymenopterous species, is placed in the cavity of the
mouth.
Christian maintained that insects exercised the sense of
smell in relation to distant objects through their antennas,
and in regard to near ones by means of their palpi; while
Comparetti imagines that in the different tribes of insects
different instruments are subservient to that end. Cuvier,
at least in his earlier works (and we are not aware of any
recorded change in his sentiments) favoured the opinion
already alluded to regarding the respiratory organs. “ As
the organ of smell,” he observes, “ in all animals which
respire air, is situated at the entrance of the organs of re¬
spiration, the most probable conjecture that has been pro-
1 Lefons d'Anatomic Comparte, sect. 14.
ENTOMOLOGY.
45
Internal posed respecting its seat in insects, is that of Baster, since
Structure, revived by several naturalists, who placed it in the mouths
w,'V'w/ of the tracheae or air-tubes. In addition to the reasons
hitherto stated in support of this opinion, we may observe
that the internal membrane of the tracheae appears very
well calculated to perform this office, being soft and mois¬
tened, and that the insects in which the tracheae en¬
large, and form numerous or considerable vesicles, are
those which seem to possess the most perfect sense of
smell. Such are the Scarabaei, flies, bees, &c. The an¬
tennae, which other anatomists have supposed to be the
seat of smell in insects, do not appear to us to possess any
of the conditions for that organ.”1
Huber’s experiments, undertaken with a view to as¬
certain the seat of smell in bees, consisted in presenting
successively to all parts of their bodies a hair pencil dipt
in oil of turpentine, an article which they particularly
abominate. When made to approximate the head, trunk,
or abdomen, it produced no particular effect, and the odour
appeared to be equally disregarded by the antennae and
proboscis. But when he brought the point of a fine hair-
pencil saturated in the oil almost into contact writh the ca¬
vity of the mouth, above the insertion of the proboscis, the
bee started back in an instant, quitted its food, clapped its
wings, and would have taken immediate flight had not the
pencil been removed. A repetition of the experiment pro¬
duced the same signs of discomposure ; and similar re¬
sults, but more prompt and sure, followed the use of oil of
marjoram. The indefatigable Genevese observer then
stopt up the mouths of several bees with paste, which
soon became comparatively hard and dry. In this state
they were quite insensible to those odours which had pre¬
viously produced such painful effects.2
Mr Kirby maintains an opinion different from any w-e
have yet alluded to, though more allied to the last than to
the others. As the nose of an insect evidently corresponds
with the part so named in the Mammalia, not only in its
situation, but frequently in its form, and as a constant con¬
nection may be observed to obtain between the senses
of smell and taste, he felt convinced in the first place
that the argument from analogy was wholly in favour of
the nose, or anterior portion of the head formerly men¬
tioned under that name. The common burying beetle
(Necrophorus vespillo) is an insect remarkable for its ex¬
treme accuracy and acuteness of smell. While examining
the nose of this insect, Mr Kirby observed in the middle of
its anterior part a subtrapezoidal space, as it were cut out
and filled with a paler piece of a softer and more membra¬
nous texture. On dividing the head horizontally, he per¬
ceived beneath the nose, and partly under the space just
mentioned, which he calls the rhinarium or nostril piece,
a pair of circular pulpy cushions, covered by a membrane
transversely striated with beautifully fine lines. These are
what our learned author regards as the organs of smell,
and he noted that they remained distinctly visible in a
specimen which he had had by him for more than fifteen
years.3
Hearing is perceptibly acute in some insects, and of
more doubtful existence in others. The frequent and va¬
rious sounds to which many species give utterance have
been adduced in proof of their being endowed with this
perception ; for we cannot but suppose that the shrill voice
of the grasshopper, and the evening song of the cricket,
are subservient to some essential end, which they cannot Internal
well be if unheard by their blythe companions. The small Structure,
wood-devouring beetle called the death-tick (Anobium),
answers its neighbour’s call as regularly as a cock crows a
response to its pugnacious rival; and Derham, when he
kept these insects in captivity, by imitating their tiny call,
could make them click when he pleased. What is called
the voice in insects is usually produced by the friction of
certain hard and horny parts of the limbs upon some other
portion of the body of a like consistence. In others it is
effected by a rapid vibration of the wings; and a few
beetles seem to give utterance to a shrill and sometimes
plaintive cry by ruDbing the terminal segments of the ab¬
domen against the curved points of the elytra. This
power of voice, as we call it for want of a better name, is
often possessed by the males alone; and as it is used as
a call of love in spring and summer (most obviously so
among the Cicadae), we infer the sense of hearing in the
females of that family, and consequently in the class of in¬
sects.
Brunelli kept some large green grasshoppers (Acrida vi-
ridissima) in confinement. They used to sing all day in
a closet, but ceased when any one gave a rap upon the
door. He learned by degrees to imitate their chirping
call. At first a few of the boldest would answer him, and
then gradually the whole band would strike in and sing
with all their might. On one occasion he inclosed a male
in his garden, and gave the female her liberty ; but no
sooner did the husband begin to solace his captivity with
a song than his quondam partner recognised the accus¬
tomed voice, and flew towards him without delay.4 In i-e-
lation to this subject Dr Wollaston makes the following cu¬
rious observation. “ Since there is nothing in the consti¬
tution of the atmosphere to prevent vibrations much more
frequent than any of which we are conscious, we may ima¬
gine that animals like the Grylli, whose powers appear to
commence nearly where ours terminate, may have the fa¬
culty of hearing still sharper sounds, which at present we
do not know to exist; and that there may be other insects,
hearing nothing in common with us, but endued with a
power of exciting, and a sense that perceives, vibrations
indeed of the same nature as those which constitute our
ordinary sounds, but so remote that the animals who per¬
ceive them may be said to possess another sense, agreeing
with ours solely in the medium by which it is excited, and
possibly wholly unaffected by those slowrer vibrations of
which we are sensible.”5
The precise position, however, of the organ of hearing
in insects lias not been determined with precision. In the
Crustacea it is found at the base of the large antennae ;
and Latreille has satisfied himself of its existence in a
similar situation in an orthopterous insect called Gryllus
lineola. Mr Kirby is of opinion that the primary use of
the antennae is to exercise a function analogous to that
of hearing, and Mr Rennie entertains a similar sentiment.
The sense of sight is too obvious in this class to require
demonstration. The eyes of insects are, however, of a
very different nature and construction from the exquisite¬
ly formed visual organs of the higher tribes. They con¬
sist of two kinds, the composite and the simple. The lat¬
ter, known under a certain form likewise by the name of
ocelli or stemmatic eyes (stemmata), are sometimes wanting,
sometimes co-existent with the others.6
1 Comparative Anatomy, vol. ii. p. 687. 8 NOlivettes Observations sur les Abeilles, t. ii. p- 375.
* Introduction to Entomology, vol. iv. p. 254.
* Lehmann, De Scnsibus Extends Animcdium Exsanguium, 22. s Phil. Trans. 1820, p. 314.
6 What Messrs Kirby and Spence name conglomerate eyes do not essentially differ from simple eyes, collected together in a com¬
pact bundle. They occur in Lepisma, and many Myriapoda.
46 E N T O M
Internal The composite eyes generally form, as it were, the lateral
Structure, portions of the head. They are either entire, notched, or
even occasionally so completely divided by a little corneous
stalk, as to exhibit (for example in the genus Gyrinus) the
appearance of a pair on either side. In other respects their
forms are extremely variable—their surfaces more or less
convex. These compound eyes are composed externally
of a hard and transparent membrane (softer in the dipte¬
rous tribes), which presents an infinity of small hexagonal
surfaces, disposed with the most exquisite regularity. This
peculiar structure prevails equally on the concave or inter¬
nal, as on the convex or external surface. The structure and
composition of the eyes of insects have been carefully stu¬
died and explained by Leeuwenhoeck, Swammerdam, Cu¬
vier, and more lately and laboriously by Marcel de Serres.
We shall here avail ourselves of the resume given by M.
Victor Audouin.1 In the eye of an insect we observe,
ls£, a cornea (convex in proportion to the carnivorous
habits of the species), transparent, hard, thickish, gene¬
rally encased in a groove of the head, and exhibiting many
thousand regularly disposed, hexagonal facettes, each of
which is in itself a perfect eye. These are sometimes so
numerous that not fewer than 34,650 lenses have been
counted in the head of a butterfly, and the coleopterous ge¬
nus Dynastes of Macleay is supposed to be still more won¬
derfully and exuberantly supplied. 2d, An opaque, slight¬
ly liquid matter, variously coloured, frequently deep violet
or black, but sometimes red or green, tenaciously adhe¬
rent to the inner face of the cornea, and distinct from the
deep-black varnish of the choroid. It is by no means rare
to observe various colours united in the same eye, which
then appears beautifully mottled, as in many species of the
orthopterous, neuropterous, and dipterous orders. These
tints, however brilliant in the living state, speedily vanish
after death. They are always owing to this peculiar coat¬
ing of the cornea. 3r/, A true choroid, covered by a dark
varnish, which may be regarded as a pigmentum nigrum.
The lynx-eyed Swammerdam failed to distinguish this
coating from that of the cornea; but, in the opinion of
Marcel de Serres, it is really different. The choroid and
its pigment do not always exist in insects. They are want¬
ing in the Blattce, and in all the lucifugous or light shun¬
ning species, such as those of the genera Slaps, Tenebrio,
and Pedinus. In these cases, it has been remarked that
the covering of the cornea is much deeper than usual. The
choroid membrane is fixed by its circumference to all the
margin of the cornea, of which it follows the contour, and
is intimately connected with the tracheae, which are there
so numerous, kth, Air vessels which play an important
part. They take their rise from larger trunks which are
situated in the head, and form around the eye a circular
trachea, which sends forth an infinity of branches, produ-
cing by bifurcation a number of isosceles triangles. These
triangles, of which the base is outw ards, are placed around
the optic cone, and receive, in each angular interval which
separates their summits, a nervous filament, which traver¬
ses the choroid, and reaches the external surface of the
covering ot the cornea. The assemblage of tracheae and
nervous threads forms at the circumference of the eye a
peculiar kind of network, of which the aspect is beautiful
to look upon. The tracheae themselves are so abundant
on the choroid, that that membrane appears to be compos¬
ed of them ; and it may also be noted, that in those genera
in which the choroid is wanting, the circular trachea is
likewise absent.2 bth, Nerves arise from a principal
O L O G Y.
branch which, after proceeding immediately from the brain Internal
(or upper ganglion), is either encompassed by a little cir- Structure,
cular trachea, or traverses the fibres of the abductor mus-
cle of the mandibles. This branch soon augments in
volume, and forms a kind of cone more or less extended,
of which the base is towards the transparent cornea. Nu¬
merous nerves proceed from that base, mingle with the
tracheae of the choroid, traverse both that membrane and
its pigment, penetrate the lining of the cornea, and finally
terminate each on a facette of the transparent cornea, so
that the nervous filaments are thus immediately in contact
with the light, which reaches them after having traversed
only the last-named organ. This disposition of the ner¬
vous threads, which thus constitute as many small retinae as
there are facettes in the cornea of the eye, is very distin¬
guishable in Libellula, Truxalis, and Gryllus. The eyes
of insects, then, contain no humours properly so called,—
neither vitreous nor crystalline,-—and vision is consequent¬
ly much more simple with them than with the vertebrated
tribes, in which the nerves are placed deeper in the eye,
and do not receive the rays of light till these have passed
through media of different densities.
The simple or stemmatic eyes of insects are usually three
in number, and are placed on the crown of the head, be¬
tween the genuine organs of sight, from which their struc¬
ture differs. In spite of their extreme minuteness, Mar¬
cel de Serres has succeeded in detecting the following
component parts. Is#, A transparent cornea, formed by an
external membrane, hard, convex externally, and smooth,
that is, exhibiting no appearance of facettes. 2d, Of a va¬
riously-coloured matter, which lines the internal face of
the cornea, but which is perhaps not essentially distinct
from the varnish of the choroid. It varies in colour, be¬
ing almost always black in Hymenoptera, usually whitish
in Orthoptera, and, in many caterpillars, yellow, red, or
green. 3c?, A kind of choroid, rather thick, more extend¬
ed on the surface than the cornea itself, sometimes of a
black colour, more frequently red, and occasionally of a
peculiar whitish hue. 4#/«, Tracheae, which do not derive
their origin from a circular air vessel, and do not, as it
were, constitute the choroid, but appear to be distributed
over its surface, bth, Nerves proceeding either directly
from the brain or upper ganglion, or from another more
considerable nerve or common trunk, according as these
simple eyes are separate from each other, as in perfect in¬
sects, or closely approached, as among larvae. In their pas¬
sage towards the eyes they are attached to the neighbour¬
ing parts by tracheae or air vesicles, and do not appear to
present any swelling ; they pass between the motive mus¬
cles of the different parts of the head, traverse the choroid
and its varnish, and expand upon the internal face of the
cornea, where they are surrounded by the layer of pig¬
ment belonging to that membrane. Thus, on examining
the simple or stemmatic eyes of insects, and proceeding
from the circumference to the centre, we meet with a
transparent cornea,—a pigment, which lines its inner face,—
the termination of the optic nerves,—the pigment of the
choroid, when distinct from that of the cornea,—and the
choroid itself, which frequently rests upon a large trachea.
The principal character of these simple eyes consists in
this, that each is a single organ, whereas the composite
eyes, as the name implies, are formed by the union of
many. The one kind is most characteristic of the larva
state, the other of the perfect insect; but several orders,
even in the last-mentioned condition, possess both organs.
1 Diet. Class. d'Hist. Nat. t. viii. p. 554.
’ Muller and others appear to entertain a different view from that given above. The subject is one of considerable complexity,
and our present limits prevent our entering into its various and sometimes contradictory details. We refer the curious reader to a
series of papers on the visual organs of insects and Crustacea in the fourth volume of the Naturalist's Magazine.
ENTOMOLOGY.
47
Internal Thus, with few exceptions, the Orthoptera, Hemiptera,
Structure. Hymenoptera, Neuroptera, and Diptera, possess both sim-
pie and compound eyes. Dr Carus however states that
the stemmata do not exist either in beetles or butterflies;
a most erroneous opinion in regard to the latter, in which
they exist universally, although not always detected; and
incorrect as to the former, in several of which they have
been distinctly seen. They are visible in Gravenhorst’s
genus Omalium, or at least in some of the species j1 and Mr
Kirby found them very conspicuous in A. Caraboides, and
other Anthophagi. They are wanting in Strepsiptera, Derm-
aptera, and Aptera.
Although neither Linnaeus nor Fabricius, those great
masters in the science, gave any explanation of the uses of
the stemmata, there can be no doubt that Swammerdam
and Reaumur were correct in regarding them as genuine
eyes.2 The French writer supposes that the compound
organs have the power of magnifying, and are used for sur¬
veying more distant objects, while the simple ones possess
little of that power, and are employed on objects close at
hand. Blumenbach is also of opinion that the polyhedral
eyes are for viewing distant objects, and the simple ones
for such as are near.3 This is in some measure confirmed
by the fact, that while most insects in the perfect state
have large compound eyes, caterpillars and other larvae
have usually small myopic ones. On the other hand, the
Mole cricket (Gryllotalpd), a truly subterranean species,
is furnished with both kinds. Reaumur’s experiments on
the visual organs of bees are extremely important in rela¬
tion to our present subject. He smeared the compound
eyes with paint, when the insects, instead of directing their
flight towards the hive, ascended in the air till they were
lost to sight. He then treated the stemmatic eyes in the
same manner, and placing his patients near their hive,
they winged their way on all sides among the surrounding
flowers, but neither ascended into the air, nor flew far from
home. From these experiments it has been supposed that
the compound eyes are for horizontal sight, and the stem¬
matic for vertical.4 Spix imagines that what we call sim¬
ple eyes in insects are in fact olfactory organs.5 Nothing
can be adduced in support of a theory so fantastical.
We shall conclude this branch of our subject by observ¬
ing that some insects are supposed to be entirely destitute
of eyes. This is the case, according to Rudolph!,6 with
the coleopterous genus Claviger, in which there are cer¬
tainly no apparent eyes; and Marcel de Serres observes,
“ un assez grand nombre de larves a metamorphose com¬
plete n’ont point d’yeux du tout.”7
SECT. II. THE RESPIRATORY SYSTEM IN INSECTS.
Though insects respire air, they do not receive it, like the
majority of vertebrated animals, through nostrils or other ori¬
fices in the head, but by means of numerous small openings
along the sides of the body, and which lead not to lungs, but
to a system of air vessels ramified ad infinitum through
every part of the body. The respiratory organs of this
class are composed of stigmata, trachece, and bronchia. The
first, called also spiracles or breathing pores, consist of
small perforations of various forms, placed along the lateral
portions of the body, and generally incased externally in a
small corneous ring, though sometimes pierced in the mem¬
brane which separates the dorsal from the ventral surface.
These stigmatic openings occur both on the thorax and
abdomen, and lead inwards to the tracheae. Their num¬
ber varies according to the species, and even in the same Internal
species according to the temporary condition of the indivi- Structure,
dual. They are wanting on the second and third segments
of the body of the larva; and as it is from these segments
that the wings are developed, M. de Blainville has been
induced, probably by that circumstance, to regard the or¬
gans of flight as reversed and expanded tracheae. The
existence, however, of stigmatic openings on the thorax of
the perfect insect simultaneously with the wings, militates
against this theory ; for if these parts were convertible,
would they not be likewise each exclusive of the other ?
Parallel with the sides of the body of most insects, and
extending its whole length, run two cylindrical tubes, which
communicate with the spiracles, and give issue, at points
opposite to those organs, to other tubes, the ramifications
of which are distributed over all the membranes, penetrate
the muscles, and pervade even the legs and wings. They
also envelope the dorsal vessel and digestive organs, and
demonstrate that the ultimate aim of respiration is assimi¬
lation, or the increase and reproduction of organic mole¬
cules, by the decomposition of food. The first of these
tubes are called the tracheae, the latter the bronchiae.
This structure, however, cannot be regarded as universal,
as in many of the lamellicorn beetles the bronchiae spring
directly from the spiracles, the interior mouth of which is
lined by a membrane from which they proceed.8 But a
volume would scarcely suffice to describe the beautifully
varied features of the respiratory system in insects. Among
those tribes especially which pass their early stages under
water, the changes in form and position in these organs
cannot be sufficiently admired. Several common species
of gnat, the larvae of which abound during the summer
season in all our ponds and marshes, will afford a familiar
illustration. When one of these is examined, a singular
tunnel-shaped organ, terminating in a radiated point like a
star, will be perceived, forming an angle with the penulti¬
mate segment of the body. In the interior of this organ
is a tube, which conveys the air to the tracheae, and com¬
municates with the atmosphere by means of several perfo¬
rations in the centre of the star. The diverging rays of
the star suspend the animal at the surface of the water,
with its head downwards, till it wishes to descend. It has
no sooner assumed the pupa state, than the respiratory
tail disappears, and the insect (still an inhabitant of the
water) then breathes through two projecting horns, each
resembling a little cornucopia, which proceed from the
upper part of the trunk. Ere long the skin of the pupa
bursts asunder, and the perfect gnat, or winged insect,
makes its appearance, with neither caudal nor thoracic ap¬
pendages, but breathing by means of numerous lateral
pores (the stigmata above mentioned), after the usual man¬
ner. The rat-tailed worm in this respect is still more ex¬
traordinary. In the larva state it breathes through a tail
formed of retractile tubes, like a telescope, and capable of
being extended many times the length of the body. This
also terminates in a star-like process, which, when viewed
in a strong light, forms a perceptible dimple on the surface
of the water ; and as the body of the insect lies in the mud
below, the tail is contracted or extended according to the
varying depth of its stagnant habitation. On assuming
the pupa state, in which it is no longer an aquatic animal,
the respiratory tail is cast off, and its function performed
by four horns, which spring from the upper part of the
thorax. It afterwards becomes one of those bee-like flies
so remarkable for the rapid vibratory movement of their
1 Mas;azin der Entomologie, iv. 410.
* See Biblia Naturae, i. 214; and Memoires, iv. 245.
3 Vergl. Anatomic, p. 425.
4 Introduction to Entomology, ill. 505.
* Cephalogenesis, p. 57.
8 Physiologic, ii. 154.
7 Mem. sur ies Yeux composes etles Yeux lines.
8 Introd. to Ent. vol. iv. p 61.
ENTOMOLOGY.
48
Internal wings, by which, during calm sunshine, they are often seen
Structure, suspended in the air like hawks, without any perceptible
motion. In this last stage respiration is carried on by spi¬
racles or breathing-pores.
SECT. III. THE DORSAL VESSEL, OR SUPPOSED CIRCULATING
SYSTEM, OF INSECTS.
We shall next endeavour to explain the construction
and physiological uses of the organ known by the name of
dorsal vessel.
The primary use of the heart of animals is the elabora¬
tion of the nutritive fluid by which the general system is
strengthened and sustained; its secondary use is to effect
the circulation of that fluid, a process by which important
changes are produced in its nature or attributes. The
dorsal vessel, which corresponds to the heart in insects,
certainly effects the primary purpose; its performance of
the secondary one is, as we shall see, a matter of greater
dubiety.
When an insect is dissected with due precaution from
its inferior surface, and we remove the nervous system,
which first presents itself, and then the intestines and other
viscera, we shall observe running along the back, a pecu¬
liar vessel, of which the most obvious powers are those of
contraction and dilatation. It is of a cylindrical form,
narrowed at either end, and extends from the head to the
anal extremity. This constitutes the heart, frequently so
called, of the class of insects. A closer examination shows
that it is composed of two membranes, one internal and
muscular, the other external and cellular, and pervaded
by a close interlacement of tracheae or air-vessels. When
opened, its interior presents a transparent ccagulable li¬
quid, which dries rapidly, and then exhibits the aspect of
gum, of a colour seldom deeply defined, but sometimes
greenish, orange yellow, or sombre brown. Masses of fat
frequently surround this vessel, and partake of the tint by
which it is pervaded. If, as Marcel de Serres has noted,
the dorsal vessel (for so this organ is often named) were a
genuine heart, or centre of a circulating system, it would
be necessarily open at one or other of its extremities, and
would present vascular ramifications in certain points of its
extent. But, according to the minute and laborious inves¬
tigations of the last-named author, no such openings are
observable. The same view was taken by Swammerdam ;
and Lyonnet, so unrivalled in his examination of the struc¬
ture of insects, was foiled in his attempts to demonstrate
the ramifications of the dorsal vessel. Comparetti no doubt
took another view of the subject; and if the assurance of
his readers was equal to his own, less suspicion would exist
of the possibility of his having mistaken biliary for san¬
guineous vessels.
Anatomists, however, are greatly divided in opinion re¬
garding the essential nature of this organ. It has been
dissected and injected by Marcel de Serres in a variety of
species ; but in none could he discover its divisions or ra¬
mifications. Even when he removed it entirely from the
insect, no drop of the liquid which it contained was ob¬
served to escape, which he thinks it must have done on
the cutting away of open vessels during dissection, had
these existed. The heating of this dorsal vessel was not
explicable, otherwise than by the contraction of its tissue,
or the movement of the fluid which it contained; and such
movement was not itself conceivable except in the case of
circulation, which the alleged closure and non-division of
the organ forbade us to suppose. Its contractions also
appeared irregular, and scarcely ever isochronic; that is,
the same number ol pulsations, if they may be so called,
did not take place in an equal time. They varied singu¬
larly in different species. Thirty-six per minute wrere
counted in the caterpillar of the Pavonia Major, eighty- Internal
two at least in grasshoppers, and a hundred and forty in Structure,
one of the ground bees. While endeavouring to discover
the cause of these contractions, Marcel de Serres came to
the conclusion that they bore a relation, \st, to the quan¬
tity ot adipose tissue by which they were surrounded;
2dly, to the energy of the muscular fibres which were in¬
serted on the vessel, and were the means of fixing it to the
rings of the abdomen; Sdly, to the number of tracheae or
air conduits by which it was supplied. He was not of opi¬
nion that the nerves exercised any strongly marked influ¬
ence on these contractions, although we know that special
nerves are directed to the dorsal vessel. The fact, how¬
ever, which he deemed the most clearly established, was
the influential action of the muscles. When any of these
were removed, the pulsations became less frequent,—on
a farther removal they still diminished ; and when the
muscles were almost all withdrawn, the pulsations ceased.
1 he appropriate function of this disputed organ, according
to the last-named author, is the secretion of fat. Baron
Cuvier also denies to it the character of a genuine heart.
Meckel and Herold, on the other hand, regard the dorsal
vessel as a heart, and they conceive that the use of its
movement is to agitate the fluid contained in the cavity of
the insect’s body; but they do not admit the existence of
posterior or anterior openings for the reception or rejec¬
tion of that fluid. It is long since Lyonnet informed us
that it contained a gummy matter of an orange colour ; and
some recent observations have led Latreille to admit the
existence of certain very minute accessory vessels. In ad¬
dition, however, to the fact that this circulation must be
extremely partial, insects would still greatly differ in that
respect from the Crustacea, inasmuch as the blood does not
return to the heart. Herold is of opinion that the trian¬
gular muscles ot the dorsal vessel serve for its dilatation,
while the systole movements are effected by the muscular
fibres, which form the proper tunic. Straus is also of opi¬
nion that the dorsal vessel is the true heart in the class of
insects, and that it serves, as in the higher animals, as the
motive organ of the blood, which, however, instead of
being contained in vessels, permeates in the general cavity
of the body. According to his views, it terminates ante¬
riorly by a single unramified artery, which conveys the
blood to the head, where it pours it out, and from whence
it returns again to the abdomen, to re-enter the dorsal ves¬
sel. He thus limits the circulating system of insects to a
single artery without branches (there are not any veins);
and he combats the sentiments of Herold regarding the
muscular nature of the wings of the heart, which, he main¬
tains, are only simple fibrous ligaments, by which it is main¬
tained in its proper place. The heart itself, that is, the ab¬
dominal portion of the vessel, he describes as divided inte¬
riorly into eight successive chambers (as in the common
cockchafer, Melolontha vulgaris), separated from each other
by two convergent valvules, which permit the transmission
of the blood or circulating fluid from behind forwards, and
from one chamber to another, up to the artery which con¬
ducts it to the head, but prevent its retrograde motion.
Towards the lateral and anterior portion of each chamber
are two transverse fissures, which communicate with the
abdominal cavity, and through which the blood contained
in the latter enters the heart. Each of these apertures is
provided internally with a little semicircular valve, which
presses on it during the systole of the organ. When the
posterior chamber dilates, the fluid contained in the abdo¬
minal cavity penetrates into it by the transverse fissures,
called auriculo-ventriculaires by M. Straus. When the
chamber contracts, the blood, unable to return into the
abdominal cavity, forces the ewfer-ventricular valve, and
passes into the second chamber, which dilates to receive it,
E N T O M
Internal along with an additional quantity which enters by the true
Structure, auriculo-ventricular openings. The second chamber then
c’ontracts in a similar manner, and forces the fluid into the
third, which at the same time also receives a supply from
the lateral openings; and thus the blood is forced from
one chamber to another by successive contractions, till it
reaches the artery. These are said to constitute the move¬
ments so distinctly perceptible through the dorsal skin of
many caterpillars.
Mr Bowerbank has recently published some observations
on the circulation of the blood in insects.1 The instance
detailed was that of the larva of an Ephemera (Z?. margi-
natd). In fixing the insect for examination (under water),
especial care must be taken not to compress the body, which
impedes or interrupts the circulation of the lateral vessels,
and that of the tail, legs, and antennae. When the larva
is fixed, with its dorsal aspect towards the observer, a
truly beautiful sight is said to present itself. The blood,
abounding in flattened oat-shaped particles, will be seen
circulating in every part of the body, not in a continuous
stream, but at regular points, in accordance with the pul¬
sations of the great dorsal vessel. The latter, which is of
great comparative magnitude, extends nearly the whole
length of the body, and is furnished at regular intervals
with double valves, nearly equal in amount to the segments
of the body. Both above and below each of these sets of
valves there is a pair of irregular-looking appendages, which
are probably nervous ganglions, auxiliary to the motions of
the vessel, but so extremely translucent as to be scarcely
definable in their form, even through the medium of the
highest power which we can apply. The action of the
valves is singularly interesting. While in their greatest
state of collapse, the point of the lower valve is seen close¬
ly compressed within the upper one. At the commence¬
ment of the expansion of the artery, the blood is seen
flowing in from the lateral aperture, and at the same time
the stream in the artery commences its ascent. When it
has nearly attained its greatest state of expansion, the sides
of the lower valve are forced upwards by the increased flow
of the blood from the section below the valve, the lateral
openings are closed, and the main current of the blood is
projected through the two valves. The structure of the
upper valve appears to consist of a duplication inwards and
upwards of the inner coat of the artery ; that of the under,
of a contraction and projection of the like parts of a por¬
tion of the artery beneath, so as to come within the grasp
of the lower part of the valve above it. The exterior por¬
tion or continuation of the artery is perceptible in the form
of an exceedingly fine and transparent membrane. The
so-called blood does not appear to be confined within any
specific vessels prior to its entering the lateral openings
just mentioned, because, as soon as they expand, the par¬
ticles are seen converging towards them. The wdiole of
the fluid received throughout the course of the dorsal ves¬
sel is conveyed to the extremity of the anterior part of the
body, where the vessel makes a curve inwards, and is lost
to view. To all appearance the main current of the blood
is now discharged into the cavity of the body, as it is seen
pursuing its course downwards in a wide-spreading stream
on each side, and beneath the dorsal vessel. As it de¬
scends, portions are again absorbed by the valves of the
large vessel, while at the same time smaller vessels pass
down each side of the body, and convey another portion
of blood to the lower extremity. These lesser vessels have
perceptible boundaries, and are certainly not portions of
the great abdominal cavity. They communicate at each
junction of the segments of the body with that cavity, as a
O L O G Y. 49
part of the fluid they convey is discharged at those points, Internal
to supply the place of what is absorbed by the valves of Structure,
the dorsal vessel, into the lower end of which they empty
their contents. In the caudal extremity the ascending and
descending vessels are seen, like vein and artery, to accom¬
pany each other, and at the same moment that the fluid
passes up the one with the usual pulsatory motion, it de¬
scends the other. There is, however, no perceptible pul¬
sation of these minuter vessels themselves, and the motion
of their fluids therefore results from the action of the
great dorsal heart.
“ Next to the larvae of the Ephemera marginata,” Mr
Bowerbank observes, “ the larvae of Agrion afford the best
view of the blood and its circulation. In all the species of
these larvae I have yet examined, I have found it as near¬
ly similar as possible in appearance to that which we ob¬
serve in the Ephemera, and in some instances it has afford¬
ed even more satisfactory results. The head of this larva is
much more transparent than that of the larva of the Ephe¬
mera ; we therefore have a better view of the circulation of
the blood in the head of this insect than can possibly be ob¬
tained in the other. In this object the blood is seen rushing
like a beautiful intermittent fountain towards the mouth,
and dividing right and left into two jets, a portion of each of
which flows within a given boundary past the back of the eye,
whilst the remainder winds its way through other channels,
deep in the side of the head, and returns again into the body.
The antennae of this insect also afford another beautiful
instance of the circulation being carried forward within
well-defined vessels. They are each composed of six
joints, up four of which the blood is seen to take its course ;
and turning round the extremity of the fourth joint, it re¬
turns by a distinct vessel into the head. In the leg, like¬
wise, the circulating fluid and its vessels are clearly and
distinctly to be traced, even to the very extremity of the
tarsus, where, as in the antennae, the particles of the blood
are seen to descend on the one side of the leg, and, turn¬
ing the extreme point, to return up the contrary side to
the one by which they come down. I regret much that I
have not yet had an opportunity of examining the Ephe¬
mera in its perfect state ; but in two species of Culex, one
of which was first observed and brought to me by my friend
Mr Tulley, I have seen the great dorsal vessel performing
its functions in a manner similar in every respect to its ap¬
pearance in the larvae of Ephemera, Agrion, &c. &c.; but,
from the body of the fly being more opaque than that of
the larvae, and nearly covered with its striated scales, neither
the valves nor the particles of the blood could be detect¬
ed. On another occasion, after having carefully cleared
the wings of Phlogophora meticulosa of their coloured
scales, both Mr Samouelle and myself clearly saw a fluid
pass down the side of one of the principal ribs of the wing.
We may therefore, I think, fairly conclude, that the circu¬
lation is carried forward in the perfect insect as well as in
the larva, although, perhaps, not with so much vigour as
when young and growing.”2
The writer whose observations we have just quoted, in¬
clines to the opinion that a much greater portion of the
circulation than we can clearly define is carried on within
special vessels, as the blood may be frequently seen flow¬
ing in curved and other lines, as if confined within very
narrow limits. These streams, however, are generally so
deeply seated amidst the muscles and intestines as totally
to prevent their boundaries from being clearly seen. The
blood itself is in fact a perfectly colourless and transparent
fluid, rendered visible only by its containing a number of
oat-shaped particles ; and even the great dorsal vessel can-
1 Entomological Magazine. No. III. p. 239.
VOL. IX.
G
2 Ibid. p. 242.
50 E N T G M
Interral not be seen distinctly but by means of a glass of great power,
Structure. anf]? under the most favourable circumstances, exhibits de-
fine(j limits with certainty only when in motion. A singu¬
lar coincidence is observable between the flattened particles
of the blood of insects, and the circular double concave
plates in that of man,- namely, that the former, in common
with the latter, assume a globular form immediately on com¬
ing into contact with water.1
The reader will be able to judge, from the preceding
notices, of the diversified opinions still entertained regard¬
ing the circulation of the blood in insects. We shall con¬
clude with a short account of Dr Carus’s observations,
w hich many consider as the first of a satisfactory and con¬
clusive nature on the subject. Mr Spence, the accomplish¬
ed coadjutor of Mr Kirby, having had the advantage, at a
pretty recent period, of witnessing some of the most strik¬
ing facts on which the Dresden physician rests his views,
transmitted an account of them to an English periodical.
“ The first insect,” he observes, “ to which Dr Carus di¬
rected my attention wras the larva of Ephemera vulgata (or
an allied species), in which, near to the branchiae, and pa¬
rallel with each side of the body, w^as very distinctly visible
a constant current, towards the tail, of oblong globules,
swimming in a transparent fluid, propelled with a regular
pulsating motion ; and in cutting the body of the larva
across, near the tail, these globules wrere most plainly seen
pushed out of the divided vessels in a distinct mass, wEich
increased at each pulsation. I cannot express the plea¬
sure which it gave me to see thus clearly this ocular de¬
monstration of one of the most important physiological dis¬
coveries of modern times ; and my gratification was height¬
ened by the next object which Dr Carus placed before his
microscope, viz. a specimen of Semblis viridis, in which
precisely the same phenomena, but if possible more clear¬
ly, were seen in the nervures of the wings, and in the an¬
tennae, in both which the constant current of globules
was most apparent; and in the former, the sudden turning
of these globules at the apex of the wing, out of the exte¬
rior nervure, into a central one, with which it joins and
forms an acute angle, was equally curious and striking.
On cutting off the end of the antennae, precisely the same
emission of globules (winch soon assume a greenish tint)
took place as in the former case, forming a mass which
was increased with a sudden gush at each pulsation.”2 The
chief point to be attended to in the manipulation of these
microscopic experiments, is to place the specimens on the
slip of glass, in a drop of pretty thick gum water, which
confines their too agile movements, without affecting the
transparency of the medium.
SECT. IV. OF THE ADIPOSE TISSUE OF INSECTS.
Insects are abundantly supplied with an adipose sub¬
stance or fatty matter, which may be mentioned in this
place with the more propriety, as many consider it a secretion
from the dorsal vessel. It is spread over the viscera and
in the splanchnic cavities ; and although its aspect varies, it
seems to consist essentially of membranous w oofs, in some
cases divided in shreds, in others spread over the intes¬
tines and against the sides of the abdomen, and containing
pouches filled writh a homogeneous pulpy matter, sometimes
in an oily condition, and offering all the characters of
grease. Much more of it is observable among larva; than
in perfect insects, and this observation leads us to a know-
o L o G Y.
ledge of its use. It is particularly plentiful just before an Internal
insect is about to undergo its metamorphosis; and as it al- Structure,
most entirely disappears on the completion of those signal
changes, we naturally conclude that it has served in the pro¬
duction or development of the newly acquired organs. This
is rendered the more probable when we consider that, dur¬
ing the intermediate or nympha state, the insect abstains
from food, and is therefore necessarily dependent on some
internal reservoir. It is analogous, in fact, to the store of
fat which is known to pervade the system of hybernating
animals before they consign themselves to their winter
sleep.
In regard to the nutrition of insects, our opinions must
be in a measure regulated by the sentiments which we may
adopt as to the functional uses of the dorsal vessel. We
need scarcely observe, that in all the higher animals, and
in most of the invertebrated tribes, nutrition is effected
through the medium of the blood, which, propelled by the
heart, circulates through the entire system, and reaches
every organ, after having been submitted to the action of
the air in lungs or gills. Cuvier thinks it is carried on
among insects by imbibition. The alimentary canal ela¬
borates a fluid which transudes through its coats, and flows
into the cavity of the body. There the various organs,
such as the muscles, the nerves, and many secreting ves¬
sels, absorb from that fluid nutriment, whatever molecules
are best adapted to their purposes. Those who look upon
the dorsal vessel as a true heart, which dispenses a circu¬
lating fluid to the remotest ramifications of the wdngs and
tarsi, will place less confidence in this particular view.
However, it is certain that the secreting vessels are cha¬
racterized by a structure entirely appropriate to the func¬
tions which we have just assigned them, their surface
being obviously furnished with numerous pores or small
absorbent mouths.
SECT. V THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM OF INSECTS.
The digestive system in insects naturally forms the next
subject of consideration. The earliest, most general, and
perhaps the only indispensable function of animal life, is
that of nutrition. But its materials are so different, and
their modes of reception so various, that the exercise of
this function by no means necessitates the existence of a
mouth, a stomach, or an alimentary canal; for an increase
of parts may be effected even through the medium of im¬
ponderable or elastic fluids, and by imperceptible and super¬
ficial pores.3 The digestive organs of insects are however
in general rather complicated, and a great variety of parts
are brought into action. The more external portions, or
those of the mouth, have been already described. We
shall therefore at present confine our observations to the
different portions of the intestinal canal, and the biliary and
salivary vessek.
It is natural to suppose that, in a class so extensive and
varied as that with which we are now engaged, a correspond¬
ing diversity must exist in the form, development, and
number of the parts which constitute the intestinal canal.
It is always, however, so far tubular, and open at either
end; but in some it is straight and of the length of the
body; in others it is bent and longer than the body ; wdiile
in many it is tortuous, or twisted on itself in numerous con¬
volutions, and consequently of great extent. In general,
its length corresponds in a certain measure with the nature
1 Entomological Magazine, p. 244. .
2 Magazine of Natural History, vol. hi. p. 46. See also the German memoir by Dr Carus on the circulation or the larvse of neu-
ronterous insects (Leipsig, 1827). The English reader may consult Mr Gore’s translation of Carus’s Introduction to Comparative Ana¬
tomy, appendix to vol. ii. p. 392. 1 Vol. hi* °f fh!® work, p. 183.
E N T O M
Internal of the aliments; such insects as feed on vearetable matters
having a longer, and such as feed on animal substances a
shorter canal. In some it is of equal diameter throughout;
in others the breadth of special portions varies ; and there
are many dilatations and restrictions, known by various
names. It even differs greatly in the same species, accord¬
ing as the individual exists in the larva or imago state.
The texture of the intestinal canal in insects is not the
same in all parts of its extent; but on a careful examina¬
tion it is found to exhibit throughout three tunics, more or
less distinctly marked. Of these, the first is external, with
a membranous aspect; the second is of course intermediate
and muscular, with its fibres diversely directed; the third
is internal and mucous. In its more complicated state it
exhibits the following parts : Lsf, a, pharynx ; 2d, an oeso¬
phagus ; 3d, a crop; kth, a gizzard; bth, a chylific ventri¬
cle ; 3th, intestines, which may be considered in subdivi¬
sion as the small intestines, the great intestine or caecum,
and the rectum. The following may be regarded as the
\isual process of transmission. The mouth, having seized
and chewed the food, transmits it to the pharynx, into
which salivary vessels sometimes open. It then passes into
the (esophagus (of which the muscular nature occasionally
produces by its action a peculiar impression), and is next
transmitted to the crop, which converts it into a homoge¬
neous pulp. This is introduced into the gizzard, of which
the sides, being armed with teeth, complete its trituration.
In the form of a kind of paste it is now received by the
chylific ventricle, where it undergoes the action of the bile,
is converted into chyle, and thus supplies the nutritive
fluid, which, passing through the coats of the ventricle,
spreads over the splanchnic cavity, and pervades the whole
of the organs. The residue is received by the small intes¬
tine, then by the great intestine, in which it remains for
some time, and finally by the rectum.
The pharynx, which is sometimes rather difficult to dis¬
tinguish as a distinct feature, is placed at the bottom of
the mouth, and may be regarded as an anterior dilatation
of the oesophagus. Two pieces, very apparent in certain
Hymenoptera, called the epipharynx and the hypopharynx,
seem to restrict and protect its entrance.
The oesophagus is a conduit varying in length, which
traverses the prothorax, and sometimes extends beyond it;
but it is occasionally so short as scarcely to pass beyond
the region of the head. Its structure is musculo-membra-
nous, and it opens into the crop, or, if that part is wanting,
into the gizzard, or, if the latter is also absent, into the
chylific ventricle. It is around the origin of the oesopha¬
gus that the nervous system, as formerly described, con¬
stitutes a ring, by sending forth two branches<which unite
on the inferior face of the body.
The crop, which is by some called the stomach, is essen¬
tially nothing more than a dilatation of the oesophagus. It
is often difficult to detect, is sometimes entirely wanting,
and may be observed to vary greatly even in two indivi¬
duals of the same species. Exteriorly it does not differ
much from the gizzard, but its interior never presents those
corneous pieces which in the latter serve the purposes of
trituration. Its position bears some analogy to that of the
crop of birds, from which circumstance it has probably
derived its name. Its texture is simply membranous, or
slightly muscular when its development is considerable,
and in that case it is not rare to observe certain folds or
fleshy columns and deeper lines, which give it something
of a ribbed appearance. These folds, prolonged in the in¬
terior, frequently constitute a kind of valve. It is in this
crop that bees contain their honey prior to their disgorg¬
ing it, and it likewise serves as the reservoir of that black
and often fetid fluid which many insects allow to flow from
their mouths when they are seized. The form of the crop
O L O G Y. 51
differs in the various species; and even in individuals of Internal
the same species, according to its state of repletion or va- Structure,
cuity, it assumes an ovoid, rounded, or pear-shaped appear-
ance. In some orders of insects it is greatly developed,
and very muscular; and in certain cases, instead of lying in
the same direction with the intestinal canal, it forms with
it an angle more or less acute, thus constituting a lateral
pouch varying in extent and form.
The gizzard follows the crop. Its existence is not con¬
stant, and its essential character consists in its singular in¬
ternal structure, which is furnished with moveable portions
of a horny texture, provided with ridges or bristles point¬
ed in all directions, in the form of combs or brushes. The
principal portions are more or less numerous, and form by
their union a kind of valvule at the orifice of the chylific
ventricle, into which they permit nothing to enter but what
has been previously reduced to a state of tenuity. This very
singular triturating machine, as we may call it, exists among
both the herbivorous and carnivorous kinds. It recalls to
mind the aspect of the stomach among the crustaceous
tribes. Externally it greatly resembles the crop, and in¬
deed can scarcely be distinguished from it otherwise than
by its internal structure.
The chylific ventricle, which corresponds to the part
named duodenum by Marcel de Serres, and stomach by
Ramdhor, is a very constant organ among insects, although
its form and character are extremely various. It is here
that the pulpy food, mixed with specially elaborated fluids,
is converted into chyle. One of its most constant charac¬
ters is the insertion on a kind of circular pad more or less
developed, of at least one extremity of the biliary vessels.
Its texture is soft and delicate, and capable of varying its
capacity by extension. Its form is generally cylindrical,
although it sometimes undergoes dilatations and restric¬
tions in its course. In some rare instances, detailed by
M. Dufour, it is bilobed or bifurcated at its commence¬
ment, the preceding part of the alimentary canal being in¬
serted in the angle of the furcation. It presents several
other occasional and very curious characters, but it is in
general straight, and but rarely exhibits a limited number
of convolutions. It is not garnished interiorly with tritu¬
rating organs, either muscular or corneous; but it is fur¬
nished with a valvule at the point of union with the intes¬
tine. One of its most curious characters consists in its
being sometimes villous on the surface, that is, covered by
a quantity of little tubes, named villosiiies by Cuvier, and.
papillce by Dufour. These are a species of tubes or purses,
somewhat resembling the fingers of a glove, and opening
into the ventricle. Their functional uses are differently
construed by physiologists. Cuvier inclines to think that
they draw from the abdominal cavity a gastric fluid, which
they pour into the ventricle to aid digestion. Marcel de
Serres partakes of the same opinion, and regards these pa¬
pillae as the superior hepatic vessels. Dufour, however,
does not consider them as analogous to the biliary vessels,
but as culs-de-sac, which receive the alimentary fluid, and,
after its conversion into chyle, transmit it to the abdominal
cavity. That able anatomist has recognised in their inte¬
rior a brownish matter, quite analogous to what is contain¬
ed in the ventricle itself. They do not differ greatly as
to form, but a great variation occurs in regard to number
and disposition. Sometimes they exist in great numbers
throughout the whole extent of the ventricle, sometimes
they are fewer in number, and confined to a limited por¬
tion. Insects belonging to the orthopterous order have
but few of these papillae, but they are greatly developed,
and inserted on the anterior part. In other instances the
papillae are entirely absent; and the ventricle is then smooth,
or occasionally exhibits depressed lines, which divide it
transversely into so many little bands. The presence of
52 E N T O M
Internal these papillae cannot be regarded as a constant character in
Structure. any group, for we find them absent or present in different
insects of the same family, without any known or assign¬
able cause. They occur indiscriminately among carnivo¬
rous and herbivorous species ; but it is among the coleopte¬
rous tribes that they show themselves most frequently, and
under the most characteristic forms.
The intestines constitute an extended portion, of the ca¬
nal. They receive the alimentary matters after they have
been digested in the chylific ventricle, and extract by their
action whatever nutriment remains. Their absorbent pow¬
ers, howTever, as alimentary organs, are probably confined
chiefly to their upper portion. They consist of a small in¬
testine, a great intestine, and a rectum. The small intestine
of course proceeds from the ventricle, and is in general
narrow, with an equal diameter throughout, although it is
sometimes swollen or pursed in the course of its extent.
It is of various length, and makes numerous circumvolu¬
tions in the interior of the abdomen, after which it borders
with the great intestine. The latter, called also the ccecum,
consists of a swelling or enlargement, usually ovoid and
smooth, but not unfrequently also covered by plaits and
little muscular rib-like bands, more or less projecting. It
is dilatable, and in some cases is swollen beyond measure,
especially among certain aquatic tribes, such as the Dytisci.
In these, as detected by the skilful eye of M. Dufour, the
caecum is no longer placed in the direction of the intestinal
canal, but is thrown to one side, and furnished with a ver¬
micular appendix, spirally twisted. It becomes inflated
with air at the will of the insect, and thus seems to act the
part of a swimming bladder. Other modifications of this
organ have likewise been observed, into the detail of which
we shall not here enter. The rectum is a muscular tube,
in general of no great extent.
We shall next devote a few lines to the biliary vessels.
That peculiar fluid called bile seems equally indispensable
to the digestion of insects as to that of the higher animals,
but the organ which secretes it is very different. In the
former class it has no longer the appearance of a gland,
but consists of more or less numerous vessels, of variable
length, fixed for the most part by a single extremity, but
not unfrequently by both ends, to the intestinal canal, and
floating as it were in the abdominal cavity. These vessels
are often rolled on themselves, and interlaced by numerous
trachea; and slender nervous filaments. They are never
wanting in insects, and they exist equally in the larva state
as in the perfect condition. They are delicate tubes, com¬
posed of a thin and pellucid membrane, on which certain
transverse foldings produce a somewhat varicose appear¬
ance. They contain a liquid, sometimes limpid and colour¬
less, but usually varying from yellow to brown. It is bit¬
ter, and exhibits all the characteristics of bile. The ves¬
sels themselves vary in amount from two, four, six, to an
almost countless number. Their mode of insertion exhi¬
bits some remarkable variations, wrhich however may be re¬
duced to two great divisions : Is/, where the insertion takes
place upon the ventricle alone ; 2d, where it takes place
upon the caecum likewise. The first of these divisions of¬
fers two classes ; sometimes the vessels are inserted only
by one extremity, while the other is free or floating ; some¬
times they are fixed by both ends, and form so many arch¬
es. In the latter case they are few in number, and each
arch may be regarded either as a vessel strongly curved
towards the two points of insertion, or may be looked upon
G L O G Y.
as composed of two vessels exactly anastomosed at their Metamor-
extremities. A coleopterous insect belonging to the genus phoses.
Donacia, described by M. Dufour, was observed to possess
a ventricle provided at once with arched vessels and with
such as were free at their extremity. Such a combination
connects, as it were, the characters which principally dis¬
tinguish the first great division. The second great divi¬
sion above alluded to never presents us with any vessels
that are free or unattached at one extremity. They form a
complete arch from the ventricle to the cmcum, and scarce¬
ly present any particular character, except that their num¬
ber is always restricted. The insertions on the ventricle
are always more distinct than those on the caecum; the lat¬
ter being rarely isolated, but usually uniting into a smaller
number of common branches, and sometimes into one.
The salivary vessels consist of floating tubes, which open
about the pharynx, and furnish a liquid to assist in deglu¬
tition. They are sometimes wanting or imperceptible, and
are more general, as well as more highly developed, among
the suctorial than the masticating tribes. The receptacles
which supply the silk used by spinning caterpillars, are by
many regarded as analogous to salivary glands, as are like¬
wise the organs which furnish the venomous fluid in the
mouths of Scolopendrm.1
CHAPTER IV.
THE METAMORPHOSES OF INSECTS.
As frequent reference is made, in the course of this trea¬
tise, to the metamorphoses of insects, we shall here endea¬
vour to explain in what these essentially consist. “ Were
a naturalist,” observe Messrs Kirby and Spence, “ to an¬
nounce to the world the discovery of an animal, which for
the first five years of its life existed in the form of a ser¬
pent ; which then penetrating into the earth, and weaving
a shroud of pure silk of the finest texture, contracted itself
within this covering into a body without external mouth or
limbs, and resembling more than any thing else an Egyp¬
tian mummy; and which, lastly, after remaining in this
state without food and without motion for three years
longer, should at the end of that period burst its silken case¬
ments, struggle through its earthy covering, and start into
day a winged bird,—what think you would be the sensa¬
tion excited by this strange piece of intelligence?” Yet
the difference which exists between the sometimes repul¬
sive aspect of a creeping caterpillar, and the consummate
beauty of the gorgeous butterfly to which it gives exist¬
ence, is as remarkable as any supposable change from one
form of animal life to another.
Although the ancients appear to have been aware that
many insects, such as butterflies, bees, and beetles, pro¬
ceeded from eggs, and underwent those changes which we
name metamorphosis ; yet, very shortly before the time of
Redi, Swammerdam, Malpighi, and Leeuwenhoeck, to whom
we owe so much of our present knowledge, Mouffet, who
has been called the father of entomology, mistook the aqua¬
tic larvae of Libellulae for creatures entirely distinct from
the perfect insects, and named them Water Locusts ! The
error was excusable, and has no doubt often been repeated
in corresponding cases ; for howT many are ignorant, even
at the present day, that the slender red-coloured wriggling
worm, which is so often seen in collections of rain water,
1 TV hoever inclines to enter fully into these subjects, will find in Messrs Kirby and Spence’s Introduction to Entomology, not only a
very ample and able account of the structure and functions of the various organs of insects, but also such references to the best in¬
formed writers, as will unfold a wide field for further study and reflection. See also Entomologia Edinensis (Introduction); the
article Insectes in the Diet. Classupie d'Histoire Naturdle, t. viiL ; and M. Dufbur’s papers on Insect Anatomy, in the Annates des
Sciences Nat.
E N T O M
Metamor-is the larva state of a clear-winged and elegantly formed
phoses. fly, furnished with feathered antennae and long slender
limbs, the Chironomus plumosus ? How entirely dissimilar
is the hairy caterpillar, which we frequently observe cross¬
ing our foot-path in country lanes, from the richly attired
tiger-moth which it eventually becomes ? Many examples
of a similar nature will probably occur even to the least
instructed reader.
The word metamorphosis seems to have passed origi¬
nally from a mythological meaning to a term in natural
science. We had deemed it an ancient phrase, till we were
informed by Mr Kirby that fiira/Jboppou, and its derivative
fjilTa/jitOppuaii, are not extant in any Greek writer before the
date of the New Testament. They are used to express
any external change of form or colour, and metaphorically
any inward change and progressive improvement of the
mind. The word metamorphosis, as applied to insects, is
in fact synonymous with the more familiar term transfor¬
mation, although, speaking strictly in relation to physiology,
the changes indicated by these expressions should rather
be regarded as a series of developments.
All insects proceed from eggs either previously depo¬
sited by the female parent, or, as in the case of the so-
called viviporous (strictly ovo-viviporous) kinds, hatched
within the body of the mother. Their first active condi¬
tion is that of larva, which, according to the views of
Swammerdam, contains within itself the germ of the future
perfect insect, and those various envelopes, each of which,
successively developed, becomes external and apparent by
the casting off of that by which it was preceded.
Thus a caterpillar may be viewed, not as a simple, but a
compound creature, containing within it the germ of the
future butterfly, inclosed in what will become the case of
the pupa, which is itself included in several more enve¬
lopes or skins, each of which becomes external in its turn.
As the larva (so called from the very circumstance of its
containing the imago, or perfect insect, shut up as it were
in a mask) increases in dimensions, the various parts ex¬
pand, and are thrown off, until at length the completed and
more beautiful form is displayed in all its lustre. Swam¬
merdam, in fact, discovered, by careful dissection, not only
the skins of the larva and pupa incased within each other,
but within these again the very butterfly itself, with its
organs all complete, though nearly in a fluid state.1
Of the same fact, Mr Kirby states, any one may convince
himself, without the skill of the great Dutch observer,
merely by plunging into vinegar or spirit of wine a cater¬
pillar about to assume the pupa state, and allowing it to
remain there for a few days till it gains consistency of
parts ; or by boiling it for a few minutes in water. A very
rough dissection will then enable the student to detect the
future butterfly,—the wings being rolled up into a sort of
cord, and lodged between the first and second segments,
the antennas and trunk coiled up in front of the head, and
the legs, though very dissimilar in form, actually sheathed
in those of the caterpillar. Malpighi, moreover, discovered
the eggs of the future moth in the chrysalis of a silk¬
worm only a few days old ;2 and Reaumur those of Bombyx
dispar, even in the caterpillar, seven or eight days prior to
its change into the pupa state.3
According, however, to the more recent doctrines pro¬
mulgated by Dr Herold, the successive skins of the cater¬
pillar, the case of the pupa, and the members of the per¬
fect insect (except the sexual distinctions, which he per¬
ceived even in the newly excluded larvae), do not pre¬
exist as germs, but are formed successively from the rete
O L O G Y. 53
mucosum, which itself is formed anew* upon every change Metamor-
of skin, from what he denominates the blood, or the chyle phoses.
after it has passed through the pores of the intestinal canal
into the general cavity of the body, where being oxygen¬
ated by the air-vessels, it performs the nutritive functions
of blood.4 These proceedings, as usual, are attributed to
a vis formatrix, a term of most convenient application
where the mysterious workings of nature are but dimly
seen or vaguely understood. But whatever may be the
mode or principle of development, we know that insects
exist in the four following states,—'the egg, the larva, the
pupa, and the imago or perfect condition.
The first stage of life, properly so called, is that of larva,
in which existence is usually more prolonged than in any
other, and in which the insect does nothing but eat vora¬
ciously, and increase rapidly, with intervals of repose occa¬
sioned by repletion. In this state it is entirely sterile. In
the course, and towards the termination, of the larva state,
that peculiar internal secretion the caul, epiploon, or fatty
matter, formerly mentioned, is observed to increase, and
the insect then assumes the pupa state, which is usually
one of inaction and apparent torpidity. Ere long the skin
of the pupa bursts asunder, or the wings and members
become sufficiently developed for active exercise, and the
insect assumes the perfect state, as exemplified in bees,
beetles, and butterflies, all of which proceed from a worm¬
like larva. In this condition they are usually less vora¬
cious, their principal object and occupation being the pre¬
servation or continuance of their kind.
All insects, however, do not pass through these transfor¬
mations. Most of the apterous kinds issue from the egg in
a form very similar to that which they maintain through¬
out their after lives; from which circumstance Linnaeus
and others have bestowed the name of complete pupae on
their intermediate state, when such is recognisable. Even
those that are subjected to the signal changes above de¬
scribed, differ considerably in the nature and degree of
metamorphosis to which they are subjected. Many of the
winged kinds experience no other change than the acces¬
sion of the organs of flight. Their larvae resemble the
perfect insect, with the exception of the want of wings.
Their pupae, known as semi-complete, merely differ from
the larvae by exhibiting the rudiments of those organs
the eventual development of which produces the comple¬
tion of the perfect insect. Such are the grasshopper and
locust tribes, in which the pupae continue to exercise their
locomotive powers and ordinary vital functions. Those
insects which undergo a more entire metamorphosis are
changed from larvae into motionless and inert pupae, and
this mode of transformation presents different gradations.
The pupae, or nymphs as they are often called, of the
Coleoptera and several other orders, exlubit their external
members in close approximation to the body, but/ree or
uncovered by any general envelope ; we name them incom¬
plete. But among the Lepidoptera, such as butterflies and
moths, an elastic but firm and sufficiently solid skin or in¬
tegument is moulded over the entire body and its various
members, and only shows the form and outline of the lat¬
ter visibly impressed upon its surface. These were called
pupce obtectce by Linnaeus. Dipterous flies, again, are co¬
vered in the pupa state by small simple cases, or egg-like
shells, usually regarded as the skin of the larva, through
which the form and proportions of the parts are in no way
discernible. These were termed pupce coarctatce by the
great Swedish naturalist.
When, however, we make use of the term metamor-
' Hill’s Swammerdam, ii. 24.
* De Bombjce, 29.
3 Menioires, i. 359.
4 Entwictilungsgesehichte der Scnmetterlinge.
54 E N T O M
Metamor- phosis, in relation to the different states of insects, another
phoses. meaning is apt to result from the application of the words
complete, semi-complete, and other adjective phrases,—for
the less complete the pupa, the more complete the meta¬
morphosis. Some confusion, we think, has arisen from
this circumstance,—at least we have ourselves been occa¬
sionally puzzled by the contrariety of opinion expressed
upon the subject even by the “ master spirits” of entomo¬
logy. Thus, Latreille observes, “ Les Coleopteres subissent
une metamorphose complete,”1 * while Mr Kirby has it “ Me¬
tamorphosis incomplete,m and the same form of expression
is used by Mr Macleay.3
However this may be, our entire range of natural know¬
ledge presents us with nothing comparable in singularity
or beauty with the phenomena of metamorphosis. No
wonder that the mystical sages of Egypt, and the refined
philosophers of Greece, were so entranced or delighted
with what they saw and fancied, as to found upon these
changes many of the fondest fables which now pervade
our classical literature. “ Psyche,” says Dr Nares, “ means
in Greek the human soul; and it means also a butterfly,
of which apparently strange double sense the undoubted
reason is, that a butterfly was a very ancient symbol of the
soul. From the prevalence of this symbol, and the conse¬
quent coincidence of the names, it happened that the Greek
sculptors frequently represented Psyche as subject to Cu¬
pid in the shape of a butterfly ; and that even when she
appears in their works under the human form, we find her
decorated with the light and filmy wings of that gay in¬
sect.”4 Swammerdam himself, although his observations
tended to prove that the analogy between the metamor¬
phosis of a butterfly and the resurrection of the body, or
second life of the human soul, was not so close as had been
imagined, is yet of opinion that the process is so remark¬
able as to paint and exemplify that resurrection before
our eyes.5 “ To see, indeed, a caterpillar crawling upon
the earth, sustained by the most ordinary kinds of food,
which, when it has existed a few weeks or months under
this humble form, its appointed work being finished, passes
into an intermediate state of seeming death, when it is
wound up in a kind of shroud and incased in a coffin, and
is most commonly buried under the earth (though some¬
times its sepulchre is in the water, and at others in various
substances in the air); and, after this creature and others
of its tribe have remained their destined time in this death¬
like state, to behold earth, air, and water, give up their se¬
veral prisoners ; to survey them, when, called by the warmth
of the solar beam, they burst from their sepulchres, cast
off their cerements, from this state of torpid inactivity
come forth as a bride out of her chamber,—to survey
them, I say, arrayed in their nuptial glory, prepared to
enjoy a new and more exalted condition of life, in which
all their powers are developed, and they are arrived at the
perfection of their nature ; when, no longer confined to the
earth, they can traverse the fields of air, their food is the
nectar of flowers, and love begins his blissful reign ;—who
that witnesses this interesting scene can help seeing in it
O L O G Y.
a lively representation of man in his threefold state of ex- Metamor-
istence, and more especially of that happy day, when, at phoses.
the call of the great sun of righteousness, all that are in
their graves shall come forth, the sea shall give up her
dead, and death being swallowed up of life, the nations of
the blessed shall live and love to the ages of eternity ?
“ But although the analogy between the different states
of insects and those of the body of man is only general,
yet it is much more complete with respect to his soul. He
first appears in this frail body—a child of earth, a crawl¬
ing worm, his soul being in a course of training and
preparation for a more perfect and glorious existence.
When it has finished this course it casts off this vile body,
and goes into a hidden state of being in Hades, where it
rests from its works, and is prepared for its final consum¬
mation. The time for this being arrived, it comes forth
clothed with a glorious body, not like its former though
germinating from it, for though £ it was sown an animal
body, it shall be raised a spiritual body,’ endowed with
augmented powers, faculties, and privileges, commensurate
to its new and happy state. And here the parallel holds
perfectly between the insect and the man. The butterfly,
the representative of the soul, is prepared in the larva for
its future state of glory ; and if it be not destroyed by the
ichneumons and other enemies to which it is exposed, sym¬
bolical of the vices that destroy the spiritual life of the
soul, it will come to its state of repose in the pupa, which
is its Hades; and at length, when it assumes the imago,
break forth with new powers and beauty to its final glory
and the reign of love.”6
Swammerdam, to whom we owe the earliest philosophi¬
cal examination of the subject, divides the phenomena of
metamorphosis into four classes. In the first, in which
the changes are the least varied or remarkable, he includes
apterous insects commonly so called, most of which we
now name Myriapoda, and the metamorphosis of which
consists in gaining additional segments and pairs of feet;
also Arachnides and Crustacea, which are for the most
part characterized by simple renewals of their envelope.
In the second class he places such insects as are born with
six feet, but have their wings concealed or inclosed in a
sheath during a rudimentary period, such as Orthoptera,
Hemiptera, and many Neuroptera. In the third class are
included those insects which exhibit three distinct condi¬
tions ; they compose two subdivisions. The first comprises
those insects of which the second state, called nymph or
semi-nymph, exhibits either the appearance of feet and
wings, or the reality of these organs. They are not re¬
duced to that state of utter lethargy or apparent death
which some present, and they include the remainder of the
Neuroptera, the Hymenoptera, and the Coleoptera. The
other subdivision contains the Lepidoptera, of which the
larvae, commonly called caterpillars, are subject to several
preparatory changes of their coat, and are finally convert¬
ed into chrysalids, through the coriaceous skin of which
the interior parts are perceptible, but which externally
exhibit neither wings nor legs, nor any other members.
1 llegne Animal, t. iv. p. 354. 2 Introduction to Entomology, vol. iv. p. 3G9.
3 Hor(B Ent. p. 440. The confusion above referred to may perhaps have arisen from certain adjective phrases having been at times
applied indifferently, either to the state of pupa or the phenomena of transformation, which in most cases causes a contradiction in
terms. In Orthoptera, of which the pupa is semi-complete, the metamorphosis may bear the same designation ; but in the other
ordeis the double application of any of the adjective terms leads to inaccurate ideas. Thus, in Coleoptera, the pupae are semi-complete;
but there is surely a total transformation, that is, a complete metamorphosis, when we compare together the larva and the perfect in-
sect. So also in Lepidoptera, the pupa is obtected; in Diptera, coarctate ; and consequently the metamorphosis must be complete
in both. JNow Mr Kirby makes use of the phrase “ metamorphosis obtected” in regard to the former, and “ metamorphosis coarc-
tate in relation to the latter,—terms which we have been in the practice of applying to the pupa state of these orders, but not to the
genera, transformations. The same admirable author, in defining apterous insects, states the metamorphosis to be complete. We
won rat er say that they undergo no metamorphosis at all,—for which very reason, each particular state, or rather period, of the
18 lt8e , 0Tplete 11 om to af?e’ The less complete the pupa, the more complete the metamorphosis, and vice versa.
Essays, 1. 101. 6 Hill’s Transition of the Biblia Natures, i. I87. « Introduc. to Ent. vol. i. p. 75.
E N T O M
Metamor- Finally, in the fourth class are included all those insects
phoses. which on their exclusion from the egg exist as vermiform
Vs“’’’'N~w apodal larvae, are provided at most with six feet, and are
converted into nymphs without a change of envelope, so that
their skin merely hardens over the intermediate state of the
insect, which ere long issues winged. Such are the dip¬
terous tribes.
These views and combinations have been somewhat
modified in later years, by Reaumur, Linnaeus, Fabricius,
Huber, Dutrochet, Savigny, Marcel de Serres, Latreille,
and others who have devoted themselves to the investiga¬
tion of metamorphoses. Those phenomena have conse¬
quently been classed as incomplete or partial by which
the aspect of the insect is merely modified, and as com¬
plete or total by which it is entirely changed. In all, the
interior changes may be said to command the exterior,
that is, the latter are consequent on the former. In nu¬
merous species, not less than three of the principal organic
systems, viz. the nervous, the nutritive, and the respira¬
tory, undergo important modifications, and we may easily
conceive how strongly the instinctive habits of the indivi¬
dual must be thereby atfected. The alterations in the ner¬
vous system especially, are singular in their nature and
effects. The number of ganglia of the spinal cord is usu¬
ally greater in the larva than the perfect insect, although
the great single ganglion of the rhinoceros-beetle ( Oryctes
nasicornis), in its early state, compared with the four gan¬
glia of its subsequent condition, offers an exception to the
general rule. But in the larva of the stag-beetle (Luca-
nus cervus) we observe eight ganglia, besides a recurrent
nerve, while the perfect insect possesses only four; and
among caterpillars in general the same restriction takes
place in the number of their ganglionic knots as they attain
the perfect state.
Among beings in which the parts representing the brain
and other organs of sensation of the higher tribes undergo
so many variations even in the same individual, we may
well suppose that whatever ideas they are capable of con¬
ceiving at one period of their existence, may differ essen¬
tially from those with which they are impressed at another.
We shall not here involve ourselves in the discussion of
the difficult and dissimilar theories of instinct, nor enter
into any exposition of the mechanical, the intellectual, or
the supernatural character of that surprising manifestation,
which, under whatever aspect it may be viewed, whether
as differing in kind or only in degree from reason, cannot
be otherwise regarded than as a most beautiful illustration
of divine benevolence. But we may ask, by what peculiar
memory or mode of recollection does the brilliant butter¬
fly, which seeks its sustenance in the nectarous juices of
flowers, rifling their sweets with its tubular proboscis,—by
what means does it remember that its progeny, while in
the larva state, must be sustained by a far different diet,
and that they exercise their jaws on cabbage-leaves, and
other vegetation of the coarser kind? M. Virey, who
denies all intellect to insects, and views their various ac¬
tions as resulting mechanically from the peculiar disposi¬
tion or character of their nervous system, has endeavoured
to illustrate the subject by the following parallel. He com¬
pares an insect to one of those portable organs, of which
the cylinder has different airs noted on its surface, and
which performs one or another tune in proportion as the
cylinder is made to recede or advance. So likewise the
nervous system, or series of ganglia along the double me¬
dullary cord, of the creatures now under consideration, be¬
ing differently constituted in the larva and the perfect in¬
sect, ought to produce different actions in the two cases,
O L o G Y. 55
though respectively appropriate to the nature of each. Art Metamor-
in the one instance, and nature in the other, has impressed phoses.
certain dispositions, or notes of action, fixed in a deter-
minate series, equally in the musical organ, and the gangli¬
onic system of caterpillars. Hence the one gives utterance
to a certain air, while the other acts according to a certain
sequence of operations. Pull out a notch of the barrel or¬
gan, and you have another tune ; await the transformation
of the caterpillar to a butterfly, and you have (with a change
in the notching of its nervous system) another series of in¬
stinctive operations. In both, the relations of cause and
effect are the same, and each is merely the mechanical
playing of an instrument I1 Now, to prove this position, as
has been elsewhere remarked, M. Virey ought at least to
have shown, that wdienever a change takes place in the in¬
stincts of insects in their different states of larva and ima-
ago, a corresponding change also takes place in the struc¬
ture of the nervous cord.2 But this is by no means the
case. In three entire orders, namely, Orthoptera, Hemip-
tera, and Neuroptera, the structure of that cord remains
unchanged, and yet we know that thousands of the species
which compose these orders acquire instinctive habits in
their perfect state, altogether dissimilar to those by which
they were characterized in their earlier condition. Even
were it otherwise, our query wrould still require to be an¬
swered, by what mechanical impulsion is the completed
butterfly, a gay and gorgeous honey-sucker, induced to
play a tune (we speak in harmony with M. Virey's views)
so completely in accordance, not with its own refined tastes,
but with the future welfare of the crawling caterpillars of
which it is the parent ? Why does it deposit its eggs, not on
the odorous blossoms and bright consummate flowers in
which it takes so much delight, and amid the varied petals
of which it rejoices to expand to the sunshine its own still
more brilliant wings, but on the rank leaves of the cabbage
and cauliflower, or the dingy foliage of the nettle ? These
questions, and many others of a similar nature, are perhaps
more easily proponed than answered. When we consider,
indeed, how frequently inaccurate is our knowledge even
of our owm individual feelings, and how much more in¬
competent vve are to judge of what passes in the minds of
others of our owm species, need wTe wonder that the sen¬
tient principles of the lower animals should, in relation to
human intelligence, be still shrouded in dim eclipse, if not
in total darkness. It is far more probable, however, that
the alterations in the nervous cord have no necessary con¬
nection with the changes of instinct, but are more closely
concerned with those other not less remarkable mutations
in the organs of sense and motion, which occur between
the larva and imago states of several orders. “ In a com¬
mon caterpillar, the form of the body, the legs, the eyes,
and other organs of the senses, all strikingly differ from
those of the imago; whereas, with the exception of the
acquisition of new wings, a perfect locust differs little
from its larva; so that we may reasonably expect a corre¬
sponding change, such as we find it in the structure of the
nervous cord of the lepidopterous insect, not called for in
that of the neuropterous (orthopterous ?) species, in which
accordingly it does not take place.”3
Metamorphosis frequently induces no less remarkable
changes in the system of nutrition of insects, followed of
course by corresponding alterations in their instinctive ap¬
petites and modes of life. In such as undergo an incom¬
plete metamorphosis, the parts of the mouth, and the form
of the alimentary canal, experience no essential alteration ;
but among those tribes in which the change of external
aspect is complete in each successive stage, these import-
Nouv. Diet, d'Hist. Nat. xvi. 313.
\
2 Introd. to Ent. iv. 27-
3 Ibid. vol. iv. p. 28.
56 E N T O M
Metamor- ant parts assume another character, and admirably illus-
phoses. trate the multitude of means employed by nature to vary
w'Y~wi her innumerable products, even although the general laws
by which these are regulated, and from which, under the
great and never-slumbering eye of Omnipotence, they more
immediately result, are themselves so few in number. The
shorter the alimentary canal becomes, the more carnivo¬
rous are the tendencies of the individual. This finally
exemplifies the great physiological truth previously de¬
duced from the difference between the structure of the ali¬
mentary system in herbivorous and carnivorous animals of
the higher classes,—between the short canal of the blood¬
thirsty tiger, and the lengthened convolutions of the gentler
ruminating tribes. Here, however, the disparity exists, not
as among animals of entirely different attributes, but in the
same individual at different periods of its existence. 1 he
young of many aquatic beetles of the family of Helophoridas
are carnivorous in their larva state, and become herbivorous
on assuming their final transformation. A like singularity
is manifested by many dipterous flies, which, born and bred
amid the putrid moisture of animal remains, no sooner be¬
come winged insects, than they seek a purer diet in the
nectarous juices of fruits and flowers.1 Analogous changes
take place even in those species which do not entirely al¬
ter the nature of their diet. A voracious caterpillar, which,
by means of its robust maxillae, rapidly gnaws and con¬
sumes a quantity of the most coriaceous leaves, to the
amount sometimes of triple its own weight in a single day,
and presents the beau-ideal of an eating machine, has its
intestine greatly dilated, and pursed like a colon. The
larvae both of wasps and bees have a stomach so vast, that
it occupies almost the entire of their interior, although in
the perfect state of each it becomes greatly restricted.
Thus in the bee that great laboratory consists of little more
than two unequal honey pouches; and among butterflies,
of which the trunk or sucker corresponds to the preHoo*;
jaws, the stomach is much less than in caterpillars. This,
we may observe, reverses the rule which applies to the
great ruminating animals among the vertebrated tribes,
where wre find a single stomach in the foetus state, and
which in the adult is multiplied to four. It is the opinion
of some naturalists that larvae in general, having larger
intestines, tend more towards a herbivorous diet than per¬
fect insects, in which these organs are shorter, and which
are consequently supposed to assume a more carnivorous
habit;—•“ so rare is it,” observes M. Bory St Vincent,
“ to perceive the manners of living creatures not tending
to mutual destruction as their powers are developed.” An
enlightened mind, however, naturally delights in the per¬
ception and extrication of general rules; and these, we
fear, are not seldom fancied without being either perceived
or deduced. In opposition to the presumed law, we have
already mentioned the Helophoridce, which reverse the
rule; and to these we could add many more. The glow¬
worm in its larva state is greedy of animal juices, and feeds
chiefly on minute testacea, while, in its completed state, it
is entirely herbivorous. A large aquatic beetle, the Hy¬
drous piceus, is so ferocious and blood-thirsty in the form
of larva, as to bear in France the name of ver-assassin ;
but in its after condition, through the medium of meta¬
morphosis, the intestine becomes elongated, and the dispo¬
sition of the insect is softened and subdued, so that it then
prefers a vegetable to an animal diet. In fact the great
aim and object of an insect in the perfect condition is ra¬
ther the continuance of its kind than the sustenance of it¬
self; although, as the one process cannot be well accom¬
plished without the other, it no doubt, even in its most
O L O G Y.
high and palmy state, casts, like its betters, an occasional Metamcr.
eye on the “ flesh-pots of Egypt.” phoses.
The changes in the respiratory system of insects pro-
duced by metamorphosis, are not less extraordinary than
those to which we have just alluded. But as wre have al¬
ready mentioned some of the more remarkable of these in
our observations on the organs of respiration, we shall not
further dilate upon that portion of the subject.
Metamorphosis in insects has been described as the
maximum state of a general law of nature, by which the
whole organization of the animal being is gradually deve¬
loped and made fit for reproduction. Without the study
of this phenomenon, wre cannot acquire a knowledge of the
most important circumstances in the lives of such animals
as are guided entirely by instinct; and just as an acquaint¬
ance with the whole life of an insect necessarily induces a
truer knowledge of its actual nature, than a mere descrip¬
tion of one of its forms,—so, in the same proportion, it has
been said, ought metamorphosis to outweigh every other
principle of arrangement. When we trace the natural his¬
tory of a dragon-fly (Libelluld) from the time that the egg
is first dropped into the bosom of the uncertain waters, till,
on some bright sunny morning in “ the leafy month of
June,” the gauzy-winged insect in the perfect state is seen
to rise from its moist abode, and, hawking for flies, to hover
like a bird of prey along the placid shores of some familiar
pool, we can scarcely conceive a clear idea of the truth,
except by supposing one animal to have been so inclosed
within another, that the imago is in a great measure distinct
from the repulsive larva, and is only opened to our view by
its desiccation or death. Hence, as Mr Macleay observes, a
system unconnected with metamorphosis may be regarded
as taking no more notice of half the number of true in¬
sects than if they did not exist. “ It is the defect both
of the artificial system in Entomology, and of the sexual
system in Botany, that they become useless, except when
the objects of the respective sciences are before us in one
particular state, which is often the most transitory of their
life. Unless this condition be fulfilled, such systems lose
their sole and peculiar merit of being dictionaries by which
natural objects may be named. There are thousands of
organized beings, to the history and knowledge of which
the disciple of Linnaeus and Fabricius has no clue what¬
ever, although perhaps they are in that state of their ex¬
istence which most directly affects the interests of man.
Plants not in flower, and insects not in their declared state,
constitute an ocean of difficulties, in which the most skilled
in the Linnaean nomenclature will founder, unless he have
other beacons than such momentary considerations as are
afforded by the number of stamina, or the form of the
antennae.”2
We shall conclude our observations on the singidar sub¬
ject of metamorphosis, by another quotation from the last-
named author, which, with what has been already stated,
will, it is hoped, suffice to instruct the reader regarding
what we consider the most extraordinary phenomena ob¬
servable within the range of the animal kingdom. “ It was
perfectly in unison with the innate propensity of the hu¬
man mind towards the marvellous, that the change of a
caterpillar into a butterfly, when first noticed, should have
been considered by the ancients as a true transformation,
irreconcilable with the ordinary course of nature. Even
on the mystery being in a great degree cleared up by the
discoveries of Libavius, Redi, Malpighi, and Swammer¬
dam, the phenomenon continued to be termed metamor¬
phosis ; and perhaps it is even still a little owing to such
circumstances that a natural process, neglected in other
1 Entomologia Edinensis, p. 207-
2 tlor. Ent. p. 449.
ENTOMOLOGY.
Metamor-branches of zoology, has always excited so much curiosity
j>hoses^ among entomologists. Metamorphosis, however, has been
taken of late in a very general point of view, and rendered
synonymous with that species of organic decomposition
which, by means of continual shedding of the external en¬
velopes, or even of the various integuments which may
compose those envelopes, occasions that extraordinary cha¬
racteristic of a living body, namely, that it never remains
in a constant state, or identically the same, but is continu¬
ally assimilating new particles of matter, as it throws off
the old. And since no metamorphosis can take place ex¬
cept in consequence of these integuments being shed, per¬
haps it may not be altogether improper to survey the sub¬
ject in this light. What I mean is, that we ought to regard
the metamorphosis or change of form which certain ani¬
mals undergo at various periods of their life, as an attend¬
ant upon, if not a variety of, the ecdysis, or moulting, to
which all organized beings are subject. There is, how¬
ever, a great distinction to be made between the ecdysis of
the Vertebrata and Annulosa, for in the former we observe
little more than that the animal has quitted a sheath in
which it was inclosed; whereas in the latter the change is
nothing else than if the skeleton were shed; for this name
is surely deserved by those hard and solid parts which in
so many cases afford support to the muscles. It is clear
that such a process must occasion a crisis in the life of an
annulose animal, incomparably more decisive in its effects
than what can be produced among the Vertebrata, by
merely being set free from an integument. All the marvel¬
lous, however, of ecdysis, was with the earlier naturalists
comprehended in the change of form; and consequently
the shedding of the envelope only excited attention where
it regarded a few of the Annulosa. Hence it was a great
discovery of Linnaeus, that every annulose animal ought
to be considered as subject to metamorphosis. It may in¬
deed have led to his more artificial notion of every exter¬
nally articulated being having a nympha state; but even
this helped Fabricius to give, although with a faulty no¬
menclature, a much more convenient division of metamor¬
phosis than he could otherwise have devised.
“ Ecdysis, by which term is signified generally every
change in the identity of the envelope of a living body,
may either be complete or incomplete. If it be incom¬
plete, or, which is the same, if the integuments scale off
piece by piece, we have that mode of change which is pe¬
culiar to the most perfect of the Vertebrata, and to the least
perfect of the Annulosa.
“ Complete ecdysis is the shedding of the whole exter¬
nal envelope at once, of which we have examples among
the vertebrated as well as annulose animals. It is of three
sorts; first, where the external envelope is shed without
producing any essential change of form, except in as much
as may relate to the increased size. In those larva; of in¬
sects which become inactive in their pupa state, such a
process may always be distinguished from the true meta¬
morphosis ; but in apterous Hexapods having active nym¬
pha:, they are necessarily confounded. It is also visible in
reptiles and spiders, where such appendages of the trunk
as have been lost may be reproduced by continued moult¬
ing. When the various envelopes are all cast as it were
in one mould, it is to be expected that the proper form of
the animal should re-appear as these continue to be thrown
off. The return therefore of a spider or crab, after having
lost a limb, to its original form, may be in some measure
understood as depending on the manner in which such ani¬
mals shed their envelope; but that the limbs thus shot
forth should be furnished with muscles and nerves, is, I
conceive, what cannot be accounted for, except by refer¬
ring to that polype nature of the cellular substance, which
is perhaps, in the opinion of some persons, the foundation
VOL. IX.
57
of all ecdysis. If perfect hexapod insects cannot repro- Metamor.
duce their members, this inability may probably proceed phoses.
from a cause which appears to have produced the same ef-
feet among Mammalia and birds, to wit, that these animals
in their perfect and final form are all subject, if to any, at
least to a very imperfect ecdysis.
“ The second sort of complete ecdysis is that where the
under envelope has been cast in a somewhat different
mould from the upper, so that in the course of the moult¬
ing certain new parts become gradually developed without
the general form being in any material degree altered.
This is observable in every annulose class, as well as in
Humboldt’s Axotl among the Vertebrata, and is the first
species of change which merits the name of metamorpho-
It includes the Metamorphosis inchoata and Metamor¬
phosis dimidiata of Latreille, and is the same with the Me¬
tamorphose partielle of Lamarck.
“ 1 he third sort of complete ecdysis is that wherein, by
some two or three moultings, generally the last which the
animal has to undergo, the form is entirely changed, as
well as the number of appendages more or less increased.
This is clearly a true metamorphosis, and includes the
other two sorts of complete ecdysis; for we have here
combined a total casting of the integuments, a development
of additional appendages, such as feet or wings, and final¬
ly an entire change of form. Such a combination may be
witnessed, among the Vertebrata, in frogs, and, among the
Annulosa, in certain hexapod insects. Hence, in confining
ourselves to plain and open ecdysis, there will be no great
error in stating that the most imperfect takes place in the
highest Vertebrata and the lowest Annulosa; while the
most complete ecdysis is that which is seen to prevail in
the highest Annulosa and some of the lowest Vertebrata.
“ In strict accuracy, however, it appears that we ought
to acknowledge the existence of complete ecdysis through¬
out the circle of Vertebrata. Nay, some physiologists
have attributed insect metamorphosis itself to a shed¬
ding of an envelope analogous to that which contains
the foetus of the more perfect Vertebrata. As every em¬
bryo, whether animal or vegetable, is enclosed in a tunic
more or less solid, which is its chorion, so, proceeding
with the analogy, they conceive that there must be some
condition for every animal, similar to the state of the
foetus of the more perfect animals when surrounded by
the amnios; and this state in batrachian reptiles and
hexapod insects they hold to be the larva. The only dan¬
ger of this reasoning is, that while we find the birth of
an animal to be attended with complete ecdysis, we may
be apt to imagine that every complete ecdysis betokens
a true birth. It would, however, be truly absurd to
consider the casting of their shell by Crustacea, or the
periodical moulting of the serpent, in this light; yet no
one can doubt the fact of both these being cases of com¬
plete ecdysis, only differing from that of Lepidoptera, be¬
cause in the former animals the external envelope is al¬
ways of the same form as that of which it is to take the
place. The truth perhaps is, that we ought only to allow
two states to every animal, a perfect and an imperfect
state. Then, by the reflection that no animal out of the
circle of Acrita can ever arrive at its perfect state except
by means of metamorphosis, and that when perfect it can
never again be subject to this change of form, though it
may still moult or shed its external envelope, we may be
able, if not to comprehend the cause, at least to know the
effect, of some of the most puzzling phenomena in nature.
The true criterion of animal as well as vegetable perfec¬
tion is the ability to continue the species; hence some of
the Vertebrata, as well as Annulosa, gaining this faculty
before they have arrived at their proper type of form, me¬
tamorphosis ceases, and they preserve the shape of larvae.
H
58 E N T O M
Relative “ But if a complete ecdysis may sometimes create a
Position total change in the external appearance of the animal, the
m the fact) i-i0wever astonishing, is nothing in comparison of the
Ammal jnternai metamorphosis which accompanies it, and of which
°l: as yet no philosopher has been able to give any satisfac¬
tory explanation. The generalization indeed by which
we have reduced the moulting of a bird’s feathers and the
metamorphosis of a butterfly to one principle, may appear
to be strained beyond its proper limits ; yet if we contem¬
plate the regular gradation from one to the other, how
truly, for instance, the inactive pupa of a beetle corre¬
sponds with the agile nympha of a Gryllus, how this ec¬
dysis in an apterous Gryllus corresponds with the slough¬
ing of a spider, and this again with the annual renovation
of the serpent, we must be sensible that, however dissimi¬
lar the extremes may be, all these changes are modifica¬
tions of one principle. But what particularly deserves
remark is, that these extremes should often be visible in
neighbouring groups; nay, in the same order; that, in
short, metamorphosis should differ so much in degree even
where the animals are near in affinity. An orthopterous
insect may preserve the same form and habits from the
instant it quits the egg up to the period of its death, the
only qualities obtained by ecdysis being an augmentation
of size and an aptitude to continue the species. But if
we turn to the order of Coleoptera, which is contiguous in
affinity, it is truly wonderfal that, by metamorphosis, not
only the form, but the nervous and digestive systems, may
be altered, and the organs connected with these primary
functions may all be of a construction different from that
which they originally possessed.”1
The reader has now been made acquainted in a general
way (and as precisely as the limits of our present article
may admit) with the most characteristic features in the
structure of the insect tribes, from which he may form
some opinion of their real nature. Their relative position
in the magnificent range of created things is a subject de¬
serving of a deeper and more extended examination than
we can here bestow upon it; but as we are unwilling to
leave such an interesting matter of philosophical conside¬
ration entirely unregarded, we shall here enter into it in
the only way compatible with our prescribed limits.
CHAPTER V.
OF THE RELATIVE POSITION OF THE CLASS OF INSECTS
IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM.
A great diversity of opinion has existed from the earli¬
est ages regarding the natural affinities of the different
kinds and classes of animated beings to each other, and a
consequent contrariety has prevailed in our systems of
classification, which are of course indications of the rela¬
tion of groups, unless where, for mere convenience, a pro¬
fessedly artificial basis of arrangement, deduced from one or
two obvious though unimportant characters, may havebeen
adopted. The majority of naturalists, both ancient and mo¬
dern, have proceeded upon the idea that all natural objects
were concatenated, or formed a continuous chain or linear
series, and that whatever hiatus might seem to exist arose
either from some great convulsion which had swallowed or
swept away the desired links, or from these links being
still to be discovered in one or other of those regions of the
O L O G Y.
earth’s surface which still remain to be explored. Hence Relative
the dictum of Linnaeus—natura saltus non facit. “ When Position
the Almighty Creator,” says Mr Kirby, “ willed to
bring into existence this mundane system, he formed it Kingdom,
according to a preconcerted plan, with all its parts beau-
tifully linked together and mutually corresponding. All
things were ordered in measure, and number, and weight?
There wras nothing deficient, nothing superfluous ; but the
whole, in the strictest sense, ‘ was very good,’3 and calcu¬
lated in the highest degree to answer the purpose of its
Great Author.”4 Observation and analogy alike com¬
bine to prove that there is a regular approximation to each
other in the works of God, and that they are related to
each other in a variety of ways both naturally and analogi¬
cally ; but it need not be supposed that, in the magnificent
plan of the creation, there is no disparity in the relative
position of the most nearly related kinds, and no greater
interval in one place than another. I here is in truth a
great variation in the combinations of living beings, though
no violent break or sudden interval; in other words, “ some
continuous species or groups have more characters in
common than others.” But in considering the various
groups of living creatures, we must ever bear in mind our
own ignorance of their actual amount, and the thousands
of unknown forms which in all the pride of life may be
daily unfolding their exquisite forms and gorgeous colours
amid those far deserts where man has never trod, and
which for that very reason he regards as solitudes, though
assuredly teeming with all the inexplicable wonders of
creation. Let not therefore a hiatus be confounded with
a saltus, the former being merely one of the many blanks
in the superficial map of knowledge drawn by man, the
latter an absent link in that resplendent chain, to us too
often “ dark with excessive light,” which in one way or
other connects together in divinest harmony the beautiful
works of the Creator. That the series of beings, however,
was not only continuous, but undeviating, and ascended
in a direct line from the lowest to the highest, was main¬
tained, among many others, by the excellent and ingeni¬
ous Bonnet, and has generally prevailed till very recent
times.
Now the principle which mainly characterizes the view's
so mildly advocated by Mr Macleay, and entertained, we
believe, about the same period, although without commu¬
nication, by Agardh, Fries, and other continental natural¬
ists, is this,—-that although the natural arrangement .of
objects is indeed in a continuous series, that series in its
progression forms various convolutions, each of which may
be represented by a circle or series returning into itself.
He maintains that absolute divisions do not exist in na¬
ture, and that a single plan pervades the universe, a plan
founded on the principle of series of affinities returning
into themselves, and forming circles; hence there is no
such thing among natural objects as a simple progression
of species;5
If it were true that the descending scale, as so long
supposed, in the perfection of organization, was regular
from man to the infusorial tribes, then the lowest of one
form of life would naturally lead to the highest of the
next ensuing, and the most simply organized of the verte-
brated classes would connect most nearly with the most
complex of the invertebrated kinds. But this, as we shall
afterwards see, is not the case.
Although naturalists, if wre may judge from their sys-
i/or. Ent. p. 441. 2 Wisdom, xi. 20. 3 Genes, i. 31. 4 Introduc. to Ent. iv. 356.
4 The latter sentiment appears to have been also entertained by Latreille in his later years. Writing of certain coleopterous in¬
sects, he observes, “ Les Dryptes ont aussi des rapports avec les Cychrus, et paraissent Her les Cicindeletes avec la section des Cara-
biques grandipalpes. Plusieurs sections de cette fatnille semblent se rattacher, comme autant de rameaux, aux Cicindeles. La plu-
part des autres families d’insectes sont dans le meme cas, ou ferment des * rones ramifies. En tin mot, des series continues n'existent vat
dans la nature. (Note to Regne Animal, t. iv. p. 373.)
ENTOMOLOGY.
Relative terns of classification, are accustomed to consider the in-
in^the'1 SeC^ ^r’^es as ]n^er’01' in the great range of organization
Animal to ^le nio^uscous animals which inhabit shells, there can
Kingdom. no doubt that they are superior in many of their vital
functions. Their powers of locomotion, whether as wing¬
ed, aquatic, or terrestrial creatures, are finely developed,
and their perceptive faculties are much more acute. The
symmetrical perfection of their forms, and the articula¬
tion of the limbs, in the insect class, seem also in some
measure to connect them with the vertebrated tribes.
Indeed, even of the latter, many seem far inferior to insects,
not only, as Mr Macleay has observed, in the possession
of those faculties by which we are accustomed to estimate
the rank of the Vertebrata among themselves, but also in the
complication of their general structure. These and other
considerations afford powerful arguments in favour of the
circular system ; for it appears necessary, first, that cer¬
tain affinities of the Mollusca to the Vertebrata, and which
are obvious in the Cephalopoda or cuttle-fish, should not
be disturbed by any intervening division; and, secondly,
that the annulose animals themselves, such as insects,
Crustacea, and Arachnides, should not be far separated
from Gastrobranchus and other genera of cyclostomous
fishes; above all, that they should not be made subordi¬
nate in rank to such simply organized creatures as com¬
pose the greatest part of the Mollusca. “ Now these
conditions will all be fulfilled if the chain of nature be
viewed as returning into itself; whereas they will be com¬
pletely violated if we account it to be a regular line or
ladder, commencing with the Infusoria, and terminating
in man ; or indeed if we adopt any opinion that has hither¬
to been advanced on the subject by naturalists.”1 It seems
to have been chiefly owing to the perfection of the circu¬
lating system in molluscous animals that they have obtain¬
ed their present rank; for, in regard to the nervous sys¬
tem, which would have been a truer test, although such
tribes as possess a distinct head, and are furnished with
tentacula and other organs of sense, have undoubtedly
a true brain, yet oysters and many more acephalous
kinds can lay no other claim to the possession of that or¬
gan than what is derived from the analogy which its posi¬
tion in these Testacea is supposed to bear to that of the
brain in the gasteropoda. It is a strong fact, however, that
so skilful an interpreter of nature as Baron Cuvier should
have been determined by that analogy, and should have
acceded to the acephalous Mollusca the possession of a
brain, and a general construction, which, upon the whole,
he regards as making a nearer approach to that of the
Vertebrata than is effected by any annulose animal. Yet
in spite of this it would be difficult to contend that an
Ascidia is in any respect superior to a bee, as no one who
has ever seen the two, and observed their respective func¬
tions, would venture to bring the sluggish mollusc into
competition, either as respects intelligence or complica¬
tion of mechanism, with the delightful emblem of industry.
W hen w'e call in the aid of anatomy to determine the
relative importance which different material beings bear in
the scale of the creation, we must consider the beauty of the
general mechanism and (speaking humanly) the difficulty
of the workmanship, and not any “ fancied and often forced
resemblance to the human structure.”2 It is in truth a
great error to regard the works of the creation as referable
to the human structure, as a standard of perfection ; for
although the frame of man, when taken as a whole, ought
doubtless to be regarded with wonder and admiration as Relative
a most complicated yet complete machine, there is at the Position
same time as little doubt that we scarcely possess a single ,^le
sense or bodily power in which we are not excelled by K4nilTal
some irrational beings. Different animals have in fact been
constructed on different plans, and man may without im¬
propriety be regarded as upon the whole the most admi¬
rably constructed creature of all those which have been
organized upon the same general plan with himself, but
with the others he cannot be compared.
In the article Animal Kingdom of this work we have
already shown the importance of the nervous system in
the formation of the greater divisions of living creatures,
and we there exhibited the relative positions occupied by
the different classes of animals in the works of the most
distinguished systematic writers. Lamarck divides the
animal kingdom into two great branches,—the one con¬
taining all those living beings of which the skeleton is in¬
ternal, and constructed upon a bony and articulated co¬
lumn, hence called Vertebrata,—the other consisting of
those innumerous kinds of which the skeleton is either
wanting, or its supposed analogue is for the most part
external, and includes the muscles; these are the In-
vertebrata. This grand distinction is strongly marked
throughout the great mass of each division, but it begins
to disappear wherever the provinces approach each other.
Ihus among the turtles or chelonian reptiles, the vertebral
column is converted to a row of square osseous plates,
which run along the back, and unite with eight pair of
expanded ribs, which are anchylosed together by real su¬
tures, and combine to form in fact the external carapace
or shell. In like manner the vertebral column almost dis¬
appears among the cyclostomous fishes, while, on the other
hand, the Cephalopoda, or cuttle-fish, though belonging
to the invertebrate division, exhibit the commencement
of an internal skeleton. M. Virey, as we have shown in
the article above referred to, divided the animal kingdom
into three great branches, according to the different cha¬
racter of their nervous system. Baron Cuvier, proceeding
upon the consideration of the same important basis, in¬
cludes all animals within four primary divisions ; while
Mr Macleay, according to his peculiar views, perceiving
Jive great sub-kingdoms in the magnificent circle of living
things, has assumed that number of divisions. We shall
here present a sketch of his system, so far as relates to the
primary forms, the majority of which agree with those of
his predecessors, although their relative position, and cir¬
cular sequence, if we may so call it, differ.3
ls£, There is a great tribe of beings which possess one
principal centre to their nervous system, the great trunk
of which, with the said centre, is contained in a bony ar¬
ticulated case, which forms the axis of the whole body,
and constitutes the vertebra and skull of these creatures,
which are therefore named Vertebrata.
2c?, In another form of animals the skeleton is as it were
external, so as to envelope the whole body, and is divided
by transverse folds into a certain number of rings, to the
internal surface of which the muscles are always attached.
Their nervous system consists of two long strings of me¬
dullary matter, passing through the whole of the body,
and united to each other, at small distances, into several
knots or ganglia. These ganglia may be said to perform
for the parts which surround them the function of so many
brains, and for a certain period are even sufficient for ner-
1 Honx Entomological, vol. i. p. 206.
3 As the book entitled Horoe Entomolog
first was almost totally consumed by fire),
than interesting to the considerate reader.
2 Ibid., p. 405.
icce has been long out of print (the author has never brought out a second edition, and the
our occasional exposition of its peculiar and prevailing doctrines cannot prove otherwise
60 E N T O M
Relative vous sensibility after the animal has been cut in pieces.
Position ah tiie ijeingS So constructed are named AnnuLosa.
in the jn a prevailing form there is no articulated
Kingdom. s^eleton either external or internal, the muscles being at-
tached solely to the skin, which is itself in general soft,
though often protected by a calcareous or stony crust,
termed the shell. These animals, remarkable, like plants,
for the variety of modes in which the sexes are combined,
have their nervous system composed of several masses or
ganglions united together by nervous threads. The con¬
stituents of this group are almost all aquatic, and are
named Mollusca.
4<lh, A fourth form of animal life exhibits to our view
the organs of locomotion and sensation arranged in a cir¬
cular disposition round a centre, so as to give a sort of
radiated aspect to the whole body. They are composed
of a more or less gelatinous substance, of which the fibres
are indistinct. The nervous system of these imperfect
beings is but little known. M. 1 iedemann, in a work
crowned by the French Institute (Memoire sur l Anatomie
des Asteries), conceives that the whitish threads which
proceed in a radiant direction from around the mouth,
and which extend themselves through the entire length
of the arms of these animals, form a kind of nervous sys¬
tem, which, from the pulpy nature of the medullary mat¬
ter, seems to correspond with the gelatinous composition
of the animals themselves. They are all aquatic, and are
named Radiata.
bth, Thus far these groups agree in number and consti¬
tution with the four primary divisions established by Ba¬
ron Cuvier,—the Annulose division corresponding with
the Animalia Articulata of the French naturalist, except
that it excludes the Annelides, or red-blooded worms, and
includes certain radiated species (commonly so called),
such as the intestinal group denominated Intestinaux Ca-
vitaires by the French, or Entozoa Nematoidea of Rudol¬
ph!. But, according to Mr Macleay’s views, there still
remains a fifth form of animal life to be considered,—a
group of beings which cannot in the present state of
knowledge be better described than as masses of a trans¬
parent, homogeneous, mobile, and sensible pulp. There
may, however, be observed in this translucent mass innu¬
merable minute granulations, which may be regarded as
the nervous molecules dispersed over, or as it were con¬
founded with, the substance of these animals, so as to en¬
dow the whole with sensibility, or something which the
author calls such, probably for want of a better name.
This final division is named Acrita.1 Its constituents
form a portion of the Animalia Radiata, or fourth pri¬
mary division of the Cuvierian system, and include the in-
fusory animals, many of the intestinal worms, and the po¬
lypi. Their distinctive character is principally negative
in reference to animals, and positive in regard to plants.
The simple texture of their cellular tissue is common to
them and to the Algce. Their gemmiparous generation is
allied only to the very simplest mode of the reproduc¬
tive system among other animal tribes, but is by no means
unfrequent among plants. The method by which they
are more or less sustained by the absorption of their ex¬
ternal pores, and the attractive influence exercised on
them by light, are likewise features only elsewhere to be
observed among the vegetable tribes. When a polype is
cut in pieces, each of these continues to live, and in time
assumes the original form, so that every point of such an
animal body may be regarded as possessing an indepen¬
dent life, like that of the lower plants. Lamarck accounts
O L O G Y.
for this peculiarity by regarding their alimentary canal Relative
as constituting a second absorbing surface, in no way dif- Position
f'erent from the absorbent external surface of the Agas-
tria, or infusorial tribes, so that any portion separated
from their bodies may live for a time, like the Infusoria,
until they have obtained the second or internal absorbent
surface.
“ On considering,” says Mr Macleay, “ the gelatinous
composition of these animals, the dispersion of the ner¬
vous molecules through their substance, and the absolute
certainty that they are devoid of every sense, except per¬
haps those of taste and touch, we are led to connect them
with the Mollusca, whose substance is always mucous, and
often even gelatinous,—whose nervous system, though col¬
lected into several ganglions, or centres of sensibility, has
nevertheless these ganglions dispersed, with little if any
arrangement, throughout the whole mass of their body,—
and whose senses, so far at least as we are certain of their
existence, seem to be confined to those of taste and touch,
with the exception of a few animals of the division which
possess the organs of sight, and still fewer which possess
those of hearing.
“ Nevertheless, on comparing the Acrita with the Mol¬
lusca, we find that the organization of these last has be¬
come much more complicated, and that a distinct system
of circulation, and peculiar organs for respiration, diges¬
tion, and secretion, are even visible in these animals,
which connect them in a remarkable manner with a still
more perfectly organized family—the Vertebrata.
“ These, however, by their red blood, their muscular
heart, their jaws acting vertically, their distinct organs for
sight, hearing, smell, and taste, their sexes constantly dis¬
tinct, their vertebral column, and extreme concentration
of the nervous system, are sufficiently insulated from the
Mollusca, as well as from all other material beings. The
group is therefore perfectly distinct and natural; yet if
we attempt to define it by any of the above-mentioned
various properties, little examination is requisite to con¬
vince us that the characteristic thus chosen either disap¬
pears in the least perfect of the Vertebrata, or passes im¬
perceptibly into the neighbouring groups.
“ Thus in the fishes which compose the genera Ammo-
ccetus, Dum. and Gastrobranchus, Bl. all those parts which
ought to have constituted their skeleton as vertebrated
animals become so soft and membranaceous that they
may be considered as having no bones. The organs of
respiration and of manducation, the absolute want of the
sense of sight, the general habits and external form of
these singular fishes, all prove to us that they are con¬
nected with the Annelides, and that by them nature
passes to the structure of the Annulosa. On the other
hand, on examining some of the Echinoderma of Cuvier,
such as those composing the genus Comatula, we may
trace the articulated texture of the Annulosa into the di¬
vision of Radiata, many of whose external forms are also
exactly imitated by the sessile Cirrhipedes. Of the Ra¬
diata, again, the stellate form and the gelatinous semi¬
transparent substance are observable among the Acrita.
So that tlxe chain whose links we have endeavoured to
unfold returns into itself, and we find that all animals
form a circle composed of the following great divisions,
viz. Acrita,
Mollusca,
Vertebrata,
Annulosa,
Radiata. ^
Animalia gelatinosa polyir.orpha, interaneis nullis medullaque indistincta. Os interdum indistinctum, sed nutritio absorptione
externa vel interna semper sistit. Anus nullus. Reproductio fissipara vel gemmipara, gemmis mode externis mode internis,
mterdum acervatis. Pleraque ex individuis pluribus semper cohaerentibus animalia composita sistunt.” (//or. Ent. p. 224.)
ENTOMOLOGY.
Relative “ This arrangement of animals is, it is true, quite dis-
in the11 ?in-Ct fr0m that Senerally adopted ; but it M ill be seen that
Animal 11 18 not only conformable to nature, but that it removes
Kingdom. niany of the discrepancies which shock the naturalist in
'w'n-'w the common systems. For instance, there is an acepha¬
lous animal of the division Mollusca (Ascidia mammillaris,
Linn.) which exists without any visible organs of sense
except that of taste, wdiose substance is little better than
a homogeneous gelatinous pulp, whose inert nature seems
to deprive it of any power like that of voluntary motion ;
a being which is consequently reduced to fix itself to
solid bodies, or to be the sport of winds and waves, whose
principal sign of life consists in the absorption and spout¬
ing forth of water, and whose animal properties, in short,
are all comprised in its irritability, its circulation, and
respiration. Yet because these two last qualities appear
in this animal, whose existence is little better than vege¬
tative, to bear some resemblance to the circulation and
respiration in some of the Vertebrata, we find it placed in
the common systems before the bee, which astonishes us
by its industry and social qualities; before the ant, which
excites our admiration by its frugality and courage; and
before the other numberless insects, which by their man¬
ners and stratagems have often made the naturalist hesi¬
tate as to the point where he would draw the line, and
separate instinct from reason.”1
Mr Kirby seems equally inclined to accord a step of
precedence to the insect and other annulose or articulated
tribes over the Mollusca, or at least to maintain that the
latter should not be interposed between the former and
the vertebrated tribes. “ If you inquire,” says he, “ into
the rank of each of these sub-kingdoms, of course you will
assign the principal station to the Vertebrates, which are
the most perfectly organized, to which man belongs, and
over which he immediately presides. If we form the scale
according to the nervous system of each province, that in
which the organ of sensation and intellect is most concen¬
trated will stand first; and in proportion as this organ is
multiplied and dispersed, will be the station of the rest,
which will place them in the order in which I have men¬
tioned them ; and the Annulosa, to which insects belong,
will precede the Mollusca, which Cuvier and Lamarck had
placed before them on account of their system of circula¬
tion. But when we reflect that a heart and circulation oc¬
cur in some of the conglomerate Polypi? animals that ap¬
proach the vegetable kingdom ; that some of the acepha¬
lous Mollusca have no visible organs of sense except that
of taste, whose substance is little better than a homoge¬
neous gelatinous pulp, and who seem from their inert na¬
ture to have very slight powers of voluntary motion ;3 we
shall be convinced that a heart and circulation alone, un¬
accompanied by a more concentrated nervous system and
more pei feet sti ucture, cannot place an animal above those
which in every other respect so obviously excel them.
With regard to insects particularly, we may further ask—
who that considers how man employs his powers and or¬
gans even in his most degraded state, or that contemplates
the wonderful works that he is enabled to accomplish when
his faculties receive their due cultivation and direction,
can avoid regarding him as superior to the rest of the ani¬
mal creation ? And what unsophisticated mind, not en¬
tangled in the trammels of system, when it surveys the
industry, the various proceedings, and almost miraculous
works that have been laid before you,—the waxen palaces
of the bee,—the paper cottages of the wasp and hornet,
61
—the crowded metropolis of the white ants,—the arts, Relative
the manufactures, and stratagems of other insects,—the Position
associations and labours for the common good of those 'n
that are gregarious will not at once conclude that they Jr"1”21
must be a superior race to the slug, the snail, and others,
which live only to eat and propagate their kind? Or
who, that considers the wonderful structure of the ani¬
mals whose cause I advocate,—the analogy that exists
between their organs of manducation, of motion, and of
sensation, and between various other parts of it, with
those of the higher animals,—the acuteness of their senses,
their wonderful strength of muscle, and powers of loco¬
motion,—but will think them superior to the headless
and almost inanimate oyster or muscle, or the conglome¬
rate Alcyonia, though they have a heart and circulation.
Who, again, that observes, that in proportion as pedate
animals approach to the human type, their motions are
accomplished by fewer organs,—that man walks, ore sub-
limi, upon two legs; the majority of quadrupeds upon
four; insects upon six; the Arachnida apparently upon
eight; most Crustacea upon ten; and the Myriapods and
others upon many,—but will thence conclude that insects
must precede the Arachnida and Crustacea ? Who, once
more, that reflects, that if any of the superior animals
are deprived of a limb, it can never be reproduced, and
that in insects the same circumstance occurs; while spi¬
ders and Crustacea, if they lose a leg, have the power
of reproducing it; and the Mollusca, if they are decapi¬
tated, can gain a new head,—will consent to their being
placed after any of these animals ?4 Lastly, who that re¬
collects that the Mollusca are hermaphrodites, like most
plants, bearing both male and female organs in the same
body, but will allow that insects, in which the sexes are
separate, as in the Vertebrates, must be more perfect, and
of a higher grade ?”5
Whoever regards the different classes of the animal
kingdom with an observant and discriminating eye, will
not fail to perceive that the knowledge of any organ in
one particular division of nature is insufficient to enable
us to judge of its importance ; for such are the changes in
the organization of animals, that a system of organs which
performs the most important functions in the first divi¬
sion, may either not exist in the next, or be found in a
secondary condition, and subordinate to some other sys¬
tem which has acquired the preponderance. In truth,
the anatomy of the higher classes having been first pro¬
foundly, or at least laboriously studied, before the requi¬
site attention had been bestowed on the structure oflnver-
tebrates, all those organs and functional actions which were
invariably more or less sustained and apparent in these
first divisions, have been regarded as fundamental, and for
this reason alone an equal importance in our systems of
classification has been attributed to them throughout the
whole animal kingdom. From this course of proceeding,
as noticed by M. Straus, approximations have resulted
which break the natural relationship of many divisions.
For example, in the first great division of animals, respi¬
ration and circulation being in fact two functions to which
all the rest are more or less subordinate, it has been ima¬
gined that we ought to regard them as essential in the
whole series of animals, and employ them as the sole ba¬
sis of classification. Among the Vertebrata these functions
indeed afford the firmest foundation for a natural distribu¬
tion ; but amongst other classes, on the contrary, in which
they are only secondary, their adoption has led to the
1 Hor. Ent. p. 202. * Savigny, Mem. sur les Anim. sans Verte.br. ii. 1, 3.
in this respect insects excel many reptiles, which can reproduce some of their parts.
See Macleay, Hor. Entomolog. 203, 206, 208.
3 Hor. Eut. 204.
62 E N T O M
Relative gravest errors and most palpable contradictions; for it
Position not unfrequently happens that one family of Invertebrata
^n.the] which respires by branchiae, cannot be separated (keep-
Kinedom numerous natural affinities in view) from another fa-
mily in which the respiration is pulmonary or tracheal.1
One great principle of creation being to combine variety
in the means with uniformity in the effect, we find that
among molluscous animals the circulation of the blood
varies in its manner ad infinitum, and has thus led to the
most artificial arrangements. Yet few animals in exist¬
ence have the organs of circulation more complicated than
some of the Cephalopoda. Among the annulose animals,
also, in which the nature of the nervous system is so uni¬
formly accordant, circulation varies from an extremely
perfect to an evanescent state. A mode of nutrition and
respiration takes place so entirely different from that ex¬
hibited by the vertebrated and molluscous tribes, that
they never can be regarded as modifications of the same
system. As, then, the general plan of construction of these
animals is so different, Mr Macleay regards it as necessary
to suppose that the new and dissimilar system of respiia-
tion is that which more peculiarly characterizes the annu¬
lose group, or, in the author’s words, “ is that to which the
structure of the animals forming the group tends. And
what makes this supposition the more probable is, that the
Annelides, or red-blooded worms, which, of all the articu¬
lated tribes, are placed by Cuvier the nearest to the ver¬
tebrated classes, are nevertheless imperfectly organized,
and of as dull perceptions as any of the annulose division.
This could hardly be the case wrere the Annulosa to be
considered with propriety as modifications of the verte¬
brated structure, while, on the other hand, those annulose
classes which respire by tracheae, and coincide in nothing
with a vertebrated animal, are, nevertheless, the most ac¬
tive and industrious of their group, although their activity
and industry are of a nature entirely different from what
is observable among the vertebrated tribes. Now it is
difficult, if not impossible, to account for all this, unless we
regard every vertebrated creature to have been construct¬
ed by the great Creator with reference to one type, and
every annulose with reference to another; and as the for¬
mer is more imperfect in proportion as it approaches the
annulose structure, so the latter also becomes more im¬
perfect in proportion as it obtains a distinct system of cir¬
culation and other characteristics of the vertebrated tribes.
It thus follows that the animals which connect them ought
to be extremely imperfect in their organization ; and this
conclusion is well supported by the sluggish Annelides,
in which organs of sense are barely perceptible, and or¬
gans of motion by no means so perfect as among the larvm
of insects.2 M. Straus also maintains the opinion that it
is the less perfect species of any one great group which
approach most closely to the group which precedes or fol¬
lows them, and that it hence results, that in any division,
the species which offer the most elevated organization may
be more perfect than such as are placed at the lower con¬
fines of a higher division. He admits that a more natu¬
ral passage exists from the Ver'tebrata to the Annulosa,
than from the former to the Mollusca ; but this connec¬
tion he considers is by the lowest in the scale of organi¬
zation of each of these groups. As soon as the Verte-
brata reach the most simple form compatible with their
mode of organic life, the great Authorof nature commences
from that point a new group, that named Annulosa, by suc¬
cessively introducing a new series of organs altogether
O L O G Y.
different from those he has abandoned, and by consider- Relative
ably modifying those he has retained. The genus Ammo- Position
cates (and' perhaps also that of Myxine) form this point
among the Vertebrata, while GordiusHirudo compose Kingdom,
the corresponding link among the annulose tribes. On
either side these animals find their place at the lowest
point of the descending scale, formed by each of these
two series ; and, compared with each other, the two ge¬
nera of fishes just named, and the abranchial Annelides,
present some remarkable resemblances in the few organs
which they possess.
The opinion that insects and other annulose animals are
more nearly connected with the Yertebrata than are the
Mollusca, is regarded as true by M. Straus Durckheim,
both in regard to the modes of organization according to
which these three divisions are formed, and in relation to
the degree in which their faculties are developed. The
Vertebrata, he observes, are characterized by an articulat¬
ed body, of which the two lateral halves are symmetrical,
and are sustained by an internal skeleton, the central por¬
tion of which is composed of a series of parts, to which the
other osseous parts are attached. In the Annulosa the
symmetry of the two sides of the body is still greater than
in the Vertebrata; the body is likewise articulated, and
formed by a series of central parts, to which the others are
attached, although they have no internal skeleton. The
nervous system in both consists principally of a spinal
marrow, from which arise most of the nerves of the body ;
but there is this difference in the Vertebrata,—the spinal
marrow is dorsal, whereas it is ventral among the annulose
tribes. The muscular system is also as fully developed in
the one as in the other, and offers nearly the same distinct
forms. The Mollusca, on the contrary, exhibit characters
totally at variance with those now mentioned ; for, on the
one hand, their body no longer exhibits a perfect parity of
parts, nor is it in any degree articulated ; on the other, the
nervous system is not longitudinal, nor its situation con¬
stant, while its mass is greatly decreased. The muscu¬
lar system is also in general much less perfect, and, con¬
sidered in detail, the muscles are less distinct, and only
form, throughout the greater part of the body, a mass of
fibres so interlaced as to be incapable of separation, thus
conducting us to Entozoa, of which the body is only a con¬
tinuous without distinct muscles. According
to the author last named, the character which eminently
distinguishes the Mollusca from the two other divisions is,
that in these the organs of animal, in the Mollusca those
of vegetable life, are the most predominant; from whence
it follows that the latter are totally devoid of industry,
and of that higher mode of perception approaching to in¬
telligence, which insects possess in a degree surpassing all
other invertebrated tribes.
Having entered into the preceding investigation with
the view of illustrating the true position of the annulose
division in relation to the other sub-kingdoms of animal
life, we shall now, in more direct reference to the proper
subjects of our present dissertation, that is, the hexapod
or six-footed insects, exhibit, by means of the following
diagram, the views entertained by Mr Macleay regarding
the natural affinities observable among the annulose tribes
themselves. The reader will perceive that the circles of
Mandibulata and Haustellata, with those portions of Ame-
tabola named Thysanura and Anaplura, constitute the
true Insecta, such as we have defined them at the com¬
mencement of this article.
1 See Considerations generates sur VAnatomic comparce des Animaux Articul s, &c. par M. Straus Durckheim,
8 IIor. Ent. p. 295.
E N T 0 M
S5
Our next subject of consideration is one which has not
pieviously formed a part of any of our encyclopaedias of
knowledge.
CHAPTER VI.
THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF INSECTS.
This topic has indeed been much less attended to as
a matter of philosophical investigation than it deserves.
When we take an extended view of the general distribu¬
tion of animals and plants, we find that they are usually
disposed over the earth’s surface in bands or parallel zones,
corresponding in a great measure with the peculiarities of
temperature and climate which are appropriate to the na¬
ture of each. When the temperature of a particular lati¬
tude becomes colder, as on mountains or highly elevated
plains,—or warmer, as on plains by the sea shore, or in low
lying sheltered valleys,—we find, in the former case, that
the species approximate in their nature and characters
to those of a more northern, in the latter to those of a
more southern parallel. Of course the zones of vege¬
table and of animal life do not correspond at all strictly
with the latitudinal lines of our geographical system.
Humboldt has indeed shown, that within 15° or 20° from
the equator, the mean annual temperature is nearly the
same in all longitudes of equal elevation, or is at least but
slightly varied by local circumstances. In other words,
the isothermal lines are more regularly parallel with those
of the equator. But in temperate and northern countries
the same uniformity of temperature in each portion of the
same parallel is not observable ; all western coasts, and dis¬
tricts of continents and of considerable islands, being of
a higher temperature than those of the same latitudes
along the eastern shores. The mean temperature of the
North Cape, under the seventy-first degree of north lati¬
tude, does not exceed, indeed corresponds with, that of
Labrador, which is 14.° further south ; and that of the west
of Ireland, in the fifty-fourth degree, agrees with the forty-
third parallel in the United States.
O L o G Y. 63
In relation to zoological geography, indeed, there are Geogra-
several other minor circumstances which tend to change phical Dis-
or counterbalance the more usual results, and consequent- trihution.
ly to derange such calculations as might very reasonably
be formed upon a knowledge of latitudinal and longitudi¬
nal position, and of the height of a country above the level
of the sea. The nature of the soil and surface, the diffe¬
rent degrees of dryness and humidity, and the consequent
character of the climate and vegetation, the comparative
extent of land and water, the extent and continuity of
forests, marshes, and sandy deserts, the direction of moun¬
tain ranges, and the form and position of lakes;—these
and several other circumstances must be taken into con¬
sideration, and will be found materially to affect the dis¬
tribution of animal life over the surface of the earth.
It does not appear that the climates of insects, or those
peculiarities of temperature and other physical attributes
under which certain groups or species appear to predo¬
minate, have been as yet studied in connection with our
imperfect knowledge of isothermal lines. Humboldt, in¬
deed, has remarked, that the geographical stations of the
gnats and some other insects of South America did not
appear to depend solely on the heat of the climate, the
excess of humidity, or the thickness of the forests, but on
local and unappreciable circumstances.1 It is evident,
however, that the characteristic stations of insects are
mainly dependent on the degree of temperature, so influ¬
ential on the development and distribution of all the other
varied forms of animal life. An increase of caloric seldom
fails to produce a corresponding increase and alteration in
the number and character of entomological forms; and when
we travel from the hyperborean regions towards the sunny
south, we find that the tiny multitudes accumulate in all
the warmer portions of the temperate zone, till they swarm
between the tropics. Otho Fabricius resided six years in
Greenland, and during that period he collected only six¬
ty-three species of the insect class, properly so called. In
the still higher latitude of Winter Harbour, where Sir
Edward Parry sojourned, only six species were collected
from the beginning of September till the August follow¬
ing. Mr Kirby has stated that in Greenland every ol der
ol insect has its representatives, except Orthoptera and
Hemiptera; but in Melville Island, besides these deficien¬
cies, neither coleopterous nor neuropterous species exist,
or at least were observable; and even the mosquito, that
shrill tyrant of the Lapland plains, appeared to have ceased
from troubling along those hyperborean shores. The most
northern locality of any insect yet ascertained is that of
\X\g Aphis borealis, taken in latitude 82° 26' 44", about one
hundred miles from the nearest known land.2 It is pro¬
bable, however, that the distribution of many northern
species is still unknown. It was formerly supposed that
in Iceland there were none, and that even in Norway
there were very few, their absence from those countries
being attributed to excess of cold. This opinion, however,
was contradicted by Horrebow, so far as Iceland was con¬
cerned ; and Olafsen and Povalsen, during their sojourn
there, collected 200 dirterent species in one small valley.
It must indeed be borne in mind, that insects can escape
the extreme of cold, not only, as Mr Macleay observes,
by passing certain periods in the pupa or torpid state,
but also by being while in that condition usually buried
in the earth, where they are greatly protected from the
rigours of the winter season. “ What they chiefly re-
1 Personal Narrative, vol. v. p. 88.
’ This species was found in the boat during the last day of Sir E. Parry’s attempt to reach the north pole over the ice. There
"rT °f veSetatl°" around the adventurous party; and we think it more probable that the forlorn insect had been carried,
nolens volens, from a somewhat more southern quarter. ’
ENTOMOLOGY.
Geogra- quire is the presence of heat during some period of their
phical Dis-existence; and the greater, within certain limits, is the
tribution. iieat? the more active will be their vital principle. On
the American continent the extremes of heat and cold in
the course of the year are, as is well known, incompara¬
bly greater than in places of the same latitude in Europe.
We may therefore readily conceive how particular fami¬
lies of insects will inhabit a wider range of latitude in the
former country than in the latter. We see also how in¬
sects may swarm in the very coldest climates, such as
Lapland and Spitzbergen, where the short summer can
boast of extraordinary rises in the thermometer ; because
the energy of the vital principle in such animals is, with¬
in certain limits, proportionate to the degree of warmth
to which they may be subjected, and escapes in a manner
the severe action of cold.”1 It is on these principles that
Mr Macleay accounts for wdiat certainly at first seems an
extraordinary circumstance in the geography of insects;
namely, that their tropical structure extends much far¬
ther north in America than in Europe; that is, in a man¬
ner directly the reverse of that which has been noted by
botanists to occur in the vegetable kingdom. For exam¬
ple, the Chcmueropshutnilis, a species of palm, occurs along
the southern shore of France, in latitude 44°; while on
the eastern coasts of North America the hardiest of the
family, C. palmetto, does not advance beyond the 34°. But
if we examine Copris carnifex, Cetonia nitida, Rutela 6
punctata, and other coleopterous insects from the neigh¬
bourhood of New York, and compare them wfith species of
the same families from Brazil, we shall find their difference
of structure infinitely less than that which would result
from a comparison of the entomological productions of the
environs of Madrid with those of the banks of the Congo.2
A slight consideration of the subject suffices to show
that certain differences in the relative intensities of sum¬
mer and of winter must exercise a strongly modifying pow¬
er on the influence of mean annual temperature, even in
countries where that temperature is one and the same.
“ Several fruits, as the olive and grape, as well as the
different kinds of corn and other annuals, depend more
on the heat of summer than of the whole year; while
others, impatient of cold, and not requiring great heat,
have their range more influenced by the temperature of
winter. Now, it is almost an universal rule, that of two
places whose mean temperature is the same, that nearest
the sea, and more particularly a western sea, has a tem¬
perate summer and a milder winter. Hence the inland
situation is better adapted to the growth of corn and
fruits, the maritime one to the preservation of tender
plants. In Europe, the northern boundary of the vine
and olive rises as we go eastward, though in so doing we
encounter a lower mean annual temperature. The Arbu¬
tus Unedo, Sibthorpia Europcea, Erica ciliaris, &c. rise in
a westerly direction.”3 Whatever vegetation requires the
absence of extreme cold rather than the presence of ex¬
treme heat, will probably extend itself in a tropical form
more towards the poles on a dry continent than on a moist
or marshy one. Tropical plants, therefore, will thrive
better in Thibet and other inland parts of northern Asia,
than they would do if transported to positions of the same
latitude in America; for in the latter country the ex¬
tremes of heat and cold are too distant from each other.
Thus the vegetation of Canada does not correspond either
in its general character or its amount of species, with
that of the corresponding latitudes of France.4
Mr Macleay admits, that although in his opinion the Geogra-
insect tribes suffer less in cold climates than plants, forPhical Dis-
the reasons which we have already stated, it does not tribution.
therefore follow that the prevalence of cold has no effeet
in relation to the destruction, or rather we should say
the prevention, of insect life. In truth the diminution
of the number of species becomes very conspicuous as we
advance towards the poles. But this the learned author
of the Horce Entomologicce supposes to be owing rather to
the short continuance of the summer warmth than to the
lowness of its existing degree. In accordance with this
view we certainly find that many insects, such as gnats,
mosquitoes, &c. which pass their larva state in water,—thus
avoiding the external cold, and whose existence in the
perfect state being naturally ephemeral, must therefore
suffer little from the shortness of summer,—are nowhere
more troublesome than among the moors and marshes of
the north. On the other hand, the number of coleopterous
species, which, being naturally longer lived, require a
greater continuance of warmth, is sensibly diminished
amid those dreary wastes.
It is natural to suppose that if certain plants are pecu¬
liar to certain climates, so also insects, the greater pro¬
portion of which not only feed on plants, but are each ac¬
cording to its kind almost restricted to particular species,
must in like manner be characteristic of special localities.
Whether this restriction in diet holds good in relation to
the carnivorous kinds, that is, whether one kind of carcass
is not as good as another, is a point which has not yet
attracted the consideration of the naturalist. Such as
feed on living animals (the thalerophagousCaxmvovd) are
probably more restricted in their parasitical attachments.
But the coprophagous or dung beetles, and such as prey
on dead animals (the saprophagous Carnivora), may be
supposed to be less regular in the limits of their locali¬
ties, occurring wherever their favourite food happens
(not seldom accidentally) to have been deposited. In
such cases, of course, less advantage results to the ento¬
mologist from local references, as the appearance of an
insect in the place cited may have been entirely acciden¬
tal, and incapable of affording any great probability of its
recurrence; yet even the saprophagous beetles are no
doubt regulated by temperature and elevation, and it is
likely that a dead body by the sea shore will exhibit dif¬
ferent species from a similar nidus exposed on a mountain
summit.
The geographical distribution of insects in general is,
in truth, a subject of too difficult and complex a nature to
admit of being worthily treated within our present limits.
We shall, however, notice a few facts which, though pre¬
sented in a somewhat desultory manner, we trust will
not be found entirely devoid of interest.
We may observe, in the first place, that there are
two aspects under which the subject of zoological geo¬
graphy may be viewed. We may either proceed upon
the consideration of the divisions laid down by politico-
geographical writers,—divisions which are no doubt suffi¬
ciently arbitrary in relation to the physical qualities of
countries,—and describe or indicate the species and genera
which we have ascertained to characterize such divisions,
—or we may take into view the systematic arrangements
of naturalists, and by tracing and pointing out the differ¬
ent localities of the various tribes, genera, and species
which we find there arranged, thus arrive by another
route at the conclusions sought for. We shall here, even
1 Hor. Ent. p. 45. 2 lUd.
s Watson’s Outlines of the Geographical Distribution of British Plants. (Printed for private circulation.) Edinburgh, 1832.
4 Hor. Ent. p. 44.
1
an occasional sketch of the equally varied entomological collection by the capture of many beautiful butterflies,
productions of particular portions of the earth’s surface. and other lepidopterous insects, which are more truly
We formerly remarked that no coleopterous insect was characteristic of Northern Africa. Spain especially exhi-
noticed in Melville Island. Dytiscus marginalis,howe\er,an bits many features of African zoology. We shall not here
aquatic beetle well known throughout Great Britain, inha- talk of the cameleons, the scorpions, and other species be-
bits the waters of Greenland, and extends over the whole longing to the separate classes of reptiles and Arachnides ;
of Europe. Another species of the same genus, D. griseus, but the European entomologist will there discover for the
is not only spread over the south of Europe, and most of first time several species of the genera Erodius, Sepidium,
the countries adjacent to the Mediterranean, but is also Brctchinus, and Pimelia. It is however only after cross-
found in Bengal. The genus Calasoma is very widely ing the Mediterranean, and traversing the African shores,
spread. Captain Frankland took C. calidum during his whether north of the Atlas, or eastward towards the
arctic journey. C. laterale and curvipes inhabit tropical coasts of the Red Sea, that our eyes are delighted with the
America; while C. Chinense, as its name imports, is hitherto unknown forms of Graphipterus, Siagona,
found in China. Mr Macleay possesses a specimen from and numerous other species unknown to the colder and
New Holland; and C. retusum was captured in Terra del moister shores of Europe.
Fuego. The CoccineU<z occur in almost all countries But no sooner do we leave the Mediterranean coasts of
from pole to pole.'* The Silphida and Dermestidce prey Africa, and enter upon the more weary and disastrous
on carcasses wherever the solar influence is of sufficient pilgrimage of the great deserts, the apparently limitless
power to produce putrescence; but the brachelytrous expanse of which so soon greets the eye of the yet un¬
beetles (genus Staphylinus, &c.) have undoubtedly their daunted traveller, than almost all vestiges of European
metropolis or centre of dominion in the temperate zone, life, whether human or brute, disappear; and Nubia,
and more especially within the British islands ; for while Ethiopia, Senegal, and a great part of Guinea, exhibit en-
Dejean, in the last edition of his Catalogue (1833), gives tomological forms, cognate in character when compared
only 789 species as his total amount both of European among themselves, but separated in every sense of the
and exotic kinds, Mr Stephens enumerates above 750 as words “ longo intervallo" from those of Europe. As we
indigenous to Britain. This apparent excess may, how- proceed farther southwards, where the chariot of the
ever, partly arise from the great attention which has been “Great Apollo” rolls on with a still fiercer and more
paid in this country to the collection of the minuter sorts, fiery lustre, and the beams of a vertical sun induce even
which are frequently neglected in foreign lands for the the tawny Moor and the woolly-headed negro to avoid his
sake of the more showy and imposing species. The genus scorching and sometimes fatal rays, we discover many
Onthophagus is native both to the old world and the new, extraordinary forms of insect life, called into existence
to the temperate as well as the torrid zone ; while Copvis, its through the instrumentality of that bright effulgence
near ally, is more abhorrent of cold,— CWwrcam, which ex- which the pale-faced European has so often sought to
tends northward into Sweden, being the only recorded spe- withstand in vain. From the burning regions of Guinea,
cies found in Europe out of Spain.2 Latreille, however, la- and the parched shores of the Congo, we derive the finest
boured under a misconception when he supposed that all of those magnificent coleopterous insects named generi-
the large species of the latter genus were of equinoctial cally Goliathus by Lamarck. The western and equinoc-
origin; for C Tmolus of Fischer occurs in the vicinity of tial parts of Africa also yield us the species of Petalochei-
Orenburg in Asia, under the 50th degree of north lati- rus and Enceladus, while the Cape of Good Hope is re-
tude.3 Of the magnificent Dynastidce, termed by Mr markable for the genera Anthia and Brachycerus. The
Kirby the “ giants and princes of the insect race,” the last-named district is almost the exclusive domain of
metropolis is strictly tropical, although a kind of advanced Manticora and Pneumora ; and the southern parts of
piquet is observable in Oryctes nasicornis, common in the Africa present us with the Sagra, Diopsis, and Paussus, al-
south of Sweden. Ihe reason why the last-named insect, though it may be observed that some of these also occur
and several others which occur in Scandinavia, are un- in the East Indies.4
known in Britain, may be inferred from some of our pre- Both Madagascar and St Helena present a few insects
ceding observations: in a torpid state, or under the form which, to a certain extent, demonstrate the African com-
of larvae, they are capable of enduring the utmost rigour plexion of those islands; but the latter especially is also
of a Swedish winter ; but when revived by the returning allied, by its entomological features, to some of the south¬
spring, the cool and variable summers of our “ sea-girt western countries of Asia. According to Latreille, Africa
isle would prove insufficient for the full development of furnishes no species of the genus Passalus, although it is
their vital functions. elsewhere widely distributed over America and the East
Ihe genus Meloe seems almost peculiar to Europe ; and Indies. The genera Graphypterus, Eurichora, and Pneu-
Britain, which possesses nine species, has been regarded as mora, are probably peculiar to Africa. Among the he-
one of its most characteristic countries. The entomolo- mipterous insects of Africa may be mentioned the Man-
gical characters of the southern shores of Europe strongly tis precaria, an object of superstitious veneration among
exhibit their geographical approach to the African con- the Hottentots, who hold in the highest respect the pei^
tinent. The Ateuchus sacer (the renowned species sculp- son on whom the insect happens to alight. Locusts are
tured of old by the Egyptians on their sacred monuments), of common occurrence in many parts of Africa, where, as
and various species of Scaurus and Akis, may be regarded “ a great people and a strong,” they still produce their
in the southern countries of Europe, as the avant couriers days of “ darkness and of gloominess,” their days “ of
among the coleopterous tribes of those more exclusively clouds and of thick darkness,” so magnificently described
African forms which have their centre of dominion in the by the Prophet Joel. One of the most formidable of the
burning deserts. Along the Mediterranean shores the insect tribes of this continent is the Termes bellicosus, or
1 Introd. to Ent. vol. iv. p. 408.
s Ibid. p. 490.
4 Edinburgh Cabinet Library, vol. ii. p. 93.
8 Entomographia Russica, tab. 13, fig. 1,
VOL. IX.
I
66 E N T O M
Geogra- white ant. It dwells in congregated troops, consisting of
phical Dis- labourers, soldiers, and sovereigns. The habitations are
tribution. a con;cai formj built of mud and clay, from ten to
twelve feet high, and divided in the interior by thin par¬
titions into a variety of cells. Indeed, Jobson, in his His¬
tory of Guinea, alleges that they are often twenty feet high ;
and he adds, that he frequently found them extremely
serviceable in screening himself and his companions while
engaged in the pursuit of antelopes and other game. 1 he
queen-mother of this species becomes of so enormous a
size in the pregnant state, that her abdomen exceeds,
by two thousand times, the bulk of the rest of her body;
and when the ova are fully formed, she obtrudes them at
the rate of sixty in a minute, or 72,000 in twenty-four
hours. Madeira and the Canary Islands are decidedly
African in their productions,—the insects, especially, ex¬
hibiting a strong relationship to those of Barbary and the
adjacent districts.
Latreille, while considering the geographical distribu¬
tion of insects, has well observed, that where the empire
of Flora terminates, there the domain of zoology like¬
wise comes to an end. Animals which feed on vege¬
tables cannot support themselves in a region entirely ste¬
rile, and such as are carnivorous are thus themselves in¬
directly deprived of sustenance in consequence of the
want of vegetation. Those countries of which the vege¬
table productions are the most gorgeous and abundant, are
likewise the most productive of insect life. Both effects
spring from a temperature high and continuously sustain¬
ed, from moderate moisture, and a varied soil. The more
closely, on the contrary, we approach the other extreme,
where clouds and darkness obscure the sky, and the ground
is so often covered with a pure but unproductive garment
of snow, and the lifeless solitude of the mountain valleys
is defended by the icy battlements of the enduring gla¬
ciers,—the more we shall perceive a diminution in the
amount of organic, and more especially of insect life. If,
instead of travelling northwards to the polar plains, we
ascend some majestic mountain even of a tropical range,
the same phenomena are observable. Although its base
should be laved by the glittering waters of an equatorial
sea, and its sloping sides should bear the arborescent ferns
and plumy palm trees of the warmest climes,—still, should
the mountain belong to the highest class, like those of
Cayambe or Chimborazo, long before the traveller has
approached its barren summit, he will perceive the most
striking symptoms of that sterility which we are apt to
associate only with the polar regions. The “ bright con¬
summate flowers” of the lower plains have disappeared,—
the parrots in their gay attire no longer adorn the stunted
trees,—and the insect tribes, so fantastic in their forms,
and of such surpassing lustre, have gradually decreased in
size and number, and at last present, in common with the
vegetable kingdom, an aspect and character much more
allied to those of northern climes. Finally, unless it may be
that some giant condor, or other bird of loftiest flight, is
seen floating in the thin air of those extremest heights,
there is nothing to remind the adventurous traveller that
he is actually within the burning tropics; for all his per¬
ceptions and sensations might be identical were he sud¬
denly transported to the summit of Mount Hecla,
An earthquake-rifted mountain of bright snow.
It is thus that, on the Central Alps of Europe, we meet with
many species characteristic of, though not peculiar to, the
plains of northern countries. The Prionus depsarius, long
O L O G Y.
regarded as exclusively confined to Sweden, has in later Geogra-
times been taken on the mountains of Switzerland ; and M.Ph^al Dis-
Latreillehas captured at Cantal the Lycus minutus formerly
received only from the most northern provinces of Europe.
The beautiful Apollo butterfty (Parnassius Apollo), so com¬
mon in the plains and flower-gardens in the vicinity of Upsal,
never occurs in France, except on mountains of consider¬
able elevation, and re-appears again in the snow-surround¬
ed valleys of Switzerland. Many other butterflies which,
in the northern provinces of France, occur not far from
warm and low-lying sheltered stations, are found in the
southern departments and in Italy on alpine or sub-alpine
situations. The same may be said of Carabus auratus
and Acridium grossum. Even in Great Britain, the limit¬
ed extent of which might be supposed to preclude any
great disparity in the entomological productions of its
geographical divisions, there is an obvious difference be¬
tween its southern and northern quarters. The colder and
more cloudy clime of Scotland is poor in Lepidoptera of
the finer kinds. Here no purple emperor, “ proud of ceru¬
lean dyes,” floats over the far-stretching branches of our
oaks and beeches,—no swallow-tailed butterfly (Papilio
Machaon), with its elegantly lengthened wings, reminds us
of the exquisite Brazilian tribes,—no “Camberwell beauty”
( Vanessa Antiopa) expands to the sun its richly margin¬
ed wings ; but these and many more, denied to bleak Ca¬
ledonia, are found in the southern counties of England.1
It is interesting, however, to observe the analogy which
exists between the insects, more especially the Coleoptera
of Scotland and of Sweden. Several of the rarest species
lately discovered in the northern quarters of the island,
such as Clivina Arctica, Harpalus micropterus, Elaphrus
Laponicus, Pyrrhusceneus, Salpingusfoveolatus, and others,
are better known in the Scandinavian peninsula than else¬
where, and are indeed characteristic of the north-western
division of the continent of Europe.
From these and similar observations, those who have
viewed the science of entomology with a philosophic eye
have endeavoured, in common with geographers, to divide
the surface of the earth into different climatic regions.
But while the latter have assumed as a basis the progres¬
sive differences in the longest continuance of the natural
day, the former proceed upon a knowledge of the mean
temperature of countries. Fabricius, in his Philosophia
Entomologica, divides climate in general into eight sub¬
climates, or restricted stations, viz. the Indian, the South¬
ern, the Mediterranean, the Northern, the Eastern, the
Western, and the Alpine. But it is easy, as M. Latreille
has remarked, to perceive, by the enumeration of the par¬
ticular countries which are referred to each of these divi¬
sions, that the divisions themselves are by no means esta¬
blished on a fixed foundation ; and that the suppression of
several would be necessary were the principle on which
they are established followed out with rigour. The sub¬
climate which he names Mediterranean comprises the
countries adjacent to the Mediterranean Sea, with Media
and Armenia. The Northern extends from Paris to Lap-
land. The Eastern consists of the north of Asia, of Sibe¬
ria, and of the cold or mountainous portion of Syria. The
Western contains Canada, the United States, Japan, and
China. From these it will be seen that this arrangement
is in many respects extremely arbitrary; for several of
the above-named districts, although placed under sepa¬
rate climates, have a mean temperature identically the
same. Moreover, many countries in which the mean tem¬
perature is the same, are characterized and distinguished
1 On the other hand, Ilipparchia BlanAina and Lyccena Artaterxes, two extremely rare English butterflies, occur very plentifully
in many parts of Scotland,—the former in July and August, the latter in June and July.
E N T O M
Geogra- by a great disparity in the nature of their animal produc-
phical Dis- tion3<
tnbution. jyp Latreille has taken another view of this interesting
subject, more in conformity with the dictum of Linnaeus,
regarding the characters of genera, the spirit of which
may be also here applied. “ Let the insects point out the
climate, and not the climate the insects.” He takes into
consideration all those genera which seem to be appropri¬
ated exclusively to certain determinate spaces on the sur¬
face of our earth. It is true that the groundwork of this
method is much more restricted than that from which
Humboldt and other writers on botanical geography have
deduced their observations on the distribution of plants ;
for our knowledge of the precise localities of foreign in¬
sects is by no means ample.1 The great French entomo¬
logist rather upbraids the majority of scientific travellers
with their negligence in these particulars; for it is not
the locality alone, but the physical character of the cli¬
mate, the mineralogical qualities of the soil, the vicinity
of wood and water, and the height above the level of the
sea, which ought to be noted in connection with the oc¬
currence of particular species. We have already noticed
the fondness of Papilio Cleopatra and other insects for a
calcareous soil. The Pimelia bicaudata, so common in
the neighbourhood of Marseilles, scarcely ever occurs at
a distance from the sea. If the interior parts of Barbary,
Syria, and Egypt, present us with species of the same
genus, this entomological relation no doubt results from
the soil of these countries being impregnated with saline
particles, and abounding in plants of the genus Salsola.
The insects which occur in the countries which border
the Mediterranean, the Black, and the Caspian Seas, ex¬
hibit many analogies.
The following propositions result from M. Latreille’s
researches in Entomology.
Ijtf, The totality or a great proportion of the insects
which occur in countries of which the qualities of the soil
and temperature are analogous, are nevertheless of differ¬
ent species, if these countries, though placed under the
same parallel, are widely distant from each other. All
the insects brought from the most eastern parts of Asia,
for example China, are distinct from those of Europe and
of Africa, whatever may be the latitude, elevation, or
mean temperature of these Asiatic countries.
2d, The generality of insects still differ specifically in
countries agreeing in the characters of their soil and tem¬
perature, but separated, independently of mere latitudinal
difference, by great natural barriers, such as chains of
lofty mountains, vast sandy deserts, or the waters of an
intervening ocean. Thus the species of New Holland or
of America are easily recognised among those of the va¬
rious countries of the ancient world ; and even the insects
of Grenada and Peru, though at no great distance from
those of Guiana, are in a great measure different, owing
no doubt to the interposition of the vast chain of the Cor¬
dilleras. When we pass from Piedmont into France by
the Col de Tende, we perceive a marked difference of
species, even in that short journey. These rules, how¬
ever, like most others, however general, are subject to se¬
veral individual exceptions. Several species of insect are
distributed over such a vast extent of territory as entitles
them to be regarded as genuine cosmopolites. Thus the
O L o G Y. 67
painted lady-butterfly ( Vanessa Cardui) is found over great Geogra-
portions of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, and is asPhicai
familiarly known in the central islands of the vast Pacific tribution.
Ocean, as in the flower-gardens of England.2 That beau-
tiful sphinx-moth (N. nerio), well known near Genoa, and
so remarkable for the richness of its green, a rare colour
among lepidopterous species, although it seldom occurs
farther north than France, is found in the Mauritius, and
probably in many intermediate countries. The deaths’
head moth (Sphynx Airopos}, which occurs occasionally
in most parts of Scotland, is well known in India and the
Isle of France. We have already mentioned the great
extent of territory occupied by several aquatic beetles;
and these and other examples which might be adduced
remind us of M. Latreille’s next proposition.
3d, Many genera of insects, and particularly such as
feed on vegetables, are spread over numerous points of the
principal divisions of our globe.
4d/., Other genera are exclusively proper to a certain
extent of country, whether of the ancient continents or
the new. According to Latreille, no species of the ge¬
nera Anthia, Graphipterus, Erodius, Pimelia, Scaurus,
Cossyphus, Mylabris, Brachycerus, Nemoptera, Apis, or
Anihophora, occur in America; and many genera of the
family Scarabeidce are likewise there unknown. But the
western world, on the other hand, produces several ge¬
nera which we do not meet with elsewhere,—such as
Agra, Galerita, Nilio, Tetraonyx, Rutela, Doryphora,
Alurnus, Erotylus, Cvpes, Corydalis, Labidus, Pelicinus,
Centris, Euglossa, Heliconia, Enycina, Castnia, &c. Our
bees are there replaced by Melipona and Trigona. We
have already mentioned several genera peculiar to Africa.
Colliuris is characteristic of the East Indies ; Lamprima,
Helceus, Paropsis (Notoclea of Marsham), and Panops, are
confined to New Holland.
bth, Many species in their natal countries effect parti¬
cular localities. Several alpine butterflies are never ob¬
served at any considerable distance from the region of
perpetual snow, while other species prefer the warmer air
of low-lying sheltered meads at no great height above the
level of the sea.
Qth, Both the ancient continent and the new may be
divided into zones, successively extending in the direction
of the meridians, and the breadth of which is measurable
by a portion of a circle parallel to the equator. The
species proper to one of these zones disappear gradually,
and give place in the same manner to those of the zone
following; so that from space to space the dominating
species, or even the totality, have undergone a change.3
Latreille compares these changes to that series of hori¬
zons which the traveller discovers in proportion as he re¬
moves from his first point of departure.
Sweden presents us with many insects peculiar to that
country, some of which are confined to its more northern
provinces, such as Lapland. But its southern portions,
for example Scania, produce, though still in limited num¬
bers, many German insects. France, as far as the 45th or
44th degree, supplies the entomologist with many of the
species which occur in the last-named countries; but the
Rhine and its eastern mountains form a kind of frontier
line, which many others do not appear to pass. The first
of the species characteristic of the warmer regions of
! The second edition of Comte Dejean’s Catalogue de Colivpteres now exhibits a very interesting picture of the distribution of that
order. We shall refer to it more particularly when we come to treat of the coleopterous tribes.
* Edinburgh Review, vol. liii. p. 339.
4i * *ntr°ductl0nc a la Geographic Generate des Arachnides ct des Inscctes, on des Climate propres d ces Animaux. This memoir was read to
le Academy of Sciences m 1815, and forms part of the 3d volume of the Mtmoires du Museum d'Hist. Nat. It was afterwards
repubhshed, with corrections and additions, along with some other essays, in a separate volume, entitled Mcmoires sur divers Sujets
diC l liistotre Naturelle des Insectes* &e. Paris, 1819. J
68 E N T O M
Geogra- Western Europe show themselves towards the inferior
pineal Dis-course of the Seine, in pretty close accordance with the
tribution. p0jnt where the vine is vigorous in the open air, inde-
pendent of any succour derived from merely local circum¬
stances. Ateuchus jlagellatus, Mylabris chicorii, Mantis
religiosa, CHcaxla hflunatodes, Asccilaphus italicus, and other s,
announce this change,—which becomes still more obvious
at Fontainebleau and the environs of Orleans, where,, in
addition to the above-named species, we may perceive
Phasma Rossii, Mantis pagatia, and Sphinx celeiio.^ But
these are but the forerunners of such as are native to
southern countries properly so called. The culture of
the olive, the spontaneous growth of the. Arbutus, the
pomegranate, and of lavender, are botanical symptoms
which cherish in the mind of an instructed entomologist
the hopes of a rich increase. This change is very obvious
in France, when, journeying from Paris to Marseilles, we
reach the territory of Mont&imart. The eastern provinces
of Spain, those sunny regions where the orange and the
palm-tree are luxuriant without the aid of man, produce
more abundantly the rarer southern insects of France, in¬
termingled with species hitherto unperceived in Europe.
Our knowledge of the insects of the south-east ot Eu¬
rope is by no means ample. Latreille informs us that the
Papilio chrysippus of Linnaeus, common in Egypt and the
East Indies, makes its first appearance as a European
species in the kingdom of Naples. The greater propor¬
tion, however, of the Egyptian species are entirely un¬
known in Europe, although they pertain, in numerous in¬
stances, to the same natural families as our own. The
southern parts of that land of pyramids produce many
magnificent species of Copris, such as C. Midas, Puce*-
phalus, Antenor, Gigas, and other insects peculiar to warm
countries, and seldom found at any great distance from
the equinoctial line of the old continent.
Similar successions of species take place from east to
west, and reciprocally. Most of the insects which occur in
Normandy and Brittany likewise inhabit the southern parts
of England. The northerly departments of France, situated
on the banks of the Rhine, have in many respects a commu¬
nity of species with the neighbouring provinces of Germany;
while, again, several species of the Levant, such as Cantha-
ris orientalis, Mylabris crassicornis, a beautiful variety of
Melolontha occidentalis brought home by Olivier, and cer¬
tain diurnal Lepidoptera, appear to have journeyed far west¬
ward from their ancestral homes, and fixed their abode
in the Austrian territory. The collections formed by
Olivier in Asia Minor, Syria, and Persia, prove that the
insects of those countries, though nearly related to those
of the south of Europe, are not specifically the same ; and
a like judgment, with some exceptions, may be entertained
of the species of Southern Russia and the Crimea. The
entomological productions of the coast of Coromandel, of
Bengal, of the south of China, and even of Thibet, possess
many characters in common ; but they are entirely dis¬
tinct from those of Europe. In the regions just named
we discover no species of the genera Gruphipterus, Akis,
Scaurus, Pimelia, Sepidium, or Erodia, for of these na¬
ture appears to have granted the exclusive possession to
the south-western regions of the ancient continent. Al¬
though Fabricius assigns the East Indies as the native
country of certain species of Brachycerus, Latreille has
been unable to identify any from such locality. The genus
Anthia is said to occur in Bengal, but not farther east¬
ward.
The great Asiatic division of our globe, when consider¬
ed in its entomological and other zoological relations, may
O L O G Y.
indeed be partitioned into several different departments.1 Geogra-
The Siberian or most northern portion, in consequence ofphwal p’s-
the severity of its winter season, possesses, even in its
southern districts, many attributes of the arctic regions ;
while its inland valleys, and the upper basins of its numer¬
ous and far-flowing rivers, are enriched, during a brilliant
though short-lived summer, with many of the more gorge¬
ous forms of insect life. Another vast and imperfectly
known region of Asia is bounded to the north by Siberia,
and to the south by those highly elevated table-lands
which terminate among the Himalaya Mountains. This
division still presents several features which prove its as¬
similation in some respects to the characters which dis¬
tinguish animal life in Europe ; for although it is undoubt¬
edly characterized by numerous peculiar forms of exis¬
tence, yet many of its genera and species are either the
genuine types of groups which occur in countries with
which we are familiar, or pertain to groups which are
themselves well exemplified by European insects. But
we now speak rather in relation to the higher animals
than the insect tribes; for, in truth, of the Entomology of
Central Asia we have as yet a most inadequate idea.
Among the Himalaya Mountains, and other southern por¬
tions of this division, we begin to discover many genera of
birds which occur in the lower lands of Hindustan and the
peninsular projection of Malacca; and if the entomologi¬
cal kingdom is at all regulated by corresponding rules,
we may infer that some of the southern insects also make
their way up those stupendous valleys. The same circum¬
stance indeed occurs, we mean the like transition of species,
in all the great geographical sections of the groups of ani¬
mal life. “ Each extensive division is characterized by
several peculiar forms, and yet at the same time nourishes
many species which are common alike to it and to other
regions; and it is only under some peculiar circumstances
of local situation, that either the zoological or botanical
products undergo a sudden change in character and con¬
dition. As the adventurous and observant traveller ad¬
vances on his journey, a few species are continually per¬
ceived to decrease in number, and then to disappear,
while their places are supplied by others, which, at first
but thinly scattered, gradually acquire an accession of
numbers, till they too have reached their full amount or
centre of dominion; but the change being only partial
from place to place, the difference is no more suddenly
perceptible than that in the horizon by which the travel¬
ler is surrounded, and a portion of which in his onward
progress becomes insensibly, from the circumference, the
very centre of the field of vision.”2 But no sooner do we
enter upon the zoology of India Proper, than the Euro¬
pean forms of animal life almost entirely disappear, and are
succeeded by others of a richer and more varied charac¬
ter of form and aspect, some of which, however, extend
to the parallel latitudes of the African continent. The
Asiatic Islands again present us with another picture, and
this latter change may be said to commence at the south¬
ern extremity of the Isthmus of Malacca. Java and Su¬
matra, in Mr Swainson’s opinion, will probably be found to
be the metropolis or central region of this range, which
still produces several of the forms of Northern India;
while in New Guinea and New Ireland, the Asiatic forms
properly so called begin to disappear, and are replaced by
many singular and interesting species, which exhibit the
commencement of what may be termed the Australian
kingdom. Papilio bolina occurs both in Java and New
Holland.
Madagascar, as might be supposed, exhibits in its natu-
1 Edinburgh Cabinet Library, vol. viii. p. 1.
* Ibid, p- 2.
ENTOMOLOGY.
Geogra- ral families a resemblance to Africa. Nevertheless the
phical Di5-species are distinct, and many of them present no analogy
whatever to those of the continent. The Isles of France
and Bourbon likewise manifest traces of the same family
resemblance ; but, on a general view, they show a closer
connection with the East Indian species. Their ascertain¬
ed number is, however, extremely limited.1
Although the Entomology of New Holland maybe said,
like that of all other vast tracts of country, to exhibit a
special type, it is yet composed, in some of its principal
portions, of species analogous to those of the Moluccas
and the south-east of India. This great fifth continent,
as it has been called, is, however, less rich in insects than
many other foreign countries, its soil being drier, and not
so well wooded. The genus Mylabris, so abundant in
the south of Europe, in Africa, and Asia, does not appear
to pass beyond Timor. In that respect, then, New Hol¬
land agrees with America, as well as in the possession of
Passalus, a genus of which the species have been more
particularly noted as inhabitants of the new world. Seve¬
ral generic groups of the latter region present a closer re¬
semblance to those of the east of Asia, than to such as are
characteristic of the ancient world. The insects of New
Zealand, of New Caledonia, and the circumjacent isles,
show an obvious relation to those of New Holland; and
the same may be said of such as occur in the archipelagos
of the Great Southern Ocean. These islands, composed
in great measure of aggregations of polypiferous rocks,
form a chain which unites them in a westerly direction to
the preceding regions, and from which many of their na¬
tural productions may have been received in the long
course of ages. This natural communication could not
have taken place with the new world, and thus many of
these islands, although rather American than otherwise,
according to their geographical position, may be regarded
as Asiatic in regard to their animal and vegetable pro¬
ducts.
The new world has also been observed to present pro¬
gressive changes in the succession of its species, in con¬
nection with every considerable difference in the latitude
and longitude. M. Bose collected in Carolina many species
which were unknown in Pennsylvania, and were still more
foreign to New York ; and the researches of Abbot in il¬
lustration of the Lepidoptera of Georgia demonstrate the
existence in that province of certain species which have
their central station in the Antilles. The banks of the
far-stretching Missouri, about twenty degrees to the west
of Philadelphia, produce many peculiar species. The En¬
tomology of the Antilles presents a strong contrast to that
of the United States. Trinidad, under the tenth degree
of north latitude, presents us with truly equatorial species,
such as the splendid butterflies called Teucer and Mene-
laus, which do not occur in St Domingo. Brazil, so gorge¬
ous in its insect tribes, possesses species in common with
Cayenne, but it also produces many others peculiar to it¬
self. Latreille differs from Mr Macleay in his opinion re¬
garding the comparative extension, in a northerly direc¬
tion, of the southern species in the new and old world.
He states that the southern species of the western hemi¬
sphere do not attain to so high a latitude as they do on
the ancient continents. Here, he thinks, they begin to
appear between the forty-eighth and forty-ninth degrees
of north latitude ; there, not until we gain the forty-third
degree.2 In relation to this subject Mr Kirby has remark¬
ed, that although the winters in Canada, within the same
69
parallel as France, are longer and more severe than those Geogra-
even of Great Britain or of Germany, yet the summers are phical Dia-
intensely hot; so that though tropical species do not range tribution.
so high, those of a tropical structure, in conformity with
Mr Macleay's views, may be found in a higher latitude in
the new world than in Europe.3 When we take into
consideration certain peculiarities in the physical consti¬
tution of America,—its well watered surface, its lofty
mountains, its majestic forests, and humid atmosphere,—
we shall easily understand how many genera of the an¬
cient continent, dwelling by preference in dry, warm, and
sandy situations, for example Anthia, Pimelia, Erodius,
and Brachycerus, should not occur in the comparatively
rich, moist, and shaded soils of the new world. Thus
also the carnivorous Coleoptera in America are propor¬
tionally of smaller amount than in the old continent, al¬
though no quarter of the globe is more productive of
large and splendid species among the phytophagous or
vegetable-eating tribes of insects. However, the south
of China and the Moluccas still maintain a certain supe¬
riority in the production of such splendid examples of the
lepidopterous order as Papilio Priamus and Bombyx Atlas,
of which the dimensions surpass those of the American
species. A fact noted by Latreille is worthy of remem¬
brance, viz. that Europe, Africa, and Western Asia, are
extremely unproductive of the genus Phasma, or the
spectre insect, and that such of the species as do occur
are extremely small, while the Moluccas and South Ame¬
rica produce many of remarkable size. The atmospheric
humidity of the new world, its narrow and elongated
form, the nature of its soil, and the vast extent of ocean
by which it is environed, are sufficient reasons for the dis¬
agreement observable between its productions and those
of corresponding latitudes in our own hemisphere. The
new world, in fact, bears in many respects the same
relation to the old that Britain does to a great portion of
Europe.4
W7e have already alluded to the classification of climate
given by Fabricius, and to certain circumstances which
have been supposed to render the adoption of that classi¬
fication unadvisable. Latreille has viewed the same sub¬
ject under a better aspect. He considers the northern
extremities of Greenland and of Spitzbergen, under the
eighty-first degree of northern latitude, as the points
where vegetation terminates. But to obviate all difficulty,
and with a view to establish a duodecimal division, which
is not only convenient in itself, but also in frequent accord¬
ance with the actual observation of geographical groups,
he raises this supposed limit of vegetation three degrees
higher, that is, to the eighty-fourth degree. If we then
divide into successive spaces of twelve degrees, a meridian
commencing from the western parts of Spitzbergen, or
those nearest to Greenland, we shall have a suite of lati¬
tudes corresponding successively to the limits of the coun¬
tries already alluded to in relation to their zoological
productions. He continues these sections duodecimally
or by twelve degrees, beyond the equator, and towards
the antarctic pole, and stops about the sixtieth degree of
southern latitude, under the parallel of Sandwich Land,
regarded in that direction as the ne plus ultra of geogra¬
phical discovery.
It appears that a difference in latitude of twelve de¬
grees always produces a very sensible change in the mass
of insect species; and that if that space is doubled, the
alteration is almost total; as, for example, between the
‘ See an interesting memoir (which we did not receive till the present pages were in types, and which we consequently have not
had tune to analyse) entitled “ Sur les Lepidopteres de Madagascar, Bourbon, et Maurice,” by Dr Boisduval, in the Nouvelles An¬
nates du Museum, t. ii. p. 149.
a Memoires, p. 182. * lutrod. to Entomology, vol. iv. p. 492.
Mimoircs, p. 184.
ENTOMOLOGY.
70
Geogra- north of Sweden and the north of Spain. An analogous
phical Dis- c]lailge takes place in relation to the longitude, but more
^ U^?n> slowly, and after a traverse of a greater distance; since
the mean temperature, but for causes of a particular and
local nature, is not widely different under the same paral¬
lel. In proportion as we approach the pole, the extent
occupied by particular races embraces a greater number
of geographical divisions.
The insects of America, even those of its northern pro¬
vinces, at least as far as Canada, may be said to differ
specifically from those of Europe; but the species of
Greenland may rather be regarded as European. The
last-named country, so far as the entomological geography
of the ancient continent is concerned, is assumed by La-
treille as the point of departure for his first meridian. In
any view it may be regarded as intermediate between
the two hemispheres. The Canaries, the Cape de Yerd
Islands, and Madeira, are African, judging from their en¬
tomological productions. The meridian above named will
thus follow a middle line between these islands and the
most eastern cape of South America, that of St Roque,
near Rio Grande, in Brazil. It will pass by the western
isles, or archipelago of the Azores, and by the island of
Ascension, and will abut to the westward of Sandwich
Land. Its longitude will be thirty-four degrees to the
west of the meridian of Paris. According to Latreille’s
observations on the insects collected by Olivier in Persia,
their general relationship to those of the south of Europe
and the north of Africa, and the essential differences
which they present when compared with the entomologi¬
cal productions of the East Indies, it may be inferred
that the most signal changes in the species take place in
a southerly direction towards the frontier lines of Persia
and Hindustan, and in a northerly direction at a short
distance from the eastern slopes of the Uralian Moun¬
tains and Lake Aral, a little beyond the sixtieth meridian
east of Paris. We may fix this limit approximately at
sixty-two degrees, somewhat to the west of the Obi, and
of Balk and Candahar, for the sake of affording the means
of continuing a duodecimal division; for if we add 62 to
34, the difference between the first meridian and that of
Paris, we have the number 96, a quantity susceptible of
being divided, without fractions, into eight parts, each
equal to the thirtieth portion of the circle. We thus se¬
parate the ancient continent into two great bands, of which
one is western and the other eastern ; and if we assign to
the latter the same extent in longitude as the former,
that is, ninety-six degrees, it will terminate 158 degrees
of eastern longitude from the meridian of Paris. Depart¬
ing from Kamtchatka, it will pass by the Carolinas, and
from thence between New Holland and New Zealand.
If augmented by one fourth, or by twenty-four degrees,
this eastern band would be bounded by the 182d meridian
east of Paris, and passing at a short distance from East
Cape, over Behring’s Straits, would stretch beyond the
friendly Islands, and form, without any material error in
relation to our entomological views, a line of demarcation
between Asia and America. The remaining 144 degrees
complete the equatorial circle, and compose the extent in
longitude of that great zone proper to the insects of Ame¬
rica. It may also be divided, and under the same deno¬
minations of eastern and western, into two equal portions,
each of seventy-two degrees. Thus the entire circle of
the equator may be regarded as divisible into four arcs,
of which the values are, 72, 72, 96, and 120, or in the
proportion of six thirtieths, eight thirtieths, and ten thir¬
tieths. I be extent in longitude of the ancient continent
will comprise 216 degrees, and that of the new 144.
The lesser zones or climates are denominated arctic or
antarctic by M. Latreille, according to their position on
this or the other side of the equator. The climate in- Geogra.
eluded between the 84th and 72d degrees of north lati-phL'al Bis-
tude is named the polar climate. Then follow as far as tribution.
the equator, and always in divisions of twelve degrees,
the following climates, viz. the sub-polar, \\\q superior, the
intermediate, the super-tropical, the tropical, and the equa¬
torial ; and as each hemisphere is partitioned into two
great divisions, the climates of each are distinguished by
the name of western and eastern. The antarctic climates
consist of only three in number, as we know little of what
exists amid those chilly regions beyond the 60th degree
of south latitude, and thus in that direction both the polar
and sub-polar climates may be suppressed. We shall il¬
lustrate these views by a few applications to the northern
and western kingdoms of Europe, the best known portions
of the old world.
The polar climate presents us with the insects of the
greater part of Greenland, and with those of Iceland and
of Spitzbergen. In the sub-polar chmsite we shall find those
of Norway, of the north of Sweden, and of Russia in Eu¬
rope. These two of course contain the insects of the
coldest climates of the earth. We may regard as belong¬
ing to the superior climate the species of Great Britain,
of the south of Sweden, of the north of France as far as
the inferior course of the Loire, of Prussia, of Germany
Proper, and of the south of Russia as far as the Crimea
exclusive. The intermediate climate, at equal distances
from those of the equator and the pole, will comprehend
all the species of the south of Europe, and of a portion of
the west of Asia. Those of the north of Africa, and as
far as the equator, may be classed under the climates
called super-tropical, tropical, and equatorial. These west¬
ern climates may be divided into two equal parts, each
consisting of forty-eight degrees, by a meridian which, pass¬
ing fourteen degrees to the east of Paris, in the vicinity of
Vienna, would leave to the east the most southern part of
Italy, Turkey in Europe, Egypt, &c. Now it has been
already remarked, that many of the insects of the envi¬
rons of Vienna are also known to occur in the Levant,
and that those of the kingdom of Naples, of Egypt, and
of the south-east of Europe, appear to dilfer in many re¬
spects from the southern and western species of that divi¬
sion of the globe. We can here, then, effect the forma¬
tion of sub-climates. If we divide the eastern portion, of
which the extent in longitude is 120 degrees, into four
equal sections of thirty degrees, by meridians, we shall
have sub-climates, of which the boundaries seem very ac¬
cordant with nature. Thus the first would comprehend
Hindustan, Thibet, Little Bucharia, &c. while the second
would detach almost all the Philippine Islands, China
Proper, and the regions of the north as far as a short way
beyond the river Lena. Corea, Japan, and the countries
of the Manchous and Tongouses, &c. would form the
third subdivision. The fourth would present Kamt¬
chatka, and the other countries which terminate the
north-east of Asia. America may likewise be subdivided
after a similar manner.
It must, however, be borne in mind that nature, in her
distribution of the localities proper to the various races of
animals, often swerves from her more regular and accus¬
tomed courses, and that the lines of habitation form nu¬
merous curves and sinuosities, not unfrequently crossed
or interrupted by others of a somewhat different nature.
We must, therefore, in considering such views as the pre¬
ceding, make abstraction of particular modifications which
alter or derange our theoretical views. Latreille’s is but
an unfinished sketch of a highly interesting geographical
map of Entomology, in which he has endeavoured, as well
as he could, to mark out various boundaries, and to divide
them according to certain principles in harmony with his
E N TO M
Geogra- actual observations, so far as these have been hitherto
phical Dis-carried. The geographical distribution of living beings
presents a wide field for speculation, although the modes
by which that distribution has been effected will proba¬
bly in many cases remain for ever concealed from hu¬
man knowledge. Their gradual extension by natural
means, from a single centre of creation, scarcely falls
within the sphere of credibility ; and thus the creation of
various groups of species over different points of the earth’s
surface, and in accordance with the climate and physical
character of different countries,—or the removal and dis¬
persion, by supernatural agency, of the greater proportion
of existing species from an original centre,—seem the two
points, one or other of which remains to be illustrated by
whoever is curious in such bewildering speculations. “ A
glance at the innumerable and far-spread legions which
compose the busy world of insect life renders the subject
still more complex and confounding. A discovery ship,
under the guidance of brave men, surmounts with diffi¬
culty the terrors of the ocean ; and, after being months on
the trackless main, and some thousand miles from any of
the great continents of the earth, she arrives at last and
accidentally at some hitherto unknown island of small di¬
mensions, a mere speck in the vast world of waters by
which it is surrounded. She probably finds the ‘ Lord of
the Creation’ there unknown ; but though untrod by hu¬
man footsteps, how busy is that lonely spot with all the
other forms of active life I Even man himself is repre¬
sented not unaptly by the sagacious and imitative mon¬
keys, which eagerly employ so many vain expedients to
drive from their shores what they no doubt regard as
merely a stronger species of their race. ‘ Birds of gayest
plume’ stand fearlessly before the unsympathizing natura¬
list; and at every step of the botanical collector the most
gorgeous butterflies are wafted from the blossoms of un¬
known flowers, and beautify the ‘ living air’ with their
many splendid hues. Yet how frail are such gaudy wings,
and how vainly would they now serve as the means of
transport from that solitary spot, where all the present
generations have had their birth ! In what manner, then,
did they become its denizens, or by what means were they
transported to a point almost imperceptible in comparison
with the immeasurable extent of the circumjacent ocean?”1
In the opinion of Humboldt, the causes of the distribu¬
tion of species, whether in the vegetable or in the animal
kingdom, are among the number of mysteries to which
natural science cannot attain. This science, or at least
that branch of it which takes cognizance of zoological geo¬
graphy, is not occupied in the investigation of the origin
of beings, but of the laws in accordance with which they
are now distributed over the surface of the earth. It en¬
ters into the examination of things as they are, the co-ex¬
istence of vegetable and animal forms in each latitude, at
different heights, and at different degrees of temperature ;
it studies the relations under which particular organizations
are more vigorously developed, multiplied, or modified;
but it approaches not problems the solution of which is im¬
possible, since they touch the origin or first existence of
the germs of life. “ We may add,” says that enlightened
naturalist, “ that the attempts which have been made to
explain the distribution of various species over the globe,
by the sole influence of climate, date at a period when
physical geography was still in its infancy; when, recurring
incessantly to pretended contrasts between the two worlds,
O L o G Y. 71
it was imagined that the whole of Africa and of America re- Geogra-
sembled the deserts of Egypt and the marshes of Cayenne, phical Diau
At present, when men judge of the state of things, not tribution.
from one type arbitrarily chosen, but from positive know-
ledge, it is ascertained that the two continents, in their
immense extent, contain countries that are altogether ana¬
logous, and that there are regions of America as barren
and burning as the interior of Africa.”2 It is indeed true
that the migration and distribution of organized bodies can
no more be solved as a problem in physical science than
the mystery of their original creation ; and that “ the task
of the philosopher is fulfilled when he has indicated the
laws in accordance with which nature has distributed the
forms of animal and vegetable life.”3
In regard to those exquisite tribes which form the more
immediate subjects of our present observations, it is known
that the increasing intensity and continuance of heat ex¬
ert a powerful influence on the size, structure, and external
adornment of the species. The nearer, in general, that we
advance towards equinoctial countries, the more remark¬
able do we find these creatures, for their largeness of di¬
mension, their singularity of form, and their depth as well
as splendour of colour. An accurate knowledge of the
distribution of insects is of the highest interest to the
geologist and geographer as well as to the entomologist,
and may be the means of determining, in doubtful or dis¬
puted cases, the natural and what may be called the ori¬
ginal limits of countries; as, for example, in the case of
islands situated at nearly equal distances between two
distant continents. But we cannot here pursue the sub¬
ject under a more extended form.4
Having thus cursorily considered the geographical dis¬
tribution of insects, we may now devote a brief space to
their local distribution, or favourite haunts, according to
their kind, in any given district. The surface of a coun¬
try, it has been observed, consists either of mountains,
hills, and valleys, or of plains. In either case it may be
bare and exposed, or diversified by forests, groves, or
copses; and it may also be dry and sandy, or rich and
well watered by lakes and rivers. Such parts as are un¬
covered are greatly varied by the hand both of art and
nature, and present heaths or grassy downs, marshes,
meadows, or tillage land, each of which is characterized by
a difference of soil as well as of vegetable surface. In each
the careful entomologist will discover peculiar kinds of
insects. “ As mountains and hills have usually their own
Flora, the insects appropriated to alpine plants can only
be met with where their pabulum is found. Here also
those northern insects that are impatient of a warm cli¬
mate will take their station if they migrate to the south¬
ward. The predacious beetles likewise sometimes frequent
a mountainous district. Carabus glabratus was first taken
by Professor Hooker on Ingleborough ; and probably, if
the Welsh and Scotch mountains were duly investigated
by an entomologist, many novelties would reward his
toils. The valleys and plains, especially those of a sunny
exposition, abound in insects. When the heat of the
atmosphere indisposes you for motion, you will find it no
unprofitable or unpleasant employment, lying on the grass,
to search for minute beetles, which you will there find
coursing about amongst the tufts and roots of the herb¬
age. Thus you may procure many of the Pselaphidce,
which you would not otherwise meet with. Even when
the grass is grown up, insects are fond of alighting upon
1 Edinburgh Review, vol. liii. p. 334. 2 Personal Narrative, vol. v. p. 180. 3 Ibid. vol. iii. p. 490.
4 to the works already mentioned, the reader may consult an excellent Essai sur les Coleopteres de la Guyane Francaise
par M. in. I.acordaire, in the Nouv. Annates du Museum, t. ii. p. 35 ; and Thoughts on the Geographical Distribution of Insects, in the ,
oth JNo. 01 tne Mntomological Magazine. ' -
72 E N T O M
Geogra. its spikes, and thence drop or run to the ground. Should
phical Dis- circumstances ever carry you abroad to the steppes or
tribution. grassy plains of Tartary, or to Hungary, you will find
there two or three species of the singular genus Lethrus,
which burrows in the soil. Every hole is inhabited by a
male and female ;—from it they issue to attack the plants
or vines; and having cut out the heart of a plant, go
backwards like a crab with the prize to their burrow. At
the time of pairing, sometimes violent battles, encouraged
by the female, take place between the male and a stran¬
ger of that sex desirous of admission, which cease only
with the death or flight of the stranger. The vicinity and
borders of woods generally abound in insects of every or¬
der, and, if you proceed as hereafter directed, will fur¬
nish you with numerous prizes, especially of Lepidop-
tera. Here alone you can meet with the purple empe¬
ror butterfly (Apatura Iris); and if properly equipped
you may readily secure him.’1
The aquatic beetles of the genera Dytiscus, Colyni-
betes, &c. of course occur in the water. During the even¬
ing twilight, however, they frequently leave their moist
abodes, and wing their way over the adjacent country.
When surprised, after their nocturnal adventures, by the
rising sun, they will plunge into whatever water is neaiest
at hand, and thus rain barrels and washing tubs are some¬
times not looked into in vain. Chance often throws into
the hands of an entomologist what he has long sedulously
sought for without success; and an open window and a
lighted candle will sometimes procure what a traverse
through the forest, worthy of a North American Indian,
would not have obtained. By collecting aquatic plants,
duckweed, and “ the green mantle of the stagnant pool,”
and afterwards examining these productions at leisure in a
basin of water, many valuable insects of the minuter kinds
may be procured. Although the Gyrinus Viola aquatica
is said to inhabit salt water, that element may be regard¬
ed as decidedly adverse to insect life. Brackish water,
however, produces several peculiar species, such as Hy-
drcena marina, and the large-eyed Cimicidae. According
to Latreille, the genus Pimelia occurs only in soils impreg¬
nated with saline particles, or where the genus Salsola
abounds.
Heaths, though in a general view unproductive of in¬
sect life, yield some very beautiful species, such as Cara-
bus nitens and arvensis, and Cicindela sylvatica. In regard
to soils, such as are light, according to Mr Kirby, are most
prolific in insects. Warm sandy banks are frequented by
Cicindela campestris, Opatrum sabulosum, Helops quis-
quilius, &c.; and chalk is extremely attractive. 'I he Li-
cini, Papilio Cleopatra, several species of Dasytes, and
Lamice, seem to delight in the latter substance. Many
others are found in chalk-pits, which Mr Kirby does not
think should be regarded actually as chalk insects; but
rather that they simply fall into the pits, and then become
more discernible in consequence of the stronger contrast of
colour. By watching in one of these pits during a warm
day, vast numbers of insects may be taken. Of all soils
clay offers the fewest inducements to the entomologist.2
Old trees, felled timber, and planks which have lain
long upon the ground, should be carefully examined by
the collector, as on the under sides of the latter, as well
as beneath stones, many species seek repose and shelter.
Thorn and other fences, whether dead or living, are very
productive; and gates,posts, and wooden rails, ought in no¬
wise to be neglected. Although the sea itself, according
0 L O G Y.
to the authority last quoted, produces no true insects, yet Geogra.
many and varied tribes are known to haunt its shores, phical Dis-
On the sand hills of the Norfolk coast Mr Kirby found tnbution.
JEgialia globosa and Cicindela hybrida. Rynchcenus hor-
ridus likewise inhabits thistles growing near the sea. Fuci
and other marine rejectamenta, which border the mar¬
gins of friths and estuaries, produce peculiar species of
Cercyon, some Aphodii, and many Staphylinidce. That
singular insect Oxytelus tricornis has been captured in
a situation like that now indicated. The inundations of
rivers in spring, summer, and autumn, sweep innume¬
rable insects from their hiding places; and when the
waters begin to subside, the examination of the floating
grasses, broken twigs, and various debris which line the
indented shores, will afford an ample field for the investiga¬
tions of the entomologist. To him indeed the most barren
scene, whether of dreary moor or desolate mountain, can
never be devoid of interest,—for the more untrodden the
path the stronger and more rational are his hopes of be¬
coming possessed of some of those treasures which are
everywhere scattered over the wilderness of nature,—-
hitherto unperceived perhaps by human eye, but never¬
theless performing an essential part in the great and so¬
lemn mystery of creation.
The geological relations of insects do not appear to have
attracted the notice of naturalists,—we mean their more
direct connection with rocks, independent of that inter¬
mediate relationship which results from the dependence
of particular plants on certain soils, and the known al¬
liance of many tribes of insects with peculiar forms of
vegetable life. Mr Wailes always found the larvae of Enico~
ceri on rough slimy stones, and he found it as great a w'aste
of time to look for them on a smooth limestone, as to turn
up a fragment of basaltic rock (whinstone) in search of
geodephagous insects. The repugnance of beetles to
basalt he had previously noticed. The subjacent rock of
the wild district of Teesdale is almost exclusively com¬
posed of the basalt of the great whin-sill, the formation
of which is regarded as a knotty point by geologists. Of
course the loose and superficial stones of the country are
its fragments, and among these scarcely a beetle is to be
found, except a few which are superlatively common else¬
where, though inter rariores in the district referred to.
“ So far,” says Mr Wailes, “ as my observations, whether
confined to single stones, or extended over a whole dis¬
trict, go, any place having limestone, particularly the
magnesian, for its subjacent stratum, will afford abun¬
dance of the Geodephaga, as well as most other Coleop-
tera, whilst they will be found very thinly scattered over
a basaltic region. It is strange to notice the almost uni¬
form absence of these insects on turning up a whin which
has accidentally found its way into a heap of other stones,
though every one of the latter may have one or more te^
nants under it. Must we not look to the comparative
dryness of the limestone and humidity of the whin for an
explanation ? We can readily account for the great predo¬
minance of the land testacea on a limestone district; but
lime does not enter into the composition of beetles.”3
Insects may also be viewed in relation to their seasons
of appearance, or the most appropriate periods for the
collection of the different kinds. Such as gather honey
and the pollen of plants are among the first to proclaim
the approach of spring; and their appearance may be
dated from the blossoming of certain trees and flowers of
common occurrence. Other plants, likewise accompanied
1 Iniroduc. to Ent. iv. 499. 2 Ibid. p. 304.
* Entomological Magazine., iii. 257. For a correct chemical analysis of the constitution of insects see page 29 of this volume of the
Encyclopaedia.
ENTOMOLOGY.
Coleoptera. by peculiar insects, blossom later ; and thus we may trace
‘ & mutual relationship between the two kingdoms through¬
out the sparkling spring, the leafy summer, and the me¬
lancholy autumn,—till relentless winter sets his seal upon
insect life, and either renders it entirely torpid, or sheds
occasionally a feeble ray on some forlorn company of
gnats, whose dances, now no longer “ choral,” exhibit but
a sad representative of that more genial season when
the “ living air was filled with their not unjoyful mur¬
murs. W ith these and a few other exceptions, the ear¬
liest insect season commences with the flowering of the
sallow (Salix caprea of Linnaeus, Saugh of the Scot¬
tish schoolboy), which is accompanied by the golden
flowers of the crocus, and the beautiful green of the ex¬
panding gooseberries. “ Then is your time,” says Mr
Kirby, “ to collect many species of wild bees and Diptera,
not afterwards to be met with ; and various other insects
now begin to emerge from the pupa. Another and later
season is marked by the general blossoming of the butter¬
cup (Ranunculus bulbosus), accompanied by the marsh-
marygold ( Calthapalustris), and ladies’ smock ( Cardamine
pratensis), when you may hunt the pastures, meadows,
and marshes with success, and take some insects that do
not show themselves later. The coprophagous insects
are now abundant. Amongst others, Aphodius testudma-
rius, a perfectly vernal species, is now only to be taken,
and usually flying. A third insect season indicated by
Flora, and a very prolific one, commences with the blos¬
soming of the hawthorn, when you must desert the meads
for the inclosures. At this time all nature begins to put
on her gayest attire, and all her insect tribes are now on
the alert, and fill the air They are almost universally
attracted by the sweet and lovely blossoms of the plant
just named: so that, by examining them, you may entrap
some of every order, and many that during the year will
appear no more. Even many of the saprophagous insects
will sip nectar from the flowers. The umbelliferous
plants proclaim the fourth season of insects, particularly
the wild carrot and parsnip. You will scarcely ever fail
to find, if the weather is genial, hyme7iopterous and dip¬
terous insects of various genera, especially such as have a
short tongue, engaged in collecting the honey from those
plants. Here you may take some of the rarer Chrysidce,
Crabronidcc, Cercerides, &c. and occasionally even Coleop¬
tera. The last insect season may be dated from the gene¬
ral flowering of the thistle tribe. When these are in blos¬
som is the best time of all to collect the humble-bees
(Bombus), the leaf-cutter bees (Megachile), and many
other Apiaricx, Lat. which alone, by their long tongues,
can imbibe the honey and collect the pollen of these flow-
•ers. Ihe male humble-bees frequent them to the last,
and often seem as if they were intoxicated with their
sweets.”1
The preceding chapters contain whatever we have to
say of a general nature regarding the Class of insects.
We shall now proceed to the particular history of those
primary divisions called Orders, the name and nature of
each of which have been already briefly expounded at
the commencement of this article.
73
Order I—COLEOPTERA.2 * * *
Coleopterous insects have usually four wings, the two
superior of which, called elytra, resemble horizontal,
somewhat convex scales, which meet in a straight line Coleoptera.
along their inner margins, where they form what is called
the dorsal suture. The inferior wings, which are the true
organs of flight, are membranaceous, transparent, trans¬
versely folded, and covered and protected by the elytra
or wing-cases. I hey are all masticating insects, provided
with mandibles and maxillae.
Of all the insect tribes these are the most numerous,
the best known, and the most generally interesting. Their
singular and varied forms, their brilliant colouring, the
great size of many species, and that solid consistence
which renders their collection and preservation compara¬
tively easy, have long secured for them the devoted at¬
tention of the entomologist. Some advantages also result
to their study and classification from the clearly defined
and articulate forms of their external organs. The name
and principal characters of the order were bestowed and
defined by Aristotle, and have been adopted by almost
all succeeding writers on the subject. Other characters
have no doubt been added to his ancient definition of
icings in a sheath,—such as the transverse folding of these
organs, and the straightness of the suture by which the
ely tra are united ; and several exceptions to the supposed
universal attributes of the order have been discovered, 
such as the female glow-worm, which has neither wings
nor sheaths, and the genus Meloe, and many Carabi, which,
though furnished with sheaths or elytra, are entirely des¬
titute of true or membranaceous wings. So also, in the
genera Buprestis, Molorchus, and others, we may discover
exceptions to the transverse folding of the last-named
organs; and the exact fitting or junction of the elytra,
forming the dorsal suture, ceases to hold in the genus
Meloe,—so that none of these characters can be regarded
as universal; but as they are very generally prevalent,
and a few exceptions do not invalidate a rule, it is ad¬
visable that they should be retained for the purposes of
definition.
Coleopterous insects, like others, are composed of three
principal portions, head, thorax, and abdomen. The head
varies greatly both in size and form, according to the dif¬
ferent tribes. In the great section of the Geodephaga, or
ground-beetles, it is usually of a somewhat triangular
form ; in many of the short elytra’d tribes (Brachehytra)
it is orbicular; while among the weevils (Curculionides)
it is prolonged into a pointed rostrum or beak. The hin¬
der part is frequently contracted into a short neck, and is
inserted into a cavity of the thorax, in which it moves as
in a socket. The head bears two antennce, of which the
form and structure differ not only in the different genera,
but even in the sexes of the same species. They usually,
however, consist of ten or eleven distinct articulations,
the latter number being the more frequent. They are in¬
serted in the front of the head, anterior to, and rather
beneath, the region of the eyes. Their various forms, as
characteristic of particular groups, will be afterwards de¬
scribed. The eyes of Coleoptera, in the perfect state,
are two in number, and composite. In certain Staphyli-
nidae, two small yellowish points have been observed, which
some naturalists have regarded as analogous to the simple
or stemmatic eyes ; but the sentiments of Latreille are ad¬
verse to that opinion. The actual eyes are either entire,
notched, or even occasionally so completely intersected
by a little corneous stalk, as to exhibit (as*in the genus
Gyrinus) the appearance of a pair on either side. The
mouth consists of a labrum, two mandibles, two maxilla;,
each furnished with one or two articulated palpi, and a
1 Introduc. to Ent- vol. iv. p. 508.
and o/thi JtnRnr,01" 6n m0l°gy °; th? dlfferent crtlers has already been given in our introductory observations,—see pages 25
and 26 ot this volume. Our present order corresponds to the Eleutherata of Fabricius. ’ ^
VOL. IX.
K
74 E N T O M
Coleoptera. labium composed of two parts, the mentum and ligula, and
accompanied by a pair of palpi. The mandibles are usual¬
ly of a corneous consistence, but they are membranaceous
and of small size, in such as take little apparent nourish¬
ment, or feed on the juices of flowers, or on excrementi-
tial or putrescent animal fluids. The maxillae are of a soft¬
er texture than the mandibles. When there are a pair of
palpi on each maxilla, the exterior ones never consist of
more than four joints ; those of the labium have usually
three articulations.
The thorax of the Coleoptera, like that of other hexa¬
pod insects, is likewise divisible into three principal por¬
tions, each of which is characterized by a particular de¬
gree of development. The mesothorax is very narrow,
whilst the corselet or prothorax, and the metathorax, exhi¬
bit a considerable bulk. This is an important feature in
the structure of the skeleton or tegument of the coleop¬
terous order. The prothorax is always free in its move¬
ments, while the two other portions are united together,
and nearly immoveable. The component parts of the me¬
sothorax are in fact rudimentary, and those of the scutel-
lum are soldered together. But the elements of the lat¬
ter portion, that is, the prcescutum, the scutum, the scutel-
lum, commonly so called, and the postscutellum, still exist,
and their joinings are quite perceptible in certain genera.
The prothorax supports only the first pair of legs, while
the mesothorax bears the second pair and the elytra.
The second pair of wings and the third pair of legs are
attached to the metathorax.
The elytra and wings take their origin from the lateral
and superior margins of that portion of the body to which
they are attached. The elytra are usually of a very firm
or almost crustaceous consistence, opake, and without re¬
ticulations. The true wings are large, veined, and con¬
cealed beneath the elytra. The latter always exist (with
the exception of the females of a few species), but many
species are apterous, so far as concerns the existence of
the membranaceous wings. In general the elytra equal
the body in length, but they are sometimes, as among the
Staphylinidae, much shorter. They are usually free, and
extended during the act of flight; but among several ca-
rabideous insects they seem united by the dorsal suture,
and are consequently incapable of extension. In these in¬
stances the true wings are wanting.
The abdomen of the Coleoptera is sessile, that is, at¬
tached to the metathorax by its largest transverse diame¬
ter. Its inferior or ventral part is less extended longitudi¬
nally than the superior, and this restriction is chiefly ow¬
ing to the development of the sternum of the metatho¬
rax, which is prolonged backwards, and thus, as it were,
usurps the place of the abdomen. This may be very dis¬
tinctly observed in the genus Copris, in which the seg¬
ments of the abdomen seem crowded together. In some
species the first segment appears divided into two parts
by the sternum, which projects along their line of union.
Inferiorly, the abdomen is always of a firm or horny con¬
sistence ; but the upper part is generally soft, being cover¬
ed by the elytra and wings. When these are wanting or
abbreviated, the abdomen is equally hard above as below,
as in the genus Meloe, and the Staphylinidce, or brachely-
trous tribes.
The legs vary in their structure and development.
The anterior pair, or those of the prothorax, are frequent¬
ly more strongly formed in the male than in the female;
and in the former sex the tarsi are often broader than in
the latter. The legs are usually described as composed
O L O G Y.
of five pieces, the haunch, the trochanter, the thigh, the Coleoptera.
tibia, and the tarsus. M. Audouin has shown the exis-
tence of a sixth portion, moveable, constantly concealed
within the interior of the body, and serving to articulate
the haunch with the epimera. We have already men¬
tioned it under the name of trochantin.
The internal structure of the Coleoptera has recently
been illustrated by several ingenious observers, such as
Ramdhor, Audouin, and Dufour.
The apparatus for the purposes of nutrition in coleop¬
terous insects may be summed up as follows d ls£, Organs
of manducation ; 2d, salivary glands ; 3d, a digestive tube;
kth, biliary vessels. The entire order Coleoptera is com¬
posed of masticating species, which are consequently pro¬
vided with instruments c-f a more or less resistant nature,
adapted for seizing, cutting, and triturating the food pre¬
vious to its being swallowed. For this purpose the mouth
is furnished with a pair of corneous mandibles, sometimes
simply incisive, sometimes dentated or toothed. Their
motion is transverse and horizontal. There is also a pair
of maxillae, usually of a more membranaceous consistence
than the mandibles, an upper lip or labrum, an under lip
or labium, and from four to six palpi. The salivary glands,
which in orthopterous and hemipterous insects present
all the characters common to such organs, are rudimen¬
tary in size, and few in number, among the coleopterous
tribes. They contain a colourless saliva, and their exis¬
tence hitherto has been ascertained chiefly in genera of
the families of Melasoma, Taxicornes, Stenelytra, Trache-
lides, Rhincophora, and Aphidiphaga. The digestive tube
possesses an extent which varies singularly in relation to
the habits of life of each particular tribe. In a few it
scarcely exceeds the length of the body; while in others,
and these are the greater number, it greatly surpasses
that extent. The oesophagus is generally short; the crop
more or less obvious ; the gizzard is in some families gar¬
nished interiorly with triturating pieces ; the chylific ven¬
tricle is of variable size, and either smooth or beset by
papillae ; the small intestine likewise varies in length ; the
large intestine consists most frequently of a dilatable cae¬
cum ; the rectum is sometimes greatly elongated in the
female sex.
The texture of the digestive tube is musculo-membra-
nous, and is composed of three tunics of varying thickness
The biliary or hepatic vessels are always inserted at the
posterior extremity of the chylific ventricle. They are of
great extent, extremely slender, singularly folded, and of
a cellular-membranous texture. Their number and the
mode of their connection vary in the different tribes and
genera, but they are always of an equal number, or in pairs.
There are never less than a single pair, nor more than
three. Sometimes their insertion is limited to the chyli¬
fic ventricle, in which case they are either free and float¬
ing by one extremity, or they form an arch variously twist¬
ed, of which the two extremities are implanted on the
same circle. Sometimes the insertion is double, and ob¬
tains at one end on the chylific ventricle, and at the other
on the cmcum. The bile contained in these vessels varies
from a deep violet and brown colour, to yellow and white.
It is sometimes even diaphanous.
The generative system among the Coleoptera is thus
described by M. Dufour. “ Les Coleopteres ont, ainsi
que les autres insectes, deux sexes separes, et facte de la
reproduction est un veritable accouplement. L’organe
generateur male se compose, 1°. de deux testicules for¬
mes, soil par les replis agglomeres d’un seul vaisseau sper-
! See Dufour’s Resumt des Charactercs anatomiques proprcs aux Coitoptcres en general et aux Caraliques en particulicr. Ann. des Sciences
JNat. t. viii. p. 36.
I oleoptera. matique, soit par un ou plusieurs sachets, soit enfin par des
utricules dont le nombre, la configuration, et la grandeur
valient suivant les families ; 2°. de deux canaux deferens
variables pour leur longeur, quelquefois reployes en epide-
dyme ; 3°. de vesicules seminales plus ou moins nombreu-
ses, et de formes diverses suivant les genres de Coleop-
teres ; 4°. dun conduit ejaculateur tantot fort long, tantot
tres-court; 5°. d une verge retractile renfermee dans une
armure copulatrice dont la conformation se modifie a 1’in-
fini. On distingue dans 1’organe generateur femelle de
tous les Coleopteres, 6°. deux ovaires dont chacun se
compose d’un calice plus ou moins marque, et d’un nombre
variable suivant les genres, de gaines ovigeres unilocu-
laires ou multiloculaires, terminees le plus souvent par
une piece charnue ou se fixe un ligament suspenseur ; 7°.
un glande sebacee d’une structure diversement compli-
quee, inseree a I’origine de foviducte, et destinee a furnir
une humeur propre a lubrefieroua enduire les oeufs a l’e-
poque de la ponte ; 8°. un oviducte plus ou moins long qui
se continue en un vagin ; 9°. enfin, dans quelques cas rares
un appareil secreteur particulier propre a former une en-
veloppe commune ou une coque aux oeufs.”1
Besides the ordinary secreting organs, certain coleopte¬
rous species are provided with a kind of excrementary se¬
creting apparatus, which is binary, and common to both
sexes. Its function is the formation of an acrid humour,
liquid or gaseous, which the insect expels as a means of
defence when menaced or attacked.
The respiratory organs of the Coleoptera consist in stig¬
mata placed along the lateral portions of the body, and of
tracheae, sometimes tubular, sometimes utricular, which
disseminate the air through all parts of the system.
The nervous system is composed of a brain or upper
ganglion,—of ganglia placed in the median line, variable
in their number, and communicating with each other and
with the brain by means of a double cord,—and of nerves,
properly so called, which emanate from the ganglia.
The abdominal cavity of these insects always encloses
a splanchnic adipose tissue, of which the abundance and
colour vary according to the genera, and which appears
to be connected with the purposes of nutrition.2
In addition to the usual differences, the sexes frequently
present external distinctive characters in the antennae and
other parts. The male is supposed to perish soon after
the sexual union, and the female does not long survive the
deposition of her eggs. These eggs, which of course vary
in size, form, colour, and consistence, are deposited in
various localities, and among very different substances, in
accordance with the instincts and economy of the spe¬
cies, and the habits of the larvag about to be produced.
These larvae are also very dissimilar to each other in this
varied order; but they may be generally described as soft
bodied, with the exception ot the head and the upper por¬
tion of the three first segments of the body, which are of
a firmer or more scaly consistence. They are furnished
with six feet; and the eyes, which in the perfect state are
composite, are in this early condition small granuliform
bodies, sometimes amounting to six on each side. The
parts of the mouth bear a relation, both to their imme¬
diate mode of life., and their future development in the
perfect insect. The mandibles are very strong and cor¬
neous in such species as feed on ligneous substances;
they are coriaceous in such as feed on leaves, and almost
membranaceous in those which prefer carcasses, or other
matters in a state of putrescence. The antennae of these
larvae are usually very short, cylindrical or conical, and
composed of a small number of articulations.
ENTOMOLOGY.
Coleopterous insects enjoy a considerable length oflile, Coleopte
at least in the larva state. The period of endurance, how-
evei, of that early condition, is extremely various in the
diffeient genera ot this most numerous order. Indeed,
even among individuals of the same species, the continu¬
ance of the different stages of growth varies in accord¬
ance with the temperature of particular seasons, or the
more or less abundant supply of food. Many species
pass the winter in a listless state, abstaining almost en¬
tirely from eating, and consequently, even after the lapse
of several months, present scarcely any apparent increase
of their dimensions. No sooner, however, are they awaken¬
ed from their temporary trance by the enlivening beams
of the returning sun, than they greedily attack Uieir fa¬
vourite food, and their growth is almost instantaneous.
It has been remarked that the larvae which feed on leaves,
such as those of Crioceris, Altica, and Chrysomela, re¬
main but a brief period in the larva state; while the sub¬
terranean and root-devouring species, on the contrary, not
unfrequently continue for two or three years in their dark
abodes. Attentive observation has also ascertained that
those Coleoptera which pass the winter in the egg state
are the shortest lived in the form of larvae;—they are
hatched, nourished, developed, reproduce, and perish, all
in the course of the summer first ensuing,—while such as
pass the winter in the larva state, or that of nymph, are the
longest lived in both of those conditions. It is chiefly in
the form of larva that the Coleoptera produce such injury
to agriculture, and other branches of rural industry. The
ravages of species belonging to the genera Bruchus, Cur-
culio, Calandra, Melolonthu, Crioceris, Altica, Anthrenus,
Dermestes, and numerous others, are unfortunately better
known than any counteracting remedies of easy appli¬
cation.
The larvae of the coleopterous tribes usually change
their skins three times, and many of those which live in
the earth construct a kind of cocoon, in which they un¬
dergo their transformations. These are of the kind for¬
merly mentioned under the name of complete metamor¬
phoses.
Linnaeus, GeofFroy, Fabricius, Olivier, Latreille, and
others, have established many divisions, more or less na¬
tural, in the coleopterous order. The number of the ar¬
ticulations of the tarsi varies from three to five, and their
amount in each limb has been assumed as the basis of
the great sectional divisions of the coleopterous order, so
generally adopted by the continental naturalists. As
these divisions pervade all foreign works of importance on
the Coleoptera, we shall here explain their nature. Geof-
froy having observed that all the species of a genus or of
a family were characterized by the same number of arti¬
culations of the tarsi, and that the differences presented by
these parts always bore a relation to other differences in
the general organization, he conceived the idea of ground¬
ing his primary divisions on their particular structure.
Many extensive families of coleopterous insects are
distinguished hy Jive articulations to the tarsi; that is, by
five joints on each foot. (Plate CCXXXIII. fig. 2 e.)
All of these^ fall under the first general section called
Pentamera, from mmi, Jive, and /xsgo;, part or article.
Another extensive division is characterized by/ye articu¬
lations to the tarsi of the two anterior pair of feet, while
the posterior or third pair possesses only four articula¬
tions. All the species so formed belong to the section
Heteromera, so called from mgof, different, the tarsi being
dissimilar to each other. Numerous Coleoptera exhibit
the tarsi composed throughout of four articulations. These
75
1 Ann. des Sciences Nat. t. viii. p. 38.
Ibid. p. 40.
76 E N T O M
Coleoptera. are ranged under the general section Tetramera, from
■^Y^' nrgoL, four. Lastly, many species have no more than
three, and some no more than two joints, to the tarsi, and
these belong respectively to the sections Trimera and
Dimera. It has even been supposed that an insect exists,
the tarsi of which are furnished with only a single joint;
and for its reception the section Monomera (from /aovoc,
alone) has been established. Later and more conside¬
rate observation, however, has led to the belief that both
of the last-named sections are resolvable among the tri-
merous species, and that the supposed absence of the se¬
cond and third joints arises from their extreme minute-
ness.
“ Nihil notatu dignius videtur,” observes Mr Fischer,
“ constanti tarsorum insectorum imprimis coleopterorum
formatione, quae, quidquid etiam naturae scrutatores, qiJ}"
dam contra earn in medium protulerint, methodum on i-
nes insectorum in sectiones vel series minores dnimendi
offert tutissimam.”1 The extreme simplicity, and conse¬
quent ease of application, of the sectional rules deduced
from the structure of the tarsi, has probably induced the
continental naturalists to adopt them more readily than
they would have done had they foreseen the occasional
contradictions to which they lead. Ihe fact cannot be
disguised that the system is in many instances artificial,
for several insects differ in the number of their tarsi, which
are yet nearly allied by their general structure and attri¬
butes,—while it would be easy to show that the mere
agreement in the number of those parts by no means car¬
ries along with it a corresponding relationship in the form
of the other more important organs.2 Ihe truth is, that
the articulations of the tarsi differ in some instances even
in the sexes of the same species, as may be seen in Cryp-
tophagus fumatus and C. pallens; and the consequence,
as Mr Macleay has pointed out, of forming the primary
divisions in accordance with their amount, has been, that
many genera are separated, and thrown to a great dis¬
tance from the place which nature has assigned them.3
While, therefore, the British naturalists have availed
themselves of whatever aid these sectional divisions have
legitimately afforded, they do not trammel themselves by
a uniform adherence to the system, independent of its ac¬
cordance with nature.4
We have already endeavoured, in the preceding intro¬
duction, to illustrate the geographical distribution of in¬
sects in general. We shall here add a few observations
more especially applicable to the coleopterous tribes.
The coleopterous insects of Europe in general, accord¬
ing to M. Latreille, bear a strong affinity to those of W es-
tern Asia and Northern Africa. These traits of resem¬
blance become more obvious, when, the qualities of the
soil and the temperature being analogous, we approach
towards the northern tropic. It is under the forty-fourth
degree of north latitude that we begin to perceive certain
species of carnivorous Coleoptera, of the Lamellicornes, of
the heteromerous section, and of the Curculionides, cha¬
racteristic of the warmer regions of the earth. There
also may be observed species of a larger size, and of an
O L O G Y.
aspect more imposing, than characterize their congeners Coleoptera.
of the north. The dominion of the Carabi, properly so '
called, so notable over all the northern and temperate
countries of Europe, and in the more western regions of
Asia, ceases towards the thirty-fifth degree of north lati¬
tude. These predaceous insects are succeeded by the ge¬
nera Anthia and Graphipterus. Viewed in relation to ento¬
mological characters, Europe may be said to extend fur¬
ther eastward than it does in accordance with our actual
political divisions, as the insects of the Levant, and even
of Persia, exhibit a very European aspect. Austria and
Hungary, from their central situation and other local cir¬
cumstances, are numerically richer in species than the
western countries of Europe. These latter, however, pos¬
sess, in consequence probably of their littoral position,
and the influence of the oceanic waters, several peculiar
species, which, though unknown in the East, nevertheless
extend their localities in a lengthened line from north to
south. However gorgeous may be the productions of tro¬
pical regions, the European continent presents to the en¬
tomologist a rich and varied assemblage both of carni¬
vorous and herbivorous Coleoptera. Many of these it
possesses in common with other countries, while of some
it has to boast a more exclusive possession. The great
tribe of the Carnivora, and especially the Carabi or larger
predaceous beetles—the Staphylinidce or brachelytrous
kinds—the Clavicornes—the genera Aphodivs, Meloe, Cal-
lidium, Leptura, Chrysomeia? Lixus, &c.—are there pro¬
portionally more numerous than in any other quarter of
the world. Latreille has observed that the herbivorous
Coleoptera seem to prevail in South America. Many
species of the northern countries of the new world great¬
ly resemble those of the northern and temperate parts of
Europe, while others are identical. Of these some may
be regarded as naturally distributed alike over Scandi¬
navia, Greenland, the adjacent islands, and North Ame-
ricaj—while the greater proportion, which are xylopha-
gous or timber-eating insects, have very probably been
transported by artificial means, that is, in cargoes ot wood,
and in the timbers of our vessels. Notwithstanding many
examples which might be adduced to illustrate a certain
agreement which exists between the species of Europe
and North America, the more general as well.as precise
truth is, that the entomology of North America is con¬
nected by a stronger affinity with that of the southern di¬
vision of the new world than with that of our own con¬
tinent and islands. We cannot, for instance, exhibit a
single example of that division of Cetonia of which the
thorax presents a posterior lobe, nor of Galerita, Tetra-
onyx, or Parandra, genera which are distributed through¬
out the whole of America. One strong feature of con¬
formity has indeed been observed, that North America
and Europe both possess many carnivorous Coleoptera en¬
tirely unknown in the equatorial regions either of the old
world or the new.6
The coleopterous order is extremely numerous in spe¬
cies. Comte Dejean’s collection, probably the most ex¬
tensive hitherto made, is said to contain above twenty
1 Genera Insectornm, Prsef. p. 5.
2 “ Ce n’est pas assez,” says Clairville, “ pour pallier les frequentes anomalies qui se rencontrent, de dire que tel insecte a cinq
articles aux tarses quoiqu’on n’en ddcouvre que quatre. II devroit en elfet en avoir cinq d’apres la regie qu’on a dtablie. Cepen-
dant ces explications, toutes ingenieuses qu’elles sont, ne peuvent me convaincre, et je ne puis me determiner a suppose plus d’ar-
ticles aux tarses qu’on ne peut reellement en decouvrir, en y mettant toute 1’attention possible. Le nombre des articles doit t tre
clair, positif, et uniforme, sans quoi le charactere est vacillant. Au reste, je ne disconviendrai pas que sans etre rigoureusement
propres a diviser les ordres, ils ne puissent tres-bien servir pour un tableau dans lequel les genres seroient ordonnes selon le nombre
des articles des tarses.” (Entomologie Helvetique, p. 30.)
3 Horae Entomologicce, part i. p. 6. * Entomologia Edinensis, Introduc. p. 23.
* M. Lacordaire, however, has recently shown that the Chrysomelidee are very numerous in the tropical regions of South America.
See NouveHes Annales des Mus. t. ii. p. 94.
* Introduction d la Geographic generate des Arachnides et des Insectes, ou des climats propres d ces Animaux. Par Latreille.
ENTOMOLOGY.
77
Coleoptera.thousand different kinds ; and Mr Stephens’ 'Nomenclature
    of British Insects (second edition) presents us with the
names of 3614 indigenous Coleoptera.
In relation to the economical uses of the order, we may
observe that coleopterous insects are scarcely if at all ap¬
plied in the arts. Those employed in medicine are chief¬
ly the Cantharis vesicatoria, commonly called the Spa¬
nish Fly, and the Mylahris Cichorii, which in China and
the Levant is likewise used as a blistering application.
The Romans are supposed to have made use of certain
coleopterous larvae for dietetical purposes; and some of
the South American tribes are known to devour with de¬
light the fattened larvae of the Curculio palmarum. We
shall conclude these introductory observations by a few
remarks
On the collecting and preserving of Coleopterous Insects.
This is a very simple matter to those who are zealous
in the cause. By far the best method is for the collector
to provide himself with a few stout phials half filled with
whisky, or any other ardent spirit which he may happen
to prefer. When the insects are caught, which they can
only be in any considerable number or variety by a sedu¬
lous search under stones, and in the other localities after¬
wards indicated in our notices of the different genera,
they may be popped into the phial, where in most instan¬
ces they die almost instantaneously. This is not only the
most humane process, but it is also the best mode of pre¬
serving their more delicate portions uninjured. It like¬
wise puts an end to all contention among themselves,
which is by no means the effect of the ordinary method of
collecting in small boxes,—for in the latter case the larger
and more voracious invariably devour the smaller or least
assuming; and thus many captures, regarded with plea¬
sure in the morning, are found to have disappeared in the
afternoon. If time and opportunity are wanting for the
immediate purpose of setting the specimens, that is, pla¬
cing them in their most appropriate positions, they may be
allowed to remain in the phials for days or weeks with¬
out being injured, although in that case greater care is
afterwards necessary, especially with the smaller speci¬
mens, in consequence of a certain softness in the articu¬
lations, induced by maceration in the spirits. When an
entomologist (in search of Coleoptera) is employed in
what we may call the home circuit, he requires during his
excursions nothing more than a couple of glass phials, as
we must suppose him possessed of all other appliances
within his dwelling. But during a more distant and pro¬
longed journey, he must provide himself with a few small
boxes made either of wood or tin (the last is lighter and
thinner, and therefore more commodious), lined with cork
at top and bottom, and deep enough to contain an upper
and an under range of pins. In these the insects caught
during the day may be transfixed in the course of the
evening, so that the phials may be left empty fth the cap¬
tures of the ensuing morn. Notes ought to be taken of
the places of capture, and the insects should be so ar¬
ranged in the boxes that, by means of numerals or other
marks, any individual may be afterwards recognised in
relation to its own particular locality.
The setting of an insect consists merely in placing its
limbs and antennse in a natural position, and fixing them
in the same for a time by means of pins, on a small board Coleoptera
on which there is a layer of cork. (Plate CCXXXIII. Pentamera'
figs. 10 and 12.) They stiffen in a few days, and may
then be transferred to their proper places in the cabinet.
If not set when either moist or recent, they may be sof¬
tened by being placed for a night in any small vessel con¬
taining a layer of wet sand, and covered with a damp
cloth to prevent evaporation. The same process, con¬
tinued for a somewhat longer time, is equally efficient in
regard to foreign species. Each specimen, if not stuck,
should, previous to setting, be transfixed by passing a pin
through the elytra and abdomen, at right angles with the
plane of its position,—enough of the pin being made to
project beyond the feet as will suffice to fix its point firm¬
ly in the cork.
When mould appears upon coleopterous specimens, they
ought to be exposed for some hours at the distance of two
or three feet from a brisk fire, and then delicately brushed
with a hair pencil. When mites or acari make their ap¬
pearance among them, they ought either to be exposed for
a few minutes to a high temperature, which kills the liv¬
ing parasites without injuring the dead insects, or each
specimen ought to be carefully washed by means of a hair
pencil dipped in spirit of turpentine. A piece of sponge
constantly saturated with that fluid, or a supply of cam¬
phor, should be kept in each drawer. With a view to
maintain a collection in good order, it is very advisable
that all specimens obtained from correspondents by pur¬
chase or exchange should, previous to their being placed
in the cabinet, be submitted to the ordeal of a bath either
in spirit of turpentine or camphorated spirit of wine. If
mites or acari are once introduced into a cabinet of con¬
siderable extent, their eradication is extremely trouble¬
some. As many collectors are careless of their duplicate
specimens, and as it is of course with these that they sup¬
ply their friends, much injury is frequently inflicted by
the introduction even of a single insect in bad condition
into a cabinet previously in a proper state.1 2 We must now
proceed to a more detailed exposition of the coleopterous
tribes. They are grouped together under four great sec¬
tions, according to the number of joints in the tarsi.
PENTAMERA.
All the Tarsi composed of Five Joints?
FAMILY L—CARNIVORA, Cuv. ADEPHAGA,3
Clairv.
The first primary division of the coleopterous order con¬
tains a numerous and varied assemblage, all of which, how¬
ever, agree in being, as the name imports, of a voracious
disposition. Each maxilla is furnished with two palpi, so
that there are six in all, including those of the labium.
In the larva state, these insects are elongated, cylin¬
drical, composed of twelve rings or segments, exclusive of
the head, which is large, of a scaly texture, and provid¬
ed with two strong mandibles curved at their extremities.
The mouth is also furnished with a pair of maxillae divid¬
ed into two branches, one of which is formed by a pal¬
pus. The ligula bears two palpi, which are shorter than
those of the maxillae. The head is moreover provided
with a pair of short conical antennae, and six small simple
1 Entomologia Edinensis, Introduction, p. 57-
2 We have already stated our opinion of the artificial combinations which occasionally result from the use of this principle of sec¬
tional division, and in our Entomologia Edinensis we have, with our coadjutor, the Rev. James Duncan, followed another mode of ar¬
rangement. But in presenting a general view of the subject, and one in which numerous foreign genera are included, we think that
greater clearness will result from an adherence to the system of the continental entomologists. We therefore now follow M. Latreille.
* So named from a'Smpayos, voracious.
78 E N T O M
Coleoptera eyes on eac]-, gl^e.1 The first segment of the body is co-
l^entarnera.vered by a squamous shield,—the others are soft. Ihe
first three segments are each furnished with a pair of legs,
of which the extremity is curved forwards.
Of course many modifications occur in the form and
aspect of adephagous larvae. For example, those of the
Cicindelae have the upper portion of the head hollowed
out in the centre, while the inferior portion is bulged.
Two of the eyes on each side are much larger than the
others, and the shield of the first segment of the body is
also large, and of a semicircular shape. The eighth seg¬
ment bears two small hooked processes in its upper sur¬
face. Among the generality, however, of these larvae, the
head is weaker and more regular, and the eyes are of equal
size. The shield is square, and does not project over the
sides; the eighth segment wants the processes; but the
terminal segment is furnished with two conical appenda¬
ges, besides a membranous tube formed by the prolonga¬
tion of the anal portion of the body. Ihese appendages
are toothed and horny in the larvae of Colasomct and Cata-
bus. In Harpalus and Licinus they are more elongated,
fleshy, and articulated. In these and other genera, the
form of the mandibles in the larvae approaches that of the
same species in the perfect state.
The adephagous Coleoptera have always a first stomach,
which is short and fleshy,—a second, which is more elon¬
gated, and shaggy on the surface, by reason of the nume¬
rous small vessels with which it is furnished,—and a short
and slender intestine. The hepatic vessels, four in num¬
ber, are inserted near the pylorus. Ihese insects may
be regarded as terrestrial (Geodephaga) and aquatic (Hy-
grodephaga), according to their mode of life.
The genera of the former subdivision of the order dwell
and take their food upon the surface of the earth. I hey
are hence known under the name of ground-beetles. Ihe
feet of these terrestrial species are formed for tolerably
rapid motion, and the two posterior pair are inserted at
equal distances. The mandibles are obvious and disco¬
vered, the terminal portion of the maxillae is straight in-
feriorly, and curved only at its extremity. The body is
generally oblong,—the eyes projecting. The tracheae are
tubular or elastic, and the intestine is terminated by an
expanded cloaca, provided with two small sacs which pro¬
duce an acrid humour.2
Tribe 1st, Cicindelet^e, Lat.
This tribe corresponds to the genus Cicindela of Lin¬
naeus. Its genera are distinguished by. a hook or nail,
which is articulated by its base to the tip of the maxillae.
All the species have a strong head, with large eyes, pro¬
jecting toothed mandibles, and a short ligula concealed
behind the mentum. The labial palpi are composed of
four distinct articulations, and, in common with the max¬
illary palpi, are generally shaggy, or somewhat clothed.
The precedence is usually assigned to these insects in
our systematic arrangements, from motives probably simi¬
lar to those which have induced ornithologists to place
the accipitrine order at the head of the class of birds.
The greater proportion of the species are exotic.
Genus Manticora,3 4 Fab. Tarsi alike in both sexes,
and composed of cylindrical articulations. Mandibles
large and arched. Head very large. Eyes small, and not
greatly projecting. Back of the thorax forming a kind of
O L O G Y.
semicircular lobe, prolonged as far as the posterior mar- Coleoptera
gin. Abdomen pediculated, almost entirely enveloped by 1 entamera.
the elytra, which are nearly heart-shaped, soldered, and
laterally carinated.
M. maxillosa. Fab. (PI. CCXXXIV. fig. 1.) Entirely
black, and covered with scattered hairs. The mandibles
have four interior teeth, of which the third is the least.
The antennae are slender and filiform, their third articu¬
lation angular and elongated. The thorax appears as if
divided into two by a transverse groove near the anterior
margin, which is prolonged laterally, and beneath, as far
as the origin of the fore-legs. There is no scutellum vi¬
sible. The legs are large, and covered with stiff hairs.
This formidable-looking insect, which measures more
than an inch and a half in length, presents the aspect of
a large spider. It inhabits sandy soil in the southern parts
of Africa, and is the only known species of the genus, unless
the M. pallida of Fab. referred by Mr Macleay to his ge¬
nus Platychilesf is still to be regarded as a Manticora.
Genus Megacephala,5 Lat. The first three joints of
the anterior tarsi of the males dilated, short, almost in the
form of a reversed triangle, more strongly ciliated inwards
than externally. Labial palpi longer than the maxillary,
—their first articulation elongated, projecting beyond the
mentum, the second very short, the third very long and
cylindrical, the last securiform. Labrum short and trans¬
versal, leaving the mandibles exposed.
This genus was constituted by Latreille by the removal
of certain species of Cicindelce of Fabricius. It occurs
both in Africa and America. Those from the former
country are apterous, from the latter winged. We know
little more of their habits than that they are extremely
active. We are acquainted with fifteen species, none of
which occur in Europe.
M. megalocephala, Lat. Of a bronzed black colour;
tbe mouth, antennas, and feet pale yellow. Elytra with
rows of hollow spots. From Senegal.
In the genus Oxycheila of Dejean (Species Gen. t. i. p.
15) the labrum is very large, with a projecting point, and
covers the mandibles. It is formed from the Cicindela
tristis of Fab., and is named from pointed, and vs/Xoc,
lip.
Genus Cicindela, Lin. (PI. CCXXXIV. figs. 2, o.)
The first three joints of the anterior tarsi of the males di¬
lated, elongated, nearly cylindrical, and more strongly cili¬
ated inwards than externally. Labial palpi not surpassing
the length of the maxillary; their first two joints very
short, the first not passing beyond the extremity of the
mentum, the third cylindrical, the last slightly enlarged
at its extremity.
The name by which our present genus is distinguished
is used by Pliny as synonymous with Lampyris, to desig¬
nate a kind of luminous insect, a frequenter of corn fields.6
It likewise appears to have been applied by ancient wri¬
ters to various destructive insects which it would now be
difficult to identify, although they are no doubt known to
naturalists. In modern times it was originally bestowed
by M. Geoffroy on the species at present classed under
the genera Malachius and Telephones, and was afterwards
transferred by Linna?us to the insects above defined, as
well as to other species not now included in Cicindela.
Their larvae inhabit holes in the earth, the entrance to
which, while the occupant lies in ambuscade, is closed
by the upper portion of its head. They are exceedingly
1 So says Latreille. Some authors state the number of these eyes as only three on each side.
* Regne Animal, tom. iv. p. 358. An abstract of the anatomical characters of the insects of this division, by M. Dufour, will be
found in the Annales des Sciences Nat. tom. viii. p. 36.
3 is the name of a fabulous animal mentioned by Aristotle, iElian, and Pliny.
4 Annulosa Javanica, vol. i. p. 9. 5 From ptyus, great, and xifaXti, head. ® Plin. viii. c. 26.
E N T O M
Coleoptera voracious, and seize with their maxillae whatever insect
Pentamera. prey approaches within their tyrannous grasp. The bodies
v—of these larvae are long, cylindrical, whitish, and furnished
with six scaly feet. When approached by human foot¬
steps, or otherwise threatened by danger, they rapidly
descend into their subterranean retreats. When two of
these larvae happen to form their domiciles in the imme¬
diate neighbourhood of each other, the stronger devours
the weaker, with a view to obviate any interference with
his own pursuits. They seal up the entrance to their
dwellings when about to change their skins or assume the
state of nymph.
The perfect insects are extremely beautiful, of light and
active forms, exceedingly swift in their motions, and adorn¬
ed by brilliant metallic colours. The prevailing hues are
different shades of golden green, spotted with white or
pale yellow. They frequent dry and sandy soils, where
they seem to enjoy the prevalence of bright sunshine.
The species are extensively distributed over all the regions
of the earth. Their organs of locomotion, and those more
immediately subservient to the preservation and nutrition
of the individual, are very fully developed, and present in
the most perfect form all the attributes which distinguish
the entomophagous or insect-eating Coleoptera. They
were named by Linnaeus the tigers of the insect tribes.
“ Though decorated with brilliant colours, they prey upon
the whole insect race ; their formidable jaws, which cross
each other, are armed with fearful fangs, showing to what
use they are applicable; and the extreme velocity with
which they can either run or fly renders hopeless any at¬
tempt to elude their pursuit. Their larvae are also equally
tremendous with the imago, having six ejes, three on
each side, seated on a lateral elevation of the head, which
look like those of spiders; and, besides their threatening
jaws, armed with a strong internal tooth, being furnished
with a pair of spines resembling somewhat the sting of a
scorpion, which stand erect upon the back of the abdomen,
and give them a most ferocious aspect.”1 It is this last
apparatus which, according to Clairville, serves the pur¬
pose of an anchor in retaining these larvae at any desir¬
ed height in their sandy cells.
Dejean’s catalogue (2d edition) contains 201 species of
the genus Cicindela as now restricted.
C. campestris. Green, with five whitish spots on the
margin of each elytron, and another in the centre. The
spots on the elytra vary in shape and disposition, and some
of them are occasionally obliterated. The female has two
fuscous spots towards the base of the elytra, and is dis¬
tinguished, in addition to the more slender tarsi, by having
the abdomen divided into six segments ; that of the oppo¬
site sex consisting of seven, with the penultimate one more
or less emarginate. This sexual distinction, first observed
by Gyllenhal, exists in most genera of the tribe.
This beautiful insect frequents dry sandy places expos¬
ed to the sun, most commonly in the neighbourhood of
O L O G Y. 79
heaths, and is distributed more or less abundantly over all Coleoptera
parts of Britain. We have traced it through most of the Pentamera.
Highlands of Scotland, as far as the south of Sutherland,
and we doubt not that it extends to the most northern
extremity of the island. It is an inhabitant of most Eu¬
ropean countries, ranging from the shores of the Mediter¬
ranean to Siberia. This is the most abundant of the Bri¬
tish species, and the only one yet found in Scotland. The
supposed species C. Maroccana, Fab. which occurs in
Spain and along the coast of Barbary, is now regarded as
one of its varieties.
Besides the preceding, five or six other species are de¬
scribed as British. C. germanica, an English insect, com¬
mon in France and Germany, differs in its habits from the
rest of the genus. When we attempt to seize it, it does
not fly off like the others (although it is winged), but en¬
deavours to escape by running rapidly among the herbage
by which it may be surrounded.
The genus Euprosopus of Latreille and Dejean, of which
the tarsi are equally ciliated on both sides, was establish¬
ed on Cicindela quadrinotata of Fab. The species are
said to dwell on trees. In the genus Therates, Lat. the
tarsi are nearly alike in both sexes. The internal maxil¬
lary palpi are very small, indistinct, and apparently uni-
articulate. The species are confined to the eastern parts
of’ Asia, such as Java, the isles of Sunda, and those to the
north of New Holland. C. labiata of Fab. belongs to the
genus last named, which is synonymous with Eurychiles
of Bonelli.2 C. Aptera of Olivier forms the genus Tricon-
dyla of Latreille.
Genus Colliuris, Lat. Fourth articulation of all the
tarsi prolonged obliquely inwards in both sexes. Body
narrow and elongated. Thorax almost cylindrical, nar¬
rowed anteriorly. Antennae short, thickening more or
less towards the extremity. Last article of the labial
palpi dilated.
The title of Colliuris was bestowed originally by Degeer,
upon an insect belonging to the genus Casnonia of Lat.
It was established according to its present character by
Fabricius under the name of Collyris, which has been
altered as above by the majority of authors. These in¬
sects appear to be all provided with wings. All the spe¬
cies yet met with have been found in the most southern
countries of Asia, and in the islands lying north of New
Holland.
C. longicollis, Dej. Blue, sometimes tinged with violet.
Thighs and hind tarsi ferruginous red. Elytra deeply
punctured. This species was taken in Java by the excel¬
lent Westermann of Copenhagen, who presented it to Comte
Dejean as the true C. longicollis of Lat. The insect so
named by Latreille (Gen. Crust, et Insect, i. p. 174) is the
C. emarginata of the Species General, t. i. p. 165.
We shall conclude our sketch of this tribe by present¬
ing a synoptical view of its most recent constitution, ac¬
cording to the system of Dejean.
1 Introd. to Entomology, vol. ii. p. 263.
s Mem. della E. Acad, di Torino, xxiii. part 1st, p. 248.
80
Coleoptera
Pentamera.
ENTOMOLOGY.
CICINDELET7E.
Coleoptera
Pentamera.
l-C C+H
o
G co
not dilated in the males.
■5
4-
a
S.2
.2 §
o
-M
JS <4-
rG o
T3 ^
H
0) pG
■*-'
05 c+_i
fcJO O
G
G
CD
O,
V. o-i
l—H
.2
o ^
G (-3
G
be -
5 - G-
- ^
^ rS ^
C3
CO ^ .
03 -G G
CD G b
' 0-1 G
g >>rG
>- 2 ° S
cd G Gd
^ rG^'G G
os ^
s-h fen ^ c3
'M ^ t/) f-H
^ s-<
C/2 I-*
  \. Manticora.
not extending beyond the notch of the mentum.... 2. Platychile.
extending beyond the notch of the mentum.
bepd
.2 -S
triangular.
3. Megacephala.
4. Oxycheila.
semi-oval  5. Iresia
slightly elongate,
curiform 
I
not exceeding the maxillary pair; last joint not se-
2
<G “
CD
G -3
|-c) G
^ %'S
I Ih;s s
elongate and nearly cylindrical.
somewhat elongate and flat,
produced obliquely on the inner side 
6. Cicindela.
7. Dromica.
8. Eprosopus.
9. Ctenostoma.
IN
!i
Third and fourth joints of the tarsi much shorter than the first 
Three first joints of the anterior tarsi of the males dilated ; the third produced obliquely
on the inner side 
1 l
G
jG
■is o i
cc G
1G G
.2 g
o
•"b
Fourth joint of all the tarsi produced obliquely on the inner side in both sexes.
10. Therates.
11. Tricondyla.
12. Colliuris.
Tribe 2d, Carabici, Eat
This important tribe corresponds to the old and un¬
restricted genus Cardbus of Linnaeus. The maxillae are
terminated simply by a point or hook, which is not articu¬
lated, as in the preceding genera. The head does not
exceed the breadth of the thorax, and is more frequently
somewhat narrower. The mandibles, with few exceptions,
are but sparingly toothed. The ligula is usually pro¬
jecting, and the labial palpi exhibit only three free arti¬
culations.1 Many species are apterous, that is, have no
membranous wings beneath the elytra. Their odour is
often fetid, and their bodies exude an acrid fluid. The
habits and economy both of the larvae and perfect insects
are exceedingly various. Some conceal themselves under
the earth, others beneath stones, or the bark of trees.
They are active in their movements, and are very gene¬
rally distributed, being, however, more characteristic of
temperate than equatorial regions. M. Geolfroy bestow¬
ed the generic name of Buprestis upon carabideous insects,
on account of the injury which he supposed them capable
of inflicting on cattle ; and it is possible that the caustic
humour with which many of them are imbued might be
productive of bad effects in the event of their being swal¬
lowed along with better and more accustomed pasture.
To whatever species this evil tendency was attributed,
the ancients appear to have regarded its other characters
with admiration, for the physicians of olden times held
it as equal in virtue to Cantharides. Linnaeus, however,
transferred the name of Buprestis to the genus Cucvjus
of Geoffroy, although none of the latter genus in any way
corresponded to the Bovffgyffng of the Greeks. The change
proposed by the great reformer has been universally adopt¬
ed, and the word Carabus is now most familiar to the ear
of the entomologist.
As the larvae of the Carabici dwell in subterranean re¬
treats, a knowledge of their habits and history is difficult
to acquire. The body is of an elongated form ; the legs
are six in number, and of a scaly texture; and the maxil¬
lae are strong and pincer-like. With these they seize
upon the larvae of other insects, which constitute their
favourite food. They are extremely voracious.
In relation to the economical purposes of the human
race, the tribes now under consideration are of no great
utility. It is mentioned, however, by the younger Geof¬
froy, that while he was collecting insects on the coast of
Senegal, a negro brought him a jar containing many thou¬
sand specimens of a small carabideous species, which had
evidently been previously collected by design. On inquiry
he found that they were used for making soap, some of which,
of a black colour, he afterwards examined, and found it to
possess all the qualities of the European article. Olivier
asks whether we could not extract from our indigenous
species an alkaline matter subservient to the same ends?2
1 In the genus Cicindela the radical joint is free, on which account the palpi are said to consist of four articulations; but among
the Carabici it is adherent, and, forming only a support to the others, is not itself regarded as an articulation.
2 Hist, des Insectes, vol. iii. No. 35, p. 11.
E N T O M
Coleoptera A.
Pentamera. Exterior palpi not subulate or awl-shaped at their extre¬
mity ; the last articulation not united with the preced¬
ing so as to form an oval body with a sharp point, or a
conical one with a slender and acicular termination.
*
Two anterior tibiae with a deep emargination in the in¬
ternal side separating the two spines, which are usually
placed near each other, at the extremity of that side.
Section 1st, Truncatipennes.
This group derives its name from the aspect of the ely¬
tra, which appear as it cut at their extremity, or more or
less truncated, lliis is the prevailing character, although
Odocantha dorsalis and Dejean’s new genus Stenodactyla
present a rounded termination; but in seeking a natural
system, it is the totality of organization or assemblage of
characters by which we must be guided, and not by a sin¬
gle feature, although by its wide prevalence that feature
may have been assumed, as in the present instance, for a
general basis in the naming of the entire group. The two
following genera present rather a sinuation than a trun¬
cation of the extremities of the elytra.
Genus Anthia,] Weber, Fab. Terminal joint of the
palpi almost cylindrical, or slightly enlarged at the extre¬
mity. Antennae filiform. Labrum rounded, advanced,
and almost entirely covering the mandibles. No tooth
in the centre of the emargination of the mentum. Ante¬
rior tarsi slightly dilated in the males. Body thick, more
or less elongated. Thorax more or less heart-shaped.
Elytra convex, not much truncated, or nearly round at
their extremity.
The insects of this genus are of considerable size.
Their usual colours are black spotted with white. They
inhabit the African deserts, and are not altogether un¬
known in those parts of Asia which extend from the Red
Sea to Bengal. According to Leschenhault de Latour,
they emit a caustic fluid when handled. In the males of
some species the thorax is dilated and bilobed posterior¬
ly. Both sexes are destitute of wings. Dejean’s Cata¬
logue contains seventeen species, all of which, except one,
are African.
A. maxillosa, Lat. Black and smooth. Mandibles very
long. Thorax bilobed posteriorly. This is a large insect
from the Cape of Good Hope. It measures nearly two
inches in length.
A. decemguttata, Dej. (PI. CCXXXIV. fig. 8.) Usual¬
ly black above, the eyes brownish, a small white spot on
each side of the anterior portion of the thorax. The ely¬
tra have each four deep grooves, with another in the cen¬
tre common to both. These grooves are garnished with
an ash-coloured or brownish down, which sometimes en¬
tirely disappears, and then each groove exhibits two rows
of small excavated spots, with a longitudinal and slightly
elevated line in the centre. Each elytron has also five
spots formed of whitish down,—the first near the base of
the exterior margin; the second a little in advance of the
middle, in the second groove; the third and fourth rather
behind the middle, and on the same line, in the first and
third grooves ; the fifth near the exterior margin, at the ex¬
tremity between the second and third grooves. The under
parts of the body and feet are of a more shining black.
The thighs are sometimes reddish brown.
This species is extremely common at the Cape of Good
O L o G Y. si
Hope. It is subject to great variation in its markings, Coleoptera
and has been described under various names in its differ- Pentamera.
ent conditions. According to Dejean, the Anthia quadn-
guttata, Fab. which we have figured in this work (Plate
CCXXXIV. fig. 3), is nothing more than a variety of the
above, with three of the spots effaced from each elytron.
Genus Graphipterus,2 Lat. Last article of the palpi
cylindrical. Antennae filiform, much shorter than the
body. Labrum projecting, rounded, and nearly covering
the mandibles. No tooth in the centre of the emargina¬
tion of the mentum. Anterior tarsi not sensibly dilated
in the males. Body large and flattened. Thorax heart-
shaped. Elytra plane, broad, of a slightly elongated oval,
more or less suborbicular.
We owe to Latreille the dismemberment of these in¬
sects from the Anthice, with which they were combined
by Fabricius. However, they are equally apterous, inha¬
bit the same parts of the world, and exhibit analogous
colours. Although several insects of the north of Africa
have been discovered in Italy and the south of Spain, the
warmer countries of Europe have as yet been sought in
vain for any species of either of the genera just named.
G. multiguttatus, Dej. (PI. CCXXXIV. fig.7.) Dull
black above, of a brighter black below. Thorax margin¬
ed with white. Ihe elytra with a sinuous margin of white,
and eight spots on each of the same colour.
Phis species was brought by Olivier from Egypt, and
given to his friends and correspondents under the above
name, although it certainly does not agree with the de¬
scription of the insect so named by the author in his En-
tomologie and the Encgelopedie Methodique.
Genus Aptinus, Bonelli. Terminal article of the palpi
rather larger than the preceding, and slightly enlarged
towards the extremity. Antennae filiform. Labrum
short, and leaving the mandibles exposed. No tooth, or
a very small one in the centre of the emargination of the
mentum. The first three articles of the anterior tarsi
sensibly dilated in the males. Thorax heart-shaped.
Elytra oval, increasing in breadth towards their extre-
mity.
I his genus greatly resembles Brachinus, with which it
was combined by Fabricius, and with which it is still fre¬
quently confounded.3 All the species belong to Africa
(chiefly the Cape district) and the southern parts of Eu¬
rope. Like the Brachini, they occur in groups under
stones, and affect mountainous situations. They are si¬
milarly characterized by their power of emitting a pene¬
trating vapour. The larger species inhabit tropical cli¬
mates. The A. balista, Dej. measures from five to eight
lines in length. It is black, with a fulvous throat and
truncated elytra. It occurs in Navarre, and various parts
of Spain and Portugal. A smaller species, of a deep
black, with sulcated elytra, the antennae and palpi fulvous,
the feet russet yellow, was discovered by Dejean among
the eastern Pyrenees. It is extremely common under
stones on the mountains in the vicinity of Pratz de Mollo,
and is named A. pyrenceus.
Genus Brachinus,4 \\ eber, tab. This genus scarce¬
ly differs from the preceding. It is, however, characte¬
rized by the possession of wings, the anterior tarsi are not
usually dilated in the males, the truncation of the elytra
is rather square than oblique, and these parts are usually
more parallel, or less enlarged at their extremities, than
among the Aptini.
1 The name Aifous is bestowed by Aristotle on a fish.
I he name probably refers to what may be construed into an occasional resemblance of written characters upon the wimm
•yQuipu and TTrisov. 1
! sPecies of the aboYe SenuP in the Comte Dejean’s printed Catalogue (1st edition) are Brachmi.
1 robably from I shorten, in allusion to the truncated form of the elytra.
YOU. IX.
L
82 E N T O M
Coleoptera The Brachini, as far as yet known, have no representa-
Pentamera. tive in Scotland. But as the southern parts of the king-
dom produce five species, we are not without hope that
some of these may ere long be discovered on the north¬
ern side of the Tweed. It is, however, evidently a south¬
ern genus, for of the nineteen species of the first division
of Dejean, only one, the B. Hispanus of Kollar, is found
in Europe. It was taken at the southern extremity of
Spain, by an Austrian naturalist, who happened to disem¬
bark in the bay of Algesiras in the course of his voyage
to Brazil. Of the twenty-one species which constitute
the second division of the genus, eight occur in Europe;
and of these five are English.1 The character by which
the generality of these insects are so remarkably distin¬
guished is, that the abdomen contains peculiar organs
which secrete a caustic liquor of an extremely penetrat¬
ing odour. When this is propelled by the insect on any
threatened danger, it produces a detonating sound, and
evaporates. M. Dumeril has remarked, that when this
reservoir is opened by dissection, the liquid effervesces,
and evaporates instantaneously. Paper imbued with a
blue vegetable dye is changed by its action, first into a
eddish hue, and then into yellow. When the vesicle
which contains it is placed upon the tongue, and com¬
pressed, a peculiar and rather agreeable savour is felt in
the mouth. A sharp pain, however, soon follows on the
spot affected, where a yellow colour becomes perceptible,
similar to that produced by a drop of nitric acid. Leon
Dufour has made us acquainted with the apparatus em¬
ployed in the production of this fluid.2
It is stated by Rowlander that the Brachini are capable
of producing eighteen or twenty discharges at a time.
Mr Stephens has invariably found them ready to discharge
their ammunition at all times, especially when roughly
handled; and Mr Cooper informed him that a specimen
he met with at Cobham in the spring, performed the ope¬
ration no less than thirteen times in rapid succession.3
B. Jurinei, Dej. (PI. CCXXXIV. fig.6.) Testaceous.
The elytra black, grooved, with the lateral margins and a
central spot testaceous. From Senegal.
Genus Casnonia, Eat. Terminal article of the palpi
of an oval form, almost pointed at the end. Antennae
much shorter than the body, their articulations of nearly
equal length,—the first being shorter than the head.
Tarsi filiform; the last article at most bifid. Thorax in
the form of an elongated neck, cylindrical, and very nar¬
row anteriorly. Head nearly lozenge-shaped, prolonged
and narrowed posteriorly.
The Casnoniae are insects of singular forms, reminding
he observer of the aspect of Raphidia and Apoderus.
They composed the original genus Colliuris of Degeer;
Linnaeus placed them among \ns Attelabi, while Fabricius
*nd Herbst ranged them in the genus Odocantha. La-
treille formed the genus in which we now place them.
It is synonymous with Ophionea of Klug.4 Most of the
species come from America. C. cyanocephala occurs in
Bengal.
Genus Odocantha, Fab. Characters nearly the same
as the preceding. Thorax elongate oval, nearly cylindri¬
cal. Head oval, narrowed behind, but not posteriorly
prolonged.
O. melanura, Fab. Greenish blue, the base of the an¬
tennae, chest, and feet testaceous. The elytra testaceous,
O L O G Y.
with a spot of blackish blue at the extremities. The ends Coleoptera
of the thighs black. _ Pentamera.
Dejean retains only two species in this genus, as above
defined, viz. the one just described, which is the sole Bri¬
tish species, and O. Dorsalis. The former insect occurs
in the temperate and colder countries of Europe, in moist
and marshy places; the latter is from North America.
We pass over the genus Zuphium, of which one spe¬
cies, Z. olens, is remarkable for occurring in France, Spain,
Italy, the southern provinces of Russia, and the East In-
dies,—the genus Polistichas, of which P. fasciolatus is
found in Britain,—the genus Helluo of Bonelli, of which
all the species are foreign to Europe,—the genus Drypta,
which has representatives in Africa, New Holland, and
the East Indies, and of which D. emarginata is British
(for a representation of D. rujicollis, see PI. CCXXXIV.
fig. 9),—the genera Galerita, Ctenodactyla, Agra, Cymin -
dis, Eat. (Tarns, Clairville, of which 7’. basalis, Gyll. oc¬
curs in the south of Scotland), and Calleida.
Genus Demetrias, Bon. Hooks of the tarsi dentated
beneath. Terminal article of the palpi cylindrical. The
first three articles of the tarsi almost triangular, the last
strongly bilobed. Body elongated. Head oval, slightly
narrowed posteriorly.
These little insects, as far as we know, are all Euro¬
pean. They are frequent in spring, on briars and hedges.
We have four British species, one of which, D. obscurus,
we owe to the recent researches of Mr Newman.
Genus Dromius,5 Bon. Resembles the preceding;
but the articles of the tarsi are entire, and nearly cylin¬
drical. The species are apterous.
The Dromii formed part of the genus Lebia of Latreille,
till their separation by Bonelii. They are almost all Eu¬
ropean, and are commonly found under stones, and be¬
neath the bark of trees. Britain produces about twenty
species.
Genus Lebia. Hooks of the tarsi dentated beneath.
Terminal article of the palpi nearly cylindrical and oval,
and truncated at the end, but never securiform. Antennae
filiform. Articles of the tarsi nearly triangular or heart-
shaped, the penultimate bifid or bilobed. Body short and
flat. Thorax short, transversal, broader than the head,
prolonged posteriorly in the middle. Elytra broad, and
nearly square.
This genus, which is comparatively numerous in Euro¬
pean species, and is likewise known in America, and more
sparingly in Africa, has been divided by Bonelli into two.
The type of the first division (genus Lamprias) is Leb.
chlorocephala, a beautiful little insect, of a brilliant bluish
green, with the base of the antennae, legs, breast, and
thorax red, the tarsi black. It occurs occasionally near
Edinburgh, and has been taken as far north as Lairig, in
Sutherland. The type of Lebia proper is L. crux minor,
and this second division is characterized by the penul¬
timate joint of the tarsi being bilobed, while in the first
it is said to be simple. However, as far as we are able
to perceive from an inspection of our north-country spe¬
cimens, there is a bilobation in that part also in Lam¬
prias. But other distinctive characters will be found de¬
tailed in the works of Messrs Curtis and Stephens, both
of whom follow Bonelli in regarding the two divisions
as distinct genera. Dejean’s Catalogue contains sixty-four
species.
1 The Catalogue des Col. 2d ed. contains seventy-seven in all.
a Mem. sur le Brachine Tirailleur, Ann. du Mus. t. xvii. p. 70, and Ann. des Sciences Nat. t. vi. p. 320.
8 Stephens’ Illustrations, vol. i. p. 35. 4 Entomologies Braziliance Specimen. 5 From ogofuv;, a runner.
ENTOMOLOGY.
Coleoptera
Pentamera.
Synoptical Table of the preceding Section, according to the system of Dejean.
83
Coleoptera
Pentaniera.
TRUNCATIPENNES.
First Sub-Tribe
o
Oh
a
G
bo
G
CD
H->
G „
03 M
<U C3
O
^Oh
Ti
Ch
r-i r
TJQ
cn G
O O
*“3
o
‘C .
is
■g
OJ 3
>> feD
° G
03
(D
2 rG
32
H
i the form of a lengthened neck, often cylindrical and contracted in
fr°nt  1. Casnonia-
\ f covered with hairs  2. Lasiocera.
o q -s o <d
c3
- ^ t simple  3. Odacantha.
L strongly bilobed  4 Leptotrachelus.
G
T3
c3
<D G
Oh 3
G H,
G b o
o 4J
tT ^ .s
g b °
o O 5
much shorter than the head,
5. Trigonodactyla.
. with
. nearly as long as the head.
teeth beneath... 
'strongly bilobed.
>>0
M
c3
s
ID
rG
03
f very much dilated.
6. Cordistes.
7. Ctenodactyla.
8. Drypta.
9. Galerita.
II
is
"g
G
D
Ph
G G
qj Gh
hS Dh
^13
g
03 G
cn ^
hG
H
.with teeth beneath.
id ,x3
D —>
O
as long as the head   10. Zuphium.
shorter than the head.
.nearly cylindrical.
U. Polistichus.
.12. Diaphorus.
, 13. Agra.
84
Coleoptera
Pentamera.
O) >-»
OJ
O
X PQ
^Oh
. la
a) a,
c3 ^
feJD.S
C ^
CD
to ^
a
c
f
ENTOMOLOGY.
Second Sub-Tribe.
S ^
la -t->
S.S
<u .2,
C -5 CD
cu ^
CO r2 CCS
B
Tb co
^ S 3
9 rSi a
m
o
Ph
not bilobed       14. Cymindis.
bilobed   ,....   15. Calleida.
& ,
'§ ^
O ^
QJ
W
with very large teeth.
a> ca
£ o
^
la^l2
S 3^
t/i G o
4^ Ph
i ■?
bilobed.
not bilobed......    18. Dromius.
^ CLi
C/2
g "3
a. q3 ^
^ 3la
° ^ .-H
’-d
C “ rS
53 cu
QJ ca i
rs <u cw
^ C o
r/2 .12
^ o
£ a
c3
• c c+-1
s °
^ c
.o .5
itl &jd X
b S 13
1 2
o g o
o> c ^c
«2 4->
^.2 <D
Tp c 'S
C 4J
O t/2
£ o
to pH
S .3
g Sox
.Q d
rts ca t-
>- C °
C «
".2£
-
O
c »
Ph
forming a right angle with the sides  19. Plochionus.
produced in the middle...           20. Aspasia.
0)
Tb .
C co
ca a>
633 r-
C
.C
S'%
c
o .M
—2 CO
(D V.
ca
ca ^
S £
3
C
3
Ph
not bilobed   ....21. Lebia,
bilobed         22. Coptodera.
Coleoptera
Pentaniera.
.16. Onypterygia.
.17. Demetrias.
’moniliform, or thickening towards the apex      24. Helluo.
3 3
o c
rS -2
•r G
CO
b
ca
G .
3 33
0) ^C O
> *2 c
co C
3 3 ;
S.S J
+r 3 ^
^ 3
b .2
< 3 ca
i i
3d »—1
wings wanting,
winged 
gW (.scarcely elongate, nearly orbicular,
strongly securiform 
. a,
s S.-I
rs
.S ^ ^3
!i £ -2
<U O D
^ ^
° ^
G
•d
G
3
G
D2
H
rTd
. ca
0) 3
s .&
G 3 ^
‘o c2 .2 •-
more or less triangular or heart-shaped.
<! ^
bJO *J
C l+3
O o
nearly cylindrical.
.25. Aptinus.
.26. Brachinus.
.27. Corsyra.
.28. Drepanus.
.29. Dyscolus.
.30. Promecoptera.
& c 33 2 ( rather short and wide, more or less square or ovate.
bp 3 g ■'
G ra
S ( more or less elongate and parallel.
O)
^G
4-i
c30 S
k.
co 3
rather strongly securiform,
.31. Thyreopterus.
.32. Catascopus.
.33. Eucheyla.
S aT
M—I >•
*C o
3 s
QJ *3
CO
I
o tu
G ^
scarcely elongate, nearly orbicular 34. Graphipterns,
more or less elongate
35. Anthia.
ENTOMOLOGY.
85
Coleoptera Section 2d, Bipartin, Lat. Scaritides, Dej.
Pentamera.
Almost all the genera of this group (seventeen in num¬
ber in the system of Dejean) were constituent portions
of the old genus Scarites of Fabricius and Olivier. They
possess several characters in common. The exterior pal¬
pi are not subulate or awl-shaped at their extremity.
The elytra are not terminated by a truncation, but are
either entire or slightly sinuated. The abdomen is sepa¬
rated from the thorax by an obvious intermediate neck¬
shaped portion.1 The first article of the antennae is al¬
ways the largest. The anterior legs are often broad and
palmated, and strongly notched interiorly. The anterior
tarsi present no marked disparity in the sexes, and are
unprovided with brushes beneath; but simply ciliated.2
In the Coleopteres d'Eurcpe of MM. Latreille and
Dejean, the Scaritides seem to be regarded as not carni¬
vorous. But in opposition to this opinion, so contrary to
analogy, we have the authority, as Mr Macleay has noted,
of two accurate observers, MM. Olivier and Lefebre de
Cerisy. The latter, who resides at Toulon, possesses pe¬
culiar facilities for acquiring a knowledge of their natural
habits. He states them to be nocturnal insects of prey,
which, during the day, lurk motionless in holes of the
earth, and sally out at night to attack Melolonthidae and
other insects.3
The insects included in this division are rather strong¬
ly distinguished from the conterminous groups. As they
are destined to live chiefly beneath the surface of the
earth, their structure is more peculiarly adapted than
that of the other Coleoptera to a subterranean mode of
life. The body is narrow, the anterior thighs thickened,
the tibiae dilated, and furnished with strong spines, pre¬
senting a broad surface, well fitted to remove the soil;—
the head and thorax are strong, and the latter is at¬
tached to the abdomen by a short peduncle or footstalk.
In the last-mentioned particular they differ from most
other pentamerous beetles, which usually have the thorax
closely applied to the abdomen, and the hinder angles
rectangular or even salient, which necessarily prevents any
considerable degree of lateral motion. But in insects
which excavate holes scarcely exceeding their body in
width, some provision is necessary to enable them to turn
their anterior portion in different directions, otherwise
their progress would be nearly in a straight line. This
object, which is analogous to that which is provided for in
moles and other burrowing quadrupeds, by the flexibility
of the vertebral column, is attained by the interposition of
a narrow cylindrical piece between the abdomen and tho¬
rax, on which the latter moves as on a pivot, its hinder
angles being rounded off that its motions may be perform¬
ed with greater facility. The form of the antennae is like¬
wise in beautiful accordance with the habits of the insects.
They are composed of nearly globular articulations attach¬
ed to each other by a slender filament, bearing some re¬
semblance to a series of beads rather loosely strung. By
a structure of this kind, they are rendered greatly more
pliant and flexile than in the other Pentamera (the joints
of the antennae in which are generally conical), and there¬
fore present no obstacle to the insect’s progress through
a resisting medium.4
These insects are usually of a uniform black colour.
The larva of Ditomus bucephalus, the only one that has
oeen attended to, presents, according to Latreille, the Coleoptera
same form and habits of life as those of Cicindelce. They Pentamera.
are m >re particularly characteristic of torrid countries, "Y^''
although Great Britain and the rest of Europe produce
several genera.
Genus: Enceladus, Bon. Scarites, Oliv. Mentum in¬
articulate, soldered, covering almost all the under part of
the head, strongly notched, with a bifid tooth in the cen¬
tre. Terminal article of the labial palpi distinctly securi¬
form. Antennae filiform; the first article a little longer
than the others.
The species of this genus differ from most of their
section in having their anterior tibiae unemarginate, which
allies them to the Simplicimanes of Dejean, or Grandipal-
pi of Lat. The example figured, E. gigas (see Plate
CCXXXIV. fig. 4), is a large insect of which the locality
seems doubtful. Latreille believed it to come from Ma¬
dagascar and equinoctial Africa, while Dejean regards it
as South American.
Genus Acanthoscelis, Lat. Scarites, Fab. Men¬
tum articulated, almost plane, strongly trilobed. Labrum
very short, tridentated. Mandibles large, advanced,
strongly toothed interiorly. Terminal article of the labial
palpi almost cylindrical. Antennae moniliform ; the first
article very large; the others much less, but enlarging
insensibly towards the extremity. Body short and con¬
vex. Thorax convex, transverse, almost square. Elytra
short, and very convex. Anterior tibiae strongly palmat¬
ed ; posterior short, broad, arched, and spinous. Trochan¬
ters almost as large as the posterior thighs.
This genus is formed upon Scarites raficornis of Fab.
(PI. CCXXXIV. fig. 17), an insect above eight lines in
length, black, with the palpi and antennae ferruginous.
It is native to the Cape of Good Hope.
Genus Scarites,5 Fab. Mentum articulated, concave,
strongly trilobed. Labrum, mandibles, and terminal arti¬
cle of the palpi as in the preceding genus. Body rather
elongated, cylindrical, or slightly flattened. Thorax con¬
vex, almost crescent-shaped, notched anteriorly, rounded
posteriorly, and frequently somewhat prolonged in the
middle. Anterior tibiae strongly palmated, posterior
simple. Trochanters much shorter than the posterior
thighs.
The insects of our present genus are of considerable
size, of a black colour, usually shining, and are character¬
istic of sandy countries near the sea coast, or of districts
impregnated with saline particles. They occur in the
warmer countries of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America.
Dejean enumerates fifty-eight species. Three are said
to occur in Britain, S. Beckwithii of Stephens, S. subter-
raneus, and S. Icevigatus, Fab. The two latter are, however,
doubtful natives. The second is in fact an American in¬
sect (Plate CCXXXIV. fig, 10),—the third is frequent
in the south of France, and along the Mediterranean
shores.
Genus Clivina,6 Lat. Scarites, Fab. Mentum articu¬
late, concave, and trilobed. Labium slightly advanced,
and cut almost square. Mandibles slightly projecting,
not toothed interiorly. Terminal article of the labial pal¬
pi almost cylindrical. Antennae moniliform ; the first ar¬
ticle as long as the two succeeding united. Body more or
less elongated. Thorax square or globular. Anterior ti¬
biae almost always palmated.
1 The foreign genus Ozcena, in which the peduncle is scarcely perceptible, may be regarded as an exception to the last-named
character.
2 Species General, t. i. p. 355. * From tx.u.rn'iZ, I run swiftly.
4 Annulosa Javanica, No. i. p. 24. "Hvina is the name of an augurial bird mentioned by Pliny.
* Entomologia Edinensis, p. 77-
86 E N T O M
Coleoptera These small insects are usually found under stones, by
Pentamera. the banks of rivers, and elsewhere. They are common all
over Europe, more especially in its southern parts. T-hey
also occur in Africa, America, and the East Indies. We
have two British species, C. fossor, Gyllenhal, which is
brownish black, with the mouth, antennae, and legs rufous,
the elytra punctate striate, of the same colour as the
thorax,—and C. collaris of Herbst, of which the head and
thorax are brownish black, and the elytra chesnut colour.
Dejean regards the one as a variety of the other. They
are described as distinct by English entomologists. We
lately found a rare and interesting species, C. arctica, on
the mountain range on the north side of the valley of
Clova, in Forfarshire. It is known to occur, though rare¬
ly, in Lapland, the north of Sweden, Finland, and some¬
times as far to the east as the environs of St Petersburg.
It forms the genus Leiochiton of Curtis,1 so named from
Xs/of, smooth, and yjrov, a covering, the upper surface and
other parts being remarkable for glossiness.
The genus Dyschirius, Bonelli (named from cius, two,
and %/gas, a division of the foot or leg), which some au-
O L O G Y.
thors do not admit as distinct from Clivina, contains those Coleoptera
species of which the thorax is globular, and the anterior Pentamera.
tibiee palmated only at the extremity, and simple exte-
riorly. Sixteen species are found in Britain.2
Genus Dixomus, Bon. Mentum articulated, con¬
cave, and trilobed. Labrum slightly notched. Labial
palpi slightly elongated, the terminal article almost cylin¬
drical. Antennae filiform, the articles elongated and near¬
ly filiform. Thorax cordiform or crescent-shaped. An¬
terior tibiae not palmated.
This genus was established by Bonelli on the Scaurus
sulcatus, and certain Carahi of Fabricius, which Rossi and
Olivier had placed in Scarites. The species are of middle
size, dark or blackish in their colouring, and frequently
deeply punctured. They inhabit the southern parts of
Europe, the north of Africa, and the west of Asia. We
have figured D. violaceus on the plate last referred to,
fig. 16. D.fulvipes of Lat. a common insect in the south
of France, and occurring, though rarely, as far north as
Paris, has some claims to be regarded as a British species.
We are acquainted with eighteen species in all.
1 British Entomology, vol. viii. p. 346. Of the genus Clhina, including Discldrius, &c. Dejean’s Catalogue enumerates forty-four
SDCC1CS*
a We take our indications of the amount of indigenous species from Mr Stephens’ Nomenclature of British Insects. Second edi¬
tion. 1833.
ENTOMOLOGY.
Coleoptera
Pentamera.
St
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Synoptical Table of the preceding Section (Scaritides), according to the system of Deje
Coleoptera
Pentamera.
without a notch.
1. Enceladus
strongly notched  2 ^
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rather narrow, short, and trilobed    4# Melcenus.
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straight and nearly simple  5. Scarites.
short, broad, bent, and covered with spines.
quadrate, and nearly cylindrical.
broad, flat, nearly heart-shaped, emarginate posteriorly.
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88 E N T O M
Coleoptera SECTj0n 3d, Quadrimani, Lat. Haupalici, Bon.
Pentamera.
In this division Latreille includes those groups of Ca-
rabici which, resembling the preceding in the pointed ter¬
mination of the elytra, have the four anterior tarsi dilat¬
ed in the males; the first three or four articulations are in
the form of a reversed heart or triangle, and are nearly all
terminated by acute angles; their under part is usually
furnished (excepting the Aphoni) with two ranges of pa¬
pillae or scales, with an intermediate linear space. The
body is always winged, generally oval and arched, or con¬
vex above, with the thorax broader than long, or at most
nearly isometrical, square, or trapezoidal. The head is
never suddenly contracted posteriorly. The antennae are
of equal thickness throughout, or are slightly and insensi¬
bly enlarged towards the extremity. The mandibles are
never remarkably strong. The external palpi are termi¬
nated by an oval or fusiform joint of greater length than
that which precedes it. The tooth of the notch or emar-
gination of the mentum is always entire,—in some want¬
ing.1 The legs are robust, the tibiae spiny, and the hooks
of the tarsi simple. The intermediate tarsi, even in the
females, are short, and, with the exception of the dilata¬
tion, are formed nearly like the anterior. The species
prefer warm and sandy situations exposed to the sun.
Genus Harpalus, Lat. Dej. (Pl.CCXXXIV. fig.
11.) The first four articles of the four anterior tarsi strong¬
ly dilated in the males, broader than long, and very de¬
cidedly triangular, or cordiform. Terminal article of the
palpi somewhat elongated, slightly oval, or almost cylin¬
drical and truncated at the extremity. Antennae filiform.
Labrum in the form of a transverse square. Mandibles
slightly advanced, arcuated, and not very sharp. A sim¬
ple tooth, more or less developed, in the middle of the
emargination of the mentum. Body oblong, more or less
elongated. Head more or less rounded, narrowed poste¬
riorly. Thorax more or less square, cordiform, or trapezoi¬
dal. Elytra more or less elongated, and almost parallel.
The genus Harpalus of Latreille, as conceived in his
Genera Crustaceorum et Insectorum, comprised all those
insects which Dejean has united in the tribes Harpaliens
and Feroniens, and the genera Callistus, Oodes, Chlcenius,
Epomis, and Dinodes, of the Patellimanes of the latter au¬
thor. Boneili, in his Observations Entomologiques, reduced
the genus to the insects which now constitute the tribe
Harpaliens of Dejean, itself consisting of twenty-eight
genera. The Harpalidce of the British writers include,
o L o G Y.
besides our present genus, many genera of the sections af- Coleoptera
terwards mentioned under the names of Simplicimani and Peatamert,
Patellimani. v—
The genus Harpalus, even as now restricted and above
defined, is very extensive, and probably contains nearly
one half of the species of the section. The larvae of these
insects, as far as we are acquainted with them, dwell be¬
neath the ground. Their form is conico-cylindrical; their
head large, armed with strong mandibles, resembling those
of the perfect insect; the posterior part of their body ex¬
hibits a membranous tube, terminated by a prolongation
of the anal region, and two fleshy articulated appendages.
Their metamorphoses are likewise subterranean. The
Harpali are distributed over all the earth. They are,
however, obviously more abundant in the temperate and
even boreal regions of the northern hemisphere, than in
equinoctial or southern countries. Comte Dejean’s col¬
lection contains 179 species, while Mr Stephens enume¬
rates (including the doubtful kinds) 58 species as indi¬
genous to Britain, besides 15 Ophoni, which Dejean com¬
bines with Harpalus.
We may name as one of the most abundant of the ge¬
nus H. rvjicornis, of a pitchy-black colour, the antennae and
legs rufous, the elytra pubescent striated, the interstices
punctured. This insect is spread over all Europe. We
took it at Cape Wrath. It occurs in Siberia. M. Gou-
dot brought it from Northern Africa.
H. ceneus is distinguished by various shades of green
above, with a brassy or coppery lustre; the under side
black; external margin of the elytra punctulated, the an¬
tennae and legs rufous. This species is extremely varia¬
ble. It is generally of a rich bronzed green ; the males
highly polished, the females more obscure, sometimes
brownish black. Mr Kirby once took a specimen of this
insect, which he immersed in hot water, and was sur¬
prised to observe what he at first supposed an intestine
thrust itself forth ; on a nearer inspection he found it
was an intestinal worm, thicker than a horse-hair, and of
a brown colour.2
This group (the Quadrimani), in the system of Dejean
(where it is named Harpaliens), includes many minor ge¬
nera not recognised in the Eegne Animal, and contains
the genera Tetragonoderus and Pelecium, which in La-
treille’s arrangement belong to other sections. As we
cannot enter into a detailed exposition of the characters
of those genera, we shall here exhibit Dejean’s latest
views by means of a synoptical table.
.1. Pelicium.
,2. Eripus.
HARP ALICE
First Sub-Tribe.
Mentum trilobed.
Antennae
f filiform  
(moniliform.
Second Sub-Tribe.
Mentum deeply notched.
This sub-tribe may be separated into two divisions.
First Division.
Antennae moniliform.
TV, t tV, ’ tViP (simple. Last joint of the la- f ovate   3. Cratocerus.
ie oo i in e no cn j bial palpi   (cylindric, and truncated at the extremity...4. Somoplatus.
\ KJXCli.   •••* L •/  j   j ... - -   ^ 
(wanting 5. Daptus.
1 The ligula or anterior portion of the mentum is always, according to Latreille, in this as well as in the two following genera,
remarkably salient, obtuse or truncated at the end, and is accompanied by two distinct membranous paraglossae in the form of auri¬
cles (oreillettes).
2 For the other British species we must refer the reader to the works of Messrs Stephens and Curtis. We have described such
as occur near Edinburgh in our Entomologia Edinentis. The characters of the foreign kinds are detailed in Dejean’s Specici General.
ENTOMOLOGY.
Coleoptera
Pentamera.
Second Division.
Antennce filiform.
May be divided into two subdivisions.
89
Coleoptera
Pentamera.
First Subdivision.
Notch of the mentum with a bifid tooth in the middle.
Body { ^at an(* rounded 
^ (elongate 
6. Cyclosomus.
.7. Promecoderus.
Second Subdivision.
, . . „ , Tooth in the notch of the mentum simple or wanting.
Last j oin t of the palpi securiform       g
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deeply bilobed      2(3
Geobcenus.
Stenolophus.
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Lterminatinginapoint 27.
broad and nearly square 28. TetraaLon
Tetragonoderus.
VOL. IX.
90 E N T O M
Coleoptera Section 4th, Simplicimanx.
Pentamera.
s—This section resembles the preceding so far as regards
the termination of the elytra;1 but the two anterior tarsi
only are dilated in the males, without however forming a
square or orbicular pallet; sometimes the first three ar¬
ticles are obviously broader, and the succeeding one is in
that case always much less than its antecedent; sometimes
the latter and the two preceding ones are larger, almost
equal, and in the form of a reversed or triangular heart.
The joints of the four following tarsi are more slender and
elongated, almost cylindrical, or in the form of a length¬
ened and reversed cone.
The Simplicimani of Latreille consist of genera belong¬
ing to the tribe Carabiques Feroniens of Dejean, with the
addition of Tetragonoderus, Dejean (Harpalici), Catasco-
pus, Kirby (Truncatipennes), and a few others. _
Genus Zabrus, Clairvtlle. The first three articles of
the anterior tarsi dilated in the males, broader than long,
strongly cordiform. Terminal article of the palpi almost
cylindrical, and truncated at the extremity. Antennae
filiform, and but slightly lengthened. Labrum of a squai e
form, broader than long, slightly notched anteriorly.
Mandibles little advanced, rather strongly arcuated, al¬
most obtuse. A simple tooth in the middle of the emar-
gination of the mentum. Body thick and convex. Iho-
rax transverse, square, trapezoidal, or rounded on the sides.
Elytra convex, rarely elongated, frequently very short, al¬
most parallel, and rounded at the extremity.
These insects are usually found under stones, or march¬
ing about the fields, occasionally on the stalks of grass or
other herbage. We are acquainted with about twenty
species, of which not more than two are British. The
majoritj' of the others occur in the southern parts of Eu¬
rope. There is one from Teneriffe.
Genus Feronia, Eat. Dej. The first three articles of
the anterior tarsi dilated in the males, broader than long,
and strongly triangular or cordiform. Terminal article of
the palpi more or less elongated, cylindrical, or slightly
securiform. Antennae filiform, more or less lengthened.
Labrum square, broader than long, sometimes almost trans¬
versal, quadrate anteriorly, or slightly notched. Man¬
dibles more or less advanced, and more or less arcuated
and pointed. A bifid tooth in the middle of the emargi-
nation of the mentum. Thorax more or less cordiform,
rounded, square, or trapezoidal, never transverse. Ely¬
tra more or less elongated, oval, or parallel. Intermediate
tibiae always straight.
A great variety of opinion is maintained by entomolo¬
gists regarding the distribution of the component parts of
this extensive genus. Bonelli, in the synoptical table
annexed to the first part of his Observations Entomolo-
giques (in 1809), published the generic characters of/Ya-
tysma, Pcecilus, Abax, Molops, Percus, Melanins, and /Yer-
ostichus. At an after period MM. Megerle and Ziegler
established Argutor, Steropus, Cophosus, and Omaseus,
the latter genus, it is believed, corresponding to Melanius
of Bonelli. Ail these were admitted provisionally into the
first edition of Comte Dejean’s Catalogue, published in
1821. In the third volume, however, of the Species Ge¬
neral of that great collector, he observes as follows : “ Ma
collection depuis cette epoque s’etant considerablement
augmentee, je me suis trouve souvent tres-embarasse pour
placer dans ces differents genres les especes qui je rece-
O L O G Y.
vais, surtout les exotiques, et quelquefois plusieurs d’en- Coleoplera
tre elles me paraissaient intermediaires entre deux genres, Pentamera.
et appartenir autant a 1’un qua 1 autre. Plus je recevais
d’insectes, plus je me trouvais embarasse, et lorsque je
voulus classer definitivement toutes mes especes dans
chaque genre, et etablir les caracteres de chacun de ces
genres, apres plusieurs essais intructueux, je finis par etie
convaincu que cela etait reellement impossible.” Dejean
then thought of following the example of Sturm, who re¬
duces (in his Deutschlands Fauna) all the genera above
named to those of Abax, Molops, Pterostichus, and Pla-
tysma; but after a deliberate re-examination, even these
did not appear sufficiently marked; and he finally deter¬
mined to combine them all in one under the name of
Feronia, a term previously used in a comprehensive sense
by Latreille in the first edition of the Fegne Animal.
The genus Feronia, then, of Dejean is one of the most
extensive in the coleopterous order, containing above 230
species. It is subdivided by the last-named author into
ten sections, corresponding to the same number of genera
as established by Bonelli, Megerle, Ziegler, and Sturm.
According to Latreille’s views, the genus is divisible
into three groups as follows: 1st, The species, generally
winged, of which the body, more or less oval, is a little
convex or arcuated above, with the antennae more filiform,
the head proportionally narrower, and the mandibles some¬
what less projecting. In their habits these insects ap¬
proach the genera Harpalus and Zabrus. Such are the
Amarce, of which the thorax is transverse (and which
Dejean admits as a distinct genus); the Pmcili, where it
is almost as long as broad, and where the rather short an¬
tennae have the third article compressed and angular ; and
the Argutores, which resemble the Paecili, but have pro¬
portionally shorter antennae, with the third joint not an-
gular.
2d, The species usually furnished with wings, but of
which the body is straight, plane, or horizontal above,
with the head nearly as wide as the body. Such is the
genus Platysma of Bonelli, to which Latreille unites Oma¬
seus of Ziegler and Dejean, and Catadromus of Macleay.
3d, This division contains Feroniae, analogous to those
of the preceding one in their general characters, but dis¬
tinguished by the want of wings.2
We shall conclude by observing that our English en¬
tomologists have adopted all those minor genera, in so far
as they are applicable to the British species, and have
even proposed several others of still more limited applica¬
tion. We regret that our necessarily narrow limits pre¬
vent our entering into minute details.3 We shall merely
indicate a few of the species. F. madida is shining black,
the elytra ovate, rather convex, subpunctate-striate, with
a puncture on the third interstice a little behind the mid¬
dle This is the F. concinna of Sturm and Dejean. A
variety occurs with the thighs and sometimes the tibiae
rufous; it constitutes the F. madida of the latter author.
They are not distinct. Both varieties are in this country
among the most common of coleopterous insects, occur¬
ring beneath stones, at the roots of trees, &c. both on low
grounds and on mountains. They seem less common in
Germany than in any other country in Europe. F. ni-
grita is also of frequent occurrence in all parts of Britain.
It is of a shining black, the thorax subquadrate, narrowed
behind, the elytra with obsoletely punctured striae, and
three impressed dots on the disk. F. orinomum is like-
1 As usual, there are exceptions to the rule:—“ Plusieurs Carabiques simplicimanes,” says Latreille, “ ont 1 extremite de leurs
^lytres fortement sinuee au bout, et se distinguant a peine, sous ce rapport, des Troncatipennes." (Note to Regne Animal^ t. iv
p. 399.)
® For a further exposition of Latreille’s views, see Rlgne Animal, tom. iv. p. 395.
* For the arrangement of the indigenous species, see Mr Stephens’ Nomenclature of British Insects, 2d edition.
E N T O M
Coleopterawise shining black, often faintly tinged with brassy; elytra
Pentainera.striated, with more than four impressed dots on the disk
of each. By the comparison of an extensive series of
specimens of this insect which we have collected in va¬
rious parts of Scotland, we are satisfied that F. ( Omaseus)
Bulwerii of Stephens is not specifically distinct. A spe¬
cies frequent under stones in woods and fields, and the
last which we shall here mention, is F. melanaria. It is
black, apterous, moderately convex, the thorax with a bi-
striated fovea in each of its posterior angles, the elytra
with striae nearly impunctate.
Genus Broscus, Panzer. Cephalotes, Bon. First three
articles of the anterior tarsi dilated in the males, broader
than long, and decidedly cordiform. Terminal article of
the labial palpi elongated and slightly securiform. An¬
tennae filiform, and but slightly lengthened. Labrum of a
square form, broader than long, almost transverse. Man¬
dibles slightly arcuated, and rather sharp. A simple tooth
in the middle of the emargination of the mentum. Tho¬
rax cordiform, convex, and much contracted posteriorly.
Elytra rather long, slightly oval, or parallel.
This genus was established by Bonelli on the Carabus
cephalotes of Fabricius, and was also distinguished about
the same period by Panzer under the name of Broscus.
We adopt the latter term as more familiar to the English
collectors. Of the five species with which we are acquaint¬
ed, two belong to Europe, one to the north of Africa, one
to Mount Sinai, and the fifth to Asia Minor. They are all
of considerable size, and bear a resemblance to the genus
Steropus of Megerle.
The only British species is B. cephalotes., which is of an
elongated form, black, with the head thinly punctured,
and the elytra very finely punctate-striate. It occurs in
sandy places over many parts of Britain; and in the vici¬
nity of Edinburgh is plentiful under stones, and marine re¬
jectamenta, on the shore between Portobello and Mussel¬
burgh. We found it as far north as Keoldale, near Cape
Wrath. The attitude this insect assumes when disturbed
is rather peculiar. The two anterior pair of legs are
brought close together, and extended straight outwards
at right angles with the under surface of the body. The
hind legs are bent upwards, and project in a similar way
from the opposite surface. The antennae are drawn close
to the sides of the thorax, and the mandibles extended to
their utmost stretch, while a considerable degree of rigi¬
dity is imparted to the whole. It takes this posture most
readily in cold weather; at other times, when more ac¬
tive, it prefers seeking safety by flight, or by burrowing in
the sand.1
“ The habit of these insects,” it is elsewhere observed,
“ is very curious. They are found only in the sand on
the sea shore, and live in dens about three inches deep
and half an inch wide, which are made in a diagonal posi¬
tion in the sand, where it is mixed with decomposed stalks
of Elymus arenarius. They appear to rove during the
day occasionally; but upon any alarm they run swiftly to
their dens, projecting from the mouths of which their
heads may be seen watching for prey. On holding ano¬
ther beetle to the hole, the one within would immediately
seize hold of it with its jaws, and continue so tightly fixed
as to suffer itself to be drawn out without quitting its hold.
They appear to be very ferocious insects; and, from the
number of elytra and other parts strewed about the sand,
it may be supposed that they prey on each other.”2 The
latter observation, we may remark, applies to many in¬
sects; although the human race (certainly in that respect
O L O G Y. 91
the most noted) have been supposed to present the only Coleoptera
instances of identical species waging war upon each other, f’entamera.
Even tiger fell and sullen bear, '—•'-y—
Their likeness and their lineage spare.
Man only mars kind nature’s plan,
And turns the fierce pursuit on man.3
I he natural position of the genus Broscus seems to be
that assigned it by Mr Curtis, between the Scaritides and
the species which in the Entomologia Edinensis is placed
at the head of the genus Fcronia, viz. F. madida {Stero¬
pus madidus, Meger.). In common with the former, Bros¬
cus possesses an elongated form, rather short stout legs,
and a pedunculated thorax, which adapt it to a subterra¬
neous mode of life. In the latter the thorax is also pe¬
dunculated, and the legs thick and strong, while the more
rigid structure of the antennae, admitting less easily of
being applied to the sides of the thorax to facilitate pro¬
gression in a cylindrical hole, together with the general
configuration of most of the other parts, assimilate it
more decidedly to the other Feroniae, to which its habits
perfectly correspond.
Genus Mormolyce, Hagenbach.4 Exterior palpi very
short; the terminal article cylindrical, and almost rounded
at the extremity. Antennae setaceous, almost as long as
the body; the third article as long as the two following.
Labrum almost square, notched anteriorly. Mandibles
short, arcuated, rather sharp, and toothed interiorly. A
simple tooth in the middle of the emargination of the
mentum. Body remarkably depressed. Head narrow,
elongated, much prolonged posteriorly. Thorax almost
lozenge-shaped. Elytra flat, thin, greatly dilated, much
wider and longer than the abdomen.
The aspect of this genus is one of the most remarkable
with which we are acquainted. We place it among the
Simplicimani {Feroniens) in accordance with the exam¬
ple of Latreille and Dejean, the latter of whom observes,
“ J ai place cet insecte pres des Sphodrus, mais ce n’est
que provisiorement, car j’ignore de quelle maniere les
tarses sent dilates dans les males, et meme s’ils ne sont
pas semblables dans les deux sexes.” In regard to its
locality he further observes, “ D’apres M. Hagenbach,
elle se trouve dans la partie occidentale de Java; d’autres
personnes croient qu’elle vient de la Cochin-Chine.”5 Our
recent acquisition of an extensive series of specimens of
the only known species enables us to determine both of
those doubtful points. The tarsi are alike in both sexes,
and our collection was brought from Java.
The insect above alluded to {Mormolyce phyllodes, Plate
CCXXXIV. fig. 13s) measures nearly three inches in length
and an inch and a half across the dilated portion of the
elytra. It is entirely of a blackish-brown colour, some¬
what paler on the edges of the abdomen. It is furnished
with wings, and the elytra have the appearance of being
reticulated. The figure just referred to will convey an
accurate idea of its form. We have supplied the princi¬
pal collections of Europe with this rare and singular in¬
sect, of which, says Dejean, to whom we had the pleasure
to transmit a pair, “ il est presque impossible de se faire
la moindre idee par la description.” He also terms it “ un
insecte extraordinaire, qui parait appartenir au premier
aspect a la famille des Mantis, mais qui est cependant un
Coleoptere, et meme un veritable Carabique, ainsi qu’il
est facile de s’en convaincre par ses caracteres generiques.”
Passing over the genus Sphodrus, of which S. leucoph-
thalmus is the only British species, we come to
Genus Calathus, Bon. First three articles of the
1 Entomologia Edinensis, p. 82. 2 Entomological Magazine, No. 1, p. 92. s Rokehj, canto iiL
4 Mormolyce Novum Coleopterorum Genus, Nuremberg, 1825. * Species General, t. v. part 2, p. 714.
4 The parts of the mouth are represented on the same plate, fig. 12, a, l, c, d. ’ ’ *
entomology.
92
Coleoptera anterior tarsi dilated in die males. Hooks of the tarsi
Fentamera. toothed beneath. Terminal article of the palpi elongated,
almost cylindrical, and truncated at the extremity. An¬
tennae rather elongated, filiform, and slightly compres¬
sed. Labrum of a square form, broader than long, very
slightly notched anteriorly Mandibles not much ad¬
vanced, slightly arcuated, and rather sharp. A bifid tooth
in the middle of the emargination of the mentum. I borax
trapezoidal, or almost square, little, if at all, contracted pos¬
teriorly. Elytra rather elongated, slightly oval, little con¬
tracted anteriorly, and rounded at the extremity.
This genus, as Mr Stephens observes, presents a pecu¬
liar outline from the shape of the head, trapeziform tho¬
rax, and elliptic elytra, by which it is readily distinguish¬
ed from the neighbouring genera. The species usually
reside among short herbage on banks, and are frequently
observed upon quick-hedges.1 They are generally of a
black or brown colour, rarely metallic. They are ex¬
tremely active in their movements. The only species we Coleoptera
shall here notice is the C. microcephalus of Dejean,2 which Fentamera.
we discovered in the summer of 1832 in the highlands of
Forfarshire, Perthshire, and Aberdeenshire. It forms an
addition to our British species, and is distinguishable
from tbe others by the following characters:—Shining
black ; antennae, palpi, legs, and margin of the thorax tes¬
taceous ; the thorax rather long, somewhat narrowed be¬
hind, with the hinder angles obtuse ; elytra not much
elongate, with slender impunctate striae, the second and
third from the suture with two impressed points. In size
it nearly agrees with the very common C. melanocephalus.
On the continent it occurs in Sweden, France, Switzer¬
land, and Germany, chiefly in woods and on mountains.
Here follows the synoptical table of the preceding sec¬
tion, according to the system of Dejean, and including
many genera of which we cannot give the detailed cha¬
racters.
FERONIENS, Dej. (Chiefly) Simplicimani, Lat.
Division First.
First joint of the anterior tarsi dilated, at least in the males.
This division contains only one genus 
Division Second.
The two first joints of the anterior tarsi dilated in the males.
O
O
H
wanting,
simple...
’a,
a.
ji
a
G
O
a
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3H
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G 92
G G
aT
+-> G .G
G •£3 O
^ G Oh
° G
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flat, nearly square, slightly or not at all contracted behind.
convex, heart-shaped, considerably contracted behind.
G 0)
.y -s
u ^
r3 +h
G G
W 4-J
>■» u
Tl G
G G
3
>. o
-G H
bJO
convex, nearly ovate.
’■3 S
2 s
G 3
G
-G a>
o
o
H
simple,
flat, contracted behind, more or less heart-shaped   
Division Third.
Three first joints of the anterior tarsi dilated in the males.
First Subdivision.
Claws dentate beneath.
0)
• rG
TJ H-n a,
C-M 'Trt
£ ° Oh
b £ <
rr o
< 3°
0) 4G
» H
contracted behind, and more or less heart-shaped.
trapezoidal or nearly square ; scarcely or not at all contracted behind
oval, rounded behind 
_ securiform,
1. Stenomorphus.
2. Omphreus.
3. Melanotus.
4. Pogonus.
5. Cardiaderus.
6. Baripus.
7. Patrobus.
. 8. Dolichus.
. 9. Pristonychus,
.10. Calathus.
.11. Pristodactyla.
12. Taphria.
1 Him. of Brit. Ent. vol. i. p. 98.
J Species General, t. iii. p. 78*
Coleoptera
Pentamera,
ENTOMOLOGY.
Second Subdivision.
93
Coleoptera
Pentamera.
<1> CO be
-5 ^ G
fcsC'S ca
^ g g h
Claws without teeth.
o
o
Ft ^
a>
ti ^
c3 +3
much wider than the abdomen 13. Mormolyc
nearly of the same breadth as the abdomen   ,..14. Sphodrus
g
fc/D c/)
S rSi
(T) C/3
rS 5}
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l-C
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tG
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C3
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O CD u, o .G!
O >• O 33 +3
0>
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S S
o
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H
r v a
G «3
5J
T3 "bb
cu c .S „ ,
(S3 .b G
G rG &
r-C
flat, elongate-ovate, without distinct anterior angles 15. Platynus.
slightly convex, ovate or elongate-quadrate ; the anterior
angles always distinct 16.
Anchomenus.
TG
(0
is
i
+->
U
8
CD
u
o
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C3
3
bO
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•c S
-3
>> G
t3 ^
fcn
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rounded ; without distinct posterior angles   17. Aqonum
lwanting.     ....18. Olisthopus.
I S .a f triangular, or very strongly securiform 19. Trigonotoma.
G Ji G f
a ^ a
G GG
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b£ 0)
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8
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111
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13 ^ hd "t3
| produced and nearly pointed 20. Catadromus.
S | scarcely produced and almost truncated 21. Lesticus.
f
nearly wanting 22. Distrigus.
rounded   Abacetus.
elongate, and terminating nearly in a point 24. Drimostoma.
L strongly securiform     Microcephalus.
-d c
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G -g
4J +-»
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ds g
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k. T3 G
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2H £h
^ ’S^
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.a g
^ G
a
h-5
Gh g
ai
GO fH
2 ^
not at all or slightly
arched 26. Feronia.
much arched 27. Camptoscelis.
strongly securiform 28. My as.
wide, and projecting
little 29. Cephalotes.
vD QJ
k 2 S
0
£ “3
G
narrow, and projecting
much 30. Stomis.
a 53
O G.
G
tc G
S-, •;*
G i-G
> G
G 2
y <-i +3
rG ^ G-,
G ^
O
flat and nearly square 31. Abaris.
pretty strongly securiform 32. Rathym
_ o
Q
#
13 2
T3 ^3
.a ^
^ a
G
a
bifid 33. Pelor.
simple 34. Zabrus.
f • ovate 35. Amara.
t furnished with appendages beneath 35. Lophidius.
|b £ { more or less square or heart-shaped, not at all or very slightly transverse 37. Antarctia.
‘•E> o -i
g ^g | transverse, rounded on the sides, slightly produced in the middle be-
* 1 hind   Masoreut.
94 E N T O M
Peiuamera Section 5th, Patellimani, Lat.
This section is chiefly distinguished from the preced¬
ing by the mode in which the two anterior tarsi are dilat¬
ed in the males; the first joints (usually the first three,
then the fourth, in others only the first two) sometimes
square, sometimes partly of that form, and the others
heart-shaped or reversed triangular, but always rounded
at their extremity, and not terminated, as in the pre¬
ceding sections, by acute angles,—form an orbicular pal¬
let or lengthened square, of which the under surface is
usually furnished with brushes or close set papillae, with¬
out any intermediate vacancy. The legs are generally
long and slender. The thorax is frequently narrower
throughout its whole extent than the abdomen. The spe¬
cies frequent, for the most part, moist places on the banks
of rivers.
In the Regne Animal this section is composed of the
Patellimani of Dejean, of a portion of his Feroyiiens (Gen.
Dolichus, Platynus, Agonum,, Anchomenus, Patrobus), and
of the cenus Pelicium of Kirby, referred to the Harpaliens
in the ^Species General It is subdivided by Latreille into
two principal groups.
a. Head insensibly contracted behind.
Genus Agonum, Bon. First three articles of the an¬
terior tarsi dilated in the males, longer than broad, and
slightly triangular or cordiform. Terminal article of the
palpi lengthened, cylindrical, more or less oval, and trun¬
cated at the extremity. Antennae filiform, rather elon¬
gated. Labrum slightly convex, of a square form, broad¬
er than long, almost transversal. Mandibles not much ad¬
vanced, slightly arcuated, rather sharp. A simple tooth in
the middle of the emargination of the mentum. Thorax
more or less rounded, without obvious posterior angles.
Elytra oval, more or less elongated.
Of this genus A. sexpunctatum is a beautiful species,
of which the head and thorax are golden green, the ely¬
tra copper-red, finely striated, and impressed with six
large punctures. There is only one recorded instance of
its being taken in Scotland,—on the banks of the water
of Leith, a little to the west of Edinburgh.1 Several
other species are, however, common in Scotland. There
O L O G Y.
are about thirty kinds in Britain; and Dejean’s collection Coleoptera
contains fifty-six. lentam«^
The genus Anchomenus is nearly allied to the preced-
ing, but the labrum is plane, the thorax more or less cor¬
diform, with obvious posterior angles. The body is not
so flat. We are acquainted with above forty kinds, of
which not more than five inhabit Britain. We consider
Platynus angusticollis as belonging to this genus.
In the genus Chljenius of Bonelli, the tooth of the
emargination of the mentum is bifid, the external maxil¬
lary palpi are terminated by an almost cylindrical article,
slightly restricted at the base, that of the labial being in
the form of a reversed and lengthened cone. There
are 115 species of this extensive genus, of which about
eight are as yet recognised as British. They are orna¬
mental insects, being frequently adorned with green, and
burnished with a metallic lustre. They are spread over
almost all the earth,—Europe, Asia, Africa, and America.
They seem, however, rare in the southern division of the
new world, and, as far as we know, have not yet been
found in New Holland.2 Carabus saponarius of Oli¬
vier,3 which is used in Africa instead of soap, belongs to
the genus Chlcenius. It was brought from Senegal by M.
Geoffrey, fils.
In the genus Licinus the first two articles of the an¬
terior tarsi are dilated in the males. The terminal article
of the palpi is broad and securiform, and there is no tooth
in the middle of the emargination of the mentum. The
species are confined to Europe and the north of Africa.
In the genus Badister the first three articles of anterior
tarsi are dilated in the males, and the terminal article of
the palpi is oval. The species are confined to Europe.
b. Head suddenly contracted behind the eyes.
This division of the Patellimani contains the genera
Pelicium of Kirby and Cynthia of Lat., both from South
America, and three other genera, viz. Panag^eus (see
Pl.CCXXXIV. fig. 15), of which the head is very small
compared to the size of the body,—Loricera (Ibid. fig.
14), of which the first joint of the antennae is robust, al¬
most as long as the three following united, the second and
fourth short, with strong hairs, the third longer than the
second, likewise furnished with hairs,—and Patrobus.
1 Ent. Ed. p. 99.
* For the sectional division of this genus, see Dejean’s Specie* General, t. ii. p. 297*
* Coleopteret, t. iii. p. 35, 1*1. 3. fig. 26.
of the mentum without tooth in the middle. Notch of the mentum with a tooth in the middle.
Mandibles Anterior tarsi dilated in the males
Coleoptera
Pentamera*
ENTOMOLOGY.
Synoptical Table of the preceding Section, according to the System of Dejean.
95
Coleoptera
Pentamera.
i rS 'o
PATELLIMANI.
tU OJ
to
S
simple.
<u
bifid.
1. Eurysoma.
2. Panagceus.
not securiform,
3. Geobius.
.£ ^
‘o ^
••—i O
rC
-*-» 4->
0) CJ
^3
H
. 8j
1) c
t| 4
r beset with hairs
r s
o
s <>
o
O “
.§ «
to £
  4. Loricera.
rather elongate, ovate, and terminating nearly in a point  5. Callistus.
a, {"G
■ G
a.
0)
8
elongate, and truncated at the tip   Oodes.
strongly securiform  6> yertagus.
truncated at the apex  7>
strongly securiform  8> Epomis%
short and slightly securiform  9> J)ino(ies%
OJ t+H
^ O
C3
o
not securiform.
rather strongly securiform,
11. Rhembus.
. 12. Diccelus.
H S
G
<5
in the two first joints.
.13. Licinus.
in the three first joints U. BadUler.
96 E N T O M
Coleoptera * *
Pentamera- Anterior tibiae without an emargination on the internal
side, or presenting one that begins close to their extre¬
mity, or that does not extend on their anterior face, and
forms merely an oblique and linear canal.
Section 6th, Grandipalpi, Lat. Simplicipedes, Dej.
In this section of the Carabici the ligula is often ex¬
tremely short, terminated in a point in the centre jts
summit, and accompanied by pointed paraglossae. T he
mandibles are robust. The terminal joint of the extenor
palpi is usually larger, compressed into the form of a re¬
versed triangle, or hatchet-shaped in some,—almost spoon¬
shaped in others.1 The eyes are prominent. The elytra
are entire, or simply sinuated at their posterior extremity.
The abdomen is usually bulky when compared to the
other parts of the body. These Carabici are for the most
part of great size, often richly coloured, or ornamented
with metallic splendour. They are active in their move¬
ments, and voracious in their dispositions. They are di¬
visible into three groups.
1st, Body always thick, without wings; lahrum always
bilobed ; terminal article of the external palpi al¬
ways very large ? emargination of the mentum tooth¬
less ; internal side of the mandibles entirely dentat-
ed (or nearly so) throughout their length.
Genus Pamborus, Lat. Tarsi similar in both sexes.
Terminal article of the palpi securiform. Antennae fili¬
form. Labrum bilobed. Mandibles but slightly project¬
ing, greatly curved, strongly toothed interiorly. Men¬
tum almost plane, slightly notched anteriorly. Thorax
almost cordiform. Elytra elongate oval.
This genus is formed upon a large insect from New
Holland, the P. alternans, which we have represented in
PI. CCXXXV. fig. 1. It is the only one yet known. In
a collection received some time ago from New Holland
(transmitted to the Edinburgh Museum by Colonel Lind¬
say), and submitted to our examination by Professor
Jameson, there is either a distinct species, or a strongly
marked variety,—the third and fourth striae of the elytra
being much more regular than usual. Comte Dejean,
with whom we communicated on the subject, regards it
as a species.
Genus Cychrus, Fab. Tarsi similar in the two sexes.
Terminal article of the palpi very strongly securiform,
almost spoon-shaped, and more dilated, in the males. An¬
tennae setaceous. Labrum bifid. Mandibles narrow, and
toothed interiorly. Mentum strongly notched. Thorax
cordiform, little, if at all, raised at the edges, and not pro¬
longed posteriorly. Elytra fixed, carinated laterally, and
embracing the sides of the abdomen.
C. rostratus is common all over Britain, and is some¬
times taken at a great height upon the mountains. C.
elongatus and attenuatus are said to occur in England.
We have represented that discovered by Professor Bo-
nelli among the mountains of the north of Italy, Plate
CCXXXlV . fig. 22. Eleven species are known in all. They
are found in Europe, Asiatic Russia, and North America.
The genus Sph^eroderus of Dejean is formed by dis¬
memberment of the preceding. It is a sub-genus peculiar
to America. We have represented S. nitidicollis, Plate
CCXXXIV. fig. 19.
2d, Body thick, and mostly apterous, as in the preced
ing genera, but the emargination of the mentum pro¬
vided with an entire or bifid tooth, and the mandibles
o L o G Y.
armed at most with one or two teeth situated at their Coleoptera
base Pentamera.
Genus Procerus, Megerle. Tarsi similar in both
sexes. Terminal article of the palpi very strongly secu¬
riform, and more dilated in the males. Antennae filiform.
Labrum bilobed. Mandibles slightly curved, very sharp,
smooth, with only a single tooth at their base. A very
strong tooth in the middle of the emargination of the men¬
tum. Thorax almost cordiform. Elytra elongate oval.
The Proceri are large and remarkable insects, the giants
of the European Carabici. In regard to their colours,
they are either entirely black, or black beneath, with a
tinge of blue or green above. The elytra are extremely
rough. They appear to inhabit exclusively the mountains
and*3forests of Carniola, Illyria, Turkey in Europe, parts
of Hungary, the south of Russia, the Caucasus, and Asia
Minor. P. Duponchelii, Dej. was lately taken in the en¬
virons of Athens. M. Fischer is of opinion (Entomogra-
phie de la Russie), that P. tauricus (PI. CCXXXIV. fig.
21) and Caucasicus are, the former the male, the latter
the female, of the same species ; but Dejean now possesses
both sexes of each, and regards them as distinct. I he
synonymes of the species, however, are still contused and
contradictory.
Genus Carabus, Lin. Fischer, Dej. The first four
articles of the anterior tarsi dilated in the males, the first
three very strongly, the fourth often more slightly, ler-
minal article of the palpi more or less securiform, and
more dilated in the males. Antennae filiform ; the third
article cylindrical, and scarcely longer than the others.
Labrum bilobed. Mandibles slightly curved, more or less
sharp, smooth, with only a single tooth at their base. A
very strong tooth in the middle of the emargination ot
the mentum. Thorax more or less cordiform. Elytra
more or less elongate oval. Wings not fitted for flight.
The great genus Carabus of Linnaeus originally con¬
tained the whole of those extensive natural groups which
now constitute the family of Carabici, with which we are
still engaged. Even as now restricted, it is one of the
most numerous with which the entomologist is concerned,
and is rendered highly interesting from the size and
beauty of many species. The genera with which the
Carabi, as above defined, bear the most direct relations,
are Procerus, Procrustes, Colo soma ; but, as Dejean ob¬
serves, they differ from the first by the anterior tarsi, di¬
lated in the males,—from the second by the form of the
labrum and mentum,—and from the third by several cha¬
racters easily perceived on comparison.
The greater proportion of the true Carabi, which form
a very interesting and well-observed genus, occur in the
comparatively temperate countries of Europe, the Cauca¬
sus, Siberia, Asia Minor, Syria, and the north of Africa,
as far south as the 30th degree. A few are also found
towards the two extremities of America, and it is not im¬
probable that others may be ascertained to inhabit the
intermediate countries.2 A very fine species (C. cribel-
latus, Adams) is native to the polar regions of Siberia ;3
and Sir Joseph Banks captured another as far south as
Terra del Fuego ;4 of the latter circumstance, Dejean,
who has done so much to illustrate the family, does not
appear to be aware. “ Depuis long temps je supposais
neanmoins qu’on devait les retrouver a 1’extremite de
1’Amerique Meridionale ; M. Eschscholtz, qui fait pour
la seconde fois le tour du monde avec le Capitaine Kotze¬
bue, vient de confirmer cette supposition, et dans une
lettre ecrite a M. le Comte de Mannerheim il lui annonce
1 It is often more dilated in the males than in the other sex, particularly in Procerus.
Regne Animal, t. iv. p. 412. 1 Entomographie de la Russie, tab. 8, fig. 13. * Introduc. to Ent. vol. iv. p. 49o.
E N T O M
^oleoptera qu’il a trouve au Chili un veritable Carabe.”1 None of
Pentamera. genuSj however, has as yet been found either in
Southern Africa or New Holland. Count Uejean pos¬
sesses 163 species, which he has arranged in sixteen di¬
visions. In the first thirteen are comprised all those of
which the elytra are arched or convex, in the three last
those in which they are plane. The nature of the sur¬
face of the elytra furnishes the other secondary charac¬
ters, in pretty close accordance with the methods of Bo-
nelli and Clairville.® Among the continental species, the
C. rutilans (PI. CCXXXIV. fig. 20), hispanus, &c. ex¬
hibit perhaps the most ornamental examples within the
range of the European Coleoptera; and our own Cardbus
nitens, an inhabitant of the heathy wastes, yields to few,
even of the exotic species, in its lustrous and metallic
splendour.
The name of Carabus (Ka^ajSoy), applied generically by
Linnaeus to so vast a group, occurs in Aristotle’s history
of animals, and denotes sometimes a winged coleopterous
insect, at other times a species of crustaceous animal.
Latreille supposes it to be a contracted form of Scara-
bceus. In addition to the characters already given, we
may mention that the species of the genus, as now re¬
stricted, are all of considerable dimensions. Their colours
are usually black with a tinge of purple, or greenish with
a golden hue. The form of the body is elongated; the
head, always narrower than the thorax, is generally of
greater extent forwards than transversely, and is borne
almost in a horizontal position. The eyes are globular,
and behind them the head assumes a narrow neck-like
form. The mandibles, which are strong and pointed, are
usually destitute of dentation, and may be observed to
cross each other when the insect is in a state of repose.
The thorax is narrower than the abdomen, is bordered
with a slightly recurved margin, and is almost always
emarginate in its basal line ; its superior portion (strictly
speaking the prothorax) is more extended than the infe¬
rior parts, and covers posteriorly the scutellum of the
mesothorax, which, naturally but slightly developed, pre¬
sents to view its summit only. The elytra are also mar¬
gined after the manner of the thorax, and their upper
surface, rarely smooth, is variously characterized, accord¬
ing to the species, by striae, furrows, depressed points, or
rows of bead-like elevations. The true or membranaceous
wings are either wanting or exist in a very rudimentaiy
condition. The species therefore are incapable of flight;
but, to make amends for this deficiency, their legs are
strong and lengthened, the trochanter is greatly deve¬
loped, and the tarsi of the anterior pair (in the males) are
dilated, with their first four articulations spongy on their
inferior face.
All the species are eminently voracious and carnivo¬
rous. They not only prey upon the soft bodied and de¬
fenceless caterpillars, and on all other insects weaker than
themselves, but they even seize upon and devour their
own species. They usually avoid strong light, are partial
to a certain degree of moisture, and conceal themselves
during the heat of the day beneath stones, among mossy
herbage, in garden rubbish, or under the stems or within
the hollows of fallen trees. We have noted the usual
habits of each of the species in the descriptions which
follow; and, in regard to their general distribution, we
may observe, that their principal seat appears to be the
north temperate zone, that they are extremely rare in the
warmer regions of the earth, and probably disappear alto¬
gether within the tropics. Their larvae and metamor¬
phoses are but slightly known. Many of the perfect in-
O L o G Y. 97
sects exhale a penetrating and fetid odour, and when Coleoptera
touched exude a dark-coloured caustic humour. Pentamera.
Mr Stephens enumerates nineteen species of British
Carabi. The claims, however, of three or four of these
(such as C. purpurascens, convexus, auronitens) to be re¬
garded as truly indigenous, are extremely doubtful. The
occurrence of an insect on our island shores is sometimes
accidental, and results from the fortuitous impulsion of
winds or waves. It is well that the visits of these erratic
strangers should be recorded, as they afford an interesting
illustration of the extreme extent in one direction of their
geographical range; but they cannot on that account be
considered as “ children of the soil.” We shall here give
a few brief notices of the Scottish species.
C. catenalatus, Fab. Oblong-ovate, black, the margins
of the thorax and of the elytra violaceous; elytra with
interrupted crenated striae, and three rows of impressed
dots, the spaces between the dots slightly elevated. Com¬
mon throughout Scotland, both on mountains and in plains.
C. monilis, Fab. Oblong-ovate, thorax coppery, elytra
brassy-green or violaceous, with three series of oblong
tubercles, and three equal elevated lines between them.
The colour of this species is very variable. It is rare in
Scotland, and we have not yet observed it during our ex¬
cursions to the northern counties.
C. arvensis, Fab. Ovate, greenish coppery, or brassy
above, elytra with three series of oblong tubercles, and
three crenulated lines between them, the central line ra¬
ther elevated. Not as yet known to be generally spread
over Scotland, but collected at several distant points.
Pentland Hills, Island of Arran, vicinity of Jedburgh.
C. cancellatus, Fab. C. morbittosus, Leach. Oblong,
metallic green or brassy, elytra with three rows of oblong
tubercles, and a single smooth elevated line between them.
Not unfrequent in decaj'ed wood and under stones.
Neighbourhood of Edinburgh ; parish of Durness, Suther¬
land.
C. hortensis, Fab. Ovate, thorax black, margined with
purple, elytra brassy brown, with three rows of excavat¬
ed dots. Common near Edinburgh, occurring in gardens,
pathways, &c., during spring and summer, and pretty wide¬
ly spread over Scotland, but much rarer in the northern
counties than C. catenalatus, and not partaking with that
species in the height of its occasional localities. Only one
specimen found in Sutherland among many scores of other
species of the genus.
C. violaceus, Linn. Elongate, black, the margins of
the thorax and of the elytra violaceous; elytra dull black,
granulated. An elegantly shaped species, not unfrequent
in Scotland, in woods and fields, and among garden rub¬
bish. It also occurs among the mountains, and has been
taken at Cape Wrath.
C. glabratus, Fab. Oblong, entirely black, the elytra
very finely granulated, so as to appear smooth and shin¬
ing. Inhabits the Pentland Hills, but is very scarce in
our southern districts. Not unfrequent among the Gram¬
pians and other mountain ranges in the north, where it
occurs on the summits of the highest hills. Taken at
Cape Wrath, and in other parts of Sutherland.
C. nitens, Linn. Ovate, head and thorax golden cop¬
pery, elytra brilliant green, margined with coppery-red,
and having three blackish ribs on each. Under side of
the body, and legs, shining black. This, though one of
the smallest, is the most richly adorned of the British
Carabi, and is one of the most beautiful of coleopterous
insects. It is pretty generally spread over the upland
and moorish districts of Scotland. We did not find it in
VOL. ix.
Species General, t. ii. p. 33.
'l liegne Animal, t. iv. p. 412.
N
ENTOMOLOGY.
Coleoptera Sutherland, but we have specimens from the shires of
Pentamera. Mid-Lothian, Lanark, Dumbarton, Argyll, Perth, and For-
far. It is always regarded as a valuable acquisition, on
account of its extreme beauty.
C. clathratus. Oblong-ovate, of a dark brassy hue,
thorax rather square, the posterior angles not much pro¬
duced, the elytra with three elevated lines, and a triple
series of deep golden excavations. This is one of the larg¬
est and finest of toe British Coleoptera. It has hitherto
been regarded as a very rare insect, but a closer examina¬
tion of the wilder districts will probably bring it into more
frequent view. We were the first to take it in Scotland,—
which we did many' years ago, and in considerable numbers
(nine or ten specimens in a few days), in the island, of
Colonsay, the hospitable habitation of John Macneill, Esq.
It has been since taken by Mr Macleay in Caithness. Capt.
Graham, R. N. and others, also captured several specimens
in different parts of Sutherland (near Invershin, on the
point of Tongue, and the vicinity of Lairig), in the month
of August 1833; and Mr George Little has collected it for
some seasons at Ormsary, on the mainland of Argyllshire.
On the continent this beautiful insect is found in Siberia,
Sweden, Hungary, Italy, and the south of France, espe¬
cially in the environs of Montpellier. It varies singular¬
ly in regard to the development of the true or membra¬
naceous wings. Those which occur in the south of Eu¬
rope are large, and furnished with wings ; those of Swe¬
den and Siberia are apterous, and of smaller size.
Genus Calosoma,1 Weber, Fab. First four articles
of the anterior tarsi dilated in the males ; the first three
very strongly, the fourth often more slightly. Terminal
article of the palpi very slightly securiform. Antennas
filiform ; the third article slightly compressed, sharp on
the outer edge, and sensibly longer than the others. La-
brum bilobed. Mandibles broad, very slightly curved,
more or less sharp, transversely striated, without obvious
teeth on their interior. A strong tooth on the middle of
the emargination of the mentum. Thorax short, almost
transversal, more or less rounded. Elytra usually of a
square form, more or less elongated, rarely oval or round¬
ed. Wings most frequently fit for flight.
This genus is very widely distributed. There are about
thirty species in all, spread in different proportions over
Europe, Asia, Africa, and America. C. sycophanta (Plate
CCXXX V. fig. 2) and inquisitor have occurred in Britain.
The genus is as yet unknown in Scotland.
3c?, The third and last division of the Grandipalpi of
Latreille presents an assemblage of characters which
clearly distinguish its component parts from those of
the two preceding. Most of the species are winged.
The anterior tarsi of the males are always dilated.
The labrum is entire. The exterior palpi are merely
somewhat dilated or thicker at the extremity, the
last joint being in the form of a reversed and elon¬
gated cone. The internal side of the mandibles pre¬
sents no tooth deserving of notice; the one in the
middle of the emargination of the mentum is bifid. Coleoptera
The centre of the superior margin of the ligula isPentatneia.
elevated to a point. On the internal side of the ante-
rior tibiae of several there is a short emargination, or
one of the two spurs is inserted higher than the other,
so that in this respect these Carabici are somewhat
ambiguous, and might be placed, as well as those of
the ensuing section, immediately after the Patelli-
mani. They usually inhabit moist situations. A few,
such as Omophron, seem to connect their tribe with
that which follows,—the aquatic Carnivora.
In some in which the body is flattened, or convex and
suborbicular, the eyes are of ordinary size ; the antennae
linear, and generally consisting of elongated and almost
cylindrical joints; the external sides of the maxillae are
bearded, and the two internal spines of the two anterior ti¬
biae are on a level at their origin ; these tibiae have merely a
simple longitudinal canal. In Letstus, Frcehlich (Pogo-
nophorm, Lat.), the exterior palpi are much elongated,
the mandibles are dilated at their base, the head is sud¬
denly narrowed behind the eyes, and the antennae are long
and slender. All the species belong to Europe, and the
greater proportion are found to occur in Britain. Nebria,
Lat. resembles Leistus, but the palpi are much shorter,
the mandibles not dilated, the head not restricted, and
the antennae proportionally thicker, and composed of short¬
er articulations. Several of the species, such as N. Gyl-
lenhalii, brevicollis, &c., are classed by English entomolo¬
gists in the genus Helobia of Leach. In Omophron of
Lat. (Plate CCXXXIV. fig. 18), the first joint only of the
two anterior tarsi is dilated in the males.
In other genera the body is tolerably thick, and the
eyes large and prominent; the antennae are slightly en¬
larged near the extremity, and composed of short joints,
mostly in the form of a top or reversed cone ; one of the
two spines of the internal extremity of the two anterior
tibiae is inserted higher than the other, with a notch be¬
tween them. The four or first three joints of the anterior
tarsi of the males are in general but slightly dilated. The
palpi are more elongated. They occur chiefly by the sides
of rivers in Europe and in Siberia. We may here place
the genus Elaphrus,2 in which the thorax is convex,
rounded, narrowed posteriorly, and nearly of the same
length as the head. The elytra are convex and almost
parallel. This genus was separated with great propriety
by Fabricius from Cicindela of Linn. It is constituted
by a few small species, generally distinguished by metal¬
lic lustre, and of which one of the most beautiful, E. lap-
ponicus, was lately presented to us by Professor Lyell, the
learned author of the Principles of Geology. It has been
hitherto only known as a native of Lapland, and was dis¬
covered by Mr Lyell on the north-west side of Catlaw, a
mountain in Forfarshire, on a spot nearly 2000 feet above
the level of the sea. Several of the smaller species which
formerly belonged to Elaphrus now form the genus No-
tiophilus of Dumeril. Such are N. aquaticus, biguttatus, &c.
KaXos, beautiful, and cuftst, body.
® h abricius derives the name from a marsh. We think it may be more plausibly traced to light, active.
Coleoptera
Pentamera.
u ^ -{J ^
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Ctt QJ cd +->
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w
ENTOMOLOGY.
Synoptical Table of the preceding Section, according to the System of Dejean.
99
Coleoptera
Pentamera.
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SIMPLICIPEDES.
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alike in both sexes.
dilated in the males.
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much elevated, and produced behind.
1. Cychrus.
2. Sphcerodcrus.
3. Scaphinotus.
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wanting      4. Pamborus.
' not dilated in the males   5. Procerus.
trilobed    7. Procrustes.
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cylindric, and scarcely longer than the others  8. Carabus.
compressed, sharp exteriorly, and sensibly longer than the
others  g# Calosoma.
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simple.
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5. Tefflus.
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facts
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nearly in a square form, more or less elongate 10. Leistus.
triangular or heart-shaped 12. Nebria.
in the first joint only.
£ rG
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'in the three first joints.
.13. Omophron.
.14. Pelophila.
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quadrate, and wider than the head 15. Blethisa.
rounded, and of the same width as the
head 1G. Elaphrus.
, short, and somewhat inflated 17. Natiophilus.
rather strongly securiform 18. Metrius.
100
Coleoptera
Pentamera.
E N T O M
B.
Section 7th, Subulipalpi, Lat. Dejean.
These form of themselves the second general division
of the Carabici, and are distinguished from the preceding
sections by the form of the exterior palpi, of which the
penultimate obconical joint is united to the following,
forming with it a common oval or fusiform body, terminat¬
ed either gradually or suddenly in a point, or in the manner
of an awl. The two anterior tibiae have always an emar-
gination on the inner side. The first two articles of the
anterior tarsi are alone dilated in the males. This divi¬
sion contains only three genera, as follows :
r
03
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as large as the last— 1. Trechus.
smaller than the 1ast..2. Lachnophorus.
^ [much shorter than the preeeding..3. Bembidium.
Of the two great tribes, viz. CiciNDELETiE and Cara¬
bici, with the principal genera of which we have just been
engaged, there are 2494 species enumerated in the last
edition of the Catalogue of Comte Dejean. We come
now to
Tribe 3d, Hydrocanthari, Lat.
This tribe is composed of the undivided genera Dytis-
cus and Gyrinus of the old writers. Their feet are adapt¬
ed for swimming; the last four being compressed, ciliat¬
ed or laminiform, and the last two at a distance from each
other. The mandibles are almost entirely covered. The
body is always oval, the eyes but slightly prominent, and
the thorax much wider than long. The terminal hook of
the maxillae is curved from its base; those at the extre¬
mity of the tarsi are often unequal.
All these aquatic Coleoptera pass both their first and
final stage of existence in the fresh and placid waters of
lakes and marshes, or the undisturbed parts of tranquil
rivers, and are distributed over all the countries of the
earth, wherever such localities occur, from Greenland to
Van Diemen’s Land.
The old genus Dytiscus (PI. CCXXXV. fig. 3 and 4)
embraced a vast assemblage of aquatic insects which the
more minute observance of modern times has partitioned
into many genera. They form a truly amphibious family;
for although water is their favourite element, they survive
for a long time on moist land, and most of them fly about
in the evening and morning twilight, and even during the
darkness of the dewy night, with great power and celerity.
They vary considerably in size, according to the species,
some being extremely small, while others measure be¬
tween one and two inches in length. They are fierce and
voracious in their habits, preying indiscriminately upon
whatever smaller and softer tribes they are able to sub¬
due. They are frequently observed resting on the sur¬
face of the water, with their legs expanded, their heads
lownwards, and the terminal segment of their bodies in
contact with the air. It is thus that they carry on the
process of breathing, for they cannot respire except by
bringing a globule of atmospheric air in contact with the
O L o G Y.
stigmata, which are placed on the sides of the abdomen, Coleoptera
just beneath the outer margins of the elytra. Being spe- Pentamera.
cifically lighter than water, when they feel the necessity
of respiration they have nothing to do but to allow them¬
selves to float to the surface, where, by a peculiar action
of the tips of the elytra and the terminal segment of the
body, a portion of air is brought into contact with the
stigmatic openings. The bodies of the larvae of these in¬
sects (PI. CCXXXV. fig. 6) consist of eleven well-defined
segments. The head is large, flattish, covered above by
a scale or shield marked down the centre by a longitudi¬
nal furrow. On each side there are five or six black tu¬
bercles which are regarded as eyes, and anterior to the
eyes are placed the antennae, consisting of three articula¬
tions. The mouth is armed with a pair of strong, horny,
curved, sharp-pointed mandibles, which serve to seize and
transfix the prey. According to Swammerdam and De-
geer, these organs are pierced so as to act as suckers, by
means of which the animal juices are absorbed. Near the
extremity of the abdomen two delicate appendices may
be perceived, pointing obliquely downwards. By means
of these the larva appears to suspend itself occasionally
from the surface of the water when it wishes to respire.
The principal stigmatic openings are at the end of the ab¬
domen, and consist of two small cylindrical bodies, which,
when the creature floats, come in contact with the air,
and communicate with the tracheal vessels, which are seen
to traverse beneath the skin on either side of the body.
The movements of these insects in the larva state are ef¬
fected in the water, partly by the legs and partly by an
undulatory motion of the tail. They prey upon other
larvae, such as those of dragon-flies, ephemerae, gnats,
&c. As an instance of their great voracity, it may be
mentioned that we once observed one of the larger kinds
transfix and suck out the juices of thirteen well-grown
tadpoles in a single day. When the period of their trans¬
formation has arrived, they leave the water and bury them¬
selves in the moist soft earth of a neighbouring bank.
There they work for themselves an egg-shaped chamber,
in which they assume the nympha state. (PI. CCXXXV.
fig. 9.) How long they remain in that condition is not
very precisely known, from the difficulty of rearing them
in confinement throughout their entire changes, but it is
believed that the insect is not long of making its appear¬
ance in the perfect state. It may then be kept alive in a
tumbler for several seasons, and the larger kinds (Dytisci
proper) soon assume a certain degree of tameness and fa¬
miliarity, will follow the finger around the walls of their
transparent prison, and, coming to the surface at an accus¬
tomed signal, will demand, according to their own mode
of expression, a young earthworm, or a piece of fresh beef
or mutton ; for on these and several other articles they feed
from the first with extreme, and as it were accustomed
greediness.1 They may thus be said to be aquatic in the
larva state, terrestrial in that of nymph, and amphibious in
their winged condition.
Genus Dytiscus,2 Linn. Antennae setaceous, longer
than the head. External palpi filiform, or a little en¬
larged towards their extremity. Anterior tarsi patelliform
in the males, the middle pair with their basal joints di¬
lated ; the hind pair long, thick, and tapering to the apex,
where there are two very small claws. PI. CCXXXV.
fig. 3 and 4.3
The Dytisci are large aquatic beetles, the characteris¬
tic habits of which have been sketched in our preceding
* Esper kept a living specimen of Dytiscus marginalis in a glass vessel for three years and a half. It fed on beef.
* From 'iurrts-, a diver.
8 Figure 5 of the plate above referred to represents the head of D. serricornis, a species remarkable for the anomalous form of the
antennae. (See Nov. Act. Acad. Sclent. Stockh. xx. 1, 3.)
ENTOMOLOGY.
101
^oleoptera general observations. We are acquainted with about the Gyrini into a family along with Parnus, under the Coleoptera
Pentamera.fourteen SpeCies, six or seven of which inhabit Britain. name of Otiophori. But at an after period that great ento-Pentamera
D. punctulatus seems to be the most common in Scot- mologist approximated the genus to the Dytiscidce, thereby
land. It thrives well in confinement, and will live for a correcting the error he had previously committed of con-
year or two in any small vessel, feeding on earthworms founding, as Mr Macleay observes, a relation of ana-
and shreds of beef or mutton.1 D. marginalis, when re- logy with one of affinity. The Gyrinidae live in society,
cently captured, has a smell resembling liquorice. It is and several species are extremely common on our ponds,
said to kill Hydrous piceus, which is a much larger and and ditches by the way side. They swim flat upon the
apparently stronger insect, by piercing it between the surface, with their shining backs above water, chasing each
head and thorax, the only part of the body which is un- other in circles, or darting about in more irregular gyrations,
protected. Esper asserts that it is much affected by at- When hemmed into a corner of the pond, they make their
mospheric changes, and that it indicates these, when in a escape by darting beneath the surface, carrying along with
state of confinement, by the height at which it remains in them a portion of air, which shines like quicksilver. Bri-
its jar. tain produces several species of this genus. They are
In the genus Colymbetes2 of Clairville (fore leg, Plate known in England by the name of whirlgigs. These in-
CCXXXV.fig. 7), the four anterior tarsi have their three sects fly well, and transport themselves with ease and ra-
first joints equally dilated in the males, and forming col- pidity from place to place. The females deposit their
lectively a small pallet in the form of a lengthened square, eggs on the leaves of aquatic plants. The eggs are very
I he antennas are at least as long as the head and thorax, small, lengthened in the form of little cylinders, and of a
I he eyes are slightly or not at all projecting. Many of white colour tinged with yellow. According to the ob-
these insects are common in ditches and small brooks, servations of Degeer, they produced minute six-footed
and their habits resemble those of the preceding genus, larvae in the course of eight days, which swam in the
I here are about seventy species in all, of which one half water, or crept along the sides of the vessel in which they
inhabit Britain. had been deposited. Neither he nor Roesel, however,
Ihe genus Acilius was first proposed by Dr Leach in could succeed in rearing them to a state of completion,
the Zoological Miscellany. It is distinguished by the These larvae (PI. CCXXXV. fig. 17) exhibit rather a sin-
great flatness of the species; by the hairy elytra of the gular aspect, and at first sight resemble small Scolopen-
females, which have but few striae; and by the basal joint drae. They are of a dingy white or greyish colour, and
of the tarsi in the second pair of legs not being dilated. their clear transparent skin permits the view of their in-
In the genus Hygrobia3 of Eat. the antennae are short- ternal structure. Their bodies are long, slender, cylin-
er than the head and thorax, the body is ovoid, and very drical, and divided into thirteen rings, which are deeply
thick in the middle, and the eyes are prominent. (Plate incised. The head is oval, very much elongated, and flat-
CCXXXV. fig 11.) tened both above and below. It is armed in front with
In Hydroporus4 of Clairville, the four anterior tarsi a pair of comparatively large curved jaws, tipped with
are nearly similar, and spongy underneath, in both sexes, brown, which, when closed, meet with their points in ad-
and are composed apparently of only four joints, the fifth vance of the head, but are capable of wide extension,
being deficient, or very small, and concealed along with The structure of these parts demonstrates a carnivorous
a portion of the fourth in a cleft of the third articulation, disposition. The antennae are very delicate, divided into
The scutellum is not apparent.5 In Noterus6 of the same four articulations, and equal the head in length. The first
author, the antennae are slightly dilated in the middle, segment of the body is nearly twice as long as the others,
and the last joint of the labial palpi is emarginate, and ap- and the three pairs of feet are attached to the first three
pears forked. In Haliplus,7 Lat. there are only ten dis- segments. The eight following rings are garnished with
tinct joints in the antennae; the external palpi arefusiform, very singular, long, slender, transparent filaments, which
or have a more slender termination, tapering to a point; float in the water without being apparently under the
the body is convex and ovoid beneath; all the tarsi are guidance of the animal. From their resemblance to the
filiform, composed of five cylindrical joints, and have gills of the Phryganeae and Ephemerae, it is probable that
nearly the same form in both sexes. these are the respiratory organs. The twelfth or penul-
All the preceding genera of belonged timate segment of the body is furnished with four of these
to the old genus Dytiscus. The remainder of the tribe filaments, of much greater length than the preceding, and
are comprised in the covered with long hairs or secondary filaments. The last
Genus Gyrinus,8 Linn. Antennae shorter than the segment, which is much less than the others, is terminat-
head, the basal joint very large, and produced externally ed by four long and remarkable hooks, placed parallel to
into a triangular ciliated lobe, the rest forming a clavate each other, with their points bent beneath inwards. The
mass, attached by a short peduncle to the upper side of whole body seems filled with little globules of air, which
the first joint. Anterior legs rather long, and projecting are in frequent motion, sometimes towards the head and
like arms ; the others compressed, ciliated, and formed for sometimes towards the other extremity. Modeer has de¬
swimming. (Plate CCXXXV. figs. 8 and 12.) scribed the transformations of these creatures in the Me¬
in this genus the body is oval and generally very glossy, moirs of the Royal Academy of Sweden. About the be-
The head is sunk in the thorax almost to the eyes, and ginning of August, according to that author, the larvm
these are large, and divided by a horny process or bor- leave the water, and, crawling up the stems of reeds ol¬
der, in such a way that there seems to be two above other aquatic plants, they are transformed into nymphs,
and two below. Only seven joints of the terminal por- beneath the envelope of a small cocoon, pointed at both
tion of the antennae are distinctly visible. The singular ends, and formed of a substance resembling grey paper,
auriform shape of these organs induced Latreille to form Towards the end of the same month the perfect insect is
Entomologia Edinensis, p. 127. 3 From lyoo;, moist, and flus, life.
I rom KoXt/fifiau, to swim. * From water, and a passage.
* For the other genera, see the works of Messrs Stephens and Curtis. The Scotch species are described bv Messrs Wilson and
Duncan in the Entomologia Edinensis.
0 From v«t£^. humid. 7 From «Ac, the sea, and wXm, sailing. 8 From yv,**. to go in a circle.
Coleoptera excluded, and immediately jumps into the water. Modeer
Pentamera. a(j(JS) that the cocoons are very frequently found pierced
bv the ovipositor of an ichneumon fly.
' Great Britain produces nine species of the genus Gy-
rinus (including G. villosus, which belongs to Potamobius,
Leach1). There are twenty-six in all. They are rare in
Africa and Asia, but are widely spread over Europe, North
and South America, and New Holland. We have re¬
ceived a large species from Java. They are also found
at the Cape and the Isle of France.
The most common and best-known species in this coun¬
try is G. natator, of an oval form, bluish-black, extremely
glossy, the inflected margin of the elytra, apical segments
of the abdomen, and legs, ferruginous. This agile little crea¬
ture appears to have been rather a favourite object of ob¬
servation with the entomologist. “ Water, quiet still wa¬
ter,” says Mr Knapp, “ affords a place of action to a very
amusing little fellow ( Gyrinus natator), which, about the
month of April, if the weather be tolerably mild, we see
gamboling upon the surface of the sheltered pool; and
every schoolboy who has angled for minnows in the brook
is well acquainted with the merry swimmer in his shining
black jacket. Retiring in the autumn, and reposing all the
winter in the mud at the bottom of the pond, it awakens in
the spring, rises to the surface, and commences its sports.
They associate in small parties of ten or a dozen near the
bank, where some little projection forms a bay, or renders
the water particularly tranquil; and here they will circle
round each other, without contention, each in his sphere,
and with no apparent object, from morning until night,
with great sprightliness and animation; and so lightly do
they move on the fluid, as to form only some faint and
transient circles on its surface. Very fond of society, we
seldom see them alone, or, if parted by accident, they
soon rejoin their busy companions. One pool commonly
affords space for the amusement of several parties, yet
they do not unite or contend, but perform their cheerful
circlings in separate family associations. If we interfere
with their merriment they seem greatly alarmed, disperse
or dive to the bottom, where their fears shortly subside,
as we soon again see our little merry friends gamboling
as before. This plain, tiny, gliding water-flea seems a
very unlikely creature to arrest our young attention ; but
the boy with his angle has not often much to engage his
notice; and the social active parties of this nimble swim¬
mer, presenting themselves at these periods of vacancy,
become insensibly familiar to his sight, and by many of
us are not observed in after-life without recalling former
hours—scenes of perhaps less anxious days ; for trifles like
these, by reason of some association, are often remembered
when things of greater moment pass off and leave no trace
upon the mind.”2 Wordsworth has likened a beetle to
A mailed angel on a battle day;
and Messrs Kirby and Spence describe the subjects of
our present notice as being “ covered with lucid armour,
—when the sun shines they look like little dancing masses
of silver and brilliant pearl.”3 They however exhale a
disagreeable and rancid odour.4
FAMILY II—BRACT!ELYTRA, Lat.s
In this, the second family of Pentamerous Coleoptera,
Latreille places those genera which have only a single
palpus to each maxilla, or four in all, including the labial Coleoptera
pair. The antennae, sometimes of equal thickness, and ^entamera•
at others slightly enlarged at the extremity, are usually
composed of lenticular or graniform. articulations; the
elytra are much shorter than the body (from which cir¬
cumstance they derive their name), and the latter is nar¬
row, elongated, generally depressed, with the coxae of the
two anterior legs very large. The posterior extremity of
the body is provided with two vesicles, which are protrud¬
ed at will.
These Coleoptera composed the great genus Staphy-
linus (of Linnaeus) before its subdivision by more recent
writers. Ancient authors appear to have bestowed the
name of Staphylinus on certain species, which, from the
characters assigned them, and their reputed injurious
effects on horses, we can scarcely refer to any of the mo¬
dern genera of brachelytrous insects. Mouftet, however,
having satisfied himself that some ancient passage did ap¬
ply with sufficient correctness, made use of the term Sta¬
phylinus in relation to the present group; and whatever
may have been its original application, its meaning is now
no longer ambiguous in the modern systems. The genus,
as constituted by Linnaeus, was first dismembered by Fa-
bricius of two of its component groups, under the generic
names of Pcederus and Oxyporus ; and in still more recent
times numerous other subdivisions have taken place, which
have raised the original genus to the rank of an ordinal
section or comprehensive family.
Some writers regard the Staphylini as forming the pas¬
sage from the Coleoptera in general to the Forficulae or
ear-wigs, which compose the first genus of the orthop¬
terous order. In their habits they somewhat resemble
the Silphae and Necrophori. They have usually a large,
flattened head, strong mandibles, short antennae, and a
thorax as wide as the abdomen, which is long, narrow
and generally depressed. The elytra are very short ana
truncated, although they still suffice to cover the long
membranous wings, which, when not in use, are compact¬
ly folded. The upper portion of the segments of the ab¬
domen, being exposed in consequence of the shortness ot
the elytra, is, contrary to the usual rule among the co¬
leopterous tribes, of as firm a consistence as that beneath.
From the terminal segment of the abdomen two vesicles
are protruded or retracted at the pleasure of the animal,
and from these, when irritated, a subtile vapour makes its
escape with a strong odour of sulphuric ether. “ Though
most of the micropterous species,” Mr Kirby observes,
“ have a fetid smell, yet there are some exceptions to this
amongst them. One species (N. suaveolens, K. MS.),
related to S. micans, Grav. which I once took, smelt pre¬
cisely like a fine high-scented ripe pear; another, Oxyte-
lus morsitans, like the water-lily ; a third, O. rugosus, like
water-cresses; and lastly, a fourth (S. fuscipes) like saf¬
fron.” M. Leon Dufour has described the apparatus by
which these odours are produced.6 The insects of this
family, when attacked or touched, elevate the extremity
of their abdomen, bend it in various directions, and fre¬
quently protrude the vesicles above alluded to. They
also use the point of the abdomen to close or unfold their
wings. The tarsi of the two anterior legs are frequently
broad and dilated, and their coxae, as well as those of the
intermediate pair, are very large. The species usually oc¬
cur in damp places, under stones, in earth, and excrementiti-
ous matters. Some live in mushrooms and fungi, or in
1 Orectochilus of Eschscholtz and Dejean. 2 Journal of a Naturalist, p. 307* a Introduc. to Ent. vol. ii. p. 372.
* lor the Scottish species, see Entomologia Edinensis, p. 130.
* From B^ax'os, short, and iXurjov, sheath. Micuopteha, Gravenhorst. Stapiiylinus, Linn.
* Ann. des Sciences Nat. t. viii. p. 1C.
ENTOMOLOGY.
"oleoptera rotten wood, while a few of the smaller species are found
^eiiamcra. on fl0WerS- They are all swift, active, and voracious.
Hie larvae bear a close resemblance to the perfect in¬
sect. In figure they more nearly resemble an elongated
cone, the base of which is formed by the head ; the ter¬
minal segment is prolonged into a tube, and is accompa¬
nied by two conical and hairy appendages. Their food
and habits of life are very similar to those of the imago.
According to M. Dufour, the only essential difference
between the alimentary canal of the brachelytrous tribes
and that of the carnivorous Coleoptera consists in the ab¬
sence of the crop. The first stomach is small and desti¬
tute of folds ; the second is very long and pilose ; the in¬
testine is extremely short. The biliary vessels are insert¬
ed at the same lateral point as in the Carnivora, and pre¬
sent in some species, near the middle, a knot or vesicle,
not observable in any other insects. Their sexual appa¬
ratus differs greatly from that of the carnivorous Coleop¬
tera.1
Many of the species of this family are of minute dimen¬
sions, and a knowledge of their names and characters is
of difficult attainment. Many more of the described spe¬
cies than have been hitherto collected no doubt exist in
Britain, and many of the Scandinavian species will pro¬
bably be discovered to inhabit Scotland. There is every
reason, indeed, to believe that an assiduous entomologist
would here reap a rich harvest among a tribe of insects
which seem characteristic of, though by no means pecu¬
liar to, temperate or northern countries. Notwithstanding
the obscurity in which many of our smaller species are
still involved, Great Britain already possesses nearly eight
hundred recorded species of brachelytrous insects, while
the last edition of Dejean’s Catalogue (1833), including
European and exotic kinds, gives only 789.2
In a family so extensive, and of late so minutely subdi¬
vided, we must satisfy ourselves with a few brief indica¬
tions of the principal genera. It is divided into five great
sections.
1st, Fissilabra.
In these the head is completely exposed, and separated
from the thorax (which is sometimes square or semi-oval,
sometimes rounded or cordiform, and truncated) by a neck
or sensible restriction. The labrum is deeply bilobed.
In Oxyporus,3 Fab. (PI. CCXXXV. fig. 13), the max¬
illary palpi are filiform, those of the labium terminated by
a large and lunate article. The antennae are large, per¬
foliate, and compressed. The anterior tarsi, of which the
last (and next to it the second) joint is the longest, are
not dilated. The species inhabit Zto/eti and Agarici. In
Astrap^us, Grav. the four palpi are terminated by a
larger and nearly triangular article. The anterior tarsi
are gieatly dilated, and the first and last joints are the
longest. In Staphylinus, Fab. (the true Staphylini), all
the palpi are filiform, and the antennae are inserted be¬
tween the eyes, above the labrum and mandibles. Some,
particularly the males, have the anterior tarsi greatly di¬
lated, and the antennae rather distant at the base; the
length of the first joint being equal at most to that of a
fourth of the whole number. The head is but slightly
103
elongated. These, according to the views of some au-Coleoptera
thors, alone constitute the genus.4 Our largest British Pentameia-
species, S. Olens ( Goerius, Leach), is placed here by La-
treble, along with a more ornamental example, S. eryth-
ropterus (PI. CCXXXV. fig. 16). Others are linear, with
the head and thorax in the form of an elongated square,
and the antennae approximated at the base, and strongly
geniculate and granose. The anterior tarsi are either not
at all or but slightly dilated. The anterior tibite are spi¬
nous, with a stout spine at the extremity. The labrum is
small. These form the genus Xantholinus of some au¬
thors. In Pinophilus of Grav. the palpi are filiform, but
the antennae are inserted before the eyes, outside the la¬
brum, and near the exterior base of the mandibles. In
Lathrobium (PI. CCXXXV. fig. 21) of the same author
{Poederus, Fab.), the palpi are terminated suddenly by a
pointed and often indistinct article, much smaller than
the preceding; those of the maxillae are longer than the
labial; the antennae are inserted as in Pinophilus; the
anterior tarsi are strongly dilated in both sexes; and the
length of the last joint of the four posterior tarsi is almost
equal to that of the four preceding taken together.
2c?, Longipai.pi.
In this section the head is also completely exposed, but
the labrum is entire, the maxillary palpi nearly as long as
the head, with a clavate termination formed by the third
joint, the fourth concealed or but slightly visible, and, when
apparent, terminating the club in the form of a small point;
the preceding much enlarged. These insects dwell chief¬
ly along the shores of rivers, or on banks in the vicinity
of water.
In PiEDERUS, Fab. (PI. CCXXXV. fig. 15), the an¬
tennae, inserted before the eyes, are filiform, or gradually
increase in thickness. In Ev^esthetus of Grav. the an¬
tennae are likewise inserted before the eyes, but are hard¬
ly longer than the head, and almost entirely moniliform;
the body is but slightly elongated, and the head as wide
as the thorax. In Stenus,5 of Lat. (PJ. CCXXXV. fig.
20), the antennae are inserted near the margin of the eyes,
and are terminated by a triarticulated club. The extre¬
mity of the mandibles is forked. The eyes are large.
3c?, Denticrura, Lat.
This section differs from the preceding in the form of
the maxillary palpi, which are much shorter than the head,
and always consist of four distinct articles; the anterior
tibiae, at least, are dentated or spinous along their exte¬
rior side. The last joint of the tarsi, which in most are bent
under the tibiae, is as long as all the preceding joints com¬
bined, or longer; and the first or first two are usually so
small or so concealed that their total number does not
seem to exceed two or three. In several males the fore¬
part of the head, and even the thorax, is armed with
horns. The antennae are inserted before the eyes. With
the exception of the Tachini, the anterior tarsi are no lon¬
ger dilated.
In Oxytelus, Grav. the palpi have an awl-like termi¬
nation, the antennae are mostly granose, and gradually
enlarged towards the extremity. The tarsi present only
1 Ann. des Sciences Nat.; and Regne Animal, p. 432.
Mr Stephens arranges his British Brachelytra in five families, containing eighty-two genera. How vague, from its extremely
work^f bpen,the °"ginal Senus Staphylinus of Linn., when even our indigenous species present the ground-
1 diversified groups . Perhaps, however, we may be now falling into the opposite extreme,
r rom that crosses swiftly.
tn ft.fi dllatat‘is' * ab‘ has been separated from the above on account of its antennae, which form an elongated serrated club. It is said
to teed on caterpillars, which it searches for on trees.
1 From rrtfei, narrow.
104 E N T O M
Coleoptera three distinct articles. In Ozorius, Leach, the body is
Pentamera. Cyi;ndrica], all the tibiae broadened and dentated, the head
as long as it is wide, the thorax almost cordif'orm. The
mentum is large and buckler-shaped. The species come
from America and Madagascar. In Coprophilus,1 Lat.,
the body is flattened, and the antennae much longer than
the head.
4M, Depressa, Lat.
In these the head is disengaged or free, as in the pre¬
ceding, the labrum entire, the maxillary palpi short, and
of four articulations; but the tibiae are simple, or without
teeth or exterior spines, and the tarsi exhibit five obvious
articulations.
In the two following genera the palpi are filiform.
Omalium, Grav. Thorax as wide as the elytra, wider
than the head, and almost forming a transverse square;
the angles, at least the anterior ones, rounded, and fre¬
quently exhibiting a raised lateral margin; the antennae
enlarging towards their extremity. Lesteva, Lat.,
j>hagus, Grav. (PI. CCXXXV. fig. 22.) Thorax cordi-
form, narrowed, truncated posteriorly, almost isometrical,
as wide as the head, and narrower than the elytra. In
the ensuing genera the palpi are subulate. Micropeplus,2
Lat. (PI. CCXXXV. figs. 10 and 14.) Antennae termi¬
nating in a solid club, and lodged in fossulae of the thorax.
Proteinus, Lat. Antennae granose, somewhat perfoliate,
and larger at the end, but clavate, always exposed, and
inserted before the eyes; the thorax is short, and the
elytra cover the whole of the abdomen. Aleochara,
Grav. Antennae inserted between the eyes, or near their
inferior margin, and exposed at the base, with the first
three joints obviously longer than the following ones,
which are perfoliate, the last elongated and conical; the
thorax is nearly oval, or like a square rounded at the an-
gles.
bth, Microcephala, Lat.
Head sunk posteriorly into the thorax, nearly up to tne
eyes, and separated neither by a neck nor visible restric¬
tion ; the thorax is in the form of a trapezium, and is
widened from before backwards. The body is less elon¬
gated than in the preceding section, and approaches more
to an ellipsis; the head is much narrower, contracted,
and projecting forwards, and the mandibles are of mode¬
rate size, edentated, and simply curved at the point. The
elytra in several cover rather more than the half of the
upper surface of the abdomen. Some of the species live
on flowers and mushrooms, others on dung.
In Lomechusa, Lat., the tibiae have no spines; the
antennae from the fourth joint form a perfoliaceous club,
elongated or fusiform; the palpi are subulate ; the an¬
tennae frequently shorter than the head and thorax. In
Tachinus,3 Grav. (PI. CCXXXV. fig. 23), the tibiae are
O L O G Y.
spinous, the antennae composed of pyriform joints, and in- Coleoptera
sensibly enlarging; the palpi are filiform. TACHYPORUS4l>entamera.
of Grav. (PI. CCXXXV. fig. 28) resembles the preced-
ing in the tibiae and antennae; but the termination of the
palpi is subulate.5
FAMILY III—SERRICORNES, Lat.
In this family of pentamerous Coleoptera, we find only
four palpi, as in the preceding family, and those that fol¬
low. The elytra cover the abdomen, which character,
with certain others, distinguishes the Serricornes from
the Brachelytra.6 The antennae, with some exceptions,
are equal throughout, or smaller at the extremity, dentat¬
ed either like a saw or comb, or even fan-like ; and in that
respect are more developed in the males. The terminal
article of the tarsi is often bilobed or bifid. These cha¬
racters are rarely visible in the ensuing family, that of
Clavicornes ; at which, however, we shall arrive by tran¬
sition so graduated, that rigorous limits are with difficulty
assigned.
Section 1st, Sternoxi,7 Lat.
Body always of a firm and solid consistence, and gene¬
rally of an oval or elliptical form; the feet in part con¬
tractile ; the head sunk vertically into the thorax up to
the eyes; and the praesternum or median portion of the
thorax elongated, dilated, or advanced as far as beneath
the mouth, and usually marked on each side by a groove,
in which the antennae, always short, are lodged, and pro¬
longed posteriorly to a point, which is received by a de¬
pression of the anterior extremity of the mesosternum.
The anterior legs are distant from the anterior extremity
of the thorax. This section is further divisible into two
tribes.
Tribe 1st, Buprestides.
In these the posterior projection of the praesternum is
flattened, not terminated in a laterally compressed point,
and simply received into a depression or emargination of
the mesosternum. The mandibles are frequently termi¬
nated in an entire point, without fissure or emargination.
The posterior angles of the thorax are either not at all or
but slightly prolonged. The terminal article of the palpi
is generally almost cylindrical, scarcely thicker than the
preceding ; the others globular or ovoid. Most of the ar¬
ticulations of the tarsi are generally broad or dilated, and
furnished with pellets beneath. These insects never leap,
a character which distinguishes them decidedly from the
Elaterides. This tribe corresponds to the old genus Bu-
prestis, as constituted by Linnaeus,—the Richard of Geof¬
frey ;8 so named by the latter author on account of the
1 From *<)tdung, and tpiXos, a lover.
2 From fUK^os, small, and Ttw-Xof, a covering; the elytra being so short as to leave a considerable part of the abdomen exposed.
This genus is placed in the necrophagous family, Nitidulidoe, by Mr Stephens.
3 I rom latinos, swift, active. * From Ta^vg, quick, and a passage.
* For the species of this family, see Gravenhorst’s Coleoptera Microptera, GyllenhaPs Insecta Suecica, &c. With Mr Duncan’s aid,
we have described the genera and species of ordinary occurrence near Edinburgh (Ent. Ed. pp. 308-388); but, as already mention¬
ed, numerous undescribed Brachelytra inhabit Scotland.
‘ In the genus Atractocerus, however, the elytra are extremely short. In Proteinus of the preceding family they are, on the other
hand, comparatively long; thus showing the tendency to exception in each general rule.
7 From sternum, and pointed.
• u 1 his genus,” it has been observed, “ furnishes the most beautiful coleopterous insects which can adorn either the domain of
nature or the cabinet of the naturalist. Most part of the species are clothed with such brilliant colours, that Geoffroy has thought
proper to designate them all under the generic appellation of Richard. The origin of this name is as singular as its application is
fantastical. It was originally given to the jay, in consequence of the facility with which that bird was taught to pronounce the
word. (Gnfhth s Animal Kingdom, Insecta, part 2d, p. 356.) Professor Klug has stated that the Berlin Museum possesses not less
than five hundred species of the Linnaean genus Buprestis.
E N T O M
Coleopteva extreme richness of their external covering. Even of the
Pentamera. European species several are extremely beautiful, and
many of the foreign kinds are not only of the largest size
for the class of insects, but present a brilliant surface, be¬
set as it were with gold and emeralds, or glittering with
an iridescent play of green and azure. The body is in
general oval, somewhat lengthened, rather wider and ob¬
tuse before, as if truncated, and narrowed behind from the
base of the abdomen. The eyes are oval, the thorax short
and wide. The scutellum small or unapparent. The ex¬
tremity of the elytra is frequently dentated. The legs are
short.
All these insects walk very slowly, but fly exceedingly
well in dry and sultry weather. When an attempt is made
to seize them they drop upon the ground, with a view no
doubt to conceal themselves in the subjacent herbage.
The abdomen of the female is furnished at its extremity
with a coriaceous or horny conical appendage, composed
of three pieces (the terminal abdominal rings), and which
may be regarded as a kind of ovipositor, by which she
deposits her eggs in dry or decayed wood, in which the
larvae dwell. Several of the minor species occur on leaves
and flowers; but the greater proportion are found in fo¬
rests or depots of timber. They sometimes appear sud¬
denly in places where they were never seen before, hav¬
ing been involuntarily transported in foreign timber in the
nymph or larva state.
The Buprestides are very common in South America
and many of the other sultry regions of the earth. They
decrease in number as we advance northwards into the
temperate climes, and altogether disappear in colder
countries. Scarcely a score occur in Britain; and of
these we are not aware that even one has yet been found
in Scotland.
Genus Buprestis,1 Lin. Palpi filiform, or slightly en¬
larged towards the extremity, terminated by an almost
cylindrical article. Antennae of equal thickness through¬
out, and serrated from the third or fourth joint. Penul¬
timate article of the tarsi deeply notched. Maxillae bilobed.
These are the characters of the genus Buprestis, as re¬
stricted in recent times. Some of the species have no ap¬
parent scutellum. Such is B. fasciculata, a species from
the Cape of Good Hope. It is about an inch long, of a
golden or coppery-green, densely punctured, and with lit¬
tle tufts of yellowish or reddish hairs. It sometimes hangs
in such abundance on a shrub, as to make it appear all
laden with flowers. Others are furnished with a scutel¬
lum. Of these we may name B. gigas from Cayenne, a
species, as its name implies, of the largest size ; the tho¬
rax cupreous, mingled with brilliant green, and two large
spots like burnished steel; the elytra tridentate at the
end, cupreous in the centre, bronze-green on the margin,
with impressed points and some elevated lines and ridges.
Its larva is represented on PI. CCXXXV. fig. 19. On
the same plate (fig. 18) we have delineated a magnificent
species, B. bicolor, lately received from Java. It is of
a deep-green colour, with a golden lustre, two cream-
coloured spots on the elytra, and one on each side of
the thorax. It belongs to the genus Catoxantha of
Dejean.
Of the other genera of the tribe we shall here name
only Trachys, Fab. (PI. CCXXXV. fig. 26), Aphanis-
ticus, Lat., and Melasis, Oliv.2 The last-mentioned
genus (probably named from /wXag, black), conducts na¬
turally to
O L o G Y. 105
Tribe 2d, Eeaterides. Coleoptera
Pentamera.
This numerous tribe corresponds to the undivided ge-
nus Elater of Linnaeus, and differs from the Buprestides
chiefly in the posterior style of the praesternum, which is
prolonged to a sharpish point or spine laterally compress¬
ed. On examining the living species, the use of the last-
named organ becomes obvious. The legs are very short,
and when the creature falls upon its back, which it fre¬
quently does while dropping from a plant to the ground,
it can only assume its natural position by springing up¬
wards, which it is enabled to do by bringing the project¬
ing point into sudden contact with a groove situated in
front of the mesosternum. The sides of the praesternum
are also distinguished by a groove, in which the antennae,
pectinated or bearded in several males, are partly lodged.
The females have a species of elongated ovipositor, with
two lateral pieces pointed at the end, between which is
the true oviduct. The tarsi are entire.
The Elaterides occur in flowers, on various plants, and
on the ground. We owe to Degeer the description of the
larva of one species (undulatus). It is long, nearly cylin¬
drical, provided with small antennae, palpi, and six feet.
Its body consisted of twelve scaly segments, of which the
posterior was covered by a circular plate, furnished with
two blunt points curving inwards ; underneath was a large
fleshy mammilla, which seemed to serve the office of a
foot. The larvae of Elater striatus are said to do much
injury, by attacking the roots of wheat. The grub known
in this country under the name of wire-worm is an Elater
in the early state. It lives under ground for several years,
feeding on the roots of grain and vegetables. It is partial
to land newly broken up, and does great damage in gar¬
dens recently converted from pasture-land. In the year
1813, according to Mr Spence, this larva destroyed the
greater proportion of the annuals sown in the botanic
garden of Hull. In such cases Sir Joseph Banks recom¬
mended that slices of potatoes stuck upon skewers should
be buried near the seeds, and examined and cleared of
the wire-worms from time to time.
M. Leon Dufour has studied the anatomical structure
of several species of this family. In the number, length,
and mode of insertion of the hepatic conduits, they show
a resemblance to the Carabidae. The digestive canal is
seldom more than once and a half the length of the body.
Immediately succeeding an oesophagus, so short as to be
included within the region of the head, there is a small
smooth conical crop, which appears to have escaped the
observation of Ramdhor. The chylific ventricle is bilobed
in certain species. This tribe is very extensive both in
exotic and European species, and is much more prevalent
in temperate and even northern countries than the pre¬
ceding. The Elaterides now consist of numerous genera.
Some of the American species are remarkable for the fine
phosphoric light which is observed to emanate from them
during the evening twilight, and when the shades of night
have fallen upon the forests. One of these had the for¬
tune to be transported to Paris under the form of nymph
or larva; and having made its escape into the streets after
the assumption of the perfect state, it greatly astonished
the inhabitants of the Faubourg St Antoine. Most of
the genera are recognisable, in a general way, by their
narrow, elongated, and somewhat flattish forms. We have
above sixty species in Britain, arranged according to the
modern views, under not less than twenty genera.
erf^0111 Ba^'S, an ^ an^ swelling, in allusion to the supposed injury produced on cattle by an insect anciently named Bu-
2 For species, the reader may consult Olivier, Coleopteres, t. ii.; Fabricius, Systema Eleut. t. il; and Schoenherr’s Sunonymia In-
aectorum. see also Rtgne Animal, t. iv. p. 446. * ^
VOL. IX.
O
ENTOMOLOGY.
106
Coleoptera The various groups of the Elaterides are referred by
Pentamera. Latreille to two principal divisions.
\st, Antennce entirely received into the inferior cavities of
the thorax.
In some the antennae are received on each side into a
longitudinal groove, placed directly under the lateral edges
of the thorax, and are always filiform, and simply serrat¬
ed. The joints of the tarsi are always entire, without
prolongations, and in the form of a pellet underneath.
The thorax is convex or arched, at least on the sides, and
dilates towards the posterior angles in the manner of a
lobe, pointed or triangular. They approach the Bupres-
tides. Here are placed the genera Galba and Eucne-
MIS.
In others the antennae, sometimes clavate, are received,
at least partially, either into the longitudinal grooves of
the lateral borders of the praesternum, or into fossettes
placed under the posterior angles of the thorax. The
tarsi are frequently provided with little pellets, formed by
the prolongation of the inferior parts, or the penultimate
article is bifid. Here are placed the genus Adolecera,
Lat. (PI. CCXXXV. fig. 29), and others.
2d, Antennce exterior or exposed
In the genus Cerophytum, Lat. (PI. CCXXXV. fig.
30), the terminal joint of the palpi, especially the maxil¬
lary, is much larger than the preceding, and almost secu¬
riform. These insects are more particularly distinguish¬
ed from the following by their tarsi, of which the first four
articles are short, triangular, with the penultimate bifid.
The antennae of the males are ramose on the internal side,
the base of the third and following articles being prolong¬
ed into a widened branch, rounded at the extremity ;
those of the female are serrated. In the succeeding ge¬
nera the articles of the tarsi are entire and almost cylin¬
drical. In Hemirhipus, Lat. (PI. CCXXXV. fig. 31),
the mandibles and labrum are exposed, and the antennae
of the male have a flabelliform termination. The species
are foreign to Europe. In Elater properly so called
(PI. CCXXXV. fig. 27), the antennae of the males are
simply serrated. Here we place the fire-fly, or mouche
lumineuse of the French colonists, which during the night
diffuses from its thoracic spots a strong and beautiful light,
sufficient to enable one to read the smallest print, parti¬
cularly if several are placed together in a glass vessel.
By means of this natural illumination the women of the
country (the species is South American) are said to pur¬
sue their work, and ladies even use it as an ornament,
placing it among their tresses during their evening pro¬
menades.1 M. de la Cordaire, who has studied the habits
of these insects in the living state, informed M. Latreille
that the principal reservoir of phosphoric matter is placed
below, at the junction of the thorax and abdomen.2 Mr
Curtis had the insect alive in London, and has recorded
his observations with his accustomed accuracy.3 In the
genus Ctenicera,4 Lat. the antennae of the males are
pectinated.5 *
We shall conclude by observing that the name of wre- Coleoptera
tvorm, bestowed on several larvae of Elaters, is more sped- Pentamera.
ally applicable to the early state of Cataphagus lineatusG
of Stephens. Its history appears to be given in the Stock¬
holm Transactions for 1777, by Mr Bierkander. He calls
it the root-worm. It measures when full grown about se¬
ven lines in length. The body is very narrow, of a yellow
colour, hard, shining, and composed of twelve segments,
on the last of which are two indented dark-coloured specks.
The head is brown, the extremity of the jaws black. The
anterior segments have six scaly feet. It is said to remain
five years in the larva state, from which it issues as an
Elater, the E. segetis of Bierk. supposed to be synonymous
with the E. lineatus of Linn, and the insect above named
of Stephens. Great damage is often occasioned by the
wire-worm to the turnip crops. An instance is recorded
by Messrs Kirby and Spence of a field in which it had de¬
stroyed one fourth of the crop, and the owner calculated
his loss at L.100. He one year sowed a field thrice with
turnips, which were twice wholly, and the third time in
great part, cut off by this destructive larva.7
Section 2d, Malacodermi.8
The insects of this section are distinguished from the
Sternoxi by their bodies being generally, in whole or in
part, of a soft or flexible texture. From this character
they derive their name. Their head is likewise inclosed
posteriorly in the thorax, or at least covered by it at the
base ; but the praesternum is not dilated or advanced an¬
teriorly in the manner of a chin-cloth (rnentonniere, Lat.),
nor is it usually terminated posteriorly in a point received
into a cavity of the mesosternum.9 The Malacodermi
are divided into five tribes.
Tribe 1st, Cebrionites.
So named from the genus Cehrio of Fabricius, with which
all the others are connected. The mandibles terminate in
a simple or entire point, the palpi are of equal thickness,
or more slender towards the extremity. The body is
rounded or convex in some, oval or oblong, but curved
above, and inclined anteriorly, in others. The thorax is
transversal, broader at the base, with the lateral angles
sharp, or even prolonged, in many, in the form of a spine.
The antennae are generally longer than the head and tho¬
rax. The legs are not contractile. The habits ofthese insects
are unknown. Many are found on plants, in moist places.
In Cebrio (proper)10 of Lat. the praesternum termi¬
nates posteriorly in a point, received by a groove of the
mesosternum. All the joints of the tarsi are entire and
without pellets, and the posterior thighs are not larger
than the others. The species peculiar to Europe appear
in great numbers after heavy rains. Of the ten species
enumerated by Dejean, seven occur in Europe, one in
Africa, one in Java, and one in North America. In Cal-
lirhipis, Lat. (PI. CCXXXV. figs. 32 and 33), the prae¬
sternum is not prolonged into a point, the antennae are
closely approximated at the base, inserted on an eminence,
1 Rtgne Animal, t. iv. p. 445. 2 Ibid. note. See also Nonvelles Annates du Mus. d'Hist. Nat. t. ii. p. 66.
3 Zoological Journal, vol. iii. p. 379. 4 From xtu;, a comb, and a horn.
5 For the British genera and species, see the works of Messrs Curtis and Stephens. Such as have been hitherto ascertained to in¬
habit Scotland are described in Entomologia Edinensis, p. 192—9.
* From xaruCpccyw, I devour.
J he modern genera of Elaterides are far too numerous to admit of being even named in our present article. We refer the read¬
er in addition to the systematic works of Fabricius, Olivier, and Latreille, to Palisot de Beauvois’s Inscctcs d'Afrique et d'Amerique.
Dalman’s Analecta Entomologica, and the beautiful monograph by Count Mannherheim entitled Eucnemis Insectorum genus.
8 From f/.aXa.>io}, soft, and skin.
* The Cebriones may be said to constitute an exception to this negative character, and thus approximate the Elaterides ; but the
inferior extremity of the praesternum does not advance under the head.
*0 Aristophanes applies the name to a species of bird.
E N T O M O L O G Y.
Coleoptera and from the third joint, in the males, form a large fan.
Pentamera.The terminal joint of the palpi is ovoid, that of the tarsi
almost as long as the others united, and presenting be¬
tween its hooks a little silky and linear appendage. We
have represented the head of the species (C. Dejeanii),
which serves as the type of the genus. It occurs in Java.
In Riiipicera1 * of Lat. and Kirby* (PI. CCXXXVI. fig.
1), the inferior surface of each of the first four joints of
the tarsi presents two membranous and projecting lobes ;
the last is long. The antennae are flabelliform in both
sexes, and consist of much more than the ordinary num¬
ber of eleven joints. The articulations are much fewer
in those of the females. The genus consists of a few
species from North and South America and New Holland.
In Dascillus, Lat. (Atopa of Fab.), the antennae are
simple in both sexes, the first three joints of the tarsi
reversed cordiform, without membranous prolongations ;
the penultimate is deeply bilobed. D. cervinus (Curtis,
B. E. V. pi. 216), the only British species, occurs rather
plentifully in the alpine districts of Scotland. In the re¬
maining Cebrionites the mandibles are small, and project
but little, if at all, beyond the labrum. The body is ge¬
nerally soft, and almost hemispherical or ovoid, and the
palpi terminate in a point. The posterior legs of several
are fitted for leaping. They live on aquatic plants.
Such are Elodes3 of Lat. ( Cyphon, Fab. Steph.), of which
the hind thighs differ but little in thickness from those of
the preceding genus (we have seventeen kinds in Bri¬
tain), and Scyrtes, Lat. of which the species are leapers,
with the posterior thighs very large, and the tibiae termi¬
nated by two strong spurs.
Tribe 2d, Lampyrides.
This tribe is distinguished from the preceding by the en¬
larged termination of the palpi, at least of those of the max¬
illae ; by their straight, depressed, but slightly convex body;
and by the thorax, sometimes semicircular, sometimes
nearly square or trapezoidal, projecting over and almost
concealing the head. The mandibles are generally small,
and terminate in a slender, arcuated, very acute point, ge¬
nerally entire. The penultimate joint of the tarsi is always
bilobate, and the terminal hooks have neither dentations
nor appendages. The females of some are apterous, or
have but short elytra. When seized, most of these insects
press their feet and antennae close to the body, and re¬
main as motionless as if they were dead. Several curve
the abdomen underneath. They correspond to the old
genus Lampyris of Linn., and include some species re¬
markable for their phosphorescent or luminous qualities.
ls£, Antennae approximated at the base, the head either
prolonged anteriorly in the manner of a snout, or for
the greater part, or entirely, concealed beneath the
thorax. Eyes of the males large and globular.
Mouth small.
Here we place the following genera, in all of which the
107
head is exposed :—ls£, Lycus,4 * Fab. In this the snout is Coleoptera
as long as the preceding portion of the head, or longer, Fentamera.
and the antennae serrated. The elytra are generally di-
lated, either laterally, or at their posterior extremity, the
two sexes (particularly of certain African species) differ¬
ing greatly in that respect; 2d, Dictyoptera, Lat.
(PI. CCXXXVI. fig. 2); and, 3d, Omalisus,6 Geoffrey
(ibid. fig. 4). The remaining insects of this division are
distinguished from the preceding, not only by the want of
a snout (it is not apparent even in the last-named genus),
by their head, which in the males is almost entirely occu¬
pied by the eyes, and much concealed by the square or
semicircular thorax—but more particularly by a very re¬
markable character, either common alike to males or fe¬
males, or peculiar to the latter sex, viz. the property of
phosphorescence. Hence the names of glow-worms, fire¬
flies, &c. bestowed upon the species which form the ge¬
nus Lampyris properly so called.6
In regard to the general history of these insects, we
may observe, that the Greeks applied the name of Lam¬
pyris, and the Latins those of Noctiluca, Luciola, &c. with¬
out any very special reference, to such insects as were ob¬
served to shine during the night with a lambent or phos¬
phoric flame. They were long confounded with Telepho-
rus and Malachites under the genus Cantkaris. Geoffroy
effected their separation from Telephorus, and placed
them in the genus Lycus, while Linnaeus also combined
them with that genus and Pyrochroa. Fabricius was the
first to restrict and define the genus with propriety.7 The
antennae are short, the articulations cylindrical and com¬
pressed. The head is concealed beneath the anterior mar¬
gin of the thorax, which is semicircular in the indigenous
species. The eyes are large. The body rather soft, ob¬
long-oval, much depressed. The abdomen is serrated on
its lateral edges. The elytra are coriaceous, and slightly
flexible. The legs are compressed and simple. The fe¬
males are apterous, with the rudiments of elytra at the
base of the abdomen. Other characters are minutely
detailed by systematic writers, which we need not here
enter into. We shall, however, record some observations,
both of a general and particular nature, which we were
induced to make in consequence of our having kept the
common British glow-worm in confinement.8
The beautiful light which emanates from this insect
constitutes its most interesting and peculiar attribute. If
several ancient nations were worshippers of the sun, and
regarded “ holy light” as a divine effulgence, the offspring
of heaven, and the purest of the elements, we need scarce¬
ly wonder that in remote times, when natural phenomena
were but slightly understood, even the more obscure ma¬
nifestations of a supposed celestial principle should have
excited the wonder and admiration of mankind. We con¬
sequently find many exaggerated accounts of the cause
and effects of these flying and creeping lights, which, as
they do not illustrate the natural history, properly so call¬
ed, of the insects themselves, we shall leave for the pre-
1 From givii, a fan, and xtjaj, a horn. 2 Linn. Trans, vol. xii. pi. 21, 3.
3 From iXoe, a marsh, the species usually frequenting moist places. 4 From Xvx.oai, I destroy. 5 Perhaps from ay.a.Xos,flat.
s The word occurs in Aristotle, and is derived from Xa.y,<ra, to shine, and fire. The genus in its undivided state is
very extensive, containing not fewer than sixty species. We observe, however, that Tn the last edition of Dejean’s Catalogue, so
many divisions have taken place, that the genus Lampyris, properly so called, is now made to consist of only nine species. It is very
poorly represented in Britain, and indeed produces but few European examples. If, as Mr Stephens supposes, L. splendidula has
been erroneously introduced into the British Fauna, then L. noctiluca, Linn., may be regarded as the sole indigenous species. Some
Brazilian species, in which the antennje of the males consist of more than eleven joints, formed like the laminae of a feather, consti¬
tute the genus Amydetes of Hoffmansegg. Others, also peculiar to South America, and of which the antennae consist of only eleven
joints, form the genus Phengodes of that author. (Illiger’s Mag. vi. p. 342.)
7 F°r representations of the glow-worm (L. noctiluca), see Plate CCXXXVI. Fig. 5 is the winged male ; fig. 6 the wingless female ;
fig. 7 the larva ; fig. 10 represents a large and remarkable species, the Lampijris Savignii of Kirby.
8 We here in part avail ourselves of what we have already stated in the Entomologia Edinensis, p. 202-7.
ENTOMOLOGY.
108
Coleoptera sent unrecorded. But the actual phenomena are ex-
Pentamera. tremely interesting-, on account both of their singularity
and beauty, and, without the aid of fiction, are well deserv¬
ing the attention of the poet and philosopher. Huet,
bishop of Avranches, an eminent scholar, composed a
poem, entitled Zampym; and the masterly genius of
Wordsworth, which draws so much that is new and beau¬
tiful from the observance of common things, has not fail¬
ed to immortalize the radiance of the “ earth-born star.”
“ And if,” say Messrs Kirby and Spence, or one or other
of these authors, while speaking of the British glow-worm,
“ living like me in a district where it is rarely met with,
the first time you saw this insect chanced to be, as it was
in my case, one of those delightful evenings which an
English summer seldom yields, when not a breeze dis¬
turbs the balmy air, and hundreds of these radiant worms,
studding their mossy couch with mild effulgence, were
presented to your wondering eye in the course of a quar¬
ter of a mile,—you could not help associating with the
name of glow-worm the most pleasing recollections. No
wonder that an insect which chiefly exhibits itself on oc¬
casions so interesting, and whose economy is so “emark-
able, should have afforded exquisite images and illustra¬
tions to those poets who have cultivated natural history.”1
However beautiful the effect produced by our own species,
and by the fire-flies (L. italica), which are still more
abundant over Italy and the rest of the south of Europe,
their splendour, according to Humboldt, cannot be com¬
pared in richness to those innumerable scattered and mov¬
ing lights that embellish the nights of the torrid zone, and
seem to repeat on earth, along the vast extent of the
savannahs, the spectacle of the starry vault of heaven.
These, however, belong to a different tribe of insects (Ela-
terides), which resemble the glow-worm merely in their
luminous properties; yet we cannot resist quoting the
beautiful lines by Mr Southey, in which he describes their
first effect on the earliest visitors of the new world.
    Sorrowing we beheld
The night come on ; but soon did night display
More wonders than it veiled ; innumerous tribes
From the wood-cover swarm’d, and darkness made
Their beauties visible: one while they streamed
A bright blue radiance upon flowers that closed
Their gorgeous colours from the eye of day;
Now motionless and dark, eluded search,
Self-shrouded ; and anon, stamng the sky,
Rose like a shower of fire.2
The glow-worm is now a very rare insect in the neigh¬
bourhood of Edinburgh. Dr Neill informs us that it for¬
merly occurred between the city and the village of Ca-
nonmills ; but we have not heard of its having been found
there or elsewhere around our immediate suburbs for
many years. Dr David Ritchie has observed it occa¬
sionally near Pathhead, and Professor Wallace has met
with it in Fife. Professor Wilson informs us that he once
saw it on the Queensferry road, near Comely Bank. We
have ourselves taken it by Loch Lomond side, and else¬
where in Scotland. It abounds in the north of England.
We once received some living specimens early in July
from Borthwick, about twelve miles from Edinburgh.
They laid eggs a few days after their arrival, on the sides
of a glass vessel. The parents soon after died, probably
from being kept in too confined a space; but the young
larvae were hatched in a few weeks, and by the end of
September they measured about the third of an inch in
length. These larvae bear a strong resemblance to the
female perfect insect. The body is composed of twelve
segments, of which the central are the largest. The three
first segments bear each a pair of feet, and the caudal Coleoptera
segments are slightly retractile within each other; andBentamRra’
when the insect walks, which it does very leisurely, it
bends its tail beneath it in such a way as to assist or sup¬
port it in its progress. The head is very small, and is
also retractile, and is usually withdrawn whenever the in¬
sect is alarmed or disturbed. These little creatures throve
well in captivity. They were kept on a piece of moist
mossy turf, which was frequently renewed ; but whether
they sustained themselves on the dewy herbage, or by
means of the minute animal substances which it contain¬
ed, it was not for a time very easy to discover. The
curved and extended form of the little jaws would in the
first place induce one to suppose that they were carnivo¬
rous. Olivier, however, observes, in his description of the
larva of the glow-worm, “ elle vie cependant sur de la
terre fraiche, avec de I’herbe et des feuilles des differentes
plantes; mais Ton a remarque qu’elle devient foible et
languissante, quand on la laisse manquer de terre humide.
Elle est tres-pacifique, et paroit craintive.”3 Fresh earth,
or the moisture which arises from it, certainly seems
necessary to their welfare, for we noticed that, when their
turf became dry, and a slice of fresh apple or potato was
introduced, they immediately settled on it, and inserted
their heads as if drinking. We, however, soon after de¬
tected one with its jaws fixed in the head of a minute snail,
which it appeared to be devouring, its own head being in¬
serted into the aperture of the shell.
This observation appeared the more interesting, in as
far as it served to connect those insects, by means of their
habits, with that singular species the Drilus Jiavescens,
which is known to feed voraciously on the Helix nemoralis,
and the female of which was described by Mielzinski as
the type of a distinct genus-, under the name of Cochleoc-
tonus. This latter insect is parasitical on the body of the
helix, in the shell of which it dwells and undergoes its
metamorphoses.
While engaged in the observance of these glow-worms,
we met with a notice, in the Annales des Sciences, by a
French gentleman of Rouen, on the same subject. In it
we have ample proof of the carnivorous propensities of
the creatures in question. He placed a great number
of the larvae in a vessel with fresh earth, and supplied them
with various kinds of leaves. They soon however became
extremely feeble, and remained so for several weeks, when
he happened to put a dead slug in their jar, of which the
young glow-worms were no sooner aware than they gree¬
dily seized upon it with their arched and sharp-pointed
mandibles. On the ensuing day they were found to have
eaten their way so far into the slug, that nothing but their
tails was visible. Ihey were perceived however occa¬
sionally to quit their prey and walk about upon the moist
earth. The French naturalist was curious to observe how
they would proceed with a living snail, and he therefore
introduced one into his colony of insects. The animal
soon began to crawl about its new domicile, but it no soon¬
er came upon the path of a glow-worm than it was seized
by the latter immediately beneath the mouth, and with
such force and tenacity that it drew itself suddenly into
its shell, and of course dragged its enemy along with it.
The glow-worm however immediately disengaged its hold,
and struggled back to the mouth of the shell, on the back
of which it soon mounted, thus keeping the snail in a state
of siege. Whenever it protruded even the point of its
horns it was instantly seized, bitten, and obliged to with¬
draw within its fortress. The larva being soon joined by
a companion, the two attacked the unfortunate snail, and
Introduction to Entomology, voi. ii. p. 410.
2 Madoc.
Entomologie, t. ii. No. 28, p. 7»
E N T O M
Coleoptera after a continued combat of several hours, they put it to
Fentaaiera. cieath, and by next morning it was not only slain, but
eaten. These and similar experiments were made from
the month of November to the month of June, after which
the larvae were observed to undergo their transformations.
They occupied about a week in assuming the state of
nymph—they continued in that state eight days longer—
and then appeared in the form of the perfect insect.
When about to assume the nympha state, the skin of the
upper and anterior portion of the body cracks and opens,
or a lateral division takes place on either side, so as to
separate the skin of the upper from that of the under por¬
tion. By alternate elongations and contractions they then
work their way forwards, and contrive to effect their libe¬
ration in a few minutes from their old attire. The nymph
is larger than the larva, though not quite so long. Its
colour is at first pale yellow, with two reddish spots on
the posterior and lateral portion of each segment of the
abdomen, as well as on the posterior angles of the thorax.
It wants the large acute mandibles of the larva; its an¬
tennae are very obvious, and consist of eleven articulations.
The tarsi are likewise distinctly composed each of five ar¬
ticulations. The last rings of the abdomen are very bril¬
liant, especially when the insect is handled; and it was
noted as remarkable that the whole body partook, though
with less intensity, of that phosphoric splendour which
in the perfect insect characterizes only the terminal seg¬
ments of the abdomen. Before the termination of the
eight days which are passed in the nympha state, all the
more delicate colours had disappeared, and were finally
converted into those duller hues which distinguish the in¬
sect in its matured condition. As soon as it has disen¬
gaged itself from the slough of the larva, it bends its body
into an arch or semicircle, and is then a genuine nymph,
although it still continues to move its head, and even its
limbs and antennae. In this intermediate condition its
general form has undergone no great change, but the head,
feet, and antennae are considerably altered, and seem en¬
larged or swollen. At first tbe body manifests a slow
and heavy movement, which ere long ceases, and the an¬
tennae and feet are then applied more closely to the sides
of the body. The only signs of life now consist in a
movement of the abdomen, which is bent into an arch, or
occasionally moved from side to side. The body is short¬
er than that of the larva, tbe head is bent beneath the
first segment or thorax, the antennae consist of numerous
articulations, and the caudal segment of the body, instead
of being terminated by a couple of points, is now sur¬
rounded by eight of those points, in the centre of which
are two fleshy tubercles, placed in a slight depression.
Olivier had previously informed us that the nymph, after
quitting the skin of the larva, shone with a very lively and
brilliant light of a beautiful green colour, which became
more splendid for a time when the vessel which contain^
ed it was moved, and disappeared again, as if by some
voluntary action of the animal, even in the nympha state,
in which the vital and instinctive powers are usually almost
in a state of suspension. According to Degeer, the larva
is also luminous. We have frequently observed the mani¬
festation of that faculty in those in our keeping.
It has been a frequent subject of inquiry to ascertain
the purposes which the light is intended to serve. In the
perfect state the female continues wingless, while the male
has become a swift-flying insect; and this has led to the
supposition that the lambent flame, which is always most
O L O G Y. 109
conspicuous in thp female, is intended as a “ nuptial Coleoptera
lamp,” to guide the male to her society. In this case, Pentamera.
however, wre do not so clearly see the use of it in the
larva and nympha states, unless, to be sure, as a prepara¬
tory process for the formation of the animal phosphorus.
Although many insects discover each other merely by
the sense of smell, the fact seems nearly certain that the
male or winged glow-worm ascertains his mate by aid of
her luminous property ; for it is a well-known and success¬
ful entomological device to place a female in a conspicu¬
ous position, and watch by her side, with a view to entrap
the rarer or less visible males, which ere long make their
appearance. Olivier has frequently caught the males by
holding a female on the palm of his hand,—which makes it
the more singular that he did not perceive the two lumi¬
nous points which the former bears on the last segment of
the abdomen,—“ Je n’ai pas encore m’assurer, il est yrai,
si le male de notre espece commune a la propriete de luire.”
We may add, that the eggs are also beautifully luminous for
some time after they are laid.
Dufour has examined the anatomical structure of the
female glow-worm. The alimentary canal measures about
twice the length of the body. The oesophagus is so short
as to be nearly imperceptible. It dilates immediately
into a short crop. The chylific ventricle is separated from
the crop by a valvular contraction. It is long, smooth,
that is, unprovided with papillae, but pursed and cylindri¬
cal in its two anterior thirds, and intestiform in the re¬
mainder. The small intestine is very short.1
The matter from which the luminous property of the
glow-worm results has been the subject of frequent expe¬
riment and observation. It is obviously under the con¬
trol of the insect, which, wdien approached, may fre¬
quently be observed to diminish or put out its light.2
In the perfect female the luminous matter occupies
chiefly the inferior part of the three last annuli of the
abdomen. These differ from the rest in colour, and are
usually of a yellow hue, especially on the under side. The
light diffused is more or less intense, according to cir¬
cumstances. The insect lives for a considerable time in
a vacuum, and in various gases ; but in nitrous acid, mu¬
riatic and sulphurous gases, it soon expires. When placed
in hydrogen gas it has sometimes been observed to pro¬
duce detonation. When the luminous portion of the body
of a glow-worm is cut off, the insect continues to live, and
the separated segments retain their phosphoric nature,
and are luminous for some time, wdiether placed in va¬
cuum, exposed to the air, or submitted to the action of
different gases. By what means the living insect is able
to shroud itself in darkness, and then suddenly to clothe
itself as it were in a mantle of radiant light, is a subject
beyond our power of investigation ; but when dried the
phosphorescence seems to depend on a certain degree of
softness or humidity; for when apparently quite extinct,
it may be reproduced by pressure, and the application of
a little moisture. In the living state, however, although
immersion in warm water produces a brilliant light, the
application of cold water tends to its speedy extinction.
The next peculiarity in the history of the glow-worm
consists in the change of its habits in regard to food,
which takes place on its attaining maturity. From an
insect of a predaceous nature, greedy of animal juices, it
becomes entirely herbivorous, not much addicted indeed
to food of any kind, but still confining itself, when it does
indulge in eating, to the tender leaves of plants. It is
1 Ann. des Sciences Nat. t. iii. p. 225.
* On this curious subject, however, we beg to refer the reader to the writings of Beckerheim (Ann. de Chimie, t. iv. p. 19), Cara-
dori, and Treviranus, among foreign authors,—and to those of Mr Macartney (Phil. Trans. 1810), and Kirby and Spence (vol. ii.
p. 423), among ourselves.
110
ENTOMOLOGY.
Coleoptera this circumstance which has no doubt led to so much con-
Pentamera. trariety of opinion on the part of entomological writers
regarding its natural disposition. Most observers having
attended to it chiefly after it had undergone its transfor¬
mations, they naturally, and so far correctly, concluded
that it was a herbivorous insect. Had they watched its
progress from the egg they would have come to another
conclusion, at least in regard to its earlier condition.
This alteration in the habits of these creatures is in fact
by no means unexampled, either among other genera of
the same class, or among the more distantly related rep¬
tile tribes. The most familiar instance among the latter
is the common frog, which in the early state of tadpole is
herbivorous, while under the perfect form it preys on
flies and other insects. In this case, to be sure, the order
of change is inverted, the alteration being from a herbi¬
vorous to a carnivorous diet; while the contrary takes
place in the glow-worm. But the analogy is more strictly
maintained in the case of those aquatic beetles which
form the family of Helophoridce, which in the larva state
are carnivorous, but become herbivorous after assuming
their final transformation. The same singularity is also
illustrated by many dipterous flies, which, born and bred
amid the putrid moisture of animal remains, no sooner
become winged insects, than they seek a purer diet in the
nectarous juices of fruits and flowers.
In relation to the glow-worm, the observation is of more
practical interest, because the appearance of the insect
among our lawns and shrubberies is so extremely orna¬
mental during the summer nights, that many have tried
to import it to districts where it does not naturally occur.
They have failed, in consequence of endeavouring to rear
the young on vegetable food. Moist herbage, or a supply
of damp earth, seems almost indispensable; but, in addition
to these, their box must contain some minute testacea,
such as the young of the ordinary species of the genus
Helix. Perhaps the best plan is to hatch the eggs, and
then place the young at liberty under an old hedge as
soon as they have begun to eat freely.
2d, Antennae decidedly remote at their base; head nei¬
ther prolonged nor narrowed anteriorly in the form
of a snout; the eyes of ordinary size in both sexes.
In genus Drylus, Oliv. (PI. CCXXXVI. figs. 8, 9,
and 12), the males are winged, and the inner side of the
antennae, from the fourth joint, is prolonged like the tooth
of a comb. Those of the female are shorter, or somewhat
perfoliaceous, and slightly serrated. The maxillary palpi
in both sexes are thicker towards the extremity, and ter¬
minate in a point. There is a tooth on the internal side
of the mandibles. The D. Jlavescens (see figs, last referred
to) feeds, while in the larva state, on the Helix nemoralis
of Linn, in the shell of which it dwells and undergoes
its metamorphosis. It was on this account described
by Comte Mielzinsky under the name of Cochleoctonus.
Its history, and that of the other species, are now well
known.1
All the remaining genera of this second division of the
Lampyrides are winged in both sexes, and the maxillary
palpi are not much longer than the labial. They corre¬
spond to the family Telephoridce of English naturalists,
and are composed chiefly of the species placed by Lin¬
naeus under the genus Cantharis. Schoeffer and Degeer
reserve that name to the species used in medicine, and
apply the term Telephorus (probably from Qs'kog (pogiu, I
carry death) to the remainder. The true Cantharidse,
therefore, are constituted by the genus Meloe, and the
well-known blister-fly C. vesicatoria, &c.
In the genus Telephorus (PI. CCXXXVI. fig. 11) Coleoptera
the palpi are terminated by a securiform article, and the Pentamera.
thorax offers no lateral emarginations. Their bodies are
long, narrow, depressed, and of a soft or somewhat flexible
consistence. These insects abound in meadows during
the summer season, on umbelliferous and other plants.
The larvae are characterized by a flat scaly head, fur¬
nished with two strong teeth, a pair of small antennae,
and four palpi. Their bodies are flattish beneath, divided
into twelve rings resembling those of caterpillars, and
covered by a membranous skin, which is soft to the touch.
The general colour of these larvae is a deep velvety black,
except the front of the head, which is shining. The an¬
tennae, palpi, and feet are of a reddish or yellowish brown.
They dwell in moist earth. Olivier was of opinion that
they fed on roots, but the laborious and accurate Degeer
asserts that they voraciously devour a great variety of
insect prey. That of Telephorus fuscus was observed to
change into the nympha state towards the end of May.
It buried itself in the earth, but presented no appearance
of cocoon. The nympha was about six lines in length,
with the body somewhat arched, and of a pale-reddish
white. The perfect insect was developed in the month
of June. Even in the last-named state, in which so many
species are chiefly occupied in the indulgence of other
propensities, the Telephori, according to Degeer, continue
their accustomed appetite. He has observed a female
drag a male to the ground, turn him on his back, and
suck out his entrails; so that, as among the spider tribes,
considerable caution is necessary on the part of an inex¬
perienced suitor while making his advances. Mr Curtis
has frequently seen Telephori with other insects in their
mouths. Lie once observed T. lividus eating an ichneu¬
mon, and he took another of the same species with an
Empis in its mouth. I1, fuscus is known to prey upon its
own species. There are above thirty different kinds of
this genus in Britain. Dejean, under the Linnaean name
of Cantharis, enumerates 132 species. Whatever we
know of the anatomy of these creatures accords with their
apparent dispositions. Dufour has ascertained that their
digestive canal is absolutely straight. Their biliary ves¬
sels are four in number, in which character, as well as in
that of their generative system, they present a resem¬
blance to the genus Lycus.
One of the most remarkable incidents in the history of
the Telephori is the frequency with which, in some con¬
tinental countries, the species are carried into the air in
great quantities by violent winds, and unexpectedly de¬
posited in distant regions,—thus giving rise to what are
called insect showers. Sweden and Hungary have been
most productive of such phenomena. One of the most
ornamental of the British species, and the only one we
shall here describe, is T. cyaneus of Curtis. The head is
black and shining, but rufous before the eyes ; the thorax
and abdomen are likewise rufous, the elytra are deep
blue, the legs black. This insect is pretty wddely, though
sparingly, distributed over the southern and central coun¬
ties of Scotland, and the north of England. We have
specimens from the Edinburgh district, from Kinordy in
Forfarshire, from Dollar in Clackmannanshire, and from
Dumfries and Roxburgh shires.
I he genus Silis of Megerle differs from the preceding
chiefly in having an emargination posteriorly on each side
of the thorax. In Maltiiinus of Lat. (PI. CCXXXVI.
fig. 14) the palpi are terminated by an ovoid joint; the
head is narrow behind ; and the elytra, in several species,
are shorter than the abdomen.
See Annalcs des Sciences JVat. Jan. Juil. Aout, 1824 ; and le Bulletin de la Soc. Phil, for April of the same vear.
ENTOMOLOGY,
111
Ooleontera
Peniainera-
Tribe 3d, MeLyrides.
Here we find the palpi generally short and filiform ;
the mandibles emarginated at the point; the body usually
narrow and elongated ; the head only covered at base by
a flat or but slightly convex thorax, generally square, or
elongated and quadrilateral; the joints of the tarsi en¬
tire, and the terminal hooks unidentated or bordered with
a membrane. The antennae are usually serrated, and even
pectinated, in the males of several species. Most of these
insects are of active habits. They occur on the leaves
and flowers of plants.
In MALACHius^f Fab.(Pl. CCXXXVI.flg. 13), there is
a retractile and dilatable vesicle under each anterior angle
of the thorax, and on each side of the base of the abdo¬
men. Most of the species are adorned by ornamental
and contrasted colours. The habits of the larvae are but
obscurely known. Olivier presumes that many of them
live in wood, because he has frequently found the perfect
insect in timber-yards, as if newly escaped from the nym-
pha state. This is an extensive genus, and may be re¬
garded as characteristic of temperate climes, although a
few occur in Africa and the East Indies. Mr Stephens
enumerates seventeen British species. Comte Dejean’s
collection contains 104 in all. Among the Melyrides with
filiform antennae, but of which the thorax and abdomen
are unfurnished with retractile vesicles, Latreille places
the genus Dasytes2 of Paykul. The antennae are at least
as long as the head and thorax; and the body is generally
narrow and elongated, sometimes linear. We have figured
the male of D, ater (Plate CCXXXVI. fig. 15). In Mely-
ris properly so called (Plate CCXXXVI. fig. 16), the an¬
tennae are shorter than the head and thorax, insensibly
enlarged, but without forming a club, as in Lygia. Their
joints are also less dilated lateral^, and are almost iso-
metrical. The thorax is less convex.
In other Melyrides, such as Pelocophorus of Dej. the
maxillary palpi are terminated by a larger and securiform
article, a character which, with certain others, approxi¬
mates them to the ensuing tribe. Dejean at one time
placed them among the tetramerous species.
Tribe 4th, Clerii.
Distinguished by at least two of the palpi being project¬
ing and clavate. The mandibles are dentated. The
penultimate joint of the tarsi is bilobate, the first very
short or but slightly visible in several. The antenna?
vary, being in some nearly filiform and serrated, in others
insensibly enlarged towards the extremity. The body is
usually cylindrical, the head and thorax narrower than
the abdomen, and the eyes emarginate. Most of these
insects occur on flowers, some of them on the trunks of
trees or in dry timber. The larvae are regarded as car¬
nivorous.
Of some the tarsi, viewed from above or from beneath,
distinctly exhibit five joints. Such is the genus Tillus3
of Olivier, in which the mandibles are cleft or bidentated
at the extremity; the antennae sometimes serrated, from
the fourth joint to the tenth inclusively, with the last
ovoid, sometimes terminating suddenly from the sixth in
a serrated club. The terminal joint of the labial palpi is
very large and securiform; the head short and rounded,
and the third and fourth joints of the tarsi dilated in the
form of a reversed triangle.
Of others the tarsi, when viewed from above, appear to
consist of only four joints, the first being extremely short, Coleoptera
or concealed beneath the second. Such is the genus Penlamera*
Ceerus4 properly so called (PI. CCXXXVI. fig. 17),
in which the maxillary palpi are terminated by a com¬
pressed joint in the form of a reversed triangle, the last
of the labial palpi, which are larger than the others,
being securiform. The club of the antennae is hardly
longer than wide, and is composed of crowded joints ; the
third is longer than the second. The maxillae terminate
in a fringed and projecting lobe. The thorax is depress¬
ed anteriorly. The species, in the perfect state, occur on
flowers. Their larvae feed on those of certain bees. Dufour
has described their internal structure. The crop is so short
as to be almost entirely contained within the head. In Ne-
crobia,5 Lat. (PI. CCXXXVI. fig. 19), the four palpi are
terminated by an elongated, compressed, triangular joint
of the same size; the second and third joints of the an¬
tennae are almost equal, and the terminal club is elongat¬
ed, and with looser articles. These insects occur chiefly
in spring. They are said to live on carrion, and are rich¬
ly adorned for such foul feeders. Deep blue is their pre¬
vailing colour. There are four species in Britain, of which
we have as yet found only two in Scotland, viz. N. ruficol-
lis, of a greenish blue, the thorax, base of the elytra, and
legs rufous,—N. violacea, of a bright blue, shining yet
pubescent, the antennai and legs black. If the geographi¬
cal notices which we have collected of the former species
be correct, its distribution must be very extensive. It
seems to occur both in Africa and the East Indies,—a
wide circuit for an insect which we have taken behind the
glass-works at Leith. “ Insectum mihi carissimum,” says
Latreille, “ illis enim infelicissimis temporibus quibus ca-
lamitatum omnium pondere obruta Gallia trepidanter ge-
mebat, amicissime auxiliantibus Bory de Saint Vincent,
Dargelas, Burdigalensibus, posteriori maxime, hoc ani-
malculum mihi libertatis salutisque occasio miranda eva-
sit.”6
Tribe 5th, Ptiniores, Lat.
This tribe, consisting of the genus Ptinus ofLinnseus, and
of some others nearly allied, possesses a body of a tolerably
firm consistence, in some cases almost ovoid or oval, and
at others nearly cylindrical, but generally short, and round¬
ed at either end. The head is nearly globular or orbicu¬
lar, and is received almost entirely into a strongly arched
or rounded thorax, resembling a hood. The antenme of
some are filiform, or diminished towards the termination,
and are simple, flabelliform, pectinated, or serrated; of
others they are terminated suddenly by three larger and
longer joints. The mandibles are short, thick, and den¬
tated beneath the point. The palpi are very short, and
terminated by a larger article, almost ovoid, or like a re¬
versed triangle. The tibiae are not dentated, and the spurs
at the extremities are very small. These insects are all
of small size, exhibit little variety in their colouring, which
is usually dark or sombre, and when touched they coun¬
terfeit death. Their motions are slow, and such as are
winged seldom take to flight. In the larva state they are
extremely destructive in museums.
In the genus Ptinus (PI. CCXXXVI. fig. 18) proper¬
ly so called, the antennae are as iong as the body, and in¬
serted between the eyes, which are somewhat protuberant.
The body is oblong. In the genus Ptilinus, Fab. (ibid
fig. 20), the antennae, inserted before the eyes, are short¬
er than the body, and are pectinated or plumose from the
1 From {txXaxos, soft.
* From Sxtrvrtii, shagginess.
s from riX/.ai, to pluck or pull out.
^ The word is applied by Aristotle to an insect which inhabits hives.
5 T rom Hugo;, carcass, and puos, life.
e Genera Crust, et Insect.
112 E N T O M
Coleoptera third joint in the males1—serrated in the females. They
Pentamera. inhabjt old wood, in which they perforate deep round
holes. In Anobium, Fab. the antennae are terminated by
three larger or longer joints, the terminal one being ovate.
The name of Byrrhus, originally bestowed upon the in¬
sects of the last-named genus by Geoffroy, was transfer¬
red by Linnaeus to a very different group. His genus
Ptimis included both Ptilinus and Anobium. Fabricius
was the institutor of the genus Anobium, so called from
ava£/ov, resuscitated,—\\-\e species being characterized, in
common with most of their congeners, by their frequent
simulation of death, and their re-assumption of activity
as soon as the threatened danger is removed. In this
instinctive mode of preservation Olivier accuses them of
exhibiting an invincible obstinacy.' “ Ils se laissent en-
tierement bruler sans donner aucun signe de vie.” The
larva? of these insects are extremely injurious to old fur¬
niture, in which they perforate numerous round holes.
Hence the genus is named vrillette by the French, from
vrille, a gimlet. In the larva state they resemble small,
white, soft worms, with six short minute feet. The head
is scaly, and is terminated by two maxillae in the form of
strong cutting pincers, with which they gnaw the wood
into the finest sawdust. When about to change into the
nympha state, they line the bottom of their little cells
with a few silken threads. Other species feed on flour,
bread, sealing-wafers, &c. where they form grooves or gal¬
leries, according to the thickness of their working mate¬
rials. The superstitious fancy of the death-watch has
arisen partly from an insect of this genus, the An. tesse-
latum. It is supposed, however, to share this mysterious
calling with the Termes pulsatorium of Linnaeus, and pro¬
bably with several others. According to Dr Shaw, it is
in the advanced state of spring that the former of these
insects commences its mysterious pulsations, which, he
asserts, is nothing more than the signal-call of the sexes.
The number of distinct strokes is generally from seven to
eleven, and these are occasioned merely by its beating
with its head with considerable force and quickness against
the plane of its position. Where the insects are numer¬
ous, as is not unfrequently the case in old houses, these
sounds may be heard during the whole day, especially in
warm weather. The sound greatly resembles a moderate
tapping on a table with the finger nail, and indeed by
that simple process they may be induced to beat in reply
when not otherwise inclined so to do. “ He that could
eradicate this error,” says the quaint Sir Thomas Brown,
in allusion to the death-tick, “ from the minds of the peo¬
ple, would save from many a cold sweat the meticulous
heads of nurses and grandmothers.”2 One of the most
common species of the genus is Anobium striatum, of a
somewhat pitchy-brown colour, the thorax obsoletely
grooved, and produced towards the base into an elevated
triangular ridge. This little timber borer, which is the A.
pertinax of habricius, has been long famous for a most
pertinaceous simulation of death. “ All that has been re¬
lated of the heroic constancy of American savages when
taken and tortured by their enemies, scarcely comes up
to that which these little creatures exhibit. You may
maim them, pull them limb from limb, roast them alive
over a slow fire,3 but you will not gain your end ; not a
joint will they move, nor show by the least symptom that
they suffer pain. Do not think, however, that I ever tried
these experiments upon them myself, or that I recom¬
mend you to do the same.”4 This species was observed
O L O G Y.
by Latreille to produce the sound called the death-tick, by Coleoptera
striking its mandibles upon wood. On this occasion it Pentamera.
was immediately answered from within by a precisely si- ~V>-'
milar sound. We took a very rare British species, A. abie-
tis, Fab. many years ago in a fir-wood near Edinburgh.
A. erythropum of Leach is also stated by Mr Stephens to
have been taken at Ravelston.
Section 3d, Xylotrogi, Lat.
This final section of the Serricornes is distinguished
from the two preceding by the freedom of the head,
which is completely exposed and separated from the tho¬
rax by a strangulation or species of neck. It is composed
entirely of the genus Lymexylon of Fab. as subdivided by
recent writers.
In Atractocerus of Palisot de Beauvois, the elytra are
extremely short, and in the form of little scales; the an¬
tennae are compressed and almost fusiform ; the thorax is
square, the abdomen depressed. This limited and very
anomalous-looking genus (it has the aspect of a Staphyli-
nus) has representatives in Guinea, Brazil, and Java. A
species is likewise known to occur in amber. In Lymex¬
ylon,5 Fab. the elytra are as long or little shorter than
the abdomen, the antennae are simple, slightly if at all
compressed, and almost moniliform. The thorax is near¬
ly cylindrical. The L. navale, Fab. (of which L.Jiavipes
of the same author is the male), is a small narrow insect
of about half an inch in length, of a pale fulvous colour ;
the head, exterior margin, and extremity of the elytra
black,—the latter colour more predominant in the males.
This species is extremely common in the oak forests of the
north of Europe, although unknown in Britain, and rare in
the vicinity of Paris. Its larva is so long and slender as
almost to resemble a Filaria. It multiplied so prodigious¬
ly some years ago in the dock-yards at Toulon, as to cause
the destruction of great quantities of timber.6
FAMILY 1Y.—CLAVICOIINES, Lat.
In this family, as in the preceding, we find four palpi,
and elytra covering the upper surface of the abdomen, or
its greater portion ; but the antennae are almost always
thicker at the extremity, which frequently forms even a
perfoliaceous or a solid club ; they are longer than the
maxillary palpi, and their base is exposed or scarcely co¬
vered. The legs are not fitted for swimming, and the
joints of the tarsi, at least of the posterior ones, are usu¬
ally entire. In the larva state they feed on animal mat¬
ter. Latreille divides the tribe into two sections.
Section 1st. Antennae always composed of eleven
joints, longer than the head, not forming from the
third articulation a fusiform or nearly cylindrical
club ; the second joint not dilated in the form of an
auricle. The terminal joints of the tarsi, as well as
its hooks, of moderate length, or small. All the ge¬
nera of this section are terrestrial. It comprises
several tribes.
Tribe 1st, Palpatores.
These, in a natural series, should be placed near the Pse-
laphii and Brachelytrous genera. Their antennae are at
least as long as the head, are slightly enlarged towards
a , The generic name is no doubt derived from a-nXov, a feather,—in reference to the form of the antenna;.
teudodoxia Epidemic*. 3 Degeer, iv. 229. “ Introd. to Ent. vol. ii. p. 235.
P rom Xvpn, destruction, and wood. * mSne Animal, t. iv. p 369.
E N T O M O L O G Y. 113
Coleopteia the extremity, or are nearly filiform ; their first two joints body is much depressed, the mentum deeply emarginate, Coleoptera
Eentamera. arg ionger t]ian those that follow. The head is distin- and the palpi formed of almost cylindrical joints. ThePentailleia-
guished from the thorax by an ovoid strangulation. The species dwell beneath the bark of trees. In Hister4
maxillary palpi project, and are long and inflated at the properly so called (PI. CCXXXVI. fig. 22), the prse-
extremity. The abdomen is large, oval or ovoid, and la- sternum projects beyond the mouth, and the palpi are
terally embraced by the elytra. The legs are elongated, composed of joints, the last excepted, rather in the form
the thighs clavate, the joints of the tarsi entire. These of a reversed cone than cylindrical.5
insects are found on the ground beneath stones and other
substances. They form a single genus, divided by some Tribe 3d, Silphales.
writers into Mastigus and ScYDMiENus. The latter fre- In these and the remaining Clavicornes the legs are
quent moist places. inserted at an equal distance from each other, and, with
In all the following Clavicornes the head is generally the exception of the eighth tribe (Byrrhii), the legs are
sunk in the thorax, and the maxillary palpi are never at not contractile, or at most the tarsi only can be bent upon
the same time advanced and club-shaped. the tibiae, the mandibles are generally salient and flat-
n tt tened or not thick, and the praesternum is more dilated
Tribe 2d, Histeroides. anteriorly.
This tribe is composed of the great genus Hister of In the Silphales we find five distinct joints in all the
Linnaeus. The four posterior legs are more widely sepa- tarsi, and the mandibles terminate in an entire point with-
rated from each other at their origin than the anterior out fissure or emargination.6 The antennae terminate in
pair. The legs are contractile, and the exterior tibiae a club which is generally perfoliated, and composed of
dentated or spinous. The antennae are always bent or four or five articulations. The internal side of the max-
elboived (geniculate), and terminated in a solid mass, or illae in some is furnished with a horny tooth. The ante-
composed of close-set articulations. The body is of a rior tarsi are frequently dilated in the males, and the ex-
very solid consistence, and the elytra so hard that even terior margin of the elytra of the greater number is mark-
the pin of the entomologist is with difficulty made to en- ed by a groove with an obvious border. This tribe is
ter, and the praesternum is often dilated in front, and the composed of the genus Silpha of Linnaeus,
elytra truncated. The mandibles are strong, and not un- In the genus Necrophorus, Fab. so named from nx^of,
frequently unequal as to size. The palpi are almost fili- a carcass, and pogsw, I carry (PI. CCXXXVI. fig. 21), the
form, or slightly enlarged at their extremity, and termi- antennae, scarcely longer than the head, terminate abrupt-
nated by an oval or ovoid article. In respect to their ha- ly in an almost globular club of four joints, the first of
bits, the dentation of their tibiae, and some other circum- which is long, and the second much shorter than the
stances, these insects seem to exhibit an approach to the third The body forms nearly a parallelepiped; the tho-
coprophagous Lamellicornes ; but both Dufour1 and rax is widest anteriorly; all the tibiae are strong, widen-
Latreille2 are of opinion that well-founded anatomical ed at the extremity, and terminated by strong spurs ; the
considerations connect them with the SilphjE. In the elytra are truncated at right angles. The maxillae are
species (//. sinuatus) dissected by the former author, the destitute of a corneous claw.
digestive canal was found to be four or five times as long This important and well-marked genus was first defined
as the body. The oesophagus is extremely short; the ob- by Fabricius. Linnaeus had placed the species of which
long enlargement which immediately succeeds it exhibits it is composed with the Silphae, while Scopoli and Geof-
throughout its parietes some brownish lines, which seem froy combined them with the genus Dermestes. The
to indicate the existence of interior appendages proper for most marked peculiarity in their manners consists in their
trituration ; and if so, such enlargement may be regarded habit of interring small animals, such as mice and moles,
as the gizzard. The chylific ventricle is very long, twist- for the purpose of depositing their eggs in their decaying
ed on itself, and beset with pointed and projecting papillae, carcass. To effect this operation, they remove the earth
The hepatic vessels have six distinct insertions around from beneath the dead body, which sinks into the hollow,
the chylific ventricle.3 and is afterwards covered with the looser soil of the ex-
These insects feed on putrid and stercoraceous sub- cavation. Their sense of smell, like that of many other
stances, decaying vegetables, &c. and some dwell beneath insects, is extremely delicate, and no sooner has any of
the bark of trees. Their movements are slow, their co- the smaller quadrupeds perished, than one or more of
lour blackish, frequently with a tinge of bronze. Such these grave-diggers make their appearance, and in a few
of the larvae as are known to naturalists affect the same hours the corpse is interred. The larvae are of a length-
food as the perfect insect. Their form, however, is dif- ened form, of a greyish-white colour, with a brown head,
ferent, being almost linear, depressed, smooth, soft, and Their bodies are composed of twelve rings, furnished on
of a yellowish white, with the exception of the head and their anterior and superior portion with a small scaly plate
first segment, of which the skin is scaly and of a brown or or shield, of a ferruginous brown colour ; the shields
reddish colour. These larvae have six short legs, and are of the last segments are provided with small elevated
terminated by a pair of articulated appendages, and an points. The head is hard, scaly, and furnished with strong
anal prolongation or tube. The scaly shield of the first cutting mandibles. The feet are six in number, very
segment is longitudinally channelled. short, and attached to the first three segments of the body.
In some the tibiae, at least the anterior ones, are trian- When these larvae have attained to their final term of in-
gular and dentated, and the antennae always free and ex- crease, they descend, it is said, fully a foot beneath the
posed, the body square, and slightly if at all inflated, surface, and, forming an oval chamber, the walls of which
Such is the genus Holepta of Paykul, in which the are strengthened by a coating of a gluey liquid, they as-
1 Annates dts Sciences Nat. Octob. 1824. 11 Regne Animal, t. iv. p. 491.
3 Ibid. Juil. 1825.
The generic name is supposed to be derived from Histrio, a word of Tuscan or Etruscan root, signifying an actor, and was pro¬
bably bestowed in consequence of their instinctive propensity to simulate death when handled.
‘ For the further divisions of this tribe, see Paykul’s Monographia Histeroideum; and Leach’s Zoological Miscellany, vol. iii.
* In SphceriUs, dentations are sometimes found on the internal side.
YOL. IX.
P
114 E N T O M
Coleoptera sume the nympha state. The perfect insect makes its
Pentamera. appearance in the course of three or four weeks. There
v—are seven species of this genus in Britain. Dejean pos¬
sesses twenty-five. They are all of considerable size, and
are chiefly from Europe and North America. We have
received a specimen from Persia.1 JY. vestigator is black,
the club of the antennae, external margin of the elytra,
and two transverse bands, orange yellow. N. humator,
the most common species in Scotland, is a shining black,
with the club of the antennae ferruginous. Neither N.
mortuorum nor N. vespillo (the species here figured) are
very common in Scotland.
In Necrodes2 of Wilkin (PI. CCXXXVI. fig. 23) the
antennae are obviously longer than tbe head, and termi¬
nated by an elongated club of five joints, the second of
which is larger than the third. Their body is oblong oval,
the thorax almost orbicular, widest in the middle. The
tibiae are narrow, elongated, slightly enlarged at the end,
and terminated by two ordinary spurs, ihe elytra are
obliquely truncated. We have probably not more than
one species in Britain, N. littoralis (the species figured),
which is black, depressed, and oblong, with the thin ter¬
minal joints of the antennae orange. It occurs on the sea¬
shore and the banks of rivers, beneath sea-weed, carrion,
&c. and is found on the continent of Europe, along with
N. simplicipes. The others occur in North and South Ame¬
rica, New Holland, and Java.
In the genus Silpha3 the body is almost shield-shap¬
ed and depressed, or but slightly elevated. The thorax
is semicircular, truncated, or very obtuse before ; the ex¬
terior margin of the elytra strongly recurved and gutter¬
ed ; the palpi filiform, with the last article almost cylin¬
drical, and in many terminated by a point. Most of these
insects feed on carrion, and thus contribute to the more
speedy disappearance of putrid effluvia. Some climb upon
plants, particularly the stems of wheat and other grain,
where they find small Helices, on which they prey. Others
dwell on trees, and feed on caterpillars.
The genus was originally of great extent, but has been
much modified and circumscribed by Fabricius, Dejean,
Latreille, Leach, and others. The species which it now
contains resemble their congeners in being of an essen¬
tially carnivorous nature—preferring animal substances
in a state of putrescence to fresher food. They exhale
a disagreeable odour, and, when seized, a thick and dark
coloured liquid exudes from their bodies. The larvae re¬
semble tbe perfect insects in their habits. They consist
of twelve segments, of which the sides are terminated by
sharp angles, the terminal segment being furnished with
two conical appendages; the head is small, and bears a
pair of tri-articulate filiform antennae, and two strong
maxillae. Like the preceding genus, they undergo their
metamorphoses under ground. The species are pretty
extensively distributed over the earth, and are rather
numerous. Dejean enumerates thirty-four species in his
Catalogue, which, however, includes under the generic
name of Silpha the genera Oiceoptoma and Phosphuga of
Dr Leach. Of the restricted genus we have not more
than eight British species. Most of these are deep black
or dark brown. One of the most ornamental is S. quadri-
punctata (PI. CCXXXVI. fig. 24), of which the margins
of the thorax and the elytra are pale-yellow, the latter
with two round black spots on each. We took this rare
O L O G Y.
Scottish insect some years ago near Currie, in the vicinity Coleoptera
of Edinburgh. It has since been brought to us from Loch Tentamera-
Tay by Dr Greville. It is more frequent in England,
where it frequents oak woods for the purpose of preying
on lepidopterous larvae.
Tribe 4th, Scaphidites.
In these the mandibles are cleft or bidentated at the ex¬
tremity. The tarsi are composed of five very distinct and
entire joints. The body is oval, narrowed at either end,
arcuated or convex above, and thick in the middle. The
head is low, and received posteriorly into a trapezoidal
thorax, slightly bordered, broadest behind. The antennae
are generally as long at least as the head and thorax, and
are terminated by an elongated mass of five articles. The
terminal joint of tbe palpi is conical. The legs are slender
and elongated. With the exception of the Cholevce, the
tarsi are nearly the same in both sexes.
In this tribe we place the genera ScAPHiDiuM4of01ivier,
and Choleva of Spence ;5 of the former, S. maculatum is
the only British species,—the rest inhabiting North and
South America, and some of the continental countries of
Europe. Of the latter, Mr Spence has described eighteen
British species, arranged in three sections, of which some
of the constituent parts are referable to the genus Ptomo-
phagus® of Illiger and Knock, to Luperus1 of Frcelich, and
Catops of Fabricius and Paykul. Only two or three of
Mr Spence’s species belong to the genus Choleva in its
present restricted form.
Tribe 5th, Nitidulari^:.
The Nitidulariae approach the Silphales in their scuti-
form and bordered body, but the mandibles are bifid or
notched at their extremity ; the tarsi seem to consist of
only four joints, the first and last, in some, being only vi¬
sible beneath, where they form but a slight projection,—
in others the penultimate is extremely small, in the form
of a knot, inclosed within the lobes of the preceding. The
club of the antennae is always perfoliate, of three or two
joints, and is usually short or but slightly elongated. The
palpi are short and filiform, or somewhat thickest at the
extremity. The elytra in several are short or truncated.
The legs are but slightly elongated, and their tibiae fre¬
quently widened at the end; the tarsi are furnished with
hairs or pellets. These insects are of various habits, ac¬
cording to the species. They occur on flowers, in mush¬
rooms, beneath the bark of trees, and even on putrid meat.
This tribe is composed of the genus Nitidula, as sub¬
divided into Colobicus, Thymalus, Ips, Nitidula (pro¬
per) (PI. CCXXXVI. fig. 25), Cercus, and Byturus.
In the restricted genus Nitidula,8 the antenna^ are short,
abruptly clavate, the radical joint large, thick, and some¬
what orbicular, the third above one half longer than the
fourth, the three last forming a club. Nearly thirty spe¬
cies occur in Britain. Many others are found in Europe
and America.
Tribe 6th, Engidites.
These resemble tbe preceding in the emargination of
the extremity of the mandibles, which however project
but slightly, and that laterally, beyond the labrum. Their
body is oval or elliptical, with the anterior extremity of
the head a little advanced in an obtuse or truncated point.
1 For notices of their anatomical structure, see Dufour, in Ann. des Sciences Nat. for October 1824 and July 1825.
* Probably from cadaverous.
3 The word Silpha, derived from a Hebrew root, occurs in Aristotle, and appears to have been sometimes used by that author to
signify a cockroach. 6 From errata, a carcass, and tfayu, I eat.
* From 1x.a.<pn, a boat, and mu, form. 7 From 7mvripj;, troublesome.
* Linn- Trans, voh xi. 8 From nitidus, shining, or bright.
E N T O M
<Coleoptera The tarsi consist of five distinct joints, entire, and at most
Pentamera. only slightly pilose beneath, the penultimate being some-
what shorter than the preceding joint. The antennae ter¬
minate in a perfoliate club of three articulations. The elytra
completely cover the abdomen, and the palpi are somewhat
thickened at the extremity. Some very minute species
live in the interior of houses, and are frequently found on
window-sashes. They constitute the genus Dacne, divi¬
sible into, ls£, Dacne proper (Engis, Fab. Erotylus, Oliv.),
in which the antennae terminate abruptly in a rather large,
orbicular, or ovoid and compressed club, composed of crowd¬
ed articulations, of which the central one at least is much
wider than long, and the third longer than that which pre¬
cedes and follows; the centre of the posterior margin of
the thorax is dilated behind or lobed, and the upper
extremity of the mentum is advanced, and terminated
in a truncated or bidentated point: 2c?, Cryptophagus}
Herbst, Lat. (Dermestes, Linn. Ips, Oliv. Antherophagus,
Knock), in which the antennae are moniliform, with the
second article as large or larger than the preceding,
and terminate in a less abrupt and narrow club than in
Dacne, and with intervals between its segments. This is
a pretty extensive genus, occurring in various parts of the
world, but chiefly in European countries. We have four¬
teen species in Britain.
In Latreille’s arrangement (Regne Animal, t. iv. p. 508)
we now come to certain tribes in which the praesternum
is frequently dilated anteriorly in the manner of a chin-
cloth \mento7iniere), and which differ from the preceding
in their legs being more or less contractile. The tarsi
may be free, but the tibiae, at least, are folded upon the
thighs. The mandibles are short, usually thick, and den-
tated. The body is ovoid, thick, and furnished with de¬
ciduous scales or hairs of various colours. The antennae
are generally straight, and shorter than the head and tho¬
rax. The head is sunk into the thorax as far as the eyes.
The thorax itself is but slightly if at all bordered ; it is
trapezoidal, and wider posteriorly, the middle of the pos¬
terior margin being frequently somewhat prolonged or
lobate. The larvae are pilose, and dwell for the greater
part on the skins or carcasses of animals. They are hurt¬
ful in museums. Those in which the legs are not com¬
pletely retractile, the tarsi being always free, and the tibiae
lengthened and narrow, form
Tribe 7th, Dermestini.
In Dermestes proper (so called from skin, and
tsdscti, to eat or consume) the antennae are shorter than the
thorax, the radical joint large and ovate, the seven follow¬
ing short and slender, the remaining three forming an
ovate compressed club, of which the two lower joints are
somewhat dilated in the inner side, the terminal being
smaller and rounded. They are not received in a parti¬
cular groove beneath the thorax. D. lardarius (Plate
CCXXXVT fig. 27) is black, pubescent, the elytra with a
broad cinereous band across the base, in which are three
brownish or black spots. In Attagenus the club of the
antennae is proportionlly very large, almost serrated, and
composed of three articles, of which the first and last, es¬
pecially in the males, are the largest. The body is ovoid,
short, slightly convex. The terminal article of the max¬
illary palpi is large and ovoid. In Anthrenus1 2 the club
of the antennae is more solid than perfoliate, and is in the
form of a reversed cone, and lodged in a short cavity, hol¬
lowed beneath the anterior angles of the thorax. In the
larva state these insects live on dried animal matters, par-
O L O G Y. 115
ticularly on the contents of entomological cabinets. In Coleoplera
that condition they are oval, and furnished with hairs, some Pentamera.
ot which are dentated ; they form aigrettes or tufts, of
which the hinder are prolonged in the form of a tail. In
the perfect state they are found among flowers. Other
genera, such as Limnichus of Ziegler, Trogoderma and
Globicornis, Lat., pertain to this tribe.
Tribe 8th, Byrrhii.
This tribe is composed principally of the genus Byrrhus
of Linn., and differs from the preceding in its feet being
entirely contractile, the tibiae being susceptible of being
bent upon the thighs, and the tarsi upon the tibiae, so that
the species, when their limbs are thus contracted, appear
inanimate and without legs. The latter are usually broad
and compressed. The body is short and convex.
In Nosodendron, Lat. (of which we have one British
example, N. fasciculare), the mentum is entirely exposed,
large, and buckler-shaped. In Byrrhus proper the men¬
tum is of ordinary dimensions, and as it were interlocked,
at least partially, by the prsesternum, of which the ante¬
rior portion is dilated. The larvae of these insects have
been studied by M. Wadouer. Their heads are large,
their bodies narrow and elongated, with the two terminal
segments more extended than the others ; the first, or that
of the prothorax, presents superiorly a large corneous plate.
Tl<e genus was confounded by Degeer with Dermestes, and
with Cistela by Geoffroy. The species occur in fields,
woods, and sandy places. They are not unfrequent by the
side of highways, and although they can fly with facility
when they choose, they rarely exercise that faculty.
When handled or even approached, they apply their legs
and antennae so close to the body as to exhibit the ap¬
pearance of a little ball, and in that state they simulate
death with great perseverance. Of eight or nine species
found in Britain, we shall here name only B. ceneus, an in¬
teresting species, lately added to the British Fauna by the
Rev. James Duncan. It is oblong-ovate, brassy green
above, scutellum whitish, the elytra irregularly punctur¬
ed, and without striae. It was found in an open part of
a wood near Newbattle House in Mid-Lothian. It has
since occurred under stones on Musselburgh Links, has
been taken in Dumfriesshire, and was met with by Dr
Greville in considerable numbers near the ferry of Kyle-
stroem in Sutherland. There are thirty-three species in
Dejean’s collection.
Section 2d. The Clavicornes of this section, al¬
though forming a good natural group, can only be
characterized by the assemblage of several features.
Some which are nearest to the Palpicornes have
antennae of only nine or even six joints. Others have
ten or eleven joints to these organs, which are some¬
times scarcely longer than the head, and from the
third joint form an almost cylindrical or fusiform
club, arcuated and somewhat serrated ; sometimes
nearly filiform, and as long as the head and thorax.
In this case, as well as among most of the other ge¬
nera of the same division, the tarsi are terminated
by a large joint, with two strong hooks at the end.
In certain genera, such as Heterocerus and Georyssus,
these parts consist of only four articulations. The
form of the body in this section is generally ovoid,
with the head sunk up to the eyes in a trapezoidal
thorax laterally bordered, and terminated posteriorly
by acute angles. The praesternum is dilated poste-
1 From h^vxtos, hidden, and <pa.yos, eating.
* Aufyivv is the ancient name of an insect which dwelt among flowers,—a kind of bee.
116 E N T O M
Coleoptera riorly (the Potamophili excepted), and the legs are
Pentamera. imperfectly contractile. They usually occur in wa-
ter) beneath stones by river sides, or in mud. They
form two tribes.
Tribe 1st, Acanthopoda.1
Remarkable for their broadish flattened legs, armed ex¬
teriorly with spines. The tarsi are short, of four articula¬
tions,2 the hooks of ordinary size. The body is depressed,
and the praesternum dilated. The antennae are rather
longer than the head, arcuated, and composed of eleven
joints, of which the last six constitute an almost cylindri¬
cal and slightly serrated club, the second being short and
not dilated. This tribe is composed of the single genus
Heterocerus3 of Bose (PI. CCXXXVI. fig. 26).
Tribe 2d, Macrodactyea.4
Here are included such of the Clavicornes as have sim¬
ple narrow tibiae and lengthened tarsi, all composed, except
in Georyssus, of five articulations, the last of which is large,
with strong terminal hooks. The body is thick or convex,
—the thorax less rounded, and usually terminated on both
sides by acute angles.
The type of this tribe is formed by the genus Dryops
of Olivier—Parnus, Fab. We here place the genus El-
mis,5 of which the species, pretty frequent in Britain, oc¬
cur in water, beneath stones, or on the leaves of water-
lilies. In Parnus proper {Dryops, Lat. Oliv.) the anten¬
nae, shorter than the head, are lodged in a small cavity
beneath the eyes, the second joint being compressed and
much produced,—concave for the reception of the remain¬
ing joints, which form a serrated mass attached by a small
peduncle near the base. P. prolificornis is oblong, olive
brown, villose, with the elytra thickly punctured, and
obscurely striated towards the sides and apex. It occurs
in moist places by the sides of ponds and marshes, not
unfrequent during spring. Here are also placed the ge¬
nera Potamophilus of Germar, Macronychus of Muller, and
Georyssus of Latreille.
FAMILY V—PALPICORNES.
In this family, as in the preceding, the antennae are ter¬
minated by a kind of club, usually perfoliate, but composed
at most of only nine articulations, and inserted beneath the
advanced and lateral margins of the head, and scarcely
longer than it and the maxillary palpi,—frequently even
shorter than these last-named organs. The mentum is
large and buckler-shaped. The body in this family is
generally ovoid or hemispherical, and arched or convex.
The feet in most of the genera are formed for swimming,
and these present either four articulations to the tarsi, or
five, of which the first is much shorter than the second:
the whole are entire.
Tribe 1st, Hydrophilii.
Feet fit for swimming. First article of the tarsi much
shorter than the others. Maxillae entirely corneous. Of
this tribe (genus Hydrophilus of Geoffroy) Linnaeus form¬
ed only a division of his genus Dytiscus. Their anatomi¬
cal structure however differs in many important particulars
from that of the true Dytisci. The digestive canal, which
is four or five times as long as the body, presents a strong
o L o G Y.
analogy, both in its length and texture, to that of the La- Coleoptera
mellicornes, and differs from that of the Carnivora except Bentamera,
as regards the biliary vessels. We perceive neither the '-nr*-'
swimming bladder nor the excrementitial apparatus, such
as these exist among the Hydrocanthari. In the females
only, the latter is replaced by secreting organs fitted for
the formation of a cocoon to contain the eggs. The sex¬
ual organs of the male bear a great resemblance to those
of the preceding family. These and other considerations
have induced M. Latreille to place them here. The spe¬
cies are more convex in their general forms than the Dy~
tiscidae, and their antennae are dissimilar; but in many of
their instincts and habits of life, and in their general trans¬
formations, they bear a resemblance to that group. The
largest water insect of Great Britain {Hydrophiluspiceus),
which we have failed as yet to discover in Scotland, be¬
longs to this division. Many species are also extremely
minute.
In the genus Helophorus of Leach (from sXos, a marsh,
and yjop£<w, I penetrate') the antennas are shorter than the
head, the first joint is the longest, robust, and slightly
curved, the second shorter than the first, the three following
minute, the last four forming the club. H. aquaticus (Plate
CCXXXVI. fig. 29) abounds in almost every pond. It is
almost always found covered with mud, in such an ingeni¬
ous manner that, when feeding in its little pool, it is wdth
difficulty distinguished from the subjacent soil, either by
its natural enemies, or the no less dangerous eye of the
practical entomologist. H. granularis is more frequently
found upon the wing in situations remote from water. In
Hydrochus of Germar (from iidui>, water, and o/xt«, to in¬
habit) the general form is narrower and more elongated,
the thorax like a lengthened square, and the eyes promi¬
nent. H. brevis, a rather scarce species, occurs in the
Edinburgh district in ditches near Craigcrook, and in the
Braid marshes. As allied to the preceding genera we may
here name Enicocerus of Stephens (so called from ev/xos,
singular, and xsgag, horn). The antennae are as long as
the head, the basal joint long, curved, slightly geniculate
at the base, the second ovate-truncate, three or four fol¬
lowing very minute and obscure, the last five of nearly
equal thickness, penultimate cup-shaped, terminal orbi¬
cular. E. viridiceneus, of a brassy green, thorax with an
oblique groove near each of the hinder angles, and two
foveae in front, the legs piceous. Although a newly de¬
scribed insect, it does not seem at all scarce in Scotland,
where it occurs beneath small stones by the margins of
water, or imbedded among mud and confervae. In the
genus SPERCHiEus, Fab. the antennae have only six joints,
and the clypeus is emarginate. In Hydrophilus,6 pro¬
perly so called, of Leach, the tarsi are identical in both
sexes and not dilated, the pectoral spine terminates
with the praesternum, and the scutellum is proportion¬
ally small. H. caraboides is the only British species.
The genus Hydrous of the last-named author7 {Hydro¬
philus, Lat.) is characterized by the great extension back¬
wards of the sharp-pointed sternal spine, and by the tri¬
angular-shaped dilatation of the last article of the two an¬
terior tarsi of the males. The scutellum is large. H. pi¬
ceus (PI. CCXXXVI. fig. 28), the only British species, is
one of the largest of the European Coleoptera. It mea¬
sures above an inch and a half in length, is of an oval
form, a blackish-brown colour, with a polished or shining
surface. The club of the antennas is partly reddish. A
1 From a thorn or spine, and -roZf, foot.
* According to the accurate Gyllenhal, there are actually five, the first being small and oblique. (Inseeta Suecica, t. i. p. 138.)
* From sVsg«f, different, and kip a.;, horn.
* From fluxes, long, and laxrv\os, finger. * From udap, water, and tpiXcs, a lover.
* The name is applied by Galen to a species of intestinal worm. f Zoological Miscellany, vol. iii. p. 94.
E N T O M
Coleoptera few slight striae are visible on the elytra, of which the pos-
Pentamera. (.erjor extremjty jg rounc}e(J posteriorly, and prolonged to
'**~Y^*^ a small tooth at the inner angle. This fine insect flies
well and swims swiftly, but is inefficient as a pedestrian.
When held loosely in the hand it sometimes inflicts a
wound with the point of the sternum. The female con¬
structs an ovoid cocoon, arcuated, and of a brown colour.
Its exterior tissue is composed of a gummy paste, at first
somewhat fluid, which soon hardening, becomes impene¬
trable by water. The eggs which it envelopes are sym¬
metrically disposed, and kept in their position by a sort
of whitish down. These cocoons float in the water.1 The
larva is depressed, blackish, and rugose ; the head reddish
brown, smooth, round, and capable of being drawn back¬
wards. This peculiar faculty gives it the power of seiz¬
ing whatever small shells or other living prey it may per¬
ceive floating on the surface. Its back serves it as a kind
of table, on which it bruises its prey. The bodies of these
predaceous larvae become very flaccid as soon as they are
caught. They swim with facility, and are provided be¬
neath the anus with two fleshy appendages, which serve
to maintain them at the surface of the water when they
ascend to breathe.2 They are called on the continent
vers-assassins, on account of their greedy and ferocious na¬
ture. They become more herbivorous in the perfect state.
In Limnebius of Leach (from Xifj-vy], a marsh, and /3/oc,
life}, the antennae are short, slender, the club six-jointed ;
the maxillary palpi longer than the antennae, with the ter¬
minal article shorter than the preceding, and cylindrical.
In this tribe are likewise included the genera Hydrobius
and Berosus.
Tribe 2d, SphjErodiota.
These Palpicornes differ from the preceding in being
terrestrial. Their tarsi consist of five distinct articula¬
tions, of which the first is at least as long as the follow¬
ing. The maxillary palpi are shorter than the antennae,
with the third joint larger, inflated, and in the form of a
reversed cone. The maxillary lobes are membranous.
The body in this tribe is almost hemispherical, with the
praesternum prolonged to a posterior point, and the tibiae
spinous, the anterior being palmated or digitated in the
larger species. The antennae are always composed of nine
articles, or simply of eight, if we regard the terminal one
as an appendage of the preceding. The genera are Cer-
cyon of Leach, and Sph^eridium3 of Fabricius (Plate
CCXXXVI. fig. 30). The former is abundant in Britain,
where we find about sixty species, many of which occur
in Scotland.4 Few are as yet ascertained to inhabit extra-
European countries, although one or two occur in 'North
and South America. All the species of this tribe are of
small size. They usually occur in cow-dung, and excre-
mentitious matter. Some are found on the margins of
water.
FAMILY VI—LAMELLICORNES.*
This is the last family of the pentamerous Coleoptera,
and one of the most remarkable of the order,—whether we
consider the great size of many species, the singularly va¬
ried forms of their head and thorax, or the richness of the
metallic colouring with which the vegetable-eating kinds
are frequently adorned.
O LOGY. xi7
The antennae, inserted in a deep groove beneath the la-Coleoptera
teral margin of the head, are always short, and composed Pentamera.
generally of nine or ten articulations ; they are always ter-
minated in a club or mass, which usually consists of three
joints, expanded in the form of thinnish plates or leaves,
disposed in various ways,—like the spokes of a fan, the
leaves of a book, the teeth of a comb, or a series of fun¬
nels placed above and within each other. The body is
generally ovoid or oval, and thick. The exterior edge of
the two anterior tibiae are toothed, and the articles of the
tarsi, with the exception of certain males, are entire, and
without brush or pellet beneath. The anterior extremity
of the head is advanced and dilated in the form of a cly-
peus or epistoma. The mentum is usually large, cover¬
ing the ligula, or incorporated with it, and bearing the
palpi. The mandibles of many are membranous, a cha¬
racter scarcely if at all to be observed in any other Cole¬
optera. The males are frequently very different from the
females, being distinguished by horn-like elevations on
the head and thorax, and by the greater size of the man¬
dibles. Linnaeus indeed founded the sections of his great
genus Scarabaeus in accordance with these peculiar pro¬
jections, while Scopoli assumed the spines or teeth of
the fore-legs as the distinguishing characteristic of his
subdivisions. The latter author likewise proposed two
other methods, one of which regards the number of arti¬
culations in the clava of the antennae, and the other takes
into consideration the varying manners of the insects
themselves. The former of these is extremely defective,
the second is chiefly deserving of consideration as exhi¬
biting the first attempt ever made towards a natural ar¬
rangement of these insects. They are divided into An-
thophylli, Phyllophagi, and Stercorei.
Degeer was the first to avail himself of the improve¬
ments indicated by Scopoli, while at the same time he
avoided his principal imperfections. He arranged the
Scarabaei into three families, as follows: 1st, Scarabees
de terre; 2d, Scarabees des arbres; 3d, Scarabees des
jleurs. Oryctes and Trox were no longer regarded as
phyllophagous insects.
Geoffroy separated from Scarabaeus of Linnaeus the ex-
scutellated species under the name of Copris, and Scopo-
li’s genus Lucanus under the name of Platycerus. The
institution of the genus Copris was certainly an improve¬
ment, although it was founded on such defective charac¬
ters, that coprophagous insects, such as the family Geo-
trupini of Latreille, were included in the same genus
with Cetonia, from which they might have been perceiv¬
ed to be distinct so soon as the necessity was admitted
of carrying the investigation among the Lamellicornes
somewhat beyond that first affinity—the form of the an¬
tennae.
At a still later period Fabricius further improved upon
the heterogeneous composition of Geoffrey’s genus Scara¬
baeus, by taking from it the genera Trox, Melolontha, Ce¬
tonia, and Trichius. But the re-union of Geoffrey’s genus
Copris with Scarabaeus was a retrograde step which the
entomologist of Keil afterwards corrected in a supple¬
mentary work. The connection, however, between the
insects afterwards named Geotrupes by Latreille and the
genus Copris of Geoffroy, was so far re-established by the
formation of the Fabrician genus Scarabaeus.
Olivier adopted the genus Scarabaeus of Fabricius, with
all his other genera except Trichius, and divided it into
1 For a detailed and accurate account of the structure and transformations of this insect, see a posthumous work of the celebrated
Lyonnet, lately published under the title of Recherches sur l'Anatomic et les Metamorphoses de differentes especes d'Insectes.
2 Annates du Museum d'Hist. Nat. t. xiv. p. 441. 3 From globe-shaped.
* See Ent. Ed. p. 139.
1 From lamella, a little plate, and cornu, a horn, in allusion to the structure of the club of the antennae.
118 E N T G M
Coleoptera the following sections : ls£, Those furnished with man-
Pentamera. dibles, but unprovided with a labium ; 2d, those furnish-
ed with mandibles and a labium ; 3J, those which have
neither mandibles nor labium. The three groups just
mentioned are characterized by Mr Macleay as strictly
natural.1
This important family, in the system of Latreille, seems
to include all those insects classed by Linnaeus in the old
genera ScarabcBus and Lucanus. The lamellicorn tribes,
indeed, include a very numerous assemblage, many of
which, especially such as feed on flowers and living ve¬
getation (called Thalerophaga by Macleay), are remark¬
able alike for beauty of form and splendour of colour.
Most of those, however, which feed on decomposed vege¬
tables, or excrementitious substances, are usually of a
more uniform black or brownish hue. But even the co-
prophagous kinds sometimes surprise us by their beauty,
and present a singular contrast when disentangled from
their repulsive habitations. They are all winged insects,
although for the most part rather dull and heavy in their
movements.
The larvae are long, semi-cylindrical, soft, of a whitish
colour, and divided into twelve rings or segments. The
head, of a harder consistence, is armed with strong man¬
dibles. The feet are six in number, and squamous or of
a scaly texture. On each side of the body there are nine
stigmatic openings. The posterior extremity is the most
bulky; it is rounded and almost always curved inwards,
in such a manner as to prevent the larva from extending
itself in a straight line. Its motions are consequently slow
and awkward, and when crawling on the surface it fre¬
quently rolls over or falls on one side. The nympha or
intermediate state is in some instances not assumed till
after the lapse of several years. Immediately preceding
the assumption of that state the larva protects itself by
means of a cocoon of an oval form, composed of earth and
the gnawed fragments of other materials, agglutinated by
a viscous secretion which exudes from its body. These
larvae seek their food in the dung of cattle, in tan pits, in
gardens where rich vegetable mould occurs, and among
the roots of plants. In regard to their interior struc¬
ture, it has been observed that, the nervous system, when
studied in the different stages of life, presents a consider¬
able dissimilarity. The ganglions are less numerous,
and approximate more to each other, when the insect has
reached the term of its final transformation; and the two
posterior ganglia throw out numerous filaments disposed
in a somewhat radiated form. In the larva the trachea
is elastic, but simply tubular in the perfect insect. The
structure of the eye in most of the lamellicorn beetles
exhibits characters analogous to those of the Tenebrio-
nites, the Blattae, and other lucifugous or light-shunning
species.
The alimentary canal is of great length, especially
among the coprophagous kinds ; and the chylific ventri¬
cle is beset with papillae, which, according to the investi¬
gations of M. Dufour, serve as the receptacles of the ali¬
mentary fluids. The biliary vessels resemble those of
the carnivorous Coleoptera in number and position, but
they differ in being of greater length and much more
slender. Latreille divides this important family into two
tribes.
O L O G Y,
Tribe 1st, Scarabjeides.2 Coleoptera
Pentamera.
These correspond to the unrestricted genus Scarabceus
of Linn. Their antennae are terminated by a foliaceous
club, generally capable of being alternately closed or ex¬
panded ; or are composed of joints that fit into each other,
either in the form of a reversed cone, or nearly globular.
The mandibles are of identical form, or nearly so, in both
sexes; but the head and thorax of the males frequently
exhibit projections or peculiar forms. The antennae in
the latter sex are frequently more fully developed than in
the females. The alimentary tube in these insects is ge¬
nerally much longer than that of the following tribe, and
the oesophagus is proportionally shorter. But it is chiefly
by the genital system of the males that the Scarabaeides
are distinguished, not only from the tribe with which they
are conjoined, but from all other pentamerous Coleoptera.
The larvae have a cylindrical stomach surrounded by three
ranges of small caeca, the small intestine very short, the
colon extremely thick and turgid, and the rectum of mo¬
derate size. A prodigious accession of fine typical forms
has been received of late years by this division of Ento¬
mology, far beyond what we are able to indicate in this
work.3 We shall, however, notice the most important
and remarkable genera, and illustrate many of these by
means of the plates connected with this department of the
Encyclopaedia.
The following sections are established on the conside¬
ration of the masticating organs, the antennae, and the
habits, and have been confirmed by the anatomical re¬
searches of M. Dufour.
Section 1st, Coprophagi.4
In some of these the antennae are formed of nine, in
others of only eight articulations ; the three terminal ones
forming the club. The labrum and mandibles are mem¬
branous and concealed. The terminal lobe of the max¬
illae is also of the same consistence, broad and arcuated at
the upper margin, and curved inwards. The terminal ar¬
ticle of the maxillary palpi is always the largest of all,
nearly oval or almost cylindrical ; but that of the labial
palpi is almost always more slender than the preceding,
or very small. Behind each of these latter palpi is a
membranous projection, in the form of a ligula. The
mentum is emarginate. The sternum presents no parti¬
cular projections, and the hooks of the tarsi are always
simple. The anterior tarsi are frequently wanting in cer¬
tain species, either naturally or because they are decidu¬
ous. The extent of the alimentary canal is always very
great, occasionally (as in Copris luvaris) even ten or
twelve times the length of the body. The chylific ventri¬
cle occupies the greater portion; it is beset with papillae,
conoid or in the form of nails, folded on itself, and main¬
tained in that state of agglomeration by numerous tracheal
bridles. The intestine is filiform, but terminates in an
enlargement. “ Les testicules des coprophages disseques
par M. Dufour, lui ont paru composes de six capsules
spermatiques, orbiculaires, un pen deprimees ordinaire-
ment reunies, par des trachees, en un paquet, portees cha-
cune sur un pedicule tubuleux, assez long, et qui aboutit
a un canal deferent de peu de longueur. II n’y a qu’une
1 Hor. Eut. p. 17.
1 he Scarabasida;. as restricted by Macleay, are chiefly tropical forms, that is, the species in the warmer regions of the earth are
to those from beyond the tropics nearly as five to one. Out of 450 species and upwards, in the collection of Mr Macleay senior,
only nine are natives of England, and of these eight are Onthophagi.
Comte Dejean informs us that his collection now contains 2000 species of LamcUicornes, among which he has found himself under
tiiG necessity ot establishing JO new genera.
4 From Kocrgo;, dung, and eating.
ENTOMOLOGY. 119
Coleoptera paire de vesicules seminales ; elles sont filiformes, tres (ibid. fig. 1), and, instead of being black like the former, Coleoptera
' longues et fort repliees.”1 Our present section corresponds is green with a golden hue. The occiput also, instead ofPentamera-
to the third division of the genus Scarabaeus of Olivier being bi-tuberculated, exhibits only a slight elongated
(Copris), with the addition of some other Scarabtei (Apfio- eminence, which is smooth and shining.
dii) of that author. In Gymnopleurus of Illiger, the exterior sides of the
* _ elytra are strongly emarginate near the base. The four
In some the intermediate pair of legs are much more posterior tibiae are in general simply ciliated, or furnished
remote from each other at the base than the rest; the with small spines, and the last article of the tarsi is as long,
labial palpi are hairy, with the terminal articulation if not longer, than all the preceding ones taken together,
much smaller than the others, or even indistinct; the The first article of the labial palpi is dilated internally and
scutellum is either null or extremely small. almost triangular. There is a fossula on each side of the
Coprophagi of this division, peculiar to the eastern con- thorax.5
tinent, with a rounded body, usually depressed above, or Other Coprophagi, nearly allied to the preceding, and
but slightly convex, similar or differing little in the sexes, likewise placed by Fabricius among the Ateuchi, are dis¬
and without horns ; the antennae of nine joints, terminated tinguished by the intermediate tibiae, the extremities of
by a foliated club; without either scutellum or a sutural which, as well as of the two hinder ones, are frequently
hiatus indicating its place ; the four posterior tibiae, usual- clubbed or dilated, and present two spurs or spines. The
ly furnished, as well as the tarsi, with ciliated or hairy epistoma in many has only four or two teeth. The first
fringes, and slender, elongated, not dilated at the extre- article of the labial palpi is always larger than the follow-
mity, or but slightly so, truncated obliquely, and termi- ing, and dilated on the internal side. The third and last
nated by a single strong-pointed spur; with the epistoma article is distinct. We shall here name only the genus
more or less dentated ;—these form the genus Ateuchus2 Sisyphus, which differs from the others in having only
of Weber and Fabricius. (PI. CCXXXVII. figs. 1 and 2.) eight joints in the antennae. The form of the abdomen is
The above genus, however, has been since restricted to triangular, and the intermediate and hind legs are long
such species as have the exterior margin of the elytra and narrow, with the thighs clubbed,
straight or unemarginated, and without a sinus, near the In all the ensuing Coprophagi the intermediate and
base, leaving exposed the corresponding portion of the hind tibiae are always dilated at their extremity, and al-
upper margin of the abdomen. The tibiae and tarsi of the most in the form of a lengthened triangle ; the interme-
last four legs are furnished with long hairs; the first four diate pair terminate, like those of the preceding, in two
articles of the tarsi are generally longer than the others, strong spines; but the head or thorax, or both these parts,
The first joint of the labial palpi is almost cylindrical, or of the males, are distinguished by horns or marked pro¬
in the form of a reversed cone. The epistoma is gene- jections. In several the last three articulations of the
rally divided into three lobes or festoons, and its contour antennae are semi-cupular, and concentrically fitted into
presents six teeth. The Ateuchi form the genus Scara- each other. These insects are referable to the genera
bceus of Macleay.3 These insects deposit their ova in Onitis and Copris of Fabricius.
dung, which they form into balls, and roll along with their The genus Onthophagus,6 Lat. (ibid. fig. 3) (which,
hind legs till they find a hole adapted to receive them, or in common with Oniticellus of Dejean, has the third
a softish soil in which they may be buried. Two species joint of the labial palpi small or indistinct, and the pre-
were worshipped by the ancient Egyptians, and form a ceding larger than the first), exhibits a short body with a
noted and conspicuous feature in the hieroglyphical system thickish thorax, broader than long, and semi-orbicular or
of that mysterious nation. We still find them sculptured nearly orbicular, but strongly emarginate or truncated in
on their monuments, in various positions, and sometimes front. The head, and frequently the thorax also, is horned
of gigantic size. They were also formed into separate in the males. The scutellum is not apparent. Of this
figures, as seals and amulets, composed of gold and other genus we have eight or ten species in Britain. Dejean’s
precious materials, and hung around the necks of the liv- Catalogue contains 150. Some beautiful species of small
ing, or buried along with their famous mummies. The size occur in Africa and the East Indies. They are like-
insect itself in the natural state is also sometimes found wise met with in New Holland, where they constitute the
in their gaudy coffins. principal portion of the coprophagous beetles, which seem
The Ateuchus sacer (PI. CCXXXVII. fig. 2) occurs not rare in that vast region, a circumstance attributed by Mr
only in Egypt, where it formed an object of superstitious Macleay to the absence of all large herbivorous mamma-
worship, but over a great portion of the south of Europe, lia, except of the marsupial kind.
It is also found in the western regions of Asia. Another Two other genera, furnished with a scutellum or a su-
species, discovered in Sennaar by M. Caillaud, was, how- tural hiatus, with the anterior legs often deprived of or
ever, according to M. Latreille, the first to attract the unprovided with tarsi, and frequently long, slender, and
notice of the Egyptians.4 It is named A. Egyptiorum curved in the males, are distinguished from all other Co-
1 Regnc Animal, t. iv. p. 531. 2 Probably from « priv. and an instrument of rear, the head being unarmed.
8 't he genus Scarabaeus of Macleay (Ateuchus of most modern authors) is proper to the ancient world. Of the fortv-three specie?
which comj)ose its five types, as exposed in the Horae Entomologicae, twenty-seven occur in Africa. The first type extends from the
Atlantic Ocean to Thibet, and from Austria to the Cape of Good Hope. It contains the following species:—S. (Heliocantharus)
sacer, Dafresnii, phis, Bonelli, Hottentotus, impius, Lamarckii, Cuvieri, Sanetus, Paleemon, intricatus, puncticollis, Spencii, Degeeri, Savignii,
morbillosus, laticollis, vario/osus, semipunctatiis. Type second contains as yet only a single species, from the north of Africa, S. (Mne-
matium) Ritchii. The third type seems confined to the south of Africa, and includes S. (Pachysoma) JEsc.nlapius and Hippocrates.
The existence of the fourth type is inferred upon general principles, and from an observed hiatus in the series of affinities, but has
not yet been specially detected. The fifth type inhabits all that tract of country which extends from the Atlantic Ocean to the
Chinese Sea, and from Paris to the Cape of Good Hope, and contains S. (Gymnopleurus) a2z«re?w,wj<e«.s, mundns, sinuatus. ptlularius,
Sturmii, atronitidus,Jlagellatus, humanus, Leei, Rufo, fulgidus, ccerulescens, ajfinis, cyaneus, Kcenigii, granulutus,parvus, miliaris, spilotus, ma-
culosus.
4 Description des Insectes recueillis par M. Caillaud, forming part of his Voyage en Nubie.
5 P’or the other genera, see Regne Animal, t. iv. p. 405. Consult also Hor. Ent. p. 404.
6 From Ivdo;, dung, and fyayof, eating.
120 E N T O M
Coleoptera prophagi by the form of the club of the antennae; its first
Pentamera. j0int (or the seventh of the whole, counting from the base)
being sub-triagonal, and receiving within it the ensuing,
of which the inner margin is shaped like a horse-shoe ;
the third or terminal article is in the form of a reversed
cupula. The thorax is large, and usually exhibits two
depressions near the middle of its posterior margin. In
Onitis, Fab., the second article of the labial palpi is the
largest of all; and the scutellum, though small and sunken,
is yet visible. The anterior legs are generally long, slen¬
der, and curved in the males, and the tarsi are often ab¬
sent. The thorax, with a few exceptions, is without horns.
In Phan^us of Macleay (Copris, Onitis, Fab.), Plate
OCXXXVII. fig. 4, the first article of the labial palpi is the
largest, and dilated on the inner side. A simple sutural
void indicates the place of the scutellum. This genus
is composed of large and beautiful species, chiefly from
the equinoctial regions of the new world. I he males
differ greatly from the females in regard to the horn¬
like processes which frequently characterize the head
and thorax of the former; but the respective length of
the legs does not differ between the sexes, as in the pre¬
ceding genus.
The genus Copris1 (PI. CCXXXVILfig. 5), as now re¬
stricted by Latreille, contains those species only the an¬
tennae of which are terminated by a trifoliate club ; the
four anterior tibiae strongly dilated and truncated at the
extremity; both scutellum and hiatus wanting ; the body
thick, and differing on its upper surface in the sexes; and
the labial palpi composed of three distinct joints, of which
the first is the largest, almost cylindrical, and not dilated
on the inner side. The largest species of this numerous
genus (there are eighty-four in Dejean’s collection, of
which, however, scarcely half a dozen are European, and
only one, C. lunaris, occurs in England) are indigenous
to the warmer countries of Asia and Africa.2 Many spe¬
cies are likewise native to the new world.
* *
In others the legs are inserted at equal distances from
each other; the scutellum is distinct; the labial pal¬
pi smooth, or but slightly haired, with the third and
terminal article larger, or at least longer, than the pre¬
ceding.
In the genera of this subdivision of the Coprophagi the
elytra entirely envelope the contour of the abdomen, to
which they form as it were an arched covering,—a cha¬
racter by which they approach the ensuing section. They
are, however, closely related, by the structure of their
legs and antennae, to the preceding genera ; although the
sexual differences are less pronounced or apparent, and
frequently consist merely in small tubercles instead of
horns. All the species are of small size, and some of them
are among the most frequent of the British Lamellicornes.
They constitute the family Aphodiidce of the English ento¬
mologists. These insects are extensively distributed over
the whole of the north temperate zone ; and Mr Macleay
has made out the proportion of tropical species to be to
those from countries beyond the tropics as one to eight.
According to the same authority, none have hitherto been
brought from New Holland, although several occur at the
Cape of Good Hope, which is nearly of the same south
latitude. It is probable, however, that if the marine detri¬
tus of New Holland were properly searched, some insects
at least approaching to Psammodii in habit would occur.3
O L O G Y.
Although these insects closely resemble each other in Coleoptera
general structure, they yet differ rather widely in their Pentamera.
modes of life. They are not all coprophagous, strictly
speaking, for several prefer vegetable matter, for the most
part marine, in a state of putrescence. We shall notice
the two principal genera. In Aphodius,4 Fab. (Plate
CCXXX VII. fig. 6), the last article of the maxillary palpi is
cylindrical, and that of the labial more slender than the
preceding. The maxillas have no appendage, or corneous
and dentated lobe, on the inner side. The species of this
genus are slow of foot, but they fly with facility ; and their
appearance is interesting, as denoting the “ ethereal mild¬
ness” of returning spring. They are common in cow pas¬
tures. We received the species figured on the plate re¬
ferred to (A. bipunctatus) from the south of Russia. Above
fifty species occur in Britain, and three times that number
are known to naturalists. In Psammodius, Gyllenhal (so
named from sandy, in reference to the places of
their most frequent occurrence), the last article of the pal¬
pi is almost oval, and longer and thicker than the others,
and the internal lobe of the maxillae is corneous, and di¬
vided into two dentations.
Section 2d, Arenicoli.
The groups of this section have one character in com¬
mon with the two genera last mentioned, that the elytra
entirely cover the posterior extremity of the abdomen ;
but their other features are distinctive. The labrum is
coriaceous, and generally projects beyond the epistoma.
The mandibles are corneous, and usually curved and sa¬
lient. The terminal lobe of the maxillaa is straight, and
not curved inwards. The third and last article of the la¬
bial palpi is always very distinct, and always at least as
long as the preceding. With few exceptions, the anten¬
nae consist of from ten to eleven articulations. Like the
preceding insects, however, these also live in dung, be¬
neath which they dig holes in the earth. Their principal
period of flight is during the evening, after sunset. When
touched they counterfeit death.
*
In this subdivision the labium is terminated by two
lobes or projecting ligulae ; the mandibles are gene¬
rally salient and curved; the labrum is exposed in
whole or in part; the antennae, in the greater num¬
ber, are composed of eleven articulations. The body
is black or reddish, with the elytra smooth or simply
striated. The males are generally distinguished from
the females by horn-like projections and other exter¬
nal characters. They affect more especially excre-
mentitial substances.
In the genera tEgialia of Lat. and Chiron (Plate
CCXXXVII.figs. 7, 11) of Macleay, the antennae are only
nine jointed. In the latter their terminal club is rather
semipectinated than foliated, and the species are placed
by some with Passalus.
In the subsequent genera the antennae are considered
to consist of eleven joints, although the computation va¬
ries according to the view which may be adopted of the
exact structure of the articulations. The genus Leth-
rus, Scopoli, is distinguished from all the others by the
form of the antennal club, like a reversed cone, and com¬
posed of leaflets contorted into a kind of funnel, and fit¬
ted concentrically into each other ; and by the mandibles,
1 From x.oirj>oi, dung.
e 'I he fine insect which, following the nomenclature of M. Fischer of Moscow (Entomog. de la Russ.), we have represented as an
Meuchut. (Plate CCXXXVII. fig. 8), is, we understand, regarded by Latreille as belonging to the genus Copris.
8 Hor, Ent. i. p. 58. * From dung.
E N T O M
''oleoptera which are entirely dentated and serrated on their inner
Pentamera. gi(je> an(j present a corneous advancement underneath,
^especially in the males. L. cephalotes is said to be ex*
tremely injurious to cultivated grounds, where it attacks
the scarcely visible buds and leaves of plants, cutting
them cleanly off with its mandibles. It is hence called
Schneider in Hungary, where it sometimes proves very
hurtful to the vines. This species (there are only two or
three others known) lives in holes in the earth, and fierce
battles take place during the nuptial season between the
males when aspiring to the favour of the gentler sex.
The antennal club of the remaining Arenicoli is com¬
posed of ordinary-shaped leaflets, placed one on another
like the leaves of a book. In Geotrupes of Lat. (Plate
CCXXXVII. figs. 9 and 10) named from y-^, the earth, and
rgwrau, to bore, in reference to their excavating propen¬
sities, the club of the antennae is oval or ovoid, and the
edges of all the leaflets are perceptible even when the part
is contracted. The labrum forms a transverse square, en¬
tire, or simply dentated. The mandibles are curved,
greatly compressed, dentated at the extremity, and fre¬
quently sinuated on the inner side. The species are
pretty numerous, and occur both in Europe and America.
Some are common in Britain, especially G. stercorarius,
a large black beetle, with brilliant metallic blue or purple
reflections on the under surface, well known as “ wheel¬
ing its drowsy flight” during fine evenings. We have often
been amused by the different devices made use of by in¬
sects to deceive their enemies. While the Byrrhidse, and
several other tribes already alluded to, contract their
limbs when alarmed, so as to give themselves the appear¬
ance of a little ball of inert matter in no way tempting to
any insectivorous creature, the species above named pur¬
sues an opposite line of conduct, and sticks out its legs
at full length, where it holds them perfectly still and rigid,
so as to produce the same appearance as if it had been
long deprived of life. It is thus supposed to deceive the
cunning rook and other birds, which value it chiefly as a
living prey.1 In Bulboceras2 of Kirby (PI. CCXXXVIL
figs. 12, 13, and 14), one of the mandibles is simple at the
extremity, while the other is dentated. The genus is also
distinguished from the preceding (in common with Athy-
reus and Elephastomus of Macleay) by having the club of
the antennae large, orbicular, or nearly globular, with its
first and last leaflet, when the part is contracted, com¬
pletely enveloping the tenth or intermediate, and forming
for it a kind of box (see figs. 13 and 14).
In Hybosorus and Acanthocerus (placed in different fa¬
milies, the former in Geotrupidce, the latter in Trogidce,
by Macleay3), the antennae consist, as in most of the sub¬
sequent Scarabaeides, of ten articulations.
* *
In this our second subdivision of the Arenicoli, the an¬
tennae, scarcely longer than the head, are composed
of ten articulations, of which the first is large and
hirsute. The ligula is entirely concealed by the men-
tum. The labrum and mandibles are but little ex¬
posed, and the latter are thick. The palpi are short,
the mentum very hairy. The inner side of the max-
. illae is armed with teeth. The body, of a cinereous
or earthy hue, is rough or tuberculated on the upper
surface. The head is inclined, and terminates in
an angle or point. The thorax is short, transversal,
without lateral borders, sinuated posteriorly, with the
O L O G Y. 121
anterior angles advanced. The abdomen is large, Coleoptera
arched, and covered with very hard elytra. The an- Pentamera.
terior legs are advanced, and their thighs cover as it
were the lower surface of the head.
These insects form the genus Trox4 of Fabricius and
Olivier. They generally occur on sandy soils, and are
supposed by Latreille to feed on the roots of plants. We
suspect that our knowledge is still extremely vague re¬
garding their habits of life and modes of transformation.
It is certain that they are attracted by dried bones and
other cadaverous remains, but it is difficult to determine
whether this is owing to the peculiar colour, or the na¬
ture of the animal substance. Pallas observes, “ sub ca-
daveribus aestivo ardore exsiccatis cum Histeribus et Der-
mestibus hospitatur;” but it by no means follows from
that peculiarity of position that the insect partakes of t he
carcass, anymore than that numerous other species which
■seek the secure covering of a rock or mass of stone, are in
the habit of devouring these inorganic matters. We may
further remark that the Troges are the only petalocerous
insects among which we find an apterous species,—the T.
horridus being destitute of wings. It forms the genus
Phoberus of Macleay, and is worthy of consideration as
probably destined, when its habits are better known, to
throw some light, either by agreement or opposition, on
the history of its congeners, and the value of the groups
into which they have been divided. These in general are
supposed to delight in cadaverous substances: all insects
intended to live on animal matter, partially distributed
and collected in masses, are provided with wings, which
convey them rapidly (with the joint guidance of the sense
of smell), to those decaying objects which they instinc¬
tively desire ; but the species above named being destitute
of wings, a doubt naturally arises as to the probability of
its feeding, like its congeners, on dried cadaverous mat¬
ter. It has been stated as an illustration of this point,
that the genera Silpha, Hister, JDermestes, and other ne¬
crophagous kinds, are winged, whilst Pimelia, Brachyce-
rus, &c. which, like T. horridus, frequent sandy deserts,
are apterous,—a formation supposed to accord with the
fact that the particles of which their food is composed
are so universally spread over these arid plains as to ob¬
viate the necessity of any rapid or extended change of
place.5
Section 3d, Xylophili,6 Lat.
In these the scutellum is always distinct, and the ely¬
tra do not cover the posterior extremity of the abdomen.
In several the hooks of the tarsi are unequal. The an¬
tennae have always ten articulations, of which the last
three form a foliated mass,—the central leaflet being
never entirely concealed or inclosed by the others. The
labrum is not projecting, and only its anterior part is ex¬
posed. The mandibles are entirely corneous, and late¬
rally project beyond the head. The maxillae are corneous,
or of a solid texture, straight, and usually toothed The
ligula is covered by an ovoid or triangular mentum, nar¬
rowed and truncated at the extremity, where the angles
are frequently dilated. All the legs are inserted at equal
distances from each other.
*
A first subdivision contains those genera in which the
males are distinguished from the females by tubercles or
1 Ent. Edinensis, p. 180. 3 Hor. Ent. pp. 120 and 136.
a From fitXQos, a bulb, and a horn. * from rouXu, I gnaw.
8 See Horce Ent. p. 62; Ent. Ed. p. 186 ; and Regne Animal, t. iv. p. 546.
8 From SuAov, wood, and <piXos, a lover.
VOL. IX. Q
ENTOMOLOGY.
122
Coleoptei-ahorn-like projections on the head or thorax, and some-
Pentamera. times by a difference in the form of the latter part. The
epistoma is small, triangular, and either pointed, truncat¬
ed, or bidentated at the end. The labrum is almost
always concealed. In some the maxillas terminate by a
simple coriaceous or crustaceous lobe, more or less hairy,
and without teeth : in others they are entirely squamous
or scaly, pointed, and provided with a small number of
teeth, accompanied by hairs. The mentum is ovoid, or
truncate-triangular. The chest exhibits no projection.
The hooks of the tarsi are generally equal. The scutel-
lum is small, or of medium size. The colours incline to
black and brown.
Of those genera in which the maxillae are terminated
by a coriaceous or crustaceous lobe without teeth, and
simply hirsute or furnished with cilia, we shall adduce as
an example Oryctes1 of Illigei (PI. CCXXXVII. fig. 15).
The legs of these differ but little in length, and the four •
posterior tibiae are thick, strongly incised or emarginate,
with an extremity greatly widened, and appearing as if
stellated in some. This genus contains some large and
striking species, such as O. rhinoceros, and others, from the
East Indies. There are few European species, and of these
O. nasicornis is by some regarded as indigenous in Eng¬
land. It feeds on tan and rich vegetable mould. Its
larva is well known as having furnished the great Swam¬
merdam with the subject of one of his many remarkable
anatomical investigations.
Of such as possess maxillae which are usually corneous
or scaly, and more or less dentated, we shall mention the
genus ScARABiEUS2 properly so called (PI. CCXXXVII.
fig. 17). In these the body is thick and convex, and the
external side of their mandibles sinuous or dentated.
These insects occur chiefly in the equatorial regions, both
of the old world and the new. They are scarcely known
in Europe, and do not exist in Britain. S. punctatus is
found in Italy and the south of France, and S. monodon
in Hungary. Several species from South America (such
as S. Hercules) and the East Indies, are remarkable for
their gigantic size and extraordinary structure. S. Atlas,
Fab. (Hector of Dejean ?), is a native of Java, but it also
occurs in the mainland.3 We know little of the actual
history or transformations of these fine insects, but their
habits may be inferred to resemble those of Oryctes, and
other congenerous tribes of the Scarabaeides. The larvae
probably dwell in the decaying portions of great timber
trees, and no doubt hasten the death and overthrow of
these sylvan monarchs. We could dilate with pleasure
on the singular aspect of these gigantic Coleoptera, did
not the nature of our general plan, and our desire to no¬
tice, however briefly, most of the principal genera, pre¬
clude our entering into the descriptive details of species.
We must therefore rest satisfied with a general reference
to the works of Olivier, Fabricius, Latreille, Macleay, and Coleoptera
the Catalogue of Dejean, part ii. p. 150.4 We cannot^>entamer>»
help, however, here alluding to that principle of associa-
tion in the human mind, by which size or dimension affects
us with such different ideas in relation to different ob¬
jects. Many may smile at our using the expression
“ gigantic” or “ magnificent” to creatures the largest of
which (of the Coleopterous kinds, e. g. Prionus gigas)
scarcely exceeds six inches in length ;—yet true it is, that
to an entomologist accustomed only to the European
forms of insect life, the first sight of any of the great¬
er Prionidae, or of Scarabceus Hercules, or Atlas, or Ac-
tceon, creates a feeling bordering upon awe, such as that
which an enlightened artist may be supposed to expe¬
rience on first beholding the perfect proportions of some
great temple. Our ideas are perhaps equally relative in
all departments both of art and nature. An Egyptian
pyramid is thought stupendous, while North Berwick Law
(of about equal height with the greatest of the Coptic
monuments) is almost nameless as a Scottish mountain.
An eagle, from his size and strength, is called a “ feather¬
ed king,” although his body is less than that of a pig a
few months old. A mastiff or Newfoundland dog, being
among the largest of the canine kind, is called “ majes¬
tic,” although a sucking elephant might squeeze both of
them to death by an accidental stumble,—the said ele¬
phant being at the same time regarded as a “ poor crea¬
ture,” because it is not a full grown example of the “ wisest
of beasts.” An ancient walrus, floating among the hoary
icebergs of the arctic seas, is looked upon as one of the
most ponderous of created things; yet a Greenland sea¬
man considers as insignificant, and will scarcely throw his
harpoon into the sides of a young whale, which with one
blow of its upraised tail could lash the ocean into foam,
sink a “ captain’s gig,” and send the walrus with a frac¬
tured skull to the bottom of the sea. The same principle
is capable of illustration, by the practice of the more en¬
thusiastic disciples of Isaac Walton. Even the most ex¬
perienced of anglers gazes with delight, almost with won¬
der, at a river trout of three or four pounds weight. A
grilse of the same dimensions, when made to “ spurn the
indignant shore,” is viewed by the salmon fisher almost
with a feeling of disappointment. We remember our friend
Sir William Jardine killing, inter alia, one morning in the
Tweed, a salmon of six and thirty pounds weight, in an
hour and five minutes, and yet the same skilful angler was
greatly astonished by a Loch Awe trout, which, though a
giant of its kind, was, when brought to the balance, found
wanting by several ounces, in the weight of twelve pounds.
But to return to our beetles.
The genus Phileurus ofLat. (Geotrupes of Fabricius)
differ from the Scarabsei in their mandibles, which are
straighter, without sinus or dentation on the outer side ;
1 ' OpvarriP, one 'who digs.
- The term Scarabmts appears to have been either applied by the Romans to coleopterous insects in general, or at least to have been
used with a wide and indefinite generic application. The origin of the word is by no means clear, and its derivation from trx.oi'Trrik)) as
given by 1 abricius and Olivier, has been regarded as inconsistent with the rules of etymology. Mr Macleay thinks it difficult to
obtain the word at all from the Greek, and regards it rather as being of Etruscan origin, the more especially as it never occurs in other
than ancient Latin authors. Let us here note that the Scarahcei (properly so called) of Latreille belong to the genus Dynastes of Mac¬
leay, which includes the “ giants of the insect race.” We believe, however, that some Prionidee exceed them in size.
3 J he specimen in our collection was taken at Rangoon by Sir Archibald Campbell, and obligingly transmitted to us by George
Swinton, Esq. We have since received Javanese specimens from Lieutenant Loudon, R. N. of Musselburgh.
■‘few points are more puzzling, or productive of greater delay in the progress of the student, than the cloud of synonyms by which
natural history is overshadowed. This arises partly from ignorance, and partly from the (nearly allied) source of self-conceit, which
induce together “ confusion worse confounded,” in the very face of an expressed desire to enlighten and amend. Even the great mas¬
ters of the art have sometimes erred in the imposition of their generic names. The reader will bear in mind that Geotrupes of
lab. forms no part of the Geotrupides of the present day, but corresponds to the genus Scaralceus of Latreille; while the genus which
bears the latter name in the Horm Entomologicoe is identical in its prevailing parts to the genus Ateuchus of the Systema Eleutheratorum.
There is no doubt that Mr Macleay’s genus contains the insects to which the name of Scarabseus was applied by Pliny.
E N T O M
Coleoptera their body is also depressed, and the thorax dilated or
Pentamera. rounded laterally. Such are S. dydimus, vulgus, depres-
sm% 0f Fab.
* *
A second subdivision of the Xylophili contains those
genera in which the head and thorax are of similar struc¬
ture in both sexes, and not characterized by peculiar pro¬
jections. The anterior margin of the labrum is almost al¬
ways exposed or apparent. The maxillae are entirely squa¬
mous, as if truncated at the termination, and furnished
with five or six strong teeth on their inner edge. The
mentum is proportionally shorter and broader than that
of the Scarabaei, and less narrowed superiorly. The me-
sosternum is frequently prolonged to a horn or blunt point
between or beyond the second pair of legs. The scutel-
lum is usually large. The hooks of the tarsi are generally
unequal. A small number excepted, these xylophilous
Coleoptera are peculiar to the equatorial regions of the
new world. They resemble in many respects our preceding
subjects, and are at the same time nearly allied to the Me-
lolonthae, and particularly the Cetoniae, of which they bear
the external aspect, although their masticating organs
differ. Fabricius and Olivier, in fact, arranged most of
these insects with each other. The body of the kinds
now under consideration is shorter, more rounded, and
smoother than that of the preceding. They moreover
differ in being frequently ornamented with brilliant co¬
lours.
In some (agreeing in this character with all the pre¬
ceding Scarabaeides), we do not perceive, between the
posterior angles of the thorax and the exterior ones of the
base of the elytra, an axillary piece filling up as it were
the space comprised between these parts.
We shall first notice a genus in which the central por¬
tion of the chest presents no pointed prolongation. Such
is Hexodon1 2 (PI. CCXXXVII. figs. 16, 20, 22, and 23),
of which the body is almost orbicular, plane beneath ; the
head square, and received into a deep emargination of
the thorax ; the exterior margin of the elytra dilated and
anteriorly marked by a small groove or gutter; the legs
slender, and the hooks of the tarsi small and equal. But
in the following genera the sternum is prolonged between
the second pair of legs to a conical point. In Chryso-
phora of Dejean (Melolontha chrysochlora? Lat.), Plate
CCXXXVII. figs. 18 and 19, the hind legs of the male are
very large, the thighs thick, the tibiae arcuated, and termi¬
nated at the inner angle by a very strong point. Here is
also placed the Scarabceus macropus of Shaw.3 In Ru-
tela, Lat. (PI. CCXXXVII, fig. 25), there is no remark¬
able difference in the size of the legs in the two sexes;
the mentum is almost isometrical; the scutellum small or
moderate; and the sternal point is short,—not reaching
to the origin of the two anterior feet. The body is ovoid
or oval. Macraspis, Macleay (PI. CCXXXVIL fig. 26),
differs from the preceding in the proportions of the men¬
tum, which is obviously longer than broad; in the short
and rounded form of the body; in the length of the scu¬
tellum, which at least equals a third of that of the elytra;
and in the length of the sternal point, the extremity of
which attains to the origin of the two anterior legs, or ex¬
tends beyond it. The mandibles are almost triangular,
with the extremity pointed or emarginate. The maxillae
are furnished with several teeth. One of the hooks of the
tarsi, at least of the four anterior ones, is bifid, the other
O L O G Y. 123
entire. Here Latreille places also the genus Chasmo-Coleoptera
dia of Macleay. Pentamera.
In other genera we perceive the axillary piece, before
alluded to (agreeing with that seen in the same quarter
in the Cetonia, and named epimera by M. Audouin4), fill¬
ing up the space comprised between the posterior angles
of the thorax and the exterior angles of the base of the
elytra. Such is the genus Ometis of Latreille.
Section 4th, Phyllophagi.3
This section, as well as the ensuing, is formed from the
great genus Melolontha of Fabricius, of which certain spe¬
cies are scattered also among the preceding groups. The
Phyllophagi are nearly related to the concluding genera
of the third section. Their mandibles, however, are co¬
vered above by the epistoma, and concealed beneath by
the maxillae,—their exterior side being alone exposed, but
without either protruding or presenting the sinuosities or
dentations observed in the Rutelas and other analogous
genera. The anterior edge of the labrum is exposed, and
is sometimes of the form of a broad reversed triangle,
sometimes (and more frequently) of a transverse lamina,
emarginate in the centre. The number of the articula¬
tions of the antennae is by no means uniform, and varies
from eight to ten. The same observation applies to those
of the club, which in several differs even in the sexes of
the same species. The ligula is entirely covered by the
mentum, or incorporated with its anterior face, and the
elytra meet completely along the whole of the dorsal su¬
ture,—characters which distinguish our present species
from those of the fifth or ensuing section.
*
The family of Anaplognathides of Mr Macleay, and
some other genera nearly allied to the preceding, form
the first subdivision according to M. Latreille’s views.
The epistoma is thickened anteriorly, and forms, either
alone or with the labrum, a vertical facette in the form of
a reversed triangle, the point of which rests on the men¬
tum. This last-named portion is sometimes almost ovoid,
densely pilose, with the extremity either rounded or
truncated, and without emargination,—sometimes in the
form of a transverse square, with the middle of the supe¬
rior margin prolonged into a tooth, simple or emarginate.
The maxillee of some terminate by a coriaceous or mem¬
branous lobe, very hairy, without teeth, or with a very
small number, and situate near the middle of the internal
border;—those of the others are entirely corneous, re¬
semble mandibles, and are either truncated or obtuse and
entire at the end, or terminated by two or three teeth.
In the genera Pachypus of Dejean, and Amblyteres
of Macleay, the mentum is almost ovoid ; and in the for¬
mer the antennae of the males are composed of only eight
joints, of which the last five form the club,—in the lat¬
ter they consist of ten joints, of which the last three form
the club.
In the other genera of this subdivision the mentum
forms a transverse square, the centre of the superior mar¬
gin projecting in the manner of a tooth, entire or emar¬
ginate. In the genus Anaplognathus of Leach (pecu¬
liar to Australasia) there is a sternal projection, and the
hooks of the tarsi are entire and unequal. The antenna-
are composed of ten joints, and the extremity of the max¬
illae is truncated, or obtuse and entire. These insects are
1 From i£, six, olous, tooth, in allusion to the amount of dentations of the maxillae. See Plate CCXXXVII. fig. 16.
2 Voyage de MM. Humboldt et Bonpland, ii. xv. 1, fem.; 2, male.
a Naturalist's Miscellany, 380, iv. * Memoire sur le Thorax des Insectcs.
4 From tfvX/Lov, a leaf, and Quyo;, eating.
ENTOMOLOGY.
Coleoptera of considerable size, and of rather brilliant aspect.1 2 * Here
Pentamera. a]s0 are placed the genera Leucothyreus of Macleay,
and Apogonia and Geniates of Kirby.
* *
A second subdivision of the Phyllophagi? of Latreille
contains the Melolonthid^e of Macleay. In these the la-
brum is in the form of a transverse plate or leaflet, gene¬
rally strongly emarginate beneath in its centre, so that
when seen in front it exhibits the figure of a reversed or
demi-truncated heart. The mentum is as long if not
longer than broad, somewhat narrowed anterior to the
summit, and either nearly square or heart-shaped; its
superior margin is straight, or more or less emarginate or
concave, in the middle, but without any tooth-like dilata¬
tion. The maxilla; are usually squamous, and armed with
several (frequently five or six) teeth. This subdivision is
itself capable of a further partition into two groups, the
first corresponding to the genus Melolontha of Fabricius,
as restricted by llliger and Latreille—the other to the
genus Hoplia of llliger. The former continues to bear
the name of
Melolonthides.
Distinguishable by the following general characteris¬
tics. The number of complete leaflets of the club ex¬
ceeds three in several genera. The form of the body is
usually thick and massive. The mandibles are strong,
entirely or in greater part corneous, and exhibiting at
most only a membranous and hirsute appendage, placed
in the emargination of the inner side ; the superior extre¬
mity is strongly truncated, with two or three teeth or an¬
gular projections. All the tarsi are terminated by two
hooks ; the first article of the two anterior being prolong¬
ed inferiorly into a hooked appendage. The labrum is
usually apparent,—the maxillary teeth robust.
The insects of which this group is composed were in¬
cluded by Linnaeus, like all those with which we have
been lately engaged, in his extensive genus ScarabcEus,
and they also continued to form a portion of that genus
in the works of Geoffrey, Degeer, Schaeffer, and other
entomologists prior to the time of Fabricius. The last-
named author established the genus Melolontha, which in
its extended signification may be regarded as synonymous
with the Melolonthides of Latreille. Were we to follow
the prevailing and praiseworthy example of botanists, who
bestow upon a family the name of the genus by which it
is most strongly characterized, our present group ought
to be denominated Sericides, in as far as the type is not
formed by Melolontha vulgaris, but rather by M. brunnea
of Fabricius, which now constitutes the genus Serica of
Macleay. But as it is at all times desirable that families
should be named after well-known genera, the designa¬
tion now adopted is preferable to that which might be
derived from the less noted though more characteristic
type. The Melolonthides are not often distinguished by
brilliant or metallic colouring Their elytra, of which Coleoptera
brown is a characteristic colour, are generally slightly scaly Pentamera,
or hirsute. Throughout the entire period of their existence
these insects live on vegetable substances, and their x'ava-
ges are often extremely injurious. The larvae are very
long lived, and sometimes pass three or four years in that
destructive state. In cold and temperate climates they
are very sluggish, if not torpid, during winter, and de¬
scend somewhat deeper into the earth to avoid the effects
of frost. The perfect insects feed on leaves,—the larvae
for the most part on roots.
In the genus Melolontha properly so called (from
ar'KM. an apple-tree, and oh&jcnj, infiorescencp), see JPlate
CCXXXVII. fig. 29, the antennae are ten-jointed, with the
five or seven terminal joints in the males, and the six or
four in the females, composing the club. The labrum is
thick and strongly emarginate beneath. All the hooks
of the tarsi are equal, and terminate in a point entire or
simply uni-dentate at their base. The posterior extremi¬
ty of the abdomen usually ends in a point or style, at least
in the males. Of the species of which the antennal club
in the male consists of seven leaflets, in the female of
only six, we shall here notice the common cockchafer,
M. vulgaris (S. Melolontha, Linn.). The body of this in¬
sect is of a pitchy black, with a whitish pubescence ; the
sides of the abdomen are marked by a range of triangu¬
lar spots. The elytra are testaceous. The antennse of
the males are much larger than those of the females.
(Plate CCXXXVIL figs. 21 and 24.) This, though a most
abundant insect in England, and over most parts of Eu¬
rope, is less generally known in Scotland, and is rare in
the Edinburgh district. Specimens, however, have been
procured in the park of Dalkeith House, in Lanarkshire,
at Lorn in Ayrshire,4 at Raehills and Moffat in Dum¬
friesshire, and as far north as Glencoe.5
We may observe that the existence in the perfect state
of the species above named is of very short duration. The
life of an individual is supposed not to extend beyond a
week, and the entire species during each successive season
prevails only for the space of a single month. The male
speedily perishes after the sexual union, and the female
merely survives for a sufficient time to deposit her eggs in
safety. As soon as the latter is fecundated, she digs a hole
in the earth of about half a foot in depth, by means of her
dentated fore legs. The larvae which proceed from these
eggs are soft, lengthened, of a dingy-white or yellowish
colour; they have six short scaly feet, a large scaly head,
two antennae, each composed of five pieces, and nine
stigmata on each side of the body. The eyes are not at
first visible—being concealed under the skin, which is ere
long cast off. These destructive creatures feed upon the
roots of various plants. They are most voracious during
the summer season. In the course of the autumn they
descend into the earth, and pass the winter in a state of
profound repose, neither requiring nor desiring food. As
1 See Ilor. Ent. p. 143 ; and Linn. Trans, vol. xii. pp. 401-5; also Leach’s Zoological Miscellany, vol. ii. p. 44.
2 Misnamed (we presume accidentally) Xylophiles in the second edition of the Regne Animal, t. iv. p. 558.
? MnXoXovfa, or yivXavOn, is a term of frequent occurrence in Aristotle and other ancient authors, and was first applied by Fabri¬
cius to the insects of the present genus. It is derived from the words mentioned above, because the insects it denoted either were
supposed to be produced from the flowers of fruit-trees, or were accustomed to resort to them for food. This circumstance renders
it probable that the pnXoXo^n of the ancients belonged to the family Cetoniides, as the true Melolonthides are hardly ever seen on
flowers; and the description of Eustathius, who says that the animal resembled a w^asp, led Mr Macleay to conjecture that it might
be the Trichius fasciatus, a vernal beetle common in Greece, which might be readily mistaken by a casual observer for one of the
Hymenoptera, as it bears a considerable resemblance to some of the members of that order, both in its colouring and mode of flight.
Mouifet’s investigations led him to a very different conclusion—that the insect was of a metallic green, and referable to the Bupres-
tides.' The former opinion is greatly the more probable, and accords with the brief notices on the subject found in ancient writers,
particularly Hesychius and the scholiast on Aristophanes ; but these notices are too Imperfect to warrant the determinate applica¬
tion of a woid obviously used with considerable latitude of meaning, and intended in all probability to indicate a group or tribe of
insects rather than any individual species. (See Hor. Ent. p. 78; and Mouffeti, Theat. Insect, xxi. 158.)
* Professor Itennie, in Insect Transformations, 225. 5 Ent. Ed. p. 188.
ENTOMOLOGY.
125
Colecptera soon as the solar rays produce their genial influence in
Pentamera.ear]y spring, they ascend within six inches of the surface,
and recommence their ravages. They change their skin
every year, assume the nympha state in the course of
the third autumn after they are hatched, and appear
in the perfect state during the ensuing spring or early
portion of summer. The beetle, when it first escapes from
its cocoon, is pale and soft, and does not venture to leave
its subterranean chamber for some time. But ere long it
acquires a firm consistence, and crawling to the surface,
it expands its wings, and mounting into the air, is hence¬
forward no more a subterranean dweller, but seeks its
nourishment among the umbrageous branches of the lof¬
tiest trees.1
Although the generality of insects are more destructive
in the larva than in any other state, great ravages are oc¬
casionally committed even by the perfect insect. It is in
relation to the present species that Mouffet records the
number of beetles which at one time fell into the Severn
as being sufficient to stop the wheels of the water-mills.
In the year 1688 they covered the hedges and trees in a
district of the county of Galway, in such infinite numbers
as to hang in clusters like bees when they swarm. When
on the wing they almost darkened the light of day, and
produced a peculiar sound by the rustling of their wings.
When feeding, the noise of their jaws might have been
mistaken for the sawing of timber; and in a very short
time the foilage of the trees for miles around was so to¬
tally consumed, that at midsummer the country wore the
aspect of the leafless winter.2 “ One of the worst of these
ravagers,” say Messrs Kirby and Spence, “ is the grub
of the common cockchafer. This insect, which is found
to remain in the larva state for four years, sometimes de¬
stroys whole acres of grass, as I can aver from my own
observation. It undermines the richest meadows, and so
loosens the turf that it will roll up as if cut with a turfing
spade. These grubs did so much injury about seventy
years ago to a poor farmer near Norwich, that the court
of that city, out of compassion, allowed him L.25, and the
man and his servant declared that he had gathered eighty
bushels of the beetle.3 In the year 1785 many provinces of
France were so ravaged by them that a premium was of¬
fered by the government for the best mode of destroying
them. They do not confine themselves to grass, but eat
also the roots of corn ; and it is to feast upon this grub
more particularly that the rooks follow the plow.4”
The scarcity of this species in Scotland saves it from
the fate often inflicted in the south, where spinning a
cockchafer is a favourite amusement among school-boys.
When the larger Coleoptera fall upon thfeir backs, they
have some difficulty in resuming their natural position,
and in Sweden, according to Sparmann, there is a fond be¬
lief among the simpler of the common people, that their
sins will be forgiven them if they set a cockchafer upon
its legs. If this creed be true, our English youths have
much to answer for.5
The only other species of the genus which we shall Coleoptera
mention is M. fullo (PI. CCXXXVII. fig. 29), one of the pentamera.
largest of the European Coleoptera. It is sometimes near-
ly an inch and three quarters long, of a brown or blackish
colour, marked with many irregular white spots. The
club of the antennae in the males is remarkably large.
This species occurs chiefly on downs along the maritime
shores of Europe. It is sometimes captured in England.
We have received it from Persia and other eastern
countries.
In the genus Rhisostrogus of Lat. (formerly Am-
phimalla of the same author), the species closely re¬
semble the preceding ; but the antennae, consisting of nine
or ten joints, have only three leaflets in the club. Such is
a well known English insect not yet ascertained to inhabit
Scotland, R. Solstitialis. In the genus Areoda of Leach
and Macleay(Pl. CCXXXVII. fig. 30) the antennae have
ten articulations, the sternum is corneous, and all the
hooks of the tarsi are equal in those individuals presumed
to be females, and unequal in such as are regarded as
males. The species are brilliantly adorned, and inhabit
Brazil. All the preceding phyllophagous genera, it may
be observed, with few exceptions, are furnished with ten
articulations to the antennae ; but in the following Melo-
lonthides there are only nine. In Phyllopertha of Kir¬
by (from (puXKov, a leaf, and to destroy), the antennae
are only nine jointed. Here we place a species which
often appears in prodigious quantities among ferns on
commons in many parts of Britain. It is called the
Bracken-clock in the north of England—P. horticola. It
falls into the genus Anisoplia of Megerle and Dejean. A
larger and much rarer species is P. Frischii. It has been
found near Montrose. In the genus Serica6 of Macleav
(PI. CCXXXVII. figs. 27 and 28), the joints of the an¬
tennae seem to have been differently computed.7 All the
hooks of the tarsi are bifid. The body is ovoid, arch¬
ed, with a silky aspect, and changeable reflections. Cer¬
tain insects, as yet found only in New Holland, form the
genus Diphucephala8 of Dejean. Their tarsi are bifid, as
in the preceding, but the body is narrow and elongated,
and the thorax square. In Euchlora of Macleay (Plate
CCXXXVm. figs. 1, 2), the hooks of the tarsi are unequal,
and there is no sternal projection; one of the hooks of
the four anterior tarsi is bifid in the males, the body is
arched, the epistoma short and transverse.
The second group of this subdivision, or the third and
last of the Phyllophagi, is called
Hoplides,
and is characterized as follows. The mandibles are small
and depressed, and as if divided longitudinally into two
parts, of which the internal is membranous, the external
corneous; the superior extremity presents no sensible
dentations. The labrum is concealed or but slightly ap¬
parent. The maxillae have frequently only small denta¬
tions. The body is short, depressed, broad, with the ely-
1 Some very laborious and beautifully elaborated works have been recently published on the anatomical structure of the Melolon-
tliae. See more particularly Considtrations generates sur VAnatomic comparfe des Animaux articules, auxquelles on a joint Vanatomic descrip,
tive du Hanneton, par M. Straus, 1 vol. in 4to, with plates. Paris, 1828. The illustrious and lamented Cuvier has observed of this pro¬
duction, that it is the only work fit to be compared to that of Lyonnet, Sur la Chenille du Saule. M. Dufour has also explained the di¬
gestive system of these insects, in the 3d vol. of the J»«. des Sciences Nat. ; while the muscular economy of the wings and thorax has
been described and figured by the accurate Chabrier, in his Essai sur le Vol des Insectes. Paris, 1823.
2 Phil. Trans, xix. 3 Phil. Trans. 1741, 581 * Introd. to Ent. vol. i. p. 177-
5 We may here record that the Melolontha hippocastani. Fab. (Olivier, i. 3, a, b, c) was taken by the writer of this article some years
ago on the banks of Windermere. It was formerly confounded with M. vulgaris, but is distinguished by being rather smaller, shorter,
and more convex ; the elytra are narrowly margined with black, and the terminal style of the abdomen is rather shorter, and has a
slight constriction or neck, which makes the extremity appear broader and more obtuse. It does not seem to be known as Britisn
to the English collectors. (See Entomologia Edinensis, p. 190, note.)
6 From m^xov, silk. 7 Antennae articulis decern, Hor. Ent. 146- Je n’en compte que neuf, Regne Animal, iv. 562.
* From on$vris, double, and xapccXn, head.
126 E N T O M
Coleoptera tra narrowed posteriorly at the exterior side. The last
Fentamera. t;W0 tarsi are usually furnished with but a single hook.
In such as have two hooks to all the tarsi (genus Dicra¬
nia), the first joint of the anterior tarsi is prolonged infe-
rioriy, and exhibits on the internal side a strong hooked
tooth.
M. Leon Dufour, as Latreille informs us, has remarked,
that the digestive canal in these insects (at least in such
Hoplice as he has examined) is much shorter than that of
the Melolonthae, and rather approaches the same part in
the genus Cetonia. The chylific ventricle is smooth
and flexuous. The small intestine is shorter than in Me-
lolontha, and often presents an ovoid inflation at its ori¬
gin. The great intestine is elongated, and destitute of
valvular anfraetuosities, and the rectum is distinctly mark¬
ed by an obvious collar. The generative system resem¬
bles that of the Melolonthae.
In the genus Dicrania (Lepel. and Serville, in Ency-
clop. Meth.), besides the characters alluded to above, the
body is very smooth, without scales, the scutellum rather
large, and there are two strong spines at the extremity of
the four posterior tibiae ; the lower extremity of the two
hindmost tibiae is dilated. These insects are natives of
Brazil. In the genus Hoplia of Illiger there is only a
single hook to the two posterior tarsi (Plate CCXXXVIII.
fig. 4). The pairs of the others are bifid and unequal.
The extremity of the intermediate and hind tibiae is as
it were crowned by little spines of nearly equal length.
The body is generally furnished with minute scales. The
epistoma is either almost square or nearly semicircular.
The thighs of the two hind legs are moderately enlarged,
and the tibiae are long, straight, and without a hooked
tooth at their extremity. H. farinosa (PI. CCXXXVIII.
fig. 3), one of the most beautiful of European Coleoptera,
is a common insect in the south of France. The antennae
are nine-jointed, the body is covered with silvery scales,
of a pale but bright and ethereal blue, with a greenish or
golden tint beneath. This species, on which a British
entomologist gazes with great delight, is common in seve¬
ral European countries, near the banks of brooks and
rivers.
Section 5th, Anthobii.1
The scarabideous insects of this section also formed a
portion of the undivided genus Melolontha, and are near¬
ly allied to the concluding members of the preceding
groups. Their paraglossae, however, or divisions of the
ligula, project beyond the upper extremity of the men-
tum, and the edges of the elytra are somewhat open, or
removed from the usual line of the dorsal suture, towards
their posterior extremity, which is narrowed to a point, or
rounded. The antennae consist of from nine to ten joints,
of which the three last alone form the club in both sexes.
rIhe terminal lobe of the maxillae is often almost membra¬
nous, silky, in the form of a pencil,—in others it is coriace¬
ous and dentated along the inner edge. The labrum and
mandibles are more or less solid, according as these parts
are exposed or covered. These insects live among flowers
and the varied foliage of shrubs and tree*
In the genus Amphicoma,2 Lat. (PI. CCXXXVIII. figs.
5, 6) the first joint of the antennal club is concave, and
encases the others. The mandibles are rounded and
curved on the exterior side, without dentation on the in-
O L o G Y.
ner margin ; the antennal mass is globular, the abdomen Coleoptera
soft, and all tbe legs of ordinary size. The epistoma is Fentamera,
distinctly margined. The anterior tibiae have three teeth
on their outer edge. The first four articles of the tarsi
are strongly ciliated in the males. These singular insects
can scarcely be regarded as European, although they do
occur occasionally in Greece. They are more frequent
in the south of Russia, and in the western parts of the
Persian dominions. Comte Dejean informs us that A.
hirta. Fab. is the female of A. vulpes of the same author.
A. vulpecula, with which we were favoured by M. Falder-
mann of the Imperial Botanic Gardens of St Petersburg,
appears to be also a variety of the first-named insect. The
only other genus of this section which we can here notice
is Anisonyx of Lat., an example of which is given in
Plate CCXXXVIII. figs. 7 and 13.
Section 6th, Melitophili.3
In these the body is depressed, usually oval, brilliant,
hornless, with the thorax trapeziform or almost orbicular.
An axillary piece occupies, in the greater number, the
space comprised between the posterior angles and the
exterior of the base of the elytra. The anal termination
is exposed. The sternum is frequently prolonged in the
form of a point or advanced horn. The hooks of the tarsi
are equal and simple. The antennae are 10-articulate, with
the last three joints forming the club, which is always fo-
liaceous. The labrum and mandibles are concealed, la-
melliform, and nearly if not entirely membranous. The
maxillae terminate in a silky lobe, in the form of a pencil,
without corneous teeth. The mentum is usually ovoid,
truncated superiorly, or almost square, with the middle of
the superior edge more or less concave or emarginate.
The ligula is not projecting.
The alimentary tube of these insects, according to M.
Dufour, is shorter than in any of the scarabideous family.
The chylific ventricle has usually its external tunic co¬
vered by very small superficial papillae, or projecting points.
The enlargement which terminates the small intestine is
not cavernous, as in the Melolonthae.4 The larvae are said
to live in decayed wood. In the perfect state they occur
on flowers, and not unfrequently also on the trunks of
such trees as exude any fluid.
This section, according to the views of M. Latreille, by
which we have already been so long guided, is susceptible
of division into three principal groups, corresponding to
the genera Trichius of Fabricius, Goliathus of Lamarck,
and Cetonia of Fabricius, but reduced and simplified by
certain abstractions.
The Melitophili of the first two divisions have no strong¬
ly-marked sternal projection; the lateral portion of the
mesosternum (or that named epimera by M. Audouin)
does not generally manifest itself upwardly. The thorax
does not increase from before backwards as in Cetonia;
nor is the exterior side of the elytra abruptly narrowed or
uni-sinuate a little below the humeral angle, as in those in¬
sects. A more rigorous character consists in the labial
palpi being inserted in lateral grooves of the anterior face
of the mentum, so that they are entirely exposed, the
sides of the mentum jutting beyond them at their origin,
and protecting them behind. In the first two divisions
these palpi are inserted beneath the lateral margin of the
mentum, or in the margins themselves, in such manner
1 From aiOtis, a flower, and p>ms, life.
* 1 rom apQi, about, or on both sides, and xopr,, hair, in allusion to the frequent covering with which the species are invested.
* 1' rom jttsX;, honey, or ftiXtrsu, to make honey, and tpiXos, a lover.
* 1'or other details, especially for such as illustrate the generative system, see dci Sciences Nat. t. iii. p. 235, and t iv. p. 178-
E N T O M
Coleoptera that the first articulations, when viewed from before, do
Pentamera. not appear.
ls£, Trichides.
In these the mentum is either almost isometrical, or
rather longer than broad, and leaves the maxillae expos¬
ed. They correspond, as we have said, to the genus Tri-
chius of Fabricius (PI. CCXXXVIII. figs. 8, 9), of which
we may mention as an example T. fasciatus, probably the
only British species. It is black, with scattered yellow
hairs, the elytra yellowish, with three transverse black
bands, interrupted at the suture. It is very rare in Scot¬
land, but is, however, recorded by Mr Curtis as occurring
“ on the flowers of the thyme, near Loch Rannoch, in
July.” It was also noticed some years ago by Dr Gre-
ville in Glen Tilt, and we saw it taken by Mr Giles Mun-
by, on the southern border of Sutherland, early in the
month of August 1833. The dimensions of the female
considerably exceed those of the male. The genus, as now
restricted, is not very extensive. Dejean enumerates
twelve species, several of which are from North America.
2d, Goliathides,
May be distinguished from the preceding by the men¬
tum, which is much longer and wider, and covers the max¬
illae. In some the mentum is concave in the centre. The
anterior extremity of the epistoma is neither toothed nor
horned. Such is the genus Cremastocheilus of Knock
(PI. CCXXXVIII. fig. 10), in which the thorax forms near¬
ly a transverse square ; the maxillae are terminated by a
strong tooth, hooked or falciform, with setae or little spines
in place of an inner lobe ; the last article of the palpi is
very long and cylindrical; the mentum in the form of a
widened heart, or of a reversed triangle rounded at the
upper angles, without sensible emargination. In others
the mentum is in the form of a greatly widened heart,
but without a discoidal cavity, its superior edge being
emarginate or sinuous. The anterior extremity of the
epistoma in the males is divided into two lobes, in the
form of obtuse or truncated horns. The thorax is almost
orbicular. Such is the extraordinary genus Goliathus
of Lamarck [Ceionia of Fab. andOliv.), PI. CCXXXVIII.
figs. 14 and 16, which contains some of the largest and
most striking of coleopterous insects. One of the species
which we have represented appears to exhibit some varia¬
tion in its markings.1 The same species seems figured
by Drury {Illustrations, vol. i. pi. 31), who says it was
brought from Africa, where it was found “ floating dead
in the river Gaboon, opposite Prince’s Island, near the
equinoctial line.” The only specimen with which we are
now acquainted is that preserved in the Hunterian Muse¬
um, Glasgow. Mr Kirby has described two smaller spe¬
cies from Brazil.2 Other kinds form the genus Inca of
modern writers.3
3d, Cetoniides.
In this group the sternum is more or less prolonged to
an obtuse point, between the intermediate pair of legs ;
the axillary piece before mentioned is always visible
above, and occupies the entire space which separates the
posterior angles of the thorax from the base of the elytra;
O L O G Y. 127
the thorax is usually enlarged posteriorly, and has the Coleoptera
form of a triangle truncated anteriorly or at its point. Pentamera.
The mentum is never transversal ; its superior margin is
more or less emarginate in the middle. The terminal
lobe of the maxillae is silky or pencil-shaped. The body
is almost ovoid, and depressed. The membranaceous tex¬
ture of the mandibles and maxillae of these insects de¬
monstrates, as Mr Macleay has observed, that in the per¬
fect state they live on vegetable juices. Thus C. morio,
Fab. and doubtless many others, especially of the darker
coloured kinds, regale themselves on the sap of wounded
trees,—while C. aurata and its brilliant allies are only
found on flowers.4 The Cetoniides, though in general gay
and ornamental insects, yield in metallic splendour to se¬
veral species of the genera Rutela, Glaphyris, and Anaplog-
nathus. “ Nothing, however, can exceed the beauty and
lustre of the polish, or the admirable variety of ornament,
with which their elytra are adorned. The larvae live in
the fattest vegetable soils; but notwithstanding the ex¬
cellent observations of Degeer, much remains to be per¬
formed towards the elucidation of this part of their his¬
tory.”6
Sufficient data have not yet been collected for the pro¬
per elucidation of their geographical distribution, but it
appears that many more species exist within than without
the tropics. In some the thorax is prolonged posteriorly
in an angular form, so that the scutellum disappears.
These form the genus Gymnetis of Macleay (Plate
CCXXXVIII. fig. 12). Several species occur in America.
In others from New Holland and the East Indies the
clypeus is bifid, or armed, in the males, with a couple of
horns, and the body is proportionally narrow and elongat¬
ed, with the abdomen obviously decreasing in size poste¬
riorly. It is even almost triangular in some. The club
of the antennae is elongated. These constitute the genus
Macronota of Wiedemann (Plate CCXXXVIII. fig. 15).
“ Mais toutes ces coupes n acquerront de la solidite que
lorsqu’on aura fait un etude particuliere des nombreuses
especes du genre Cetonia de Fabricius.”6
The European Cetoniae are provided with a scutellum
of ordinary size. C. aurata (commonly called the rose-
beetle) is well known in many parts of England. It is
nearly an inch long, of a brilliant golden green above,
with coppery red reflections beneath, and some whitish
markings on the elytra. It has been taken in Morayshire
by the Misses Dick Lauder, and is also know n to have
occurred in Dumfriesshire. It is still, however, to be re¬
garded as inter rariores of the Scottish species. Dejean’a
Catalogue contains 125 Cetonise, of wdiich the greater
part are foreign to Europe. They occur over all the
warmer regions of the earth. Java produces several of
great beauty, of which C. Macleayi is described, and figur¬
ed by Mr Kirby in his Century of Insects.’1 The one which
we have represented, C. Baxii (Plate CCXXXVIII. fig-
11), is highly prized by collectors.
Tribe 2d, Lucanides.
In this second tribe or principal division of the lamel-
licorn Coleoptera, which derives its name from the genus
Lucanus of Linneeus, the club of the antennae is compos¬
ed of leaflets or dentations disposed perpendicularly to its
1 See Olivier, CoUopteres, No. 6, pi. 5, fig. 33, et pi. 9, fig. 33. We are indebted to Mr Joseph Dalton Hooker for an accurate
drawing of the valuable specimen in the Glasgow Museum. We did not receive it till the figure above referred to had been copied
by our engraver from Olivier’s work. , .
2 Linn. Trans, vol. xii. p» 407* 3 Encyclopedic Mithodi(iu€) <iYt» Scarabcidcs. S00 also Dojoan s Catalogue^ p* luo.
4 Hor. Ent. p. 74. * ^
« Regne Animal, t. iv. p. 574.
J Linn. Trans, vol. xii.
128 E N T O M
Ooleoptera axis, like the teeth of a comb. These organs always con-
Pentamera. gjst 0f ten joints, of which the first is usually much longer
tjian [he others. The mandibles are always corneous,
generally projecting, and of larger size as well as of differ¬
ent form in the males. The maxillae in most terminate
in a narrow lobe, lengthened and silky; in others they
are entirely corneous and dentated. The ligula in the
greater number is formed of two small silky pencils, more
or less projecting beyond the mentum, which is almost
semicircular or square. The anterior legs are generally
elongated, with the tibiae dentated all along their outer
edge. The tarsi are terminated by two hooks, equal,
simple, with a small appendage, ending in two setae, be¬
tween them.1 These insects compose two sections which
correspond to the genera Lucanus and Passalus of Oli¬
vier.
*
In the first the antennae are greatly bent or genicu¬
late, smooth, or but slightly hirsute ; the labrum small, or
confounded with the epistoma; the maxillae terminated
by a membranous or coriaceous lobe, very silky, pencil¬
shaped, without teeth, or with one at most; the ligula
either entirely concealed, or incorporated with the men¬
tum, or divided into two narrow elongated silky lobes,
more or less projecting beyond the mentum. The scu-
tellum is placed between the elytra.
In some genera the antennal club consists only of from
three to four joints or leaflets. Such are Synodendron2
of Fab. (PI. CCXXX VIII. fig. 20), ^salus of Fab., Lam-
prima of Lat. (ibid. figs. 17 and 22), Ryssonotus, Mac-
leay (Luc. nebulosus of Kirby), Philodotus, Macl. (ibid,
fig. 19), and Lucanus properly so called (ibid. fig. 18). To
the last belongs L. cervus (Plate CCXXXIIL figs. 1, 2, 3),
the largest and most formidable looking of the British
Coleoptera. It inhabits the interior of oaks and beeches
for several years before assuming its final transformation,
and is by some regarded as the Cossus of the ancients, a
vermiform larva, long regarded as a delicious food, but not
now coveted by the refined epicures of modern days.3 In
other genera of this section the club of the antennae, as in
Syndesus of Macleay, is composed of the seven terminal
articulations.4
# #
The Lucanides of the second section have the antennae
simply bent, or but slightly geniculate and hairy; the la¬
brum is always exposed, crustaceous, and transversal; the
mandibles strong and much dentated, but without any
remarkable disproportion of size between the sexes; the
maxillae are entirely corneous, with two strong teeth at
least; the ligula, likewise corneous or very hard, is placed
in the superior emargination of the mentum, and termi¬
nated by three points. The abdomen is supported on a
kind of pedicle, bearing the scutellum above it, and se¬
parated from the thorax by a neck or obvious interval.
These insects form the genus Passalus of Fabricius (Plate
CCXXX VIII. figs. 21 and 23), which has undergone sub¬
division in recent times. In Paxillus of Macleay, for ex¬
ample (fig. 23), the club of the antennae is composed of
five joints, the labruin is very short, the maxillae have but
two teeth, one terminal, the other on the inner side.5 Mr
Macleay restricts Passalus to such species as have only
three articulations to the club of the antennae, as shown
O L O G Y.
by fig. 21. The last-named author here places the genus Coleoptera
Chiron, which Latreille classes with the coprophagous tribe. Hetero-
All these insects are foreign to Europe, and we believe also mera*
to Africa. They are characteristic chiefly of South Ame-
rica, but are also known in New Holland, Java, and the
eastern countries of Asia. Madame Merian informs us that
the larva of the species figured in her work feeds on the
roots of the sweet potato* The perfect insect is well
known in sugar-houses.
HETEROMERA.
Five Articulations to the first four Tarsi, and four to the
hindmost fair.
All the groups of this, the second primary section of
the coleopterous order, feed on vegetable substances. La¬
treille comprises them under four great families, of which
the first two exhibit, by reason of an excrementitious ap¬
paratus discovered by M. Dufour, an analogy to some of
the pentamerous Coleoptera. Their chylific ventricle is
also frequently beset by papillas. In several of these in¬
sects we find the vestiges of another secreting apparatus,
of which we have few examples among the Coleoptera,
that denominated the salivary apparatus. The hepatic
vessels, as in the preceding or pentamerous section, with
few exceptions, amount to six in number, and have two
intestines, distant from each other; at one extremity,
according to Dufour, they are inserted by six insulated
ends around the collar which terminates the chylific ven¬
tricle ; at the other they open into the origin of the caecum
by trunks varying in number in different families and
genera.
The first general division of the section may be made
to contain the first three families. The elytra are gene¬
rally of a firm and hard consistence, the hooks of the
tarsi almost always simple, the head ovoid or oval, sus¬
ceptible of being sunk posteriorly in the thorax, or some¬
times narrowed behind, but not abruptly, and without any
neck at the base. Many of these insects are “ darklings,”
that is, lucifugous or light-shunning.
FAMILY I—MELASOMA.
This group consists of black or ash-coloured species,
without mixture or variety of colour, from which circum¬
stance they derive their name.6 They are for the most
part apterous, with the elytra as it were soldered together.
The antennae are partly or entirely granose, almost of the
same size throughout, or a little enlarged at their extremi¬
ty, inserted under the projecting margin of the head, with
the third articulation generally elongated. The mandibles
are bifid or emarginate at the extremity, and there is a
corneous tooth or hook on the inner side of the maxillae.
All the articulations of the tarsi are entire, and the eyes
are oblong and but slightly elevated—a character which,
according to M. Marcel de Serres, indicates nocturnal ha¬
bits. Almost all these insects dwell upon the ground, either
in sandy soils or under stones, and they are not unfre-
^ See our elementary plate (CCXXXIII.) figs. 1, 2, and 3. * from 2uv, mth, and Asimov, mood,.
. ® we have given figures on the plates above referred to, of most of the genera just named, we abstain from entering into the de¬
tails of their respective characters.
I *r°,f a. description of the singular genus Chiasognathus of Stephens, see the Cambridge Philosophical Transactions for 1831.
,T .Ahe insect which we have figured under the name of Passalluspentaphyllus, is, we believe, synonymous with PaxiUus Leachii of
Macleay, Hor. Ent. p. 106. ’ J
6 From black) and trcoftot) body.
E N T O M
Coleoptera quent in cellars, stables, the ground floors of houses, and
mera0.’ ®ther dar1^ and .sombre situations. According to M. Du~
four,1 the insertion of the biliary vessels takes place on the
under surface of the caecum, by means of a single tubular
trunk resulting from the junction of two strong short
branches, themselves composed of the reunion of three
biliary vessels. The bile is yellow, sometimes brown, or
even violet coloured. The alimentary tube2 is long; in the
first tribe, that of the Pimeliariae, three times the length
of the body. The oesophagus is long, and leads to a crop,
smooth or glabrous externally, more developed among the
last-named insects, where it forms an ovoid sac lodged in
the pectus; it is furnished interiorly with folds or longi¬
tudinal fleshy columns, terminating in some species, such
as Erodii and Pimelice, beside the chylific ventricle, at a
valve formed of four principal corneous, oval, and conni-
vent parts. I he chylific ventricle is elongated, flexuous
or doubled, generally beset with small papillae or project-
ing points, and terminates in a small collar, callous within,
which receives the first insertion of the biliary vessels.
In the genera Slaps and Asida there is a salivary appara¬
tus, consisting of two floating vessels or tubes, sometimes,
as in the latter, perfectly simple, sometimes, as in the for¬
mer, irregularly branched. The same structure no doubt
will be found to occur in others of the family. The tex¬
ture of the tunics of the alimentary canal has been studied
with great care and assiduity by M. Marcel de Serres.3
I he adipose tissue is more abundant in these Heteromera
than in the ensuing ; and it is probably tbis provision which
enables them, even when transfixed and fastened down by
a pin, to live for six months without food—a fact witness¬
ed (we presume accidentally) by Latreille in a species of
Aids.
Our present family, which corresponds to the ancient
unrestricted genus Tenebrio of the Linnaean system, is
subdivided according to the absence or presence of the
wings.
Tribe 1st, Pimeliarije.4
Apterous, the elytra generally fixed or soldered. Palpi
almost filiform, or terminated by an article not greatly
dilated, and not forming a distinct triangular or securi¬
form mass.
In tbe genus Pimelia properly so called,5 the body is
more or less ovoid and oval, witb the thorax narrower
even at the base than the abdomen, generally convex,
without sharp prolongations at the posterior angles, or
posterior projection at the praesternum. These insects
are proper to the basin of the Mediterranean, to the west¬
ern and southern parts of Asia, and to Africa.
In the three following genera the body is ovoid, short,
arched or gibbous above, with the thorax short, as broad
posteriorly as the base of the elytra, and terminated on
each side by a sharp angle. The praesternum is dilated pos¬
teriorly in the manner of a lamina or point, with its pos¬
terior extremity resting on the mesosternum. In Erodius,
Lat. the last two joints of the antennae are united, and
form a little button-shaped mass. The anterior tibiae have
a strong tooth near the middle of the exterior side, and
another on the same side at the end. The mentum is
incased (encadre) inferiorly, and covers the base of the
maxillae. E. gibbus, which is black, the elytra with thin
raised lines, occurs in Portugal. In Zophosis,6 Lat. the
O L O G Y. 129
antennae are almost filiform, or enlarge insensibly towards Coleoptera
the end. The anterior tibiae want the teeth. Z. testudi- Hetero¬
warms is black, the elytra chagrined, and covered on the mera-
sides with a whitish powder. It occurs at the Cabe. In 's^v^w'
Nyctelia, Lat. (PI. CCXXXVIII. fig. 24), the third article
of the antennae Is much larger than the preceding, and
the following, as well as the ninth and tenth, are almost
globular. The base of the maxillae is exposed. The species
are proper to South America.
In the genus Hegeter, Lat. the thorax assumes the
form of a trapezium, almost as broad at the posterior mar¬
gin as the base of the elytra, against which it is applied
throughout its breadth. The terminal article of the an¬
tennae is rather less than the preceding. In Tentyria
of Lat. (Akis, Fab.) the thorax is almost orbicular, some¬
times narrower than the abdomen, sometimes of the same
breadth, but rounded at the posterior angles, and leaving
an hiatus between them and the base of the elytra. The
terminal article of the antennae is as large as the preced¬
ing. These, as well as the following genera, are peculiar
to the warm and western countries of the ancient conti¬
nent.
The genus Akis7 of Fab. (PI. CCXXXVIII. fig. 25) is
now restricted to those species in which the thorax is
wider than the head, strongly emarginate before, short,
its posterior margin widely truncate, and the lateral edges
turned up. The antennae consist of eleven distinct articu¬
lations. In Eurychora,8 Thunberg, the body is oval, with
acute and ciliated edges, the thorax semicircular, and re¬
ceiving the head in an anterior notch, the abdomen almost
heart-shaped, and the antennae composed of linear articu¬
lations, compressed or angular, of which the third is the
longest, and the eleventh indistinct.
The following genera of this tribe differ from the pre¬
ceding in the mentum, of a square form, not being either
emarginate or widened at its upper margin. In Tage-
nia of Lat. (Akis, Fab.) the thorax is narrow, and either
cylindrical, or in the form of an elongated heart, truncate
at both ends. The antennae are almost perfoliate, with
the third articulation scarcely longer than the following
ones, and the eleventh or last extremely small, and closely
united with the preceding. The head is elongated pos¬
teriorly, and borne upon a kind of neck or knob. In
Scaurus,9 Fab. the thorax is at least as broad as the ab¬
domen, almost isometrical. The anterior thighs are strongly
inflated, and frequently dentated in the males. The tibia;
are long and narrow. The terminal article of the an¬
tennae is ovoid-conic, and elongated. The species are
peculiar to the western countries of the ancient conti¬
nent, and are confined to its warmer parts.. In Scoxo-
bius of Germar, the terminal article of the antennae is
scarcely longer than the preceding, and in the form of a
reversed top. The thorax is perceptibly broader than
long, and much arched in its lateral margins. These in¬
sects are peculiar to South America.
Other insects of this tribe, agreeing with those just
named in the entireness of the mentum, are remarkable
for the lateral dilatations or tooth-like projections of the
thorax. The eyes are more projecting than in the others,
and the antennae are pubescent. The elytra are very
unequal. Such is the genus Sepidium10 of Fab. of which
the species are found in the southern countries of Europe,
and in Africa.
1 Ann. des Sciences Nat. v. p. 276.
2 Ibid, iii p. 478.
•'5 Observ. sur les usages des diverses parties du tube intestinal des Insecies. Ann. du Mus.
4 From TUfnXn(,fat.
5 For the new generic divisions of Pimelia of Fabrieius, see Regne Animal, v. p. 5-7-
6 From Z/itpaa-?!, obscurity.
7 From a*/;, a javelin.
8 From 'Ev^u^ci^os, unde.
9 From 'Zxa.v^o;, having projecting clasn.
10 From YjjcrAav, putridity.
YOL. IX.
R
130 E N T O M
Coleoptera Among the last to which we shall here allude, is the ge-
Hctero- nus Tkachynotus, Lat. (PI. CCXXXVIII. fig. 26), which
inera. Jifferg from the preceding in the joints of the antennae :
these are mostly cylindrical, or in the form of an elon¬
gated and reversed cone, the last three or four being
alone rounded, and either ovoid, turbinated, or hemisphe¬
rical. The eyes are almost round or oval, entire, or but
slightly emarginate, and elevated. The last article of
the antennae is sensibly longer and thicker than the pre¬
ceding. .
In the genus Moluris, Lat. Psammodes, Kirby (I late
CCXXXVIII. fig. 27), the eyes are narrow and elongated,
and scarcely elevated. The thorax is convex, nearly orbicu¬
lar, emarginate in front, truncated posteriorly, and with¬
out angular dilatations on the sides. These insects, in
common with those immediately preceding, occur at the
Cape.
Tribe 2d, Blapsides, Lat.
This tribe receives its name from the genus Blaps of
Fabricius. The maxillary palpi are terminated by an
obviously dilated article, triangular or hatchet-shaped.
Among other anatomical observations made by M. Du-
four in relation to these insects, he states that they are
provided with a double excrementitial secreting appara¬
tus, totally different in structure from that of the penta-
merous tribes. It consists of two tolerably large oblong
bladders, placed altogether beneath the viscera of diges¬
tion and generation, closely approximated to each other,
with extremely thin pai ietes, and surrounded by vascular
folds, adherent, more or less pursed or turgid, and of which
it is difficult to ascertain the precise point of insertion,
from the impossibility of unrolling them. The same may
be said of the canals destined to the emission of the se¬
creted fluids. They are concealed by a kind of membra¬
nous diaphragm, which is applied, by means of a fleshy
pannicle, to the last ventrical segment. The fluid flows
out laterally, and not from the extremity of the terminal
segment: it is of a brownish colour, extremely acrid and
irritating, of a peculiar and penetrating odour, and is ca¬
pable of being thrown to a distance of six or eight inches.
Those in which the body is generally oblong, with the
abdomen laterally embraced by the elytra, and in which
these parts are frequently narrowed towards the end, and
terminate in a tail-like point, form Latreille’s first divi¬
sion. The tarsi are nearly alike in both sexes, and without
any remarkable dilatation. In the genus Acanthomera,
Lat. (PI. CCXXXIX. fig.2), the thorax is almost orbicu¬
lar, transversal; the abdomen nearly globular ; the third
article of the antennae cylindrical, and longer than the
ensuing. In Blaps1 proper (PI. CCXXXIX. fig. 27) the
thorax is almost square, and plane or but slightly convex.
The abdomen is oval, transversely truncate at the base,
more or less elongated. The elytra, for the most part, are
narrowed or prolonged to a point, especially in the males.
The third article of the antennae is cylindrical, and much
longer than the ensuing; the last is short and ovoid. As an
example of this genus (of which there are three British spe¬
cies), we may name a well-known insect, B. mortisaga
(ibid.) nearly an inch long, of a somewhat shining black,
the ends of the elytra forming an obtuse point. It oc¬
curs occasionally in pantries, store-rooms, and other parts
of houses, especially such as are dirty or neglected. A
o L O G Y.
species called Blaps sulcala is said by Fabricius to be Coleoptera
eaten by the Turkish women in Egypt, to make them fat. Hetero-
They cook it with butter. On the same authority, it is niera-
asserted to be used as a cure for headach and the sting
of the scorpion. In Scotinus of Kirby (PI. CCXXXIX.
fig. 9),2 the thorax is emarginate and uilated at the ante¬
rior corners, and the terminal joints of the antennae are
thickened, the two last being confounded together.
Then follow certain Blapsides with an oval and slightly
elongated body, and farther distinguished by a sexual
difference in the tarsi, the first or the two anterior pair
being most dilated in the males, and their inferior surface
usually silky, or furnished with a brush. These insects
frequent sandy places. Their two anterior tibiae are ge¬
nerally wider, dilated triangularly at the extremity, and
adapted for digging. Here are placed the genera Pedi~
nus, Blaptinus, &c. of Latreille, Dejean, and other au¬
thors.3
Tribe 3d, Tenebrionites, Lat.
These differ from the last in being provided with
wings. Their body is usually oval or oblong, depressed
or but slightly raised, with the thorax square or trape¬
zoidal, and as wide as the abdomen at its posterior extre¬
mity. The palpi are larger at their extremity ; the last
joint of the maxillary palpi has the form of a reversed tri¬
angle, or is hatchet-shaped : the mentum is but slightly
widened, and leaves the base of the maxillae exposed.
The genus Tenebrio, as originally arranged by Fabricius,
together with Opatrum and Orthocerus, serve in this tribe
as the types of as many divisions.
1st, Those in which the body is oval, with the thorax
nearly trapezoidal, arcuated laterally, or forming a semi¬
oval truncated anteriorly, wider than the abdomen, at
least at its posterior margin, but slightly, if at all, border¬
ed ; the maxillary palpi terminated by a securiform joint,
or nearly resembling that form ; the antenna? insensibly
enlarged. Here are placed the genera Crypticus of
Lat. and Opatrum, Fabricius.
2d, Those in which the body is narrow and elongated,
almost of equal breadth posteriorly, or wider, with the
thorax nearly square, and at least almost as long as it is
broad; the antenna? forming a thickish club, or abruptly
dilated at the extremity. Such are, among others, the
genera Cortlcus of Dejean (PI. CCXXXIX. fig. 13),
Orthocerus, Lat. (ibid. fig. 25), and Chiroscelis of
Lamarck (ibid. fig. 32).
3d, 'Those of which the body is equally narrow and
elongated, with the thorax nearly square, but of which
the antennae are of the ordinary thickness, and not abrupt¬
ly terminated by a mass or club. In Upis, Lat. (Plate
CCXXXIX. fig. 5), the thorax forms a lengthened square ;
the body is narrow, though not linear; the penultimate
joints of the antennae are lenticular and transversal. In
Tenebrio4 properly so called (ibid, fig.' 23), the thorax
differs from that of Upis in being broader than long. T.
mohtor (ihe species figured) is a well-known insect, which
appears in the evening in the least frequented parts of
houses. It is likewise found in flour-mills, bakehouses,
and among old walls. Its larva, commonly called the
meal-worm (ibid. fig. 29), is long, cylindrical, of an ochry
yellow, scaly in its texture, and smooth. It lives among
bran and flour, and forms a favourite and judicious food
1 From slotv>
* Owing to the accidental omission, by the engraver, of several figures, which were afterwards inserted in the vacant spaces, some
of the subjects of Plate OOXXXlX.are by no means in systematic order; but the references in the text will be found correct.
3 See Regtie Animal, t. iv. p. 45(J.
4 Ihe name refers to the habits of the species, and signifies one that shuns the light.
ENTOMOLOGY
Coleoptera for nightingales in the domestic state. It sometimes oc-
mera. curs In interior of the human body. How it gets
■ ,- —nobody seems to know, but the fact is certain. We
have three or four species of the genus in Britain. In a
singular gen us, named Heterotahsus1 by Latreille (Plate
CCXXXiX. hg. 30), the penultimate joint of the tarsi is
extremely small, in the form of a little knob, and received
into a longitudinal groove of that which precedes it, which
is itself more dilated, and almost cordiform (ibid. figs. 34
and 36). The only species with which we are acquainted
comes from Senegal. It has all the characters of a Tene-
bno, with the exception of its remarkable tarsi. At first
sight the two anterior seem to consist but of four joints,
and the two others of three. See the figures last refer¬
red to.
FAMILY II—TAXICORNES, Lat.
# 1° this family the small corneous tooth on the inner
side of the maxillae, mentioned in our generalities of the
preceding tribes, is wanting. All the species are winged.
Their body is generally square, tbeir thorax trapezoidal
or semicircular, and either concealing or receiving the
head. The antennae, usually inserted beneath a marginal
projection of the sides of the head, are short, more or less
perfoliate or granose, and either enlarge insensibly or
terminate in a club. Ihe legs are not adapted for run¬
ning, and all the articles of the tarsi are entire, and ter¬
minated by simple hooks; the anterior tibiae are often
broad and triangular. ^ Several males have the head fur¬
nished with horns. The greater proportion of these Ple-
teromera occur on tree fungi, or beneath the bark; some
live on the ground under stones. M. Dufour has observ¬
ed an excrementitial secreting apparatus in several genera,
and salivary vessels are known to exist in the genus Dia-
peris. The chylific ventricle is beset with little hair-like
papillae.
In some the head is exposed, and never entirely re¬
ceived into a deep anterior notch of the thorax. The lat¬
ter portion is sometimes trapezoidal or square, sometimes
almost cylindrical; its margins, as well as those of the ely¬
tra, do not extend perceptibly beyond the body. This
division forms
Tribe 1st, Diaperales, Lat.
In the^ genus Diaperis properly so called2 (Plate
CCXXXIX. fig. 1), the maxillary palpi terminate in an ar¬
ticle scarcely thicker than the preceding, and nearly cy¬
lindrical ; the anterior tibiae, scarcely, if at all, larger than
the following, are narrow, almost linear, and feebly dilated
at their extremity. Among the ovoid and convex species,
with the cential portion of the thorax lobate posteriorly,
we may name the insect here figured, D. boleti. Its body
measures about three or four lines in length; it is of a
shining black, vvith three bands of fulvous yellow, transverse
and dentated, upon the elytra. It is a well-known British
species, not yet observed in Scotland. In Leiodes of Lat.
(Anisotoma of hab.) the body is short and convex, and the
antennae terminate in an oval mass of five joints, of which
the second is the least. Mr Stephens enumerates above
thirty British species, of which L. arenaria was lately dis¬
covered near Cramond Bridge, Edinburgh.3 In this tribe
are contained several other genera of minute insects, such
as Tetratoma, Herbst, Eledona, Lat. &c.
TIube 2d, Cossyphenes, Lat.
These are analogous in form to the genus Peltis of Fab.
and to several Nitidulae and Cassidae. They are ovoid or
sub-hemispherical, and overlapped in their contour by the
dilated sides of the thorax and elytra. The head is in
some entirely concealed beneath the thorax,—in others it
is received or incased in its anterior emargination. The
last joint or the maxillary palpi is larger than the preced¬
ing ones, and hatchet-shaped. This tribe corresponds to
the unrestricted genus Cossypiius of Olivier and Fabricius.
In the genus Cossyphus properly so called (Plate
CCXXXIX. fig. 3),the thorax is almost semicircular, exhibits
no anterior emargination, and entirely covers and conceals
the head. The antennae are short, terminate abruptly in
an oval mass of four articles, chiefly transversal: the se¬
cond of the whole number and the following ones are al¬
most identical. These insects inhabit the East Indies,
the south of Europe, and the north of Africa. In He-
LiEus of Lat. and Kirby, the head is received into a deep
emai gination, or median aperture of the thorax, and is ex¬
posed at least superiorly. The antennae terminate gra¬
dually in a narrow elongated club. These insects are
peculiar to New Holland. Some other species, proper to
South America, of which the body is almost hemispheri¬
cal, very convex, and of a soft or slightly solid consistence,
form the genus Nilio of Lat. At first sight they remind
one of Coccinellae, and of various species of Erotyli.
FAMILY III.—STENELYTltA,- Lat.
This family of heteromerous Coleoptera differs from the
preceding one chiefly in the antenna?, which are neither
granose nor perfoliated. In the greater number the ex¬
tremity is not thickened. Ihe body is generally oblong,
aicuated above, and the legs elongated, as in many other
insects. Ihe males, except in their antennae and general
dimensions, resemble the females. Our present species
generally are of much more active habits than those we
have just left. Many conceal themselves beneath the
bark of trees, while most of the others are met with on
flowers and foliage. Linnasus referred most of them to
his genus Tenebrio, and distributed the remainder among
the incongruous groups of Neeydcdis, Chrysomela, Ceram-
byx, and Cantharis. In the first edition of the Regne
Animal, Latreille combined them under a single genus,
that of Helops; but a more intimate knowledge of their
structure, interior as well as exterior, has since induced
him to partition them into five tribes, referable to a corre¬
sponding number of the older genera, viz. Helops, Cistela,
Dirca-a, of Fab. and CEdemera and Mycterus of Olivier.
In Qudemera the head is more or less narrowed, and pro¬
longed anteriorly in the form of a muzzle, and the penul¬
timate article of the tarsi is always bilobed,—a character
which seems to connect these insects with the weevils, or
rhyncophorous Coleoptera. In respect to the digestive canal,
and some other considerations, Helops and Cistela approach
fhe "1 enebi iones; but in Cistela the chylific ventricle is
smooth, and the mandibles entire, and the species affect
flowers and leaves, a habit by which they are distinguish¬
ed from Helops. Most of the Dircese possess the faculty
of leaping, and the penultimate article of the tarsi, or at
least of some of them, is bifid. Some live in mushrooms,
others in old wood. I hey connect on one side with He-
131
Coleoptera
Hetero-
1 From sVsga;, different, and a part of the foot or hand. »   ,, ,
I From20^ Edinensis' P; ,45- also.Possess an undescribed species, from the same localitvrnamCdTn our cfbinet L fnsckd'u.
I rom mutts, narrow, and t\Vre„, sheath, in reference to the form of the elytra. ' J^ch.ol *.
132 E N T O M
Coleopteralops, and on the other with CEdemera, and still more with
Hetero- that sub-genus of the same tribe named Nothus by Zieg-
mera. ]er> These are the principles by which Latreille has been
recently directed in his arrangement of the present family.
A certain number (including the first four tribes) have
the antennae approximate to the eyes, and the head not
prolonged into a trunk, but terminated at most by a short
muzzle.
Tribe 1st, Helopii.
Antennae covered at their insertion by the margins of
the head, almost filiform, or a little larger towards the ex¬
tremity, generally composed of nearly cylindrical articles
attenuated towards the base, and of which the penulti¬
mate are frequently a little shorter, in the form of a re¬
versed cone,—the terminal being for the most part nearly
ovoid, and the third always lengthened. The extremity
of the mandibles is bifid; the last joint of the maxillary
palpi is of larger size, and hatchet-shaped, or in the form
of a reversed triangle. The eyes are oblong, reniform,
or emarginate. None of the legs are adapted for leaping;
the penultimate joint of the tarsi, or at least of the hind¬
most ones, is almost always entire, or not deeply bilobed ;
the terminal hooks are simple, or without fissure or den¬
tation. The body is for the most part arcuated above, and
always of a firm and solid consistence. Such of the larvae
as are known are filiform, smooth, shining, with very short
feet, like those of the Tenebriones. They occur in old
wood. It is also beneath the bark of ancient trees that
we find the perfect insects. The tribe corresponds in
great part to the genus Helops of Fabricius.
Some have the body almost elliptical, strongly arcuated
above, or very convex, with the antennae at the utmost as
long as the thorax, compressed and dilated towards their
extremity, like the teeth of a saw ; the thorax transversal,
plane above, either trapezoidal and widening posteriorly,
or almost square; the elytra frequently terminated by a
point or tooth. The posterior extremity of the praester-
num forms a little salient point, which is received by a
forked notch of the mesosternum. Here are placed the
genera Epitragus and Cnodalon of Lat. and Campsia
of Lepelletier and Serville.
In all the other Helopii, the mesosternum exhibits no
marked emargination, and the posterior extremity of the
praesternum is not prolonged to a point. Here are placed
the genera Spheniscus of Kirby, Acanthopus of Me-
gerle and Dejean, Amarygmus of Dalman, SpHiEROxus
and Adelium of Kirby, and Helops properly so called.
In the last named, most of the joints of the antennae are
nearly in the form of a reversed cone, or cylindrical and
attenuated at the base. The thorax is transverse, or
scarcely as long as broad, either square, or trapezoidal, or
heart-shaped, abruptly narrowed posteriorly, terminated
by pointed angles, and always applied exactly to the base
of the elytra. Here also are placed the genera LjENA of
Megerle, Stenotraciielus, Strongylium of Kirby, and
Pytho of Latreille.1
Tribe 2d, Cistelides.
This is very closely allied to the preceding, but the
insertion of the antennas is not covered. The mandibles
terminate in an entire point, or are unemarginate. The
hooks of the tarsi are dentated beneath like the teeth of
a comb. Several of these insects live on flowers. Their
O L O G Y.
digestive canal is shorter than that of the Helopii, and Coleoptera
the chylific ventricle exhibits no papillae. They corre- Hetero-
spond to the genus Cistela of Fabricius. ^ ^era-
In some all the articles of the tarsi are entire. The
last joint of the maxillary palpi is simply a little larger,
obconical or triangular. In Lystronichus, Lat., the tho¬
rax is thick, narrower than the abdomen, almost orbicular
or heart-shaped. The antennae are thickened towards the
extremity. The thighs are clubbed. In Cistela pro¬
perly so called, the thorax is depressed, trapezoidal, of
the breadth of the abdomen at its posterior margin, or
scarcely narrower. The antennae are filiform, or slightly
enlarged at the extremity, and the head is advanced in the
manner of a muzzle. In others, such as the genus Alle-
cula, Fab., the penultimate article of the tarsi is bilobed,
and the last joint of the maxillary palpi much dilated, in
the form of a hatchet. The body is generally more oblong.
Tribe 3d, Serropalpides.
The most remarkable distinction of this tribe, and that
from which it derives its name, is the frequent serration
of the maxillary palpi, which are likewise large and in¬
clined. The antennae are inserted in an emargination of
the eyes, exposed as in the preceding tribe, and often
short and filiform. The mandibles are emarginate or bifid
at the extremity, and the hooks of the tarsi are simple.
The body is almost cylindrical in some, oval in others,
with the head inclined and the thorax trapezoidal. The
anterior extremity of the head is not advanced, and the
posterior thighs are not inflated. The penultimate ar¬
ticle of the tarsi, or at least of the four anterior, is fre¬
quently bilobed ; and in those in which it is entire the pos¬
terior legs at least are adapted for leaping ; they are thin,
long, compressed, the tarsi small, almost setaceous, with
the first article elongated. The anterior are always short
and dilated. The genus Dirccea of Fabricius forms the
type of the tribe. It contains the genera Orchesia, Lat.,
Eustrophus, Illiger, Hallomenus, Paykul, Dirclea
(proper), Fab., Melandrya, Fab., Hypulus, Paykul,
Serropalpus, Hellw., and Conopalpus, Gyll.
Tribe 4th, GEdemerites.2
This tribe is allied to the preceding by several charac¬
ters, such as the exposed insertion of the antennas near
the eyes, the bifid extremity of the mandibles, the bilo-
bation of the penultimate article of the tarsi, and the
hatchet shape of the terminal joint of the maxillary palpi;
but they exhibit other characters, which authorize their
separation. The body is elongated, narrow, almost linear,
with the head and thorax scarcely so broad as the abdo¬
men ; the antennae are longer than those parts, serrated
in some (such as Calopus), filiform or setaceous, and com¬
posed of long and nearly cylindrical articles, in others.
The anterior extremity of the head is more or less pro¬
longed in the form of a small muzzle, and rather restricted
behind, with the eyes proportionally more elevated than
among the preceding tribes. The thorax is at least as
long as wide, and a little narrowed behind. The elytra
are linear, or narrowed posteriorly, and are frequently
flexible. Latreille regards the species as allied to Tele¬
phones and Zonitis. M. Dufour has recognised in the
CEdemerites the existence of salivary vessels, of a simple
nature, flexuous and floating, as well as of a paunch form¬
ed by a lateral crop, furnished with a neck or pedicle.
1 For the details of these and other genera of the tribe which we have been unable to do more than name, we must refer the reader
to Latreille’s Genera Crustac. et Insect.; the Encydop. Method.; Linn. Trans, vol. xii.; Dalman’s Analecta Entomol. ; Dejean’s Catalogue,
and Fischer’s Entomog. de la Russie.
2 From aibiu. I swell, and fa^s, thigh.
E N T O M
Coleoptera They are the only Coleoptera in which that character has
Ileiero- [,een observed. These insects, of which the transl’orma-
mera' tions are unknown, are found on flowers and trees. They
are all comprised in the old genus (Edemera of Olivier.
In some the antennae are always short, inserted in a
notch of the eyes, and simple ; the posterior thighs are
inflated, at least in one of the sexes ; the thorax as broad
as the base of the abdomen; and the hooks of the tarsi
bifid. Such is the genus Nothus of Ziegler, in which the
maxillary palpi are terminated by a large elongated hat¬
chet-shaped article. The posterior legs in one of the
sexes are very large, and furnished beneath with a strong
tooth and two little spurs, near the lower extremity of
the tibiae. The head is not prolonged anteriorly.
In others the antennae are always longer than the head
and thorax, the legs usually of nearly equal size, the tho¬
rax narrower than the base of the abdomen, slightly nar¬
rowed posteriorly, and the hooks of the tarsi entire. Such
are Calopus, Fab. Sparedrus, Megerle, Dytilus, Fisch.
and CEdemera properly so called (PI. CCXXXIX. fig. 4).
Tribe 5th, Rhynchostoma.1
In this, which forms the concluding tribe of the Stene-
lytra, are grouped certain insects, some of which are evi¬
dently allied to the preceding, while others in a natural
system might be regarded as belonging to the Rhynco-
phori. The head is obviously prolonged anteriorly in the
form of an elongated muzzle, or of a flattened trunk,
bearing the antennae at its base, and in advance of the
eyes, which are always entire or without emargination.
Sometimes the antennae are filiform, and the muzzle not
enlarged at the base; the thorax is narrowed in front in
form of a truncated cone or of a trapezium; the ligula
is emarginate, and the terminal joint of the tarsi bilobed.
These insects occur on flowers, a habitat indicated by the
silky prolongation of the terminal lobe of the maxillae.
Such are the genera Stenostoma, Fab. and Mycterus,
Clairville.
Sometimes the antennae are terminated by an elongat¬
ed mass, formed by from three to five terminal joints;
the muzzle is very flat, with a projecting angle on each
side, anterior to the extremity; the thorax is in the form
of a truncated heart, narrowed posteriorly; the ligula
and all the joints of the tarsi are entire. These insects
dwell beneath the bark of trees, and seem allied to the
Anthribi of Fabricius. They form the genus Rhinosimus
of Lat. and Oliv. Those of which the club of the an¬
tenna? consists of only three articles, fall under the genus
Salpingus of Illiger. We have several British species.
The second general division of heteromerous Coleop¬
tera forms
FAMILY IV.—TRACK ELIDES.
The head is triangular or heart-shaped, borne upon a
kind of neck or abrupt pedicle ; the body is usually soft;
the elytra flexible, without striae, sometimes very short,
in others slightly inclined. The maxillae are not ungui-
culated. The joints of the tarsi are often entire, and the
hooks of the posterior ones bifid. The majority of these
insects live in the perfect state on various plants, of which
they devour the foliage, or suck the nectarous juices.
Many, when seized, bend their heads, contract their limbs,
and simulate death. Others are extremely active. La-
treille divides them into six tribes.
O L O G Y. 133
Coleoptera
Tribe 1st, Lagriari^:. Hetero-
These have the body elongated, and narrower in front;
the thorax either almost cylindrical or square, or ovoid
and truncated. The antennae, inserted near a notch on
the eyes, are simple, filiform, or insensibly increasing
towards the extremity, generally and at least partially
granose, with the terminal article longer than the preced¬
ing in the males. The palpi are thickened at their ex¬
tremity, and the terminal joint of the maxillary is larger,
and in the form of a reversed triangle. The thighs are
oval and clubbed ; the tibiie elongated, narrow, with at
least the two anterior arched. The penultimate article
of the tarsi is bilobed, and the hooks of the last are nei¬
ther incised nor dentated. The tribe is formed of the
genus Lagria of Fabricius, subdivided in accordance with
certain characters detailed in the Regne Animal, U v.
p. 52.
Tribe 2d, Pyrochroides,
Approach the preceding in regard to the tarsi and the
elongation and restriction of the anterior part of the
body,—but the latter is flattened, with the thorax almost
orbicular or trapezoidal. The antennae, at least in the
males, are pectinated or plumose—en panache ; the max¬
illary palpi are somewhat toothed or serrated, and ter¬
minate in an elongated and almost hatchet-shaped article ;
the labial palpi are filiform. The abdomen is elongated,
entirely covered by the elytra, and rounded at the end.
These insects are found in woods in spring. The larvas
dwell beneath the bark of trees.
In the genus Dendroides, Lat. the antennae of the
males are almost as long as the body, and give off' long
bearded filaments; in the same sex the eyes are large,
and approximated behind. The thorax is trapezoidal, or
in the form of a truncated cone; and the body, as well as
the legs, is proportionally more elongated. In the genus
Pyrochroa properly so called2 (PI. CCXXXIX. fig. 6)
the antennae are shorter and simply pectinated, the eyes
distant, and the thorax almost orbicular and transversal.
Tribe 3d, Mordellonas.
These do not present, either in relation to the form of
the tarsi and their hooks, or to that of the antennae, any
constant character in common, but they are easily distin¬
guished from the other Heteromera of the same family
by the general conformation of their body. It is elevated,
and arcuated ; the head is low, the thorax trapezoidal or
semicircular, and the elytra either very short, or narrow¬
ed, and terminated by a point, as well as the abdomen.
Several of these insects approach the Pyrochroides in
respect to their antennae ;—others in their maxillae, the
hooks of the tarsi, and their parasitical habits, resemble
Nemognathus and Sitaris, two genera of an ensuing tribe ;
—but they differ from all of these in their extreme agili¬
ty, and the firm and solid consistence of their teguments.
They formed the old genus Mordella of Linn.
Some have the palpi almost of the same thickness
throughout. The antennae of the males are strongly pec¬
tinated or fan-like. The extremity of the mandibles offers
no emargination. The articles of the tarsi are always en¬
tire, and the hooks of the hindmost are dentated or bifid.
The middle of the posterior margin of the thorax is al¬
ways much prolonged backwards, like a scutellum. The
eyes are unemarginate. The larvae of certain species (/&-
piphori) live in the nests of wasps.
The genus Ripiphorus of Bose (PI. CCXXXIX. fig. 7)
1 From leak, and aro^a, month.
From Kv^,fire, and yellow.
134 E N T O M
Coleoptera has the wings extended, and reaching beyond the elytra,
Hetero- whjch equal the length of the abdomen. The hooks of
. ‘ncr^' , the tarsi are bifid. The antennae, inserted near the inner
edge of the eyes, are pectinated on both sides in the
males,—serrated, or with only a single range of short
teeth, in the females. The terminal lobe of the maxillae
is very long, linear, and projecting ; and the ligula is also
elongated, and deeply bifid. Some naturalists having
found in the nest of the common wasp several living
specimens of H. paradoxus, it has been inferred that
they live there in the larva state. M. Farines, however,
has observed that the larva of R. bimaculatus lives and
undergoes its transformations in the roots of Eryngium
campestre.1 Here are placed the genera Pelocotoma of
Fischer, and Myodites of Lat.
Others have the wings always covered by the elytra,
which are prolonged nearly to the extremity of the ab¬
domen, and terminate in a point. The posterior margin
of the thorax is slightly if at all lobed. The abdomen of
the females is terminated by a pointed tail. The eyes
are sometimes emarginate. The maxillary palpi are ter¬
minated by a large article, in the form of a hatchet or re¬
versed triangle. The extremity of the mandibles is notch¬
ed or bifid. The antennas, even in the males, are merely
serrated. In Mordella properly so called (PI. CCXXXIX.
fig. 8), the antennae, of equal size throughout, are slightly
serrated in the males. All the articles of the tarsi are
entire, and the hooks of the last present beneath one or
two small indentations. M. Dufour has observed in a
species of this genus two floating salivary vessels, longer
than the body. The hepatic vessels have no caecal in¬
sertion,—an exceptive character in the present section.
The genus Anaspis,2 Geoff, is distinguished from the pre¬
ceding by the antennae, which are simple, and gradually
enlarged, by the emargination of the eyes, and by the four
anterior tarsi, of which the penultimate article is bilobed.
The hooks of the last are entire and without sensible den¬
tations.
Tribe 4th, Anthicides.
Here the antennae are simple, or slightly serrate, fili¬
form, or a little thicker towards the end, and most of the
articles are in the form of a reversed cone, and nearly
alike, except the last (and sometimes also the two pre¬
ceding), which is larger and oval. The maxillary palpi
are terminated by a securiform club. The penultimate
joint of the tarsi is bilobed. The body is narrow anterior¬
ly, with the eyes entire or slightly emarginate. The tho¬
rax is sometimes in the form of a reversed oval, narrowed
and truncated posteriorly, sometimes divided into two
knots, in others semicircular. Certain species are found
on plants of different kinds, but the majority occur upon
the ground. They run with great swiftness, and their
larvae have been supposed to be parasitical. They com¬
pose the genus Notoxus3 of Geoffroy, which Latreille
divides into Seraptia, Steropis, and Notoxus proper¬
ly so called.4
I he two concluding tribes of this family, and of the
heteromerous section, exhibit certain characters in com¬
mon, such as the termination of the mandibles in a sim¬
ple point, the palpi filiform or simply a little longer at their
extremity, but never either clubbed or securiform, the
abdomen soft, the elytra flexible, and in most instances
blistering or vesicatorial, and, with few exceptions, the
ai tides of the tarsi entire, and the hooks of these parts
O L O G Y.
generally bifid. They are all herbivorous in the perfect Coleoptera
state, but many are parasitical, while larvae, in the dwel- Hetero-
lings of other tribes. , ”ieia‘ ,
Tribe 5th, Horiales.
These differ from the ensuing, or Cantharidiae, in their
hooks, which are dentated, and each accompanied by a
serrated appendage. The antennae are filiform, not long¬
er than the thorax; the labrum is small, the mandibles
strong and projecting, the palpi filiform, the thorax square,
and the two posterior legs very robust, at least in one of
the sexes. The tribe is composed of the genus FIoria
of Fabricius (PI. CCXXXIX. fig. 10). These insects
inhabit the intratropical regions of India and America.
The lamented Lansdown Guilding has published figures
and a short history of H. maculata.5 It deposits its eggs
in the nest of a wood-gnawing bee (Xylocopa teredo), and
the larvae, when hatched, are supposed to devour the food
deposited in the ligneous chambers for a very different
purpose by the parent bee. “ Forsan,” says Mr Guild¬
ing, “ dum larva cibum apibus praeparatum avide consu-
mit, hospes fame perit.” It is often so.
Tribe 6th, Cantharidi;e.
This tribe is distinguished from the preceding by the
hooks of the tarsi, which are deeply divided, and appear
as if double. The head is generally large, broader, and
rounded posteriorly. The thorax is usually narrowed be¬
hind, and approaches the form of a truncated heart; in
some it is almost orbicular. The elytra are often some¬
what inclined laterally, or tectiform, and rounded. These
insects counterfeit death when seized, and several of
them exude a yellow caustic liquor, of a penetrating
odour, from the joints of their antennae; but no peculiar
apparatus for the production of that secretion has yet been
ascertained. Many kinds are highly serviceable in the
formation of blistering applications. They were all in¬
cluded originally in the old genus Meloe of Linnaeus,
now greatly subdivided. The anatomical observations of
M. Dufour, and the extremely interesting researches of
M. Bretonneau of Tours, on the vesicatorial properties
of this tribe of insects, have enabled Latreille to arrange
them in what he regards as a natural order,—not greatly
differing, however, from that which he had previously
adopted. M. Bretonneau has ascertained that the genus
Sitaris is not vesicatorial,—and M. Dufour has found that
these same Heteromera possess only four biliary vessels
instead of six, the amount by which other insects of the
tribe are characterized. That genus also resembles Zoni-
tis in its general organization, while the latter is itself
closely allied to Cantharis. The series of groups adopt¬
ed by Latreille is also in harmony with the progressive
changes in the form of the antennae.
In some these organs are composed in both sexes of
only nine articulations, of which the last is large, and in
the form of an ovoid head ; those of the males, as well as
their maxillary palpi, being very irregular. The body is
depressed. Such is the genus Cerocoma of Geoff. The
species make their appearance during the summer solstice,
and frequently in great numbers on the same spot. They
frequent the flowers of the wild chamomile, milfoil, &c.
Meloe Schofferi of Linn, of a bluish green, with the an¬
tennae and legs wax yellow, may be mentioned as an ex¬
ample.
In all the others the palpi are identical and regular in
1 Arinales dcs Sciences Nat. viii. 224
* I* rom a priv. and «<rcnf, scutellnm.
® f rom vert;, back, and eh f, pointed.
and Nouv. Diet. d'Uist. Nat. second edition, art. Ripiphore.
* .See Reffne Animal, t. v. p. 58 ; and Mem. des Nat. de Moscou, i. 160.
4 Linn. Trans, vol. xiv. part ii. p. 815.
ENTOMOLOGY.
135
Coleoptera both sexes. The antennae have generally eleven articu-
Hetero- lations, and when they offer one or two less they termi-
mera‘ nate regularly in a club. The body is tbickish, and the
elytra somewhat inclined.
In some the antennae, always regular and granose in
both sexes, sometimes appear to be composed of only from
nine to ten joints, and are not longer than half the body;
they occasionally terminate in an arcuated club, or are
obviously enlarged at the extremity; while in others they
form from the second joint a short cylindrical or almost
fusiform stem. They constitute the genus Mylabris of
Fabricius. Such of them as have the two or three last
joints of the antennae united, at least in the females, and
forming an abrupt, thick, ovoid, or button-shaped club, the
extremity of which does not extend beyond the thorax,
and in which the total joints are only from nine to ten,
form the genus Hycleus of Lat. Such, again, as have the
antennae proportionally longer, and offering in both sexes
eleven distinct and well-divided articulations, gradually
enlarging, or terminating by degrees in an elongated club,
of which the terminal joint, very distinguishable from the
preceding, is large and ovoid, belong to the genus Myla¬
bris properly so called (PI. CCXXXIX. fig. 11). The spe¬
cies we have here represented is the M. chicorii. It is more
than half an inch long, black, pilose, with an almost round
yellowish spot on the base of each elytron, and two trans¬
verse and indented bands of the same colour, one near the
centre, and the other nearer the extremity. The antennae
are black. This insect, unknown in Britain, is occasion¬
ally found as far north as the vicinity of Paris, but it is
much more common in the south of France, and other me¬
ridional parts of Europe. Its blistering qualities are quite
as active and efficient as those of the true Cantharis or
Spanish fly; and in Italy it is employed for the same pur¬
poses, mixed up with the latter, or even used alone. M.
pustulatus is used by the Chinese.
In the other Heteromera of this tribe the antennae, al¬
ways composed of eleven very distinct joints, are almost
of equal thickness throughout, or rather more slender to¬
wards the extremity, and frequently much longer than the
head and thorax. They are irregular in several males.
In Meloe properly so called (PI. CCXXXIX. fig. 12),
the antennae are composed of short and rounded joints,
the intermediate of which are the largest, and sometimes
so disposed that these parts in the males exhibit an emar-
gination or crescent-like form. The wings are wanting,
and the elytra, oval or triangular, with a portion of the
inner margins crossing each other, only partially cover
the abdomen, especially that of the females, which, as
often happens, is extremely voluminous. According to
Dufour, the crop of these insects may be considered as a
true gizzard, being furnished internally with callous and
anastomosing plicae, and separated from the stomach or
chylific ventricle by a valve formed of four principal pieces,
each of which results from two hollow cylinders placed
back to back, and tridentated posteriorly.
All the species of the genus Meloe are awkward and
mis-shapen, and of sluggish movements. They are found
either crawling slowly and heavily along the surface of the
earth, or on plants of humble growth. They feed on Coleoptera
leaves, and when handled, an oily fluid of a yellow or red- Hetero¬
dish colour flows from the joints of their legs. Latreille mfcTa' ,
suspects that these insects are the Buprestides of the an-
cients, to which were attributed such destructive effects
on cattle, when inadvertently swallowed by the latter.
The genus seems characteristic of the European continent
and islands. Eight or nine species occur in Britain; and
of the twenty-one species enumerated by Dejean, the
whole are European. Mr Kirby however possesses a
specimen taken in North America by Professor Peck.
They are all characterized by dark or sombre colours.
They are most frequent in spring and autumn, and occur
in fields and pathways, preferring, it is said, a sunny situ¬
ation and a sandy soil. In some districts of Spain they
are employed along with Cantharides, or in their room.
They are also used by farriers.1 The females, when filled
with eggs, become greatly dilated, and in that condition
much exceed the males in size. An individual of the for¬
mer sex observed by Goedart, and fed by him with the
leaves of anemone and ranunculus, laid 2212 eggs be¬
tween the 12th of May and the 12th of June, besides
about as many more which were thrown aside uncounted.
It effected this laying at two separate periods, placing the
extremity of its abdomen in a hole which it had formed
in the earth, and depositing the eggs in packets. These
are of a yellowish colour, and resemble grains of sand
pressed together. The larvae are long, cylindrical, gar¬
nished with scattered hairs, composed of eleven nearly
equal segments, besides the head, which is oval, and pro¬
vided with two eyes, and a pair of longish antennae. They
have six legs, of rather large size compared with the
length of the body, which is terminated by two long bris¬
tle-like appendices. Their larvae are supposed by some
ingenious observers to be parasitical on the bodies of
winged insects. Degeer having remarked that a strong
resemblance existed between the larvae of Meloe, and a
small insect which he found adhering to Eristulis intrica-
rius, he placed two domestic flies among the former, and
found that they were speedily adhered to by thelarvae, which
stuck to them pertinaeeously, and caused their death in two
or three days. Bees are also subject to their attacks ; and
MM. Lepelletier and Serville are said to have recently
confirmed the observations of Degeer, by breeding these
parasites from the eggs of Meloe. “ On the other hand,”
says Mr Curtis, “ Mr Kirby is disposed to think that his
Pediculus Melittce (P. Apis, Linn.?) is not the larva of
Meloe ; and M. Leon Dufour has even formed them into
a genus under the name of Triungularis andrenetarum;
and a figure of one is given in the thirteenth volume
of the Annales des Sciences Naturellcs”2 3 M. Latreille
seems to adopt the opinion of their parasitical nature ; and
the facts, so far as known, are well stated by M. Walke-
naer, in his Memoires pour servir d FHistoire Naturelle des
Halides? The digestive system of the genus Meloe, with
other anatomical details, has been illustrated by M. Du¬
four ;4 and we are indebted for a monograph of the British
species to Dr Leach.5
All the ensuing genera of the tribe are provided with
1 In regard to these insects we may further observe, that Dr Leach was informed by Mr Hunneman that the species called M.
varicgatus is highly prized in Germany as a medicine, being considered as a specific in hydrophobia. For this purpose it is taken by
slipping a hair round its neck, and suspending it till dry ; the oily secretion first thrown out being preserved, as in that the chief
virtue is supposed to exist. Mr Hurineman adds more particularly, that the late king of Prussia, Frederick the Great, purchased
the nostrum from the discoverer for a valuable consideration, as a specific against the bite of a mad dog. According to the recipe,
twenty-five of these insects that have been preserved in honey, are, with two drachms of powdered black ebony, one drachm of Vir¬
ginia snake-root, one ditto of lead filings, and twenty grains of fungus sorbi, to be reduced to a very fine substance ; the whole, with
two ounces of theriaca of Venice (and, if necessaryy a little elder root), to be formed into an electuary ! (See Linn. Trans, xi. p. 245.
2 Brit. Ent. vol. vi. fol. 279. 4 Ann. des Sciences Nut. t. iii. p. 486.
3 See also Introduction to Entomology, vol. iv. p. 225. 5 Linn. Trans, xi. p. 35 and 242.
136 E N T O M
Coleoptera wings, and elytra, of the ordinary structure, covering Ion-
etei0’ gitudinally the back of the abdomen. In the genus Can-
tharis, Geoff. (Pl.CCXXXIX. fig. 14), all the joints
of the tarsi are entire, the thorax almost ovoid, a little
elongated, and restricted anteriorly, truncated posterior¬
ly. The second joint of the antennae is much shorter
than the following, and the last of the maxillary palpi is
sensibly larger than the preceding. The head is a little
broader than the thorax. The antennae of the males are
sometimes irregular, and even semi-pectinated. The name
of Cantharis is extremely ancient, and has been received
in a variety of acceptations. Aristotle did not apply it to
any particular insect, but to various Coleoptera.1 Lin¬
naeus made use of the term to designate a great genus of
the same order, which, however, did not include the true
Cantharis, which he placed in Meloe. Geoffrey substitut¬
ed the name Cicindela, already otherwise employed, for
that of Cantharis, and placed in the latter the genuine
Spanish fly. Fabricius placed it in his genus Lytta, which
corresponds to Cantharis of Geoffrey. The latter, how¬
ever, amidst all these revolutions of names, appears to
have maintained its ground, and to have been the most
generally adopted.
The Cantharides properly so called have an elongated
and almost cylindrical form. The history of the most
noted species, C. vesicatoria, commonly called the Spa¬
nish fly (fig. 14), is still somewhat doubtful, so far as con¬
cerns our knowledge of its transformations. Neither De-
geer nor Geoffroy ever saw the larva. Those who sup¬
pose themselves to have seen it say that it feeds on vari¬
ous roots, and is metamorphosed in the earth,—an obser¬
vation which accords with the usually sudden appearance
of the perfect insect, the unexpected apparition of which
has sometimes given rise to the belief that they migrated
from more southern regions. It is described by Olivier
as consisting, in its early state, of thirteen segments, soft,
of a yellowish-white, with six short scaly feet,—the head
rounded and flattish, and furnished with two short filiform
antennae. The mouth consists of a pair of tolerably solid
maxillae and four palpi. The medicinal uses of this now
celebrated beetle are universally known, but its connec¬
tion with the sanitory art is not traceable to a remote
antiquity ; for the Cantharis of the ancients was certainly
not the same as the Spanish fly, and is even supposed to
have belonged to a different genus. According to the
testimony of Pliny and Dioscorides, who affirm that the
best Cantharides are such as are marked with transverse
yellow bands, it becomes evident that their species was
the Mylabris chicorii already mentioned, which in China
is used for epispastic preparations down to the present
day. The insect of the European laboratories, C. vesica¬
toria, is of a beautiful golden green, with black antenna;.
The males are less than the females, and there exists in
general a great variety of size among different individuals.
These insects are very common in France,2 Italy, and
Spain. The greater proportion employed in commerce
come from the last-named country, and hence their com¬
mon name. Their collection requires precaution on the
part of those who are employed in that office, both with a
view to guard against injurious accidents, and for the pro¬
per preservation of the objects themselves. They are
killed by means of vapour of vinegar, and completely dried
after they are dead. The following is the plan of pro¬
cedure : In the course of the month of June the natives
O L O G Y.
place extended cloths or sheets beneath the trees on Coleoptera
which the Cantharides occur, and make them tumble Tetramera.
down by beating all the branches. When they have ob-
tained a considerable quantity, they either put them into
a hair sieve, which they place over the vapour of vinegar,
or into a fine cloth, which they dip repeatedly in a ves¬
sel containing diluted vinegar. They are then allowed
to dry under the shade of some loft or granary, being
placed on hurdles covered with cloth or paper, and stirred
occasionally with a stick, or with the hand protected by
a stout glove. When thoroughly dry they are packed into
vessels of wood or glass, which are afterwards carefully
and tightly closed. These little processes being properly
attended to, the insects retain their blistering qualities
for a length of time.
The chemical analysis of Cantharides has been made
by numerous experimentalists, who appear, however, to
have confined their researches rather too exclusively to
the Spanish fly. Had they studied with equal assiduity
the genera Meloe and Mylabris, and even Carabus, Coc-
cinella, and several Tenebriones, they would have disco¬
vered in these also an analogous or identical principle,
less active perhaps in its nature, but for that very rea¬
son susceptible of being employed with greater advan¬
tage in special cases. Thouvenet, Fourcroy, Beaupoil,
Orfila, and especially Robiquet, have arrived at some re¬
markable results. The latter has demonstrated the ex¬
istence of a particular substance, on which he has be¬
stowed the name of Cantharadine, and which may be
characterized as white, crystalline, insoluble in water,
soluble in boiling alcohol, in ether, and in oils. It is the
seat of the vesicatorial or blistering property, which does
not therefore reside in the green oil, nor in the black in¬
soluble matter, nor in the yellow matter soluble in alco¬
hol and in water,—the other ingredients of which analysis
has demonstrated the presence. This discovery, though
important in a scientific point of view, has produced no
alteration in the practice, which proceeds effectually
enough upon the old experience, that when the substance
of the insect is reduced to powder, mixed up with some
fatty matter, and applied to the surface of the body, it
immediately proceeds to action, and detaches the outer
skin from the dermis with great rapidity. It is also used
for several other purposes.3 Naturalists are acquainted
with many other species of Cantharis besides the Spanish
fly. Of these we may mention C. Syriaca of Olivier,
which occurs in Syria and the south of Europe, and the
C. dubia of the same author, found in the southern pro¬
vinces of France, Italy, the Levant, and Siberia. In the
United States a species, described by Fabricius under the
name of vittata, is employed for medicinal purposes. It
is found in great abundance among potatoes.
The remaining genera of the tribe are Zonitis, Fab.
Nemognathus, Lat. Gnathium, Kirby, and Sitaris,
Lat.
TETRAMERA.
Four Articulations to all the Tarsi.
The numerous and important groups which constitute
this, the third primary section of the coleopterous order,
are all vegetable feeders. The larvae have very short
1 Hist. Animal, lib. iv. cap. 7.
2 Latreille observes that they appear in France about the period of the summer solstice, and that they occur more particularly on
the ash and lilac, on the leaves of which they feed. They diffuse around them a peculiar and highly penetrating odour.
s See Annaks des Sciences Nat. ix. p. 31 ; and Diction. Class. d'Hist. Nat. iii. p. 15G.
ENTOMOLOGY.
Ccleoptera feet, and in many even these seem wanting, or are re-
placed by mammillae. Tne perfect insects occur among
flowers and plants. Latreille divides them into seven fa¬
milies. The larvae of the first four or five most commonly
live concealed in the interior of plants, and are generally
destitute of feet, or have these organs extremely small;
many attack the hard or ligneous portion of their dwel¬
ling. These Coleoptera are the largest of their section.
FAMILY I—ItHYNCHOPHORA.1
This numerous and widely extended family, so re¬
markable for the beauty of its South American species, is
easily recognised by its more or less extended muzzle,
terminated by a mouth, of which the parts, from their pe¬
culiar structure and position, are not easily determined
without the aid of microscopical examination and dissec¬
tion. The abdomen is generally of a bulky form, the an¬
tennas geniculate and clavate, and the penultimate joint
of the tarsi almost always bilobate In many tribes the
posterior thighs are dentated. The body of the larva; is
oblong, and resembles a small white worm, exceedingly
soft. The head is squamous or scaly, and the feet are
either wanting or mammillaeform. They live by gnawing
the various parts of plants. Many dwell exclusively in
the interior of fruits and seeds, and do great damage to
the farmer, grain-dealer, and horticulturist. Some, such
as the Brachyceri, are supposed to live beneath the ground,
and to feed on roots.
The muzzle in this richly adorned family differs essen¬
tially from the rostrum of the hemipterous species. It is
in fact merely a prolongation of the head, and not com¬
posed of the parts of the mouth, as in the last-named or¬
der. This prolongation, however, exerts an influence over
the alimentary tube, the oesophagus being thereby some¬
what prolonged, and—as we find to be the case in the
truly suctorial tribes—there is also a provision of salivary
glands.
We have little detailed information regarding the in¬
ternal structure of the Curculionidae. Two species (Atte-
labus betuleti and Cryptorhynchus lapathi) have been exa-
137
m ined and described by Ramdhor.2 In both of these the Coleoptera
alimentary canal was moderately long, the stomach par-Tetramera.
tially shaggy, and the small intestine inversely claviform. 'J
In other respects, however, they differed materially.
There was no crop or gizzard in the former, the stomacli
was fringed on each side, except at its upper extremity,
with a series of small caeca or shags, and there were three
pair of bile-vessels; in the latter the gullet was dilated
into a crop, which included a gizzard of singular and ex¬
quisite construction ; for, though so minute as scarcely to
exceed a large pin’s head in size, it was found to be pro¬
vided internally with more than four hundred pairs of
teeth, moved by an infinitely greater number of muscles.
A transverse section of this gizzard represented two con¬
centric stars, with nine rays each, the object of this struc¬
ture being the comminution of the timber which the insect
has to perforate, and probably devour. The stomach was
very slender, but dilated in the middle into a spherical
vesicle ; and only two pairs of bile vessels were observable.3
It may well be supposed, that in a family consisting of
not much less than three thousand ascertained species,
many diversities occur both in habit and external struc¬
ture. The antennae are sometimes straight, but more
frequently have an angular bend. They are inserted ei¬
ther towards the extremity of the muzzle when that orgai
is short, or nearer the centre, or even towards the base
in the long snouted species. The number of the articu¬
lations of the antennae varies in certain genera from six to
ten ; but eleven is the more usual number, or even twelve,
if we count the false or terminal article. The body is ge¬
nerally narrowest in front, with a large abdomen covered
by very hard elytra. The tarsi are very frequently gar¬
nished beneath with short hairs. None of the species are
carnivorous in any degree; but even in the perfect state
they are sometimes extremely noxious, when they happen,
as they sometimes do, to occur in great abundance. They
tap the buds and leaves of trees, and of several cultivated
vegetables, and feed upon their juices.
Tribe 1st, Bruchelr£, Lat.
Labrum apparent, anterior elongation of the head short,
broad, depressed, and in the form of a snout. Palpi very
fim;ivinC\/ra-ie Pl^,^cation t,'le ^rst edition of the Regne Animal, considerable attention has been bestowed on this difficult
r •*/. . , ss™ Gennar and Schoenherr, more particularly, have devoted their time to its elucidation; and the latter author ("in his
i WnSZ Method™\ Leipsic, 1826) gives a hundred and ninety-four genera, exclusive of sub-genera. He divides the
,, 1 , 111 accor(lance with the straightness or geniculation of their antennae, into two great sections, the Recticomes or Or
TCOrneS 0\GoneaT:a\ Tie recent observations of M. Leon Bufour on the internal structiwe of the! Sects seem
wantiSn fhnienfrGPnr y that classification. The species of the latter section are furnished with salivary vessels, which are
, °.i „ , the fomier. In Latreille s recent reconstruction of Schoenherr’s arrangement, the liecticornes comnose four
tribes the Brucheles, the AnthnUdes, the Attelalidcs, and the Brentidcs. In the first two the labrum and palpi are very visible • these
Ehlfra The^ ^ at the extremity; they are small and conical in the two other tribes, as in aU the following llhVncho-
L ° Jhe Fracticornes form a fifth tribe, viz. the Curculionites. These are divided into the Brevirostres and the LongiZtres
terms winch bear lelation to the place of insertion of the antenme. In the former these organs are attached to the extremity
of the muzzle, or on a line with the base of the mandibles,—while they are placed further back, or nearer the head, in the latter
The genera of the Bremrostres are arranged in three subtribes, viz. Pachyrhyncide*, Brachycerides, and L^rid«,_correspondinl to
i genera urculio, Brachycerus, and Liparus of Olivier ; the last sub-tribe comprising also some Lixi of that author The rela
Uve size and form of the mentum, the mandibles, the presence or absence of wings, the direction of the lateral sulci of the proboscis.'
firS]JOint 0f ?e a,ntemf 13 Par^ the l^gth of that joint, and the proportions and forms of thfthora^tTei
and other secondary considerations furnish the characters of the various groups. The Curculionites Longirostre* are divided‘Into twJ
pnncipa sections, in accordance with their habits, and the composition of their antennae. These consist, in the Phyllophagi of not
wer t lan ten joints, the last three of which, at least, form the terminal club. But among the Spcrmatophagi the antennm never con
sis of more than nine joints, of which the last or the last two form the club. The legs of the Ph vliophagi are sometimes contiguous*
c so etimes remote. 1 hose in which they approach each other are divided into four tribesthe Lixides (Lixus Fab) the
Rhynchaemdes (Rhynchaenus, Oliv.), the Cxomdes (Cionus, Clairv.), and the Orchestides (Orchestes, Illig.). The SpermatonhaS'Llin
form three principal sections or sub-tribes : the CalandraMes (Calandra, Clairv., Fab.), the Coslonidn Cossonu.-J CkS > aifo t J
Dryopthorides (Dryopthorus, Schcen., Bulbifer, Dej.). These latter lead to the HylJini, Fab., and other Xylophagi. (See R^e
Animal, t. v p. 69.) , A great proportion of the European Curculionidae are most accurately described by Gyllenhal in his InsfZ
iiicica. i r Kirbys paper on the genus^ Apton (Linn. Trans, vol. iv.) is also deservedly esteemed. The reader will find a critical
am expository treatise on this family by Latreille, under the term Rhynchophohes, of the Diet. Class. d'Hist. Nat. t. xiv. p. 584.
e may also consult Germar s lnsectorum Species Novae, and the continuation of Illiger’s Magazin fur Insectenknnde The British
species are described with their usual skill, by Messrs Curtis and Stephens. The latter, in fhe second edkion of his MmerSlre
enumerates above 500 indigenous species. I he Scottish kinds are described in our Entomologia Edinensis. We see from our recent
correspondence, that about 3000 species of this great family are now known to naturalists. ’
Abbildungen xur Anatomic der Jnsecten. ' ’ Introduction to Entomology, vol. iv. p. 101
VOL. IX. S
138 E N T O M
Coleoptera visible, filiform, or larger at the extremity. These insects
Tetramera. compose the old genus Bruchus, Linn. They are subdi-
vided as follows.
Those species of which the antennae are clavate, or veiy
obviously enlarged at their extremity, with the eyes un-
emarginate, and which appear to have five articulations
to the four anterior tarsi, form the genus Rhinosimus,
which Latreille, in accordance with its tarsal characieis,
formerly placed among the Heteromera, but which ot ler
natural affinities connect more closely with the following
genus. Those of which the antennae and eyes resemble
the last, but which present only four tarsal articulations,
compose the genus Anthribus1 of Geoffroy and Tab.
(PI. CCXXXIX. fig. 16), to which Latreille adds the
Rhinomacers of Olivier. These insects are genera y
found on old wood, although some occur on floweis. n
the genus Bruchus properly so called2 (11. LLAAAiA.
fig. 17), the antennae are filiform, frequently serrated or
pectinated. The eyes are emarginate. The anus is ex¬
posed, and the hind legs are frequently very large. 1 hese
species deposit their eggs in the yet tender germs of our
leguminous plants, of our most valuable grains or palms,
coffee, &c., where the excluded larvae occasion infinite
damage. The perfect insect detaches a portion of the
epidermis in the form of a cap, and, on issuing, pioduces
those circular holes so often seen on peas and beans. Such
is a small species called jB. pisi (see the figure last refen ed
to), an insect which has been known to occasion great in-
'ury in North America. A very large species, the B. Bac-
tris of Linn, occurs in Cayenne, where it feeds on the
fruit of Cocos guinensis. It is named Counana by the na¬
tives. The genus Rhgebus of Fischer is distinguished
from the preceding by flexible elytra and bifid hooks to
the tarsi. The genus Xylophilus of Bonelli is characte¬
rized by clavate palpi.
In the other tribes there is no apparent labrum. The
palpi are very small, inconspicuous to the naked eye, and
of a conical form. The anterior prolongation of the head
represents a beak or trunk.
*
Sometimes the antennae are straight or not geniculate
(Orthoceri), inserted on the rostrum, and consist of nine
or ten joints. .
Those in which the three or four last joints are united
into a club form
Tribe 2d, Attelabides, Lat.
They gnaw the leaves and tender parts of plants. Most
of the females roll up these leaves into a tube or trumpet,
in which they deposit their eggs,—thus forming a proper
nidus for their offspring. The different proportions of the
trunk, the mode of its insertion, the nature of the tibiae,
and the form of the abdomen, have given rise to the for¬
mation of several genera, such as Apoderus,3 Attela-
bus,4 Rhynchites,5 and Apion.6 The first is very strong¬
ly marked. The head is narrowed behind, or presents
a neck-like prolongation, and unites with the thorax by
means of a rotule. The muzzle is short, thick, enlarged
at the end, a character common to the Attelabi properly
so called; but in them, as well as in the other two ge-
O L O G Y.
nera, the head enters into the thorax up to the eyes, and Coleoptera
the snout is elongated in the form of a proboscis. In Tetramera.
Rhynchites the latter is somewhat widened at the end, '—’’'y'-''
and the abdomen is nearly square. In Apion, of which
Mr Stevens enumerates ninety-one species as indigenous
to Britain, the snout is not widened at the end, and fre¬
quently terminates in a point. The abdomen is large or
inflated.7 Here also are placed the genera Rhinotia
and Eurhinus of Kirby,3 and Tubicenus of Dejean
(Auletes, Schcen.9).
Those in which the antennae are filiform, or in which
the terminal article alone forms the club,—in which the
muzzle, often longer in the males than in the females, and
differently terminated, is always borne in advance,—of
which the proportions of the body are usually much
lengthened, and in which the penultimate article of the
tarsi is bilobed, form
Tribe 3d, Brentides, Lat.10
In the genus Brentus properly so called (Plate
CCXXXIX. fig. 15), the body is linear, and the antennae
filiform or slightly enlarged towards the extremity, and
composed iff eleven articulations. There is only one spe¬
cies of Brentus found in Europe, the B. italicus, which
lives beneath the bark of trees, and generally, according
to Savi the younger, of Pisa, in the same domicil with a
certain species of ant. They are numerous in South
America, and occur there also beneath the bark of trees.
The genus Uuocerus, Schcen. resembles the preceding in
general form, but the antennae have only nine articula¬
tions, the last of which forms a little club. Ihe last ol
this tribe is constituted by the genus Cyeas, Lat. in
which there are ten articulations to the antennae, the last
of which forms an oval club. The thorax seems divided
into two knots, of which the posterior, forming the pedicle,
is the smallest. The abdomen is oval.
* *
Sometimes the antennae are distinctly geniculate {Go-
natoceri), the first articulation being much longer than
the following. These form the genus Curculio of Linn, or
Tribe 4th, Curculionites, Lat.
These seem naturally divisible into two lesser groups,
according as the antennae are inserted near the extremity
of the proboscis {Brevirostres or Brachyrhynchi), or fur¬
ther back, either towards the centre, or near the base
{Longirostres, or Mecorhynchi) ; “ mais il n’est pas facile,”
says Latreille, “ de bien determiner leurs limites, et plu-
sieurs genres sont tres-ambigues sous ce rapport.”11
A. Brevirostres.
In the genus Brachycerus,12 Fab. all the joints of the
tarsi are entire, and without brush or pellet beneath. The
antennae are short, not much bent, and present externally
only nine joints, the last of which forms the club. These
insects are destitute of wings, and their body is very sca¬
brous or uneven. They are characteristic of Southern Eu¬
rope and of Africa, live on the ground, in sandy soils, and
appear very early in the spring. The women of Ethiopia
use one species as a sort of amulet, passing a string through
its body, and hanging it around their necks.13
1 From uv6os, flower, and ro'iZu, I destroy. . . 1 From I gnaw.
3 From airs, used to augment the sense of the word with which it is used, and the neck, which is much prolonged.
4 From arru, to leap, and seizure. The name was originally applied by Aiistotle to an orthopterous insect.
8 From Vv*sf, rostrum. 10 Gfn- Brentus, Fab. Curculio, Linn.
6 From arnsv, a pear, which the insects somewhat resemble in form. 11 Diet. Class, d Hist. Nat. t. xiv. p. 594.
’ See Kirby in Linn. Trans, vol ix. “ From shorti and KiZu;' horn-
8 Ibid. vol. xii. Caillaud, Voyage au Fleuve Blanc.
* Curcul. Disp. Method. 46.
ENTOMOLOGY.
Coleoptera In the genus Curculio, Fab. almost the whole of the
Tetramera. untjer parjs of the tarsj are furnjsjle(j wit]1 s]10rt
hairs forming pellets, and the penultimate article is deep¬
ly divided into two. The antennae are composed of eleven
articulations, or even of twelve, if we count the false one
by which they are sometimes terminated. The last form
the club. This splendid and extremely numerous genus,
although greatly restricted by Fabricius, compared with
its vast extent in the system of Linnaeus, has been still
more circumscribed by authors of the present day. An
enormous accession of species having been discovered and
described, these have been arranged by Germar, Schcen-
herr, Megerle, Dejean, and others, into a corresponding
variety of generic groups, partly for the sake of conve¬
nience, and partly (though not entirely) because the na¬
ture of the subjects required such systematic modifica¬
tions. Latreille’s observations have led him to form these
Curculiones into two principal divisions.
Those in which the mentum, more or less widened
superiorly, and more or less orbicular, occupies the en¬
tire breadth of the cavity of the mouth, and wholly or
nearly conceals the maxillae,—and in which the mandi¬
bles have no very sensible dentations, or merely exhi¬
bit a slight sinus underneath the point. The generic
groups are as follows. In Cyclomus the tarsi (as in
genus Brachycerus) are unprovided with brushes, and
the penultimate articulation is entire, or very slightly
notched, without distinct lobes. In this genus Latreille
would comprise those named Crytops, Deracanthus,
Amycterus, and Cyclomus of Schcenherr. The tarsi of all
the others are furnished with brushes beneath, and the
penultimate joint is deeply bilobate. Some are apte¬
rous. In Curculio properly so called (PI. CCXXXIX.
fig. 18), the lateral sulci of the proboscis are oblique and
directed inferiorly. The anterior legs differ little in their
proportions from the following ones. The genus, even
thus restricted, comprises an immense number of groups,
raised by Germar and Schcenherr to the rank of genera,
“ dont les caracteres,” says Latreille, “ sont peu impor-
tants et souvent tres-equivoques.”1 He thinks that at
most only those should be detached of which the anten¬
nae are proportionally longer. Among such as have short
antennae, the thorax longitudinal, and forming a truncated
cone, the shoulders salient, and of which recent writers
have formed the genera Entimus, Chlorima, and others,
we find many noted South American species, of con¬
siderable size and exquisite beauty, and which, consi¬
dered all in all, maybe regarded as the most splendid ex¬
amples of the coleopterous order. Such, for example, is
C. imperialism commonly called the diamond-beetle, which
(may the scientific reader pardon the digression), inclosed
in its little box, and covered by a microscope, has so of¬
ten exhibited to the wondering gaze of youth hues more
gorgeous than are ever seen in after days, when no glass,
however potent, can dispel the mists which gather around
whatever seemed the brightest and most beautiful of
earthly things. The species just named is of a brilliant
golden green, with two black longitudinal bands upon the
139
thorax. There are several ranges of impressed or hollow Coleoptera
spots upon the elytra, of a beautiful and sparkling green, Tetramera.
with intervals of black, presenting the appearance of in-
numerable emeralds incased in gold and ebony. Such
also is C. regalis, an insect still of great value, of which in
former days a single specimen once sold in Paris for L.2S
sterling. It is a good deal less than the diamond-beetle,
of a bluish green, with extremely brilliant gold and cop¬
per bands upon the elytra. It is found in St Domingo
and the island of Cuba. Many others, of almost equal
beauty, will occur to the recollection of those who have
inspected an extensive collection of foreign insects, and
the specific names offastuosus, sumptuosus, nobilis, and
splendens, sufficiently attest the unfeigned admiration of the
lovers of nature, of that bright attire which distinguishes
these favoured creatures.2 The genus Leptocerus3 dif¬
fers from the preceding in having the two anterior legs
larger than the following, with the thighs thick, the tibiae
arcuated, and the tarsi often dilated and ciliated. The
antennae are usually long and slender. The thorax is al¬
most globular or triangular, and is scarcely exceeded in
width by the abdomen. These insects are very abundant
in Brazil, and several analogous species are found in the
Isles of France and Bourbon. Some inhabit Africa. An¬
other genus, that of Phyllobius,1 comprehends likewise
winged species, but in which the grooves of the sides of
the proboscis are straight, short, and consist only of a
simple fossette. Several of these are extremely common
in Britain. Along with the preceding, Latreille combines
the genera Macrorhynus, Myllocerus, Cyphicerus, Ambli-
rhinus, and Phytoscapus, of Schoenherr.
Those Brevirostres in which' the penultimate joint of
the tarsi is bilobate, but which are apterous, and always
destitute of a scutellum, form other sub-genera, such as
Othiorhynchus, Omias, Pachyrhynchus, Psalidium, 'Phyla-
cites, Syzygops, and others.
2d, Those in which the mentum is narrowed, and, not
occupying the whole of the cavity of the mouth, leaves
the jaws exposed on either side. The mandibles, too,
are evidently dentated. The club of the antennae is fre¬
quently formed of the last five or six joints.
Some have scarcely more than two teeth to the man¬
dibles. The labial palpi are distinct. The club of the
antennae, rather abrupt, does not commence, except from
the eighth or ninth articulation, and is not elongated and
fusiform. The body, though frequently oblong, is not of
a uniform figure. Several are apterous, with the tarsi un¬
furnished with pellets, and their penultimate article feebly
bilobed. Such is the genus Myniops of Schcenherr, with
which Latreille combines Rhytirrhinus of that author.
Several, likewise apterous, have, like most of the Rhyn-
chophori, the under surface of the tarsi furnished with
pellets, and the penultimate article deeply bilobed. They
compose the genus Liparus, Lat. which comprises seve¬
ral genera of Schoenherr. Such as are winged form two
additional genera,—that of Hypera, Germar, in which
the tibiae have either no hook at their extremity, or but
a very small one, and that of Hylobius,5 in which the
*- Regne Animal, t. v. p. 78.
* Even among our native Curculionidae there are many species, though of small size, yet of exquisite beauty. The genera Poly-
drusus of Germar, and Phyllobius of Schoenherr, frequent the foliage of trees and of herbaceous plants. They excel most of the in¬
digenous Coleoptera in brilliancy of colouring,—produced by a covering of minute scales, the body itself being dull and opake.
These scales vary in shape, being often rounded and adpressed to the surface, at other times narrower, and having the appearance of
hair. The prevailing colours are green or silvery-green, golden, and coppery, of various shades and different degrees of resplendency, 
a considerable range of variation being observable even among individuals of the same species. Green, however, is by far the most
common colour, and is no doubt intended to contribute to the preservation of the insect by assimilating it to the objects by which, it
is usually surrounded. (See Entomologia Edinensis, p. 253.)
* From \tvrez, slender, and *££«?, horn. * From QvWoy, a leaf, and (Ziot, lifer
* From wAx, wood, and (ho;, life.
140 E N T O M
Coleoptera hook at the internal extremity is very marked. Among
Tetramera. the former, H. tamarisci (the type of the genus Coniatus
0f Schoenherr) rivals in its colours the most beautiful
of the exotic species; among the latter we may name a
well-known Scottish insect, H. abietis, Linn. ( Cur. pini of
Marsham1).
Others have from three to four teeth upon the mandi¬
bles, the mentum abruptly narrowed near its upper extre¬
mity, and truncated, the palpi very small or impercepti¬
ble. The antennae terminate gradually in an elongated
fusiform club. The body has in most an analogous form.
Olivier placed these insects in the genus Lixus, from
which, in fact, they do not greatly differ. They compose
the genus Cleonus, as constituted by Latreille.
Jj. Longirostres.
In this, the second group of the tribe Curculionites, the
antennae are inserted beyond the origin of the mandibles,
and often near the centre of the proboscis, which is usually
elongated. It comprises, with the exception of a few
species, the genera Lixus, Rhynchtznus, and Calandru of
Fabricius. In the two former the antennae are com¬
posed of at least ten articulations ; they frequently con¬
sist of from eleven to twelve, of which at least the last
three form the club.
The genus Lixus of Fab. (PI. CCXXXIX. fig. 19) al¬
most resembles Cleonus in the organs of manducation,
the elongated fusiform club of the antennae, the long and
narrow form of the body, and the curvature of the tibiae.
L. paraplecticus (the species figured) is nearly linear. Its
larva lives in the stem of Phellandrium aquaticum, and is
alleged by Linnaeus to occasion paraplegia among horses.
The disease, as well as the plant, is called Staikra by the
Swedes. The transformations of the insect are described
by Degeer. Another species, L. odontalgicus, is a reputed
cure for toothach.
The genus Rhynch^enus of Fab. does not present an
equal uniformity of character among its constituent parts,
and has therefore been numerously subdivided. We shall
mention a few of the modern groups.
*
In some the legs are contiguous at the base, and there
is no sternal groove for the reception of the proboscis.
Of these a certain number never leap; their antennae are
composed of eleven or twelve joints, and their body is
furnished with wings. Such are the genera Tamnophi-
lus,2 Bagous (small insects found in marshes), Brachy-
pus,3 Balaninus4 (remarkable for the great length of
the proboscis), Rhynch^enus properly so called, and Sy-
bines. Along with these may be placed Myorhinus of
Schoenherr, and other genera, distinguished from the pre¬
ceding by being apterous. In the genus Cionus the an¬
tennae consist of from nine to ten joints. The body is
usually very short, and almost globular. The ensuing dif¬
fer from those above named in having very thick poste-
O L O G Y.
rior thighs, which give the faculty of leaping. Those in Coleoptera
which the antennae are inserted on the proboscis form the Tetramera.
genus Orchestes5 of Illiger (PI. CCXXXIX. fig. 20);
those in which they originate between the eyes, that of
Ramphus6 of Clairville.
* *
In other Fabrician Rhynchaeni the legs are remote at
the base, and the sternum frequently exhibits a more or
less extended cavity for the reception of the muzzle, and
even sometimes for that of the antennae. Those in which
that sternal groove does not exist are formed by Latreille
into two sub-genera, Amerhinus and Baridius. Those
in which it does exist have been formed by Schoenherr into
a great many genera, reduced to the following by Latreille,
viz. Camptorhynchus, Centrings, Zygops, Ceuto-
RHYNCHUS, HydATICUS, OrOBITIS, CrYPTORHYNCHUS,
and Tylode.7
The last of the Longirostres have generally nine articles
at most to the antennae, of which only the last or the last
two form the club, which is characterized by a coriaceous
epidermis and spongy extremity. These insects live, at
least in their larva state, on grain and ligneous substances.
They form the great genus Calandra, now subdivided into
the six following smaller groups.
The first two are apterous, the penultimate joint of the
tarsi is bilobed, the antennae are geniculate and inserted
at a short distance from the middle of the trunk. In the
first, genus Anchonus of Schcenherr, the antennae exhi¬
bit nine articulations anterior to the short ovoid club,
which is formed by the tenth, and perhaps by two others
intimately united with it. In the second, Orthoch^etes
of Germar,8 it is the eighth joint which seems to form the
club, although it is probably also of a compound structure.
The four following are provided with wings. In the first
three the tarsi, in accordance with the almost universal
and implied character of the great tetramerous section of
which they form a part, are all composed of four articula¬
tions, of which the penultimate is bilobed. In Rhina,
Lat. {Lixus, Fab.), the antennae are strongly geniculate,
and inserted near the middle of a straight projecting pro¬
boscis,—their eighth joint forming a greatly elongated
and almost cylindrical club. The anterior legs are longer
than the others, at least in the males. Of this genus we
may mention as an example a well-known and singular-look¬
ing insect, found in Cayenne and Brazil, called R. barbiros-
tris, on account of a thick yellowish-brown beard which
envelopes the proboscis of the male, and gives it some¬
what the appearance of a bottle-brush. The female wants
this kind of garniture on her snout, and she was conse¬
quently mistaken by Illiger for a separate species, and
named R. verrirostris. In the genus Caeandra proper¬
ly so called, the antennae, likewise strongly geniculate, are
inserted near the base of the proboscis,—the eighth joint
forming an ovoid or triangular club. The insects of this
It frequents the Scotch fir, and is common in the Edinburgh district, as well as throughout Scotland. It seems to occur pretty
frequently over our southern borders, is more sparingly distributed in Cumberland and the adjoining counties, and, becoming gra¬
dually scarcer as we advance, is regarded as a rare insect in the southern parts of England. The imperfect description of this species
given by Tinmens, who appears, in some of his works, to confound it with another insect, has rendered it rather difficult to identify
nis Lur. Abietis, and its synonyms have consequently become perplexed. From an inaccurately named specimen in the Linnsean cabi-
net, Marsham was led to believe that it was the Cur. pini of that illustrious observer, and he accordingly described it under that name
in ins Entomologia Britannica. Neither Paykul nor Fabricius appear to have formed accurate views of its characters,—the latter, in
his Species Insect or urn, regarding it as a sexual variety of an insect which in fact belongs to a different genus. The larva inhabits
°u ,ii T- fir’ • en ProvinS very destructive to young plantations of that tree. The manners of the perfect insect are
tat captivus ” ^ ljinn3BUS m us l,eculiar style : “ Tarde incedit, arete apprehendit, tenaciter adhseret, ore frustra cutem mordere ten-
! {;r0m or, t0 cut asunder, and f\os, a lover. « From pu^os, the leak of a lird.
* iw shor\&v-AZ°US'f(>0t' 7 For their characters, see Regne Animal, t. v. p. 86-7.
from , produced from an acorn. » Insectorum Species Novce, p. 302.
r rom a Leader. 1
ENTOMOLOGY. 141
"oleoptera genus are but too well known for their destructive attacks vast quantity sometimes destroyed. According to the Coleopter#
letramera. Up0n grain> ail(j are included with many others under the calculation of Degeer, a single pair will produce (among Tetramera.
^ vague name of weem7. The mostnoted and injurious species themselves and their descendants), in the course of a sea-
C. granaria {Cur. granarius, Linn.), is fortunately rare son, twenty-three thousand six hundred individuals; so that,
in Scotland, and probably in most other northern coun- we may add, a few hundred weevils flying through the
tries. But in France and other continental territories grating of a granary, and settling among its treasured
it is extremely injurious. This little creature measures heaps, might in the course of four or five months devour
about a couple of lines in length, and is generally of a or destroy between one and two hundred millions of grains,
pitchy red, smooth, the thorax deeply punctured. The Various modes have been suggested by economists and
elytra are rather narrower than the base of the thorax, men of science to stay the progress of these destroyers,
and do not cover the extremity of the abdomen. They We are not sure that any of them have been found very
are marked with deep striae, punctured in the bottom, efficacious. The most approved is the following: When
The legs are ferruginous. It is not in the perfect state the principal body of grain is suspected, let a small heap
that this destroyer commits its ravages. The season for he placed apart in a corner, and the rest repeatedly stir-
the deposition of the eggs, and the periods of transforma- red about and disturbed. The weevils, which love repose
tion, vary to a certain extent with the temperature of par- and a quiet life, will leave their usual domicils, and seek
ticular seasons; but generally in the south of France, as about for more peaceful dwellings. An instinct, which
we are informed by M. Audouin, the female commences the foresight of man in this instance renders unavailing,
her maternal labours about the month of April, and con- induces them to settle on the smaller heap, and the shovel-
tinues them till the autumn. She first buries herself in ing of the main body being continued for some days, a
a heap of grain, to the depth of some inches, and then vast number may be thus got quit of. Boiling water is
commences to pierce their envelope, probably by means then thrown upon the congregated insects, which have
of a little dart concealed beneath the lower portion of the sought refuge in what they deemed a place of safety. As
proboscis. The envelope is then raised, and a small hole this process destroys only the perfect insects, and not the
bored, either in an oblique direction, or parallel with the eggs or larva, neither of which care about being stirred
surface of the grain. A single hole is made in each grain, up with any pole, however long, it must he employed dur-
and a single egg is laid in each hole, after which the open- ing the earliest heats of spring, and before the laying of
ing is closed by a glutinous matter, so nearly resembling the eggs. It is said to succeed best when (whatever the
the colour of the grain, that it is extremely difficult to principal store consists of) the decoy heap is formed of
discover which is in a sound state, or which contains the barley, which, it seems, is a favourite food of weevils. Re¬
germ of an insidious foe. The injured grains may, how- duction of temperature by ventilation has also been re-
ever, he detected by their floating when immersed in wa- commended, as tending to diminish their productive powers;
ter, as well as by their feeling lighter when fingered by a and M. Clement thinks that dryness produced by lime
practised hand. The egg thus laid is soon hatched, and may prove useful, by its tendency to destroy the eggs.1
gives birth to a very minute, white, soft, elongated worm, Of the larger kinds of Calandra we may mention C. pal-
composed of nine segments, with a rounded corneous head, marum, an insect known to all who have looked into col-
furnished with two strong mandibles, by means of which lections of foreign Coleoptera, among which it is extremely
it daily enlarges its dwelling, fills its own stomach, and common. It is a large species, measuring about an inch
empties the purse of the farmer or grain-merchant. Hav- and a half in length. It occurs in South America. The
ing attained the term of its increase, it is transformed into larva (figured by Mad. Merian2) is named ver palmiste by
a nymph, remains in that state for eight or ten days, and the colonists. It lives in the heart of palm trees, and
is transformed into a perfect insect, which, piercing the undergoes its transformations in a cocoon formed of the
envelope of the grain, ere long produces in its turn a nu- fibres of those lofty and plume-supporting plants.3 It is
merous progeny. The influence of temperature, so gene- fried and eaten as a great delicacy, both by Indians and
ral on insect life, is effective on this noted Charanson de Creoles. “ C’est prohablement,” says M. Audouin, “quoi
ble ; but from forty to forty-five days maybe stated as qu’en ait dit Linne, cette meme larve, et non cede du Cos-
an average term between the union of the sexes and the sus, dont les Remains etaient si friands, et qu’ils nourris-
reproduction of the perfect insect. When the old and saient avec de la farine.” We cannot well see how this
unphilosophical belief prevailed of the spontaneous gene- could be, unless the new world was known to the Romans,
ration of the lower tribes of animal life, it was thought or Italy to the palmist worm. We believe, however, that
sufficient to say that these weevils were “ engendered in the Cossus of the ancients was indeed the larva of a
the grain by humidity.” At an after period it was thought beetle (probably of one of the long-horned kinds), and not
by some who called themselves “ observers”—(men of the of a lepidopterous nocturnal insect, or Cossus ligniperda,
same class with those who settle all natural phenomena commonly so called.
by a paragraph in a newspaper, which they sign “ Scru- Our two remaining genera are Cossonus of Clairville
tator”),—that the perfect insect laid her eggs in the green and Dryopthorus of Schoenherr (Bulbifer, Dejean). In
ear, from whence, when the fields were ripe for harvest, the former the antennae, scarcely longer than the head and
they were transported to the stores of the granary. The muzzle, have eight joints anterior to the club. They are
accurate and inimitable Leeuwenhoeck (CbM&Vwaitfo-Epfs- thick, and inserted towards the middle of the muzzle. In
tolarum, p. 56) dispelled these errors, and taught us the the latter the antennae have only six joints, of which
truth of nature, of which he was ever so great an inter- the last forms the club. In regard to the tarsi the genus
preter. As each larva consumes only a single grain, we presents an anomalous character, and one which, if strict-
may form some idea of their power of increase, from the ly applied to the definition of the section, would exclude
,pte D%C!' Cla*s-d Hut Nat- m' P- 28 ? and Journal de Physique, t. Ixxxix. p. 358. 2 Jnscctes de Surinam, pf. 48.
1 he palm winch this insect most affects seems to be one of small size. According to Madame Merian, it grows to the height of a
man, and is cut off when it begins to be tender, is cooked like a cauliflower, and tastes better than an artichoke. In its centre live
innumerable quantities of larvae, which at first are as small as a maggot in a nut, but afterwards grow to a very large size, and feed
on the marrow of the tree. They are laid on the coals to roast, and^ are regarded as a “ most pleasant food.”' ^
142 E N T O M
Coleoptera it from the tetramerous families. They present five arti-
Tetramera. culations, none of which are bilobed.
FAMILY II.—XYLOPHAGI.1
These exhibit a head formed in the ordinary way, with¬
out any obvious muzzle, or trunk-like projection. The
antennae are thicker at their extremity, or perfoliated
from their base, always short, and consisting in a great
number of less than eleven articulations, ihe joints of
the tarsi are usually entire, but with the penultimate en¬
larged and heart-shaped in some, in which case the an¬
tennae always terminate in a club, either solid and ovoid,
or trifoliate, with the palpi small and conical. These in¬
sects mostly live and feed in wood, from which habit they
derive their family name; and their larvae are often de¬
structive to timber, in consequence of the ramified p«rfora-
tions which they form in all directions beneath the bark.
They frequently so abound in forests of fir and pine, as to
render in a few years an immense number of trees entire¬
ly useless for all the purposes of human art. Others are
extremely injurious abroad to the olive plantations, while
several feed on mushrooms. Latreille divides them into
three sections.
ls£, Those of which the antennae have at most ten joints,
and are sometimes terminated by a strong club (generally
solid, in others composed of three elongated leaves), some¬
times form from their base a cylindrical and perfoliated
club ; the palpi conical. The anterior tibiae of the greater
number are dentated, and armed with a strong hook; and
the tarsi, of which the penultimate article is frequently
bilobed or heart-shaped, are capable of being bent or folded
on them.
Some have very small palpi, the body convex and round¬
ed above, or almost ovoid, with the head globular, sunk
into the thorax, and the antennse terminated by a solid or
a tri-lamellar club, preceded by at least five joints. These
Xylophagi compose the old genus Scolytus2 of Geolfroy,
which Linnaeus did not distinguish from Dermestes. They
now form the genera Hylurgus, Lat., Hylesinus,3 Fab.,
Scolytus proper (PI. CCXXXIX. fig. 22) of Lat., Camp-
tocerus, Dejean, Ploiotribus and Tomicus, Lat., and
Platypus, Herbst.4 Of many of these each female de¬
posits numerous eggs, and 80,000 wood-eating larvae have
been calculated to inhabit a single tree.
Others have the palpi large and obvious, and of unequal
length. Their body is depressed, narrowed in front; their
antennae are sometimes apparently only bi-articulate, with
the last joint very large, flattened, almost triangular or
ovoid, and sometimes consist of ten joints, entirely perfo¬
liate. The labrum is large. The elytra are truncated,
O L O G Y.
and the tarsi short, with all the articles entire. These in-Coleoptm
sects are all exotic, and compose the genus Paussus ofTetramera.
Linn.5 It has been greatly increased in recent times, and
is now divided into several genera.6
2r/, Those of which the antennae consist of only ten ar¬
ticulations, and of which the palpi, at least the maxillary
ones, do not taper gradually to a point, but are of equal
thickness throughout, or dilated at the extremity. The
joints of the tarsi are always entire. The constituent
groups form two principal genera, according to the mode in
which the antennae are terminated. Thus, in Bostrichus
the three terminal joints form a perfoliated club. These
insects however form four lesser genera, viz. Bostrichus
proper (e. g. Dermestes capucinus, Linn.) (PI. CCXXXIX.
fig. 24, Psoa, Fab., Cis, Lat., and Nemosoma, Desma-
rets. The second principal genus, called Monotoma, is
distinguished by the solid and button-like form of the
tenth articulation of the antennae, and is likewise further
divisible into four minor genera, — Synchita, Helw.,
Cerylon, Lat., Rhyzophagus, Herbst, and Monotoma
proper.
3d, The Xylophagi of the third division have eleven very
distinct articles to the antennae ; the palpi vary, being fili¬
form or thickened at the extremity in some, more slen¬
der at their termination in others. All the joints of the
tarsi are entire. Among the Lycti the club of the antennae
consists but of two joints. They form the genera Lyctus7
proper, Diodesma, Meg., Bitoma, Herbst. Among others
the last three or four joints of the antennae form the club,
or the last alone is larger than the preceding ones. In the
Mycetophagi, Fab. the mandibles are covered, or project
but little. In Latreille’s arrangement they form the fol¬
lowing seven genera :—Colydium and Mycetophagus
(proper),8 Fab., Triphyllus, Meg., Meryx, Lat., Dasy-
cerus,9 Brongniart (PI. CCXXXIX. figs. 26 and 28),10
Sylvanus, Lat., and Latridius, Herbst. The species
of the last-named genus are exceedingly minute, none of
them exceeding a line and a half in length, and several
being scarcely half that size. They occur in houses,
vaults, cellars, &c. and are not unfrequently found beneath
the bark of trees. From their habits they are called lurk¬
ing beetles (Lauerkafer) by the Germans. Their generic
name (from Lateo ?) has probably the same signification.
The larvae are somewhat egg-shaped and elongate, con¬
sisting of twelve segments of a dirty white colour, the
antennae and legs clear as water, with a black line along
the back, and a tuft of hairs on the sides of each segment.
They live for a longer or shorter period in this condition,
according to the state of the temperature and supply of
food; the usual time is from four to six weeks. They
then change into nymphs of a transparent white, with
brownish-yellow eyes, from which, in about fourteen days,
1 From S-uXov, wood, and tpayos, eating. 2 From itkoxIotvis, tortuosity. 3 From vXr,, wood, and mw, 1 injure.
4 For their characters see Regne Animal, t. v. p. 91-2, and the works there referred to.
3 The genus Paussus did not exist in the twelfth edition of the Systerna Naturae, but was published by Linnaeus in a separate disserta¬
tion in 1775. Only a single species appears to have been known at that period (Mr Westwood now describes above twenty), and another
was added in 179G by Dr Adam Afzelius, then residing at Sierra Leon {Linn. Trans, vol. iv.). The etymology of the name is supposed
by Afzelius to be from the Greek nu.v<ris, signifying a pause, cessation, or rest; for Linnaeus, now old, infirm, and sinking under the
weight of age and labour, saw no probability of continuing any longer his career of glory. “He might therefore,” adds Dr Shaw, “ be
supposed to say, ‘ Hie meta laborum,’ as it proved in reality, at least in regard to insects—Pausus being the last he ever described.”
{Gen. Zoology, vol. vi. p. 43.) It was literally, in the language of Young, “ An awful pause, prophetic of his end.”
* See an elaborate and learned Essay On the Paussidce, a family of Coleopterous Insects, by Mr J. O. Westwood, Linn. Trans.
vol. xvi. p. 6O7.
7 From Xuyros, smooth or polished. 8 From p.u*irs;, moss, and <payo;, eating. 9 From 'iarv;, hairy, and horn.
10 We have figured the type of the genus, D. sulcatus, on the plate above referred to. This singular little insect was discovered by
M. Alex. Brongniart on a fungus in the forest of Montmorency. It is extremely small, and it is difficult to count the articulations
of the tarsi, even with the aid of a good microscope. These parts consist, however, of only three articulations (see fig. 31), which
would remove the genus from the tetramerous section, were it not allied to the above genera by other natural characters. The
first two joints of the antennse (see fig. 21) are globular, the following ones very small, capillary and pilose, and the last three or four
also pilose and globular.
ENTOMOLOGY.
Coleoptera emerge the perfect insects.1 We have about a dozen
Tetramera. Species jn Britain.2 * In the Trogosit^e,3 Olivier and Fab.
(Platycerus, Geoffrey), the mandibles are entirely expos¬
ed, salient and robust. The body is generally elongated,
narrow, and depressed. In some of these the antennae are
shorter than the thorax, or at most of equal length, and
terminate in a compressed club, a little toothed or ser¬
rated, and formed by the three or four last articulations.
The ligula is entire. In Trogosita proper the mandi¬
bles are shorter than the head, and crossed. The maxil¬
lae have but a single lobe. T. mauritanica ( Tenebrio mau-
ritanicus, Linn.), about four lines in length, blackish above,
light brown beneath, with striate elytra, occurs in nuts,
bread, and beneath the bark of trees. The larva, known
in Provence under the name Cadelle, attacks grain. Here
follow the genera Prostomis of Lat. and Passandra of
Dalman.
FAMILY III—PLATYSOMA.4
This group of tetramerous Coleoptera approaches the
preceding so far as relates to the internal structure, the
tarsi, and the habits ; but the antennae are of equal thick¬
ness throughout, or more slender towards their termina¬
tion. The mandibles are always projecting; the ligula is
bifid or emarginate ; the palpi are short, and the body de¬
pressed and lengthened, with the thorax nearly square.
These insects are found beneath the bark of trees, and
are reduced by Latreille to the Cucuji of Fabricius, which
he distinguishes as Cucujus proper (PI. CCXXXIX. fig.
21), Dendrophagus, Gyll. and Uleoiota, Lat.
FAMILY IV LONGICORNES.
The insects of this family, which in the system of Lin¬
naeus formed the genera Cerambyx, Leptura, and Necyda-
lis, have the under surface of the first three articles of the
tarsi garnished with brushes, the second and third being
heart-shaped, the fourth deeply bilobed, with a little swel¬
ling or nodule resembling an articulation at its base.5 The
ligula, borne upon a short and transverse mentum, is ge¬
nerally membranous, heart-shaped, emarginate or bifid,—
in others corneous, and forming the segment of a very
short and transverse circle. The antennae are filiform or
setaceous, generally at least as long as the body, some¬
times simple in both sexes, sometimes serrated, pectinat¬
ed or flabelliform, in the males. The eyes of a great
number are reniform, and surround the antennae at their
base. The thorax is in the form of a trapezium, narrow¬
ed anteriorly in such as have the eyes rounded, entire, or
slightly emarginate; in which case also the legs are long
and slender, and the tarsi lengthened. M. Leon Dufour
has remarked that the Longicornes, in regard both to the
alimentary tube and the disposition of the hepatic vessels,
generally resemble the Melasoma, and, contrary to the
opinion of M. Marcel de Serres, he denies the existence of
a gizzard. The alimentary canal, usually beset with papil¬
lae, is preceded by a crop, which is smaller and less distinct¬
ly marked in Lamia and Leptura, the concluding genera.
The larvae of almost all the Longicornes live in the in¬
terior or beneath the bark of trees. They are either apo¬
dal, or provided with very inconspicuous legs. Their body
143
is soft, whitish, largest anteriorly, with a squamous head, Coleoptera
furnished with strong mandibles, but without any other I'etramera.
projecting parts. They are extremely destructive to the
larger forest trees, piercing them to a considerable depth
in all directions. A certain number gnaw the roots of
plants. The abdomen of the female, in the perfect state,
is terminated by a tubular and corneous oviduct. Several
species produce a sharpish sound by rubbing a portion of
the thorax against the pedicle which attaches the base of
the abdomen. Lister calls this sound querulous, while
Dumeril compares it to the braying of an ass. It is on ac¬
count of this peculiarity that Prionus coriarius is known
in Germany by the name of the Fiddler. Of this nume¬
rous and graceful family some are nocturnal, and frequent
old woods and the trunks of ancient trees ; others occur
on flowers and among flowering shrubs and hedges, and
are richly gilded and adorned with various colours ;—
while all are remarkable for their elongated bodies, their
lengthened limbs, and their long and delicately formed
antennae. Several of the species are among the very lar¬
gest of the coleopterous tribes. The deficiency of wood
in our northern quarter of the island is a circumstance un¬
favourable to the frequent occurrence among us of these
lovers of “ forest scenery.” Even of the English species
commonly so called, a few of the finest are probably not
original inhabitants of Britain, but have rather been acci¬
dentally imported in the larva state in foreign timber, and
have afterwards, when excluded in the perfect form, con¬
trived to wing their way, and colonize among our native
woods. Their characteristic position is in countries ad¬
joining the equator (especially in South America), and
they seem to diminish both in size and number in propor¬
tion to their distance from the torrid zone. Britain in
general, and more especially Scotland, are considerably to
the north of the limit where these insects cease to be
common ; and in other respects our island presents few
local peculiarities at all adapted to their increase. Yet the
indefatigable Mr Stephens enumerates about one hundred
indigenous species of Longicornes, including, however, cer¬
tain genera, such as Trogosita and Cucujus, which Latreille
and others do not admit among the long-horned tribes.
According to the system by which we are at present
guided, the Longicornes are divisible in the first place intc
two sections.
A.
Eyes either emarginate or crescent-shaped, or elongated
and narrow. Head sunk into the thorax as far as the eyes,
without any neck-like restriction,—and vertical in many.
a.
In some the articulation of the palpi is in certain cases
nearly in the form of a cone, or reversed triangle ; in others
nearly cylindrical, and truncated at the extremity. The
terminal lobe of the maxillae is straight (not curved upon
the inner one at its extremity); the head generally pro¬
jected or simply inclined, and when, by a rare exception
(as in Dorcacerus), its position is vertical, its breadth then
nearly equals that of the body, and the antennae are dis¬
tant at their base, and spiny. The thorax, often unequal
or square, is rarely cylindrical. They are subdivisible into
two lesser tribes as follows :
Tribe 1st, Prionii.
Distinguished by thelabrum being absent, or extremely
small and indistinct; the mandibles strong, or even very
1 For a more detailed account, see Germar’s Magazin der Entomologie, vol. ii.
* Stephens’ Nomenclature, col. 32. * From r^uyu, I gnaw, and vtrot, corn.
4 From t kurus, breadth or flatness, and a-u/zu, body.
* Latreille remarks, that in regard to the above character, the Parandrce perfectly resemble the Longicornes ; and that hence, if we
consider the little nodule as a genuine joint, both our present family and that which follows might be regarded as pertaining to the
great pentamerous section.
144
ENTOMOLOG Y.
Coleoptera large among the males, and the internal lobe of the max-
Tetramera. iilgg small or imperceptible. The antennae are inserted
near the base of the mandibles, or of the emargination of
the eyes, but are not surrounded by them at their origin.
The thorax is most frequently trapezoidal or square, and
notched or dentated on the sides.
In the genus Parandra of Lat. the antennae are
simple, almost granose, compressed, of the same size
throughout, and at most as long as the thorax; and the
ligula is corneous, in the form of a short segment of a
circle, transverse, and without emargination. The body
is depressed, and parallelepiped, with the thorax square,
rounded at the posterior angles, and without any teeth
or spines. These tribes are peculiar to America. In
Spondylis, Fab. (Attelabus, Linn.) the antennae and max¬
illary lobes resemble those of the preceding ; but the
ligula, as in all the ensuing Longicornes, is membra¬
nous. The thorax is almost globular, without margins,
and unarmed with teeth or spines. The species, which
are few in number, inhabit Europe, and their larvae occur in
trees of the pine tribe. In the genus Prionus1 of au¬
thors (PI. CCXXXIX. fig. 33), the antennae are longer
than the head and thorax,—serrated or pectinated in some,
—simple, attenuated towards the extremity, and with
elongated articulations, in others. The terminal lobe of
the maxillae is at least as long as the first two articula¬
tions of the palpi. The body is generally depressed,
with the body square or trapezoidal, and either toothed or
spiny, or presenting a lateral projecting angle. These in¬
sects are said to take wing only during the night or even¬
ing. When reposing they occur on trees. Some exotic
species are remarkable for their great size, and their pro¬
jecting mandibles. “ C’est dans ce genre,’' observes M.
Guerin, “ qui sont les plus grands Coleopteres connus,
puisque certaines especes Americaines atteignent plus
de six pouces de longueur.”2 The larvae of P. cervicornis,
which dwell in the wmod of the Gossampinus, are used as
articles of food. We have only four or five species of
this genus in Europe, of which P. coriarius is the sole
British species. It is one of our largest insects, mea¬
suring about fifteen lines in length. The larva lives in
the decaying trunks of oaks and birch trees. It under¬
goes its metamorphosis under ground. P. giganteus
is above half a foot in length. It fortunately inhabits
Cayenne.
Tribe 2o, *Cerambycini.
In these the labrum is very apparent, and extends across
the entire width of the anterior extremity of the head;
the two maxillary lobes are very distinct and projecting;
the mandibles are of ordinary size, and similar, or differ¬
ing but slightly, in the two sexes. The eyes are always
emarginate, and surround, at least in part, the base of the
antennae, which are usually the length of, or longer than,
the body. The thighs, at least the anterior four, are
commonly in the form of an ovoid club, restricted to a
pedicle at the base.
Latreille commences with such as have the last articu¬
lation of the palpi always obviously thicker than the pre¬
ceding ones, and in the form of a triangle or reversed
cone. The head is not sensibly narrowed, and prolonged
anteriorly in the form of a muzzle; the thorax is not
widened from before backwards, and does not present the
figure of a trapezium or of a truncated cone; the elytra
are neither very short and squamiform, nor abruptly nar¬
rowed a little beyond their base, and subulate at the ex-Coleoptera
tremity. These maybe termed the regular C'eram^cmf,Tetramera.
in contradistinction to those of a more anomalous nature,
by which we shall be afterwards conducted to another
tribe. They compose the genera Cerambyx, Clytus, and
Caliidium of Fabricius, and a portion of his Stenocori;
and consist of the great Linnaean genus Cerambyx, with
the addition of some Lepturce of the Swedish naturalist.
Certain modern entomologists have greatly augmented
the number of generic groups ; but Latreille regards the
characters assigned for their distinction as by no means
sufficiently precise. We shall here notice the principal
genera, as admitted in the Regne Animal.
A considerable amount of species, all from South Ame¬
rica, have the body proportionally shorter and broader
than those that follow, and are remarkable for the extent
of the thorax, which nearly equals half the length of the
abdomen. The anterior legs at least are distant at their
base. The scutellum is large in several species. The
antennae are often pectinated, serrated, or spiny. Those
of this division, of which the thorax, nearly semi-orbicu¬
lar and always very large, is smooth or merely chagrined,
with a single tooth on either side at the posterior angles,
—of which the posterior extremity of the praesternum is
plane,,truncated, without emargination, or emarginate,
and placed upon the mesosternum,—of which the scutel¬
lum is always very large, and the legs distant at their
origin—form the two following genera:—dLissoxoTus of
Dalman (PI. CCXXXIX. fig. 35), in which the antenna?
are strongly compressed, serrated or semi-pectinated, and
long, with the posterior extremity of the prassternum un-
emarginate :—Megaderus of Dejean, in which the an¬
tennae are simple and shorter than the body, and the pos¬
terior extremity of the praesternum emarginate, and re¬
ceiving the opposing end of the mesosternum. Those,
again, of which the thorax is extremely unequal, tuber¬
cular, or with many dentations, and the praesternum cari-
nated or terminated posteriorly in a point, form the fol¬
lowing four genera,—Dorcacerus,3 Dejean, Trachy-
deres, Dalman (Plate CCXXXIX. fig. 37), Lophonc-
cerus,4 Lat. (Plate CCXL. figure 1), and Ctenodep,
Olivier and Klug.5
In other groups of species, the thorax, sometimes square
or cylindrical, sometimes orbicular or nearly globular, is
very much shorter than the elytra, at least in those in
which it is extended in breadth, and the praesternum pre¬
sents neither a carina nor pointed prolongation at its pos¬
terior extremity. The scutellum is always small, and the
legs are approximate at their origin. Several, remarkable
for their beautiful metallic colouring, and the agreeable
odour which they exhale, exhibit rather an anomalous
character in regard to the relative proportions of the pal¬
pi,—the maxillary being smaller than the labial, and even
shorter than the terminal lobe of the maxillae, which fre¬
quently projects. The body is depressed, with the ante¬
rior of the head narrow and pointed. The hinder tibiae
are often much compressed. They form the genus Cal-
lichroma6 of Latreille ( Cerambyx, Fab. Dejean). A spe¬
cies well known in England, but which we have not traced
farther north than Westmoreland, and remarkable for its
strong odour of roses, is the Cal. moschata (Cer. mos-
chatus of Linn, and of the English naturalists). It mea¬
sures about an inch in length. South America, and the
equatorial regions of the ancient continent, furnish seve¬
ral species. Other Longicornes of this division, but in
From a saw.
Diet. Class. d'Hist. Nat. t. xiv. p. 282.
* For the characters by which th
s From ooaxa;, a goat or antelope, and horn.
4 From Xotpos, a tuft, and xious, horn.
i these genera are distinguished from each other, see Jlegne Animal, t. v. pp. 111—12.
“ From xuXug, beautiful, and colour.
E X T O M
Coleoptera which the maxillary palpi are as usual at least as long as
etrameia. f]]e labial, and surpass the extremity of the maxillae, are
™ distinguished from such as follow, by the antennae, parti¬
cularly of the males, having twelve distinct articulations
instead of eleven. These parts are always long, setaceous,
and not unfrequently spiny or bearded. The thorax is
toothed or spiny on the sides. These are united by La-
treille under the genus Acanthoptf.ra1 (Callichroma,
Purpuricenus, tSteuocorus, Dej. Dalm.J. Certain species
with the thorax nearly square or cylindrical, and the ely¬
tra generally terminated by one or two spines, enter into
the genus Stenochorus of Dalman. Others, more charac¬
teristic of the western countries of the ancient continent,
form the genus Purpuricenus of Ziegler and Dejean. An
elegant insect of a pale ashy blue, with three black spots
on each elytron, and several joints of the antennae furnish¬
ed with tufts of hair, is the Acanih. alpinus of Lat. re¬
cently removed from the genus Callichroma. It smells
strongly of musk. We took it among the Alps of Swit¬
zerland, and have since received a specimen captured in a
timber-yard in Paris.
The following Cerambycini have only eleven articula¬
tions to the antennae.
In some these organs, at least in the males, are long
and setaceous ; the terminal article of the palpi is. in the
form of a reversed cone; the thorax is either square or a
little dilated in the middle, or oblong and almost cylindri¬
cal ; it is often rugose or tuberculated laterally. They com¬
pose the genus Cerambyx properly so called2 (Plate
CCXL. figure 2). Of these, certain species form the
genus Hamaticerm of recent writers. Such is C. heros of
tab. an inhabitant of the temperate and warmer regions
of Europe. It is one of the largest Coleoptera of the Eu¬
ropean continent. The larva forms deep excavations in
the wood of the oak, and has been deemed by some the
Cossus of the ancients. As it is not now the custom to
eat grubs, that disputed question still remains obscure.
Latreille places in this niche of the entomological sys¬
tem various Callichromae (so called) of Dejean, with a
smooth or but slightly unequal thorax. Most of them
belong to South America. They are in general beautifully
ornamented by the hand of nature, though their size is
small. Some are singularly distinguished by one or more
little globular tufts of hair upon the antennae, and even
the hind legs of certain species are similarly adorned.
The thighs of these insects (some of which were arranged
by Fabricius and Olivier among the Saperdee) resemble
a club-like mass, supported upon a more lengthened pe¬
dicle. The antennae consist of long and slender articula¬
tions. In the genus Gnoma of Dejean the thorax is long
and cylindrical. The palpi are almost filiform, and the
inner side of the mandibles presents a tooth. The spe¬
cies occur in America.
In the extensive genus Callidium3 of Olivier, the an¬
tennae are in general scarcely longer than the body, and
are rather filiform than setaceous. The thorax, always
unarmed, is sometimes nearly globular or orbicular, some¬
times more narrow, nearly cylindrical, and simply dilated
and rounded in the centre. The palpi, always very short,
are terminated by an article rather thicker and broader
than the preceding ones, and in the form of a reversed
triangle. These insects now form the genera Certal-
lum of Megerle and Dejean, Clitus of Fabricius, and
Callidium properly so called. Of the second and last we
have several British species.
Latreille concludes our present tribe of insects with cer-
1 I' rom u.x.u'itSu.y a spine, and a wing.
* l' rom Kioas, horn, and fiovs, an ox.
VOL. IX.
O L O G Y. 145
tain species, which, in regard to the palpi, the form of the Ooleopteri?
head, thorax, and elytra, and their general proportions, Tetramera.
offer some remarkable and anomalous characters. He
commences with such as present a thorax analogous to
that of the preceding, especially the genus Certallum. It
is as broad as the head, and as the base of the elytra,
or scarcely narrower, and is either almost cylindrical, or
rounded, 01 nearly orbicular; in both cases wider near
the middle. The terminal articulation of the palpi is
sometimes attenuated near the end, and terminated in
a point, sometimes thicker and truncated, and obconi-
cal. All the thighs are clubbed, and supported by an
abrupt, slender, and lengthened pedicle. The elytra of
the greater number are either very short, or abruptly
narrowed at a little distance from their base, and then
subulate.
In the genera Obrium of Megerle, and Rhinotragus
of Dalman, the elytra do not exhibit those peculiar forms ;
but in Necydalis, Linn, those parts are either very short
and scale-like, or prolonged, as usual, as far as the extre¬
mity of the abdomen, and abruptly contracted a little be¬
yond their origin, then greatly narrowed, and terminated
in a point. I hey do not resemble the ^Edemer^e, with
which they were arranged by Fabricius, except in the
form of the elytra. They are divisible into two minor
groups, tor example, those with subulate elytra form the
genus Stenopterus4 of Illiger (Plate CCXL. figure 5),
while such as have them short and squamiform continue
to bear the name of Necydalis (ibid. fig. 3).
Certain insects, for the most part proper to the African
islands, to New Holland, New Ireland, and New Zealand,
present some ambiguous characters; and, according to
Latreille, ought perhaps, in a natural order, to be placed
between the Lamiariae and the Lepturetae. In the mean
time, however, he concludes with them the tribe Ceram¬
bycini. The palpi are almost filiform, with the terminal
articulation nearly cylindrical, slightly attenuated towards
the base. The thorax is usually smooth, or but slightly
uneven, without acute tubercles, is widened posteriorly,
or presents the form of a trapezium or of a truncated cone.
The abdomen is almost in the form of a reversed triangle
in the greater number, and the elytra are truncated^at
the extremity. They form four genera, viz. Distichoce-
ra, Kirby, Tmesisternus, Lat., Tragocerus, Dejean,
and Leptocera of the last-named author.
b.
In other Longicornes, forming
Tribe 3d, Lamiarije,
Ihe head is vertical and the palpi filiform, or scarcely
larger at their extremity, and terminated by an article
more or less ovoid, and tapering to a point. The exterior
lobe of the maxillse is a little narrowed at the extremity,
and curved upon the inner division. The antennae are
most frequently setaceous and simple, and the thorax, ex¬
clusive of the lateral tubercles or spines, is nearly of an
equal width throughout. Some species are apterous,—a
character not exhibited by any other division of the fa-
mily.
Our present tribe, in the system of Latreille, is composed
of the genera Lamia and Saperda of Fabricius, of some
of the Stenocori of that author, of the Colobotheoe of De¬
jean, and of several of his Cerambyces.
The genus Acrocinus of Illiger is constituted by an
insect of a very striking and extraordinary aspect, the Ce¬
rambyx lonyimanus of Linn. The genus is distinguished
3 From x.u.\os, beautiful, and form.
* From <rnyos, narrow, and rrrsjov, wing.
T
146
ENTOMOLOGY.
Coleopterafrom all the Longicornes by the thorax being provided on
Tetrarpera. each side with a moveahle tubercle, terminated by a point
or spine. The body is flattened, with the thorax trans¬
versal ; the antennae are long and slender; the anterior
legs much longer than the others, especially in the males ;
and the elytra are truncated at the end, and terminated
by two teeth, of which the exterior is the strongest. The
singular species above named, of which the colours pre¬
sent an agreeable mixture of grey, red, and black, is
known to the French colonists by the name of the Harle-
quin of Cayenne. It is a very large insect. The Prionus
accentifer of Olivier pertains to the same genus.
All the other Lamiariae are referable to the great genus
Lamia (Plate CCXL. figure 4), which, however, has
been extensively subdivided in modern times. A great
number of species, chiefly from South America, of which
the legs are robust and the tarsi much dilated, fall under
the genus Acanthocinus of Megerle and Dejean. Not
more than three species are known in Europe. Of these
we received A. ezdilis (called the Carpenter in France),
from a wood near Inverness; and Sir Thomas Dick Lau¬
der informs us that he likewise took it in a forest of that
northern county. Specimens from the neighbourhood of
Kirkaldyare preserved in the collection of Sir Patrick Wal¬
ker. The species is remarkable for the great extent of the
antennae, which in the males are four times the length of
the body. It is characteristic of northern countries, and
most of the British examples have occurred in Scotland.
“ Habitat frequens,” says Linnaeus, writing in reference to
Sweden, “ in linteribus et arborum truncis decorticatis,
dum ex his domos struunt ruricolae, hinc pueris nostris
dicitur Timberman omnibus notissima species: vulgus
hunc laedere religiose apud nos ducet.”1 Others of an
analogous form, but of which the antennae are garnished
with hairs, compose the genus Pogonocherus2 of the
same authors. Britain produces four species, of which
two occur in Scotland. Certain apterous kinds compose
the genus Dorcadion3 of Dalman. These insects are
proper to Europe and the neighbouring countries of Asia.
Their antennae are generally shorter than the body, with
their articulations in the form of a reversed cone, which
gives them a knotted aspect. A species common on the
continent of Europe (Cer. fuliginator, Linn.) is almost ex¬
clusively confined to calcareous soils.
Other Lamiariae have the thorax cylindrical, and unfur¬
nished with tubercles or spines. The body is always elon¬
gated,—in some almost linear. They compose the genus
Saperda of Fab., which has been greatly subdivided. We
have several British species, of which we shall here name
only S. carcharias, an insect about an inch in length, co¬
vered with a yellowish ashy down, spotted with black, and
the antennae coloured alternately with black and grey. Its
larva lives in the trunk of the poplar, and sometimes proves
injurious to plantations of that tree.
B.
In this our second principal section of the Longicornes,
forming
Tribe 4th, Lepturet^e,
The eyes are rounded, entire, or scarcely emarginate,
and the antennae are then inserted forwards, or at most at
the anterior extremity of that feeble emargination. The
head is always inclined, prolonged posteriorly behind the
eyes in several, or abruptly narrowed into a neck-like form
at its junction with the thorax. This last part is conical
or trapezoidal, and narrowed anteriorly. The elytra be- Coleoptem
come gradually narrower from the base. This tribe cor- Tetramera.
responds to the genus Leptura of Linnaeus, with the ex-
ception of a few species which fall more naturally among
the preceding tribes, and also of such as belong to the more
modern genus Donacia. We shall here notice only a few
of the genera which, as native to our own island, are the
most likely to interest the British naturalist.
In the genus Rhagium (of which we have three indi¬
genous species) (Plate CCXL. figure 6), the antennae
are simple, and at most not more than half the length of
the body. The terminal articulation of the palpi forms a
triangular club. The head is large, almost square, with
the eyes entire. The sides of the thorax are furnished
with a conical or spinous tubercle. In the genus Toxo-
tus4 the antennae are at least as long as the body, simple,
with the first article much shorter than the head. The
eyes are entire, or very slightly emarginate. The body
is triangular, or forms a lengthened square, narrowed pos¬
teriorly. T. meridianns and chrysogaster are supposed
to be synonymous,—in which case we have probably not
more than two British species. In the genus Leptura5
properly so called, the head is abruptly narrowed imme¬
diately behind the eyes, and the antennae, inserted near
the anterior extremity of their inner emargination, are
distant at their base. The two usual eminences from
which they spring are almost confounded in one plane.
The thorax is almost always smooth, or without lateral
tubercles. The majority of the genus occur in Europe,
and Britain produces about a score. Few of them have
yet occurred in Scotland, probably owing to our compa¬
rative deficiency in wood. We have met with only one
species in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, L. rvficollis.
FAMILY V EUPODA.
Some of the component parts of this family are nearly
allied to the Longicornes or preceding tribes, while others
so much resemble the Chrysomelse as to have been ar¬
ranged with the latter by Linnaeus. The organs of man-
ducation present the same range of affinities. Thus,
among the Donaciae, the ligula is membranous, bifid or
bilobed, as among the Longicornes, and their maxillae are
very analogous to those of the latter; while among the
concluding Eupoda the ligula is almost square or round¬
ed, and analogous to that of the ensuing family, called
Cyclica. At the same time the maxillary lobes are mem¬
branous, or but slightly coriaceous, whitish, or of a yellow¬
ish hue; the exterior expands towards the extremity,
and has not the figure of a palpus,—a feature which allies
our present family rather to that which we have left
than to the one which follows. The body is more or less
oblong, with the head and thorax narrower than the ab¬
domen. The antennae are filiform, or gradually enlarge
towards the extremity, and are inserted before the eyes.
These are in some entire, round, and projecting, in others
slightly emarginate. The head is received posteriorly by
the thorax, which is cylindrical, or in the form of a trans¬
verse square. The abdomen may be called large when
compared with the other parts, and forms a lengthened
square, or elongated triangle. The articulations of the
tarsi, excepting the terminal one, are furnished beneath
with little cushions, and the penultimate is bifid or bilob¬
ed. The posterior thighs are very large in many species,
i
fi
Fauna Suecica. a c. small species of deer.
from ■xwya'i, beard, and horn. * refrrnt, an archer .*
4 Named from Xso-m, slender, and ov^a, the tail, in allusion to the attenuated form of the elytra.
ENTOMOLOGY.
Coleoptera an(j it Js from that character that the family derives its
t etramera. name< They are all winged insects, and occur on the
stems and leaves of various plants, especially, so far at
least as many of the European species are concerned, on
the liliaceous tribes. The larvae of the Donaciae feed on
the internal portion of the roots of aquatic plants. Those
of other genera live exposed, but, after the manner of the
Cassidae, cover themselves with a case or scabbard form¬
ed of their own excrementitious matter. Latreille divides
the family into two tribes.
Tribe 1st, Sagrides.
The mandibles terminate in a sharp point. The ligula
is deeply emarginate or bilobed.
In some the palpi are filiform, the eyes emarginate, the
posterior thighs very large and strong, and the tibiae ar¬
cuated. We here place the genera Megalopus,1 Fab.
and Sagra properly so called (Plate CCXL. figure 7).
The former insects are proper to South America; the lat¬
ter, although one occurs in Africa, are characteristic of
China, and the great eastern islands, such as Java, the
Celebes, and Ceylon. Some of the Sagrae are among the
richest and most beautiful of the coleopterous tribes.
There is something striking in their gigantic limbs, and
their colours consist of burnished green and gold, mingled
with violet and deep flame colour.
In others the palpi are enlarged at their extremity, the
eyes entire, and the thighs of nearly equal dimensions.
Such are the genera Orsodacna of Lat. and Psammce-
cus, Boudier.2
Tribe 2d, Criocerides.
The extremity of the mandibles is truncated, or pre¬
sents two or three teeth. The ligula is entire, or but
slightly emarginate. These insects correspond to the
genus Crioceris3 of Geoffroy, which Latreille divides as
follows.
In some the mandibles taper to a point, and present
two or three teeth at the extremity. The palpi are fili¬
form, the antennae of ordinary thickness, almost granose
in certain species, and chiefly composed in others of arti¬
culations in the form of a reversed cone, or perceptibly
thicker towards their superior extremity.
In the genus Donacia, Fab. (Plate CCXL. figure 8),
the posterior thighs are large and inflated. The antennae
are of equal size throughout, and composed of lengthened
articulations. The eyes are entire, and the terminal joint
of the tarsi is inclosed, for the greater part of its length,
by the lobes of the preceding articulation. This interest¬
ing genus was confounded with Leptura by Linnaeus and
Degeer, and with Stenochorus by Geoffroy. It was esta¬
blished by Fabricius under its present name, from ^ova|, a
reed, on account of the species of which it is composed being
found on reeds and other aquatic plants, such as those of
the genus Iris, Saggitaria, Nymphaea, &c. to which they
cling with great tenacity, and on the roots of which the
larvae are supposed to feed. In the form of their bodies and
antennae they show an alliance to the Cerambycidae, but
their habits, and the structure of the cibarian organs, ally
them still more closely to Crioceris and Galeruca. They
are-frequently bronzed or gilded in their aspect, and are
covered in some cases by a fine silky down, which is sup¬
posed to prove useful to them when they fall into the wa¬
ter. Indeed, even in the perfect state, they are partly
aquatic, and may be seen to seek repose and shelter on
the under side of the leaf of a water lily, where they are
147
necessarily submerged. According to M. A. Brongniart. Coleoptera
the chrysalids are attached to their filaments by one edge Tetramera.
only. M. Leon Dufour inclines to think, in consequence
of anatomical investigation, that the Donaciae ought to be
formed into a particular family. His observations, as we
are informed by M. Latreille, demonstrate that their he¬
patic vessels, in number, form, structure, and arrangement,
constitute a very remarkable exception to those of the Te¬
tramera in general, and one which even appears peculiar to
the genus. These vessels only open into the chylific ven¬
tricle, while in all the other Tetramera which M. Dufour
has dissected, they have two insertions, one of which is
ventricular, and the other caecal. These biliary ducts,
which are only four in number, are of two different kinds,
—the first are capillary, and disposed in two strongly flex¬
ed curves, and are inserted by four distinct ends into a
short obround vesicle placed at the inferior and some¬
what lateral extremity of the chylific ventricle,—the others
are much shorter, thicker, more dilatable, thin, and taper¬
ing at both ends, with one extremity free, and separately
inserted by the other into the superior and dorsal region
of the ventricle. They contain a whitish pulp, which is
regarded as an alimentary substance. The oesophagus is
capillary, and has no dilatation in the form of crop. The
chylific ventricle is beset with projecting papillae.4 Bri¬
tain produces above twenty species of Donaciae—a great
amount, when we consider that Dejean’s Catalogue con¬
tains only twenty-six in all. The genus maybe regard¬
ed as characteristic of Europe, for scarcely any occur in
other countries, although a few have been collected in
America.
The genus Crioceris properly so called, differs from
the preceding in the posterior legs being scarcely, if at all,
larger than the others. The antennae become somewhat
enlarged towards the extremity, are almost granose, with
their articulations not much longer than broad. The eyes
are elevated and emarginate, and the posterior extremity
of the head forms a kind of neck behind these latter or¬
gans. These insects are of small size, their bodies narrow
and elongated, and frequently ornamented with lively co¬
lours. They live on the leaves qf various plants,—Lilia-
ceae, Asparagi, &c. and occur in gardens and meadows.
When seized they produce a sharpish sound, by rubbing
the superior extremity of the abdomen against the inferior
extremity of the elytra. The larvae feed on the same
plants as those on which we usually find the perfect insects,
and are somewhat adhesive or tenacious by means of their
six scaly feet. Their bodies are soft, short, and inflated ;
and they protect themselves in that early state from the
action of the sun and the changes of the season, by cover¬
ing their backs with their own ordure. They occupy a
subterranean position in the nympha state. The species
are extremely numerous as the genus was originally con¬
stituted, but it has been greatly restricted in recent times.
Mr Stephens gives seven as the amount of British species.
Of these not above three have yet been found in Scot¬
land. C. asparagi was taken near Edinburgh by Sir Pa¬
trick Walker.
In others the mandibles, instead of tapering to a point,
as in the two preceding genera, are truncated. The palpi
are terminated by a strongly inflated joint, truncated, with
a small angular prolongation, exhibiting the appearance of
another joint. The antennae are slender, and composed
of very long and almost cylindrical articulations. Such
is the genus Megascelis of Dejean and Lat. (Plate
CCXL. figure 9), peculiar to South America.
* From x^ot, a ram, and a horn.
4 Regne Animal, t. v. p. 136.
’ From piyuXcirovf, having large feet.
For their distinctive characters, see Ritgne Animal, t. v. p. 134-5.
148 E N T O M
Coleoptera
'^etramera. FAMILY VI—CYCLICA.
In this family the first three joints of the tarsi are still
spongy, or furnished beneath with pellets, the penultimate
joint divided into two lobes, and the antennae filiform, or
a little larger towards the extremity ; but the body is usu¬
ally rounded, with the base of the thorax as broad as the
elytra in such (and these are few in number) as are of an
oblong form. The exterior division of the maxillae, in its
narrow and almost cylindrical form, and darker colour,
presents the appearance of a palpus ; the interior division
is broader and destitute of a scaly tooth. The ligula is
almost square or oval, entire, or slightly emarginate. It
appears from the anatomical researches of M. Leon Dufour,
that the alimentary canal is at least thrice the length of
the body in such of the genera as have been examined;
that the oesophagus is usually inflated behind the crop;
and that the chylific ventricle, or stomach, is generally
smooth, at least throughout a great part of its length. The
biliary apparatus resembles that of the Cerambycidse and
other Longicornes, in the number and double insertion of
the vessels of which it is composed ;—these amount to six,
two of which (except in the genus Cassida) are for the most
part shorter and more slender. The larvae have six feet;
their bodies are soft, and frequently coloured. They feed,
like the perfect insect, on the leaves of plants, to which
they adhere by means of a viscid humour. Some enter
the earth prior to their assumption of the nympha state,
while others undergo that change attached to the plants on
which they feed, and partly encompassed by the exuviae of
the larva. The perfect insects are of small size, but they
are frequently adorned by brilliant colours and metallic
splendour. They are slow and timorous in their general
movements, and when attempted to be seized, they closely
fold their feet and antennae, and drop to the ground. Se¬
veral species are good leapers, and the females are ex¬
tremely prolific. Latreille divides this family into three
tribes, according to the mode in which the antennae are
inserted.
Tribe 1st, Cassidarije.
These have the antennae inserted on the superior part
of the head, and approximate, straight, short, filiform, and
almost cylindrical, or increasing gradually towards the
extremity. The mouth, situate altogether underneath,
and with very short almost filiform palpi, is sometimes
arched (cintree), sometimes partially received into the
cavity of the praesternum. The eyes are ovoid or round ;
the legs contractile and short, with the tarsi flattened,—
the lobes of the penultimate articulation entirely inclosing
the terminal one. The body being flat beneath, these in¬
sects, by the disposition of their tarsi, are enabled to ad¬
here closely to the surface of vegetation, and to remain
there immoveable ; in other respects the body is general¬
ly orbicular or oval, and is margined all round, or overlap¬
ped, by the thorax and elytra. The head is concealed
beneath the thorax, or is received into its anterior emargi-
nation. ihe colours are extremely varied, and are distri¬
buted in the form of spots and radiated markings, in a
manner delightful to look upon. The larvae present a less
inviting aspect, and have the instinctive habit of covering
themselves with their own excretions.
In the old genus Hispa,1 of Linn, the body is oblong,
with the head entirely free or exposed, and the thorax
trapezoidal. The mandibles have only two or three teeth ;
the external maxillary lobe is shorter than the internal,
O L O G Y.
and the antennae are filiform, and borne projecting for- Coleoptera
wards. These insects now form the genera Alurnus, Tetramera.
Fab. (Plate CCXL. figure 10), and Hispa properly so
called (ibid. fig. 11).
The genus Cassida,2 Linn, and Fab. (Plate CCXL.
fig. 12), is distinguished from the preceding by the orbi¬
cular or almost ovoid form of the body, which, however,
in a small number is nearly square. The thorax, more or
less semicircular, or in the form of the segment of a circle,
entirely covers and conceals the head, or incloses it in its
anterior emargination. The elytra, often elevated about
the region of the scutellum, project over the body. The
mandibles are furnished with not fewer than four teeth,
and the external maxillary lobe is at least as long as the
internal. The name by which the insects of this genus
are distinguished was no doubt bestowed upon them on
account of a strongly marked character in their structure.
The edges of the thorax and elytra overlap and protect
the limbs and abdomen on all sides, and the head is also
nearly covered and concealed by the prothorax. Many
of the species are highly ornamental, and present pleas¬
ing combinations of green and golden hues, which, how¬
ever, soon disappear or diminish in intensity after the
death of the insect, but may be temporarily restored by
the use of hot water. These insects are herbivorous in
their habits, and are fond of artichokes and thistles. The
structure and habits of the larvse are rather singular, and
have been studied and described by Goedart, Roesel,
Reaumur, and Degeer. They are flattish, rather broad,
and beset laterally by sixteen branched spines placed ho¬
rizontally on each side of the posterior and superior por¬
tion of the body. At the base of these spines may be
observed seven small cylindrical truncated tunnels, each
placed on a distinct segment. These are probably the
stigmatic openings. The head is small, of a corneous
consistence, and presents four small tubercles on each side
of its superior part, and only three on its inferior. These
are regarded by Degeer as genuine eyes. Six scaly feet,
terminated by a brown-coloured hook, sustain the body,
which is terminated by a two-branched fork, curved over
the back, and usually bearing a pile of excrementitious
matter, under which the larva lies in part concealed. It
can elevate or depress this “ stercorareous parasol” at
pleasure, for the varying purposes of shade or shelter.
The nymph is shorter than the larva, broad, flattened, of
an oval form, and surrounded by peculiar appendages. It
has an ample thorax, terminated by a circular arch, and
furnished with similar points or appendages. The legs
and the segments of the abdomen are perceptible. It was
in the aspect of one of these nymphas that Goedart sup¬
posed he recognised a representation of the human figure
surrounded by an imperial crown. The genus Cassida
presents an immense amount of species. About twenty
are indigenous to Britain, several more occur on the con¬
tinent of Europe, and, including exotic species, Dejean
enumerates 103 as the amount (in 1821) of his then
splendid, and now (1834) unrivalled collection of Coleop¬
tera.
Tribe 2d, Chrysomelin^;.
In this tribe the antennae are inserted in front of the
eyes, near their internal extremity, and are distant at the
base. None of the species are capable of leaping. They
form, in the earlier works of Fabricms, the genera Crypto-
cephalus and Chrysomela, of which we shall here notice
the principal component parts, as modified by the syste¬
matic views of recent writers.
Perhaps from hispidus, shaggy.
From cassida, a helmet-
ENTOMOLOG Y. l4c
retrTmera3 m ^ ori^.inal Senus Cryptocephalus1 contained those ralist established his extensive genus Chrysomela, he in-Coleoptera
^^_^- Chrysomehnae of which the head seemed plunged vertical- eluded within its somewhat too ample boundaries nume-'^etraniera.
i fn arc ie" °r h°0d-like thorax, in such a way that rous groups, which the more precise observation and richer
the body, generally in the form of a short cylinder, or materials of later entomologists have caused to be erected
almost ovoid, and narrowed anteriorly, appears, when into separate genera. It is thus that we owe Erotylm,
viewed from above, as if truncated in front, or deprived Colaspis, anti Adorium to Fabricius, Emwo/tims to Kungel-
o the head. Ihe terminal articulation of the palpi is al- man, Helodes to Paykul, Doryphora to Illiger, and Paro-
ways ovoid. psis to Olivier,—besides several others, to the origin of
In some ot these the antennae are short, and pectinated which we need not here particularly allude. Many of the
or serrated from the fourth or fifth joint, as in the genus species of this genus are among the most beautiful and
Leythra or Leach and tab. of which C. quadripunctata highly adorned of all the insect tribes. Azure, and green,
(a Cmysomela of Linn.) may be mentioned as a well- and gold, form their ordinary costume ; and to that lustrous
mown British species. It measures about half an inch in aspect, combined with their compact and rounded forms,
ength, and has red elytra, with a pair of black spots on they no doubt owe their title of Chrysomela, which in the
eac i. Its larva lives in a little coriaceous tunnel, which it Greek language signifies an apple of gold.6 These insects
lags along with it. We here place also the singular ge- are of small or medium size. Few of them measure more
nVS- ~'HLAMYS Knock3 (Plate CCXL. figure 13), in than half an inch in length, and the greater number do not
which the upper surface of the body is extremely rugged equal that dimension. They are strictly herbivorous, and
and unequal. Nothing is known of the history or trans- sometimes commit considerable ravages on agricultural and
formations of these insects, all of which, as far as yet ob- garden produce. The larvae have in general six feet, an
served, are natives of the new world, especially of Brazil, elongated body, beset with warts or tubercles, and termi-
a region so icmarkable for its entomological riches. In a nated by a kind of nipple, which secretes a viscous fluid,
s ate of repose they draw in their legs and antennae close used both in walking, and in order to fix the insect firmly
upon then body, and when not in motion are with diffi- before its conversion to the nympha state. Their trans-
culty recognised as living creatures. The species are few formations usually take place in the open air, in which case
in numbei, and by no means common in collections. Mr they are protected by the hardening of their natural en-
Kirby has descnbed a new species under the name of Chla- velope. Many of the species are gregarious, while others
mys bacca, “ Animal singulare, baccam rubicundam aci- are solitary ; and it is among the latter that such occur as
ms constantem superficie rugoso simulans.”4 In the ge- undergo their metamorphoses under ground. We shall
nus Lamprosoma^ of Kirby (Plate CCXL. figure 14), the now enumerate the principal generic groups into which
body is almost globular, very smooth and convex, and the the old genus Chrysomela has been subdivided,
thoiax extremely short, broad, gradually raised, and slight- In some the body is always ovoid, or nearly oval, and
Jy lobate at the middle of its posterior margin. furnished with wings; the palpi terminate in a point.
in other groups, the antennae, perceptibly longer than These insects resemble the Eumolpi already mentioned,
t le head and thorax, are simple and filiform, or enlarged and differ from the ensuing Chrysomelinae in their filiform
towards the extremity, or even terminated by a club,—in antennae, which are longer than half the length of the
which case they are generally toothed like a saw, but only body, composed of elongated nearly cylindrical articles, of
fiom the seventh joint. In several the body is oval, and which the eleventh or terminal bears an appendage or false
narrowed m front. The last article of the antennae is fur- joint nearly half as long as the article itself. Such are
mshed with an appendage, so as to produce an appear- Colaspis, Fab. which have no projection of the meso-
ance of twelve joints. In the genus Cryptocephalus sternum ; and Podontia, Dalman, in which that part pro-
properly so called, the body is cylindrical, and the thorax jects in the form of a short and conical point, the end of
as broad as the abdomen throughout its length. The an- which is received into a posterior emargination of the pne-
tennae and palpi are of the same size throughout. We sternum.?
have above a score of species in Great Britain. In the In the following groups the antennae are short, compos-
genus Eumolpus of Kugelan the body is narrowed in ed of articulations in the form of a reversed cone, or more
front, and almost ovoid. Ihe mandibles are of ordinary or less nearly granose, and enlarged towards the extre-
size, and the second joint of the antennae is shorter than mity. The false joint or terminal appendage is very short
t lat which follows. Almost all of them are exotic, al- and indistinct. In the genus Phyllocharis of Dalman
though a few are found in Europe, of which E. vitis, Fab. there is no mesosternal projection; but in Doryphora8 of
and certain others, are said to occur in England. Accord- Illiger (Plate CCXL. figure 15), that part is advanced
mg to Geoffroy, the larva of the last-named insect is ex- like a distinct horn. The former genus inhabits New
tremely destructive to vineyards. Holland and the island of Java,—the latter is peculiar to
We now approach the second great genus of the pre- South America. The genus Paropsis,9Olivier, or Noto-
sent tribe, that called Chrysomela by Linnaeus. Of its clea of Marsham (ibid. fig. 16), is distinguished from all
modern reconstruction we shall likewise present the read- the rest of the family by the maxillary palpi, of which
er with a general sketch. The body of these insects is the terminal article is much larger than the others, and
usually ovoid or nearly ovular, with the head salient, pro- hatchet-shaped. These insects, in so far as entomologi-
jecting or merely inclined. Ihe antennae are simple, about cal research has yet extended, seem peculiar to New Hol-
half.the Kngth of the body, and most frequently granose, land. The two genera next ensuing interest our native
and insensibly enlarged. When the great Swedish natu- naturalists as abundant over Britain. The terminal article
From xXolhus, a coat of mail.
- From x^uvro;, concealed, and utifiaXn, the head.
3 Neue Betrage zur Insectenkunde, p. 122.
4 I Ann. Irans. vol. xii p. 446. Monographs of the genus Chlamys have been published both by Kollar and King.
5 rrom bright, and trugM, body.
ihe word chrysomelum. from xzvtrof, gold, and finXix, an apple, denoted in ancient times a fruit with a yellow rind, and was deemed
SU4kc^ent^J applicable to the insects of our present genus, on account of their rounded form and brilliant colouring.
■ ciee JDalman’s Ephemerides Entomologicae. ”
8 From 'hoiv<QoZ'i, a pike-bearer, in allusion to the sternal spine. 9 From vao^.s, a plalter.
150
ENTOMOLOGY.
Coleoptera of their palpi is also well distinguished from the preced-
Tetramera. to which it is equal, if not larger, in size,—its form
being more or less semi-ovoid. These insects are widely
spread over most parts of the ancient continent, especial¬
ly Europe. In the genus Timarcha of Megerle and De¬
jean (Plate CCXL. figure IT), the species are few in num¬
ber, and apterous. The elytra are joined together, the
body gibbous, and the tarsi much dilated, especially in the
males. They occur on the ground in woods, fields, and
by the sides of highways. Their movements are slow and
heavy, and a yellowish or reddish liquor frequently exudes
from their articulations. Linnaeus classed a well-known
species of this genus (T. tenebricosa) as a tenebi io. It
has been dissected by M. Leon Dufour, and exhibited an
intestinal tube three times the length of the body. It
presented no appearance of a crop; and the stomach, which
was long and folded on itself, contained no sensible papu¬
lae : some small transverse muscular bands were just dis¬
cernible. The stomach is followed by a filiform intestine,
then bv an oblong caecum, bordering on the rectum. As
far as our own observation has extended, the species, with
a few exceptions from the north of Africa, seem confined
to Europe. In the genus Chrysomela properly so call¬
ed (Plate CCXL. figure 18), the species are all provided
with wings, and the terminal article of the palpi is as large
or larger than the preceding ones, and in the form of a
truncated ovoid, or reversed cone. The species of this
delightful genus are extremely numerous, even in its now
restricted state. Comte Dejean was many years ago in
possession of 120 species, and we know that his collection
has recently been much augmented. Even in Britain we
possess about thirty species, exclusive of fourteen kinds
of Phcedon and six of Melasoma, genera so nearly allied
in structure and economy, that some authors do not yet
distinguish them from the Chrysomelse strictly so called.
We regret that within our present limits we cannot de¬
scribe the species. We shall merely mention that we
lately received one of the largest and most beautiful, C.
fulgida, from the valley of Clova in Forfarshire. It was
previously unknown in Scotland. Another species of
very exquisite aspect, C. cerealis, common in France upon
the broom, has of late years been taken occasionally in
Wales.1 Our own collection is indebted for it to our
liberal friend and valued correspondent the late Mr Melly
of Liverpool, a skilful and accomplished entomologist,
who possessed one of the largest and probably the best
conditioned of the general cabinets of Coleoptera in Bri¬
tain.
Latreille terminates the tribe with such as have their
maxillary palpi attenuated at the extremity, and ending
in a point. These form two genera,—Ph^don of Me¬
gerle, in which the bodv is ovoid or orbicular ; and Praso-
curis of Lat. (Plate CCXL. figure 20).2 Of the former,
C. fastuosa, Linn, may be cited as a beautiful example,
which occurs in great plenty at the base of Salisbury
Crags and other places near Edinburgh, on the Lamium
album or white dead-nettle,—of the latter, P. Phellandrii
and Beccabungce are well-known British species.
Tribe 3d, Galerucit^e.
Colenptera
Tetramera.
Characterized by the antennae being always at least v
half as long as the body, of the same thickness through¬
out, or insensibly enlarged towards the extremity, insert¬
ed between the eyes, at a short distance from the mouth,
and usually approximate at their base, and close upon a
small longitudinal carina. The maxillary palpi, thickest
towards the middle, are terminated by two joints of a co¬
nical form, but opposed or united by their base, the ter¬
minal one being either truncated, or obtuse, or pointed.
The body is sometimes ovoid or oval, sometimes nearly
hemispherical. Several, especially of the smaller kinds,
have the posterior thighs very large, which gives them
the power of leaping. They form the old genus Galeruca,
Latreille divides these insects into two principal groups,
the Isopodes, or such as cannot leap, and the Anisopodes,
or such as possess that faculty.
To the former belong the genera Adorium, Fab., of
which the species are foreign ; Luperus, Geoff., of which
we possess two British species; and Galeruca properly
so called, of which our indigenous kinds are more abun¬
dant, and which is likewise extremely numerous both in
Asia and America. G. tanaceti occurs in most parts of
Britain. We took it in Sutherland. Java produces a very
beautiful species, named G. albicornis by Dejean.
To the leaping Galerucitse belong numerous insects, of
which the posterior thighs are much enlarged. They were
scattered by Fabricius through the genera Chrysomela,
Galeruca, and Crioceris, and have been united by other
naturalists under the single genus Altica.3 Though of
insignificant dimensions, their colours are varied and bril¬
liant, their movements lively, and their powers of devasta¬
tion considerable. They feed on the leaves of plants, and
are familiarly known by the name of garden fleas. South
America produces a great many species.4 Many subdivi¬
sions have been proposed of the old genus just named.
Of these, Latreille admits as established groups the genera
OcTOGONOTEsofDrapiez,50EmoNYCHis, Dibolia, Longi-
tarsus, Lat., and Altica properly so called. The last-
named genus is the most frequent and best known in Bri¬
tain. The species are of small dimensions, and occur in
great numbers during the spring in humid places, and are
extremely destructive both in the larva and perfect state
to pot-herbs and other garden produce. The larvae re¬
semble those of Chrysomela and Crioceris, and some of
them are remarkable for discharging an odorous and acid
fluid from certain small tubercles on their backs. The
nymphae bear a likeness to those of Coccinella, and re¬
main from fifteen to twenty days in that condition. The
perfect insects are often highly adorned, and the species
are extremely numerous. We shall mention merely H.
nemorum, which is oblong-ovate, black, thickly punctured,
with a longitudinal yellowish stripe on each elytron, the
base of the antennae, tibiae, and tarsi testaceous. This
species is but too abundant over all our country. “ The
chief dependence,” say Messrs Kirby and Spence, “ of our
farmers for the sustenance of their cattle in the winter is
1 Certain species, of a darker or more obscure complexion than the others, form the genus Melasoma of Liiiwyn, so called from
(tiXuf, Hack, and trupu., body. We may mention as an example, M. popidi, the largest of the Chrysomelidse hitherto found in Scotland.
On each of the nine intermediate dorsal segments of the larva of this species there is a pair of black, elevated, conical tubercles, of a
hard substance, from all of which when touched it emits a small drop of a white milky fluid, the smell of which, according to Degeer,
is almost insupportable, being inexpressibly strong and penetrating. These drops proceed at the same instant from all the eighteen
scent organs, which then present a singular spectacle. The precious fluid, however, is by no means wasted when exercised, for each
drop, after a momentary appearance, during which it dispenses its perfume, is withdrawn again within its receptacle, till again re¬
quired. (See Degeer, t. v. p. 291 ; and Kirby and Spence’s Introduction to Entomology, vol. ii. p. 246.)
a Ilelodes of some other authors. 3 From aXnxc;, a Icapcr.
4 We are indebted to Illiger for a monograph of these insects, published in the Magazin fur Insectenkunde.
b Annul, des Sciences Phys. iii. p. 181.
ENTOMOLOGY.
151
toleoptera another most useful root, the turnip ; and they have of-
etramera. ten to lament the distress occasioned by a failure in this
crop, of which these minor animals are the cause. On its
first coming up, as soon as the cotyledon leaves are un¬
folded, a whole host of little jumping beetles, composed
chiefly of Haltica nemorum, called by farmers the fly and
black jack, attack and devour them ; so that on account of
their ravages the land is often obliged to be resown, and
frequently with no better success. It has been calculated
by an eminent agriculturist, that from this cause alone the
loss sustained in the turnip crops in Devonshire in 1786
was not less than L.100,000.”1
FAMILY VIL—CL AVI PALPI.
The insects of this family resemble the others of the
same section in having the under part of the first three arti¬
culations of the tarsi furnished with brushes, and the pen¬
ultimate bifid,—but they are distinguished from them by
their antennae, which are terminated by a distinct perfoli-
ated club, and by their maxillae armed on the inner side
with a claw or corneous tooth. A few have the articles
of the tarsi entire, but they still differ from other Tetra-
mera with analogous tarsi, in their globular or ball-like
form. In this family the body is usually rounded, fre¬
quently even very convex and hemispherical. The an¬
tennae are shorter than the body, the mandibles emarginate
or dentated at the extremity, and the palpi terminated by
a large joint; the last joint of the maxillary palpi is very
large, transverse, compressed, almost lunate. The form
of the organs of manducation indicates that these insects
are gnawers; and most of the European species occur on
tree fungi, beneath bark, &c.
Some have the penultimate joint of the tarsi bilobed,
and are not contracted like a ball. Of these, a certain
number have the last article of the maxillary palpi trans¬
verse, and almost lunate or securiform. Such are the fol¬
lowing genera. Erotylus,2 Fab. (Plate CCXL. figure 19),
in which the intermediate articles of the antennae are al¬
most cylindrical, and the terminal club oblong. The cor¬
neous interior division of the maxillae is terminated by
two teeth. They are peculiar to South America.3 Tri-
plax ( Triplax, Tritoma, Fab.) differs from the preceding
in the antennae, which are almost granose, and terminate
in a shorter and ovoid club. The interior division of the
maxillae is membranous, with a single small terminal tooth.
The hemispherical or rounded species form the genus
Tritoma of Fab., while those of an oval or oblong shape
constitute the genus Triplax of that author.
The remainder of this little group have the last article
of the maxillary palpi elongated, and more or less oval.
Such are Languria of Eat., of which the species are
strangers to Europe ; and Phalacrus of Paykul (Anisoto-
ma, Uliger and Fab.). The latter genus contains certain
small shining hemispherical insects, frequently found on
flowers. They pass the winter under moss or beneath the
bark of trees, where they probably also undergo their me¬
tamorphosis. Their general colours are brown or black;
their movements are rapid, and they are with difficulty
seized or retained, on account of their smooth and polish¬
ed surface. They differ from the last-named exotic genus, Coleoptera
not only in their general form, but in the club of their Trimera.
antennae being composed of three instead of five articula-
tions.
In the remaining Clavipalpi all the joints of the tarsi
are simple, and the body is almost globular. Such is the
genus Agathidium, Illig. so named from ayadti, a clue,
probably in reference to the faculty possessed by the spe¬
cies of rolling themselves into a ball,—in which state they
feign death in the most imperturbable manner. They
occur in woods, beneath the bark of trees, and in mush¬
rooms. We regard the genus, of which about a dozen
species occur in Britain, as rather characteristic of the
north of Europe. It was originally constituted by a dis¬
memberment of Sphaeridium, from which, according to the
sectional system of Latreille, it stands at a great distance,
having, in common with other Tetramera, only four arti¬
culations to all the tarsi. The same character, in this
instance we fear an artificial one, also removes it widely
from Anisotoma, Leiodes, and other genera with which it
is, in all likelihood more naturally, conjoined by Mr Ste¬
phens and other English entomologists.4
TRIMERA.
Three Articulations to all the Tarsi.
This, the fourth primary section of the coleopterous
order, consists of three families, of which the first two
bear a strong relation to the concluding genera of the sec¬
tion we have just quitted. Their antennae, almost always
composed of eleven articulations,5 terminate in a club
formed by the three last joints. The club is compressed,
and in the form of a reversed triangle. The first article
of the tarsi is always very distinct; the penultimate is
usually bilobed ; and the last, presenting a knot at its
base, is terminated by a pair of hooks. The elytra are
not truncated, and entirely cover the abdomen. The ge¬
nera of the third family, however, differ from the other
two in the characters last mentioned, in which, as in se¬
veral others, they make an approach to the Brachelytra,
and other groups of the great pentamerous section. In
their habits also they differ greatly from the rest of the
trimerous families.
1ST, FuNGICOLiE.6 7
These have the antennae longer than the head and
thorax, the body oval, with the thorax trapezoidal. The
maxillary palpi are filiform, or slightly enlarged at the
extremity, but not terminated by a comparatively very
large and securiform article. The penultimate joint of
the tarsi is always deeply bilobed. The genera are Eu-
morphus,7 Weber (Plate CCXL. figure 21), Dapsa, Zieg¬
ler, Endomychus,8 Web. (ibid. fig. 22), and Lycoper-
dina, Eat.9
2d, Aphidiphagi.10
Of the great majority of these the body is almost hemi¬
spherical, the thorax very short, transverse, nearly lu¬
nate. The antennae terminate in a compressed obconical
1 Introduction to Entomology, vol. i. p. 185. 2 Eguruhos, amorous 3
* See Monographic du genre Erotyle, by M. Duponchel, inserted in the twelfth volume of the Memoires du Museum d'llistoire JVa.
turelle.
4 For the Scottish species of these, and the allied genera, see Entomologia Edinensis.
* Latreille could clearly make out only nine in those of Clypeaster, but he thinks there may be some error in consequence of
defective observation, arising from the minuteness of the species.
8 From fungus, and colo, to inhabit.
7 From njftaotpia., elegance of form. * See llegne Animal, t. v. p. 160.
8 From iic>oiA.vx,oi, concealed within. 10 From aphis, and qnzyif, eating.
152
ENTOMOLOGY.
t'oleopteradub, composed of the three last articles, and are shorter
Trimera. than the thorax. The terminal article of the maxillary
palpi is very large and securiform, and the penultimate
article of the tarsi is deeply bilobed. In the remainder
of the family the articles of the tarsi are simple, or at least
the penultimate is very slightly bifid, a character which,
with certain others, distinguishes these insects from the
Fungicolae.
In the extensive and beautiful genus Coccinella, com¬
monly called Lady-birds (Plate CCXL. figure 23), the
antennae are distinctly composed of eleven articulations.
The body is nearly hemispherical, the thorax very short,
slightly if at all margined, and the penultimate joint of
the tarsi is deeply bilobed. The head is not concealed.
This genus was established by Frisch, and has been
adopted by all succeeding entomologists. It serves, ac¬
cording to Mr Curtis, as a remarkable example of the value
of structure in the combination of groups, and of the
slight importance of the distribution of colour when em¬
ployed to distinguish species. “ As a genus, Coccinella is
so natural that its appellation has never been disturbed;
whereas the species composing it are so variable that
many of them have been described under a great variety
of names.”1
These insects are distinguishable from the neighbour¬
ing genera of Chrysomela and Erotylus by the number of
articulations of the tarsi, which never exceed three. In
this character they so far coincide with Eumorphus, En-
domychus, and Easy cents,—but from those genera they
differ in the shortness of their antennae, the form of their
bodies, and the development of the last articulation of
the maxillary palpi. The general form of these beautiful,
and for the most part familiarly-known insects, is hemi¬
spherical,—an aspect produced chiefly by the convex
shape of the elytra. The under surface is extremely flat,
and the legs are short, and, except when the insect is in
motion, scarcely project beyond the lateral edges of the
elytra. Leon Dufour has illustrated the anatomical struc¬
ture of this genus with his accustomed accuracy. Redis¬
covered in C. septempunctata a salivary apparatus com¬
posed of three pair of diaphanous vessels, of extreme te¬
nuity, more or less twisted, and extending from the hin¬
der part of the mouth into the abdomen, where the extre¬
mities appear to float. Fie was, however, unable to de¬
tect the appearance of any gland or other organ of an
essentially secreting nature ; but when submitted to a
powerful microscope, these vessels exhibited a structure
entirely analogous to that of the salivary conduits observ¬
able in the dipterous and hemipterous tribes. A linear
and tubular axis was perceptible through their pellucid
coats, resembling that of the excrementitial secretions of
the Carabida?. The digestive canal is itself scarcely long¬
er than the body of the insect, and is consequently nearly
straight. The oesophagus seems inclosed in the head, in
such a way that, to render it observable, the alimentary
tube must be drawn backwards. The stomach is not pre¬
ceded by any crop or gizzard. It is bilobed at its origin,
where it approaches the head, and receives the oesopha¬
gus in the notch or slope produced by that bilobation. It
is longer than the rest of the tube,—is very smooth and
dilatable,—and was found filled sometimes with a black¬
ish, sometimes with a yellowish pulp. Near its termina¬
tion were the biliary vessels, six in number. These ves¬
sels are somewhat large in proportion to the size of the
insect, and each has a distinct and isolated insertion onColeoptera
the stomach, like a cmcum. They have a very varicose Frimera.
aspect, and always appear diaphanous. The insertion of
these biliary vessels indicates the limits of the stomach,
and we have then a very short intestine, followed by a
slightly bulged caecum, and a rectum distinctly marked.
The larvae of the Coccinellae feed on Aphides, and are
extremely useful in the destruction of those noxious in¬
sects which abound to the deterioration of so many valu¬
able plants. In the perfect state many of the species pass
the winter in the clefts of palings and the chinks of walls.
Their eggs are usually laid in spring. These are of a yel¬
low colour, with a disagreeable smell, and produce larvae
of an aspect very different from that of the perfect insect.
In that early condition the body is much broader than
deep, and is pointed towards the extremity, which bears
a fleshy projection, carried by the insect on the plane of
its position, and serving as a kind of supernumerary foot.
The body consists of twelve rings or segments, which
in some cases are garnished with spines or tubercles, in
others smooth. When the larvae have attained to their
full size, they adhere by their hinder extremity to a leaf
or a stone, and partly freeing themselves from a slough or
skin, they assume the state of Chrysalis. In the course
of a week or two, according to the species, the perfect
insect makes its appearance. It is at first soft, flexible,
and almost colourless, but a very short period suffices to
adorn it with those gay and contrasted markings which
render the Coccinellae or “ Lady-birds” among the most
admired of all the smaller tribes of coleopterous insects.
Some contrariety of opinion appears to exist in regard to
the food and habits of these insects in the perfect state.
Perhaps their instincts may vary according to circum¬
stances, or may present a disparity in the species. We
have frequently observed them preying upon Aphides; and
yet Bose, in describing the Coccinella borealis of America,
mentions its destructive attacks upon the leaves of the
melon plantations ; and other species are said to be inju¬
rious to the crops of lucerne and cinqfoils. Their num¬
bers vary greatly in different years. In 1807, as Messrs
Kirby and Spence inform us, the shore at Brighton, and
all the watering-places on the south coast, were literally
covered with them, to the great surprise and even alarm
of the inhabitants, who were ignorant that their little vi¬
sitors were merely emigrants from the neighbouring hop-
grounds, where in their larva state they had slain their
thousands and their tens of thousands of the Aphis, which,
under the name of the Fly, so frequently blasts the hop-
grower’s expectations.2 Mr Stephens enumerates thirty
British species of this genus, almost every one of which
exhibits several striking varieties.3
In the remaining Aphidiphagi the body is very flat,
in the form of a buckler, and the head is concealed be¬
neath a nearly semicircular thorax. The antennas do not
seem to consist of more than nine articulations, and ter¬
minate in an elongated club. The articulations of the
tarsi are entire. The prassternum forms anteriorly a kind
of chin-cloth {mentonniere). Such is the genus Clype-
aster, of which the species occur under stones, and be¬
neath the bark of trees.
3d, Pselaphii.
This little family, in its short and truncated elytra,
which leave the abdomen in part exposed, presents a cer-
1 British Entomology, vol. v. f. 208.
* Introd. to Entomology, vol. i. p. 257 ; and Entomologia Edinensis, p. 293.
bited witheaSothpr011 ^aPParen^ d!st[n^ kin(iTs mayhave given rise to the belief that different species of Coccinell* coha.
on u’a nas suivi les re'sult-n* a r°UVe (l,jlel<lue^ls’ 3a^s Latreille, “ des individus tres differents par leurs couleurs accouple's; mais
•>n u a pas suivi ies resultats de ces melanges. (Begne Animal, t. v. p. 162.) 1
ENTOMOLOGY.
Orthop- tain resemblance to the brachelytrous tribes, particularly
tiie genus Aleochara.1 The abdomen, however, is much
shelter and wider, and is very obtuse and rounded poste¬
riorly. The antennae terminate in a club, or are enlarged
towaids the extremity, and sometimes consist of only six
ai ticulations. ihe maxillary palpi are usually very large.
All the articulations of the tarsi are entire, and the first,
much shorter than the following, is scarcely perceptible
on a cursory examination; the last is frequently termi¬
nated only by a single hook. These insects occur upon
the ground among vegetable debris. Some are found in
ants’ nests.
Such as have eleven joints to the antennae form the
genus Pselaphus2 of Herbst (Staphylinus, Linn.), which
is thus subdivided by Latreille. A limited number have
two hooks to the tarsi. These form the genera Chen-
nium, Lat. (Plate CCXL. figure25), and Dionix. De¬
jean. The remainder have only a single hook to the tarsi.
Such are Pselaphus proper (ibid. fig. 24) of Lat., Bi-
thynus, Arcopagus and Bryaxis of Leach, and Cte-
nistes of Reichenbach.3
The last of the Pselaphii, and with these we conclude
the great coleopterous order, are distinguished by this
peculiarity—that the antennae are composed of not more
than six articulations, and in certain cases (genus Arti-
cerus of Dalman4) apparently of only one. In the genus
Claviger5 (Plate CCXL. figure 26) six joints are quite
perceptible (ibid. fig. 27). These insects do not seem
to have any eyes. Ihe maxillary palpi are very short,
without distinct articulations, and furnished with two ter¬
minal hooks. The first two articulations of the tarsi are
very short, the third or last very long, with a single ter¬
minal hook. These insects occur beneath stones in dry
situations.6
Order II.—ORTHOPTERA.?
In this order the wings are likewise four in number.
The elytra or upper pair are softer and more flexible than
in the preceding order; they are semi-membranous, reti¬
culated, and for the most part do not form by their junc¬
tion, when closed, a straight line along the dorsal suture.
The true wings are folded longitudinally, and usually af¬
ter the manner of a fan, and are divided by longitudinal
membranous nervures. Maxillee terminated by a corneous
piece, toothed, and protected by the galea, a portion
which corresponds to the exterior division of the jaws of
coleopterous insects. In this order there is also a kind
of tongue or epiglottis. The metamorphosis is semi-com¬
plete.
Linnaeus arranged the first genus of our present order
with his Coleoptera, placing it, however, by itself at the
termination of that order;—the remaining genera were
grouped with his hemipterous tribes. We owe their se¬
paration to Degeer, who formed the whole into an order,
under the na.me of Dermaptera? They correspond to the
Llonata of Fabricius. Ihe title which they now bear was
imposed by Olivier.
I he body of orthopterous insects is generally of an
elongated form, and of a somewhat soft and fleshy con¬
sistence. It is composed as usual of head, thorax, and
abdomen. W e shall briefly describe the general charac¬
ters of these parts. Ihe head varies considerably in size,
form, and position. It is usually large and vertical, and
presents in the greater number of species two or three
stemmatic eyes. The front is sometimes prolonged into
a conical form, as in certain species of the genera Trux-
alis and Mantis ; sometimes it bears a kind of fleshy ap¬
pendix resembling a veil, as in the Gryllus umbraculosus
of Spain. The true eyes occupy the sides of the head,
and are generally very large, with a reticulated aspect.
The antennae do not vary so greatly in their structure as
among the Coleoptera, but they are usually composed of
a greater number of articulations. They are generally
inserted in front of the eyes, but sometimes beneath or
between them. Their articulations are not very distinct,
and as to shape they are filiform, setaceous, massive, per-
foliated, and sometimes ensiform, or resembling the blade
of a sword.
Ihe mouth consists of a labrum, two mandibles, a pair
of maxillm, a labium, and four palpi. The labrum is at¬
tached to the clypeus by a distinct suture ; it is moveable,
always external, demi-coriaceous, somewhat arched or
vaulted, almost semicircular, rounded in front, and ad¬
vancing on the mandibles. The mandibles are scaly, or
corneous and strong, triangular, short, thick, with the ex¬
terior side arched, and the interior armed with many un¬
equal teeth or dentations. According to the observations
of Marcel de Serres, these dentations bear a close relation
to the mode of nourishment; and he distinguishes them,
as we do the dental system of the Mammalia, as incisive,
canine, and molar. These last are the largest, and there
is never more than one in each mandible, placed towards
its base. The three sorts of teeth never exist simulta¬
neously, and it is by their presence or absence, and by
the modifications of their forms, that we may recognise
the nature of the various substances by which the differ¬
ent tribes of Orthoptera are nourished. In the genera
Mantis and Empusa, for example, which are purely car¬
nivorous, we find only the canine teeth or laniares. Those
species which have only incisive and molar teeth are her¬
bivorous, while such as are omnivorous possess canine and
molar teeth, but of smaller dimensions. The maxill® re¬
semble in a great measure those of the carnivorous Cole¬
optera. They are very strong, corneous, at least on their
superior portion, which forms a kind of large conical tooth,
provided with two or three dentations. They also bear
153
Orthop.
tera.
The Pselaphida; of Mr Stephens form the first family of his Brachelytra. {Nomenclature of British Insects, 2d edition, col. 89 )
J r rom y/'/iXotipaco, to feel one s way. 5 '
th 3 ai0r |hefdjtalls, ,of ^he. above genera, of which we can only indicate the names, see Iteichenbach’s Monographia Pselaphorum •
the Rlgne ^ ^ ^ °f G^llonhal’s Insecta Suecica > the article Pselaphiens of the Encyclop. Mith. ; and
4 Memoir (in Swedish) On the insects inclosed in amber, p. 21.
! a club-bearer. See a Monograph of the genus by Muller, in the 3d vol. of Germar’s Mayazin der Entomolocie.
wo additional pi unary sections of the order Coleoptera were formerly recognised, under the names of Disiera and Monobtepa
These are now suppressed, for the reasons assigned at page 110 of this article. ivionobtera.
7 Ulonata, Fab.
, H1 ortlef now umler the name of Dermaptera, and admitted as such by many modern writers, is an osculant one connect
and 13 comV°led of the gen»s Forficula. The elytra are of a coriaceous consistence, without veins*
? str£Ught suture, and inclose wings which are folded longitudinally as well as transversely. These characters serve to connect
it wdh the preceding order, while the form of the wings, the organs of the mouth, and the nature of the metamorphosis exhibit ks
a hance to the orthopterous tribes, along with which we have consequently ranked it in the present treatise, in conformity with the
SSSSJui aCe'nSntl™ "dB IS"«» •“lomologiftt. a„d man, foreign ones, prefer that it should be dis-
VOL. IX,
u
154
Orthop-
tera.
E N T 0 M
two palpi, but that which is named the internal palpus
among the carnivorous Coleoptera is here transformed
into a membranous inarticulate piece, sometimes cylin¬
drical, in other instances triangular or dilated, but in all
cases vaulted above, and covering the extremity of the
maxillae. It is to this particular portion, or internal maxil¬
lary palpus, that Fabricius applied the name ol galea, or
helmet, a term not very accurately translated galette by
Olivier. The external maxillary palpi, which alone are
apparent, are composed of five articulations, of which the
two first are extremely short; and it is in these palpi that
Olivier and Marcel de Serres suppose themselves to have
discovered the organ of the sense of smell. I he latter
author observed in their interior a pair of nerves spread¬
ing themselves over the vesicular membrane which tei-
minates their last articulation. These he names the ol¬
factory nerves: one is furnished by the fifth pair, which
springs from the inferior face of the brain, and the othei
by the first pair, which derives its origin from the lateral
and superior face of the first ganglion of the head. Be¬
tween these two nerves there is a trachea, which, before
it reaches the vesicular membrane, commences to form a
pneumatic pouch. This pouch is more fully developed
in the interior of the palpus, and throws off numerous ra¬
mifications, which spread themselves within the cavity of
the organ. It was this peculiar structure which induced
Olivier and Marcel de Serres to regard these palpi as the
organs of the sense of smell. We may add, however, that
Latreille is by no means satisfied that they are so, and
thinks that additional observation is necessary to establish
this alleged fact in the physiology of insects. The la¬
bium, or ligula, of the Orthoptera, is almost membranous,
elongated, slightly enlarged towards its extremity, and
divided into two or four stripes or portions.
The interior of the mouth exhibits an additional piece,
which some regard as a tongue; it is fleshy, longitudinal,
carinated above, broader at its base, slightly restricted
before its anterior extremity, rounded, immoveable, and
somewhat notched at its point. The mentum is coriace¬
ous, in form of a transverse square, rather narrow towards
the summit. The labial palpi are composed of only three
articulations, as among the coleopterous tribes.1 Ihose
of the maxillae consist of five.
The thorax is composed, as in other cases, of a protho-
rax, a mesothorax, and a metathorax. The first is gene¬
rally the largest, and is the only part exposed. It pre¬
sents a great variety of forms, some of which are suffi¬
ciently singular. The elytra, in the greater number, are
coriaceous, thin, flexible, semitransparent, and reticulated.
They are occasionally almost horizontal, with a straight
dorsal suture, as among the Coleoptera; but they are
much more frequently more or less inclined, with their
inner edges crossing each other when closed over the
back. The true wings are broader than the elytra, mem¬
branous, full of reticulations, and longitudinally folded
after the fashion of a fan. To this latter character, how¬
ever, the somewhat anomalous genus Forjicula (contain¬
ing the earwigs) presents an exception, as in it the wings
are also transversely (as well as longitudinally) folded, as
among the Coleoptera. In some cases the females, and
in a few instances both sexes, among the Orthoptera,
are destitute of wings. In many species the elytra of the
males are short or rudimentary, and in that sex also a por¬
tion of the inner margin of these parts frequently resem¬
bles talc or parchment, and exhibits large irregular ner-
vures. It is by the rapid friction of these upon each other
0 L O G Y.
that the monotonous song, or stridulation as it is called, of Orthop-
many species is occasioned. In others, however, a shrill tera.
monotonous cry is produced by rubbing the posterior
limbs against the edges of the elytra.
The legs of orthopterous insects are sometimes similar
to each other. In other cases the anterior pair are more
extensile, and are armed with spines, with which they
transfix their prey,—or they are dilated, compressed,
strongly toothed externally, and adapted for burrowing in
the earth. The posterior legs, as among locusts and grass¬
hoppers, are frequently much larger than the others, and
fitted for powerful leaping; and both the middle and pos¬
terior pair are more widely apart from each other at their
origin than among the coleopterous species. The arti¬
culations of the tarsi differ in the different tribes; but we
believe that no heteromerous species have been yet ob¬
served. These articulations are not unfrequently furnish¬
ed beneath with little membranous cushions, and the ter¬
minal articulation is always provided with a pair of hooks
or claws.
The form of the abdomen varies in this order. It is
divided externally into eight or nine rings, and is often
terminated by projecting appendages. Many of the fe¬
males are furnished with an ovipositor, composed of two
portions closely applied, and frequently surrounded by a
common envelope.
In relation to the anatomy of the Orthoptera, we may
state, that they are all characterized by a first membra¬
nous stomach or crop, succeeded by a muscular gizzard,
armed interiorly with scales or corneous teeth, according
to the species. Around the pylorus, except in the Forji-
eulce, are two or more blind intestines, furnished at their
base with many small biliary vessels ; and numerous other
vessels of a similar nature are inserted towards the mid¬
dle of the intestine. The digestive system of the larvae
resembles that of the perfect insect.
M. Marcel de Serres has particularly devoted himself
to the study of the internal structure of these creatures.
He informs us that the Orthoptera with setaceous an¬
tennae, such as the genera Blatta, Mantis, Gryllo-talpa,
Gryllus, and Locusta, have only elastic or tubular tra¬
cheae, and these of two kinds,—the one arterial, the other
pulmonary. The latter alone distribute the air to all
parts of the body, after having received it from the for¬
mer. In the genera characterized by cylindrical or pris¬
matic antennae, such as Acrydium and Truxalis, the pul¬
monary tracheae are replaced by vesicular ones. Ihey
are covered by cartilaginous hoops or moveable ribs, and
receive air by means of tubular or elastic tracheae, which
proceed from the arterial kind. According to the same
authority, the nutritive system is more or less developed,
and exhibits four principal modifications. Gryllus and
Gryllo-talpa in that respect excel the others. In them
the crop is shaped like a bagpipe, and placed on one side,
while in the rest it is on a line with the gizzard. In the
latter also the hepatic vessels are inserted insulately, but
in the former by means of a common deferent canal, d he
genera Truxalis and Acrydium (criquets), although resem¬
bling Locusta (Sauterelles) in their digestive system, dif¬
fer in respect to the superior hepatic vessels, which are
not furnished at their extremity with secreting vessels,
and no longer form enlarged pouches, but cylindrical and
elongated canals. The intestines of Blatta and Mantis pre¬
sent only two divisions ; their nutritive system is in other
respects the same. The Forficulm, of which Mr Kirby
and Dr Leach form a distinct order under the title of Der-
1 This characteristic is assigned by Latreille (liegne Animal, t. v. p. 168) and other writers ; but we have ourselves detected four
culations in the labial palpi of several genera.
ENTOMOLOGY.
155
Orthop- maptera, do not appear to have been investigated by Mar-
tera. cel de Serres.1 According to Baron Cuvier, they differ
from all other Orthoptera in wanting the superior hepatic
vessels.
The metamorphoses of the Orthoptera are called semi-
complete, and consist chiefly in the development and in¬
crease of the elytra and wings. Both the larvae and nymphae
feed and move about like the perfect insects, and differ
chiefly by the entire want of wings in the first state, and
their rudimentary condition in the second. These insects
lay an immense number of eggs, of an elongated form and
considerable size. They are sometimes deposited in a
mass, and inclosed together within a capsule. Both young
and old are extremely voracious, and frequently produce
the most frightful consequences by their devastations.
On the other hand, we are not aware of any recompensing
advantages derivable to the human race from any species
of orthopterous insects. Several eastern tribes no doubt
use them as food, and seem to have done so in remote times,
as indicated by the ancient name of Acridophagi; and the
sacred writings have recorded that the food of John the
Baptist in the wilderness was “ locusts and wild honey.”
We believe that no aquatic species is contained in tins
order.
Mr Macleay has observed, that although there may be
reason for hesitation with respect to the types of the Neu-
roptera, there is none in relation to the principal forms
of the orthopterous order. These forms seem to have
been perceived by all entomologists, and their dissimilari¬
ty has led to tribes being regarded in the light of orders.
“ Indeed no forms that are within the limits of an order
can be more distinct from each other than those of a
Phasma, Truxalis, Locusta, Acheta, Blatta, and Forficu-
la ; and we accordingly find that they have been consi¬
dered as the types of so many groups by Linnaeus. The
affinity of Blatta to Mantis is acknowledged in the Regne
Animal. The genus Proscopia, lately instituted by Pro¬
fessor Klug of Berlin, one of the first entomologists of the
present day, proves the proximity of Phasma to Truxalis ;
and no entomologist is ignorant that the chain of connec¬
tion from Acridium to Locusta, from Locusta to Acheta,
and from this to Blatta, has been long since detected, and
is now perfectly established. Hence some notion may be
obtained of the contents of the orthopterous circle, if we
reckon the above-mentioned five genera as the types of
the following tribes:
1. Phasmina.
2. Acridina.
3. Locustina.
4. Gryllina.
5. Blattina.
But as this series returns into itself, and the genus
Forjicula cannot be inserted therein without disturbing
its regularity, we must agree with Degeer and Mr Kirby,
that it belongs to a distinct order. That this order can
only be esteemed osculant between the Orthoptera and
Coleoptera, the reader will perceive by referring to its
place in the Systema Naturae. The Dermaptera, for so
they are termed, from its having been the name originally
proposed for the Orthoptera by Degeer, are in fact cole¬
opterous insects, with the metamorphosis and caudal ap¬
pendages of the true Orthoptera."2
This is a much less numerous order than the preced¬
ing, in the amount at least of the ascertained species, and
in Great Britain we have not above sixty different kinds.
FAMILY I CURSORIA.
Orthop¬
tera.
All the feet formed for running. Wings and wing-cases
almost always placed horizontally on the body. Females
unprovided with a corneous ovipositor.
Genus Forficuua. Tarsi triarticulate. Wings folded
like a fan, and refolded transversely beneath the elytra,
which are extremely short, with a straight suture. The
body is linear, and terminated by two moveable scaly
pieces, in the form of a pair of pincers. Head exposed.
Antennae filiform, inserted before the eyes, and composed
of from twelve to thirty articulations, according to the spe¬
cies. The ligula is forked.3 See Plate CCXLI. figure
3, 4, and 6.
The insects of this genus, known under the familiar
name of earwigs, are frequent in moist places, beneath
stones, under the loose bark of old trees, or in decayed
timber. They are injurious in gardens, where they at¬
tack various kinds of fruit. They also pierce the petals
of flowers, and do not refuse animal food. Our entomo¬
logical cabinet, when left open for a summer night, has
sometimes suffered from their depredations. They may
therefore be regarded as omnivorous. Their alleged in¬
clination to enter the ear is a vulgar error, not derided
however even by the Swedish sage:—“ Aures dormien-
tum interdum intrans,” says Linnaeus, “ spiritu frumenti
pellenda.”
We shall not here describe the species, as their gene¬
ral appearance must be familiar to the reader; but we
shall devote a few lines to the manners of the common
earwig, F. auricularia. The female is known to watch
over her eggs with great care,—an uncommon tendency
among insects. Degeer placed an earwig, with her eggs,
in a box with fresh earth, early in the month of April.
They had been scattered by accident about the box; but
she soon collected them together, and placed herself above
them, as if she were hatching. Towards the middle of
May the young made their appearance. They seemed
large in proportion to the eggs, and appeared as if swollen.
The movement of the dorsal vessel was very perceptible
through the skin. These larvae have neither wings nor
elytra. They are composed of thirteen segments, of
which the first three bear the legs, and the last exhibits
the germ of the pincers, which are conical and slightly
divergent. The antennae are composed of eight articula¬
tions. Degeer endeavoured to bring up the young along
with their mother, and fed them with slices of apple.
They were observed to cast their skins several times, and
after each of these changes the antennae gained an addi¬
tional articulation. The pincers also became longer, and
their points approached each other, as in the adult insect.
These larvae, however, all perished by degrees but one ;
and the mother also perished, and was found half devour¬
ed by her offspring, an ungrateful return for such tender
solicitude. This unnatural voracity, however, probably
arose from a deficiency of other food, as they are never ob¬
served to attack each other in a state of freedom. The
remaining larva increased in size, and assumed the nym-
pha state towards the end of July. The cases of the ely¬
tra and wings are flat, and closely pressed upon the back,
and the pincers have assumed their usual aspect. It there¬
fore does not greatly differ from the perfect insect.
The genus contains many species, and is widely distri¬
buted. Several sub-genera have been instituted by Dr
1 They have since been examined by M. Dufour. See the note of the ensuing page. 2 Hor. Ent. p. 435.
* For the details of internal structure of this genus, see the Memuire snr VAnatomie des Labidonres, by M. Dufour, in the 13th vol.
of the Annates des Sciences Nat.
156 E N T O M
Orthop- Leach and others; but the nature of our present article
tera. does not admit of our taking cognisance of those minor
groups.
Genus Blatta. Tarsi with five articulations. W ings
folded only in a longitudinal direction. Head concealed
beneath the shield of the thorax. Body oval or orbicular,
and depressed. Antennae setaceous, inserted in an inter¬
nal notch of the eye, and composed of a great number of
articulations. Palpi long. Thorax shield-shaped. (Plate
CCXLI. fig. 7 ,
The elytra of these insects are usually as long as the
body, coriaceous or semi-membranaceous; and when
closed, cross each other a little at the suture. The pos¬
terior part of the body is furnished with two conical and
articulated appendages. Their crop is longitudinal, theii
gizzard furnished interiorly with strong hooked teeth, and
there are from eight to ten caeca around the pylorus.
The Blattse, or cockroaches, as they are called in this
country, are nocturnal insects, which seldom fly, but run
with great rapidity. Some inhabit woods or the crevices
of old walls, while others frequent store-rooms and dwel¬
ling-houses, where their voracious propensities produce
great damage to all kinds of provisions. Tdiey likewise
destroy silk and woollen stuffs, and even leather. But
their ravages are chiefly confined to warm countries.
The species are numerous. Olivier1 has described thirty-
seven ; and many have been discovered since his time.
The Blatta orientalis of Linn, is about an inch long, of a
reddish chesnut-brown. The wings, which are shorter
than the abdomen in the male, are merely rudimentary in
the female, and are wanting in the larvas of both sexes.
The eggs, to the number of sixteen, are inclosed symme¬
trically in an oval compressed shell, which is at first white
and afterwards brown. It is tolerably solid, and is tooth¬
ed along its edges like a saw. The female carries it about
with her for some time, and afterwards attaches it to a
favourable position, by means of a gummy exudation.
This species, originally imported from eastern countries,
is now widely spread over Europe, and occurs as far north
as Finland.
The Blatta Americana of Linn, is a native of South
America and the Antilles, from whence it was imported
into Asia and Africa, and from these to European coun¬
tries, where it chiefly infests sea-port towns, preying on
sugar and other colonial produce. Sonnerat has describ¬
ed its combats with la Mouche verte, a brilliant fly of the
family of Ichneumonidae. The thorax of this species is
yellowish, with two spots and a border of brown. It may
also be known by the great length of its antennae.2 In¬
cluding foreign importations, we have now twelve species
of the genus Blatta in Britain.
Genus Mantis,3 Linn. Tarsi with five articulations.
Wings folded longitudinally. Head not concealed. Body
narrow and elongated. Palpi short, and ending in a point.
Ligula quadrifid.
We may observe, that the genus Mantis, as originally con¬
stituted by Linnaeus, contained a great variety of very sin¬
gular and somewhat incongruous forms. It has since been
greatly restricted, and more precisely defined, by Illiger,
Latreille, Lichtenstein, and other modern writers. Thus
it is distinguishable from Empusa of Illiger, by the an¬
tennae, which in the latter genus are pectinated in the
male sex, and by the want of the frontal prolongation of
the head. From the spectre insects (Spectrum) with
which they were likewise combined by Linnaeus, the true
O L O G Y.
species of Mantis may be easily discriminated by the form Orthop.
and relative length of the legs, which in the spectres are tera.
of uniform size. The head in Mantis is triangular, ver-v'—v^-
tical, with large eyes, and three small distinct stemmata.
The antennae are simple, setaceous, inserted between the
eyes, and composed of numerous articulations. The la-
brum is entire; the mandibles cutting or incisive; the
palpi filiform, pointed, not compressed ; and the ligula is
composed of four parts or divisions of nearly equal length.
The thorax is long, and composed almost entirely of the
first segment, of which the anterior extremity is fre¬
quently dilated, and the sides rounded. The first pair of
legs are held in advance and raised, the haunch being
very large, and the thigh toothed and compressed; the
tibia is also toothed, and terminated by a strong hook or
crotchet. The other legs are slender, simple, and un¬
armed with teeth or spines. The elytra are horizontal,
narrow, lengthened, rather thin, semitransparent, and over¬
lap each other on their inner edges. The under or true
wings are folded lengthways like a fan. The abdomen is
oblong, and is terminated by two conical articulated ap¬
pendages, and a compressed vscaly plate, arched on the
back, and composed of several short pieces received into
a pair of anal valves.
Such, we conceive, are the characters of the genus Man¬
tis properly so called. It contains a considerable num¬
ber of species, all characterized by singular and eccentric
forms. We do not know by what means it has happened
that an insect of this genus has become, in various parts
of the world, if not an object of religious worship, at least
a subject of superstitious wonder and credulity. From
time immemorial the Mantis, in Turkey, has been re¬
garded as a sacred insect; and even among the apathetic
Hottentots, so sparingly endowed with any thing allied
to the nobler faculties, it is said to be held in still higher
estimation. The Mantis religiosa of Europe, called Prega-
Biou (Prie-Dieu) in the southern provinces of France, is
well known as living habitually under the safe-guard of
a religious veneration on the part of the peasantry, who
deem it a faithful guide and guardian of children who have
lost their way. It has obtained the name of religiosa,
from the incessant movements of its fore legs, which it is
continually raising into the air, and as it were clasping
together. This action, however, is the result of its pecu¬
liar instinct and mode of life ; for the insect, in common
with the rest of the genus, is a fierce, cruel, gormandising
creature, and so far from indulging, as is fondly supposed,
in a state of religious abstraction, is continually seeking
for what it may devour. It preys upon all the weaker in¬
sects, which it either crushes to death, or relentlessly im¬
pales alive upon the sharp spines of its own shanks. To
effect this, it is perpetually moving its arms or fore-legs
in the air, and closing one armed joint upon another, so
that whatever insect prey approaches within its reach is
immediately transfixed and devoured. In some of the
French provinces it is called the sorcerer. Four or five
different species are found in Europe, and many more occur
in the warmer regions both of the old world and the new.
In the nymph or intermediate state, the Mantides are
as active and voracious as the perfect insect. Follow¬
ing the footsteps of Rossi (author of the Fauna Etrus-
ca), the writer of the present treatise has frequently
watched their manoeuvres on the plains of Pisa, and has
more than once had occasion to regret the loss of rarer
captures, in consequence of their indiscriminate voracity.
1 Encycloptdie Methodique, t. iv.
2 For the other species, consult Degeer’s Memoires, t. in.; Encyclop. Methodique, t. iv.; Fuessly’s Archives des Insectes, tab. 49, 2—11 ;
Coquebert’s Illust Icon. Insect, iii. 21, 1 ; and the Horce Entumologicce of M. Touss^int Charper.tier, p. 71-78.
3 From a prophet or soothsayer.
E N T O M O L O G Y.
157
Orthop- But he cannot say that he ever confirmed the observation
tera. 0f Roesel.1 On the back of the nymph there are four
1-"—iamina or flattened cases, which contain the germs of the
wings and elytra. The eggs are deposited in a length¬
ened mass ot two rows, and protected by an envelope
somewhat ot the consistence of parchment. They are of
a yellow colour and elongated form, and are usually at¬
tached by tbe female to the stalk of a plant.2
Such as have the front prolonged in the form of a
horn, and in which the males are provided with pectinated
antennae, form the genus Empusa3 of Illiger. Their
limbs are furnished with rounded membranous append¬
ages resembling ruffles, and in several the edges of the
abdomen are festooned. (Plate CCXLI. fig. 1.)
Others have the anterior legs similar to the rest; the
stemmatic eyes indistinct or non-existent; the first seg¬
ment of the thorax shorter or not longer than the follow¬
ing one; the interior divisions of the ligula shorter than
the lateral; the antennae inserted before the eyes, and
the head almost ovoid and advanced, with the mandibles
thick and the palpi compressed. These form the genus
Spectrum,4 Stoll, which has since been divided into two,5
both of which are truly remarkable for the singular adap¬
tation of their form and colour to such productions of the
vegetable kingdom as they most affect. The sexes often
differ greatly. ls£, In the genus Phasma6 of Fabricius
(Plate CCXLI. figure 5), the body is filiform and linear,
and resembles the stem of a plant or the twig of a tree.
Several are entirely apterous, or have extremely short
elytra. Very large species occur in the East Indies, the
Moluccas, New Holland, and South America. P. gigas
measures nearly a foot in length. The body is green, tu-
berculated on the thorax ; the elytra very short and like¬
wise green ; the wings are large, of a reddish grey, reti¬
culated, with numerous bands and spots of brown, and
with a large lateral space of a coriaceous texture and
greenish colour. The legs are spinous. It occurs in the
East Indies. P. Rossi, a much smaller and apterous
species, occurs in the south of France. 2d, In the genus
Phyllium7 of Illiger (Plate CCXLI. figure 2), both the
body and legs are flattened and membranous, and the
first segment of the thorax is cordiform. The wings and
elytra vary in their degree of development in the differ¬
ent species, but they frequently cover the abdomen in
such a manner as to make it appear as if two leaves had
fallen upon the insect. Some seem green and fresh,
others brown and withered, while an intermediate kind
present the red and yellow hues of autumn. This imita¬
tion, or rather representation, of the vegetable kingdom,
is indeed so singular as to attract the attention and ex¬
cite the astonishment of the least curious inquirer ; and
it is in reference to the peculiar character just mentioned
that these insects are known by the name of walking
leaves. According to some authors, the antennae of the
males are long, slender, setaceous, and composed of a
great number of nearly cylindrical articulations,—while
those of the females are shorter than the head, conical,
granular, and composed of not more than nine articula¬
tions. It appears that this great disparity between the
sexes led Latreille into an error when he formed a dis¬
tinct species of Ph. longicornis, which is in fact the male
of Ph. siccifolia. The latter (see the figure last referred
to) is fully three inches long, very flat, and of a pale yel¬
lowish-green colour. The thorax is short and dentated
on the sides, and the foliations of the thighs are likewise
dentated. In the female the antennae are very short, the
elytra as long as the abdomen, and the true wings want¬
ing. The form of the male is narrower and more length¬
ened, and the antennae long and setaceous; the elytra are
short and the wings long. This species, Latreille informs
us, is raised by the inhabitants of the Sechelles Islands
as an object of entomological commerce. The same spe¬
cies, and some others nearly allied, occur in India, and the
great eastern islands, such as Java, the Celebes, &c.
FAMILY II.—SALTATORIA.
Posterior legs very strong, spiny, and formed for leap-
ing-
The males of this family (which corresponds to the great
genus Gryllus of Linn.) are musical, that is, provided with
the power of producing peculiar sounds, by friction of
certain parts of their structure upon others. Most of the
females deposit their eggs in the earth.
Genus Gryllus. Tarsi with three articulations. Ely¬
tra and wings horizontal, the latter folded longitudinally,
and forming, when closed, a slender thread-like acumina-
tion beyond the elytra. Antennae setaceous, inserted be¬
tween the eyes. Ligula with four divisions, of which the
central are very small. Labrum entire, with a projecting
slip in that of the female.
This genus contains the insects commonly called crick¬
ets. They inhabit both fields and dwelling-houses. The
common species (G. domesticus, Linn.) (Plate CCXLI.
fig. 9) is of a pale yellowish or clay colour, mingled with
brown. The female bears a long ovipositor, and the male
is characterized by his perpetual cry of cree cree, uttered
most continuously during warm weather, or in the vici¬
nity of ovens or large kitchen fires. These insects re¬
main in their retreats during the day, and come forth in
the night season to seek their prey. They feed on bread,
flour, and other articles of domestic economy. Latreille
says they also devour insects. The common cricket is
widely distributed over Europe. In Spain it is kept by
the peasantry in little cages hung by the fireside, for the
sake of its song.
The field cricket ( G. campestris) is larger than the pre¬
ceding. It is of a blackish hue, with the base of the ely¬
tra yellowish. The head is large. The posterior thighs
are red beneath. The female, during the month of July,
lays about three hundred eggs, from which the young
are excluded in fifteen days. They feed on herbs and
roots, and moult or change their skins before winter.
During that inclement season they lie torpid under
ground, and re-appear in spring. The larvae are apterous,
the nymphae bear the rudiments of wings and elytra, the
perfect insects, which possess the power of flight, are ma-
Orthop-
tera.
1 « ii a conserve des Mantes en les nourissant avec des mouches ou autres insectes ; quand on les mets ensemble elles se devorent.
Un male et une femelle de ces insectes ayant ete enfermes dans un vase de verre, le premier fut saisi par la femelle, qui lui coupa
la tele. Comme ces insectes sont extremement vivaces, le male vdcut encore assez long-temps, et ne fut ddvord par la femelle que
quand celle-ci en eut ete fecondee.” (Guerin.)
2 For the species of this and the ensuing genera, see Stoll’s Representation des Spectres, des Mantes, &c.; Lichtenstein’s Monograph,
in the sixth volume of Linn. Trans. ; and other works.
3 From ifj.'xovaa, an apparition. 4 From spectrum, a spectre or ideal form.
$ Other minor divisions have been effected at a still more recent period, by MM. Lepelletier and Serville (in the Encyclop. Mtth.),
and by M. Latreille in his Families du Regne Animal.
6 From Qua pa, a prodigy. ’ From QuWo't, a leaf.
158 ENTOMOLOGY.
Orthop- nifested in June and July. This species inhabits Africa
tera* and all the southern countries of Europe, where the pea-
sant children are in use to Jish for it, by holding an ant
fastened to a hair over its hole. It is foolish and fear¬
less, and will leave its retreat if even a stalk of grass is
inserted in its dwelling; hence the French expression of
sot comme un gryllon. It occurs in England, and we
heard its song near Edinburgh for the first time last sum¬
mer (1833).
There are many very singu ar insects belonging to this
genus. The Gryllus umbraculatus occurs in Spain and
Barbary. The male is remarkable for a membranous pro¬
longation of the head, which falls over it like a veil. India
produces the G. nwnstruosus, of which the elytra and
wings are spirally twisted at their extremities. A new
and large species has been lately discovered in Sicily by
MM. Lefevre and Bibron, and described by them under
the name of G. megacephalus. Of this insect each parti¬
cular cry, instead of being momentarily repeated, is pro¬
longed for about half a minute, and may be heard at the
distance of a mile.
We shall here briefly notice some of the allied genera.
The mole-cricket now forms the genus Gryllo-talpa1
(Plate CCXLI. figure 8), of which the tibiae and tarsi
of the twm anterior pair of legs are flattened and toothed,
and so constructed as to serve for throwing back the
earth while burrowing. These insects are destructive in
gardens and cultivated fields, by detaching or cutting
asunder the roots of plants, during the progress of their
subterranean excavations. Their natural prey, however,
consists of insects and worms. The female of the best
known species (G. vulgaris, Eat.) lays from two hundred
to four hundred eggs in a commodious dwelling under
ground, resembling a bottle with a curved neck. The
young dwell together for some time in society. The song
of the male is sw^eet and agreeable.2
An insect found in the south of France by the sides of
rivers, a strong leaper, of small size, and of a black co¬
lour, spotted with yellowish-white, belongs to the genus
Tridactylus3 of Olivier, characterized by having the
anterior pair of legs only formed for digging. In place of
the posterior tarsi, there are moveable appendages in the
form of claws., The antennae are short, of equal thick¬
ness throughout, and composed of ten articulations. The
species above alluded to is the Xya variegata of Illiger.
Charpent. Horce Ent. p. 84, t. ii. fig. 2, 5.
A singular species, misnamed Blatta acervorum by Pan¬
zer, takes up its abode in ants’ nests, and now forms a
genus of our present group under the name of Myrmeco-
phila.4 The body is oval and apterous, the posterior
thighs very large. In the antennae, and the want of
stemmatic eyes, it resembles Gryllus properly so called.5
Genus Locusta. Tarsi with four articulations. Ely¬
tra and wings inclined. Antennae very long and seta¬
ceous. Mandibles less dentated, and galea larger than
in Gryllus. Females provided with an ovipositor com¬
pressed in the form of a sabre or cutlass.
These insects are herbivorous. They occur in grassy
meadows, and on shrubs and trees. In flying they spring
into the air, and then extend their capacious wings, but
their flight is neither rapid nor long sustained. The cry
of the male is sharp and continuous, and is produced
by the friction of the elytra. The genus is extensive,
and occurs in many countries. They are usually of a Orthojv
brilliant green. One of the best known in Europe (it is tera.
also an English species) is the L. viridissima, Lat. (Plate '—■'V'"-'
CCXLI. figure 12). It is about two inches in length,
of a fine green colour, without spots. The ovipositor is
straight, and of the length of the body. Another species
(L. verrucivora, Fab.) is likewise green, but the elytra
are spotted with brown and black. The ovipositor ex¬
ceeds the length of the abdomen, and is slightly arched.
This latter bites pretty severely, and derives its specific
name from a practice said to be followed by the Swedes,
who allow it to gnaw their warts, which are alleged speedily
to disappear, from the action of a black and bilious liquid
which escapes from the mouth of the insect during mas¬
tication.
Several species are nearly apterous, or present merely
scale-like rudiments of the organs of flight, such as the
L. ephippiger, which now forms a genus under its specific
name. Some have the antenna? bearded beneath, with
the oviduct shaped like a boat, and form the genus Sca-
phura of Ki'-by.6
All the preceding genera of the leaping or saltatorial
Orthoptera have this character in common, that the males
effect their peculiar cry chiefly by a portion of the elytra,
which is discoloured, transparent, and somewhat resem¬
bles a mirror or small tambourine. But in the following
genera, the stridulation of the male is effected by the
friction of the spiny legs against the sides and edges of
the elytra and wings. The antenna; are sometimes fili¬
form and cylindrical, sometimes sword-shaped, or termi¬
nated by a mass, always at least as long as the head and
thorax. The ligula in the greater number has only two
divisions. There are three simple eyes, the labium is
notched, the mandibles much toothed, the abdomen coni¬
cal and laterally compressed. The tarsi are composed of
three articulations, and the female is not furnished with
a prolonged ovipositor. They all leap better than the
preceding genera, and have a higher and more sustained
flight. They feed on vegetables, and are extremely vo¬
racious. They compose the old genus Acrydium of Geof¬
frey, which Latreille divides as follows.
*
Mouth exposed, ligula bifid, a membranous cushion be¬
tween the hooks, at the end of the tarsi. Genus Pneu-
mora. Antennne filiform, of sixteen articulations, insert¬
ed close upon the inner margin of the eye. Posterior
legs shorter than the body, and less adapted for leaping.
Abdomen large, vesicular, and appearing as if empty.
We know little of the manners of the insects of this
genus (Plate CCXLI. figure 14). They inhabit southern
Africa, and feed on vegetable substances. The P. sex-
guttata has green elytra, with three silvery spots on each.
It is a very beautiful insect.
Genus Proscopia, Klug. Without wings. Body long
and cylindrical. Head prolonged anteriorly into a point
or cone, bearing two short filiform antennae, composed at
most of seven articulations, of which the last is pointed.
Posterior legs large and long, approximated to the inter¬
mediate, which are farther than usual from the anterior
pair.
These singular insects are peculiar to South America,
and are usually of a large size. Klug, in his monograph
of the genus, has described fifteen species.7
1 From gryllus, a cricket, and talpa, a mole.
2 For a curious account of the habits of the mole-cricket, see Nouv. Cours d'Agriculture, deux ed. t. v. p. 163. Its anatomy is de¬
scribed in Ann. du Mus, d'Hist. JVat. t xx. p. 213. 3 From TtvoaxTvkss, with three fingers.
* Memorie Scientifiche di Paolo Savi, Pisa, 1828. 5 Regne Animal, t. v. p. 183.
* See also Regne Animal, t. v. p. 184; Charpentier’s Horce Ent.; and Thunberg in the Mem. de l'Acad. Imper. de Petershamg.
7 See Proscopia, Novum genus Insectorum Orthopterorum, in folio, with two plates.
E N T O M
Orthop- Genus Truxalis, Fab. Head pyramidal, bearing on
tera- its extremity, and above the eyes, two prismatic, com-
pressed, ensiform antenna?.
We are acquainted with about a dozen species of this
genus. 1 heir distinctive characters have not yet been well
expressed, and it is not improbable that several have been
confounded. They are characteristic of the warmer coun¬
tries of the ancient continent. The best known is the T.
nasutus of Fab. figured by Iloesel, Insect, ii. Gryll. iv. 1,
2. See also Drury, ii. xl. 1. It occurs in Africa and the
south of Europe (Plate CCXLT. fig. 10).
Genus Acrydium. Head ovoid. Antennae filiform,
or terminated by a button, and inserted between the eyes,
at some distance from their inner margin. Body solid,
and not vesicular. Hinder legs longer than the body.
This genus contains the noted insects commonly called
locusts, the structure and history of which we shall brief¬
ly detail. The head is largely developed, and supports
two rather short antennae, composed of twenty articula¬
tions. The true ej'es are oval, projecting, and situated
on the sides of the head, while the stemmatic eyes, three
in number, form a triangle on its summit. The mouth is
composed of a large and broad upper lip, slightly notched
on its anterior margin ; of strong cutting mandibles, irre¬
gularly toothed; of maxillae terminated by three teeth,
and supporting at the same time the galea? by which they
are covered, and a pair of filiform palpi, consisting of five
articulations; of an inferior lip, broad, advanced, bifid at
the extremity, and giving insertion to a pair of filiform
palpi of four articulations. The prothorax, of the same
breadth as the body, sometimes exhibits superiorly small
keels, which are prolonged transversely on the sides in
slight impressions, appearing to indicate the natural divi¬
sions of that portion of the thorax. The chest of the me-
sothorax and metathorax, or rather the sternum, is broad,
flattened, and very dissimilar to that of Locusta (Saute-
relles), in which it has the appearance of two triangular
foliaceous plates. The elytra are coriaceous, narrow, and
as long as the wings, which are large, reticulated, folded
like a fan, and frequently ornamented by brilliant shades
of red or blue. The legs are of unequal length,—the two
anterior pair being of ordinary proportions, while the
hindmost are large, and formed for leaping. Many spe¬
cies exhibit on each side, and near the origin of the abdo¬
men, a large cavity, closed interiorly by a thin membra¬
nous diaphragm, of a pearly white colour. Latreille regards
it as a pneumatic pouch, forming an acoustic instrument.
It may no doubt be influential in regulating the sounds
uttered by these insects, which, however, are certainly
produced in the first place by the alternate friction of the
inner face of the hind legs against the surface of the elytra.
The females, which are not provided with an exserted
ovipositor, lay their eggs in some instances in the ground,
in others on the stalks of plants, to which they adhere natu¬
rally by a gummy secretion, and are, moreover, enveloped
and protected by a frothy matter, which hardens over them.
The larvae, the nymphae, and the perfect insects, are all
voracious, and feed on plants. The ravages of locusts
are so well known to all readers of foreign travels, and
accounts of their desolating inroads have been so fre¬
quently extracted, and published in numerous popular
works, that a few slight notices of the subject will here
suffice.
Locusts are of very common occurrence in many parts
of Africa. Mr Barrow records, that in the southern 'dis¬
tricts which he visited, the surface of an area of nearly
2000 square miles might literally be said to be covered
by them. The water of a wide river was scarcely visible,
in consequence of the innumerable dead locusts which
floated on its surface, apparently drowned in their attempts
O L o G Y. 159
to reach the reeds which grew along its shores. Except Orthop.
these much wished-for reeds, they had devoured every tera-
other green thing. Their destruction on a former occa-
sion was sudden and singular. All the full-grown insects
were driven into the sea by a tempestuous wind, and
were afterwards cast upon the beach, where they formed
a bank three or four feet high, and extending nearly fifty
English miles. The smell, as may be easily supposed, was
most abominable, and was sensibly felt at the distance of
150 miles. In regard to the Indian locusts, a correspon¬
dent of Messrs Kirby and Spence informed these authors,
that he was an eye-witness to an immense army of locusts
which ravaged the Mahratta country, and was supposed
to come all the way from Arabia. This column extended
fve hundred miles, anu was so compact when its members
were upon the wing, as to darken the sun like an eclipse,
so that no shadow was cast upon the ground, and some
lofty tombs, distant not more than two hundred yards
from the observer, were rendered invisible. These were
not the Gryllus migratorius of Linnaeus (A. migratorium,
Plate CCXLI. figure 13), but a red species, the peculiar
colour of which is said to have added additional horror
to the scene;—for after having stript the trees of their
foliage, they congregated around the bare and desolate
branches, producing a hue like blood. When they moved
again, “ the sound of their wings was as the sound of cha¬
riots, and of many horses running to battle.”
The migratory flight of these insects, their desolating
effects upon vegetation, and consequent injury both to
man and beast, have afforded a frequent subject ctf exer¬
cise to the pen of the poet; but by none has their injuri¬
ous inroads been so magnificently portrayed as by the
prophet Joel. “ A day of darkness and of gloominess,
a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning
spread upon the mountains ; a great people and a strong;
there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any
more after it, even to the years of many generations. A
fire devoureth before them, and behind them a flame
burneth : the land is as the garden of Eden before them,
and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing
shall escape them. The appearance of them is as the
appearance of horses ; and as horsemen so shall they run.
Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall
tuey leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth
the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.” “ The
earth shall quake before them ; the heavens shall tremble :
the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall
withdraw their shining.” “ How do the beasts groan I
the herds of cattle are perplexed because they have no
pasture ; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.”
Dr Southey, “ the laurel-honouring laureate,” as he is
well called by his friend and fellow poet S. T. Coleridge,
has also, in his “ wild and wondrous lay” of Thalaba,
sketched the progress of these destroyers.
Onward they came, a dark continuous cloud
Of congregated myriads numberless,
The rushing of whose wings was as the sound
Of a broad river headlong in its course
Plunged from a mountain summit, or the roar
Of a wild ocean in the autumn storm,
Shattering its billows on a shore of rocks.
The scene of the above quotation is Arabia, where
these insects are very formidable, and of different kinds.
Forskal thinks that the species which chiefly infests that
tented region, and which he names Gryllus gregarius, is
distinct from the Gryllus migratorius of Linnaeus. They
come invariably from the east, which induces the Arabs
to believe that they are produced by the waters of the
Persian Gulf. Nejed is particularly exposed to their ra¬
vages; and no sooner have they destroyed the harvests,
160
ENTOMOLOGY.
Orthop- than they penetrate by thousands into the dwelling-houses,
tera. devouring whatever they can find, even to the leather of
the water vessels. They appear in the air at a distance
like clouds of smoke; and their near approach, accompanied
as by a sound of falling water, stuns the inhabitants with
astonishment and dread. They alight upon a field, and
its verdure disappears,—the lofty palms are stript of their
long shadow-casting leaves,—and pulse and all other suc¬
culent crops are voraciously devoured. Grain, however,
if ripe, usually escapes, in consequence of its hardness and
aridity. The Bedouins of Sinai are frequently driven to
despair by the multitudes of these flying vermin, which
remain for a period of a month or six weeks before they
finally disappear. The time of their arrival is towards
the end of the month of May, when the Pleiades are set¬
ting,—a coincidence which leads the natives to imagine
that locusts entertain a dread of that beautiful constellation.
Although a few are visible every year, the great flights are
inflicted only every fourth or fifth season. Most of the
Arabs, except those of Sinai, are in the habit of eating
these insects. “ In almost every town there are shops
where they are sold by measure. In preparing them, the
cook throws them alive into boiling water with which a
good deal of salt has been mixed. After a few minutes
they are taken out and dried in the sun ; the head, feet,
and wings are then torn off; the bodies are cleansed from
the salt, and perfectly dried, after which they are put up
into sacks or bags. Sometimes they are broiled in butter,
and spread on the unleavened bread used at breakfast.
The Jewish Arabs believe that the food of which the Is¬
raelites ate so abundantly in the desert was showers of
locusts.”1 They are also used as food in several African
countries, and are even exported as articles of commerce.
The elytra and wings are first cut off, and then the bodies
are preserved in brine. M. Miot, in his translation of
Herodotus, has observed that the numerous carcasses of
winged serpents said to have been noticed in Egypt by the
early Greek historian, were in all probability masses of
the dead bodies of some large species of locust. Latreille
coincides in this opinion.2
The most noted species is that already mentioned
under the name of Acrydium migratorium (Gryllus
migiatorius, Linn.), Plate CCXLI. figure 13. It mea¬
sures above two inches and a half in length. Its usual
colour is green, obscurely spotted, the elytra pale brown,
marked with black. The mandibles are likewise black,
and the thorax is marked by a slightly elevated crest.
This species is common in Poland, but occasionally
extends its ravages into other European countries. It
was very destructive in Provence so lately as the year
1819. It is well known in the Levant, in Barbary, and
Egypt. These countries produce another species, like¬
wise found in the south of France, the A. lineola, Lat.
It is of a reddish-brown colour. The crest of the tho¬
rax is intersected by three impressed transverse lines;
there is a conical pectoral point between the anterior
legs, almost as long as the haunches; and the posterior
legs are furnished with reddish spines, black at their
extremity. This species is eaten in Barbary. Another
kind, native to Senegal and other parts of Africa, of a
yellow colour, spotted with black (it is figured by both
Shaw and Denon, in their Travels), is ground when dry into
powder, and used as flour. Many large exotic species are
characterized by the superior portion of the thorax being
greatly elevated, much compressed, and forming a sharp Hemiptera.
crest, rounded and prolonged backwards to a point. Of
this kind, though of smaller dimensions, is the A. arma-
tum, found in the south of Europe, and figured by Fischer.3
Others have the elytra and wings so abbreviated, at least
in one of the sexes, as to be incapable of flight. These
form the generic group named Podisma by Latreille.
Such as exhibit a swelling or button-like expansion at
the tips of the antennae form the genus Gomphocerus
of Thunberg;—for example, the A. sibiricum (figured by
Panzer, Fauna Insect. Germ, xxiii. 20), which occurs
alike among the desert steppes of Siberia and the moun¬
tain passes of St Gothard.
* *
In this second section of the Acrydium of Geoffroy,
a part of the under portion of the head is received into
a cavity of the praesternum. The ligula is quadrifid, and
the tarsi are unprovided with a cushion between the claws.
The articulations of the antennae do not exceed from thir¬
teen to fourteen. The thorax is prolonged backwards in
the form of a large scutellum, sometimes exceeding the
body in length. The elytra are extremely small. * Such
are the characters of the genus Tetrix of Latreille (Plate
CCXLI. figure 15), which is composed of a considerable
number of small species. A good light has been thrown
on their characters and classification by MM. Lepelletier
and Serville, in the Encyclopedic Methodique, article Te¬
trix, as well as in the more recent works of Mr Zettersted.4
The genus contains the little chirping insects so frequent
in this country on dry and sunny banks, and known un¬
der the familiar name of Grasshoppers.
Order III—HExMIPTERA.5
The insects of this order have neither mandibles nor
maxillae properly so called. Their mouth is fitted for
suction, and is composed of a tubular articulated rostrum,
cylindrical or conical, curved inferiorly, or directing itself
along the breast, and, when extended, presenting the ap¬
pearance along its upper surface of an elongated groove
or canal, in which are lodged three delicate pointed bris¬
tles, covered at their base by a ligula. These bristles
form by their union a needle-like sucker, of which the
tubular piece just mentioned forms the sheath, in which
they are retained by means of the ligula or triangular
basal portion. The inferior bristle is in tact composed of
two, which unite together not far from their origin, so
that the sucker itself consists of four pieces. Savigny is
of opinion that the two superior bristles are analogous to
the mandibles, and that the inferior represent the maxil¬
lae6 of the masticating orders. According to this view,
which the author has illustrated with admirable assiduity
and skill, the mouth of hemipterous insects is as usual
composed of six principal portions, the so-called ligula
representing the labrum, and the articulated sheath the
labium, of the other orders.7 According to Latreille, the
languette properly so called also exists, and under a form
analogous to that of the supposed labrum, but bifid at the
extremity. The palpi, however, have entirely disappear¬
ed, with the exception of some slight vestiges of those
parts observable in the genus Thrips. These representa¬
tive relations between the parts of the mouth in the man-
dibulated and haustellated orders had in fact been sus-
1 Edinburgh Cabinet Library, vol. xiv. (Arabia, vol. ii.) p. 460.
* Regne Animal, v. 187. 3 Entom. de la Russ. i. Orthopt. i. 1.
* Orthoptera Succice, 1 vol. 8vo, Lund. 1821, and Fauna Laponica, 1 vol. 8vo, Hamm. 1828.
* Ryngota, Tab. 6 Mem. sur les Animaux sans Verteb. i. part i.
See FI. (JCXXXill. figs. 4 and 6, and the detailed explanation of the same at page 69 {note 1) of this article.
E N T 0 M
emiptera. pected by Latreille previous to their laborious demon-
—'V'w‘ stration by the ingenious Savigny.1
The elytra of a great portion of the hemipterous order
are of a coriaceous texture throughout their principal
extent, with their terminations membranous. They thus
pai take of the nature of both elytra and wings, and the
ordei, as formerly mentioned, derives its name from that
peculiarity. Among the Cicadae and the Aphides, how¬
ever, all the four wings are membranous, and frequently
quite clear and transparent. In Tettigonia, Membracis,
Flatta, &c. they are of a denser consistence; while in
Aleyrodes they are farinaceous, and of a milky translu-
cence. Certain kinds are apterous, as the bed-bug, some
species of Lygaius, and the females of the cochineal in¬
sect,. but these anomalies do not remove them from the
hemipterous order, to which the structure of the mouth
shows them to belong.
The composition of the thorax in these insects begins
to experience some modifications, which exhibit their re¬
lation to the ensuing orders. The first segment, or pro¬
thorax, in certain cases resembles in extent that of the
Goleoptera; but in others it is much more minute, and
becomes incorporated with the second segment, which is
then manifest or exposed. I he scutellum is sometimes
extremely small, or altogether imperceptible; while in cer¬
tain genera, such as Scutellera and Membracis, it is great¬
ly dilated, and covers the entire upper surface of the body,
concealing the elytra and wings.
The sucker, regarded as a sting, and so named by the
ancient naturalists, is adapted only for the extraction of
animal or vegetable matter in a fluid state. The delicate
parts of which it is composed penetrate various organic
substances, the nutritive juices of which are forced to flow
into the interior canal by successive compressions, till they
reach the oesophagus.
Ihe antennae ot the hemipterous tribes are frequently
very small, and of difficult detection. In Psylla, Cimex,
Thrips, and others, they are very obvious ; in Cicada they
are short, simple, setaceous threads; in Fulgora they are
still shorter and subulated; while in Nepa, Fanatra, &c.
they are placed beneath the eyes, and so abbreviated as
to be rendered visible only by reversing the insect.
Ihe eyes are rather large, and between them, on the
upper part of the head, in many species, there are two or
thiee of the stemmatic kind, or ocelli, called yeux lisses\)y
the French entomologists.
The nature and amount of the tarsal articulations differ
according to the genera or tribes; but the greater num¬
ber of hemipterous insects are characterized by three divi¬
sions of the tarsi. In some the anterior tarsi are compos¬
ed of only a single piece, which is bent upon the leg in
the form of a pincer; while in the aquatic genera, such as
Naucoris and Notonecta, the posterior legs are oar-shaped,
with the tarsi composed of two articulations.
All hemipterous insects pass as usual through three
stages of mutation. But their metamorphosis is not in
any case complete, and their changes consist rather in the
development of the organs of flight, and the increased
bulk of the body, than in any very decided or obvious
transformation. Their anatomical structure exhibits a
stomach with a rather solid and muscular coat, a small
intestine of medium length, succeeded by a large intes¬
tine, divided into various swellings, and of a smalfnumber
of biliary vessels, inserted at some distance from the py-
O L O G Y. 161
lorus.2 The habits of the order are extremely various, as Hemiptera
we shall show when we come to treat of the genera more Heterop.
in detail. ^tera^
HETEROPTERA.3
Sucker originating from the front of the head. Elytra
membranaceous at their extremity. First segment of the
thorax much larger than the others. Wings horizontal or
slightly inclined.
FAMILY L_GEOCORISA:.4
Antennae exposed, longer than the head, and inserted
between the eyes near their internal margin. The tarsi
are composed of three articulations, of which the first is
sometimes extremely short. These insects form the
great genus Cimex of Linnaeus, which has now undergone
many modifications. 1 hey are principally terrestrial in¬
sects, although some dwell upon the surface of waters.
From several of the species a disagreeable odour ema¬
nates.
Genus Scutellera,5 Lam. Sheath of the sucker of
four distinct articulations. Labrum prolonged beyond the
head, awl-shaped, and striated above. Tarsi with three
articulations, the first as long or longer than the third.
Antennae filiform, of five articulations. Body usually
short, oval, or rounded. Scutellum covering the abdo¬
men. (Plate CCXLIL fig. 1).
The insects of this genus, formed by Lamarck from
Pentatoma of Olivier, live on plants, of which they absorb
the juices by inserting their suckers in the leaves or ten¬
der twigs. Fhey occur in many countries, but are larger
and more brilliant in equatorial than temperate regions.
Ihe S. nobilis of Latr. is of an elongated oval form, and
of a metallic or golden blue colour, spotted with black.
It is found in Asia. The S. stokerus is oval, green, spot¬
ted with black, and has a red abdomen. It occurs in the
Antilles. Of the European species we shall mention only
the S. lineata ( Cimex lineatus, Linn.j, which is about four
lines in length, red, radiated above with black lines, and
marked beneath with black spots linearly disposed. It is
common in Central and Southern Europe on umbellifer¬
ous flowers.6
Genus Pentatoma,7 Oliv, Elytra exposed. Scutel¬
lum covering only a portion of the body. Other charac¬
ters as in the preceding genus.
The species of this genus, known as wood-bugs, and
under other names, are extremely numerous. They oc¬
cur in every region of the world, and under various tem¬
peratures, The species proper to the warmer countries
of Africa, America, and the East Indies, attain to a con¬
siderable size, and are adorned by brilliant colours. The
larvae of these insects do not greatly differ from the per¬
fect state, except in having neither wings nor elytra. The
nymphae possess these organs in a rudimentary state, in¬
closed in sheaths. Their changes of condition are accom¬
panied by a general casting of the skin. In their various
states they exist on vegetable juices, which they seem
as it were to pump up by means of their suckers. Some
species, however, have been seen to attack insects, even
those of their own kind, and suck their softer parts. Almost
all of them exhale a disagreeable and penetrating odour,
i
3
4
6
Wist. Nat. des Crust, et des Insect, t. ii. p. 140-143.
From iri^o.os, of a different kind or nature, and VT^a., wings.
From yn, the earth, and x.ooi;. hug.
Consult, for the other species, Fabricius, Systema Ryngotorum, genus Tei
VOL. IX.
2 Regne Animal, v. 192.
* From scutellum, a shield,
from •mrx,five, and ropu, division.
X
162 E N T O M
Hemipterawhich adheres to whatever substance the insect touches.
Hetorop- The eggs are deposited on the stalks of plants, regularly
tera- disposed, and made to adhere by means of’ a remarkably
tenacious liquid. They are not unfrequently adorned by
extremely agreeable colours.
A pleasant and curious narrative is given by Degeer, re¬
lating to the female of a species of this genus, the Cimex
griseus of Linn. He found on a birch tree several of these
females, each followed by a little troop of thirty or forty
young ones, which accompanied their mother as chickens
do a hen. The parents seemed to watch over them with
the greatest solicitude. This is a singular fact in the his¬
tory of insects, which for the most part are not personally
regardful of the welfare of their offspring, although they
seldom fail instinctively to deposit their eggs in situations
the best adapted for the sustenance and preseivation
of the future larvae. Several of the generic groups pio-
posed by Fabricius, as derivable from the genus Penta-
toma of Olivier, are not adopted by Latreille; while, on
the other hand, several genera proposed by more recent
writers have been adopted.1
Genus Tesseratoma, Pel. et Serv. Antennae with four
articulations. Body very flat, membranous, with the mar¬
gins much dilated, notched, and angular. Thorax pro¬
longed posteriorly in the form of a truncated lobe. This
genus was formed upon the Edessa papillosa and ame-
'tkustina of Fabricius. The species are chiefly from India
and the Eastern Islands (Plate CCXLII. fig. 2). Certain
species from Brazil, and we believe other countries, like¬
wise very flat, with the margins notched and dilated, with
the anterior extremity of the body forming a clypeus
truncated in front, and cloven at the sides, form the genus
PhljEA of the Encyc. Meth. (Plate CCXLII. fig. 3).
Genus Coreus,2 Fab. Antennae with four articula¬
tions, filiform, or larger at the extremity, the last being
usually shorter than the preceding. Body oval. Sheath,
labrum, and tarsi similar to those parts in the genus Pen-
tatoma, which they resemble in their habits of life.
The species of this genus have the head in general of
a trigonal form, and sunk, without apparent neck, into
the prothorax, which is narrow anteriorly, and broader be¬
hind. The eyes are small, but prominent. The scutellum
is triangular and obvious, ihe elytra equal the length of
the abdomen, which is depressed, with elevated edges.
The legs are long and slender. These creatures are said
by some authors to feed on other insects, as well as on the
juices of plants. The C. marginatus is of an obscure
brown, with two small advanced points between the an-
tennse. The latter have their second and third articula¬
tions fulvous. It exhales a strong smell of apples. Wolff,
Icon. Cirnic. fascic. i. p. 20, t. 3, fig. 20. The C. hysirix is an
insect of a very bizarre appearance, found in trance and
elsewhere. Sparmann collected a species not very dissi¬
milar at the Cape of Good Hope,—of a grey colour tinted
in parts with reddish brown; spiny, membranous, the
edges of the thorax relieved in roundish lobes. Ihe ab¬
domen likewise margined by numerous brown-coloured
lobes. The second and third joints of the antennae are
spiny at the extremity. It was named C. paradoxus by
Fabricius (Plate CCXLII. fig. 4). Between the princi¬
pal genus Coreus, Fab. and that named Lygceus by the
same author, as now restricted, several intermediate ones
occur in the system of Latreille.3 Of these, however, we
shall mention merely the genus Neides (Plate CCXLII.
fig. 5), distinguished by its greatly elongated and almost
linear form of body, and slender limbs and antennae.
O L O G Y.
Genus Lyg^eus, Fab. Antennae terminated by an elon- Hemiptera
gated article, almost cylindrical, and of the same thickness Heterop-
as the preceding joint. The stemmatic approach the true
eyes, and the membranous appendages of the elytra fre-
quently offer only four or five nervures.
The L. equestris (Plate CCXLII. fig. 6) is red, spotted
with black. The thorax is black before and behind,
and there are two points of the same colour on the scutel¬
lum. The elytra are traversed by a black band, and there
are two small spots and a point of white upon their
membranous portion. It measures about five lines in
length. The abdomen has four ranges of points. The
C. apterus (Stoll, Cimic. ii. xv. 103) is rather less, red,
and without wings. The head, a spot on the centre of
the thorax, and a large point on each elytron, are black.
The extremities of the elytra are truncated, or without
membranous appendages. It sometimes occurs winged.
The species with the large anterior thighs have been
formed into a separate genus by MM. Lepelletier and
Serville. Those with angulated antennae form the genus
Neides of Latr. already mentioned, and the gepus Aly-
dus of Fab. includes such as have filiform antennae with¬
out dilatation, and the body narrow and elongated.4
All the preceding genera of the Linnaean Cimices agree
in having four articulations to the sheath of the sucker,
and a prolonged and striated labrum; but those which
follow have only two or three apparent articulations to the
sheath, and the labrum is short and without striae. The
first joint of the tarsi, and frequently the second also, are
very short in the greater number.
a.
Feet inserted in the middle of the chest, and terminat¬
ed by two distinct hooks, which take their origin from
the central extremity of the tarsus. They are not adapt¬
ed for rowing, or running on the surface of the water.
*
Rostrum straight, more or less inclosed in a sheath
Eyes of ordinary dimensions. Union of the head and thorax
not characterized by a narrow neck, or sudden restriction.
The body is usually membranous in whole or in part, and
is generally extremely flat. This group of genera com¬
poses the major part of the primitive genus Acanthia of
Fabricius, which the author himself afterwards dismem¬
bered.
Genus Syrtis, Fab. Anterior feet formed of a mono-
dactyle claw like that, of the Crustacea, and serving them
in like manner to seize their prey. Antennae terminated
by an oval mass or enlarged articulation, and lodged in a
groove of the head and thorax.
The species of this genus feed on flies and other insects,
which they seize with their fore legs, after the manner of
the Mantides. They live in woods. The S. crassipes (Wolf,
Icon. Cimic. tab. 9, fig. 82) measures about three lines
and a half in length. The head and thorax are brownish
red; the abdomen of a deeper hue as far as the centre,—
the sides and towards the base being paler. The anten¬
nae, under parts of the body, and feet, are reddish yellow.
This is a European species. Most of the others occur in
South America.
Genus Tingis, Fab. Body extremely flat. Antennae
with the third articulation much longer than the others,
and terminated by a button.
These insects live on plants, of which they pierce the
leaves and flowers, not unfrequently producing great in¬
jury to their vegetation. The species found on the pear-
tree, and known to the continental horticulturists under
1 See Regne Animal, t. v. p. 193-4. 2 From bug.
3 See Regne Animal; Encyc. Method, t. x.; and the Systema Ryngotorum of Fab.
4 Ibid, and Genera Crustac. et Insect, iii. p. 126.
ENTOMOLOGY. 163
Hemiptera the name of tiger> is extremely destructive. It is the T.
Heterop- pyr{ 0f Lat. and is distinguished by a white reticulated
J th°rax5 edges raised, and inflated in the centre. The
scutellum is foliaceous. The elytra are white, with two
black bands. The larva of T. clavicornis inhabits the
flowers of Teucrium Chamcedrys, and, by piercing the pe¬
tals, causes them to thicken,—thus preventing their healthy
development. The puncturings of the perfect insects of
this genus sometimes produce a kind of gallnut.
Genus Aradus, Fab. Body formed like that of Tingis ;
but the antennae are cylindrical, with the second articu¬
lation almost as long or even longer than the third.
These insects occur chiefly on the trunks and beneath
the bark of trees, where they congregate during the win¬
ter. They show themselves more actively in spring. The
A. corticalis of Wolff ( Cimic. fasc. iii. t. ix. fig. 81) serves
as a type of the genus.
Genus Cimex, Lat. Resembles the preceding genera
in the form of the body ; but the antennae are almost se¬
taceous, composed of four articulations, of which the first
is shorter than the others, the second thick and long, the
third also lengthened and more slender than the others,
the last%carcely increasing in thickness at the extremity.
Elytra extremely small. No true wings.
Of this genus the C. lectularius or bed-bug (Plate
CCXLII. fig. 7) is probably too well known in many
quarters to require particular description. It deposits
its eggs in the month of May. The larvae differ from
the perfect insects in wanting the elytra. This species,
though mentioned by Dioscorides, is said to be not an
original inhabitant of Europe. It is also believed to have
been unknown in London prior to the great fire in 1666,
after which calamity it was transported thither in timber
from America. It is said sometimes to acquire wings, and
infest young pigeons, swallows, and other birds. Latreille
however is of opinion that the kind attached to the last-
named birds is of a distinct species from that which trou¬
bles the lords of the creation. The best means of extir¬
pating bugs are care and cleanliness.
* *
Rostrum exposed, arched, sometimes straight, but with
the labrum projecting. The head suddenly restricted be¬
hind, so as to form a neck-like portion.
Eyes not remarkably large. Neck apparent.
Genus Reduvius, Fab. Rostrum short, but sharp and
piercing. Thorax distinctly lobed. Elytra at least as
long as the abdomen. Tarsi triarticulated. Antennae
with four articulations, setaceous, and extremely slender
at the extremities.1
The species which form this genus are predaceous, and
greedily attack other insects, sucking out their juices with
their sharp-pointed beaks. The R. personatus is about
eight lines in length, and of a blackish-brown colour, with¬
out spots. It is common in France. This species, which
inhabits the interior of houses, covers itself with ordure,
or the sweepings of apartments, and, thus disguised, lies
in wait in some obscure corner for its prey. No sooner
does a fly or other feeble insect approach within a calcu¬
lated distance, than it suddenly darts upon it, and sucks
it to death. Sometimes it may be seen approaching its
victim by slow and cautious steps, till the fly, thrown off
its guard by this insidious show of peace, is instantaneous¬
ly captured by one deadly spring. Its bite is so severe as
to produce the immediate death of its captive; and in¬
deed we are informed that our venerated friend Latreille
having been bitten on the shoulder by a Reduvius, expe- Hemiptera
rienced a great swelling of the entire arm, and suffered Heterop-
severe pain for several hours. It is chiefly in the larva ter^
and nympha states that these insects disguise themselves
in the manner just mentioned. Entomologists are ac¬
quainted with a great many species of this genus, few of
which, however, are native to Europe. The rest are
spread over Asia, Africa, and America.
We shall here briefly notice a few of the genera which
in recent times have been formed by dismemberment of
the genus Reduvius as originally constituted by Fabri-
cius. In the genus Heloptilus of Lepel. et Serv. the
antennae have only three articulations, of which the last
two are garnished with long hairs, disposed in two rows,
and verticillated on the terminal joint. In the genus Pe-
talocheirus of Palisot de Beauvois,2 the two anterior
legs are singularly expanded into oval plates or shield-like
dilatations. These insects are of African origin. The P.
rubiginosus is blackish-brown, with the antennae and feet
of a rust colour. The thorax is spiny on either side, and
surrounded by a line of yellow. The scutellum is sur¬
mounted by a straight spine. The only other species with
which we are acquainted is the P. variegatus of the au¬
thor last named. In the genus Zelus the form of the
body is linear, and the legs very long, slender, and simi¬
lar to each other. The genus Ploiaria is characterized
by the same linear body, and the like length and tenuity
of limb; but the two anterior legs have the haunch elon¬
gated, and formed, as in Mantis, for the seizure of their
prey.
t t
Eyes remarkably large. No apparent neck.
The insects of this subdivision run swiftly along the
margin of waters, making occasionally little leaps.
Genus Leptopus, Lat. Rostrum short, arched, and
spiny beneath. Antennae setaceous. Anterior thighs large
and spiny.
This genus was established by Latreille upon L. litto-
ralis, a small insect about two lines in length, of an ob¬
scure ash colour, with some spots upon the elytra, and
the margins of these parts whitish. Their membranous
appendages are pale, with obscure nervures. The feet are
pale yellow. This species was discovered in Spain by
Leon Dufour; and another nearly allied to it, L. lapidi-
cola, has been taken b}r Basoches in the department of
Calvados.
Genus Acanthia, Lat, Rostrum long, straight, with
the labrum projecting beyond the sheath. Antennae fili¬
form, or slightly enlarged towards the extremity. Form
of the body oval.
This genus is composed of insects belonging to the ge¬
nus Saida of Fabricius, such as S. striata, zosterce, litto-
ralis, &c. We may regard as its type the Lygceus saltatorius
of Fab., a species which dwells by the banks of rivers, and
runs and leaps with agility. Certain species, of which the
antennae are much shorter than usual, and bent over the
eyes, the body shorter and more rounded, with the scutel¬
lum rather large, form the genus Pelogonus of Latreille.
These Hemiptera approach those of the genus Naucoris
in their nature, and seem to conduct towards them in
common with the following.
b.
Four posterior feet slender and long, inserted on the
sides of the chest, and distant from each other at their
points of articulation. The hooks of the tarsi are very
small, indistinct, and placed in a fissure of the lateral ex-
1 The first joint is often united to the second, and that to the third, by means of a very small article or rotule. (liegne Animal, v. 202.)
8 Insectes recueill. en Afr. et en Amer. fasc. i.
164 E N T O M
Hemiptera tremity of the tarsus. The feet are adapted for rowing or
Heterop- wa]king on the water. These characters are proper to
lera‘ ' ^e genus Hydrometra of Fabricius, which Latreille has
divided into three, as follows.
Genus Hydrometra,1 Lat. Antennae setaceous. Head
prolonged into a muzzle, and receiving the rostrum, ot
which the articulations are by no means obvious, in an in¬
ferior groove.
These insects dwell in moist places, and run upon the
surface of waters. (Plate CCXLII. fig. 8.) Their bodies
are narrow, thin, linear. Their eyes are large and globu¬
lar, and are placed towards the centre of the lateral parts
of the muzzle, or rather muzzle-shaped head. I he best
known species is H. stagnorum, which measures about five
lines in length. It is of a black or blackish-brown colour, with
the feet of a redder hue. The elytra are very short, with
two nervures on each. This species is common through¬
out Europe. The H* fossarum of Fab. is a native of the
East Indies. We are inclined to regard it as belonging
to the next genus.
Genus Gerris, Lat. Antennae filiform. Rostrum with
three articulations. Anterior feet serving the office of
pincers. Second pair distant from the anterior, and as
long again as the body. (Plate CCXLII. fig. 9.)
These insects have elongated bodies, are usually of a
blackish colour, and are met with on the surface of still
waters, on which they advance as it were by starts. Their
under surface seems covered by a peculiar coating, of a
black or silvery hue, according to the position in which
the insect is held, and which probably protects it from
the influence of the subjacent liquid. They appear rather
to row than to walk upon the surface. The species are
insectivorous, and prey upon such of their own class as
they can master, and especially upon any land species
that have fallen accidentally into the water, and are natu¬
rally inactive in that element. These they immediately
seize upon with their anterior feet. The G. lacustris, Lat.
{Hydrometra lacustris, Fab.), figured on the plate above
referred to, is of a blackish-brown colour, greenish above.
The feet are brown. The body is terminated by a pro¬
jection. This species presents some peculiarities worthy
of notice. There are two varieties of it, one of which is
winged, the other apterous. The former of these constitute
the punaises aquatiques tres-allongees ailees of Degeer, the
latter correspond to the punaises aquatiques tres-allongees
non ailees of that author.2 Such as make their appearance
in spring, and which have without doubt passed the winter
beneath the ice, or under cover of the frozen banks, are all
apterous, but resemble perfect insects in every other part of
their structure. Sexual intercourse takes place among them.
It was this latter circumstance which induced Geoffroy
to believe that they offered a remarkable exception to a
general rule, and that fecundation took place in the state
of nymph or larva. Degeer, in combating this opinion,
maintained that these apterous insects were of a distinct
kind, and perfect in their way. M. Audouin, on the other
hand, is of opinion that they may be regarded as indivi¬
duals of the ordinary kind, proceeding from larvae of the
preceding year, of which the development has been check¬
ed by the rigours of the winter season, and the consequent
condition of torpidity. Fie conceives that the wings are
not, in these aquatic insects, organs of the first importance,
and that the influence of surrounding causes is on that
account the more likely to prove effectual, and that thus
they remain rudimentary, when the other parts of the
O L O G Y.
body, and the generative system in particular, have at- Hemiptera
tained the maximum of their development. He illustrates Heterop-
this point by reference to the genera Lampyris and Dri- , tera-
lus, in which (in the females) the organs of flight of the
perfect insects are scarcely if at all more developed than
in the larva state, while all the interior parts of structure
are fully and functionally completed. The apterous indi¬
viduals, then, of G. lacustris, which are observed to fulfil
the offices of the perfect insect, are larvae only so far as
regards the undeveloped condition of the wings.3
General Flardwicke has described a new species of this
genus from Nepaul, under the name of G. laticaudata.
The extremity of the abdomen is remarkable for certain
processes like teeth or claws.4
Genus Velia. Antennae filiform, as in Gerris; but the
rostrum has only two apparent articulations, the legs are
much shorter than in that genus, and are inserted at near¬
ly equal distances from each other.
Like the preceding species, these insects live on the
surface of water. Their motion, however, is more like
running than swimming. The V. currens is blackish-brown,
with the superior edges of the abdomen fulvous, spotted
with black. The V. rivulorum is black spotted will white,
the abdomen fulvous.
FAMILY II—HYDROCORISiE.4
Antennae inserted and concealed beneath the eyes,
shorter than the head, or not exceeding it in length. Tarsi
composed of only two articulations. Eyes for the most
part remarkably large. These Hemiptera are aquatic and
carnivorous. They prick severely with their rostrum, and
seize upon other insects with their anterior feet, the joints
of which are bent upon themselves, so as to form a kind of
pincer. Their heads appear as if sunk into or intimately
united to the thorax. The rostrum is short. Their me¬
tamorphoses do not differ from those of the other Hemip¬
tera.
Tribe 1st, Nepides.
We here place the species of the unrestricted genus
Nepa of Linnaeus, commonly called water scorpions. They
have the anterior legs in the form of hooks or nippers,—■
composed of a thigh, sometimes large, sometimes elongat¬
ed, with a groove on its under surface for the reception
of the tibia, and of an extremely short tarsus, which forms
as it were a hook or crotchet with the tibia. The form of
the body in some is oval and much depressed, in others
it is more linear. Latreille divides this tribe into the fol¬
lowing genera.
Genus Galgulus, Lat. All the tarsi similar to each
other, cylindrical, with two distinct articulations, of which
the terminal is provided with two hooks. The antennae
do not appear to have more than three articulations, of
which the last is the largest, and of an ovoid form.
The only species of this genus with which we are ac¬
quainted, G. oculatus, Lat. (Hist. Nat. des Crust, et des In¬
sect. xii. 286, pi. 95, fig. 9) was placed by Fabricius in the
genus Naucoris. It is of a dull ashy brown, with some paler
spots upon the elytra. The thorax is unequal. The legs
are pale brown, with deeper spots. This odd-looking in¬
sect was brought by Bose from Carolina. Its body is
short and rough. The head has little length, but is pro-
1 From uSuo, water, and pin-ort, measure.
* Mem. sur les Insectes, iii. 311.
1 Diction. Class. d'Hist. Nat. vii. 337.
4 Linn. Trans, xiv. 134, pi. C.
5 From water, and bug-
E N T O M
Hemiptera longed laterally into two angles which support the eyes.
Ueterop- The prothorax is lobed posteriorly, and placed before a
tera. triangular scutellum, on each side of which are inserted
the s]lort and coriaceous elytra. The thighs of the ante¬
rior legs are swollen and dentated beneath, and the tibiae
and tarsi are applied close to them when the insect is in
a state of repose. We are not aware that any thing is
known of the habits of this insect, further than that it is
aquatic.
Genus Naucoris,1 Geoff. Labrum exposed, large, tri¬
angular, and covering the base of the rostrum. Antennae
simple, and consisting of four articulations. Tarsi of the
anterior feet terminating in a simple point or crotchet.
The middle and hinder pair of legs ciliated,—their tarsi
with two articulations, terminated by a pair of hooks.
Of this genus the body is usually depressed, almost
ovoid, with the head rounded anteriorly, and the eyes
lengthened and depressed. The abdomen is dentated
around its edges. The species are extremely active, and
swim with great ease and swiftness, making use of their
hinder legs as oars. They sometimes quit one pool of
water for another, and they then make good use of their
wings. They are extremely voracious, and destroy a great
number of other insects. The larvae and nymphs inhabit
the same situations as the perfect insects, and differ from
them chiefly in the absence of wings. The nymphs indeed
exhibit the rudiments of these organs enclosed in a kind
of case, from which they expand at the period of the com¬
pleted metamorphosis. The N. cimicoides (Nepa cimicoides,
Lin.) measures about six lines in length. It is of a green¬
ish-brown, with the head and thorax paler and spotted.
The eyes are blackish. The margins of the abdomen are
strongly dentated. It is common throughout the fresh
waters of Europe.
Genus Belostoma, Lat. Labrum sheathed. Anten¬
nae semi-pectinated. All the tarsi with two articulations.
Abdomen terminated by a pair of setae.
The B. grandis (Nepa grandis, Fab.) may be regarded
as the type of this genus. It is a very large insect, mea¬
suring nearly three inches in length. It is of a greyish
colour, spotted with brown. The legs are likewise spot¬
ted. The thorax is smooth. It is common in collections
of foreign insects.
Genus Nepa.2 3 Labrum and setae as in the preceding
genus. Rostrum curved beneath. Anterior tarsi with
only one articulation,—the middle and posterior pair with
two. Antennae appearing forked. Haunches of the an¬
terior legs short, and the thighs much broader than the
other parts.
The body in this genus is almost elliptical, and nar¬
rower and more elongated than in the preceding genera.
The head is small, and partly lodged in a notch of the
thorax. The setae, which terminate the abdomen, serve,
according to some authors, for the purposes of respiration
in the moist and muddy places in which they dwell. The
Nepae, in their various states, inhabit the quiet waters of
ponds, lakes, and marshes. They swim more leisurely
than many of their congeners, and often proceed along
the surface of the mud below, in search of the minute
insects of which they make their prey, and which they
seize with their anterior feet. Their eggs are of an oval
form, and, when examined with a microscope, are seen
to be crowned by an aigrette of seven small threads.
Swammerdam anatomized these insects, and has given
us some curious details regarding the arrangement of the
O L O G Y. 165
eggs in the ovaries. They are so disposed that the Hemiptera
crown-like threads of the one which is next the orifice Heterop-
embraces the one which follows, and so on consecutive- tera’
ly. The generative system of the male is singular, and
very complicated. The larvae leave the eggs in midsum¬
mer. They differ from the perfect insects chiefly in want¬
ing the wings and setae. The nymphs acquire, as usual,
rudimentary wings inclosed in sheaths, and placed on each
side of the body. The perfect insect frequently quits its
subaqueous abode during the dewy night, and flies about
with great agility. The genus is by no means numerous in
species, although these seem pretty extensively distributed
over the waters of the earth.
The N. cinerea, Lin. (Plate CCXLII. fig. 10), is nearly
an inch in length, of an ash colour, the upper part of the
abdomen red, the tail shorter than the body. We owe
to M. Leon Dufour some curious and excellent observa¬
tions on the anatomy of this species, and on that of Ra-
natra linearis? These insects present a peculiar organ,
which the French observer regards as a kind of pectoral
trachea, communicating with those of the ordinary kind.
It forms in R. linearis a pair of elegant panaches, or fea-
ther-like bunches, of a pearly whiteness, composed of
numerous little branches, and situated in the centre of
the muscular mass of the breast. In N. cinerea the pec¬
toral tracheae appear to offer the vestiges of a pulmonary
organ. They consist of two oblong bodies, placed imme¬
diately below the region of the scutellum, clothed by a
fine membrane, smooth, and white as satin. They are
almost as long as the chest, free except at their extremi¬
ties, and are filled with a substance like tow, which, when
examined under the microscope, presents a homogeneous
tissue, formed by vascular arbusculae. The nervous sys¬
tem appears to consist of two large ganglions, the one
placed beneath the cesophagus, the other in the chest be¬
twixt the first and second pair of feet, and throwing out
two remarkable cords, divided into two or three threads
at their extremities. Only two biliary vessels have been
yet observed.
Genus Ranatra, Fab. differs from the preceding chiefly
in the linear form of the body, in the rostrum being di¬
rected forwards, and in the character of the anterior legs,
of which the haunch and thigh are slender and elongated.
These insects do not excel as swimmers. They fre¬
quently leave the water in the evening, and are good
flyers. They are very voracious. The R. linearis oc¬
curs throughout Europe. It is pale cinerous, with a yel¬
low tinge; the abdomen reddish beneath. It measures
about an inch in length, and the setaceous appendages
are as long as the body. The aigrette upon the eggs of
this species consists of only two setae. The genus is by
no means numerous in species, but it occurs in the East
Indies and America, as well as in Europe.
Tribe 2d, Notonectides.
In this group the two anterior legs are simply curved
underneath, with the thighs of the usual size, and the
tarsi pointed and thickly ciliated, and resembling those of
the posterior legs. Their body is ovoid or nearly cylin¬
drical, and thickish, or less depressed than in the preced¬
ing tribe. Their posterior legs are much ciliated, and
resemble oars. They are terminated by two small indis¬
tinct hooks. They swim or row with great swiftness, and
frequently turn upon their backs. They correspond to
1 From vai/j, boat, and x.o^is, bug.
3 Supposed by some to have been originally a misprint for Hepa, a Latin word applied to the scorpion.
3 Annales Gen. des Sciences Physiques, t. vii.
166 E N T O M
Hemiptera the genus Notonecta of Linnaeus, which Latreille divides
Heterop- as follows.
tera> Genus Cortxa, Geoff. Rostrum very short, tnangu-
]ari transversely striated. Anterior legs very short, with
ciliated compressed tarsi, furnished with a single articu¬
lation. The other legs are elongated, and the middle
pair are terminated by two very long hooks. Elytra ho-
, rizontal. Scutellum not apparent. Sigara of Fab.
These insects are of an elongated form, the body some¬
what flattened, the head large and vertical, the eyes tri¬
angular, the prothorax more developed transversely than
in a longitudinal direction, but prolonged backwards to
a point. They walk defectively, but swim and fly well.
We think they never swim upon their backs, like the
species of the following genus, but are usually seen as it
were suspended by their extremity from the surface of
the water, and prepare to dive instantly on the approach
of danger. When seized they endeavour to pierce the
skin of the captor with their sharp-pointed rostrum ; and
if they succeed in that effort, pain accompanied by swell¬
ing not unfrequently ensues. The genus is not extensive.
We may here name, as the most frequent in the fresh
waters of Europe, the C. striata (Notonecta striata, Linn.),
which measures about five lines in length, brown, vvith
numerous spots or little rays of a yellowish hue. I he
head, legs, and under parts of the body, are likewise of
the latter colour.
We may here note, that Dr Leach assumes the Not
minutissima of Fabricius as the type of his genus Sigara.
It resembles the preceding genus in many respects, but
the body is rather ovoid than linear or cylindrical, and
the thorax is provided with a scutellum.1
Genus Notonecta,2 3 Geoff. Fab. Rostrum articulated
and in the form of an elongated cone. All the tarsi with
two articulations. The four anterior legs geniculate, with
simple cylindrical tarsi. Elytra declined. Scutellum dis¬
tinct.
The Notonectse properly so called are characterized by
the singular practice of swimming upon their backs, with
their bodies somewhat inclined, their heads being ele¬
vated during their upward progress, and the contrary
while they either rest suspended at the surface or de¬
scend towards the bottom of the pool. When these in¬
sects are in the act of swimming, they make use only of
the middle and posterior pairs of legs, the anterior being
applied closely to the chest; but when they walk at the
bottom, or over the herbage of aquatic plants, in search of
insect prey, they then bring the latter into active service,
and merely trail the former after them, or alongside. I he
females deposit their eggs, which are long and white, on
the stalks and foliage of water-plants. The young are
produced in spring, and resemble the perfect insects, ex¬
cept in the want of wings. The nymphae are equally
active, and exhibit these organs in a rudimentary state.
They are all, of whatever sex, age, or condition, preda¬
ceous in their disposition, and, in the absence of more or¬
dinary food, will seize upon and cruelly devour their own
species. We are acquainted with about a dozen of the
genus, of which about a third inhabit Europe. The others
occur in Asia, Africa, and America. The most familiarly
known in this country is the N. glauca of Linn. (Nepa
notonecta, Dejeer, Mem. Insect, iii. p. 382, No. 5, tab. 18,
fig. 16, 17), figured on Plate CCXLII. fig. 11. It is
about half an inch in length, of a greenish black beneath,
the front of the head of a pale green, the upper and ante¬
rior portion of the thorax whitish, the posterior half ob-
O L Q G
scure. The elytra are of a yellowish-grey, with a tint of Hemiptera
brown, their sides spotted. The scutellum is black. This Homop.
insect varies considerably in its external aspect. Those ^tera'
with brown elytra, varied with reddish, may be regarded
as N. maculata of Lat.
The N. minutissima of Linn, must not be confounded
with the species so called by Fabricius. The former con¬
stitutes the genus Plea of Dr Leach, and differs from
Notonecta in having the third point of the antennae larger
than the others. The articulations of the anterior tarsi
are also of equal length, and the hooks of the posterior
legs are large. The form of the body, and texture of the
elytra, likewise present some disresemblances.
HOMOPTERA, Lat.
In this second great division of the hemipterous order,
the rostrum or sucker originates from the inferior part of
the head, close upon the chest, or even from between the
two anterior legs. The elytra (almost‘always inclined)
are semimembranous, and of the same consistence through¬
out. They are sometimes scarcely distinguishable in their
texture from the inferior wings. The three component
segments of the thorax are united as it were en masse,
and the first is always shorter than the one following.
The genera of this section are quite dissimilar in their
habits to those with which we have been previously en¬
gaged. They feed on the juices of plants. Many of the
females are provided with a scaly sheath or ovipositor
(called oviscapte by M. Marcel de Serres). This is usually
composed of three dentated blades, lodged in a bivalvular
groove. They use it as a kind of saw, with which to
produce notches or other excavations in various plants, for
the purpose of depositing their eggs in safety.
FAMILY I—CICADAR.LE.
The genera composing this family present three articu¬
lations in the tarsi,—the antennae are usually very small,
conical or awl-shaped, and consist of from three to six
portions, including the attenuated seta by which they
are terminated. We owe to MM. Ramdhor, Marcel de
Serres, Leon Dufour, and Straus, many excellent obser¬
vations on the internal structure of these insects. Ac¬
cording to Dufour, the stomach, or chylific ventricle, is of
remarkable length. It commences by an oblong dilatation,
either curved or straight, and decreases into an intestini-
form canal, which returns upon itself, and opens near the
origin of the ventricle, alongside the insertion of the he¬
patic vessels, and not far from the origin of the intestine.
They are all provided with four biliary vessels. In the
Cicad8e the ventricle has what Dufour calls “ la forme
d’une anse,” the right portion being dilated into a large
lateral, and frequently plaited pouch. Its superior extre¬
mity is united to the oesophagus by an upper ligament,
and the other leads to the narrow, tubular, very long, re¬
flexed prolongation, with the form of an intestine, which,
after its circumvolutions, re-ascends to unite with the
pouch near the insertion of the hepatic vessels. This
truly singular disposition of the chylific ventricle, which,
after several convolutions, finally disgorges into itself, by
the completion of a circle traversed throughout by the ali¬
mentary fluid, is doubtless a circumstance not easily ex¬
plained in a physiological point of view. It is, however,
1 On the Classification of the natural tribe of Insects Notonectides, -with Descriptions of the British Species, Linn. Trans, xii. p. 10.
* From varos, back, and sixths, swimmer.
3 From Iph, equal, or the same, and wings,—in reference to the similar texture of the organs of flight.
E N T O M
Hemiptera not the less a well determined fact, and one which con-
Homop- statutes the most characteristic feature in the anatomy of
teia’ the Cicadse and other Cicadariae.1 In the Ledra aurita
0f Fabricius, the inflated portion of the chylific ventricle
is placed immediately after the crop; and there is but a
single cluster of salivary sacks on each side, a character
likewise observable in Cercopis spumaria, or Frog-spittle;
while in Cicada there are two on each side. In Membra-
cis cornuta the arise duodenal of Dufour is replaced by a
short pouch, likewise attached to the oesophagus by a sus¬
pensory filament, a character peculiar to these insects.
1st, Stridulantes.
Antennae composed of six articulations. Three simple
eyes. This division includes the Manniferce of Linnaeus
(Tettigonia, Fab.), and forms the
Genus Cicada of Oliv. and Lat. Head transversal.
Eyes large. Prothorax broad or transversal, with a straight
posterior margin; the mesothorax large, with the form of
an X on its posterior edge. Elytra generally vitreous.
A large scaly operculum covers a cavity on each side ot
the base of the abdomen in the males.
These insects differ from those that follow, not only in
the structure of the antennae and the amount ot the sim¬
ple or stemmatic eyes, but also in their being all destitute
of the faculty of leaping. The males are musical, that is,
during the heat of summer, they produce, by a peculiar
structure, a loud and continuous cry or stridulation, called
by courtesy a song. When we examine the lateral base
of the abdomen of a male Cicada, we perceive two large
scaly plates of a rounded figure, approaching that of a
demi-oval cut through its smaller axis; so that each plate
presents a side which is rectilinear, while the remaining
portion exhibits a rounded outline. It is by the straight
side that each plate is fixed without articulation, on the
metathorax, of which it forms a portion. When we lift
up these plates we discover a cavity on each side ot the
abdomen, divided into two principal chambers by a horny
triangular septum. When viewed from the side of the
abdomen, each cell presents anteriorly a white and plaited
membrane ; and lower down there is another membrane,
thin, light, and transparent as glass, called le miroir by
Reaumur. Some authors have regarded this as a kind ot
drum or tambour, and the seat of sound; but that organ
has yet to be described. If we open the mirror from
above, we perceive on each side of it another plaited
membrane, moved by a very powerful muscle, composed
of a great number of straight parallel fibres, and arising
from the horny septum. This latter membrane is the tym-
bal or drum, on which the muscles act by contraction and
relaxation, alternately tightening and restoring it to its
original state. This is the true origin of the sound, which
in fact may be produced even after the death of the in¬
sect, by jerking the muscle.2 We may add, that M. Cha-
brier has perceived a stigmatic opening, not noticed by
Reaumur, at the inferior junction of the mesothorax and
metathorax; while Latreille has discovered on the poste¬
rior part of each tymbal a distinct hole, which, he thinks,
serves for the egress of the air. Chabrier, however, is of
opinion that the air makes its escape through the two stig¬
mata placed at the base of the opercula before mention¬
ed.3 Further investigation will probably show that the
analogues of this singular structure exist in other insects.
Indeed, the principal pieces have been already recognised,
though much more feebly developed, not only in the fe¬
male Cicadae, but also in certain species of the orthopter-
O L O G Y. 167
ous genera Acrydium and Truxalis. In the opinion of Hemiptera
Audouin, the plates or shutters (volets) are merely large
prolongations of the epimera of the metathorax.4
The Cicadae dwell on shrubs and trees, of which they
suck the juices. The females, which are provided with
ovipositors, lay their eggs in holes, which they form in
the small branches or twigs of trees. The parts thus at¬
tacked are easily recognised by little irregularities, form¬
ed by a portion of the wood which has been raised. These
elevations are placed in a row, one after the other, upon
the same side of the branch. The different holes have a
diameter nearly equal. Their depth is from three to four
lines. They commence in an oblique direction; but as
soon as they reach the pith, they become nearly parallel
with the twig itself. The ovipositor does not pierce be¬
yond the pith; and the number of eggs placed in each
hole varies from four to ten. They are white, oblong,
and pointed at both ends. The larvae are white, and fur¬
nished with six feet. They soon quit their sylvan nurse¬
ries, and make their way under ground, where they gnaw
the roots of plants. Their anterior legs are short, with
strong dentated thighs, and are well adapted for digging.
They increase rapidly in size, and are ere long transform¬
ed into nymphs. These are of a djngy-white colour, and
are chiefly remarkable for their very short and inflated
fore legs, which are dentated, and serve them to penetrate
the earth. After living for about a year in this state, they
leave the ground during the prevalence of warm weather,
and, climbing up the stems of trees, their skin first hardens,
and then bursts all along the centre of the dorsal line. The
perfect insect then escapes from its exuviae. It is at first
very soft, and of a greenish colour; but it soon attains a
firmer consistence, and various external markings make
their appearance, according to the characteristic aspect ot
the different kinds.
These insects were well known to ancient writers, and
their so-called song has been celebrated by poets from the
highest antiquity. To ourselves it appeared monotonous
and fatiguing, although heard not seldom among the leafy
groves which shadow the fair white walls of the “ Etru¬
rian Athens.” The Cicada is the insect so frequently and
fondly commemorated by the Greek poets under the name
of rtTTi^,—which our translators have generally though
erroneously construed grasshopper. Linnaeus, with his
accustomed propriety, applied the term Gryllus to the
locust and grasshopper tribes, and that of Cicada to the
“ beloved of the Athenians.” The name of tree grasshop¬
per, however, which is sometimes used, applies with suf¬
ficient accuracy to the latter, and indicates one of its cha¬
racteristic habits, that of usually perching upon trees.
The true grasshoppers are ground insects. The Cicadae
are scarcely known in Britain, although the species attach¬
ed to ash-trees (C. orni) is recorded as an English in¬
sect, in common with C. hcematodes. They abound in Italy
and other southern parts of Europe. The Italians call
them Cicale and the French Cigales, both words being no
doubt derived from the Latin. They are frequently men¬
tioned by the modern Italian poets; and Lord Byron
somewhere alludes to the “ shrill Cigala, people of the
pines,” thus recognising their arboreous disposition. Al¬
though held in the highest estimation as children of the
soil by the Athenians, who used to wear golden images
of them in their hair, there is no doubt that they were
also regarded by the Greek nations under a less intellec¬
tual aspect. Aristotle mentions that they were used as
food, and that they were particularly esteemed just before
1 Regne Animal, v. 211. See also Rechachcs Anutomiqucs sur les Cigales, in the 5th vol. of the Ann. des Sciences Nat.
* Regne Animal, v. 214. a Essai sur le Vol des Insectes. 4 Diet. Class, d'Hist. Nat. iv. 125.
ENTOMOLOGY.
168
Hemipterathe conclusion of the nympha state. The insect which
Homop- lle mentions under the name of Tettigometra, or mother
te™- of the Cicadae, is in fact merely that intermediate condi-
tjon 0f nymph, prior to the development of the organs of
flight. In that state, as well as when under the form of
larva, it lives upon the ground, or even beneath it, feeding
on herbage and the roots of plants; but when about to
undergo its final metamorphosis, it climbs a tree, its outer
garment bursts asunder and is thrown off as exuviae, the
wings expand their folds “ voluminous and vast,” and we
have then the perfect insect or tree grasshopper, the Ci¬
cada of the Latins, and Tettix of the Greeks, so beauti¬
fully addressed by Anacreon :—
We deem thee blest, thou grasshopper, as on the highest trees,
Having sipp’d a little dew, thou sitt’st, like a monarch, at thine
ease;
For every thing before thee, whate’er the fields produce,
And the fruits of every season, are intended for thy use.
Thou art the friend of husbandmen, since harmless are thy ways ;
By mortals held in reverence, sweet seer of summer days.
The muses love thee dearly, to Phoebus art thou dear,
Who with that voice hath gifted thee, so musical and clear.
Song-skilled, earth-born, song-loving one, old age to thee’s no load ;
Fleshless, bloodless, passionless, thou almost art a god.
A great variety of 'opinion seems to prevail regarding
the musical accomplishments of these celebrated insects.
Virgil accused the Italian Cicadae of bursting the very
shrubs with their noise—“ Et cantu querulae rumpent ar-
busta Cicadacand Dr Shaw in his Travels calls it, al¬
luding to its shrilly cry, “ the most troublesome and im¬
pertinent of insects.” Kirby and Spence tell us that in
some countries it is execrated for its deafening din. Yet
some one who desired to compliment Plato, asserted that
his voice was as sweet as a grasshopper’s ; and we may all
remember the story of the rival musicians (Eunomus and
Ariston), one of whom gained the victory in consequence
of a Cicada settling on his harp, and supplying the place
of a broken string. Even at this day the song of the Tet-
tigonia Tibicen of Surinam is supposed so greatly to resem¬
ble the sound of a musical instrument, that the insect it¬
self is called the Harper. The following is Mr Elton’s
translation of Meleager’s invocation.
O shrill-voiced insect ! that with dew drops sweet,
Inebriate, dost in desert woodlands sing;
Perched in the spray-top with indented feet,
Thy dusky body’s echoings harp-like ring:
Come, dear Cicada ! chirp to all the grove,
The Nymphs and Pan, a new responsive strain ;
That I, in noonday sleep, may steal from love,
Reclined beneath the dark o’erspreading plane.
We shall here conclude our general sketch of these in¬
sects by observing that the substance used in medicine,
and known by the name of manna, is an exudation from
certain species of ash (Fraxinns rotundifolia et omits)
which flourish in the south of Europe. It has been ob¬
served to be frequently produced by the puncturing of the
Cicadas, which feed on the juices of those saccharine
trees. The largest insect of the genus in Europe is C.
plebeia of Linn. Its cry is very strong and shrill; and as
it is well known in Italy, there can be no doubt of its be¬
ing the species mentioned by Virgil If identical with the
Athenian Cicada, its voice does certainly by no means cor¬
respond in musical intonation to what might be inferred
from its recorded character as a lyrist among the ancient
Greeks. The pleasure produced may however depend
upon association; for, as Cowper says,
Sounds inharmonious in themselves, and harsh, Hemiptera
Yet heard in scenes where peace for ever reigns, Hornop-
And only there, please highly for their sake. tera.
It is said that the males alone are musical, which may
perhaps be one reason for their continued cheerfulness;
for, as the Rhodian Xenarchus has it,
Happy the Cicadas’ lives,
Since they all have voiceless wives.
The amount of species in the genus Cicada is consider¬
able. They are spread over almost all the regions of the
earth, especially in the warmer latitudes.1 The greater
number are foreign to Europe. Our bounds will not ad¬
mit of more than a brief notice of a very limited number of
species. The Cicada Orni is a European insect, common
in France and Italy. It is about an inch long, yellowish,
paler beneath, but mixed with black on the upper portions.
The margins of the abdominal segments are reddish.
There are two rows of blackish spots on the upper wings,
those next the inner margin being the smallest. Its voice
is hoarse, and does not extend so far as that of several
other species. This is the kind which, by wounding the
tree from which it derives its specific name (a species of
wild ash), causes a peculiar and honey-like fluid to flow
from it. It afterwards dries and hardens, and in that state
is used medicinally under the name of manna. The C.
plebeia, Lin. {Tettigonia fraxini, Fab.), figured on Plate
CCXLII. fig. 13, is the largest species found in France.
It is black, with some spots on the first segment of the
thorax, its posterior margin, the raised and arched por¬
tions of the scutellum, and several veins on the elytra,
reddish. Its cry is strong and shrill. The C. hcematodes
is black, with the front of the thorax and legs spotted.
The edges of the abdominal segments, and the reticula¬
tions of the elytra, are red. This species occurs in the
south of France, but is rare in the vicinity of Paris. Its
voice is weaker than that of the preceding species. Oli¬
vier has described sixty-six species in all.2 We are in¬
debted to Stoll for a monograph of the Cicadae, already
referred to in a subjoined note.
2d, MuxiE.
Antennae with only three distinct articulations. Two
ocelli or simple eyes. Legs, in general, adapted for leap¬
ing. Neither sex provided with organs of sound. The
elytra are frequently coriaceous and opake, and the fe¬
males of many species are observed to envelope their eggs
in a white and cottony substance.
A. Fulgorellce.
Antennae inserted immediately beneath the eyes, and
the front frequently prolonged into a muzzle, of variable
figure according to the species.
Genus Fulgora.3 Front of the head prolonged or ex¬
panded into a muzzle. No appendages beneath the an¬
tennae. Thorax of two apparent segments,—the posterior
margin of the first straight, of the second triangular.
These insects are remarkable for the varied and beauti¬
ful markings of their elytra and wings, and for the singu¬
lar form of their expanded muzzles, from which a lumi¬
nous or phosphoric emanation proceeds during the night.
Hence several of the species are known (in common with
Elater, Lampyris, and other coleopterous kinds) under
the name of fire-flies. The greater number of the species
are exotic, and inhabit the sultry regions of Cayenne,
Guadaloupe, Senegal, the East Indies, and China. They
1 Encyclopedic Methodique, t. v. p. 742. See also Stoll’s Representations exactement coloriee d'apres nature des Cigales et dcs Punaises.
* In Encyclop. Method, v. 742. See also Latreille’s Gener. Crust, et Insect, iii. 154 ; and the Syst. Rhyng. of Fabricius, genus Tettigonia.
8 From fulgor, splendour.
E N T O M
rTemiptera dwell on trees, but their special manners are but slightly
omop- known. W e shall here indicate a few of the more noted
lera‘ species.
F. laternaria, Linn, is a large and remarkable in¬
sect from South America, drawn and described in most
illustrated works on entomology. Its muzzle is nearly
straight as to its direction from the head, but it is vesi¬
cular and inflated, or swollen out and rounded, at the sides
and extremity. The ends of the under wings are plea¬
santly varied with black and yellow, in the form of an ex¬
panded spot, resembling the eye of a peacock’s feather.
.Madame Merian informs us, that from the head or front
of this species a light is seen to shine during the darker
hours, so clear and brilliant that it is easy to read by its
rays. She adds, that during the day it is transparent as
a bladder, and radiated with red and green. The indefa¬
tigable and accurate Reaumur, desirous to ascertain by
anatomical investigation the proximate cause of this cu¬
rious phenomenon, opened one of these vesicular expan¬
sions, but he found it empty, except of air, and containing
no organic structure. We must bear in mind, however,
that the individual examined was in a state of desicca¬
tion. The species is common at Guadaloupe and Cay¬
enne, where it is known by the name of fire-fly. It flies
well, and hovers habitually about the summits of the tall¬
est trees. Its luminous faculty has been sometimes called
in question, especially by M. Richard, who captured many
at Cayenne, but never saw them shine. Yet the testi¬
mony of Madame Merian, and the general application to
the species of the name of rnouche d feu, notwithstanding
the fruitless results of Reaumur’s examination, suffices to
establish that fact. It is probable, however, that the phos¬
phoric emanation from this and other species is only per¬
ceptible at certain seasons of the year, and this considera¬
tion may explain the discrepancy arising from M. Richard’s
observations. F. Candelaria, Fab. (Plate CCXLII. fig.
12), is a native of China and other eastern countries, and
is very abundant in collections. It is known among us
by the name of Lantern fly, and may be easily recognised
by its long cylindrical snout, arched in an upward direc¬
tion, its greenish reticulated elytra, and orange-yellow
wings with black extremities. At night this insect has
been said by some to glitter among the dark recesses of
the Banyan tree, which
 to Indians known,
In Malabar or Deccan spreads her arms,
Branching so broad and long, that in the ground
The bended twigs take root, and daughters grow
About the mother-tree, a pillar’d shade
High overarch’d, and echoing walks between.
And they are likewise observed to dance in perpetual mo¬
tion around the outmost branches of the spreading tama¬
rind, producing a brilliant and singularly beautiful effect.1
F. Europcea, Lat. (Stoll, Cigales, pi. xi. fig. 51), occurs in
the south of France, Italy, and the islands of the Medi¬
terranean. Its front assumes the form of a conical ad¬
vancement, with three raised lines above and five below.
The elytra and wings are transparent, with green reticu¬
lations. There are three raised lines on the thorax.2
Genus Otiocerus, Kirby. Muzzle advanced. Simple
eyes wanting. Two small appendages beneath each an¬
tenna.
Genus Lystra, Fab. Head transverse, and without
any prolongation in the form of muzzle. Two simple
O L O G Y. 169
eyes. Second articulation of the antennae granular, and Hemiptera
almost round. Homop-
The species of this genus at first sight resemble small tera'
CicadcB. The extremity of the body, in the females, is ''■''■Y'"'-'
furnished with little bundles of cotton threads, beauti¬
fully white, with which, it is presumed, they surround their
eggs. We are acquainted with many species from China,
the East Indies, and South America. We shall here men¬
tion only L. lanata, Fab. (Cicada lanata, Lin.), of which
the sides of the front are red, and the extremities of the
elytra black, with points of blue. We receive it from
Cayenne and the Antilles.
We shall here indicate a few genera, into the detailed
history of which we cannot enter. The Cyxii of Latreille
resemble Lystras, but the second joint of the antennas is
smooth and cylindrical. Under the appellation of Tetti-
gometra, Latreille has separated certain insects analo¬
gous to the preceding, but with the antennae lodged be¬
tween the posterior and lateral angles of the head, and
those of the anterior extremity of the thorax. The eyes
are not projecting.3 The preceding genera are provided
with simple eyes; but in such as follow, these organs are
wanting.
Ihe species with large elytra, and the prothorax short¬
er in the middle than the mesothorax, compose the genus
PjECILoptera of Latreille and Germar (Plata of Fabri-
cius).4 In Issus, Fab. the prothorax is as long at least
as the mesothorax; and the elytra, scarcely longer, or some¬
times shorter, than the abdomen, are dilated at their base,
and then narrowed.5 Sometimes the antennae are at least
as long as the head, and are most frequently inserted in
an inferior emargination of the eyes. The genus Anotia
of Kirby resembles Issus in the insertion of the antennae.3
In Asiraca of Lat. (Delphax of Fab.) the antennae are
inserted in an inferior emargination of the eyes, and are
as long as the head and thorax united. Their first joint
is usually longer than the second, and is compressed and
angular. In Deuphax, as constituted by Latreille, the
antennae are similar in their insertion, but they are never
much longer than the head, and their first joint is much
shorter than the following one, and without ridges. The
simple eyes are apparent. The genus Derbe of Fab. is
allied to Anotia. The species are little known. They
are all exotic, and most of them come from South Ame¬
rica.
B. Cicadellce.
_ Antennae inserted between the eyes. Latreille subdi¬
vides this portion of the family of Cicadariae into the fol¬
lowing genera.
He commences with the species which, with the excep¬
tion of a few (the Ledr.®), formerly composed the genus
Membrads of Fabricius. The head is much inclined or
lowered anteriorly, and prolonged to an obtuse point, or
under the form of a clypeus, more or less semicircular.
The antennae are always very small, terminated by an
inarticulate seta, and inserted into a cavity beneath the
margin of the head. The prothorax is sometimes dilated
and horned on either side, prolonged and restricted pos¬
teriorly to a point or spine, either simple or compound,
sometimes elevated longitudinally along the back, com¬
pressed into a sharp edge or crest, and sometimes pro¬
jecting and pointed forwards. The legs are scarcely
spiny.
1
2
3
5
I t is now much doubted whether any insect of the hemipterous order is actually luminous.
1 or the other species of this genus see the works of Stoll and Fabricius, last cited, and the Encyclop. Method article Fulqort
Germar, Magazin der Entomologie, iv. 7. 4 ffener. Crust, et Insect, iii. 165 ; Mag. der Era. iii 219 iv 103-4
Systema Rhyngotorum, p. 199. 6 Linn Trans xiii> pl> p 9 10 n 15_
VOL. IX.
Y
170 E N T O M
Herniptera &•
Homop- No apparent or exposed scutellum properly so called,
tera. *
Tibiae, especially the anterior, strongly compressed and
foliaceous. Upper part of the head always forming a kind
of semicircular clypeus.
Genus Membhacis, Fab. Prothorax elevated, com¬
pressed, and foliaceous along the middle of the back.
Of this pretty numerous genus we shall notice only M.
foliata, Fab. (Plate CCXLII. fig. 14), which is of a black¬
ish brown, the front advanced, flattened, the thorax mark¬
ed by an arch and band of white. The latter part is
greatly elevated, flattened laterally, forming a salient
crest, advancing over the head, which it almost entirely
covers, and terminated posteriorly by a point prolonged
beyond the abdomen. The elytra are oval, longer than
the wings. The legs are elongated, flattened, rather
broad. The anterior tibiae are shorter, of an oval form,
and flattened. The native country is Cayenne.
Genus Tragopa, Lat. Prothorax presenting on each
side a horn or salient point, without any intermediate ele¬
vation, and prolonging itself posteriorly into an arched
projection of the length of the abdomen, and occupying
the place of the scutellum.
This genus is composed of certain species from Brazil,
which M. Latreille regards as analogous to M. glabra,
albimacula, and xanthocephala of Germar.
* *
Tibiae of the ordinary form, not foliaceous.
Genus Darnis, Fab. Posterior prolongation of the
prothorax covering almost the whole, or the greater por¬
tion, of the upper part of the abdomen and elytra, and
forming an elongated and arched triangle.1
Genus Bocydium, Lat. Elytra entirely or in greater
part exposed, the posterior and scutellar prolongation of
the prothorax being narrow, and more or less lanceolate
or spiniform.
The Centrotus horridus, trifidus, globularis, clavatus,
and claviger, of Fabricius, belong to this genus.
b.
Scutellum partially exposed, even although the pro¬
thorax is prolonged ;—the posterior extremity of the latter
offering a transverse suture, which distinguishes it from
the scutellum.
Genus Centrotus,2 Fab. Similar to Membracis, but
the thorax is dilated horizontally, and covers only a part
of the body.
C. cornutus, Fab. ( Cicada cornuta, Linn. Plate CCXLII.
fig. 15), is of a blackish-brown, the thorax with a horn on
each side, and prolonged posteriorly to a sinuated point of
the length of the abdomen. This species measures about
four lines in length. It occurs in France, and other parts
of Europe, in woods, on ferns, &c. and is known by the
name of petit diable. C. genistce, Fab. is of an obscure
brown, the thorax without horns, but terminated poste¬
riorly by a straight sharp point, as long as the half of the
abdomen. It is only half the size of the preceding, and
occurs on the broom. It is called demi-diable by the
French.
M. Latreille now proceeds to those species of which
the head, if not upon a level with, is scarcely lower than,
the prothorax, and is horizontal or slightly inclined when
seen from above. The prothorax is neither elevated in
the centre, nor posteriorly prolonged, and offers at most
some lateral dilatations. The mesothorax presents itself
under the form of an ordinary-sized triangular scutellum.
O L O G Y.
The elytra are always entirely exposed, and the posterior Hemiptera
tibiae at least are spinous. Homop-
In several genera the thorax bears the form of an irre- tera-
gular hexagon, prolonged and narrowed posteriorly, and
terminated by a truncation, serving as a support to the
base of the scutellum, which it frequently receives into
itself,—the truncated portion being concave or emargi-
nate. In the genus Ledra, Fab. the vertex is triangu¬
lar, and bears the ocelli. The antennae are inserted upon
or above an ideal line drawn from one eye to another.
The head is very flat before the eyes, in the form of a
transverse clypeus, arcuated and terminated in the centre
of its anterior margin by an obtuse angle. All the un¬
der parts of the head are plane, or on the same level. The
sides of the prothorax are raised in the form of rounded
horns. The posterior tibiae are much compressed, and
as if margined exteriorly by a dentated membrane. The
Cicada aurita of Linn., or grand diable as it is called by
Geoffroy, belongs to this genus. In the genus Cercopis,
Fab. the third joint of the antennae is conical, and termi¬
nated by an inarticulate seta. Of ihis genus C. sanguino-
lenta is a well-known and ornamental British species, as
is also C. spumaria, Linn, of which the larva inhabits a
white foam frequent on the leaves and stalks of various
plants, and called frog-spittle in England—gowk-spittle
in our northern parts of the kingdom. The latter species
is by some classed in the genus Tettigonia.
In other genera of Cicadariae, which terminate our pre¬
sent family, the prothorax is scarcely if at all prolonged
posteriorly, and terminates, at the height of the origin of
the elytra, by a nearly straight line, the length of which
is nearly equal to the breadth of the body. The scutel¬
lum, measured at the base, occupies a great proportion of
that breadth. Here are ranged the genera Eulofa, Eu-
pelix, Penthimia, Jassus, and Tettigonia properly so
called.3
FAMILY II—APHIDII.
These singular insects are distinguished from those of
the preceding family by the tarsi, which have only two
articulations, and by the antennae, filiform or setaceous,
longer than the head, and composed of from six to eleven
articulations. Such as possess organs of flight have al¬
ways two elytra and a pair of wings. The species are
usually very small,—their bodies generally of a soft con¬
sistence, the elytra and wings nearly alike, or differing
merely in size and thickness. They lay a prodigious
number of eggs, and their mode of production is in other
respects very remarkable.
In some the antennae consist of from ten to eleven ar¬
ticulations, of which the last is terminated by a couple of
setae. These are leaping insects, and compose the genus
Psylla of Geoffroy ( Chermes, Linn.). They are known
under the title ol' faux-pucerons to the French naturalists,
as distinguished from the true Aphides after mentioned.
They live on trees and various plants, by the juices of
which they are nourished. Both sexes are winged. The
body of the larvae is usually very flat, the head large,
the abdomen rounded posteriorly. Their feet are termi¬
nated by a small membranous vesicle, furnished beneath
with a couple of hooks. The nymphs are distinguishable
by four broad flat dorsal portions, which constitute the
sheaths of the incipient wings and elytra. Several spe¬
cies are covered during both of those immature conditions
1 For the species, see the Systerna Rhijngotorum of Fabricius. * From *£vt^v, spine, and orus, car.
* See the fourth volume of Germar’s Magazin dcr Entomologie, and the Regne Animal, t. v. p. 222-3.
E N T O M
Hemipteraby a white and cottony substance, disposed in flakes.
Homop- I heir faeces form threads or masses of a gummy and sac-
i | era‘_ , charine nature. Several species, by the wounds which
they occasion to plants while sucking their juices, occa¬
sion the growth of peculiar excrescences on the buds and
leaves, resembling gallnuts. Of these is Psylla buxi
\Ch. buxi, Linn.), which is green with yellowish-brown
wings. Mr Stephens has named a great many British
species as belonging to this genus.1 Latreille has founded
the genus Livia upon a species which dwells among
rushes (Plate GCXLII. fig. 17). The antennae are much
thicker near the base than towards the extremity.
In other Aphidii the antennae have only from six to
eight articulations, of which the last is not terminated
by a couple of setae.
Some have the elytra and wings linear, fringed with
hairs, and placed horizontally upon the body, which is of
an almost cylindrical form. The rostrum is very small or
indistinct. The tarsi are terminated by a vesicular ar¬
ticle, unfurnished with hooks. The antennae consist of
eight granular articulations. Such are the species which
form the genus Thrips of Linn. (Plate CCXLII. fig.
18). Ihese insects are very small, extremely active, and
seem to leap rather than fly. When teazed, they raise
and recurve the extremity of the abdomen, after the man¬
ner ot the Staphylinidae. They live among flowers and
other parts of plants, and beneath the bark of trees. We
may add, that although Latreille did not perceive in the
organization of the mouth of these insects any characters
essentially different from such as distinguish that organ
among the other component parts of the homopterous
Hemiptera,—yet M. Straus, who has studied the subject
very laboriously, and with his wonted intelligence, is of
opinion that the genus Thrips belongs in fact to the or¬
thopterous order.
Others have the elytra and wings oval or triangular,
without fringe, and inclined or tectiform. The rostrum
is distinct. The tarsi are terminated by two hooks. The
antennae consist of from six to seven articulations. Such
are the species which compose the great genus Aphis of
Linn, which is now divisible as follows.
In the genus Aphis properly so called, the antennae
are longer than the thorax, of seven articulations, of
which the third is elongated. The eyes are entire, and
the abdomen is furnished with two horn-like projections
at its posterior extremity. The species dwell together in
society on various trees and plants, of which they suck the
juices. They walk very leisurely, and cannot leap. The
two horn-like processes just mentioned are hollow tubes,
from which a drop of transparent liquid frequently exudes.
It partakes of the property of sugar, and is much sought
after by ants, who suck it with avidity from the living
Aphides. This curious fact was first noticed by M. Bois°
sier de Sauvages, and has since been amply confirmed by
M. P. Huber. The desired liquor seems to be given out
voluntarily by the aphis, when solicited so to do by a
gentle tap from the ant’s antennae. A single aphis may
be sometimes seen surrounded by three or four ants, all
in the act of deriving from it a plentiful and nectareous
meal.2 The congregations of the Aphides consist, in spring
and summer, of apterous individuals, and of nymphae with
o L o G Y. i7i
undeveloped wings. All of these are females, which give Hemiptera
birth to living young, et sans accouplement prealable. The Homop-
males, which consist both of winged and apterous insects, *era>
are produced towards the end of summer, or during the
autumnal season. They fecundate the last broods pro¬
duced by the females first mentioned ; which broods con¬
sist of apterous females, differing from their progenitors
in requiring impregnation prior to the continuance of their
kind. They lay eggs soon after the sexyal intercourse,
and these remain in the crevices of trees, &c. throughout
the winter, and in spring produce the broods above allud¬
ed to, which are capable of producing living young, with¬
out assistance from each other. “ L’influence d’une pre¬
miere fecondation s’etend ainsi sur plusieurs generations
successives. Bonnet, auquel on doit le plus de faits sur
cet objet, a obtenu, par fisolement des femelles, jusqu’a
neuf generations dans 1’espace de trois mois.”3 M. Uu-
vau has recently added some observations to those of
Bonnet and Keaumur on this singular subject.4 * By this
extraordinary process of production, vast multitudes are
brought forth during a favourable season, and the injury
to vegetation, by the absorption of the juices, and the
obstruction of the natural pores, is consequently great.
Reaumur calculates, that in the course of tive genera¬
tions, a single mother may be the means of producing
5,904,900,000! But fortunately they are liable to the
attacks of numerous enemies, and are greedily devoured
by many other insects. The larvae of the genus Hemero-
bius, those of different dipterous species, and of the Cocci-
nellcc or lady-birds, make the helpless Aphides their con¬
stant prey. We cannot here describe the species, but
shall content ourselves by naming a few familiar examples.
Aphis rosce (Plate CCXLII. figs. 19 and 20) is a small
green species, very abundant on the younger shoots of
roses, the flowering of which it seems to damage or de¬
stroy. Its hordes may be killed by dipping the affected
branch into soapy water. A. quercus occurs on the oak,
and is remarkable for the great length of its beak, which
is at least three times as long as the body. It is of a
brown colour. A.fagi is attached to the beech tree, and
covers itself, as do many other species, with a white and
cotton-like down, which exudes from its body* Includ¬
ing the genus Eriosoma of Leach, we have above fifty
species of aphis in Britain. In the genus Aleyrodes,4
Lat. {Tinea, Linn.), the antennae are short, composed of
six articulations, and the eyes are emarginate. A. Cheli-
donii of Lat. ( T. proletella, Linn.) is found upon the celan¬
dine {Chelidonium majus), and other plants. It resem¬
bles a little moth. The larva is oval, flat, and shaped like a
small scale. The nymph is fixed and enclosed in an enve¬
lope, so that its transformations differ from those of its con¬
geners. Indeed the somewhat anomalous character of
this insect has been the cause of its being described un¬
der a great variety of names.6 Mr Stephens enumerates
five British species, including the one just mentioned.7
FAMILY III.,—GALLINSECTA.
The insects of this family seem to have only one arti¬
culation to the tarsi, and are generally so described. It
1 Systematic Catalogue, part ii. p. 361.
’ Ihe viscous drops so frequent on the foliage of many trees, and commonly known by the name of honey-drw, is this secretion
from the Aphides. We have seen it falling from a willow tree like a gentle and continuous shower, and ascertained its origin by dis¬
covering at the same time millions of these insects incrusting the upper branches, and each giving out from time to time a minute
drop of nectareous fluid.
* Regno Animal, t. v. p. 227. _ 4 Ann- des Sciences Nat. t. v. p. 224.
from uXiu^os, Jlour, in allusion to the farinaceous powder by which these insects are often covered.
s See Geoffroy, Hist, des Insect, t. ii. p. 1J2; Ite'aumur, Mem. 1th, t. ii.; and Diet. Class. Hist. Nat. t. i. p. 211.
7 Systematic Catalogue, part ii. p. 367.
ENTOMOLO G Y.
172
Xlemiptera is the opinion, however, of M. Dalman, that those parts
Hon) op- consist of three joints, with a single hook at the extremity.1
,^_5ra' The males want the rostrum, and have only two wings
’ laid horizontally on the body ; their abdomen is terminated
by a pair of setse. The females are winged and provided
with a rostrum. The antennae are filiform or setaceous,
and consist, for the most part, of eleven articulations.
There are only nine in the males of the species described
by M. Dalman. These creatures form the noted genus
Coccus of Linn, commonly called cochineal insects. They
are also known by the name of Chermes,2 and their his¬
tory and attributes are sufficiently remarkable.
We may frequently perceive on the branches of various
trees multitudes of small oval or rounded bodies resem¬
bling scales, adhering closely to the wood, and present¬
ing no indications of any external organs. These are in¬
sects of the genus Coccus, the progall'msectes of Reau¬
mur. Their history was for a long period extremely ob¬
scure, and the species employed in commerce was even
at one time regarded as a kind of grain. It was only to¬
wards the termination of the seventeenth century that
M. Plumier clearly established their insect origin. We
are indebted to Reaumur for a complete history of the
life and transformations of the European kinds. The
larvae of both males and females, on first quitting the egg,
are tolerably active, and run about among the leaves and
branches. They are, however, so extremely small at that
period, as not to be distinctly discernible without the aid
of a microscope. They are flat, ovular, apterous, with
short and indistinctly articulated antennae. The males
have no apparent organs of manducation, although the
females are furnished with a small, extremely short, al¬
most conical beak, inserted between the first and second
pair of feet, nearly perpendicular in its direction, and com¬
posed of a four-jointed sheath containing a sucker of
three pieces. It is with this instrument that they pump
the juices of the leaves and tender stems. They also fix
themselves from time to time for the purpose of changing
their skin, and after arriving at a certain size, they be¬
come definitely fixed in some chosen spot, usually at the
bifurcation of a branch, where they form a little nest, pro¬
tected by a tapestry of cotton. They then attain the
perfect state, and are apterous (we speak of the females)
even in that otherwise complete condition. Their head
is semicircular, their mouth is still formed of the beak
which existed in the larva state, and the eyes are small.
The thorax is not easily distinguished from the abdomen,
the segments of which are distinct. When the insect
has attained its full growth, its abdomen is found filled
wdth a multitude of minute eggs. The larvae of the males,
though by no means rare, are much less numerous than
those of the other sex. Their mode of sustenance, owing
to the want of the sucker, is not distinctly known; but
they increase in size, and after a time their skin hardens,
and serves as a cocoon, in which they undergo their trans¬
formation to the nympha state. In the latter condition they
are remarkable for the anterior pair of legs being directed
forwards. Towards the beginning of spring these cocoons
open at their posterior portion, and the perfect male in¬
sect comes forth stern foremost. It is of a more elon¬
gated form, with a round head furnished with two small
eyes and a pair of rather long antennae. The thorax is
rounded, and has attached to it a pair of long wings, folded
horizontally one over the other, and very delicately veined.
(For a male Coccus see Plate CCXLII. fig. 16 ; the fe¬
male is shown by figures 21 and 22). The male is less than Hemiptero
the female, and more active, although it uses its wings very Homop-
sparingly. As soon as it attains 'the perfect state, it sets tera
off in search of the other sex, which still remains fixed in
the nest, as formerly mentioned. The oviposition of the
female is another remarkable peculiarity in the history of
these insects. Though excluded from the body, the eggs do
not appear externally, but are made to pass beneath the
abdomen, and between it and the cotton tapestry above
alluded to. In proportion as the insect becomes empty,
the lower surface of the abdomen approaches the upper
one, so as to leave beneath the body a kind of arch or
cavity for the reception of the eggs. The perfect female
never stirs a step in the course of her life, but having laid
her eggs she dies, and her body shrivels up and hardens,
and thus forms a cocoon or covering for the incipient
young. These, as soon as hatched, work their way from
beneath the dead body of their parent, making their
escape by its posterior extremity.
These curious insects are certainly hurtful to vegetation,
by causing a too abundant transydation of their juices ; and
they consequently excite the jealousy of those who culti¬
vate the finer trees, such as the peach, the orange, the
olive, and the fig. Certain species attack also the roots
of plants. But, upon the whole, the advantages which we
derive from this genus of insect amply counterbalance
whatever injuries it may occasionally inflict upon us. The
species are very numerous. We shall here notice only a
few of the more remarkable.
Of the kind called Kermes, is that known to naturalists
by the name of Coccus Ilicis, of which the female attains
to the size and form of a pea. It is of a violet-black co¬
lour, covered by a whitish powder. This species is com¬
mon over the south of Europe on the evergreen oak, and
appears to be widely distributed over many of the south¬
eastern countries of the ancient world. It occurs abun¬
dantly in Spain, where it attaches itself chiefly to the
twigs and leaves of a small species of spiny-leaved oak,
frequent in the southern parts of that romantic kingdom,
especially on the slopes of the Sierra Morena. Many of
the inhabitants of Murcia have no other means of sub¬
sistence than those procured by collecting the Kermes.
Women are usually so employed, and they scrape the ad¬
hesive insects from the trees by means of their nails.
Though supplanted over the greater portion of Europe by
the introduction of the more famous cochineal (Coccus
cacti), which is an American species, it is still extensively
used in India and the Persian dominions.3 It has been
employed from time immemorial to impart a blood-red or
crimson dye to cloth, and was known to the Phoenicians
by the name of Thola. It was called coccus (Koxxoc) by
the Greeks, and kermes or alkermes by the Arabians.
According to Beckman, the epithet vermiculatum was ap¬
plied to it during the middle ages, when its insect origin
came to be generally understood, and hence is derived
our English word vermilion. The French term cramoisi
is evidently from the Arabic. It is supposed to have been
by means of this substance that the curtains of the taber¬
nacle (Exodus, xxvi. &c.) were dyed of a deep red (which
the word scarlet then implied, rather than the colour so
named in more modern days, which was unknown in the
reign of James I. when our Bible was translated); and
from the same source have been derived the imperishable
reds of the Flemish tapestries. The scarlet afforded by
cochineal was unknown in its highest perfection till the
1 See his Memoir in Swedish,—Om nag/a svenska arter of Coccus, Stockholm, 1826.
* Be it remembered, however, that the genus Chermes of Linn, corresponds to Psylla of Lat. already described, and not to our pre¬
sent species, which are the true Kermes of Geoffrey, Reaumur, and Olivier.
* Kirby and Spence’s Introd. to Ent. and Bochart’s llic'ozoic.
ENTOMOLOGY.
Hemipterayear 1630, when the singular power of the oxide of tin in
Homop- exalting its colours was discovered in Holland ; it was
ter^, soon after communicated to one of the celebrated MM.
Gobelins of Paris, and may have contributed to the per¬
fection of their tapestries.1 Since the preparation of Mo¬
rocco leather has been established in this country, cochi¬
neal has been employed to produce the beautiful colour
of what is called red morocco; but in Persia, Armenia,
Barbary, and the Greek islands, a similar colour was ori¬
ginally produced by the use of either kermes or lac.2 The
colouring matter of kermes is regarded by Dr Bancroft
as identical with that of cochineal, but combined with
some astringent matter derived from the tree on which
it feeds.
The substance called lac is also the produce of an in¬
sect of the Coccus kind. It is collected from various trees
in India, where it is used in the fabrication of beads, rings,
and other ornaments of female attire. When mixed with
sand it forms grindstones; and, added to ivory black, and
previously dissolved in water with a little borax, it com¬
poses an ink which, when dry, is said to be capable of re¬
sisting a considerable degree of damp or moisture. In this
country, according to the different states in which it is im¬
ported, it is called stick-lac, seed-lac, lump-lac, or shell-lac.
It is chiefly used in the making of varnishes, japanned
ware, and sealing-wax, although during late years it has
been applied to a still more important purpose, as origi¬
nally suggested by Dr Roxburgh, that of a substitute for
cochineal in dyeing scarlet. The first preparations from
it with this view were made in consequence of a hint from
Dr Bancroft; and large quantities of a substance termed
lac-lake, consisting of the colouring matter of stick-lac,
precipitated from an alkaline lixivium by alum, were ma¬
nufactured at Calcutta, and sent to this country, where
at first the consumption was so considerable, that in the
three years previous to 1810 the sales at the India house
equalled in point of colouring matter half a million of
pounds weight of cochineal.3 “ More recently, however,
a new preparation of lac-colour, under the name of lac-dye,
has been imported from India, which has been substitut¬
ed for the lac-lake, and with such advantage, that the
East India Company are said to have saved in a few
months L.14,000 in the purchase of scarlet cloths dyed
with this colour and cochineal conjointly, and without
any inferiority in the colour obtained.”4 The only mor¬
dant formerly used with kermes was alum, and the co¬
lour communicated was blood-red; but Dr Bancroft as¬
certained, that with the solution of tin used with cochineal
it was capable of imparting as brilliant a scarlet as that
dye, and one perhaps more permanent. It must be borne
in mind, however, that as ten or twelve pounds of kermes
contain no more colouring matter than a single pound of
cochineal, the latter at its ordinary price is, after all, the
cheapest.
Several other curious and valuable products are obtain¬
ed from insects belonging to the genus Coccus, or to one
nearly allied in its natural character and attributes. The
pe-la, for example, or white wax of the Chinese, is deriv¬
ed from an insect, apparently a Coccus, described by the
Abbe Grozier; and a non-descript Indian species produces
a wax analogous to pe-la, first noticed by Dr Anderson
under the name of white lac. It is obtained in great
quantities in the vicinity of Madras ; but Dr Pearson’s ex-
173
periments do not countenance the idea, at one time rather Hemiptera
sanguinely entertained, that it might be advantageously Homop-
used for making candles.5 * Geoffroy long ago attributed tera-
to a species of kermes the faculty of producing a sugary
substance, of a white colour, resembling manna ; and Cap¬
tain Frederick has described an article of that nature un¬
der the name of Gez, found in Persia and Armenia; but
he seems doubtful whether to attribute to it an animal
or a vegetable origin.0 More recently, however, General
Hardwicke has described an Indian insect, under the
name of Chermis mannifer, of the size of the domestic
bug, and of a flattened oval form, with a rounded tail.
From its abdomen a quantity of saccharine substance is
exuded, and assumes the form of a bunch of feathers,
with a consistence like that of snow. These insects are
found on the branches and leaves of trees in millions, and
they there produce this feather-like secretion, till it be¬
comes elongated, and, dropping on the leaves, hardens
upon them into a substance resembling the most beautiful
wax.7
Of the European species, in addition to C. Ilicis, al¬
ready described, we may mention C. adonidum, now na¬
turalized in our hot-houses, where it is very destructive,
and C. polonicus, which yields a colouring matter almost
as beautiful as the Mexican cochineal; it attacks the roots
of Scleranthus perennis, and other plants, and is still used
as a dye in Russia.
Before closing this branch of our subject, we must de¬
vote a few lines to the cochineal insect properly so call¬
ed, the Coccus cacti of naturalists (Plate CCXLII. figs.
16, 21, 22). This species, so important in a commercial
point of view, and in relation to our arts and manufac¬
tures, is a native of Mexico, where it was assiduously
cultivated at a period long anterior to the European con¬
quest of that country. We shall not describe its appear¬
ance, as that will be better understood by an inspection
of the figures just referred to. There are several varie¬
ties, named in general from the provinces where they are
bred ; and of these, that called Mastique or Mesteque
is regarded as the best. It is cultivated on a tree called
Nopal by the Indians {Cactus cochenilifer, Linn.) and its
colour is by some attributed to the juices of that plant. It
is the female insect that is so highly valued for the in¬
comparable beauty of its colour. It is imported to Eu¬
rope in the form of a little grain, convex on one side, con¬
cave on the other, and exhibiting traces of the abdominal
segments. In the year 1736 there was sent to Europe
about 700,000 pounds weight of this minute creature, a
quantity worth L.700,000 sterling. Humboldt states the
quantity imported about the period of hi^ inquiries to have
been 32,000 arrobas, worth in South America L.500,040
sterling,8—“ a vast amount to arise from so small an in¬
sect, and well calculated to show us the absurdity of de¬
spising any animals on account of their minuteness.”9 Dr
Bancroft calculates the annual consumption of cochineal
in Great Britain at about 750 bags, or 150,000 pounds
weight,—worth L.375,000 sterling at recent prices. The
natives of those districts in which the cochineal is reared
form plantations of the nopal tree near their dwelling-
houses. It grows freely from cuttings, and the latter are
fit for the reception of the insect in eighteen months.
Eight or ten females are put into a small nest formed of tufts
of a thread-like substance collected from a species of palm,
1 Quarterly Review, vol. ix. p. 210.
2 Experimental Researches concerning the Philosophy of Permanent Colours, &c. by Edward Bancroft, M, X)- vol. ii. p. 167.
3 Bancroft, ut supra. * Introd. to Ent. vol. i. p. 318. * Linn. Trans. 1794,
Transactions of the Romlay Literary Society, vol, i.
7 Description of Gez or Manna, in the Asiatic Researches, vol. xiv. p. 182.
f* Political Essay on New Spain.
’ Introduct. to Ent. vol. i. p. 316,
ENTOMOLOGY.
174
Hemiptera or ot any other cottony matter. These nests are attached
Homop- t0 the spines of the nopal, upon the side facing the rising
tera' sun, and the insects are placed in them about the middle
of October, a period at which good weather usually com¬
mences in Mexico after the rains. The eggs are soon
laid and hatched, and the progeny spread in vast numbers
over the plant, each female producing upwards of a thou¬
sand young. According to M. Thierry de Menonville,1
six generations are produced in a year, and they might
be collected at all seasons, but for the destruction pro¬
duced among them by the periodical rains. The first
collection takes place about the middle of December, and
the last in the month of May. They are detached by means
of a knife with the edge blunted, to prevent injury to the
nopal tree. When the first gathering is made, the nests are
taken away, and the dead females (those placed on the no¬
pal in October) are likewise picked oft. rlheseare lighter
and less valuable than such as are taken off alive and full
of young ; the former losing three fourths, the latter two
thirds, during the process of drying. As soon as dried,
however, both kinds may be kept for any length of time,
without any further loss of either weight or colour. They
are killed by different processes. Some put them in a
basket, which they dip in boiling water, and afterwards
dry them by exposure to the sun ; others place them in
an oven, or on plates of heated iron. The various exter¬
nal colours of the insect, as we afterwards see it in Europe,
depend upon the mode of putting it to death. Those which
have been killed by being dipt in hot water (the method
regarded as the best), lose a portion of the white powder
with which they were previously invested, and acquire a
brownish-red colour. When so treated, they pass under
the name of renagrida. When killed in an oven they re¬
tain the white powder, remain externally of a grey colour,
and are caWeA jarpeada. Such as are placed on plates of
heated iron become of a blackish hue, and are then named
negra. When cochineal insects are forced from the tree,
they speedily die, even if no further violence is offered
them; because their sucker, being fixed in the wood, is
unavoidably dislocated and broken off by the act of re¬
moval. It is necessary, however, to put them to death,
because they might otherwise live for a short time, and
meanwhile produce their young, the loss of which would
diminish the quantity of colouring matter.
The other most frequent variety of cochineal is called
Sylvester, on account of its being commonly collected from
a species of cactus which grows wild, or without culture.
It is of smaller size, and much less valuable in relation
both to the amount and quality of the colour which it
yields. We have not yet ascertained to our own satisfac¬
tion whether it is a mere variety or a distinct species.
Although it occurs naturally upon a wild spiny cactus, it
is also cultivated upon the nopal or garden species, for the
sake of the greater facility of collection. So great indeed
is the difference in this point, that in one day a single la¬
bourer will gather from the latter a quantity which, when
dry, will amount to the weight of three pounds,—where¬
as from the former the most persevering hand will not
obtain in that time much more than a couple of ounces.
Moreover, when cultivated on the garden nopal, the Syl¬
vester cochineal attains to as large a size as the mastique.
Various attempts have been made to introduce the cul¬
ture of the cochineal into our eastern possessions, although
these, so far as we are informed, have not yet been at- Neurop-
tended with any marked success. The old Spanish go- tera-
vernment manifested great jealousy on the subject; and
we are not aware that the true kind has been yet import¬
ed, although the court of directors at one period offered
a reward of L.6000 to whoever should effect its introduc¬
tion to India. Colonel Bory St Vincent informs us that
attempts have recently been made, and with a fair pro¬
spect of success, to effect its cultivation near Malaga,
in Spain.2 We shall conclude our sketch by observing
that considerable care is requisite to preserve these in¬
sects from the attacks of their natural enemies, of which
one of the chief is the larva of a species of Coccinella,
which sucks them to death, and leaves nothing but the
skin. A very destructive foe is also described as being
a caterpillar, of an inch in length, and the thickness of a
crow-quill, which, it is said, would soon destroy the race
if allowed to continue its attacks without any interference
on the part of the higher powers.3 It is said that a spe¬
cies of Ptinus also feeds upon them freely. Besides these
direct enemies, there is another insect, with the exact
nature of which we are not acquainted, which lives in
common with the cochineal upon the juices of the nopal,
and by so doing greatly interferes with the health and
progress of the more valuable species. Among its larger,
if not more formidable enemies, we may mention a mouse,
which is said always to prefer the mastique or finer co¬
chineal to the Sylvester or wild species, because the cot¬
tony matter with which the latter is invested produces
discomfort by entangling in its teeth. Both kinds are
moreover subjected to the attacks of numerous birds.
Order IV.—NEUROPTERA.4
Distinguished by four naked or transparent wings, re¬
ticulated or interlaced by a delicate network, and usual¬
ly of the same size as well as texture. The mouth is
adapted for mastication, that is, furnished with mandibles
and true maxillae, and never assumes the tubular form.
The abdomen does not possess a sting, and is rarely pro¬
vided with an ovipositor. The antennae are usually seta¬
ceous, and composed of numerous articulations. The
head is furnished with two or three simple eyes. The
thorax is formed of three segments, intimately united to
each other, though perceptibly distinct from the abdo¬
men ; the first of these segments is usually very short,
and in the form of a collar. The number of joints of the
tarsi varies. The form of the body is for the most part
elongated, and its texture rather soft and delicate. The
abdomen is always sessile. Many of the species are car¬
nivorous, both in the larva and perfect state.
This beautiful and very varied order has been divided
into two by Mr Kirby, by the separation of the genus
Phryganea of Linn., which the English naturalist raises to
the rank of an order under the name Trichoptera. It
might also have simplified the characters of the order if
we had left in it only those which possess reticulated
wings ; but as some of the latter exhibit a difference in
the texture of the organs of flight, it is difficult to assign
rigorous characters to the neuropterous tribes, if we at¬
tach a high importance to the wings. “ Of all the Lin-
nsean orders,” says Mr Kirby, “ this appears to consist of
Traitt de la Culture du Nopal, 2 vols. 8vo, Paris 1787- This author endeavoured to introduce the Spanish American cochineal
into St Domingo, but they perished for want of care.
* Annal. des Sciences Nat. t. viii. p. 105.
3 We scarcely think that the creature above alluded to can be a caterpillar properly so called, that is, the larva of a lepidopterous
* Odonata, and the majority of Synistata, of Fabricius.
ENTOMOLOGY.
175
Seurop- t]le discordant tribes; so that it seems next to im-
era” possible to construct a definition that will include them
all, unless indeed we admit M. Latreille’s idea, adopted
by Mr Macleay, that a varied metamorphosis is its es¬
sential character ; or, to speak more largely, variety itself
seems the characteristic of the insects composing it in
every state, and there is scarcely a common distinctive cha¬
racter in their perfect state, upon detecting which in any
individual, you may exclaim—this is a neuropterous insect.”1
The neuropterous species, however, may be readily distin¬
guished from the orthopterous and hemipterous kinds
by the greater difference of consistence in the two lat¬
ter between the upper and under wings. The Hymen-
optera, again, have generally much longer maxillae—serv¬
ing rather to suck the juices than to bruise the more so¬
lid portions of the substances on which they feed. The
scale-covered wings of the lepidopterous order prevent
their being confounded with our present subjects ; while
the Diptera are easily distinguished by the absence of the
lower wings, and the different structure of the organs of
manducation.
The mouth in the neuropterous order is generally com¬
posed of a labrum and a labium, of two mandibles, and a
pair of maxillae. The latter organs are very sharp and
strong among the Libellulae, which prey on other insects,
but extremely small or almost imperceptible in xhz Ephe¬
merae, which, as their name implies, are very short-lived,
and take no nourishment in the perfect state. The palpi
are very short in the former tribes, but exceedingly long
among the Myrmeleones. Although the antennae, in the
majority, are filiform or setaceous, they are terminated
by an elongated club in those last named; while in the
genus Ascalaphus they are very long and slender, and
terminate in a little button, resembling those of many
Lepidoptera. The wings are sometimes tectiform or in¬
cumbent, sometimes stretched out horizontally. I hough
frequently alike in size, they occasionally differ from each
other. Thus in the genus Nemoptera the under pair are
very long and narrow, while in some Ephemerae they are
almost obliterated.
In the larva and nympha states these insects are either
terrestrial or aquatic, according to their kinds. In the
former case some dwell beneath the bark of trees, others
move about on twigs and branches, making an unresisting
prey of Aphides; while a certain number inhabit sandy
soils, where they excavate insidious pit-falls, and seize
upon whatever insects venture within the circle of their
treacherous toils. The aquatic species dwell in their
earlier states in ponds and marshes, and in the shallower
and more sheltered parts of lakes and rivers. They then
respire by means of organs which exhibit a strong analogy
to the gills of fishes, but which Latreille recognises only
as exterior tracheal appendages, named false branchia.
Many construct very ingenious cases of small stones,
shells, and twigs of water-plants, in which they move about
in their watery element.
The Neuroptera are, in general, insects of an extremely
elegant deportment. They fly with great facility, and
are not unfrequently adorned by agreeable and varied
colours. Though almost all carnivorous as larvae, their
habits differ greatly in the perfect state. Some undergo
a semi-metamorphosis,—others are completely changed,
—but all the larvae are provided with six-hooked feet,
which they usually employ in their search for food. La¬
treille divides the order into three families, which present
the following succession of natural affinities. ls£, Carni¬
vorous insects, subject to a semi-metamorphosis, with aqua¬
tic larvae ; 2d, carnivorous insects, subject to a complete Neurop-
metamorphosis, with terrestrial or aquatic larvae ; 3c?, car- tera.
nivorous or omnivorous insects, terrestrial, with semi-me-
tamorphosis ; kth, herbivorous insects, subject to a com¬
plete metamorphosis, with aquatic larvae, which construct
portable domicils. He terminates with such as have the
wings the least reticulated, and which bear a resemblance
to Phalenae or Tineites.
FAMILY I—SUBULICORNES, Lat.
These consist of the Odonata of Fabricius, and the ge¬
nus Ephemera. The antennae are subulate or awl-shaped,
scarcely longer than the head, and consist at most of seven
articulations, of which the last is setiform. The mandibles
and maxillae are entirely covered by the labrum and la¬
bium, or by the anterior or prolonged portion of the head.
The wings are always much reticulated, separate, some¬
times horizontal, sometimes raised perpendicularly. The
inferior pair, though often as large as the superior, are in
some instances much less, or even entirely wanting. The
real eyes are large and projecting, and have from two to
three stemmatic eyes placed between them. They feed
on living prey, and pass their earlier states beneath the
waters. The larvae and nymphs exhibit a form somewhat
similar to that of the perfect insects, and respire by par¬
ticular organs placed along the sides or at least the ex¬
tremity of the abdomen. They creep up the stalks of
plants, or otherwise leave their moist abodes, before under¬
going their final transformation.
In the great genus Libellula of Linn.(Plate CCXLIII.
figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 6), the mandibles and maxillae are corneous
and very strong, and are covered by the labrum above and
by the labium below. The tarsi have three articulations.
The wings are nearly of equal size, and the posterior ex¬
tremity of the body is terminated simply by hooks or by
foliaceous appendages.
The light and graceful form of these insects, their beau¬
tiful and varied colours, their large and lustrous wings,
and the hawk-like velocity with which they pursue their
flying prey, render them objects of our frequent attention,
and easy to be recognised. Our present observations ap¬
ply to all the component parts of the great and unrestrict¬
ed genus just named. We shall afterwards give the spe¬
cialities of the minor groups. The eyes of the Libellulae,
or dragon-flies in general, are large and lateral; the stem-
mata are placed upon the vertex. The antennae are in¬
serted on the front, behind a vesicular elevation, and are
composed in the greater number of from five to six arti¬
culations, or at least of three, of which the last is compo¬
site, and attenuated in the form of a style. The labrum
is arched and semicircular; the mandibles are of a scaly
texture, very strong and toothed; the maxillae are termi¬
nated by a piece of the same consistence, dentated, spi¬
nous, and ciliated on the inner side, with a palpus of one
articulation on its back, representing what is called the
galea in the orthopterous tribes. The labium is large,
arched, and trifoliate, the two lateral folise being in fact
palpi. There exists a kind of epiglottis, or vesicular and
longitudinal tongue, in the interior of the mouth. The
abdomen, always considerably elongated, varies in its
contour, being in some cylindrical, in others compressed,
and occasionally flattened. It is terminated in the males
by two lamellar appendages, which likewise vary in form
according to the species. The legs are short, and direct¬
ed forwards. “ Le dessous du second anneau de 1’abdo-
Introduc. to Ent. vol. iv. p. 371.
176 E N T O M
Neurop- men renferme, dans les males, leurs organs sexuels, et,
tera- comme ceux de la femelle sont situes au dernier anneau,
I’accouplement de ces insectes s opere dilFeremment que
dans les autres. Le male, planant dabord au-dessus de sa
femelle, la saisait par le col, au moyen des crochets de
1’extremite posterieure de son ventre, et s’envole ainsi
avec elle. Au bout d’un temps, plus ou moins long, celle-
ci se pretant a ces desirs, courbe en dessous son abdomen,
et en applique I’extremite sur les parties du male, dont
le corps est alors courbe en forme de boucle. La copula¬
tion a souvent lieu dans les airs, et quelquefois encore sur
les corps ou ces insectes sont poses.”1 The female de¬
posits her eggs on aquatic plants, by plunging her poste¬
rior extremity beneath the water.
The larvm and nymphs are aquatic. The former have
no wings, the latter exhibit them in a rudimentary state
(Plate CCXLIIL figs. 1, 3). The head in these early
stages is remarkable for the singular piece which corre¬
sponds to the labium. It assumes the form of a mask,
and covers the mandibles, the maxillae, and almost all the
under parts of the head. It is composed of, 1st, a prin¬
cipal triangular piece, sometimes arched, sometimes flat,
named mentonniere (or chin-cloth) by Reaumur, which
articulates by means ofa hinge with a pedicle or kind of
handle attached to the head; 2d, of two other pieces in¬
serted at the lateral and inferior angles of the preceding,
moveable at their base, transverse, and either in the form
of wide and dentated plates, resembling shutters in their
nature, and the mode in which they close the mouth, or
analogous to little hooks or claws. To that portion of the
mask where the mentonniere is articulated with its pedicle,
or the knee, and which appears to terminate it inferiorly
when the mask is bent or folded upon itself, Reaumur
applied the term mentum. The insect unfolds and extends
this peculiar apparatus with great promptitude, and seizes
its prey with the pincers of the superior portion. These
creatures live for ten or eleven months in the water,
during which period they several times cast their skin.
When the nymphs are ready to assume their final change,
the form and position of the wing-cases undergo an altera¬
tion. They then leave the water, become dry and crisp,
the skin of the thorax bursts asunder, and the winged in¬
sect issues forth under a different and much more orna¬
mental aspect. The name of Demoiselles, by which many
of them are known to our continental neighbours, attests
the impression produced by their graceful forms or elegant
movements. These Demoiselles always come out of the
water head foremost; but no sooner have they burst their
casements than they turn themselves round, and hang
for a time with their head downward, being prevented
from falling by the hinder segments of the abdomen being
still entangled in and adhering to the skin of the nymph.
After a time the young aspirant again turns round, and
seizing the anterior portion of the cloven skin with its
claws, it finally succeeds in dragging itself forth from its
former dwelling. The wings, however, are as yet nar¬
row, thick, and closely folded, just like a leaf during the
bursting spring. After another hour or two they become
firm, consistent, and extended both in length and breadth,
and the gay and gorgeous creature, launching buoyantly
into the air, becomes the tyrant of the insect world.
M. Poe, who paid particular attention to the entomology
O L O G Y.
of Cuba, informed Latreille that, at a certain season of Neurop.
the year, the northern winds sweep an innumerable host tt->ra-
of a species of dragon-fly into Havannah and its envi-
rons.2
The Linnaean genus Libellula is now divided into
three.3 In Libellula4 proper (PI. CCXLIII. fig. 2), the
wings are extended horizontally in repose, the head is al¬
most globular, with the eyes contiguous or approximate.
There is a vesicular elevation, with a stemmatic eye on
each side upon the vertex; the other stemmatic eye is
larger, and placed anteriorly. The central division of the
labium is much smaller than the lateral ones, which unite
above by a longitudinal suture, and exactly close the
mouth. The abdomen is usually ensiform, and flattened.
The larva; and nymphs (ibid. fig. 1) have five appendages
to the posterior extremity of the abdomen, which com¬
bine to form a pointed tail; their body is short, and the
part named mentonniere by Reaumur is arched in the
form of a helmet, with the two lateral pieces in the form
of shutters. We may mention L. depressa, Linn, (the
species figured), as a British example of the genus. In
iEsuNA, Fab. the species resemble the preceding in the
position of the wings and the form of the head, but the
posterior stemmatic eyes are placed upon a simple trans¬
verse elevation or keel. The intermediate lobe of the
labium is also larger, and the other two are distant, and
armed with a very strong tooth, and a spinous appen¬
dage. The abdomen is always narrow and elongated. The
form of the larvae and nymphs is also more lengthened
than that of the same states in Libellulae. The mask is
flat, and the two pincers are narrow, with a moveable nail
at the end. The abdomen, in their early states, is also
terminated by five appendages, one of which, however, is
truncated at the point. L. grandis, Linn, the largest and
one of the swiftest and most powerful and predaceous of
the British species, belongs to this genus. In Agrion,5
Fab. Plate CCXLIIL fig. 6), the wings are held perpen¬
dicularly in repose, the head is transversal, and the eyes
distant. The form of the labium is analogous to that of
iFshna, but the middle lobe is divided into two as far as
its base. The third joint of the lateral lobes is in the
form of a membranous ligula. The antennae seem to be
composed of only four joints. The front presents no ve¬
sicle, and the stemmatic eyes are of nearly equal size, and
disposed triangularly on the vertex. The abdomen is
very slender or even filiform, and, in some foreign species,
of extraordinary length. That of the female is furnished
with serrated laminae at its posterior extremity. The
form of the body in the larva and nympha states of this
genus is likewise long and slender, and the abdomen is
terminated by three fin-like plates (ibid. fig. 3). 'Ihe
mask is flat, the upper extremity of the mentonniere being
raised to a point in some, and forked or sloped in others;
the pincers are narrow, but terminate in several denta¬
tions resembling hands. The species are very numerous.
A. virgo has dark-coloured wings, and a lustrous metallic
body, varying from golden green to greenish blue. Its
flight is irregular and rather heavy. To this genus also
belong the small pale-coloured kinds, annulated with
black, and presenting a considerable range of variation
even among individuals of the same species, besides the
more fixed distinctions of a sexual character.
1 Rtgne Animal, t. v. p. 237. 2 Hid. t. v. p. 238.
* Ihe structure of the eyes in dragon-flies is described by Cuvier in the Mtm. de la Soc. d'Hist. Nat. de Paris, t. i. In addition to
the ordinary systematic works, the student of the species should attend particularly to a monograph on European Libellulae, published
in the Horce Entomologicae of M. Toussaint de Charpentier, another monograph on the same by M. Vander Linden, and a memoir by
the latter author on the species which occur in the territory of Bologna.
* Named probably from the Latin Libellns, a little book, on account of the page-like expansion of the wings.
* From clyfdos, cruel or ferocious.
E N T O M
Neurop- In the other Neuroptera of the family Subulicornes the
tern. mouth is entirely membranous or very soft, and composed
of not very distinguishable parts. Their tarsi consist of
five joints. The inferior wings are much smaller than the
upper ones, and are even sometimes wanting. The abdo¬
men is terminated by two or three setae. They form the
old genus Ephemera1 of Linn., (PL CCXLIII. figs. 5, 7,
and 9.
In these frail and fleeting insects the body is very soft,
long, and tapering, and terminates as above mentioned.
Their antennae are very small, and composed of three ar¬
ticulations, of which the last is very long, and in the form
of a conical thread. The anterior portion of their head
projects in the manner of a clypeus, is frequently carinat-
ed and emarginate, and covers the mouth, of which it is
difficult to distinguish the structure, on account of the
slight development of its parts, and the softness of their
texture. The Ephemerae in repose carry their wings al¬
most always in a perpendicular position, or a little inclin¬
ed backwards. The legs are slender, with very short
tibiae, frequent!}7 confounded with the tarsi, which often
exhibit only four joints, owing to the evanescence of the
first; the two hooks of the last are much compressed into
the form of a little pallet. The two anterior legs are
much longer than the others, inserted almost beneath the
head, and extended forwards. These insects usually
make their appearance in the winged state towards the
evening in fine summer weather, and sometimes in such
abundance, that in certain districts of France cart-loads of
them have been gathered from the ground, and employed
as manure. E. albipennis, in particular, a species, as its
name implies, remarkable for the whiteness of its wings,
sometimes rises and falls in such quantities by the banks
of rivers, as to thicken the air and whiten the surface of
the ground,—reminding one, even in the verdurous and
leafy summer, of
The flaky weight of winter’s purest snows.
The males are distinguished from the females by a pair
of articulated hooks, and their fore legs and caudal ap¬
pendages are likewise longer. Although strictly epheme¬
ral in their final state, they have rather a more extended
term of life than usual in their subaqueous abodes, where
..they are said to live and prosper for two or three years.
In the larva state the antennae are longer than afterwards ;
the stemmatic eyes are wanting ; the mouth presents two
horn-like projections, which are regarded as mandibles;
the abdomen is furnished on each side with a range of
laminae or leaflets, usually united at the base in pairs.
These last-named parts are a kind of false branchia, on
which the tracheal ramifications are extended, and which
serve not only for the purposes of respiration, but also for
those of locomotion. The tarsi have only a single hook
at their extremity. The abdomen is terminated bysetse,
of the same amount as in the perfect insect. The nymphs
differ from the larvae chiefly in being possessed of little
sheaths or wing-cases (Plate CCXLIII, fig. 10). When
ripe, they leave the waters, and undergo their final trans¬
formation, pretty much after the manner of the Libellulae
already described, although more rapidly. One singular
characteristic, however, attends their winged condition,
from which the other tribes are free ; they cast off a com¬
plete envelope or skin, including that even of the limbs,
setae, and antennae, almost immediately after they have
attained the perfect state, or at least what Mr Curtis has
well named the pseudo-imago. While following the delight¬
ful pursuit of angling, both along our own unrivalled streams,
O L O G Y. 177
and by the banks of foreign waters, we have frequently Neurop-
had our fishing panier and the rims of our hat covered by tera.
a pearly layer of these ghost-like exuviae, and it proved
extremely interesting to witness what we had often pre¬
viously perused in the accurate pages oflleaumur. Swam¬
merdam, who had long ago observed and described this
singular moulting, seems to think that the male sex is
alone subjected to it. The manners and metamorphosis
of these insects have been minutely detailed by the labo¬
rious author just named, in his Biblia Naturce, as well as
by Reaumur and Degeer, in their respective Memoires
on the natural history of insects. The angler recognises
them under the name of May-flies,—an imitation of which,
during the early part of the trouting season, is deemed a
lure not to be resisted by the finny race. We cannot
here describe the species in detail. We have figured se¬
veral different kinds on (Plate CCXLIIT. Some have four
wings, figs. 5 and 9; others have only'two, fig. 7. Of
the latter the eyes are sometimes very singularly con¬
structed, being double, or two on each side, one above
the other, as shown by fig. 8 of the same plate.
FAMILY II—PLANIPENNES.
Latreille here includes those neuropterous species of
which the antennae, always composed of a great number
of articulations, are considerably longer than the head,
without being styliform or awl-shaped. The mandibles
are very distinct, and the under wings, almost equal to
the superior ones, are extended, or simply folded beneath
at their inner margin. The wings are very generally
much reticulated and naked, with the maxillary palpi for
the most part filiform, or a little larger at the extremity,
shorter than the head, and composed of from four to five
articulations. These insects are divisible into five sec¬
tions, which compose, in relation to their natural habits,
an equal number of small sub-families, as follows.
Section 1st, Panorpatje.
Characterized by five articulations to all the tarsi, and
by having the anterior extremity of the head prolonged
and narrowed, in the form of a beak or proboscis. These
constitute the old genus Panorpa of Linn., commonly
called scorpion-flies, probably from the peculiar turning
up of their tails (PI. CCXLIII. figs. 13 and 20). The
antennae are setaceous and inserted between the eyes.
The clypeus is prolonged into a corneous lamina, arched
beneath for the reception of the mouth. The mandibles,
maxillae, and labium, are almost linear (Plate CCXLIII.
fig. 16). The palpi, varying in number from four to six,
are filiform ; those of the maxillae do not distinctly pre¬
sent more than four joints. The body is elongated, the
head vertical, the first segment of the thorax usually very
small, and in the form of a collar. The abdomen is coni¬
cal or almost cylindrical. In several species the sexes are
very dissimilar. Naturalists do not as yet appear to have
acquired any knowledge of their transformations. They
are now divided into the following genera : Nemoptera,2 *
(Plate CCXLIII. fig. 11), Bittacus, Panorpa proper
(ibid. fig. 13), and Boreus. The type of the last-named
genus, and the only species known, is the Panorpa hyema-
lis of Linn, a small insect scarcely a line in length, of a
cupreous black colour. It lives among moss in the north¬
ern parts of Europe, and is also found in the Alps, not far
from the region of perpetual snow.
1 Named, in allusion to the seeming shortness of their lives, from that which lasts a day.
^ From wux, a thread, and vmpa,, wings.
VOL. IX.
178
ENTOMOLOGY.
Neiirop- Section 2d, Myrmeleonides, Lat.
tera.
These are also characterized by five articulations to all
the tarsi; but they difFer from the preceding in not hay¬
ing the head prolonged in the form of a beak or proboscis.
The antennae are gradually enlarged, or have a globular
or button-like termination. The head is transverse, ver¬
tical, and exhibits no stemmatic eyes. The ordinary or¬
gans o^ vision are round and projecting. The mouth is
furnished with six palpi, of which the labial are usually
longer than the others, and somewhat inflated at the ex¬
tremity. The palate of the mouth is raised in the form
of an epiglottis. The first segment of the thorax is small.
The wings are equal, elongated, tectiform, or incumbent.
The abdomen is generally long and cylindrical, with two
projecting appendages at the extremity in the male sex.
The legs are short.
These insects affect warm places, and are consequent!}
more frequent in the southern countries of Europe than in
the chilly regions of the north. Ihey rest on plants, and
generally remain quiescent during the day. 1 he nymphs
are inactive ; but the generality of the perfect insects aie
well endowed with the power of flight. They form the
old genus Myrmeleon of Linn., which Fabricius and La-
treille have divided into two.
In Myrmeleon1 proper (PI. CCXLIII. fig. 12), the
antennae are short, gradually thickened or almost fusiform,
and hooked at the extremity. The abdomen is long and
linear. The singular larva of one of these insects (ibid,
fig. 14) has been attentively studied by Poupart, Vallis-
nieri, Roesel, Reaumur, and others. It is rather more than
half an inch in length, of an oval depressed form and grey¬
ish colour. It feeds chiefly on Solomon s emblem of indus¬
try, and has hence received the name of Formica-Leo or
lion-ant. Its head is very small, but armed with two
strong and lengthened mandibles, serrated on the inner
side, and pointed at the end. These parts look rather like
a pair of horns than organs of manducation ; but it is with
them that the larva seizes upon its prey; and as they are
pierced at the extremity, they no doubt also act as suck¬
ers. As its form does not admit of active locomotion, na¬
ture has made amends by endowing this insect with admi¬
rable instinctive skill and cunning. It constructs, in a dry
or sandy soil, a funnel-shaped excavation, the sides and
edges of which are loose and crumbling, and at the bot¬
tom of which, with body closely covered, but with ever-
ready jaws projecting upwards, the insidious larva lies con¬
cealed. No sooner does an industrious ant, laden per¬
haps with its republican provision, approach the edge of
the unsuspected slope, to it as dangerous as a volcanic
crater or avalanche of snow, than the finely poised sand
immediately gives way, and the persevering citizen, rolling
to the bottom, is instantly seized and sucked to a shadow'
by the lurking tyrant. The dead body is ere long tossed
by a jerk of the head beyond the immediate boundaries of
the dwelling, probably because it is by this time useless,
or, as some French naturalist has expressed it, “ pour que
son cadavre n’epouvante pas les autres fourmis qu’il at¬
tend.” There are tartars, however, among Myrmeleons
as well as men; and it sometimes happens that a large
and vigorous winged insect, such as a wasp, bee, or beetle,
tumbles head foremost into the pit. “ When Greek meets
Greek, then comes the tug of warand when a lion-ant
has the tail of a wasp in his mouth, there is no saying ex¬
actly how the combat may end. The one is furnished with
jaw's tenacious as well as strong,—but he bears no “ charm- Neurop.
ed lifewhile the other is armed with a weapon which tera-
the dews of heaven cannot rust, and compared with the
keenness of which the brightest sword in Damascus is as
a broken foil. In these doubtful, though, to one or other
of the parties, eventually disastrous circumstances, the
result at last is, that either the lion-ant is dragged out of
his den and stung to death, or dropped upon the ground
and left a prey to birds, or that the winged insect is
maimed, disabled, drawn into the sand, and slain. If an
insect incapable of flight, or from its situation unable to
use its wings, but of larger size than the Myrmeleon deems
it prudent at once to seize upon, chances to fall into the
snare, it is overwhelmed in its attempts to re-ascend, by
repeated showers of sand, which its enemy directs upon
it with unerring aim. No sooner, however, is the strength
of the toiling and exasperated Sisyphus at least in part
exhausted, than he too is seized upon, and sucked to
death. The lion-ant makes use of its head as a catapult
or instrument of war, with which to shower the sand upon
its astonished prey. This singular larva is capable of en¬
during a very long-continued fast. When it has attained to
the natural term of its increase, which requires the lapse,
it is said, of nearly a couple of years, it weaves a white co¬
coon, by means of two spinners placed at the posterior ex¬
tremity of the body, of a rounded form and satin lustre,
but covered with grains of sand. In this it undergoes its
transformation to the nympha state (PL CCXLIII. fig.
15). The perfect insect bursts from its silken tomb in
the course of from fifteen to twenty days. We are ac¬
quainted with many species of the genus. Besides the
one of which we have just now sketched the history, and
which is the Myrmeleonformicarium of systematic writers,
another noted species, named M. Libelluloides, occurs in
the south of France. It is a very large insect, measuring
from four to five inches between the tips of the extended
wings, and was described as a Hemerobius by Linnaeus.
It is the Libella turcica of old Petiver, and the Musca ra-
rissima of Ray. We were once nearly drowned in trying
to capture it by the side of a muddy stream. The flight
of both of these insects, and of all belonging to the genus,
is slow and heavy. They seldom fly far, and seem to end
their lives near the places where they had their birth,—^
even to the last “ loving the spots which once they glo¬
ried in.” They are unknown in Britain.2
In the genus Ascalaphus,3 Fab. (PI. CCXLIII.
fig. 19), the antennae are very long, and terminate
somewhat abruptly in a club or expansion. The wings
are proportionably broader than those of Myrmeleon.
The flight of these insects is rapid and light. They oc¬
cur chiefly in the warmer parts pf Africa and America,
although a few are found in Europe. Of these A. Italicus
occurs in France as far north as the environs of Fontaine¬
bleau. We have no very precise knowledge of their trans¬
formations. They do not occur in Britain.
Section 3d, Hemerobini.
The component parts of this group resemble those of
the preceding in the general form of the body and wings ;
but the antennae are filiform, and the palpi only four in
number. They form the old genus Hemerobius of Linn,
and Fab. which has since been subdivided as follows:—
In Hemerobius proper (of Lat.) the first segment of
the thorax is very small, the wings incumbent, and the
last article of the palpi is the thickest, ovoid, and pointed.
From an ant, and Xsov, a lion.
M. formicarium holds a nominal place as a British insect; but we have never felt assured of its existence as an indigenous species.
Arau/.aipoi is the ancient mythological name of a bird. We do not know for what reason it was applied to the above genus.
E N T O M
N’europ- X{ie larvae are terrestrial, that is, not aquatic. They
era. vvander about from place to place, committing great
havoc among Aphides, their favourite food,—for which
reason they are named lions des pucerons by Reaumur.
These they seize by means of their horn-like mandibles,
and speedily suck to death. Some of the perfect insects
are exceedingly beautiful, especially a well-known British
species called Hernerobius perla, which is of a pale yellow¬
ish green, with delicately transparent yet lustrous wings,
and brilliant golden eyes. Its flight is feeble. The fe¬
males lay their eggs on leaves, to the number of twelve
or sixteen in a group. They are whitish and oval, and
are supported and secured by a long hair-like stalk or pe¬
dicle, which some botanists, less versed in edible fungi
than Dr Greville, have mistaken for a species of mush¬
room ! (See PL CCXLIII. fig. 21.)
Other allied species have the first segment of the tho¬
rax large, with the wings usually placed upon the body in
a horizontal position. The palpi are filiform, with the
last article conical, or almost cylindrical, and frequently
shorter than the preceding. The larvae are aquatic.
These insects were placed by Fabricius, along with the
species of the genus Perla of Geoffroy (from which, how¬
ever, they differ in the number of articulations of the tar¬
si), under the genus Semblis, which is itself composed of
Corydalis, Chauliodes, and Si alts, of Latreille.1
Section 4th, Termitin^e.
This group comprises such Neuroptera as are subject to
a semi-metamorphosis, and are active and carnivorous, or
rather omnivorous gnawers, in all their states. With the
exception of the Mantispae, which, in regard to their an¬
terior legs, resembling those of the Mantides, are pecu¬
liar in their order,—the tarsi have at most four articula¬
tions, in which they differ from the preceding genera of
the family with which we are still engaged. The man¬
dibles are always corneous and strong.
Some possess tarsi consisting of from five to three arti¬
culations, with very distinct and projecting labial palpi.
The antennae are generally composed of more than ten
joints, the prothorax is large, in the form of a corselet,
and the wings are of equal size, and much reticulated.
In the genus Mantispa of Illiger (llhaphidia, Scopoli,
Linn.; Mantis, Fab. Oliv.), all the tarsi have five articu¬
lations, and the anterior legs, like those of Mantis, are
adapted for prehension. The antennae are very short and
granose, the eyes large, the prothorax very long, thicken¬
ed anteriorly, and the wings incumbent. This genus con¬
sists of not more than five or six species, only one of
which, M. pagana, is found in Europe. In the genus
Raphidia,2 Linn. Fab. (PL CCXLIII. fig. 24), the tarsi
have only four articulations. The wings are incumbent
when at rest, the head elongated, and narrowed posterior¬
ly, the thorax long, narrow, and almost cylindrical. The
abdomen of the female is terminated by a long exterior
oviduct, formed by a couple of laminae. The species
figured on the plate referred to is well known in Britain.
It lives in woods. Both the larva and imago feed on other
insects. The former is lively in its movements when dis¬
turbed. It lives in the fissures of trees, and has the form
of a little serpent. In the genus Termes, which contains
the famous white ant (PI. CCXLIII. figs. 17, 18, and
23), the tarsi are likewise composed of four joints, but the
wings are very long, and are horizontally spread upon the
body. The head is rounded, and the thorax almost square
or semicircular. The body of these insects is depressed,
and the antennae, at least in the females, are short, and
o L o o Y. 179
formed like a chaplet. The mouth resembles that of the Neurop-
orthopterous order, and the labium is quadrifid. There tera.
are three ocelli, one of which, placed upon the front, is
indistinct, and the other two are placed laterally, near
the internal margin of the ordinary eyes. The wings are
usually rather transparent, colourless, with fine and close-
set nervures, but not very distinctly reticulated. There
are two small conical biarticulated points at the extre¬
mity of the abdomen. The legs are short. A good mo¬
nograph of this singular and destructive genus is still a
desideratum in Entomology. Several species, inhabiting
widely distant countries, have been described under the
general name of Termes fatale, but we have still an insuf¬
ficient knowledge of their actual and distinguishing cha¬
racteristics. So confused was the acquaintance of our
immediate predecessors with these insects, that the larvae
of T. jlavicolle, Fab. were placed by Linnaeus among his
Aptera, while the perfect insects formed a part of his
genus Hemerobius. These Termites are for the most part
peculiar to countries placed between or near the tropics.
I he individuals named neuters or labourers among the
white ants (commonly so called) are the wingless larvae
(fig. 17), and in that state their powers of destruction are
quite appalling. I hey live together in assemblages so
vast as almost to defy calculation, and excavate galleries
under ground, in trees, tables and all kinds of furniture,
as well as in the timber of dwelling-houses. Dr M‘Mur-
trie saw a beautiful edifice in the Isle of France that had
been abandoned within a few months after its completion,
on account of the attacks of these destructive creatures.
The whole building was a mere shell.3 Whatever ligneous
bodies are mined by them, retaining little but a superfi¬
cial bark, soon crumble into dust; and where the roof of
a house, or heavy lintel stone, depends on such support,
the insecurity may be as easily imagined as described.
Ihey sometimes construct external tunnels or covered
w'ays, which conceal them from view while passing to and
from their subterranean dwellings. Sometimes their ha¬
bitations are raised pyramidally above the surface, in other
instances they resemble turrets, with an eave-like expan¬
sion on the top. Some are broader and extremely solid;
and when constructed, as they often are, in groups, they
exhibit the appearance of a little village. They are so
strongly built, that when raised to only half their height,
they are capable of supporting such wild bulls as mount
upon them to act as sentinels while the rest of the flock
is feeding. When at their full height of ten or twelve
feet, they are used by men as stations from which to look
across the country, the grass itself being in those regions
of equal height. Smeathman, to whom we owe a curious
and often-quoted narrative of their history, has frequent¬
ly stood with four companions on the top of one of their
buildings, employing it as a watch-tower by the shore,
from which to obtain sight of whatever vessels might
heave in sight. Besides the larvae or workers, we find
another set of inhabitants, of which the nature is not
yet clearly known, although their functions are obvious.
They are known by the name of soldiers or neuters, and
were erroneously regarded by Fabricius as the nymphs.
They defend the habitation. When a breach is effected
with a pick-axe, they make their appearance, and snap
about in all directions with their mandibles,—apparently
in a state of considerable indignation. When the attack
has ceased, the soldiers retire, and are succeeded by the
labourers, who speedily repair the breach. They are still
attended, however, by a few soldiers, who seem to act as
superintendents of the work. The nymphs bear the rudi-
i
See Regne Animal, t. v. p. 252.
3 Cuvier’s Animal
2 From t'Cityis toas, a needle.
Kingdom, American edition, vol. iv. p, 73.
180 E N T O M
Neurop- ments of wings; in other respects they resemble the
tera‘ larvae. No sooner do they become perfect, by acquiring
tiie organs of flight, than they wing their way from their
original dwellings, during the evening, or the stillness of
night, and in incalculable numbers. At sunrise, however,
by a singular law of nature, they lose their wings, which
dry up, become shrivelled, and fall to the ground. In this
defenceless state they become the prey of many reptiles,
and of insect-eating birds. Indeed they seem not to be de¬
spised in that respect even by man himself; for not only are
they greedily devoured by Hottentots and negroes, but
have been often eaten by Europeans with delight. Mr
Smeathman found them “ delicate, nourishing, and whole¬
some, without sauce or other help from cookery, than mere¬
ly roasting them in the manner of coffee.” He indeed dis¬
coursed with various friends on the taste of white ants,
and on comparing notes, they agreed that these insects
were “ delicious and delicate eating.” One gentleman
compared them to sugared marrow, while another thought
they tasted like “ sugared cream and a paste of sweet
almonds.”1 Although prodigious numbers perish in con¬
sequence of this migratory instinct, such are their vast
powers of fecundity, that old colonies are soon replenish¬
ed, or new ones formed. According to Smeathman, the
provident larvae seize upon all the winged couples they
can find, and shut them up in a roomy cell or nuptial
chamber, where they supply them with abundant food ;
“ mais j’ai lieu de presumer,” says Latreille, “ que 1’ac-
couplement a lieu, comme celui des fourmis, dans fair
ou hors de I’habitation, et que les femelles occupent
seules 1’attention des larves, dans le but de former une
nouvelle colonie.” The abdomen of the pregnant female
(PI. CCXLIII. fig. 23) becomes so greatly dilated as to
exceed the rest of her body by 1500 or 2000 times, and
she is then about a thousand times heavier than her hus¬
band. Indeed well she may, if, as is reported, she is
endowed with the power of laying thirty-one million five
hundred and thirty-six thousand eggs in the course of a
year. Those fond of arithmetic may try to discover how
many grandchildren she is likely to possess by the ter¬
mination of the ensuing season.
Certain Termites (T. arborum') live on trees, where
they build nests as large as sugar casks, and from seventy
to eighty feet above the ground. These are formed of
particles of gnawed wood cemented by a gluten either se¬
creted by themselves, as silk is by caterpillars, or gather¬
ed from gummiferous trees. They are so strongly attach¬
ed to their supporting branches as to resist the violence
even of those tornadoes which so often in tropical countries
level alike the palaces of kings, and “ huts where poor men
lie.” Indeed they cannot be detached except by being
hewn in pieces. The genus Termes is not unknown in
Europe. T. lucifugum of Rossi (Faun. Flrusc.') occurs
in the southern provinces of France, where it dwells in
the interior of various trees. It has so greatly multiplied
in the workshops and storehouses of the navy-yard of
Rochefort that it cannot be extirpated, and is the cause
of constant damage. T. Jlavicolle proves extremely inju¬
rious to the olive trees in Spain. Our “ favoured isle” is
fortunately free from these and many other continental
pests,—if an entomologist may so express himself regard¬
ing species which would no doubt be highly prized as
British by many a fond collector.
O L O G Y.
The remaining Termitinae are characterized by their bi- Neurpp.
articulate tarsi, and their short and indistinct labial palpi. tera.
The antennae consist of about ten joints ; the anterior seg-
ment of the thorax is very small; and the inferior wings
are less than the superior. They form the genus Psocus
of Latreille, which consists of very small species with short
soft bodies, often hunched or inflated, with a large head,
setaceous antennae, projecting maxillary palpi, and incum¬
bent wings, slightly reticulated or but simply veined.
These are active insects, living beneath the bark of trees,
in wood, straw, &c. Some occur among books and in
collections of plants and insects. They seem peculiar to
Europe. P. pulsatorius derives its name from the sound,
resembling the ticking of a watch, which, in common with
some other insects, it utters in our apartments. Its ana¬
tomy is described by Germar.2 We have many British
species.
Section 5th, Perlides.
Of these the tarsi are furnished with three articulations,
and the mandibles are almost always partly membranous
and small, with the inferior wings wader than the superior,
and doubled on themselves at their inner edge. The ge¬
nera are Perla of Geoffrey, and Nemoura3 of Latreille
(Phryganea, Linn.).4
FAMILY III—PLICIPENNES.
The insects of this family have no perceptible man¬
dibles. Their inferior wings are usually broader than
the upper ones, and longitudinally plaited. They com¬
pose the genus Phryganea5 of Linn, divided by Latreille
into Sericostoma6 and Phryganea proper (see Plate
CCXLIII. fig. 26). In the larva state (figs. 22 and 25)
they live in tubes or cases of their own construction,
made of a great variety of substances, according to the
species. Latreille regards them as simply herbivorous,
although other authors maintain that, in addition to aqua¬
tic plants, they prey upon the larvae of gnats and dragon¬
flies.
We shall conclude our sketch of this order by observ¬
ing that the characters and habits of the genus Phry¬
ganea being very peculiar, the species have in recent
times been separated from the neuropterous tribes, and
erected into an additional order, Trichoptera, Kirby, so
called from hair, in allusion to the usual rough¬
ness of the wings. Both Reaumur and Degeer had pre¬
viously observed that they were allied to the Jepidopterous
order. “ Although some other insects,” Mr Kirby has
remarked, “ (Myrmeleon and Hemerobius), placed in the
Neuroptera, do not agree with the rest in their metamor¬
phosis, yet in their perfect state they exhibit the princi¬
pal characters of the order, and therefore are properly re¬
tained in it; but Phryganea differs from the rest both in
metamorphosis and characters. Its metamorphosis is very
peculiar, the larva imitating many of the Tinece, in con¬
structing, of various materials, a kind of case for its habi¬
tation, from which circumstance they are commonly call¬
ed case-worms; and the pupa, which is incomplete, and
at first quiescent, just before its final change, by a won¬
derful provision of an all-wise Creator, becomes locomo¬
tive, that it may place itself in a situation of security out
Phil. Trans, vol. Ixxi. p. 1G9, note. The reader will find a good summary of their history in a more accessible work, “ Insect Ar¬
chitecture,” in the Library of Entertaining Knowledge.
2 Magaxin der Entomologie, vol. iv. 3 From vs,«a, a thread, and ouf, tail.
4 See Gen. Crust, et Insect, t. iii. p. 210 ; Regne Animal, t. v. p. 258 ; Encyclop. Meth. art. Nemoube ; and M(-moire sur les Larves
de Nemoures, par F. T. Pictet, in the Ann. des Sciences Nat. t. xxvi. p. 3(i9.
5 From (peuyavmv, a faggot, in allusion, we presume, to the usual aspect of their dwellings while aquatic larvae.
* t rom rngiiiov, silk, and <rroy.cc, the mouth.
E N T O M
Hymenop-of the water before it casts its exuviae ; and for this pur-
tera. pose the antennae and the four anterior legs are not con-
fined under the general envelope, though each has its pe¬
culiar integument, so that the animal can use them when
the time comes for it to emerge from the water, and com¬
mence a denizen of the air. The imago exhibits few or
none of the characters of the other neuropterous genera.
7die wings are veined in a peculiar manner, without reti¬
culations, in some degree like those of Lepidoptera. The
antennae resemble much those of the Tinea tribe, and the
tibiae of many of them are armed with the two pair of spurs
observable in so many of the moths; but they have no
spiral tongue, the wings, though hairy, have no scales, the
under wings are folded longitudinally, and the head, be¬
sides the usual compound eyes, has three stemmata. If
these remarks appear to entomologists well founded, and
it be thought right to consider Phryganea as constituting
a new order, I think it might be distinguished, since the
names of all the known species are hairy, by the name of
Trichoptera."1
Order V.—HYMENOPTERA.2
This order, of more direct utility to man than many
others, in as far as it contains the species which yield us
wax and honey, is characterized, like the preceding one,
by the possession of four membranous and naked wings.
Tbe mouth consists of mandibles, maxillae, and an under
and an upper lip. The organs of flight, however, differ
from those of the Neuroptera, in being simply veined
rather than reticulated; and the upper wings are always
somewhat larger than the under pair. The abdomen of
the female is terminated either by an ovipositor or sting.
Besides the ordinary visual organs, these insects are all
provided with three small stemmatic eyes. The antennae
are variable, not only in different genera, but in different
sexes of the same species. In the majority, however,
they are filiform or setaceous. The maxillae and the la¬
bium are generally long and narrow, fixed in a deep
cavity of the head by lengthened muscles, semi-tubular
at their lower portion, often folded at their extremity,
and serving rather for the transmission of nutritive
juices than for mastication properly so called. Indeed
O L O G Y. 181
in several these parts unite to form a kind of trunk or Hymenop-
sucker. The ligula is membranous, whether widened at tera*
the extremity, or long and filiform, with the pharynx at its
anterior base, and frequently covered by a kind of sub-la-
brum or epipharynx. The palpi are four in number, two
labial and two maxillary. The thorax as usual consists of
three segments, of which the foremost is very short, and
the two remainder are intimately united. The wings cross
each other horizontally over the body, and tbe upper pair
have a little rounded convex knob at their base. The
abdomen is composed of from five to nine segments, the
number being frequently six in the females and seven in
the males. It is usually suspended, as it were, to the tho¬
rax by a small and slender pedicle; in which case its se¬
cond articulation seems to be the first, the latter being in
fact confounded with the metathorax. The ovipositor and
the sting (both being constructed on the same model) are
composed, in the generality, of three long and slender
pieces, two of which serve as a sheath for the third,
which is itself, when under the form of a sting, composed
of a pair of pieces joined in one The tarsi are composed
of five articulations, none of which is divided.
The structure of the wings of Hymenoptera has served
as the basis of a noted method for their classification,
made known by M. Jurine.3 This method is founded on
the nature and number of the nervures of the wings, and
of the cells or intermediate diaphanous spaces formed by
their ramification. The nature of our present treatise,
which we have already extended to the proposed limits
(and we are still far from our conclusion), will not, how¬
ever, admit of our entering fully into such details.4
The digestive system of Hymenoptera consists in ge¬
neral of two stomachs, of which the second is elongated;
of a short intestine, terminated by a widened cloaca; and
of numerous biliary vessels, inserted near the pylorus. In
regard to their tracheal apparatus, M. Leon Dufour has
remarked, that all the Hymenoptera which he has exa¬
mined exhibit a greater degree of perfection in that part
of their structure than any other order of insects. In¬
stead of being composed of cylindrical and elastic vessels,
of which the diameter decreases by successive divarica¬
tions, they present constant dilatations, or determinate
vesicles, favourable to the greater or less continuance of
air, and capable of being distended or otherwise, accord-
.. 1 Linn. Trans, xi. p. 87, note. 2 Piezata, Fab.
3 Nouvelle Mtthode de classer les Hym'nopteres et les Dipteres, 1 vol. in 4to, Geneva, 1807- See also, by the same author, Observations
sur les Ailes des Hymcnupteres, in the 24th vol. of the Mem.de VAcad. des Sciences de Turin.
* When we examine a hymenopterous insect with a glass, or even by means of the unaided sight, we shall observe that the exter¬
nal or anterior margin of the upper wings presents two strong approximate parallel nervures, deriving their origin from the thorax^
c and united by means of a strong expansion of the membrane of
:the wing. The external nervure is called the radius, fig. 1, a ;
—   the internal the cubitus, fig. 1, b. Each of these terminates in
A(  !~"y\ a dark-coloured expansion called the stigma, fig. 1, c. Besides
—‘"""l, .X.—-fZ-——-r—these larger nervures, which some call primitive, several others
^ spring likewise from the base of the wing, and are named bra-
chial, fig. 1, g. All these principal branches give rise to shorter
intersecting nervures, the interlacement of which partitions the
wing as it were into membranaceous departments, designated by
the name of cells. Several of these, by reason of their constan¬
cy of disposition in each genus of hymenopterous insects, have
been used with advantage by Jurine for the purposes of classi¬
fication. A nervure, called the radial (fig. 3, a), usually springs
from the middle of the stigma, and attaining the tip or anterior
angle of the wing, leaves between itself and the anterior mar¬
gin a membranous space, known as the radial cell (fig. 4, d). If
there should, moreover, spring from the stigma a lesser nervure, dividing the cell into two parts, we recognise a pair of radial cells.
In this case, however, the larger nervure does not derive its origin from the central line ot the stigma, but farther back, or from its
basal portion (fig. 1, d). It sometimes also happens that the radial nervure, proceeding from the stigma, encounters, before it gains
the margin of the wing, a small intersecting nervure, itself proceeding from that margin. The radial cell is then said to be appen-
daged (appcndicee), fig. 2, a. _ .
Another range of cells, of some importance, has received the name of cubital (fig. 1, e). It is formed by the posterior edge or the
radial nervure, and by another nervure named the cubital, which springs from the extremity ot the cubitus, near the stigma, and
ENTOMOLOGY.
382
Hymenop-ing to the quantity of their contents. On each side of
tera- the base of the abdomen there is a large oval vesicle of
the kind alluded to, of a dull milky white, giving rise
here and there to radiating bundles of vascular tracheae,
which distribute themselves to the neighbouring organs.
On entering the thorax it becomes restricted, is again di¬
lated, and ends insensibly in a tube, of which the subdi¬
visions are lost in the head. Behind these two abdominal
vesicles the respiratory organ is prolonged in the shape
of two filiform tubes, which give off an infinity of little
air-bearing branches, and become confluent towards the
anal extremity.1
Hymenopterous insects undergo a complete metamor¬
phosis. Most of the larvae resemble little worms, unpro¬
vided with feet. At least those of the second and follow¬
ing families answer that description. Those of the first
family, however, have six feet, furnished with hooks ;
and besides these they frequently possess from twelve to
sixteen others of a simply membranous texture. These
latter larvae are named by the French fausses chenilles.
Both kinds are provided with a scaly head, with man¬
dibles, maxillae, and a labium, at the extremity of which
is a spinner for the passage of that silky substance which
is ere long employed in the construction of the nymph’s
cocoon. Some live on vegetable substances; others, and
these are the footless or apodal kinds, feed on insects, with
which they are supplied by the provident attention of their
mothers, which either carry food to their admirably con¬
structed dwellings, or, as among the Ichneumonides, depo¬
sit their eggs at once on living larvae, of which the excluded
young soon become the tenacious and destructive para¬
sites. Among bees a vast number of individuals of ambi¬
guous or undeveloped sex are charged, among other ar¬
duous labours, with the sustenance of the helpless young,
a task performed with a propriety and precision which,
with their many additional attributes of instinctive skill,
render their proceedings worthy to be classed, if not as
standing miracles of nature, at least as deserving the care¬
ful contemplation of the wisest minds.
Happy if full of (lavs—but happier far,
If, ere we yet discern life’s evening star,
Sick of the service of a world that feeds
Its patient drudges with dry chaff and weeds,
We can escape from custom’s idiot sway,
To serve the sovereign we were born to obey.
More sweet to muse upon his skill display’d
(Infinite skill) in all that he has made !
To trace, in nature’s most minute design.
The signature and stamp of power divine,
Contrivance intricate, express’d with eas*3
Where unassisted sight no beauty sees.
The shapely limb, the lubricated joint
Within the small dimensions of a point.
Muscle and nerve miraculously spun,
His mighty work, who speaks—and it is done.
The Invisible in things scarce seen reveal’d,
To whom an atom is an ample field :
To wonder at a thousand insect forms,
These hatch’d, and those resuscitated worms,
New life ordain’d and brighter scenes to share,
Once prone on earth, now buoyant upon air,
Whose shape would make them, had they bulk and size.
More hideous foes than fancy can devise ;
With helmet heads and dragon scales adorn’d.
The mighty myriads, now securely scorn’d,
Would mock the majesty of man’s high birth,
Despise his bulwarks, and unpeople earth.2
«
In the winged or perfect state, hymenopterous insects
generally occur on flowers, and they may be regarded as
more abundant in southern than in northern regions. We
shall not here dilate upon the generalities of the order, as it
is our intention to notice all the more remarkable historical
facts, in our sketch of the principal tribes and genera. We
shall merely remark, that notwithstanding the numerous
and always delightful observations of Reaumur, Degeer,
Huber, Latreille, Walkenaer, and others, the hymenopter¬
ous order still presents a vast and fruitful field of discovery
to the zealous cultivator of entomological science. Chris-
tus has combined in a special work3 a great deal of ex¬
cellent information ; but his labours are imperfect in rela¬
tion to the present condition of the subject. The Syste-
ma Piezatorum of Fabricius is merely a descriptive cata¬
logue of species, assembled together without any precise
notion of sexual distinctions, not seldom inaccurate in the
exposition of generic characters, and extremely incom¬
plete in relation to the European species. Jurine has
carefully distinguished the sexes, and his groups are an
improvement on those of his predecessors. Lepelletier
de St-Fargeau,4 Serville, Klug,5 and, last though not least,
Hymenop.
tera.
directs itself towards the tip of the wing (fig. 3, b). This range is frequently divided into two, three, or four lesser cells, by means of
intersecting nervures (fig. 4, e, and fig. 1, e). If two of these cells are much developed, and the second one, on the contrary, is so cir¬
cumscribed that it cannot reach the margin of the radial nervure, we have then a peculiar character. The two developed cells, ii%
stead of being separated from each other by the entire interval of the second cell, are kept apart, for a space, only by a simple nervure,
the length of which is proportional to the curtailment of the second cell; and in this way the latter has no other connection with the
radial cell above it, than that it adheres to, or depends from it, as it were, by a kind of pedicle or stalk,—for which reason it is then
named pctiolated by Jurine (fig. 2, b). If it happens that the cubital nervure does not attain to the extreme margin of the wing, the
spaces which it partly forms are regarded as incomplete..
It has been already stated that, besides the large nervures named cubitus and radius, Jurine has distinguished others, which also
spring from the base of the wing, as at fig. l,g\ These produce others of a secondary kind, which mount towards the cubital cells,
sometimes attaining to the first and second, sometimes to the second and third, and sometimes only to a single cell. These have re¬
ceived the name of recurrent nervures (fig. 1,/). By anastomosing among themselves, and with the cubitus, the brachial nervures
and their branches form several cells, which Jurine has named the humeral (fig. 4, A, &, A, A, A). Of these Latreille distinguishes as
discoidal, such as are situated in the centre of the wing (fig. 2, i, i). The recurrent nervures always concur in their formation.
Among lepidopterous insects, the cell situated in the centre of the wing is prolonged uninterruptedly as far as the base.
Since we have entered into these details, we may here also mention briefly a few additional particulars, relating chiefly to the no¬
menclature of the outline of the wings. The base is that part which articulates with the thorax (fig. 1, a, b, g). The point, summit,
or anterior angle, is that part which is most directly opposed to the base (fig. 1, h). The external, anterior, or upper margin of the
wing extends from the base to the summit (fig. 1, a, c, d, e, h). The posterior, inner, or anal angle, is formed by the point of union
of the posterior and inner margins (fig. 1, i). The posterior margin commences at the anterior angle or summit, and ends at the pos¬
terior or inner angle (fig. 1, h,f, i). The internal margin extends from the posterior angle to the base of the wing (fig. 1, i, g).
In addition to the works mentioned in a preceding note, see also the article Ailes in the Diction. Class. d'Hist. Nat-; the article Ba-
diales in the Encyclop. Mtth. ; and M. Chabrier’s elaborate Essai sur le Vol des Insectes-
1 Journal de Physique, Sept. 1828. 2 Cowper’s Retirement.
3 Naturgeschichte, Klassification, und Nomenclatur, der Insecten vom Bienen, Vespen, und Ameisengeschelecht, von J. L. Christ. Frank¬
fort, 1791.
4 In various articles and treatises in the Encyclop. Mtth.
4 Monographia Siricum Germanice, atque Gcnemim illis adnumeratorum, cum tab. aen. col. Berlin, 1803; several memoirs regarding Ily-
menoptera, in the Recueil of the Society of Naturalists of Berlin ; a critical review of the genera of Fabricius, derived from Apis of
Linn, in Illiger’s Magazinfur Insectenkunde, &c.
ENTOMOLOGY.
183
Hymenop- our own inestimable Kirby,1 have published valuable though
tera partial additions to our knowledge of the history and clas-
^'er^ran* sification of the hymenopterous tribes.2 3
Latreille divides our present order into two primary
sections.
TEREBRANTIA,3
In which the Females are provided with an Ovipositor.
FAMILY I—SECURIFERA.4
Abdomen sessile, or united by the entire breadth of its
base to the thorax, of which it appears a continuation,
without distinct or separate power of movement. The
females have an ovipositor (tariere), generally in the form
of a saw, and which serves not merely for the deposition
of the eggs, but also for the construction of a proper place
for their reception. The larvae have always six scaly
feet, and frequently several others which are membra¬
nous. This family forms two tribes.
Tribe 1st, Tenthremnet^e, or Saw-flies.
Of these the mandibles are lengthened and compressed.
The ligula is divided into three, as if digitated. The ovi¬
positor is composed of two plates, toothed like a saw,
pointed, united, and lodged in a groove of the posterior
extremity. The maxillary palpi are always composed of
six articulations, and the labial of four. The latter are
always the shorter. Both pairs of wings are divided into
numerous cells. This tribe corresponds to the great ge¬
nus Tenthredo of Linnseus.
The abdomen of these insects is cylindrical, rounded
posteriorly, composed of nine segments, and so united to
the thorax as to appear almost like a uniform continuation
of that part. The wings appear as if rumpled, and there
are two little grain-like coloured bodies behind the scu-
tellum. The form and composition of the antennae vary.
The mandibles are strong and toothed. The extremity
of the maxillae is almost membranous, or at least of a less
coriaceous consistence than the base. The palpi are fili¬
form, or nearly setaceous, and composed of six articula¬
tions. The ligula is straight, rounded, divided into three
parts, of which the central is the narrowest; its sheath is
usually short. The abdomen of the female is provided at its
lower extremity with a double moveable ovipositor, scaly,
serrated, pointed, and enclosed within two other concave
plates, which serve it as a sheath. It is by the action of
the teeth of this instrument that the insect perforates the
stalks and other parts of plants, in which she lays her
eggs. These she afterwards imbues with a peculiar frothy
liquor, which seems to prevent the parts of the plant from
reuniting, and even causes the formation of a concave
chamber, or of ligneous parts resembling galls, in which
the excluded larvae dwell, either in a state of solitude, or
in company, according to their kind. After undergoing
its final metamorphosis, the perfect insect makes its es¬
cape by gnawing a circular overture. The larvae of many Hymenop.
species, however, live exposed upon the foliage of trees tera
and plants. They bear a great resemblance to caterpil- Terebran¬
ters in their general form and colouring, but they present ^_ia' ^
either from eighteen to twenty-two feet, or only six ;
whereas in caterpillars properly so called, these parts
range merely from ten to sixteen. They frequently con¬
tinue in the larva state for several months, or throughout
the winter, and remain but a short time in the nympha
state, previous to the assumption of which they spin a
cocoon. We shall briefly notice the principal genera into
which these insects are now divided.5
In Cimbex of Olivier and h’ab. (Plate CCXLIV. fig. 1)
the antennae are alike in both sexes, and terminate in a but¬
ton-like expansion. The larvae have twenty-four feet, and
some of them when tormented will spout out a greenish
liquid to the distance of a foot. In Hylotoma, Lat. (ibid,
fig. 2), the antennae exhibit only three distinct articula¬
tions, of which the last is in the form of an elongated
prismatic or cylindrical club, more slender, ciliated, and
sometimes forked in the males. A well-known species
(figured as above), the Tenthredo rosce of Linn, belongs to
this genus. In the genus Tenthredo properly so called
(ibid. fig. 3), the antennae are composed of nine articu¬
lations, wdiich are simple in both sexes. The larvae
have from eighteen to twenty-two feet. In the perfect
insects the number of teeth of the mandibles varies from
two to four. The amount of radial and cubital cells of
the wings also varies in different species. Hence the for¬
mation of the genera Allantus, Dolerus, Nematus, &c. by
Jurine, Leach, and other naturalists. The genus Cladi-
us of Klug has also nine joints in the antennae, but those
parts are pectinated on one side in the males. In Atha-
lia of Leach the body is short and thick, as in Hylo¬
toma, but the antennae, simple in both sexes, have from
ten to fourteen articulations. The genus Pterygophorus
of Klug are remarkable for their antennae, composed at
least of sixteen articulations, being pectinated or fan¬
shaped in the males, and serrated in the females. In Lo-
phyrus of Lat. (Plate CCXLIV. fig. 4) the antennae are
doubly pectinated in the males, and resemble a triangular
plume (fig. 3); they are shortly serrated in the females
(fig. 6).6 In all the preceding genera the labrum is quite
apparent, and the four posterior tibiae are either unfurnish¬
ed on their inner side with spines, or exhibit only one.
But in the following the labrum is concealed, or but slight¬
ly projecting, and the inner side of the four posterior tibiae
exhibits before its extremity two, and frequently three
spines. Such are Megalodontes, Lat. in which the an¬
tennae are serrated or pectinated, and Pamphilus of the
same author, in which those organs are simple in both
sexes.
The concluding Tenthredinetae have the ovipositor pro¬
longed beyond the groove, and projecting posteriorly.
The antennae are simple, and always composed of a great
number of articulations. They constitute the genera Xye-
la, Dalm., Cephas, and Xiphydria, Lat. Of the last
named the antennae are inserted near the mouth, and be¬
come attenuated towards the termination (Plate CCXLIV.
fig. 7).
1 In his Mouographia Apum Anglia, “ ouvrage,” says Latreille, “ qui a immortalise son auteur.”
8 Consult also the article Hymenopteb.es in the Diction. Class. d'Hist. Nat. t. viii. pp. 458-62.
3 From terehro, to bore or pierce.
4 From securifer, a hatchet-bearer, in allusion to the wood-cutting instrument with which these insects are armed,—which, how¬
ever, happens to be a saw.
3 For the details, see Lepelletier de St Fargeau’s Monographia Tenthredinetarum Synonymia Extricata; Krug’s Eniomologische Mono-
graphien ; Leach’s Zoological Miscellany, vol. iii.; and Regne Animal, t. v. p. 271, &c.
‘ Lophyrus pini, the species figured on the Hate referred to, has become much more common of late years in Scotland, since the
plantation and growth of larch forests.
184
ENTOMOLOGY.
Hymen op- Tribe 2d, Urocerata.1 2
tera
Terebran- jnsect;S 0f this tribe are distinguished from those
t_r-tia' of the preceding by their mandibles, which are short and
thick, by their ligula, which is entire, and by the oviposi¬
tor of the female, which is sometimes projecting and com¬
posed of three thread-like parts, sometimes spirally roll¬
ed within the abdomen, and of a capillary form. They
compose the old genus Sirex of Linn.
The antennae of these insects are filiform or setaceous,
vibratory, and composed of from ten to twenty-five arti¬
culations. The head is rounded and nearly globular, the
labrum very small, the maxillary palpi filiform, consisting
of from three to five articulations, and the labial of three,
of which the last is largest. The body is almost cylindri¬
cal. The anterior or posterior tarsi, and in several spe¬
cies the colour of the abdomen, differ according to the
sexes. The females deposit their eggs in ancient^trees,
generally in those of the pine tribe. The ovipositor is
lodged at the base of the abdomen, between two valves,
which form a protecting groove.
In the genus Oryssus, Lat. (Plate CCXLIV. fig. 9),
the antennae are inserted near the mouth, the mandibles
are without teeth, the maxillary palpi are long and five-
articulate, the posterior extremity of the body is almost
rounded and slightly prolonged, and the ovipositor is ca¬
pillary and spirally rolled in the interior of the abdomen.
There are only two species found in Europe, both of which
are exceedingly active, and occur on trees in spring. We
have figured O. coronatus, the sole British species. In
Sirex properly so called ( Urocerus., Geoff), Plate CCXLIV.
fig. 8, the antennas, inserted near the front, consist of from
thirteen to twenty-five articulations, the mandibles are
toothed on their inner side, the maxillary palpi are very
small, almost conical, of two articulations, and the extre¬
mity of the last segment of the abdomen is prolonged in
the form of a tail. The ovipositor consists of three threads.
These insects are of rather large size. They inhabit
more particularly forests of pine and fir, in cold and
mountainous countries, and during flight produce a buzz¬
ing noise, like that of an humble-bee. The larvae have six
feet, with the posterior extremity of the body terminat¬
ing in a point. It lives in the interior of wood, where it
spins a cocoon, and undergoes its metamorphosis. Our
most noted species is the *S. gigas of Linn. The male
has a yellow abdomen, with a black extremity; the fe¬
male is black, with a yellow spot behind each eye, and
the second and three terminal rings of the abdomen also
of the latter colour. Owing to the disparity of aspect of
the sexes, they have been not unfrequently described by
naturalists as distinct species.
FAMILY II PUPIVORA.*
The various groups which compose this family are dis¬
tinguished by the abdomen being attached to the thorax
by a simple portion of its transverse diameter, or even in
many instances merely by a slender thread or pedicle, so
that its mode of insertion is distinct and obvious, and ad¬
mits of a separate movement. The larvae are apodal, and
for the most part parasitical and carnivorous. Latreille
divides them into six tribes, as follows.
Tribe 1st, Evaniales. ^'Tera0^
In these the wings are raised, and the upper at least ^er^an"
are areolated. The antennae are filiform or setaceous,
and composed of from thirteen to fourteen articulations.
The mandibles are dentated on the inner side. The max¬
illary palpi consist of six, and the labial of four articula¬
tions. The abdomen is implanted on the thorax,—in
some, just beneath the scutellum. The ovipositor is usu¬
ally projecting, and composed of three setae.
The following are the principal genera: Evania, Fab.
{Sphex,lAun) Plate CCXLIV. figs. 10 and 13; Pelecinus,
Lat., ibid. fig. 12; Fsinus, Fab. {Ichneumon, Linn.) ibid,
fig. 14; Aulacus, Jur. and Paxylloma, Brebisson.
I ribe 2d, Ichneumonides.
In these the wings are also veined, and the superior
always exhibit on their disc closed or completed cells.
The abdomen takes its rise between the two posterior
legs. The antennae are generally filiform or setaceous
(very rarely clubbed), and composed of a great number
of articulations. In the majority the mandibles have no
tooth on the inner side, and terminate in a bifid point.
The maxillary palpi, always apparent or projecting, have
usually not more than five articulations. The ovipositor
consists of three threads or setae.
Such is a brief exposition of the technical characters of ■
a tribe of insects which embraces almost the whole of the
great genus Ichneumon of Linnaeus, and of which the na¬
tural economy and habits are so remarkable that we shall
here take leave to extend our observations on their his¬
tory. Perhaps we could not better illustrate the complex
nature of the modern science of Entomology than by stat¬
ing, that what we must here pass over in the space of a
few columns, and which, even in the publications of com¬
paratively recent writers, does not form a very important
or greatly enlarged feature, occupies, in a work to which
we have lately devoted our attention, upwards of 2800
pages.3
The general term Ichneumonides comprehends an ex¬
tensive series of insects, important on account of the pur¬
poses to which they are subservient in the economy of
nature, and deriving considerable interest from the pecu¬
liar manner in which these purposes are effected. They
differ from most of the other members of the class to which
they belong, in their mode of providing for their young,—
presenting this peculiarity, that they deposit their eggs in the
living bodies of other insects. In a tribe of such extent,
considerable variety of external appearance necessarily pre¬
vails ; but a genuine Ichneumon may in general be known
by its elongated form, attenuated, and in most cases petio-
lated abdomen, terminated frequently in a long fissile seta ;
and by its filiform, porrected, often recurved and annulated
antennae, to which a constant vibratory motion is impart¬
ed. The European species vary in size from a fraction of
a line to fifteen lines ; those of tropical countries, however,
greatly exceed these dimensions, a few of them ranking
even among the largest insects. Upwards of 1300 spe¬
cies have been described as natives of Europe, of which
number a great many hundreds exist in Britain.4 I he
frequency of their occurrence, and singular habits of
life, which often force them unexpectedly on the no¬
tice of naturalists while engaged in the study of insect
1 From ovsx, tail, and horn.
2 From pupa, and voro, to devour, in allusion to their destruction of other insects by depositing eggs in their bodies, which usually
destroy the pupm.
3 We allude to the complete and careful Ichneumonologia Europcea of Professor Gravenhorst of Breslau, in three very thick volumes
8vo, 1829
* In the Systcma Nrfurce (12 h edition), Linnaeus describes only seventy-seven species of Ichneumon.
ENTOMOLOGY.
185
Hymenop- transformations, have secured some degree of attention for The body of the Ichneumons is more or less elongated, Hymenop-
Terebran tr^e’ even ^rom ^le ea,'liest periods. The word and in most instances naked and shining, seldom rough r „ tera
tL.lan" ^hneumon occurs in the natural history of Aristotle, by or impressed with punctures. It is occasionally covered, fei^bran-
wl10a'i it is applied to a species of Sphex. Ray appears particularly on the head and thorax, with a pubescence
to be the first who used it to designate the tribe of insects composed of slender erect hairs, or it is somewhat seri-
to which it has ever since been restricted. Little, how- ceous and opaque, with a soft decumbent pubescence,
ever, was known regarding the structure or habits of these The prevailing colours are rufous, black, and yellow, va-
creatures till the time of Frisch, who subjected them to riously intermingled with lines and patches of white. In
an anatomical examination, and described the parts of the the great majority of species, there are one or two spots
mouth, and formation of the wings, with great accuracy of the latter colour on the thorax, at the insertion of the
and minuteness. He was the first who employed the wings. The scutellum is most frequently white. The
form and relative position of the cells of the latter to as- feet are very often of a reddish colour, at times red and
sist in distinguishing genera. Much valuable information black; but they are never entirely black, the anterior fe-
resulted from the observations and experiments of Reau- mora being always pale on the under side. The head is
mur, whose work may be referred to for many interesting prominent, generally orbiculate or subovate anteriorly, in
details regarding the manners and habits of the Ichneu- many instances a little narrowed towards the neck, and
monidesd Degeer also contributed materially to eluci- nearly of the same breadth as the thorax. The forehead
date their history, and proposed a new arrangement of is sometimes armed with one or two short erect horns,
the family, characterized by his usual accuracy of discrimi- placed between the antennae and stemmata. The latter
natlon* are three in number, and disposed in a triangular form.
In the numerous works on Entomology which appeared The antennae in the greater number of species are shorter
during the latter half of the eighteenth century, our know- than the body; in a few they are of the same length, very
ledge of these insects kept pace with the increased zeal rarely longer, porrected, generally curved or involuted
manifested towards the study of natural history during after death, especially in the females, filiform or setaceous,
that important period. Linnaeus, Scopoli, Fabricius, sometimes slightly compressed at the middle, as in some
Schrank, Panzer, and others of inferior name, applied species of .PAyyar/eMow, distinctly compressed in the i3an/-
themselves successfully to investigate their history—re- cerotes, much compressed and dilated in the Eucerotes, and
ducing the information derived from their predecessors to clavate in the Hellwigice. They consist of from eigh-
a more systematic form, and greatly increasing the amount teen to sixty articulations, of which the first or radicle is
of known species. In 1807 J urine published his new method small, globose, and sunk in the head ; the second or scape
for the classification of Hymenoptera, already mentioned, sub-cylindrical or sub-clavate, rarely ovate, very rarely
I he application of his principles to the Ichneumonides sub-globose, always thicker than the rest (except in the
afforded less satisfactory results than in most of the other antennae of the Barycerotes andi the Eucerotes), and longer
tribes. Like all systems founded on a partial view of or- than the two following; the third and fourth very short,
ganic structure, it led, in many instances, to the violation rather stout, and often so closely united that they may be
of natural order, by separating cognate species, and asso- regarded as one joint; the fourth always shorter than the
ciating others having no positive affinity. But though third, which is at times very inconspicuous ; the fifth long,
Jurine failed to establish an efficient mode of arrange- cylindrical; the remainder gradually decreasing in lengtl),
ment, he rendered important service to subsequent inquir- so that the apical joints often appear transverse. Such is
the general appearance of the antennae; but they are lia¬
ble to numerous modifications. The mandibles are cor¬
neous, more or less arcuate, generally broadest at the
base, and narrowed towards the apex ; in a few instances
they are straight, and in others linear, or even dilated at
ers, by describing minutely, and furnishing with a suitable
terminology, the variously modified forms of the organs
of flight, which are found to afford characters of consi¬
derable value for the discrimination of genera. Latreille
at different times published arrangements of this tribe,
and by the number of his sectional divisions, generally the extremity, where they are furnished with two teeth,
founded on obvious characters, greatly facilitated the iden- except in a very few species, which have the apex entire
tifying of species.- But the amount of these had increas- or tridentate. The maxillae consist of two parts, of which
ed to such an extent, and they were found to approximate the basal portion, or stipes as it has been called, is usually
so closely to each other in external characters, that a of a corneous consistence and somewhat lanceolate form;
comprehensive division, and a more detailed description of the other portion (mala) is of a membranaceous substance,
specific difference, became indispensable. This desidera- and bifid or bipartite. The palpi are four in number, elon-
tum has recently been supplied by the publication of an
extensive and elaborate work on the Ichneumonides by
Professor Gravenhorst; an individual eminently qualified
to unravel the complexities of this difficult tribe. An ex¬
tensive intercourse with men of science enabled him to
gate, filiform, and unequal; the maxillary are rather long,
and consist of five joints, very rarely of four. They have
been described by Fabricius and Panzer as having six
joints. The third joint is generally the longest; the
first, second, and fourth, very short; sometimes, however,
amass a large collection of these insects from all parts of one or other of these, or the fifth, is longest, and in a
very few cases the third is shortest; in some species all
the articulations are of equal length. The labial palpi
are rather short, and consist of five joints, very rarely of
three.
The Ichneumonides, like the rest of the Hymenoptera,
are provided with four wings, composed of thin mem¬
brane, and of corneous ribs. These ribs are generally deno-
Europe; while habits of minute observation and patient
research, combined with just views of systematic arrange¬
ment, and an accurate perception of the affinities of con¬
secutive groups, qualified him to employ to the best ad¬
vantage the ample materials thus obtained. The result
of his labours appeared in 1829, as specified in a note on
our preceding page. The arrangement adopted is funda
mentally the same as that previously published by him- minated nerves or nervures; and the various spaces into
self and Nees ab Esenbeck.3 which the wing is divided by their intersection are called
1 Mtmoircs, tome ii. iv. et vi.
2 Histoire Naturelle, generate et particnliere, des Crustaces et des Insectes, tom. iii. et xiii.; see also llegnc Animal, t. v. p. 281.
8 r^be arrangement alluded to appeared in 1818, in the 9th volume of Novorum Actorum Acadeinice Naturae Curiosorum.
VOL. IX.
186
ENTOMOLOGY.
Hymenop- cells or areolets. The base of the wing (radix), or that
lera portion of it which is inserted into the thorax, isofasub-
Terebran- gtance intermediate between corneousandmembranaceous,
, and is always more or less coloured. It is partially co-
vered with a hard convex scale (sguamula), which, how¬
ever, may more properly be regarded as an appendage of
the thorax. The anterior wings (fig. A) are longer than
the posterior, narrow throughout a considerable portion
of their length, and gradually dilated towards the extre¬
mity. The stigma (a) is distinctly marked, and varies
much in size. The thick rib of the anterior margin, ex¬
tending between the stigma and the dorsal angle of the
wing, is called the radius (b). By the anastomosing of
the nerves, ten or eleven cells are formed, of which the
three at the base of the wing are named humeral (hume-
rales), 1, 2, 3; one radial (radialis), 4; two or three cu¬
bital (cubitales), 5, 6, 7 ; two lying under these discoidal
(discoidales), 8, 9; and two towards the margin posterior
(posticce), 10, 11. When the cells are viewed in relation to
the breadth of the wing, the three situate at the apex or
posterior margin are said to be external (5, 8, 10) ; those
next the humeral cells internal (7, 11); and those be¬
tween the external and internal cells intermediate (6, 9).
Of the humeral cells, that which lies next the radius is
named the external (1), that next the margin the inter¬
nal (3), and that which lies between these two the inter¬
mediate (2). The intermediate cubital cell (6) is gene¬
rally denominated the areolet, and is important on account
of the distinctive characters it affords. The interior cu¬
bital cell (7) is very large, in consequence of the nerve
which ought to divide it into two parts, at least which
does so in the other Hymenoptera, having become obso¬
lete. In many species, however, a portion of this nerve
is visible (z); and in some instances it extends nearly to
the centre of the cell; but it is usually very short, or a
projecting angle alone indicates the point whence it
ought to issue ; and in the less typical species all traces of
it are obliterated. The areolet likewise is occasionally
awanting; different individuals of the same species have
it or have it not; and examples occur in which it is dis¬
tinctly formed in one wing and awanting in the other. In
general, however, it is present, and may readily be dis¬
tinguished from the other cells by its inferior size and an¬
gular form. It is either five-angled or quadrangular, tri¬
angular or orbiculate. But all these forms are liable to
numerous modifications, and one passes into another. The
posterior wings (B) are shorter and narrower than the an¬
terior, and nearly of equal breadth throughout. By the
anastomosing of the nerves, seven cells are formed, of
which the three at the base of the wing are named inter- Hymenop.
nal (1, 2, 3), and four at the posterior margin external te)'a
(4, 5, 6, 7). In the sub-genus Pezomachus the wings are ertt-aran*
generally absent, and when present are extremely im-
perfect, and usually unfit for the purposes of flight, al¬
though their structure, as far as it can be traced, exactly
corresponds to that of the more perfect species. The
abdomen, which is very variable in form, is composed of
seven or eight segments, the eighth being more or less
concealed, and often entirely obsolete. This imperfect
development of some of the segments has led authors to
give various accounts of their number. In addition to
the seven usually enumerated, Audouin is of opinion that
there is another of very small size, which unites the ab¬
domen to the thorax. According to Blainville, there are
never fewer than ten segments, of which the two at the
apex are always concealed. The first or basal segment
bears on each side of it a small tubercle, more or less dis¬
tinct, which forms the outlet to a spiracle. When the
tubercles are placed very near the base, and the anterior
part of the basal segment is not much narrower than the
following segments, and these nearly correspond to the
breadth of the thorax, the abdomen is said to be sessile;
the posterior part of the first segment being so short that
it can with difficulty be distinguished, and the anterior
part consequently appearing to adhere immediately to
the thorax. If this segment, or the posterior part of it,
be gradually contracted towards the base, the abdomen
is said to be sub-sessile or sub-petiolate. When the poste¬
rior part is narrow and elongated, linear or filiform, that
part is called the petiole or footstalk, and the abdomen is
said to be petiolate.
The sexes of these insects can with difficulty be dis¬
tinguished,-—few species affording any permanent exter¬
nal marks of sexual difference. The males in some in¬
stances differ from the females in having a more slender
abdomen, in others the antennae are thicker, and in some
species they are more slender than in the females. Many
of the latter are distinguished by having a white ring
round the antennae,1 which after death become curved or
spirally convoluted. The males may frequently be known
by having the colours with which they are adorned clear¬
er and more distinctly defined than in the opposite sex.
But the most certain, and often the most obvious mark
of sexual distinction, is the ovipositor with which the fe¬
males are provided. This remarkable appendage varies
in its form, in fine accordance with the varied economy
of different species. Some Ichneumons deposit their eggs
on the bodies of caterpillars; an operation which they
accomplish by merely piercing the skin. Others, in order
to lodge their eggs in a proper receptacle, are obliged to
perforate the nests of insects, and to penetrate to the bot¬
tom of crevices too narrow to admit of the whole body.
The former are furnished with a short, retractile oviposi¬
tor, seldom exserted, and lodged in a groove on the under
side of the abdomen. But the ovipositor of the latter is
often of considerable length, exceeding in some instances
that of the whole body. It is composed of three parts ;
that in the centre is a slender flexile seta, of a corneous
substance, very smooth and shining, generally straight and
rounded, rarely arcuate and compressed, and most com¬
monly of a rufous or castaneous colour. It is provided
with a longitudinal central canal, through which the eggs
are propelled. The apex is often compressed and dilated,
and impressed with transverse inequalities ; it is frequent¬
ly compressed throughout its whole length, and occasion-
1 In regard, however, to this distinctive character between the sexes, Gravenhorst observes in his preface (page 10) “ nonnul-
larum mares quoque hoc ornamento gaudent.”
EN T O M
Hymenop-ally bent upwards at the extremity. On each side of this
Tprphr'in c^ntral seta Is P^ced another, adapted, by the concavity
tia °f t le Inner surface’ t0 enclose it as in a sheath. These
^a^eral appendages are generally punctate and pubescent
externally, and somewhat incrassate towards the apex.
They issue from the terminal segment of the abdomen ;
but the central tube or oviduct originates in the interior,
and must necessarily be connected with the viscera, to
whose contents it forms the outlet.
When a female Ichneumon, furnished with an appara¬
tus of the kind just described, has discovered the retreat
of a larva or pupa, in which she wishes to deposit her eggs,
she stations herself immediately over the spot, and raisino-
her abdomen to a vertical position, bends the ovipositor
under her belly, and thrusts it into the aperture. This
operation is much facilitated by the great flexibility of
the instrument, and the ease with which it can be accom¬
modated to any circumstances in which it requires to be
employed. It penetrates to a considerable depth into the
body of the larva, lest the eggs, by being placed near the
surface, should be thrown off when the skin is changed.
Upon their exclusion from the egg, the parasitical young
make their way still farther into the interior of the larva,
consuming the fat that surrounds the muscles and viscera,
but carefully abstaining from doing injury to the vital or¬
gans. In this state they are gregarious, and were found
by Reaumur (who has given a figure of a caterpillar so in¬
fested) to be arranged in regular rows in the interior of
the caterpillar. When they have arrived at maturity,
they undergo their destined change either in the body of
the larva which served them as a matrix, or, gnawing a
passage through its skin, they construct externally their silk
cocoons, and are then converted into pupa?, from which,
after a longer or shorter period, they emerge in their de¬
clared or perfect form.
A still more remarkable method of rearing its offspring
is adopted by the Ophion luteus, and probably by all the
other species belonging to that genus.1 The eggs of
this insect are deposited on the caterpillar of the Puss
Moth (Cerura vinula), to which they firmly adhere by
means of an elongated pedicle or foot-stalk. When the
larva? are evolved, they do not enter the body of the ca¬
terpillar, but remain attached to the columnar appendage,
through which they extract, by suction, the juices neces¬
sary for their sustenance. The caterpillar dies before it
assumes the pupa state, but this event in no case proves
fatal to the larvae, as it either does not occur till they re¬
quire no fuither nourishment, or they avail themselves of
that pi inciple of accommodation to existing circumstan¬
ces, which insects possess in such a remarkable degree,
and undergo their destined changes as soon as their sup¬
ply of food begins to be withdrawn.
Ichneumons are generally active and rapid in their mo¬
tions ; many of them, particularly those belonging to the
genera Ichneumon proper, and Cryptus, continually vi¬
brate their antennae, a circumstance which induced the
older writers to call them Muscce vibratoricB ; others, such
as the Ophiones, are of slower habits, and have not been
observed to exhibit this peculiarity in the movements
of their antennae. The larger species fly with con¬
siderable celerity, and cannot very readily be approach¬
ed, unless when engaged in depositing their eggs; an
operation with which they are so entirely engrossed, that
all regard for their own safety appears to abandon them.
Ihey occur in flowers, on the trunks of trees, and on
plants; also on walls and in houses; but their favourite
places of resort are the flowers of umbelliferous plants.
O L O G Y. 187
The species furnished with a long ovipositor usually fre- Hymenop-
quent walls and the trunks of trees, for it is in these situa- i tera
tions that they find the larvae on which a singular instinct lerebran-
leads them to deposit their eggs. tm.
Our knowledge is obscure regarding the food of these
insects in the perfect state ; but it appears to be derived
from the vegetable rather than the animal kingdom. We
kept one alive, however, during the greater part of a
winter on calf-foot jelly. They have often been observed
to examine carefully with their mouths the pollen of
plants; and it is probable that the pollen, or rather the
honey, of flowers, affords them nourishment. Indeed it
is expressly affirmed by Fabricius, that it is this material
which forms their food. They do not seem to attack or
devour other insects, or larvae, or spiders, but associate
with them without offering the least annoyance. It is
likely, therefore, that those authors who assert that they
are of predatory habits, mistook for Ichneumons certain
species of an allied group (Spheges), to which they bear
resemblance. Whenever they attack a larvae, it is not for
the purpose of employing it as food, but to convert it into
a matrix for the reception of their young. But, though
they do not devour spiders, as has been asserted, that in¬
sidious tribe of creatures is by no means exempted from
their destructive visits,—for they oviposit either on the
spiders’ eggs, or on the dense silky web in which these are
frequently enveloped; and the larvae when excluded con¬
sume the substance of the eggs, and are then changed
into nymphs and perfect insects within that silken cham¬
ber, so carefully constructed for a far different purpose.
The larvae of the Ichneumonides are without feet. The
tissue of their cocoons is of fine silk, usually of a beauti¬
ful yellow, or pure white, according to the species. Some,
however, are banded with brown and yellow. We have
already stated that their positions are various. A remark¬
able instance is occasionally met with of a suspended co¬
coon. It hangs to the leaves or twigs of the oak-tree,
fastened at one extremity by a silken cord. This cocoon
is farther remarkable for the manner in which it executes
little springs, several inches in height. These are no doubt
occasioned by the enclosed larva, which probably has
space enough within to admit of its body being bent and
retorted, after the fashion of the little worms which we
sometimes see vaulting within the hollow walls of an old
cheese.
Several Ichneumons are apterous. These Linnaeus
placed with the Mutillae. Degeer describes one which
proceeded from a ligneous gall which he found upon the
stalk of a species of Potentilla. It first attracted his no¬
tice by two inflated conical pieces, pointed at the end, at¬
tached to the upper and posterior portion of the thorax,
and directed backwards. They were moveable at the
base, and the insect worked them about in all directions
while itself in motion. It was extremely small, and leapt
with great activity. As its hinder thighs were not en¬
larged, Degeer inferred that its springs were produced by
curving its abdomen, and then pressing that part forcibly
against the plane of its position.
In regard to the situations most favourable for collect¬
ing Ichneumonides, we may observe, that wherever other
insects, especially in the larva state, abound, there also
we may expect to find multitudes of these parasitical de¬
predators. Having so greatly extended our general ob¬
servations on this interesting tribe, our limits will less
easily admit of our entering into descriptive details of
genera and species. For these the reader must consult
the works to which we have alluded. We shall however
1 Degeer, ii. p. 850, pi. xxix. fig. 15.
1S8 E N T O M
Hvmenop-enumerate the genera adopted by LatreWe. dhey are
tera as follows: Stephanus, Jur. (Plate CCXLIV. fig. 15 and
Terebran- 16); Xorides, Lat.; PlMPLA (ibid. fig. 19); Cryptus,
Ophion, and Banchus, Fab., Helw.; Joppa, Fab. (ibid,
fig. 21),; Ichneumon proper (ibid. fig. 17); Alomya,
Fab.; Peltastes, Illiger (ibid. fig. 18); Ac^enitus and
Agathis, Lat.; Bracon, Jur.; Microgaster, Lat.;
Helcon, Nees d’Es.; Sigalphus, Lat.; Chelonus, Jur.;
Alysia, Lat.1
We shall now exhibit a few examples of Gravenhorst’s
systematic exposition of the Ichneumonides, and these we
shall select from British species.
Genus Ichneumon, Grav, Abdomen petiolate, con¬
vex ; head transverse ; scutellum flat or convex ; areolet in
most instances pentagonal; (ovipositor concealed or sub-
exserted).
This genus includes a great many sub-genera, of which
we shall choose the first, or that which bears the same
name as its principal, viz.
Sub-genus Ichneumon. Abdomen oblong or sub-ovate ;
the first segment globose, rough, the petiole long, lineai,
arcuate ; areolet pentagonal ; antennae and feet of mode¬
rate or medium size; (ovipositor concealed or sub-ex
serted).
Section 1th of Gravenhorst.
Scutellum pale; the abdomen either with pale markings,
or some of the segments entirely yellow, the apical segment
black.
I. luctatorius, Fab. Linn. Lat. Grav. Length of the male
from five to nine, of the female from five to seven and
a half lines. The head of the male, with the mouth and
face, yellow ; of the female, either entirely black, or,
with the interior orbits of the eyes, a lateral spot on the
clypeus, the palpi and mandibles, yellow, the apex of the
latter fuscous. Antennae of the male porrect, setaceous,
half the length of the body, or a little longer, the first
joint yellow beneath; those of the female half the length
of the body, curved at the tip, from the ninth to the thir¬
teenth, or from the twelfth to the fourteenth joints, white
above, the basal joint sometimes ferruginous beneath.
Thorax gibbous; with a yellow line or spot before the
wings, and another beneath them, one of which is occa¬
sionally awanting; the anterior line, in the female, as¬
cending as far as the neck, of which the upper margin, in
the male, is at times yellow; the male has sometimes a
yellow spot beneath the scutellum. Scutellum yellow.
Wings of moderate size, or rather ample, silaceo-hya-
line; the stigma fulvous or ferruginous, rarely fusces-
cent, the radius fuscous or ferruginous; the radix yel¬
low or ferruginous, rarely fuscous; the squamula either
yellow or fuscous, with a whitish or rufescent spot; the
areolet pentagonal. The feet of moderate size ; the an¬
terior femora on the under side, and for the most part
at the apex also, yellow, black towards the base, and
sometimes entirely black : the intermediate femora, with
the apex, sometimes as far as the middle, and in a few
cases the whole under surface, yellow; tibiae yellow, the
posterior black or fuscous at the apex ; tarsi yellow, or
flavo-ferruginous, the posterior with the tips of the joints
O L O G Y.
sometimes blackish. Abdomen of the male elongated, Hyrnenop-
longer sometimes by one half than the head and thorax, *^ra
of the same breadth or a little narrower than the thorax, lei^ran"
from the second to the third segments nearly of equal
breadth, the following gradually narrowed towards the ex¬
tremity ; that of the female oblongo-ovate, a little longer
than the head and thorax, and of the same breadth, the apex
acute ; the second and third segments yellow, in some
females mixed with ferruginous and the margins fusces-
cent; the second segment of the males occasionally with
a lateral abbreviated fuscous line, the third with a trans¬
verse line or two fuscous spots at the base ; the fourth
generally with a fulvous or rufous spot in the angles at
the base, and more rarely the outer margin, or the base,
or a lateral mark, rufescent or yellowish ; the fifth very
rarely with the outer margin yellowish.
The males of this species occur in considerable profu¬
sion in Britain, and throughout the greater part of Eu¬
rope ; the females are very rare.2 They frequent sides of
fields, and open places in woods, and are often to be found
on umbelliferous plants during the autumnal months.
They are liable to great variation both in size and co¬
louring. Roxburghshire, and near Edinburgh, in consi¬
derable plenty.
Genus Tryphon, Grav. Abdomen convex, petiolate, or
sub-sessile ; head transverse ; scutellum flat or convex ;
areolet triangular, or irregular, or absent; (ovipositor con¬
cealed, or sub-exserted).
Sub-genus Tryphon. Abdomen oblong, sub-sessile, or
sub-petiolate ; antennae slender or middle-sized ; feet of
moderate length.
Section kth of Gravenhorst.
Scutellum black, abdomen either entirely rufous, or rufous
and black, or yellow o,nd black.
T. elongator, Grav. Fab. Length from two and a half
to five lines. The mouth generally rufescent, the apex
of the mandibles black, or entirely black. The fore¬
head with an erect horn, variable in length, but never
exceeding that of the basal joint of the antennae. An¬
tennae setaceous, shorter than the body; the first joint
black, very rarely ferruginous beneath; the following ge¬
nerally fulvous or ferruginous, fuscous above, some¬
times entirely fulvous or ferruginous. Thorax gibbous.
Wings most commonly yellow-hyaline; the stigma and
radius ferruginous, or pitchy straw-coloured, the ra¬
dix straw-coloured, the squamula either black or pale
ferruginous ; areolet irregular or sub-triangular, sub-pe¬
tiolate or sessile. Feet rather stout, the coxae and tro¬
chanters black; the anterior femora yellow or testaceous,
black externally towards the base ; the intermediate
femora black, with the apex yellow or testaceous, some¬
times almost entirely testaceous on the under side;
the posterior femora entirely black; the tibiae yellow,
rarely testaceous, the hinder with the apex and base
black; the tarsi rufous or rufo-ferruginous, claws fus¬
cous. Abdomen sub-petiolate, generally longer than the
head and thorax, and nearly of the same breadth, sub-
clavate, or sub-ovate, or fusiform ; first segment canalicu¬
late, gradually dilated towards the apex, about one half
longer than broad, generally black, with the margin ru-
1 For their characters, see Regne Animal, t. v. pp. 285-90- , ? . ■
2 It is probable that the predominance in number of one sex over the other, so often alluded to by authors as an anomalous fact in
the history of Ichneumons, is more apparent than real, and arises, in some instances, from the distinctive marks ot sex being so slight
as to elude observation, while in others the sexes are so dissimilar that each of them is received as a different species. e e ei-
mination of the sexes is impeded by the difficulty of observing their intercourse. “ Nunquam mihi successit, ’ says Gravenhorsi,
“ par copula junctum aut copulam parans invenire, licet forsan centum millia individua viva Ichneumonidum, m statu eorum i eio
natural!, viderim, et per triginta annos omnem operam dederim ut copulam viderem.” (\ ol. i. page 98.)
ENTOMOLOGY.
189
Hymenop-fous or fulvous, sornetimes almost entirely rufous or ful-
tera V0USs wjth the base black; tbe second, third, and fourth
^ertei^ran' segments, sometimes also the base of the fifth, yellow or
fulvous. Ovipositor very short, black, generally con¬
cealed.
This species abounds in most parts of Europe. It is
plentiful in England, and is not unfrequent in Roxburgh¬
shire and other southern counties of Scotland. It like¬
wise occurs near Edinburgh.
Genus Alomya, Grav. Abdomen petiolate, convex ;
head globose ; areolet triangular.
A. orator, Grav.; Ich. orator, Fab. Lat.; Ich. elongator,
Gmel. Oliv. Length from five and a half to seven and a
half lines. Head sub-globose, somewhat quadrate when
viewed from above, with the angles obtuse, sub-transverse ;
the face sometimes with a slightly elevated tubercle. An¬
tennae of the male setaceous, shorter than the body, or
nearly of the same length, porrect, entirely black ; those
of the female moniliform, not half the length of the body,
incurved at the apex, from the third to the thirteenth or
fourteenth joints, ferruginous or testaceous, graduall}^ be¬
coming paler. Thorax very slightly gibbous. Scutellum
triangular, flat. Wings of moderate size, hyaline or smoky-
hyaline, the stigma ferruginous or fulvous, the radius
piceous, the radix piceous or fuscous or ferruginous, the
squamula black or fuscous ; areolet pentagonal. The feet
of the male with the coxae and trochanters black; the
femora of the fore legs ferruginous or fulvous, generally
with the apex sub-testaceous and the base black ; those
of the middle legs generally black, with the apex ferru¬
ginous ; those of the hind legs entirely black; the tibia?
yellow or testaceous, the hinder occasionally with the
apex fuscous ; the tarsi testaceo-ferruginous. The legs
of the female are shorter and thicker than in the male,
the coxae, trochanters, and femora black, the latter, in the
fore legs, for the most part almost entirely, or the apex
only, rufous or ferruginous ; the tibiae either entirely fer-
rugino-testaceous, or testaceous with the apex ferrugi¬
nous; tarsi fusco-ferruginous. Abdomen petiolate, convex,
elongate ; that of the male rather more than one half
longer than the thorax, and nearly of the same breadth,
the segments from the second to the sixth equally broad;
the petiole linear and slender; the colour black and ru¬
fous, variously intermingled. Ovipositor concealed.
This species is of frequent occurrence both on the
continent of Europe and in Britain. Gravenhorst is of
opinion that Alomya rictor, Curtis, Ent Brit. 120, is a va¬
riety of this species.
Genus Cryptus, Grav. Abdomen petiolate, convex ;
head transverse; scutellum flat or convex; (ovipositor
exserted.)
Sub-germs Pezomachus, from <T£^o^a%oj, a fighter on foot,
because the species, from the imperfect development of
the organs of flight, are unable to attack larvae on the
wing. Body small; abdomen petiolate; wings awanting
or very small; ovipositor exserted, short, or of ordinary
length.
P. Hopei, Grav. Supplementa Partis ii. vol. i. p. 715.
Length from two and a fourth to two and a half lines.
Head black, palpi rufous. Antennae slender, curved, ra¬
ther more ‘than half the length of the body; from the
first to the fifth joint rufous, the sixth or the sixth and
seventh fuscous, from the eighth to the eleventh white,
rufous beneath, the remainder rufous, fuscous above.
Thorax and scutellum rufous; metathorax with two very
short obtuse spines. Wings shorter than the thorax.
Feet somewhat slender, rufous ; the apex of the hinder
femora, and sometimes of the tibiae, black, the base of the
latter whitish. Abdomen scarcely longer than the head
and thorax, and a little broader, oblong-ovate; the three
basal segments rufous ; the fourth, with the sides and Hymenop-
sometimes the base, also rufous ; the fifth and sixth black ; ^ tera
the seventh white. Ovipositor rather more than half the rIe^:,ian'
length of the abdomen, the sheath black, the tube ru- ^ ^ ,
fous.
This insect, hitherto found in Britain only, occurs not
unfrequently in oak coppices in Roxburghshire, near Min-
to, Cavers, &c. It is named by Gravenhorst after a dis¬
tinguished English collector, our honoured correspondent,
the Rev. F. W. Hope, by whose effective practical re¬
searches the Ichneumonologia has been enriched by .many
new species.
Genus Pimpla, Grav. Abdomen convex, sessile ; scu¬
tellum triangular or sub-orbicular; (ovipositor exserted).
Sub-genus Lissonota, from Aitfcug, smooth, and vwrog, the
bach, in allusion to the smooth upper surface of the abdo¬
men. The abdomen in most smooth, shining; the apical
segments of the female entire on the under side; areolet
either awanting or triangular; (ovipositor long).
Section \st of Grarenhorst.
Scutellum and abdomen black ; the latter sometimes xoith
the apical margin of the segments castaneous.
L. setosa, Grav.; Ich. setosus, Oliv.; Ich. immaculatus,
Gmel.? Length from seven to nine lines. Labrum sometimes
obscurely ferruginous. Antennae subfiliform, somewhat in¬
curved and tapering towards the apex, half the length of the
body, at times nearly of the same length. Thorax slight¬
ly gibbous. Wings of moderate size, smoky-hyaline, the
stigma and radius nigro-fuscous, the radix piceo-fuscous or
piceo-ferruginous, the squamula black or fusco-ferruginous;
areolet sessile or sub-petiolate, triangular. Feet elongate,
fulvous, the coxae black, the posterior tarsi for the most
part black or fuscous. Abdomen a little longer and nar¬
rower than the head and thorax, or of the same breadth,
punctate; that of the male sub-cylindric, somewhat nar¬
rowed towards the apex; that of the female oblong or
sub-cylindric ; the margins of the segments elevated, sinn¬
ing ; the first segment sub-canaliculate; the third some¬
times fuscous. Ovipositor the length of the body; the
tube black or fusco-castaneous, rarely fulvous.
This insect is pretty widely distributed over the north
of Europe, and is found occasionally in England.
Sub-genus Pimpla. The segments for the most part
transversely impressed, the intermediate ones broader
than long, those at the apex having, in the females, a lon¬
gitudinal groove or fissure on the under side ; the areolet
triangular; (ovipositor of moderate size, rarely long).
Section 6th of Grarenhorst.
Scutellum, thorax, and abdomen black; the latter some¬
times with rufous bands; posterior coxae black.
P. examinator, Grav.; Cryptus examinator. Fab.; Ich.
rufescens, Gmel. Length of the male from one and two
thirds to four and a half, of the female from two and a half
to six lines. Palpi of the male whitish or yellowish, rarely
piceous. Antennae of the male either entirely black, or fer¬
ruginous on the under side towards the tip, with the first
and second joints, or the first only, whitish. Thorax of
the female, rarely that of the male also, with a whitish or
straw-coloured line or spot, sometimes obsolete, before
the wings. Wings smoky-hyaline ; the stigma and radius
black or fuscous, rarely piceous ; the radix straw-colour¬
ed, in the females for the most part ferruginous or fus¬
cous ; the squamula of the male straw-coloured or fus¬
cous, of the female ferruginous or fuscous, generally with
a whitish spot, seldom entirely whitish; the areolet irre¬
gular, sessile or sub-sessile. Anterior feet rufous or ful-
190 E N T O M
Hymenop-vous, the coxae and trochanters black, in the male some-
r , tera times yellow beneath, the tibiae generally with a pale ring
^e^ran*near the base; the posterior legs, with the coxae, black,
^ having very rarely a rufous mark, or the outer side en¬
tirely rufous ; trochanters black, the apex in the male ge¬
nerally rufous ; femora rufous or rufo-fulvous, the knees
sometimes black, the whole outer side in some females
black; tibiae blackish, with a whitish ring near the base,
in the male sometimes rufous near the apex ; tarsi of the
male black, of the female fuscous or fusco-ferruginous.
Abdomen of the male longer, and rather narrower than
the head and thorax, sub-cylindrical; that of the female
a little longer than the head and thorax, sometimes twice
the length of the thorax, and of the same breadth, sub-
cylindrical or oblongo-ovate; the first segment scrobicu-
late at the base, the rest with their apical margins some¬
what elevated, shining, and generally obsoletely castane-
ous, in the male sometimes ferruginous. Ovipositor half
the length of the abdomen, or a little shorter.
This species usually deposits its eggs on the larva of
some kind of moth, and specimens have been obtained
from the pupa of Tinea padella, and Bombyx fuligiiiosa.
It is not a scarce insect on the continent of Europe, and
it occurs both in England and Scotland. Near Cavers,
Roxburghshire, and in the vicinity of Edinburgh.
Sub-genus Ephialtes. Abdomen long, in most instances
tuberculated ; the anterior segments, and generally the
intermediate ones also, longer than broad, those at the
apex with a longitudinal groove on the under side in the
females : areolet triangular : (ovipositor long).
E. manifestator, Grav.; Ich. manifestator, Linn. Length of
the male from six to eleven, of the female from nine to fif¬
teen lines. Palpi fuscous or ferruginous, the labrum some¬
times obscurely ferruginous. Antennae filiform, half the
length of the body, or a little longer, porrected, often slight¬
ly curved at the tip. Thorax occasionally with a minute
testaceous or ferruginous spot at the base of the wings.
Wings of moderate size, more or less smoky-hyaline, the
stigma more or less obscure; radius fuscous, radix and
squamula ferruginous or straw-coloured, areolet somewhat
regularly triangular, sessile or sub-petiolate. Feet some¬
what slender and elongated, fulvous or rufous ; the pos¬
terior tarsi and tibiae, and sometimes the knees, fuscous,
the tibiae for the most part ferruginous towards the base,
especially on the inner side. Abdomen more than one
half, or three times longer than the head and thorax, of
the same breadth as the thorax, or a little narrower, cy¬
lindrical, black, very rarely fuscous; the first segment
canaliculate, the rest more shining, with an obsolete late¬
ral tubercle and elevated margins, the length of the seg¬
ments from the first to the fifth exceeding their breadth
often by one half. Ovipositor longer than the body,
rarely of the same length, the sheath somewhat pilose;
the tube fuscous or rufo-castaneous, rarely black or straw-
coloured, the apex sub-compressed, lanceolate, faintly im¬
pressed with transverse lines.
This insect, which is the largest of the European Ich-
neumonides, occurs not unfrequently in many parts of
Europe. It is found in England; and in Scotland it has
been observed in Roxburghshire, and near Edinburgh.
“ On the first of October,” says Gravenhorst, “ I observ¬
ed many females of this species on the decaying trunk
of a willow, about to deposit their eggs. They tra¬
versed with much assiduity the barkless trunk, which was
perforated with numerous holes, inhabited no doubt by
the larvae of other insects; and so free were they from
apprehension, that when I touched them with my finger
they did not fly olf, but only slightly averted their bodies.
They searched out and examined the holes by means of
their antennae, which were vibrating incessantly, and ex-
o L o G Y.
ploring on all sides. W’hen they had selected a hole, they Hymenop-
stationed themselves with the four anterior legs over it, tera
and raising the body as high as possible, and the abdomen
perpendicularly, bent the ovipositor downward in such a t
manner that it passed under the belly and thorax, and
entered the hole over which they stood. It not unfre¬
quently happened, when the hole was sufficiently large,
that the whole abdomen was inserted, and the head, feet,
and thorax were the only parts of the insects which re¬
mained free. Frequently also a contest took place be¬
tween two females for the possession of a hole ; but they
did not employ their mandibles on these occasions, their
fighting consisting entirely of violent concussions of their
bodies, and strokes of the feet, till the weaker party re¬
treated. When a female had obtained full possession of
a hole, no attack could displace her; but she retained
her seat even though assailed by a more powerful anta¬
gonist.”
Genus Metopius, Grav. Abdomen sessile, convex,
rough; scutellum quadrangular, the apical angles acute ;
(ovipositor concealed).
M. necatorius, Grav.; Peltastes necatorius, Illiger, Cur¬
tis, Brit. Ent; Ichn. vespoides, Panz. Lat. Length from
five to seven lines. Face concave, the margins elevat¬
ed, either entirely or the sides only yellow, sometimes
with a broad black line or spot in the middle ; palpi at
times yellow or ferruginous. Antennae filiform, a little
shorter than the body, seldom entirely black, with the
joints from the third to the fourteenth ferruginous be¬
neath, gradually becoming more dusky; for the most
part, however, all of them are ferruginous beneath, ex¬
cept the first, which is either entirely black or yellow on
the under side. Thorax gibbous, clothed, especially on
the sides, with a fine whitish down ; a line before the
wings, and another, or a spot, beneath them, yellow;
sometimes also two spots on the back of the metathorax,
and less frequently a lateral spot on the prothorax, and
two small dorsal spots before the scutellum, of same co¬
lour. Scutellum seldom entirely black, the apical angles,
and sometimes the whole apex, yellow. Wings of mo¬
derate size, smoky-hyaline, especially towards the radius,
fulvo-hyaline towards the apex; stigma and radius fer¬
ruginous or fulvous ; radix black, rarely testaceo-piceous ;
squamula black; areolet transversely triangular, some¬
what irregular, sessile or sub-petiolate. Feet of mode¬
rate size, the posterior femora incrassate ; coxae black;
trochanters generally black, with the apex yellow : the an¬
terior femora usually black, with one of the sides more or
less yellow or ferruginous; the middle femora sometimes
with the apex only ferruginous, rarely black, with the
base and apex yellow; the hinder femora generally yel¬
low at the base, with the apex black, very rarely entirely
black ; the tibiae yellow or ferruginous, the anterior rare¬
ly fuscescent on the outer side; the posterior with the
apex more or less blackish, rarely black, with the inner
side ferruginous; the tarsi flavo-ferruginous, or ferrugi¬
nous, the posterior with the joints from the second to the
fifth dusky. Abdomen twice the length of the thorax,
scarcely narrower, cylindric, punctate ; first segment very
short, yellow, with the base, and sometimes a longitudinal
line in the middle, black ; the second with a yellow spot on
both sides in the apical angle, sometimes obsolete ; from
the third to the fifth, and very rarely the sixth also, with
the margins, yellow; the terminal segments occasionally
somewhat blackish-blue.
This species appears to be pretty generally distributed.
It is not unfrequent in England, where it has been ob¬
served to issue from the pupa of Stauropus Fagi. Mr
Curtis conceives this insect to be one of the sexes of M.
dentatus.
E N T O M O L O G Y.
Hymenop- Genus Bassus, Grav. Abdomen sessile, depressed;
Terebran the firS-t seSment flat> equal breadth ; the terminal seg-
tia an" ments in the female sometimes compressed.
Sub-genus Bassus. Areolet either absent or triangular;
antennae and feet of moderate size or slender; (ovipositor
sub-exserted, sub-erect).
¥>. jlavolineatus, Grav. Length three lines. The head
with a facial spot, the palpi and mandibles yellow, the
latter with the apex black. Antennae porrect, rather
longer than the body. I borax with the suture before
the wings, and the lateral one between the prothorax and
nietatborax, together with a transverse line beneath the
scutellum, yellow. Scutellum with the apex yellow.
W ings smoky-hyaline, iridescent, the stigma and radius
black-fuscous, the radius and squamula yellow. Feet ru¬
fous; the fore legs yellowish beneath, the base of the
cox® black; the hind legs with the tarsi and tibiae black,
the latter white at the base. Abdomen slightly depressed,
the length of the head and thorax, and a little narrower ;
the first segment of equal breadth, one half longer than
broad; the remainder transverse. Ovipositor very short,
sub-exserted.
This species has been taken in England by the Rev.
F. W. Ftope, near Netley.
Genus Banchus, Grav. Abdomen compressed or sub¬
compressed, sessile or sub-petiolate.
Sub-genus Banchus. Abdomen sessile, rarely sub-
sessile ; areolet sub-rhomboidal, the lower external nerve
of the interior cell sub-arcuate. (Ovipositor conceal¬
ed).
B. falcator, Grav.; Ich. Venator, Fab.; Ich. falcatorius,
Fab. Gmel. Oliv. Panzer. Length from five and three
fourths to seven lines. Mouth ferruginous, mandibles black
at the base and apex, the external orbits of the eyes,
rarely the internal also, yellow or ferruginous. Antennae
half the length of the body, or a little longer, slender and
incurved towards the apex, beneath rufous or ferruginous,
rarely fusco-ferruginous. Thorax gibbous, generally with
a short sub-testaceous line below the insertion of the
wings. Scutellum tuberculate, rarely sub-acuminate, some¬
times ferruginous, very rarely yellow. Wings middle
sized, fulvo-hyaline or somewhat smoke coloured ; the
stigma, radius, radix, and squamula fulvous, rarely ferru¬
ginous, the latter sometimes with a fuscous spot. Feet
elongate, fulvous, for the most part yellow beneath, the
coxas black, occasionally with a ferruginous mark ; the
hinder tibiae black at the apex, the tarsi ferruginous or
ferrugino-fuscous. Abdomen longer than the head and
thorax; the first segment gradually a little narrowed to¬
wards the apex, nearly one half longer than broad ; from
the first to the fourth segment narrower than the thorax,
the back fusiform, the belly compressed; from the fifth
to the seventh angular, the back, sides, and belly com¬
pressed ; the first segment seldom wholly black, the apex
being generally brown or rufous or fulvous; the second
seldom wholly rufous, or black with a dorsal rufous spot,
but most commonly brown or rufous with the base black,
or the base rufo-ferruginous, the apex fulvous-yellow ;
the third with the back either entirely rufous, or the base
black or the apex yellow, but more commonly black, with
the base and a point at the apex rufous; the fourth some¬
times, rarely also the fifth, sixth, and seventh, with the
apex of the back, rufous.
The female of this species differs considerably from the
male, particularly in the markings of the head and tho¬
rax. Neither of the sexes is rare, as they have been
taken abundantly both on the continent and in England.
Genus Ophion, Grav. Abdomen compressed or sub-
compressed, petiolate; antennae filiform.
Sub-genus Paniscus. Abdomen sub-petiolate compress¬
ed, the back carinate; areolet triangular; the feet and Hymenop-
antennae somewhat slender ; (ovipositor short). tera
P. testaceus. Length of the male from three to nine, Terebran-
of the female from three and three fourths to eight lines.
The mandibles black at the apex, the face sometimes yel-
lowish ; the eyes and ocelli, sometimes also the hinder
part of the head, fuscous or black. The antennae for the
most part obscure or fuscescent at the tip; in the male
rarely fuscous or blackish, the base testaceous-ferrugi¬
nous. Thorax sometimes with longitudinal fuscescent
lines on the back. Wings hyaline or somewhat yellow-
hyaline ; the stigma testaceous or straw-coloured, in the
male sometimes fuscescent, the radius fuscous or testa¬
ceous, the radix and squamula testaceous; areolet irre¬
gular sub-sessile, generally semi-complete, the lower por¬
tion of the exterior nerve obsolete. Feet fulvous, rarely
ferruginous in the male, the hinder tarsi at times of a
paler hue. Abdomen longer, sometimes by one half, than
the head and thorax, compressed, the apex in the male
obtuse, in the female truncate ; testaceous, often fusces¬
cent towards the apex, or somewhat fusco-fulvous to¬
wards the base; the sixth, seventh, and apex of the fifth
segment, very rarely black-fuscous ; the first segment gra¬
dually dilated towards the apex, five or six times longer
than broad, the anterior portion nearly one half longer
than the petiole. Ovipositor the length of a fifth or sixth
part of the abdomen, black, the tube castaneous or fus¬
cous.
This insect is of frequent occurrence throughout the
south of Scotland in the autumn. It is likewise plenti¬
ful in England, and on the continent. It deposits its eggs
on the larvae of various moths, and occasionally on those
of the genus Tenthredo.
Sub-genus Ophion. Abdomen petiolate, compressed,
the back carinate ; areolet absent, the interior cell re¬
ceiving the two recurrent nerves ; feet and antennae slen¬
der, long ; (ovipositor scarcely sub-exserted).
O. luteus, Grav. Fab.; Ich. luteus, Linn. Lat. Length of
the male from six to nine, of the female from four to nine
lines. The head in most individuals entirely rufous, or
the internal orbits of the eyes yellow ; rarely yellow, with
the mouth and face, excepting the internal orbits of the
eyes, rufous ; very rarely entirely yellow ; mandibles black
at the apex ; eyes and stemmata fuscous or blackish.
Antennae either a little longer or a little shorter than
the body. Thorax testaceous or rufous, very seldom
rufo-ferruginous, the prothorax with two longitudinal
pale lines. Scutellum for the most part pale, sometimes
yellow. Wings hyaline or somewhat smoky-hyaline;
the stigma, radius, radix, and squamula fulvous or testa¬
ceous, the upper exterior nerve of the interior cell very
seldom incrassate towards the stigma; in most instan¬
ces, however, the rudiment of the nerve dividing the in¬
terior cell is observable, and it is sometimes produced
as far as the middle, rarely beyond the middle of the
cell. Abdomen testaceous, seldom rufous, the belly ge¬
nerally fuscescent, sometimes also fuscescent or black¬
ish towards the apex. Ovipositor scarcely sub-exserted,
blackish.
This species is pretty generally distributed over the
western parts of Europe, and occurs not unfrequently in
England. The female deposits her eggs on the larv® of
Cerura vinula, Noctua prcecox, and other moths. “ Ils
y sont fixes,” says Latreille, “ au moyen d’un pedicule
long et delie. Les larves y vivent, ayant I’extremite pos-
terieure de leur corps engagee dans les pellicules des ceufs
d’ou elle sont sorties, y croissent, sans empecher la che¬
nille de faires sa coque; mais elles finissent par la tuer,
en consumant sa substance interieure, sefilent ensuite des
coques, les unes aupres des autres, et en sortent sous la
192
ENTOMOLOGY.
II vmenop-forme d’ichneumons.”1 The larvae of another species, O.
tera moderator, Fab. destroy those of its ally Pimpla strobitellce.
Genus Hellwigia. Abdomen petiolate, compressed ;
antennae clavate.
H. elegans. Grav. Length from five to six lines.
Head thick and closely punctate, with two deep irre¬
gular foveae on the forehead, and a longitudinal groove
between the antennae; that of the male yellow, the oc¬
ciput, foveae, and apex of the mandibles black; that of
the female black, the external orbits of the eyes yellow.
Antennae porrect, dilated at the apex a little more than
Half the length of the body, and composed of about
thirty joints ; in the male fulvous, yellowish on the un¬
der side towards the base, the first joint fuscous above ;
in the female rufous, the first three joints black. Thorax
short, gibbous : two simple or hook-shaped spots before the
neck, a short line under the anterior wings, two points or
a single one under the posterior wings, a perpendicular
line or point at the sides of the thorax, a point under the
scutellum, a large semilunar spot on the metathorax, and
another on each side of it, yellow : all these markings in
the male are larger and more contiguous. Scutellum
yellow. Wings middle-sized, hyaline, the stigma straw-
coloured, the radius and nervures piceous or fuscous, the
radix and squamula yellow. Feet middle-sized, sub-elon¬
gate ; those of the male entirely yellow, the posterior
tarsi rufescent towards the apex, the joints from the se¬
cond to the fourth black at the base; the anterior feet of
the female yellow, the coxae black, with a small apical
yellow spot, the trochanters-black at the base ; the hinder
feet fulvous, the coxae black, with a yellow spot, the tro¬
chanters yellow, the base black. Abdomen nearly one
half longer than the head and thorax ; the first segment
flaggon-shaped, shining, very smooth, the anterior part
scarcely longer than broad, shorter, and one half broader
than the petiole; in the male the first segment black, the
apex yellow, from the second to the fourth testaceous-
rufous or yellow, with the base sub-rufescent, from the
fifth to the seventh yellow, the fifth, and sometimes the
sixth also, with the base, blackish at the side; in the fe¬
male the first, fifth, sixth, and seventh segments black,
with the margin yellow, the intermediate segments ful¬
vous or rufous, with the margin for the most part yellow.
Ovipositor scarcely sub-exserted, black.
The preceding examples will suffice to illustrate Graven-
horst’s mode of treating the Ichneumonides. We shall
now proceed to
Tribe 3d, Gallicol^e.2
These have only a single nervure on the lower wings;
the upper pair offer a few areolets or cells, viz. two at the
base—the brachial, of which the internal is usually incom¬
plete or slightly marked,—one radial and triangular,—
and two or three cubital,—of which the second, in such
as have three, is always very small, and the third very
large, triangular, and closed by the posterior margin of the
wing. The antennae are either of equal thickness, or in¬
crease towards the termination, but not club-shaped, and
are composed of from thirteen to fifteen articulations, the
number when different in the sexes being generally great¬
er in the males. These insects form the old genus Cynips
of Linnaeus (Plate CCXLIV. fig. 20).
Their general form is humped or gibbous, with the head Hymenop.
small, and the thorax thick and elevated. The abdomen tera
is compressed, carinated, or cutting inferiorly, and trun- lerehran-
cated obliquely, or obtuse, at the extremity. It is furnish-
ed in the females with an ovipositor, which seems to con- Y
sist of only a single piece, long and delicate, or capillary,
spirally rolled at its base, and attached near the origin
of the abdomen. It is minutely described by Reaumur 3
With this admirable instrument it deposits its eggs in the
leaves and stems of various plants, and on these its punc¬
tures produce those peculiar excrescences known by the
name of gallnuts, so useful when employed along with a
solution of green vitriol, or sulphate of iron, in dyeing
blacks. Some of these insects are apterous. “ Une
espece,” says Latreille, “ depose ses ceufs dans la semence
du figuier sauvage le plus precoce. Les Grecs modernes,
suivant a cet egard une methode que 1’antiquite leur a
transmise, enfilent plusieurs de ces fruits, et les placent
sur les figuiers tardifs ; les Cynips sortent charges de pous-
siere fecondante, s'introduisent dans 1’oeil des figues de
c$s derniers, en fecondent les graines et provoquent la
maturite du fruit.”4 This is the process known abroad
by the name of caprijication.
The genera of this tribe are Ibalia and Figites, Lat.
and Cynips proper (Diplolepis of Geoff.). Of the genus
last named we have figured C. rosce, its larvae, and the
gall in which the latter dwell (Plate CCXLIV. fig. 20,
22, 23, 26, 27, 28).
Tribe 4th, CnALciDiiE.
These do not differ very materially from the preceding,
except in the antennae, which, with the exception of Eu-
charis, are geniculate, and form, subsequent to the bend,
an elongated or fusiform club, of which the first articula
tion is not unfrequently lodged in a groove. The palpi
are extremely short. The radial cell is usually wanting, and
there is never more than a single cubital cell, which is not
closed. The antennae have not more than twelve articula¬
tions. The modern genera are very numerous, though all
related to the genus Chalcis of Fab. The species are
extremely small, brilliantly ornamented with metallic co¬
lours. Many of them are leapers. The ovipositor is ge¬
nerally composed of three threads, like that of the Ichneu¬
mons, and is salient. The larvae likewise resemble those
of that tribe in being parasitical, and some of them are so
minute as to be able to dwell at large in the interior of in¬
sect eggs, themselves scarcely visible to the naked eye.
We shall here mention only two genera of the tribe, of
each of which we have figured an example. Chalcis minuta
(Plate CCXLIV. fig. 25), synonymous with Vespa minuta
of Linn., is extremely common on umbelliferous flowers.
It is black, with yellow feet. Another species, C. annulata,
Fab., inhabits the nest of the pasteboard wasp of South
America ( V. nidulans), and appears to have been mistaken
by Reaumur for the female of that insect. Our other re¬
presentative, Leucospis dorsigera (ibid. fig. 24), is black,
with the abdomen almost as long again as the thorax, and
marked with three bands and two spots of yellow. There
is a transverse yellow line upon the scutellum, and two
others of the same colour on the anterior portion of the
thorax. The female deposits her eggs in the nests of ma¬
son-bees.5
1 Rlgne Animal, t. v. p. 287- s Mtm. sur les Insectes, t. iii. p. 483, et seep
We now resume the system of Latreille. 4 Regne Animal, t. v. p. 292.
* For the other genera and species, see, besides, Regne Animal (t. v. pp. 295-9), Latreille’s Genera Crust, et Insect, t. iv.; King’s En-
tomologische Monographien ; Caiman’s Analecta Entomologica, and the Monographs and Memoirs of the same author; Maximilian Spi-
nola’s Memoire sur les DiploUpaires; Mr Westwood on Parasitic Hymenoptera (Phil. Mag. 3d series, No. 3); Mr Halliday’s Essay on
the same subject in Entom. Mag. No. 3; Mr Walker’s Monoyraphia Chalcidum, published in the initiatory numbers of the last-named
periodical; and a similar Monograph by M. Boyer de Foscolombe, in the Ann. des Sciences Nat. for July 1832.
Hymenop-
tera
E N T O M
Tribe 5th, Oxiuri, Lat.
This tribe resembles the preceding so far as concerns
the want of nervures in the lower wings, but the abdomen
of the female is terminated by a tubular and conical ovipo¬
sitor, sometimes internal and exsertile, proceeding like a
sting from the anal extremity, sometimes permanently ex¬
ternal, and forming a kind of tail. The antennae are com¬
posed of from ten to fifteen articulations, and are in some
cases filiform or slightly enlarged towards the extremity,
in others clubbed in the females. The maxillary palpi in
several are long and pendant.
The minor genera which compose this tribe are all more
or less related to the genus Bethylus of Fabricius and
Latreille. The only example we have here adduced is
that of Diapria elegans (Plate CCXLV. figure 1), an in¬
sect belonging to a genus in which the wings have no
cells. The maxillary palpi are projecting, and the anten¬
nae have fourteen joints in the male, and only twelve in
the female.1
O L O G Y. 193
In some, such as the genus Parnopes, Lat. (Plate Hymenop.
CCXLV. figure 2), the maxillae and labrum are very long, tera
and form a kind of false proboscis, bent underneath. The ■^cu^eata-
palpi are small and biarticulate. The example figured,
P. earned, deposits its eggs in the nest of Bembex rostrata.
In Chrysis proper there is no false proboscis. The
maxillary palpi are of medium size, or elongated, and com¬
posed of five articulations ; the labial consist of three. Se¬
veral analogous genera are recognised by naturalists, such
as Hedychrum, Lat. (Plate CCXLV. figure 3), in which
the maxillary palpi are much longer than the labial, the
ligula emarginate, and the abdomen rounded and entire at
the extremity.4 *
ACULEATA.*
This, the second primary section of the hymenopterous
order, is distinguished from the preceding by the want of an
ovipositor. That organ is represented by a sting composed of
three parts, concealed and retractile. It is characteristic of
the females, and likewise exists in those individuals (imper¬
fect in a sexual point of view) commonly called neuters,
which constitute so important a feature in the social union of
the gregarious kinds. It is, however, wanting in several of
the ant tribe,—in which case the insect defends itself by
ejecting an acid liquid, elaborated and contained in special
reservoirs.6 Our present Hymenoptera have always simple
antennae, composed of a constant number of articulations,
that is, thirteen in the males and twelve in the females.
The palpi are usually filiform ; those of the maxillae, which
are frequently the longer, have six articulations,—the la¬
bial only four, The mandibles of the males are smaller,
and generally less toothed, than in the others-. All the
wings are veined. The abdomen, united to the thorax by
a thread or pedicle, is composed of seven segments in the
males, and of six in the females.
The larvae in this family are never furnished with feet.
Their food is supplied to them by females or neuters, and
varies in its nature according to the different kinds. La¬
treille divides the section into four families.
FAMILY I.—HETEROGYNA.*
The species of this family consist of individuals which
differ from each other not only in their sexual characters,
but in the presence or absence of the wings, and in other
particulars. In all, the antennae are geniculate, and the
ligula small, rounded and hollowed, or spoon-shaped.
Some live in society, and consist of three kinds of in¬
dividuals, of which two, that is, the males and females,
are winged, and the third or neuters are apterous. In
the two latter kinds the antennae gradually increase in
thickness, and the length of the first articulation equals at
least the third part of their total extent; the second is al¬
most as long as the third, and has the form of a reversed
cone. The labrum of the neuters is large and corneous,
and falls perpendicularly beneath the mandibles. These
Hymenoptera comprise the genus Formica of Linnaeus.
As a separate treatise under the article Ant8 has been
already devoted in this work to the elucidation of the his-
Tribe 6th, Chrysides, Lat.
This tribe agrees with the three preceding in the want
of nervures in the lower wings ; but the ovipositor of the
female is formed by the terminal segments of the abdo¬
men, which somewhat resemble in their construction the
tubes of a telescope, and are terminated by a little sting.2
The abdomen, which in the female seems to be compos¬
ed of only three or four segments, is arched or plain be¬
neath, and is capable of being applied against the chest,—
in which attitude the insect assumes the form of a ball
This tribe includes the old genus Chrysis of Linnaeus, and
is remarkable for the extreme richness and brilliant lustre
displayed by the colouring of many species. In these re¬
spects they rival the gorgeous humming-birds, and are
known under the name of gilded wasps,—the gnepes dorees
of our continental neighbours. They are lovers of the
cheerful sunshine, and during the bright days of early sum¬
mer may be seen moving about in a state of great vivacity,
almost of agitation, on walls, old timber, and other objects
exposed to the gladdening influence of heat and light.
They are also found on flowers, “ beautifying the beauti¬
ful,” and adding to their gorgeous petals all that is want¬
ing to complete the glory of the “ lilies of the field,”—a
burnished or metallic lustre.3
The body of these insects is covered by a very solid in¬
tegument. Their antennae are filiform, geniculate, vibra-
tile, and composed of thirteen articulations in both sexes.
The mandibles are arched, narrow, and pointed. The
maxillary palpi are usually longer than the labial, filiform,
and composed of five unequal articulations;—the labial
consist of three. The ligula is for the most part emargi¬
nate. The thorax is semicylindrical, and exhibits several
impressed and transverse lines. The abdomen in the
greater number is semi-oval, truncated at the base, and
appears at first sight as if attached to the thorax by its en¬
tire breadth. The terminal segment is frequently marked
by large punctures, and terminates in dentations.
These beautiful creatures deposit their eggs in the nests
of the solitary mason-bees, and in those of other Hymenop¬
tera. Their larvae sustain themselves by devouring the
lawful inhabitants.
1 For the other genera, see R&gne Animal, t. v. pp. 300-2; Genera Crust, et Insect, t. iv.; Dalman’s Analecta Entomol.; and Jurine’a
Hymtnopteres.
2 The details are given by Degeer in his Mem. sur les Insectes, t. ii. p. 834, pi. 28.
3 In as far as we are competent to judge, plants and the mammalia seldom seem to exhibit a metallic surface. But that glowing
adornment is frequent among foreign birds, and the subjects of our present treatise.
^ See a Monograph of the Chrysides, by Pelletier de St Fargeau, in the Ann.des Sciences Nat. t. vii. p. 115.
k From aculeus, a sting. 7 From mja*. other or different, and yum, female.
* Journal de Physique, September 1828. 8 See vol. in. p. 261.
VOL. IX. 2 B
194 E N T O M
Hymenop- tory and habits of these admirable insects, so long noted
tera for their foresight and industry, we shall not occupy our
Aculeata. remaining space by repetition, but shall proceed to a brief
sketch of the classification of the species, as promised at
the conclusion of the article just referred to. Latreille di¬
vides the genus Formica as follows:—
ls£, The genus Formica properly so called. These want
the sting; the antennae are inserted near the front; the
mandibles are triangular, dentated, and incisive; and the
pedicle of the abdomen is never composed but of a single
squama or knot.
Of the European species we may mention F. rufa, Lat.,
of which the workers measure about four lines in lengthy
and are of a blackish colour, with a great part of the head,
the thorax, and the knot, fulvous. The thorax is uneven.
The stemmatic eyes are discernible. This species builds
in woods, and forms a dome-like or sugar-loaf shaped ha¬
bitation of considerable size, composed of earth and frag¬
ments of wood, &c. Formic acid is obtained chiefly from
this insect. The winged individuals make their appear¬
ance in spring. (Plate CCXL V. figure 4.) F. sanguined,
Lat., resembles the preceding in its workers; but the co¬
lour is sanguine red, with an ashy-black abdomen. It like¬
wise dwells in woods, and is one of the species named
Amazons or legionnaires by M. Huber. F. cunicularia,
Lat., has the head and abdomen of the Workers black.
Around the mouth, the under parts of the head, the first
joint of the antennae, the thorax, and feet, pale fulvous.
The worker of F.fusca, Linn., is of an ashy-black, shining,
with the base of the antennae and the feet reddish. The
squama or knot is large, almost triangular, and there is an
appearance of three stemmatic eyes. Both these species
are attacked by the Amazons, carried off, and enslaved.
2d, The genus Polyergus, Lat. In these the sting is
likewise wanting ; but the antennae are inserted near the
mouth, and the mandibles are narrow, arcuated, or strong¬
ly hooked. In this genus is placed the F. roussatre of Lat.
so common in France. It is this species which is more
particularly named Amazon by M. Huber the younger.
Sc?, The genus Ponera, Lat. In these the workers and
tne females are armed with a sting. The pedicle of the ab¬
domen is formed of a single scale or knot; the antennae of
the individuals just mentioned are thickened towards the
extremity; the mandibles are triangular, and the head is
also nearly of that form, without remarkable emargination
at its posterior extremity. F. contracta of Lat., which oc¬
curs near Paris, belongs to this division. The worker seems
scarcely provided with eyes, and lives under stones in not
very numerous groups. It is very small, black, nearly cy¬
lindrical, with the antennae and feet of a yellowish brown.
fah, The genus Myrmica, Lat. In these there is also a
sting; but the pedicle of the abdomen is formed of two
knots. The antennae are exposed, the maxillary palpi are
long, with six distinct articulations, and the mandibles are
triangular. Such is the fourmis rouge of Latreille, of
which the worker is reddish, finely chagrined, with the ab¬
domen smooth and shining. There is a spine upon the
first knot of the pedicle, and the third segment is brown¬
ish. This species occurs in woods, and bites sharply.
hih, The genus Atta of Fabricius, which scarcely differs
from Myrmica, except by its very short palpi, of which the
maxillary are composed of less than six articulations. The
head of the workers is usually very large. The species
O L O G Y.
which serves as the type of the genus in tne works of Fa- Hymenop-
bricius, Jurine, and Latreille, is \\\e fourmis de visile, cr t<jra
Atta, cephalotes of systematic writers. It is a foreign in- cu ea ^
sect, and seems to agree with that figured by Madame Me-
rian.1 This creature burrows in the earth, to the extent, it
is said, of six or eight feet. It however leaves its subter¬
ranean dwelling for a time once a year, and enters dwelling-
houses, where it attacks and destroys every other kind of
inconvenient insect. If during these predatory incursions
they find an intervening space which they cannot cross, a
party volunteer to form a chain of their own bodies linked
together, over which, as by a bridge, the main body passes.
Hth, The genus Cryptocerus of Lat., of which the spe¬
cies are also furnished with a sting, and have the abdomen
of the pedicle formed of two knots ; but the head, which is
large and flat, has a groove on each side for the reception
of a part of the antennae. They are peculiar to South
America.2
The other Heterogyna live in solitude, and each species
is composed of only two kinds of individuals, winged males
and apterous females,—the latter always provided with a
strong sting. The antennae are filiform or setaceous, vi-
bratile, with the first and third articulations elongated;
the length of the former, however, never equalling that of
the third part of the total length of the antennae. They
form the genus Mutilla of Linnseus, which has been sub¬
divided into Dorylus, Fab. (Plate CCXLV. figured), pe¬
culiar to Africa and the East Indies; Labidus, Jurine, pro¬
per to South America; and Mutilla properly so called
(ibid. fig. 5). Of the latter, M. Europcea, Linn., is black,
with a red thorax, and three white bands on the abdomen.
The female is armed with a powerful sting. The manners
of the Mutillae seem little known. We are not ourselves ac¬
quainted with the nature of their metamorphosis. They
love warm sunny places, and sandy soils. The females being
apterous, are always found pon the ground, concealed
under stones, or lurking in little holes. The males are
seen on flowers, or by the sides of dusty paths, and other
places frequented by the females. The genus is exten¬
sive, Olivier and Klug having described a great many spe¬
cies.3
FAMILY II—FOSSORES.4
This family comprises such of the stinging Hymenop-
tera as are winged in both sexes, and of solitary habits. The
legs of several are adapted for digging. The ligula is always
more or less widened at the extremity, and never filiform or
sectaceous. The wings are always extended. The old genus
Sphex is the principal representative of this family.
The females of these insects deposit their eggs in little
prepared chambers in the earth or in wood, and place along¬
side of them a supply of insects or their larvae. They also
pierce spiders with their stings, and close them up as pro¬
vision for their young. The larvae are without feet, and
spin a cocoon before passing into the nympha state. The
perfect insects are in general extremely active, and live
among flowers. The maxilla and the labium are elongated,
and assume in several the form of a trunk. The numerous
minor genera derived in recent times from the genus just
named, are distributed by Latreille into seven principal
tribes.
1 Insectes de Surinam, ed. of 1726, p. 18, tab. 18.
2 Besides the article Ant of this work, see the noted volume by Huber the younger, entitled Recherches sur les Mceurs des Fourmis
indigenes, and Latreille’s Histoire Naturelle des Fourmis.
3 In Encyclop. Meth. and Act. Phys. Med. Acad. Caesar. Leopold, t. x. pars 2. Latreille has also published a monograph of the French
species in the Actes de la Soc. d'Uist. Nat. de Paris, and a great number are figured by Coquebert in his Iconographia Inscctorum.
4 From fossor, a digger.
E N T O M
Hymenop- In the first two the eyes are often emarginate. The
tera body of the males is usually narrow, elongated, and termi-
Aculeata. nated posteriorly, in a great number, by three spinous points
or dentations.
Tribe 1st, Scolietes, Lat.
The first segment of the thorax is sometimes in the form
of a bow, and prolonged laterally as far as the wings, some¬
times of a transverse square, or resembling a knot or arti¬
culation. The legs are short, thick, very spiny or ciliated,
with the thighs arched near the knee. The antennae are
sensibly shorter than the head and thorax in the females.
The genera are Tiphia, Fab. (Plate CCXLV. figure 7) ;
Myzine, Lat.; Meria, Illiger; and Scolia, Fab. (ibid,
fig. 8).1
Tribe 2d, Sapigytes.
The first segment of the thorax is formed like that of
the preceding group, and the legs are also short, but slen¬
der, and neither spiny nor strongly ciliated. The antennae
in both sexes are at least as long as the head and thorax.
The body is usually either smooth, or but slightly pubes¬
cent. The genera are Thynnus, Fab.; Polochrum, Spi-
nola; and Sapyga, Lat.
Tribe 3d, Sphegides, Lat.
These still resemble the preceding in the extent and
form of the first segment of the thorax ; but the posterior
legs are at least once again as long as the head and thorax.
The antennae are often slender, formed of lengthened arti¬
culations, lax, or not compactly set, and curved or arcu¬
ated, at least in the males.
Of this tribe a certain number have the first segment of
the thorax of a square form, whether transverse or longitu¬
dinal, and the abdomen is attached by a very short pedi¬
cle. The inner side of the posterior tibiae is usually fur¬
nished with a brush or pellet of hairs. The upper wings
have three or two complete or closed cubital cells, and a
terminal one which is imperfect. The genera are Pepsis,
Fab. (Plate CCXLV. figure 9), of which the species, abun¬
dant in South America and the Antilles, are large, with
coloured wings ; Ceropales, Lat.; Pompilus, Fab. (ibid,
fig. 10), of which the species feed their young with spiders ;
Planiceps, Lat.; and Aporus, Spinola.
Others of the same tribe have the first segment of the
thorax narrowed in front, in the form of a knot or joint;
and the first segment of the abdomen, and sometimes even
a portion of the second, narrowed into an elongated pe¬
dicle. The upper wings always exhibit three complete
cubital cells, and the commencement of a fourth. The
genera are, Ammophilus, Kirby, of which we may men¬
tion, as an example, Sphex sabulosa, Linn., the female of
which digs holes in the earth by the sides of paths and
highways, in which she deposits a caterpillar mortally
wounded, and then lays an egg beside it,—the said egg
soon producing another larva, which, though much smaller,
being in good health, immediately eats the sick one ; Sphex,
Pron.eus, Chlorion,2 and Dolichurus, Lat.; Ampulex,
Jur.; Podium and Pelop^us, Lat.
Tribe 4th, Bembecides, Lat.
In these the first segment of the thorax forms only a
linear and transverse border, of which the two lateral ex¬
tremities are distant from the origin of the upper wings.
O L O G Y. 195
The legs are always short, or of moderate length. The Hymenop-
head, seen from above, appears transverse, and the eyes tera
extend as far as the exterior border. The abdomen forms Aculeata.
an elongated semi-cone, rounded on the sides, near the
base. The labrum is entirely exposed, or very salient.
Of this tribe the species are characteristic of the warm¬
er countries of the earth. Their body is elongated, point¬
ed posteriorly, almost always varied with black and yellow,
or reddish, and smooth. The antennae are approximate at
the base, slightly geniculate at the second article, and en¬
larged towards the extremity. The mandibles are narrow,
lengthened, dentated on the inner side, and crossed. The
tibiae and tarsi are provided with little spines or cilia, which
are particularly obvious on the anterior tarsi of the females.
There are frequently one or two raised teeth beneath the
abdomen of the male. The flight of these insects is ex¬
tremely rapid, and they dart from flower to flower with a
sharp and interrupted sound. Several species smell of the
odour of roses.
In a certain number we find a false trunk, bent under¬
neath, with the labrum in the form of an elongated tri¬
angle.
Of these, some have the palpi very short; the maxillary
possessing four, the labial two articulations. Such is Bem-
bex rostrata, Fab. (Apis rostrata, Linn.), Plate CCXLV.
fig. 11, a large black insect, with transverse bands of citron
yellow upon the abdomen. This is a well-known Euro¬
pean species. The female digs deep holes in a sandy soil,
in which she places the carcasses of other insects, especially
Syrphi, and other two-winged flies. Among these she lays
her eggs, and then places a plug in the hole. Another
hymenopterous insect, however, Parnopes carnea, possesses
a strong instinctive desire to deposit her eggs in the sub¬
terraneous nest of the Bembex. As soon as the latter per¬
ceives its natural enemy hovering around its dwelling, it
attacks it with the greatest fierceness, and endeavours to
thrust its sting through its body,—an attempt, however,
which is seldom successful, owing to the hardness of the
Parnopes’s skin. Others have the maxillary palpi elongat¬
ed, and with six articulations,—the labial with four. Such
is the genus Monedula of Lat.
In the remainder of this family there is no false trunk,
and the labrum is short and rounded, e. g. the genus Sti-
zus of Jurine.
Tribe 5th, Larrates, Lat.
These in their general aspect resemble the preceding,
but their labrum is either entirely or in great part conceal¬
ed, and there is a deep emargination on the inner side of
the mandibles,—a character which distinguishes them both
from those which precede and those which follow.
In some the upper wings have three closed cubital cells,
of which the second receives the two recurrent nervures.
Such are the genera Palarus, Lat., Lyrops, Illiger, and
Larra, Fab. (Plate CCXLV. figure 13). In others the
upper wings have only two closed cubital cells, each of
which receives a recurrent nervure. Such are Dinetus
and Miscopus, Jurine.
Tribe 6th, Nyssones, Lat.
In this family the labrum is likewise entirely or in great
part concealed. The maxillae and labium do not form a
trunk, and the mandibles have no emargination on the in¬
ner side. The head is of ordinary size, and the abdomen
is triangular or ovoid-conical, becoming gradually narrower
1 For the anatomy of the Scolise, see Dufour’s Observations in the Journal de Physique for September 1818.
* For the singular habits of C. cumpressum, common in the Isle of France, where it attacks, slays, and carries off cockroaches to
its young, see Sonnerat’s Voyage aux Indes Orientales; Reaumur’s Memoires, t. vi. p. 280; or the Diet. Class. d'Hist. Nat. t. iv. p. 42.
196 ENT O M
Hymenop-from the base towards the extremity, and never borne upon
tera a long pedicle. The antennae are filiform, with the first
Aculeata. artiCulation slightly elongated.
In the genera Astata, Nysson, Oxybelus,1 and NiTE-
la, Lat., the eyes are entire ; in Pison of Spinola they are
emarginate.
Tribe 7th, Crabronites, Lat.
In this, the concluding tribe of Fossores, the head is
usually very large, and when viewed from above seems al¬
most square. The antennae are often enlarged towards
the extremity, or club-shaped. The abdomen is either oval
or elliptical, and broadest about the middle,—or narrowed
at the base into a lengthened pedicle, and as if terminated
by a club.
In some the antennae are inserted beneath the middle of
the anterior part of the head, and the chaperon is short and
broad. In the genus Trypoxylon, Lat. the eyes are emar¬
ginate. Of these, one of the most remarkable is T.Jigulus
(Sphex Jigulus of Linn.), Plate CCXLV. figure 13. The
female deposits her eggs in holes in old timber, along with ,
a supply of little spiders, which she closes up with moist
earth. In the remainder the eyes are entire. In the genus
Crabro of Fab. (ibid. fig. 15) many of the males are re¬
markable for a peculiar dilatation of the anterior tibiae, re¬
sembling a slender shell, convex without and concave with¬
in, and pervaded by a multitude of little holes, or rather of
transparent points. They somewhat resemble the well-
known expansions on the fore-feet of the male Dytisci, and
probably serve for the same end.2 In the perfect state these
insects seem to feed on the nectareous juices of flowers; but
the larvae are extremely greedy of animal food. The female
parent forms holes in the earth, in each of which she depo¬
sits an egg along with the body of a captured insect. She
then, as usual, closes up the orifice, and the entombed prey,
whether dead or alive, is soon attacked and eaten by the
young larva to which the egg gives birth. Dipterous in¬
sects form their most frequent food, although C. cribrarius
is observed to seize upon the caterpillar of a Pyralis which
inhabits the oak. Walckenaer observed several species
hovering incessantly around the nests of a solitary bee
named Halictus terebrator, which they seemed much in¬
clined to enter.3 The remaining genera of this division of
the Crabronites are Stigmus, Jur.; Pemphedron, Lat., of
which P. unicolor feeds its young on Aphides; Mellinus,
Fab. (Plate CCXLV. figure 16) ; and Alyson, Jurine.
In other Crabronites the antennae are inserted higher up
or towards the middle of the face, and are usually enlarged
towards the termination, or even club-shaped. In the
genus Psen of Lat. the clypeus is almost square, and the
abdomen is borne upon an abruptly formed and elongated
pedicle, composed of the first segment. The mandibles
terminate in two teeth. In Philanthus of Fab. the cly¬
peus is trilobed, and the first segment of the body is at
most restricted in the manner of a knot. The mandibles
terminate in a simple point. The females of this genus
dig holes in the sand, in which they bury the carcasses of
bees, Andrense, and even of Curculionides, for the nourish¬
ment of their young.4
O L O G Y.
Hymenop-
FAMILY III—DIPLOPTERA.5 t
Aculeata.
This is the only family of the section in which the up¬
per wings are longitudinally folded.6 The antennae are
generally geniculate, and clubbed, or enlarged towards the
extremity. The eyes are emarginate. The prothorax is
prolonged posteriorly on each side to the origin of the
wings, of which the superior have three or two closed cu¬
bital cells, the second of which receives the two recurrent
nervures. The body is smooth, or nearly so, black, and
more or less spotted with yellow or fawn colour. Many
of the species dwell in temporary societies, composed of
three kinds of individuals, males, females, and workers or
neuters. A few females which have withstood the rigour
of the winter season commence the building of the nest,
and attend to the young first produced, which are usually
neuters—and these speedily aid their parent in all matters
of household management. The family is composed of
twro tribes.
Tribe 1st, Masarides.
In these the antennae seem at first sight to be composed
of only eight articulations; the eighth forming with the
ensuing ones an almost solid mass, rounded or obtuse at
the end, with the articulations indistinct. The ligula is
terminated by two threads capable of being withdrawn
within a tube formed by its base. The upper wings have
only two complete cubital cells. The middle of the ante¬
rior margin of the clypeus is emarginate, and receives the
labrum in that emargination. The genera are few in num¬
ber. In Masaris proper (Plate CCXLV. figure 17), the
antennae, a little longer than the head and thorax, have the
first article lengthened, and the eighth forming an obconic
club, rounded at the extremity. The abdomen is long.
In Celonites, Lat. the antennae are scarcely longer than
the head, and their first two articulations are much shorter
than the third; the eighth and following form an almost
globular body. The abdomen is scarcely longer than the
thorax.
Tribe 2d, Vespiari^:.
In these the antennae always exhibit distinctly thirteen
articulations in the male and twelve in the female, and
terminate in an elongated mass, pointed, and sometimes
hooked (in the males) at the end; they are always geni¬
culate, at least in the females and neuters. The ligula is
sometimes divided into four plumose filaments, sometimes
into three lobes, having four glandular points at the end,
one on each lateral lobe, and the two others on the inter¬
mediate one, which is larger, widened, and emarginate or
bifid qt the extremity. The mandibles are strong and
dentated. The clypeus is large. Beneath the labrum
there is a little piece in the form of a ligula, analogous to
that which Reaumur observed in certain bees (bourdons),
and which M. Savigny names epipharynx. With the ex¬
ception of a small amount of species, the upper wings have
three complete cubital cells. The females and neuters are
armed with a very strong and venomous sting. Several
1 The Oxybeli lay their eggs in little nests in sandy soils exposed to the sun. They store up a collection of dead flies for the use
of their young.
2 See Degeer, Mcmoires, t. ii. p. 810, pi. 28. 3 Memoires pour servir a I'Histoire Naturelle des Abcillcs solitaires.
4 We have been under the necessity of doing little more than indicate the names of the generic groups in the family of Fossores.
T or the details the reader is referred to the corresponding articles in the Encyclop. Mtth. and the Diction. Class. d'Hisi. Nat.; to the
Regne Animal, t. v. pp. 316-32, and more particularly to M. Van der Linden’s Observations sur les llyrnhiopteres d'Europe de la Famille
des Fouisseurs.
s From l.-rkoos, double, and -wings, in reference to the folding of these organs.
1 he character however is not universal,—the genus Ceramius, Lat. of which Klug has published a monograph, forming an ex-
E N T O M
Hymenop- species live in societies composed of three kinds of indi-
tera viduals.
Aculeata. Xhe larvae of these insects are without feet, and each is
enclosed in a cell where it is fed, according to its kind,
either on the bodies of insects carried thither by the mo¬
ther at the period of oviposition, or on the nectar of
flowers, the juices of fruits and of animal matter, elaborat¬
ed in the stomach of the parent, or in that of the workers,
and carefully supplied from day to day. This tribe cor¬
responds to the genus Vespa of Linn.
The genus Ceramius of Lat. differs from all the others
in having the superior wings stretched or extended, and
in the amount of the cubital cells, of which there are only
two. The labial palpi are moreover longer than those of
the maxillae. The species occur in South Africa, and the
warmer regions of Europe.1
In all the following genera the superior wings are fold¬
ed, and present three complete cubital cells.
Sometimes the mandibles are much longer than broad,
and approximate anteriorly in the form of a rostrum. The
ligula is narrow and elongate. The clypeus is nearly
heart-shaped or oval, with the point anterior, and more or
less truncate. All the species are solitary, and each is
composed of only males and females. The latter provision
their young both before their birth and during the con¬
tinuance of the larva state. Their nests are usually form¬
ed of earth, and are either concealed in the holes of walls,
beneath the ground, in old wood, or are external, and
placed on plants. Each nest contains a supply of cater¬
pillars or other larvse, which the female piles up in a circu¬
lar form. She sometimes also stores up spiders, which she
has the precaution previously to pierce with her sting.
In the genus Synagris, Lat. the ligula is divided into
four long plumose filaments, without glandular points at
their extremity. The mandibles of some of the males are
very large. The species are few in number, and charac¬
teristic of Africa. In Eumenes, Lat. the ligula is divided
into three portions, glandular at their extremity. The ab¬
domen in some is ovoid or conical, and thicker at the
base. Such are Pterochile of King, remarkable for the
great length of the labium and maxillae, and for their la¬
bial palpi beset with long hairs, and composed of only three
distinct articulations. In Odynerus, Lat. those parts of
the mouth are much shorter, the labial palpi are nearly
smooth, and consist of four perceptible divisions. Vespa
muraria of Linn, belongs to this genus. It is described
by Reaumur.2 The female perforates deep holes in sand,
or in the plaster of walls, at the orifice of which she forms
an outer tube, at first straight, afterwards recurved, and
composed of an earthy paste, arranged in thick contorted
threads. In the cavity of the interior cell she heaps up
from eight to twelve little green larvae of the same age,
disposing them in beds one above another, in a circular
form. After depositing her egg, she closes the mouth of
the hole, and destroys the outward scaffolding. The ab¬
domen in others has its first segment narrow and elongat¬
ed in the form of a pear, and the second bell-shaped. Such
is the genus Eumenes proper, of which E. coarctata, Fab.
constructs a spherical nest of fine earth on the stems of
plants. She fills it with honey, according to Geoffroy, and
then deposits an egg.
Sometimes the mandibles, scarcely longer than wide,
have a broad oblique truncation at their extremity. The
ligula is short, or but slightly elongated. The clypeus is
almost square. These insects constitute the genus Vespa,
or wasps properly so called. They unite in numerous as¬
sociations, composed of males, females, and neuters. The
O L O G Y. 197
last two kinds detach particles of old wood or bark withHymenop-
their mandibles, reduce and moisten them to the con- tera
sistence of a paste resembling paper or pasteboard in its
nature, and construct nests containing horizontal combs
suspended from above by one or more pedicles ; on the
inferior side there is a range of vertical cells in the form
of hexagonal and truncated pyramids. These cells serve
solely as lodgings for the isolated larvse and nymphs. The
amount of combs forming the same nest varies ; and the nest
itself is sometimes open or exposed, sometimes surrounded
by an envelope, pierced by a common and almost always
central opening, which corresponds with a string of holes
for the purposes of internal communication, if the edges of
the combs adhere to the inner side of the external cover¬
ing. These singular constructions are sometimes sus¬
pended to the branches of plants in the open air, some¬
times concealed beneath the earth or in the hollows of old
trees. Their form likewise varies according to the species.
The females commence their labours in spring, and in
the first place in a state of solitude. In a nest of small
dimensions they deposit the eggs of neuters or workers,
which, as soon as they are hatched and attain maturity, en¬
large the dwelling, and assist in rearing additional mem¬
bers of the body politic. For a considerable time the so¬
ciety consists only of the original founder of the colony,
that is, the female parent, and of neuters. Towards the
end of summer or beginning of autumn, young males are
hatched, along with additional females. But all such larvse
and nymphs as have not completed their final metamor¬
phosis before the month of November are murdered by
the neuters, and torn from their cells. These destroyers
are themselves ere long destroyed, in common with the
males, by the first frosts of winter. The latter sex never
work. A few females alone survive the rigours of the win¬
ter season, and these again, on the return of spring, be¬
come each the founder of a new but equally transitory em¬
pire. Of the death and desolation which is so soon to
overtake their busy race, the genus irritabile is, however,
all unconscious during the glad summer days, or those of
the fruitful autumn, in which they ply their never-ceasing
labours:—
So fails, so languishes, grows dim, and dies,
All that this world is proud of ;
and hymenopterous and human kingdoms, alike decay and
perish. The polity of wasps, we may observe, is not so
exclusively monarchical as that of bees. It partakes ra¬
ther of the republican order, as many females dwell toge¬
ther in amity during the autumnal season. These Vespse
are almost omnivorous. They prey on other insects, on
flesh and fruits of every kind, especially when ripe and
sweet. They appear to an uninstructed eye as very glut¬
tonous ; but their apparent greed becomes more excusable,
when we consider that they are catering, not for them¬
selves, but for a numerous and otherwise unprovided off¬
spring. The larvae, in consequence of the peculiar posi¬
tion of the opening of their cells, lie in a reversed posi¬
tion, with their heads downwards. When about to pass
into the nympha state, they shut up their cells, and fabri¬
cate a cocoon.
In several species, that portion of the inner margin of
the mandibles which is beyond the angle, and terminates
it, is shorter than that which precedes the angle. The
central part of the front of the clypeus is pointed. These
belong to the genus Polistes of Lat. and Fab. in which
we class P. morio from Cayenne. Its nest is large, in the
form of a truncated cone, pierced inferiorly and at one side.
It is composed of very thick pasteboard. Here also are
1 See Klug’s Entomologische Monographien, p. 219, et seq.
Memoires, vi. xxxvi. 1-10-
198 E N T O M
Hyrnenop-placed the Vespa gallica of Linn, and the V. nidulans of
tera Fab. P. Lecheguana1 is a species which we owe to M. Aug.
Aculeata. gj. j|iiaire> who brought it from the interior of Brazil. Its
combs contain an excellent honey, resembling in consist¬
ence that of our own domestic species, but possessing at
times the singular quality of rendering those who eat it
furious, or void of reason. It has been known from an¬
cient times that common honey is occasionally possessed
of very deleterious properties, arising probably from the
nature or condition of the flowers from which it is col¬
lected. The naturalist just named, and two men by w hom
he was accompanied, nearly perished in consequence of
eating of the Brazilian honey in its poisonous state.
In other wasps the superior portion of the inner margin
of the mandibles, or that which succeeds the angle, is as
long if not longer than the other portion of that margin.
The central part of the front of the clypeus is widely trun¬
cated. The abdomen is always ovoid or conical. These
constitute the genus Vespa properly so called, of La-
treille. The French entomologist here places the V. cra-
bro, Linn, which we call the hornet. (Plate CCXLV.
fig. 18.) It builds its nest in sheltered places, such as
barns, old walls, w ooden posts, and hollow trees. It is
of a roundish shape, composed of coarse materials, and re¬
sembles an old leaf in colour. This species devours other
insects, and robs bees of their honey. Though a well-
known English insect, it has not yet been found in Scot¬
land. The common wasp, V. vulgaris (ibid. fig. 19),
forms a somewhat similar nest; but it is composed of finer
paper, contains a greater number of combs, and is sheltered
in a hole in the earth. V. media, Lat. is intermediate as
to size between the two preceding. It hangs its paper
dwelling beneath the branch of a bush or tree. The nest
of V. holsatica, Fab. is worthy of a brief record. It is al¬
most globular, pierced at the top, and enclosed beneath
in a kind of saucer. It is sometimes observed abroad, in
barns, or attached to the beams of garrets, and has even
been found in hives. It is not unknown in Britain.
FAMILY IV ANTHOPHILA,2 Lat.
In this, the last family of the stinging Hymenoptera, we
find a peculiar power existing in the two posterior legs,—
that of collecting the pollen of flowers.3 This character
distinguishes our present groups from those of every other
family of insects. The first articulation of the tarsi of the
hinder legs is very large, compressed, and in the form of a
square pallet, or of a reversed triangle. The maxillae and
the labium are usually very long, and constitute a kind of
trunk. The ligula is genei’ally shaped like the head of a
lance, or resembles a lengthened filament, of which the ex¬
tremity is silken or hairy. The larvae are fed exclusively
on honey, or the fecundating pollen of flowers. The per¬
fect insects restrict their owm diet to the nectareous juices
of flowers, and (when Flora’s kingdom has fallen before
the approach of winter) to the secretion which they form
from these, which we call honey. These Hymenoptera, em¬
bracing the great genus Apis of Linnaeus, are divided by
Latreille into two sections.
Section 1st, Andreneta:, Lat.
The genera of this section have the intermediate divi¬
sion of the ligula heart-shaped or lance-shaped, shorter
O L O G Y.
than the sheath, and bent upwards in some, almost straight Hymenop.
in others. They correspond to the Pro-abeilles of Reau- ^ra
mur and Degeer, the Andrenae of Fabricius, and the Me- ,^ eata*
littae of Kirby.4
The Andrenetae are solitary insects, and consist of only
males and females. Their mandibles are simple, or termi¬
nated at most by two dentations. The labial palpi resem¬
ble the maxillary, and the latter have six articulations.
The ligula is divided into three portions, of which the la¬
teral are short, and in the form of auricles. The majority
of the females collect the pollen of plants by means of the
hairs of their hinder legs, and mixing it with a little honey,
they thus form a paste for the nourishment of their young.
They form holes in the ground, frequently even in firmly-
trodden places by the sides of roads, or in fields, and of
considerable depth. In these they place their paste, and
depositing an egg along with it, they close up the entrance
with earth.
Some have the middle division of the ligula widened at
the extremity, almost heart-shaped, and doubled in repose.
Such is the genus Hyla:us, Fab. which is now partitioned
into two. In the first, or Hyla:us properly so called
(Plate CCXLV. figure 20), the body is smooth, the second
and third joints of the antennae of almost equal length, and the
upper wings present only two complete cubital cells. The
species being hairless, do not collect pollen, and seem to
deposit their eggs in the nests of other Hymenoptera of this
family. In the second genus, Colletes, Lat. the body is
hairy, the third article of the antennae exceeds the second
in length, and the upper wings present three complete cu¬
bital cells. The females collect their stores from flowers.
Such is the Apis succincta of Linn.—•“ 1’abeille dont le
nid est fait d’especes de membranes soyeuses,” of Reau¬
mur.5 The male is distinguishable by his more lengthen¬
ed antennae. The female forms in the earth a cylindrical
hole, of which the walls are endued with a gummy liquid,
which has been compared to the viscous and shining slime
left by slugs on the places over which they have passed.
She then forms a number of thimble-shaped cells, appa¬
rently composed of the same material, placed end to end,
and in a string, and each containing an egg and a suitable
portion of paste.
Other Andrenetae are distinguished from the preceding
by the form of the ligula, which is lanceolate. In some
of these, that part is folded on the superior side of the
sheath, as in the genera Andrena and Dasypoda of Lat.
(Plate CCXLV. figure 21). The females of the latter
have the first joint of the tarsi very long, beset with length¬
ened hairs after the manner of a little feather. The upper
wings in both these genera have only two cubital cells.
The Andrenafiessce of Panzer, common in the environs of
Paris, secretes a peculiar kind of honey, black and oily
like the grease (cambois) used for carriage-wheels. It has
a narcotic odour. In others the ligula is straight, or
slightly bent underwards at its extremity. Such are the
genera Sphecodes, Halictus, and Nomia, of Latreille.
Section 2d, ApiARias, Lat.
In this second section of the honey-making Hymenop¬
tera the genera are characterized by the middle division of
the ligula being at least as long as the mentum or its tu¬
bular sheath, and setiform or filamentary. The maxillae
and labium are greatly elongated, and form a sort of trunk,
geniculate and bent beneath while not in action. The
1 Ann. des Sciences Nat. t. iv. p. 339. 2 From av6/>s,jlo-wer, and <p/Xsf, lover.
8 Latreille remarks that the parasitical species are not possessed of this faculty;—but the form of their legs is essentially the
same, those parts being merely destitute of the hairs or brushes.
4 Monographia Apum Anglice.
s Memoires, vi. xii.
E N T O M
Hjmenop-two first articulations of the labial palpi have generally the
tera form 0f a scaly and compressed seta, which embraces the
1_CU,e-iJ1' s^es hgula ; the two others are very small, and the
third is usually inserted near the exterior extremity of the
preceding, which terminates in a point.
The Apiariae are either solitary, or united in society.
A.
In the former, which constitute the first principal di¬
vision, the species consist of only two kinds of indivi¬
duals, of the ordinary nature of male and female. Each
female provides, by her own unassisted efforts, for the
preservation of her posterity. The posterior legs are un¬
provided with the silky down (la brosse) on the inner face
of the first articulation of the tarsi; neither do we per¬
ceive that particular depression on the outer side of the
tibiae, which the French naturalists distinguish as la cor-
beille, or the basket, and which is so useful in the economy
of the workers in certain other genera. That outer side, as
well as the corresponding part of the first articulation of
the tarsi, is usually furnished with numerous close-set hairs.
a.
The first subdivision of these solitary Apiariae consists of
species in which the second articulation of the posterior
tarsi of the females is inserted in the centre of the extre¬
mity of the preceding one; the exterior and terminal
angle of the latter does not appear dilated or more advan¬
ced than the interior.
*
We shall first signalise a group of genera which have
been named Andrenoides, no doubt from the resemblance
which they bear to the latest of the preceding genera in
their labial palpi, composed of slender linear joints, placed
end to end, almost entirely similar to those of the maxil¬
lary palpi, and which are six in number. The labrum is
always short. The females have no brush on the abdo¬
men ; but their posterior legs are clothed or garnished
with tufts of hair, which serve them to collect the pollen
of flowers. Some have the mandibles narrow, contracted
towards the extremity, terminated in a point, and, in com¬
mon with the labrum, smooth. Such are the genera Sys-
tropha, Illig. Rophites, Spinola, and Panurgus, Pan¬
zer. Others have the mandibles, in the females, almost
spoon-shaped, very obtuse, carinated or grooved, and bi-
dentated at the end. The labrum is very hard, and ciliat¬
ed above. The antennae are strongly geniculate and fili¬
form. The upper wings have three complete cubital cells,
the first intersected by a little transparent line, the second
triangular, the third the largest, and receiving the two re¬
current nervures. The genus Xylocopa, Lat. (Plate
CCXLV. figure 22), resemble large humble-bees. Their
body is usually black, sometimes covered in part with a
yellow down, and the wings are frequently adorned by
brilliant tints of violet, copper, and green. The males of
several species differ greatly from the females. Their eyes
are large, and more approximated superiorly. Their an¬
terior legs are dilated and ciliated. The species figured,
which is the Apis violacea, Linn, is one of the best known
in European countries. The female excavates holes in
old wood, divided into several cells, in each of which she
deposits an egg, and a portion of paste for the sustenance
of the future -grub. The species are very numerous in fo¬
reign countries, and seem to spread over many regions of
the globe. Comparatively few occur in Europe.
* *
In other genera the labial palpi appear under the form
of scaly setae ; the first two articulations are very large, or
much lengthened, compared to the last two, of a scaly con¬
sistence, with the margins membranous or transparent. The
O L O G Y. 299
maxillary palpi are always very short, and have not un- Hymenop.
frequently fewer than six articulations. The labrum in a tera
great number is lengthened, inclined upon the mandibles,
sometimes in the form of an elongated square, sometimes
of a lengthened triangle.
The group named Dasygastrcc by Latreille are remark¬
able, as their name implies, in this, that the abdomen of
the female is almost always furnished with numerous short,
close-set hairs, which form as it were a silky brush. The
labrum is as long or longer than broad, and of a square
form. The mandibles of the females are strong, incisive,
triangular, and toothed. The paraglossae are always very
short, in the form of scales, pointed at the end. Of all the
genera which compose this group, that called Ceratina
approaches most closely to that of which we last figured
an example ; and, according to Maximilian Spinola, the ha¬
bits of the females are identical with those of the Xylocopa;.1
We have several species in Britain. All the remaining
Dasygastrce have at most only four articulations to the maxil¬
lary palpi, and two complete cubital cells. In the six genera
next ensuing, the abdomen is obviously furnished beneath
with a silky brush. The species belonging to Chelosto-
ma, Lat. and Heriades, Spin, form their habitations in
the hollows of ancient trees. In the genus Megachile,
Lat. the maxillary palpi are composed of only two articu¬
lations, the abdomen is plain above, and susceptible of
being raised upwards,—thereby enabling the female to use
her sting over her body. This genus contains several sin¬
gular insects, of which the habits have been well describ¬
ed by Reaumur and other observers.2 M. muraria is one
of the largest of the genus. The female is black, with
dark wings tinted with violet; the male is covered with
reddish hairs, the terminal segments of the abdomen be¬
ing black. The former sex constructs her little nest on
walls and stones in sunny places. It is made of fine earth
worked into a kind of mortar, which drying, becomes very
hard and durable. On this account the term mason bee is
applied to this insect, and to several other species of ana¬
logous habits. The interior of these nests contains about
a dozen cells, in each of which the provident parent depo¬
sits an egg and a piece of paste. The perfect insect is not
produced till the spring of the ensuing year. Another
species, M. sicula, Lat. is black and hairy, with the front,
the upper part of the thorax, and the legs, bright yellow.
The female constructs a hard and spherical nest, of rather
more than an inch in diameter, which she attaches to the
branches of heath and other plants. This insect occurs
both in Egypt and the south of Europe, and was lately
noticed in Corsica by M. Payraudeau. The habits of other
species of the genus Megachile are very different from those
just noted. They are known by the name of leaf-eating
bees (Plate CCXLV. figure 23), on account of their em¬
ploying in the construction of their nests perfectly oval or
circular pieces of leaves, which they cut out with the most
remarkable dexterity. These pieces are conveyed to their
straight cylindrical holes, which they previously excavate
in the earth, or sometimes in walls, or the decayed trunk
of an old tree. They line the bottom of the cavity with
these cuttings, and form a thimble-shaped cell (ibid. fig.
27), in which they deposit the honeyed provision on which
the larva is destined to feed. After laying an egg, they
close the cell by means of a flatfish or slightly concave lid,
also formed of a portion of leaf. These little cells are re¬
peated one over the other till the hole is filled up. To this
division of the genus belongs the M. du rosier of Lat. {Apis
centuncularis, Linn.). The genus Lithurgus, Lat. is fur¬
nished with four articulations to the maxillary palpi, and
the abdomen is depressed above. All the articulations of
1 See the article Ceratine, in the 2d edition of the Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nut.
2 Memoires, t. iv.
200 E N T O M
Hymenop-the labial palpi are placed end to end. The females have
tera a rounded projection in the middle of the head. Such are
Aculeata. (Jentris cornuta, Fab. and an unpublished species from the
igie 0f France, alluded to by Latreille. In the genus Os-
mia of Panzer the maxillary palpi consist of four articula¬
tions, or at least of three very distinct ones, and the abdo¬
men is convex above. The habits of the species have
been observed by Reaumur, Degeer, Spinola, and other
naturalists. Several are masons, and have frequently two
or three horns on the clypeus, which are probably of use in
the construction of their nests. These are concealed in
the earth, in chinks of walls, door-posts, and old wood, and
sometimes even in the shells of snails (Helices). One of
the most interesting of the genus is the Osmia papaveris,
which lines its subterranean dwelling with the gorgeous
petals of the scarlet poppy. Another, O. gallarum, takes
possession of a fungous gallnut formed by a kind of Cy-
nips which inhabits the oak. The hollow space left by the
Cynips being too small, the little bee enlarges it consider¬
ably, and polishes the interior. The genus is composed of
about thirty species, which seem almost peculiar to Europe.
A considerable number occur in Britain. The other ge¬
nera of this group are Anthidium, Fab., Stelis, Panzer,
and Coelioxys, Lat.1 The two last-named genera of
Dasygastrae resemble the ensuing group in wanting the
silky brush, from which it has been presumed that they
also coincide with them in being parasitical; but their la-
brum is parallelogramic, and the mandibles are triangular
and dentated. The maxillary palpi are very short and bi-
articulate.
# * #
A third group of genera in this subdivision of the (solitary)
Apiariae is named Cuculince. They resemble the preceding
in the posterior tarsi, and agree with the concluding genera
in the labial palpi being in the form of squamous setae ; they
also resemble the genera Stelis and Coelioxys in the abdo¬
men being destitute of a silky brush. They are parasiti¬
cal, and their bodies are almost smooth and coloured like
those of wasps, sometimes partially clothed or hairy. The
labrum assumes the form of a lengthened and truncated
triangle, or is short and almost semicircular. The man¬
dibles are narrow, ending in a point, and at most uni-
dentated on the inner side. The paraglossse are often long,
narrow, and setiform. The scutellum in several is emar-
ginate or bidentated ; in others it is tubercular. These in¬
sects correspond to the Nomadce of Fabricius. Several ap¬
pear in those countries to which they are indigenous, flit¬
ting about in spring partly near the ground, or on walls
exposed to sunshine. They are then employed in search¬
ing for the nests of other Apiarim, in which they, cuckoo¬
like, deposit their eggs. It was in reference to this habit
that Latreille named them Cuculinse. The genera are
Ammobates, Phileremus, Epeolus, Lat., Nomada, Fab.
(Plate CCXLV. figure 24), Pasites, Jur., Melecta, Lat.,
Crocisa, Jur., OxtEA, Klug.2 Of these, Nomada is the
richest in British species. The genus occurs in Asia,
Africa, and America, although the majority are characte¬
ristic of, if not peculiar to, Europe. The genus Melecta is
not unknown in Britain.
b.
The concluding subdivision of the solitary bees is charac¬
terized by the first article of the posterior tarsi being dilated
inferiorly on the outer side, so that the following articula¬
tion is inserted nearer to the internal angle of its extre-
O L O G Y.
mity than to the opposite one. The outer side of thatHymenop
first angle, as well as the corresponding part of the tibiae, tera
is furnished with thick and close-set hairs, forming, espe- Aculeata.
daily in several exotic species, a sort of brush or tuft,—
and thence the name of Scopulipedes, bestowed on this
division by Latreille. The under part of the abdomen is
naked, or at least unprovided with a silken brush. The
number of cubital cells is three, with few exceptions, and
each of the last two cells receives a recurrent nervure.
Sometimes the maxillary palpi consist of from four to
six articulations.
In a certain number the mandibles exhibit only a single
tooth on the inner side. These species fly with great ra¬
pidity from flower to flower, and with a buzzing sound.
They construct their nests either under ground, or in the
clefts of old walls. Several prefer ground which has been
cut perpendicularly, and exposed to the sun. Those spe¬
cies in which the two lateral portions of the ligula are as
long as the labial palpi, and setaceous, and of which the
antennae of the males are lengthened, form the genus Eu-
cera properly so called (Plate CCXLV. figure 25). The
male of a British species (Apis longicornis, Linn.) is black,
with the labrum and the anterior extremity of the head
yellow; its upper portion, thorax, and two first segments
of the abdomen, are covered by a reddish down. The fe¬
male (at one time described by Fabricius as a distinct spe¬
cies, under the name of Apis tuberculoid) has short an¬
tennae. The maxilla and labium form at their base a
slight projection. The abdomen is marked by grey stripes,
with a reddish termination. Several other species occur
in Britain. Spinola has detached certain species, of which
the maxillary palpi have only five distinct articulations,
and the superior wings only two cubital cells. These he
names Macrocera.3 The Melipodes of Lat. may be
defined as American Eucerse, with but four joints to the
maxillary palpi, and three cubital cells to the superior
wings. In the other Apiarise of this subdivision, the pa-
raglossae are much shorter than the ligula, and always ex¬
hibit three cubital cells. In Melitturga and Antho-
phora, Lat. (of both of which several species are indige¬
nous to Britain), the maxillary palpi have six articulations.
In Saropoda, Lat., likewise known among ourselves, the
maxillary palpi have only five articulations, and those of
the labium are continuous. Lastly, in the genus Ancy-
loscelis, Lat., of which the species are native to Brazil,
the maxillary palpi offer only four articulations.
In others the mandibles have several dentations on the
inner side, and the maxillary palpi, as in the preceding ge¬
nus, have four articulations. Such is the American genus
Centris of Fab.
Sometimes the maxillary palpi consist of only a single
very small articulation, which even becomes impercep¬
tible in certain species. The paraglossae are very short,
and the mandibles dentated, Such are the genera Epi-
charis and Acanthopus of Klug.4
B.
Our second pxnncipal division of the Apiariae is constitut¬
ed by many interesting insects, such as the garden and hum¬
ble bees, so remarkable for their peculiar regime, and the
gregarious habits of the species, each of which consists of
three kinds of individuals—males, females, and neuters, as
the workers are often called. The posterior tibiae of these last
named are furnished on their external face with a smooth
depression called the basket, in which they place the pollen
1 See Regne Animal, t. v. p. 350.
■J P or the characters of the above genera, see Regne Animal, t. v. p. 352-3 ; and Kirby’s Monographia Apum Anglice. The haunts
and habits of the species are noted under their generic titles in the Encyclop. Mlth., and the Diction. Class. d'Hist. Nat.
3 The name is objectionable, either on Spinola’s part or Meigen’s (according to whoever used it last),—as we observe that the Ger¬
man author, in his Zweiflugeligen Insecten, applies the same title to a dipterous genus.
4 See Encyclop. Meth. and other works already named.
ENTOMOLOGY.
201
Hymenop- collected from dowers by means of the silky down or brush
tera^ with which the inner face of the first joint of the posterior
^cu ta-a. tarsj jg provided. The maxillary palpi are very small, and
consist of a single articulation. The antennae are geniculate.
Sometimes the posterior tibia; are terminated by two
spines, as in the genus Euglossa, Lat. (Plate CCXLV.
fig. 26), which has the labrum square, and the false pro¬
boscis, or prolonged parts of the mouth, as long as the
body. The labial palpi terminate in a point formed by the
two other articulations. The species are peculiar to South
America. Latreille supposes that we owe to the one which
we have here figured (E. dentata), and to that called E. cor-
data, the green honey so much esteemed in the Antilles.
We are still ignorant of the habits of these insects. In the
genus Bombus (ibid. fig. 29), the species of which we recog¬
nise in this country as humble-bees, the labrum is trans¬
verse, and the proboscis obviously shorte’’ than the body.
The second articulation of the labial palpi terminates in a
point, bearing the two others on its outer side. There
are few associations of our childhood more deep and last¬
ing than those connected with the pursuit and capture of
these beautiful creatures, some of which are remarkable for
their size, and the rich contrast which they exhibit of vel¬
vet black and crimson, with bars of brilliant yellow. This
splendid attire, however, saves them not from being rude¬
ly handled ; and we remember the day when an artificial
bink, that is, a little box made of clay, with a piece of
glass at one end, and a sprinkling of sugar at the other,
contained as many captives in proportion to its size, as the
black-hole of Calcutta. But the practice of blobbing was
one we never patronized, although we know it is pursued
in this country, just as it seems to be, judging from the fol¬
lowing quotation, by the youth of the Great Nation :—“ Ils
sont bien connus des enfans, qui les privent souvent de la
vie pour avoir le miel renferme dans leur corps, et le
sucer.1 The exciteable genius of a great English poet is
roused to a wider range of sentiment and association by
the sight of one of these industrious beings.
And is she brought within the power
Of vision ?—o’er this tempting flower
Hovering until the petals stay
Her flight, and take its voice away !
Observe each wing—a tiny van ! 
The structure of her laden thigh,
How fragile !—yet of ancestry
Mysteriously remote and high,
High as the imperial front of man,
The roseate bloom on woman’s cheek ;
The soaring eagle’s curved heak ;
The white plumes of the floating swan ;
Old as the tiger’s paw, the lion’s mane
Ere shaken by that mood of stern disdain,
At which the desert trembles Humming-Bee !
Thy sting was needless then, perchance unknown ;
The seeds of malice were not sown ;
All creatures met in peace, from flerceness free,
And no pride blended with their dignity.
—Tears had not broken from their source,
Nor anguish strayed from her Tartarian den;
The golden years maintained a course
Not undiversified, tho’ smooth and even ;
We were not mocked with glimpse and shadow, then
Bright seraphs mixed familiarly with men,
And earth and stars composed a universal heaven.*
Be this as it may, the species of the genus Bombus inhabit
subterranean dwellings, assembled together in social groups
amounting to from fifty to sixty individuals, or even in cer¬
tain cases to between two and three hundred. These unions,
however, differ from those of the honey or garden-bee in
this, that they are dissolved, like those of wasps, on the ap¬
proach of winter. They consist of males, distinguished by Hymerop-
the smallness of their size, their feebler heads, their nar- tera
rower mandibles, terminated by two dentations, and beard- Aculeata.
ed, as well as by their frequent difference of colour; of
females, which are larger than the other individuals, and
have spoon-shaped mandibles; and of workers, of which
the mandibles are likewise spoon-shaped, and the size in¬
termediate between the two preceding kinds. Of these
workers, Reaumur was the first to distinguish two varie¬
ties,—one comparatively large and strong, the other
smaller, but more lively and active. This curious fact was
afterwards verified by Huber the younger. According to
the observations of the Genevese observer, several of the
workers born in spring couple during the month of June
with males sprung from a common mother, and soon after¬
wards deposit eggs, from which, however, males alone are
produced. These latter couple with the females which
are born towards the end of the season, and which continu¬
ing through the winter in a pregnant state, become each
the founder of a colony in spring. In the mean time, all
the others perish, without excepting even the smaller fe¬
males. The workers, then, though, in common with those
of the garden-bee, often called neuters, are in fact females,
but of smaller size than the more regular mothers, and
with the productive faculty imperfectly developed. No
sooner has the genial influence of spring penetrated the
mossy cells where these more ponderous matrons have
enjoyed their winter sleep, than they rouse themselves
from their repose, and wing their dubious flight in search
of the first opening crocus, or other garden flower ; or, if
remote from man, and destined to boom amid wild up¬
lands or other pastoral wastes, the flowering saughs (Salix
capred), which so often skirt the edges of our mountain
streams, and beautify the crystal waters by the reflec¬
tion of their golden blossoms, afford them a sufficing food.
The lover of nature knows how, even among sterile soli¬
tudes, a few bright sunny days call into life and beauty
many fragrant flowers, not long unvisited by these glad
labourers, who ere long settle in some fit abode, and lay
the foundations of a future city.
The nests of humble-bees are generally formed beneath
the earth, and at a depth of one or two feet. Dry plains,
fields, sloping banks, and the sides of hills, are their com¬
mon localities. These subterranean cavities are of consi¬
derable extent, wider than high, and in the form of a dome.
The ceiling is constructed of earth and carded moss, car¬
ried thither fibre by fibre. The inner walls are plastered
over by a coating of coarse wax. Sometimes a simple
opening serves as a passage to the foot of the nest; some¬
times a tortuous road, of one or two feet in length, leads
to the habitation. The bottom of the cavity is lined with
a layer of leaves, for the reception of the brood. The fe¬
male first places in it masses of brown irregular wax, call¬
ed patee by Reaumur, and compared to truffles by that na¬
turalist, on account of their shape and colour. Their ca¬
vities are destined to contain the eggs and larvae. The
latter live together in society until such time as they are
ready to assume the nympha state ; they then separate and
spin ovoid silken cocoons, vertically fixed against each other.
The nymph is always found in a reversed position, or with
the head downwards, like those of the females of the ho¬
ney-bee ; and the cocoons are uniformly pierced at their
lower end when the perfect insect escapes from its prison.
Reaumur asserted that the larvae fed upon the wax which
formed the walls of their habitations ; but these, according
to M. Huber, merely serve as a protection from cold and
moisture; and the actual food consists of an ample provi-
1 Rtgne Animal, t. v. p. 357.
Wordsworth’s Vernal Ode,
2 c
VOL. IX.
ENTOMOLOGY.
202
Hymenop- sion of pollen moistened with honey, which the labourers
tera provide for the helpless objects of their instinctive alfec-
Aculeata. t;on> When the supply is exhausted, they pierce the cover
Gf t]ie cells, put in an additional supply, and re-close the
protecting habitation. We may truly observe, in relation
to these delightful labours, that it is not alone in the “ great
waters” that man may behold the wonderful works of an
omnipotent Creator; for literally the earth is “ full of his
goodness.” These affectionate labourers, so pervaded by
the instincts of maternity, though themselves for the most
part barren, watch like rejoicing mothers over the destiny
of the future citizens ; and as soon as they perceive that a
generous diet has increased their dimensions, they enlarge
the size of their habitations. We find moreover in these
nests three or four small bodies resembling goblets, com¬
posed of brown wax, or of the same consistence as the pdtee,
always open, and more or less filled with good honey. The
exact situation in the hive of these honey jars is by no
means constant. It has been said that the workers make
use of the empty cocoons for the same purpose ; but their
doing so is deemed very doubtful by Latreille, in as far as
these cocoons are not only formed of a silky substance, but
are perforated on the under side.
The larvae are hatched in about five days after the de¬
position of the eggs, and accomplish their metamorphoses
in the months of May and June. It was formerly supposed
that labourers alone w7ere produced at this period; but we
have already alluded to the simultaneous production of a
certain number of males. The labourers immediately pro¬
ceed to assist the female founder in her operations; and
from this period the number of cells which serve as habi¬
tations for the larva; and nymphs is greatly augmented.
They form irregular combs, rising in stages, on the edges
of w7hich the patee of Reaumur is particularly observable.
According to Huber, the workers are extremely greedy of
the eggs of the female, and sometimes in her absence open
the cells in which they are deposited, in order to suck the
milky fluid they contain ! a most extraordinary fact, as La¬
treille observes, and one which seems to belie the noted
attachment which they entertain for the germs of that race
of which they are the natural and appointed guardians.
The wax secreted by humble-bees is elaborated by the
same peculiar process as that which produces the more
beautiful material with which the garden species constructs
its honeyed cells. It in fact results from honey, transuded
through the intervals of the rings of the abdomen.1 Se¬
veral females dwell together in unity, and do not exhibit
that instinctive aversion towards each other so remarkable
among our domesticated species.
Yet these bees, however humble, have enemies, nume¬
rous and of various kinds. Their habitations are uprooted
or otherwise attacked by foxes, badgers, weasels, polecats,
rats, field-mice, ants, and moths. Certain Volucellce (Syr-
phi of Fab.) deposit their eggs in their nests, the larvae
proceeding from which devour the eggs of the legal occu-
parts. The larvae of a species of Conops, described by MM.
Lachat and Audouin, live, like intestinal worms or the
grubs of Strepsiptera, within the abdomen of the perfect
bee ; and after acquiring wings, they make their escape
from between the segments.2
The species of the genus Bcmbus are extremely nume¬
rous, and seem extended over almost all the regions of the
earth. “ Scarcely any genus of the insect creation,” ob¬
serves Mr Kirby, “ has so large a range as this of Bombus. Hymenop.
It is found in the old w orld and in the new ; and from the tera
limits of phamogamous vegetation to the equator ; but its ^uIeata~
metropolis appears to be within the temperate zone.”3 We
cannot here enter into descriptive details. In Great Bri¬
tain alone we have above forty different kinds. Of these,
the B. muscorum (Apis muscorum, Linn.), called Foggie
by the Scottish schoolboy, is recognisable by its reddish
colour, uniform in the males, females, and neuters. In B.
lapidarius the female is black, the abdomen with a red ter¬
mination ; the male (which is the B. arbustorum of Fab.)
has the front of the head and both ends of the thorax yel¬
low,—the abdomen having likewise a red extremity. This
species differs from the others in its habit of forming its
nest under stones. Hence its Latin trivial name. The B.
terrestris is a very common and very beautiful species,
widely distributed. It is black, wdth the posterior extre¬
mity of the thorax and the base of the abdomen yellow.
The termination of the latter part is white. The B. arc-
ticus of Kirby is black, with the base and apex of the tho¬
rax, and the anterior half of the abdomen, pale yellow.
This insect is the Apis alpina of Otho Fabricius ;4 but not
the species so called by Linnaeus, which the former author
supposed it to be. “ The insect before us,” says Mr Kirby,
“ differs so slightly from the description which O. Fabricius
has given of that which he mistook for the Apis alpina of
Linne, that there can be little or no doubt of their identity.
He confesses that his specimens (and this bee appears to
have abounded in West Greenland, as it was also observed
to do in Melville Island, and wherever the expedition land¬
ed within the arctic circle) did not in all things agree with
the characters assigned to that species. But he states,
that as Linne had seen only a single specimen, he did not
think himself at liberty to make a new species on account
of an insignificant difference. Although, howrever, Linne
had seen this bee only once, it has since been more fre¬
quently taken ; and having received specimens of it from
Sweden, through the kindness of Major Gyllenhal, which
agree with the Linnaean description in every point but size
(a circumstance easily explained, by supposing the original
specimen a queen and those sent to me neuters), I can ven¬
ture to assert that the two insects are perfectly distinct.
Bombus alpinus is entirely black, with the upper side of
the abdomen, all but the base, covered with orange-colour¬
ed or ferruginous hairs. The antennae also of the female
or neuter (an important distinction in a genus the species
of wdiich are usually only distinguished by the colour of
their hirsuties) are proportionally shorter; and the short
hairs that cover the tarsi are black.”5 The range of the
true B. arcticus seems limited by the arctic circle, and
extends from Greenland only in a westerly direction,—at
least the species does not appear to have been observed in
Lapland, Iceland,6 or other eastern portions of that chilly
zone. A European species, named B. Lapponicus, is said
to be well known in North America, and to extend as far
north as Nova Scotia.7 Dr Richardson, the intrepid arc¬
tic traveller, informed the author of the present treatise,
that in the course of the northern land expedition he saw
some bees in very high latitudes, resembling our common
humble-bee (B. terrestris ?), but that he did not at the time
ascertain the precise species ; and the circumstances under
which he was then placed unfortunately prevented his pre¬
serving specimens of the softer kinds of insects.8
Memoires du Mus. d'Hist. Nat. t. viii. p. 147* * Supplement to the App. to Capt. Parry’s First Voyage, p. 217-
Journal de Physique, Mars 1819. 6 Hooker’s Recollections of Iceland, 1st edit. p. 34.
3 Supplement to the App. to Capt. Parry’s First Voyage, p. 217- 7 Diet. Class. d'Hist. Nat. t. ii. p. 451.
4 Fauna Groenlandica, 155.
8 t or a detailed history of the genus Bombus, the reader may consult, in addition to the works already named, “ Observations on
several species of the genus Apis, known by the name of Humble-Bees, and called Bombinatrices by Linnaeus,” by Mr P. Huber, in
Linn. Trans, vol. vi. p. 214.
E N T O M O L O G Y.
Hytnenop- The remainder of our social Apiariae are not character-
tera ized, like the preceding, by spines at the extremity of their
posterior tibiae. They form two genera.
In genus Apis, Lat., or honey-bees par excellence,
the workers have the first articulation of the posterior tarsi
in the form of a lengthened square, and furnished on its
interior face with a silky down, or divided into transverse
or striated bands. We here place our invaluable garden
species Apis mellifica, Linn, (of which we have repre¬
sented the worker, the female, and the drone, on Plate
CCXLV. figs. 28, 30, and 31), on the wonderful history
and attributes of which we could dilate with pleasure to
ourselves, if not with satisfaction to our readers, had not
the subject been already here treated of at length, and by
an abler hand.1 We shall merely here remark, that all the
species of the genus Apis properly so called are peculiar to
the ancient countries of the world, and that the domestic
culture of the honey-bee is of an origin so remote as to be
lost in the depth of ages. It served among the Egyptians
as the hieroglyphical emblem of royalty, and has been
more or less attended to by all civilized nations of whom
we have any record ; for innumerable in all but the darkest
times are the writers who have told—
Of treasure suck’d from buds and bells,
For the pure keeping of those waxen cells.
Where she, a statist prudent to confer
Upon the public weal, a warrior bold,
Radiant all over with unburnished gold,
And armed with living spear for mortal fight,
A cunning forager
That spreads no waste,—a social builder, one
In whom all busy offices unite,
With all fine functions that afford delight,
Safe through the winter storm in quiet dwells!
Our honey-bee (A. mellifica), though now well known
in America, is in that country not an indigenous, but an
imported species. Our land expeditions did not observe
its occurrence to the north of Canada. The Americans
have now settled the Missouri, as far as the 95th meridian ;
and it is probable that the New England men, in their
journey westward, carried hives along with them. Accord¬
ing to Mr Warden, the hive-bee was not found to the west¬
ward of the Mississippi prior to the year 1797; but it is
now well known, and has been so for a considerable time,
as high up the Missouri as the Maka nation,—having pro¬
ceeded westward six hundred miles in fourteen years.2
Such a distance seems great for these tiny creatures to ad¬
vance by the ordinary process of swarming, even supposing
that the flight of the new colonies was invariably in a wes¬
tern direction. It is at the rate of forty-three miles a year ;
but they have perhaps been smitten by the Yankee passion
for settling beyond the clearings.3
Besides the species above named, various other honey¬
bees are found in different regions of the earth. The Apis
203
unicolor of Lat. occurs in Madagascar and the Isle of France, Lepidop-
and yields an esteemed honey of a green colour, like that tera-
of the Antilles. The Apis Indica of Fab. is found in Ben-
gal and at Pondicherry. The Apis fasciata of Lat. is do¬
mesticated in Egypt, and is carried at certain seasons, for
the sake of a double harvest, from Lower into Upper Egypt,
just as we transport our owm species, when the “ flower-ena¬
melled meads” are on the wane, to the blooming heather
of the mountain solitudes. The Apis Adansonii is a spe¬
cies found in Senegal; and the Apis Peronii is native to
the island of Timor, from whence it was first brought by
the enterprising navigator whose name it bears. In rela¬
tion to the European kinds, we have no other British spe¬
cies than the one so frequent in our garden-hives ; but the
Italians cultivate with success the Apis Ligustica of Spi-
nola, which is by some entomologists supposed to occur in
the wild state, and unimported, in the Morea and the Me¬
diterranean Archipelago.4 *
The terminal genus of the social bees (and with it we
conclude the hymenopterous order) is that called Melipona
by Uliger and Latreille. It is distinguished from the pre¬
ceding genus by the form of the first articulation of the
posterior tarsi, which is narrower at the base, or in the
shape of a reversed triangle, and without striae on the silky
brush of its interior face. The upper wings have only
two complete cubital cells, while there are three in the ge¬
nus Apis. These Hymenoptera inhabit South America,
and build their nests, which resemble bagpipes, on the
tops of trees, or in their cavities. Their honey is extreme¬
ly sweet and agreeable, but very liquid, and apt to corrupt.
The Indians form from it a favourite spirituous liquor.
These details apply to M. amalthea, of which M. Cordier
possesses a specimen enclosed in amber. The species in ■
general have been observed by many travellers, but by few
naturalists ; and it is therefore not very easy to refer the
recorded observations on their history to the proper species.
Some nearly allied insects form the genus Trigones of
Lat.6
Order VI.—LEP1DOPTERA, Linn.6
This splendid and much-admired order is characterized
by the possession of four membranous and veined wings,
covered by close-set scales, which frequently present the
most brilliant and richly varied colours. The mouth con¬
sists of lengthened filaments or threads, the union of which
forms an extensile spiral trunk or tongue, with which the
nectareous juices of flowers are absorbed. Two palpi (cor¬
responding to the labial palpi of masticating insects), con¬
sisting of three articulations, act as a sheath or guard on
either side of the tongue when rolled up. The superior or
maxillary palpi are usually very small, inconspicuous, or
obsolete. The chrysalis is oblected, that is, covered over or
1 See the article Bee of this work, vol. iv. p. 570. We shall merely observe, in regard to the conversion of the neuter or working
bee into a queen-mother, that a great degree of obscurity seems still to pervade the writings of all entomologists, whenever that singu¬
lar subject is touched upon. Nothing in the history of these creatures has been more clearly demonstrated than the fact of such con¬
version,—but how a change of food should operate in the course of a few days a determinate change in the organic form and instinc¬
tive character of an insect, is as yet a mystery. We are more willing to believe than competent to understand several of M. Huber’s
facts. It is easy to conceive a greater development of particular organs, the germs of which previously existed,—but the positive
alteration in the structure of the feet and maxillae is not so readily accounted for. We still require some more precise and detailed
information regarding this mysterious transmutation than the observations even of the Hubers have furnished. It would tend great¬
ly to elucidate the subject if a series of comparisons could be made at different periods of their development, between the larvae,
nymphs, and perfect insects of the two kinds of queen-bees,—namely, those which were deposited originally in the royal cells (the legi¬
timates), and those whose condition has been altered by the bees themselves in consequence of a failure in the royal line (the citizen-
queens). It has not yet been ascertained at what periods or in what manner these singular changes of form take place, further than
that the common maggot or bee-worm, on which the change is to be effected, must not exceed the age of three days.
2 Statistical, Political, and Historical Account of the United States of America, vol. iii. p. 139.
3 Edinburgh Cabinet Library, vol. ix. p. 387.
^ In addition to the numerous works already cited, see a Monograph of the genus by Latreille, in the Observations de Zool. et
d'Anat. Comp, du Voyage de MM. Humboldt et Bonpland.
1 Genera Crustac. et Insect, t. iv. p. 182.
6 Glossata, Fabricius,
204 E N T O M
Lepidop- concealed by a crustaceous envelope, which however exhi-
tera- bits to a certain extent the external traces of the limbs,
thorax, and abdomen.
The Lepidoptera are the most beautiful of all insects,
and exhibit in their colouring every imaginable hue. It is
not the mere brilliancy of the broader masses of colour, or
their gorgeous combination, which alone delights our eyes,
—but the exquisitely varied markings by which the hand
of nature has traced her enigmatical characters on the
“ sail broad vans” of these fairy and fantastic creatures.
What are the forms
Painted on rich men’s floors for one feast night,
or the most elaborate Mosaic pavement, when compared
with the imbricated surface of a butterfly’s wing l1 It was
probably the highly ornamental nature of this order that
induced Degeer and Olivier to place it at the head of the
class of insects.
The mouth of the Lepidoptera does not differ essentially
in its structure from the same organ in the masticating or
mandibulated orders.2 Savigny and Latreille have shown,
in a manner at once precise and philosophical, that it is
composed of the same pieces, and that these pieces are pe¬
culiarly appropriated to the functions Which they are re¬
quired to perform; thus some parts of little use exist in a
merely rudimentary condition, while others of a more in¬
dispensable nature have gained an increase of develop¬
ment. The component parts are : a labrum, often nearly
invisible, conical, or subulated; two corneous mandibles,
very small, rudimentary, hairy, or garnished with small
scales, and fixed, or apparently useless ; two corneous max¬
illae, in the form of tubular threads, generally much extend¬
ed, and soldered together as far as the origin of the palpi,
and forming by the union of their inner edges the trunk
or sucker, of which the interior presents three canals ; two
maxillary palpi, often almost imperceptible, consisting of
from one to three articulations, and inserted near the bend
of the maxillae ; two labial or inferior palpi of three articu¬
lations, closely set with hairs or scales, and rising on each
side of the trunk, of which they form a kind of sheath. The
labium is composed of a single piece, flat, and triangular.
The antennae vary in the different groups, but they are
always composed of a great number of articulations. In
the diurnal tribes they are simple, and generally terminat¬
ed by a small inflation or knob ; in the crepuscular they
assume the form of an elongated or fusiform mass; in the
nocturnal they are filiform or setaceous, whether pectinat¬
ed or simple, and often plumose, especially in the males.
In many species we find a pair of stemmatic eyes conceal¬
ed among the scales, and placed between the ordinary eyes
or organs of vision. The latter are hemispherical, of con¬
siderable size, and composed of innumerable facettes. The
trunk is either ineffective or altogether wanting in some of
the crepuscular and nocturnal tribes. The three seg¬
ments of which the thorax of many other hexapod insects
is visibly composed, seem here united into one,—the an¬
terior being very short and transversal, as in the hymenop-
terous and dipterous orders. The form of the thorax is
extremely uniform, and any apparent variety of aspect is
caused chiefly by the extension of its hairy or scaly cover¬
ing, which sometimes assumes the shape of a crest. The
abdomen is composed of from six to seven segments. It
is attached to the thorax by a very small portion of its dia-
O L O G Y.
meter, and never offers either sting or ovipositor,- although Lepidop.
in a few females (as in Cossus) the terminal rings are nar- tera-
row, and lengthened into the form of a pointed and retrac-
tile oviduct. The scales of the wings, on which their gor¬
geous beauty depends, are implanted by means of a small
pedicle. Their figure is variable. They are usually some¬
what elongated, rounded at the base from the side of the
pedicle, and truncated at the outer extremity, which is ge¬
nerally toothed or serrated. The under wings frequently
form on their inner margins a kind of canal for the recep¬
tion of the abdomen. Among many of the diurnal kinds,
the four wings, in a state of repose, are raised perpendicu¬
larly, so as to meet above the back; in the two other great
sections they are horizontal or inclined ; and in these there
is often a strong spine or bristle on the anterior margin of
the inferior wings, which being received by a buckle-like
process of the under surface of the superior pair, maintains
them in their position.
The legs of the Lepidcptera are as usual six in number,
and the tarsi are composed of five articulations, and are
terminated by a pair of hooks. In several diurnal genera
the anterior pair are much shorter than the others, are
useless as locomotive organs, and are folded on the sides
of the chest; their tarsi being large, indistinctly articulat¬
ed, and destitute of apparent hooks. The existence of the
sense of smell in the class of insects is clearly demonstrat¬
ed by the habits of many species of this order. The males
of many nocturnal Lepidoptera discover the females of
their own kind at a great distance, even when the latter
are carefully and intentionally concealed from sight. The
female is generally for the most part perceptibly, and in
many instances considerably, larger than the males. They
deposit their eggs, by an admirable and wisely granted in¬
stinct, not on the plants which they themselves affect during
their first buoyant courses, but on such as are best adapted
for the future nourishment of their crawling and wingless
offspring.
The larvae of Lepidoptera, usually known under the
name of Caterpillars, are composed of twelve annular seg¬
ments, exclusive of the head. They are furnished with
nine stigmatic openings on each side, and the three ante¬
rior segments of the body are respectively furnished with
a pair of short legs of a scaly consistence, terminated by a
hook, and corresponding to the true legs of the perfect insect.
There are, besides, from four to ten membranous or false
feet upon the other segments. The body of caterpillars is
generally elongated, soft, almost cylindrical, and frequent¬
ly adorned by bright or beautiful colours, besides being
variously provided with spines, hairs, or tubercles. Many
are however naked, or unprotected by any other than a
cutaneous covering. The head is harder than the other
parts, and is covered by a corneous or scaly skin. It pre¬
sents on each side six small shining grains, which are re¬
garded as simple or stemmatic eyes ; and two very short
conical antennae are likewise perceptible. The mouth is
composed of two strong mandibles, a pair of maxillae, a
labium, and four palpi. The food of caterpillars consist¬
ing not of vegetable juices alone, but of the actual sub¬
stance of the leaves and roots, and even of the well-ma¬
tured wmody fibres of timber trees, the masticating organs
are beautifully adapted to their functions. But no sooner
is the creeping and voracious larva about to transform it¬
self into the “ angelic butterfly,” wdiich floats on gaudy
1 \\ e find the following memoranda among some notes illustrating the difference between the works of art and nature:
The Sussex pavement d f ll'|
A modern mosaic picture I „nnta:n„ J 870 ! tessellae or separate pieces
The wing of a butterfly expanded  ( ] 100,736 j in one inch square.
The same in the Aurelia state j 1931,808]
2 See Plate CCXXXIII. figs 5 and 8. with the detailed description given in the note to page 34 of this volume.
E N T O M
Lepidop. pinions from flower to flower, and sustains itself only on
. _)l_ela_ ! most ethereal of their nectareous juices, than the parts
~*~'f~*** of the mouth undergo a change not less remarkable than
that of the general form and aspect, and the long tubular
proboscis above described is developed, in subservience
to the habits of a new existence. The change, however,
is by no means sudden or immediate, but is effected
through the transitionary state of chrysalis, of \vhich‘ we
have already said perhaps more than enough in 4ur at¬
tempted exposition of the mysteries of transformation. We
cannot, however, here avoid to notice the elaboration of
that silky substance which, towards the termination of the
caterpillar’s career, becomes so singular a feature in its na¬
tural economy, and one of such vast importance in the ar¬
tificial habits of the human race. It is formed in two long
tortuous interior vessels, which, becoming gradually more
slender at their upper extremities, terminate in a small co¬
nical spinner at the end of the labium. Had these insig¬
nificant secreting organs not existed in the silk-worm, or
other allied species, what a difterence of character would
have been manifested in the lustrous aspect of baronial
halls, and even of the courts of kings! It is curious, in¬
deed, to consider how the breeding of a few millions of
caterpillars should " occasion such a disparity at different
times in the circumstances of different tribes of the human
race. When the wife and empress of Aurelian was refused
a garment of silk, on account of its extreme costliness, the
most ordinary classes of the Chinese were clad in that ma¬
terial from top to toe; and although among ourselves
week-day and holiday are now alike profaned by uncouth
forms, whose vast circumference is clothed “ in silk attire,”
yet'our own James the Sixth was forced to borrow a pair
of silken hose from the Earl of Mar, that his state and
bearing might be more effective in the presence of the
ambassador of England,—“ for ye would not, sure,” said the
royal pedant; “ that your king should appear as a scrub be¬
fore strangers.”1 King Henry the Eighth was the first of
the English sovereigns who wore silk stockings.
Many caterpillars, in walking, fix the anterior feet on the
plane of their position, and, bending their body upwards,
they advance and fix their anal feet, assuming for a time
the form of a loop. They then unfix their anterior hold,
and stretching forward their bodies, proceed as it were by-
spanning the ground. They are hence called surveyors
(arpenteuses) by the French naturalists. Others, known
under the name of Batons, fix themselves, in repose, to
twigs and branches by their hinder feet, and thus hold them¬
selves out stiff and immoveable for many successive hours.
It may easily be supposed that this extraordinary attitude
must require the exercise of, comparatively speaking, most
enormous strength. No vertebrated animal, not in a state
of catalepsy, could sustain it even for a few seconds. We
find accordingly (through the laborious investigations of a
great interpreter of nature, Lyonnet) that even in the ca¬
terpillar of Cossus ligniperda, a species which lives in trees,
but does not exercise itself in the way alluded to, there are
above 4000 muscles. Many move along the ground rapid¬
ly by the successive motion of each segment, as if a wave
were flowing over or pervading their bodies. The intes¬
tines of caterpillars consist of a large canal without inflec¬
tions, the anterior portion being sometimes slightly sepa¬
rated in the form of a stomach, and the posterior forming
a wrinkled cloaca. There are also four very long biliary
vessels, usually inserted pretty far back.
The habits of caterpillars are very various in the diffe¬
rent kinds. Although a great majority feed on vegetable
o L O G Y. 205
substances, many of the smaller kinds are extremely de- Lepidop-
structive among stuffed birds, and all kinds of woollens. tera.
They will even devour leather, lard, wax, wafers, and all
fatty matters. Many confine themselves to one particular
substance, while others are polyphagous. Some unite in
society, and form a silken tent to screen themselves from
their natural enemies, and the extremes of heat and cold;
others are independent and solitary. As they increase in
size they cast their skins, and this process of sloughing ge¬
nerally takes place about four times. A great proportion,
before assuming the chrysalis state, spin around them a
web or cocoon, more or less compact according to their
kind. In some (as in Bombyx mori, or the silk-worm) it
is of a rich saffron colour, and of exquisite fineness; in
others it is of a membranous texture, from being originally
more compactly glutinous, instead of consisting of distinct
threads. Many mingle with their funeral web or winding-
sheet, particles of earth or decayed vegetable substances,
which greatly increase the size of their cocoons. The
chrysalids of the diurnal Lepidoptera are, however, naked or
exposed, and are usually suspended by the posterior extremi
ty, or fastened by a silken cord or girth around the middle
of the body. They are also angular in their forms, while
those of moths are rounded or cylindrical. In one or two
of the crepuscular kinds, or Sphingides, the proboscis pro¬
jects, and is encircled by a separate envelope, even in the
chrysalis state. All the other parts are, however, swathed
in a coriaceous covering, although the form of the wings
and other members may be traced externally, in slight
though distinct relief. The abdominal segments are capa¬
ble of motion, like the “ thews and sinews” of a warrior in
plaited mail. The period of repose varies from a few weeks
to one or two years. Such as assume the chrysalis state
late in autumn, do not appear in the winged condition till
the ensuing spring. Many remain in the egg state all win¬
ter ; and such diurnal Lepidoptera as have two flights in the
year are generally produced in the first place in spring from
chrysalids which have lain torpid all winter, and become
themselves the parents of another flight, which make their
appearance at a later period of the same season. Thou¬
sands perish before attaining the perfect state, not only as
the natural food of most passerine birds, but as the living
bed of the Ichneumonides, which deposit their eggs in the
fatty substance of the caterpillar, and thus by degrees de¬
prive it of the source of life.
The observance of these and of other singularities, which
w-e cannot here detail, will afford a never-lailing source of
interest to the student of nature’s mysteries, and will as¬
suredly yield an ampler and more enduring recompense
than “ Pyrrhos’ maze or Epicurus’ stye,” In spite, how¬
ever, of all that has been said and written of the wonders
of entomology (and the subject, to be understood, must ra¬
ther be seen than listened to, or even reflected on through
the pages of the best instructed author), w-e fear that many
continue to regard it with very inadequate notions. But
how may not piety itself revolt at the thought of the most
numerous works of an Almighty Creator’s hand being re¬
garded as trifling or unworthy of a deep and most reveren¬
tial consideration. When Solomon, whose earthly glory
never equalled the lustre of the “ lilies of the field,” desired
us to ponder on a meet emblem of diligence and wisdom,
it was not from what we consider as the most important
parts of the creation that he drew his example : “ Go to
the ant, thou sluggard ; consider her w-ays, and be wise.” So
spake, and under a divine impulse, he who is himself em¬
phatically called the “ wisest of men.” Yet in many a high-
1 Edinburgh Cabinet Library, viii. p. 154.
206
ENTOMOLOGY.
Lepidop- flown moral and (pseudo) religious declamation, folly and
tera ignorance not seldom combine to illustrate whatever is
mean, insignificant, or worthless, by a reference to some
unfortunate form of insect life. Even the pious Newton (not
Sir Isaac, but the author of Cardiphonia, whose name was
John) somewhere likens the extremest act of thoughtless¬
ness and folly to a person breaking off from some worldly and
important presence to “ pursue a butterfly.” Did the excel¬
lent author forget, or never know, that a butterfly is not only
in itself a creature of such exquisite beauty that neither the
“ sea of light,” nor any other of the most famous gems
which ever from the brow of an eastern tyrant dazzled the
dark eye of a trembling slave, can compare with it in va¬
ried and gorgeous lustre ;—or did he expunge from his re¬
collection that the same divine hand which formed man
after his own likeness, also created every other thing which
breathes the breath of life, and that all were declared good
when seen by that eye, before whose brightness even the
angels veil their faces ? Compared with the eternal inte¬
rests of man, we admit that all earthly pursuits, including
even the best and purest—those of science—are'as dust
in the balance; but, bearing in mind our higher destiny,
and yet believing that as there are celestial bodies and bo¬
dies terrestrial, so we cannot be better occupied than in
devoting a convenient season to study (without which we
cannot understand) the works of God,—for “ the glory of
the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is an¬
other,” and both, though differing from each other in
brightness, co-exist in divinest harmony, simply because
The hand that made them is itself divine.
Therefore, though ourselves among the most loyal of
liege subjects, we should not hesitate to pursue a butterfly,
if wanting to our collection, “ even in the presence of a
crowned king.” But this, we fear, is a digression.
In lepidopterous insects in the perfect state, we find a
first lateral stomach or crop,—a second, inflated or turgid.
—a small intestine, tolerably long,—and a caecum near the
cloaca.
The order is naturally divisible into three families, viz.
Diurna, Crepuscularia, and Nocturna.
FAMILY I.—DIURNA.
The insects of this family, commonly called Butterflies,
are never seen on the wing except during the day, and in
a state of repose usually hold their wings erect. Their an¬
tennae are capitated, or terminated by a club or knob, with
a few exceptions, such as the splendid genus Morpho, in
which they are almost filiforjn, and the Fabrician genus
Urania, in which they become more slender towards their
extremities. The caterpillars have always sixteen feet,
and the chrysalids are naked and angular. These are the
only lepidopterous insects in which we never find the exte¬
rior margin of the inferior wings presenting a rigid seta
or bristle, for the retention of the superior pair.
The genus Papilio of Linnaeus, divided into certain
sections, contained the whole of that splendid and infinite¬
ly-varied tribe which we call Butterflies, of which the spe¬
cies are so numerous and diversified that naturalists soon
felt the necessity of multiplying the genera, both because
it was right so to do, and for the mere convenience of re¬
stricting the amount of species contained in each. In the
later editions of the Systerna Natures, Butterflies, or diur-
Diurna.
nal Lepidoptera, were divided into six phalanges. The Lepidop.
first, called Equites (which now correspond to the true ge- tera
nus Papilio, as restricted by Latreille), was divided into
Troes and Achivi, a division since ascertained to be rather "
unfortunate in some respects, in as far as it occasionally
separates the males and females of the same species; the
second was named Heliconii; the third Parnassii; the fourth
Danai, subdivided into Candidi and Festivi; the fifth
Nymphales, also subdivided into Gemmati and Phalerati;
the sixth Plebeii, again divided into Rurales and Urbicolce.
Geofffoy (in his Histoire abregee des Insectes) follows
tha Linnaean system, and improves it chiefly by applying
the principles previously established by Reaumur in his
Memoires* Degeer and Olivier likewise so far follow Lin¬
naeus as to retain the name Papilio as a generic term ; but,
in order to facilitate the labours of the student, they have
introduced additional sections and subdivisions. The la¬
bours of Scopoli, as we have elsewhere observed,1 are de¬
fective in relation to these insects, in consequence of his
generic characters being drawn from the presence or ab¬
sence of spots on the wings, and other distinctions which
are of little or no value, except for the formation of artifi¬
cial sections, or the discrimination of species. In the earlier
wrorksof Fabricius, scarcely any alterations were made in the
arrangement of the Linnsean Papiliones. But in the En-
tomologia Systematica of that author, and still more in his
Systema Glossata (left unfinished at the period of his death,
a great number of genera were eventually created.2 La¬
treille, in his numerous works, has constituted various generic
groups, which appear to have been very generally adopted.
Of the chief of these we shall speedily give account. Denis
and Schiffermuller (in the Catalogue des Lepidopteres de Vi¬
enne) had previously benefited this branch of Entomology,
by assuming the form and metamorphosis of the caterpillar
as principal bases of their divisions ; and Ochsenheimer has
since successfully applied the same method to all the Euro¬
pean species. Our ignorance of the history of the greater
proportion of exotic groups has unfortunately retarded the
more general application of the principles of an improved
system, although Dr Horsfield’s admirable Lepidoptera Ja-
vanica has done much to complete our knowledge of many
fine Javanese species. Dumeril and Lamarck have also,
each after his own manner, endeavoured to amend the
classification of diurnal Lepidoptera; and in regard to
pictorial works in this department, Clerk, Cramer, Engra-
melle, Hubner, Ernst, Esper, Stoll, Herbst, Jablonsky,
Godart, and others, have published collections of coloured
figures, some of which stand unrivalled in extent and mag¬
nificence by the most costly productions of those who have
most successfully endeavoured to illustrate any of the kin¬
dred branches of natural science. Even in our own coun¬
try, where natural history is so sparingly patronised, and
so lightly valued, this beautiful branch of zoology has been
rather sumptuously exhibited, and the names of Drury,
Abbot, Wilkes, Shaw, Donovan, Lewin, Leach, Swain-
son, Stephens, Curtis, and Horsfield, will readily occur to
the grateful recollection of the reader.
Indeed, on account of the exquisite beauty of their forms
and colours, Butterflies have, from the earliest periods of
natural history, greatly excited the zeal and admiration of
collectors. They occur in all quarters of the world,—from
the frozen shores of Greenland and Spitzbergen, to high
southern latitudes ; but the tropical regions of Asia and
America are the most productive of large and splendidly-
coloured species.
1 Illustrations of Zoology, letter-press preceding plate xxviii.
* Uliger has given an extract from the last-named work, in his Magazin; and the English reader will find it exhibited by J G.
Children, Esq. in the Phil. Mag. and Annals for February 1830.
ENTOMOLOGY.
237
Lepidop- M. Latreille divides the Linnaean Papiliones into two
tera sections.
Diurna.
Section 1st,
Contains all those butterflies which have but a single
pair of spurs or spines to their tibiae, and placed at the pos¬
terior extremity of these parts. When in a state of repose
they raise their wings perpendicularly, joining them at the
tips. Their antennae are usually clubbed or inflated at the
extremity, sometimes almost filiform. In this section are
included the genus Papilio and the Hesperiae ruricolce of
Fabricius. It is itself divisible as follows.
*
Third joint of the inferior palpi sometimes almost want¬
ing, sometimes very distinct, but equally well clothed
with scales as that which precedes it. Hooks of the
tarsi apparent or projecting.
Some of the genera of this subdivision are hexapod or
six-footed, that is, all the feet are formed for walking, and
are almost identical in both sexes. Their chrysalids, in ad¬
dition to the common attachment by the posterior extre¬
mity, are fixed by the passing of a silken thread across the
body. A few are enclosed in a rude cocoon. The central
cell of the lower wing is closed inferiorly.
In Papilio (proper) of Latrelle (Plate CCXLVI.
fig. 2), the inferior palpi are extremely short, scarcely
reaching the clypeus with their upper extremity ; their
third joint is indistinct. The species of this genus are re¬
markable both for elegance of shape and beauty of colour¬
ing. Those spotted with red on the breast form the divi¬
sion of Eguites Troes of Linn.; those destitute of such
marks he styled Achivi or Greeks. They abound in the
tropical countries of both hemispheres, but are rare in
more northern countries. Indeed we are not aware that
more than three exist in Europe, viz. P. Machaon, Po-
dalirius, and Alexanor, of which the first is a well-known
native of some of the southern counties of England. The
caterpillars of this genus are naked, and when alarmed
protrude from the superior part of the neck a soft forked
horn, that usually diffuses a penetrating and unpleasant
odour. The chrysalis is exposed, and is supported by
means of a silken band. In the genus Parnassius of Eat.
(Poritis, Fab.), Plate CCXLVI. figure 3, the inferior palpi
evidently extend above the clypeus, taper to a point, and
are distinctly triarticulated. The terminal button of the
antennae is short, almost ovoid and straight. The females
are provided with a kind of corneous boat-shaped sack at
the posterior extremity of the abdomen. The species of
this interesting genus seem peculiar to the alpine or sub-
alpine countries of Europe and the north of Asia. Their
caterpillars possess a retractile tentaculum, like those of
the preceding genus ; but they form, prior to their transfor¬
mation, a cocoon of leaves united by filaments of silk. The
species which we have figured in the present work is a
noted Swiss insect, P. Apollo. It inhabits alpine valleys.
It is said, however, to occur on plains near Upsal, and
other northern countries. In the genus Thais of Fab.
(Plate CCXLVI. figure 5), the palpi resemble those of the
preceding, but the terminal button of the antennae is elon¬
gated and curved, and there is no corneous pouch at the
extremity of the abdomen of the female. The species are
characteristic 6f the south of Europe. A few occur on
mountains. In the preceding genera the internal margin
of the under wings is concave or folded. In the two fol¬
lowing the inferior wings project beneath the abdomen,
and form a canal for its reception. The caterpillars, many
of which feed on the Cruciferae, have no tentaculum. The
species correspond to the Danai candidi of Linn, and in-
Diurna.
elude all our common white Butterflies. In Pieris, Lat. Lepidop-
{Pontia of Fabricius and of the English entomologists), tera
Plate CCXLVI. figure 6, the inferior palpi are almost cy¬
lindrical and slightly compressed, with the last articulation
at least almost as long as the preceding. The club of the
antennae is ovoid. We have nine or ten British species,
including what are usually called cabbage-butterflies, such
as P. brassicce, napi, &c.; also the more richly attired
Orange Tip, or Lady of the Woods, P. cardamines.1 Mr
Stephens confines the generic title of Pieris to the haw¬
thorn butterfly, P. crateegi, a species as yet unknown in
Scotland. In the genus Colias of Fab. (Plate CCXLVI.
fig. 4), the club of the antennae forms an elongated and
reversed cone, and the inferior palpi are greatly compress¬
ed, with the last joint much shorter than that which pre¬
cedes it. The indigenous species are in general more
warmly coloured than those of the preceding genus.
Other genera of this subdivision ( Tetrapodd) have the
anterior pair of feet much shorter than the others, folded
on the breast, and unfit for walking ; sometimes in both
sexes, sometimes only in the males. The chrysalis is sim¬
ply attached by its posterior extremity, and hangs with its
head downwards. The genus Danais (Euplwa, Fab.),
part of the Danai festivi of Linn. (Plate CCXLVI. figure 4),
are distinguished by their triangular wings, and antenna;
terminated by a kind of elongated and curved button. In
Idea, Fab. the wings are almost oval and elongated, and
the antennae nearly filiform. In Heliconius, Lat. (P. He-
liconii, Linn.) (Plate CCXLVI. figure 7), the antennae are
twice the length of the head and thorax, and increase in¬
sensibly towards the extremity. In Acr^sa, Fab. the an¬
tennae are shorter, and terminate in a more abrupt button.
Those in which the inferior palpi are but slightly com¬
pressed, distant throughout their length, or at least at
their extremity, and terminated abruptly by a slender and
acicular joint, and in which the under surface of the wings
is frequently ornamented by silvery spots, or by yellow
ones upon a fulvous ground, form the genera Cetosia and
Argynnis (Plate CCXL VII. fig. 2) of Fabricius and La¬
treille. The caterpillars (ibid. fig. 3) are beset with spines
or tubercles. In the former, of which several species have
the wings elevated and elongated, the inferior palpi are dis¬
tant throughout their entire length, the hooks of the tarsi
are simple, and the club of the antennae oblong. In the
latter the club is short and abrupt, the hooks of the tarsi
are unidentated, and the inferior palpi are distant only at
their extremity. The inferior wings are often rounded.
These butterflies are remarkable for the silvery spots upon
their under surface. They are called Fritillaries by the
English collectors. There are four or five indigenous spe¬
cies. The caterpillars have a pair of spines upon the
neck, longer than the rest. Such as fall under the genus
Melitcea of Fab. have yellow spots on the under surface,
and the general markings above are more disposed in
squares, like a chess-board. In M. Seleni and Euphrosyne,
however, the upper surface is very similar to that of the
preceding species, and there is an appearance of pearly or
silvery lustre on the under surface of the lower wings. La¬
treille, we think wisely, unites the whole under the genus
Argynnis.
In the five following genera the inferior palpi are conti¬
guous in their whole length, terminate gradually in a point,
and are much compressed. The genus Vanessa (Plate
CCXLVI. fig. 9, and CCXLVII. fig. 1) differs from the
others in the antennae, which are terminated abruptly by
a short turbinated or ovoid button. The caterpillars are
densely spinous (Plate CCXLVI. fig. 10). Here is placed
the common tortoise-shell (known in Scotland as the
1 For the indigenous species, see Naturalist's Magazine, vol. ii. p. 224.
208 E N T O M O L O G Y.
Lepidop- Devil's Butterjhj), V. urticce, and several other British
tera species, such as the Camberwell Beauty, V. Antiopa, and
Diurna. t}ie peaccck Eye, V. lo (ibid. fig. 9). The Painted Lady,
V. cardui, remarkable for the vast extent of its geographi¬
cal distribution, being fully more widely dispersed than
any other form of animal life with which we are ac¬
quainted, belongs to our present genus. It is, however,
placed in the genus Cynthia by Mr Stephens. In the
four following genera the antennas terminate in an elon¬
gated club, or are almost filiform. In Libythia of Fab.
the males alone have the anterior pair of feet extremely
short, and tippet-like. The inferior palpi project observably
in the manner of a beak. The upper wings are very an¬
gular. In Biblis, Fab. the palpi are also longer than the
head, but more obtuse, and curved a little at their extre¬
mity. The anterior legs are abbreviated in both sexes,
and the antennae terminate in a much smaller club. The
nerves of the superior wings seem strongly inflated at their
origin. In Nymphalis, Lat. (Plate CCXLVII. figs. 5,
7, 9), the legs resemble those of the preceding, but the
inferior palpi are shorter. The club of the aptennae is
more elongated than in Vanessa, from which they are not
strongly distinguished. Their caterpillars are, however,
different (ibid. fig. 4), being less spiny, and more elongated
towards the posterior extremity, which is slightly forked.
The species of this genus (of which, as a British example,
we may name the Purple Emperor, placed in the genus
Apatura by Mr Stephens) are frequently ornamented by
brilliant and varied colours, and, when in prime condition,
are highly prized by collectors. They are distinguished
by the strength and thickness of their wings, which enable
them to exercise a smooth, powerful, and sustained flight.
Their motions are consequently not of that zigzag nature
observable in many species, but steady and continuous,,
like the soaring of a bird of prey. They frequently haunt
the summits of forest trees, and other elevated stations,
and are therefore difficult to capture. This disadvantage,
however, is to a certain extent obviated by the boldness
of their disposition ; for, when their situation is accessible,
they are not deterred by an unsuccessful attack from set¬
tling again on the spot where they were first observed.
The European species, such as the Purple Emperor above
named (iV. Iris), are taken by means of bag-nets, fixed to
poles thirty feet high. They are said to be attracted by
the odour of acrid or fermenting substances, and such are
sometimes used by entomologists to induce them to de¬
scend from their inaccessible positions. The genus is very
extensive. M. Godart1 describes 267 difterent kinds.
Nymphalis Jasius, the species which we have selected for
illustration on the plate last referred to (figs. 7 and 9), is
one of the most beautiful of European insects. We re¬
ceived it from M. Case-Nuove of Lyons. The genus Mor-
pho, Fab. (Plate CCXLVII. fig. 8), differs from Nym¬
phalis in its almost filiform antennae, which are feebly and
insensibly enlarged towards the extremities, but not club¬
bed. All the species are peculiar to South America, and
are well deserving the special attention of those who de¬
sire to form a just notion of the splendour and magnifi¬
cence of many lepidopterous insects. We could describe
them with great pleasure did our limits admit of such de¬
tails. M. Godart has separated, under the name of Pavo-
nia (ibid. fig. 10), certain species, of which the central
cell of the lower wings is closed, and the most internal
nerve of the upper pair is curved in the form of the letter
S, in place of being straight or slightly arched. A species
found in the East Indies, of which the lower wings are
prolonged into a tail (/J. Phidippus), forms the type of
the genus Amathusia of Fabricius. We have figured die Lepidop-
larva and chrysalis on PJ. CCXLVIII. figs. 1 and 8. All tera
the rest belong to the new world. Those which fellow Wurna.
have also the discoidal cell of the lower wings closed pos-
tericrly. Such are Brassolis, Fab. (ibid. fig. 3), Eume-
nia, Godart (do. fig. 5), Eurybia, Illiger (do. fig. 10),
and Satyrus, Lat. (do. fig. 6). The caterpillars of the
last-named genus are naked, or nearly so, and the poste¬
rior extremity of their body is narrowed into a furcated
point. The chrysalids are bifid anteriorly, and their back
is tuberculated.
* *
Inferior palpi with three distinct joints, of which the
third is almost naked, or much less thickly covered
with scales than the preceding ones. The hocks of the
tarsi are very small, and scarcely if at all projecting.
The discoidal cell of the posterior wings is open pos¬
teriorly.
The caterpillars of this subdivision are oval, or resem¬
ble Onisci in their forms. The chrysalids are short, con¬
tracted, smooth, and always fixed, like the genus Papilio
properly so called, by a silken thread across their bodies.
These butterflies were classed by Linnaeus among his Ple-
bei, in the division oi Ruricolce, and Fabricius placed them
in a corresponding section of his Hesperia. They form
the genus Argus of M. Lamarck, and contain, among other
species, all our beautiful little Blues, which in bright sum¬
mer days so enliven our grassy downs, and almost all other
spots of open sunshine.
Sometimes the antennae terminate, as usual, in a small
and solid button-like inflation. In the genus Erycina,
Lat. (PI. CCXLVIII. figs. 2 and 4), the anterior pair of
feet are much shorter than the others, at least in the males.
They belong to America. In the rest all the legs arealike
in both sexes. In Myrina of Fab. (ibid. fig. 11) the in¬
ferior palpi are long and projecting. In Polyommatus
(ibid. fig. 12) the palpi do not extend much beyond the
epistoma. These beautiful little insects receive their name
from the number of small eye-like spots with which their
under surface is ornamented. We have a considerable
amount of indigenous species, most of which are blue above,
the females of some being brown. In the Scotch Argus
(P. Artaxeroces), so common near Edinburgh in June and
July, at the base of Arthur’s Seat, above the line of the
Railway, both sexes are blackish-brown above, with a
variable white spot on the disk of the upper wings, and
some lunated red spots, more or less distinct, on the under.
The splendid little butterflies called Coppers are placed
by our collectors in the genus Lyc^ena of Fabricius.
A few Lepidoptera of our present subdivision are re¬
markable for the peculiar form of their antennae. Those
of one of the sexes of the genus Barbicornis, Gcdart,
are setaceous and plumy,—those of Zephyrius, Dalman
(PI. CCXLVIII. fig. 7), are terminated by ten or twelve
globular joints, separated like the beads of a rosary.
Section 2d.
The second section of diurnal Lepidoptera contains
those species of which the posterior tibiae are furnished
with two pair of spines, viz. a pair at their extremity, and
another above. Ihe lower wings are usually retained in a
horizontal position, even when the insect is at rest, and
the extremity of the antennae very often forms a distinctly
hocked point. Their caterpillars, judging from the few
with which we are acquainted, bend together the leaves of
plants for a protecting covering, and spin within that leafy
1 Encyclopedic Methodique, art. Papillon.
ENTOMOLOGY.
Lepidop- chamber an extremely thin cocoon of silk, in which they
ci-pnn^n arei frans^'<)rme^ chrysalids. The latter are smooth,
laria. CVK angular elevations. These Lepidoptera form
^ the Plebei Urbicolce of Linnaeus, with the addition, by La-
treble, of those rare and splendid insects placed by Fabri-
cius in the genus Urania.
The former belong to the genus Hesperia of Fab.
(PI. CCXLVIII. fig. 13), and are characterized by the
distinctly clavate termination of the antennae, and by the
inferior palpi being short, broad, and thickly covered an-
terioily with scales. Here are placed II. alveolus, malvce,
and tages (for chrysalis and larva see fig. 15), among the
British species. In the genus Urania of Fab. just al¬
luded to (ibid. figs. 9 and 14), the antennae, at first fili-
foi m, become attenuated or setaceous at the extremity,
and the inferior palpi are slender and elongated, with the
second article greatly compressed, and the last much more
attenuated, almost cylindrical, and naked. “ The butter¬
flies,” says Mr Swainson, “ comprising this remarkable
genus, aie perhaps the most splendid insects in creation.
Pvo art can effectually represent the changeable and re¬
splendent green which relieves the velvet black of the
wings, and which varies with every change of light. The
typical species are found in Tropical America, where they
fly with amazing rapidity, and perform, like their proto¬
types the swallows, annual migrations. When at rest, the
anterior wings are flat or horizontal, but only slightly
spread.”1 U. Leilus is found in Surinam, and is figured
in Madame Merian’s work on the insects of that country.
U. liipheus of Cramer (Leilus Orientalis, Swainson) was
originally figured from a specimen taken at Chandernagor,
in Bengal, and belonged to the rich cabinet of M. Gigot
d Orcy. We perceive, however, the following notice of
its locality in a recent work : “ Cette espece, que I’on peut
considerer comme le plus beau Lepidoptere connu, habite
3Iadagascar. File a etc prise une seule fois a Bourbon,
ou la chenille avoit peut-etre transportee accidentelle-
ment.”2 1 he synonymy of this exquisite insect has been
greatly embroiled on account of Cramer supposing the
species represented by his figure, which has six tails, to be
identical with Drury s, which has none. Mr Swainson
has shown that the latter insect, having clavated instead of
filiform antennae, is not only specifically distinct, but per¬
tains to a different genus. He has named it Rhipheus da-
sycephalus? In the Nouv. Ann. quoted below, the reader
will find an account of the larva of IJ. rhipheus, which, in
common with the caterpillars of the other species, has
been hitherto unknown to naturalists. Mr Swainson has
represented, with his usual elegance and accuracy, almost
all the known species of these rare and beautiful insects.
I hat which we have figured in illustration of our present
article is a new species ( U. Boisduvalii), lately published
by M. Guerin.4
209
FAMILY H—CREPUSCULARIA.
The most prominent species of this family are known
by the name of Sphinxes or Hawk-moths. They are fur¬
nished with a spine or strong bristle on the anterior margin
of the inferior wings, which being received by a process
of the under surface of the superior pair, maintains them
in a horizontal or somewdiat inclined position in repose.5
The character just mentioned is indeed perceptible also
among the nocturnal tribes; but our present family is dis¬
tinguished by the antennae, which are prismatic or fusi¬
form, usually thickest in the middle. These insects fly Lepidop.
with great strength and celerity, owing to the extent and tera
firm consistence of their wings, the powerful muscles by Crepuscu.
which they are moved, and the bird-like manner in which lada.
theii tapei bodies are poised. From their name, we would
naturally infer that they are observed chiefly during the
morning and evening twilight; but many species may be
seen darting from flower to flower even at mid-day. As
their captuie is difficult, and their rearing from the cater¬
pillar precarious, they are in general highly prized by col¬
lectors. In the larva state they have always sixteen feet,
dhe chrj salis is cylindrical, blunt-headed, with a conical
abdomen, and destitute of those points or angular promi¬
nences observable in so many of the diurnal Lepidoptera.
They are usually enclosed in a cocoon, or concealed either
in the earth or under some protecting body. They are
supposed to derive the name of Sphinx from the peculiar
attitude assumed by several of their caterpillars, which in
some respects bear a resemblance to the fabled monster of
antiquity. A few produce a humming sound. Latreille
divides the family into four sections, which, in correspond-
ing order, answer to the genera Castnia and Sphinx of
Fabricius, and to those which he at first named Sesia and
Zygcena.
I he first section, named Hesperi-Sphinges, is com¬
posed of those species which connect the Hesperides of the
preceding family with the Sphinges properly so called.
The antennae are always simple, thickened towards the
middle, or at the extremity, which forms a hook, narrowed
to a point, without any tuft of scales, at the end. They
are all furnished with a distinct proboscis, and the inferior
palpi are composed of three very apparent joints.
In the genus Agarista, Leach (Plate CCXLIX. fig.
1), the inferior palpi are elongated, with the second joint
strongly compressed, and the last slender and almost
naked; the antennae are simple, gradually thickened to¬
wards the middle, and then becoming attenuated, termi-
nate in an elongated hook. In the genus Coronis, Lat.
(ibid. fig. 2), the club of the antennas is more developed.
In the genus Castnia of Fabricius (ibid. fig. 3), all of
which are from the new world, the antennae resemble those
of Agarista; but the palpi are shorter, broad, and cylin¬
drical.
The second section, named Sphingides, have the antennae
always terminated by a little flake of scales ; the inferior
palpi are broad, or transversely compressed, thickly clothed
with scales, and the third article generally indistinct. Most
of the caterpillars have a smooth body, elongated, thickest
towards the posterior extremity, which is furnished with a
horn, the sides obliquely or longitudinally striped. They
feed on leaves, and undergo their metamorphoses under¬
ground, without spinning a cocoon. Many seem, however,
to form a little vaulted chamber, with agglutinated walls,'
which protects them from the circumjacent earth. Here are
arranged many fine insects belonging to the genus Sphinx
properly so called (Plate CCXLIX. figs. 5 and 6), of
which the antennae, from about their centre, form a kind of
prismatic mass, either simply ciliated, or transversely stri¬
ated on one side, in the manner of a rasp. The trunk is
very distinct. These insects fly with great velocity, some¬
times giving utterance to a humming noise, occasioned no
doubt by the rapid vibration of their wings. Instead of
settling upon flowers like bees and other insects, they are
frequently observed merely to hover over or before them
and to extend their long tubular trunks towards the nec¬
taries. This peculiar motion has probably obtained for
1 Zoological Illustrations, second series, fol. 125. 3 „ . . , T1,
* Nouvelles Annales du Museum dTHist. Nat t ii n 2fil ^ Zoological Illustrations, second series, plate 131.
TOI d"maCCOr<li”S 10 U «*»«% » »°IM PL 82 (“)-
2 D
210
ENTOMOLOGY.
Lepiaop- them the appellation hawk-moths. S. Atropos, commonly
tera called the death’s-head moth, is one of the finest of the Eu-
CrE- ropean species. When seized it sometimes utters a shrill
cry, caused, according to Reaumur, by the friction of the
palpi on the trunk,—in the opinion of M. Lorey, by the
escape of air from two cavities in the abdomen. It makes its
appearance in the perfect state during autumn. The cater¬
pillar, at least in Britain, feeds voraciously on potato-leaves.
It is difficult to rear beyond the chrysalis state. We had
six specimens alive at one time during the summer of
1826, all of which entombed themselves after a time be¬
neath the earth, but never made their appearance in the
perfect state. On being examined after the lapse of ten
or twelve months, they were found lying some inches be¬
low the surface, in the state of chrysalis, each in an egg-
shaped hollow, formed by the caterpillar. They were quite
light and stiff, and of course dead and unproductive of the
desired Imago. The death’s-head moth, in common with
several others of the genus, is very widely distributed.
We have received it from Africa and the East Indies ; and
M. Boisduval informs us that it is well known iij the Isle
of France. The natives of the latter country believe that
the dust which it casts from its wings in flying through an
apartment, is productive of blindness to the visual organs
on which it falls. It is difficult to trace the origin of this
fable, recorded by St Pierre in his Voyage to the Isle of
France. We have many other native species, which we
cannot here enumerate.1 One of the rarest and most
beautiful of the European species, Sphinx Nerii (genus
Deilephila, Ochs.), occurs in Madagascar and the Mauri¬
tius. It likewise inhabits Asia Minor, Bengal, and tlm
whole of Africa. We received it from the vicinity of
Genoa. It has recently been captured in England.
Other genera of the Sphingides have the abdomen ter¬
minated by a broad tuft of scales. Such is our humming¬
bird hawk-moth, Macroglossa Stellatarum, Ochs. Some
nearly allied species, to which Fabricius latterly applied
the generic name of Sesia (such as S. fusiformis, Bomby-
liformis, &c.), are distinguished by the clear consistence of
the greater portion of their wings. In the genus Smerin-
thus of Eat. (Plate CCXLIX. fig. 11), the antennae are
toothed or serrated.
The third section, named Sesiades by Latreille, con¬
tains those species of which the antennae are always simple,
fusiform, and elongated, and frequently terminated, as in
the preceding genera, by a little bundle of scales; the in¬
ferior palpi are narrow, slender, and distinctly triarticulate,
the last tapering to a point. The posterior legs are fur¬
nished with very strong spurs. The abdomen is generally
terminated by a kind of brush. The caterpillars live by
gnawing the interior of the stalks and roots of plants, like
those of the nocturnal kinds (such as Hepialus and Cos-
sus); they are naked, have no posterior horn, and con¬
struct, with the debris of the substances on which they are
nourished, a cocoon, in which they undergo their final me¬
tamorphoses.
In the genus Sesia of Latreille (JEgeria, Fab. Plate
CCXLIX. figs. 7, 12, and 13), the antennae terminate in
a little tuft of scales. The wings are horizontal, and com¬
posed of clearer vitreous portions, interrupted by darker
coloured veins. The posterior extremity of the body is
brush-like. Several species exhibit to a casual observer
rather the appearance of wasps or flies, than of lepidop-
terous insects. The genus Thyris of Hoffmansegg (ibid,
fig. 8) resembles Sesia; but the antennae are more slen¬
der, almost setaceous, and without any terminal tuft. The
wings are angular and indented. The abdomen terminates Lepidop.
in a point. In iEoocERA of Eat. (ibid. fig. 9), the antennae tera
also want the tuft, but they are evidently thickened to- Nocturna.
wards the middle, and fusiform; the second joint of the 'V'-"
inferior palpi is furnished with a bundle of hairs, which
project in a beak-like fashion. The abdomen likewise ter¬
minates in a simple point. The wings are inclined, and
entirely covered with scales.
The fourth and final section of our present family is that
of the Zygvenides. It consists of Lepidoptera in which
the antennae, always terminated by a point destitute of a
tuft, are sometimes simple in both sexes, fusiform, or re¬
sembling the horn of a ram, sometimes thickened towards
the middle, almost setaceous, pectinated in both sexes, or
at least in the males; the inferior palpi of medium size, or
small, nearly cylindrical, and always formed of three dis¬
tinct articulations. The wings, when at rest, are inclined ;
that is, sloped down laterally like the roof of a house, and
present vitreous spots in many species. The abdomen is
not brush-like at the extremity. The spurs of the poste¬
rior legs are usually small. The larvae of these insects live
exposed on various Leguminosae, and other plants. They
are short, inflated about the middle, and attenuated to¬
wards either end. Their bodies are smooth, or but slight¬
ly haired. In the course of their transformations they
spin a pretty solid and coriaceous cocoon, attached to the
stalk of a plant. The perfect insect issues from the chry¬
salis in a few weeks. The flight is somewhat heavy, and
both sexes may frequently be taken together, reposing on
the plants on which the female lays her eggs.
In the genus Zyg^ena of Eat. (Plate CCXLIX. figs.
4 and 10), which appears to be as yet unknown in the new
world, the antennae are simple in both sexes, and termi¬
nate abruptly in a fusiform mass, or one like a ram’s horn.
The inferior palpi rise above the clypeus, and are pointed
at the end. This genus contains the Burnet moths of the
English collectors, of which L. loti and Jilipendulce are well-
known examples. The genus Syntomis ol Illiger differs
from Zygaena chiefly in the antennae, which are not so
thick, but slender, or insensibly fusiform. The inferior
palpi are short and obtuse. In the genus Atychia of
Hoffm. (ibid. fig. 16), the antennae are simple in the fe¬
males, and bipectinated in the males. The inferior palpi
are very hairy, and extend obviously beyond the clypeus.
The wings are short. The spurs at the extremity of the
posterior legs are strong. The genus Procris of Eat.
(ibid. fig. 17) approaches the preceding so far as respects
the antennae, but the inferior palpi are shorter and less
hairy. An ornamental insect, the Sphinx Statices of Linn,
affords a good example of this genus. It is called the
green forester by Harris, and forms with another species
the genus Ino of Leach and Stephens. Other Lepidop¬
tera of this section have the antennae in both sexes bipec¬
tinated, or furnished with a double row of elongated teeth.
Such of them as have a distinct trunk form the genus
Glaucopis of Fab. (ibid. fig. 18)—those in which that or¬
gan is wanting or indistinct compose the genus Aglaope
(ibid. fig. 15).
FAMILY III—NOCTURNA.
The vast assemblage of species of which this great divi¬
sion is composed, are known under the familiar name of
Moths, and correspond to the old and undivided genus
PhaUzna of Linnaeus. Their wings, with a few exceptions,
1 Mr Rennie’s Conspectus of the Butterflies and Moths found in Britain will prove useful to those who cannot obtain access to the
rarer or more costly works from which it is compiled.
E N T O M
Lepidop- are bridled, in repose, by means of a bundle of setae, or the
NocTrn corneous bristle before mentioned in our generalities of the
^ preceding family. Their position is either horizontal or in-
dined; sometimes they embrace the sides and upper surface
of the abdomen. The antennae are setaceous, or become
gradually narrower towards the extremity. They are fre¬
quently feathered or pectinated, especially in the males,
and are usually more ample in that sex than in the females.
The legs of the larvae vary from ten to sixteen in number.
In certain species both sexes seem to want the tongue;
and the females of a few have no wings, or but the merest
rudiments of those organs. The chrysalids are always
rounded, or without angular points.
These insects, as their family name imports, are seldom
seen on the wing till after sunset. They continue their
flight, throughout the mild and dewy nights of summer, till
the morning twilight. During the brightness of the day
season they conceal themselves in tangled vegetation, on
the shady side of w^alls and buildings, on the under side of
large leaves, or in the crevices of the gnarled bark of an¬
cient forest-trees, and other sombre places. So astounded
indeed are the greater number by the “ garish eye of day,”
that when discovered by the sharp-sighted entomologist,
they allow themselves to be taken prisoner without an effort
to escape. A few, however, present exceptions to the
general rule. Such, for example, are the males of Bombyx
zigzag, which fly throughout the whole day, and fear not
the brightest beams of “ glorious Apollo.” This same
species presents a remarkable confirmation of what we have
formerly stated, in the introductory portion of the present
article, regarding the sense of smell in insects. The fe¬
male of the moth just named is extremely sluggish, and
seems seldom, if ever, to use her wings. When placed at
an open window or elsewhere in an observable position,
she will be speedily seen to receive the visits of the males,
which fly swiftly towards her from all directions, undoubt¬
edly guided by the sense of smell.
The classification of this family presents great difficulties
to the entomologist in the way of a natural division into
sections and sub-genera, anti to it applies with peculiar
force an observation made by Latreille regarding the en¬
tire order,—Lepidopterorum ordo Entomologorum Scapu¬
las. In fact, the parts of the mouth, from the complex
and greatly varied, yet clearly defined structure of which,
in the masticating insects, so many excellent and available
characters have been deduced, are among the lepidopte-
rous tribes in general restricted in number, simple in form,
and very similar in composition. The antennae, too, espe¬
cially among the nocturnal tribes, become rather sexual
than generic distinctions ;—and as the metamorphosis and
general habits and history of many of the exotic species,
which form the finest features in the richly stored cabinets
of Europe, are almost entirely unknown, recourse cannot be
had to such excellent and indeed indispensable aids towards
a more natural and consistent classification. An accurate,
perspicuous, and philosophical arrangement of the Lepidop-
tera, is therefore still a desideratum in our science.
Latreille, in his latest work (Regne Animal, second edi¬
tion), divides the nocturnal Lepidoptera into ten sections.
The species of which the wings are entire, or without fis¬
sures or digitations, compose the first nine. All those
which, under the form of larva, live almost entirely expos¬
ed, or in fixed retreats, and of which many have less than
sixteen feet, and which in their perfect state are charac¬
terized by very small or concealed upper palpi, more or
less triangular wings, horizontal or decumbent, and not
folding around the body, compose the first eight. The
eighth itself is the only one of which the caterpillars have
fourteen feet, of which two are anal. If in certain others
the same number exists, the anal are wanting.
O L O G Y. 211
The first four sections correspond to the divisions At- Lepidop-
tacus and Bombyx of the genus Phalaena of Linnaeus. The tera
trunk is usually rudimentary or very small, and its two b^'tuma-
filaments are not united. The inferior palpi, with a few
exceptions, are small and almost cylindrical. The antennae,
at least in the males, are pectinated or serrated. The
wings are horizontal or decumbent, and in several the
lower project, in a state of repose, beyond the upper pair.
In some, also, the buckle-like process formerly mentioned
as fixing the wings together, is here wanting. The thorax
is smooth or uniform, as well as the abdomen, and woolly.
The latter portion is for the greater part very voluminous in
the females. The cocoon of the chrysalis is generally what
may be called well felted, and of pretty solid consistence.
Although the Nocturna of Latreille’s fourth section (Apo-
surd) bear a close relation to those which precede them,
their caterpillars nevertheless offer a character unique and
unexampled in the lepidopterous order,—the absence of
the anal feet. We shall here give a brief sketch of the
general characters of the nocturnal tribes, in accordance
with the system of Latreille.
Section 1st, Hepialites.
We may here name as types the genera Hepialus and
Cossus of Labricius. The caterpillars are rarely met with,
as they conceal themselves in the interior of the plants on
which they feed. The cocoons which they form are com¬
posed in great part of particles of those same plants. The
edges of the abdominal rings or segments of the chrysalis
are toothed or spinous. The antennae of the perfect insect
are always short, and most generally present only one kind
of small, short, rounded, and close-set teeth. Those of
some others terminate always in a simple thread, but are
furnished inferiorly in the males with a double row of
barbs. The trunk is always very short, and not very ob¬
vious. The wings are decumbent, and generally elon¬
gated. The last rings of the abdomen in the female form
a kind of oviduct or tail. In the larva state these insects
are very destructive to trees, edible plants, and other use¬
ful products of the vegetable kingdom.
Sometimes the antennae, almost conformable in both
sexes, have only very short teeth disposed in one or two
rows. Such are the three following genera. In Hepialus
of Fab. the antennae are almost granular, and much shorter
than the thorax. The under wings are usually destitute of
the curb or spine. The caterpillars dwell in the earth, and
gnaw the roots of plants (Plate CCXLIX. fig. 27). A
very abundant species, called the Ghost-moth, H. humuli,
Fab., is characterized by the upper wings of the males be¬
ing of a silvery white, without spots,—those of the female
reddish yellow, with spots of a deeper hue. The larva is
extremely destructive to hops, and also exists in great quan¬
tities in districts where that useful plant is unknown. It is
often seen hovering over churchyards with a short pendu¬
lous motion to and fro, and is also frequently observed in
pasture-fields, and plots of grass in garden grounds. In
the genus Cossus of Fab. (ibid. fig. 14), the antennse are
at least as long as the thorax, and present on their inner
side a range of small lamellar teeth, short and rounded at
the end. The caterpillars live in the interior of trees, and
make use of the saw-dust produced by the action of their
mandibles in the formation of their cocoons. The chrysa¬
lids advance by a peculiar and instinctive motion to the ex¬
ternal apertures of their ligneous dwellings, just at the mo¬
ment of their final development, when their wings are about
to expand. We doubt not that the little spinous projections
with which the sides of the abdomen are armed, aid them
greatly in that progressive motion. A wriggling movement
would naturally produce an advance upwards or forwards,
212 E N T O M
l.epidop- but retreat would be impossible. The Cossus ligniperda is
tera a noted example of the genus. In the larva state (ibid. fig.
Nocturna. 19) js extremely destructive to elm trees, which it per-
forates almost to the core, and by degrees produces first
an unhealthy condition, rendered visible by a peculiar co¬
lour of the leaves, and finally decay and death. In the
company of an honoured friend, the Rev. John Fleming
of Rairigg, Windermere, we lately witnessed the hewing
down of an old elm tree, which had braved the blasts of
many stern winters, but had evidently become paralysed
in its vital functions by the inroads of some insidious foe.
By accident the large scaly head of a caterpillar was one
day seen protruding from the rugged bark; and some
other circumstances led to the belief that the tree was in¬
fested. To ascertain the cause of the disease with certain¬
ty, and to stay if possible its progress through the neigh¬
bouring groves, the sylvan monarch was consigned to tiie
tender mercies of the woodmen of Bowness; and on be¬
ing felled and hewn in different parts, we discovered se¬
veral dozens of very large caterpillars of Cossus Ligniper¬
da, chiefly in the thickest part of the tree, a few feet above
the ground, and several inches within the bark. They
gave out, as we extracted them, a very peculiar odour, of
an oily nature, and sufficiently repelling, we should sup¬
pose, to render it improbable that these larvae were eaten
by the ancients. It is however a well-received opinion,
that the Cossus described by Pliny, and regarded by the
Romans as a most delicious fare, was the caterpillar in
question. It is frequently found in the willow as well as
in the elm, and may possibly extend its ravages to the oak,
the nidus assigned by Pliny to his edible worm. The
latter, however, was most likely the larva of Prionus co-
riarius, or some other of the larger long-horned beetles;
the more especially as we know from Madame Merian and
other writers, that the grub of a congener, Cerambyx da-
micornis, is eaten in Surinam and the West Indies, both
by slaves and freemen. The perfect insect of the Cossus
ligniperda is of an ashy grey, with numerous small black
lines on the upper wings. The posterior extremity of the
thorax is yellowish, with a black line. We forgot to men¬
tion, that the oily odour of the caterpillar is by some consi¬
dered to proceed from a reservoir of a peculiar fluid which
the insect disgorges, for the purpose, it is believed, of soft¬
ening the timber on which it feeds, and in which, as it in¬
creases in size, it perforates its hidden chambers. It is
also remarkable as having afforded the subject of an ex¬
traordinary anatomical investigation by Lyonnet, detailed
in his famous Traite Anatomique de la Chenille du Saule.
The enthusiasm of a French writer has induced him, while
lauding the merits of that signal publication, to allude to
its subject-matter under the dignifying appellation of “ the
immortal worm !” The reader may satisfy his curiosity as
to its external aspect, by inspecting the 19th figure of our
236th plate. On the same plate, fig. 14, we have repre¬
sented the winged state of an American species, C. Mac-
murtrei of Boisduval. The genus Stygia of Draparnaud
(ibid. fig. 24), placed by some writers among the Zygce-
nides, is ranked by Latreille where we now introduce it.
The antennas have a double row throughout their whole
length, of small, short, straight teeth, dilated and rounded
at the end.1
Sometimes (and this character distinguishes the follow-
ing genus from those enumerated in the preceding pai'a-
o L o G Y.
graph) the antennae differ greatly in the sexes ; those of Lepidop.
the males being furnished inferiorly with a double row of T tera
barbs, and terminated by a filament; those of the females ^ctinna.
being entirely simple, but cottony at the base. Such are
the species of the genus Zeuzera of Lat. (Plate CCXLIX.
fig. 20), of which Z. cesculi is a beautiful indigenous exam¬
ple. Its larva dwells in the interior of the sweet chesnut
tree, and in that of pear and apple trees. The body of the
perfect insect is of a beautiful white, with blue rings on
the abdomen, and numerous little spots of the same colour
on the upper wings. It is not a common species.
Section 2d, Bombycites.
This section may be distinguished, both from that which
precedes and that which follows it, by the following cha¬
racters : The trunk is always very short, and merely rudi¬
mentary ; the wings are either extended and horizontal,
or decumbent, but the inferior wings extend laterally be¬
yond the upper ones ; the antennae of the males are pec¬
tinated.
The caterpillars live exposed, and devour the more ten¬
der parts of vegetables. They usually spin a cocoon of
pure silk. The chrysalids have no spiny processes or den¬
tations on the edges of the rings of the abdomen.
The species with horizontal and extended wings (the
Phalaenas Attaci of Linn.) form the genus Saturnia of
Schrank (Plate CCXLIX. fig. 25), with which Latreille
combines Aglia (Bombyx tau) of Ochsenheimer. It com¬
prehends many magnificent species, such as S. atlas of
China, called porte-rniroir by the French, on account of
the transparent or vitreous portions of the wings. S. luna,
of a fine and delicate green colour, is an American species,
remarkable for the extended tail-like appendages of the
under wings.2 The cocoons of two other species of this
division, Bombyx mylitta of Fab. and Phahena cynthia of
Drury, have been employed for their silk from time imme¬
morial in Bengal. The first of these species appears to be
identical with the Ph. paphia of Dr Roxburgh. It occurs
in great abundance in Bengal, and in many parts of the ad¬
joining country, and affords a plentiful supply of a very du¬
rable though coarse and dark-coloured silk called Tusseh,
much used by the Brahmins and other sects of Hindoos.
This species cannot be domesticated ; but the hill people
go into the jungles, and when they perceive the dung of
the caterpillars under a tree, they immediately search for
them among the branches, and carry off" whatever they re¬
quire. These they distribute on the asseen trees ( Termi-
nalia alata glabrata of Roxb.), and as long as they conti¬
nue in the caterpillar state, the Pariahs guard them from
birds by day and from bats by night. The natural food
of this species is the Byer tree of the Hindoos, called Rham-
nus jujuba by botanists. The Jaroo cocoons are pro¬
duced from a mere variety, not a distinct species,' of this
insect. The Arrindy silk-worm, however, belongs to an en¬
tirely different species, the Phaleena cynthia above named.
It appears peculiar to two districts in the interior of Ben¬
gal, viz. Rungpore and Dinagepore, where it is reared in a
domestic state. The food of this caterpillar consists en¬
tirely of the leaves of the common Ricinus, or Palma
Christi, which the natives call arrindy, and hence the name
by which the insect is itself distinguished.3 The cocoons
are in general about two inches in length and three inches
nJin rn,r G ^ fublished s?me new details regarding S. Australis, in the Annalcs de la Soc. Linn, de Paris, v. 473. The anten-
dart Papd dc Fr/n’Jlif nl ^2 T " rePres^nted’ tbough’ want of a specimen, we cannot correct them. Compare Go-
j rpi - trance, m. pi. 22, tig. 29 : and Guerin, Iconog. (Insectcs), pi. 85, fin\ 4. *
larva on PlatrccXLIX^fig^s^ Alt°na ^ Mr ^ Sommer’ fro:n e^s imported from'America. We have figured the
“ Edinburgh Cabinet Library, British India, vol. iii. p. 155.
E N T O M
Lepidop- in circumference, pointed at either end; they are of a
tera white or yellowish colour, and their texture is extremely soft
and delicate. The filament indeed is so remarkably fine,
that this silk cannot be wound off, but is spun like cotton.
The yarn is wove into a kind of coarse white cloth, of a
seemingly loose texture; but of such extreme durability
that the life of one person is seldom sufficient to wear out
a garment of it, so that the same piece frequently de¬
scends from parent to child. It must always be washed in
cold water.1
The principal European species of the genus Saturnia
are known under the names of peacock and emperor moths,
&c. such as /S', pavonia major and minor. The former is
the largest moth in Europe, and has been known to remain
in the chrysalis state for three years.
Other Bombycites have the superior wings decumbent,
with the exterior margin of the inferior pair projecting al¬
most horizontally beyond them,—alee reversee. In the
genus Lasiocampa (Plate CCXLIX. fig. 26), the palpi
project in the form of a rostrum, and the inferior wings are
frequently dentated; some of the species bear a resemblance
to little bundles of dried leaves ; such are L. quercifolia and
others. In the genus Bombyx properly so called (ibid,
fig. 21) the inferior palpi exhibit no remarkable projection.
Here is placed the famous Bombyx mori, or true silk-worm
moth, of a whitish colour, with two or three obscure and
transverse streaks, and a lunate spot on the superior wings.
The caterpillar feeds on the leaves of the mulberry, and
spins an oval cocoon of a close tissue of the finest silk,
usually of a yellow colour, but sometimes white. A varie¬
ty is now preferred abroad, which always yields the latter
colour. Although this sumptuous product is now “ familiar
as household words,” its nature and origin were but ob¬
scurely, if at all, known in ancient times; and even in the
days of Aurelian it was valued at its weight in gold. This
was probably owing to the mode in which the material was
procured by the merchants of Alexandria, who had no di¬
rect intercourse with China, the only country in which the
silk-worm was at that time reared. According to Latreille,
the city of Turfan, in Little Bucharia, was for a long time
the rendezvous of the western caravans, and the chief en¬
trepot of the Chinese silks. It was the metropolis of the
Seres of Upper Asia, or of the Serica of Ptolemy, placed,
according to that author, between the Ganges and the East¬
ern Ocean. Hence the Serica vestis of the Romans, and
the word Sericum, their name for silk. Driven from their
country by the Huns, the Seres established themselves in
Great Bucharia and in India. It was from one of their
colonies, Ser-hend (Ser-indi), that certain Greek mission¬
aries, in the reign of Justinian, carried the eggs of the silk¬
worm to Constantinople. Its cultivation spread, at the
period of the first Crusades, from the Morea into Sicily, the
kingdom of Naples, and, several centuries afterwards, under
the administration of Sully more especially, into France, to
which country it is now a source of great wealth. Silks were
also anciently obtained by sea or land from the kingdoms of
Pegu and Ava, or the Oriental Seres, most frequently men¬
tioned in the writings of the earlier geographers.2 Though
the manufactures of silk were lauded in terms of the
highest admiration both by Greek and Roman writers,
they were in Requent use for some centuries before any
certain knowledge appears to have been obtained, either of
the precise countries from which the material was derived,
or of the mode by which it was produced. By some it was
supposed to be a fine down adhering to the leaves of trees
O L O G Y. 213
or flowers, by others it was regarded as a delicate kind of Lepidop-
wool or cotton ;3 and even those who had some idea of its tera
insect origin were incorrectly informed of the natural mode Nocturna.
of its formation. The court of the Greek emperors, which
surpassed even those of the Asiatic sovereigns in splendour
and magnificence, became profuse in its display of this
costly luxury; but as the Persians, from the advantages
which their local situation gave them over the merchants
from the Arabian Gulf, were enabled to supplant them in
all those marts of India to which silk was brought by sea
from the East, and as they had it in their power to cut off
the caravans which travelled by land from China through
their own northern provinces, Constantinople thus became
dependent on a rival power for an article which its sump¬
tuous nobles deemed essential to the enjoyment of refined
life. Of course the Persians, with the usual rapacity of
monopolists, raised the price to an exorbitant height, and
many attempts were made by Justinian to free his subjects
from such exaction. An accidental circumstance is said to
have accomplished what the wisdom of the great legislator
was unable to achieve. Two Persian monks, who had been
employed as missionaries in one of the Christian churches
established in India, had penetrated into the country of the
Seres, that is, to China, where they observed the natural
operations of the silk-worm, and acquired a knowledge of
the arts of man in working up its produce into so many
rich and costly fabrics. The love of lucre, mingled per¬
haps with a feeling of indignation that so valuable a branch
of commerce should be enjoyed by unbelieving nations,
induced them to repair to Constantinople, where they ex¬
plained to the emperor the true origin of silk, and the va¬
rious modes by which it was prepared and manufactured.
Encouraged by the most liberal promises, they undertook
to transport a sufficient supply of these extraordinary worms
to Constantinople, which they effected by conveying the
eggs in the interior of a hollow cane. They were hatched,
it is said, by the heat of a dunghill, and the larvae were fed
with the leaves of wild mulberry.4 They grew and pros- .
pered, worked their webs, underwent their accustomed me¬
tamorphosis, and multiplied their kind according to use
and wont; and thus, as already intimated, becoming ex¬
tensively cultivated throughout all the southern countries
of our continent, they effected an important change in the
commercial relations which had so long existed between
Europe and the East.5
Another curious species of the genus Bombyx is the
processionnary moth, B. processiomiea, Fab. The cater¬
pillars of this insect live in society on oak trees, where,
when young, they spin in common a silken tent, in which
they dwell together in unity. They frequently change
their domicil until after the third casting of their skins,
on which they remain more stationary, forming a new ha¬
bitation resembling a kind of sack, divided interiorly into
several cells. They usually issue forth in the evening, in
a very singular order of procession. A single individual
takes the lead, and serves as guide, two others follow,
forming the second line, then three abreast, next four, and
so on for many ensuing columns, each regularly augment¬
ed by the addition of a single larva, and all following the
course of their first adventurous leader. After a certain
time each spins a cocoon alongside that of its neighbour,
mingling the hairs of its body with the silken tissue.
These hairs, Latreille remarks, are, in common with those
of several other kinds, extremely small and fine ; and some¬
times working their way into the human skin, occasion
1 Account of the Tusseh and Arrindy Silk-Worvis of Bengal, by William Roxburgh, M.D. &c. Linn. Tram. vol. vii. p. 33.
2 Lltgnc Animal, t. v. p. 402. 3 Robertson’s Historical Disquisition concerning Ancient India. 4 Procopius, De Bello Gothico.
5 See Gibbon’s Decline and Full, &c. Reign of Justinian ; also Edinburgh Cabinet Library, British India, vol. iii. p. 152-3.
214 E N T 0 M
Lepidop- violent itchings, accompanied by swelling. The inhabi-
tera tants of Madagascar are known to employ for economical
Nocturna. purposes the silk of a caterpillar which likewise dwells in
great communities,—a commonwealth of worms. Their
nest is sometimes three feet high, and so closely packed
with cocoons (500 have been counted in a single mass)
that not the smallest hiatus is to be found. The species,
however, belongs to the genus Sericaria of the ensuing
section.
Section 3d, Pseudo-Bombyces.
These consist of Lepidoptera in which the inferior wings
(in common with those of all the remaining nocturnal
tribes) are provided with a curb, which attaches them to
the superior when at rest. They are then entirely cover¬
ed by the latter, and both are decumbent or horizontal,
but with the inner edges overlapped (en recouvrement, Lat.).
The trunk among the concluding members of the section
begins to lengthen, and scarcely differs in the final genera
from that of other Lepidoptera, except that it is somewhat
shorter. The antennae are entirely pectinated or serrated,
at least in the males. The caterpillars live on the ex¬
terior parts of vegetation.
Latreille distinguishes first those species in which the
trunk is very short, and apparently unadapted to the pur¬
poses of suction.
In some, and these are the greater number, the cater¬
pillars live exposed or uncovered, and do not fabricate port¬
able dwellings. Of these, some are elongated, furnished
with ordinary feet, well adapted for walking; the rings of
the body not soldered above. In the genera Sericaria of
Lat. (Plate CCXLIX. fig. 22), and Notodonta of Ochs.
(Plate CCL. figure 1), both sexes have well-develop¬
ed wings. In the former, which contains the B. dispar of
Fab. so remarkable for the great size of the female, and
the difference of her general aspect when compared with
the male, the upper wings exhibit no dentations on their
inner border. In the latter, which contains Ph. zigzaa of
Linn, that border is dentated. In the genus Orgyia of
Ochs. (ibid. fig. 2), the females are almost apterous (fig. 3),
and the caterpillars (fig. 4) are beautifully adorned with
aigrettes, or little plumes or tufts of hair. In others of the
same tribe the caterpillars creep rather than walk, their
feet being extremely short, and even the scaly ones retrac¬
tile ; the body is oval like that of an oniscus, with the skin
soldered above from the second ring, so as to form a kind
of arch, beneath which the head is withdrawn These
compose the genus Limacodes, Lat. of which the cater¬
pillars seem to represent, in this section of the Nocturna,
those of certain diurnal Lepidontera, such as the genus
Polyommatus.
Other genera of Pseudo-Bombyces are distinguished
from the preceding by the possession of a very distinct
trunk, which, when unrolled, extends far beyond the head.
The disposition of their colours somewhat resembles that
of those diurnal species called chess-boards (damiers) by
the French. Many of them are extremely rich and beau¬
tiful in their adornment. In Chelonia of Godart {ArcLia^
Schr.) Plate CCL. figure 5, the wings are decumbent
in repose, the antennae pectinated in the males, the infe¬
rior palpi very hairy, and the trunk short. To this genus
belongs that common but superb species commonly called
the l iger-moth (B. caja. Fab.). It is produced from the
blackish-brown creeping caterpillar usually known in
Scotland as “ the hairy worm.” In Callimorpha, Lat.
(ibid. fig. 6), the wings are also decumbent, but the anten¬
nae are at most only ciliated in the males ; the inferior
palpi are merely covered by little scales, and the trunk is
long. C. Jacob(Ba is an ornamental British species, known
O L 0 G Y.
to our elder writers under the names of Pink-underwing, Lepidop-
and Cinnabar-moth. The upper wings are brown, with a tera
streak and two spots of carmine. The under pair are car- ^octurna’
mine, with a blackish border. The caterpillar is hairy and
black, and feeds on the flowers of the rag-wort. In Li-
thosia of Fab. the wings are laid as it were horizontally
upon the body.
Section 4th, Aposura, Lat.
The insects of this division are characterized by a peculia¬
rity already alluded to,—the want of feet on the anal segment
of the body of the larvae. They derive their name from that
circumstance. The posterior extremity of the body ter¬
minates in a point, which in several is forked, or even ex¬
hibits two articulated appendages, long and flexile, and
forming a kind of tail. The perfect insects differ but lit¬
tle from the preceding in regard to their trunk, palpi, and
antennae. Some, such as Dicranoura of Godart (Plate
CCL. figure 7), have the external aspect of Serica¬
ria and Chelonia, with the antennae of the males termi¬
nating in a small simple curved thread. The posterior
extremity of the larva is forked (ibid. fig. 8). Others,
such as Platypterix, Lat. bear a great resemblance to
the Phalaenae properly so called. Their wings are broad,
and the superior angle of the posterior extremity of the an¬
terior pair is somewhat prolonged or falcated. The body
is slender. That of the caterpillar terminates in a simple
truncated point. In that state they bend over the edges
of the leaves of plants, and fix them down by silken cords,
so as to form a protecting habitation, which at the same
time they partly consume as their natural food. The co¬
coon of the chrysalis is very bare.
Section 5th, Noctu^elites, Lat.
The species of this extensive section are similar to the pre¬
ceding insects in the figure and relative proportion of their
wings, and their position in repose; but they present the two
following distinguishing characters : A horny, spirally rol¬
led, and generally elongated trunk ; inferior palpi, termi¬
nated abruptly by a very small article, much more slender
than that which precedes it,—the latter being broader and
compressed. These genera have the body more covered
by scales than by a woolly down. Their antennae are
usually simple. The thorax is frequently crested above,
and the abdomen assumes the form of an elongated cone.
The.r flight is rapid, and some of the species make their
appearance during the day. The caterpillars have usually
sixteen feet. Some have only twelve or fourteen, but
the posterior or anal pair are never wanting; and in those
which present but twelve the anterior pair of the membra¬
nous ones are as long as the next ensuing. The greater
proportion spin a cocoon, in which they undergo their me¬
tamorphosis. These Lepidoptera correspond to the divi¬
sion named Noctuce. of the genus Phalcena of Linn.
All the generic groups recently established, and of which
the characters are derived rather from the caterpillar than
the perfect insect, are referred by Latreille to the two ge¬
nera which follow. In the genus Erebus of Lat. (Plate
CCL. figures 10 and 14), the wings are always extend¬
ed and horizontal, and the terminal joint of the palpi is
elongated, elevated, cylindrical, or slightly compressed,
and naked. With the exception of a single species, Ophi-
usa scapulosa of Ochsenheimer, which occurs in Spain, all
these insects are of exotic origin. We have figured a su¬
perb example, “ the glory of the Noctuidae,” as it is well
named by Mr Kirby, on the fourth plate of the first vo¬
lume of our Illustrations of Zoology. It is the Erebus
strix of I .atreille, and is known also under the title of the
ENTOMOLOGY. 215
Lepidop- great owl moth of Brazil. It measures nearly a foot in
tera breadth from tip to tip of the extended upper wings. In
Nucturna. tpe genus Noctua of Fab. and Lat. (ibid. fig. 9) the ter-
minal joint of the inferior palpi is short, and covered with
scales, like that which precedes it.1 Of those with six feet,
which are the greater number, we may mention as a Bri¬
tish species N. sponsa, Fab. The caterpillar lives upon
the oak, is of a greyish colour, and obscurely and irregu¬
larly spotted. It is marked with small tubercles, and the
eighth ring bears a projection, on which there is a yellow
plate. This larva, and some other nearly allied kinds, are
called lichene.es by the French naturalists, on account of
their resemblance to, and the difficulty with which they are
sometimes distinguished from, various kinds of bark-sup¬
ported lichens.2 The anterior four of the membranous feet
are shorter than the others, and they walk like the survey¬
ors. Many other well-known species are arranged with
that just mentioned. The caterpillars of certain others
have only twelve feet, and the pei’fect insects are frequent¬
ly ornamented with golden or silvery spots upon the upper
wings. Such are two well-known British species, N.
gamma and chrysitis. The former of these receives its
name from a character resembling the Greek letter y in¬
scribed in gold upon its upper wings. “ This creature,”
say Messrs Kirby and Spence, speaking of the larva, “ af¬
fords a pregnant instance of the power of Providence to let
loose an animal to the work of destruction and punishment.
Though common with us, it is seldom the cause of more
than trivial injury ; but in the year 1735 it was so incre¬
dibly multiplied in France as to infest the whole country.
On the great roads, wherever you cast your eyes, you
might see vast numbers traversing them in all directions
to pass from field to field ; but their ravages were particu¬
larly felt in the kitchen gardens, where they devoured
every thing, whether pulse or pot-herbs, so that nothing
was left besides the stalks and veins of the leaves. The
credulous multitude thought they were poisonous, report af¬
firming that in some instances the eating of them had been
followed by fatal effects. In consequence of this alarming
idea, herbs were banished for several weeks from the soups
of Paris. Fortunately these destroyers did not meddle
with the corn, or famine would have followed in their train.
Reaumur has proved that a single pair of these insects
might in one season produce 80,000; so that, were the
friendly Ichneumons removed, to which the mercy of Hea¬
ven has given it in charge to keep their numbers within
due limits, we should no longer enjoy the comfort of vege- Lepidop-
tables with our animal food, and probably soon become the tera
prey of scorbutic diseases.”3 The caterpillars of some other ^octurua*
species have the habit of eating the petals of the flowers of
the plants on which they dwell. The antennae of certain
kinds are pectinated, such as N. graminis, an insect which
has sometimes proved extremely destructive to the meadows
in Sweden. We may conclude by observing that caterpillars
believed to belong to this genus have been seen to exer¬
cise a curious, and, as we would suppose it, an unnatural
instinct,—they seize upon other larvae, even of their own
species, transfix them by the middle, and sucking out then-
interior juices, leave them nothing but their own skins.
When we mention that Olivier (in Encyclopedic Metho-
dique) describes 459 species of the Fabrician genus Noctua.
the reader will readily admit that many of the new generic
groups, to which we have been unable to do more than al¬
lude, are extremely desirable, were it for nothing else than
mere convenience, independent of any higher reasons re¬
sulting from the nature of things.
Section 6th, Tortrices, Linn.
These are very nearly allied to the Lepidoptera of the
two preceding sections. The upper wings, of which the
posterior margin is arcuated at the base and then restrict¬
ed, and their short and broad contour, forming a truncat¬
ed oval, bestows a peculiar physiognomy upon the species
in question. They are named by the French Phalenes a
larges epaules, Phalenes chappes, &c. They are all provid¬
ed with a distinct trunk, and the inferior palpi are gene¬
rally very like those of Noctua, but somewhat projecting.
They are of smallish size, agreeably coloured, with the
wings decumbent, but flattish, or almost horizontal, and
covering the body,—the inner margins of the upper pair
even overlapping each other a little in a state of repose.
The caterpillars have sixteen feet, a smooth body, or but
slightly haired, and dwell in leaves, which they roll up or
convert into tunnels by means of silken cordage. They
live upon the parenchyma of their own leafy dwellings,
which thus serve them both for food and clothing. Others
form their dwellings by uniting several leaves together,
while a few are found in different kinds of fruits. Several
have the posterior part of their body narrower than the
others, and these were named chenilles en forme des pois-
son by Reaumur. Their cocoons are boat-shaped, and
1 The genus Noctua of Fabricius, as observed by Latreille in hLs note to the Regne Animal, t. v. p. 409, is, in Ochsenheimer’s
Schmetterlinge von Europa, divided into forty-two genera, from Acronita to Euclidia inclusive. These are constituted in great part
by the conversion into genera of the sections previously indicated in the “ Systematic Catalogue of the Lepidoptera of Vienna.”
Their insertion in this article would however be still more incompatible with our own limits than with those of the Regne Animal,
from which they are expressly excluded. The Noctuae, according to Latreille, exclusive of Erebus, are resolvable into two great
parallel series, one of which is related to these latter Lepidoptera, the other to the Notodontse. The first is composed of those of
which the caterpillars march after the manner of the surveyors or Geometrae. Some have sixteen feet, of which the anterior two
or four of the intermediate membranous ones are the shortest; others have only twelve feet, such as Plusia and Chrysoptera, genera
distinguished from the preceding by the size of the inferior palpi, which are recurved upon the head. The second series com¬
mences with species of which the palpi are proportionally larger, the antennae pectinated, and the trunk smaller;—such are Nolo-
donta palpina {Odonptera palpina, Lat.) and the genus Calyptra of Ochsenheimer. Then follow the genera Xylena and Cucullia,
tho»c Noctuae in which the posterior margin of the anterior wings are angular or dentated, those in which the antennae are pectinat¬
ed, and those in which they are simple. The latter species are terminated by such as have an even thorax, some of which, belonging
to'the genus Erastia, seem to lead to the Pyralites. All the caterpillars of this second series have sixteen feet, with the intermediate
membranous ones of equal size; their mode of progression is rectigrade. The genus Ckrysoptera {Plusia concha of lischer, in En-
lomog. de la Russie, i. Lepidop. iv.), with which Latreille concludes the other series, is related to Herminia and Pyralis. Thus both
series seem to converge towards the latter section. The Licheniae, or Catacolae, of Ochs., are large species, with almost horizontal wings,
which, as well as Ophiusa, Brephos, &c. appear to approximate naturally to Erebus. Latreille is of opinion that if placed in the other
series they destroy its harmony. .
The Rombyx cyllopoda of Dalman (Analect. Entom. 102) ought to form a new sub-genus, and of a remarkable nature, in so far as the
two posterior legs of the male are shorter than the others, unarmed, and almost useless for the purposes of locomotion. This insect
has the antenme pectinated, a distinct trunk, and the palpi as long again as the head, and ought therefore to be placed near the ge¬
nus Calyptra of Ochs, or Herminia of Latreille. , t .
2 A beautifully providential change has been rendered natural to some of these species in relation to their food. I he larva of iv.
alga;. Fab. is always yellow when it feeds on Lichen juniperinus, which is itself of that colour; but it becomes grey while pasturing on
Lichen saxatilis.
a Reaumur, Mem. ii. 327 ; Introduc. to Entom. i. 189*
216
ENTOMOLOGY.
Lepidop- are in some kinds formed of pure silk, in others of mixed
tera materials. These insects compose the genus Pyralis of
Nocturna. pabt (Plate CCL. figure 16). Many of the species are
destructive to fruit-trees and vines. P. pomona in the
caterpillar state lives in the interior of apples, of which it
eats the pippins. We may name as a British species P.
prasinaria, which is the largest known. It measures about
two inches in extent. The upper wings are pure green
with two oblique streaks in the centre, the thorax is green,
the under wings white. This species, with that which we
have figured, form the genus Chloephora of Stephens.
Section 7th, Phai^enites, Lat.
Here are comprised a numerous assemblage of nocturnal
Lepidoptera, in which the body is usually slender, with the
trunk either apparently wanting, or generally but slightly
lengthened, and almost membranous ; the inferior palpi
are small and nearly cylindrical; the wings ample, extend¬
ed, and almost horizontal, or flatly decumbent. The an¬
tennae are pectinated in several males. The thorax is al¬
ways even, or without a crest. The caterpillars have in
general only ten legs, though some (Ph. margaritaria)
have twelve ; the anal pair are always present. These in¬
sects correspond to the Geometrce of Linn., and their pe¬
culiar mode of progression, already described in our obser¬
vations introductory to the lepidopterous order, has ob¬
tained for them the name of surveyors. Their attitude in
repose, also before described, is still more extraordinary.1
They then resemble little broken twigs of the plant on
which they rest; and their colours, and the inequalities of
their surface, aid the deception. They thus no doubt fre¬
quently escape the observation of their natural foes. Roe-
sel states that his gardener, mistaking one of these ligne¬
ous-looking larvae for a dead twig, the brittleness of which
he no doubt expected would admit of his instantly snap¬
ping it asunder, started back in the greatest alarm when
he found by its consistence and motion that it was a living
creature. The chrysalids are almost naked, their cocoons
being thin and poorly supplied with silk.
According to Latreille’s views, by which we are at pre¬
sent guided, this section, when considered in relation to
the perfect insects alone, contains but a single genus, that
of Phalasna properly so called (Plate CCL. figures
13 and 15) of which the characters consequently agree with
those just assigned to the section itself. A very different
view, however, has been taken by the greater mass of en¬
tomologists, foreign and indigenous ; and a roll of names of
fearful length and deep construction, has been received
by many as constituting a proper portion of our scientific
nomenclature. Thus Mr Stephens’ family Geometridce,
corresponding to the Phalcenites of Latreille, contains
above eighty British genera. The number is precisely
eighty-three in Mr Rennie’s Conspectus. Many naturalists
believe that no such divisions as genera exist in nature,
and consequently that all our generic distinctions are arti¬
ficial, and constructed merely for convenience, as a help¬
ing instrument for ourselves, and an easier mode of mutual
communication between ourselves and others. But all
naturalists admit that there is a difference in the value of
the characters chosen, and that such as are selected as ge¬
neric should be pervading and influential over a pretty ob¬
vious group, not chosen arbitrarily or at hazard from the
examination of the limited productions of any one confin¬
ed insular region, but on mature deliberation, and after a
kindly and extended study of the analogous productions
of foreign lands. Characters drawn from form and struc¬
ture are much less liable to accidental variation, and are
likewise of more comprehensive application, than such as are Lepidop-
derived from colour ;—the former have consequently been _ tera
used to distinguish the greater groups, including genera, Nocturna-
—the latter are chiefly available in the discrimination of ^
species, and their mode, range, and frequency of varia¬
tion, of themselves afford most interesting subjects of
study and reflection, in relation to the varieties of each
particular kind. It is doubtful, however, whether the
use of the evanescent shades of so superficial a charac¬
ter as colour, is advisable in the distinction of genera.
The great test of a good generic character consists in its
being in some way connected with or influential over the
natural habits of the species which it is assumed to dis¬
tinguish,—so that it may fairly be presupposed to exist in
other species of similar instinctive modes of life. These
traits are no doubt difficult to obtain in the insect creation,
where the species are so numerous, and the gradations so
often insensible from one group to another. But still we
know that colour, though occasionally extremely charac¬
teristic of natural groups, is a distinction too flighty and
fantastical to be generally applied with advantage, other¬
wise than for artificial combinations. For these and other
reasons not necessary to be here adduced, we have hither¬
to failed to see the propriety of such characters as “ first
pair of wings somewhat rufous, with darker streaks,” “ se¬
cond pair pale, with a red streak,” “ wings banded with
green,” “ the first pair greenish, spotted with black, the
second pair dull,” &c. being adopted as generic distinctions,
—the more especially as they would prove not very effi¬
cient even for the purposes of specific discrimination.
There is no doubt, however, that the great extent of the
genus in question requires that it should be reduced by
subdivision within manageable bounds ; and if determinate
and distinctive characters of sufficient value can be attach¬
ed to each, a generic name may as wrell be used as a sec¬
tional mark. Hubner has described and figured above
400 European species, and MM. Lepelletier de Saint
Fargeau and Serville have formed numerous divisions
among the species described by them in the Encyclopedie
Methodique. Modern entomologists have adopted a me¬
thod of distinguishing by the specific name alone, whether
the male of a phalaena has the antennae pectinated or seta¬
ceous. The names of such as exhibit the former structure
always end in ana, those characterized by the latter in
ata. A very common species is Ph. Grossulariata, white,
with some yellow streaks, and spotted with black. The
caterpillar is also richly coloured. It feeds on the leaves
of the currant and gooseberry. The chrysalis is of a shin¬
ing black, with yellow rings. It is known in England by
the name of Magpie. Ph. idmata, or the clouded Magpie,
is a scarcer species. In Scotland at least it is rare. Both
these belong to the sub-genus Abraxas of Leach. A rather
large and elegant species, called the swallow-tailed moth,
Ph. sambucaria, is of a pale sulphur colour, with two trans¬
verse streaks upon the upper, and one upon the under
wdngs. It forms the sub-genus Ourapteryx of Leach, and
icsembles in its form the beautiful Phalcena machaonaria
of Boisduval, which, with Ph. guttaria, ibid, we have re¬
presented by the figures last referred to. The females of
a few present only the rudiments of wings. Such is Ph.
brumata, -which makes its appearance during the winter
season, and belongs, for that reason, to the sub-genus Hy-
bernia of Latreille.
Section 8th, Deltoides, Lat.
This section consists of species very analogous to the
true Phalaenae, but the caterpillars have fourteen legs, and
1 See page 205.
E N T O M
DIptera shrill nocturnal pipe, the prelude to a closer contact, is par-
Probosci- ticularly distressing in many continental countries, espe-
._)-ese. _i cially to an inexperienced traveller, unprovided with a
cousiniere or mosquito curtain. The Laplanders defend
themselves by means of smoke and grease.
C. pipiens. Palpi and antennae dark brown: thorax
rufous, nearly rust colour, with two brown longitudinal
lines : abdomen ringed with whitish grey and dark brown :
halteres whitish: wings unspotted: legs pale brownish,
the base of the thighs yellowish; the apex of the tibiae
with a small spot of changeable white. Length three
lines. Fab. Linn. Reaumur. Wood’s Ulus, of Linn. Ge¬
nera of Insects, pi. xcvii. Common in almost all countries.
Genus Anopheles, Meigen. Antennae porrect, fili¬
form, fourteen-jointed ; plumose in the male, pilose in the
female: palpi porrect, five-jointed, the length of the pro¬
boscis : proboscis porrect, the length of the thorax : wings
scaly, incumbent. Meig. Zw. i. 10, pi. i. f. 11-17; Cur¬
tis, Brit. Ent. v. pi. ccx.
A. bifurcatus. Plume of the antennae brownish grey in
the males: the two terminal joints of the palpi forming a
flat club; circle round the eyes white: thorax ash grey,
with a dark-brown line on the sides, and three others
down the middle : abdomen grey, ringed with brown : legs
brown, the thighs yellowish: halteres dirty white; wings
unspotted. The colour of the female is yellowish brown.
Three and a half lines. Curtis, l. c. Culex bifurcatus,
Linn. According to Linnaeus, the larva, like those of the
preceding genus, reside in the water, and the perfect in¬
sect does not bite. Only one other species is described
by Meigen, which is distinguished by having five dusky
spots on each wing. Two others are described in the third
volume of the Zoological Journal.
Genus ^Edes, Hoffmgg. Antennae porrect, filiform,
fourteen-jointed; plumose in the male, pilose in the fe¬
male : proboscis porrect, as long as the thorax: palpi
very short: wings scaly, incumbent. Meig. Zw. i. 13.
M. cinereus. Greyish brown: thorax reddish, pubescent:
wings unspotted : thighs rather paler than the other parts
of the leg: palpi very short, in other respects not differ¬
ing much from Culex. Two to two and a half lines. Ap¬
parently a rare and imperfectly known insect.
* *
Proboscis shorter than the antennae ; palpi incurved.
Genus Corethra, Meig. Named from the Greek
word xogrideov, a brush, with reference to the appearance of
the antennae. Antennae porrect, filiform, fourteen-joint¬
ed ; verticillately plumose in the male, pilose in the female :
palpi standing out, incurved, four-jointed, the first joint
shortest: wings incumbent, the nervures villose, and the
hinder margin ciliated with scales. Meig. Zw. i. 14, pi.
i. f. 18-23.
C. pallida. Whitish : plume of the antennae brown ;
eyes black: thorax with three pale-brown abbreviated
lines: thighs and tibiae white, spotted with black; the
joints of the tarsi somewhat brownish: wings hyaline,
with an obsolete brownish shade over the middle. Male
two and a half, female two lines. Meig. Zw. vol. i. pi. i.
fig. 23, female. Found on the continent of Europe. C.
plumicornis and culiciformis inhabit Britain, and have been
described, with their usual felicity, by Reaumur and De-
geer. Their larvae differ from those of Culex in their usu¬
ally horizontal posture. That of C. plumicornis is re¬
markable for its translucent texture, which renders it al¬
most invisible. It was hence called Tipula cristallina by
Dcgccr.
Genus Chironomus, Meig. (Plate CCLI. figure 1).
Antennae porrect, filiform, in the male plumose, thirteen-
jointed; the terminal joint very long (ibid. fig. 1, a); in
the female six-j. inted, pilose ; palpi standing out, incurv-
VOL. IX.
O L O G Y. 225
ed, four-jointed; wings lanceolate, deflexed. Meig. Zw. Diptera
i. 18, pi. ii. f. 1-7. Probosci-
C. elegans. Head light yellow ; plume of the male an- t i
tennae brown ; female antennae pale yellow, the terminal
joint brown ; thorax hood-shaped in front, elongate, sul¬
phur-yellow, with fulvous vittae, and having three black
spots on each side in the form of a triangle, towards the
base of the wings ; abdomen sulphur-yellow ; legs fulvous,
thick, with black joints and a ring of the same colour in
the centre of the middle and hinder tibiae; anterior tarsi
not elongate ; wings white, with three black points not far
from the hinder margin, one towards the middle, and two
others near each other, towards the apex. Three to three
and a half lines. Meig. Zw. vol. i. pi. ii. f. 1, female. This
rare species, represented by the figures last referred to,
has been taken lately at Raehills in Dumfriesshire. We
believe it to have been previously unknown in Britain. The
genus is very extensive, comprehending little short of a
hundred species, the greater portion of which inhabit Bri¬
tain. The little pink-coloured tortuous worm, frequent
in water-barrels, is the larva of Chironomus plumosus.
Genus Tanypus, Meig.; named from ravuw, to stretch
out, and $rous, the foot. Antennae porrect, filiform, four¬
teen-jointed ; in the male plumose, with the twelve lowest
joints globose, the thirteenth very long, the terminal short
and acute ; in the female pilose, ail the joints globose, the
terminal thickest; palpi standing out, incurved, four-joint¬
ed, the basal joint shortest; ocelli wanting; wings lanceo¬
late, deflexed, pilose. Meig. Zw. i. 55, pi. ii. f. 8-12.
T. varius. Male. Antennae and palpi brown ; head
and thorax grey, the lines on the latter dark brown, with
a grey play of colour in the middle; abdomen yellowish,
banded with brown, and having a blackish line on the
back ; legs brownish yellow, the knee and apex of the tibiae
brown ; halteres white ; wings with an oblique grey cloud
before the apex, having two dark-brown spots in it near
the anterior border, and three smaller dark spots at the
hinder margin; there is a grey spot at the apex of the
wing, and near the middle a rather broad band, in the an¬
terior part of which are placed three blackish spots, two
behind each other, and the third, which is smaller, be¬
neath, forming a triangle. The female is of a yellower
hue than the male, and the marks on the back, as well as
the bands on the abdomen, are paler; the wings are
marked in a similar manner. Male three to three and a
half, female two to two and a half lines. Meig. Zw. i. pi.
ii. fig. 12, male. Frequents banks and hedges, but is not
common. It occurs near London, and in some other parts
of England.
The Tipula maculata, of which the history is given
by Degeer, belongs to this genus. Twelve species are
described by Benoit Frederick Fries, in his Monograph
of the Swedish Tanypi. His work is enriched by some
new historical details. Above twenty species occur in
Britain.
Genus Ceratopogon, Meig. The generic name is
derived from **£«{, a horn, and nwyov, a beard. Antennae
porrect, filiform, thirteen-jointed, the eight lowest joints
globose (bearded externally in the male), the following
cylindrical, elongate; palpi porrect, incurved, four-joint¬
ed, the joints unequal; ocelli wanting ; wings parallel, in¬
cumbent. Meig. Zw. i. 68, pi. ii. f. 13-18.
The larvae of these insects differ from those of most of
their congeners in not being aquatic. They inhabit ve¬
getable galls. The species are numerous, and of small
dimensions. Meigen describes forty-five different kinds,
of which about one half have been detected in Britain.
C. bipunctatus. Black; the antennae, including the
brush of the males, dark brown ; thorax clothed with fine
yellow pubescence ; halteres white ; wings thickly covered
2 f -
226 E N T O M
Diptera with grey pubescence, and having a whitish spot in the
Probosci- middle of the anterior margin; legs pitch-brown ; tibiae
t dcae. with ]ong ])airs externally ; pubescence of the tarsi white.
One line. Tipula bipunctata, Linn.; Forcipomyiapictipen-
nis, Megerle ; Labidomyia bipunctata, Stephens. Inhabits
England and various parts of the continent.
Genus Macropeza, Meig. So named from ^a^og,
long, and the foot, the hinder legs being remark¬
able for their length. Antennae porrect, filiform, fourteen-
jointed; the joints cylindric, the five last longest: wings
lanceolate, elongate ; hinder legs very long. Meig. Zw. i.
87, pi. iii. f. 1, 2.
M. albitarsis. Head black, with a broad forehead with¬
out ocelli; thorax cinereous, with three narrow black lines,
the central one widest; sides of the thorax and shoulders
black ; scutellum cinereous ; abdomen black ; halteres
white; wings hyaline, with pale-brown nervures; legs
black, the tarsi whitish ; the hinder legs uncommonly
long, particularly the tarsi, which are as long as the thighs
and tibiae united. Length one and a third. Length of
the wing two and two thirds, of the hinder legs four lines.
PI. iii. f. 1, female. The female only of thisf singular in¬
sect appears to be known : it has not occurred in Britain.
b. Gallicolae.
Eyes lunate: antennae with hairs disposed in whirls;
palpi incurved; wings pubescent, obtuse, with two or
three longitudinal nervures; tibiae without spurs at the
end.
Genus Lasioptera, Meig. The name is from 'kutstog,
hirsute, and wnga, wings. Antennae porrect, filiform, con¬
sisting of many joints, which are globose and hairy ; ocelli
wanting: wings incumbent, villose, with two nervures.
Meig. Zw. i. 88, pi. iii. f. 3-5.
L. picta. Female. Antennae black, shorter than the
thorax, cylindrical, twenty-four jointed ; the joints nearly
globose and pubescent: thorax black; abdomen black,
margined with white, and having two triangular white
spots on each segment: thighs yellow; tibiae and tarsal
joints white, with the apex Llack : halteres white : wings
ash-grey, having a narrow black edge anteriorly, in which
there is a white spot. One line. Meig. Zw. i. pi. iii. fig.
3, female. Diomyza Juniperi, Megerle.
Occurs on the continent of Europe, but is rare.
Genus Cecidomyia, Latreille. Antennae projecting,
moniliform, many jointed, the joints remote from each
other : ocelli wanting ; first joint of the tarsi very short:
wings incumbent, villose, with three nervures. Meig. Zw.
i. 93, pi. iii. fig. 8-12.
C. palustris. Thorax pale, with three broad black vit-
tae : abdomen flesh-red ; the halteres white. Tipula pa¬
lustris, Fab. Linn. Not unfrequent in Britain and else¬
where. We have nearly thirty indigenous species, among
which C. tritici, commonly called the wheat-fly, is an ob¬
ject of great interest to the agriculturist.1
Genus Campylomyza, Wied. Antennae projecting,
cylindrical, fourteen-jointed, the two radical joints thick¬
ened : ocelli three : wings pilose, with three nervures.
Meig. Ziv. i. pi. iii. fig. 6-7.
C. bicolor. Female. Antennae dark brown : head and
thorax black, somewhat shining: abdomen dark brown,
with pale incisures: halteres white: legs testaceous:
wings hyaline. Half a line in length.
Found in April and May in hedges, not common.
c. Noctuaeformes.
Eyes lunate : ocelli wanting : antennae moniliform, with
a seta at the base : wings broad, villose, with numerous
o L o G Y.
longitudinal nervures, but without cross nerves : tibiae Diptera
without spurs. Probosci-
Genus Psychoda, Lab (Plate CCLI. figures 2 v _
and 2 a). Antennae projecting, moniliform, pilose, many v
jointed, the two radical joints thick, the remainder globose,
and remote from each other : palpi standing out, four joint¬
ed, the joints equal: ocelli wanting : wings broad, lanceo¬
late, villose, without transverse nerves. Meig. Zw. i. pi.
iii. fig. 13-18.
P. palustris. Head, thorax, and abdomen covered with
white wool-like hairs : wings black at the apex, the centre
with a dark-brown band, which forms an acute angle in
the middle, the base shaded with brown ; fringe dark
brown, white at the apex of the wing: halteres dark
brown : legs white ; apex of the tibiae and the two last
tarsal joints black. Two lines. Meig. Zw. i. pi. iii. fig.
18. Found in Britain occasionally, along with above a
dozen other species. We know little of the habits or me¬
tamorphoses of these insects. They occur in moist and
impure, as well as in marshy places.
d. Rostratae.
Eyes somewhat rounded, separated on the forehead;
ocelli Minting : head elongated into a rostrum anteriorly :
palpi incurved: thorax with an arched suture across the
middle : abdomen eight-ringed : tibiae more or less spurred.
Genus Erioptera, Meig. From t/go;, wool, and wrcga,
wings. Antennae projecting, setiform, sixteen-jointed, the
first joint cylindrical, second cup-shaped, the following
ovate: ocelli wanting: palpi standing out, incurved, cy¬
lindrical, four-jointed, the joints equal: intermediate legs
shorter than the others : wings incumbent, parallel, the
nervures villose.
E. maculata. Dirty yellow, as well as the antennae and
legs : thighs brown at the apex, and having a brown ring
in the middle : palpi brown ; the abdomen with a brown
line along the back: wings with pale nerves and ferrugi¬
nous ocellated spots, which are partly single and partly form
a macular band. Two and a half lines. Inhabits Britain
and the continent of Europe. We have about thirty as¬
certained indigenous species.2
Genus Limnobia, Meig. From Xt/xvr], a marsh, and /3ioco,
I live. Antennae projecting, setiform, the joints from
fifteen to seventeen, the radical joint cylindrical, second
cup-shaped, the remainder oblong or globose : palpi stand¬
ing out, incurved, cylindrical, four-jointed, the joints
equal: ocelli wanting: wings generally incumbent and
parallel, the nervures naked. Meig. Zw. i. pi. iv. v. vi.
L. rivosa. Antennae as long as the head, setiform, red¬
dish brown; palpi of a similar colour: head grey; the
forehead with a small protuberance behind the antennae:
thorax light grey, with reddish-brown vittae ; scutellum
yellowish ; metathorax bright grey : abdomen light grey
inclining to red, with a reddish-brown line on the back,
which is waved on the sides, and has a grey play of co¬
lour in the middle: legs rather thick, testaceous, the
thighs darker : halteres j'ellow : wings clear hyaline, hav¬
ing a testaceous streak along the anterior margin ; not far
from the base another streak leaves the marginal one and
runs along the third longitudinal nerve, and from this a
third runs along the cross nerves, formingan obtuse angle ;
the anterior streak has a semicircular projection near the
middle, and just behind the base there is a transparent
marginal streak with a black spot. From twelve to thirteen
lines. Tipida rivosa, Linn.; Tipula triangidaris, Degeer;
Pedicia rivosa, Lat.
Rare on the continent. In Scotland we lately observ-
1 See Linn. Trans, iv. 230, and v. 106.
he genus is named Eiiopteryx by Mr Stephens—a commendable change, in as much as it avoids a termination characteristic
or tne ordinal rather than the generic groups of Entomology.
E N T O M
Dipteva ed it in considerable numbers in several of the northern
Probosci- counties, frequenting marshy glades by the sides of rivers.
It likewise occurs in the vicinity of Edinburgh. The ge-
nus Limnobia is rather extensive, containing upwards of
sixty European species, the greater proportion of which
are indigenous to Britain. Degeer has published some
curious details regarding the manners and metamorphoses
of L. replicata}
Genus Rhipidia, Meig. Antennae projecting, four-
teen-jointed, the radical joint cylindrical, second and
third cup-shaped, the following globose, remote, pectinat¬
ed on two sides in the male : palpi standing out, incurv¬
ed, cylindrical, four-jointed, the joints nearly equal: ocelli
wanting : wings incumbent, parallel. Meig. Zw. i. pi. v.
fig. 9-11.
R. maculata. Forehead light grey ; palpi and antennae
brown, the latter twice the length of the head: thorax
bright grey, with a brown vitta, which has an indistinct
brown line close to it on each side behind : abdomen dark
brown: halteres pale yellow : legs long, thin, brownish
yellow ; the apex of the thighs, the tibiae, and the tarsi,
brown : wings hyaline, the surface sprinkled with pale
brown spots, some of which at the anterior border are
larger and darker, and the cross nerve is margined with
brown. Three lines. Meig. Zw. i. pi. v. fig. 11, rnale.
Inhabits England, Germany, &c.
Genus Ctenophora, Meig. Antennae projecting,
thirteen-jointed, the radical joint cylindrical, second glo¬
bose, third oblong, the following pectinated in the male,
in the female simple, globose or ovate : palpi standing out,
incurved, cylindrical, four-jointed, the terminal joint elon¬
gate : ocelli wanting : wings spreading, shining.
C. bimaculata. Head black: palpi rufous beneath,
brown above : antennae dark brown, the joints globular in
the female: thorax and abdomen black ; the latter in the fe¬
male marbled on the sides and belly with rufous, which some¬
times runs into orange-yellow, spots ; the abdomen of both
sexes has a greyish transverse spot at the base : halteres
and legs rufous ; the apex of the thighs, the tibiae, and
the tarsi dark brown : wings hyaline, the anterior margin
yellow, having a dark-brown band, extending half way
across, and the apex of the same colour. Male six, fe¬
male from seven to eight lines. Tipula bimaculata, Linn.
Found in Britain, with six other species belonging to the
same genus.
Genus Tipula, Linn. (Plate CCLI. figures 3 and
3 a.) Antennae projecting, thirteen-jointed, the radical
joint cylindrical, second cup-shaped, the following cylin¬
drical and pilose : palpi standing out, incurved, cylindri¬
cal, four-jointed,1 2 the terminal joint elongate : ocelli want¬
ing : wings lanceolate, spreading.
T. oleracea. Palpi and antennae dark brown, the two
lowest joints of the latter yellowish grey ; forehead bright
grey, with a reddish-brown line; the snout yellowish
brown : thorax bright grey, having a testaceous dorsal
line bounded with dusky ; metathorax whitish grey: ab¬
domen testaceous, with a dusky line on the back, which
is scarcely perceptible ; thighs and tibiae testaceous, the
apex and the tarsi dark brown : halteres brown : wings
pale brown, the anterior margin bordered with testaceous,
but not to the apex; behind this border there is a whitish
streak. Eleven lines. Linn. Fab. Degeer, Lat. This spe¬
cies is common in meadows. It is known in England by
the title of Harry Long-legs, and is called Jenny Nettles in
Scotland. The genus Tipula, considered in relation to Eu¬
rope, contains forty-four species, several of which are large
O L O G Y. 227
and conspicuous insects, and many of them are very plen- Diptera
tiful. T. crocata, of a deep velvet black with yellow bands, Probosci.
is a very ornamental species. We have taken it near
Edinburgh.
Genus Nephrotoma, Meig. Antennae projecting, in
the male nineteen-jointed, with the first and third joints
cylindrical, second cup-shaped, the following excised; in
the female fifteen-jointed, the first and third joints cy¬
lindrical, second cup-shaped, the following somewhat cy¬
lindrical, thickened at the base: palpi standing out, in¬
curved, four jointed, the terminal joints elongate : ocelli
wanting: wings lanceolate, spreading. Meig. i. pi. v. f.
19-22.
N. dorsalis. Antennae with the first and second joints
ferruginous, the rest black: ground-colour reddish yellow;
the forehead with a black vitta: thorax with three shin¬
ing black lines; the sides of the breast unspotted : scu-
tellum with a black spot; metathorax marked with a black
line, and the hinder margin of the same colour: abdomen
with a black dorsal line, and a longitudinal line of the
same colour on the sides and belly: thighs and tibiae fer¬
ruginous, the apex brown : tarsi dark brown : halteres yel¬
low : wings nearly hyaline, slightly clouded with brownish
yellow, the stigma dark brown: the apex of the wing is
likewise brownish. Male five and a half, female seven
lines. Found in hedges during summer, but is not com¬
mon. It has occurred in the vicinity of London.
Genus Ptychoptera, Meig. Antennae projecting,
sixteen-jointed, the radical joint short and cylindrical,
second cup-shaped, third long and cylindrical, the follow¬
ing oblong: palpi standing out, incurved, elongate, four-
jointed, the first joint shortest, second and third long, and
of equal length, the fourth very long, setaceous: ocelli
wanting : wings spreading, plicate at the hinder margin.
P. eontaminata. The prevailing colour is shining black :
palpi ferruginous : antennae dark brown : the sides of the
breast silky grey: scutellum testaceous: abdomen of the
male with two ferruginous bands, that of the female with
two ferruginous spots on both sides: legs rufous : the
apex of the thighs, the tibiae, and the tarsi, dark brown:
halteres rufous, the knob brownish at the tip: wings
nearly hyaline ; near the middle of the anterior border is
a dark-brown abbreviated band ; between this and the
apex there is a brown marginal spot, and two or three
others at the anterior margin. Male three and a half, fe¬
male five lines. Tipula contaminata, Linn. Fab. Lat. Not
rare during summer in Britain and other parts of Europe.
Genus Nematocera, Meig. Antennae projecting, fili¬
form, six-jointed, the radical joints cylindric, second cup¬
shaped, the following cylindrical, equal: ocelli wanting :
palpi standing out, incurved, four-jointed, the joints equal.
N. bicolor. Head ash-grey ; forehead wide, brighter at
the eyes: thorax bright grey, with three dark lines on
the back, that next the side short: abdomen flat, dark
brown : legs of the same colour, the base of the thighs,
and likewise the halteres, yellow : wings rather dull, with¬
out a stigma. Five lines. Meig. Zw. i. pi. vi. fig. 1.
Seemingly rare: we are unacquainted with its native
country. The specimens from which Meigen took his de¬
scription were preserved in the collection of M. Baum-
hauer.
Genus Anisomera, Hoff. Antennae projecting, seta¬
ceous, six-jointed, the radical joint cylindrical, second
cup-shaped, third very long: ocelli wanting.
A. obscura. Antennae brown: the prevailing colour of
the body brownish grey; thorax with three wide dark
1 Memoircs, t. vi. plate 20.
* Latreille says, “ de cinq articles,”—but he counts the radical tubercle, which does not seem to have been regarded in Meigen’a
enumeration.
228 E N T 0 M
Diptera lines: along the abdomen of the males, which is nearly
Probosci- hoary, runs a narrow vitta, and on the under side of the first
dese. segment there is a broad yellow spot, and a smaller one
on the second; wings brownish yellow, especially at the
cross nerves; legs yellowish brown ; the apex of the thighs
dark; the anterior thighs thicker and shorter than the
others. Four lines. Meig. Zw. i. pi. vii. fig. 5, male.
Found in Germany, Portugal, and England. In the lat¬
ter country another species has occurred, which has been
named A. lucidipennis.
Genus Trichocera, Meig.; from rgi%, hair, and xigug,
a horn. Antennae projecting, setiform, the two lower
joints thickened, the remainder oblong and pubescent;
palpi standing out, incurved, cylindrical, five-jointed, the
joints nearly equal : wings incumbent.
T. hiemalis. Palpi, antennae, and legs, dark brown :
head grey : thorax greyish, with four distinct brown vittae,
the hinder part unspotted : abdomen wholly dark brown
passing into grey; the caudal process in the female shin¬
ing black: halteres pale yellow, with a brown knob :
wings pale grey or somewhat brownish, unspotted. Two
and a half lines. Limonia hiemalis, Lat. Abundant in
October and November, and usually found throughout the
winter. Another British species, T. regelationis, is also
often seen on walls and houses, even during that inclement
season-
e. Fungicolae.
Eyes round or oblong, separated on the forehead : ocelli
unequal, sometimes wanting. Palpi incurved, four-joint¬
ed : thorax without a cross suture : abdomen seven-ring¬
ed : coxae long : tibiae spurred.
*
Antennae setiform, with indistinct joints, the two lower
ones thickened.
Genus Dixa, Meig. Antennae projecting, setiform, the
two lowest joints thickened, the rest pubescent: palpi
standing out, incurved, cylindrical, four-jointed, the first
joint very short: ocelli wanting: wings incumbent, parallel.
D. aprilina. Palpi and antennae dark brown: head
brownish yellow, with a large blackish heart-shaped spot
on the forehead: thorax light yellow, passing into brown,
and marked with three dark lines : abdomen dark brown :
halteres yellowish, with a brown knob: legs brownish yel¬
low; apex of the thighs, of the tibiae, and the tarsi, dark
brown : wings hyaline, somewhat whitish, with brown
nerves. Two lines. Meig. Zw. i. pi. vii. fig. 12, male.
Found on the continent and in Britain. Meigen describes
four species, two of which occur in this country, which
also produces a third, named D. variegata by Mr Ste-*
phens.
Genus Bolitophila, Hoff. Antennae long, setiform,
projecting forwards, the two radical joints thick: ocelli
three, placed on the forehead in a transverse line: wings
incumbent, parallel, obtuse.
Vt.fusca. Head yellowish, with dark-brown antennae :
thorax yellowish, with three brownish lines on the back :
abdomen, halteres, and legs, dark brown; basal half of
the thighs yellow, which gradually passes into brown:
wings somewhat greyish, with a brown spot at the stigma.
1 wTo to two and a half lines. English examples of this
species are preserved in the British Museum. Accord¬
ing to Mr Curtis, two other kinds inhabit Britain, viz. B.
maculipennis and B. cinerea ; the former of these does
not appear to be known to continental naturalists. M.
Guerin has published a complete and detailed history of
a species of this genus, of which the larva lives in mush¬
rooms.1
Genus Macrocera, Meig.; named from paxpog, large,
0 L O G Y.
and %ioag, a horn—the antennae being of unusual length. Diptera
Antennae projecting, setiform, long, the two radical joints Probosci.
thick: ocelli three, placed on the forehead in the form of deee.
a triangle : wings obtuse, incumbent, parallel.
M. lutea. Of a uniform ochre-yellow: antennae above
twice the length of the body, brown, yellow at the base:
abdomen inclining to brown behind: legs yellow, with
brown tarsi. Three lines. This species occurs in the
south of England, and eight others are recorded as indi¬
genous to Britain.
* *
Antennae compressed, sixteen-jointed.
Genus Synapha, Meig. Antennae projecting, cylindri¬
cal, sixteen-jointed ? the two lowest joints distinct: eyes
rounded: ocelli three, unequal, placed in a line on the
forehead: tibiae unarmed on the sides.
S. fasciata. Head and antennae black: palpi ferrugi¬
nous : thorax pubescent, shining black ; scutellum of a si¬
milar colour, small: first four joints of the abdomen shin¬
ing red, with a black band across their hinder margin,
the remainder black : thighs and tibiae ferruginous, tarsi
brown : wings hyaline, the central longitudinal nerve form¬
ing an oblong cell behind the cross nerve. One and a
half line. Inhabits Germany, but is rare.
Genus Mycetobia, Meig. Antennae projecting, cylin¬
drical, sixteen-jointed, the two radical joints distinct: eyes
kidney-shaped : ocelli three, unequal, approximating, pla¬
ced on the forehead in the form of a triangle: tibiae un¬
armed on the sides.
M. pallipes. Black: palpi yellow: antennae brown,
nearly cylindrical, and about the length of the thorax;
the latter somewhat pubescent: abdomen rather depress¬
ed : halteres and legs bright yellow, the tarsi passing into
brown at the apex: wings large, rounded at the apex:
and having brownish-black nervures. One and a half
line. Occurs in the vicinity of London, and in some other
parts of Britain.
Genus Puatyura, Meig. Name derived from nkarug,
broad, and ovga, the tail. Antennae projecting, compress¬
ed, sixteen-jointed, the two radical joints distinct : eyes
rounded : ocelli three, approximating, unequal, placed on
the forehead in the form of a triangle: tibiae unarmed on
the sides: abdomen depressed behind.
P. semirufa. Head, antennae, and thorax black; the
latter with a narrow arched line of white anteriorly : ab¬
domen yellowish red, passing into brown, the two first
segments black : halteres and legs rufous, the tarsi
brown: wings nearly hyaline, without spots or bands.
Three lines. Found near London, Edinburgh, and in the
border counties of Scotland Thirteen other species are
natives of Britain.
Genus Gnoriste, Hoff. Antennae projecting, cylin¬
drical, sixteen-jointed, the two radical joints thick and
short: proboscis elongate, bearing the palpi at the apex :
ocelli three, unequal, placed on the forehead in the
form of a triangle : tibiae spurred at the apex, the sides
spinose.
G. apicalis. Head black; antennae dark brown: pro¬
boscis twice the length of the head; the palpi, which are
inserted near the apex, small and ferruginous: thorax
black, impressed with two deep longitudinal lines, which
become obsolete behind the middle : abdomen dark
brown, pubescent: halteres yellow: coxae elongate, the
anterior pair ferruginous, the others black : thighs and ti¬
biae yellow, the tarsi dark brown : wings somewhat cloud¬
ed, the apex brown. Five lines. Has been found in Prus¬
sia, but is rare.
Genus Sciophila, Hoff. Antennae projecting, some-
* Annales des Sciences Nat. t. x.
E N T O M
Biptera what compressed, sixteen-jointed, the two radical joints
i robosci- distinct: ocelli three, unequal, approximating, placed on
ea^^ie forehead in the form of a triangle: tibiae with spurs
at t]ie apeX) and spines on the sides: wings with the in¬
termediate cell small and nearly quadrate.
‘6. fimbriata. Ferruginous; antennae brown, yellow at
the base; anterior part of the head yellow, the forehead
brown : thighs ferruginous, tibiae and" tarsi brown : abdo¬
men pubescent, the segments margined behind with black,
the hinder extremity likewise black : wings unspotted, hy¬
aline. One two-thirds. This insect, and seven other spe¬
cies of the genus, occur in Britain.
Genus Leia, Meig.; named from Xs/og, smooth. Anten¬
nae projecting, compressed, sixteen-jointed, the two radi¬
cal joints distinct: eyes oblong: ocelli three, unequal:
tibiae with spurs at the apex, the hinder ones spinous on
the sides.
L. Jiavicornis. Ochraceous, as well as the antennae:
ocelli remote : thorax and abdomen somewhat shining :
tarsi brown : wings slightly yellowish, with a narrow, some¬
what arched, cross band of brown before the apex, slight¬
ly increasing in width at the anterior border; and to¬
wards the hinder margin of the wing there is a small
pale-brown spot placed at the hindermost longitudinal
nerve. Two lines. Meig. Zw. i. pi. ix. fig. \ \, female. In¬
habits Britain, with four others of the ten described by
Meigen as occurring in Europe.
Genus Mycetophila, Meig. Antennae projecting, com¬
pressed, sixteen-jointed, the two radical joints distinct:
eyes oblong: ocelli indistinct: tibiae with spurs at the
apex, the hinder ones with spines on the sides.
M. lineola. Hypostoma* and palpi yellow ; antennae
greyish brown, the two radical joints yellow : thorax och-
reous above, with three brown lines, the sides of the breast
with a mixture of grey : abdomen brown, with yellow
incisures: halteres yellow: legs pale yellow, the tarsi
brown ; hinder thighs black at the apex: wings yellowish,
somewhat dusky along the anterior border, and marked
with a dark-brown spot near the middle. Two lines.
Meig. Zw. i. pi. ix. fig. 15. This species occurs in Rox¬
burghshire, near London, and on the continent of Europe.
The genus contains thirty species; of these upwards of
twenty are included in the entomological catalogues of
Britain. The larvae of several species are found in great
numbers in fungi, on the substance of which they feed.
The M. fusca of Lat. and Meigen seems indeed to have
been described by Degeer under the name ot Tipulafun-
goram?
Genus Cordyla, Meig. Antennae projecting, twelve-
jointed, the two radical joints distinct: eyes rounded;
ocelli wanting: tibiae with spurs at the apex, but unarm¬
ed on the sides.
C. crassicornis. Head blackish; antennae twice the
length of the head, compressed when seen from the side,
the colour dark brown: thorax grey, the back darker in
the middle : abdomen dark brown : halteres and legs bright
yellow, the hinder thighs brown at the apex ; tarsi brown :
wings grey. One and a half. Meig. Zw. i. pi. x. fig. 1.
Inhabits Austria, England, &c.
f. Lugubri.
Eyes nearly meeting above, and deeply margined :
ocelli unequal: antennae cylindrical: palpi three-jointed :
thorax without cross suture : abdomen seven-ringed.
Genus Sciara, Meig. Antennae porrect, cylindiic,
pubescent, sixteen-jointed ; the two basal joints thickest.
O L O G Y. 229
eyes deeply emarginate : ocelli unequal: palpi exserted, Liptera
incurved, three-jointed: wings incumbent, parallel. Probosci-
S. Thomce. Black ; abdomen with a longitudinal line ^e£E•
of saffron yellow on each side, consisting of spots in the
male, and narrower than in the female; the last has the
incisures also yellow : wings smoke coloured, iridescent •
halteres and legs piceous: thighs of the fore legs rufes-
cent in both sexes. Four lines. Tipula Thomce, Linn.;
Molobrus Thomce, Lat. Occurs at times in tolerable plenty
in woods in the south of Scotland, and in many parts of
England, generally frequenting umbelliferous plants, in
the months of June, July, and August.
g. Latipennes.
Eyes of the male meeting above, those of the female
separated and kidney-shaped; ocelli wanting: antennae
cylindrical: palpi four-jointed: proboscis porrect, perpen¬
dicular : abdomen eight-ringed: wings very broad.
Genus Simulia, Meig. Antennae porrect, cylindric,
eleven-jointed, the two basal joints distinct: palpi ex¬
serted, incurved, cylindric, four-jointed, the basal joint
shortest: ocelli wanting: wings broad, incumbent, pa¬
rallel.
S. reptans. Female. Palpi and antennae brown; hy¬
postoma white ; forehead blackish blue ; thorax brown,
with a bluish play of colour, the anterior part cinereous,
with a brown line in the middle, which has a cross streak
of brown close to it on each side ; the hinder part with
an ash-grey play of colour: abdomen dark brown, with
pale-yellow hairs at the base, the hinder segment shining
bluish grey: thighs brown : tibiae white, brown at the
apex: anterior tarsi deep black, the medial and posterior
tarsi brown : halteres pale yellow. One line. Culex rep¬
tans, Linn.; Simulium reptans, Lat. Of pretty frequent
occurrence in Britain, and other countries. We have
above a dozen indigenous species. These insects bite
sharply, and attack various animals.
h. Muscaaformes.
Eyes of the male meeting above, in the female separate
and round : ocelli three, of equal size : antennae cylindri¬
cal : thorax without a cross suture in the middle.
Genus Scaxopse, Geoff. Antennae projecting, cylin¬
drical, perfoliate, eleven-jointed : eyes kidney-shaped :
ocelli three : palpi concealed : legs unarmed.
S. notata. Shining black, smooth. The thorax has a
white spot on the sides anteriorly : and there is another,
crescent-shaped, before the base of the wing, and a simi¬
lar crescent shaped spot is placed on the sides at the base
of the abdomen: halteres black. One and a third line.
Tipula notata, Linn.; Tip. latrinarum, Degeer, vi. 160,
pi. xxviii. p. 1-4 ; Tipula albipennis, Fab. Found in
England, Scotland, Germany, &c.
The palpi in the preceding genus, as far as perceptible,
seem to consist of only a single articulation—a character
in which they differ from their congeners. The larvae
are apodal, and live in impure substances. The nymphs
are naked and motionless. The perfect insects occur on
the trunks of trees, on moist walls, and on flowers, espe¬
cially those of the Synantherece, of which they suck the
nectaries. The species are few in number, and of small
size.
Genus Penthetria, Meig. Antennae projecting, cylin¬
drical, perfoliate, eleven-jointed : eyes oval: ocelli three :
palpi standing out, incurved, four jointed: legs unarmed.
P. holosericea. Entirely velvet-black, with brown eyes
and wings : forehead of the males very narrow, that of
1 This term is used by Meigen to designate the region of the head lying between the antennae, the eyes, and the mouth. The
same part is named clypeus by Fallen.
* Memoires, t. vi. pi. 22. fig. 1-13.
230 E N T O M O L O G Y.
Diptera the female wide ; head in both sexes as wide as the tho-
ProboscL- rax: wings of the male much smaller than those of the
deas. female: legs pubescent, without spines, much longer in
the male than in the female. Male two and a half, fe¬
male three and a half lines. Lat. Gen. Crust, iv. 267 ;
Meig. Zw. i. pi. x. fig. 17, 18. Found in Germany, &c.
Genus Dilophus, Meig.; from 5/5, two, and Xotpof, a
comb. Antennae projecting, cylindrical, perfoliate, eleven-
jointed : palpi standing out, incurved, five-jointed, the
third joint dilated at the apex : anterior tibiae radiated at
the apex.
D. vulgaris. Shining black: wings of the males hya¬
line, with blackish marginal nerves; those of the female
brown, with the apex hyaline, the nerves with a pale
margin, and the stigma blackish. Two and a half lines.
Meig. Zw. i. pi. xi. fig. 1, male. Tipula febrilis, Linn. Fab.
Lat. Common during spring and summer.
Genus Bibio, Geoff. Antennae projecting, cylindrical,
perfoliate, nine-jointed; palpi incurved, cylindrical, five-
jointed, first joint very short: ocelli three: anterior tibiae
mucronate at the apex. Meig. i. 309, pi. xi. f. 9-15;
Curtis, B. E. pi. cxxxviii.
B. Pomonae. Shining black, with pubescence of the
same colour: thighs rufous: wings hyaline, the anterior
margin fuscescent, marginal nervures and stigma dark
brown. Male six, female seven lines. Tipula Pomonce,
Fab. Don. ix. 27, pi. ccc.
B. Marci. Very like the last, but entirely black ;
wings of the males hyaline, of the females brown ; both
have the anterior margin dark brown, with black-brown
nervures, and a stigma of the same colour. Five to six
lines. J Tipuli Marci, Linn.; Hirlea Marci, Fab.; £ Tip.
brevicornis, Linn. These two species, which are the larg¬
est of the genus, occur not unfrequently in Britain : in the
south of Scotland the former is common, and we have
often seen large flocks of the latter near Edinburgh.
In this genus the sexes differ considerably, which has
not seldom led to the males and females being described
as distinct species.1 The larvae are frequently found in
the dung of cattle. They are apodal, but otherwise bear
a resemblance to small caterpillars, being furnished with
a few hairs directed backwards. They are also believed
to change their skins before assuming the nympha state.
The perfect insects appear in spring; and, according to
the continental naturalists, at two different periods, cor¬
responding to the feasts of St Mark and St John,—a cir¬
cumstance which has obtained for them the names of
Mouches de St Marc and Mouches de St Jean. Their
flight is heavy, and they are sometimes seen in great
quantities on fruit trees, to which, however, notwithstand¬
ing a vulgar prejudice to the contrary, they are in no way
injurious. Meigen describes sixteen European species,
and Mr Stephens enumerates fourteen as occurring in
Britain, iheir manners are curiously detailed by Reau¬
mur.
.Genus Aspistes, Hoff. Antennae projecting, eight-
jointed, the terminal joint thickened, ovate : ocelli three :
anterior tibiae terminating in a spine.
A. berolinensis. Antennae black, somewhat longer than
the thorax, the two lowest joints thickened at the apex,
the following short, the terminal one broader, ovate, and
excavated in the middle : thorax pitch-black, with an
oval spot on the back anteriorly: abdomen pitch-black,
pubescent, the hinder extremity brownish red: thighs
nearly black; tibiae and tarsi reddish yellow : wings hy¬
aline, the marginal nervures dark brown, the others paR
brown: halteres black. One line. Inhabits Germany, Diptera
Prussia, &c. One or two other species are said to occur Probosci-
in Britain. <ieae.
Genus Rhyphus, Lat. Antennae projecting, subulate,
sixteen-jointed, the two radical joints distinct: palpi ex-
serted, incurved, four-jointed, the joints unequal, the
second clavate: ocelli three, equal: legs unequal: wings
parallel, incumbent.
R. fuscatus. Antennae and palpi dark brown ; head
and thorax cinereous, the latter with three black lines,
the central one longest: scutellum grey : abdomen of the
males dark brown, with pale incisures, that of the female
brownish yellow: halteres whitish: wings somewhat cloud¬
ed, and having brown nervures, the stigma and a marginal
spot fuscous. Male four, female three lines. Meig. Zw.
i. pi. xi. fig. 18. $ Found in Britain, and is common in
many parts of Europe.
B. Antennae consisting of few joints.
FAMILY II.—XYLOPHAGI.
Antennae projecting, approximating at the base, three-
jointed, the third joint eight-ringed : proboscis retracted;
ocelli three : abdomen composed of eight segments : hal¬
teres uncovered : wings parallel, incumbent; onychii three.
Genus Beris, Lat. (Plate CCLI. figures 4 and 4 a.)
Antennae with the two radical joints short, third elongate,
conical, eight-ringed: scutellum with many rays on the
margin. Meig. Curtis. Brit. Ent. vii. pi. cccxxxvii.
B. vallata. Antennae dark brown ; head and thorax
shining black: abdomen reddish yellow, that of the male
having two black spots at the base; legs rufous, the hin¬
der half of the tibiae and the tarsi brown: wings of the
female scarcely inclining to brownish, the base and ante¬
rior margin yellowish, the stigma dark brown. Two and
a half lines. Stratiomys clavipes. Fab.; Beris nigritarsis,
Lat. This species is found pretty frequently throughout
the greater part of Britain. We have observed it near
Edinburgh, and in Roxburghshire ; and it occurs in Essex,
Kent and other parts of the south of England. We have
ascertained the existence of B. femoralis, B. clavipes,
(Linn.), and B. chalybeata, in the south of Scotland ; and
seven others inhabit the more southern portion of the
island.
Genus Xylophagus, Meig. Antennae with the second
joint cup-shaped, the third elongate, eight-ringed; pro¬
boscis retracted: scutellum unarmed.
X. ater. Shining black: first joint of the palpi yellow,
second black : thorax of the males entirely shining black,
that of the female with three grey vittae, the lateral ones
somewhat abbreviated: anterior legs bright yellow, with
the apex of the tarsi brown; hinder legs bright yellow,
the apex of the thighs, of the tibiae and tarsi, brown ; hal¬
teres yellow. Male five, female six lines. Meig. Zw. ii.
pi. xii. fig. 14. Lat.; Empis subulata, Panz. Apparent¬
ly the only species of the genus found in Britain.
Genus Ccenomyia, Meig. Antennae with the radical
joint elongate, cylindrical, second cup-shaped, third coni¬
cal, eight-ringed: scutellum bidentate.
C. ferruginea. Rust brown: thorax with two lines of
changeable white, which disappear behind the middle:
abdomen dark rust brown anteriorly, paler behind ; the se¬
cond segment with a rather large white spot on each side
1 For example, Tipula Hortulana of Linn, is the female of B. Marci described above.
* Memoires, t. v. p. 55, et pi. vii.
ENTOMOLOGY.
231
Diptera
Probosci-
deae.
behind, the two following with a similar spot, but united by
a narrow white line; belly rust yellow, the hinder mar¬
gins, with the exception of the first, whitish; legs ferru¬
ginous : halteres bright yellow: wings brownish yellow,
with ferruginous nerves. Six to seven lines. Tabanus
bidentatus, Fab. Gmel. Lat.; Sicus ferrugineus, Fallen.
Not unfrequent in Germany and other continental coun¬
tries in the months of June and Julyr. It has not hitherto
been observed in Britain.
FAMILY III.—TABANII.
Antennae projecting, approximating at the base, three-
jointed ; third joint from four to eight-ringed, or six-joint¬
ed : proboscis and palpi standing out: abdomen consist¬
ing of seven segments : halteres half covered : wings di¬
varicating : onychii three.
a. Antennae three-jointed.
Genus Pangonia, Fab. Antennae with the basal joint
cylindric, second cup-shaped, third elongate, subulate,
eight-ringed : ocelli three : proboscis elongate, exserted :
wings spreading.
P. ferruginea. Antennae black, the second joint and
base of the third yellow ; proboscis black, the length of
the thorax; the latter thickly covered with brownish-
yellow pubescence: abdomen with similar pubescence,
and marked with black spots on the back, the segments
margined behind with whitish: belly rust-brown : wing-
scales, halteres, and legs bright brown ; thighs black:
wings brownish. Eight lines. Lat. Gen. Crust, iv. 282.
Inhabits Portugal. The genus contains six European
species, none of which appear to occur in Britain.
Genus Silvius, Meig. Antennae with the radical
joint cylindrical, second cup-shaped, third subulate, five-
ringed ; ocelli three : palpi standing out, two-jointed, pi¬
lose, the second joint cylindrical in the male, conical in
the female.
S. Vituli. Antennae ochre-yellow, the apex black ; hy-
postoma bright yellow ; forehead of a similar colour, with
a shining black callosity anteriorly in the female; palpi
yellow, the apex black in the male : thorax yellow with a
brown play of colour, pubescent: abdomen pubescent,
yellow; wing-scales and halteres yellow, the knob of the
latter whitish : wings with microscopic hairs, somewhat
greyish, with the anterior margin yellow ; legs yellow,
with brown tarsi. Five to six lines. Tabanus Vituli, Fab.;
Tabanus Italicus, Fab. This insect occurs on the con¬
tinent, but we have no knowledge of its precise localities.
Genus Tabanus, Linn. (Plate CCLI. figures 5 and
5 d). Antennae with the basal joint cylindric, second cup¬
shaped, third compressed, the lowest ring very large and
crescent-shaped at the base : ocelli wanting : palpi exsert-
ed, capitate in the male, subulate in the female : wings
spreading.
T. bovinus. Antennae black, reddish brown at the base :
hypostoma, palpi, and forehead bright greyish yellow ; the
latter in the female with a black line, which terminates
beneath in a shining black roundish callosity ; eyes green
during life: thorax dark brown, with yellowish hair,
sometimes inclining to slate-colour, and having dark lines
on the back; abdomen dark brown, with a rather wide
reddish-yellow cross band on the hinder edge ot the seg¬
ments, and a row of bright yellow triangular spots down
the middle ; belly yellowish grey, darker behind the inci¬
sures, with rather large nearly triangular spots ot black,
and near these an oblique black line : thighs and tarsi dark
brown ; tibiae bright yellow, the apex brownish: wing-
scales and halteres brown, the apex of the latter pale ;
wings brownish, the anterior margin inclining to yellow.
One inch. Linn.; Degeer, vi. 88. i. pT. xii. fig. 6-14. Diptera
Common on the continent. It is not quite so plentiful Probosci-
in Britain, especially in Scotland, where we have seen it t i
only on a few occasions in the northern and middle coun-
ties. We have taken it by the banks of Loch Katrine, and
in Sutherland. Eighteen kinds of Tabani inhabit Britain,
and upwards of twice that number are known as European.
Besides T. bovinus, we are not acquainted with any other
Scotch species except T. tropicus and T. autumnalis.
Latreille, Lepelletier and Serville, Meigen, Wiedemann,
Macquart, and the late Palisot de Beauvis, have cleared
away many of the difficulties which encumbered the sys¬
tematic study of this and the allied genera ; but their na¬
tural history, properly so called, has scarcely received any
accession since the days of Degeer. It is to that great
observer that we owe our knowledge of the manners and
metamorphoses of the species above described, the only
one in fact of which we have any detailed account. 1\
maroccanus is extremely troublesome to camels in the
north of Africa. M. Defontaines has frequently observed
their bodies entirely covered by these insects. The spe¬
cies occurs also in Portugal.
Genus Chrisops, Meig. (Plate CCLI. figures 6
and 6 a). Named from xgutfog, gold, and o^, the eye,
which is usually very brilliant during life. Antennae cy¬
lindrical, three-jointed, two basal joints equal, third longer,
five-ringed: palpi exserted, two-jointed, pilose, the second
joint conic: ocelli three : wings spreading.
C. ccecutiens. Male. Black; the eyes with two dark
purple bands; the uppermost interrupted; hypostoma
yellow, with large dark spots which nearly conceal the
ground colour : forehead black: thorax with reddish pu¬
bescence on the sides and beneath : abdomen black, with
a rufous spot on each side of the second segment; under
side black brown, the two basal segments yellow, having
a brown line in the middle : antennae, palpi, legs, and hal¬
teres black: wings almost entirely brown ; in the middle
there is a small light-coloured spot; at the hinder margin,
before the apex, a nearly uncoloured triangle, and not far
from the base a pale mark.
The thorax of the female is lined with cinereous; the
first segment of the abdomen has two yellow spots, the
second is yellow, with two dark lines in the centre, en¬
closing a triangular mark of yellow behind: wings whit¬
ish ; the base, anterior margin, a broad band rather be¬
hind the middle, and an apical spot, brown. Four lines.
Tabanus ccecutiens, Linn.
Frequent in most countries of Europe. In Scotland it
is rather scarce, but has been taken occasionally in Dum¬
friesshire, Roxburghshire, and elsewhere.
Genus H^ematopota, Meig.; named from afipa, blood,
and irorjjf, drinker. Antennae three-jointed, the second
joint cup-shaped, third subulate, four-ringed: palpi ex¬
serted, two-jointed, second joint conic: ocelli wanting:
wings parallel, deflexed. Meig. ii. 76. pi. xiv. f. 8-16.
\\. pluvialis. Eyes greenish, with waved purple-brown
bands : palpi and hypostoma light grey ; antennae scarcely
longer than the head; first joint thick, oblong, shining-
black, pubescent; thorax blackish, with whitish lines, the
two next the middle having a white spot in the centre;
sides of the breast light grey, somewhat pubescent: scu-
tellum blackish, sometimes cinereous over the middle:
abdomen blackish brown, with whitish incisures and a ci¬
nereous line down the back; on the third and following
segments on each side of this line there is a round cine¬
reous spot; in the males the three first segments are some¬
what testaceous on the sides: belly brownish grey: thighs
cinereous : anterior tibiae yellow at the base, the apex, to¬
gether with the tarsi, black brown ; posterior tibiae yellow,
with three brown rings, one in the middle and another at
232 E N T O M
Biptera each end; the tarsi black brown, with the first joint yellow-
Probosci- . halteres yellowish, having a brown spot on the knob:
wings brownish-cinereous, with numerous waved lines of
white, and a dark-brown marginal streak. Four to four
and a half lines. Meig. ii. 78, pi. xiv. f. 16. Tabanus plu-
vialis, Linn. Very plentiful throughout Britain. This in¬
sect is known in Scotland by the name of Cleg, and is very
troublesome during the heat of summer both to man and
beast, particularly horses.
b. Antennae six-jointed.
Genus Hexatoma, Meig.; named from e£, six, and ro/ios,
section, in allusion to the number of joints in the antennae.
Antennae six-jointed ; the first and third joints elongate :
palpi exserted, two-jointed ; second joint capitate (in the
male) or conical (in the female) : ocelli wanting: wings pa¬
rallel, deflexed. Meig. ii. 83, pi. xiv. f. 17-24. Heptato-
ma, Lat. Gen. Crust, iv. 284.
H. bimaculata. Hypostoma of the males shining-black,
with yellowish hair; that of the female light grey above
and yellow beneath ; thorax blackish, with rufous pubes¬
cence : abdomen of the males black, the pubescence of
the two basal segments brownish yellow ; on the belly these
segments are bluish white at the sides and blackish in the
middle; the following black, with three pair of bluish-
white transverse streaks: abdomen of the female black,
the base with brownish-yellow pubescence, and the second
segment with bluish-white lateral spots : feet black brown :
wings vitreous. Six lines. Tabanus pellucens, Fab. A
rare species, which has not yet been detected in Britain.
FAMILY IV.—LEPTIDES.
Antennae porrect, approximating at the base, three-
jointed ; third joint without rings: proboscis and palpi
exserted: ocelli three : abdomen consisting of seven seg¬
ments : halteres uncovered: onychii three.
Genus Leptis, Fab. Antennae with the first joint cy-
lindric, second cup-shaped, third conic with an apical
seta: palpi pilose, the second joint elongate: ocelli three,
vertical: wings spreading.
L. aurata. Male. Hypostoma blackish grey ; antennae
dark brown; thorax and abdomen thickly covered with
shining golden hairs: halteres, thighs, and tarsi dark
brown ; tibiae testaceous : wings pale brown, with the stig¬
ma reddish brown.
Female. Hypostoma and forehead dark grey, the lat¬
ter broad : thorax and abdomen thickly clothed with light-
yellow hairs; sides of the breast black; wings nearly hy¬
aline, scarcely tinged with brown, the stigma reddish
brown: halteres and legs as in the male. Three to four
lines. Rhagio atratus, Fab. Lat.; Rh. tomentosus, Fab. In
marshy meadows in May, common. This genus, as consti¬
tuted by Meigen, contains twenty-two species; but more
recent writers have separated it into two genera, corre¬
sponding to his sectional divisions. Nearly all of these
inhabit Britain, and some are very abundant, particularly
L. scolopacea and L. tringaria.
Genus Atherix, Meig. (Plate CCLI. figures 7
and 7 a.) Antennae with the terminal joint ovate, having
a naked dorsal seta at the base : palpi standing out, pilose,
incurved : ocelli three, vertical: wings spreading.
A. Ibis. Hypostoma and forehead bright yellow ; the
latter in the female yellowish with a brown vitta; thorax
pubescent, yellowish brown, with broad lines of dark brown
along the back ; scutellum brown : abdomen of the males
conical; the first segment dark brown, the following fer-
O L O G Y.
ruginous with the hinder margin bright yellow, and mark- Biptera
ed with three black spots, one on the back and another Trobosci-
on each side; on the last segments these spots run toge- , ^eae'
ther; belly yellow : abdomen of the females ash-grey, the
segments with a black band anteriorly, the binder margin
white; belly ash-grey: legs ferruginous, the tarsi brown
at the apex : halteres yellow, the knob brown : wings hy¬
aline, with irregular cross bands of reddish brown, which
are paler in the female. Male four, female five lines.
Curtis, Brit. Ent. i. 26 ; Rhagio Ibis, Fab.; <j> Atherix ma-
culatus, Lat.; Anthrax Titanus, Fab. Mr Curtis states
that there are at present but two species of this genus re¬
corded as natives of Britain, although twelve are enume¬
rated as European. The species described appears to be
everywhere rare. The male and female were placed by
Fabricius in different genera.
Genus Clinocera, Meig. Antennae remote, the low¬
er joints spherical, the third conical with an incurved ter¬
minal seta: ocelli three, placed on the forehead: wings
incumbent, parallel.
C. nigra. Head black ; body dull black; thorax witV
three darker lines ; legs long, slender, and black : halteres
black, uncovered: wings hyaline. Two lines. Found in
Germany and elsewhere.
FAMILY V—XYLOTOMiE.
Antennae projecting, approximating at the base, three-
jointed, the third joint without rings: proboscis conceal¬
ed : ocelli three: abdomen seven-ringed, conical: hal¬
teres uncovered: wings spreading: onychii two.
Genus Thereva, Lat. Antennae with the radical joint
cylindrical, second cup-shaped, third conical: proboscis
retracted : ocelli three : wings spreading.
T. fulva. Ferruginous, with pubescence of a similar
colour, intermixed with black hairs on the thorax; two
first joints of the antennas ferruginous, the third dark
brown: on the forehead of the females is the usual shin¬
ing black spot, and the hinder extremity of the abdomen
is likewise black: thighs and tarsi brown; tibiae ferrugi¬
nous : halteres yellow : wings nearly hyaline, the anterior
border yellowish. Four to five lines. This insect is of
not unfrequent occurrence in the south of Scotland, where
T. anilis and T. plebeia are likewise found. The former is
distinguished by its reddish thorax, and abdomen of a sil¬
very-white or grey colour. It is generally seen sitting
upon sand, but flies off suddenly if an attempt is made to
seize it. Meigen mentions twenty species. Britain pro¬
duces about one half of that number.
FAMILY VI.—MYBASII.
Antennae projecting, five-jointed,the joints without rings,
the terminal one club-shaped.
Genus Mydas, Lat. (Plate CCLI. figures 8 a and
8 b.) Antennae with the two lowest joints small, the fol¬
lowing cylindrical, the terminal one clavate. Proboscis
exserted.
M. lusitanicus. Entirely black, except the hinder edge
of the abdominal segments, which are yellowish white:
beard and mystax1 white : the sides of the thorax and two
first segments of the abdomen are beset with long white
hairs, and the back of the abdomen and legs with short
white pubescence : wings yellowish. Eight lines. Inha¬
bits Germany, Portugal, &c. Another species, named
1 This term is applied to a semicircle of bristles or hairs placed over the mouth.
ENTOMOLOGY.
Lepidop- live in rolled up leaves. The inferior palpi are elongated
tera and recurved in the perfect insect. The wings form with
^octuraa. the body, on the sides of which they spread horizontally, a
kind of delta, with a re-entering angle in the middle of
the posterior edge, producing a forked aspect. The an¬
tennae are usually pectinated or ciliated. Our present sec¬
tion comprised, in the first edition of the Regne Animal, all
the Phal. Pyralides of Linn. But, as Latreille has more
recently observed, a complication of characters resulted
from that arrangement, which is obviated by only com¬
prising in this division the genus Herminia (Plate
CCL. figure 17), which belonged to Pyralides of
Linnaeus, and is composed of the genus Hyblcea of Fab.
and several species of his genus Crambus. These Lepi-
doptera are generally of a greyish hue, without much bril¬
liancy of colouring. Several species are remarkable for
tufts of hairs upon the upper portion of their legs, the use
of which in their natural economy has not yet been ascer¬
tained. Indeed we know little of the history of the spe¬
cies, although they sometimes attract our notice by the
length of their palpi. They have been named snouts,
fan-feet, See. by the English collectors.
Section 9th, Tineites, Lat.
Latreille here comprehends the Phal. Tineee of Linn,
and the greater part of the Phal. Pyralides of the Swedish
naturalist. They consist of the smallest species of the le-
pidopterous order,—among others, of our common house-
moths, so well known for their destructive propensities in
the larva state, and the ravages they commit among ne¬
glected garments. These larvae are smooth, have always
at least sixteen feet, and live concealed either in fixed or
moveable habitations, of their own construction. In some
the wings form a kind of elongated triangle, almost flatten¬
ed, and terminated by a re-entering angle;—such are the
Phalcence Pyralides of Linn. They have four distinct and
usually exposed palpi. In others the superior wings are
long and narrow, sometimes moulded on the body, and
forming over it a rounded roof,—sometimes inclined al¬
most perpendicularly, applied close to the sides, and fre¬
quently elevated posteriorly after the manner of a cock’s
tail in miniature. In either case the inferior wings are
always broad and plaited. The latter kinds also have not
unfrequently four exposed palpi.
All nocturnal Lepidoptera, the caterpillars of which lived
in sheaths or cases, received from Reaumur the name of
Teignes proprement dites or of Teignes fausses, according
as their habitations were detached and portable by the
contained creature, or fixed and immoveable.1 This prin¬
ciple of arrangement, though sufficient for the purposes
which the admirable author had in view, is not philosophi¬
cally founded, and, if strictly applied, would require our in¬
cluding among the Tineites the genus Pyralis and others
belonging to preceding sections. In the Linnsean system,
our present insects composed the seventh division of the
great genus Phalaena, and were briefly characterized as fol¬
lows :—Wings almost cylindrically rolled, front projecting.
They constitute a generic group in Geoffrey’s work.2 Fol¬
lowing the example of Linnaeus, Degeer did not separate
these small creatures from the general mass of Phalaenae,
but satisfied himself by forming them into different sec¬
tions of his fourth and following family. Indeed his ar¬
rangement of the Phalaenae is extremely artificial.
The Tineites, although they are the pygmies of the lepi-
217
dopterous order (what a vast disparity in size between a small Lepidop-
clothes-moth and the great owl-moth of Brazil!) are much tera
more richly attired than most of their larger brethren. In- Nocturna
deed, when minutely examined, not many created things
will be found more worthy of our admiration ; and it is not
without reason that Scopoli has observed,—“ Tinearum
copia, parvitas, pulchritudo stupenda, ut in his potissimum
natura thesauros suos effudisse videatur, tantaque in mini¬
mis hisce majestas, ut admirari potius earn liceat, quam
aptis verbis indicare.”3 The wings frequently combine,
with extreme beauty of colouring, the most brilliant little
stripes and masses of shining silver and burnished gold,
which under the microscope exhibit a most radiant rich¬
ness. This lustrous aspect of many species is however but
a poor recompense for the injury which we receive from
many more while in the larva state. These clothe them¬
selves at our expense in the warmest woollen garments,
which they traverse in all directions, leaving behind a
gnawed and worn-out path, so thin and bare as to yield to
the slightest pressure. They also destroy furs, hair, fea¬
thers, and many other articles of domestic economy, and
are the exterminating pests of zoological museums. To
them we no doubt owe the destruction of the famous Dodo,
once preserved in the Ashmolean Museum of Oxford, and
never since seen by human eyes. By means of their max¬
illae these little larvae shear down the surface of various
substances, and uniting the particles by means of their glu¬
tinous silk, they thus form protecting habitations, which
partake of the nature of the woollen or other stuffs on which
the foresight of their parents has placed them. When they
themselves increase in bulk, so as to find their abodes as
inconvenient as a strait waistcoat, they split them down
the middle, and interpose a piece, proportioned no doubt
to their expected as well as actual increase. They add to
the length also by fresh materials to the anterior end.
These observations are easily made by removing the young
larva in its first restricted case, from a piece of white to a
piece of scarlet or other coloured flannel. Wben about to
undergo their transformations they close up the apertures
with silk. Another larva of this section ( Teigne des bles),
which Olivier makes an Alucita and Latreille an CEcophora,
is still more destructive on account of its ravages among
corn, and its prodigious powers of multiplication. Our
grain is also liable to great damage from the larvae of other
Tineae, such as the fausse chenille des bles, described by
Reaumur, which, by means of its silken web, connects to¬
gether several grains in the form of a tunnel, from which
it issues forth to feed on the neighbouring heaps. It is a
somewhat analogous species which in bee-hives pierces the
waxen cells on which it feeds ; and by thus causing the
honey to flow out, occasions great loss to the apiarian. Our
readers must have frequently observed the leaves of many
plants and trees pervaded by numerous tortuous windings,
of a paler colour than the rest. These are the sub-cutane¬
ous galleries of certain very small larva; of garden-moths,
many of them extremely beautiful, and so minute as to
dwell at ease between the upper and under surface of the
leaf. Others dwell and feed upon the surface, but screen¬
ed from immediate observation by a covered way of silk,
which they spin along their devious courses. Referring
the curious reader to the works of Reaumur, Roesel, and
Degeer, for a more ample history of these truly singular
and interesting tribes, we shall here briefly notice a few of
the principal genera.
In the following groups the four palpi are always dis-
1 The Teignes aquutiques of Reaumur are the larvae of Phryganeae; and those to which he applies the ancient name of Ligniperda: are
the larvae of the genus now called Psyche, belonging to the section Pseudo-Bombycites.
* Histoire des Insectes des Environs de Paris. s Entomologia Carniolica, p. 243.
VOL. IX. 2 E '
218 E N T O M
Lepidop- tinct,1 exposed, or simply concealed (the upper ones), in
tera part by the scales of the epistoma, and are advanced, of
Nocturna. mec[ium size, and analogous to those of the P. pyralides of
Linn. Their wings are decumbent, generally flattened,
or but slightly raised, and form a kind of delta or elongat¬
ed triangle. In the ensuing genera the trunk is apparent,
and serves for the performance of the usual functions. 1 he
larvae live on various plants. In Botys, Lat. (Plate CCL.
fig. 11), the larvae roll up leaves, and do not differ exter¬
nally from the others except in the respiratory organs. In
Hydrocampe, Lat. (ibid. fig. 12), the species are analogous
to the preceding, but the caterpillars are aquatic, and are
usually furnished with filiform appendages, the interior of
which contain tracheae. They fabricate tunnels or cover¬
ed ways with the leaves of various aquatic plants. Such
are H. potamogata, paludata, lemnata, &c. In the genus
Aglossa of Lat. (ibid. fig. 19) the trunk is wanting, or
nearly so. The four palpi are exposed, and the wings form
a flattened triangle,—the upper having no emargination at
their extremity. A. pinguinalis, Reaum. iii. xx. 5—11, oc¬
curs on walls in houses. The caterpillar is smooth or short-
haired. of a brownish black, and shining. It feeds on va-
irous fatty substances, and also attacks leather,—on which
account it is called fausse-teigne de-s cuirs by Reaumur. It
is destructive to the binding of books, and is therefore an
inconvenient companion in a library. Its case consists of
a long tunnel, applied close to the substance on which it
lives, and covered by particles of excrementitious matter.
According to Linnaeus, it occurs, though rarely, in the hu¬
man stomach, where it occasions effects much more dan¬
gerous and alarming than those caused by ordinary intes¬
tinal worms. “ Un medecin eclaire, “ says Latreille, “ et
dont je ne puis revoquer en doute la veracite, m’a envoye
des chenilles de cette espece, qu’une jeune famille avait
vomies.” Another species, P. farinalis, feeds on flour. In
the genus Galleria of Fab. the scales of the clypeus or
epistoma form a projection which covers the palpi. The
upper wings, proportionally narrower than those of Aglossa,
and emarginate on the posterior border, are, in common
with the inferior, very decumbent, and raised posteriorly
like a cock’s tail, as in many species of the ensuing genera.
G. cereana, Fab. is the species the larva of which is de¬
signated fausse-teigne de la cire by Reaumur. It is ex¬
tremely destructive in bee-hives, in which it pierces the
honey cells, and constructs as it advances a silken tunnel
covered with excrementitious particles composed of the wax
which it has devoured. The cocoons of the chrysalids are
sometimes found assembled in heaps.
In other groups of Tineites the superior palpi are not
always very distinct. The upper wings are long, narrow,
sometimes moulded or rolled upon the body, sometimes
applied perpendicularly to the sides. In this state the in¬
sect has always an elongated and narrow form, approaching
that of a little cylinder or cone, when the wings are closed.
In the next-named four genera the inferior palpi, always
large, are borne, as it were, in advance, the last joint at
most being raised. The palpi are apparent. Crambus,
Fab. (Plate CCL. figure 20), has a distinct trunk. The
inferior palpi project straight forwards like a beak. These
Lepidoptera occur in dry pastures and on various plants.
Alucita, Lat. (ibid. fig. 22), has also a distinct trunk, but
the inferior palpi are raised. The antennae are simple.
O L O G Y.
In Euplocampus, Lat. (ibid. fig. 18), the trunk is short and Lepidop-
in conspicuous, and the last article of the inferior palpi is tera
likewise raised, the scales of the preceding one forming a f^0C urDa-
faisceau. The antennae of the males are furnished with a
double row of little barbs. The genus Phycis of Fab. is
closely allied to Euplocampus, but the antennae at most are
merely ciliated.
In the following genera the inferior palpi are entire¬
ly raised, and even recurved over the head in several.
Sometimes the inferior palpi are very apparent, and of
medium size. The antennae and the eyes are distinct.
In the two following genera the inferior palpi scarcely
surpass the front. In Tinea (ibid. fig. 21) the trunk is
very short, and formed of little membranous disjointed
threads. The head is erected. The species of this genus,
which has been greatly restricted since the time of Fabri-
cius, are particularly destructive among our clothes and
other household concerns. We shall here notice a few of
the principal kinds. Tinea tapezana, Fab. and Lat., has
the upper wings black on the basal portion, their posterior
part being white. This is the species represented by our
figure.2 Its caterpillar feeds on woollens, on which it forms
an arched gallery, lengthening as it advances. T. sarci-
tella is of a silvery-grey colour, with a white spot on each
side of the thorax. Though very abundant ana extremely
destructive in most parts of Europe, its, synonymy and con¬
sequent history are somewhat confused. The figures given
by Reaumur,3 and cited by many authors, appear (at least
if we judge from the eleventh) to belong to another ge¬
nus. The inferior palpi are large, recurved and pointed,
a character which rather allies it to the genus Valuer a of
Lat.4 and to the T. vestianella of Scopoli and Linn. It is
even suspected that these two insects are the same. Ac¬
cording to the last-named authority, the T. sarcitella is of
a silvery grey, as above described. In T. vestianella the
upper part of the head, of the thorax, and even the base of
the superior wings, are white. The inferior palpi, recurved
in the manner of horns, are of the same colour, ringed with
black. The wings lie horizontally on the body, are whit¬
ish, and shining, and the upper surface of the superior pair
presents some blackish spots of different sizes. The infe¬
rior are of a uniform colour, bordered posteriorly, as is also
the internal margin of the upper pair, with long fringes.
This species is extremely common, and it has been pre¬
sumed that Linnaeus having given an inadequate descrip¬
tion from a defective specimen, its identity became difficult
to recognise, and that thus Scopoli bestowed a new name,
that of vestianella, upon an old species.5 However this may
be, the T. sarcitella is extremely pernicious among all
woollen substances. It forms and inhabits a silky case,
usually spindle-shaped, which it covers with detached hairs
or particles of wool. T. pellionella, Fab. has the upper
wings of a silvery grey, with one or two black points on
each. Its caterpillar forms a felted case or tunnel, and
lives on furs, which it destroys with ease and satisfaction
to itself, by gnawing off the hairs at the base. The wings
of T. graneUa are elevated behind, and marbled with grey,
brown, and black. Its larva is very injurious to grain. T.
flavifrontella, Fab. has a toupee of a more lively colour than
the other parts, approaching to reddish. Its larva forms a
silken case, and is extremely hurtful in museums, among
birds, insects, &c.
* The genera Iponomeuta (with one or two exceptions), (Ecophora, and Adda, are, according to Latreille, the only Tineites of
which the superior or maxillary palpi are not distinctly perceptible ; but as they may be concealed by the inferior or labial palpi, it
is difficult, in relation to this point, to establish a fixed and rigorous line of demarcation. For this reason the French entomologist
has not arranged the Tineites according to the number of the palpi. M. Savigny, in his Memoires sur les Animaux sans Vertebres, has
given figures, in which these parts are represented in their various proportions. (Regne Animal, v. p. 417-)
1 It is identical with T. tapctzella of Linn, and the lamented Mr Haworth.
3 Memoires, iii. vi.
£ See Diet. Ctassiquc d'Hist. Nat. xvi. p. 87.
Regne Animal, t. v. p. 412, note.
E N T O M
Lepidop- We may conclude by observing, that the most efficient
tera means of preventing or removing moths are care and
, cleanliness. Let articles of such a nature as may be
liable to their injurious inroads be frequently examined,
handled, and exposed to light and air. These tiny crea¬
tures are lovers of darkness, and of undisturbed repose.
The instinct of the mother (and that providential percep¬
tion is never more unerring than when manifested in rela¬
tion to the welfare of a future offspring) teaches her to dis¬
tinguish whatever is neglected or cast aside,—and in like
manner she becomes sensible that whatever is used or often
handled would form an unsafe nidus for her tender young.
In depositing her eggs she therefore selects the one and
rejects the other ; and hence a careful housewife, who feels
a lively interest in her own concerns, and frequently ex¬
amines and refolds or arranges her household gear, may
live for half a century and never see a moth. At the same
time, if articles are rolled up in a perfectly close and well-
ordered tissue, they are safe from these destructive crea¬
tures, which are certainly never bred from the things they
consume, however old or ill-conditioned. But if a single
unsuspected crevice should chance to admit one solitary
female moth, “ the spinster’s occupation’s gone,” and a
colony of worms is suddenly produced from innumerable
eggs, which would strike horror into the heart of a Mal¬
thusian. Where things must be left unexposed to changes
of light and air, and yet cannot be hermetically closed, the
use of camphor, spirit of turpentine absorbed upon pieces of
sponge or cotton, and other preventives, are tried with
more or less success. Exposure to a brisk fire is the most
effectual means of expelling the larvae from stuffed birds,
quadrupeds, &c.
In the genus Ilithyia, Lat. (Plate CCL. figure 23),
the inferior palpi resemble those of the preceding genus,
but the trunk is distinct, and of the ordinary size, and the
last article of the inferior palpi is obviously shorter than
the preceding. In Iponomeuta, Lat. (ibid. fig. 24), the
trunk is also distinct, and of tolerable size, but the termi¬
nal article of the inferior palpi is at least as long as the
preceding one. These insects, according to Latreille, are
related to Lithosia. Y. evonymella (Tinea of Fab.) has
the upper wings of a shining white spotted with black, the
inferior pair lead colour. Y. padella, Lat. has the upper
wings of a greyish-lead colour, and very numerously spot¬
ted with black, the under pair lead coloured, with thick
fringes. The caterpillars of both these kinds live in large
congregations, beneath a dusky web, which they stretch
out upon our fruit-trees, of which they devour the leaves.
When they have eaten all within their reach at one place,
they make a start to another, enclose themselves under a
new and more extended canopy, and recommence their
ravages, which are found to be extremely injurious to the
health of the tree, and its productive powers. The branches
seem as if covered with patches of dusty and discoloured
crape. In the genus CEcophora, Lat. the inferior palpi
are recurved above the head, in the manner of horns, pro¬
ceeding to a point, and reaching as far backwards as the
back of the thorax.
Lastly, in a few snecies, such as those of the genus
Adela, Lat. (Plate CCL. figure 25), the inferior palpi
are very small and clothed, the antennae are almost al¬
ways extremely long, and the eyes approximate. These
O L O G Y. 219
beautiful little creatures occur in woods, and are said to Lepidop-
appear with the leafing of the oak. They are frequently tera
brilliantly ornamented with metallic scales. The species ^°ctufna;
which we have figured is A. Degeerella, remarkable for its
antennae being many times the length of its body. These
delicately articulated organs are whitish, the posterior por¬
tion black. The upper wings are of a gilded yellow on a
dark ground, forming longitudinal streaks, with a broad
transverse golden-yellow band bordered with violet.1
Section 10th, Pterophorites, Lat.
This, our concluding section of the nocturnal Lepidop-
tera, exhibits many relations to the preceding, in respect
to the narrow and elongated form of the body and upper
wings ; but it differs from it, as well as from all the other
sections, in this, that a pair, if not all, of the wings, are as
it were split or cloven throughout their whole length, so
as to present a branched or digitated appearance, bearded
on the edges. The parts look like feathers, so that the
wings of these fantastically formed creatures somewhat re¬
semble those of birds. They formed the division of Pha-
Icence alucitce of Linnaeus, and were named Phalenes-tipules
by Degeer. Geoffroy, Fabricius, and Latreille include
them under the genus Pterophorus. Their larvae have
sixteen feet, live on leaves and flowers, and construct
no cases. The chrysalids of the greater number are na¬
ked, coloured, and suspended by a thread. In others they
are enclosed in a translucent cocoon. The genus has been
lately subdivided. In some the inferior palpi are recurved
from their origin, entirely garnished with small scales,
and do not exceed the length of the head; these consti¬
tute the genus Pterophorus properly so called, of La¬
treille (Plate CCL. figure 26). Their chrysalids are
exposed, beset with hairs or small tubercles, and are some¬
times suspended by a thread, sometimes fixed by means of
hooks at the posterior extremity to a little bed of silk, im¬
posed upon a leaf or other vegetable body. P. pentadac-
tylus, Fab. is an example of this division. The wings are
of an almost snowy whiteness, the upper pair being divided
into two, the lower into three parts. In others the infe¬
rior palpi are projected, longer than the head, with the
second article thickly covered with scales, and the termi¬
nal one almost naked, and turned up. The chrysalis is
enclosed in a cocoon of silk. To these Latreille has ap¬
plied the generic name of Orneodes (ibid. fig. 27). The
O. hexadactylus measures about six lines in length. It is
of an ash-coloured grey, with a tinge of brown. The wings,
especially the upper ones, are traversed by obscure or
blackish bands, with some spots of a paler grey ; and each
wing is divided to its base into three principal parts, of
which the first is subdivided into two radii, and the second
into three: the third is simple. The caterpillar of this
species has sixteen feet, and lives on the honeysuckle, Lo-
nicera xylosteum. The perfect insect is often found on
walls and windows, and in the interior of houses. It is
widely spread over Europe.
We here take leave of the lepidopterous order, and shall
only further remark, that we seek in vain to express by
words the splendid colours, the elegant and varied forms,
and the exquisite pencilling, by which they are adorned.
Even the most richly illumined pages of natural history
1 In the arrangement of these insects, given by Latreille in the second edition of the Regne Animal, and by which we have been
guided above, he has apparently, with the view of approximating to the nomenclature of Re'aumur, combined the Pyralides and Tineites
fn one section. He has however elsewhere indicated the propriety of their being disjoined, and in this event the following genera
will compose the Tineites : I. Inferior or labial palpi advanced; the terminal articulation at most elevated ; superior palpi appa¬
rent: Genera Galleria, Crambus, Alucita, Euplocamrus, and Phycis. II. Inferior palpi altogether elevated, or even re¬
curved, in several, over the head. A. Inferior palpi of medium size, and very obvious ; eyes distant: Genera Tinea, Ilithyia,
Iponomeuta, (Ecophora. B. Inferior palpi very small and hairy ; eyes approximate : Gen. Adela.
220 E N T O M
Strepsip- convey but a meagre image of their gorgeous attire. That
tera. must be sought for—where alone it can be found,—in those
far more brilliant and inimitable pages of the book of na¬
ture, in which the most successful effort of art is transcend¬
ed by a feeble insect’s wing. The imagination of poet and
of painter cannot boast,
Amid their gay creation, hues like these.
Order VII.—STREPSIPTERA, KiRby.1
The singular insects which constitute our present order
are parasitical species, which dwell, while in the larva state,
between the plates of the abdomen in different kinds of
wasps and bees. Their characters were first given by Mr
Kirby {Linn. Trans, vol. xi. p. 109), who bestowed upon
them the name above adopted, and which was subsequently
altered, without sufficient reason, by Latreille. The defini¬
tion given by the former author, in his later work, is as fol¬
lows: Metamorphosis sub-incomplete? Pseudelytra twisted,
attached to the anterior leg. Wings not covered by the
elytra, longitudinally folded, forming nearly the quadrant
of a circle : neuration simple. Anus styliferous.2 On each
side of the anterior extremity of the thorax, near the neck
and the exterior base of the first pair of legs, are inserted
two small crustaceous bodies, like rudimentary elytra,
stretching backwards, curved, dilated, and terminating near
the origin of the true wings. These are the pseudelytra
just named, called prebalanciers by Latreille. The great
French entomologist is of opinion, that, as elytra properly
so called always cover the totality of the base of the mem¬
branaceous wings, and derive their origin from the second
segment of the thorax, the parts in question are not ge¬
nuine wing-cases, but rather analogous to the tippets {pte-
rygoda), observable at the base of the upper wings in the
lepidopterous order. The actual wings of Strepsiptera are
large, membranaceous, divided by longitudinal nervures,
proceeding like rays from the shoulder or point of union
with the body. They fold lengthways like a fan.3 The
mouth is composed of four pieces, of which the shorter
two appear to be biarticulate palpi, the others, inserted
near their base, have the form of little linear laminae,
pointed, and crossing at the extremity, like the mandibles
of various insects, but resembling rather the lancets of the
sucker of the dipterous tribes, than true mandibles.4 Ac¬
cording to Savigny’s views, the mouth consists of a labrum,
two mandibles, a pair of maxillae, each bearing a very
small uniarticulate palpus, and a labium without palpi.
The head presents two large eyes, hemispherical, granose,
and slightly pediculated ; two antennae, approximate at the
base, placed upon an elevation in common, almost filiform,
short, and composed of three articulations, of which the
first two are very short, and the third, greatly elongated,
is divided from its origin into two long compressed lanceo¬
late branches, applied against each other. The stemmatic
eyes are wanting. The thorax, in its peculiar form and
divisions, resembles that of several Cicadariae, Psyllae, and
Chrysides. The abdomen is nearly cylindrical, composed
of eight or nine segments, and is terminated by pieces
which seem to bear an analogy with those which we find
at the posterior extremity of the Hemiptera above named.
The six legs are almost membranous, compressed, nearly
equal, and terminate in filiform tarsi, composed of four
membranous articulations, which appear vesicular at their
extremity, and of which the terminal one, somewhat lar¬
ger than the others, is unfurnished with hooks. The four
O L O G Y.
anterior legs are approximate, the posterior pair being Strepsip-
thrown pretty far back by themselves. The space com- tera*
prised between the latter pair is ample, and divided into
two by a longitudinal groove or furrow. The posterior '
extremity of the metathorax is prolonged over the abdo¬
men in the manner of a large scutellum, and its sides,
which serve as points of insertion to the posterior legs, are
much dilated backwards, and form a kind of inflated buck¬
ler, which defends the exterior and lateral base of the
abdomen.
These singular insects were first observed by Rossi, who
concluded, because they wTere parasitical, that they must
belong to the hymenopterous order, to which they cer¬
tainly bear a greater affinity than to any of the dipterous
tribes, among which they were arranged by M. Lamarck.
Latreille inclines to consider them as related (although at
the same time differing in various ways) to certain hy¬
menopterous species, such as those of the genus Eulo-
phus. In the larva state they ILe between the abdominal
plates of hymenopterous insects belonging to the genera
Andrena and Polistes. It has been supposed that the
elytra-like portions, already described, serve to disengage
the perfect insects with greater facility from the living
chambers in which they are incased. They are said to
frisk about with a simultaneous motion of these organs and
the true wings. Latreille calls them the CEstri of insects.
We know that a species of Conops likewise undergoes its
transformations in the interior of a Bombus, or wild bee.
This order contains only two genera,—Xenos of Rossi,
and Stylops of Kirby. Their exact nature is still of dif¬
ficult determination, as will be perceived from the follow¬
ing quotation :—“ The true place in nature,” says Mr Mac-
leay, “ of the singular genera Xenos and Stylops, is indeed
very difficult to determine; and what remarks, therefore,
I am now about to offer on them oiight to be received by
the reader with great caution, as well because it has hi¬
therto been out of my power to become acquainted with
them, except through the medium of the works of Kirby,
Latreille, Savigny, and Lamarck, as because the total va¬
riance in the statements of these authors respecting them
demonstrates that their true nature is as yet by no means
ascertained.
“ Professor Peck and Savigny, however, have both most
satisfactorily shown that the Strepsiptera are provided with
true mandibles and palpigerous maxillae; and therefore
have completely set aside the opinion of MM. Lamarck
and Latreille as to their affinity with the Diptera. Pro¬
ceeding, then, on the fact that they belong to the Mandi-
bulata, which, by the by, appears at last to be admitted by
Latreille, we necessarily make inquiry as to the particular
part of this class in which they ought to be placed. Now,
the only chasms of importance which we have noticed in
the column, are one between the Trichoptera of Kirby and
the Tenthredines, and the other between the Hymenoptera
and the Coleoptera. The deficiency of ocelli, the struc¬
ture of the whole insect, but particularly that of the wings,
prove that the Strepsiptera cannot occupy any vacancy
near the Trichoptera. It therefore only remains for us
to place them between the Hymenoptera and Coleoptera.
But this appears to be nearly the situation originally given
to the Strepsiptera, by Mr Kirby ; for, in his very remark¬
able paper on those insects, in the eleventh volume of the
Linneean Transactions, he says, £ With respect to the place
of Strepsiptera in the system, it seems to me that this or¬
der should follow Coleoptera; for its metamorphosis being
different from that of Orthoptera and Hemiptera, and near-
1 Rhipiptera, Lat. 2 Intruduc. to Entomology, iv. 370.
3 Hence the name of Rhipiptera, bestowed upon them by Latreille, from g/mj, a fan, and wioa, wings.
4 Regnc Animal, v. 425.
E N T O M
Strepsip- er to that of the Coleoptera, this seems its most natural
_ considered as an elytrophorous order, especially
since, if it be inserted between Orthoptera and Hemiptera,
with both of which it has some affinity, it would interrupt
the series of semicomplete metamorphosis, by which, besides
other characters, these two orders are so closely united.’
He had previously noticed a circumstance which at once
distinguishes them from all Coleoptera and Orthoptera, and
gives them an affinity with the Hymenoptera, namely, a
narrow collar instead of an ample thoracic shield. And it
is worthy of remark that Rossi, in the work which informed
naturalists of their existence, placed them among the Hy¬
menoptera, induced to this, as Mr Kirby supposes, by the
economy of their larvae. Such, then, is in all probability
their true place in nature, though certainly my opinion on
the subject, for the reasons already stated, ought to be re¬
ceived, as it is advanced, with great caution. The Xenos,
beyond a doubt, is, with the Sty lops, the most puzzling in¬
sect to place naturally that we know; it is truly ‘ animal
animum excruciansand no better proof of this can be
given than that when Lamarck and Latreille make the
Strepsiptera a division of Diptera, they seem absolutely to
have pitched on the most artificial situation for them which
they could have chosen. Latreille has remarked that the
body of the Strepsiptera bears a striking relation to that of
some Homoptera; and to judge from the descriptions given
by Mr Kirby of these insects, their wings are folded like
those of Orthoptera, while the form of their head resembles
that of some Neuroptera. To the Diptera they have no
visible affinity, and scarcely any analogy, except such as
we might expect from their proximity to the Hymenop¬
tera. How far I am right in adopting Mr Kirby’s opinion
as to their real affinities, remains yet to be seen ; but it is
no weak argument in support of its accuracy, that they
possess the very precise kind of metamorphosis which in¬
sects in the hiatus between the Coleoptera and Hymenop¬
tera ought to have from analogy.
“ The Strepsiptera ought probably to be considered as
an osculant order; and they undoubtedly form a group
which is apparently of much greater importance, and is
marked with much stronger characters, than the Dictuop-
tera. These can scarcely be said to afford a type of any
very peculiar construction, and may therefore, perhaps,
with more propriety, be viewed as an annectent tribe fall¬
ing into the extensive order of Orthoptera”'
In the genus Stylops, the last portion of the antennae
is composed of three small articulations. The abdomen is
fleshy and retractile. S. Melittce, Kirby, measures about
a line and a half in length, and is quite black, with brown
legs. The wings are longer than the body. The larva is
soft, almost cylindrical, and whitish. Its head is advanced,
horny, heart-shaped, a little flattened, of a reddish colour,
black posteriorly, and somewhat concave beneath. It lives
in the bodies of Andrence, and when about to be trans¬
formed to a chrysalis or pupa (Plate CCXLIV. fig. 29),
it fixes itself more outwardly, between the abdominal plates.
It occurs in Britain and the continent of Europe. Addi¬
tional species have been lately discovered by Mr Dale and
others, and will be found described in the works of Messrs
Curtis and Stephens.
In the genus Xenos established by Rossi,1 2 and so ex¬
cellently illustrated by Mr Kirby,3 the terminal branches
of the antenme are not articulated. The abdomen is cor¬
neous with the exception of the termination, which is
fleshy and retractile. We are acquainted as yet with the
detailed history of only two species. The first is the Xenos
O L O G Y. 221
vesparum, now called X. Hossii, in compliment to its dis- Strepsip-
coverer. It inhabits, and is frequently found in, a European tera.
hymenopterous insect or wasp called Vespa (Polistes) gallica.
The individuals of the latter kind infested by the Xenos are
readily known by the unnatural swelling of the fourth seg¬
ment of the abdomen, from which the insect in the perfect
state is usually found to emerge. Sometimes one, not sel¬
dom two, and occasionally three, are seen to escape from
the same wasp. They generally come forth in the winged
state in August and September; and if during that period
the pupa be extracted with a needle from the abdomen of
the wasp, the covering broken open, and the white tunic
carefully stripped away, living specimens may be obtained.
The mode in which these parasites are originally placed on
their living prey is not yet known. It is possible that the
egg may be laid in the larva of the wasp before its cell is
closed. Rossi at least seems to be of this opinion, although
Mr Kirby, reasoning from analogy, thinks it unlikely that
it should be deposited on the wasp in its first state, while
the larva feeds on it in its last. It has been a subject of
wonder to naturalists that these Vespas, after supporting
one or more parasites, should survive; yet we know that
they are often met with in a most active and vigorous con¬
dition, with only the exuviae of the Xenos remaining in
them. It has been stated as an explanation of this, that
the time during which the insect remains in the larva state
is very short; and as it does not attack the thorax of the
wasp, the muscular energy and general vital powers of the
latter thus escape destruction. The other species to which
we alluded is the X. Peckii (Plate CCXLIV. figs. 30 and
31), so named after an American naturalist, Professor
Peck, by whom it was made known to Mr Kirby. This
species measures one and a half lines in length. It is of
a blackish-brown colour, the legs livid, the tarsi brown.
The branches of the antennae are subdiaphanous, and spot¬
ted with white. The larva inhabits a North American
wasp called Polistes fuscata, of which it so distorts the ab¬
domen that, according to Professor Peck, there is no diffi¬
culty in distinguishing the infested individuals even on the
wing. “ Taking them,” he observes, “ with the gauze for¬
ceps, bringing them into a close room, and permitting
them to fly to the windows, I caught them again with a
wine glass and a card, fed them with sugar, and thus pre¬
served them till their parasites were disclosed. I had not
the pleasure to see them emerge, but found them soon
after.” “ In the feeding state the head of the larva is near
the abdomen of the wasp, as I found by dissection. When
the feeding state is passed, it is easy to conceive that it
turns, and with its flattened head separates the membrane
which connects the abdominal scuta, and protrudes itself
a little way, accurately closing the aperture, which is but
just large enough to admit it. All this time the wasp is ac¬
tive, and associates with its companions. When just pro¬
truded, the head of the larva is of a pale-brownish colour ;
by degrees it assumes a rounder form, and becomes almost
black. The chrysalis state ensues ; but I suspect that only
the part exposed to the air, and that immediately under
the pressure of the abdominal rings, becomes hard.”4
We shall now pass from this limited order to one of much
greater extent and more ancient constitution.
Order VIII.—DIPTERA.5
The numerous order of dipterous or two-winged in¬
sects, of which the common house-fly affords a familiar
1 Horce. Ent p. 370. 2 Faun. Etrusc. Mant. Append, p. 114.
5 In his essay On a new Order of Insects, Linn. Trans, vol. xi. p. 80. * Linn. Trans, vol. xi. p. 90.
6 Antiiata, Fabricius.
222
ENTOMOLOGY.
Diptera.
example, is characterized by possessing a pair of veined and
membranous wings, with two moveable bodies called ba¬
lancers (Jialteres) placed a little behind them. The mouth
consists of from two to six setaceous pieces of a scaly tex¬
ture, and its parts are either enclosed in the upper groove
of a probosciform sheath, terminated by two lips, or co¬
vered by one or two inarticulate laminae, which form the
sheath.1
Dipterous species, like all other hexapod insects, are
composed of three principal portions. The head is more
or less globular or hemispherical, often concave posteriorly,
so as to fit better on the front of the thorax, and is sus¬
ceptible of turning on itself, as on a pivot, from right to
left, and vice versa. The greater part of its surface,
especially in the males, is generally occupied by the eyes,
which are often very beautiful, being composed of a vast
number of facettes, lighted up as it were with a metallic
splendour. When ocelli or stemmatic eyes exist in this
order, they are always three in number, and placed upon
the vertex. When the mouth (which is not adapted for
chewing or bruising solid substances, but only for ex¬
tracting and transmitting fluids) consists of six pieces,
it then exhibits all the parts analogous to those of mas¬
ticating insects. Of these parts a single superior por¬
tion represents the labrum, and a single inferior portion
the ligula properly so called, of the coleopterous and orthop¬
terous orders. The four other parts are disposed in pairs ;
the upper pair corresponding to the mandibles, the lower
to the terminal portion of the maxillae of the masticating
orders. The basal portion of the maxillae also exists, but
it is always very short, and confounded with the fleshy
mass, which serves as the base of the trunk, and precedes
its first geniculation. Thus in the Muscides, for example,
the sucker consists of only two setae, and is yet accompa¬
nied by a pair of paipi, which, according to analogy, can
only be those of the maxillae. Seeing that the piece re¬
presenting the labrum is inserted, with the other portions
of the sucker, near the geniculation of the trunk, and at
some distance from the anterior margin of the head,—and
that, in other insects, the labrum is always fixed to that
margin,—it becomes necessary that a portion of the base of
the clypeus, or epistoma as it is now called, should be in¬
corporated with the support of the sucker. We have just
stated that the inferior portions of the maxillae are like¬
wise united with the supporting part, which, when not in
action, is withdrawn into the oral cavity. It is not thus
with the Lepidoptera and Hemiptera,—the corresponding
portion of the maxillae in these orders being fixed and im¬
moveable, and the labrum always preserving its relative
position. In some Diptera the sucker is composed of only
four pieces, and then the mandibular setae are wanting or
imperceptible. Indeed in a great number we perceive
only two pieces, and in that case it is the single pieces
only {impaires), that is, the labrum and ligula, which are
cognisable. The reduction in the number of these parts
is, according to Latreille, a proof of the inferiority of the
dipterous order, when compared with the generality of in¬
sects. I he sucker in our present order performs the of¬
fice of a lancet, by piercing the envelope of vegetable
fluids, or the vessels which contain the juices of animals.
These liquids, by pressure of the parts, are then forced to
ascend the internal canal to the pharynx, situate at the
inner base of the sucker. The lancets are often grooved
or furrowed, by which they become more compactly en¬
closed, and act in common. The sheath or external part
merely serves to maintain the lancet in situ, and seems to
represent the lower lip of the triturating orders. It is
frequently bent upon itself, at an angle more or less acute,
w'hen the insect is using the sucker. This becomes obvious
when w e examine a gnat or mosquito in the act of pumping
our blood.
The antennas of the Diptera are usually inserted on the
front, and are approximate at their base. In the family
called Nemocera by Latreille (Culex and Tipula, Linn.),
these organs resemble those of the nocturnal Lepidoptera
in form and position, but in his other families they seldom
consist of more than two or three articulations, the last of
which is fusiform, or shaped like a lenticular or prismatic
pallet, provided either with a little styliform appendage,
or a thickish hair or seta, itself sometimes simple, some¬
times pilose.
The thorax appears as if composed of only a single seg¬
ment, the first, or prothorax, being very short, or some¬
times evanescent, and the metathorax being also very
short, and occupying only the posterior extremity, situate
beneath the scutellum. The mesothorax, or intermediate
portion, thus becomes the principal apparent segment.
It bears on each side a pair of stigmata, of which, how¬
ever, the anterior is frequently alone distinguishable.
The neuration of the veins of the wings is simple
These parts are usually horizontal. Meigen’s figures of
the wings (of which we have availed ourselves in the plates
connected with this article) are extremely exact. He
confines himself, however, chiefly to the antennae in the
formation of his generic characters, without having re¬
course to Jurine’s method of employing the neuration of
the organs of flight,—a method, indeed, the application
of which in the dipterous tribes is attended with greater
difficulties than among the hymenopterous order. It has,
however, been used in relation to the Diptera by Fallen,
and other systematic authors.
Above the true wings, and a little behind them, are
two small moveable bodies, almost membranous or slightly
corneous, usually pale in colour, nearly linear in the greater
part of their extent, but with a knob or button-like mass
at the extremity, capable of dilatation. These are the
balancers or halteres, of the nature and supposed uses of
which we have already spoken at sufficient length in our
general introductory observations.2
Above the balancers we find two membranous or papy¬
raceous pieces, usually white or yellowish, ciliated, unit¬
ed together by one of their sides, and having the form of
two valves of a shell applied upon each other. These are
the wfinglets, or ailerons of the French writers.3 Their
size seems to be in an inverse proportion to the length of
the balancers, which to a certain extent they cover and
protect. One of them is attached to each of the corre¬
sponding wings, and participates in its movements,—but
during flight the valves are held in separation, or nearly
on the same plane.
The abdomen of dipterous insects is frequently attach¬
ed to the thorax by a portion only of its transverse dia¬
meter. It is composed of from five to nine apparent seg¬
ments, and in the females usually terminates in a point;
in those, how'ever, in which the segments are fewer, the
terminal ones form a kind of ovipositor, presenting a suc¬
cession of small tubes which slip into each other somewhat
after the fashion of the different portions of a telescope.
It results from this conformation that several of the hinder
stigmata are by no means distinctly perceptible.
The legs are usually long and slender, and are terminat¬
ed by five-articulate tarsi, with two hooks at the extre-
Piptera.
See PI. CCXXXIII. fig. 7, a, 6, c, d,—and the detailed description given at page 35, note 4.
2 See page 41, note 2.
e name them wing-scales in the ensuing portion of this treatise, from the German word schuppschen, used by Meigen.
E N T O M
Diptera. mity, besides, in many instances, two or three small cu-
shion-like expansions, either membranous or vesicular.
It is by means of these last-mentioned parts, according to
certain authors, that flies are enabled to creep up the
smoothest perpendicular surfaces, or to walk on ceilings
with their backs downwards.1
Dr Derham had long ago observed that “ diverse flies
and other insects, besides their sharp-hook’d nails, have
also skinny palms to their feet, to enable them to stick on
glass and other smooth bodies, by means of the pressure
of the atmosphere.”2 This opinion, very generally adopt¬
ed by entomologists, derived additional weight from Sir
Everard Home’s papers on the subject, illustrated by
drawings from the always admirable pen of Mr Bauer.3
The structure of the parts, however, has been variously
described by different authors, and by some in such a
manner as (supposing their descriptions accurate) to ren¬
der the organs unfit for the uses supposed, or at least for
the particular mode of action assigned by Derham and
Home, and coincided in by Messrs Kirby and Spence.4
Thus Dr Hooke described the house-fly as having the
soles of its feet beset underneath with small bristles or
tenters, like the wire teeth of a card for working wool,
and which he conceived to give them a strong hold upon
any object having irregular or yielding surfaces. In re¬
gard to glass, which is neither yielding nor irregular, he
imagined that it bore upon it a kind of smoky substance,
penetrable by the points of the bristles.5 The want of
accordance in these accounts lately induced Mr Blackwall
to inspect the parts minutely under a good compound mi¬
croscope, when he immediately became convinced that the
function assigned by the writers we have first named was
incompatible with the actual organization. “ Minute hairs,”
he observes, “ very closely set, and directed downwards,
so completely cover the inferior surface of the expanded
membranes, improperly denominated suckers, with which
the terminal joint of the tarsi of flies is provided, that it
cannot be brought into contact with the objects on which
those insects move, by any muscular force they are capa¬
ble of exerting. The production of a vacuum between
each membrane and the plane of position is therefore clear¬
ly impracticable, unless the numerous hairs on the under
side of these organs individually perform the office of
suckers; and there does not appear to be any thing in
their mechanism which in the slightest degree counte¬
nances such a hypothesis.”6 Mr Blackwall then procured
living specimens of the house-fly, Musca domestica, and of
the large flesh-fly, Musca vomitoria, and enclosed them in
clear jars and phials of transparent glass, the interior sur¬
face of which they traversed in every direction with the
greatest facility, even walking upon it with their backs
downward, while they remained in full vigour; but when
enfeebled either by exposure to cold or by the fatigue of
over exertion, the identical individuals ascended the sides
of the same jars and phials with difficulty (falling from
them frequently), and were altogether incapable of ad¬
hering in an inverted position. No sooner, however, were
they recruited by repose or an increase of temperature,
than they again repeated those extraordinary feats, to
which custom makes us callous, with all their original
dexterity. He likewise found, that flies which are un¬
able to maintain an inverted position on highly polished
bodies, will frequently adhere firmly, with their backs
O L O G Y. 223
downward, to glass defective in polish or slightly soiled. Diptera.
This and other facts plainly indicated that flics are not
supported on the vertical sides of smooth bodies either by
the pressure of the atmosphere or by the aid of a gluti¬
nous secretion (as conjectured by some authors), but by
means strictly mechanical, as suggested by Dr Hooke.
It has been found, in fact, that the house-fly, while it re¬
tains its vital powers unimpaired, can not only traverse the
upright sides, but even the interior of the dome of an ex¬
hausted receiver; and that the cause of its relaxing its
hold, and ultimately falling from the station it occupies,
is a diminution of muscular force attributable to impeded
respiration.7
In regard to the anatomical structure of the dipterous
order, the following is the substance of the observations
on the subject given by M. Marcel de Serres, in his ad¬
mirable memoir Sur le Vaisseau dorsal des Insectes. I he
dorsal vessel (now regarded as the heart) is itself narrow,
and its pulsations frequent. The respiratory system con¬
sists of vesicular tracheae, communicating with each other
by tubular tracheae, and unfurnished with those cartilagi¬
nous hoops which we find in the Orthoptera. The nerv¬
ous system is generally composed of a small cerebriform
ganglion with approximated lobes, from which proceed
large optic nerves; two medullary cords of the ordinary
kind (already described in our preceding general intro¬
duction) form from space to space about nine ganglia, of
which three belong to the thorax and six to the abdomen.
The intestinal tube presents, ls^, an oesophagus extending
to the base of the abdomen; 2d, a rather elongated sto¬
mach, somewhat narrow, and furnished at its origin with
a considerable number of hepatic vessels; 3d, a cylindri¬
cal duodenum, also accompanied by hepatic vessels, but
of narrower dimensions; ith, a short and muscular rec¬
tum.
All the Diptera dissected by M. Dufour were provided
with salivary glands, a character which that accurate ob¬
server regards as being common to all insects turnished
with a sucker. The structure, however, of those parts
varies according to the genus.8 They no doubt serve to
increase the fluidity of the nutritive juices absorbed by
the sucker. We may add, that both Dufour and Dutro-
chet have observed that the stomach of many Diptera is
accompanied by a kind of paunch, in which a portion of
the aliments is deposited.
Many tribes of this extensive order, if not decidedly
noxious, at least occasion us great annoyance, not only by
sucking our own blood, but by laying their eggs on the
bodies of our living domestic animals, and on whatever
uncooked fleshy viands they can attain to, especially dur¬
ing sultry weather, when the process of corruption is the
most speedy, and the insects themselves are in their prime
of strength and vigour. On the other hand, they may be
regarded as serviceable, on account of the rapid consump
tion, by their most gluttonous larvae, of all animal and se¬
veral vegetable substances in a state of putridity. Their
term of life in the perfect state is but of short duration.
A few months or even weeks elapse, and their merry
course is run. Such as contrive to fight their way to the
conclusion of the ambiguous autumn, perish on the first
approach of frost. A few half-benumbed house-flies in¬
deed are generally seen in our apartments till Christmas
time; and the delusive gleam of a sunny winter day not
1 Phil. Trans. 1816. An analogous structure, according to Sir Everard Home, enables the walrus to ascend the inclined plane of a
slippery iceberg.
* Physico- Theology, p. 363, note 6. * Micrographia, p. 170.
* Phil. Trans, for 1816- e 0/1 the Pulvilli of Insects, Linn. Trans, vol. xvi. part in-p. 488.
* Introduc. to Ent. vol. ii. letter xxiii. 7 Pid. p. 490.
8 Recherches Anatomiques sur PHippolosque des Chevaux, Annales des Sciences Nat. vi. 301.
224 E N T O M
Diptera. seldom re-animates their feeble forms so far as to produce
a dubious buzz about our windows ; but such as show them¬
selves in open places are speedily snapped up by red¬
breasts and other feathered epicures, greedy of insect food
at that unaccustomed season; and it is probable that few
survive till spring. As their eggs, however, are generally
deposited in a putrescent nidus, adapted to the propensi¬
ties of the incipient young ; and as that nidus is not of a
nature to remain for a length of time unconsumed, it may
be fairly inferred that our summer swarms are produced
originally from a few individuals, which in some snug cor¬
ner have survived the most inclement season of the year,
and are not the result (as happens in the case of many
lepidopterous kinds) of eggs which have been laid dur¬
ing the preceding autumn. It is possible that such as as¬
sume the pupa state towards the close of summer under
ground, may rest secure in that condition, till called into
their winged existence by the returning warmth of the
enlivening spring.
All these insects undergo a complete metamorphosis,
and are remarkable in this, that the larvae do not change
their skins except at the period of th'eir passing into the
nympha state. Some form a kind of cocoon; but others
remain uncovered, and can scarcely be even said to change
their skin, which seems to harden over them, so as to form
an egg-like case for the enclosed pupa. Dipterous larvae
are apodal or without feet, although some which belong
to the family Nemocera of Lat. are provided with appen¬
dages which serve the same purpose. The head is some¬
times projected and constant in its form, sometimes varia¬
ble in figure, capable of being withdrawn into the body,
and undistinguishable from the other segments except by
its anterior position, and the existence of the parts of the
mouth. This soft and changeable form of the head is, we
conceive, peculiar to the larvae of the present order. It is
generally furnished with one or two retractile hooks, and
some nipple-like projections. The principal orifices of
respiration are almost always placed at the posterior ex¬
tremity ; and in many species there is also a pair of stig-
matic openings on the segment next the head. Such as
dwell in water, or inhabit corrupt and fluid matters, have
their bodies terminated posteriorly by a tail-like prolon¬
gation, susceptible of being lengthened or withdrawn
according to circumstances, and ending in a radiated
expansion, which communicates with internal tracheae.
There are few pieces of natural mechanism so ingenious
and admirable as the respiratory systems of the rat-tailed
worm, and of the larvae of gnats and other aquatic Dip-
tera.
We have already alluded to the peculiar transformation
of these insects. The skin of the larva seems to harden
over and enclose the nymph. The body of the contained
insect first detaches itself to a certain extent from the
outer skin, leaving on its inner surface the exuviae of its
external organs. In its early state it presents only a soft
or gelatinous mass, without distinct characters; but after
a time the parts of the perfect insect begin to be deve¬
loped, and it finally escapes from its prison by butting
with its head against the upper part of the case, which
ere long opens as it were upon a hinge, like the lid of a
cylindrical snuff-box.
The general characteristics of this order are obvious to
the eye of an ordinary observer, and are designated in
the works even of the most ancient naturalists. Yet Fa-
bricius, by placing with the Diptera certain Arachnides,
O L O G Y.
and the parasitical species of the genus Pediculus, falsi- Biptera
fled the essential nature of the order. It cannot be de- Probosci-
nied, however, that here, as in all other great natural
groups, there are anomalous or aberrant genera, which
depart in a great measure from the ordinary conditions of
their kind. I bus, among the pupiparous tribes, the wings,
the balancers, and the usual sheath of the sucker, show a
tendency to disappear in many species; and in Nycteribia
and Melophagus the organs of flight are entirely wanting.1
DIVISION I.—PROBOSCIDEAN.
The apex of the proboscis with a fleshy labium, and the
haustellum covered by a horny labrum ; before these are
placed two jointed palpi.
A. The antennae consisting of many joints.
FAMILY I—TIPULARIAS.
Antennae extended forwards, consisting of six or more
distinct joints. Palpi standing out, jointed. Halteres
naked. Abdomen with seven or eight segments.
a. Culiciformes.
Eyes lunate : ocelli wanting : antennae of the males plu¬
mose, of the females pubescent: mouth not elongate;
palpi five-jointed: thorax without a cross suture : abdo¬
men consisting of eight segments.
*
Proboscis extending forwards, longer than the anten¬
nae; palpi straight; wings with the nervures and margin
covered with scales.
Genus Culex, Linn. Antennae porrect, or extending
forwards, filiform, fourteen-jointed ; plumose in the male,
pilose in the female; palpi porrect, fi\e-jointed, longer
than the proboscis in the male, very short in the female;
proboscis porrect, the length of the thorax: wings scaly,
incumbent. Meig. Zw. pi. i. fig. 1-10.
The species of this and of some nearly allied genera
are extremely troublesome towards evening, especially in
the neighbourhood of moist or marshy places. They are
greedy of blood, and under the well-known names of Gnats,
Mosquitoes, &c. they persecute man and beast, not only
sucking our “ life-stream,” but instilling a poison which,
though feeble from its minute quantity, yet often produces
pain and inflammation. Although abundant in Italy and
all the warmer countries of the earth, they are nowhere
more troublesome than amid the barren wastes of Lapland.
They feed also on vegetable juices. The female deposits
her eggs in the water to the amount of several hundreds,
and the larvae are consequently very frequent in all stag¬
nant pools in spring and summer, where they may be seen
when undisturbed, suspended from the surface, with their
heads downwards. At this time they breathe by the cau¬
dal extremity ; but in the nympha state, during which they
are still aquatic, the respiratory organs are placed upon the
thorax. On assuming the perfect state, the light exuviae
of the nymph serve as a support, by means of which the
imago sustains itself for a time on the surface of the wa¬
ters. The whole of these transformations are passed
through in the course of three or four weeks. It is said
that the females alone annoy us as blood-suckers. Their
1 The principal works on this order are, Fallen’s Diptera Stiecica, 4to, 1814-17 ; Meigen’s Systematische leschreibung der bekannten
Europaischen Zweiflugeligen Imecten, 8vo, 1818-1830 (by this work we are guided in the "ensuing portion of our article); Wiedeman’s
Dip'era Exotica, 8vo, 1821; and Macquart’s Insectes hip tires du Kord de la France, 8vo, 1826-9, published in the Mem. de la Soc.
Roy ale, &c. de Lille.
E N T O M
Probosct ^ fi}atus^ *s f°und i*1 America. It is figured by Drury.1
(jgjg. Brazil produces one above two inches long.
FAMILY YII—BOMBYLIARIL
Antennae projecting, three-jointed ; third joint without
rings: hypostoma beardless : forehead flat: (proboscis re¬
tracted or somewhat projecting) ocelli three: abdomen
consisting of seven rings, cylindric or elliptical: wings
spreading: halteres uncovered.
Genus Hirmoneura, Wied. Antennae remote, the
joints sub-globose, equal, the third with a terminal style:
ocelli three, the anterior one remote: proboscis retracted
and concealed.
H. obscura. Hypostoma ochre yellow; forehead cine¬
reous with blackish hairs: thorax black, with yellowish
hairs on the sides, those on the breast more inclining to
grey : abdomen with the lateral edges yellow, the upper
side with yellowish grey pubescence, the apex of the seg¬
ments slate grey: belly yellowish, and covered with pu¬
bescence similar to that on the breast: wings, brownish
grey, especially at the anterior margin: halteres dark
brown : legs ochre yellow, the tibiae and tarsi a little dark¬
er: extremity of the abdomen with two short truncated
styles. Seven and a half lines. Found in Dalmatia.
Genus Fallenia, Meig. Antennae remote, the joints
sub-globose, the last with an elongate terminal style : pro¬
boscis the length of the body, and bent beneath the
breast.
F. caucasica. Head and thorax covered with whitish
hair; eyes of a metallic hue: abdomen nearly orbicular,
with blackish pubescence ; the first segment wide, with grey
pubescence, the following fringed with whitish grey upon
the hinder edge ; the anus ferruginous : wings yellowish :
legs brownish grey, with rather indistinct grey hairs.
Five to five and a half lines. Volucelta caucasica, Wied.
Zool Mag. i. 2, 7. Found in Russia and elsewhere, but
appears to be scarce. There is only one other species,./'.
fasciata. Fab. a native of Italy.
Genus Stygia, Meig.2 Antennae approximating, the
first joint dilated at the apex, and obliquely truncate, se¬
cond cup-shaped, third conical: head sub-globose; eyes
kidney-shaped: proboscis retracted.
S. Belzebub. Male. Hypostoma and forehead black,
the last having a tendency to pass into grey over the an¬
tennae : thorax wholly shining black, with pubescence of
the same colour : abdomen shining black, the hinder mar¬
gin of the segments (with the exception of the first) nar¬
rowly edged with yellow; the pubescence on the sides of
the first segment whitish, and on the following black:
belly entirely black : wing-scales black, fringed with white
hair: stalk of the halteres brown, the knob pale yellow:
legs black. Five to six lines. Anthrax Belzebub, Fab.
This fly is found in France, Italy, Hungary, England, and
in most other parts of Europe.
Genus Anthrax, Scop. (Plate CCLI. figures 9
and 9 a.) Antennae distant, the first joint cylindrical,
second cup-shaped, third sub-globose, with an elongate
or conical style ; eyes kidney-shaped: proboscis retracted
or very slightly produced.
K.jlava. Hypostoma with bright yellow pubescence ;
forehead black, with short rufous hairs, which are mingled
with black ones: antennae black: thorax and abdomen
O L O G Y. 233
covered throughout with long reddish shining hairs, the Diptera
anus having pale yellow hairs, and three black tufts:
stalk of the halteres brown, the knob yellow : wings hya- ^ .
line, with a yellowish-brown streak along the anterior
edge, and the base with a pectinated mark of black : wing-
scales brownish yellow: legs black; thighs and tibiae
sprinkled with yellow. Seven lines. Anthrax hottentotta,
Fab.; Musca hottentotta, Don. xiv. 69, pi. ccccxciv. In¬
habits England, France, and Holland, occurring not un-
frequently. This genus, as constituted by Meigen, con¬
tains about sixty species, a small proportion of which has
yet been detected in Britain. We know little of their his¬
tory or transformations.
Genus Mulio, Eat. Antennae distant, the first joint
short and cylindrical, second cup-shaped, third conical,
acute ; eyes elliptical: proboscis standing out, horizontal.
M. infuscatus. Hypostoma with ash-grey hairs ; the
forehead with dark-brown hairs ; proboscis as long as the
head: thorax dark brown, ash-grey on the sides: abdo¬
men flat and arched, with ferruginous hairs, the incisures
beset with numerous black bristles; halteres brown, the
knob almost entirely white; wings light brown, the apex
hyaline: legs yellow and glistening; the tarsi brown.
Three and a half lines. Found in Provence by M. Baum-
hauer.
Genus Bombylius, Linn. (Plate CCLI. figures 10
and 10 a.) Antennae approximating, the first joint cylin¬
drical, second cup-shaped, third elongate and compress¬
ed ; proboscis standing out, longer than the head: body
woolly.
B. minor. Beard whitish ; mystax reddish : the sides
covered with black hairs : forehead of the females with
reddish hair : antennae and proboscis black: ground colour
of the body deep black, the whole surface covered with
rufous hairs : halteres dark brown ; wings somewhat grey¬
ish, the base and anterior margin more or less rufescent.
Four lines; the proboscis from two and a half to three lines.
Fab. Linn. Found in several parts of England : we have
often observed it in considerable abundance on the sides of
Arthur’s Seat, and in the fields to the south of Dudding-
ston. About six other species occur in Britain; and al¬
though the appearance of these is very familiar, natura¬
lists in truth know little or nothing of their transforma¬
tions. Latreille supposes that their larvae are parasitical.
Nearly fifty European species are described by systema¬
tic authors.
Genus Phthiria, Lat. Antennae approximating, the
two lower joints short and equal, the third elongate, spin¬
dle-shaped, compressed: proboscis standing out, horizon¬
tal, elongate: palpi clavate.
P. minuta. Male. Hypostoma and forehead black, and
covered with black hairs: body wholly deep black, with
soft and rather long black hairs: wings smoke-brown, the
stigma brown : halteres and legs black.
Female. Hypostoma white ; the forehead blackish, the
margin of the eyes white: body black, with traces of
white hairs ; scutellum yellow, having a dark-brown streak
along the sides: under side of the breast whitish ; halteres
brown above, white beneath : wings brown, but considera¬
bly paler than those of the male: legs black. One and a
half line. Lat.; Volucella minuta, Fab. Occurs, along
with five other species, on the continent of Europe.
Genus Geron, Hoff. Antennae approximating, the
first joint elongate, cylindrical, second cup-shaped, third
2 The name of this genus is defective, in as far as it has been already applied to a lepidopterous genus. Meigen has since altered it
to Lomatia, which is scarcely more fortunate, as it also has been previously applied by Mr Brown to a genus m botany of the family
of Froteacese. Latreille has altered the original designation to Stygides.
YOU IX. ^ ° .
234
Diptera
Probosci-
dese.
ENTOMOLOGY.
cylindric-subulate: proboscis standing out, horizontal,
elongate.
G. gibbosus. Hypostoma and forehead white ; antennae
black ; thorax whitish grey, with two wide lines of brown¬
ish black down the back : scutellum and abdomen black :
halteres white; wings hyaline, inclining to pale yellow at
the anterior border: legs dark grey. Two and a half
lines. Has been found in Bucharia by M. Baumhauer
in the month of July.
Genus Usia, Lat. Antennae approximating, the first
joint sub-cylindrical, very short; second cup-shaped ; third
spindle-shaped, elongate, obtuse : proboscis standing out,
elongate, horizontal, acute.
U. cenea. Dark brassy: forehead white anteriorly,
greyish behind, with a shining black vitta; hinder part of
the head cinereous, and marked with a shining black
streak in the centre : wing-scales and halteres white : ab¬
domen finely pubescent, wide, flat, and arched ; the belly
whitish yellow, marked with black cross bands which are
abbreviated at the sides : wings hyaline, with a yellow
base and a large black spot near the middle of the ante¬
rior margin : legs black, with a metallic lustre. Two and
a half to three lines. Lat. Gen. Crust, iv. 315. Found
near Bourdeaux and elsewhere.
Genus Ploas, Fab. Antennas approximating, the first
joint very thick and conical, second cup-shaped, third
spindle-shaped, and furnished with a jointed style at the
apex; proboscis standing out, horizontal, the length of
the head.
P. grisea. Colour varying from black to slate-grey:
thorax marked with four grey lines, the two in the middle
united anteriorly: halteres white: abdomen griseous :
wings brownish at the base and anterior margin. Three
and a half lines. Bornbylius griseus, Fab. Inhabits Ger¬
many, Spain, &c.
Genus Cyllenia, Lat. Antennae approximating, the
first joint cylindrical, second very short, cup-shaped, third
conical with a simple style at its apex: eyes oval: pro¬
boscis somewhat standing out, horizontal.
C. maculata. Antennae with the radical joint brownish
grey, second white, the third black : forehead black, the
margin of the eyes white : thorax black, with yellowish-
grey pubescence, mixed with long black hairs: abdomen
with the first segment brown, the following pale yellow
anteriorly, brown behind, with reddish-yellow hair and
long black ones intermixed; on each segment are two
longitudinal lines of black, diverging behind, and a black
spot: halteres pale yellow above, brown beneath : legs
black, covered with matted hair of a ferruginous colour:
wings pale brown at the anterior edge, and sprinkled over
the surface with dark-brown spots. In the male the hin¬
der thighs are much thicker than in the female. Three
to four lines. Lat. Gen. Crust, iv. 312. The species de¬
scribed is the only one belonging to the genus. It appears
to be more frequent in F'rance than in any other European
country.
Genus Toxophora, Meig. Antennae longer than the
head, approximating, the two lower joints cylindrical, the
third conical ; proboscis standing out, arched, one half
longer than the head ; the palpi slender, cylindrical, bent
and acute.
T. maculata. Hypostoma white, the hinder part of the
head of a similar colour; thorax black, covered with a
sulphur-coloured down on the sides and back: abdomen
clothed in a similar manner, and having two rows of naked
black spots down the back: legs black, with white down,
the tibiae somewhat bristly: halteres white, uncovered:
wings hyaline, the anterior margin and the base yellow¬
ish. Four lines. This rare fly has been found in the
south of France and in Russia. It appears to have been
formerly described by Villers under the title of Asiiusfasci-
culatus.1 It was brought from Syria by Labillardiere, and
is justly admired as a beautiful and interesting species.
The genus is widely distributed, and probably requires
subdivision. We have received species from Brazil ;
Meigen Le Conte has taken it in the United States ;
Wiedemann describes a species from Java; and Bomby
lius cupreus of Fab. which is now regarded as a Toxopho
ra, is native to Cayenne.
FAMILY VIII._ASILICL
Antennae projecting, approximating at the base, turned
upwards, three-jointed ; the third joint without rings: hy¬
postoma with a mystax : forehead depressed: proboscis pro¬
jecting horizontally, short: abdomen consisting of seven
segments : halteres uncovered : wings parallel, incumbent.
a. Tarsi with two onychii.
Genus Dioctria, Meig. Antennae inserted into a
frontal tubercle; first joint cylindric, second shorter,
somewhat cup-shaped ; third elongate, compressed, the
apex with a blunt two-jointed style : proboscis exserted,
short, nearly horizontal: hinder legs straight, ciliated be¬
neath : wings incumbent.
D. rujipes. Shining black : hypostoma bright brass-
yellow, shining : on the thorax are two changeable white
lines, which, however, are scarcely observable in the
males ; the sides of the thorax with silvery streaks : hal¬
teres yellow: legs rufous, the hinder pair dark brown :
wings hyaline. Six to seven lines. Asilus rufipes, Degeer.
Not a rare insect throughout England: in Scotland it is
far from scarce, and I). lateralis frequently occurs in com¬
pany with it. Meigen describes twenty-eight species,
eleven of which have been detected in Britain.
Genus Dasypogon, Meig. (Plate CCLI. figures
11 and 11 a). Named from Saffyj, hairy, and fl’ogwv, a
beard. Antennae with the two lower joints sub-cylindric,
equal, third elongate, compressed, somewhat spindle-shap¬
ed, the apex with a short two-jointed style : proboscis ho¬
rizontal, the length of the head : tibiae straight.
D. riificornis. Thickly pubescent: antennae ferrugi¬
nous, black at the base ; mystax ferruginous, the forehead
dark brown : thorax shining brownish black, with yellow¬
ish-grey spots, and having white hairs anteriorly: scutel¬
lum black : abdomen deep black, shining, the hinder half of
the second segment and the whole of the third and fourth
dull ferruginous, the fifth in the female with a ferruginous
margin behind : belly shining black; legs very hairjr,
dark brown, the tarsi reddish brown : halteres brown,
with a yellow knob. Seven to eight lines. Asilus rujicornis.
Fab.; Meig. Zw. ii. pi. xx. fig. 11. This insect occurs in
France. The genus contains forty-four European species,
only two of which, viz. D. punctatus and L>. brevirostris
(Curtis, B.E. fol. 153), have been noticed in Britain.
Genus Laphria, Fab. Antennae with the radical
joint cylindric, second cup-shaped, third clavate, obtuse:
proboscis standing out, horizontal : tibiae arched.
L. gibbosa. Beard pale-yellow, with a brownish play of
colour: thorax black, with reddish-brown hairs: three
first segments of the abdomen shining black, the three
following clothed with whitish-yellow down ; the seventh
black, retracted: belly and legs black, the latter with
brown pubescence : nervures of the wings margined with
Diptera
Probosci-
deae.
1 Entom. Lin. iii. pi. 10, fig. 31.
E N T O M
^Diptera yellowish brown : halteres black. Ten lines. Laphria
rje^.SC1" gibbosa. Fab.; Asilas gibbosus, Fab. Found in various
parts of Europe. L. nigra (Curtis, B. E. fol. 97) is the
only species of the genus, which contains thirty-two dif¬
ferent kinds, satisfactorily ascertained to inhabit Britain.
It has been found in Darent Wood, Kent, in the vicinity
of London, and at Coombe Wood.
Genus Asilus, Linn. Antennae with the basal joint
cylindric, second cup-shaped, third subulate, compressed,
having a setiform apical style : proboscis exserted, hori¬
zontal : tibiae straight, spinulose.
A. crabroniformis. Head yellow: two basal joints of
the antennae rufous, third brown : thorax rufous, with two
brown dorsal lines, which are usually obsolete, behind :
scutellum brown : three basal segments of the abdomen
deep black, the second incisure with a white spot on
each side ; the remaining segments rufous, with a fine
glistening lustre ; that of the female bent downwards and
terminating in a black style : legs rufous, with brownish
thighs : halteres brownish yellow : wings pale yellow, the
hinder margin spotted with fuscous. One inch nearly :
the male rather less. Meig. ii. 309; Linn. Fauna Suec.
1908. Occurs throughout Europe, and in some countries
of Asia. The genus is extensive (containing nearly sixty
European species), and a considerable number inhabit
Britain,—some of them being rather common. A. opacus
abounds in several parts of Scotland. All the species are
carnivorous, and prey upon other Diptera. They even
attack hymenopterous insects. Their flight is rapid, and
frequently attended by a buzzing sound. They occur in
woods and various other places, chiefly in autumn, or the
end of summer. Their structure and metamorphoses
have been illustrated by Frisch,1 Degeer,2 and Marcel de
Serres.3 The larvae live under ground.
b. Tarsi without onychii.
Genus Leptogaster, Meig. Antennae with the two
lowest joints short, cylindrical, equal; third conical, with
the apex pilose : proboscis horizontal, short.
L. Pallasii. Naked : thorax slate-grey, black when
seen in certain directions ; sides of the breast whitish :
first segment of the abdomen very small; the last nearly
club-shaped, all of them margined with light grey : legs
pale yellow, with a ring on the thighs, the apex of the
tibiae and the tarsi brown : hinder legs much longer than
the anterior ones, club shaped, with a ring near the apex :
halteres pale : wings with the lower half brown, the re¬
mainder hyaline. Four and a half lines. Found in the
south of Russia. It is rare.
FAMILY IX.—HYBOTINA:.
Antennae projecting, approximating at the base, three-
jointed : the first two joints united so as to form one, the
third without rings : hypostoma beardless, flat: forehead
flat: proboscis projecting horizontally, short: thorax
much arched: abdomen slender, consisting of seven
rings : halteres uncovered : wings parallel, incumbent.
Genus Hybos, Fab. Antennae with the two lowest
joints united, cylindrical; the third conical, with a pubes¬
cent seta at the apex : hinder thighs thickened.
Yl.funebris. Black, with a whitish hypostoma, and pale
yellow halteres: thorax with a white play of colour be¬
hind : wings with a dark-brown stigma. Two lines. Asi¬
lus culiciformis, Fab. Common everywhere in hedges and
among grass. Four other species in addition to the above
are indigenous to Britain.
O L O G Y. 235
Genus Ocydromia, Hoff. (Plate CCLI. figures 12 and Diptera
12 a.) Antennae with two lowest joints united, cylindrical; Probosci-
third lenticular, bearing a seta at the apex : proboscis sub-
exserted, horizontal: all the legs simple. “v*—
O. flavipes. Antennae dark brown ; palpi yellow : tho¬
rax and abdomen entirely black: halteres yellow: legs
yellow, all the tarsi brown; the hinder coxae, the apex of
the hinder thighs, and the tibiae, are likewise brown: wings
somewhat brownish. Three lines. Found in England and
on the continent.
Genus Oedalea. Antennae with the first joint cylin.
drical, short; second cup-shaped, third elongate, conic,
compressed ; proboscis short and horizontal: hinder thighs
thickened and spinose beneath.
O. minuta. Body black, finely pubescent, shining : hal¬
teres brown: legs pale reddish yellow; in the anterior
pair the tibiae and tarsi are brown, and in the hinder pair
the tarsi only are of that colour: wings brownish, with a
long brown stigma. One and a half line. Empis minuta,
Fallen. Found in Britain, France, &c.
FAMILY X—EMPIDLE.
\
Antennae porrect, approximating at the base, three-
jointed, the third joint without rings, and having a style
or a seta at the apex : hypostoma beardless: ocelli three :
proboscis exserted, very perpendicular, with incurved
palpi: abdomen consisting of seven segments: wings pa¬
rallel, incumbent: onychii two. Meig. iii. 1.
Genus Hii.ara, Meig. (Plate CCLI. figures 13 and 13
a.) Antennae with the basal joint cylindric ; second cup¬
shaped, third subulate, compressed, the apex with a two-
jointed style: proboscis thick, shorter than the head: wings
incumbent, parallel, with an oblique transverse nervure at
the apex. Meig. Zw. iii. pi. xxii. f. 1-5.
H. cilipes. Dusky black, antennae reddish brown : wings
fuscous; halteres whitish ; the anterior metatarsus of the
male dilated in an elliptical form, and fringed on the ex¬
ternal margin with long hairs. Two lines. Meig. Zw. iii. 3,
pi. xxii. fig. 3; Curtis, B. E. 130. Found near London.
Upwards of twenty species belong to the genus, and near¬
ly all of them inhabit Britain.
Genus Brachystoma, Meig. Antennae with the first
joint cylindric, second cup-shaped, third conic, with a
very long terminal seta : proboscis the length of the head :
wings incumbent, parallel.
B. vesiculosa. Hypostoma greyish white; forehead nar¬
row, black : antennae as long as the head, black; the two
first joints of equal length, the third with a long apical
seta bent downwards: proboscis perpendicular, nearly as
long as the head: thorax shining black, cinereous on the
sides : scutellum very small: abdomen cylindrical, black ;
the seventh segment very much inflated, pellucid, waxen
yellow: halteres white: wings hyaline, with a scarcely
perceptible pale marginal streak: coxae cinereous, short;
thighs ferruginous ; tibiae at the base, and the tarsi, brown.
Two and a half lines. Baccha vesiculosa, Fab. Inhabits
Britain and the continent of Europe.
Genus Gloma, Meig. Antennae with the first joint
cylindric, very slender, second cup-shaped; third glo¬
bose, with an apical seta: proboscis the length of the
head, thick.
G. fuscipennis. Antennae black; thorax of the same
colour, pubescent: abdomen pubescent, black brown, with
yellowish incisures: halteres brown: wings brown, with a
dark marginal streak; legs pubescent, brown; all the thighs
1 In his work on the Insects of Germany.
2 Mtmoires, t. vi.
8 Annates du Mus. d'Hist. Nat. t. iv. p. 361.
236 E N T O M
Diptera and the hinder tibiae with a groove on both sides; the
Probosci- hinder legs as long as the anterior ones. Two lines. Meig.
deg- gw. iii. pi. xxii. fig. 11. Inhabits England, but is very
scarce. .
Genus Emfis, Linn. Antennae with the basal joint
cylindric, second cup-shaped, third conic, compressed, the
apex with a two-jointed style: proboscis perpendicular or
bent inwards, longer than the head, slender: wings with
a transverse nervure at the apex, incumbent, parallel.
Meig. Zw. iii. 15, pi. xxii. fig. 13-20 ; Curtis, B. E. pi. xviii.
E. tessellata. Palpi, antennae, and proboscis black, the
latter as long as the head and thorax: hypostoma and
forehead cinereous; thorax of the same colour, bristly,
with three dorsal lines black, the central one narrowest:
abdomen hairy, cinereous, with a line down the back, and
the hinder margin of the segments blackish ; when seen
in another direction both colours change, the black be¬
coming grey and the grey black : halteres yellowish:
wings brown, ferruginous at the base: legs black, the
tibiae testaceous, shining. Five to six lines. Meig. Fab.
E. livida, Fab. var. Common on florwers, during summer,
in England and Scotland, and most parts of Europe: it
has been likewise taken by Pallas in Tauria. Twenty-
eight species of Empis occur in Britain, and nearly double
that number are known to entomologists. Their early
states have not been well determined. In the perfect
state they prey upon other flies.
Genus Rhamphomyia, Hoff. Antennae with the ra¬
dical joint cylindric, second cup-shaped, third conic, com¬
pressed, the apex with a two-jointed style : proboscis per¬
pendicular or bent inwards, slender: wings incumbent,
parallel, the transverse nervure at the apex wanting.
Meig. Zw. iii. 42.
R. lovgipes. Deep shining black, as well as the legs:
proboscis twice the length of the head, slender: halteres
dark brown: wings hyaline, with a scarcely perceptible
stigma: in the males thq hinder legs are stout, elongate,
and pubescent; the hinder tibiae somewhat clavate, and
the first joint of the tarsi distinctly thickened: in the fe¬
male the anterior legs are simple. Found in summer, but
is rare.
FAMILY XI.—TACHYDROMLE.
Antennae porrect, approximating at the base, two-jointed,
with an apical seta: ocelli three: proboscis short, per¬
pendicular: palpi incumbent on the proboscis: abdomen
consisting of seven segments : onychii two.
Genus Hemerodromia, Hoff. (Plate CCLI. figures 14
and 14 d). Antennae with the first joint cylindric, second
ovate, the apex supporting a seta : proboscis short and per¬
pendicular, with incumbent palpi, which are subulate or
cylindric : anterior coxae elongate : wings incumbent pa¬
rallel. Meig. Z^v. iii. 61, pi. xxiii. fig. 5-15.
H. monostigma. Yellowish white : forehead cinereous:
on the thorax are two cinereous vittae, which anteriorly
are drawn into two black lines: along the back of the ab¬
domen runs a black line, which is notched or sinuated on
both sides: the fifth joint of the tarsi is black; wings
hyaline, with a marginal spot of black. Two lines. Meig.
Zw. iii. pi. xxiii. fig. 6. Found in the south of England
and elsewhere.
Genus Tachydromia, Meig. Sicus, Lat. Antennae
with the first joint cylindric, second ovate or oblong, with
a terminal seta: the anterior or intermediate thighs thick¬
ened : wings incumbent. Meig. Zw. iii. pi. xxiii. fig.
16-24.
T. fasciata. Palpi yellow, proboscis black ; hypostoma
white ; forehead cinereous; antennae black, with the basal
o L o G Y.
joint yellow: thorax cinereous: abdomen shining black, Diptera
with a broad cinereous ring, interrupted in the middle, Probosci-
at the base of each segment: halteres bright yellow : legs de®.
rufous, the tarsi black at the apex : wings yellowish. Two
lines. Meig. Zw. iii. pi. xxiii. fig. 22. Has been taken
by Dr Leach in England, where thirty-three other species
occur. Few of these have been ascertained to inhabit
Scotlahd. T. minuta, however, has lately been found near
Edinburgh. There are about sixty species in Europe.
Genus Drapetis, Meig. Antennae with the firstjoint
cylindric, second lenticular, with a seta at the apex: pro¬
boscis scarcely exserted, very short, perpendicular, co¬
vered by the palpi: wings incumbent, parallel. Meig. Zw.
iii. pi. xxiii. fig. 25-28.
D. exilis. Head black, nearly round ; antennae black:
thorax shining black, without a transverse suture above :
abdomen of the males entirely shining black, rather long,
nearly cylindric; that of the female more oval, pointed,
reddish yellow above, with a black transverse band at the
hinder margin of the segments, entirely ferruginous yel¬
low beneath : thighs somewhat thickened, black ; tibiae
brown, unarmed ; tarsi yellow: halteres black: wings hya¬
line. Male half a line, female three fourths of a line. Said
to be common in hedges during the months of August and
September, in various parts of the continent.
FAMILY XII INFLATES.
Antennae very minute, two-jointed: head almost en¬
tirely occupied by the eyes: ocelli three: abdomen very
thick, consisting of five segments : onychii three.
Genus Cyrtus, Meig. Acrocera, Fab. Antennae nearly
vertical, the first joint cylindric, second ovate with a ter¬
minal seta: proboscis exserted, horizontal, longer than the
head. Meig. Zw. iii. pi. xxiv. fig. 1-6.
C. gibbus. Proboscis and palpi yellow :■ thorax nearly
globose, arcbed, pubescent, yellow, with a black dorsal
line anteriorly, which is widened in the middle into a
large spot: scutellum semicircular, black, with a triangu¬
lar spot of yellow at the hinder margin: abdomen very
thick, inflated, globular, flat beneath, of a yellow colour,
with four black cross bands produced in the middle into a
point: wdng-scales large and cinereous ; the halteres small,
and yellowr: wings lanceolate, hyaline, yellowish at the
anterior margin : legs ferruginous. Four to five lines. A
rare insect, found occasionally in the south of Europe and
in the north of Africa. The species in general frequent
flowers.
Genus Acrocera, Meig. Antennae vertical, the second
joint spindle-shaped, with a terminal seta: proboscis con¬
cealed. Meig. Zw. iii. pi. xxiv. fig. 7-10.
A. sanguinea. Thorax black, naked, with a white spot
on the shoulder, and a whitish line before the wing-scales :
abdomen blood-red, with four dorsal spots, the three an¬
terior ones triangular: legs black: wing-scale blackish
brown : wings brownish, the marginal nervures dark.
Three and a half lines. Meig. Zw. iii. pi. xxiv. fig. 10.
The species are few in number, and frequent moist places.
The one just described is found on the continent. Two
others, A. globulus and A. albipes, inhabit England.
Genus Henops, Illig. (Plate CCLI. figures 15 and 15
a.) Antennae porrect, inserted into the upper margin of
the mouth, the basal joint patelliform, second ovate, wdth
a terminal style thickened at the apex: proboscis con¬
cealed.
H. marginatus. Thorax black, wdth fine grey pubes¬
cence : abdomen black brown or pitch colour, the hinder
margin of the segments white : legs entirely rufous : wing-
scales and wings hyaline, the last with yellowish-brown
E N T O M
Diptera marginal nervures: belly white, with dark-brown bands.
Probosci- Xwo to three lines. Meig. Zw. iii.; Curtis, Brit. Ent.
ph cx. This species has been frequently taken in the
New Forest.
FAMILY XIII—STRAXIOMYDiE.
Antennae porrect, approaching at the base, three-joint¬
ed ; third joint ringed : proboscis along with the head
projecting : ocelli three: abdomen with five segments :
onychii three.
Genus Pachygaster, Meig.; named from vraxyg, thick,
and yasrtg, the belly. Antennae with the third joint glo¬
bose, four-ringed, and having a terminal seta: scutellum
unarmed. Meig. Zw. iii. pi. xxiv. fig. 16-23.
P. ater. Antennae of the males brownish, of the fe¬
males rufous: forehead of the males triangular, small,
shining white, with a longitudinal furrow; the crown with
three ocelli: thorax rather elongate, black; scutellum un¬
armed : abdomen wider than the thorax, arched above,
flat beneath, black, naked: legs pale yellow with black
thighs: halteres with a yellowish stalk and a black-brown
knob: wings lanceolate, microscopically pubescent, when
in a state of repose lying parallel with the body ; the basal
half brown, the rest hyaline. Two lines. Vappoater,'Lat.
Leach. Not a scarce insect on the continent, and in this
country it has been found in Darent, Birch, and Coombe
Woods, besides various other places. The larva is elon¬
gated, of a reddish grey, marked with three obscure lon¬
gitudinal bands.1 Another British species is represented
in Curtis’ Brit. Ent fol. 42, and named after Dr Leach,
by whom it was discovered in Devonshire. The most ob¬
vious mark of distinction is derived from the appearance
of the wings, which are uniformly hyaline in P. Leachii,
while the lower half is brown in P. ater.
Genus Sargus, Fab. (Plate CCLI. figures 16 and
16 a.) Antennae with the first joint sub-cylindric, second
cup-shaped, third lenticular, three-ringed, having an api¬
cal seta: scutellum without spines. Meig. iii. 104;Lat.
Gen. Crust, iv. 278.
S. Beaumuri. Male. Head black; forehead with two
white spots over the antennae, the latter black brown ;
eyes green, without purple bands: thorax sinning brassy
green above, with a longitudinal line of white on each
side : abdomen bright copper colour, with yellowish white
pubescence : halteres and feet rufescent, the tarsi brown
at the apex: wings reddish brown, the stigma somewhat
obscure. Six lines. Meig. iii. 109; Reaumur, Ins. iv.
22, pi. 5-8.
The female is considerably less than the male, and is
strikingly distinguished by having the abdomen of a bright
steel blue, with the two basal segments red, having a nar¬
row steel-blue line on the back. This sex is figured by
Mr Curtis, B. E. pi. cccv. This beautiful species has
been taken occasionally in England, and has been ob¬
served oftener than once near Edinburgh. On one occa¬
sion Mr Duncan found both sexes abundant in an open
wood on the banks of the Teviot. All the species hither¬
to described occur in Britain, excepting two. Several,
particularly S. infuscatus, S.politus (Musca polita, Linn.),
and S. formosus, are common throughout the south of
Scotland, the two former frequenting woods and gardens,
the latter marshy meadows. S. flavipes (Meig. pi. xxvi.
f. 14), which appears to be one of the rarer species, has
been captured among the Pentland Hills.
The insects of this genus delight in warm and sunny
weather. During cloudy days they may be found upon
O L O G Y. 237
the leaves of various plants, dull, inactive, or in a state of D’ptera
stupor. One of the larvae has been described by Reau- ^r^^scl‘
mur. Its form was oblong-oval, narrowed to a point in ^
front; the head scaly, furnished with a couple of hooks ;
the body thinly beset with hairs. It was found in cow-
dung. It became a chrysalis without changing its skin,
and the perfect insect made its exit by knocking off the
anterior lid of its hardened envelope. Macquart divides
the genus into two sections.
Genus Nemotelus, Fab. Antennae inserted into the
apex of a conical hypostoma, the lower joints equal, third
elongate, spindle-shaped, four-ringed, the apex with a
two-jointed style: scutellum without spines. Meig. Zw.
iii. pi. xxv. f. 16-20.
N. uliginosus. Male. Forehead black, with a whitish
spot over the antennae : thorax shining black, with fine
cinereous pubescence, and a white vitta extending from
the shoulder to the base of the wing: scutellum black:
abdomen white, black at the base, and having a spot of
the same colour before the apex: legs white; thighs
black, with a white apex ; hinder tibiae black, white at the
base and apex: halteres white : wings hyaline, the mar¬
ginal nervures yellowish.
Female. Shining black: head with short whitish silken
hair, and an interrupted cross band of the same colour
over the antennae : thorax with short whitish silky pubes¬
cence, the shoulders and a line on each side running to
the base of the wings, white: abdomen surrounded with
yellowish white, and marked with three rows of triangular
spots, the side rows united to the yellowish margin : in
other respects like the male. Three lines. Meig. Zw.
iii. 114, pi. xxv. fig. 19, female. Musca uliginosa, Linn.;
Don. xv. 31, pi. 519.
Found in meadows and marshy places, in Britain and
on the continent of Europe.
Genus Clitellaria, Meig. Antennae with the two
lowest joints nearly equal, the third conic, five-ringed,
with a two-jointed terminal style. Meig. Zw. iii. pi. xxv.
f. 21-25.
C. Ephippium. Hypostoma and forehead black, the
latter in the female with two whitish pubescent spots :
antennae black brown : thorax covered with a silky pile of
a fiery red colour, the sides and breast black; before the
base of the wing there is a black pubescent spine : scu¬
tellum black, with two pubescent spines rising from the
hinder edge: abdomen black: halteres yellow: wings
smoke colour, deepening at the anterior edge : legs black,
the hinder tibiae somewhat crooked. Five lines. Meig.
Zw. iii. pi. xxv. f. 25. Inhabits Germany, France, Swit¬
zerland, and England.
Genus Oxycera, Meig. Antennae with the two low'-
est joints equal; third spindle-shaped, four-ringed, with
a two-jointed terminal style : scutellum armed with two
spines.
O. pulchella. Male. Hypostoma black, with whitish-
grey pubescence: eyes with a purple fascia: forehead
with two silver-white pubescent spots: antennae black:
thorax black: from the shoulder extends a yellow vitta
to the base of the wings, where it turns downwards some¬
what pointedly; behind the base of the wing towards the
scutellum there is a yellow triangle: scutellum and spines
yellow, the latter with a blackish apex : abdomen black,
each side of the third and fourth segment with a long
spot of a fine yellow colour directed forwards, and a tri¬
angular one on the terminal segment: belly black, the se¬
cond, third, and fourth segments yellowish in the middle:
legs yellow : thighs black in the middle: the anterior
1 Macquart, Dipt, du Nord de la France, p. 112.
238 E N T O M
Diptera tarsi with the four last, and the others with the three last
Probosci- j0jnts, blackish brown : halteres yellow: wings hyaline, the
t*e^' nervures brown.
Female. Hypostoma and forehead yellow, with a black
vitta in the middle; crown black; hinder margin of the
eyes yellow: on the first segment of the abdomen, be¬
neath the scutellum, is a yellow spot: in other respects
the same as the male. Three lines. Meig. Zw. pi. xxv.
f. 29; Musca hypoleon, Don. v. 6, pi. cxlvi. f. 3. Found
in summer on hedges and bushes near lakes and marshes.
Genus Stratiomys, Geoff. Antennae with the second
joint cup-shaped, third elongate, somewhat spindle-
shaped, five-ringed: scutellum armed with two spines.
S. Potamida. Thorax fuscous; scutellum with a black
band at the base, the spines entirely yellow ; abdomen
black, the second segment with a yellow triangular spot
on both sides, and on the hinder margin of the third seg¬
ment there is a narrow band of yellow, which is broad and
interrupted in the males, but entire in the females; the
following segments have a narrow band in both sexes, and
the anal one is marked with a yellow triangle: the belly
is dirty yellow marked with four bands of black, the first
one interrupted. From six to seven lines. Musca Cha-
mcdcon, Harr. Ex. 44, pi. xi. fig. 1. Of occasional occur¬
rence in Britain, and on the continent of Europe. S. Cha-
mcdeon is more frequently met with in this country, parti¬
cularly in the more northern parts.
The manners of these insects have been studied by
Geoffroy and Reaumur. The larvas have a long flattened
body, covered by a coriaceous or rather solid skin, divided
into segments, of which the last three, more slender and
elongated than the others, form a tail terminated by a ra¬
diated expansion of barbed or plumy hairs. The head is
scaly, small, oblong, and provided with a great many ap¬
pendages and hooks, with which they agitate the water in
which the}' dwell. They respire by an opening in the
caudal segment, while suspended from the surface. Their
skin becomes the cocoon of the nymph. The latter
scarcely change their form, but they assume a rigid con¬
sistence, and become incapable of motion. They float
upon the water, and their tails frequently form a right
angle with the body. The perfect insect issues from a
cleft which opens in the second ring. The species are
few in number. About half a dozen are found in Britain.
FAMILY XIY SYRPHICI.
Antennae three-jointed ; third joint compressed, not
ringed, with an apical style, or a dorsal seta at the base:
ocelli three: proboscis concealed: abdomen with five
segments: onychii two.
a. Antennae with a terminal style.
Genus Callicera, Meig. Antennae inserted on a
common tubercle, the first joint cylindrical, second of
equal length, compressed and dilated at the apex, the
third terminating in an acuminated style: abdomen coni¬
cal : wings incumbent, parallel.
C. &nea. Hypostoma yellow and pubescent, having
a black line down the middle: thorax pubescent, of a
yellow colour, blackish on the back, and marked with
three obscure lines: scutellum blackish, the pubescence
yellowish white : abdomen shining brassy green, with yel¬
low pubescence, of a conical form in the male, more round¬
ed in the female, and in the former marked with a black
nearly triangular spot at the base : legs yellow, the thighs
almost entirely black. Males five and a half, females
nearly seven lines. Eibiooenea, Fab.; Musca ccnea, Gmelin.
Ibis insect has occurred at Berlin and in the south of
trance.
O L O G Y.
Genus Ceria, Fab. Antennas seated on a common piptera
footstalk; the basal joint cylindrical, second and third Pr°bosC1'
equal, clavate, compressed, and furnished with an apical
style: abdomen cylindrical: wings divaricating?
C. conopsoides. Shining black and pubescent: peduncle
of the antennae elongate, and ferruginous ; thorax with the
shoulders and a small spot near the base of the wings yel¬
low : abdomen with a yellow band on the hinder margin
of the second, third, and fourth segments : legs rufous, the
thighs brown. Five to six lines Ceria clavicornis, Fab.;
Musca conopsoides, Linn.; Curtis, E. E. 186 <j>. Very
rare in Britain, but not unfrequent on the continent. There
is an English specimen in the British Museum, presented
by Dr Leach.
b. Antennae with a dorsal seta.
Genus Microdon, Illig. Antennae porrect, the first
joint elongate, cylindrical, the third with a naked dorsal
seta at the base: scutellum armed with two teeth: wings
incumbent, parallel.
M. apiformis. The head and thorax are dark brassy,
and shining; the hypostoma is covered with bright yel¬
low pubescence, but on the forehead, thorax, and scu¬
tellum it is of a fulvous colour: abdomen black, clothed
with shining golden-yellow pile, which forms a narrow
band at the hinder margin of the first segment, and a
broader one on the second, somewhat interrupted in the
middle, and covers nearly the whole of the third and
fourth segments : wing-scales and halteres white; wings
brownish: thighs black, with ferruginous pile, the tibiae
and tarsi entirely ferruginous. Four to five lines. Musca
apiformis, Degeer, pi. vii. fig. 18-20; Musca mutabilis,
Linn.; Curtis, B. E. 70.
Meigen describes four European species, but the above
is the only one known as British. It has been found in
the New Forest, and near Lyndhurst, in Hants, but ap¬
pears to be scarce in the country, although common in
France and many other parts of Europe.
Genus Chrysotoxum, Meig. Antennae inserted on a
frontal tubercle, porrect; first joint cylindric, the rest
somewhat compressed, equal, the terminal one with a na¬
ked dorsal seta at the base : scutellum unarmed : abdomen
margined: wings divaricating.
C. arcuatum. Hypostoma shining yellow, with a black
line down the middle ; the forehead of the females black,
with two yellow spots; antennae black: thorax black, with
an interrupted yellow line on each side, and two abbrevi¬
ated cinereous lines on the back: abdomen without hairs,
black, and having four arched interrupted bands of golden
yellow; belly with four golden-yellow spots; the wings
are yellow at the anterior margin, and behind the middle,
near the anterior edge, there is a small brown spot. Five
and a half lines. Syrphus arcuatus, Fab.; Musca arcuata,
Linn. This insect occurs not unfrequently throughout the
south of Scotland and England during the autumn, fre¬
quenting various flowers. We have often taken C. bicinc-
tum in company with it, on the flowers of Senecio Jacobcea,
in Roxburghshire. The species have a waspish look, from
their prevailing hues of bJack and yellow. They feed on
the juices of flowers. Their flight is rapid.
Genus Psarus, Fab. Antennee inserted on a common
peduncle, porrect, the radical joint cylindrical, second
elongate and compressed, third oblong and compressed,
with a naked seta placed on the middle of the back: wings
incumbent, parallel.
P. abdominalis. Hypostoma black, with a grey play of
colour on the sides ; forehead black, with two white spots:
thorax black and naked: scutellum semicircular and un¬
armed : abdomen naked, nearly linear, reddish brown;
the base and apex black, sometimes having a black line
along the back: wing-scales and halteres white : thighs
ENTOMOLOGY.
239
Diptera black; tibiae and tarsi inclining to brown. Four lines.
Probosci- Syrphus abdominalis, Fab.; Psarus abdominalis, Lat. Ap-
ea^' , pears to be a rare and little-known species. Specimens
found in this country are preserved in the British Museum.
Gknus Paragus, Lat. Antennae with the two basal
joints equal, the third elongate, compressed, with a naked
dorsal seta before the middle : hypostoma somewhat con¬
vex, smooth : abdomen linear, transversely rugose ; the
hinder metatarsus somewhat thickened: wings parallel,
incumbent.
P. obscurus. Female. Antennae proportionally short¬
er than in most of the other species, and entirely dark
brown : eyes pubescent: thorax with a slight grey play
of colour, the sides covered with pubescence of a silvery
hue: abdomen shining black: legs yellow; the thighs
black, with the apex yellow: halteres white. Two and
a half lines. Inhabits France and England.
Genus Ascia, Meg. Antennae with the third joint ob¬
long, compressed, having a naked dorsal seta before the
middle: hypostoma impressed, smooth, produced be¬
neath : abdomen contracted at the base: hinder thighs
thickened, and spinose beneath: wings incumbent, pa¬
rallel.
A. floralis. Abdomen black, and marked with two yel¬
low fasciae, which are entire in the male, and interrupted
in the female : anterior legs yellow, the tibiae with a black
ring before the apex ; the hinder legs black, with a me¬
tallic lustre, the thighs yellow at the base, the tibias yel¬
low, with a black band in the middle, and the tarsi black :
wings hyaline. Two and a half lines.
Found occasionally in gardens and fields in the south¬
ern counties of Scotland, and in England.
Genus Sphegina, Meig. Antennae with the terminal
joint orbiculate, compressed, with a naked dorsal seta at
the base: hypostoma impressed, smooth : abdomen con¬
tracted at the base : hinder thighs clavate, spinose be¬
neath : wings parallel, incumbent. Meig. hi. 193.
S. nigra. Hypostoma whitish ; antennae rufous-brown :
thorax and abdomen shining black, the former with a
greenish tint: halteres yellowish white : the four anterior
legs pale yellow ; thighs of the hinder pair black, yellow
at the base ; the tibiae with two brown bands ; tarsi black.
Three to three and a half lines, iwo species only belong
to this genus, both of which are to be found in Britain.
Mr Duncan took a few examples of the above in the
neighbourhood of Edinburgh in the summer of 1830. Ihe
other species, S. clunipes (Meig. pi. xxviii. f. 5) is of more
frequent occurrence.
Genus Baccha, Fab. Antennae with the third joint
sub-orbicular, compressed, having a naked dorsal seta at
the base: hypostoma tuberculated : abdomen elongate,
attenuated before, and clavate behind : legs simple : wings
parallel and incumbent.
B. nigripennis. Antennae brown : thorax dark brassy,
the abdomen inclining to golden green, and flat behind;
at the base of the third segment there is a scarcely per¬
ceptible yellow spot on each side, and a yellow band on
the fourth : anterior legs yellow ; the hinder ones brown¬
ish, with the base of the thighs yellow : wings blackish.
Three lines. Found in Austria by M. Megerle. It like¬
wise occurs in Britain, along with six other species neai ly
the whole that the genus contains. ...
Genus Eumerus, Meig. Antennae with the third joint
orbicular, compressed, and having a naked dorsal seta be¬
fore the middle : hypostoma sub-convex, villose, smooth :
hinder thighs thickened, and spinose beneath. wings in¬
cumbent, parallel. ,
E. grandis. Hypostoma covered with whitish pubes¬
cence ; forehead of the males similar, that of the female
black, with white pubescence under the eyes: antennae
dark brown : thorax dark brassy, with two whitish lines Diptera
anteriorly, the sides somewhat shining : abdomen black, Probosci-
the sides testaceous, and adorned with three pair of cres- ,
cent-shaped spots : legs dark metallic green, the tibiae '
and tarsi with ferruginous pubescence : halteres brown :
wing-scales white; wings grey. Five lines. Meig. Zw.
iii. pi. xxviii. f. 18. Five species of Eumeri are found in
this country: E. rvjicornis, ornatus, strigatus, funeralis,
and silene. The one described above occurs on the conti¬
nent.
Genus Xylota, Meig. Antennae inserted on a fron¬
tal tubercle, nutant, the third joint sub-orbicular, compress¬
ed, with a naked dorsal seta at the base : hypostoma im¬
pressed, blunt below, smooth, or somewhat tuberculated:
hinder thighs thickened, and spinose beneath : wings in¬
cumbent, parallel.
X. sylvarum. Hypostoma yellowish white, and finely
pubescent, the forehead similar in the male, but in the fe¬
male shining black, with two white spots anteriorly : an¬
tennae brown : thorax dark metallic green, with a grey
spot on each shoulder; the pubescence on the sides gold¬
en yellow : seutellum dark green: abdomen black, the
two first segments thinly clothed with golden pubescence ;
similar pubescence covers the base and sides of the third,
leaving a triangular black spot behind, and the fourth seg¬
ment is entirely covered with it; fifth segment minute and
shining black: wing-scales and halteres yellowish white:
wings brownish, with a ferruginous stigma: legs ferrugi¬
nous, the thighs and two last tarsal joints black; hinder
thighs club-shaped, and armed with small prickles; tibiae
crooked, and having a brown play of colour behind. Six
lines. Musca sylvarum, Linn.; Syrphus sylvarum, Fab. ;
Milesia sylvarum, Lat. Found occasionally in various parts
of the continent. We have taken single specimens near
Edinburgh, and in the neighbourhood of Jedburgh. X.
segnis, and pipiens, are comparatively common in England
and the south of Scotland. The former is often plentiful
at Roslyn. The larva of this genus, described by Degeer,
was found in the dung of horses.
Genus Milesia, Fab. Antennae inserted on a fron¬
tal tubercle, the third joint lenticular, with a naked dor¬
sal seta at the base ; hypostoma impressed, smooth, or
slightly tuberculated; legs simple, the hinder tibiae com¬
pressed ; wings incumbent, parallel, the intermediate trans¬
verse nerve oblique.
M. speciosa. Hypostoma and forehead ferruginous,
with a yellowish-white play of colour on the sides ; the
crown black : antennae ferruginous: thorax dark brassy
green, finely pubescent, blackish on the sides, and yellow
on the shoulders : abdomen dark brassy, cylindrical, and
finely pubescent; having a line along the back, and the
hinder margin of the segments covered with shining
golden-yellow pubescence, and before this yellow edging
there is a transverse band of black: wing-scales white:
halteres bright yellow : wings brownish yellow along the
anterior margin, but before the apex this colour passes
into brown : thighs dark brown, with a ferruginous spot
at the apex; tibiae and tarsi ferruginous. Seven lines.
Found, according to Meigen, near i’aris, an-d likewise in
Austria and Italy. “ It is now several years,” says Mr
Curtis, who has given a beautiful representation of this
insect in his Brit. Entom. fol. 34, “ since this fine and
rare insect was discovered in the New Forest by Mr D.
Bydder, and the beginning of June of the present year
(1824) 1 took four near Brockenhurst: they appear to de¬
light in settling in the thickest parts of the Forest, where
a partial shadow is thrown by the surrounding foliage
upon the trunks of trees, or the flat surface remaining
when they have been felled.”
Genus Pipiza, Meig. Antennae nutant, the third
240 E N T O M
Diptera joint ovate ano compressed, having a naked dorsal seta
^dt?08^" at ^ie ^aSe : hyPostoma smooth : hinder thighs some-
|C e.S-»_‘ w^at thickened : abdomen oblong-elliptical: Vvings paral-
r lei, incumbent.
P. Artemis. Black, with whitish hair: the second seg¬
ment of the abdomen with a lunate fascia of a red colour:
thighs black, tibiae ferruginous anteriorly, brown behind ;
tarsi ferruginous: halteres bright yellow: wing-scales
white ; outer half of the wings brown, the colour be¬
coming paler at the apex: belly black, yellow anteriorly.
Three lines. Inhabits Austria and England. There are
fifteen British species of this genus, and twenty-nine are
indigenous to Europe.
Genus Psilota, Meig. Antennae nutant, the terminal
joint oblong-ovate, with a naked dorsal seta at the base :
hypostoma impressed, truncated beneath : eyes hirsute :
wings incumbent, parallel.
P. anthracina. Hypostoma and forehead bluish black ;
the body of a similar colour, and covered with very short
pubescence; abdomen oval: legs black, the thighs all
straight; the tarsi with fine ferruginous pubescence; the
hinder legs somewhat elongate, and the tibiae a little bent:
wing-scales and halteres white ; wings hyaline, somewhat
yellowish at the base, and the stigma bright yellow. Three
lines. Meig. Zw. iii. pi. xxix. f. 20. Found in Germany
and Britain.
Genus Rhingia, Fab. Antennae porrect, nutant, the
third joint lenticular, the base with a naked dorsal seta:
hypostoma somewhat impressed, elongate beneath, coni¬
cal : wings incumbent, parallel. Meig. iii. 257 ; Eat. Gen.
Crust, iv. 320.
R. rostrala. Hypostoma and rostrum ferruginous, shin¬
ing, the latter brown at the tip; antennae ferruginous;
forehead of the females grey, with a dark streak : thorax
grey, with three black-brown lines ; scutellum shining,
brownish yellow: abdomen ferruginous, the basal segment
sometimes blackish, and a longitudinal brown line on the
second: legs ferruginous, the hinder tarsi brownish:
wdng-scale and halteres light yellow : wings somewhat
greyish,yellowish at the anterior margin. Four lines. Meig.
iii. 258. Conops rostrata, Linn., &c. Common throughout
the country. R. campestris (Curtis, B. E. pi. clxxxii.),
which differs from the above chiefly in having the incisures
of the abdomen, and a longitudinal dorsal line, of a black
colour, is likewise of frequent occurrence, and is probably
not specifically distinct. The name of a third species, R.
monostigma, has been recently published, but we are un¬
acquainted with its characters and history. We have but
a slight knowledge of the metamorphoses of these insects.
Indeed all that is yet known is inferred from the fact of
Reaumur having found Rhingia rostrata in the perfect
state in a sand-box (poudriei') in which he had previously
enclosed some cow-dung containing unknown larvae. The
perfect insects occur in gardens and meadows. The spe¬
cies are by no means numerous.
Genus Brachyopa, Hoff. Antennae inserted on a
frontal tubercle, nutant, the terminal joint lenticular, and
having a hirsute dorsal seta at the base: hypostoma im¬
pressed and elongate beneath, truncated : wings incum¬
bent, parallel, one half longer than the abdomen.
B. bicolor. Hypostoma, antennae, and forehead (of the
males) ferruginous, with a white play of colour; forehead
of the females grey, with a yellow spot anteriorly : thorax
dark grey or lead colour, with three brown lines, of which
the central one is double : scutellum rust-brown : abdomen
ferruginous, with a black dorsal line on the second segment,
which however is sometimes wanting: legs ferruginous,
with dark-brown tarsi: wing-scales white : halteres bright
yellow : wings unspotted, slightly obscured with brown.
Three lines. Rhingia bicolor, Fallen. The insects of this
O L O G Y.
genus are found on flowers, but seem to be in general rare. Dipters
The above, and another species named B. conica, are said Probosci-
to have occurred in England. ^ese'
Genus Chrysogaster, Meig. Antenna) nutant, the
third joint compressed, orbiculate, or oblong, having a
naked dorsal seta at the base : forehead of the female
crenated on both sides : abdomen depressed: wings pa¬
rallel, incumbent.
C. eenea. Shining brassy, except the apex of the abdo¬
men, which is dull black ; the belly dark green: antenna)
testaceous: wings hyaline, partly of a yellowish-brown
colour, with a ferruginous stigma. Three lines. Inhabits
Austria and Britain, but seems everywhere rare.
Genus Syrphus, Fab. (Plate CCLI. figures 17 and
17 a.) Antennae porrect, nutant, three-jointed; the third
joint orbicular or oval, compressed, with a pubescent dorsal
seta at the base : hypostoma tuberculated, feet simple,
slender: wings incumbent, parallel, the ordinary transverse
nerve nearly perpendicular.
S. Lucorurn. Hypostoma white, with a shining black
line down the middle ; forehead whitish, having a black
spot over the antennae, and a brown line in the females:
antenna) black, with a very finely pubescent seta: thorax
black, with reddish-yellow pile; scutellum rufous: abdo¬
men having the first segment whitish, with pubescence of
the same colour, the male with a wide dark-coloured vit-
ta; third segment deep black; fourth black, with whitish
pubescence and somewhat glossy, especially on the sides :
legs dark brown, the base of the tibiae whitish: halteres
and wing-scales brown; wings hyaline, having a dark-
brown vitta in the middle of the anterior margin extend¬
ing half way across. Five lines. Meig. iii. 313, pi. xxx.
f. 27. Musca lucorum, Linn. Not unfrequent on um¬
belliferous plants in woods throughout the country. The
genus Syrphus, as characterized by Meigen, comprehends
nearly' 100 species, of which upwards of one half, besides
a considerable number of others recently discovered, are
to be found in Britain. The dissimilarity in form and
structure which prevails among many of these insects,
has led to their distribution, by later writers, into three
generic groups, distinguished by the names Cheilosia,
Scceva, Syrphus; and they appear to be susceptible of
still further subdivision. As the English species are com¬
paratively well known, it may be interesting to mention
such as we have ascertained to inhabit Scotland : S. os-
Iraceus (frequent), variabilis, lunulatus, Pyrastri, seleniti-
cus, Ribesii (common), balteatus (common), cinctus, deco-
rus, umbellatarum, tceniatus, melliturgus, Rosarum, Ocymi,
granditarsus (three last near Edinburgh, not common).
The larvae of the Syrphi prey upon Aphides. Their form
is that of an elongated cone. Their segments are very
retractile.
Genus Pelecocera, Hoff. Antennae porrect, the third
joint somewhat patelliform, the apex furnished with a
thick, short, three-jointed seta: hypostoma arched be¬
neath.
P. tricincta. Hypostoma white, with a shining black
vitta: thorax black, shining, the shoulders white, and the
sides before the base of the wings marked with a white
streak: scutellum shining black ; abdomen likewise black,
with a broad ferruginous band at the base of the second,
third, and fourth segments: legs reddish yellow, the hin¬
der pair with a brown ring on the thighs and tibiae : wing-
scales and halteres white: wings somewhat brownish,
with a ferruginous stigma. Three lines. Found in some
parts of the continent, but everywhere rare.
Genus Sericomyia, Eat. Antennae porrect, nutant,
the third joint patelliform; the base with a plumose dor¬
sal seta : hypostoma descending, tuberculated : wings pa¬
rallel, incumbent, hirsute.
E N T 0 M
TMptera S. borealis. Hj^postoma ochreous, with a black line;
Probosci- antennae dark brown ; forehead of the males yellow, of the
deaj. females black brown : thorax black, with a tuft of whitish
pubescence on each shoulder, and golden-yellow pubes¬
cence on each side before the base of the wing: scutel-
lum blackish brown: abdomen black, with four ochreous
bands, the first, and sometimes the second also, somewhat
interrupted ; belly dull ochreous, brown at the base : legs
rufous, base of the thighs black : wing-scales yellow : hal-
teres brown : wings hyaline, with the anterior margin yel¬
lowish, and sometimes with a pale-brown tinge before the
apex. Seven lines. Syrphus borealis, Fallen ; Musca lap-
pona, Degeer. Abundant in some parts of the south of
Scotland during the autumnal months, and frequently seen
on the flowers of Senecio Jacobcea, in company with nume¬
rous species of the genus Eristalis. Its appropriate loca¬
lity seems to be elevated pasture lands, and the sides and
summits of hills. In the latter situation we have occasion¬
ally heard it, in fine weather, emit a peculiarly shrill and
stridulent note, which is sufficiently loud to be heard at a
considerable distance. A nearly allied species, S. lappona,
Linn., occurs among the Pentland Hills, near Edinburgh.
Genus Tropidia, Meig. Antennae nutant, third joint
patelliform, with a naked dorsal seta : hypostoma carinat-
ed, smooth : hinder thighs thickened, with a single tooth
at the apex beneath: wings parallel, incumbent, hirsute.
T. fasciata. Hypostoma greyish white, with a black
longitudinal line, and covered with fine silky hairs; an¬
tennae rufous: thorax with yellow pubescence, of a dark
green, somewhat metallic, with two whitish abbreviated
lines on the back, and a spot on each shoulder; abdomen
with ferruginous pubescence, of a dark brown, and having
a rufous interrupted band on the second, third, and fourth
segments: thighs of the anterior legs blackish, the apex
rufescent, the tibiae and tarsi rufous, with a brown apex :
hinder thighs blackish, the tibiae crooked, reddish at the
base, the other parts, as well as the tarsi, brown : hal-
teres and wing-scales white : wings hyaline. Four lines.
Found in some parts of the continent on Achillcea ptar-
mica, in the neighbourhood of Paris, and in Austria. The
only other species described by Meigen, T. milesiformis,
has been found in Britain, along with another, named T.
rvfomaculata (Curtis), which does not appear to be known
to continental naturalists.
Genus Merodon, Fab. Antennae"nutant, the terminal
joint oblong or elliptical, compressed, with a naked dorsal
seta at the base; hypostoma smooth and villose: hinder
thighs thickened, with a single tooth at the apex beneath :
wings incumbent, parallel, hirsute.
M. equestris. Male. Hypostoma and forehead with
greyish white pubescence ; antennae black : thorax ante¬
riorly dark brassy, with ferruginous pile, shining black be¬
hind, with pile of the same colour: scutellum and abdo¬
men coloured and clothed like the anterior part of the
thorax : legs black, the anterior tibiae and tarsi with fer¬
ruginous silky hairs; the hinder tibiae with a tubercle on
the inner side behind the middle, and a hooked spine at
the end : halteres brown : wings nearly hyaline. Six lines.
Syrphus equestris, Fab. Reaumur, Ins. iv. tab. xxxiv. fig.
9, 10. This species has occurred in Italy and near Paris.
M. clavipes is the only British species known. It is figured
and described in Curtis’ B. E. fol. xcviii.
Genus Helophilus, Meig. Antennae porrect, nutant,
the terminal joint patelliform, the base with a naked dor¬
sal seta: hypostoma descending, gibbous beneath: eyes
naked: hinder thighs thickened, unarmed: wings divari¬
cating, hirsute.
O L O G Y. 241
W. pendulus. Hypostoma yellowish white, with a shin- Diptera
ing black vitta in both sexes; forehead whitish yellow, Pr^osci-
the crown dark brown, and a small black spot over the .
antennae ; the latter dark brown, with a yellow seta: tho¬
rax straw colour, with three black vittae: scutellum shin¬
ing brownish yellow : abdomen deep black, with three
unequal interrupted yellow bands: the belly pale anteri¬
orly, the three last segments black, with white incisures:
wing-scales and halteres yellow; anterior legs rufous,
nearly the whole of the thighs and the tarsi brown; hin¬
der legs dark brown, the apex of the thigh and base of
the tibiae more or less yellow. Five lines. Syrphus pen-
dulus, Fab.; Musca pendula, Linn.; Elophilus pendulus,
Lat Everywhere common. The species of this genus do
not greatly differ from those of Eristalis. They are ge¬
nerally less hairy. Several exhibit the aspect of garden
bees, as well as of other Hymenoptera. The larvae, known
under the name of rat-tailed worms {vers a queue de rats,
Reaumur),1 are remarkable for the great length and sin¬
gular uses of their caudal extremity. It serves as a re¬
spiratory organ. The insect lies at the bottom of stag¬
nant waters, generally concealed in the mud ; but the
point of its attenuated tail is meanwhile in contact with
the surface. Reaumur found, by increasing the depth of
water, that the larva could extend its respiratory tube to
the height of five inches. After that, however, it was
seen to leave the mud, and ascend the side of the vessel
in which it was contained, that it might attain to the sur¬
face with greater ease. The tail seems composed of two
parts, one of which slips into the other like the portions
of a telescope. They are composed of annular fibres, and
when these are contracted, each tube is greatlv increased
in length
Genus Mallota, Meig. Antennae nutant, third joint
nearly four-angled, compressed, with a naked dorsal seta
in the middle: hypostoma descending, gibbous: wings
divaricating, hirsute.
M. megilliformis. Male. Hypostoma black, thickly
covered with silken hairs of a pearl-grey colour, and hav¬
ing a naked shining black vitta ; forehead black, pearly on
the sides beneath ; the hinder part of the head with fer¬
ruginous pile; antennae black, the third joint with a white
seta : thorax and abdomen dark green, thickly clothed
with ferruginous hair; belly and legs black; wing-scales
ferruginous; halteres also ferruginous, with the knob
brown : wings nearly hyaline, with brown nervures. Six
lines. Rare: The females have not been described. The
genus contains only three species, none of which appear
to be British.
Genus Eristalis, Fab. Antennae porrect, nutant,
three-jointed ; the third joint patelliform, with a plumose
or naked seta at the base: hypostoma elongate, tubercu-
lated : legs simple : wings spreading, naked (in the greater
number of species).
E. intricarius. Male. Hypostoma and forehead black,
with yellowish-white hair; antennae black at the base, the
third joint rufous, with a plumose seta of the same colour
at the base: thorax black, thickly clothed with reddish-
yellow hair ; scutellum yellow: abdomen black, with fer¬
ruginous lateral spots, and clothed anteriorly with ferrugi¬
nous hair, which on the hinder parts passes into a whit¬
ish-yellow colour: wing-scales blackish: wings hyaline,
the central cross nerve more or less distinctly margin¬
ed with brown: legs black, the apex of the thighs and
basal half of the tibiae white. Six lines. Meig. iii.
391. Syrphus intricarius. Fab.; Musca intricaria. Linn.
Of frequent occurrence during summer on flowers and
2 H
YOL. IX.
* Memoires, t. iv. p. 442.
242 E N T O M
Diptera plants. Several species of this extensive genus are very
Probosci- common in this country, \)avt\c\i\av\y E. tenax, similis, hor-
deae* ticola, &c. About a score inhabit Britain. The larva of
   E. narcissi (which inhabits the bulb of the plant from
which it derives its name) is figured and described by
Reaumur.1
Genus Volucella, Geoff. Antennae decumbent, the
third joint elongate, compressed, with a long plumose dor¬
sal seta at the base: hypostoma impressed above, elon¬
gate beneath, conical, gibbous : wings divaricating. Meig.
iii. 401; Lat. Gen. Crust, iv. 322.
V. pellucens. Hypostoma, forehead, and antennae shin¬
ing ferruginous, the latter with a black plume: thorax
shining black, bristly: scutellum testaceous brown, some¬
times black,2 bristly : abdomen pubescent, shining black,
the second segment yellowish white, pellucid, having a cen¬
tral line of black in the males, but usually uninterrupted
in the females, except by a very faint black line ; belly like
the back, except the anterior part of the third segment,
which is likewise transparent: legs black: wing-scales
yellowish : halteres with a blackish stalk, the knob white :
wings yellowish at the base, with ochreous veins, the rest
greyish, with brown veins. Seven lines. Meig. iii. 405.
Musca pellucens, Linn. An insect of not unfrequent oc¬
currence in Britain during the summer months, frequent¬
ing flowers in sheltered situations exposed to the sun. In
the summer of 1829 it appeared in unusual abundance in
the fields adjoining Duddingston wood, near Edinburgh.
All the other species belonging to the genus (as now re¬
stricted) are to be found in Britain, with the exception of
V. zonaria (Meig. iii. pi. xxxii. f. 27). The most common
in Scotland next to the species described is V. plumata,
which is found occasionally throughout the southern coun¬
ties. V. bombylans appears to be considerably scarcer;
the only examples which we have met with were from
Dumfriesshire and East Lothian. The larvae of these in¬
sects inhabit the nests of wasps and bees, and live at the
expense of the proper owners. Reaumur has detailed
their history at great length, and in a very interesting
manner. “ Lepelletier de Saint Fargeau a eu occasion
d’observer que les volucelles de diverses especes s’accou-
plent tres-bien ensemble ; il a lu un Memoire a ce sujet
a 1’Academie des Sciences.”3
FAMILY XV PLATYPEZINjE.
Antennae porrect, two or three-jointed, with a naked
apical seta: proboscis concealed ; thorax without a trans¬
verse suture : abdomen with six segments : wings incum¬
bent: the small cross nerve of the middle bent towards
the base : halteres naked.
Genus Cyrtoma, Meig. Antennae approximating,
two-jointed, first joint small, cylindric; second elongate,
conic, compressed, the apex with a two-jointed style: pro¬
boscis subporrect: hinder legs elongate: wings incum¬
bent, parallel. Meig. iv. 1.
C. nigra. Black; halteres yellow; the legs brown;
the hinder tibiae club-shaped, the lowest joint of the tarsi
thickened ; wings somewhat brownish. Two lines. Found
in Germany and elsewhere occasionally. This genus con¬
tains three species, none of which are known to inhabit
Britain.
Genus Platypeza, Meig.; name derived from wXaruf,
broad, and the foot. Antennae straight, approximat-
O L O G Y.
ing, three-jointed, the lower joints sub-cylindric, third Diptera
ovate, compressed, the apex with a three-jointed naked Probosci-
seta: proboscis concealed : hinder feet thickest, tarsi di-
lated, the joints nearly equal: wings incumbent, parallel.
P. boletina. Male. Velvet black; abdomen with grey¬
ish-black bands : legs brown : halteres black brown : wdngs
hyaline.
Female. Clear ash-grey, abdomen with a narrow deep
black cross band, somewhat widened in the middle, before
the incisures; the first segment without a band: halteres
and legs bright yellow: wings hyaline. One and a half
line. Fallen. Occurs in Germany and England, rare.
Genus Callomyia, Meig. (Plate CCLI. figures 18
and 18 a.) Generic name from koAos, beautiful, and
a fly. Antennae straight, three-jointed; the lower
joints sub-cylindric, third compressed, acute ; the termi¬
nal seta elongate, three-jointed : proboscis concealed : hin¬
der legs elongate, thick, the metatarsus elongate: wings
incumbent, parallel.
C. amcena. Male. Body velvet black : halteres rufous :
fore legs honey-yellow, the thighs blackish brown : hinder
legs entirely black brown : wings hyaline.
Female. Hypostoma and forehead bright blue : thorax
bright blue on the sides, with a silvery lustre: this colour
extends forwards along the thorax in the form of a bow,
and before the scutellum there is likewise a silvery band :
scutellum black: abdomen with the three first segments
orange yellow, the fourth and sixth deep black, the fifth
silvery blue, with a black line on the middle ; fore legs
rufous ; hinder legs black, with rufescent thighs: halteres
rufous: wings hyaline. Two lines. Meig. Zw. iv. pi. i.
f. 13. This species has been recently taken in England.
FAMILY XVI —MEGACEPHALI.
Antennae three-jointed; the third joint deflexed, with
an erect seta at the base : hypostoma linear, narrow : pro¬
boscis concealed: abdomen consisting of six segments:
wings incumbent; the short transverse nervure in the
middle: halteres naked.
Genus Pipunculus, Lat. (Plate CCLI. figures 19
and 19 a.) Antennae Inarticulate; first joint minute, se¬
cond cup-shaped, third deflexed, acute, compressed, with
an erect naked seta at the base : hypostoma narrow, linear:
proboscis concealed: wings incumbent, parallel. Meig.
Zw. iv. 18, pi. xxxiii. f. 15-24.
P. spurius. Deep velvet black, the apex of the abdo¬
men somewhat shining : hypostoma silver white, changing,
with a play of colour, into black: forehead very narrow,
black, silver white above the antennae: the latter, toge¬
ther with the legs, black: wings brownish, with a dark-
coloured stigma. One line. Meig. Zw. iv. pi. xxxiii. f.
24. Occurs in England, but is rare.
FAMILY XVII DOLICHOPODES.
Antennae porrect, three jointed: the third joint flat,
with an apical or dorsal seta: hypostoma linear: probos¬
cis somewhat exserted, with compressed incumbent palpi :
thorax without a transverse suture: abdomen consisting
of six segments : wings incumbent; the short transverse
nerve bent towards the base: halteres naked.
Genus Rhaphium, Meig. Antennae approximating, the
1 Mlmoire, t. iv. p. 499, and pi. xxxiv.
* The scutellum is usually ferruginous when the insect issues from the chrysalis, but becomes darker as it advances to maturity,
till it ultimately acquire the colour of the thorax. 3 Diction. Class- d'Hist. Aat. t. xvi. p. 631.
E N T O M
Diptera third elongate, compressed, with a two-jointed style at
dea?SC1" ^le aPex : eyes separated : wings incumbent, parallel.
R. vitripenne. Hypostoma bluish white; forehead shin¬
ing steel blue: antennae black, slender, those of the male
as long as the abdomen, those of the female much shorter ;
the body dark metallic green, legs black, the anterior tibiae
brown ; halteres white : wings hyaline. Three lines. Meig.
Zw. iv. pl.xxxiii. f. 4. Four species of this genus, nearly
half the number known, have been found in Britain. The
species described occurs on the continent.
Genus Diaphorus, Meig. Antennae with the third
joint patelliform, having a villose dorsal seta: eyes meet¬
ing on the forehead; abdomen of the male with two fili¬
form appendages on the under side of the apex : wings
incumbent, parallel. Meig. Ziv. iv. pi. xxxiv. f. 6-9.
D. flavocinctus. Hypostoma white; antennae black :
body black, with greenish reflections ; the second segment
of the abdomen, and sometimes the base of the third, fer¬
ruginous, transparent: anterior legs rufous, with black¬
ish thighs, rufescent at the apex on the under side : mid¬
dle pair of legs rufous, the basal half of the thighs black:
hinder legs black, the upper half of the tibiae rufous : hal¬
teres white : wings reddish brown. One and a half line.
Meig. Zw. iv. pi. xxxiv. f. 8. Inhabits England, but is
not common.
Genus Psilopus, Meg. Antennae with the third joint
patelliform, villose; furnished with an inclined villose dor¬
sal seta before the apex: eyes separated: wings incum¬
bent, parallel, the transverse nerve at the apex curved.
P. platypterus. Male. Head white: antennae pale
yellow ; the third joint brown : palpi white : thorax cine¬
reous-green, with a faint metallic lustre : abdomen brassy,
the apical segment blackish: legs long, pale yellow : hal¬
teres yellow : wings very broad, hyaline.
Female. Hypostoma somewhat wider than in the male :
legs pale yellow, with brownish tarsi. Two and a half
lines; the females rather less. This and seven other spe¬
cies of Psilopi are found in Britain, but none of them ap¬
pear to be frequent.
Genus Chrysotus, Meig.; named from gold
colour, bright golden green being the prevailing colour of
the species.—Antennse with the terminal joint patelliform,
villose, having an inclined villose seta at the apex : eyes
separated: abdomen of the male with two filiform appen¬
dages at the apex beneath: wings incumbent, somewhat
spreading. Meig. iv. 40, pi. xxxv. f. 7-11.
C. neglectus. Hypostoma of the males minute, black¬
ish ; that of the female wider and of a whitish colour ;
eyes of a beautiful golden green, with light-blue reflec¬
tions : forehead metallic green : body bright golden green ;
legs straw yellow, with dark-brown tarsi, which are yel¬
lowish at the base: halteres white : wings hyaline, with
a play of colour: the terminal segment of the abdomen
small, lying in a cavity of the belly, with two short
threads at its extremity. Meig. Zw. pi. xxxv. f. 10. Found
in Britain, with seven other species, all that are known to
belong to the genus.
Genus Porphyrops, Meig. (Plate CCLI. figures
20 and 20 a.) Generic name compounded of rngpugu,
purple, and o-vj/, the eye. Antennae with the terminal joint
oblong, acute, the seta villose and bent downwards : eyes
separated : abdomen of the male with two filiform appen¬
dages at the apex beneath : wings incumbent, parallel.
Meig. Zw. iv. pi. xxxv. f. 1-6.
P. diaphanus. Male. Hypostoma narrow and black ;
antennae black; forehead black above, shining white be¬
neath : thorax metallic black with green reflections, and
having a long mark of changeable white on the sides an¬
teriorly : abdomen conical, bluish, with a silvery lustre,
viewed in another direction dark slate grey ; with two in-
O L O G Y. 243
terrupted reddish-yellow diaphanous bands on the second Diptera
and third segments : legs dark brown, with ferruginous Probosci-
tibise which are brown behind : halteres white : wings _eae'_
vitreous. Three lines. Musca diaphana, Fab. Gmel.
The female has the thorax bright golden green with
light-blue reflections ; the abdomen more silvery than the
male ; and besides the two fasciae, there is a yellowish spot
on each side of the fourth segment: the anterior thighs
are yellow at the apex. Inhabits England, and is not
unfrequent in woods in the south of Scotland. Twenty-
nine species have been described, ten of which are ascer¬
tained to inhabit Britain. All of them are minute insects,
several being only a line in length, and none exceeding
the size of the species described above. They are remark¬
able for beauty of colouring, which generally consists of
changeable tints of metallic green, blue, and silver white.
This circumstance, together with the activity of their mo¬
tions, by which their colours are continually presented
under varying lights, renders them more observable ob¬
jects, in the shade and among the foliage of woods, where
they usually prevail, than might be inferred from the
smallness of their size.
Genus Medeterus, Fischer. Antennae with the ter¬
minal joint short, sub-ovate, compressed, with a two-joint¬
ed dorsal seta: eyes separated : abdomen of the male
with two filets at the apex : legs elongate, slender : wings
incumbent, parallel. Meig. Zw. iv. pi. xxxv. f. 12-17.
M. regius. Male. Hypostoma and palpi white: an¬
tennae black: forehead cinereous, with a greenish lustre :
thorax dark green, with a greyish patch over the middle, in
which are two blackish approximating longitudinal lines :
sides of the thorax cinereous : abdomen sea-green, the
hinder margin of the segments with a blackish band, bor¬
dered anteriorly with grass green : legs dark green : hal¬
teres white : wings hyaline, with a brown spot behind
the middle, and the anterior margin from the middle to
the apex more or less dusky, the apex itself with a white
spot encircled with brown.
Female. Hypostoma black, steel-blue beneath ; palpi
greyish black margined with white : wings hyaline, with
only the brown spot, the other markings wanting. Three
lines. Found in France, Holland, Austria, and England.
Genus Sybistroma, Meg. Antennas with the termi¬
nal joint oblong, compressed, having an elongate two-joint¬
ed seta on theback, the first joint longest; eyes separat¬
ed : abdomen of the male incurved at the apex, and fur¬
nished with two flat ciliated processes. Meig. Zw. iv. pi.
xxxiv. f. 18-20.
S. patellipes. Male. Hypostoma rather wide, white ;
forehead whitish with a metallic lustre : antennae with the
two basal joints black, the third ferruginous : body ob¬
scure brassy : legs yellow, the anterior tarsi of the male
orbicular, and of a black colour: halteres white; wings
brown. Two and a half lines. Communicated to Meigen
by Dr Leach, who found the insect in England.
Genus Dolichopus, Lat. Antennae with the third
joint trigonate, compressed; the dorsal seta pubescent:
eyes separated : abdomen of the male with the apex in¬
curved, and furnished with two membranous ciliated la¬
mellae : wings incumbent, parallel.
D. ungulatus. Hypostoma silver white, rather wide
in the female, and having a protuberance on each side
beneath : palpi blackish : antennae black: forehead, thorax,
and abdomen brassy green : sides of the thorax slate-grey :
coxae greyish black, the anterior pair rufous beneath :
abdomen bluish grey with a play of colour, the incisures
and a line on the back black: legs rufous : apex of the
hinder tibiae, and all the tarsi, black : wings slightly cine¬
reous : halteres yellowish white : anal segment of the ab¬
domen in the males black, with bright yellow lamellae
244
ENTOMOLOGY
Biptera which are edged with black. Three lines in length. Lat.
Probosci- Musca angulata, Linn.; Nemotelus omens, Degeer, Ins. vi.
veal'_/ ^85 15, pi. xi. f. 14-22. Found in England, the south of
Scotland, and various parts of the continent. The genus
contains upwards of fifty species, none of them much ex¬
ceeding three lines in length ; nearly the half inhabit Bri¬
tain. The larva of the one above mentioned is described
by Degeer. He found it under ground in the month of
May. It is white, cylindrical, eight lines in length, with
a pointed or conical anterior. The head varies in form,
being often sunk into the first segment. On the fourth of
Junn it became a nymph, of a much shorter and thicker
shayte than the larva. It was then very restless, rolling
about incessantly, with a constant movement of the ab¬
domen The perfect insect appeared on the 27th of the
same -nonth.
Genus Orthochile, Lat. Antennae porrect, the third
or terminal joint compressed, sub-orbiculate, and having a
dorsal seta : proboscis exserted, perpendicular, with acute
incumbent palpi: wings incumbent, parallel.
O. nigroccerulea. Thorax shining blue black, the sides
of the breast slate-grey: abdomen dark metallic green;
the anal segment in the males shining black : coxae slate-
grey ; the thighs black, with a ferruginous apex : tibiae
rufous, the hinder pair with the half next the apex black ;
tarsi black: wings brown. One line. Meig. Zw. pi.
xxxvi. fig. 5. Found in France and Germany.
FAMILY XVIIL—OCYPTEILE.
Antennae porrect, three-jointed : abdomen consisting of
six segments : wings without a transverse nervure, point¬
ed : proboscis concealed.
Genus Lonchoptera, Meig. (Plate CCLI. figures
21 and 21 a). Antennae with the basal joint thickened
at the apex, second cup-shaped, third sub-orbicular, com¬
pressed, with an elongate three-jointed villose seta at the
apex: proboscis retracted: abdomen linear, elongate:
wings lanceolate, incumbent, without transverse nervures.
Meig. Zw. iv. pi. xxxvi. f. 6-13.
L. tristis. Forehead dusky black; wings smoke colour:
under side of the head yellow: thorax shining black, the
sides yellow: abdomen black, the terminal segment of
the males with yellowish lamella;; legs yellow ; the hin¬
der tibiae somewhat clavate, stouter in the male than in
the other sex : halteres white. Has been taken by Dr
Leach in England, and occurs in the vicinity of London.
L. lutea, known by its yellow colour, and a narrow black
line along the whole length of the back, has recently been
observed in Dumfriesshire and some other southern coun¬
ties of Scotland.
FAMILY XIX—SCENOPINII.
Antennae deflexed, three-jointed ; the third joint trun¬
cated and without bristles : proboscis concealed: abdo¬
men consisting of eight segments.
Genus Scenupxnus, Lat, (Plate CCLI. figures 22
and 22 a.) Antennae sub-defiexed, three-jointed, the
lower joints small, third elongate, sub-cylindric, truncat-
ed, without a seta: proboscis retracted and concealed:
rallel”1611 inear’ flat’ eigllt>ringed ; wings incumbent, pa-
S. vitripennis. Head glossy black : body black; tho¬
rax with a faint metallic lustre : halteres brown : head
white beneath : legs yellowish red : wings hyaline,
and a half line. Not common. Near Moffat.
FAMILY XX—CONOPSARLE.
One Diptera.
Probosci-
desG.
Antennae porrect, three-jointed, angular at the base :
proboscis porrect, geniculated: thorax without a trans-
vei se suture : abdomen consisting of five or six segments :
halteres naked: wings incumbent. Meig. Zw. iv. xi.
Genus Conops, Linn. (Plate CCLI. figures 23 and
23 a.) Antenna; approximating, the first joint cylindric,
second and third clavate, the apex with a two-jointed
style : proboscis standing out, filiform, geniculated at the
base: ocelli wanting: wings incumbent, parallel.
C.Jlavipes. Antenna; black; head rufous, with a red¬
dish-brown inflated vesicle on the crown, in front of
which there is a black line; from this a black vitta ex¬
tends to the antenna;, where it becomes wider, but does
not reach the margin of the eyes: thorax deep black,
with a yellow spot on each shoulder, and another on each
side behind under the base of the wing: scutellum black,
margined with yellow: abdomen sub-cylindric, slightly
clavate behind, black; the second and third segments in
the male, and the fourth also in the female, with a bright
yellow band behind ; the basal segment with a yellow
spot on each side; the two terminal ones ash-grey: hal¬
teres rufous: legs yellow; thighs black, yellow at the
base; apex of the tarsi brown: wings with the anterior
margin more or less brownish. Five lines. C.flavipes,
Linn.; G. macrocepJtala, Samou. Comp. pi. ix. fig. 8.
Upwards of twenty species have been described as be¬
longing to this genus, only six of which have been ascer¬
tained to inhabit Britain. They are usually found on
flowers, and seldom occur in large numbers. The indivi¬
dual described is found not unfrequently in the south of
England, and occurs sparingly during the autumn in Rox¬
burghshire, and the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, gene¬
rally on the flowers of Senecio Jacobcea.
Con. melanocephala of one of Meigen’s earlier works
was merely a specimen of the above in which the head
had become black.
It appears that the females of these insects deposit
their eggs in the larvae of humble-bees (Bombas), or even
in the bodies of the perfect insects. Latreille, indeed,
has frequently observed them issue from the abdomen of
tlm latter. MM. Lachat and Audouin presented a me¬
moir to the Societe Philomatique, on an apodal larva which
they found in the month of July, in the interior of Bom-
bus lapidarius, and which they deemed the larva of Co-
nopsJftavipes.1 Bose seems to have also noticed this pa¬
rasite, but he mistook it for an intestinal worm properly
so called.2
Genus Zodion, Lat. Antennae with the basal joint
cylindric, second clavate, compressed at the base, third
ovate, the back with a style : ocelli three : proboscis
standing out, filiform, elongate, geniculated at the base:
wings parallel, incumbent.
„ cinereum. Hypostoma pale reddish yellow, the mar¬
gin of the eyes white, the latter colour extending half
way up the forehead : forehead reddish yellow anteriorly,
passing into dark brown above: antennae black, the third
joint rufescent, with a blackish apex ; sometimes the
second joint is likewise rufescent anteriorly: thorax cine¬
reous, with four blackish longitudinal lines on the back,
of which the two central ones are abbreviated, the sides
and hinder part spotted with black: abdomen cinereous,
1 See Mem. de la Soc. d'Hist. Nat. t. i. p. 330, pi, xxii.
1 Diction. Class. d'Hist. Nat. t. iv. p. 404.
E N T O M
Diptera the incisures from the second to the fourth marked witli
11obosci- a cioss row of elevated black points; the back sometimes
t J w‘th four blackish evanescent spots: anal segment of the
^ males shining black: legs cinereous, the tarsi blackish :
wings somewhat brownish, slightly ferruginous at the base.
Three lines. Meig. Zw. iv. pi. xxxvii.'figs. 6, 7 ; Myopa
cincrea, tab.; Zodion conopsoides, Lat. Usually found on
umbelliferous flowers. It is an inhabitant of England,
France, and various parts of the continent of Europe.
Genus Myopa, Fab. Antennae with the basal joint cy-
lindric, second clavate, compressed at the base, third glo¬
bose, with a dorsal style : ocelli three: proboscis standing
out, filiform, elongate, geniculated at the base and mid¬
dle: wings incumbent, parallel. Meig. Zw. iv. 140.
M. buccata. Hypostoma white, without spots ; fore¬
head dark brown, with grey spots ; antenna: testaceous,
third joint reddish yellow : thorax spotted with black and
cinereous: shoulders testaceous: scutellum dark brown :
abdomen testaceous or reddish brown, spotted with grey
on t’ne sides: legs testaceous ; thighs blackish before the
apex : tibiae with a dark-brown ring at the middle, and
another at the apex; tarsi rufous: wing-scales white: hal-
teres pale yellow ; wings clouded with pale brown, the
small cross nervure not darker coloured. Meig. iv. 142.
Conops buccata, Linn. Occurs at times on umbelliferous
flowers, in gardens and fields, throughout England and
the south of Scotland. Botanic Garden, Edinburgh. M.
picta, which does not differ much from the above, is like¬
wise found in similar situations near Edinburgh.
FAMILY XXI—STOMOXIDjE.
Antennae deflexed, three-jointed, obtuse beneath : third
joint with a dorsal seta: proboscis porrect, geniculated :
abdomen consisting of four segments: halteres covered
with a double wing-scale. Meig. Zw. iv. xi.
Genus Siphona, Meig. Antennae with the lower
joints small ; third elongate, linear, obtuse; the base with
a naked dorsal seta: proboscis exserted, horizontal, fili¬
form, geniculated at the base and middle : wings divari¬
cating. Meig. Zw. iv. 154.
S. tachinaria. Thorax and scutellum pale cinereous ;
the abdomen nearly conical, pale ferruginous ; the first and
second segments pellucid at the sides, the incisures wjiit-
ish, with small wart-like spots: thorax, scutelium, and
abdomen of the females likewise pale ferruginous ; the
latter elliptical, and the sides not so clearly pellucid ; legs
ferruginous, with brown tarsi. Two lines. Meig. Zw.
pi. xxxvii. fig. 25 ; Stomoxys cristata, Fab. Inhabits Eu¬
rope. Has been found in England, but is very scarce.
Genus Stromoxys, Fab. (Plate CCLI. figures 27 and
27 a); from crrc/xa, the mouth, and ofus, sharp. Anten¬
nae incumbent, with the lower joints small; third elon¬
gate, compressed, linear, obtuse, with a dorsal seta at the
base; proboscis standing out, horizontal, geniculated at
the base ; wings divaricating.
S. calcitrans. Hypostoma yellowish white : proboscis
stiff, porrect, shining black beneath, with filiform, short,
O L O G Y. 245
ferruginous palpi: forehead wide with a block line, some- Diptera
what narrower in the males than in the females: antennae Frobosci-
brown, with a seta which is plumose on one side: thorax ^ete' y
cinereous, with short hairs and a black line along the^'-
back : abdomen rounded, covered with short hairs, cine¬
reous, with shining black spots: legs black brown: wing-
scales white: wings uncoloured. Three lines. Conops cal¬
citrans, Linn.; Degeer, Ins. vi. 39, 11; Musca pungens,
pi. iv. fig. 12-18. Not unfrequent throughout Britain.
This is the common well-known stinging-fly, which, in hot
and sultry summer days, persecutes men and beasts with
its painful bite. It attacks the legs in preference to any
other part of the body. Even horses and cattle are not
protected by their thicker hides. It is said to be most
annoying before a storm. The C. calcitrans is so like a
common house-fly, as to have induced the erroneous be¬
lief that the latter is also a blood-sucker. The females
lay their eggs in dunghills. According to the observa¬
tions of MM. Lepelletier and Serville (JEncyclop. Meth.'),
many individuals survive the winter in a state of torpi¬
dity,—twenty having been sometimes found together in a
mass, within the hollow of a tree.
FAMILY XXII.—CESTftACIDES.
Antennae small, three-jointed ; the third joint with a
naked seta: mouth closed up, without a distinct probos¬
cis : abdomen pubescent, consisting of four or five seg¬
ments. Meig. Zw. iv. xi.
Genus (Estrus, Linn. (Plate CCLI. figures 24 and
24 a.) Antennae with the lower joints minute, the third
globose, with a naked seta: mouth closed :l halteres
covered: wings spreading, the apex with a transverse
nervure.
Q£. ovis. Hypostoma flesh red : forehead dusky red,
with a reddish line, and blackish depressions: antennae
black: thorax cinereous, sprinkled with small blackish
warts, each of which supports a fine hair; on the neck
these warts form lines: scutellum pale brown, with black¬
ish warts placed without order : abdomen arched, round¬
ed, obtuse, silky white, with a yellowish play of colour in
some places, and prettily sprinkled with irregular spots of
a deep shining black: legs pale red : wing-scales large and
white : wings clear hyaline, with a blackish transverse
nervure at the middle. Five lines. Meig. Zw. pi. xxxviii.
fig. 16 ; Linn. Fab.; Reaumur, Ins. iv. Mem. xii. lab. xxxv.
fig. 10-15; Clark, Linn. Trans, iii. tab. xxiii. fig. 14-17.
Of the nine European species of CEstrus, as now restrict¬
ed, only three inhabit Britain, viz. the one above de¬
scribed, and (27.jtnctas (Curtis, Brit. Ent. iii. pi. cvi.), and
Boris. (E. ericetorum of Dr Leach is not regarded by
Meigen as essentially distinct from that last named.
The injury and annoyance which the insects of this
genus, familiarly known under the names of breeze, gad¬
fly, &c. cause to sheep and cattle, render them deserving
of our careful consideration. Mr Bracy Clark, to whom
we still owe the best account of their economy,2 procured,
about the middle of June, some full-grown larvae of CE.
ovis, from the inside of the cavities of the bone which
1 Meigen’s expression, mund geschlosscn, is obscure. It has in fact been doubted whether the insects of this and the following ge¬
nus had any mouths. Linnaeus says, “ Os nullum punctis tribusbut, according to Mr Bracy Clark, when the hairs, which in all
the species greatly obscure the oral organs, are removed, two clavated pa/pi are seen, and between the opening of the mouth ; “ and
by laying open the vesicular or inflated part of the face, the continuation of it is visible in the form of a membranous haustellum,
which is generally coloured with some dark-brown matter lodging on the inside ; though I confess, after repeated dissections, I have
not been able to trace this haustellum farther than the inside of the inflated part of the head, wTere it appears to enlarge and termi¬
nate. Fabricius has minutely described labia to the haustellum, and other apparatus to the mouth, which I have not been fortunate
in obtaining a sight of. At the same time 1 cannot help being surprised that he should have overlooked the palpi, which he expressly
denies the existence of, though tolerably visible even without the aid of glasses.” {Linn. Trans, vol. iii. p. 322.)
2 Observations on the Germs (Estrus, Linn. Trans, vol. iii. p. 289 ; see also the author’s later work, An Essay on the Bots of Horses
and other Animals, 4to, 1815. It is quoted and referred to by a recent French writer under the title of “ The Bost of Horse!”
246 E N T O M
Diptera supports the horns of the sheep. They were nearly an
Probosci- ]ong5 0f a delicate white colour, flat on the under
side, and convex on the upper ; having no spines at the
divisions of the segments of the body, though provided with
tentacula at the smaller end. When young they are en¬
tirely white, but as they increase in size their upper side
becomes marked with two transverse brown lines on each
segment, and some spots become visible upon the sides.
They move with considerable quickness, holding with the
tentacula as a fixed point, and drawing up the body to¬
wards them. There is a broad line of dots on the under
surface, which appear as rough points under a microscope,
and probably serve both for locomotion, and for exciting
such a degree of inflammation in the membrane on which
they rest, as to cause the secretion of lymph or pus. Mr
Clark has usually found these larvae in the horns or fron¬
tal sinuses, though he has remarked that the membranes
of those cavities were scarcely at all inflamed, while those
of the maxillary sinuses were highly so. From this he is
led to suspect that they inhabit the maxillary sinuses, and
crawl, on the death of the animal, towards the horns and
frontal sinuses. In common with CE. Bovis, they do not
seem confined to any particular season, for young and
old are found together at the same time. When full
grown they fall through the nostrils, and change to the
pupa state, lying on the earth, or adhering by the side to
a blade of grass. The fly bursts the shell of the pupa in
about two months.
The manner in which the perfect insect lays its eggs
is difficult to determine, owing to its obscure colour and
extremely rapid movements. The great agitation of the
sheep also interferes with accurate observation, but its
general motions and method of defence leave little doubt
that the eggs are deposited on the inner margin of the
nostril. “ The moment,” Mr Clark observes, “ the fly
touches this part of the sheep, they shake their heads,
and strike the ground violently with their fore feet; at
the same time, holding their noses close to the earth, they
run away, looking about them on every side, to see if the
fly pursues; they also smell to the grass as they go, lest
one should be lying in wait for them. If they observe
one, they gallop back, or take some other direction. As
they cannot, like the horses, take refuge in the water,
they have recourse to a rut, or dry dusty road, or gravel
pits, where they crowd together during the heat of the
day, with their noses held close to the ground, which ren¬
ders it difficult for the fly to get at the nostril.” Mr C.
imagines that the last-named part, from the constant at¬
tacks, and the consequent rubbing upon the ground, be¬
comes inflamed and painful, which occasions their touch
to be so greatly dreaded by the sheep.
The CEstrus Bovis, in the perfect state, is a very beau-
tifal insect, and one of the largest of the European spe¬
cies. The wings are without spots ; the abdomen has a
central band of black, and is clothed at the extremity by
reddish-yellow hairs. Although its effects on cattle have
been often remarked, yet the fly itself, as Mr Clark has
observed, is rarely seen or taken, “ as the attempt would
be attended with considerable danger.” It inflicts greater
pain in depositing its eggs than any other species. “ When
one of the cattle is attacked with this fly, it is easily known
by the extreme terror and agitation of the whole herd :
the unfortunate object of the attack runs bellowing from
among them to some distant part of the heath, or the
O L O G Y.
nearest water, while the tail, from the severity of the pain, Diptera
is held with a tremulous motion straight from the body, Probosci-
in the direction of the spine, and the head and neck are
also stretched out to the utmost. The rest, from fear,
generally follow to the water, or disperse to different parts
of the field. And such is the dread and apprehension in
the cattle, of this fly, that I have seen one of them meet
the herd when almost driven home, and turn them back,
regardless of the stones, sticks, and noise of their drivers ;
nor could they be stopped till they reached their accus¬
tomed retreat in the water. When oxen are yoked to
the plough, the attack of this fly is attended with real
danger, as they become perfectly uncontrollable, and will
often run with the plough directly forwards, through the
hedges, or whatever obstructs their way.” The attack of
this small but dreaded foe has indeed been often describ¬
ed, and by none with more of taste and accuracy than by
the “ Mantuan Bard. ’
Est lucos Silari circa, ilicibusque virentem
Plurimus Alburnum volitans, cui nomen Asilo
Romanum est, CEstron Graii vertere vocantes :
Asper, acerba sonans : quo tota exterritu sylvis
Diffugiunt armenta; f'usit mugitibus aether
Concussus, sylvaeque et sicci ripa Tanagri.1
The female deposits her eggs with great rapidity, and
does not remain above a few seconds on the back of the
animal. The larvae live beneath the skin, between it and
the cellular membrane, in a proper sack or abscess, rather
larger than the insect. When young they are smooth,
white, and transparent, become darker as they increase,
and when full grown are of a deep-brown colour. After
a time they work their way out, fall to the ground, and
assume the state of chrysalis, in which they continue from
about the latter end of June till towards the middle of
August, when the perfect insect makes its appearance.
Genus Gastrus, Meig.; CEstrus, Linn.; Gasterophi-
lus, Leach. (Plate CCLI. figures 25, 28, and 28 a.) An¬
tennae with the lower joints small, the third compressed
and furnished with a naked dorsal seta: mouth closed:
halteres naked : wings without a transverse nervure at
the apex. Meig. Zw. iv. tab. xxxviii. fig. 18-23.
G. Equi. Head with fine hairs, yellowish grey, the
forehead rather darker, with two reddish-brown vittae : an¬
tennae ferruginous: thorax anteriorly with ferruginous
pubescence, that on the hinder part of a darker colour,
the sides with rather long glistening hairs passing into
whitish yellow : scutellum with black pubescence behind :
abdomen ferruginous, the pubescence fine, with a silky
gloss ; the back with a triangular blackish spot on each of
the segments, and sprinkled with several small spots, at
least in the male : legs and halteres ferruginous: wing-
scales white: wings whitish; having a waved brownish-
grey band across the middle, and two spots of the same
colour at the apex : the ovipositor of the females is thick,
cylindrical, and of a shining black colour. Five lines.
Meig. Zw. iv. pi. xxxviii. 21, 22; CEs. Bovis, Linn. ; CE.
Equi, Linn. Trans, iii. 298, pi. xxiii. f. 7-9.
Not common in Britain. This species, likewise known
by the name of breeze or gad-fly, usually frequents ele¬
vated heathy districts, and we have observed it flying
about the summits of the Westmoreland hills,2 and those
of Roxburghshire. Mr Bracy Clark has also furnished us
with some valuable information on the manners and me¬
tamorphosis of this insect, the larvae of which are com-
1 Georg, lib. iii.
2 On one occasion particularly, on crossing some hill pasture above Elleray, the seat of Professor Wilson, we were suddenly attacked
hy three of these insects. They flew round about us in a state of angry excitement, coming sometimes within a few inches of the
face, and keeping so close to each other, that, having the forceps in hand, we captured the whole three at once, to their great surprise,
and probably disappointment.
Diptera
Probosci-
dese.
ENTOMOLOGY.
monly called hots. “ The mode pursued by the parent ply,—viz. CE. luzmorrhoidalis, nasalis, Clarkii, and saluti-
fly to obtain for its young a situation in the stomach of ferus.3
the horse is truly singular, and is effected in the following
manner:—When the female has been impregnated, and
the eggs are sufficiently matured, she seeks among the
horses a subject for ber purpose, and approaching it on
the wing, she holds her body nearly upright in the air, and
her tail, which is lengthened for the purpose, curved in¬
wards and upwards: in this way she approaches the part
where she designs to deposit the egg, and suspending her¬
self for a few seconds before it, suddenly darts upon it,
and leaves the egg adhering to the hair : she hardly ap¬
pears to settle, but merely touches the hair with the egg
held out on the projected point of the abdomen. The egg
is made to adhere by means of a glutinous liquor secreted
with it. She then leaves the horse at a small distance,
and prepares a second egg, and, poising herself before the
part, deposits it in the same way. The liquor dries, and
the eggs become firmly glued to the hair: this is repeat¬
ed by various flies till 400 or 500 eggs are sometimes
placed on one horse. The horses, when they become used
to this fly, and find it does them no injury, as the Tahani
and Conopes, by sucking their blood, hardly regard it,
and do not appear at all aware of its insidious object.”1
The inside of the knee is the part usually chosen, although
other places are sometimes selected. It is worthy of
note, however, that these ova are always laid where they
are most liable to be licked off by the horse’s tongue. It
247
Diptera
Probosci-
deae.
FAMILY XXIII.—MUSCIDES.-
Antennae inclined, three-jointed, obtuse beneath: the
third joint with a seta on the back: proboscis concealed,
geniculated at the base : thorax with a transverse suture :
abdomen having from four to six segments. Meig. Zw.
iv. xi.
Genus Xysta, Meig. Antennae incumbent, shorter
than the hypostoma, second and third joints nearly equal,
compressed ; the terminal one with a naked dorsal seta at
the base : mouth with a mystax: abdomen convex, con¬
sisting of five or six segments: wings divaricating.
X. cilipes. Hypostoma and forehead greyish white,
the last with a black line : palpi ferruginous, the apex
brown : thorax dark grey, with three blackish lines : ab¬
domen shining black, consisting of six segments ; the two
terminal segments grey, the apex having a shining black
bent appendage: legs black, strong : the hinder tibiae
arched, dilated, and fringed with long black bristles :
wing-scales white ; halteres slender, black : wings hyaline,
yellowish at the base. Three and a half lines. Meig.
Zw. iv. 182, pi. xxxix. f. 5.
Two species only belong to this genus, both of which
appear to be scarce on the continent, and neither of them
is not, however, precisely the eggs themselves which are has been observed in Britain,
conveyed into the interior of the animal. Mr Clark found Genus Phasia, Lat. Antennas incumbent, shorter
that after they have remained four or five days on the than the hypostoma, third joint rather longer than the
hairs, they became ripe,—after which the slightest appli¬
cation of warmth and moisture is sufficient to bring forth
the latent larva in an instant. “ At this time, if the
tongue of the horse touches the egg, its operculum is
thrown open, and a small active worm is produced, which
second, obtuse ; the base with a naked dorsal seta : mouth
villose : abdomen depressed, pubescent, consisting of five
segments : wings divaricating. Meig. Zw. iv. pi. xxxix.
f. 6-16.
P. subcoleoptrata. Hypostoma whitish, with a pearly
readily adheres to the moist surface of the tongue, and is play of colour ; forehead white, with a changeable dark
from thence conveyed with the food to the stomach.” • anfpnntP hlnr'kish hrnwn ; thorax liedit e-rev. with
Mr Clark has often clipped off some hairs with eggs on
them, and holding them in his hand, moistened with sali¬
va, has seen them hatched in a few seconds. If the larvae
pass the dreadful ordeal of mastication, and are transmit- . .
ted uninjured to the horse’s stomach, they attach them- black brown, with a dark dorsal line : wing-scales of the
selves to every part of it, but are generally most numer- male brownish, of the female white: legs blackish : wings
ous about the pylorus. Sometimes, but much less fre- of the male broad, yellowish at the base, the anterior mar-
quently, they occur in the intestines. Their numbers gin having a brown vitta extending rather beyond the
various, from half a dozen to above a hun- middle, and there is another of the same colour along the
~ centre, which is dilated at the apex so as to appear some-
grey line ; antennte blackish brown ; thorax light grey, with
four black lines, the two central ones abbreviated behind :
scutellum cinereous : abdomen oval, flat, black brown in
the male, with cinereous, and sometimes reddish-brown
reflections, the apex golden yellow: that of the female
are very
dred. They generally hang in clusters, being fixed by . . - -
the small end to the inner membrane of the stomach, to what curved forwards; wings of the female comparatively
narrow, hyaline, somewhat yellowish at the base. Male
which they adhere by means of two small hooks or tenta-
cula. When removed from the stomach they will attach
themselves to any loose membrane with which they may
come in contact, and even to the skin of the hand. On
attaining to their full size, they pass by the intestinal
canal, drop to the ground, and enter the chrysalis state.
Upon the whole, Mr Clark does not regard these insects
as hurtful to horses, but rather views them favourably, as
natural stimuli. Valisnieri, however, considered them
as the cause of the epidemic malady which in 1713 car¬
ried off so many horses in the territories of Mantua and
the Veronese.2
four, female three lines. Meig. Zw. iv. 190, pi. xxxix.
f. 13.
Occurs in the northern parts of the continent of Eu¬
rope and in Britain, but appears to be rare. P. hemiptera,
semicinerea, and pusilla, are the only other kinds hitherto
found in Britain, although the genus contains upwards of
thirty species.
Genus Gymnosoma, Meig.; from yvpvoi, naked, and
(Supa, the body. Antennae with the second and third joints
nearly equal ; the terminal one compressed, linear, obtuse ,
with a naked dorsal seta at the base : mouth naked: ab-
Four other species are found in Britain, besides the one domen nearly naked, globose, consisting of four segments:
to which the preceding observations more particularly ap- wings spreading. Meig. Zw. iv. pi. xxxix. f. 17-22.
i See Linn. Trans, vol. iii- p- 298 ; and the Essay mentioned in preceding note.
* Ragionamento inform all' (Estre de Buoi. Opere, t. i. 3. Stephens Systematic Catalogue part n. p. 296.
4 The tribe Muscides of Latreille (excepting, we believe, the genera Diopsis, Scenopma, ana Achias) h&s been recently created
into a separate order, named Myodauia:, by M. llobineau Desvoidy. See an abstract of his views in the Diction. Class, d Hist.
Nat. t. xi. p. 365.
248 E N T O M
Ihptera G. rolundata. Male. Hypostoma straw-colour, silky:
deceC1" foreliead g°1(Jen yellow, with a brownish vitta changing
1 - let^ : an^enn‘E black; the third joint ferruginous on
the inner side at the base; thorax dull-ferruginous, with
four brownish longitudinal lines, and a shining black trans¬
verse band behind : scutellum black ; abdomen ferrugi¬
nous, pellucid, with black spots on the back; legs black :
wings brownish, ferruginous at the base : wing-scales dirty
white.
Female. Hypostoma and forehead pearl-white; the
frontal vitta brown: thorax cinereous on the sides and
beneath. Four lines. Musca rotundata, Ocyp-
tera rotundata, Lat. On flowers and shrubs : found near
London, and on the continent, not unfrequently.
Genus Ocyptera, Meig. (Plate CCLI. figures 26
and 26 a.) Antennae somewhat deflexed, third joint
longer than the second, linear, compressed, obtuse, having
a naked dorsal seta at the base: mouth furnished with a
mystax : abdomen elongate, cylindric, subsetose, four-
ringed : wings spreading. Meig. Zto. iv. pi. xxxix. f.
23-29.
O. brassicaria. Hypostoma and forehead silky white,
the former with two narrow black lines, the latter with a
broad black vitta: antennae blackish: thorax anteriorly
slate grey, with four black lines, the two in the centre
narrow : abdomen with the first and second segments san¬
guineous, the former with a large triangular mark of black
on the back, the two terminal segments black, the penul¬
timate one silvery on the anterior margin; legs black:
wing-scales pale white : wings brownish grey, the base
ferruginous. Five to six lines. Meig. iv. 211, pi. xxxix.
f. 29. Apparently a scarce species. It occurs near Edin¬
burgh.
M. Leon Dufour, in a memoir on the insects of this ge¬
nus, has shown that the larvae of two species, O. cctssidce and
bicolor, are parasitical,—the first in the visceral cavity of
Cassida bicolor, the second in that of Pentatoma grisea.
Each feeds upon the epiploon or fatty matter of his
host.1
Genus Lophosia, Meig. Antennae deflexed, the two
basal joints minute, the third very large, compressed, tri¬
angular, with a naked dorsal seta at the base : mouth
with a mystax : abdomen cylindric, composed of four seg¬
ments : wings spreading. Meig. Zw. iv. pi. xl. f. 1-4.
fasciata. Hypostoma silky white; antennae with the
two first joints black, the third brown: thorax bristly,
shining black above, dark grey on the sides, with a
changeable cinereous spot on each shoulder: abdomen
sub-eylindric, arched, slightly narrowed at the base, brist¬
ly, of a shining black colour, the anterior margin of the
second and third segments changeable white: thighs
black, somewhat pubescent, bluish white beneath, with a
naked white spot on the inner side at the apex; anterior
tibiae blackish brown, posterior rufous : tarsi black : wings
hjahne, with a broad obsolete cross band of a brownish
colour before the apex. Five lines.
I his genus is readily distinguishable from all the allied
genera by the large and distinctly trigonate terminal joint
of the antennae. It contains but one species, which oc¬
curs on the continent.
Genus Phania, Meig.; named from yaws, because
most of the species are pellucid. Antennae deflexed,
tliird joint elongate, linear, compressed, obtuse; the base
with a naked dorsal seta: mouth with a mystax: abdo¬
men consisting of four segments, the apex elongate, and
bent^ inwards : wings spreading. Meig. Zw. iv. pi. xl. f.
O L O G Y.
P. curvicauda. Head silver white, with a black play of Diptera
colour: palpi and antennae black brown; the third joint Trobosci-
with a finely pubescent seta, thickened at the base; fore- deae.
head with a deep black line, broadest in the female:
body shining black, bristly, except on the shoulders,
where there are white spots: wing-scales white: halteres
black brown ; wings brownish grey, the base yellowish :
legs black, Meig. iv. 221, pi. xl. f. 10. Rare: it occurs
in Britain along with two other species, P. vittata and
thoracica.
Genus Taixy, Meig. Antennae incumbent, short;
second and third joints equal, terminal ovate, having a
naked dorsal seta at its base: hypostoma villose, without
a mystax : wings spreading, with a transverse nervure at
the apex. Meig. Ziv. iv. pi. xl. f. 11-16.
1. dorsalis. Hypostoma cinereous ; palpi and antennae
black brown: thorax ash grey, with four black lines: scu¬
tellum black: abdomen rufous, having a broad dorsal line
of black, which at the base of the segments changes with
a play of colour into whitish grey ; the third and fourth
segments have a similar play of colour on the sides ; wing-
scales white : wings greyish ; the small cross nerve of the
middle rather thick, black, edged with brown: legs black;
tibiae.and tarsi faintly rufescent. Five lines. Inhabits
Britain, but is scarce. Only one other species of the six
described by Meigen is known to be British,— T. varie-
gata, wh\ch has occurred in the neighbourhood of Lon¬
don, in Dumfriesshire, and near Edinburgh.
Genus Miltogramma, Meig. Antennae incumbent,
third joint elongate, linear, compressed ; the base with a
naked dorsal seta: mouth setose : wings spreading, the
apex with a transverse nervure. Mei^. Zw. pi. xl. f. 17-
26. ° 1
M. fasciata. Hypostoma white, with flesh-coloured
play of colour: palpi and antennae clear reddish yellow;
the frontal vitta rather broad : thorax and scutellum cine¬
reous, with three black lines: abdomen conical, the first
segment black, the following white anteriorly, and banded
with black behind; on the sides the white passes with a
play of colour into brownish red : legs black: wing-scales
white. Four lines. Meig. iv. 227, pi. xl. f. 26.
I he males have been found in Germany, the females
are unknown.
Genus Tachina, Illig. Antennae deflexed or incum¬
bent, the third joint truncated beneath ; the base with a
naked dorsal seta: mouth with a mystax: wings spread¬
ing, having a transverse nervure at the apex. MeD. Zw.
iv. 234, pi. xl.
1. grossa. Head ferruginous, with a brown frontal line
changing into ferruginous; palpi ferruginous, with black
bristles; antennae blackish brown at the base ; second
joint ferruginous, third sub-quadrate, brown with a yellow¬
ish play of colour : seta black : body shining black : wing-
scales dark brown : wings greyish, the base ferruginous:
legs black. Eight lines. Meig. iv. 239. Musca grossa,
Linn.; Echinomyia grossa, Lat. Found occasionally in
most parts of Britain. We took it in Sutherland. It is
one of the largest of the European Diptera. The larva
lives in the dung of cattle, and is described by Reaumur.
We may observe that the genus Tachina, notwithstanding
the labours of recent writers, is still a great magazine of
ill-assorted species. Considerably above three hundred
occur in Europe.
Genus Gonia, Meig.; from yoviu, an angle, referring
to the form of the antennal seta. Antennae deflexed, in¬
cumbent, the third joint elongate, prismatic, the base
with a naked seta, which is three-jointed and geniculate:
' AnnaUs des Sciences Nat. t. x. p. 248. See also R'tgne Animal, t. v. p. 513.
E N T O M
Diptera eyes remote : wings spreading, the apex with a transverse
Probosci- nerve.
u(leae;_, G. capitata. Head reddish-yellow, with a whitish play
of colour; palpi ferruginous; antennae dark brown; the
second joint ferruginous: thorax blackish, passing into
brown on the back, with an ash-grey play of colour, and
marked with four black lines; scutellum brownish yel¬
low: abdomen pellucid, ferruginous, shining, with an in¬
distinct dorsal line of black ; the first and second incisures
have a very narrow, and the third a wider edge of change¬
able whitish yellow: belly ferruginous ; legs black : wing-
scales white : wings somewhat grey, with the base yellow¬
ish. Six to seven lines. Musca capitata, Degeer, Ins. vi.
12, 2.
This genus is of limited extent, not including more
than a dozen species. Two of these, besides the above,
occur in Britain, but are by no means common. G. capi¬
tata seems to be most plentiful in Sweden.
Genus Zeuxia, Meig. Antennae incumbent, the se¬
cond and third joints equal, the third or terminal one com¬
pressed and obtuse, having a plumose dorsal seta at the
base : mouth with a mystax, and clavate projecting
palpi: wings spreading, the apex with a transverse nerve.
Z. cinerea. Hypostoma white: forehead wide, bristly,
white with a small black line: palpi extended horizontal¬
ly, large and clavate, ferruginous; antennae brown : tho¬
rax bristly, having a suture across the back, the colour
pale grey, with four black lines anteriorly, and three be¬
hind, the central ones much narrower than those at the
sides : abdomen bristly, conical, four-ringed, and of an
ash-grey colour changing into brown : legs black : wing-
scales large, the halteres covered : wings nearly hyaline.
Three lines. Has been found in Germany.
Genus Idia, Meig. Antennae incumbent, the third or
terminal joint oblong, having a dorsal seta at the base,
plumose on one of the sides: palpi projecting, clavate :
wings with a transverse nerve at the apex.
I. fasciata. Hypostoma shining black, spotted with
white, and not furnished with a mystax : antennae shorter
than the hypostoma, and of a brown colour : thorax ash-
grey, the colour playing into black, with three broad lines
of black down the middle : scutellum grey, with a black¬
ish play of colour: abdomen oval, black, with three ru¬
fous interrupted bands: belly yellowish red : legs black:
wing-scales white, entirely covering the halteres: wings
greyish. Three lines. Has been found at Marseilles, and
on the hills near Frejus, but is very rare.
Genus Mesembrina, Meig. The generic term is a
Greek word signifying meridian. Antennae incumbent,
the third or terminal joint oblong, prismatic, having a
plumose dorsal seta at the base: body hirsute: wings
spreading, and furnished with a transverse nerve at the
apex.
M. meridiana. Hypostoma black, with a large angu¬
lar spot of a bright gold colour on each side: forehead
shining black, with a dull black streak: palpi black: an-
tennae dark brown, the seta ferruginous at the base : body
and legs shining black ; the two last joints of the anterior
tarsi brown in the males, all the onychii yellow : halteres
brown : wing-scales, and likewise the base of the wing,
ferruginous. Six lines. Musca meridiana, Linn. Fab.
Common throughout Britain during the summer and au¬
tumnal months, on flowers and in woods—often seen rest¬
ing on the stems of trees.
The larva of this species lives in cow-dung. It is yel¬
low, conical, and composed of many segments. At the
mouth or narrowest end it has only one hook, and four
short fleshy horns or warts. The hinder end or anus is,
as it were, four-cornered and truncated, and has two cir¬
cular brown spots, which are slightly raised, and are each
VOL. IX.
O L O G Y. 249
perforated by a single air-hole. The two anterior air- 1P*Pter^
holes are placed on the sides of the first segment. The ™e^se1'
larva changes itself in its own skin into a dark-brown i_r_ L,
nymph, which is nine-cornered behind, or nearly circular,
and the posterior air-holes are observable. In summer
the fly appears in a few weeks, but the nymphs formed
late in the season continue throughout the winter, and pro¬
duce the perfect insect in the spring.
The species of this genus are not regarded as generi-
cally distinct by Latreille, but form part of his genus
Musca, or Mouches proprement dites.
Genus Sarcophaga, Meig. Named from <rag|, flesh,
and payw, I eat. Antennse incumbent, the third or ter¬
minal joint oblong, prismatic, the base with a plumose
seta, naked at the apex: eyes not united: wings spread¬
ing, and furnished with a transverse nerve at the apex.
Meig. Zw. v. 14, pi. xliii. fig. 1-10.
S. mortuorum. Head silky golden yellow, with a red¬
dish play of colour; palpi ferruginous; antennse fulvous,
changing into whitish grey; line down the forehead red¬
dish brown, changing into golden yellow : thorax black¬
ish, with a grey play of colour, and black lines : abdomen
shining steel blue; belly and legs black: wing-scales white:
wings greyish. Five to six lines. Musca mortuorum, Linn.
Fab. Frequent in the south of Scotland, in England, and
apparently throughout the north of Europe, except Ger¬
many, where it is said to be rare.
In this genus the eggs are not unfrequently hatched
within the body of the mother, which has induced their
being regarded as viviparous,—strictly, ovoviviparous. Of
this kind is the S. carnaria (Musca carnaria, Linn.), a
species somewhat larger than the common flesh-fly (M.
vornitoria). The female deposits her living larvae on meat,
carcasses, and even on wounded or diseased subjects of
the human race.
Genus Dexia, Meig. Antennae incumbent, the third
or terminal joint elongate and compressed, with a densely
plumose seta at the base: abdomen conical (in the male)
or oblong-elliptical (in the female) : wings spreading.
D. compressa. Hypostoma of a shining silvery hue, with
a black play of colour ; forehead shining black, with a
deep-black vitta; palpi rufous; antennae nearly the length
of the hypostoma, slender, the seta with a short plume :
thorax bluish grey, with two wide shining black lines,
which are contmued over the grey scutellum to the sides:
abdomen somewhat compressed on the sides, shining ru¬
fous, with a blackish line on the back spotted with grey;
the incisures bright silver white, with a play of colour;
legs black, with rufous thighs : wing-scale large and
white : wings with a marginal spine, brown, clouded, and
yellow at the base. Four to five lines. Ocyptera rufa,Yd!o.\
Musca ruflventris. Fallen. Rather scarce : has been found
in Germany, Spain, England, and some other parts of Eu¬
rope. Twenty-four species are referred to this genus,
fourteen of which seem to be indigenous to Britain.
Genus Musca, Linn. Antennas incumbent, the third
joint elongate, obtuse, compressed in a prismatic form,
the base with a plumose dorsal seta: abdomen ovate,
setose: wings spreading, the apex with a transverse
nerve.
M. maculata. Male. Hypostoma white, with a brown
play of colour; forehead white, with a blackish vitta, which
becomes narrow above ; palpi black : thorax whitish, with
four broad black lines, the two central ones united behind
the cross suture, and drawn over the scutellum in the
form of a lozenge ; the scutellum having a black spot on
the side : abdomen globose, grey, with a light testaceous-
red play of colour„and several deep black spots of differ¬
ent form and size: legs black; wing-scales dirty white:
wines somewhat brownish
2 i
250 E N T O M
Diptera Female. Forehead wide, whitish, with a deep-black
Probosci- double vitta : thorax light grey, the lines narrower than
de®- in the male: abdomen light grey, rarely inclining to tes-
taceous; the spots and other characters as in the other
sex. Four lines. Musca maculata, Gmelin. Degeer. Ins.
vi. 41, 13. In summer and harvest in hedges and on
flowers ; not rare. It is frequent in Roxburghshire during
the autumn on the flowers of Senecio Jacobcca. Many of
the insects of this genus are very common. M. Ccesar,
distinguished by its brilliant golden-green colour, and M.
vomitoria, commonly called the jlesh-jly, are abundant on
carcasses throughout Europe. The common house-fly,
M. domestica, is remarkable for its extensive distribution,
being found in Pennsylvania, New Orleans, and other parts
of the new world.
We may observe in regard to the last-named species,
that it is subject to a singular disease, of which the cause
is not yet known. A white crust forms upon the abdo¬
men, which becomes greatly distended, and the segments
become distant from each other, so as to produce a ringed
appearance. In this condition it is frequently found
dead, adhering to walls, and'sometimes to the stalks or
leaves of plants. Its body is at this time filled with a
fatty matter, which has been observed to have exploded
on all sides through the pores.
Genus Anthomyia, Meig.; from ai/0os, a flower, and
/tu/a, a fly. Antennae deflexed, the third or terminal
joint oblong, compressed, obtuse, the base with a plu¬
mose, pilose, or naked seta; the frontal vitta obscure,
narrowed above in the male : mouth with a mystax : ab¬
domen consisting of four segments, setose: wings spread¬
ing or incumbent, without a transverse nerve at the
apex.
A. Angelicce. Hypostoma and forehead white, the for¬
mer with a blackish play of colour: thorax bright grey in
the male, inclining to ferruginous in the female : scutel-
lum and abdomen ferruginous, the last without a brown
play of colour; the black dorsal line does not extend to
the hinder extremity, and in the female it is usually inter¬
rupted on the third segment : legs rufous, with brown
tarsi. Four lines. Musoa Angelicce, Scop. Ent. Cariol. ;
Musca deceptoria, Gmel. Schrank. Abundant in woods
in the south of Scotland, and apparently equally plentiful
in England.
The genus Anthomyia contains upwards of two hun¬
dred European species, more than the half of which have
been found in Britain. In addition to the one described
above, we may name two other well-known species of the
genus A. meteorica and pluvialis, Linn.
Genus Drymeia, Meig. Antennae deflexed, the third
joint oblong, compressed, obtuse at the apex, with a pu¬
bescent dorsal seta at the base ; forehead with an obscure
vitta; the eyes of the male united : mouth with a mys¬
tax: proboscis slightly projecting, the capitulum oblong,
and furnished with a hook: abdomen four-ringed, setose :
wings incumbent, parallel, without a transverse nerve at
the apex.
D. obscura. Hypostoma white, with a blackish play of
colour; antennae half the length of the hypostoma, black;
thorax shining black, bristly, with a cross suture; that of
the female inclining to grey, and having two indistinct
longitudinal lines of a dark colour : abdomen rather long,
bristly, ash-grey, with spots and a line along the back of
changeable black; flat in the male, arched in the female,
and acute behind: wing-scales small and white : halteres
black: legs of the same colour: wings somewhat brown¬
ish. Three to four lines. Found in August and Septem¬
ber, not unfrequently, in many parts of the continent.
Another insect, presenting generic characters somewhat
similar to the above, has been found in England, and is
O L O G Y.
named D. hispida : some doubt, however, attaches to the Diptera
propriety of referring it to this genus. Probosci.
Genus Eriphia, Meig. Antennae incumbent, the third
joint oblong and compressed, the apex obtuse, and having r
a naked dorsal seta at the base: mouth very hirsute :
eyes of the male united: abdomen four-ringed, the apex
very hirsute in the male: wings without a transverse nerve
at the apex.
E. cinerea. Male. Hypostoma grey, shining white on
the sides ; forehead black, changing into grey ; antennae
black: thorax bristly, rather glossy black, with a faint
grey play of colour, and marked with three black lines:
abdomen with the first segment black, the following three
ash-grey, having a dark-brown play of colour, and a black
line on the back ; the second and third with a black band
behind: wing-scales small,yellowish : halteres black: wings
somewhat brownish : legs black. Four lines. Found by
M. Baumhauer at Genisberg.
Genus Dialyta, Meig. Antennae incumbent, the
length of the hypostoma, the third joint long, compressed,
obtuse at the apex, with a naked dorsal seta at the base:
mouth with a mystax: eyes equally remote: abdomen
four-ringed, pilose: transverse nerve at the apex of the
wing wranting.
D. erinacea. Hypostoma silky white, with a black play
of colour; forehead shiniftg black, with a deep black vitta
changing into whitish grey; palpi black, bristly; the an¬
tennae likewise black: body shining black; thorax some¬
what hoary, having two scarcely perceptible longitudinal
lines, and a distinct prominence on the shoulders: abdo¬
men of the males rather long, elliptical, flat, arched, some¬
what greyish, the incisures and a line on the back black,
but very faintly marked ; that of the female oval, pointed,
much arched, and shining black: wing-scales white ; hal¬
teres black: wings broad, ferruginous at the base: legs
black. Three to four lines. A rare species, the native
country of which is not yet known.
Genus Coenosta, Meig. Antennae incumbent, the
third or terminal joint long, linear, compressed, with a seta
at the base, which is either plumose, or pubescent, or
naked : mouth with a mystax : eyes distant, those of the
male somewhat approximating : abdomen four-ringed, se¬
tose, clavate at the apex in the male: wings incumbent,
without a transverse nerve at the apex. The insects of this
genus, which is of considerable extent, are found in hedges
and on flowers, the smaller kinds are most abundant
among grass. With the exception of the species describ¬
ed below, we are not acquainted with their habits and
metamorphoses.
C. fungorum. Hypostoma white, changing into brown ;
forehead black, the hinder part of the head ash-grey;
palpi and antennae black, the seta of the last distinctly plu¬
mose : thorax grey, with four black lines, which, however,
are often indistinct: abdomen rather long, rufous, some¬
times with a brownish dorsal line : legs rufous, with black
tarsi: wing-scales and halteres white: wings somewhat
clouded. The scutellum is sometimes ferruginous, as well
as the shoulders. Three and a half lines. The larva of this
insect lives in mushrooms, is four and a half lines long, of
a whitish-grey colour, with two hooks on the head, the
hinder part thick and obtuse. It undergoes its metamor¬
phosis in the earth.
Genus Lispe, Meig. Antennae incumbent, the termi¬
nal joint elongate, compressed, obtuse at the apex, and
having a plumose seta at the base: eyes distant: palpi
somewhat projecting, slender, spoon-shaped at the apex:
abdomen ovate, four ringed : wings incumbent,
L. tentaculata. Male. Hypostoma silky whitish yel¬
low ; the frontal vitta wide, and blackish grey; palpi of a
shining silvery hue, with a yellow play of colour: thorax
E N T O M
Diptera greyish black, with dark indistinct longitudinal lines : ab-
Probosci- domen flat, ovate; the first segment grey, the following
y tt black; the second and third segments with a rounded
white spot on the back, and another on each side of a tri¬
angular form placed at the anterior edge ; the fourth hav¬
ing only the two triangular spots : legs black; the anterior
tarsi have the first joint somewhat shorter than the se¬
cond, anti black, the rest yellowish ; wing-scales and hal-
teres white ; wings rather grey.
Female. Hypostoma bright yellow; the spots on the
abdomen grey ; the legs wholly black, the tarsi all alike.
Three lines. Musca tentaculata, Degeer. Found in Ger¬
many, and various other parts of the north of Europe. In
Britain it has occurred near London, and seems to be the
only species of the genus belonging to this country.
Genus Cordylura, Fallen. Antennae deflexed, the
terminal joint oblong, compressed, truncated at the apex,
the base with a seta, which is either plumose or villose :
head spheeroidal, the hypostoma scarcely descending, and
furnished with an imperfect mystax; eyes distant, glo¬
bose : abdomen five or six ringed, that of the male linear
and clavate at the apex; wings incumbent, parallel, the
length of the abdomen.
C. pubera. Hypostoma white ; palpi black : antennae
shorter than the hypostoma, black, with a plumose seta:
forehead of the male not so wide as that of the female,
black, with a greyish-white play of colour, sometimes
changing anteriorly into reddish yellow: body bristly,
shining black; thorax with a line of changeable white in
the middle of the front: the sides of the thorax changing
into bluish white: wing-scales and halteres white : wings
rather dull, the base and anterior margin ferruginous:
thighs black, the tibiae and tarsi testaceous, the latter in
the male spotted on the under side with black. Four
lines. Musca pubera, Linn. Fab. Meig. Zw. pi. xlv. fig.
22, female. Of occasional occurrence in the southern parts
of England.
Genus Scatophaga, Meig.; from tfxarog, dung, and
tpuyu, to eat. Antennae deflexed, the terminal joint elon¬
gate, prismatic, obtuse, the base with a seta, which is
either plumose or naked ; head spheroidal, the hypostoma
descending, and furnished with a mystax: eyes distant,
rounded: abdomen five-ringed, linear in the male: wings
incumbent, parallel, much longer than the abdomen.
S. scybalaria. Hypostoma, antennae, and frontal vitta
rufous, the latter very wide ; palpi whitish ; thorax brown¬
ish yellow, with obsolete lines : abdomen brownish yellow,
that of the male thick, and clothed with rufescent hairs;
legs ferruginous, pubescent; wing-scales small and yel¬
low : halteres yellow : wings large, ferruginous, with brown
nervures, the transverse nerve in the middle black, and
usually a little bent. Five lines. Musca scybalaria, Linn.
Fab. This species is of frequent occurrence in Britain.
S. stercoraria and S. merdaria are among our most com¬
mon insects, and most of the species described by Mei-
gen, amounting to fifteen in number, are inhabitants of
this country.
Genus Dryomyza, Fallen. Antennae incumbent, ap¬
proximating, the third or terminal joint oblong, obtuse,
prismatic, with a villose seta at the base : head spherical;
the hypostoma descending, coarctate, naked, blunt below :
eyes remote, rounded : abdomen oblong, five-ringed: wings
incumbent, very much longer than the abdomen.
T). faveola. Light ferruginous, shining: hypostoma
bright yellow, especially on the sides; antennae black
brown, with a dark-yellowish base, and a long black pu¬
bescent seta: thorax with two brownish approximating
lines on the back; on the abdomen are likewise four
brownish lines, but these, properly speaking, are the in¬
terior vessels shining through: legs ferruginous, becom-
O L O G Y. 251
ing brownish at the extremity : halteres clear yellow; the Diptera
wings hyaline. Five lines. Musca flaveola. Fab. Not
rare in Britain, nor in most other parts of Europe.
Genus Sapromyza, Fallen. Antennae deflexed, the
third or terminal joint oblong, compressed, obtuse at the
apex, the base with a seta, which is either shortly plumose
or villose: head sub-hemispheric, the hypostoma some¬
what descending, naked, flat: eyes distant, rounded ; ab¬
domen oblong, five-ringed : wings incumbent, parallel.
S. rorida. Entirely pale yellow, the seta of the an¬
tennae short and plumose: hypostoma and incisures of
the body whitish : wings of a yellowish tint. Two lines.
Found during summer, not unfrequemiy.
Genus Ortalis, Fallen. Antennae deflexed, oblique,
the third or terminal joint oblong, compressed, and having
a naked seta at the base : hypostoma arched in the middle,
naked; the forehead hirsute; eyes oblong; abdomen five-
ringed : wings erect (vibrating).
O. vibrans. Hypostoma and forehead very bright
orange yellow, with the margin of the eyes whitish : an¬
tennae rufous, with a finely pubescent seta: body shining
bluish black: halteres white: wings hyaline, the first
longitudinal nerve thick, and of a black colour; the apex
of the wing occupied by a triangular blackish-brown spot:
legs black. Two and a half lines. Musca vibrans, Linn.
Fab. Degeer. Don. x. 54, pi. cccxlvi. fig. 3. Tyrophaga
vibrans, Curtis, B. E. fol. 126. This insect, which forms the
genus Neiopfera of Kirby, is of frequent occurrence through¬
out England and the southern district of Scotland. It is
rare in Germany, but is plentiful in Sweden and most
other northern countries.
Genus Sepsis, Fallen. Antennae incumbent, the ter¬
minal joint oblong, obtuse, compressed, with a naked seta
at the base: head globose; the hypostoma flat, and fur¬
nished with a mystax; eyes rounded, distant: abdomen
four-ringed, petiolate, sub-cylindric, naked: wings erect
(vibrating). These lively little insects, which are in con¬
stant motion, are found on bushes, in hedges, and among
grass, almost everywhere, and are for the most part very
common from the first bright warm days of spring to the
end of harvest: they probably continue during winter.
Their natural history is not known.
S. cynipsea. Head shining black; antennas brown:
body shining black, with metallic lustre : legs black ; an¬
terior coxae yellow, the thighs black; tibiae rufous, inclin¬
ing to testaceous; and in the hinder legs the base of the
thighs is rufescent. One and a half line. Musca cynipsea,
Linn. ; Micropeza cyriipsea, Lat. Common in England
and the south of Scotland. In the vicinity of Edinburgh
S. cylindrica is common, and we have likewise observed
S. nigripes, S. violacea, and S. punctum.
Genus Cephalia, Meig. Antennae incumbent, the
third joint elongate, compressed, gradually attenuated,
with a pubescent dorsal seta at the base: hypostoma de¬
scending, naked; the proboscis standing out: eyes dis¬
tant, rounded ; abdomen four-ringed : wings ....
C. rufipes. Hypostoma testaceous ; forehead black ;
palpi black; antennae blackish brown, rufescent at the
base : body black, naked: sides of the thorax, breast, and
scutellum testaceous: halteres white, not covered ; scarce¬
ly a trace of the wing-scales is perceptible ; legs slender,
testaceous: wings hyaline, the first longitudinal nerve
thick and black, the apex with a brown spot. Has been
found at Berlin and in Austria.
Genus Lauxania, Lat. Antennae projecting obliquely,
remote, the third or terminal joint elongate, compressed,
obtuse, with a shortly plumose seta at the base: hyposto¬
ma somewhat descending, impressed in the middle: eyes
remote, oblong: abdomen ovate, five-ringed: wings pa¬
rallel, incumbent.
252 E N T O M
Diptera L. cylindricornis. Shining black; eyes during life
Probosci- green, with four purple bands ; antennae projecting straight
forwards, longer than the head, dark brown, with a whit-
ish pubescent seta; hj^postoma shining black, with the
lateral edge glistening white; forehead with a dull-black
vitta: wing-scales and halteres black ; legs black, the hin¬
der tarsi yellow; wings yellow, black at the base. One
and a half line. Sargus cylindricornis, Fab.; Musca chry-
soptera, Schrank. Frequent in summer among grass and
brushwood.
Genus Lonch^a, Fallen. Antennae incumbent, ap¬
proximating, the third or terminal joint oblong, compress¬
ed, obtuse at the apex, and having a naked seta at the
base : hypostoma flat, somewhat descending, naked : eyes
oblong, the forehead of the male narrow, of the female
wide: abdomen ovate, villose, six-ringed: wings incum¬
bent, parallel.
L. nigrimana. Male. Antennae brown, shorter than
the hypostoma, the third joint ovate, flat: forehead flat,
dull black: body shining greenish black: wings pale yel¬
low : legs black : the middle and hinder tarsi rufescent.
Two lines. Found in the vicinity of London, along with
eight other species of this genus.
Genus Trypeta, Meig. (Plate CCLI. fig, 29. An¬
tennae incumbent, approximating, the third joint oblong,
compressed, obtuse at the apex, and having a seta at
the base which is either naked or pubescent: hypostoma
somewhat descending, flat, naked : eyes somewhat round¬
ed, distant; the forehead wide and setose : abdomen five-
ringed, the apex obtuse in the male, but furnished with a
projecting style in the female: wings erect (vibrating).
T. Zoe. Honey-yellow, shining, the metathorax bright
black : the wings of the male have two dark-brown spots
at the anterior border, the smaller one lying above the
small cross nerve, and having a small branch projecting
forwards from behind; the other, which is much larger,
occupies the apex, extending scarcely beyond the fourth
longitudinal nerve : in the female the wings have a large
brown spot before the middle, and another at the apex,
with a narrow cross band, sometimes interrupted, at other
times indistinctly marked, in the space between. Male
one and a half, female two lines. In the neighbourhood
of Edinburgh, and near Jedburgh ; not common.
Several different names have been bestowed on this ge¬
nus. It is named Traupanea by Schrank, and Tephritis
by Latreille : the latter seems to be most generally adopt¬
ed. To this genus belongs the insect which, in the Isle
of France, is so destructive to the lemon crop, by depo¬
siting its eggs in that fruit. Its multiplication is some¬
times extreme.
Genus Tetanops, Fallen. Antennee small, distant,
projecting obliquely, the third joint ovate, compressed,
the base with a naked dorsal seta: hypostoma reclined,
descending, carinated, naked; forehead projecting, flat,
naked: abdomen five-ringed, the style of the female in¬
curved and jointed.
T. myopina. Flypostoma and forehead greyish white;
antennae reddish yellow : thorax light grey, the scutellum
of a similar hue : abdomen in the male with the two first
segments light grey, unspotted, the two following shin¬
ing black, having the hinder margin and a line on the
back grey, the fifth entirely black; in the female it is
light grey, with a black spot on each side of the segments :
legs reddish yellow ; wings hyaline, with light-brown spots
and black transverse nerves. Two to three lines. This
seems to be a rare insect. It has been found in England.
Genus Psila, Meig. Antennae deflexed, oblique, some¬
what remote, the third or terminal joint oblong, compress¬
ed, obtuse at the apex, and having a villose dorsal seta at
the base: hypostoma reclined, flat, naked, descending:
O L O G Y.
eyes remote, rounded; forehead naked: abdomen six- Bipt-pra
ringed, the style of the female jointed and acute : wings Pr(_,1,osci-
incumbent, parallel, the first longitudinal nerve simple. ,
P. Rosce. Shining black, slightly glossed wdth brassy:
head rufous; forehead occasionally with a black longitu¬
dinal line ; palpi yellow, the apex black : antennae rufous,
the apex blackish, the seta white and pubescent: legs
bright yellow; halteres white ; wings hyaline. Found in
May and September in England and elsewhere. Seven
of the thirteen species described by Meigen are natives
of Britain. /
Genus Loxocera, Meig. Antennae projecting oblique¬
ly, longer than the head, the third or terminal joint very
long, linear, compressed, with a villose dorsal seta at the
base: hypostoma reclined, flat, naked, descending: eyes
distant, rounded : forehead somewhat projecting, naked :
abdomen elongate, six-ringed, naked : wings incumbent,
parallel; the first longitudinal nerve simple.
L. ichneurnonea. Hypostoma rufous, the sides with a
silvery play of colour; forehead testaceous, with a shin¬
ing black triangular spot: antennae half the length of the
head, black, the first two joints red: thorax testaceous,
the upper part of the neck shining black, the prominences
on the shoulders, and two lines on the back, of the same
colour; scutellum testaceous; abdomen black and shin¬
ing; legs and halteres yellow ; wings somewhat brownish.
Three to four lines. Lat. Musca ichneumonea, Linn.;
Musca aristata, Panz. Found in the southern parts of
England, along with two other species, L. elongata and
L. sylvatica.
Genus Chyliza, Fallen. Antennae deflexed, the third
or terminal joint elongate, compressed, obtuse, with a vil¬
lose dorsal seta at the base : hypostoma perpendicular, flat,
withouta mystax: eyes distant, oblong, the forehead pubes¬
cent: abdomen elongate, pubescent, six-ringed; wings in¬
cumbent, parallel, the first longitudinal nerve simple.
C. atriseta. Head thick, nearly quadrangular, shining
black, with a whitish lustre at the margin of the eyes:
antennae sulphur-yellow, the first joint black, the seta
longer than the antennae, of a deep black, and having a
short plume: body shining black; abdomen of the males
slightly contracted at the base: legs bright yellow; the
apex of the hinder thighs brownish : halteres light yellow :
wings greyish, the margin from the middle to the apex
brown. Three and a half lines. This insect occurs in
Britain, as well as C. leptogaster.
Genus Lissa, Meig. Antennae projecting obliquely, small,
the third or terminal joint ovate, compressed, with a vil¬
lose dorsal seta at the base: hypostoma reclined, some¬
what carinated, naked : eyes distant, oblong; the forehead
tuberculated anteriorly: abdomen elongate, slender, six-
ringed; anterior legs remote: wings incumbent, parallel,
the first longitudinal nerve double.
L. loxocerina. Hypostoma black, with a silvery-white
play of colour: forehead shining black: antennae with the
two first joints small and black, the third reddish yellow;
hinder part of the head black, the margin of the eyes
white: thorax black, clothed with fine white pubescence:
abdomen elongate, cylindrical, black, with a white streak
on each side at the incisures; that of the male club-shaped
behind, in the female pointed: legs reddish yellow ; the
anterior pair remote from the hinder; anterior coxae red¬
dish yellow, thickly clothed with silver-white hairs; hinder
coxae black; the hinder legs longer than the others, and
having the tibiae browm in the middle; halteres yellow:
wing-scales wanting. Tour lines. Meig. Zwx vol. v. pi. lii.
fig. 1-4. Ocyptera dolium, Fab. Inhabits Britain and some
parts of the continent. The generic name is objection¬
able, as it was previously used by Dr Leach to designate
a tribe of crustaceous animals.
E N T O M
Diptera GenusTetanura, Fallen. Antennae projecting oblique-
dete. ^ie or tenriinal joint elliptical, compressed, and
obtuse, having a villose seta in the middle of the back:
hypostoma perpendicular, carinated, nearly naked : eyes
distant, rounded ; the forehead flat and setose : abdomen
elongate, cylindric, five-ringed: wings incumbent, paral¬
lel ; the first longitudinal nerve simple.
\. pallidiventris. Hypostoma yellow ; forehead shining
nark brown, yellow in front, and having a spot of yellow
on the crown ; antennae yellow : thorax black, bristly, the
sides of the breast reddish yellow: scutellum black: ab¬
domen pubescent, black, the first segment and hinder ex¬
tremity of the terminal one pale yellow : legs rather long,
ferruginous ; the anterior pair rather remote from the hin¬
der: halteres white, uncovered: wing-scales not visible:
wings large, somewhat brownish. Two lines. Found by
Professor Fallen at Esperod in Sweden, during the months
of July and August. It is the only species of the genus,
and has not hitherto been noticed in Britain.
Genus Tanypeza, Fallen. Antennae somewhat incum¬
bent, approximating, the third joint oblong, compressed,
having a naked dorsal seta at the base; hypostoma some¬
what reclined, flat, and naked : eyes oblong, remote ; the
forehead narrow and naked : abdomen elongate, six-ring¬
ed : wings incumbent, parallel; the fourth longitudinal
nerve recurved.
T. longimana. Hypostoma blackish, with a white play
of colour ; forehead deep black, margined anteriorly with
white, and having a white spot on the crown; palpi and
antennae deep black; the proboscis yellow: body shin¬
ing black : thorax with an oblique slightly interrupted
pubescent band, of a changeable white, on the sides:
scutellum black and bristly: abdomen in the male with a
small projecting piece behind, which bears a two-jointed
seta near the apex, and a small protuberance anteriorly;
in the female this appendage is short, pointed, and articu¬
lated : legs elongate, bright yellow ; the first tarsal joint
likewise yellow, and as long as the four following, which
are brown: halteres white and naked: wing-scales white,
so minute as to be scarcely perceptible : wings hyaline.
Three lines. Examples of this species are preserved in
the collections of Baumhauer and Fallen. We are unac¬
quainted with its native country.
Genus Calobata, Meig. Antennae incumbent, small,
the third joint elliptical, compressed, the base with a dor¬
sal seta, which is shortly plumose or naked: hypostoma
flat, naked: eyes rounded; forehead nearly naked: abdo¬
men elongate, cylindric, five-ringed: legs very long and
slender; the tarsi short: wings incumbent, parallel.
C. petronella. Hypostoma whitish ; palpi and antennae
yellow, the last black at the base, and furnished with a
scarcely pubescent seta ; forehead reddish yellow, margin¬
ed with white, and having a black spot on the crown : tho¬
rax ash grey, with a yellowish callosity on each shoulder:
scutellum grey: abdomen black, with whitish incisures;
belly dark grey, wrinkled ; style of the females rufous an¬
teriorly, the second joint shining rust-brown, carinated :
halteres white: wings hyaline: legs ferruginous, the hin¬
der thighs brown at the apex. Three lines. Musca pe¬
tronella, Linn. Found in England, likewise in the neigh¬
bourhood of Edinburgh, and other parts of the southern
district of Scotland.
Genus Micropeza, Meig. Antennae projecting, small,
the third joint patelliform and compressed, having a long
pubescent dorsal seta at the base: head elongate, elliptical;
the hypostoma reclined and naked: eyes rounded, some¬
what prominent, remote : abdomen elongate, cylindric, six-
ringed ; legs filiform, very long, the tarsi short; anterior
legs remote : wings incumbent, parallel, the length of the
abdomen.
O L O G Y. 253
M. corrigiolata. Hypostoma white ; antennae deep black, Diptera
with a white seta ; forehead black, deepening in the mid- Probosci-
dle : body black: the sides of the thorax without a yellow ^
vitta: abdomen with white incisures: halteres white: r
wings hyaline: legs yellow, with black tarsi; all the
thighs having a black ring before the apex, and the apex
itself black; tibiae behind passing into black. Two lines.
The female larger. Meig. Zw. v. 384*, pi. liii. fig. 6. Ca¬
lobata filiforrnis, Lat. Rather frequent. We once found
it in very great abundance in the month of June, on flow¬
ers, by the sides of the Esk, near Dalkeith.
Genus Ulidia, Meig. Antennae incumbent, small, dis¬
tant, the third or terminal joint elliptical, compressed,
with a naked dorsal seta at the base: hypostoma descend¬
ing, impressed, naked, the proboscis somewhat prominent:
eyes rounded, distant; the forehead broad, rugose, naked:
abdomen ovate, depressed, five-ringed; wings incumbent,
parallel.
U. demandata. Flypostoma fulvous, wrinkled, whitish
above; antennae dark yellow, the third joint with a brown
spot anteriorly : forehead shining dark green, somewhat
metallic, wrinkled: thorax more or less brassy; abdomen
shining black : legs black; the tarsi rufous, with the apex
black : wing-scales very small, and, together with the hal¬
teres, white : wings clear, with slender nerves. Two lines.
Musca demandata. Fab. Meig. Zw. v. pi. liii. fig. 12. Has
been taken near Paris, and in England.
Genus Timia, Meig. Antennae distant, small, inserted
in a foveola, the third joint oval, compressed, with a naked
dorsal seta at the base : hypostoma descending, impressed
in the middle, naked, the proboscis and palpi somewhat
projecting : eyes oblong, distant; forehead villose : abdo¬
men ovate, six-ringed: wings incumbent, parallel.
T. apicalis. Head black; forehead wide, and covered
with fine pubescence: body shining black, somewhat seta¬
ceous, with a small prominence on each shoulder: abdo¬
men finely pubescent: halteres and wing-scales small and
white; wings clear, with the base yellowish, and a trian¬
gular brown spot at the apex. Three lines. Meig. Zw.
v. pi. liii. fig. 16. Examples of this insect are preserved
in Wiedemann’s collection, and others have been obtain¬
ed from Portugal.
Genus Peatysoma, Meig. Antennae deflexed, short,
the terminal joint oblong, prismatic, obtuse, with a naked
dorsal seta at the base : hypostoma somewhat descending,
impressed, naked, the proboscis and palpi rather project¬
ing; eyes rounded, remote, the forehead nearly naked;
abdomen ovate, four-ringed: wings divaricating.
P. seminationis. Variegated with ash-grey and black :
hypostoma and palpi black; antennae dark brown: body
grey, with black wartz-like points ; abdomen pale beneath,
the fourth segment as long as the others taken together:
legs entirely black: halteres dark brown: wings marbled
with fuscous. Two lines. Musca seminationis, ¥ ah. Found
in the southern parts of Britain, and on the continent.
Genus Piophila, Fallen. Antennae incumbent, the
third joint elliptical, compressed, with a naked dorsal seta
at the base: hypostoma subreclined and provided with a
mystax: eyes rounded, remote : the forehead broad, gla¬
brous, convex, and setose: abdomen ovate, somewhat
setose, glabrous, five-ringed: wings incumDent, parallel,
longer than the abdomen.
P. casei. Shining black, glabrous : hypostoma and an¬
terior part of the forehead rufous; antennae rufous, the
third joint, with the anterior edge and the apex, more oi
less black: hinder part of the head black: anterior legs
black; base of the thighs and tibiae rufous, the middle
pair of legs entirely rufous ; hinder legs rufous, the thighs
before the apex with a black ring, more or less wide: an¬
terior coxae rufous : halteres white : wings hyaline. One
254 E N T O M
Diptera and a half line. Tyfusca casei, Linn. Var.; Tyrophagacasei,
Probosci- Curtis, JB. E. vol. iii. fol. 126. Meig. Zio. v. pi. liv. fig. 4.
t ('ea?' The maggot lives in cheese, and leaps.
Genus Homalura, Meig. Antennae deflexed, distant,
the third joint patellifiorm, compressed, with a naked dor¬
sal seta at the base: hypostoma descending, perpendicu¬
lar, naked: eyes rounded and remote ; the forehead broad,
flat, and naked: abdomen ovate, depressed, naked, five-
ringed : wings incumbent, parallel, the length of the abdo¬
men.
H. tarsata. Body shining black, everywhere thickly
covered with tubercular dots: thorax without a distinct
cross suture: legs black, with yellow tarsi: stalk of the
halteres black, the head globose and white. One and a
half line. Meig. Zw. v. pi. liv. figs. 8 and 9. Inhabits
Austria and England.
Genus Thyreophora, Lat. Antennae very minute,
inserted in a foveola, the terminal joint lenticular, and hav¬
ing a naked dorsal seta at the base: hypostoma descend¬
ing, reclined, and having a mystax : eyes small and round ;
the forehead broad, rather prominent, convex, and villose :
abdomen oblong, six-ringed: Vings incumbent, parallel,
longer than the abdomen.
T. cynophila. Head bright orange yellow; forehead pu¬
bescent, with two black spots : body dark steel blue, shin¬
ing, everywhere beset with long black hairs : scutellum of
the male nearly half the length of the abdomen, truncated
at the apex, and bearing a strong seta at each side; that
of the female small and triangular: legs dark steel blue,
pubescent, the four anterior tarsal joints rufous at the
base: wing-scales blackish: halteres white: wings hya¬
line, with two black dots on each. Four lines. Meig. Zw.
v. pi. liv. figs. 10, 15. Has occurred in France.
Genus Actora, Meig. Antennae small, distant, the
third joint sub-globose, with a naked dorsal seta at the
base: hypostoma perpendicular, descending, pubescent,
without a mystax : eyes rounded, distant; the forehead
broad, flat, villose : abdomen elongate, six-ringed : wings
longer than the abdomen.
A. cBstuum. Hypostoma white; forehead ferruginous
and pubescent; antennae dark brown : thorax light brown,
finely pubescent, with small black dots; sides light grey,
with a brownish spot before the base of the wings : scu¬
tellum semicircular, light brown: abdomen cinereous:
legs dark grey, with rufescent tarsi; in the males the an¬
terior tibiae and tarsi are thickly covered beneath with
shining whitish-yellow hair : wing-scales small and white :
halteres white : wings hyaline. Four lines. Meig. Zw. v.
pi. liv. figs. 19, 20. This insect has been taken in England
by Dr Leach.
Genus Lipara, Meig. Antennae distant, small, the
terminal joint lenticular, with a naked dorsal seta: hy¬
postoma descending, pubescent, the forehead broad, rather
prominent, and pubescent: eyes rounded, small: abdomen
elliptical, pubescent, five-ringed.
L. lucens. Head nearly round, finely pubescent; an¬
tennae brown : thorax finely pubescent, brownish grey;
when seen in certain directions four dark-brown lines are
perceptible, the two central ones abbreviated: abdomen
oval, pubescent, the colour of the thorax: halteres brown :
wing-scales wanting : thighs dark brown : tibiae and tarsi
yellow : wings yellowish brown. Three lines. Inhabits
Germany.
Genus Lucina, Meig. Antennae distant, the third
joint ovate, compressed, with a naked dorsal seta at the
base : hypostoma descending, naked, and impressed ; the
forehead broad, somewhat prominent, slightly pubescent,
the vertex setose: eyes rounded, small ; abdomen flat,
oblong, six-ringed: wings longer than the abdomen.
\u. fasciata. Hypostoma pearly grey, with a silky gloss ;
O L O G Y.
forehead ferruginous; antennae brown: thorax grey, with Diptera
brownish longitudinal lines, and black spots and bristles ; Frobosci-
scutellum grey with a black spot: abdomen grey, with a
black band on each segment from the second to the fifth,
which is widened anteriorly in the middle, and on the
second segment there is a longitudinal streak of white :
legs reddish grey, the thighs spotted with black : wings
somewhat greyish, with two black spots. Three and a
half lines. Germany ; Marseilles.
Genus Eurina, Meig. Antennae distant, short, the
third joint ovate, compressed, with a naked dorsal seta:
head trigonate, pubescent, hypostoma reclined ; forehead
broad, flat, rather prominent: eyes small and rounded:
abdomen oblong, six-ringed; wings incumbent, longer
than the abdomen.
E. lurida. Forehead ferruginous ; hypostoma whitish ;
antennae ferruginous at the base, the third joint entirely
brown on the outside, the inside yellow with a brown
apex: thorax and scutellum dark brown with deep punc¬
tures; abdomen and also the legs ferruginous: halteres
white : wings somewhat clouded with brown. Two lines.
Examples of this insect are preserved in Baumhauer’s
collection. Its native country is unknown.
Genus Orygma, Meig. Antennae small, distant, de¬
flexed, the terminal joint ovate, compressed, with a naked
dorsal seta at the base : hypostoma reclined, naked : the
forehead broad, flat, and setose: eyes rounded, small:
abdomen elliptical, villose, six-ringed: legs strong.
O. luctuosa. Forehead black and bristly; hypostoma
shining ferruginous, the antennae of a similar colour: tho¬
rax flat and bristly: abdomen elliptical, covered with
strong hairs; legs ferruginous and pubescent: halteres
uncovered, the wings somewhat brownish. Three lines.
Meig. Zw. vi. pi. Iv. fig. 17. Taken by Dr Leach in the
neighbourhood of London.
Genus Camarota, Meig. Antennae porrect, small,
the third joint oblong, obtuse, with a thick villose dorsal
seta at the base : hypostoma reclined, naked: forehead
wide, flat, somewhat arched anteriorly, pubescent: eyes
transversely elliptical: wings incumbent, arched.
C.flavitarsis. Hypostoma white ; forehead ferruginous
and finely pubescent; antennae black: thorax metallic
black, covered with small depressions, and marked with
two longitudinal furrows behind : abdomen black: legs of
a similar colour, the apex of the tibiae and the tarsi yel¬
low: halteres dark brown, uncovered: wings brownish
grey. Found in Germany, at Paris, and near Marseilles.
Genus Ccelopa, Meig. Antennae small, the terminal
joint small and rounded, with a naked dorsal seta at the
base : hypostoma excised, villose, the mouth rather pro¬
minent ; forehead flat, wide, setose: eyes somewhat
rounded : abdomen oblong, setose, five-ringed: wings in¬
cumbent, longer than the abdomen.
C. frigida. Hypostoma thickly covered with hair, the
forehead black and thickly covered with bristles; antennae
ferruginous: thorax bristly, and of a black colour: abdo¬
men black, that of the male thickly pubescent and trun¬
cated, that of the female pointed and bristly : halteres
white, uncovered ; wings somewhat greyish : legs reddish
brown, thickly covered with hair. Two lines. Musca
frigida, Fab. This insect is found in Lapland and the
most northern countries of Europe.
Genus Sciomyza, Meig. Antennae somewhat distant,
small, obliquely deflexed, the third joint oblong, obtuse,
with a dorsal seta at the base, which is either plumose, or
pilose, or naked: hypostoma descending or reclined, the
forehead broad, setose, or villose : eyes rounded : abdomen
oblong, flat, shortly setose, five-ringed: wings incumbent,
longer than the abdomen.
S. simplex. Shining ferruginous, except the thorax and
E N T O M
Diptera the last four joints of the tarsi, which are dark brown :
™k°SC1' the abdomen is marked with a brown longitudinal line :
._-ea[_i_, halteres white, the wings somewhat brownish. Three
lines. This genus contains twenty-nine species, none of
which have been yet detected in Britain.
Genus Dacus, Meig. Antennae deflexed obliquely, as
long as the hypostoma, the third or terminal joint narrow,
elongate, obtuse, compressed, with a naked dorsal seta at
the base: hypostoma perpendicular, naked, the forehead
broad, somewhat setose: abdomen naked, four-ringed.
D. OlecB. Antennae ferruginous: thorax cinereous on
the back, with three longitudinal lines of black, tbe sides
ferruginous anteriorly, black behind; the shoulders, a small
spot at the base of the wings, and another of an elliptical
form beneath them, sulphur-yellow; the scutellum of the
same colour: abdomen rufous, with three interrupted
black bands: legs rufous : halteres white: wings hyaline,
having a dark-brown spot at the apex. Two lines. Inha¬
bits Germany, France, and Italy.
Genus Platyckphala, Meig. Antennae projecting
obliquely, rather remote, the two terminal joints equal,
the third with a naked dorsal seta at the base: hypostoma
reclined, naked, the forehead flat, broad, naked : eyes
rounded : wings incumbent, longer than tbe abdomen, the
transverse nerves approximating on the disc.
P. umbraculaia. Forehead ferruginous, with a black
impression in the middle; hypostoma likewise ferrugi¬
nous ; antennae with the first and second joints black, the
third ferruginous, the apex black and the seta white:
thorax ferruginous, marked with three broad vittae of a
dark-brown colour on the upper side: abdomen wholly
dark brown, ferruginous on the under side : legs ferrugi¬
nous : wings greyish. Two lines. Musca umbraculata,
Fab. Only three species have been described as per¬
taining to this genus. The one described above, and P.
planifrons, have been found in Britain. P. nigra occurs
in Germany and France.
Genus Sepedon, Lat. Antennae porrect, longer than
the head, the second joint elongate, compressed, setose ;
third acute, emarginate above, and having a naked dorsal
seta at the base: hypostoma perpendicular, descending,
naked, the forehead broad and somewhat prominent: eyes
x’ounded and rather prominent: abdomen elongate, five-
ringed, naked : hinder thighs thick and spinose beneath :
wings incumbent.
S. sphegeus. Shining bluish black ; antennae dark brown,
the seta black above, white beneath ; eyes green, with a
dark purple fascia : thorax cinereous, with two dark lines
along the back ; the sides shining metallic black : halteres
white: wings brownish yellow, unspotted ; legs bright fer¬
ruginous. Three lines. Sepedon palustris, Lat. Found
during the summer in various parts of the continent, and
in England, but is nowhere common.
Genus Dorycera, Hoff. Antennae remote, the length
of the head, the second and third joints equal in length,
second linear, compressed, and setose; third conical, ven*-
tricose at the base, and furnished with a naked seta on
the back: hypostoma reclined, arched, and naked ; fore¬
head flat, somewhat prominent, villose, and flat: eyes
rounded and a little prominent: abdomen oblong, five-
ringed, the style of the female jointed : wings incumbent,
longer than the abdomen.
D. graminum. Hypostoma shining ferruginous, spot¬
ted with black ; forehead ferruginous, with two black lines
and a white ring round the eyes: antennae ferruginous,
black at the apex: thorax grey, with six black lines;
scutellum grey, spotted with black on the sides : abdomen
blackish, inclining to reddish brown in the female, and
having a pale interrupted line on the back : legs ferrugi¬
nous, with brown tarsi: halteres bright yellow : wings
O L O G Y. 255
greyish. Four lines. Musca graminum, Fab.; Tetanocera Diptera
graminum, Lat. Inhabits France ; apparently not found Probosci-
in Britain. ^eae'
Genus Tetanocera, Dum. Antennae porrect, re-
mote, the second joint compressed and setose, third ex¬
cised on the upper side, compressed, with a plumose or
naked dorsal seta: hypostoma descending (rarely reclined)
furrowed, naked; the forehead broad and setose : eyes
rounded and somewhat prominent: abdomen oblong, five-
ringed, somewhat setose: wings incumbent, projecting
beyond the abdomen.
T. Hieracii. Hypostoma and palpi white; forehead
ferruginous, without impressions, with brown spots on the
crown, and four black points at the margin of the eyes:
antennae rufous : thorax bright yellow, finely shagreened,
and covered with black spots: scutellum yellow, with a
black spot: abdomen bluish grey, with three confluent
deep-black spots on each segment: legs bright yellow,
the apex of the hinder thighs spotted with black: hal¬
teres white; wings white, variegated with dark brown.
Two lines. Tephritis Hieracii, Fab.; Meig. Zw. vi. pi.
Ivii. fig. 18. Mot unfrequent in summer among grass. It
is found in Britain, along with eleven other species.
Genus Heteromyza, Meig. Antennae porrect, some¬
what remote, the third joint orbicular, compressed, with
a naked dorsal seta : hypostoma descending, perpendicu¬
lar, furnished with a mystax : forehead broad and setose :
eyes rounded : abdomen oblong, five-ringed : wings longer
than the abdomen, the rib without bristles.
H. alricornis. Hypostoma white, with a longitudinal
furrow on each side : forehead rufous, having a white
ring round the eyes; the crown and hinder part of the
head bluish grey ; palpi rufous : antennae deep black, fur¬
nished with a long seta: thorax and scutellum bluish
grey: abdomen and legs rufous. Three lines. Meig. Zw.
vi. pi. Ivii. fig. 21. Meigen describes four species of He¬
teromyza?, of which the only one hitherto detected in
England is H. buccata, Fallen. No locality is cited for
H. atricornis.
Genus Helomyza, Meig. Antennae somewhat de¬
flexed, remote, the third joint oblong or orbicular, having
a plumose or naked dorsal seta at the base: hypostoma
perpendicular, descending, furnished with a mystax ; fore-
head wide and setose: eyes rounded : abdomen oblong,
six-ringed: wings incumbent; the costa setose.
H. rufa. The male is ferruginous, with black bristles ;
the third joint of the antennae is elliptical, and bears a
long plumose seta: abdomen with black bands, which are
widened in the middle : hinder knees and two last joints
of the tarsi black: wings somewhat brownish, with two
white marginal spots at the apex. This species has been
found in England by Dr Leach. H. ustulata, figured
by Curtis (B. E. fol. 66), and by Meig. (Zw. pi. Ivii. fig.
30), is also a native of Britain.
Genus Dich^eta, Meig. Antennae distant, somewhat
deflexed, short, the third or terminal joint oblong, com¬
pressed, having a pectinated dorsal seta at the base: hy¬
postoma somewhat descending, convex, setose; the fore¬
head wide, setose: eyes rounded: abdomen ovate, five-
ringed, that of the male with long setae at the apex :
wings incumbent; the transverse nerves remote.
D. caudata. Hypostoma brownish yellow; forehead
dark grey; two lower joints of the antenna? brown, the
third bright yellow: body dark grey, somewhat bristly;
thorax with three broad lines of black: legs dark grey,
the tarsi yellow: halteres white: wings greyish. Two
lines. A rare insect on the continent. According to
Curtis, it has occurred in Britain.
Genus Notiphila, Meig. Antennae somewhat re¬
mote, deflexed, short, the third joint oblong or orbicular,
256
ENTOMOLOGY.
Diptera compressed, with a pectinated dorsal seta at the base ; hy-
de*Ci* Postoma somew^at descending, rather naked, convex;
^3e^, the forehead bpoad, setose : eyes rounded ; abdomen ra¬
ther flat, ovate or oblong, five-ringed: wings incumbent,
longer than the abdomen; the transverse nerves remote.
N. cinerea. Hypostoma fulvous, without lustre, fur¬
nished with short bristles on each side of the eyes, which
are surrounded with a whitish ring: forehead, thorax, and
scutellum ferruginous; on the thorax there are six rows
of small tubercles of a black colour: antennae brown, the
third joint yellow at the base: abdomen cinereous, with
three black spots on both sides; legs ferruginous, with
black thighs: halteres white: wings nearly hyaline. One
line and a half. During spring and summer very com¬
mon in some countries on the Equisetum palmtre. It oc¬
curs in Britain, but does not seem common.
Genus Discomyza, Meig. Antennae deflexed, short,
third joint oblong, compressed, obtuse, with a pectinated
dorsal seta at the base: hypostoma short and rugose;
forehead broad, short, and naked : eyes oblong: abdomen
depressed, suborbicular, naked, four-ringed : wings de¬
flexed, the length of the abdomen.
D. incurva. Black and glossy, the tarsi yellow: hal¬
teres small and white: wings somewhat greyish, the an¬
terior margin brown. One line and a half. Meig. Zw. vi.
pi. Iviii. fig. 16, 17. Inhabits Austria and other parts of
the continent.
Genus Ochthera, Lat. Antennae incumbent, short,
the third joint elliptical, compressed, with a pectinated
dorsal seta at the base: hypostoma descending, naked,
convex, coarctate at the apex ; forehead broad, impress¬
ed, naked : eyes rounded and somewhat prominent: ab¬
domen flat, elliptical, naked, five-ringed : anterior thighs
swollen, and spinose beneath: wings incumbent, the
fourth longitudinal nerve recurved at the apex.
O. Mantis. Hypostoma brownish, with a white play of
colour; forehead black: body naked, black, with a metal¬
lic lustre, the thorax marked with three black lines; ab¬
domen with a small white spot on each side of the second,
third, and fourth incisures: legs black: halteres white :
wings somewhat cinereous. Two lines. Musca manicata,
Fab. Found in August and September.
Genus Stegana, Meig, Antennae incumbent, the third
joint oblong, obtuse, compressed, with an irregularly plu¬
mose dorsal seta at the base : hypostoma somewhat im¬
pressed, and furnished with amystax ; forehead broad and
setose: eyes oblong: abdomen oblong, six-ringed : wings
longer than the abdomen, incurved, deflexed.
S. nigra. Hypostoma and forehead ferruginous, the
latter bristly; antennae yellow : body shining black, some¬
what bristly ; legs yellow, the hinder thighs brownish : hal¬
teres yellow : wings smoke colour. One line and a fourth.
Meig. Zw. vi. pi. Iviii. figs. 24, 25. Drosophila curvipen-
nis, Fallen. A scarce insect on the continent, and not
occurring at all in Britain.
Genus Drosophila, Meig. Antennae incumbent, the
third joint oblong, obtuse, compressed, with an irregularly
plumose dorsal seta at the base: hypostoma with a mys-
tax, the forehead broad and setose ; eyes rounded: ab¬
domen oblong, six-ringed : wings incumbent, longer than
the abdomen.
T).Junebris. Hypostoma and forehead rust-brown : an¬
tennae dark brown, the base yellow: thorax shining testa¬
ceous : abdomen shining black, each of the incisures be¬
hind with a rather broad yellow band: legs ferruginous:
wings rather obscured with brown, but not spotted. One
line and a half. Musca funebris, Gmel.; Musca cellaris,
Linn. Found during spring and summer occasionally.
Genus Asteia, Meig. Antennae deflexed, the termi¬
nal joint patelliform, with an irregularly pectinated dorsal
seta at the base: hypostoma naked; the forehead broad, Diptera
and somewhat setose : eyes rounded (fasciated) : abdo- Probosci-
men naked, five-ringed: wings incumbent, large; the or- ^ese'
dinary transverse nerve wanting. s—
A. concinna. Straw colour, the hypostoma with two
black spots, and two black longitudinal streaks on the
crown : thorax shining black, pale round the outer side,
the sides and breast straw-colour : scutellum straw-colour,
with a black spot at the base; abdomen and legs entirely
straw-colour; wings large and hyaline. One line. Both
this and the only other species of the genus, A. amcena,
occur in England.
Genus Ochthiphila, Meig. Antennae deflexed, the
terminal joint oblong, compressed, obtuse, with a naked
dorsal seta at the base : hypostoma nearly naked ; the fore¬
head broad and setose: eyes rounded: abdomen oblong,
five-ringed : wings incumbent.
O. Juncorum. Light cinereous: antennae yellow, with
the apex black; the abdomen with two rows of black
spots : thighs grey ; the apex, tibiae, and first joint of the
tarsi bright yellow, the four other joints brown: wings
hyaline. One line. Meig. Zw. vi. pi. lix. fig. 11. Com¬
mon in Germany. None of the species, which are seven
in number, have been detected in Britain.
Genus Diastata, Meig. Antennae incumbent, the
terminal joint compressed and obtuse; have a dorsal seta
at the base, which is densely plumose or naked: hypo¬
stoma with a mystax : the forehead broad and setose :
eyes somewhat rounded : abdomen oblong, five-ringed :
wings incumbent, longer than the abdomen, the transverse
nerves remote.
D. obscurella. Hypostoma whitish; antennae and forehead
rufous, the margin of the eyes and the crown light grey ;
the third joint of the antennae brown at the apex : thorax
cinereous: abdomen black, with some lustre: legs ru¬
fous : halteres white. One line. Meig. Zw. pi. lix. fig.
15. Rather scarce : not indigenous to this country.
Genus Opomyza, Meig. Antennae deflexed, the ter¬
minal joint ovate and compressed, having a dorsal seta at
the base, which is shortly plumose or pubescent: hypo¬
stoma naked, or furnished with an imperfect mystax ; the
forehead broad and setose : eyes rounded: abdomen
elongate, six-ringed : wings incumbent.
O. combinata. Palpi and proboscis white; head, an¬
tennae, thorax, and legs rather bright shining rufous: ab¬
domen of the males linear, shining black, rufous at the
base ; that of the female more elliptical, flat, rufous, with
black bands at the incisures: halteres white: wings
small, hyaline, the cross nerves and a spot at the apex
dark brown. One line and a third. Tephritis combinata,
Fab. Inhabits Britain and Germany.
Genus Ephydra, Fallen. Antennae deflexed, the ter¬
minal joint oblong, compressed, and obtuse, with a naked
dorsal seta at the base: hypostoma arched or convex,
villose; the forehead broad and setose: eyes rounded,
somewhat prominent: abdomen elliptical, depressed: wings
incumbent, longer than the abdomen.
E. palustris. Hypostoma brownish black, setaceous, at
least about the mouth ; forehead dark green, shining:
antennae black, with a rather thick seta: body shining
dark green: scutellum arched : halteres white : wings
pale brown : legs black. One line. Found in marshy
places.
Genus Heteroneura, Meig. Antennae porrect, the
second joint the same length as the third, the latter orbi-
culate, with a pubescent seta inserted in the middle of
the back; forehead flat, furnished with a mystax; the
forehead broad and setose : eyes rounded : abdomen elon¬
gate, five-ringed ; wings incumbent, the transverse nerves
approximating in the middle of the disc.
E N T O M
Diptera Yl. nubila. Hypostoma and forehead ferruginous, with
a ^ustre round the margin of the eyes ; antennae
forruginous, the third joint somevvliat brownish : thorax
shining ferruginous, passing into brown, with four dark-
bi own lines on the back, and a white one on the sides, reach¬
ing to the base ol the wings ; the sides ferruginous : abdo¬
men black : legs rufescent: halteres white : wings some¬
what greyisln Male one and a half, female nearly two
lines. Inhabits Austria and other European countries.
Genus Gitona, Meig. Antennae incumbent, the ter¬
minal joint elliptical, compressed, having a naked dorsal
seta at the base : hypostoma carinated in the middle, and
provided with a mystax ; the forehead broad and setose :
eyes lounded i abdomen ovate, flat, five-ringed i win^s in¬
cumbent, longer than the abdomen ; the transverse nerves
approximating.
G. distigma. Hypostoma, palpi, and antennae rufous;
forehead of a similar colour, with two brown lines ; tho¬
rax setaceous, light grey, with three dark somewhat un¬
dulating lines: scutellum light grey or yellowish: abdomen
shining rufous, with four bands and a dorsal line of black :
legs and halteres rufous; wings hyaline. Two lines.
Meig. Zw. vi. pi. lx. fig. 19. Found in the south of France,
and elsewhere.
Genus Milichia, Meig. Antennae porrect, the ter¬
minal joint patelliform, with a naked dorsal seta at the
base; hypostoma impressed, and provided with a mystax;
the forehead broad and setose; eyes rounded: abdomen
ovate, four-ringed : wings incumbent, longer than the ab¬
domen.
M. speciosa. Male. Hypostoma white, setaceous about
the mouth and sides; palpi black and pubescent; fore¬
head slate-grey with a white play of colour, and when
seen in some directions two brownish lines are percep¬
tible : antennae black : thorax greyish white : scutellum
black : abdomen shining silver-white; the belly, halteres,
and legs, black: wings hyaline, the anterior edge brown
from the middle to the apex. Two lines. Meig. Zw.
pi. lx. fig. 23. Has been taken near Marseilles, and in
Provence.
Genus Leucopis, Meig. Antennae porrect, the third
joint patelliform, with a naked dorsal seta at the base:
hypostoma somewhat impressed, naked; the forehead
broad and naked : eyes rounded: abdomen ovate, five-
ringed, depressed: wings incumbent, longer than the ab¬
domen.
L. griseola. White with a bluish tinge ; antennae deep
black: thorax with four pale-brown lines, the central one
narrowest: abdomen with a black play of colour at the
base, and marked with two black dots ; halteres white:
wings hyaline, with brown nerves : thighs grey, the apex
yellow; the tibiae and tarsi rufous, the former encircled
with a pale-brown ring. One line. Anthomyza griseola.
Fallen ; Meig. Zw. vi. pi. lx. fig. 28. Found on the con¬
tinent, but the special localities are not mentioned.
Genus Gymnopa, Meig. Antennae incumbent, the
third or terminal joint somewhat oblong, compressed, and
obtuse, wdth a naked dorsal seta at the base: hypostoma
descending, naked, tuberculated ; the forehead broad, and
nearly naked : eyes rounded: abdomen ovate, glabrous,
five-ringed: wings incumbent, longer than the abdomen;
the fifth longitudinal nerve abbreviated behind.
G. subsultans. Dark metallic green, shining: head
and legs black : halteres white. One line and a half.
Syrphus subsultans, Fab. Found in August and Septem¬
ber. The genus contains four species, none of which have
been hitherto noticed in Britain.
Genus Chlorops, Meig. Antennae deflexed, porrect,
the terminal joint patelliform, with a naked or pubescent
dorsal seta at the base : hypostoma descending, naked;
VOL. IX.
O L O G Y. 257
forehead broad and pubescent: eyes rounded : abdomen Diptera
elliptical, naked, five-ringed: legs simple: wings incum- Probosci-
bent, the transverse nerves approximating on the disc.
C. gracilis. Straw-colour, as well as the antennas and ~^
legs: forehead rufous : thorax marked with three dark-
grey lines, of which the central one is abbreviated behind,
and the others in front; and on each side of the breast
there is a black spot; there is also a black spot on each
side of the first incisure of the abdomen. Three lines.
Meig. Zw. vi. pi. Ixi. fig. 17. Has been taken near Paris
on the flowers of Chrysanthemum leucanthemum, in Rus¬
sia, and in Austria. The genus is composed of sixty spe¬
cies, all of them minute insects ; and a considerable num¬
ber appear to inhabit Britain.
Genus Meromyza, Meig. Antennae deflexed, por¬
rect, the third or terminal joint nearly patelliform, with a
naked dorsal seta at the base; hypostoma descending,
naked ; the forehead broad, rather prominent and pubes¬
cent; eyes rounded and somewhat prominent: abdomen
conical, naked, five-ringed: hinder thighs thickened:
wings incumbent, the transverse nerves approximating in
the middle of the disc.
M. pratorum. Pale-greenish yellow, as well as the
antennae and legs ; hinder part of the head unspotted :
thorax with three greenish-grey lines, the central one
running along the scutellum also; abdomen, with an in¬
terrupted dorsal line of black, and a black spot on each side
at the base. Two lines. Meig. Zw. vi. pi. Ixi. fig. 25.
Inhabits Germany and Britain.
Genus Agromyza, Fallen. Antennae deflexed and
porrect, the third joint orbicular, with a naked dorsal seta
at the base: hypostoma with a mystax; the forehead
broad and setose : eyes rounded: abdomen five-ringed:
wings incumbent, longer than the abdomen, the trans¬
verse nerves approximating.
A. denticornis. Head yellow, with a black point on the
crown ; antennae black, with a yellow base ; the third joint
having a small horn before the apex: thorax with a yel¬
low streak on the sides : scutellum yellow : halteres white :
legs black, with yellow thighs. One line. Meig. Zw.
vi. pi. Ixi. figs. 33, 34. Chlorops denticornis. Panzer ;
Chlorops Meigenii, Fallen. Found in England and on the
continent. The genus is extensive, comprehending sixty-
nine species. Few of these have been detected in this
country, although there can be little doubt that a large
proportion inhabit Britain.
Genus Phytomyza, Fallen, Antennae porrect, the
terminal joint patelliform, with a naked dorsal seta: hy¬
postoma with a mystax; forehead broad and setose:
eyes rounded : abdomen elongate, six-ringed: wings in¬
cumbent, longer than the abdomen, the transverse nerves
placed at the base of the wings, the ordinary one gene¬
rally wanting.
P. Jlavicornis. Blackish; thorax and scutellum dark
grey ; antennae entirely yellow: halteres white: wings
somewhat grey: the incisures of the abdomen and the
legs yellow. Two thirds of a line. Meig. Zw. vi. pi. Ixii.
fig. 6. Found on the continent, but is not common.
Genus Therina, Meig. Antennae porrect, the third
joint patelliform, with a long naked dorsal seta at the
base : hypostoma impressed, and furnished with a mystax ;
the forehead broad and pilose: eyes rounded: abdomen
oblong, five-ringed: wings incumbent, the transverse
nerves remote.
T.femoralis. Hypostoma ferruginous, forehead of the
same colour anteriorly, grey behind; antennae black:
thorax dark grey, with four rather indistinct dark lines :
abdomen black : halteres white : wings hyaline : legs fer¬
ruginous ; the anterior thighs thickened. Scarcely one
line. Found on the continent.
2 K '
258 E N T O M
Diptera Genus Borborus, Meig. Antennae porrect, the ter-
Eprobosci-minai joint spheroidal, with a naked dorsal seta : hypo-
( deae. stoma impressed, and furnished with a mystax ; forehead
‘ broad, setose, declined: eyes rounded : abdomen flat,
five-ringed : hinder metatarsi abbreviated and thickened :
wings incumbent, longer than the abdomen (or wanting).
B. clunipes. Hypostoma and anterior part of the fore¬
head testaceous : body dark brown : scutellum elongate,
flat, setaceous : halteres brown : wings hyaline : the two
first joints of the hinder tarsi thickened, the second some¬
what longer than the first. One half line. Found in
dung; but is rare. It occurs in England.
FAMILY XXIV—TRINEURiE.
Genus Phora, Lat. (Plate CCLI. figure 30.) An¬
tennas inserted at the opening of the mouth, globose, with
an elongate erect naked seta; palpi exserted, clavate,
setose : abdomen six-ringed: hinder legs elongate : wings
incumbent.
P. incrassata. Black, the forehead tuberculated : palpi
and antennas black: the first incisure of the abdomen
margined with white : legs black, the anterior pair with
the apex of the thighs, the tibiae, and tarsi, ferruginous:
halteres brown : wings nearly hyaline, somewhat brown¬
ish. One and a half line. In September; not rare.
Genus Conicera, Meig. Antennae erect, conical,
with a naked terminal seta: palpi exserted, setose : ab¬
domen six-ringed : wings incumbent.
C. atra. Velvet black; forehead pitch-brown; ante¬
rior tibiae and tarsi rufous; wings clear hyaline. Half
a line. Found in September ; but nowhere common. Ap¬
parently not indigenous to Britain.
DIVISION II.—EPROBOSCIDEiE.1
FAMILY COR I ACE Af.
Genus Hippobosca, Linn. (Plate CCLI. figures 31
and 31 a.) Antennae gemmiform, inserted into the sides
of the hypostoma, and having a naked apical seta: ocelli
wanting: the tarsi with equal bidentate claws: wings pa¬
rallel, incumbent, obtuse, with many nerves.
H. equina. Forehead and hypostoma shining ferrugi¬
nous : eyes pitch-brown : thorax shining dark brown, the
shoulders ferruginous ; before the scutellum there are
three yellow spots, of which the central one forms an
O L o G Y.
acute triangle : scutellum yellow, with black spots on the Diptera
sides: abdomen pubescent, brownish grey: legs ferrugi-F'P1'0^08^-
nous, the thighs and tibiae of the middle pair with a dark ,
ring, the hinder pair with two : halteres black : wings
brownish, the marginal nerves dark brown. Four lines.
Linn. Fab. On horses and cattle.
We are still indebted to Reaumur for the greater part
of our knowledge regarding the very singular mode of
production in the genus Hippobosca, or forest-flies, as these
insects are sometimes called. That delightful observer
has named them Mouches Araignees. The larva is hatch¬
ed and nourished within the body of the mother, and re¬
mains there till after its transformation to the nympha
state. Hence the term pupiparous, as applied to the Hip-
poboscse and other genera of the tribe. The nymph, or
rather cocoon, is at first of a milky whiteness, with a large
plate (plaque) at one end, black and shining, like ebony.
It is of a round and flattened form, emarginate at the
plated end, where it forms two rounded or horn-like emi¬
nences. It becomes entirely black soon after exclusion, and
the skin or covering, of a cartilaginous or scaly texture,
resists a strong pressure of the fingers, and is even diffi¬
cult to cut with the sharpest scissors. The body of the
mother scarcely equals the dimensions of the nymph, and
it has often been a subject of marvel how the greater
should proceed from the less. It appears, however, that
the cocoon is possessed of an expansive power, which is
probably exercised the moment after its exclusion from
the body of the parent. The hardness and solidity of
the skin, though well qualified to defend the nymph from
injury, might seem to present a serious obstacle to the
escape of the perfect insect. But nature, so complete
and bountiful in all her doings, and so pervaded even in
her minutest operations by the perfect wisdom of her
great Author, has provided against this seeming incon¬
venience by a beautiful contrivance. When we examine
the larger end by means of a microscope, we shall perceive
the feeble trace of what in fact constitutes a kind of cap
or cowl, and which may sometimes be made to spring off
even by the touch of a penknife. When the perfect in¬
sect is ready for exclusion, it finds it an easy matter to
manage this piece of natural mechanism. The coriace¬
ous envelope to which we have alluded is, in fact, the dis¬
tended and somewhat altered skin of the larva, and with¬
in it Reaumur succeeded in detecting the exuviae of the
nymph. The phenomena of transformation are, therefore,
so far analogous to what we observe in the coarctate pupae
of some other dipterous tribes, and the chief anomaly
consists in the larva passing the entire period of its exis-
1 In our copy of Meigen’s European Diptera, the work by which we have been guided in the systematic portion of our exposition of
the order, there is (at page xxxiii. of the first volume) a brief exposition of the characters of Division I. Phoboscide.®. This we
have given at page 258 of the present treatise. In the sixth and last volume of the German author we do not, however, find any
indication of Division II. Presuming, nevertheless, from the strong disparity of character presented by the CoriacEjE, when
compared with the preceding families, that they must constitute the other principal branch of the dipterous order, we have applied
the name of Epeoboscide.*, as significative of the division sought for. It was so applied by Latreille {Gen. Crust- et Insect, t. iv. p.
360), as well as (excepting Nycteribia) by Dr Leach {Wernerian Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 547), to the family in question. The species of
which it is composed are in truth of a very singular structure and economy, and altogether of a nature so anomalous, as to cause some
doubts as to their proper position in the system. They are now regarded as constituting a separate order, under the name of Ho-
moloptera, by Leach, Macleay, Stephens, and other English naturalists, and form the family Pupipara of Latreille. Some con¬
trariety of opinion still exists regarding the structure of the mouth. We shall here satisfy ourselves by a quotation from the last-
named entomologist, to whom we have been already so deeply indebted. “ La tete de ces insectes, vue en dessus, est divisee en deux
aires ou parties distinctes, dont I’une posterieure et principale, ou composant plus spe'cialement la tete, porte les yeux, et reqoit, dans
une echancrure antdrieure, Pautre partie. Celle-ci se partage aussi en deux, dont la posterieure plus grande et coriace porte late'rale-
mentles antennes, et dont Pautre constitue Pappareil manducateur. La cavite inferieure et huccale de la tete est occupee par une
membrane ; on voit sortir de son extremite' un suqoir, naissant d’un petit bulbe ou pedicule avance, compose de deux filets ou soies
tres rapprochds, et reconvert par deux lames coriaces, dtroites, alonge'es et velues, qui lui font Poffice de gaine. Q,ue ces lames ou val¬
vules representent, ainsi que je Pai presume, les palpes des autres dipteres, ou qu’elles soient les pieces d’une gaine proprement dite,
comme le pense M. Dufour, a Poccasion d’une espece d’ornithomyie {Annates des Scienc. Nat. x. 243, xi. 1), oil iladecouvert deux petits
corps, qu il prend pour des palpes, il n’en serait pasmoins vrai, que la trompe de ces insectes differerait sensiblement de celle des dip¬
teres precedents, et que la gaine, dans ce cas, aurait plus de rapports avec celle de la trompe de la puce, dent elle s’eloignerait ce-
pendant par Pabsence d’articulations. {Regne Animal, t. v. p. 538.) .
ENTOMOLOGY. 259
Diptera tence within the body of the mother, and being born in abdomen, somewhat greyish, with ferruginous nerves, the Genus
the pupa state.1 apex acute. Two and a half lines. Ocypternm pallidum,
i,_jr-vGenus Ornithobia, Meig. Antennae small, immers- Leach ; Mouche-araignee, Geoff. Ins. ii. 547, 2. Found
ed, inserted on the sides of the hypostoma, papillary, on swallows, especially the swift.
naked: ocelli wanting: tarsi with unequal bidentate Genus Melophagus, Lat. Antennae papillary, im-
claws : wings parallel, incumbent, with three nerves. mersed, inserted in the sides of the hypostoma : eyes li-
O. pallida. The colour of the head is ferruginous ; the near and small : ocelli wanting : tarsi with bidentate
proboscis of a similar colour, shorter than the head : tho- claws : wings wanting.
rax flat, rounded, shining black, with a rather large ferru- M. ovinus. Ferruginous ; the abdomen brown ; fore-
ginous spot on each shoulder, and two lines of the same head wide, with the crown smooth and without ocelli, the
colour in the middle ; the hinder part setaceous, at least other parts setaceous : proboscis as long as the head, and
on the sides; scutellum transverse, ferruginous, the hin- porrected : thorax embracing the head anteriorly : abdo-
der margin bristly: halteres white: abdomen ferruginous, men oval: legs robust, pubescent; the tarsi short, with
oval, pubescent: wings nearly hyaline, with pale nerves : bidentate claws. Two lines. Hippobosca ovina, Linn,
legs ferruginous, pubescent, robust: the first four joints of Found in considerable numbers among the wool of sheep,
the tarsi very short, the fifth longer, with two long un- Another species occurs upon the stag,
equal claws, the outer claw shorter than the interior one. Allied to the preceding genus is that named Braula
Two lines. Rare; apparently not found in Britain. by Dr Nitzsch. The only known species lives upon the
Genus Ornithomyia, Lat. Antennae gemmiform, honey-bee, and is figured by German2 It is absolutely
setose, inserted into the sides of the hypostoma; vertex blind.3
with three ocelli; tarsi with tridentate claws : wings in- We shall conclude this lengthened exposition of the
cumbent, obtuse. dipterous order by a few observations on the genus Nyc-
O. avicidaria. Greenish yellow : antennae and probos- teribia of Lat., Phthiridium of Hermann, concerning
cis ferruginous ; eyes pitch-brown : thorax blackish on the the true position of which very various opinions have been
sides, with a yellowish longitudinal line : wings smoke co- entertained. The species are in fact entirely apterous, hav-
lour with dark-brown nerves, the longitudinal nerves not ing neither wings nor halteres. They bear a general re-
very distinct: legs pubescent. Two to two and a half lines, semblance to spiders. The head is extremely small, and
Hippobosca avicularia, Linn. Degeer, vi. 114, pi. xvii. fig. as it were implanted on the anterior and dorsal portion of
21-27. These insects occur on different species of birds, the thorax, in the form of a little capsular tubercle. The
but never on quadrupeds,—a fact in their history which, eyes seem composed of minute grains. The thorax is
in connection with the difference of structure, renders semicircular. Even Latreille (in his earliest work) was
their generic separation from Hippobosca the more advis- so far misled by the anomalous aspect of these insects as
able. Latreille thinks that their metamorphoses resemble to mistake the very Class to which they belonged. He
those of the last-named genus. The species above de- consequently placed them among the Arachnides. In
scribed is extremely vivacious, runs swiftly, sometimes this he was followed by Dr Leach,4 who was probably
side foremost like a crab, and flies with considerable faci- not aware that the great French entomologist had long
lity. before rectified his error. When a species of the genus
Genus Stenopteryx, Meig. Antennae gemmiform, was first observed on a bat by Colonel Montagu, he
setose, inserted into the sides of the hypostoma: vertex thought it an entirely new insect, and named it, on ac-
with three ocelli: tarsi with tridentate claws : wings very count of its rapid movements, Celeripes Vesper tilionis.5
narrow, acute, longer than the abdomen. It appears, from an expression in the Fauna Suecica, that
S. hirundinis. This species is very closely connected Linnaeus described it as a Pediculus. The generic name
with those of the preceding genus, differing chiefly in the oi Phthiridium, bestowed by Hermann the younger,6 be¬
long, narrow, pointed wings: the colour is ferruginous, ing posterior in date to that of Latreille, ought not to be
with pitch-brown eyes: the antennae are covered with adopted. We may add, that the antennae, which the
long black setae. Two lines. Hippobosca hirundinis, German author did not observe, and which he stated did
Linn.; Stenepteryx hirundinis, Leach ; Ornithomyia hi- not exist, have been detected by Latreille.7 They are
rundinis, Lat. Meig. Zw. vi. Ixiv. fig. 5. Found on dif- extremely short, advanced, bi-articulate, and inserted
ferent kinds of swallows, especially the Hirundo Apus of close to each other, on the emargination of the upper
Linn. The wings of this species are not well adapted for edge of the head. The eyes are placed immediately be-
flight. Reaumur once found as many as thirty in a swal- neath them.
low’s nest. These curious insects, as far as yet known, occur on
Genus Anapera. Antennae gemmiform, setose, in- bats, over which they move with great rapidity; but when
serted into the sides of the hypostoma: ocelli wanting: withdrawn from their natural nidus they become quite
tarsi with tridentate claws: wings short and acuminated, confused, and almost incapable of locomotion. Iheir
A. pallida. Ferruginous; the abdomen brown : anten- heads being placed as it were upon their dorsal aspect,
nae with numerous long black hairs: thorax rhomboidal, it was difficult to understand how they satisfied their ap-
the anterior part embracing the head on both sides; si- petite ; and we owe to Colonel Montagu the observation,
nuated on each side, but widened in the middle, and the that when they suck the blood of bats they place them-
back impressed with a deep longitudinal line : the hinder selves in a reverse position on their backs. Of the few
part setaceous, especially towards the sides : scutellum species known, two are found in Britain, on the greater
transverse : legs robust, especially the thighs, and cover- and the lesser horse-shoe bats. Another species occurs
ed with long hair: wings short, scarcely longer than the in the Isle of France.8
1 For a detailed account of the internal structure of these insects, see M. Uufour’s Recherches Anatomiques sur VHippobosque det
Chcvaux, in the Ann. dcs Sciences Nat. t. vi. p. 299. For their classification, and that of the allied genera, consult Dr Leach’s Intecta
Eproboscidea, in Memoirs of the Wernerian Society, vol. ii. p. 547; and Regne Animal, t. v. p. 543.
» Fauna Insect. Europ. vi. 25. . „ * Regne Animal, t. v. p. 545.
« In the Supplement to the preceding edition of this Encyclopaedia, vol. x. p. 446. See also Zool. Miscell. vol. in. p. 55.
* Linn. Trans, vol. ix. p. 166, note. 7 Nouv. Diction. d'Hist. Nat. art. Nyct'erilie.
* Mtm. Apterologiquc, p. 124. 8 Diction. Class. d'Hist. Nat. t. xu. p. 25.
260 ENTOMOLOG Y.
Suctoria.
Order IX.—SUCTORIA, Degeer.1
In this order the mouth consists of a sucker of three
parts (two maxillag and a ligula), contained between two
articulated blades (the labium), forming by their union a
trunk or beak, cylindrical or conical, and covered at the
base by a pair of scales, supposed to represent the palpi.
The species undergo a genuine metamorphosis analogous
to that of several Diptera, such as the Tipularice of La-
treille.
The genus Pulex of Linnaeus composes the entire or¬
der. The body is oval, comnressed, covered by a tough
integument, and divided into twelve segments, of which
the anterior three constitute a short thorax, and the re¬
mainder the abdomen. The head is small, much com¬
pressed, rounded above, truncated and ciliated in front,
and furnished on each side with a little circular eye, be¬
hind which, and lodged in a groove, we find certain small
moveable articulated bodies, which are the true antennse.
Towards the anterior part of the head, and near the origin
of the sucker, are placed another pair of appendages, which
Latreille and others have regarded as the antenna;, but
which are now with greater propriety considered as max¬
illae, or parts of the mouth. Between these is placed the
sucker, composed of a bivalvular articulated sheath, and
three sets. The sheath, according to Duges, corresponds
to the labial palpi, while two of the setae represent the
mandibles, and the remaining one is regarded as the ana¬
logue of the ligula.
In regard to the species,—“ Chacun,” says Latreille,
“ connait la Puce commune.” In this country we call\tflea;
and, presuming that it is nearly as well known here as in
France, we shall not trouble our readers with a detailed
description. The female lays about a dozen eggs, of a
white colour, and slightly viscous. From these ere long
proceed little lively worms, which move like serpents, or
roll themselves about spirally, or in circles. They are at
first white, but become ere long of a reddish hue, and are
composed of a scaly head, without eyes, furnished with
two minute antennae, and of numerous segments bearing
little tufts of hair, and two hooks at the caudal extremity.
The mouth exhibits some small moveable pieces, of which
the larva makes use in pushing itself forward. They re¬
main about twelve days in that condition, and then each
larva encloses itself in a little silk cocoon, where it be¬
comes a nymph, and from which, after about an equal
lapse of time, the perfect insect issues forth. The com¬
mon flea (called by naturalists Pulex irrituns, see the fi¬
gure last referred to) occurs in almost all countries. It
is parasitical on the bodies of several other animals besides
the human kind (of which it prefers children and the gent¬
ler sex, owing to the superior softness of their skin), such
as dogs, cats, hares, among quadrupeds,—and pigeons,
poultry, and swallows, among birds. Defrance, who has
published some interesting observations on the eggs and
laivae, has also shown that bathing domestic animals has
no effect in ridding them even of the perfect insect, which
he has seen, resume its wonted functions after a continu¬
ous immersion of twenty-two hours. The process, how-
e\ er, is useful, in as far as it appears to annoy the pregnant
emales, which do not endure immersion above eleven
iouis. In Dalecarlia the natives place hare-skins in their
beds, and other parts of their houses, for the fleas to nes¬
tle in. They then destroy them by dipping the skins in Thysan-
hot water, or holding them over a fire. oura.
I he genus Pulex is by no means numerous in species.
A large yellow kind occurs upon the mole, and a banded
species (P. fasciatus of Bose) is found upon the fox. Pro¬
fessor Graham thinks he caught it in Clova. The Pulex
penetrans of Linn., known to the French colonists of Ame¬
rica by the name of Chique (Plate CCLII. figure 14), is
by some regarded as belonging to a distinct genus. Its
sucker is as long as its body (fig. 14, 6). It introduces
itself beneath the toe nails, or under the skin of the feet,
where the female speedily acquires a considerable bulk
in consequence of the growth of her eggs (fig. 14, a).
The numerous young to which these give birth sometimes
occasion malignant ulcers, difficult to cure, and occasion¬
ally mortal. They are extirpated by using a lavement of
tobacco juice, or other acrid infusion. The negroes, from
frequent practice, extract them with great skill.2
Order X.—THYSANOURA, Lat.
The insects of this order, like those of the preceding,
are apterous, or without wings. In addition to the usual
number of legs, they are provided, either along their sides,
or at the extremity of the abdomen, with peculiar organs,
which assist the purposes of locomotion. They are mas¬
ticators, that is, furnished with mandibles and maxillae.
They do not undergo metamorphoses. All the species
are of small size, of rather soft consistence, and are gene¬
rally covered either with shining silvery scales or hairs.
They avoid strong light, and seldom quit their retreats till
the shades of night have fallen. Some inhabit the inte¬
rior of houses, keeping themselves concealed in presses,
in the interstices of shutters, window-sashes, and other
wooden fabrications ;—others occur under stones and in
humid places. The order is divisible into two families.
FAMILY L—LEPISMENtE, Lat.
This family corresponds to the genus Lepisma of Lin¬
naeus. The antennae are setaceous, usually very long,
and divided from their base into many small articulations.
I he. palpi are distinct and projecting. The abdomen is
furnished inferiorly on each side with a range of move-
able appendages in the form of false legs, and is terminat¬
ed by articulated setae, of which three are more obvious
than the others. The body is of an elongated form, and
covered with small shining silvery scales. The mouth is
composed of a labrum, two almost membranaceous mandi¬
bles, a pair of maxillae, each furnished with a palpus of from
five, to six articulations, and of a labium of four emargi-
nations, bearing two quadri-articulate palpi. The thorax
consists of three perceptible portions. The abdomen,
which becomes gradually narrower towards its posterior
extremity, is provided, in addition to the false legs just
mentioned, with an anal appendage or scaly style, com¬
pressed, and composed of two pieces, after which we may
observe the three articulated setae prolonged beyond the
body. The legs are rather short—the haunch often very
large, much compressed, and squamiform. Several species
occur in window-sashes which are seldom opened, beneath
the planks of presses where there is any damp or moisture.
2 Siphoxaftera, Lat.; Aphaniptera, Kirby.
Curtis’s Britirfi Eiiiornolopi^r^’rt' Z°0'°SlQuesdu genre /’wto, par M. Ant. Duges, in the Annales des Sciences Nat. Octobre, 1832;
vol. i. p. 359. ’ 3 ’ CCXVU‘ ’ anc ^ estvvood On the Structure of the Antennae in the Order Aphaniptera, Ent. Mag.
E N T O M
Thysan- A few seek the protection of stones. They run swiftly,
L_ir^‘ some leap well by means of their caudal appendages.
The Linnsean genus is now divided into two.
In the genus Machilis, Lat. (Pefro&ms, Leach), Plate
CCLII. figure 8, the eyes are extremely composite, al¬
most contiguous, and occupy the larger portion of the head.
The body is convex and arched above, and the abdomen
is terminated by small setae, adapted for leaping, and of
which the central one, placed above the others, is much
the longest. The maxillary palpi are very large, and pe-
diform. The thorax is narrowed, with its first segment
smaller than the others, and arched. These insects leap
well and frequently. They dwell in stony and covered
places. The species are few in number, and, as far as yet
known, are European. We found the P. maritimus of
Leach1 in Fingal’s Cave, in the island of Staffa.
In the genus Lepisma properly so called (Forbicina,
Geoffrey, Leach), Plate CCLII. figure 7, the eyes are
very small, distant, and less composite tnan in the preced¬
ing genus. The body is flattened, and the three terminal
setae are inserted on the same line, and are not adapted for
leaping. The haunches are very large. The greater
number are found in the interior of houses. They run
swiftly, and when seized their silvery scales come off upon
the fingers. The softness of the masticating organs in
this genus would induce us to believe that they are inca¬
pable of gnawing hard materials. The most common spe¬
cies, L. saccharina, is said by Linnaeus and Fabricius to
feed on sugar and decayed wood,—and, according to the
former, it likewise gnaws books and woollen garments.
Geoffrey, however, is of opinion that it preys on the little
Psocus pulsatorius, a small neuropterous insect, usually
without wings, which we find both in houses and beneath
the bark of trees. This Lepisma measures about four
lines in length. It is of a silvery white, with a tinge of
lead colour, and without spots. It is said to have come
originally from America. Another species, which is re¬
presented by the figure last referred to, is distinguished
by its ash-coloured body, spotted with black, and marked
down the back by four black lines. Its localities are simi¬
lar to those of the preceding species.
FAMILY II PODURELL.E, Lat.
In this family, which corresponds to the genus Podura
of Linn., the antennae consist of only four articulations.
The mouth does not exhibit distinct and projecting palpi.
The terminal seta is forked, and when not in action is
kept bent beneath the abdomen. These insects are ex¬
tremely small, the body soft, elongated, with an oval head
and two eyes, each formed of eight small granules. The legs
exhibit only four distinct joints. The tail is soft, flexible,
and composed of an inferior piece, moveable at the base,
with two articulated appendages at the extremity, suscep¬
tible of being approximated, separated, or crossed. By
striking this caudal process against the plane of their po¬
sition, these insects possess the power of leaping into the
air like fleas, although with less activity. They generally
fall upon their backs, with their tails stretched out behind.
Some are found on plants, beneath the bark of trees, or
under stones ; others on the surface of stagnant waters.
They even occasionally occur, during time of thaw, in great
quantities, on snow. When collected in numbers, they re¬
semble a sprinkling of gunpowder.
These insects are oviparous, and undergo no transfor-
O L O G Y. 261
mations. They are completely formed on leaving the egg, Parasita.
although they speedily increase in size, and frequently
change their skins. Degeer informs us that he observed
them in Holland, alive and active, during the prevalence
of a strong frost. The aquatic species do not long sur¬
vive a removal from the water. They speedily shrivel up
and die. But the terrestrial species support uninjured
the heat of the mid-day sun even in dry and dusty regions.
As far as we know, all the ascertained species are Euro¬
pean, though we doubt not the genera exist in other quar¬
ters of the globe.
In Podura properly so called (Plate CCLII. figures
12 and 12 a), the antennae are of nearly equal thickness
throughout, and without annuli or small articulations at
their extremity. The body is almost linear or cylindrical,
with the thorax distinctly articulated, and the abdomen
narrow and oblong.
In the genus Smynthurus, Lat. (Podura, Linn.), the
antennae become attenuated towards the extremity, and
are terminated by an annulated portion, composed of small
articulations. The thorax and abdomen seem united into
a single globular or ovate mass. This genus corresponds
to the second section of the Podurce of Degeer. When
touched, these insects make great leaps into the air by
means of a setiform process at the end of the abdomen,
resembling that of the preceding genus ;—but they are
moreover furnished with a very extraordinary organ, which
we do not find in Podura proper. Beneath their body,
and just between the points of the two forks of the tail,
there exists an elevated cylindrical portion, from which
issue two long membranous threads, transparent, extreme¬
ly flexible, and glutinous or humid. They are rounded at
the extremity, almost as long as the insect’s body, and
are thrown out with force and celerity, one on either side,
from the cylindrical portion just mentioned, according to
the insect’s pleasure.
In regard to the uses of these peculiar parts of struc¬
ture, Degeer observed that some Smynthuri which he
had placed in an earthen vessel ejected their slimy organs
whenever they found themselves, against their will, slip¬
ping down the sides of their prison. They then hung, as
it were, suspended by these filaments, until they had time
to take up a fresh position.2 It may thus be reasonably in¬
ferred that their natural use or function is to prevent the
insect’s falling, when, after the execution of a powerful
leap, it happens to alight upon a perpendicular or inclin¬
ed surface. Degeer’s observations apply to Sm. fuscus,
Lat.,3 a comparatively large species, synonymous with
Podura atra of Linn.
Order XL—PARASITA, Lat.4
The insects of this, our concluding order, are apterous,
like those of the preceding; but their bodies are unpro¬
vided with articulated appendages, or other organs of lo¬
comotion, except the legs. Their organs of sight seem
to consist solely of smooth or simple eyes (yeux lisses).
Their mouth is in great part internal, and exhibits exter¬
nally either a muzzle or projecting protuberance, enclosing
a retractile sucker, or two membranaceous approximate
lips, with a pair of hooked mandibles. These insects form
in the Linnaean system the genus Pedicui^js, containing
an extensive and varied group, known under the general
and repulsive name of lice, and exhibiting in their struc¬
ture and economy a great deal to interest the philosophi-
1 Zoological Miscellany, cxlv.
* Mtmoircs, t. vii. p. 35, pi. iii. figs. 7, 8.
3 Genera Crustac. ef Insect, t. i. p. 166.
4 Aptera (pars) Linn.; Anoplura, Leach.
262
ENTOMOLOGY.
Parasita. Cal naturalist, notwithstanding the associations by which
we unavoidably connect their existence with that of
wretchedness and vice.
The unrestricted genus may be said to be generally
characterized by a flattened body, almost transparent, and
divided into eleven or twelve distinct segments, of which
the anterior three bear the six legs. The first of these
segments often assumes the form of a thorax. The stig-
matic openings are very distinct. The antennae are short,
of uniform thickness, composed of five articulations, and
frequently inserted in an emargination. On each side ot
the head there are one or two small simple eyes. The
legs are rather short, and are terminated by a very strong
claw, or by a couple of hooks directed one towards the
other. These parasites, as many know by experience, at¬
tach themselves to man, beast, and feathered fowls. I hey
likewise fix their eggs to hair and feathers; and as their
generations are neither few nor far between, their super¬
abundant increase under certain circumstances, not yet
clearly understood, is sometimes such as to produce dis¬
ease and death. The malady is called phthiriasis, from
tp&ug, the Greek for louse.1 Fa'Dricius placed the Pediculi
in his order Antliata (or Diptera), guided no doubt by a
consideration of the parts of the mouth ; while Dr Nitzsch,
who has studied these insects with great attention, now
ranks them with the Hemiptera, and at the same time
classes the cognate genus Ricinus in the orthopterous
order.
In the genus Pediculus properly so called (Plate
CCLII. figures 11 and 11 a), the mouth is very small,
mammillaeform, and tubular, placed at the anterior extre¬
mity of the head, and, while not in action, enclosing a
sucker. The tarsi consist of an articulation almost equal
in size to the tibia, and terminated by a very strong claw,
which, bending inwards upon a small projection, forms as
it were a kind of nipper. Such of the species as Latreille
has examined presented only a pair of simple eyes, one
on each side.
Of the three species which infest the human race,
P. humanus corporis is without spots. It infests the
inner garments of beggars, and others who attach no im¬
portance to personal cleanliness, and is the cause of the
disease above alluded to. The second species, P. hu¬
manus capitis, is more of an ash colour, with brown or
blackish spots around the stigmatic openings, and the
lobes of the abdomen are more salient. It occurs on the
heads of children, and of dirty adults. In both these spe¬
cies the head and thorax are obviously distinct from the
abdomen. In the third species, which forms the genus
Phthirus of Dr Leach, the body is broad and rounded, the
thorax very short and almost confounded with the abdo¬
men, and the four posterior legs are very strong.
Of all these insects the powers of multiplication are
great. Swammerdam viewed them as hermaphrodites, in
as far as he could not satisfy himself regarding their dis¬
tinctive sexual characters. But Leeuwenhoeck and De-
geer, and recently Latreille and Doctors Nitzsch and Ali-
bert, have shown that they do not differ essentially in these
respects from other allied tribes. They are all oviparous,
and their eggs are deposited on hair (see Plate CCLII.
fig. 11 6) or garments. The young are hatched in five or
six days, and after several castings of their skin, or in
about eighteen days, they become fit to reproduce their
kind. In this way it has been calculated that a brace of
females may prove the parents of eighteen thousand young
in the space of two months. Oviedo remarked that the
pediculi left the Spanish sailors at a certain latitude dur¬
ing their voyage to the Indies, and made their appearance
again on the homeward progress about the same latitude.
This we think was somewhere near the tropics; but the
observation does not seem to have been confirmed by any
special observations in more modern times. It is said,
however, that in India they occur only on the head. These
insects, however disgusting to people of refinement, are
greedily sought after and eaten by those who may by some
be regarded as belonging to the inferior orders, viz. Ne¬
groes, Hottentots, and Monkeys.
In the genus Ricinus of Lat. (Plate CCLII. figure
10), which corresponds to Nirmus of Hermann and Leaco,
the mouth is placed beneath, and consists exteriorly of
two lips, and a pair of hooked maxillae.2 These insects,
with the exception of a species found on dogs, are all
bird-lice, that is, parasitical on the feathered creation.
Their head, which, in common with the antennae, occa¬
sionally differs in the sexes, is usually very large,—in some
of a triangular form, in others semicircular or lunate,—
and is frequently furnished with angular projections. La¬
treille has perceived a pair of simple eyes on each side of
the head in several species. Besides the parts of the
mouth just mentioned, Savigny satisfied himself of the
presence of maxillae, each bearing a very small palpus,
and concealed by the labium or lower lip, which is also
palpigerous. There is likewise a kind of tongue. The
Ricini are much less sluggish in their movements than
the Pediculi properly so called. They glide about among
the feathers of birds with considerable agility, and are
captured with difficulty, by reason of the flatness of their
forms and adhesive propensities. When a bird dies, how¬
ever, they assemble together about the base of the beak,
and other parts of the head, and moving about with an air
of inquietude, they seem to watch for an opportunity of
making their escape to some living prey. M. Leclerc
de Laval detected portions of the plumage in their sto¬
machs, and he is of opinion that these constitute their
sole subsistence; but Degeer found the Ricinus of the
chaffinch gorged with blood ; and their extreme anxiety
to change their quarters the moment that circulation
ceases, argues a fancy for something more than feathers.
Parasita.
We have at last brought to a conclusion an article
which the reader may possibly regard as of inordinate
length, but which the writer has certainly found far too
narrow for the proper elucidation of several departments
of his subject. “ And here it is not out of place to re¬
mark, that it is the very perfection of the divine work¬
manship which leads every inquirer to imagine a surpass¬
ing worth, and grace, and dignity, in his own special de¬
partment of it. The fact is altogether notorious, that in
order to attain a high sense of the importance of any
science, and of the worth and beauty of the objects which
it embraces, nothing more is necessary than the intent
and persevering study of them. Whatever the walk of
philosophy may be on which man shall enter, that is the
walk which of all others he conceives to be most enriched
by all that is fitted to entertain the intellect or arrest
the admiration of the enamoured scholar. The astrono
mer who can unravel the mechanism of the heavens,
the chemist who can trace the atomic processes of matter
1 It is well described by M. Alibert, in his treatise Sur les Maladies de la Peau.
2 The genus Ricinus was established by Degeer, who first recognised that these insects were distinguished from Pediculi by the
existence of mandibles. The name was applied by the ancients to certain acarideous species of the genus now called Ixodes, and for
that reason has not been adopted by some modern naturalists, who prefer the name of Nirmus.
ENTOMOLOGY.
Index, upon earth, or the metaphysician who can assign the laws
of human thought, or the grammarian who can discrimi¬
nate the niceties of language, or the naturalist who can
classify the flowers, and the birds, and the shells, and the
minerals, and the insects which so teem and multiply in
this world of wonders,—each of these respective inquirers
is apt to become the worshipper of his own theme, and to
look with a sort of indifference, bordering on contempt,
towards what he imagines the far less interesting track of
his fellow-labourers. Now each is right in the admira¬
tion he renders to the grace and grandeur of that field
263
which himself has explored ; but all are wrong in the dis- Index,
taste they feel, or rather in the disregard they cast on the
other fields which they have never entered. We should
take the testimony of each to the worth of that which he
does know, and reject the testimony of each to the com¬
parative worthlessness of that which he does not know ;
and then the unavoidable inference is, that that must be
indeed a replete and a gorgeous universe in which we
dwell,—and still more glorious the Eternal Mind, from
whose conception it arose, and whose prolific fiat gave birth
to in all its vastness and variety.”1 (j. w.)
INDEX.
Page
Abraxas  216
Acaenitus  188
Acanthia  163
Acanthocinus... 146
Acanthomera ... 130
Acanthopoda. 160
Acanthoptera... 145
Acanthopus   200
Acanthoscelis ... 85
Acilius  101
Acrsea  207
Acrocera  236
Acrocinus  145
Acrydium  159
Actora  254
Aculeata  193
Adela   219
Adelium   132
Adephaga  77
Adolecera  106
Adorium   150
AMes  225
Ajgialia  120
ADgocera  210
Aisalus  128
JEshna  176
Agarista  209
Agathidium  151
Agathis  188
Aglaope   210
Aglia  212
Aglossa  218
Agonum  94
Agrion  176
Agrocinus   145
Agromyza   257
Akis  129
Aleochara  104
Allecula  132
Aloraya  189
Altica  150
Alucita  218
Alurnus    148
Alyson   196
Amarygmus  132
Amathusia  208
Amblyteres  123
Amerhinus  140
Ammobates  200
Ammophilus .... 195
Amphicoma  126
Ampulex   195
Anapera  259
Anaplogna-
THIDES  123
Anaspis   134
Anchomenus.... 94
Anchonus  140
Ancyloscelis .... 200
Andrena  198
Andrenet^e .. 198
Anisomera  227
Page
Anysonyx  126
Anobium  112
Anopheles   225
Anotia  169
Ant  193
Anthia....  81
Anthiacum  199
Anthicides ... 134
Anthidium  200
Anthobii ....... 126
Anthomyia  250
Anthophila... 198
Anthophora  100
Anthrax  233
Anthrenus   115
Anthribus   138
Apatura  208
Aphanisticus ... 105
Aphidii  170
Aphidiphagi ,. 151
Aphis  171
Aphodius  120
Apiari^;  198
Apion  138
Apis  203
Apoderus  138
Aporus  195
Aposura  214
Aptinus   81
Aradus    163
Areopagus   153
Arenicoli  120
Areoda  125
Argynnis  207
Articerus   153
Ascalaphus  178
Ascia   239
Asilici   234
Asilus  235
Asirica  169
Aspistes   230
Astata  196
Asteia  256
Astrapaeus   103
Ateuchus  119
Athalia  183
Atherix   232
Atractocerus ... 112
Atta  194
Attagenus  115
Attelabides .. 138
Attelabus   138
Atychia   210
Aulacus   184
Baccha  239
Badister  94
Bagous  140
Balaninus   140
Banchus   191
Barbicornis  208
Baridius  140
Page
Bassus  191
Belostoma ....... 165
Bembecides ... 195
Beris  230
Bethylus  193
Bibio   230
Biblis  208
Bipartiti  85
Bithynus  153
Bitoma  142
Bittacus   178
Blapsides  130
Blaps  130
Blatta  156
Bocydium  170
Bolitophila  228
Bombus  201
Bombycites ... 212
Bombyliarii... 233
Bombylius  233
Bombyx  213
Borborus  258
Boreus  178
Bostrichus  142
Bots  247
Botys  218
Brachelytra 102
Brachinus’  79
Brachon   188
Brachycerus .... 138
Brachyopa  240
Brachypus  140
Brachystoma .... 235
Brassolis  208
Braula  259
Breeze-fly  245
Brentides  138
Brentus  138
Broscus  91
BRUCH.EL.E  137
Bryaxis  153
Bulboceras  121
Buprestides... 104
Buprestis  105
Butterflies  206
Byrrhii  115
Byrrhus  115
Byturus  114
Calandra  140
Calathus   92
Callicera  238
Callichroma  144
Callidium  145
Callimorpha .... 214
Callirhipis  106
Callomyia  242
Calobata  253
Calopus  133
Calosoma  98
Camarota  254
Camptocerus .... 142
Page
Camptorhynchus 140
Campsia    132
Campylomyza... 226
CANTHARID.E... 134
Cantharis  136
Carabici  80
Carabus  96
Carnivora  77
Casnonia..  82
Cassida  148
CASSIDARI.E .... 148
Castnia  209
Cataphagus  106
Catoxantha  105
Cebrio  106
Cebrionites ... 106
Cecidomyia  226
Celonites  196
Centrinus  140
Centris   200
Centrotus  170
Cephalia  251
Cephas  184
Cerambycini.. 144
Cerambyx  145
Ceramius  197
Ceratina  199
Ceratopogon .... 225
Cercopis  170
Cercus  114
Cerocoma  134
Ceria  238
Ceropales  195
Cerophytum  106
Certallum  145
Cerylon   142
Cetonia  127
Cetoniides .... 127
Cetosia  207
Ceutorhynchus.. 140
CHALC1DI.E  192
Chalcis  192
Chasmodia  123
Chauliodes  179
Chelonia  214
Chelonus  188
Chelostoma  199
Chennium  153
Chiron  120
Chironomus  225
Chiroscelis  130
Chlajnius  94
Chlamys  149
Chloephora  216
Chlorion  195
Chlorops  257
Choleva  114
Chrysides  193
Chrysis  193
Chrysogaster ... 240
Chrysomela  150
CHRYSOMELIN.E 148
Page
Chrysophora.... 123
Chrysops  231
Chrysotoxum ... 238
Chrysotus  243
Chyliza  252
Cicada  167
Cicadarre  166
Cicindela  78
ClCINDELETiB .. 78
Cimbex  183
Cimex  163
Cis  142
Cistela  132
Cistelides  132
Cladius  183
Clavicornes... 112
Claviger  153
Clavipalpi  151
Cleonus  140
Clerii  Ill
Clerus  Ill
Clinocera  232
Clitellaria  237
Clitus   145
Clivina  85
Clypeaster  152
Clythra  149
Coccinella   152
Coccus  172
Cochineal-insect 172
Cockchafer  125
Cockroach  156
Ccelioxys  200
Ccelopa  254
Ccenomyia   230
Ccenosia   250
Colaspis  149
COLEOPTERA 73
Colias  207
Colletes  198
Colli uris  79
Colobata  253
Colydium  142
Colymbetes  101
Conicera  258
Conopalpus  132
Conops  244
Conopsarle ... 244
Copris  120
COPROPHAGI .. 118
Coprophilus  104
Cordyla  229
Cotdylura   251
Corethra  225
Coreus  162
CoriacejE  258
Corixa  166
Coronis  209
Corticus  130
Corydalis  179
Cossonus  141
Cossus  211
Page
COSSYPHENES... 131
Cossyphus  131
Crabro  196
Crabronites... 196
Crambus  218
Cremastocheilus 127
Crepuscularia 209
Cricket  157
Criocerides... 147
Crioceris  147
Crocisa  200
Crypticus  130
Cryptocephalus 149
Cryptocerus  194
Cryptusa  189
Ctenicer  106
Ctenistes  153
Ctenodes  144
Ctenophora  227
Cucujus    143
Culex  224
Curculio  139
CURCULIONITES 138
Cgrsoria  155
Cychrus  96
Cyclica  148
Cyclomus  139
Cylas  138
Cyllenia  234
Cynips  192
Cynthia  208
Cyrtoma  242
Cyrtus  236
Cyxii    169
Dacne  115
Dacus    255
Danais  207
Dapsa  151
Darnis  170
Dascillus  107
Dasycerus  142
Dasypoda  198
Dasypogon  234
Dasytes  Ill
Delphax  169
Deltoides   216
Demetrias  82
Dendroides  133
Dendrophagus... 143
Denticrura... 103
Depressa  104
Derbe  169
Dermestes  115
Dermestini ... 115
Dexia  249
Dialyta  250
Diaperales ... 131
Diaperis  131
Diaphorus  243
Diastata  265
Dibolia  150
1 Chalmers’ Bridgewater Treatise On the Adaptation of External Nature to the Moral and Intellectual Constitution of Man, vol. ii., p. 173.
264
ENTOMOLOGY.
Index.
Page
. Dichseta  255
Dicrania  126
Dicranoura  214
Dictyoptera  107
Dilophus  230
Dinetus  195
Dioctria   234
Dioderma  142
Dionix  153
Diphucephala... 125
Diploptera.... 196
DIPTERA...... 221
Dircsea  132
Discomyza  256
Distichocera  145
Ditomus  86
Diurna  206
Dixa  228
Domchopodes. 242
Dolicbopus  243
Dolichurus  195
Donacia  147
Doracerus  144
Dorcadion  146
Dorycera  255
Dorylus  194
Doryphora  149
Dragon-fly  176
Drapetis  236
Dromius  82
Drosophila   256
Drylus   110
Drymeia  250
Dryomyza  251
Dryopthorus  140
Dytilus  133
Dytiscus  100
Earwigs  155
Elaphrus  98
Elater  106
Elaterides. .. 105
Elmis  116
Elodes  107
Empidi.e  235
Empis  236
Empusa   157
Enceladus  85
Kndomychus.... 151
Engitides  114
Enicocerus  116
Epeolus  200
Ephemera  177
Ephialtes  190
Ephydra  256
Epicharis  200
Epitragus  132
Eproboscide^: 258
Erebus   214
Erioptera  226
Eriphia   250
Eristalis  241
Erodius  129
Erotylus  151
Erycina  208
Euchlora  125
Eucnemis  106
Euglossa  201
Eulopa  170
Eumenes  197
Eumenia  208
Eumerus  239
Eumolpus   149
Eumorphus  151
Eupelix  i7o
Euplocampus... 218
Eupoda  146
Eurhinus  138
Eurina  254
Eurybia   208
Eurychora  129
Eustrophus  132
Evsesthetus  103
Page
Evania  184
Evaniales  184
Faenus  184
Fallenia  233
Feronia  90
Feroniens  92
Synoptical ta¬
ble of  92
Figites  192
Fissieabra .... 103
Forest-flies  258
Forficula  155
Formica  194
Fossores  194
Fulgora  168
FGNGICOLiE .... 151
Gad-fly  245
Galba  106
Galgulus  164
Galleria  218
Gallerucit^j 150
Galeruca  150
Gallicol^e...'... 192
Gallinsecta... 172
Gastrus   246
Geocoris^e  161
Geotrupes  121
Geron  233
Gerris  164
Gitona  257
Glaucopis   210
Gloma  235
Glow-worm  107
Gnathium  136
Gnoma  145
Gnoriste  228
Goliathides .. 127
Goliathus  127
Gomphocerus ... 160
Gonia  248
Grandipalpi... 96
Graphipterus... 79
Grasshopper  160
Gryllotalpa  158
Gryllus  157
Gymnetis  127
Gymnopa  257
Gymnopleurus.. 119
Gymnosoma  247
Gyrinus  101
Haematopota.... 231
Halictus  198
Hallomenus  132
Harpaltci  88
Synoptical ta¬
ble of  88
Harpalus  88
Hawk-moth  190
Hedychrum  193
Hegeter  129
Helaeus  131
Helcon  188
Heliconius  207
Hellwigia  192
Helomyza  255
Helophilus  241
Helophorus  116
Helopii  132
Helops  132
Heloptilus  163
Hemerobini... 179
Hemerobius  179
Hemerodromia.. 236
HEMIPTE11A.. 160
Hemirhipus  106
Henops   236
Hepialtes  211
Hepialus  211
Heriades  199
Herminia  217
Page
Hermoneura  233
Hesperia  209
Hesperi-
sphinges .... 209
Heterocerus  116
Heteromyza  255
Heterogyna .. 193
Heteromera.. 128
Heteroneura  256
Heteroptera. 161
Heterotarsus  131
Hexatoma  232
Hexodon  123
Hilara  235
Hippobosca  258
Hispa  148
Hister   113
Histeroides... 113
Holepta   113
Homalura  254
Homoptera.... 166
Honey-lees  203
Hoplia  126
Hoplides  125
Horia   134
Horiales  134
Humble-bees  201
Hybos  235
Hybotiioe  235
Hydaticus  140
Hydrocampe  218
Hydrocan-
thari  100
Hydrochus  116
Hydrocoris^ 164
Hydrometra .... 164
Hydrophili.... 116
Hydroporus  101
Hydrous  116
Hygrobia  101
Hylaeus  198
Hylesinus • 142
Hylobius  140
Hylotoma  183
Hylurgus  142
HYMENOP-
TERA  181
Hypera  139
Hypulus  132
Ibalia  192
Ichneumon  188
Ichneumon-
ides  184
Idia  249
Ilithyia  219
Inca   127
Inflate  236
Insects—
Definition of.. 25
Orders of  25
Anatomy of... 27
Covering of... 29
External cha¬
racters of... 31
Locomotive or¬
gans of  39
Internal struc¬
ture of  42
Nervous sys¬
tem of  42
Senses of  42
Respiratory
system of ... 47
Circulating
system of... 48
Adipose tissue of 50
Digestive sys¬
tem of  50
Metamorphoses
of  52
Relative posi¬
tion of  58
Geographical
distribution of 63
Iponomeuta  219
Issus   169
Jassus  170
Joppa  188
Labidus  194
Lady-birds  152
Laena  132
Lagria  133
Lagriariae  133
Lamellicornes117
Lamia  146
Lamiariae  145
Lamprima  128
Lamprosoma ... 149
Lampyrides... 107
Lampyris   107
Languria  151
Lantern-fly...... 169
Laphria  234
Larra  195
Larrates  195
Lasiocampa  213
Lasioptera  226
Lathrobium  103
Latridius  142
Lauxania  251
Leaf-eating Bees 199
Lebia  82
Ledra  170
Leia   229
Leiodes  131
Leistus  98
LEPIDOP-
TERA  203
Lepisma  261
Lepismen^ .... 260
Leptides  232
Leptis   232
Leptocera   145
Leptogaster. ... 235
Leptopus  163
Leptura  146
Lepturet.e... 146
Lesteva  104
Lethrus  120
Leucopis  257
Leucothyreus... 124
Libellula  175
Libythia  208
Licinus   148
Limacodes  214
Limnebius  117
Limnobia  226
Lion-ant   178
Lipara   254
Liparus  139
Lispe  250
Lissa  252
Lissonotus  144
Lithosia  214
Lithurgus  199
Livia  171
Lixus  140
Locust   158
Locusta  158
Lomechusa  104
Lonchasa  252
Lonchoptera  244
Longicornes... 143
Longipalpi .... 103
Longitarsus  150
Lophosia  248
Lophyrus  183
Loricera  94
Loxocera   252
Lucanides  127
Lucanus  128
Lucina  254
Luperus  150
Page
Lycama  208
Lycoperdina .... 151
Lyctus.  142
Lycus  107
Lygffius  162
Lymexylon .... 112
Lyrops  . 195
Lystra  169
Lystronichus ... 132
Lytta   134
Machilis  261
Macraspis  123
Macrocera.. 200-228
Macrodactyea 116
Macronota  127
Macropeza  226
Malachius   Ill
Malacodermi 106
Mallota  241
Malthinus  110
Manticora  78
Mantis  156
Mantispa  179
Masarides  196
Masaris  196
Mason-bee  199
Mastigus  113
Medeterus  243
Megacephala.... 78
Megacephali.. 242
Megachile  199
Megaderus  144
Megalodontes... 184
Megalopus  147'
Megascelis  147
Melandrya  132
Melasis  105
Melasoma  128
Melecta  200
Melipona  203
Melissodes  200
Melitophili  126
Mellinus  196
Melliturga  200
Meloe    135
Melolontha  124
Melolon-
thides  124
Melophagus  259
Melyrides........ Ill
Melyris  Ill
Membracis   170
Meria  195
Merodon  241
Meromyza  257
Meryx    142
Mesembrina  249
Metopius  190
Microoephala 104
Microdon  238
Microgaster  188
Micropeplus,  104
Micropeza .... 253
Milesia  239
Milichia  257
Miltogramma... 248
Miorchinus  140
Miscopus  195
Mole-cricket  158
Moluris  130
Monedula  195
Monotoma  142
Mordella  134
Mordellones.. 133
Mormolyce  91
Morpho  208
Moths  210
Mulio  233
Musca  249
Muscides  247
MuTfi  168
Mutilla  194
Page Index
Mycetobia  228
Mycetophagi.. 142
Mycetophagus... 142
Mycetophila  229
Mycterus  133
My das  232
Mydasii  232
Mylabris  135
Myniops  139
Myodites  134
Myopa  245
Myrmecophila... 158
Myrmelion   178
Myrmelion-
ides  178
Myrina   208
Myrmica  194
Myzine  195
Naucoris  165
Nebria  98
Necrobia  Ill
Necrodes  114
Necrophorus .... 113
Necydalis  145
Nematocera  127
Nemognathus... 136
Nemoptera  178
Nemosoma   142
Nemotelus  237
Nemoura  180
Nepa  165
Nepides  164
Nephrotoma  227
NEUROP-
TERA  174
Nilio  131
Niteia   196
Nitidula  114
NlTIDULARIfi .. 114
Noctua  215
NoCTUfiLITES . 214
Nocturna  210
Nomada  200
Nomia  198
Notiophila  255
Nothus   133
Notodonta   214
Notonecta  166
Notonectides 166
Notoxus  134
Nyctelia  129
Nycteribia  259
Nymphalis  208
Nysson  196
Nyssones  195
Obrium  145
Ochthera  256
Ochthiphila  256
Octogonotes  150
Ocydromia  235
Ocyptera  248
OCYPTERfi  244
Odocantha  82
Odynerus   197
(Ecophora  219
(Edalia    235
CEdemera  133
(Edemerites... 132
(Edionychis  150
(Estracides... 245
(Estrus  245
Omalisus  107
Omalium  104
Ometis   123
Omophron  98
Oniticellus  119
Onitis  120
Onthophagus... 119
Opatrum  130
Ophion  191
Opomyza  256
ENTOMOLOGY.
265
Index Page
index. 0rchegia  132
-"V Orchestes  140
Orgyia  214
Orneodes  219
Ornithobia  259
Ornithomyia.... 259
Orobitis  140
Orsodacna  147
Ortalis  251
Orthocerus  130
Orthochaetes .... 140
Orthochile  244
ORTHOPTERA 153
Oryctes  122
Oryssus   134
Osmia  200
Orygma  254
Otiocerus  169
Oxaea  200
Oxiuri  193
Oxybelus  196
Oxycera   237
Oxyporus  103
Oxytelus  103
Ozorius  104
Pachygaster ....
Pachypus 
Paaciloptera......
Pffiderus  
Palarus 
Palpatores ...
Palpicornes ..
Pamborus 
Pamphilus 
Panagaeus 
Pangonia  
PANORPAT.E ....
Panorpa  
Panurgus 
Papilio  
Paragus  
Parandra  
PARASITA 
Parnassius 
Parnopes
Parnus 
Paropsis 
Pasites 
Passalus  
Passandra 
Patellimani...
Synoptical ta¬
ble of 
Patrobus  
Paxilloma 
Paxillus 
Paussus  
Pavonia  
Pediculus  
Pelecinus  
Pelecocera 
Pelicium 
Pelocophorus....
Pelocotoma 
Pelopaeus 
Peltastes 
Pemphedron ....
Pentamera ...
Pentatoma 
Penthetria 
Penthimia 
Pepsis 
Perla 
Perlides 
Petalocheirus ...
237
123
169
103
195
112
116
96
184
94
231
177
178
199
207
239
144
261
207
193
116
149
200
128
83
94
95
94
184
128
142
208
262
184
240
94
111
134
195'
188
196
77
161
229
170
195
180
180
163
Page
Phsedon  150
Phalacrus  151
Phalsena  216
Phal^nites.... 216
Phanseus  120
Phania  248
Phasia  247
Phasma  157
Philanthus  196
Phileremus  200
Phileurus  122
Philodotus  128
Pholierus  121
Phora   258
Phryganea  180
Phthiria  233
Phycis  218
Phyllium  157
Phyllobius  139
Phyllocharis .... 149
Phyllopertha ... 125
Phyllophagi.. 123
Phytomyza  257
Pieris  207
Pimelia  129
PlMELIARRE.... 129
Pimpla  189
Pinophilus  103
Piophila  253
Pipiza  239
Pipunculus  242
Pison  196
Planiceps   195
Planipennes ,. 177
Platycephala ... 255
Platypeza   242
Peatypezin^;.. 242
Platypterix   214
Platypus.,  142
Platysoma 143-253
Platyura  228
Plea    163
Plicipennes... 180
Ploas  234
Ploiaria  163
Ploiotribus   142
Pneumora  158
Podisma   160
Podium  195
Podontia  149
Podura  261
Podurellas  261
Pogonocherus... 146
Polistes  197
Polochrum  195
Polyergus  194
Polyommatus ... 208
Pompilus   195
Ponera  94
Porphyrops  243
Prasocuris ....... 150
Prionxi   143
Prionus   144
Proboscides .. 224
Procerus   96
Procris   210
Pronaeus  195
Proscopia  158
Prostomis   143
Proteinus  194
Psammodius  120
Psammcecus  147
Psarus  238
PSELAPHII   153
Pselaphus ,  153
Psen .............. 196
Page
PSEUDO-BOM-
BYCES   214
Psila  252
Psilopus  243
Psilota   240
Psoa   142
Psochus  180
Psychoda  126
Psylla  170
Pterochile  197
Pteropho-
RITES  219
Pterophorus .../ 219
Ptilinus  Ill
Ptiniores ...... Ill
Ptinus  Ill
Ptychoptera .... 227
Pulex  260
Pupivora   184
Pyralis  216
Pyrochroides 133
Pyrochroa  133
Pytho  132
Quadrimani ... 88
Ranatra  165
Raphidia  179
Reduvius  153
Rhagium  146
Rhamphomyia... 236
Rhamphus  140
Rhaphium  242
Rhina  140
Rhingia  240
Rhinosimus  138
Rhinotia  138
Rhinotragus  145
Rhipicera  107
Rhipidia  227
Rhisostrogus,... 125
Rhynchaenus.... 140
Rhynchites  138
Rhyncophora 137
Rhynchostoma 133
Rhyphus  230
Rhyzophagus ... 142
Ricinus  262
Ripiphorus  133
Rophites  199
Rutela  123
Ryssonotus  128
Sagra   147
Sagrides  147
Silpingus  133
Saltatoria .... 157
Saperda  146
Sapromyza  251
Sapyga  195
Saphygites ... 195
Sarcophaga ,. 249
Sargus   237
Saropoda.....  100
Saturnia  212
Satyrus  208
Sawrfiies  183
SCAPHIDITES... 114
Scaphidium  114
Scaphura  158
SCARABSIDES.. 118
Scarabaeus  122
Scarites  85
SCARITIDES .... 85
Synoptical ta¬
ble of  87
Scatophaga...... 251
Page
Scatopse  229
Scaurus  129
Scenofinii  244
Scenopinus  244
Sciara  229
Sciomyza  254
Scolia  195
Scolietes  195
Scolytus   142
Scotinus  130
Scotobius  129
Scutellera  161
Scydmaenus  113
Scyrtes  107
Securifera ... 183
Semblis  179
Sepedon  255
Sepsis  251
Seraptia  134
Serica  125
Sericaria  214
Sericomyia  240
Sericostoma  180
Serricornes... 104
Serropalpides 132
Serropalpus...... 132
Sesia  210
Sesiades  210
Sialis  179
Sigalphus  188
Silis..  110
Silk-worm  213
Silpha    114
Silphales  113
Silvius    231
SlMPLICIMANX 90
SlMPLICIPEDES 96
Synoptical ta¬
ble of  99
Simulia  229
Siphona  245
Sirex  184
Sitaris  136
Smerinthus  210
Smynthurus..... 261
Sparedrus  133
Specodes   198
Spectrum  157
Sphseroderus.... 96
Sphjerodiota.. 117
Sphaeridium  117
Sphasrotus  132
Sphegina  239
Spheniscus  132
Sphegides  195
Sphex  195
Sphingides .... 209
Sphinx  209
Spondylis  144
Staphylinus  103
Stegana  256
Stelis...,  200
Stenelytra... 131
Stenopterus  145
Stenopteryx .... 259
Stenostoma  133
Stenotrachelus.. 132
Stenus  103
Stephanus   188
Sternoxi ...... 104
Steropis   134
Stigmus  196
Stizus  195
Stomoxids .... 245
Stomoxys  245
Stratiomyds 237
Page
Stratiomys  238
STREPS1P-
TERA  220
Stridueantes 167
Strongylium  132
Stygia  212-233
Stylops  220
SuBULICORNES 175
SUBULI PALPI.... 100
SUCTORIA  260
Sybines  140
Sybistroma  243
Sylvanus  142
Synagris  197
Synapha  228
Synetrita  142
Synodendron.... 128
Syntomium  210
Syntomis  210
Syrphici  238
Syrphus   240
Syrtis  162
Systropha  199
Tabanii  231
Tabanus  231
Tachina  248
Tachinus  104
Tachydromia ... 236
Tachydromis 236
Tachyporus  104
Tagenia  129
Tamnophilus.... 140
Tanypeza  253
Tanypus  225
Taxicornes.... 131
Telephorus  110
Tenebrio  130
Tenebrionites 130
Tentyria  129
Tenthredi-
nets   183
Tenthredo  183
Terebrantia.. 183
Termes,  179
Termitins .... 179
Tesseratoma — 162
Tetanocera...... 255
Tetanops  252
Tetanura,   253
Tetramera ... 136
Tetrix  160
Tettigometra  169
Tettigonia  170
Thais  207
Thereva    232
Therina  257
Thripe  171
Thymalus.. ..... 114
Thynnus  195
Thyreophora  254
Thyris  210
THYSANOURA 260
Tiger-moth.,  214
Timarcha   150
Timia  253
Tineites  217
Tinea   218
Tingis  163
Tiphia...   195
Tipula  227
Tipularis  224
Tmesisternus.... 145
Tomicus  142
Tortrices  215
Toxophora  234
Toxotus....
Tracixelides...
Trachyderes 
Trachynotus 
Trachys 
Tragocerus  
Tragopa  
Trichides 
Trichius 
Trichocera 
Trichoptera 
Tridactylus  
Trigones 
Trimera 
Trineurs 
Triphyllus 
Triplax 
Tritoma 
Trixa 
Trogosita 
Trogosits  
Tropidia 
Trox 
Trypeta 
Tryphon 
Trypoxylon  
Truncatipen-
NES  
Synoptical ta¬
ble of 
Truxalis 
Tubicenus 
Tylode 
Page
146 ,
133
144
129
105
145
170
127
127
228
180
158
203
151
258
142
151
151
248
143
143
241
121
252
188
196
81
83
159
138
140
Index.
VOL. IX.
Uleoiota  143
Ulidia  253
Ulocerus  138
tipis  130
Urania  209
Urocerata .... 184
Usia  234
Vanessa  207
Velia  164
Vespa  197
Vespiaris .... 196
Volucella  242
Wasps  197
Wire-ivorm  106
Wood-bugs  161
Xenos  220
Xiphydria   184
Xorides  188
Xyela  184
Xylocopa  199
Xy'lopiiagi 142-230
Xylophagus  230
Xylophili  121
Xylophilus  138
Xylota  239
Xylotoms  232
Xylotrogi  112
Xysta  147
Zabrus  90
Zelus  163
Zephyrius  208
Zeuxia  249
Zeuzera   212
Zodion  244
Zonitis  136
Zophosis  129
Zygaena   210
Zygsnides .... 210
Zygops  140
2 L
266
E N Y
E P A
Entozoa
ENTOZOA, a name given to an extensive series of pa¬
rasitical animals which infest the internal organs of other
animals. See Zoophytes, § Intestinal Worms.
ENTRE DUERO E MINHO, or Minho, the most
northern of the provinces into which the kingdom of Por¬
tugal is divided. As its name denotes, it is bounded on
the north by the river Minho (which divides it from Spain),
and on the south by the river Duero. The Atlantic Ocean
is its western boundary, and on the east a chain of elevated
mountains separates it from the province of Tras os Montes.
It lies between 41.5. and 42. 8. N. Lat., and between 7. 48.
and 8. 45. W. Long., being about 70 miles in length from
N. to S., and 45 miles in breadth from E. to W. It is
divided into two districts, having areas (in English square
miles) and populations as follows:—
Districts. Area. Pop. in 1851.
Vianna  952 184,359
Braga  1083 297,969
2035 482,328
Three mountain ranges traverse this province from N.E.
to S.W. The most northern and loftiest of these, the Serra
de Estrica, occupies nearly the whole of the territory be¬
tween the Minho and the Lima. Its highest summit rises
to the height of nearly 7900 feet. The central range, called
the Serra de Geres, occupies the country between the Lima
and the Cavado; while the Serra de Santa Catarina runs
nearly parallel to the Tamega, and afterwards extends west¬
ward towards the sea. The rivers next in importance to those
which bound the province, are the Lima and the Cavado
(both of which flow into the sea), and the Tamega an affluent
of the Douro. The province is also watered by numerous
smaller rivers and streams; and, particularly in the valleys, is
exceedingly fertile and well cultivated. The principal pro¬
ductions are wine, oil, flax, oranges, lemons, maize, wheat,
barley, and oats. The staple production, however, is wine,
which indeed forms the principal article of export of the
kingdom; and the well-known red wine, denominated port
(from Oporto, whence it is shipped), is almost wholly the
growth of this province. The climate is pleasant and salu¬
brious, the heat of summer being tempered by the sea
breezes, while the winters are very mild. The sea and
rivers abound with excellent fish, the capture of which af¬
fords employment to a considerable portion of the inhabit¬
ants. The principal manufactures are linen, woollen, and
silk goods, hats, porcelain, hardware, and cutlery. The
capital of the province is Braga.
EN1 REPOT (French), in Commerce, a warehouse or
magazine for goods; and hence used to designate a seaport
or commercial town which exports the productions of a
considerable adjacent territory, and imports foreign goods
for its supply.
EN1 RESOL, in Architecture, the French name for the
mezzanine ox low story introduced between two loftier ones.
ENT RY, in Law, the taking possession of lands or tene¬
ments. It also denotes a writ of possession.
ENUMERA FION, in Rhetoric, a part of a peroration,
in which the orator recapitulates the principal points or
heads of the argument or discourse.
ENVELOPE, in Fortification, a mound of earth raised
to cover some weak parts of the works. It is constructed
in the form of a parapet, or of a small rampart with a para¬
pet. It is sometimes raised on a ditch, and sometimes be¬
yond it.
EN VOY (Fr. envoyer, to send), a person deputed to ne¬
gotiate a treaty, or to transact other business with a foreign
prince or government. Envoys belong to the second order
of diplomatic ministers; ranking below ambassadors pro¬
perly so called. See Ambassador.
ENYED NAGY, a market-town of Transylvania, not
far from the Maros, and 18 miles N.N.E. of Carlsburg.
Pop. about 5500. It has a richly endowed Protestant Enzelli
lyceum, besides a Roman Catholic, Lutheran, and other ||
churches. Epaule-
ENZELLI, a town of Persia, province of Ghilan, situ- v ment-
ated on a small tongue of land between the Caspian and ^ v-"‘~
the gulf of Enzelli, 18 miles N.W. of Reshd. The town
is built entirely of reeds, as the sandy soil will not sup¬
port more weighty materials. Pop. about 3000, chiefly
Russians.
EOCENE Period ( €0)5 dawn, kcllvos recent), in Geolorpj,
the name given by Sir C. Lyell to the earliest of the four
periods of the tertiary strata, because, as he remarks—“ the
extremely small proportion of living species contained in
these strata indicates what may be considered the first com¬
mencement or dawn of the existing state of the animate
creation.”
EOLIPILE. See TEolipile ; and Blow-pipe, §Eolipile.
EOOA, or Middleburg, is the most eastern of the
Friendly Islands, in the South Pacific Ocean. It is about
30 miles in circuit, and has an elevated and unequal surface.
The N.E. coast rises suddenly, but the N.W. consists of
valleys, meadows, and plains, abounding with groves of fruit-
trees, sugar-canes, bananas, shaddocks, and vegetables of
various sorts. It was discovered in 1643, by Tasman, who
called it Middleburg. E. Long. 175. 30., S. Lat. 18. 24.
EORA, in Antiquity, a festival instituted at Athens in
memory of Erigone the daughter of Icarius. This prince
had given wine to some shepherds, who, being unaware of its
intoxicating qualities, partook of it to excess; and under
the impression that it was poison, killed Icarius. Erigone
long sought for his body in vain; till at last, guided by a
faithful dog, she discovered it. Overwhelmed with grief,
she hanged herself—praying with her last breath that all
the Athenian maidens might come to a similar end. As if
her prayers had been heard, it so happened that a mania for
this kind of death exhibited itself soon after among the
Athenian women ; and when the oracle was consulted on
the subject, it replied that Erigone must be propitiated
with a festival. It was customary for the Athenian maids
who took part in its celebration to swing themselves, sing¬
ing at the same time a song composed for the occasion by
Theodorus of Colophon.
EOS, or Aurora. See Aurora.
EOSTRE, a Saxon goddess to whom sacrifices were
offered in the month called Eostra (April); and hence the
name Easter, which the Saxons, after their conversion to
Christianity, applied to the festival celebrated in commemo¬
ration of our Saviour’s resurrection.
EPACT (£7raKT05, added), in Chronology, a term em¬
ployed in the calendar to express the moon’s age at the end
of the year; or the excess of the solar month above the
lunar synodical month, and of the solar year above the lunar
year of twelve synodical months. See Calendar, vol. vi.
p. 83, et seq.
EPAMINONDAS, a celebrated Theban general, who,
along with Pelopidas, achieved a series of victories over the
Spartans. He was killed at the battle of Man tinea b.c. 362,
and was buried on the field. The history of this celebrated
commander, with an account of his exploits, will be found
detailed at length under the head Thebes.
EPAULEMENT (Fr. epaule, a shoulder), in Fortifica¬
tion, a kind of breast-work, constructed to cover the troops
in front, and sometimes also in flank. In a siege, an epaule-
ment of 8 or 10 feet in height is generally raised near the
entrance of the approaches, in order to cover the cavalry
placed there to support the guard of the trenches. Epaule-
ments are commonly constructed of filled gabions, or of
fascines and earth intermixed. The term is frequently
applied to any work thrown up to defend the flank of a post
or other place; as also to a demi-bastion, or to a square
orillon for covering the cannon of a casemate.
E P H
Epaulette EPAULETTE (Fr. epaule, a shoulder), a kind of
II shoulder-knot or ornamental badge worn on the shoulder
Ephemeris. military men. Officers, both naval and military, wear
^ v J epaulettes on one shoulder or on both, according to their
rank in the service.
EPENTHESIS, in Grammar, the insertion of a letter
or syllable in the middle of a word; as alituum for alitum,
induperator for imperator.
EPERIES, a royal free town of Hungary, capital of the
county of Saros ; on the Tarcza, an affluent of the Theiss ;
140 miles N.E. of Pesth. Pop. 8600. It is well built, and
surrounded writh walls, outside of which are extensive gar¬
dens. The public buildings include a Lutheran and several
Roman Catholic churches, a synagogue, high schools,
county and town halls, chapter-house, monastery, and orphan
asylum. It is the seat of a Greek Catholic bishop, and has
an episcopal library, and a prayer station called a Calvary,
much resorted to by the religious. Eperies has manufactures
of linen and woollen goods, earthenware, and beer; and a
considerable trade in wine, corn, and cattle. In the vicinity
are the royal Sovar salt-works, which annually produce
about 5000 tons of salt.
EPERNAY (the ancient Aquae. Perennes), a town of
France, in the department of Marne, and capital of a cog-
nominal arrondissement. It is situated near the left bank
of the Marne, 20 miles W.N.W. of Chalons. Pop. (1851)
7386. This was formerly a place of some strength, but its
fortifications have fallen into decay. The town is neat, clean,
and tolerably well built. It is best known as being the prin¬
cipal entrepot for Champagne wines, which are kept here
bottled in extensive vaults excavated in the sandstone on
which the town is built.
EPEUNACTfiE, or Epeuiwet^e, in Grecian Antiquity,
were a class of Spartan citizens believed to have sprung
from the union of the Helots with the widows of the Spar¬
tans who had fallen in the Messenian war. They seem to
have been identical with the Partheniae ; who, finding them¬
selves excluded from the privileges which they believed
their due, and classed with Helots, conspired with them to
make war on their oppressors. This unnatural war, how¬
ever, was soon brought to a close ; and the Partheniae emi¬
grated in a body under the command of Phalanthus to
Italy, where they founded Tarentum.
EPH AH, in Jewish Antiquity, a dry measure of capacity,
equivalent to the hath for liquids. It contained three pecks
and three pints.
EPHEBEUM, in Antiquity, a hall set apart for the
youth in the palaestra. See Gymnasium.
EPHEBI, in Grecian Antiquity, the name given to the
Attic youth from the age of eighteen till they entered upon
their twentieth year. During this period they served a sort
of apprenticeship in arms, and were frequently sent, under
the name of peripoli, to some of the frontier towns of Attica
to keep watch against foreign invasion. It is not precisely
determined whether the ephebi enjoyed all the rights of
citizens; but the most received opinion is, that they were
entitled to some of them at least. The well-known in¬
stance of Demosthenes, who at the age of eighteen prose¬
cuted his guardians for mismanaging his property, is a con¬
firmation of this idea.
EPHEMERA [htl, and a day), a fever of one day’s
continuance only. Ephemera is also used to designate a fly
that lives but one day, or any insect that is very short-lived.
EPHEMERIS, a journal or account of daily transac¬
tions ; a diary.
In Astronomy, it denotes an account of the daily state or
positions of the planets; that is, a table, or a collection of
tables, exhibiting the places of the planets each day at
noon. It is from these tables that the eclipses, conjunc¬
tions, and other aspects of the planets, are calculated. 1 he
principal works of this kind are our own Nautical Almanack,
EPH 267
the Berlin Jahrhuch, and the French Connaissance des Ephesians
Temps. See Astronomy'. „ J
EPLIESIANS, Epistle to the, one of the canonical , f
books of the New Testament. It was written by the apostle
Paul during the earlier part of his imprisonment at Rome,
at the same time with the Epistle to the Colossians. Its
genuineness, which wyas at one time opposed, seems now
universally admitted; but its original destination is a point
on which much learned controversy has been waged. In
opposition to the common opinion that it was addressed to
the church of Ephesus, Grotius (reviving the opinion of
Marcion) regards it as originally sent to the church at Lao-
dicea; while Usher seeks to escape from the difficulties of
either supposition, by regarding it as a circular letter with¬
out any designation to any particular church. The common
opinion is now generally preferred.
EPHESUS, in Ancient Geography, an old and cele¬
brated city, capital of Ionia, and one of the twelve Ionian
cities in Asia Minor in the mythic times. It was said to
have been founded by the Amazons, to have been in
later ages inhabited by the Carians and Leleges, and finally
taken possession of by the lonians, under Androclus, the
son of Codrus. It lay on the river Cayster, not far from
the coast of the Icarian sea, between Smyrna and Mile¬
tus. It was also one of the most considerable of the Greek
cities in Asia Minor; but while, about the epoch of the
introduction of Christianity, the other cities declined, Ephe¬
sus rose more and more. It owed its prosperity in part
to the favour of its governors (for Lysimachus named the
city Arsinoe, in honour of his second wife, and Attains
Philadelphus furnished it with splendid wharfs and docks) ;
in part to the favourable position of the place, which natu¬
rally made it the emporium of Asia on this side the Taurus
(Strabo, xiv. pp. 641, 663). Under the Romans, Ephesus
was the capital not only of Ionia, but of the entire province
of Asia, and bore the honourable title of the first and
greatest metropolis of Asia (Boeckh, Corp. Inscr. Gr.
2968-2992). The bishop of Ephesus in later times was the
president of the Asiatic dioceses, with the rights and privi¬
leges of a patriarch (Evagr. Hist. Eccl. iii. 6). In the days
of Paul, Jews were found settled in the city in no incon¬
siderable number, and from them the apostle collected a
Christian community; which, being fostered and extended
by the hand of Paul himself, became the centre of Chris¬
tianity in Asia Minor.
The classic celebrity of this city is chiefly owing to its
famous temple, and the goddess in whose honour it was
built, namely, “ Diana of the Ephesians.”
Around the image of the goddess was afterwards erected,
according to Callimachus {Hymn, in Dian. 248), a large
and splendid temple:
 tov 8’ ov tl Oewrepov oif/erat. r/ws
Ovh' dcfiveLOTepov’ pea Key Uvdwva irapeXOot.
This temple was burnt down on the night in which Alex¬
ander was born, by an obscure person of the name of Ero-
stratus, who thus sought to transmit his name to posterity;
and, as it seemed somewhat unaccountable that the goddess
should permit a place which redounded so much to her
honour to be thus recklessly destroyed, it was given out
that Diana was so engaged with Olympias, in aiding to bring
Alexander into the world, that she had no time nor thought
for any other concern. At a subsequent period, Alexander
made an offer to rebuild the temple, provided he was allowed
to inscribe his name on the front, which the Ephesians re¬
fused. Aided, however, by the whole of Asia Minor, they
succeeded in erecting a still more magnificent temple, which
the ancients have lavishly praised, and placed among the
seven wonders of the world. It took 220 years to complete.
Pliny {Hist. Nat. xxxvi. 21), who has given a description
of it, says it was 425 feet in length, 220 bro^d, and sup¬
ported by 127 columns, each of which had been contributed
268 EPHESUS.
Ephesus, by some prince and was 60 feet high; 36 of them were
richly carved. Chersiphron, the architect, presided over
the undertaking; and, being ready to lay violent hands on
himself in consequence of his difficulties, was restrained by
the command of the goddess, who appeared to him during
the night, assuring him that she herself had accomplished
that which had brought him to despair. The altar was the
work of Praxiteles. The famous sculptor Scopas is said by
Pliny to have chiselled one of the columns. Apelles, a na¬
tive of the city, contributed a splendid picture of Alexander
the Great. The rights of sanctuary, to the extent of a sta¬
dium in all directions round the temple, were also conceded ;
which, in consequence of abuse, the emperor Tiberius abo¬
lished. The temple was built of cedar, cypress, white marble,
and even gold, with which it glittered (Spanh. Observat. in
Hymn, in Dian. 353). Costly and magnificent offerings
of various kinds were made to the goddess, and treasured in
the temple [ such as paintings, statues, &c., the value of
which almost exceeded computation. The fame of the
temple, of the goddess, and of the city itself, was spread
not only through Asia, but the world; a celebrity which
was enhanced and diffused the more readily because sacred
games were practised there, which called competitors and
spectators from every country. Among his other enormi¬
ties, Nero is said to have despoiled the temple of Diana of
much of its treasure : yet it continued to command no small
portion of respect, till it was finally burnt by the Goths in
the reign of Gallienus.
At Ephesus Diana was worshipped under the name of
Artemis. There was more than one divinity that went
by the name of Artemis—as the Arcadian Artemis, the
Taurian Artemis, as well as the Ephesian Artemis, The
Ephesian Artemis (see Artemis and Diana) differed ma¬
terially from the Diana, sister of Apollo, whose attributes
are the bow, the quiver, the girt-up robe, and the hound;
whose person is a model of feminine strength, ease, and
grace; and whose delights were in the pursuits of the chase—
Along the shady hills and breezy peaks
Rejoicing in the chase, her golden bow
She bends, her deadly arrows sending forth.
Among the distinguished natives of Ephesus in the ancient
world, may be mentioned Apelles and Parrhasius, rivals in
the art of painting; Heraclitus, the man-hating philosopher;
Hipponax, a satirical poet; Artemidorus, who wrote a history
and description of the earth. The claims of Ephesus, how¬
ever, to the praise of originality in the prosecution of the
liberal arts, are quite inconsiderable ; and it must be content
with the dubious reputation of having excelled in the re¬
finements of a voluptuous and artificial civilization. With
culture of this kind, a practical belief in, and a constant use
of, those arts which pretend to lay open the secrets of na¬
ture and arm the hand of man with supernatural powers,
have generally been found conjoined. Accordingly, the
Ephesian multitude were addicted to sorcery ; indeed, in the
age of Christ and his apostles, adepts in the occult sciences
were numerous; they travelled from country to country,
and were found in great numbers in Asia, deceiving the
credulous multitude and profiting by their expectations.
They were sometimes Jews, who referred their skill and
even their forms of proceeding to Solomon, who is still re¬
garded in the East as head or prince of magicians (Joseph.
Antiq. viii. 2, 5 ; Acts viii. 9; xiii. 6, 8). In Asia Minor
Ephesus had a high reputation for magical arts (Ortlob,
Dp Ephes. Libris combustis).
I he books mentioned Acts xix. 19 were doubtless books of
magic. How much used and prized they were, may be learnt
.on* fi^ct that “the price of them” was “ fifty thousand
pieces of silver. \ cry celebrated were the Ephesian let-
teis, which appear to have been a sort of magical formulae,
wi itten on paper or parchment, designed to be fixed as amu-
.ets on different parts of the body, such as the hands and
the head (Plut. Sym. vii.; Lakemacher, Obs. Philol. ii. Ephesus.
126; Deyling, Observ. iii. 355). Erasmus (Adag. Cent.
ii. 5 / 8) says that they were certain signs or marks which
rendered their possessor victorious in everything. Eusta¬
thius {ad Horn. Odys. r 694) states an opinion that Croesus,
when on his funeral pile, was very much benefited by the
use of them; and that when a Milesian and an Ephesian
were wrestling in the Olympic games, the former could gain
no advantage, as the latter had Ephesian letters bound round
his heel; but these being discovered and removed, he lost
his superiority and was thrown thirty times.
The ruins of Ephesus lie two short days’ journey from
Smyrna, in proceeding from which towards the south-east
the traveller passes the pretty village of Sedekuy ; and two
hours and a half onwards he comes to the ruined village of
Danizzi, on a wide, solitary, uncultivated plain, beyond
which several burial-grounds may be observed ; near one of
these, on an eminence, are the sole remains of Ephesus,
consisting of shattered walls, in which some pillars, archi¬
traves, and fragments of marble have been built. The soil of
the plain appears rich. It is covered with a rank, burnt-up
vegetation, and is everywhere deserted and solitary, though
bordered by picturesque mountains. A few corn-fields are
scattered along the site of the ancient city, which is marked
by some large masses of shapeless ruins and stone walls.
Towards the sea extends the ancient port, a pestilential
marsh. Along the slope of the mountain and over the plain
are scattered fragments of masonry and detached ruins, but
nothing can now be fixed upon as the great temple of Diana.
There are some broken columns and capitals of the Co¬
rinthian order of white marble; there are also ruins of a
theatre, consisting of some circular seats and numerous
arches—supposed to be the one in which Paul was preach¬
ing when interrupted by shouts of “ Great is Diana of the
Ephesians.” Ihe ruins of this theatre present a wreck of
immense grandeur, and the original must have been of the
largest and most imposing dimensions. Its form alone can
now be spoken of, for every seat is removed, and the pro¬
scenium is a hill of ruins. A splendid circus (Fellows’
Deports, p. 275) or stadium remains tolerably entire, and
there are numerous piles of buildings seen alike at Perga-
mus and Troy as well as here—by some called gymnasia, by
others temples ; by others, again, with more propriety, pa¬
laces. They all came with the Roman conquest. No one
but a Roman emperor could have conceived such structures.
In Italy they have parallels in Adrian’s villa near Tivoli,
and perhaps in the pile upon the Palatine. Many other walls
remain to show the extent of the buildings of the city, but
no inscription or ornament is to be found, cities having been
built out of this quarry of worked marble. The ruins of the
adjoining town, which arose about four hundred years ago,
are entirely composed of materials from Ephesus. There
are a few huts within these ruins (about a mile and a half
from Ephesus) which still retain the name of the parent city,
Asalook—a Turkish word which is associated with the same
idea as Ephesus, meaning the city of the moon [Fellotvs). A
church dedicated to St John is thought to have stood near,
if not on the site of the present mosque. Arundell {Disco¬
veries, vol. ii. p. 253) conjectures that the gate called the
Gate of Persecution, and large masses of brick wall which
lie beyond it, are parts of this celebrated church which was
fortified during the great Council of Ephesus. The tomb of
St John was in or under his church; and the Greeks have
a tradition of a sacred dust arising every year, on his festival,
from the tomb, possessed of miraculous virtues: this dust
they term manna. Not far from the tomb of St John was
that of Timothy. The tomb of Mary, the mother of our
Lord, and the seven TratSta (boys, as the Synaxaria calls
the Seven Sleepers) are found in an adjoining hill. At the
back of the mosque, on the hill, is the sunk ground-plan of
a small church, still much venerated by the Greeks. The
E P H
E P H
269
Ephetae. sites of two others are shown at Asalook. There is also a
building called the Prison of St Paul, constructed of large
stones without cement.
1 hough Ephesus presents few traces of human life, and
little but scattered and mutilated remains of its ancient gran¬
deur, yet the environs—diversified as they are with hill and
dale, and not scantily supplied with wmod and water—pre¬
sent many features of great beauty. Arundell (ii. 244) enu¬
merates a great variety of trees which he saw in the neigh¬
bourhood, among which may be specified groves of myrtle
near Ephesus. He also found heath in abundance, of two
varieties; and saw there the common fern, which he met
with in no other part of Asia Minor.
Dr Chandler (p. 150, 4to) gives a striking description of
Ephesus, as he found it on his visit in 1764 :—“ Its popu¬
lation consisted of a few Greek peasants, living in extreme
wretchedness, dependence, and insensibility ; the represen¬
tatives of an illustrious people, and inhabiting the wreck
of their greatness—some the substructure of the glorious
edifices which they raised; some beneath the vaults of the
stadium, once the crowded scene of their diversions; and
some in the abrupt precipice, in the sepulchres which re¬
ceived their ashes. Such are the present citizens of Ephesus,
and such is the condition to which that renowned city has
been reduced. It was a ruinous place when the emperor
Justinian filled Constantinople with its statues, and raised
the church of St Sophia on its columns. Its streets are
obscured and overgrown. A herd of goats was driven to it
for shelter from the sun at noon, and a noisy flight of crows
from the quarries seemed to insult its silence. We heard
the partridge call in the area of the theatre and of the sta¬
dium. The pomp of its heathen worship is no longer remem¬
bered ; and Christianity, which was then nursed by apostles,
and fostered by general councils, barely lingers on, in an
existence hardly visible.” However much the church at
Ephesus (Rev. ii. 2) may, in its earlier days, have merited
praise for its “ works, labour, and patience,” yet it appears
soon to have “ left its first love,” and to have received in
vain the admonition—“ Remember, therefore, from whence
thou art fallen, and repent and do the first works ; or else
I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candle¬
stick out of its place, except thou repent.” If any repen¬
tance was produced by this solemn warning, its effects were
not durable; and the place has long since offered an evi¬
dence of the truth of prophecy and the certainty of the
divine threatenings, as well as a melancholy subject for
thought to the contemplative Christian. Its fate is that of
the once-flourishing seven churches of Asia; its fate is that
of the entire country—a garden has become a desert. Busy
centres of civilization, spots where the refinements and de¬
lights of the age were collected, are now a prey to silence,
destruction, and death. Consecrated first of all to the pur¬
poses of idolatry, Ephesus next had Christian temples al¬
most rivalling the pagan in splendour, wherein the image of
the great Diana lay prostrate before the cross; and, after
the lapse of some centuries, Jesus gives place to Moham¬
med, and the crescent glittered on the dome of the recently
Christian church. A few more scores of years, and Ephesus
has neither temple, cross, crescent, nor city ; but is “ a deso¬
lation, a dry land, and a wilderness.” Even the sea has
retired from the scene of devastation, and a pestilential mo¬
rass, covered with mud and rushes, has succeeded to the
waters which brought up ships laden with merchandise from
every part of the known world (Herod, i. 26, ii. 148; Liv.
i. 45; Pausan. vii. 2, 4; Philo, Bt/z. de 1 Orb. Mirac.
Gronov. Thesaur. viii.; Creuzer, Symbol, ii. 13; Hasel,
Erdbeschr. ii. 132; for a plan of Ephesus, see Kiepert’
Atlas, von Hellas; Arundell’s Visit to the Seven Churches
of Asia ; Fellows’ Excursion in Asia Minor, 1839; Disco¬
veries in Asia Minor, by Rev. T. Arundell, 1834).
EPHET/E, in Grecian Antiquity, a judicial tribunal at
Athens, consisting of 51 members, one of the terms of Ephod
whose admission to office was that they should be not under
fifty years of age. It was a court of great antiquity, and EPhori-
was believed to be coeval with the Areopagus itself. Ori-
ginally the ephetee sat in all the five courts; but in later
times they only sat in four of them, viz., the Palladium, the
Prytaneum, the Delphinium, and the Phreatto. In the
Palladium they tried cases of accidental homicide ; in the
Delphinium, of justifiable homicide; in the Prytaneum they
passed sentence upon the instrument with which a murder
had been committed, if the real murderer could not be de¬
tected. In the Phreatto they tried such murders as might
have been committed by Athenian citizens, who for acci¬
dental or justifiable homicide had been condemned to tem¬
porary exile. In course of time the cases which came be¬
fore the ephetae were of so trifling and unimportant a nature
that the court fell altogether into disrepute. (See Plutarch,
Solon, xix., 29 ; Pollux, viii. 125 ; Thirl wall’s Hist, of
Greece, vol. ii.)
EPHOD, in Jewish Antiquity, the designation of a part
of the priestly habiliments. It was a short cloak cover¬
ing the shoulders and breast. The ephod of the inferior
priests was simply of linen; while that of the high priest
w’as made of gold, of blue, of purple, of scarlet, and fine
twined linen cunningly wrought. Though it probably con¬
sisted of one piece, woven throughout, it had a back part
and a front part, united by shoulder-pieces. It had also a
girdle ; or rather it had strings at each side by which it was
tied to the body. On each shoulder was an onyx stone,
set in gold ; and upon each stone were engraven six of the
names of the children of Israel, according to the precedence
of birth, to memorialize the Lord of the promises made to
them (Exod. xxviii.) Josephus gives sleeves to the ephod
(Antiq. iii. 7, 5). It may be considered as a substitute for
the leopard-skin worn by the Egyptian high priests in their
most sacred duties. The Egyptian ephod is, however,
highly charged with all sorts of idolatrous figures and em¬
blem®, and even with scenes of human sacrifices.
EPHORI, ancient Doric magistrates, whose power and
influence seem to have varied at different times. In Sparta
the college consisted of five, and these entered on their an¬
nual office at the autumnal solstice, the beginning of the
Lacedaemonian year. The first of these magistrates gave
name to the year, in the same way as the first elected ar-
chon did at Athens; and they began their official duties by
publishing a species of edicts, in which they appointed the se¬
cret officers or Kpxnrroi. In this edict was found the strange
metaphorical expression for subjection and obedience, “ that
they must shave the beard and obey the laws.” They held
their daily meetings in an office set apart for them {apyeiov),
where they were also in the habit of eating together.
It is supposed by Muller, in his able treatise on the poli¬
tical institutions of the Dorians, that the duties of the ephori
were originally limited to the superintendence of sales and
of the public markets. Aristotle informs us, while describ¬
ing their judicial powers, that they decided civil causes, but
that the council presided overall capital crimes. It appears
therefore that the court of ephori gave judgment respecting
civil duties and property. The Periceci and Helots, when
they were in Sparta, were also under its jurisdiction. But
the ephori gradually extended their authority; and it seems
to have been the usual course of events in Greece, that the
civil courts should enlarge their influence, whilst the power
of the criminal courts was continually on the decline.
The circumstance which seems principally to have ex¬
tended the jurisdiction of the ephori, was the privilege they
enjoyed of instituting an inquiry into the official conduct of
all magistrates, excepting that of councillors. We do not
mean to say that this scrutiny always took place ; but the
ephori had it in their power to compel any magistrate to
stand his trial, if they had remarked anything suspicious in
270 E P H
Ephorus. his administration. The king was not exempted from this
power, but bound to yield as implicit obedience as the
lowest officer of the state. Thus we find Cleomenes tried
for bribery before the Persian war. But it must not be
supposed that the ephori could of themselves punish with
death : they were only the accusers before a larger court,
which consisted of all the councillors, of the ephori them¬
selves (who seem to have acted both as accusers and judges),
of the other king, and probably of several other magistrates,
who had all equal votes. The ephori had only the power
to impose fines, and to demand immediate payment. Thus
Agesilaus was fined for endeavouring to make himself popu¬
lar; whilst Archidamus was reprimanded for having married
a wife of too small stature. Sometimes we find them
punishing one man for having introduced money into the
state, another for indolence, and a third for the most extra¬
ordinary reason, namely, that he was generally ill treated
and insulted.
The ephori appear from very ancient times to have had
a right to transact business with the popular assembly in
preference to any other magistrates. They could convene
the people and put the vote to them. They had great au¬
thority in transacting with foreign nations, admitting am¬
bassadors, and dismissing them from the confines of the
kingdom. In time of war they were empowered to send
troops on whatever day they thought fit, and seem even to
have been able to determine the number of men. The
army was then intrusted to the king, or some other general,
who received from them instructions how to act, and was
even restrained in his proceedings by deputies whom the
ephori sent to watch over him. The generals could be re¬
called by the scytala, and their first duty was to visit the
office of the ephori. It is impossible, however, to believe
that the ephori could act by their own authority on such
important occasions as these; they could only have been
the agents and plenipotentiaries of the popular assembly.
It must in fact have been the decrees of the people which
they put in execution.
The office of the ephori was abolished by Cleomenes,
but restored under the Roman dominion. (See Muller’s
Dorier, Breslau, 1824, t. ii. p. 111-129.)
EPHORUS, a Greek historian of Cumae in iEolis, born
about 405 b.c. His father’s name was Hemophilus, or
Antiochus ; and being contemporary with Eudoxus and
Theopompus, he studied along with them under the philo¬
sopher Isocrates.
The chief work of Ephorus was a history of the wars be¬
tween the Greeks and Persians; in which, like Herodotus,
he introduced the description of foreign and barbarous
nations in the form of episodes. According to the scheme
of Marx, the first book contained an account of the return
of the Heraclidae into the Peloponnesus, and the change
of affairs consequent upon that event ; the second was
occupied with the state of the rest of Greece ; and the
third narrated the departure of the Greek colonies to Asia.
In these three books he thus brought the history of Greece
and Asia down to that period when they began to assume
a peaceful aspect, probably a few years before the com¬
mencement of the Median war. After this introduction he
proceeded to describe separately each country which sub¬
sequently became the scene of important transactions; in
the fourth book Europe; in the fifth Asia and Africa; and
in the sixth he probably gave an account of the nation of
the Pelasgi. The seventh book contained the most ancient
traditionary notices of Sicily, and probably all he could col¬
lect respecting the original inhabitants of Italy and the
adjacent islands. The eighth book narrated the various
changes of fortune to which those nations had been subject
who in succession held the supreme command in Asia,
namely, the Assyrians, Lydians, and Persians. The frag¬
ments which remain refer principally to the history of Croe-
E P H
sus. In the ninth book he described the origin, changes, and Ephraem
migrations of the Amazons, Scythians, and other nations Syrus.
who inhabited the coasts of the Pontus and those northern
countries whence, through Thrace and Thessaly, he re¬
turned to Greece and its affairs. Then it was that Ephorus
reached the period when, like every Greek historian, he
imagined that the transactions of the whole world became
centred in the causes and events of the Persian war ; and
then also he began to treat his subject with more copious¬
ness, for we find that in his tenth book he had already
brought down his history to the times of Miltiades, about
490 b.c. In his eighteenth book he had reached Dercylli-
das, 399 b.c. In his twenty-fifth he had arrived at the
battle of Mantinea, 362 b.c. We thus see that he must
have employed seven or eight books in describing 37 years,
whilst his last four or five books could contain the history
of only 22 years. The part of the thirtieth book which
gave an account of the sacred war was composed, not by
Ephorus himself, but by his son Hemophilus. At the con¬
clusion of the war Ephorus took up the thread of the his¬
tory, and continued it to the siege of Perinthus, 340 B.c.
According to Hiodorus Siculus, the whole period treated
of was 750 years.
For a more full description of the life of Ephorus, and a
collection of the fragments of his history which have been
preserved, the reader may consult Ephori Fragmenta a
Marxio, Carlsuh, 1815 ; Creuzer, Symbolik und Mytho-
logie der alien Volker, besonders der Griechen, Leipsic,
1819; Vossius De Historicis Grcecis, Lugd. Bat. 1651 ;
and Ulrici, Char aider istik der antiken historiographies
Berlin, 1833.
EPHRAEM SYRUS, or the Syrian, flourished in the
fourth century of the Christian era, and acquired great
renown among his contemporaries, and has since been
esteemed one of the most celebrated fathers of the church.
Of the events of his life but little is known, and what has
been handed down to us is much lessened in value by an
admixture of apochryphal stories. The following is a trans¬
lation of a short memoir of Ephraem from a Syriac source.
The original is found in a MS. of the fourteenth century,
which is printed by Assemanni in the Roman edition of the
works of this father. “ The blessed Mor Ephraem was a
Syrian by birth; his father was of Nisibis, his mother of
the city Amida. His father was an idolatrous priest, and
they lived in the time of Constantine Victor. His father
expelled him from him because he was not obedient to his
wicked will; he therefore went and lived with the holy
Mor Jacob, the bishop of Nisibis, and led an entire life of
godliness until the time of Jovian. He then left that place
and came to the city Edessa, where he received the gift of
the Holy Ghost, and abundantly supplied the church with
the gifts and doctrine of the Spirit. After a time he went
to the desert of Egypt, and from thence to Caesarea of
Cappadocia to Basil, and received from him the imposition
of hands for the diaconate. He immediately returned to
Edessa, and ended his life there in the year 684 (of the
Greeks), on the ninth day of Haziron (June), that is, in the
year 372 of the advent of our Lord.” A much longer life
also exists in Syriac, which gives however no more histori¬
cal data which can be relied on. Ephraem, also, wrote a
piece which is called his testament or will, and contains
curious autobiographical matter, referring to his religious
history and feelings.
But although the external facts of the life of Ephraem
are few and perhaps doubtful, there is no question of the
manner in which he impressed his genius and spirit upon
his own age, or of the great value of the monuments of
them which have descended to our own. His popularity
and influence among the luxurious and refined people of
Edessa were very great. He successfully combated the
heresies of Bardesanes, the Gnostic philosopher; and
E P I
Epnraim because that learned man had used poetical measures and
II music in instructing the people, this father cultivated the
^ P1 a j same arts, and succeeded in captivating his hearers to a
"" high degree. It is a fact scarcely known till lately, even
to the learned, although patent in Ephraem’s Syriac remains,
that he almost always wrote and preached in metre. It
appears that he was ignorant of Greek, although it is by
translations of his works into that language that they have
been generally known. But his genuine remains are in three
folio volumes, all the contents of which are in various
metres, except some commentaries on the Old Testament.
From the testament alluded to above, we quote a few lines,
which will illustrate this peculiar feature of his literary
character. In the original the verses are Heptasyllabic.
When I was but a little child,
Yet reposing on my mother’s breast,
I saw as it were in a vision
What turned out to be truth ;
A vine sprung forth from my tongue,
Which grew and touched the heaven 5
It produced fruit without measure,
And branches almost innumerable;
The people gathered from it without stint,
Yet its clusters became more abundant.
These bunches of fruit were hymns,
And these branches were homilies;
God was the bestower of them,
Glory be to Him for his goodness !
He gave to me according to His pleasure,
From the house of His treasures.
The works of Ephraem have been published in several
imperfect and translated forms, but the best edition is that
of the Assemanni, published at Rome, 1732-43, 6 vols.
folio, three in Syriac and three in Greek, with many learned
appliances. See also Select Metrical Hymns and Homilies,
and The Repentance of Nineveh, a Metrical Oration, trans¬
lated by Dr Burgess. (h. b.)
EPHRAIM, the younger son of Joseph, who received
the precedence over the elder by the blessing of Jacob. At
the exodus from Egypt, the tribe of Ephraim, of which he
was the founder, numbered 40,500, but in their wanderings
the number was diminished by 8000. Their possessions
in the very centre of Palestine included most of what was
afterwards called Samaria. They were long jealous of the
regal honours of Judah; but after the dismemberment of
the tribes, their rivalry was merged in that subsisting
between the two kingdoms.
Ephraim, a city in the wilderness of Judea, to which
Jesus withdrew from the persecution which followed the
miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead. It is placed by
Eusebius eight Roman miles N. of Jerusalem. This would
seem to make it the same with Ephraim mentioned in 2
Chron. xiii. 19 as one of the towns taken from Jeroboam
by Abijah. It was also the name of a mountain or group of
mountains in central Palestine, in the territory of the tribe
of that name on or towards the borders of the land of
Benjamin. The forest of Ephraim in which Absalom lost
his life was in the country E. of Jordan, not far from
Mahanaim.
EPHYDOR, in Antiquity, the keeper of the water-clock,
or water hour-glass, in the Athenian courts of justice. The
plaintiff and defendant in a suit were not permitted to
speak after the glass had run out, and consequently they
wrere careful to avoid unnecessary digressions.
EPI, a Greek prefix (ewi) signifying addition, applied
to, on, upon, &c.
EPIBATiE, in Grecian Antiquity, the name given to
soldiers whose duty it was to fight on board ship. They
corresponded almost exactly with the marines of modern
naval warfare. They were employed more extensively by
the Athenians than by the other maritime powers of ancient
Greece. The number of epibatae allotted to each trireme
appears to have been originally ten ; but the number was
EPI 271
afterwards reduced to seven. They were commonly selected Epic
from among the Thetes or fourth class of the Athenian . II
citizens. The term is sometimes found in Roman authors ^us^"
to denote the same class of soldiers, but the general phrase v '
adopted by them is milites classiarii, or socii navales.
EPIC (cttikos, from cttos a song or verse), narrative;
containing narration; rehearsing. An epic poem, otherwise
termed heroic, has been well defined to be the poetical
development, in narrative, of some great and interesting
event, or series of events, sufficiently separate from what
goes before or follows, to possess the character of a whole;
having therefore a clear and distinct beginning, middle, and
end; an action simple at first, leading into a complication
of plot, and terminating in a natural and soothing solution.
Among its accessaries are—the employment of super¬
natural agency, the introduction of episodes, formal ad¬
dresses, invocations, and similes. None of these latter
have any essential connection with epic poetry ; and their in¬
troduction varies with the theme, the age, and the national
associations of the poet.
The four greatest of epic poems are the Iliad, the
AEneid, the Jerusalem Delivered, and the Paradise Lost.
EPICEDION (from hn, and /d/Sos, funeral), in Greek
and Latin poetry, a funeral poem or dirge. At the obse¬
quies of persons of distinction there were usually three simi¬
lar marks of honour : the eulogy rehearsed at the hustum or
funeral pile, and called nenia; the inscription on the tomb,
epitaphion; and the poem delivered in the funeral cere¬
mony, and called epicedion. There are two beautiful speci¬
mens of the latter in Virgil; that of Euryalus, and that of
Pallas.
EPICENE [km, and koivos common), in Grammar, a
term applied to nouns which, under the same gender and
termination, mark indifferently the male and female species.
EPICHARMUS (540-450 b.c.), a celebrated poet of
the old comedy, was born in the island of Cos, where his
father Elothales was a physician of the house of Asclepiads.
According to Diogenes Laertius, he was brought to Sicily
when only three months old; but it is more probable ac¬
cording to Suidas that he migrated thither of his own ac¬
cord at a later period. After the destruction of Megara he
removed to Syracuse, where at the court of Hiero he spent
the remainder of his days. From his protracted residence
in the island he is generally known in antiquity as a Sicilian
(Hor. Ep. ii. 1. 58). Epicharmus studied philosophy un¬
der Pythagoras (for it is now generally admitted that Epi¬
charmus the Pythagorean, and Epicharmus the father of
the old comedy are identical), and the great rule of his
philosophizing was to believe nothing rashly (Cic. De Petit.
Cons. c. 10). It was only after his residence in Megara, the
native soil of comedy, that he turned his attention to that
branch of dramatic literature. His principal merit in this
department seems to have consisted in the exclusion of that
vulgar buffoonery which disgraced all previous comedies,
and in the introduction of a regular plot in which the comas
or band of revellers sustained the dialogue ; and maxims
drawn from the Pythagorean ethics were liberally inter¬
spersed. “ The subjects of the plays of Epicharmus,” says
Muller [Dorians, iv. 7. 2) “ were mostly mythological, i.e.
parodies or travesties of mythology, nearly in the style of
the satirical drama of Athens. Thus in the comedy of
Busiris Hercules was represented in the most ludicrous
light, as a voracious glutton ; and he was again exhibited
in the same character (with a mixture perhaps of satirical
remarks on the luxury of the times), in the Marriage of
Hebe, in which an astonishing number of dishes was men¬
tioned. He also, like Aristophanes, handled political sub¬
jects, and invented comic characters like the later Athenian
poets. The piece called The Plunderings, which described
the devastation of Sicily in his time, had a political mean¬
ing ; and this was perhaps also the case with The Islands :
272 E P I
Epicheiro- at least it was mentioned in this play that Hieron had pre-
tonia vented Anaxilas from destroying Locri.” Of his comedies,
[i which are generally written in trochaic tetrameters, thirty-
v, ^|lC titles and a few fragments are still extant. The ex-
cellence of his dramatic style is proved by the high estima¬
tion in which he is held by Plato.
EPICHEIROTONIA, in Grecian Antiquity, a voting
by show of hands. It was ordained by Solon that a revi¬
sion of the laws at Athens should take place annually, for
the purpose of amending or repealing such as might be
found unsuitable to the existing state of affairs. This was
called €7ri^etporovta rwv vo[jmv, from the manner of giving
suffrages on such occasions by holding up the hands. (See
Potter’s Archaol. Grace., vol. i., p. 242.)
EPICLERUS, an Attic law term, denoting an only
daughter and heiress, who was obliged to marry her next
of kin. See Epidicasia.
EPICTETUS, a celebrated Stoic philosopher who flou¬
rished in the first century of the Christian era, was born at
Hierapolis in Phrygia. The date of his birth is not pre¬
cisely ascertained. He was the^slave of Epaphroditus, one
of Nero’s freedmen and favourites, during the last years
of that emperor’s reign ; but had obtained his freedom pre¬
vious to the publication of the edict of Domitian which or¬
dered the expulsion of the philosophers from Rome, and
compelled him to retire to Nicopolis. From Spartian, it
would seem that he afterwards returned to Rome, and was
a favourite at the court of Hadrian ; and from an expres¬
sion of Themistius, it has been inferred that he was alive
even in the age of the Antonines. It is more probable,
however, that he died at Nicopolis; and Aulus Gellius speaks
of him as dead previous to the accession of the first Anto-
nine. Of the moral character of Epictetus many interest¬
ing illustrations have been handed down to us. The anec¬
dote related of him by Origen shows him to have given
early indications of remarkable fortitude and equanimity.
When his master one day amused himself by twisting his
leg, Epictetus mildly warned him that he would break it,
and when it was actually broken by his violence, the youthful
Stoic calmly remarked, “ Did I not tell you that you would
do so ?” For a considerable part of his life he dwelt alone
in a miserable hut without any furniture except a bed and
a lamp; but afterwards, for the sake of a poor foundling
he had taken home, he was induced to hire an attendant.
During his meditations his lamp was one day stolen ; but
Epictetus calmly remarked, that if the thief came back he
would “ disappoint him, for instead of an iron lamp he
would only find an earthen one.” This earthen lamp was
sold at his death for three thousand drachmae. From his
pupil Arrian, we learn that Epictetus studied philosophy
at first under a Stoic teacher called Musonius Rufus ; and it
is from him also that we derive our knowledge of his doc¬
trines. From the high tone which everywhere pervades his
ethical system, some have been induced to believe that he
was acquainted with Christianity. Whatever foundation
there be for such a supposition, it is at least certain that in
the maxims of Epictetus we find the nearest approach to
Christian morality. Discarding altogether the physical
speculations of Cleanthes, and purging his system from the
unearthly and cynical elements of previous Stoicism—such
as its repulsive doctrine in regard to suicide—he based all
morality on the observance of the maxim, “ bear and for¬
bear and this rule he held ought to be observed, not in a
spirit of proud self-sufficiency, but under the influence of a
firm belief in the existence of a supreme moral governor,
directing for benevolent purposes all the events of human
life. Epictetus himself does not seem to have committed
any of his principles to writing, although Suidas affirms that
he wrote much which is now lost. Arrian, his most dis¬
tinguished pupil, seems to have made a careful compilation
of his discourses, and we still possess four books of his work
E P I
on the philosophy of Epictetus, besides the Encheiridion, Epicurean
which contains, in short compass, his leading ethical prin- Phiioso-
ciples. The best edition is that of Schweighauser, Epic-
tetce philosophuc monumenta, Gr. Eat. 6 vols. 8vo.
EPICUREAN Philosophy, the system of doctrine,
canonical, physical, and ethical, taught by Epicurus, and
maintained by his followers, who, from the name of their
master, received that of Epicureans.
The first part of this threefold system regarded the
canons or rules of judging. Disgusted with the subtleties
and paradoxes of the Stoics, Epicurus endeavoured to in¬
troduce a more simple and natural method of judging, and,
instead of artificial modes and scholastic distinctions, ap¬
pealed to the common sense and natural perceptions of
mankind as the ultimate basis of all reasoning. These he
assumed as first principles, or rather as unerring guides;
and by giving excessive latitude to an elementary defini¬
tion, which, if properly guarded and restricted, might have
served as the foundation of a rational system of logic, he
was betrayed into errors and extravagances not less start¬
ling than those from which it had been his object to escape.
Cicero has reproached him with an alleged unphilosophical
contempt of logic ; but this censure, when duly weighed,
must be pronounced to be entirely without foundation.
Epicurus, it is true, despised and even ridiculed the modes
of reasoning by means of which the Stoics evolved the
paradoxes in which they delighted; and he was neither ac¬
quainted with nor had any relish for those analytical inves¬
tigations in which the members of that philosophical sect
displayed so much unprofitable ingenuity. But, on the
other hand, all the errors with which his system is easily
chargeable, may be traced to the logical strictness with
which he adhered, in all his reasonings, to the primary
canon which he had laid down, and to the implicit faith
which he was consequently led to repose in those sensible
perceptions and intuitive judgments which, though in every
case relatively true, are nevertheless in many cases abso¬
lutely and demonstrably false. Having, as he conceived,
established a principle indisputably certain, he was prepared
to admit, and, in point of fact, never suffered himself to
doubt or to question any consequence, however startling,
which might be logically deduced from it. His very er¬
rors, therefore, are the direct and necessary result of a
rigid adherence to this principle, and of the precision with
which he reasoned from the primary assumption to its con¬
sequences.
In the second or physical part of his system, Epicurus
borrowed from Democritus and Leucippus the idea of the
atoms or monads, which he regarded as the ultimate prin¬
ciples of all things. These atoms, however, which had
no other properties than those of hardness and gravity,
and which were, therefore, totally distinct from the gases
of every kind that form so prominent a part of the physics
and chemistry of the moderns, soon fell into discredit with
philosophers; and, notwithstanding the poetical embel¬
lishments which the hypothesis received from the genius
of Lucretius, it continued to be treated as a subject more
fitted for ridicule than reason, until Gassendi endeavoured
to revive and restore it, but without success. The efforts
of this philosopher, however, can scarcely be considered as
having proved altogether fruitless, since Leibnitz in his
theory of monads, Boscovich in his principles of corpuscular
attraction, and still more recently Dr Dalton in his theory
of definite proportions, which has effected a complete revo¬
lution in the nomenclature of modern chemistry, have, each
in succession, adopted modifications of the original hypo¬
thesis, and thus brought within the precincts of science a
doctrine once regarded as amongst the wildest extravagances
of ancient philosophy. In fact, the atomic theory of modern
times is founded upon the same general principle with the
hypothesis promulgated by Democritus, taught by Leucip-
E P I
Epicurean pus, and afterwards adopted by Epicurus ; namely, that
Philoso- matter, so far from being infinitely divisible, is resolvable
v ^ ^ ' , by division, decomposition, or analysis, into certain ultimate
/ " or primordial elements or atoms, which, again, enter synthe¬
tically, in certain definite proportions, into the constitution
or composition of all things. And thus it is that the grand
cycle of decay and reproduction, observable in the opera¬
tions and changes which take place in the material world,
may also be detected in the history of philosophical systems :
they rise, decline, disappear, and are reproduced by the
silent working of causes too remote to be discovered or
appreciated by us ; they have their various phases and oc-
cultations, even whilst they remain within the sphere of our
observation ; and when they altogether disappear from our
view, and seem to be for ever lost, it is only to return, after
having rounded their apogee, and to present nearly the
same aspect as before.
With regard to the third or ethical part of this system,
morality, according to Epicurus' is entirely founded upon
utility. Man is placed upon earth to seek or pursue his
own happiness or good, and he finds it only in a calm and
tranquil life. The sage is ever upon his guard against the
passions which might disturb his peace. Physical pleasure
consists in the satisfaction of our natural wants; but the
less trouble we take to ensure this satisfaction, the fewer
privations we will be exposed to, and the greater will be
our immunity from reverses of fortune. To abstain in order
to enjoy, was accordingly the grand maxim of this philoso¬
pher. The happiness of individuals depends upon, and forms
part of, the general happiness, from which, therefore, it can
never be separated. This is his leading principle ; and hence
the essence of his ethical system consists in inculcating the
maxima felicitas, or the greatest happiness of the greatest
number. It has, indeed, been vulgarly alleged that Epi¬
curus made the supreme good to consist in pleasure ; and
many persons persist in thus representing his doctrine, with¬
out giving themselves the trouble to inquire what he under¬
stood by pleasure ; a term which, as he applied it, differs in
no degree from the wisdom of the Stoics, and the maxima
felicitas of the modern school of Utilitarians, founded by
Bentham, the great restorer of the Epicurean ethical philo¬
sophy. In the nomenclature of this system, whatever con¬
tributes to the happiness and well-being of man as a mem¬
ber of society, is denominated pleasure; nor, as the happi¬
ness of individuals is made to depend upon, and declared to
be inseparable from the general happiness, can the true
meaning of the term be mistaken or misapprehended by
any honest and intelligent inquirer. But those false Epi¬
cureans, who limited the import of the word to mere sensual
indulgence, and reasoned as if Epicurus himself had recog¬
nised this acceptation, did great injury to the sect by thus
bringing it into unmerited discredit and odium. We ac¬
cordingly find that they were banished from Rome in the
time of the republic, and also, at different intervals, from a
number of other cities. But the school always subsisted at
Athens, where it remained in the time of Lucian ; and
his contemporary, Numenius, remarks, with an evident feel¬
ing of regret, that the Epicureans had preserved in all its
purity, the doctrine of their master, whilst that of Plato
had been greatly altered and corrupted. The Stoics appro¬
priated several of the maxims, and adopted the most re¬
markable apophthegms of Epicurus, which are expressed,
with much spirit, in a brief, sententious style ; and the prin¬
cipal charm of Seneca’s letters to Lucilius consists in the
freedom and extent to which he has borrowed from the same
source.
It is very difficult to discover the real opinion of Epicurus
respecting the divinity. Cicero asserts that the philosopher
spoke of the Supreme Being in terms the most sublime,
and that he recommended piety to his disciples. It may,
no doubt, be alleged that this was done in order to conform to
VOL. IX.
E P I 273
the popular belief, and that no safe conclusion can be drawn Epicurus,
as to the opinion really entertained by the philosopher, from
mere generalities, or a convenient and safe recommenda¬
tion. But, on the other hand, in his letter to Menecius,
Epicurus expresses himself thus : “ The gods are not such
as the vulgar believe ; and the impious man is not he who
rejects the gods of the multitude, but he who attributes to
the gods the opinions of the multitude.” These expres¬
sions, if they had been known, would have been sufficient
to ensure to their author the honours of persecution. But,
whilst it is evident that Epicurus was not actuated by mere
prudence in making the belief of a God one of the princi¬
pal dogmas of his philosophy, it must at the same time be
admitted that his other opinions respecting the gods rendered
this belief useless. For he regarded them as beings per¬
fectly happy, impassible, and in no degree concerned about
or disposed to intermeddle with human affairs—as alike
indifferent to and incapable of being affected by the good
or evil of this world ; and thus destroyed at once a provi¬
dence, and the hope of future recompense or punishment.
To this opinion, certainly one of the most discouraging and
disastrous which can be maintained or promulgated, may
be mainly ascribed the charge of atheism which was early
preferred, and often subsequently reiterated, against this
amiable and virtuous philosopher, whose life was as remark¬
able for its moral purity as those of some of his pretended
followers were for their dissoluteness and profligacy.
EPICURUS, one of the most celebrated philosophers of
antiquity, and founder of the sect which bears his name,
was descended from the family of the Philaides, who traced
their lineage from Philaeus, grandson of Ajax. His father,
Neocles, resided in Gargettium, a borough of Attica, and is
hence sometimes simply styled the Gargettian; but finding
himself ill provided in point of fortune, he emigrated along
with an Athenian colony to Samos, n.c. 352. As Diogenes
Laertius fixes the birth of Epicurus in the year 341 u.c., it
maybe regarded as certain that the philosopher was born at
Samos, and not at Gargettium, as some suppose. In his early
youth he is said to have followed his mother Charestrata,
who appears to have been an itinerant sorceress, reading
the formularies of exorcism and expiation, whilst she per¬
formed the ceremonies usual on such occasions ; but as he
advanced in years he assisted his father in keeping a school,
which the latter had established at Samos. At the age of
fourteen Epicurus began to devote himself to philosophy,
impelled to this study by his inability to solve his doubts in
regard to the chaos of Hesiod. He at first attended Pam-
philus, one of the disciples of Plato, and Nausiphanes, a
philosopher of the school of Democritus, but not the disci¬
ple of Pyrrho, as Diogenes Laertius affirms, Pyrrho having
been the contemporary of Epicurus. But the lessons he
received from these teachers did not satisfy his mind; and
having applied himself to the study of the writings of De¬
mocritus, he made great progress in philosophy, and soon
thought himself in a condition to form a new sect. At the
age of eighteen he proceeded to Athens; but during the
troubles which ensued after the death of Alexander, he re¬
paired to Colophon, in Ionia, whence he afterwards went to
Mitylene and Lampsacus. It was at these latter places that
he began to profess his new principles of philosophy. Hav¬
ing attracted a great number of disciples, amongst whom
were the three brothers Neocles, Charidemus, and Aristo-
bulus, he returned with them to Athens, b.c. 309 ; and hav¬
ing there purchased a garden for eighty minae, he imme¬
diately commenced teaching his philosophy. In imitation
of the Pythagoreans, his disciples formed a community by
themselves. Epicurus did not, however, recommend or en¬
courage a community of goods, which he considered as cal¬
culated to excite distrust; but each paid a portion of the
general expense, which was in itself inconsiderable, as they
were content with the simplest fare. The "most per-
2 M
274
E P I
Epicycle fect union reigned amongst them, and indeed subsisted un-
. II , disturbed long after the death of Epicurus. Cicero says
'Picyci01 . Epicureans of his time still lived in common, and
in the best understanding with one another. Women were
even admitted into this society ; and amongst its most cele¬
brated female disciples are mentioned Leontium, an Athe¬
nian courtezan, and Themista, wife of Leontius of Lamp-
sacus. As Epicurus never taught in public, the sect was
little celebrated during his lifetime; but after his death,
when his writings became generally known, the doctrine
therein taught was warmly attacked by the Stoics, who did
not blush even to have recourse to the most atrocious ca¬
lumnies. Diotimus the Stoic went so far as to fabricate,
in the name of Epicurus, fifty letters addressed to courte¬
zans, in which the philosopher is made to express himself
in the most obscene manner ; but Chrysippus himself bears
testimony to the blameless conduct and manners of Epicu¬
rus ; and although the latter alleged that this was not the
result of philosophy, but attributable solely to coldness and
insensibility of temperament, it is certain that his life was
wholly free from those vices with which his enemies have
reproached him. For a short account of the system taught
by this philosopher, see Epicurean Philosophy. Epi¬
curus died of the stone, b.c. 270, in the seventy-second year
of his age. He was never married, and kept himself entirely
aloof from the political parties of the state. By his will,
which Diogenes Laertius has preserved, he bequeathed his
garden and a house which he had at Melitus to his successor
Hermachus, and to those who should after him be at the
head of his school, in order that his followers might assem¬
ble on the spot where his system was first taught. His
memory was held in veneration by his disciples, and the an¬
niversary of his birth was celebrated as a festival; they had
his portrait engraved on their rings and on their cups, as
well as placed in their chambers; and they never spoke of
him but with the greatest respect. Epicurus is said to have
been a most voluminous author. Almost all his works,
however, have perished; but in the four letters preserved
by Diogenes, we have a tolerably complete outline of his
system. Parts of his work On Nature have been found
among the Greek MSS. discovered at Herculaneum. These
were published by Corsini, and have been reprinted sepa¬
rately by Orelli. No one has better developed the philo¬
sophical system of Epicurus than Gassendi in his Syntagma
de Vita, et Moribus Epicuri, lib. viii. Lyons, 1647. See
also Durondel, Vie d*Epicure, Paris, 1679; Coutures, La
Morale d'Epicure, Paris, 1685 ; Apologie pour Epicure,
and Discours sur Epicure, Paris, 1651 and 1684, 12mo ;
„ Warnekros, Apologie und Leben Epicurs, Greifswald,
1795 ; and Steinhart in Ersch and Gruber’s Allgem. En-
cyclop. xxxv., p. 459.
EPICYCLE, in the Ancient Astronomy, a little circle
whose centre is in the circumference of a greater circle;
or a small orb or sphere, which, being fixed in the deferent
of a planet, is carried along with it; and yet, by its own
peculiar motion, carries the planet fastened to it round
its proper centre. It was by means of epicycles that
Ptolemy and his followers solved the various phenomena
of the planets, but more especially their stations and retro-
gradations. See Astronomy, vol. iv. p. 53.
EPICYCLOID, in Geometry, a curve generated by a
point in the circumference of a circle which rolls along the
circumference of another circle, either on the convex or the
concave side of its circumference. When generated in the
latter way, the curve is sometimes called a hypocycloid. See
Conic Sections, part ii., prop, xxv., xxvi., xxvii., xxviii.
If a moveable circle roll along the concave circumfer¬
ence of a fixed circle of twice its diameter, any given point
m the circumference of the smaller circle will describe a
straight line, which is the diameter of the larger circle.
This beautiful property has been applied in mechanics to
E P I
the production of a rectilineal alternating motion from a Epidamnus
continued circular motion. See Mechanics. II
EPIDAMNUS (which afterwards came to be calledTljP^aurus-
Dyrrhachium), a city of Illyricum, on the shore of the
Ionian Sea. It was founded by a joint colony of Corcy-
reans and Corinthians towards the close of the seventh cen¬
tury b.c., and from its admirable position, and the fertility
of the surrounding country, it soon rose into very consider¬
able importance. The original form of government was
an oligarchy, the dissolution of which by the increasing
power of the democrats was one of the causes that em¬
broiled the original founders of the city, and contributed to
bring about the Peloponnesian war. In the course of this
struggle Epidamnus soon sank into a secondary position,
and ultimately disappeared altogether in the contest till, in
312 b.c., it was seized by Glaucias king of the Illyrians.
About the close of the war it was attacked by pirates, who
were twice driven back—on the second occasion by the
timely arrival of assistance from Rome. As the name Epi¬
damnus sounded to Roman ears like an evil omen, the inha¬
bitants, in compliment to their deliverers, changed its name
into Dyrrhachium, from the rugged nature of the adjoining
sea-coast. In the later history of the Roman republic
Dyrrhachium became famous as the place where Pompey
made the last successful resistance to the rising fortunes of
Caesar, who was at length compelled to retire from his po¬
sition and transfer the theatre of war to another seat. At
the end of the struggle between Antony and Augustus,
Dyrrhachium fell into the hands of the latter, and was by
him made over to a colony of his veteran troops. Under
the Lower Empire it became the capital of Epirus Nova, and
in 1081 was stormed by the Norman Guiscard, who in that
year defeated the Greeks under their emperor Alexius.
On the site of the ancient town stands the modern Durazzo.
EPIDAURUS, in Ancient Geography, a maritime town
on the eastern coast of Argolis, renowned as the principal
seat in Greece of the worship of iEsculapius. It stood on a
small peninsula which projected into the sea, and had ori¬
ginally a small portion of territory attached to it, which was
severed from the rest of Argolis by a mountain range, and
from a remote period was noted for its fertility. Epidaurus
was at first an independent state, and its proximity to
Athens and the islands of the Saronic gulf, the advantages
of its position in a commercial point of view', and the sacred¬
ness attaching to it from its temple of Aesculapius, soon
made it a place of very considerable importance. It is said
to have been founded by a colony of Carians; an idea
borne cut by the primitive name of the city, which was
Epicarus. These Carians gave way before the lonians,
who in their turn were driven out by the Dorians under
Deiphontes. Under the descendants of this prince Epi¬
daurus attained great prosperity, and began to send out
colonies, the chief of which, Angina, speedily outstripped
the mother city in wealth and power. To the monarchical
form of government which Epidaurus inherited from Dei¬
phontes an oligarchical succeeded, and, as in many other of
the Greek states, the oligarchy degenerated into a despotism.
When Erodes, the last tyrant of Epidaurus, fell into the
power of Periander of Corinth, the oligarchy was restored
and maintained with the aid of Sparta. How the admini¬
stration of affairs was actually carried out cannot now be
ascertained. The only magistrates we read of are the
artynse, who presided over a council consisting of 180
members. The lower classes of the population, who tilled
the soil for their Dorian masters in the city, were called
konipodes or dusty-feet. When or from what causes Epi¬
daurus declined from its great prosperity is not known; but
in the time of the Romans hardly anything of it remained
except the great temple of Aesculapius. Not far from the
site of the old town stands the modern village of Pidhavro,
a corruption of the ancient Epidaurus. The temple of
E P I
E P I
275
Epidemic ^Esculapius was one of the most celebrated of all the sacred
II places in Greece. It was distant five miles from the city,
Epigram. ant] st00(J
in the midst of a lawn which was nearly a mile
in circumference. The wall which inclosed this lawn is
still partly visible. A festival in honour of the patron god
was celebrated in the adjoining grove every fourth year,
nine days after the Isthmian games at Corinth. Some
remains of the great temple may still be seen ; and a theatre
believed to have been connected with it is the most perfect
ruin of that kind in the whole of Southern Greece. From
the immense crowds of sick persons who flocked from all
parts of Greece to propitiate iEsculapius, the temple soon
acquired vast wealth. The 1'eport of these riches tempted
the cupidity of Sulla, who had shortly before robbed the
temples at Delphi and Olympia. The walls of the building
itself were hung round with the votive tablets of the
patients who had recovered from their diseases through
the intervention as they supposed of the son of Apollo.
There were two other ancient cities of this name ; one a
maritime town of Illyricum, now called Ragusa Vecchia;
the other a maritime town of Laconia, whose ruins ai-e still
visible at Monemvasia.
EPIDEMIC, an epithet applied to any disease which
occasionally prevails in a country or district, and gradually
disappears, but which is in danger of periodically returning.
See Endemic.
EPIDICASIA, in ancient Athens, an action for an in¬
heritance. Daughters inheriting their parents estate w’ere
obliged to marry their nearest relation; and^hence it fre¬
quently happened that persons of the same family went tolaw
with one another, each claiming to be more nearly allied to
the heiress than the rest. The heiress thus contended for
was called €ttl8lko<;. So stringent was this law, that even after
marriage her husband might be compelled to give her up to
a man with a nearer claim. It was also not uncommon for
men to put away their wives in order to marry heiresses.
EPICONI, the sons and descendants of the Grecian
heroes who were killed in the first Theban war. The war of
the Epigoni is famous in ancient history. It was under¬
taken ten years after the first Theban war. The sons of
those who had perished in that contest resolved to avenge
the death of their fathers, and marched against Thebes,
under the command of Thersander, or, according to others,
of'Alcmaeon the son of Amphiarausr about 1307 years B.c.
The Argives were assisted by the Corinthians and the
people of Messenia, Arcadia, and Megara. The Thebans
had engaged all their neighbours in their quarrel, as in one
common cause. The two hostile armies met on the banks
of the Glissas, and a battle ensued. The combat was ob¬
stinate and bloody; but victory declared for the Epigoni,
and some of the Thebans fled to Illyricum with Leodamas
their general, whilst others retired into Thebes, where they
were soon afterwards besieged and forced to surrender. In
this war vEgialeus was the only person of note who was
killed; whereas in the former war his father Adrastus had
been the only one of the seven who escaped alive. This
whole war, as Pausanias observes, was written in verse ; and
Callinus, who quotes some of the verses, ascribes them to
Homer—an opinion which has been adopted by many writers.
44 For my part,” continues the geographer, I own that, next
to the Iliad and Odyssey of Homer, I have never seen a finer
poem.” The names of the Epigoni are not uniformly the same
in the various traditions connected with them ; but the most
received accounts give them as follows i .Egialeus, Alcmason,
Diomede, Euryalus, Promachus, Sthenelus, and Thersander.
The Epigoniad of Wilkie is a modern poetical celebration
of the same story. The descendants of the \eteian Mace¬
donians, who served under Alexander the Great, and who
had children by Asiatic women, were also called Epigoni.
EPIGRAM (ctti, and ypdgga, a writing), a short poem,
treating only of one thing, and ending with some liveiy,
ingenious, and natural thought. The excellence of epi¬
gram depends on conciseness and point. The Latins were
the first to impart to the epigram the character of caustic
piquancy, which constitutes its principal charm. Of their
professed epigrammatists the best are Martial and Catullus;
both of whom afford many specimens of good attempts, with
a still greater number of failures. In both also licence of
thought and expression degenerate so often into downright
licentiousness that a modern reader hardly finds in the wit
a compensation for the obscenity. Neither in France nor in
England is there any other who has achieved renown solely
as an epigrammatist. In the former country the best
epigrams are those of Marot, T. B. Rousseau, Racine,
Piron, Lebrun, and Chenier. The following is an epi¬
gram of Lebrun on a lady who affected wit and coquetn :—
Cloe, belle et poete, a deux petits travers;
Elle fait son visage et ne fait pas ses vers.
One of the best English epigrammatists is Pope. Some of
his compositions in this vein are very happy. In a com¬
pany where the members were amusing themselves with
making rhymes, Pope asked Lord Chesterfield for the
loan of his pencil, and wrote—
Accept a miracle ; instead of wit,
See two dull lines by Stanhope’s pencil writ.
Epilepsy.
The next is on a person who made long epitaphs.
Friend, for your epitaphs I’m grieved ;
Where still so much is said,
One half will never be believed,
The other never read.
It happens curiously enough that the best of the English^
epigrammatists have also for the most part distinguished
themselves as lyrists. See Poetky. S
EPILEPSY, known also by the names of the morbus
comitialis, morbus sacer, and falling sickness, is a convul¬
sive disease which attacks suddenly at more or less regular
intervals. Three almost distinct forms of the disease are
met with. In the mildest form only stupor occurs, the
person losing consciousness, but continuing to walk without
knowing where he is going. In the next form the person is
suddenly seized with a sick feeling or faint, and drops off his
chair or falls down, groaning slightly, being insensible for the
moment, and the whole body becomes bedewed with a cold
clammy perspiration. These two forms, however, if the
disease goes on, pass into the more severe form, when the
person on being affected suddenly utters an unearthly
scream or yell, and falls down quite insensible, the body
and extremities becoming quite rigid. Quivering of the
voluntary muscles instantly follows, which increases to re¬
gular convulsive motions, twitching the body and limbs into
various positions. The eyes usually remain open, the face
is much distorted, foam gathers in the mouth, and is often
tinged with blood from the tongue being injured by the
teeth. The breathing is more or less laborious,- and very
generally the lips are blown out at each expiration. The
pulse, at first quick and feeble, becomes slow and languid.
As the spasms abate slight consciousness returns, on which
the person usually falls into a sleep which endures from half
an hour to several hours, and from this he awakes weak and
languid. These fits for the most part exhibit a tendency
to periodic recurrence. In certain rare cases epilepsy,
though recurring at intervals, does not appear to injure
the intellect; but in the great majority of cases the mental
faculties become more and more impaired as the disease
progresses, and the person at last falls into a state of
perfect idiocy, if not cut off previously during a fit or by
its terminating in apoplexy or paralysis. Often, however,
a violent fit of insanity follows an epileptic fit. The patho¬
logy of the disease is very obscure, for as yet no relation
whatever has been traced between the existence of any
known lesion of the brain and the epileptic fits. True it is
that in most epileptics the brain is found in a'more or less
276 E P I
Ljiilogue (jjsease(] state . but the same morbid changes occur in others
Epinal. wl10 have had no epileptic fits ; and in some who were sub-
ject to epileptic fits for years no organic changes have been
discovered in the brain. Epilepsy is usually considered as
being divisible into two species—one depending on some
primary affection of the brain ; the other as a sympathetic
disease depending on some diseased state of the stomach,
liver, kidney, or other organ, and affecting the brain by a
kind of reflex action. In a disease the nature of which is
so little understood, it is not to be expected that the medi¬
cal treatment is in a satisfactory state. Accordingly this
disease has chiefly been treated by empirical remedies
which now and then succeed in removing the fits; or rather
the malady disappears while the person is undergoing a course
of treatment, which gets credit for the cure. Instead of
enumerating these, a few directions for the management of
a person in a fit seem more appropriate to this notice. A
person liable to epileptic fits should never be left alone, or
allowed to go out riding, driving, or boating. He should
avoid all excitement of mind and body, keep away from
crowded places or streets, live moderately, and avoid stimu¬
lants. When seized with a fit, he should be supported by
his attendant, and be laid gently down on the ground or
floor, his neckcloth removed, and his head supported. No
attempt should be made to administer fluids of any kind ;
but if the tongue seems to he in danger from the convulsive
motions of the mouth, a cork or piece of wood may be in¬
serted between the jaws and held there. When the fit is
over, it is very desirable to allow the person to enjoy unin¬
terruptedly the short sleep which follows, if in a place
where this can be done. (j. s—k.)
EPILOGUE, in Oratory, the conclusion of a discourse
in which the principal matters are recapitulated.
Epilogue, in the Drama, a speech or short poem
addressed to the audience by one of the actors after the
conclusion of the play, and usually containing reflections
on some incidents in the play.
EPIMENIDES, the Cretan poet and prophet, was born
at Phaestus, or according to others at Gnossus, about 660
b.c. His early life is enveloped in fable. When keeping
his father’s sheep one day, he is said to have retired into a
cave where he fell into a profound sleep which lasted fifty-
seven years. Returning home to the altered abodes of his
family, he was hailed as the especial favourite of the gods,
and venerated as the possessor of superhuman wisdom.
He was invited by Solon to Athens, (about b.c. 596), in
order to give the sanction of his sacred presence to the
purification of the city previous to the promulgation of the
political code of the great lawgiver. Having accomplished
the desired lustration by the performance of certain religious
rites, Epimenides was loaded by the Athenians with wealth
and honours. He refused, however, to accept their gifts,
contenting himself with a branch of the sacred olive,
and the exaction of a promise of perpetual friendship
between Athens and Gnossus. The death of Epimenides
is said to have taken place in Crete, although Sparta boasted
of possessing his tomb, and doubtless he may have travelled
into many different countries, if (as one tradition runs) he
attained the age of nearly 300 years. He wrote a poem
on the Argonautic expedition, and several other works ; but
these, with a variety of spurious treatises attributed to him
in ancient times, are now entirely lost. Epimenides is
supposed to be the Cretan prophet to whom St Paul al¬
ludes in his Epistle to Titus (i. 12).
EPIME1HEUS {i.e. after thought), brother of Prome¬
theus. See Prometheus.
EPINAL, a town of France, capital of the department
of Vosges, situated on both sides of the Moselle, at the foot
of the \ osges chain of mountains ; 224 miles E. by S. of
1 aris. Pop. (1851) 10,183. The town is clean, and tole¬
rably well built. It ivas formerly fortified, and has still re-
E P I
mains of its ancient castle. Among its finest buildings are Epipha-
the barracks, the hotel of the prefecture, the Gothic parish nius
church, and the theatre. It has also a communal college, . II
public library of 20,000 vols., museum of paintings and an- EPiPh)/tea
tiquities, chamber of commerce, orphan asylum, hospital, and
schools of design and music. Manufactures—embroidery,
lace, linens, hosiery, earthenware, leather, paper, and chemical
products. 1 he vicinity abounds in agreeable promenades.
EPIPHANIUS, Saint, a celebrated father of the
church, was born in the beginning of the fourth century at
Besanduca, a village of Palestine, near Eleutheropolis. Fie
is said to have been of Jewish extraction. In his youth he
resided in Egypt, where, under the Gnostics, he began an
ascetic course of life ; and on his return to Palestine he be¬
came a zealous disciple of the patriarch Hilarion, and even¬
tually the president of a monastery which he founded near
his native place. About A.r>. 368, he was nominated bishop
of Salamis, the metropolis of Cyprus—an office which he
held till his death (a.d. 402). The latter part of his life
was spent chiefly in carrying on a series of contests with
Origen and his disciples. The first of those whom he at¬
tacked was John, bishop of Jerusalem, whom he denounced
from his own pulpit; and afterwards, instigated by Theo-
philus, bishop of Alexandria, he proceeded so far as to
summon a council of Cyprian bishops and condemn the errors
of Origen. His next blow was aimed at Chrysostom, the
patriarch of Constantinople, and a pretext was found in the
shelter which he had given to four Nitrian monks whom
Theophilus had expelled on the charge of Origenism.
Finding himself baffled by the authority of Chrysostom,
Epiphanius endeavoured to subvert his influence at the
court; but having presumptuously announced to the Em¬
press Eudoxia that her son, who” was then ill, would die
unless she ceased to favour the friends of Origen, he was
immediately dismissed, and died on the passage home to
Cyprus. At his parting interview with Chrysostom, he is
said to have expressed the hope that that patriarch “ would
not die a bishop;” and Chrysostom, in retaliation, uttered a
wish that “he would never get back in safety to his own
country.” Whether uttered by these two individuals or not,
both of these malevolent wishes were literally accomplished.
'fhe principal works of Epiphanius are his Panarion, or
treatise on heresies, of which he also wrote an abridgment;
his Ancoratus, or discourse on the faith ; and his treatise on
the weights and measures of the Jews. These, with Tuio
Epistles to John of Jerusalem and Jerome are his only
genuine remains. The best edition of his works is that of
the Jesuit Petavius, 2 vols. fbl., Paris, 1622. In allusion
to his knowledge of Hebrew, Syriac, Egyptian, Greek, and
I.atin, Jerome styles Epiphanius Pentaglottos or Five-
tongued; but if his knowledge of languages was really so
extensive, it is certain that he was utterly destitute of criti¬
cal and logical power. His early asceticism seems to have
imbued him with a love of the marvellous ; and his religious
zeal served only to increase his credulity, so that many of
the most absurd legends in the early church have received
the sanction of his authority. His works are, in fact, chiefly
valuable from the quotations which they embody.
EPIPHANY (imcpaueLa, appearance, manifestation), a
Christian festival celebrated on the sixth of January, the
twelfth day after Christmas, in commemoration of the ap¬
pearance of our Saviour to the magi or wise men of the
East, who came to adore him with presents ; or, according
to others, to commemorate the appearance of the star to the
magi, or the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles. Jerome
and Chrysostom take the Epiphany to be the day of our
Saviour’s baptism, when a voice from heaven declared: “ This
is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” The Greek
fathers use the word for the appearance of Christ in the world;
and in this sense it is used by St Paul, 2 Tim. i. 10.
EPIPHYTES (eVi and <f>vTov a plant), plants growing
V
E P I
Epirus, upon other vegetables, but which do not, like the parasites,
—^ derive nourishment from the plants to which they attach
themselves. Many of the Orchidaceae are of this class, and
subsist entirely on air.
EPIRUS, in Ancient Geography, was the name given to
that part of Northern Greece extending from the Acro-
ceraunian promontory on the N., to the Ambracian Gulf
on the S., and having the Ionian Sea on the W., and
the chain of Pindus on the E. The word ’'H-Treipos signi¬
fies mainland, and was the name originally given to the
whole of the western coast of Greece, from the Acro-
ceraunian promontory to the Corinthian Gulf, in contra¬
distinction to Corcyra and the other islands along the coast.
The country is wild and mountainous, and has more of a
pastoral than an agricultural character. It was celebrated
for its fine horses and cattle. The valleys, though numerous,
are not extensive, and the produce of corn was insufficient
for the wants of the people. The country was inhabited by
various tribes, which were not regarded by the Greeks them¬
selves as belonging to the Hellenic race. According to
Theopompus, who lived in the fourth century b.c., the
Epirots consisted of fourteen different and independent
tribes, the principal of which were the Chaones, Thesproti,
and the Molossi. The Chaones, who are said to have at
one time ruled over the whole country, inhabited that part
of it N. of the Thyamis ; S. of which lay the territory of the
Thesproti, which contained the town of Dodona, famous
for its oracle and temple of Jupiter. The Molossians, who
subsequently became the rulers of Epirus, originally in¬
habited a narrow strip of land extending northward from
the Ambracian Gulf. It is not clearly ascertained who the
original inhabitants of Epirus were, but it is most probable
that they were of Pelasgic origin. Attempts have been
made to identify the Chaonians with the Chones who dwelt
in Italy on the shores of the Tarentine Gulf. Some names
of places are also common to both countries, as the river
Acheron and the city Pandosia. Aristotle places in Epirus
the original home of the Hellenes, from whom Hellas ulti¬
mately took its name ; but he does so in disregard of the
opinion prevalent among his countrymen, that Ihessaly was
the native seat of that people. In any case Epirus, despite its
distance from the principal centres of Greek thought and
action, exercised even at an early period consideiable influ¬
ence upon Greece,—an influence -attested, among other
things,by the high esteem in which theresponsesof theDodo-
nean Grove were held. One of the earliest and most flourish¬
ing of the Greek colonies in Epirus was Ambracia, situated
on the gulf called after that city. It was settled by the Corin¬
thians. (See Ambracia.) The happy results of the ex¬
periment appear to have tempted others of the Greek states
to follow the example; and Elsea, Buchetia, and other places,
bear witness to the successful enterprise of the people of Elis.
The kings of Epirus claimed to be descended from
Pyrrhus, son of Achilles, who settled in this country after
the taking of Troy, and transmitted his kingdom to Mo-
lossus, his son by Andromache; but the early history of
the kings of the Molossi is involved in much obscurity.
Admetus sat on the throne of Epirus 480 B.c., at the time
of the invasion of Greece by the Persians, and he lemamed
neutral till their defeat, when he solicited an alliance with
the Athenians. This was refused chiefly through the per¬
suasion of Themistocles; yet Admetus was generous enough
so forget this circumstance when T hemistocles was banished,
471 b.c., by his ungrateful countrymen, and xeceived him
with every mark of respect and esteem.
Admetuswassucceeded about 429 B.c.byhis son 1 harym-
bas or Arymbas I., who was at that time so young that he was
placed, bv a decree of the people, under the guardianship
of Sabvlinthus, prince of Atintania. He seems to have
been a v/ise and prudent monarch, who attempted to in¬
troduce a regular form of government among a wild and a
E P I
277
lawless people. Alcetas is the next king of Epirus men- Epirus,
tioned in history, and he reigned about 385 b.c. Being
driven from his throne by his subjects, he fled to Syracuse,
but wdth the assistance of Dionysius was soon afterwards
re-established. His son Neoptolemus reigned but a short
time, and left the crown to his brother Arymbas II. about
360 b.c., who encouraged literature and the arts, govern¬
ing his kingdom with prudence, equity, and moderation.
It was to him that Xenocrates of Chalcedon dedicated the
four books which he had composed on the art of governing.
This prince educated with the greatest care the children of
his brother. He married Troas, one of his nieces, and gave
the other, Olympias, in marriage to Philip of Macedon, who
had by her Alexander the Great. On his death, 342 b.c.,
he was succeeded by his nephew Alexander, brother of
Olympias. This prince was put in possession of the throne
of his uncle by the aid of his brother-in-law Philip, who
afterwards gave him in marriage his daughter Cleopatra.
It was at the celebration of these nuptials at Edessa that the
king of Macedonia was assassinated.
Alexander was the first prince who raised the character
and reputation of his country amongst foreign nations. Hav¬
ing been applied to by the Tarentines for assistance against
the Samnites and Lucanians, he passed into Italy wdth a
considerable force, made a descent (332 b.c.) at Paestum,
a city near the mouth of the river Silarus, and reduced
under his dominion several cities of the Lucani and Brutii.
In his second attack upon Italy he was surrounded by the
enemy, defeated, and slain, near the city Pandosia, in the
territory of the Brutii.
GEacides, the son of Arymbas II., succeeded to Alex¬
ander, and espoused the cause of Olympias against Cassan-
der ; but his soldiers, having mutinied, dethroned him,
though he was in a short time reinstated. He was killed
the same year, 313 b.c., in a battle against Philip, brother
of Cassander. This prince had by his wife Phthia, the |
celebrated Pyrrhus, and two daughters, Deidamia and Troas,
of whom the former married Demetrius Poliorcetes. His ^
brother Alcetas, who succeeded him, continued the war
with Cassander till he was defeated, and his dominions
were overrun by the enemy. He was afterwards put to
death by his rebellious subjects, 295 b.c. The name of
Pyrrhus, who now ascended the throne, sheds a lustre on the
annals of Epirus, and gives to its history an importance which
it would never have otherwise possessed ; but for a detailed
account of his life we must refer to the article Pyrrhus.
Alexander, in 272 b.c., succeeded his father Pyrrhus,
wdien he attempted to seize on Macedonia. He defeated
Antigonus Gonatas, but was himself shortly afterwards
driven from his kingdom by Demetrius, son of that prince.
He recovered it, however, and spent the rest of his reign
in peace. At the expiration of two other insignificant
reio-ns, the family of Pyrrhus became extinct, upon which
the* inhabitants of Epirus changed the form of their govern¬
ment, electing annually a praetor in a general assembly of
the nation held at Passaron, a city of the Molossi. Epirus
imprudently espoused the cause of Perseus in his w^ar
against the Romans, when he was defeated and taken pri¬
soner, 168 b.c. ; and it was exposed to the unrelenting fury
of the Romans, who destroyed 70 towns, and carried away
to slavery 150,000 of the inhabitants. It never recovered
from this fatal blow. At the dissolution of the Achaean
league, 146 b.c., this country became part of the province
of Macedonia under the name of Vetus Epirus, in order to
distinguish it from Nova Epirus, which lay to the east.
On the division of the empire it became the inheritance
of the emperors of the East, and remained under them until
the taking of Constantinople by the Latins, in 1204, when
Michel Comnenes seized on iEtolia and Epirus. On the
death of Michel, in 1216, these countries fell into the hands
of his brother Theodore. Charles, the nephew of Theo-
278 E P I
Episco- (Iore5 aml the last prince of his family, having died without
psiey. legitimate heirs, Epirus and Acarnania were left to his na-
v~—"v''***^ tural children. Amurath II. stripped them of this inheri¬
tance. In 1443, Scanderbeg, king of Albania, made him¬
self master of a considerable part of Epirus. But on his
death it fell into the power of the Venetians, from whom it
passed to the Turks, in whose possession it still remains,
and forms part of Albania.
EPISCOPACY, that form of church government in
which diocesan bishops are established, as distinct from and
superior to priests or presbyters. From a very early period
the ministers of religion have been distinguished into differ¬
ent orders, and it has been much controverted whether the
distinction be of divine or human right, whether it was
settled in the apostolic age, or only adopted afterwards.
(See Bishop.) This controversy commenced soon after
the Reformation, and has been agitated with great warmth
between the Episcopalians on the one side, and the Presby¬
terians and Independents on the other. Amongst the Pro¬
testants churches abroad, those which were reformed by
Luther and his associates were in general episcopal; whilst
such as follow the doctrines of Calvin have for the most part
dispensed with the order of bishops, as being either unne¬
cessary or unattainable. In England, however, the contro¬
versy has been considered as of greater importance than on
the Continent; for it has there been strenuously maintained
by one party that the episcopal order is essential to the con¬
stitution of the church ; and by the others, that it is a per¬
nicious encroachment on the rights of Christians, for which
there is no warrant or authority in Scripture. Though
the question has for some time lain almost dormant, and
though we have no desire to revive it, yet as a work of
this kind might perhaps be deemed defective, did it con¬
tain no account whatever of a controversy which has em¬
ployed some of the ablest writers of the past and present
times, we shall give a fair though short view of the chief
arguments by which the advocates of each contending
party have endeavoured to support their own cause, leav¬
ing it to our readers to judge where the truth lies. See
Independents and Presbyterians.
Ihe^ Independent maintains, that under the gospel dis¬
pensation there is nothing which bears the smallest re¬
semblance to an exclusive priesthood; that Christ and his
apostles constituted no permanent order of ministers in
the church ; but that any man who has a firm belief in re¬
velation, a principle of sincere and unaffected piety, a ca¬
pacity for leading devotion and communicating instruction,
and a serious inclination to engage in the important em¬
ployment of promoting the everlasting salvation of man¬
kind, is in all respects a regular minister of the New Tes¬
tament, especially if he have an invitation to the pastoral
office from some particular society of professing Chris¬
tians.
. Against this scheme, which supposes the rights and pri¬
vileges of all Christian men to be equal, and which ac¬
knowledges no authority in the church excepting that
which is derived from election by its members, the Pro¬
testant Episcopalian argues in the following manner: He
admits, as an undoubted truth, that Christ gave to none
of his followers authority or jurisdiction of such a nature
as could interfere with the rights and duties of the civil
magistrate; that he never conferred upon them what he
disclaimed for himself, when, before Pilate, he declared
tnat his kingdom was not of this world. He maintains,
however, that Christ did confer upon his immediate fol-
owers, and does still confer upon their successors in the
nnnistiy, authority and jurisdiction of a specific nature
ovei other Christians; and that neither during our Sa¬
viours a. ode upon earth, nor during the period of the
government of the church by apostles, nor in the age im-
E P I
mediately succeeding these, did there exist an absolute Episco-
equality among believers. l»acy.
During our Saviour’s ministry, it will be allowed that .
all power resided in him; and it is important to observe,
that even then, before believers were constituted a church,
parity was abolished by the ordinance of Jesus himself, in
the appointment of the twelve apostles and the seventy
disciples. And when the divine Founder of Christianity
was making preparations for the maintenance of his re¬
ligion after his departure hence, he did not abolish the
distinction which he had previously instituted, but grant¬
ed to the twelve apostles a still wider commission, a still
more decided supremacy over the ordinary members of
the church. “ As my Father hath sent me,” said he, “ even
so send I you. And when he had said this, he breath¬
ed on them, and said unto them, receive ye the Holy
Ghost: whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted
unto them, and whose soever sins ye retain, they are re¬
tained.” (John, xx. 21, 22, 23.) “ All powrer is given unto
me in heaven and in earth. Go ye, therefore, and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe
all things whatsoever I command you ; and lo, I am with
you alway, even unto the end of the world.” (Matt, xxviii.
18, 19, 20.) Now the Episcopalian maintains that men
who had received this commission could not be on a foot¬
ing of equality as to ecclesiastical privileges with .the great
body of believers, who had no commission whatsoever.
If, however, all this be granted, and still the permanence
of the commission be denied, the Episcopalian refers to
our Lord’s concluding words, “I am with you alway, even
unto the end of the world ;” and asks how Christ could be
with the commission to the end of the world, if the commis-
F.icn itself was to last only for one generation. But, further
than this, he refers to the acts of the apostles, as furnishing
abundant evidence that they understood it to be the will of
Christ that there should be a perpetual succession of privi¬
leged officers in the church. For, in the first place, the va¬
cancy occasioned by the death of Judas was immediately
filled by the appointment of Matthias ; then a new order
of Christian ministers was introduced under the name of
deacons; afterwards Barnabas and Saul were ordained to
be apostles ; and finally, as the number of Christian con¬
gregations increased, a race of ministers superior to the
deacons was instituted, to administer the sacraments, and
to preside in the religious assemblies. To imagine that
these were elected by the laity, and derived their autho¬
rity from that election, could scarcely be credited, even if
we possessed no evidence to the contrary. But St Paul
(Eph. iv. 11) asserts, that when Christ ascended up on
high, “ //e gave some apostles, and some prophets, and
some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers ;” that
is to say, Ae commissioned the apostles, and empowered
Mem to commission the inferior officers.
With respect to the age immediately succeeding the
apostolic, we cannot of course refer to Scripture, but must
have recourse to the records of primitive antiquity. And
in referring to the Fathers for the historical fact, the
Episcopalian claims for them nothing more than sufficient
honesty to tell the truth when there existed no temptation
to commit falsehood, or sufficient sense to abstain from a
falsehood which it was impossible should be credited by
any of their contemporaries. Now, of the earliest Chris¬
tian writers, of those called apostolic fathers, because they
are believed, on good grounds, to have been contempora¬
ries and companions of the apostles, three, namely, Cle¬
ment of Rome, Ignatius, and Hermas, explicitly state the
existence of different orders of officers in the church, to
whom great honour and obedience was due from the laity ;
whilst the remaining two. Polycarp and Barnabas, do not
EPISCOPACY. 279
Episco- touch upon ecclesiastical polity. Further than this it is
pacy. unnecessary to descend, as every one now admits that in
the age succeeding this, diocesan episcopacy prevailed
over the Christian world, and continued undisputed till
the Reformation.
Against this historical argument it may be urged, that
the commission to the apostles was “ to go and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Ghostand that consequently a sys¬
tem which confines the right of preaching and baptizing to
their successors in a particular order appears inconsistent
with the wisdom and the goodness of God ; as by such an
economy an intolerable dominion would be established
over the souls of men, and the very purpose for which
the Saviour died might be defeated by the caprice of an
ignorant or designing priesthood. To this objection the
Episcopalian replies, that under the Mosaic law sacrifice
was necessary for the expiation of sin, but that in many
most important cases this expiation could be effected only
by the instrumentality of a priest; that, in short, the
objection, if it have any weight, weighs with equal force
against the wisdom and justice of Providence in the ordi¬
nary government of the world. In every thing, he ob¬
serves, that is valuable, whether of a temporal or a spiri¬
tual nature, mankind are subjected to mutual dependence ;
baptism must be conferred, and knowledge must be com¬
municated, by some human being; and it is just as easy to
imagine the whole human race, as the whole clerical order,
unfaithful to their obligations.
The Episcopalian having by arguments of this nature
attempted to prove that Christ did institute a permanent
order of ministers in his church, proceeds, in the next place,
by an inquiry of the same nature, to prove that this order
was not single, but threefold. In the former inquiry he was
united with the Presbyterian against the Independetit;
he has now to answer the arguments of the Presbyterian,
who maintains that originally the Christian church con¬
tained no office higher than that of presbyter or elder; and,
in opposition to him, the Episcopalian maintains that Christ
and his apostles instituted divers orders in the church,
of which that of bishops with authority over presbyters, and
with the exclusive right of ordination, was the highest.
In behalf of the Presbyterian plea it is urged, that the
titles of bishop and presbyter, being in the New Testament
indifferently given to the same persons, cannot be the titles
of distinct ecclesiastical officers ; which appears still more
evident from the ordination of Timothy, who, although he
was the first bishop of Ephesus, received his episcopal cha¬
racter by the imposition of the hands of the presbytery.
That one and the same man is, in the New Testament,
styled sometimes a bishop and sometimes a presbyter, can¬
not be denied ; but although every apostolic bishop was
therefore undoubtedly a presbyter, it does not of course
follow, says the Episcopalian, that every presbyter was
likewise a bishop. In the Old Testament, Aaron and his
sons are without any discrimination of order frequently
styled priests ; and in the New, both St Peter and St John
call themselves presbyters, as St Paul, upon one occasion,
styles himself a deacon, 3/axovof (Eph. iii. 7): yet no man
ever supposed those apostles to have been such ecclesias¬
tical officers as modern presbyters and deacons; and it is
universally known, that in the Jewish priesthood there
were different orders, and that Aaron was of an order su¬
perior to his sons. I his being the case, the presbyters,
by the laying on of whose hands Jimothy was made a
bishop, 7nay have been of the same order with St Peter and
St John ; and if so, it follows that his ordination was Epis¬
copal. At all events, we are certain, continues the advo¬
cate for Episcopacy, that it was not in the modern sense
of the word Presbyterian ; for the gift, which in the first
epistle is said to have been “ given by prophecy ivifh the Episco-
laying on of the hands of the presbytery,” is in the second l)acy-
said to have been “ in him by the putting on of the hands
of St Paul.” And here it is worthy of observation, that
the preposition used in the former case is fiira, which sig¬
nifies concurrence rather than instrumentality ; but that in
the latter is iix, which, as every Greek scholar knows, is
prefixed to the instrumental cause by which any thing is
effected ; so that whatever may have been the order of
the presbyters who concurred, St Paul appears to have
been the sole ordainer. But by the confession of all par¬
ties, St Paul was a bishop in the highest sense in which
that word is ever used ; and the powers of the episcopate
not being parcelled out among various partners, of whom
each possessed only a share, the imposition of his hands
was sufficient for ever}' purpose which could have been
effected by the hands of the whole college of apostles.
It appears, therefore, that from the promiscuous use of
the titles bishop and presbyter, and from the ordination of
Timothy, nothing can with any certainty be concluded on
either side of this celebrated question. But if, instead
of resting on mere words, which, when taken alone and
without regard to the context, are almost all of ambigu¬
ous signification, we attend to some important facts re¬
corded in the New Testament, the Episcopalian thinks we
shall discover in these sufficient evidence that the govern¬
ment of the primitive church was Episcopal.
During our Saviour’s stay upon earth, it is undeniable
that he had under him two distinct orders of ministers,
the twelve and the seventy; and after his ascension, im¬
mediately before which he had enlarged the powers of
the eleven, we read of apostles, presbyters, and deacons, in
the church. That the presbyters were superior to the
deacons, and the apostles superior to both, is acknowledg¬
ed by the supporters of presbyterian parity; but it has
been said, that in Scripture we find no intimation that the
apostolic order was designed for continuance. A Quaker
says the same thing of water-baptism ; and the Episcopa¬
lian observes, that it would be difficult to point out by
what passage of Scripture, or what mode of reasoning,
those who upon this plea reject the apostolic order of
Christian ministers, could overthrow the principles upon
which the disciples of George Fox reject the use of that
rite which our Saviour instituted for the initiation of man¬
kind into his church. They were the eleven alone to whom
Christ said, “ go ye therefore and teach all nations, bap¬
tizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghostand hence, although we fre¬
quently find presbyters and deacons administering the sa¬
crament of baptism, we must conclude, that as aad¬
ministers justice by authority derived from his sovereign,
so those inferior officers of the church administered bap¬
tism by authority derived from the apostles. Indeed, had
they pretended to act by any other authority, it is not
easily to be conceived how their baptism could have been
the baptism instituted by Christ; for it was not with the
external washing, by whomsoever performed, but with the
eleven and their successors, that he promised to be “ al¬
ways, even unto the end of the world.”
We have already noticed that the eleven, acting, as all
orthodox Christians allow, by the extraordinary direction
of the Spirit, never appear to have supposed that the com¬
mission with which they were invested was to terminate
with them. On the contrary, they admitted Matthias,
Barnabas, and Paul, to the name and authority of apostles,
and Timothy and Titus to some office which, it is evident,
was superior to that of either ancient or modern presby¬
ters. Supposing it then granted that Timothy was com¬
missioned by the apostle Paul not to found a church,
where the gospel had been hitherto unpreached, but to
280 EPISCOPAC Y.
Episco- execute some office in one previously founded, the Epis-
pacy. copalian maintains that the directions given by the apostle
could be addressed to none but a bishop, that is, to one pos¬
sessing an ecclesiastical authority superior to that of pres¬
byters. For in Timothy (iv. 2-6) we read, “ I besought
thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Mace¬
donia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no
other doctrine, neither give heed to fables and endless ge¬
nealogies. Let the presbyters that rule well be counted
worthy of double honour; especially they who labour in
the word and doctrine. Against a presbyter receive not
an accusation but before two or three witnesses. Ihem
that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear. Lay
hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other
men’s sins.” Now, an individual right to direct presbyters
as to the doctrine they preached, to receive accusations
against them, to rebuke the offending, to confer authori¬
tative approbation upon the deserving, and finally, to or¬
dain, are exactly the offices which belong to a bishop.
The right to perform these, if derived from an appoint¬
ment by presbyters, would have constituted a superin¬
tending presbyter ; but the right being conferred by apos¬
tolic authority, raised their professor to higher order, and
this higher order is the Episcopal.
It is unnecessary to pursue the argument in the case of
Titus, bishop of Crete, whose episcopacy is equally clear
with that of Timothy; and if no other diocesan bishops
are mentioned in the Acts or Epistles, we need not won¬
der when we reflect how little is said of the greater part
of the apostolic body.
We perceive, then, that as far down as the history of the
church is warranted in Scripture, there always existed
imparity among the ministers of religion, and that the
apostles ordained certain officers to superintend or be
bishops over the presbyters. And when from the inspir¬
ed penmen of the New Testament he proceeds to examine
the succeeding writers of the Christian church, the Epis¬
copalian finds such multiplied and concurring evidence of
the apostolic institution of episcopacy, as he thinks it im¬
possible to resist without denying the truth of all ancient
history, and even shaking the pillars of revelation itself;
for, “ in the noble army of martyrs,” the witnesses of the
episcopal government of the church are earlier, and by far
more numerous, than those who testify that the gospel of
St Matthew was written by that apostle, or that the book
of the Apocalypse is canonical Scripture. The authority
of the Fathers indeed is at present very low; but should
they be allowed to be as fanciful divines and as bad cri¬
tics as their worst enemies are pleased to represent them,
this would detract nothing from their evidence when they
bear witness to the constitution of the church in their own
times; for of their honesty there can be no doubt; and
what the Episcopalian wants of them is only their testi¬
mony to matters of fact which fell under the cognizance
of their own senses, and about which therefore they could
not be deceived. It is here indeed chiefly that he tri¬
umphs over his antagonists. In the second and third
centuries there was no general council, nor any Christian
sovereign. A prelacy therefore, he urges, could not have
been universally introduced, during that period, either by
a concert among the clergy, or by the authority of the
civil magistrate.
That at the close of the first or apostolic century the
whole Christian world was Presbyterian, and that, as we
know to have been the case, at the close of the second it
was entirely Episcopal; that of the cause or progress of
the change not a word should be mentioned by the con¬
temporary writers; that whilst Episcopacy was a foul
usurpation of the rights of Christ’s flock, every Christian
writer from Clement downwards should speak of it as a
most excellent and even divine institution ; that no single Episco-
presbyter throughout the world should, as far as we know, Pac'.y-
have said a single word in defence of his insulted order; '
all this, the Episcopalian maintains, is so utterly improba¬
ble as to justify his regarding it as a fable, and one not
very cunningly devised.
The candid Episcopalian, however, allows, that in the
apostolic age there may have been some churches which
at first had only bishops and deacons to perform the offi¬
ces of religion; for when the number of disciples in any
place was so small that they could all meet in one assem¬
bly, there was no necessity for any other order of minis¬
ters ; but it appears that, from the very beginning, bishops,
presbyters, deacons were settled in all the larger
of the Roman empire ; and it was in those days an allowed
maxim, that without a bishop there could be no church.
The better to understand the original state and institu¬
tion of episcopacy, it is necessary to observe, that the em¬
pire, which contained almost all the known part of the
Christian world, was divided originally into provinces of
two kinds, the one called consular, the other prcetorian, of
which the former were either larger, or of more political
importance. In the reign of Augustus the consular pro¬
vinces were placed under the direct control of the em¬
peror, and were administered by legates generally of con¬
sular rank ; whilst the praetorian were left under the con¬
trol of the senate and people, and were governed by a
proconsul, as Asia was. (See Acts, xix. 38.) There was still
a third class of smaller provinces retained by the emperor,
and governed in general by men of equestrian or even infe¬
rior rank, under the title o[‘procurators; of these Judaea was
one. A province comprehended the cities of a whole re¬
gion ; and in the age of the apostles each city was under
the immediate government of certain magistrates within its
own body, known by the name of fiooXi), or senatus, ordo,
and curia, the states and court of the city. Those ma¬
gistrates were subordinate to the prcetor or proconsul;
but among them there was one superior to the rest, called
sometimes dictator and sometimes defensor civitatis, whose
jurisdiction extended not only over the city itself, but like¬
wise over all the adjacent territory. That territory was
denominated crgoxtfn/a, or the suburbs, and often reached
to the distance of ten or twelve miles round the city, and
sometimes much farther, containing within it many villa¬
ges and small towns under the government of the city
magistrates. From some passages in the New Testament,
and from the concurring evidence of the earliest writers
of the church, it appears to have been the purpose of the
apostles to settle a bishop in every city where there was
a civil magistracy; but as they could not be personally
present in all places at once, it was natural for them to
enter upon the great work of converting the nations by
first preaching the gospel in that city of each province
which was the ordinary residence of the governor; because
to it there must have been the greatest resort of people,
who would carry the glad tidings with them into the
country when they returned. Accordingly, having dis¬
persed themselves over the empire, and made numbers of
proselytes in the principal cities, they fixed in each, where
they saw it necessary, a bishop, with a college of presby¬
ters and deacons, and gave to those bishops, who were at
first called apostles, a commission, as the cities of the
province should be converted, to fix bishops in them also.
In some of the smaller cities, it is extremely probable
that a bishop and a deacon were for a short time the only
ecclesiastical officers, till the number of Christians in¬
creased so much as to make it impossible for them all to
assemble in one house for the purposes of public worship.
The bishop then ordained presbyters to officiate in those
congregations where he himself could not be present, and
EPISCOPACY. 281
Episco. to assist him in other parts of his pastoral office; but in
pacy. all their ministrations the presbyters were subordinate to
r"Y'w/ him, who was the chief pastor within the city, who com¬
posed the prayers which were offered up in public, and
to whom all the other ministers of religion were account¬
able for their conduct. As long as the number of the
faithful was confined within the walls of the city, it ap¬
pears that the bishop with his presbyters and deacons
lived together as in a college ; that divine service was
every Lord’s day, or oftener, performed in what was af¬
terwards called the cathedral or mother-church, by the
bishop himself, assisted by some of his clergy; and that
the congregations which met in other churches, having
no fixed pastors, were supplied by such presbyters as the
bishop chose to send to them from his own church. Whilst
matters continued in this state, the clergy had no other
revenues than what arose from the voluntary oblations of
the people; which were indeed so large as not only to
support them with decency, but likewise to answer other
ends of charity and munificence. They were commonly
divided into four equal parts ; of which one was allotted
to the bishop, a second to the inferior clergy, a third to
the poor, and a fourth to keep the churches in repair ;
and it was considered as a part of the bishop’s duty to
take care that the offerings should be faithfully applied
to these purposes.
When converts increased in number, and churches
were built in the suburbs, each of these churches had a
fixed pastor similar to a parish-priest amongst us ; but still
those pastors, as well as the city clergy, ministered in
subordination to the bishop, whose authority extended as
far as the civil authority of the Roman magistrate, within
which district or diocese it was supreme over all orders
of Christians. This every man knows who is acquainted
with ecclesiastical history ; for the bishop alone could or¬
dain priests and deacons, administer the rite of confirma¬
tion, absolve penitents who were under church censure,
and exclude from communion heretics and notorious of¬
fenders; and from his sentence there lay no appeal but
to a synod of comprovincial bishops.
Such synods were in each province convened by the
bishop of the chief city: for the apostles having been
careful to place in those cities men of the most eminent
gifts and abilities, the other bishops of the provinces ap¬
plied to them for advice upon every emergency, and paid
a particular deference to them upon every occasion. So
that though all bishops were of equal authority as fo's/io/w,
yet when they met to consecrate a new bishop, or to deli¬
berate upon the affairs of the church, they yielded a pre¬
cedency to the bishop of the metropolis, who called them
together, and who sat as president or moderator of the sy¬
nod. Hence the origin of metropolitans or archbishops,
whose authority was so considerable, that though there
is not a doubt but the election of bishops was anciently
placed in the clergy and people of the vacant diocese, yet
the bishop elect could not be consecrated without the con¬
sent of the archbishop of the province.
In consequence of the very extensive powers with which
the primitive bishops were vested, they are commonly
styled in the writings of those times presidents, provosts,
or inspectors of the church, chief priests, princes of the
clergy, and even princes of the people; but their authority
was wholly spiritual. Those prelates, imitating the ex¬
ample of their Divine Master when on earth, neither pos¬
sessed nor assumed to themselves any jurisdiction over^
the 'properties or civil rights of men. In consequence of
St Paul’s having reprimanded the Corinthians tor going
to law before the unbelievers, they were indeed often cho¬
sen as arbiters of such civil disputes as arose between in¬
dividuals under their episcopal government; but on these
VOL. IX.
occasions they could not act unless the submission was Episco-
voluntarily made by both the contending parties, and then Pac7*
their decision was final. When the empire became Chris-
tian, this privilege was confirmed to them by law ; for any
civil cause depending before a court of justice could be
withdrawn, and by the mutual consent of parties be sub¬
mitted to the arbitration of the bishop, whose award, which
in former times could be enforced only by the terror of
church censures, was then enforced by the secular magis¬
trate. In criminal causes, where the trial might be for
life or death, they were prohibited, both by the canons of
the church and by the laws of the state, from acting as
judges ; and therefore they never suffered such causes to
come before them, excepting when it was necessary that
the person accused, if found guilty, should be excluded
the communion of the faithful.
Be this as it may, it is certain that, through the libera¬
lity of the Christian emperors, the bishops enjoyed large
revenues and many valuable privileges ; but it does not
appear that they had any rank or authority, as barons or
temporal princes, till the Gothic nations, which subverted
the Roman empire, had embraced the Christian faith.
As Christianity incapacitated the leaders of those tribes
from officiating as chief priests at the religious rites which
were usually celebrated at the opening of their public
assemblies, the bishops came naturally to discharge that
duty on such occasions, when they must have shared in
the rank by sharing in the functions of the chief. The si¬
tuation in which they thus appeared at the opening of all
political conventions, enabled them to join with much
effect in the deliberations which ensued; and their supe¬
rior knowledge, their sacred character, and their influ¬
ence with the people, soon acquired them power equal to
their rank. They must therefore have been thought en¬
titled to obtain admission into that council which was form¬
ed by the king and the lay-chiefs at the national assem¬
blies; and as they balanced the authority of those chiefs,
we cannot doubt of the king’s disposition to give the
utmost effect to their claim. Accordingly, we find the
dignified clergy, who received large grants of land to be
held on the same tenures with the lands of the lay magis¬
trates, presiding along with those magistrates in the pro¬
vincial assemblies of every degree in all the Gothic na¬
tions, and enjoying every advantage of rank and authority
in their national diets. Hence the bishop of Rome, and
several bishops in Germany, have, like the dukes and
marquises of that empire, been for a long time sovereign
princes; and hence too the bishops of England and Ire¬
land have always sat, and have an equal right with the
lay-peers to sit, in the upper house of parliament. It is
however obvious, that, as far as episcopacy is oi'apostolical
institution, those peers and princes possess not the original
character in any higher degree than the bishops in Ame¬
rica, who are merely on a footing of equality with other
citizens, or those of Scotland, who are little more than
the ministers of a small body of dissenters from an esta¬
blished church.
Having thus traced what we may call the progress of
episcopacy from the simple purity of apostolic times up to
the gorgeous prelacy of the middle ages, it seems proper,
before concluding, that we should briefly allude to the
history and present state of episcopacy in Scotland.
About the time of the Reformation, the want of order
and decency in the worship of the reformed church was
abolished in the reign of James VI. by the establishment
of episcopacy on very liberal principles. This mode of
worship obtained the sanction of the most respectable part
of the nation, and continued to flourish under the auspices
of government, till it was overthrown by the adherents to
the national covenant. Its restoration was, however, ef-
2 N
282 E P I
Episco- fected in the year 1662, and twenty-seven years subse-
pacy. quently it was again abolished by the supporters of the
Prince of Orange, afterwards William III.
It may be proper to observe, that the Scotch Episcopal
Church had no public liturgy during her legal establish¬
ment. It is indeed true that the English book of common
prayer was used by the first reformers, and there is reason
to believe that John Knox himself was by no means inimi¬
cal to fixed forms of prayer, nor to clerical subordination;
but his successor, Andrew Melvil, introduced an equality
among the clergy, and excited the minds of the people
against the liturgy to such a degree, that an attempt to
modify the prayer-book for the use of the Church of Scot¬
land was productive of the solemn league and covenant,
and the subsequent ruin of Charles I.
During the reign of William III. the episcopalians were
treated with some degree of severity, because they could
not transfer to him that allegiance which they had sworn
to King James. It is said that they were prohibited from
officiating on the Sabbath-day, except “in their own hired
houses, where they received such friends as chose to come
in unto them.” In this manner was their worship con¬
ducted, praying either extempore, or from premeditation,
till the accession of Queen Anne, when the English liturgy
was introduced by degrees into Scotland, under the sanc¬
tion of an act of parliament, passed on the 3d of March
1712, “to prevent the disturbing of those of the episcopal
communion in that part of Great Britain called Scotland,
in the exercise of their religious worship, and in the use of
the liturgy of the Church of England.” But as their
attachment to the house of Stuart was well known, they
were, at the rebellion in 1715, laid under some restraints,
yet neither severe in their nature, nor of any long continu¬
ance, since in 1730 their places of worship were as nume¬
rous as before, and frequented by numbers both of rank
and respectability, many of whom held places under go¬
vernment.
In England Dr Sancroft, archbishop of Canterbury,
with five other bishops, were deprived of their sees for re¬
fusing their allegiance to King William; a circumstance
which occasioned a schism in the church, as they were
extremely popular. Different opinions were entertained
respecting the nature and design of the Lord’s Supper,
and the controversy infected the episcopalians of Scot¬
land. On the death of Dr Rose, the proscribed bishop
of Edinburgh, the diocesan form of church government
was opposed by such of the presbyters as had been raised
to the episcopal dignity, and it was proposed to govern the
whole church by a college of bishops. This plan, for the
adoption of which no precedent could be found in the annals
of history, was successfully opposed by many of the most
enlightened bishops, and it was of consequence abandoned.
After the rebellion of 1745 additional acts of consider¬
able severity were passed against the Scottish Episcopalians,
the worst effect of which was the formation of many congre-
. gations using the English liturgy, and styling themselves
Episcopalians, whilst they and their ministers were living in
separation from the bishops of the country. All restraints
upon Scottish Episcopalians were, however, removed by the
act of 1792 ; since which period they have enjoyed full
liberty of conscience, in common with other Dissenters.
I he repeal of the penal acts of course tended to unite
the independent chapels above mentioned to the episcopal
church ; but an impediment still existed, which delayed the
progress of this union for several years. The Scottish Epis¬
copal Church had never yet adopted the English Confes¬
sion of Faith; and though tlie act of 1792 required that
every tolerated episcopalian minister should sign the Thirty-
nine Articles, still, as might have been expected, those
ministers were not prepared immediately to sign a declara¬
tion of faith at a secular mandate. There consequently re-
E P I
mained an ostensible reason for separation till the year 1804, Episcopius
when a convocation of the episcopal church declared their ||
readiness to sign the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of EPitaPh-
England, in the manner enacted by the act of 1792.
The cause of separation being thus removed, the English
chapels began immediately to unite themselves to the Scot¬
tish Episcopal Church, and to submit to the authority of the
bishop within whose jurisdiction they lay; but at the pre¬
sent time (1855) there are ten congregations in Scotland
who use the English liturgy that refuse obedience to the
Scottish bishops. The Episcopal Church in Scotland is now
governed by seven bishops, having under them about 150
presbyters intrusted with the cure of souls.
EPISCOPIUS (or Bisschop) Simon, the most learned of
the Arminian divines of the seventeenth century, was born
at Amsterdam in 1583. He studied philosophy and theo¬
logy at the university of Leyden ; and in the contests be¬
tween the Gomarists and the followers of Arminius, which
at that time first began to divide the church, he espoused
the party of the latter. In 1610, the year in which the Ar-
minians presented their famous Remonstrance to the states
of Holland, he was ordained minister of a small village in
the neighbourhood of Rotterdam ; and in the following year
he advocated the cause of the Remonstrants at the Hague
Conference. In 1612 he succeeded Gomar as professor of
theology at Leyden ; and in spite of the abuse and violence
of the Gomarists, continued to hold his chair till 1619, when
he was deposed and expelled by the synod of Dort. Having
retired to France, Episcopius devoted the greater part of his
energies to the promotion of the Arminian cause; but the at¬
tempt of Wadding to win him over to the Romish faith in¬
volved him at the same time in a controversy with that famous
Jesuit. After the death of the stadthokler Maurice, the vio¬
lence of the Arminian persecution began to abate; and Epis¬
copius was permitted, in 1626, to resume his duties in the Re¬
monstrant church of Rotterdam. He was afterwards appoint¬
ed rector of the Remonstrant college at Amsterdam, where he
died in 1643, at the age of 60. His works were collected in
2 vols. fob, by his successor Curcellseus, who, as well as Lim-
borch, has furnished a biography of this celebrated divine.
EPISODE, a separate incident, story, or action, intro¬
duced in a poem or other work of fiction ; an incidental di¬
gression, separate from the main subject, but naturally aris¬
ing from it. See Poetry.
EPISTLES and Gospels, in the liturgy of the Church
of England, portions of Scripture selected from the writings
of the evangelists and apostles, and appointed to be read, in
the communion service, on Sundays and holidays. They
are believed to have been selected and put into the lec¬
tionary by St Jerome.
EPITAPH (e-Tri upon, and rd<£os a sepulchre), an in¬
scription on a tomb. It is also used for an eulogium, in
prose or verse, composed in honour of a person deceased,
without any intent to be engraven on a monument.
It has been doubted whether the ancient Jews inscribed
epitaphs on tombs ; yet it is certain that instances of epi¬
taphs of very ancient date have been found among them.
The Athenians commonly inscribed only the name of the
dead, with the epithet xp^ords, good, or r/pws, hero, and the
word xaloe, intimating their good wishes; but the name of
the deceased’s father and that of his tribe were occasionally
added. The Lacedaemonians allowed epitaphs to none but
those who had died in battle. The Romans inscribed their
epitaphs diis manibus; and frequently introduced the dead,
by way of prosopopoeia, speaking to the living.
The English language is perhaps richer than any other
in compositions of this kind. That discovered by Sir Wal¬
ter Scott, on a defaced tomb-stone in the churchyard of
Melrose, is among the finest in its own vein—
Earth walketh on the earth glistering in gold;
Earth goeth on the earth whither it wold;
E P I
E P U
283
Epitaph. Earth builds on earth palaces and towers,
. r Earth says to earth, all shall be ours.
Ben Jenson’s epitaph on the Countess of Pembroke is
well known :—
Underneath this marble hearse
Lies the subject of all verse,
Sydney’s sister, Pembroke’s mother ;
Death, ere thou hast slain another
Wise and good and fair as she,
Time will throw his dart at thee.
Equally happy in its own way is that by an unknown
author, inscribed on a tomb in a cemetery in the Isle of
Wight: —
Forgive, blest shade, the tributary tear,
That mourns thy exit from a world like this;
Forgive the wish that would have kept thee here,
And stayed thy progress to the realms of bliss.
No more confined to grovelling scenes of night,
No more a tenant pent in mortal clay ;
Now should we rather view thy glorious flight,
And mark thy progress to the realms of day.
In a far different vein is that composed by Benjamin
Franklin on himself:—“ The body of Benjamin Franklin,
printer (like the cover of an old book, its contents torn out
and stripped of its lettering and gilding), lies here, food for
worms ; yet the work itself shall not be lost, for it will (as
he believed) appear once more in a new and more beautiful
edition, corrected and amended by the Author.”
For simplicity and appropriateness, that on Copernicus in
a church at Cracow is remarkable : —
Sta, sol, ne moveare.
In this case the words of Scripture, which were used as a
pretext for the persecution of the great truth which he dis¬
covered, are here employed to form the astronomer’s epitaph.
Similar in spirit to this is Pope’s famous epitaph on
Newton:—
Nature and Nature’s laws lay hid in night,
God said, Let Newton be, and all was light.
Many others of Pope’s epitaphs are remarkable. We
select that on Mrs Corbet:—
Here rests a woman, good without pretence,
Blest with plain reason and with sober sense ;
No conquests she—but o’er herself—desired,
No arts essayed but—not to be admired.
Passion and pride were to her soul unknown,
Convinced that virtue only is our own.
So unaffected, so composed a mind;
So firm, yet soft; so strong, yet sd refined;
Heaven, as its purest gold, by tortures tried :
The saint sustained it, but the woman died.
Of satirical epitaphs the French language affords some
very piquant examples. One of the best known is that of
Piron on himself, written in a spirit of revenge against the
French Academy :—
Ci-git Piron, qui ne fut jamais rien,
Pas meme Academicien.
The next is scarcely less happy. It may still be seen in
Pere-la-Chaise at Paris:—
Ci-git ma femme. Ah ! qu’elle est bien
Pour son repos et pour le mien.
In this vein one of the most famous epitaphs is that of
Dr Arbuthnot on the infamous Col. Chaities: Heie
continueth to rot the body of h rancis Chartres, who,
with an inflexible constancy and inimitable unifoimity of
life, persisted, in spite of age and infirmities, in the prac¬
tice of every human vice excepting prodigality and hypo¬
crisy ; his insatiable avarice exempted him fiom the first,
his matchless impudence from the second. Nor was he
more singular in the undeviating pravity of his manners
than successful in accumulating wealth, for without trade
or profession, without trust of public money, and without
bribe-worthy service, he acquired, or more properly created,
a ministerial estate. He was the only person of his time
who could cheat without the mask of honesty, retain Ins
primeval meanness when possessed of ten thousand a-year;
and having daily deserved the gibbet for what he did, was
at last condemned to it for what he could not do. Oh !
indignant reader, think not his life useless to mankind.
Providence connived at his execrable designs, to give to
after-ages a conspicuous proof and example of how small
estimation is exorbitant wealth in the sight of God, by his
bestowing it on the most unworthy of all mortals.”
EPITHALAMIUM (eVi, and 6dXafxo<s a bed-chamber'),
in Antiquity, a nuptial song or poem in praise of the bride
and bridegroom, and praying for their prosperity.
Among the Jews epithalamia were sung at the door of
the bride, by her female companions, the evening before
the marriage. The Greek epithalamium was performed by
a chorus of boys and girls when the bride and bridegroom
entered the bridal chamber; and the wedded pair were sa¬
luted the next morning with the same song slightly altered.
The practice amongst the Romans was similar ; the chorus,
however, consisting of girls only, who sang at the door of
the nuptial-chamber till midnight; but their epithalamia
were frequently obscene.
EPOCH, or Epociia (from iiri^uv to check), in Chro¬
nology, a fixed point of time from which succeeding years
are numbered.
EPODE, in Lyric Poetry, the third and concluding part
of the ode ; that which follows the strophe and antistrophe ;
the ancient ode being divided into strophe, antistrophe, and
epode. The word is now used as the name of any little
verses that succeed one or more great ones. Thus a pen¬
tameter after an hexameter is an epode. The term as ap¬
plied to a book of Horace’s poems, signifies merely addi¬
tional or supplementary.
EPPING, a market-town of the county of Essex, in the
hundred of Waltham, 17 miles N.N.E. from London. It
is situated in a district formerly very woody, and preserved
by our ancient monarchs for the enjoyment of field sports.
It was then called. Waltham Forest, and extended almost to
the capital. In the same neighbourhood also was Hainault
Forest, where a fair was held for many centuries under a
remarkable tree, well known by the name of Fairlop Oak,
which existed till recently, and was of prodigious size. This
town is singularly irregular in its appearance; one part of
it, called Epping Upland, where the church stands, being
nearly a mile and a half distant from the other part, named
Epping Street, which is the largest portion, and where the
market is held. It has long been famed for its sausages and
pork, and especially for its butter. Pop. ofparish( 1851)2255.
EPROUVETTE, the name given to various machines
for ascertaining the comparative strength of different kinds of
gunpowder. One of the simplest and best of these consists
of a small gun fixed in a frame, which is suspended as a
pendulum from a horizontal bar. When the gun is fired,
the recoil causes the frame to oscillate, and the extremity
of the arc of vibration (which is marked by a sliding index)
denotes the comparative force of the explosion.
EPSOM, a market-town in the county of Surrey, 14 miles
S.w. of London. Pop. (1851) 3390. The principal build¬
ing is the parish church, a Gothic edifice rebuilt in 1825.
The once celebrated mineral springs discovered in 1618,
and from which Epsom salts were first extracted, are now
neglected. The Epsom races are held in the vicinity, and
attract an immense concourse of people. The grand stand,
erected in 1829-30, can contain 7500 persons.
EPULONES, in Homan Antiquity, certain priests, ori¬
ginally three in number, who were first created a.u. 558,
by the pontifices, to superintend the epula or feasts in the
sacred games and festivals. Their number was at length
augmented from three to seven, and by Julius Caesar was
increased to ten; but after his time their number was again
reduced to seven. Like the pontifices and the augures.
the epulones formed a collegium at Rome.
Epithala-
mium
Epulones.
284
EQUATIONS.
Equations. 1. In all the applications of algebra, it is not the magni-
tudes concerned that we immediately consider, but merely
their proportions. In every class of quantities of the same
kind, one being adopted as the unit of comparison, all the
rest are referred to this standard, and are represented by
tbe proportions they bear to it. The letters of the al¬
phabet, or other symbols, used in algebra, are not, there¬
fore, properly speaking, the representatives of magni¬
tudes ; they denote ratios, or abstract numbers, viewed,
as in the fifth book of Euclid, in the most general man¬
ner, and independently of any particular system of arith¬
metic or numeration.
The ancient geometry follows a different procedure.
In that science the attention is in every case confined to
the magnitudes under actual consideration. A general
property of triangles is established, by showing that it is
true of any particular triangle that comes under the pro¬
posed hypothesis. The geometer contemplates particular
instances, presenting for the most part relations not very
complex, and easily kept in view. On this account he carries
on his investigations with the greatest clearness, and is in
no danger of falling into contradiction or paradox. But
his science is little susceptible of general methods. If any
process within the compass of the ancient geometry be enti¬
tled to that appellation, it is what is called the method of
exhaustion. Every geometer perceives that all the de¬
monstrations under this head have the closest analogy.
Yet, after a hundred applications, it is still necessary, in
any new case, to pursue the reasoning through all its de¬
tails, without deriving assistance from any general con¬
clusion previously obtained.
Algebra possesses a great advantage over geometry in
generalizing its processes. Problems relating to magni¬
tudes of the most different kinds, nevertheless, lead to
similar expressions in numbers. Questions in geometry,
in mechanics, or concerning mercantile business, are made
to depend on the same rules for their solution. It may be
said that algebra and the modern analysis accomplish, for
all the mathematical sciences, the project, entertained by
some ingenious men, of an universal and philosophical lan¬
guage, which, being founded on an exact scrutiny into the
nature of things, and on what they possess in common,
might greatly facilitate the acquisition and the extension
of our knowledge.
The spirit of generalization peculiar to algebra is no¬
where more conspicuous than in the doctrine of equations.
Every determinate problem that can occupy the attention
of the mathematician, is ultimately reduced to the finding
of such numbers as are necessary to determine the un¬
known quantity or quantities, by means of the equations
that subsist between those numbers, and others which are
given in the question. A wide field of mathematical in¬
vestigation is thus brought under a limited number of
algebraic expressions.
In treating of equations, it will not be necessary to begin
with laying down a formal definition. We confine our¬
selves, in this article, to the consideration of such equa¬
tions as contain only one unknown quantity. We further
suppose that the elementary operations preparatory to
solution are already performed; so that the unknown
quantity is clear of radical signs, and is nowhere found in
the denominator of a fraction ; likewise that all the sepa¬
rate terms are brought to one side of the sign of equality,
and at ranged in such a manner that the first term, which
must always be positive, and have unit for its index, con¬
tains the highest power of the unknown quantity, or Equations,
the second term contains the next highest power, and so Cii—
on, the term which does not contain sc being placed last.
This arrangement must always be understood when any
term is distinguished by the order it stands in ; but it will
sometimes be convenient to write the terms in an in¬
verted order, arranging them according to the indices of
the unknown quantity.
Equations are divided into different classes or orders,
according to the highest power of the unknown quantity
found in their terms.
An equation of the first degree, or a simple equation,
is one which contains x only, without any of its powers, as
x— A = 0.
A quadratic equation, or one of the second degree, con¬
tains the square of x, as a?2— A =: 0, or a:2— Ax + B = 0.
A cubic equation, or one of the third degree, contains
the cube, or third power of x, as x3—A=:0, ora?—Aa,2 +
Ba: — C —0.
A biquadratic equation, or one of the fourth degree,
contains the fourth power, or biquadrate of ay as a4—
A=0, or xi — Aa? +Ba? — Ca?+D=0.
And, in general, an equation of the «th degree contains
the nth power of x, and the powers inferior to the nth,
such as
xn — Aa;” 1 + Baw—2 — IVLr + N=:0.
A root of an equation is a value of the unknown num¬
ber x. Thus, if a represent a number, and if its powers,
a, a2, a3, when they are substituted in the equation for ar,
a-2, a13, &c. produce an equality between the positive and
negative terms, then a is a root of the equation, and it is a
positive root; but if, fora, a2, a?, &c. we must substitute
—a, a2, — a3, &c. which are the powers of — a, in order
to obtain the like equality, then a is a negative root of the
equation.
What we have here called roots are more generally
named real roots, to distinguish them from those expres¬
sions to which the appellation of imaginary or impossible
roots has been given. As it will conduce to perspicuity,
we shall always use the word root in the sense here de¬
fined, unless when imaginary or impossible roots are ex¬
pressly mentioned.
From the definitions laid down, it follows that the ne¬
gative roots of the equation,
0 — N + Ma; + La;2 + Ka? +, &c.
are the same with the positive roots of the equation,
0 =: N — Ma; + La;2 — Ka? +, &c.
in which the signs only of all the terms containing the
odd powers of x are changed. For the same result is ob¬
tained, whether we make x equal to — a in the first equa¬
tion, or to + a in the second.
2. A great advantage has resulted from the practice
introduced by Harriot, of writing all the terms of an equa¬
tion on one side of the sign of equality. The poljmomes
formed by all the terms thus brought together are ra¬
tional and integral functions of the unknown quantity ;
and the question is, to find in what circumstances such
expressions are equal to zero. The most likely way of
succeeding in this research, is to resolve the functions
into their most simple component factors. Harriot sup¬
posed that every rational function can be produced by
the continued multiplication of binomial factors, and in
E Q U A T ION S.
285
Equations, this he has been followed by succeeding algebraists. The
modern theory of equations is entirely founded on this
supposition, which, although it has not been demonstrated,
has yet, in some measure, been verified in the progress of
the science, and by the admission of those artificial ex¬
pressions called imaginary or impossible quantities. But
there is a distinction between the real and impossible
binomial factors of a rational polynome; for the first are
expressions complete and significant by themselves, with¬
out reference to other quantities ; whereas one impossible
factor necessarily supposes the existence of another, the
two related expressions being such that their multiplica¬
tion produces one real factor of the second degree. Thus,
every pair of impossible factors is equivalent to a real
quadratic factor ; and, by an unavoidable consequence of
the forced supposition made by Harriot, the attention of
algebraists has been drawn to the two impossible expres¬
sions, instead of the real one which they compose. In
order to place the doctrine of equations and the theory
of impossible roots on a solid foundation, it appears ne¬
cessary to attempt the resolution of rational functions
into their component factors by a rigorous analysis, free
from arbitrary suppositions.
To resolve the rational function f (#) into its compo¬
nent factors, we must begin with inquiring whether it
can be divided without a remainder, by a division such as
x — a, or a? + a. If it can, the proposed function will
be equal to (xz^za) X f (x), where f' (x), the quotient
of the division, is a function similar to f(x), but of an
order one degree lower. In like manner, it may be pos¬
sible to reduce/' (x) to a degree still lower, by means of
one or more divisors of the same form ; and, in certain
cases, the first function may be entirely exhausted by
successive binomial divisors. When this happens, the di¬
visors x — a, x — b, x — c, &c. will be equal in number to
the exponent of the highest power of ar, and their conti¬
nued product will be equal to / (*). It is evident, that
by multiplying together a proper number of such factors,
an algebraic expression may be formed similar to any ra¬
tional and integral function, and the co-efficients of this
product will likewise contain as many quantities to be de¬
termined at pleasure as there are co-efficients in the given
function. But we should reason badly if, from this pro¬
cess of composition, we should infer that a product arising
from the multiplication of a certain number of simple fac¬
tors may have any given co-efficients, or will coincide with
any proposed polynome of the same degree. This is a
point that can be ascertained only by a process of ana¬
lysis or resolution, and by seeking all the binomial divi¬
sors any given function admits of. In fact, the cases are
extremely rare in which an algebraic function can be
completely exhausted by real binomial divisors. There
are many polynomes which have not a single divisor of
this kind; and, in the progress of resolution, we generally
arrive at a function which cannot be further divided.
When this is the case, it must be tried whether a quad¬
ratic divisor, as a? + mx + n, will not be successful in
lowering the function. But here it must be observed that
such divisors are of two kinds; one, as (a; — j)2 — r2, which
can be resolved into two binomial factors; and one, as
(x £)2 _p ^ whjch cannot be so resolved without intro¬
ducing imaginary or impossible expressions. Now, to
divide by a divisor of the first kind is the same thing as
to divide by the two binomial factors of which it is com¬
posed ; and, therefore, it is the second kind of quadratic
factors only that need be tried, or that can succeed, in
lowering a function already deprived of all its simple divi¬
sors. After quadratic divisors, those of the third degree
would naturally come to be considered; but this is unne¬
cessary, because algebraists have found that every 1a-
tional function may be completely exhausted bv simple Equations,
and quadratic factors.
W7hat has now been said naturally distributes the sub¬
ject under two heads; one treating of the simple or bino¬
mial factors, and the other of the quadratic or trinomial
factors, of algebraic equations.
Binomial Factors.
3. The first object of inquiry must be to find the con¬
ditions necessary, in order that a binomial quantity, as
x — a, or x + a, shall divide a rational polynome with¬
out a remainder. Suppose that x — a is a divisor of the
polynome,
xn + B*n-2 + M* + N,
which we shall denote by/(x) : then we shall have
f(x) = N + Mar + La;2 + Kaf5 +, &c.
f (a) — N -f- Ma + La2 + Ka3 +> &c.
wherefore, by subtracting and dividing by x — a, we get
/W _/(fO _ M +L + K^=^-3+, &c.
x—a x—a x—a x — a x—a
Now, it is known that the difference between any like
powers of two numbers is exactly divisible by the differ¬
ence of those numbers: hence all the quantities on the
right-hand side of the sign of equality form an integral
expression. But as/(a) does not contain ar, it cannot be
divisible by a; — a; it follows, therefore, that/(a:) cannot
be divisible by x — a, unless/(a) = 0; and it is obvious
that this condition is the only one necessary. Thus, the
polynome/(x) will be divisible by ar — a when a is a po¬
sitive root of the equation/ (x)=0, otherwise not.
Again, let the divisor be ar + a; then,
/ (a;) = N + Mar + La? + Ka? +, &c.
/ (— a) = N — Ma + La2 — Ka3 +, &c.
and by proceeding as before,
/(f)_/(;_a)=M.?+? +l^+k.£+o!+4c_
ar + a x + a ar + a ar + a x-j-a
Here again all the divisions on the right-hand side of the
sign of equality can be exactly performed ; and we must,
therefore, conclude that / (ar) will be divisible by ar-f a
only when/(—a) =0, that is, when a is a negative root
of the equation / (ar) = 0.
Nowa’=f=a being a divisor of/(ar), the quotient, which
we may denote by/' (ar), will be a polynome of (n—1)
dimensions, or one degree lower than / (ar) ; and we
shall have
f(x) = (x+a) X /' (ar).
From this equation it appears that every value of ar that
makes/' (x) equal to zero, will likewise make/(ar) equal
to zero; consequently every binomial divisor of the first
function will likewise be a divisor of the second. And if
/ (ar) has no roots, and no binomial divisors, neither will
/(ar) have any roots except =±=a, nor any binomial divi¬
sors except a;=pa. Suppose that the polynomes / (ar)
and / (a;) have the common root z±z:b; they will like¬
wise have the common divisor arz^ri; and if we put /"(ar)
for the quotient arising from the division of/'(a;) by
arr+zi, so that/' (ar) = (xz+zb) ./" (ar), we shall have
/(ar) =z (x=+za) . (xz+zb) ./" (x),
in which equation /" (ar) is a polynome of n—2 dimen¬
sions, or two degrees lower than /(ar).
It is evident we may continue to reason in the same
manner either till, after successive divisions, we come at
last to a binomial quotient, in which case the original po
lynome / (ar) will be completely resolved into binomial
factors; or till we come to a quotient that has no roots,
EQUATIONS.
286
Equations, in which case f (x) will have no binomial factors except
those previously found. We may therefore conclude that
“ a rational polynome has as many binomial factors as it
has roots, and no more; every positive root producing a
factor of the form x — a, and every negative root one of
the form x-j-a; and since the number of binomial fac¬
tors can never be greater than the dimensions of the po¬
lynome, its roots cannot exceed the same number.”
4*. There are very few cases in which it can be known
immediately and by inspection that an equation has
one or more roots. These cases depend upon the follow¬
ing propositions, viz. “ If p (x) denote a rational poly¬
nome, having x, or some integral power of x. in every one
of its terms, and likewise having the term that contains
the greatest power of x positive, a value of x may be
found that will make <p (x) equal to any positive quantity,
as s.”
Suppose, first, that all the terms of p (x) are positive ;
then xn being the first term, or that in which x rises to
the highest power, if 5 == tn, and X]>£, it is manifest that
[p(X)>t->s.
Therefore, while x increases from 0 to be equal to X, the
function p (x) increases from 0 to be greater than s ; and
as the variations of p (x), however irregular they may be,
are connected by the law of continuity, the function will
pass through every gradation of magnitude between 0 and
the greatest limit p (X). Consequently, there is a value
of x between 0 and X, that will make p (x) equal to .<?.
When the terms of p (x) are not all positive, let all the
positive terms except xn be rejected, and all the negative
terms be retained, and we shall have p (x) equal to, or
greater than,
xn — F#” * 1 — Ha:” ^ 1 —, &c.
But, s being equal to tn, we have
^=^—(x—t) . | xn 1 +txn-2 + t* xn~3...+tn~l I
Now, by equating the negative terms of the first expres¬
sion to the terms containing the like powers of x in the
value of tn, we shall get
(x — t). t*= F, (x — t). /=H, &c.
And hence,
x — t -{■ —, x = t -\—-, &c.
tl t*
Let X be either equal to or exceed the greatest of those
values of x, then we shall have
P (X) ><”>*.
Wherefore, as before, there is a value of x between 0 and
X, that will make <p (x) equal to s.
From what has now been proved, we derive the follow¬
ing properties of equations.
L /' Every equation of odd dimensions has at least one
positive root when the last term is negative, and one ne¬
gative root when the last term is positive.”
If the last term be negative, as in this instance,
x2n+1 + Ax2n + Ba>—1... + Ma: — N=0 ;
according to what has been proved, a value of x, viz. a,
may be found that will satisfy the condition,
a2n+l + Aa2n + Ba2” 1... +Ma=N;
then a is a positive root of the equation.
yVhen the last term is positive, as in this equation,
a>+1 + Aa> + Bx2n—1 _ + + N _ 0>
change the sign of the last term, and the signs of all the
terms that contain the even powers of x, then the poly¬
nome will become v
x2"+U aA” + B*2”-1... +M*-N:
and a value of a:, viz. a, may be found such that
a2>i+1-Aa2n+Ba2n-l... + Ma=N.
Now transpose N, and then change the signs of all the
terms, and we shall get
—a2”+1 + Aa2”—Ba2”—1... _ Ma + N=0,
which shows that a is a negative root of the equation.
2. “ Every equation of even dimensions having its last
term negative, has two roots, one positive and one nega¬
tive.”
Let the equation be
x2n + A*2'*—1 + Bx2n 2... +Mx — N=0;
and consider the polynomes,
x2n + Ax2n-1+Bx2n—2... + M* —N,
A*2”-1 + Bx2n 2... — Mx— N,
in the latter of which the signs of all the terms contain¬
ing the odd powers of a: are changed ; then there are two
values of a:, viz. a and b, such as to answer the conditions,
a2n+ Aa2’1 1... 4- Ma=:N
b2n—Ab2n—1... — M6=N:
consequently a is a positive and b a negative root of the
equation.
3. “ A polynome of even dimensions, which has no bi¬
nomial factors, is always positive, whatever value be sub¬
stituted for the unknown quantity.”
Let the polynome be/(x) or
x2n + Aa:2” 1... Ma? -f- N;
then the last term, or that term which does not contain x,
must be positive; for otherwise the polynome would have
two roots and two binomial factors, contrary to the hy¬
pothesis. Now, if it be possible, let the polynome have a
negative value when X is substituted for x, so that/(X) —
— P; therefore, when x=:0,f (x) is equal to the positive
quantity N ; and, when x=X, the same function is equal
to — P; but since/ (x) passes through all degrees of
magnitude between N and — P, while a: varies from 0 to X,
it will become equal to zero when x has some interme¬
diate value ; therefore the polynome has one root be¬
tween 0 and X, and one binomial divisor corresponding: to
that root, contrary to the hypothesis.
It may be observed, that the converse of this proposi¬
tion is not true ; for a polynome of even dimensions, that
has such factors as (x—a)2, (x—a)4, (x—a)2m, may
never become negative, although it is capable of being
equal to zero.
5. The properties demonstrated in the last section lead
to this general proposition relating to the number of roots
in any equation, viz. “ In any equation the number of all
the roots is even when the dimensions are even, and odd
when the dimensions are odd.”
For every equation has as many binomial divisors as it
has roots ; and if we suppose an odd number of roots in an
equation of even dimensions, or an even number in one of
odd dimensions, the last quotient, after dividing succes¬
sively by all the divisors, would be a polynome of odd di¬
mensions, having at least one root, which would likewise
be a root of the proposed equation. Therefore the num¬
ber of all the roots of an equation cannot be even when
the dimensions are odd, nor odd when the dimensions are
even.
And again, since every polynome is equal to the conti¬
nued product of all its binomial divisors, and the quo¬
tient last found, after dividing by them all successively,
we obtain the following proposition, viz.: “ Every rational
polynome is equal either to the continued product of as
many binomial factors as it has dimensions ; or to the con-
Equations.
EQUATIONS.
287
Equations tinued product of an even or odd number of such factors,
according as the dimensions of the polynome are even or
odd, and a polynome of even dimensions, which, having
no binomial factors, is always positive, whatever value be
substituted for the unknown quantity.”
6. When several of the binomial factors of an equation
are equal to one another, it is said to have so many equal
roots. In this case the equation can he divided a num¬
ber of times successively by the same binomial divisor.
Thus, an equation which is twice divisible by x — a, or,
which is the same thing, once by (r — a)2, has two roots
Equal
roots.
equal to a ; and if it can be divided by (x — a)m, it has
m roots equal to a.
1 he most obvious way of finding the conditions on
which the equality of the roots depends would therefore be
to expand the divisor (a; — a)m by the binomial theo¬
rem, and then divide the equation by it; for, after the
integral quotient is obtained, the required conditions will
be found by making the several parts of the remainder se¬
parately equal to zero. The number of the conditions found
in this manner is equal to the exponent of the divisor; for
of so many parts will the remainder of the division con¬
sist. But, in a complex operation, it is difficult to ascer¬
tain the remainder; and, besides, it is not necessary to con¬
sider all the equations obtained by this process, because
both the number and the value of the equal roots can be
found by means of two of them only.
The inconveniences just mentioned will be avoided by
proceeding in the following manner: Let the equation be
xn+ Axn 1 + Bx11—2... + M* + N = 0 ;
then, if it be divisible by (a: — a)m, the quotient will be
a polynome of n — m dimensions ; and we may therefore
suppose that the expression
xn -f- Axn 1 -f Bx11 2.. + M* + N
is equal to the product,
(a; — a)m x {xn—m + AV—m—1 + B'xn m 2 + , &c.}-
In these expressions, x may have any value whatever;
and therefore the equality between them will still sub¬
sist if we substitute x i for x, i being any arbitrary
number ; therefore the expression
(# + *)” + A(a: + On 1-)-B(a: + On' ? . . -f-M(x + e)-f-N
will be equal to the product
(a;—a-f X {(x-j- i)n—A’(x + *)«—m—i
Now, let the several powers of (# -f- i) be expanded by
the binomial theorem, and put
X = a;” -f- h.xn 1 -|- Ba:n 2. . .+ Ma: -{- N,
Y — nxn——l)AaiM 2 + (w—2)Ba:M—5. . . .-j-M,
n — 1 0 , ,.71 — 2,
7j — n —^— xn—* 4- (n — 1) —-— Aa;n—3 4-, &c.
77—1 n—2 .
Y — n ^ —a;”—34-(?7—1)
n—2
2
n—2
3
Axn—4
4-, &c. &c. &c.
then the given polynome of n dimensions will become
X 4- Y 7 4- Zi2 4- V 73 4-, &c. (A).
And if the like operations are performed in the polynome
of n — m dimensions, and (a: — a-\-i)m be expanded by
the binomial theorem, the product of these two expres¬
sions will become
f , N , . »7  1 , .
< (x—a)m 4- 777. (x—a)m 1 74-777.—^— . (a:—a)m—2i2
4-,&c. | x |X' + Y'* + Z 72 -f, &c.| • (B).
The expression (A) being equal to the product (B),
whatever i stands for, the co-efficients of the like powers Equations,
of 7 must be equal ; and hence, by equating the terms in
which 7 is wanting, and likewise the terms that contain
the first power of i, we get
X rr (x — a)m X'
Y = (x — a)m Y' -f 777 (x — ;
which proves that (x — a)m‘—1 is a common divisor of X
and Y. If, therefore, by means of the usual process, we
seek the greatest common measure of the two polynomes
X, Y, or,
xn 4" Aan—1 4“ Ba:” 2 4- Mx 4* N,
?7xn—1 4" (77 — 1) Ax” 2 4- (77 — 2) Bx” 2... 4- M;
we shall obtain the factor (x — a)m—], and the given po¬
lynome X will be divisible by (x — a)m ; that is, it will
contain the common factor x—a once more than the po¬
lynome Y contains it.
If we proceed farther, and equate the co-efficients of i2
in the expressions (A) and (B), we shall get
Z = (x — a )mZ’ 777 (x — a) m 1 Y'
4-777 .
m—2
(x — a) X';
which shows that Z is divisible by (x — a)m 2. In the
same manner, it may be proved, that V is divisible by
(x — a)m 3, and so on. It appears, therefore, that the
first ??7 co-efficients of the expression (A) are respectively
divisible by (x — a)m, (x — a)m—*, (x — a)m—2, &c.; and
consequently we shall have
X = 0, Y = 0, Z = 0, V = 0, &c.
when the common root a is substituted for x.
If the polynome X is divisible by{(x—a2 4- /33)}n>
maybe proved in like manner that  ay 4. /32}” 1
will be a common divisor of X and Y.
We may therefore lay down the following rule for
finding all the double, triple, &c. divisors of any given po¬
lynome X.: “ Find R, the greatest common measure of
X and Y, and resolve it into its elementary factors; then
each of these factors will be contained in X once more than
in R.”
7. If it be required to find how many of the roots of an Number of
equation are positive, and how many are negative, we have positive
for this purpose the rule first published in the Geometryne^a~
* * • 1 tivc? roots,
of Descartes. This celebrated rule seems to have been
discovered by induction; at least its author gave no de¬
monstration of it, and disputes arose about its true im¬
port. It was demonstrated for the first time by Du Gua,
in the Memoires de Paris ; but many other demonstrations
of it have since appeared, of which that of Segner, in the
Memoires de Berlin-, 1756, is not only the most simple, but
probably the most simple that will ever be invented.
Segner deduced the rule of Descartes from the follow¬
ing analytical proposition, viz.
“ If any rational polynome be multiplied by x — a, the
changes from one sign to another, from -fi to ■— l, and
from — to 4- L will be at least one more in the product
than in the given polynome; and if it be multiplied by
x -fi «, the successions of the same sign, of 4* to 4* 1,
and of — to — 1, will be at least one more.”
Let the proposed polynome be
x” =±= Ax” 1 z±z Bx”—1 r±= Mx r±= N ;
then, according to the usual process, the product of the
polynome by x — « will be found by adding these two lines,
viz.
x?,+1 rt= Ax" =±= Bx”-1...^ Mx2 =t= Nx }
— axn =p Aaxn~X ... Lax2=fz Max =f=Na (
the signs of the several terms remaining unchanged in the
first line, and being all changed in the second line. It is
EQUATIONS.
288
Equations. e\ ident, therefore, that the terms of the product will have
v''—the same signs with the respective terms of the proposed
polynome, except when a co-efficient in the second line is
greater than the one above it, and likewise has a contrary
sign; the sign of the last term of the product being al¬
ways the same with the sign of the last term of the se¬
cond line. Now, beginning on the left hand, pass over
the terms of the first line, so long as they have the same
signs with the terms of the product. When this ceases
to be the case, the signs in the product will be the same
as in the second line, and contrary to those in the first
line ; wherefore descend to the second line, and pass along
its terms till the signs in the product are again the same
as those in the first line, and then ascend to that line.
Continue thus descending and ascending alternately till
all the terms in both lines are taken in. At the conclu¬
sion, it is evident that the descendings are always one
more than the ascendings, because the passing from one
line to another both begins and ends with descending.
If we descend from =±= Axn in the first line, to
=p Aaxn 1 in th& second line, it is evident that the
signs of =±z Axn and r±= Bxn in the first line will be
the same, both being contrary to the sign of z+z Aaxn—1
in the second line. Therefore, in the given polynome, the
first and second terms have the same sign. But in the
product the like terms have contrary signs; for the se
cond term of the product has the same sign with z±z Axn
in the first line, and the third term of the product has the
same sign with Aaxn—1 in the second line. Thus it
appears that a variation from one sign to another is intro¬
duced in the product, instead of a continuation of the
same sign that takes place in the given polynome ; and
the same thing will happen at every descending.
In ascending from the second line to the first, there
may either be a continuation of the product instead of a
variation in the given polynome, or the contrary ; but one
of these two must take place.
Now, so long as we keep on the first line, the signs in
the product are the same with those of the given polv-
nome; and, so long as we keep on the second line, the
signs in the product are contrary to those in the poly¬
nome. In both cases, therefore, the variations from +
to 7 and from — to + 1, are the same in the product
and in the polynome. Every descending introduces a va¬
riation in the product, instead of a continuation that takes
place in the polynome ; and although it be supposed that
every ascending introduces a continuation in the product
instead of a variation that exists in the polynome, yet, on
the whole, the variations introduced must be one more
than the continuations, because the descendings are one
more than the ascendings.
Again, if the given polynome be multiplied by a; + «,
the product will be the sum of these two lines, viz.
xn+l Axn Ba?«—1 r±: M#2 ±t: Na? )
+ axnz±^Aaxn—1 z±z Lax2=±zMax z±z Ka. j
Here the terms of both lines have the same signs ; and, as
before, the signs in the product will be the same with the
signs of the proposed polynome, unless when a co-efficient
in the second line is greater than the one above it, and
likewise has a contrary sign; the sign of the last term of
the product being always the same with the sign of the
last term in the second line. Now, if we pass along all
the terms of both lines, descending from the first line to
tie second, when the signs in the product change from
being the same with those in the given polynome, to be
contrary to them ; and ascending from the second line to
t le rst, when the signs in the product change from being
contrary to those in the polynome, to be the same with
them; it is evident that the descendings will be one more Equation?,
than the ascendings, as in the former case.
If we descend from =+= Axn in the first line, to
z±iAaxn—1 in the second line, the two terms z±zAxn and
z±z Bxn 1 in the first line will have different signs; for,
on account of the descending, z±z Bxn—1 has a contrary
sign to the term z±r Aaxn—1 below it, and, consequent¬
ly, to =±=Aa?” in the first line. Therefore the second and
third terms in the polynome have different signs. But
the like terms in the product have the same sign ; for the
second term in the product has the same sign with
in the first line ; and the third term of the product has the
same sign with z±z Aaxn—1 in the second line. Thus
there is a continuation of the same sign introduced in the
product, instead of a variation from one sign to another
that takes place in the polynome; and the same thing is
true at every descending.
In ascending from the second line to the first, there
may either be a variation in the product instead of a con¬
tinuation that exists in the polynome, or the contrary.
But one of these two must take place.
Now it is evident that, except at the descendings and
ascendings, there is the same number of continuations of
the same sign, and the same number of variations from
one sign to another, in the product and in the given poly¬
nome. Every descending introduces a continuation in
the product instead of a variation existing in the poly¬
nome. And even if we suppose that every ascending in¬
troduces a variation in the product instead of a continua¬
tion that takes place in the polynome, yet, on the whole,
there will be one continuation more in the product than in
the polynome, because the descendings are one more than
the ascendings.
In the preceding demonstration, it is supposed that all
the ascendings have a contrary effect to the descendings,
by which means there is introduced in the product the
least possible number of variations from one sign to an¬
other in the one case, and the least possible number of
continuations of the same sign in the other. But if, in
the first case, we suppose that, at one ascending, there is
a variation in the product, and a continuation in the poly¬
nome, this will add one to the variations in the product,
and one to the continuations in the polynome ; so that the
variations in the product will now exceed those in the po¬
lynome by three, namely, by two more than in the cir¬
cumstances supposed in the demonstration. And if w^e
extend the like reasoning to two, three, &c. ascendings,
the variations in the product wall exceed those in the po¬
lynome respectively by five, seven, &c. The like conclu¬
sion is evidently true of the second case, mutatis mutan¬
dis; and hence the preceding proposition, when it is ge¬
neralized as much as it can be, may be thus enunciated :
“ If any rational polynome be multiplied by x — a, the
variations from one sign to another in the product will ex¬
ceed those in the polynome by one, or three, or five, or
by some odd number; and if it be multiplied by x a,
the continuations of the same sign in the product will ex¬
ceed those in the polynome by one, or three, or five, or
by some odd number.”
Now, if we conceive that any rational polynome is re¬
solved into its binomial factors, there will be a factor of
the form x—-a for every positive root, and one of the form
x + a for every negative root; and when all the factors
are multiplied together in order to reproduce the poly¬
nome, it follows, from what has been proved, that the pro¬
duct will contain at least one change from + to—■, or
from — to + 1, for every factor of the form x — a, or for
every positive root; and at least one succession of + to
+ , or of — to — 1, for every factor of the form x a,
or for every negative root. Hence this rule, viz. “ An
EQUATIONS.
289
Equations, equation cannot have more positive roots than it has va-
y—w’' riations from one sign to another, nor more negative roots
than it has continuations of the same sign.”
In general, this rule merely points out limits which the
number of the positive and negative roots of an equation
cannot exceed. But it gives no criterion by which we
can certainly know that an equation has even one positive
or one negative root, much less does it ascertain the exact
number of each kind.
But if the proposed equation can be completely resolv¬
ed into real binomial factors ; in which case the total num¬
ber of its roots will be equal to its dimensions, and conse¬
quently to the sum of all the variations from one sign to
another, and of all the continuations of the same sign; it
is evident that the number of the positive roots wall be
precisely equal to that of the variations, and the number
of the negative roots precisely equal to that of the con¬
tinuations. In this case, therefore, and in this case only,
the rule of Descartes is perfect, ascertaining the exact
number of each kind of roots in the proposed equation.
We subjoin some consequences that result from the
principles laid down.
“ If a polynome/(«) of n dimensions be multiplied by
x — a, or x a ; and, in the first case, if the number of
variations from one sign to another be augmented by the
odd number 2* + 1; or, in the second case, if the number
of continuations of the same sign be augmented by 2? + 1;
then the total number of the roots, positive and negative,
of the proposed polynome, cannot be greater than n — 2f.”
For, when the multiplier is x — a, let m denote the
number of the variations from one sign to another in the
proposed polynome f (x); then m -j- 2i + 1 will be the
total number of variations in the product (x— a) X /(x) ;
consequently the total number of continuations in (x — a)
X f (x) will be equal to (n + 1) — (m -j- 2i + 1), or
n — m — 2f. But a polynome cannot have more negative
roots than it has continuations of the same sign ; where¬
fore the number of the negative roots of (a; — a) X f {x)
cannot be greater than n — m — 2£. Now, the two po-
lynomes f (x) and (x — a) X f (x) have the same nega¬
tive roots ; and hence the number of the negative roots of
f (x) cannot exceed n — m — 2i. But the number of the
positive roots of/(#) cannot exceed m ; consequently the
total number of the roots of f (x) cannot be greater than
m + n — m — 2i ; that is, than n — 2i. And the propo¬
sition may be demonstrated in a similar manner when the
multiplier is « + a.
“ If one or several consecutive terms of an equation be
wanting, and if the next terms on each side of those
wanting have the same sign, the equation cannot have as
many roots as it has dimensions.”
Let the equation be P + Q = 0, P and Q denoting the
two parts on each side of the terms wanting. Having
multiplied P + Q, by a; — a, the product will be (x — a)
P -j- (x — o) Q; and it is evident that we may consider
P, Q, (x — a) P, (x — a) Q as separate polynomes ; hence,
in each of the polynomes (x — a) P and (a; — a) Q, there
wall be at least one more variation from one sign to an¬
other than there is in P and Q. Again, in the polynome
P + Qj there will be a continuation of the same sign in
passing from P to Q; because the last term of P is sup¬
posed to have the same sign with the first term of Q. On
the other hand, because the last term of (x — a) P has a
contrary sign to the last term of P; and the first term of
(x — a) Q, the same sign with the first term of Q, it fol¬
lows that, in the polynome (x — a) P + (# — a) Q, there
will be a variation from one sign to another in passing
from (x — a) P to (x — a) Q. Therefore, on the wdiole,
there will be at least three variations from one sign to
another in (a: — a) P + (x — a) Q, more than there is in
VOL. IX.
P + Q- Consequently, by the last proposition, the num-Equations,
ber of all the roots of the proposed equation must be at
least two less than its dimensions.
8. An important inquiry is, to find how many roots, that Number of
is, real roots, there are in any proposed equation. Much real roots
has been written on this subject, but not very successful-an e(lua"
ly. No general method has been found that is practicallytlon*
useful. Many criteria have been contrived, by means of
which we can certainly discover that roots are wanting in
ah equation, although we cannot infer the existence of the
roots when the same criteria fail. But great value cannot
be attached to such rules, since they are neither sufficient
guides in practice, nor have much tendency to throw light
on the theory.
Waring first, and nearly about the same time Lagrange,
proposed a method which is successful in finding the con¬
ditions necessary in order that an equation have as many
roots as it has dimensions, and which in all cases points
out a limit that the number of the roots cannot exceed.
This is effected by an auxiliary equation, and merely by
the signs of its co-efficients, without requiring the compu¬
tation of any of its roots. This procedure answers very
well for equations of the third and fourth degrees; and it
has even been extended by Waring to those of the fifth
degree ; but in this last case the calculation is very long,
and wmuld be altogether impracticable in the higher or¬
ders of equations, It is also not a little probable that
this rule employs more conditions than are absolutely ne¬
cessary for determining the point in question ; there being
great reason to think that some of them are implied in
the rest, and are deducible from them. The method here
alluded to depends upon the theory of trinomial divisors;
and as it is much referred to by algebraists of the pre¬
sent day, we shall, in a subsequent part of this article,
briefly explain the principles on which it is founded.
There is also another way of finding the number of real
roots in an equation, which is general for all orders, and
requires the solution of such equations only as are of lower
dimensions than the one proposed. As to practical uti¬
lity, indeed, this method is of little avail in equations
passing the third and fourth degrees, or at most the fifth
degree; but it is nevertheless not without interest, both
because it is founded on the principles essential to the
inquiry, and because it leads to some useful properties.
Algebraists differ from one another in their exposition of
this method. Some derive it from the theory of Harriot,
namely, that every rational polynome is the product of as
many binomial factors as it has dimensions; in which
manner of proceeding the impossible roots are the occa¬
sion of uncertainty and embarrassment. Others, again,
deduce it from the variations of magnitude which a ra¬
tional polynome undergoes when the unknown quantity
is made to pass through all possible degrees of increasing
and decreasing. This last mode of investigation seems
greatly to deserve the preference, being in reality the
only one that is entirely unexceptionable, and requires no
principles foreign to the research.
Suppose an equation, x1 + Kx11 1 + B#” 2 
+ Ma; + N = 0, which we may denote by f (x) — 0:
substitute x — i in place of x, and put
X=f(x) = xn + Axn 1 + M# + N,
2.. . + M,
X = nxn—X+ (n—1) Aa;”-2 + (n—2)V,xn
X" = n ■
1
’+0-1)
n — 2
Ax11 ^ +, &c. &c.
2 ~ 1 v" 2
then the function f (x — i) will be transformed into
X —X'. * + X" . i2 — X'" . P +, &c.
If we suppose the notation of the differential calculus,
the same transformation will be thus represented:
2 o -
290
EQUATIONS.
Equations.
/(*)■
d-f(x)
dx
i + l
& -/w
da?
! —> &c.;
which has the advantage of pointing out in what manner
the several functions, X', X", &c. are derived from one
another, and from the first function X, or/ (x).
Let a, /3, y, &c. denote the real roots of the equation
X = 0, or / (x) = 0, arranged according to the order of
their magnitude, that is, a greater than /3, 13 greater than
y, and so on. In like manner, observing the same order
of arrangement, let a', (3', y', &c. represent the roots of
X' = 0, or
d-fix) _
dx
= 0; and, for the sake of simplicity,
suppose that the equation X' = 0 has no equal roots.
The relations which the variations of the polynome X
bear to the variations of x, depend upon the functions X',
X", &c. and principally upon the first of these. If X' be
positive, X will decrease as x decreases ; if X' be negative,
X will increase as x decreases ; and if X' pass from being
positive to become negative, or the contrary, then x con¬
tinuing to decrease, X will change from decreasing to in¬
creasing, or the contrary ; that is, it will attain a mini¬
mum or a maximum value. What is here said is the
foundation of the method taught in the differential cal¬
culus, for finding the maxima and minima of algebraic
quantities.
Now, when x has a value great enough, the polynome
X' will have the same sign with, its first term, that is, it
will be positive; and it will continue positive so long as x
is greater than a', the greatest root of the equation X' = 0 ;
after which it will become negative. Hence, while x de¬
creases to the limit a', the polynome_/(a?), which is posi¬
tive when x is sufficiently great, will continually decrease;
and when x = a', f (x) will pass from decreasing to in¬
creasing, or it will have a minimum value. Now if this
minimum f (»') be positive, / (x) has not decreased to
zero, and the given equation will have no root greater
than a'. If f (a') = 0, then, because the two equations
X = 0 and X' =: 0, take place at the same time, the given
equation will have two roots equal to a'. (Sect. 6.) Lastly,
if f (a!) be negative, the polynome f (x) has decreased
from being positive to be negative; and therefore it has
passed through zero, and the given equation will have one
root, viz. a greater than a'.
As x continues to decrease from a' to /S', the polynome
X' being negative,y (x) will continually increase. At the
limit # =/S', X' is first equal to zero, and then becomes
positive; and f (x) will therefore change from increasing
to decreasing, or will attain a maximum value. If this
maximum y (/S') be negative, the polynome /(x) has not
increased to zero, and the given equation will have no root
between a' and /S': ify(/S') = 0, it will have two roots equal
to /3 : and if / (/S') be positive, y (x), in increasing from
the negative quantityy (a') to the positive quantity /(/S'),
must have passed through zero, and the given equation
will have one root, viz. |3, between a' and /S'.
In like manner, x continuing to decrease from /S' to /,
the polynome f (x) will decrease from the maximum
y (/S') to the minimum f (y') : iff(y) be positive, the pro¬
posed equation will have no root between /S' and y; if
f (y) — 9’d wiH have two roots equal to y'; and ify (y)
be negative, it will have one root, viz. y, between the li¬
mits /S' and y.
As the function f (x) must become a minimum or a
maximum, or must pass from decreasing to increasing, or
the contrary, between every two contiguous roots of the
equationyC**) — 0; and as the limits where the changes
take place are determined by the roots of the equation
^ ^ > it follows that there must be at least one root
of this last equation between every two contiguous roots Equations,
of the first. Hence the equation f (x) = 0 cannot have
as many roots as dimensions, unless the equation X' = 0
likewise have as many roots as dimensions ; and in gene¬
ral we have this rule, which determines a limit that the
number of the roots of an equation cannot surpass, al¬
though it may fall short of it: “ The roots of an equation
y (x) = 0 cannot exceed in number those of the equation
d f (x)
~'(jx' • ^ by more than one.
But if we can find the roots of the equation X' =: 0,
which is always one degree lower than the proposed equa¬
tion, we can thence discover exactly both the number and
the limits of the roots of this last. For let a', "/S', y', &c.
be substituted in the polynome f (x), and let the results
be arranged in order, viz.
— + — +
if these quantities are alternately negative and positive;
the first, third, fifth, &c. which are all minima, having the
sign minus; and the second, fourth, &c. which are all
maxima, having the sign plus; then the proposed equa¬
tion f(x) = 0 will have just one root more than the equa¬
tion X' = 0. When some of the conditions fail, the roots
of the proposed equation will fall short of the number
specified. If one maximum have the sign minus, or one
minimum the sign plus, two roots will be wanting in the
proposed equation ; and in general as many roots will dis¬
appear, as there are consecutive minima and maxima that
have the same sign deducting one; unless the minima
and maxima precede the greatest root, or come after the
least root, in which cases there will be as many roots
wanting as there are minima and maxima that have the
same sign.
Since the series of functions, X, X', X", &c. are derived
similarly from one another, we may prove, as has been
done with respect to the two first, that the roots of any
one are contained between the roots of that which follows
it. Hence, if the given equation have as many roots as
dimensions, every equation in the series will likewise have
as many roots as dimensions ; and if there be roots want¬
ing in any one, there will be at least as many wanting in
every equation preceding it in the series.
The connected equations necessarily terminate in one
of the first degree, which gives a limit between the two
roots of the quadratic immediately before it; in like man¬
ner, the roots of the quadratic are the limits of the roots
of the cubic preceding it; and in this manner, by going
through all the successive equations, we shall finally ar¬
rive at the limits of the roots of the proposed equation.
This process has been called La Methode des Cascades;
but the length of the calculations renders it useless in
practice.
The procedure explained above would enable us to find
the number of roots in an equation of any order, if we
were in possession of rules for solving equations of the
inferior degrees. For want of such rules, the practical
advantage that can be derived from it is very limited.
Mathematicians have therefore turned their attention to
determine the point in question in a way that should not
require the resolution of equations. They have sought to
investigate rational functions of the co-efficients, which, by
means of the signs they are affected with in every parti¬
cular case, might indicate the number of roots the equa¬
tion possesses. Of this nature is the method which Du
Gua has given in the Memoires de Paris, 1741, for find¬
ing the conditions necessary in order that an equation
have as many roots as dimensions. By a process analo¬
gous to that of Du Gua, M. Cauchy, in an excellent Me-
EQUATIONS.
291
Equations, woz'r, published in the sixteenth volume of the Journalde
l Ecole Polytechnique, has shown not only that the total
number of the roots may in every case be discovered, but
likewise that the numbers of the positive and negative
roots may be separately ascertained. The principles of
both these methods are to be found in the theory ex¬
plained above; but as many considerations of some intri¬
cacy are involved in them, a particular account of them
would exceed the limits of this article.
In what goes before, we have supposed that all the roots
of the equation X! =■ 0 are unequal; and in order to com¬
plete the theory, it remains to notice the consequences
that follow when the case is otherwise. Suppose, then,
that X' = (x — X)* X Q: And, in the first place, if X be
a root of the equation f (x) = 0, there will in reality be
no exception to the general conclusion; because in this
case it is known that the polynome f (x) will be divisible by
and it is divisible by x2\ or : And as the one im_ Equations,
mediately preceding it in the series, viz.
dmP . dmQ _ Q
dxm dxm ~ ’
is not divisible by x, it follows, from v/hat has been shown,
that there will be at least 2i roots wanting in this last equa¬
tion, and in all those that stand before it; consequently
the proposed equation cannot have more than n — 2i roots.
From this we learn that it is not always possible, at
least by any operations with real quantities, to transform
an equation into another in which any proposed number
of the intermediate terms shall be wanting. For the
terms to be taken away may be such that the transformed
equation could not have the same number of real roots as
the one given ; but it is impossible, without introducing
imaginary quantities, to transform an equation with a cer¬
tain number of real roots into another with a different
(x—X) 1. (Sect. 6.) Now, the case just mentioned
being set aside, if i be an even number, the polynome Xf, or
(#—X)1 . Q, will be equal to zero when x = X; but it will
not change its sign when x, from being less, comes to be
greater than X. Hence the polynome f (x) will neither
attain a maximum nor a minimum value at the same li¬
mit; and it will have no root, either between X and the
next greater root of the equation X'0, or between X
and the next less root of the same equation. It appears,
therefore, that when i is even, the number of the roots of
the equation /(x) = 0, and their limits, will depend en¬
tirely upon the equation Q = 0. Again, when i is an odd
number, the polynome X' will be equal to zero when
a: = X, and it will likewise change its sign when x is taken
on contrary sides of that limit: Consequently, when x = X,
the polynome /(«) will be a maximum or a minimum ;
and the nature of its roots will depend upon the equation
(^ x) Q, = 0. It is evident that we may extend the
same conclusions to any two adjacent equations in the
cprips
X = 0, X' = 0, X" = 0, X'" = 0, &c.
provided the one which stands lower in the series is re¬
ducible to the form (a; —X)?Q; and that a: —X is not
a common divisor of both. We may likewise draw this
general inference from the principles that have been ex¬
plained, viz. “ If, in the series of connected equations,
any one be found which is divisible by (x — X) , or
(x x)2*+ \ at the same time that x — X is not a divisor
of the equation immediately preceding, there will be at
least 2i roots wanting in this last equation, and in all that
stand before it in the series.”
The following not inelegant proposition is a conse¬
quence of what has just been proved: “ The number of
the roots of an equation of n dimensions, in which 2i or
2i + 1, consecutive terms, are wanting, cannot be greater
than n— 2i.,,
Let the equation be represented by
P + Q = 0;
supposing that 2i, or 2i + 1 terms, are wanting between P
and Q. Therefore, if the first term of Q contain xm, the
+ 2i + 1
m + 2i+ 2
last term of P will contain x , or x
Now, in the series of equations, we shall at length arrive
at one from which all the quantities of Q are exterminated ,
which equation, if we use the notation of the differential
calculus, is equivalent to
dm
+ 1
dx
m + 1
0;
number of such roots.
9. In what goes before, we have sought for the roots
and binomial divisors in the nature of the polynome. We
are now to take an inverted view of the subject, and to
consider a rational polynome as produced by the conti¬
nued multiplication of as many binomial factors as it has
dimensions; from which source there arises an interesting
set of properties.
If we take the words root and binomial factor strictly
in the sense in which we have hitherto used them, and
as denoting real quantities only, nothing is more certain
than that all polynomes cannot be generated by binomial
factors. But it will afterwards be proved that every ra¬
tional polynome can be completely exhausted by binomial
and trinomial divisors; and if we admit the resolution of
every trinomial divisor into two imaginary factors, we
shall arrive, with all the rigour of which the investigation
is capable, at the genesis of equations supposed by Har¬
riot, which represents them as entirely composed of bino¬
mial factors, possible or impossible. Besides, in extend¬
ing to all equations the conclusions obtained from the
manner of generating them, it may be observed that the
properties so obtained, being ultimately expressed in
functions of the co-efficients from which the roots and ge¬
nerating factors have disappeared, are in a manner inde¬
pendent of the method of investigation. Such is the struc¬
ture of the language of algebra, that the conclusions to
which it leads, although deduced by reasoning from a hy¬
pothesis not strictly general, are nevertheless true in all
cases, when they are finally disengaged from what is pe¬
culiar in the analysis.
Suppose a polynome, as
*»_ + A(%n~3 ... rfcA^-^W AH
which is produced by the multiplication of the n factors,
(x — a) . (x — /3) (x — y)(x — 3), &c.
then, by actually multiplying the factors, and equating
the like terms of the equivalent expressions, we shall get
A^ = a + /3 + 7 + 3+ ,&c.
A^2) — ajS + ay +, &c. + /3y +, &c.
A^3) = a/3y + a/35 +, &c. + /3y3 +, &c.
A^4) = a/3yi +, &c.
&c.
Hence it appears that the co-efficient of the second
term of the polynome, or — A^\ is equal to the sum of
all the roots with their signs changed; the co-efficient of
the third term, or + to the sum of all the products
of every two roots; the co-efficient of the fourth term,
292
E Q U A
Equations. or—to the sum of all the products of every three
roots with their signs changed, and so on, the signs of the
roots being always changed in the products of an odd
number; and finally, the last term is the product of all
the roots with their signs changed or not, according as
their number is odd or even.
It is evident that the ultimate product of the binomial
factors will always be the same, in whatever order they
are multiplied; and hence the co-efficients of the poly-
nome will consist of the same products, however the roots
be interchanged among one another. Expressions of the
kind just mentioned, which have constantly the same
value, whatever change is made in the order of the quan¬
tities they contain, are called invariable functions and sym¬
metrical functions. The co-efficients of an equation are
the most simple symmetrical functions of the roots, from
which it may be required, on the one hand to deduce all
other functions of the like kind, and on the other to go
back to the roots themselves. Most inquiries relating to
equations are connected with one or other of these two
problems ; of which the first, like most direct methods, is
attended with little difficulty, and has been completely
solved; while the other, past equations of the fourth de¬
gree, has eluded all the attempts of algebraists.
After the co-efficients of the polynome, the next most
simple symmetrical functions of the roots are the sums of
the squares, cubes, &c. In the universal arithmetic of Sir
Isaac Newton, a very elegant rule is given for computing
the sum of any proposed powers of the roots; and as this
rule is a fundamental point in the theory of equations, we
subjoin an elementary investigation of it.
Of the binomial factors before set down, let the first
x — a be left out, and having multiplied the rest together,
let the product be
X — ' X -t <pK ' X — J x +, &c.;
in which expression is the sum of all the roots /3, y, b,
&c. except the first a; is the sum of the products of
every two of them, and so on. Now, multiply by a; — a, and
the product will be equivalent to the given polynome:
hence we get
A^a + pW,
P
w + peo.
A(2> = a
A(3) = tt.pW + f(3)
A,r> +/'>.
T I O N 8.
In like manner, if we leave out the factor x — /3, and Equations,
multiply all the rest, and proceed as before, we shall get
/3r— a(1} /3r-1 + A(2)/3r“2 ....=!= +
 ^(r)
the symbol <f>^ being the sum of the products of r dimen¬
sions of all the roots, a, y, 6, except the second (3.
And if we next leave out the factor x — y, and follow
a like procedure, we shall get
yr—A^.yr-l+A^.yr-2....±A^r-lKyzTz
A^ = =fz ;
where <p'^ represents the sum of the products of r di¬
mensions of all the roots u, /3, 8, &c. except the third y.
If we proceed similarly till every one of the n factors
is left out in its turn, and then add all the results, we
shall get
S.-A«Sr_, + A(2>Sr_2....=faA('—1>S1
=i= kaM = {pM + i{r) + +, &c. | ;
in which expression Sr is written for the sum of the r
powers of the roots; S^. ^ for the sum of the (r— 1)
powers, and so on.
Every product in any one of the aggregate quantities
(f^r\ ^ &c., is found in A^, which is the sum of
the products of r dimensions of all the roots; and hence
it is easy to perceive that the sum of all the aggregates
must be a multiple of A^. Take any product in A^;
then that product will not be contained in r of the quan¬
tities <p^r\ <p^r\ &c.; because, in so many of them,
one or other of the letters of the product will be wanting;
but the same product will be contained once in every one
of the n — r remaining quantities, because in every one
of these all the letters of the product will be contained.
Every product in A^ is therefore repeated n — r times
in the sum of the quantities <p^\ <p ^r\ <p (r\ &c.; conse¬
quently,
p(r) + + /(r) +,&c. = (n-r) AW.
Substitute this value in the formula obtained above, and
after transposing and cancelling nA^\ which appears
with contrary signs, we shall get
S —A^S,. . + A(2) Sr „ .. . . =±:Ar-1 S
r r — x r — 2
Again, multiply these formulae in order by ar *,
r—2 r — 3 e
a , a , &c.; then
r  r
a — a ,
A*1'.^-1 =0’' + /*),
AW = /r>;
and, by adding and subtracting alternately, we get
a(r)—A(1).ar--1 + A^.ar—2....=±= A^-1)^
^zA^ = z=^^r\
in which expression is the sum of all the products of
r dimensions of the roots f3, y, 5, &c. leaving out the first a.
z+z r A^ = 0.
This is the rule of Sir Isaac Newton, and contains all his
particular formulae, as will readily appear by putting 1, 2,
3, &c. successively for r.
The preceding formula will enable us to compute, in
succession, the sums of all the positive powers of the roots,
both when r is less and when it is greater than the dimen¬
sions of the equation. But, in applying the formula in the
latter case, we must observe that all the co-efficients of
the polynome after A^ are wanting, or equal to nothing.
If, in the first step of the preceding investigation, we
take the co-efficients that follow A^, we shall get
A(r+1)=a.pW + ?(r+1),
A(rt2)=a.^fl) + p(r+2),
Equations-
=r a^n-2)
— a . <p(n l).
+ 9
EQUATIONS.
,(«—1)} A(n—1) _ 2A(«—2) g + 3 A^—3) Z2 —, &C. _
a(») _ A(n—1} 2 + A{n—2) Z- —, &c.
293
Equations.
And, by first dividing by a, a”, a3, &c. in order, and then
subtracting and adding alternately, we shall obtain
A(r+1> A('+2) a^'3) M
H ^ ,&c. = ff-K
In a similar manner we get
A(r+1) A(r+2) A^+3)
i3
A(r+1)
A^+2)
+
/3>
A(>-+3)
-,&c. =
y -   -r-3 , &c. = , &C.
Therefore, by adding all these formulae, and substituting
for the sum of &c. the value of it already found,
we shall finally obtain
A(r+1) S_ 1 — A(r+2) S_2 + A^+3) S_3—, &c.
= (n —-r) A^,
the symbols S j, S 2, &c. being put for the sums of the
negative powers of the roots according to the indices un¬
derwritten. This formula will enable us to compute the
sums of the negative powers of the roots.
If, in the formula for the sums of the positive powers of
the roots, we make r successively equal to 1, 2, 3, &c. we
shall get
a0> = Sl,
— 2A(2)=: —a9) S! + S2,
SA^ = A^ S,—A(1) S2 + S3,
— 4A(4) = — A(3) Si + A(2) S2 — A(1) S3 + S4, &c.
and from this we learn that the quantities Sx, S2, S3, &c.
may be found by means of this expression, viz.
A^) _ 2A(2) 2 + 3A(3) ... =1= A^ zn~l _ s
1 _ A(1) 2 + A(2)22... =tz A(w) zn
+ S2 .2+ S3 .22+,&C.
for if we multiply the series on the right-hand side of the
sign of equality, by the denominator of the fraction on
the other side, and then equate the co-efficients of the
product to the like co-efficients of the numerator, we shall
obtain the very formulae set down above. Hence the sums
of the powers of the roots expressed in terms of the co¬
efficients of the polynome will be found by developing the
fraction in a series. In effecting the development differ¬
ent analytical methods may be followed; and the quanti¬
ties sought will thus be obtained by different rules, or
exhibited in expressions of different forms, such as those
given by Waring, Vandermonde, Euler, and La Grange.
And in like manner, if, in the formula for the sums of
the negative powers of the roots, we make r successively
equal to « — 1, rc —2, rc —3, &c. we shall get
A(«—u-a(")s_1;
— 2 A(” - 2) = — a(” - ^ S _ j + AW S_ 2>
3 A0-3) = A(«-2) S_1 — A^-1) S_ 2 + a(m)s_3)
— 4 A(m~4) = — A(n_3) S_ j + a(”-2) S_ 2
— A^”-1^ S , +A«S
+ S 2 •2 + s_3 • z2 +> &c-
Two kinds of quantities only can enter into any rational
and symmetrical function of the roots of an equation; and
these are the sums of the like powers of the roots, and
the sums of such products as, a /3* y* , &c. which arise
from multiplying different powers of the roots, two and
two, three and three, &c. We shall now shortly point out
in what manner the latter sums are deduced from the
sums of the like powers, for the computation of which
rules have already been given ; by which means we shall
be enabled to find the value of any proposed function of
the kind above mentioned.
Let it be required to find the sum of all the products,
such as that arise from combining two powers of
the roots in all possible ways ; which sum may be denoted
by the symbol S . ufr . Now it is evident that the pro¬
duct, X S^, will contain two sorts of terms only, name¬
ly, powers of the roots, such as cc+l, and the products
of which the sum is sought; therefore
2 . a/3* = S, X S,, — S,
i-f-i'*
ini'
Next let it be required to find 2 . a/3 y , or the sum
of all the products of three powers of the root. Now
2 . ufi1 X Sy, will contain three sorts of terms, namely,
products, such as al+l ft and a1 +t ft, in which two
roots only are combined, and the products of which the
sum is required; therefore
2 . ft ft' ft" — lift ft' X SiU
-2.«i+iy
— 2. a
i'+i" oi .
but, according to the last case,
s.J+i'Y = si+i„xsi,-si+i,+v,t
2 . a
i'+i" Qi —
ft = Si/+ y/ X S4 S
i+i'+i"
wherefore
2 . ft ft' ft" = s.x s., X s..
— Si+i, X s.„
— s.+i„ x s.,
-Wxsi
+ 2si+i'+i" •
In like manner, when four different powers of the roots
are multiplied together, we get
2 . ft ft'ft" ft" — 2 . ft' ft' ft" X S^,/
i + i"
t,+ i"
2 . a" " ft ft
— 2 . a
ft ft
-3
&c.
4’
from which it appears that the values of all the quantities
S 1> S_2’ S—3’ &c* wil1 be obtainecl b^ means of this
expression, viz.
— 2 . a ^ (3 y ;
and we have onty to apply the preceding case in order to
obtain the expression of the quantity sought in terms of
the sums of the like powers of the roots.
According to the procedure just explained, the case
where any number of powers are multiplied together, is
reduced to the simpler case where the powers multiplied
are one less. There would be no great difficulty in de-
294
EQUATIONS.
Equations, ducing a general formula for the sum when the products
contain any proposed number of different powers; but
this would lead to calculations incompatible with the
length of this article; and it may be doubted whether the
use of such a formula is preferable in any cases likely to
occur in practice, to the application of the principles here
laid down.
The theory of symmetrical functions is of the most ex¬
tensive use in every branch of the doctrine of equations.
Thus, if it be required to form an equation, the roots of
which shall be any combinations of the roots of a given
equation; it is manifest that the co-efficients of the equa¬
tion sought will be symmetrical functions of the roots of
the given equation ; and hence they may be found by cal¬
culating these functions in terms of the co-efficients of the
given equation.
The theory of symmetrical functions is also of use in
approximating to the roots of numerical equations. Sir
Isaac Newton seems to have had this application in view
in giving his rule for computing the sums of the like pow¬
ers of the roots. He observes that the powers of a great
number increase in a much higher ratio than the same
powers of less numbers; and hence the 2rth power of the
greatest root of an equation will approach nearer to the
sum of the 2rth powers of all the roots as r is greater.
Wherefore, neglecting the distinction between positive
and negative roots, if we calculate S2r, and then extract
its 2rth root, we shall have an approximation to the root
of the equation greatest in point of magnitude; and the
approximation will be so much more accurate as r is
greater.
But there is a more convenient way of approximating
to the greatest and least roots of an equation, by means
of symmetrical functions. For, since
much more to a, the least root of the equation, as r is Equations,
greater.
Trinomial Divisors.
10. We proceed next to consider the trinomial divisors
of a given polynome; and, in order to avoid reference to
other treatises, we shall begin with a short investigation
of a preliminary point.
We have this identical expression,
x* —y2 = (x+y) .\x — y)-.
consequently,
O2—/)” = (tf+^)n • O —y)n;
and again,
. ^{x + yY + {x — y)n^
  r+l
r+1 ~ °
S =«’' + (?'+,&c.
+ ^+1 +,&c.
we have
V+l
or+l
1 +
ft
+ ,&C.
Now, a being the greatest root, the fraction on the right-
hand side will approach to unit when r is sufficiently
S.
large, in which case
r+l
will be nearly equal to a.
Hence, if we compute a series of consecutive sums, viz.
Sr+1, Sr+2, &c.; the values
—(>—2/)n j
Now, using the letters H and G as the characteristics of
the particular functions under consideration, let
H„0, >/) = 5 • j (z +?/)"+ (*—!/)" |,
G^,/) = |.(x+y)--(a:-y)n;
or by expanding the binomial quantities in series,
UJx, ,■/) = xn + u ■ . a“—V+I&c-
g„o, /)=• nrV +, &c.;
then, by means of these notations, the preceding expres¬
sion will be thus written, viz.
(xi—yi)n= |Hn(a;, /) j —jGn<>, #2) j *.
This equation is identical; that is, when the expres¬
sions on both sides of the sign of equality are expanded
in series of terms containing the powers of y2, they will
consist of the same quantities with the same signs. It is
evident, therefore, that the equation will still be identical
if we change y2 into —y*; for by this change the simple
quantities of the developed expressions will not be affect¬
ed, and no alteration will be produced, except in the
signs of the odd powers of y2, which will now be contrary
to what they were before. We therefore have
+y2)ra = { Hn(a;, —y2) | +y2. | G„0, —y2) j ;
in which equation it is to be observed that the functional
expressions are not, as in the former instance, susceptible
of an abridged algebraic notation, at least without intro¬
ducing a new sign ; but they can be exhibited in series,
viz.
ltV+l ^r+2 ^r+3
S_ ’S.
S.
&c.
r+l ^r+2
will approach nearer and nearer to the greatest root of
the equation.
In like manner, if we take the sums of the negative
powers of the roots, we shall have
Hn(a:,—y2) = xn—n . . xn 2 y2
. i n—\.n — 2.n — 3 n 4 „
+ ”•—o o 1 x y2-
-, &c.
G„(«, — y2) = nxn 1—n. —-U - 3 - xn 3/+,&c.
—r—1
from which it appears that
1+—+,&c.
 ^ 
r+l
!+ r+,&C.
/3 +1
/S—r
3—r—1
Now put x=.r cos. y — r sin. p, + y2 z= r2; and
let denote an arc, depending, in a certain manner,
not yet discovered, upon the arc p and the index n ; then,
in consequence of the equation obtained above, we shall
have
rn cos. = Hn (a:, — y2),
rn sin. = yGn (x,—y2).
will approximate so Again, multiply both sides of the same equation last
referred to by x2 + y2; then
Equations.
EQUATIONS.
O2 + y2)” + 1 = j ^ . nn(x, — ^2) _j/2Gn(a;,—3/2) |
+ 2/2{ H»0, — y2) + o:Gn(*, —/)|2,
295
but, since the equation alluded to is general for all the
values of n, we may write » +1 for w; and thus we get
(^)” + 1={H„ + 1(x>—/)}«
+y'|G„+ !(*,—y')}2:
therefore, by comparing the two values of (#2+y2)”+1
un+\(x’—y2)=x * Un(x,—y2)—fG(x, — if),
yGn+\(x' — y2) =yG.n(x, — y*) +yxGn(x, —y*):
and finally, by substituting the values of the functions in
terms of the arcs, <p, <p^n\ <p (ra+1\ we shall obtain
cos.p^+1)=:cos.pcos.p^ — sin. <psin. = cos. + <p),
sin.^”+1^= cos.psin.p^ + sin.pcos.^”^ = sin.(p^+^),
DW
.(n+1) _
,(«)
<PV' ' ■' = <PV’J + <p-
Now, if we make n successively equal to 1, 2, 3, &c. the
results will be,
(pW = 2(p,
9(3) = 3p,
&c.
and generally, <p^ — n<p.
Thus it appears that
r” cos. n<p — Hn(a;,—y2),
sin. <p
or, if we take the expanded expressions of the functions,
r cos. n<p — x —
n— 1 . n — 2
n.
n— 1
«—3 n—4 2
—t—x y
*/2+
r”-1X^ = nx”-l
, &c.
sin. <p 2.3
in which formulae, x — r cos. ^», y zr r sin. <p.
The functions here designated by the letters H and G
may be expressed by means of the imaginary sign ; for
we have
l)n + (x—yV^l)n,
Hn (x-f)
_(x + yV-
G (x
°«(’ y> 2yV —r
1)«
And, in the case of r = 1, the formulae obtained above are
equivalent to the expressions known in analysis since the
time of Dr Moivre, viz.
Ceos. ® + sin. pv'—T)m+ (cos. sin. <pV—\)n
cos. n<p =- r—   o
words, when, by means of the ordinary operations of ana-Equations,
lysis, it has been proved that an even or odd function of
an indeterminate quantity is equal to zero, it is by means
of the impossible sign that the same equation is extended
to the case when the square of the indeterminate quantity
is negative. Every function of the indeterminate quantity
x may be thus represented, viz.
<p («2) =±: x Y (x2) ;
and the substitution of xV—1 in place of x, has no other
effect than to change the preceding expression into the
one following, viz.
p ( — x2) ±xV—1 . Y (—x?) ;
and from this it is obvious, that the same operations which,
in the one case, lead us to the equations <p (sc2) = 0 and
xY(x2) = 0, will, in the other, necessarily conduct us to
the equations p (— x2) — 0 and a?. Y (— x2) = 0. It is to
be observed, too, that the truth of the two latter equations
is involved in that of the former. For the former equa¬
tions cannot be generally true for all values of x2, unless
they are identical, or consist of equal quantities with op¬
posite signs that mutually destroy one another ; in which
case the latter equations will also be identical. The sign
of impossibility, as it has been called, is therefore one as
truly significant as any other in analysis. It has, indeed,
no consistent meaning when we consider it as only affect¬
ing x, or the indeterminate quantity to which it is joined ;
but it becomes perfectly intelligible when we contemplate
the real changes produced by it in the functions of even
and odd dimensions, in which its conclusions are always
ultimately expressed. When the true import and real ef¬
fect of the imaginary sign are clearly apprehended, the truth
of its conclusion is no longer doubtful or mysterious, but fol¬
lows as a necessary consequence of a fundamental principle
of analytical language. Proceeding on this principle, we
may even lay aside the imaginary character ; and, in every
particular case, with the assistance of a proper notation, ar¬
rive, by the ordinary operations, at the same conclusion to
which it leads, as has been done in the preceding instance.
It is to be observed further, that the imaginary arithmetic
is not merely a short method of calculation convenient in
practice, and that it may be dispensed with ; it is strict¬
ly a necessary branch of analysis, without which, or some
equivalent mode of investigation, that science would be
extremely imperfect. The equations p> (x2) = 0 and x Y
(x2) — 0, are unchangeable by any operations with the
signs commonly received, by the use of which alone it is
impossible to deduce, in a direct manner, the related equa¬
tions <p (— sc2) = 0 and x Y (— x2) = 0: although the lat¬
ter are equally true, of as frequent occurrence, and as ex¬
tensive application, as the former. Without the impos¬
sible sign the operations of algebra would, therefore, be
defective; since there are analytical truths that could
not be investigated in a direct manner by means of the
elementary signs usually admitted. It is to supply this
defect that the imaginary arithmetic has been introduced,
and has grown up to be an extensive branch of analysis ;
advancing at first by slow steps, because the true import
of the character it employs, and the real effect of its ope¬
rations, were neither clearly perceived nor fully under¬
stood. But having premised what is conducive to our
wp
r i • /Vns ffl cin (Z)V IV* Stood. But having premiseu wnai is conuucive to our
-(cos- f + S'n- -(cos-P sln- AI. present purpose> vve proceed to the investigation of the
2V—1 trinomial divisors of rational functions.
11. Every polynome of odd dimensions having at least
one binomial factor, it may, by dividing by that factor, be
reduced to another polynome one degree lower. And
hence, in this part of our subject, we may confine our at¬
tention to polynomes of even dimensions. We may also
suppose that the even polynomes under consideration have
no double, triple, &c. factors of any kind : since, in case
But the mode of investigation we have followed is ri¬
gorous ; and it has the advantage of leading to the true
import of the imaginary sign, and of putting in a clear
light its real effect in analytical operations. The real use
of this sign may be shortly described by saying that it
performs for even and odd functions the same office that
the negative sign does for ordinary functions ; in other
296
EQUATIONS.
Equations, any such are present, they can be found separately and
'*~~v**S eliminated by division.
Suppose, then, that f(x) represents any polynome of
even dimensions ; let g -}- w be substituted in place of x ;
and, by using the notation of the differential calculus, the
given polynome will be transformed into
/(*) +
, I. <%)
dz 2 ~df~
+ , &c.
Sinceis an even po.ynome, the equation ~jr~~ — 0
will be one of odd dimensions, having at least one root.
Let g be the sole root of — =: 0, when it has but one,
and the greatest root when it has several; then, because
m
dg
= 0, the transformed function will become
But the same mode of reasoning will not apply when y Equations,
has the sign plus ; in which case the demonstration must
be deduced from other principles.
12. If we put
<P (u) = A<2V + a(3)M3 + A(4)M4. . . +
the transformed polynome, supposing y to have the sign
plus, will become
y + <p («).
Let (u — a)2 + r2 be a quadratic divisor of this poly¬
nome, and put u — a — z, or u =: a z; then, bj^ substi¬
tuting a z for u, and writing all the terms of the trans¬
formed function <p (a z) in two lines, one containing all
the even and the other all the odd powers of z, the
polynome ^ + p («) will be equal to
y-ryK J-r 2 da1 ^24 rfa4
/(S) + H
1 d%g)
4-1
^ 6 ‘ df
ifi +, &c.
+ Z.
2 ’ dg2
It readily appears, from what was formerly proved (Sect.
/ dp(«)
\ da,
+
! ^(q)
6 dec3
+ , &c
8), that g, the greatest root of
df(x) _
dx
= 0, exceeds the
1 d2 f(x)
greatest root of any of the equations, = 0,
ax*
By the same substitution ofzforu — a, the divisor (u — a)2
+ r2 is changed into the binomial quantity z2 + rl; which
will be a divisor of each of the preceding lines, if — r2,
when it is substituted for z2, render each of them equal
to zero, Sect. 3. Hence we obtain the two following equa¬
tions, viz.
== 0, &c.; and because, in any equation, the ^ ^ ? (a)
1 d*f(x)
6" rfx3
substitution of a value greater than the greatest root must
give a positive result, all the quantities
2 dg1 6 dg3
&c. will be positive. With regard to f(g) it may be either
positive or negative, but not equal to zero ; since this last
case can happen only when the polynome has equal roots.
The original polynome will, therefore, assume this form,
viz.
=+zy + A(%2 + a(3)m3 + A (4V... + A(2*-l)M2n_l
+ u2n, in which expression y, A(3^, &c. represent
any positive quantities.
The most interesting proposition in the branch of the
subject under consideration, is to prove that every poly¬
nome of even dimensions has a quadratic divisor, either
of the form (u + a)2 — r2, which admits two real bino¬
mial factors, or of the form (u — a)2 + r2, which has two
imaginary factors. By the preceding transformation this
proposition is brought under two cases, according as y is
affected with the sign minus or plus; the quadratic divi¬
sor being always of the form (u + a)2 — r2 in the first
case, and always of the form (u — a)2 + r2 in the other
case; a distinction that agrees with what was before
proved, Sect. 8.
Now the first of these cases is attended with no diffi¬
culty. For two values of u, one negative and one positive,
may be found that will satisfy the equation, Sect. 4.
y = A^u2 + A(3V3 + Af4^4 . . . + u2n.
Of these values, it is obvious that the negative one will
be always greater than the positive one ; and they may,
therefore, be represented by — (*"■}■ a) and r — a: where¬
fore, the polynome
— ^ + Am2 + A^v? + A(4V +u2n,
will be divisible by each of the binomial factors,
u t a,
u — r + a ;
and likewise by the quadratic factor,
(m + a)2 — r2,
produced by their multiplication.
1 < drepipt)
0
2 dec1
 G?jj>(a)
1 \d^{d)
— 24 rfa4
da
-, &c.
(C)
If two numbers, a and r2, can be found that will satisfy
these equations, it is evident that z2 + r2 will be a divi¬
sor of each of the two lines that compose the transformed
function y + £> (a + 2); consequently it will be a divisor
of the sum of both lines, or of the function itself, that is,
(u — a)2 + r2 will be a divisor of the proposed polynome
y + <p(u)- We are now to prove that two such numbers
may be found.
Substitute X2 a2— s for r2 in the equations (C), X being
a quantity to be afterwards determined; and, in order to
shorten expressions, put
M
da2
(X2 a2 — s)2 — &c.
24
d^a) x
N
And the two equations (C) will be thus written, viz.
y + M = 0,
N = 0.
In these equations a and s are always supposed to repre¬
sent positive numbers, in which case the equation N = 0
cannot take place when s is greater than X2 a2; for then
all the terms of N would be positive.
Considering N as a function of a, the part of it that
does not contain a is evidently
A(?)s +A^s2+ A (?) s3 +, &c.
which is always positive. The highest power of a con¬
tained in the same function is a2,i 1; and we shall obtain
all the terms of N that contain this power by putting a2”
for <p(a) in the expression
which terms are therefore as follows, viz.
2n—l
■| 2n —
2n
2n — 1.2n — 2
X2 +
EQUATIONS.
297
Equations.
iZn.
2« — 1.2n — 2.2« — 3.2n — 4
X4 + ,&c,
2 . 3 . 4 . 5
Now, in the expression obtained in Sect. 10, viz.
sin. 2nffl 0 2?}—1 2w — 1.2w — 2
—   — Znx — 2n . —   —
sin. <p 2.3
+ , &c.
2«—1 ^
r X
2n—3 2
a:
if we put >2
2n—1   2«—1
X — T
sin. 2n<p
V2
— tan.2 <p, and divide both sides by
o*. 1 #
cos. f; we shall obtain
1 « « 2ft—1.2ft — 2 .
X _—= 2n — 2n’ —   —X2 + ,&c.;
2n—1,-
cos.
sin. ^
from which formula it follows, that the polynome on the
right-hand side of the sign of equality will be equal to no-
m,
thing, where p = =±= - X 90°, m being any integer num¬
ber less than n, zero not included. Wherefore the first,
third, &c. roots of the polynome will be expressed by the
formula
X2 tan.2
2h + 1
•90,
2k \ representing any odd number less than n ; and
the second, fourth, &c. roots by the formula
X2 = tan.2 ^-±-^ • 90°,
ft
2A + 2 being any even number less than ft. And it is
evident that the polynome will be negative for every value
of X2 that lies between any odd root and the next even
root, that is, for every value between these limits, viz.
02k+l
X2 > tan.2 
•90°
X2 < tan.
!i±i-90o.
Thus, an indefinite number of values of X" may be found
that will make the polynome negative.
Having assumed such a value of X2, let any positive
number whatever be substituted for s, and N will be con¬
verted into a rational function of a ; the greatest power of
a, or a^n \ being odd, and having a negative co-efficient;
and the term which does not contain a being positive.
Wherefore at least one positive value of a may be found
that will satisfy the equation N =: 0; and, as has already
been observed, this value of a will be such as to make X2
a2 — s a positive quantity. It is possible indeed that, in
the equation N = 0, there may be several values of a for
every assumed value of s; but we here confine our atten¬
tion to the least positive value, which is distinguished by
this circumstance, that it vanishes with the absolute term
of the equation, or with s; whereas, when s is equal to
zero, all the other roots of the equation N = 0 have finite
values depending upon the given co-efficients.
Now if we suppose s to increase from zero to infinity,
and assume two values, s, and s + ds, very near one an¬
other, according to what has been proved, we shall have
the corresponding values a and a + 6a, such, that the
equation N = 0 will be satisfied by substituting both s
and a, and likewise 5 + 8s and a + 8a. Hence, because
N = 0, and 8N = 0, we get
^U+f-.&=0,
da ds
— tfN
and, 8a = —(—\ * dT’
\ da J
Again, if we substitute first s and a, and then s -f- 8s Equations,
and a + 8a, in the function M, we shall get
rfM g?M .
3M = —-. da + —- . 8s.
da ds
But, by comparing the functions M and N, the following
properties will readily be discovered, viz.
^ + 2X2a.^- = N —2^(X2«2 —s),
da ds ds ^
rfM_l.rfN c?N
ds ~ 2 da a ds ‘
whence,
= N _ 2^-(X2 a2 — s) — f-X2 a — 2X4 a2
da ds K ' da ds
Consequently,
3M = j N - 2 §-(*> «’-*)- « - 2* }
and, if we observe that N = 0, and substitute the value of
ia found above, we shall get
in which expression all the quantities are essentially posi-
live, except —j—, which is always negative, as may be
thus proved.
The quantity s remaining invariable, if we make a = 0,
the function N will be positive ; for it is equal to
A^3^ + A^s2 + A^7V + , &c. ;
and the same function will continue positive, while a in¬
creases from zero to the least root of the equation N — 0.
At this limit N is first equal to zero, and then becomes
negative; it must, therefore, be decreasing, and conse¬
quently — is negative. It mav indeed happen, that, for
particular values of s, the co-efficients of N may be such,
that N and shall be both equal to zero at the same
da
time ; but, in such cases, it will readily appear that ^
and dM will likewise be equal tp zero. Wherefore 8M
will be negative ; at least, if it become equal to zero for
any particular values of s and a, it cannot become positive.
It follows, therefore, that the function M itself will be in¬
variably negative, while s and a increase together from
zero to be infinitely great.
Now assume a series of values of s increasing from zero
without limit, viz.
o./W3) 
and having substituted these in the function N, find, by
means of the equation N = 0, the corresponding values of
a, viz.
O.aCWV3) 
then, by substituting these values in M, we shall obtain
a series of results all negative, and increasing from zero
without limit, viz.
0 _ M(1), — M(2), — — ..
’ 9 T>
VOL. IX.
298
EQUATIONS.
Equations, and whatever be the magnitude of the positive quantity
y, it must he contained between two consecutive terms
of this last series, viz. between and But as
the values of s may be assumed as near one another as we
please, it follows that and may be made to
approach to one another and to y, within any required de¬
gree of accuracy. Thus two values of s and a may be
found that will satisfy both the equations,
y + M = 0,
N = 0;
and having found these values, we shall obtain the quad¬
ratic divisor of the proposed polynome y <p (u), viz.
(u — a)2 + *'2j or
(u — a)2 + X2a2 — s.
In the preceding demonstration it is supposed that M
increases without limit, as s becomes indefinitely great;
which may be thus proved: The values of M and N will
coincide nearly with the terms containing the highest
powers of s and a, when these quantities are very great;
and ultimately the'functions may be considered as equal
to those terms alone. In such circumstances, therefore,
the values of the functions will be found by writing a2”
for f (a ) ; whence we get
M=a —2n.—g—.« (X2ou — s)+,&c.
N = 2 w a
2«—1
— 2 n
2n — 2n
(X2a2 —
and if we put X2a2 — s = Pa?, or a2 = ^ ,
then M = a2'* 1 — 2n. —-— . i2 +, Sec. j-
ort 1 f_. _ 2n — \'2n — 2 )
N — a 1 l2n — 2n. ^———g—.«2+,&c. >
Now, s remaining invariable, a will increase as t2 in¬
creases ; and the least value of a that will satisfy the
equation N = 0, corresponds to the least value of t2 that
will make the polynome in the expression of N equal to
zero; which value, according to what was before shown,
is
t2 zz tan.2i X 90°.
n
But, if we put t — tan. p, we shall get
M = a2" X
cos.2n <p
or, because ® = - X 90°; cos. ® = —— ,
r n r Vi + t2
and a2 =
>2—<2’
which proves the point assumed in the demonstration.
By a similar mode of reasoning, we may likewise prove
the former case of the proposition, when y is negative.
In this case the quadratic divisor is (u — a)2 —r2; and
if we proceed as before, or, which is the same thing, if we
change the signs of y and r2 in the equations (C) already
obtained, and put
N = + I
we shall get
da
dz<p(oL)
da?
t2 +, &c.;
— y + M — 0, Equatious.
Now, by pursuing the steps of the foregoing analysis, we
may prove, first, that, for every assumed value of r2, a ne¬
gative value of a may be found, which will satisfy the
equation N = 0; and, secondly, that when the values
which satisfy the equation N = 0 are substituted in the
function M, the results will be invariably positive ; whence
it follows that a positive value of r2, and a negative value
of a, may be found that will satisfy both the equations,
whatever be the magnitude of y. The analogy between
the two cases is thus placed in a strong light; and a
little reflection will even bring us to this conclusion,
that in reality the one case is a necessary consequence
of the other. For since a and r2 depend only upon y,
and the given co-efficients of the polynome, they will be
functions of y; wherefore, in the equations of the first
case, viz.
— y + M =: 0,
N = 0,
a being negative, and r2 positive, we may suppose — a
— (y) and "P — y ^(y), these values being such as to
render each of the equations identical; and then the quad¬
ratic divisor (u—a)2 — r2 will become
{u + yHy)} —y^(y)'
But, because the foregoing equations become identical
by the substitution of the values mentioned, it is a ne¬
cessary consequence that the equations of the second case,
viz.
y + M = 0,
N = 0,
in which the signs of y, a, and r2, are contrary to what
they were in the former equations, will likewise be iden¬
tical, when — a. ~ — yp (—y) and v2 = —ylf (—y) ;
and the quadratic divisor, (u — a)2 — r2, will now become
—yp( —y)j +y*(—y).
Thus, when the quadratic divisor of the first case is ex¬
pressed in terms of y, we have only to change the sign
of that quantity, in order to have the quadratic divisor of
the second case. It is not difficult to perceive, that what
has now been proved is nothing more than another appli¬
cation of the principle employed in Sect. 10: a princi¬
ple which is the real foundation of the imaginary arith¬
metic, with the processes of which the preceding investi¬
gations are intimately connected. None but real quan¬
tities have occurred in the analysis we have pursued, be¬
cause we have sought to investigate r2, which is always
rational; whereas, if we had proposed to find r, we should
inevitably have been led to the real quantity Vy in the
one case, and to the impossible quantity V—y in the
other. These few observations are made for the purpose
of throwing light upon a part of analysis which is cer¬
tainly obscure in its principles, although there is no ques¬
tion that it is a useful, and even a necessary branch of
the art of calculation. A fuller elucidation of the sub¬
ject would be unsuitable to this place; but enough has
been said to show that we must seek in the principles of
analysis itself for the explanation of the operations it em¬
ploys ; and we may with great probability conclude that
no satisfactory account of the imaginary calculus will
ever be obtained by having recourse to fanciful geome¬
trical constructions, or to the analogy between the circle
and the hyperbola, or to the metaphysical proposition,
that all processes with general symbols, whether signifi-
E Q U A
Equations, cant or not, are equally entitled to be considered as de-
'wmonstrative.
13. Having now proved, in a rigorous manner, that
every polynome of even dimensions has at least one quad-
• ratic divisor of the one kind or the other, it follows that
it may be reduced by division to another polynome two
degrees lower: in like manner, this last polynome will
admit of being lowered two degrees more; and by re¬
peating the same process, the first polynome will at
length be completely exhausted by quadratic divisors.
If, therefore, we recollect, that every polynome of odd
dimensions has one binomial divisor, we shall arrive at
this general conclusion, “ That every rational polynome
can be completely exhausted by binomial and trinomial
divisors; and, consequently, that it is equal to the pro¬
duct of a certain number of factors of the two first de¬
grees.”
It appears also that the binomial factors of any poly¬
nome are such only as arise from the resolution of the
quadratic divisors; and they are, therefore, either real
or imaginary. And thus we finally obtain the following
proposition, which was assumed by Harriot, and is the
foundation of the received theory of equations, namely,
<< rational polynome has as many binominal fac¬
tors, and as many roots, real and imaginary, as it has di¬
mensions.”
The necessity of confirming, by a general demonstra¬
tion, the assumed theory of the impossible roots of equa¬
tions, was early felt; and accordingly, this point has en¬
gaged the attention of all the great mathematicians to
whom analysis is indebted for the progress it has made in
the course of the last and the present centuries. An ac¬
count of their several researches would greatly exceed
the limits of this article ; but the reader will find all the
information he can wish for in two long notes (9 and 10)
of the Traite des Equations Numenques, by La Grange,
in which the author, with his usual elegance, has ex¬
plained and commented upon the various modes of mves-
tigation that have been proposed. It will be sufficient to
observe here, that all the demonstrations that have ap¬
peared are either calculations with impossible quantities,
or they proceed upon the assumption that every equation
has as^ many roots as dimensions, and thus involve the
very thing to be proved. . - , . . ,
14. The general cases in which mathematicians have
been' successful in resolving rational functions into their
trinomial factors, are confined to the theorem of Cotes,
and to a more general proposition of a similar kind, for
which we are indebted to De Moiyre. These instances
are of ereat importance in analysis, and we shall there¬
fore subjoin an investigation of them, because they are
deduced in a very direct manner from the method we have
followed. m «
Suppose, as before, that/(V), or a:” + A x -f
a(2)#”—2* •• + + aH is a rational polynome
of » dimensions, and (x - «)* + r* one of its quadratic di-
v sors ; put z — *-«, substitute « + a for x, and write
the transformed function in two lines, one containing all
the even, and the other all the odd powers of z; then
the polynome will be equal to
T I O N S. 299
ing lines, will be expressed by the following equations, Equations.
or*-, &c. (D)
9—2* da2 ^ T 24, da* ’ ' '
VIZ.
2' da2 ' ' 24 ’ da*
o =dM - + -L.e^rt -, &c.
da 6 da3 120 da5
In these formulae substitute the expanded values of
f(a) d/(a) , &c.; and class together all the homogeneous
^ v 7 da
terms of the same order, that is, all the terms in which
the exponents of a and r amount to the same sum, then
we shall have
+,&c.
+ A(l). ja”-1 —» —l-^^-an-3r2 +>&c*}
+ A(2). la”-2 —« —4i'2 +>&c. j
n   71 1.
0 —7i a — n .
&c.
n—1. n—2 n—3
+ A^. | (n— l)a” 2 —n—1
&c. |-
+ A(2). |(n—2)a” 3 —w—2.^=^
rs-h&c.
n—2 . n—3 n—4
— —— a
2 . 3
i—3. n—4 72—5
r2 +,
r2 +,
&c
}
&c.
/(«
“) + 9 ~~d^r ■ 24 da*
+
2 da2
<df(a) , 1 ^0,
+
1
120
. d5f (a)
z4, &c
•}
1 ~d^ n 6 da3 ~ ’ 120 da3
Bv the same substitution of z for a; — a, the divisor
(I ay 4- rz will become z2 + r2; and, as before, t le
conditions that z2 + r2 shall divide each of the forego-
Now, put a — r cos. <p, r = r sin. <f>; and, by what was
proved in Sect. 10, the two foregoing equations will be¬
come
rn cos.wp+A^V4-1 cos.(n—l)p 4-A^”-cos. (f>
+ aW=o, (E)
—L—. / r"-1 sin. n<p+ A^V"-2 sin. (n—1) <p 
sin. p
+ At”-) sin. 9 | =0:
And the quadratic divisor (a:—a)2 + r2 will be changed
into
a2 — 2r cos. <p.x + ^
When sin. ? = 0, and 9 = 0 or 180°, the preceding equa¬
tions coincide with these, viz.
r^AWr”-1 + A^r”-2 =±=, &c. =0,
nTn—* ±(,i_l)A<1V1-2+(>>-2)A<2)r"-3 =t,&c..=0,
which express the condition that the given polynome has
two or more factors equal to x-y-r; at which limits a
quadratic divisor changes from being of the form
_ t2 to be of the form {x—af + r2, or the contrary. Thus
we learn that, in the equations (E), sin. p must always
have a finite value, and then the denominator of the se¬
cond equation may be neglected.
Let the preceding investigation be applied to find the
quadratic factors of xn—an. In this case the two equa¬
tions (E) will become
rn cos. n<p — ctn — 0,
300
Equations.
EQUATIONS.
whence
r”-'
sin. <p
r =■ ay
cos. n<p = \,
sin. n<p _
By means of the equations (E) w^e get
r2n  2/7.”rn rnc /) r*r>c «
,2n cos. 2n<f> —2anrn cos. 6 cos. n<p + a1" — 0,
2a»r—, X X cos.« = 0;
335
Equations.
x sin. 2rcp
sin. ^
and hence
sin. <p
sin.
9
-0.
Now, excluding the cases when <p — 0 and <p = 180°, the
2^ _j_ 1
last equation will be satisfied when f ^— X 180°,
2k
or <p — — X 180°, the numerators of the fractions repre-
n
senting all the odd and even numbers less than the com¬
mon denominator; but the second equation will be satis-
2k
fied only when p = — X 180° ; wherefore all the quadra¬
tic factors of the function xn — a" will be comprehended
in the formula
2k
x? — 2ax X cos. — X 180° + o2.
cos. 2n<p — 2 cos. 0 cos. wp + 1 = 0,
sin. 2na) ^ sin. na
—: r—2 ^ X cos. 0 — 0.
sm. tp sin. <p
But, cos. 2np -{-1 = 2 cos.2 n<p ; and sin. 2np — 2 cos. ?i<p
X sin. np; wherefore the two last equations will be¬
come
2 cos. np (cos. np — cos. 0) = 0,
_ sin. np ,
2 —:   (cos. np — cos. 0) = 0 :
sin. p x T '
and these, supposing cos. 0 different from unit, can be sa¬
tisfied only by making cos. np — cos. 0 = 0, or
cos. np cos. 6.
Now, cos. 0 = cos. (m X 360° + 0s), m being any inte¬
ger number whatever, zero included ; and hence
Tin • , i . .,i ni X 360° + 0 
When n is an even number, the quadratic factors will p = Z_ whlch formula comprehends all the
n 2 ^
amount to———; and if to them we add the simple fac¬
tors x a and x — a, we shall have the complete resolu¬
tion of the function. When rais odd, the number of quad-
m fl - 1
ratic factors is —-—, to which must be added the bino¬
mial factor x— a.
By proceeding in a similar manner in the case of the
function x" + an, we shall have the equations
r — a,
cos. np — — 1,
sin. n p_ q
sin. p
Excluding the cases when p = 0 and p = 180°, the se¬
cond and third equations will be both satisfied, when p =
2k + L
-—- X 180°, the numerator of the fraction represent¬
ing any odd number less than n. Wherefore all the quad¬
ratic factors will be comprehended in the formula
2k 4- 1
x?— 2ax X cos. X 180° + a?.
n
When n is even, the number of quadratic factors is
and they exhibit the complete resolution of the function.
When n is odd, the number of quadratic factors is —^ \
to which the binomial factor x a must be added.
Let us next take the more general function.
3?n — 2pxnun + a2n.
And, in the first place, when /3 is greater than unit, the
function is equal to
—an(/3 + \//32—1)| x | xn—an(fi—Vp — 1) | ;
and the quadratic factors may be found by the cases al¬
ready considered.
When /3 is less than unit, let /3 = cos. 0, and the func¬
tion to be resolved will be
ic2" — 2anxn cos. 0 + a2".
values of 0 that will satisfy the above equations. Where¬
fore all the factors sought will be contained in this gene¬
ral expression, viz.
, 0 mX 360° + 0 . ,
xr — 2ax cos. —— 1- a2:
n
in which, if for m we substitute all the integer numbers
less than n, zero included, we shall obtain the n quadratic
factors of the proposed function.
15. The quadratic divisors (x — a)2 — r2 and (x — a)2
+ r2, have hitherto been considered separately; but they
may be both represented by (x — a)2 — s, which will coin¬
cide with the one or the other, according as s is positive
or negative. And, if we now proceed as before, we shall
get the following equations, which express the conditions
necessary, in order that the polynome / (x) of any pro¬
posed dimensions, asn, shall be divisible by (x— a)2 —s,
viz.
df(a) . 1 #/Q)
#/(«)
s2 + ,&c.
By eliminating s we shall obtain an equation, viz.
A = 0,
in which a is the unknown quantity. As the process of
elimination is independent of the particular values of the
co-efficients off (x), the degree of the resulting equation
will be the same when the polynome f (x) has as many
real roots as dimensions, and when the case is otherwise.
But wheny (x) is equal to the product of n real binomial
factors, the multiplication of every two of them will form
a quadratic factor. The number of such factors will,
therefore, be equal to n X —^—, which expresses all the
combinations made with n things taken two and two.
Consequently, there will be just so many different values
of a that wdll satisfy the equation A = 0, which will,
therefore, have its exponent equal to n X ” ^ \ It thus
appears that the equation A = 0 rises in its dimensions
very rapidly above the given polynome, on which account
little advantage is derived from this procedure.
Equations. Again, by eliminating a from the same two equations,
we shall obtain one, viz.
S = 0,
in which s is the unknown quantity. This equation,
which has already been alluded to (Sect. 8), rises to the
same dimensions with the former equation, A = 0; but it
is possessed of some useful properties, derived chiefly from
the consideration that every positive root gives a quadra¬
tic factor of the form (x— a)2 — r2 in the polynome/(x),
and every negative root a quadratic factor of the form
(x — a)2 + r2 in the same polynome.
The quadruple of s is equal to the square of the differ¬
ence of the two binomial factors of (a? — a)2 — s ; whence
it follows that the quadruples of the several roots of the
equation S = 0 are equal to the squares of the differences
of the roots of f (x) = 0. If, therefore, we put x1, x", x!*,
&c. for the roots off (x) = 0, the roots of S = 0 will be
^ (x' — x")2, (x' — x'")2, ^ (x" — x'")2, &c.;
and from this it is manifest that the co-efficients of the
same equation will be known symmetrical functions of the
quantities x', od', x'r, &c. or of the roots of/(x) = 0. The
rules formerly explained may, therefore, be employed for
calculating the co-efficients of S =: 0 ; and this method of
forming the equation is not only more convenient than the
process of eliminating, but it likewise has the advantage
of enabling us to find any one co-efficient separately with¬
out computing the rest. Thus, if we put
K(”)= (cd — x")2 . (x'—x'”)2. (a/' — x"')2. &c.
and expand this product, and in place of the symmetrical
functions of which it is composed, substitute their values
in terms of the given co-efficients of / (x) = 0, we shall ob¬
tain the value of ; and the last term of the equation
S — 0 will be equal to
K«
EQUATIONS. 301
to a certain number of binomial factors or the forms x — q Equations^
and x + «, multiplied into a supplementary polynome of
even dimensions, which, not being capable of having a ne¬
gative value, will have its last term positive (Sect. 5). It
is manifest, therefore, that the last term of S = 0 will be
positive or negative, according as the number of factors
of the form x — a is even or odd, that is, according as the
equation has an even or odd number of real and positive
roots. But every two real roots in the equation / (x) = 0
give one real and positive root in the subsidiary equation
S — 0; wherefore, if m denote the number of real roots
in the former equation, the number of real and positive
??l — 1
roots in the latter will be equal to m X —; and the
2«(w — f)
the upper sign taking place when n X
n — 1
the dimen-
last term of the subsidiary equation will be positive or ne-
— 1 .
gative, according as m X —jy— is an even or an
odd
sions of the equation S = 0 is even, and the lower sign
when the same number is odd.
If we suppose the given equation f (x) =: 0 to be pos¬
sessed of as many real roots as dimensions, or to have n
real binomial factors, the product of every two ol these
will be a quadratic factor (x—a)2 — s, in which s is po¬
sitive; wherefore, the roots of S = 0 will be all real
and all positive. On the other hand, when the given
equation / (x) = 0 has not as many real roots as dimen¬
sions, it will be divisible by one or more quadratic factors
not resolvable into real binomial factors, and in which s is
negative; consequently, the equation S = 0 will have one
or more negative roots. It is, therefore, a property of the
auxiliary equation S = 0, that when the roots are all real
they are all positive, and when they are not all real some
of them are negative. Now the rule of Descartes will
enable us to find whether the roots are all positive or not;
and by this means we shall discover whether the roots
of the given equation/ (x) = 0 are all real or not. From
what has been said, we may lay down this rule : “ The
proposed equation/(a;) = 0 will have all its roots real when
the auxiliary equation S = 0 has as many variations from
one si"n to another as it has dimensions, or when its terms
are alternately positive and negative ; otherwise the pro¬
posed equation will have one or more quadratic factors of
the form (x a)2 + r2, but the number of such factors
cannot exceed the continuations of the same sign in the
auxiliary equation.” .
Again, in the equation S = 0, the polynome S is equal
number.
In a cubic equation x3 + />x + 9 = 0, to is either one
or three. In the first case, the equation S = 0 will have
no positive roots, and the last term will be positive ; in
the second case, it will have three real and positive roots,
and the last term will be negative. Now the dimensions
of S — 0 being odd, the function will be negative in
the first case and positive in the second. Wherefore
the given cubic equation will have one real root, or three,
according as the function that is,
(x' — x'>)2 . (a/ — x"’f . (x" — x")*,
or — 4/>3 — 27/J, is negative or positive.
In a biquadratic equation a:4 -j- px2 + + r = 0, to
is equal to zero, or two, or four. In the first case the
equation S = 0 has no positive roots, in the third it has
six, and in both cases the last term is positive. In the
second case the same equation has only one real and po¬
sitive root, and the last term is negative. The dimen-
4X3
sions of S = 0, equal to——, being even, the function
K will be positive in the first and third cases, and ne¬
gative in the second case. Wherefore the proposed bi¬
quadratic equation will have only two real roots when the
function K^, that is,
(P—x")*. (a/—a/")2, (a/—«IV)2. (*"—a:")2. (x—x™)2
. (yv—xiv)2, or, 256r5—12Sp2r‘2 + 144g'2p/• + IGp4/1 —
27/ — \q2p3, is negative; and when the same function is
positive, the proposed equation will have four real roots,
if the terms of the auxiliary equation S = 0 be alternate¬
ly positive and negative; otherwise it will have no real
roots.
In an equation of the fifth degree, to is equal to one, or
three, or five. In the first and third cases the last term
of S — 0 will be positive, for there are either no positive
roots or ten; in the second case the last term is negative,
the number of positive roots being three. The dimen-
5X4
sions of S =0, equal to—^—, being even, the function
K will be positive in the first and third cases, and ne¬
gative in the second. Wherefore the given equation of
the fifth degree will have three real roots when the func¬
tion is negative; and when the same function is po¬
sitive, it will have five real roots if the terms of the
auxiliary equation S 0 be alternately positive and nega¬
tive ; otherwise it will have but one.
Resolution of Algebraic Equations.
16. When the co-efficients of an equation are given in
302
EQUATIONS.
Equations, numbers, we may investigate the numerical value of any
one root separately, by first seeking the limits between
which it lies, and then narrowing those limits to any re¬
quired degree of approximation. But this process is not
what is meant by the general solution of algebraical equa¬
tions, which supposes that the co-efficients are denoted by
general symbols, and consists in finding such a function
of those quantities as shall, by the multiplicity of its va¬
lues, represent all the roots. An algebraical expression
is susceptible of many values, by means of the different
radical quantities it contains ; but these radical quantities
being themselves the roots of an equation, it follows that
the general formula for the solution of any proposed equa¬
tion can be nothing more than a function of the given co¬
efficients combined with the roots of another equation.
The solution of quadratic equations has been known
since the origin of algebra; it is found in the work of Dio-
phantus, the first treatise on the science extant, if it be
not the very first that was written. The Italian mathe¬
maticians, who are the founders of the modern algebra,
discovered the solution of cubic and biquadratic equations.
The rules they invented for this purpose are, however,
rather the result of particular artifices than deductions
from any profound views of the structure of the equations
they considered. In the course of the last and the pre¬
sent centuries, the general solution of equations has been
the subject of almost innumerable researches by all the ma¬
thematicians of the first rank; but their labours have not
been successful in advancing this branch of the science
beyond the steps made by the first algebraists.
The rules usually given for the solution of cubic and
biquadratic equations are to be found in all the elemen¬
tary books, and it would be superfluous to repeat them
here. An account of the attempts that have been made
to obtain a general theory for solving algebraic equations
would greatly exceed the limits we must prescribe to our¬
selves. What has most impeded the progress of alge¬
braists in their researches on this subject, is the difficulty
of treating it by a perfect analysis, or of arriving at gene¬
ral conclusions by a process of reasoning founded solely on
the principles of the inquiry, and disengaged from parti¬
cular artifices of calculation, and from particular supposi¬
tions. In what follows we shall endeavour to lay before
our readers the general principles on which is founded all
that has been successfully accomplished in this theory.
Resolution Let three roots of a cubic equation be represented
equations ^ a-> c> and having interchanged these letters among
lon one another in all possible ways, we shall get the six per¬
mutations following, viz.—
abc, cab, bca.
acb, bac, cba.
The combinations that stand first on the left are formed
by prefixing the same letter to the permutations made
with the other two; and those on each line are derived
from one another by making the last letter of one stand
first in that which follows, while the other two letters pre¬
serve the same order.
Now let g3 — 1 _ 0 ; and let the letters of first comb
nation of each line be prefixed in order to the three tern
of 1 + <, + g2; then we shall get
t = a -\- bg cf, s — a -|- eg + bf ;
and if we multiply t and s by 1, g, g2 successively, we slu
further obtain
t = a + bg + cf, s = a + eg + bf,
<g = c + og + bf, sp = b + ae + eg2,
^i + eg + ig2- sf=c+bUal
e six quantities t, tg, /g2, s, sg, sf, comprehend all tl
va ues that can be formed by combining with 1 + e + f
tie three letters taken in any order whatever; and it
o vious that the cubes of all these six quantities, bein
each equal either to t3 or s3, have no more than two va-Equations,
lues.
And because and s3 have only one value each, any
symmetrical functions of them, as 23 + s3 and t3 s3, will
have determinate values, which remain the same, how¬
ever the letters a, b, c be interchanged among one ano¬
ther. The quantities J3 + s3 and t3 s3 must, therefore, be
symmetrical functions of a, b, c ; and, consequently, they
can be found in terms of the co-efficients of the given equa¬
tion.
By actually involving to the third power, we get
<3 z= a3 + i3 + c3 -j- 6 abc
+ 3 (a26 + i2c + ^a) . g
+ 3(a2c + c26 + ^a)-g2,
s3 =r a3 + 63 + c3 + 6 abc
+ 3 (a2c + c*b -f- . g
+ 3 (aPb + b‘lc + cla) . g2.
and likewise
(a + 6 + e)3 = a3 + i3 + c3 + 6 a&e
+ 3 (a2i + i2 c -f- c2a)
+ 3 («2c + ^b + b^d).
Now 1 + g + g2 = 0, when g is any root of g3 — 1 = 0
different from unit; therefore, by adding the last three
expressions, we get
*3 + s3 = 3 (a3 + 43 + c3) + 18 abc
— (a + b + cf.
Again, by actually multiplying
ts = a? -\r l? c1
+ (ab + bc + cd) . g
+ (a6 + &c + ca) • g2;
and, because g + g2 :=: — 1>
<5 a2 + i2 + c2
— {ab + ic + ca).
By means of the preceding formulae, we can compute
the values of £3 -f- s3 and t3 s3; and these values being the
co-efficients of a quadratic equation having its roots equal
to t? and s3, we can thence find t3 and s3, and t and s. Now
t and s being known, we have
a-\-b-\-c — a-^-b-^c,
# z= a + ig + eg2,
s = a 4" eg 4“ ^g2;
wherefore,
a = 3 "f" ^ "f" c) + ^ “1"
b = 3 + c) + | + st)’
c — i (a 4- 6 4- c) 4- ! (*g 4- sg2).
To apply the foregoing investigation, we shall take a
cubic equation, a:3 — Spx — 2q = 0, which is so prepar¬
ed as to want the second term, then (Sect. 9)
« 4~ ^ 4" c = 0,
ab -T ac be ~ — Sp,
a2 + A2 -b c2 zr 6p,
a3 + 63 -j- c3 rr
abc ~ 2q ;
consequently tf3 4" s3 = 33 X 2o / £s 9p, and f3 s0 = S3
X 3s. p3. Hence
\t-{q+Vq2—^,
(q — Vq^—p3)*,
Wherefore, by substituting these values in the expres¬
sions of the roots, we get
a=. {q -\-Vqt — p3)^ 4“ {q — — J93)^,
^ ~ ^Q2 — j°3)3 +?•(<? — — P^Y-)
EQUATIONS.
303
Equations.
c — %.(q V(f — jo3)^ f' (q — ^q2, — P*)
The preceding investigation, as well as all other me¬
thods that have been proposed for cubic equations, leads
to the same result with the rule invented by Cardan ; and,
like that rule, it becomes in some cases insufficient for
arithmetical computation, on account of the imaginary
quantities that appear in the expressions of the roots.
What is now mentioned is notan accidental circumstance,
but a necessary consequence of the method of investiga¬
tion pursued, and of the introduction of the imaginary
roots of the equation g3 — 1 =: 0. When a, b, c, are real
quantities, the value of t and s will be both imaginary, be¬
cause they involve g and g2, or
_ 1 + V—3 , —1—V—3
   and ^ *
In this case, therefore, although the three roots of the
proposed equation are all real, yet the algebraic expres¬
sions of them are all imaginary, and useless for the purpose
of numerical calculation ; and the former circumstance is
precisely the reason of the latter. On the other hand,
when one root a is real and the other two imaginary, the
impossible quantities destroy one another in the expres¬
sions of t and s, which are, therefore, real quantities ; and
in this case the algebraic formulae answer for finding the
numerical values of the roots. The distinction here point¬
ed out depends on the radical V (f —jP, which is real or
imaginary, according as the equation has one or three
real roots, because q2—jt>3 is always positive in the first
case and negative in the second.
Much labour and thought have been bestowed in order
to free the formulae for the roots of cubic equations from
the imaginary expressions that render them unfit for
arithmetical computation. In particular instances the
difficulty disappears ; namely, when the radical quantities
are perfect cubes, in which cases the impossible parts of
the cube roots destroy one another, so as to leave none
but real quantities in the expressions of the roots of the
equation. And, by expanding the radical quantities, we
may in all cases obtain the roots of a cubic equation in
series of an infinite number of terms free from the ima¬
ginary sign. But when it is required to transform the
formulae for the case of a cubic equation with three real
roots, into finite expressions free from impossible quanti¬
ties, and to do so without employing any other than the
received notations of algebra, all attempts to solve the
problem have led to equations in the same circumstances
with the one proposed, and have ended in bringing back
the same difficulty; in so much that equations of the
description mentioned are said to be in the irreducible
case.
It is, however, possible to transform the formulae for
the roots of a cubic equation in the irreducible case into
real expressions, although not so as to fulfil all the con¬
ditions above mentioned. Let q* — p3 =■ y2 •, then p
: wherefore the equation ic3 — 3px — 2q
= 0, will become
a;3 — 3 (<72 — y~)* x — 2<7 = 0 ... (1).
By the preceding formula the value of x in this equa¬
tion will be
x — {q + yY + {q — yY;
or, according to the notation of Section 10, making
1
W —3’
x = (q, p2).
By substituting this value of x, we get
|2II, (y,/)} —8y = 0;
which equation, being true for all values of q and p2, must
be identical, or, when expanded, must consist of a series
of quantities that mutually destroy one another. Now
the equation will still be identical, when p2 is changed
into — p2; so that we shall have
| S H, (y,-/)} 3-3(,f + **). * { 2 j
— 2q = 0 ;
and this proves that the equation
a*5— 3 (q2 + y2y.x — 2q = 0 ... (2)
is solved by the formula
x=2H1 {q,—y2y
TT
As the investigation in Section 10 is equally true, whe¬
ther « be a whole or a fractional number, we may apply
it to find the value of the symbol 2HL (q, —p2).
3
For this purpose, let
q — r cos. <p = r cos. (p + 360°) r cos. (p + 2.360°),
y — r sin. <p-= r sin. (p + 360°) — r sin. (p + 2.360°) ;
then r = v^2 + p2; and, according as we take one or
other of the angles that have the same sines and cosines,
we shall obtain three different values of 2Hj (q,—p2),
IT
or of x, viz.:
Equations.
cos.
a — 2r5
b — 2r7. cos. “i" 1 ^
•(§ +
1= 2r^
cos.
240'
')■
By puttingp — (p2 + p2)7, the equation (2) will assume
the same form as at first, namely,
a? — 3pa? — 2q — Q\
and because p3 — q2 -%• y2 ■=. r2, and p =Vp3 — q2, if we
determine the angles by means of their tangents instead
q2
— = tan. <p
of their sines and cosines, we shall get Vp
= tan. (p + 360°) = tan. (p + 2.360°) ; and the three
roots of the equation will be
a = 2vp . cos. .
b— 2Vp . cos-^ + 120°^,
c = 2Vp . cos’^g + 240°j.
Every cubic equation falls under one or other of the
formulae (1) and (2), except when p = 0, or p3 = q2,
which takes place when an equation changes from one
class to another; and in this case we have
x* — 3<p^ .x — 2q — (x — 2qJ) . (x + q^). (x + q*).
The several rules that have now been given, therefore,
include every possible case.
The difficulty attending the irreducible case arises from
a real distinction between the two subordinate classes of
cubic equations, and is insurmountable by the ordinary
operations of algebra. There is no permanent distinctions
of equations belonging to the same order, when we con¬
sider their roots as positive or negative; because, in
any proposed equation, all the roots, or as many of them
as we please, can be changed from positive to negative,
by the simple artifice of increasing or diminishing them
304 EQUATIONS.
Equations, all by a given quantity. But the case is otherwise when
we consider the roots of an equation in their character
of real or imaginary quantities. No transformation can
change an equation with one real root into another with
three real roots, without involving the operations of the
impossible arithmetic. If, therefore, we lay down this
condition, namely, that the formulae for the roots of equa¬
tions must be in a shape fit for numerical calculation, we
may conclude that in fact there is no resolution of equa¬
tions except what consists in reducing all those of the
same class to some one of that class, the most simple and
convenient in its form that can be found. If we examine
the preceding investigation, it will appear that it is mere¬
ly an attempt to reduce all cubic equations to the form
jc3—A=0; and this readily succeeds without impossible
operations, when the proposed equation, and that with
which it is compared, have their roots of a similar descrip¬
tion ; and it as surely fails when the case is otherwise.
In geometry, where the relations of the magnitudes
under consideration are never lost sight of, there is no
tendency to refer tile solution of a problem to a class to
which it does not belong. The ancient geometer could
never be in danger of applying the problem for finding
two mean proportionals to a case that can be constructed
only by the trisection of an angle. The modern analyst,
dismissing the original magnitudes of his problem, and re¬
ducing all possible relations to equations in abstract num¬
bers, is apt to overlook distinctions, and sometimes to
waste his labour, in seeking to accomplish what a due se¬
paration of cases would show to be impossible. There is
the same distinction between the class of cubic equations
with one real root, and that with three real roots, that
there is between the two geometrical problems alluded
to above; and the algebraist who attempts, by means of
the ordinary operations of his art, to transform Cardan’s
formula so as to make it apply to the irreducible case, is
precisely in the same situation with the geometer who
should set about trisecting an angle by finding two mean
proportionals.
The power and force of the algebraic method does not
consist in breaking down real distinctions, but in connect¬
ing, by sure and general principles, many truths which
in geometry are joined only by vague analogies, and even
have no affinity at all. This advantage is derived chiefly
from the doctrine of negative quantities, and from the im¬
possible arithmetic. By means of the first, a formula
which is obtained by considering only one state of the
data of a problem, applies, necessarily and by the very
structure of analytical language, to the same problem in
all possible conditions of the data. On the other hand,
when the relations of the data vary, the geometer is oblig¬
ed to subdivide his problem into cases, or into other sub¬
ordinate problems ; and although it may be perceived that
great similitude prevails among all the subdivisions, yet
it is impossible to reduce the analogy between them to
determinate rules, as is done in algebra. But in the whole
compass of geometry there is nothing that bears any re¬
semblance to the imaginary arithmetic. When the geo¬
meter has fixed the determination of his problem, or ascer¬
tained the limits within which it is possible, he has drawn
a line that must be the boundary of his investigation.
Now it is to truths lying beyond this line that the mean¬
ing of the comprehensive expressions of the imaginary
arithmetic must be referred. It is not to be understood
that a problem can be solved by algebra, which is impos¬
sible in geometry; but the analytical formulae, at the
same time that they mark the limits of the problem, go
beyond them, and point out connected truths, that require
only certain changes to be made in the algebraic expres¬
sions, in like manner as all the possible cases of the same
problem are derived from one only, by means of the vari- Equations,
ations of the signs.
If a, b, c, d, represent the four roots of a biquadratic Biquadra-
equation; and if we prefix the same letter a to all theticequa-
permutations made with the other three, we shall get thetions-
six combinations following, viz.
abed, adbc, aedb,
adeb, acbd, abde.
In the first line, the letters b, c, d, are made to circu¬
late, by placing immediately after the immoveable letter c
that which stands last in the combination preceding; and
in the second line the moveable letters have respective¬
ly an inverted order to what they have in the first line.
Let f — 1 = 0; and let the four letters taken in the
several orders of the six combinations be prefixed to the
terms of 1-f f+ + the results of the first line being
t, t’, f, and those of the second line s, s', s" ; then
t = a + bg + cf + df, s — a + de + cf-]- bf,
t’ — a-\-dg-\-bf-\-cf, s’ = a + cg + bf + df,
= a + eg -f- d£ + bjP, s" — a-\- b%-\- df eg3.
Now, in the equation g2 — 1 = 0, g is either equal to + 1
or to — 1; and whether we take the one value or the
other, it is apparent that t — s,t' = s', f =. s".
Again, from every one of the six foregoing combina¬
tions, four others are derived by circulating the letters
continually from the last place to the first; and in this
manner we obtain twenty-four permutations, which are all
that can be made with four letters. Thus, if we take
abed, and move the letters as directed, we shall get these
four combinations, viz.
abed,
dabc,
edab,
beda.
And if we multiply < by g continually, observing to re¬
tain the three first powers of g, and to make g4 = 1, we
shall get
t = a + &g + cg2 + <%3,
n cf-j- ag + ^g2 + eg3,
tg2 — c + r/g + «g2 + bg3,
tg3 = b-j-egdg~ + ag3 ;
so that t, tg, tf, tf, are the functions formed by prefixing to
l + g + g2 + g3, the letters of the four combinations; and it
is obvious that these functions have all the same square,
equal to f.
Wherefore, if the four letters, taken in all possible or¬
ders, be prefixed to the terms of l + g + g2 + g35 the squares
of the twenty-four resulting functions will be equal to one
or other of the six quantities, f, t’2, s2, s'2, s"z; and
since it has been proved that t = s, t' = s', t" = s", it fol¬
lows that the twenty-four squares have no more than three
different values, equal to t2, tf2, t"2.
And because t2, H2, t"2, can have no more than one value
each, any symmetrical functions of them, viz.
f + t^ + t"2,
t2t,2 + t2t"2 + t,2t"2,
tft’H"2,
will have determinate values independent of the order of
the letters a, b, c, d. The same functions will therefore
be symmetrical expressions of the roots of the given bi¬
quadratic equation, and they will be known in terms of the
co-efficients of that equation.
Supposing g = — 1, we get
t — a — b-\-c — d,
t — a — dArb — c,
f — a — c + g? — b ;
and hence
t2=ia2 + b2 + c2 + d2
— -j- ad -\-bc-\- cd') -f- 2(ac bd)f
= (a + 6 + c + c?)2— 42.a& + 4(ac+&£) ;
EQUATIONS.
305
Equations, the symbol 2 . ab being used here, as in Sect. 9, to denote
the sum of the products of every two of the roots.
Wherefore, if we put
M = (a + ^ + c + c?)2—42 . a£>,
m = ac + bd,
in'— ab + dc,
m"— ad + be,
then
<2 = M + 4m,
t'2 — M -j- 4 m',
i"2 = M + 4m";
and hence
f + tn + t"z = 3M + 4(m + m'+m"),
ft1 + tH"2 + W'2 = 3M2 + 8M(m + m'+ m")
+ 1 Q(inm! + mm!' + m'm").
But it will readily appear that
m + m' + m" — 1 . ab
mm' + mm" + m'm!' = (a + i + c + ^) X2. abc
— kabed.
Now, by substituting these values, we get
^ + ^ + ^'2 = 3(a + 6 + c + rf)2 —82 . ab,
tHn + ft!'2 + t'H"2 := 3(a -f 6 + c + d)4 — 16(a + & + c
+ df XI. .ab
+ \&{a-\-b-\-c-rd) X 2 . abc-\-16(2 . ab)2
— §\abcd.
Again, if we multiply the expressions of t, V, f, we
shall get
tm<> = la — c). (a2 — (?) + (b — d).(V‘ — d2)
— (a + c) (b — df — (b-\-d*) (a — c)2 ;
or, tW = a3 + b3 + c3 + d3 + 22 . abc
— (a^b + a2c + d~d+b-a + 62c + tPd
+ c2a + (?b + c2c?+d2a + d2b + d2c) ;
and finally, by means of the formulae in Sect. 9,
U’t" = (« + 6 + e + d)3 + 82 • a^c
— 4(o!-\-b-\-c-\-d^XHd . ab.
If now we substitute the values computed by the pre¬
ceding formulae in the cubic equation
0 = t<3 —C^ + ^ + ^K
+ (tH'2 + tH”2+t'H"2)u
— tH'H"2,
we shall obtain the values of t2, f2, t*2, and consequently
of t, t\ t", by solving that equation ; and when t, t', t", are
known, we have
a-\-b-\-c-\-d=- a + b-^-c-^d,
t =. a-\-b%-\-c£-\-df,
t' — « + ^ + bf + cf,
V — « + eg + df + bf;
wherefore, because 0=1+£ + g2 + g3> we get
| a-\-b-\-c-\-d-\-tf-\-t'fJrt"g j-»
c=^|a-\-b-\-c-{-d-]ttfJrt’iJrt"f j-,
d=\{a+b+c+d+tz+t'f+f? }.
And finally, by making g= — 1,
a=^| aJ|rb■\■c■\■d+tJ\rt'■\‘t,, j-,
t+d-r},
;=I|a + 6 + c + ^+i —
In applying these formulae, it is necessary to observe,
J=i-| a + Z> + c + e?-
J=i| a+b+c+d—t-
that as the quantities t, V, tr, are found by extracting theEquations,
square root, they may each have either the sign plus or
the sign minus prefixed. But all ambiguity from this
cause will be taken away, if it be observed that the ex¬
pressions of a, b, c, d, will always give the same results,
provided the signs of t, t, t", be so determined as to sa¬
tisfy the equation,
tt't’,={a-\-b-\-cJrd)3Jr^ . abc
— 4(« + £ + c + cH X 2 . ab.
For, if we suppose that the signs of t, t', t", are so deter¬
mined as to satisfy the equation mentioned, they cannot
be varied so as still to satisfy the same equation, unless
two of them be changed together; for, if one sign only be
changed, or if all the three be changed together, the pro¬
duct tt't" will have an opposite sign to what it had before,
and the equation will no longer be satisfied. But the ex¬
pressions of a, b, c, d, give the same set of values when
the signs of any two of the letters t, t', t", are changed
together ; so that, in order to have the true values of the
quantities sought, no other rule for the signs of t, V, f,
is necessary than that they must be such as to satisfy the
equations alluded to.
To apply the preceding investigation, we may take the
equation
a?4+ ^ + ^—0,
which wants the second term. Then,
o—a-\-b-\-c-\-d,
p—l • ab,
— <7=2 . abc,
r—abed:
hence
*2-H'2+<"2= —8jt?,
ft'2 + ft"2 + t'2t"2 — \Sp2 — 64r,
ttt"— Qq:
and f, f2, f2, are the roots of the cubic equation
M3 + 8jOM2+ IB^p2 — 4r)w — 64<72=0.
Having solved this equation, and found the values of£, i', f,
the signs of these quantities must next be determined so
as to satisfy the equation,
tt'f= — 8? ;
and then we have these formulae for computing the roots
of the proposed equation, viz.
t+d+t"
b=-
4
t+d-
■i"
4
■ t'—i"
d=-
4
.t—d+d’
These formulae coincide with the method of solving
biquadratic equations first proposed by Euler in his Alge¬
bra. But, in order to take away the ambiguity arising
from the double sign of the square root, that celebrated
mathematician uses two sets of expressions for the roots
of the equation, viz.
b=-
d=-
t+d+df
'' 4 ’
t +d—d>
4 ’
-d—t"
4 ’
.t—d+df
b=-
— t—d—t"
: 4 ’
■d+df
— t+d+td
d=
t+t'—t"
VOL. IX.
of which one set is the same with the formulae given
above, and the other is obtained by changing t, d, d', into
— t, — d, — V; the first set being directed to be used
2 q '
306 EQUATIONS,
Equations.when —8g is positive, and the other set when the same
quantity is negative. This procedure is not so simple as
that we have followed, which requires only one set of
formulae. It has even been the occasion of leading into
error, in as much as it makes the signs of t, t\ t", depend
entirely upon the sign of the given quantity—8q; whereas
it is indispensable that, regard being had to the nature of
the quantities t, €, f, their signs shall be determined so as
to satisfy the equation tt?t’= — 8q. This inadvertence of
Euler has escaped the observation of most of the authors
who have treated of biquadratic equations, and was first
noticed by M. Bret, in the second volume of the Corre-
gpondance sur VEcole Polytechnique.
It may not be improper to notice briefly some of the
other rules for biquadratic equations. These are chiefly
two; the method of Descartes, which resolves the given
equation into two quadratic factors; and the oldest me¬
thod of all, invented by Louis Ferrari, a pupil of Cardan,
which proceeds by transforming the given equation, so
as to make it equal to the difference of two complete
squares, and then extracting the square roots. However
different from one another these two methods may at first
seem, they are at bottom the same; and they are so far
connected with that already investigated, that all the three
lead to the same cubic equation.
Suppose that a, b, c, d, are the roots of the biquadratic
equation
— Aa^ + Ba,’2 — Cx + D = 0;
then x? — (a + i) x + ab=-0, and a:2 — (c + c?) x-\-cd=Q,
are two quadratic factors, the product of which is equal
to the given equation. Now,
A.—a -f-^ “H c-\-d,
t—a -\-b — c — d ;
wherefore, if we put ab—p-\-y, cd—p—y, the two fac¬
tors will become
a? — x+p+y—0,
x? — 7j(A — t) x+p—y=0\
and if we multiply them, and equate the co-efficients of
the product to the co-efficients of the given equation, we
shall get
2p+iAS-|'s=B>
Ap + ty=zC,
j?—«/2=D.
And it is to be observed that, on account of the first two
of these equations, p and y are both real quantities when
< is a real quantity; so that, provided a real value of t can
be found, the given equation is always resolved, by this
method, into two quadratic factors free from imaginary
expressions.
Now, by combining the equations just found, we shall
get
0=*6 — (3 A2 — 8B) • **
+ (3A4—16A2 B-F16B2+16AC —64D) • <2
— (A3 —4AB + 8C)2,
*=Ib-|a,+5'2
*=y(5B7!A!+H!-D-
The first of these equations is a cubic, of which the root
is tf2; and it is precisely the same with the cubic of the
former method. As the last term of this equation is es¬
sentially positive, it follows that there is always one posi¬
tive value of i{2, and one real value of t; wherefore, in
consequence of what has been proved, the values ofja and
y, derived from the positive value of £2, are m every case Equations,
real quantities, which is no doubt an advantage in the
practical application of the method.
If we wish to follow the process of Louis Ferrari, we
may assume p, t, y, so as to render the expression
if ~ \ Kx+p)—~°
identical with the given equation; and as this expression
is no more than the product of the two quadratic factors
of the last method, the quantities to be determined will
be found by the formulae already given.
The theory of permutations, which is successful in Equations
solving cubic and biquadratic equations, applies likewise of the fifth
to those of the fifth and higher orders. But, to use the degree,
words of Lagrange, “ Passe le quatrieme degre, la methode,
quoiqu’ applicable en general, ne conduit plus qu’a des
equations resolvantes de degres superieurs a celui de la
proposee.” Thus, in the case of equations of the fifth
degree, the theory leads to a biquadratic equation, of
which the co-efficients are to be found by resolving an
equation of the sixth order.
There is, however, no doubt that the doctrine of per¬
mutations contains the principles from which we are to
expect the resolution of equations of the higher orders, if
the problem be possible. It may be alleged, with great
probability, that the theory succeeds in the less compli¬
cated cases, because when the number of the roots is
small, their permutations are soon exhausted, and we
speedily arrive at those combinations of them which re¬
main invariable, whatever be the order of the quantities
combined. But when the number of the roots is greater
than four, their permutations are very numerous, and at
the same time the functions produced by combining them
are very complicated ; on which accounts it is difficult to
conduct the investigation so as to arrive at a satisfactory
conclusion, either accomplishing the intended purpose, or
proving that the undertaking is impossible.
In the twelfth volume of the Italian Society, and in a
work published at Modena in 1813, M. Paolo Ruffini has
proved that no function of five letters can exist that is
susceptible of only three or four different values when the
letters are interchanged among one another in all possible
ways. M. Cauchy, in the sixteenth volume of the Jour¬
nal de VEcole Polytechnique, has demonstrated that a func¬
tion of n letters, unless it have no more than two different
values, cannot have a number of different values less than
the prime number next below n. On these grounds it
has been inferred that the resolution of equations of the
fifth degree is in reality an impossible problem. (Lacroix,
Compt. des Elem. d'Algebre, p. 61.) And if it be admit¬
ted that, in the process of resolution, no equations can oc¬
cur except such as have symmetrical functions of the five
letters for their co-efficients, the inference founded on the
labours of the eminent mathematicians we have mention¬
ed would be indisputable. But it is not impossible that
the resolution of equations of a high order must be ef¬
fected by gradually depressing an equation at first of great
dimensions ; and in this procedure we may arrive at equa¬
tions, the co-efficients of which, although functions of the
roots of the proposed equation, are not symmetrical func¬
tions, but partial expressions, susceptible of several values,
according as the order of the letters that denote the roots
is made to vary. On this supposition, the resolution of
equations above the fourth order, by means of equations
inferior in degree, would not be inconsistent with what has
been proved.
17. A method for solving equations of one order may Some par-
be generalized so as to extend to a certain class in all ticular
orders. Thus De Moivre has found a species of equations classes °f
equations.
EQUATIONS.
Equations, of every degree that have their roots similar to those of
cubics, and which are solved by the formula
l 2
x = (q Vg2 — p“)n “t" (<Z — ^Q2 — P”)",
differing in no respect from the expression for resolving
cubics, except that n is written in place of 3.
An equation may be depressed to a lower order when
it is known that the roots have a given relation to one an¬
other. An instance of this has already occurred in the
case of equal roots ; for, the equal roots having been first
found, the equation can be lowered by division. Recipro¬
cal equations furnish another example of depression to a
lower order, on account of a relation subsisting among the
roots. A reciprocal equation is one of even dimensions,
such that half the roots are respectively the reciprocals
of the other half, in which case no alteration is produced
in the equation when i is substituted for x. In equations
of this kind, the same co-efficients occur in the same order,
and with the same signs, reckoning from either end ; a de¬
scription that likewise applies to some equations of odd di¬
mensions, which, however, do not constitute a new class,
being merely reciprocal equations, as defined above, mul¬
tiplied by the factor # + 1. A reciprocal equation may
always be depressed to half the dimensions, by transform¬
ing it so that the new unknown quantity shall be equal to
1
x -\—. It is sufficient to have mentioned these cases,
x
which are fully treated of in all the elementary books.
Equations with only two terms, as ^ — 1=0, are the
most extensive class that have been resolved by a general
method. The successful application of analysis to this
class of equations is extremely interesting, both in itself,
and likewise because it is connected with the division of
the circle into equal parts, and has occasioned the disco¬
very of some curious and unexpected results respecting
that problem. For these reasons, it appears proper to lay
before our readers a short view of this branch ot the doc¬
trine of algebraic equations.
We have already shown, that, admitting the theory of
angular sections, every equation with only two terms, as
XP i = 0, may be completely resolved into its binomial
and trinomial factors ; and hence all its roots, possible and
impossible, may be computed by means of the trigonome-
T, 360° .
trical tables in common use. Ir we put p — “ancl
denote by k any number less than |jo, we have found that
the equation xp — 1 = 0 is divisible by the quadratic fac-
• tor ^ 2x, cos. p + E and, consequently, that it has the
two impossible roots,  
x — cos. A 9 + sin. k <p .V— 1,
x = cos. k<p — sin. k<p .V — 1 :
and, because cos. Aip = cos. (p k) <p, and -sin. $9 —sin.
(p the same two roots may be otherwise more sym¬
metrically represented thus,
x — cos. /e 9 + sin. k p . V — 1,
X — cos. O — £) ? + sin. <>-—£) 9 . V — 1.
Therefore, when p is odd, the equation 1 = Ohas
one real root equal to 1 ; and when p is even, it has two
’real roots equal to rTn 1 ; and in both cases the remain¬
ing roots are all impossible, and are found from the for¬
mula  
x — cos. A 9 4" s*n* k <p . V 1,
307
by making k equal to all the integral numbers less than ^Equations,
in the one case, and less than p— I in the other. No-
thing, therefore, can be more simple than the computation
of the roots of such equations by means of the trigonome¬
trical tables. But in seeking a general solution, it is re¬
quired to investigate the roots without resorting to the
properties of the circle, unless in so far as this may be ne¬
cessary for solving similar equations inferior in degree to
the one proposed. In this view the resolution of the equa¬
tion XP— 1 =: 0, is equivalent to the division of the circle
into jo equal parts, granting the like division for all num¬
bers less than p. And in order to render the investiga¬
tion of the problem as simple as possible, it may be fur¬
ther observed, that it will be sufficient to consider the
case when the exponent is a prime number; because,
from this case, the other, when it is a composite number,
can be readily deduced.
It will be proper to premise here a property of the roots
of equations with only two terms, to which we shall have
occasion continually to refer. The property in question
depends upon this theorem, namely, when k is any num¬
ber not a multiple of the prime number p, the remainders
of the terms of the series
1 X k, 2 X k, 3 X k ... (p — 1) X k,
when each is divided by p, are all different from one an¬
other ; and, consequently, without regard to the order,
they will coincide with the numbers 1, 2, 3, &c. less than
p. If, therefore, we take any one of the impossible roots
of the equation xp *, viz.  
r — cos. ^ 9 + sin. k <pV — 1,
all its powers with indices less than p, viz.
r2 = cos. 9 + sin. 2k <p . V— 1,
r3 — cos. 3& 9 + sin. 3k tp . \^ — 1,
&c.
will be different from one another; and likewise they will
coincide, without regard to the order, with the like powers
of any other impossible root of the same equation : be¬
cause, whatever number k stands for, the arcs are all dif¬
ferent from one another, and, neglecting whole circum¬
ferences, constitute the same series of terms, although in
different orders. Wherefore, p being a prime number, if
r be one of the impossible roots of the equation xp 1
— 0, all the roots will be represented by the terms of the
geometrical progression
r°, r1, r2, r3, . . . . rp ^ ;
for every one of these terms satisfies the given equation,
and it has been shown that they are all different from one
another.
When is a composite number, the same property does
not belong to all the roots of the equation xp-— 1=0, but
only to some of them. It belongs generally to the root
r =z cos. £ 9 + sin. k p . V — 1,
when k is either equal to unit, or to any number that has
no common divisor with p; in which cases all the powers
of r are roots of the equation xp— 1 = 0, and all different
from one another, when the exponents are different and
less than p.
If the equation xp— 1 = 0 be divided by the binomial
factor x — 1, we shall get
x?-1 + xp~2+ xp~3.... + x + 1=0-,
and this being a reciprocal equation, it can be farther de¬
pressed to half the dimensions. In this manner we obtain
the solution of x7 — 1=0, which is reduced to a cubic;
but, by the same procedure, the equation next in order,
308 E Q U A
Equations, viz. xu — 1 — 0, can be lowered only to the fifth degree,
for equations of which class there is no rule. Neverthe¬
less this, last equation has been solved by Vandermonde,
to whom, and to Lagrange, we are mainly indebted for dis¬
engaging the resolution of equations from the complicated
operations of algebra, and for substituting, in their place,
reasonings founded on the doctrine of combinations. The
author has not explained particularly the process by which
his solution was obtained ; he gives it as a result of his
theory, which, although it fails in general for equations
above the fourth degree, succeeds in this instance on ac¬
count of particular relations between the roots. Similar
relations subsist between the roots of any other binomial
equation when the exponent is a prime number; and, in
consequence, a like mode of investigation will apply, as
indeed the author has expressly said. But this procedure
would unavoidably be attended in every new instance with
very long calculations ; and it appears hardly possible to
arrive in this way at any general method that would apply
to all equations of the class in a regular manner, and with¬
out considerations dfawn from each particular case.
M. Gauss, in a work entitled Disquisitiones Arithmeticce,
replete with original and important matter, applied a pro¬
perty of prime numbers to the solution of binomial equa¬
tions, which removed every difficulty, and led to a theory
that, unites simplicity and generality. If we suppose that
jo is a prime number, and resolve p— 1 into its compo¬
nent factors, so that p— \ = .b^.cy . &c.,a, b, c, &c.
being prime numbers, M. Gauss has proved that the solu¬
tion of the equation xp— 1 =: 0, or, which is the same thing,
the division of the circle into jo equal parts, can be effect¬
ed by solving, successively X equations of a dimensions, ^
equations of b dimensions, y equations of c dimensions,
&c. Thus, if /> = 13, then, because 13— 1 = 3 X 22,
the roots of a?13 — 1=0 can be found, or a polygon of 13
sides can be inscribed in a circle, by solving a cubic and
two quadratic equations in succession. In certain cases,
when a prime number comes under the form 2”+ 1, as
17, 257, &c. the division of the circle will require the so¬
lution of equations no higher than the second order;
whence this unexpected consequence has resulted from
the theory of M. Gauss, that the inscription of a polygon
of 17, or 257 sides in a circle, which are problems that
have always been understood to transcend the limits of
the elementary geometry, can, nevertheless, be construct¬
ed by the operations admitted in that science.
A work replete with so many interesting discoveries as
the Disquisitiones Arithmeticce could not fail to excite the
attention of mathematicians. Legendre, in republishing his
Essay on the Theory of Numbers, has added to it an expo¬
sition of M. Gauss’s theory of binomial equations ; and the
same theory is the subject of the 14th note in the second
edition of Lagrange’s Treatise on Numerical Equations.
No part of the mathematics could pass through the hands
of men of so much ability without receiving great improve¬
ment. Lagrange has shown that it is not necessary to go
through the several intermediate equations that make so
essential a part in the investigation of M. Gauss ; and, by
this means, he has reduced the solution of equations with
two terms to the utmost simplicity of which it is capable.
But, in one respect, it must be admitted that the proce¬
dure of the illustrious geometer is imperfect. Although
it arrives, by a short investigation, at the partial quantities
that by their additions form the expressions of the roots
sought, it leaves indeterminate the order in which they
are to be combined. M. Gauss has avoided ambiguity in
this respect by deducing from one of the quantities all the
other parts of the same expression ; but, amidst a multi-
T I O N S.
plicity of different systems of values that maybe dedu-Equations,
ced from the partial quantities, Lagrange has given no clue
to guide to the true one.
In laying before our reader some account of this inte¬
resting branch of the theory of algebraic equations, we
shall view the subject in a light somewhat different from
that in which it has hitherto been placed. Instead of
seeking directly the roots of binomial equations, we shall
apply the principles of M. Gauss’s theory immediately to
the division of the circle into equal parts, by taking the
arcs of the circumference in that order to which the me¬
thod owes all its success. This procedure is attended with
some advantages. In the first place, the algebraic expres-
• c • • k X. 360°
sions of the quantities sought, represented by cos. ^
P
are more simple than those of the imaginary roots of the
corresponding binomial equation ; and, in the second place,
the same expressions, having always real values, are bet¬
ter fitted for application than the roots of binomial equa¬
tions, which require to be further reduced to prepare them
for calculation.
Before entering on the principal problem, it is neces¬
sary to say something of that property of numbers on
which the whole theory depends. Supposing p to be any
prime number, Euler has distinguished by the name of a
Primitive Root any number less than p— 1, such that, if
we take the series of all its powers with indices less than
p, and in each power reject the multiples ofit contains,
the several remainders are all different from one another,
and, consequently, paying no regard to the order, they
will coincide with the numbers 1, 2, 3, &c. less than p.
It has been proved that, for every prime number, there
are as many primitive roots as there are numbers less than
p— 1, which have no common divisor with it. The ex¬
istence of such numbers in every case is therefore demon¬
strated ; but no direct method of finding them has yet
been published with which we are acquainted.
We gladly seize the present occasion of laying down a
rule for finding the primitive roots of a prime number.
But first we must premise, that when any proposed num¬
ber is said to satisfy the equation + 1 = 0, it is al¬
ways understood that the multiples of the prime number
P are rejected; and the meaning is, that, when the given
number is substituted for x, the whole result is divisible
by p without any remainder.
Now, let p be a prime number, and 2, a, b, c, &c. the
prime divisors of p— 1, so that p— 1 = 2^ . a* . . cy.
&c.: then every primitive root will satisfy the first of
the following equations without satisfying any of the
rest, viz.
P — 1
x 2 +1=0,
P—1
x 2a +1=0,
P — 1
x 2b +1=0,
P—1
X 2c +1=0,
&c.
And, on the other hand, every number not a primitive
root, which satisfies the first equation, will at the same
time satisfy one, or more, or all, of the other equations.
But the numbers which satisfy the first equation are
exclusively those which are not found among the re¬
mainders of the series of square numbers divided by p.
E Q U A
Equations. Wherefore, setting aside the first equation, if we seek
among the non-residual numbers for such as satisfy none
of the remaining equations, the numbers so found will be
the primitive roots sought.
When one primitive root is found by this method, all
the rest may be directly obtained from it. For, if 1,
W) id, w", &c. . . . t/A represent all the numbers less than
p— 1 and prime to it; then a being one of the primitive
roots, all the roots will be equal to the series of powers,
HO w' ‘W>> W
a, a , a , a   a >
rejecting always the multiples of p.
The demonstration of these properties would lead us
aside from our present purpose ; and we shall be content
with adding some examples for the sake of illustration.
p — 1 p — 1
Let jo = 11: then —^— = 5, and ^—— =: 1; so that
in this case, the only equation of exclusion is a; + 1 —
which admits only one solution, viz. x — p—1 = 10.
Therefore all the non-residual numbers except 10 are the
primitive roots; namely, 2, 6, 7, 8. We may extend this
p—1
T I O N S.
side. Let <p —
conclusion to every case when
is a prime number,
as 7, 23, 47, &c.; in all which instances all the non-resi¬
duals, except jo — 1, are the primitive roots.
Next, let jo = 17; then
1
= 8 = 23; and there are
no equations of exclusion. In this case, therefore, all the
non-residuals, without exception, are primitive roots; and
the same thing is true of every prime number of the form
2n + 1, such as 5, 257, &c.
p—A-
Letjo = 13; then'
tion of exclusion is
a;2 + 1 = 0,
Let jo = 31; then
1
360°
P
and put u for the arc intercepted
309
,Equations.
2X3; and the only equa-
which admits only two solutions, viz. x = 5 and x = 8.
In this instance, therefore, all the non-residual numbers,
except 5 and 8, are the primitive roots.
between the diameter and any angle of the polygon, then
we shall have this equation, viz.
0=cos.m + cos.(f Jr u) + cos.(2p + m) .... + cos.(2wp + u),
which is no more than the analytical expression of the
geometrical property just mentioned. Now, suppose that
the diameter passes through one of the angles of the poly¬
gon ; then u =■ 0, and the equation becomes
0 = 1 + cos. <p + cos. 2<p + cos. 8<p ... . + cos. 2n<p.
Let a be one of the primitive roots of the prime num¬
ber p; then rejecting multiples of p, and paying no re¬
gard to the order, the terms of the geometrical progression,
a, a2, a3, a4 a2n,
will be equal to the several numbers less than p. Where¬
fore, in the two series of arcs,
a<p, tftp, a?(p, a4<p aZr,<p,
<p, 2<p, 3p, 4p 2n<p,
every arc in the geometrical progression will either be
equal to some one in the arithmetical progression, or will
differ from it by a whole circumference, or circumferences.
Hence the cosines of the first series of arcs may be sub¬
stituted in the last equation for the cosines of the other
series; and thus we have
— 1 = cos. a<p + cos. a?<p + cos. as<p . . . + cos. a2"p.
Again, by Fermat’s theorem, a2n— 1 =(an + l)(an —1)
= a multiple ofp; and because no primitive root of a prime
number is the remainder of a square divided by that num¬
ber, we have an + 1 = a multiple ofjo; and consequent¬
ly a" + ^ + «''■ = a multiple of p. It follows, therefore,
that an + ^ + ax <p is equal to a multiple of the circum¬
ference of the circle ; and hence,
cos. a1 + x<p = cos. ax <p (A)
From this it appears that the cosines in the last equation
maybe distributed into two equal sums; one containing
the cosines of all arcs from aip to an<p inclusively, and the
other the remaining cosines ; consequently
= 3X5; and we have two
equations of exclusion, viz.
x3 + 1 = 0,
+ 1=0.
The non-residual numbers are
3, 6, 11, 12, 13, 15, 17, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29, 30.
Of these numbers the first, viz. 3, is a primitive root,
since it satisfies neither of the two equations; and as the
numbers less than 30, and prime to it, are 1, 7, 11, 13,
17 19, 23, 29; all the primitive roots of 31 are as fol¬
lows : viz. 31 = 3, 37 = 17, 311 = 13, 313 = 24, 31? = 22,
gig _ 12 S23 = 11, 329 = 21. With respect to the other
non-residual numbers, it will be found on trial that the
first equation is satisfied by 6 and 26; the second by 15,
23, 27, 29; and both equations by 30.
We are now prepared to enter upon the solution of the
problem for dividing the circle into as many equal paits
as there are units in the prime number j? = 2 w + 1. If
we conceive a polygon of p sides, to be inscribed^ in a
— - — cos. ap + cos. a2p + cos.
and because cos. an<p = cos.
1
a3<p . . . cos. ;
-= cos.p + cos. of + cos. a?<p + cos.an’
> (i)
Let r =
360°
and put
— cos. r + sin. rV ■
1
then all the powers of e with indices less than « will be
different from one another, and all of them roots of the
equation en —1=0, the solution of which requires the
J)    A
division of the circle into only n, or - , equal parts.
In what follows, we shall have continual occasion to
consider the expression
X i til x4"l_ I otw X-f-2 • (n—
cos.a p+e cos.a p + e2 cos.a <p . . . +ev J
cos.ax + n 1 p; and it will therefore be convenient
1
to adopt an abridged mode of writing it. Now, the ex-
drcteTwin be7dmitted tha7the centre of gravity of pression will be wholly known, and can be constructed
the polygon coincides
with the centre of the circle.
Wherefore, if perpendiculars be drawn to any diameter
of the circle from all the angles of the polygon, it follows,
from the nature of the centre of gravity, that the sum of
the cosines lying on one side of the centre of the cncle
will be equal to the sum of the cosines lying on the other
when the two indices X and m are given ; and we may
therefore denote it by the symbol/(X, m), placing always
the index of a before the other. We shall invariably make
the index of a positive, and suppose it reduced below n
by means of the formula (A). In like manner we shall
suppose that the index of e is always reduced below n by
310
EQUATIONS.
Equations, suppressing the multiples of n; and we shall write it
sometimes positive and sometimes negative, observing
that the negative indices may be always rendered positive
by supplying the proper multiples of n ; thus,
— e
n—im 
im  — im
&C.
According to the notation just explained, we have
z \ \ m i 2»i 9 _ I In — 1)^*
jr (o, m) = cos. 9 + e cos. ap + e cos.^f-. + e^ ‘
cos. an
f(o, — m) = cos. <p-\- e — m cos. acp -{■ e 2m cos. a2p ... +
— («—1W  n — 1 ^
e K 1 cos. a <P‘
And because e° ^ en — e — n — 1, the symbols f {p, o),
f (o, n), f (o, — n), will represent the series of cosines in
the equation (1); so that we h.ave
— | =/(o, o) =f(o, n) =f(o, — n).
The following formula is no more than a corollary from
the preceding notation, viz.
e-xm (B)
By means of the trigonometrical formula in common
use, any powers and products of the cosines of the arc <p
and its multiples may be reduced to a series of terms,
containing the like cosines multiplied by given co-effi¬
cients. Wherefore, because cos. pep = 1, and likewise be¬
cause the cosines of all arcs greater than pep, 2pp, 3pp, &c.
may be reduced to the cosines of arcs less than p<p, it fol¬
lows that every rational and integral function of cos. <p,
cos. 2<p, cos. 3<p, &c. may be brought under this form of
expression, viz.
A + B cos. p + C cos. 2p + D cos. 3<p . .. + N cos. 2n<p.
Now, if we suppose the function we are considering to be
such, that it retains the same value when any of the mul¬
tiple arcs 2p, 3<p, &c. is substituted for <p, the transformed
expression will be possessed of the same property. But
if we actually substitute the arcs 2p, 3<p, &c. for p in the
foregoing expression, it will become successively
A + B cos. 2p + C cos. 4ip + D cos. 6<p +, &c.
A + B cos. 3p + C cos. 6p + D cos. +, &c.
&c.
each line containing the same cosines, although in a dif¬
ferent order, because the series of arcs is the same when
whole circumferences, or the multiples of pep, are rejected ;
and all these expressions cannot have the same value un¬
less B =: C = D = &c.; that is, unless the expression be
of this form, viz.
A + B (cos. p + cos. 2p + cos. 3p . . . + cos. 2np),
which, in consequence of what was before proved, is equal
to A — B. It is therefore demonstrated that every ra¬
tional and integral function of cos. p, cos. 2p, cos. 3^, &c.,
which remains unchanged when any of the multiple arcs
2p, 3p, &c. is substituted for p, has for its value an ex¬
pression without cosines, and depending only upon the
nature of the function.
If we introduce the arcs in geometrical instead of those
in arithmetical progression, it is obvious that the substi¬
tution of the multiple arcs 2p, 3p, &c., for p, is equivalent
to the changing of p into ap, a2p, a3p, &c.; and hence any
rational and integral function of the cosines of p and its
multiples, which remains invariable when p is changed
into ap, azp, a3p, &c. is a quantity independent of the co¬
sines, or has its value expressed by a function from which
the cosines are eliminated.
What has now been proved will enable us to appreciate
the advantage arising from the introduction of the arcs in
geometrical in place of those in arithmetical progression,
in which principally consists the improvement that this Equations,
theory owes to M. Gauss. The solution of the problem
turns upon finding those functions of cos. p, cos. 2p, cos.
Sip, &c. which have determinate values independent of the
cosines; which functions, it has been proved, remain in¬
variable when any of the multiple arcs 2p, 3p, &c. is sub¬
stituted for p. Now, although the substitution of any
multiple arc, in place of the arc itself, always reproduces
the same series of cosines, yet the order is irregular, and
varies with every different multiple arc; and this circum¬
stance makes it difficult to investigate what change the
substitution will effect in a given function. On the other
hand, by introducing the arcs in geometrical progression,
the same order is still preserved, whatever substitution
be made; and by this means every facility possible is ob¬
tained for investigating the functions sought.
The following properties are deducible from what has
been proved. First, if m, m', m", &c. be any numbers,
none of which is equal to zero, or a multiple of n, and
such that their sum is equal to n, or to a multiple of n,
the product
X f(o, m') X /(o, m"), &c.
will be independent of the cosines of p and its multiples,
or will be an expression containing only the powers of e
multiplied by numeral co-efficients.
For by the formula (B) we have
e —xm x =/(X, m)
e ~Xm X f(o, m') =/(X, m')
e Xm X f (o, m") =f (A, m")
&c. &c.
Therefore, by multiplying and observing that e Xm
X e x e Am x >&c.= 1, because A X (m+wf+ ?«"
+ , &c.) is a multiple of n, we get
/(o, m) X f(o, mr) X f(o, m"), &c. =/(A, m)
X /(A, m’) Xf(X, m"), &c.
which shows that the product in question is not altered
when p is changed into axp. Consequent!)’, according to
what was before proved, the product is independent of
the cosines.
It follows, as a corollary, that the product
f(o, m) X f(o, — m)
is independent of the cosines.
Next, if m, in', ntf, &c. be any numbers, and s — m
+ m' + m", &c.; and if neither s nor any of the numbers
m, m', m”, &c. be a multiple of n, we shall have
/(o, m) X f (o, m!) X f (o, m"), &c. = M X f (p, s),
the quantity M being independent of the cosines, and con¬
taining only the powers of e multiplied by numeral co-ef¬
ficients.
For, by the property already demonstrated, and its cor-
rollary, we have
/(o, m) X f (o, ni') X f (o, m") Xf(o, — s) = A
/(o, s) xf(o, — s) = A!;
A and A' being quantities independent of the cosines.
Therefore, by exterminating/’(o, — s), we get
f(o, m) X f (o, m’) X f(o, m") X , &c. = ./(o, s).
The foregoing properties are the foundations of the the¬
ory. But it is not enough to establish the principles by a
general demonstration ; it is also necessary to be able to
compute the numerical values that occur in the applica¬
tion to particular problems. Therefore, supposing that
m and m' are two numbers, and s = m m', none of the
EQUATIONS.
Equations, three numbers s, m, m', being a multiple of n, it is pro-
posed to find the value of A in the equation
/(o, m) X f (o, m') =: A X /(o, s).
For this purpose, set down the several terms of/(o, m’)
in their order ; and below them write the terms off (o, m),
placing first any term, as eXm cos. aAp,andthe rest in their
order, in this manner:
m' , 2 m' o I (n—l)w,
cos. p + e cos' f e cos. aJ <p  + ev '
Xm XQ , fx+l)/
e cos.a Y eK '
n—1
cos. a <p,
6cos.ax+V + e(x+2)w cos.ax+2?>
4- e(A + n-1)mcos.ax+n-1f
Now, let every term in the lower line be multiplied into
that which stands above it; and, separating the factor eXOT>
which is common to each product, let the symbol ex? X ^
(X) represent the sum of all the products; then
Y(A) =
} ? x+1 i (n—IV
cos. <P cos. a <p 4- e cos. a <p cos. a <p 4-
n—1 \-\-n 1
cos. a <p cos. a <p.
311
Next, when X is not equal to zero, let h (X) and h (X) Equations,
denote the numbers derived from X by means of the equa¬
tions
a* 4" 1 — a‘ (x) ,
ax—l=ah'W ;
then, by substituting a1 and ah ^ for w and w’, we shall
get
Y(X) = |/(/i (X), 4- |/(h’ (X), s') :
and, on account of the formula (B),
Y(X)= (2e ^ + J
Now, collecting all the parts in the expression of
f(o, m) X /(o, w')> we shall get these formulas, viz.
/(o, m) Xf (o, m’) = A X f (o, s)
A __1 e—** _j_ le«i—X(l> + I em~h'(l)s
, 1 2m—h(2)s I 1 2m—ti(2)s
+ 2‘ ^ +2e
, 1 3m—h(3)s , 1 3m—h'(3)s
+ 2C +2C
(2)
If we repeat this operation, so as to make every term of
the lower line stand first in succession, it is evident that,
by this means, every term off (o, mr) will be multiplied by
all the terms of f(o,ni); so that the sum of all the re- ^rCt
suits will be the product sought. We therefore obtain ^ nothing changes in the expression of A except the
f(o, m) X f(o, m’) indices m and s, it may be denoted by the abridged sym-
_ e2mY(2)... + e^n~l^mY(n — \.). bol (m, s), in which it is obvious that m'may be substi-
^ ^ tuted for m; so that
A = (m, s) = s).
When s is equal to n, and m’ = n — m, the product in
question becomes f (o, m) X f (o, — ni), which has been
proved to be a quantity independent of the cosines. In
this case, therefore, we shall have
f (o, m) X f (o, — m) = B;
B being a quantity from which the cosines are eliminated,
and which is now to be investigated.
If, in the foregoing case, we suppose w! ■=. n — m and
In the first place, when X 0, w = 2, = 0; there- s = w, we shall get
Let ax 4- 1 = w, and ax — 1 = w’; then, because the
product of the Cosines of the two arcs is equal to half the
sum of the cosines of the sum and difference of the two
arcs, we shall have
Y(X) =
^ cos. wp 4" e cos. a . wp 4“ e“s cos. a2 . wp 4” > &c. j-
4- 1 ^ cos. id <p-\- e cos.a . w’ $ -\-e‘s cos,
i.a2.tt/p4“>&c.
fore
K
Y(o) =
cos. 2p 4* e cos.a . 2p -\-e^s cos. a~. 2<p
A11—1)3
n 1 .2^1
cos. a
If., s i 2^ i
+ 2 i 1 + 6 + 6 + 6
.. + e
(n—1)^
}
guteM — 1=0; and hence ens — 1 — 0 ; or
0 = ( !— e*). { 1 + «* + + >&c.... + d }:
and, according to the value assumed for e, the equation
1 / = 0 cannot take place when s is not a multiple of
n; wherefore
.2* jl e3* _|_ e(n—!>
f(o, m) X f (o, — m) =
Y (o) 4- em Y (1) 4- e2m Y (2) . . . Y(w — 1) :
but here, because e* = en = 1, e and its powers disappear
from the expression of Y (/i), and we have
Y(X) =
cos. <p cos. ax p 4- COS. a<p cos. ax + 1 p 4" cos. a2p X
cos. ax + " p 4"> &c.;
and, by expanding the products of the cosines, as before,
Y (X) =
cos. wp 4- cos.a.wtp + cos.a2wp .. . 4-
cos. a
n— 1
w<p
}
0 = 1 4- 4- 4-
Now, if we put a = 2, we shall get
Y(o) = ^f(i,s) =
I {cos. .a* p 4" e* COS.a{ + 1 P + ^ cos.a^ + 2 p + ,&c. } , ;
Wherefore, on account of the formula (B), we finally get 2' \
Y(o) X/(o,4
4-i{ cos. «/p 4- cos. a . w'p 4- cos. a2. w'p
2 t
n — l )
cos. a . id<p j ’
When X = 0, w = 2, w' = 0; therefore
Y (o) —
cos. 2p 4" cos. a . 2p 4“ cos. a2 2p .
;.aM-1 .2p}
4-
4-
cos.
EQUATIONS.
+ ^{i + i + i + i + i
+ i
}•
and, by squaring and observing that, by equation (3), Equations.
{ / f = ^2’ we Set
But no alteration is made in equation (1) when we sub- l \ )
stitute, instead of the arc p, any one of its multiples, or, pn _ ^ .. .2 / n\2
which is the same thing, change p into aip, a?<p, &c.; be- \ > ) '\ > • ( > 4y .. . ^1, —J . k . (5).
cause such substitution or change continually reproduces
the same cosines. Thus it appears that the sum of the
n cosines in Y (o) is equal to — i; and we have
. . n 1
'rW=2-i'
For every other value of X, w and v/ are neither of them
equal to zero, nor to a multiple of 7i; wherefore, accord¬
ing to what has just been said, the sum of the n cosines
in each of the two parts of Y (X) is equal to — ; and
thus, when X is not equal to zero, we have
/ x U 1,1 1 1
Y(X) ~ 2 X ~~2 + 2 X “2 2*
By substituting the values of Y (o) and Y (X), we get
/(o, m) X f (o, — m) =
l~\-\ ( em + e2m + e3”* . . . + e(»- U-”).
But, as was already proved,
— l=em + e2m + e3m + e(” —1)wl:
wherefore
/■/ \ n 1|1 2« + l 1
/(o, m) = --- + -= =iP.
Now, if we put A2 = i jo, we have finally
f(o, m) X f (o, — ni) = k2 (3).
When n is an even number, it is obvious that / (o,
—g) : theref°re ^ follows as a corollary, that in
this case
When n is an odd number, we have, in like manner,
F~=(l,2).(l,3).(l,4)...
» + l
P 2 =(1,2).(1,3).(1,4)...
n Y
0’^)*
but, by equation (3),/ (o, X f (o, = kz;
wherefore Pn = (1, 2)2. (1, 3)2. (1,4)2 ^1, ]j2.
Again, from the preceding expressions we get
/ C0’ 2) = rrin • r8;
• P*.
and, by equation (4),
/(*> 2)
In like manner,
/(». 3)=^r2) • —’iTs) ■ r3.
(1.2)
_ c—1,—2)
k2
f(°> 4)
_(—1. —2) (— 1, — 3) (-1,-4)
k2
k2
k2
•P4,
&c.
These formulae need only be continued till we obtain
the value of the function flo, ™—
^ V ’ 2
?)
when n is even, and
/(o,|)=/(o,_|)=zfc/6=±|vpr o!f{0’n~ir) wl,en ”is odd; the remaining functions
r> i • .1 n . f (°> n — 2),/(o, w — 3), &c. or, which is the same thinff,
if (2)’ fil' i° the 1?dlCeS m an5 “ 2)’/(° — 3)’ &c* beinS derived from the preced-
m, and then to the indices n — m and n — m, or to mand ine values merelv bv chane-ino- thp aicmo nf
m’ taken negatively, we deduce
/ (0, m) Xf(o, m!) ~ (m, s) X /(o, s),
f(o, — m) Xf(o,~ m!) = (— m, — s)X f(o, — s):
and by multiplying we shall get, on account of equation
3), this remarkable formula, viz.
(m, s) X (—m., — s) = k2 . .. (4).
By successive applications of the equation (2), we get
/(o, 1) X f (o, 1) = (1, 2) X f (p, 2),
/(o, 1) X/(o,2) = (l,3) X/(o,3),
/(o, 1) X/(o,3) = (l,4) X/(o,4),
&c.
By combining these equations, and writing P for/ (o, 1),
we deduce
P! = (l,2)./(o,2),
P3 = (l, 2). (1,3) .f(o,S),
P4 = (l>2).(l,3).(l,4)./(0,4),
&c.
Wherefore, when n is an even number,
P^= (1,2).(1,3).(1,4) (l,2) ./(„,!);
mg values merely by changing the signs of the different
indices of e. Thus, if we write P for f (o, — 1), we
shall have V '
/(o,-2) = C!^).p«
/(n,_3) = <il).(Ill).p3
/(o,-4) = ^.M.M>.p.>
A2
&c.
Now, g being any number less than n, it has been shown
that
o = l + ee + e2< + e3e.... + e^n-l^:
and hence if we attend to the nature of functions f (o, o),
f {°> 1)jy(°> 2), &c. we shall readily get
cos. a* p =
l)+*-V(«, 2) +
f(o, 3) + , &c.|;
EQUATIONS.
Equations, or, by arranging the terms differently, and because
f(o,o)=-L
cos
313
&c. successively for s, in the expression of A, equation (2). Equations.
The half of these functions that have negative indices are
deduced from the other half, merely by changing the signs
, , , of the several indices of e, or by means of equation (4).
.o?p= —FT- + -- \ 1) + . f(o, — 1) l All the cosines sought are found by substituting o, 1, 2, 3,
n [ ) successively for £. Although the function P is sus-
i1 / _2> sa-i_ 2?  nx ] ceptible of n different values, represented by x, ex, eixy
n' \e ' 'J \°> 4)~T~e 'JK0’ A) &c<. yet the same cosines are deduced from any one of
1C 1 these values. By this means all ambiguity is avoided
+ -.\ e ’/(o, 3) + e32./(o,—3) with regard to the system of values that represent the
n ^ ' cosines ; but the numerical value that must be attached to
&c- . each particular cosine remains quite indeterminate, because
and it is to be observed that, when n is even* the last r ggQ0 ggQ0 gggo
1 —-?
term is the single quantity ~ Xe 2
which
<p may equally stand for , 2 X -> 3 X - —, &c.
P P jr
The adaptation of the numerical quantities to the geome-
trical cosines must be made out by means of their relative
has no corresponding part. Now, this quantity is entirely magnitudes . the largest number answering to the great-
” ” est cosine. But when the value of one cosine is fixed, the
known. For, since e” = l, we have —e ^ 1 ; rest are unambiguously determined by means of theii in-
but e bas been so assumed, that none of its powers with dices
indices less than n are equal to unit; and, therefore,
2 = —1, ande = ( ■— 1)?.
Again, by equation
(3),/^o, ^ = =±i k ; wherefore we have
1 2S
e *
n
On the whole, the preceding analysis brings us to the ^ ,
following formulae, which contain the solution of the pro- ^ q, &c> denoting given co-efficients.
In the formula for cos. as<f> all the terms in which two
quantities are combined have real values, although their
forms are imaginary. But it is not difficult to transform
them into equivalent quantities without the imaginary sign.
It is manifest that the functions (1, 2) and (— 1, — 2)
are of this form, viz.
(1, 2 ) = A + Be + Ce2 + De3 . . + Ne w~1,
(_ 1, — 2) = A + Be-1 + Ce -2 + De~3 ... +
Ne-^
blem, viz
when n is even, by equation (5),
But we have generally
P2 = (],2).(l,3).(l,4)....(l,|)x =•=*;
e = cos. Xr + sin. ArV — 1,
-x
when n is odd, by equation (6),
2
-i? — = A + B cos. r + C cos. 2r + > &c.
e " =■ cos. Xr — sin. A*V — 1:
wherefore, by combining the two expressions of (1, 2) and
(— 1, —2), we shall readily get
pn = (l,2)2.(l,3)2Cl,4)^..(l,^=^y.-(l,^).A2; (1> 2) ±±
and by equation (2), PPf = k2.
Finally, by substituting the values of/(o, 2), /(o, 3),
&c./(o, — 2),/(o, — 3), &c. in the expression of cos.
at<p, we get
, l ,k {e-t? ,eiV\
008.0? = -^ +-• + k |
+
+
(-!■—2)
k f(—1, —2) (
i,—
+
a 2)
3) /e-«P\3
+
(1,2) (1-3)
■(
(¥)'(
k }
"f", &C. . ,
the series of terms must be continued till the last index
of e and —^ is - — when n is odd, and —when
° k k 2 ^
n is even; and, in this last case, the quantity - X (—l)e
X k, must be added, prefixing to k the same sign that
n
2
is given to it in the value of P •
The solution of the problem is thus reduced to the com- be substituted in the value of P^, we
nf thp functions (h 2), (1, 3), &c. which requires (!, 2;, (I, JJ, &c. oe suosinutea in me vaiue or i , we
m worl than the substitution oV 1 for m, and of 2, 3, 4, shall readily deduce, when n is an even number,
0> 2) ( P ^) _ p sin> r C sin. 2r +, &c.
2
But, on account of equation (4), we may assume
(1, 2) = A (cos. /3 + sin. (3V — 1),
(— 1, — 2) (cos. jS — sin. fiV — 1) ;
and, by substituting these values in the last expressions,
we get
k cos. /3 = A + B cos. r + C cos. 2r +, &c.
k sin. /3 = B sin. r + C sin. 2r +, &c.
by which means the arc /3 is determined without ambi¬
guity, since both its sine and cosine are ascertained. In
like manner are determined the several arcs in the formulae
(1, 3) = A (cos. /S' + sin. /3V —1 ),
(— 1, — 3) = k (cos. /S' — sin. /3V — 1),
(1, 4) = A (cos. /3" + sin. /3V — 1),
(<— 1, — 4>) =k (cos. /3" — sin. /S'V — 1),
&c.
Again, because PP' = k2, we may assume
J> = k (cos. w + sin. wV — 1),
P'-— k (cos. w— sin. wV — 1),
And if these values, and the similar values of the functions
VOL. IX.
314
Equations.
:= /3 + /S' + /3" +, &C.
When n is an odd number, we must separate the function
(>^)
from the rest, by supposing
_ (^)=*
(cos. y + sin. y V — 1) :
and then, by means of equation (6), we shall easily obtain
i nw = 2(l3 + ft + /S'' +, &c.) + /.
The two last formulae determine the arc w ; and we like¬
wise have
"'P
k
W _ ,
—= cos. (w
&
and, by putting
e~SP
= cos. (w — gr) + sin. (w — g’') V — 1>
■ gr) — sin. (w — gr) V'—1 ;
w — gr,
.(e)
(e)
k
e*P
— cos. + sin. iv V — 1,
EQUATIONS.
primitive root of 11, we may suppose a = 2, In order to Equations,
find the numbers /i(A) and A'(X), write down the series 1,
2, 3, &c. as far as w or 5; and, above each number, write
the power of a equal to it when the multiples of 11 are
rejected, taking always the least remainder, whether po¬
sitive or negative: thus,
a0 a1 a3 a2 a4
12 3 4 5.
In this arrangement of the powers of a, it is evident
that, X denoting any index, h(X) is the next on the right
hand, and A'(X) the next on the left hand : we have, there¬
fore,
i=l,
h(l) = 3, h' (l) = 0,
A (2) = 4, h'(2) = 3,
A (3) = 2, A'(3) = 1,
A (4) = 4, A'(4) = 2.
Now, substitute these numbers in the expression of A,
equation (2), and likewise put m = 1; then
cos. w — sin. V—1.
.(«)
Finally, by substituting the different values exhibited
above in the formula for cos. we shall get
™(e>
cos.
1 . 2A
2k
-j . cos. (2wz — P)
+ — .cos. (3*
n v
, 2k .
+ — .cos. (4tt?
n
&c.
M).
(e).
■P—P’)
■P-P'—P*)
Lagrange and Legendre.
360°
A = 2C'
the series of terms being continued till all the arcs P, /3',
P", &c. are taken in when n is odd ; and till they are all
taken in except the last when n is even, in which case also
p A
the quantity (— 1) . — must be added.
By the preceding analysis the division of the circle into
p equal parts is accomplished, when p is a prime number,
p — 1
by dividing a given arc into n or*~2—equal parts. And
this conclusion agrees with the general proposition of M.
Gauss. For the nth part of a given arc is found by bisect¬
ing as often as n is divisible by 2, trisecting as often as it
is divisible by 3, and so on. When n is a power of two,
as in the case of the polygon of 17 sides, the solution is
effected by repeated bisections, and thus comes under the
elementary geometry. Supposing the division of the circle
to be accomplished, we must further resolve the quadra¬
tic equation
. I _ XX 360°
x -\— — 2 cos.. ,
x p
in order to find the roots of the binomial equation a? — 1
= 0.
The following examples are subjoined for the sake of
illustrating the method of calculation. And, in the first
place, we may take the case ofjo ==: 11 equivalent to find¬
ing the roots of the equation a:11 — 1 = 0, which was first
solved by Vandermonde, and has been considered both by
+ |c2-4, + le2_3‘
+ 1^+1/-
i 1 4—4* I 1 4—2*
+ 2e +2e ■
In order to find (1, 2) and (1, 3), we have only to sub¬
stitute 2 and 3 for s in the expression of A; hence
(1, 2) = 1 + 2e + ^ + e4,
(1, 3) = l + |e + 2e2 + e3;
which values will, in this case, be rendered somewhat
more simple by combining them with the equation 0 = 1
+ e + e> + e3 + e4: and thus we get
(1, 2)=e — e2
'2C -m’
(1, 3)=e'i — ei — ^e=fi.
The functions (— 1, — 2) and (— 1, — 3) are found by
subtracting the indices of e in the values of (1, 2) and
(1, 3) from 5, which is equivalent to changing the signs
of the indices ; therefore
(— 1, —2)=e4 — e3 — ie2=»i,
(-1>
■ 3)=e3 — e—
And it will be found, by actually multiplying, that
mmrz=kz=^- and /0/</=A2=-^.
These values being found, we have, according to the
foregoing method,
P3—(1, 2)2 • (1, 3) • A2=m2 p • A2,
P'«=^=(— 1, —2)2. (— 1, —3). A2=?«V. &:
PI 1
and hence-£ =-(m?. k2)5
Here, n = 5; k = J
P 1 ->
T = i(mV.A2f,
— 72° = cos. r + sin. rV — 1; and, as 2 is a
P2 1 / , 2
mV'2 1 i
F-F=VB!'‘
Equations, wherefore we have
EQUATIONS. 315
This last formula coincides with the calculation of Le- Equations,
gendre.
cos. a?<p = — -L + £ ? # , k2)^ The next example shall be the case of ^=17. Then,
+ T
— 2S
?2f
n=8, k = - V't? > r =
4 e_5 „ „ T , y =45°, and e z= cos. r+sin.
5 ’ (m/Jj ' ^ ^ )J * rv/—! . an(j5 3 being one of the primitive roots of 17, we
If, in this expression, we make g=:0, and substitute the may take a—3. Now, arranging the powers of a as in
numerical values of k2, and of e and its powers, in the the last example, we have
quantities under the radical sign, the result will coincide a0, a6, a1 a*, a5, a7, a3, a2
with the formula of Vandermonde, and with the calcula¬
tion of Lagrange.
The expression just found being imaginary, if it be re-
and hence,
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8:
i—6
quired to reduce it to a form fit for calculation, we must
begin with substituting the values of e and its powers in
m and fi: then
m=(cos. r— cos. 2r— ^cos. 3r)
+ (sin. r—sin. 2r—^T) • */—1.
^^(cos. 2r—cos. 4r — ^ cos. r)
+ (sin. 2r — sin. 4r—^ sin. r) . \/~r.
Now, cos. r=cos. 4rz= — 5 and cos. 2rz=cos. 3r=
— i — a^s0 sin* r ——s”1, and sin. 2r= —sin.
TP
3r: wherefore
3 . 1 .  
m=(cos. r—y008, 2r) + (sin. r—2 S'n* ^—L
^(1)=4,
7/(2)=2,
h(3)=2,
A(4)=5,
h(5)=l,
h(6) = l,
h(7)=3,
A'(l)=6,
h'(2)=3,
h'(3)=7,
A'(4) = l,
A'(5)=4,
AY6)=0,
h'(l)=5.
By substituting these numbers in the expression of A,
and likewise by putting m=\, we get
1 — <?» ■ 1 1 4s 1 ^ f>l—6s
A=-e~6s 4-
9. *2
+ -e
2
+i62-2*+|62-3‘
+r3~2‘
+r4“5'
+2^7'
+le4-'
/i=(cos. 2r-
Again,
3 1  
cos. r) + (sin. 2r+g sin. r) . y'—i.
A (cos. /3+sin. (3 . y'_i),
—k (cos. 7 + sin. 7 l) ;
consequently
^ 1, 3 n l + S-v/5
cos. (3 =j (cos. r 5 cos. 2r) 
sin. (sin. v — ^sin. 2r),
1/ o 3 x_—1 + V5
cos. 7=^ (cos. 2r — 2 CO8, V‘
4^/n
Hence
sin. 7=^ (sin. 2r+isin. r).
jSrr 23° 2CK 46",
7=140 7 61,
5w=2|S + 7—186 48 381,
w= 37 21 44,
,(?) =
g X 72° :
cos. w(e) cos< (2W? — /3) j-
1 +^/n r
cos-agp—— IQ —
By making g successively equal to 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, the
formula will give all the ten cosines of a polygon of
, « 360°
eleven sides inscribed in a circle; because cos. ^
It de-
+ie6-+|«B
+Ie7-3. + *e7-S..
In order to have the functions (1, 2), (1, 3), (1, 4), no¬
thing more is necessary than to substitute 2, 3, 4 for s
in the expression of A : then, observing that e + e5 = 0,
e2 + e6 = 0, e^e7 = 0, we readily get
(1, 2) = | e4 + e7 + e5=—| —aZ-2 = —m,
(1, 3) = 1+ ie4 + 2e6 = ^ —2>/Zi = «,
(1, 4) = | + e + e3=|+v/—2 = w:
and hence
(-1,-2) = g^ + e + e3 = —1+v/—2 = —m>
(—1, —3)=1+ ^ + 2^ = | +2^=11 = n',
(_1, —4)= | + e7 + ^ = | _ ^/-2 = m'.
These values being found, we next have
P4 = (l, 2). a, 3) . (1, 4) ./(0, 4);
/(0,4) = =±:A;
therefore, making/(0, 4) = — A,
p4 — /rt2wA,
A8
P'4 = — = mPn’k ;
360° „ 360°_ q 360°
= COS. 10 . -yp COS. 2 . yy COS. 9 . tq-, &c
termines also the order of the arcs to which the numerical and hence
quantities belong ; so that when the value of one cosine ^ P = ^ (w2«A)4; T . P = T (mVA)4
is fixed, the values of all the rest are likewise ascertained. A A k k
316
Equator
II
Equerry.
E Q U
p5__I vks• -“ = _V;?*•
—k'-p- k • k'k> k ’
w! n'P3 1 , 2 .7 \ 4
k kk? kK J '
1 l.
rr — — (nfinJt)4^;
m n P'3
wherefore
1
2
{ p(°)}
E Q U
* = 2k* + k;
■^(cos. f+ cos. aY)^ ^
V17 1
16
16 8
V2k* + k,
cos. = ——1)f • ^17
16
+ i | e t(m?n]i)A + e° (nfin'K)4, j-
_ 1 . | e-\nk f + e2? }
— g | e 3? (mQnrk) 4 + e3? (m^nk) 4 j- .
In order to reduce this expression, we shall put
p(g) := e 2? + e2? V
Y(g) = e ? (m2nk)i e'(m,2?i'k)4
— e 3? (m2n'k)i—(m'2nk)4.
And because e4 =:e 4=— 1, we get e6*=:e 2^=:(—1)?
. e2?, and e 6? = e2f = ( — l)e .e 2?. Wherefore, by
squaring,
| T(S) } > = W- 64( - 1/+3f(e)-24 . ?(s) . (-1)«.
Now, in the formula for cos. cficp, viz. cos. a^<p= — ^
— ( —!/• | K?) — g if* we change g into
f 4-4, no alteration will be produced, except that Y(g) will
change its sign ; for it is obvious that
^ + 4)=**. Y(|)=-Y(g).
Hence we readily deduce these two equations, viz.
| (cos. «Y + cos. at+4<p)= — ^ _(—1)? .
^ (cos. «Y — cos. at+4<pf= ^ X | Y(g) 11
If we suppose g z: 0, then
j (cos. <p — cos. aY)2 ^ ^ 4AZ — Qk — (2k — 3)
X V ~2& + k |.
And, when g = 2, then
p(2) = e4.p(0)=~p(0);
wherefore
^(cos. a^tp + cos. a6<p') — ^
\/TT , 1
16
+W2k2+k,
16 ‘ 8
i (cos. a2 —iCos.^Y)2 ^ ^ ^ — 3)
x v~2k2+ky
Next, suppose g =: 1, then
wherefore
\/n
1
i (cos. ap + cos. a5<p)= — Jq + + ^V2k2—k,
^ (cos. a<p — cos. a5<p)2 = — . 4A2+6A +(2£ + 3)
V2k2 — A | :
and, finally, making e = 3, we get
?>(3)=^X?(l) = -f<l);
wherefore
a/17
- (cos. aY + cos. aY) — ~ Jq + ~ u^2^— k>
16 8
^ (cos. aY—cos. aY)2 + -^ • 4A2+6^—(2^ + 3)
V2k*
Eques
Auratus
II ,
Equili¬
brium.
These formulae enable us to find the numerical values
of all the cosines sought; observing always that p is inde¬
terminate, and varies with the primitive root from which
the solution is deduced. (j. I.)
EQUATOR ((Equate, to make equal), in Astronomy and
Geography, a great circle of the sphere, equally distant from
the two poles of the world, or having the same poles as the
world. It is called equator because when the sun is in it
the days and nights are equal; whence also it is denomi¬
nated the equinoctial', and when drawn on maps, plani¬
spheres, or globes, it is called the equinoctial line, or
simply the line. Every point in the equator is 90 degrees
or a quadrant’s distance from the poles ,of the world ; and
hence the equator divides the sphere into two equal hemi¬
spheres, in one of which is the northern, and in the other
the southern pole. See Astronomy.
EQUATORIAL, pertaining to the equator.
Equatorial, an astronomical instrument for directing a
telescope at once to any celestial object whose right ascen¬
sion and declination are known, and for keeping the object
in view for any length of time notwithstanding the diurnal
motion. See Astronomy, vol. iv., p. 53.
EQUERRY (Fr. ecurie, a stable), an officer who has the
care and management of the horses of a king or prince.
The equerries of the royal household in England are cer¬
tain officers under the Master of the Horse, the first of whom
is styled chief equerry and clerk-marshal, and has a salary
of L.500 a-year. The royal equerries in rotation attend the
sovereign when riding abroad in state. Other members of
the royal family are likewise attended by equerries.
EQUES Auratus, a knight-bachelor; styled auratus
because anciently knights alone had the privilege of adorn¬
ing their armour with gold. In law its equivalent term is
miles or chevalier.
EQUESTRIAN (Lat. eques, a horseman, from equus, a
horse), pertaining to horses or to horsemanship.
EQUIANGULAR, having equal angles; as a square,
an equilateral triangle, &c.
EQUIDISTANT, being at an equal distance from some
fixed point or place.
EQUILATERAL, having all the sides equal; as an
equilateral triangle, a square, &c.
EQUILIBRIUM (Lat.), equipoise, equality of weight,
balance; as when the two ends of a lever or a balance,
E Q U
Equimul- charged with an equal weight, maintain an even or level
tiple position, parallel to the horizon. See Mechanics.
E uites EQUIMULTIPLE, in Arithmetic and Geometry, a
K 1UI es‘^ number or quantity multiplied by the same number or
^v quantity. Hence equimultiples are always in the same
ratio to each other as the simple quantities before multipli¬
cation. Thus, if 6 and 8 are multiplied by 4, the equimul¬
tiples 24 and 32 will be to each other as 6 to 8.
EQUINOCTIAL (cequus, equal, and nox, night), in
Astronomy, a great circle of the sphere, under which the
equator moves in its diurnal motion.
The equinoctial, or sequinoctial line, is ordinarily con¬
founded with the equator; but there is a difference, the
equator being moveable, and the equinoctial immoveable ;
the equator being drawn about the convex surface of the
sphere, and the equinoctial on the concave surface of the
magnus orbis.
When the sun, in its progress through the ecliptic, comes
to this circle, the days and nights are equal all over the
globe. The equinoctial, then, is the circle which the sun
describes, or appears to describe, at the time of the equb
noxes; that is, when the length of the day is everywhere
equal to that of the night, which happens twice a-year, viz,,
about the 21st of March and the 23d of September.
Equinoctial Points, the two points in which the equator
and ecliptic intersect each other. The one, being in the
first point of Aries, is called the vernal point or equinox ;
the other, in the first point of Libra, is denominated the
autumnal point or equinox. See Astronomy, voL iv., p. 12.
Equisoctial Dial, a dial of which the plane is parallel
to that of the equinoctial.
EQUINOX, in Astronomy, the time when the sun en¬
ters one of the equinoctial points.
The equinoxes happen when the sun is in the equinoctial
circle, and the days are equal to the nights throughout the
world, which is the case twice a-year; namely, about the
21st of March and the 23d of September, the former being
called the vernal and the latter the autumnal equinox. See
Astronomy, vol. iv., p. 14; and Precession of the
Equinoxes.
EQUIPOLLENCE {cequus, equal, and pollens, part,
of pollere, to be poiverful), in Logic, an equivalence between
two or more propositions; that is, when they signify the
same thing though differently expressed. Such terms or
propositions are said to be equipollent.
EQUIRIA, in Antiquity, a festival said to have been
instituted by Romulus, and celebrated with horse-races in
the Campus Martius on the 27th of February, in honour of
Mars.
EQUITES, an order of men in the commonwealth of
Rome, to which we can furnish no exact parallel in modern
times. They seem, indeed, to have resembled in some de¬
gree the gentry of England; with this difference, however,
that they enjoyed peculiar privileges, and were more of a
separate caste than any body of men which can now be
pointed out. Their origin goes back to the earliest times
of Roman history, though we can perceive, even from the
legendary statements of Livy and Dionysius, that their con¬
stitution and mode of selection had been changed in the
course of ages. During the reign of the kings they evi¬
dently appear to have been of noble birth, the younger
branches of patrician families. This we may infer from the
statement of Polybius (vi. 20), when he says that the knights
now are chosen according to fortune; evidently intimating
that their selection had depended on a different principle at
a previous period. Romulus is said to have divided them
into three centuries; and the very names of Ramnenses,
Titienses, and Luceres, by which he designated them, point
out distinctly their high origin. Both Tullus Hostdius
and Tarquinius added to their number; but it was Servius
Tullius (576 b.c ) who first organized them into a distinct
E Q U 317
body, and compelled the state to contribute annually to Equity,
their maintenance. It is difficult to perceive in what way
we are to explain the statement of Livy (i. 43), that the sum
often thousand pounds of brass v/as given to each for the
purchase of a horse ; an enormous sum when compared with
that at which oxen and sheep were rated in the table of
penalties. They were bound, of course, to be provided
with a noble steed, and may have been obliged to replace
it if lost through any casualty in war. Its accoutrements,
too, and a slave to take charge of it, were possibly all in¬
cluded in this large sum. But whether, when the censor
ordered the knight to sell his horse, it was the intention that
the outfit money should be refunded to the state, we have
now no means of determining. Livy tells us also that a
tax of two thousand pounds of brass was imposed on each
vidua, to maintain a knight’s horse. This certainly sounds
very strange, for it seems inconceivable that there should
have been such a large number of rich widows; and even
though we understand by the word vidua every single
woman, maiden as well as widow, we do not think that we
thereby get out of the difficulty.
As early as 400 b.c. we find that a certain fortune was
required to enable a man to be raised to the rank of eques.
In that year, at the siege of Veii, we are told that those who
possessed the requisite fortune, but to whom horses had not
been assigned, offered to provide these at their own expense.
This proposal was accepted ; and then it was, according to
Livy (v. 7), that they first received regular pay. In 303 b.c.
the censors Q. Fabius and P. Decius established a law by
which it was ordained that every fifth year a procession of the
equites should take place, and that those who had miscon¬
ducted themselves should be degraded from their rank.
They now evidently became a very powerful body in the
state ; yet in 186 b.c. we find it allowed as a reward to P.
Tlbutius, that the censor should not assign him a public
horse, and thereby compel him to serve as an eques against
his will. This proves that the duties must have been bur¬
densome, and regarded by many with distaste. In the later
times of the republic they increased in power and conse¬
quence, when the judicial functions were transferred from
the senate to the body of equites by the Sempronian law,
passed by C. Gracchus about 123 b.c. ; and a short time
afterwards they became the farmers of the public revenues,
by which they were enabled to amass immense riches. They
were deprived of their judicial powers by Sylla; but they
now possessed too much influence in the state to be ex¬
cluded from the higher and more dignified offices. After
his death they were admitted to their former power, which,
however, they shared with the senate.
Towards the end of the republic, and under the emperors,
the fortune requisite for an eques seems to have been four
hundred sestertia, equal to about L.3229 of our money ;
and even at this time knights’ horses were furnished by the
state, as we find by ancient inscriptions of that period.
(Gruter. Inscrip. 404.)
EQUITY {cequitas), even-handed justice ; right; the
impartial distribution of justice ; the treating of others ac¬
cording to reason and justice, or in that way to which, by
the natural law, that is, in strict justice, they are entitled.
Equity or justice is personified as a female divinity, bear¬
ing in one hand a sword, and in the other a balance.
In Jurisprudence, equity is defined by Grotius to be “ the
correction of that wherein the law (by reason of its gene¬
rality) is deficient.” “ Equity,” says Blackstone, “ in its
true and genuine meaning, is the soul and spirit of all law;
positive law is construed, and rational law is made by it. In
this respect equity is synonymous with justice; in that, to
the true and sound interpretation of the rule.”
Courts of Equity are distinguished from Courts of Law,
in that the former have jurisdiction in cases where the pro¬
per remedy cannot be found, or cannot be administered to
318 ERA ERA
Equiva- the full extent of the relative rights of all parties in the
lent . courts of common law, in which proceedings can be carried
1' on and decisions given only according to certain prescribed
jranarca. porms> "ppg rights secured by the former are termed legal;
those by the latter, equitable. Though equity, if not in
name, at least in substance, must have a place in every ra¬
tional system of jurisprudence, yet it is impossible that any
code, however minute and particular, should embrace or
provide for the infinite variety of human affairs, or should
furnish rules applicable to every case.
The most general description of a court of equity is, that
it has jurisdiction in cases where a plain, adequate, and com¬
plete remedy cannot be had in the common law courts. It
is not confined or limited in its modes of relief, like courts
of law, but grants relief to all parties in cases where they
have rights ex cequo et bono, and modifies and fashions that
relief according to circumstances. The jurisdiction of a
court of equity is sometimes concurrent with that of courts
of law, and sometimes it is exclusive. The most common
exercise of concurrent jurisdiction is in cases of accident,
fraud, mistake, &c. In many cases falling under these heads
courts of law cannot afford redress; in others they can,
though not always in so adequate a manner. It exercises
exclusive jurisdiction in all cases of merely equitable rights,
that is, such as are not recognized in courts of law. Most
cases of trust and confidence come under this head. (See
Justice Story’s Commentaries on Equity Jurisprudence;
Fonblanque On Equity; Haddock’s Treatise on Equity;
Lord Redesdale’s Treatise on Equity Pleadings?)
The equity judges are the Lord Chancellor, the Master
of the Rolls, the two Lords Justices of the Court of Appeal
in Chancery, and the three Vice-Chancellors. The Lord
Chancellor is a political officer of the highest importance
and influence. He is a privy-councillor, and at the head of
the judges and of the law. His duration of office, however,
is dependent upon that of the ministry of which he is a
member. The Master of the Rolls holds his appointment
for lile; and the Vice-Chancellors and Lords Justices of
Appeal, by act 13th Will. III., cap. 2, during good conduct.
The salary of the Lord Chancellor is L.l0,000; that of
the Master of the Rolls and the Lords Justices of Appeal,
L.6000 each ; and that of the Vice-Chancellors, L.5000.
EQUIVALENT, equal in value, force, or effect, to
something else.
Chemical Equivalents. See Chemistry, § Combina¬
tion of Definite Proportions, vol. vi., p. 441.
EQUULEUS, or Eculeus (dim. of equus, a horse), in
Antiquity, an instrument of torture used for extorting con¬
fession from slaves and criminals. (See Cic. pro Milo.)
This or a similar instrument was also made use of against
the Christians.
This instrument has been described as made of wood,
with holes at certain distances, and provided with a screw,
by means of which the victim was stretched to the third,
fourth, or fifth hole, his arms and legs being fastened to the
equuleus with cords. He was thus stretched till his bones
were dislocated, and further tortured by the application of
red-hot plates and a clawed instrument called ungula.
Equuleus, Equigulus, and Equus Minor, the horse’s
head, a constellation of the northern hemisphere. See
Astronomy.
EQUUS. See Horse, and index to Mammalia.
ERA. See ^Era, and Chronology.
ERANARCHA, among the ancient Greeks, a public
officer who presided over the distribution of alms and provi¬
sions allotted for the poor. Cornelius Nepos, in his Life
of Epaminondas, describes the office thus: When any
person was reduced to poverty, taken captive, or had a
daughter to marry and could not effect that object for want Erasia-
of money, the eranarcha called an assembly of friends and tratus
neighbours, and taxed each according to his means to con- II
tribute towards the relief of such person or persons. Erasmus,
ERASISTRATUS, a physician of lulus, a town of
the island of Ceos, now Zea, off Cape Sunium, in Attica,
flourished from about 300 to 258 b.c. According to one
account, he was grandson of Aristotle, his mother being
daughter of that philosopher. He seems to have been in
high favour at the court of Seleucus Nicator, whose son
Antiochus he recovered from a dangerous illness in the fol¬
lowing manner: Antiochus was violently enamoured of
his mother-in-law Stratonice, and he determined to rid him¬
self of life. His physician, Erasistratus, by close observation,
perceived that Stratonice was the cause of his illness; and
having informed his father, that monarch allowed his son to
marry her. A similar story is told of many ancient physicians.
In his old age he renounced the practice of medicine,
and, retiring to Alexandria, devoted himself more particu¬
larly to the study of anatomy. His description of the brain
and nerves is said to have been far more correct than that
of any of his predecessors. He was the founder of a school
of medicine, which flourished long at Smyrna, and the dis¬
ciples of which continued to exist till the time of Galen.
Of his works only a few fragments remain, in the quotations
of Galen and other writers.
ERASMUS, Desiderius, was born at Rotterdam on
the 28th of October 1467.1 His father, who bore the
name of Gerard, was an inhabitant of Tergou ; his mo¬
ther, named Margaret, was the daughter of Peter, a physi¬
cian of Sevenbergen. He had an elder brother, called
Peter, but their parents were never married, though a pro¬
mise of marriage is said so have preceded their intercourse.
The brothers of Gerard, who was a young man of wit and
gaiety, endeavoured to secure his patrimony by compelling
him to become an ecclesiastic. Finding himself very un¬
comfortable in his own country, he went to Rome, where
he employed himself in transcribing ancient authors ; for
the recent invention of printing had not entirely supersed¬
ed this more slow and expensive method of multiplying
copies of books. In the mean time, his relations sent him
a false account of Margaret’s death ; and his grief for her
supposed loss led him to adopt a resolution to which he
could not be impelled by their importunities. Having ta¬
ken orders, he returned to Holland, and found that she was
still alive ; but he could not now fulfil his promise of mar¬
rying her, and she never would marry another, nor did she
continue to cohabit with him after he became a priest.
He did not neglect the education of a son who was destin¬
ed to reflect so much lustre on the age and nation to which
he belonged. The boy was sent to school when he was
only four years old; and, when he was still very young,
his musical voice procured him a place among the choris¬
ters in the cathedral church at Utrecht. At the age of
nine he was removed to the school of Deventer, where his
master was Alexander Hegius, and one of his school-fel¬
lows was Adrianus Florentius, who continued to be his
friend when, long afterwards, he was elevated to the papal
chair, under the name of Adrian the Sixth. At this early
period he exhibited uncommon powers of memory ; and it
has been said, perhaps with some degree of exaggeration,
that he could repeat all Terence and Horace. His affec¬
tionate mother, who had likewise fixed her residence at
Deventer, died of the plague when he was about thirteen ;
and his father, deeply affected with her loss, speedily fol¬
lowed her to the grave. They had both of them attained
the age of about forty.
Gerard had recommended his hopeful son to the care of
liayle, Dictionnaire Ilistorique et Critique, tom. ii. p. 1091. Several biographers refer the birth of Erasmus to the year 1465; but
the inscription of his statue at Rotterdam assigns the date of 1467.
ERASMUS.
319
Erasmus. Peter Winckel, master of the school of Gouda, and to that
of other two guardians, but they all seem to have been
alike unworthy of such a trust; for with the view of divid¬
ing his slender patrimony among themselves, they agreed
to urge upon him the necessity of embracing the monastic
state. They accordingly compelled him to betake him¬
self to a convent of friars at Bois le Due in Brabant, where,
as he has himself stated, he lost three years of his existence.
No artifice or persuasion could at first induce him to be¬
come a friar, nor did any length of time subdue his utter
repugnance to a monastic life. Even at this early period,
as has been well remarked, he could discern that religion
was the thing least regarded in religious houses. He was
afterwards placed in the convent of Sion near Delft; and
having next been removed to that of Stein near Tergou,
he reluctantly submitted to pass his year of probation, and
to take the vows as a canon regular of St Augustin. His
brother, who had likewise been devoted to the monastic
profession, made an abrupt retreat from his convent, and
led a profligate and dissolute life ; but Erasmus, though he
also quitted his monastic state, to which, as Du Pin ob¬
serves, “ he had no inward vocation,” conducted himself
with sobriety, and prosecuted his studies with great assidu¬
ity. In 1490 he left the monastery to reside in the house¬
hold of Henry de Bergues, bishop of Cambray ; and in 1492
he was ordained priest by the bishop of Utrecht. He had
quitted the convent with the consent of the bishop, of the
prior, and of the general of the order. He wore the habit
as long as he conveniently could ; but when he resided in
Italy he was obliged to lay it aside, on account of its re¬
semblance to the dress of those who attended persons in¬
fected with the plague. From Julius the Second he ob¬
tained permission to wear it or not, according to his own
convenience, but on condition of still bearing some mark
of his order; and from the same pope, or from his succes¬
sor Leo the Tenth, he obtained an absolution from his
monastic vows. For the name of Gerardi he had substi¬
tuted that of Erasmus, as bearing a more classical form,
with the same signification. This name is of a Greek ori¬
gin, though its proper form is Erasmius ; and, prefixing a
Latin name of similar import, he adopted the appellation
of Desiderius Erasmus, instead of Gerard Gerardi.
In the year 1496 he was prosecuting his studies in the
university of Paris, where he became a member of the Col¬
lege of Montaigu, and was led to contract a friendship with
our learned countryman Hector Boyce, afterwards princi¬
pal of King’s College, Aberdeen. The bishop of Cambray,
who was more liberal of his promises than of his money,
had undertaken to assist him with a small pension ; but as
he excited hopes which were never realized, Erasmus was
left to the usual expedients of a scholar placed in such
circumstances. He laboured very diligently to increase
his own stock of learning, and endeavoured to earn his
subsistence by taking private pupils: thus he gradually
established a high reputation, and secured the friend¬
ship of individuals distinguished by their rank and in¬
fluence, as well as by their talents and learning. One
of his pupils was Lord Montjoy, in whom he found a
steady friend, and who afterwards bestowed upon him an
annual pension of a hundred crowns. It was apparently
through his cqnnexion with this young nobleman that he
was induced to visit England. The plague drove him from
Paris in the year 1497 ; and after passing through the
Netherlands, where he was kindly treated by the mar¬
chioness of Vere'in the castle of Tornenhens, he proceed¬
ed to London and Oxford. He now formed an acquain- Eragmus.^
tance with John Colet, afterwards dean of St Paul’s, and
with Thomas Linacre, William Grocyn, and W illiam La
timer, three individuals who each contributed to promote
among their countrymen a more general taste for the ele¬
gancies of classical literature. He is said to have resided
for some time in St Mary’s College, Oxford ; but not long
afterwards we again find him at Paris, and he likewise ap¬
pears to have visited Orleans. His Enchiridion Militis
Christiani he had begun in 1494, at the castle of Tornen¬
hens, but it was not completed till after an interval of se¬
veral years. This little book became very popular, and
was translated into various languages. An English ver¬
sion, ascribed to Tindall, was printed by W ynkyn de Worde
in 1533.1 About the same period he was preparing one of
his most elaborate works, the Adagia, first printed at Palis
in 1500, and was strenuously applying himself to the study
of the Greek language. He mentions to one of his cor¬
respondents, that as soon as he could get any money, he
would first purchase books, and afterwards clothes. He
had already published several of his smaller tracts, and had
laid the foundation of that celebrity which long continued
to increase, and which that of very few modern scholars
has exceeded. He had not however secured any adequate
provision ; and as he lived somewhat precariously, and
wandered from one place to another, he was too frequent¬
ly compelled to solicit the bounty of those to whom for¬
tune had been more propitious.
It appears from his correspondence that he was occasion¬
ally residing in Paris in 1504 and the two succeeding yeais.
To the study of the Greek language, to which he closely
applied for the space of three years, he was induced to add
that of the Hebrew ; but, as Dr Jortin has remarked, “ he
soon grew tired of the attempt, in all probability for w ant
of proper instructors and helps ; else he did things infinite¬
ly harder than it is to learn Hebrew.” The necessity of
taking pupils interfered with his own plans of study, and
prevented him from executing some literary projects which
he had now formed. In 1506 he again made his appeal-
ance in England, and is then supposed to have visited
Cambridge. During the same year, he returned to Paris,
and took with him the sons of J. Baptista Boeria, first phy¬
sician to Henry the Seventh. He next directed his course
towards Italy, and while he was prosecuting his journey^
on horseback, he composed a poem on the infirmities of
old age, and addressed it to William Cope, another physi¬
cian. Although he had not completed his fortieth year,
he considered himself as already numbered with the aged.
His constitution had never been vigorous; and he was
subject to various distempers, which his habits of unremit¬
ting application to study did not contribute to alleviate.
At an earlier period of life, he had expressed some anxiety
to visit Italy, in order to take a doctor’s degree; which,
as he was sufficiently aware, makes one neither better nor
wiser ; “ but it must be done,” says he, “ if a man would be
esteemed in the world.” He accordingly took the degree
of D. D. in the university of Turin. Having resided about
fifteen months at Bologna, when he superintended the edu¬
cation of Boeria’s two sons, he afterwards went to Venice,
and there published a third edition of his Adages. He
spent a winter at Padua, and repaired to Rome in the en¬
suing year. At Venice he contracted an acquaintance
with Marcus Musurus and Scipio Carteromachus, who
taught the Greek language at Padua and Bologna; and
he availed himself of so favourable an opportunity of ob-
» This was soon followed by another edition, printed by John Byddell, and bearing the following title : “ Enchiridion Militis Chris¬
tian! whiche mav be called in’ Englysshe the hansom Weapon of a Christen Knyght; replenyshed with many goodly and godly pre-
centes- made by the famous clerke Erasmus of Roterdame, and newly corrected and imprinted.” Lond. 1534, 8vo. Many English
translations from Erasmus are mentioned in Mr Lowndes’s Bibliographer’s Manual of English Literature, vol. n. p. 673.
CO w
20
ERASMUS.
rasmus.
faming a solution of some of the difficulties which had oc¬
curred to him in the explication of Greek proverbs. It
was at this period that he became the tutor of Alexander
Stewart, a natural son of James the Fourth, by Margaret the
daughter of Archibald Boyd of Bonshaw. His pupil, who
was a youth of an amiable disposition and of promising ta¬
lents, had been sent to the continent under the direction
of Sir Thomas Halkerton, and, having travelled through
France, became a student in the university of Padua; but
it was at Sienna that he studied grammar and rhetoric
under Erasmus, who has left a very pleasing account of
his character, and who affectionately bewailed his prema¬
ture death. At a very early age, he became archbishop
of St Andrews, and obtained in commendam the abbacy of
Dunfermline and the priorship of Coldingham. To these ec¬
clesiastical preferments he added the office of lord chancel¬
lor ; but having accompanied his father in the unfortunate
expedition to England, he was slain, along with other war¬
like churchmen, at the battle of Floddon-field, before he
had completed the twentieth year of his age.1
Erasmus experienced a gracious reception from the pope
and some of the cardinals, but Rome had not sufficient at¬
tractions for a person of his disposition. We again find
him in England about the beginning of the year 1510. On
his arrival, he took up his abode with Thomas More, who
was then a young man, and who afterwards rose to great
eminence. It was at this period that he composed one of
his most popular works, Stult'dice Laudatio, or the Praise
of Folly, which has been translated into all or most of the
cultivated languages of Europe. In this lucubration, which
he dedicated to his friend More, he treated the pope and
the court of Rome with but little ceremony; so that, as
Dr Knight has observed, “ he was never after this looked
upon as a true son of the church.” The king, before the
death of his father, had addressed a very friendly letter to
Erasmus when he was in Italy, and he now received him
with courtesy, although it does not appear that he ever be¬
stowed upon him any very substantial proofs of kindness.
To the king, as well as to Cardinal Wolsey, he owns him¬
self indebted, not for magnificent benefits, but for magni¬
ficent promises. His chief patron was William Warham,
archbishop of Canterbury, and chancellor of the kingdom;
who, besides many occasional gratuities, bestowed upon
him a living worth about a hundred nobles, the rectory of
Aldington, near Ashford in Kent.2 This however he
speedily resigned, reserving to himself a yearly pension of
twenty pounds ; to which the archbishop added an equal
sum from his own purse. He was invited to Cambridge
by Dr Fisher, bishop of Rochester, president of Queen’s
College, and chancellor of the university, who entertained
him in his own house, and procured him the appointment
ot Lady Margaret’s professor of divinity, and that of Greek
professor. Of these offices however, the honour appears
to have exceeded the emoluments, nor did he long con¬
tinue his residence at Cambridge. In the Greek chair he
was succeeded by Richard Croke, who had previously
taught that language in the university of Leipzig. His
treatment in England reflects no particular credit on the
character of those who had the chief distribution of eccle¬
siastical preferments. The king, though capable of per¬
ceiving his merit, had not sufficient generosity to reward
it; and the lordly churchmen reserved their best benefices
for those who had other recommendations to their protec¬
tion and favour. He has himself stated that if the promises
made to him had been realized, he would have spent the Erasmus,
remainder of his days in England ; but having been invit-
ed to Brabant, to the court of Charles archduke of Austria,
he again returned to the Netherlands, where he appears
to have been residing in the beginning of the year 1514.
With the honorary title of counsellor to that prince, he
obtained an annual pension of two hundred florins, which,
if it had been regularly paid, would have placed him in
circumstances sufficiently easy. He was presented to a
canonry at Courtray, but this he likewise resigned, reserv¬
ing to himself a pension out of its yearly revenue.
He had for some time been laboriously employed in pre¬
paring an edition of the Greek Testament; and in the
course of the same year he proceeded to Basel, for the
purpose of printing it at the celebrated press of Froben.
He likewise carried with him the epistles of St Jerom, il¬
lustrated with his notes, and some other books intended for
publication. To the writings of this father he had devot¬
ed much attention, and, on his arrival, he was therefore
gratified to find that an edition of his works had already
been sent to the press. Flis edition of the New Testa¬
ment was first printed in 1516 ; and other editions issued
from the same press in 1519, 1522, and 1527. At Basel
he now spent several months, much to his satisfaction, and
was particularly gratified with the reception which he ex¬
perienced from the bishop of that see. Returning to the
Netherlands, he learned that Charles, who afterwards be¬
came emperor of Germany, had nominated him to a vacant
bishopric in Sicily, supposing it to be at his own disposal;
and, finding the right of nomination belonged to the pope,
that he had solicited this preferment for Erasmus. But
the recommendation, which perhaps was not very urgent,
failed to produce any effect; nor did he hear of any effort
to procure him a bishopric, where the patronage was more
free from entanglement. In the year 1515, he appears to
have paid another visit to Basel, and likewise to England.
To this country he made another excursion in 1517. Of
the domestic habits of the English, he has drawn a picture
which now seems not a little antiquated. The plague, from
which that country was scarcely ever free, and the sweat¬
ing sickness, he partly ascribes to the incommodious form
and bad exposition of the houses, to the filthiness of the
streets, and to the sluttishness within doors. “ The floors,”
says he, “ are commonly of clay, strewed witlnrushes, under
which lies unmolested an ancient collection of beer, grease,
fragments, bones, spittle, excrements of dogs and cats, and
every thing that is jiasty.”
Francis the First had invited him to fix his residence in
France, and had promised him a benefice of a thousand
livres; but of this offer he could not be induced to avail
himself. He still lingered in the Netherlands; and we
find him occasionally residing at Louvain, the seat of a uni¬
versity which was long conspicuous for the bigotry of its
theologians, some of whom had appeared as his professed
antagonists.3 An event of great moment in the history of
mankind was now impending. In the memorable year
1517, the reformation of religion in Germany began by
Luther’s bold and decided opposition to the scandalous
traffic in indulgencies; one of the most corrupt practices
of a most corrupt church. From this beginning, apparent¬
ly trivial, arose many important events; and although Eras¬
mus did not possess the undaunted spirit of a genuine re¬
former, his writings were not without considerable influ¬
ence in preparing the way for those salutary changes which
Crawfurd’s Lives of the Officers of State, p. 59. Edinb. 1726, fob
^ Knight’s Life of Pirasmus, p. 154. See Dr Middleton’s Free Inquiry, p. cxxvi.
, . ,^ea.*;u® Rhenanus mentions his having taught at Louvain. “ Docuit Lovanii, Cantabrigiae in Anglia, Lutetise etiam privatim,
1 leo, "S186 * it juyenis operam.” Erasmus, in his short account of his own life, has stated that he went to Louvain after he first
returned from England.
E HAS M U S.
321
Erasmus, now began to take place. The cage of his wit and ridicule
was very sharply directed against monastic ignorance and
grimace, against the vain observances which were so gene¬
rally substituted for real piety.1 Many of his publications
had a powerful tendency to promote a critical knowledge of
the Scriptures and of ecclesiastical antiquity, and conse¬
quently were opposed, though indirectly, to the cause of
popery. But he never had the courage to avow his adhe¬
rence to the cause of reformation; and he himself admit¬
ted that he was not endowed with the spirit of a martyr.2
He was sufficiently ready to condemn the heat and violence
of the German reformer : but the task undertaken by Lu¬
ther was not to be executed by a man of a cool and balan¬
cing disposition ; and without a large portion of his un¬
flinching impetuosity and undaunted resolution, his dispu¬
tation and his preaching would, to all human appearance,
have been utterly unavailing. No sudden and beneficial
change in the affairs of mankind will ever be effected by
those who, like Erasmus of Roterdam, keep themselves
aloof from all danger, and recommend gentleness and mo¬
deration to others, when they have to contend against tem¬
poral power, fortified by inveterate prejudice, and roused
by the most intense feelings of selfishness.3 He was how¬
ever very far from approving of the violent proceedings of
Luther’s adversaries. In the year 1520, he was consulted
at Cologn by Frederick elector of Saxony, and gave a very
favourable opinion of the reformer. Luther, he remarked,
has been guilty of two offences ; he has touched the crown
of the pope and the bellies of the monks. He added, in a
more serious strain, that he had justly censured many
abuses and errors, which it was necessary to reform and
correct; that his doctrine was essentially right, but that it
had not been delivered with a proper temper, and with due
moderation. Although his conduct did not fully satisfy
the Lutherans, it still less satisfied the papists. I he publi¬
cation of his Colloquia did not contribute to recommend
the author to the genuine sons of the Romish church : it
exposed him to new accusations of laughing at indulgen-
cies, of disregarding auricular confession, and of deriding
the pious use of fish, instead of flesh, on certain appointed
days. This book, the most popular of all his performances,
was published at Basel: an impression, said to consist of
twenty-four thousand copies, was printed in 1527 by Coli-
net at Paris, and dispersed with amazing rapidity. The
sale was promoted by a rumour, which is supposed to have
been circulated by the printer, that the work was on the
point of being suppressed. During the preceding year, the
theological faculty of Paris had censured it as a book in
which the fasts and abstinences of the church are slighted,
the suffrages of the holy virgin and the saints are derided,
virginity is placed below matrimony, Christians are discou¬
raged from a monastic life, and grammatical is preferred
to theological erudition. In the year 1549 a provincial
council, held at Cologn, condemned the Colloquies of Eras¬
mus as unfit to be read in schools.
The latter years of his life he spent in Switzerland,
chiefly at Basel and Friburg. In the summer of 1522 he
paid a visit to Constance, professing an intention of repair- Erasmus,
ing to Rome, for the purpose of waiting upon his old '
school-fellow the new pope ; but to one of his correspon¬
dents he mentions that he had fallen sick at the former
city, and was deterred by rumours of war from prosecuting
his journey. It is however more than probable that he
had no great inclination to proceed. Adrian offered him a
good deanery, which he did not think it advisable to ac¬
cept ; for he apparently considered it in the light of a re¬
taining fee from the pope. In Switzerland he had many
friends, and was only prevented from liking the country by
the suffocating heat of the stoves, and the bad quality of
the wine. Being subject to the stone and gravel, he found
the new and acid beverage unsuitable to his constRution,
and was obliged to procure wine from Burgundy. As he
kept two servants and two horses, it may be infen ed that
he was enabled to live in sufficient comfort.
Ulrich von Hutten, a distinguished adherent of Luther,
nassing through the city ot Basel in 1522, solicited an in¬
terview, which the caution of Erasmus prevented him
fx'om granting.4 A slight of this nature w'as more than
sufficient to rouse the vehement indignation of the German
knight, who speedily discharged his spleen in a publication
entitled “ Ulrici ab Hutten cum Erasmo Roterodamo,
Presbytero, Theologo, Expostulation I his satirical effu¬
sion was followed by the “ Spongia Erasmi adversus Ad-
spergines Plutteni.” Flutten’s msolence and ferocity were
blamed by Melanchthon, and by Luther himself.
In the year 1523, Adrian was succeeded in the papal
chair by Clement the Seventh, who sent Erasmus an ho¬
nourable epistle, accompanied with a donation of two hun¬
dred florins. After many solicitations from different quar¬
ters, he wras at length induced to write against Luther,
but not on a subject which involved the chief points of
debate between the protestants and papists. His tract
De Libero Arbitrio wras printed in the year 1524. “ Lu¬
ther,” says Dr Jortin, “ was an admirer of Augustin, and,
like the Thomists, held a physical predetermination, which
entirely subverts human liberty, and which, under the
pretence of making the creature dependent upon the Cre¬
ator, deprives it of all active pow7ers, so that it can do no¬
thing without being necessarily determined by the influ¬
ence of God. If there was any difference between Luther
and the Thomists of the church of Rome, it was this, that
Luther spake more simply and sincerely and openly than
they ; for he absolutely denied that there was any such
thing as free-will, whilst they admitted it in words. This
perhaps deceived Erasmus, who imagined that he was only
disputing against Luther, whilst he was really disputing as
much against Thomas Aquinas and his followers, as against
the reformer. Be that as it will, Erasmus makes many
good remarks against the sentiment which he opposes, and
justly insists upon it, that the human will co-operates with
the grace or assistance of God.”5 In 1525 Luther return¬
ed an answer, in a treatise De Servo Arbitrio, where his
antagonist is treated with much scorn and contempt. Eras¬
mus immediately replied in the first part of his Hyperas-
i j)r Robertson has remarked that “ there was hardly any opinion or practice of the Romish church which Luther endeavoured to
reform but what had been previously animadverted upon by Erasmus, and had afforded him subject either of censure or raillery.
(Hist of Charles Y. vol. ii. p. 142.) See likewise Archdeacon Blackburne’s Confessional, p. 40J. I he worthy archdeacon describes
Vrnsmus as “ one of the most illustrious characters in all history.” ^
’LA Fabricius has written a tract on the religion of Erasmus, which may be found in his OpuscvlorumhutoricoMco-ktcrartorum
•^30ff’AP: SJ'ma^^stvsDr’piley, “ who attacks a flourishing establishment writes with a halter round his neck, few ever will be
found to attempt alterations but men of more spirit than prudence, of more sincerity than caution, of warm, eager, and impetuous
found to attempt aiura imnrovement till the cool, the calm, the discreet part of mankind begin it, till church
2 s
ERASMUS.
322
Erasmus, pistes, and the second part appeared in the year 1527 ;
' but, upon the whole, he appears to have had no reason to
congratulate himself on the issue of the controversy.
About this period, Erasmus prepared various other works.
In 1525 he published “ Lingua, opus novum, et hisce tem-
poribus aptissimum.” In 1528 he published, in one volume,
two of the most conspicuous of his literary compositions.
The first bears the title, “ De recta Latini Graecique Ser-
monis Pronuntiatione Dialogusthe second, “ Dialogus
cui titulus, Ciceronianus, sive de optimo Genere Dicendi.”
Both these works were printed at Basel. His dialogue on
the pronunciation of the classical languages excited much
attention, and occasioned much controversy.1 The pro¬
nunciation of Greek which then prevailed, was in some
countries denominated the Reuchlinian, from its having
been adopted by Reuchlin, who died in the year 1521, af¬
ter having been chiefly instrumental in the introduction of
classical learning into Germany. It essentially coincided
with the pronunciation of the modern Greeks. In the co¬
pious grammar of Scot,2 first printed in the year 1593, we
still find the same system recommended. To the letter /3
he assigns the name of vita, to £ of zita, to jj of ita, to 0 of
thita. According to this system, the vowels v\, i, v, and the
diphthongs £/, o/, have no variety of sound, but ought to be
pronounced as the French pronounce the letter i. Thus nj,
n, ru, tsi, tqi, have one and the same sound, instead of five
distinct sounds. This however is not the only peculiarity
of the system. Reuchlin’s mode of pronunciation was al¬
most entirely supplanted by that of Erasmus, although se¬
veral learned men have at a much more recent period en¬
deavoured to restore the old method. In his other inge¬
nious dialogue, the Ciceronianus, he ridicules some modern
scholars, chiefly Italians, who studiously rejected every
word or phrase which had not been sanctioned by the au¬
thority of Cicero. Of the dead and the living he speaks
with his usual freedom ; nor did this publication contri¬
bute to diminish the number of his enemies. It was at¬
tacked with great ferocity by Julius Caesar Scaliger, who
writes in a style by no means Ciceronian.
In the year 1529, after the mass had been abolished at
Basel, he removed to Friburg, where he purchased a house,
and repaired it at considerable expense. In 1533 he pub¬
lished at Antwerp a treatise bearing the title of “ Liber
de sarcienda Ecclesiae Concordia.” On the same subject,
he has introduced many suggestions into his epistles; but
the peace of the church was not to be patched up by any
expedients which Erasmus was capable of devising. His
“ Ecclesiastes, sive de Ratione Concionandi,” appeared in
1535 ; and while it was printing at Basel, he returned to
that city, and there he completed his earthly pilgrimage.
On the accession of Paul the Third, a design was enter¬
tained of elevating Erasmus to the rank of a cardinal; but
he had never been ambitious of ecclesiastical dignities,
and now the state of his health was such as to deprive all
sublunary honours of .their usual attractions. The pope
nominated him provost of the college of canons at Deven¬
ter ; but already considering himself as standing on the
verge of the grave, he declined an office which he proba¬
bly would not have accepted in the vigour of his life. He
had left Friburg in a bad state of health, nor were his ma¬
ladies alleviated by his removal to Basel. He became worse
during the summer, and for about a month was afflicted Erasmus,
with dysentery. Disregarding those formal and minute 'wv-'*-''
devotions which he had so much derided in the monks,
he fervently implored the mercy of God through Jesus
Christ; and retaining his reason unimpaired till his last
moments, he calmly expired on the 12th of July 1536,
when he had nearly completed the sixty-ninth year of his
age. A great concourse of people attended his funeral in
the cathedral church of Basel. By his will, dated in the
month of February, he bequeathed handsome legacies to
several of his friends, and directed the residue of his pro¬
perty to be distributed by his executors, in relieving the
poor and the sick, in marrying young women, and in as¬
sisting young men, such as they should judge to be neces¬
sitous and deserving.
Erasmus, though somewhat low in stature, was well
formed, and had an easy and genteel air, nor was he slo¬
venly or negligent in his apparel. He had a fair complex¬
ion, with grey eyes, and, during his youth, his hair was of
a pale yellow. He had a cheerful countenance, with alow
voice, and a pleasing elocution. He was a steady friend,
and an agreeable companion; and indeed if his conversa¬
tion displayed any portion of the wit and vivacity which
distinguish his writings, his society could not fail of being
delightful. Ardently devoted to letters, he kept his mind
uncontaminated with that avarice and ambition by which
churchmen have in too many instances been secularized.
In disseminating a love of elegant letters among his con¬
temporaries, he had no small influence, and equally con¬
spicuous were his merits as a theologian. For the lifeless
formalities of scholastic theology he had little respect, and
less relish ; but by his labours on the New Testament, and
more especially by his publication and elucidations of the
original text, he gave a new impulse to the students of that
age, and directed their minds to a more edifying species
of knowledge. To him belongs the honour of being the
earliest editor of the Greek Testament; for although the
Alcala edition, inserted in the Polyglot Bible, bears the
imprint of 1514, it was not published till the year 1522.
Of his paraphrase of the New Testament, an English
translation was printed at an early period ;3 and so high
was the estimation in which it was held, that a copy of it
was directed to be placed in every parish-church in the
kingdom.4 The works of the ancient fathers of the church
he had studied with much assiduity. To editions of Ire-
nseus, Chrysostom, Cyprian, Hilary, Ambrose, Jerom, Au¬
gustin, and Arnobius the younger, he contributed more or
less aid; and he translated particular treatises of Origen,
Athanasius, Basil, and Chrysostom. His labours like¬
wise served to render the writings of the ancient classics
more accessible. Of the Geography of Ptolemy, the Greek
text was first edited by Erasmus. He published editions
of Livy, Seneca, Suetonius, and other authors ; and if he
seldom added notes, his prefaces were considered as no
small recommendation. He translated into verse the He¬
cuba and Iphigenia of Euripides, and into prose detached
works of Galen, Plutarch, Lucian, and Libanius. The
labours of Erasmus were multifarious, and his composi¬
tions are very numerous; for our scanty limits have only
afforded us an opportunity of specifying the more re¬
markable. An ample and elegant edition of his works
1 Of this famous controversy a detailed account may be found in the Foreign Quarterly Review, vol. xiii- p. 60.
* Alexander Scot, LL. D. was a native of Scotland, but he appears to have spent the greatest part of his life in France, and tc
have exercised the functions of a judge at Carpentras. “ Alexander Scotus Aberdonensis, magni nominis, sed majoris meriti, utriusque
linguae peritus, juris civilis scientia in paucis clarus, Carpentoractensis praefeetus juri dicundo, quo in munere non minorem integri-
tatis quam eruditionis famam acquisivit.” (Dempsteri Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Scotorum, p. 664.) We use the third edition
of his Universa Grammatica Grocca. Lugduni, 1614, 8vo. This is not the only work which Scot published.
3 Lomh 1548-9, 2 vols. fob The translation was executed by Miles Coverdale, Nicholas Udall, John Olde, and others. See Dr
Dibdin’s Typographical Antiquities, vol. iii. p. 491.
4 Ruruet’s History of the Reformation, vol. ii. p. 27*
Erato
Erbach.
E R B
was published by Le Clerc, to whom we are likewise indebted
for a discriminating account of the author’s life and character.1
Dr Jortin has remarked that “ the style of Erasmus is
that of a man who had a strong memory, a natural eloquence,
a lively fancy, and a ready invention, who composed with
great facility and rapidity, and who did not care for the
trouble of revising and correcting; who had spent all his
days in reading, writing, and talking Latin ; for he seems
to have had no turn for modern languages, and perhaps he
had almost forgotten his mother tongue. His style there¬
fore is always unaffected, easy, copious, fluent, and clear,
hut not always perfectly pure and strictly classical. He
hath been censured, as a dealer in barbarisms, by persons
who not only had not half of his abilities and erudition, but
who did not even write Latin half so well as he. His verses
are plainly the compositions of one who had much learning
and good sense, and who understood prosody, or the technical
part of poetry, but who had not an equal elegance of taste,
and an ear for poetical numbers. So that upon the whole
he is rather a versifier than a poet, and is not to be ranked
amongst the Italian poets of those days, Sannazarius, Fra-
castorius, Vida, &c., many of whom wrote better than any
of the ancients, except Lucretius, Virgil, Horace, and a few
more.” (i>. i.)
ERATO (from Zpdw, I love), in Mythology, the name
of the muse who presided over amatory poetry. The in¬
vention of the lyre and the lute has by some been ascribed
to this muse. She is represented with a garland of myrtles
and roses, holding a lyre in one hand and .a bow in the
other, while at her side is seen a Cupid with his torch. One
of the Nereids also bore the same name.
ERATOSTHENES, a celebrated astronomer and geo¬
metrician of Alexandria, was born at Cyrene b.c. 276. His
father’s name was Aglaus or Ambrosius. He was appointed
superintendent of the great Alexandrian library by Ptolemy
Euergetes, and died of voluntary starvation b.c. 196. His
works, with the exception of the Catasterismi, or catalogue
of the constellations, exist only in fragments. For a com¬
plete list of them see the Eratosthenica of Bernhardy. An
account of his astronomical and geometrical discoveries is
given under Astronomy, History of.
ERATOSTRATUS, or more properly Erostratus, an
Ephesian who fired the famous temple of Diana the same
night on which Alexander was born (b.c. 356), the watch¬
ful care of the goddess being withdrawn to attend the labour
of Olympias. Having confessed that the desire to immor¬
talize his name instigated him to the deed, Eratostratus was
condemned by the Ephesians to eternal oblivion.
ERASTUS, or LIEBER, Thomas, a German physician,
who was the formal originator of the opinions now generally
denominated Erastian. Fie was born at Baden in Switzer¬
land in 1523 ; studied at Basle ; and was professor of medi¬
cine at Fleidelberg. He was afterwards professor of ethics
at Basle, where he died in 1584. Erastus was the author
of several medical works, but that for which he is chiefly
known is the work on Excommunication, in which he pro-
muDated his peculiar opinions ; which are known under the
name of Erastianism. He taught that the church had no
right to refuse participation in the Lord’s Supper, baptism,
or other ordinances of the gospel, to any one, that it had no
right to inflict excommunication or any kind of censure, and
that the punishment of all offences, religious as well as civil,
should be left in the hands of the civil magistrate.
ERBACH, a towm of Hesse-Darmstadt, province of
ERE
Starkenburg, on the Miimling, 24 miles S.E. of Darmstadt.
Pop. 2100. It is the capital of a county formerly indepen¬
dent, but mediatized in 1806. The palace contains inter¬
esting collections of armour and antiquities. There are
several other towns of this name in Germany.
ERBIL, a town of Persia. See Arbela.
EREBUS, "EpqSos (from night), in Mythology, a
term denoting darkness. According to Hesiod, Erebus
was the son of Chaos and Night, and the father of the day.
This was also the name of part of the infernal regions among
the ancients; and a peculiar expiation was provided for
those who were detained in Erebus.
Erebus was properly the gloomy region, and distinguished
both from Tartarus the place of torment, and Elysium the
region of bliss. According to the account given of it by
Virgil, it forms the third grand division of the invisible
world beyond the Styx, and comprehends several particular
districts, as the limbus infantum, or the receptacle for in¬
fants ; the limbus for those who had destroyed themselves ;
the fields of mourning, full of dark groves andwoods, inhabited
by those who died of love ; and beyond these, an open
champaign country for the accommodation of departed
warriors.
ERECHTHEUS, or Erichthonius, an Athenian hero.
See Attica, vol. iv., p. 192.
EREKLI, or Eregli, the modern name of Heraclea,
which see.
EREMITE. See Hermit.
ERETHISM (ipeOLagos), in Medicine, a morbid degree
of energy in the performance of any function.
ERETRIA, one of the most ancient and powerful cities
of Euboea, was situated on the western shore of the island
in a south-easterly direction from Chalcis, from which it was
not very far distant. Its inhabitants were a mixed race of
Attic and Triphylian colonists ; but the preponderating
element in the city was Ionic. At an early period Eretria
became famous as a maritime power; and the excellence of
its position afforded it great facilities for the development
of its resources in this direction. The great plain of Lelan-
tum, at the southern extremity of which Eretria lay and
at the northern Chalcis, was one of the most f ertile spots in
Greece. It was claimed by Eretria and Chalcis alike, and
the contests for its possession gave rise to long and bloody
feuds between the rival cities. In one of these the Eretrians
were assisted by the Milesians, and in gratitude for this
good office sent reinforcements to aid that people in their
revolt from the Persians, b.c. 500. Ten years after this
event, Eretria was besieged by Datis and Artapheines, the
generals of Darius. After a siege of six days it was taken
and razed to the ground, and the inhabitants were carried off
into slavery. A new town was soon after built a little south of
the ancient site, and became a place of some importance.
On the decay of the Athenian power, towards the end of
the Peloponnesian' war, the Eretrians joined the other
Euboeans in throwing off the yoke of Athens. After this
date Eretria experienced a variety of vicissitudes. It was
at first governed by tyrants ; and though a popular form of
government was once more established with the aid of the
Athenians, it finally became subject to Macedonia. On the
overthrow of that kingdom by the Romans at Cynoscephalac,
Eretria was again declared to be free. Of the subsequent
history of the city and its final decay, nothing is known.
No remains of Old Eretria now exist, but considerable ruins
of the new city may still be traced near the modern Vathy.
323
Erbil
II
Eretria.
i Desiderii Erasmi Opera omnia emendatiora et auctiora. Lugd. Bat. 1703-6, 10 tom. fol Le Clerc s account of Erasmus, chiefly
derived from h s letters may be found in the Bibliotheque Choisie, tom. v„ p. 145, tom v,., p. 7 His other biographers are numerous;
and we shaU mention the most considerable Lives which have appeared in a separate form. Knight’s Life of Erasmus, more particularly
that Tart of it which he spent in England. Cambridge, 1726, 8vo. Burigny, Vie d^Erasme. Pans, 1757 2 t 12 j t
T T London 1758-60, 2 vols. 4to. Hess’s Erasmus von Roterdam nach seinem Leben und Schriften. Zurich, 1790,
•' BdeSvo OfM. de Burigny’s work, a German translation, with corrections and additions, was published by Professor Henke Halle
und Helmstadt 1782 <> Bde 8vo. Dr Knight’s work had been translated into the same language by Theodor Arnold. Leipzig, 1735, Svo.
324 ERG E R I
Erfurt For an account of the Eretrian school of philosophy, founded
II by Menedemus, a native of the place and a disciple of Plato,
‘!'°ot' j see Menedemus.
ERFURT, a city of Prussian Saxony, capital of a cog-
nominal government, on the Gera, 14 miles E. of Gotha,
and about the same distance W. of Weimar. It was formerly
the capital of Thuringia, and is a fortress of the second
class, being of importance on account of its position on the
high road between Frankfort and Leipzig. It has two cita¬
dels, the one Petersburg, within the walls, the other Cyriaks-
burg, on Mount Cyriaks, outside the town. Erfurt is an
old, dull, and irregularly built town, having no street or
square worthy of notice, except the market place which is
ornamented with a stone obelisk 50 feet high, erected in
1802 to Charles, Elector of Mayence. The cathedral is a
fine Gothic building standing on an eminence, and having
a famous bell (called the Susanna) 10 feet high, 30 feet in
circumference, and weighing 275 cwt. The largest and
finest church after the cathedral is the Predig<?rkirche.
The church of St Severus is distinguished by its three
towers. The BarfiisSerkirche, of which a part fell in 1838
but has since been restored, is also worthy of notice. In
the beginning of the present century Erfurt had eight con¬
vents, but of these only one now remains, the Ursuline
nunnery, in connection with which is a female school. The
Augustine monastery, which Luther entered as a monk on
17th July 1505, is now used as an orphan asylum. The
cell which he inhabited is still preserved in its original con¬
dition, and contains his portrait, bible, and other relics. The
university established here towards the end of the fourteenth
century was suppressed in 1816. There are, however, a
botanic garden, observatory, anatomic theatre, and a public
library of about 50,000 volumes. Among the other edu¬
cational institutions, which are numerous, may be mentioned
a Roman Catholic and a Protestant gymnasium, a normal
school, midwifery school, deaf-mute and blind institutions,
a royal academy of popular sciences, trade and commercial
schools. In the time of Charlemagne this uras one of the
chief commercial cities of Germany, and it afterwards be¬
came a member of the Hanseatic League. In the end of
the sixteenth century it is said to have had as many as
58,000 inhabitants. It was first annexed to the Prussian
dominions in 1803, and from 1807 to 1813 was in the pos¬
session of the French. In 1808 the memorable interview
between Napoleon and the Emperor Alexander of Russia
took place here. It was restored to Prussia in 1814. In
1849 Erfurt contained 32,224 inhabitants, including 5561
military: of these 25,438 were Protestants, 6619 Roman
Catholics, and 167 Jews. They are chiefly employed in
the manufacture of linen, woollen, and cotton goods, and
silk ribands; and in shoemaking, and the rearing of garden
produce. The government comprehends nine circles, and
has an area of 1306 square miles. Pop. (1849) 347,279, of
whom 247,332 were Protestants, 98,485 Roman Catholics,
and 1457 Jews. Pop. (1852) 350,781.
ERGASTULUM, among the ancient Romans, a kind
of work-house or private prison, usually attached to farms,
where the slaves wrere made to work in fetters. It was
usually under ground ; and from this dungeon the unhappy
inmates were led forth in chains to cultivate the fields.
Confinement in the Ergastulum was also used as a punish¬
ment for disobedient or intractable slaves, who frequently
experienced in these dungeons great severities. At length,
alter various enactments for ameliorating the condition of
slaves, the ergastula were entirely abolished by Hadrian.—•
(See Spart., Hadrian, 18; Plutarch, Tib. Gracch. 8.)
EILjO I (Fr. ergot, a cock's spur), a disease caused in
rye and some other grasses by the attack of a fungus called
hrgot&tia abortans, which induces a morbid condition in
the ovarian cells. See Botany, vol. v., p. 172. Rye thus Ericaceae
affected is highly poisonous, and has sometimes caused death ||
by a kind of mortification called dry gangrene. Ergot is a Erigena-
valuable agent employed in obstetric practice for promoting
the contraction of the uterus.
ERICACEAE, the heath order of plants. See Botany,
Nat. Ord. 131.
ERICIUS, in Homan Antiquity, a military engine, so
named from its resemblance to a hedge-hog. It was a kind
of chevaux-de-frise, and was placed as a defence at the gate
of the camp.
ERIDANUS, a river celebrated in ancient mythology
as that into which Phaethon is said to have fallen when
struck by the lightning of Jupiter, and on whose banks his
sisters bewailed his loss so bitterly that they were changed
into long and slender poplars, and their tears into amber.
By the later writers this river has been identified with
the Padus or Po, but the absence of amber there, and other
circumstances, have led to the belief that the Eridanus of
the earlier writers is to be sought for among the more north¬
ern rivers of Europe. Cluverius has suggested that the
Eridanus of Herodotus may be the Rhodaune, a tributary
of the Vistula; whilst others, knowing that amber was the
staple production of the Baltic, are inclined to believe it to
be the name applied to that sea by mythologists, who were
little acquainted with geography.
Eridanus, in Astronomy, a constellation of the southern
hemisphere, containing 84 stars.
ERIE, a lake of North America. See Canada.
ERIGENA, Joannes Scotus, a famous scholastic di¬
vine, was born about the beginning of the ninth century;
but the place of his birth is a matter of considerable uncer¬
tainty. Bale and Pitts affirm that he was born at St David’s
in Wales; Dempster, Mackenzie, and Henry, that he was
a native of Scotland. Dempster contends that he was born
at Ayr, and in order to suit the name to the hypothesis, he
describes him as Joannes Airigena. Du Pin, Sir James
Ware, and Dr Ledwich have with greater probability as¬
serted that he was by birth an Irishman, Ireland being then
called Scotia, and by the natives Erin. Various writers
agree in relating that he travelled to Athens, where he ac¬
quired a competent knowledge of the Greek and oriental
languages; and that he afterwards resided many years at
the court of Charles the Bald, king of France, who, on ac¬
count of his singular abilities, treated him as his intimate
friend and companion. He slept frequently in the royal
apartment, and was constantly admitted to the king’s table.
“ We may judge,” says a modern historian, ‘*of the freedom
which he used with Charles, by the following repartee. As
the king and Scotus were sitting one day at table, opposite
to each other, after dinner, drinking a cheerful glass, the
philosopher having said something that w'as not quite
agreeable to the rules of French politeness, the king in a
merry humour asked him, Pray, what is between a Scot and
a sot?” To which he answered, “Nothing but the table.”1
During his residence with Charles, he wrote several books
of scholastic divinity, but was not so fortunate as to escape
the imputation of heterodoxy. On that account the pope
commanded Charles to send him to Rome; but the king
had too great a regard for his companion to trust him with
his holiness. One of the chief controversies in which Eri-
gena was engaged, and with which the pope was much
offended, was concerning the real presence. His opinion
of this weighty matter is expressed in these few words :—
“ What we receive corporally is not the body of our Lord,
but that which feeds the soul, and is only perceived by faith.”
Whether Erigena ended his days in France is a matter
of doubt. Some historians relate that he quitted it in 864 ;
and that, after residing about three years in Oxford, he re-
1 Henry’s History of Great Britain, vol. L, p. 344.
Erigone
II
Erivan.
E R I E R N 325
tired to the abbey of Malmesbury, where his scholars stabbed
him with their pen-knives. There is no foundation for this
story. Probably he died about 874 ; but whether in France
or England, is uncertain, and of little importance. Some
have related that he was invited to England by King Alfred ;
but they have apparently confounded him with John abbot
of Etheling, who was assassinated in 895 ; and to this mis¬
take the various accounts concerning Erigena are to be at¬
tributed. Amongst other works, he composed the follow¬
ing:—*1. Excerpta de Differentiis el Societatibus Greed
Latinique Verhi. 2. L)c Divisione Natures lib. v. 3. De
Preedestinatione Pei. 4. De Visione Dei. 5. De Cor-
pore et Sanguine Domini. 6. Ambigua S. Maximi, seu
Scholia ejus in difficiles locos S. Gregorii Nazianzeni,
Latine versa. 7. Opera S. Dionysii quatuor in Latinam.
linguam conversa. Most of these works have been printed.
There is an edition of his books De Divisione Natures.
Oxon. 1681, fob The author was formerly denominated
the Glory of the Greeks; an appellation to which, in the
opinion of Montfaucon, he was not sufficiently entitled.1
For the age in which he lived, he however appears to have
been a person of eminent learning; and his translation of
Dionysius Areopagita has received no mean commendation
from Huet.2
ERIGONE, in Grecian Mythology, daughter of Icarus.
Dying of grief on account of her father’s death, she was
translated to heaven, and formed the sign Virgo. See Eora.
ERINITE, a native arseniate of copper, of a fine eme¬
rald-green colour. It was found at Limerick in Ireland—
whence the name.
ERINNA, a Greek poetess, the friend and contemporary
of Sappho, from her intimacy with whom, although born in
Rhodes, she is frequently called a Lesbian. Of her poems,
which attained the highest celebrity in ancient times, only
a few lines are now extant. Another poetess of this name
is said to have flourished in the age of Demosthenes, but
her existence is matter of considerable uncertainty.
ERINNYES, another name for the Eumenides, or
Furies. See Furies.
ERIOMETER (epiov, xoool, and yerpov, a measure), an
instrument invented by Dr Young, for measuring the fine¬
ness of the fibres of wool, by ascertaining the diameter of
any one of the series of coloured rings they produce. See
Chromatics, vol. vi., p. 651.
ERIPHYLE, the daughter of Talaus and Lysimache,
and wife of Amphiaraus. By the gift of a necklace she
was bribed by Polynices to reveal the hiding-place of her
husband, who was unwilling to accompany the Argives
against Thebes. Her faithlessness was avenged by Alcnueon
her son, who put her to death as soon as he had learned
that his father had perished in the expedition.
ERIS, the goddess of discord among the Greeks. She
is the same as the Discordia of the Latins.
ERIVAN or Irwan, a fortified town of Russian Arme¬
nia, and capital of a cognominal province, is situated on the
Zengui, an affluent of the Araxes, 110 miles S.S.W. of
Teflis. The town is of considerable extent, but it is inter¬
spersed with numerous gardens, and a great part of it is in
ruins. Pop. only about 12,000. It is defended by a cita¬
del standing on a steep rock 600 feet in height, overhanging
the river. This fortress is about 2000 yards in circumfer¬
ence, and contains the ancient palace of the Khans, now
the residence of the governor, a fine mosque, a cannon
foundry, and barracks. The town is ill built, but contains
a large bazaar, a Greek and several Armenian churches, an
Armenian convent, and several mosques. There is a hand¬
some stone bridge across the river. Erivan has a consider¬
able trade, and is a station for caravans from Teflis to
Erzeroum. It has also some manufactures of cotton stuffs,
leather, and earthenware, and is noted for the excellence of Erlangen
its fruits and melons. Erivan was taken by the Russians II .
in 1827, and confirmed to them by treaty with Persia the krnt'st^’/
following year.
ERLANGEN, a town of Bavaria, circle of Middle Fran¬
conia, near the Regnitz, eleven miles N. of Niirnberg, and
on the railway between that town and Bamberg. It is
surrounded by walls, and divided into an old and new
town, the latter consisting of wide, straight, and well-built
streets. Erlangen is noted for its university, the only Pro¬
testant one in Bavaria. This institution was founded by
Frederick margrave of Bayreuth in 1743. The average
attendance of students is about 350. It occupies the
ancient palace of the margraves of Bayreuth, and has fa¬
culties of arts, medicine, and theology, museums of natural
history, a botanic garden, and a library of upwards of
100,000 volumes. The town owes its prosperity chiefly
to the French Protestant refugees, who settled here on the
revocation of the edict of Nantes, and introduced various
manufactures. Erlangen has manufactures of woollen and
cotton goods, hosiery, hats, leather, gloves, and plate-glass.
Pop. (1852) 10,910.
ERLAU (Hung. Eger, Slav. Jager, Lat. Agria), a for¬
tified town of Hungary, capital of the county of Heves,
situated in a beautiful and fertile valley on both sides of the
Erlau, an affluent of the Theiss, 67 miles N.E. of Pesth.
Pop. about 20,000, most of whom are Catholics. Previous
to 1802 it was the seat of a bishop, but since that period it
has been the seat of an archbishop. It is inclosed by old
walls, and entered by six gates. On an eminence above the
town stands the old castle, which was frequently besieged
during the Turkish w;ars, both by Moslem and Christian.
The principal edifices in the town are the cathedral, built
in the form of a Latin cross and surmounted by a cupola,
the Archbishop’s palace, the lyceum, with a library and
observatory, the county hall, and the new barracks. Be¬
sides the cathedral it has four Roman Catholic churches,
a Greek and a Protestant church, and two monasteries.
There are also a Roman Catholic high school and ecclesi¬
astical seminary, gymnasium, hospital, and several libraries.
The vicinity is highly cultivated, and produces fine red wines
and tobacco. The manufactures are linens, woollens, hats,
leather, &c.
ERMIN, an order of knights instituted in 1450, by
Francis L, Duke of Bretagne, and which formerly sub¬
sisted in France. The collar of this order was of gold,
composed of ears of corn in saltier, at the end of which
hung the ermine, with the inscription d ma vie. But the
order expired when the dukedom of Bretagne was annexed
to the crown of France.
ERMINE, an animal of the genus Mustela, an inha¬
bitant of northern climates in Europe and America. It
nearly resembles the marten in shape, but the weasel in its
habits. During summer the upper part of the body is
of a pale tawny brown colour, and the tail tipped with
black; but in winter the fur assumes that snowy whiteness
for which it is so much admired.
Ermine, and Ermines, and Erminois, in Heraldry. See
Heraldry, § Of Furs.
ERNE, Lough. See Fermanagh.
ERNESTI, John Augustus, one of the most illustri¬
ous philologers and theologians of the last century. He
was born Aug. 4, 1707, at Tennstadt, of which place his
father, likewise a distinguished theologian, was pastor, and
superintendent of the electoral dioceses of Thuringia, Salz,
and Sangerhusen. After having received his first instruc¬
tion in the learned languages under the domestic discipline
of his father, and in the gymnasium of his native town, he
was sent at the age of sixteen to the celebrated Saxon
1 Montfaucon, Palceogrccphia Grmca, p. 42.
Huetius, de Interpretation*, p. 154.
326
ERNEST!
Ernest!
cloister school of Pforta. Here he continued four years.
At the age of twenty he entered the university of Wittem-
berg, where he studied eloquence and ancient literature
under the celebrated Berger, theology under Wernsdorf, and
the Wolfian philosophy under Schlosser. From Wittemberg
he passed to the university of Leipzig, where he applied
himself to the mathematical sciences under Hausen, follow¬
ing the courses of Boerner and Deyling on theology, and
the lectures of Gottsched on German eloquence. In 1730
he was made master in the faculty of philosophy. In the
following year he accepted the office of corrector in the
Thoman school of Leipzig, of which J. M. Gesner was then
rector ; and on Gesner’s vocation, as professor of eloquence,
to Gottingen, he succeeded him as rector. He was, in 1742,
named extraordinary professor of ancient literature in the
university of Leipzig, and in 1756 promoted to the ordi¬
nary professorship of eloquence. Here his reputation as a
scholar, and his rational treatment of the biblical exegesis,
paved the way for his entrance into the theological faculty.
Through the elegance of his learning, and his manner of
discussion, he co-operated with Baumgarten of Halle in
disengaging dogmatic theology from the scholastic and
mystical excrescences with which it was then deformed,
and thus paved the way for a revolution in theology. In
these deserving labours, and with unbroken health, he at¬
tained an honourable old age ; and died, after a short illness,
in his seventy-sixth year, Sept. 11, 1781.
As a philologer or theologian, it is perhaps as much from
the impulse which Ernesti gave to sacred and profane criti¬
cism in Germany, as from the intrinsic excellence of his
own works in either department, that he must derive his
reputation. With Gesner, he instituted a new school in
ancient literature; and after Crocus, Melanchthon, and
Camerarius, has been perhaps the greatest reformer and
promoter of classical learning in Germany. With Semler
he partially co-operated in the revolution of Lutheran
theology ; though he is guiltless of all participation in the
deductions which many of those who profess themselves his
disciples have drawn from the principles which he established.
From the Reformation down to the latter half of the eigh¬
teenth century, Germany was far excelled by Holland
in the number and excellence of her philologers; and
it was not until the appearance of Gesner and Ernesti,
with their somewhat earlier contemporaries, Cortius, Daniel
Longolius, and Michael Heusinger, that she could oppose
above one or two rivals to the great critics of the Dutch
schools. Gesner and Ernesti, however, through the influ¬
ence of their lectures at the greater universities of Gottin¬
gen and Leipzig, through the wider extent of their labours
in philology, and still more through the greater excellence
of their methods, are entitled to be held the founders of the
new German school of ancient literature. Both, but es¬
pecially Ernesti, have detected grammatical niceties in the
Latin tongue which had escaped all preceding critics ;
such, among others, are the use of the subjunctive mood
after the pronoun qui, and the legitimate consecution of
the tenses. Llis canons are, however, not without excep¬
tions. As an editor of the Greek classics, Ernesti deserves
hardly to be named beside his Dutch contemporaries,
Hemsterhuis, Valkenaer, Ruhnken, or his colleague and
enemy the learned and unfortunate Reiske. How insig¬
nificant are his own labours in his editions of Homer and
Callimachus ! In regard to the higher criticism, it was not
even attempted by Ernesti. But to him and to Gesner the
peculiar praise is owing of having formed, partly by their
discipline, and partly by their example, philologers greater
than themselves ; and to them is due the honour of having
kindled the national enthusiasm for ancient learning.
As a theologian, Ernesti is far less conspicuous than as
a scholar, and his influence not so marked either on his
contemporaries or on his successors. He began his career
when the Spenerian pietism had been almost banished Ernest!
from the Lutheran theology ; when to the study of theo- —'
philosophy had been imperfectly applied, and without
any interesting result, by Baumgarten, a scholar of Wolf; and
historical interpretation had, in the hands of Semler, been
productive of conclusions subversive of much that had been
hitherto held orthodox and even sacred. In the gramma¬
tical interpretation of the New Testament some imperfect
progress had been made by Bengel ; but the new epoch in
the biblical exegesis commences with John David Michaelis
for the Old, and with Ernesti for the New Testament. It
is, indeed, chiefly in hermeneutics that Ernesti has any claim
to the character of a great theologian. But here his merits
are distinguished, and, at the period when his Institutio
Interpretis N. T. was published, almost peculiar to himself.
In it we find the principles of a general interpretation,
formed without the assistance of any particular philoso¬
phy, not even of the Wolfian, to which Ernesti was at¬
tached ; but consisting of observations and rules, which,
though already enunciated, and applied in the criticism of
the profane writers, had never rigorously been employed in
the biblical exegesis. He admits in the sacred writings
as in the classics only 07ie acceptation, and that the gram¬
matical, convertible into and the same with the logical and
historical. Fie therefore justly censures the opinion of
those who, in the illustration of the Scriptures, refer every¬
thing to the illumination of the Holy Spirit; as well as
that of others who, disregarding all knowledge of the lan¬
guages, would explain words by things, and thus intro¬
duce into the holy writings their peculiar glosses and opin¬
ions. The analogy of faith, as a rule of interpretation, he
greatly limits, and teaches that it can never alone afford the
explanation of words, but only determine the choice among
their possible significations, and must always stand in need
of philology as an assistant. The spirit of Ernesti’s inter¬
pretation gives no countenance, however, to the results
which many of his followers have deduced from the gram¬
matical and historical exegeses. Every principle of his in¬
terpretation rests on the assumed inspiration of the holy
books; and there is not perhaps a better antidote to the
poisonous tenets of many of those who profess to be of his
school, than the diligent study of his Interpres, and the re¬
lative Acroases of Moms. In the higher criticism of the
sacred books Ernesti did nothing. In dogmatic he always
expressed great contempt of strict systematic theology;
and though he lectured for many years on the Aphorisms
of Neumann, it was rather in refutation than in support
of his text-book.
Among his works the following are the more important!—I. In
classical literature : Initia Doctrines Solidioris, 1736, 8vo, many
subsequent editions ; Initia Rhetorica, ) Xenophontis Memora-
bdia Socratis, cum notis, 1737, often reprinted; Ciceronis Opera
cum clave, 3d ed., 1776 ; Suetonius cum Animadversionibus, 2d ed.,
1/ 75-8; Taciti Opera cum notis J. Lipsii, Jo. Fr. Gronovii et suis,
2d ed., 1772 ; Aristophanis Nubes cum Scholiis Antiquis etpreefatione,
1754, 8vo ; Corradi Qucestura cum preefatione, 1754, 8vo ; Hederici
Lexicon Graicum, multis Vocabulorum millibus AacJam,1754-67, 8vo;
Homeri Opera Omnia, ex Recensione, et cum Notis Sam. Clarkii, ac-
cessit Varietas Lectionum MS. Lips, et Edit. Vet. cura J. A. E. qui et
suas Notas adspersit, 1759-64, 5 vols. 8vo ; Callimachi Hymni et
Epigrammata, cum Nctis Var. Latine vertit atque Notis adjecit, Lugd.
Bat. 1761, 8vo, 2 vols.; Polybius cum Notis Var. Praefationem et
Glossarium Polybianum adjecit, Yiennae et Lips. 1764, 3 vols. 8vo;
Archezologia Litteraria. 1768, a new and improved edition by Mar¬
tini ; Iloratius Tursellinus de Particulis, 1769, 8vo; Fabricii Biblio¬
theca Latina nunc melius delecta, rectius digesta et aucta, vols. i. and
ii. 1773, vo! iii. 1774, 8vo, unfinished. II. In sacred literature :
Antimuratorius sive Confutatio Disputationis Muratoriance de rebus
Liturgicis, 1755-58 ; Neue Theologische Bibliothek, vols, i. to x. 1760-
69, 8vo; Institutio Interpretis Nov. Test., 3d ed., 1775, 8vo; Neueste
Theologische Bibliothek, vols. i. to x. 1771-75, 8vo. Besides these, he
published above a hundred smaller works in the form of prefaces,
academical dissertations, programmata, memoriae, elogia, epistles,
orations, translations, &c. Many of these have been collected in the
three following publications :—0j?uscula Oratoria, Lugd. Bat. 1762,
E R P
ERR
327
Ernesti edit. 1767, 8vo ; Opuscula Philologica et Critica, Lugd. Bat. 1764,
2d edit. 1776, 8vo ; Opuscula Theologica, Lips. 1773, 8vo.
Erpenius. Ernesti, Augustus Wilhelm (1733-1801), the nephew
of the preceding, was professor of philosophy at Leipzig,
and afterwards succeeded his uncle in the chair of elo¬
quence in that city. He is principally known from his
edition of Livy. He was in turn succeeded by his cousin
Johann Christian Theophilus (1756-1802), who published
amongst other works a Lexicon Teclmologice Grcecce Rhe¬
torics ; Lex. Tech. Romanorum Rhetorics, a translation
of Dumesnil’s Latin Synonyms, and of several of Cicero’s
works.
EROS, the Cupid of the Greeks. See Cupid.
EROSION (e and rodo, I gnaw), the act or operation
of eating away ; corrosion ; canker.
EROTIA, or Erotidia, a festival in honour of Eros, the
god of love, celebrated by the Thespians every fifth year,
with games and contentions in music and poetry. See
Cupid.
EROTIC (epwriKos, from epws, love), pertaining to, or
treating of love.
EROUAD, or Eero ad, a town of Hindustan, in the pro¬
vince of Coimbetoor. It contained during the reign of
Hyder about 3000 houses, but was reduced to one-third in
the reign of Tippoo ; and during the invasion of General
Meadows the town was destroyed. It is now fast recover¬
ing, and contains a considerable population. It was taken by
the British in 1768, and retaken the same year by Hyder.
It was again taken by the British in 1790, and retaken by
Tippoo; but it came into the final possession of the British,
along with the province, in 1799. A canal of irrigation cut
in its vicinity has been productive of much benefit to the
inhabitants. E. Long. 77. 46., N. Lat. 11. 19. (e.t.)
ERPENIUS or d’Erpe, Thomas, a celebrated orien¬
talist, born at Gorcum in Holland, on the 7th September
1584. Observing his aptitude for learning, his father sent
him to Leyden at the early age of ten; and it was in that
city that he commenced his studies. At the end of seve¬
ral months, however, he went to Middelburg, but he soon
after returned to Leyden. He was early admitted into the
university of that city, and in 1608 took the degree of mas¬
ter of arts. By the advice of Scaliger he learned the orien¬
tal languages whilst taking his course of theology, and even
then gave promise of great distinction in that department
of learning. He afterwards travelled in England, France,
Italy, and Germany, forming connections with learned men,
and availing himself of the information which they com¬
municated. During his stay at Paris, he contracted a friend¬
ship with Casaubon, which lasted during his life; and also
took lessons in Arabic from Joseph Barbatus, otherwise
called Abu-dakni. At Venice he perfected himself in the
Turkish, Persic, and Ethiopic languages. After a long
absence, Erpenius returned to his own country in 1612,
rich in the learning which he had acquired during his tra¬
vels, as well as beloved by all the learned whom he had
visited. His acquirements being already known and ap¬
preciated, he was, on the 10th lebruary 1613, appointed
professor of Arabic and other oriental languages, Hebrew
excepted, in the university of Leyden. Irom this period he
devoted himself solely to the teaching of these languages ;
and animated by the example of Savary de Breves, who
had established an Arabic press at Paris at his own charge,
he caused new Arabic characters to be cut at a gieat ex¬
pense, and erected a press in his own house. In 1619 the
curators of the university of Leyden instituted a second
chair of Hebrew in his favour. In 1620 he was sent by the
States of Holland to induce Pierre Dumoulin or Andre
Rivet to settle in that country ; and after a second join ney
he was successful in inducing Rivet to comply with theii
request. Some time after the return oi Erpenius, the
States appointed him their interpreter ; and in this capacity
he had the duty imposed upon him of translating and re- Erpetology
plying to the different letters of the Moslem princes of Asia ^ II
and Africa. The reputation of Erpenius had now spread ^ ^rr'()r^ j
throughout all Europe ; and several princes, the kings of
England and Spain, and the archbishop of Seville, made
him the most flattering offers ; but he constantly refused to
leave his native country, and died of a contagious distemper
Nov. 13, 1624, at the early age of forty. Erpenius left
several works, which are doubtless disfigured by imperfec¬
tions ; but if we consider that he lived in an age when pur¬
suits like his were exceedingly rare, if not wholly new, and
that he had little or no assistance of any kind; and if we
judge him, not according to the present state of oiiental
literature, but by what he actually achieved under every
disadvantage, we must conclude that, in the immensity and
difficulty of his labours, he probably surpassed all the orien¬
talists who have followed him ; and that if his caieer had
not been cut short by a premature death, he would have
greatly enlarged the boundaries of that literatuie of which
his name will always remain one of the greatest ornaments.
The following is a list of his works :—Oratio de Lingua Arabica,
Leyden, 1613, in 4to; Annotationes in Lexic. Arab. Fr. Raphelengii,
ibid. 1613, in4to; Orammatica Arabica, quinque libris methodice
explicata, ibid. 1613, in 4to; Proverbiorum Arabicorum centurice
duce, ab anonymo quodam Arabe collected, ibid. 1614 and 1623, in
8 vo ; Locmani sapientis Fabulce et selecta quaidam Arabum Adagia,
cum interpretatione Latina et notis, ibid. 1615, in 8vo ; Pauli Apost.
ad Romanos, Arabice, ibid. 1615, in 4to ; Fovum D. N. J. C. Testa-
mentum, Arabice, ibid. 1616, in 4to; Pentateuchus Mosis, Arabice,
ibid. 1622; Historia Josephi Patriarchce ex ALcorano, cum triplici
versions Latina et scholiis Tk. Frpenii, cujus preemittitur Alphabetum
Arabicum, ibid. 1617, in 4to; Orammatica Arabica dicta Giarumia
et libellus centum regentium cum versione Latina et Comm.entarus,
ibid. 1617, in 4to; Canones de litterarum Alif, Waiv, et Ye apiid
Arabes naturo et permutations, ibid. 1618, in 4to ; Rudimenta Lin-
puce Arabicce ; accedunt Praxis Grammatica et consilium de studio
Arabico feliciter instituendo, ibid. 1620, in 8yo; _ Orationes tres de
linguarum Ebrecc et Arabica} dignitate, ibid. 1621, in 12mo; Historia
Saracenica, ibid. 1625, in fol.; Grammatica Ebrcea Generalis, ibid.
1621, in 8vo; Grammatica Syra et Chuldcea, ibid. 1628; Psalmi
Havidis, Syriace, ibid. 1628 ; Arcanum punctuationis revelatum et
Oratio de nomine Tetragrammato ; Versio et Notcx ad Arabicam
Paraphrasin in Evany. S. Joannis, Rostock, 1626; Be Perignna-
tione Gallicd utiliter instituenda tractatus, ibid. 1631, in 12mo;
Prcecepta de Lingua Grcecorum communi, Leyden, 1662. Erpenius
had projected several other works, particularly an addition of the
Koran with notes, and an oriental library ; and in the prefaces of
his grammars he also speaks of a Thesaurus Grammaticus, which,
however, has not seen the light. For further information respect¬
ing this celebrated orientalist, the learned reader may consult
Vossius, Oratio in obit. Th. Erpenii, Leyden, 1625, in 4to, and Scri-
verius, Manes Erpeniani, quibus accedunt Epicedia variorum, ibid.
1625. ’
ERPETOLOGY, that part of natural history which
treats of reptiles. See Reptilia.
ERRATIC (errare, to tvander), wandering, not sta¬
tionary. This term is applied to the planets as distinguished
from the fixed stars. Geologists give the name of erratic
blocks to those weather-worn and more or less rounded
fragments of the harder rocks which are found scatteied
over the surface of the earth at grent distances fiom the
places whence they are supposed to be derived, I hose of
a middling size are usually termed boulders.
ERRHINE (ev and plv, the nose), any medicine to be
snuffed up the nose in order to promote the natural dis¬
charge.
ERROR, in Philosophy, a mistake of the judgment.
The causes of error are reduced by Locke into these four:
want of proofs ; want of ability to use them ; want of will
to use them ; and wrong measures of probability.
Error, in Astronomy, the amount of difference between
the positions of any of the celestial bodies as determined
by calculation and by observation.
Error, Writ of, in Law, a writ founded on an alleged
error in judgment, which carries the suit to another tribunal
for redress.
328 E R S
Erse ERSE, a name given to the language spoken by the de¬
scendants of the Gaels or Celts in the Highlands of Scot-
Erskine. jan;j . tjie Highlanders being supposed by their Gothic
neighbours to be an Ji'ish colony, who thence called their
language Erse, which is a corruption of the word Irish.
The term Gaelic is that invariably applied to their language
by the Highlanders themselves. See Language.
ERSKINE, Ebenezer, a celebrated divine, and founder
of the Secession Church in Scotland, was born June 22,
1680, according to one account at the village of Dryburgh,
but according to another, at the Bass, where his father, who
had been ejected in 1662 from his charge in Northumber¬
land, was for some time a prisoner. He received his edu¬
cation at Edinburgh, and was settled in 1703 in the parish
of Portmoak. There he remained for twenty-eight years,
after which, in the autumn of 1731, he was translated to
Stirling. Previously to this period, however, his extraordi¬
nary popularity had made him an object of jealousy to the
clergy generally, who entertained a peculiar fondness for
the abjuration oath, lay patronage, and legal theology. For
his vigorous defence of the evangelical doctrines contained
in the Marrow of Modern Divinity, Erskine received the
rebuke of the Assembly, and was exposed to the most vehe¬
ment abuse both in the church courts and from the public
press. A sermon which he preached on lay-patronage be¬
fore the Synod of Perth in 1733 furnished new grounds of
accusation, and he was compelled to shield himself from re¬
buke by appealing to the General Assembly. Here, how¬
ever, the sentence of the synod was confirmed ; and after
many fruitless attempts to obtain a fair hearing, he, with
Wilson, Moncrief, and Fisher, were suspended from the
office of the ministry by the commission in November of
that year. Against this sentence the four brethren pro¬
tested, and constituted themselves into a separate church
court, under the name of the Associate Presbytery. It
was not, however, till 1739 that they were again summoned
before the assembly, when appearing in their corporate
capacity they declined the authority of the church, and were
deposed in the following year. They received numerous
accessions to their communion, and remained in harmony
with each other till 1747, when a division took place in re¬
gard to the nature of the oath administered to burgesses.
Erskine continued to preach to a numerous congregation in
Stirling till his death, which took place in 1756. His pub¬
lished works consist chiefly of sermons.
Erskine, Ralph, brother of the preceding, was born
at Monilaws in Northumberland, March 18, 1685. Like
Ebenezer he probably studied at Edinburgh, and having
been licensed in 1709, he was placed as assistant minister
at Dunfermline in 1711. Like him, too, he was a fearless
advocate of evangelical opinions, and a stern opponent of
ecclesiastical tyranny. This led him to homologate the
protests which his brother laid on the table of the assembly,
although lie did not formally withdraw from the establish¬
ment till 1737. He sided with his brother in asserting the
lawfulness of oaths administered to burgesses, but did not
long survive the rupture which followed that unhappy con¬
troversy. He died after a short illness Nov. 6, 1752, be¬
ing then in the sixty-eighth year of his age. His three
sons, who lived to be ministers of the Secession Church,
died in the prime of life. The works of Ralph Erskine
consist of Sermons, Poetical Paraphrases, and Gospel
Sonnets.
Erskine, Thomas, Lord Erskine, a distinguished lawyer
and statesman, was the third and youngest son of David
Henry Erskine, tenth earl of Buchan. He was born in
“Scotland, and received his education partly at the high
school of Edinburgh, and partly at the university of St
Andrews. From the contracted resources of his family, it
was necessary for him to fix upon a profession. He chose
the navy, and having embarked at Leith as a midshipman,
E li S
he quitted his native country, which he did not revisit until Erskine.
a few years before his death. In the navy he experienced
no advancement, and, after four years’ service, he entered
the army in 1768. In 1770 he married, and shortly after
this event he accompanied his regiment to Minorca, where
he remained during three years. It is not certain whether
his abilities as an officer ever rendered him conspicuous, but
the versatility of his talents, and the acuteness of his intel¬
lect, early gained for him a high reputation. By the earnest
persuasion of his mother, who, it would appear, was a woman
of more than ordinary penetration, he was induced to quit
the army after six years of military probation. The legal
profession was the one which appeared best adapted for the
character of his mind ; and in 1777 he entered as a fellow
commoner at Trinity College, Cambridge, for the purpose
of obtaining a degree, which he was entitled to as the son
of a nobleman, and thereby of shortening his passage to the
bar. At the same time he entered himself as a student at
Lincoln’s Inn. In 1778 he was called to the bar, where
his success was both immediate and brilliant. In a case of
libel, in which he advocated the cause of Captain Baillie,
the defendant, he displayed so much eloquence and talent,
that thirty retainers were put into his hand by attorneys be¬
fore he left the court. A few months after this event he
was chosen to appear at the bar of the House of Commons,
as counsel against Lord North’s bill to restore to the uni¬
versities the monopoly in almanacks. The bill wras lost by
a large majority, and the speech which Erskine made upon
the occasion so established his reputation for forensic skill,
that he was from this period engaged, either on one side or
another, in every case of importance, during a practice of
twenty-five years. To this period also belongs his famous
speech in defence of Lord George Gordon, which procured
the acquittal of his client, and proved for the time a death¬
blow to the tremendous doctrine of constructive treason.
In May 1783 he received a silk gown, and the same year
was elected member of parliament for Portsmouth, for which
borough he was on every election re-chosen, until his ad¬
vancement to the peerage rendered that honour unneces¬
sary. He was soon after chosen attorney-general by the
then Prince of Wales. There is nothing, however, which
reflects so much honour on his memory as his exertions in
defence of the privileges of juries. The rights of those pro
tempore judges he strenuously maintained upon all occa¬
sions, but especially in the celebrated trial of the Dean of
St Asaph, for libel, when Justice Buller refused to receive
the verdict of guilty of publishing only, as returned by the
jury. In 1789 another opportunity was afforded him to
display his peculiar powers. This was the defence of Mr
Stockdale, a bookseller, who was tried on an information
filed by the attorney-general, for publishing what was
charged as a libellous pamphlet in favour of Mr Hastings.
The situation of the latter, whose celebrated but protracted
trial was then dragging its slow length along, gave Erskine
admirable scope for that animated appeal to the feelings, by
which his speeches are so much distinguished. It is one of
his finest orations; and, whether we regard the wonderful
skill with which the argument is conducted, the soundness
of the principles laid down, and their happy application to
the case, the vividness of fancy with which these are illus¬
trated, and the touching language in which they are con¬
veyed, it is justly to be regarded as a consummate speci¬
men of the art of addressing a jury. This masterly defence
procured a clear acquittal for Stockdale, although the fact of
publication was admitted. Not long afterwards he advocated
the cause of Mr Perry, editor of the Morning Chronicle,
who was also charged with publishing what the jealous
loyalty of those times construed into a libel; and his speech
produced a similar result. But the most arduous effort of
Ins professional life arose out of the part cast upon him, in
conjunction with Mr (afterwards Sir Vicary) Gibbs, in the
E R S
E R Y
329
Erskine. trials of Hardy, Toofce, and others, for high treason in 1794.
These trials lasted several weeks, and the ability displayed
by Mr Erskine upon this memorable occasion was acknow-.
lodged and admired by men of all parties. His speech in
defence of Mr Frost, which, however, preceded those above
mentioned, is another of those almost miraculous exertions,
which, in that momentous crisis, Mr Erskine made for the
liberties of his country. Frost was accused of uttering sedi¬
tious words, which, however, turned out to have been spoken
at random in a coffee-house whilst the accused was in a
state bordering on intoxication. In the violence of that
day, the exertions of Erskine failed of their accustomed
effect, and Frost was found guilty. But the impression of
his defence was not lost; and it deterred the government
from risking its credit on such precarious speculations, until,
as we have noticed, the charges of high treason were brought
forward, when the whole force of the bar was marshalled
against the prisoners, and every effort used to beat down
and paralyse their undaunted defender.
Erskine was a warm partizan of Fox, and the liberal party
of that time. Fie strenuously opposed the war with France,
and published a pamphlet against it, entitled A View of the
Causes and Co7isequences of the War with France, which
had an immense sale. In 1802 the Prince of Wales not
only restored him to his office of attorney-general, of which
he had been deprived, but made him keeper of the seals
for the duchy of Cornwall. On the death of Pitt in 1806,
when Lord Grenville received orders to form a new admi¬
nistration, Erskine was created a peer, by the title of Lord
Erskine, of Restormel Castle in Cornwall, and elevated to
the dignity of lord high chancellor of Great Britain. His
previous experience in the courts of common law scarcely
fitted him for the judicial functions of this dignified office;
but there seems little doubt that his natural quickness of
intellect would have triumphed over every difficulty, had
not a dissolution of the administration of which he formed
part been accelerated by the obstinacy of the king on the
subject of the Catholic claims. His public career may be
said to have terminated with this event, and the remainder
of his life was undistinguished by any great exertion, whilst
it was unhappily embittered by pecuniary difficulties, which
were enhanced, it is said, by an unfortunate second mar¬
riage. His mind, however, retained its native elasticity,
and in his retirement he employed himself in editing se¬
veral of the state trials. He also wrote the preface to Fox’s
speeches, a political romance entitled Armata, and several
pamphlets in supportof the Greek cause. Whilst accompany¬
ing one of his sons by sea to Edinburgh, he was seized with an
inflammation of the chest, which compelled him to land at
Scarborough. He reached Scotland by easy stages, but
expired on the 17th of November 1823, at the seat of his
brother, a few miles from Edinburgh. The peculiar cha¬
racter of Lord Erskine’s eloquence has already in some
measure been described. In his capacity of advocate he
possessed the power of summoning upon the instant all the
resources of his mind, and bringing them to bear upon the
subject before the court with extraordinary effect. In this
respect his speeches bear a resemblance to those of Mr
Pitt, whilst they far surpass them in impassioned fervour,
in brilliancy of imagination, in copiousness of imagery, and
in that quality of mind expressed by the emphatic word
genius. His dexterity was likewise unrivalled at the bar ;
and these qualifications, united with a courage which no¬
thing could daunt, and a firmness which was never overcome,^
rendered him almost irresistible on the defensive side of
political persecution. Amidst all the struggles of the con¬
stitution in parliament, in council, and in the field, during
that momentous period of our national history, there was
no man to whose individual exertions it owed so much as
to those of this celebrated advocate.
By his first wife, who died in 1805, Lord Erskine had
VOL. IX.
three sons and five daughters. His speeches have been fre- Eruginous
quently printed ; the last edition is in 5 vols. 8vo. (j. F. s.) II
EUUGINOUS {aerugo, rust of copper), partaking of the i r^X‘ y
substance or nature of copper, or the rust of copper. Y"""
EHYMANTHUS, a lofty and extensive mountain range
on the N.W. frontier of Arcadia, which it separated from
Achaia and Elis. The highest points of this range are now
called Olonos and Kalefoni, the former of which is about
7300 feet above the level of the sea, and the latter about
6250. Erymanthus is famous in the Greek mythology as
the haunt of the wild boar whose destruction was one of
the labours imposed upon Hercules by Eurystheus. Of
the four streams which had their rise in Erymanthus, the
Pirus and Selinus flowed northwards into Achaia, the
Peneus westwards through Elis, and the cognominal Ery¬
manthus southwards into Arcadia, where, after uniting with
the Achelous, it joined the Alpheus.
ERYSIPELAS, or St Anthony’s Fire, a redness
of the skin attended with a sensation of heat or burning,
and having a remarkable tendency to spread over the sur¬
face of the body. When unattended with constitutional
symptoms, it is styled erythema. In the three other forms
there is more or less constitutional disturbance. These
forms are, Is#, Simple erysipelas, where there is a tendency
to the formation of vesicles which break or dry up, leaving
the skin either whole or slightly abraded. This form is
often erratic, flying from one part of the body to another,
lingering about the person for weeks or months. 2d, Pldeg-
monous erysipelas, in which the subjacent, cellular tissue is
involved, and often terminating in the formation of collec¬
tions of matter, or even sloughing of the tissues. 2>d, (Ede¬
matous erysipelas, attended with an effusion of serous fluid
below the affected parts, and occurring chiefly in persons
of impaired constitutions. In some situations this form is
apt to terminate in gangrene. In the great majority of
cases of this affection, a brisk purgative followed by tincture
of the muriate of iron, fifteen to thirty drops five to ten
times daily, combined with belladonna, if the disease has a
tendency to spread, rapidly arrests the disease. In the
phlegmonous form, hot fomentations of sugar of lead and
opium, or of hot whisky and water, afford great relief,
though, if matter form, it must be let out by free incisions.
The oedematous form requires the more liberal use of iron
and quinine, with laxatives and generous diet.
ERYTHRjE, one of the Ionian cities of Asia Minor,
was situated on the sea-coast at about equal distances be¬
tween the mountains Mimas and Corycus, and directly op¬
posite the island of Chios. Round the town was a rugged
and broken territory, in which excellent wine was produced.
Erythne does not seem to have ever attained that power
which might have been expected from its position and re¬
sources. In the naval battle fought by the Ionian confe¬
derates before Miletus, in 494 B.C., the Erythrseans had
only eight ships engaged, while the Chians had a hundred.
They ultimately appear to have owned the supremacy of
Athens, but towards the close of the Peloponnesian war
they threw off their allegiance to that city. Erythrae was
famous as the birth-place of two celebrated prophetesses,
one of whom, by name Sibylla, appears to have lived during
the early historical period of the city ; the other, whose
name was Athenais, flourished in the time of Alexander.
The site of Erythrae has been accurately ascertained ; and
considerable remains of its most important public buildings
have been discovered at the modern Ritri.
ERYTHRjEUM Mare. See Rubrum Mare.
ERYX, a city and mountain in the west of Sicily, six
miles from Drepana, and a short distance from the sea¬
shore. The mountain, now called Monte S. Giuliano, rising
to the height of a little more than 2000 feet, appears from
its isolation a great deal higher than it really is. On its
summit stood a celebrated temple of Venus, called from that
2 T
330 E R Z ESC
Erzeroum circumstance Erycina, under which name that goddess is
II frequently mentioned by the Latin poets. The possession
Erzgc- 0p town 0f Eryx was contested by the Syracusans and
v lrge‘ ; Carthaginians. A great battle was fought off the town be-
/~m^r tween the fleets of the two nations, in which the Syracusans
were victorious. The town subsequently changed hands
more than once, but it seems to have owned the Cartha¬
ginian supremacy at the time of the expedition of Pyrrhus,
b.c. 278. Though taken by that monarch, it once more
fell into the hands of its original conquerors, who retained it
till the close of the first Punic war.
ERZEROUM, or Erzrum, an important town of Turk¬
ish Armenia, and capital of an extensive pashalic of the same
name. It is situated in an extensive plain, 6200 feet above
the sea, about a mile from the Karasoo or western branch
of the Euphrates, and 140 miles S.E. of Trebizond. The
town is large but irregularly built, and the streets, like those
of all Turkish towns, unpaved, filthy, and infested with dogs.
The houses are mostly built of a dark gray volcanic stone,
cemented with mud, and strengthened with wood inserted
horizontally at certain distances in the walls, which, being
rarely plastered, give the town a dull and sombre appearance.
Some of the apartments in the larger houses are handsome,
and the ceilings of carved wood, gilt, and painted. The roofs
are flat, and covered with several feet of earth, which renders
them warm in winter and cool in summer, but not impervious
to rain and melting snows in the spring. The only exception
to this is the custom-house, which has a slanting tiled roof.
The town contains twenty-eight khans, thirteen public baths,
seventy mosques and mesjids (small mosques or chapels), a
Roman Catholic, a Greek, and a large and handsome Ar¬
menian church. It is well supplied with excellent water,
conducted through wooden pipes from springs issuing from
the Palan Duken mountain, to the numerous fountains which
are to be found in every part of the town. Towards the
south the town is protected by a citadel, surrounded by a
double wall flanked with towers and a ditch. The walls,
however, are in a state of decay, and could offer but a feeble
resistance to an invading force. It is besides commanded
by the high hill or mountain called Palan Duken. The
principal imports are British and Swiss manufactures, colo¬
nial produce, iron, tin, madder root, indigo, and galls. The
exports consist of furs, goat and sheep skins, and wool, buf¬
falo hides, wax, tallow, pipe-sticks, copper, and lead. The
principal trades carried on are tanning, dyeing morocco (red
and yellow), preparing sheepskins for pelisses, making horse
shoes and nails, and iron and copper utensils. British ma¬
nufactures (chiefly cottons) to the value of two millions
sterling annually pass through Erzeroum from Trebizond
to Persia. The population was estimated in 1854 at 50,000,
as follows; Turks 30,000, Orthodox Armenians 5000, Ca¬
tholic Armenians 2300, Persians 1200, Greeks 300, Rus¬
sian subjects, consisting principally of Armenians, with a
few Georgians and Jews, 1200, and the garrison force then
stationed there, 10,000. At the time of the Russian invasion
in 1828 it was estimated to contain about 80,000 inhabitants.
ERZGEBIRGE {Ore Mountains), a mountain chain of
Germany, forming the boundary between Saxony and Bo¬
hemia, and extending in a south-western direction from the
Elbe to the source of the White Elster, where it is con¬
nected with the Fich-tel-gebirge. It is about 120 miles in
length, with an average breadth of 30 miles. The southern
declivity is generally steep and rugged, while the northern
slopes more gradually towards the great plain of Northern
Germany. 1 he highest points are Keilberg, 3920, and Fich-
telberg, 3835 feet above the level of the sea. This range con¬
sists chiefly of granite and gneiss, and is rich in metallic ores
o. various kinds. Gold is found in several places ; while the
silver, iron, tin, lead, and cobalt mines are extensive and valu¬
able. Copper is found, but not abundantly, and there is some
ai senic, brimstone, vitriol, quicksilver, antimony, bismuth, &c.
ESARHADDON, the son and successor of Sennacherib, Esarhad-
king of Assyria. He is the Sacherdon or Sarchedon of To- don
bit, and the Asaradinus of Ptolemy’s Canon. By Hales he II .
is regarded as identical with the first Sardanapalus, and he Escurial-
is generally supposed to be the Asnapper of Ezra (iv. 10). v'—
ESAU, the eldest son of Isaac, from whom the right of
inheritance was transferred even before his birth to his
brother Jacob. Having sold the actual birthright when on
the point of starvation, he was defrauded of the ratification
of it by a stratagem of his brother, and instead of being the
father of the promised seed he became the head of the
Edomites.
ESCALADE, or Scalade (Lat. scala, a ladder), in the
military art, an assault on a fortified place, in which ladders
are used to pass a ditch or to scale a rampart.
ESCAPEMENT, in Clock-ivork. See Clock and
Watch Work.
ESCARPMENT (It. scarpa, a slope), in military lan¬
guage, ground cut away nearly vertically about a position,
in order to render it inaccessible to the enemy. The es¬
carp or scarp of a ditch is that side of it which forms the
exterior of the rampart. See Fortification.
Escarpment is applied in geology to an abrupt or preci¬
pitous surface of a rock, hill, or high ridge of land.
ESCARTELED, in heraldry, cut or notched in a
square form ; as a cross.
ESCHALO F (Fr. echalote), a small kind of onion or
garlic, Allium ascalonicum.
ESCHAROTIC, any caustic application ; a medicine
that sears or destroys flesh.
ESCHEAT, in Law, any land or tenement that casually
falls to a lord within his manor.
ESCHEVIN, or Echeyin, in the French and Dutch
polity, a magistrate elected by the inhabitants of a city to
manage their common concerns, and promote the good or¬
der and decoration of the city.
ESCHWEGE, a town of Hesse-Cassel, province of
Lower Hesse, on the Wtorra, 24 miles E.S.E. of Cassel.
Pop. 6050. It is generally well built, and has an old castle,
town-hall, hospital, and several Protestant churches. It
has manufactures of leather, tobacco, and musical instru¬
ments, and some trade by means of the river.
ESCHWEILER, a town of Rhenish Prussia, govern¬
ment of Aix-la-Chapelle, and nine miles E.N.E. of the town
of that name. It has manufactures of woollens, silks,
needles, wire, &c. Pop. (1849) 3148.
ESCUAGE, or Scutage (Fr. ecu for escu; Lat. scutum),
in Feudal Law, service of the shield ; a species of tenure
by knight service, by which a tenant was bound at his own
expense to follow his lord to war. This kind of service
was afterwards commuted for a pecuniary satisfaction. Es-
cuage, together with the other appendages of military te¬
nures, was abolished in England by 12th Car. II. cap. 24.
ESCULENT {esca, food), eatable, fit for the food of
man ; as esculent plants, esculent fish, &c.
ESCURIAL, or Escorial, a monastery and royal pa¬
lace in Spain, 25 miles N.W. of Madrid, in a country of
which the surface is covered with rocks, and where there
is little shelter from the winds, which makes this elevated
place very cold in the winter months. It was dedicated to
St Lawrence by Philip II. on occasion of his having gained
the battle of St Quentin, in 1557, on the day sacred to that
saint. It is whimsically built in the form of the gridiron
on which that saint is said to have been broiled alive. The
work was begun by Juan Bautista de Toledo in 1563, and
completed by his pupil Juan de Herrera in 1584.
The cross-bars of the gridiron are represented by ranges
of buildings separated by intervening courts, and which
were formerly inhabited by monks and ecclesiastics ; but
after the sequestration of the convents these buildings were
allowed to fall into a dilapidated state, and though some-
E $ D
Escutcheon thing has been done towards repairing them, they are still
II untenanted.
Esdras. ^ ma;n portion of the building is 740 Spanish feet long,
'-•V'*'' and 580 in breadth. The projection which forms the royal
palace is 460 feet in length. The height of the edifice is
about sixty feet, and at each angle is a square tower 200
feet high. It is one of the largest, and perhaps one of the
most tasteless, buildings in Europe, though grand from its size.
The church, in the centre of this enormous mass of stone,
is very large, rich, and of a species of architecture calcu¬
lated to inspire the mind with awe on entering it. The
high altar is most profusely adorned with marbles, agates,
and jaspers, and the gold and silver furniture are of the most
costly kind. The cupola which covers this church is the
most correct object in the whole of the vast pile. The Pan¬
theon, a repositary beneath this church, is the place of
interment for the royal family, whose remains are depo¬
sited in tombs of marble placed in niches, one above another.
The richest part of this edifice, however, was that which
contained the valuable pictures to be seen in almost every
part of it, and which altogether formed the best collection
of the productions of the first masters that any place in
Europe displayed. We speak of what it was; for the
French, when in possession of the Escurial, removed many
of its best treasures, which included the finest productions
of Rubens, Titian, Spagnoletto, Raffaelle, Baroccio, Velas¬
quez, Murillo, and others. The most valuable treasures of
the Escurial, however, are the immense collection of an¬
cient manuscripts preserved in the library, especially those
of the Arabian writers. An account of these will be found
under the head Libraries.
There are some good statues, busts, and medallions in
the Escurial. The statue of St Lawrence, the patron, is
excellent, and said to be an antique ; but some of the best
of the Spanish artists have averred that the head was from
an ancient statue of Bacchus, and the body of more modern
workmanship, but nearly approaching in execution to the
original portion. These kinds of treasures were, however,
less valued by the monks than the autographs and relics of
several of the saints, which are preserved here, and exhi¬
bited with great veneration.
As this place has been chiefly occupied by the t’oyal
family for the sake of the sports of the field, it has been
generally inhabited during the autumn and winter months,
when, from its exposed situation, it is a most uncomfort¬
able residence. A town has been built near the monastery ;
but it has never flourished, and has only about 1300 in¬
habitants.
ESCUTCHEON, or Scutcheon (Fr. escusson; Lat.
scutum), the shield on which a coat of arms is emblazoned.
Most nations, even from the remotest antiquity, have dis¬
tinguished their shields by certain devices painted on them ;
and to be able to display these was a mark of distinction
permitted only to such as had performed some honourable
action. See Heraldry.
ESDRAS, Books of. In several manuscripts of the
Latin Vulgate, as well as in all the printed editions anterior
to the decree of the Council of Trent, and in many since
that period, there will be found four books following each
other, entitled the 1st, 2d, 3d, and 4th Books of Ezra. The
first two are the canonical Books of Ezra and Nehemiah,
the 3d and 4th form the subject of the present article. They
are the same which are called 1st and 2d Esdras in the
English authorized version of the Apocrypha.
The Third Book of Ezra is found in all the manuscripts
of the Seventy, where it is called the first book, and pre¬
cedes the second or canonical Ezra, which, in this version,
includes the Book of Nehemiah. It contains 109 K^aXata.
It is little more than a recapitulation of the history con¬
tained in the canonical Ezra, interspersed with some re¬
markable interpolations, the chiet of which are chap, i., taken
E S D 331
from 2 Chron. xxxv. xxxvi., part of the last chapter, from Esdras.
Nehem. viii., and the narration of the themes or sentences
of Zorobabel and the two other young men of Darius’s
body-guard (3 Esd. iii. 4). The book is more properly a
version than an original work. The style is acknowledged
to be elegant, and not unlike that of Symmachus. This
book was made use of by Josephus, who cites it largely in
his Antiquities, but nothing further has been ascertained
respecting the age either of the original or the translation.
It is cited by Clemens Alexandrinus {Stromata, i.), the
author of the Imperfect Work on Matt. (Horn, i.), Athana¬
sius {Orat. iii. cont. Arianos), and by Cyprian {Epist. ad
Pompeium). From the circumstance of Jerome’s having
declined to translate the third and fourth Books of Ezra,
they are (with the exception of the Book of Job and the
Psalms) the only portions either of the canonical or apocry¬
phal writings of the Old Testament which have been pre¬
served to us entire in the old Latin translation.
This book does not appear to have been included in the
catalogue of any council, nor has any portion of it been read
in the offices of the church. Having been rejected as apo¬
cryphal by the Council of Trent, it has been removed, to¬
gether with the fourth book, in the Sixtine and Clementine
editions of the Vulgate, to the end of the volume, with the
observation that they are thus retained in order to “ pre¬
serve from being altogether lost books which had been
sometimes cited by some of the holy fathers.”
The Fourth Book of Ezra is quite of a different charac¬
ter from the third, and it has been even doubted whether it
more properly belongs to the Apocrypha of the Old or the
New Testament, but the circumstance of the author’s per¬
sonating the celebrated scribe of that name has been sup¬
posed to have led to its obtaining a place in the former. It
consists of a number of similitudes or visions, resembling in
some passages the Apocalypse. The descriptions are ac¬
knowledged to be sometimes most spirited and striking, oc¬
casionally rising to great sublimity of thought, energy of
conception, and elegance of expression (Lee’s Epistolary
Discourse ; Laurence’s JEtMopic Version of Ezra). 1 his
would probably be still more apparent had we the book in
the original, for it seems highly probable that this, as well
as the former book, is a translation from the Hebrew or
Chaldee (Morini Exercit. Eibl. lib. ii. p. 225 ; Fabricii (sod.
Pseud. V. T. iii. 189). But neither this nor the Greek
version, which was known to Clemens Alexandrinus in the
second century {Stromata, iii.), are any longer in existence,
and the book was supposed to have been preserved only in
the old Latin Ante-Hieronymian Version, until the middle
of the seventeenth century, when an Arabic version was
discovered in the Bodleian Library by Mr Gregory, a trans¬
lation of which, by Simon Ockley, the Arabic professor at
Cambridge, was published in 1711 by Mr William Wins¬
ton {Primitive Christianity, vol. iv.) Subsequently an
Ethiopic version, which, although known to Ludolf, was
concealed from the world, was published for the first time,
accompanied by a Latin and English translation, by the
late Archbishop Laurence, in 1820. The book is ascribed
to the prophet Ezra by Clemens Alexandrinus {Strom, b.
iii.), who looked upon it as canonical and divine, as did
Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Ambrose, who has made several
quotations from this “prophet,” as he also styles him (Six¬
tus Senensis, Biblioth. Sand), and among others, one which
no longer exists in the Latin, but is found both in the Arabic
and Althiopic (Laurence’s Ezra). Jahn observes that the
“ Catholics have made many martyrs on its authority” {Heb.
Commonwealth, b. v.) Pico de Mirandula considered this
book as divinely inspired, and Gaspar Zamora placed it
in his Concordance between Nehemiah and Maccabees.
Among modern writers, Whiston {Authentic Records), and
others both before and since his time, have considered this
book as an inspired composition, and as the genuine pro-
332 E S O
Esher duction of Ezra. (See Prophecy that hath lam hid above
II these 2000 years; Middle State of the Souls departed; the
Esoteric. Prophecies of the Second Book of Esdras, by Sir John
Plover.)
Jahn supposes the author of the Fourth Book of Ezra to
have been a Jew educated in Chaldea, who borrowed his
style from Daniel, and who, having become a Christian,
still retained his reverence for Cabalistic traditions. He
places him in the first or early in the second century (see
also Vogel’s Commentatio de quarto lib. Esdrce, Altorf.
1795). Archbishop Laurence, on the other hand (ut supra),
conceives that the author was a Jew who never changed his
creed, and endeavours to destroy the two main arguments
in favour of the work having emanated from a Christian :
one of these is founded on the remarkable fact that the
author speaks of Jesus by name (chap. vii. 28), the other
on the circumstance of his being plainly conversant with
the Christian Scriptures. As to the former, Dr Laurence
appeals to the Ethiopic version, where the text is (not my
Son Jesus, but) “ my Messiah!' shall be revealed, which is
confirmed by the Arabic reading, my Son Messiah. The
archbishop considers these texts both in the Latin and
Arabic to be interpolations or explanatory glosses. The
argument derived from the author’s acquaintance with the
Christian Scriptures is principally founded on the first two
chapters, which are wanting in both the Arabic and Ethiopic
versions, and in most manuscripts of the Latin are placed
at the beginning of the Third Book of Ezra, or at the end of
Nehemiah, where they form a distinct book. The last two
chapters are equally wanting in these versions, and in most
Latin manuscripts form a fifth book, or are otherwise clearly
distinguished from the former part of the book. This fifth
book is in some manuscripts divided into seven chapters,
and the whole of the fourth into thirty-nine. The division
into two chapters is erroneously ascribed by Dr Frank Lee
to Robert Stephen, for the same division is found in the
Editio Princeps by Fust and Schoeffer, printed in 1462,
where also the last two chapters, as well as the first two, are
incorporated into the rest of the book, and have so con¬
tinued in all subsequent editions. Dr Laurence concludes
from other internal grounds, that the book was written be¬
fore the Christian era, after the death of Marc Antony,
and before the accession of Augustus, or between the 28th
and 25th year before Christ.
Dr Lee is strongly of opinion that the author of this book
was contemporary with the author of the Book of Enoch, or
rather that both these books w’ere written by one and the
same author. It does not appear that Josephus was aware
of its existence.
ESHER, a village and parish in the county of Surrey,
15 miles S.W. of London. Here is Claremont Palace (built
by the celebrated Lord Clive), formerly the residence of the
Princess Charlotte, and now occupied by the widow and
family ol the late king of France. Esher Palace was a resi¬
dence of Cardinal Wolsey, but of that splendid edifice only
the gate-house now remains. Pop. of parish (1851) 1441.
ESK, the name of several rivers in England and Scot¬
land, the principal of which are in Forfarshire and Dumfries¬
shire. I he word is evidently a derivative from the Celtic
uisk, water.
ESKI-SAGRA, a town of European Turkey, province
of Roumelia, pleasantly situated on a declivity, on a tribu¬
tary ot the Zundja, 70 miles N.W. of Adrianople. It has
manufactures of carpets, coarse cloth, and leather. The
vicinity is highly cultivated, and there are some well fre¬
quented hot mineral baths. Pop. estimated at 20,000.
ESNE, or Esneh, a town of Egypt. See Egypt.
ESOPHAGUS, the gullet; the canal by which food
passes into the stomach. See Anatomy.
ESOIERIC (Inner) and Exoteric (Outer). These
woids have been much discussed with reference to the Gre-
E S O
cian philosophy, and especially to the system of Aristotle. Esoteric.
Ihey have also been applied to various other schools, but
always enveloped in some kind of obscurity and doubt, which
philology has vainly attempted entirely to dissipate. There
are particularly three schools of ancient philosophy with
respect to which these words have been employed—those of
Pythagoras, Plato, and Aristotle.
Little is known with certainty of the school of Pytha¬
goras; but according to the historians of philosophy the
adepts of the Pythagorean institution were divided into
several classes according to the degree of their attainments;
the Esoteric were those who had learnt more completely
the doctrines of their master, and were received into the
bosom of the society. The Exoteric were the more simple
inquEers who waited without till by enduring trials and
privations (among others, silence for five years), they were
fitted for reception into the inner communion.
In the doctrine of Plato these two words have a meaning
different from this. As they are not applied to the disciples
but to the opinions of the master, it has been said that Plato
had two sets of doctrines, the one to be communicated only
to the more intelligent and faithful disciples, the other to be
made known to the vulgar. If this were true, it would be
a grave charge against the philosophy of the time of Peri¬
cles if it had dissembled its true convictions on the great
questions which have always occupied the human mind ; if
the disciple of Socrates, frightened by the punishment of
his master, had veiled the truth to give us in his dialogues
only a faint and insincere reflection of his philosophic faith.
But the admirable dialogues which have come down to us
afford irrefragable evidence that Plato as well as his master
has concealed nothing, but has given us his entire views in
all their fulness and all their depth, and that all the regrets
about losses and concealments are perfect chimeras.
Some have thought that the allusion made by Aristotle
{Physica, lib. iv. c. 2) to the unwritten opinions of Plato, ”Ev
rois XeyopevoLs aypofois So-y/xa<xiv, referred to concealed doc¬
trines ; but it is much more likely that those unwritten dog¬
mas were those which were but orally communicated, and not
found in the dialogues only because they were less important
than those which were written. Pythagoras, in the midst of a
hostile and barbarous people, held a mysterious and double
doctrine ; Plato, in the groves of the Academy, taught such
as were perfectly accessible to all, and which we now pos¬
sess in his works. In these it is impossible to distinguish
between the esoteric and exoteric.
This distinction is still less applicable to Aristotle than to
Plato, although relatively it may appear more so, for Aris¬
totle himself separates his works into exoteric and acroa-
matic or esoteric. There are many passages in which Aris¬
totle speaks of his exoteric works; and it is in studying these
carefully that we may ascertain the true meaning of the
word, at least as far as relates to the Peripatetic philosophy.
The result of a strict analysis will show’ that Aristotle never
held a concealed doctrine that had any resemblance to that
of Pythagoras.
In what sense then is the word exoteric in Aristotle to
be taken if the exoteric works are not those which were
delivered to the profiine or vulgar, and the philosophic or
acroamatic works those which were confided to the ap¬
proved disciples ? The difference does not refer to the
nature of the teaching, much less to the readers, but only
to the forms and processes of the expositions.
The exoteric and the philosophic works treat of the same
subjects; in the first he only gives the elements that are
more superficial and more easily understood by the less in¬
telligent, but for the second he reserves the arguments that
are difficult and weighty and most deserving the meditation
of the philosopher. This we hold to be the most plausible
explanation of the words exoteric and acroamatic or esoteric
when used in relation to the Peripatetic philosophy The
ESP
ESQ
333
Espalier
II
Espinel.
words esoteric and exoteric are sometimes applied to the
religious sentiment as prevailing at certain times and in
various states. It was a necessary result of the position
occupied by the ancient world, that in proportion as scienti¬
fic culture came to he more generally diffused, the opposi¬
tion noticed by Polybius between the subjective conviction
of the individual and the public religion of the state be¬
came more strongly marked. The wiser part endeavoured
to maintain the popular religion, merely because they re¬
cognised in it a necessary means to political ends. Strabo,
who lived in the age of Augustus Cmsar, says “ The mul¬
titude of women and the entire mass of the common people
cannot be led to piety by the doctrines of philosophy; to
effect this, therefore, superstition is necessary, which may
call in the aid of myths and tales of wonder.” And Seneca,
in his treatise against superstition, writes, “ The whole of
that vulgar crowd of gods which, for ages past, a Protean
superstition has been accumulat ng, we shall worship so as
never to forget that the worship we pay them is due rather
to good manners than to their own worth. All such rites
the sage will observe because they are commanded by the
laws, not because they are pleasing to the gods.” It was
impossible on any grounds of truth to establish a fellowship
of religious interest between the cultivated class and the
uneducated; and thus the philosophic class, while outwardly
professing devotion to the popular religion, inwardly despised
it as a system of superstition.
The Essenes among the Jews mingled the Chaldaic,
Parsic, and Platonic doctrines, with an allegorical interpre¬
tation of the Old Testament, and it was only those who had
undergone a noviciate of three years that w'ere admitted
into full communion in the mystical and ascetic rites of the
society. The various sections of the Gnostics in the second
and third century of the Christian church adopted the same
secret mysteries to which the initiated only were admitted.
(Brandis Manuel de I'Histoire de la Philosophie Grccque et
Romaine; Ritter’s History of Philosophy ; Lhctionnaire des
Sciences Philosophiques ; Neander’s History of the Chris¬
tian Church.) c
ESPALIER (palus, a stake), in Horticulture, a kind of
light frame of wood or iron, resembling a railing, on which
fruit-trees and other plants are trained. 1 he term is some¬
times extended to the plants thus supported. See Honri-
CUI.TURE. - . , „ . .
ESPALION, a town of France, capital of a cognominal
arrondissement in the department of Aveyron, on the liver
Lot, 15 miles N.E. of Rodez. Pop. (1851) 4253. It has
manufactures of wmollen goods and morocco leather.
ESPARTO, a species of rush {Stipa tenacissima) which
abounds in the south of Spain, where it is manufactured
into cordage, nets, matting, baskets, sacks, &c. The light
shoes called alpargates, so much used by the Spanish pea¬
santry, are made of this material. Cables made of esparto
are said to be excellent; and as from their lightness they
float on the surface of the water, they are less liable than
hempen cables to be cut or injured by a foul bottom. T hese
cables are used exclusively in the Spanish navy.
ESPINEL, Vicente, a Spanish ecclesiastic, born in
1544 in the province of Granada, who is now chiefly noted
as having produced one of the best of those romances deli¬
neating Spanish manners, that have found imitators in other
countnes. This book is entitled Relaciones de la Vida y
Hechos del Escudero Marcos de Olregon, which appeared
in 1618 at Barcelona, at a period when Spanish literature
was at a low ebb. Marcos is not a chivalresque esquire but
a simple individual who seeks his fortune by attaching him¬
self to great men ; and the object of the author is to vvarn
young men against so degrading a course of life. 1 lie
squire tells his own story. The incidents are not generally
excitin<>-, though amusing, and nationally characteristic , ie
style correct, though somewhat diffuse. Its chief interest,
like that of the clever Viday Hechos del Picaro Gusman Esplanade
de Afarache of Aleman, is that Le Sage has not scrupled EscTire>
to borrow from both writers many of the incidents and cha- y ^ ^ j
racters in his admirable novel of Gil Bias; a circumstance
which has induced an indignant Spaniard to entitle his
translation into Spanish of Le Sage’s work, Gil Bias re¬
stored to his Country and his Satire Tongue, in the pre¬
face to which he denounces the barefaced plagiarism.
Espinel was noted for his musical taste, and added a fifth
string to the national guitar. He was also a poet of some
reputation, especially for his Canciones and Redondillas.
His pastorals and elegies contain many spirited natural de¬
scriptions, though they do not abound in many original con¬
ceptions ; and his versification is always harmonious.
He also translated into verse some of the odes and the
Ars Poetica of Horace.
Espinel seems to have been neglected in his old age, for
he died in great poverty at Madrid in 1634, at the age of
ninety.
ESPLANADE, in Fortification, the glacis of the coun¬
terscarp, or the slope of the parapet of the covered-way
towards the open country; but the term is now most usu¬
ally applied to the void space between the glacis of a citadel
and the first houses of the town.
ESPOUSALS, in Law, a contract or mutual promise
of marriage. Marriage is termed an espousal de prcesenti.
See Marriage.
ESQUILINE {Esquilice), the largest of the seven hills
of Rome. See Rome.
ESQUIMAUX. See America.
ESQUIRE (Fr. escu, a shield, from the Lat. scutum,
from the Gk. cnorro?, a hide, with which shields were an¬
ciently covered) originally denoted the attendant or shield-
bearer of a knight, and hence he was called escuier in
French, and scutifer or armiger in Latin. In the days of
chivalry the esquire was second in rank to the knight. As¬
pirants to knighthood passed through several gradations of
service or apprenticeship to arms, as page, and esquire or
bachelor, previous to being admitted to that honour. The
esquire had several privileges, such as the right of wearing
a sword and defensive armour, which last, however, differed
from the full panoply of a knight; and he likewise might
use heraldic bearings on his escutcheon or shield. I here
was also another class of esquires, consisting of those tenants
bv knight’s service who had a right to claim knighthood, and
who possessed many of its privileges. Such was the Ger¬
man Ritter, as distinguished from the Ritter geschlagen or
dubbed knight.
Respecting the title of esquire in modern times, it is
somewhat unsettled, says Blackstone (book i. chap. 12), what
now constitutes a right to this distinction, or who is a real
esquire; for it is not an estate, however large, that confers
this rank upon its owner. In some old writers mention is
made of esquires by creation, by investiture with a silver
collar of SS., to which ceremony was added the putting on
of a pair of silver spurs. It appears that in England this
title appertains by right of birth to the following persons:
the sons of younger sons of dukes and marquises; the
younger sons of earls, viscounts, and barons, and their eldest
sons f the eldest sons of baronets and of knights. The fol¬
lowing also are reputed esquires: officers of the queen’s
courUmd household; officers of the navy and army, down
to the captain inclusive ; doctors of law ; Serjeants and coun¬
sellors at law; physicians; justices of the peace while in
commission; and the sheriffs of counties lor life. The
heads of many ancient families likewise are deemed esquires
by prescription. The title, however, is now usually given
to all professional and literary men, and is very generally
affixed, as in the superscription of letters, to the names of
persons who live in the rank of gentlemen. Hence the dis¬
tinction it formerly conferred is virtually destroyed.
334
ESS
ESS
Essaying ESSAYING, or Assaying. See Assaying.
II ESSECK, Esseg, or Eszek (Slav. Oszek, anc. Mursia
Essence. or ]\Jursa^ the capital of Slavonia, and one of the most
strongly fortified towns in the Austrian dominions, is situated
on the right bank of the Drave, 13 miles from its confluence
with the Danube. Mursia was founded by the Emperor
Hadrian in a.d. 125, and became afterwards the residence
of the Roman governors of Lower Pannonia. It was erected
into a bishopric by Constantine in 335. The present fortress
was erected, upon the site of a previous one, by the Em¬
peror Leopold I., between 1712 and 1719. It is not ex¬
tensive, but is well constructed, containing many massive
buildings, including an arsenal, and barracks capable of
accommodating 30,000 men. It is surrounded by a broad
esplanade, and is strengthened by works on the opposite
side of the river. To the N.W. of it stands the Ober Varos,
or Upper Town, with which it communicates by an avenue
1100 paces long. On the E. is the Unter Varos, or Lower
Town, occupying the site of the ancient Mursia ; while on
the W. is the New Town. Esseck has 1 Greek and 5
Roman Catholic churches, 4 chapels, town-house, county
hall, Catholic gymnasium, a High and a Greek school, and
several monasteries. A long wooden bridge crosses the
Drave and the swampy ground on the opposite side of that
river. Pop. about 12,500, chiefly employed in the spinning
of silk. Esseck is a steam-packet station, and a place of
considerable trade in corn, cattle, and raw hides.
ESSEDARII, in Roman Antiquity, gladiators who
fought in a heavy kind of chariot called esseda or essedum.
The esseda (which derived its name from the Celtic word
ess, signifying a carriage) was a ponderous kind of chariot
much used in war by the Gauls, the Belgae, and the Bri¬
tons. It differed from the currus in being open before
instead of behind; and in this way the owner was enabled
to run along the pole, from the extremity of which, or even
from the top of the yoke, he discharged his missiles with
surprising dexterity. A large body of essedarii, by which
name the British warriors who drove these chariots were
distinguished by the Romans, were taken captive in battle,
and occasionally exhibited in the gladiatorial shows at Rome,
to the great delight of the people, who beheld with admira¬
tion the feats performed by these bold and skilful chario¬
teers. (Caes. Bell. Gall, iv., v.; Tacit. Agric. xii.; Suet.
Calig. Claud.; Cic. Fam. vii.)
The Romans applied the same name to a light carriage
of similar construction, which was drawn by a pair of horses,
and adapted for convenience and luxury. It probably dif¬
fered little from the covinus, except that the latter was
closed overhead.
ESSEN, a town of Rhenish Prussia, government of
Diisseldorf, on the Berne, and near the Cologne and Min-
den Railway, 20 miles N.E. of Diisseldorf. Pop. (1849)
8813. It is surrounded by walls; is the seat of a mining
board and a municipal court of justice; and has several
Protestant and Roman Catholic churches, an old Capuchin
convent, a gymnasium, hospital, and orphan asylum. The
town is thriving, and has manufactures of woollen and linen
goods, fire-arms, steam-engines, iron and steel wares, leather,
and vitriol. In the vicinity are some valuable coal mines.
ESSENCE (from esse, to be), that which constitutes the
particular nature of a being or substance, or of a genus, and
which distinguishes it from all others. Locke makes a dis¬
tinction between nominal and real essence. The nominal
essence, for example, of gold, is that complex idea expressed
by gold; and its real essence is the constitution of its in¬
sensible parts, on which its properties depend, and which is
unknown to us.
Essence is also used to denote the predominant qualities
of any plant or drug extracted, refined, or rectified from
giosser matter; or, more strictly, a volatile essential oil.
Essence D Orient, a pearly-looking substance, em¬
ployed in the manufacture of artificial pearls. It is pro- Essenes.
cured chiefly from the scales of the blay or bleak, a fish of
the genus Cyprinus, and is prepared by the simple process
of steeping the scales in water, and rubbing them with the
hands until the glistening matter is separated. This is
again washed, and then thrown upon a sieve, that the mois¬
ture may drain off. This substance, while in a viscid state,
readily putrefies ; but this tendency may be counteracted by
liquor ammoniac, which coagulates the mucilaginous matter.
ESSENES, one of the three great Jewish sects, of which
the other two were the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The
derivation of the name Essenes is by no means certain.
Philo deduces it from ocrtos, “ holyothers find its origin
in the Chaldee word “ to heal ” while others give the pre¬
ference to a Syriac word signifying “ pious.” These sects
sprung up in the decline of the Jewish state, after the Baby¬
lonish captivity, and were influenced in their rise and spread
not less by ascetic philosophy than by the national degrada¬
tion and the decay of morality.
While the Pharisees gave their countenance to sustain
the past indiscriminately, and the Sadducees rejected all
that was traditionary and adventitious, the Essenes sought
to originate a moral influence, a moral and religious order;
while the Pharisees partook more of the character of a poli¬
tical party, and the Sadducees exhibited not a few of the
features of a sect.
The Essenes were ascetics, and rejected marriage along
with the ordinary social pleasures of life. To recruit their
ranks they selected the most promising of the children of
others. Riches, too, they held in contempt, and whatever
they had they were ready to share with others. Every new¬
comer put his property, whatever it was, into the common
stock; whence his wants were afterwards gratuitously sup¬
plied. When they entered any strange city, their brethren
received and entertained them as if they had come to their
own property ; and, in order that travellers might not suffer
want or disappointment, there was in every city one of the
brethren, who was specially charged to provide them with
food, clothing, and other necessaries. These duties of hos¬
pitality, however, could not have been onerous, if, as Jose¬
phus states, the Essenes did not change their shoes or gar¬
ments till they were worn out and tattered.
The account which Josephus has given of their pious
exercises, and of their daily engagements, is striking and
characteristic. Rising before the sun, they abstained from
all ordinary conversation, and put up their ancestral prayers,
not forgetting to beg for a renewal of the light of day. Then,
under the supervision of curators or foremen, they laboured
diligently till eleven o’clock in the forenoon, when, as¬
sembling together, and being covered with white veils, they
bathed in cold water. After thus entering their refectory
with certain religious solemnities, they quietly seated them¬
selves, each receiving a loaf of bread and a single plate of
one sort of food, and a priest having invoked the divine
blessing, they proceeded to take refreshment. When the
repast was over, the same priest made an offering of thanks
to the great Benefactor of the world, and the brethren all
returned to their several employments. These being termi¬
nated, in the evening another meal with similar observances
was partaken of by all in common.
Next to God, Moses was the object of their reverent ho¬
mage ; and to blaspheme his name was a capital offence.
In their reverence for the sabbath they would neither cook
their food on that day nor remove a vessel from its place,
even for the most pressing wants of nature. At set times
they frequented the sacred places called synagogues, where
the young sat arranged in classes according to age, under
the eye of their elders. Here one took and read, and another
expounded, the sacred books. A system of allegorical in¬
terpretation prevailed. Among their instructions the virtues
of holiness, justice, and economy, held a prominent place;
ESS
Essenes. nor did they omit the duties which men owe to the state.
s—Their teachings were accompanied by definitions and rules,
and were enforced by a regard to the love of virtue, the love
of man, and the love of God.
According to Josephus, they regarded the body as frail
and corruptible, but the soul as living for ever. Asceticism
was the necessary result of their conviction that souls came
out of the most subtle air, from the loftiest empyraeum, and
are lodged in bodies as in prisons, from which, when once
set free, they rejoice and soar away to their native regions.
Of the predictions which Josephus alleges the Essenes
to have made, from the study of the sacred writings, and
the frequent use of purifications, it would have been wonder¬
ful if some had not proved true ; for the accomplishment of
others, they had the machinery in their own hands.
Their pursuits, trades, and professions were such as con¬
duce to human good. They tilled the ground ; they made
useful articles; they bred and pastured cattle; but in the
fabrication of arms they took no part. Even peaceful pur¬
suits which ministered to vice they carefully avoided. It
must not be concealed, however, that some of their notions
bordered on extravagance, and that some of their practices
betrayed a fastidiousness which bordered on the ridiculous.
In morals they seem to have attained no ordinary excellence.
Over anger they kept a guard like just stewards. All the
passions they knew how to restrain. They were eminent for
fidelity, and ministers of peace. Their word was more to
be trusted than some men’s oaths. Swearing, indeed, they
studiously avoided ; alleging with no small reason, that the
man is already condemned who cannot be believed without
an oath.
Admission into their communities vras obtained only after
a noviciate of twelve months, when those who were ap¬
proved were habited in white, and received a girdle and a
sort of small hatchet, being made “ partakers of the waters
of purification ”—that is, probably, baptized. A further pro¬
bation of two years was then undergone. When admitted
into the society, the neophyte bound himself by vows or
oaths to exercise piety towards God and justice towards
men ; to hate the bad and assist the good ; to harm no one,
either of his own accord or by the command of others; to
be faithful to all men, especially to such as are in authority ;
to love truth and reprove the liar; to keep his hands clean
from theft, and his soul pure from unlawful gain ; to conceal
nothing from the brotherhood, and reveal to others none of
their secrets, not even should life thereby be put in peril;
to transmit the Essene doctrines unchanged to others; to
preserve their books and the names of their officers (ayyeAot,
angels) in strict secrecy. The newly-admitted brethren
were distributed among four classes; and the gradations
of age were so rigidly observed, that if a senior touched
a junior brother, the first had to undergo a purification by
water, as if he had been in contact with a foreigner. The
Essenes did not offer oblations in the Temple at Jerusalem,
though they sometimes sent presents thither A pure heart
they held to be the best offering. Religious ablutions they
considered acts of holiness. They did not admit logic among
their studies, and metaphysics they avoided, as relating to
subjects which are too high for man; yet they made an
exception in favour of those branches which refer to the
existence of God and the creation of the woild. Moiality
—the morality which they by their own process learnt from
Moses—was the chief object of their studious care.
Pain they disregarded; the miseries of life they held of
small account; and they even preferred death to living al¬
ways. The calm and unmoved firmness with which they
endured at the hands ‘of the Romans, during “ the Jewish
war,” the cruellest tortures, and death itself, lathei than be
faithless to their convictions or forswear their order, serves
to show that the ascetic spirit and the martyr spirit have no
little in common, and exhibits w ithin the limits of Palestine
ESS 335
the very same results, from the very same discipline, as Essential
Sparta was proud to call her own. II
Josephus mentions another kind of Essenes, who enter- ssexj y
tained less unfavourable opinions of female virtue and " ^
hononr, and who, holding that marriage was a divine ordi¬
nance for the propagation of the human species, did not
think themselves justified in condemning or avoiding it.
They, however, used the precaution of giving those females
whom they thought of marrying a trial for three years, at
the expiration of which they actually married them, pro¬
vided they were satisfied, merely as a duty, and accordingly
did not neglect the same ascetic principles which charac¬
terize the whole of the Essene life.
In the account which has now been given we have fol¬
lowed in the main the authority of Josephus and Philo.
The latter speaks of a species of Essenes under the name
of Therapeutse, whom we shall notice under that head, con¬
tenting ourselves at present with remarking that, in regard
to the institutions and practices of the Essenes generally,^
it is probable that a good deal of the warm colouring ot
the picture, if not some of its objects, may have been bor¬
rowed from the imagination of the artists by whom it was
originally drawn. Besides Josephus and Philo, the reader
may consult Staudlin, Sittenlehre ./esw, Getting. 1799; De
Wette, Sittenlehre, Berlin, 1833; De Wette, Archdologie,
Leipzig, 1830.
ESSENTIAL, necessary to the constitution or existence
of a thing. Thus the primary qualities of bodies, such as
extension, figure, number, and so on, are essential or inse¬
parable from them in all their changes and alterations.
Essential Oils, or Volatile Oils, are mostly obtained
from odoriferous vegetable substances, although some of the
principles are found in animal matters. They are usually
obtained by distillation, but in some instances by simple
expression. They differ much in their physical properties.
The greater number are yellow’, others are colourless, while
some again are red, brown, or green, and some few are
bluish. Instead of being greasy to the touch, like fat oils, on
evaporation they leave the skin dry and hard. Among the
principal of the essential or volatile oils, are those of turpen¬
tine, aniseed, lavender, nutmeg, cloves, caraway, pepper¬
mint, spearmint, sassafras, camomile, and citron. See Oils.
ESSEQUIBO, the principal river of British Guiana,
South America. This is also the name of a county through
which the river flows. See Guiana.
ESSEX, a county of England, is bounded on the south
by the river Thames, on the east by the German Ocean, on
the north by the counties of Suffolk and Cambridge, and on
the west by Hertfordshire and Middlesex. Its surface con¬
tains 1657 square miles, or 1,060,549 acres. The popula¬
tion has not increased in this county at the same rapid rate
as that of some other counties of England.
In 1851 the inhabitants numbered 369,318, being an in¬
crease of 62 per cent, in fifty years. The number of inha¬
bitants to a square mile was 222 ; to a house, 5. The total
number of houses was 77,470; 73,530 being inhabited, 3569
uninhabited, and 381 building.
Essex may be considered as a mere agricultural county;
for though, from the near approach of one part of it to the
metropolis of the kingdom, there are some manufactories
established, w'hich find both their raw materials and their
consumption in London ; and though in one district of the
county there are remains of the once extensive manufac¬
tories which were brought from Flanders to this island; the
number of persons occupied in them bears but a very small
proportion to that part of the population which depends on
agriculture. The former manufactures of Colchester baizes
for the Spanish and American markets have wholly disap¬
peared, and those for woollen goods at Booking, Halsted,
and Coggeshall, are nearly extinct; all having removed to
the northern parts of the kingdom. Crapes are -manufac-
336 ESS
Essex, tured at Braintree, Becking, and other places ; silk, princi-
v j pally for umbrellas, at Colchester and Coggeshall, and satin
velvet at Halstead. 2227 hands were employed in the silk
trade in 1847. On the eastern side of the county, in the
vicinity of the metropolis, are several large distilleries, and
some establishments for bleaching and printing calicoes.
There are also manufactories of sal-ammoniac, of Prussian
blue, of iron liquor for calico-printers, and some other che¬
mical preparations. There is a considerable trade in corn,
and much barley is malted for the great breweries and dis¬
tilleries. The only other commerce is that of supplying the
inhabitants with foreign and domestic articles of luxury.
Although nearly half the county is bounded by the sea,
or by navigable rivers, it carries on no foreign commerce;
and such vessels as belong to it are employed either in con¬
veying to London the produce of its agriculture, or in the
oyster fishery, which occupies a considerable tonnage and
many seafaring persons. The oysters are bred both in the
river Coin and in the Crouch: in the former they are pro¬
tected by the seignorial rights of the corporation of Colches¬
ter, and in the latter by the proprietor of that river, Sir Henry
Mildmay. The spawn is deposited in the months of April
and May; and it is said the shell about it begins to form
within twrenty-four hours. The fishermen are forbidden to
dredge for them at this season. In the month of July the
dredgers separate the small oysters from the stones on which
the spawn was deposited, and on which they have grown,
and lay them down in the channels of the river till they
grow of a size fit for consumption, which is determined by
a gage kept for that purpose by the water-bailiff of Colches¬
ter. The stones or other substances to which the young
oysters had adhered are again thrown into the water whence
they were taken, as it is apprehended the accumulation of
the ouse at the bottom of the river would otherwise gene¬
rate such an increase of mussels and cockles as would de¬
stroy the breed of oysters. The oyster trade employs about
200 boats and 500 hands. About 15,000 bushels are an¬
nually taken. The larger description of vessels are employed
during part of the year on the shores of Hampshire and Dor¬
setshire in dredging for the native oysters, which are after¬
wards deposited in the beds of Essex and Kent, in order to
fatten for the London market. The uncertain produce of the
breeding grounds in Essex makes it necessary to have recourse
to the more distant coasts to obtain the requisite supply.
From being almost wholly an agricultural county, the far
greater part of the inhabitants of Essex are found in villages.
The face of the county is generally very beautiful; it is
well inclosed, and for the most part displays good verdant
pastures; the hills, none of which rise to great heights, are
cultivated to the tops; and there is abundance of trees,
especially oak and chestnut, which give a rich appearance
to the view. There is no county in England in which the
proportion of waste land is so small. The forests and wastes
can indeed scarcely be considered as utterly uncultivated,
and the whole of them do not amount to more than 14,000
acres, including the two forests of Epping and Hainault.
These belong to the crown, though the inhabitants of many
surrounding parishes have the right of pasturing their cattle
upon them. The sovereign has an unlimited right to keep
deer on all the inclosed woods; and the occupiers of land in
the various parishes included within the ancient boundaries
of the forests have a right to feed horses and cows, but not
other cattle. The numerous common rights have led to
considerable devastation of the timber of these forests, and
occasioned no small injury to the property of the crown;
but plans have been adopted for preserving the trees, and
converting a part into a nursery for growing timber for the
royal navy. Their vicinity to the sea makes these forests
well deserving of being appropriated to this purpose.
That part of Essex which lies on the banks of the Thames,
and on the shores of tlie ocean, is a rich alluvial soil on a
E X.
subsoil of very tenacious clay. It produces, with good cul- Essex,
tivation, very abundant crops of wheat, beans, oats, and ,
clover. It is lound necessary to the cultivation to fallow
very frequently, and repeated ploughings are very gene¬
rally adopted. The swing plough is much used, and some¬
times a wheel plough drawn by two, and occasionally by
three horses abreast, which are guided with long reins by
the ploughman. In fallowing it is common to plough the
land six or seven times, and it is not unusual with the best
cultivators to plough it eight or even ten times. After the
summer fallow, by which the soil becomes completely pul¬
verized, and rendered as fine as a garden, it is sometimes
the practice to sow wheat in the autumn ; but it is more
common to let it remain throughout the winter, and then,
after a spring ploughing, to sow barley or oats. The rota¬
tion of crops which usually succeed to a fallow is, 1. barley
or oats; 2. clover, red or white, mostly the former; 3.
wheat; 4. beans, twice hoed at least; 5. wheat. After this
course the land is again fallowed. The whole produce of
the course of crops is said to depend on the accuracy and
skill exercised in the process of fallowing.
There is in this district some land adapted for turnips,
and the rotation on such soils is usually, 1. turnips; 2. oats
or barley; 3. clover; 4. wheat; 5. beans; 6. wheat. These
courses are occasionally varied, tares being introduced when
the clover fails, and peas being sometimes substituted for
beans. The best cultivators often omit the second crop of
wheat, and fallow again after the beans. A rotation which
is sanctioned by some very skilful agriculturists is the fol¬
lowing:—1. fallow; 2. barley or oats; 3. clover; 4. beans;
5. wheat; 6. tares or peas; 7. wheat. In this case the ma¬
nure is laid on the clover ley for the bean crop. In the dis¬
trict we are describing all the farms have a portion, more or
less extensive, of rich marsh land, on which oxen are fed,
and which supplies hay for winter consumption, and is con¬
sequently the source whence the manure is derived. The
best wheat that is brought to the market of the metropolis
is raised in the part of Essex of which we are speaking, and
which is usually denominated the hundreds. It has the
convenience of water-carriage to London ; the rent of the
land, which is of extraordinary fertility, is comparatively low ;
but the want of good water is sometimes severely felt.
Much has of late been done to improve the internal condi¬
tion of the county, but its unhealthiness, from the preva¬
lence of ague, especially in autumn, and the badness of the
roads, still continue to prevent many of the gentry from re¬
siding on their estates.
The middle part of Essex rises above the level of the
marshy lands, but partakes in a considerable degree of their
unhealthiness. Around the town of Colchester, for a con¬
siderable distance, the soil is a dry loam, well calculated for
turnips; and then the most general system adopted is the
four-course husbandry of Norfolk, viz., turnip, barley, clover,
and wheat. A variation is in some instances introduced by
taking a crop of peas after the wheat, and occasionally tares
are sown after the barley instead of clover, as that latter
plant will sometimes fail if too frequently repeated. The
greater part of the district is, however, of a clayey loam, on
a subsoil of clay, and too tenacious for the turnip system.
Much of this is good old pasture land, used solely for feed-
and to which the plough is never applied. The arable
land is highly productive ; the crops of wheat and beans
especially are very luxuriant, and their produce of the best
quality. The practice of fallowing is pursued as in the dis¬
trict before described, but so many ploughings are not
deemed necessary. The rotation is various, but it rarely
occurs that wheat is sown immediately after the fallow.
Most commonly the succession is as follows:—1. fallow ; 2.
barley ; 3. beans; 4. wheat; 5. tares; 6. barley ; 7. clover.
When the land is more wet, which, in spite of excellent
draining, is frequently the case, the rotation is, 1. fallow; 2.
ESS
ESS
337
Essex, oats ; 3.clover; 4. wheat. When manure is abundant, the
heavy soils are cropped in the following rotation with great
success: 1. fallow; 2 beans; 3. wheat; 4. tares; 5. barley;
6. clover; 7. beans ; 8. wheat. In this rotation the clear¬
ing of the ground from weeds depends on the use of the
hoe, which is applied most carefully to the crops of beans.
The western part of the county, especially where it bor¬
ders on Hertfordshire, is, in general, land of a very inferior
quality, and, without very expensive cultivation, yields but
light crops. In one extensive district, called the Rodings,
is still practised a most singular system of husbandry, known
now in Essex only, though formerly it was adopted on poor
lands in some other counties. It is, La year’s fallow; 2.
wheat; 3. fallow; 4. barley, and then a repetition of the
same course; thus having one-half the arable land constantly
without any crop. The soil is a tenacious clay, of a reddish
colour, upon a subsoil of white clay. It is difficult to pul¬
verize, and, with wet, potches so much as not to admit of
ploughing when the atmosphere is moist. There are but
small parts of this district which produce clover, peas, tares,
or beans; and hay is only grown on the narrow borders of
the rivulets which run in the valleys.
In the south-western part of the county the agriculture
assumes that system which is adapted to the supply of the
wants of the metropolis. A great portion of the land is in
permanent pasture, or grows hay to furnish the markets of
Smithfield and Whitechapel. The arable land is generally
cultivated with a rotation of three crops, viz., potatoes,
wheat, and clover; and as London supplies abundance of
manure, by applying it very liberally to the young clover
after the wheat is harvested, most abundant crops are the
consequence, and the land is cleaned by the potato cul¬
ture. In this kind of husbandry, which, indeed, can only
be conducted where manure is to be obtained with great
facility, the plough is only used once in the rotation after
the clover; for as the potatoes are planted, the digging
them up sufficiently prepares the land for wheat.
The farms vary much in size, but average from 150 to
200 acres. They are sometimes held on lease for seven or
fourteen years, but more generally from year to year. Wheat
averages 20 to 30 bushels to the acre; barley 40, oats
12 quarters, beans 32 bushels, and potatoes 300 bushels.
Teasel, caraway, and coriander, are grown together in
spring. The coriander is cropped in autumn, the caraway
in July of the succeeding year, and the teasels in Septem¬
ber of the same year. Hops, saffron, and mustard, are also
grown in a few localities.
Essex feeds some sheep, but very few are bred in the
county. The stock of sheep, principally Southdowns, is
about 520,000, producing annually 8650 packs of wool.
Calves are suckled to a great extent, and the rearing of them
to furnish veal for the London market is the principal source
of income to many farmers. The whiteness of the veal is
produced by a great attention to cleanliness, by regular
periods of suckling, and by giving the calves a small portion
of barley-meal mixed with chalk. The tendency to fatten is
promoted by administering narcotic drugs, which keep the
young animals in a quiescent state. Though the county
affords such abundance of excellent pasture, yet the fatten¬
ing of calves is so much more profitable than the dairy, that
it ?s supplied with butter from other counties. Epping has
indeed been celebrated for its excellent butter; but the
greater part of what is sold in London under that denomi¬
nation is the produce of Northamptonshire, Buckingham¬
shire, and other counties. The Epping dairies produce 212
pounds of butter per cow annually. London is supplied
with much of its beef from Essex. Hie bullocks, in a lean
state, are brought from Scotland, from Whies, and some
from Devonshire, and are fattened in this county, some¬
times on the rich natural meadows, and sometimes on tur¬
nips with the addition of oil-cake.
The landed property in Essex, as in other counties near
the metropolis, is very much divided; there are no over¬
grown estates, though some of considerable value, belong¬
ing to a few individuals; but the greater part is in moderate¬
sized farms, which can be easily disposed of, and which are
frequently purchased from the savings of the commercial
class in London.
The only good harbour in this county is Harwich, whence
the packets for Holland are despatched, and where there is
a royal dock-yard, in which some frigates are built and re¬
paired. The river Coin is navigable for small vessels to
Colchester, and the Blackwater river to Walden. The
Crouch is navigable for the largest ships; but, passing through
an unhealthy country, and having few inhabitants on its
borders, it is useless for the purposes of commerce. The
river Lea is navigable by barges a distance of 25 miles.
There are no canals in this county, but one is projected to
unite the river Lea with the Cam, and thus create internal
navigation from Lynn to London.
The county is divided into two almost equal portions by
the London and Eastern Counties Railway, from which are
a few branches. The London and Cambridge line skirts
the western boundary.
The county gives the titles Earl of Essex to the Cassel
family, and Lord Colchester to the Abbots.
The members of the House of Commons elected in Essex
are ten, being two for each of the boroughs of Colchester,
Harwich, and Maldon, and four for the county, which, for
election purposes, has been divided into the northern and
southern districts. The polling places of the former are
Braintree, Colchester, Saffron-Walden, and Thorpe; and of
the latter, Chelmsford, Billericay, Romford, Epping, Roch-
ford, and Maldon.
The most remarkable seats of noblemen and others are
Audley-End, Lord Braybrooke; Thorndon, Lord Petre ;
Easton Lodge, Lord Maynard ; Navestock, Earl Walde-
grave ; Mistley Hall, Lord Rivers; Dagenham Park, Sir
Thomas Neave ; the Hyde, Disney, Esq.; Hill Hall,
Sir E. Smith, Bart.; Weald Hall, Christopher Tower, Esq.;
Boreham House, Sir John Tyrell, Bart., M.P.; Coped Hall,
 Conyers, Esq.; Mark Hall, Honeywood, Esq.
The antiquities of the county consist of British camps at
six distant places, including Ruckolt, Bartlow Hills, and
Lexden Heath; Roman camps at Witham, Colchester, and
other places, and a number of Saxon remains. Some remains
of castles are still extant, among which the most interest¬
ing, at least historically, is Pleshy, once the seat of the
“ Good Duke Humphrey.”
Plainault Forest was once famous as the hunting ground
of Queen Elizabeth, who by her noted speech at Tilbury
rendered that fort famous in history; and Colchester for its
stout defence when besieged by Fairfax in 1648. Tusser
the agricultural poet, Ray the naturalist, Bishop Bedell, and
Quarles the poet, were natives of the county.
Essex, the name of several towns in the United States,
the principal of which is in the state of New York, on the
W. side of lake Champlain, 108 miles N. by E. of Albany.
Pop. (1850) 2351. There are also several counties in the
United States of this name.
ESSLING, a village of Austria. See Aspern.
ESSLINGEN, a town of Wiirtemberg, circle of Neckar,
on a river of that name, 7 miles N.E. of Stuttgart. Pop.
about 7000. The town is very ancient, and previous to
1803 was one of the free cities of the German empire. It
is surrounded by walls, and has five suburbs, one of which
stands on an island in the river. On a commanding height
above the town stands an old castle. The church of Our
Lady is a Gothic edifice built in 1440, and has a tower
230 feet high. The town-hall is a handsome building.
Esslingen has a richly endowed hospital, an orphan asylum,
and a normal and other schools. The manufactures include
2 u
Essex
Esslingen.
YOL. IX.
338 E S T
Estafette woollen and cotton stuffs, and hardware. In the vicinity
are numerous vineyards producing a sparkling wine known
Esther. ag ]yeckar champagne.
ESTAFETTE, a military courier.
ESTATE, in Law, signifies the title or interest which a
person has in lands, tenements, or other effects. Estates
are real or ■personal. Leal estate, called also heritable
estate, consists generally in things immoveable, as lands,
houses, &c., or in rights secured on these. Personal or
moveable estate consists generally in things moveable, as
money, household-furniture, ships, &c.
Estates, in a political sense, a term used to denote either
the dominions of a prince, or the several classes of men in
a society or government.
In Great Britain the estates of the realm are the sove¬
reign, lords, and commons; or rather the lords and com¬
mons, who meet the sovereign in parliament, for the pur¬
pose of reforming abuses and enacting laws.
ESTE, the ancient Ateste, a town of Lombardy, delega¬
tion of Padua, 18 miles S.S.W. of the town of that name.
It is picturesquely situated at the foot of the Euganean
hills, on the canal of Monselice. Most of the houses are
supported by arches. The exterior of the church of San
Martino bears the appearance of high Romanesque antiquity,
but the interior is modernized. There is a leaning tower
in the same Romanesque style. The Rocca or castle near
the town is a fine and almost perfect building, standing on
the site of the original fortress, the seat of the celebrated
family of Este. The more immediate founder of this family
was Alberto Azzo, born in 996, from whom the sovereigns
of Great Britain, Hanover, Brunswick, and Modena are
descended. Pop. about 9000, employed in manufactures of
silk twist, hats, linens, and earthenware.
ESTELLA, a town of Spain, province of Navarre, on
the Ega, 25 miles S.W. of Pamplona. It has an old castle,
a college, several brandy distilleries, and manufactories of
woollen cloths. Pop. 5342. It was long the headquarters
of Don Carlos, who was proclaimed king here in 1833.
ESTEPONA, a maritime town of Spain, in the province
of Granada, on the Mediterranean, 25 miles E.N.E. of Gib¬
raltar. It carries on an active fishing and coasting trade. The
manufactures are chiefly linen, leather, earthenware and
bricks. The vicinity is very fertile, producing oranges, le¬
mons, and other fruits, which are largely exported to Eng¬
land. Pop. 9383.
ESTERHAZY or Esterhaz, a village of Lower Hun¬
gary, county of Oldenburg, near the S.E. extremity of Lake
Neusiedl, 40 miles W.S.W. of Presburg. Here, surrounded
bv gardens and a noble park, stands a magnificent palace
of Prince Esterhazy, now unoccupied. It is in the florid
Italian style, and is surrounded by a gallery adorned wuth
statues and vases. Its marble halls brilliant with gold and
painting are still fresh as when new.
ESTHER, Book of, one of the eleven books styled
Ketubim, and of the five Megilloth. It is called by the
Jews Megilloh Esther, and sometimes simply Megillah, as
it forms by itself a distinct roll. In the Christian Church
it has been also called Ahasuerus, which name it bears in
some copies and printed editions of the Vulgate. In the
Hebrew' it is placed with the other Megilloth, after the
Pentateuch, between the Books of Joshua and Ecclesiastes,
and sometimes among the Hagiographa, between Eccle¬
siastes and Daniel. In the Vulgate, Tobit and Judith are
placed between Nehemiah and Esther. Luther placed it
immediately after Nehemiah to prevent the books of Nehe¬
miah and Ezra from being disunited. It has continued to
retain this position in the Reformed versions.
1 he principal historical difficulty of this book has been
the solution of the question—-What king of Persia is meant
by Ahasuerus? For there has been no Persian monarch
from Astyages, who died b.c. 603, and his son Cyaxares, to
E S T
Darius Ochus, who died b.c. 358, or his son who died 20 Esthetics
years later, who has not been maintained to be the husband
of Esther. Those who have most suffrages are Darius Esthonia.
Hystaspis, Xerxes, and Artaxerxes Longimanus ; for which
last monarch we have the authority of Josephus and of the
Septuagint Version, wherein he is called by the name of
Artaxerxes. Jahn coincides with the view of Scaliger, who
supposes that Amestris, the cruel and vindictive wife of
Xerxes, is no other than Esther, as both the name and the
character of Amestris favour the supposition that she is the
Esther of the Bible. But she is said by Llerodotus to have
been the daughter of Otanes, a Persian, and to have been
married to Xerxes before his Grecian expedition. Bellar-
mine, who adopts the view of Josephus, is not affected by
the circumstance that, in this case, Mordecai’s age must
have exceeded 165 years, as he himself had known “a hale
old man of 105, who was likely to live still many years.”
Of the true historical character of the book the existence
of the feast of Darius furnishes a sufficient attestation. Of
the authorship of Esther nothing is known, nor have we any
data on which to form a reasonable conjecture. Augustine
ascribes the book to Ezra. Eusebius ascribes it to some
later but unknown author. Clemens Alexandrinus assigns
it, and the Book of Maccabees, to Mordecai. The pseudo-
Philo and Rabbi Azarias maintain that it was written at the
desire of Mordecai by Jehoiakim, son of Joshua, who was
high priest in the 12th year of the reign of Artaxerxes.
De Wette assigns it to the age of the Ptolemies and Se-
leucidse, whose era commenced B.c. 312; while Jahn main¬
tains that it must have been written soon after the facts
which it records, and before the destruction of the Persian
monarchy (b.c. 330), to whose annals it appeals.
Various attempts have been made to assign to the Book of
Esther only a deutero-canonical character, partly from its
being unquoted in the New Testament, and partly from its
being omitted in the catalogues of Melito and other writers.
The former objection, however, would hold true of many
other books which are yet of undoubted authority ; and the
latter is met to a large extent by the consideration that the
Book of Esther is included under the books of Ezra. Against
this slender evidence there is a large mass of positive au¬
thority which it is needless to adduce at any length. The
hostility of Luther to this part of the Old Testament on
account of its Judaism and “heathenish naughtiness,” is
considerably palliated, if, as seems probable, he referred to
the whole book with its apocryphal additions. These he
removed to a separate place among the apocrypha; and
though they have been placed authoritatively in the canon
by the council of Trent, it is certain that they were as igno-
miniously treated by the fathers as by Luther.
ESTHETICS. See ^Esthetics.
ESTHONIA or Estland, one of the Baltic provinces
of Russia, lying between N. Eat. 58. 20. and 59. 30., and
between E. Long. 23. 20. and 28. 20. It is bounded on
the N. by the Gulf of Finland, W. by the Baltic, S. by
Livonia and Lake Peipus, and E. by the province of St
Petersburg. It comprises the islands of Dago, Worms, &c.,
and a portion of Lake Peipus ; and has a total area of 7966
square miles. Estimated population (1846) 310,400. The
surface is generally flat, occasionally diversified with undu¬
lating hills. The soil is mostly sandy, and a great part of it
is occupied by swamps and morasses. It has numerous
streams, but the only river of importance is the Narva, which
flows northward from Lake Peipus to the Baltic, and forms
the boundary between this province and that of St Peters¬
burg. The climate is cold and moist. The winters are
long, extending from the end of October to May, and fogs
and violent winds are common throughout the year. Not
above one-third of the province is under cultivation ; but
the chief occupation of the inhabitants being agriculture,
the corn produced is more than sufficient for home con-
Estoilee
II
Estrema-
dura.
E S T
sumption, the surplus being used for making spirits. Be¬
sides rye, barley, and oats, it produces wheat, maize, hemp,
flax, hops, and tobacco. Several species of pulse are ex¬
tensively cultivated, and form a large proportion of the
nourishment of the peasantry. The forests are extensive,
and include fir, pine, elm, birch, larch, beech, oak, &c. The
province possesses large meadows and good grazing grounds :
next to agriculture the rearing of cattle engrosses the chief
attention of the inhabitants. The horses and horned cattle
are small. Sheep, goats, swine, and poultry, are reared in
great numbers. Of the wild animals, the bear, wolf, fox,
badger, and lynx, are the most common ; some elks are also
found. The fisheries along the ccast are very productive.
The manufactures are few and unimportant, being mostly
domestic. There are numerous distilleries, and the inha¬
bitants, according to ancient usage, enjoy the right of work¬
ing them without government license. The chief town is
Revel. This country was sold by the Danes to the Teu¬
tonic knights in 1346, and became a province of Sweden in
1560. In 1710 it was wrested from the Swedes by Peter
the Great.
ESTOILEE, or Cross Estoii.ee, in Heraldry, a star
with only four long rays in the form of a cross, broad in
the centre, and terminating in sharp points.
ESTOPPEL (Fr. estouper, to stop), in Law, an impedi¬
ment or bar of action, arising from a man’s own act or deed.
ESTREMADURA, a province of Spain, lying between
N. Lat. 37. 58. and 40. 32., and between W. Long. 4. 32.
and 7. 26., being about 180 miles in length from N. to S., by
130 in extreme breadth, and having an area of about 14,280
square miles. It is bounded on the N. by Salamanca and
Avila, E. by Toledo and La Mancha, S. by Cordova and
Sevilla, and on the W. by Portugal. The name is said to
be derived from the Latin extrema ora, as it was the ex¬
treme conquest of Alonso XL from the Moors in 1228.
The Tagus and the Guadiana cross this province from E.
to W., and their respective basins form two natural and
nearly equal divisions; that of the Tagus, being the northern,
called Alta or Upper Estremadura, and that of the Gua¬
diana, Baja or Lower Estremadura. These two basins are
separated from each other by a range of mountains, of which
the eastern and highest portion attains an elevation of from
5000 to 6000 feet above the level of the sea. This natural
division corresponds to the division into the new provinces
of Badajoz and Caceres, the former being Baja Estrema¬
dura, and the latter Alta Estremadura. These contained in
1849 respectively 336,136 and 264,988 inhabitants. I he
basin of the Guadiana is bounded on the S. by a continua¬
tion of the Sierra Morena, which fills up the southern part
of the province with hilly ground, and divides the waters of
the Guadiana from those of the Guadalquivir. A branch
of this chain proceeds northward from the confines of Cor¬
dova to the Guadiana. The basin of the Tagus is bounded
on the N. by a range of mountains which proceed westward
from Avila along the boundaries between Estremadura and
Salamanca, and afterwards enter Portugal. From this
northern range a branch proceeds in a S.W. direction, be¬
tween the rivers Alagon and lietar: from the eastern part
of the central range a branch proceeds in a N.W. direction
to the Tagus. The climate in summer is hot, but not un¬
wholesome, except in some swampy places along the Gua¬
diana. There is then but little rain; dew, however, is abun¬
dant and sufficient to moisten the ground; and the nights
are cool. Although the high mountains are covered with
snow in the end of November, the winters are not severe.
The soil is very fertile, and might be rendered highly pro¬
ductive by a proper use of the waters ol the many rivers
by which it is intersected. Agriculture, however, is wholly
neglected, and the noble plains that might yield abundance
of all sorts of products are devoted only to pasturage. Vast
numbers of Merino sheep come annually from other parts
E S T 339
to winter in these plains. Immense herds of swine are Estrema-
reared in this province and constitute a great source of sup- dljra
port to the inhabitants, not only supplying them with food, Est|ich>
but also forming a great article of export to other pro- v ^,
vinces,—the pork, bacon, and hams of these being in high
esteem. The extensive forests of oak, beech, and chestnuts
afford an abundance of food for hogs. Olive, fruit, and
cork trees are numerous. Game is abundant, and fish
swarm in the rivers and streams. Estremadura has mines
of lead, copper, silver, and iron, but these are almost totally
neglected; and the manufactures are few. The chief pro¬
ducts are corn, wine, oil, hemp, and flax.
Estremadura, a province of Portugal, bounded on the
N. and N.E. by Beira, S. and S.E. by Alemtejo, and W.
by the Atlantic Ocean. It lies between 38. 6. and 40. 15.
N. Lat., and between 7. 43. and 9. 32. W. Long., being
about 140 miles in length from N. to S., by about 80 miles
in breadth. The river Tagus divides it into two nearly
equal parts, the northern being the more mountainous, but
at the same time the more fertile of the two. A chain of
mountains extending from Beira traverses the northern
portion from N.N.E. to S.S.W., and terminates on the
coast between the estuary of the Tagus and the sea. This
range sends off spurs in various directions. Betw'een Torres
Yedras and Lisbon is an extensive chain of points, some
formed by nature and others by art, and stretching in a
general direction from E. to W. Along these Lord Wel¬
lington constructed a series of defensive works called the
Lines of Torres Vedras,” by means of wdnch he was able
successfully to resist the advance of the French invaders.
This mountain chain attains a height of 2300 feet, and sepa¬
rates the streams which fall into the Tagus from those that
flow directly into the sea. The part lying N.W. and be¬
tween it and the sea is mostly flat and sandy towards the
coast, and either barren or covered with forests of pines.
For about 50 miles N. of the mouth of the Tagus, how ever,
or as far as Peniche, the coast consists of rocky cliffs, some
of which attain a great elevation. S.E. of the ridge, and
sloping towards the Tagus, the country is finer and better
cultivated. The plains about Tomar and Santarem are
very fertile, and abound with olive and other fruit trees.
But the finest part of the province is that which lies S.
of the lines of Torres Vedras towards Lisbon. Here the
valleys are covered wfith villages, country seats, gardens,
orchards, and vineyards. S. of the Tagus the country is
mostly low and flat, and in several places unhealthy. The
land rises towards Alemtejo, and several ranges of hills pro¬
ceeding from that province enter Estremadura. The prin¬
cipal river is the Tagus, which falls into the sea below Lis-
b©n. The Zezere is a large and rapid stream which rises
in Beira, and flowing southward falls into the Tagus below
Punhete. The Zatas and Almansor both rise in Alemtejo
and flow at a short distance from each other into the eastern
of the two branches into which the Tagus is divided above
Lisbon. The principal of the rivers flowing directly to the
sea are in the northern portion, the Lis, Alcoa, Arnoya, and
Zizambre ; and in the southern the Maroteca and the Sado,
the last being the largest. Estremadura is divided into
three districts as follows :
Districts. Area in Square Miles. Pop. in 1831.
Leiria  1310 140,114
Santarem   2310 161,342
Lisbon....  3604 423,705
Total  7224 725,161
ESTREMOZ, a strongly fortified town of Portugal, pro¬
vince of Alemtejo, 24 miles N.E. of Evora. It is the seat
of the provincial authorities, and has several churches and
convents, an hospital, arsenal, cavalry barracks, and manu¬
factures of earthen and hard wares. The castle stands on
a commanding eminence. Pop. about 6000.
ESTRICH, in Commerce, the fine soft down which lies
340
E T E
E T H
Estuary immediately below the feathers of the ostrich. It is used
I!. as a substitute for beaver in hat-making, and the coarser
Eternity. kjncj js empl0yed in the fabrication of a stuff resembling
woollen cloth. It is sometimes written estridge.
ESTUARY. See ./Estuary.
ETAMPES (formerly Estampes), a town of France,
capital of a cognominal arrondissement in the department
of Seine-et-Oise, on the Paris and Orleans railway, 30
miles S. by W. of Paris. It is situated in a fertile valley on
the banks of two small streams which fall into the Juine
immediately below the town. Etampes is tolerably well
built, and is the seat of a tribunal of primary instance, a com¬
munal college, and an agricultural society. The church of
Notre-Dame is a Gothic building of the thirteenth century,
having a lofty tower and spire. The church of St Martin
is a very fine edifice. The tower called Guinette is all that
now remains of the ancient royal castle, built in the eleventh
century by King Robert. Etampes has manufactures of
soap, feather, and woollen goods, and a large trade in corn.
In the town and vicinity are numerous flour-mills for the
supply of Paris. Pop.* (1851) 8083.
ETAWEH, a town and fortress of Hindustan, and the
principal place of the British district of the same name. It
is situated on the eastern bank of the Jumna, many parts
of which, during the dry season, are 60 feet in height. The
town is built on the heights, and, as it approaches the river,
is divided into separate hills by deep ravines. In a com¬
mercial point of view the town enjoys great advantages,
being situated at the junction of the road from Calpee to
Agra with that from Cawnpore to the same place. A mile
N.W. of the town is the European eantonment. Exclusive
of the military, the population of Etaweh, by the census
taken on January 1, 1853, is returned at 23,000 persons.
Distant N.W. from Calcutta 710 miles. The district of
which this town is the capital was divided from that of Cawn¬
pore in 1840, and formed into a separate jurisdiction. It is
almost wholly situate in the Doab between the Ganges and
the Jumna, a small strip only being separated from the re¬
mainder by the latter river, and lying along its right or
south-western bank. The population in 1853 was ascer¬
tained by official return to amount to 610,965. Of this
number 401,367 are stated to be Hindus engaged in agri¬
culture, 176,791 Hindus engaged in other pursuits, 9327
Mohammedans and others not Hindus, agricultural, and
23,480 of those classes non-agricultural. Hence it is seen
that the Hindus constitute an overwhelming majority of the
population. The right of the British government to this
tract dates from 1801, when it was ceded by the Vizier of
Oude, forming a portion of the possessions alienated by that
prince in commutation of subsidy. The town of Etaweh is
in Eat. 26. 46., Long. 79. 4. (e. t.)
ETCHING, a method of engraving on copper, in which
the lines or strokes, instead of being cut with a tool or graver,
are eaten in with aquafortis. See Engraving.
ETELENT, a town of the Arabian Irak, on the river
ligris, 66 miles N.N.W. of Bassora.
ETEOCLES, a son of Gidipus and Jocasta. After
his father’s death he agreed to share the royalty alternately
with his brother Polynices, but at the expiry of the first
year he refused to surrender the throne. Polynices, sum¬
moning Adrastus, king of Argos, to his aid, headed the
famous expedition of the Seven against Thebes. After a
series of unavailing skirmishes, it was at last agreed between
the two brothers that the war should be decided by single
combat. An encounter ensued, and both combatants fell;
and so fierce was their resentment, that according to tradi¬
tion their ashes refused to mingle on the funeral pile.
E TERNIIY, duration without beginning or end ; dura¬
tion without end. Among the Romans, jEternitas was used
as one of the titles of the emperor, like divinitas, majestas,
ixc.; and, in the same spirit, Rome itself was designated the
Eternal City. /Eternitas was regarded as a divinity, with¬
out temples or altars; and was represented as a woman
holding the sun in one hand, and the moon in the other.
Her symbols were a phoenix, a globe, and an elephant.
EI ESI AN Winds {Etesiee, from eros, year) are such as
blow at stated times of the year. Such are the monsoons
and trade-winds, which in some parts of the world continue
to blow in the same direction during stated seasons of the
year. The term was applied by the ancient Greek and Ro¬
man writers to the periodical winds in the Mediterranean,
from whatever quarter they blew.
ETHER, an element more pure and subtile than air; the
matter of the highest region above. This fluid has been
considered by the ancient, and many modern philosophers,
to be diffused throughout the universe. With reference to
the motions of the celestial bodies, it has been termed the
ethereal medium. Newton believed in the existence of
such a fluid.
Ether, in Chemistry, an extremely volatile and in¬
flammable fluid, produced by the distillation of alcohol with
an acid. According to the acid employed in its preparation,
it receives the names of nitric ether, sulphuric ether, &c.;
but when perfectly rectified, the ether is the same whatever
acid has been used. See Chemistry.
ETHERIDGE, or Etherege, Sir George, a wit and
comic writer in the reigns of Charles II. and James II., w'as
descended from an ancient family in Oxfordshire, and born
in 1636. His youth was spent in travelling, and also partly
in the study of the law\ His first dramatic performance,
entitled Comical Revenge, or Love in a Tub, appeared in
1664, and introduced him to the leading wits of the time.
In 1668 he produced a comedy called She Would if She
Could; and in 1676 he published another, entitled The
Man of Mode, or Sir Fopling Flutter. This latter piece
he dedicated to the Duchess of York, who, on the accession
of James II., procured his appointment as ambassador, first
to Hamburg and afterwards to Ratisbon. His knighthood
was purchased to gratify the ambition of a rich widow, to
whom he paid his addresses for the sake of recruiting his
fortune. The precise date of his death is unknown, but
it is generally agreed that he did not long survive the
Revolution. The works of Etheridge are characterized by
considerable vivacity and wit; qualities, however, which
only render their licentiousness more dangerous. From
the simplicity and pliancy of his disposition, he became
known under the familiar appellations of Gentle George,
and Easy Etheridge.
ETHICS (j]6o<s, custom, moral character), the science that
treats of the nature and value of moral distinctions; com¬
monly called moral philosophy. See Moral Philosophy.
ETHIOPIA. This term was used by the ancients in
two senses. In its widest acceptation Ethiopia comprised
the vast and unexplored country lying between the Red
Sea and the Atlantic, and along the line of the equator
northwards to the inhabited countries bordering on the
Mediterranean. In a more restricted sense it was applied
to the kingdom of Meroe, which, in contradistinction to the
other, was called the civilized Ethiopia. An account of
this country, as far as it has been explored, will be found
under the heads Africa, Abyssinia, Merge, &c.
ETHIOPS, a name given by the alchemists to several
metallic preparations of a black colour. Thus the black
oxide of iron was called ethiops martial; the black sul-
phuret of mercury, ethiops mineral; and the black oxide
of mercury, ethiops per se.
ETHNARCHA (£6vo<;, nation, apyfh command), m An¬
tiquity, a governor or ruler of a country. The title of eth-
narch, like those of tetrarch and phylarch, appears to have
been used by the Romans to designate such tributary
princes as were not of sufficient importance to be styled
kings. See Tetrarch.
Etesian
Winds
Ethnarcha.
341
ETHNOLOGY.
Ethnology. Ethnology is a word of Greek derivation, belonging to the
same class, and formed on the same principles, as Geology,
Astrology, Biology, Physiology, &c. The initial element,
Ethno-, means, in its primary sense, nation; in its secondary,
the Varieties of the Human Species. These are the true
objects of ethnological study. Ethnology has been defined
to be the Science of Races, but to this definition there is an
objection. What is a race, if it be neither a species nor a
permanent variety? Then, if it be neither of these, nor
yet anything different from them, what is the use of the
term ? The answer to this has been suggested by Dr
Prichard. Suppose an inquirer into the natural history of
mankind to be doubtful whether a certain division consti¬
tute a species or only a variety, his argument may take
such a form as to preclude him from the use of either term.
His judgment is in suspense, and, as a consequence there¬
of, his phraseology is undefined. In such a case race is a
useful word, being one which can be used when there are
doubts as to whether we are dealing with a separate species
or a variety of some species already recognised. Hence
the term is subjective, i.e., it applies to the opinion of the in¬
vestigator rather than to the object of his investigation ; its
power being that of the symbol of an unknown quantity in
algebra. Useful, however, as it is, it is more so in the in¬
vestigation of a doubtful problem than in the exposition of
a known series of facts.
Another synonym to the word Ethnology is The JSatural
History of Man. The Physical History of Man is an¬
other. Both these convey the idea of ethnology, and some¬
thing more, i.e., of the closely allied science of anthropology.
Between these the Natural History of Man is divided ; an¬
thropology determining the relations of man to the other
members of the animal kingdom, ethnology the relations of
the different divisions of mankind to each other. There
existed the materials for anthropology when the first pair
of human beings stood alone on the face of the earth, and.
there would exist the same materials for anthropology it
the world were reduced to its last human family, if it had
no inhabitants but Englishmen, or none but Chinese ; none
but red men of America, or none but blacks of Africa.
Were the uniformity of feature, the identity of colour, the
equality of stature, the rivalry of mental capacity, ever so
great, there would still be an anthropology. This is be¬
cause anthropology deals with man as compared ivith the
lower animals. As anthropologists we consider the struc¬
ture of the human extremities, and enlarge upon the flat¬
ness of the foot and the flexibility of the hand. The one is
subservient to the erect posture, the other to the innumer¬
able manipulations which human industry demands. We
compare them with the fins of fishes, or the wings of birds ;
in doing which we take the most extreme contrasts we can
find. But we may also take nearer approximations, e.g.,
the hands of the higher apes. Here we find likeness as well
as difference ; difference as well as likeness. We investi¬
gate both, and record the result either in detail or by some
o-eneral expression. Perhaps we pronounce that the one
side mves the conditions of an arboreal life, the othei those
of asocial state ; the ape being the denizen of the woods,
the man of towns and cities ; the one a climber, the other
a walker. Or we compare the skull of the man and the
chimpanzee; noticing that the ridges and prominences of
the external surface, which in the former aie meiely rudi¬
mentary, become strongly marked crests in the latter. W e
then remember that the one is the framework for the
muscles of the face, the other the case for the brain.
All this is anthropology as opposed to ethnology, the latter
being a study which has no existence where there is no
variety. The more manifold this variety the greater the
scope of the ethnologist, and the wider his field. No matter Ethnology,
how we classify our varieties. Whether the individuals and n.
groups of individuals which exhibit them form different spe¬
cies of a genus, different genera of an order, or merely dif¬
ferent varieties of a species, is indifferent.
The word, like the department of knowledge that it ex¬
presses, is new; so new that it may almost be said to be
unfixed both in power and in form. Instead of ethnology
many writers say ethnography. Some use the two words
indifferently. Others use both, but distinguish between
them ; the latter meaning the descriptive, the former the
speculative, portion of the subject.
No science has its relations to the other branches of study
more accurately defined than ethnology. It is connected with
zoology proper through anthropology, anthropology differing
firom zoology in its greater simplicity in one respect, and its
greater complexity in another. So far as it deals with a
single order, genus, or species, anthropology is simpler than
zoology. So far as the characteristics of this order, genus,
or species are peculiar, zoology is simpler than anthropology.
The chief criteria of the animals below man are physical
rather than moral: of man they are moral rather than physical.
Anthropology gives us the naturalist view of our species.
Ethnology, on the other hand, gives us the historic view
of it. Yet ethnology is different from ordinary history. In
ordinary history we trace the effects of human actions upon
humanity, the influences being moral. In ethnology we
investigate the influences of soil, climate, nutrition, and
similar agencies, for the most part physical, fhere^ is a
difference between the two studies in all this. I here
are further points of difference. The facts with which his¬
tory proper (civil history) deals are of later date than those
of the ethnologist, the arena of the ethnologist being in the
earlier period of the world’s history, a period for the most
part anterior to the existence of written records and the
other forms of historic testimony. In this way ethnology is
the general archaeology of man, to which the special branches
of that subject are, more or less, subordinate. The methods
of the ethnologist and the civil historian are not less dif¬
ferent than the fields in which they work. History collects^
its facts from testimony ; ethnology infers them by means ef
its own proper induction, arguing backwards, from the known
to the unknown, from the effect to the cause. It was not
until the publication of one of his latest works that Dr
Prichard recognised the inductive character of ethnological
research, and the extent to which his science was thereby
separated from that of the civil historian. However, in his
anniversary address to the Ethnological Society in 184/, he
distinctly recognised it. “ Geology, as every one knows, is
not an account of what nature produces in the present day,
but of what it has long ago produced. It is an investiga¬
tion of the changes which the surface of our planet has un¬
dergone in ages long since past. 4 he facts on which the
inferences of geology are founded are collected from various
parts of natural history. The student of geology inquires
into the processes of nature which are at present going on,
but this is for the purpose of applying the knowledge so ac¬
quired to an investigation of what happened in past times,
and of tracing, in the different layers of the earth’s crust,
displaying, as they do, relics of various forms of organic
life the series of the repeated creations which have taken
place. This investigation evidently belongs to history or
archaeology, rather than to what is termed natural history.
By a learned writer, whose name will ever be connected
with the annals of the British Association, the term palaeon¬
tology has been aptly applied to sciences of this department,
for which physical archaeology may be used as a synonym.
Palaeontology includes both geology and ethnology ; geo-
342
ETHNOLOGY.
Ethnology, logy is the archaeology of the globe; ethnology that of its
^ human inhabitants.” For the important term Palaeontology
we are indebted to Dr Whewell; for the best illustra¬
tions of the palaeontological method, to Sir C. Lyell. Each
of these writers, though specially engaged upon other sub¬
jects, has largely contributed to impress upon English
ethnology, at least, a scientific character—having done more
than any proper ethnologist towards defining the method of
ethnological investigations.
A great portion of the subject-matter to which tins
method applies has already been suggested by the relations
of ethnology to anthropology on the one hand, and to civil
history on the other. In the former, we give prominence
to the phenomena of physical conformation—bodily ai d
mental structure. In the latter, we investigate the pheno¬
mena and development of the social state. Subordinate to
these studies are the ordinary preliminaries to a naturalist’s
and to a historian’s education. To these, however, ethno¬
logy superadds much that is peculiar and proper to itself1—
just as the study of the varieties of such species as the horse,
the domestic fowl, the sheep, or the dog, introduces a mul¬
titude of questions that the study of simpler and less varied
species dispenses with. Let a naturalist employ himself on
say the dog. He will assuredly find that the study of the
variety far surpasses in complexity that of the species.
But what if the dog-tribe had the use of language ?
What if the language differed with each variety ? In such
a case the study of canine ethnology would be doubly and
trebly complex, though at the same time the data for con¬
ducting it would be both increased and improved. A dis¬
tant, a very distant, approach to this exists. The wild dog
howls ; the companion of man alone barks. This is a dif¬
ference of language as far as it goes, which is far enough to
foreshadow the importance of the study of language as an
instrument of ethnological investigation. Again, what if
the dog tribe were possessed of the practice of certain human
arts, and if these varied with the variety ? What if they
buried their dead, and their tombs varied with the variety ?
if those of one generation lasted for years, decenniums, or
centuries? The ethnology would again increase in com¬
plexity, and the data would again be increased. The graves
of an earlier generation would serve as unwritten records of
their habits of sepulture, and these differences in the mode
of sepulture would be measures of some difference in the
way of ethnology—indicative, perhaps, of some moral pecu¬
liarity; or, perhaps, indicative only of certain physical con¬
ditions of soil, climate, animal or vegetable products. The
nidification of birds is a real example of this kind.
Hence the domain of the ethnologist touches those of the
archaeologist and the philologue. But by far the most
important of the accessories to ethnology is physical geo¬
graphy, studied with a special view to the relations between
the bodily conformation of the occupants of a given area, and
its climatological and other conditions. That any amount
of intertropical influences can convert a white man into a
negro is what many deny, and that on reasonable grounds.
That any degree of arctic cold can convert a negro into an
Eskimo is in like manner doubted. Neither is the possibility
of two such extreme forms being developed out of some inter¬
mediate one at all freely admitted. In other words, the effects
of climate, &c., upon the human frame are by no means held
to be indefinite. That climate, &c., however, have some in¬
fluence no one denies, though many limit it to a minimum.
So much for the method. As to the results of ethnolo¬
gical investigation, they are either so many points of classi¬
fication, or so many points of history. They are so many
points of classification, if we suppose that the differences
between the different divisions of one kind have always
been what they are at present; and they are so many points
of history {physical history), if, supposing the whole species
to have once been the same throughout, we deduce the
present distinctions from the influences of climate and other Ethnology,
causes acting during a long or short space of time.
It has been stated that the science is a new one; so
new as for its method to have been but recently explained,
and so new as for its nomenclature to be, even at the pre¬
sent moment, more or less unfixed. The materials, how¬
ever, for a science are always older than the science itself.
Hence, we find in more writers than one (some of consi¬
derable antiquity), ethnological notices, and even ethnolo¬
gical trains of reasoning, though no system of ethnology.
In Greek literature not a little of this sort of information is
found in Herodotus, an unconscious and instinctive ethno¬
logist. He has described manners, and he has given glosses
from several barbarous forms of speech. In Hippoci’ates
we find an approach to a theory as to the effect of the ex¬
ternal physical conditions of climate and the like on the hu¬
man frame. Something, too, we find in Aristotle, and some¬
thing in Plato ; nothing, however, by which the study of
man as an animal is recognised as a separate substantive
branch of science. More than this, in works where the de¬
scription of new populations was especially called for, and
where the evidence of the writer would have been of the
most unexceptionable kind, we find infinitely less than there
ought to be. How little we learn of Persia from the Cy-
ropcedia, or of Armenia from the Anabasis ; yet how easily
might Xenophon have told us much !
The opportunities of the Romans were greater than those
of the Greeks, and they were better used. This we see in
Sallust’s sketch of Northern Africa, and in Cscsar’s of Gaul.
The nearest approach, however, to a proper ethnological
monograph is the Germania of Tacitus. It is far, how¬
ever, from either giving us the facts which are of the most
importance, or exhibiting the method of investigation by
which ethnology is most especially contrasted with history.
But the true measure of the carelessness of the Romans
upon these points is to be taken by the same rule which
applied to that of the Greeks, i. e., the contrast between
their opportunities and their inquiry. Flow much they might
have told us of such vast areas as Asia Minor and Persia—
as the Danubian Principalities (Dacia), as Pannonia, Dal¬
matia, and Rhaetia. We now ask, with interest and uncer¬
tainty, such questions as who were the Getse? who the
Thracians, &c ? Some answer Germans, some Slavonians,
some an extinct division of our species. The commonest
slave-dealer of Byzantium or Olbiopolis could have told us
more than all the learned men since employed on such subjects.
We approach our own times, and the field of observation
enlarges. Africa is circumnavigated, the parts beyond India
visited, America discovered. The world becomes known
in its extremities as well as in its centre. Nevertheless,
the human naturalists anterior to Buffon and Linnaeus, are
like the great men who lived before Agamemnon.
Buffon made a general history of man, as . well as a theory
of the earth, important portions of his great work, promi¬
nent and full. Buffon gives us description rather than
classification. Linnaeus classification rather than description.
How thoroughly zoological is the following table from
the first edition of the Systema Naturee.
Quadrtjpedalia.
Corpus hirsutum, pedes quatuor, femince viviparce, lactiferce.
Anthropomorpha.
Homo.
Dentes primores iv utrinque vel nulli.
{Europseus albescens.
Americanus rubescens.
Asiaticus fuscus.
Africanus niger.
Anteriores, Posteriores,
SiMlA Digit! 5. Digiti 5.... Simla cauda carens.
Papio satyrus.
t, . . , . .. ... f Cercopithecus.
Posteriores antenonbus similes... j Cyno(£phalus>
BRADYPUS...Digiti 3, vel. 2. Digiti 3. Ai ignavus.
1Tardigradas
1 For the ethnological views of Linnseus, see article Man.
ETHNOLOG Y.
343
Ethnology. In 1790, the first decad of the anatomical descriptions of
Blumenbach was published, the special part investigated
being the cranium ; and that with a view to ethnology "rather
than to anthropology.
Little was said about the differentia between the human
skull and the skull of the higher apes ; much about the dis¬
tinctions between crania from America, crania from Asia,
and crania from Africa. The last pentad of these re¬
searches was published in 1820. It is Blumenbach to
whom we owe the division of mankind into the following
five classes; (1.) the Caucasian ; (2.) the Mongolian ; (3.)
the TEthiopic ; (4.) the American ; and (5.) the Malay; the
nomenclature also being Blumenbach’s. Of the five terms
before us, the second, the fourth, and the fifth are cur¬
rent without being inconvenient. The third (dEthiopic)
is rarely used. The first (Caucasian) is unfortunately as
current as it is both incorrect and inconvenient.
The Regne Animal gives the anthropological characters
of man fully, placing him as the only species of the genus
Homo, the only genus of) the order Bimana. The ethno¬
logy is that of Blumenbach modified, the Malay and Ame¬
rican divisions being subordinated to the Mongolian. Mean¬
while, our improved knowledge of New Holland and New
Guinea had given prominence to the Australian and Pa¬
puan varieties—varieties which somewhat complicated the
previous classifications, but which were too slightly investi¬
gated to create an entire revision of it.
It was the anatomists and zoologists that gave to ethno¬
logy its naturalist aspect. The philologues, on the other
hand, viewed it as historians.
Philological ethnology has advanced, at least, as rapidly
as physiological. We may also add that it began earlier.
As early as the voyage of Magalhaens, vocabularies of lan¬
guages, which could only be valuable as ethnological mate¬
rials” were collected—Pigafetta being the collector. Re¬
land knew of the existence of Malay words in the Island of
Madagascar. Leibnitz had speculated on the Bask lan¬
guage. The Abbe Hervas established a voluminous cor¬
respondence with the missionaries of thePropagandawhere-
ever they were found, and his Saggio del Universo gives us
the results. In 1801, the Milhridates of Adelung appeared,
giving specimens, more or less imperfectly classified and ana¬
lyzed,of all the known languages of theworld. Notwithstand¬
ing all this the world had yet to see a special and proper eth¬
nologist. No philologue had known much of either anatomy
or zoology; no anatomist or zoologist of philology. Nor yet
had any one seen the subject in its full dimensions, or treated
it otherwise than as an accessory to some other department
of knowledge. With the naturalist it was an adjunct to
zoology, with the scholar to comparative philology. The
first who combined the two methods of investigation with
a full perception of the magnitude of the subject was Dr
Prichard—no special naturalist, no special anatomist, no
special philologue, but enough of all to make him the first
and last of ethnologists. Such is his position, and in it we
o-et a measure of the extent to which his subject is a new
&
one.
The present author will now lay before his readers an ex¬
position of the primary divisions and main sub-divisions of
Mankind, reserving his criticism until the classification has
been completed, premising that it is only where it differs from
that of Dr Prichard that he feels that any real opposition
of doctrine is encountered. The groups of all other writers
must be looked upon as groups founded upon partial and
incomplete examinations, groups formed (so to say) under
no ethnological responsibility, but merely as extraneous
speculations—so much zoology, so much anatomy, so much
history, or so much philology having been diverted into a
new and near channel.
This is only, however, to the writers who have delivered
opinions upon general and systematic ethnology that this
applies. The authorities that, upon any special division ofEthnologj .
the subject, demand respect and attention are numerous.
To go no further than the limits of the English language,
we have for American ethnology the names of Morton, Gal¬
latin, Hale, Schoolcraft, and others—for Malay and Indo-
Chinese, Leyden, Crawfurd, Logan, Earle, &c.—for Indian
and Himalayan, Hodgson, and many others besides.
What portion of the earth’s surface is it best to start with ?
It is as certain that this is an inquiry of considerable prac¬
tical importance as that it is one to which a variety of
answers may be given. It is important, because the ques¬
tion as to the dispersion of mankind over the earth implies
the existence of some special locality as a starting-point;
and the starting-point being given, a tendency arises to
attach to it what we have called the typical standard or
average sample of our species. However much we may
guard against these views, they continually obtrude them¬
selves on our attention. On the other hand, the answers
concerning the point of the earth’s surface, and the division
of the earth’s inhabitants, with which it is most convenient
to begin, are numerous. They differ with the point ol view
favoured by the inquirer. The zoologist, the philologist,
answer differently. The starting-point that purely zoolo¬
gical considerations more especially suggest are the coun¬
tries of the anthropoeid (or anthropomorphic) apes, coun¬
tries which agree with each other in being intertropical (in¬
deed equatorial), but which lie in distant meridians West¬
ern Africa and the southern extremity of Asia—the banks
of the Gaboon and Borneo. Purely naturalist in our view,
we may argue not only from the general phenomena of the
geographical distribution of animals, but also from the na¬
tural conditions of human life as compared with the artifi¬
cial. In the protoplasts of his species the zoologist sees but
so many naked bipeds, with the capabilities, indeed, of
working out for their future behoof the essentials of cloth¬
ing, the use of fire, and the like, but, in the first instance, in¬
tolerant of any climate but the mildest, and incapable of sus¬
tenance on any soil but the most luxuriant. Hence, from
the purely zoological point of view, the tropics are the cradle
of our kind ; and of the intertropical points, the habitats, or
the parts about them, of the anthropoeid apes. The philo¬
logist, on the other hand, looks towards China, Tibet, and
the Trans-Gangetic Peninsula; inasmuch as the peculiar
character of the languages of these parts arrests his atten¬
tion. They are monosyllabic, and destitute of inflexions.
Such being their character, they are reasonably supposed
to give us the simplest existing forms of human speech.
Whether this view be right or wrong, it evidently favours
the area of the so-called monosyllabic tongues being taken
at the beginning of any ethnological exposition.
Another centre is what we call the logical one-logical
because it is formed upon general rather than special
grounds, and because it is based upon the principle that
forces must not be multiplied unnecessarily. If the earth
were one large circular island; if its populations were ad¬
mitted to have been diffused over its surface from some
single point, and if that single point were at one and the
same time unascertained and requiring investigation, what
would be the method of our inquiries? I suppose that
both history and tradition are silent, and that the absence
of other data of the same kind force us upon the general
probabilities of the case, and a large amount of d priori
argument. We should ask what point would give us the
existing phenomena with the least amount of migration,
and we should ask this upon the simple principle of not
multiplying causes unnecessarily. The answer would be—
the centre. From the centre we can people the parts about
the circumference without making any line of migration
longer than half a diameter, and without supposing anyone
out of such numerous lines to be longer than the other.
This last is the chief point, the point which more especially
344 ETHNOLOGY.
Ethnology, fixes us to the centre as a hypothetical birth-place, since
the moment we say that any part of .the circumference
was reached by a shorter or longer line than any other, we
make a specific assertion requiring specific arguments to
support it. These may or may not exist. Until, however,
they have been brought forward, we apply the rule de non
apparentibus, &c., and keep to our conventional and provi¬
sional point in the centre—remembering, of course, its pro¬
visional and conventional character, and recognising its
existence only so long as the search for something more
real and definite continues.
. Under any or all of these principles some portion of South¬
ern Asia becomes our starting-point. Let the particular
area be the Trans-Gangetic or Indo-Chinese peninsula, an
area which coincides with none of our views exactly, but
approximates them all. Of course it is, more or less, con¬
ventional, hypothetical, and provisional. It is by no means
said to give us the cradle of our species. It is only said
to be a convenient centre from which we may follow out
so many lines of migration in so many different directions.
A.
ASIATICS AND NORTHERN EUROPEANS—
POLYNESIANS, AMERICANS.
GLASS I.
Contains those populations whose physical conformation is,
either typically or sub-typically, Mongol, having been
generally recognised as such.
Area.—Northern, Central, and South-Eastern Asia;
Northern Europe.
Division I.—Languages monosyllabic.
Populations.—The Burmese, Siamese, Tibetans, Pe-
guans, Kambogians, Cochin-Chinese, Chinese, various
mountain tribes, Nepalese, Lepchas, Limbus, Chepang,
Kocch, Bodo, Dhimal, Assam hill tribes, Islanders of the
Indian Archipelago, the Nicobar and Carnicobar Isles, the
Andamans.
The language of all the members of this group is not only
monosyllabic, but destitute (or nearly destitute) of inflec¬
tions. We may add, that the absence of inflections arises
from the fact of their non-development—not from develop¬
ment followed by subsequent loss. The colour of the skin
varies from a light yellow to almost black, the colour of the
hair being more uniform, as also its texture. So is the sta¬
ture—most of the populations under notice being under¬
sized rather than over-sized. The civilizational forms are
extreme, i. e. there is the proverbial industry of the Chinese
at one end of the chain, at the other the barbarism of the
Andaman Islanders. The Chinese section of this group is
far greater than all the others put together, hence (if wTe
look only to the number of individuals) the religion of Fo
is the dominant creed. The smaller and obscurer tribes of
the mountain ranges between Cochin-China and Cambogia,
Cambogia and Siam, Siam and the Burmese Empire, China
and Assam, the Burmese Empire and Arakhan, claim, on
the part of the ethnologist, an amount of attention that the
civil historian has never yet given them. The Andaman
Islanders are placed in this group on the strength of the
language. Their colour is against their belonging to it.
Division II.— Turanians—Languages other than
monosyllabic.
Turanian area (either now or originally).—Mongolia,
Mantshuria, Siberia, Tartary (Independent and Chinese),
I urkestan, Anatolia, Rumelia, parts of Persia, Armenia,
Syria, the Crimea, Lapland, Finland, Esthonia, Livonia,
Courland, governments of Archangel, Olonetz, Novogorod,
Twer, St Petersburg, Yaroslav, Vologda, Permia, Viatka,
Kazan, Astrakhan, Simbirsk, Saratov, Nizhgorod, Penza, Ethnology.
Tambov—Hungary—the Kurile Isles, Kamskatka, Japan.
Groups.—1. The Mongolian ; 2. the Turk; 3. the Ug-
rian ; 4. the Tungus ; 5. the Peninsular.
L The Mongolians.—Mongolia is part of the largest
steppe in the world, extreme in climate, and poor in soil, and
the Mongolians are the most nomade of populations, their
physiognomy and habits being uniform over a vast extent
of country. The skull is broad, the face flat, the eyes
oblique, a crescentic fold at the inner angle separating them
in appearance more than they are in nature. The extent
to which the Mongolian physiognomy has been considered
typical has already been noticed. That the calves of the
legs are undeveloped is no more than the natural effect of
their equestrian habits. A tent is the house, milk and flesh
the food of the Mongolian. Of the milk, when fermented,
he makes his intoxicating drink, kumiss.
Temudzhin (Jenjiz-khan) is the hero and conqueror who
has given the Mongolians their chief historical importance,
China being the point towards which the edge of the Mon¬
gol sword has most turned. But the spirit of conquest has
long been dead. The Mongolians under China are peaceable
Buddhists, eminent for their amenability to priestly influence.
Some few of them are independent, others subjects to Rus¬
sia, where they are known as Kalmuks. Of these some
have been imperfectly Christianized. The Kalmuks of the
governments of Caucasus and Astrakhan are a colony. So
are some small Mongol settlements in Cabul.
2. The Turks.— Turk, in ethnology, is a word of a very
wide import. It denotes all the populations whose language
is allied to that of the Turks of the Ottoman Empire.
These, indeed, are best called Osmanli, while Turk
means the Turcomans, both of Asia Minor and the Persian
frontier, and a vast number of important tribes besides.
No division of our species surpasses this in interest and im¬
portance. The original Turk area is of the largest. Con¬
quest and encroachment have made it larger still—conquest
and encroachment in every direction. How far this has
moved westward wre know, for we know that the Osmanli
Turks of Turkey are the latest invaders of Europe. In
Asia Minor they are older occupants, but even there they
were originally invaders. They are to be found, mixed
with Arabs, in Syria and Palestine, even to the frontier
of Arabia. Their great centre, how'ever, is Independent
Tartary. From this they have spread as far east as Chinese
Tartary ; for, not only are the Uzbeks of Bokhara Turks,
but the tribes of Khoten and Yarkend are Turks also.
Bounded on the east by the Mongols, the Turk area pro¬
longs itself northwards; and that to the very verge of the
Arctic Sea. The Lena is a Turk river, and the Yakut
Pagans who occupy it speak a language closely akin to the
Osmanli of Constantinople. Add to this that all the Tar¬
tars (so-called) of the Russian Empire belong to the same
stock. In Kazan, Astrakhan, and the Crimea, they have
founded empires, and attained a civilization like that of the
Ottomans. In Orenburg they are, perhaps, as much Ugrian
as Turk—this being the view taken of the Bashkirs, whose
language, however, is undoubtedly Turk. The Barabinski
steppe is Turk. Nogays (wherever found) are Turk.
The numerous tribes, more or less isolated, on the Upper
Obi, and Yenesey, are Turk. So are some as far eastwards
as the Lake Baikal. In Caucasus the Karatshai and Basi-
ani are Turks. With an area so large, the Turk family is
subjected to almost every physical influence. Again, it
occupies some of the highest inhabited levels, e. g. the table¬
land of Pamer, at the head of the Oxus. As far as any
general statement can be made in respect to its distribution,
it may be said that it is an overland one. Fewr Turks are
in any of the maritime localities, or on any of the deeply in¬
dented sea-boards. Again, the Turk area is fitted for a pas¬
toral, rather than an agricultural life. Still, there are excep-
ETHNOLOGY.
345
Ethnology, tions. Along the Jurgan and Lower Oxus, the Turcomans,
who are elsewhere so pastoral, are industrial tillers of the
soil. What applies to the Turk habits applies also to the
Turk creed. As a general rule they are Mohammedans, just
as (as a general rule) they are pastoral. Yet many of the
Turks under Russia are Christians, whilst the Yakut are
Pagans. A few perhaps, on the Mongol frontier are Budd¬
hists. Part of the Turk area is covered with archaeological
remains,—which yet remain to be accurately investigated,
e. g. the Russian governments of Kazan, Astrakhan, Saratov,
as well as Independent Tartary. So is the Crimea. Neither
the Turks nor the Mongols have been eminent as builders
of cities. Mohammedan as is the Turk religion in general,
it was, nevertheless, preceded, in some parts at least, by
Christianity. Hence, the earliest Turk alphabet—which was
of Syrian origin, introduced by the Nestorian missionaries,
the Uighur form of speech being the one to which it wras
applied. From the Turks the Mongols took it, from the
Mongols the Mantshu. In physiognomy the Turk is Mon¬
golian ; the Osmanli of Europe and, in a less degree, the
Turkoman of Asia Minor, being exceptional sections modi¬
fied by intermixture. The family is pre-eminently a family
of conquerors. Tamerlane, the Seljukians, and the Os¬
manli, were Turk. The obscure conquest of the valley of
the Lena by the ancestors of the present Yakuts was Turk.
There is evidence—whether good or bad is doubtful—that
one of the early conquest of China was Turk. A case may
be made in favour of Asia Minor and Syria having been
overrun by Turks long before the Seljukian period, and, in¬
deed, the very dawn of history. A case can be made out for
the Parthians (and possibly the Persians) having been Turk.
That the Comanians, Uzes, Petshinegs, and Avars, were
Turk, is certain. It is almost certain that the Huns of
Attila were the same—probably the Bulgarians also (though
now Slavonized). Lastly, the Scythians of Europe were
Turk, rather than ought else.
The chief divisions are—the Kirghiz and less important
tribes in Independent Tartary, the Uzbeks of Bokhara,
the Turks of Chinese Tartary (of Uighur origin), the Tur¬
comans, the Basiani and Karatshai of Caucasus, the Osmanli,
the Crim Tartars, the Nogays, the Bashkirs (of mixed blood),
the Barabinski, &c., of Siberia.
3. The Ugrians.—The Ugrian family is common to both
Asia and Europe, being the most western member of the
former, the most eastern (north-eastern) of the latter, con¬
tinent. The Uralian range lies well-nigh in the centre of
its area. As compared with a Mongolian, a Ugrian has a
European—as compared with a German, a Mongol, phy¬
siognomy. The hair is often red; indeed, the Ugrian
is the first great section of our species where a light com¬
plexion becomes anything like general. Placed between
two great powers—the Turk and the Russian—the Ugrian
family has been greatly encroached upon, greatly broken up ;
so that at present it presents but fragments of its former
greatness. Originally, I think it extended from Caucasus
to the Icy Sea, from the Dnieper to Behring’s Straits—an
area not less, but rather greater, than that of the Turk.
Nine-tenths of what is now Russian was once Ugrian.
The primary divisions into which this stock falls are—
(1), the Eastern ; (2), the Western, Ugrians,
1. The Eastern are the Samoyeds, the Yeniseians, and
the Yukahiri, all populations of Asia, the Yukahiri being the
most eastern. None of these are in contact with each other,
inasmuch as northern offsets of the fungus and duiks
separate them. They are all nomades— all in the tundra
rather than in the forest.
2. The Western Ugrians consist of the Laplanders, the
Finlanders, the Permians, biranians, and \ otiaks of the
Russian governments of Perm, Vologda, and Viatka; the
Tsheremiss, the Mordvins, the Tshuvash, on the middle
Volga; the Voguls and Ostiaks on the ridge of the Ural
VOL. IX.
mountains, and along the rivers Obi and Yenesey ; and, Ethnology,
finally, the Majiars of Hungary. Between the extreme
types there are broad differences, e.g. between the Laps
and Majiars. So there are in respect to their social and in¬
tellectual histories.
The two great representatives of Ugrian stock are, (1),
the Finlanders of Finland, and (2), the Majiars of Hungary,
the latter being recent conquerors and intruders, the date
of their conquest and intrusion being the tenth century.
That the difference between the Finlander and the Lap is
so great as it is, must be accounted for by the displacement
of transitional forms. All Norway and Sweden w-as once
Lap. So was Courland, and, perhaps, certain districts still
farther west. The Ugrian creeds are either Christian or
pagan, there being little or no Mohammedanism, except, of
course, where there has been Turk intermixture. At pre¬
sent the most southern Ugrians (laying the Majiars out of
the account) are the Mordvins of the governments of Sara¬
tov and Astrakhan.
Few suggestions as to the early history of the more ob¬
scure nations are more important than that of Mr Norris
respecting the third language of the Arrow headed Inscrip¬
tions. It is to the effect that it was Ugrian. If so, the Ug¬
rians from the southern part of the Uralian range may have
overrun Persia several centuries b.c., just as certain Majiar
Ugrians overran Hungary and Transylvania several cen¬
turies A.D.
The Samoyeds have been added to the Ugrian family by
Castren, the Yeneseians and Yukahiri by the present writer.
It is doubtful whether the group has yet attained its due
dimensions. Possibly the Eskimo may have to be added
to it, as well as some American tribes. Possibly, also, the
Kamskadale and Koriaks ; an addition affecting the value
of the Peninsular group.
4. The Tungiis.—The Tungus area lies to the north and
east of the Mongol. On the drainage of the Amur the older
geographical names are Tungus, the newer Chinese. This
shows that the latter nation is the encroaching one. On the
other hand, it is Tungus dynasty (the Mantshu) that is do¬
minant in the Celestial Empire. Divided in their political
relations between Russia and China, the Tungus differ from
each other in creed. In China they are Buddhist, in
Russia imperfect Christians and pagans. The Mantshus
have adopted the Mongol alphabet. Upon some of the
tribes to the north of them the Tungus have encroached
and effected displacements, the probable direction having
been from south, or south-east, to north. Their appearance
in history is late, inasmuch as their area lay beyond the pale
of Greek, Roman, and Arab intercourse. It is the Chinese
who most mention them ; a tribe called Niuju more espe¬
cially. This term (Niuju), Daurian, Tshapodzhir, Mant¬
shu, and Lamut, are the most currently known names of the
Tungus family. The Tshapodzhir tattoo their faces. The
different zoological regions of the Tungus area give us the
divisions of the Horse Tungus, the Reindeer Tungus, and
the Dog Tungus. The Tungus has encroached upon the
Ugrian area, isolating certain members of it, e.^.the Y ukahiri.
The word Tungus = donki == man, a root that reappears in
the Yeniseian, and more than one American language.
e.g. the north-western dialects of the Athabaskan {vidL
infra).
5. The Coreans, Japanese, Kurile Islanders, Kamska-
■ dales, and Koriaks.—I throw all these into a single class of
value as yet undetermined. I suggest for it the name Penin¬
sular, from the extent to which its area is affected by the
neighbourhood of the sea. In the way of language, the affi¬
nities of these populations are Tungus and Ugrian rather
than monosyllabic, their physiognomy being unequivocally
Mongolian. The civilization varies ; the proximity of China
having told favourably on Japan, less favourably on Corea,
and little at all on the Kurile Islanders. Of the Kamska-
2 x
346 ETH NOLOG Y.
Ethnology, dale peninsula the aborigines are nearly extinct. Not so
the Tshuktshi of the coast of the Arctic Ocean. The?/ hold
their own bravely; bold in temper, strong in body.
Ermann has remarked that the Kamskadale and Ostiak
languages appear liker each other than either are to the
intermediate tongues, e. (/., the Tungus and Mongol. If
so, we see our way to the possibility of the Peninsular
group (either wholly or in part) becoming subordinated to
the Ugrian. Probably, too, the Kamskadales and Koriaks
belong to one and the same division of this group. The
Peninsular, Ugrian, and Tungus forms of speech are the
most American of the Asiatic languages, the Tshukshi be¬
ing also American in physiognomy.
CLASS II.—IRANIANS.
Groups.—1. The Persians; 2. the Paropamisans ; 3.
the Armenians; 4. the Dioscurians (i. e., the Caucasians of
Caucasus, or Caucasians in the limited, proper, and con¬
venient sense of the term).
Physiognomy.—Caucasian (in the general, Blumen-
bachian, and inconvenient sense of the term) rather than
Mongolian ; in some cases Mongolian.
Languages.—Pauro-syllabic (i. e., of so few syllables as
to approach the monosyllabic character). Inflections few;
probably, in all cases from non-development rather than
loss; certainly so in the Dioscurian division.
Area.—Kurdistan, Persia, Afghanistan, the Kohistan of
Cabul, Bokhara, Kafiristan, Armenia, Caucasus.
1. Persians.—Divided into Persians Proper, Kurds,
Biluch, Afghans. Shiite Mohammedans, and fire-worship¬
pers in religion. Christianity rare.
The Persians of history must be looked upon as a mixed
race, large infusions of Turanian blood having been intro¬
duced from the northern frontier. In the comparative
compression of the cheek-bones, the oval outline of the
face, and the prominence of the nasal bones, we find wide
departures from the Mongol type. Aquiline noses first
appear in this group, just as red hair first appeared with the
Ugrians. The philology of Persia is closely connected with
that of India.
2. Paropamisans.—Occupants of the ancient Paropa-
misus, i. e., the Kohistan of Cabul.
The so-called Kafres of Kafiristan, to the north of Pesha-
wer, give us the type of this division—which, perhaps,
should be subordinated to the proper Persian. The Kafres
still retain the paganism of the times anterior to Moham¬
medanism. Their country is inaccessible, so that they are
amongst the obscurest tribes of Asia. Their physical ap¬
pearance is fine. The Chitrali, Dardoh, probably the
Cashmirians, along with certain fragmentary populations
of Cabul, are Paropamisan.
3. A?-menians.—The features more massive than those
of the Persian ; the creed Christian rather than Moham¬
medan ; the language, as also the alphabet, peculiar; the
civilization old. Like the Jews, the Armenians are scat¬
tered beyond the limits of their own area.
4. Dioscurians.—This is a term suggested by the au¬
thor. It is taken from the town Dioscurias, wherein
Pliny says that 130 interpreters were wanted ; so numerous
were the dialects of Caucasus. They are numerous now.
Hence the suggestion of the word instead of the awkward
term Caucasian in the limited sense of the ivord, a circum¬
locution otherwise necessary from the Blumenbachian use
of the adjective in another sense.
In the western Caucasus the physiognomy is Persian
rather than Mongolian ; in the eastern it approaches the
Mongolian. The language has its nearest affinities with
the 1 ibetan and other monosyllabic tongues ; a statement
which, in the case of the Iron, many philologues are in¬
disposed to admit. The sections and chief subsections of
the Dioscurians are as follows :—
1. Circassians.—Adighe, Abassians, Kabardinians, &c. Ethnology.
2. (a) Tshetsh or Mizhdzhedzhi.—Central and on the
watershed between the Terek and Kuban rivers ; probably
to be subordinated to the—
{b) Lesgians, or Eastern Caucasians.—The Avars, the
Anzukh, the Andi, &c.
3. Iron, or Osset.—Central and on the watershed be¬
tween the Kuban and the Kur.
4. Georgians.—Mingrelians, Imeretians, Suan, Lazians,
and Kartulinians.
CLASS III.—INDIANS.
In India we have a physiognomy referable to two types,
one Persian rather than Mongol, the other Mongoloeid.
In each case the skin is dark, i.e., brunette, or black. The
chief creeds are Buddhist and Brahminic. The languages
for the south are undoubtedly of Tamul origin. For the
north, see Language, Notes. Among many of the hill-tribes
neither of the leading religions have yet struck root. Hence
the original paganism of the peninsula still remains.
The minute ethnology of India is as interesting as it is
complicated. It is the ethnology of a country of castes; of
a teeming, ingenious, and industrious, but rarely indepen¬
dent population ; of an ancient literature and an ancient
architecture. It is a country which, whatever may have
been the origin of its own civilization, helped to civilize the
majority of the countries of the monosyllabic languages—
Ava, Tibet, Siam, and (more than is generally believed)
China. To the Brahminic and Buddhist religions India
stands in the same relation as Arabia does to Mohamme¬
danism.
In all Indian investigation we must bear in mind that
there is one native and at least two foreign elements.
Of the latter, one is that of the populations akin to the Nepa¬
lese and Tibetans whose area at one time reached the
Ganges. The other is that of the speakers of the San¬
skrit language, wdioever they were and whensoever they
came. According to some, they were originally strange to
the north as well as to the south of India, whilst from the
south every one excludes them.
The languages wherein the Tamul character is un¬
doubted are the Tamul Proper, the Kanara, the Telinga,
the Tulava, the Malayalam, and the Coorgi forms of speech
(all in the south); along with most of the dialects of the hill-
tribes, one of which, the Rajmahal mountaineers, lies as
far north as the Ganges, and within 100 miles of the most
southern of the monosyllabic languages, i.e., the Garo.
The languages wherein the Sanskrit elements make the
original Tamul character doubtful, are the Punjab, the
Multan, the Sind, the Gujerati, the Rajputana, the Hindi,
the Bengali, and the Udiya forms of speech.
CLASS IV.—THE OCEANIC STOCK.
Area.—The Peninsula of Malacca; the Islands of the In¬
dian Archipelago, Chinese Sea, and South Sea ; Madagas¬
car, New Guinea, Australia, Van Diemen’s Land; i.e.,
Islands or Peninsula; whence the term Oceanic.
Primary Divisions.—(1.) Amphinesia; (2.) Kelaenonesia.
Physiognomy.—When Amphinesian, more Mongol than
African ; when Kelsenonesian, more African than Mongol.
Language.—When Amphinesian, with patent and re¬
cognised affinities to the Malay; when Kelsenonesian,
with Malay affinities fewer and only partially recognised.
The Turk group illustrates the diffusion of man over
a continent ; the group before us the distribution of man
over the ocean. The spread of a population over a conti¬
nent is continuous; its spread over an ocean interrupted,
or, at any rate, liable to interruption. Thus Gaul, most
probably, began to receive a population as soon as the parts
in contact with it were full. Britain, on the other hand,
may have remained a solitude for centuries and millenniums
ETHNOLOGY.
347
Ethnology. after Gaul had been over-peopled. Unless we imagine
n—the first canoe to have been built simultaneously with the
first demand for water transport, it is as easy to allow that
a long period intervened between that time and the first
effort of seamanship as a short one. Hence the date of the
original populations of islands is not in the same category
with that of the dispersion of men and women over conti¬
nents.
Now, great signs of the interruption of migration pre¬
sent themselves in the ethnology of the Oceanic Stock;
and it is only by the admission of these that the group be¬
comes natural—these and the evidence (often obscure) of
language, along with the phenomenon of transitional, or in¬
termediate, forms.
Amphinesians.—These fall into
1. Protonesians, or occupants of the Indian Archipelago
and Chinese Sea, Sumatra, Borneo, Java, Moluccas, Philip¬
pines, &c.; the names being derived from-n-pwros, first, and
vf/cros, island, these being the islands first occupied from the
Continent. The chief populations here are Malays, Dyaks,
Javanese, Bugis, and Philippine Islanders.
2. Micronesians of the Caroline and Marianne Islands.
3. Polynesians, of the South Sea Isles, in general, from
the Sandwich Islands to New Zealand, from the Fijis to
Easter Island.
4. Malagasi of Madagascar.
Kelasxonesians.—1. Papuans of New Guinea; Loui-
siade, New Hebrides, Tanna, Mallicollo, and New Cale¬
donia ; 2. Tasmanians; 3. Australians.
KcAcuvos, black ; agcfn, about, around—A reference to
the map will now explain the nomenclature. Polynesia is
considered to have been peopled from Southern Micione-
sia, Micronesia from the north-eastern part of Protonesia
{i. e., from the Philippines, via Lord North’s Island, the
Pelews, &c.) If so, the Amphinesia migration laps round
the Kelaenonesian, which is deduced, for Australia, from
Timor, for New Guinea, from the Arru Isles. Tasmania
has such remarkable affinities with the Papuan Islandei s, that
even there the population seems to have come round Aus¬
tralia rather than across it. The Kelaenonesian civilization
is far lower than that of the Amphinesian. Thereof much
of the Protonesian part is Mohammedan, a portion Chris¬
tian, a portion Brahminic, a portion still Pagan. Theie is
also more than one Protonesian alphabet, e.g., the Batta,
the Rejang, the Lampong, the Javanese, the lagala. In
most of the Protonesian islands, as well as in the Malaccan
Peninsula, there are certain wild tribes, many of which are
blacker in skin than the ordinary Malay, Javanese, Dyak,
&c. These may be called the Negritos of the Malay, or
Amphinesian area. In no case where their language has
been examined has it been found to be Kelaenonesian; nor
yet has it been found to differ from the Protonesian dia¬
lects of the parts around it more than the Protonesian dia¬
lects differ from each other. The generality of writers have
separated these from the Malays; some connecting them
with the Papuans or Australians. The present writer does
not do this. He sees in them only so many members of
the ordinary Protonesian group in a ruder and more primi¬
tive state. Nevertheless, it was when this state was gene¬
ral, and the ordinary colour of the Protonesians darker, that
he believes the migration by which New Guinea and Aus¬
tralia were peopled to have taken place.
In the Fiji islands, the Papuan and Polynesian charac¬
ters are intermixed, just as if the stream of population that
went round Kelsenonesia and the extreme Kelaenonesians
met. The Papuan is one of the least known sections of
mankind.
CLASS V.—AMERICANS.
As long as the north-western parts of America were so
imperfectly known as they were till within these last few
years, the origin of the American population was uncertain; Ethnology,
inasmuch as the Red Indians and the Eskimo on the eastern v-"-
side of the Continent stood in strong contrast to each other;
the transitional or intermediate forms having been obli¬
terated. We no sooner, however, study the tribes of Rus¬
sian America and the Oregon, than all such contrasts dis¬
appear. The Eskimo of the west graduates into the Indian
of the west. Neither are there wanting direct proofs of
philological affinity between the languages of the parts in
question and those of the 1 ungus, Peninsulars, and Ugrians.
The classification of the divisions and sub-divisions of the
American group (a group of value yet undetermined) has
yet to take its final form. Provisionally, however, we have
the following arrangement:—
Eskimos in Greenland, Labrador, the coasts of the Arc¬
tic Sea, Russian America, the Aliaskan Peninsula, the Aleu¬
tian Isles, and the extreme north-east of Asia. Koluch in
the parts about Sitka, with affinities to the Eskimo on the
one hand, and, on the other, to the Athabaskans, whose
area subtends that of the Eskimo, and reaches from the
Pacific to Hudson’s Bay. The chief divisions of the Atha-
baskan group are the Chepewyans, the Beaver, Strong-bow,
and other northern Indians, the fakulli, the Sikanni, the
Sussees, the Loucheux, the Kenays, to which we may add
outlying members as far south as Mexico, viz.: the Kwa-
liokwa and Tlatskanai on the Californian frontier, the
Navahos, and Jecorrillas, and Apatches of California and
Mexico. No group has its members lying further north
and south of each other than the Athabaskan, some be¬
ing within the Arctic Circle, some within the Tropics, the
southern members isolated. Of equal magnitude with the
Athabaskan group is—
The Algonkin, to which the majority of the Indians of
the United States are referable, some as far north as La¬
brador, some as far south as Tennessee. Ihe Delawaies,
Ojibways (different from the Athabaskan Chepewyans), and
more than 30 other tribes are Algonkin.
The Iroquois group contains the Oneydas, Hurons, vvy-
andots, Senecas, Cayugas, Mohawks, &c.
The Sioux, the loways, Minitarees, Osages, and nu¬
merous tribes of the parts between the Mississippi and Rocky
Mountains.
The Woccons, Catawbas, Cherokees, Chochtas, Creeks
and Caddo, have all Sioux and Iroquois affinities, and may
probably have, under some future classification, to form with
those two groups one large class.
Paducas.—TKxs means the tribes that speak languages
akin to the Comanch, numerous in Oregon, California, I exas,
and Mexico.
Texas and the south-western parts of the older states give
us a vast mass of small tribes still requiring classification,
Uche, Coosadas, Alibamas, Taenzas, Pascagoulas, Colapis-
sas, Biluxis, Chetimachas, Humas, Tuncas, Pacanas, Nat¬
chitoches, Adahi, Opelusas, Attacapas, Natchez. Neither
are the Riccarees, Pawnees, and Ahnenin (Fall Indians),
further north classed.
In New Caledonia, Oregon, and California, we have
On the coast—The Haida, Chemmesyan, Billechula,
Hailtsa, Chinuk, and Nutka tribes.
In the interior—The Atnas (Shushwah), Cutanis, and
Sahaptins. , , t
Add to these Jakons, Molele, Cayus, Kalapuyas, Lutu-
ami, Saintsila, Shastis, Palaks, &c.
In California a large portion of the Indians is either
Athabaskan or Paduca. Still, there are several unclassed
tribes. In the direction of New Mexico, and in New Mexico
itself, we have the so-called Puebla Indians, partially un¬
classed—Moqui, Zuni, Taos, &c. In Old California, we have
the Cochimi and Pericu tongues. Sonora gives us the Pimo
and Coco-maricopas, the Opata, Ciri, and Jaqui languages.
Further inland lie the Cora and Tarahumara,Heading to
ETHNOLOGY.
348
Ethnology. Mexico, where the chief form of speech is the Aztek, not
without many others (the Tarasca, the Otomi, &c.) around
it. In Central America the Maya is preponderant—also
with numerous minor languages around it. In Nicaragua
the Mexican reappears with the Dirian, Chontal, and other
forms of speech, lately illustrated by the researches of
Squier in its neighbourhood. The Moskito, the Bayano, See.,
lead us to the South American, where the Muysca section
takes the same prominence in New Grenada that the Aztek
did in Mexico, the Maya in Guatimala, and the Quichua,
will take in Peru.
These give us the maximum amount of American civili¬
zation ; a civilization which wre either infer from the archi¬
tectural and other remains spread over the Mexican and
Peruvian areas, or else find described in the writings of the
early Spanish conquerors. Undoubtedly, these supply us
with some strong contrasts to the rudeness of the ordinary
American Indian of the lake districts and prairies. They
are differences, however, of degree rather than kind, as may
be seen by taking the chief characteristics of the Mexican and
Peruvian culture, and asking how far they appear in a ru¬
dimentary form elsewhere. Assuredly, some of the most
important will be found amongst tribes of far less historical
prominence than the ones in question. The existence of
such an empire as Montezuma’s is, undoubtedly, a measure
of the Aztek civilization. Yet the obscurer one of Powhat-
tan in Virginia exhibited an equal amount of organization.
The phrase picture-writing applies to some of the imperfect
historical records of the same country. Yet it is but the
daub of the Pawni, or Algonkin in an improved form. The
agricultural and metallurgic industry of the Anahuac and
Cordillera has its origin quite as much in the physical con¬
ditions of the soil and climate as in any original intellectual
superiority on the part of its occupants; besides which, it
is approached by that of the Puebla Indians. The Mexi¬
can arithmetic has long commanded attention. It not only
gives us a simple term for 20, but also one for 400 and 8000.
Much stress has been laid upon this so-called vigintesimal
system. There is reason, however, for referring it to a very
common-place origin. Twenty - man (i. e. ten fingers and
ten toes). Twenty men made the first division of the Mexican
army—say a company, 20 of these made (say) a regiment;
20 regiments an army. This we infer from the symbols for
20, 800, and 4000, wdiich are also those of the three military
divisions just enumerated. We cannot, with such a fact as
this before us, credit the Mexicans with having an exten¬
sive multiplication table. They may have been unable to
count the intermediate numbers between 40 and 400, or
even between 20 and 40. Another line of argument has
helped to isolate these civilizations. Wherever similar
characteristics appear they have been called, off-hand, Mexi¬
can or Peruvian, as the case might be. Nevertheless, the
truer inference from the fact of certain architectural remains,
Sec., being found over a vast tract of country is, not that
there has been a certain amount of conquest or colonization,
but that more divisions of the American population than
one have worked in the same way on similar materials.
Language, too, has helped to isolate. The Otomi
tongue has long been known to be eminently monosyllabic.
But there are others in the same category, e. g. certain
Athabaskan dialects, the Attacapa, &c.
Again, many American nations flatten the skull artifi¬
cially, and are known to do so ; others are found with it flat¬
tened, but are not known to flatten it. Hence, we get the
possibility of such a phenomenon as naturally flat crania, a
phenomenon on which many authors insist. If their view
be accurate, it gives us a physical distinction of great value,
amounting, perhaps, to a specific difference. The natural
character, however, of the skulls in questions is, as yet, un¬
proved. Such are some of the differentice—physical and
moral between the more extreme American populations ;
and it must be admitted that they cannot all be explained Ethnology,
away without a considerable amount of assumed influences.
The more, however, these are studied, the more probable
they appear. The more, too, we go into the details of the
division itself, the more we find transbions and intermediate
forms.
The great South American families of which the limits
are the most defined are—1. The Quichuas. 2. The Caribs.
3. The Guarani; the Chaco, the Pampa, and the Chileno
groups being of somewhat less, though still of considerable,
magnitude.
1. The Quichua section follows the line of the Andes
from the equator to S. Lat. 28., extending, at one point, as
far east as Tucuman.
2. The Caribs have the same prominence in Venezuela
that the Quichuas have in Peru and Bolivia. They extend
from New Grenada to French Guiana. In Trinidad, part
at least of the early population was Carib, as it was in the
Antilles.
The Quichuas are mountaineers. The Caribs seem to
have followed the courses of the rivers—hemgjluviatile so
to say. More fluviatile, however, than the Caribs are
3. The Guarani. Guarani or Tupi forms of speech are
found at the mouth of the Amazons, also at the mouth of
the river Plata, also on the intermediate coast. In Entre
Rios, Corrientes, and Paraguay, it spreads inland. On the
watershed of the Amazons and Plata, in the province of
Santa Cruz de la Sierra, the Chiriguanos, Sirionos, and Gu-
arayos, are Guarani. Again, on the Napo and Putumayu,
the Omaguas are Guarani also. Hence, the best provisional
view that we can take as to the diffusion of so important a
stock, may be to consider the Siriono and Guarayo districts
as the original localities. These are common to turn river-
systems; so that, starting from these, the Omagua branch
may have reached the Amazons, whilst the Guarani reached
the Parana and Uruguay rivers. Still the view is only pro¬
visional.
Next to the Quichuas, the Guaranis give us some of the
most civilized tribes of South America. On the other hand
the Mundrucu, of the middle Amazons, can be shown by
their language to be Guarani; the Mundrucu serving as the
very type and standard of savage wildness. When a Mun¬
drucu has slain an enemy he cuts off his head, extracts the
brain through the occipital foramen, washes the blood away,
fills the skull with cotton, and then converts the whole into
a kind of mummy, by drying it before the fire. The eyes
he gouges out, and he fills up the orbits with colouring
matter. Thus prepared, the head is placed outside his hut.
On festive occasions it is placed at the top of a spear. Such
is the history of the head of an enemy. Those, however,
of friends and relations are preserved and kept, though
with certain differences of detail. Thus on certain days
dedicated to the obsequies and memory of the dead, the
widow of the deceased takes a skull, seats herself before the
cabin, and indulges either in melancholy lamentations, or in
fierce encomium; the assembled friends meanwhile dancing
round her.
The Chileno-Patagonians. The name is more expres¬
sive than convenient. It indicates, however, by its very
composition, the magnitude of the group to which it applies.
When wre get into Chili, we arrive beyond the limits of the
Quichuas and a new family makes its appearance, extending
over Chili; over the whole of the country S. of the river
Plata, over the islands of the Chiloe Archipelago, and Terra
del Fuego. Its divisions comprise, (a), the Chileno (or Arau-
canian) Indians ; {b), the Pampa Indians ; (c), the Patago¬
nians ; (</), the Fuegians.
The range of differences in respect to physical form is
wide in this group; the range of differences in respect to
the geographical conditions under which they are found,
being also wide ; e.g., there are the Andes of Chili, the level
ETHNOLOGY.
349
Ethnology, plains of the Pampas, and the insular character of the parts
about Cape Horn; not to mention the fact of South Ame¬
rica extending farther in the direction of the Antarctic Circle
than any other part of the world.
In contrast to the large areas occupied by single families,
we have, in South America, as elsewhere, small districts
with a multiplicity of distinct divisions and subdivisions.
One of these lies in the north, on the Orinoco and Ama¬
zons, in contact with the Carib area. Hence, we find the
Maypuri, the Saliva, the Achaguas, and the Ottomakas,
&e. On the Uapes only, Mr Wallace enumerates the
Queianas, the Tarianas, Ananas, Cobeu, Piraiarara, Pisa,
Carapana, Tapura, Uaracu, Cohidias, Tacundera, Tacami,
Miriti, and Omiinas. These will probably turn out to be
Carib, the import of the word as a class-name being en¬
larged.
Surrounded more or less by the Guaranis and occupants
of Brazil, come the Botocudos, Canarins, Goitacas, Macha-
cari, Patachos, Camacans, Matali, Cacriabas, &c., &c., fall¬
ing into divisions and sub-divisions. Add to these the In¬
dians of the missions of (a) Moxos and (£>) Chiquitos ; the
Indian of the Eastern side of the Andes (Juracares, Mo-
cetenes, Tacanas, and Apolistas); the Indians of the Chaco,
chiefly Abipoman. To this class belongs, with others, the
Abiponians Proper, the Mbocobi and Toba, the Lenguas,
the Payaguas, the Matagayes, the Guaycurus, perhaps the
Charruas, known at present only in fragments, whole sec¬
tions of it being either extinct or incorporated. The ori¬
ginal divisions, however, were as follow
1. The Charruas Proper ; 2, the Chagos ; 3, the Chanas;
4, the Guenoas ; 5, the Martedanes; 6, Niboanes; 7, the
Yaros ; 8, the Minoanes ; 9, the Caaiguas ; 10, the Bagaez;
11, the Tapes. Of these the Chanas and Niboanes in¬
habited, at the arrival of the Spaniards, the islands of the
Uruguay, at the junction of the Rio Negro.
One of the most remarkable, and, at the same time, iso¬
lated, populations of South America are the
Warows.—Their occupancy is the Delta of the Orinoco,
a swamp; as is a considerable portion of the sea-coast to
the south of it. If it were not for the straightness of his
hair, the Waraw (writes Sir Robert Schomburgh) might be
taken for a negro. Doubtless he is dark-skinned, but I do
not imagine that he has the negro lip. His skin is dark,
and dirt gives intensity to its natural darkness; for the
Waraw is uncleanly, even for an Indian. His language is
certainly unintelligible to all his neighbours; neither has it
been placed in the great Carib class, wide and capacious as
that class is ; nevertheless, it is far from being wholly iso¬
late. It has miscellaneous affinities, and plenty of them;
but the most notable characteristic of the Waraw is his in¬
dustrial activity as a boat-builder. This furnishes nearly
the whole of the Demerara with canoes. They are made
either of the Cedrela odorata, or of a tree called Bisi, and
are sometimes fifty feet long and six feet broad.
When a suitable tree has been found, the Waraw builds
a hut in its neighbourhood, which he occupies as long as
the boat is being built. The floor of the hut must be some
feet above the level of the ground, and this is effected by
selecting a spot where the ita-palm grows in thick clusters.
This is docked to the requisite height, the root and a part
of the trunk being left standing. The trunk of the maneca-
tree is then cut into planks and made into a floor. Clay is
laid on the floor, and a fire kept burning on the clay. The
Manicaria saccharifera supplies the thatch.
Raleigh came in contact with the Waraws, whom he de¬
scribes under the name of Tivilivas, adding that they fall
into two divisions—the Ciawani and the Arumeate; that
“ they are a goodly people, and very valiant; ” that, “ in
summer, they have houses on the ground as in other places.
In winter they dwell in trees, where they build very arti¬
ficial towns and houses; for between May and September
the river of Orinoco riseth 30 feet upright, and then these Ethnology,
islands are overflown 20 foot high above the level of the
ground, saving some few raised grounds in the middle of
them ; and for this cause they are enforced to live in this
manner.” The undoubted peculiarities of the Waraws
have been exaggerated ; and they have been described as
men who live in trees,—as arboreal varieties of the human
species,—even as arboreal species of the genus Homo.
For South America I give D'Orbigny’s classification, pre¬
mising that I do not find it coincide with the divisions de¬
duced from the comparison of the South American lan¬
guages.
South American Indians—QcAowr yellow, brown, or
copper-red; height variable; hair thick, coarse, black,
smooth and long; beard thin, coarse, black, never wavy,
late in making its appearance; chin short; eyes small,
deep-set; jaws prominent; teeth nearly vertical; eyebrows
prominent.
1. Primary divisions, or races {so-called)—
A. Ando-Peruvian.—Colour olive-brown; stature low;
forehead either depressed or but slightly vaulted; eyes
horizontal, never brides at their outer angle.
B. Pampa. — Stature often considerable ; forehead
vaulted ; eyes sometimes brides at the outer angle.
C. Brazilio-Guarani.—Colour yellowish; forehead not
retreating; eyes oblique.
A. Ando-Peruvians—
a. Peruvian branch.—Colour deep olive-brown ; form
massive ; trunk long in proportion to the limbs ; forehead
retreating; nose aquiline; mouth large; physiognomy
sombre.—Aymara and Quiehua Peruvians.
b. Antisian branch.—Colour varying from a deep olive
to nearly white ; form not massive; forehead not retreat¬
ing ; physiognomy lively, mild.—Yuracares, Mocetenes,
Tacanas, Maropas, and Apolistas.
c. Araucanian branch.—Colour light-olive; form mas¬
sive ; trunk somewhat disproportionately long; face nearly
circular; nose short and flat; lips thin; physiognomy
sombre, cold.—Indians of Chili and the Chonos Archipelago.
The Fuegians.
B. Pampas—
a. Pampa branch.—Colour deep olive-brown, or ma¬
roon ; form herculean; forehead vaulted; face large, flat,
oblong; nose short; nostrils large; mouth wide; lips large;
eyes horizontal; physiognomy cold, often savage. Indians
of the Chaco and Patagonia.
b. Chiquito branch.—Colour light olive; form mode¬
rately robust; mouth moderate; lips thin ; features deli¬
cate ; physiognomy lively.—Indians of the Mission of Chi-
quitos.
c. Moxos branch.—Form robust; lips thickish; eyes not
brides; physiognomy mild.—The Indians of the Mission
of Moxos.
C. Brazilio-Guarani.—A simple branch.—Colour yel¬
lowish, with a slight tinge of red; form massive ; height
moderate; face circular; nose short and straight; nostrils
narrow ; mouth moderate; lips thin ; eyes oblique ; eye¬
brows prominent; features delicate {effemines); physiog¬
nomy mild.—Guarani, Caribs (?), and all the unplaced
tribes of Paraguay, Brazil, the Guianas, and Venezuela (?).
From the parts about Cape Horn, we return to the western
frontier of the Ugrian area, this being the frontier where
European and Asiatic ethnology join.
B.
CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN EUROPEANS.
European ethnology is peculiar,—we may call it minute
ethnology. The main divisions are known from history. So
are their chief characteristics. Hence the pointsfliat com¬
mand attention are certain of the finer shades of difference^
350 E T II N 0 L O G Y.
Ethnology. The general and leading facts that, in the case of such tribes
v—as the Polynesian, the American, or the African, have to be
collected as so many fresh points of information, are already
known. As compared with Polynesia, America, or Africa,
Europe is but a portion of Asia. Nevertheless its physical
conditions claim consideration. No part of Europe lies be¬
tween the tropics; so that the luxuriance of a spontaneous
and varied vegetation, with its pernicious tendencies to in¬
cline the habits of its population to idleness, is wanting. The
rank and rapid growth of the plants which serve as food to
men and animals, and which dispense with labour, nowhere
occurs. Few parts come under the class of steppes, or at
most but imperfectly approach their character. In Asia,
the vast table-lands of the centre, occupied by the Turks
and Mongols, have ever been the cradle of an active, loco¬
motive, hungry, and aggressive population. And these have
ever had a strong desire to possess the more favoured
areas of the south, and have conquered them accordingly.
The Luneburg Heath, and parts of Russia, are the nearest
resemblances to the great steppes of Mongolia and Inde¬
pendent Tartary ; but they are on a small scale. In Russia,
where the land is flat and level, the ground is also fertile,
so that agriculture has been practicable, and (being practi¬
cable) has bound the occupant to the soil, instead of mount¬
ing him on fleet horses to wander with his flocks and herds
from spot to spot, to become a shepherd by habit and a
warrior by profession.
Europe is narrowest in its northern parts. This has had
the effect of limiting those populations of the colder climes,
whose scanty means of subsistence at home incline them to
turn their faces southwards with the view of conquest, and
supply them with numbers to effect their purpose.
Its diameter from north to south is less than its diameter
from east to west. This has kept the mass of its popula¬
tion within a similar climate, or, if not within a similar cli¬
mate, within a range of temperature far less wide than that
which separates the African, the American, or the Asiatic
of the northern parts of their respective continents, from the
Hottentot of the Cape, the Fuegian of Cape Horn, and the
Malay of the Malayan peninsula.
In no country are the great levels more broken by moun¬
tains, or the great mountains more in contiguity to con¬
siderable tracts of level country. The effect of this is to
give the different characters of the mountaineer and the
lowlander more opportunity of acting and re-acting on each
other.
In no country are the coasts more indented. We may
look in vain for such a sea-board as that of Greece else¬
where. The effect of this is to give the different charac¬
ters of the sailor and landsman, the producer and the trader,
more opportunity of acting and re-acting on each other.
The greatest rivers fall into seas navigable throughout
the year. Contrast with this the great rivers of Asia—the
Obi, the Lena, the Yenesey, and others, which for the pur¬
poses of navigation are useless, falling as they do into an
Arctic sea.
Our greatest river, the Danube, runs from east to west.
This ensures a homogeneous character for the population
along its banks. Contrast with this the Nile, the Missis¬
sippi, and the Yenesey, in all of which the simple effect of
climate creates a difference between the populations of the
source and the embouchure. The great rivers of China do
the same as the Danube ; but the Danube differs from them,
and from all other rivers running in a like direction, by
emptying itself into an inland sea; a sea which gives the
opportunity of communication not only with the parts north
and south of the rivers which fall into it, but with those to
the east of it also. The Hoang-ho and Kiang-Ku empty
themselves into an ocean that, in these days of easy commu¬
nication, leads to America, but which, in the infancy of the
world, led to a coasting-trade only, or at most to a large
island—Japan. The Baltic and Mediterranean have,—the Ethnology,
one Africa, the other Scandinavia, to ensure their being
put to the uses of trade.
Add to these the relations of south-eastern Europe to the
countries watered by the Nile, the Tigris, and the Euphrates;
in other words, in investigating the conditions under which
European civilization evolved itself, remember those of the
eastern extremity of the Mediterranean.
There is another point which stands out more promi¬
nently in European ethnology than elsewhere. European
history goes far back. Doing this, it tells us of great
changes—changes which we may assume elsewhere, but
which we knoiv to have existed in Europe. What if these
go to the extinction of some stock, group, or family ?
A great complication is introduced. The extinction has
more meanings than one. It often means absolute oblite¬
ration. It oftener, however, means no more than the abo¬
lition of the outward and visible signs of ethnological dif¬
ference. A negro marries a white. In the fourth, fifth,
sixth, or seventh generation, as the case may be, his de¬
scendant is, to all intents and purposes, a white man. Yet
the negro blood is not extinguished. It exists, though in
a small proportion. Again, a Cornishman loses his native
language and speaks English as his mother tongue. Many
generations before he did this he differed from the
Englishman in speech only. Is his British blood extin¬
guished ? No. The chief sign of it has been lost; that
is all—so that, stocks may be obliterated, may intermix, or
may lose their characteristics. To determine what existing
populations are descended from the populations of the clas¬
sical times, and to give to existing populations their ancestors
during the same period, is a business which continually de¬
volves upon the European ethnologist, more rarely upon
the ethnologist for Asia, never upon the ethnologist for
Polynesia or America.
Physically, the European populations are alike, the dif¬
ferences lying within narrow limits. In language the lines
of demarcation are broader.
The European physiognomy is generally considered to
be Caucasian as opposed to Mongolian, i. e. Caucasian, in
the wide, Blumenbachian, and inconvenient sense of the
term. And this it is in the southern and in the more cul¬
tivated parts of Central Europe. But it is by no means so
generally. I do not say that truly Mongolian faces are com¬
mon anywhere. I do say, however, that the Slavonic phy¬
siognomy approaches the Ugrian, and the Lithuanian does
so still more; also that the Malay features (sub-typically
Mongol) are common in the Alps, the Pyrenees, the ruder
parts of Germany, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France, and
England.
The languages fall into four divisions. The first two
contain two unplaced forms of speech. The third contains
a form of speech which has lately been incorporated with
the fourth, but only lately and only partially. The fourth
contains a group of languages long and universally admitted
not only to be allied, but to be closely allied :
1. The Basks.—Their language isolates the Basks.
Their locality is the western Pyrenees, the north of
Spain, and the south of France. Here it is where, although
in the towns, like Bayonne, Pampeluna, and Bilboa, the
population is French or Spanish, the country people are
Basks or Biscayans—Basks or Biscayans not only in
the provinces of Biscay, but in Alava, Upper Navarre, and
the French districts of Labourd and Soule. Their name is
Spanish (the word haviug originated in that of the ancient
Vascones), and it is not the one by which they designate
themselves ; though, possibly, it is indirectly connected with
it. The native name is derived from the root Busk, which
becomes Eusk-ara when the language, Eusk-kerria when
the country, and Eusk-aldunac when the people are spoken
of; so that the Bask language of the Biscayans of Biscay
ETHNOLOGY.
351
Ethnology, is, in the vernacular tongue, the Euskara of the Euskal-
v ^ y dunac of Euskerria. That the Euskara is no new tongue
may be inferred from the fact of its falling into dialects,
which Humboldt limits to three, whilst others extend them
to five or six. The Biscayan proper is spoken in the coun¬
try of the ancient Autrigones and Caristii, and it has been
proposed to call it the Autrigonian. It has less correctly
been called Cantabrian, and this is the name which the
national taste best likes ; ibr a descent from the indomita¬
ble Cantabrian, who so long and so successfully spurned the
yoke of Home, and who transmitted the same spirit and
the same independence to the Asturian, is creditable enough
to be claimed. Nor is the claim unfounded, since, in all
probability, the ancient Catabria included some of the an¬
cestors of the Euskaldunac. The Guipuscoan is the w est¬
ern Biscayan. The Laburtanian is the Euskarian of h ranee,
spoken in the parts about St Jean de Luz ; and which, in
the district of Soule, is supposed to fall into a sub-dialect.
Even as the mother-tongue of the present Welsh was, ori¬
ginally, the language of the whole of Britain, so wras the
mother-tongue of the present Bask the language of the
whole of the Spanish peninsula. The generic name for this
is Iberian, so that, assuming a certain amount of intermix¬
ture between the invading Romans and the aboriginal in¬
habitants, the present Spaniard, though Latin in speech, is,
more or less, Iberian in blood. So are the south-western
French, inasmuch as the old Iberian reached the Garonne,
perhaps the Loire.
2. The Skipetar or Albanians.—Their language isolates
them, though many hold that it can be connected with those
of the fourth class. Albania is their occupancy. The tes¬
timony of travellers to their belonging to the fair-com-
plexioned and grey-eyed populations is pretty geneial, al¬
though Skene gives the Mirdite tribe a swarthy skin and
black eyes. The evidence, too, as to their bulk and sta¬
ture varies; some writers giving them spare, light, and tall
forms, others making them shorter and more square-built
than the Greek. That the eye has less animation, and the
countenance less vivacity (in other words, that the Alba¬
nian is heavy featured as compared with his quick-witted
neighbours) is certain. Both the men and women are
hardy, and expose their bodies freely to the atmosphere,
accustoming themselves to an out-door life amongst their
flocks and herds, and dwelling, when in-doors in rude huts.
Like the Swiss, they willingly let out their valour and har¬
dihood in military service ; and the best and most unscru¬
pulous soldiers of the Sultan are those recruits, who, partly
by force, partly by pay, are brought from Albania. Hence
we find Albanians far beyond the pale of Albania; in
Greece, in Thrace, in Asiatic Turkey, in Egypt, and even
in Persia. The tribes too, amongst themselves, indulge m
the right of private quarrel, rarely rising to the dignity of
warfare, but more like the old border feuds between Eng¬
land and Scotland. Some of the Skipetar are Mohamme¬
dans, some Roman Catholics, some Christians of the Greek
church. These are the modern representatives of the an¬
cient Illyrians. Skipetar blood must be found far south of
the present Skipetar area, even as Bask (Iberic) blood is
to be found in the non-Iberic parts of Spain and Portugal
and France. . . . ,
3. The Kelts.—By raising the value of the class called
Indo-European, a class based upon philological rather than
physical grounds (for which see Notes on Language),
the Kelts ( = the Welsh, Bretons, Gaels, and Manxmen)
can be placed in the same division with the
4. Sarmatians, Germans, Latins, and Greeks, who are
Indo-European (q.v) in the strictest sense of the term.
Sarmatian means Slavonic and Lithuanic collectively.
The great historical nations of Europe belong to this class.
For the relations of the speakers of the Sanskrit language
see Language {Notes).
C. Ethnology.
AFRICANS AND SOUTH-WESTERN ASIATICS.  '
A return to the south-western parts of Asia leads us to
the ethnology of Africa, which begins in Syria and Meso¬
potamia ; the populations akin to the Arab being (in the
opinion of the present writer at least) African rather than
Asiatic ; at any rate, transitional or intermediate.
The populations speaking languages akin to those of the
Bible and Koran (the Hebrew and the Arabic) are termed
A. Semitic.—This group contains,
In Asia, the Syrians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Phoe¬
nicians, Ammonites, Moabites, Ishmaelites, Edomites, Sa¬
maritans, Jews, along with their colonies, &c., of antiquity;
of modem populations, the Arabs, the Jews, the Kaldani
(of Kurdistan), the Arabs, &c. „
In Africa, the Abyssinians of the province of ligre
{Christian), the Abyssinians speaking the Amharic language
{Christian), the Gafat Abyssinians {pagan).
Sufficiently akin to these to have become called Sub-
Semitic are the Amazirgh or Berber, and Copt or Egyp¬
tian, tribes. Mhth the modern Copts the hair is black,
crisp, or curled ; the cheek-bones prominent; the lips thick;
the nose somewhat depressed, nostrils wide; complexion
brown or yellowish ; eyes oblique (?) ; frame fleshy ; phy¬
siognomy heavy. ? m i
With some of the Berbers—e. g., the Tuariks of Wad-
reag—the hair and skin are nearly the hair and skin of the
negro. With others—the Amazirgh of the ancient Mons
Aurasius—the complexion is so light as to have engendeied
the doctrine that they are descended from the Europeans
who, under Genseric, sacked Carthage.
We approach the negro types in the division for which the
name
B. Nilotic is suggested, its area being the drainage of the
Upper and Middle Nile. Of the four chief Nilotic groups
(1 and 2), the Nubians and Bishari approach the Copts, (3)
the Agows, the Abyssinians, (4) the Gallas having both
Semitic and Kafre characteristics. J he colour is often
brown rather than black, the frame spare, the nose straight
or aquiline, lips moderate, hair long. In respect to language
the Agow dialects are Sub-Semitic. Hence, whilst the
Semitic populations are extreme—i. e., Asiatic or European^
rather than negro—the Nilotic are transitional. Several of
the Nubian tribes are truly negro, at least the languages of
Kordofan and Darfur belong to this class. For the philolo¬
gical import of the term Semitic see Language {JSotes);
also for that of
C. Kafre, the name of the next group.
The Kafre area extends from the parts north of the equa¬
tor to the Hottentot frontier, and that on both sides of the
continent; the tribes of the higher levels and the more
southern areas departing furthest from the negro type; those
of the coast, the alluvial tracts, and the parts nearest the
equator approaching it the closest. In many cases the Kafre
physiognomy is absolutely negro. I lie eastern Kafres, of
Mozambique, Zanzibar, &c., are conterminous with the
southern Gallas ; the southern—those of the Cape—with
the Hottentots and European colonists ; the western—of
Benguela, Angola, Loango, &c.—with the negroes of the
parts between the Niger and the Gaboon, members of a
class pre-eminently, but not exclusively, nor yet to the
exclusion of other classes.
D. Negro.—Skin black, hair woolly, lips thick, nose de¬
pressed, jaw protruded, forehead retiring, proportions of the
extremities abnormal. Such is the extreme type. Add to
this that the civilization is low, and the area chiefly consists
of lowlands, coasts, and the deltas of rivers, rather than of
elevated plateaux or mountain ranges. When the occupan¬
cies are of this latter kind the physiognomy approaches that
of the Semitidae, the language in many cases being negro,
or like that of the nearest tribes.
ETHNOLOGY.
352
Ethnology. With the negro branch of the African division it is con-
venient to begin with the part where the black tribes touch
the south-western Amazirghs and Moors. This means the
parts about the Senegal.
The Wolofs.—Skin black, conformation negro, religion
pagan rather than Mohammedan. Large portion of their area
the valley of the Senegal.
The Mandingos.—Less dark than the Wolofs, negro, ori¬
ginal paganism largely replaced by Mohammedanism. Large
portion of their area the valley of the Gambia.
The Fulahs.—Skin brown rather than black, form less
negro and more Arab than that of the Mandingos and
Wolofs, creed largely Mohammedan. Area elevated, the
watershed between the Gambia and Senegal.
With all these populations the civilization is compara¬
tively high.
The languages unequivocally related to the Mandingo ex¬
tend as far south and east as the Ivory Coast; for the strip
which extends along the sea from Cape Mount to Cape Pal¬
mas, and which is occupied by tribes akin to the Krumen, we
(after several doubts) subordinate to the Mandingo area, or
rather we make both the Kru and Mandingo group members
of the same large class. On the other hand, a portion at least
of the Kong range is Mandingo; indeed, the extremity of this
area reaches the Ashanti frontier* inland, and the Fanti
frontier on the Gold Coast; these two names belonging to
one and the same class, a class conveniently called
Into..—To this belong the Booroom, Aowin, Amanahea,
Affutu, Ahanta, and Odzhi forms of speech. Mohamme¬
danism decreasing, fetichism predominant.
The Gha or Akra, occupants of the parts about Cape
Coast Castle, speak a language said to be unintelligible to the
Fanti, but with numerous Fanti, as well as other affinities.
The Dahomey tribes occupy the Slave Coast;
The Benin, or Moho, the delta of the Niger along with
The Ibos.—These are all subdivisions of some single
group of unascertained but no very high value. The in¬
fluences of Mohammedanism are here at the minimum;
snake worship and human sacrifices being common ; circum¬
cision being common also. The Bonny tribes form a divi¬
sion of this class.
The Mahas, who reach as tar inland as the Kong range,
are Dahomey tribes.
At the back of the Benin and Ibo countries inland, lie
three allied groups—allied also to the groups just enumer¬
ated—viz.:—
The Yorruba (or Aku), the Kauri, and the Tapua (or
Nuji).—The Yorruba and Tapua populations lead to those
of the interior.
In the parts about the Old Calabar river the type (of lan¬
guage at least) is considered to change. Such being the
case, we may return to the Wolof area, and go over some
portions of the ground again for the sake of certain minutice
which the general sketch hitherto given has prevented us
from noticing.
The three great classes of the Wolofs, Fulahs, and Man¬
dingos, by no means exhaust the populations between the
Senegal and Cape Mount. About Cape Yerde, surrounded
by Wolofs, lie the Sereres. Further inland, separated from
the Sereres by Wolofs, and in contact with both Fulahs
and Mandingos, lie the Serawolli. The languages of each of
these divisions have miscellaneous affinities with each other,
and the three leading tongues just named. Perhaps, they
are most like each other, next like the Fulah and Wolof
least like the Mandingo.
From the Casamanqa to the Sherbro, the languages of
t e coast are all other than Mandingo, Fulah, or Wolof
loper. I hey differ, too, from each other. Some have
been subordinated to other groups, though only by certain
writers. The general phenomenon is the appearance of Ethnology,
several mutually unintelligible and by no means visibly al-
lied tongues within a comparatively small area ; these being
—The Felup, the Banyon, the Papel, the Balantes, the
Biafares, the Bissago Islanders, the Nalu and the Sapi,
the languages akin to the Timmani and Bullom, south of
which the Mandingo group shows itself on the coast.
Again,—east of Cape Palmas we have the imperfectly
known languages of the Ivory Coast, with miscellaneous af¬
finities to the Mandingo, Fanti, &c.
Amongst the tribes thus enumerated the Fulahs stand
most by themselves in physical form, being brown rather
than black. In civilization the Mohammedan Mandingos
equal them. In natural vigour and spirit the Wolofs and
Krumen are honourably distinguished. Fetichism and
slave-dealing take their worst forms in Dahomey. For
simple rudeness of habits the Felups and the smaller sec¬
tions like them are most conspicuous. Laying language
(which will be considered elsewhere1) out of the question,
the chief objection to throwing all these into one large
group lies in the physical peculiarities of the Fulahs. We
must note, however, the extent to which it coincides with
certain physical conditions, and remember that we have met
it under similar conditions elsewhere, i. e. in Abyssinia. The
reasons for not carrying this class further smith, lie in cer¬
tain points of language also considered elsewhere. Arguing
from the direction in which the leading populations seem to
have spread themselves, we may, in a somewhat bold attempt
to reconstruct the original situs of the northern section of
this great western group, not unreasonably hold—that the
Sereres, Serawolli, and the minor populations, like the Felup,
&c., are in situ ; the Wolofs, Mandingos, and Fulahs, that
most indent their areas, being intrusive ; the first having
spread from the Lower Senegal, the second from the Upper
or Middle Senegal, the third from the Upper Gambia and
the parts south of it. The Timmani seem to have en¬
croached from the north, the Gha from the interior; the
Ashanti having also effected large displacements. The
Mohammedan Africans use, though sparingly, the Arabic
alphabet—the Mandingos being, perhaps, the best scribes
and scholars. The Vei (a division of the stock) have a
syllabic alphabet of their own, invented by a native lately
dead, Doala Bukara. He had seen both Arabic Korans and
English Bibles, so that the idea of writing sounds was one
with which he was acquainted.
South of the Berber and east of the Fulah, Mandingo,
Jorruba, and Tapua areas, come the inland populations of
the northern tropic, some of the extreme negro type, rude,
and wild, and others only subtypically negro, and modified
by Mohammedanism. The chief divisions here are philolo¬
gical ; the physical differences lying within narrow limits.
Neither does anything but language separate them from
the western tribes. On the other hand, there are great
gaps in the geography.
The Haussa, Timbuctu, Adamowa, Bornu, Begharmi,
Mandara, Mobba, Furian (Darfurian), and Koldagi (Kor-
dovan) groups, of unascertained value, and chiefly philologi¬
cal, lead us across the drainage of the Lake Tshad to that of
the Nile, where the phenomena of the Gambia repeat them¬
selves in a very marked manner. There are the analogues of
the Fulahs in the mountain districts and plateaux of Abys¬
sinia, those of the Wolofs, Mandingos, and smaller tribes
like the Felup on the alluvial soils. The negroes are chiefly
those of the Kordofan frontier, of Sennaar, and of the lower
level of Abyssinia—Shelluk, Denka, Tumali, Shabun,
Fertit, Qamamyl, Dalla, Doha, Gonga, &c. In Abys¬
sinia some of the languages are decidedly Semitic, e. g.
Gheez, others Sub-Semitic, as the Agow, with transi¬
tional or intermediate forms. In the elevated table-lands
1 See Notes on Language.
ETHNOLOGY.
Ethnology, the skin is brown rather than black, and the features Arab
or Persian rather than negro. There are are also features
comparatively Arab or Persian, with black complexions.
An early Christianity, as well as Mohammedanism, has taken
root in Abyssinia. The Galla, Nubian, and Bishari divi¬
sions (of unascertained value) give us notable deviations
from the extreme negro type—the hair being long,, the nose
often curved, the face elongated.
On the east coast there is a certain number of tribes
yet to be accurately distributed between the Kafre and the
Abyssinian stocks, just as on the west there are (in the parts
about the Old Calabar river) some similar tribes whose rela¬
tions to the populations north and south of them are equivocal.
The last division of the African stock are—
E. The Hottentot.—With the extreme varieties of this
division the physical conformation departs widely from even
the negro standard. The stature is low, limbs slight, cheek
bones prominent, zygomatic arches bent outwards (giving
a Mongoloeid form to the face), hair in tufts, eyes oblique.
In the female organs of generation the nymphae are some¬
times enormously developed—the buttocks being steato-
matous. The pelvis exhibits a maximum difference accord¬
ing as it is male or female—the male being strong and
dense, the female light. In both cases the diploe between
the bony plates is small in amount, the ossa ilii vertical, the
sacrum narrow, the conjugate diameter short. The neck
of the thigh bone is short, with an oblique direction. Such,
at least, are the results of the researches of Vrolik. The
cranium is dolichocephalic, i. e., according to the termino¬
logy of Retzius, more remarkable for its fore-and-aft than
for its side-to-side diameter. In this it is African rather
than Mongol—it being Africa and Mongolia that supply the
two extreme forms of the dolichocephalic and brachycephalic
cranium. The language contains more than one inarticu¬
late sound, described as the click.
The general habits of the Hottentot family are pastoral;
the inferior members of it, the Saabs or Bushmen of the Kar¬
roo country being hunters—in many cases in the still lower
condition of the Australian. The Hottentot has a better
claim to be considered as a separate species of the genus
Homo than any other section of our kind. Further remarks
on this statement will be found in Language (Notes).
All that will be done at present will consist in a short notice
of the two extremes of the group. The Saabs are the low¬
est in civilization and the smallest in size, their country
being the district between the Roggeveld and the middle
part of the Orange River—the most unfavoured spot, per¬
haps, in Africa. Their skin is tawny rather than black,
their language either wholly or nearly unintelligible to the
Hottentots. The Korana Hottentots continually encroach
on them, and hunt them down like beasts. Of the Hot¬
tentots of the Cape frontier the Koranas are the best-look¬
ing. Their claims, however, to stand as the models of the
family are modified by- the recent researches of Gallon in
the parts east of Walvisch Bay, and the explorers of Lake
Ngami. The Hottentot tribes reach thus far north, where
they are the equals, and, in some cases, the superiors of the
Kafre populations in frame and daring. On the other hand,
where the external conditions of aliment, security, and free¬
dom are unfavourable, there is a visible degeneracy. The
same has been remarked at the Cape. According to Mr
Thompson, a division of the Koranas, who lost their herds,
rapidly approached the Bushman type. The Griquas are
a mixed breed—Dutch and Hottentot.
Such is the classification which, in the opinion of the pre¬
sent writer, best represents the divisions of the human spe¬
cies. He is well aware that the value of the classes is unequal,
and that the nomenclature is imperfect. On the other hand,
he believes that both the arrangement and the phraseology
are sufficient for all questions likely to arise out of our
present data, and also that they give a good groundwork
YOU. ix.
353
for future investigations. That they are based upon a cer- Ethnology
tain amount of assumption is clear—in other words, they
are more or less hypothetical. In the eyes of several re¬
spectable authorities, they assume the chief point in ques¬
tion, viz., the specific unity of man, and the division of the
species constituted by the men of present and past times into
varieties and sub-varieties, What if all these varieties be
species, and the species a genus ? To this objection the
writer will forthwith address himself—premising his remarks
by an explanation of the point of view from which he has
taken the preceding outline.
1. That all the languages of the earth’s surface have
had either one common origin, or else been, one and all,
largely modified by some single language, he is convinced;
due allowance having been made for a large amount of si¬
milarity independent of any ethnological connection. This
means that a large number of words in different languages
will be like each other, not because two or more tongues
lent or borrowed certain words, nor yet because they all
came from a common mother tongue, but because the human
organism, under certain conditions, acts according to cer¬
tain laws.
2. The similarity between languages, which is not thus
explained, is held to be primd facie of a common descent
on the part of those members of the human kind that speak
them—primd facie evidence, and that of a strong sort.
3. That this primd facie evidence wall not be over-ridden
by the conflicting phenomena of physical and moral differ¬
ences is the writer’s impression, an impression that has been
forced upon him less by the small amount of such differ¬
ences (for he freely admits that, with the ordinary interpre¬
tation of the term, they are in some cases specific), than
by the extent to which they may be referred to certain phy¬
sical and other influences. That these effect something is
admitted by all who have w'ritten on the subject. That
they effect more than any single supporter of the multiplir
city of the species of the genus Homo has recognised, is cer¬
tain—at any rate we may seek in vain for the naturalist who
has taken in half the complications of the question. Thus—
That the physical characters of our kind are permanent,
is argued from such a fact as the mummies of ancient Egypt
giving us the same organization that is given by the modern
Copts. Why should they not? The country in wdiich
they occur is as truly the valley of a certain river, between
a certain degree of latitude, now as ever. The only facts
on this question that are other than irrelevant are those that
showr that 2000 years under a change of climates go for
nothing.
Again—that comparatively light complexions are found
in some of the hottest parts of the world, whereas dark ones
are found in comparatively cool ones, passes for an argu¬
ment against the effects of heat on the skin. It only shows
that heat is not the only cause of an increased secretion of
the epidermic colouring matter.
Moisture—light—altitude—what has been done, worthy
of the name of science, in the investigation of these hL
fluences—even singly? Next to nothing. Let it be
granted that a little is known about the acclimatization of
new-comers in fresh habitats. The process by which a
world is peopled by the gradual diffusion of a given popu¬
lation from the circumference of an ever-increasing circle,
has never been imitated, and never will be.
Then there is the question of descent. That two loca,-
lities, one in Africa, and the other in South America, may
so closely resemble each in their physical conditions of heat,
light, altitude, moisture, land-and-water relations, as, for the
purposes connected with the modification of the human
organism, to be considered as identical, is highly probable,
What, however, if the human organisms thereof notably
differ ? Not the inference that physical conditions either
act irregukirly, or not at all, but that the objects pn which
2 v
ETHNOLOGY.
354
Ethnology, they acted in cases under notice were different. The negro
i ^ v > (hat from (say) Central Asia reaches the Lower Niger is the
descendant of ancestors whose organizations were acted upon
by the physical influences of a line drawn through south¬
western Asia and north-eastern Africa, whilst the Indian of
the Lower Amazons is the descendant of ancestors whose
organizations were acted upon by the physical influences of
a line drawn through Siberia, the Arctic Circle, North Ame¬
rica, Central America, and the north-western parts of South
America.
The phenomenon of transitional and intermediate forms
has again been greatly neglected by the advocates of the
doctrines under notice.
However, as all this and a great deal more may be worked
out with greater care than has hitherto been applied, the doc¬
trine that the species of mankind are numerous is still an
open question. Even if what we call the dynamic question
(the question as to the power of external influences) be
settled in favour of the unity of man, there will still be many
plausible objections that a little ingenuity may discover. To
say nothing about the ektent to which the ordinary naturalist
views of species may be modified, the value of language as
an instrument of classification would be materially altered
by any facts which might lead us to believe in the existence
of a species of our kind, originally destitute of language, but
not destitute of the capability of learning it when heard from
others. Again, the value of transitional or intermediate forms
as connecting links between extreme types depends greatly
upon the character of the facts connected with hybridism
and intermixture.
At present, however, we may be satisfied with the doc¬
trines lately laid down, viz.:—
1. That, as a matter of fact, the languages of the earth’s
surface are referable to one common origin.
2. That, as a matter of logic, this common origin of lan¬
guage is primd facie evidence of a common origin for those
who speak it.
For the purposes of exposition, and even for those of in¬
vestigation, the speculative question as to the unity or non¬
unity of our species is of far less importance than it seems
to be. With ethnology, as with other studies, the bulk of
its ordinary results are but slightly affected by the hypo¬
theses that apply to the remoter and more abstruse ques¬
tions of its obscurer departments. Even if we multiply
species to the utmost, the unity classification gives us some¬
thing. It tells us how7 language spread, even if it fails to tell
us that the populations who spoke that language were spe¬
cifically the same. Or, if we account for the phenomena
of transitional and intermediate forms by the doctrine of
hybridism and intermixture, the elements of this hybridism
and intermixture are indicated. On the other hand, how¬
ever, there are grave differences between the classes of the
two systems. As long as the species is single our questions
are questions of descent. Where, however, we have several
species, descent is out of the question, and the likest groups
are those that have the most points of resemblance. Upon
the whole, however, the two views give us liker results than
we expect a, priori. This is because the arrangement of
varieties closely approaches the arrangement of species.
To understand this, lay out of the question the islands of
the earth’s surface, and ask how an ethnologist upholding
the unity of our species would people the world. He de¬
duces his population from some point more or less central.
His area, being continental, is continuous, and he supposes
the stream of population by which its several portions were
occupied to have been continuous also. The spread is that
of circles on a still piece of water. Now, if so, all changes
must have been gradual, and all extreme forms must have
passed into each other by means of a series of transitional
ones.
It is clear that such forms, when submitted to arrange¬
ment and classification, will not come out in any definite Ethnology,
and well-marked groups like the groups that constitute v
what is currently called species. On the contrary, they
will run into each other, with equivocal points of contact,
and indistinct lines of demarcation ; so that discrimination
will be difficult, if not impracticable. If practicable, how¬
ever, it will be effected by having recourse to certain typical
forms, around which such as approximate most closely can
most accurately and conveniently be grouped. When this
is done, the more distant outliers will be distributed over
the debatable ground of an equivocal frontier. In short, va¬
rieties as opposed to species imply transitional forms, whilst
transitional forms preclude definite lines of demarcation.
Yet what is the actual classification of the varieties of
mankind, and what is the current nomenclature ? To say
the least, it is very like that of a collection of species. Blu-
menbach’s Mongolian, Blumenbach’s Caucasian, Blumen-
bach’s ^Ethiopian, are all terms that suit the nomenclature
of the naturalist of genera. Nevertheless, however much it
may give us of broad and trenchant lines of demarcation be¬
tween varieties which (ex vi termini) ought to graduate into
each other, it is far from being indefensible.
Man conquers man, and occupant displaces occupant on
the earth’s surface. By this means forms and varieties
which once existed become extinct. The more this ex¬
tinction takes place, the greater is the obliteration of those
transitional and intermediate forms which connect extreme
types; and the greater this obliteration, the stronger the
lines of demarcation between geographically contiguous
families. Hence a variational modification of a group of
individuals simulates a difference of species; forms which
were once wide apart being brought into juxtaposition by
means of the annihilation of the intervening transitions.
Hence what we of the nineteenth century—ethnologists,
politicians, naturalists, and the like—behold in the way of
groups, classes, tribes, families, &c., is beholden to a great
extent under the guise of species ; although they may not
be so in reality, and although they might not have been so
had we been witnesses to that earlier condition of things
when one variety graduated into another and the integrity
of the chain of likeness was intact.
A group is sharply defined simply because we know it in
its state of definitude; a state of definitude which has been
brought about by a displacement and obliteration of transi¬
tional forms. An ethnologist, then, may think with advo¬
cates of the unity of mankind, and employ the nomenclature
of their opponents; in other words, the chief groups into
which mankind is distributed are much the same in their
relations to each other, whatever may be the opinion as to
their absolute value and importance.
The last point to which the attention of the advocate of
the plurality of the human species is directed is that of time,
it being clear that in any estimation of the effect of physi¬
cal and other causes upon the human organism, the duration
of their action is an all-important element. The changes
that ten generations fail to effect may be effected by ten
times ten. Now, it is too often assumed, that because an
investigator supports the origin of mankind from a single
pair, he also supports the recent origin of that pair, and by
so doing, limits the duration of the forces by which he sup¬
poses the existing differences to have been effected to a
historical instead of a geological period. The two doctrines,
however, by no means necessarily go together.
The consideration of the amount of change that external
and other causes have effected, leads to the consideration of
the changes that are likely to be effected hereafter, to ques¬
tions as to the acclimatization of colonies in foreign parts,
the fitness of the whiter varieties of our kind for the tropics,
the fitness of the darker varieties of our kind for the colder
portions of the earth’s surface, and a long range of similar
investigations. Whether, and under what conditions, an
E T 0
Etiquette Englishman can become a permanent occupant of such
II countries as Brazil or India, is a truly ethnological problem,
Eton. ant| a]g0 one 0p no mean importance. Akin to this is the
valuation of the effects of civilization, and the moral influ¬
ences that it engenders.
Hence, the chief ethnological problems, generally ex¬
pressed, are those of (1.) the unity (or non-unity); (2.) the
geographical origin (or origins); (3.) the antiquity; and (4.)
E T R 355
the futurity of mankind—questions all closely connected Etruria,
with each other, and all mutually illustrative of each other— 's-—-y-"^
questions to which the phenomena of classification and the
several ethnological methods are subordinate. In the ex¬
tent to which the whole subject is new, we get the measure
of the amount of thought and research requisite for even
an approximation to any legitimate ethnological hypothesis
upon these large and complicated questions. (r. g. l.)
ETIENNE, St, a large manufacturing town of Frmce,
capital of a cognominal arrondissement, in the department
of Loire, stands on the Furens, a small affluent of the Loire,
32 miles S.W. of Lyons. Pop. (1851) 53,741. St Etienne
is indebted for its rapid rise and present importance chiefly
to its being situated in one of the most productive coal
fields of France. It likewise derives considerable advantage
from the Furens, which furnishes water-power for its ma¬
chinery. The chief manufactures are fire-arms and silk
ribands. About 30,000 or 40,000 stand of arms are made
here annually, besides about 30,000 fowling-pieces and
1500 pair of pistols. The ribands are unrivalled for rich¬
ness of colour and beauty of pattern, and are exported to
all parts of the world. The annual value of those manufac¬
tured here is estimated at 45,000,000 francs. The other
manufactures are bayonets and cutlery, files, nails, anvils,
and other iron and steel goods. St Etienne is connected
by railways with Lyons and Roanne ; whence, by means of
the Rhone and Loire, the coal and other products find easy
access to all parts of France. The town is irregularly built,
but the modern part of it has some wide streets and spacious
squares. The houses are built of fine white sandstone, which
is soon tarnished and blackened by the smoke of the town.
It is the seat of tribunals of primary instance and com¬
merce, and has an ancient cathedral, a town-house, ex¬
change, theatre, a handsome obelisk fountain, museum of
local manufactures, national college, public library, council
of prud’hommes, deaf-mute institution, and a mining school.
ETIQUETTE (Fr. etiquette, a ticket or label affixed to
a bag or bundle of papers) originally signified an account
of ceremonies. In modern usage etiquette denotes the
ceremonial code of polite life, or those forms which are ob¬
served towards particular persons, especially in courts, at
levees, and on public occasions. The original sense of the
word points to the custom of delivering cards containing
orders for regulating ceremonies on public occasions.
ETON, a town of Buckinghamshire, on the left bank of
the Thames, 21 miles W. of London. It is connected with
Windsor, on the opposite bank of the river, by a neat cast-
iron bridge, erected in 1824. Eton is chiefly celebrated for
its college, founded by Henry VI. in 1440. This establish¬
ment consists of a provost, vice-provost, 6 fellows, a head
master, under master, 70 king’s scholars, 7 lay clerks, and
10 choristers, besides inferior officers and servants. The
scholars must be born in England, of lawfully married pa¬
rents, and be between eight and sixteeen years of age. A
number of the head boys are annually nominated to King’s
College, Cambridge. On their removal to Cambridge they
are received on the foundation and maintained out of its en¬
dowments, and after three years they succeed to fellowships.
There are also two scholarships at Oxford for foundation
scholars. Failing an appointment to either university at
the age of seventeen, they are superannuated at eighteen or
nineteen; and for such there are a few exhibitions in the
gift of the college. The scholars are lodged and boarded by
the establishment, and by statute their education should be
gratis, but a sum of L.6 or L.7 is now charged for their in¬
struction. The degrading system of “ fagging,” by which
the boys of the lower schools are made servants or fags to
those of the upper, is still in force here. Besides the scho¬
lars on the foundation, Eton College is attended by about
600 scholars who reside in private houses, and are styled
oppidans. Many of these are sons of persons of rank and
fortune. The total expenses of a boy educated as an oppi¬
dan may average from L.150 to L.200 a-year. The course
of instruction is almost wholly classical; and though there
are masters for French, German, arithmetic, writing, &c.,
these branches are unconnected with the general business
of the school, and are attended at extra hours. Among the
celebrated men who were educated at Eton, may be men¬
tioned Sir Robert Walpole ; Harley, Earl of Oxford ; Lord
Bolingbroke ; Earl Camden ; the famous Earl of Chatham ;
the Plon. Robert Boyle ; Lord Lyttelton ; Gray; Horace
Walpole; West; Waller; Fox; Canning; the Marquis
of Wellesley; Hallam the historian; and the Duke of
Wellington. The singular custom termed the montem,
which was observed here triennally on Whit Tuesday, has
now been abolished. The last celebration of it took place
in 1844. It consisted of a procession of the boys in a kind
of military order, with flags and music, headed by their
“ captain,” to a small mount called Salt Hill, near the Bath
road, where they levied contributions, or “ salt” from the
passers-by and spectators. The sum collected sometimes
exceeded L.1000; the surplus, after deducting certain ex¬
penses, becoming the property of the “ captain ” of the
school. The college buildings consist of two quadrangles,
built partly of freestone but chiefly of brick. The outer
quadrangle or school-yard is inclosed by the chapel, schools,
dormitories, and masters’ chambers, and has in its centre a
bronze statue of the royal founder. The buildings inclosing
the inner or lesser quadrangle contain the residences of the
fellows, the library, hall, and various offices. Between these
are the provost’s lodge, &c.; appertaining to which is an
ancient tower and a gateway in the centre, connecting the
two courts. The chapel, on the south side of the outer
court, is a fine Gothic edifice, containing some interesting
monuments, among which is one to Sir Henry Wotton, who
was long provost of the college ; and at the west end of the
ante-chapel is a fine marble statue of the founder in his
royal robes, by Bacon. The library contains a curious and
valuable collection of books, a collection of Oriental and
Egyptian manuscripts, and some beautifully illuminated
missals. The parish church having fallen into decay, the
college chapel was used as a substitute ; but a handsome
church, in the early English style, has recently been erected,
at a cost of about L.8000. Pop. of parish (1851) 3666, be¬
sides 130 in Eton College.
ETRURIA, an ancient province or country of Italy,
bounded on the N. by Liguria, from which it was separated
by the river Macra, now Magra; on the side of Cisalpine
Gaul, by the lofty ridges of the Apennines; on the E. by
Umbria) from which it was separated by the river Tiber;
and on the W. by the Tuscan Sea. The country thus
situated appears to have been one of the earliest seats of
European civilization, and the principal source whence
Rome derived her laws, customs, and superstitions.
ETRUSCANS, or Tuscans, called by the Greeks Tyr¬
rhenians or Tyrsenians, and by themselves liasena, were
the people who inhabited ancient Etruria^ and who, at a
period when the rest of Europe was immerged in ignorance
and barbarism, had attained to a high degree of civil and
social refinement.
ETRUSCANS.
356
Etruscans. The origin of this interesting race, from whom have
descended some monuments of the earliest humanity, ap¬
pears to have puzzled the ancients as much as it has per¬
plexed the moderns ; and, notwithstanding all that has
been written on the subject, particularly by the Italian
antiquaries, it is still beset with difficulties and involved
in obscurity. The question chiefly agitated amongst the
ancients was whether the Etruscans were Pelasgi from
Greece, Lydians from Asia Minor, or an indigenous and
aboriginal race in Italy; and the moderns have added
more than an equal number to the hypotheses of the an¬
cients. Herodotus represents them as a colony of Lydi¬
ans, who, having been compelled by famine to emigrate
from Asia, arrived, after various wanderings, in Umbria,
where they settled and called themselves Tyrrhenians,
from Tyrrhenus, son of their king Atys, the conductor of
the emigration. This tradition, whencesoever derived,
has been almost implicitly followed by the ancient wri¬
ters ; indeed Cicero, Strabo, Velleius Paterculus, Seneca,
Pliny, and Plutarch, all agree in repeating the assertion
that the Etruscans originally came from Lydia.
But the moderns have not in general evinced the same
deference for the authority of Herodotus in this particu¬
lar, and have advanced a variety of hypotheses, some of
them, perhaps, not much more tenable nor better founded
than the story told by the father of history. Dempster,
who may be said to have laid the foundation of an accurate
knowledge of Etruscan history and antiquities, is of opi¬
nion that there existed an original nucleus of inhabitants
in Etruria, which was successively augmented by the Ly¬
dian immigration, and by Pelasgic colonies from Thes¬
saly and Arcadia. Bochart coincides pretty nearly with
Dempster, but maintains that there must have existed a
direct intercourse between the Etruscans and Phoenicians,
as many of the fables, superstitions, customs, and monu¬
ments of the former were, according to him, of oriental
origin. Winckelman and the Count de Caylus, admitting
an ancient communication with the East by means of the
Mediterranean, substitute Egypt for Phoenicia ; and to
the supposed intercourse between Etruria and the land
of the Pharaohs the former ascribes the remarkable pro¬
gress made by the Etruscans in the sciences and liberal
arts; whilst the latter is of opinion that this people bor¬
rowed every thing from Egypt, and that the origin of
science and art in Etruria is coeval with the commence¬
ment of their commercial Connection with that country*
Improving upon these views, some writers have advanced
a step further, and maintained that the Etruscans not
merely carried on an intercourse with Egypt, but were
actually of Egyptian descent, in fact a colony or branch
of the great nation established in the Delta and valley of
the Nile. This opinion has been adopted by Buonarotti,
Gorius, Mazzochi, Maffei, Guarnacci, and Lord Monbod-
do ; but it has been strenuously opposed by a number of
the most learned Italian, French, and German archaeolo¬
gists, particularly by Bardetti, Pelloutier, Freret, Func-
cius, Adelung, and Heyne, who, though differing from
one another in some points, have generally contended for
the northern and Celtic origin of the Etruscans. Lanzi,
without pretending to investigate the origin of this re¬
markable people (who, he nevertheless seems to think,
*yere Lydians, augmented at different times by the acces¬
sion of Pelasgic tribes), endeavours to prove that, what¬
ever may have been their descent, the language^ religion,
earning, and arts of the Etruscans, were of Greek origin ;
t lat the period of their greatest perfection in the arts of
design was posterior to the subjugation of Etruria by the Etruscans.
Romans, when the intercourse with Greece had rendered ^
them familiar with the beautiful models of that country;
and that, even admitting all languages to have been ori¬
ginally derived from the East, and many Greek words to
have sprung from Hebrew or Phoenician roots, still there
exist in the Etruscan such evident traces of Hellenic de¬
scent, particularly in the names of gods and heroes, as
to render it almost impossible to derive their origin from
any other source. Further, in support of this theory, the
learned Italian attempts to show from the inscriptions
on the Eugubine tables, that the Etruscan was iEolic
Greek, without either the monosyllabic characteristics of
the northern dialects, or the prefixes and affixes peculiar
to most of the oriental languages. Humboldt, again, sup¬
poses this people to have been a connecting link between
the Iberians and Latins, or a sort of transplanted offset
from the great Celtic stem. But the learned and inge¬
nious Muller adopts an intermediate opinion. Admitting
a primitive population of Etruria, as to whose origin he
does not venture to decide, he conceives that there are
nevertheless grounds for assuming that they became in¬
termingled with Pelasgic colonists from the coast of Ly¬
dia, where the latter had for a time settled, and acquired
the name which they afterwards rendered notorious by
their piracies in the AEgean Sea. It would be hopeless to
endeavour to reconcile these conflicting hypotheses, and
endless to examine their respective merits in detail.
Of all those, however, who have laboured to resolve this
qucestio vexata in the archaeology of history, Niebuhr has^
we think, been, upon the whole, the most successful. The
origin of the erroneous opinions as to the extraction of
the Etruscans, he traces to two assumptions, which he
shows to be equally fallacious: first, that the Pelasgians
could only be derived from Greece, a supposition which
probably gave rise to the story of the migration from Thes¬
saly ; and, secondly, that because the Maeonians were Tyr¬
rhenians, these Tyrrhenians, like those of Lemnos, were of
the same stock with the ancient inhabitants of Agylla and
Tarquinii, whence arose the story of the Lydian emigra¬
tion of the ancient Tyrrhenians, as told by Herodotus.
But, on the authority of Xanthus, Dionysius proves that
the account of Herodotus was not founded upon a Lydian
tradition; and, from the complete difference of the two
nations in language, usages, and religion, he justly con¬
tends that it would deserve no credit, even if there had
been a tradition to the effect stated. He asserts that the
Etruscans spoke a language which bore no affinity to any
Other known form of speech; and this assertion would
deserve full credit, even if we had only the evidence of
Dionysius, inasmuch as Etruscan was then, and for a con¬
siderable time afterwards, a living language, in which, as
we gather from Lucretius,1 books were written and read.
It is further confirmed by the inscriptions still extant, in
which every resource of etymology has failed to detect
any analogy between the Etruscan and the Greek lan¬
guage or the kindred branch of the Latin; and these sin¬
gular monuments, which have thus resisted the utmost ef¬
forts of modern scholarship and ingenuity, will to all ap¬
pearance remain for ever a dead treasure, unless a key
shall accidentally be furnished for their interpretation, by
the discovery of a bilingual inscription. In opposition to
the unanimous evidence of the ancients, who distinguish the
Etruscan from the Sabine and Oscan, it has indeed been
maintained that all the nations of Italy, remains of whose
language occur in inscriptions, spoke only dialects of the
1 Non Tyrrhena retro volventem carmina frustra
Indicia occultse Divum percurrere mentis.
ETRUSCANS.
357
Etruscans, same radical form of speech; but this opinion, which has
chiefly prevailed amongst the Italian scholars, is at va¬
riance with the results of unbiassed investigation; and it
appears to have been completely established that the
Etruscan language, being udiolly original and peculiar,
bore as little affinity to the Sabine and Oscan as to the
Latin and Greek, with which fanciful etymologists have
vainly sought to connect it.1
The Etruscans, during the most prosperous period of
their history, inhabited Etruria proper, and the country
about the Po, besides distant colonies. The Raetians and
other Alpine tribes were also of Etruscan origin ; and so
were the Lepontians and Camunians, perhaps also the
Euganeans, who inhabited Venetia before the founding of
Patavium. It has been suggested by Niebuhr that the
language spoken by the people of Groeden in the iyrol,
a language which seems to stand alone in its peculiar
roots, may have some claims to be considered as a relic of
the ancient Etruscan.2 The Brenner formed the northern
boundary of the Raetians, and consequently of the Etrus¬
can race, who in the time of their greatness had probably
occupied the mountains as a bulwark against irruptions from
the north. Some, however, are of opinion that Raetia
was the original home whence the Etruscan people issued,
and spread first in Upper Italy, and afterwards across the
Apennines ; and the harshness of the Etruscan language,
which seems still to survive in the Florentine pronuncia¬
tion, has been adduced as an argument for the Alpine ori¬
gin of the people.
In the ancient history of the Umbrians it was related
that the Etruscans had conquered three hundred towns of
their nation. The Umbrians, therefore, must have once
occupied the greater part of the countries, including Tus¬
cany, which the Etruscans possessed in the zenith of their
power. According to the tradition of the Lydian migra¬
tion, Pisa, and the whole country to the rocky summits of
the Alps, were wrested from the Umbrians by the Tyrrhe- Etruscans,
nians ; and Pliny considers the Umbrians as the ancient in-
habitants of Etruria who were expelled by the Pelasgians.
Without entering into the question whether Cortona was
Etruscan or not, still Caere, Graviscae, Alsium, and Sa-
turnia, were certainly occupied by the Etruscans as con¬
querors, after expelling the people called in Italy Sicu-
lians, and in Greece Pelasgians and Tyrrhenians. The
Pelasgians were also in possession of Tarquinii before the
Etruscans; Populonia was called a colony of the Volater-
rans, who had driven the Corsicans from the coast; and
Pisa is mentioned by Dionysius amongst the places which
the Etruscans had wrested from the Pelasgians. But all
statements, however probable or well attested, were at
length forced to give way to the story of a Lydian ex¬
traction, which of necessity placed the first settlement of
the immigrants on the lower sea, and thus involved the
whole question in perplexity. What the native annals of
the Etruscans related as to their origin we know only
negatively; in them the Lydian legend which has creat¬
ed so much embarrassment had no place.3 According to
this view, then, there appear to have been two consecu¬
tive conquests: that of the Umbrians by the Pelasgians;
and that of the Pelasgians by the Etruscans, who, as it
were, absorbed all the others, and ultimately became the
dominant people. The principal stock of the nation, how¬
ever, seems to have been formed out of that great Pelasgian
race which at one time extended from the rivers Po and
Arno in Italy to the Phyndacus in Asia, but which, even
when intermingled by conquest with other tribes, never
succeeded in spreading itself over the whole of Northern
Italy. The Etruscans, indeed, at no period of their his¬
tory possessed the whole of Cisalpine Gaul. On the west¬
ward their territory extended only to the Ticinus, where
dwelt the Ligurians, who were afterwards driven back by
the Gauls; and the land to the south of the Po was also
1 The names of Tuscan and Etruscans were as foreign to this people as that of Tyrrhenians. 1 hey called themselves Rasena, as
already stated ; and the other appellations applied to them were evidently arbitrary, accidental, or hypothetical. T’he ancient Roman
terms were Etruria for the country, and Tusci for the people; that of Etruscus did not come into use till after Cato s time, though
subsequently it became the more usual in the language of books. But the old name must have continued prevalent in the mouth
of the people; for under the later emperors the name of Tuscia, which had never before been used in writing, was applied to the coun¬
try and in the middle ages passed into Toscana, whence Toscani. (Niebuhr, History of Rome, p. 90, Cambridge, 1828.) Professor Miil-
ler thus sums up his researches into the origin of the Etruscans: “ It remains that we regard the Tuscan nation as an original and
peculiar people of Italy; their language- is widely different from the Greek; the names of theif gods are not those which we linn
among the earliest Greeks, whom we call Pelasgi, and which passed from them to the Hellenes; there is much too in the doctrine ox
their priests entirely foreign to the Greek theology. But it appears to have been the fate of this nation, which never displayed any
independent civilization, but only adopted that of the Greeks, to have been indebted for its first impulse towards improvement to a
Greek, or at best half Greek tribe. The Tuscans themselves, in their native legends, referred their polity and civilization to the
maritime town of Tarquinii and the hero Tarchon, both probably only variations of the Tyrrheni. Here it was that the much-
dreaded Pelasgians of Lydia landed and settled, bringing with them the arts which they had acquired at home, or on their way. lor
the first time, the barbarous land saw men covered with brass array themselves for battle to the sound of the trumpet; here first
they heard the loud sound of the Lydo-Phrygian flute accompanying the sacrifice, and perhaps witnessed for the first time the rapid
course of the fifty-oared ship. As the legend, in its propagation from mouth to mouth, swells beyond all bounds, the whole glory of
the Tuscan name, even that which did not properly belong to the colonists, attached itself to the name of Parchon, the disciple of
Tages as the author of a neiv and better era in the history of Etruria. The neighbouring Umbrians and Latins named the nation,
which from this time began to increase and diffuse itself, not from the primitive inhabitants, but from these new settlers. For since,
in the Eugubine tables, fur see occurs along with Tuscom and Tuscer, it is impossible not to conclude, that from the root 1 Ult have
been formed Tursicus, Turscus, Tuscus; as from the root OP, Opscus and Oscus; so that or Ti/^aW, and Tusci, are only the
Asiatic and Italian forms of one and the same name.” {Die Etruskcr, vol. i. p. 100.) _ .
2 Hormayr, Geschichte von Tyrol, p. 139. This suggestion is eminently deserving of attention and verification, boras the Etrus¬
can alphabet is known, the determination of a few roots would serve as a fulcrum, by means of which the great lever of tentative
3 It is evident,” savs^a late writer, “ that the Etruscans themselves believed that they sprung from the Lydians, and that they
inculcated this lelief on others" (Dunlop, Hist, of Rom. Literature, vol. ii. p. 7); and he grounds this assertion on a circumstance men¬
tioned by Tacitus {Annul, lib. iv. c. 55). Eleven cities of Asia contended, it would appear, for the infamous honour of erecting an
altar to Tiberius; and this ridiculous and humiliating question was argued in presence of the tyrant, before that degraded senate
whom he had publicly taunted with their abject servility. On this occasion the Sardians, one of the contending parties, insisted on
their affinity to the Etruscans; in proof of which they produced a decree of that people, repeating the tale told by Herodotus, and
of course attesting the original confraternity of the Sardians with the ancient inhabitants of Etruria. This is the statement of Taci¬
tus. What degree of credit may be due to a document founded upon a vague tradition, flattering to popular vanity, produced in such
a cause before such judges, and as to the authenticity of which the historian is silent, our readers will not, perhaps, find it difficult to
determine. The only thing surprising is, that in such a competition of servility and adulation, a grave historian should have sought
for materials to support an hypothesis, improbable in itself, and at variance with the best authorities on the subject.
358 ETRUSCAN S.
Etruscans, either occupied by the latter, or rendered uninhabitable
by swamps. When the Gauls made their irruption the Um¬
brians were still masters of the country now called Ro¬
magna ; but between the Veneti and the Gauls, Etruscan
settlements maintained themselves until the time of the
Romans.
This people appear to have had twelve cities to the north
of the Apennines, and an equal number to the south of that
range. Amongst the former, of which we can give but a
very indistinct account, may be classed Verona, which is
denominated a Raetian city by Pliny, and Mantua, which
is called Tuscan both by him and by Virgil. Hatria, Mel-
pum, and Felsina were also included in the twelve cities
north of the Apennines. Hatria, once a place of great com¬
merce, gave its name to the upper sea; Melpum, to the
north of the Po, was destroyed by the Boii, Senones, and
Insubres, on the same day that Camillus took Veii (in the
year of Rome 358) ; and Bononia, under the name of Fel¬
sina, was once the capital of Etruria. The twelve cities
south of the Apennines, which were leagued together as
the chief places of thpir respective districts, are nowhere
enumerated by name ; but Livy incidentally mentions
eight of them, namely, Caere, Tarquinii, Populonia, Vo-
laterra, Arretium, Perusia, Clusium, and Ruse!la;, as hav¬
ing contributed to forward Scipio’s preparations. Cor¬
tona w'as also accounted one of the chief places in Etru¬
ria, and both Veii and Vulsinii were probably included
in the original number. But whether Capena, or Cossa,
or Fa;sulae, completed the twelve, it is now impossible
to decide; though there is some reason to believe that
Capena, a strong city in a fertile territory, was the
twelfth.
The territory belonging to each of these capitals had
several provincial towns, some of them dependent colonies,
and others inhabited by subjects, the descendants of the old
population who had been subdued. But as the Etruscan
state w'as founded on conquest, the government naturally
assumed the character of an aristocratical oligarchy. It was
not by popular assemblies, nor even by the deliberations
of a numerous senate, but by meetings of the chiefs or
magnates of the land (principes Etrurice), that the gene¬
ral affairs of the nation were decided on. The assemblies
held at the temple of Voltumna were of this exclusive
kind, and hence in no degree corresponded with the in¬
stitutions of really free nations, such as the Latins and
the Samnites. These Etrurian chiefs were the persons
from whom the Roman youth received instruction in the
sacred sciences of divination ; they were at once a war¬
like and sacerdotal caste, the Lucumones whose ances¬
tors had committed to writing the revelations of Tages.
But they were patricians, not kings, as has been commonly
supposed. Lucumo of Clusium, Lucumo who succoured
Romulus, and Lucumo who removed from Tarquinii to
Rome, were only powerful men in their respective cities;
the Cilnii and Caecinae were Lucumones in Etruria, just
as the Claudii and Valerii were patricians in Rome, and
v^ere not less noble in birth than the latter, though, as
Romans, reckoned only amongst the commons. But these
ruling houses wrere exposed to the violent revolutions
which everywhere threaten an oligarchy, even in the midst
of its own body, when it is not upheld by some power¬
ful protection from without. The chiefs expelled each
other by force of arms, or were driven into exile by the
combinations of intrigue; and it was in the spirit of these
feuds for the refugees to be restored by the dangerous
mediation of the common enemy, the Romans. Even so
ate as the second Punic war, the government of the Etrus-
Ca'1.f.ltles remained exclusively vested in the senators, or
nonmty; the latter were, what Louis XIV. called him-
se ’ l le state; and, when a ferment began in Etruria, it
was entirely suppressed by securing the submission of the Etruscans,
senate at Arretium. The people, who had no political
existence as such, were out of the question. A free and
respectable commonalty was never formed amongst the
Etruscans; on the contrary, the species of feudal system,
anciently established by conquest, was obstinately main¬
tained and extended; the mass of the population were mere
serfs; and hence arose the remarkable weakness of the
great Etruscan cities in their contests with Rome, when
the victory was to be determined by a numerous, brave,
and steady infantry. National impotence ever follows
the degradation of the people. What the Etruscans might
have been if, some centuries earlier, they had had a coun¬
try, is evinced by the effect of the Roman franchise con¬
ferred upon them at the conclusion of Sylla’s war. In
this contest the part taken by the chiefs w as taken by all;
and every free man, however excluded or restricted by
the old but now expiring constitutions of his own coun¬
try, obtained the privileges of Roman citizenship ; nor was
the boon either undeserved or misapplied.
The regal office, which was not hereditary in a single
family, as in Greece, but elective for life, as at Rome, con¬
tinued at Veii until its fall. At Arretium, however, the
king may perhaps have been chosen from amongst the Cil¬
nii, a family of high distinction. The twelve federal cities
nominated a common high priest, who presided at the na¬
tional festivals. In common enterprises the supreme com¬
mand was generally committed to one of the twelve Lu¬
cumones, who received a lictor from each city. Even Por-
senna, highly as he is celebrated in the old legends, is in
Roman history only king or chief of Clusium; yet he had
influence sufficient to set the whole power of the nation
in action. In like manner all the twelve cities paid homage
to Lucumo Tarquin; and in the earlier times a closer union
seems occasionally to have been effected by the power of a
supreme chief, as Mezentius or Codes Vibenna. But such
union appears to have been the exception rather than the
rule, and to have depended on accident rather than on or¬
ganization ; nor have wre been able to discover satisfactory
evidence of the existence of a distinct federal constitution,
such as some writers have rather gratuitously imagined.
Yet loose as wras the federal bond in Etruria, it seems to
have had the effect of preventing wars between the cities,
of which no trace is to be found in history. Such, then,
being the nature of their association, it is probable that
the islands subject to the Etruscans wrere not under the
dominion of the w hole nation, but under that of the adja¬
cent maritime cities; and, accordingly, it seems as if the
Caerites stood alone when, leagued with the Carthaginians,
they attacked the Phocaeans of Alalia, which happened in
the year of Rome 220. The principal insular dependen¬
cy of the Etruscan states was Corsica, which paid them a
tribute; but it is not improbable that they had also settle¬
ments in the island of Sardinia.
The maritime cities of Etruria having early engaged
in navigation, were stigmatised and hated on account of
the piracies they committed in the western seas, which,
anterior to the founding of the Grecian colonies in Sicily,
were thus rendered impassable to peaceful navigators. Nie¬
buhr is, however, inclined to think that this reproach may
have applied chiefly to the Pelasgian Tyrrhenians, wdiom
the Etruscans‘afterwards subdued ; and indeed all the cor¬
sairs of the lower sea seem to have been considered by the
Greeks as Tyrrhenians. But without entering into any de¬
tails respecting their nautical adventures, whether pirati¬
cal or other, it may be observed, that navigation naturally
implies an interchange of commodities ; and a fruitful land,
rich in internal treasures, supplied abundant materials for
the commercial spirit in Etruria. From a very early period
the Etruscan maritime cities appear to have engaged in com-
Etruscans, merce ; and in the time of Aristotle, treaties, by which the
rights of trade were respectively determined and secured,
subsisted between these cities and Carthage. Amongst the
subjects of this commerce maybe mentioned the produce
of the iron mines of Elba,1 and of others upon the main¬
land of Etruria, which yielded a more abundant supply of
a purer kind of metal than any in the ancient world.
The same island also furnished copper for their coinage,
and for those works in brass or bronze in which they so
greatly excelled. Muller supposes them to have also traded
in amber, which substance, he thinks, they received by
an inland route, extending from the shores of the Adria¬
tic to those of the Baltic; but as his chief reason for this
supposition appears to be, that, in Pliny’s time, amber
was conveyed by the same route into Italy, and as no
safe conclusion can be drawn respecting the extent of
early communications, from those which are found esta¬
blished at a later period, when circumstances had wholly
changed, the conjecture in question must, we suspect, be
dismissed as untenable. On the subject of Etruscan
commerce, however, the information which has reached
us is too scanty and imperfect to enable us to deduce
any distinct conclusions, either as to the extent to which
it was carried on, or the particular channels in which it
flowed.
The works constructed by the Etruscans still astonish
us even in their ruins, and could scarcely have been exe¬
cuted in small states without taskmasters and bondsmen.
The everlasting monuments of Egypt are the products of
the direst tyranny acting remorselessly upon the most ab¬
ject slavery. But the scarcely less durable works of the
Etruscans differ from those in the valley of the Nile, in
having all of them been directed towards some great ob¬
ject of public utility. Labour was not uselessly or wan¬
tonly expended in the erection of pyramids, obelisks, and
temples, to gratify the inordinate vanity of despots, or to
extend the empire of superstition ; if the people suffered in
the hard service imposed on them, it was not for vain or idle
purposes; they were employed by their rulers on what¬
ever seemed best calculated to promote the defence or aug¬
ment the wealth of the nation at large. The walls of their
cities, constructed of huge blocks of polygonal stones, still
subsist in imperishable solidity, where pains have not been
taken to demolish them ; the theatre at Fiesole, and a
colossal building near it, are on a.scale of equal gran¬
deur; and other monuments might be mentioned which
have been constructed in the same Cyclopean style. The
rich valley of the Arno, anciently a lake and a swamp,
was drained by means of a cut through Mount Gonf'alina,
which blocked up the valley, but which, by means of this
operation, was made to afford a passage for the stream
towards Pisa; the arms, too, by which the Po discharges
itself, were also excavated or directed by the Etruscans;
and its Delta was likewise the fruit of their labours. An¬
other useful art practised by this people consisted in let¬
ting off, by means of tunnels, lakes which had been formed
in the craters of extinct volcanoes. In the territory of
Perugia there are traces of many such lakes, which have
been completely dried up, by means of the tunnels, which,
though now unknown and never cleared out, still drain off
the water as before.
The renown which belongs to a nation that excelled in
the arts has become as it were the inheritance of the
Etruscans. But from the peculiar constitution of govern¬
ment and society in ancient Etruria, it has been conjec¬
tured, not without appearance of reason, that the works in
bronze and clay, and the bas-reliefs, attributed to them,
were the produce, not of the dominant race, but of their Etruscans,
subject bondsmen or serfs; and that in reality the Etrus- s—
cans, properly so called, were as little given to the arts as
the Romans by whom in their turn they were subdued.
The striking difference observable between Tarquinii and
Arretium in their works of art, seems to correspond with
the different origin of the earlier inhabitants of northern
and southern Etruria. Volaterra was naturally led, by the
stone quarries in its neighbourhood, to engage in the works
for which it became celebrated. The two former cities,
however, wrought only or chiefly in clay. Arretium made
red vases, with elegant figures in relief, in a style alto¬
gether peculiar. Those of Tarquinii were painted, and both
in colour and design resemble some discovered near Co¬
rinth, of which Dodwell has given engravings. Painted
vases are found only in the district of Tarquinii, and where
they occur those of Arretium are never met with ; besides,
they differ from the Campanian in all those peculiarities for
which the Greek works of the same kind are distinguished.
The resemblance which is thus found to exist between
the vases of Tarquinii and of Corinth irresistibly reminds
us of the story of Demaratus, who is said to have been ac¬
companied by the potters Euchir and Eugrammus; a cir¬
cumstance evidently designed to express that Tarquinii
derived from Greece her skill in handling clay, and the
elegant drawing with which her vases were adorned. The
earliest Etruscan statues were of clay; but the statues be¬
longing to the first ages of Rome were almost uniformly of
bronze, and the master-pieces which shed lustre on Etrus¬
can art are all of the same material. That this art received
its refinement from the Greeks cannot, we think, be reason¬
ably questioned. Works of primitive antiquity attest its
original rudeness ; and to the Greeks alone, improving on
Egyptian models by a close study of the finer forms and
proportions of nature, belonged that skill which throws
life and beauty into the delineation of the human figure.
Hence the subjects of many of the most beautiful Etrus¬
can works of art are obviously taken from the Greek my¬
thology, which, in Etruria, was found as well adapted to
the purposes of the artist as in the land to which it was
native. But the Etruscans, when their taste had once
been formed, treated their own conceptions in the spirit
of their masters; and, though no doubt inferior in grace
and delicacy of execution, they acquired a correctness
in drawing which may almost be stated as a national
characteristic. In the she-wolf of the Capitol we have
an example of the perfection to which Etruscan art had
attained about the middle of the fifth century of Rome;
nor are the finest gems probably of a much more recent
date. See Plates CCLIIL, CCLIV., and CCLV.
As a national heroic story was wanting to Etruscan art,
it sought for subjects in the Greek mythology; and the
legends of Thebes and of Ilium must have been familiar
to" the people. The Greek poems were read in Etruria,
and Greek legends, transfused into Etruscan, lived in the
speech of the nation, or in compositions in the native
tongue. Indeed the works of art are not unfrequently
inscribed with the names of the Greek heroes, adapted to
the forms of the Etruscan language, of which it is matter
of regret that so little is yet known. Varro mentions Tus¬
can tragedies by one Volnius, who, it appears, lived not
long before, and probably intended these as an experimental
attempt to introduce a national drama. But be this as it
may, the Grecian construction of the theatre at Eaesulae
is evidence that Greek dramas, either originals or trans¬
lations, were performed there, as well as at Tusculum
and Bovillae in Latium; nor can it be doubted that this
1 Insula inexhaustis chalybum generosa metallis. x. 174.)
360
ETRUSCANS.
Etruscans, theatre is much earlier than the time of Sylla, since in
size and magnificence it far surnasses the scale of a Ro¬
man military colony, which, besides, cannot be supposed
to have had any taste for the exhibitions peculiar to such
a place. The amphitheatre was the only place to which
such colonists would have repaired for amusement. It is
proper to add, however, that in Etruscan inscriptions we
do not find any thing bearing the slightest resemblance to
Greek rhythms, which could scarcely have been concealed
even in an unintelligible language; and that the place
whence the Fescennine musical dialogue received its name
was a Faliscan, not an Etruscan town.
The music of the Romans was derived from Etruria,
whence also they obtained their scenic or histrionic sing¬
ers. This is the only branch of art in which the ancients
attributed to the Etruscans the honour of invention ; but
here the invention related merely to the instrument; for we
do not read of any mood or measure ascribed to the Etrus¬
cans. This instrument was the flute, which the Romans
regarded as native to Etruria, though modern antiquaries
pretend that it is to be considered as of Lydian origin, and
even as a proof of the Lydian immigration mentioned by
Herodotus. The celebrity which the Etruscans obtained
in music, as well as in other accomplishments, was, no
doubt, in part owing to their having been the neighbours
of a rude and uncultivated people like the Romans, who
naturally admired whatever was new or strange, and who,
until they became acquainted with the Greeks, derived
all that was ornamental in their system of public and pri¬
vate life from Etruria.
The litei'ature of the Etruscans presents the singular
phenomenon of an alphabet almost perfectly deciphered,
with a language completely unintelligible. A combination
so strange has led more than one writer to maintain that the
language is Pelasgic or jEolic Greek, and to appeal in
proof of this to the alphabet; but, unfortunately, there is
a total want of connection between the premises and the
conclusion ; and the result of all the investigations yet in¬
stituted has been to disprove this notion. The Etruscan
characters were formed like the Greek, from that one
amongst the various Asiatic alphabets whence all the modes
of writing in use throughout Europe appear to have been
derived. That Etruria received them directly from the
Phoenician would not certainly be proved by the direction
of the writing from right to left; but when to this we add
the omission of the short vowels, the practice of noting
double consonants by a single letter, as in all the Aramaic
systems of writing, and the want of the vowel O, which
are peculiarities purely Punic, the presumption in favour of
Phoenician origin is considerably increased. From this last
circumstance, however, nothing can be decisively deter¬
mined as to the pronunciation, inasmuch as the Semitic
languages are not defective in the vowel, which is want¬
ing to the Etruscan. The Phoenicians also distinguished
numbers by letters; but not so the Etruscans. What we
denominate the Roman numerals are of Etruscan origin,
and occur frequently on their monuments, being probably
the abbreviated remnants of a hieroglyphical art of writ¬
ing in use before the alphabetical, and, like the Aztecan
numerals, representing objects connected with particular
numbers. Niebuhr thinks them indigenous to the west.
But however this may be, the literal form which these
numerals have now assumed cannot mislead any one as to
their hieroglyphical origin. With respect to the Etruscan
language, which remained harsh in sound and uncouth in
Us forms, all the labour which has hitherto been bestowed
in attempting to interpret it, though valuable for its col¬
lateral results, has proved wholly fruitless in reference to
its direct object. Lanzi, abandoning the oriental and
northern etymology, endeavoured to explain the Etruscan
from the Pelasgic; and for many years after the appear- Etruscan*,
ance of his Essay, his explanations were acquiesced in, and
even made the basis of various etymological hypotheses.
But when at length credulity gave place to inquiry and
examination, it was perceived that his modes of proceeding
were much too arbitrary; that he had produced no evi¬
dence of the existence of the words and forms which he
had assumed to be Greek, in order to identify them with
the Etruscan ; and that other monuments, discovered since
his time, could not in any way be explained by his sys¬
tem. In short, his interpretation was purely tentative and
conjectural, without even accidental felicities of supposi¬
tion ; and hence, of all the Etruscan words, of which
pretended explanations have been given, only two (avil
ril, vixit annos, or rather perhaps cetatis annas') seem to
have been really interpreted. Professor Muller’s observa¬
tions on this subject are well deserving of attention, espe¬
cially in reference to the expectations which appear to
be entertained of the enlargement of our historical know¬
ledge by the comparison of languages.
“ We might give much ampler satisfaction,” says he,
“ if, after Lanzi’s method, we sought in the monuments
of the Etruscan language for single sounds resembling
the Greek and Latin, and, persuaded that similar sounds
must have a similar meaning, endeavoured to explain all
that could not be brought to agree, by an arbitrary pro¬
thesis, epenthesis, paragoge, and similar cheap expedients.
Without blaming the learned Italian, in whose time the
most eminent literati had very confused ideas of the for¬
mation of language, we may maintain that his leading
principle (that analogy is the character only of cultivated
languages, and that the ruder any language is, the greater
liberty might be taken in the use of it) is entirely false.
This may justify us for having paid so little regard to
etymologies, which, as they are arbitrary in themselves,
suppose an arbitrary character in the language to which
they are applied. If we use only genuine monuments,
and require a certain evidence for every explanation of a
root or a grammatical form, our apparent knowledge of
the Etruscan language shrinks almost to nothing  It
is not probable that the application of the still existing
remains of the languages of the north and north-west of
Europe should have those beneficial results for our know¬
ledge of Etruscan which some appear to anticipate. The
Germans and Celts are originally divided in a very mark¬
ed manner, by their locality, from the nations of the Me¬
diterranean ; they only gradually approach these and come
into collision with them; and even though the languages
of both nations may belong to that great family which
from time immemorial has diffused itself throughout Eu¬
rope and Asia, yet they have distinct peculiarities, which
we have no reason to believe are found in those of Italy.
One fundamental and indelible characteristic of the Cel¬
tic languages seems to be, that they mark grammatical
forms by aspiration and other changes of the initial con¬
sonants; a thing not practised in any other European lan¬
guage, but found in all the branches of the Celtic, as the
Welsh, Cornish, Gaelic, Irish, and Bas Breton. This mu¬
tability of the consonants is a circumstance which must
be perceptible even in a small number of written re¬
mains, and which could not well have escaped us had the
Etruscan been Celtic. The Iberian family, once widely
diffused on the shores of the Mediterranean, may have
dwelt in close vicinity to the Etruscans; but the remains
of its language in the Basque are completely different
from the rest of Europe ; and its grammar shows so little
affinity with what we know of the Etruscan, as to afford very
slight support to the opinion of the affinity of the two na¬
tions. What may have been the relation of the Tuscan to
the extinct Ligurian, or to the language of those Alpine
E T R
E T T
361
Etruscans, tribes whose narnes alone are preserved in history, is a
question respecting which we have not even a glimmering
of knowledge.” 1
Any attempt indeed to interpret the Etruscan, without
the aid of bilingual inscriptions, such as those on the Ro¬
setta stone and obelisk of Pliilae, which afforded a key to
the Egyptian phonetic hieroglyphics, will be pure loss of
labour. The discovery of such monuments, however, is,
in regard to time and manner, an incalculable event; but
still it is within the range of probable calculation ; and the
age which has witnessed the interpretation of Egyptian
hieroglyphics by means of such aids should not hastily de¬
spair of anything. If a translation were discovered, not
in Latin or Greek, but in Oscan or even Umbrian, the
latter have so much affinity to the Latin, that much might
be learned from such a version for the explanation of the
Etruscan. By the successive labours of Lassen, Grotefend,
Botta, Hincks, Layard, and, above all, of Colonel Rawlinson,
we have at length obtained a clew to the Assyrian arrow-
headed character ; and the ingenuity which has unravelled
the mysteries of Egyptian hieroglyphics, it is not unrea¬
sonable to expect will yet penetrate the cloud that has so
long veiled the meaning of those ancient records of Etruria.
Of the early history of Etruria we can only collect a few
detached facts of little importance, which are to be gleaned
from Livy, and from short notices in the Greek historians
and poets; and must ever deplore the loss of the works of
Aristotle and Theophrastus on the civil institutions of the
Tyrrheni, as well as regret that the history of the Emperor
Claudius has disappeared. We find this people engaged in
a contest with Tarquinius Priscus (about 610 b.c.), but
obliged to acknowledge at least a nominal dependence on
the power of Rome. They joined the Carthaginians in an
attack on the Phocmans, who having left Asia Minor (about
547 b.c.) to escape the persecutions of Cyrus the elder, had
settled in Corsica, and threatened to dispute with them the
supremacy of the western seas. For the next two centuries
they appear to have enjoyed tranquillity ; until, roused to
exertion by the ever encroaching spirit of the Romans, they
determined to make a united effort to check the power
of their dangerous neighbours. The hostile forces met
(309 b.c.) near Lake Vadimon, which is still to be seen
on the east of Etruria, near the Tiber, below the modern vil¬
lage of Bassano ; and the result was, as usual, favourable to
the cause of Roman supremacy. The Tuscans were com¬
pletely defeated; and from this moment were compelled to
co-operate in extending and strengthening the power of the
conqueror. They now became incorporated with the Roman
people, and can no longer be considered as a separate nation.
For a detailed account of this people, see Micali UIta¬
lia avanti il dominio dei Romani, Milan, 1825, with An-
tiqui Monumenti per sevire alVOpera intitolato LTtalia,
&c., Frienze, 1821 ; RItalic avant la Domination des Do¬
mains, with historical notes and illustrations by M. Raoul-
Rochette, Paris, 1824, in 4 tomes ; Niebuhr’s Roman ffis-r
tor//, English trans., Cambridge, 1828, in 2 vols,; Muller,
Die Etrusker, vier bucher, Breslau, 1828 ; Inghirami, Mo¬
numenti Etruschio di Etrusco name, 1821-1825, in 6 vols.
4to ; Heyne, Etrusca Antiqua, Nov. Soc. Gbtting. 1766;
and Gori, Museum Etruscum. For the ancient language
of Etruria, see Dempster, De AEtruria Regali, Florence,
1723, in 2 vols. fol.; Lanzi, Saggio di Lingua Etrusca, e
di altre Antiche d'Italia, 1789, in 3 vols. 8vo; and Mul¬
ler, Die Etrusker, above referred to. (j. B—e.)
The excavations recently made within the limits of the
ancient Etruria, and the researches of various Italian and
foreign antiquaries, have, within the last few years, thrown
additional light on the sites of Etrurian cities, and illus¬
trated the arts and manners of that singular people.
The English reader will find a lively account of some of Etsch
these discoveries in the pages of Mrs Hamilton Gray, and
a more ample and well-digested detail in The Cities and ^ /
Cemeteries of Etruria by George Dennis, published in 2
vols. in 1848. In this work we find the following enu¬
meration of the sites of Etrurian cities, most of them esta¬
blished on very fair data.
Veii near Fsola Parnese.
Fidenae Castel Giubleo.
Falerii, Vet. et Nov  Civita Castellana.
Feronia St Oreste.
Capena  Chiesa di S. Martino.
Norchia, or Orcle ? 6 miles from Vetralla.
Castellum Axia Castel d’Asso.
Blera  Bieda.
Tarquinii  near Corneto.
Vulci  on the Fiora near Ponte della Badia.
Tuscania  Toscanella.
Volscinii Bolsena.
Salpinum near Ovieto ?
Caere or Agylla Cervetri.
Pyrgi (its port)  Santa Severa.
Pisae  Pisa.
Kusellae Rosella.
Cosa Assedonia.
Populonia or Pupluna Populonia.
Vetulonia, discovered in 1842 Magliano.
Telamon (its port).
Saturnia    Saturnia.
Clusium   Chiusi.
Arretium Arezzo.
Perusia  Perugia.
Cortona  Cortona.
Faesulae..,.,,  Fiesole.
Second-rate Toivns.
Sustrunj...,  Sutri.
Nepale    Nepi.
Surrena or Sorena  Viterbo ?
Horta   Orte.
Graviscae on right bank of the Marta, on the coast.
Statonia ?   near Tarquinii, at Castro
Alsium   Palo.
Fregellae   Torre de Maccarese.
Unascertained Etruscan remains
At Corchiano.
Galere.
Vignanelle.
Orbitello.
At Cetana.
Sarteano.
Chianciano.
Montepulciano.
ETSCH, a river of Italy, See Adige.
ETTLINGEN, a town of Baden, capital of a cognomi-
nal bailiwick in the circle of Middle Rhine, five miles S. of
Carlsruhe. It is situated on the Alb, and has cotton¬
spinning, gunpowder, and paper mills. Pop. 4500.
ETTMULLER, Michael, an eminent physician, born
at Leipzig, May 26, 1644. After having studied lan¬
guages, mathematics, and philosophy, at his native town, he
went to Wittenberg, whence he again returned to Leipzig,
and obtained a medical diploma in 1666. After travelling
in Italy, France, and England, he retired to Leyden, where
he had intended to spend some time in study, but was sud¬
denly recalled to Leipzig in 1668, where he received the
degree of doctor immediately after his arrival. The Aca¬
demy of the Curious in Nature admitted him as one of its
members in 1670, and the Faculty of Medicine in 1676.
About the same time the university of Leipzig confided to
him the chair of botany, and appointed him extraordinary
professor of surgery ; the duties of which he discharged
with distinction. But he did not long enjoy his prefer¬
ment; for he was suddenly cut off, 9th March 1683, in
consequence of a hectic fever, occasioned, as some say, by
a chemical experiment. Although Ettmiiller only wrote
short dissertations and mere opuscula, he nevertheless en¬
joyed an immense reputation. He had the art of interest-
VOL. IX.
1 Die Etrusker, vol. i., p. 64, et seq.
2 z
/
362 E T T
Ettrick ing and fixing the attention by a ready elocution, and by
|| arguments sometimes much more specious than solid. The
Etty. following is a list of his works :—
Be Singularibus, a thesis defended by Ettmiiller in 1663; Medi-
cina Hippocratis Chimica, Leipzig, 1670, in 4to; Vis Opii diapho-
retica, Leipzig, 1679, in 4to ; Chimia Rationalis ac ExperimentoMs
curiosa, Leyden, 1684, in 4to ; Medicus Theoria et Praxi generali
instructus, Frankfort and Leipzig, 1685, in 4to; Opera Omnia theo-
retica ac practica, Lyons, 1685, in 4to; Opera Omnia; nempe In-
stitutiones Medicinee cum JYotis, etc., Frankfort, 1676, 2 vols. fol. ;
Operum Omnium Medico-physicorum editio novissima, Lyons, 1690,
2 vols. fol.; Opera Omnia in Compendium redacta, London, 1701,
and Amsterdam, 1702, in 8vo. The best edition is that of his son,
entitled Opera Medica theoretica-practica per jilium Michaelem Er-
nestum, etc. Frankfort, 1708, 3 vols. fol. There is no complete
translation of the works of Ettmiiller, but there are numerous Ger¬
man, English, and French translations of the different treatises.
Michel Ernest Ettmiiller, son of the preceding, born at
Leipzig in 1673, was also a physician of some eminence.
Besides collecting and editing the works of hisfather, he wrote
a number of theses and memoirs. He died Sept. 25, 1732.
ETTRICK, a river, parish, and forest of Selkirkshire.
See Selkirk. *
ETTY, William, R.A., one of the most eminent of
British painters, was, like Stothard and Flaxman, a native
of York, where he was born 7th March 1787. His father
had been in early life a miller, but had finally established
himself in the city of York as a baker of spice-bread. His
mother was in many respects a remarkable woman, and from
this parent Etty, like many other men of genius, inherited
the qualities by which he became distinguished in after life.
The painter was the seventh in a family of ten, five of whom
died young. With so many children to provide for out of
comparatively slender means, it. was impossible for the elder
Ettys either to educate their family themselves or to send
them to the public schools of the city. After some scanty
instruction of the most elementary kind, the future painter,
at the age of eleven and a half, left the paternal roof, and
was bound apprentice in the printing-office of the “ Hull
Packet.’* Amid many trials and discouragements he com¬
pleted his term of seven years’ servitude, and having in that
period come to know his own powers, he removed at the
close of it to London. The kindness of an elder brother
and a wealthy uncle stood him in good stead during his
long and noble struggle against the trials and difficulties
that beset the career of nearly every person who adopts the
profession of art for its own sake. After a year and a half
of preliminary study, he was enrolled in 1807 as student of
the Academy, whose schools were at that time conducted in
Somerset House. Among his fellow scholars at this period
of his career were some of those who in after years rose to
eminence in their art, such as Wilkie, Haydon, Collins,
Constable, and others who still survive. This year is also
memorable in Etty’s life as that in which he enjoyed the
privilege of the private instructions of Sir Thomas Law¬
rence, who was now at the very acme of his fame. Etty
himself always regarded this privilege as one of incalculable
value, and till his latest day regarded Lawrence as one of
the chief ornaments of British art. For some years after he
quitted Sir Thomas’s studio, even as late as 1816, the in¬
fluence of his preceptor was traceable in the mannerism of
his works; but his later pictures prove that he had com-
pletely outlived it. Though he had by this time made
great progress in his art, his career was still one of almost
continual failure, hardly cheered by even a passing ray of
success. It was not till 1811 that the sun began to shine
upon him. In that year, after repeated rejections, he had
the satisfaction of seeing his first picture on the walls of the
cac emy s exhibition-room. For the next five years he per-
severed with quiet and constant energy in overcoming the
isa vantages of his early training with yearly growing suc¬
cess, and was even beginning to establish something like a
name, when in 1816 he resolved to improve his knowledge
E T T
of art by a journey to Italy. After an absence of three Etty.
months, however, he W'as compelled to return home without
having penetrated farther south than Florence. Struggles
and vexations still continued to harass him, but he bore
up against them with a patient endurance and force of
will which ultimately enabled him to rise superior to them
all. He had resided at home nearly six years since his un¬
successful journey into Italy, wdien he resolved to make ar¬
rangements by which he should be enabled to spend at least
eighteen months in that native country of the pictorial art.
Accordingly in 1822 he set out on his tour, taking Paris on
his way, and astonishing his fellow-students at the Louvre
by the rapidity and fidelity with which he copied from the
old masters in that gallery. On arriving at Rome he im¬
mediately resumed his studies of the old masters, and elicited
many expressions of wonder from his Italian fellow-artists
for the same qualities as had gained the admiration of the
French. Though Etty was duly impressed by the grand
chefs d’ceuvres of Raphael and Michael Angelo at Rome,
yet he was not sorry to exchange that city for Venice, which
he always regarded as the true home of art in Italy. His
own style held much more of the Venetian than of any other
Italian school, and he admired his prototypes with a zeal
and exclusiveness that sometimes bordered on extravagance.
Early in 1824 he returned home to find that honours long
unjustly withheld were awaiting him. In that year he was
made an associate of the Royal Academy, and three years
later he was promoted to the full dignity of an academician.
In the interval between these dates he had produced the
“ Combat,” and the “ Judith,” both of which ultimately
came into the possession of the Scottish Academy, which
body, to their credit be it told, were the first to discern and
publicly appreciate the genius of Etty, and the value of his
contributions to art. Etty’s career was from this time one
of slow but uninterrupted success. Hi*s works were not
now as formerly allowed to remain upon his hands unsold;
and though the prices which they fetched were almost in¬
credibly small in comparison with the value now attached to
them, yet they satisfied the artist’s requirements, and even
tempted him to persevere in the dangerous career of high art.
In 1830 Etty again crossed the channel with a view to another
art-tour through the Continent; but he was overtaken in
Paris by the insurrection of the Three Days, and was so
much shocked by the sights he was compelled to witness in
that time, that he returned home with all convenient speed.
During the next ten years of his life the zeal and unabated
assiduity of his studies was not at all diminished, and he
continued with marvellous regularity his various routine-
duties in connection with the Academy, though his health
was far from robust, and his circumstances were now such
as to put it in his power to dispense with the multifarious
drudgery which the fulfilment of these duties demanded.
1 he course of his studies was only interrupted by occasional
visits to his native city, and to Scotland, where he was wel¬
comed with the utmost enthusiasm, and feted with the most
gratifying heartiness by his brother-artists at Edinburgh. On
the occasion of one of these visits he gave the finishing
touches to the trio of Judiths, which form not the least in¬
teresting or valuable feature in the collection of the Scottish
Academy. In 1840, and again in 1841, Etty undertook a
pilgrimage to the Low Countries to seek out and examine
for himself the masterpieces of Rubens which exist in many
of the churches and public galleries there. Two years later
he once more visited France with a view to collecting ma¬
terials for what he called “ his last epic,” his famous picture
of “Joan of Arc.” This subject, which would have tasked
to the full even his great powers in the prime and vigour of
manhood, proved almost too serious an undertaking for him
in his old age. It exhibits, at least, amid great excellences,
undeniable proofs of decay on the part of the painter; yet
it brought a higher price than any of his earlier and more
E T T
Etty. perfect works, viz. L.2500. In 1848, after completing this
work, he retired to York, having realized a comfortable in¬
dependence. Even his advanced years and increasing in¬
firmities were as yet unable wholly to quench his artistic
enthusiasm; for when his health allowed, he worked as as¬
siduously as in his younger days. One wish alone remained
for him now to gratify ; he desired to see a “gathering” of
his pictures. With much difficulty and exertion he was
enabled to assemble the great majority of them from vari¬
ous parts of the British islands ; and so numerous were they,
that the walls of the large hall he engaged in London for
their exhibition were nearly covered. This took place in
the summer of 1849: on the 13th of November of that
same year Etty died. On the occasion of his funeral, which
was a public one, and attended by the corporation of York,
the shops in the city were shut, the bells of the various
churches wrere tolled, and other marks of respect paid to the
memory ot the deceased artist.
Etty has delineated himself in his autobiography (pub¬
lished in the Art-Journal), and in his letters and diaries re¬
cently (1855) given to the world in Mr Gilchrist’s “ Life” of
this celebrated artist. The reproach often alleged against
artists and men of science, that as men they are most fre¬
quently quite uninteresting, cannot with truth be asserted
against Etty. In many points of view his is not only an in¬
teresting but a highly instructive career. Born of humble
parents, without any advantages of early training, and in the
face of difficulties before which any man might honourably
have given way, he yet achieved for himself, by the innate
force of genius, a conspicuous place in that walk of art which
he selected for his own. It was not by a brilliant precocity, or
the factitious success which sometimes accompanies the skil¬
ful mannerist or the daring innovator in art, but by a means
resembling the slow' certainty with which most of the great
discoveries in physical science have been made in accord¬
ance with the inductive method, that he attained this result.
Year after year he struggled on, often heart-sick and weary
of the contest, yet with the inflexible resolution of reaching
the point proposed, and in the attempt removing, so far as
in him lay, the reproaches to which English art had too often
been exposed from its successful cultivators on the Conti¬
nent. The Italians, especially the Venetians, were the first
to recognise very decidedly Etty’s merits, more especially
as a colourist. While copying the great masters in the
Venetian galleries, he was often complimented with such
expressions as “ e un Ercole,” “ e un Tiziano,” &c., and
that not by casual acquaintances anxious to ingratiate them¬
selves with him, but by fellow-artists as able and willing
to detect blemishes as to acknowledge beauties. Similar
and equally decided compliments were showered down
upon him by the French who had opportunities of seeing
him at work in the Louvre. The world at large now fully
appreciates the works of this painter; and though it be too
much to say that Etty equalled Titian as a colourist, yet it may
perhaps be allowed to claim for him the name of the English
Rubens, and all the respect and honour due to such a title.
In private life Etty was in many respects an admirable type
of the English character. The lessons which he learned in
early life from his mother continued to guide and influence
him to the end ; and though his religionism appears to have
held more of sentiment than of study and conviction, yet it
stood him in equally good stead in so far as it led him safely
through the temptations with which the life of the artist is
frequently beset. In the expressions of simple piety, man¬
like faith in the wisdom and goodness of an over-ruling
Providence, and child-like submissiveness to its dispen¬
sations, the letters of Etty abound almost as much as
those of Cromwell. For trivial backslidings, such as
many men fall into without a thought, Etty implores for¬
giveness as fervently as if he had committed some hein¬
ous sin. The same principle seems to have actuated him
E U E 363
in his dealings with his fellow-men. From the feeling of Etymol°gy
jealousy so common among artists, and from w'hich he suf- •Eu|cea
fered so much himself, he was completely free. There is u ‘
no more striking instance than his on record of generosity *~
towards distressed fellow-artists, and of liberal encourage¬
ment of art, both by direct pecuniary aid and by the devo¬
tion of much valuable time to the service of the Academy.
Towards his native city his heart always yearned with the
most earnest longing. The course of modern improvements
threatened from time to time the destruction of some of the
interesting antiquities of the city. On these occasions the
painter wras ever ready both with tongue and pen to pro¬
test against the impending vandalism, and with such
success that nearly everything that now remains to differen¬
tiate York from other provincial towns in England is due
to his exertions. His grief for the Minster, which on two
occasions was nearly destroyed by fire, was as poignant and
lasting as is often testified by parents for the loss of a
favourite child. His homeliness and domestic notions of
comfort are also very English in character. Even in the
course of his repeated journeys to the Continent, he used
to carry with him a complicated tea-apparatus, which often
excited the curiosity and suspicion of the custom-house
officers in the various countries which he entered. (For
a detailed account of the life, character, and habits of
Etty, see the careful and interesting “ Life” recently pub¬
lished by Alexander Gilchrist, Esq., of the Inner Temple,
London.)
ETYMOLOGY (ervjuos, true, and Adyos, discourse'),
that branch of philology which treats of the origin and
derivation of words, with a view to ascertain their radical
or primary signification.
EU, a town of France, department of Seine-Inferieure,
arrondissement of Dieppe, and 17 miles N.N.E. of the town
of that name. It is situated on the small river Bresle,
about two miles from its mouth, in the English Channel,
and contains about 4000 inhabitants. Eu was a place of
some importance in the middle ages, but it was burned by
Louis XL in 1475 to prevent its falling into the hands of
the English, and has never attained its former condition.
It is chiefly remarkable for its chateau, built by the Duke
of Guise in 1578 on the site of a castle destroyed with the
rest of the town in 1475. This chateau w'as greatly en¬
larged and richly decorated by Louis-Philippe, to whom it
came by succession, and here he received the Queen of
England in 1843. It is surrounded by an extensive park
and gardens. The parish church is a fine Gothic edifice,
under which is a crypt containing numerous monuments of
the Artois family.
EUBCEA (now Egripo or Negropont), the largest
island in the TEgean Sea, is separated from the coasts of
Attica, Bceotia, Locris, and Thessaly, by the Eubcean Sea,
which, at its narrowest part, between Chalcis and the Boeo¬
tian shore, is called the Euripus. The length of the island,
whose general outline is long and narrow, is about 90 miles ;
its breadth varies considerably—at the broadest part it mea¬
sures about 30 miles, at the narrowest not more than four.
It is traversed throughout its entire length by a mountain
range, some of the peaks of which attain a great elevation.
On the eastern coast Dirphys or Dirphe, now Mount
Delphi, rises 7300 feet above the sea. At the southern ex¬
tremity the highest mountain is Oche, now called St Elias,
rising to the height of4750 feet. On the western side, the
highest peaks are Mounts Kandhiliand Telethrius, the for¬
mer 4200 and the latter 3100 feet above the sea. At the
foot of Mount Telethrius are the celebrated hot springs,
known as the Thermae. Opposite the entrance of the
Maliac Gulf is the promontory of Cenaeum, near which is
Mount Lithadha nearly 2900 feet high. At the N.E.
extremity of the island is the promontory of Artemisium,
celebrated for the great naval victory gained by the Greeks
364 E U C
Eubulides over the Persians, B.c. 480. The continuous plains in the
II island are few in number and comparatively small in extent.
Eucharist. rpjie largest of these is that of Lelantum, between Eretria
and Chalcis ; next that of Histiaea, at the northern extre¬
mity of the island, opposite the coast of Thessaly. The
south-western portion of the island was called Geraestus, the
south-eastern Caphareus.
Euboea was believed to have originally formed part of the
mainland, and to have been separated from it by an earth¬
quake. Its northern extremity is separated from the 1 hes-
salian coast by a strait which at one point is not more than
a mile and a half in width. From the promontory of Ce-
naeum southwards for about fifteen miles the depth of the
channel is so great that half a mile from the shore no bottom
has been found with 220 fathoms of line. The water, how¬
ever, gradually shoals from this point to Chalcis. At this
town the strait, assuming the name of Euripus, contracts
to a breadth of not more than 120 feet; and a bridge
has been thrown across it at this point, connecting the
island with the Boeotian coast. The rivers of Euboea are
so few in number, and*so scanty in volume, that the scarcity
of water is often severely felt. On the eastern side are the
Budorus, and the Lelantus flowing through the plain of the
same name. On the north coast was the Callas. Two
other streams, the Cereus and the Neleus, are mentioned,
about which nothing is known save that sheep dipped in
the former became white and those in the latter black.
The level ground of Euboea, which is of no great extent,
was fertile in corn ; while the mountains afforded excellent
pasture for sheep and cattle. These pastures belonged to
the state, and were let out to such as could afford to pay
the necessary rent. In the mountains were several valuable
mines of iron and copper ; and the marble quarries of Carys-
tus at the south of the island were among the most im¬
portant of Greece.
Euboea was originally known under other names, such as
Macris, Helliopia, Oche, and Abantis. By Homer the in¬
habitants of the island are called from this latter name
Abantes, though the island itself is mentioned under its
name of Euboea by the same poet. In historical times
Euboea was inhabited chiefly by Ionic Greeks, and of these
the Athenians were the most prominent. As the island
never at any time formed a separate state, it is impossible
to give a general history of it as a whole. The history of
the leading cities will be found under their respective heads.
See Chalcis, Eretria, Histlea, &c. For the modern
history of Euboea, see Negropont.
EUBULIDES, a native of Miletus, was a distinguished
philosopher of the Megaric school. The principal events
in his personal history are quite unknown. Indirect evi¬
dence shows that he was a younger contemporary of Aris¬
totle, whose philosophy he attacked with great bitterness,
and that he numbered Demosthenes among his pupils for
a while. He is not known to have written any indepen¬
dent work, and his name has been preserved chiefly on ac¬
count of some celebrated though false and captious syllo¬
gisms of which he was the reputed author.
EUBULUS, a distinguished comic poet of the middle
comedy, was a native of' Athens, where he flourished about
b.c. 370-80. He is said to have written no fewer than 104
plays, of fifty of which the titles have been preserved by
Suidas. The fragments of Eubulus that survive have been
edited by Meineke, and serve to show, if nothing else, at
least that his diction was remarkably pure and tasteful.
EUCHARIST (ev^apio-Tta, thanksgiving ; from ev, well,
and x^Sj/^aowr), the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper ; the
solemn act of commemorating the death of our Redeemer,
in the use of bread and wine as emblems of his flesh and
blood. See Supper op the Lord.
E U C
EUCHOLOGIUM (evxg, prayer ; \6yos, a discourse}' Eucholo
literally a discourse on prayer ; applied to the Greek ritual, gium
in which are prescribed the order of ceremonies, sacraments, £u|li(j
and ordinances. Gore has given an edition of the Greek v
euchologium in Greek and Latin, with notes.
EUCLASE, formerly called prismatic emerald, a very
rare mineral of a pale green colour. See Mineralogy.
EUCLID (Euclides) op Alexandria, author of the
most ancient elements of geometry which have come down to
us, and hence justly regarded as one of the fathers of science.
He has been sometimes confounded with Euclid of Megara.
The place of his birth is unknown. But Proclus Diado-
chus, one of his commentators, informs us that he opened a
school of mathematics in Alexandria in the reign of Ptolemy
the son of Lagus; and Pappus extols his kindness and af¬
fection for those who laboured to advance the study of geo¬
metry. This being ail that is known of the life and charac¬
ter of Euclid, it only remains therefore to speak of his works,
some of which have been lost. Amongst those which we
possess, however, the most remarkable is that which is
simply entitled Elements, as if to indicate that it contained
the entire body of principles upon which the pure mathe¬
matics then rested. This work now consists of fifteen
books; but the last two are attributed to Hypsicles, a ma¬
thematician of Alexandria who flourished at a later period.
Euclid, however, neither was nor could be the inventor of
all that is contained in his work ; for geometers more an¬
cient than he, including Hippocrates of Chio, had written
Elements; but, on the other hand, there can be little doubt
that he added to the pre-existing stock of elementary truths,
improved the demonstrations in which his predecessors had
failed, and composed a whole which, by more severe forms
of reasoning, and a more exact concatenation of proposi¬
tions, superseded all works of the same description which
had been previously vvritten, and became the basis of in¬
struction in the mathematics. These Elements were first
commented on by Theon, and by Proclus; but whatever
success such commentaries may have had in the school of
Alexandria, they remained wholly unknown to the occi¬
dentals of the middle ages, who derived all their knowledge
of geometry, such as it was, from the works of Boethius, and
from a production entitled De Principiis Geometrice, as¬
cribed to St Augustin.1 It was only in the twelfth and
thireenth centuries that Athelard in England and Campano
in Italy laboured to decipher and translate Euclid from the
Arabic versions, including the commentary of the Persian
geometer Nazir-Eddin, which was held in great estimation
among the Saracens; for although there is reason to believe
that Boethius had made a complete Latin translation of
Euclid, it has not come dowm to our times; and, in fact, it
was not till long after the revival of letters, and when ver¬
sions had been multiplied by means of the press, that a part
of the Elemeyits of Euclid was introduced into the course of
instruction in the schools. In order to form an idea of the
entire work, however, it may be considered as composed of
four parts. The first of these parts comprehends the first
six books, and may be divided into three sections, viz., the
demonstration of the properties of plane figures treated in
an absolute manner, as in books first, second, third, and
fourth ; the theory of the proportions of quantities in gene¬
ral, which is the object of the fifth; and the application of
this theory to plane figures, as in book sixth. The second
part contains the seventh, eighth, and ninth books, which
are denominated arithmetical, because they treat of the
general properties of numbers. The third part consists only
of the tenth book, in which the author considers in detail
incommensurable quantities, and which he terminates by
proving that the diagonal of a square and its side cannot
have a common measure ; a doctrine, we may add, which is
1 Montucla, Histoiredes Mathematiques, tom. i., pp. 212 and 492.
E U C
Euclid, much more ancient than Euclid, since Plato, towards the
- _—> close of his seventh book of Laics, pronounces those who
have no idea of such incommensurability as sunk in almost
brutish ignorance. The fourth part, which is composed of
the last five books, treats of planes and solids. But of all
this great body of geometrical doctrine, the only portions
which have been considered as adapted to the purposes of
instruction are the first six books, together with the eleventh
and the twelfth ; the propositions which they contain having
formed the basis of all the elements of geometry which,
under whatever form, have from time to time been given
to the world. The fifth book, however, has often been
omitted in such publications, because the notation of our
arithmetic, and still more that of our algebra, have greatly
simplified the theory of proportions; and, for the same rea¬
son, the other arithmetical books, which it is now difficult to
read, are justly considered as more curious than useful.
But, in borrowing their materials from the work of Euclid,
modern authors have frequently altered the arrangement;
and on this subject there have arisen twro contradictory
opinions, which have been debated with very great warmth,
yet still remain as irreconcilable as ever. 1 he concatena¬
tion established by Euclid, and even the forms which he
has employed in demonstrating his propositions, are re¬
garded by some as almost the last term of perfection in
works of this kind; whilst others, again, have considered
these as mere essays, which, however excellent in them¬
selves, leave room for the introduction of a more natural
order and more simple demonstrations. Ramus, who de¬
clared war on the dialectics of Aristotle, accuses Euclid of
omissions and redundancies, and expresses his conviction that
it was with reference to these imperfections that Ptolemy
inquired if there were not a more easy method than that
usually employed for learning geometry; an inquiry which,
as is well known, elicited from Euclid the reply, that in the
mathematics there was no road for kings. Antony Arnauld,
and the author of the Port-Royal Logic, have also blamed
the order followed by the Greek geometer, and disputed
some of his definitions but if Arnauld, either from not
being very profound in the mathematics, or by reason of the
great difficulty of the subject, failed, as Ramus and so many
others had done, in the changes which he attempted to in¬
troduce into the Elements, his reasons for making the at¬
tempt still remain in all their force. For, whatever may be
said to the contrary, it is certain that they are deficient in
that order which, causing the propositions, as far as possible,
to arise out of one another, exhibits in full evidence the
analogies which connect them, assists the memory, and pie-
pares the mind for the investigation of truth. But whether,
in the actual state of the science, it be practicable to re¬
concile this order with the rigour of demonstration, or to
obviate objections the force of which, abstractedly con¬
sidered, cannot be disputed, is a question which it would far
exceed the limits of this notice to discuss.1 2 If it be re¬
solved affirmatively, which appears to us possible, then no
reason would exist for giving an absolute preference to the
Elements of Euclid. As a precious relic of antiquity, and
as one of those works of science which time has thrown
least in arrear of actual knowledge, the Elements would
doubtless continue to be classed in the first rank of mathe¬
matical productions; but their too arbitrary arrangement,
and the style in which they are written, sometimes too pro¬
lix, and at other times too concise, would no longer consti¬
tute the essential character of the geometric or synthetic
method, in opposition to the analysis of the moderns. I he
true difference of these two methods of treating the science
of quantities consists in this, that the one is founded on the
immediate consideration of the properties of figures, whilst
E U C
the other employs arbitrary signs, combined by the opera¬
tions of calculation. The first is geometry itself, not that
of Euclid more than of any other; the second is an applica- ^
tion of algebra, which ought not to be confounded with ana¬
lysis, inasmuch as synthesis may be effected with algebraic
signs as well as with the figures of geometry. The latter,
however, which may also be treated analytically, presents
operations equivalent to the resolution of certain equations.
Of this some propositions contained in the book of Data
are remarkable examples; propositions which, by a natural
and certain path, lead to the solution of problems otheiwise
undiscoverable. The book of Data was particulaily re¬
lished by Newton, who, persuaded that a proposition scarcely
deserved to see the light unless it could be demonstrated
without the assistance of calculation, conceived that a moie
profound study of this treatise would have enabled him to
dispense with the aid of such an instrument. But it may
well be doubted, to say nothing more, whether his succes¬
sors, by pursuing a similar path, would have ever attained
those great and striking results which they have derived
from the new methods of calculation.
Besides the Elements and the Data, which are the most important
works of Euclid, Pappus and Proclus mention the following: Intro-
ductio Harmonica, Sectio Canonis, relating to music; Phenomena,
containing an exposition of the appearances produced by the motion
attributed to the celestial sphere, a work subjoined to the book Be
Sphcera Mobili of Autolycus ; Optica, Catoptrica, concerning direct
vision and mirrors ; Liber de Divisionibus, treating of the divisions
of polygons ; and the lost works, entitled Porismatum libri, Locorum
ad superficiem libri, Fallaciarum liber, and Gonicorum libri. At the
end of the works of Euclid is a short fragment entitled De Levi et
Ponderoso, the author of which is unknown; it is, however, of al¬
most no value. The editions of the works of this geometer are so
numerous that we cannot undertake to indicate all of them, and
must therefore confine ourselves to the principal ones. Of the com-
plete works there are, 1. Euclidis Opera, Greece, cum Theoms expo-
sitione, cura Grynezi, Bale, 1530, in fol.; 2. Euclidis quez supersunt
omnia, ex recensione Davidis Gregorii, Greece et Latine, Oxford, 1 / 03,
in fol.; 3. Les CEuvres d’Euclide, en Grec, en Latin, et en Fraw'ais,
d'apre’s un Manuscrit tres ancien, qui etait resit, inconnu jusqu'd nos
jours par Peyrard, Paris, 1814, in 8vo. The manuscript here re-
ferred to was one of several sent from Rome by Monge, and sup-
posed to date from the end of the ninth century : in it the Data are
placed immediately after the thirteenth book, and thus separate
from the rest of the work the fourteenth and fifteenth books, which
are ascribed to Hypsicles. In 1533, Hervage published at Bale, in
folio, a complete edition of the Elements, m the Greek text, with the
exposition of Theon, and the Commentaries of Proclus on the first
book. The following are the principal Latin translations: Pree-
clarissimum Opus Elementorum Euclidisperspicacissimi in artem Geo¬
metries, the first publication of the Elements by means of printing,
Venice 1482 ; Euclidis Elementorum libri XV. una cum scholiis an-
tiquis a Frederica Commandino Urbinate in Latinum conversi, Gom-
mentariis quibusdam illustrati, Pesaro, 1572, in fol. ; Euclidis Ele¬
mentorum libri XV. demonstrationibus accuratisque scholiis illustrati,
auctore Christophoro Clavio, 1574, in 8vo; Euclidis Elementorum
libri XV. breviter demonstrati, opera I. Barrow, London, lb78, in
8vo ; Elementorum Euclidis libri XV. ad Greed contextus fidem re-
censiti et ad usum tyronum accommodati, edente Baermann, Leipzig,
1769, in 8vo; Euclide Megarense philosopho, solo introduttore delle
scientie mathematiche diligentemente reassettato per Nicolo Tartaleo
Brisciano. This last, however, is rather a paraphrase than a trans¬
lation There are many other editions which only contain part of
the Elements : but for further details see Murhard, Bibliotheca Ma¬
thematical ii. pp. 1-48), and other similar works. _ We have
not thought it necessary to notice the more recent editions of the
Elements’, which are in the hands of every body. See also General
Index. (J. b-e.)
365
Euclid
II
Euclides.
EUCLIDES, a disciple of Socrates, who, after the death
of that philosopher, retired to Megara, where he founded a
school of philosophy. We know very little of his principles
except in so far as they stand related to the sceptical school
of a later period. His followers were generally distinguished
by their dialectic subtlety ; and as a consequent of this they
1 See Nouveaux EUments de la Giomttrie, and the Fourth Part of the Logique Port-Royal
2 Lacroix, Essais sur VEnseignemcnt cn gdneral, et sur celui des Mathematiques en particuher, Paris, 1805.
366
E U D
E U E
Eudemus
Eudocia
found themselves speedily reduced to universal doubt. The
philosophy of Euclid was expounded in six dialogues, which
are now lost.
EUDEMUS, a disciple and contemporary of Aristotle,
was a native of Rhodes. His importance in the history of
philosophy may be judged from the fact, that after his mas¬
ter he and Theophrastus were regarded as the only worthy
exponents of that great thinker’s doctrines. He was him¬
self the author of some works on the Categories, on Physics,
and on Analytics, which have all perished, but his fame
rests chiefly on his editorial comments upon Aristotle. So
closely has he followed out his master’s system, that some
of Aristotle’s works have, in modern times, been attributed
bodily to him. Certain it is, that to him we are indebted for
a valuable portion of that philosopher’s work on Physics,
left imperfect and incomplete by his death; and it is also
not unlikely that he bore a principal share in the editing
and arrangement of his Ethics. No details of Eudemus’
personal history have come down to us.
EUDIOMETER (euSta pure air, and p-lrpov a mea¬
sure), the name of an instrument or of any apparatus sub¬
servient to the chemical analysis of the atmospheric air.
The first instrument for this purpose was introduced under
the idea that the salubrity of the atmosphere depended upon
its relative quantity of oxygen ; but it is now known that
the amount is not subject to any appreciable fluctuation, but
that atmospheric air, when it has perfect freedom of motion
and mixture, contains in all situations 20 volumes of oxygen
in 100. The practice of eudiometry has been extended to
other gaseous mixtures, chiefly for the purpose of determin¬
ing the amount of oxygen they contain. This method of
analysis is described under Chemistry, vol. vi., p. 464.
EUDOCIA, the celebrated wife of Theodosius II., was
the daughter of the Athenian sophist Leontius, or Leon,
and was called Athenais prior to her conversion to Chris¬
tianity. By her father she was carefully instructed in litera¬
ture and the sciences; and so high an estimate did the phi¬
losopher make of her beauty and merit, that he divided his
whole patrimony between his two sons. Athenais, how¬
ever, resented the injustice, and carried her plea to Con¬
stantinople before the emperor. Here she gained access to
Pulcheria, the sister of Theodosius, and by her she was
secretly destined to be his wife. Before her elevation to
the throne, she renounced Paganism and was baptized. It
was not, however, till the birth of a daughter that she re¬
ceived the title of Augusta (a.d. 423). Her brothers she
not only forgave, but raised to the dignity of consuls and
praefects. About a.d. 438, Eudocia made an ostentatious
pilgrimage to the Holy Land, distributing alms and dona¬
tions for pious purposes, with a munificence which exceeded
that of the great Helena, and returned to Constantinople
with the precious relics of St Stephen, St Peter, and the
Virgin. Her peace, however, was soon after disturbed by
the jealousy of her husband, who happened to receive from
Paulinus, his master of the offices, a beautiful apple which
ie had presented to his wife. The execution of the fa¬
vourite, and the retreat of Eudocia to the solitude of Jeru¬
salem, did not appease the anger of the emperor, who des¬
patched a messenger for the purpose of putting to death two
ecclesiastics who had gained her confidence. The assassina¬
tion of his envoy provoked the emperor still further, and
iumoaa was stripped of her royal honours, and degraded in
t ie eyes of the nation. Among the monks of Jerusalem
s ie ecame infected with the Eutychian heresy ; but the
misfortunes of her daughter Eudoxia led her to obtain a re-
concihation with Pulcheria, and through her influence and
ia o iei brothers she was afterwards restored to the
commumon of the church. She died at Jerusalem about
a.d. 460 and was buried in the church of St Stephen. With
arpJ2eX, b,reat\slle protested that she had never trans¬
gressed the bounds of innocence and friendship. The ta¬
lents of Eudocia were especially in her later years devoted
to the service of the church. She composed a paraphrase
on the Octateuch in heroic verse, a paraphrase of Daniel
and Zechariah, and a ^poem on the martyrdom of Cvprian
and Justina. To these are added a poem on her husband’s
victory over the Persians, and, according to Zonaras, a
cento of the verses of Homer applied to the life and mi¬
racles of Christ.
Eudocia was also the name of several other Roman
empresses; the most notable was Eudocia Augusta of Mac-
rembolis, wife of the Emperor Constantine XL, and after
his death of Romanus IV. She had sworn to her first hus¬
band on his deathbed not to marry again, and had even im¬
prisoned and exiled Romanus, who was suspected of aspiring
to the throne. Perceiving, however, that she was not able
unaided to avert the invasions which threatened the eastern
frontier of her empire, she revoked her oath, married Ro¬
manus, and with his assistance dispelled the impending
danger. She did not live very happily with her new hus¬
band, who was warlike and self-willed, and was ultimately
compelled to vacate the throne in favour of her son Michael.
She retired to a convent, where she died at an advanced age.
EUDOXIANS, a sect of heretics, also called Acacians,
who held a middle position between the Arians and Semi-
Arians. See Acacians.
EUDOXUS, a celebrated physical philosopher of anti¬
quity, was a native of Cnidus, and flourished about the mid¬
dle of the fourth century b.c. It is chiefly in his quality of
astronomer that his name has descended to our times.
What particular service he rendered to that science beyond
introducing the Egyptian sphere into Greece, and correct¬
ing the length of the year, cannot now be ascertained. Of
his personal history, it is only known that he studied at
Athens under Plato, but being dismissed by that philoso¬
pher, passed over into Egypt, where he remained for six¬
teen months: that he then went to Cyzicum and the Pro¬
pontis, where he taught physics, and ultimately migrated
with a band of pupils to Athens, where he died in the fifty-
third year of his age.
EUERGETES {i. e., well-doer, or benefactor), a title
of honour frequently conferred by the Greeks on those who
had done the state some service. This title was also as¬
sumed by several of the Graeco-Egyptian kings and others.
The most notable of these kings to whom this name was
applied was Ptolemy III., eldest son and successor ot
Ptolemy II. Philadelphus. Receiving his hereditary do¬
minions from his father in a high state of prosperity and
civilization, he greatly enlarged their original boundaries
by his conquests in Asia. He first invaded Syria, to
punish the cruelty and misgovernment of his brother-in-
law, Antiochus II., king of that country. Many Syrian
cities voluntarily opened their gates to him, and he seems
to have penetrated as far as Antioch without meeting any
opposition. Here, instead of crossing the Taurus, he turned
his arms eastwards, reduced Mesopotamia, Babylonia, and
Susiana, and received the submission of the countries lying
between these points and the confines of Asia. In the
course of this expedition he recovered all the statues of the
Egyptian gods which had been carried offby Cambyses, and
by restoring these to their original temples, earned the gra¬
titude of his subjects, who conferred upon him that title by
which he is known in history as the benefactor of his people.
On his return home he seems to have directed his chief at¬
tention to the internal administration of his kingdom, and
to have turned his arms against the Ethiopian tribes on its
southern frontier. He was no less careful than his father
had been to protect and encourage letters. He added so
much to the Alexandrian Library, that he is sometimes,
though erroneously, reputed to have been its founder. After
raising his kingdom to a pitch of power and prosperity such
as it had never attained before, he died, b.c. 222, not with-
Eudocia
II
E U G
E U G
367
Eugene, out a suspicion of having been poisoned by his son, whose
after career afforded only too good grounds for the rumour.
EUGANEAN Hills, a range of hills of Venetian Lom¬
bardy, in the western part of the delegation of Padua. They
extend for about 10 miles from N.W. to S.E., between the
Bacchiglione, the Monselice canal, and the Bisato. The
chain presents few points of great elevation, the highest
being Mount Venda, 1920 feet above the level of the sea,
which is well wooded and cultivated, and has some thermal
springs, resorted to for bathing.
In ancient times a people known as the Euganei occu¬
pied, at one time, all the country lying between the Alps and
the head of the Adriatic, part of which territory they were
afterwards compelled by theVeneti to evacuate. They are be¬
lieved to have been originally an independent and very power¬
ful people ; and even in the time of Pliny they continued to
subsist, and are known to have enjoyed the Latin franchise.
No light has yet been thrown upon the origin of the Euganei.
Their name has given rise to the idea that they sprang from
a Greek source, but it is more probable that they were an
offshoot from some of the early Gallic invasions of Italy.
EUGENE, Francois, commonly called Prince Eugene
of Savoy, one of the greatest generals of his time (since
he preceded Frederic II., and Turenne had fallen before
he became known as a commander), was born at Paris
on the 18th October 1663. His father, Eugene Maurice,
count of Soissons, was grandson of the Duke of Savoy,
Charles Emmanuel I.; and his mother, Olympia Mancini,
was niece of Cardinal Mazarin; but the latter having been
implicated in the affair of the poisonings, was forced to
take refuge in Brussels in order to avoid prosecution. Ori¬
ginally destined for the church, Eugene evinced but little
taste for theology, and occupied himself much more in
reading the lives of great warriors, and the narratives of
their exploits, than in studying the works of the fathers.
Nevertheless he wras of a feeble constitution; and as he
wore a dark cloak, he was known at court by the name of
the Little Abbe. Louis XIV. refused him a company in a
regimentof cavalry, because, according to some, bethought
the young prince unfit for the profession of arms, whilst, ac¬
cording to others, this refusal was owing to the disgrace of
his mother, and the hatred which Louvois bore to her. But
however this may be, Eugene was so stung by the refusal,
that, from the moment of his repulse, he conceived for the
king and his minister that long and fatal resentment which
at length caused so many evils to France.1 Having quit¬
ted France in disgust, he proceeded to Vienna, where the
Emperor Leopold, who was allied to his family, received
him kindly, and granted him permission, along with se¬
veral other Frenchmen of distinction, to serve against the
Turks under the banners of Austria. His first campaign
was that of 1683, during which his courage appeared so
conspicuous that the emperor, by way of recompense, gave
him a regiment of dragoons. After several other campaigns
made with equal distinction, at the head of the same regi¬
ment, he became major-general; and it was in this capacity
that he served at the siege of Belgrade in 1688. At the
instigat ion of Louvois, a decree of banishment from France
was now issued against ail Frenchmen wdio should continue
to serve in foreign armies. “ I shall return into PFance
in spite of him,” said Eugene, when the news were com¬
municated to him; and he continued to pursue with the
same ardour the career on which he had entered in so
brilliant a manner. In his case genius was stimulated by
resentment.
Leopold, considering him as not less fitted for diplo¬
macy than for war, sent Eugene as his envoy or negotia¬
tor to the Duke of Savoy, in order, if possible, to detach
that prince from his connection with France. Nor did
the result disappoint the expectations of the emperor.
Overcome by the pressing solicitations of his young cou¬
sin, the duke allowed himself to be drawn so precipitate¬
ly into the coalition against France, that, without wait¬
ing for the succours which the court of Vienna had pro¬
mised him, he imprudently gave battle to Catinat at Staf-
farde, and was defeated, notwithstanding the great cou¬
rage which Prince Eugene there displayed at the head of
a corps of cavalry. But the auxiliary force sent by Aus¬
tria having at length arrived, PTigene assumed the com¬
mand, and, after obtaining some advantages, which placed
the Duke of Savoy in a condition to defend himself, he
returned to Vienna, where he decided the emperor to
send fresh reinforcements. The imperial forces were thus
put in a condition to resume the offensive; and Prince
Eugene having arrived to command them in the spring of
1691, he caused the siege of Coni to be raised, took pos¬
session of Carmagnole, and gloriously terminated the
struggle in which he had found himself engaged with
Catinat. It was, in fact, as much by his successes, as by
the ascendency which his superior mind exercised over
the Duke of Savoy, that he managed to retain that prince
in the coalition, from which he was oftener than once on
the eve of breaking off, in order to throw himself again
into the arms of France. Desirous to attach him still
more to its interests, however, the court of Vienna con¬
ferred upon him the title of generalissimo of its forces;
and it was in this capacity that he penetrated into Dau-
phine at the head of ten thousand men, having Prince
Eugene as his lieutenant. The combined army took pos¬
session of Embrun and Gap ; laid the whole country in
ashes, by way of reprisals for the burning of the Palati¬
nate ; and was preparing to carry its ravages even into
Provence and Languedoc, when the generalissimo having
been seized with the small-pox, this accident saved the
French provinces from further devastation. Prince Eugene
led the army back into Piedmont, and it was there that
he received the brevet of field-marshal. After a third
campaign of little importance, the Duke of Savoy having
again joined the French, and thus turned the balance
against the Austrians, Prince Eugene returned to Vienna,
where he was appointed to the command of the army of
Hungary.
It was about this time that Louis XIV. secretly offered
him the baton of a marshal of France, with the govern¬
ment of Champagne, which his father had held, and also
a pension of two thousand pistoles. But Eugene rejected
these offers with indignation, and proceeded to combat
the Turks commanded by the grand signior Kara-Musta-
pha in person. After some able marches and skilful ma¬
noeuvres, he surprised the enemy at Zenta, on the Teisse,
Eugene.
1 “ Quelques historiens, bons ou mauvais, se donneront peut-etre la peine d’entrer dans les details de ma jeunesse, dont je ne me
souviens presque plus. Us parleront surement de ma mere, un peu intriguante a la verite, chasse'e de la cour, exile'e de Paris, et
soup<;onnee, je crois, de sorcellerie, par des gens qui n’etaient pas de grands sorciers. Us diront comment je suis ne en France, et
comment j’en suis sorti, la rage dans le coeur contre Louis XIV., qui m’a refuse une compagnie de cavalerie, parce que, disait-il,
j’avais une complexion trop faible; et une abbave, parce qu’il pre'tendait (sur je ne sais quels mauvais propos sur mon compte, ou
fausses anecdotes de galerie de Versailles) que j’e'tais plus fait pour le plaisir que pour I’e'glise. 11 n’y a de Huguenot chasse par la re¬
vocation de I’edit de Nantes, qui lui ait conserve plus de haine. Aussi, quand Louvois, apprenant mon depart, dit, Tant mieux, U
ne lemraplus dans cepays-ci, je jurai bien de n’y rentrer que les armes a la main ; j’ai tenu ma parole.” (Vie du Prince Eugene, now
known to be the production of the Prince de Ligne.)
E U G E N E.
in a camp retrenched en tete-de-pont; and, after an at¬
tack as vigorous as it was daring, he killed twenty thou¬
sand of them, drove ten thousand into the river, made
prisoners of the remainder, and took the whole of their
artillery and equipages. Never had a more complete and
decisive victory been obtained by the imperial arms. But
this splendid achievement, at the same time that it fixed
upon Prince Eugene the eyes of all Europe, inflamed to
the last degree the jealousy of his rivals, or rather ene¬
mies, of whom he had many at court, some of them not
less powerful than vindictive. By means of their in¬
trigues, these persons had caused an order to be sent the
prince, commanding him to suspend all attack ; and this
order had reached him an instant before the battle com¬
menced, but without changing his determination to as¬
sault the enemy’s position ; the opportunity for striking a
blow was propitious, and he boldly resolved to profit by
it. This act of disobedience to the orders of the sove¬
reign was doubtless a fault, and he who dared to commit
it would have been ruined without resource had he not
triumphed in a manlier the most complete and decisive.
But was not such a fault gloriously effaced by a victory as
useful as it was brilliant ? So at least thought all the world,
excepting the enemies of Prince Eugene, who succeeded
in persuading the emperor that nothing could excuse his
disobedience ; and, accordingly, when the victorious ge¬
neral appeared before his master, under the impression no
doubt that he was to be greeted with acknowledgments
and felicitations, he met with a cold and severe reception.
Nor did the folly and ingratitude of his enemies stop here.
Next day he was placed under arrest, and ordered to de¬
liver up his sword; and he was about to be brought be¬
fore a council of war, when the inhabitants of Vienna in¬
terposed, loudly remonstrating against the injustice of
such treatment. The emperor also, whether from fear or
repentance, relented, and restored his command to Prince
Eugene, who, however, accepted it only on the condition
that he should havec«?’fe blanche. It is alleged that when
the envoy of the emperor came to demand his sword, he
replied, “ There it is, still reeking with the blood of the
enemy; I consent not to resume it except for the advan¬
tage of his majesty’s service.” But it is now proved that
this pretended reply is spurious ; for, as the Prince de
Eigne well observes, “ one half of the phrase would have
been a gasconade, and the other a meanness,” neither of
which comported with the simple and manly character of
this great warrior. Prince Eugene then returned to Hun¬
gary ; and, after a campaign distinguished by no remark¬
able event, a treaty of peace was at length concluded with
the Turks at Carlowitz, on the 26th January 1699.
Having returned to Vienna, the prince applied himself
to the study of the arts, and particularly of history, which
had always great attractions for him. But he was not
permitted long to enjoy the leisure which he seemed so
desirous to improve. The war of the succession, which
soon broke out, opened to him a new field of glory; and
at the commencement of the year 1701, he was sent into
Italy once more to oppose his old antagonist Catinat.
But all the prudence of the old general failed to secure
him against the bold and incessantly-renewed enterprises
of his young and indefatigable rival. The latter effected,
in presence of the French army, the passage of the Adige,
and forced it, after sustaining several checks, to retire
behind the Oglio, where a series of reverses equally un¬
expected and severe led to the disgrace and retirement of
Catinat. Ihe Duke of Villeroi succeeded to the command
of which Catinat had been deprived, and the prince had
soon reason to felicitate himself on a change which, from
its first announcement, transported him with joy. The
presumptuous Villeroi having ventured to attack him at
Chiari, in an inexpugnable position, Eugene repulsed all Eugene,
his efforts without difficulty, and inflicted a severe loss on
the assailants. And this first check was only the fore¬
runner of more signal reverses ; for, in a short time, Ville¬
roi was forced to abandon the whole of the Mantuan ter-
ritory, and to take refuge in Cremona, where he seems to
have considered himself as secure in the midst of his staff.
But, by one of the most audacious enterprises which has
ever been attempted in war, this place was surprised, and,
had it not been for untoward accidents, would unques¬
tionably have been carried. By means of a stratagem,
Prince Eugene penetrated into the city during the night,
at the head of a numerous body ; and it was only owing to
circumstances which could not possibly be foreseen or pro¬
vided against, and particularly to the courage and vigilance
of some French officers, that he found himself at length
compelled to retire, carrying along with him Villeroi as
a prisoner. But this last circumstance, so far from being
an advantage to the Imperialists, proved the reverse; the
Duke of Vendome replaced the captive general, and his
ability soon changed the aspect of affairs. From the first
moment Prince Eugene appreciated the talents of his new
adversary ; and, besides, being aware of the superiority of
the French army, with which the king of Spain in person
had just effected a junction at the head of numerous re¬
inforcements, he confined himself to a war of observation,
without important results, though fertile in most useful
lessons to students of military science. This campaign
was terminated by the battle of Luzara, fought on the
1st of August 1702, in which each party claimed the vic¬
tory. It was one of the most sanguinary ever delivered
by Prince Eugene, whose fortune it was to command in
so many battles ; he there lost the flower of his army, and
also his best officers, including the brave Commerci, his
intimate friend and most faithful companion iiVarms.
Both armies having entered into winter quarters, Eu¬
gene returned to Vienna, where he was appointed presi¬
dent of the council of war. He then set out for Hungary
in order to combat the insurgents in that country; but his
means proving insufficient, he effected nothing of impor¬
tance. The revolt was, however, put down by the suc¬
cess which General Heister obtained in another quarter.
Prince Eugene accordingly proceeded to Bavaria, where,
in 1704, he made his first campaign along with Marlbo¬
rough. Similarity of tastes, views, and talents soon esta¬
blished between these two great men a friendship which
is rarely to be found amongst military chiefs, and which
contributed more than all other causes put together to the
success which the allies obtained. The first and perhaps
the most important of these successes was that of Hoch-
sett or Blenheim, gained on the 13th of August 1704,
where the English and imperial troops triumphed over
one of the finest armies which France had as yet sent
into Germany.
But since Prince Eugene had quitted Italy, Vendome,
who commanded the French army in that country, had
obtained various successes. The Duke of Savoy, who had
once more deserted France and joined Austria, had suf¬
fered severe losses ; and the emperor having decided to
send him assistance, Piedmont thus became the principal
theatre of active hostilities. Flaving received orders to
proceed thither without delay, Eugene quitted Marlbo¬
rough with the most lively regret, though at the same
time experiencing a secret satisfaction at the prospect of
measuring himself with a rival in all respects worthy of
him. Vendome at first opposed great obstacles to the plan
which the prince had formed for carrying succours into
Piedmont; but after a variety of marches and counter¬
marches, in which both commanders displayed signal
ability, the two armies met at Cassano, where a murder-
E U G
Eugene, 0us engagement ensued, and Prince Eugene received two
severe wounds, which forced him to quit the field. This
accident decided the fate of the battle, and for the time
suspended the prince’s march towards Piedmont. But al¬
though prevented from effecting a junction with the Duke
of Savoy, his operations failed not to prove advantageous
to that prince, since the Duke de la Feuillade, then be¬
sieging lurin, was obliged to raise the siege and march to
the assistance of Vendome, who, notwithstanding his vic¬
tory at Cassano, felt apprehensive of some new and daring
enterprise on the part of his antagonist. Vendome, how¬
ever, was recalled, and La Feuillade was incapable of long
arresting the progress of such a commander as Eugene.
After once more passing several rivers in presence of the
French army, and executing one of the most skilful and
daring marches he had ever performed, the latter appear¬
ed before the entrenched camp at Turin, which place the
French were now besieging with an army eighty thousand
strong. Prince Eugene had only thirty thousand men ;
but his antagonist was the Duke of Orleans, who, though
full of zeal and courage, wanted sufficient experience to
enable him to contend with a man justly regarded as one
of the greatest warriors of his time. Besides, by a secret
order of Louis XIV., who had, in fact, transferred the
command to Marsin, the young prince was restricted to
the execution of an ill-conceived plan, which neutraliz¬
ed the advantage of superior numbers, and put it in the
power of the enemy to select his point of attack. With
equal courage and address, Eugene profited by the misun¬
derstanding which the exhibition of such an order could
not fail to produce between the French generals ; and
having on the 7th September 1706 attacked the French
army in its entrenchments, he gained a complete victory,
which decided the fate of Italy. This brilliant achieve¬
ment, the result of the most masterly combinations, and,
in several respects, the prototype of the campaign of Ma¬
rengo in 1800, affords one of the most remarkable ex¬
amples of the difficulty of defending extensive lines even
against an inferior army, massed upon one or two points.
As soon as the Duke of Orleans observed the imperial
army approaching, he wished to march out of the lines
with the whole ITench army, and to deliver battle in the
open field, where he could have availed himself of his
great numerical superiority (eighty thousand to thirty) ;
but he was restrained by Marsin, who, by this absurd in¬
terposition, sealed the fate of the French army, and lost
Italy. In the heat of the battle, which almost immediate¬
ly ensued, Eugene received a wound, and was thrown from
his horse into a ditch. Elis fall produced a belief that he
was killed, and his soldiers began to lose courage; but he
soon returned to the attack, and when the soldiers saw him
appear in the midst of them covered with slime and blood,
issuing his orders, and watching over every thing with the
most admirable sang-froid, their enthusiasm was raised to
the highest pitch ; and from that moment the issue of the
battle was certain. As a recompense for so important
services, the prince received the government of the Mi¬
lanese, of which he took possession with great pomp on
the 16th April 1707.
The attempt which he made against Toulon, in the
course of the same year, failed completely, because the
invasion of the kingdom of Naples retarded the march of
the troops which were to have been employed in it, and
tins delay afforded Marshal de Tesse time to make good
dispositions. Obliged to renounce his project, therefore,
the prince repaired to Vienna, where he was received with
great enthusiasm both by the people and the court. “ I
am very well satisfied with you,” said the emperor, “ ex¬
cepting on one point only, which is, that you expose your¬
self too much.” This monarch immediately dispatched
VOL. IX.
E N E. 369
Eugene to Holland, and to the different courts of Ger- Eugene,
many, in order to forward the necessary preparations forV^*^^^
the campaign of the following year, 1708.
Early in the spring of 1708 the prince proceeded to
Flanders, in order to assume the command of the forces
which his diplomatic ability had been mainly instrumen¬
tal in assembling. This campaign was opened by the
victory of Oudenarde, to which the perfect union of
Marlborough and Eugene on the one hand, and the mis¬
understanding between Vendome and the Duke of Bur¬
gundy on the other, seem to have equally contributed.
This prince immediately abandoned the Low Countries,
and remaining in observation, made no attempt whatever
to raise the siege of Lille, where Boufflers distinguished
himself by a glorious defence. To the valour of the latter
Eugene paid the most marked and flattering homage, at
the same time loading him with all those expressions of
esteem and regard with which it was then usual, in such
cases, to attemper the horrors of war. Boufflers was in¬
vited by his enemies to prepare the articles of capitula¬
tion himself, and Prince Eugene wrote to him, “ I sub¬
scribe to every thing beforehand, well persuaded that you
will not insert any thing unworthy of yourself or of me.”
After this important conquest, Eugene and Marlborough
proceeded to the Hague, where they were received in the
most flattering manner by the public, by the states-gene-
ral, and, above all, by their esteemed friend the pension¬
ary Heinsius. Negotiations were then opened for peace,
but as the conditions proposed by the allies were consi¬
dered by Louis XIV. as alike degrading to himself and
to France, both parties made preparations for continuing
the war.
The campaign of 1709 was opened in Flanders by two
hostile armies, each a hundred and fifty thousand strong.
That of the French was commanded by Villars, a man of
considerable talents, but of little experience, and who fear¬
ed to compromise himself in opposition to such great cap¬
tains as Marlborough and Eugene. He accordingly re¬
mained upon the defensive, and suffered them to take Tour-
nay without opposition ; but being desirous of succouring
Mons, he was followed by the allies, who attacked him at
Malplaquet on the 9th of September, in a formidable po¬
sition, where he had had time to entrench himself. The
attack was made with equal vigour and ability ; but owing
to the strength of the French position, and the tenacity
with which it was maintained, the victory was purchased
at the cost of twenty-five thousand men killed on the
field of battle, and the Dutch infantry was almost anni¬
hilated. The battle of Malplaquet was to it what the
battle of llocroi had been to the infantry of Spain; and
it never afterwards recovered from the effects of that san¬
guinary day. Although the allies remained masters of
the field of battle, this barren advantage had been so
dearly bought, that they found themselves soon after¬
wards out of all condition to undertake any thing. Their
army accordingly went into winter-quarters, and Prince Eu¬
gene returned to Vienna, whence theemperoralmost imme¬
diately dispatched him to Berlin. From the king of Prus¬
sia the prince obtained every thing which he had been in¬
structed to require; and having thus fulfilled his mission,
he returned into Flanders, where, excepting the capture
of Douay, Bethune, and Aire, the campaign of 1810 pre¬
sented nothing remarkable. The emperor Joseph I. hav¬
ing died about this time, Prince Eugene, in concert with
the empress, exerted his utmost endeavours to secure the
crown to the archduke, who afterwards ascended the im¬
perial throne under the name of Charles VI.
In the year following, 1711, the changes which had oc¬
curred in the policy, or rather the caprice, of Queen Anne,
brought about an approximation between England and
3 A
370 E U G
Eugene. France, and put an end to the influence which Marlbo--
rough had hitherto possessed with that princess. When
this political revolution became known, Prince Eugene
immediately repaired to London, charged with a mission
from the emperor, and there made strenuous efforts to re¬
establish the credit of his illustrious companion in arms,
as well as to re-attach England to the coalition. But all
arguments and persuasions, whether founded on views of
interest or sentiments of honour and consistency, having
proved unavailing, the emperor found himself under the
necessity of making the campaign of 1712 with the aid
of the Dutch alone. The defection of the English, how¬
ever, did not induce Prince Eugene to abandon his favou¬
rite plan of invading France. He had long been decided
to make any sacrifice to accomplish this design, the con¬
ception of which originated as much, perhaps, in resent¬
ment as in a passion for glory. He therefore resolved, at
whatever cost, to penetrate into Champagne ; and in order
to support his operations by the possession of some im¬
portant places, he began by making himself master of
Quesnoy. But the* Dutch having been surprised and
beaten in the lines of Denain, where Prince Eugene had
placed them at too great a distance to receive timely sup¬
port in ease of an attack, he was obliged to raise the siege
of Landrecies, and to abandon the project which he had
so long cherished. This was the last campaign in which
Austria acted in conjunction with her allies. Abandoned
first by England and then by Holland, the emperor, not¬
withstanding these desertions, still wished to maintain the
war in Germany; but the superiority of the French army
prevented Eugene from relieving either Landau or Fri-
burg, which were successively obliged to capitulate; and
seeing the empire thus laid open to the armies of France,
and even the hereditary states themselves exposed to in¬
vasion, the prince counselled his master to make peace.
Sensible of the prudence of this advice, the emperor im¬
mediately entrusted Eugene with full powers to negotiate
a treaty; and after some interviews, in which the prince
and Villars interchanged expressions of esteem and admi¬
ration, there was concluded at Ilastadt, on the 6th of
March 1714, a peace which had long been anxiously look¬
ed for, and of which the nations of Europe had the great¬
est need.
After this happy event, Prince Eugene went to enjoy
at Vienna some moments of repose. The emperor conti¬
nued to show him marks of the most entire confidence:
and from this time adopted no resolution, either in regard
to the administration of the army, or that of the interior,
without consulting him. But this kind of occupation did
not suit the activity of Eugene ; and although he was now
advanced in years, his warlike humour had lost nothing
of its vivacity. Sensible of the impossibility of Austria,
situated as she was, resisting France, he had done all in
his power to accelerate the conclusion of peace ; but, by a
contrary species of reasoning, he availed himself of a petty
quarrel which the Ottoman Porte had with the Venetians
to determine his master to espouse the cause of the latter.
Ihe emperor, having taken this step, appointed Eugene
to command the army of Hungary ; and at Peterwaradin,
with a force not exceeding sixty thousand men, he gained
a signal victory over the Turks, who had not less than a
hundred and fifty thousand men in the field. This victory
made a great noise in Europe, and all the Christian pow¬
ers conceived themselves bound to rejoice on account of
it. Ihe pope sent to the victorious general the conse¬
crated rapier, which the court of Rome was accustomed
to bestow upon those who had triumphed over the infidels ;
and this extraordinary present was put into the hands of
Prince Eugene by an envoy of his holiness. But the en¬
suing campaign, being that of 1717, was still more remark-
E N E,
able, on account of the battle of Belgrade. After having Eugene,
remained under the walls of that city, in a situation the
most difficult imaginable; after having resisted, during a
month, the efforts of a numerous garrison, as well as those
of a hundred and fifty thousand Turks, with an army of
only forty thousand men; and after having lost nearly the
half of his troops by dysentery, and the fire of the Otto¬
man artillery, which plunged its shot even into his own
tent; Prince Eugene gained one of the most complete
victories of which there is any record or tradition, and
soon afterwards forced Belgrade itself to capitulate. The
attack which he ordered against forces six times more
numerous than his own was really an act of despair. He
had himself been seized with the cruel malady which was
destroying his army, and all was consternation in the Aus¬
trian camp; yet at the very moment when he was be¬
lieved to be on the eve of capitulating, he succeeded, by
his constancy and daring courage, in obtaining a most
decisive victory. The prince was wounded in the heat
of the action, this being the thirteenth time that he had
been hit upon the field of battle. On his return to Vienna
he received numerous testimonies ofgratitude, and, amongst
others, a sword valued at eighty thousand florins, which
was presented to him by the emperor. In the following
year, 1718, after some fruitless negotiations with a view
to the conclusion of peace, he again took the field; but
the treaty of Passarowitz put an end to hostilities, at the
moment when the prince had well-founded hopes of ob¬
taining still more important successes than those which
had illustrated the last campaign, and when he even flat¬
tered himself with reaching Constantinople, and dictating
a peace on the shores of the Bosphorus. On his return
to Vienna he was, as usual, received with every mark of
esteem and admiration.
As the government of the Low Countries, formerly con¬
ferred upon Eugene, had now for some reason been be¬
stowed on a sister of the emperor, the prince was appoint¬
ed vicar-general of Italy, with a pension of three hundred
thousand florins. From this time he occupied himself
much mere than he had ever done with the affairs of go¬
vernment; and Charles VI. habitually consulted him in
all affairs of importance. He accompanied this monarch
in several journeys, particularly to Prague, where Frede¬
rick I. of Prussia met the emperor by appointment, and
testified the greatest admiration of the veteran warrior,
by whom the latter was attended ; and his influence seem¬
ed to be in all respects commensurate with his fame.
During the ten years of peace which ensued, Eugene oc¬
cupied himself with the arts and with literature, to which
he had hitherto been able to devote little of his time.
But the contest which arose out of the succession of Au¬
gustus II. to the throne of Poland having afforded Aus¬
tria a pretext for attacking France, war was resolved on,
contrary to the advice of Prince Eugene, whose last cam¬
paigns had taught him to dread the efforts of that power,
let, although he had in the council declared his opinion
in favour of peace, he was appointed to command the
army destined to act upon the Rhine. This army, from the
commencement, had very superior forces opposed to it;
and if it could not prevent the capture of Philipsburg
after a long siege, it at least prevented the enemy from
entering Bavaria. Prince Eugene, having now attained
his seventy-first year, no longer possessed the vigour and
activity necessary for the command of armies ; lie him¬
self perceived the change which time had wrought in
his powers; and as he now longed for and required re¬
pose, he applied himself to bring about a peace, which was
at length concluded on the 3d of March 1733. Having re¬
turned to Vienna, his health declined more and more, and
he died in that capital on the 21st April 1736, leaving an
E U G
Eugene, immense succession to his niece the Princess Victoria of
Savoy.
Of a character cold and severe, Prince Eugene had al¬
most no other passion than that of glory. He died unmar¬
ried, and without having ever evinced the slightest partia¬
lity for any woman, excepting, perhaps, the Countess de
Bathiani, who, by the attractions of her wit and vivacity,
appears to have consoled the last moments of his life.
Although one of the greatest wrarriors of his time, military
science is not indebted to him for any remarkable im¬
provement. His operations were not directed according
to any positive method, nor conformable to invariable prin¬
ciples ; it was by sudden inspirations, and an admirable
rapidity of coup d’ceil, that he conducted himself on the
ground according to the circumstances and the men with
whom he had to deal; and upon all occasions he took the
greatest pains to ascertain the character of the generals
who were opposed to him. This system of tactics chief¬
ly resembles that which we have seen displayed in the
recent wars ; it exhibits neither the prudence and circum¬
spection of Turenne, nor the astonishing strategic ability
of Frederick, in the difficult art of putting in motion and
deploying columns and lines : it consists merely in an in¬
cessant activity and audacity, united with an admirable
promptitude in perceiving and repairing faults. Despis¬
ing the lives of his soldiers as much as he exposed his
own, it was always by persevering efforts and great sacri¬
fices that he obtained victory. To the Austrian armies
he gave an eclat which they had never before possessed,
and which, as it was reflected from his character alone,
died with him ; in fact, he could not sustain himself with¬
out efforts which wars so protracted and destructive ren¬
dered impossible upon the part of the people of Austria.
This exhaustion, indeed, was long felt in the Austrian mo¬
narchy ; and as that power has not had a single general
since the time of Prince Eugene who can at all be com¬
pared with him, its armies have not subsequently been il¬
lustrated by any remarkable event, and the reputation of
this general has consequently stood far above that of all
other commanders in the imperial service. Prince Eu¬
gene, in truth, had a prevailing passion for war. Always
on the march, in camps, or on the field of battle during
more than fifty years, and under the reign of three em¬
perors, he had scarcely passed two years together without
fighting. It has been said that he loved letters and the
arts; and the protection which he afforded to J. B. Rous¬
seau has often been cited as a proof of this commendable
taste. It is certain, indeed, that in his numerous expedi¬
tions, he had made an immense collection of objects inte¬
resting to science and art, as well as of valuable books and
manuscripts ; but it is evident that he never took time to
examine them ; and there is nothing to prove that he knew
how to appreciate their value. He profited by war, which,
in every point of view, prodigiously enriched him; and if
he must be ranked with Turenne, Vendome, and Catinat
in regard to personal valour, he cannot be compared with
them in point of disinterestedness and generosity. Prince
Eugene was a man of the middle size, but, upon the
whole, well made; the cast of his visage was somewhat
long, his mouth moderate, and almost always open ; his
eyes were black and animated, and Ins complexion such
as became a warrior. His funeral oration, composed in
Italian by Cardinal Passionei, was translated into French
by Madame du Boccage, 1759, in 12mo. But the most
complete work on his life is the Histoiredu Prince Eugene,
Amsterdam, 1740, and Vienna, 1755, which was published
anonymously, though it is now known to be the compila¬
tion of a M. de Mauvillon. It was from this production
that the Prince de Eigne derived the greater part of the
writing which he published in Germany in lb09, and
E U G
371
which was twice printed the year following at Paris, un- Eugubian
der the title of Vie du Prince Eugene de Savoie, ecrite ^ables.
par lui-meme, in one vol. 8vo. There exists in German
a history of Prince Eugene, which is little esteemed;
and there was also published at Nuremberg, in 1738, a
work entitled Eugenius nummis illustratus, which is of
little value. But the Italian work on the Life and Cam¬
paigns of Prince Eugene, published at Naples in 1754,
8vo, is much more exact. We have also Campagnes du
Prince Eugene en Hongrie, in 2 vols. 8vo ; and Histoire
Militaire du Prince Eugene, du Due de Marlborough, et du
Prince de Nassau, 2 vols. fol. by Dumont, and continued
by Rousseau, Hague, 1729. The work of Father Ferrari,
entitled De Rebus Gestis Eugenii Principis Sabaudice,
Bello Pannonico, is much more remarkable for the purity
of the style than for the accuracy of the facts, (j. B—E.)
EUGUBIAN, or Eugubine Tables, Tabulae Eugu-
binae, inscribed tablets in bronze, found in 1444 at La
Schieggia, near Gubbio {Eugubium), in the duchy of Ur-
bino. These tablets are seven in number, five of them
containing inscriptions in Umbric, mixed with Etruscan,
and the remaining two inscriptions in Latin characters.
They were at first believed to be of very high antiquity;
but it is now pretty generally agreed that they are not
more ancient than the fourth century before the Chris¬
tian era. The learned reader will find copies of these re¬
markable monuments in Dempster’s Etruria Regalis (vol.
i. p. 91, et seqq.), and also some curious details respect¬
ing them in the supplement to that work by the senator
Buonarotti (vol. ii. p. 101). According to Lanzi, they
refer entirely to the mode of sacrifice, the particular forms
of prayer, and other religious rites of certain Umbrian
communities, who were united in a sort of federal bond ;
but the explanations of the learned Italian are much too
arbitrary and hypothetical to be of any authority; and,
in point of fact, we are still as ignorant of the language of
these inscriptions as when the tablets were first discover¬
ed, nearly four centuries ago. (See article Etruscans.)
But as the character has proved less untractable than the
text, an Etruscan alphabet has been constructed, by means
of which we are enabled to read the words which as yet
we cannot interpret. Previously to the time (1732) when
Bourguet undertook this difficult task, several persons had
attempted it, and failed. But, by carefully comparing the
tablets in the Roman character with those in the Etrus¬
can, the ingenious Frenchman discovered that the former
were a compendium of the latter, and that many words
were common to both sets; and, having obtained this
key, he succeeded, by pursuing the comparison he had
instituted, in constructing an alphabet which, though far
from being complete, was yet much more perfect than
any which had preceded it. Since the time of Bourguet,
however, no further progress has been made in this con¬
fined but interesting field of inquiry ; and as the language
has hitherto baffled every artifice of interpretation, the
contents of these curious monuments of antiquity still re¬
main undeciphered. The discovery of a bilingual inscrip¬
tion, which is not an impossible event, would, however
furnish the needful key, and lead directly to the solution
of an enigma alike vexatious and interesting to the scho¬
lar. Should this ever happen, or should some rare effort
of sagacity or miracle of fortune unexpectedly put any in¬
quirer on the right road without such aid, we venture to
prognosticate that the language of these inscriptions will
be found to be radically Celtic, perhaps a dead dialect of
that language, intermixed with terms of Pelasgic origin.
That the Umbri were Celts, or at least of Celtic origin,
there can be little doubt; and it seems equally certain
that the Etruscans, who ultimately predominated over all
the other tribes which from time to time had settled in
✓
372 E U L
Euler. Etruria, were also, in part at least, of northern descent.
It would therefore be strange indeed if in these inscrip¬
tions, five of which are in the Umbric mixed with the
Etruscan character, no traces were found of that primi¬
tive language which successive immigrations from the
north must have diffused over a considerable portion of
the great plain of Italy. The Eugubine Tables were first
published by Smetius, 1588; then by Gruter, Inscript, vol.
i. p. 142. (Bourguet, Dempster, De Etruria liegali;
and Lanzi, Sag. di Ling.Etr.; and Lassen, Beit, zur Deut.
dcr Eugub. Taf. (j*B—E>)
EUH ARMONIC. See Organ.
EULER, Leonard, professor of mathematics, mem¬
ber of the Imperial Academy of Petersburg, ancient direc¬
tor of the Royal Academy of Berlin, and fellow of the Roy¬
al Society of London, as also a corresponding member of the
Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris, was born at Basil on
the 15th of April 1707, of reputable parents. The years
of his infancy were passed in a rural retreat at the village
of Richen, of which place his father was minister. Being
sent to the university of Basil, he attended regularly the
different professors ; and as his memory was prodigious, he
performed his academical tasks with uncommon rapidity ;
but all the time he thus gained was consecrated to geo¬
metry, which soon became his favourite study. The early
progress which he made in this science only gave new ar¬
dour to his application ; and thus he obtained a distinguish¬
ed place in the esteem of John Bernoulli, who was at that
time one of the first mathematicians in Europe, as well as
in the friendship of Daniel and Nicolas Bernoulli, who
were already the rivals of their illustrious father. In 1723
Euler took his degree as master of arts, and delivered on
that occasion a Latin discourse, in which he drew a com¬
parison between the philosophy of Newton and the Car¬
tesian system, which was received with the greatest ap¬
plause. At his father’s desire he afterwards applied him¬
self to the study of theology and the oriental languages,
and though these studies were foreign to his predominant
propensity, his success was considerable; but, with his
father’s consent, he returned to geometry as his principal
pursuit. He continued to avail himself of the counsels
and instructions of John Bernoulli; he contracted, as al¬
ready stated, an intimate friendship with his two sons,
Daniel and Nicolas ; and it was in consequence of these
connexions that he became afterwards the principal orna¬
ment of the Academy of Petersburg. The project of erect¬
ing this academy, which had been formed by Peter the
Great, was executed by Catherine I.; and the two young
Bernoullis being invited to Petersburg in 1725, promised
Euler, who was desirous of following them, that they
would use their utmost endeavours to procure for him an
advantageous settlement in that city. In the mean time,
by their advice, he applied himself with ardour to the
study of physiology, to which he made a happy application
of Ids mathematical knowledge ; and he also attended the
medical lectures of the most eminent professors of Basil.
Ibis study, however, did not wholly engross his time, nor
even relax the activity of his powerful and comprehen¬
sive mind in the cultivation of other branches of natural
science. For whilst he was keenly engaged in physiolo¬
gical researches, he composed a dissertation on the na¬
ture and propagation of sound, and an answer to a prize-
question concerning the masting of ships, to which the
Academy of Sciences adjudged the accessit, or second
rank, in the year 1727. From this latter discourse, and
other circumstances, it appears that Euler had early
embarked in the curious and important study of naviga¬
tion, which he afterwards enriched with so many valuable
discoveries.
Euler s merit would have given him an easy admission
E U L
to honourable preferment, either in the magistracy or uni- Euler,
versity of his native city, if both civil and academical ho-
nours had not been there distributed by lot. But chance
having decided against him in regard to a certain situa¬
tion to which he aspired, he left his country, set out for
Petersburg, and was made joint professor with his coun¬
trymen Hermann and Daniel Bernoulli in the university
of that city. At the commencement of his new career he
enriched the academical collection with many memoirs,
which excited a noble emulation between him and the
Bernoullis; and this emulation always continued, without
either degenerating into a selfish jealousy, or producing
the least alteration in their friendship. It was at this
time that he carried to a new degree of perfection the
integral calculus, invented the calculation of sines, redu¬
ced analytical operations to a greater simplicity, and threw
new light on all the parts of mathematical science. In
1730 he was promoted to the professorship of natural
philosophy; and in 1733 he succeeded his friend Daniel
Bernoulli in the mathematical chair. In 1735 a problem
was proposed by the academy which required expedition,
and for the solution of which several eminent mathemati¬
cians had demanded the space of some months. The pro¬
blem was solved by Euler in three days, to the great as¬
tonishment of the academy ; but the violent and laborious
efforts it cost him threw him into a fever, which endan¬
gered his life, and deprived him of the use of his right
eye. The Academy of Sciences at Paris, which in 1738
had adjudged the prize to his memoir concerning the na¬
ture and properties of fire, proposed for the year 1740
the important subject of the tides ; a problem the solu¬
tion of which required the most arduous calculations,
and comprehended the theory of the solar system. Euler's
discourse on this question w^as considered as a master¬
piece of analysis and geometry ; and it was more honour¬
able for him to share the academical prize with such il¬
lustrious competitors as Colin Maelaurin and Daniel Ber¬
noulli, than to have carried it away from rivals of inferior
reputation. Rarely if ever did such a brilliant competi¬
tion adorn the annals of the academy; and no subject,
perhaps, proposed by that learned body, was ever treated
with such accuracy of investigation and force of genius,
as that which here displayed the philosophical powers of
these three extraordinary men.
In the year 1741 Euler was invited to Berlin in order to
augment the lustre of the academy which was there rising
into fame. He enriched the last volume of the Melanges
or Miscellanies of Berlin with five memoirs, which make
an eminent, perhaps the principal, figure in that collec¬
tion ; and these were followed, with an astonishing rapi¬
dity, by a great number of important researches, which
are scattered throughout the memoirs of the Prussian aca¬
demy, of which a volume was regularly published every
year. The labours of Euler will appear more astonishing
when it is considered, that whilst he was enriching the
Academy of Berlin with a prodigious number of memoirs
on the deepest parts of mathematical science, contain¬
ing always some new views, often sublime truths, and
sometimes discoveries of great importance, he did not
discontinue his philosophical contributions to the Aca¬
demy of Petersburg, which granted him a pension in
1742, and the memoirs of which display the marvellous
fecundity of Euler’s genius. It was with much difficulty
that this great man obtained, in 1766, permission from
the king of Prussia to return to Petersburg, where he de¬
sired to pass the remainder of his days. Soon after his re¬
turn, which vvas graciously rewarded by the munificence or
Catherine II., he was seized with a violent disorder, which
terminated in the total loss of his sight. A cataract, hav¬
ing formed in his left eye, which had been essentially
E II L
E U L 373
Euler.
damaged by a too ardent application to study, deprived gan the cure of which was not complete, deprived him o Eid"-
him entirely of the use of that organ. It was in this dis- vision a second time ; and this relapse was accompanied y^“
tressing situation that he dictated to his servant, a tailor’s with tormenting pain. W ith the assistance of his sons,
apprentice, who was absolutely devoid of mathematical and of Messrs Krafft and Lexell, however, he continued
knowledge, his Elements of Algebra; which, by their in- his labours; neither the loss of his sight nor the mhrmi-
trinsical merit in point of perspicuity and method, and ties of an advanced age being sufficient to damp the art our
the unhappy circumstances in which they were composed, of his genius. Having engaged to furnish the Acat emy
have excited equal applause and astonishment. This work, of Petersburg with as many memoirs as would be su '
though purely elementary, discovers the characteristics of cient to complete its acts for twenty yeais a ter ns
an inventive genius; and it is here alone that we meet death, he in the space of seven yeais transmittec to tie
with a complete theory of the analysis of Diophantus. academy above seventy memoirs, and le taiove two lun-
About this time Euler was honoured by the Academy dred more, which were revised and completed by the
of Sciences at Paris with the place of foreign member of author of this notice. Such of the memoirs as were o
that learned body; and after this, the academical prize ancient date were separated from the rest, and form a col-
was adjudged to three of his memoirs, Concerning the In- lection which was published in the year 178d, under tie
equalities in the Motions of the Planets. I he two prize- title of Analytical Works. _ i i n
questions proposed by the same academy for 1770 and Euler’s knowledge was more universal than could well
1772 were designed to obtain from the labours of astro- be expected in one who had pursued with such unre-
nomers a more perfect theory of the moon. Euler, as- mitting ardour mathematics and astronomy as his favou-
sisted by his eldest son, was a competitor for these prizes, rite studies. He had made very considerable progress in
and obtained both. In this last memoir he reserved for medical, botanical, and chemical science; he was an ex-
further consideration several inequalities of the moon’s cellent scholar, and possessed what is generally called
motion, which he could not determine in his first theory, erudition in a very high degree. He had read, with at-
on account of the complicated calculations in which the tention and taste, the most eminent writers of ancient
method he then employed had engaged him. But he had Rome ; the civil and literary history of all ages and all
the courage afterwards to review his whole theory, with nations was familiar to him ; and foreigners who were
the assistance of his son and Messrs Krafft and Lexell, only acquainted with his works were astonished to find
and to pursue his researches until he had constructed in the conversation of a man whose long life seemed to
the new tables, which appeared, together with the great have been wholly occupied in mathematical and physical
work, in 1772. Instead of confining himself, as before, to researches and discoveries, such an extensive acquamt-
the fruitless integration of three differential equations of ance with the most interesting branches of literature. In
the second degree, which are furnished by mathematical this respect, no doubt, he was much indebted to an un¬
principles, he reduced them to the three ordinates, which common memory, which seemed to retain every idea that
determine the place of the moon; and he divided into was conveyed to it, either from reading or meditation,
classes all the inequalities of that planet, as far as they He could repeat the iEneid of Virgil from the beginning
depend either on the elongation of the sun and moon, or to the end without hesitation, and indicate the first and
upon the eccentricity, or the parallax, or the inclination last line of every page of the edition which he used,
of the lunar orbit. All these means of investigation, em- But several attacks of vertigo, in the beginning of 8ep-
ploved with such art and dexterity as could only be ex- tember 1783, which did not prevent his calculating the
pected from analytical genius of the first order, were at- motions of the aerostatical globes, proved the forerun-
tended with the greatest success ; and it is impossible to ners of his mild and happy passage from this scene to a
observe without admiration such immense calculations on better. His death was sudden; he ceased to calculate
the one hand, and on the other the ingenious methods and to live at nearly the same instant of time. Wndst fie
employed by this great man to abridge them, and to fa- was amusing himself at tea with one of his grandchildren,
cilitate their application to the real motion of the moon, he was struck with apoplexy, which terminated his 1 us-
But this admiration will become astonishment when we trious career at the age of seventy-six. Euler, says Lon-
consider at what period and in what circumstances all this dorcet, was one of those men whose genius was equally
was effected. It was when he was totally blind, and con- capable of the greatest efforts and of the most continued
sequently obliged to arrange all his computations by the labour; who multiplied his productions beyond what might
sole powers of his memory and his genius ; when he was have been expected from human strength, and who not-
embarrassed in his domestic circumstances by a dreadful withstanding was original in each ; whose head was always
fire, which had consumed the greater part of his substance, occupied, and his mind always calm. I he nature of his
and forced him to quit a ruined house, every corner of pursuits, by withdrawing him from the world, preserved
which was known to him by a habit that in some measure that simplicity of manners for which he was originally in-
supplied the place of sight;—it was in these circumstan- debted to his character and his education; and he em-
ces, and under these privations, that Euler composed a ployed none of those means to which men of real merit
work, which alone is sufficient to render his name immor- have sometimes recourse in order to enhance the import-
tal. The heroic patience and tranquillity of mind which ance of their discoveries. It is true that fecundity such
he displayed need no eulogy here; and he derived them as his renders useless all the little calculations of self-
not only from the love of science, but from the power of love; but still great lucidity of mind and uprightness of
religion His philosophy was too genuine and sublime to character are necessary to trace, as he has done, the his-
stop its analysis at mechanical causes; it led him to that tory of his thoughts, even when his investigations have
divine philosophy of religion which ennobles human nature, proved fruitless, or the results disappointed the expecta-
and is alone capable of forming a habit of true magnanimity tions which he had formed. Euler s constitution was un-
and patience under suffering. commonly vigorous; his health was good; and the even-
Some time after this the celebrated Wenzell, by couch- ingofhis long life was serene, being sweetened by the
in<>- the cataract, restored Euler’s sight; but the satisfac- fame which follows genius, the public esteem and respect
tionand joy which this successful operation produced were which are never withheld from exemplary virtue, arffi se-
of short duration. Some instances of negligence on the veral domestic comforts, which he was capable of leel-
part of his surgeons, and his own impatience to use an or- ing, and therefore deserved to enjoy.
374 E U M
Eulogy The works which Euler published separately are, Bissertatio phy-
|| tica de Suno, Bale, 1727, in 4to ; Mechanica, sive Motiis scientia,
Eumenes. analytice e.rposita, Petersb., 1736, in 2 vols. 4to; Einleituvg in die
v j Ariihmetik, ibid. 1738, 2 vols. 8vo, in German and Russian; Tenta-
““v men Novae Theories Muncce, ibid. 1739, in 4to; Methodus inveniendi
Lineas curvas, maximi minimive proprietate gaudentes, Lausanne,
1744, in 4to; Throria motuum Planetarum et Cometarum, Berlin,
1744, in 4to ; Beantwortung, etc., or Answers to different Questions
respecting Comets, ibid. 1744, in 8vo; Neue Crundscetze, etc., or
New Principles of Artillery, translated from the English of Ben¬
jamin Robins, with notes and illustrations, ibid. 1745, in 8vo ;
Opuscula varii argumenti, ibid. 1746-51, in 3 vols. 4to ; Novcb et
correctoe Tabulae ad Ivca Lunce computanda, ibid. 1746, in 4to;
Tabulae Astronomical Solis et Lunce, ibid. 4to; Gedanken, etc., or
Thoughts on the Elements of Bodies, ibid. 4to; Retung der Gott-
lichen Offenbarung, etc., Defence of Divine Revelation against
Freethinkers, ibid. 1747, in 4to; Introductio in Analysin Infinito-
rum, Lausanne, 1748, in 2 vols. 4to ; Scientia NavaMs, seu Tracta-
tus de construendis ac dirigendis Navibus, Petersb. 1749, in 2 vols.
4to; Theoria molus Lunce, Berlin, 1753, in 4to; Dissertatio de prin-
cipio minimal actionis, una cum examine Objectionum cl. prof. Kaenigii,
ibid. 1753, in 8vo; Institutiones Calculi Differentialis, cum ejus usu
in analysi Infinitorum ac doctrina Serierum, ibid. 1755, in 4to ; Con-
structio Lentium Qbjectivarum, etc., Petersb. 1762, in 4to ; Theoria
motus Corporum solidorum seu rigidorum, Rostoch, 1765, in 4to;
Institutiones Calculi Integralis, Petersb. 1768-1770, in 3 vols. 4to;
Lettres a une Princesse d? Allemagne sur quelques sujets de Physique,
et Philosophic, Petersb. 1768-1772, in 3 vols. 8vo; Anleitung zur
Algebra, or Introduction to Algebra, ibid. 1770, in 8vo ; Dioptrica,
ibid. 1767-1771, in 3 vols. 4to ; Theoria motuum Lunce nova methodo
pertractata, ibid. 1772, in 4to ; Novce Tabulae Lunares, ibid, in 8vo ;
Theorie complete de la construction et de la manoeuvre des Vaisseaux,
ibid. 1773, in 8vo; Ecluircissernents sur les etablissements en faveur
tant des Veuves que des Marts, without a date; Opuscula Analytica,
Petersb. 1783-1785, in 2 vols. 4to.
EULOGY, encomium, panegyric ; praise bestowed on
any one on account of his virtues, valuable qualities, or
services. The French eloge is usually a kind of funeral
oration in honour of a celebrated person, and generally
embraces a biographical account of the deceased.
The word eulogy is derived from the Greek euAoyta,
which signifies literally good speaking, praise, or pane-
ggric; and which in the New Testament is employed in
the sense of blessing, and of thanksgiving, as also to denote
a collection of alms for the poor brethren. Hence in the
ancient Greek Church the term was applied to small pieces
of bread which were blessed and distributed among such as
had not yet communicated. The Latin Church too, for
many ages, had a similar custom ; and thence arose the use
of the consecrated wafer. The same name was also applied
to loaves or cakes brought to church by the faithful to have
them blessed. Eventually the use of the term passed to
mere presents made to a person without any benediction.
EUMENES, a native of Cardia, a city in the Thracian
Chersonesus, was born b.c. 360 and died in 315. At a very
early age he was employed as private secretary by Philip
king of Macedonia, and on the death of that prince he was
confirmed in office by Alexander. It was in this capacity
that he accompanied that monarch into Asia; and so highly
did Alexander esteem him that he gave him for wife Artonis
the daughter of Artabazus. Upon the death of Alexander,
the provinces and armies were divided amongst his gene¬
rals, and the countries assigned to Eumenes were Cappa¬
docia and Paphlagonia, with the sea-coast of Pontus as far
as Frapezus ; but as they were not yet subdued, Leonatus
and Antigonus engaged to put him in possession. Anti-
gonus, however, disregarded the orders of Perdiccas; and
Leonatus, having in vain attempted to induce Eumenes to
accompany him to the assistance of Antipater in Europe,
made an unsuccessful attack on his life. Eumenes, how¬
ever, escaped his vengeance and joined Perdiccas, who as¬
sisted him in taking possession of Cappadocia.
About this time Craterus and Antipater, having reduced
Gieece, determined to pass into Asia and overthrow the
power of Perdiccas. The first blow was aimed at Cappa¬
docia ; and in the emergency Eumenes was appointed com-
E U N
mander of all the forces in the neighbouring countries. But ~Eumenes
to this Neoptolemus, one of the generals, refused to sub- II
mit; and being defeated by Eumenes, he fled to Antipater Eunomb
and Craterus. The presence of Antipater was required in v ,
Cilicia, and the army destined to act against Eumenes was ^ v
therefore commanded by Craterus and Neoptolemus. They
were, however, completely defeated; Neoptolemus was
killed, and Craterus died of his wounds, 321 b.c. The Ma¬
cedonians receiving intelligence of the defeat of two of
their generals by one whom they considered a stranger,
only a few days after the death of Perdiccas, the Mace¬
donian chiefs condemned Eumenes to death, and charged
Antipater and Antigonus with the execution of their order.
Eumenes was at first successful, but being defeated through
the treachery of one of his officers, he fled to Nora, a strong
fortress on the confines of Cappadocia and Lycaonia. Here
he made a successful resistance, and was afterwards ap¬
pointed by Olympias to command the army against Anti¬
gonus, whose intentions could no longer be misunderstood.
He gained a battle against his adversary, but unfortunately
lost the baggage and women belonging to his Macedonian
phalanx. Antigonus offered to restore them on condition
that the soldiers would surrender Eumenes into his hands;
and having induced them to comply with the base proposal,
he put him to death, in the fortieth year of his age. (Plu¬
tarch, Life of Eumenes ; Nepos; Diodor. Sic. xviii. 30.)
See Macedonia, and Pontes.
Edmenes I. and II., the names of two kings of Perga-
mus. See Pergamus.
EUMENIDES (strictly, the gracious goddesses'), an
euphemistic appellation of the Furies. See Furies.
E UMO LPIDyE {Sweet-singers), the family of the
priests of Demeter at Athens and Eleusis. They are said
to have been descended from Eumolpus, a Thracian warrior
and bard, the son of Neptune and Chione. Having been
thrown into the sea by his mother, he was rescued, by Nep¬
tune and educated in Ethiopia, whence he was expelled
along with Ismarus his son, and fled to the court of the
Thracian king Tegyrius. From Thrace he found it. neces¬
sary to escape to Eleusis, where having joined the Eleu-
sinians in a war with Athens, he was slain in battle along
with his two sons. According to another account, he lived
to preside over the Eleusinian mysteries which had been
communicated to him by the goddess ; and being succeeded
in office by his son, the sacred duties continued ever after-
w'ards to be discharged by members of his family. As sa¬
cred officers the hierophant and his attendants were distin¬
guished by a particular dress ; and besides attending to the
celebration of the mysteries they were also entrusted with
the dispensation of that traditionary law which regulated the
punishment of religious offences. Occasionally they offered
up the public prayers of the nation, and at the command of
the people they gave utterance to the public curse impre¬
cated upon political offenders. See Mysteries, and Eleu¬
sinian Mysteries.
EUNAPIUS, a Greek sophist and historian, born at
Sardis a.d. 347. In his native city he studied under the
sophist Chrysanthius ; but afterwards went to Athens, where
he became a favourite pupil of Proaeresius. He was the
author of two works, one entitled Lives of the Sophists, and
the other consisting of a Continuation of the History of
Hexippus. The former work is still extant, but of the latter
only excerpts remain. Both are written in an extremely
inflated style, and both display traces of the most bitter en¬
mity against the Christians.
EUNOMIANS, an Arian sect, so called from being the
followers of Eunomius of Dacora in Cappadocia. Their
leader studied theology under fEtius, and after having been
deacon of Eudoxius at Antioch, was raised to the bishopric
of Cyzicus, a.d. 360. From Cyzicus he was banished to
Chalcedon, and from Chalcedon he was again exiled to
E U P
Eunuch Halmyris in Mcesia. He spent the last days of his life at
Caesarsea and Dacora, where he died at an advanced age,
Eupen. A>Di 394. As a religious sect his followers adopted the ex-
treme tenets of Arianism, denying not only that the Son
was of the same hut also of similar essence with the Father.
From this their distinctive doctrine they were called Ano-
moians, in opposition to the Homousians or orthodox, and
Homoiousians or semi-Arian party. (See Arius.) The
works of Eunomius consist of a Commentary on the Epistle
to the Romans ; an Exposition of Faith ; a Defence of his
Doctrine; and Epistles. His defence is translated by
Whiston in Eunomianismus Redivivus.
EUNUCH (tvvovypi), an emasculated person. It ap¬
pears from a lav/ of Moses that the practice of emasculation
was prior even to lus time. (See Levit. xxi. 20; Deut.
xxiii. 1.) From the remotest antiquity among the Orien¬
tals, as also at a later period in Greece, eunuchs were em¬
ployed to take charge of the women, or, generally, as cham¬
berlains ; whence the name, ol rrjv evvrjv exoi/res, i. e. those
who have charge of the bedchamber. Their position in the
harems of princes affording them the ready means of access
to the royal person, it is not surprising that they were fre¬
quently enabled to exercise an important influence over
princes, and even to raise themselves to stations of great
trust and power. Hence the term eunuch in Egypt came
to be applied to any court officer, whether a castratus or
not. The vulgar notion that eunuchs are necessarily de¬
ficient in courage and in intellectual vigour is amply re¬
futed by history. We are told, for example, by Herodotus,
that in Persia they were far from being objects of contempt,
but were frequently promoted to the highest offices. Nar-
ses, the famous general under Justinian, was an eunuch:
such also was Hermias, governor of Atarnea in Mysia, to
whose manes the great Aristotle offered sacrifices, besides
celebrating the praises of his patron and friend in a poem
(still extant), addressed to Virtue. (See Lucian’s dialogue
entitled Eunuchus.) To multiply instances were superflu¬
ous : the capacity of this class of persons for public affairs
is strikingly illustrated by the histories of Persia, India, and
China; and we need only to allude to the power exercised
by the eunuchs under the later Roman emperors.
In the Gospel of St Matthew (xix. 12) we read of per¬
sons “who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom
of heaven’s sakean expression which apparently is an
hyperbolism descriptive of such as lived in voluntary absti¬
nence (compare Matt. v. 29, 30). This passage has, how¬
ever, received a literal interpretation from some, as exem¬
plified in the celebrated case of Origen, who acted upon
the injunction-—“ Let him who is capable of doing this do
it.” But this species of extravagance was at its height in
the second century, when there arose a sect called Eunuchs,
who not only emasculated themselves, but also all those who
fell into their hands.
The effect of early emasculation upon the voice, and its
tendency to promote increase of stature, are well known.
EUPATOR, a name assumed by some of the kings of
Asia among whom the vast conquests of Alexander the
Great were divided.
EUPATORIA, or Kozlov. See Crimea.
EUPATRIDJE, in Antiquity, a name given by The¬
seus to the nobility of Athens, as distinguished from the
Geomori and Demiurgi. By the establishment of Theseus,
the Eupatridae had the right of choosing magistrates, teach¬
ing and dispensing the laws, and interpreting religious mys¬
teries. In all other matters the whole city was reduced to
an equality. The Geomori were either free landholders
or simplv husbandmen, and inferior to the Eupatridae in
point of fortune : the Demiurgi were artizans, and fell short
of the Eupatridae in number. See Attica, vol. iv., p. 193.
EUPEN, a frontier town of Rhenish Prussia, govern¬
ment of Aix-la-Chapelle, and 11 miles S.S.W. of the town
E U P 375
of that name. It stands in a pleasant valley on the Vesdre, Euphem
an affluent of the Meuse, and is one of the principal manu- ls.|n
facturing towns of Prussia. The manufactures are chiefly jjUphr0.
fine woollen cloths and cassimeres. Pop. (1849) 12,573, gyne.
principally descendants of French Protestants, who took „ —
refuge here subsequently to the revocation of the edict of
Nantes.
EUPHEMISM (ev^/xcTv, to speak well of), in Rhetoric,
a figure in which a delicate word or expression is substituted
for one that is harsh or offensive; as in the use of “ departed”
or “ deceased ” for “ dead.” Among the ancients the use
of euphemisms wras very frequent, arising from a supersti¬
tious dread of using certain words and phrases that were
regarded as ominous or unlucky. Hence Horace s “ male
ominatis parcere verbis." For the same reason the Fuiies
were called by the Greeks Eumenides, q.d., the gracious
ones*
EUPHONY, an agreeable sound ; a smooth and elegant
enunciation of words. In Grammar it denotes a kind of
figure by which a letter is altered or suppressed, in order to
obviate harshness of sound.
EUPHORBIUM, the resinous concrete juice of several
species of Euphorbia. This substance possesses very active
qualities, being extremely acrid, violently purgative and
emetic, and dangerously stimulant when it enters the nose
in the form of dust. It is imported from Africa and se¬
veral parts of India in serons (skin-bags), in small, hollow,
forked pieces. See Botany, Nat. Ord. 195.
EUPHORBUS, a famous Trojan, son of Panthous. He
was the first who wounded Patroclus, but himself perished
by the hand of Menelaus, who hung his shield as a trophy
in the temple of Juno at Argos. Pythagoras is said to have
affirmed that he was the transmigrated soul of Euphorbus,
and that his soul recollected many of its previous warlike
exploits. In proof of his assertion, he identified at first
sight the shield of Euphorbus in the temple of Juno.
EUPHORION, a distinguished poet and grammarian,
wras the son of Polymnetus, and was born at Chalcis in
Euboea, b.c. 274. He studied philosophy under Lacydes
and Prytanis, and poetry under Archebulus the Therean.
After amassing great wealth, he retired (b.c. 221) to the
court of Syria, and there assisted Antiochus the Great in
forming the royal library at Antioch, which it was intended
should rival that of Alexandria; and in this employment
Euphorion died. Only a few fragments of his works have
been preserved ; but from the opinions expressed by ancient
writers, it appears that the erudite character of his allusions
rendered him so obscure that he was difficult to he undei-
stood, and that he was constantly in search of archaic and
obsolete expressions. As late as the times of the Emperor
Tiberius, the works of Euphorion were still sufficiently po¬
pular. The fragments have been edited by Meineke under
the title De Euphorionis Chalcidensis Vita, et Scriptis, See.
Gedani, 1823. See also Clinton’s Easti Hellenici, vol. ii.
p. 511 ; Fabricius, Bib. Grcec., vol. i. p. 594; Heyne, De
Euphorione, et Excurs. iii. ad I irg. Eclog. vi. 64, and Ex-
curs. v. ad AEn. ii.
EUPHRANOR, a celebrated painter and statuary of
Greece, was a native of Corinthia, but from his having prac¬
tised his art and acquired his renown at Athens, he is always
identified with the Athenian school. In sculpture he pro¬
duced a great number of pieces, from colossal life figures to
drinking cups. Of the finest of these, a figure of Paris, a
beautiful copy now exists in the Museo Pio-Clementino.
FI is principal pictorial work was extant in the time of Pau-
sanias in one of the porches of the Ceramicus. It repre¬
sented on one side of the wall the twelve gods, and on the
other Theseus as the founder of the equal polity of Athens.
Euphranor was also the author of some works on colour
and proportion.
EUPHROSYNE, one of the Graces. See Gr'aces.
EUPHRATES.
376
Euphrates. EUPHRATES, the most considerable river of western
. J|| j Asia, is formed by the junction of two great streams rising in
the mountains of Armenia, pashalic of Erzeroum, and unit¬
ing in about N. Lat. 39., E. Long. 39. The Frat or northern
branch lias its principal sources about 20 miles N.E. of the
town of Erzeroum ; and the Murad, on the north declivity of
the Arghi-riagh mountains, 45 miles N.E. from the nearest
point of lake Van. The Euphrates flows first to the south,
but, being driven westward by the Anti-Taurus and Taurus
mountains, it works its circuitous way through narrow passes
and over cataracts, until, breaking through a defile formed
by the eastern extremity of Mens Amanus (Alma-dagh) and
the north-western extremity of Mens Taurus, it reaches the
plain country not far from Samosata (Sumeisat). It then
winds south and south-east, passing the north of Syria, and
the nortli-east of Arabia Deserta, and at length, after many
windings, unites with the Tigris, and thus united, finds its
termination in the Persian Gulf. In conjunction with the
Tigris, it forms the rich alluvial lands of Mesopotamia, over
which it flows or is carried by canals, and thus diffuses
abroad fertility and beauty. At Baghdad and Hillah (Ba¬
bylon), the Euphrates and Tigris approach comparatively
near to each other, but separate again, forming a kind of
ample basin, till they finally become one at Kurnah. Al¬
though occasionally much more, the breadth of the Eu¬
phrates varies between 200 and 400 yards, but for a dis¬
tance of 60 miles through the Lemlun marshes the main
stream narrows to about 80 yards. The general depth of
the Upper Euphrates exceeds 8 feet. In point of current
it is for the most part a sluggish stream ; for, except in the
height of the flooded season, when its flow approaches 5 miles
an hour, it varies from 2^ to 3^, with a much larger portion of
its course under 3 than above. Its general description for
some distance below Erzingan is that of a river of the first
order, struggling through high hills, or rather low mountains,
making an exceedingly tortuous course, as it forces its way
over a pebbly or rocky bed, from one natural barrier to
another. As it winds round its numerous barriers, it carries
occasionally towards each of the cardinal points a consider¬
able body of water; and is shallow enough in some places
for loaded camels to pass in autumn, the water rising to about
4J feet. The upper portion of the river is inclosed between
two parallel ranges of hills, covered for the most part with
high brushwood and timber of moderate size, having a suc¬
cession of long narrow islands. The principal towns on its
banks are Samsat, Haoroum, Romkala, Bir, Giaber, Deir,
Rava, Anah, Hadisa, El Oos, Jibba, Hit, Hillah, Lemlun,
Kurnah, and Basrah. The scenery above Hit, in itself very
picturesque, is greatly heightened by the frequent recur¬
rence of ancient irrigating aqueducts, beautiful specimens
of art, which are attributed by the Arabs to the Persians
when fire-worshippers : they literally cover both banks, and
prove that the borders of the Euphrates were once thickly
inhabited by a highly civilized people. From Hit to Baby¬
lon the black tent of the Bedouin is almost the only kind of
habitation to be seen. This distance is cultivated only in
part; the rest is desert, occasionally interspersed with clus¬
ters of date-trees. In descending, the irrigating cuts and
canals become more frequent. Babylon is encircled by two
streams, one above, the other below the principal ruins ; be¬
yond which they unite and produce abundance. For about
thirty miles below Flillah both banks have numerous mud
villages, shaded by date trees: to these succeed huts formed
of bundles of reeds. The country lower down towards
Lemlun is level and little elevated above the river; irriga¬
tion is therefore easy: in consequence, both banks are co-
veied with productive cultivation, and fringed with a double
and nearly continuous belt of luxuriant date-trees, extending
own to the Persian Gulf. At one mile and a half above
the town of Dewania is the first considerable offshoot from
this hitherto majestic river; another takes place 22 miles
lower ; and nine miles farther—at Lemlun—it again sepa- Euphrates,
rates into two branches, forming a delta not unlike that of
Damietta, and when the river is swollen, inundating the
country for a space of about 60 miles in width with a shal¬
low sheet of water, forming the Lemlun marshes, nearly the
whole of which is covered with rice and other grain when
the river recedes (in June). Below Lemlun the Tigris
sends a branch to the Euphrates, which is thus increased
in its volume; and turning to the east, receives the chief
branch of the Tigris, thence running in a single stream,
under the name of the Shat-el-Arab, as far as the Persian
Gulf. In this last part the river has a depth of from 3 to
5 fathoms, varies in breadth from 500 to 900 yards, and
presents banks covered with villages and cultivation, having
an appearance at once imposing and majestic. The length
of the entire stream is 1400 miles. It is very abundant in
fish. The water is somewhat turbid; but, when purified,
is pleasant and salubrious. The Arabians set a high value
on it, and name it Morad Sou ; that is, Water of Desire or
Longing. The river begins to rise in March, and continues
rising till the latter end of May. The consequent increase
of its volume and rapidity is attributable to the early rains,
which, falling in the Armenian mountains, swell its moun¬
tain tributaries ; and also to the melting of the winter snows
in these lofty regions. About the middle of October the
Euphrates has reached its lowest ebb, and ceasing to de¬
crease, becomes tranquil and sluggish.
The expedition sent out by the British government, under
the direction of Colonel Chesney, navigated the Euphrates in
1836 from Bireh-jik to its estuary, a distance of 1117 miles ;
and besides throwing much light on a country then very im¬
perfectly known to Europeans, proved that there exist no se¬
rious obstacles to the navigation of that river by moderate¬
sized steamers thus far; and even for 88 miles above Bireh-jik
to Beles, an important station in a commercial point of view.
The East India Company sent a small flotilla-in 1841,
under the command of Captain C. D. Campbell of their
navy, to ascertain the navigability of the Euphrates. The
expedition proved highly successful, having traversed
the course of the stream for 1030 miles above its mouth.
Mr Floyd, the surgeon of the flotilla, writing from Belis,
June 6, 1841, says—“ I am now near Aleppo, having com¬
pleted the ascent of the Euphrates, without doubt one of
the noblest rivers in Asia. Here, at a distance of a thousand
miles from its embouchure in the Persian Gulf, it is 400
yards broad and very deep. The Euphrates differs very
little from the Tigris up to Hilla, a Turkish Arab town,
built near the site of ancient Babylon, except that its
banks are much better cultivated, and in some the date-tree
(the Palma dactilifera) adds to the picturesque meander-
ings of the river; while in others, a mosque, with its lack¬
ered dome rising from a group of willows, is a pleasing
variety from the monotony of the surrounding district.
The river is inclosed within a valley of high rocks, which
extend from its source to below Hit. They are composed
of gypsum, sandstone, and conglomerates, with mica and
felspar. This climate is delightful, and produces all the
varieties of European fruit, besides many of the tropical
ones lower down the river. The only obstacle to the navi¬
gation consists in the remains of the water wheels used for
irrigation. In the short space of 130 miles we found nearly
300 of these wheels, about one-third of which are in opera¬
tion at the present day. They consist of large parapet
walls built into the stream, directing the current of the river
to the wheels, which are the most clumsy piece of mecha¬
nism, made of branches of trees, and have slung round them
150 clay vessels to raise the water in. The wheels are
forty feet in diameter, placed at the end of an aqueduct
raised upon well-built Gothic arches. It is surprising the
quantity of water they raise to the surface. They cause a
current of six or seven knots, with a fall of two or three
E U R
Eupolis feet where they are placed, so that the navigation of this
II part of the river is difficult and somewhat dangerous. The
ure‘ j 1 is now proved navigable to Mosul, the site of the
ancient Nineveh; and the Euphrates to Baulus—T might
say even to the heart of Taurus.”
EUPOLIS, an Athenian poet of the old comedy, and in
the judgment of Horace the greatest ornament of that
school, was the son of Sosipolis, and was born b.c. 445.
Nothing whatever is known of his personal history. With
regard to his death, he is said to have been thrown into the
sea by Alcibiades, who had suffered from his attacks. It is
much more likely, howevex*, and much more generally
believed, that he fell at the battle either of Cynossema,
B.c. 411, or of iEgospotami, b.c. 408. To a lively and
fertile fancy Eupolis added a sound pi'actical judgment, which
pi'ompted him to a thorough mastery of the mechanical part
of his art. The result of his studies was that he was reputed
to equal Aristophanes in the elegance and purity of his dic¬
tion, and Cratinus in the command of the most bitter ii'ony
aixd pungent sarcasm. Very curious and complicated rela¬
tions subsisted between Eupolis and Aristophanes, who ac¬
cused each other with the bitterest virulence not only of imi¬
tation but of plagiarism. Some of these attacks will be found
described in various parts of the Scholise upon Aristophanes.
The plays of Eupolis ai'e said to have numbered in all se¬
venteen. Meineke gives the names of fifteen which he
considers genuine, and an analysis of those whose subjects
can be decided from the surviving fragments.
EUPOMPUS, one of the most celebrated of Gi’eek
painters, was a native of Sicyon, and a contemporary of
Zeuxis and Parrhasius. He was the head of the Sicyonian
school of art, and was held in very high esteem by his coun¬
trymen. When Lysippus the sculptor was beginning his
career he consulted Eupompus as to whom he should take
for his model. “ Take natui'e herself for your model,” re¬
plied Eupompus, “ and be not shackled by the trammels of
any predecessor.” No mention is made of any piece of
Eupompus except one—a victor in the games bearing a palm.
EURE, in the north of Fi’ance, one of the five depart¬
ments formed out of the old province of Normandy. It is
bounded on the N. by the estuary of the Seine and the
department of Seine-Inferieure, W. by Calvados, S. by
Orne and Eure-et-Loir, and E. by Seine-et-Oise and Oise.
It is sixty-five miles in length from E. to W., and its
breadth varies from twenty-six to fifty-two miles, being be¬
tween 48. 39. and 49. 29. N. Lat., and 0. 15. and 1.45. E.
Long. Area 2420 squai'e miles. The surface is flat, with
some ranges of low hills, none of them exceeding 300 feet
in height. The three principal rivers by which it is watered
are the Seine, the Eure, and the Rille. The Seine flows
fi-om S.E. to N.N.W. through this department, dividing it
into two unequal parts. It afterwards touches the frontier
at two or three points, and near its mouth forms part of the
north boundary. The Eure, from which the department
takes its name, rises in Orne, and flowing first east and then
north, through Eure-et-Loir, falls into the Seine six miles
below Louviers, after a course of ninety-three miles. The
Rille likewise rises in Orne, and flows generally northward
to its mouth in the estuary of the Seine. The climate is
mild, but moist and variable. The soil is generally clayey,
resting on a bed of chalk; but along the Seine there are
some barren sandy tracts, quite incapable of cultivation. A
great part of it, however, is very fertile and well cultivated.
The chief kind of cereal cultivated is wheat, the growth of
which occupies a larger space than rye, oats, and barley to¬
gether. The quantity of grain produced is more than suffi¬
cient for the wants of the inhabitants. Flax is largely cul¬
tivated, and, from its length, fineness, and colour, is highly
esteemed. Some hemp is also produced. The horses of
the department, of the pure Norman breed, have always
been celebrated, and, though they had nearly lost their
VOL. IX.
EUR 377
high character, have of late been more carefully bred and Eure-et-
much improved. The breed of cows is remarkably good; Loir,
and the calves are much in request in the neighbouring de-
partments. Sheep have been neglected, but have recently
increased; and those on the coast, known as Moutons du
Pre Sale, are highly valued for their excellent flesh. Of
late years attempts have been made to improve the wool
by a mixture of Merinos. Fruit is very abundant, especially
apples, from which much cider is made. The vine is not
much cultivated, cider being the principal bevei’age of the
inhabitants.
This department abounds in ii'on ore, and is noted for its
mining and manufacturing industry. Cotton, linen, and
woollen cloths of every kind are fabricated. There are
large establishments for making copper ware of all kinds,
the various descriptions of paper, nails, pins, and needles,
glass for windows and glass bottles, and jewellery and
ti’inkets. These employments occupy the larger portion
of the inhabitants. Such goods form the trade ; in addition
to which, fire-wood, timber, cattle, honey, wax, and coim are
furnished to the district surrounding the department. Eure
is divided into five arrondissements, as follows :—
Arrondissements. Cantons. Communes. Pop. in 1851,
Evreux  11 261 120,374’
Louviers  5 116 68,859
Les Andelys  6 134 64,717
Bernay  6 140 77,222
Pout Audemer  8 140 84,625
36 791 415,777
EURE-ET-LOIR, a department in the northern part of
France, between N. Lat. 47. 57. and 48.57., and E. Long.
0. 44. and 2. 0.; being 68 miles in length from N. to S., and
varying in breadth from 36 to 56 miles. It is bounded on
the N. by the department of Eure, N.E. by Seine-et-Oise,
S.E. by Loiret, S. by Loir-et-Cher, and W. by Sarthe and
Orne. It is formed out of portions of the old provinces of
Orleanais, Maine, and Ile-de-France, and has an area of
2361 square miles.
Loir comprises four arrondissements, &c., as follows:—
Arrondissements. Cantons. Communes. Pop. 1851.
Chartres  8 166 111,617
Chateaudun  5 80 65,185
Dreux  7 135 71,268
Nogent-le-Rotrou  4 54 46,922
24 435 294,892
The surface is generally level, with a few eminences
principally in the south and west, but none exceeding 500
feet in height. The principal rivers are the Eure towards
the N., and the Loir in the S.; but neither of these is navi¬
gable within the department. Small lakes are numerous.
The climate is temperate and healthy, and not subject to
sudden changes. The soil in the middle and west of the de¬
partment is the best. It consists, for the most part, of thick
layers of gray, yellow, or black clay, intermixed with sand,
or of calcareous earth, and is on the whole fertile; but
in the S.W., especially in the arrondissement of Nogent, it is
sandy and dry, and many tracts of land are so poor as to be
uncultivated. The agriculture is better conducted than in
most of the departments of France; and the production of
the various kinds of corn far exceeds the consumption, great
quantities of grain being sent annually to Paris and other
places. The wheat is remarkably fine, and is prized on ac¬
count of its being easily preserved for a long time, and being
well adapted for sea voyages. The cows are small, but yield
good butter for the supply of Paris, and fat oxen and calves
for the markets of Poissy and Sceaux. The sheep are nu¬
merous, but not remarkable, except some flocks whose wool
has been improved by crosses with the Merino races. Wine
is not extensively produced, nor of the best quality ; but in
some parts there is an abundant supply of apples, from which
cider is made as the common drink of the inhabitants.
2 B
378
E U It
Eurinides. There are some iron mines, and granite, marble, and gyp-
* sum quarries. The manufactures are not extensive; but
leather, paper, cotton goods of various kinds, serges, flannels,
and other coarse woollens, hosiery, hats, caps, household
linen, such as sheetings and table linen, and some earthen¬
ware, are furnished. The department draws its supply ot
fuel from its own woods, which cover about one-twelfth part
of the whole surface. n .
EURIPIDES, one of the most celebrated of the tragic
poets of ancient Greece, was the son of Mnesarchus and
Clito. The place, as well as the date, of his birth has been
a subject of considerable dispute among scholars. By some
authorities he is said to have been born at Athens, b.c. 48o
and to have belonged to the Phlyan demi of the Cecropid
tribe ; and in this opinion they are borne out by the testi¬
mony of the Arundel marbles. Others, again, maintain,
that in the second Persian invasion the parents of Euripides
were in the number of those who, on the approach of
Xerxes, fled from Athens and took refuge in Salamis; and
that the future poet was born there on the very day that the
great naval battle was fought and won by his countrymen,
b.c. 480. This fact is pretty well authenticated, though it
is somewhat suspicious that 'the Athenians were careful to
identify their three great tragic poets with the most bril¬
liant day in the annals of their history. flSschylus, they
said, at this time in the vigour of manhood, took part in the
engagement; Sophocles, a boy of fifteen, was one of the
choir which celebrated the exploits of the victors at the fes¬
tival given after the battle; and Euripides was born while
the action was still undecided. If the authority of Eratos¬
thenes be admitted, who assigns the death of Euripides to
the year 406 b.c., at which time he had reached his seventy-
fifth year, the poet must have been born b.c. 481 ; and this
date is adopted by Muller as the true one. It is almost
equally difficult to discover the real social status of the poet’s
parents. It is said that his father Mnesarchus was an ex¬
patriated Theban ; and Aristophanes, one of his bitterest
enemies, asserts that his mother was a vendor of herbs, and
a dishonest one, besides. These accounts may be safely
rejected as false ; but it is only inferentially that an approxi¬
mation to the truth can be made. At the Thargalian fes¬
tival he is known to have acted as cup-bearer to a chorus of
noble Athenians engaged in its celebration ; and as none but
youths of good rank and family were admitted to this honour,
it may be inferred that Euripides’ origin was far from mean.
His education also was entrusted to such masters as were
highest in repute at that time in Athens ; among others, it
is said, to Prodicus, the fortune-hunting rhetorician of Ceos,
who prided himself on having for his pupils none but the
sons of noble families, or such at least as could afford to pay
the exorbitant sums which he demanded for his instructions.
In the gymnastic and other bodily exercises, then much in
vogue in Greece, Euripides was at an early age trained with
the greatest care. An oracle had declared that he would be
crowned with sacred garlands, and much of the poet’s youth
was spent in the gymnasium with a view to distinction
in athletic sports. At the early age of seventeen he
offered himself as a competitor in the Olympic games,
having already gained prizes at the Eleusinian and Thesean
festivals. From some formal irregularity, however, he was
not allowed to compete. To this early training is to be at¬
tributed that knowledge of athletic sports which the poet
displays in his works, and which has been especially re¬
marked (see Keble’s Academic Prelections, p. 605) in his
account of the combat between Eteocles and Polynices.
Abandoning these pursuits, he betook himself at the age of
eighteen to the study of painting, in which he attained a
respectable, though not a remarkable, proficiency. Soon
finding, however, that pictorial art was not his sphere, he
devoted himself to literature, continuing his philosophical
studies under the guidance of Anaxagoras, the influence of
E U R
whose doctrines is traceable in many portions of Euripides’ Euripides,
works, and was especially apparent in the lost tragedy of ^
Melanippus the Wise. While still in his eighteenth year
he made his first essay as a tragic author, though it is not
known with certainty either that the tragedy was one of
those that have descended to us, or that it was played in
the theatre at all. Hartung conjectures, though on insuffi¬
cient grounds, that the drama in question was the Rhesus,
and that it was publicly produced. The first that we know
with certainty to have been played under the poet’s own
name was the Peliades, which appeared b.c. 455. Fourteen
years after this date, b.c. 441, Euripides gained the first
prize for the first time. Though persecuted with unrelent¬
ing bitterness during the whole period of his sojourn at
Athens, and exposed to the merciless sarcasm and satire of
the devotees of the elder tragic school, he contested the palm
sometimes successfully with Sophocles, the greatest of its
living representatives, till the year 408. Worn out at length
by age, the rancour of the small wits of the day, and, it is said,
the unhappiness of his domestic relations, he retired in that
year to the court of Archelaus, king of Macedon, by whom
he was treated during the remainder of his life with the ut¬
most courtesy and kindness. He did not live long, how¬
ever, to enjoy the honours paid him by his royal friend, as
he died two years after leaving his native city, B.c. 406. No
sooner had the poet breathed his last than his countrymen,
obeying the usual law of nature so well propounded by
Horace, that
Virtutem incolumem odimus
Sublatam ex oculis quserimus invidi,
instantly recognised the greatness of their loss, and sought
to bestow upon the poet’s ashes the honours which they had
always denied to himself during his lifetime. They implored
the Macedonians to restore his bones, that they might rest
in his native land ; but that people, who had already buried
him with splendid obsequies, and erected a sumptuous monu¬
ment in his honour at Pella, refused to comply, and the
Athenians had to content themselves with a cenotaph. So
great was the grief of his life-long rival Sophocles for his
death, that at the representation of his next play he made his
actors play their parts uncrowned. The statue of the de¬
ceased poet was set up in the theatre, and a monument
erected to his memory on the road leading from Athens to
the Piraeus. His fame abroad was so great, that, as Xeno¬
phon records, many of his countrymen who fell into the hands
of their enemies on the disastrous expedition against Sicily
were released by their masters when it was discovered that
they could repeat many of the verses of the illustrious tra¬
gedian. On another occasion a knowledge of Euripides stood
some ofhis countrymen in good stead. An Athenian ship,
pursued by pirates, had directed its course for Caunus ; but
the inhabitants of that town refused to admit it within its
port, until it was discovered that some of the crew were fa¬
miliar with the heart-reaching passages in the dramas of
their newly deceased countryman.
Many stories are to be found in the ancient writers con¬
cerning the worthlessness of Euripides’ moral character ; but
they rest on such doubtful authority, and are in their own
nature so ridiculous, as to carry their refutation on their very
face. It is said, for instance, that he was guilty of bigamy,
though in his relations to the sex he is known to have been
one of the most austere of men ; and even the manner of his
death has been distorted so as to countenance this slander.
The received account is, that he was torn to pieces by the
hounds of king Archelaus, which it is said were set upon him
by two envious rivals whom he had eclipsed in the good
opinion of that monarch. The scandal-mongers of the day,
however, declared that he met his death at the hands of some
women while on his way to a criminal assignation. He must
have been vicious, indeed, if, at the age of seventy-five, he
indulged in practices generally believed to characterize the
EURIPIDES.
379
Euripides, hot season of youth. It is not improbable that these reports
owed their origin to the severity and even gloom of his dis¬
position. These qualities were remarkably prominent in the
character of his teacher Anaxagoras, and it is likely that,
along with the doctrines of that philosopher, Euripides im¬
bibed a good share of his moral attributes. The stories of
his hatred of women are in reality as devoid of foundation
as those which insist upon his personal profligacy. Certain
it is, that whatever his personal predilections were in refer¬
ence to the fair sex, his artistic tendencies led him to devote
much time and minute observation to the study of female
character. No poet of ancient or modern times, Shakspeare
alone excepted, had a keener eye for the delicate and subtle
phases of the female mind in all its moods ; and it is hard to
think that the author of such fine conceptions as Alcestis and
Iphigenia should have been the victim either of unrequited
love or (as has been alleged) of conjugal infidelity, while his
native city abounded with the noblest archetypes of female
character, which, under names supplied by the old mytho¬
logy, he delighted to observe and portray.
Though it would be extremely unjust to rank Euripides
among the atheists of antiquity, it is nevertheless true that
in his ideas of the world and a future state he adopted the
doctrines of his master, and superadded a tinge of pantheism.
Disregarding the practice of his great predecessors, iEschylus
and Sophocles, he not only evinced no sympathy with the
religious system of his country, but sometimes ran so directly
counter to it as to lay himself open to the charge of impiety.
It is therefore in vain that we search the works of Euripides
for those lofty aspirations and that noble faith which distin¬
guish the tragedians of the early school, especially iEschylus,
who, though as strongly convinced as Euripides of the his¬
toric worthlessness of the myths which made up the body of
the popular religion, yet accepted them, and in so doing
strove to develop their latent import, and thus indirectly
elevate and refine the moral nature of the people. C. O.
Miiller, however, says truly concerning Euripides, “with re¬
spect to the mythical traditions which the tragic muse had
selected as her subjects, he stands on an entirely different foot¬
ing from iEschylus and from Sophocles. He could not bring
his philosophical convictions, with regard to the nature of
God and His relations to mankind, into harmony with the con¬
tents of these legends, nor could he pass over in silence their
incongruities. Hence it is that he is driven to the strange
necessity of carrying on a sort of polemical discussion with
the very materials and subjects of which he had to treat.”
Towards the close of his life Euripides acknowledged the
inadequacy of his ethical creed, even for the requirements of
his own moral nature, by renouncing it, and tacitly acquies¬
cing in the established religion. Such was the only course
open to him, and he adopted it as an escape from scepticism,
just as some of the keenest and subtlest intellects of our own
day have been obliged to seek refuge from rationalism,
sometimes from utter unbelief, within the pale of the Roman
Catholic communion. In this way he found rest for him¬
self, but it was too late for him then to repair the injury he
had done by unsettling the foundations of belief in the minds
of his younger contemporaries. In a merely artistic point
of view, moreover, the tragedies of Euripides afford a strik¬
ing proof of the decay of the Athenian drama. The old
mythology from which he drew his names and incidents is
often altered and misapplied in the most arbitrary manner,
and almost always so as to throw discredit or ridicule on
ideas or persons invested by popular consent Avith all the
respect and reverence willingly paid to old tradition. Thus
in the Helena, one of the most entertaining of all his trage¬
dies, he adopts the theory of Stesichorus, that the wife of
Menelaus remained concealed in Egypt while Paris only
carried off an airy phantom which bore a resemblance to
her, and about which the Greeks and Trojans fought with
each other for ten years. Menelaus himself is introduced
upon the stage in rags (a favourite method with Euripides Euripides,
of treating his heroes, for which he was lashed by Aristo-
phanes), and declaring himself perfectly satisfied. In the
Alceste, one of the most powerfully pathetic of ancient or
modern plays, and to which Milton touchingly alludes in his
famous sonnet—
Methought I saw my late espoused saint
Brought to me like Alceste from the grave,
Whom Jove’s great son to her glad husband gave,
Reserved by force from death, though pale and faint—
“ Jove’s great son” is delineated more in the character of
a glutton or a modern prize-fighter than as the son of Alc-
mena, whose life was spent in the service of the inhabitants
of earth. Others of the plays exhibit still more glaring in¬
congruities. In fact, as has been observed by Schlegel in
his lecture on Euripides, “ Though he frequently affects
the singular and uncommon, he is at other times too fami¬
liar, and the tone of the discourse assumes a confidential
appearance, and descends from the elevation of the co¬
thurnus to the level ground. In this respect, as well as in
the picture of several characteristic peculiarities bordering
upon the ludicrous, Euripides was a precursor of the new
comedy, to which he had an evident inclination, as he fre¬
quently paints the men and manners of his own times under
the names of the heroic ages. Hence Menander expressed
a most marked admiration for him, and proclaimed himself
his scholar; and we have a fragment of Philemon, which dis¬
plays such an extravagant admiration that it hardly appears
to have been seriously meant. ‘ If the dead,’ says he, ‘ were
still to have feeling, as some people suppose, I should hang
myself for the sake of seeing Euripides.’ ” In a much-
quoted passage, Aristotle declares that Euripides delineated
men and manners as they are, and not as they ought to be.
Though in this way the poet opened up to himself a much
wider range, both of character and incident, than if he had
limited himself to the old mythology, it is very questionable
if he did not also lower the dignity of his art, the more
especially as he chose for its vehicle the familiar parlance
of everyday life. In thus bringing down his heroes to the
level of his audience, he lost sight of the lofty aims to which
tragedy had been directed by his predecessors. “ How few
of his pieces,” says Schlegel, “ turn on the constant struggle
with the decrees of fate, or even on a heroic subjection to
them. His characters generally suffer because they must,
not because they will.” Plato’s dictum against tragic poets
generally applies with peculiar force to Euripides. He said
that they gave men too much up to the dominion of the
passions, and rendered them effeminate by putting extra¬
vagant lamentations in the mouths of their heroes. It is
not too much to say of Euripides, in particular, that the ten¬
dency of his plays is to seduce and corrupt the feelings by
working on the more tender and susceptible emotions of the
human breast. The excessive lengths to which he some¬
times goes tend to produce a directly moral licentiousness.
At other times he works out his catastrophes with such
earnestness, and power, and pathos, that Aristotle pro¬
nounced him the most tragic of poets. He qualifies this
judgment, however, by declaring in the next sentence that
“ he does not arrange other things well.” Still the general
impression of his pieces is sometimes extremely immoral.
It may be that to this cause he owed part of his popularity ;
but he sometimes outstripped the modesty of nature, so tar
as to shock even his Athenian audience. This pandering
to a depraved taste on more than one occasion involved him
in serious trouble. An anecdote is told, that he introduced
Bellerophon with a eulogium on wealth, in which he pre¬
ferred it to all domestic happiness, and ended with ob¬
serving, that if Aphrodite the Golden shone like gold, she
was deserving the love of mortals; and that the spectators,
taking umbrage at this, wished to stone both poet and actor.
Euripides then sprang forward and called out, “ Wait only
380
EUR
Europe, till the end; he will be requited accordingly. In others of
? his pieces the demoralizing tendency is not to be so easily
counteracted. Lies and other bad practices are not only
freely used, but even openly defended ; especially when the
author believes himself to have an excuse in the motives
which actuate the teller of the falsehood. The ancients
themselves condemned him for the alluring colours in which
he depicted sensual vice, and the ingenious sophistry with
which he sought to defend these delineations. Indeed, this lat¬
ter characteristic may be said to distinguish all his writings,
and give a sort of colour to the charge (only partly true how-
ever) under which he labours of being the poet of the sophists.
It is impossible here to analyse minutely the tragedies of
Euripides. The general tendencies of the poet’s works have
been already pointed out in some detail. One power alone
which Euripides possessed in a higher degree than almost
any other poet of ancient or modern times requires to be
specially mentioned; his power, to wit, of delineating female
character. The beautiful self-devotion of Alceste is de¬
picted with the most overpowering pathos; and the same
may be said of the Iphigenia at Aulis, though the charactei
of that heroine is not sustained to the end of the piece qualis
ab incepto processerit. Nor is the poet less successful in
his terrible exhibitions of female passion. The unnatural
love of Phaedra in the “ Hippolytus,” and the conflict of
jarring passions in the mind of Medea, were first laid hold
of by Euripides as affording materials for dramatic creations,
and have been worked out by him with a subtlety (some¬
times over-refined) and skill that no subsequent dramatist,
Shakspeare excepted, has ever surpassed. In the last chorus
of the “ Troades,” when the captive women, allotted to their
respective masters, are leaving Troy in flames behind them,
and proceed to the ships, the poet rises into the region of
the sublime.
According to Yarro, Euripides wrote seventy-five trage¬
dies, of which only five were rewarded with the first prize ;
according to Thomas Magister, he wrote ninety-two, ot
which fifteen were thus successful. Of these tragedies
eighteen (or, if the authenticity of the Rhesus be admitted,
nineteen) have descended to our times. We subjoin a list
of these, with the year in which they were first produced
upon the stage:—Alcestis, b.c. 438 ; Medea, me. 431;
Hippolytus Coronifer, 428 ; Hecuba, 423 ; Heracleidce,
(probably) 421 ; Supplices, Ion, Hercules Furens, Andro¬
mache, of doubtful date, but probably assignable to this
period of the poet’s life ; Troades, 415 ; Electra, 413 ; He¬
lena, A\2\ Iphigenia at Tauris, doubtful; Orestes, 408;
Phcenissce, the last produced at Athens by the poet; Bacchce,
brought out at the Macedonian Court; Iphigenia at Aulis,
EUR
produced at Athens after the poet’s death ; Cyclops, of
uncertain date. This play is interesting as the only extant
specimen of the Greek satyric drama.
The editio princeps of Euripides, containing, however,
only four of the plays, was published at Florence towards
the close of the fifteenth century, under the editorial super¬
intendence of J. Lascaris. In 1503 appeared the Aldine
edition, in which the Rhesus was incorporated, and the
Electra omitted. Of subsequent editions may be mentioned
that of P. Stephens, Geneva, 1602; Barnes, Cambridge,
1694; Musgrave, Oxford, 1778; Beck, Leipzig, 1778-88;
Matthiae, Leipzig, 1813-29; and the variorum edition,
Glasgow, 1821. Many of the separate plays have been
edited by the greatest of modern scholars, as Person, Elms-
ley, Walckenaer, Monk, Pflugk, and Hermann. There
have been many translations, prose and poetical, of indi¬
vidual plays into several languages of modern Europe. The
whole works have been translated into English verse by
Potter, Oxford, 1814; and into German by Bothe, Berlin,
1800. There is also a complete English pirose translation
in Bohn’s Classical Library. (Muller’s History of Greek
Literature ; Schlegel’s Lectures on Dramatic Literature ;
the essay on Euripides by the Rev. Edward Elder, M.A., in
Smith’s Dictionary, &c. &c.) (j- C—L.)
EURIPUS, now the strait of Egripo or Negropont, the
narrowest part of the Eubcean Sea, which at the town of
Chalcis contracts to so small a breadth that a bridge has
been thrown across, connecting the island of Euboea with
the mainland. See Euboea.
Eukipus, in the ancient amphitheatre, was a trench that
separated the seats of the spectators from the arena. It
was designed as a defence against the elephants and other
beasts exhibited.
EUROCLYDON (from Evpos, the south-east wind, and
kAwW, a wave), the name of a tempestuous wind which
drove on shore at Melita (Malta) the ship in which St Paul
was sailing to Italy (Acts xxvii.) It is supposed to be the
wind commonly known among modern mariners by the
name of a Levanter, which is not confined to any single
Euripus
II
Europe.
point, but blows in all directions, from the N.E. round by
the north to the S.E.
EUROPA, in Grecian mythology, the daughter of
Agenor king of Phoenicia, from whom the continent of
Europe is said to have derived its name. Her beauty was
such that Jupiter himself became passionately attached to
her, and, assuming the form of a bull, carried her away on
his back over the sea to Crete. Her children, Minos, Sar-
pedon, and Rhadamanthus, were adopted by Asterlus, king
of that island, to whom Europa was ultimately married.
EUROPE,
Compara- One of the great divisions of the globe. On a first view
tlve advan- Europe appears to be less favoured by nature than the other
dif id^aif ciuarters of the globe over which it has obtained so great an
tages'oT ascendancy. It is much smaller in extent; its rocky and
this divi- mountainous surface does not admit of those noble rivers,
sion of the like inland seas, which lay open the remotest regions of Asia
globe. and of America to the commerce of the world. Its vege¬
table productions are neither so various nor so exuberant;
and it is poorly supplied with the precious metals, and
with many of those commodities on which mankind set
the greatest value. On the other hand, the climate of
Europe, it it nourishes a less luxuriant vegetation, is of an
equal and temperate kind, well adapted to preserve the hu¬
man frame in that state of health and vigour which fits it
for labour, and promotes the development of the intellec¬
tual and moral powers. The mountains that intersect its
surface are barriers which enabled infant communities to
protect themselves from violence, and to lay the foundation
of arts, knowledge, and civilization. If it has few large
navigable rivers, its inland seas and bays are, from their
position and extent, the finest in the world, and have been
the means of creating and nourishing that commercial
spirit which has been one great source of its improvement.
Though comparatively deficient in gold and silver, it is
abundantly supplied with those useful metals and minerals
which minister still more essentially to the wants of civilized
life. Its apparent defects have become the source of real
benefits, and the foundation of its grandeur. I he disad-^
vantages of its soil and climate have excited the industry of
its inhabitants, given them clearer ideas of property, kindled
a resolute spirit to defend their rights, and called into exist¬
ence that skill and enterprise, and those innumerable arts
EUROPE.
381
Europe, and inventions, which have enabled the inhabitants of this
apparently barren and rocky pi'omontory to command the
riches and luxuries of all the most favoured regions of the
globe. It is only in Europe that knowledge and the arts
seem to be indigenous. Though they have appeared at
times among some of the nations of Asia, they have either
stopped short after advancing a few steps, or they have
speedily retrograded and perished, like something foreign to
the genius of the people. In Europe, on the contrary, they
have sprung up at distant periods, and in a variety of situa¬
tions ; they have risen spontaneously and rapidly, and de¬
clined slowly; and when they disappeared, it was evident
they were but crushed for the time by external violence,
to rise again when the pressure had subsided. It is only in
Europe, and among colonies of Europeans, that the powers
of the human mind, breaking through the slavish attachment
to ancient usages and institutions, have developed that prin¬
ciple of progressive improvement, of which it is impossible
to calculate the final results. The rudest tribe in Europe,
in which this principle has taken root, has a certain source
of superiority over the most improved nations of Asia and
Africa, where society remains perfectly stationary. If these
nations are ever destined to advance in civilization, they
must borrow from Europe those arts which she has invented,
and which belong to civilized life in every climate. But
the tenacious adherence of rude nations to the customs and
superstitions of their ancestors, will not allow us to hope that
the benefits of civilization will be rapidly diffused in this
way. It is more probable that colonies from the older
states of Europe will multiply as the population becomes
more and more redundant; and that these colonies will
carry the arts and knowledge, the language and manners, of
Europe with them, to the other quarters of the world. From
prejudices on both sides, it is found that two races, in very
different stages of civilization, do not readily amalgamate ;
and it is therefore probable that the feebler inhabitants of
these countries, like the American Indians, will be gradually
displaced by the continual encroachments of the more ener¬
getic races of Europe.
Boundaries Europe is bounded on the N. and W. by the Arctic
and extent. and Atlantic Oceans; on the S. by the Mediterranean,
the Black Sea, and Mount Caucasus; on the E. by the
Caspian Sea, the river Ural, and the Uralian Mountains.
The greatest length of the continent is from Cape St Vin¬
cent to the Sea of Kara, in the direction of N.E. and S.W.,
and is 3490 English miles. Its greatest extent from N. to
S. is from Cape Matapan to Cape North, 2420 miles. The
superficies of Europe, including the Azores, Iceland, Nova
Zembla, and all its other islands, is 3,700,000 English, or
2,800,000 geographical square miles; and the length of its
coast line is about 16,000 miles.
Climate. qqie cnmate of Europe is distinguished by two peculiar¬
ities. It enjoys a higher mean temperature than any of
the other great divisions of the world in the corresponding
latitudes ; and it is not subject to such violent extremes
of heat and cold. These advantages it owes chiefly to its
numerous seas, inland bays, and lakes, which render its
temperature similar to that of islands ; and partly also, ac¬
cording to Humboldt, to its situation at the western extre¬
mity of the greatest range of dry land on the surface of the
globe ; the western sides of all continents being warmer
than the eastern. Europe lies almost entirely within the
temperate zone, not more than one-fourteenth part of its
surface being within the arctic circle. Only a very small
part of it is uninhabitable from cold, and it nowhere suffers
much from excessive heat. The mean temperature at its
southern extremity, in the latitude of 36 , is about 66 of
Fahrenheit; and at Cape North, in the latitude of 71°,
where the mean temperature is 32°, the cold is not greater
than in the latitudes of 55° or 56° on the east coasts
of Asia and America. Hence Europe is habitable at a
higher latitude by 12° or 14° than either of these conti- Europe,
nents.
There is a difference of the same kind between the tem¬
perature of the sea-coasts of Europe and the interior. In
islands, and on the sea-coast, the mean temperature of the
year is higher, and the heat is more equally distributed
through the different seasons. As we advance from the
coast "eastward the mean annual temperature diminishes,
but the heat of summer and the cold of winter increase.
Thus London has the same mean annual temperature as
Vienna, but it has the summer of St Petersburg, and the
winter is warmer than at Milan. The Mediterranean, the
Baltic, and inland lakes, produce the same effect as the
ocean, in an inferior degree. The following table shows,
I. The temperature of the year, and the various seasons, in
places having the same latitude; II. The different distribu¬
tion of heat through the various seasons in places having the
same mean annual temperature.
I. Lat. 56
Edinburgh..
Copenhagen.
Moscow  
Lat. 48
St Malo 
Vienna 
II. Lat.
Dublin 53-21
Prague 50-2
Mean Temperature
47-8
45-6
40-2
54-4
50-6
49-2
49-4
Spring.
38- 6
30- 8
10-8
44-2
32-8
39- 2
31- 4
46- 4
41-2
44-0
52-2
51-2
47- 3
47-6
ci i Warmest Coldest
Summer. Autumn. Month_ Month.
58- 2
62-6
67-1
66-0
69-2
59- 6
689
48-4
48-4
38-3
55-8
50-6
50-0
50-2
59-4
65-0
70-6
67-0
70-6
38-3
27-2
6-0
41-8
26-6
The mountains of Europe are more numerous in propor-Mountains,
tion to its extent than those of the other great continents,
but they are of less elevation than the mountains of America
and Asia. The highest and the most extensive chains in
Europe run generally7 in the direction of east and west, and
are placed near its southern shores. The central mass of
the Alps, with which all the other mountains in the south
of Europe are connected, forms the summit of the conti¬
nent, and determines the position of the surface and the
courses of most of the rivers.
The principal mass of the Alps extends in a semicircle Alps,
from Nice, on the shores of the Mediterranean, to Trieste,
on the Adriatic, a distance of 550 miles. Soutlward of
Mont Blanc the Alps consist of a single chain, with many
lateral branches, which lie chiefly on the w7est side; but
immediately to the eastward of Mont Blanc the principal
chain divides into two, wdfich inclose the sources of the
Rhone. These meet again at St Gothard, and on the east
side of it part into three chains, one of which loses itself in
Bavaria, another in Austria near Vienna, and the third ter¬
minates near Trieste. A lateral chain of no great elevation
passes eastward, and connects the Alps with the mountains
of European Turkey. Smaller branches connect the Alps
with the Bohemian and Carpathian Mountains on the north,
with the Vosges and Cevennes on the west, and, through
the latter, with the Pyrenees. The Apennines are but a
prolongation of the Alps on the south. Mont Blanc, the
loftiest of the Alps, and the highest mountain in Europe,
has an elevation of 15,680 English feet; and Mont Rosa,
the Jungfrau, the Schreckhorn, and several other sum¬
mits, approach to this height. The elevation of the chain
diminishes towards both extremities. In general, the es¬
carpments, or steepest sides, are turned towards Italy, and
the lateral and subordinate branches are most numerous,
and extend farthest, on the opposite side. The central chain
of the Alps consists chiefly of granite, gneiss, sienite, and
other crystalline rocks. Among the lateral ridges, to the
westward of St Gothard, calcareous rocks belonging to the
382 E U R
Europe. chalk and greensand abound, and a large area is covered by
the Molasse and other tertiaries. On both sides are found
great deposits of gravel, and large detached blocks or boul¬
ders, often at a vast distance from their original situations.
Eastward from St Gothard the central chain is accom¬
panied on each side by a calcareous chain of great eleva¬
tion. Though the summits of the Alps are steep and rocky,
and the higher valleys are filled with glaciers, there is much
good soil below. The vine grows at the height of 1600
feet above the sea, the oak at the height of 3390, corn at
4200 feet, and the larch at 6720 feet. At 6400 feet above
the sea we have the climate of Lapland in latitude 68°, so
that a degree of latitude in the northern half of the tem¬
perate zone in Europe corresponds to an elevation ot about
290 feet. The lower limit of perpetual snow, according
to Humboldt, is at the height of 8760 feet, in the latitude
of 46°.
Pyrenees. The chain of the Pyrenees, which is next to the Alps in
elevation, runs in the direction of east and west. Its length
is about 240 miles; but, if we include the Cantabrian Moun¬
tains, which continue‘in the same line without interruption,
the whole length will be about 500 miles. The central
chain of the Pyrenees proper is of granite, but the most
elevated summits are of secondary limestone, and lie on the
south side of the granite. Mont Perdu, esteemed the loftiest
of the whole range, consists of fetid limestone, and rises to
the height of 11,270 feet. The south side of the Pyrenees
is rugged and precipitous ; but on the north there is a gra¬
dual descent to the plains of France by a series of parallel
ridges diminishing in height. The Cantabrian Mountains
are lower than the Pyrenees, and present their steepest
sides to the north. There are four other chains of moun¬
tains in Spain, all running in a direction approaching to
east and west, and all connected with one another and with
the Pyrenees. The highest of these is the Sierra Nevada,
the southmost, one of whose summits rises to the height of
11,660 feet. The lower limit of perpetual snow on the
Pyrenees is at the height of 8960 feet. The red pine grows
at the height of 7480 feet, which is about 700 feet higher
than any species of trees on the Alps.
Apen- The Apennines form an uninterrupted chain 750 miles
nines. jn length, extending from the south-west termination of the
Alps near Nice to the Straits of Messina. The southern
extremity in Calabria consists chiefly of granite, gneiss, and
crystalline rocks. From the Gulf of Tarentum, northward
to the Alps, the prevailing rocks in the central ridges be¬
long to the chalk, greensand, and probably the oolitic for¬
mations, which are flanked by tertiary deposits, and in some
parts by volcanic tufas. The most considerable elevations
are about the middle of the chain, where II Gransasso rises
to the height of 9570 feet.
Oarpa- The Carpathian and Sudetic Mountains, with the Erz-
ians. gebirge and Boehmerwald, may be considered as forming
one continued chain, the length of which, from the point
where it strikes the Danube in Hungary, to the point where
it strikes the same river in Bavaria, is about 1200 miles,
exclusive of the transverse branches which separate Moravia
from Bohemia and Hungary. The declivities of this long
range of mountains are steepest on the south side. The
elevations are lowest on the west, and generally increase as
we advance eastward, till we come to the sources of the
Theiss in the north of Hungary, after which they again de¬
cline. 1 he Fichtelberg, at the westmost point of the chain,
is 4030 feet high : Schnekoppe, the highest of the Sudetic
Mountains, is 5280 feet, and Lomnitz in Hungary, the
loftiest of the whole range, is 8460 feet. None of these
mountains rise to the region of perpetual snow, the lower
limit of which, according to Wahlenberg, is about 60 feet
above the summit of Lomnitz. The rocks of these chains
consist of granite, gneiss, and Silurians, associated with
greensand and oolites. Corn and fruit trees are said to
OPE.
grow at a greater height upon the Carpathians than upon Europe,
the Alps, though the latter are two degrees farther south,
The chain of the Dovrefeld, Dofrines, or great Scandi- Dofrines.
navian Alps, is about 1000 miles in length, and has a gene¬
ral elevation of from 3000 to 6000 feet. The altitude of
Skagstlos Find, the highest mountain of the chain, is 8400
feet. These mountains consist almost entirely of the older
rocks, and present their steepest sides to the west. On Su-
litelma, the highest mountain of this chain in Lapland, in
latitude 67. 10., the lowest limit of perpetual snow is at the
height of 3500 feet.
The Urals, or Uralian Mountains, which form the north-Urals,
eastern boundary of Europe, extend from N. to S. through
20° latitude, with a breadth of about 40 miles. They
rise very imperceptibly from the plains on both sides, and,
where they are crossed by the road from Moscow to Si¬
beria, the ascent and descent are so nearly imperceptible
that, were it not for the precipitous banks alongside of them,
the traveller would hardly suppose he was crossing a range
of hills. The general elevation of that part of the range
seems not to exceed 1350 feet, and the base on which it rests
is itself 900 feet above the level of the sea. To the north of
58° 20' there are several summits that rise to 2500 feet;
but the higher part of the range is situate to the N. of 59°,
and the highest of all, the Daneshkenkamen lies to the N.
of 60°. The chain consists of palaeozoic formations rest¬
ing upon, and penetrated by igneous rocks. They contain
much gold, which is procured by washing the thick masses
of gravel resting on their flanks. Towards the S., the Urals
diverge into or are connected with a number of small ranges
that extend to the shores of the Caspian Sea and the Aral,
and into the steppes of the Kirghiz, and even seem to be
connected with the Ust-Urt, or High Plain, that rises to an
elevation of 770 feet between the two seas. The Urals are
rich in minerals, especially in gold and platina, but these
are found in most abundance on the eastern or Asiatic side
of the range. The mountains of Nova Zembla may be
considered as a prolongation of the Urals. Their principal
summit is Glassowsky, which has an elevation of about
2500 feet above the level of the sea.
The great range of Caucasus, which is now assumed to Caucasus,
be the south-eastern boundary of Europe, extends in a
north-westerly and south-easterly direction along the north¬
east coast of the Black Sea, and across the isthmus, termi¬
nating with a series of low hills in the peninsular promon¬
tory of Abcheron on the W. side of the Caspian Sea, along
which its diverging branches form a large Daghestan, or hill
country. The length of the principal chain is about 700
miles, with a breadth varying from about 60 to 140. The
loftiest summits are found near the middle part of the chain,
and are covered with perpetual snow. Elburz, the highest
peak, has an elevation of 17,796 feet; Kasbec, the next
highest, of 15,345 ; and the crest of the pass of Dariel,
through which the only practicable road is carried, between
Vladi-Kaukas and Teiflis, rises to 8000 feet. The snow¬
line along the chain is between 10,000 and 11,000 feet
above the level of the sea. The mountains of the Crimea,
though separated from the Caucasus by the strait of Yeni-
kaleh, and the alluvial delta of the river Kuban, would seem
to be a prolongation of the chain, separated by some vol¬
canic convulsion. This, however, may be considered
doubtful, as there are no ignigenous rocks at all in the
Crimea, so far at least as yet known, while granite is to be
found in the Caucasus. The geological structure, however,
of the Caucasus is very various. A considerable portion of
the higher regions consists of white limestone, with ridges of
black slate. The loftiest peaks are composed of granite,
hornblende, schistes, porphyry, and trachytes. Many parts
of the range are exceedingly craggy and precipitous ; but, in
other places, are found level plains and very beautiful and
fertile valleys.
EUR
Europe. A long mountain range extends in an irregular curve
v ^ ^ ^ from the Adriatic to the Black Sea, in the latter of which
Mountains it terminates with Emineh Burun, or Cape Haemus. The
of Turkey, western portion, however, of the range properly belongs to
the Dinaric Alps; and the Turkish Balkans (ancient
Hcemus') begins near the sources of the river Lepentz, 21°
E. Long., a point from which two great ranges diverge, one
to the south, forming the ancient Pindus, while the Haemus
or Balkan range extends eastward, with a general elevation
of less than 5000 feet, though a few of its summits reach
the limit of perpetual snow ; and the Tchar-dagh, the cul¬
minating point, rises to about 9700 feet. The range is
broken through by numerous ravines, deep and narrow, and
of the most terrific appearance; but there are also several
practicable passes. The south side of the range consists
of argillaceous schist, and is much more precipitous than
the north side, which is calcareous. The range is well
wooded, and believed to be rich in minerals. Near the east
end a minor range, called the Little Balkan, diverges in a
south-easterly direction, and, running parallel to the shores
of the Black Sea, terminates near the Bosphorus. From
the Tchar-dagh the Pindus extends southwards, dividing
Albania from Rumelia, and forming a long range of wild
hill-country with many lofty summits. To the south, it is
connected with the mountains of Greece, which divide that
country into a number of valleys and promontories. But
the loftiest range is the Despoto-dagh, which is connected
with the Balkans near 42° N. Lat. and 24® E. Long., and
extends eastward between the basin of the river Maritza
and the shore of the Archipelago. Its summits reach an
elevation of 8000 feet, and it is chiefly composed of crys¬
talline slates, gneiss, granite, and granular limestone.
Mountains Besides the Alps, which form its south-eastern bolder,
of France, and the Pyrenees, which divide France from Spain, there
are in France several mountain ranges of considerable
elevation. The Cevennes, the Forez, and the mountains
of Auvergne, form together a group that divides the low-
country on the Mediterranean and the basin ot the Rhone
from the plains that extend westward to the Atlantic
Ocean and the Bay of Biscay. The elevation of most of
the summits is only between 3000 and 5000 feet; but in
Auvergne, the Plomb-de-Cantal rises to 6093 feet, and the
Puy-de-Sancy to 6221. Between France and Switzerland
the range of Jura has nearly the same elevation ; and fur¬
ther north the range of the Vosges divides the basin of the
Rhine from that of the Moselle, but it is comparatively
low, its summits ranging from about 1400 feet to 4000, and
the loftiest rising only to 4693 feet above the level of the
sea. From the plateau of Langres, in the department of
the Haute Marne, a ridge of high ground, scarcely rising
into hills, proceeds westward, between the Seine and the
Loire, terminating in Finistere, while other ridges extend
northwards into Belgium, separating the valleys of the
Moselle, the Meuse, and the Marne.
Mountains The mountains of Britain are comparatively insignifi-
of Britain. cant. They extend in a long range, or series of ranges, with
many divergencies and interruptions, along the west side
of the island, about 630 miles in length; but it is only in
Wales and the north-western parts of England and Scot¬
land that they attain an elevation comparable to that of
even the lowest of the continental ranges we have men¬
tioned. Snowdon, in Caernarvonshire, the highest moun¬
tain in Wales, rises only to 3570 feet; Helvellyn and
Scafell, in Cumberland, to 3055 and 3166 ; Ben Nevis and
Ben Muck-Dhui, in Scotland, to 4370 and 4390. They
consist principally of primary and transition rocks.
Great The Pyrenees, the Cevennes, Forez, Vosges, Jura,
Plain. Alps, Apennines, Bohemian and Hercynian Mountains in
Germany, Carpathians, and the Balkans, form together, as
we have seen, a long range ot high ground, inclosing many
elevated valleys, and leaving between them and the shores
OPE. 383
of the Mediterranean Sea only a series of long narrow Europe,
stripes of lowland. To the northward, however, Europe
sinks into an immense plain, which extends all the way
from the German Ocean and the North Sea to the Ural
and Caucasian Mountains, and the shores of the Caspian
and Black Seas. This plain would seem to have formed,
since the commencement of the tertiary period of geology,
though perhaps not all at the same time, the bed of the sea ;
for it is everywhere covered with tertiary formations and
marine drift, and contains the fossil remains of animals that
could only have lived in salt water. It includes the whole
basins of" the Baltic and White Seas; and the Scandina¬
vian mountains would seem to have formed a large island
bordering it on the N.W. The south-western portion of the
plain is traversed by the large rivers that flow northwards
from the Alps, and the Bohemian and Sudetic Mountains,
which form the watershed between it and the basins of the
Danube, the Rhone, and the Po; but eastward the water¬
shed between the Baltic and the Caspian and Black Seas,
only a few hundred feet in elevation, may be traced from a
spur of the Carpathians, near the source of the Dneister,
through the Russian provinces of Volhynia, Grodno, Minsk,
Smolensk, Bialistock, Pskov, Twer. Novgorod (where it forms
a sort of plateau, and rises into the Valdai Hills, the highest
of which is only 1370 feet above the level of the Baltic Sea),
and Vologda, to the Ural Mountains at the sources of the
Petchora. The northern slope, forming the basin of the
White Sea, possesses a barren soil and a cold climate, and
towards the north stretches out into immense plains, covered
with moss, marshy in summer, frozen in winter, only inter¬
rupted with a few rocky ridges. The southern slope im¬
proves in quality as it advances southward, and the middle
region is a country of great fertility ; but farther south this
fertile region is separated from the Black Sea and the Cas¬
pian by the steppes, the surface of the higher portion ot
which is in general only about 200 feet above the level of
the sea, though towards the Caspian it sinks much lower.
Throughout the whole space occupied by the higher steppes,
which extend westward from the Don and the Manytsh,
along the Sea of Azof and the Black Sea, including three-
fourths of the Crimea, and crossing the Dnieper westward
along its right bank, till they meet the outskirts of the fer¬
tile regions of Little Russia, there is nothing to be seen but
a coarse, rank grass, except in the hollows along the river
banks, which produce a finer vegetation. The soil of the
lower steppes, which extend along the Caspian Sea from the
river Ural to the foot of Caucasus, with a breadth of from
250 to 300 miles, is covered with a fine sand mixed with
shells, producing no trees or shrubs, but only at certain sea¬
sons a scanty grass. It is everywhere strongly impregnated
with salt, as if the region had recently been, what there is
every reason to believe it was, the bed of a sea.
Europe contains several volcanic regions, in some of which Volcanoes,
the volcanic agency is still active, while in others it has been
long quiescent at least, if not extinct. A volcanic belt is
believed to extend through Central Asia, and Asia Minor,
the Archipelago, Greece, Naples,.Sicily, the southern parts
of Spain and Portugal to the Azores. In the Archipelago,
the island of Santorin has been the grand centre of volcanic
action for the last 2000 years ; and the neighbouring island
of Milo is also a volcano of recent aspect, though the epochs
of its eruptions are not known. On the eastern shore of
Sicily rises the stupendous cone of Etna or Mongibello, to
the height of 10,873 feet, composed entirely of volcanic
products, and known to have been in activity for nearly
2500 years. To the northward of Etna, the islands of Strom-
boli, Vulcano, and Vulcanello, in the Lipari group, are still
active, throwing out continually both fire and smoke. 1 o
the south-west of Sicily the island of Pantellaria is entirely
volcanic, and covered with prodigious quantities of lava,
pumice, and scoriae. Livy mentions (Book 39)- that an
384 E U K
Europe, island was said to have risen out of the sea near Sicily in
v r tjie year 183 b. c., and in a.d. 1831 a volcanic island ac¬
tually rose from the sea, between Sciacca and Pantellaria,
but soon disappeared, being washed away by the waves.
On the shore of the Gulf of Naples stands Mount Vesuvius,
a volcano in constant activity; while to the westward of
that city there is a volcanic region, including the island of
Ischia, where the fire has been quiescent since the sixteenth
century. Further north, round Rome, there are several
extinct volcanic craters, most of which are now filled with
water, forming so many beautiful though unwholesome lakes.
Near the coast of Valencia, in Spain, the islands of Colum-
bretes are the remnants of an extinct crater, and the traces
of another volcanic region are to be found near Olot in Cata¬
lonia. The Agores (if they should be reckoned to Europe) are
all apparently of volcanic origin, but contain no active vol¬
canoes. Along the whole line of this volcanic belt, earth¬
quakes are frequent and destructive. On each side of the
line of greatest commotion there are parallel belts of country
where the shocks are less violent. At a still greater dis¬
tance, as far as the f'ocft of the Alps, there are spaces where
the shocks are rarer and much feebler; though while we
are writing (January 1855) we have learned that two
severe shocks of an earthquake were felt at both Nice and
Turin, early in the morning of 29th December 1854. Be¬
yond these limits again all the countries of western Europe
are liable to slight tremors, at distant intervals of time ;
but these may be considered as mere vibrations. Shocks
of this kind have been felt in England, Scotland, northern
France, and Germany, particularly during the tremendous
earthquake that destroyed Lisbon in 1755.
Besides the volcanoes that are still active, or have been
so within historic times, there are traces of extinct volcanic
action in different parts of Europe. The plain of Limagne,
in Auvergne, in Central France, forms the base of a long
chain of volcanic cones and domes, which, to the number
of 70, form a zone of nearly 20 miles in length by 2 in breadth,
and varying in height from 500 to 4000 feet. The whole
of these cones present the same general character, that of
well-defined craters, inclosed by regular cones, on whose
sides the lava currents may be traced, as easily as on those
of Vesuvius. Appearances of the same kind are found near
Velay, in the Viverais. Near the Rhine the chains of the
Vogelberg and Westerwald are formed of volcanic products ;
and the Eifel, a group of hills near the left bank of the
Rhine, in the Prussian government of Aachen, or Aix-la-
Chapelle, exhibits all the signs of extinct volcanic action, in
its conical elevations, lava streams, and round deep craters
now filled with water.
F ar to the north-west of the mainland of Europe, the island
of Iceland forms a volcanic region apart. The whole island
appears to be of volcanic formation ; there are several vol¬
canoes still in full activity, and in the interior there are vast
tracts covered with lava, scoria?, and volcanic sand. From
the beginning of the twelfth century there is clear evidence
that, during the whole period, there has never been an in¬
terval of more than forty, and very rarely one of twenty
years, without either an eruption or a great earthquake.
Some eruptions of Mount Hecla have even lasted six years
without intermission ; but from 1783 that volcano re¬
mained quiescent till 1845, when it broke out anew.
Earthquakes have often shaken the whole island at once,
causing great changes in the interior; and new islands have
o<ten been thrown up near the coasts. In the intervals be¬
tween eruptions, innumerable hot springs give vent to sub-
ten anean heat, and solfataras discharge copious streams of
inflammable matter. In the south-western part of the island,
nearly a hundred intermittent springs of steam and boiling
water, the celebrated Geysers, are said to be found within
a circle of two miles. The island of Jan Mayen, between
Iceland and Spitzbergen, contains an active volcano ; and
OPE.
the mountain of Sarytcheff, in the northern island of Nova Europe.
Zembla, is the most northern volcano at present known.
Europe is well watered with rivers, but they are mere Rivers,
brooks compared with the mighty streams of Asia and
America, and, from the unevenness of the surface, afford in
general no great extent of inland navigation. The Danube,
the largest river that is entirely in Europe, is about 1500
miles in length, and drains an area of 370,000 square miles.
But the Amazons, though only twice the length of the
Danube, drains a surface seven times as large, and equal to
four-fifths of the continent of Europe ; and, as the quantity
of rain that falls in tropical countries is much greater than
in northern latitudes, it is probable, notwithstanding the in¬
creased evaporation there, that the Amazons conveys more
water than all the rivers of Europe put together. If we
divide the length of the Danube into a hundred parts, the
length of the principal rivers of Europe, expressed in these
parts, will be as follows: Danube, 100; Volga, 130; Dnieper,
72 ; Don, 69 ; Rhine, 49 ; Elbe, 42 ; Vistula, 41 ; Loire,
37 ; Tagus, 32 ; Oder, 31 ; Rhone, 30; Seine, 23 ; Po,
21 ; Tiber, 10 ; Thames, 9.
The courses of the great rivers show the fall of the country
through which they flow, but it would be absurd to take the
average of the fall per mile from the measurements of their
whole lengths, for, with the exception of the Volga, and
other rivers of Russia, the early parts of their respective
courses are among mountains, or in elevated valleys, where,
and from which, the fall is very rapid; and it is only when
taken from the points where they leave their mountain
cradles and reach the plains, that such an average will truly
indicate the extent and degree of the general slope of the
continent. The source of the Volga is only about 560 feet
above the level of the Caspian Sea, into which it flows, and
the length of its course being at least 2000 miles, without
any serious rapids, the average of its fall is consequently
very regular, and little more than three inches a mile ; but,
the direct distance being only 900 miles, the slope of the
country exceeds seven inches a mile. The source of the
Danube, in Suabia, is about 2176 feet above the level of
the Black Sea; but its fall is in several places very rapid,
particularly between Passau and Vienna, and at the Iron-
gate, through which it passes from the plains of Hungary
to the low level of Wallachia. The average fall, therefore,
of such a river would be a most fallacious index of the con¬
figuration of the whole length of country through which it
flows. Its course is indeed through a series of terraces,
separated by deep falls. The sources of the Rhine, in the
heart of Switzerland, have an elevation of more than 7000
feet, but when it reaches the Lake of Constance it has al¬
ready fallen to 1300. From that lake to Basel, where it
leaves the mountains, it falls more than 500 feet, and even
further down it still flows with great impetuosity, falling
400 feet more before it reaches Strasburg, a distance of
only 70 miles. The average, however, of its fall from the
latter city to the sea is only about one foot a mile. The
elevation of the Elbbrunnen, or sources of the Elbe, in
Bohemia, is 4260 feet, but the river falls so rapidly, within
a short distance, that, after passing the northern mountain
border of Bohemia, its elevation is found to be, at Dresden,
only 280 feet. The average fall from that point to the sea
is less than a foot a mile. The elevation of the source of
the Oder is 1705 feet, but at Breslau it has already fallen
to 370, and the average fall of the remainder of its course is
likewise about a foot a mile. The elevation of the source of
the Vistula we havenot been able to learn, but as it is navigable
from Podgorze, near Cracow, to the sea, its average fall is
probably much the same as that of the Elbe or the Oder.
Few of the rivers of Europe are of much importance as
means of communication and transit. The Volga becomes
navigable at Rief, about 70 miles from its source, and so
continues to the Caspian Sea, a distance of more than 2000
EUR
Europe, miles, following the course of the river. It is the great
v/-—^ highway of Central Russia, so many as 5000 loaded boats
annually descending its stream; but as it ends unfortunately
in an inland lake, it is of no use for the transport of other
foreign wares than the produce of the sandy and barren
regions that surround the Caspian. The Volga is so con¬
nected with the other great rivers and the lakes of Russia
by canals, that there is uninterrupted navigation from the
Baltic to the White Sea, the Black Sea, and the Caspian.
The Don has a course of 900 miles, but has so many shal¬
lows as to be nowhere navigable for large or sharp-bot¬
tomed vessels. The Dnieper, the next largest river of
Russia, has a course of 1000 miles, and is navigable from
Smolensk to Kief; but, further down, its channel is so ob¬
structed with rocks and falls, for a space of 150 miles, that
navigable communication between the sea and the inland
provinces through which it flows is completely cut off. The
Danube becomes navigable at Ulm, 1500 miles from its
mouth; but between Passau and Vienna it flows among
mountains, and navigation is rendered difficult by the ra¬
pidity of the stream, and the frequent occurrence of rocks,
shoals, eddies, and whirlpools ; and, in leaving Hungary,
through a narrow gorge of 60 miles in length, which it has
cut for itself across the mountains that inclose that country,
it falls in a series of rapids, the lowest of which is the famous
Irongate, through which the stream rushes with great rapi¬
dity in a narrow channel, between stupendous rocks, end¬
ing in a series of whirlpools, eddies, and smaller falls. Here
navigation was considered to be effectually stopped; but we
have just learned (Jan. 1855) that steamboats have at last
been constructed so as to be considered capable of passing
these rapids in safety, and that they will be immediately
put upon the river. It is also proposed to cut a channel
through the rocks 1200 yards long, 40 feet wide, and 6 feet
deep, which will give plenty of additional depth for the steam¬
ers and other loaded vessels. The number of workmen to be
employed on this gigantic undertaking is 2000, and the
work will extend over a period of six years, at a cost of two
millions of florins. So numerous, besides, are the wind¬
ings of the Danube through the comparatively level plains
of Hungary, that between Presburg and the Black Sea, a
direct distance of 650 miles, the course of the river actually
measures 1200. The Rhine is navigable above the lake of
Constance, but the navigation is stopped by the Rheinfall
near Schaffhausen. From that point to Basel it is not very
easy or always practicable ; to Strasburg it is not free from
danger, but further down the river becomes a fine navigable
stream, not quite free indeed from difficulty and risk, par¬
ticularly in the deep and narrow gorge which it passes
through between Bingen and Coblentz; but below Cob-
lentz the channel is uninterrupted and free from danger.
Between the Rhine and the Danube there is a navigable
communication by means of the rivers Meyn and Altmuhl,
which are connected by the Ludwig’s canal in Bavaria.
The Elbe, and its tributary the Moldau, are both navigable
even in Bohemia, and from their confluence to the sea there
is no serious interruption. The Oder is navigable down¬
wards from Silesia, and is of the utmost importance as the
channel of conveyance for the productions of that country
to the sea. Breslau, Frankfurt, and Stettin, three of the
principal commercial towns of Prussia, stand on its banks,
and it is connected by canals with the Vistula, the Havel,
and the Spree. The Vistula is, like the Oder, the principal
channel of transit between the Baltic Sea and the Polish
provinces of Austria, Russia, and Prussia, and begins to be
navigable at Podgorze, near Cracow.
These are the only rivers that seem to require notice as
navigable streams in a general survey of Europe, though
there are many others of great importance to the several
countries in which they are found, as the Thames, the Tyne,
the Clyde, the Rhone, the Po, See.
VOL. IX.
0 P E. 385
The islands of Europe, including Nova Zembla and Ice- Europe,
land, occupy a space equal to 280,000 square miles, or one
eleventh part of the surface of the continent; and of this Islands,
space the area of the British isles amounts to rather less
than one half. The Black Sea is the only large sea con¬
nected with Europe in which there are no islands worthy
of notice.
The Mediterranean, the noblest inland sea in the world, Seas,
forms the southern boundary of Europe, separating it from Mediter-
Africa, and partly also from Asia. It may be considered ranoan>
as the bottom of a vast basin formed by the Pyrenees, Alps,
Balkans, Taurus, Libanus, and Atlas. These mountains
are everywhere near its shores, which are consequently nar¬
row and much inclined. Hence there are no such exten¬
sive plains as Hungary or Poland near the coast of this sea,
and hence also no very large rivers fall into it except the
Nile ; and altogether it receives a smaller quantity of water
from rivers than the Black Sea or the Baltic, though six
times larger than either. Its length is about 2350 miles,
its breadth is extremely various, and its surface (exclusive
of the Black Sea) is nearly equal to 1,000,000 of square
English miles, or something less than a third part of the
continent of Europe. It is generally of great depth ; and
its numerous islands, w'hich have uniformly a rocky surface,
appear to be the summits of marine mountains.
The Baltic, the greatest inland sea that is entirely in Baltic.
Europe, is about 1200 miles long, of very unequal breadth,
and presents a surface of 175,000 square miles, exclusive
of islands. It occupies the bottom of another large basin,
850 miles in breadth, and 1400 in length, extending from
the Norwegian mountains on the north and west, to the
Carpathians on the south, and to the high lands in which
the Dnieper, the Don, and the Volga rise, on the east.
This basin, equal to one-third of the surface of Europe, has
a very different character from that of the Mediterranean.
The mountains are not very elevated, and are so placed as
to leave a large tract of land very little inclined between
them and the Baltic, over which, especially on the south
side, many considerable rivers flow with a gentle current.
Hence the country round the Baltic is much more level
than round the Mediterranean ; lakes are numerous in the
low grounds, from the want of declivity; the sea itself is
comparatively shallow, and receiving a much greater quan¬
tity of river water, it is much less salt. The commerce of
the Baltic is annually interrupted by the ice, which endures
four months in the Gulfs of Bothnia and Finland. I he
whole of this inland sea has sometimes been frozen over for
a short time, but this is of rare occurrence,
The Black Sea, which belongs only partly to Europe, is Black Sea.
700 miles long and 380 miles broad, and, including the Sea
of Azof, presents a surface of 170,000 square miles, be¬
ing almost of the same magnitude as the Baltic. It derives
four-fifths of its water from Europe, and is curiously distin¬
guished from the other seas of this quarter of the globe, by
its being almost totally destitute of islands.
The White Sea is 450 miles in length, of a very irregu- White Sea.
lar figure, and occupies a space equal to 35,000 square miles.
It receives some considerable rivers, but is frozen during
six months of the year.
The lakes of Europe are numerous, and are of two kinds ; Lakes,
those which lie in cavities at the foot of high mountains,
and which are generally deep, such as the lakes in the Alps,
on the east side of the Norwegian mountains, and among
the mountains of England and Scotland ; and those which
are formed in level countries from the want of a sufficient
declivity to carry off the water, such as the lakes in Fin¬
land, Poland, and Brandenburg. Four-fifths of the lakes
of Europe are in the country round the Baltic.
The soil of Europe has not the extremes of luxuriance Vegetable
or sterility which belong to the soil of the other great con- produc-
tinents. If it does not yield the rich fruits of tropical cli- Uons•
3 c
386
E U E
Europe, mates, it is not deformed by burning sands like Africa, or
jr ^ — J by pestilent swamps like America. It does not pour forth
its riches spontaneously, but, soliciting the care and the
labour of man, it requites his industry with what is neces¬
sary to supply his wants ; and, by exercising and sharpen¬
ing his powers of mind, has given birth to those arts which
place the productions of the most favoured climates at his
disposal. Many of the plants which have been domesticated
in Europe are natives of distant countries. The vine, the
olive, and the mulberry, are said to have been brought from
Syria by the Greeks; the Arabians introduced cotton ;
maize was received from the Indian tribes of America; the
walnut and the peach come from Persia ; the apricot from
Armenia; and the sugar-caneand orange from China. There
are not very many plants belonging to the tropical regions
that absolutely refuse to grow in Europe, but an enlightened
economy finds other productions more profitable, llesides
sugar and cotton, the banana, the orange, citron, fig, pome¬
granate, and date, grow in the south of Europe. But the
more delicate fruits are confined to southern latitudes, and
disappear one by one*as we advance northward. And it is
worthy of remark, that the zones in which they grow gene¬
rally follow the lines of equal summer heat, and run obliquely
across the contine-nt in the direction of south-west and
north-east. If a line be drawn on the map from Brest to
Konigsberg, skirting the southern shores of the English
Channel and the Baltic, the zones that limit the growth of
different plants will run nearly parallel with this line. This
holds generally in the south and middle of Europe ; but in
the extreme northern parts, and especially with regard to
plants that require a moderate heat continued for a con¬
siderable time, the lines that limit the growth of certain
vegetables seem to follow a different course, and decline
towards the south as we advance eastward, in consequence
of the increasing severity and length of the winter. It is
scarcely necessary to say, that the zones, traced as proper
for different plants, only mark the limits within which their
cultivation is found advantageous. Most of them will grow
beyond these limits ; but they either require some peculiar
advantages of soil and situation, or they are less profitable
than other kinds of produce.
The sugar cane, one of the most desirable tropical plants,
grows in Sicily and the south of Spain, in the latitude of
37° and 38°. The culture of it, which was once extensive
in the latter country, has not yet been entirely abandoned,
even since sugar was procured from the West Indies. Cot¬
ton is cultivated in the south of Spain on a small scale, to
a greater extent in Sicily, the south-east angle of Italy,
and in Greece and its isles, £is high as the latitude of 41^°;
we find it again at Astrakhan, in the latitude of 46°. The
orange and the lemon come to perfection in the west of
Europe, only in the countries to the south of the Pyrenees
and Apennines, within the latitude 43° in Spain, and 44°
in Italy. The olive does not succeed on the west coast of
France in the latitude of 43°, but grows as far north as 44°
or 45° on the east of France, and in Italy. Attempts to
raise it at Astracan, in latitude 46°, have not succeeded, on
account of the rigour of the winter. The fig and the pome¬
granate, which accompany the olive in the west of Eu¬
rope, are found in the Crimea in the east, at the latitude of
46°, where the olive will not grow, a proof that these trees
bear the winter cold better. The climate proper for maize
is found to terminate on the west coast of France at 45.^° ;
on the Rhine at 49° ; on the Elbe at 50° or 51°. Rice has
nearly the same geographical range, but requires a peculiar
soil and situation. The culture of the vine extends as far
north as the latitude of 47^° on the Atlantic coast; on the
Rhine to 50^°; and on the Oder to 52°. In Russia it
grows as far north nearly as 52°, but is not cultivated be¬
yond 50°. The mulberry generally accompanies the vine.
The limits of the culture of the common cerealia are not
OPE.
so well defined, as the necessities of man oblige him to Europe,
raise corn under the most unfavourable circumstances. In 's'—~y-*-^
a general point of view, however, the parallel of 57° or 58°
may be regarded as the northern limit of the cultivation of
wheat in Europe. It is raised as far north as 60° or 61° in
Finland, but only in some favoured spots. In Russia, ge¬
nerally, it is chiefly confined to the provinces under the
latitude of 57°. The hardier cerealia, rye, oats, and barley,
are cultivated in some sheltered situations on the coast of
Norway, as high as the latitude of 69° 55'. But on the east
side of the Norwegian mountains these grains scarcely ripen
in the latitude of 67° or 68° ; and farther east, in Russia,
it has been found impossible to carry cultivation of any
kind beyond the latitude of 60° or 62°. Barley, which ac¬
commodates itself better than any other grain to these high
latitudes, by shortening the period of its growth, is sown
and reaped within the space of seven or eight weeks. But
the introduction of potatoes promises to be of vast advan¬
tage in these cold regions, as this plant thrives and yields
a produce of thirty or fifty fold in places where grain often
will not ripen. Peaches and apricots succeed with much
care as far north only as the latitude of 50° in Russia;
melons as far as 52°. The plum and the cherry grow wild
as far north as 55°, but are carried farther by cultivation.
Fruit trees and the oak terminate in Sweden, at Geffle, in
the latitude of 61°; but the pine and the birch advance
within the arctic circle ; and the former grows to the height
of 60 feet in the latitude of 70°. The blackberry and the
whortleberry grow in Lapland, and the gooseberry even
in Greenland. Tobacco is extensively cultivated over the
greater part of the continent of Europe, from Sicily to
Sweden. Flax and hemp have as extensive a range as corn,
but they are raised in the greatest perfection between the
latitudes of 45° and 60°.
We have stated that the superficial extent of Europe is
about 3,700,000 square miles. If we draw a curved line
from a point in the Uralian Mountains, about the latitude
of 60° or 61°, to the west coast of Norway, in the latitude
of 69°, passing through the Lake Onega, and a little to
the northward of the Gulf of Bothnia, this line will mark
the extreme limits of cultivation, and will cut off a space
equal to 550,000 square miles, or nearly one-seventh of
Europe. The space cut off, however, is not entirely use¬
less, as a part of it produces pasturage and wood. The
cultivation of rye, oats, and barley, is confined to the region
south of this line, and includes more than five-sixths of
Europe ; but in the northern parts of this zone only a very
small proportion of the land will bear corn. The region
adapted to the cultivation of wheat comprehends about four-
sevenths of Europe, and includes all the densely peopled
parts. The region of the vine extends over three-sevenths
of Europe.
Europe, in proportion to its extent, is probably richer in Metals and
mineral wealth than the other quarters of the globe. It minerals,
contains all the metals except platina; and though it af¬
fords gold and silver only in limited quantities, iron, copper,
lead, with coal and salt, commodities of greater value to
society, are abundantly and widely distributed. T he moun¬
tains, consisting of primary and transition rocks, are the
great depositaries of these mineral treasures.
Iron is found in all the chains of mountains in Europe.
The richest mines are in the Dofrefeld, or Scandinavian
Alps. But rich mines are also found in the Alps of Styria,
Carinthia, and Bavaria; in the Pyrenees, the Vosges, the
Cevennes, the coal districts of Britain, the Urals, the Car¬
pathians, the Hartz, and many other places.
Copper is also widely distributed, though less abundant
than iron. The richest mines are in Hungary, in the Car¬
pathian Mountains. It abounds also in the Saxon and Bo¬
hemian Mountains, in the Dofrefeld, the Urals, the north of
England, and the Alps; and it is found in the Vosges, the
EUR
Europe. Pyrenees, and other mountains of Spain, in the north of
Germany, and in Tuscany.
Lead exists in the Alps, Carpathians, Pyrenees, Cevennes,
Vosges, the British mountains, and the IJralian chain.
Tin is found only in a few places in Europe. The richest
mines are in Cornwall; next to these are the mines in
the Erzgebirge. It is also found in Hungary and Spanish
Galicia.
Mercury, like tin, is confined to a few places. The
mines of Idria, in Austria, which yield 8000 to 10,000
quintals per annum, are the most productive in Europe.
There are also considerable mines at Deux Pouts, in the
Palatinate ; in the Spanish province of La Mancha; and in
Transylvania.
Gold is widely diffused through Europe, but generally
in such quantities as not to repay the expense of working.
It is wrought, however, in the Carpathians, the Urals, the
Dofrefeld, and the Alps. Anciently there were rich mines
of gold in Spain and Greece.
Silver is more abundant than gold, though less widely
distributed. There are productive mines of this metal in
the Erzgebirge, the Carpathians, the Urals, the Norwegian
Dofrefeld, and in Sardinia. It is found also in the Alps, the
Vosges, and the Sierra Morena.
Of coal, the richest mines are found in the north and
west of England. It abounds also on both sides of the mid¬
dle region of Scotland ; in Ireland ; in the Netherlands ; in
one-fourth part of the French territory; and occurs more
sparingly in Saxony, Hanover, Denmark, Sweden, Russia,
Hungary, Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, Bavaria, Austria,
Franconia, Westphalia, Swabia, Catalonia, and some other
parts of Spain, in Portugal, and in Sardinia. After Bri¬
tain, France and Belgium are the countries in Europe best
supplied with this mineral.
Salt is procured from the waters of the ocean, and, in
the interior of Europe, from numerous salt mines and salt
springs. The most productive salt mines in Europe are
those in Poland, on the north side of the Carpathians, and
those in Salzburg, on the north side of the Alps, both of
which belong to Austria. There are also extensive depo¬
sitaries of mineral salt in Transylvania and Hungary; in
Valentia, Navarre, and Catalonia, in Spain ; in Cheshire in
England; and in Bavaria and Switzerland. Salt springs
are numerous along the sides of primitive mountains in most
countries of Europe. The most extensive salt mines of
Russia are in Asia; but very large quantities of salt are
collected from the tuzlas, or salt-lakes in the Crimea.
Antimony, cobalt, zinc, manganese, sulphur, alum, and
a great variety of other mineral productions, are found
in Europe ; but it is unnecessary to specify their locali¬
ties.
It is observed that the Alps, Pyrenees, Carpathians,
and other mountain chains which run east and west, are
richest in metals on the south side; while the Dofrines,
Urals, and others which run north and south, are richest
on the east side. Of the mountain chains of Europe, the
Apennines are the poorest in metals, the Carpathians pro¬
bably the richest.
Animals. The animal kingdom of Europe is less varied than the
vegetable. In the north, the white bear and the blue fox,
the peculiar natives of the arctic regions, appear at times on
the coasts of Russia and Lapland, and vast numbers of foxes
inhabit Nova Zembla. The rein-deer abounds in Lapland,
but can scarcely live to the south of 65°. In Russia, owing
to the greater coldness of the climate, it is found as low as
63°. It forms the chief wealth of the inhabitants of those
dreary regions. The lemming, a curious migrating animal,
lives between the 55° and 65°; and the glutton is ob¬
served in the same region. The elk, an animal every
day becoming scarcer, frequents Lithuania, and even some
parts of Prussia, but is seldom found farther north than
OPE. 387
64°. Rats and mice are not to be seen in the most nor- Europe.
therly parts of Lapland, though they abound everywhere
else.
The strongest horses and beeves are found in the great
plains which extend from Moldavia and the Ukraine to
Denmark and Flanders; they are found so far north as
64°. In Lapland, however, the ox is even found at 71°,
and in Iceland there are horses even beyond the polar circle.
The urus or aurochs (wild ox) is still occasionally seen
in Poland. In the same region, and through the whole
of central Europe, there is a breed of sheep originally the
same as those of Spain and England. The ass, though
far from being x’eckoned a delicate animal, does not bear
cold so well as the horse. In Europe it is rarely seen be¬
yond 52°. The climates most favourable to the ass are
those between 20° and 40°. There he grows large and
handsome, and is lively and docile; but farther north he
degenerates, becoming always more and more puny, dull,
and stupid.
The wild goat, the chamois, and the marmot frequent the
great mountain ranges of middle Europe, the Alps, the
Pyrenees, the Carpathians, and the Balkans.
The animals that are found in the middle region are also,
for the most part, common to the south. The ox and the
horse in Italy, if well fed, are as stout as any in the Ukraine
or in Holstein. The Arab horse was brought into the
south of Europe by the Moors and the Turks; and perhaps
from it have sprung the Andalusian and other varieties.
It is still less doubtful that the buffalo has been imported
from Asia into Southern Europe. A particular species of
sheep in Sardinia, and another in Candia, are supposed
to be indigenous. The Arabian camel has been intro¬
duced into Tuscany. The Bactrian camel thrives in the
steppes of the Crimea and southern Russia, which likewise
feeds large herds of Tartar horses.
Europe is peopled by several very distinct races of men, Different
distinct in respect of physiological characteristics, as well as races of
of language. It would be quite out of place here, however, inhabi-
to discuss the principles of anthropology, ethnology, glos- tants-
sology, and comparative philology, or any of the important
questions respecting the origin and affinities of nations, that
have occupied the attention of the cultivators of these
branches of science: we shall simply state what we believe
to have been the results of their researches, with respect to
the people and languages of Europe.
It has been inferred, chiefly from sepulchral remains,
that at some very remote epoch the western parts of Europe
were possessed by a people of a low degree of intellectual
and social development, and it is supposed that they pro¬
bably belonged to the same family of nations as the Iberians
of Spain, or to a family, of which the Laps of Scandinavia
are the modern representatives. The Iberians seem to have
possessed, at one time, the whole of the Spanish peninsula,
and even to have extended beyond the Pyrenees, far into
France if not over the whole territory, and even into Italy
and the islands of Corsica, Sardinia, and Sicily; but whether
they belonged to the same family as the Laps, or were rather
connected with the Berbers of Africa, is a point not yet,
and perhaps not easily to be, determined. The Basques,
who live in Biscay, Navarre, and the adjoining parts of
France, and call themselves Euscaldunac, are believed to be
the remains of this once great nation. At a very early
epoch, which cannot be determined, these aboriginal races
were intruded upon by people of the Gaelic, Celtic, or
Keltic stock, who acquired possession of all France, Britain
and Ireland, and subsequently penetrated into Spain, where
they mingled with the Iberians, and produced the Celtibe-
rians, and also into Italy, the northern part of which was
called from them, Cisalpine Gaul, and so on to the head of
the Adriatic Sea. Afterwards another people of kindred
lineage, but speaking a language considerably different,
388
EUR
Europe, and known as the Cimbric, Kymraic, Cumbrians, or Cam-
-M, J brian race, acquired possession of the north ot trance*
of all the southern parts of Britain, and of the eastern mari¬
time Lowlands of Scotland, as far north at least as the river
Spey, leaving the older Celts in possession of the north¬
western Highlands and Islands of Scotland and of all Ire¬
land, and the southern and south-eastern parts of France.
They seem likewise to have extended themselves along the
German shores of the North Sea, as far as Jutland. The
Iberians, the Kelts, and the Kymri, were the races that
possessed the south-western countries of Europe at the
dawn of history. .
The north-east of Europe is the native seat of the Ugrian
races, now best represented by the Finns; and people of
this stock seem to have possessed the northern and nor th-
eastern parts of Europe in the earliest times, extending from
the shores of the Arctic Ocean and the W hite bea, to the
shores of the Euxine, and to have been the original Skuthians,
whom we miscall Scythians; for though the name Cud, Scud,
Czud, or Tschude, by which these people have been long
known, and which is believed by Schaffarick to be the ori¬
ginal of the Greek <tkv6ol, is not a native name, but only
applied to them by the Slavonians, yet the Sarmatians of
old were themselves Slavonians, and the Greeks may have
borrowed the name from them, and then in their ignorance
applied it without distinction of races to all the people that
lived to the north and east of the Black Sea. Jakob Grimm,
however, prefers a Gothic etymology for Skuthoi, and sup¬
poses it to have been borrowed by the Greeks from the
people of Thrace, who vaguely applied it to all the people
farther north. At an early, but unknown epoch, Sarmatians,
the ancestors of the modern Slavonic races, settled in the
countries that lie to the north of the Black Sea, and seem
to have pressed themselves gradually north-eastward upon
the Ugrians, till they have nearly dispossessed them alto¬
gether of their country, while the Ugrians were pressed
back in the same way from the south-east by Turkish and
Tartar races. The modern Ugrian races are the Laps of
Scandinavia, the Finns, and the Samoyeds and some other
tribes of Russia, and the Majyars of Hungary.
Between the Sarmatians and the Skuthians of the east,
and the Kelts and Kimbers of the west, the Gothic and
Germanic races are found, at the dawn of history, pressing
southward like a wedge; but where they came from, and
how they found themselves on the shores of the Baltic at
that epoch, it would be vain to inquire. They seem, how¬
ever to have been very early divided into two great branches,
one of which proceeded northwards to the conquest of Scan¬
dinavia, while the other directed their efforts southwards
and westwards, till they became known to the Romans
under the name of Germans. In the later times of the
Roman empire, branches of this family were also in posses¬
sion of Mcesia, and other countries to the north-west of
the Black Sea, from which they have now entirely disap¬
peared. From the northern branch of the Germanic race
are descended the modern Swedes, Danes, Norwegians, and
the natives of Iceland and the Faroe Islands; from the
southern branch, the modern Deutsch, both high and low,
or all the Deutsch inhabitants of Germany, Switzerland,
France, and the Netherlands, and the English, and Low¬
land Scots, though the latter are indeed largely intermixed,
with Gothic, Celtic, and Cambro-British blood.
1 he south-eastern peninsula of Europe is found possessed,
at the earliest epoch, by races of unknowm origin and lineage,
who became in time the well-known Hellenes, or Greeks;
and at an epoch at least as early, the neighbouring penin¬
sula of Italy w’as possessed by races who seem to have gra-
uually coalesced into Latins and Romans. With the con¬
quests of the latter people, the Latin language was spread
over Italy, France, and Spain, where it seems to have almost
entirely superseded the aboriginal tongues, and laid the
OPE.
foundations of the modern languages of those countries. Europe.
The Romans, after having brought all the nations of Italy, ..
France, and Spain under subjection to their empire, wrere
in their turn invaded and overthrown by the northern na¬
tions, various tribes of whom, under the names of Heruli,
Ostro-Goths, Longobards, and others, penetrated into and
settled in Italy; while Suevians and Visi-Goths settled in
Spain, Franks and Burgundians in Gaul, Angles, Saxons,
Jutes, and Frisians in Britain. In the first three of these
countries, Italy, Spain, and France, so far were the invaders
from extirpating the natives, that, on the contrary, they
seem to have mixed freely with them, and to have rather
adopted the languages they found prevailing than imposed
their own. At this day indeed, the great bulk of the French
people are believed to be of Keltic descent, and to retain the
physical and mental characteristics of the Gauls, though most
of them have entirely lost their ancestral language. In Britain
the invaders seem to have preponderated over the natives,
and entirely changed the language of the country, driving
the unmixed natives into Wales, Cornwall, and Cumber¬
land; and it is only in Wales that the Cambro-British lan¬
guage still lives. In the 11th century, England was in¬
vaded by a host of Normans and French; and from the
gradual mixture of these with the Anglo-Saxons have
been formed the modern English nation and language. Two
or three centuries after settling in Spain, the Goths were
dispossessed of that kingdom by Mohammedan invaders
from Africa, a remnant of them taking refuge among the
mountains of Asturias. In the course of seven centuries
the descendants of these refugees recovered their lost pos¬
sessions; and to have the blue blood of the Goths pure in
his veins, is the proudest distinction of a Spaniard ; so
many of the nation beingcontaminated by the black (Moorish,
not negro) blood of Africa. These pure Goths, however,
are only the mixed descendants of Iberians, Celts, Cartha¬
ginians, Numidians, Romans, Suevians, Goths, and Van¬
dals, from the last of whom the province of Andalusia
(Vandalusia) takes its name.
The ancient inhabitants of the south-east of Europe are
now represented by the Greeks, Albanians, and Walla-
chians. The Greeks not only occupy the new kingdom of
Greece and the Ionian Islands, but are also spread over the
provinces of Turkey and the adjoining parts of Russia and
Austria. They have preserved the language and much of
the character of the ancient Greeks. The Albanians, called
also Arnauts and Skipetars, are believed to be the descend¬
ants of the ancient inhabitants of Albania, though mixed
with Slavonic blood. The Wallachians, who possess Wal-
lachia and Moldavia, and the adjoining parts of Hungary,
Transylvania, and Bulgaria, and speaks a Roman language,
are probably the descendants of the ancient Dacians, inter¬
mixed with a numerous Roman colony, which had been
settled among them. Towards the end of the ninth cen¬
tury an Ugrian race settled in the ancient Pannonia, where
they are now known by the names of Majyars in Hungary,
and Szeklers in Transylvania.
The Tartars, who are spread over the south-eastern pro¬
vinces of Russia, are believed to be the descendants of the
Turkish portion of the armies of Zengis Khan, who invaded
Europe in the thirteenth century, and whose successors
domineered over the Muscovite Russians till the end of the
fifteenth. In the sixteenth century they were dispossessed
of their kingdoms of Kazan and Astrakhan, and subdued by
the Muscovites, and their numbers are now very small in
comparison with those of the ruling race. The Osmanli,
or Ottoman Turks, a more important branch of the same
family, first came into Europe in the fourteenth century,
their third Sultan, Amurath, or Morad I., who reigned from
1358 to 1389, having then possessed himself of all Thrace,
or Rumelia, and established his seat of government at
Adrianople. In 1452, the Sultan Mohammed II. got pos-
EUROPE.
389
Europe, session by conquest of Constantinople, which has been ever
since, not only the capital of Turkey, but also the metro¬
polis of Islam, or the Mohammedan world. Since their great
defeat at Vienna in 1683, the Turkish power has been de¬
clining, and to all appearance it will soon be swept out of
Europe altogether. The Ottomans consider Asia Minor,
or Anatolia, to be the home of their race, and seem quite
prepared to cede Rumelia to whoever is able to take it.
The Dobrudji (or Dobrudshee) Turks, a numerous tribe
distinct from the Osmanli, possess the noi'th-eastern cor¬
ner of Bulgaria, between Shumla, the Danube, and the
Black Sea. The total number of Mussulmans in European
Turkey is estimated at about four and a half millions; but
of the Ottoman Turks themselves the number is variously
estimated between 700,000 and 2,100,000. The Turks
seem to have come originally from Central Asia, and to
have been of the Mongolian or yellow race of mankind.
They seem, however, to have mingled freely with all the
western nations among whom their conquests carried them,
and from the intermixture has sprung a race who are but
little different from natives of Caucasian origin. Some
ethnographers, in consequence, believe them to have been
even originally Caucasian ; but it is certain that many I urks,
even in Europe, still exhibit the strongest Mongolian forms
and features, and that phenomenon seems to us to indicate
that these are pure Turks, of the original stock, while their
Caucasian brethren are of mixed descent. ,
With respect to physical characteristics, it may be said
generally that the nations of the south-west and south, as
French, Italian, Spaniards, Greeks, are melanous, or dark-
complexioned, while the Gothic and German races are ge¬
nerally xanthous, or fair-complexioned, with blue or gray
eyes, and fair hair. The former are lively and energetic,
more imaginative and inventive than the northern races,
but less persevering, and the more southern portions of
them, indeed, fonder of idleness than of work. They are
likewise more temperate in eating and drinking than the
northerns, but more passionate and vindictive. The north¬
erns, on the other hand, though less imaginative and inven¬
tive, are more thoughtful, serious, and persevering, and more
addicted to pursuits that exercise the understanding than to
those that merely amuse the fancy ; but they are less tem¬
perate in eating and drinking, which may be ascribed to the
influence of the colder climates under which they live.
The Slavonic, Turkish, and Tartar races are all melanous,
or dark, and, as compared with the western nations,
still in a lower degree of civilization, and intellectual and
industrial development. “ In regard to physical form,”
says Dr Latham, “the Ugrians are light-haired rather than
dark, many of them are red haired.” Scheffer, however, in
his History of Lapland, says, that though young women
are indifferently handsome and of a clear skin, most of the
men are swarthy, and the hair of both sexes is generally
black and hard, very seldom yellow. Professor Berghaus
says, that the skin of the Laps is yellow-brown, and Uiey
have brown hair and brown eyes; and that the hair of the
Finns is sometimes black, sometimes blond, yellow-brown,
or red, the face dirty brown, and the eyes gray.
Languages. Europe contains, in proportion to its area, a greater num¬
ber of distinct and strikingly marked families of languages
than any of the other quarters of the world. A careful divi¬
sion gives at least ten independent groups, though, in respect
of language as well as geography, Europe forms, with a
slight exception, only one great whole with western Asia.
The m-eater number of its languages consist of members of
the Indo-European family; a small proportion belongs to
the Shemitic family ; branches of various fataric or 1 artaric
languages, spread from Asia into the very heart of Europe ;
in the 'north of Russia and Scandinavia various branches
of the Finnish language are still spoken, and one branch—
the Majyar—-is found isolated in the centre of the conti¬
nent. The Basque, solitary, and of unknown origin, still Europe,
lingers among the western Pyrenees ; a small remnant of a v
language, which is presumed to have been once spoken all
over the Peninsula. A remarkable characteristic, however,
of the European languages, is the fact that their linguistic
connection is not supported by the physical family likeness
of those who speak them ; or, in other words, that nations
of the same race do not always speak the same language,
while, on the other hand, branches of the same language are
spoken by people of different races; language being more
changeable than physiological character. There is indeed
abundant evidence to show that the principal physical charac¬
ters of a people may be preserved through a long series of
ages, in despite of climate, mixture of races, invasions of
foreigners, progress of civilization, or other known influences ;
and that a type can long outlive the language, history,
religion, customs, and recollections of those on whom it is
impressed.
Of monosyllabic languages, such as the Chinese, there
are none in Europe. Of the higher class, called agglutiniz-
ing languages, which express the idea itself by a fixed woid,
and its relations by letters or syllables loosely and mechan¬
ically joined with it, Europe furnishes examples in the
Tartaric, Caucasian, and Majyar languages. The Tartaric Tartaric,
languages form a continuous chain from the east of Asia to
the centre of Europe, and exhibit in their numerous branches
the remarkable peculiarity of improving steadily and regu¬
larly as they proceed westward. According to traditions
current among the tribes that speak them, their first home
must be sought for on the high table-lands of the Altai;
and hence the name of Altaic, by which they are frequently
designated in modern writings. The whole Tartaric family
consists of two principal and essentially different branches ;
the Tartaric Proper in the east, consisting of the 1 ongu-
sian, of which the Mantchoo is a variety, the Mongolian,
and the Turkish ; the European branch, in the west, com¬
prehending the numerous branches of the Finnic, or, as the
Slavonic races call it, the Tschudic. Only the I ungusian
is not represented in Europe ; all the others are found some¬
where or other. The Mongolian appears in the Olot dia¬
lect spoken by the numerous Mongolian hordes that occupy
the vast plains to the east and north of the Volga.; and a
small separated colony at the confluence of that river with
the Samara. The ’lurkish is spoken in a comparatively
small portion of Europe by a few millions of the Osmanli
or Ottoman Turks in European T.urkey, and several scat¬
tered tribes. Only the common people, however, in Tur¬
key speak pure Turkish. The language of the more refined
classes is filled with Arabic and Persian elements; and the
more refined the language the more foreign elements it con¬
tains. Various dialects of the same language, but not essen¬
tially different from that of Turkey, are spoken by the
Tartars of Russia. Those who dwell in the south, in the
neighbourhood of the Caucasus, are called lartars; to the
west of the Ossetes, and on both sides of the Elburz, they
appear as Karatschai; more numerous and powerful near the
mouths of the Danube, as far as the Dneister, through the
Crimea, and along the north side of the sea of Azof to
Taganrog, and then again north of the Caucasus till they
meet the Olot on the Volga, as Nogai-, north and west of
the Caspian Sea, and along the Ural river, as Kirghiz; then
as Tartars of Kasan ; then as the Bashkirs, in the valley
of the Ural, mingled in the governments of Orenburg and
Perm with the Meshtscheryakes ; and finally, the tribes who
speak the Tshuwassian dialect. Only the language of Kasan
is, properly speaking, a written language.
The Finnish family of languages, closely connected with
each other by striking analogies, and best represented in its
most perfect form, the Finnish proper, is sometimes called^
Uralian, or Ugrian, from the geographical situation of
some important tribes, or Cudic, Scudic, Tzudic,-Czudic,
390
EUR
Europe.
Lappic.
Majyar.
Caucasian.
Basque.
Shemitic
family.
Indo-Euro¬
pean.
or Tschudic,1 from the name applied by the Slavonic Rus¬
sians to all the Finnish tribes of the empire. Some of
these dialects are spoken in the whole range of country along
the Ural, by Samoyeds and Ostiakes, and are as yet but
little known, some of the tribes being not even converted
to Christianity. It has been, however, so far satisfac¬
torily established that they are the parent stock from
which is derived the now entirely disconnected Majyar.
Their western neighbours are the Syryaenes, Permians,
and Votyakes, whose languages differ slightly from the
others, though they are not free from Russian and Tartaric
mixture. The Tsheremisses and the Morduines are sepa¬
rated colonies of the same race on the banks of the Volga,
and are commonly distinguished as the Bulgarian branch
of the Finnish family. The literature of all these eastern
dialects is almost entirely limited to translations of parts of
the Bible. Of greater importance are the western dialects,
the Lappic, the Finnish proper, and the Esthic. The
first extends from the White Sea and the Northern Ocean,
over the northern parts of the Scandinavian peninsula, down
to 60° N. Lat. The ‘Finnish Proper, called by the Finns
themselves Suomi, prevails in Finland, and the Esthic, in
Esthonia, the northern part of Livonia, and the adjacent
islands. These three languages have each several minor
dialects, but they are all closely connected with each other.
Quite cut off from their cognate races, surrounded by Sla¬
vonians and Wallachians, and mixed with Germans, Gyp¬
sies, Armenians, and Jews, we find the Majyars in Hun¬
gary, who speak a language connected with the Finnish.
It is not free from foreign elements ; but in respect of struc¬
ture and grammar, it is one of the most developed of all the
Tartaric languages. It is mainly the same wherever it is
spoken ; but it is found pure only among the Cumanes,
Jazyges, and Haiduks. A large Majyar population fills
the western part of Hungary; those in the east, in Tran¬
sylvania, are called Szekler. The name of their country
indicates the race they belong to, Hungary being derived
from their name Ugri, passing through the dialectic changes
of Ungri, Hungri, and Hungari.
To the agglutinizing family likewise belong the languages
of various tribes of the Caucasus, and the Basque in the
Pyrenees. The former, the Caucasian languages, are as
yet very imperfectly known to philologists. The Basque,
a small but highly interesting relic of a once powerful family,
still lives in a small strip of country at the innermost corner
of the Bay of Biscay, along the French and Spanish fron¬
tiers, and some distance westward along the coast of Spain.
The people who speak it call it the Euscara, and them¬
selves Euscaldunac. It is divided into three dialects, not
essentially different from each other, but entirely different
from all the other languages of Europe, to none of which
the Euscara shows any relation.
The essential difference between the agglutinizing and
the inflecting languages, is the power which the latter pos¬
sess of representing the connection of idea and relation in
the mind by a corresponding radical and inseparable con¬
nection of the two elements in the same word. Two great
classes of languages constitute the great body of inflecting
speech, namely the Shemitic and the Indo-European; 'but
the former is now represented in Europe only by a single
dialect, the Maltese, which was formerly considered to be
a relic of the Phoenician, or old Punic, but is now more
generally considered to belong to the Arabic stock. It is
spoken in the island of Malta by the native inhabitants.
The rest of the languages of Europe belong to the great
Indo-European family, which may be arranged into the
Arian, Pelasgic, Slavic, Celtic, and Germanic groups, each
of which has, or has had, some representative in Europe,
OPE.
though of very unequal extent and importance. The Arian Europe,
group is almost confined to Asia, its chief representative in
Europe being the humble and long despised dialect of the Gypsy.
Gypsies, which that race have tenaciously preserved through
centuries of the most lawless and most vagrant course of
life. Though mixed with the words and elements of vari¬
ous other languages, especially Slavonic and Romanic, the
various dialects spoken by the Gypsies in different parts of
the world are essentially the same, and their descent can
be satisfactorily traced back to a connection with the great
Arian tongues of south-western Asia, and especially, in spite
of degeneration and mixture, with the Sanscrit of India it¬
self. The Armenian is properly only an Asiatic language, Armenian,
but it is spoken in Europe by many thousands of Arme¬
nians, who, like the Gypsies, are scattered over south-east¬
ern Europe, in various detached colonies. Though much
changed in form and structure from the original Iranic, of
which it seems to have been a branch, it still retains enough
of the family likeness to connect it with the Arian group.
The original character, however, of the old Iranic or Per¬
sian languages is most purely preserved and best represented
in the Ossetic, the language of a small tribe on the very ossetic<
confines of Europe. The Ossetes dwell in the heart of the
Caucasus, surrounded by alien races. History knows no¬
thing about them ; but their language shows at once their
origin and connections. They call themselves by the old
family name of Iron ; and their language is almost iden¬
tical in its grammar and words with the older dialects, and
even a better representative of the Zend and the old Per¬
sian than the modern language of Iran or Persia itself.
Greek and Latin are the two languages that form the Greek and
bases of the Pelasgic group of modern European tongues. Latin.
At a period anterior to the dawn of history, the Greek in
its oldest, and the Latin in its earliest form, are believed
to have very closely resembled each other. The Latin
generally bears the stamp of higher antiquity than the
classic Greek, and resembles the iEolic more than the later
dialects of the Hellenic tongue. Be that as it may, how¬
ever, the Greek is now represented in Europe by the
Romaic, or modern Greek language, which, in its present
form, has more resemblance to the ancient Greek than any
of the modern Latin languages have to the ancient Latin.
It is spoken in the islands of the Archipelago, and of the
western coast of Greece up to Corfu, in the Morea, and in
Hellas Proper, and Rumelia, though interspersed with
Turkish colonies, eastward to Constantinople. Near Tag¬
anrog, on the Sea of Azof, there is a small colony, and
further south, on the western shore of that sea, there is a
larger settlement of Greeks, surrounded by Slaves and
Tartars. Greeks are settled also in all the towns of the
Crimea, and along the shores of the Black Sea. But the
Hellenic, or literary language of the modern Greeks, having
been of late highly cultivated on the model, of the ancient
classic language, now differs very considerably from the
vulgar Romaic. The Albanian language has been com- Albanian,
monly considered to be a descendant of the ancient Illyrian;
but the presumption is now generally in favour of its
descent from the same original stock as the Greek, from
which, however, it must have been separated at a very
early epoch, the forms which it has in common with the
Greek more nearly resembling the oldest than any of the
latest forms of that language. It is spoken by about a
million and a half of people, who call themselves Sehkipe-
tars, while the Turks call them Arnauts. They live in
Albania and those parts of Greece that lie immediately to
the south of it, and extend eastward, with frequent inter¬
ruptions, far into Bulgaria.
Latin, the language of the all-conquering Romans, was Latin
 — branch.
1 The first letter of this name is the Slavonic C, the sound of which cannot be properly represented by any combination of Roman
letters. It is usually represented by Cz or Tz, as in Czar or Tzar, Priepecz or Priepetz, Galacz or Galatz, Czud or Tzud, or Tshoude.
EUROPE.
391
Europe, extended with their empire over the countries of south-
^ western Europe, where it has left noble descendants in the
French, Spanish, Portuguese, Romance or Provencal, and
Italian languages. Of these the bulk of the words are
substantially Latin, but the forms or inflexions and gram¬
matical structure have been very much changed, though
nowhere entirely destroyed. They have been largely
mixed with words from other languages of the Gothic,
Germanic, and Celtic stocks, and in Spain, from the Basque
and Arabic also. As might have been expected, the Latin
has remained purest in Italy, where not one-tenth, it is
thought, of radical words is foreign. In Spanish, little
more than the half of the radicals is Latin, but it has re¬
tained more of the Latin inflection than even the Italian.
The Portuguese, originally only a provincial dialect of
Spanish, still remains almost identical with it in respect of
words and structure, but differs in respect of certain Spanish
sounds, to which the Portuguese seems to have a national
antipathy. The Provencal forms a sort of linguistic as well
as geographical transition from those languages that have
preserved most of the Latin, to the French, which is furthest
removed from it. It is spoken in the south of France,
where it is distinguished from French as the langue (Toe,
while French is called the langue (Toui—the one using oc,
the other oui, for the affirmative particle yes. It was for¬
merly spoken more generally and more widely than at
present, extending even beyond the Alps and the Pyrenees
into Italy, Switzerland, and Spain. The French rose upon
the ruins of the Provencal, and has now become the gene¬
ral, or, at least, the literary and official, language of the
great French nation, and also of the Belgians, nearly a half
of whom are Walloons, a people who speak a dialect of the
French. All these five languages, however—Italian,
French, Provencal, Spanish, and Portuguese—are divided
into multitudes of provincial dialects, which ages of educa¬
tion will hardly suffice to destroy. Besides these noble
branches of the old stem, there are two smaller branches
isolated in Europe—The Wallachian and the Rhceto-
Romanic. The former is spoken in Wallachia and Mol¬
davia, in several dialects, by a people who call themselves
Romeni or Romenia, a name by which they have been
long known. Their language shows in its essential features
a convincing relation to the Latin, although the words are,
to a great extent, of foreign origin—a circumstance easily
explained by their position, entirely cut off from Roman or
Italian influence, and surrounded by races speaking entirely
different languages. The most of the words are now Sla¬
vonic, Majyar, Turkish, Greek, or German; but there is
enough left of pure Latin in the words, and still more in
the structure and inflection, to establish beyond doubt its
direct and immediate descent from the Latin. It was pro¬
bably introduced in these countries by a Roman colony.
The Rhseto-Romanic is the language of the canton of the
Grisons in Switzerland, a portion of the ancient Rhsetia.
It is a much-mixed and neglected language, now bearing an
essentially German character, grafted on its old Latin stock.
Slavonic. The great Slavonic race which now occupies the eastern
half of Europe, and threatens to extend its dominion over
all the Continent, did not at first appear under that name
in European history. By the ancient writers of Greece
and Rome they were called Sauromats or Sarmatians, a
name resembling in sound, and radically identical with, the
name which the Slavonians now give themselves—viz.,
Serbs, Sorabians, or Servians. Their German neighbours
call them Wendes or Winds {Vendes or Vkids'). From the
banks of the Dwina, in the north-east of Russia, to the
Bohemian Erzgebirge in the west, and the Black Sea, the
Adriatic, and the Archipelago in the south, some branch or
other of the Slavic is spoken. The name Slave is derived
by themselves from the word Slava, glory, and is a desig¬
nation peculiarly gratifying to their national pride. Modern
Slavonic scholars divide the great bulk of the Slavic lan- Europe,
guages into twro branches—the western and the south-
eastern ; others simply into the eastern and the western.
The south-eastern or eastern division contains the Russian,
Bulgarian, and Illyrian languages; the western contains
the Leckian or Polish, the Czech or Bohemian, the Sora-
bian, and the Polabian, the last of which is now extinct.
The Russian extendsover the greater part of the immense Russian,
territory of European Russia, and reaches in the south, in
a compact mass, through eastern Gallicia, into Hungary.
Russian colonies are frequent among the Tartars and Finns
of the Urals, and a narrow but compact band of Russians
follows the course of the Volga, between Kalmucks and
Tartars, down to the Caspian Sea, and up again in a line
parallel to the Caucasus, until they meet the Russian popu¬
lation at the Sea of Azof. From the Polish, it is separated
with tolerable accuracy by the political boundary line of
Poland. It is spoken by upwards of thirty (Schafarick says
thirty-eight) millions of people, and is considered to be one
of the sweetest and pleasantest of the Slavic tongues. It
is divided into three dialects—the Great Russian, the Malo-
Russian of the south, and the White Russian in the west,
each of these again being sub-divided into numerous smaller
dialects. They are all united, however, by a common written
language, the dialect of Moscow, an inferior branch of the
Russian, much mixed with foreign elements, but spoken
over all the central and northern part of Russia. The
Malo-Russian is spoken in the south, beginning with Gal¬
licia, and goes north of the Sea of Azof, even beyond the
boundaries of the Russian proper. The Rusniaks or Ruthe-
nians, in Red Russia, the Bukovine, Galicia, and the north¬
eastern part of Hungary, speak a variety of the Malo-
Russian. In the south of Poland also, and in various parts
of Wallachia and Moldavia, detached tribes of this nation
are found. The Kozaks also, except those of the Don,
who are more Russian, belong to the same race, which
amounts altogether to more than 13,000,000 of people.
The White Russian occupies a much smaller extent of
country. It is spoken in Lithuania, a portion of White
Russia, and Volhynia, and extends even to the south of the
river Priepecz. Its peculiarities are mostly the same as
those of the Malo-Russian ; and what distinguishes it
mostly from the other dialects is the very large admixture
of Polish elements.
The Bulgarian is supposed to have been formerly spoken Bulgarian,
over the countries that formed the Bulgarian empire, ex¬
tending up the Danube into Hungary as far as the Car¬
pathian Mountains and the sources of the Theiss. The
modern Bulgarian is now almost confined to the province
of Bulgaria, to the south and east of the Danube, which,
however, it crosses at its mouth, to follow the west bank of
thePruth. The Bulgarian is very unlike most of the Slavic lan¬
guages, and has been largely intermixed with foreign elements
of all the surrounding languages. The church Slavic, which
has been considered the mother of all the living Slavonic
tongues, seems to have been nothing more than one of many
Slavic dialects, earlier developed and more cultivated than
the rest; and historical evidence shows that this church,
or old Slavic, the language of the great Slavic apostles,
Cyril and Methodius, who flourished in the ninth century,
was the old Bulgarian we have mentioned. Whatever it
may have once been, the church Slavic is no longer a na¬
tional tongue, but it remains as the common literary lan¬
guage of all the Slavic nations who belong to the Greek
Church, the Russians, Bulgarians, and Vindes. During the
middle ages it exercised a permanent influence on the style
of authors, and, through them, on the language of the whole
race ; and it still speaks to them daily and hourly through
the Bible and their books of ritual, though it is said that
even many of the priests in Russia do not understand the
sacred language of their official duties.
392
EUR
Europe.
Illyrian.
Polish, &c.
Czekh,
Sorabian.
Lettic,
Lithua*
nian.
The Illyrian comprises, as a collective name, the Servian,
Croatian, and Slovens!, three cognate dialects, forming one
language, and occupying the north-western portion of the
Turkish, and the adjoining parts of the Austrian, empires.
Majyars and Germans meet it in the north and west; in the
south it is bounded by the Adriatic ; and on the east by a
line drawn between Widdin and Temesvar. The Servian
is spoken by more than a million of Servians, who live be¬
tween the Danube and the Balkans. A large number of
Servians likewise live in Hungary. It is subdivided into
three distinct dialects, which extend into the provinces of
of Herzegovina, Bosnia, Montenegro or Upper Albania,
Dalmatia, Croatia, Syrmia, Slavonia, Banat,Central Hungary,
and Servia. The Croatian, or Chorvvatian, is spoken in the
eastern portion of the linguistic territory occupied by the
Illyrian. It mostly prevails in the districts of Agram, Kreus,
and Warasdin. It is subdivided into two minor dialects.
The Slovensi, or Vindish, is spoken principally in Styria,
Carinthia, and Carniola, in the western part of Hungary,
along the rivers Muhr and Raab, and in parts of Illyria and
Istria. The people of these districts, amounting to more
than a million, call themselves Slovensi, but are better known
abroad as Vindes, a name that was formerly given by the
Germans to all the Slavic nations.
Of the western branch of the Slavic languages the Leckian
or Polish was once one of the most extended branches of the
Slavic family, being spoken even by those tribes on both
sides of the Oder that are now almost entirely Germanized,
in Pomerania, the Mark, and Silesia. At present it occu¬
pies, in two dialects, only the country that is now inhabited
by Poles. This includes, besides Poland proper, the adjoin¬
ing part of western Russia, the Duchy of Posen, Cracow,
Galicia, and Ludomiria, a small portion of Silesia, and the
isolated colony of the Kassubes, on the coast of the Baltic,
in Pomerania, containing altogether about ten millions of
people. The Leckian has its name from the Lekhes, a tribe
of unknown origin, but which yielded in the tenth century
to that of the Poles.
The Czekh is the language of the Slavic inhabitants of
Bohemia, Moravia, and north-western Hungary, besides a
number of isolated settlements throughout the latter country
of people usually called Slovaks. They amount altogether
to about six millions. The Czekh, however, is not ex¬
clusively the language of Bohemia ; for all around the fron¬
tier, and especially in the west, German largely prevails.
The Moravian and Slovak branches of the Czekh are divided
into numerous dialects.
The Sorabian, or Vendish, once extending from the Baltic
to Bohemia, and from the frontiers of Poland to the Elbe
and the Saale, is now spoken by so few people that it is
sometimes said to be extinct. It is still spoken, however,
in some parts of Lusatia and Brandenburg. These Vindes
are the descendants of a Slavic race that settled early in the
very heart of Germany. They now amount to scarcely two
hundred thousand people, and speak the two dialects of
Upper and Lower Lusatia, which are again much subdivided,
and contain a large admixture of German. These Vindes
appear in history as Weteli or Wiltzi in Pomerania, as Obo-
trites in Mecklenburg, as Wagrians, Drewanians, &c. The
language of the last-named tribe is still spoken by a few sur¬
vivors of this ancient race. Protected by almost impassable
marshes, and living in barren, sandy plains, they have long
withstood the effects of time and invasion.
Connected with the Slavic family is the Lettic, subdivided
into the Lithuanian, the Prussian, and the Lettic proper.
The Lithuanian has alone preserved the characteristic seven
cases and the dual of the Indo-European languages, and among
the former some are so well preserved as to be even identi¬
cally the same as those of the Sanscrit. It is especially im¬
portant for the understanding of the cognate languages,
especially the Slavic, being, as it were, the connecting-link
OPE.
between the latter and the other Indo-European languages. Europe.
It is, however, now in use only among the common people
of some portions of East Prussia, around the towns of Memel,
Tilsit, Ragnit, Labiau, and Insterburg, and their eastern
frontiers, to the number of about 200,000; and Schaffarik
counts about 1,282,000 people of the same race in Russia.
The Prussian language has become entirely extinct. It was
spoken along the shores of the Baltic, between the Vistula
and the Niemen, by about two millions of people, but has
yielded to German intrusion. The Lettic proper is the popu¬
lar language of Courland, the greater part of Livonia, and of
the peninsula that separates the Curische Sea from the Baltic.
It stands very nearly in the same relation to the Lithuanian
as that of the Italian to the Latin, being a modernized dia¬
lect of the older tongue.
The Germanic class of Indo-European languages includes Germanic
not only the German proper, or Deutsch, but also the lan- languages,
guagesof Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, and of those
ancient nations known to the Romans as the Goths, and of
the Anglo-Saxons, and their descendants the modern Eng¬
lish and Lowland Scots. The Gothic is the oldest known
of all the Germanic languages, and its oldest form, known
to us by the fragments of the translation of the Bible made
by their bishop, Ulphilas, who died a.d. 388, is the Mceso-
Gothic, which was the language of the Goths who then
dwelt in Moesia (the modern Bulgaria and Servia). The
next oldest form of the Gothic is the old Norse of Iceland,
where, owing to its isolation, it has been preserved free
from mixture and change. It is the basis of the modern
languages of Norway, Denmark, and the Faroe Islands.
Swedish and Danish, which belong to the same family, have
suffered in proportion as they have come more into contact
with the nations of the Continent. They contain many
foreign elements, and the Danish especially has lost most
of its original force and originality, chiefly through the in¬
fluence of the German. Of the same kindred was the
Anglo-Saxon, which has now been superseded in Britain by
the modern English, which, though still retaining much of
its Gothic patrimony, has lost almost all its inflections, and
shows a strong tendency to return to the primeval mono¬
syllabic form. It presents probably a greater and more re¬
cent mixture of various elements derived from all languages
than any other in Europe, or perhaps in the world. The
Anglo-Saxon has likewise disappeared from its ancient con¬
tinental seat, though traces of its older forms may still be
found in the low German dialects. Its nearest cognate,
the Frisian, was one spoken all over the vast territory that
extends along the northern shores of Germany between the
Rhine and the Elbe, and to the north of the latter. It
has ceased to be a national tongue, and to be used for liter¬
ary purposes, but still lives as the popular language in all
that region, and is preserved in great purity in West Fries¬
land. The remaining languages which belong to the older
or Gothic branch of the Germanic tongues may be called
the low German, a name now limited to the Neder-Duitsch,
which is the language of the Netherlands, and to the low
German proper, so far as not spoken in Holland and Bel¬
gium. The Neder-Duitsch contains two principal dialects,
the Dutch and the Flemish, the former holding its part of
the Netherlands to the exclusion of every other language,
the other struggling against the increasing power of the
French. Dutch and Flemish are essentially the same
language, the difference extending hardly beyond the dif¬
ferent manners of writing them. The popular language of
the countries between the Rhine and the Weser, and the
Weser and the Elbe, where it is not Dutch or Frisian, is
the Platt-Deutsch, which, though differing essentially from
the Anglo-Saxon, closely approaches the Neder-Duitsch. It
is softer and more flowing than the Ober-Deutsch, or high
German, and delights in pure full vowels. It is spoken all
along the northern coasts of Germany, Prussia, Courland,
EUROPE.
393
Europe, and Livonia, and even far into the interior of these pro-
vinces.
High German, or what is called pre-eminently, the Ger¬
man language, prevails in the central and southern parts of
Germany, and a cultivated dialect of it is the literary and
official language of the whole country. As a separate lan¬
guage it is supposed to be as old at least as the Gothic, and
is now considered as being divided into three principal dia¬
lects, the Suabian, the Bavaro-Austrian, and the Frankish.
It has preserved more of the ancient grammar and inflec¬
tion than the English, Dutch, or Danish ; but, having lost
many full and pure vowels, it is far inferior in that respect
to the full-sounding, euphonious Swedish. It is spoken not
only in Germany but also in the north-eastern parts of
Switzerland, and in parts of Hungary and Transylvania,
Sleswig and South Jutland, and to the east, mixed with
low German, beyond the limits of Courland. Westward it
extends beyond the Rhine into France, where the meeting
of the French and German dialects may be traced very
nearly by a line, drawn from the North Sea, between Grave¬
lines and Calais to the vicinity of Aix-la-Chapelle, having
Gravelines, Hasebrouk, Ypres, Courtray, Brussels, Tirle-
mont, Tongres, Maestricht, and Eupen to the north ; and
St Omer, Lille, Tournay, Nivelle, Waterloo, Jodoigne,
Warem, Liege, and Limburg to the south. There, turning
southwards, the line passes to the east of Malmedy and the
west of Arlon. Entering France a little to the east of
Longwy, and crossing the Moselle between Metz and
Thionville, it follows the watershed between the Moselle
and the Saar, and the crest of the Vosges to the Ballon
d’Alsace, and thence passing to the north of Belfort, it
crosses the Swiss frontier within twenty miles west of Basel.
Through Switzerland the line crosses the Birse below Del-
sperg or Delemont, passes south-west by Bienne, Erlach,
Morat or Murten, and Freiburg or Fribourg, where one
half of the town speaks German and the other French,
thence southward along the border of Vaud and Bern to
the sources of the Saane, then follows the line of the Alps,
to the Gemmi mountain, whence it crosses the Valais to
Mont Rosa. About two-thirds of the Swiss are Germans.
Celtic. For a long time the Celtic was considered to be a lan¬
guage that had no connection with any branch of the Indo-
European family. It has now, however, been shown and
generally admitted to be a branch of the family that must
have been separated from the other branches at a very re¬
mote epoch. It is the language that has reached the far¬
thest west in Europe ; but is now confined to the remotest
corners of Great Britain, Ireland, and France, where it
maintains a precarious existence against the inroads of
the national languages of these countries. It seems to have
been once extensively spoken in Western Europe, occupy^
ing not only the British islands and France, but also the
western and northern parts of Germany, Switzerland,
northern Italy, and the countries even farther east round
the head of the Adriatic. Celtic elements can even be
traced in Greek, and still more certainly in Latin. At pre¬
sent there are four Celtic dialects, or varieties still spoken :
the Gaelic, or Erse, in the Highlands and western islands
of Scotland ; the Irish in the south-western and western
parts of Ireland; the Welsh in Wales and the adjoining
borders of England; and the Armorian, or Breyzad, or
Bas-Breton, in the departments of Finistere, Cotes du Nord,
Morbihan, Ille and Vilaine, and Lower Loire, in France.
The Erse of Scotland and the Irish are so nearly related
that the more intelligent speakers of either can understand
the other. They differ, however, very greatly from the
Welsh and the Bas-Breton, which are distinguished as
Cymric, and are probably less pure and unchanged than
the Erse and Irish. The Manx language, spoken in
the Isle of Man, in the Irish Sea, is a very impure Celtic
dialect.
VOL. IX.
The numbers of people who speak these diverse languages Europe,
cannot be precisely ascertained; the following statement,
however, may be considered as an approximation at least to
the relative proportions. The numbers of the Slavonians
are those given by Schaffarick, dating so far back as 1826.
but probably nearer the truth now than they were then,
though even yet in some respects considerably exaggerated.
The total number exceeds that of our general table, and
the excess, we believe, lies principally in the Slavonian
portion ; the number assigned by Schaffarick to Austria
exceeding the number given in the Gotha Almanac of the
present year by 1,509,804.
I. German and Gothic.
High and Low Deutsch or Ger¬
mans,  42,821,000
Nieder-Duitch, and Flemings of
Holland and Belgium  5,703,000
Danes, Swedes, Norwegians  6,534,000
II. Latin.
French, Provencal, and Walloon 37,243,000
Spanish and Portuguese  17,053,000
Italian  23,544,820
Vallachian  3,000,000
III. English  
IV. Slavonian.
Muscovites, or Great Russians... 35,314,000
Malo or Little Russians and Ru-
thenians ,...,  10,370,000
White Russians  2,726,000
Bulgarians  3,587,000
Servians and Illyrians  5,294,000
Croats  801,000
Carinthians    1,151,000
Poles   9,365,000
Bohemians and Moravians ........ 4,414,000
Slovacks, in Hungary  2,753,000
Wends, in Lusatia  142,000
V. Letts and Lithuanians  
VI. Finns, Laps, and other Ugrian
races in Sweden, Norway, and
Russia  3,519,620
Majyars and Szeklers  6,000,000
VII. Turks and Tartars  .
VIII. Greeks and Albanians....
IX. Basques or Euscaldunacs
X. Maltese 
55,058,000
80,840,820
27,625,862
78,691,000
1,588,993
9,519,620
3,500,000
2,500,000
650,000
120,000
260,094,295
We have not distinguished the Celts, Jews, Gypsies, and
Armenians, because we have no means of ascertaining their
respective numbers; and because, though they have all
peculiar languages of their own, which they speak among
themselves, yet they generally speak the languages of the
countries in which they live, and are counted, as such, in
the general amount of population. The Jews, however, in
Europe are reckoned about 2,228,000.
The number of the inhabitants of Europe has been pro- Nuniter of
gressively increasing, slowly in the early part of the century, inhabi-
but more rapidly as we approach the present times. This tants.
is owing doubtless in a great degree to the long prevalence
of a general peace; and, though, for the last 30 years or
more, and especially within the last ten, emigration has been
going on to an unprecedented extent, yet in many parts of
Europe population is pressing too rapidly on the means of
subsistence and employment, and would almost seem to
require another general war, like that of the French revolu¬
tion, to effect another clearance. It would however be
quite out of place here to attempt to discuss the principles
of population, sanitary improvement, and social progress,
and the means of obviating the evils that arise from the
ignorance and the barbarism that still prevail too largely
among the masses of the people in all the countries of
Europe, not excepting even the most favoured : we shall
3 l>
EUR
Europe, therefore content ourselves with stating here the numbers
v , 0f tiie people of Europe at different periods, referring our
readers to other articles for more minute information on the
subjects we have hinted at.
The number in 1787 is said to have been  144,000,000
at the peace of 1815  180,000,000
n in 1833, according to Balbi  227,000,000
” in 1854, according to our table, 258,778,856
The first three of these enumerations we believe to have
been in a great degree conjectural; and indeed it has been
only within a comparatively recent period that measures
have been taken by the governments of Europe to ascertain
precisely the amount of the population of their respective
countries. Even yet, in some of them, as in Spain and
Turkey, the census is little better than a rough guess; and
even when most correctly taken it is only an approximation
to the truth; for we cannot get a general census of the
whole of Europe taken on the same day, or even in the
same year. Neither have we attempted to give the aver¬
age number of inhabitants to each square mile, or what is
called the relative population ; because it seems to us that
such averages are utterly futile, and worse than useless, un¬
less the countries compared were entirely alike in the con¬
figuration of the ground, the quality of the soil, and the
nature of the climate ; in a word, possessed in every respect
of the same natural qualities and advantages, and subject to
the same social arrangements.
Religions. With the trifling exception of a comparatively few Mo¬
hammedans, Jews, and heathens, the nations of Europe are
professors of Christianity, and Europe collectively is dis¬
tinguished from the realms of Islam by the title of Christen¬
dom. These professors, however, are divided into three
great classes or churches, which not only hold no intercom¬
munion, but are deadly rivals, conceiving it to be their duty
to labour for the conversion at least, if not always avowedly
for the extirpation, of each other. These are the Roman
Catholic and the Protestant churches in Western Europe,
and the Orthodox Greek church which domineers over the
eastern half of the Continent. In the Roman Catholic and
the Greek churches no differences of opinion, and conse¬
quently no sects, are permitted; but the Protestant church
is divided into a multitude of rival sects, distinguished from
each other by every variety of opinion respecting doctrine
and discipline, and forms of worship. Some of these sects
have been constituted into established national churches ;
but even these have been compelled, by the spirit of the
age and the force of circumstances, to become tolerant,
though the odium theologicum still occasionally shows itself,
with all its proverbial bitterness.
The Roman Catholic or Latin church acknowledges the
Pope or bishop of Rome as its spiritual sovereign, and the
clergy are still numerous and wealthy. This church in¬
cludes within its pale France, Belgium, Poland, Italy, Spain,
and Portugal, and the greater part of the people of Ireland,
and of the Austrian empire, about a half of the Prussians,
Swiss, and Germans, and considerable numbers in Great
Britain and the Netherlands.
The Greek church does not acknowledge the Pope; and
though the Patriarch of Constantinople claims, as he once
enjoyed, the same spiritual supremacy, his authority is now
restricted to the limits of the Ottoman empire. The do¬
minion of the church, indeed, extends over all the eastern
half of Europe, including the Christian subjects of Russia,
Turkey, and Greece, and a considerable number in Austria;
but the Russians are subject to the authority of the Holy
Synod of the Russian empire, of which the Czar is the
spiritual as wTell as the temporal head; and in the new king¬
dom of Greece a similar Holy Synod has been constituted,
with the king for its head. In Russia, dissent from the
doctrines of the church is barely tolerated, yet there are
within its limits various sectaries, all comprehended under
394
OPE.
the general name of Raskolniks, and frequently subjected
to treatment little short of persecution.
The principal sectaries of the Protestant church are dis¬
tinguished as Lutherans, Calvinists,and Arminians. Luther¬
anism prevails in Prussia, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Hano¬
ver, Saxony, Wirtemberg, and some others of the smaller
German states, and in the Baltic provinces of Russia. It
reckons also many members in Hungary and other pro¬
vinces of Austria. The Lutherans do not absolutely con¬
demn a hierarchy, but they do not admit the divine institu¬
tion of the order of bishops. Their bishops therefore are
generally no more than the name implies, mere superinten¬
dents or inspectors of their respective dioceses. Their pre¬
lates are in all cases subject to the political sovereigns of the
respective states, who are recognised as heads of the church.
In Sweden, however, the Lutheran prelates form one of the
four orders of the legislature. In Denmark, Norway, and
Iceland, they have no prerogatives that can give them poli¬
tical influence. In the Calvinistic churches the government
is strictly republican, and they reject any other headship than
that of Christ. Calvinism prevails in England, Scotland,
Holland, the Swiss cantons of Bern, Basel, Zurich, Vaud,
and Geneva, the Duchy of Nassau, the principalities of
Electoral Hesse, Anhalt, and Lippe, in Germany, the de¬
partments of the Gard, Ardeche, Drome, Lot-et-Garonne,
and others in France, Hungary, Transylvania, and the mi¬
litary borders of Austria; and Calvinists are also numerous in
Prussia. In Scotland and Holland the national churches
are Calvinistic. In Great Britain generally the Calvinists
are divided into two great classes, Presbyterians and Con-
gregationalists, the former being governed in spiritual mat¬
ters by local, provincial, and general councils, called kirk-
sessions, presbyteries, synods, and general assemblies; in
the latter, each congregation assuming the full status of a
church, and exercising supreme ecclesiastical authority over
its members. There is, however, substantially, little differ¬
ence between the two classes in this respect; for the Pres¬
byterians claim and exercise the right of seceding and con¬
stituting new churches as often as occasion requires, so that
even in the pre-eminently Presbyterian Scotland (to say no¬
thing at present of England and Ireland, and America)
there have been existing at one time so many as six or seven
separate and jealously rival Presbyterian churches; and there
has been found no practical limit to the increase of their
number by secession or disruption, so that even one minis¬
ter and his congregation may legitimately constitute them¬
selves into a Presbyterian church. Calvinists arrogate to
themselves and their doctrines exclusively the titles of
Evangelical and Orthodox.
The Arminians are opposed to Calvinists in respect of
five points of doctrine, zealously held fast by the latter; and
Arminian doctrine is now very prevalent among Protestants,
especially in Holland and England, but Arminians nowhere
form distinct acknowledged churches.
The name of Episcopalians is given to a numerous body
of Protestants, who, in addition to the leading doctrines of
Protestantism, maintain the divine origin and institution of
episcopacy, and the unbroken transmission from the apostles
of the “holy orders” of the clergy. To this class belongs
the Established Church of England and Ireland, whose doc¬
trines are contained in 39 articles, sanctioned by act of par¬
liament, and which are understood to have been a compro¬
mise between conflicting opinions, so that all might be
brought within the pale of the church. In its forms of
worship this church has retained so much of the Romish
liturgy, priestly costume, and ceremonies, as seemed con¬
sistent with scriptural principles. It has also retained the
hierarchy, only substituting the king or queen regnant as the
spiritual head of the church, instead of the pope. Its arch¬
bishops and bishops are lords of parliament, and appointed
by the Crown. In respect, however, of both doctrine and
Europe.
EUROPE.
Europe, ceremonies, the members of the United Church of England
and Ireland are very divided among themselves, the great
body being Arminian, while a smaller fraction profess to be
evangelical, and not a few seem verging to popery. Epis¬
copalians are somewhat numerous in Scotland, but the ma¬
jority of them constitute a church of their own, quite inde¬
pendent of that of England.
Methodists are likewise a very numerous and influential
body, particularly in England, and are under the spiritual
authority of a “ Conference,” constituted only by their clergy,
to the absolute exclusion of lay members. They are di¬
vided, however, like other sects; the bulk of them, called
Wesleyan, being Arminians, and a smaller body, the fol¬
lowers of Whitfield, being Calvinists. Each of these, how¬
ever, is divided into several bodies, forming so many sepa¬
rate churches, ruled by conferences of their own.
In 1817, the Lutherans and the Calvinists in the duchy
of Nassau were united into one body, under the name of
the Evangelical Church. Similar unions have since taken
place in Paris, Frankfort, Prussia, Bavaria, Baden, Hesse,
Anhalt-Bernburg, Waldeck, and other parts of Germany.
But this union having been effected in most of these places
by the influence of the civil authority, amounting almost to
compulsion, is believed to be neither very sincere, nor likely
to last.
But the task would be endless to mention in detail all the
varieties of Protestant sects and churches ; and, as it is im¬
possible to obtain, in all cases, precise and trustworthy in¬
formation respecting the number of people belonging to
each, we have felt ourselves constrained to class them all
together in the following table under the general name of
Protestants.
Islam or Mohammedanism, is the religion professed
by all the Ottoman and other Turks and Tartars in the Rus¬
sian and Turkish empires, who are all Soonee, or orthodox ;
and those of Russia are under the spiritual charge of two
grand muftis, one of whom resides at Kazan, and the other
at Simferopol in the Crimea. Those of Turkey acknow¬
ledge the supremacy of the Sultan, as the representative
and caliph, or vicegerent of their prophet, and, as such, the
spiritual head of their religion ; but under the Sultan the
management of the Mohammedan church and its spiritual
concerns is delegated to the Grand Mufti, or Sheikh-ul-Is-
lam, who resides at Constantinople, and is also the chief of
the Ulema, or body of the clergy and lawyers of the empire.
Judaism is, of course, the religion of the Jews who are
scattered over Europe. The great bulk are Talmudists,
or receivers of all the traditions that have accumulated
for ages, and almost overwhelmed and superseded the law
as delivered by Moses ; but they have no general head,
either spiritual or temporal, no sacrifices, no temple, and no
altar. They are waiting in patient expectation of the coming
of the Messiah, their prophetic king, who is to gather them
from their long dispersion, and lead them again in triumph
to Jerusalem, loaded with the spoils of the Gentiles. A
small body of Jews or Israelites, who reject the Talmud and
traditions, and acknowledge only the law itself, are known
by the name of Karaites, and have their headquarters in
the Crimea. A few heathens are still to be found among
the Ugrian tribes on the shores of the Frozen Ocean, and
among the Kalmucks and other Mongols in the S.E. of
Russia, on the shores of the Caspian Sea, and among the
tribes of the Caucasus.
The following table conveys a general view of the num¬
bers of people belonging to each of the principal religions
professed in Europe, as given in the Weimar Almanac for
1837, and there is no reason to suppose that the relative
proportions are changed to any considerable amount, ex¬
cept perhaps in Ireland, where, within a few years, through
the effects of famine, pestilence, and emigration, the num¬
bers of the Catholic population have been very considerably
reduced. In the pre-eminently Catholic countries of Italy,
Spain, and Portugal, though Protestant churches are not
permitted, there are nevertheless very considerable num¬
bers of foreign Protestants always resident; and in Sardinia,
in particular, besides the churches of the Waldenses, which
have been always allowed to exist among the valleys of
the Alps, they have been allowed last year (1854) to erect
one in Turin itself, to the great chagrin of the Catholic
clergy. To the numbers of religionists after mentioned
are to be added about 350,000 Armenians, a branch of the
Oriental Church, quite distinct from the Arminians of
Western Europe, scattered over the south-eastern parts of
Europe; the Mohammedans of Turkey and Russia, about
two or three millions; and the Pagans of the Arctic coasts
and the Caucasus, the numbers of whom are not known, but
are not very considerable.
395
Europe.
Names of States.
Austrian Empire 
Belgium 
Denmark 
France 
Great Britain and 1
Ireland  )
German Minor States
Ionian Islands  35,200
Italian States  16,943,314
Netherlands   280,000
Portugal  3,530,000
Prussia  4,993,720
Russia  7,000,000
Spain  13,944,259
Sweden and Norway...! 4,000
Switzerland J 800,000
Turkey. .....j 310,000
Roman
Catholics.
Orthodox
Greek
Church.
27,116,730
4,000,000
2,000
31,000,000
6,600,000
4,984,740
2,900,000
811,185
148,017
80,000
36,531,427
2,830,000
120,543,963 43,300,629 52,369,587 | 2,228,999
Protestants.
2,801,500
20,000
2,040,650
1,400,000
18,676,687
9,214,550
2,100,000
8,000,000
2,800,000
4,023,200
1,300,000
3,000
480,250
780
6,000
60,000
12,500
245,089
5,500
48,430
50,000
167,700
900,000
‘"850
1,900
250,000
Europe has been gradually advancing from poverty and Progress
barbarism to wealth and refinement since the tenth century; of civiliza-
but the progress of the different nations has been very un- tl0n-
equal. No single cause has contributed so much to their
improvement as commerce; and hence the first advances
have always been made by maritime states ; and the pro¬
gress of the different communities has been nearly in pro¬
portion to their vicinity to the sea, or the facility of their
communication with it. The small republics of Italy and
the Hanse Towns were the seats of industry, wealth, know¬
ledge, and freedom ; while slavery, ignorance, and rapine,
reigned in the countries around them. The tendency of
commerce to enrich a country seems to depend on its power
to create disposable capital. Though a certain species of
opulence exists among the great land-holders of agricultural
countries, those masses of disposable capital which give
vigour to industry, and supply the means of great improve¬
ments, are only found in commercial states. Commerce
also favours the growth of manufactures, and these two
species of industry raise up a middle class, closely allied
with the great body of the people. It is among this class
that ideas of civil and religious liberty take their rise, and
find their firmest supporters ; whereas in countries entirely
agricultural, liberty means only the domination of the aris¬
tocracy. The spirit of liberty once introduced, laws are
improved, prejudices hostile to industry extinguished, and
new vigour infused into every branch of society. It is thus
that freedom and wealth have generally followed in the
train of commerce ; and that the commercial states have
led the way in those improvements which have so much
ameliorated the condition of Europe. When the Italian re¬
publics flourished, however, Europe was not in a state to
be much benefited by the lights which their experience
afforded. The Dutch republic, which flourished at a later
period, gave a more striking demonstration of the advan-
396 EUR
Europe, tages of industry, freedom, toleration, and good government,
v^ v-—) at a time when neither liberty nor toleration were under¬
stood even in England, and when industry was in a very
low state all over Europe. The example of the Dutch fur¬
nished statesmen with new ideas, and had a sensible influ¬
ence on the policy of England, France, and other countries.
The genius of Peter the Great derived from this small re¬
public the seeds of those improvements by which civiliza¬
tion was spread over the vast empire of Russia. The supe¬
riority which the Dutch possessed has since been transferred
to Britain, and she has acquired with it the privilege of in¬
structing other nations in the sources of public wealth and
the science of government.
The Reformation had a material effect in accelerating
the progress of society. It put an end to a multitude of
abuses and prejudices adverse to improvement, and inspired
the human mind with a new activity. Those countries in
which it took no root seemed to have had their progress
arrested; while others, less favoured by nature, derived
new life and vigour from its influence. Italy and Spain,
now so far behind Britain, France, and Germany, were the
first countries in Europe for knowledge, wealth, and in¬
dustry, at the period of the Reformation. The establish¬
ment of the Protestant religion has produced a more liberal
spirit among the Catholics in those countries where the two
churches exist together; but in those countries where Pro¬
testantism never obtained a footing, the dread of its intro¬
duction threw the government more and more into the
hands of the clergy ; the clergy, armed with power, became
more jealous and intolerant, and nearly put an end to all
freedom of thought. The literary glory of Spain expired
some time after the Reformation ; and Italy was checked
in her career. The older writers of these countries breathe
a spirit which would not be tolerated at the present day,
nor does society there afford the elements out of which
such characters could be formed. And thus it happened
that the very same event which called forth the powers of
the human mind in the north of Europe, extinguished the
intellectual activity of the south.
The improved means of internal communication in coun¬
tries in modern times have had a considerable effect upon
the state of society. In ancient times free states were
necessarily small, because when neither the press nor the
post existed, that union of sentiment necessary to control
the conduct of men in power could not be effected among
a large population scattered over a wide space. A number
of free states sprung up in Greece, because that country,
divided by mountains and arms of the sea, afforded natural
means of defence to such small societies as could then exer¬
cise the functions necessary to the preservation of freedom.
It is a mistake to suppose that, in these states, a greater
extent of territory could have been united under one govern¬
ment by adopting the representative system. The resolu¬
tions of a body of representatives would command no more
respect from a government than those of as many private
individuals, if they were not constantly supported by the
opinions of the mass of society ; and this requires such a
rapid and general circulation of intelligence as could not
then exist. I he small size of the Grecian states was a
necessary condition of their freedom ; but it was a serious
disadvantage, not only because it lessened the commercial
intercourse between the different parts of the country, but
because such small communities had not strength enough
to resist a great force from without; and hence these states
fell a prey to the superior power of the Macedonian mon¬
archy. I he whole of the south-west of Europe exhibits
the physical features of Greece upon a larger scale. Its
surface is broken into numerous sections by gulfs and moun¬
tains, and abounds in natural barriers. Favoured by these
circumstances, the different communities in this quarter of
t.ie wmld in modern times enjoyed a certain degree of in-
0 P E.
dependence and security, which hastened their progress in Europe,
civilization. Russia, which occupies the largest plain in
Europe, has been the last reclaimed from barbarism, though
still very far fiom being civilized. So long, however, as
the means of communication remained very imperfect in
modem Europe, free governments were confined to small
states, and the larger states were abandoned to feudal tyranny
or military despotism ; but the science of government has
gradually improved, as knowledge, commerce, and the arts
have advanced ; and at present the admirable inventions of
the post and the press, steam navigation, railways, and the
electric telegraph, give such a rapidity to the circulation of
public sentiment, and such facilities for congregating mul¬
titudes of men, that twenty millions could be almost as easily
united in defence of their rights as the small population of
Attica in the time of Xerxes.
The progress of improvement tends to level all distinc¬
tions among states, but those founded on the extent of
their natural resources. Capital, skill, intelligence, and
all acquired advantages, tend to an equilibrium. When
Europe was overrun with barbarism, the city of Venice, by
its commercial wealth, was a counterpoise to two or three
of the great monarchies of the continent. The discovery
of America, and of a passage by sea to the East Indies,
gave a new direction to commerce, and undermined the
greatness of that city. The Dutch republic rose by its
freedom and industry, and was able, in the time of Charles
II., to dispute the empire of the sea with the combined
powers of England and France. But England increased
her commerce, and improved her constitution ; and having
a larger and more fertile territory, as well as a greater popu¬
lation, she obtained at length an ascendancy over Holland,
deprived her of the empire of the sea, and stript her of most
of her colonies. At the beginning of the seventeenth cen¬
tury, Spain and Turkey were the first powers in the west
and east of Europe, and inspired their neighbours with the
dread of conquest. Sweden ruled with undisputed sway in
the north ; and Russia, now so formidable, was scarcely
known. Spain, under a better government, might recover
a part of her influence ; but the Turkish empire seems near
its dissolution ; and the importance of Sweden and Holland
is gone irretrievably, in consequence of the growing strength
of the neighbouring powers. The extent of territory and
the immense natural resources of Russia must, in the end,
render her highly dangerous to all the other powers of
Europe, if the empire do not fall to pieces from its own weight,
or get into disorder from the vices of its government, or
the barbarism, ignorance, and corruption, of its people.
During the last century the commerce and manufactures Commerce
of Britain haye been progressing continually and rapidly, and manu-
and have now reached an enormous degree of development, factures.
without a parallel in the history of the world. The long
peace has enabled the other states of Europe to direct their
attention to the same means of wealth, and some of them,
as France and Germany, have become very active and
powerful competitors. Still, the natural advantages which
Britain enjoys, her accumulated capital, and the spirit of
her people, have enabled her to keep ahead in this rivalry.
Her abundant supplies of iron and coal have made her the
mechanical workshop of the world ; and it is principally to
British ingenuity, skill, and industry, and the application of
British capital, that the states of Europe are indebted for
the steam navigation, the railways, and the electric tele¬
graph, by means of which they are now so intimately con¬
nected with each other and with the other quarters of the
world. Britain is a hive of manufacturing industry, of which
cotton goods, woollen cloth, and iron articles, are the prin¬
cipal branches. The same may be said only of some parts
of France, and more generally of Belgium, Germany, and
Switzerland. Of other countries the manufactures are un¬
important; raw produce, and such quasi manufactures as
EUROPE.
397
Europe, pitch, tar, wine, and oil, forming the staple articles of their
s—tra^e*
By means of steam-vessels, communication between all
the maritime regions of Europe has been rendered easy and
certain, while the seaboard has been connected with the
inland regions by railways running in all directions. During
the latter half of the last century, and the earlier part of the
present, England was covered with a net-work ol canals,
forming navigable communication between all her principal
towns and rivers. Belgium and Holland have long been
famous for their canals. In France, likewise, the great rivers
were connected in the same way, and the great canal of
Languedoc formed a navigable communication between the
Bay of Biscay and the Mediterranean Sea. In Prussia,
likewise, and in Russia, the great rivers have been connected
by canals; and in Sweden, the Gotha canal extends from
tlie Cattegat at Gottenburg to the Baltic, near Stockholm,
through the lakes Wener and Wetter. These very useful
means of transport have now, however, been very much, if
not entirely, superseded by railways. Ol these, England is
covered with a net-work, as she was with canals, and unin¬
terrupted lines of communication extend from near the
Land’s End through Scotland to the Moray Firth. In Scot¬
land, Ireland, France, and Germany, the principal cities
and towns are connected by railways; and in Russia, we un¬
derstand that one is forming to connect St Petersburg with
Moscow and the Black Sea. In Italy, Milan and Venice Europe,
are connected, and railways are projected at least in other v'—v-»
parts of the country. The later invention of the electric
telegraph is likewise extending everywhere across seas and
continents ; but the whole system of telegraphs and railways
will be understood at once by a glance at a map, far more easily
and more perfectly than from volumes of verbal description.
Considered in respect of political constitution and civil go- States,
vernment, the states of Europe may be arranged in six classes.
The first class comprises 4 empires, the sovereigns of w'hich
are absolute monarchs; the second, 16 kingdoms, partly ab¬
solute and partly constitutional; the fourth, 7 grand-duchies,
all monarchies ; the fifth, 24 duchies and principalities, like¬
wise all monarchies, partly constitutional and partly abso¬
lute ; and the sixth, 32 republics. The third class comprises
2 nondescripts, both monarchies indeed; but, in the one case,
the sovereign retains the subject title of Elector of the head
of an empire that no longer exists, and the sovereign of the
other is at once the spiritual sovereign of the Roman Catholic
world, and the temporal sovereign of that portion of Italy
called the States of the Church. The following table con¬
tains the names, territorial extent or area, and the popula¬
tion of these several states at the dates attached to them
respectively. The grand total of the population, as it is not
all of the same year, can only be considered as an approxi¬
mation to the truth.
Area in
Square Eng¬
lish Miles.
I. Empires—
French 
Austrian 
Russian 
Ottoman  
II. Kingdoms—
Great Britain and Ireland
Prussia 
Belgium 
Netherlands 
Spain  
Portugal 
Denmark 
Sweden  
Norway 
^Bavaria 
^Hanover 
^Saxony 
^VVirtemberg 
Sardinia 
Two Sicilies 
Hellas, or Greece 
III.
^Electoral Hesse 
States of the Church  
IV. Grand Duchies—
*Baden  
*Hesse-Darmstadt 
*Mecklenburg-Schwerin —
* ... Strelitz  
^Oldenburg 
^Saxe-Weimar 
Tuscany 
V. Duchies and Princedoms.
^Nassau, D 
^Brunswick, D 
*Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, D 
* ... Meiningen, D 
* ... Altenburg, D 
*Anhalt-Dessau-Coethen, D..
* ... Bernburg, D 
*R.euss-Greiz, P 
* ... Schleiz, P 
*Schwartzburg-Rudolstadt,P.
* ... Sondershausen, P.
*Lippe-Detmold, P 
* ... Schaumburg, P 
204,000
257,760
2,000,000
123,743
121,779
106,302
12,569
13,890
176,480
34,500
22,680
170,240
122,460
29,000
14,600
5,705
7,568
28,830
41,521
10,206
4,439
17,048
5,850
3,761
4,845
767
2,400
1,419
8,302
1,757
1,507
799
888
510
665
340
145
448
410
359
437
206
Population.
35,781,628
36,514,466
54,092,300
10,500,000
27,621,862
16,935,420
4,359,090
3,397,851
14,216,219
3,487,0-5
2,296,597
3,482,541
1.328.471
4,559,452
1,819,253
1,987,832
1,733,263
4,916,084
8.704.472
1,002,112
755,228
3,006,771
1,356,943
854,314
541,449
99,628
282,114
262,524
1,815,686
429,341
271,943
150,412
166,364
132.738
171,759
52.641
35.159
79,824
69,038
60,847
106,615
30,226
Date.
1851
1846
1844
1851
1852
1849
1853
1849
1851
1850
1845
1852
1848
1851
1852
1852
1850
1852
1853
1851
1852
1853
1854
1852
1853
1852
1853
1850
1852
1853
1852
1853
1852
Names.
*Waldeck, P 
■^Hesse-Homburg, P...,
^Liechtenstein, P 
*Kniphausen 
Parma, D 
Modena, D 
Monaco, P. 
Moldavia, P 
Wallachia, P 
Servia, P 
Montenegro 
VI. Republics—
^Frankfort 
*Lubeck 
^Bremen 
■^Hamburg 
Zurich 
Bern 
Lucerne 
Schweiz  
Uri 
Unterwalden-Upper.,
... Lower
Glarus 
Zug 
Friburg 
Soleure 
Basel-City 
... Country 
SchafFhausen 
Appenzell-Outer 
... Inner 
St Gall 
Grisons 
Aargau  
Thurgau 
Tessin 
Vaud 
Valais 
Neufchatel 
Geneva 
Ionian Islands  
Saint Marino 
Andorre 
Area in
Square Eng¬
lish Miles.
Total.
461
168
53
17
2,184
2,073
50
16,000
30,000
12,000
1,400
91
142
106
151
647
2,583
600
350
420
260
281
185
496
256
185
116
160
760
2,540
499
267
1,041
1,190
1,675
281
91
1,200
27
144
Population.
3,691,680
59.697
24.921
6,351
3,035
507,881
586,458
6,500
1,400,000?
2,600,000 ?
1,000,000 ?
100,000 ?
77,971
54,166
79,047
200,690
250,698
458,301
132,843
44,168
14,505
13,799
11,339
30,213
17,461
99,891
69,674
29.698
47,885
35,300
43,621
11,272
169.625
89,895
199,852
88,908
117,759
199,575
81.559
70,753
64,146
239,297
7,600
15,000
1852
1842
1852
1853
1850
1844
1852
1851
1849
1852
1850
258,678,856
1852
1851
Note.—The principality of Monaco, though nominally an independent sovereignty, is practically under the domination of Sardinia,
398
EUR
Europe.
Finances.
In financial importance Britain stands at the head of all
these states; for not only is her annual revenue the largest,
excepting that of France, but she enjoys besides the unen¬
viable pre-eminence of being burdened with the largest
debt. The bad practice of anticipating revenue by borrow¬
ing money is common to them all; and, as will be seen in
the table, only some of the less important have escaped
the ever-growing evil. Within the last twenty years the
debt of Austria has increased more than threefold, and now
the French emperor is borrowing largely to pay the current
expenses of the war in which he and the British govern¬
ment are engaged with Russia. The governments of Spain
and Greece are virtually bankrupt, being neither able nor
willing to pay either principal or interest of their large
debts. Norway, on the contrary, the poorest country in
Europe, has set the bright example of paying off that por¬
tion of the Danish debt with which she was burdened when
separated from that monarchy in 1814, while the Danish
portion has gone on increasing. The Ottoman Sultan has
only escaped by virtue of his want of credit.
Country.
Great Britain and Ireland 
France 
Austria 
Russia  
Prussia 
Spain 
Turkey 
Netherlands 
Belgium  
Denmark  
Bavaria 
The Two Sicilies 
Sardinia 
Hanover  
Baden 
States of the Church 
Portugal.  
Kingdom of Saxony 
Sweden  
Norway  
Tuscany 
Greece   
Modena 
Parma 
Wirtemberg    
Smaller German States together
The Swiss Cantons all together
Annual
Revenue.
£56,000,000
62,000,000
25,000,000
35,000,000
15,000,000
15,000,000
6,500,000
6,000,000
5,000,000
1,500,000
3,000,000
4,500,000
5,000,000
1,300,000
1,680,000
2,381,000
2,850,000
1,650,000
1,040,000
650,000
1,250,470
860,000
340,000
76,000
1,000,000
5,500,000
650,000
Debt.
£760,000,000
275,000,000
180,000,000
170,000,000
32,000,000
120,000,000
100,000,000
29,000,000
13,750,000
16,146,000
16,800,000
24,000,000
5,474,000
5,485,000
20,000,000
18,000,000
6,500,000
None.
4,176,000
380,000
4,842,000
17,000,000
Their annual revenues and the amount of their debts
are stated in the above table, in the nearest round numbers,
and in sterling money, which will give a sufficiently near
approximation to sums that are constantly varying, and in
many instances not certainly known.
Military Though there has been a general peace in Europe for
forces. the long period of forty years, yet their mutual jealousies
have made it seem necessary to the Continental govern¬
ments at least to maintain large standing armies. Russia,
safe from foreign invasion, has long been preparing large
armaments for purposes of aggression on her weaker neigh¬
bours, and of domination over all the rest; and at last her
overt acts of aggression on Turkey have provoked a war
with Great Britain and France, who have armed in defence
of their ancient ally the Sultan, and with the view of not
only maintaining the balance of power in Europe, but of
effectually checking the undisguised attempts of the Czars of
Russia at universal dominion. In these circumstances,
OPE.
with all Europe arming or beginning to arm, any numerical Europe,
statements of their military forces, however approximately '
correct when written, may have become quite erroneous by
the time they are published. The following table, there¬
fore, contains only the declared numbers respectively of the
peace and war establishments of the Continental armies,
with the exception of that of France, which gives the actual
number of men on foot, as stated in the emperor’s address
to his legislative council in December 1854.
Countries.
Austria 
Russia 
Prussia 
France  
Britain 
Spain   
Portugal  
Two Sicilies 
Sardinia 
Belgium 
Netherlands 
Denmark 
Sweden  
Norway   
Tuscany 
Parma  
Modena 
States of the Church  
Smaller States of the Germanic
Confederation 
Swiss Confederation 
Turkey  
Greece   
129,000
128,000
70,000
29,000
56,043
47,524
73,998
57,959
37,043
7,692
15,189
2,773
3,500
17,365
142,686
9,848
War.
670,000
1,500,000
525,000
581,000
53,326
102,932
100,000
144,000
23,484
4,033
14,656
224,000
108,000
450,000
J
The maritime powers that maintain efficient navies worth Maritime
notice are, Britain, France, Russia, Austria, Turkey, Sar- force,
dinia, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and Norway. In
December 1854, the British fleet, in commission and actual
service, consisted of 142 steamers and 104 sailing ships, with
63,000 men ; that of France, of nearly the same number of
vessels altogether, though not so many steamers, with 62,000
men. The Russian fleet in the spring of 1854 consisted of
52 line-of-battle ships, 48 frigates, and 84 smaller vessels
(besides gun-boats), with 9000 guns and 62,000 men.
Austria possessed 104 vessels carrying 742 guns ; Turkey,
70 vessels, with 34,000 seamen and 4000 marines ; Sar¬
dinia, 19 vessels, with 359 guns ; the Netherlands, 88 ves¬
sels, with 2000 guns and 6180 men ; Denmark, 120 vessels,
with 883 guns, and 2000 men ; Sweden, 74 vessels besides
gun-boats; Norway, 19 ships besides gunboats, with 500 men.
In Europe there are two great national confederacies, the
Germanic and the Swiss; but in neither of them is there
so close a union of the sovereignties that compose it as
there is in the United States of North America. In Ger¬
many, indeed, there is no principle or feeling of unity
among either princes or people, and their confederation, as
such, enjoys neither influence nor respect at home or abroad.
In Switzerland, on the contrary, recent circumstances seem
to have produced a closer and more intimate union, and
given to the federative assembly the authority indispensable
to the efficient working of a central government.
SKETCH OF THE SEVERAL STATES.
Britain, though much smaller in extent than any of the Britain,
other states of the first rank, is the wealthiest, and conse¬
quently the most powerful, of the whole. It enjoys a mode¬
rately good climate, rather cold and moist, but equable, a soil
and garrisoned by Sardinian troops. Moldavia, Wallachia, and Servia are independent only in respect of internal administration, but
acknowledge the imperial sovereignty of the Ottoman Sultan. Montenegro is practically independent, under the rule of its Vladika, or
hereditary bishop, but is not the less considered as an integral part of Turkey. St Marino, situated within the States of the Church, is
un er t e protection and control of the Pope, as Andorre is of France. The Ionian Islands are likewise under the protection and con-
° ^, rlt*sk Government, and garrisoned by British troops. Kniphausen is only a lordship, and Hesse-Homburg a landgraviate.
The asterisks mark the smaller states of the Germanic Confederation.
EUROPE.
399
Europe, less fertile in grain than that of France, but affording better
pasturage, an extensive line of sea-coast, with numerous har¬
bours, a natural and well-defined frontier, which no invading
army can pass on foot, a good commercial position, and the
largest fields of coal in Europe ; but all these advantages
have contributed less to her aggrandizement than the excel¬
lence of her laws and political constitution. The progress
of Britain within the last hundred years, and especially with¬
in the last half century, has been wonderfully great. The
British isles contain about 76,000,000 of acres, of which
about two-thirds are in cultivation, and more than one-third
waste or uncultivated. About half of the waste land is in
Scotland, w’here the cidtivated soil forms little more than
a fourth part of the total area of the country, while in Eng¬
land it forms about 67 per cent., and in Ireland 70 per cent.,
of the surface. So great, however, has been the progress
of agricultural improvement, that, though the population has
doubled itself within the last fifty years, the production of
food has fully kept pace with it. The progress of Britain in
manufacturing industry has been still more rapid and more
remarkable than even in agriculture; and in this respect her
natural advantages are more exclusive. She has a good sup¬
ply within herself of the raw material of her staple manu¬
factures of woollen cloths, iron, and linen ; and her means
of procuring silk and cotton are equal at least to those of
her neighbours. In enterprise and commercial activity, her
merchants take the lead among the nations of Europe; and
the removal of all restrictions, and the full introduction of
the principles of free trade have given such a stimulus to
their exertions as transcends all former example. I he num¬
ber of ships employed in her foreign and colonial trade in
1853 was 35,303, with a burden of 7,797,530 tons; and the
number of registered British seamen was 253,896. Her
military forces, in respect of numbers, make a very poor ap¬
pearance beside those of the other great states; the peace
establishment scarcely exceeding 120,000 men for colonial as
well as home service. The amount, however, of her naval forces
is more formidable. In December 1854, the number of sea¬
men and marines on board the armed fleet was about 63,000.
France. France enjoys, upon the whole, greater natural advan¬
tages than any other country in Europe. Her territory
is above a half larger than that of Great Britain and Ire¬
land, and both her soil and climate are better,—the cli¬
mate being less equable indeed, but there being a greater
amount of summer heat to bring the fruits of the earth to
perfection. She has a greater proportion of arable land than
any of her neighbours ; the natural means of communica¬
tion throughout her provinces are abundant and easy ; she
is well provided with all the useful metals except tin ; and
is better supplied with coal than any other country of Eu¬
rope but Britain. Even during the distractions of her great
revolution, though her foreign trade was annihilated, her
agriculture and manufactures were extended and improved,
her population was increased, and its condition ameliorated.
The surface of France contains about 128,000,000 of acres.
It is estimated that, of this quantity, the waste land, includ¬
ing roads and rivers, amounts to an eighth part; the arable
land to near a half; the woodland and pasture land and
meadows, each to about a seventh; the vineyards to a twenty-
fifth part; wild-land, quarries, buildings, orchards, gardens,
olive and other plantations, making up the remainder. In
addition to the vegetable productions that grow in England,
the climate of France enables her to raise vines, olives, mul¬
berries, and chestnuts. Wine and olive oil are two of her
most valuable productions. The cotton trade has been for
some time rapidly extending over the northern and eastern
provinces; and Lyons has been long famous as the centre
of the silk trade of Europe, a branch of manufacture that
has been brought to great perfection in that city. The ma¬
nufactures of woollen cloth, flax, hemp, and iron, are also
very extensive, and have been carefully fostered under the
protective system, which still prevails here, as elsewhere on Europe,
the Continent, notwithstanding the example which has been
set by Great Britain. Towards the end of the seventeenth
century, the territory of France, then equal, or very nearly
equal, to its present extent, appears to have contained about
20,000,000 of inhabitants. In 1791, it was found to be
above 26,000,000, and in 1851 nearly 36,000,000. The go¬
vernment always maintains a large standing army, amount¬
ing on the peace establishment to about 350,000 men, but
actually in December 1854 to 581,000. Her armed fleet
on service is about equal in number of ships to that of Bri¬
tain, with 62,000 men.
The seven northern provinces of the Netherlands are com- Nether-
monly called by the name of one of their number, Holland. lands*
They form a very low and flat country, many parts of which
are from 10 to 20 feet below high-water mark on the adjoining
sea-coasts; and altogether the country is so flat, that to those
approaching it from the rivers, and some parts of the coast,
the trees and spires seem to rise out of the water. It is de¬
fended from the sea and the rivers by huge dykes, the raising
and maintaining of which has cost an enormous expense
and amount of labour, and is a continual object of public
solicitude. It is everywhere intersected by sluggish rivers
and canals; and in consequence of so much water, and its
unsheltered exposure to the seabreeze, the climate is humid
and foggy; but, notwithstanding all disadvantages, the in¬
dustry of the people has multiplied cattle and pasture-
grounds ; and besides these, wheat, flax, and madder, are
raised in the northern districts; and in the south tobacco
and different kinds of fruit-trees cover the fields. The area
of the country contains about 7,614,000 English acres, of
which about two-thirds are cultivated, the remainder being
waste, or occupied by water, heaths, and peat-bogs. It is in¬
habited by the Dutch, a branch of the Low German family of
nations, who, besides being patient and persevering agricul¬
turists, are also largely engaged in foreign commerce. The
population amounted at 31st December 1853 to 3,203,232,
being an increase of 35,226 on the numbers of the preced¬
ing year. The army on permanent duty amounted to
20,488 ; the naval force to 6087 men, of whom 2322 were
employed in the service of the Indian Archipelago.
The people of the southern provinces have assumed the Belgium,
national name of Belgians (Beiges), from the Belgoc, by
whom the country was inhabited in the days of Julius Caesar;
though there is no reason to suppose that there is much, if
any, family connection between them. They consist of two
distinct nations, the Flamandes or Flemings, who inhabit
the northern provinces to the number of about 2,500,000,
speaking a dialect of the Low Dutch ; and of Walloons and
French, who inhabit the southern parts of the country to
the number of about 2,000,000. French is the official lan¬
guage of government, and great efforts have been made to
extend its domain, but the national spirit of the Flemings
has been roused to the defence of their native tongue, and
there has been a great revival of Flemish literature, while
French literature in Belgium has not made the same pro¬
gress. The Catholic party, which predominates in the
north, has endeavoured to turn the spirit thus excited to
its own purposes, and the kingdom is divided against itself.
The southern part of Belgium is rather high and rugged,
but to the north the country sinks into a flat plain, traversed
by rivers and canals, diversified by woods, arable fields, and
meadows, and thickly studded with towns and villages. The
inhabitants are renowned for their industry and manufac¬
turing talent, and every effort has been made by the govern¬
ment to foster improvements. The principal towns are
connected with each other, and with France and Germany,
by railways. There are large deposits of coal and iron, and
the iron trade is carried on with great activity, particularly
at, and in the neighbourhood of, Liege. A perpetual ob¬
ligatory neutrality having been imposed upon Belgium by
400
EUR
Europe, the treaties of 1831 and 1839, by virtue of which the king-
v dom was constituted, the naval and military forces are con¬
sequently unimportant.
Switzer- Switzerland is a country of mountains and valleys and
lan<L lakes, and the cultivable soil forms but a small proportion of
its area. It is the highest ground in Europe, and sends out
large rivers to both the North Sea and the Mediterranean.
Agriculture and pasturage are the prevalent branches of
industry ; but the cotton manufacture has likewise been in¬
troduced, and is carried on to a considerable extent in some
places. The north-eastern part of the country is inhabited
by Germans, or people who speak dialects of the German
language; the south-western parts by people who speak
French; the canton of the Grisons by people who speak a
dialect of the old Romance, or bastard Latin, and the canton
of Tessin by people who speak Italian. 1 he neutrality of
Switzerland is likewise allowed by its neighbours, and its
independence guaranteed by the great powers. It is divided
into 22 cantons, which form 25 sovereign states; but,in con¬
sequence of recentevents, they have all become subjected toa
central federal governrtient, which controls their movements.
This confederation was formerly almost as loose as that
of the German states; but the Jesuits having got pos¬
session of Lucerne, a sonderbund, or separate league, was
entered into by the Roman Catholic or Forest Cantons
for the defence of the holy fathers and their unpopular
institutions against the attempts that might be made by
the other cantons, or the general confederacy, to dislodge
them. A short war, ending in the defeat of the troops of
the Sonderbund, and the capture of Lucerne, left the
Forest Cantons at the mercy of the General Confedera¬
tion, and a new Federal Constitution was formed and adopt¬
ed by the Federal Diet, Sept. 12, 1848. The sovereignty
of Switzerland is vested in the Federal Assembly, consist¬
ing of two divisions, namely, the National Council, and the
Council of the States. The members of the former are
nominated in the cantons, in the proportion of one repre¬
sentative for 20,000 inhabitants ; and the latter consists of
44 senators, two for each entire canton, and one for each
half of the divided cantons. The Federal Assembly chooses
among all the Swiss citizens who are eligible for the National
Council a Federal Council, consisting of seven members,
who continue in office for three years. After every entire
election of the National Council, the Federal Council is
also renewed ; and over all these is a president and a vice-
president of the Confederation, nominated annually in a
conjoined sitting of the two sovereign authorities, and not
re-eligible fora year. Only the Confederation, represented
by the two councils, has the right of making war and peace,
and treaties of alliance, commerce, and customs; and it is
only the Confederation, and not the separate cantons, that
has official relations w ith foreign governments, and regulates
the general posts and tolls. The city of Bern was selected
in Nov. 1848 to be the Federal capital.
Germany. Germany occupies a large portion of the middle region
of Europe, lying nearly across the Continent, from the head of
the Adriatic Sea to the Baltic. The southern provinces
consist of large elevated plains and valleys, bordered by lofty
mountains; but towards the N. it sinks into a plain, or flat
country, of seemingly boundless extent, intersected by the
large rivers that flow from the southern mountains. The
climate is naturally modified by the configuration of the
ground. In the northern plains it is not cold, but humid
and variable; in the higher country to the S. it is drier, but
also, owing to the elevation, colder, or, to speak more eor-
rectly, liable to greater extremes of heat in summer and of
cold in winter. Grain of almost every kind is cultivated,
and produced in abundance; and in the valley of the Rhine
the vine is cultivated as far N. as 51°. Wine is likewise
produced in the lower and more sheltered valleys of the
S. and E. The great bulk of the people are agricultural,
OPE.
but manufacturing industry is also very widely extended in Europe,
various provinces. A large portion of the country is in- >
eluded in one or other of the two great rival monarchies of
Austria and Prussia ; the remainder is divided into a num¬
ber of petty states, which form, with Austria and Prussia,
the Germanic confederation. The people call themselves
Deutsch ; and are divided in respect of language into the
two great families of Hoch Deutsch and Platt Deutsch, or
High Dutch and Low Dutch, who speak dialects of German
that differ very considerably. The general literary language
of the country is a modified and refined form of the High
Dutch, first devised, it is said, by Luther, in his translation
of the Bible. Before the dissolution of the “ Holy Roman
Empire,” in 1806, in consequence of the wars of the French
Revolution, Germany was parcelled out among upwards of
300 sovereign states, including in the number about 50 free
imperial cities. At the general settlement of the affairs of
Europe, at the congress of Vienna, only 40 of these were al¬
lowed to recover or retain their independence ; and by com¬
pact, of date 8th June 1815, these formed themselves into
a bund or confederation, the object of which was the main¬
tenance of the external and internal security of Germany, and
the independence and inviolability of the confederated states.
The confederation was to be represented by a federal
diet, composed of the plenipotentiaries of all the states,
and of which the plenipotentiary of Austria was to be always
the president. The diet held its sittings at Frankfort-on-
the-Maine, and was to have at its disposal a fund contri¬
buted by the members, and a federal army to be furnished
by the states in the proportion of one soldier for every 100
inhabitants for the active army, and of one in 200 for the
army of reserve. The army when assembled was to be
commanded by a general named by the diet, and was to be
arranged in ten active divisions, and one division of infantry
of reserve. Of these Men.
Austria was to furnish the 1st, 2d, and 3d, amounting to 94,822
Prussia, the 4th, 5th, and 6th  .. 79,484
Bavaria, the 7 th  35,600
Wirtemberg, Baden, and Darmstadt, the 8th  30,150
Saxony, Cassel, Nassau, and Luxemburg, the 9th  23,263
Hanover, Holstein, Lauenburg, Mecklenburg, Oldenburg,
Brunswick, Hamburg, Lubeck, and Bremen, the 10th 28,067
And the 11th division to complete the garrisons of the
federal fortresses, to be furnished by the Saxon
duchies, Anhalt, Schwartzburg, Hohenzollern, Liech¬
tenstein, Waldeck, Heuss, Lippe, Homburg, and
Frankfort  10,902
Original force of the federal army  302,288
These are the numbers of the contingents as originally
allocated in 1815 ; but a report recently published by the
military commission of the diet at Frankfort shows the total
strength of the federal army (being the sum of the federal con¬
tingents) to be now 525,037 men, constituted as follows :—
Divisions. Men.
I. II. III. Austria 153,295
IV. V. VI. Prussia   170,509
VII. Bavaria  50,236
VIII. Wirtemberg, Baden, Hesse-Darmstadt  47,557
IX. Saxony, Electoral Hesse, Nassau, Luxem¬
burg, Limburg  35,336
X. Hanover, Brunswick, Oldenburg, the Han¬
seatic towns, Mecklenburg  49,918
Reserve division of infantry  18,186
Total 525,037
These are distributed among the different arms as fol¬
lows :—
Infantry (of whom 28,621 are sharpshooters) 404,502
Cavalry (with 72,032 horses).....  71,149
Artillery (with 7424 horses)  40,270
Engineers  5,745
On the different staffs  3,371
Total.
.525,037
EUROPE.
401
Europe. In addition to the above are—
Surgeons   1,470
Transport department 16,838
The siege artillery consists of 250 guns—viz. 122
cannon, 31 howitzers, and 97 mortars. The whole
is tactically subdivided into 387 battalions, 409
squadrons, and 147 batteries, consisting of 1122
guns.
A recent plan for a new federal military constitution
contemplates, besides an increase of 50,000 men in all, an
increase of the artillery to the proportion of 2^ guns to every
1000 men, instead of 2 to every 1000 as at present, and a
reduction of the proportion of the cavalry to the infantry
from one-seventh to one-eighth, on the ground that the in¬
crease of 50,000 men will be applied chiefly to garrison
purposes. Whenever there is the least prospect of a federal
mobilization, the unsatisfactory state of the contingents of
the petty states is brought into greater prominence, but is
always smoothed over by one or other of the greater powers
for their own political connection’s sake. Should the federal
army ever be brought into the field there would be little
more than the first seven divisions available, say 400,000 ;
on the other hand, Austria and Prussia would always have
further forces over and above their contingents, which they
would willingly enough bring into federal service, as by
that means the troops would be kept at federal cost, and,
at the same time, procure a proportionate amount of ascen¬
dency for the nation to which they belong. One of the
most faulty is the medical department: some small contin¬
gents have no surgeon at all; while one contingent has
eight surgeons, another, of similar strength, has one. In
exact proportion to the poverty and the mismanagement
of these petty states is their pride and repulsive ten¬
dency, so that anything like an arrangement among them¬
selves for a medical staff at joint expense is next to im¬
possible.
The fortresses belonging to the confederation are Mentz,
Luxemburg, and Landau.
From the first this confederation proved itself utterly inef¬
ficient for its intended purposes, and in 1848, in consequence
of the spirit of revolution proceeding from France, the diet
was superseded by a national assembly, which met at Frank¬
fort and assumed sovereign powers, to which the princes
of most of the states at least tacitly submitted. They ap¬
pointed, or at least confirmed the appointment made by the
diet, of the Austrian archduke John, as vicar of the empire,
to administer its affairs till the election of an emperor or
general sovereign. They established a national fleet; made
war on the king of Denmark, for the purpose of wresting
the duchies of Flolstein and Schleswig from the Danish
monarchy, and uniting them completely to the empire ; and
offered the imperial crown to the King of Prussia, which
His Majesty felt himself constrained by circumstances reluc¬
tantly to decline. Their army, however, was beaten by the
Danes, and re-action having commenced, all their projects
proved abortive, and the assembly was dissolved. The vi¬
car resigned his office in December 1849, when a series of
negotiations ensued among the states with a view to the
re-establishment of the bund, on such principles and with
such powers as would ensure its efficient working for the
general welfare of the German nation ; but owing to their
mutual jealousies, and more especially to the rivalry and
irreconcileable pretensions of the two great powers, Austria
and Prussia, these negotiations have had no more impor¬
tant result than the renewal of the federal compact of 1815,
in all its inefficiency. It may be considered indeed as vir¬
tually dissolved, for the diet has no power of self-action,
and no imperial authority ; there is no central executive go¬
vernment ; and there are no mean^ of ensuring the com¬
bined action of the members for any object whatever,
either civil or military. In the confederation are included
VOL. IX.
the German provinces of Austria, Prussia, Denmark, and
Holland, viz.—
Area in Square population.
German Miles. 1
Austrian provinces   3,580
Prussian ...   3,387
Danish ...   175
Dutch ...   87
And the other states marked by asterisks
in the preceding general table of the
European states  4,283
11,893,182
12,314,700
526,850
389,319
16,088,708
Europe.
11,512 41,212,759
In spite of the division of Germany into so many states, Zollverein.
each possessing a right of toll, and its own custom-house
regulations, the commerce of the country was very active
and extensive, and promises to become continually more
so through the operation of the Zollverein, or Great Cus¬
toms Union, entered into very recently by most of the
states at the suggestion and under the influence of Prussia,
with the object of freeing the trade of Germany from the
restrictions under which it was laid by the conflicting in¬
terests and regulations of so many separate and independent
states, and the rapacity of so many needy princes. Tolls,
therefore, or customs, are collected once for all at the gene¬
ral boundary of the states, and the produce is divided among
them in certain proportions according to their interests.
From this union, as it subsisted before the epoch of the
revolutionary movements of 1848-9, Austria was excluded ;
but though not yet admitted into the union, Austria has
become connected with it by a commercial treaty made with
Prussia in 1853, the main principle of which is that the
contracting parties should do nothing to prevent the free
circulation of articles of trade in their respective territories,
or absolutely prohibit the importation or exportation, or the
transit, of any article of merchandise whatever, except to¬
bacco, salt, gunpowder, playing-cards, and almanacs ; the
principal of these excepted articles, tobacco, being a govern¬
ment monopoly in Austria, but not in the other states. 1 he
duration of this treaty has been limited to 12 years from
Jan. 1, 1854 ; and the members of the Zollverein have not
only declared their adhesion to it, but have also prolonged
tiirDec. 31, 1865, the different conventions by virtue of
which their union has been constituted.
The Zollverein includes Prussia, and all the minor Ger¬
man states, except—1. in the north of Germany, Holstein,
with the portions of other states within its limits, Lauen-
burg, Mecklenburg, Hamburg, Lubeck, and Bremen ; 2.
in the south, the small principality of Liechtenstein, which
is connected with the Austrian customs. Holstein, with
the scattered portions of Oldenburg, Hamburg, and Lubeck
inclosed within it, has been definitively incorporated with
the Danish customs ; but the duchy of Lauenburg has been
left unattached, probably on account of its position, which
enables it to profit by the transit of merchandise between
Hamburg and Lubeck, and its tolls on the Elbe, which
would become less productive and less profitable were it
connected with either of the general systems of customs.
The Austrian empire is one-fourth larger than France, Austria,
and twice as large as Great Britain and Ireland together.
It is almost entirely inland, having only a small extent of
sea-coast, along the Adriatic. The south-western part is
very mountainous; the northern contains the large plains
of Hungary, Bohemia, and others, surrounded by mountains t
and to the S. of the Alps lie the fertile plains of Lombardy
and Venice. The climate is similar to that of France, but
subject to greater extremes of heat and cold : the soil not
much inferior, the grain and fruits nearly the same. Aus¬
tria is richer in mineral wealth than any other state in
Europe, and possesses coal, though not in great abundance.
Iron of the best quality is found in Styria, Carinthia, and
Lower Austria, and production is only limited by the want
of fuel to smelt the ore. Quicksilver is found in abundance
3 E
402
Europe.
Prussia.
Denmark.
EUR
at Idria, in Carniola; and copper, zinc, sulphur, and various
other metals and minerals of commercial value, are found in
various places. Mines of rock-salt may be said to extend
at intervals through Transylvania, Galicia, Hungary, Aus¬
tria, Styria, and Tyrol; and those of Bochnia and Wielecska
in Galicia are the largest salt workings in Europe. The
land under tillage is about 34 per cent, of the total area;
vines, orchards, and gardens, 3 per cent.; grass-land, 17 per
cent.; forests and woodland, 26 per cent.; heaths, marshes,
lakes, mountains, and other unproductive and uncultivable
ground, 20 per cent. The cultivable soil, however, is fer¬
tile in grain ; flax, hemp, hops, and fruits are extensively
cultivated, and the forests furnish an ample supply of wood.
The leading manufactures are linen, cotton, woollen, silk,
leather, and works in metal and w^ood. The linen manu¬
facture is carried on to the greatest extent in Bohemia and
Moravia. Lombardy is the seat of the silk trade. The
foreign trade is trifling, owing chiefly to her inland situa¬
tion, want of navigable rivers, and the obstruction of moun¬
tains ; but, by the introduction of steam navigation on the
Danube, and the connection of her provinces with each
other, and with other states, by means of railways, these
disadvantages are in the way of being obviated or removed.
Till 1848,"the Austrian empire consisted of six distinct
nations, with as many separate governments feebly united
under one head. Now, however, the principle of centrali¬
zation has been, and is continually being, more and more
acted upon and enforced; and that, together with the re¬
moval or overcoming of the physical causes of separation,
should naturally be followed by an increase of wealth, and
strength, and political influence.
The Prussian territory is not much more than two-fifths
of the size of that of Austria, and the larger portion of it lies
within the limits of the great and comparatively barren
plain which extends from the Bohemian and Carpathian
Mountains to the Baltic Sea. The smaller and more fertile
part of the Prussian territory, called the grand-duchy of the
Lowrer Rhine, lies in the lower part of the basin of that
river, and is separated from the main body of the kingdom
by the intervention of Hanover, Saxony, and other German
states. There are, besides, several smaller districts, scat¬
tered in the heart of Germany; and with a territory thus
scattered and disjointed, the rank of Prussia as a great state
has been sustained chiefly through the superiority of her
internal organization, and the wary, temporising, and even
shuffling policy of her government; forced upon them indeed
by the defencelessness of a kingdom without natural frontiers,
or physical centrality, or a people united by language, and
national feeling, and interest. Agriculture is the chief oc¬
cupation of the people, but in the Rhenish provinces the
cotton, and in Silesia the linen manufactures are carried
on to a great and increasing extent. Prussia necessarily
maintains a large standing army, but has no naval powrer;
the king, however, has recently purchased the port of Jahde
from the Grand Duke of Oldenburg, for the purpose of a
naval station, and has begun the formation of a fleet. The
kingdom was, till recently, an absolute monarchy ; but has
now received a constitution.
Denmark is a portion of the great European plain, and may
be described as almost uniformly level, with partial inequalities
of surface, particularly in Schleswig and Holstein, and the
islands of Funen and Zealand. The kingdom consists of
two great divisions, the one a long peninsula, extending
from the Elbe to the Scaggerrack, and the other a cluster
of islands separating the Cattegat from the East Sea. The
western coasts of the peninsula are a continuous level of
marsh-land ; the interior is dry and sandy ; and the islands
partake of the same characteristics. The soil of the low¬
lands is generally fertile, producing the finest pasture, and
excellent corn crops. The climate is milder than the
northern situation of the country would indicate; but the sky
OPE.
is very frequently obscured with vapours and moist fogs, and Europe,
the summer lasts only from June till the middle of August,
The climate, however, is not unwholesome. The mass of
the population consists of Danes, who occupy the islands,
North Jutland, and the northern part of Schleswig. Ger¬
mans occupy the southern part of Schleswig, Holstein, and
Lauenburg: Prisons and Angles live on the islands and
other parts of the W. coasts. Agriculture and fisheries are
their principal occupations. From 1660 till 1848 the king¬
dom was an absolute monarchy; but in the latter year a
constitution was granted by the king; and the legislative
power is now vested in two parliamentary bodies, the
Volksthing and Landesthing, both consisting of elective
members; the former resembling the House of Represen¬
tatives, and the latter the Senate, of the Congress of the
United States of North America, rather than the Lords and
Commons of Great Britain. Denmark is a small and poor
country, and her naval and military power corresponds with
her small resources. She possesses in Europe the Faeroe
Islands, and the large, volcanic, and poor island of Iceland,
with a portion of West Greenland.
Sweden and Norway together occupy the Scandinavian Sweden
peninsula, which consists of a huge mass of mountains, fall- and ^or_
ing abruptly towards the Western Ocean, and in a series ofw ay'
long slopes towards the East Sea. More than a third part
of the peninsula is more than 2000 feet above the level of
the sea, and about 3700 square English miles of its surface
are within the limits of perpetual snow. Of these elevated
and snowy regions nearly 3000 square miles of the latter,
and almost the whole of the former, are in Norway. The
country possesses a great diversity of soil and climate. The
summer of the lowlands of Sweden is warm and dry, but
very short; the winters are long and severe. The climate,
however, is generally wholesome and invigorating. The
climate of Norway is less extreme ; not so warm in summer,
nor so cold in winter, but more humid and changeable than
that of Sweden, and generally less salubrious. Agriculture
and fisheries are the principal employments of the popula¬
tion. Sweden possesses mines of iron of the best quality,
which are wrought w ith advantage. Sweden and Norway
form two distinct states, with separate governments, but
are united under one crown. Sweden possesses the form
at least of a constitutional government; but, hitherto, has
derived very little advantage from it in respect of social or
material improvement; while, on the contrary, Norway,
with a democratic constitution, has been steadily advancing
since the epoch of her separation from Denmark and union
with the crown of Swreden, in 1814. The military and naval
power of both states is insignificant; and the country is too poor
to maintain or require any considerable amount of foreign
trade. Iron and timber are the principal articles of export.
The Russian empire embraces nearly a half of the sur- Russian
face of Europe. It chiefly consists of an enormous plain, empire,
being little diversified by rising ground, except towards the
Urals and the Caucasus in the S. and E., and in the pro¬
vince of Finland in the N.W. The northern part of the
country is a cold and barren region of heaths and marshes;
the central provinces are rich and fertile ; the southern,
mere steppes, or grassy, sandy, and salt plains, which afford,
however, in their hollows, along the river-courses, abun¬
dance of excellent pasturage for cattle and horses. The
population is chiefly agricultural, or nomadic; and the
manufactures that are to be found in some places are more
indebted to the fostering care of the government, and the high
import duties, or absolute prohibition of foreign w'ares, than
to native enterprise, for their origin and continuance.
Russia is an immense military power, so far as that depends
on the numbers of her armies; but the want of national
wealth is such a drawback on military enterprise as she has
not yet been able to overcome.
The origin of the Russians as a distinct branch of the
Europe.
Spain and
Portugal.
EUROPE.
403
Slavonians, is a moot point among archaeologists. They
seem to have borne at one time the name of Antes, con¬
sisting of several tribes that formed a sort of confedera¬
tion. In the ninth century, Ruric the Varangian, esta¬
blished himself in Novgorod the Great; and his successors,
extending their dominion by conquest, established their
capital at Kieff, where the dynasty reached the zenith of its
power under Vladimir the Great, who introduced Christi¬
anity among his subjects, according to the creed and ritual
of the Greek Church, a.d. 983. His empire was subse¬
quently overthrown by the Poles and Lithuanians, and the
greater part of it remained subject to Poland till the acces¬
sion of the house of Romanoff. The eastern provinces be¬
yond the Dneiper were conquered by Tartars, and remained
under their dominion till the sixteenth century. The city of
Moscow was founded by Audrey I. in a.d. 1156. In the
middle of the fifteenth century, Ivan Vassiliwitz, Duke of
Muscovy, recovered his independence, and having subdued
a number of petty chieftains, and added the duchies of Tver
and Novgorod to his dominions, assumed the title of Grand-
duke. His grandson, of the same name, subdued the Tar¬
tar kingdoms of Kazan and Astrakhan, and assumed the
title of Czar or Great King. In 1598 the race of Ruric
became extinct; and after a period of anarchy, Michael
Romanoff, the grandson, by the mother’s side, of the last
czar, was raised to the throne of the czars in 1613. His
grandson, Peter Alexowitz, reformed the institutions of his
empire, beat the Swedes and the Turks, acquired a footing
on the Black Sea and the Baltic, founded St Petersburg,
and assumed the titles of Emperor and Autocrator. With
his grandson, Peter II., the male line of the family of Ro¬
manoff became extinct; but in 1763 the founder of the
existing German dynasty, Charles Peter Ulric, Duke of
Holstein-Gottorp, having been adopted as her successor by
his aunt the Empress Elizabeth, a daughter of Peter the
Great, he mounted the throne as Peter HI., and the pre¬
sent Czar (Alexander II.) is hi? great-grandson.
During the last three centuries the successive dukes and
czars of Muscovy and emperors of all the Russias, have
followed the same policy of extending their dominions by
every possible means, fair or foul. They have now declared
themselves the heads and protectors of all the Slavonic
races, and of the orthodox Greek Church, and seem to make
no secret of their deep-laid project of unscrupulous ag¬
grandizement. Their vast dominion now extends in length
through 202° of longitude, and in breadth through 38° of
latitude, and is supposed to contain about 65,000,000 of
inhabitants, of whom five-sixths are in Europe.
Spain and Portugal, though they be two distinct and
separately independent kingdoms, form nevertheless only
one geographical region, emphatically called “ the Penin¬
sula.” The country, above the maritime lowlands, gene¬
rally consists of high valleys and table-lands, separated by
long ranges of rugged mountains, which extend in an east¬
erly and westerly direction, and terminate with promonto¬
ries in the Atlantic Ocean, while they are connected in the
east by their diverging offshoots. 1 he climate and na¬
tural productions are consequently very various. The ma¬
ritime lowlands on the Mediterranean, and the south-west¬
ern portion of the Atlantic shores, are almost tropical in
respect of climate and vegetable productions ; but the tem¬
perature of the inland regions is cool and mild, and gene¬
rally dry, though the extremes of summer and winter are
excessive. At Madrid, for example, the summer heat is
always so great that, according to the Spanish proverb, that
city has “ nine months of winter and three of hell!” In ad¬
dition to silk, tobacco, vines, olives, and all the productions
of France and Germany, the peninsula produces the orange,
citron, sugar-cane, cork-tree, dates, figs, and cotton. W heat
is the grain most generally cultivated ; barley and rye are
next in quantity; considerable quantities of maize and rice
are also raised, but little of oats and potatoes. Mine, Europe,
brandy, and wool are the principal and most valuable ar- v—
tides of export. Both kingdoms, however, are in a very
low estate, in respect of material, commercial, and social
well-being. Since 1807 they have been undergoing con¬
tinual political changes and revolutions, which seem not yet
to have reached their consummation, though Portugal is some¬
what more settled than Spain. In such circumstances their
political importance is almost null, and, in relation to the vast
natural resources of the country, the population is very small.
The Italian peninsula possesses a remarkably well de- Italy,
fined boundary, not merely in its long line of sea coasts,
but also in the Alps, which separate its northern provinces
from France, Switzerland, and Germany; not forming,
however, such an impassable frontier as to have saved the
country from the invasion and domination of the northern
races. In the north, the Alps and the Apennines inclose
between them the rich plains of Lombardy, drained by the
Po and its numerous tributaries. Further south, the pen¬
insula consists of a long hill country traversed by the Apen¬
nines, and bordered by maritime valleys and plains, which
are generally more extensive towards the Tuscan than to¬
wards the Adriatic Sea. The south-western portions of
Tuscany and the Roman State, called the Maremma, are
rendered almost uninhabitable in summer by the prevalence
of malaria. They are likewise marshy, and in consequence
left almost uncultivated ; they feed nevertheless large herds
of beeves and buffaloes. The climate of Italy is humid and
not generally salubrious, for while the northern regions are
exposed to frequent piercingly-cold blasts from the snow¬
capped mountains, the southern provinces are oppressed by
sultry winds that seem to blow from the African deserts,
and are often loaded with an impalpable dust. The
natural productions are, however, rich and various. Every¬
thing that grows in France and Spain grows at least
equally well in Italy, and the people of the northern pro¬
vinces, especially Lombardy, are sufficiently industrious.
The country has long been divided among a number of
petty princes, and oppressed by the heavy weight of both
spiritual and political despotism. The people, nevertheless,
by their talent and industry, have kept their country in a
relatively more respectable position than those of the Spa¬
nish peninsula; and the example set by the introduction of
liberal principles and practices in the states of the King of
Sardinia is not likely to remain long without effect on the
other states. The people of Italy, however, have never
shown such national sympathies as would seem to lead them
to coalesce into a great nation, occupying the whole penin¬
sula as one independent country.
The south-eastern peninsula of Europe is occupied by Turkey and
Turkey and Greece, both of which may be described as Greece-
mountainous countries, including within their ridges nu¬
merous fertile valleys, and in some places extensive lowland
plains. The climate and productions of the country are
generally the same as those of Italy. The two governments
that possess it are equally inefficient for good, though the
one be that of a great and powerful empire apparently in
the last stage of decay, and the other a newly established
kingdom. The dominant people of Turkey are the Os-
manlee or Ottoman Turks, a branch of the great Toorkee
family of Central Asia. There are, however, various other
races, some of them more numerous than the Turks, as the
Roumi or Greeks, Arnauts or Albanians, Bulgarians, and
other Slavonians, Vallachians, Armenians, Jews, Gypsies,
and Franks. Greece is now possessed almost exclusively
by a people who boast of their descent from the ancient
Hellenes, and speak a language not very much altered from
the classic form; but they are not the less evidently much
mixed with Slavonic and other barbarian blood. Their in¬
dependence was established in 1827, but as yet it has been
unproductive of any good.
404
E U S
Eurotas EUROTAS, in Ancient Geography, a river of Laconia,
|| which rises in the mountains separating that country from
Eusebius. Arcadia, and, after traversing through its whole length the
v—great valley formed by Mount Parnon on the east and
Taygetus on the west, falls into the Laconian Gulf. Before
it received the name of Eurotas it was known as the Bomy-
cas, and afterwards as the Himerus. Its modern name
during the upper part of its course is Iris or Niris ; from the
town of Sparta to the sea it is known as the Vasilipotamo
or King-river.
EURYALUS, a celebrated Trojan, son of Opheltes, cele¬
brated in the AEneid for his personal gallantry and his
friendship for Nisus the son of Hyrtacus,
EURYDICE, the wife of Orpheus. See Orpheus.
EURYMEDON, in Ancient Geography, a river of Asia
Minor, rising in the mountains of Pisidia, and flowing due
south through Pamphylia into the Pamphylian Sea. Its
modern name in the upper part of its course is Save-Su;
in the lower, Capri-Su. Anciently the Eurymedon was
navigable ; but its mouth is now closed by sand-bars. His¬
torically it was famous as the scene of a celebrated battle,
in which Cimon the son of Miltiades, after destroying
the Persian fleet at Cyprus, completely routed their land
forces b.c. 4 / 0»
EURYSTHEUS, a king of Argos and Mycenae. See
Hercules.
EUSEBIUS, surnamed Pamphili, bishop of Caesarea,
the father of ecclesiastical history, was born about the year
264 a.d., towards the close of the reign of the Emperor Gal-
lienus. Of his youth nothing is known except that he was
a most assiduous student, and probably held some inferior
office in the Caesarean church. In the persecution set on
foot against the Christians by Diocletian, Pamphilus, the
bishop of that church, was imprisoned, and after two years’
confinement suffered martyrdom. During the whole of this
period he was tended with the most watchful care by Euse¬
bius, who testified his affection for the old bishop among other
ways by assuming his name. When all was over, Eusebius
fled to Tyre, where he was kindly treated ; and afterwards to
Egypt, where he was thrown into prison. On procuring his
release he returned to his native Caesarea, of which he was
appointed bishop about the year 315. In the year 325
Eusebius attended the Council of Nice, and was appointed
to deliver the address to the Emperor Constantine, and then
to take his seat on his right hand. He took a leading share
in the proceedings of this assembly, as may be inferred from
the fact that he drew up the first draught of the Nicene
Creed. The position of the Church at the time this council
was convoked to deliberate upon it was embarrassed and
complicated by the rise and spread of the Arian heresy,
which, from certain inconsistent and self-contradictory pas¬
sages in his previous works, Eusebius was believed to favour.
His real views of the relation between the first two persons
of the Trinity appear, so far as he has developed them, to
coincide pretty much with those of Origen ; but he neither
went fully into the subject himself nor encouraged its dis¬
cussion in others, believing it to lie beyond the pale of
human cognizance. With this idea, he appeared at the Ni¬
cene Council disposed to regard the case of Arius with
the utmost tolerance, and not only so, but he even wrote a
letter to Alexander of Alexandria, whose object was to vin¬
dicate the orthodoxy of Arius from his own writings, or, in
the event of the worst, to save him from punishment for
maintaining a doctrine to which, in his estimation, far too
much importance was attached. Accordingly the draught
of the creed which he prepared, and which was sanctioned
by a moderate party in the council, was calculated to meet
the views both of the Arian section of the assembly and
theii antagonists, whose most redoubtable champion was
Athanasius. Arius accepted the creed as subsequently
modified by the majority of the council, with the addition of
E U S
the word consubstantial, on which Athanasius vehemently Eusebius,
insisted. Eusebius at first refused to sign the draught of v—>
the creed as thus modified; but on the representations of
Constantine agreed to do so, explaining, in a circular to his
diocese, the grounds on which he did so. The deposition
of Arius he strongly opposed, and, contrary to the opinion
of Athanasius, used his efforts to have that heretic reinstated
in his charge. Nor did he abate his intimacy with the chiefs
of the Arian party in the church. One of its chief defend¬
ers was his own namesake, the bishop of Nicomedia. The
sect which took its name from this prelate, and of which
Eusebius Pamphili was a distinguished member, appears to
have been actuated more by hostility to Athanasius than a
desire to promulgate the tenets of Arius, who had himself
submitted to the decrees of the Council of Nicaea. In the
Council of Tyre, Eusebius joined in the outcry against
Athanasius, who was deposed for alleged disobedience to the
emperor, disrespect to the council, &c.; and he even seems
to have used his influence with Constantine to secure the
banishment of that father. Some of the personal traits in
the character of Eusebius are interesting. He had an in¬
tense hatred of the pictures and images of Christ, the use
of which were then beginning to creep into the church; and
on one occasion, when requested by the sister of Constantine
to send her one of the pictures in question, he not only re¬
fused, but denounced in the strongest language the use of
such adjuncts of worship, as savouring of heathenism. An¬
other point on which he held equally strong opinions was
the impropriety of transferring ecclesiastical officers from
one sphere of labour to another, and exemplified the sin¬
cerity of his convictions on this point by refusing the see of
Antioch, which he was repeatedly pressed to exchange for
his own. His modesty was duly appreciated by his impe¬
rial patron, who declared Eusebius worthy to be bishop of
the whole world. Eusebius died about the year 340, at the
age of seventy-six. Apart from the many strictures which
subsequent writers have passed upon the orthodoxy of Euse¬
bius, his fidelity as an historian has been impugned by Gib¬
bon, who describes Eusebius himself as a mean sycophant,
living on the breath of his imperial patron. The charge of
sycophancy is one to which Eusebius is obnoxious in com¬
mon with nearly the whole Christian world of that time.
Under Constantine the Christians were not only secured
against the persecutions to which they had hitherto been
exposed, but had the satisfaction of seeing their religion
established as that of the state. It is no wonder, then, that
they should have been rather extravagant in demonstrating
their gratitude for so remarkable a change, and ascribing to
Constantine praises which were not the right of any mortal.
The graver charge of historical hi fidelity is one which has
been alleged against Eusebius by Gibbon alone, and is based
only on a confession of the historian himself, that in his ac¬
count of the early Christian church he suppressed allusion
to the strifes and dissensions which occasionally broke out;
believing the narration of such incidents less edifying than
the stories of the martyrs whose lives and deaths were alike
honourable to themselves and the religion they professed.
From his avowed adoption of this principle, his history may
be defective, but it is not therefore necessarily dishonest.
Of Eusebius’ works the most important are the following :—
1. The Ecclesiastical History, in ten books; comprising the history
of the church from the ascension of Christ to the defeat and death
of Licinius, a.d. 324. 2. The Chronicon, in two books ; comprising
a historical sketch, with chronological tables, of the most important
events in the history of the world from the days of Abraham till
the twentieth year of the reign of Constantine. This work, which
is one of great importance in the study of ancient history, was pub¬
lished in its complete form for the first time by Mai and Zohrab
at Milan in 1818. 3. The Prceparatio Evavgelica, in fifteen books ;
a collection of facts and quotations from the works of nearly all
the philosophers of antiquity, intended to prepare the reader’s mind
for the acceptance of the Christian evidences. 4. The Demonstratio
Evangelica, a learned and valuable treatise on the evidences them-
E II S
Eastachius selves. 5. An essay Against Ilierocles, at whose instigation Diocle-
|| tian had persecuted the Christians. 6. De Martyribus Palestine, a
Eustatius history of the persecutions under Diocletian and Maximin from 303
v to 310. 7. Against Marcellus, bishop of Ancyra, who had been con-
V demned for Sabellianism. 8. l>e Ecclesiastica Theologia, a con¬
tinuation of the last-mentioned essay. 9. De Vita Constantini, a
panegyric on that emperor. 10. Onomasticon de locis Ilebraicis,
a treatise on the geography of the Bible.
(Cave, Script. Eccl. Hist. Lit.; Fabric. Bib. Grcec.; Neander ;
Waddington’s History of the Church; Smith’s Dictionary of Gr. and
Rom. Ant.; Biogr. Univers., &c. &c.)
EUSTACHIUS (in Italian Bartolomeo Eustachi),
one of the most celebrated anatomists of the sixteenth cen¬
tury, of whose history almost nothing is known except that
he died at Rome in 1570. His name is preserved in that
of the Eustachian tube, which runs between the inner ear
and the upper part of the throat; and the Eustachian valve
of the heart. See Anatomy, vol. iii., p. 46.
EUSTATHIUS, bishop of Bercea, was a native of Side
in Pamphylia. By the council of Nice, in which he dis¬
tinguished himself by his zeal against the Arians, he was
promoted to the patriarchate of Antioch. So violent was
the feeling among the Arians against him, that a synod of
Arian prelates convened at Antioch brought about his depo¬
sition and banishment through a series of heavy charges
founded on evidence which they themselves knew to be
false. This villany was not discovered till a woman, whose
evidence had told very heavily against Eustathius, confessed
on her deathbed her own perjury, and that of the other wit¬
nesses, who had been suborned. Her confession came too
late to benefit the deposed bishop, who had died at Trajano-
polis in Thrace, a.d. 329 or 330. Of several works attri¬
buted to Eustathius there is only one which can with cer¬
tainty be pronounced his—an address, namely, to the Em¬
peror Constantine, during the sitting of the council or Nice.
Eustathius, archbishop of Thessalonica, was a native
of Constantinople, and flourished during the latter half of
the twelfth century. Such of his works as have descended
to our times display a comprehensiveness and variety of eru¬
dition that fairly entitle him to the praise of being the most
learned man of his day. The most important of these is
his Commentary on the Iliad and Odyssey of Homer, &
work valuable as comprising large extracts from the scholire
of other critics whose works have now perished, such as
Apion, Heliodorus, Aristarchus, Aristophanes of Byzantium,
i &c. This commentary was first published at Rome, 1542-50,
in 4 vols„ and was reprinted at Leipzig in 1825-29, under
the editorial care of G. Stalbaum. Eustathius also wrote a
Commentary on Dionysius the Geographer, first printed by
Robert Stephens in 1547, and frequently reprinted since.
A Commentary on Pindar, which he is known to have writ¬
ten, has been lost. Eustathius died in 1198. The funeral
orations pronounced in his honour by Euthynius and Michael
Choniates are still in MS. in the Bodleian Library.
Eustathius, a famous Graeco-Roman jurist, who
flourished at Constantinople in the latter half of the tenth
century, and filled various high offices under the emperors
who reigned during that period. He is frequently men¬
tioned under the names of Patricius, Magister, and Roma-
nus. Besides his Romaica, frequently quoted by later
urists, Eustathius wrote a number of other works never
published, the MSS. of which are still extant in the Vati¬
can at Rome, in Paris, and elsewhere.
EUSTATIUS, St, one of the Leeward Islands, in the
West Indies, between Saba and St Christopher’s, 15 miles
from the former, and 8 from the latter. N. Lat. 17. 31.;
W. Long. 63. 3. It is a high rock, rising from the waves
in the form of a pyramid, and is 29 miles in circumference.
The climate is healthy, and the soil, which is cultivated to
the very summit, most prolific. Like other islands in this
region of the globe, St Eustatius is subject to the desolat¬
ing visitation of thunder-storms and hurricanes. 1 he latter
E U T
405
are most to be dreaded during August and September. Eustyle
There is only one landing-place, which, besides being diffi- ^ 11^
cult of access, is strongly fortified; a precaution which has v m )
been taken with every assailable point in the island. Be- *
sides growing sugar, cotton, maize, and large quantities of
tobacco, the inhabitants rear great quantities of the smaller
kinds of live-stock, in which they carry on a considerable
contraband trade with the neighbouring islands. St Eus¬
tatius was settled by the Dutch as early as^ the beginning
of the seventeenth century; but in 1665 it was taken
by the British, who in their turn were ejected by the
French. In 1781 it yielded to Admiral Rodney, but was
again wrested from the English by the French; and, aftei
repeatedly changing masters according to the varying for¬
tunes of war, it was finally transferred to the Dutch govern¬
ment at the peace of 1814. Pop. about 3000.
EUSTYLE. See Glossary to Architecture.
EUTERPE, one of the nine muses, who was supposed
to preside over lyric poetry and playing on the flute, the
invention of which instrument is ascribed to her. I he
name is derived from ei> well and repTrw I delight; hence
Euterpe signifies the inspirer of pleasure. This goddess is
usually represented as a virgin crowned with flowers, and
holding a flute ; or with various musical instruments lying
around her. To Euterpe has also been ascribed the inven¬
tion of tragedy, which, however, is more usually attributed
to her sister Melpomene.
EUTIN, the capital of the principality of Lubeck, grand
duchy of Oldenburg, 20 miles N.N.W. of the town of
Lubeck. It is pleasantly situated on a lake of the same
name, in a detached territory surrounded by Holstein ; and
has a handsome ducal palace and park, and about 3000 in¬
habitants.
EUTROPIUS, a Roman historian, whose surname is
conjectured by Sigonius, though on no reasonable grounds,
to have been Flavius. So little has been ascertained con¬
cerning his personal history, that it is not even known to
what country he belonged. He held the office of secretary
(epistolaris) under Constantine the Great, accompanied
Julian in his unfortunate expedition against the Parthians,
and survived to the reign of Valens, to whom he dedicated
his history. This work, published under the title of Brevia-
rium Histories Romance, is a compend of Roman history
from the foundation of the city to the accession of Valens.
This treatise has been compiled with considerable care from
the best accessible authorities, but every incident discre¬
ditable to the Roman name has been either wholly omitted
or quietly glossed over. Modern criticism, too, has not
failed to discover occasional mistakes both in matters of
fact and in the chronology; and though the style is clear,
simple, and precise, and evidently framed with great care
on the models of the Augustan age, yet sometimes words
are used belonging rather to the silver than the golden age
of Latin literature. From its brevity and clearness, Eutro-
pius’ history was for a long time a favourite elementary
school book; and it is not yet wholly superseded. As a
history its value is not great, but it is sometimes serviceable
in supplying the lacunae occurring in history from the total
loss of some of the classics, and the imperfect state in which
others have come down to us. There have been many
editions pf Eutropius. That by Llavercamp was reputed the
best till the appearance of the more complete and critical
ones by Tzschucke, Leipz. 1798, and Grosse, Halle, 1813.
Of the two Greek translations of Eutropius, that by Capito^
Lycius has long since perished; the more recent version of
Paeamus will be found incorporated with the best editions
of the Latin text.
EUTYCHES, the founder of the heretical sect of the
Eutychians, was a presbyter and abbot at Constantinople,
and first came into notice at the time of the Nestorian con¬
troversy. Nestorius (though he disavowed the charge) was
406
E V A
EVA
Buxine accused of teaching “ that the divine nature was not incar-
|| nated in, but only attendant on, Jesus ; being superadded to
Evander. his human nature after the latter was completely formed.”
Eutyches, in the zeal of his opposition to this doctrine,
went to the opposite extreme, declaring that in Christ there
was only one nature, that of the incarnate Word, and that
his human had been absorbed by his divine nature. A
council, convened at Constantinople in 448 (the year in
which this heresy was broached) condemned Eutyches,
who appealed to a general council called in 449 by the
Emperor Theodosius at Ephesus. The scenes of shameful
violence with which this council was disgraced gained for it
the title of “ the synod of robbers.” Eutyches was acquitted ;
his opponents sought safety in flight; and Flavianus, bishop
of Constantinople, was scourged by the soldiers who had
been stationed in the hall to keep order. On the death
of Theodosius, his successor, Marcian, convoked a coun¬
cil at Chalcedon (the fourth oecumenical council of the
Latin Church), which annulled the proceedings of the
Ephesian assembly, condemned the heresy of Eutyches,
and degraded him from the priestly office. Eutyches is be¬
lieved to have died in exile. The Eutychian heresy was kept
alive and fostered by Eudocia, the widow of Theodosius, and
sometimes broke out in scenes of violence that required to
be checked by an armed force. Under the title of Monophy-
sites the disciples of Eutyches continued to propagate their
doctrines, though with no remarkable success, till the sixth
century, when Jacob Baradeeus (who died bishop of Edessa
in 588) gave a powerful impetus to their extension. Under
the name of Jacobites the Eutychians constitute at this mo¬
ment a very numerous church, whose principal adherents lie
among the Copts and Armenians. See Monophysites and
Monothesites.
EUXINE, the English form of the Latin Euxinus, the
classical name of the Black Sea. The original designation
of the sea was Axenus or Inhospitable, from the fierceness
of the storms with which it was believed to be periodically
visited, and also from the ferocity of the nations which dwelt
around its shores. By the later Greeks its name was changed
into Euxinus or Hospitable, as being a word of better omen.
EVAGRIUS, surnamed Scholasticus and Ex-Pre-
eectus, was born at Epiphania in Syria, a.d. 536. From
his surname he is known to have been an advocate, and it
is supposed that he practised at Antioch. He was the legal
adviser of Gregory, patriarch of that city; and through this
connection he was brought under the notice of the Emperor
Tiberius, who honoured him with the rank of qusestorian.
His influence and reputation was so considerable that, on
the occasion of his second marriage, a public festival was
celebrated in his honour, which, however, was interrupted
by a terrible earthquake, said to have destroyed 60,000
persons. Evagrius’ name has been preserved by his Eccle¬
siastical History, extending over the period from the third
general council (that of Ephesus, a.d. 431) to the year 594.
I hough not wholly trustworthy, this work is tolerably impar¬
tial, and appears to have been compiled from original docu¬
ments, though it is disfigured by the unquestioning credulity
characteristic of the age. The best edition is that contained
in^ Reading’s Greek Ecclesiastical Historians, Cambridge,
1/20. It is also translated in Bagster’s work bearing the
same title.
EVANDER, in Greek and Homan Mythology, a son of
Mercury and an Arcadian nymph called in the Greek tra¬
ditions Ihemis or Nicostrate, and in the Roman Tiburtis,
or more commonly Carmente. In consequence of civil
broils, in the course of which Evander was worsted, he left
his native city oi Pallantium in Arcadia, and sailed for
Italy, where he settled at the foot of the Palatine Hill, and
was hospitably received by king Turnus. The town of
Pallantium, which he is said to have built on the spot where
he disembarked, was subsequently incorporated with Rome,
Evan¬
gelists
II
Evapora¬
tion.
and gave name to the Palatine Hill, Palatium, &c. Among
the other arts which traditions describe him as diffusing
among the Italians, was that of writing, which he had him¬
self learned from Hercules. Virgil describes Evander as
still alive when dEneas landed in Italy, and as forming an
alliance with that chief against the Rutuli.
EVANGELISTS (from tv icell, and ayyeXos messenger,
or messenger of good tidings). This term is applied in
the New Testament to a certain class of Christian teachers
who were not fixed to any particular spot, but travelled
either independently, or under the direction of the Apostles,
for the purpose of propagating the gospel. In the Epistle
to the Ephesians (iv. 11) the Evangelists are expressly dis¬
tinguished from the pastors and teachers, who were per¬
sons stationed at particular places to confirm and instruct
the converts statedly and permanently. Such is the re¬
presentation given by Eusebius {Hist. Eccles., iii. 37).
Referring to the state of the church in the time of Trajan,
he says, “ Many of the disciples of that time, whose souls
the Divine word had inspired with an ardent love of philo¬
sophy, first fulfilled our Saviour’s precept by distributing
their substance among the poor. Then travelling abroad
they performed the work of evangelists, being ambitious to
preach Christ, and deliver the scripture of the Divine
Gospels. Having laid the foundations of the faith in foreign
nations, they appointed other pastors, to whom they en¬
trusted the cultivation of the parts they had recently occu¬
pied, while they proceeded to other countries and nations.”
The term evangelist is also applied in a more limited sense
to the authors of the canonical Gospels.
EVAPORATION is that process by which liquids and
solids gradually assume the gaseous form, or by which, in
certain circumstances, an invisible vapour or gas is con¬
tinually detached from the surface of water, and perhaps
of every other liquid, as also from the surfaces of many, if
not every solid. From this process being generally found
to lower the temperature of the evaporating body, an effect
which might have been expected from the doctrine of
latent heat, it is probable that heat enters largely into
the constitution of every vapour, and is therefore supposed
to be the principal agent. At a given temperature, a
cubic foot or other determinate space incumbent over a
liquid, cannot contain above a certain quantity of the same
kind of vapour ; and when it contains that maximum, it is
said to be saturated. If, therefore, after this is the case,
any additional vapour continue to be thrown off, it must
either fall back immediately into the liquid, or, if slightly
cooled, may apparently remain suspended in the visible
form of a cloud, which, however, is not properly vapour,
but minute drops, formed by the cooling of it, and which
successively fall back into the liquid. For evaporation
continues to go on under the pressure of air or other
gas however dense ; but ceases in the presence of any gas,
however rare, if already saturated with the same vapour,
unless such gas be colder than the evaporating body ; in
which case, however, the vapour being partly condensed
into drops, becomes cloudy, as was just mentioned; and
sometimes liquids, while in the act of ebullition, which is
rather an extreme case of evaporation, throw up small
drops, which may be seen alternately rising and falling in
the vapour. Such is a summary of a few of the leading
facts, several of which we shall have occasion to touch on
more fully, along with other particulars, whilst briefly
noticing, as we shall now do, some steps in the history of
this inquiry, before proceeding farther.
The spontaneous disappearance of water, and the drying Historical
of humid bodies, or the tendency which moisture has to sketch of
escape from them and diffuse itself in the atmosphere, and various
afterwards to descend as rain, snow, dew, &c., must have theories °f
been familiar to mankind in every age, condition, or cli- e.vaPora*
mate; but anything like an approach to a rational expla tl0n'
%
EVAPORATION. 407
Evapora- nation of the facts seems to be of very modern date, tory proof than this, which has been lone before the p1 'b•
lion* Some of the ancients, particularly Aristotle, conjectured lie, is scarcely to be wished; yet we find Dr Lardner sub-
that fire was concerned in the process; but such of their sequently reading a paper to the Royal Society on the heat
notions as have come down to us are so little to the pur- of steam, and which has lor its foundation the untenable
pose, that they need not now be dwelt upon. Halley sup- theory of Clement. Indeed M. Clement s mode of expe-
posed that aqueous vapour consisted of small hollow sphe- rimenting was so fallacious, that it would have given him
rules, filled with something so very light, that they readi- the same results whether his theory had been tiue 01
ly ascended and floated in the air,—a theory not altogether not. For when the stream of steam is very small, am o
such as might have been expected from the known saga- course passes through the stop-cock with difficulty, as it
city of its author; for, though Descartes seems to have must have done in his experiments, it has, while in tie
hinted at the same thing long before, it scarcely appears act of dilating from under a force of two or three to that
to have had the least shade of truth in it. But so com- of one atmosphere, the opportunity of absorbing heat from
pletely was Kratzenstein’s imagination filled with this the metal of the scarcely open stop-cock then much liot-
doctrine, that he fancied he could see these vesicles with ter than 212°, the temperature to which the dilating is
a microscope, and even discern them to be hollow, not- supposed to reduce the steam. No wonder then that equal
withstanding their being supposed to form a transparent weights of steam, at first so different in density, should,
vapour. If he really saw any thing, it was more probably when received in equal quantities of cold water, produce
minute drops of water descending in the air. Nay, al- equal rises of temperature; as is pointed out more parti-
most up to the close of the last century, we find many cularly in the Philosophical Magazine for July lo-b, p. d».
eminent men, and among these the late able mathemati- It is likewise to be remembered, that though in the other
cian Mr George Atwood, maintaining and speculating on experiment the steam must have been absorbing some
this vesicular theory, as it was called. Halley, it is true, little heat from the stop-cock, this did not enable it to pre¬
hinted at another theory, which not a few embraced, and serve the transparent form. We have been the more par-
for which some have still a predilection, namely, that air ticular in clearing up this point, because we shall shortly
holds moisture united to it by chemical solution or affinity ; have occasion to refer to it.
Desagu- but the first idea of this seems to be due to Hooke. A From the time of Halley and Desaguliers to about
lier’snthe- different explanation was attempted by Desaguliers, who, 1770, a variety of essays on evaporation made their ap-
or-v- after pointing out the defects of former theories, showed pearance, which, however, tended but little towards eiuci-
that water is capable of being converted into a transpa- dating the subject, because they were either not founded
rent elastic fluid, which he supposed to be many times on experiments at all, or on such as were not sufficiently
lighter than air, and that it could therefore ascend and elementary. Some of these sought to establish the vesi-
float in the atmosphere ; but he some time afterwards in- cular system, while others advocated that of chemical sola-
dined to ascribe the ascent of vapour to an electrical at- tion and electrical attraction. At length, in 1783, came iiesearcc®
traction of the air. Desaguliers was no doubt greatly forth the well known Essais sur l Hygrometne oi M. de gure>
mistaken regarding the specific gravity of steam, which, Saussure, who, though he did not labour so much to esta-
under the same pressure and temperature, is now known blish new theories as to blend together or combine some
only to fall short of that of air in the ratio of five to eight; of those already mentioned, certainly added consideranly to
but he was perhaps the first who thought of identifying the stock of facts. But he at the same time greatly indulged
pure steam with the attenuated aqueous vapour diffused his fancy in supposing aqueous vapour to be capable of
in the atmosphere. It would seem that prior to Desa- existing in four different forms. When it alone occupied
nuliers advancing this notion, it was not known that steam a space, he called it pure elastic vapourvthsn diffused in
is always generated in a transparent state, although mi- a transparent state in the air, he named \t dissolved elastic
nute drops of water may be passing or falling through it; vapour, imagining it to be chemically dissolved by the air ;
and indeed some are scarcely aware of this at the present but after the air was quite saturated with this sort, he
day. The fact is, that steam or aqueous vapour preserves thought some of it assumed the form of vesicular vapour,
its transparency so long as it has neither lost heat nor had only differing from that of Halley in being visible, lo
its volume enlarged; but so soon as its temperature is these he added concrete vapour, which consisted of liquid
lowered, whether from losing heat or from enlargement drops, such as form clouds and fogs; a real form of mois-
of volume, it is more or less condensed into minute drops ture to be sure, but one which is not properly vapour at
Doubts re-of water, which of course render it opaque. For we can all. In these Essais we have an account of a variety o
garding on no account admit the very generally received doctrine experiments, most of them having the advantage of being
Clement’s 0f M. Clement, that equal weights of steam, if in contact executed on a great scale; but, on the other hand, they
theory of wjt]1 water) contain equal quantities of heat, whatever be were often deficient in that elementary simplicity which
the latent voiumes 0r temperatures. On the contrary, we can- is so important in a research of this nature, if we would
nour.111 Va"not help believing that a given weight of steam requires avoid sources of fallacy. By inclosing a known weight of
more heat to maintain it in the transparent elastic form, caustic alkali in a very large glass balloon, previously filled
when under a greater volume, than under a less; and in with thoroughly damp air, Saussure endeavoured to find
proof of this, we presume it is only necessary to adduce what quantity of moisture this air contained, from the in-
the following fact. If we open a stop-cock in the cover crease of weight which it communicated to the alkali; and
of a boiler when the pressure is only one atmosphere, the conversely, by weighing a bit of wet linen, and suspending
steam which issues preserves its transparency till it get it in the balloon filled with dry air, he estimated how much
to some distance from the orifice ; but when the pressure moisture had evaporated from the linen to render the air
within amounts to two or three atmospheres, the steam, thoroughly damp. These two methods not only gave him
if allowed to issue freely, is opaque from the very orifice, nearly the same result, but did so whether he used pure hy-
This clearly shows that the same quantity of heat (we do drogen or carbonic acid in the balloon, and even when he
not mean temperature) which had been amply sufficient employed a mixture of these gases. During these experi-
to maintain the steam in the transparent form under a ments he also observed, by means of a gauge, what change
smaller volume within the boiler, is quite inadequate to of pressure took place within the balloon from the change
do so when the steam is allowed to enlarge its volume of humidity. , . . ,
under a reduced pressure. A more palpable or satisfac- By operating at different temperatures, he obtained re-
408
Evapora¬
tion.
EVAPORATION.
suits from which different conclusions might be drawn to for each degree of temperature between 32° and 212° ; and
suit different theories ; for instance, that the quantity of was the first who did so with any thing like accuracy. He
Evapora¬
tion.
Theory of
vapour which could exist in the balloon varied in geome¬
trical progression for equal intervals of temperature, and
nearly as the square root of the air’s density ; and that air
of the ordinary density could contain five times as much
vapour as a vacuum did ; all of which conclusions are now
known to be incorrect. Prior to this, Lambert had, from
his experiments, drawn a very different but still more erro¬
neous conclusion, that the quantity of moisture varied as
the square of the air’s density.
It was natural to think that the great discordance be-
Deluc and tween the results of these celebrated philosophers should
Dalton. jiave rajsecj doubts whether they might not both have de¬
ceived themselves by too complex a mode of operating,
and, therefore, that neither of them was likely to be correct.
Accordingly we find M. Deluc, in his Idees sur la Meteoro-
logie, hinting at an incomparably more simple theory, which
he afterwards developed more fully in the Philosophical
Transactions for 1792, viz. that the quantity of vapour which
can exist in a given^space depends upon the temperature
alone, and is independent of the presence or density of air, or
of any other elastic fluid with which the vapour forms no
chemical combination, being the same as if nothing but the
vapour occupied that space. In this speculation he also
maintained, as Desaguliers had done, that pure steam and
the attenuated aqueous vapour diffused in the air are the
same. Something similar to this theory was advanced by
M. Pictet in his Essai sur le Feu, and still more so by Dr
Dalton in his Meteorological Essays ; and it is not impro¬
bable that each might have hit upon the same theory be¬
fore knowing what the others had done. By inclosing his
hygrometer along with a little wrater under a receiver, De¬
luc found that the indications of that instrument were the
same whatever was the density of the included air, or how¬
ever much he exhausted it; and the same thing held true
with other gases. Volta, likewise, from a great variety of
experiments, was led to acquiesce in the theory of Deluc.
The theory was farther investigated, in a much more
elementary way, by Dr Dalton, as detailed in the Man¬
chester Memoirs, vol. v.; but preparatory to noticing it, we
shall subjoin his manner of expressing himself on the sub¬
ject in his Essays, p. 201, where, from certain experiments
and observations, he infers “ that the vapour of water, and
probably of most other liquids, exists at all temperatures
in the atmosphere, and is capable of bearing any known
degree of cold without a total condensation, and that the
vapour so existing is one and the same thing as steam or
vapour of 212° or upwards. The idea, therefore, that va¬
pour cannot exist in the open atmosphere at a lower tempe¬
rature than 212°, unless chemically combined therewith, I
consider as erroneous ; it has taken its rise from a suppo¬
sition that air pressing upon vapour condenses the vapour
equally with vapour pressing upon vapour; a supposition
wre have no right to assume, and which, I apprehend, will
plainly appear to be contradictory to reason and unwarrant¬
ed by facts; for when a particle of vapour exists between
two particles of air, let their equal and opposite pressures
upon it be what they may, they cannot bi'ing it nearer to
another particle of vapour, without wdiich no condensation
can take place, all other circumstances being the same;
and it has never been proved that the vapour in a receiver
from w'hich the air has been exhausted is precipitated upon
the admission of perfectly dry air. Hence, then, we con¬
clude, till the contrary can be proved, that the condensa¬
tion ot vapour exposed to the common air does not in any
manner depend upon the pressure of the air.” The method
which Dr Dalton took to clear up this question is distin¬
guished by an elegant simplicity. In the Jirst place, he
determined by experiment the expansive force of dry air
Dr Dal¬
ton’s re¬
searches.
at same time found that 1000 cubic inches of air at 32°
expanded to 1376 on being heated to 212°, which comes
surprisingly near 1375, the result published by M. Gay
Lussac shortly after. But through some inadvertency
Dr Gardner (on Heat, p. 57) makes Dr Dalton’s result
1325, and then gravely adds, that “ the latter (Gay Lus-
sac’s) determination has been proved by subsequent expe¬
riments to be the more correct.” Secondly, Dr Dalton
ascertained the force of pure steam in contact with water
for each degree throughout the same range; and, thirdly,
he found at what rate dry air expanded, when put in con¬
tact with water, and then heated through the various de¬
grees of that range. The result was, that at any particu¬
lar temperature, the expansive force of dry air in the first
case, added to the force of vapour in the second, was ex¬
actly equal to their joint expansive force in the third. From
this it is obvious that there is either no chemical combina¬
tion between the air and vapour, or that such combination,
if it exist, is quite inert, or goes for nothing so far as this
research is concerned. Dr Dalton found, that when other
gases were substituted for air, the vapour gave the same
results; and similar results were obtained when other va¬
pours were treated as steam. M. Desormes, likewise, by Researches
operating in a manner very different from that of Dr Dal- of M. Des-
ton, found the quantity of vapour to be independent of the ormes,
presence of air or other gases. The question was also ex¬
amined experimentally by M. Gay Lussac, with his well-
knowm accuracy and ability, and his results precisely agreed
w ith those of Dr Dalton. Still more recently Professor
Daniell has made a great variety of interesting experi¬
ments on mixtures of gases and vapours, in a manner simi¬
lar to that employed by Deluc, but with the help of an in¬
comparably better hygrometer ; and his researches, too, cor¬
roborate the theory completely.
Several objections have been made to this theory; but
all of them with which we are acquainted are so nugatory
and irrelevant that we do not think they require any refu¬
tation. There is, however, a point which the foes as well
as the friends of the theory have taken for granted, and
which, though extremely probable, it would, for any thing
we can see, be very difficult to prove in a direct and unex¬
ceptionable manner ; viz. that the expenditure of heat in
forming a given weight of vapour is the same, whether the
process take place in air or other gas, or in a vacuum.
Since in most combinations heat is given out, it is a won¬
der that those who contend for the solution of vapours in
gases have not founded some objection on this ; for we
presume it is the only point on which a doubt could be
palmed respecting the theory. It is generally taken for
granted too, that the expenditure of heat in forming a given
weight of vapour is the same at every temperature; but
this assumption we cannot help regarding as very erroneous,
because to us it appears quite clear that the expense of
heat is greater when the vapour is rarer ; and this we main¬
tain for the following reason. The density of steam at Doubts re-
2120, for instance, is about 109 times greater than at 32°garding
Fahrenheit; and we have already seen that steam loses in1*.16 expen.
a considerable degree the elastic form by being dilated to^j^1®^
two or three times its bulk ; how much more then if dila-a^wa ^
ted 109 times? Hence steam rarefied to such a degreegame.
w ould need a large addition of heat to enable it to main¬
tain the gaseous form; in other words, much more heat
must be expended or become latent in forming a given
weight of vapour at 32° than at 212°. If steam, when kept
separate from water, have its temperature raised by com¬
pression at the same rate as air has, it might be shown that
the expense of heat in forming vapour at 32° would be to
that at 212° as thirteen to eight nearly, that is, in the
EVAPORATION.
409
Evapora- ratio of the logarithms of the number of times the steam is
tion. rarer than water. See Philosophical Magazine for April
1832, page 246.
Experi- Vapours and gases agree in so many of their properties,
merits on that there seems no doubt of their being but one and the
force of va-same form 0f matter. Thus, so far as has been examined,
ferent tem" every vapour, when kept separate from any sensibly eva-
neratures. porating liquid, expands by heat at the same rate as air and
other gases do; and, like gases too, it observes the law of
Boyle, by having the force at a given temperature pro¬
portional to the density. But since the density of a vapour
in contact with its generating liquid increases with the
temperature, its force, when so situated, increases much
more rapidly than that of air or a mere gas does. How¬
ever, the precise law which connects the temperature with
Dr Dal- the density or force seems to be as yet unknown. Dr Dal¬
ton’s expe-ton having, as already mentioned, ascertained by experi-
rimeots. ment the force of aqueous vapour between the tempera¬
tures of 32° and 212°, deduced from the results what he con¬
sidered to be the relation between the force and tempera¬
ture, and for some time it was supposed that by means of
it the force could be had for temperatures beyond both
limits of that range. Accordingly on this principle he con¬
structed a table which extended from — 40°F. up to 325° ;
and indeed he was pretty fortunate in the extension below
32°, because the half of it has since been so nearly con¬
firmed by the very accurate experiments of M. Gay Lussac,
which were carried down almost to— 20° cent, or — 4°F.;
but above 212° the supposed law was soon found to give
the force too small, and the more so as the temperature is
higher. Yet Dr Gardner, in his separate treatise on heat,
gives this part of the table expressly as the result of Dalton’s
44 accurate experiments,” and not as it really was, a mere
extension by means of a formula; nor does he warn us of
its erring almost two atmospheres at the upper extremity.
It is likewise curious that Dr Gardner, while he notices
performances of far less merit, is totally silent respecting
the labours of the Committee of the Royal Academy of
Sciences at Paris in 1829 ; though they executed by far
the most extensive and accurate experiments that ever
were made on steam at high temperatures, as will be found
detailed in the Annales de Chimie for January 1830. All
the English abstracts from this which we have seen are
very incorrect. Dr Dalton has more recently published
another table of the force of vapour adapted to some of
his theoretical views; but from its differing considerably
from the results of others, especially those of Gay Gussac,
we do not consider it so correct for low temperatures as
his first one, part of which is given farther on in this article.
Ouv Lug* The method employed by M. Gay Gussac to determine
sac’s expe- experimentally the force of vapour at low temperatures
riments. is particularly commendable, and yet its merits seem to
have been very much overlooked, even by those who were
engaged in similar researches. It may therefore be useful
to give a brief account of it here. Other philosophers had
either not carried their experiments below 32° at all, or
had mismanaged the matter by allowing water to freeze
in the tube in such a manner as to obstruct the free mo¬
tion of the mercury, and likewise to render its altitude ill
defined and difficult to be seen. These inconveniences
were dexterously avoided by Gay Gussac, who still em¬
ployed a barometer tube, but one so much longer than or¬
dinary that a considerable part of it next the sealed end
was above the mercury, and a portion of this, being bent
to about an angle of 60°, was immersed in a coM mixture
along with a thermometer. The consequence of this ar¬
rangement was, that neither the mercury nor the small
portion of water on its top necessarily required to be cooled
down at all; because, however moderate their temperature
might be, the force of every portion of the included vapour
VOL. IX.
being in equilibrio with the force of that which touched Evapora-
the coldest part of the tube, was just the same as if the
whole vapour had been at the temperature of the freezing
mixture. A farther advantage was, that after the apparatus
had been allowed to remain for a short time in the state now
described, the water entirely disappeared from the top of
the mercury, having been transferred by evaporation or dis¬
tillation to the sealed end of the tube, where it was quickly
frozen. By this means the mercury became almost as free
from moisture as if none had been in the tube. It is, be¬
sides, evident that this method could be carried down, not
only to and below the freezing point of mercury, but to
any temperature, however low, to which the extremity of
the tube could be cooled ; and that it is applicable to every
sort of vapour which does not act upon mercury. In fine,
Gay Gussac having placed a barometer tube filled with dry
mercury beside and in the same cistern with the one which
contained both mercury and moisture, read off the differ¬
ence in the heights of their mercurial columns with great
precision, by means of a microscope w'hich could be shifted
up and dow n a graduated pillar, and the difterence was ob¬
viously the force of the vapour. Although mercury eva¬
porates at all temperatures, as appears from a bit of gold-
leaf becoming white if long suspended over it in a phial,
and from the noxious effects of breathing air which has
been for some time in contact with a large surface of mer¬
cury, yet the force of its vapour is so very small compared
with that of steam, that it could not sensibly affect these
experiments. Indeed it seems to be a general law, that
the forces of vapours from liquids which have high boiling
points, are quite inappreciable at low temperatures.
The most important problem connected with the evapo-Researches
ration of water is to determine the rate at which, under cer- ^
tain circumstances, it escapes from a given surface at a Par‘
ticular temperature. Many cases of this problem are still
very imperfectly solved. The experiments of Dr Halley, de- Dr Hal-
tailed in No. 189 of the Philosophical Transactions, seem to ley s expe-
be among the earliest which were employed for this purpose.nments’
He found that water salted to the state of sea water, and
exposed to a heat equal to that of a summer’s day, did, from
a circular surface of eight inches diameter, evaporate at
the rate of six ounces in twenty-four hours. Hence he
concludes, that a square degree of sixty-nine miles will eva¬
porate 33,000,000 tuns in a day ; and supposing the Me¬
diterranean to contain 160 square degrees, it would evapo¬
rate 5,280,000,000 tuns daily. This quantity he considers
sufficient to supply all the rains, springs, dews, rivers, &c.
It would however be of little use to rehearse the whole of
this speculation, because the data, as we shall afterwards
see, w^ere too loose, and the experiment was on too small
a scale, for such a comparison. Dr Gardner, in touch- Water car¬
ing on this subject in his treatise on heat, says, that in ried in by
the Straits of Gibraltar, instead of an outward current,the clir-
there is a rapid and never-ceasing inward flow of w ater,
and that he is therefore compelled to conclude that the cannut be
evaporation from the surface of this sea carries off the enor-aq spent
mous quantity of water supplied from this and other sources, by evapo-
Such doctrine from so respectable a quarter rather sur-ration,
prises us; since it is quite well known that, besides the
inward current, wdfich is principally in the middle of the
surface, there are generally outward currents, likewise at
the surface, next the coasts, particularly the south one, and
most probably also in the immense deep beneath. It has been
alleged, but erroneously, that the water sometimes flows out¬
wards even in mid-channel on the surface. Had there
been no outward current, the Mediterranean must long
ago have become as salt as the brine of the Dead Sea; or
rather perhaps have become a rock of salt, as Dr Thomas
Young remarked; for, as we shall afterwards see, no common
salt or other muriate rises from the sea by evaporation. In
3 F
410
Kvapora- order that the same degree of saltness may continue, the
tion. outward currents must just bear away as much salt as the
v—inward current and other sources supply, with the very
slight exception of what the wind carries off in the form of
spray, water spouts, &c. The waters of the Mediterranean
being, as is well known, specifically heavier, especially at a
great depth, than those of the Atlantic, will naturally in¬
cline to buoy them up, and flow out beneath them in the
infathomable depth of the Straits.
T*r Dob- A series of experiments on the evaporation of water at
son’s expe- natural temperatures was continued for four years, begin-
nments. ning with 1772, by Dr Dobson, at Liverpool, as detailed
in the Philosophical Transactions, vol. Ixvii. He took
a cylindrical vessel twelve inches in diameter, and hav¬
ing nearly filled it with water, exposed it beside his rain-
gauge of the same aperture ; and by adding or withdraw¬
ing water, as occasion required, he kept the surface at
nearly the same height. By comparing the total quan¬
tities thus added or taken away with the proceeds of the
rain-gauge, the amount of evaporation was ascertained.
The mean monthly evaporation for the four years was, in
January, 1*5 inches; February, 1-77; March, 2-64 ; April,
3-3; May, 4-34; June, 4-41; July, 5T1; August, 5-01;
September, 3T8; October, 2-51; November, T51 ; De¬
cember, L49. In all, 36-78 inches. The mean rain for
the same time was 37-48. For a great deal more in this
way, and on the evaporation of ice and snow, see How¬
ard’s excellent treatise on The Climate of London. That
EVAPORATION.
ice and snow evaporate, appears from their losing weight, Evapora-
or even disappearing altogether, if long enough exposed
to a brisk and dry wind during frost. But sometimes snow
is rendered so much colder by radiation than the incumbent
still air, that it condenses the vapour of that air into hoar¬
frost, and by that means augments its own weight or bulk.
But the experiments of Dr Dalton and Mr Hoyle, though Experi-^
rather of local application, were no doubt far more accu-
rate for evaporation from the soil. Having got a cylindri- ^ ^
cal vessel three feet deep and ten inches in diameter, two Hoyle<
pipes were joined to it, and turned downwards for the sur¬
plus rain-water to run off into bottles ; the one pipe being
near the bottom, the other an inch from the top. The
vessel was filled up for a few inches with gravel and sand,
and the remainder with good fresh soil. It was then put
into a hole in the ground, and the space around filled up
with earth, except on one side, for the convenience of af¬
terwards joining bottles to the pipes, and registering their
contents. The earth in the vessel was now saturated with
moisture, by pouring in water till some of it escaped from
the pipes; and, lastly, the bottles were put to. During the
first year the soil was bare at top ; but for the next two
years it was covered with grass, like any green field. A
regular register w^as kept of the rain-water which ran off
through the upper pipe, and also of what sunk down through
the earth to the lower pipe. A rain-gauge of the same
diameter was kept close by, to register the quantity of rain
for any corresponding time.
January 
February...
March 
April 
May 
June 
July 
August 
September,
October....
November.
December.
Water through the two Pipes.
1796.
Inch.
1-897
1- 778
0-431
0-220
2- 027
0171
0-153
0-200
Rain,
Evap  23-725
6-877
30-629
1797.
Inch.
0-680
0-918
0-070
0-295
2- 443
0-726
0-025
0 976
0-680
1-044
3- 077
1798.
10-934
38791
27-857
Inch.
1-774
1-122
0-335
0-180
0-010
0-504
1-594
1-878
7-379
31-259
23-862
Mean.
Inch.
1-450
1-273
0-279
0-232
1-493
0-299
0-059
0-168
0-325
0-227
0-879
1-718
8-402
Mean Rains.
Mean Evapo¬
ration from
Ground.
Inch.
2-458
1-801
0-902
1- 717
4-177
2- 483
4-154
3- 554
3-279
2-899
2- 934
3- 202
33-560
Mean Evapo¬
ration from
W ater.
Inch.
1-008
0-528
0-623
1- 485
2- 684
2- 184
4-095
3- 386
2-954
2-672
2-055
1-484
25-158
Inch.
1- 5
2-
3- 5
4- 5
4- 959
6-487
5- 628
6- 058
3-898
2-351
2-042
1-5
44-4
From these experiments it appears, ls£, That the mean
annual quantity of water evaporated in the above circum¬
stances is twenty-five inches of rain, to which if we add five
for dew, will give thirty inches of water raised annually :
'Zdly, That the evaporation increases nearly, though not
exactly, in the same ratio as the rain ; thus 1797 gave
most rain, and the greatest evaporation, &c.: 2>dly, That
there is little difference between the evaporation from bare
earth of sufficient depth, and that from ground covered
with grass. It is however to be observed, that the numbers
in the last or right hand column belong to the years 1799,
1800, and 1801 ; and that on account of accidents with the
frost, these numbers are partly conjectural for January,
February, March, April, and December. The mean an¬
nual evaporation during the same three years from ground
covered with grass, exclusive of dew, was 23-5 inches,
which falls a little short of that for the other three, which
was twenty-five.
But there is reason to suspect that a less depth of soil in
the vessel would have allowed more water to escape into
the bottles, and vice versa. It is therefore in some degree
a matter of conjecture that this apparatus indicated the
true evaporation from the adjacent fields. Lahire having
filled a vessel eight feet deep with soil, and sunk it into
the earth, left it there for fifteen years. It had an open¬
ing at the bottom for the escape of the water, but never a
drop came through. The quantity of rain, to be sure, being
less at Paris than at Manchester, will so far account for this.
In such an article as this it might be expected that, in
conformity with custom, we should state the mean evapo¬
ration for all England, and a number of other principal
countries. This however we are unable to do, because we
are persuaded that to obtain even an approximate estimate
would require experiments, such as those of Dr Dalton
from the soil, to be made at least within every square mile
of surface. The usual estimates being only derived from
EVAPORATION.
411
Evapora- a vessel with water, as will be noticed more particularly
tion. afterwards, afford no measure of evaporation from the soil.
f0u0Wing relation between the temperature and the
between1 rate corporation from water, was discovered by Dr Dal-
the tempe-ton> Having, as above mentioned, determined experimen-
rature and tally the force through a considerable range, he was natu-
rate of eva-rally led to examine whether the quantity of water evapo-
poration. rated in a given time bore any proportion to the force of va¬
pour of the same temperature, and was agreeably surprised
to find that they corresponded in every part of the range exa¬
mined. Thus the forces of vapour at 212°, 180°, 164°, 152°,
144°, and 138°, are equal to 30, 15, 10, 7-5, 6, and 5 inches
of mercury respectively ; and the grains of water evapo¬
rated per minute are in the same ratio. This Dr Dalton
considers as quite in conformity with the laws of mecha¬
nics ; for the atmosphere seems by its inertia to obstruct
the diffusion of vapour, which would otherwise be almost
instantaneous, as in vacuo ; but this obstruction, which is
greater as the air is more dense, is overcome in proportion
to the force of the vapour. Did the obstruction arise from
the weight of the atmosphere, it would prevent any vapour
from rising at temperatures lowrer than 212° ; but accord¬
ing to Dr Dalton it is caused by the inertiae of the particles
of air, and is similar to that which water meets with in de¬
scending among pebbles.
The theory of evaporation was thus far settled so much
the more easily, because the force of vapour already in the
open air being very small compared with what is produced
from water at high temperatures, did not sensibly affect
the results ; but Dr Dalton found, that if the theory was
to be verified by experiments for low temperatures, regard
must be had to the force of vapour already in the atmo¬
sphere. For instance, if water of 59° were the subject,
the force of vapour at that temperature being a sixtieth of
the force at 212°, one might expect the quantity of evapo¬
ration to be a sixtieth also ; but if it should happen, as it
sometimes does in summer, that an aqueous atmosphere to
that amount does already exist, the evaporation, in place
of a sixtieth, would be nothing at all. On the other hand,
if the previously existing vapour were the 120th, corre¬
sponding to 39° F., then the effective evaporating force
would be the 120th of that from boiling water. In short,
Dr Dalton found that the evaporating force must in every
case be equal to that at the temperature of the water dimi¬
nished by that already existing in the air. To find the
force of the aqueous atmosphere, Dr Dalton revived the
method which had been employed by Leroy long before.
He used in summer to take a tall glass jar, and fill it with
cold spring wrater, fresh from the well. If dew was imme¬
diately formed on the previously dry outside, he poured
the water out, let it stand a little to rise in temperature,
wiped dry the outside of the jar, and then poured the wa¬
ter in again. The like process is to be repeated till dew
cease to be formed, and at that instant the temperature of
the water is to be carefully noted, for the purpose of ob¬
taining, from a table like that which shortly follows, the
corresponding force of vapour. Such temperature is call¬
ed the dew point, or the point of deposition ; because the
air, if cooled to it, would be in a state of saturation with
moisture, and of course ready to deposit dew, especially on
any thing in the least colder than itself. This operation
should be performed in the open air, or at an open win¬
dow, because the air within is generally more humid than
without. Spring water in this country being generally within
a degree or two of 50°, will mostly answer the purpose dur¬
ing the three hottest months ; in other seasons an artificial
cold mixture may be used. But Leslie’s or Daniell’s hygro¬
meter would be still more convenient at all seasons.
To observe the evaporation at atmospheric temperatures,
Dr Dalton had twx> light tin vessels; the one six inches
diameter and half an inch deep, the other eight inches Evapora.
diameter and three fourths of an inch deep, and both t
made to be suspended from a balance. Water being put
in one of these and weighed, it was placed in an open win¬
dow or other exposed situation for ten or fifteen minutes,
and again weighed to ascertain the loss from evaporation.
The temperature of the water was at same time observed,
the force of the aqueous atmosphere ascertained as above,
and the velocity of the current of air noticed ; for with
the same evaporating force, a strong wind, by quickly
changing the air in contact with the water, will double the
effect produced in still air. From a great variety of expe¬
riments made during both winter and summer, and when
the evaporating force was strong and weak, even in the
case of ice, the results were found perfectly conformable
with the theory. The same quantity is evaporated with
the same evaporating force thus determined as near as can
be judged, whatever be the temperature of the air. Thus,
if the dew point be 40° while the air is at 60°, the evapo¬
ration is the same as if the dew point were at 60° and the
air at 72° ; for *524 — ’263, which is the difference of the
forces of vapour at 60° and 40°, is nearly equal to -770 —
•524, the difference of the forces at 72° and 60° ; but two
such differences could be had exactly equal by using frac¬
tions of degrees of temperature, and interpolating between
the other numbers.
The following table exhibits the ratios and quantity ot
water evaporated at different temperatures, derived from
the preceding theory, and confirmed by experiments. The
first column is the temperature ; the second the force of
vapour ; the rest give the number of grains evaporated
from a surface six inches in diameter, supposing the air to
be previously dry. The third column is calculated on the
supposition that at the temperature of 212° the evaporation
per minute from the said surface is 120 grains ; the fourth,
that it is 154 grains; the fifth, 189, according to the strength
of the wind; for if the air in contact with the water be con¬
tinually changed, so that the recently moistened portion may
be speedily removed and drier air substituted for it, the pro¬
cess will be proportionably expedited. These columns pre¬
sent the extremes and mean of evaporation likely to be noti¬
ced when the process goes on in air of the ordinary density.
The effects of different densities will be considered after¬
wards.
Table of the Force of Evaporation.
Tempera¬
ture.
Force,
Inch.
20°
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
•129
•134
•139
•144
•150
•156
•162
•168
•174
•180
•186
•193
•200
•207
•214
•221
•229
•237
•245
•254
Evaporating Force in Grains.
•52
*54
•56
•58
•60
•62
.65
•67
•70
•72
•74
•77
•80
•83
•86
•90
•92
•95
•98
1-02
•67
•69
•71
•73
•77
•79
•82
•86
•90
•93
•95
•99
1-03
1-07
Ml
1*14
1-18
1-22
1-26
1-31
•82
•85
•88
•91
•94
•97
1-02
1-05
1-10
M3
1T7
1*21
1-26
1-30
1-35
1-39
1-45
1-49
1-54
1-60
412
EVAPORATION.
Evapora¬
tion.
Table of the Force of Evaporation continued.
Tempera¬
ture.
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
212°
Force,
Inch.
•263
•273
•283
•294
•305
•316
•327
•339
•351
•363
•375
•388
•401
•415
•429
•443*
•458
•474
•490
•507
•524
•542
•560
•578
•597
•616
•635
•655
•676
•698
•721
•745
•770
•796
•823
•851
•880
•910
•940
•971
1-00
1-04
1-07
1-10
M4
1-17
Evaporating Force in Grains.
30
1*05
1-09
M3
1-18
1-22
1-26
1-31
1-36
1-40
1-45
1-50
1-55
1-60
1-66
1*71
1-77
1*83
1*90
1- 96
2- 03
2-10
2-17
2-24
2-31
2-39
2-46
2-54
2-62
2-70
2-79
2-88
2- 98
3- 08
3-18
3-29
3-40
3-52
3-65
3-76
3- 88
4- 00
4-16
4-28
4-40
4-56
4-68
120
1*35
1-40
1*45
1-51
1-57
1-62
1-68
1-75
1-80
1-86
1-92
1- 99
2- 06
2-13
2-20
2-28
2-35
2-43
2-52
2-61
2-70
2-79
2-88
2- 97
3- 07
3-16
3-27
3-37
3-47
3-59
3-70
3-83
3- 96
4- 09
4-23
4-37
4-52
4-68
4-83
4- 99
5- 14
5-35
5-50
5*66
5- 86
6- 07
154
1-65
1-71
1-78
1-85
1-92
1- 99
2- 06
2-13
2-20
2-28
2-36
2-44
2-51
2-61
2-69
2-78
2-88
2- 98
3- 08
3-19
3-30
3*41
3-52
3-63
3-76
3-87
3- 99
4- 12
4-24
4-38
4-53
4*68
4- 84
5- 00
5-17
5-34
5-53
5-72
5- 91
6- 10
6-29
6-54
6-73
6- 91
7- 17
7-46
189
As an example of the use of the table, let the dew-point
be 52°, the temperature of the air 65°, with a moderate
breeze, to find the evaporation per minute from a vessel
six inches in diameter. The number in the fourth column
opposite 52° in the first, is 2‘06, and that opposite 65° is
3 16 ; the difference, IT grain, is the evaporation required.
Again, if the evaporation per minute, with a brisk wind, be
7 grain, while the air is at 62° ; required the weight of the
aqueous atmosphere, and the dew-point. In the fifth co¬
lumn tlie number opposite 62° is 3-52, being the whole eva¬
porating force at that temperature in perfectly dry air, from
which 1-7 being deducted, leaves 1-82, which, in the fifth
co umn, is opposite to *294 inch of mercury in the second,
tlie weight of the column of vapour, and to 43° the tempera-
ure or ew-point. That is by using the nearest numbers
in the table. Greater exactness may be had by inter- Evapora-
polating between them. In this case, for instance, the tion.
weight should more correctly be *290, and the dew-point
420,6. Such estimates, however, are liable to uncertainty,
where any doubt remains respecting the velocity of the
wind.
Dr Dalton found that the same theory held with regard
to the evaporation of other liquids, and was even more
easily verified by experiment in their case than in that of
water, on account of the air previously containing little or
none of their vapours. In short, the evaporation in their
case is similar to that of water in perfectly dry air.
Since vapours, so long as they maintain the gaseous form,
expand and contract by change of temperature precisely
at the same rate as air does in like circumstances, and
since mixtures of air and vapour do the same, it follows,
that if at any temperature above the dew-point the pres¬
sure of the unconfined air have to that of the vapour in it
a certain ratio, it will have the same ratio to it at any other
temperature not lower than the dew-point. Hence, be¬
cause the entire pressure is constant, the force of vapour
at the actual temperature of the air is exactly equal its
force at the dew-point or temperature at which the air under
the original pressure becomes saturated with moisture, and
at which all the moisture in it just barely maintains the
gaseous form.
Dr Anderson, in giving a table of the weight and force
of aqueous vapour in vacuo {Edin. Encyc. xi. 578), says,
it is adapted to a pressure of thirty inches, and that when
the barometer differs from thirty, the numbers in the table
(none of which denote atmospheres, but grains and inches)
must be altered in the same ratio as the pressure. It is
difficult to conceive how he could fall into such a palpable
mistake. Vapour in vacuo being protected from atmo¬
spheric pressure, has obviously nothing to do with its changes
or amount; and we have already seen that the maximum
force and density of vapour in air, as well as in vacuo, de¬
pend solely on the temperature. Yet Dr Anderson (ibid. p.
581) makes the maximum weight of vapour which can exist
in a cubic inch of air at a given temperature to be proportion¬
al to the barometric pressure, which is remarkable, consider-:
ing his professed adherence to Dalton’s theory. It is farther
curious that the doctor, not perceiving that the actual force
of vapour in the open air must be exactly equal to its force
at the dew-point, gives (on same page) a formula for re¬
ducing the one force to the other; and he even takes it
for granted that Dr Dalton is in the same error, though
the very reverse appears from all his writings, and espe¬
cially those already quoted.
The rate of evaporation is very different in air of differ-influence
ent densities, being greater when the density is less, and of the den-
vice versa. Some experiments on this subject are given sity of air
by Professor Daniell, in the second and much improved011 .evaP°*
edition of his valuable Meteorological Essays, published in rat'lon‘
1827, page 493, from which we make the following brief
abstract:—Upon the plate of an air pump was placed a Mr Da-
flat dish 7-5 inches diameter, containing sulphuric acid, nielPs ex-
and covered by a receiver which but just passed over it, periments,
so that the base of the included air rested everywhere on
the acid. In the middle of the dish was a stand support¬
ing a vessel 2*7 inches diameter, and T3 deep, which was
filled with water to the depth of an inch, and had a deli¬
cate thermometer resting on its bottom. The water, hav¬
ing been previously freed from air, was weighed with a very
sensible balance, and then exposed to the action of the sul¬
phuric acid. Its temperature was 45°, and the barometer
at 304 inches. At the end of half an hour it was again
weighed, and found to have lost P24 grain by evaporation.
Having been replaced, and the air rarefied till the gauge
stood at 15’2 inches, it was found to have lost in half an
EVAPORATION..
413
Evapora- hour 2-72 grains, and to have had its temperature reduced
tion. to 43°. By repeating the process, continually diminishing
the pressure one half, the successive losses from evapora¬
tion in intervals of half an hour each, were as follow:—
Pressure.
30*4...
15-2...
7-6....
3-8...,
1-9...
•95..
•47.,
Temperature.
Beginning. End.
 45° 45°...
 45 43...
 45 43...
 45 43...
Loss,
Grains.
 1-24
 2-87
 5-49
 8-80
.45.
.45.
.45.
.41  14-80
.37 24-16
.31 39-40
When the exhaustion was pushed to the utmost, which
was '07 inch, the evaporation in the half hour was 87-22
grains. During this last experiment the water was frozen
in about 8 minutes, while the thermometer under the ice
was at 37°. There must, however, be some inadvertency
respecting the loss from evaporation in the second experi¬
ment; because in the table it is 2-87, and in the account
before it only 2-72, which last, we presume, is the more
correct of the two.
Before inferring from these experiments the rate of eva¬
poration under different pressures, Mr Daniell applied to
the results a correction for the variation of temperature.
Taking the evaporation as proportional to the elasticity of
the vapour, he estimated the latter from the mean of the
temperatures at the beginning and end of each experiment,
and calculated the amount for a fixed temperature. This
might have been supposed to give a near approximation,
were it not evident from the last experiment, that, owing
to the bulb of the thermometer not being close at the eva¬
porating surface, it indicated often too high a temperature ;
but the following table presents the results computed on
that principle for the temperature of 45° ; and here again
we suspect the second number 2-97, being computed from
2-87, is too great.
Pressure. Grains.
30-4   1-24
15-2   2-97
7-6  h'68
3-8 9-12
1-9 15-92
•95 29-33
•47 50-74
•07  112-32
Notwithstanding the slight irregularity of the series, Mr
Daniell thinks we can run no risk in concluding that the
amount of evaporation is, cceteris paribus, in exact inverse
proportion to the elasticity of the incumbent air. But per¬
haps it would be more correct to say, that, cceteris paribus,
the rate of evaporation is inversely as the density of the air;
for that is Dr Dalton’s view of the matter, and is equally
conformable to these experiments. It may however be ob¬
served, that the rate of evaporation in the first case, which
is in air of the ordinary density, is much smaller than that
given by Dr Dalton; but the process going on in so small
a volume of still and confined air, seems a sufficient reason
for this.
Cooling It was hinted above, that evaporation tends to lower the
influence temperature of an evaporating surface, by abstracting heat
of evapo- from it for the formation of vapour. For, from the well
known fact, that in the formation of aqueous vapour as^
much heat is absorbed as would raise the temperature of
1000 times its weight of water one degree, it follows, that
were it not for the heat derived from surrounding bodies,
the vaporization of the 1000th part ot a mass of water
would lower the temperature of the whole one degree; so
that by the time the 100th part had evaporated, the tem¬
perature of the whole would have fallen ten degrees. But Evapora-
surrounding bodies, particularly the air, by participating ^tioin^
in the cooling effects, supply heat in such a manner to the
water, that a limit is soon set to the fall of temperature.
Although this cooling influence has been long known in a
general way, it is remarkable howT few experiments have
been made, or, so far as we know, published, to show the
extent of cold produced in different circumstances; and
still more remarkable, that those few results of different
experimenters should differ so widely, as we shall presently
see they do. Dr Anderson, in the article Hygrometry,
in the Edinburgh Encyclopaedia, gives the following as the
results of his experiments on the cold produced by the eva¬
poration of water in air of different densities. For this
purpose he placed Leslie’s hygrometer, along with a cup of
sulphuric acid, under a receiver of the air pump.
29-6
23-6
17-6
11-6
5-6
48c
48 -5
48 -5
48 -5
48 -5
43°-64
42 -38
40 -58
37 -34
32 -12
4°-86
6 -12
7 -92
11 -16
16 -38
27°
34
44
62
91
Dr Ander¬
son’s expe^
riments-
The first column is the pressure in inches, the second
the Fahrenheit temperature of the dry bulb, the third that
of the moist, the fourth their difference or the depression,
and the fifth the same depression in degrees of Leslie’s hy¬
grometer. The third and fourth columns, though not in the
original, are obviously obtained from the others, and inserted
in degrees of Fahrenheit, for the sake of comparison with
those which follow. _ _
In an article on hygrometers and evaporation, in the
Edinburgh Philosophical Journal for October 1826, Mr
Meikle gives the two following series of similar experi¬
ments, which w-ere not made with Leslie’s hygrometer, but
with what was reckoned preferable for the purpose, two
common thermometer tubes fitted upon one broad and
doubly graduated scale; the one bulb being dry and the
other covered with wet linen. The columns respectively
denote the same things as the first four in Dr Anderson s.
29-7
19-4
17-2
13-3
8-8
29-9
200
10-0
5-6
48°-2
47 -3
47 -2
47 *0
46 -4
36‘
33
32
31
27
11
14
14
15
6
1
•7
•8
19 -2
Mr Mei-
kle’s expe¬
riments.
60
59
■6
5
58 -9
58 -5
45°-5
41 -0
34 -1
28 -0
15°-1
18 -5
24 -8
30 -5
ration.
All sealed thermometers stand too low when the pres¬
sure of the atmosphere is removed from their bulbs. The
two just mentioned were found to be each l°-5 too low in
an exhausted receiver. Hence most of the numbers in the
second and third columns still require to be more or less
corrected for this, according to the degree of exhaustion ;
but since both thermometers were equally affected, the de¬
pressions have nothing to do with it. However, the in¬
cluded air seems to have been really a little cooled from the
influence of the cold wet bulb.
We have always been puzzled to account for the ex¬
treme smallness of Dr Anderson’s depressions in the fourth
column. Perhaps he had used very weak sulphuric acid,
or too small a surface of it; or he might not be aware that
the full effect in a single case is seldom attained in less
than half an hour. The pressure and temperature in his
first case are nearly the same as in Mr Meikle’s; and yet
the depression 4°-86 is not half of 110,6. From many trials
we know that the weather is by no means very droughty,
if a wet thermometer do not fall more than 40-86, when
only exposed in the open air at 48°-5, without any sulphu-
414
EVAPORATION.
Evapora- ric acid at all. To increase the cold in a wet therraome-
tion. ter, Dr Lardner recommends exposing it to the sun. But
''-'-Y'''*"' whoever takes the trouble of properly trying this, will find
that the sun has quite the contrary effect; and therefore
the doctor is just in the same delusion, only on a greater
scale, when he directs his readers to wrap wine bottles in
wet cloth, and expose them to the sun as a source of great¬
er cold! The sun, like the fire, aids evaporation, by sup¬
plying heat, which will more or less counteract the cooling
effect, and may even raise the temperature; but common
sense revolts at the very idea of the heating rays of the
sun being a source of cold.
In 1827, Professor Daniell published, in the second edi¬
tion of his Essays, p. 499, a series of experiments on the
cooling effects of evaporation, and which, like Mr Meikle’s,
were made by means of two common thermometers, the
one dry and the other moist; but he seems only to have
read off to the nearest half degree ; and his depressions,
though not so deficient as those of Dr Anderson, still lean
considerably to the same side. The following are his re¬
sults, arranged as the preceding :
Mr Da¬
rnell’s ex¬
periments.
30-2
15-1
7-5
3-7
1-8
.9
•4
50°
49
49
49-5
49-5
49
49
41°
37
34
31-5
28-5
24-5
23
9°
12
15
18
21
24-5
26
From repeated experiments we have found that at the
temperature of 50°, and under a pressure of about thirty
inches, a wet thermometer, when inclosed in a receiver
along with a sufficiently large surface of strong sulphuric
acid, should fall 120,1 or 120*2, in place of 9°, as Mr Da¬
niell has it. The rest of his depressions are still more de¬
ficient ; but when we attend to the disposition of his ap¬
paratus, our surprise rather is that the depressions should
be so great as they are. What wre particularly object to
is his not only inclosing a vessel with water under the re¬
ceiver, but interposing it directly between the wet bulb
and the sulphuric acid. This he did for the purpose of
occasionally dipping that bulb in the water ; a precaution
which was not only unnecessary, but which, by rendering
the air moist and obstructing the drying of the bulb, must
obviously have rendered the whole of his depressions much
smaller than they should have been in perfectly dry air.
When Mr Meikle made his experiments, and they were
published before those of Mr Daniell, he satisfied himself
that if the thermometer was properly covered and mois¬
tened at first, no renewal of moisture was necessary. This
he ascertained by repeating, in a retrograde order, the dif¬
ferent cases when he had just completed a series of these
experiments ; for on finishing with the case in which the
air was most rarefied, he readmitted as much air as just
brought back the gauge to the next case, which being re¬
peated, he readmitted more air for the next, and so on, till
he had got back over the whole series. In every case, the
wet thermometer was found to be as much depressed in
the backward process as in the forward, a clear proof that
there was no lack of moisture. Neither Dr Anderson nor
Professor Daniell say whether they made any allowance
for the effects of pressure on the bulbs of their thermome¬
ters.
Oil of turpentine is well known to evaporate very quick¬
ly, but we have as yet failed to detect any cold that it pro-
duces, though we do not therefore suppose it forms any
turperf-111^ ex’ceI),:'on to the general law. Some liquids, as alcohol,
tine. i v]"’ su^P^uret °f carbon, &c. both evaporate more rapid-
y than water does, and produce a greater cold; but the
expenditure of heat is greater in vaporizing a given weight
o water than of any other liquid yet examined ; a fact from
Cold not
yet ob¬
served in
which it had often been concluded that alcohol could be Evapora-
vaporized with so much less fuel than water, that its vapour bon-
would be an economical substitute for steam as a first
mover ; nay, this had become a standard doctrine in almost pcomnidcal
every scientific compilation. It however involved a fatal use °f al_a
oversight, as was first pointed out by Mr Meikle in the Phi- cohol.
losophical Magazine for July 1826, p. 41, and afterwards
by Mr Ainger in Brande’s Journal of Science for March
1830 ; for it is not with equal weights, but with equal vo¬
lumes of these vapours, that the comparison falls to be
made ; and when this is done, the greater rarity of steam
puts it on at least an equal footing with alcoholic vapour,
so far as regards the economy of heat. In other respects,
steam is decidedly preferable ; for, independently of the
enormous expense of alcohol, the density of its vapour, be¬
ing about 2-5 times that of steam, would prevent it from
moving with the same facility through the pipes, valves,
&c.
Perhaps it may not be altogether foreign to our subject Mode of
to mention, that Mr Hutton froze alcohol by condensing *reezin8
air on it in a strong vessel, which being very much cooled alcolloi‘
by freezing mixtures, was next suddenly opened, when the
dilatation of the air, and the consequently rapid evapora¬
tion and re-expansion of the alcohol, absorbed so much
heat as induced a cold sufficient to freeze it.
The bad effects of damp clothes, beds, &c. are usually Damp
ascribed to the cold attending the evaporation of the damp ; clothes,
but since considerable injury often follows where scarcely &c’ SU1’'
any cold is felt, we suspect the chief cause lies rather in •t 16
the moisture suppressing the natural evaporation from the
skin. The heavy smell which accompanies most dogs, and
the fetid grease upon their hair, show that they perspire in
some other shape besides what some suppose the only one
from their tongues.
Various instruments have been employed to measure Imperfec-
the rate at which moisture escapes into the atmosphere. Wetlon m tlle
have already alluded to the method of exposing water in a^.ea®“l es
vessel, and noting the loss. The vessel is generally circu- ration.10"
lar, with a roof a little above it to keep off the rain, &c.;
and, for greater accuracy, the contents may either be weigh¬
ed from time to time, or measured in a graduated tube.
When the vessel is brim full, the wind is apt to blow some
of the water over ; and when not full, the water is in some
measure sheltered from the drying effects of the wind.
The only use of such an instrument or gauge is to give us
a very vague idea of the drying power of the air. It af¬
fords no measure whatever of the evaporation from the
ground ; for when the soil is exceedingly parched, and con¬
sequently has next to no moisture to give off, the gauge
generally shows the greatest evaporation of all. Yet in
stating the particulars of the climate of a place, it is usual
to mention the amount of evaporation derived most proba¬
bly from no better source. But it cannot even be a mea¬
sure of the evaporation from a lake, because in that case
the indications of the gauge depend very much on the di¬
rection of the wind ; for it is obvious that if a previously
dry wand traverse an extensive lake before reaching the
gauge, it may by that time have become so humid as to
show little or no drying power at all upon the gauge. When,
on the other hand, the wind passes first over the gauge,
its indications are to be suspected of erring in excess, be¬
cause the farther a wind continues to traverse the surface
of a lake, the more will its drying power be impaired, and
therefore the average rate of evaporation will be less than
at the side next the gauge. For this reason the evapora¬
tion from a smaller surface of water is, cceteris paribus, great¬
er in proportion to the area than from a larger. Whether
any general rule could readily apply to this, we are unable
to say. Perhaps something like an approximation to the
relation between the area and evaporation in such circum-
EVE
EVE
415
No muria.
tic acid in
sea air.
Eve stances would be had by dividing the area by some root of
|] its mean linear dimension taken in the direction ot the
Evelyn. wind, and multiplying by a constant. But this would not
—in the least rectify the indications of the gauge. Since
similar objections must obviously attach to all gauges em¬
ployed for this purpose, it would be of little use to give
any farther account of them, or of the registers of evapora¬
tion with which many works otherwise valuable are so often
encumbered.
It had been long supposed that muriatic acid vapour ex¬
isted in the atmosphere incumbent over the ocean or on
the sea coasts ; and various effects were ascribed to its
presence. But from experiments detailed in the Journal
de Pharmacie for November 1833, it appears that such
effects are solely owing to minute drops of salt water or
spray which have been swept into the atmosphere by the
wind ; and that, with the exception of the salt drops thus
raised, though only when the sea is ruffled by the wind,
sea-air contains neither muriates nor uncombined muriatic
acid. At first sight we had some doubt whether this
would account for the injurious effects ot sea-air on vege¬
tation ; because the presence of common salt, if not in ex¬
cess, is known to be beneficial. But perhaps the salt when
united with the soil may operate as a cordial to the roots,
while it may be noxious when in immediate contact w ith
the stem or leaves, as is often the case with manure inju¬
diciously applied close to the roots of plants.
Con^ela- In tlie method of forming ice in India by exposing wa-
tion'in hot ter during the night to the aspect of a clear sky, the effect
climates was for some time ascribed to evaporation ; but Dr Wells
due to ra- ascertained that the water thus exposed gained in place of
diation. losing weight. Now it could only gain by being cooled below
the dew point of the incumbent air ; for it is only in that
state that the air could yield a portion of its moisture to
the water; and therefore the cold must be the effect of
radiation, and not of evaporation. I his was farther evident
from the circumstance that wind which ought to have in¬
creased the evaporation prevented the freezing altogether.
But independently of these considerations, water exposed
in the open air could never be cooled to the freezing point
by evaporation alone in a hot climate. Where such, a
thing occurs, the air must be unusually dry, even after its
temperature scarcely amounts to 40°, or the atmospheric
pressure must be very small; because the utmost evapora¬
tion that can be produced artificially under the ordinary
pressure will little more than cool a wet thermometer fiom
40° to 32° ; and the cooling effect on a vessel with water is
not nearly so great, especially in the open air, if care be
taken to avoid the influence of radiation under the aspect
of a clear sky. It is true that, at Benares for instance, the
surface of the ground, after becoming very cold by radia¬
tion, sometimes renders the incumbent still air also pretty
cold ; but this, by bringing the air to a state of saturation
with moisture, totally unfits it for aiding the freezing by
evaporation.
So great is the difference of opinion respecting the in¬
fluence of electricity on evaporation, that we suspect it has
not yet been sufficiently investigated. The use of evapo¬
ration in the arts and manufactures will be found undei
the respective articles. In addition to the various works
noticed in this article, see Dr Thomas Young’s Natural
Philosophy ,■ Wells on Dow } Pouillets Elomons do Phy¬
sique et de Meteorologie. A variety of articles on this sub¬
ject will be found in the different volumes of the Philoso¬
phical Transactions, and other scientific journals, (h. m—e.)
EVE, the mother of the human race. See Adam.
EVECTION. See Astronomy, iv. 36.
EVELYN, John, author of the Sylva, Memoirs, Sic.,
was born in 1620 at his fathers seat of Wotton in Suney.
He was educated at the free school of Southover, neai
Lewes, whence he removed in 1637 to Baliol College, Ox¬
ford ; on leaving which he began the study of law in the Evemerus.
Middle Temple. In 1641 he went to Flanders, where he
served for a short time as a volunteer; but soon returning
home, he joined the king’s army in the struggle now begun
with the parliament. The following year saw him once
more bent on foreign travel, and he accordingly set out
with an old college companion on a tour through France,
Italy, and Switzerland, in which countries he spent the next
seven years of his life, studying men and manners, statistics
and science, polite literature and the fine arts. In 1647 he
married a daughter of Sir Richard Browne, the English
ambassador at the French court; and when that gentle¬
man’s estate of Sayes Court was sequestered by parliament,
Evelyn was allowed to become the purchaser of it. Here
he lived in strict retirement during the period of the Pro¬
tectorate, engaged in laying out the grounds and gardens,
and turning to profitable account the results of his con¬
tinental studies. During this period also he published
a translation of the first book of Lucretius; Chrysos¬
tom’s Golden Book for the education of Children; and
the French Gardener and English Vineyard. At the Re¬
storation, however, he began to take an honourable though
not conspicuous part in public affairs; was appointed one
of the commissioners for taking care of the sick, wounded,
and prisoners, during the Dutch war ; commissioner for the
rebuilding of St Paul’s after the great fire (of which an ad¬
mirable account will be found in his Journal); and a member
of the Board of Trade. He was also made a member ot the
Council of the Royal Society, to whose Transactions he
continued all his life to> contribute papers on the subjects
towards which his early studies had been directed. His
favourite pursuits were gardening and planting, upon which
he wrote a number of treatises, appended to the fifth edition
of the Sylva, or a Discourse on Forest Trees, and the Pro¬
pagation of Timber in His Majesty’s Dominions, published
in 1644 by order of the Royal Society. The object of this
treatise was to encourage planting throughout Great Britain,
and it produced the desired effect in a manner very gratify¬
ing to the author. In 1699, on the death of his elder
brother without children, Evelyn succeeded to the family
estate of Wotton, to which he removed from Sayes Court,,
where he had lived happy and respected for upwards of
forty years. He was succeeded in the occupancy of that
house by the Czar Peter, who with his suite made sad havoc
among Evelyn’s well-trimmed yew-hedges and elaborate
parterres. Evelyn did not live very long to enjoy his new
position as head of his family ; he died February 27, 1705,.
in the eighty-sixth year of his age. In the humbler walks of
science Evelyn was a successful and persevering inquirer ; a
valuable pioneer, as he himself used to say, in the service of
the Royal Society. Plis moral character was irreproachable,
though he lived at a time when vice was an almost indis¬
pensable passport to favour and promotion ; and the purity
of his morals, his piety, his schemes of active benevolence,
and the intellectual nature of his pursuits, were all such as
to earn for him the respect even of the court-profligates, to
whom his example was a standing rebuke. Altogether our
history affords few better specimens of the accomplished
and well-principled English gentleman. The most valuable
’ of Evelyn’s wmrks (leaving out of account the Sylva already
mentioned), is his Diary and Correspondence, and the
Memoirs of his Life and Writings, which are valuable not
only on account of their literary merits, but also as throw-
ing'much light on the times in which their author lived. His
other works, which have long since been for the most part
superseded, embrace treatises on Sculpture, Architecture,
Painting, Numismatics, and certain social questions. A
very detailed list of them will be found in Watt’s Biblio¬
theca.
EYEMERUS or Etjhemerus, a Sicilian mythographer,
who flourished in the latter half of the fourth century b.c.
416 E V I
Evesham He is noted chiefly for his Sacred History, the materials of
II which, he said, were derived from inscriptions on the walls
Evidence. antj coiumns 0f temples in various parts of Greece. In this
work he introduced a new method of interpreting the popular
myths, asserting that the gods who formed the chief objects
of popular worship had been originally heroes and con¬
querors, who had thus earned a claim to the veneration of
their subjects. Till the end of the last century there w’ere
many who accepted this system of Evemerus, and the
early Christians in especial appealed to it as a confirmation
of their belief that the ancient mythology was merely an
aggregate of fables of human invention. Evemerus, who
was a firm upholder of the Cyrenaic philosophy, was vio¬
lently attacked by some of the ancient authors, and even
accused of atheism ; not so much, however, on account
of his mythology, as because he declared that he had
visited Panchsea, a sort of southern I hide, and there
picked up much of the information which he embodied in
his work.
EVESHAM, a municipal and parliamentary borough and
market-town of Wercestershire, 15 miles S.E. from Wor¬
cester, and 96 miles from London. It is situated in the vale
of the same name on the Avon, over which there is an an-
E V I
crent stone bridge of eight arches, connecting it with Benge-
worth parish, which forms part of the borough. The
land around the town is of great fertility, and occupied
chiefly as market gardens. The borough returns two mem¬
bers to parliament, and is governed by a mayor, four aider-
men, and twelve councillors. Pop. (1851)4605 ; registered
electors 349. Evesham is a place of considerable antiquity,
a monastery having been founded here as early as the be¬
ginning of the eighth century. Of this building almost the
only remnant is a magnificent tower, built not long before
the Reformation. This tower, which is considered the best
extant specimen of the pointed ecclesiastical style of the
sixteenth century, is 110 feet high, and 28 feet square at
the base. The town has recently been much improved; the
two main streets are wide and clean. Evesham has an old
town-hall, several fine churches, a grammar and other schools,
savings-bank, dispensary, and several charities. The inhabi¬
tants are chiefly employed in the rearing of garden produce.
Market-day, Monday. At Evesham was fought, on 4th
August 1265, the famous battle between Prince, afterwards
Edward L, and Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, in
which the latter was totally defeated, and he: and his sqn
slain.
EVIDENCE.
By evidence, taken in the widest sense of the term, is
meant whatever is the ground of assent, or tends to gene¬
rate belief in the statement of any fact or truth. The means
by which men acquire a knowledge of all the facts or truths
which evidence brings before them may be referred to two
sources; for either the perceptive faculties of the individual
himself, or the observations and conclusions of others, pre¬
sent them to the mind. The first may be called the evi¬
dence of personal experience, the latter is generally known
as the evidence of testimony. The former embraces all the
phenomena of consciousness, the intuitive perception of our
own existence, and of what is actually passing in our minds,
and also all the phenomena of the outer world afforded by
the senses. The knowledge, therefore, which is derived
from the evidence of sense, of memory, of deduction, induc¬
tion or inference, and analogy, may be referred to this head ;
and its chief characteristic is, that it is superior in degree
to that obtained through the experience of other men, inas¬
much as we rely solely on the operation of our own faculties,
and the belief resulting therefrom is lively and strong. In
some instances this kind of evidence is fitted to produce
belief in the very highest degree, as in the phenomena of
self-consciousness, in an act of memory or perception, in
which the evidence is immediate and irresistible, and com¬
mands instant belief. No process of reasoning, either de¬
monstrative or probable, being necessary in its acquisition,
the knowledge and the evidence on which it is believed are
both called intuitive. Again, in regard to those truths
which are not intuitive, but are embraced under the subjects
investigated by demonstration, analogy, and induction, the
knowledge is not immediate, but attained through the me¬
dium of reasoning. In the evidence of demonstration—the
process by which a residt is shown to be a necessary con¬
sequence of the premises from which it is asserted to follow
on the supposition that these premises are admitted—the
belief reaches to the highest degree of certainty ; but in¬
duction and analogy only afford that assurance which amounts
to high probability : they never reach to necessity, or abso¬
lute certainty ; and of such truths the most that is affirmed
of them is, that there is no reasonable doubt concerning
them. Hence the evidence employed to discover these
truths has received the name of moral or probable evidence,
which is thus distinguished from the intuitions of conscious¬
ness, or the demonstrations of necessary relations. The
word probable is not to be taken as indicating an inferior
degree of evidence, but as a species, in which the truths of
fact to be proved are not necessary but contingent. Accord¬
ing to this definition, moral evidence includes those judg¬
ments which are based on the testimony of others vouching
their observation or experience.
It is manifest that by far the greater portion of our know¬
ledge is obtained through other men, and received by us as
true on the evidence of testimony. So limited indeed is
the experience of each individual of the human race, that
without this communicated knowledge men could never
have advanced beyond a rude state of existence. But, on
the other hand, this source wants that certainty of truth
winch personal observation and reflection afford ; for the
degree of assurance which is produced in the human mind
necessarily varies according to our confidence in the vera¬
city of the narrators, the opportunities they have had, and
the probability of the facts themselves. It follows that the
credit due to the testimony of a witness depends, Is*, On
his trustworthiness, and, 2d, on the probability of the fact
attested. Two elements enter into the trustworthiness of a
witness; 1^, His means of knowledge, and, 2d, his desire
to report the truth.
In reference to the first of these, the witness must have
had sufficient opportunity of observing what he describes,
and he must have intellectual capacity to observe and re¬
member the facts, and judge of their authenticity and cha¬
racter. As Bentham has remarked, “ Where the botanist
sees a rare and perhaps a new plant, the husbandman sees
a weed ; where the mineralogist sees a new ore, pregnant
with some new metal, the labourer sees a lump of dirt, not
distinguishable from the rest, unless it be by being heavier
and more troublesome.”
In estimating the intention of the witness to narrate the
truth, we are influenced by various considerations. If he
be a person on whose evidence we have relied on former
occasions, or if we have credible proof of his having been a
veracious witness, or if he be a stranger, or have formerly
misled us, we either receive the testimony implicitly or with
caution, or reject it altogether. The honesty of a witness
is further affected by the presence or absence of motives to
falsify his evidence. In proportion as wre have no reason to
Evidence.
EVIDENCE.
417
Evidence, suspect the witness to be influenced by interest or passion,
v ’ our confidence in the evidence rises. Other elements affect
our belief in the trustworthiness of a witness; such as the
likelihood of contradiction which might ensue did he de¬
viate from the truth, his deportment in delivering his testi¬
mony, and the support his evidence receives from the con-
" currence of other witnesses. The last point is of the utmost
importance, and where no suspicion of collusion or conniv¬
ance exists, the agreement of several witnesses places the
fact testified beyond all doubt. The credibility of each
individual may then be left unconsidered, for that several
should concur in all essential particulars and yet be insin¬
cere or incorrect amounts—such is our faith in human testi¬
mony—to an impossibility.
The degree of belief we give to matters of fact attested
by others is much affected by the probability of the fact it¬
self, that is, by its accordance with our previous experience.
When an alleged fact is so repugnant to the laws of the
material world that no amount of evidence can induce us to
believe it, it is said to be impossible. But impossibility is
a relative term, and bears a certain ratio to the state of
human knowledge. In such circumstances, men conceive
that the evidence is a mistake, either intentional or unin¬
tentional, and refuse to believe it. This subject has ac¬
quired great importance in consequence of Hume’s argu¬
ment, that miracles, that is, supernatural events, or, as they
were wrongly called by him, u violations of the laws of na¬
ture,” are incapable of proof, because they are contradicted
by our ordinary experience and observation. 1 he refuta¬
tions of his argument have been numerous, and no farther
notice need here be taken of it than to quote an observation
from one of the most recent writers on the subject. Mill,
in his Logic, has observed, “ All that Hume has made out
is that no evidence can prove a miracle to any one who did
not previously believe the existence of a Being with super¬
natural power, or who believed himself to have full proof
that the character of the Being whom he recognises is in¬
consistent with his having seen fit to interfere on the oc¬
casion in question.” Hence, to establish the impossibility
of a miracle, it is required to show that the intervention of
supernatural agency is incompetent, or would not be exer¬
cised in producing the effect. The u firm and unalterable
experience,” upon which Hume so much relied, affords too
narrow a basis even for sceptical philosophers in the ordi¬
nary affairs of life, and they are content to receive much of
their knowledge, not from their own experience, but from
that of other men. But it is true that statements which
accord with facts we already know are received upon a
lower degree of evidence than those which appear to us
improbable in the present state of our knowledge. If the
fact be of the latter kind, or entirely beyond the sphere of
experience, we require, indeed, stronger evidence, but we
should beware of undue distrust. This is shown in the story
so often quoted from the days of Locke, in which the king
of Siam, who was told by the Dutch ambassador that in his
country water sometimes became so solid that an elephant
might walk over it, thus replied, “ Hitherto I have believed
the strange things you have told me, because I look upon
you as a man of sobriety and truth, but now I am sure you
fie.” The test of probability then is not personal experi¬
ence only, but the nature and quality of the evidence ad¬
duced are also elements to be considered; and in propor¬
tion as the witnesses are more numerous and of higher
credit, and have no interest to speak contrary to the truth,
and are uncontradicted by others, the matter of fact ought
to be mere or less believed.
Besides these there are other principles on which re¬
liance on testimony is based, and among others there may
be mentioned the consistency of the different parts of the
narrative. There must be no contradiction between the
various facts attested by the witness. For if it be self-con-
VOL. IN.
tradictory, the evidence cannot be received. But if the Evidence.^
contradiction lies in some cause or effect erroneously added
by the witness to the fact, then the latter remains unshaken ;
for it is only the inconsistency of the facts themselves which
destroys the credibility of a witness. If, again, there be
several witnesses to the facts, the weight of their testimony
depends on their mutual consistency. If one witness should
either omit a matter of importance attested by another, or
contradict the other’s narrative by some positive discre¬
pancy, discredit is thrown on the evidence, which will fall
to be rejected altogether, or a preference given to one
rather than another according to the trustworthiness of the
particular witnesses.
In all questions of fact there appears to be in the human
mind an instinctive reliance on testimony based on the
knowledge of the natural inclination of men to speak the
truth. These principles are relative and correlative of each
other, and have been called by some the instinctive princi¬
ple of credulity and counter principle of veracity. It is
not necessary here to inquire whether belief in testimony
is an ultimate or innate principle of the human mind; it is
undoubtedly true that it is modified by experience. But
there is another basis, upon which circumstantial evidence
rests, of a totally different character. It is founded wholly
on the relation and connection subsisting between collateral
facts or circumstances and the fact to be proved. It is
similar to the principle so well known in physical and moral
investigations and analyses—the impossibility of accounting
for the facts on any other hypothesis. It is thus the philo¬
sopher or historian endeavours to establish some doubtful
truth by inference or analogy more or less remote, and a
chain of facts and circumstances connects the accused with
the crime in such a way as to exclude the hypothesis of in¬
nocence. It is in questions of this nature that the judgments
of men are found continually to differ. The most opposite
opinions are formed as to the credence and weight due to
the circumstances adduced; and a scientific question, 01
historical fact, or alleged crime, which one man considers as
not only probable but as certain truth, another holds to be
impossible. The hypothesis is more likely to be true in
proportion to the greater number of circumstances ; and in
general the mind is satisfied if the evidence on the whole
coincides with and supports the hypothesis which it is ad¬
duced to prove, and a conclusion as satisfactory as direct
evidence can produce is frequently founded on circum¬
stances alone. But in criminal cases, in which circum¬
stantial evidence is so frequently used, greater strictness is
required. It is essential that every circumstance necessary
to the hypothesis should be satisfactorily proved. If one of
the links be wanting, or not established by proof, then the
basis is defective, and no conclusion can be drawn. More¬
over it ought to be impossible to draw any other conclusion
from the circumstances than that proposed to be proved, for
their possible combinations are so numerous that the acutest
intellect may be baffled in discovering the connecting link.
But when every other hypothesis is excluded, the conclusion
is forced upon the mind with an even stronger conviction
than in direct evidence, for in the latter case the testimony
of personal observation is felt to be more fallible than the
connection between the circumstances and the conclusion
drawn.
Various arbitrary divisions of evidence have been made,
of which it is here necessary to mention only two. Evi¬
dence is either direct or indirect—original or transmitted.
It is direct, when the fact is attested by those who speak
from their personal knowledge immediately; it is indirect,
when the fact is inferred from other collateral facts clearly
proved, which are supposed to have a relation proximate
or remote to the fact in controversy. The latter is the cir¬
cumstantial evidence of jurisprudence. Evidence is original,
when it rests solely on the credit of the witness who attests
3 G
418
EVIDENCE.
Evidence, the fact; it is transmitted when it rests also on the veracity
ancl competency of some other person, who has transmitted
it to the reporter. It is manifest that if a man testify facts
not lying within his own knowledge, but from information
derived from others, the security for their truth is w eakened
in proportion to their remoteness from the original observer.
“ A credible man, vouching his knowledge of the thing it¬
self,” says Locke, “is a good proof; but if another equally
credible do witness it from his report, the testimony is weaker,
and a third that attests the hearsay of an hearsay is yet
less considerable.” Yet many historical truths depend
on no other evidence than hearsay ; and it is apparent that
in the ordinary business of life, and in historical and philo¬
sophical investigation, transmitted evidence is frequently of
the greatest value, being often the sole guide on which the
inquirer proceeds.
Evidence (Judicial).—In the preceding part of this ar¬
ticle, the rules of moral or probable evidence have been given.
In jurisprudence, the practical importance of the subject
has attracted much attention, and in every country a body
of artificial rules has been framed on certain exclusive prin¬
ciples, differing considerably from those of natural or moral
evidence. The divergence from natural equity has been so
complete, that Mr Bentham states it to be his belief that if
all the grounds of exclusion were collected into one from
the various systems, including the Gentoo and Chinese, no
witness in any cause could possibly be examined at all. In
England the law of evidence in early times was extremely
loose, and what was admissible seems to have depended on
the tendencies of the judge. Accordingly, in the early state
trials hearsay evidence is not unfrequently admitted ; but
though the law of evidence is a modern creation, the leading
principles on which it is founded have been known from
the earliest times; and the contrast between the two epochs
seems to lie in this, that the judge now administers the law
on fixed exclusive principles. The necessity or value of
resorting to such exclusive principles has been denied by
Bentham. Here it may be shortly observed that jurists
trace the origin of the distinction between legal and natural
evidence to the necessity of preventing fraud in the speedy
action of judicial tribunals—of limiting the discretionary
power of the judge as to the nature of the evidence to be ad¬
mitted—of providing more certain tests of truth than are
necessary in the ordinary affairs of life, and in the charac¬
teristic differences between legal and historical investiga¬
tions. 1 he result of these considerations has been to annex
an artificial weight to particular evidence, or to set up cer¬
tain exclusive rules.
The first general principle or rule is, that the best evi¬
dence of which the case in its nature is susceptible ought
to be adduced. “ The true meaning,” says Gilbert, “ of
the rule of law that requires the greatest evidence that the
nature of the thing is capable of, is this—That no such evi¬
dence shall be brought, which, ex natura rei, supposes still
a greater evidence behind in the parties’ own possession and
power.” This rule leads to the exclusion of all secondary
evidence so long as any primary exists. Thus a written
contract must be proved by the production of the deed it¬
self, if it is within the power of the party. No copy or parole
can be substituted in room of the principal unless it be
proved to be destroyed or lost. Another consequence of
this rule is, that all hearsay is rejected. Hearsay or trans¬
mitted evidence in law includes not only verbal reports, but
also writings transcribed from the originals. It is excluded,
not only because it supposes that better evidence exists, but
it is also intrinsically weak, and affords a cover for the prac¬
tice of fraud. Yet, where the necessity of the case requires
it, hearsay ought to be admitted. Accordingly, it is received,
m matters of public and general interest, where ancient
rig ts ai e concerned, and the persons are supposed to be
(tac , 2a, in the case of declarations and entries made by
deceased persons against their interest; Zd, both in cri- Evidence,
minal and civil cases the dying declaration of the injured
party and the statements of a competent deceased witness
are allowed to be proved under certain conditions.
The next general rule of evidence is, that the burden of
proof lies on the party maintaining the affirmative of the
question at issue, conformably to the maxim of the Roman
law, “ Ei incumbit probatio qui dicit, non qui negat.” In
explicating this rule, the onus of proof is determined by the
affirmative in substance, not the affirmative in form; and
the burden may be shifted by presumptions, either of law
or of fact, or the capacity of the contending parties to ad¬
duce the evidence.
Two other general rules of evidence may be shortly
stated without comment. The evidence must correspond
with the allegations made by the parties. All beyond this
is irrelevant, and the proof, if offered, is to be rejected.
This rule confines the evidence to what is material and ne¬
cessary to prove the case of the litigant. The other rule is,
that the evidence must be sufficient to prove the substance
of the issue. This rule protects the litigant from excessive
strictness on the one hand, and on the other requires that
nothing essentially descriptive of the claim or charge shall
be wanting.
So many rules of exclusion have been recently abolished
by statute, that it may be well to enumerate some of the
objections of former and later times to the admissibility of
witnesses.
By the ancient practice of most European countries
women were inadmissible ; and even when admitted, their
evidence was not considered equivalent to that of a man.
So late as 1824, in some of the Swiss cantons, the testimony
of two women was equal only to that of one man. In Scot¬
land there exists a remnant of the former practice in the
exclusion of females as witnesses to the subscription of
deeds.
2d, Infamy of character was formerly a ground of exclu¬
sion. Wherever one had been convicted of a crime infer¬
ring infamy, he was perpetually disqualified. This was at
first modified, and at length altogether abolished by Lord
Denman’s Evidence Act (6th and 7th Viet., cap. 85): in
Scotland the equivalent statute is the 15th Viet., cap. 27.
Zd, No witness can now decline to give evidence on the
ground of relationship ; and, with the single exception of
husband and wife, relations may now be compelled to give
evidence both for and against each other. By a statute
passed in 1853, which, however, applies only to England,
husbands and wives are competent and compellable to give
evidence either for or against each other in any suit, with
the exception of criminal cases. In both countries, where
the party injured is one of the spouses, the other is of ne¬
cessity a competent witness in the case.
A.th, The objection of incompetency from interest has
been also recently abolished. So far back as the time of
Fielding, the impolicy of this ground of exclusion wras ob¬
served ; in his Amelia he thus criticises the law of evidence
on this head:—“ There is no branch of the law more bulky,
more full of confusion and contradiction, I had almost said
absurdity, than the law of evidence as it now stands. One
rule of this law is that no man interested shall be sworn as
a witness. By this is meant pecuniary interest; but are
mankind governed by no passion but avarice ? Are not
pride, hatred, and the other passions, as powerful tyrants in
the mind of man ? And is not the interest which these
passions propose to themselves, by the enjoyment of their
object, as powerful a motive to evil as the hope of any pe¬
cuniary interest whatever ?” Notwithstanding objections so
apparent, the exclusion arising from interest was firmly fixed
in our law, and was only recently removed in regard to wit¬
nesses, and still more recently in regard to the parties to the
suit themselves.
Evidence.
EVIDENCE. 419
5th, The only other grounds of objection, to which re- put in evidence, are either public or private. To the former Evidence^
ference need be made, which have been removed by the head may be referred acts of parliament, the judgments of ^
legislature, are enmity, agency and partial counsel. It ap- courts, the acts of public functionaries, entries in public
pears to be doubtful whether the last two ever did more in registers, and extracts from judicial records. The mere in-
England than affect the credibility of the witness, and in spection by the court of evidence of this kind is sufficient.
Scotland they are now in the same position. The cause of Acts of parliament are either public or private ; those which
this enlightened course of legislation is well stated in the are public are presumed to be known to all, and a reference
preamble of Lord Denman’s act, which recites that the in- by citation of the statute book is sufficient; as to those which
quiry after truth in courts of justice is often obstructed by are private, a copy compared with the official roll must be
incapacities created by the present law, and it was desira- produced. Extracts of judicial pioceedings undei the seal
ble that full information as to the facts in issue, both in of the court, and the proceedings of foreign judicatures, are
criminal and civil cases, should be laid before the persons received when authenticated in the manner required by the
who are appointed to decide upon them, and that such per- laws of the country. So entries in various public registers,
sons should exercise their judgment on the credit of the wit- as the register of births, deaths, and marriages, °r of proba-
nesses adduced and on the truth of their testimony. The tive deeds, when certified by the proper official officer, are
above objections have now accordingly become simply probative. Among/mra^e writings are regular deeds, wills,
questions of credibility in the hands of the jury, and have notarial instruments, and the executions of officers of the
been wholly removed from the province of the judge. The law. These must be executed and authenticated in the
tendency of legislation and the inclination of our judges at manner prescribed by the law of the country where the
the present time is to admit all evidence where it is original; contract or obligation is entered into; and the execution o
when such testimony is excluded, all attainable proof bearing the deed must be proved by one at least of the attesting
on the question in dispute may be destroyed, and substantial witnesses; but in Scotland, when certain solemnities le-
injustice done to one or other of the contending parties. quired by statute are observed, a presumptive evidence
The means by which the matter of fact in dispute is arises in favour of the instrument, which is probative in all
proved before a judicial tribunal are called the instruments respects until it is challenged or reduced on the grounds of
of evidence, and are either written or unwritten. forgery, fraud, or error. Documents thus authenticated and
1^, Of Unwritten or Oral Evidence —The law compels proved are the highest species of evidence, and are superior
every one who is in possession of evidence bearing on the to any oral proof of the transaction that could be offered. In
matter in dispute, to be a witness, and to attend as such at truth, it is in general incompetent to endeavour to supersede
the trial. The witness must answer all relevant questions or contradict a written instrument, or supply a defect or ex-
which do not criminate himself. And the court will inter- plain the intention of the writer by parole evidence. Parole
fere to protect a witness who is pressed to answer questions is, however, competent in the challenge of a deed where
tending to bring disgrace upon him, unless the ends of jus- fraud is alleged, or to prove a mistake or error,
tice clearly require it. All persons, male or female, who The statutes passed recently to alter and amend the law
are of sane mind, and capable of understanding the oath to of evidence have simplified and improved it to a great ex¬
speak the truth, are admissible as witnesses. tent. Nor can there be any doubt that the course of legis-
Before the recent legislation, to which reference has been lation has been enlightened and in the true direction ; nay,
made, many rules existed as to the admissibility of witnesses, so much has been done, at least in removing grounds of
The only grounds of incompetency still existing in our law exclusion, that little remains to be effected. Yet the ex-
are two 'in number Itf, From want of reason and matu- pediency of rejecting any witness for incompetency may
rity of intellect; and, 2d, From professed want of religion, well be doubted. Wherever one has been an eye-witness
Under those incompetent from want of reason, are in- to the facts in dispute, or can give testimony bearing on
eluded all idiots from birth, and fatuous persons, who have these, the law ought to admit the evidence. It is doubtful,
wholly lost intellect and memory, and those who have re- therefore, whether the want of religious belief should re¬
duced themselves to that condition by their own vicious main a recognised ground of incompetency. Respect for
acts, as drunkards, and lunatics during the period of derange- character and social position, the principles of natural mo¬
ment; but lunatics in their lucid intervals, and monomaniacs rality, and the fear of punishment in this life, may in such
in matters apart from the particular delusion, appear to be cases be as strong checks on perjury as the more formal ap-
competent witnesses. peal to divine vengeance in taking an oath. Unsworn testi-
Children of tender years are likewise excluded from want mony is received in certain instances; it might be extended
of maturity of intellect. The old lawyers stated broadly to those who deny the obligation of an oath, but admit the
that “ infants under fourteen years of age are not to be exa- strength of moral law, and the duty to society that each
mined upon their oath as witnesses.” In modern times the man should speak truth. Again, the English system of evi-
rule is relaxed, and children are sworn as witnesses be- dence neglects the preservation of written testimony. Pub-
tween the ages of twelve and fourteen, where the judge is lie documents, deeds, and instruments xised in the trans-
satisfied that they understand the nature of an oath. In mission of real property, contracts, and wills, ought to have
reference to children below twelve years, their admissibility been an object of solicitude to the government; and a
depends upon the sense and reason, and the general intelli- speedy and cheap means of preserving such evidence has
gence they manifest, and their understanding as to the im- still to be discovered and put in practice. Bentham, and
propriety of falsehood; but they do not give evidence on others after him, argue for the admission of hearsay or trans¬
oath, but simply emit a declaration, and the weight of the mitted evidence under certain forms and conditions, so that
testimony is a question exclusively for the jury. a jury may weigh its value, and admit or reject it as cir-
The only other ground of incompetency now known arises cumstances demand. But the opening which this would
from the want of religious belief. Where the witness does give to fraud and dishonesty seems too palpable to hazard
not believe in the existence of a God, in the obligation of an the experiment. In admitting it, all personal responsibility,
oath, and in a future state of rewards and punishments, he and the safeguards of cross-examination, of publicity, and of
is not admissible. It is not sufficient that he believes him- the solemn obligation of an oath, would be removed. All
self bound to speak the truth, merely from a regard to cha- those qualities in a witness on which his credibility de-
racter, or the interests of society, or the fear of punishment pends, his disposition to speak the truth, and his power of
by the temporal law. observing and remembering, would also be unknown. Be-
' 2d, Of Written Evidence.—Documents, which may be sides, it is often impossible to trace the source through which
420 E V I
Evil. hearsay is derived, or by how many channels it has been
v—V—' transmitted, til! it reaches the party who is willing to give
it forth as evidence. Its very existence, moreover, sup¬
poses that there are witnesses who can speak to the fact
from their personal knowledge, and who ought therefore to
be produced. Its infirmity is indeed self-evident, and when
E Y I
offered in a court of justice, in proof of recent events, it is
wisely rejected.
The subject of evidence is admirably treated at great
length, in an American work by Greenleaf, which has
reached a sixth edition. The most recent English treatises
of authority are those of Mr Starkie and Mr Best. (a. m.)
EVIL can only be defined as the antithesis or negation
of good. In the abstract, evil is want of conformity to the
standard of good, whatever that may be; in the concrete, evil
is anything that comes short of what is perfectly good. Evil
is thus a simply negative conception, i. e. relatively to good,
which has a positive existence joer se, merely predicates non¬
existence in certain cases. Origen (de Princip., ii. 9, 2):
41 IT Sera f; Ku.Kia 6v8ev icrriv, evrel koI ovk ov rvy^dveu” Augus¬
tine (de Civ. Dei, 1. ii., c. 22): “ Cum omnino natura nulla sit
malum, nomenque hoc non sit nisi privationis boni,” &c.
A threefold division of evil has been signalized, viz., into
Metaphysical, Physical, and Moral. Leibnitz has discri¬
minated these thus: “ Metaphysicum generatim consistit in
rerum etiam non intelligentium imperfectione; physicum
accipitur speciatim de substantiarum intelligentium incom-
modis; morale de earum actionibus viciosis” (Causa Dei
Assert., § 30-32). Or we may state the distinction thus :—
Every existence has an ideal perfection ; when it comes short
of that, there is evil. Every intelligent existence has its own
happiness as its end; when it is impeded in the pursuit of
that end, there is evil. Every intelligent existence is sub¬
ject to certain moral laws, in obedience to which it is bound
to seek that end; whenever any of these laws is evaded or
transgressed, there is evil. It may, however, be doubted
whether the first of these should not, as well as the other
two, be restricted to intelligent existences; inasmuch as it
is only as it affects them, that imperfection in themselves or
in other existences is an evil. It may be further observed,
that even in reference to intelligent existences imperfection
is not so much an evil as a possible cause of evil; for limi¬
tation, or even defect, if it do not lead to unhappiness or
sin, cannot with strict propriety be called an evil. It may
be as good for a creature to be imperfect quoad an ideal
standard of perfection, as to be perfect—provided no con¬
sequences injurious to his physical or moral well-being re¬
sult thence.
We may satisfy ourselves, then, with a twofold division
of evil—physical and moral; understanding by the former
whatever is opposed to good in the sense of happiness, by
the latter whatever is opposed to good in the sense of rec¬
titude or virtue. The terms physical and moral seem suf¬
ficiently definite for ordinary purposes as thus used; but if
a more exact and scientific expression be required, we may
take that of Kant, who discriminates evil into the absolutely
evil and the relatively evil; the former designating that which
is opposed to the absolutely good, and which cannot be
chosen by perfect wisdom and holiness, either for itself or
as a means to an end; the latter denoting that which is op¬
posed to the relatively good—the good for a special end,
and which may be chosen by perfect wisdom and holiness,
if not for itself, yet as a means to an end.
Moral evil has often been identified with sin. It would
be more correct to say that sin is moral evil viewed under
a certain relation, viz., as difformity from an express law:
illegalitas seu difformitas a lege,” Calovius System. Locc.
Theoll., v., p. 14. Moral evil is the absolutely evil, the
malum in se ; sin is moral evil as a thing forbidden by God,
malum prohibitum ; and as the commission of what is for¬
bidden entails guilt and exposes to blame, this latter be¬
comes also malum culpce.
The relations of physical and moral evil may be stated
tius. 1. Physical evil is by the divine ordinance the con¬
sequence of moral evil, and frequently the outward exponent
of what is in itself hid from created vision ; 2. Physical evil
is malum pcence, the punishment which is made to fall upon
the being who has been guilty of the malum culpce: Gro-
tius (De Jure, 1. ii., c. 20, § 1)—“ Est autem pcena generali
significatu malum passionis quod infligitur ob malum ac-
tionisAugustine (cont. Adim. c. 26): “ Dupliciter ap-
pellatur malum, unum quod homo facit, alterum quod
patitur; quod facit peccatum est, quod patitur pcena.
Divina Providentia cuncta moderante et gubernante, ita
homo male facit quod vult, ut male patiatur quod non
vult3. Physical evil may often be the means of pre¬
venting moral evil by securing the opposite good; it may
thus become not merely, as Hierocles terms it. Tror^ptas
larpiKr], but even a subsidiary or mediate good: Leibnitz
(De causa Dei, § 35)—“ Mala physica interdum hunt bona
subsidiata tanquam media ad majora bona4. The con¬
verse may not lawfully take place; moral evil may not be
resorted to as a means of averting physical evil; in the go¬
vernment of the world God never directly wills evil that
good may come, and he has forbidden this to us; 5. It is
nevertheless possible, for aught we know to the contrary,
that moral evil may be the condition without which intelli¬
gent creature existence cannot reach its highest and most
perfect development, i. e., become entirely and for ever
superior to all defect and evil; and for this reason, though
not directly wulled by God, it may be permitted by him.
Attempts have been made to subvert this distinction be¬
tween physical and moral evil, and to generalize all evil
under one category. On the one hand, the sensualistic or
eudaimonistic school, by resolving all good into happiness,
make pain and suffering the only kind of evil that can befal
a creature; and, on the other hand, it has been contended
that sin is the only evil, as without it there would be no
suffering and no punishment. But both these generalizations
are fallacious. In the former, sin is confounded with its
concomitant penalty ; in the latter, the concomitant penalty
is subsumed as a part of the sin of which it is the effect or
result. As the pleasure which God has made to attend on
goodness is not itself goodness; so the pain which he has
made to attend on sin must ever be carefully discriminated
from sin itself.
Of all questions connected with evil the most perplexing
is that which respects its origin. HoOev to kukov ; this is an
inquiry which, from the dawn of speculation, has excited the
curiosity and exercised the ingenuity of thoughtful men.
Our limits permit us only to state in the briefest manner
the different hypotheses which have been suggested for the
solution of this problem. These may be classed under three
heads—the Dualistic, the Pantheistic, and the Monoistic.
Of these the Dualistic may be regarded as the most ancient
and most widely diffused, as well as perhaps the one most
likely to occur to the mind on first contemplating the phe¬
nomena of the world. According to it, good and evil are
absolutely distinct essences, the products of two original
principles, one of good and the other of evil, from wTose
agency the good and evil we see actually mixed in the world
have respectively flowed. This hypothesis has appeared in
different forms, of which the principal are these : 1. Par-
seeism, which supposes that the universe was created by
two rival powers, Hormuzd or Light, and Ahriman or Dark¬
ness ; the latter of whom produced some evil thing for every
E V I
E Y O
421
Evil.
good thing which was made by the former. 2. Hylism,
which regards matter (yhq) as the original eternal principle
of evil, in opposition to the good spirit or God; whether
this original Hyle be viewed as feminine and passive, as in
the Chinese cosmogony, or as a dead and formless mass
quickened by a blind senseless soul, as among the Greeks.
3. Gnosticism, which is the heathenish doctrine modified by
certain Christian opinions, and exists under two principal
aspects as presented by (1) the Syrian Gnosticism, Mar-
cionism, and Manichaeism, all of which closely approximate
to the Parsee doctrine, and (2) the Alexandrian Gnosticism,
as developed by Basilides and Valentinus, and in which the
Hellenic doctrine of the Hyle predominates.1
In the Pantheistic hypothesis, evil and good are viewed
as only varied manifestations of the one original principle.
This appears in its grossest form in the Hindu system, and
in that of Spinoza; but it is also to be traced in some of the
more refined speculations of the modern absolute philo¬
sophy of Germany, as e. g. in the earlier philosophy of Schel-
ling, who placed evil in the discord, and good in the con¬
cord, of the individual will with the universal will, but held
both to be one in God.
In the Monoistic hypothesis, evil is regarded as either the
necessary condition of good, or as a result flowing from the
necessarily limited and imperfect nature of creature exist¬
ence. This latter view, which, from the prominent use by its
advocates of the expression “ mundus optimus,” is generally
known as the optimist view, is that adopted by Augustine,
by Leibnitz, and by Archbishop King, all of whom have
attempted to reconcile the existence of evil within the go¬
vernment of a perfectly holy, good, and powerful being, by
treating it as a necessary result of creature limitation; though
there be differences on subordinate points between them.
It must be admitted that none of these modes of solving
the difficulty is satisfactory. The Dualistic hypothesis has
found no supporters of any note in more recent times, if we
except Bayle ; whose defence of it, however, is to be looked
upon rather as a piece of literary gymnastic than as the re¬
sult of serious conviction. The Pantheistic hypothesis con¬
tradicts our moral consciousness, and is besides based on a
theory of the relation of the universe to God which reason
refuses to authenticate, and which piety abhors. The doc¬
trine that evil has its origin in the necessary imperfection
of the creature has, under one or other of its modifications,
found the largest number of supporters in modern times ;
but when stripped of the garnishing in which its advocates
have enveloped it, this hypothesis will be found to involve
a fallacy so gross and palpable that it seems surprising that
it should have ever imposed upon any logical understand¬
ing. For in what sense are we to take the weighty word
imperfection as here used ? Take it in a moral sense as equi¬
valent to faultiness or vitiosity, and the proposition that there
is evil in creation because creation is imperfect, becomes a
purely identical one, and the origin of evil is virtually re¬
ferred to the Creator, of whom in this case we must say with
the Epicureans “ aut vult, aut non potest tollere malum.”
Take it in a metaphysical sense, as equivalent to limitation,
and the assertion simply affirms the creation to be poten¬
tially evil; it in no way explains how that potentiality was
developed into an actuality, which is the real question at
Evora.
On this question the Bible throws no light; it merely
informs us that evil did not originate with man or in this
world, but was brought hither by a spirit who had previously
fallen in some other part of the universe. The Bible, how¬
ever, fully authorizes the only conclusions to which reason
can safely come on this dark subject, viz., 1. That God is
not the author of evil in any sense; 2. That though able
to prevent it, he has permitted it to exist; 3. That the evil
permitted in the universe is not only less than the good Evil-Eye
directly willed by God, but is characterized as something
intrusive and transitory, while the good is fundamental and
permanent; 4. That God in permitting evil has not left it
uncontrolled, but ever holds it in his power, and makes it
subservient to his purposes; 5. That he will ultimately
overrule this evil which he has permitted, so as to evolve a
larger amount of good for his universe than if evil had not
been permitted; and, in fine, that all that is peiplexit.g to
us in the existence of evil arises out of the limitation of cur
understanding, and that as in the natural world many phe¬
nomena which to the untutored mind appear anomalous,
are by the philosopher seen to be in accordance with law,
and necessary parts of the cosmical system, so the pheno-
rnenon of evil, which to us is so full of difficulty^may hig ici
intelligences—must by the highest, be seen to be in perfect
accordance with the noblest order and the purest rectitude.
(Bayle’s Dictionary, arts. Manichsean and Paulician; Leib¬
nitz, Essai de Theodicee, and his Causa Dei Asseita per
Justitiam ejus, &c.; King on the Origin of Evil, translated
by Law; Whateley’s Remarks on King, appended to his
edition of King’s Discourse on Predestination; Lord
Brougham’s Dissertation on the Origin of Evil, appended
to his edition of Paley’s Natural Iheology; Stewaits Ac¬
tive and Moral Powers, vol. ii., p. 109, foil.; Muller on Sin,
translated by Pulsford, 2 vols. Herbart, Gesprache ueb.
das Bose, 1817.) . . <>• l- a;)
Evil-Eye, a malignant influence superstitiously ascribed
to certain persons, in virtue of which they are supposed to
injure those on whom they cast an envious or hostile look.
This ancient superstition is still prevalent among many na¬
tions, especially the American Indians, and among the igno¬
rant even in some of the most civilized countries of Europe.
King's Evil, a name formerly given in England to the
disease called scrofula, from the belief that the touch of the
king could effect a cure. This superstition is as old as the
time of Edward the Confessor; and must have been cre¬
dited even so late as the beginning of the last century, since
we are told that the celebrated Dr Johnson was touched
for the cure of this disease.
EVOCATI, in the ancient Roman army, were those sol¬
diers who, after having received their missio, or full dis¬
charge from service, were called upon to do military duty
as volunteers. In every great army the numbei of these
veterans appears to have been considerable.
EVOLUTION, the act of unfolding or unrolling. In
physiology it is used to denote that theory of generation
which maintains that the embryon or germ pre-exists in the
parent, and that its parts are merely unfolded and developed
by the procreative acts. This theory stands opposed to that
of Epigenesis, in which the germ is held to be formed by
virtue of the procreative powers of the parent. See Phy¬
siology.
EVORA or Ebora, the ancient Liberahtas JuIue, a
city of Portugal, capital of the province of Alemtejo, is si¬
tuated on an eminence in the centre of a fertile plain, 85
miles E. by S. of Lisbon. It is surrounded by ramparts
flanked with towers, and has two forts, but these are all in
a ruinous condition, and quite useless as means of defence.
The streets are narrow, crooked, and filthy, and the houses
old and ill-built. The cathedral is a magnificent Gothic
edifice with an altar in the Italian style, extremely rich, and
decorated with variously coloured marbles. Evora is the
see of an archbishop, and besides the cathedral has several
churches, convents, and hospitals, a house of chaiity, bar¬
racks, diocesan school, and museum. This city was in ex¬
istence in the time of the Romans, and was for a lengthened
period the headquarters of Quintus Sertorius, by whom it
was fortified and adorned with several fine public buildings.
1 See Neander, Church History, vol. ii., p. 51, Eng. tr.
422 EVE
Evremond. An ancient aqueduct in good preservation, and the ruins of
a temple, of which some columns are still standing, evi¬
dently belong to the best period of Roman architecture.
Pop. about 12,000.
EVREMOND, Charles Margotelle he St Denys,
Sieur he St Eyremonh, a literary and social celebrity of
the seventeenth century, was born at St Denis du Guast,
near Coutances in Normandy, April 1, 1613. Destined
for the priesthood, St Evermond began his studies under
the Jesuits of Paris, but at an early age, exchanging that
career for the more congenial one of a military life, he ob¬
tained a lieutenancy in the guards from the great Conde,
who took much pleasure in his society, and delighted in the
brilliant and caustic wit by which even thus early the young
soldier had forced himself into notice. Under this illus¬
trious commander St Evremond fought with distinction at
the bloody battles of Rocroi, Fribourg, and Nordlingen, in
the last of which he was wounded. His irrepressible fond¬
ness for raillery and satire proved on more than one occa¬
sion the bane of his life ; and Conde hearing that his young
lieutenant had been laughing at his expense, deprived him
of his commission. During the troubles of the Fronde, St
Evremond offered his sword and his pen to Cardinal Ma-
zarin, who rewarded his zeal with a pension and the rank
of marechal-de-camp. Rut his luck with the cardinal was
no better than it had been with Conde. He accompanied
him on his mission to negotiate the treaty of the Pyrenees,
and wrote to Marshal Crequi an account of the proceedings,
in which the various diplomatists and their measures were
so bitterly satirized, that when the affair reached the king’s
ears he resolved to commit St Evremond to the Bastile.
The satirist, however, being warned of the king’s intention,
fled to Holland, and in the following year (1662) to the
English court, where he was well received, and had many
powerful friends. In these two countries he spent the re¬
mainder of his long life, and could never be persuaded to
avail himself of the pardon which his friends in France,
with great difficulty, extorted for him from the Grand Mo-
narque. His life at the English court was one of unclouded
sunshine. He enjoyed the society of all the political, so¬
cial, and literary notabilities of the day, and had from the
king a pension that more than sufficed for his wants; and
though on the accession of James II. he was deprived of
his pension, yet at the revolution which placed William of
Orange on the throne, his position was so much bettered
that he obstinately refused to return to his native country.
1 he remainder of his long life he spent in the moderate
enjoyment of everything that could minister to his social
and intellectual necessities. Though he was little better
than a pleasure-hunter all his life, he retained his health and
mental faculties unimpaired till his death, which happened
September 20th 1703, in the ninety-first year of his age.
1 he writings, both prose and poetical, of St Evremond, are,
for the most part, quite unworthy of the reputation he en¬
joyed during his lifetime. Though the criticism of Mr
Hallam may seem somewhat severe, it is in the main quite
justifiable. “Nothing,” says that critic, “can be more
trifling than the general character of St Evremond’s writ-
ings; but sometimes he rises to literary criticism, or even
ci\il history: and on such topics he is clear, unaffected,
cold, without imagination or sensibility ; a type of the frigid
being whom an aristocratic and highly polished society is
apt to produce. The chief merit of St Evremond is in his
sty e and manner. He has less wit than Voiture, who con-
tii uted to form him, or than Voltaire, whom he contri¬
buted to form ; but he shows neither the effort of the former,
nor t le restlessness of the latter.” Of his poetry nothing
lepays pei usal, if we except, perhaps, the quatrain which he
wrote under the picture of the celebrated Ninon de 1’En-
clos. Ot his numerous prose works the best is his Re-
j exions sur les divers genies du Peuple Romain, which
E W A
contains many acute and ingenious ideas. His letters are Evreux
admirable specimens of a kind of composition in which the ||
French have always excelled. Though by no means a re- Ewald.
ligious man, St Evremond neither himself sneered at Reve-
lation, nor encouraged others to do so; the charge of atheism
preferred against him arose from the fact, that after his death
certain atheistical works were published under his name,
with which he had in reality nothing whatever to do. There
have been numerous editions of his works, but the best is
that of Des Maizeaux, 3 vols. 4to, London, 1705, with a life,
the conjoint production of the author and his editor.
EVREUX (the ancient Mediolanum, and afterwards
Eburovices), a town of France, capital of the department of
Eure on the Iton, an affluent of the Eure, 54 miles W.N.W.
of Paris. Pop. (1851) 11,644. The town is generally well-
built, and still contains many antique timber-framed houses.
The cathedral is one of the most ancient and curious in
France. It is a very imposing cruciform structure, though
not uniform in style. The north transept and the portal
are in the flamboyant Gothic, elaborately ornamented; the
west front is in the Italian style. The beautiful rose win¬
dow in the south transept, and the wooden screens of the side
chapels round the choir, showing the flamboyant Gothic
style modified by the reviving Italian, also merit notice.
The Lady chapel is of elegant architecture, with painted
glass equally remarkable for its fine execution and perfect
preservation. At the intersection of the nave and transepts
rises an octagonal tower supported on four pillars, and sur¬
mounted by a pyramidal spire of open stonework. The
church of St Taurin also displays various styles of architec¬
ture, and contains the shrine of St Taurin, a work of the
thirteenth century. Among the other objects of interest
are the clock-tower built in the fifteenth century, the
bishop’s palace, town-hall, prefect’s residence, prison, theatre,
public library, botanic garden, and the promenades. The
chief manufactures are woollen and cotton stuffs, leather,
tickings, &c. Excavations made at Vieil Evreux have led
to the discovery of a theatre, baths, &c., and of various re¬
lics now deposited in the Musee d’Antiquites.
Mediolanum was the capital of the Aulerci Eburovices,
and hence it took the name of Eburovices, which in the
middle ages was corrupted into Ebroicse and Ebroas; whence
the modern name. In 892 it was taken and sacked by
Rollo the Norman; and in 989 Richard I. duke of Nor¬
mandy erected it into a county in favour of his natural son
Robert, who died in 1037. He was succeeded by his eldest
son Richard, who followed William the Conqueror into Eng¬
land in 1066, and died the following year. His son Wil¬
liam, who succeeded him, received a large grant of lands
from the Conqueror for services rendered by his father and
himself. This line became extinct in 1118, when the duke
of Montfort, as the nearest heir, took possession of the
estates; but his claim was disputed by Henry I. of Eng¬
land, who took and burnt Evreux, and obliged the duke to
sue for peace. In 1193, Philip-Augustus, king of France,
took the town, and gave it to prince John of England (called
Lackland); who, in order to conciliate his brother Richard
(who was now released from captivity), invited the French
garrison to a splendid banquet, and butchered his unsus¬
pecting victims, to the number of 300, in cold blood. In
revenge for this act of treachery, Philip reduced the town
to ashes. In 1199 it was burnt a second time by Philip,
who soon afterwards obtained permanent possession of it.
In the wars between France and England, this town fre¬
quently changed its masters. In 1441, after a vigorous re¬
sistance, it fell into the hands of the French ; and shortly
before the battle of Ivry it was besieged and taken by the
celebrated Biron.
EWALD, Johannes, the most remarkable poet of Den¬
mark during the eighteenth century, was born November
18, 1743, at Copenhagen, where his father was a preacher
E W A
Ewald, and director of the Orphan Hospital. The elder Ewald was
_ ^  j a man of considerable ability and learning, but was prevented
by ill-health from personally educating his three sons, the
second and most gifted of whom, the future poet, was sent
to Sleswig. Here his master allowed him to gratify his
own taste in the choice of books selected for perusal. The
legends of the saints which he devoured inflamed his ima¬
gination, and tempted him to the study of the Ethiopic
tongues, with a view to becoming the apostle of the African
negroes. By his parents he was destined for the church ;
but the perusal of Tom Jones and Robinson Crusoe took
such a strong hold of his mind, that at the age of thirteen
he ran away from school, intending to find his way to Hol¬
land, and thence take ship for Batavia, where he hoped to
find a desert island like that which had originally fixed his
fancy. He was overtaken in his flight, however, and com¬
pelled for the present to abandon his project. Renouncing
the ecclesiastical career, as affording no adequate field for
his spirit of romantic enterprise, he longed to become a
soldier ; and the Seven Years’ war raging at this time, he en¬
listed as a private in a Prussian regiment of hussars stationed
at Hamburg. Being transferred against his will to an in¬
fantry regiment, he deserted to the Austrian service, and
there distinguishing himself was offered promotion, which
however, as necessitating him to abjure his Protestant faith,
he declined. To the selection of a military career he was
driven not only by inclination, but by a disappointment in
love, which produced a powerful impression, and exercised
a lasting influence on his mind. 1 he object of his love,
whom he has celebrated under the name of Arense, be¬
stowed her hand upon another; and this disappointment,^
though it cast a deep gloom for a time over the life of
Ewald, was probably useful as developing in him those
powders of earnest feeling and genuine pathos which dis¬
tinguish many of his compositions, especially his Death oj
Balder. After he had served for a while with the Austrians
in Bohemia, and taken part in the defence of Dresden against
the Prussians, his family purchased his discharge, and he
returned to Copenhagen. His state of mind was not such
as to permit him to renew his theological studies, and he
accordingly sought relief for his wounded feelings in the
pursuits of literature. He was at this time only twenty-two
years of age, and does not appear to have had any idea him¬
self of the genius latent within him. An occasion, however,
soon occurred which developed it. Frederick V. of Den¬
mark happened to die at the moment when young Ewald
was sunk in the deepest gloom and despondency from his
repeated disappointments. In commemoration of this event
he composed a funeral dirge, which attracted general ad¬
miration, and tempted the author to devote his whole ener¬
gies for the future to the career of literature. Encouraged
by the Royal Academy of Copenhagen, and assisted by the
advice of Kdopstock, then residing there, he produced his
Lyhken's Temple (Temple of Fame), and shortly after his
drama of Adam and Eve, both works which bear the im¬
print of true poetic genius, but are in many respects faulty
and crude. Conscious now of his weakness as well as of
his power, he began a careful study of the best poetical
models, especially of Shakspeare, hitherto accessible to him
only in Wieland’s translation. As the first-fruits of these
studies, he produced in 1770 his Rolf Krage, a tragedy
taken from the ancient history of his country, and bearing-
strong traces of the author’s recent perusal of Ossian, of
whose poems he was a devoted admirer. Though this woik
was greatly admired, it did little towards ameliorating his
condition in life, which was rendered doubly distressing by
poverty and disease. He bore bravely up against his suffer¬
ings, however, and besides the many pieces de circon-
stance by which he sought to earn a livelihood, he was able
in the course of a short time to publish his Harlequin Pa¬
triot, a sort of satire upon the would-be reformers of his
E X A
time, replete with strong common sense, pungent sarcasm,
and pleasant humour. In 1773 appeared his greatest work,
The Death of Balder (Balders Dbd), the subject of which
is taken from the mythology of the Edda. Nothing in the ^
same vein had hitherto appeared in the Danish tongue that
could stand comparison with the wonderful poetic beauty of
this drama; yet its merits were so ill appreciated by his
countrymen, that they allowed him to struggle on unaided
against the poverty and disease that tormented his declin¬
ing years. In remarkable contrast to Ewald’s poetical works,
stand his prose compositions, some of which, such as his
Project Concerning Old Bachelors, exhibit great powers
of comic humour and pleasant raillery, all the more note¬
worthy when we remember the circumstances under which
they were produced. In this respect the case of Ewald
presents a striking analogy to the early literary history of
J. P. Richter in Germany, and the later career of our own
Cowper; and the analogy between Ewald’s case and Cowper’s
is still more curiously borne out by the fact, that each of
these poets was cheered towards the latter end by the sym¬
pathy and solicitude of a female friend. The story of Mary
Unwin is known wherever the English tongue is spoken ;
the equally noble and self-sacrificing devotion of Madame
Skou, if not so widely known, deserves an equally warm tri¬
bute at our hands. Under the roof of this lady, who had
latterly devoted all her care and time to his service, Ewald
died, March 17, 1781, after a painful and distressing illness
of nearly two years. The edition of his works which he
was engaged in superintending at the time of death, was
not finally completed till 1791. The second edition did
not appear till 1814-16. A biography of the poet by Mol-
beeh was published at Copenhagen in 1830.
EX, or Exe, a river of England, which rises in a barren
tract of land called Exmoor, in the county of Somerset, and
after being enlarged by several accessions, passes Tiverton,
Exeter, and Topsham, and falls into the English channel at
Exmouth, after a course of about 45 miles. It is navigable
by vessels of considerable burden to Topsham, 8 miles from
its mouth.
EXALTATION of the Cross, a feast of the Roman
Catholic Church, held on the 14th September. See Cross.
EXAMINATIONS are of various kinds, according to the
objects in view in conducting them,—such as tuitional,
competitive, testing. Of these, the first forms a neces¬
sary part of every scheme of education ; the second is ap¬
plied to determine the relative merits and attainments of
students; the third, to ascertain whether their acquirements
are up to a fixed standard, so as to entitle them to certain
degrees, or to fill certain situations. Each of these again
may be conducted in several ways ; 1. Orally; 2. By writ¬
ten exercises done under inspection in a set time ; 3. By
original compositions written leisurely at home; 4. By dis¬
putations ; 5. By a combination of the preceding methods.
It is proposed in this article briefly to consider each of these
kinds of examinations, to discuss the advantages of the differ¬
ent methods of conducting them, the kind of merit and ability
which they are qualified to detect, and their value as tests of
men so far as concerns their qualifications for practical life.
1. Tuitional Examinations.—A system of tuition neces¬
sarily involves a system of examination. The object of a
teacher being in general to impart to his pupils a knowledge
of facts and principles, with the view of storing their minds
and developing their faculties, he must take constant pains
to ascertain whether these have been clearly apprehended,
which he can do no otherwise than by obliging his pupils
to reproduce and apply them. In this reproduction a new
set of the pupil’s faculties are brought into exercise, and the
training which his mind receives in examination is seen to
be no less important than the acquisition of knowledge it¬
self. Thus, examinations are in a twofold sense necessary
accessories to prelections,—the practical and productive fa-
423
Ex
II
Examina¬
tions.
424 E X A M I N
Examina- culties being exercised by the former, as the receptive are
tions. by the latter. Hence, some of the peculiar advantages of
/ the catechetical teaching still pursued in one or two of our
universities, which blends the lecture and examination after
the Socratic method. It will be seen that all the methods
of examination are applicable to, and necessary for, the pur¬
poses of this kind of examination.
2. Competitive Examinations.—Though examinations
may be presumed to have been purely tuitional in their ori¬
gin, their power to call out the emulation of the pupils, and
to spur them to diligence in their studies, cannot have been
long undiscovered. Thus, examinations which were first
the teacher’s means of gauging the minds of his pupils, so as
to satisfy himself of the success or failure of his instructions,
soon passed into competitive struggles for honours and prizes,
as rewards of merit, and stimulants to industry. The emu¬
lation thus educed gives a teacher a most powerful means of
securing the mental progress of his pupils,*—a means at the
same time which should be used with caution, inasmuch as
it is better to foster a love of learning for its own sake, than
a desire for it as a means of triumph. Too often the desire
for superiority becomes secondary in competitive struggles
to the desire of winning the prizes. This is the case to a
considerable extent in the English universities, and especi¬
ally in Cambridge, where the primary design of competi¬
tive examinations is to some extent thwarted, in con¬
sequence of the discouragement to the cultivation of spe¬
cialties arising from the requirements for the final examina¬
tion. However much it is to be regretted, it naturally results
from the number and value of the prizes awarded to success,
that not a few among the candidates for honours in the
English universities regard their time, and labour, and the
cost of their tuition as an investment, towards securing their
position in life, rather than as a contribution to their mental
capital. Besides the exhibitions, scholarships, and fellowships
which may now be won by competition at our schools and uni¬
versities, a new class of prizes has lately been opened to suc¬
cessful competition, viz., appointments in the India civil ser¬
vice ; and it is highly probable that the vacancies in the home
civil service will ere long be supplied by a similar process.
The result of rendering the competitive examination system
universal cannot at present be safely speculated upon. The
Chinese empire, in which the prizes of literary success have
for ages been office, wealth, and power, affords an extreme
example, which is far from favourable. It seems as if success
in science and literature were reserved for those only who
follow them with a generous love, for the pleasures and sa¬
tisfaction they are capable of affording, and as if nature re¬
fused to unlock her secrets to any but those who come to
her animated with a simple love of truth,—desiring to know
her for her own sake, and not for their personal advantage.
But whatever may be the ultimate effect of recent changes
on the progress of learning and science, there is no doubt
of their numerous advantages, meanwhile, in opening up to
the aspiring youth of the humbler classes avenues by which
to ascend to a better condition; and at the same time in
securing for the public service a class of men on the whole
better than it has hitherto obtained.
Testing or Pass Examinations.—These are examina¬
tions to determine whether candidates are worthy of admis¬
sion to a college or university, or to offices to which they
have been nominated, or to be promoted from one class to
another in schools and universities, or to determine their
title to degrees—'that is to a public recognition of their
having creditably completed a certain course of study.
These examinations are usually conducted with much less
ngour than the competitive, and in many cases are a mere
mockery. Besides these more properly scholastic exami¬
nations, all the professions are fenced by tests more or
less real, which propose to determine whether the candi¬
dates for admission to them possess the minimum amount
A T I 0 N S.
of knowledge and ability necessary for maintaining the Examina-
honour and credit of the profession, and for practising in it tions.
with safety and benefit to the public.
In addition to the testing or pass examinations to which
we are accustomed in our own country, there are others of
more universal application in use in various foreign states,
which require by law that their subjects should be able to
read and spell their mother tongue correctly, to write accu¬
rately from dictation, and to know the first three or four
rules of arithmetic, and a certain amount of geography,
before they are allowed to accept responsible employment
of any kind. In Denmark this is called the “ Confirmation”
examination, and a certificate of having passed it must be
presented before even a private employer can engage a ser¬
vant into permanent occupation. In Germany it is called the
“ Maturity” examination. Some efforts have been made of
late to introduce a similar examination in this country, but
the genius of our people seems to be opposed to any such
innovation.
Oral Examinations.—Examination viva voce, in itself
the most natural and direct method, in cases whei'e it is
admissible, seems of all the methods of examination to be
the most satisfactory ; and there is little doubt that no
examination can be quite satisfactory which is not partly
oral. In vivd voce examinations there can be no conceal¬
ment or deception ; where knowledge is clear and matured
in the mind of the candidate it cannot fail to appear, and
where it is hazy, crude, and glimmering, it cannot fail to be
detected. The numberless subterfuges with which ignor¬
ance may be cloaked in a written exercise, so as to leave
the examiner in doubt, are here unavailing. The crammed
man stands at once exposed. “ A shot,” to use the univer¬
sity phrase, is seen to be “ a shot” the moment it is made;
and an examiner—himself master of his subject—can rarely
fail in a few minutes conversation to detect the height and
depth of the candidate’s knowledge. Of course, oral exa¬
mination is impossible in all cases, and recourse must be
had to written exercises wherever time and deliberation are
required on the part either of the candidate in producing his
answers, or of the examiner in forming his judgment—as
where it is desired to test the candidate’s power of applying
principles, his ingenuity in solving problems, his apprecia¬
tion of the beauties and niceties of language, or powers of
composition. But oral examinations are liable to this ob¬
jection, that they make the candidates nervous, and tempor-
arily incapacitate them for the free use of their knowledge
and faculties. This however might be obviated if exami¬
nations were always conducted in a courteous and affable
manner.
At the English universities examination vivd voce is
conjoined with examination by written papers in all but
the principal degree examinations, and forms part of all the
examinations at the chief colleges. The previous (pass)
examination, at both Oxford and Cambridge, is partly oral;
and in the recent publication of “ Papers relating to the
Reorganization of the Civil Service,” it will be seen that
nearly all who were consulted recommend a vivd voce exa¬
mination as part of the scheme, and that the reporters
have adopted this recommendation. In fact, it is commonly
agreed by those best able to form an opinion, that it the
choice lay between an examination altogether vivd voce or
altogether by written papers, the former should be pre¬
ferred.
In the last report of the university commissioners for
Cambridge, the recommendation of several of the pro¬
fessors and private tutors, that a vivd voce examination should
form part of the examination for honours, has been adopted,
and a change may soon be expected in accordance with it.
Written Examinations.—The best system of written ex¬
aminations hitherto devised and put in practice in this
country is to be found in the English universities. The
EXAMINATIONS.
425
Examina- greatness of the prizes in these institutions, and the number
tions. 0f the competitors for them, have long forced the attention
of the university authorities to the subject of examinations,
and to the best means of securing an impartial and correct
classification of the candidates for honours; and, on the
whole, though the system is not without drawbacks, it may
be said to work satisfactorily. An account of the examina¬
tion of candidates for mathematical honours at Cambridge
will suffice for a general account of written examinations,
with all their merits and defects. Every year there are ap¬
pointed two examiners for the business of examination.
These examiners are joined to two moderators, who are
usually elected for two years, and the four together form
a board of examiners for mathematical honours, the
duties being divided among them. The number of sub¬
jects professed by first-class men may be set down at
twenty-five, and on these there are set in all sixteen papers,
about three-fourths of which are on what is called “ book-
work”—or the principles of the sciences, and the remain¬
der on their application ; and of late it has been usual to ac¬
company every piece of book-work by a “ rider,” or simple
problem or theorem, the solution or proof of which will test
the candidate’s apprehension of the principle and his in¬
genuity, enabling the examiners to discern whether his
judgment as well as his memory has been exercised in his
reading. The problems are always made up for the oc¬
casion, and are of all shades of difficulty. To each question,
rider, and problem, a number of marks are assigned, ac¬
cording to an average agreed upon by the examiners, and
a specified time, generally from two to three hours, is
allowed for each paper. He is held to have done best
in the examination who has won most marks in the
time, and, after him, the rest are classed in the order of
their marks. The examination may be said to be on the
whole a fair test of mental quickness, of memory, clearness
of apprehension, judgment in seizing on the point of a ques¬
tion, and rapidity in penmanship ;—in fact, it may be said
to test intellectual agility and clear-headedness directly,
while indirectly it tests to a degree the powers of applica¬
tion, and the carefulness of students in their studies, and
thus, in some measure, both their habits of life and thought.
It may be conceived that success in such a struggle must be
the triumph of dogged perseverance, united to genuine
ability; and this is the case to a considerable extent. In
such a competition there is, however, a chapter of accidents
of no mean length, and many features more or less repul¬
sive to the best class of minds. Not unfrequently the
health and nerves of candidates affect their position in the
lists, and they lose in a day the advantage of years. Be¬
sides this, the crotchets of the examiners (though by sub¬
mitting their papers to one another these are to a degree
removed) are always more or less marked; and it occa¬
sionally happens that all the subjects are not done equal or
due justice to, and that thus a candidate is deprived of a fair
chance, while, at other times, the accidents of the examina¬
tion place a man far above his true place. Besides these
drawbacks, there are others connected with the manner in
which the subjects must be “ got up ” for the contest, and
to which the best minds are painfully sensitive. Many
things must be crammed into the mind which are destined
in the nature of them to drop out of it, and which never
should have been committed to it; and by this necessity a
good man feels more or less degraded. On the whole, how¬
ever, and these drawbacks notwithstanding, the man of talent
who lays himself out to excel in this competition rarely fails
in it, at whatever cost to his feelings or damage to his mind.
In proof of this, appeal may be made to the university calen¬
dar, from which it will appear that for one junior soph who
distinguishes himself in after-life, at least twenty wranglers
rise to eminence.
The great objection to examinations conducted as above
VOL. IX.
described is, that the candidates are forced to send up an- Examina-
swers to questions and solutions to problems written off in tl0ns-
great haste, and that they give no chance to that valuable
order of mind—the “ slow but sure the other general ob¬
jection has already been stated, that by forcing all reading
and thought on the part of the candidates to turn towards
production in examination papers, it cramps their minds and
makes their studies ungenerous. In at least one of the
Scotch universities, and in several classes at the rest of them,
it is usual to allow an unlimited time for the writing of the
papers; but this, while obviating the objection against the
haste and flurry of the English system, has a drawback in
the absence or laxity of the inspection. The natural sup¬
plement to the written examinations in the English univer¬
sities is the viva voce and the Essay, which is now to be
considered.
Essays.—When the honour of candidates can be relied
on, or when, by the other methods of examination, such an
approximation to the ability of a candidate has been ob¬
tained as may form a check against his practising deception,
essays on prescribed subjects done leisurely at home afford
a good supplementary test of ability, giving every man a
chance of appearing to the best advantage, and obviating
alike the hurry of written and the chill of ill-conducted viva
voce examinations. _ # .
Disputations.—This method of examination, in which
competitors were matched against each other in cross-
examination and argument, is now gone into disuse in this
country. It still forms a feature in the Concours in France,
in cdnnection with which it will hereafter be referred to.
Its value as an element in an examination affecting to be
thorough will be shown in the same connection.
Mixed Examinations.—From what has already been
said, it may be gathered that the preceding methods should
be conjoined in every examination which aims at a just and
impartial classification of candidates according to their veal
merits and acquirements. That we have in this country no
examination even pretending to combine these methods is a
matter of reproach, intellectual competitions being so com¬
mon among us. In the absence of any instance of thf
mixed examination among ourselves, the combination mus*
be illustrated by an example borrowed from France—viz.,
the Concours—for the admission of members to the medical
profession. The Coneours consists of an assembly of all
the members of the medical faculty who can be brought to¬
gether in the district. Besides these there are the candi¬
dates, who, on the occasions of the elections of eleves internes,
usually number between 100 and 200 ; and the examina¬
tion is conducted before a public audience consisting com¬
monly of several hundred persons. The first business is
the appointment by ballot of a jury of five of the medical
practitioners. A number of skilfully framed and compre¬
hensive questions are then put in a vase, whence one at a
time is drawn out by a public officer and given to each of
the sets of candidates as they pass in turn to private rooms,
where they are kept under inspection. Each set is allowed
eight minutes to frame verbal answers to the question which
falls to its lot, at the end of which time they return and
make their answers before the public. At this stage each
candidate is at liberty to question his competitor—cross-
examination resulting, which in contests for the higher
offices often lead to finished and instructive displays of
science and skill. Besides these questions for verbal answers,
others of a higher order are put to the sets, to which written
answers are required within two hours, the answers being
framed as in the former case under inspection. These are
delivered sealed, are opened and read by the examiners
before the public, and are then submitted for the decision
of the jury. The examination is thus continued from day
to day, sometimes over a fortnight, till the candidates are
thoroughly sifted and the elite of them discerned.
3 H
426 E X A M I N
Examina- Here then are combined the best possible security against
tions. partiality on the part of the judges, and the best guarantee
v'—that if a man’s merits are not detected it must be ifom some
radical defect in himself which mars his better qualities ; the
vivd voce, the written exercise, and the disputation being here
practically combined, before an impartially chosen tribunal.
This account of the Concours naturally leads to a consi¬
deration of the practical difficulties encountered in compe¬
titive examinations in general. These are connected, ls£,
with the appointment of examiners ; 2d, with the affixing
of marks to the questions, and the adjudging what propor¬
tion of the full marks the answers sent up merit. With
regard to the first it may be set down as a rule, that in a
college or university the prelector should not be the exa¬
miner of his own class, and that in any case the same exa¬
miner should not be employed on more than one or two
occasions. In colleges where professors act as the examiners
for their own classes, and in the case of examining boards
such as that of the London university—which is virtually
a permanent body—students soon discover what questions
are considered crucial by the examiners, their crotchets be¬
come familiar, and the examination tends to degenerate into
a mere test of cramming. The system followed at Oxford
and Cambridge, whereby fresh men are annually brought
to the task of examination, seems to be the only one in this
country free from objection. The permanency of the board
of examiners for the India Civil Service is the worst feature
in the scheme of reform, and may (acting conjointly with
a similiar board for the Home Civil Service) have a very
prejudicial effect on the progress of education. Where
those who are to decide upon the merits of candidates are
previously known, and hold their office permanently, it be¬
comes the interest of the candidate to ascertain their opinions
and crochets; and, as a matter of course, he directs his studies
to their specialties and standard, rather than to the latest state
of scientific information, which, in professional matters espe¬
cially, is too frequently not the state most favoured by the
examiners. And that this is the case may be inferred from
the fact that a body of crammers is always to be found drill¬
ing men successfully for examination by all such permanent
examiners, whose habitual routine of questions they make a
business of ascertaining, preparing their pupils to answer
them and them only. Whereas, wffien the examiners are
varied from year to year, as at the English universities and
in the French Concours, a candidate can only expect to
win his way by sedulous attention to the entire course of
his study, and by availing himself of every opportunity of
gaining the latest and best authenticated information on
the subjects allied to it. The difficulty connected with the
appointment of examiners will be seen to be one of expense ;
and if the weight of the objections to the present arrange¬
ment in our Scotch universities, as well as to the proposed
permanent boards for the civil services, were duly appre¬
ciated, there is no reason why they should not at once be
removed. Regarding the difficulty connected with the
affixation of marks to the papers of the respective candi¬
dates, there appears to be no remedy ; merit must remain,
within certain limits, a matter of opinion. It is plain that
short of omniscience on the part of the examiners, the distri¬
bution and affixation of marks cannot be accomplished with
any great degree of accuracy, and all that can be expected
is, that the examiners being honourable men, will take due
care in the performance of their task, and satisfy their own
judgments and consciences that they have to their best ability
faithfully discharged it.
The growing importance which is being attached to exa¬
minations in literary and scientific subjects as tests of quali¬
fications for practical life, makes it necessary that a few
words be said here on their value as tests of such qualifica¬
tions. It will be admitted by all who have had to do ex¬
tensively with examinations and the education of youth,
A T I O N S.
that, however useful examinations may be in ascertaining Examina-
the special acquirements of men, they are nowise certain to
detect the man of real talent, endowed with practical good v'—V'*"
sense, and with ability to conduct himself with propriety
and decision under new and unexpected combinations of
circumstances. At the age when examinations are entered
into, it often happens that a man fails because his intellect
has not fully developed itself, and as often that a sickly pre¬
cocity bears off the palm. Not unfrequently, too, men win
prizes at competitive examinations who have, under the in¬
fluence of a strong hope or fear, laboured hard at their
studies, and who, the moment the motives which urged them
to exertion are removed, collapse into spiritless indolence—
a case of common occurrence in the English universities;
while, on the other hand, a man of sturdy fixed principle,
being, it may be, above the considerations which actuated
his contemporaries, passes into life in possession oi healthy
and not overtaxed faculties, finding in practical affairs motives
to exertion which he failed to find in the world of scholarly
ideas. Besides, unless a man has been previously tried in
practical life, an examination will not ascertain, or will only
ascertain imperfectly, the qualifications ol industry, punc¬
tuality, correctness in the transaction of business, steadi¬
ness or reliability, or the power of fixing the attention im¬
mediately and steadily on new work. But these are the very
qualities necessary for success in practical life. And as
these observations are made with special reference to the
proposed reforms in the civil service, the experience of that
service in past times may be quoted in proof of the preced¬
ing view. In this service it has been found, that even
first-class men from Oxford and Cambridge have proved
failures in as large proportion of instances as any others,
—the failures arising both from unsuitable qualifications,
and from holding themselves above the valuable steady
labour, called “ drudgery,” required in subordinate appoint¬
ments, and above applying zealously such general qualifica¬
tions as they may possess. This experience raises an ob¬
jection to every scheme for the appointment of public
servants which proposes to apply to them academic tests
alone. If at present learning, science, and scholarly accom¬
plishments have little or no weight in determining appoint¬
ments, the practical qualities which directly fit a man for
the business of life are in danger of being overlooked under
the new system. This danger is heightened by the consider¬
ation, that the best men, who are generally ambitious, are
not likely to offer themselves as candidates for such meagre
appointments as those of the subordinate offices in the civil
service (where the prospect of rapid promotion is so very
small), but will prefer the more open, though more hazard¬
ous, competitions of professional life; and thus the choice for
the civil service may lie between the men of middle-rate in¬
tellect, as displayed in academic pursuits, and the men of
“ unadorned” business talent, over whom, however, the me¬
diocre class of scholars are sure to be preferred in the aca¬
demic contest. The loss to the service may thus prove to be
greater than the gain contemplated in the proposed “ im¬
provement.” And while it is easy to run up a long list of
eminent scholars, who, after leaving the schools and uni¬
versities, distinguished themselves in public life,—such as
Hastings, Metcalfe, Wellesley, Law, Ellenborough, Mans¬
field, Eldon, Stowed, Gibbs, Tindal, Tenterden, Lyndhurst,
and a host of others of recent date, or who are still famous ;
it must not be forgotten, that if the entrance to public life
had always been guarded by academic tests, more than one
lord chancellor and chief justice who rose from being at¬
torneys’ clerks, would have been excluded from the service
of their country, which would also have lost many others
of its most famous men by the same means. The present
commander-in-chief began his military career when about
twelve years of age ; and the late Duke of Wellington used
to declare, that an academical education would have ex-
E X A
E X C
427
Exarch, eluded him from the army, as it certainly would have ex-
\ r eluded Nelson from the navy. It is useless, however, to
balance names in such an argument; it is sufficient to ap¬
peal to the reader’s own experience, whether he has not
known cases of success from small and rough beginnings,
numerous enough to convince him that scholarly accom¬
plishments have little to do with qualifying a man for prac¬
tical affairs. More than one instance might here be cited of
engineers who commenced their professional lives with
wheelbarrows in hand, overcoming difficulties before the
close of their careers which academies of science had de¬
clared to be insuperable. There is little doubt that men
of this class, if educated in academic fashion, would have
distinguished themselves in intellectual competitions. But
the question is, what countervailing advantage would they
have derived from having been put to these studies, at the
expense of several years spent at a university, instead of
being engaged during that period in the practical work of
life. The balance is to be struck between the advantages,
so far as regards eventual efficiency, ot four or five years
spent at a university in the cultivation of accomplishments,
and the same number spent in actual practice in the world.
The advantage of scholarship and scientific knowledge to a
man himself, must be wholly left out of this consideration;
and when this is done, it will be found extremely difficult
to come to a decision, considering how often eminence in
that which is of little practical use is found to have been
attained to the exclusion of that which is practically the
most needed. Indeed, the popular prejudice against scholars
and men of science, as regards their fitness for business, is
not altogether without foundation; and many instances might
be quoted to show, that a minute knowledge of the niceties
of language, and habits of reasoning accurately/rom abstrac¬
tions to abstractions, are far from being the best guarantees
of practical ability. Mr Laing remarks, that the manner in
which the French and German philosophers conducted the
great public interests and affairs entrusted to them in 1848,
“ shows that the mind formed in literary pursuits is not the
best prepared to deal w ith men and realities in social eco¬
nomy or in affairs of state. It is not a matter of course that
the eminent literary man, philosopher, professor, or author,
must be a good minister of state, or a great financier, or
even a man of practical views, unshaken steadiness, and of
reliability and political honesty. The history of Germany,
and France since 1848, has not raised the character of lite¬
rary men in the field of politics, or proved that they are not
in their right places in their libraries and class-rooms.”—
(Observations onthe Social and Political State of Denmark,
\c., 1852.)
These co.'.sklerations indicate the necessity for devising
a test of qualifications more thorough than has yet been in¬
vented. It is abundantly clear, that the academic test should
not be held sufficient of itself; and it appears that a modi¬
fication of the plan at present proposed for the election of
civil servants should be made, and that a moderate academic
test should be applied to the candidates at an early age, a
term of probation being fixed between the nomination sub¬
sequent to the examination, and the final confirmation of the
appointment. (j. f. m‘l.)
EXARCH (e^apxos, a chief person or leader), a title that
has been conferred at different periods on certain chief of¬
ficers or governors, both in secular and ecclesiastical mat¬
ters. Of these, the most important were the exarchs of Ra¬
venna. The first of these was appointed by Justinian, em¬
peror of the East, as governor of the middle part of Italy,
which was made a province of the Eastern empire after
Narses had entirely subdued the Goths and their allies in
Italy, a.d. 552-554. Ravenna, with the whole exarchate,
was conquered by Astolphus, king of the Lombards, in the Exarch
year 752 ; but three years later it was taken by Pepin, king ||
of the Franks, who bestowed it on the pope (Stephen III.), Ex^.ntrl"
—since which time Ravenna and its territory have remained ^ C1
united to the papal dominions.
Exarch of a Diocese was, anciently, the same with pri¬
mate. This dignity was intermediate between the patri¬
archal and the metropolitan. Exarch is also used, in the
ecclesiastical antiquities of the Eastern Church, for a gene¬
ral or superior over several monasteries.
In the modern Greek Church, an exarch is a deputy or
legate a latere of the patriarch, whose office it is to visit
tli£ clergy and churches in the provinces allotted him. The
power which the exarch enjoys, and the uses to which he
turns it, recall the times of the corrupt proconsulars of the
Roman empire. He usually enriches himself greatly in his
post, and frequently rises to the patriarchate itself.
EXAUCTORITAS, in the ancient Roman military dis¬
cipline, denoted a partial discharge from service, granted to
those soldiers who had served in the legion for sixteen years,
and who were thus said to become exauctorati, though they
continued, under a vexillum. or standard of their own, in
company with that legion, until they had completed their
full term of service, namely, twenty years, after which they
received the missio or full discharge. After the Augustan
period, the term exauctorare was used to signify a simple
discharge, and also to denote a cashiering on account of mis¬
conduct—in which last sense alone it was employed during
the period of the decline.
EXCAMBION, from the Italian Cambio, exchange, is
the name given, in Scots law, to the contract by which
one piece of land is exchanged for another. The deeds by
which this contract is completed, must expressly bear that
the lands are mutually given in excambion. In such deeds
a real warrandice of the lands excambed is implied, so that
in the case of eviction of either party from the land which
he has received in excambion, he may recover possession
of that which he gave in exchange. This warrandice holds
good not only with the contracting parties but also with
their heirs and singular successors. This species of con¬
tract is resorted to for straightening the marches of conti¬
guous lands.
EX CATHEDRA, a Latin phrase, originally applied
to the dictates or decisions of prelates, chiefly popes, de¬
livered in their pontifical capacity. Hence, in common
language, it is applied to any decision or order given with
an air of official authority.
EXCELLENCY, as a title of honour, was anciently
given to kings and emperors. Charlemagne, for instance,
was sometimes thus styled. The title was likewise accorded
to the Venetian senate; and in earlier times to the exarchs,
&c. It is now restricted, for the most part, to ambassadors
and commanders-in-chief. The governors of some provinces
are also styled excellency if they have no other title ; but
if they be peers or right honourable, they take the honor¬
ary title belonging to their position. In the United States
of America, the president, the ministers plenipotentiary to
foreign countries, and the governors of states, all claim the
title of excellency.
EXCENTRIC, deviating from the centre; not having
the same centre. The term is applied in geometry to circles
and spheres which have not the same centre, and conse¬
quently are not parallel; in opposition to concentric, where
one surrounds the other ring-wise.
EXCENTRICITY, in Astronomy, the distance of the
centre of the orbit of a planet from the centre of the sun ;
that is, the distance between the centre and the focus of the
ellipse in which the planet moves.
428
EXCHANGE.
Exchange. In commercial economy the term “ Exchange ” is com-
v/*' monly employed to designate that description of mercantile
transactions, by which the debts of individuals residing at a
distance from each other are liquidated, without the inter¬
vention of money. The object of this article is to explain
the nature of these transactions, and the principles on which
they depend.
This will be best effected by treating, first, of the ex¬
change between different parts of the same country; and,
secondly, of that between different and independent
countries.
Inland ex- Inland Exchange.—Suppose a merchant of London or-
change. agent jn Glasgow to send him a thousand pounds’
worth of cottons, and that it does not suit the agent to com¬
mission goods of equal value from his London correspondent,
the latter may, notwithstanding, be under no necessity of
remitting cash to Glasgow in discharge of his debt. Among
countries or cities having a considerable intercourse to¬
gether, the debts mutually due by each other are found, in
ordinary cases, to be nearly equal. The Glasgow agent,
who has shipped the cottons for London, does not, there¬
fore, transmit the bill drawn by him on his correspondent
for their price to London to be cashed, as that would sub¬
ject him to the expense of conveying the money home to
Glasgow; but he gets its value from some other party in
Glasgow, who has a payment to make in London on account
of tea or some other article bought in that city, and who, un¬
less he could procure such a bill, would be obliged to remit
its price in money. The bill on account of the cottons is,
therefore, either drawn in favour of the party in London
who furnished the tea, or it is drawn in favour of the tea-
dealer in Glasgow, and indorsed by him to the former, who, on
presenting it to the purchaser of the cottons, receives its
value, and consequently the price of the cottons, and the
price (or part of the price) of his tea, at the same moment.
This simple contrivance obviates the expense and risk at¬
tending the transmission, first, of money from London to
Glasgow to pay the cottons, and, second, of money from
Glasgow to London to pay the tea. The debtor in one
is changed for the debtor in the other; and both ac¬
counts are settled without the intervention of a single
farthing.
The bill drawn and negotiated in such a transaction as
this is termed an inland bill of exchange. If the transac¬
tion had taken place between London or Glasgow and a
foreign city, it would have been termed a foreign bill of
exchange.
A bill of exchange may, therefore, be defined to be, “ an
order addressed to some person residing at a distance,
directing him to pay a certain specified sum to the person
in whose favour the bill is drawn, or his order.”1
I he price of bills fluctuates according to their abundance
or scarcity compared with the demand." If the debts reci¬
procally due by London and Glasgow be equal, whether
they amount to L.100,000, L.500,000, or any other sum,
they may be discharged without the intervention of money,
and the price of bills of exchange will be at par ; that is, a sum
of L.100 or L.1000 inGlasgowwill purchase a bill for L. 100 or
L.1000 payable in London, and vice versa. But if these
cities be not mutually indebted in equal sums, then the price
of bills will be increased in the city which has the greatest
number of payments to make, and reduced in that which Exchange,
has the fewest. If Glasgow owe London L.100,000, whilst v y—'
the latter only owes the former L.90,000, it is clear, inas¬
much as Glasgow has a larger sum to remit to London than
London has to remit to Glasgow, that the price of bills on
London will rise in Glasgow because of the increased de¬
mand, and that the price of bills on Glasgow will fall in Lon¬
don because of the diminished demand. A larger sum would
consequently be required to discharge a debt due by Glasgow
to London, and a less sum to discharge an equal debt due by
the latter to the former; or, which is the same thing, the ex¬
change would be \n favour of London, and against Glasgow.
Bills on London would sell in Glasgow at a 'premium, and
bills on Glasgow would sell in London at a discount; the
premium in the one case being equal to the discount in the
other.
On the supposition that the balance of L.10,000, due by
Glasgow, depresses the exchange on London one per cent.,
it appears, at first sight, that it will cost Glasgow L. 101,000
to discharge her debt of L.100,000 due to London; and
that, on the other hand, L.89,100 would be sufficient to
discharge the debt of London to Glasgow, But a very
little consideration will serve to show that this would
not be the case. Exchange transactions cannot take
place between different cities until debtors and creditors of
the one reside in the other. And hence, when the ex¬
change became unfavourable to Glasgow, the premium paid
by its merchants for bills on London would not go into the
pockets of their creditors in the latter, but into those of
their neighbours in Glasgow to whom London was indebted,
and from whom the bills were purchased. The loss to
Glasgow would, therefore, be limited to the premium paid
on the balance of L.10,000. Thus, supposing that A of
Glasgowovves D of London L.100,000, and that C of Lon¬
don owes B of Glasgow L.90,000 ; A will pay to B L.91,000
for a bill or order on C to pay D L.90,000. In this way
the L.90,000 of London debt at Glasgow would be cleared
off; the premium, which is lost by the debtor to London
in Glasgow, being gained by its creditor in the same place.
If the business had been transacted in London, C, with
L.89,100, would have purchased of D a bill for L.90,000,
payable by A ; so that, in this case, the gain would have
fallen to the share of the debtor C, and the loss to that of
the creditor D, both of London. The complexity of real
transactions does not affect the principles on which they are
founded. And whatever may be the amount of the debts
reciprocally due by different places, the only disadvantage
under which any of them could be placed by a fall of the
exchange would be the unavoidable one of paying the ex¬
pense of remitting the balance of debt.
The expense of transmitting money from one place to
another limits the fluctuations in the exchange between
them. If 20s. sufficed to cover the expense and risk at¬
tending the transmission of L.100 from Glasgow to London,
it would be indifferent to a merchant, in the event of the ex¬
change becoming unfavourable to the former, whether he
paid one per cent, premium for a bill on London, or remitted
money direct to the latter. If the premium were less than
one per cent., it would be clearly his interest to make his
payments by means of bills rather than by remittances ; and
that it could not exceed one per cent, is obvious, for every
n mercantile phraseology, the person who draws a bill is termed the drawer; the person in whose favour it is drawn, the remitter;
e person on whom it is drawn, the dravjee, and after he has accepted, the acceptor. Those persons into whose hands the bill may pass
previous y to its being paid, are, from their writing their names on the hack, termed indorsers; and the person in whose possession the
bill is at any given period, is termed the holder or possessor.
EXCHANGE.
429
Exchange, individual would rather directly remit money than incur an
v ^  / unnecessary expense by purchasing bills on London at a
greater jtwe/wzMwi than would suffice to cover the expense of
a money remittance. If, owing to the badness of roads, dis¬
turbances in the country, or any other cause, the expense of
remitting money from Glasgow to London were increased,
the difference in the rate of exchange between them might
also be proportionally increased. But in every case the ex¬
tent to which this difference could attain would be limited
by, and could not for any considerable period exceed, the
cost of remitting cash.
Exchange transactions become more complex when one
place, as is often the case, discharges its debts to another by
means of bills drawn on a third place. Thus, though Lon¬
don should owe nothing to Glasgow, yet if Glasgow be in¬
debted to London, London to Manchester, and Manchester
to Glasgow, the latter may wholly or partially discharge her
debt to London by remitting bills on Manchester. She
may wholly discharge it, provided the debt due to her by
Manchester exceed or is equal to the debt due by hei to
London. If, however, it be not equal to the latter, Glas¬
gow will either have to remit money to London to pay
the balance of debt, or bills on some other place indebted
to her.
Transactions in inland bills of exchange are almost en¬
tirely conducted by bankers, who charge a cei tain rate per
cent, for their trouble, and who, by means of theii ciedit
and connections, are able, on all occasions, to supply the
demands of their customers. London, because of its ex¬
tensive correspondence with other parts of the country, oc¬
casioned partly by its immense commerce, partly by its being
the seat of government and the place to which the revenue
is remitted, and partly by its currency consisting of Bank
of England paper, for which the notes of the country banks
are rendered exchangeable, has become the grand focus in
which the money transactions of the United Kingdom centre,
and in which they are all ultimately adjusted. These cir¬
cumstances, but especially the demand for bills on London
to remit revenue, and the superior value of Bank of Eng¬
land paper, render the exchange between London and other
parts of the country invariably in her favour. Bills on Lon¬
don drawn in Edinburgh and Glasgow were formerly made
payable at forty days’ date, which was equivalent to a pre¬
mium of about 1 per cent; but, owing to the greater facility
of communication, this premium is now reduced to twenty
days’ interest, or to about i per cent. Bills for remitting the
revenue from Scotland are now drawn at thirty days; pre¬
viously to 1819 they were drawn at sixty days.
These statements are sufficient to show that, how well
soever bills of exchange may be fitted for facilitating the
operations of commerce, and saving the trouble and ex¬
pense attending the transportation of money, mercantile
transactions cannot be adjusted by their means except in.
so far as they mutually balance each other. A real bill of
exchange is merely an order entitling the holdei to receive
payment of a debt due by the person on whom it is drawn.
It is essential to the existence of such bill that an equivalent
amount of debt should be contracted. And hence, as the
amount of the real bills of exchange drawn on any number
of merchants cannot exceed the amount of their debts, if a
greater sum be owing by them than they owe to others, the.
balance must either be paid in money or by the delivery of
some sort of commodities. If, fis in the case referred to,
Glasgow owe London L.l00,000, while London only owes
Glasgow L.90,000, a reciprocal transfer of debts may be
made to the extent of L.90,000. But the Glasgow mer¬
chants cannot discharge the additional L.10,000 by means
of bills on London; for, by the supposition, London only
owed them L.90,000, and they have drawn for its amount.
This balance must therefore be discharged by an actual
money payment, or by the delivery of some species of pio-
duce, or by bills on some third party indebted to Glas- Exchange.
gow. , ^
It is not meant by this to insinuate that fictitious bills of
exchange, or bills drawn on persons who are not really in-
debted'to the drawer, are either unknown or very rare. In
commercial countries bills of this description are always to
be met with ; but they are a device for obtaining loans, and
cannot transfer real debts. A of London may form a
connection with B of Glasgow, and draw bills upon him
payable a certain number of days after date, which the latter
may retire by selling bills upon A. The merchants who
purchase, or the bankers who discount these bills, advance
their value to the drawers, who, by means of this system of
drawing and redrawing., command a borrowed capital equal
to the amount of the fictitious paper in circulation. It is
clear, however, that the negotiation of such bills cannot
assist in transferring and settling the bona fide debts of two
or more places. Fictitious bills mutually balance each
other. Those drawn by London on Glasgow equal those
drawn by Glasgow on London, for the one set is drawn to
pay the other—the second destroys the first, and the result
is nothing.
The raising of money by means of fictitious bills has been
severely censured by Adam Smith, who says it entails a
ruinous expense on those engaged in it, and is resorted to
only by projectors, or persons of suspicious credit. When
fictitious bills are drawn at two months date, it is common
to charge, in addition to the ordinary interest, a commission
of half or quarter per cent., which must be paid every time
the bill is discounted, or, at least, six times a-year. The
total expense of money raised in this way could not, there¬
fore, supposing the transaction to be always on account of
the same individual, and interest 4 per cent., be estimated
at less than 5^ or 7 per cent, per annum, ex stamps; and
the payment of so high an interest on borrowed capital, in
a country where the ordinary rate of mercantile profit is not
supposed to average more than from six to eight per cent.,
could not fail to be frequently productive of ruin to the
borrower. But it seldom happens that, in the negotiation
of fictitious bills, the charge for commission falls on one in¬
dividual only. Loans obtained in this way are usually on
account of two or more parties. At one time a fictitious
bill is drawn by A of London on B of Glasgow; and, in
this case, the latter will, before the bill becomes due, draw
upon A for its amount, including interest and commission.
At another time, the transaction will be on account of B,
who in that case has to pay commission to his friend in
London ; so that each party may, on the whole, as Mr
Thornton has observed, gain about as much as he pays in
the shape of commission.
It is often extremely difficult to distinguish fictitious bills
from those which have arisen out of real transactions.
Neither does it seem to be of any very material import¬
ance. The character and credit of the parties whose names
are attached to bills, are the only criteria by which mer¬
chants or bankers can judge whether they ought to nego¬
tiate them. The circumstance of an individual offering ac¬
commodation paper for discount, ought unquestionably, if
it be known, to excite suspicions of his credit. But unless
in so far as the drawing of fictitious bills may be held to be
indicative of overtrading, or of a deficiency of capital to
carry on the business in which the party is engaged, there
does not appear to be any very good reason for refusing to
discount them.
Within the last few years, it has been the practice to
grant money orders, payable on presentation at the different
post-offices, for sums of L.5 and under. These orders cost
3d. for sums of L.2 and under, and 6d. for sums between
L.2 and L.5 inclusive; and as they are not paid unless the
parties in whose favour they are drawn, or other parties
well known to the postmasters by whom they are payable,
430
Exchange.
Foreign
exchange.
Nominal
exchange.
EXCHANGE.
appear to receive payment, there is no risk of the money
getting into improper hands. This system has been found
to be a very great accommodation to the public, especially to
those having small sums to remit, and has been very exten¬
sively resorted to. In 1850, 4,439,713 money orders were
issued in the United Kingdom; the aggregate sum trans¬
ferred by their agency being L.8,494,498, 10s. 7d.
These observations will, perhaps, suffice to explain the
manner in which transactions between different parts of the
same country are settled by means of bills of exchange.
They are, in general, extremely simple. The uniform value
of the currency of a single country renders unnecessary any
comparison between the value of money at the place where
the bill is drawm and negotiated, with its value where it is
to be paid ; while the constant intercourse maintained
amongst different parts of the same kingdom, and the usual
absence of those occurrences by which the intercourse be¬
tween distant and independent countries is always subject to
be interrupted, prevent those sudden fluctuations which fre¬
quently arise in the prices of foreign bills of exchange. We
shall, therefore, leave this part of our subject, and proceed to
investigate the circumstances which influence the course of
exchange between different and independent countries.
Foreign Exchange.—The price of foreign bills of ex¬
change depends on two circumstances : first, On the value
of the currency of the place where they are made payable,
compared with the value of the currency of the place where
they are drawn; and, secondly, On the relation which the
supply of bills in the market bears to the demand.
If the value of the different coins and moneys which cir¬
culate in nations having dealings with each other were in¬
variable, the exchange would be exclusively influenced by
circumstances affecting the supply and demand for bills.
But, in addition to variations in its cost in particular coun¬
tries, the weight and fineness of the bullion contained in
their coins are liable to all sorts of variations. And it is
almost needless to say, that the price of bills, as of every¬
thing else, necessarily varies with these variations, increas¬
ing when the value of the money in which they are estimated
falls, and falling when it increases. But these, it is plain,
are merely nominal or numerical variations. They grow
out of changes in the standard employed to measure values,
and not in the values themselves. It is otherwise, however,
with variations of price occasioned by changes in the supply
of bills, or in the demand for them; that is, by changes in
the payments a country has to make compared with those
it has to receive. These are real, not nominal variations,
for they affect the values in bills, and not the money in which
these values are expressed. And hence the distinctions of
nominal, real, and computed exchange. The first depends
on alterations in the value of the currencies compared to¬
gether ; the second depends on the supply of bills in the
market compared with the demand; and the third, or com¬
puted exchange, depends on the combined effects of the
other two. For the sake of perspicuity we shall treat of
these separately.1
Sect. I.—Nominal Exchange.
Bullion being everywhere recognised as the standard
currency of the commercial world, the comparative value
of the currencies of particular countries depends—On
the value of bullion in those countries; and, 2dly, On the
quantity of bullion contained in their coins, or on the quan¬
tity of bullion for which their paper money, or other circu¬
lating media, will exchange.
1. The value of freely produced commodities being com¬
monly proportioned to the cost of their production, includ- Exchange,
ing therein the cost of their conveyance from where they
have been produced to where they are to be made use of,
it follows, w'ere the trade in the precious metals perfectly
open, and the commodities produced in different countries
about equally well fitted for exportation, that the value of
bullion in one, compared with its value in another, would
be chiefly determined by their respective distances from the
mines. Thus, on the supposition that neither England nor
Poland had any article except corn to exchange with the
Americans or Australians for bullion, it is evident that the
precious metals would be more valuable in Poland than in
England, because of the greater expense of sending so bulky
a commodity as corn the more distant voyage, and also of
the somewhat greater expense of conveying the gold to
Poland. Had Poland succeeded in carrying her manufac¬
tures to a higher pitch of improvement than England, her
merchants might be able, notwithstanding the disadvantage
of distance, by exporting commodities possessed of great
value in small bulk, the freight of which would be compara¬
tively trifling, to buy bullion on cheaper terms than those
of England. But when, as is actually the case, the advan¬
tages of skill and machinery are on the side of England,
another reason is added to that derived from our less dis¬
tance from the mines, why gold and silver should be less
valuable here than in Poland, and why the money price of
commodities should be higher.2
Hence, among nations which have attained to different
degrees of excellence in manufacturing industry, the value
of bullion does not wholly depend on their distance from
the mines. But, whatever variations a different progress
in the arts may occasion in its value in different countries,
it is always less valuable in those into which it is imported,
than in those in which it is produced. Like everything
else, it is exported to find, not to destroy, its level. And
unless its value in Europe exceeded its value in America
and Australia by a sum sufficient to cover the expense of
its importation, including ordinary profits to the importers,
we should not, though the mines in these quarters were
infinitely more productive, import from them a single ounce
of bullion in the ordinary course of trade. It is obviously
incorrect, therefore, to lay it down as a general proposition,
“that the par of exchange between two countries is that
sum of the currency of either of the two, which, in point of
intrinsic worth, is precisely equal to a given sum of the
other; that is, contains precisely an equal weight of gold
and silver of the same fineness”* For a given quantity of
gold and silver is not always, as is here assumed, of the
same intrinsic value in different countries. It may differ
but little among nations bordering upon or near each other,
and which are all destitute of mines. But though, to use a
familiar illustration, the value of sugar approaches nearly to
a level in the great trading cities of Europe, it cannot surely
be maintained that its value in the West Indies is as great
as in Bordeaux or Liverpool, or that the exchange would
be really at par, if a bill, which cost a hundred hogsheads
of sugar in London, only brought a hundred in Jamaica.
Now, in respect of principle, this is precisely the case with
bullion. Though the values of gold and silver, compared
with corn, labour, &c., may, and indeed must, vary very
considerably among difl'erent nations, these variations are
only the necessary result of their different progress in in¬
dustry, and of the different quality of their cultivated lands,
&c. Such differences of price are in the natural order of
things; and bullion has not found its proper level till a
quantity has been introduced into those countries which
excel in manufactures, sufficient to raise the price of their
Supposing every country to be in possession of its proper supply of bullion, the exchange may be said to be nominally affected by
j,3.1?.”1111 v.0 ^ 1 erf.I15e between the market and mint price of bullion, and to be really affected by any deviation from par exceeding
or falling short of that difference. 2 Ricardo, Principles of Political Economy, &c., first ed., p. 175. 3 Bullion Report, p. 22, 8vo ed.
EXCHANGE.
431
Exchange.
corn and labour. These variations have, therefore, no in¬
fluence over the exchange. Notwithstanding this difference
of price, an ounce of bullion in one country, owing to the
facility of intercourse, is very near equivalent to an ounce
of bullion in another ; and, supposing the trade in the pxe-
cious metals to be perfectly free, the exchange will be at
true par when bills are negotiated on this footing. But
when we compare the values ot these metals in distant
countries, especially in those where they are produced, with
those into which they are imported, there are very consi¬
derable differences. Gold and silver, like iron, coal, tin,
&c., are necessarily cheaper in countries possessed of extra¬
ordinarily productive mines, than in those possessed only of
mines of a secondary degree of fertility, or where they have
to be entirely brought from abroad. And the exchange
between such places is not a true par, unless adequate al¬
lowance be made for this difference of value, d hus if, be¬
cause of the expense of carriage, the value of bullion in
Great Britain be 5 per cent, greater than in San Francisco,
100 ounces of pure gold in the latter would not be worth
100 ounces of pure gold in London, but 5 per cent, less ;
and the exchange would be at true par when bills for 105
ounces standard bullion, payable in San Francisco, sold in
London for 100 ounces.
The different values of the precious metals in different
countries do not depend alone on their respective distances
from the mines, or on their greater or less progress in the
arts. The opinion formerly so very prevalent, that gold
and silver were the only real wealth, led most nations to
fetter and restrain their exportation, and to adopt a variety
of measures intended to facilitate their importation. But
these, even when most vigorously enforced, were singularly
ineffectual. The great value and small bulk of the precious
metals rendered it not only advantageous, but comparatively
easy, clandestinely to export them, whenever their relative
value declined.
“ When,” says Adam Smith, “ the quantity of gold and
silver imported into any country exceeds the effectual de¬
mand, no vigilance of government can prevent their expoi-
tation. All the sanguinary laws of Spain and Portugal are
not able to keep their gold and silver at home. The con¬
tinual importations from Peru and Brazil exceed the effec¬
tual demand of those countries, and sink the price of those
metals there below that in the neighbouring countries. If,
on the contrarv, in anv particular country their quantity fell
short of the effectual demand, so as to raise their price above
that of the neighbouring countries, the government would
have no occasion to take any pains to import them. If it
were even to take the pains to prevent their importation, it
would not be able to effectuate it. Those metals, when the
Spartans had got wherewithal to purchase them, broke
through all the barriers which the laws of Lycurgus opposed
to their entrance into Lacedaemon. All the sanguinary laws
of the customs are not able to prevent the importation^ of
the teas of the Dutch and Gottenburg East India Companies,
because somewhat cheaper than those of the British Com¬
pany. A pound of tea, however, is about a hundred times
the bulk of one of the highest prices, 16s., that is commonly
paid for it in silver, and more than two thousand times the
bulk of the same price in gold, and consequently just so
many times more difficult to smuggle.”1
But, though ineffectual to prevent their egress, the
restrictions on the exportation of the precious metals have
nevertheless contributed to occasion some slight variations
in their value in different countries. The risk formerly
incurred by the clandestine exporters of bullion from Spain,
is supposed to have been equivalent to about two per cent.;
or, which is the same thing, it is supposed that the restnc- Exchange,
tions maintained such an excess of gold and silver in that —v-*-'
country as to sink them two per cent, below their value in
countries having a free trade in bullion. In calculating
the true par of exchange between different countries, cir¬
cumstances of this kind must be taken into account. For,
to whatever extent bullion in one country may be sunk be¬
low its value in those with which it maintains an intercourse,
the nominal exchange will necessarily be unfavourable to
that extent.2
It consequently results, that whatever occasions a rise or
fill of the value of the precious metals in one country affects
to the same extent its nominal exchange with other coun¬
tries. If more coin, or convertible paper, circulated in
Great Britain, compared with the business it has t0
form, than in other countries, its relative value would be
proportionally less. Foreign bills would sell for a pre¬
mium, the amount of which would measure the excess of
the value of the precious metals in the foreign market,
caused by their redundancy in the home market. And, on
the other hand, in the event of our currency becoming re¬
latively deficient, its value would be proportionally increased;
bills drawn on foreign countries would sell at a discount,
the amount of which would equal the excess of the value
of our currency over that of other countries. . _
2. In estimating the quantities of bullion contained in
the coins of different countries, a particular coin of one, such
as the British pound sterling, is selected for a standard by
which to compare the others, and the proportion between
it and them, supposing them to be all of their standaul
weight and fineness, is ascertained by experiment. A par Par of ex-
of exchange is thus established, or rather it is ascertained change,
that a certain amount of the standard currency of one
country contains as much gold or silver of the same fine¬
ness, as is contained in the coin or integer with which it
has been compared. This relation, or par, as it is techni¬
cally termed, is considered invariable; and allowance is
made for subsequent variations in the coins of countries
trading together, by rating the exchange at so much above
or below par. In mercantile language, that country, by
comparison with one or other of whose coins the par of
exchange has been established, is said to give the certain
for the uncertain, and conversely. Thus, in the exchange
between London and Paris, London and Hamburg, &c.,
London gives the certain, or the pound sterling, for an un¬
certain or variable number of francs, florins, &c. Hence,
the higher the exchange between any two countries, the
more is it in favour of that which gives the certain; and
the lower, the more is it in favour of that which gives the
'ULTXCQ'rtCL'VYb %
On the supposition that 25 francs contain the same quan¬
tity of standard bullion as a pound sterling (25 fr. 57 cent,
is about the exact par), and supposing also that the value
of bullion is the same in both countries, the exchange be¬
tween London and Paris will be at par when a bill drawn
in the one on the other sells at that rate; that is, when
a bill of exchange for 2500, or 25,000 francs, payable in
Paris, sells in London for L.100 or L.I000, and vice versa.
It is but seldom, however, that the coins of any country
correspond exactly with their mint standard. Unless when
newly issued, they are either more or less worn ; and when¬
ever this defect becomes sensible, an allowance correspond¬
ing to the difference between their actual value and their
mint value is made in estimating “ the sum of the existing
currency of either of two countries which contains precisely
the same quantity of bullion as is contained in a given sum
of the other.” Thus, if our pound sterling were so worn,
l SettSfrihe exportation of the precioua tneUl, were .holi.hed in Great Britain in 1819. Their effect for tnany year, pro-
viously could not estimated at above one-fourth per cent.
432 E X C H
Exchange, clipped, or rubbed, as not to contain so much bullion as
v 25 fh, but 10 per cent, less, the exchange between London
and Paris would be at real par when it was nominally 10
per cent, against London and if, on the other hand, the
pound sterling were equal to its mint standard, while the
franc was 10 per cent, less, it would be at par when it was
nominally 10 per cent, against Paris and in favour of Lon¬
don. If the currencies of both countries were equally re¬
duced below the standard of their respective mints, there
would obviously be no variation of the par; but whenever
the currency of countries trading together is unequally
depreciated, the exchange is nominally in favour of that
country whose currency is least, and nominally against that
whose currency is most, depreciated.
It is almost unnecessary to refer to examples to show the
practical operation of this principle; and we shall content
ourselves with selecting the following, from an infinite num¬
ber of equally conclusive instances.
Previously to the great recoinage in the reign of Wil¬
liam III., silver being at the time legal tender, the exchange
between England and Holland, calculated by the standard
of their respective mints, was nominally twenty-five per cent,
against England. Inasmuch, however, as English silver
coins were then, owing to rubbing and dipping, depreciated
more than twenty-five per cent, below their mint value, the
real exchange was probably at the time in our favour. And
the circumstance of the nominal exchange having become
favourable to us as soon as the new coin was issued, tends
to confirm this conjecture.2
The guinea was so much worn and degraded, previously
to the gold recoinage in 1774, as to be from 2 to 3 per
cent, under its standard weight. Inasmuch, howrever, as
the coins then circulating in France were nearly of their
standard weight and purity, the exchange between London
and Paris was nominally from 2 to 3 per cent, against the
former. We say nominally, for as soon as guineas of full
weight were issued, the exchange rose to par.
The Turkish government, during the past century, has
made successive reductions in the value of its coin. Before
the first of these in 1770, the piastre contained nearly as
much silver as the English half-crown ; and, in exchange,
the par was estimated at eight piastres to the pound sterling.
But, in the interval, the degradation in the value of the
piastre has been such that it is now worth only about 2|d.;
and the exchange is said to be at par when Constantinople
gives about 109 piastres for L.l sterling. It is needless
almost to say, that the nominal exchange, estimated by the
o\d par of eight piastres to L.l, became more and more
unfavourable to Turkey with every successive enfeeblement
of the coin, though it is doubtful whether the real exchange,
or that depending on the balance of payments, was not all
the while in her favour.
When one country uses gold as the standard of its cur¬
rency, and another silver, the par of exchange between
them is affected by variations in the relative values of these
metals. When gold rises as compared with silver, the ex¬
change becomes nominally favourable to the country which
has the gold standard, and vice versa. And hence, in esti¬
mating the par of exchange between countries using dif¬
ferent standards, it is always necessary to inquire into the
comparative values of the metals selected for standards.
“ For example,” to use the words of Mr Mushet, “ if 34
A N G E,
schillings 11 grotes and ^ of Hamburg currency be equal Exchange.
in value to a pound sterling, or §£ of a guinea, when silver
is at 5s. 2d. per oz., they can no longer be so when silver
falls to 5s. Id. or 5s. an oz., or when it rises to 5s. 3d. or
5s. 4d.; because a pound sterling in gold being then worth
more or less silver, is also worth more or less Hamburg
currency.
“ To find the real par, therefore, wre must ascertain what
was the relative value of gold and silver when the par wras
fixed at 34s. ll^g. Hamburg currency, and what is their
relative value at the time we wish to calculate it.
“ For example, if the price of standard gold was L.3,
17s. 10^d. per oz., and silver 5s. 2d., an ounce of gold
would then be worth 15*07 ounces of silver, and twenty of
our standard shillings would then contain as much pure
silver as 35s. 11 grotes and ^ Hamburg currency. But if
the ounce of gold were L.3,17s. 10^d., and silver 5s. (which
it was on 2d January 1798), the ounce of gold would then
be worth 15*57 ounces of silver. If L.l sterling at par,
therefore, be worth 15*07 ounces of silver, then at 15*57 it
w'ould be at three per cent, premium; and three per cent,
premium on 34s. ll^d. is 1 schilling 1 grote and T9o, so that
the par, when gold is to silver as 15*57 to 1, will be 36
schillings 1 grote and-fa. The above calculation will be more
easily made by stating, as 15*07:34-12^:: 15*57 : 36-lTV”3
As it is their intrinsic worth in bullion which determines
the value of coins in exchange transactions, those of equal
weight and purity are reckoned equivalent to each other,
though some of them may have been coined at the expense
of the state, and others charged with a duty or seignorage
on their coinage. The latter may, if not issued in excess,
pass current in the country in which they are coined for
their value in bullion/?/^ the duty; but they will not pass
anywhere else, except at their bullion value.1
But the principal source of fluctuations in the nominal
price of bills of exchange, is to be found in the varying
value of the paper currency of commercial countries. The
disorders which arose in remoter ages from diminishing the
bullion contained in coins of the same denomination have
since been reproduced in another form, and often to a still
more ruinous extent, in the depreciation of paper currency.
The impossibility of retaining a comparatively large quan- Influence
tity of coin or bullion, or of paper convertible into coin, in a of depre-
particular country, limited the issues of the Bank of England ciated
previously to the Restriction Act of 1797; and it has equally PaPer cur'
limited them since the resumption ot specie payments in ex_
1821, and sustained the value of our currency on a level change,
with gold. When the bank starves the circulation, or issues
less paper than is necessary, bullion is imported, sent to the
mint to be coined, and thrown upon the market. And
when, on the other hand, the bank issues too much paper,
and thereby depresses its value relatively to gold, it becomes
profitable to demand payment of its notes, and to export the
specie thus obtained either as coin or as bullion. In this
way the vacuum is filled up when bank-notes are deficient,
the excess removed when they are redundant, and the value
of the currency preserved nearly equal.
But from 1797 down to 1821 this principle was sus¬
pended. During that period, the bank was relieved from
the obligation to pay her notes in gold ; while, owing to their
being made legal tender, their circulation was insured. Hence,
their value exclusively depended (see article Money) on the
It is necessary to observe, that it is here supposed that the clipped or degraded money exists in such a degree of abundance as only
to pass current at its bullion value. If the quantity of clipped money were sufficiently limited, it might, notwithstanding the diminution
of weight, pass current at its mint value; and then the par would have to be estimated, not by its relative weight to foreign money, but
by^the mint price of bullion. This principle must be constantly kept in view. 2 Wealth of Nations, p. 210.
4 p” J”2tMry int0 tfie effects produced on the National Currency by the Bank Restriction Bill, &c., 2d edit., p. 94.
v. . • no seignorage had for a very long period been deducted from either the gold or silver coins of Great Britain ;
u in e g^eat recoinage of that year, the value of silver was raised from 5s. 2d. to os. 6d. an ounce, or nearly in the proportion of 6J-
,^en * ^ ® coins, however, are still coined free of expense, and no variation has been made in their standard. The proportion
o ' er o go d in the coins is now as 14T21^0TTy to 1; but their proportion to each other, according to their mint valuation, is as ISiWv to 1.
EXCHANGE.
433
Exchange, extent to which they were issued compared with the de-
mand.
There is no difference, in its influence over the exchange,
between a degraded metallic and a depreciated paper cur¬
rency. And when a country with either the one or the
other has any dealings with another whose currency is of
its full value, the exchange is nominally against her to the
extent of the degradation or depreciation. The nominal ex¬
change between any two or more places, is, in fact, always
adjusted according'to the values of their currencies, being
most favourable to that whos#* currency approaches nearest
to its standard, and most unfavourable to that whose cur¬
rency is most degraded or depreciated.
The intercourse between Great Britain and Ireland sub¬
sequently to the restriction on cash payments in 1797, fur¬
nishes some striking proofs of the effect which inordinate
issues of paper have in depressing the exchange.
The nominal value of the Irish shilling being raised in
1689 from 12d. to 13d.,1 L.108, 6s. 8d. Irish money became
equal to only L.100 of British money, so that the exchange
between Great Britain and Ireland was said to be at par
when it was nominally 8^- per cent, against the latter. In
the eight years previous to 1797, when the paper currency
of both countries was convertible into gold, the exchange
between London and Dublin fluctuated from to 9 per
cent., that is, from per cent, in favour of Dublin to •§ per
cent, against it. In September 1 <'97 it was at 6 per cent.,
or 2^ per cent, in favour of Dublin. 1 he amount of bank
of Ireland notes in circulation in January 1797 was only
L.621,917; whereas in April 1801 they had increased to
L.2,286,471, and the exchange was then at 14 per cent., or
5# per cent, against Dublin. In 1803, the Bank of Ireland
notes in circulation averaged L.2,/07,956, and in October
that year the exchange was quoted at 17 per cent., that is,
8# per cent, against Dublin 1
The fact of the exchange between London and Dublin
having fluctuated so little from par for the eight years
previously to the restriction, shows that the cii dilating
medium of Great Britain and Ireland had then been ad¬
justed nearly according to the wants of the two countries.
But, in these circumstances, it was evidently impracticable,
supposing the value of British currency to remain nearly
stationary, that the amount of Irish bank paper could be
more than quadrupled in the short space of six years, with¬
out rendering the currency of Ireland-redundant, and sink-^
ing its value below that of England. Had the Bank of
England increased its notes in something like the same ratio
as the Bank oflreland, then, as the currency of both countries
would have been equally depreciated, the exchange between
London and Dublin would have continued at par. While,
however, the notes of the Bank of Ireland were increased
from L.621,917 to L.2,707,956, or in the proportion of 1
to 4’3, those of the Bank of England were only increased
from L.9,181,843 (their number on 7th January 1797), to
L.16,505,272, or in the proportion of 1 to LS. But for this
addition to its issues by the Bank of England, the exchange,
it is plain, would have been still more unfavourable to Dublin.
In the debates on the Bullion Report, it was contended
that the increase of Bank of Ireland paper could not have
been the cause of the unfavourable exchange upon Dublin,
seeing that it had again become favourable after the issues
of the Bank of Ireland had been still further increased.
But to give this reasoning the least weight, it should have
been shown that the currency of Great Britain retained its
value in the interim, or that it had not been depreciated to
the same extent as that of Ireland. For it is obvious that
the depreciation of Irish bank paper might go on subse¬
quently to 1804, and yet if English bank paper were depre- Exchange,
dated still more rapidly, the exchange would become more
in favour of Dublin. This is merely supposing the circum¬
stances which took place in the first six years of the restric¬
tion to be reversed in the second six. Let us inquire how
the fact stands.
We have seen that, in 1803, when the exchange was
nominally 10 per cent, against Dublin, the issues of the
Bank of England amounted to L.16,505,272, and those of
the Bank of Ireland to L.2,707,956. And by referring to
the accounts of the issues of the latter from 1797 to 1819,
published by authority, it is seen that in 1805-1808 they
were rather diminished; and that in 1810 they amounted
to only L.3,251,750, being an increase of not more than
L.543,794 in the space of seven years, or at the rate of 2f per
cent, per annum; but in the same period (from 1803 to
1810) the issues of the Bank of England were increased
from L.16,505,272 to L.22,541,523, or at the rate of 5 per
cent, per annum. And this is not all. According to Mr
Wakefield2 there were fifty registered bankers in Ireland
in 1804, and only thirty-three in 1810, of which fourteen
were new houses, thirty-one of the old establishments hay¬
ing disappeared; and “ I believe,” says Mr Wakefield, for
the most part failed.” 1 his extraordinary diminution of the
country paper of Ireland, for the reduction of the issues was
at least proportional to the reduction in the number of banks,
could not fail greatly to raise its value, and to countervail
a corresponding increase in the issues of the national bank.
Now, the reverse of all this took place in Britain. In 1800
there were 386country banks in this country; and in 1810,
this number, instead of being diminished as in Ireland, had
increased to 721, having at least three times the number of
notes in circulation in the latter as in the former period!
It appears, therefore, that when, in the period between
1797 and 1804, the amount of paper in circulation in Ire¬
land was increased, and its value depressed, faster than in
England, the exchange between London and Dublin be¬
came proportionally unfavourable to the latter; and, on the
other hand, it appears, that when, in the six years subse¬
quent to 1804, the paper currency of England was increased
more rapidly than that of Ireland, its relative value was di¬
minished, and the nominal exchange became more favour¬
able to Dublin.
This is sufficiently conclusive. But there is still better
evidence to show that the unfavourable exchange of Dublin
upon London, in 1802, 1803, 1804, &c., was entirely owing
to the comparative redundancy or depreciation of Irish bank
paper. The linen manufacturers and weavers, with the
majority of the other inhabitants of a few counties in Ulster,
being, at the period of the restriction, strongly disaffected
towards government, very generally refused to receive bank¬
notes in payment either of commodities or wages. The
landlords having also stipulated for the payment of their
rents in specie, a gold currency was maintained in the
northern long after it had been banished from the southern
parts of Ireland. If, therefore, the depression of the ex¬
change between London and Dublin had been occasioned,
as many contended, by an unfavourable balance of trade
between Ireland and Great Britain, or by remittances from
the former on account of absentees, it would have been
equally depressed between London and the commercial
towns in the northern counties. But so far was this from
being the case, that in December 1803, when the exchange
of Dublin on London was at 16^ per cent., that of Belfast
on London was at 5£; or, in other words, at the very time
that the exchange between Dublin, which had a paper cur¬
rency, and London, was about 8 per cent, against Ireland,
1 B, . proclamation of James II. The arrangement was continued by the revolutionary government and was confirmed by procla-
motion, 29th September 1737. But in 1825 the currencies of Great Britain and Ireland were assimilated.
2 Account of Ireland, vol. ii., p. 171. g ^
VOL. IX.
434
Exchange.
Influence
of fluctua¬
tions of ex¬
change
over im¬
ports and
exports.
EXCHANGE.
the exchange between Belfast, which had a gold currency,
and London, was about 3 per cent, in its favour. And this
is not all: for, while there was a difference of 11 per cent,
in the rate of exchange between Dublin and London, and
Belfast and London, the inland exchange between Dublin
and Belfast was about 10 per cent, in favour of the latter;
that is, bills drawn in Dublin, and payable in the gold cur¬
rency of Belfast, brought a premium of 10 per cent., while
bills drawn in Belfast, and payable in the paper currency of
Dublin, sold at 10 per cent, discount!1
It is unnecessary to refer to the history of the French
assignats, or of the paper currency of the continental powers
generally, and of the United States, to corroborate what
has been advanced. Such of our readers as wish for farther
information upon these points may have recourse to the
fourth volume of the “ Cours d’Economie Politique” of M.
Storch,2 where they will find an instructive account of the
influence of inordinate issues of paper on the price of bullion
and the exchange, in almost every country of Europe.
They are, in every case, similar to those now stated.
It only remains to determine the influence of fluctuations
in the nominal exchange over exports and imports.
When the exchange is at par, the operations of the
merchant are regulated entirely by the difference between
foreign prices and home prices. He imports such commo¬
dities as sell at home for so much more than they cost
abroad as will indemnify him for freight, insurance, &c.,
and yield, besides, an adequate remuneration for his trouble,
and for the capital employed in the business; and he ex¬
ports those whose price abroad is sufficient to cover all
expenses, and to afford a similar profit. But when the
nominal exchange becomes unfavourable to a country, the
premium which its merchants receive on foreign bills has
been said to enable them to export with profit, in cases
where the difference between the price of the exported
commodities at home and abroad might not be such as to
permit their exportation with the exchange at par. Thus,
if the nominal exchange were 10 per cent, against this
country, a merchant who had consigned goods to his agent
abroad, would receive a premium of 10 per cent, on the
sale of the bill; and if we suppose freight, insurance, mer¬
cantile profit, &c., to amount to 6 or 7 per cent., it would
at first sight appear as if we might, in such circumstances,
export commodities, although their price at home were 3 or 4
per cent, higher than in other countries. If, on the other hand,
the nominal exchange were in our favour, or if bills on this
country sold at a premium, it would appear as if foreigners
would then be able to consign goods to our merchants, or
the latter to order goods from abroad, when the difference
of real prices would not of itself lead to an importation.
But a very little consideration will suffice to show that
fluctuations in the nominal exchange have no such effects.
That fall in the value of the currency which renders the
exchange unfavourable, and causes foreign bills to sell at a
premium, equally increases the price of commodities. And
hence, however great, the premium which exporters gain
by selling bills on their correspondents abroad, merely in¬
demnifies them for the enhanced price of the goods ex¬
ported. In such cases, mercantile operations are conducted
precisely as they would be were the exchange really at par ;
that is, by a comparison of real prices at home and abroad,
meaning by real prices, the prices at which commodities
would be sold provided there were no depreciation of the
currency. If these admit of exportation or importation
with a profit, the circumstance of the nominal exchange
being favourable or unfavourable will make no difference
whatever on the transaction.
“ Suppose,” says Mr Blake, who has very successfully Exchange,
illustrated this part of the theory of exchange, “the curren-
cies of Hamburg and London being in their due propor¬
tions, and therefore the nominal exchange at par, that
sugar, which, from its abundance in London, sold at L.50
per hogshead, from its scarcity at Hamburg would sell at
L.100. The merchant in this case would immediately ex¬
port. Upon the sale of his sugar, he would draw a bill
upon his correspondent abroad for L.100, which he could
at once convert into cash by selling it in the bill market at
home, deriving from this transaction a profit of L.50, under
deduction of the expenses of freight, insurance, commis¬
sion, &c. Now, suppose no alteration in the scarcity or
abundance of sugar in London and Hamburg, and that the
same transaction were to take place after the currency in
England had been so much increased that the prices were
doubled, and, consequently, the nominal exchange 100 per
cent, in favour of Hamburg, the hogshead of sugar would
then cost L.100, leaving apparently no profit whatever to
the exporter. He would, however, as before, draw his bill
on his correspondent for L.100; and, as foreign bills would
bear a premium of 100 per cent., he would sell this bill in
the English market for L.200, and thus derive a profit from
the transaction of L.100 depreciated, or L.50, estimated in
undepreciated currency,—deducting, as in the former
instance, the expense of freight, insurance, commission, &c.
“ The case would be precisely similar, mutatis mutandis,
with the importing merchant. The unfavourable nominal
exchange would appear to occasion a loss amounting to the
premium on the foreign bill which he must give in order to
pay his correspondent abroad. But if the difference of real
prices in the home and foreign markets were such as to
admit of a profit upon the importation of produce, the mer¬
chant w'ould continue to import, notwithstanding the pre¬
mium ; for that would be repaid to him in the advanced
nominal price at which the imported produce would be
sold in the home market.
“ Suppose, for instance, the currencies of Hamburg and
London being in their due proportions, and therefore the
nominal exchange at par, that linen which can be bought
at Hamburg for L.50 will sell here at L.100. The im¬
porter immediately orders his correspondent abroad to send
the linen, for the payment of which he purchases at L.50 a
foreign bill in the English market; and, on the sale of the
consignment for L.100, he will derive a profit amounting to
the difference between L.50 and the expense attending the
import.
“ Now, suppose the same transaction to take place with¬
out any alteration in the scarcity or abundance of linen at
Hamburg and London, but that the currency of England
has been so augmented as to be depreciated to half its
value, the nominal exchange will then be 100 per cent,
against England, and the importer will not be able to pur¬
chase a L.50 foreign bill for less than L.100. But as the
prices of commodities here will have risen in the same
proportion as the money has been depreciated, he will sell
linen to the English customer for L.200, and will, as before,
derive a profit amounting to the difference between L.100
depreciated, or L.50 estimated in undepreciated money,
and the expenses attending the import.
“ The same instances might be put in the case of a
favourable exchange; and it would be seen, in the same
manner, that nominal prices and the nominal exchange
being alike dependent on the depreciation of currency,
whatever apparent advantage might be derived from the
former would be counterbalanced by a loss on the latter,
and vice versa.”2
1 information on this subject may be obtained from the Report, 1804, of the Committee of the House of Commons upon the
S^aTe °1 t-? c‘rculating paper in Ireland, its specie, &c.; from Sir Henry Parnell’s pamphlet on the same subject; and from the pamphlets
Of Lord King, Huskisson, &c. ^ 1 2 pariSj 4 gvo
Exchange.
■Real ex¬
change.
EXCHANGE.
435
It appears, therefore, that fluctuations in the nominal
exchange have no efl'ect on trade. A fall in the exchange
obliges the country to which it is unfavourable to expend
a greater nominal sum in discharging a foreign debt than
would otherwise be necessary ; but it does not oblige it to
expend a greater real value. The depression of the nomi¬
nal exchange can neither exceed nor fall short of the com¬
parative depreciation of the currency. If British currency
were depreciated 10 or 15 per cent., the nomma/exchange
would be 10 or 15 per cent, against us ; and we should be
compelled, in all transactions with foreigners, to give them
22s. or 23s. for what might otherwise have been procured
for 20s. But as neither 22s. nor 23s. of such depreciated
paper is more valuable than 20s. of paper undepreciated,
payment of a foreign debt would, it is evident, be as easily
made in the one currency as in the other; and mercantile
transactions would, in such circumstances, be conducted
exactly as they would have been had there been no depre¬
ciation, and the nominal exchange at par.
Sect. II.—Heal Exchange.
Having thus endeavoured to trace the influence which
variations in the value of currencies have over the exchange,
we proceed to consider how far it is influenced by fluctua¬
tions in the supply and demand for bills. To facilitate this
inquiry, we shall exclude all consideration of changes in the
value of money, and suppose the currencies of the diffe¬
rent countries having an intercourse together to be equal
in weight and purity to their mint standards, and that each
has its proper supply of bullion.
When two nations trade together, and each purchases of
the other commodities of the same value, their debts and
credits are equal, and the real exchange is, of course, at
par. But it rarely happens that the debts reciprocally due
by any two countries are equal. I here is almost always a
balance owing on one side or other, which affects the ex¬
change. If, for example, the debts due by London to
Paris exceed those due by the former to the latter, the de¬
mand in London for bills on Paris will be greater than the
demand in Paris for bills on London ; and the real exchange
will, consequently, be in favour of Paris and against London.
The expense of transferring bullion from one country to
another limits the range within which the rise and fall of the
real exchange between them is confined. In this respect,
as in most others, transactions between foreign countries
depend on the same principles which govern those between
different parts of the same country. We have already seen
that the fluctuations in the real exchange between London
and Glasgow cannot exceed the expense of transmitting
money between those cities. And this principle holds uni¬
versally. Whatever may be the expense of transmitting
bullion, which is the money of the commercial world, be¬
tween London and Paris, London and Hamburg, New
York, &c., the real exchange of the one on the other cannot,
for any considerable period, be depressed to a greater ex¬
tent. No merchant will pay a higher premium for a bill to
discharge a debt abroad, than will suffice to cover the ex¬
pense of transmitting bullion to his creditor.
Hence it appears that whatever obstructs or fetters the
intercourse among different countries, proportionally widens
the limits within which fluctuations in the real exchange
may extend. And hence the reason why it varies so much
more in war than in peace. The amount of the bills drawn
on a country engaged in hostilities is liable, from various
causes, to be suddenly increased ; though, whatever may be
the amounts thus thrown upon the market, the depression
of the exchange cannot, for any length of time, exceed the
expense of conveying bullion from the debtor to the creditor
country. But during war this expense, which consists of
freight, insurance, &c., is sometimes much augmented. The Exchange,
evidence annexed to the Report of the Bullion Committee
shows that the cost of conveying gold from London to
Hamburg, which, prior to the Revolutionary wax-, amounted
to two or two and a half, had increased, in the latter part
of 1809, to about seven per cent.; so that the limits within
which fluctuations in the real exchange might range in 1809
were about three times as great as those within which they
wei'e confined in 1793.
Owing to our having the complete command of the sea,
and our commerce not being subjected even to the depre¬
dations of privateers, the cost of freight and of the convey¬
ance of bullion between this country and others has not
been affected by the war in which we are now (1855) un¬
luckily engaged.
The real exchange between neighbouring countries is
generally, on the principle now explained, less likely to
fluctuate than that between distant countries. It costs con¬
siderably less to transmit bullion from London to Dublin or
Paris, than to New York or Canton. And, as fluctuations
in the real exchange are limited by this cost, they may evi¬
dently extend proportionally farther between distant places
than between such as are contiguous.
We have next to investigate the circumstances which
give rise to a favourable or an unfavourable balance of pay¬
ments, and to appreciate their effects on the real exchange,
and on trade in general.
A very great, if not the principal, source of the errors into Balance of
which merchants, and the majority of writers on exchange, payments,
have been betrayed in regard to the balance of payments,
appears to have originated in their confounding the sum
which imported commodities fetch in the home market,
with their cost abroad. It is obviously, however, by the
amount of the latter only, that the balance of payments, and
consequently the real exchange, is influenced. A cai’go of
corn, for example, which cost L.3000 free on board at
Odessa, may be worth L.4500 when imported into Eng¬
land ; but the foreign merchant would not, unless he sent
hither the coim, be entitled to draw on London for more
than its original cost, or L.3000. It is clear, therefore, on
the slightest consideration, that the fact of the imports being
more valuable than the exports does not authorize the con¬
clusion that the balance of payments is against us. A
favourable or an unfavourable balance depends entirely on
the sum due to foreigners for commodities bought from them
being less or more than the sum due by them for commodi¬
ties bought from us. It has nothing to do with the prices
eventually obtained for the imported or exported commodities.
The mercantile system of commercial policy, which con¬
tinues to preserve a powerful influence in most countries,
had for its grand object the creation of a favourable balance
of payments, by facilitating exportation and restricting im¬
portation. It is foreign to our purpose to make any inquiry
in regard to the principles of this system, except in so far
as they are connected with exchanges. But it may be easily
shown, in opposition to the commonly received opinions,
that under ordinary ch'cumstances the value of the imports
into commercial countries always exceeds the value of their
exports ; and that this excess or balance has not, speaking
generally, any tendency to render the real exchange un-
favoui’able.
It is the business of the merchant to carry the products of
different countries from those places where their value is
least, to those where it is greatest; or, which js the same
thing, to distribute them according to the effective demand.
There could, however, be no motive to export any article,
unless that which was to be imported in its stead wei’e more
valuable. When an English merchant orders a quantity of
Polish wheat, he supposes it will sell for so much more than
1 Observations, &c., p. 48.
436
E X C H
Exchange, its price in Poland as will suffice to pay the cost of freight,
\ J y insurance, &c., and to yield, besides, the ordinary rate ot
profit on the capital employed in the transfer. If the wheat
did not sell for this much, its importation would be produc¬
tive of loss. Merchants never export but in the view of
importing articles of greater value. Instead of an excess
of exports over imports being any criterion of an advanta¬
geous commerce, it is quite the reverse. And the truth is,
notwithstanding all that has been said and written to the
contrary, that unless the value of the imports exceeded that
of the exports, foreign trade could not be carried on. Were
this not the case—were the value of the exports always
greater than that of the imports, there would be a loss on
every transaction with foreigners, and the trade with them
w'ould either not be undertaken, or, if begun, would be
speedily relinquished.
In England, the rates at which exports and imports are
officially valued were fixed so far back as 1696. Ihe very
great alteration which has since taken place in the value of
money, and in the cost of the greater number of the com¬
modities of this and other countries, has rendered this offi¬
cial valuation, though valuable as a means of determining
their quantity, of no use whatever as a criterion of the true
value of the imports and exports. To obviate this defect,
accounts of the real or declared value of the exports, pre¬
pared from the declarations of the merchants, are annually
laid before parliament. There is, however, no such account
of the imports ; and it is, perhaps, impossible to frame one
with anything like accuracy. It has also been alleged, and
apparently with some foundation, that merchants have fre¬
quently exaggerated the value of articles entitled to draw¬
backs. But the extension and improvement of the ware¬
housing system, and the decrease in the number of draw¬
backs, has very materially lessened whatever fraud or inac¬
curacy may have arisen from that source. The declared
value of the exports may now be considered as pretty near
the truth, at least sufficiently so for all practical purposes.
If perfectly accurate accounts could be obtained of the
values of the exports and imports, there can be no manner
of doubt that in all ordinary years the latter would consider¬
ably exceed the former. The value of an exported com¬
modity is estimated when it is shipped, before its value is
increased by the expense incurred in transporting it to the
place of its destination ; whereas the value of the commodity
imported in its stead is estimated after it has arrived at its
destination, and been enhanced by the charges on account
of freight, insurance, ii norter’s profits, &c.
It is of little importance, in so far at least as the interests
of commerce are concerned, whether a nation carries its own
imports and exports, or employs others. A carrying nation
appears to derive a comparatively large profit from its com¬
mercial transactions. But this excess of profit is seldom
more than a fair remuneration for the capital it employs,
and the risk it incurs, in transporting commodities. Were
the trade between this country and France wholly carried
on in British bottoms, our merchants, in addition to the
value of the exports, would also receive the cost of their
carriage to France. This, however, would be no loss to
the French. They must pay the freight of the commodities
they import. And if English ships sail on cheaper terms
than those of their own country, there is no good commer¬
cial reason, though there may be others of a different kind,
why they should not employ them in preference.
In the United States the value of the imports, deduced
from the custom-house returns, almost always exceeds the
value of the exports.1 And though we have been accus¬
tomed to consider the excess of exports over imports as the
only sure criterion of an advantageous commerce, the
A N G E.
practical politicians of America early discovered “ that the Exchange,
real gain of the United States has been nearly in proper-
tion as their imports have exceeded their exports.” 2 The
great excess of imports into the Union is in part occasioned
by the Americans generally exporting their own surplus
produce, and receiving from foreigners not only an equiva¬
lent for the exports, but also for the cost of their convey¬
ance to their markets. “In 1811,” says the author just
quoted, “ flour sold in America for 9 dol. 50 cents per bar¬
rel, and in Spain for 15 dol. The value of the cargo of a
vessel carrying 5000 barrels of flour would, therefore, be
estimated, at the period of its exportation, at 47,500 dol.;
but as this flour would, because of freight, insurance, ex¬
porter’s profits, &c., sell in Spain for 75,000 dol., the Ame¬
rican merchant would be entitled to draw on his agent in
Spain for 27,500 dol. more than the flour cost in America,
or than the sum for which he could have drawn had the
flour been exported on aceount of a Spanish merchant.
But the transaction would not end here : the 75,000 dol.
would be vested in some species of Spanish or other Euro¬
pean goods fit for the American market; and the freight, in¬
surance, &c., on account of the return cargo would perhaps
increase its value to 100,000 dol. ; so that, in all, the Ame¬
rican merchant might have imported commodities worth
52,500 dol. more than the flour originally sent to Spain.”
It is as impossible to doubt that this transaction is advanta¬
geous, as it is to doubt that its advantage consists in the
value of the imports exceeding that of the exports. And
it is clear that America might have the balance of payments
in her favour, though such transactions as the above were
multiplied to any conceivable extent.
Instead, therefore, of endeavouring to limit the trade with
countries from which the imports exceed the exports, we
should give it every possible facility. Every man considers
that market as the best in which he obtains the highest
price for his goods. Why then exclude him from it ? Why
compel a merchant to sell a cargo of muslin, iron, &c., for
L.10,500, rather than E.11,000 or L.12,000? The wealth
of a state is made up of the wealth of individuals. And
what more effectual method of increasing individual wealth
can be devised than to permit buying in the cheapest and
selling in the dearest markets ?
It would be difficult to estimate the mischief which ab¬
surd notions relative to the balance of trade have occasioned
in most commercial countries. They have been particularly
injurious to Great Britain. The restrictions imposed on
the trade with France originated in the prevalence of pre¬
judices to which they gave rise. The great, or rather the
only, argument insisted on by those who prevailed on the
legislature to declare the French trade a nuisance? was
founded on the alleged fact, that the value of the imports
from France considerably exceeded the value of the ex¬
ports to her. The balance was termed a tribute paid by
England; and it was sagaciously asked, what had we done
that we should be obliged to pay so much money to our
natural enemy ? Those considerate and patriotic persons
seem to have supposed that our merchants brought commo¬
dities from France for no better reason than that they were
French, or to oblige that ingenious people. But they were
not quite so disinterested. They imported French wines,
silks, and so forth, for the same reasons that they imported
the sugar of the West Indies, the teas and spices of the
East, and the timber of the Baltic, that is, because there
was a demand for them, and because they were worth more
in our markets than the native products exported in their
stead. The reason assigned for prohibiting the trade affords
a conclusive proof of its having been advantageous. I here
cannot, indeed, be a doubt, that an unlimited freedom of
1 Such was always the case till the late extraordinary export of gold from California.
2 Pitkin on the Commerce of the United States, 2d ed., p. 280.
Prohibition Act, 1st William and Mary.
EXCHANGE.
437
Exchange, intercourse between the two countries would be of great
service to both. Supposing it to be so arranged, does any
^ one imagine that we should export or import any commo¬
dity to or from France, provided we could either sell or buy
it on better terms anywhere else ? If restrictions on the
trade with any particular country be not injurious, that is,
if it be either a losing or a less advantageous trade than
that with other countries, we may be assured that the throw¬
ing it completely open would not make a single individual
engage in it. ,
Everybody knows that these conclusions are not only
theoretically true, but have been practically verified. I he
abolition of the discriminating duty on French wines, the
reduction of the exorbitant duty on brandy, the repeal ot
the prohibition against importing silks, and the opening ot
our ports to French corn and flour, have all been advan¬
tageous. And though it be true that the prejudices ot the
French, and the high duties which they continue to impose
on most articles of British produce, confine the trade within
comparatively narrow limits, they have not made it unpro¬
fitable, and are more injurious to themselves than to us. It
is a curious fact, that notwithstanding the great amount ot
our imports from France, and our expenditure in that
country on account of absentees, the state ot the exchange
shows that the balance of payments is usually in our favour.
But the partisans of the exclusive or mercantile system
may perhaps say, that they do not mean to contend that it
is profitable to export more than is imported ; but that, by
exporting an excess of raw and manufactured produce, t e
balance of payments is rendered favourable, and that this
balance (which they regard as representing the entire nett
profit made by the country on its transactions with foreigners)
is always paid in bullion. ,
It may, however, be easily shown that this statement is
altogether erroneous; that a'balance, whether on the one
side or the other, is seldom or never cancelled by means ot
bullion ; and that it is not a measure, and has, indeed, no¬
thing to do with the profit or loss attending foreign com¬
mercial transactions. .
If the premium on foreign bills, in a country with an un¬
favourable real exchange, be less than the cost ot sending
bullion abroad, it would be contradictory to suppose that it
should be exported. And though the premium on such
bills were to increase, till it become equal to, tor it cannot
exceed, the cost of exporting the precious metals, it does
not follow that they will then be exported. 1 hat would
depend on whether bullion were, at the time, the cheapest
exportable commodity; or, in other words, whether a re¬
mittance of bullion was the most advantageous way in which
a debt might be discharged. If a London merchant owe
L.1000, or other sum, in Paris, he endeavours to find out
the cheapest method of paying it. On the supposition that
the real exchange is 2 per cent, below par, and that the
expense of remitting bullion is also 2 per cent., it will be
indifferent to him whether he pay L.20 of premium for a
bill of L.1000, payable in Paris, or incur an expense of L.20
in remittino- L.1000 worth of bullion direct to that city. If
the prices 'of cloth in Paris and London be such, that it
would require L.1030 to purchase and send as much cloth
to Paris as would sell for L.1000, he would no doubt prefer
buyino- a bill or exporting bullion. But if, by incurring an
expense of L.1010, the debtor may send as much hardware
or cotton to Paris as would sell for L.1000, he would as cer¬
tainly prefer paying his debt by exporting the one or the
other. It would save him 1 per cent, more than it he
bought a foreign bill or remitted bullion, and 2 pei cent,
more than if he exported cloth. Had there been any othei
commodity which might have been exported with more ad¬
vantage, he would have used it in preference.
It is obvious, therefore, that the trade in bullion is go- Exchange,
verned by the same principles which govern the trade in ^
other things. It is exported when its exportation is advan¬
tageous; that is, when it is less valuable at home, and more
valuable abroad, than anything else; and it will not other¬
wise be exported. The balance of payments might be
twenty or thirty millions against a country, without depriv
in" it of a single ounce of bullion. No merchant would
remit L.1000 worth of gold or silver from England to dis¬
charge a debt in Paris, if he could invest L.970, L.980,
L.990, or any sum under I 1000, in any other species of
merchandise which, exclusive of expenses, would sell in
France for that amount. Those who deal in the precious
metals are as much alive to their interests, as those who
deal in coffee, or sugar, or indigo. But who would attempt
to discharge a foreign debt by exporting coffee which cost
L.100, if he could effect the same object by exporting in¬
digo which cost only L.95 ? No bullion will ever be ex¬
ported unless its value be less in the exporting country
than in that to which it is sent; and unless it be, at the
same time, the most advantageous article of export.
2. It is in vain to contend that an unrestricted freedom
of trade might render some unfortunate country indebted
to another so happily situated that it had no demand for
any sort of ordinary merchandise, and would only accept of
cash or bullion in exchange for its exports. A case of this
sort never did, and never will, occur. It is not even pos¬
sible. A nation which is in want of money must be in want
of other things ; for men desire money only because it is
the readiest means of increasing their command over neces¬
saries and enjoyments. The extreme variety, too, in the
soils and climates—in the machinery, skill, and industry of
the people of different countries—occasion extraordinary
differences in their products and prices. Some articles of
the highest utility are peculiar to certain districts. And
there will ever be a demand, not only for such articles, but
also for those which, though they may be produced at home,
may be imported of a better quality, or at a lower price.
Nor, till the passion of accumulation be banished from the
human breast, will there cease to be a desire to send com¬
modities from places where their exchangeable value is
least, to those where it is greatest.
3. In treating of the nominal exchange, we endeavoured
to show that no single country can continue, foi any length
of time, to import or export a greater amount of bullion
than may be necessary to preserve the precious metals in it
in their proper relation to those of other countries ; or, which
is the same thing, to have the real exchange either perma¬
nently favourable or unfavourable. But though this prin¬
ciple be strictly true in reference to its aggregate exchanges,
it may be incorrect if its exchange with one country only
be considered. Great Britain, for example, may generally
have the exchange in her favour with America, piovided
she have it generally, and to a nearly equal extent, against
her with the East Indies, or some other country. She
may,” to use the words of Mr Ricardo, “ be importing from
the north the bullion which she is exporting to the south.
She may be collecting it from countries where it is relatively
abundant, for others where it is relatively scarce, or where,
from some particular causes, it is in great demand. Spain,
who is the great importer of bullion from America, can
never have an unfavourable exchange with her colonies;
and as she must distribute the bullion she receives among the
different nations of the world, she can seldom have a favour¬
able exchange with the countries with which she trades.”1
On this principle, Lord King successfully accounted for
the favourable exchange between this country and Ham¬
burg from 1770 to 1799. He showed that the importation
of bullion from Hamburg and other parts was not more than
1 See Reilly to Mr Bosanquet’s Observations on the Report of the Bullion Committee, p. 17.
438
EXCHANGE.
Exchange, equivalent to the exports to the East Indies and the home
^ consumption ; that the demand corresponded to the supply;
and that its value remained pretty stationary. The extra¬
ordinary influx of bullion into this country from the Conti¬
nent at the era of the Bank restriction in 1797, and the
favourable state of the exchange, were undoubtedly owing
to the reduction in the issues of bank paper, and to the di¬
minution of the gold currency caused by the hoarding of
guineas. In 1797 and 1798, above Jive millions of guineas
were coined at the mint; and this extraordinary demand for
gold is of itself abundantly sufficient to account for the very
favourable exchange of that period, and for the length of
time during which it continued. But, at the same time
that the demand for gold bullion for the mint was thus in¬
creased, the demand for silver bullion, for export to India,
was proportionally augmented.
In 1795, the quantity exported by the East India Com¬
pany and private parties amounted to  151,795 ounces.
In 1796, to  290,777 ...
1797   962,880
1798     3,565,691 ...
1799  7,287,327 ...
From this period the exportation rapidly declined; and,
in the years in which the exchange was most unfavourable,
little or no silver was sent to India.
Instead, therefore, of the extraordinary importation of
bullion from Hamburg in 1797 and 1798 affording, as Mr
Bosanquet and others supposed, a practical proof of the fal¬
lacy of the opinion of those who contend that it is impossi¬
ble, for any length of time, to subvert the natural equality
in the value of bullion in different countries, it is a striking
example of its truth. Without this influx, bullion in this
country could not have maintained its proper comparative
value. We imported it, because the reduction of the paper
currency, and the increased exports of the East India Com¬
pany, rendered its value higher here than on the Continent;
and made it advantageous for the continental merchants to
send it to us, in the same manner as they would have sent
corn, or anything else for which we had an unusual demand.
For, however favourable the real exchange between Ham¬
burg and London might have been to the latter, we should
not have imported an ounce of bullion, had it not been, at
the time, the article with which Hamburg could most ad¬
vantageously discharge her debt to London.
4. In the absence of other arguments, it would be suffi¬
cient to state, that it is physically impossible that the ex¬
cess of exports over imports, as indicated by the custom¬
house returns, should be paid in bullion. Every country,
with the exception of the United States, has its apparently
favourable balance ; and, of course, if they really existed,
they would have to be paid by an influx of bullion from the
mines correspondent to their aggregate amount. It is cer¬
tain, however, that, previously to the late discoveries in
California and Australia, the entire produce of the mines,
though it had been increased in a tenfold proportion, would
have been insufficient for this purpose ! This fact is deci¬
sive of the degree of credit which ought to be attached to
the commonly received opinions on this subject.
5. In the last place, the profit on transactions with fo¬
reigners does not consist in the quantity of bullion imported
from abroad, but in “ the excess of the value of the im¬
ports over the value of the exports.” If, in return for ex¬
ported commodities worth ten or twenty millions, we im¬
port such as are worth fifteen or thirty, we shall gain 50
per cent, by the transaction, though the exports should
consist entirely of bullion, and the imports of corn, sugar,
coffee, &c. It is a ridiculous prejudice that would make
bullion be imported rather than any other article. But
whatever the partisans of the exclusive system may say
about its being a preferable product, a marchandise par
excellence, we may be assured that it will seldom appear
in the list of exports or imports, while there is any other Exchange.
thing with which to carry on trade that will yield a larger
profit.
Thus it appears that the excess of exports over imports,
instead of being any pi’oof of an advantageous commerce, is
distinctly and completely the reverse ; that the value of the
imports into commercial countries may, and almost always
does, exceed the value of their exports, without rendering
them indebted to foreigners; and that when a balance of
debt has been contracted, that is, when the sum payable to
foreigners for imports is greater than the sum receivable
from them for exports, bullion will not be sent from the
debtor to the creditor country, unless it be at the time the
most profitable article of export.
We have in the previous section shown that fluctuations
in the nominal exchange have no influence over foreign
trade. When the currency is depreciated, the premium
which an exporter derives from the sale ot bills on his cor¬
respondent abroad, is barely equivalent to the increase in
the price of the exports, occasioned by the depreciation.
But when the premium on foreign bills is not caused by a Influence
fall in the value of money, but by a deficient supply of bills, of fluctua-
there is no rise of prices, and then the unfavourable ex- t'O"8 of
change undoubtedly operates as a stimulus to exportation.
As soon as the real exchange diverges from par, the mere ove^m.
inspection of price currents is no longer enough to guide ports and
the operations of the merchant. If it be unfavourable, the exports,
premium which the exporters receive on the sale of bills
must be included in the estimate of the profit they are
likely to derive from the transaction. The greater that
premium, the less will be the difference of prices necessary
to make them export. An unfavourable real exchange has,
in truth, exactly the same effect on exportation as a bounty
equal to the premium on foreign bills.
But for the same reason that an unfavourable real ex¬
change increases exportation, it diminishes importation.
When it is unfavourable, the prices of foreign products
brought to our markets must be so much under their prices
here, as not merely to afford, exclusive of expenses, the or¬
dinary profit on their sale, but also to pay the premium
which the importer must give for a foreign bill, if he remit
one to his correspondent, or for the discount, added to the
invoice price, if the latter draw upon him. A less quantity
of foreign goods will therefore suit our markets when the
exchange is really unfavourable ; and fewer payments hav¬
ing to be made abroad, the competition for foreign bills
is diminished, and the exchange rendered proportionally
favourable. A favourable real exchange, consequently,
operates as a duty on exportation and a bounty on impor¬
tation.
Hence it is obvious that fluctuations in the real exchange
have a necessary tendency to correct themselves. They
can never, for any considerable period, exceed the expense
of transmitting bullion from the debtor to the creditor coun¬
try. And the exchange cannot continue permanently
favourable or unfavourable even to this extent. W hen
favourable, it corrects itself by restricting exportation and
facilitating importation ; and when unfavourable, it produces
the same effect by stimulating exportation and obstructing
importation. The true par forms the centre of these oscil¬
lations. And though the thousand circumstances which
daily and hourly affect the state of debt and credit, prevent
the ordinary course of exchange from being almost ever
precisely at par, its fluctuations, whether on the one side
or the other, are confined within certain limits, and have a
constant tendency to disappear.
The natural tendency which the exchange has to correct
itself is powerfully assisted by the operations of the bill mer¬
chants.
England, for example, may owe an excess bf debt to
Amsterdam, yet, as the aggregate amount of the debts due
EXCHANGE.
439
Exchange, by a commercial country, is generally balanced by the
^ arv-mJ amount of those which it has to receive, the deficiency of
bills on Amsterdam in London will most probably be coun¬
tervailed by their redundancy in some other quarter. And,
it is the business of the merchants who deal in bills, as of
those who deal in bullion or any thing else, to buy them
where they are cheap, that they may sell them where they
are dear. They, therefore, buy up the bills drawn by other
countries on Amsterdam, and dispose of them in London ;
and, by so doing, prevent any great fall in the price of bills
on the former in the countries in which their supply ex¬
ceeds the demand, and any great rise in Great Britain and
the countries in which their supply happens to be deficient.
In our trade with Italy, the bills drawn on England gene¬
rally amount to a greater sum than those drawn on Italy.
The bill merchants, however, by buying up the excess of
Italian bills on London, and selling them in France, Hol¬
land, and other countries indebted to England, prevent the
real exchange from being much depressed.
An unusual deficiency in the supply of corn, or of any
article of prime necessity, by causing a sudden augmenta¬
tion of imports, materially affects foreign debts and credits,
and depresses the exchange. In time of war, the balance
of payments is liable to be still further disturbed; the
amount of the bills drawn on a country carrying on foreign
hostilities, being increased by the whole expense of its ar¬
maments abroad, and of subsidies to foreign powers. But
neither the conjoined nor separate influence of both or either
of these causes has any permanent influence over the ex¬
change. A sudden increase in the accustomed supply of
bills must, in the first instance, by glutting the market, oc¬
casion their selling at a discount; but this effect will only
be temporary. The unusual facilities which are then af¬
forded for exportation, and the difficulties which are thrown
in the way of importation, never fail speedily to bring the
real exchange to par.
During a period of peace we may, in the too great ardour
of speculative enterprise, export an excess of produce, over¬
load the foreign market, and occasion such a decline in the
prices of our goods abroad, as to make the imports less va¬
luable than the exports with which they have been pur¬
chased. But such a state of things can only be of limited
duration. The distress of which it is productive, assisted
by the fall of the exchange, occasions a diminution of ex¬
ports. The supply of our commodities' in the foreign mar¬
kets is rendered more nearly commensurate with the de¬
mand ; till in no long time the value of the imports again
exceeds, as it always ought to do, the value of the exports.
But when a country has a large foreign expenditure to sus¬
tain, its exports are proportionally augmented. W hatever
may have been the foreign expenditure of Great Britain
during the late war, it is evident it could not be defrayed
otherwise than by our annually exporting an equal amount
of the produce of our land, capital, and labour, for which
payment was not received, as in ordinary cases, by a cor¬
responding importation of foreign commodities, but from the
treasury at home. This is strictly true, even though the
expenditure should have happened to be, in the first in¬
stance, discharged by remittances of bullion ; for the in¬
creased supply of bullion which was thus required could be
obtained only by an equally increased exportation of other
products to the countries possessed of mines, or from which
it was imported. Foreign expenditure, by increasing ex¬
ports in proportion to its own amount, has no permanent
influence over the exchange.
Thus it appears that an excess of exports, instead of be¬
ing any criterion of increasing wealth at home, is only a
certain indication of commercial losses, or of expenditure
abroad. “ WTen,” says Mr Wheatley, “ the exports ex¬
ceed the imports, as they must do when there is a large Exchange,
foreign expenditure, the equivalents for the excess are re-
ceived abroad in as full and ample a manner as if the pro¬
duce which they purchased were actually imported and
entered in the custom-house books, and afterwards sent to
the seat of wrar for consumption. But from the circumstance
of its not being inserted in the custom-house entries as value
received against the produce exported for its payment, the
latter is deemed to constitute a favourable balance, when
it is in reality exported to liquidate a balance against us.”1
But how conclusive soever this reasoning may appear, it
has been said to be at variance with the fact; and the rise
of the exchange at the end of the late war, during the sus¬
pension of cash-payments, has been appealed to as showing
that its previous low rate had not been occasioned by any
depreciation of the paper currency, but by the excessive
amount of the bills drawn upon this country to defray war
expenditure. The question, however, is not whether the
exchange recovered from its depression during the suspen¬
sion of cash-payments, for the influence of that measure
depended entirely on the use made of it, but whether its
recovery took place without the amount of bank paper of
all sorts, or of the currency, being diminished ? The state¬
ments made in the article Money are decisive upon this
point. They show that the currency was very greatly di¬
minished in 1814, 1815, and 1816; and that this diminution
occasioned the rise in its value, and in the nominal exchange.
Mr Francis Horner, the well-informed chairman of the
Committee on the High Price of Bullion, made the fol¬
lowing statement in regard to this very question in his
place in the House of Commons:—
il From inquiries he had made, and from the accounts
on the table, he was convinced that a greater and more
sudden reduction of the circulating medium had never
taken place in any country than had taken place since the
peace in this country, with the exception of those reduc¬
tions that had taken place in France after the Mississippi
scheme, and after the destruction of the assignats. The
reduction of the currency had originated in the previous
fall of the prices of agricultural produce. That fall had
produced a destruction of country-bank paper, to an extent
which would not have been thought possible, without more
ruin than had actually ensued. I he Bank of England had
also restricted its issues. As appeared by the accounts
recently presented, the average amount of its currency
was not, during the last year, more than between
L.25,000,000 and L.26,000,000; while two years ago it
had been nearer L.29,000,000, and at one time even
amounted to L.31,000,000. But, without looking to tlm
diminution of Bank of England paper, the reduction of
the country paper was enough to account for the rise
which had taken place in the exchange.”
Hence it appears that the rise of the exchange in 1815
and 1816, had nothing, or but little,2 to do with the cessa¬
tion of hostilities, and was entirely, or mainly, a conse¬
quence of the increased value of the currency, caused by
the reduction of its quantity. Instead of being at variance
with the principles we have been endeavouring to eluci¬
date, this fact affords a strong confirmation of their correct¬
ness. And having been sanctioned by the fullest experience,
they may be considered as beyond the reach of cavil and
dispute.
An objection of a different sort has been made, to an¬
other part of the theory maintained in this section, which it
may be proper to notice.
When the exchange becomes unfavourable, the premium,
procured by the sale of the bill drawn on a foreign mer¬
chant to whom bullion has been consigned, is no greater
than would be obtained by consigning to him an equivalent
1 Wheatley, on the Theory of Money, p. 219.
The real exchange might probably be affected to the extent of one or two per cent.
440
EXCHANGE.
Exchange, amount of coffee, tea, sugar, indigo, An unfavourable
v, .  > reai exchange permits a merchant to export commodities
which could not be exported were it at par, or favourable.
But the advantage still remains of exporting those commo¬
dities in preference, whose price in the country from which
they are sent, compared with their price in that to which
they are sent, is lowest. Suppose, for example, that the
expense of transmitting bullion from this country to France
is three per cent., that"the real exchange is four per cent,
against us, that the price of bullion is the same in both
countries, and that coffee, exclusive of the expenses of
carriage, is really worth four per cent, more in France than
in England. In such a case, it is obvious that the expoiteis
of bullion would realise a profit of only one per cent., while
the exporters of coffee would realise, inclusive of the pre¬
mium on the sale of the foreign bill, a profit of seven per
cent. And hence the opinion maintained by Colonel
Torrens,1 that when the exchange becomes unfavourable,
those commodities which contain the greatest value in the
smallest bulk, or on which the expense of carriage is least,
are exported in preference, appears to have no good founda¬
tion. The prices of the commodities which nations trading
together are in the habit of exporting and importing, are
regulated not merely by the cost of their production, but
also by the expense of their carriage from where they are
produced to where they are consumed. If Great Britain
were in the habit of supplying France with cottons and
bullion, the average price of cottons in France, because of
the expense required to convey them there, would probably
be from 5 to 6 per cent, higher than in Britain; while,
because of the comparative facility with which bullion may
be transported from the one to the other, its value in Paris
would not, perhaps, exceed its value here more than 1 per
cent. Now, suppose that, when the prices of cottons and
bullion in England and France are adjusted according to
their natural proportions, the real exchange becomes un¬
favourable to us, it is clear that its fall gives no greater
advantage to the exporters of bullion than to those of
cottons. The rise in the price of foreign bills does not
increase the expense of exporting the one or the other. It
leaves the cost of their reduction and transportation ex¬
actly where it found it. During the depression of the ex¬
change, the exporters of both articles get the premium on
the bills drawn on their correspondents. But there is no
inducement to export bullion in preference to cottons, un¬
less the price of bullion increase more rapidly in France, or
decline more rapidly in Great Britain, than that of cottons.
Whatever, therefore, may be the depression of the ex¬
change, the merchant selects those commodities for expor¬
tation which, exclusive of the premium, yield the greatest
profit on their sale. If bullion be one of these, it will of
course be exported ; if not, not. But of all commodities,
bullion is that of which the value approaches nearest to an
equality in different countries, so that it is the least likely
to be exported during an unfavourable exchange. The
demand for it is comparatively steady, and no great surplus
quantity could be imported into one country without re¬
ducing, or exported from another without raising, its value,
so as to unfit it either for exportation or importation. In
most cases a small part only of an unfavourable balance is
paid in bullion. The operations of the bullion merchants
are chiefly confined to the distribution of the fresh supplies
obtained from the mines, in proportion to the wants of
different countries.
Sect. III.—Computed Exchange.
Having thus endeavoured to point out the manner in
which variations in the values of the currencies of nations
trading together, and in the supply and demand for bills, Exchange,
separately affect the exchange, it now only remains to ascer- ^
tain their combined effect, or the computed or actual course
of exchange.
From what has been already stated, it is obvious, that
when the nominal and real exchange are both favourable
or both unfavourable, the computed exchange will express Computed
their sum ; and that when the one is favourable and the exchange,
other unfavourable, it will express their difference.
When, for example, the currency of Great Britain is of
the mint standard and purity, while that of France is 5 per
cent, degraded, the nominal exchange will be 5 per cent,
in our favour. But the real exchange may, at the same
time, be either favourable or unfavourable. If it be, also,
favourable to the extent of one, two, three, &c., per cent.,
the computed exchange will be six, seven, eight, &c., per
cent, in our favour. And, on the other hand, if it be un¬
favourable to the extent of one, two, three, &c., per cent.,
the compxded exchange will be only four, three, two, &c.,
per cent, in our favour. When the real exchange is in
favour of one country, and the nominal exchange equally
against it, the computed exchange is at par, and vice versa.
A comparison of the market with the mint price of bullion
affords the best and readiest means by which to ascertain
the state of the exchange. When there are no restrictions
on the trade in the precious metals, the excess of the market
over the mint price of bullion affords an accurate measure
of the depreciation of the currency. If the market and
mint price of bullion at Paris and London exactly corre¬
sponded, then, inasmuch as the real value of bullion must
be very nearly the same in both countries, the nominal
exchange would be at par ; and whatever fluctuations the
computed exchange might exhibit, must, in such case, be
traced to fluctuations in the real exchange, or in the supply
and demand for bills. If, when the market price of bullion
in Paris is equal to its mint price, it exceeds it 2 per cent,
in London, it is a proof that our currency is 2 per cent,
depreciated, and consequently the nominal exchange be¬
tween Paris and London must be 2 per cent, against the
latter. Instead, however, of the computed or actual course
of exchange being 2 per cent, against London, it may be
against it to a greater or less extent, or in its favour. It
will be more against it provided the real exchange be also
unfavourable ; it will be less against it provided the real
exchange be in favour of London, though to a less extent
than the adverse nominal exchange ; and it will be in
favour of London, should the favourable real exceed the
unfavourable nominal exchange. Thus, if, while British
currency is 5 per cent, depreciated, and French currency
at par, the computed or actual course of exchange between
Paris and London were 10 or 12 per cent, against the
latter, it would show that the real exchange was also against
this country to the extent of 5 or 7 per cent. And if, on
the other hand, the computed exchange were oply 2 or 3
per cent, against London, it would show that the real
exchange was 3 or 4 per cent, in its favour, and so on.
It has been already shown, that, in so far at least as the
question of exchange is involved, the differences in the value
of bullion in different countries are limited by the expense
of its transit from one to another. And hence, by ascer¬
taining whether a particular country exports or imports bul¬
lion to or from other countries, we may determine its com¬
parative value in these countries. Suppose, for example,
that the expense of conveying bullion from this country to
France, including the profits of the bullion dealer, is 1 per
cent.; it is clear, inasmuch as bullion is exported only to
find its level, that whenever our merchants begin to export
it to France, its value there must be at least 1 per cent,
greater than in England; and, on the contrary, when they
1 Comparative Estimate, &c.
E X C H
Exchange, import bullion from France, its value here must be, at least,
v —' i per cent, greater than in France. In judging of the ex¬
change between any two countries, this circumstance shomd
always be attended to. If no bullion be passing from the
one to the other, we may conclude that its value is nearly
the same in both; or, at all events, that the difference of its
value is not more than the expense of transit. On the sup¬
position that the entire expense, including profit, of convey¬
ing bullion from San Francisco to London is 5 per cent.,
and that London is importing bullion, it is clear, provided
the real exchange be at par, and the currency of both cities
at their mint standards, that the nominal, or, which in this
case is the same thing, the computed exchange, will be 5
per cent, in favour of London. But if the currency of Lon¬
don be 5 per cent, depreciated, or, in other words, if the
market price of bullion at London be 5 per cent, above its
mint price, the computed exchange between it and ban
Francisco, supposing the real exchange to continue at par,
will obviously be at par. It may therefore be laid down as
a general rule, that when bullion begins to pass from one
country to another, the expense of transit, provided the mint
and market price of bullion in the exporting country corre¬
spond, will indicate how much the value of bullion in it is
below its value in the country into which it is imported,
and will be identical with its unfavourable nominal ex¬
change; and that, when the market exceeds the mint price
of biillion in the exporting country, the expense of transit
added to this excess will give the total comparative reduc¬
tion of the value of the precious metals in that counti y. 1 he
converse of this takes place in the country importing bullion.
When its currency is of the mint standard, the expense of
transit is the measure of its favourable nominal exchange ; but
when its currency is relatively redundant or degraded, the^
difference between the expense of transit and the excess of
the market above the mint price of bullion, will measure the
extent of the favourable or unfavourable nominal exchange.
It will be favourable when the depreciation is less than the
expense of transit, and unfavourable when it is greater.
From 1809 to 1815 inclusive, Great Britain continued to
export gold and silver to the Continent. During this period,
therefore, we must add the expense of its export to the ex¬
cess of the market over the mint price of bullion, to get at
the true relative value of British currency, and the state of
the real exchange. Mr Goldsmid stated to the bullion
committee that, during the last five or six months of 1809,
the expense of transporting gold to Holland and Hamburg,
including freight, insurance, exporter’s profits, &c., varied
from 4 to 7 per cent. But at the time that the relative
value of bullion in Britain was at (medium of 4 and 7)
per cent, below its value in Hamburg, the market price of
gold bullion exceeded its mint price 16 or 20 per cent., or
18 per cent, at an average; so that the cunency of this
country, as compared with that of Hamburg, which differed
very little from its mint standard, was depreciated to the
extent of about 23j per cent. Now, as the computed or
actual course of exchange varied, during the same peiiod,
from 19 to 21 per cent, against London, it is plain that the
real exchange could not be far from par. Had the com¬
puted exchange been less unfavourable, it would have shown
that the real exchange was in favour of London; had it
been more unfavourable, it would, on the contrary, have
shown that the real exchange was against London.
Provided an accurate account could be obtained of the
expense attending the transit of bullion from this country
to the Continent during the subsequent years of the war, it
would, most likely, be found, notwithstanding the extraor¬
dinary depression of the nominal, that the real exchange
varied but little from par; and that the exportation of gold
and silver was not a conseouence of the balance of payments
A N G E.
being against us, but of its being advantageous to export Exchange.
bullion, because of its being more valuable on the Conti-
nent. None will contend that, in 1809, 1810, &c., gold
and silver were so redundant in this country as to sink then-
relative value. Any such supposition is out of the question.
During the period referred to, they were sent abroad, be¬
cause the depreciation of paper exceeded the cost of the
transit of bullion; and it was everybody’s interest to pay
their debts in the deprecated currency, and to export that
which was undepreciated to countries where it passed at its
full value as coin, or in which bullion was in greater de¬
mand. Had our paper currency been sufficiently reduced,
the supply of gold in the kingdom in 1809, 1810, &c., com¬
pared with the demand which must, under such circum¬
stances, have been experienced, was so very small, that in¬
stead of exporting, we should have imported the precious
metals from all parts of the world.
The extraordinary exportation of British goods to the
Continent during the latter years of the war, has been veiy
generally supposed to have been in great measure owing to
the depression of the exchange. But, in so far as this de¬
pression was occasioned by the redundancy or depreciation
of the currency, it could have no such effect. It is impos¬
sible, indeed, "to form any opinion as to the influence of
fluctuations in the computed exchange on export and import
trade, without previously ascertaining whether they are a
consequence of fluctuations in the real or nominal exchange.
It is only by an unfavourable real exchange that exporta¬
tion is facilitated; and it may be favourable when the com¬
puted exchange is unfavourable. “ Suppose, to use an
example given by Mr Blake, “ the computed exchange be¬
tween Hamburg and London to be 1 per cent, against this
country, and that this arises from a real exchange which is
favourable to the amount of 4 per cent., and a nominal ex¬
change unfavourable to the extent of 5 per cent.; let the
real price of bullion at Hamburg and London be precisely
the same, and, consequently, the nominal pi ices different
by the amount of the nominal exchange, or 5 per cent,,
now, if the expenses of freight, insurance, &c., on the tran¬
sit of bullion from Hamburg are 3 per cent., it is evident
that a profit would be derived from the import of that article,
notwithstanding the computed exchange was 1 per cent,
against us. In this case the merchant must give a premium
of 1 per cent, for the foreign bill, to pay for the bullion:
L.100 worth of bullion at Hamburg would therefore cost
him L.101, and the charges of importation would increase
the sum to L.104. Upon the subsequent sale, then, for
L.105 of depreciated currency in the home market, he would
derive from the transaction a profit of L.l. This sum is
precisely the difference betw-een the real exchange and the
expenses of transit, that part of the computed exchange
which depends on the nominal producing no effect; since
whatever is lost by its unfavourable state is counter¬
balanced by a corresponding inequality of nominal prices,”1
In the same manner it may be shown that, though the com¬
puted be favourable, the real exchange may be unfavour¬
able; and that, consequently, it may be really advantageous
to export, when it is apparently advantageous to import.
But it would be tedious to multiply instances, which, as the
intelligent reader will readily conceive, may be infinitely
varied^ and which have been sufficiently explained in the
foregoing sections. _
The real cause of the extraordinary importation of British
produce into the Continent, in 1809, 1810, 1811, &c., not¬
withstanding the anti-commercial system of Napoleon, is to
be found in the annihilation of the neutral trade, and our
monopoly of the commerce of the world. The entire pro¬
duce of the East and West was at our disposal. The Con¬
tinental nations could neither procure colonial products, nor
3 K
VOL. IX.
1 Observations, &c., p. 91.
442
Exchange
E X C H
raw cotton for the purposes of manufacturing, except from
England. British merchandise was thus almost mdispen-
sable; and to this our immense exportation, in spite of all
prohibitions to the contrary, is to be ascribed.
HISTORY AND INFLUENCE OF BILLS OF EXCHANGE.
History of It is not easy to discover the sera when bills of exchange
bills of ex- were first employed to transfer and adjust the mutual claims
change. ancj obligations of merchants. Their invention has been
ascribed to the Arabians and Jews of the middle ages. But
it seems certain that they were in use in remote antiquity.
Isocrates states that a stranger who brought some cargoes
of corn to Athens, furnished a merchant of the name of
Stratocles with an order or bill of exchange on a town on
the Euxine, where money was owing to him; and, because
the person who had drawn the bill had no fixed domicile,
Stratocles was to have recourse on a merchant in Athens,
in the event of its being protested. I he merchant, says
Isocrates, who procured this order found it extiemely ad¬
vantageous, inasmuch as it enabled him to avoid risking his
fortune on seas covered with pirates, and the hostile squa¬
drons of the Lacedemonians.1
There is also good evidence to show that the method of
transferring and cancelling the debts of parties residing at a
distance by means of letters of credit, which are in effect the
same as bills of exchange, was not unknown to the Romans.
Cicero, in one of his epistles to Atticus,2 inquires whether
his son must carry cash to defray the expense of his studies
with him to Athens, or whether he might not save this
trouble and risk by obtaining an assignment for an equiva¬
lent sum from a creditor in Rome on his debtor in Athens.
It is evident, from a subsequent epistle of Cicero, that the
latter method had been preferred, and that the transference of
the money had, in consequence, been rendered unnecessary.3
Macpherson states,4 that the first mention of bills of ex¬
change in modern history occurs in 1255. I he pope, hav¬
ing quarrelled with Manfred, king of Sicily, engaged, on
Henry III. of England agreeing to indemnify him for the
expense, to depose Manfred, and raise Henry’s second son,
Edmund, to the Sicilian throne. The enterprise misgave.
But the merchants of Sienna and Florence, who originally
advanced the money to carry it into effect, or rather to gra¬
tify the pope’s rapacity, were paid by bills drawn on the
prelates of England, who, although they protested that they
knew nothing at all about the transaction, were nevertheless
compelled, under pain of excommunication, to pay the bills
and interest!5
Capmany, in his “Memoirs” respecting the Commerce,
&c., of Barcelona, gives a copy of an ordonnance of the
magistracy, dated in 1394, enacting that bills should be ac¬
cepted within twenty-four hours after their presentation ; a
sufficient proof that they were in general use in the end of
the fourteenth century.
But whatever be the sera of the introduction of bills of
exchange, few inventions have redounded more to the pub¬
lic advantage. Without this simple and ingenious contri¬
vance, commerce could have made no great progress. Had
A N G E.
there been no means of adjusting the mutual claims of Exchange,
debtors and creditors otherwise than by the intervention of -v—'
metallic money (for bank paper is only another species of
bills of exchange), a very large portion of that capital which
is setting productive labour in motion in every quarter of
the globe, and ministering to the wants and enjoyments of
mankind, must have been employed in effecting those ex¬
changes which are much better effected by the agency of a
few quires of paper. Instead of a perpetual importation and
exportation of gold and silver, necessarily attended with an
immensity of trouble and expense, bills, possessing little or
no intrinsic worth, and which are transferred with the ut¬
most facility, suffice to adjust the most extensive and com¬
plicated transactions. But the mere setting free of an
immense productive power, engaged in a comparatively un¬
profitable employment, is only one of the many benefits we
owe to the use of bills. By cheapening the instruments by
which commerce is carried on, they have materially reduced
the prices of most articles. And have, in consequence, in¬
creased the command of all classes over necessaries and
luxuries, and accelerated the progress of civilization, by oc¬
casioning a more extensive intercourse and intimate con¬
nection between different and independent countries than
would otherwise have taken place.
In a political point of view their effects have been equally
salutary. They enable individuals imperceptibly to trans¬
fer their fortune to other countries, and to preserve it safe
alike from the rapacity of their own governments and the
hostile attacks of others. The security of property has, in
consequence, been vastly augmented. And though we
should concede to the satirist that paper credit has “ lent
corruption lighter wings to fly,”6 7 it has, at the same time,
powerfully contributed to render subjects less dependent on
the policy, and less liable to be injuriously affected by the
injudicious measures of their rulers. In countries in a low
stage of civilization the inhabitants endeavour, by burying
all the gold and silver they can collect, to preserve a part of
their property from the despots by whom they are alter¬
nately plundered and oppressed. This was universally the
case in the middle ages; and in Turkey, India, Persia,
and other eastern, and also in some European, countries, the
practice is still carried on to a greater or less extent, borne
economists have endeavoured to account for the long-con¬
tinued importation and high value of the precious metals in
India, by the loss which necessarily attends the practice of
hoarding; and undoubtedly this locking-up of capital,
while it evinces an extreme degree of insecurity, is a main
cause of the poverty of these countries. But the security
afforded by bills of exchange is infinitely greater than any
which can be derived from the barbarous expediment of
trusting property to the bosom of the earth. “ Pregnant
with thousands flits the scrap unseen,” and in a moment
places the largest fortune beyond the reach of danger. Mr
Harris was therefore right in saying, “ that the introduction
of bills of exchange was the greatest security to merchants,
both as to their persons and effects, and consequently the
greatest encouragement to commerce, and the greatest blow
to despotism, of anything that ever was invented.”
1 De Pauw, Recherches sur les Grecs, i,, 258. 2 JSpist. ad Atticum, xii., 24.
3 Epist. ad Atticum, xii. 27. “ De Cicerone, ut scribis, ita faciam : ipsi permittam de tempore : numrr.orum quantum opus erit ut
permutetur tu videbis.” In his notes on a parallel passage, Grsevius remarks, “ Permutatio est quod nunc barbare cambium dicitur.”—
Epist. ad Atticum, xi. 24. 4 Annals of Commerce, i., 405. 6 Hume’s England, cap. 12.
6 “ Blest paper credit! last and best supply !
That lends corruption lighter wings to fly!
Gold, imp’d by thee, can compass hardest things,
Can pocket states, can fetch or carry kings ;
A single leaf shall waft an army o’er,
Or ship of senates, to some distant shore;
A leaf, like Sibyll’s, scatter to and fro
Our fates and fortunes, as the wind shall blow;
Pregnant with thousands, flits the scrap unseen,
And silent sells a king, or buys a queen.”—Pope.
7 Harris on Coins, part i, p. 108.
EXCHANGE.
443
Exchange. Its extensive commerce, the wealth and punctuality of its
merchants, and their intimate connection with all the other
great trading cities of the world, made Amsterdam, pre¬
viously to the peace of 1763, the chief place where the ac¬
counts of commercial countries were balanced and adjusted.
But the loss of foreign trade, and the other vexations to
which Holland was subjected during the ascendancy of the
French, nearly divested Amsterdam of all share in this
business; and it has not since recovered its former supe¬
riority. London is now the trading metropolis of Europe
and of the world, universi orbis terrarum emporium.. The
vast extent of its commercial dealings necessarily renders it
the great mart for bills of exchange. Its bill-merchants, a
class of men remarkable for their shrewdness, and generally
possessed of large capitals, assist in trimming and adjusting the
balance of debt and credit between the most remote countries.
They buy up bills where they are cheap, and sell them where
they are dear, and, by the extent of their correspondence
and the magnitude of their transactions, give a steadiness
to the exchange to which it could not otherwise attain.
NEGOTIATION OF BILLS OF EXCHANGE.
Negotia- Bills of exchange maybe made payable on demandixhe in-
tion of bills variable term of payment in the case of checks), at sight, at a
°f ex- certain specified time after sight or after date, or at usance,
change. which is the usual term allowed by the custom or law of the
place where the bill is payable. Generally, however, afew days
are allowed for payment beyond the term when the bill be¬
comes due, which are denominated days of grace, and which
vary in different countries. In Great Britain and Ireland, three
days’ grace are allowed on all bills except those payable on
demand, which must be paid as soon as presented. The
following is a statement of the usance and days of grace for
bills drawn upon some of the principal commercial cities :—
\m d. m s. d d. djs. dja. respectively denote tnonths after
date, months after sight, days after date, days after sight,
days after acceptance.^
Amsterdam..
Rotterdam ..
Antwerp 
Hamburg 
Altona 
Dantzic 
Paris* 
Frankfort....
Bremen 
Barcelona ...
Geneva 
Madrid.. 
Cadiz   
Bilboa  
Gibraltar 
Leghorn  
Leipzig 
Genoa 
Venice 
Viennaf  
Malta  
Naples 
Palermo  
Lisbon 
Oporto 
Rio Janeiro
Dublin  
New York..
1 m/d.
1 m/d.
1 m/d.
1 m/d.
‘ 1 m/d.
14 d/a.
30 d/d.
14 d/s.
1 m/d.
60 d/d.
30 d/d.
2 m/s.
60 d/d.
2 m/d.
2 m/s.
3 m/d.
14 d/a.
3 m/d.
3 m/d.
14 d/a.
30 d/d.
3 m/d.
3 m/d.
30 d/s.
30 d/s.
30 d/d.
21 d/s.
60 d/s.
Days of
Grace
0
0
0
12
12
10
0
4
8
14
5
14
6
14
14
0
0
30
6
3
13
3
0
6
6
6
3
3
* In France, days of grace were suppressed by the Code de Com¬
merce, art. 135.
t In Austria, bills payable at sight, or on demand, or at less
than 7 days after sight or date, are not allowed any days of grace.
In Petersburg, bills after date are allowed 10 days’ grace, but
after sight only 3 days’ do.
In the dating of bills, the new style is used in every Exchange,
country of Europe, with the exception of Russia.
In London bills of exchange are bought and sold by
brokers, who go round to the principal merchants and dis¬
cover whether they are buyers or sellers of bills. A few of
the brokers of most influence, after ascertaining the state of
the relative supply and demand for bills, suggest a price at
which the greater part of the transactions of the day are
settled, with such deviations as particular bills, from their
being in very high or low credit, may be subject to. The
price fixed by the brokers is that which is published in Wit-
tenhall’s List; but the first houses generally negotiate their
bills on i, 1, 1|, and 2 per cent, better terms than those
quoted. In London and other great commercial cities a
class of middlemen speculate largely on the rise and fall of
the exchange ; buying bills when they expect a rise, and
selling them when a fall is anticipated.
It is usual, in drawing foreign bills of exchange, to draw
them in sets, or duplicates, lest the first should be lost or
miscarry. When bills are drawn in sets, each must contain
a condition that it shall be payable only while the others re¬
main unpaid: thus, the first is payable only, “ second and
third unpaid the second, “ first and third being unpaid
and the third, “ first and second unpaid.”
All bills of exchange must be drawn upon stamps as
under:—
INLAND BILL OF EXCHANGE, Draft, or Order, for
the Payment to the Bearer, or to Order, at any Time
otherwise than on Demand, of any Bum of Money
Not exceeding L.5
Exceeding.,.L.5 and not exceeding 10
10
25
50
75
100
200
300
400
500
750
1000
1500
2000
3000
4000 and upwards
FOREIGN BILL OF EXCHANGE drawn
payable out of, the U. K.
If drawn singly or otherwise than in a Set of
Three or more, the same duty as on an Inland
Bill of the same Amount and Tenor.
If drawn in Sets of Three or more, for every Bill
of each Set.
Where the Sum payable thereby shall not ex¬
ceed  
And where it shall
exceed,
.25
....50
....75
...100
...200
..300
...400
...500
...750
.1000
.1500
.2000
.3000
.4000
but
L.25
and not ex¬
ceed,
.L.25
.50
50
75
100
200
300
400
500
750
1000
1500
2000
3000
4000
 75
...100
...200
...300
...400
...500
...750
....1000
....1500
....2000
....3000
....4000
s. d.
0 10
0 15
and upwards
0 10
0 13
0 15
FOREIGN BILL OF EXCHANGE drawn out of the U. K., and
payable within the U. K., the same Duty as on an Inland Bill
of the same Amount and Tenor.
FOREIGN BILL OF EXCHANGE drawn out of the U. K., and
payable out of the U. K., but indorsed or negotiated within the
U. K., the same Duty as on a Foreign Bill drawn within the
U. K., and payable out of the U. K.
The Act 17th and 18th Viet., cap. 83, § 3, directs that
444
E X C H
Exchange, the duties on bills of exchange shall be denoted by adhe-
sive stamps, to be furnished by the Commissioners of Inland
Revenue.
Bills of exchange purporting to be drawn at any place
out of the United Kingdom are to be deemed to be foreign
bills, and are to be liable to the stamp-duty on such bills,
though they may, in fact, have been drawn in the United
Kingdom.—§ 4.
The holders of foreign bills, or bills drawn out of the
United Kingdom, are to affix proper adhesive stamps to the
same before negotiating them, under a penalty of L.50.—
§ 5.
No one acquainted with the fundamental rules of arith¬
metic can have any difficulty whatever in estimating how
much a sum of money in one country is worth in another,
according to the state of the exchange at the time. 4 he
common arithmetical books abound in examples of such
computations. But in conducting the business of exchange
a direct remittance is not always preferred. When a mer¬
chant in London, for example, means to discharge a debt
due by him in Paris,* it is his business to ascertain not only
the state of the direct exchange between London and Paris,
and, consequently, the sum which he must pay in London
for a bill on Paris equivalent to his debt, but also the state
of the exchange between London and Hamburg, Hamburg
and Paris, &c.; for it frequently happens that it may be
more advantageous for him to buy a bill on Hamburg, Am¬
sterdam, or Lisbon, and to direct his agent to invest the
proceeds in a bill on Paris, rather than remit directly to the
latter. This is termed the Arbitration of exchange. An
example or two will suffice to show the principle on which
it is conducted.
Thus, if the exchange between London and Amsterdam he 35s.
Flemish (old coinage) per pound sterling, and between Paris and
Amsterdam Is. 6d. Flemish per franc, then, in order to ascertain
whether a direct or indirect remittance to Paris W’ould he most ad¬
vantageous, we must calculate what would he the value of the franc
in English money if the remittance were made through Holland ;
for if it be less than that resulting from the direct exchange, it will
obviously be the preferable mode of remitting. This is determined
by stating, as 35s. Flem. (the Amsterdam currency in a pound ster¬
ling) : Is. 6d. Flem. (Amsterdam currency in a franc) : : L.l : 10d.
the proportional or arbitrated value of the franc.—Hence, if the
English money, or bill of exchange, to pay a debt in Paris, were
remitted by Amsterdam, it would require lOd. to discharge a debt
of a franc, or L.l to discharge a debt of 24 francs: and therefore, if
the exchange between London and Paris were at 24, it would be
inditferent to the English merchant whether he remitted directly
to Paris, or indirectly vid Amsterdam; but if the exchange between
London and Paris were above 24, then a direct remittance would be
preferable ; while, if, on the other hand, the direct exchange were
less than 24, the indirect remittance ought as plainly to be pre¬
ferred.
“ Suppose,” to borrow an example from Kelly (Universal Cambist,
vol. ii., p. 137), “ the exchange of London and Lisbon to be at 68d.
per milree, and that of Lisbon on Madrid 500 rees per dollar, the
arbitrated price between London and Madrid is 34d. sterling per
dollar ; for, as 1000 rees : 68d. :: 500 rees : 34d. But if the direct
exchange of London on Madrid be 35d. sterling per dollar, then
London, by remitting directly to Madrid, must pay 35d. for every
dollar ; whereas, by remitting through Lisbon, he will pay only
34d.: it is therefore the interest of London to remit indirectly to
Madrid through Lisbon. On the other hand, if London draws di¬
rectly on Madrid, he will receive 35d. sterling per dollar; where¬
as, by drawing indirectly through Lisbon, he would receive only
34d.; it is therefore the interest of London to draw directly on
Madrid. Hence the following rules;—
“ 1. Where the certain price is given, draw through the place
which produces the lowest arbitrated price, and remit through that
which produces the highest.
A N G E.
a 2. Where the uncertain price is given, draw through that place
which produces the highest arbitrated price, and remit through that
which produces the lowest.”
In compound arbitration, or when more than three places are
concerned, then, in order to find how much a remittance passing
through them all will amount to in the last place, or, which is the
same thing, to find the arbitrated price between the first and the
last, we have only to repeat the different statements in the same
manner as in the foregoing examples.
Thus, if the exchange between London and Amsterdam be 35s.
Flem. for L.l sterling; between Amsterdam and Lisbon 42d. Flem.
for 1 old crusade; and between Lisbon and Paris 480 rees for 3
francs : what is the arbitrated price between London and Paris ?
In the first place, as 35s. Flem. : L.l:: 42d. Flem. : 2s. sterling
= 1 old crusade.
Second, as 1 old crusade, or 400 rees : 2s. sterling : : 480 rees : 2s.
4'8d. sterling = 3 francs.
Third, as 2s. 4-8d. sterling : 3 francs :: L.l sterling : 25 francs,
the arbitrated price of the pound sterling between London and
Paris.
This operation may be abridged as follows
L.l sterling,
L.l sterling = 35s. Flemish.
3J shillings Flem. = 1 old crusade.
1 old crusade — 400 rees.
480 rees = 3 francs.
Exchange.
„ 35 x 400 x 3 4200 „
Hence   =    = 2o francs.
480 x 3£ 168
This abridged operation evidently consists in aranging the terms
so that those which would form the divisors in continued statements
in the Rule of Three are multiplied together for a common divisor,
and the other terms for a common dividend. The ordinary arith¬
metical books abound with examples of such operations.
The following account of the manner in which a very large trans¬
action was actually conducted by indirect remittances, will suffi¬
ciently illustrate the principles we have been endeavouring to ex¬
plain.
In 1804, Spain was bound to pay to France a large subsidy; and,
in order to do this, three distinct methods presented themselves :—
1. To send dollars to Paris by land.
2. To remit bills of exchange directly to Paris.
3. To authorise Paris to draw directly on Spain.
The first of these methods was tried, but it was found too slow
and expensive; and the second and third plans were considered
likely to turn the exchange against Spain. The following method
by the indirect or circular exchange was therefore adopted.
A merchant or banquier at Paris was appointed to manage the
operation, -which he thus conducted :—He Chose London, Amster¬
dam, Hamburg, Cadiz, Madrid, and Paris, as the principal binges
on which the operation was to turn ; and he engaged correspondents
in each of these cities to support the circulation. Madrid and Cadiz
were the places in Spain from whence remittances were to be made;
and dollars were, of course, to be sent to where they bore the highest
price, for which bills were to be procured on Paris, or on any other
places that might be deemed more advantageous.
The principle being thus established, it only remained to regu¬
late the extent of the operation, so as not to issue too much paper
on Spain, and to give the circulation as much support as possible
from real business. With this view, London was chosen as a place
to which the operation might be chiefly directed, as the price of
dollars was then high in England; a circumstance which rendered
the proportional exchange advantageous to Spain.
The business was commenced at Paris, where the negotiation of
drafts issued on Hamburg and Amsterdam served to answer the
immediate demands of the state; and orders were transmitted to
these places to draw for the reimbursements on London, Madrid, or
Cadiz, according as the course of exchange was most favourable.
The proceedings were all conducted with judgment, and attended
with complete success. At the commencement of the operation,
the course of exchange of Cadiz on London was 36d.; but by the
plan adopted, Spain got39Jd,, or above % per cent, by the remittance
of dollars to London, and considerable advantages were also gained
by the circulation of bills through the several places on the Con¬
tinent.—(Kelly's Cambist, vol. ii., p. 168 ; Dubost's Elements of Com¬
merce, 2d ed., p. 228.)
EXCHANGE.
445
1 ^ m to which the reader is referred for farther explanations.)
Petersburg  100 copecks
Berlin  30 sil. groschen
Copenhagen  96 skillings
Hamburg  16 schillings
Amsterdam  100 centimes
Antwerp   100 centimes
Paris  100 centimes
Frankfort  24^ guld. or flor.
Vienna   60 kreusers
YeniCe    100 centisimi
Genoa   100 centisimi
Leghorn  100 centisimi
Madrid   8 reals
Lisbon  1000 reis
New York  100 cents
Rio Janeiro  1000 reis
Havannah  100 cents
1 rouble
1 Pruss. doll.
1 Rig. doll.
1 mark
1 florin
1 florin
1 franc
1 mark
1 florin
1 lira Austriaca
: 1 lira Nuova
: 1 lira Toscana
: 1 dollar of Plate
: 1 mil reis
: 1 dollar
: 1 milreis
: 1 dollar
= 3s. Ud. giving
= 2s. 10|d. —
= 2s. 2£d. —
= Is. 5 Jd. —
= Is. 8d. —
= Is. 8d. —
= 9Jd. —
r= Is. 7£d. —
= 2s. Of^d. —
— 8-13d. —
= 9£d.
= 7-82d. —
= 3s. Ifd. —
— 4s. 8d. —
= 4s. 2d. •—
= 2s. 7d. —
= 4s. 6AArd. —
Par of Exchange
6 roub. 40 cop. —
6 doll. 27 s. g. =
9 doll. 10 sk. =
13 mks. 10J sch. r:
11 fl. 97 cents =
11 fl. 97 cents =
25 fr. 57 cents =
12/xy guldens =
9 fl. 50 kr.
29 li. 52 cent. =
25 li. 57 cent. =
30 li. 69 cent. =
6 doll. 2f reals =
4 mil. 285 reis =
4 doll. 80 cents =
7 mill. 777 reis
4 doll. 44 cents
L.l
= 1
= 1
rr: 1
= 1
= 1
— 1
— 1
1
= 1
= 1
= 1
1
— 1
= 1
r=: 1
= 1
Law of
bills of
exchange.
It is easy from this table to calculate the value of any of the
above coins, taking silver at 5s. 2d., 5s. 6d. an oz., or any other
price, and thence to deduce the par of exchange at such rates.
LAW OF BILLS OF EXCHANGE.
The chief legal privileges appertaining to bills are, first, that
though only a simple contract, yet they are always presumed to
have°been originally given for a good and valuable consideration;
and, secondly, they are assignable to a third person not named m
the bill or party to the contract, so as to vest in the assignee a right
of action, in his own name; which right of action, no release by tne
drawer to the acceptor, nor set-off or cross demand due from the
former to the latter, can affect. _ .
All persons, whether merchants or not, being legally qualified to
contract, may be parties to a bill. But no action can be supported
against a person incapable of binding himself, on a bill drawn, in¬
dorsed, or accepted by such incapacitated person; at the same time
the bill is good against all other competent parties thereto.^
Bills may be drawn, accepted, or indorsed by the party s agent
or attorney verbally authorized for the purpose. When a person
has such authority, he must either write the name of his principal,
or state in writing that he draws, &c., as agent, thus: “ per pro¬
curation, for A. B.”
W'here one of several partners accepts a bill drawn on the firm,
for himself and partners, or in his own name only, such acceptance
binds the partnership if it concerns the trade. But the acceptance
of'one of several partners on behalf of himself and partners, wil
not bind the others, if it concern the acceptor only in a separate
and distinct interest; and the holder of the bill, at the time he be¬
comes so, was aware of that circumstance. If, however, he be a
bona fide holder for a sufficient consideration, and had no such know¬
ledge at the time he first became possessed of the bill, no subse¬
quently acquired knowledge of the misconduct of the partner in
giving such security will prevent him from recovering on such bills
against all the partners. .
Although no precise form of words is required to constitute a
bill of exchange or promissory note, yet it is necessary that it should
be payable at all events, and not depend on any contingency ; and
that it be made for the payment of money only, and not for pay¬
ment of money and performance of some other act, as the delivery
of a horse, or the like. _ . A , ,
If, however, the event on which the payment is to depend must
inevitably happen, it is of no importance how long the payment may
be in suspense; so a bill is negotiable and valid if drawn payable
six weeks after the death of the drawer’s father, or payable to an
infant when he shall become of age.
Any material alteration of a bill after it has been drawn, ac¬
cepted, or indorsed, such as the date, sum, or time of payment, will
invalidate it; but the mere correction of a mistake, as by inserting
the words “ or order,” wdll have no such effect.
The negotiability of a bill depends on the insertion of sufficient
operative words of transfer; such as by making it payable to A.
or order, or to A. or bearer, or to bearer generally.
Although a bill is presumed to have been originally drawn upon
a good and valuable consideration, yet in certain cases a want of
sufficient consideration may be insisted on in defence to an action
on a bill. Certain considerations have been made illegal by statute;
as for signing a bankrupt’s certificate, for money won at gaming,
or for money lent on a usurious contract. But with respect to
gaming, it is held that a bill founded on a gambling transaction is
good in the hands of a bona fide holder; and by 58th Geo. III., cap.
93, a bill or note in the hands of an innocent holder, although ori¬
ginally founded on a usurious contract, is not invalid.
° In general, if a bill is fair and legal in_ its origin, a subsequent
illegal contract or consideration on the indorsement thereof will
not invalidate it in the hands of a bona fide holder.
A bill cannot be given in evidence in a court of justice, unless it
be duly stamped, not only with a stamp of the proper value, but
also of the proper denomination.
Acceptance of a Bill.—An acceptance is an engagement to pay a
bill according to the tenor of the acceptance, which may be either
absolute or qualified. An absolute acceptance is an engagement to
pay a bill according to its request, which is done by the drawee
writing “Accepted” on the bill, and subscribing his name, or
writino' “Accepted” only; or merely subscribing his name at the
bottom or across the bill. A qualified acceptance is when a bill is
accepted conditionally; as when goods conveyed to the drawee are
sold, or when a navy bill is paid, or other future event which does
not bind the acceptor till the contingency has happened.
An acceptance may be also partial; as to pay L.100 instead of
L.150, or to pay at a different time or place from that required by
the bill. But in all cases of a conditional or partial acceptance,
the holder should, if he mean to resort to the other parties to the
bill in default of payment, give notice to them of such partial or
conditional acceptance.
In all cases of presenting a bill for acceptance, it is necessary to
present the bill at the house where the drawee lives, or where it is
made payable. By 1st and 2d Geo. IV., cap. 78, all bills accepted
payable at a banker’s or other place are to be deemed a^ general
acceptance ; but if they are accepted payable at a banker’s “ only
and not otherwise or elsewhere,it is a qualified acceptance, and
the acceptor is not liable to pay the bill, except in default of pay¬
ment when such payment shall have been first demanded at the
banker’s. The drawee is entitled to keep the bill twenty-four hours
when presented for acceptance. The acceptance of an inland bill
must be in writing on the face of the bill, or if there be more parts
than one, on one of such parts; nothing short of this constitutes a
valid acceptance. .
When a bill is made payable at sight, or at a certain time after
sight, it must, in either case, in order to fix the time w’hen it is to
be paid, be presented for acceptance; and the date of the accept¬
ance should appear thus : “ Accepted, 10th May 1855.”
Due diligence is the only thing to be considered in presenting
any description of bill for acceptance; and such diligence is a
question depending on the situation of the parties, the distance at
which they live, and the facility of communication between them.
When the drawee refuses to accept, any third party, after pro¬
testing, may accept for the honour of the bill generally, or for the
drawee, or for the indorser ; in which case the acceptance is called
an acceptance supra protest.
The drawers and indorsers are discharged from liability, unless
due notice of non-acceptance when presented for acceptance, or
non-payment at the time the bill becomes due, is given. These
notices must be given with all due diligence to all the parties to
whom the holder means to resort for payment. Generally, in both
foreign and inland bills, notice is given next day to the immediate
indorser, and such indorser is allowed a day, when he should give
fresh notice to the parties who are liable to him.
Notice may be sent by the post, however near the residence of
the parties may be to each other ; and though the letter containing
such notice should miscarry, yet it will be sutficient; but the letter
containing the notice should be delivered at the General Post Office,
or at a receiving-house appointed by that office, not to the bellman
446
E X C H
Exchange.
in the street. In all cases of notice, notice to one of several parties
is held to be notice to all; and if one of several drawers be also
the acceptor, it is not necessary to give notice to the other drawers.
Upon the non-acceptance or non-payment of a bill, the holder,
or a public notary for him, should protest it; that is, draw up a
notice of the refusal to accept or pay the bill, and the declaration
of the holder against sustaining loss thereby. Inland bills need
not be protested; in practice they are usually only noted for non-
acceptance ; but this, without the protest, is wholly futile, and adds
nothing whatever to the evidence of the holder, while it entails a
useless expense on those liable to pay.
Indorsement of Bills.—An indorsement is the act by which the
holder of a negotiable instrument transfers his right to another
person, termed the indorsee. It is usually made on the back of a
bill, and must be in writing; but the law has not prescribed any
set form of words as necessary to the ceremony, and in general the
mere signature of the indorser is sufficient.
All bills payable to order or to bearer for L.l and upwards are
negotiable by indorsement; and the transfer of them for a good
consideration before they are payable gives a right of action against
all the precedent parties on the bill, if the bills in themselves are
valid ; but a transfer after they are due will only place the holder
in the situation of the person from whom he takes them.
Bills may be transferred either by delivery only, or by indorse¬
ment and deliverv; bills payable to order are transferred by the
latter mode only'; but bills payable to bearer may be transferred
by either mode. On a transfer by delivery, the person making it
ceases to be a party to the bill; but on a transfer by indorsement,
he is to all intents and purposes chargeable as a new drawer.
A bill originally transferable may be restrained by restrictive
words; for the payee or indorsee, having the absolute property in
the bill, may, by express words, restrict its currency, by indorsing
it “ Payable^ to A. B. only,” or “ to A. B. for his use,” or any other
words clearly demonstrating his intention to make a restrictive and
limited indorsement. Such special indorsement precludes the per¬
son in whose favour it is made from making a transfer, so as to
give a right of action against the special indorser, or any of the
precedent parties to the bill.
In taking bills to account or discount, it is important well to ex¬
amine all special indorsements. Lord Tenterden decided that a
person who discounts a bill indorsed “ Pay to A. B. or order for my
use,” discounts it subject to the risk of having to pay the money to
the special indorser, whoso limited the application/or my use; thus
a party may be liable to pay the amount of the bill twice over, un¬
less he previously ascertains that the payment has been made con¬
formably to the import of the indorsement.
After the payment of part, a bill may be indorsed over for the
residue.
Presentment for Payment.—The holder of a bill must be careful to
present it for payment at the time when due, or the drawer and in¬
dorsers will be exonerated from their liability; even the bankruptcy,
insolvency, or death of the acceptor, will not excuse a neglect to
make presentment to the assignees or executor; nor will the insuffi¬
ciency of a bill in any respect constitute an excuse for non-present¬
ment: the presentment should be made at a reasonable time of the
day when the bill is due ; and if by the known custom of any trade
or place bills are payable only within particular hours, a present¬
ment must be within those hours. If a bill has a qualified accept¬
ance, the presentment should be at the place mentioned in such
qualified acceptance, or all the parties will be discharged from their
obligations.
If a bill fall due on Sunday, Good Friday, Christmas Day, or any
public fast or thanksgiving day, the presentment must be on the day
preceding these holidays. By 7th and 8th Geo. IV., cap. 15, if a
bill or note be payable on the day preceding these holidays, notice
of the dishonour may be given the day following the holiday; and
if Christmas Day fall on Monday, notice may be given on Tuesday.
Bills, however, payable at usance, or at a certain time after date
or sight, or after demand, ought not to be presented for payment
precisely at the expiration of the time mentioned in the bills, but
at the expiration of what are termed days of grace. The days of
grace allowed vary in different countries, and ought always to be
computed according to the usage of the place where the bill is due.
In some countries, as in France, they have been abolished. At
Hamburg, the day on which the bill falls due makes one of the days
of grace; but nowhere else.
On bills payable on demand, or when no time of payment is ex¬
pressed, no days of grace are allowed; but they are payable in¬
stantly on presentment. On bank post bills no days of grace are
claimed ; but on bills payable at sight the usual days of grace are
allowed from the sight or demand, as notified by the date of the ac¬
ceptance.
1 ayment of a bill should be made only to the holder; and it may
be refused unless the bill be produced and delivered up. On pay-
A N G E.
ment, a receipt should be written on the back; and when a part is Exchange,
paid, the same should be acknowledged upon the bill, or the party
paying may be liable to pay the amount a second time to a bona
fide indorser.
Promissory Notes and Checks.—The chief distinction between pro¬
missory notes and bills of exchange is, that the former are a direct
engagement by the drawer to pay them according to their tenor,
without the intervention of a third party as a drawee or acceptor.
Promissory notes may be drawn payable on demand to a person
named therein, or to order, or to bearer generally. They are as¬
signable and indorsable; and in all respects so nearly assimilated
to bills, that the law's which have been stated as bearing upon the
latter may be generally understood as applicable to the former.
It has been decided, in case an instrument is drawn so equivocally
as to render it uncertain whether it be a bill of exchange or pro¬
missory note, the holder may treat it as either against the drawer.
The issue of any promissory note payable to bearer on demand
for a less sum than L.5 by the Bank of England, or any licensed
English banker, is prohibited; and by 9th Geo. IV., cap. 65, it is
provided, that no corporation or person shall utter or negotiate, in
England, any such note which has been made or issued in Scotland,
Ireland, or elsewhere, under a penalty not exceeding L.20 nor less
than L.5. But this does not extend to any draft or order on bankers
for the use of the drawer.
A check or draft is as negotiable as a bill of exchange, and vests
in the assignee the same right of action against the assignor. If
not presented wdthin a reasonable time, payment may be refused.
Unstamped drafts or orders for any sum of money payable to
bearer on demand, may be drawm upon bankers, or persons acting
as such, provided the place where they transact business, or w'here
the drafts or orders are to be paid, be within 15 miles of the place
where they are issued. But all such drafts or orders when remitted
or sent to any greater distance than 15 miles from their place of
issue, must be duly stamped under a penalty of L.50 (17th and 18th
Viet., cap. 83, sect. 6).
Any person making, accepting, or paying any bill, draft, order,
or promissory note, not duly stamped, is liable to a penalty of L.50 ;
for post-dating them, L.100; and for not truly specifying the place
where unstamped drafts are issued, L.100 ; and any person know¬
ingly receiving such unstamped draft, L.20; and the banker know¬
ingly paying it, L.100; besides not being allowed such sum in ac¬
count.
It used to be of especial importance to bankers and others taking
bills and notes, that they should not only be aware of the responsi¬
bility of the acceptors and other parties to such bills and notes, but
that they should have some knowledge of those from whom they re¬
ceived them ; for, if the instrument turned out to have been lost or
fraudulently obtained, they might be deprived of their security, on
an action by the owner to recover possession. Lord Tenterden de¬
cided, “ if a person take a bill, note, or any other kind of security,
under circumstances which ought to excite suspicion in the mind
of any reasonable man acquainted with the ordinary affairs of life,
and which ought to put him on his guard to make the necessary
inquiries, and he do not, then he loses the right of maintaining pos¬
session of the instrument against the rightful owner.” — (Guildhall,
Oct. 25, 1826.) But it has since been decided, in contravention of
this doctrine, that the claim of the bona fide holder of a bill cr note
that has been lost or stolen is not invalidated by the want of the
suspicions or inquiries referred to by Lord Tenterden, or even by
gross negligence; and that to defeat the holder’s claim it must be
shown that he took the instrument mala fide.—(Chitty on Bills, 9th
ed. p. 257.) This is not only an important, but, as we think, a
sound decision : it facilitates the negotiation of bills, and clears up
and gives precision to the law.
Before concluding this article on mercantile paper, it may not be
improper to introduce one or two cautions with regard to accept¬
ances, and accommodation paper, and proceedings in case of the
loss of bills.
First, A man should not put his name as acceptor to a bill of ex¬
change without well considering whether he has the means of pay¬
ing the same when due, as otherwise he may be liable not only to
the costs of the action against himself, but also to the costs of the
action against the other parties to the bill: the shrewd tradesman
is genei'ally anxious to get the acceptance of his debtor at a short
date, well knowing that it not only fixes the amount of the debt,
but is more speedily recoverable by legal procedure than a book
debt.
Secondly, Traders who wish to support their respectability, and
desire to succeed in business, should be cautious in resorting to what
is called the system of cross-accommodation acceptances : it seldom
ends well, and usually excites suspicion as to the integrity of the
parties; it being an expedient often adopted by swindlers to de¬
fraud the public. Independent of the expense in stamps and dis¬
counts, and frequently in noting, interest, and law expenses, the
E X C
Exchange danger attending such accommodation is sufficient to deter from the
|| practice. Suppose, for instance, A. and B. mutually accommodate
Exchequer, each other to the amount of L.1000, the acceptances being in the
■v j hands of third persons; both A. and B. are liable to such third
vpersons to the extent of L.2000 each ; and should A. by any unfor-
seen occurrence be suddenly rendered unable to meet his accept¬
ances, the holders of the whole, as well the acceptances of A. as the
acceptances of B., will resort to B. for payment; and it may so hap-
E X C
447
pen, that although B. could have provided for his own share~of the Exchequer,
accommodation paper, he may be unable to provide for the .vhole, v |t_ >
and may thus become insolvent.
Lastly, In case of the loss of a bill, the 9th and 10th Will. III., cap.
17, provides, that if any inland bill be lost or missing within the
time limited for its payment, the drawer shall, on sufficient security
given to indemnify him if such bill be found again give another
bill of the same tenor with the first. (J. R. M.)
Exchange also signifies a place in most considerable
trading cities where merchants, agents, bankers, brokers,
interpreters, and other persons concerned in commerce,
assemble on certain days, at a fixed hour, to confer together
in regard to matters relating to exchanges, remittances,
payments, assurances, freights, &c. In Flanders, Holland,
and France, these places are called Bourses, or Places de
Change; and in the Hanse Towns, Borsenhalle. The most
considerable exchanges in Europe are those of London,
Paris, and Amsterdam.
The ancient Romans had places for merchants to meet
in most of the considerable cities of their empire. That
which is said to have been built at Rome in the year b.c.
493 was called Collegium Mercatorum, of which it is al¬
leged there are still some remains, called by the modern
Romans Loggia, the Lodge, or place of St George.
EXCHEQUER BILLS are bills of credit issued by au¬
thority of parliament. They are for various sums, and bear
interest (generally from l^d. to 2|-d. per diem, per L.100) ac¬
cording to the usual rate at the time. The advances of the
Bank to government are made upon Exchequer bills; and
the daily transctions between the Bank and government are
principally carried on through their intervention. Notice
of the time at which outstanding Exchequer bills are to be
paid off is given by public advertisement. Bankers prefer
vesting in Exchequer bills to any other species of stock,
even though the interest be for the most part comparatively
low ; because the capital may be received at the treasury at
the rate originally paid for it, the holders being exempted
from any risk of fluctuation, except in the amount of the
premium or discount at which they may have bought the
bills. Exchequer bills were first issued in 1696, and have
been annually issued ever since. The subjoined is an ac¬
count of the unfunded debt in Exchequer bills, and of the
annual charge thereon, on the 5th of January 1817, and on
the 5th of January in every subsequent year down to 1855.
Years
ending
Jan. 5.
1817
1818
1819
1820
1821
1822
1823
1824
1825
1826
1827
1828
1829
1830
1831
1832
1833
1834
1835
1836
1837
1838
Amount of Ex¬
chequer Bills.
1 Rate of Interest per Diem.
L.
44,650,300
56.729.400
43.208.400
36.303.200
30.965.900
31.566.550
36,281,150
34,741,750
32,398,450
27.994.200
24.565.350
27,546,850
27,657,000
25.490.550
27,271,650
27.133.350
27,278,000
27.906.900
28.521.550
28,976,600
28,976,000
24,044,550
3d. Nov.
2£d. Feb.
2d. Oct.
22, 1816
24, 1817
11, 1817
IJd
2d.
If d
l^d
June 24, 1824
Dec. 19, 1825
Sept. 30, 1829
Dec. 18,. 1829
2d. Sept. 29, 1836
2|d. Nov. 21, 1836
2d. Dec. 14, 1837
Charge of
Interest per
Annum.
L.
2,173,927
1,891,315
2,026,450
847,091
1,529,181
2,009,311
1,309,409
1,111,220
1,086,015
820,000
770,000
802,186
860,475
806,076
726,465
604,365
577,320
723,596
635,417
688,701
692,095
871,309
Years
ending
Jan. 5.
1839
1840
1841
1842
1843
1844
1845
1846
1847
1848
1849
1850
1851
1852
1853
1854
1855
Amount of Ex¬
chequer Bills.
L.
24,026,050
19,965,050
21,076,350
18,343,850
18,182,100
18,407,300
18.404.500
18,380,200
18.310.700
17.946.500
17.786.700
17.758.700
17,756,600
17,742,800
17.742.500
16,029,600
17,183,000
Rate of Interest per Diem.
Ifd. March 18,
2£d. March 16,
2d. June 15,
Ifd. March 17,
IJd. June 16,
f 2d. March 16,
| 3d. June 16,
j 2£d. March 16,
j 2d. June 15
IJd. March 15,
Ifd. June 10,
( Id. March 10,
[ 2d. Oct.
June
2fd.
11,
12,
1839
1840
1842
1843
1843
1847
1848
1849
1852
1853
1853
1854
Charge of
Interest per
Annum.
L.
641,370
788,707
559,130
797,046
631,601
594,051
462,363
422,654
419,393
433,348
787,381
605,124
402,790
403,476
402,852
368,414
348,513
Thu interest paid within each year is given in the column of charge, which interest has accrued upon the capital stated in
the preceding year.
The interest upon the L.16,029,600, and upon L.1,750,000 of hills issued in April 1854, will be paid in 1855.
The interest upon the L.17,183,000, will not be payable till 1856, i. e., year ending January 5, 1857.
In 1853 Exchequer bonds were issued bearing interest at
2f per cent, for ten years, and thereafter 2^ per cent, for
thirty years, or till 1894, to such holders of South Sea, and
3 per cent, stock as chose to accept the same, a bond for
L.100 being given for every L.100 stock subscribed (16th
and 17th Viet,, cap. 23). But only a very small sum
(L.5000) has been invested in such bonds. (j.r. m.)
EXCHEQUER, Court of, an ancient court of re¬
cord, so called from the chequed cloth, resembling a chess
board, which covered the table. This court was derived
from the Normans, and was at first intended principally to
order the revenues of the Crown, and to recover the king’s
debts and duties. The judges were styled Barones
Scaccarii, and the court was anciently held in the king’s
palace. The common-law part of their jurisdiction was
acquired by usurpation, as at first it was merely for the
benefit of the king’s accountants, but afterwards a legal
fiction obtained whereby the plaintiff suggested he was the
king’s debtor, quominus sufficiens existit: by which he was
less able to pay the king his debt. This suggestion not
being controverted, the court became an ordinary court of
justice between subject and subject, and at length by the
Uniformity of Process Act, 2d Will. IV., cap. 39, a direct
and proper jurisdiction was given without resorting to the
legal fiction. There are two divisions of the court—the
receipt of the Exchequer, managing the royal revenues,
448
Exchequer
Chamber
II
Excise.
E X C
and the judicial part of the court. Formerly the court of
exchequer had power and jurisdiction as a court ot equity,
but the act 5th Viet., cap. 5, transferred this power to the
court of chancery. . , „
As a court of revenue it ascertains and enforces the
rights of the crown against subjects, and as a court o
common law it takes cognizance of all personal actions like
the other courts, with the exception of a few species of real
actions. There are at present five judges, the lord chiel
baron and four puisne barons. An appeal lies from the
decision of this court to the court of exchequer chamber
The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the treasurer, and
holds the seal of the court.
EXCHEQUER CHAMBER, Court of, was erected
in England by the 31st Edw. Ill, cap. 12 to determine
causes on writs of error from the common-law side of the
court of exchequer, and consisted of the lord chancellor,
the lord treasurer, and the justices of the kings bench
and common pleas. By the 27th Eliz., cap. 8, a second
court was established, consisting of the justices of the
common pleas and the barons of the exchequei, to detei-
mine appeals from the king’s bench. A new arrangement
was made by the 11th Geo. IV, and 1 Will. IV, cap. /0,
§ 8, whereby the judgments of each of the superioi common-
law courts are subject to revision by the judges of the other
two sitting as a court of error in the exchequei chamber.
An appeal lies from this court to the House of Lords.
Exchequer, in Scotland. See Scotland.
EXCISE (most probably from the Latin excidere, to
cut off), a term used in finance to signify a duty charged
in a country upon articles produced in it before they are
permitted to get into the possession of the public.
Some articles are much better suited than others for
being subjected to excise duties. But they have been
imposed on a great variety of articles, and have, for a
lengthened period, furnished a large portion ot the public
revenue of most European countries,
Excise duties have, indeed, existed in one form or other
in all modern, and perhaps also in all ancient, states. They
were introduced into Rome by Augustus, who imposed a
duty of one per cent, (centesima rerum venalium) on all
articles, whether great or small, sold in public markets or
by auction. Though extremely moderate, a duty of (his
sort could not fail, from the difficulties in the way of its
assessment, its interference with the dealings of individuals,
and the abuses to which it must have led, to occasion cla¬
mour and discontent. And these in no long time became
so very prevalent, that Tiberius was obliged to declare
that the maintenance of the army, for the support of which
this tax had been appropriated, depended on its being con¬
tinued. (Taciti Annal., lib. i, § 78.) In the sequel it
underwent various changes. It appears to be sufficiently
well established that it applied only to Rome, and, perhaps,
to some few of the other great towns. In the smaller
towns its produce would not indeed have sufficed to defray
the cost of its collection. It, therefore, had at bottom a
good deal in common with the octrois or town duties
charged on commodities coming into Paris and other great
continental cities. But the defective mode of its assess^
ment must have made it infinitely more troublesome and
onerous. (Gibbon, Decline and Fall, i. 211, ed. 1838 ;
Bureau de la Malle, Economic Politique des Romains,
ii. 459, &c.)
It is said that the first attempt to introduce excise duties
into England was made in 1626 by a commission under
the Great Seal. But parliament having remonstrated
against the measure, the commission was cancelled. This
description of duties had, however, been previously esta¬
blished in Holland, and the large revenue which they
afforded pointed them out to the leaders of the popular
party in the great civil war as the most likely means by
E X C
which they could raise funds to carry on the arduous con¬
test in which they had embarked. They were, conse- "
quently, introduced by a parliamentary ordinance issued in
1643, which imposed duties on ale, beer, cider, and perry,
and on the makers and venders thereof. The Royalists
soon after followed the example set by the Republicans;
though, as the duties were from the outset exceedingly
unpopular, both parties took especial care to ascribe their
introduction to necessity, and to pledge themselves to their
abolition at the close of the war. But they were soon
found to be far too productive to be voluntarily abandoned ;
and after the nation had been accustomed to them for a few
years, and they had been considerably increased, parliament
ilid not hesitate to declare in 1649 that “the impost of
excise was the most easy and indifferent levy that could be
laid upon the people.” (Blackstone, book i., cap. 8.) And
it is worthy of remark that the regulations embodied in
Cromwell’s Excise Act of 1657, authorizing officers to make
searches, and directing the giving of notices, &c., are very
similar to those now in force.
The same reasons that made the excise be continued
down to the Restoration, secured its existence subsequently
to that epoch. A portion of its produce was, at the same
time, assigned in perpetuity to the crown, in compensation
for its relinquishing the hereditary revenues arising from
wardships and other feudal prerogatives which were then
abolished. And, notwithstanding Blackstone says that,
“ from its first original to the present time, its very name has
been odious to the people of England” (Com. ubi supra),
it has continued progressively to gain ground; and has, for
a lengthened series of years, furnished a large portion of
the public revenue.
It is probable that the prejudice to which Blackstone
alludes did not originate so much in any dislike to the
duties themselves as in the peculiar circumstances con¬
nected with their imposition. Originally they were let in
farm, which is always a most unpopular proceeding. And
down to a recent period there was hardly a single duty the
assessment of which was not made the subject of numerous
lengthened, obscure, and contradictory statutes, so that it
was hardly possible for any trader, however desirous to
comply with the law, to avoid getting into serious scrapes.
The duties being frequently, also, carried to an oppressive
extent, smuggling was practised ; and when a party was
prosecuted, whether for an intentional or unintentional in¬
fraction of the law, or for attempting to defraud the revenue,
the case might be laid before judges (without the interven¬
tion of a jury) in whose decision the public had little con¬
fidence. No wonder, therefore, that the excise should
have been unpopular. But the obnoxious practice of
letting the duties to farmers has been long abandoned, and
of late years the laws and regulations connected with their
assessment have been much simplified. In this respect,
indeed, nothing should be omitted to render the rules lor
assessing the duties brief, level to the comprehension of
every one, and calculated to interfere as little as possible
with the details and processes of manufacture. And, sup¬
posing their assessment to be sufficiently simplified, and
that they are of a reasonable amount, but little objection
can be made to the duties because of the summary juris¬
diction exercised by the commissioners and justices. On
the contrary, this practice has some material advantages.
When parties are prosecuted in the court of exchequer
for offences against the revenue, their case is, of course,
submitted to a jury. But in this court, as in others, delays
frequently take place, and the expenses are always very consi¬
derable ; whereas, in cases of summary jurisdiction, or those
adjudged by the commissioners and justices, there is little
or no delay, and little or no expense. And, considering
that all parties who fancy themselves aggrieved by the
decision of the commissioners are entitled (4th Viet., cap.
Excise,
E X C
Exclusion 20, sec. 26), to appeal at a very trifling cost to a baron of
II exchequer, who rejudges the case; while those who sup-
Excommu- p0ge themselves aggrieved by a sentence of the justices
** ' may appeal to the quarter-sessions (7th and 8th Geo. IV.,
"" cap. 53, sec. 82), there really appears to be more to approve
than to object to in the summary jurisdiction.
The excise duties formerly imposed on salt, leather,
candles, beer, glass, and other less important articles, have
been repealed within these few years. And we doubt
whether there be one of the existing duties which can be
fairly objected toon principle, or for its injuriously interfer¬
ing with the manufacture, or being too high. Whatever
may have been the case formerly, the excise is now fully
entitled to the eulogium passed upon it by Arthur Young,
“ Excises are by much the fairest, most equal, and least
burdensome of all taxes. They are paid voluntarily. Not
a shilling is contributed but in proportion to the free con¬
sumption. The Dutch, who have been deservedly esteemed
the wisest nation in Europe in all matters of taxation, have
been enabled to preserve their industry under burdens of
which we have no experience and scarcely any conception,
principally by their having adopted this mode of taxation”
{Political Arithmetic, part ii., p. 46). For farther informa¬
tion in regard to the excise duties, see art. Taxation in
this work. (j• R*M-)
EXCLUSION, Bill of, in English history, a bill pro¬
posed towards the close of the reign of Charles II., for
excluding his brother, the Duke of York, from the throne,
on account of his being a Papist.
EXCOMMUNICATION, an ecclesiastical censure, by
which, till it be removed, a person is excluded from com¬
munion with his church. It is founded on the natural
right which all societies have to exclude from their body
such as contravene the established laws. Hence this power
has been exercised wherever societies have existed—secu¬
lar, spiritual, literary, &c. It was in use among the Jews,
who, in certain cases, excluded persons from communion
in the benefits of religious worship with the people. Ex-
communication, or the act of excluding from a participa¬
tion in the mysteries of religion, was also in use under
Paganism. Persons thus excommunicated were prohibited
from assisting at or attending the sacrifices, or entering the
temples, and were solemnly given over to the infernal deities
with certain imprecations. This was called by the Romans
diris devovere. Among the ancient Britons and Gauls the
Druids likewise made use of excommunication against
rebels, and interdicted from the communion of their myste¬
ries such as refused to acquiesce in their decisions. Among
the early Christians excommunication was instituted for the
purpose of preserving the purity of the church, and enforc¬
ing its discipline. It was originally exercised by the whole
community, but afterwards the right to excommunicate
was confined to the bishops. This formidable power, how¬
ever, soon came to be wielded with little discretion, and
eventually ambitious ecclesiastics converted it into an engine
for aggrandizing themselves, frequently inflicting it on the
most frivolous pretences. In the Roman Church, since the
time of Pope Gregory IX., there have existed two kinds or
rather degrees of excommunication—the greater and the
less. By the former, parties are deprived of the sacraments
and benefit of divine offices, of the society and conversation
of the faithful, and are denied Christian burial. In the
case of an excommunicated sovereign, subjects were ab¬
solved from their allegiance, or even forbidden to obey
him; though many ecclesiastical writers in later times
maintained that the excommunication of a prince ought
not to have any influence on matters of political adminis¬
tration—a condition no less necessary than convenient,
when the relations between princes and people had assumed
a character very different from what they had been during
the middle ages. In those times of ignorance and super-
YOL. IX.
E X C 449
stition, the Pope reigned supreme over the consciences Excubi®.
of men; and if he thought fit to excommunicate a city, 'n—
province, or country, the consequences were felt as a cala¬
mity of the heaviest kind. All religious services ceased;
there was no regular burial, no ringing of the bells, &c., and
relics and crucifixes lost their supposed efficacy. Of such
excommunication or interdicts (as these are called when
issued against a whole country), the first was that which
Gregory V. pronounced against France, in the year 998,
because King Robert refused to put away his lawful wife;
and such were its consequences that the king was at last
compelled to yield. But still more memorable is that issued
against England by Innocent III., because King John
refused to pay the tribute called Peter’s-pence, and to
acknowledge the Pope’s right of nominating to the English
bishoprics. In the end, however, John was obliged to
yield, and received back his kingdom as a Papal fief. The
excommunication of Henry VIII., too, is famous in history.
No country has suffered so severely from interdicts as
Germany, revolutions having frequently been the conse¬
quence of excommunications issued against the emperors.
The latest instance of the excommunication of a sovereign,
was that of Napoleon by Pius VII. in 1809. The Ro¬
manists use the phrase fulminating an excommunication,
to signify the solemn denunciation after several admonitions;
and the excommunication thus pronounced is called anathe¬
ma. The ceremonies attending these fulminations are of a
terrible character, and appear to have been first used in the
eleventh century. The less excommunication only excluded
from a participation in the sacraments and divine worship,
and this is the sense in which the term is commonly used.
This sentence is passed by judges ecclesiastical on such per¬
sons as are guilty of obstinacy or disobedience in not ap¬
pearing upon a citation, or not submitting to penance or
other injunctions of the court.
Excommunication, as a means of punishment, was intro¬
duced at an early period into England; and the English
Church retains a form of excommunication in cases of
adultery, heresy, simony, neglect of public worship, &c.,
but the use of it is now almost obsolete. Blackstone remarks
that “ heavy as the penalty of excommunication is, consi¬
dered in a serious light, there are notwithstanding many
obstinate or profligate men who would despise the brutum
fulmen of mere ecclesiastical censures, especially when
pronounced by a petty surrogate in the country, for railing
or contumacious words, for non-payment of fees or costs,
or other trivial causes. The common law, therefore, com¬
passionately steps in to the aid of the ecclesiastical jurisdic¬
tion, and kindly lends a supporting hand to an otherwise
tottering authority. This was done by the writ called de
excommunicato capiendo ; but by act 53d Geo. Ill,, cap. 127,
“ no person who shall be pronounced or declared excom¬
municate (pursuant to the second clause of this statute)
shall incur any civil penalty or incapacity in consequence
of such excommunication, save such imprisonment, not
exceeding six months, as the court pronouncing or declar¬
ing such person excommunicate shall direct.” By the same
act, a writ de contumace capiendo, which in effect is the
same as the old writ de excommunicato capiendo, shall issue
in all cases in ecclesiastical courts when a person shall re¬
fuse to appear, when cited by such court, or refuse to obey
its decree, except in certain cases, as spiritual censures for
offences of ecclesiastical cognizance.
EXCUBI^E, in Roman Antiquity, denotes the watches
in the camp, whether by day dr night. The term vigili(ey
again, was restricted to the night-watches. Excubice and
vigilice were also applied respectively to the individuals who
performed such duty. The guards placed before the gates
were properly called stationes ; and those on the ramparts
custodies. If a sentinel deserted his post he was punished
with death. See Army, § Roman Army.
3 L
450
EXE
Excusati
EXCUSATI, in Ecclesiastical History, a term used to
„ denote slaves who, having fled to any church for sanctuary,
Execution. were excused and pardoned by their masters ; but the
iatter Were obliged to take an oath to this effect before they
could recover the fugitives ; and if they broke it, they were
punished and fined for perjury.
EXECRATION (ex and sacer), malediction ; impreca¬
tion of evil. Among the ancient Jews, Greeks, Romans,
and some other nations, it was customary to pronounce im¬
precations upon their enemies for the purpose of calling
down the divine wrath, branding them with infamy, and ex¬
citing against them the passions of the multitude. By such
means they also devoted their enemies to the ruin they con¬
sidered them to deserve. Thus the Athenians proceeded
against Philip of Macedon. They convened an assembly,
in which it was decreed that all statues, inscriptions, or fes¬
tivals in any way relating to him or his ancestors, should be
destroyed, and every other possible reminiscence of him be
profaned; and the priests, as often as they prayed for the
success of the Athenian affairs, should pray for the ruin of
Philip. It was also customary, after having destroyed cities
in war, the revival of whose strength was dreaded, to pro¬
nounce execrations against those who should rebuild them.
Execrations were sometimes pronounced upon cities be¬
fore undertaking a siege, and before engaging with ene¬
mies in battle. Tacitus relates (Annal., xiv. 29), that the
priestesses of ancient Britain devoted their Roman in¬
vaders to destruction, with imprecations, ceremonies, and
attitudes, which for a time overwhelmed the soldiers with
terror.
EXECUTION, in a general sense, denotes perform¬
ance or accomplishment. In law it signifies the putting
the sentence of the law in force after the decision of
a suit. This is done at common law by the following
writs:—
1. By capias ad satisfaciendum, which is to imprison
the body of the debtor until satisfaction be made for the
debt or damages and costs. This writ does not lie against
privileged persons, peers or members of parliament, nor can
it be executed on a Sunday ; and since the 7th and 8th
Viet., cap. 96, sect. 58, it can only issue where the debt is
above L.20. The debtor, when taken under this process,
must remain in custody until he settles the debt or is other¬
wise lawfully discharged as an insolvent.
2. By fieri facias, which issues against the goods and
chattels of the debtor, and lies against all persons without
exception. There are certain restrictions and enactments
as to the things liable to be seized, imposed by the several
statutes of 8th Anne, cap. 14, 56th Geo. Ill, cap. 50, 1st
and 2d Viet., cap. 110, sect. 12, and 14th and 15th Viet.,
cap. 25, sect. 2. Under these statutes, the landlord is first
entitled to a year’s rent ; and the removal of hay, &c., is in
certain cases excepted. This process may, since the 15th
and 16th Viet., cap. 76, sect. 120, and rule 57 of Hilary
Term 1853, issue within 14 days after trial unless the judge
shall otherwise order. And under the 7th Geo. IV., cap.
46, sect, 13, the execution on any judgment against the
public officer of any joint-stock bank may issue against any
member for the time being, and if ineffectual, against any
person who was a member at or before the time of the
contract or judgment obtained, provided he has not ceased
to be a member for three years.
3. By levari facias, which commands the sheriff to levy
the debt on the land. This writ is now chiefly used against
ecclesiastics, under which the bishop enters into the bene¬
fice and sequesters the same until the amount of the debt
is levied.
4. By elegit, which was given by the 13th Edw. I., cap.
18, and has since been extended by the 1st and 2d Viet.,
cap. 110. Under this writ, the sheriff delivers execution of
all the debtor’s lands, tenements, and hereditaments; and
E X E
it is of so high a nature, that after its issue the defendant’s Execution
body cannot be taken, although after a. fieri facias the body ExJutor
mav be so taken. v , j
In the County Courts, execution against the goods of a ^
defendant is regulated by the 9th and 10th Viet., cap. 95,
sect. 94; and that against the person by sect. 98.
In Chancery, this writ formerly issued to compel obe¬
dience to a decree or order, but it was abolished by the 10th
general order of April 11, 1842, and mere service of the
decree or order was substituted.
The last stage in criminal proceedings is also called exe¬
cution—the completion of human punishment. This in all
cases must be performed by the sheriff or his deputy within
a convenient time, which before the 6th and 7th Will. IV.,
cap. 30, wras on the day next but one after the sentence,
unless it fell on a Sunday, and in that case on the Monday
following. The universal mode in England is now that the
prisoner be hanged by the neck till dead.
Improved legislation, together with the advance of civi¬
lisation, have done much to diminish the frequency of this
extreme penalty of the law; and a strong public feeling
now exists in favour of its total abolition. During the three
years ending with 1820, the number of executions in Eng¬
land and Wales was 312 ; in the three years ending 1830
the number had decreased to 178; and in the three years
ending 1840, to 62. The total number of executions in the
United Kingdom in 1850 was only 16, of which eight took
place in Ireland.
EXECUTIVE, in the theory of government, a term
used in co-relation to legislative awl judicial. The powers
that enact law's are the legislatives those that apply them
in particular cases are the judicial; those that carry them
into effect and superintend their practical operation are the
executive. In England, the executive is, by the constitu¬
tion, supposed to be vested in the king and such inferior
officers as he may appoint.
EXECUTOR, in Law, is one to whom is committed the
duty of administering the moveable estate of a deceased
person for the behoof of all concerned therein. In Scots
law, executors are either nominate, i.e., appointed by will,
or dative, i.e., appointed by the court. In English law', the
term executor properly belongs only to the former of these,
the latter being called administrators. Executors-dative
and administrators are appointed when none have been no¬
minated by will, or when those so nominated refuse to act.
They differ from executors-nominate chiefly in the manner
of their appointment; their duties are in general the same.
The right to nomination as executors-dative or administra¬
tors is, generally speaking, in the order of interest in the
moveable estate of the deceased. In Scots law, persons
entitled to the estate by a general settlement have a right
to be appointed before others; failing them, the next of
kin are preferred; failing them, the widow; failing her,
creditors,—and failing them, legatees. In English law, the
widow' or the next of kin or both of them may be ap¬
pointed ; failing them, creditors; and failing them, the Or¬
dinary may appoint whomsoever he may think proper. In
practice, however, it is usual when the executor refuses to
act, to grant administration to the residuary legatee, that is,
the person entitled by will to the remainder of the personal
property after payment of the debts and legacies. An exe¬
cutor may refuse to act, but having once acted he cannot
divest himself of the office or its responsibilities. He has
to prove the will before the proper court, and to exhibit on
oath an inventory of the whole moveable estate of the de¬
ceased on a stamp corresponding to the value of the estate ;
on which he obtains a title to act, called in England a pro¬
bate, in Scotland a confirmation. Before obtaining this title
he may take possession of the moveables, pay and receive
debts, and do other acts in execution of the will, but can¬
not become a party in any suit either as pursuer or defen-
Executry
II
Exeter.
E X E
der. The other duties of an executor are the burial of
the deceased in a suitable manner, the collecting of his goods
and chattels, and the recovery of such as are withheld, the
payment of his just and lawful debts, deathbed and funeral
expenses, and expenses of administration, and the disposal
of the residue as by will or by law directed.
The office of executor is one of great trust and responsi¬
bility. As representative of the deceased, he has the same
property in his goods as the principal had when living, and
the same remedies to recover them. He is at the same time
a trustee for behoof of the creditors, legatees, and next of
kin of the deceased; and accordingly acts inferring fraud or
negligence are treated with great severity. Executors-da-
tive and administrators are required to find security for the
faithful execution of their trust to an amount not exceeding
the amount of the inventory. An executor is liable for the
debts of the deceased only to the amount of the inventory,
but if he intromit with the funds or moveables so as to lead
to a suspicion of fraud, or so as to leave no means of ascer¬
taining its extent, he is liable for all the debts of the de¬
ceased ; and strangers intromitting in the same manner,
incur the like liability. If he pay sums not due by the de¬
ceased, he will be personally liable for the amount to the
persons interested, unless such are paid upon decrees. He
is also held liable for any loss occasioned to the estate through
negligence. The duties of an executor are of so varied and
complicated a nature that any general directions must ne¬
cessarily be imperfect and might tend to mislead; and there¬
fore the only safe course in all cases of doubt, is to consult
a legal adviser.
EXECUTRY, in Scots Law, the moveable estate fall¬
ing to the executor. Under executry or moveables is com¬
prehended everything that can be moved.
EXEDRA, or ExHEDKA.(€£andeSpa,a se«f),in ancient ar¬
chitecture, a chamber furnished with seats, and opening into
a portico, where the philosophers and rhetoricians lectured
and held their disputations; or a vestibule in a private
house, where people met to enjoy conversation. At Rome
this term was applied to any hall or saloon for conversing
or disputing in; especially the hall in Pompey’s theatre,
where the senate met.
In medieval architecture it is sometimes applied to the
porch of a church, especially to the Galilee or western
porch ; and sometimes the apsis was similarly designated.
EXEGESIS, a Greek word signifying explanation, and
used principally in theology to denote a discourse by way of
exposition or comment upon a scriptural passage. It is
nearly synonymous with hermeneutics. In theology, under
the term exegetics are comprehended apologetic divinity, or
the defence of revealed religion and of the Scriptures, the
history of the sacred canon, interpretation, and sacred phi¬
lology.
EXEGETES (from iggyeopai, I explain), a Greek word
signifying an interpreter or guide. At Athens, the Eu-
molpidae were designated exegetce, as the expounders of
the sacred laws, rites, and customs. The term was after¬
wards applied also to those who acted as guides {ciceroni)
to strangers visiting the most remarkable places in Greece.
EXEGETICA, in Algebra, the art of finding, either in
numbers or lines, the roots of the equation of a problem,
according as it is either numerical or geometrical.
EXEGETICS, in Theology. See Exegesis.
EXERGUE (Fr. from and Zpyov work), in Numis¬
matics, the lower part of the face of a coin or medal, when
separated from the principal subject by a horizontal line
which serves as a base to the subject. It usually contains
some cipher, device, date, &c., to which also the same term
is applied.
EXETER, the capital of Devonshire, a city and county
in itself, and a municipal and parliamentary borough on the
Ex, 10 miles N.W. of its mouth in the English Channel,
EXE 451
and 160 miles from London. It stands on the acclivity and Exeter,
summit of an eminence rising from the E. bank of the river,
and is intersected by four principal streets, which meet in
the centre. These are crossed in various directions by nu¬
merous smaller ones, which are generally narrow. The city,
however, on the whole, is clean and well built. The best
parts are beyond the line of the ancient walls, and the
suburbs contain elegant streets and terraces and numerous
detached villas. The surrounding country is very fertile,
affording good corn, pasture, dairy, and fattening land, and
abounding in fruit, especially apples, which yield plentifully
the best cider. The beauty of the immediate neighbour¬
hood, the contiguity of several favourite watering-places,
and the cheapness of provisions, induce many families of
easy but moderate circumstances to reside here. Exeter is
supposed to have been a settlement of the Britons before
the Roman conquest. By the Romans it was called Jsca
Damnoniorum ; and many coins, small bronze statues, tes-
selated pavements, and other relics of that people, have been
discovered. During the Saxon period it was for some time
the capital of Wessex, and was noted for the number of its
religious establishments. It has undergone several sieges.
Exeter was formerly the emporium of the thinner kind of
woollen goods, such as serges, druggets, and long ells, which
were spun and woven in the neighbouring towns, and dyed
and finished in the city. Hence they were shipped to Hol¬
land, Italy, and especially to Spain, and many were sup¬
plied to the East India Company ; but the introduction of
machinery, and the lower price of fuel in the north of Eng¬
land have now nearly destroyed those branches of trade,
with the exception of that for the supply of India, which is
still considerable. As Exeter is a kind of metropolis for
Devon and Cornwall, it has a considerable internal trade,
and is the channel by which these counties are supplied
with many foreign commodities. By means of a ship canal
vessels of 300 tons burden can come up to the town; those
of greater burden remain at Topsham, three miles lower
down ; and those of the largest size lie at Exmouth, at the
mouth of the river. On 31st December 1853 the vessels
registered at the port werevessels under 50 tons 41,
tonnage 1197 ; above 50 tons 146, tonnage 19,533. During
1853 the coasting vessels inwards were 598, tonnage 57,785;
outwards 216, tonnage 9961 : vessels in the colonial trade,
inwards 98, tonnage 4392; outwards 25, tonnage 1415:
in the foreign trade, inwards 128, tonnage 9645; outwards
40, tonnage 4372. Exeter contains twn excellent market-
houses. The market-days are Wednesday and Friday. There
are few manufactures carried on in the city, the inhabitants
being chiefly employed in the retail trade and in handi¬
crafts. The city is governed by a mayor, 12 aldermen, and
36 councillors, and returns two members to parliament.
Population (1851) of municipal borough 32,818 ; of parlia¬
mentary borough 40,688 ; registered electors 2501. The
cathedral is a magnificent pile of building, and part of it
of great antiquity, having probably been commenced soon
after the see of Devon was transferred from Crediton to
Exeter in 1049. It has, however, undergone numerous
alterations and additions at different times. The W. front
has a facade adorned with numerous statues in niches and
a profusion of tracery, over which is a magnificent painted
window. The interior is very striking, from its exquisite
proportions and simple grandeur. A richly ornamented
screen separates the nave from the choir, and is surmounted
by a very large organ, the large pipes being nearly 23 feet in
height and 4 feet in circumference. St Mary’s chapel, the
chapter-house, the bishop’s throne of richly-carved black
oak, and some of the ancient ornaments, deserve especial
notice. The cathedral is surmounted by two massive Nor¬
man towers—the northern containing a clock curiously or¬
namented, and an immense bell weighing 12,500 lbs. (both
gifts of Bishop Courtenay); and the southern having a
452 E X H
Exfolia- peal of eleven bells. The see includes nearly the whole of
tion Devonshire and Cornwall. Exeter contains a great number
li of parish churches, besides several chapels of ease and Dis-
Exbaas- gei;tin£? places of worship. Near the cathedral, on the
tions. southj|ast) is the bishop’s palace, a venerable building. On
an eminence N.E. of the city are the ruins of the Rouge-
mont castle, formerly the residence of the West Saxon
kings. The guild-hall in High Street contains several va¬
luable portraits. Among the other public buildings may
be mentioned the custom-house on the quay, theatre, ca¬
valry and artillery barracks, bridewell, county jail, and city
prison A handsome stone bridge has been thrown over
the river at an expense of L.20,000. Exeter contains also
a subscription ball-room, a subscription library, a liteiaiy
and scientific institution, with a valuable museum and li¬
brary, a free grammar-school, with 18 exhibitions to either of
the great universities, several national and chai ity schools,
the Devon and Exeter hospital, deaf-mute institution, lu¬
natic asylum, blind asylum, dispensary, eye infirmary, me¬
chanics’ institution, .savings-bank, and several almshouses.
It is connected with Bristol by railway.
EXFOLIATION, in Surgerrj, the separation of a piece
of dead bone from the living part.
EXHALATION. See Evaporation.
EXHAUSTIONS, in Mathematics. The method of
exhaustions is a way of comparing or estimating fixed mag¬
nitudes by means of variable magnitudes, which may be
brought to approach or exhaust them more nearly than any
assigned interval or remainder.
Thus, a regular polygon may be inscribed in a circle,
and by repeatedly doubling the multitude of sides, or in¬
creasing it by other given laws, this variable figure may
be made so to exhaust the circle as to leave a remainder
less than any given area. And because similar polygons
inscribed in different circles have always the duplicate ratio
of the diameters, it has been perceived that the circles them¬
selves must be as these exhaurient polygons, which Euclid
proves strictly by the method of exhaustions.
A rectilineal figure may be inscribed in a segment ot a
parabola, so as to leave less of the parabola than any area
assigned, and also to be nearer four-thirds of the greatest
inscribed triangle than any given difference. Hence Archi¬
medes proves, by the method of exhaustions, that the seg¬
ment of the parabola exceeds the triangle by one-third ot
the same triangle.
The first lemma of Newton’s Principia brings the me¬
thod of exhaustions to general application. It is in these
words:—
“ Quantitates, ut et quantitatum rationes, quae ad eequa-
litatem tempore quovis finite constanter tendunt, et ante
finem temporis illius propius ad invicem accedunt quam pro
data quavis differentia, fiunt ultimo aequales.
“ Si negas; fiant ultimo inaequales, et sit earum ultima
differentia D. Ergo nequeunt propius ad aequalitatem ac-
cedere quam pro data differentia D : contra hypothesin.”
Many authors have not rightly understood this lem¬
ma : as Horsley in his note upon it; Hutton on Prime and
Ultimate Ratios, in his Dictionary; and Woodhouse, Prin¬
ciples of Analytical Calculation, paragraph 105, where it
is said to be “ merely a definition,” and, again, that “ it gave
a new signification to the term equality.”
If our opinion be just, it gives no signification to the
term equality which was not given by Euclid and Archi¬
medes. The novelty is in giving to the word ultimate, or
the adverb ultimately, an extension beyond what it ordi¬
narily includes ; as, in the technical language of the Prin¬
cipia, things are often said to be ultimately what, by their
definition, they are incapable of becoming.
In this language, as explained by its author, an ultimate
quantity, or that which a quantity ultimately becomes {fit
ultimo), is what is otherwise called the limit of the quantity;
E X H
that to which, repeating the words of this lemma, tempore Exhaus-
quovis finito constanter tend 'd, et ante finem temporis illius tions.
propius accedit quam pro data quavis differentia. Thus,
in the scholium after the eleventh lemma, our author says,
ad ultimas quantitatum evanescentium summas, id est, ad
limites summarum.
Few as are the words of the demonstration of this cele¬
brated lemma, it must be concluded from them that it only
concerns quantities of which it could be questioned whether
they have a fixed difference. Applied to variables, it can
therefore only compare them in some simultaneous magni¬
tudes. Among simultaneous magnitudes, Newton, for the
sake of brevity, includes limits; and, in fact, only these
limits are here compared. Perhaps a slight change in the
language may show more clearly the intention.
“ Quantities, as also the ratios of quantities, which in
any finite time soever constantly tend to equality, and be¬
fore the end of that time approach nearer than any differ¬
ence, have equal limits.”
“ If not, let their limits be unequal, and differ by D.
Then the variables, in their approach, cannot come nearer
than D, contra hypothesin.”
This may be too concise, but is fully made out in the
following manner:—
Let X and Y be two quantities, continually approaching,
and capable of being brought nearer than any difference
within a finite time. Let A be the limit of X, and B the
limit of Y; that is, let A and B be fixed quantities, to which
X and Y, during their approach, may be brought nearer
than any difference assignable. Then shall A and B be
equal.
For, if not, let A = B + D. And at any time during
the approach of X and Y, let m be the difference of X
from its limit, and n the contemporary difference of Y from
its limit. And,
I. Suppose the variables to approach by the decrease of
the greater and the increase of the less towards their re¬
spective limits (like a circumscribed and inscribed polygon);
or X = A + m, Y = B - n. Then X—Y = A — B + ot + w
= D + ot + ra, so that X and Y necessarily differ by more
than D, contra hypothesin.
II. Suppose both variables to decrease towards their
limits; or X = A + ot and Y = B + w. Then X — Y = A — B
+ ot — ?z = D+ot — n.
Now if n were greater than ot, we might decrease Y by
a part of n, which we will call y, greater than ot itself, and
still greater than its part (a?), the contemporary decrement
of X; and putting X' and Y' for the variables thus de¬
creased, we should have X' = X — a;, Y = Y —y, and thence
X — Y' = X - Y + («/ — a?) ; so that the difference of the va¬
riables would be augmented by bringing them nearer to
their limits. Therefore n cannot be greater than ot ; conse¬
quently D + ot — « cannot be less than D, or the difference
of X and Y cannot become less than D, contra hypothesin.
III. It only remains to examine the case where both in¬
crease towards their limits, or X = A — ot, Y = B — w, and
X — Y = A — B + ra — m = D + « — ot.
Here if ot exceeded n, we might increase X by a quan¬
tity x greater than n, and still more exceeding y, the con¬
temporary increment of Y, and putting X' and Y' to signify
the variables thus increased, X' — Y' = X + a? = (\ + y), or
X' - Y' = X - Y + (a; -3/), so that the variables would again
diverge. Therefore again D + w —ot cannot be less than
D, or X and Y cannot differ by less than D, contra hy¬
pothesin.
If X, Y, A, B, D, ot, n, x, y, represent measures of ra¬
tios, the proof includes the quantitatum rationes.
There results no absurdity from supposing the limits of
two quantities which continually approach to have a differ¬
ence D ; but then the approaching quantities must always
differ still more, contrary to one of the conditions.
E X H
Exhibition. By making n nothing in Case II. we make Y constant,
and coincident in magnitude with B. The proposition ob¬
tained by the reasoning is, for this case, that whatever
quantity A (suppose it a parabolic segment) may be an ac¬
knowledged limit of a variable X, if X can at the same time
be proved to approach indefinitely to Y or B (suppose it
a triangle equal to four-thirds of the greatest triangle in the
parabolic segment), A is equal to B. This is to prove that
limits of the same variable are equal, which is neither
giving a new signification to equality, nor concluding an
identical proposition, nor indeed one which an ancient geo¬
meter would have admitted without formal proof. We come
to a similar conclusion by making m nothing in Case III.
It is true that, in the Principia, when a fixed quantity
is proved to be a limit to a variable, and the variable then
pronounced ultimately equal to the fixed quantity, the au¬
thor or editors refer to the first lemma, when reference
might as well be made to the definition of ultimate quan¬
tities there implied; only (what is the main thing) the de¬
monstration of the lemma teaches how, by admitting the
limit as a particular value of the variable, we cannot pro¬
duce an error measured by any fixed quantity, while if an
error were admitted at all it must be of fixed amount.
Thus in Lemma IV. where the same multitude of rectan¬
gles is supposed to be inscribed in the two figures AacE,
PjorT, and when this multitude is indefinitely increased
and consequently the breadth of the rectangles and the
remainder of the areas indefinitely diminished, each rect¬
angle in the one figure has, by hypothesis, the same ratio
to a corresponding rectangle in the other; it is concluded
that this is also the ratio of the whole figures. For the
ratio of the area AacE
to P/>rT may be view¬
ed as compounded of
AacE to the rectangles
within itself, of these to
the contemporary rect¬
angles within PprT,
and of these latter rect¬
angles to P/?rT. But
the first and last of the component ratios being ultimately
of equality, the compound ratio is the constant ratio of the
contemporary rectangles. For let L be the measure of
the ratio of the inscribed rectangles, and let it be asserted
that the compound ratio differs from L by a ratio whose
measure is D. The first and last of the component ratios
being ultimately of equality, their contemporary values may
be made such that the measures {ni and n) of the ratios by
which the former exceeds equality and the latter falls be¬
low it, may be each less than D, and, a fortiori, their dif¬
ference less than D. But L + m —w is the true measure
of the compound ratio; therefore L does not differ from the
true measure by D.
Thus, by admitting ultimate values, no error is admitted.
The method of exhaustions, which Newton’s first lemma
reduces to an enunciable proposition, only requires it to be
allowed that fixed quantities either have a fixed difference
or are equal. What is often called the principle of limits
is to comprehend limits at once in the conclusion of a de¬
monstration which does not apply to them. Newton’s lemma
serves to admit them through the method of exhaustions.
According to the foregoing exposition, it is neither an iden¬
tical proposition nor an arbitrary extension of the meaning
of a term, though these inconsistent charges have both been
brought against it. A and B are proved to be equal in the
old signification of equality; and whilst it is said that X
and Y are ultimately equal, X and Y are also ultimately A
and B. (g. b. w.)
EXHIBITION [exhibere to exhibit, furnish, maintain,
&c.), a shewing or presenting to view ; a display. In law,
delivery of writings in proof of facts ; a bill of discovery.
E X H 453
In our old writers it is also used for an allowance of meat Exhibition,
and drink, a pension or salary; and it is now applied to a
benefaction settled for the maintenance of scholars in Eng¬
lish universities, not depending on the foundation. In this
sense the term is analogous to the Scottish bursary. Among
physicians, exhibition is a standard and convenient term to
express the administering of a medicine.
Exhibitions of Works of Fine Art.—A collection of
works of fine art arranged in some suitable place for public
inspection is styled an exhibition. It is organized on a dif¬
ferent principle from that of a national gallery or museum,
for the works are not permanently conserved, but contri¬
buted for a limited period annually, new examples being
provided for every successive exhibition.
Exhibitions are comparatively of modern institution. In
former times artists were chiefly patronized by the church or
the government, and the edifices in which their productions
were placed were patent to the public ; but now artists rely
mainly on private patronage, and generally obtain the sanc¬
tion of those for whom they execute works to exhibit them
publicly for a limited period as specimens of their skill, or
if executed for sale these exhibitions afford an opportunity
of disposing of their works, while they themselves are im¬
proved in their art by the opportunity of comparing their
own efforts with those of other artists.
The members of the Academy of the Fine Arts, founded
at Rome in 1593, probably on particular occasions exhibited
their works collectively to the public ; but it was in t ranee
in 1737 that the members of the Royal Academy of Paint¬
ing and Sculpture (founded 1648) first regularly instituted
annual exhibitions. These were made biennial in 1 /45, and
were from their commencement confined to works executed
by members of the academy; but during the Revolution
(by a decree in 1791) all artists, French or foreign, were
allowed to participate in the exhibition, which in 1796 was
again made annual.
The earliest attempt at an exhibition in England was in
1760 ; and the efforts of the artists were at length united in
the Royal Academy’s exhibitions, the first of which was
opened in 1769. Since then they have been continued with
increasing energy. In 1760 the number of works exhibited
was 130, contributed by 69 artists ; in 1855 there were 1558
works, contributed by 918 exhibitors. The annual revenue
of the academy arises from a fee of one shilling from each
visitor, and now exceeds L.8000.
The Royal Scottish Academy’s exhibition is the second
in importance in the United Kingdom. I hough according
to its present constitution it only dates from 1826, those
who instituted it had previously organized exhibitions in Edin¬
burgh, which had been annually continued, with some few
interruptions, since 1808. At the first exhibition, 1 <8 works
were sent in by 27 contributors; at the exhibition in 185o
789 works were contributed by 287 exhibitors. The annual
revenue exceeds L.2000. Exhibitions are annually opened
in Dublin by the Royal Hibernian Academy. These are
the only fine-art corporations in this country aided by go¬
vernment, the two first-mentioned being accommodated in
public galleries, and the last receiving an annual money grant.
Besides the above mentioned the following societies in Lon¬
don have also exhibitions, namely, the British Institution,
founded in 1806; the Society of British Artists, in 1824;
the National Institution, in 1850; the Society of Painters
in Water Colours, in 1805; and the New Society of Painters
in Water Colours, in 1835. There are also annual exhibi¬
tions in Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, Birmingham, Cork,
Newcastle, &c. But with the exception of those in London
and the Royal Scottish and Hibernian Academies, they are
mainly composed of works collected all over the kingdom,
but principally in London.
Exhibition of 1851.—The Great Exhibition of Works
of Industry of all Nations, held in the British metropolis,
454 E X H
Exhibition, was publicly announced in October 1849. Prince Albert, as
i r president of the Society of Arts, offered himself to the pub¬
lic as their leader in the undertaking; and her Majesty s
proclamation appointing a commission to promote the pro¬
ject was issued January 3, 1850. The amount of public
subscriptions to the Crystal Palace was L.67,399, 3s. lOd.
After much discussion relative to the site proposed, a vast
structure was erected on the south side of Hyde Park, from
a design of Mr (afterwards Sir Joseph) Paxton. This build¬
ing (usually called the Crystal Palace from the material of
which it was chiefly composed) resembled, upon a great scale,
the Victoria Regia plant-house erected at Chatsworth, after
Mr Paxton’s own design. The contract with Messrs Fox and
Henderson was for L.79,800—a sum afterwards somewhat
increased by additions to the plan ; or for L.150,000 if the
building were permanently retained. rl he exhibition was
opened by her Majesty in state, May 1, 1851 ; and it re¬
mained open to the public till 11th October shortly after
which time the Crystal Palace was taken down.
This gigantic structure occupied an area of 21 acres, and
was composed entirely of large sheets of glass set in a frame¬
work of iron, except near the ground, where it was boarded.
Its length was 1851 feet (a number corresponding to the
year of the exhibition) ; and its width in the broadest part
456 feet: the transept, intersecting the building at right
angles in the middle, was 408 feet long, 108 high, and <2
wide. The entire structure consisted of three tiers of ele¬
vation, the central portion being 64 feet high, the adjacent
side portions 44 feet, and the outer sides 24 feet high. The
materials employed were as follows:—896,000 superficial
feet of glass weighing 400 tons; wrought-iron 550 tons;
cast-iron 3500 tons ; wood, including flooring, 600,000 cubic
feet; nearly 2300 cast-iron girders, and 358 wrought-iron
trusses for supporting the roof and the galleries (which ex¬
tended nearly a mile in length); 30 miles of gutters ; 202
miles of sash-bars, and 3330 cast-iron columns. I he num¬
ber of exhibitors was about 17,000; of prize-medals awarded,
2918; of council medals, 170. The greatest number of
visitors in one week was in that ending 11 th October, when
the number of persons paying at the doors was 478,773.
The total amount of entrance fees during the season was
L.424,418, 15s.
The Great Exhibition of 1851 was altogether novel in
principle, and unparalleled in magnitude and magnificence;
comprehending under one roof, in almost endless variety,
specimens of the industrial productions, not only of Great
Britain, but of the European states generally, together with
those of nearly every part of the habitable globe. An ac¬
count of these, as well as of the peculiar mode of construc¬
tion of the Crystal Palace, may be found in the official de¬
scriptive and illustrated catalogues and reports of the juries.
Our limits preclude our entering into the history of na¬
tional industrial exhibitions, or to make more than a pass¬
ing reference to the various local exhibitions of works of
industry which have taken place from time to time in the
United Kingdom, such as those at Cork, Sheffield, Ply¬
mouth, and Salisbury in 1852, Dublin in 1853, and in Bir¬
mingham in 1849. Similar exhibitions were organized in
Belgium in 1830, in the United States in 1853, at Munich
in 1854, and especially in France in 1798, 1801, 1802,
1806, 1819, 1844, and on a large scale in 1855. This last
is constituted on an entirely different basis from the English
Exhibition of 1851; being set on foot by the capital of a
commercial company formed for the purpose, and on the
prospect of remunerative profits; but the state also takes a
distinct and positive share in the risks of the enterprise, as
it does with railways and other works of public utility. A
certain percentage to the holders of stock is guaranteed by
the government; and in right thereof an imperial commis¬
sion is appointed which exercises supreme control. By
this arrangement the proprietors are to receive whatever
E X M
surplus may remain after all expenses are paid; whereas Exigent
the L. 170,000 derived from the prices of admission to the II
London Exhibition stands over as a public trust fund, under Txmouth<
royal charter, to be applied to objects in harmony with those
for which the exhibition was held.
The French Exhibition is notcontainedunderoneroof, nor
of the several buildings are all intended to be of a temporary
character. The buildings, in the aggregate, will probably
include greater area than the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park.
The main building is the Palais de ITndustrie, a permanent
edifice of rectangular form and with considerable preten¬
sions to architectural effect. In this wall be exhibited all
the higher productions of manufacturing industry. There
is also the “ Annexe,” a shed 4000 feet long, parallel to the
Seine, for the exhibition of machinery and raw produce. Ac¬
cording to the plan, these two structures are connected
by a gallery running across the Champs Elysees, and having
in its centre a fine circular space, which is appropriated to
the productions of Sevres and the other national establish¬
ments; and in addition there is an extra shed for the exhi¬
bition of carriages and other articles of great bulk.
For an account of the Crystal Palace at Sydenham, see
Sydenham. Other exhibitions of works of art generally
will be found under tbe heads of the places where they are
held; as London, Edinburgh, Paris, &c.
EXIGENT, or Exigi Facias, in law, a writ that issues
where the defendant in an action is not to be found, or after
a return of non est inventus on former writs. It requires the
sheriff to cause the defendant to be called or exacted in five
successive county courts to render himself; and if he does
not appear,ajudgmentofoutlawry is pronounced againsthim.
EXILE, in lioman Antiquity, a form of punishment, of
which there were various degrees. Offences which came
under the category of “ capitalia” were punished either with
death or with banishment; and this banishment consisted
in the aquce et ignis interdictio, which involved the loss ot
citizenship to the criminal. Other kinds of banishment were
properly called relegatio, which word could not be used as
a term of personal reproach in the same manner with exsul.
Thus Ovid declares himself to have been merely a relegatus,
alleging that Augustus
Nil nisi me patriis jussit abire foeis.
This distinction between relegatio and exsilium subsisted
also in the times of the republic. During that era no Roman
citizen could be deprived of his citizenship by a special sta¬
tute unless he were previously condemned in a judicium.
Even such as were convicted of capital offences did not lose
their citizenship at Rome until they were admitted citizens
of some other state ; and this was effected not by the ademp-
tio civitatis, but by the interdictio aquae et ignis. Any ci¬
tizen, however, who voluntarily exchanged his Roman citi¬
zenship for that of some other state, ceased by that very act
to be a Roman citizen, as it was one of the fundamental
principles of the Roman law that a man could not simulta¬
neously be a citizen of two states. (See Citizen ; Ostra¬
cism, &c.)
EXMOUTH, a market-town and watering place of Eng¬
land, county of Devon, at the mouth of the Ex, ten miles
S.S.E. of Exeter. Pop. (1851) 5123. Exmouth was early
a place of importance, and in 1347 contributed ten vessels
to the fleet sent to attack Calais. It was the first watering-
place on the coast of Devon, and is frequented not only for
bathing, but also as a winter residence by those suffering
under pulmonary diseases, as it is celebrated for the mild¬
ness of its climate, and is well sheltered from the N.E. and
S.E. winds by some high hills which rise almost close be¬
hind it. The rides and walks in the neighbourhood are re¬
markably beautiful, and tbe Beacon hill commands one of
the finest views in the south of England. It possesses assem¬
bly rooms, baths, libraries, and other essentials of a fashion¬
able watering-place.
E X 0
Exodium EXODIUM, in the ancient Greek drama, the conclusion
|| of a tragedy ; or, more strictly, that portion of the play in
Exorcism. w]1ich the catastrophe is indicated and the plot begins to
be unravelled.
Among the Romans the name of exodia was given to
pieces of a burlesque or comic description acted after other
plays, or as interludes; or perhaps the exodia were some¬
times travesties on the subject of the play itself. These
pieces were in verse, and were inserted in other plays, but
chiefly in the Alellance. Their real character has not been
very precisely ascertained; but it would appear that although
distinct from'the Atellance they were lor the most part inti¬
mately connected with them. Under the emperors, exodia,
or ludicrous pieces interlarded with much ribaldry and buf¬
foonery, were performed by young and well-boin Romans,
who came forward at the conclusion of the tragedy or othei
play, after the professional actors and musicians had left the
sta<re.
EXODUS (c£ and 6<$ds a path or way), departure from a
place. The second book in the Old Testament is thus de¬
signated, as containing a narrative of the departure of the
Israelites out of Egypt under the conduct of Moses. See
Pentateuch.
EXOGENOUS, a term applied in botany to plants in
which growth takes place by increase from without; as dis¬
tinguished from endogenous plants, or those of which the
wood is formed by successive augmentations from the in¬
side. See Botany. . . „
EXORCISM, the act of expelling evil spirits from per¬
sons or places by means of certain adjurations and cere¬
monies. The belief in demoniacal possessions, which may
be traced in almost every nation, has always been attended
by the professed ability, on the part of some individuals, to
release the unhappy victims from their calamity. In Greece,
men of no less distinction than Epicurus and iEschines were
sons of w'omen who lived by this art; and both w^ere bitttily
reproached, the one by the Stoics, and the other by De¬
mosthenes Cot?), for having assisted theii parents in
these practices. This pow;er was in some instances con¬
sidered as a divine gift; in others it was thought to be ac-
quired by investigations into the nature of demons and the
qualities of natural productions, as herbs, stones, &c., and by
the use of certain forms of adjurations and ceremonies. In¬
deed the various forms of exorcism, alluded to in authois of all
nations, are innumerable. T-he power of expelling demons
Josephus places among the endowments of Solomon, and re¬
lates that he left behind him the manner of using exorcisms
by which they drive away demons. (For the pretended fiag-
ments of these books see Fabric. Cod. Pseud. Vet. Test., p.
1054.) He relates that he had seen a man named Eleazar
releasing people that were demoniacal, in the presenceof Ves¬
pasian, his sons, captains, and soldiers, by means of a certain
root set in a ring ; on the application of which to the nose of
the patient, the devil was expelled through his nostrils. (See
Antiq. viii. 2, § 5 ; and De Bell. Jud. vii. 6, § 3.) The pro¬
fession of exorcist was not uncommon among the Jews;
and the epithet applied to such persons (jrepLepxogzvwv, Vulg.
de circumeuntdms Judeeis) would indicate that they w7eie
travelling mountebanks, who, having perhaps some know¬
ledge of medicine, pretended also to magical skill. The
subject of demoniacal possession is treated at length under
the head Demoniac.
The practice of exorcism still makes a part of the super¬
stitions of some churches. In the religious system of the
Church of Rome, (the rituals of which forbid the exorcising
of any person without the bishop’s leave,) the ceremony is
performed at the low7er end of the church, towards the door.
The exorcist first signs the possessed person with the figuie
of the cross, desires him to kneel, and sprinkles him with
holy water; then follow the litanies, psalms, and prayer ;
after which the exorcist asks the devil his name, anu abjures
EXP 455
him by the holy mysteries of the Christian religion not to Exorcists
afflict the person possessed any more. Then, laying his Ex Jisioni
right hand on the dmmoniac’s head, he repeats the form of v /
exorcism as follows: “ I exorcise thee, unclean spirit, in the *~
name of Jesus Christ; tremble, O Satan, thou enemy of the
faith, thou foe of mankind, who hast brought death into the
world, who hast deprived men of life, and hast rebelled
against justice ; thou seducer of mankind, thou root of evil,
thou source of avarice, discord, and envy.” Flouses and
other places supposed to be haunted by unclean spirits are
likewise to be exorcised with ceremonies very similar.
EXORCISTS, in Ecclesiastical History, an order of
men in the ancient church, whose employment it was to
exorcise or cast out devils. They owed their origin to the
doctrine of the neo-Platonists, adopted by the Christians,
that vicious men are impelled to sin less by their natural
depravity than by the suggestions of some evil spirit lodged
within them.
EXORDIUM, in Rhetoric, the preamble or introduction
to a discourse, which serves to prepare the audience for the
main subject. It is either formal and deliberate, or vehe¬
ment and abrupt, according to the nature of the subject.
EXOSMOSE, and Endosmose, are relative terms de¬
rived from the Greek wcr/xds signifying impulsion, and ap¬
plied to the attraction of one gas, vapour, or liquid for an¬
other of less density, operating through a vegetable or ani¬
mal membrane, or other porous medium. When two fluids
of different densities are separated from each other by such
medium, the denser will attract the lighter fluid. When
the transmission thus effected is from within outwards, it is
termed exosmose ; and when the action is in the contrary
direction, it is termed endosmose. This subject is treated
in more detail under Botany, vol. v., p. 68.
EXOTERIC, and Esoteric, are terms denoting exter¬
nal and internal, and applied to the double doctrine of the
ancient philosophers, particularly those of the Peripatetic
school. The one was public or exoteric ; the other secret
or esoteric. The first was that which they openly professed
and taught to the world; the latter was confined to a small
number of chosen disciples. This method was derived ori¬
ginally from the Egyptians, who, according to the united
testimony of Flerodotus, Diodorus Siculus, Strabo, Plutarch,
and others, had a twofold philosophy; the one secret and
sacred, the other public and common. The same practice
also obtained amongst the Persian Magi, the Druids of the
Gauls, and the Brahmins of India. The Egyptian priests,
with whom it oi'iginated, sustained the character of judges
and magistrates, and probably introduced this distinction
with a view to the public welfare, and to serve the purposes
of legislation and government. As Clemens Alexandrinus
informs us, they communicated their mysteries principally to
those who were concerned in the administration of the state ;
and Plutarch confirms this declaration. Others, however,
have supposed that they invented the fables of their gods
and heroes, and the external ceremonies of their religion,
to disguise and conceal natural and moral truths ; but what¬
ever may have been the motive of their practice, it was cer¬
tainly applied to political purposes. See Esoteric.
EXOTIC {Z&dev from without or abroad), foreign ; per¬
taining to or produced in a foreign country; extraneous.
The term is used chiefly of plants, particularly those brought
from tropical countries. It is also applied to words of fo¬
reign origin.
EXPANSION, in Physics, denotes the enlargement or
increase of bulk in bodies, chiefly by means of heat. This
is one of the most general effects of that subtile principle,
and common to all bodies whatever, whether solid or fluid.
In some few cases, indeed, bodies seem to expand as they
grow cold, as water in the act of freezing; but this is found
to be owing to a new arrangement of the particles, or to
crystallization, and is not at all a regular and gradual ex-
456 EXP
Expecta- pansion like that of metals or any other solid or fluid sub-
tion stance by means of heat. In certain metals also, an expan-
II . sion takes place when they pass from a fluid to a solid state ;
Explosion. biit this t00 not to be acCounted any proper effect of cold,
but of the arrangement of the parts of the metal in a peculiar
manner ; and it is therefore to be ascribed to a kind of crys¬
tallization.
EXPECTATION, in the doctrine of chances, is applied
to any contingent event, and is capable of being reduced
to the rules of computation. Thus a sum of money in ex¬
pectation when a particular event happens, has a determi¬
nate value before that event arrives; so that if a person is
to receive any sum, say L.10, when an event takes place
which has an equal probability of happening and failing, the
value of the expectation is half that sum, or L.5 ; and in all
cases the expectation of obtaining any sum is estimated by
multiplying the value of the sum expected by the fraction
which represents the probability of obtaining it. The ex¬
pectation of a person who has three chances in five of ob¬
taining L.100, is equal to f x 100, or L.60, and the pro¬
bability of obtaining* L.100 in this case is equal to -j6^ = f ■
See Probabilities.
Expectation of Life signifies that share or number of
the years of human life which a person of any given age
may expect to enjoy upon an equality of chances. See
Annuities.
EXPERIMENTAL Philosophy. See Philosophy,
Physics, Mechanics, &c.
EXPERIMENTUM Crucis, a crucial experiment, or
one which is decisive, confirming or disproving at once the
question at issue. An experiment is thus termed either be¬
cause it resembles a cross or direction-post to point out the
true course of discovery, or rather as being a kind of tor¬
ture by means of which the nature of the thing experimented
on is as it were extorted by force.
EXPIATION, Feast of (called by our translators the
Dayof Atonement),a Jewish festival heldon the tenth dayof
Tishri, or the seventh month of the Jewish year ; on which
day the high priest entered into the holy place, and having
confessed his sins, made an atonement for all the people.
EXPLOSION, a sudden and violent expansion of an
aerial or other elastic fluid, by which it instantly throws off
any obstacle that happens to be in the way, sometimes with
great force, and in such a manner as to produce destructive
effects upon adjacent objects.
With regard to solids, explosion differs from expansion,
which is a continuous power, acting uniformly for some time;
whereas the former is sudden, and only of momentary dura¬
tion. The expansions of solid substances do not terminate
in violent explosions, on account of their slowness, and the
small space through which the metal, or other expanding
substance, moves; though their strength may be equally
great with that of the most active aerial fluids. Thus we
find that though wedges of wood when moistened will
cleave solid blocks of stone, they never throw them to any
distance, as is the case with gunpowder. On the other
hand, it is seldom that the expansion of any elastic fluid
bursts a solid substance without projecting the fragments of
it to a considerable distance. The reasons of this are, first,
the immense velocity with which the aerial fluids expand,
when affected by a considerable degree of heat; and, se¬
condly, their celerity in acquiring heat and being affected
by it, which is much superior to that of solid substances.
Thus air, heated as much as iron when brought to a white
heat, is expanded to four times its bulk; but the metal it¬
self will not be expanded the five-hundredth part of its bulk.
In the case of gunpowder, the velocity with which the
flame moves is calculated by Robins (Treatise upon Gun-
nery) to be no less than 7000 feet in a second, or little less
than 79 miles in a minute. Hence the impulse of the fluid
is inconceivably great, and the obstacles on which it strikes
EXP
are hurried off with vast velocity, though much less than Explosion,
that just mentioned ; for a cannon ball, with the greatest '
charge of powder that can be conveniently given, does not
move at a greater rate than 2400 feet in a second, or little
more than 27 miles in a minute. The velocity of the ball,
again, is promoted by the sudden propagation of the heat
through the whole body of air, as soon as it is extricated
from the materials of which the gunpowder is made ; so that
it is enabled to strike all at once, and thus greatly to aug¬
ment the momentum of the ball. That this contributes
much to the force of the explosion is evident from what hap¬
pens when powder is ivetted or mixed with any substance,
which prevents its taking fire all at once. In this case the
force of the explosion, even when the same quantity of
powder is made use of, cannot be compared to that of dry
powder.
Upon these principles we may conclude that the force of
an explosion depends, first, on the quantity of elastic fluid to
be expanded; secondly, on the velocity it acquires by a
certain degree of heat; and, thirdly, on the celerity with
which the degree of heat affects the whole of the expansive
fluid. These three take place in the greatest perfection
where the electric fluid is concerned, as in cases of light¬
ning. In violent lightning, where the electric fluid col¬
lects itself into balls, the strength of the explosion is pro¬
portional to the quantity. The violent effects of light¬
ning when it strikes buildings, trees, or even the most
solid rocks, is well known; and in some cases, where the
quantity of electricity is still greater than in any flash of
lightning, still more tremendous consequences ensue. Dr
Priestley gives an instance of a large fire-ball, or quantity
of electric matter, rolling on the surface of the sea,
which, after rising up to the topmast of a ship of war,
burst with such violence, that the explosion resembled the
discharge of hundreds of cannon fired at once. Great
damage was done by it; but there is not the least doubt
that most of its force was spent on the air, or carried down
to the sea by the mast and iron-work of the ship. Con¬
sidering, indeed, that in all cases a great part of the force of
electrical explosions is dissipated in this manner, it is im¬
possible to measure it by any method applicable to the
mensuration of other forces.
Next in strength to the aerial vapours are those of aque¬
ous and other liquids. The most remarkable effects of
these are observed in steam-engines ; but there is one
particular case from which it has been inferred that aque¬
ous steam is incomparably stronger than the flame of gun¬
powder. This is when water is thrown upon molten cop¬
per ; for here the explosion is so strong as almost to exceed
imagination; and terrible accidents have been known to
happen from such a slight cause as one of the workmen
spitting in the furnace where copper was being melted.
It may now be asked, why such explosions do not take
place when water is thrown upon the surface of any other
metal, for instance iron, when in a state of fusion ? In
answer to this it may be observed, that water is decomposed
by being applied to red-hot iron in the form of steam, and
one of its elements enters into combination with the iron.
It may be observed, that in all cases where a very hot body
is thrown upon a small quantity of water in the liquid state,
an explosion will follow. Here the water is confined, and
suddenly rarefied into steam, which cannot escape without
throwing off the body which confines it. Examples of this
kind frequently occur where masons or other mechanics are
employed in fastening cramps of iron into stones ; if there
happen to be a little water in the hole into which the liquid
lead is poured, the latter will fly out in such a manner as
sometimes to occasion serious accidents. Occurrences of
this kind have sometimes happened in founderies, when
molten metal has been poured into wet moulds. In these
cases, the sudden expansion of the aqueous steam throws
EXP
Exponent out the metal with great violence ; and if any decomposi-
|| tion take place at the same time, so as to convert the aque-
Exposing ous ;nt0 an aerial vapour, the explosion will be still greater.
Children ^ similar explosion takes place on pouring cold water
^ 'j into boiling or burning oil or tallow. The same effect fol-
/ ^ lows whether we pour the oil on the water or the water on
the oil. In the former case the water, which lies at the
bottom, is rarefied into steam, and explodes; in the latter,
it sinks down through the oil by its superior specific gravity,
and explodes as it passes along. In either case, however,
the quantity of aqueous fluid must be but small in propor¬
tion to that of the oil; a very great quantity would put out
the flame, or destroy the heat, in whatever way it might be
applied.
The effects of explosions, when violent, are felt at a
considerable distance, by reason of the concussions they
give to the atmosphere ; for all of them act upon the at¬
mospherical fluid with the same force which they exert
upon terrestrial substances subjected to their action. Sir
William Hamilton relates, that in consequence of the ex¬
plosions of Vesuvius in 1767, the doors and windows ot
the houses at Naples flew open if unbolted, and one door
was burst open though it had been locked. The same
effect has been observed on the explosion of powder-maga¬
zines.
EXPONENT, or Index, in Algebra. See Algebra,
vol. ii., p. 491.
Exponent of the ratio, in arithmetic, is the quotient
arising when the antecedent is divided by the consequent
of the ratio. Thus 4 is the exponent of the ratio of 20 to 5;
for ^ = 4.
Exponential Calculus, the method of differencing, or
finding the fluxions of exponential quantities, and of sum¬
ming up those differences, or finding their fluents.
Exponential Curve is that the nature of which is de¬
fined or expressed by an exponential equation ; as the
curve denoted by ax = y, or by xx = y.
Exponential Equation is one in which is contained an
exponential quantity; as the equation ax = b,ox X* = ab,
&C.
Exponential Quantity is that the power of which is
a variable quantity; as the expression ax, or ar'. Exponen¬
tial quantities are of several degrees and orders, according
to the number of exponents or powers..
EXPOSING of CHILDREN. This was a common
practice among the Greeks, Romans, and other ancient na¬
tions. But from this charge must be excepted the Thebans,
who had an express law by which it was made capital to ex¬
pose children, and at the same time ordained that such as
were not in a condition to educate their offspring should take
them to the magistrates, that they might be brought up at
the public expense. Among the other Greeks, when a
child was born, it was laid on the ground ; and if the father
designed to educate it, he immediately took it up ; but if he
forbore to do so, the child was carried away and exposed.
The Laceda;monians indeed had a different custom : with
them all new-born children were brought before certain
persons, considered as among the wisest in their own tribes,
by whom the infants were carefully examined ; and if the
latter were found strong and well formed, orders were given
for their education, with a certain proportion of land for
their maintenance; but if weakly or deformed, they were
cast into a deep cavern in the earth, near Mount Taygetus,
as it was thought neither for the good of the infants themr
selves nor for the public interest that defective children
should be reared. Many children were exposed only be¬
cause their parents were not in a condition to educate
them; and it was the unhappy fate of daughters especially
to be thus treated, as their education and settlement in life
involved a greater expense than those ot sons. The parents
VOL. IX.
EXT 457
frequently tied jewels and rings to the children they exposed Ex Post
or any other thing by which they might afterwards discover Facto
them, if they should survive; or to encourage those that ExtrJvasa_
might find them to nourish and educate them ; or, if found tion
dead, to give them human burial. It was usual to expose ^ _ i /
children in such places as were most frequented, in order
that they might be found and compassionated by persons
who were in circumstances to defray the expense of their
education. As foundlings became the property of those
who brought them up, instances were not wanting of great
cruelties exercised towards these unfortunate individuals;
such as, for instance, mutilating their persons and exhibit¬
ing them in the streets, in order to derive an infamous
livelihood from the alms bestowed on them by compas¬
sionate passengers. By a law passed at Rome a.d. 374,
the exposure of children was made a punishable offence;
but it was not till the year 530 that their slavery was abo¬
lished, when Justinian published an edict to that effect.
EX POST FACTO, a law phrase used to denote some¬
thing made to apply to a thing already done. Thus, for
example, a law is said to be made ex post facto when it
renders an offence punishable in a manner in which it was
not punishable at the time it was committed.
EXPRESSED OILS, are such as are obtained from
bodies by pressure only. See Oils.
EXTENT, in Laic, is used in a double sense, denoting
either a writ of execution (called also an extendi facias)
directed to the sheriff against the person, lands, and goods, or
the lands only, of a debtor ; or the act of the sheriff or officer
upon this writ. These writs are of two kinds, to both of
which the sovereign is by ancient prerogative entitled, for
the purpose of obtaining satisfaction of debts due or assigned
to the crown. The writ of extent in chief is a proceeding
by the sovereign for the recovery of his own debt, and in
which he is the real plaintiff. The writ of extent in aid is
also sued out at the instance and for the benefit of the
crown against the debtor of a crown debtor. In this last
proceeding the sovereign is only the nominal plaintiff.
EXTRACT, in Pharmacy, a preparation of vegetable
principles obtained by digesting vegetable substances in
water or in alcohol, and evaporating them to a pasty or solid
consistence ; or by boiling down the expressed juices of
fresh plants. According to the mode of preparation, they
are termed either aqueous or spirituous extracts.
The name extractive principle, or extractive, is given by
chemists to a peculiar principle which is supposed to form
the basis of all vegetable extracts.
Extract of Lead, the name given to the impure acetate
of lead obtained by boiling litharge in vinegar. It is com¬
monly known as Goulards extract.
EXTRACTION of Roots, in Algebra and Arithmetic,
the method of finding the roots of given numbers or quan¬
tities. See Algebra and Arithmetic.
EXTRAORDINARII, in the ancient Roman army, a
select body of men consisting of the third part of the foreign
cavalry and a fifth of the infantry. These were carefully
separated from the other forces borrowed from the confede¬
rate states, in order to prevent any treacherous coalition
between them. From among the extraordinar ii a more
choice body of men were drawn, under the name of ablecti,
EXTRAVAGANTES, a name given to.certain decre¬
tal epistles, or constitutions of the popes, which were pub¬
lished from the Clementines, but were not at first digested
or arranged with the other papal constitutions. Hence
the name which they continued to retain, even after their
insertion in the body of the canon law. See Canon Law,
vol. vi., p. 190.
EXTRAVASATION {extra beyond, and vas a ves¬
sel), in Medicine, the escape of blood, or other fluid, from
its natural receptacle into a neighbouring part of the body.
The fluid thus thrown out is said to be extramsated.
3 M
458
Extreme
II
Extreme
Unction.
EXT
FX TREME, in Logic. The extremes,or extreme terms
of a syllogism, are the predicate and subject. They are
called extremes from their relation to another term, wlmh
is a medium or mean between them. Thus, in the syl o-
2-ism “ Man is an animal; Peter is a man ; therefore I e
is an animal; the word animal is the greater extreme,
Peter the less extreme, and man the medium.
Extreme and mean proportion, in Geometry, is when a
line is so divided, that the whole line is to the greater
segment as that segment is to the other; or as it is ex¬
pressed by Euclid, when the line is so divided that the
rectangle under the whole line and the lesser segment, is
equal to the square of the greater segment.
EXTREME UNCTION has been since thetweltth cen¬
tury one of the seven sacraments of the Roman Catholic
Church. The ceremony is performed as follows -.—When a
person is supposed to be at the point of death, his eyes
ears, nostrils, mouth, and hands are successively anointed
with the sacred oil by the priest. At each anointing the
priest says: “By this holy unction, and through His great
mercy, Almighty God forgive thee whatever sins thou hast
committed by ‘ sight,’ ‘smell,’ ‘ hearing,’ ‘ touch,’ ’ &c. At
the same time the priest has the power of absolving the
dying person from all sins, even from those which in the
seventh chapter of the decree on penance are reserved to
the decision of the Supreme Pontiff. The oil used in ex¬
treme unction is supposed to represent the grace of God
poured down into the soul, and the prayer offered up at
the time of anointing to express the remission of sins there¬
by granted to the sick person. The Council of i rent has
decreed extreme unction to be a sacrament, and declaies
that, “ Whoever shall affirm that extreme unction is not
truly and properly a sacrament, instituted by Christ our
Lord, and published by the blessed apostle James, but only
a ceremony received from the fathers, or a human inven¬
tion, let him be accursed.” And it denounces a similar
anathema against all who “ shall affirm that the sacred unc¬
tion of the sick does not confer grace, nor forgive sin, nor
relieve the sick, but that its power has ceased, as if the gift
of healing existed only in past ages” (Sess. xiv. Can. I. et
seq.) As this unction has, according to the tenets of the
Romish Church, sacramental efficacy, purifying the dying
person from his sins, and communicating to him divine for¬
giveness, it can only be administered by a bishop or piiest,
and is not to be given to infants or to excommunicated per¬
sons, or to those who die impenitent, or in the actual com¬
mission of mortal sin. Roman Catholics found their opi¬
nion of the efficacy of extreme unction on the custom of the
apostles, who “ anointed with oil many that were sick, and
healed them,” and on the exhortation of the apostle James
(v. 14): “ Is any sick among you ? let him call for the elders
of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with
oil in the name of the Lord.” On the other hand, Protestants
deny the sacramental significance and efficacy of this cere¬
mony, because nothing is known of a formal establishment
of it by Christ himself. They allege that “ extreme unc¬
tion,” from its very nature, is to be administered only in the
immediate prospect of death, and when the patient is past
all hope of recovery; whereas the anointing practised by
the apostles and other early ministers of religion was with
a view not to the death but the recovery of the sick person
—not that he might be prepared to die, but that he might be
restored to health : “and the prayer of faith shall save the
sick, and the Lord shall raise him up” (Jas. v. 15). 1 he
Orientals are strongly persuaded of the sanative properties
of oil; and it was under this impression that the Jews
anointed the sick and applied oil to wounds (Isa. i. 6,
Mark vi. 13 ; Luke x. 34). Anointing was therefore em¬
ployed as a cure for various disorders, as well as for the
purpose of promoting the general health of the body. This
custom still prevails in the East. The Jews in Mocha
E Z E
assured Mr Forskal that the Mohammedans as well as the Exuviae
Jews in Sana, when they were sick, were accustomed to
anoint the body with oil; and Niebuhr states that, in
Yemen the anointing of the body is believed to strengthen
and protect it from the heat of the sun, by which the in¬
habitants of this province, as they wear but little clothing,
are very liable to suffer. Oil, by closing up the pores of
the skin, is supposed to prevent that too copious transpira¬
tion which enfeebles the frame ; when therefore the intense
heat comes on, the Arabs always anoint their bodies with
oil.” In the Greek Church unction is administered not
only to dying persons, but generally in diseases of all kinds,
as tending to promote the restoration of health, as well as
the forgiveness of sins. (J* T E0
EXUVIJE (Latin), a term applied in natural history to
the cast skins, shells, or coverings of animals; as the skins
of serpents and caterpillars, the shells of lobsters, &c. It
is also applied to fossil spoils, or remains of animals.
EY, the pure Islandic or Scandinavian for island ; from
which comes eyet, or cyght, an islet.
EYE. See Anatomy, hi. 43 ; and Optics.
EYE, a municipal and parliamentary borough and market-
town of England, county of Suffolk, 20 miles N. of Ips¬
wich. It is governed by four aldermen and twelve coun¬
cillors, and returns one member to parliament. I op. (1851)
of municipal borough, 2587 ; of parliamentary borough,
7531. Registered electors, 356. Eye is situated in a low
fertile tractof country, and is nearly surrounded by a small
stream, an affluent of the Waveney. The streets are narrow,
irregular, and unpaved, while the white-washed houses and
thatched roofs give Eye the appearance of a large agricultural
village. The church is a spacious cruciform edifice, with
a fine embattled tower. The free grammar-school has two
exhibitions to Cambridge University. The guild-hall is a
handsome modern building. There were formerly a castle
and a small Benedictine priory at Eye; the foimei has
disappeared, but of the latter some ruins are still to be^ seen
to the east of the town. Market-days, Tuesday and Satur¬
day. Eye received its first charter from King John ; and
previous to the passing of the Reform Act returned two
members to parliament. The inhabitants aie chiefly em¬
ployed in agriculture.
EYEMOUTH, a small seaport and market town of
Scotland, county of Berwick, situated at the mouth of the
Eye, 7 miles north of Berwick. It is a place of consider¬
able antiquity, and had a fort of great strength, which,
however, has been destroyed. Being the Scottish harboui
nearest to England, it was a place of importance in the wars
between the two countries. In later times it was for many
years famous for smuggling, but that illicit traffic has been
long suppressed. The harbour has been much improved
by the erection of a breakwater, and vessels may now enter
and depart at all times of the tide. Eyemouth has a weekly
grain market, and extensive granaries have been erected
near the pier. Pop. of parish (1851) 1488, many of whom
are engaged in the fisheries.
EYRE (? iter a journey), in Law, signifies the court of
justices itinerant. Hence the expression, justices in eyre.
EZEKIEL, i.e., {whom'] God will strengthen, or God will
prevail, one of the greater prophets, whose writings, both in
the Hebrew and Alexandrian canons, are placed next to
those of Jeremiah. He was the son of Busi the priest, and,
according to tradition, was a native of Sarera. Of his eaily
history we have no authentic information. We first find
him in the country of Mesopotamia, “ by the river Chebar,
now Khahur, a stream of considerable length flowing into
the Euphrates near Circesium, Eirkesia. On this river Ne¬
buchadnezzar founded a Jewish colony from the captives
whom he brought from Jerusalem when he besieged it in
the eighth year of king Jehoiachim. Ihis colony (or at
least a part of it) was settled at a place called 1 el-Abib;
E Z R
Ezionge- and it seems to have been here that the prophet fixed his
ber residence. He received his commission as a prophet in the
^ II fifth year of his captivity (b.c. 594). Ezekiel is remarkably
^zra‘ y silent respecting his personal history; the only event which
he records (and that merely in its connection with his pro¬
phetic office) is the death of his wife in the ninth year^ of
the captivity. He continued to exercise the prophetic office
during a period of at least twenty-two years, that is, to the
27th year of the captivity; and it appears probable that he
remained with the captives by the river Chebar during the
whole of his life. That he exercised a very commanding
influence over the people is manifest from the numerous
intimations we have of the elders coming to inquire of him
what message God had sent through him (ch. viii. 1; xiv. 1;
xx. 1 ; xxxiii. 31, 32, &c.) Carpzov (pp. 203-4) relates
several traditions respecting his death and sepulchre, prin¬
cipally from the treatise De \ itis Prophet., falsely attributed
to Epiphanius. It is there said that he was killed at Baby¬
lon by the chief of the people, on account of his having re¬
proved him for idolatry ; that he was buried in the field of
Maur in the tomb of Shem and Arphaxad, and that his
sepulchre was still in existence. Such traditions are ob¬
viously of very little value.
Most critics have remarked the vigour and surpassing
energy which are manifest in the character of Ezekiel. The
whole'of his writings show how admirably he was fitted, as
well by natural disposition as by spiritual endowment, to
oppose the “ rebellious house,” the “ people of stubborn
front and hard heart,” to whom he was sent. The figura¬
tive representations which abound throughout his writings,
whether drawn out into lengthened allegory, or expressing
matters of fact by means of symbols, or clothing truths in
the garb of enigma, all testify by their definiteness the vigour
of his conceptions. Things seen in a vision are described
with all the minuteness of detail and sharpness of outline
which belong to real existences. But this characteristic is
shown most remarkably in the entire subordination of his
whole life to the great work to which he was called. We
never meet with him as an ordinary man ; he always acts
and thinks and feels as a prophet.
The genuineness of the writings of Ezekiel has been the
subject of very little dispute. According to Jewish tradi¬
tion, doubts were entertained as to the canonicity of the
book on the ground of its containing some apparent contra¬
dictions to the law, as well as because of the obscurity of
many of its visions. These, however, were removed, it
is said, by Rabbi Hananias, who wrote a commentary on
the book, in which all these difficulties were satisfactorily
solved.
EZIONGEBER. See Akabah.
EZRA, the celebrated Jewish scribe and priest, who,
about the year B.c. 458, led the second expedition of Jews
back from the Babylonian exile into Palestine. This Ezra
was a lineal descendant of Phinehas, the son of Aaron,
E Z R 459
and ought to be distinguished from the Ezra who went up Exra.
as one of the chiefs of the priests and Levites under Zerub-
babel (Neh. xii. 1-33). In addition to the information given
in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah,that Ezra was a “scribe,”
a “ ready scribe of the law of Moses,” &c., we are told by
Josephus that he was high priest, of the Jews who were left
in Babylon ; that he was particularly conversant with the
laws of Moses, and was held in universal esteem on account
of his righteousness and virtue.
In the the year b.c. 457 Ezra was sent by “ Artaxerxes
Longimanus to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem;
and to carry the silver and gold which the king and his
counsellors freely offered unto the God of Israel,” with the
free-will offerings which the people and priests offered for
the house of God at Jerusalem. At the same time Artax¬
erxes issued a decree to the keepers of the king’s treasure
beyond the river, to assist Ezra in everything in which he
needed help, and to supply him liberally with money, corn,
wine, oil, and salt.
Ezra assembled the Jews who accompanied him on the
banks of the river Ahava, where they halted three days in
tents. On the twelfth day from their first setting out Ezra
and his companions left the river Ahava, and arrived safely
at Jerusalem in the fifth month, where he shortly after had
the painful duty of enforcing the law which forbade the
Jews to intermarry with heathens, many of whom had formed
such illegal connections in the land of their captivity, and
which they were now called on to dissolve.
In Neh. viii. we read that, on the occasion of the cele¬
bration of the feast of the seventh month, subsequently to
Nehemiah’s numbering the people, Ezra was requested to
bring the book of the law of Moses; and that he read therein
standing upon a pulpit of wood, which raised him above all
the people.
Josephus tells us that he died soon after this celebration
of the feast of tabernacles, and was buried at Jerusalem
with great magnificence. According to other traditions
Ezra returned to Babylon, and died there at the age of 120
years. The Talmudic statement is that he died at Zam-
zumu, a town on the Tigris, while on his road from Jeru¬
salem to Susa, whither he was going to converse with Ar¬
taxerxes about the affairs of the Jews. A tomb said to be
his is shown on the Tigris, about 20 miles above its junc¬
tion with the Euphrates.
Ezra is considered to be the author of the canon, and
worthy to have been the lawgiver, if Moses had not pre¬
ceded him.
The canonical writings of Ezra are, besides the book
which bears his name, most likely the two books of the
Chronicles. “ Esram libros Paralipomenon lucubrasse Eb-
raeorum omnium est fama consentiens” (Huetius, Dem.
Evang., iv. 14, p. 341). Some authors have ascribed the
books of Nehemiah and Esther likewise to Ezra, although
they differ in style.
460
F.
v TjI the fourth consonant and sixth letter of the English
|i J1 9 alphabet. The letter F is borrowed from the digam-
Fabius ma or double gamma, F, of the yEolians, as is evident from
Pictor. inscription on the pedestal of the Colossus at Uelos,
—and though this letter is not found in the modern Greek
alphabet, yet it was in the ancient one, whence the Gatins
received and transmitted it to us. It is formed by a forci¬
ble emission of the breath and placing at the same time the
upper teeth on the under lip. It has but one sort of sound,
which has a great affinity with v and ph, the latter being
used by us for the letter cf> in all words derived directly
from the Greek. The Romans for some time used an in¬
verted F, instead of V consonant, which had no peculiar
fiirure in their alphabet. Thus, in inscriptions we meet
with TERMINATIT, DITI, and so on. Lipsius and others
say that it was the Emperor Claudius who introduced the
use of the inverted digamma or ; but it did not long sub¬
sist after his death ; for Quintilian states that it was not
used in his time. F or fa, in Music, is the fourth note in
rising in this order of the gamut, ut, re, mi, fa. It likewise
denotes one of the Greek keys in music, destined for the
bass. F, in medical prescriptions, stands for Fiat, or Let
it be done ; thus, /. 5. a. signifies fiat secundum artem. F
was also a numeral letter signifying forty; according to the
verse,
Sexta quaterdenos gerit quae distat ab alpha.
And when a dash was added at top, thus, F, it signified
forty thousand. In the civil law, two of these letters to¬
gether, fif, signify the Pandects. In English criminal law
(by stat. 4th Henry VII., cap. 13), this letter was branded
on felons, on their being admitted to benefit of clergy.
FABII, an illustrious family of ancient Rome, who from
the time when they first began to make a figure in history,
b.c. 486, till the reign of Tiberius, counted among their
honours seven dictatorships, forty-eight consulships, eight
censorships, and seven augurships, besides many inferior dig¬
nities. In the early times of the republic, it was an honour¬
able distinction in the history of this family, that from 486
to 479 b.g. one of the two consuls was a member of the
Fabian house. In that latter year the whole family to the
number of 306 left the city, with the intention of taking the
war with the Vejentes into their own hands, and settled with
their households on the banks of the river Cremera, where
they maintained themselves successfully against the enemy
for two years. At the end of that period, however, they
fell into an ambuscade and were cut off to a man. The
only representative of the family at this time surviving was
a youth, who, from his tender years, had been left at Rome.
He became the ancestor of all the Fabii whose names are
afterwards met with in Roman history, of whom the most
distinguished were M. Fabius Ambustus, consul in the year
of Rome 393, and afterwards re-elected for several succes¬
sive years; his son Q. Fabius Maximus Rullianus, master
of the horse under the Dictator Papirius, in whose absence,
and contrary to whose orders, he fought a great battle with
the Samnites whom he utterly defeated, but though vic¬
torious he made a very narrow escape with his life in con¬
sequence of having disobeyed the orders of the commander-
in-chief, whom he had deprived of the opportunity of dis¬
tinguishing himself. But the greatest of the Fabian family,
and indeed one of the greatest of all the Romans of the
Commonwealth, was Q. Fabius Maximus Verrucosus, the
successful opponent of Hannibal in the second Punic war.
FABIUS PICTOR, the father of Roman history, was
descended from M. Fabius Ambustus the consul. In the in¬
terval between the first and second Punic wars we find him
taking an active part in the subjugation of the Gauls in the v axi ^ '
north of Italy (225 b.c.) ; and after the battle of Cannae
(216 b.c.), he was employed by the Romans to proceed to
Delphi, in order to consult the oracle of Apollo. In his
capacity of historian he is worthy ot note as the fiist ot
the Roman annalists who set the example of writing the
history of his country in prose. The rude muse of Naevius
had already celebrated in verse the glory acquired by the
Roman arms in the first Punic war, and Ennius had clothed
the annals of his adopted country in the language of poetry.
But till the time of Fabius Pictor, no one had appeared to
chronicle in simple prose the res gestce of Rome and the
Romans. The sources from which he derived the materials
for his history were the oral traditions current among the
people, and the annals of the priests; arid though his style
seems to have partaken much of the dry and jejune charac¬
ter of these chronicles, it is highly praised by Livy (who
borrowed very largely from Fabius), as well as by Ciceio,
Pliny, and many other writers. Polybius has expressed a
doubt respecting their credibility, but apparently without
sufficient reason. That he should have copied from a Greek
writer, Diodes of Alexandria, as Dionysius hints, carries
with it its own refutation; but it is a curious fact that he
wrote his annals in the Greek as well as Latin language.
To what period he brought down his history we are unable
to determine. Livy speaks of his death 169 b.c. (Molleri
Diss. de Q. Fabio Pictore, Altorf. 1689; Lachman, De
Fontib. Livii ; Fabric. Bibl. Lat.)
Q. Fabius Maximus Verrucosus, one of the most dis¬
tinguished Romans of the republic. He first makes his
appearance in history as the conqueror of the Ligurians,
who had long braved the power of Rome ; and though we
have no account of his proceedings from this period down
to the beginning of the second Punic war, he must have
no doubt taken a prominent part in public affairs, as he was
then appointed to head the embassy (219 b.c.) sent to Lar-
thage to inquire whether that state approved of Hannibal’s
conduct in attacking Saguntum. The answer proved un¬
satisfactory ; when Fabius, assuming the haughty dignity
of a Roman senator, and folding up his cloak so as to form
a cavity, thus addressed the nobles of Carthage : “ Hie
vobis bellum et pacem portamus; utrum placet sumite.
Being answered that he might give which he pleased, he
indignantly exclaimed, “ Then I give you war ;” and the
deputies returned to Rome to state the result of their mis¬
sion. The disastrous campaign on the Trebia, and the
defeat on the banks of the Thrasymene Lake, warned the
Romans that their successful resistance to Hannibal, and
even their existence, depended on the wisdom ot the gene¬
ral to whom they entrusted their troops. Everything^
pointed out Fabius as the person on whom the fate ot
Rome ought to be allowed to depend. The senate ap¬
pointed him dictator; and the fearless character of Minu-
cius probably induced Fabius to make him master of the
horse, or second in command; and his conduct in that
office did not eventually disappoint the expectations of his
countrymen. The grand object of his policy was to weary
out and exhaust the army ot Hannibal, without the risk of
a general engagement; and so closely did he adhere to the
plan which he had laid down for himself, that he received
from this circumstance the name of Cunctator. His slow
and cautious policy by no means suited the ardent spirit of
the Romans, and more particularly that of Minucius, his
master of the horse, who began to ridicule the proceedings
of Fabius, and, when he was absent at Rome, took the
FAB
Fable, opportunity of attacking the enemy, and came off victo-
—rious in a small skirmish. This tended only more strongly
to confirm the opponents of Fabius in their opinion ; and
Varro was bold enough to propose that Minucius should be
made equal in command with Fabius. The result was
exactly such as might have been anticipated. Minucius
engaged in battle with Hannibal, and his army was on the
verge of ruin when the opportune arrival of Fabius changed
the aspect of affairs. Minucius seems to have had the
moral courage to confess his folly, and cheerfully to sub¬
mit to the orders of Fabius. At the end of six months he
resigned his dictatorship.
But it was not long before Rome was again obliged to
have recourse to the experience of Fabius. After the
defeat at Cannae (216 B.C.), he was appointed, along with
Marcellas, to the command of the armies; Fabius being
called the shield, and Marcellus the sivord, of the republic.
He laid siege to the important city of Capua; and when
Hannibal marched towards Rome, threatening the city
itself, Fabius remained firmly at his post, trusting in the
known bravery of his fellow-citizens. Again, in his fifth
consulship, we find him taking the city of 1 arentum ; and
when it was proposed, towards the conclusion of the war,
that Scipio should pass into Africa, Fabius was decidedly op¬
posed to the scheme. But he did not live to witness the final
success of Scipio, having died at an advanced age, 203 b.c.
For the details of his public life see art. Roman History.
FABLE is a word used in several senses, all arising out
of that primitive meaning in which it denotes an invented
or fictitious story. Its applications to literature are, espe¬
cially in modern speech, much narrower than those of its
root, the Latin Fabula; and the only one of these requir¬
ing notice is that in which it is the name of a particular
kind of literary composition. A fable is a fictitious story,
designed, characteristically and mainly, for illustrating a
general or universal truth ; and it may thus be said to be
an allegory and something more, or an adaptation of the
allegory to a special purpose. This description, however,
would fairly include the Parable also, between which indeed,
and the Fable or Apologue, the line of distinction is not very
clear. It is, as commonly taken, no broader than this ; that
the invention of the latter is carried, while that of the former
is not carried, beyond the bounds, not of the probable only,
but even of the possible. Jotham’s story to the men of
Shechem is strictly an apologue, while Nathan s allegorical
reproof to David is as strictly a parable; but many other
tales would be referred to the one class or to the other,
according to the diverse experience of different readers.
The apologue, however, has been worked out in one
direction, as to the character of which there can be no dis¬
pute. This development constitutes what has been called
the ASsopean Fable, in which the imagined actors, or the
chief of them, instead of being men, are the lower animals,
and sometimes plants or other things really inanimate.
This shape of the fable arose in very early times, probably
among the Eastern nations; and, passing thence to Greece
and Rome, it flourished also profusely in the middle ages.
We read of its having become, more than once, an instru¬
ment of persuasion in the hands of public men, who aimed
at fitting their oratory to the grasp of a semi-civilized people:
one instance, probably the oldest of which any record
exists, is that which was above referred to, fiom the Book
of Judges; another occurred when the Roman Menenius
Agrippa told his tale of the members of the body to the
plebeians on the Sacred Mount. In regions widely distant
from each other, and in very remote ages, the fable took also
a literary shape. It was used for many centuries as a favouiite
vehicle for the inculcation of rules of practical action, as well
as for the venting of satire political and social; and even in
modern times it has not altogether lost its ground, having
been employed, not unfrequently, and oftenest in the form
FAB 461
of verse, for insinuating the minor morals, or for giving point Fable,
to epigrammatic and stinging jests. It should be noted,
indeed, that the nature of the apologue proper unfits it for
effectively symbolizing high ethical doctrines : to positions
giving occasion for such teaching, its animal or inanimate^
actors cannot well be made to rise, unless by a looseness of
invention that would degenerate into extravagance and
absurdity. Accordingly, the framers of apologues have at
all times been tempted to wander beyond their own field.
In many of the most striking and celebrated fables, the
introduction of the animal personages is merely ornamental,
the action and its lesson turning really on the thoughts and
conduct of human beings who appear along with them ; nor
is there, perhaps, any extensive collection of fables, whether
ancient or modern, invented or compiled, in which an
attempt is not made to relieve the monotony by the inter-
spersion of stories having men only as their actors.
It is not probable that we possess any Oriental Apologues,
in the state in which they were received by the Greeks.
But there are many extant specimens which are very
ancient, and which likewise have reached us without any
loss of the native Eastern colouring. I he most famous of
these are contained in the various shapes and versions of a
collection, which was long known as the fables of Pilpaj.
Hindustan was the birth-place, if not of the originals of these
tales, yet certainly, at least, of the oldest shape in which they
still exist. The source of all of them is the Sanscrit book
called the Pancha Tantra, or Five Sections. It has been
analysed by Professor H. H. Wilson in the Transactions of
the Asiatic Society; and the Hitopadesa, an alteration of it in
the same language, was translated into English by Wilkins.
The stories of both works are told in prose, but reflections
in verse, chiefly quotations, are interspersed freely. The
fables which they contain reached Europe in the middle
ages, through translations from an Arabic version (long lost),
usually called the “ Kalila Damana,” from the names of two
jackals who figure prominently in it; and the name Bidpai,
there given to the wise man who is the story teller, has been
changed into Pilpay. Jhere exists in Arabic, also, a much
more meagre collection of fables, attributed traditionally to
Lokman, who is said to have lived in the time of King David.
The Sanscrit Fables bear the Hindu impress very
strongly. The animals, the scenery, and the aspect of
society, are all genuinely Indian ; and not a few features
image vividly the ancient state of Indian greatness and in¬
dependence. One of the names of the older form of the
collection signifies The Book of Polity; and the tales are
feigned to have been told by a learned Brahmin to the sons
of°a great king or raja, the education of whom had been
committed to him, and was to be effected chiefly through
the weighty lessons of wisdom and morality thus communi¬
cated. Many stories which afterwards in European hands
assumed a domestic and familiar cast, are here invested
with royal and aristocratic pomp; the several kinds of
animals have their several kingdoms, mixed up together by
whimsical borrowings and dependences; and the picture is
often embellished also with wild mythological groups.
Among other tales found in the collection, which are not pro¬
perly fables, are the originals of the Arabian Alnaschar, of
the story versified in Bethgelert, and of several of the French
fabliaux.
The Alsop of the Greeks, the hunchbacked slave and
jester, is very like the Lokman of the Arabs; and of the
fables which were current in Greece under his name not a
few are identical with those of the East. As to all of them,
it is quite uncertain who may have been the author or com¬
piler ; but Fables attributed to Alsop are quoted, in prose,
by Xenophon, Aristotle, Plutarch, and other Greek writers;
and Plato represents Socrates as having versified some such
in the time of his imprisonment. Babrius or Babrias, who
appears to have lived not long before the Augustan age
462
FABLE.
Fable.
turned a large number of iEsopean Fables into Greek chol-
iambic verse; and, after these had long been known in
fragments only, most, if not all of them, were recovered in
a manuscript found in a monastery of Mount Athos in 1844.
The London edition of these, that of Sir G. C. Lewis, con¬
tains a hundred and twenty-nine fables. They are equal to
those of Phaedrus for brief expressiveness of phrase, and
superior in the apposite pointedness with which, in most ot
them, the incidents are brought to bear on the moral. It
may be worth noting that Babrias introduces the tiger, who,
though very prominent in the Oriental apologues, had foi a
while lost his place among the Greeks. But he leaves the
lion in possession of his sovereignty over the brutes; a
feature, by the way, whose appearance in the more recent
fables is one decisive symptom of their Oriental origin. _
To this little corner of literature the Romans certainly
supplied nothing better than the one fable, that of the T own
Mouse and Country Mouse, told so tersely by Horace in
one of his satires. But to the same age belong, not un¬
worthily, the Fables of Phaedrus, about ninety in number.
They tell, in the easy iambic verse of comedy, and with a
grace of style not surpassed by any other Augustan writer,
stories, for the invention of which the fabulist professes him¬
self to be indebted to Alsop, and most of which are generally
of the ^Esopean kind. There is, however, much originality
in details. Even when his outline seems to be clearly trace¬
able to some of the Greek stories still accessible, Phaedrus
often alters very skilfully, for the purpose either of giving a
more natural or lively air to the picture, or of fitting the in¬
cidents more closely to the moral; and almost everything
seems to be his own that strikes us most, in the light touches
of characterization, and the occasional strokes of quiet hu¬
mour. If the extreme brevity which he maintains through¬
out does sometimes give bareness and dryness to his scenes,
it has opened to him the occasions which most of all bring
out his mastery of language, while sometimes also it enables
him to exhibit much force in concentrating both thought
and imagery. A critic who deals very severely with Phaedrus
has been compelled to allow the excellence of the following
fables, which indeed may be taken as fair specimens of his
characteristic merits : the Ass and the Old Shepherd (i. 15);
the Weasel and the Man (i. 22); the Mule and the Rob¬
bers (ii. 7); the Bees and the Drones (iii. 13) ; the Cicada
and the Owl (iii. 16) ; the Huntsman and his Dog (v. 10).
The Fables of the rhetorician Aphthonius in Greek prose,
and those in Latin elegiac verse, attributed to Avianus or
Avienus, make, in the history of the apologue, a sort of link
between the classical and the dark ages. In that overflow¬
ing chaos, which constitutes the literature of the middle ages,
the fable reappears in several aspects. In a Latin dress,
sometimes in prose, sometimes in regular verse, and some¬
times in rhymed stanzas, it contributed, with other kinds of
narratives, to make up the huge mass of stories which has
been bequeathed to us by the monastic libraries. These
served more uses than one. They were always easier read¬
ing, and were often held to be safer and more instructive
reading also, than the difficult and slippery classics, for those
monks who cared for reading at all, and were not learned
enough for any pursuit deserving the name of study. For
those who were a little more active-minded, they aided the
Gesta Romanorum and other collections of fabliaux or short
novels, in suggesting illustrations available for popular
preaching. Among those mediaeval fables in Latin, very
little of originality is to be detected. The writers con¬
tented themselves with working up the old fables into new
shapes, with rendering from prose into verse, or from verse
into prose; a kind of attempts which had its merit in such
hands as those of Babrias or Phaedrus, but from which no
fruit could be expected to be gathered in the convents. The
few monks who could have performed such a task well, aimed
wisely at something higher. It might be enough to name,
among the monkish fabulists, Vincent of Beauvais, a Domi¬
nican of the twelfth century, in whose Speculum Doctrinale
are a good many prose fables, more than half of them from
Phaedrus. About the end of the same century, too, a con¬
siderable number of fables, some of which have been printed,
were compiled by an English Cistercian monk, Odo de
Cerinton. Nor was this the only collection that arose in
England.
As the modern languages became by degrees applicable
to literary use, fables began to appear in them. There still
exist, in Norman-French, a good many: of which may be
noted the fables called those of Ysopet, and those composed
by Marie de France, the authoress of the well-known fab¬
liaux. Later, also, they were not wanting, though not nu¬
merous, in our own tongue. Chaucer has given us one, in
his story of Chaunteclere and Dame Partelet; another is
Lidgate’s tale of The Churl and the Bird. But the
course of the short and isolated fables through the middle
ages is not here worth prosecuting.
Several of Odo’s tales, like Chaucer’s ^Esopean story,
must have been derived from some shape or other of a work,
or series of works, for the sake of which chiefly the mediae¬
val history of the apologue is interesting. This was the
History of Reynard the Fox. Grimm has traced, to as
early a date as the middle of the tenth century, the earliest
of some extant stories in Latin verse, out of which arose the
later poems on the theme, composed in the spoken tongues.
The oldest of these was written in High German, probably in
the twelfth century : not much later appeared a good many
shorter poems in Norman-French; and a Low-German
edition of the story “ Reineke de Vos” (which has lately
been shown to have been founded on an older Flemish ori¬
ginal), exhibited the adventures in their fullest elaboration,
and became, in its own shape and in translation, popular
throughout all Europe. One of our venerable Caxton s
labours was a version of a Dutch prose version of it, which
he finished in 1481. By the German antiquaries and critics
the “Reineke” has been treated with that somewhat over¬
strained enthusiasm which, since the beginning of the pre¬
sent century at least, they have bestowed so freely on the
mediaeval monuments of the father-land: a rendering of it
into modern hexameters appears among the works of Goethe.
It is really a very remarkable piece. In it the ^Esopean
fable received a development which was in several respects
quite original. We have here no short and unconnected
stories. Materials, partly borrowed from older apologues,
but in a much greater proportion new, are worked up into one
long and systematic tale, so as to form what has been quaintly
called an animal-romance. The moral, so prominent in the
fable proper, shrinks so far into the background, that the
work might be considered as a mere allegory. Indeed,
while the suspicion of its having contained personal satires
has been convincingly set aside, some writers deny even the
design to represent human conduct at all; and we can
scarcely get nearer to its signification than by regarding it
as being, in a general way, what Carlyle has called “a
parody of human life.” It represents a contest maintained
successfully, by selfish craft and audacity, against enemies
of all sorts, in a half-barbarous and ill-organized society.
With his weakest foes, like Chaunteclere the Cock, Reynard
uses brute force ; over the weak who are protected, like
Kiward the Hare and Belin the Ram, he is victorious by
uniting violence with cunning : Bruin, the dull, strong, for¬
midable Bear, is humbled by having greater power than his
own enlisted against him ; and the most dangerous of all
the fox’s enemies, Isengrim, the obstinate, greedy, and im¬
placable Wolf, after being baffled by repeated strokes of ma¬
licious ingenuity, forces Reynard to a single combat, but
even thus is not a match for his dexterous adversary. The
knavish fox has allies worthy of him, in Grimbart the watch¬
ful badger, and in his own aunt Dame Rukenawe,the learned
Fable,
FAB
Fable. She-ape ; and he plays at his pleasure on the simple credu-
^ lity of the Lion-King, the image of an impotent feudal sove¬
reign. The characters of these and other brutes are kept
up with a rude kind of consistency, which gives them great
liveliness; many of the incidents are devised with much force
of humour ; and the sly hits at the weak points of mediaeval
polity and manners and religion, are incessant and palpable.
It' is needless, as has already been said, to attempt tracing
the appearance which fables, or incidents borrowed from
them, make so frequently as incidental ornaments in the
older literature of our own country and others. Nor is
there here fit occasion for dwelling minutely on the culti¬
vation of the apologue in modern times, as a special form of
poetical composition. It has appeared in every modern
nation of Europe, but has nowhere become very important,
and hardly ever exhibited much originality either of spirit or
of manner. In our own language, Prior indicated the pos¬
session of much aptitude for it; but neither the fables of
Moore, nor even the much more lively ones of Gay, possess
any distinguished merit. To Dryden’s spirited remodellings
of old poems, romances, and fabliaux, the name of fables,
which he was pleased to give them, is quite inapplicable. In
German, Hagedornand Gellert are quite forgotten; and Les¬
sing’s fables, both in prose and in verse, are chiefly notable for
hard thinking and cool satire. The Italian fables of Pignottiare
much superior to all of those which have just been referred to.
It is only in France that the Fable has attained, in mo¬
dern times, a literary position of real eminence; and it has
owed this distinction to one writer, whose singular success
has been sufficient alike to eclipse predecessors and to dis¬
courage all endeavours at imitation. La Fontaine, a man
who, both in character and in intellect, was not unlike
Goldsmith, was enabled by fortunate circumstances to con¬
centrate his powers more vigorously ; while the state of
French society, and the turn of French opinions and feel¬
ings, brought out clearly some tendencies which in our man
of genius were but imperfectly developed. La Fontaine’s
fables are, beyond all doubt, incomparably superior to every¬
thing else of their class. Of his extraordinary mastery in style
and versification we foreigners can be only so far sensible,
as to share, partly on trust, in the admiration felt for those
excellencies by his countrymen. We can appreciate fully,
in many instances, the rare pointedness and aptness of brief
expression, clothing shrewd and striking apophthegms, which
have given to so many of his lines and phrases a place in the
common speech of educated men, like that which has been
gained in our tongue by many fragments of Pope and by
some of Shakspeare. The “ Aide-toi et Dieu t’aidera,” is
but one example of a thousand. We can understand tho¬
roughly, too, his unique mixture of sly sagacity, fine humour,
and quiet reflectiveness, with a simplicity, and good-heart¬
edness, and tenderness, which are best describable by the
words of his own language—“ naivete” and “bonhommie.”
The outlines of his stories are chiefly borrowed from Phge-
drus, Avienus, and the older French fabulists. But among
his two hundred and fifty fables there are certainly some
whose idea was his own : there has been cited, as one un¬
doubted instance, the ingenious device which he uses in
“ L’Homme et son Image,” for paying a delicate compli¬
ment to Rochefoucault. ^ He has, likewise, inexhaustible
variety of invention in the filling up of details by original
touches, both of incident and of description. Sometimes
these are applied merely for giving liveliness and reality to
the picture; at other times they suggest humorous images
of contrast, as when the lion is described as holding court
in his tl Louvre,” and as issuing his proclamations, ‘ He
par le Roi.” Often, again, the originality lies in the in¬
crease of pointedness and wit with wrhich he throws out the
epigrammatic lesson of the old story; a feature which may
be exemplified in “ L’Ours et les Deux Compagnons,”
“ Le Renard, Le Singe, et Les Animaux,” and the tale
FAB
463
from Phsedrus of “ Le Vieillard et L’Ane.” He occasion¬
ally remodels fabliaux and similar anecdotes; beingprompted ^
by a desire both for diversity of incident and for opportuni¬
ties of insinuating maxims not easily wrapt up in the apo¬
logue proper, either because they rise somewhat high in
morals, or because they bear on complicated relations of
modern society. Some such deviations from the path of the
fable are apologized for in light and sparkling passages; as
in the introductions to “ Tyrcis et Amarante” and “ Le
Depositaire.” His personal feelings are often brought grace¬
fully into play, and nowhere perhaps so beautifully as in the
sentimental reflections which close “ Les Deux Pigeons.”
His favourite manner of narration is broad, garrulous, and
studded with particulars ; and it thus escapes from the bare¬
ness which often chills us in Phsedrus. But this fulness is
not always unattended by superfluity: “in many of his
fables he beats round the subject, and misses often before
he hits.” This is a remark of Mr Hallam’s ; who observes,
also, that the moral of the tale is kept more directly in view
by La Fontaine than by Phsedrus. It must be said, how¬
ever, that the abundance of features sometimes obscures the
moral, or suggests, besides the moral which the poet chooses
to draw, other inferences both more important and more ob¬
vious. The latter case is instanced in “ Le Cochon, La
Chevre, et Le Mouton,” and “ L’Homme et La Couleuvre.”
Yet, even in such stories, there occurs often a slily good-
humoured hint, which shows that the writer had his eyes
open. Indeed there is hardly any piece of the collection,
that fails to evince the loving zeal which the simple-
hearted fabulist lavished on these his favourite works : the
general equality of merit among them is very striking ; and
further, of those which are deformed by faults lying on the
very surface, there is not perhaps one which, on narrower
scrutiny, does not disclose some counterbalancing beauty of
thoughtor of expression. Thus we have the rich Hermit-Rat
(“Le Rat qui s’est retire du Monde”), who, on an appeal
from the starving community of his race, offers his prayers
but refuses charity ; an incident in the conception of which
the idea of animal nature is quite lost sight of. But this
very poem has been warmly admired; and the admiration is
richly merited by the fine irony, for which the poet has care¬
fully prepared himself in the opening of the story, and
which he utters in its close with his most felicitous smile of
gay and well-bred satire. (w. s.)
FABRETTI, Raff able, a celebrated Italian antiquary,
was born in 1619, at Urbino, in the States of the Church.
At an early age he was sent on important political affairs
into Spain; and, on his return, was appointed in rapid suc¬
cession secretary of the memorials, canon of the Vatican,
and keeper of the archives in the Castle of St Angelo, by
the Popes Alexander VIII. and Innocent XII. Much of
his spare time he devoted to the study of antiquities, and
in this pursuit he examined with minute care the numerous
monuments and inscriptions of the Campagna. He always
undertook his antiquarian expeditions alone, on a horse
which his friends nicknamed Marco Polo, and which be¬
came so habituated to its master’s ways, that it used to
stop of its own accord before the objects of which he was
in quest, and indeed often rendered him good service by
halting in this way before interesting remains which escaped
his own eye. In 1680 he published his treatise De Aquis
et Aquceductibus Veteris Noma:; in which his interpreta¬
tions of certain passages in Livy and other classics involved
him in a dispute with Gronovius, which in its general con¬
duct bore a strong resemblance to that waged between
Milton and Salmasius. His other works—De Columna
Trajani, 1683; and Inscriptiorum Antiquarum Expli¬
cation 1699—throw much light on Roman antiquity, espe¬
cially with the aid of the principle which he himself em¬
ployed, of making one monument interpret another. Fa-
bretti died at Rome early in the year 1700.
Fabretti.
464 FAB
Fabriano FABRIANO, Gentile da, an historical painter, was
II born at Verona in 1332, and became a disciple of Giovanni
Fabricius. (ja piesoie. He soon acquired a considerable reputation,
and was employed to adorn a great number of churches and
palaces at Florence, Urbino, Siena, Perugia, and Rome.
His picture of the Virgin and Child attended by Joseph,
which is preserved in the church of Santa Maria Maggiore,
was highly commended by Michael Angelo. At the re¬
quest of the doge and senate of Venice he painted a picture
in the great council-chamber, which was considered so ex¬
cellent that his employers granted him a pension for life,
and conferred upon him the highest honour of their sta.te,
namely, the privilege of wearing the habit of a Venetian
noble. He died in 1412.
FABRIANO, a city in the delegation of Macerata, Papal
States, is situated on the right bank of the Giano, 29 miles
W. of Macerata. It has a cathedral and numerous con¬
vents, and considerable manufactures of paper and paich-
ment. Pop. about 6000.
FABRICIUS, George, a Latin poet and historian, was
born at Chemnitz ‘in Germany, on the 24th April 1516.
He began his studies in his native place, and completed
them at Freyberg and at Leipzig, where he was preceptor
to Wolfgang, and also to Philip and Antony, Werter. He
travelled into Italy with the elder of his pupils; and on his
return to Germany, in 1553, was appointed director of the
college of Meissen, where he died on the 13th July 1571.
In his sacred poems, which obtained for their author con¬
siderable distinction, he affected not to employ any word
which had the slightest savour of paganism ; and he blamed
those poets who had in their works introduced the pagan
divinities. The following list includes the principal works
which he published, either as author or as editor: 1. Te-
rentii Afri Comcedice sex cum castigatione duplici Joannis
Rivii et G. Fabricii, Strasburg, 1548, in 8vo; 2. Roma,
sive Liber utilissimus de veteris Roma; situ, regionibus, viis,
templis, aliisque cedificiis, Bale, 1550, in 8vo; 3. Virgilii
Opera cum commentariis Servii et T. C. Donati, Bale,
1551, in fol.; 4. Virgilii Opera a Fabricio castigata, Leip¬
zig, 1551, 1591, in 8vo ; 5. Poematum Sacrorum libri quin-
decim, Bale, 1560, in 16mo ; 6. Poematum veterum ecclesi-
asticorum opera Christiana et operum reliquia; ac fragmenta,
1562, in 4to ; 7. Re Re Poetica libri septem, 1566, in 8vo ;
8. Rerum Misnicarum libri septem, 1569, in 4to; 9.
Originum illustrissimce stirpis Saxonicce libri septem, 1597,
in fol.; 10. Rerum Germanice magnce et Saxonice universce
memorabilium volumina duo, Leipzig, 1609, in fol.
Fabricius, or Fabrizio, Jerome, surnamed Acquapen-
dente, from his having been a native of the episcopal city
of that name in Italy, where he was born in 1537. His
parents, though poor, were desirous to give their son an
excellent education, and with this view sent him to Padua,
where the young Fabricius soon found powerful protectors
to assist in the cultivation of his talents. After completing
his course of philosophy, he applied himself to medicine,
which he studied under the celebrated Fallopius, and soon
became the most distinguished pupil of that learned pro¬
fessor, whom he afterwards succeeded. Fallopius having
died in 1562, Fabricius, then only twenty-five years of age,
was at first employed merely to give anatomical demonstra¬
tions ; but he discharged this duty with so much zeal and
ability that, in 1565, he was formally promoted to the chair
of surgery, whilst that of anatomy, which had hitherto been
considered as merely a dependence or accessory of the other,
was declared primary in favour of Fabricius, to whom were
also assigned very considerable appointments. And to these
preferments the senators of Venice added the highest dis¬
tinctions which it was in their power to bestow. They
granted him privileges not less extraordinary than flattering,
gave him precedence of the professors of philosophy, named
him citizen of Venice, honoured him with a statue and a
FAB
gold chain, decorated him with the order of knight of St Fabricius.
Mark, constructed a superb anatomical theatre for his ac- ^
commodation, and assigned him a liberal retiring allowance,
with the right of naming his successor. Fabricius practised
his profession with much dignity and with rare disinterested¬
ness. Persons of high rank, who were indebted to him for
the re-establishment of their health, made up by rich pre¬
sents for the fees which the generous physician refused;
and these Fabricius collected in a cabinet, on the door of
which he caused to be inscribed the words Lucri neglecti
lucrum. He possessed a beautiful country-house, situated
on the delightful banks of the Brenta, and still known by
the name of Montagnuola dAcquapendente, where, sound
in body and mind, loaded with riches, generally esteemed,
and enjoying a brilliant reputation, he calculated on spend¬
ing a happy old age ; but his expectations were cruelly dis¬
appointed, and his repose was disturbed by envy and ingra¬
titude. It is even said that on more than one occasion he
had to defend himself against violent attempts on his life,
which even in his own house was not secure. Relations,
on whom he had never ceased to lavish favours, unworthily
betrayed his confidence, and are suspected, not without
reason, of having abridged his days by means of poison.
Having attained the age of eighty-two, he died suddenly,
in an agony of vomiting, on the 21st May 1619, leaving to
his niece a fortune of two hundred thousand ducats, and
to the republic of letters the following works, which are
much esteemed : De Visione, Voce, Auditu, Venice, 1600,
in fob; De formato Fcctu liber, Venice, 1600, in fob;
De Venarum ostiolis, Padua, 1603, in fob ; De Locutione
et ejus instruments, Venice, 1603, in 4to; De Brutorum
loquela, Padua, 1603, in fob; De Musculi artificio ac
Ossium dearticulationibus, Vicenza, 1614, in 4to; De Afotu
locali Animalium secundum totum, Padua, 1618, in 4to ;
De Respiratione et ejus Instrumentis libri duo, Padua,
1615, in 4to; De Gula, Ventriculo, Intestinis, Padua,
1618, in 4to; and also, De totius Animalis integumentis,
Padua, 1618, in 4to. These different fragments were col¬
lected and printed by Bohn, with a preface, under the title
of Opera omni Anatomica et Physiologica hactenus variis
locis ac for mis edita, nunc vero certo ordme digesta, et in
unum volumen redacta, Leipzig, 1687, in fob But the
Leyden edition, published in 1738, by Bernard-Siegfred
Albinus, is preferred to that of Bohn, as containing a life
of the author, and the prefaces of the different treatises,
which Bohn had unaccountably suppressed. All the writ¬
ings of Fabricius are truly classical, and fully justify the
high reputation of their author. His style is pure, and even
elegant; the language of Hippocrates was as familiar to him
as that of Celsus ; and lucid order pervades all his writings.
In regularity of plan and clear luminous method he is un¬
surpassed. “ On a reproche a ce grand chirurgien trop de
timidite dans I’exercice de son art, et pourtant nous le
voyons,” says his French biographer, “pratiquer et perfec-
tionner le trepan, employer avec autant de hardiesse que
de talent le bistouri, {’aiguille, le trois-quarts, la rugine et
meme le fer rouge, quoiqu’ en dise Severino. Haller, qui,
certes, ne le juge pas avec bienveillance, est force de lui
rendre justice sur ces divers points.” In a word, Fabricius
was one of the greatest ornaments of the university of Padua,
and one of the most celebrated anatomists and surgeons of
the sixteenth century. (j. b—E.)
Fabricius, Joannes Albertus, one of the most learned,
laborious, and useful of bibliographers, was born at Leipzig,
November 11th, 1668. He lost his mother in 1674, and
five years afterwards his father, Werner Fabricius, director
of music in the church of St Paul at Leipzig, and author of
several works, particularly Delicice Harmonica;, published
in 1657. Joannes Albertus himself commenced his studies
under his father, who on his deathbed recommended him to
the care of Valentine Alberti. He studied during five years
FAB
Fabricius. under Wenceslaz Buhl, and afterwards for some time under
J. S. Herriehen ; and in 1684 he was sent to Quedlinburg,
there to continue his studies under Samuel Schmidt. Having
returned to Leipzig in 1686, he was the same year admitted
bachelor in philosophy; and in the beginning of 1688 he
took the degree of master in the same faculty. He then
applied himself to the study of medicine, which, however,
he relinquished for that of theology; and having gone to
Hamburg in 1693, he proposed to travel abroad, when the
unexpected tidings that the expense of his education had
absorbed his whole patrimony, and even left him in debt to
his trustee, forced him to abandon his project. He there¬
fore remained at Hamburg, where J. F. Mayer employed
him in the capacity of librarian. In 1696 he accompanied
his patron to Sweden ; and, on his return to Hamburg, not
long afterwards, he competed for the chair of logic and phi¬
losophy. The suffrages being equally divided between
Fabricius and Sebastian Edzardi, one of his opponents, the
appointment was decided by lot in favour of Edzardi; but
in 1699 Fabricius succeeded Vincent Placcius in the chair
of rhetoric and ethics, after which he took the degree of
doctor in theology at Kiel. In 1701, J. F. Mayer, having
established himself at Greifswald, caused the chair of theo¬
logy in that city to be offered to Fabricius, who, however,
refused it on account of his health. But in 1708 he accepted
the professorship of theology, logic, and metaphysics, and
was preparing to enter on his new office, when the senate
of Hamburg induced him to remain, by adding to his charge
as professor that of rector of the school of St John, then
held by his father-in-law, Schultz. Schultz died in 1709,
but Fabricius retained the rectorship two years longer. In
1719 the landgrave of Hesse-Cassel made him so advan¬
tageous an offer, that Fabricius was on the point of accept¬
ing it; but this time also the magistrates, by a seasonable
increase of salary, prevailed on him to remain amongst them.
An attempt was subsequently made to draw him to Witten¬
berg. But Fabricius refused to listen to the proposals which
were made to him, and remained at Hamburg, where he
died April 30th, 1736.
Besides the time which he had devoted to the duties of his office,
Fahricius spent a considerable portion in maintaining an extensive
correspondence, and in receiving the visits of foreigners; but he
was so laborious that he was nevertheless the author of a great
number of works, the list of which, according to Niceron and
Reimar, includes as many as a hundred and twenty-eight. It will
be sufficient here, however, to indicate the most remarkable of these,
which are, 1. Scriptorum recentium Decas, Hamburg, 1688, in 4to;
2. Decas Decadum, sive Plagiarorum et Pseudonymorum centuria,
1689, in 4to; 3. Bibliotheca Latina, sive notitia Auctorum veterum
Latinorum guornmcunqve scripta ad nos pervenerunt, Hamburg,
1697, in 8vo, a work which was republished in an improved and
amended form by J. A. Ernesti, Leipzig, 1773, in 3 vols. 8vo.; 4.
Bibliotheca Grwca, sive notitia Scriptorum veterum Grcecorum quorum-
cunque monumenta integra aut fragmenta edita extant, turn plero-
rumque e manuscript, ac deperditis, Hamburg, 1705-1728, in 14 vols.
4to, a work which has justly been denominated maximus antiquce
eruditionis thesaurus ; 5. Centuria Fabriciorum scriptis clarorum qui
jam diem suum obierunt, 1705, in 8vo, and a second Centuryin 1727 ;
6. Bibliotheca Antiquaria sive Introductio in notitiam Scriptorum
qui antiquitates Hebra.icas, Grcecas, Romanas, et Christianas scriptis
illustrarunt, 1713 and 1726, in 4to; 7. Centifolium Lutheranum,
sive notitia literaria Scriptorum omnis generis de B. D. Luthero,
1728 and 1730, in 8vo ; 8, Conspectus Thesauri Litterarii in Italia,
proemissam habens prater alia notitiam Diariorum Italiae litterari-
orum thesaurorumque ac corporum historicorum et academiarum,
1730, in 8vo ; 9. Delectus argumenlorum et syllabus Scriptorum qui
veritatem religionis Christiana adversus atheos, Epicureos, deistas seu
naturalistas, idolatras, Judoeos et Muhammedanos lucubrationibus
suis asseruerunt, 1721, in 4to ; 10. Salutaris lux Evangelii toti orbi
per divinam gratiam exoriens, sive notitia historico-chronologica, lit-
teraria ac geographica propagatorum per orbem totum Christianorum
sacrorum, 1731, in 4to ; 11. Hydrotheology, in German, 1734, in
4to ; 12. Bibliotheca Latina mediae et infimae Latinitatis, 1734-1756,
m 5 vols. 8vo. The principal works edited by Fabricius were,
1. Vincentii Placcii theatrum anonymorum et pseudonymorum, Ham-
burg, in two vols. fol.; 2. Joannis Mabillonii iter Germanicum, et
Joannis Launoii de Scholis celebribus a Carolo Magno et post Caro-
VOL. IX. *
FAB 465
lum Magnum in occidente instauratis liber, 1717, in 8vo; 3. Anselmi Fabricius.
Bandurii Bibliotheca Nummaria, 1719, in 4to; 4. Danielis Georgii
Morhofii Polyhistor litterarius, philosophicus, ac practicus, cum acces-
sionibus Joannis Frikii et Joannis Mollerii, 1732, in two vols. 4to;
5. Bibliotheca Ecclesiastica, 1718, in fol.; 6. Codex apocryphus Novi
Testamenti collectus, castigatus, testimoniisque, censuris et animadver-
sionibus illustratus, 1703, in two vols. 8vo; 7. Codex pseudepigra-
phus Veteris Testamenti collectus, castigatus, testimoniisque, censuris
et animadversionibus illustratus, 1713 and 1722, in two vols. 8vo.
Fabricius, Johann Christ, the most celebrated entomo¬
logist of the eighteenth century, was born at Tundern, in the
duchy of Sleswick, in 1742. After having completed his
studies, at the age of twenty he repaired to the university
of Upsal, to attend the prelections of Linnaeus. How long
he remained there is uncertain; but no pupil was ever
more indebted to the lessons of his master than Fabricius.
AH his works on entomology, which have secured to him
a well-merited reputation, indicate the precepts, the method,
and even the forms of Linnaeus, applied to the development
of a single new idea, not more fortunate in conception than
fruitful in its consequences. Far from disguising the obli¬
gations which he owed to his master, Fabricius delighted
to expatiate on the happy moments which he had passed in
the society of Linnaeus ; and the grateful scholar has trans¬
mitted to us those biographical details, which are not only
the most interesting in themselves, but at the same time
best fitted to give us an insight into the character of the
great naturalist. It was in studying under this master that
Fabricius conceived the idea of his system, and formed the
project of his labours on insects. The first insect’s mouth
which he dissected was that of a cockchafer (Scarabceus
stridulus') ; he showed it to Linnaeus, with the description
he had made of it, and proposed to him to employ the or¬
gans of the mouth in order to establish the characters of
insects, in the new edition of the Systema Natures which
Linnaeus was then preparing. The latter encouraged his
pupil to pursue this course, but refused to enter on it him¬
self, because, as he said, he was too old to change his me¬
thod. Forced to choose a profession, Fabricius studied
medicine, and at the age of twenty-five took the degree of
doctor in physic ; but being soon afterwards appointed pro¬
fessor of natural history in the university of Kiel, he devoted
himself entirely to his favourite pursuits, and in 1775 pub¬
lished his system of entomology. This work gave a new
aspect to the science. Swammerdam and Hay had classed
insects according to their metamorphoses ; Lister, Linnaeus,
and Geoffroy, carrying out a suggestion of Aristotle, accord¬
ing to the organs of motion; and some entomologists, as
Reaumur, Scopoli, and even Linnaeus himself, had employed
the nutritive organs in order to characterize distinctively
certain genera. But before the time of Fabricius no one
had thought of making these the basis of a general classifi¬
cation. This idea was at once new and bold, and the author
evolved it with singular ability. In a second work, which
he published two years afterwards, he developed the cha¬
racters of the classes and genera, showing in the preface
the advantages of his method, and at the same time excusing
its inconveniences. Lastly, in 1778, he published Entomo¬
logical Philosophy, in imitation of the Botanical Philo¬
sophy of Linnaeus ; and from this period till his death, that
is during the space of more than thirty years, he was inces¬
santly occupied in extending his system, which he repro¬
duced under different forms in the various works which,
from time to time, he gave to the world. But in proportion
as the number of species increased, the characters of the
genera, and even of the classes, became more and more un¬
certain and arbitrary ; and with reference to this funda¬
mental point, his later writings are perhaps inferior to those
which preceded them. The basis which he had assumed
was excellent; but it could only conduct him to a natural
method, not, as he supposed, to a system ; and this miscon¬
ception led him to neglect other considerations which would
3 N
466
FAB
Fabrot
have furnished more exact means of classification. Fabricius
|| had a very extensive knowledge of botany, and of the othe
Fabyan. branches of natural history. He had been appointed coun-
se]ior 0f state to the king of Denmark, and professor ot
rural and political economy ; in which capacity he pub¬
lished, in German and in Danish, several useful works,
thouo-h much less celebrated than those which appeared from
his pen on the subject of entomology. Fabricius died in
1807, at the age of sixty-five, of a melancholic affection, pi o-
duced, as is alleged, by the bombardment of Copenhagen.
The following is a list of his works :-l. Systema
Flensburg, 1775, in 8vo ; 2. Genera Insectorum, Kiel, 177b, inSvo,
3. Philosophia Entomologica, Hamburg, 1778, in 8vo; 4. Species In¬
sectorum, ibid. 1778, in 2 vols. 8vo ; 5. Mantissa Copen¬
hagen 1787, in 2 vols. 8vo ; 6. Nova Insectorum Genera, in Mem. ol
the Soc. of Nat. Hist., Copenhagen; 7. Entomologia Systematica,
Copenhagen, 1792-1796, in 7 vols. 8vo; 8. Supplementum Entomo-
logice Systematical, ibid. l798,in8vo; 9. Systema Eleutheratorum,
Kiel, 1801, in 2 vols. 8vo, with an index; 10. Systema Ehyngotorum,
Brunswick, 1803, in 8vo; 11. Systema Piezatorum, ibid. 1804 in
8vo ; 12. Systema Antliatorum, ibid. 1805, in 8vo ; 13. Description
of the Tipula Sericea in.the Berlin Mem., tome v.; 14. Be Systema-
tibus Entomologicis, in the same collection ; 15. Considerations sur
Vordre general de la Nature, Hamburg, 1781, in 8vo ; 16. Traite de
la Culture des Plantes d Vusage des cultivateurs ,• 17. Observations
sur Vengourdissement des Animaux durant Vhiver, inserted in the
Mag. de Physique, tom. ix., 79; 18. Result at des Legons sur l Histoire
Naturelle, Kiel, 1804, in 8vo; 19. Sur Vaccroissement de la Popula¬
tion, particulierement en Banemark; 20. Elements d Economic Politi¬
que a I’usage des etudiants, Flensburg, 1775, in 8vo ; 21. Renseigne-
ments Historiques sur le Commerce du Danemark ; 22. Hvori bestaaer
Borgendyd besvaret; In what consists civic virtue? Copenhagen,
1786, in 8vo; 23. Sur les Finances et la Bette en Danemark; 24.
Recueil d’Ecrits sur VAdministration, Kiel, 1786, and 1790, in 2 vols.
8vo; 25. Sur les Academies, particulierement en Danemark, Copen¬
hagen, 1796, in 8vo; 26. Voyage en Norwege, Hamburg, 1799, in
8vo; 27. Lettres sur Londres, Leipzig, 1784, in 8vo ; 28. Lettres an
sujet d un voyage fait en Russie ; 29. Remarques Mineralogiques et
Technologiques; 30. Remarques sur le Danemark, written in ^English,
and published by Pinkerton in his Modern Geography, 1807.
FABROT, Charles-Annibal, one of the most cele¬
brated jurisconsults of his time, was born in 1580, at Aix
in Provence. At an early age he made great progress in
the ancient languages and in the civil and the canon law ;
and in 1609 obtained a professorship in the university of
his native town. He is best known by his translation of
the Basilica, which may be said to have formed the code
of the Eastern empire till its destruction. This work was
published at Paris in 1647, in 7 vols. fob, and obtained
for its author a considerable pension from the Chancellor
Seguier, to whom it was dedicated. Fabrot likewise ren¬
dered great service to the science of jurisprudence by his
edition of Cujas, which comprised several treatises of that
great jurist previously unpublished. Among Fabrot’s other
works, may be mentioned his Epistola de Mutao cum re-
sponsione CL Salmasii ad Menagium, Leyden, 1645, in
8vo; Les Antiquites de la Ville de Marseille, translated
from the Latin of J. Raymond de Solier, Marseilles, 1615,
and Lyons, 1632, in 8vo ; Exercitationes duce de tempore
parh'is humani et de numero puerperii, Aix, 1629, in 4to;
Prcelectio in titulum Decretalium “ De vita et honestate
Clericorum,” Paris, 1651, in 4to ; Notce. at titulum Codicis
Theodosiani “De paganis sacrificiis et ternplis” Paris,
1648, in 4to.
FABYAN, Robert, an ancient English chronicler, was
sprung from a respectable family in Essex, and is believed
to have been born in London about the middle of the
fifteenth century, though no records remain by which the
events of his early life can be assigned to any precise date.
1 he first fact in his history known for certain is, that he was
alderman for the ward of Farringdon-Without; and in 1493
he was appointed to the office of sheriff. In 1502, though
he is believed on good grounds to have been very rich, he
resigned the former of these two offices on the score of po¬
verty, not wishing probably to be elected to the expensive
FAC
position of Lord Mayor, as he had a very numerous family. Facciolati
Stowe, in his Survey of London, states that Fabyan died fJ
in 1511; but Bayle, probably with more correctness, assigns v y
that event to the following year. Fabyan’s Chronicle em¬
braces the history of England from the time when Brute
entryd firste the He of Albion” to the year 148o ; and in sub¬
sequent editions was continued by unknown authors to the
year 1559. There have been five editions of the work, the
first of which was printed in 1516 by Pynson, and, as Wolsey
ordered many copies of it to be buried, is now very rare;
the second by Rastell in 1533 ; the third by Reynes in
1542; the fourth by Kvngeston in 1559. Ihe fifth, in
the preparation of which all the previous editions were com¬
pared, was published by Sir Henry Ellis in 1811. I he
first edition had no regular title ; later ones bore the title
of the Concordance of Histories, it being Fabyan s object
to reconcile in his work the conflicting narratives of previous
historians. The title of the last edition is “ The New Chro¬
nicles of England and Erance, in two parts, by Robert
Fabyan, named by himself the Concordance of Histones.
FACCIOLATI, Jacopo, one of the best of modern
Latin scholars, was born in 1682 at Toriggia, in the pro¬
vince of Padua. He published improved editions of several
philological works, such as the Thesaurus Ciceronianus of
Nizolius, the polyglot vocabulary known under the name
of Calepino, and others. But his fame chiefly rests on his
Totius Latinitatis Lexicon, 4 vols. fob, Padua 1171. In
the compilation of this work the chief burden seems to have
been borne by Facciolati’s pupil Forcellini, to whom how¬
ever the lexicographer allows a very scanty measure of jus¬
tice, though the work occupied thirty years ot his life, ihis
lexicon is the best Latin dictionary that has hitherto been
published in any country, and is so comprehensive that it
has been remarked—that it the whole body of Latinity were
now to perish, it might be restored from this work. Fac¬
ciolati’s mastery of Latin style as displayed in his epistles
has been very much admired for its purity and grace. In
1722 Facciolati had been appointed professor of logic in
the university of Padua, and despite the many flattering
invitations he received to exchange this office for otheis
still more honourable and lucrative, he continued to occupy
that chair till his death in 1769, in the 88th year of his age.
FACIAL ANGLE. See Anatomy, vol. iii., 30.
FACIES HIPPOCRATICA, in Medicine, the peculiar
expression of countenance which indicates the approach ot
death. The several peculiarities incident to this last stage
of existence are minutely described by Hippocrates; whence
the term.
FACTION (factio), a term applied in an ill sense to any
party in a state that offers uncompromising opposition to
the measures of the government, or that endeavours to ex¬
cite public discontent upon unreasonable grounds.
Among the ancient Romans, the charioteers in the circus
were divided into four parties (factiones), each distinguished
by the colour of its dress. These factions were thence de¬
nominated the white, the red, the blue, and the green; to
which Domitian added two more—the golden, and the
purple. The spectators favoured one or the other, as
humour or caprice inclined them ; and it appears, according
to Pliny (Ep. ix. 6), that they w ere more influenced by the
gay accoutrements, than by the fleetness of the horses or
the skill of the charioteers. It is related that in the time
of Justinian no fewer than 30,000 men at Constantinople
lost their lives in a tumult that arose among the partisans
of these several colours.
FACTOR. See Agent.
Factor, in Multiplication and Algebra, a name given
to the multiplier and multiplicand, or to each of the quan¬
tities which are multiplied into one another in ovAex to form
the product. See Arithmetic and Algebra.
FACTORY. See Manufactures.
F iE S
Factory Factort, in Commerce, a name given to establishments
II of merchants and factors in foreign countries, where they
Fassulae. neg0tiate business for themselves and their employers. The
British possess factories of this kind in China, Turkey, and
other distant parts of the world.
FACULdS , in Astronomy, certain spots occasionally seen
on the disc of the sun. See Astronomy, iv., 28., &c.
FACULTY, in Law, a privilege granted to a person by
favour or indulgence, to do that which by law he may not
do. Thus the Archbishop of Canterbury has a court of
faculties for granting certain privileges and dispensations;
such as liberty to marry without the publication of banns,
to ordain a deacon under ase, &c.
k aculty, in a university, one of the particular depart¬
ments of learning. In most universities there are four fa¬
culties ; viz. that of arts (including humanity and philo¬
sophy) ; that of theology; that of medicine; and that of
law. See Universities.
Faculty, Dean of. See Dean.
FAENZA, the ancient Faventia, a town in the delega¬
tion of Ravenna, Papal States, situated in a fertile plain at
the junction of the canal of Zanelli with the Lamone, 20
miles S.W. of Ravenna. Pop. about 20,000. It is regu¬
larly built, and is surrounded by walls, and defended by a
citadel. Around the market-place (a spacious square in the
centre of the town, with a fine marble fountain) are ranged
the cathedral, town-hall, theatre, and many handsome pri¬
vate residences. Faenza possesses numerous churches and
monasteries, a lyceum, college, school of painting, hospital,
and two orphan asylums. A kind of porcelain which has
been supposed to take its name of faience from this town,
one of the earliest sites of this peculiar product, still con¬
tinues to be manufactured here, though not to such an ex¬
tent as formerly. Faenza has also manufactories for spin¬
ning and weaving silk, some paper-mills, and a considerable
trade by the Zanelli canal. Faventia is noted in history as
the place where Carbo and Norbanus were defeated with
great loss by Metellus, the general of Sulla^ in b.c. 82. In the
time of Pliny it was celebrated for its manufactures of linen,
which was considered to surpass all other linens in whiteness.
Torricelli the famous natural philosopher was born here.
FAERNUS, Gabriel, a distinguished modern Latin
poet and critical scholar, was born at Cremona early in the
sixteenth century, and died at Rome in 1561. His claims
to distinction as an original author depend chiefly on his
Fabulee Centum ex antiquis auctoribus delectce, which have
been greatly admired for the purity and elegance of their
diction and the skill which they show their author to have
possessed in imitating the classical tone and modes of
thought. Faernus rendered good service to literature by
his edition of Terence, his notes on which were esteemed
by Bentley so highly, that he incorporated them bodily
in his own edition of that poet. His other works are not
possessed of much intrinsic value.
FiESUL.E (now Fiesole), in Ancient Geography, an
important city of Etruria, situated on the side of a hill slop¬
ing down to the Arno, about three miles from Florence.
It was a place of great antiquity, and in the old Etrurian
times its inhabitants were famous for their skill in divina¬
tion. Faesulae was a place of some note in the Gallic and
Punic wars, and was afterwards selected by Sulla as a site
for a colony of his veteran soldiers. These colonists, twenty
years later, rendered themselves formidable to the Roman
state by the support which they gave to Catiline when or¬
ganizing his conspiracy, and the town itself was selected by
the leader of the revolt for his head-quarters in his attempt
to maintain himself against the armies of Metellus and An¬
tony. The story of Catiline and his exploits became engrafted
on the early legendary history of Florence, in which his
memory is still preserved as that of a national hero. From
this time Faesulae gradually sank in importance, and though
F A I 467
it offered a protracted and vigorous resistance to the arms Fagging
of Belisarius, it finally fell into decay before the increasing
power and prosperity of the adjoining Florence. It is said Faience,
to have been finally destroyed by its powerful neighbour in
the beginning of the eleventh century; but this is a point
still contested among historians. The modern Fiesole is a
small town with about 2400 inhabitants. It still retains, how¬
ever, its ancient rank as an episcopal city; and its cathedral
is a handsome building adorned with some good paintings
and pieces of sculpture.
FAGGING, a term used more particularly to denote a
degrading species of servitude still (1855) authorized at
Eton, and perhaps imitated in one or two other schools, by
which the junior boys (or those of the lower school as it is
called) are compelled to act in the capacity of servants, or
“ fags,” to the older or more advanced pupils. Several at¬
tempts have of late years been made to abolish this rem¬
nant of barbarism,—a reform, it is to be hoped, that will
soon be effected.
FAGGOT, a bundle of sticks or small branches of trees
bound together. The faggots used in fortification, for rais¬
ing batteries, filling ditches, &c., are tenwed fascines.
In times of religious persecution, the faggot was used as
a badge, worn on the sleeve of the upper garment, to mark
that the wearer had recanted or abjured his obnoxious opi¬
nions, and had done penance by carrying a faggot to some
place appointed for the occasion.
The term faggot was also formerly a cant phrase in the
army for a person hired to appear at musters, in order to
conceal the deficiency of a company.
FAGUS, the beech. See Planting, and Timber.
FAHRENHEIT, Gabriel Daniel, well known for the
modifications which he introduced in the construction of the
thermometer and barometer, was born at Dantzic about the
end of the seventeenth century. After engaging for some
time in commerce, his inclination for natural philosophy in¬
duced him to relinquish business; and having travelled
through Germany and England to enlarge his knowledge,
he settled in Holland, where the most celebrated men in
this branch of science—s’Gravesande and others—were his
teachers and friends. In 1720 he first conceived the idea
of substituting mercury for spirits of wine in the construc¬
tion of thermometers—an improvement which greatly en¬
hanced the accuracy of the instrument. He took as the
limit of greatest cold that which he had observed at Dant¬
zic during the winter of 1 709, and which he could always
produce artificially by a mixture of equal quantities of snow
and sal-ammoniac. The space between the point to which
the mercury fell at this temperature and that to which it
rose in boiling water, he divided into 212 parts; and this
distinguishes his thermometric scale from that of Reaumur.
During his residence in Holland, Fahrenheit employed
himself in constructing a machine for draining the parts of
the country exposed to inundations ; for which he obtained
a patent; but its full development was interrupted by the
death of the inventor, which took place in 1740. The
changes which s’Gravesande introduced (whom he had re¬
quested to complete the machine for the benefit of his
heirs), rendered it so useless in the first trial that no further
attempt was made to complete it. (See Thermometer,
and Meteorology.)
FAIENCE, an old French term under which were com¬
prised all descriptions of glazed earthenware, even inclu¬
sive of porcelain. The word is still employed in this sense,
and corresponds in its general use to the English word
crockery. The name is commonly supposed to be derived
from Faenza; but it may well be doubted whether upon
any authority much to be relied on, since neither historians
nor topographers seem to have considered the matter worthy
of their attention or examination. (Marryat on Pottery,
p. 244.)
468 F A I
Faifo FAIFO, a town of Cochin-China, situated about ten
II miles from the sea, on a navigable river, fifteen miles south
Fairs and 0p Huron. It was at one time a place of some importance,
Markets. with houses built of brick, and the streets regularly laid out.
It was, however, destroyed in the course of the revolutions
which took place in the country; but its prosperity is re¬
vived, and it is now a place of considerable trade.
FAINTING. See Syncope.
FAIRS and MARKETS. The intimate relation that
subsists between these institutions renders it no less proper
than convenient to treat of them together. A fair may be
defined as only a greater species of market, which recurs at
more distant intervals. Both are appropriated to the sale
of one or more kinds of goods, the hiring of servants,
labourers, &c. In most cases, however, fairs are more
numerously attended than markets, and are generally cha¬
racterized by various exhibitions got up for the amusement
of the people.
The Anglo-Saxons are supposed to have derived their
fairs from the Romans, who had established such marts in
all their provinces. »
The following account of fairs is given by Mr M‘Culloch,
in his Dictionary of Commerce. “ Institutions of this sort
are peculiarly serviceable in the earlier stages of society,
ind in rude and inland countries. The number of shops,
and the commodities in them, are then either comparatively
limited, or they are but little frequented by dealers ; so that
it is for the advantage of all that fairs should be established,
and merchants induced to attend them. For this purpose
various privileges have been annexed to fairs, and numerous
facilities afforded to the disposal of property in them. To
give them a greater degree of solemnity, they were origi¬
nally, both in the ancient and modern world, associated with
religious festivals. In most places, indeed, they are still
held on the same day with the wake or feast of the saint to
whom the church is dedicated; and till the practice was
prohibited, it was customary in England to hold them in
churchyards. {Jacob's Law Diet. art. Fair.) But since
the growth of towns, and the opportunities afforded for the
disposal and purchase of all sorts of produce at the weekly
or monthly markets held in them, the utility of fairs, in this
country at least, has very much diminished ; they have also
lost much of their ancient splendour; and, though some of
them are still well attended, and of real use, a good number
might be advantageously suppressed.
“ But it is far otherwise in inland countries, where the
facilities for carrying on commercial transactions are com¬
paratively circumscribed. There it is of the utmost import¬
ance that certain convenient places and specified periods
should be appointed for the bringing together of commo¬
dities and dealers. This is not only the readiest and best
means of promoting commerce, but also of softening na¬
tional antipathies, and diffusing a knowledge of the products,
arts, and customs of other countries.”
In England the right of holding a fair must be derived
from the crown ; and, in the grant obtained, provision is
made that no other fair shall be injured by the one to be
established. The times of holding the fairs are determined
by the letters-patent appointing the fair or market, or by
usage ; and penalties are imposed if they are held beyond
the time specified. A bo?ia fide sale made in a fair or open
market, in general transfers the complete property of the
things sold to the vender, so that, however vicious or illegal
the title of the vender may be, the vendee’s is good against
every one except the king. But the sale, in order to come
within this rule, must be made on the market day, and at
the place assigned for the market. Formerly the mayor or
steward presided at a court called the court of pie poudre,
in allusion to the dusty feet of the suitors, where questions
as to contracts, &c. were decided ; but these courts are now
entirely set aside. Still, as of old, however, there is a clerk
F A I
appointed, whose duty it is to see that every thing is sold Fairs and
according to just weights and measures. There is gene- Markets,
rally a toll attached to fairs and markets, which is paid by
the buyer after the thing brought to the market has been
sold. (For further information as to British fairs and mar¬
kets, see Chitty On Commercial Law, vol. ii.)
British Fairs. Amongst these may be specified that of
Stourbridge, in Worcestershire. Bristol has two consider¬
able fairs, one in March and one in September. Exeter De¬
cember fair is for cattle, horses, and most sorts of commo¬
dities. Weyhill fair, in Hampshire (October 10), has pro¬
bably the greatest display of sheep of any fair in the king¬
dom. Bartholomew fair, in London, used to be of consider¬
able importance, but is now appropriated only to shows of
wild beasts, and such like exhibitions, and might be sup¬
pressed with advantage. St Faith’s, near Norwich (Octo¬
ber 17), is the principal English fair for Scotch cattle.
They are sold to the graziers and feeders of Norfolk, Suf¬
folk, Essex, and other counties, by whom they are fattened
for the London markets, where the demand for them is
very great. But besides those sold at St Faith’s, large num¬
bers of Scotch cattle are disposed of at Market-Harborough,
Carlisle, Ormskirk, and other places. Ipswich has two con¬
siderable fairs; one in August for lambs, and one in Sep¬
tember for butter and cheese; and it is reckoned that above
100,000 lambs are annually sold at the former. Wood-
borough-hill, in Dorset, is for west-country manufactures,
as kerseys, druggets, &c.; and Woodstock October fair, for
cheese. Northampton and Nottingham have each several
large fairs, for horses, cattle, cheese, &c. The August fair
of Horncastle, in Lincolnshire, is the largest horse fair in
the kingdom, many thousand horses being exhibited for sale
during its continuance ; and it is resorted to by crowds of
dealers from all parts of Great Britain, by several from the
Continent, and sometimes even from North America. How-
den, in Yorkshire, has also a very large horse fair, particu¬
larly for Yorkshire hunters. Devizes, in Wiltshire, has se¬
veral large fairs for sheep and cattle. There is usually a
large display of cheese at the Gloucester April fair. A
guild, or jubilee, commencing th£ last week of August, is
held every twentieth year at Preston, in Lancashire : the
last was held in 1842, and was well attended. The Octo¬
ber fair of Market-Harborough, Leicestershire, lasts nine
days, and a great deal of business is usually done in cattle,
cheese, &c. Woodbridge Lady-day fair is celebrated for
the show of Suffolk horses. Falkirk fair, or tryst, is one of
the most important in Scotland, for the sale of cattle and
sheep. Hardly inferior are those of Melrose and Lockerby,
which have of late years risen into great importance as lamb-
markets, and that of Muir-of-Ord, near Beauly, in Ross-
shire. The October fair of Ballinasloe, in the county of
Galway, is famous for the display of cattle and sheep; by
far the largest proportion of these animals raised for sale in
Connaught being disposed of at it.
French Fairs. The principal French fairs are those of
Beaucaire, St Germains, St Cloud, Poissy, Lyons, Rheims,
Chartres, Rouen, Bordeaux, Troyes, and Bayonne ; but
they are said to have for the most part much fallen off. That
of Beaucaire, however, which was formerly the greatest in
Europe, is still attended by a vast concourse of people, not
only from France, but also from many parts of southern
Europe.
German Fairs, The principal German, or rather Euro¬
pean fairs, are those of Frankfort on the Maine, Frankfort
on the Oder, and Leipzig. The business transacted at
these fairs is in general very great. Merchants of all na¬
tions are there assembled, for disposing of the manufactures,
merchandise, and productions for which their several coun¬
tries are distinguished. Frankfort on the Maine has two,
and Frankfort on the Oder three fairs yearly. Leipzig has
also three annual fairs, and these are by far the most cele-
F A I
Fair Isle brated. They are held on the first of January, at Easter,
and at Michaelmas. The first is the least important. The
Fairfax. tw0 ]atter, particularly that at Easter, are remarkable for
the vast number of new publications usually offered for sale.
They are attended by all the principal booksellers of Ger¬
many, and by many from the adjoining countries, who ad¬
just their accounts, learn the state of the trade in all parts
of the world, and endeavour to form new connections.
Most German publishers have agents in Leipzig, which is
to the literature of Germany what London is to that of
Great Britain. As many as five thousand new publica¬
tions have been entered in a single Leipzig catalogue. The
fairs ought to close in eight days, but they usually continue
for about three weeks.
Italian Fairs. Of these, the most celebrated is that of
Sinigaglia, on the Misa. It commences on the 20th of July,
and continues for about twenty days. Here, as at the Ger¬
man fairs, are assembled merchants from almost all nations.
Hungarian Fairs. Of these, the most important are
held at Pesth, which has become the grand centre of Hun¬
garian commerce.
Russian Fairs. These are numerous, and many of them
are well attended. The most important is held atNishnii-
Novgorod, a city situated at the confluence of the Oka
with the Wolga. It is the great emporium of the internal
trade of Russia. The fair generally lasts from six weeks
to two months, and is well known all over the east of Eu¬
rope. In point of value this fair is considered as second to
none in Europe. Another celebrated Russian fair is that
of Kiachta, on the Chinese frontier. At this fair by far the
largest part of the commerce between the Russian and Chi¬
nese empires is transacted. The goods disposed of are
principally the products of the respective countries.
Eastern Fairs. The most important fair in the eastern
world is that held at Mecca, during the resort of pilgrims
in the month of Dhalhajja. It has declined' of late years,
but the concourse which attends it is still very great. The
greatest fair in India is that held at Hurdwar in Hindu¬
stan. The town, although inconsiderable, is famous for be¬
ing one of the principal places of Hindu pilgrimage, which
takes place along with the fair at the vernal equinox.
American Fairs. The fairs of Portobello, Vera Cruz,
and Acapidco, once so famous, are now totally deserted ;
and that of the Havannah is also much fallen off.
FAIR Isle, one of the Shetland Islands, lying between
that group and the Orkneys, and extending fully three
miles in length by about two in breadth. The coast, which
is abrupt and dangerous, is only accessible on the south¬
east side; and the hills which cover the interior are only
useful as affording pasture for sheep. The inhabitants are
very few in number.
FAIRFAX, Edward, the able English translator of
Tasso, was a native of Yorkshire, son of Sir Edward Fair¬
fax of Denton. Little is known of his history ; he is be¬
lieved to have been an illegitimate son ; and though liber¬
ally provided for by his father, he continued in obscure
retirement at home, while the other sons of Sir Edward
Fairfax were distinguished for their military services. Ed¬
ward Fairfax, however, no less signally served his country
by his pen than his brethren did with the sword. In the
year 1600, when he is conjectured to have been little more
than twenty years of age, he published his translation of
the Jerusalem Delivered of Tasso. Never did mere trans¬
lation receive such enthusiastic and continued approbation
as the work of Fairfax. Waller said he was indebted to it
for the harmony of his numbers ; Dryden places the trans¬
lator almost on a parity with Spenser (whom undoubtedly
Fairfax imitated); and Collins beautifully apostrophises him
as
“ Prevailing poet, whose undouhting mind
Believed the magic wonders which he sung.”
F A I 469
In our own day, Thomas Campbell has reckoned Fairfax’s Fairfax,
work as one of the glories of the reign of Elizabeth, while
Mr Hallam, more critical, admits that if it does not repre¬
sent the grace of its original, and deviates also too much
from its sense, it is by no means deficient in spirit and
vigour. The poetical spirit of the translation is indeed its
life-blood and preservation. Hoole, Hunt, and others, may
give a more literal version, but Fairfax alone seizes upon
the poetical and chivalrous character of the Jerusalem, and
carries along with him the interest and admiration of the
reader. The style of Fairfax is also remarkable, and is
characterized by great ease and sweetness of versification.
Fairfax made no other appeal to the public. He wrote a
series of Eclogues, one of which, the fourth, is published
in Mrs Cooper’s Muses’ Librarxj, a modern compilation;
while the others remain in manuscript. He wrote also a
work on Demonology, which is still in manuscript. This
should surely see the light. It would be interesting to
trace the effect of superstition on Fairfax’s own mind, and
to estimate its height in the age in which he lived. A frag¬
ment of the work relative to the author has been printed,
and in this Fairfax describes himself in these terms :—“ I
am in religion neither a fantastic Puritan nor superstitious
Papist; but so settled in conscience that I have the sure
ground of God’s word to warrant all I believe, and the
commendable ordinances of our English Church to approve
all I practise; in which course I live a faithful Christian
and an obedient subject, and so teach my family.” He
appears, however, to have taken a warm interest in the re¬
ligious controversies of the day, which are seldom conducive
to quiet or contentment, and his descendants have not
deemed it necessary to publish his prose MSS. on those
subjects. His fame is secure, grafted upon the stem of
Tasso, and flourishing in perennial beauty and vigour.
Fairfax was living in 1631 ; the date of his death has not
been recorded. (R« c—s.)
Fairfax, Thomas Lord, who acted so conspicuous a part
during the civil wars, was the eldest son of Ferdinand Lord
Fairfax, by Mary, daughter of Edmund Sheffield, Earl of
Mulgrave, and was born at Denton in the parish of Otley,
Yorkshire, in the month of January 1611. After studying
at St John’s College, Cambridge, he proceeded to Holland,
where he served as a volunteer under Horatio Lord Vere.
On his return to England he married a daughter of that
officer. When Charles I. endeavoured to raise a guard for
his own person at York, intending it, as the event afterwards
proved, to form the nucleus of an army, Fairfax was em¬
ployed to present a petition to his sovereign, entreating him
to hearken to the voice of his parliament, and to discontinue
the raising of troops; and when Charles attempted to avoid
receiving it, Fairfax followed him with the petition, which
he presented upon the pommel of his saddle, in Heyworth-
moor, before an assemblage of nearly a hundred thousand
persons. Shortly afterwards, upon the breaking out of the
civil war, his father having received from the parliament a
commission appointing him general-in-chief of the forces in
the north, Fairfax was at the same time made general of the
horse under him. In this war, both father and son distin¬
guished themselves by their bravery, intelligence, and acti¬
vity, particularly at the battle of Marston-Moor and the
taking of York; Thomas Fairfax having been twice severely
wounded, and having frequently exposed his life in the most
daring manner. In 1645, when it was judged expedient to
new-model the army, and to deprive Essex of the command,
the parliament, knowing that Fairfax was a zealous Pres¬
byterian, unanimously appointed him as successor to Essex.
In this command Cromwell was joined with him in the ca¬
pacity, and with the title, of lieutenant-general.
As soon as Fairfax, who was then in the north of Eng¬
land, received the orders of parliament, he repaired to Lon¬
don, where he arrived on the 18th of February 1645, and
470 FAIR
Fairfax, was presented to the House of Commons on the following
day by four members, and complimented by the speaker,
who handed him his commission. He had full powers to
name all the generals under his orders; and in the month
of April he proceeded to Windsor, where he employed
himself in organizing the new army which the parliament
had just voted. After various movements, the hostile armies
met on the 14th of June at Naseby, in Northamptonshire,
and a battle took place, which ended in the total discom¬
fiture of the royalists. The king was obliged to fly from
the field, and retired into Wales. On the 16th the victo¬
rious Fairfax laid siege to Leicester, which surrendered two
days afterwards. On the 10th July he offered battle to
Lord Goring, who had been obliged to raise the siege of
Taunton; on the 22d he carried Bridgewater by assault,
and thereafter took several other places; and on the 10th
September he forced Bristol to capitulate. Having reduced
to subjection the whole country to the west of London, he
next marched to the south; but finding it impossible, from
the rigour of the season, to besiege Exeter, a well fortified
city, in regular form, he converted the investment into a
blockade, which lasted until the 13th of April 1646. In
this interval he took several places, defeated and dispersed
different bodies of royalists, and completely humbled, or
rather annihilated, this party in the provinces of the south
and west, which had formed its great stronghold and con¬
stituted its principal resource in England. Having obtained
these successes, Fairfax marched in all haste to Oxford,
where was the most considerable garrison that yet remained
to the king. But the latter, afraid of being shut up in the
place, and thus falling into the hands of his mortal enemies,
withdrew secretly and proceeded to Newark, to throw him¬
self into the arms of the Scotch. Oxford capitulated; and
by the end of September Charles had neither army nor gar¬
rison in England.
Fairfax having arrived in London on the 12th Novem¬
ber, was complimented and thanked for his successes by the
two houses of parliament. But he had scarcely time to en¬
joy a little repose from the fatigues of war, when he re¬
ceived a commission to escort the two hundred thousand
pounds granted by the English parliament to the Scotch
army, in name of arrears of pay, but, in reality, according
to some, as the price of the king’s person, which that army
had consented to give up. Charles was delivered up to the
commissioners of parliament on the 30th January 1646.
Fairfax, who preceded the king, having met him beyond
Nottingham, dismounted from his horse, kissed the royal
hand, and having resumed his seat, discoursed with the un¬
fortunate prince during the journey to Holdenby. That
Charles was satisfied with the conduct of Fairfax, appears
from the observation which he addressed to one of the par¬
liamentary commissioners. “ The general,” said he, “ is a
man of honour, and keeps his word which he had pledged
to me. Fairfax was received at Cambridge with the greatest
honours, and created master of arts. By this time the par¬
liament, after long debates, had appointed him general of
the forces, which were still to be kept on an effective foot
ing; for it was now intended to disband the greater part,
and send the remainder to Ireland. But the soldiers being
extremely dissatisfied with a project which threatened to
deprive them of all the advantages they had reaped from
the war, Cromwell, who had hitherto allowed Fairfax to en¬
joy in appearance the honours of supreme command, re¬
solved, in concert with Ireton, his son-in-law, to profit by
this disposition of the army, in order to foment a revolt
against the parliament. Fairfax observed with regret that
these agitators, as they called themselves, had usurped the
power which he should have exercised over the army; he
discerned that they were the forerunners of anarchy, and
that their design was to raise their own fortune on the ruin
of the state. He therefore resolved to resign his commis-
F A X.
sion; but the chiefs of the Independents, whose projects
were not fully matured, persuaded him to retain it. He
then, with culpable weakness, co-operated in all the pro¬
ceedings of the army, which had for their object to destroy
the power of the parliament. In vain did the two houses
enjoin him to leave his troops at the distance of at least 15
miles from London; he entered that city in triumph, with the
speaker and sixty members of the House of Commons, who,
betraying the privileges of parliament, had retired to the
camp, and whom he now re-instated in their places. Hav¬
ing soon afterwards learned that the king had been removed
by violence from Holdenby, Fairfax, indignant at this pro¬
ceeding, repaired to the place where this unfortunate prince
was detained near Cambridge, conducted himself towards
the royal captive in the most respectful manner, and caused
him to follow all the movements of the army, in order that
the parliament might not obtain possession of his person,
for which purpose commissioners had already been named
by both houses. The credit of Fairfax with the troops, how¬
ever, diminished daily; he had neither firmness of will nor
force of character sufficient to oppose himself to a power
which had long overtopped his own; and although he had
in view none of the objects which Cromwell cherished, he
contributed to render them all successful. It was doubt¬
less in consequence of this inconceivable weakness that he
concurred in the manifesto of the army, published in the
month of January 1648, which adhered to the vote of the
commons, that no more addressess or messages should be
presented to the king, and protested that it would obey par¬
liament in everything which might henceforth be necessary
for the government of the kingdom and the safety of par¬
liament, whether with the king or against him.
At this period (1647), Fairfax lost his father, whom he
succeeded in his titles and employments; but still he re¬
mained, as before, the instrument of the ambition of Crom¬
well. He displayed the greatest activity in putting down
insurrections, and took Colchester, whither the remains of
the royalist party had betaken themselves. He caused Lord
Lisle and Sir Charles Lucas, who had defended Colchester,
to be executed—an act of harsh.severity, if not contrary to
the terms of capitulation. At the end of the year he re¬
turned to London, in order to keep in check that city and
the parliament; and he took up his head-quarters in the
palace of Whitehall. All his proceedings served to accele¬
rate the crisis of the king’s fate; but although placed at the
head of the judges before whom Charles was to be tried, he
refused to act, probably at the instigation of his wife, who
on this occasion displayed great boldness and intrepidity.
He even exerted himself to prevent the execution of the
sentence, and tried to persuade his regiment to rescue the
king from the hands of those who had condemned him to
death. But Cromwell and Ireton, ably assisted by Harri¬
son, imposed on the pious credulity of Fairfax; and kept
him at a distance from Whitehall engaged in religious ex¬
ercises, until the fatal blow was struck. A few days after
the execution of Charles, he was appointed a member of
the council, but refused to sign the form of oath by which
all that had been done relative to the king and to the royal
authority was approved of. Towards the end of March he
received the title of general of the troops in England and in
Ireland; but he no longer possessed any real power. He
marched against the Levellers, who having become nume¬
rous, had occasioned considerable uneasiness and would
soon have rendered themselves formidable, and completely
routed them at Burford in Oxfordshire. He then repaired
to Oxford, where he received the degree of doctor of laws;
after which he proceeded to allay the troubles in Hamp¬
shire, assembled the army in Guildford, exhorted it to obe¬
dience, and returned to London, where he was presented
with a basin and ewer of beaten gold. In June 1650, when
the Scotch had declared for Charles II., the council of state
Fairfax.
FAX
Fairford in England having resolved to send an army to Scotland, in
order to prevent an invasion, Fairfax was consulted respect-
Fairies. jng t]le design, which he appeared at first to approve; but
V—' afterwards declared himself satisfied that the parliament of
England had no just ground for sending an army to invade
Scotland; and, in terms of this declaration, he resigned his
commission. The supreme command of the army was then
conferred upon Cromwell, who saw with pleasure the retire¬
ment of a man who, being no longer necessary to his am¬
bitious projects, now formed an obstacle to their entire ac¬
complishment. The parliament, however, in some measure
indemnified Fairfax, by granting him a pension of five thou¬
sand pounds sterling.
Being thus released from all public employment, Fairfax
retired to Nunappleton, Yorkshire, where he passed his time
in tranquillity, earnestly praying, it is said, for the restora¬
tion of the royal family. When General Monk invited him
to assist in the operations about to be undertaken against
Lambert’s army, he promptly obeyed the call, and on the
3d December 1659 appeared at the head of a body of York¬
shire gentlemen; and such was the influence of his name
and reputation, that the Irish brigade, consisting of twelve
hundred horse, quitted Lambert’s colours and joined him;
an event which was speedily followed by the breaking up
of all Lambert’s forces. On the 1st January 1660 he made
himself master of York ; and on the 2d he was chosen by
the Rump Parliament one of the council of state, an ap¬
pointment which was renevved on the 23d of February en¬
suing. On the 29th of March he was elected one of the
knights of the county of York in the healing parliament;
and he was put at the head of the commission appointed by
the House of Commons on the 3d of May, to wait upon
Charles II. at the Hague and urge his speedy return. After
the dissolution of the healing parliament, which was of short
duration, he again retired to his seat in the country, where
he lived in a manner strictly private till his death, which
happened on the 12th of November 1671, in the sixtieth
year of his age. The integrity of Fairfax has never been
doubted. He was a brave and honest soldier, but great
only in the field. He had none of the qualities of a states¬
man, and though praised by Milton for “ firm unshaken vir¬
tue,” he was in reality deficient in moral courage and con¬
sistency. He seems to have oscillated between the coun¬
sels of his wife, “one of the fighting Veres and given to
Presbyterianism,” as Mr Carlyle says, and the influence of
Cromwell, whose strong decisive character was a contrast to
that of Fairfax his general-in-chief. Lord Fairfax had a taste
for literature, and both at York and Oxford endeavoured to
save the libraries from pillage. He enriched the Bodleian
library with some valuable MSS. Fie wrote some poetical
and miscellaneous pieces, including a sketch of his own life.
His correspondence has lately (1848-49) been published.
FAIRFORD, a market-town of Gloucestershire, on the
small river Colne, 23 miles E.S.E. of Gloucester, and 79
miles from London. It is noted for its parish church, a fine
Gothic edifice erected about 1470, and having a remark¬
ably fine series of painted windows. Pop. of parish (1851)
1859.
FAIRIES, imaginary beings of both sexes and human
shape, who are fabled to frequent the haunts of men, to dance
in meadows, and to be distinguished by a variety of fantasti¬
cal actions, either innocent or mischievous. In traditions and
romances they are frequently represented as beings of di¬
minutive stature and exquisite beauty: and sometimes as
women of an order superior to human nature, yet subject to
wants, passions, accidents, and even death; sprightly and
benevolent whilst young and handsome; morose, peevish, and
malignant if ugly or in the decline of their beauty; generally
robed in green, butfondalsoof appearingin white; from which
circumstance they were sometimes called the White Ladies.
Concerning these imaginary beings, Jervaise of Tide-
F A I 471
berry, marshal of the kingdom of Arles, who lived in the Fairy
beginning of the thirteenth century, thus writes :—“ It has jt ^
been asserted by persons of unexceptionable credit, that ( ai ' ^
fairies used to select lovers from among men, and rewarded
their attachment with an affluence of worldly goods ; but if
they deserted them or revealed the connection, they smarted
severely for such indiscretion.” Similar tales were current
in Languedoc ; and throughout the province there was not
a village without some ancient seat or cavern which had the
honour of being a fairy’s residence, or at least some spring
in which a fairy used to lave its tiny form. This idea of
fairies has a near affinity with that of the Greeks and Ro¬
mans concerning the nymphs of the woods, mountains, and
springs ; and an ancient scholiast on Theocritus says, that
“the nymphs are demons (spirits) which appear on the
mountains in the figure of women.” The Arabs and other
orientals have also their Peris, of whom they entertain no¬
tions somew hat similar to those held in the west respecting
fairies.
Fairies have usually been described as of small stature,
though capable of assuming various forms and dimensions.
It is scarcely necessary to add that the most charming re¬
presentation of these children of romantic fancy is to be
found in the Midsummer Night’s Dream. For an elabo¬
rate account of fairies in general, see Keightley’s Fairy
Mythology, 2 vols. 8vo, in which the legends of different
countries are collected.
Fmry of the Mine, an imaginary being, fabled to inhabit
mines; wandering about the drifts and chambers, always
employed in cutting ore, turning the windlass, &e., but ef¬
fecting nothing. The Germans believed in two species;
one fierce and malevolent, the other harmless. Such is the
relation of Agricola, in his book De Animantibus Suiter-
raneis.
Fairy Circle or Ping, a phenomenon pretty frequent in
the fields, and supposedly the peasantry to have been traced
by the fairies in their dances. There are two kinds of fairy
ring: one of about seven yards in diameter, containing a
round bare path, about a foot broad, with green grass in
the middle of it; and another of different dimensions, en¬
compassed w ith a circumference of grass. The formation
of these rings was formerly ascribed to the action of light¬
ning ; and some have attributed them to the labours of
ants ; but Mr Cavallo, in his Treatise on Electricity, points
to their true origin when he says—“ They seem to be rather
beds of mushrooms than the effects of lightning.” These
rings are seldom of a perfect form, and frequently spread
with great irregularity, forming, as it were, a series of arcs
of circles. This irregularity is occasioned by the peculiar
mode of growth of the fungi by which they are produced.
In the words of Dr Carpenter {Principles of Physiology),
“ The masses of fungous vegetation which form the pro¬
gressively extending fairy rings or magic circles of the grassy
meadow may be said to be several years of age, although,
as fast as new tissue is generated on the exterior of the ring,
that of the central side dies and decays, so that no individual
part has more than a brief duration.”
FAITH, that assent which we give to a proposition ad¬
vanced by another, the truth of which we do not imme¬
diately perceive from our own reason or experience; or it
is a judgment or assent of the mind, the motive of which is
not so much any intrinsic evidence, as the authority or tes¬
timony of some other who reveals or relates it.
I'aith, in Theology, denotes the assent of the mind or
understanding to the truth of what God has revealed; or
such a conviction of his being, perfections, character, and
government, as produces love, trust, worship, obedience,
and resignation. Faith in Christ, as it has been defined by
some theologians, is a mere assent to the gospel as true;
but according to others, it signifies such a persuasion that
he is the Messiah, and such a desire and expectation of the
472 F A K
Fakenham-blessings which he has promised in his gospel to his sincere
Lancaster disciples, as engage the mind to fix its dependence upon
II. him, and to subject itself to him in holy obedience. Faith
Fakir’ likewise, in respect of futurity, is a moral principle, implying
such a conviction of the reality and importance of a future
state, as is sufficient to regulate the temper and conduct in
the affairs of this life.
FAKENHAM-LANCASTER, a market-town and
parish of England, county of Norfolk, on the banks of the
Wensum, 24 miles N.W. of Norwich, and 109 miles from
London. It formerly possessed a considerable trade in
hand-made woollen goods, which, however, has gradually
disappeared since the application of machinery to the manu¬
facture of worsteds. The parish church is a very hand¬
some edifice. The surrounding country is remarkable for
its fertility, especially in wheat. Market-day, Ihursday.
Pop. of parish (1851) 2240.
FAKIR, an Arabic word, signifying “poor,” which is
employed to denote a kind of religious mendicant very com¬
mon in India. In this sense it is synonymous with the Per¬
sian and Turkish de‘rvise. A certain class of these mendi¬
cants live in communities like the monks of the Western
world, while others live singly as hermits, or wander about
making strange displays of self-torture and mortification.
Although from time immemorial asceticism has been held
in high veneration in the East, and it was deemed merito¬
rious" to retire from the world, to renounce the comforts of
the domestic and social relations, and to live in poverty,
solitude, and religious contemplation, the original principles
of Mohammedanism were unfavourable to a monastic life.
Religious mendicants did not appear among the Mussul¬
mans till six centuries after Mohammed, in the thirteenth
century of the Christian era. But there is reason to be¬
lieve that they existed among the Hindus at a much earlier
period. From the first they appear to have been distin¬
guished by their ragged and filthy dress, and the severity
of their self-inflicted penances. A celebrated member of
their order, who flourished about the close of the twelfth
century, says that the exterior of those devoted to a religious
life should be a ragged dress and ill-combed hair; and a
later writer affirms that a member of this mendicant order
should have ten of the qualities proper to the dog,—to be
always hungry—to have no fixed residence—to watch during
the night—to leave no heritage after his death—not to aban¬
don his master although ill treated by him—to content himself
with the lowest place, and to yield his seat to any one who
wants it—to return to the person who has beaten him when
offered a morsel of bread—to keep at a distance when one
is bringing him something to eat—and not to think of re¬
turning to the place he has quitted while following his
master. Jami, the well-known Persian poet, in the intro¬
duction to his work on the lives of the Sufis or Mohamme¬
dan mystics, divides those who seek the future into three
classes,—the Zahids, who, full of faith, look down with con¬
tempt upon the life on earth, which they consider as imperfect
and miserable ; the Fakirs, who renounce the world in the
belief that their minds will by poverty be rendered fitter for
the exercise of virtue, and that they will hereafter be recom¬
pensed for present privations; and the Abids, who hope to
merit future reward by entirely devoting themselves to re¬
ligious exercises. Among the Turks several orders of fakirs
or dervishes exist. The chief of these is the order of the
Maulavis, founded about the close of the thirteenth century
by the Persian poet Jelaleddin Rumi. They have a great
monastery at Galata and another at Iconium, and have also
convents in nearly all Mohammedan countries. Mendicants
of this order are notorious for their fondness of intoxicating
liquors and of opium, and are addicted to the practice of
sorcery, conjurations, and tricks of legerdemain. They may
leave their order, and are then released from their vows of celi-
bacy, and are permitted to marry. The order of the Rufuis
F A K
are celebrated for their strange excesses of self-mortification. Fakir.
In their weekly meetings some of their number are always
selected to hold a red-hot piece of iron between their teeth
till it becomes cold, while the others make deep incisions
in their bodies with sharp-edged instruments. A third class,
termed the Calenders, are distinguished by the singularity
of their dress. They sometimes wear a tiger’s or a sheep’s
skin, sometimes garments made of party-coloured clothes,
and not unfrequently go about half naked with their skin
painted red or black, leathers in their ears, fancifully-shaped
turbans or hats on their heads, a stick or a hatchet, or some¬
times a drawn sword, in their hands, and in their girdles a
plate or bowl, which they hold out to receive alms. In this
guise they visit coffee-houses and other places of public re¬
sort to preach and to beg.
The Hindu fakirs go entirely naked, carrying on their
shoulders a thick club, the end of which is wound round
with rags of cloth of all colours. They strew their hair,
which hangs half way down their back, with ashes, with
which they sometimes besmear their whole bodies. Stavo-
rinus says they generally take up their abode in shady places,
either in the open air or in old and ruinous buildings, with¬
out using anything to repose on or to cover themselves. All
classes of these mendicants endeavour to gain the venera¬
tion of the people by the infliction of absurd and cruel pe¬
nances and tortures. Stavorinus says he met with some
who, by holding an arm raised in one position for many
years, had lost the power of lowering it again. Others had
bent their bodies forward till they had grown so crooked
that they formed a right angle. Some, by continually bend¬
ing the head backward, could not bring it back to its natu¬
ral position. Others keep the hands clasped together so
long, that the nails grow into the flesh, and come out on
the other side. Tavernier mentions that some of these
fakirs never sit or lie down to sleep, but are supported by a
rope hung down for that purpose. Others lay fire on their
heads, and burn their scalps to the very bone. Others roll
themselves naked on thorns. Some bury themselves in a
pit or ditch for nine or ten days, without tasting food or drink.
A recent traveller in India states that he saw a fakir who
was never “ known” to eat at all. He carried a small black
stone about with him, which had been presented to his mo¬
ther by a holy man. Fie pretended that by sucking this
stone, and without the aid of any sort of nutriment, he had
arrived at the mature age of forty in a state of obesity which
did great credit to the fattening powers of the black stone.
Oddly enough, his business was to solicit offerings of rice,
milk, fish, and ghee, for the benefit of his patron, Devi.
These offerings were nightly laid upon the altar before Devi,
who was supposed to absorb them during the night, con¬
siderately leaving the fragments to be distributed among
the poor of the parish. Sometimes, this writer adds, a fakir
will take it into his head to trundle himself along like a cart
wheel for a couple of hundred miles or so. Fie ties his
wrists to his ankles ; gets a tire, composed of chopped straw,
mud, and cowdung, laid along the ridge of his backbone ; a
bamboo staff passed through the angle formed hy his knees
and elbows by way of axle, and off he goes ; a brazen cup,
with a bag, and a hubble-bubble hang like tassels at the two
extremities of the axle. Thus accoutred, he often starts
on a journey which will occupy him for several years. On
arriving in the vicinity of a village, the whole population turn
out to meet and escort him with due honours to the public
well or tank, where he unbends and washes off’ the dust and
dirt acquired by perambulating several miles of dusty road.
After ascertaining, by minute inquiries, the state of the
larders of the assembled villagers, he takes up his quarters
with the man who is best able to entertain him. When
the supplies begin to fail he ties his hands to his heels
again, gets a fresh tire put on, and is escorted out of the vil¬
lage with the same formalities as accompanied his entrance.
F A L
Falaise Some of these mendicants are undoubtedly insane, but
II the greater part of them are impostors and hypocrites, who
aconen secretly indulge in the grossest licentiousness while they
V ^ Y ^ assume a sanctimonious air in order to obtain a pretext for
idleness and for preying on the ignorant and superstitious
natives. D’Herbelot estimated that there were 800,000
Mohammedan, and 1,200,000 Hindu, fakirs in India.
(D’Herbelot’s Bibhotlieque Orientate ; Tavernier’s Tra¬
vels ; Stavorinus’ Voyage to the East Indies ; Household
Words, vol. iii., p. 310.) (j. t—R.)
FALAISE, a town of France, capital of a cognominal
arrondissement in the department of Calvados, and situ¬
ated on the right bank of the Ante, 21 miles S. by E. of
Caen. Pop. (1851) 8700. It was formerly a place of some
strength, and is still surrounded by old walls. The prin¬
cipal object of interest is the castle, now partly in ruins, but
formerly the seat of the dukes of Normandy, and the birth¬
place of William the Conqueror. Falaise has two large
and populous suburbs, one of which, Guibray, now rivals
in size and importance the town itself, and is celebrated for
its annual fair, which lasts from 10th to 25th August. The
town contains a town-hall, hospital, theatre, several churches,
and a public library. The manufactures are cotton goods,
hosiery, leather, paper, &c.
FALASHA, a people of Abyssinia, described by Bruce,
and supposed to be of Hebrew origin. According to their
own tradition, they are descendants of Jews who came into
Ethiopia as attendants of Menilek, the son of the queen of
Sheba or Saba by Solomon. See Abyssinia.
FALCATED, in the form of a sickle: used more parti¬
cularly of the moon when she appears in the form of a
crescent or sickle.
FALCON (Falco), a name bestowed on several birds of
prey, but chiefly on such as are trained to sport, as in hawk¬
ing. See Falconidce and Falco in index to Ornithology'.
FALCONER, William, our greatest naval poet. Till
now great uncertainty has prevailed in regard to the date of
his birth, but in the parish records of the City of Edinburgh
we find the following entry :—“ Wth February W&2.—Wil¬
liam Falconer, wigmaker, and Agnes Shand had a son born
named William.” His father, a barber in the Netherbow,
wTas unsuccessful in life, became bankrupt, and had two
children besides the poet, both of whom were deaf and
dumb. The old man, in his latter days, kept a small grocer’s
shop, but died in extreme poverty. The “ young Arion ”
of the family was thus early inured to penury and distress.
He received the scanty education required to qualify him
for an inferior employment, and at an early age he was en¬
tered as an apprentice on board a merchant-vessel belong¬
ing to Leith. He afterwards served as a common sailor on
board the ship of which Campbell, author of Lexiphanes,
was purser, and attracted the notice of Mr Campbell by
indications of talent. How long he continued in this humble
capacity is not known ; but by some friendly intervention
he was appointed second mate of a vessel called the Bri¬
tannia, employed in the Levant trade, which, however, was
wrecked near Cape Colonna during her passage from Alex¬
andria to Venice, and only three of the crew, including
Falconer, were saved. This event suggested the idea of his
poem, The Shipwreck, on which his reputation rests. But
if Clarke be right in the opinion that he was the author of
the fine naval song “ Cease, rude Boreas,” an exception
must be made in favour of that popular lyric. Falconer
continued in the merchant service until the spring of 1762,
when he recommended himself to the notice of Edmund
Duke of York, by the dedication of The Shipivreck, and en¬
listed his royal highness amongst the number of his admirers
and patrons. Desirous to place him in a situation where
he could be befriended, the duke advised him to enter the
navy; and before the end of summer he was rated as mid¬
shipman on board the Royal George. But as this ship was
VOL. IX.
F A L 473
paid off at the peace of 1763, and as Falconer’s period of Falconry
service had been far too short to enable him to obtain the ||
commission of lieutenant, he was advised to exchange the Falerii.
military for the civil department of the navy; and, in the
course of the same year, he received an appointment as
purser of the Glory frigate, a situation which he held until
that vessel was laid up in ordinary at Chatham. In 1 764
he published a new edition of The Shipwreck, in 8vo, cor¬
rected and enlarged, most of the descriptive and episodical
matter being introduced ; and the following year appeared
The Demagogue, a political satire, intended as a sort of an¬
tidote to the writings of Wilkes and Churchill, but much
more remarkable for virulence than wit. His time, how¬
ever, was chiefly occupied with the compilation of an Uni¬
versal Marine Dictionary, a work much wanted, and which,
when brought out in 1769, was received with general appro¬
bation. Before this period he appears to have left his re¬
treat at Chatham for the metropolis; and Mr Murray, a book¬
seller, father of Byron’s publisher and friend, wished him to
join him in business. Falconer however declined, having
received an appointment to the pursership of the Aurora
frigate, which had been commissioned to carry out to India
Messieurs Vansittart, Scroften, and Forde, as supervisors
of the Company’s affairs; and he was also promised the
office of private secretary to these functionaries. The Aurora
sailed from England on the 30th September 1769, and after
touching at the Cape of Good Hope was never more heard
of; she was supposed to have foundered in the Mozam¬
bique Channel.
Besides the productions already mentioned, Falconer was
the author of several pieces, the most considerable of which
are an Ode on the Duke of York’s second departure from
England as rear-admiral, and a Poem on the death of Fre¬
derick, Prince of Wales. His fame as a poet must, how¬
ever, rest on The Shipwreck. There is a warmth in its
colouring, and a reality in its descriptions, which, notwith¬
standing the didactic character of the poem, sustain its
interest. Natural feeling, imagery, and truth are expressed
in language which, if it never rises to a great elevation,
seldom sinks below the dignity of the subject. Falconer
does not aspire to produce a great effect by a few bold
touches, or the rapid and masterly grouping of appalling
or horrible circumstances. He labours in detail, bringing
before us, without apparent effort, the events as they arise,
and conducting us with an interest constantly increasing
towards the catastrophe. He paints with minute fidelity as
well as picturesque effect; but it is from the general result,
rather than from any portion of the work considered sepa¬
rately, that the talents of the artist should be judged. Such
a tremendous picture of shipwreck as that which Byron
has, in wild sportiveness, thrown out in Don Juan, immea¬
surably transcends the powers of Falconer, and indeed
stands alone in its terrible sublimity ; but, on the other
hand, the naval poet, by the careful elaboration of natural
circumstances, and the general truth of his delineation,
ultimately impresses the mind of the reader, if not with
such vivid force, perhaps with even more enduring effect.
Some of the classic invocations to the shores of Greece,
and some descriptive passages, are a little tawdry, but the
grand incidents of the poem dwell strongly on the recollec¬
tion, and its impression is never forgotten. Nor are the
technical expressions and directions a drawback to the
general reader. They are explained in foot-notes, and
give a truth and reality to the narrative; and they do not
occur in the more impassioned scenes. (r. c—s.)
FALCONRY. See Hawking.
FALERII (now Santa Maria di Falleri), in Ancient
Geography, an ancient and powerful city of Etruria, be-
believed to have been of Pelasgic origin; but in historic
times it appears as an Etrurian city, and probably belonged
to the Etrurian Confederation. Falerii was at first de-
3 o
474
Falernus
Ager
II
Falkirk.
F A L
cidedly hostile to the Roman name, and supported the Vei-
entes in their war with that people, using their utmost et-
forts at the same time to rouse the other Etrurians to join
them against the common foe. After the reduction of Ven
the Faliscans saw themselves exposed to the full fury of the
Roman arms; and after enduring a siege from Camillus,
were obliged to surrender their capital into his hands. I ne
interesting episode of the traitor schoolmaster and the ge
nerosity of the Roman commander need only be hinted at
to be generally remembered. From this time Falerii con¬
tinued, sometimes at peace, sometimes at war, with Rome,
till at the close of the first Punic war it rose in open rebel¬
lion ; but after a short resistance it was taken and destroyed,
and ’the inhabitants were forced to select a site for a new
town in a less inaccessible position than the old city had
occupied. In the middle ages, however, the inhabitants,
invited by the impregnable position of the old site, returned
to it and built the town now known as Civita Castellana.
The ruins of the second or Roman Falerii are now occupied
by the small hafnlet of Sta Maria di Fallen.
FALERNUS AGER, a district in the northern part of
Campania, celebrated for its wine, which in the time of
Horace was reputed the best of all the Italian wines. It in¬
cluded the country extending from the Massic Hills to the
river Vulturous; and when it passed into the hands of the
Romans in 340 B.C., formed part of the Capuan territoiy.
The Falernian wine so famous in the times of Horace had
began to degenerate before those of Pliny, in consequence
of careless cultivation ; and were supplanted in general es¬
timation by those produced in the adjoining Ager Statanus.
FALKIRK, a municipal and parliamentary burgh and
market-town of Scotland, county of Stirling, beautifully
situated on the face of an eminence which overlooks the
wide expanse of fertile country called the Carse of Falkirk.
The town consists of one wide street, with a number of
narrow streets and lanes branching off from or running
parallel to it. The houses are generally lofty and well built.
The parish church,erected in 181 l,has afine steeple 130 feet
high. There are also places of worship for the Free Church,
United Presbyterians, Independents, and Roman Catholics.
There is also a flourishing school of arts in which lectures
on scientific subjects are delivered every winter. Continu¬
ous lines of houses connect Falkirk with the villages of
Grahamston and Bainsford, and extend thence to Carron,
which lies about 2 miles N. of the town, and is celebrated
for its iron-works. Though Falkirk is not itself a manufac¬
turing town, having only some tanneries, breweries, and a
small manufactory of pyroligneous acid, yet the neighbour¬
hood teems with extensive wmrks of various kinds. In ad¬
dition to the Carron iron-works there is the Falkirk foundry
at Bainsford, employing about 500 persons ; besides several
extensive collieries, distilleries, flour-mills, &c. rI he three
trysts or cattle fairs held here annually, on the 2d 1 uesday
of August, and the 2d Monday of September and October,
are the largest in Scotland ; the last being by far the largest
of the three. Each continues for at least two days, and
sometimes for nearly a week. Falkirk is a town of consi¬
derable antiquity, and appears to have been a place of some
note in the early part of the eleventh century. Its original
name was Eglishbreckk, which signifies the “ speckled
church,” in allusion it is supposed to the colour of the stones,
and translated by Buchanan varium sacellum. The old
church demolished in 1810, and whose site is occupied by
the modern edifice, was erected in 1057, the year in which
Malcolm Ceanmore assumed the sovereignty. In the val¬
ley between Falkirk and the Carron a battle was fought
between the Scotch under Sir William Wallace and the
English under Edward I., in which the former were de¬
feated, and two of their chieftains, Sir John Graham and
:Sir John Gumming, slain. Their graves are still pointed
out in the churchyard: that of Graham has a monument
Falkland
Islands.
F A L
with an inscription which has been several times renewed. Falkland
On a moor a little to the S-W. of the town a battle was
fought on 17th January 1746, between the royal forces and
those of the Pretender, in which the rebels w ere victorious. ^
On this occasion fell Sir Robert Monro of Foulis, and his
brother Dr Monro, whose monument is to be seen in the
churchyard. In the vicinity traces of the Roman wall
are still visible. Falkirk was formerly a burgh ol barony,
but was created a royal parliamentary burgh by the Reform
Act, and is now governed by a provost, 3 bailies, a treasurer,
and 7 councillors. It unites with Airdrie, Lanark, Hamilton,
and Linlithgow, in returning a member to parliament. Pop.
(1851) 8752. It is 24 miles W.N.W. of Edinburgh, on the
Edinburgh and Glasgow, and the Scottish Central railways.
FALKLAND, a royal burgh of Scotland, county of
Fife, at the N. foot of the East Lomond Hill, 22 miles
N.N.W. of Edinburgh. Pop. (1851) 1330. It consists of
a single street with some cross lanes; the houses being in
many cases thatched and of an antique and primitive ap¬
pearance. Falkland is a place of little or no traffic, and the
inhabitants are mostly engaged in weaving. It is chiefly
noted for its royal palace, originally a stronghold of the
Macduff's, earls of Fife, but forfeited to the crown in 1424
on the attainder of Mordac Stewart the 17th earl. It was
greatly enlarged and improved by James V., who died here
in 1542; and was also the favourite residence of James
VI., on account of the fine park and abundance of deer.
The east side was accidentally burnt in the reign of Charles
II., and the park ruined during the time of Cromwell, when
the fine oaks were cut down in order to build a fort at
Perth. In 1715 the famous Rob Roy garrisoned the palace
and laid the burgh and vicinity under contribution. 1 he
palace till recently was allowed to fall into decay, but what
remained of it has been renovated and fitted up, and now
forms the residence of O. J. Bruce, Esq., the heritable
keeper. Falkland was constituted a royal burgh by James
II. in 1458, audits charter was renewed by James VI. in 1595.
FALKLAND ISLANDS (French Malouines, Spanish
Malvinas), a group of islands in the South Atlantic Ocean,
belonging to Britain, and lyipg about 250 miles E. of the
nearest mainland of South America, between 51. and 53.
S. Lat., and 57. and 62. W. Long., or in precisely the same
latitudes south as London and the midland counties are north.
The group consists of two principal islands, East and West
Falkland, with several hundred others of different sizes
clustered around and in the strait between them. East
Falkland is about 85 miles in length by 40 in breadth, and
West Falkland 80 miles long by 25 to 30 miles wide.
They are separated from each other by Falkland Sound.
The other islands range in size from 16 miles by 8, to mere
islets of half a mile across. The whole group is deeply
indented by numerous harbours and creeks, which, if they
diminish the area, produce more than counterbalancing ad¬
vantages. Very little is known of West Falkland. It is
uninhabited, but at certain seasons is visited by whaling
and other vessels. East Falkland is nearly divided into two
unequal portions by the estuaries called Breton Sound and
Choiseul Sound, the two parts of the island being con¬
nected by an isthmus not more than a mile and a. half
across. The northern portion is crossed by a chain of
rugged hills, called the Wickham Heights, extending due
E. and W., from Port William to Port Sussex, and varying
in height from 800 to 2000 feet. This range consists
chiefly of quartz rock, which crops out with great irregu¬
larity, so that it can be crossed only at certain passes.
South of this range it is one continued undulating plain,
few of the heights rising to more than 60 feet above the
level of the sea, and the ridges running nearly N.W. and
S.E. Through every little valley a stream of fresh water
flows into one or other of the numerous creeks and inlets
of the sea. Besides these rivulets, there are numerous
F A L F A L 475
Falkland fresh-water ponds or lakes, varying from 30 yards to 3
Islands. or 4 miles in circumference. North of the Wickham
Heights the surface is hilly, some of its elevations rising to
the height of upwards of 1000 feet. The side of the
heights contains slate, some of which is suitable for building
and roofing purposes ; and limestone has been discovered
on and about the foot of Mount Usborne. From certain
parts of these upper regions there descend into the valleys
streams of stones, from 20 or 30 feet to a quarter of a mile
wide, and below these stones there usually flows a stream
of water. These stones are frequently of considerable size,
and have not moved far, as their angles are generally but
little broken. The climate is said to be very mild and salu¬
brious. The temperature is more equable than that of Eng¬
land, being rarely so hot in summer or so cold in winter.
The ice is seldom more than half an inch thick, except in
very severe winters, and snow lies but a short time on the
ground. Light showers are frequent, but a day of heavy
rain never occurs. Excessive winds are common, but
thunder-storms are extremely rare. The hottest months
in the year are December and January. The soil is of a
deep brown, almost black, compact, peaty quality, lying upon
a strong clay subsoil, and from 6 inches to 2 feet deep.
North of the Wickham Heights the soil is lighter, more
peaty, rank, and on an inferior subsoil (a red gravelly clay),
and in the neighbourhood of the quartz rock formations, on
a stiff dirty-white clay.
There are few wild animals indigenous to the Falklands.
The only quadruped is the warrah or wolf-fox {Canis Ma-
gellanicus), rather taller, but not much heavier, than our
fox. The other animals which are found in a wild state
are those which have been left there by Europeans, as
horned cattle, horses, sheep, wild hogs, and rabbits, all of
which are very abundant. There is a plentiful supply of
excellent fish in all the creeks, and of small trout in the
lakes and rivulets. Hair and fur seals abound, and the
black whale is still numerous about these coasts. The wild
fowl are also numerous, as swans, geese, ducks, snipes, &c.
There are few land birds or insects, and no reptiles.
A gigantic sedgy grass, called tussac, of the genus Carex,
is very common on most of these islands. Its blade aver¬
ages seven feet in length by about three-quarters of an
inch in width, is extremely nutritious, and admirably
adapted for fattening cattle. Turnips, carrots, potatoes,
and vegetables thrive well, and barley and oats have been
successfully cultivated. F urze and other shrubs grow well, but
there are as yet no trees. Peat is abundant, and some of it
is highly bituminous. Coal has been discovered, but whether
it can be profitably worked has not yet been ascertained.
The discovery of these islands has been by many attri¬
buted to Amerigo Vespucci, in 1502; but it is more pro¬
bable that they were first discovered by Davis in 1592.
In 1594 Hawkins sailed along their north shore ; and in
1690 Strong sailed through the channel which separates
East from West Falkland, and called it Falkland Sound,
whence the group afterwards took its name. During the
earlier parts of the eighteenth century these islands were
frequently visited by French vessels; and in 1764 a French
colony was established at St Louis, on East Falkland. Two
years later the English planted a colony at Port Egmonton,
West Falkland. In 1767 the Spaniards took possession of
the French settlement, and three years later of the English.
In consequence of this step, some negotiations were entered
into, the result of which was that the sovereignty of these
islands was ceded to the English, who, however, some
time afterwards abandoned them. Though frequently
visited by whaling vessels and others, they continued with¬
out permanent inhabitants till 1820, when they were taken
possession of by the republic of Buenos Ayres. A settle¬
ment was formed at Port Louis, which rapidly increased
until 1831, when, in consequence of a dispute with the
United States, it was destroyed by the Americans. In Fall
1833 the English again assumed possession of the Falk- II
lands, and stationed an officer and boat’s crew at Port ■f’a^acy-
Louis. In 1840 the government resolved to colonize these
islands, and sent out for that purpose a governor and a
small establishment, who settled at Port Louis. A more
advantageous situation for a settlement was subsequently
found on the south side of Stanley Harbour, where, in
1844, a town was laid out. Mr Lafone, a wealthy mer¬
chant, obtained from government an extensive tract of
land, and possession of all the wild cattle and other wild
stock for six years, from 1st January 1848, in consideration
of a payment by instalments of L.60,000. Mr Lafone’s
interests have recently been purchased by a chartered com¬
pany, which now possesses, in East Falkland, all the southern
peninsula called Lafonia, consisting of about 600,000 acres,
besides 138 islands and islets, with an aggregate area of
about 200,000 acres, until January 1856. The company
possesses absolute right to all the wild cattle or other wild
stock which may be found upon any of the islands, but
after that period this right ceases except as to stock, &c.,
then in actual possession of the company. In 1847 the
population of the colony was 270. The governor of these
islands, in January 1853, reports the colony to be steadily
progressing. In 1851, the number of tons of shipping that
entered the port of Stanley was 17,538, and in 1852 it was
22,024, being an increase of 4,486 tons. This necessarily .
produces a demand for produce and labour. Unskilled
labourers earn from 3s. to 5s. a day, and skilled from 6s. to
10s. Provisions are abundant, and at reasonable prices.
“ The transference to the Falkland Islands Company of
the large interests held by Mr Lafone, and the commence¬
ment by that corporation of a more comprehensive system
of operation, supported by a large capital, gives me very
favourable hopes of benefit to the colony, and, I trust, to
the shareholders.” {Report.) In 1849, twelve allotments
of one acre each, near the town, were put up for sale, and
were sold on an average at L.6 per acre ; and eleven similar
allotments, sold in 1852, brought on an average L.12 per
acre, or six times the usual government price. “ The mas¬
ter of a barque, the Record, lately in the harbour, publicly
notified that he would take passengers to the gold diggings
in Australia at L.10 per head, and it gives me much pleasure
to add that not a person could be found in the colony to
accept his proposition.” {Report?) Being chiefly depen¬
dent upon the ships that call here to refit or for relresh-
ments, the opening of a ship canal between the Atlantic
and Pacific Oceans would affect this settlement very much,
and might probably lead to its abandonment.
FALL, the name given in Scotland to a measure both
of length and superficies. As a measure of length, the fall
is equal to six Scots ells, or 6T764 English yards; and as
a measure of superficies, to 36 square ells.
FALL of Man, in sacred history, that memorable event
by which man lost those perfections bestowed on him by
his Maker at his creation. See Theology.
FALL RIVER, a town of the United States, Massa¬
chusetts, 46 miles S. of Boston, situated on the Fall River,
at its junction with the Taunton, which last falls into Mount
Flope Bay, a branch of Narraganset Bay. The harbour
on Taunton river is safe and easy of access, and has depth
ol’water sufficient for the largest ships. Fall River has a
large coasting trade, and is engaged in the whale and other
fisheries. It has extensive cotton and woollen factories,
bleaching works, foundries, &c., and communicates regu¬
larly with New York by steamers, and with Boston by rail¬
way. Pop. (1850) 11,522.
FALLACY is a logical term ; but in the consideration
of the ideas denoted by it, we are led, at several points, be¬
yond the ground occupied by Logic Proper. Especially
there is often involved, in the scrutiny of fallacies, examina-
FALLACY.
476
Fallacy, tion of the matter of arguments, that is, of the nature of the
objects argued about. The chapters on fallacies, therefore,
which appear as appendices in the most elaborate logical
treatises, really travel more or less out of the proper domain
of the science; and the topic may here deserve a few
paragraphs of separate illustration.
A Fallacy is an unsound or inconclusive argument; an
argument supposed or alleged to prove a conclusion which
it does not prove. The name is sometimes confined to
sophisms, that is, unsound arguments used with the intention
to deceive. But the intention is a point of secondary import¬
ance in the theory of fallacies ; and, indeed, those fallacies
in which the reasoner deceives himself are by far more
dangerous than the others, because they are by far more
common. The term Fallacy, it will thus be observed, is
applicable to an argument taken as a whole, not to any of
the propositions of which the argument is composed. The
propositions severally must be true or false: the argument
which they constitute must be correct or fallacious ; that is,
its conclusion must either follow or not follow from the
premises. ‘
In demonstrative reasoning, such as that whose matter
is mathematical truth, there is but slight occasion for a
systematic consideration of fallacies. The ideas which
arguments of this sort deal with are both few and simple ;
and the words in which the ideas are expressed have pre¬
cise and well-fixed meanings. But in probable reasoning, the
matter of which comprehends all questions directly regard¬
ing human character, and conduct, and destiny, the ideas
are many and complex, and the language is seldom either
precise or exactly defined. In testing such an argument,
therefore, we have to begin by subjecting it to something
like an anatomical dissection. We aim at exhibiting the
bare skeleton of the argument, that we may be able to per¬
ceive whether its parts are or are not firmly knit together.
The process by which we gain such a view of an argu¬
ment is twofold. There is required, on the one hand, a
stripping off of everything inessential. Into every argument
in probable matter, much that is inessential finds its way
even in thought; and still more that is inessential intrudes
into the argument when it passes into words. It is required,
on the other hand, to bring distinctly into view all the points
of junction—all the points at which one part of the argu¬
ment is related to another. In the form which argumenta¬
tion naturally and usually assumes, all those points are not
exposed. We have, and we continually indulge, a tend¬
ency to argue elliptically, to omit steps of our reasoning ;
and, omitting largely in thought, we omit still more largely
in expression. The honest thinker passes over hastily in
his own mind, and denotes but briefly, if at all, in words,
those steps as to which he himself has no doubt, and which he
believes to be equally clear to others : the sophistical debater
slurs over, or keeps back altogether, if it be possible, those steps
in which he knows the weakness of his argument to lie.
In a word, paradoxical though the assertion may appear,
it is found, when we aim at testing our ordinary acts of
reasoning in probable matter, that they are irregular both
by excess and by defect. The testing of the arguments by
the laws of the syllogism is very easy, as soon as those faults
have been cured. The difficulty lies in the process of cure,
that is, in the analysis of the argument, and the exhibition of
it in its naked form. Further, the two parts of the cure are
not equally difficult: the least so by far is the weeding out of
the superfluities. Ihe filling up of the gaps is often a very
troublesome task. Indeed, when a chain of argumentation
is very long and complex, it very frequently—whether
through looseness of thinking, or through the design to
mislead deviates so wddely from regularity of form, as to
admit, and often at more points than one, of being filled up
in any of several alternative ways. In such an instance, we
are almost certainly safe in believing that the reasoning is
fallacious ; and it will almost always be possible to indicate Fallacy,
two or more specific fallacies, one or another of which must
have been committed. Such a position—satisfactory where
a man wishes sincerely to estimate the accuracy of his own
reasonings—is not so strong as might be wished when we
endeavour either to convince a candid but confused dis¬
putant of error, or to expose sophisms committed by dis¬
putants who are not candid. Another case, which is often
still more annoying, while it is also more common, is that
in which one and the same argument is found to involve
more fallacies than one; a case which is made particularly
frequent by this, that almost every fallacious argument
which is really troublesome owes its force, in a greater or
less degree, to its introduction of ambiguous terms.
For dealing efficiently with serious difficulties of the kind,
we require two qualifications. The first is exact knowledge
of the syllogistic laws, with readiness and correctness in the
use of them. The second is familiar acquaintance, and apt¬
ness in the use of our acquaintance, with the various forms
of fallacy, or methods of incorrect reasoning. Towards the
attainment of the latter of the two, the fuller and more
accurate of the treatises on logic aim at giving assistance in
their supplementary consideration of fallacies. A complete
enumeration and classification of fallacies has not been
achieved by any of the logicians, and is indeed impossible ;
but those which are most common and most dangerous may
be and have been identified and described, and arranged ac¬
cording to several different principles, each of which has its
uses in particular applications.
There has been a general agreement in accepting, as the
first step in the classification of fallacies, the Aristotelian divi¬
sion of all of them into two classes: Fallacies inDictione (irapa
tt]v Aefiv); Fallacies extra Dictionem -njs Ae£ews). The
former are otherwise describable as Formal or Logical Talla-
cies, as errors in the process of reasoning itself; the latter
as Material or Non-Logical Fallacies, as errors arising beyond
the reasoning process. The distinction thus indicated
is perfectly sound ; but the application of it is difficult, and
the distinction itself sometimes evaporates in the attempt to
apply it. Fallacies referred ,to the second class by some
logicians are placed in the first by others; and by some of
the schoolmen (Occam for one) it has been maintained, that
the Aristotelian classes are not separated by a distinction
really identical at all points with the distinction between fal¬
lacies formal and fallacies material (a parte vocis and a
parte rei). The details, accordingly, have been worked out
variously by different writers ; none of the elaborations per¬
haps being so useful as that of Archbishop Whately, which
exhibits the author’s usual success in dealing with questions
having a close practical bearing. Whately’s distribution
and description of fallacies will, with other authorities, fur¬
nish much to the hasty outline here to be given. There
may advantageously be compared with it Mr Mill’s classifi¬
cation, which is specially designed for bringing out the forms
which error is most likely to assume when reasoning is used
in the process of scientific discovery. Some other recent
treatises on fallacies aim at exemplifying the application of
fallacious reasoning in other special departments of thought.
Thus Bentham’s Book of Fallacies may be described as
showing, how certain wrong rules of judgment in political
questions may be referred to the several kinds of fallacy, and
most easily detected. Comte’s discussion of fallacies em¬
braces only an incidental denunciation of certain prevalent
opinions, which stand in the way of his Positive Philosophy.
I. Perhaps our path may most readily be cleared, if, first
of all, we regard Fallacies as distributable into I hree Classes.
They are either Fallacies of Assumption, Fallacies of Expo¬
sition, or Fallacies of Inference.
II. For the detection of Fallacies of Assumption, logic
cannot afford any direct assistance. It can aid us only through
the training it gives us in clearness of thought, and in sub-
F A L L A C Y.
477
Fallacy, tlety and dexterity of analysis. The error of Assumption
consists in our reasoning from premises which are either un¬
true in themselves, or not admitted by those whom we wish
to convince. The unwarranted assumption may take place
in either of two ways. (1.) The more common of the two
was comprehended by the Aristotelians in their second class
of fallacies: it was called petitio principii or qucesiti, and is
familiarly known to us as the “ Begging of the Question.” It
consists in taking for granted the thing to be proved. We
assume a premise, which either is identical with our conclu¬
sion, or (more frequently because more availably) is so far
dependent on our conclusion that it cannot be held as esta¬
blished till the conclusion is admitted. That which is strictly
denoted by “ Reasoning in a Circle” is the use of two argu¬
ments of this kind, in the second of which, assuming the
conclusion of the first, we thus try to prove the premise
which in the first we had wrongly assumed. A genuine and
complete instance of reasoning in a circle is a rare incident.
(2.) The second kind of the fallacy of assumption, embraces
all cases of wrong assumption not resolvable into the begging
of the question. Evidently its possible varieties are innu¬
merable. In our own reasonings, we may be tempted to
assume an untrue premise by any circumstance which makes
our knowledge imperfect or erroneous; in attempting ho¬
nestly to convince others, we may use a premise unadmitted
by them, whenever it happens that we are incompletely
informed as to the state of their belief in regard to the
question argued about. For the sophistical use of the
fallacy, occasion may be furnished by circumstances of either
kind.
III. When a fallacy of assumption has occurred, the argu¬
ment is of course unconvincing, even though no error has
been committed in the process of inference. So is it likewise
when the fallacy is a Fallacy of Exposition. The word “ re¬
levant” and its cognates have been branded as Scotticisms :
but they are extremely convenient; and in this application
they are adopted by Whately. Placing this kind of paralo¬
gism among the fallacies of matter, he aptly translates its
scholastic name “ignoratio elenchi” by the phrase “Irre¬
levant Conclusion.” The Latin name bears reference to the
case of disputation : the disputant who uses the fallacy is
said not to know, or to profess not to know, the “ elenchus,”
that is, the proposition which, as being the contradictory of
his opponent’s conclusion, it was his duty to prove. The
fallacy is committed when the conclusion which we infer,
although it may be legitimately deduced from premises true
or admitted, is not the conclusion we were bound to prove.
We denounce such a fallacy when we say, “ that is not the
point,” or “ that is not the question.”
When the error is described as a Fallacy of Exposition, the
feature intended to be brought into view is this ; that it con¬
sists essentially in a mis-statement or wrong exposition of
the question argued. Its varieties are indefinitely various :
it has correctly been said that no fallacy has so wide a range
as this. It is always, in one shape or another, referable to
the case which is usually set down as one of its specific
kinds, namely, that which is spoken of as a “ shifting of the
ground.” Under such names as this, it is especially familiar
to lawyers, and not very rare in controversies ecclesiastical
and theological. Several kinds of it, which shift the ground
of argument in certain specific directions, have received spe¬
cific names. One such is the “ Argumentum ad Hominem,”
when it is used fallaciously (sometimes this argument is
quite legitimate); all such arguments as those which seek
to challenge a conclusion, not on its own merits, but on the
score of inconsistency on the part of the person maintaining
it. Another is the a Argumentum ad Verecundiam,” the
appeal to authority; which evidently may in some kinds of
questions be really an impregnable argument, while still
oftener it may fairly avail for securing a suspension of judg¬
ment ; but which still oftener is used illegitimately, and must
always be so when the matter is of a kind in which inde¬
pendent thinking ought to rule. To this kind belong also
all attempts (in the popular phrase) to Move the Passions;
all attempts to bias the judgment through emotion, desire,
or aversion, when the question is one which should be de¬
cided on grounds purely intellectual. Under this head also
may most conveniently be placed all such errors as we com¬
mit, when we hold a conclusion as disproved when it has
merely been improved; or when we treat the use of any of
the last-named kinds of argument as fallacious and inappli¬
cable to the case, the case being one in which they are legi¬
timately applicable.
It may appear to some, that Fallacies of Exposition ought
to be considered as being nothing else than a particular kind
of fallacies of assumption. It is, in fact, a point carefully
to be observed, that they come into play only through the
unwarranted assumption of a premise or premises in the
last step of the reasoning, the step which leads directly to
that which is represented as the conclusion. But they are
peculiar in this : that, whereas in proper fallacies of assump¬
tion there may be, and often is, a shifting of premises, there
is not there, and is here, a shifting of conclusion. Alto¬
gether, the fallacies of exposition seem entitled to the middle
place here given them; a place which intimates their alliance
on the one side to the fallacies of assumption, and on the
other to the fallacies of inferences, while it denotes also that
they are essentially distinguishable from both. Here, as in
fallacies of assumption, logic does not directly help us ; but
here, as in fallacies of inferences, the conclusion wanted is
not proved.
IV. All fallacies rightly referable to the two classes
hitherto described would fall, in the scholastic scheme, within
the class of Fallacies extra dictionem. Fallacies of the
Third Class above named, those of Inference, are all of
them Fallacies in dictione.
In these a logical error has place. The conclusion which
the argument is supposed or alleged to prove, does not fol¬
low from the premises. Therefore, such a fallacy is effec¬
tually exposed, as soon as the argument containing it has
been resolved into the form of a syllogism. A pretended
argument, doubtless, may have in it so little even of the
resemblance of reasoning, that its resolution into the syllo¬
gistic form is impossible; and in such a case the varieties
of possible error are indefinitely numerous: but no such
case is worth considering, since none such could for a mo¬
ment mislead any rational being. Again, where the argu¬
ment is so like a genuine act of reasoning as to be resolv¬
able into the syllogistic form, there are some of the syllo¬
gistic rules (such as those for negatives) which cannot have
been violated. Accordingly, all the Fallacies of Inference
that require enumeration are four: Illicit Process, either of
the Major Term or of the Minor; Non-Distribution of the
Middle Term; and the occurrence of More Terms than
Three. The last of these fallacies is found, on a strict analysis,
to comprehend the other three : all of these are just specific
instances of it. In a legitimate act of reasoning, we use three
terms and three only, comparing each of these once with
each of the other two. Every logical error consists really
in the introduction of a fourth term, which carries with it
the want of one of our three comparisons. The fallacy
may be, our having either two major terms, two minors, or
two middles. This doctrine is worth remembering, because
of its bearing on that kind of logical fallacy which is practi¬
cally most important.
A distinction now presents itself, separating Fallacies of
Inference into Two well-marked Genera. First, the fallacy
may appear on the face of the argument: it may be evident
before we have considered the meaning of the terms, or
when (as in the use of the symbolic terms so common in
logical examples and essential in algebra) none of the terms
has any appropriated meaning. Secondly, the fallacy may
Fallacy.
478 FALL
Fallacy, not appear until we have ascertained, by interpretation, the
v . y meaning of the term in which it occurs. Fallacies of the
first kind have been called Purely Logical Fallacies, those
of the second kind Semi-Logical. The names are justly
applied; for interpretation of terms is not a function of logic,
and fallacies of the second kind are not cognisable by logical
tests until the process of interpretation has been performed.
(1.) The Fallacies Purely Logical are not named by Aris¬
totle among the thirteen kinds into which he distributes all
fallacies; and they receive little attention, oftenest none at
all, in the special discussions on fallacies by the schoolmen.
The reason is plain. The systematic doctrines of the syllo¬
gism, taught in preceding parts of the logical treatises, were
supposed to have furnished, for the detection of these fal¬
lacies, all the aid that is either attainable or needful. They
should be at least named, however, in any scheme professing
to enumerate the possible kinds of fallacies; and it is ques¬
tionable whether they do not deserve, in modern times, a
larger share of attention than that which may once have
sufficed for them. “ We live,” says Mr De Morgan, “ in an
age in which formaflogic has long been nearly banished from
education—entirely, we may say, from the education of the
habits Offences against the laws of syllogism (which
are all laws of common sense) are as common as any species
of fallacy; not that they are always offences in the speaker’s
or writer’s mind, but that they frequently originate in his
attempt to speak his mind. And the excuse is, that he
meant differently from wLat he said; which is received be¬
cause no one can throw the first stone at it; but which in
the middle ages would have been regarded as a plea of
guilty.” Even for the applicabilities of the syllogistic tests
to the argumentative section of our common affairs, no¬
tice is merited by the hint here involved, of the inti¬
mate relation between the fallacies purely logical, and
those others (avowedly very frequent) which we speak of
as semi-logical. Of the clo£e bearing of the theory of the
syllogism on the theory of scientific discovery, proof will
be found by any one who glances at Mr Mill’s treatise on
Fallacies, in his great logical work.
(2.) All the Semi-Logical fallacies of inference are refer¬
able to one cause, Ambiguity of Terms. Two remarks are
here necessary. In the first place, we must understand dis¬
tinctly what the logicians mean, when they say that a syllogism
is fallacious because one of its terms is ambiguous. Every
term we can use, every single word, and, far more clearly,
every combination of words, is ambiguous in this sense, that
it is susceptible of more meanings than one ; but when the
use of an ambiguous term is said to be the source of a fallacy,
what is signified is, that, each of the three terms of an argu¬
ment occurring twice in it, the term in question is actually
used in one of its meanings on its first appearance, and in
another on its second. That every phrase or word is capa¬
ble of being so used, is a fact which shows how extensive
is the risk we run of committing the Fallacy of Ambiguity.
In the ordinary and familiar uses of argumentation, where
we employ words whose significations are fixed only by
custom and tacit convention, our liability to the error is
proportional to the closeness of relation between two mean¬
ings of any given word or phrase, plus the probability that
both of the meanings will suggest themselves to us or to
others in the course of a given argument. In philosophical
and scientific discussions, there is no effectual protection
against mistakes thus arising, unless by the precedent de¬
finition of every term that is to be used; a precaution which,
notoriously, is not fully attainable anywhere except in the
pure mathematics. Secondly, the books on logic are nearly
unanimous in describing the ambiguity that causes fallacy,
as occurring in the middle term only: the fallacy is called
that of “ambiguous middle,” even by writers who explicitly
allow that this is not the only possible instance. It is true
that the middle term is much oftener used in two meanings
A C Y.
than is either of the other terms; chiefly because, not emerg- Fallacy,
ing in the conclusion of an argument, it is by much the least
prominent of the three. But undoubtedly the fallacious
double meaning is to be found sometimes in the major term
or in the minor.
It is plain that, when the Fallacy of Ambiguity is commit¬
ted, the argument has really more terms than three. It is
only in appearance that a term used in two meanings is one
term: it is really two terms; it is one term in the one of
its meanings, and a different term in the other. It is equally
plain that, in one or another of its forms, this is the most
common, and also the most dangerous, of all instruments
that effect either mistake or deception. It is, as was as¬
serted a little ago, the most frequent ally of fallacies of the
other kinds; which, when the case does not lay open a firm
enough foundation for them to occupy alone, gain support
by their union with a convenient ambiguity. But the fal¬
lacy is so tempting, through the manifold imperfections of
language as the vehicle of thought, that, even without
foreign aid, it is continually productive of error. It is the
curse of all those sciences which have human nature as their
object-matter, especially of those higher and more analytic
ones which, in the incorrect phraseology of common use,
are often slumped together by the name of metaphysics.
Its effects are not less injurious, when the communication of
belief is aimed at through that which we speak of as elo¬
quence, whether oral or written. The loose and inconclu¬
sive declamation, both of sophistry and of imperfect know¬
ledge, gains a hearing through its adoption of one name to
denote two things substantially different; and, in applications
less extensive, but not less serious, truth is obscured, or
positive error substituted for it, by the eagerness of culti¬
vated writers to attain what they regard as elegance of
style, for which, in our day, one of the favourite prescrip¬
tions is a needless variation of phrase.
The shapes assumed by the Fallacy of Ambiguity must
clearly be so diverse, as to baffle all attempts at classifica¬
tion, or even enumeration. The ambiguity which is caused
by the construction of clauses (the amphiboly or amphilogy
of the old writers) is probably less frequent than that (the
homonymy of Aristotle) which is caused by the double mean¬
ing of a single word or term. The Homonymy, or ambiguity
strictly so called, arises out of something in the term itself;
and the sources of it might be shown to embrace all those
relations of things which, when used in an opposite direc¬
tion, give rise to tropes and figures of speech. Several va¬
rieties of ambiguity spring from the particular way in which
the term is applied on the particular occasion. Of these, the
most nearly akin to the homonymy (and rightly transferred
by Whately from the class of material fallacies) are the
“ Fallacia a dicto simpliciter ad dictum secundum quid;”
and the counter-fallacy, called also the “ Fallacia acciden-
tis.” In each of these, a term is used absolutely in the one
of its appearances, and with a qualification in the other. If,
from assuming as to the term taken absolutely, we infer in
regard to it as qualified, the fallacy is of the first kind; if
we infer the other way, it belongs to the second. Like to
this pair in several respects are the counter-fallacies of
Composition and Division. In the fallacy to which the
former of these names is strictly applicable, we assume that
something is true of a common term taken distributively, or,
in other words, that something is true of each of the indi¬
viduals comprehended under the term ; and we thence infer
to the term taken collectively, that is, to the aggregate of
those individuals. In the counter-fallacy the process is re¬
versed. The principle of the two fallacies last described
affords also the easiest means of exposing many fallacies, in
which the form of the argument does not directly present
the antithesis of collection and distribution, and which, ac¬
cordingly, might be placed under other heads, and analysed
by a different method.
F A L
Falling The heads thus named are very far indeed from present-
Sickness ingan exhaustive list even of the principal Fallacies of Am-
I! biguity. It is the fact, indeed, that a vast proportion of the
Falmouth. errorg jn reasoning by which we are perplexed or seduced,
v_"'" are referable, in the first instance, to that wide class which
Mr Mill calls Fallacies of Confusion : the main reason of
the fact lies in the frequency with which double meanings
insinuate themselves into acts of ratiocination ; and, when
w7e are at a loss to determine the class to which an argument
evidently fallacious may most properly be referred, and are
consequently doubtful as to the best method of exposing it,
a rigorous analysis will probably show that the difficulty is
caused by some deeply lurking fallacy of ambiguity, (w. s.)
FALLING Sickness. See Epilepsy.
FALLING or Shooting Star, a luminous meteor which
appears suddenly darting through the air. Falling stars
occur at all seasons, but most frequently in the latter part
of autumn, especially during the prevalence of the aurora
borealis, and most commonly in the lower regions of the
atmosphere. These phenomena are now generally sup¬
posed to depend on electricity.
Sir Humphrey Davy, howrever, in a lecture delivered at
the Royal Institution, gave many reasons against this
theory ; conceiving that they are rather to be attributed to
falling stones. It may also be mentioned that Chladni, in
his work on Fiery Meteors (Vienna 1819), considers them
as solid bodies formed above the regions of our atmosphere,
and classes them with aerolites. Some consider them as
extreme portions of the zodiacal light occasionally crossing
the earth’s orbit. It has been observed that when falling
stars appear in great numbers, the direction of their course
is similar. See Electricity, and Meteorolite.
FALLOPIAN Tubes, in Anatomy, two ducts arising
from the womb, one on each side of the fundus, and thence
extending to the ovaria. They are called tuba from their
form, which bears some resemblance to a trumpet; and
derive their denomination of Fallopian from Gabriel Fallo¬
pius, who was the first to indicate their use and office.
FALLOPPIO, Gabriello, in Latin Fallopius, one
of three anatomists to whom Cuvier assigns the honour of
having restored, if not actually created, their science; Vesa-
lius and Eustachius being the other two. He was a native
of Modena, and though the year of his birth is not accu¬
rately known, it may be assigned to the end of the first
quarter of the seventeenth century. He received his medi¬
cal education at Ferrara, and in that city he established
himself as a teacher of anatomy, after completing a scien¬
tific tour through the most civilized portions of Europe.
From Ferrara he removed to Pisa, attracted thither by the
liberal offers of Cosmo I. Grand Duke of Tuscany, and from
Pisa to Padua, where the Venetian Senate appointed him to
succeed Vesalius. His career in his new sphere, though
brilliant, was short, as he died in 1562, after holding his
various appointments for only eleven years. His only work,
the Observationes Anatomicce, was first published at Venice
in 1561, and has been frequently reprinted. For an ac¬
count of the services which Fallopius rendered to anatomi¬
cal science, see art. Anatomy, vol. ii., p. 759.
FALMOUTH, a municipal and parliamentary borough
and market-town of England, county of Cornwall, on the
S. side of Falmouth Harbour, 15 miles N.N.E. of Lizard
* Point, and 267 miles S.S.W. of London. It is governed
by a mayor, 4 aldermen, and 12 councillors, and in con¬
junction with Penryn, about 2 miles distant, returns 2
members to parliament. Pop. (1851) of town 4953 ; of the
parliamentary borough of Falmouth and Penryn 13,656;
registered electors 906. In the early part of the seven¬
teenth century Falmouth consisted only of a few fishermen’s
huts, but soon after this Sir John Killegrew, having obtained
the permission of James I., constructed a new quay and laid
the foundation of the present town. Its subsequent pro-
F A M 479
sperity was a consequence of the excellence of its harbour, Falsify
and its proximity to Land’s End. Por about 150 years
it was the port from which the mail packets for the Medi- ^ ' t
terranean, Spain, the West Indies, and South America, ^
were despatched, but it is now for the most part superseded
by Southampton. The harbour is one of the best refuges
for shipping in England. Its entrance, between St An¬
thony’s Head on the E. and Pendennis Castle on the W.,
is about a mile in width, and it thence stretches inland about
five and a half miles. It has depth of water and excellent
anchorage for the largest ships, and vessels of considerable
burden can discharge their cargoes at the quay. The num¬
ber of vessels registered as belonging to the port on 31st
Dec. 1853 was 124 vessels of 8771 tons burden. The
number that entered and cleared at the port during 1853
was as follows :—coasting trade, inwards, sailing vessels 710,
tonnage 40,271 ; steam vessels 141, tonnage 29,447 ; out¬
wards, sailing vessels 215, tonnage 9195 ; steam vessels /5,
tonnage 7151 : Colonial and foreign trade, sailing vessels,
inwards, 161, tonnage 13,379; outwards, 147, tonnage
17,934. The exports include copper, tin, tin-plates, wool¬
len goods, pilchards and other fish, &c., and a considerable
coasting trade is carried on with London, Plymouth, Bris¬
tol, Dublin, &c. The town consists chiefly of a long but
narrow street extending along the shore. It contains some
fine public buildings, among which may be mentioned the
Public Rooms, Polytechnic, town-hall, jail, and market-
house. It has also a reading room, mechanics’ institute,
public baths, savings-bank, and dispensary. Market-days
Tuesday and Saturday.
FALSTER, one of the Danish islands in the Baltic, lying
E. of the island of Laland, from which it is separated by
a narrow strait. It is of an irregularly triangular form, about
27 miles in length from N. to S., but of very variable
breadth, the greatest not exceeding 18 miles. The sur¬
face is elevated but almost entirely flat. It is richly wooded,
fertile, and well cultivated. The chief productions are corn,
flax, hemp, hops, potatoes, and fruits. Corn, apples, and
other products are exported in considerable quantities.
Cattle, hogs, poultry, and bees, are abundant. This island
is divided into two districts, north and south Falster. The
chief town, Nykiobing, is on the western side of the island,
and in 1850 contained 2123 inhabitants. Pop. of entire
island (1850) 23,249.
FALUN, or Fahlun, a town of Sweden, capital of a
cognominal laen, and situated near the W. shore of lake
Runn, 73 miles W. of Gefle. The town is built chiefly of
timber, and the inhabitants, amounting to about 4500, are
mostly engaged in mining and smelting. West of the town
are the celebrated Falun copper mines, which are the oldest
and most celebrated in Europe. I hey have an historical
existence of upwards of 600 years, and it is certain that
they are much older—probably by many centuries. In the
town are museums of mineralogy and geology, a school of
practical mining, a model room, and a large scientific
library. The fumes arising from the copper-smelting works
destroy vegetation in the vicinity of the town, but do not
seem to be injurious to human life ; on the contrary, the
freedom of the inhabitants from cholera and other serious
epidemics which have visited the country has been ascribed
to this cause. The laen of Falun has an area of 12,113
square miles, and in 1850 contained 151,497 inhabitants.
FAMA, the goddess of report or rumour, is represented
by the ancient poets as the youngest daughter of the Earth,
and possessed of wings, with as many ears, eyes, and tongues,
as feathers. She is said to have a palace in the air, and to
fly through the world by day and by night, hearing and ob¬
serving all that passes among men. She is mentioned by
Hesiod, and particularly described by Virgil and Ovid.
She is also described by Chaucer in his House of Fame; and
by Pope in his Temple of Fame, in the following lines :—
480 F A M
Fama So from a spark that kindled first by chance,
Clamosa With gathering force the quick’ning flames advance :
II Till to the clouds their curling heads aspire,
Family. And towers and temples sink in floods of fire,
v ^ -^7 When thus ripe lies are to perfection sprung,
~ Full grown, and fit to grace a mortal tongue,
Through thousand vents, impatient, forth they flow,
And rush in millions on the world below.
Fame sits aloft, and points them out their course,
Their date determines, and prescribes their force :
Some to remain, and some to perish soon;
Or wane and wax alternate like the moon.
Around, a thousand winged wonders fly,
Born by the trumpet’s blast, and scattered through the sky.
Temple of Fame.
FAMA CLAMOSA, in the judicial procedure of the
church of Scotland, a ground of action before a presbytery
against one of its members, independently of any regular
complaint by a particular accuser.
Any person who is of good character may prefer to the
presbytery a complaint against one of its members; but
the presbytery is bound not to proceed to the citation of the
person accused until the accuser under his hand shall give
in the complaint, with some account of its probability, and
undertake to make out the libel, under the pain of being
considered as a slanderer. But when such an accusation is
brought before them, the members are obliged to examine or
try the case. Besides this, however, the presbytery considers
itself obliged to proceed against any of its members, if the
fama clamosa of the scandal is such that the person impli¬
cated cannot be vindicated unless they begin the process.
This they can do without any particular accuser, after they
have inquired respecting the origin, occasion, and authors
of this report. It is a maxim in the Kirk of Scotland, that
religion must suffer if the scandalous or immoral actions of
a minister are not corrected; and wherever a minister is
reputed guilty of any immorality, although previously the
most popular preacher in the kingdom, he is then deserted
by his congregation. Therefore the presbytery, for the sake
of religion, is obliged to proceed against a minister in case
of afama clamosa. This, however, is generally done with
great caution. After they have considered the report
raised against him, they then order him to be cited, and
draw out a full copy of what is reported, with a list of the
names of the witnesses to be produced for proving the alle¬
gation. He is then formally summoned to appear before
them ; and he has notice served upon him, at least ten days
before the time of his appearance, to give in his answers
to what is termed the libel. If at the time appointed the
minister appear, the libel is read to him, and his answers are
also read. If the libel be found relevant, then the presby¬
tery endeavours to bring him to a confession. If a minister
absent himself by leaving the place, and prove contuma¬
cious, without making any relevant excuse, a new citation
is given him, and intimation is made at his own church when
the congregation is met, that he is to be holden as confessing,
since he refuses to appear before them ; and accordingly
he is deposed from his office.
FAMAGOSTA, or Famagusta, a seaport-town on the
east coast of the island of Cyprus, occupying a low situation
between two promontories, in N. Lat. 35. 7. 40., E. Long.
33. 59. It was formerly strongly fortified, and on the
land side was surrounded by a deep ditch and thick walls
flanked with towers, but these have now fallen into decay.
The palace, cathedral, churches, and other buildings, are
mostly in ruins, and the town at present probably does not
contain more than 200 inhabitants. The harbour was for¬
merly good, but from the accumulation of sand at its mouth
it is now only accessible to small craft. Famagosta occupies
the site of the ancient Arsinoe. Under the Venetian
rule it was one of the principal cities of the Levant.
FAMILY. In a restricted sense the word is applied to
those who form one household, whether connected by ties
Years.
1801
1811
1821
1831
1841
1851
In England and Wales.
Number of
Families.
1,896,723
2,142,147
2,493,423
2,911,874
Not returned,
3,712,290
Average | Average
of Persons of Persons
in each | in each
Family. | House.
In Scotland.
Number
of
Families.
| Average I Average
'ofPersons of Person;
in each I in each
Family, House.
4-688
4745
4-813
4-772
?
4-827
5643
5-655
5-747
5-600
5-406
5-469
364,079
402,068
447,960
502,301
550,428
600,098
4-418
4-491
4-669
4-707
4-760
4814
5-461
5- 939
6- 125
6- 401
5211
7- 801
Fan.
FAN
of relationship or not: in a more extended sense it includes Family
the descendants from a common progenitor. Among the
Romans the word familia (from famulus, a slave or servant)
was applied to the household establishment of servants. It
was also applied to a collective body of freemen, or to a
particular branch of a Roman gens. Thus, the gensTEmilia
had such subdivisions as the families of Mamerci, Scauri,
Lepidi, &c. Of all the institutions that have been esta¬
blished among men, that of the family is the most primitive
and the most humanizing. The Creator seems to have
placed it as the corner-stone of the social edifice—as the
foundation of every organization, political, civil, or religious.
We have in it the most manifest proof that man was created
to live in society, to go on perfecting his faculties through
the multiplied connections which bind him to his kind, and
to purify his soul by the affections of his heart. In the
family sanctuary we have a clear evidence, that the pre¬
tended state of nature, which has been represented as the
primitive condition of man, is but a barbarous fancy totally
opposed to the benevolent designs of the Author of nature.
From the investigation of statistics we learn, that on an
average the number of children in one family where poly¬
gamy does not exist is—
Family, is used popularly among naturalists to denote
an order, class, or genus of animals, or other natural pro¬
ductions having certain characters in common by which
they are distinguished from others.
FAN, a simple and well-known implement employed to
produce coolness by agitating the air.
Upwards of 3000 years ago the artist of ancient Egypt
painted the fan on the walls of the tombs at Thebes,
where the Pharaoh sits surrounded by his fan-bearers.
These officers acted as generals or marshals, using their fans
as standards in war, and in peace they assisted the Pharaoh
in the temple, and waved their variegated fans both to pro¬
duce a cooling breeze, and to guard the sacred offerings
from the contamination of noxious insects.
The fan is mentioned by Euripides, and its Grecian forms
were far more beautiful than the Egyptian. The wings of
a bird joined laterally and attached to a slender handle
formed the simple yet graceful fan of the Priest of Isis,
when Isis became a Grecian deity. It was sometimes
formed of feathers of different lengths, spread out in the
form of a semicircle, but pointed at the top. 1 his fan, the
precise type of the state-fan of India and China of the pre¬
sent day, was waved by a female slave.
The fan is mentioned by Terence and Ovid ; and was
termed indifferently “flabellum” or “muscarium.” When
the Romans were at meals, it was the duty of certain slaves,
when the weather was warm, to cool the room with fans and
to drive away the flies.
The modern Greek church places a fan in the hands of
its deacons to guard the officiating priest and the elements
from desecration.
When the fan was brought to France by Catherine de’
Medecis, it was so constructed that it could be folded in the
manner of those used in the present day. Fans in the luxu¬
rious reigns of Louis XIV.and Louis XV., shone with gilding
and gems, and were ornamented with the pictures of Boucher
FAN
Fanati- and Watteau. At that time no toilet was esteemed com-
cism. plete without a fan, the cost of which was frequently as
—high as from L.12 to L.15 sterling.
In fan-making the Chinese and French are the great
rivals, and may be said to monoplise the supply of the
whole world. In the lacquered fans the superiority of the
natives of China is fully admitted. These are unrivalled
both in lowness of price and in originality of design, bril¬
liancy of colouring, and in general correctness of workman¬
ship. In China the manufacture of fans is almost entirely
confined to Canton, Soutchou, Hang-tchoo, and Nankin.
The fans of ivory and bone, and of feathers, are made ex¬
clusively for exportation to Europe or America. Those
used by the Chinese are of bamboo, polished or japanned,
and covered with paper. They are sold at from lOd. to
14s. 6d. per dozen, according to the quality of the frame
and the design of the leaf.
In France fan-making has arrived at a high degree of
perfection, and presents a remarkable instance of the sub¬
division of labour: not less than about twenty different opera¬
tions, performed by as many pairs of hands, are necessary
to the production of a fan which sells for less than one half¬
penny. The number of fan-makers, or eventaillistes, in
Paris in 1827 was 15, who employed 1010 workmen (344
men, 500 women, and 166 children), and sold about
L 40,420 worth of fans. In 1847, there were 122 fan-
makers, comprising chamber-masters as mounters, feuillistes,
painters, and colourers. The value of the fans made was
L.l 10,000. These masters employed 575 workpeople (262
men, 264 women, 29 youths, and 20 girls). The work¬
men on the average can earn 3s. and the women Is. 8d.
per day. Some small fans are sold at a price as low as
5d. per dozen.—{Reports of the Juries on the Works of
Industry at the Exhibition, 1851.)
FANATICISM (from fanum, a temple). Originally,
the fanatic was he who performed the duties of a temple,
the religious personage, the priest who in the temple was
the organ of the god. Whatever may be its etymology,
the word fanaticism has long been used in a much more
limited and discreditable sense. It signifies in common
language a religious exaltation which perverts reason and
leads to actions that are reprehensible, but which the fana¬
tic believes he ought to do to please God. This is reli¬
gious fanaticism. In a wider sense this name is given by
analogy to all excessive prepossession with any order of
ideas, whatever that may be ; thus there is a fanaticism for
liberty, a fanaticism for patriotism, love, &c. No country
has given more lamentable proofs of the pernicious nature
of both political and philosophical fanaticism than France,
as in the age of philosophical scepticism which preceded the
revolution, and in the phrenzy for liberty which produced the
fearful excesses and inhumanity of the Terrorists. This fana¬
tical furor produced equally disastrous results under the Re¬
action or Abolitionist party in Naples and in Spain. Among
the republican fanatics of France there were no doubt men
of true nobility of soul who were led to the commission of
crime by blindly following the hypocritical zeal of their lead¬
ers ; others, under the cloak of zeal for the public good, were
actuated by criminal desires and propensities which have
nothing in common with fanaticism. Sir James Mackintosh
says: “Fanaticism is the most incurableofall mental diseases,
because in all its forms—religious, philosophical, or political
—it is distinguished by a sort of mad contempt for experience,
which alone can correct the errors of practical judgment.”
Fanaticism is a real moral malady, a kind of madness,
with which imagination has much to do. It finds at first
some difficulty in supplanting reason ; but if it succeed it
becomes then the sole rule of conduct, and generally induces
a state of dejection and melancholy. It is never universal
in the individual, but rather belongs to that class of men¬
tal maladies which is called monomania.
VOL. IX.
FAN 481
The most deplorable characteristic of this mental dis- Fanati-
order is, that it is really contagious, as are all those w'hich cism.
depend on the imagination. When once it has established it-
self in a country, it often assumes the character and authority
of a principle, so that many may be for a length of time vic¬
tims to it without being excited by the same feelings as
those in whom it originated. It is thus that human sacri¬
fices most probably commenced and were continued, and
that the supposed superior sanctity of the first anchorites
spread and multiplied the various orders of monks and
friars.
The following is an instance of fanaticism in its most
frightful character:—Kiesewetter in his Pathologic de
VAme Humaine relates that a shepherd who dwelt in a
village in Prussia often conversed with the schoolmaster of
the place on religious subjects. The schoolmaster affirmed
that faith and piety were then not nearly so great as in an¬
cient times, especially in the time of the patriarchs, and in¬
stanced the faith and obedience of Abraham when com¬
manded to offer up his son Isaac. The shepherd, wdio had
three sons whom he dearly loved, conceived that it would
be the most incontestable evidence of his faith and piety
were he to sacrifice them to God; and when the tears and
prayers of the children for a time stayed his hand and re¬
vived humanity in his heart, he reproached himself for
listening to the suggestions of the evil spirit, which had
prevented him from consummating his good work; but
after a short struggle with himself, fanaticism triumphed, and
the children fell under the hatchet of their wretched father.
This instance, however, may more properly come under
the class of monomania. A more criminal species of fa¬
natical acts are those of individuals who have attempted
to destroy rulers and others whom they have conceived to
be enemies to religion or to political liberty; as, for in¬
stance, Jacques Clement, who killed Henri III. of France
(1589), and Ravaillac, the assassin of his successor, Henri
IV. (1610), and the murderers of Archbishop Sharpe in
1679.
George Fox, Emanuel Swedenborg, and Madame
Guyon, are examples of a mystical state of this phrenzy.
The fanaticism displayed by the Independents in Crom¬
well’s army and the Scottish Covenanters in the time of
Charles II., is of a more noble character, from its being
combined with piety and a love of liberty, which nerved its
subjects for deeds of valour and endurance. There are in¬
stances of this disorder which are only distinguished by
ridiculous folly and delusion, such as that of Johanna South-
cote, and that of Mrs Buchan, who, in the neighbourhood of
Dumfries, in 1786, persuaded her followers that they should
never die, but soon be received up into heaven. One
morning she led out her people to a hill to take their flight
upwards. There they waited till they were tired, but still
found themselves fixed to earth ; but she assured them that
it was their want of faith that prevented their ascension.
She then persuaded them that it would be necessary to fast
forty days and forty nights, and then they should be taken
up, They tried the experiment till some were near dying
of starvation, but the trial was too severe, and they dropt
off one by one.
When fanaticism manifests itself in atrocities such as
murder and assassination, it is more startling; but it is in¬
finitely less disastrous than in the milder type when those
who believe that an adherence to certain theological dog¬
mas or actual observances are so essential to the salvation
of the soul, that they consider it their duty not only to ob¬
serve them themselves, but to compel others to take the
same track to heaven, although it should be necessary even
to resort to pains and penalties to force them.
It is this that has desolated the finest portions of the
earth; and it is much to be regretted that the cruelty and
oppression of fanaticism has not been confined to the be-
3 p
482
FAN
Fancy lievers in the Koran or the Shasters, but that in a greater
II or less degree it has afflicted all the countries calling them-
Fanshawe. se]ves Christian.
The best means of counteracting the tendency to fanati¬
cism is a vigorous and rational education and a philoso¬
phical training. If ignorance is the mother of devotion, it
would be unreasonable to expect that such devotion should
be enlightened, pure, spiritual, and beneficent. The mind
when left uninstructed cannot comprehend the true, and
clings more closely to the false.
FANCY. See Apparitions, and Metaphysics.
FANIONS, small flags carried along with the baggage
of an armv.
FANNERS, in Agriculture, are implements for win¬
nowing corn, or for separating the chaff, husks, and dust,
from grain seeds. For descriptions of winnowing machines,
see Agriculture, vol. ii., p. 283 ; and Pneumatics.
Amon0- the ancients corn was separated fiom the chaff
by a kind of shovel or broad basket, with which it was
thrown in the direction of the wind; and sometimes it was
cleaned by meansf of a sieve, as among the Jews and
Greeks. In Virgil (GW^r. i.) the simple implement used
for winnowing is styled mystica vannus lacchi. Idle ran-
\us was borne in the processions celebrated in honour of
jOacchus and Ceres, whose rites had a continual reference
to rural occupations. It was also used at initiations into
the mysteries, as an emblem of that purity of life which
was essential; or in other words, to denote the separation
of the virtuous from the vicious and profane.
FANO, a city of the Papal States, in the legation of Ur-
bino-e-Pesaro, occupying the site of the ancient Fanum
Fortunce, so named from the temple of Fortune there.
It afterwards took the name of Colonia Julia Fanestns
from a colony of veterans who were established here by
Augustus ; and a triumphal arch of white marble was erected
in honour of that emperor, which still forms one of the
gates of the city. Fano is situated in a rich and fer¬
tile plain on the shores of the Adriatic, at the mouth
of the Metauro, 7 miles S.E. of Pesaro. Pop. 10,000. It
is inclosed by old walls, with a lofty bastioned front to¬
wards the sea, and is richer in churches and paintings than
any other town on the east coast of Central Italy. Its
cathedral and many of its churches are fine buildings, richly
adorned with marbles and frescoes, and containing several
masterpieces of the great Italian painters. Fano has a
college of Jesuits, a public library, and a modern theatre
said to be one of the finest in Italy. Its harbour is so
choked up with sand as to be accessible only to vessels of
the smallest size, which trade in corn. The town has some
manufactures in silk.
FANS HA WE, Sir Richard, a distinguished cavalier
and accomplished man of letters, was the son of Sir Henry
Fanshawe of Ware Park, Hertfordshire. He was born in
June 1608, studied at Jesus College, Cambridge, travelled
for some time in France and Spain, acquiring the languages
and investigating the institutions and manners of those
countries; and on his return he entered on that course of
diplomatic and public service in which he so enimently
excelled. His sympathies and exertions were all on the
side of the royalists. Charles I. created him a baronet; and
in the service of Charles II. he was taken prisoner at the
battle of Worcester. This led to his imprisonment; but
through the intercession of Cromwell (who could be a gen¬
erous as well as formidable enemy) he was liberated. The Re¬
storation brought brilliant hopes to the cavaliers, and Fan¬
shawe was promised the appointment of one of the Secre¬
taries of State. He was however, like many others, doomed
to disappointment. Through the influence of Monk the office
was given to Sir William Morrice, whom Lady Fanshawe, in
her interesting Memoirs, terms “a poor country gentleman of
about L.200 a-year; a fierce Presbyterian, and one who
FAR
never saw the king’s face.” Sir Richard was afterwards Fantasia
employed as ambassador at the courts of Spain and Portu- II
gaf, and he negotiated the treaty of marriage between *aretmm-
Charles II. and the Infanta, Donna Catharina, daughter
of John VI. He had just completed an important treaty
with Spain, when he was seized with fever at Madrid, and
died there on the 4th of June 1665. The widow of Sir
Richard (daughter of Sir John Harrison) honoured his
memory with a Memoir, which forms one of the most in¬
teresting, noble, and affecting, of our domestic histories.
Though so constantly engaged in posts of honour and peril,
Sir Richard Fanshawe found leisure for several translations.
The earliest of these was an English version of the Pastor
Fido of Guarini, published in 1646. This translation has
been eulogised by Denham, who applies to it a couplet
which seems to draw the line with great felicity between
a bad and a good translation :—
“ They but preserve the ashes, thou the flame ;
True to his sense, but truer to his fame/’
Fanshawe also translated Fletcher’s Faithful Shepherdess
into Latin verse, the Lusiad of Camoens, and some of the
Odes of Horace. He was also the author of ££ A Discourse
of the Civil Wars of Rome.”
FANTASIA, in Music, an Italian term which means
either a composition improvised upon the organ, or piano¬
forte, or violin, &c., according to the free fancy of the
performer, and not elaborated according to any strict rules
or forms of construction, while still subject to the funda¬
mental laws of melody, modulation, and harmony ;—or, a
written composition in which the musician indulges his
fancy unrestrained by conventional forms of developed
themes and movements, but yet bestows more careful at¬
tention upon details than is required in the improvised fan¬
tasia. One of the finest specimens of a written fantasia
is Mozart’s in C minor, No. 24 of the list of his works
published in 1805 by J. Andre of Offenbach. The
“ Fancies” of Bird, Bull, and other old English musicians
of the sixteenth century, were dry and difficult composi¬
tions for a keyed-instrument, worked out upon popular
airs. , (G< G0
FARCE originally denoted a droll petty show exhibited
by charlatans and buffoons in the open street, in order to
gather the crowd together. The word is derived, through
the medium of the French, from the Latin farcire, to stuff,
and literally signifies forced meat or stuffing ; and was ap¬
plied to such exhibitions in allusion to the variety of jests,
jibes, and tricks with which the entertainment was inter¬
larded.
Tiie modern farce is a dramatic piece of a low comic
character, usually played as an after-piece. Its sole end
being to excite mirth, it admits of greater licence than
comedy as to probabilities in constructing and developing
the plot, and in short may be said to exclude nothing, how¬
ever wild or extravagant, that may contribute to the
amusement of the audience. Dryden observes “ Farce is
that in poetry which grotesque is in a picture : the persons
and actions of a farce are all unnatural, and the manners
false.”
FARCY, a disease of the horse, allied to glanders. See
Veterinary Science.
FAREHAM, a market-town of England, county of
Hants, situated at the N.W. extremity of Portsmouth har¬
bour, 73 miles by road and 84 by the South-Western Rail¬
way from London. The town consists chiefly of one wide
street; and during the summer months is much resorted to
for sea-bathing. It has a handsome assembly-room and
other conveniences requisite for such places. Ihe manu¬
factures are chiefly sackings, ropes, and coarse earthen¬
ware. Some shipbuilding is also carried on, Fareham has
some trade in corn, timber, and coal. Market-day, Mon¬
day. Pop. (1851) 3451.
FAR
FAR
483
Farewell
Farmer.
FAREWELL, Cape, the S. extremity of Greenland, on
the E. side of tlie entrance of Davis’ Straits, in N. Lat. 59.
49., W. Long. 43. 54. Also a cape at the N. extremity of
the middle island of New Zealand; S. Lat. 40. 31., E. Long.
172. 47.
FARINA, the meal or flour of any species of corn ; or of
any starchy root, as potato, arrow-root, &c.
FARM, or Feorme, an old Saxon word which originally
signified provisions; and which afterwards came to be used
instead of rent, because anciently the principal part of the
rent of lands was paid in corn, poultry, &c. Hence the
word farm, by a gradual departure from its original sense,
came to signify the estate or lands (firma) so held; and the
person holding lands in this way was called & firmarius or
fanner. '
According to the census returns of 1851, the total num¬
ber of farms in Great Britain was 283,378; of which 223,271
were in England and Wales, 56,150 in Scotland, and 3957
in the islands in the British seas. Of the total number of
farms,
were under 100 acres,
from 100 to 200
200 ... 300
190,573
52,912
20,603
9,031
4,063
2,248
2,816
1,132
300
400
500
600
400
500
600
1000
1000 and upwards.
The size of 2558 farms was not stated. The average size
of farms is 102 acres; and altogether they occupy about
one-half of the territory of Great Britain. For observa¬
tions on farms, see Agriculture, vol. ii., p. 364, et seq.
FARMER, Hugh, the well-known author of the Essay on
Demoniacs, was an English Dissenting minister. He was
born in 1714, in the neighbourhood of Shrewsbury, and
after receiving a good elementary education, became finally
the pupil of the celebrated Dr Doddridge at Northampton.
On completing his studies, he was appointed to a charge at
Walthamston in Essex, officiating at the same time as chap¬
lain to a wealthy gentleman in the neighbourhood, in whose
house he lived. This residence he afterwards exchanged
for the more hospitable dwelling of a less aristocratic pa¬
rishioner, under whose roof he remained for thirty years,
thinking out and composing those valuable treatises which
afterwards gained him so much distinction. His first work
of importance was published in 1761, under the title of An
Inquiry into the Nature and Design of our Lords Tempta¬
tion in the Wilderness; and was designed to prove that the
whole of that memorable transaction took place only in
vision, and was intended to prefigure the labours and offices
of our Lord’s future ministry. The originality of the idea,
and the great learning with which it was maintained, secured
for it a wide and speedy circulation. In 1765 a second
edition of it appeared considerably enlarged, in which the
objections started against the first edition were answered;
and the several subsequent editions were all calculated to
strengthen the author’s position. In 1771 appeared his “Dis¬
sertation on Miracles, designed to show that they are Argu¬
ments of a Divine Interposition, and absolute proofs of the
Mission and Doctrine of a Prophet.” This is the author’s
most valuable contribution to theological science. The
clamour raised against the author, of having borrowed from
a treatise on the same subject by Lemoine, was silenced by
himself in his Examination of the essay of that divine.
Farmer’s next publication, and the one by which he is best
known, though it can hardly claim to be his ablest work,
was his Essay on the Demoniacs of the New Testament,
which may be regarded as a sort of sequel to his treatise on
Miracles. The propositions maintained in this volume were
attacked with considerable ability but very moderate suc¬
cess by Dr Worthington, a learned clergyman of the English
Church, and afterwards by Mr Fell, a Dissenter. Farmer’s
last work of importance was published in 1783, under the Farmer
title of “ The General Prevalence of the Worship of Human II
Spirits in the Ancient Heathen Nations, asserted and Farnabie<
proved.” In 1761, Farmer removed to London, where he
continued to officiate to the congregation of Salter’s Hall
till his death in 1787.
F armer, Richard, D.D., author of the Essay on the Learn¬
ing of Shakspeare, was born at Leicester in 1735. He was
educated first at the free grammar-school of his native town,
and afterwards at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, of which in
1760 he became classical tutor and in 1775 master. In
that latter year also he was appointed vice-chancellor, and
three years afterwards chief librarian of the university. In
1780 he was appointed to a prebendal stall in Lichfield,
and shortly afterwards prebendary of Canterbury; but after
holding this office for a few years, he exchanged it in 1788
for that of a canon residentiary of St Paul’s. As none of
these offices required constant residence, Dr Farmer spent
most of his time at Cambridge, owing among other things
it is said to a disappointment in early love which disinclined
him to the active business of the world; and there, after a
long and painful illness, he died in 1797. A monument
erected in his honour bears an inscription by Dr Parr, who
describes him as Vir facetus, et dulcis festique sermonis,
Grtece et Latine doctus, in explicanda veterum Anglorum
poesi suhtilis et elegans. The latter portion of this epitaph
has reference to Dr Farmer’s only work, his Essay on the
Learning of Shakspeare, in which the critic proves that the
great poet’s knowledge of the ancient classics was derived
not from the originals, but from translations of which he
copied even the blunders. In proving this point, Dr Farmer
incidentally illustrates so well the text of Shakspeare, that
no other English criticisms on the great dramatist, save
the widely dissimilar Lectures of Coleridge, and occasional
digressive comments interspersed throughout the works of
Thomas Carlyle, Mrs Jameson, Mrs Clarke, and other
authors of our own day, can compare with his in value.
In politics Dr Farmer was a confirmed Tory ; and though
an obstinate enemy to change of most kinds, he effected
great improvements in the sanitary condition of Cambridge.
He greatly enjoyed social recreation, and is said to have
had more of the spirit of a boon-companion than of a clergy¬
man. He was twice offered a bishopric by Mr Pitt, and
on both occasions he declined the honour which would have
debarred him from visiting the theatre, which, it seems, he
regularly attended when any work of his favourite author
was announced.
FARNABIE, or Farnaby, Thomas, a grammarian and
critical scholar, was born in London in 1575. In his six¬
teenth year he entered Merton College, which, however, as
he was of a restless disposition, he left somewhat abruptly.
Passing over into Spain, he embraced the Catholic faith,
and entered a college of the Jesuits in that country. The
severity of the discipline, however, displeased him, and in
1595 he left the college, to join the last expedition of Drake
and Hawkins. He is said to have served afterwards as a sol¬
dier in the Low Countries; but he at length returned to Eng¬
land in great poverty, and to meet his immediate necessities
opened a school in Cornwall, where, however, he met with
no immediate success; and removed to Mattock in Somer¬
setshire, where he began to prosper beyond his utmost
hopes. He staid here long enough to establish a consider¬
able reputation, on the strength of which he removed to
London and organized a school there, which at one period
was attended by upwards of 300 pupils, chiefly the sons
of noblemen and gentlemen, and, according to Antony a
Wood, turned out a greater number of churchmen and states¬
men than any school taught by one man in England. He
now received the degree of M.A. from Cambridge, and
shortly afterwards the same honour from Oxford. With
the money which his success enabled him to realize, he
484
FAR
Farnese
Palace
II
Faro.
bou-ht estates in Kent and Surrey, and would in all like¬
lihood have ended his days happily, had he not taken part in
the civil wars as a partizan of the king. By the parliament he
was taken prisoner and consigned to captivity, first in New¬
gate and afterwards in Ely House. He died in 1647. His
works consist chiefly of annotated editions of Juvenal and
Persius, Seneca and Virgil His edition of left un¬
finished, was completed and published after his death by Hr
Merie Casaubon. His other works, such as his^ Systerna
Grammaticum, are chiefly philological, and have been long
SUPFARNESE PALACE. See Architecture, vol. iii.,
n 452.
’ FARNHAM, a market-town of England, county of
Surrey, near the left bank of the Wey, 10 miles W.S.W.
of Guildford, and 38 miles from London. Pop. (Ibol)
3515. The town is built on the S. slope of a hill rising
about 700 feet above the level of the sea, and consists piin-
cipally of two main streets, with a market-place at their in¬
tersection. It is well supplied with water from springs in
the neighbouring hills, conveyed by pipes to a large reser¬
voir in the town. The parish church is a spacious edifice
in the later Gothic style, and was formerly a chapel of ease
to Waverley Abbey (founded in 1128), of which some re¬
mains still exist in the vicinity. Farnham was early a place
of importance, and sent two members to parliament from
4th Edward II. to 38th Henry VI. Farnham Castle on a
hill N. of the town, and now the seat of the Bishop of
Winchester, was first built by Henry de Blois, Bishop of
Winchester, and Brother of King Stephen ; but it was razed
by Henry HI. It was rebuilt and garrisoned for Charles I.
by Denham, from whom it was taken in 1642 by Sir W.
Waller; and having been dismantled, was restored by Dr
Morley, Bishop of Winchester. Farnham was formerly
noted for its cloth manufacture, which is now quite extinct.
It is chiefly celebrated for hops of a very superior quality,
extensively cultivated in the vicinity. Market-day, Thurs¬
day. Cobbet was born in the parish of Farnham in 1162,
and his remains are interred near the main entrance of the
church. .
FARNOVIANS, an heretical offshoot from the Soci-
nians, which under the conduct of Stanislaus Farnowski
(in Lat. Farnovius or Farnesius) separated from the other
Unitarians in 1568, and attracted within its pale many men
eminent for piety, learning, and ability. This schism took
place on account of an opinion maintained by Farnovius, that
before the foundation of the world Christ was either begot¬
ten or produced out of nothing by the supreme God. Far¬
novius also forbade his followers to pray to the Holy Ghost.
These are the only points of the peculiar doctrines of this
sect of which we have any knowledge. I he Socinians
used every effort to draw it back within their pale, and
succeeded so well, that on the death of Farnovius in 1615
the sect became utterly extinct.
FARO, a city and seaport of Portugal, province of Al¬
garve, situated on the Valfermosa, near its mouth, 20 miles
W. by S. of Tavira. It is surrounded by walls, and con¬
tains a cathedra], military hospital, custom-house, arsenal,
and several convents and charitable establishments. 1 he
harbour is small, but it has a good roadstead. TLhe ex¬
ports are figs, raisins, almonds, dates, oranges, lemons, wines,
cork, sumach, baskets, and anchovies. Pop. about 8000,
many of whom are fishermen.
Faro, Cape, the ancient Pelorus, the N.E. point of the
island of Sicily, and one of the three promontories which
give a triangular figure to that island. It is situated at
the narrowest part of the Strait of Messina, which is thence
sometimes called the Faro Channel. The light-house (faro)
on Faro Cape is in N. Lat. 38. 15. 50., E. Long. 19. 16.
FARO, a game played with cards; one of the most com¬
mon and simple of all games of hazard.
FAR
FAROE, or Feroe (Danish Fdroerne), a group of islands
belonging to Denmark, in the North Sea, between Iceland
and the Shetland islands, about 200 miles N.W. of the lat¬
ter : between N. Lat. 61.20. and 62. 25., and between W.
Long. 6. 16. and 7. 40. The group consists of seventeen in¬
habited and several uninhabited islands, the former having
an area of 490 square miles, and (in 1850) 8150 inhabitants.
The principal islands with their populations in 1845 were
Strbmb 2162, Osterb 1909, Siiderb 1156, Vaagb 649,
Sandb 528, and Bord'd 304. They consist throughout of
rocks and hills, rising to a considerable height, and separated
from each other by narrow valleys, or rather ravines. Al¬
though, however, these hills rise abruptly, there aie often
on their summits, or at different stages of their ascent,
plains of considerable magnitude. They everywhere pre¬
sent to the sea perpendicular cliffs, broken into a thousand
fantastic forms, presenting to those who sail along the
coast, at every turn, the most picturesque and varied
scenery. The highest peak is that of Skellingfell, in the
island of Strdmd, which rises to about 3000 feet above the
sea. The rocks consist generally of trap, and exhibit little
variety of composition, though they present some stiiking
geological phenomena. The zeolites and chalcedonies heie
collected have long supplied the best specimens of these
minerals to the cabinets ot Europe. Coal is found in Siideid
and some of the other islands, and turf is abundant.
The climate is moist and foggy, and violent storms are
frequent at all seasons. July and August are the only sum¬
mer months, but the winters are not very severe. It seldom
freezes for more than one month, and the harbouis aie raiely
ice-bound. The only grain crop is barley ; and on account
of the uncertainty of the weather, it is frequently reaped in a
half ripe condition. Agriculture is in a very backward state,
the infield, or cultivated land, being calculated to be to the
outfield, or uncultivated, in the proportion of one to sixty.
The plough is seldom used, being in fact ill suited to the
rugged and uneven surface of the land. The ground is
therefore turned up with the spade, care being taken not
to destroy the roots of the grass. Horses and cows are
few in number, and the latter give very little milk, in con¬
sequence probably of the very coarse hay upon which they
are fed. Sheep are numerous, and form the chief riches
of the islanders; some individuals having flocks of from
three to five hundred. The sheep are never housed either
in summer or winter, and in severe seasons they suffer
considerably. The wool is generally coarse, and is toin
off the animals in so rough a manner as often to lacerate
the skin. The catching of the numerous birds which build
their nests upon the face of the cliffs, forms a great somce
of subsistence to the inhabitants. The persons employed
in this hazardous trade display great ingenuity and the most
adventurous spirit. Sometimes the fowler is let down fiom
the top of the cliff by a rope fastened to his waist; at other
times, where there is any footing at all, he climbs the
steepest rocks, or, where that is impossible, he is pushed
upwards by poles made for the purpose. The puffin (Alea
arctica) is the most common of these birds, and the eidei
duck is here often shot for food. The fisheries are impoi tant
and valuable. „
The monopoly of the trade of the Faroe Islands was for
some time in the hands of a mercantile house at Copen¬
hagen ; but it has now been assumed by government, and
neither Dane nor foreigner is allowed to interfere. I he
trade is carried on between Copenhagen and 1 horshavn.
The chief exports are hosiery, tallow, dried and salt fish,
train-oil, feathers, skins, and butter. .
Thorshavn, the capital of these islands, is situated on the
S.E. side of the island of Strbmb, upon a narrow tongue of
land, having creeks on each side, where ships may be safely
moored. Pop. about 1500. The houses are built of wood,
and roofed with birch bark covered with turf, the greenness
Faroe.
FAR
Farquhar. of which makes it impossible at a very short distance to dis-
tinguish the place from the surrounding fields. The cha¬
racter of the people is generally marked by great simplicity
of manners, kindness, and hospitality. They are well fed
and clothed, and seem to be kindly treated by the Danish
government. The average duration of life, as stated by Dr
Panum, is 44f years ; while in Denmark it is only 36. The
language of the people is a remnant of the old Norse, but
that of the courts, churches, and schools, is the modern
Danish. See Fceroce and Peer oca Peserata, by Lucas
Jacobson Debes, translated from the Danish into English,
1675 ; Description of the Faroe Islands, by the Rev. G.
Landt, London, 1810: an account of their geology and
mineralogy in the Trans, of the Royal Soc., Edin., vol. vii.,
by Sir G. S. Mackenzie, Bart., and Thomas Allan Esq.;
Den Danske Stats Statistik., vol. iv., 1853 : J. Nichol’s
Account of Iceland, Greenland, and the Feroe Isles: Dr
Panum’s Official Report on the Diseases of Feroe, 1849,
of which an abstract appeared in vol. vii. of the Medico-
chirurgical Review. The scenery of these islands is well
illustrated in a work entitled Cruises of the Yacht Maria.
Lond. 1855.
FARQUHAR, George, a comic dramatist of the school
of Wycherley and Congreve, was a native of Ireland, the
son of a clergyman in Londonderry, and born in the year
1678. He early rose into distinction, and his brief success¬
ful career was closed before he was thirty. In his sixteenth
year he was entered of Trinity College, Dublin; in his
seventeenth he was an actor on the Dublin stage; in bis
eighteenth he had quitted the theatrical profession and was
in London ; and in his twentieth year his first play, Love and
a Bottle, was brought out with applause at Drury Lane.
His connection with the stage as an actor was suddenly ter¬
minated in consequence of an accident. While performing
in Dryden’s Indian Emperor, he had omitted to exchange
his sword for a foil, and in a fencing scene seriously wounded
a broiher actor. The latter recovered, but the young and
sensitive author of the misfortune resolved to leave the
stage for ever. In less than nine years Farquhar had pro¬
duced seven popular comedies,—his Love and a Bottle; The
Constant Couple, or a Trip to the Jubilee; Sir Harry
Wildair, a sequel to The Constant Couple; The Incon¬
stant, or the Way to Win Him ; The Twin Rivals ; The
Recruiting Officer; and The Beaux Stratagem. He also
published (1702) a volume of Miscellanies, consisting of
short poems, letters, and essays, with a Discourse upon
Comedy, in which he defends the English disregard of the
dramatic unities. The poems and letters are in that style
of affected licentious gallantry and smartness which was then
thought witty and fashionable. They have no redeeming
feature. The letters are said to have been addressed to
Mrs Oldfield, the celebrated actress whom Pope, in his imi¬
tation of the second satire of the first book of Horace, hap¬
pily characterizes, as—
Engaging Oldfield ! who, with grace and ease,
Could join the arts to ruin and to please.
The stage at this time was but slightly purified from the
grossness and immorality that had overflowed the theatres
like a spring-tide flood at the period of the Restoration; and
neither the lives nor the writings of dramatic authors or
performers will bear a close scrutiny. Farquhar is less de¬
signedly and elaborately immoral than Wycherley or Con¬
greve, yet there are few of his scenes that do not require
pruning or excision. Love intrigues then formed the chief
business of the comic drama; and in the management of
them, the homely domestic virtues that are the happiness
and cement of society were totally disregarded, or made the
subject of ridicule. Seriousness was synonymous with hy¬
pocrisy, and the gaieties of a town life were held up as the
end and aim of existence. It is true that the world of
comedy was an artificial world,—never, perhaps, regarded as
FAR 485
real, or as a pattern of morals or manners; but the effect of such Farrier
representations was to lower and corrupt the national taste 11
and principles, while the fact that no pursuit was so profit- barring-
able to an author as writing for the stage was also injurious ^°n’ Grea*'
to our imaginative literature. Considering the standard of
taste and morals at the time Farquhar wrote, and for half
a century afterwards, of v/hich the Siiffblk Correspondence,
Lord Herveys Memoirs of the Court, and other works, af¬
ford ample evidence, we need not wonder at the success
of his plays. His plots are skilfully conducted and evolved,
his situations well chosen, and his dialogue full of life and
spirit. Goldsmith preferred Farquhar to Congreve, while
Pope considered him a mere farce writer. The truth lies
between the two. Congreve was the more polished and
consummate artist,—his wit is brilliant and cutting as a dia¬
mond. Farquhar is easy, natural, and lively,—overflowing
as it were with animal spirits and robust health. In the
delineation of character he is eminently happy. His Ser¬
geant Kite, Scrub, Archer, and Boniface, are distinct, pro¬
nounced characters, that still charm from their freshness
and originality ; while the incidents with which they are
mixed up—the unexpected encounters, artifices, and dis¬
guises—are irresistibly comic and effective on the stage.
The personal history of Farquhar is that of a careless dissi¬
pated “ man upon town.” He received from the Earl of
Orrery a commission as lieutenant in his lordship’s regiment,
and is said to have given proof of conduct and courage as
a soldier. In what service he was employed is not stated,
but he could not have had any arduous military duty. The
stage, not the tented field, was his scene of action. He ap¬
pears, however, to have been in Holland in 1700, as one of
his letters is dated from the Brill and another from Leyden.
He took pains to conciliate patrons by flattering dedications
prefixed to his plays, and he attempted to better his for¬
tunes by marriage. Some lady, we are told, conceived a
violent passion for him, and circulated a report that she had
a large fortune. Farquhar fell into the snare, he married
the lady, and found out too late his mistake ; but he had the
magnanimity, it is said, to pardon a deception that must
have appeared a compliment to his genius. There was,
however, something to forgive on his own part for snatch¬
ing so readily at the gilded bait, contrary to all the rules of
love and the drama. He was always in difficulties. He was
forced to sell his commission; and after finishing his last and
best play, The Beaux Stratagem, in six weeks, while death
was impending over him, he left his two children to the
care of Wilks the actor. “ Dear Bob,” he said in a farewell
epistle, “ I have not anything to leave thee to perpetuate
my memory, but two helpless girls; look upon them some¬
times, and think of him that was to the last moment of his
life thine, George Farquhar.” Wilks did not forget the
melancholy request, but he probably had little to give. One
daughter became a servant, and the other married a “ low
tradesman,” while the mother lived and died in the utmost
poverty. Thus the life of Farquhar, spent as a jest, became
in the end a sad and instructive reality. He died in London,
and the parish register of St Martin’s-in-the-Fields obscurely
records his burial in this fashion,—“ 23 May, 1707. George
Falkwere.” (r. C—s.)
FARRIER (from the Lat./errwm, iron; whence in some
old authors written/emer and/errer) ; one who shoes horses,
or one whose business it is to cure horses and other animals
when diseased or lame. The medical and surgical treat¬
ment of the domestic animals constitutes what is termed the
veterinary art.
FARRIERY. See Veterinary Science.
FARRINGDON, Great, a market-town of Berkshire,
situated at the foot of Farringdon Hill, about 2 miles from
tbe Thames, 30 W.N.W. of Reading, and 68 from London.
Pop. (1851) 2456. The town is neat, clean, lighted with
gas, and well supplied with water from the spring of Port-
486 FAR
Pars. well. The streets diverge from the centre of the town,
where the town-hall is situated. The parish church is an
interesting Gothic structure of different periods, the E. end
being of great antiquity. Market-day, '1 uesday. Farring-
don carries on an extensive trade in corn and bacon.
PARS, or Farsistan, a province in the S.W. of Persia,
bounded on the N. by Irak and Khorassan, E. by Kirman,
S.E. by Laristan, S.W. and W. by the Persian Gulf, and
N.W. by Khuzistan. It lies between Eat. 27. 40. and 31.
52. N., and between Long. 49. 30. and 55. 20. E. I his
province is divided into the Germaseer and Sirhud, or the
warm and the cold climates. It is in general sandy and
barren, though with some considerable exceptions. 1 he
Tabris, formed by the junction (within a few miles of the
town of Zeitoon) of two streams which take their rise in
the mountains of Ears, is the most considerable river of the
province. It divides Pars from Khuzistan, and falls into the
sea eight miles below the town of Endian. I he warm
region of this district extends from the sea to the latitude
of Kazeroon, and runs parallel with the gulf from the banks
of the Tabris to the confines of Laristan. It is chiefly a
sandy plain at the foot of the mountains, the cultivation of
which depends on the periodical rains t and when these
prove abundant, the country yields abundance of dry grain ;
but when the rains fail, which too frequently happens, a
famine generally ensues. The sandy plain, or the Dush-
tistan as it is called, is divided into two districts, which are
separated by the projecting mountain of Bung. These two
districts are' thinly peopled and badly cultivated; and the
few mud villages which are scattered over the plain bespeak
but too clearly the poverty and wretchedness of their pos¬
sessors. The cold region comprehends most of the moun¬
tainous part of Pars, extending from the latitude of Kaze¬
roon to that of the town of Yezdekhast, situated on the bed of
what appears to have been formerly a river, and which sepa¬
rates this province from Irak. The mountains are here in¬
tersected by plains, which seldom exceed eight or ten miles
in breadth, whilst in length they vary from fifteen to a
hundred. They are in general fertile, affording abundance
of pasturage; nor are they so deficient in water as they
have sometimes been represented. A few of them, such as
those of Shirauz, Kazeroon, and Merdesht, are tolerably well
cultivated; but they are for the most part, particularly to
the northward and westward, destitute of inhabitants. It is
mentioned by Kinneir, in his Geographical Memoir of the
Persian Empire, that in 1809 he travelled in this country
“ through the most delightful valleys, covered with wood
and verdure,” but all was solitary, nor was the face of a
human being anywhere to be seen. The face of the country
in the eastern parts of Pars is somewhat different, being
open, the plains of greater extent, and of a sandy soil, where
water is not so plentiful. The great range of mountains
seen from the coast is a mere elongation of the chain of
Mount Tagros, which extends in a continued succession of
ridges from the borders of the Persian Gulf to the'Caspian
Sea and the Caucasus. These hills in Pars are situated at
different distances from the sea. At Bushire they are dis¬
tant 24 miles; but towards Bunder Reig the plain be¬
comes contracted ; and a low ridge, known by the name
of Kohi-Bung, or the hill of Bung, about seven or eight
miles broad, suddenly projects to the south, and touching
the sea, separates the district of Leerawee from that of
Hiadouat. Beyond this hill, at the plain of Leerawee, the
mountains are about 20 miles distant from the sea, at which
distance they continue for 18 or 19 miles, when they again
approach the south. This branch is known by the name
of Zeitoon, on turning the southern point of which they
again abruptly retire to the northward ; and at the port of
Mashoor they are 30 miles from the sea. The principal
towns of the province are Shiraz, the capital; Bushire, the
chief port in the Persian Gulf; Darabjerb, Bebahan, and
FAS
some others. Within its confines also are the ruins of the Fartash
cities of Shakpoor, Persaga, and Persepolis. Faiion.
FARTASH, or Fartak, a cape on the S. coast of Ara- ^
bia, province of Hadhramaut; Lat. 15. 36. 40. N., Long,
52. 21. 10. E.
FARTHING, a small English copper coin, amounting
to one-fourth of a penny. It was anciently called/om^/j-
ing, as being the fourth of the integer or penny. A farth¬
ing of gold, equal in value to the fourth part of a noble or
20d. in silver, is mentioned in statute 9th Henry V., cap. 7.
FARTHINGALE, a petticoat extended by hoops or
circles of whalebone ; and first worn, it it said, by pregnant
women. The fashion was introduced into England in the
reign of Queen Elizabeth; and the last remnant of it, namely
the single hoop, only disappeared about the year 1820.
FASCES, in Roman Antiquity, a symbol of authority
introduced by the kings, consisting of a bundle of rods,
usually of birch, tied together, and containing an axe, the
head of which was allowed to project. Officers named
lictores were appointed to carry the fasces, and varied in
number according to the dignity and importance of the ma¬
gistrate whom it was their duty to precede. In the regal
times of Rome, 12 of these officers, each carrying the fasces,
preceded the king whenever he walked abroad. After the
expulsion of the Tarquins the consuls were allowed 12^
lictors each, but the axes were only borne before one of
them at a time. Publicolii got a law passed according to
which only one of the consuls was allowed the fasces when
both these magistrates were in the city at the same time.
The other was attended by a single officer, named accensus.
It was also ordained that the axes should be removed from
the fasces, unless when the consul was in the camp. 1 he dic¬
tator, however, was preceded by 24 lictors, and even in the
city was allowed to retain the axes. The praetors were each
allowed two when in the city, but when on military service
the number w as increased to six. 1 he tribunes of the
people, aediles, and quaestors, were not allowed lictors in
the city ; but the quaestors might have them in the provinces.
FASCIA, among the ancient Romans, denoted a band,
sash, or long piece of cloth, used to wrap about the legs and
thighs ; to swathe new-born infants ; or for any similar pur¬
pose. In astronomy the term fascia is applied to the belt
of a planet; and in architecture to any flit member with a
little projection, as the band of an architrave. (See .Glos¬
sary to Architecture.)
FASCINATION, a sort of witchcraft or enchantment
supposed to operate either by the eye or the tongue. Among
the ancient Greeks and Romans it was a prevalent belief
that some persons had the power of injuring others, parti¬
cularly children, and even cattle, by their looks ; and various
amulets were employed to avert the imaginary evil. See
Evil Eye.
FASCINES (fascis, a bundle), in Fortification, faggots,
or bundles of rods, or small branches of trees, bound to¬
gether in several places. They are used for various pur¬
poses, such as raising batteries, filling ditches, forming
parapets, &c.; and vary in dimensions according to the pur¬
poses to which they are to be applied. Fascines dipped in
pitch are sometimes employed to fire the enemy’s lodge¬
ments or other works.
FASHION. It was the ordinary remark of the fashion¬
able Doctor Graham (in the days of Horace Walpole),
when consulted by a patient—“ Sir, your disease is very ex¬
traordinary, but it is common enough.” 1 his paradoxical
definition may be very well applied as interpreting the
word “ Fashion.” The latter is doubtless an extraordinary
thing commonly adopted. It will seem still further para¬
doxical to assert that what is “ fashionable ” is “ vulgar ;
but when it is recollected that “ vulgar” implies something
popularly observed (the word being derived from “ volk,”
“joeqp/e”), the paradox is no longer apparent, ihe Latin
FASHION. 487
Fashion, terms vulgus and vulgaris, like our own translations of
them, are not intended to convey anything complimentary
in them. The designation vulgus was contemptuously
flung at the ancient Germans by their Roman antagonists.
The sons of Herman accepted the name, and the German
“ volk ” soon became the fashionable or popular equivalent
for “ patriots.”
In the term “mode” we have something of a similar
meaning. It is derived from mos, a manner or custom.
This word in its plural form, mores, signifies “ morals,” by
which is meant manners, which, if not, ought to be, in
fashion. As in Latin the difference of number alters the
signification, so in French does the change of gender.
“ Le moral,” of a woman, is, for instance, by no means the
same thing as “ sa morale.” In deriving mode from “ mos,”
we follow the lexicographer Boiste. We may add, how¬
ever, that another Latin word, “ modus,” is not altogether
to be set aside as the original of “ mode.” It implies a due
proportion, neither more nor less ; a just measure or man¬
ner ; and to be in the mode, according to this rendering of
the original, is not to be extravagant, not to be in excess in
anything. He who adopts this mode will find himself pos¬
sessed of the most valuable of fashions—the true “factio
nohilium; ” although Livy had not the same application
in his mind when he wrote the words just quoted.
The most ancient fashion with which we are acquainted
is one which is just expiring. It commenced in Scythia,
and is going out, after a long reign, in New Zealand. We
allude to “ tatooing.” It is, or was, the offspring of some
strange conceit on the part of the ladies. These latter
were Scythians, who, holding in their power some Thra¬
cians of the same sex, amused themselves, says Clearchus,
by tracing very ridiculous figures on their bodies, by means
of needles. The poor Thracian ladies, when restored to
freedom, exercised their ingenuity by concealing the ab¬
surd figures etched on their bodies, in a labyrinth of
flourishes, circles, and most perplexing patterns. The de¬
sign was immediately adopted as fashionable wear, and
every Thracian lady appeared in public tatooed from the
head to the loins. Since that period, the mode has been
followed by various nations, and until very recently it was
the characteristic of the New Zealand aristocracy. Oflate
years, however, the young chiefs look with something of
contempt on their seniors so distinguished; and very
speedily a tatooed skin wall be as rare a thing in the isles
of the Southern Ocean as perukes and patches, clouded
canes and farthingales, in the public promenades of Eng¬
land.
The fashions of the conqueror generally prevail over
those of the conquered. Thus young British chieftains,
despite the disgust of their sires, threw off their vesture of
skins and put on the habits of their Roman victors. A
consequence, only partially similar, followed the Norman
invasion ; the Norman cavaliers took from the Saxons their
“ smock-frocks,” and with a change of material and an
addition of ornament introduced the blouse. When not
engaged in military duties, the same invaders doffed their
iron head-pieces, and donned a wide-brimmed and easy
covering of felt;—this was nothing more than the modern
“ wide-awake.” The couvre-chef of the lounging Norman
has been stiffened into the peculiar head-gear of the So¬
ciety of Friends ; but its chief glory consists in its having
been in a modified shape and a scarlet hue patronized by
the Church of Rome, and fixed upon the brows of her
humble cardinals.
Some one has defined “fashion” as being “the tyrant
of fops and females.” The definer might have added that
the artificers in fashion’s service are often the victims of
fashion’s slaves. There is nothing so powerful, so absolute,
so imperious, and so transitory, as this same fashion. Na¬
poleon himself was jealous even of this so-called goddess ;
and he condescended to sneer at her votaries, by saying Fashion,
that nations are sheep-like, and ready to follow the first
who sets a strange example. The simile is ricketty, and is
not entirely correct. We have never heard of any one who
followed the fashion set and advocated by Asc1epiades, who
tried to bring cheap locomotion into general favour, and
who travelled about the world on a cow, living on her milk
by the way.
The above is an example set, which has never been fol¬
lowed. We may cite on the other hand a fashion followed,
the originating example for which no one has yet dis¬
covered. We allude to “smoking.” Of course, at this
word, the thoughts naturally revert to Sir Walter Raleigh
and Virginian tobacco. There were pipes, however, in our
old monasteries, and the monks smoked “ colt’s-foot ” to
keep the marsh air out of their stomachs. The fashion is
probably of Eastern origin. That mention is not made
thereof throughout the Arabian Nights is no proof to the
contrary, for we believe that in that picturesque series the
undeniably prevalent Eastern fashion of opium-eating is not
even alluded to.
Fashion, in its sense of the way of doing a thing, is not
confined to matters of dress alone. It extends itself to far
sublimer subjects, rules our manner of life, gives opinions
to those who have none of their own, and is sometimes
powerful even in articulo mortis. As a sample of the last,
it is only necessary to name the case of Father Sachot, the
priest of St Gervais. In the middle of the seventeenth
century he was the fashionable confessor at death-beds.
Happy was the moribund who could secure the pleasant
presence of the not too exacting Father Sachot. On the
other hand, the patients on whom he could not wait, and
who were unable to receive absolution at his hands, were
miserable, and obstinately refused to die with solemn aid
from any other hand. Men “ of quality”—as it was, and is,
the bad fashion to call a certain class of persons, without
reference to the question of good or evil quality—men of
quality thought more of Father Sachot than of their hea¬
venly Father.
A similar mistake possessed those who in our great grand-
sires’ days flung away their thousands upon a flower. The
Egyptians worshipped onions, for the semi-reasonable cause
that they symbolized a god. The tulip-fanciers had little
regard, when contemplating their petalled favourites, for
either flowers themselves or the god at whose bidding they
had risen into beauty. As La Bruyere remarks, they simply
worshipped their tulip-bulbs, and would have adored carna¬
tions if carnations had been more in fashion.
As in flowers, so have we had a fashion in colours. The
“ couleur Isabelle” was a dirty buff. It was adopted in hon¬
ourable memory of the condition of the linen of Isabelle,
the gouvernante of Flanders, who refused to change any
portion of her dress during the long protracted siege of
Ostend. The “ patches” on the cheeks of the belles of a
century and a half ago were assumed in order to give con¬
solation to a princess suffering from a natural eruption.
There was more sense in the fashion of patches as adopted
by the lightly-clad ladies of the Samoa Island. This
“ fashion of spots,” as it is called, or sangisengi, consists in
the raising of small blisters with a smouldering wick of
native cloth, a material which will not blaze. When the
blisters are healed, a natural patch is left, which is lighter
than the original skin. This indelible spot is planted on
the cheek, not lor beauty’s sake, but with something of the
purpose which supplies our churches with painted windows;
namely, in pious memory of deceased relatives, or in grate¬
ful acknowledgment of benefits received.
This religious fashion reminds us that the Scriptures con¬
tain no notice whatever of the vocation of a tailor. The
meek members of the useful craft need not, however, be
discouraged. Lydia of Thyatira followed the occupation of
488
FAS
FAS
1
Fashion, making up into garments the purple cloth for which the
' country named Lydia was famous; and Lydia stands envi¬
ably recorded as being among the first who joined Paul in
prayer by the river side at Philippi. One would have
supposed that the great apostle would have been selected
bv the fashioners of costume as their patron-saint, i his,
however, is not the case. The milliners and dressmakers
before the Reformation did homage to a visionary ‘ bt
Veronica,” and the tailors in olden times put up their
orisons to the united nine St Williams who stand upon the
calendar of Rome.
The most pious of men, it may be observed, were not
above some regard for fashion, even with reference to veiy
small matters. Thus, in the days of Elizabeth and James
no Puritan divine ever went to bed but with his head in a
night-cap of black silk tipped with white. Under the same
sovereigns, doctors of medicine and privy-councillors sank
to sleep in night-caps wrought with gold silk. Similar
head-gear was worn by our princes. At the marriage of
Frederick Prince of Wales, the ill-conditioned son of the
worse-conditioned George II., the royal bridegroom was
splendid at night in his robe of gold tissue and a night-cap
wrought with gold silk. Thus attired, he glided among
the crowd of fashionable people who stood in the bed-room
to greet the illustrious pair; and with this marriage went
out the unseemly fashion of such public greetings.
We have before alluded to the long prevalence of some
fashions. AVe are inclined to think that the excessive
growth of the nails, as indications of rank (the wearers of
them being necessarily above manual labour), a fashion not
confined to China, but followed also in Upper INubia, wheie
the growth is encouraged by holding the nails over small
fires of cedar wood; we are inclined, we say, to think that
such fashion, if it does not date from the time of Adam,
prevails in the localities named, only because of him. 1 here
is, at all events, a Rabbinical tradition which says, that be¬
fore the fall, Adam and Eve had a transparent covering, a
robe of light, of which remnants remain to mankind in the
nails of the hands and feet. To encourage the growth of
the nail was, probably, in its original sense, only to recover
as much as possible of the robe of light which decked the
forms of the parents of mankind. Did the old British astro¬
nomers wear green robes with any reference to the older
legend in the East, that the original colour of the father
and mother of men was a sea-green? That colour is said
to have been sacred in the East long before the time in
which the Prophet of Islam adopted it as the holy hue,
which none might thenceforth wear save the members of
his own family; and the fashion may have been adopted by
the father of the faithful in remembrance of its traditionary
connection with the father of us all. The green, for dress,
whether as assumed by British astronomer or prophet from
Yemen, was in better taste than a mode of our Saxon ladies
who, before the Norman invasion, thought they heightened
their beauty by dying their hair blue! They seldom, how¬
ever, changed the fashion of their garments according to
the variation of the seasons. The summers then, as now,
seldom came to maturity, and it was this fact which induced
Boerhaave to prescribe the old Saxon custom as a good
sanitary fashion. “In England,” said Boerhaave, “a man
should never lay aside his winter costume until Midsummer-
day, and he should put it on again the day after.” If this
fashion, with some necessary modification, were adopted,
one happy consequence would undoubtedly follow; phthisis
would not be the fashionable, or rather national malady of
England, Madame Cottin, in her Mathilde, says that
modesty is the most seductive of garments. The assertion
is one made in the fashion of the good ladies of the last
century, who thought themselves moralists. They all err
in their mode of giving a meretricious recommendation to
modesty; and the too-joyous Irish bard was not much more
sillily employed, when he anathematized flannel and sought Fast
to give ecldt to the ague. ^
Perhaps it was an abhorrence of the latter that brought
into fashion the foot-races that in the last century used to
be run on Sunday afternoons in Kensington Gardens by
the “ Maccaronis.” There was nothing, for a time, more
decidedly in vogue than these profane sports. The mob
looked on, applauded and despised the performers. Of all
our sporting fashions it was perhaps the one most dis¬
graceful to us. We may add while on this subject, that
although cricket as a Sunday sport has gone out of fashion,
it is still a game which may be legally played on the day
named, provided that all the players be of the same parish.
The intention, no doubt, was to prevent “ matches” on the
Sabbath. The regulation, as showing the fashion of the
times, is worth mentioning.
Finally, reverting to “ fashion” as simply in connection
with dress, its past history reveals to us the counterfeit pre¬
sentment of our ancestors; its present history, to be found
in various contemporary authors, will convey a reflection of
ourselves to those who will succeed us. It is a subject
which unceasingly occupies the fool, and only passingly con¬
cerns the philosopher. Diogenes was not anything the more
of a philosopher for living in a tub. He affected to fly the
fashions of his day; but it has been truly remarked that
while a fop is the slave of fashion, a philosopher surrenders
himself to his tailor, whose duty lies in dressing him be¬
comingly. He who entirely despises becomingrjess of at¬
tire, under an affected or an imaginary contempt lor fashion,
is as weak of head and mistaken in employment as he who
sets all duties below the pleasure of watchingthe fashions ami
adopting them. These perish with daily perishing time, and
as the moralist of Dourdan sensibly remarks: “ La vertu
seule, si peu a la mode, va au-dela des temps.” (j. D—R—x.)
FAST, properly signifies abstinence from food ; and in
a theological sense is used to denote voluntary abstinence
from food, or particular kinds of food, as a religious mortifi¬
cation or humiliation. Religious fasting has been practised
by most nations from the remotest antiquity; and some
divines would even refer its origin to the command by which
our first parents were forbidden to eat of the tree of know¬
ledge. It is, however, certain that the Jewish church has
observed fasts ever since its first institution. Nor were the
neighbouring nations, the Egyptians, Phoenicians, and Assy¬
rians, without their fasts. I he Egyptians, according to
Herodotus, sacrificed a cow to Isis, after having prepared
themselves by fasting and prayer ; a custom which he like¬
wise ascribes to the women of Cyrene. Porphyry affirms
that the Egyptians, before their stated sacrifices, always
rested a number of days, sometimes even of weeks; and
that during this time the priests and devotees not only ab¬
stained from flesh, fish, wine, and oil, but even from bread,
and some kinds of pulse. These austerities were commu¬
nicated by them to the Greeks, who observed their fasts
much in the same manner. The Athenians had the Eleu-
sinian and Thesmophorian fasts, the observance of which
was very rigorous, especially among the women, who spent
one whole day sitting on the ground in a dress of mcurn-^
ing, without taking any nourishment. In the island of
Crete the priests of Jupiter were obliged to abstain during
their whole lives from fish, flesh, and baked meats. Apuleius
relates, that whoever desired to be initiated in the mysteries
of Cybele was obliged to prepare himself by fasting ten
days; and indeed, with respect to all the pagan deities, this
duty wras required of those who desired to be initiated into
their mysteries, of the priests and priestesses who gave out
the oracles, and of those who came to consult them.
Amongst the heathens fasting was also practised before
some of their military enterprises. Aristotle relates that
the Lacedaemonians, having resolved to succour a city of
the allies, ordained a fast throughout the whole extent of
FAS
FAS
489
their dominions, without excepting even the domestic ani¬
mals ; and this they did for two ends, first, to spare provi¬
sions in favour of the besieged, and, secondly, to draw down
the blessing of heaven upon their enterprise. The inhabi¬
tants of Tarentum, when besieged by the Romans, de¬
manded succours from their neighbours of Rhegium, who
immediately commanded a fast throughout their whole ter¬
ritories. Their enterprise having proved successful by
throwing a supply of provisions into the town, the Romans
were obliged to raise the siege; and the Tarentines, in
memory of this deliverance, instituted a fast to be annually
observed ever afterwards.
Fasting was practised at Rome both by kings and empe¬
rors. Numa Pompilius, Julius Caesar, Augustus, Vespasian,
and others, vre are told, observed stated fasts ; and Julian
the Apostate was so exact in this observance as to outdo
the priests themselves, and even the most rigid philoso¬
phers. The Pythagoreans kept a continual lent; but with
this difference, that they believed the use of fish to be equally
unlawful with that of flesh. Besides their constant tem¬
perance, they also frequently fasted rigidly for a considerable
time. In this respect, however, they were all outdone by
their master Pythagoras, who was said to fast for no less than
fifty days together! Even Apollonius Tyaneus, one of
his most celebrated disciples, could never equal his master
in the length of his fasts, though in these he greatly ex¬
ceeded other Pythagoreans. The Gymnosophists, or Brah¬
mins of the East, are also remarkable for their severe fast¬
ings ; and the Chinese have likewise their stated fasts, with
forms of prayer, for preserving them from barrenness, inun¬
dations, earthquakes, and other calamities. The Moham¬
medans too, who possess so large a part of Asia, are remark¬
able for the strict observance of fasts ; and the exactness of
their dervises in this respect is extraordinary. (See Mo¬
hammedanism.)
Fasting was often used by the heathens for superstitious
purposes; as to procure the interpretation of dreams, &c.
The Jews have added several fasts not commanded in the
law of Moses, particularly three, in memory of great na¬
tional calamities. The sole fast required by Moses was on
the great day of annual atonement. The abstinence of the
ancient Jews commonly lasted twenty-seven or twenty-
eight hours at a time, beginning before sunset, and not end¬
ing till some hours after sunset the next day. On these
days they covered themselves with sackcloth, sprinkled
ashes on their heads, and performed other like ceremonies.
The ancients, both Jews and pagans, had also their fasts for
purifying the body, particularly the priests and such as were
employed at the altars; and at great festivals it was usual
for them, on the preceding eve, not only to abstain from
food but also from sleep.
With regard to this observance among Christians, as fasts
are nowhere expressly enjoined by our Saviour, and as his
disciples, while he was with them, were notorious for not
fasting, some have contended that such observances are not
required from his followers. They explain the passage
(Matth. ix. 15) where Christ says that the days will come
when his disciples shall fast, as merely intimating the ap¬
proach of a period of mourning, and signifying ratheT sorrow
of mind than corporeal self-denial. The apostles and early
Christians, howrever, are frequently represented as fasting,
especially on solemn occasions ; as when Paul and Barnabas
are sent forth by the apostles to preach to the Gentiles
(Acts xiii. 2). Our Saviour too, in reprobating its abuses
among the Pharisees, never objects to its legitimate use
(Matth. vi. 17). Though fasting cannot in itself be looked
upon as a meritorious work, yet there seems to be little
doubt that its occasional use is beneficial, as tending to in¬
duce a frame of mind that is favourable to meditation and
devotion. (See also Abstinence.)
PASTERN’S EVE, in Scotland, the name given in the
VOL. IX.
times of popery to Shrove-Tuesday, or the day immediately Fasti
preceding Ash-Wednesday. The name is still retained. II
FASTI, in Roman Antiquity, the kalendar in which were fastolf
comprised the various days of the year, with their feasts,
games, and other ceremonies.
There were two kinds of fasti, the greater and less ; the
former distinguished by the appellation of fasti magis¬
trates, and the latter by that of fasti kalendares. The
fasti kalendares, which were properly and primarily called
fasti, are defined by Festus Pompeius to be books contain¬
ing a description of the whole year, that is, ephemerides
or diaries, in which the several kinds of days—festi, profesti,
fasti, nefasti—are distinguished. The author of these
was Numa, who committed the care and direction of the
fasti to the pontifex maximus, by whose advice the people
were guided on these points. This custom continued until
the year of Rome 450, when C. Flavius, secretary to the
pontifices, exposed in the forum a list of all the days on which
it M as lawful to work; and this proved so acceptable to the
people that they made him curule aedile. The fasti kalen¬
dares were of two kinds, namely, urbani and rustici. The
fasti urbani were those which obtained or were observed in
the city. Some are of opinion that they were thus called
because they were exposed publicly in different parts of the
city; though from the various inscriptions it may be con¬
jectured that private persons had likewise fasti in their
houses. Ovid undertook to illustrate these fasti urbani,
and comment on them, in his Libri Fastorum, of which
only the first six books are extant. In the fasti rustici, or
countryyhsta', were expressed the several days, feasts, and
the like, to be observed by the country people. For as the
latter were occupied in tilling the ground, fewer feasts, sac¬
rifices, ceremonies, and holidays were enjoined on them than
on the inhabitants of cities ; and they had also some pecu¬
liar ones not observed at Rome. These rustic fasti contained
little more than the ceremonies of the kalends, nones, and
ides ; the fairs, signs of the zodiac, increase and decrease of
the days, the tutelary gods of each month, and certain direc¬
tions for rustic labours to be performed each month. In
the great fasti, or fasti magistrates, were expressed the seve¬
ral feasts, with everything relating to the gods, religion, and
the magistrates ; the emperors, their birthdays, offices, days
consecrated to them, with feasts and ceremonies established
in their honour, or for their prosperity. When flattery had
at length swelled \he fasti with a number of such circum¬
stances, they came to be denominated magni, in order to dis¬
tinguish them from the bare kalendar, or fasti kalendares.
Fasti was also a chronicle or register of time, in which
the several years were denoted by the respective consuls,
with the principal events which happened during their con¬
sulates. This register was denominated fasti consulares,
or the consular fasti.
Fasti, or Dies Fasti, likewise denoted court days, The
word fasti fastorum is formed from the verb/an to speak,
because during those days the courts were opened, causes
might be heard, and the praetor was allowed fari, to pro¬
nounce the three words, do, dico, addico. The days in which
this was prohibited were called nefasti. Hence Ovid says,
Hie ne fastus erit, per quem tria verba silentur,
Fastus erit, per quern lege licebit agi.
The dies fasti were noted in the kalendar by the letter
F; but it is to be observed that there were some days ex
parte fasti, partly fasti, partly nefasti, in which justice might
be distributed at certain times of the day, and not at others.
These days were called intercisi, and were marked in the
kalendar by the letters F. P.fasto primo, in which justice
might be demanded during the first part of that day.
FASTOLFF, Sir John, a distinguished English officer,
born at Yarmouth in Norfolk in 1377. He held many places
of trust and importance in Ireland, and afterwards in France.
For his bravery at Agincourt, where he was wounded, he
3Q
490
Fat
II
Fata
Morgana.
FAT
received a grant of land in Normandy. After distinguish¬
ing himself at the siege of Orleans he fled ignominiously
from the field of Patay before the victorious Joan of Arc.
For this inglorious conduct he was temporarily degraded,
but afterwards restored to his honours. On returning to
England he signalized himself by his encouragement of
literature, bestowing large sums on Cambridge, and endow¬
ing Magdalen College with special liberality. He died in
1459 at the age of eighty. It is merely a gratuitous sup¬
position to imagine, as some writers have done, that Shak-
speare had this officer in his eye in delineating the character
of Sir John Falstaff. There was not the most distant resem¬
blance between the moral, physical, or intellectual charac¬
teristics of the two men.
FAT, an oily concrete substance, contained in the cells
of the adipose or cellular membrane of animal bodies. See
Anatomy, ii. 787, and Chemistry.
Fat also denotes a measure of capacity, but indefinite.
Thus a fat of isinglass contains from cwt. to 4 cwt.; of
yarn, from 220 to 221 bundles, &c.
Fat or Vat, a large wooden tub or vessel used in brew¬
eries and tanneries; also as a measure for malt, containing
eight bushels.
FATA Morgana (or the castles of the “ fairy Mor¬
gana”), a remarkable optical illusion depending on mirage
or unusual atmospherical refraction, which has been de¬
scribed by various philosophical writers and travellers as
observed in the Straits of Messina, between the coasts of
Sicily and Calabria. The following account of this aerial
phenomenon is taken from Minasi’s dissertation on the sub¬
ject, published at Rome in 1773. “ When the rising sun
shines from that point whence its incident ray forms an
angle of about 45° on the sea of Reggio, and the bright
surface of the water in the bay is undisturbed either by the
wind or the current,—a spectator standing upon an emin¬
ence in the city, with his back to the sun and his face to
the sea, beholds in the water, as in a catoptric theatre, va¬
rious multiplied objects, i. e. an indefinite series of pilasters,
arches, castles well-delineated, regular columns, lofty towers,
superb palaces with balconies and windows, extended alleys
of trees, delightful plains studded with herds and flocks,
multitudes of men on foot and horseback, with many other
strange images, all in their natural colours and proper ac¬
tions, passing rapidly in succession along the surface of the
sea during the short period of time while the above-men¬
tioned causes remain. But if, in addition to the circum¬
stances described, the atmosphere be highly charged with
vapour and dense exhalations, it then happens that in this
vapour, as in a curtain extended along the channel to the
height of about thirty palms, and nearly down to the sea,
the same objects are beheld not only reflected from the sur¬
face of the sea but likewise in the air, though less distinct
and well-defined. Lastly, if the air be slightly hazy and
opaque, and at the same time dewy and adapted to form the
iris, then the above-mentioned objects will appear only at
the surface of the sea (as in the first case), but all vividly
coloured, or fringed with red, green, blue, and other pris¬
matic colours.” It is further shown by Minasi, from obser¬
vations of the coast and town of Reggio, that the images of
the Fata Morgana are derived from objects on shore. Fie
tells us that he had beheld this magnificent spectacle three
times; and although his account of it and those of other
writers differ considerably from each other, these variations
are only such as may be attributed to different conditions
of the atmosphere at the time of the respective observations.
That some of these descriptions may have received a cer¬
tain degree of embellishment from the imagination, is not
improbable ; but there is certainly no reason to impugn—
as some have done—their general accuracy. It may be
observed, however, that the remarks of Minasi upon the
causes of the several phenomena of the Fata Morgana are
FAT
more fanciful and ingenious than satisfactory. It seems
that the phenomenon in question appears to depend upon the
calmness of the sea, and one or more strata of superincum¬
bent air differing in refractive and consequently in reflective
power; and that the confined situation of the sea in the
Straits of Messina is peculiarly favourable to the develop¬
ment of the exciting causes of the phenomenon. For a
more particular account of the Fata Morgana, the reader is
referred to Nicholson’s Journal, vol. i. 4to, p. 225, &c.
Similar in character is the mirage observed in the great
sandy plains of Persia, of Asiatic Tartary, in Lower Egypt,
and on the plains of Mexico, &c.
In the Philosophical Transactions there is an account of
a very singular instance of atmospheric refraction which oc¬
curred at Hastings, when the coast of Picardy, which is
between 40 and 50 miles distant from that of Sussex, ap¬
peared close to the English shore. The sailors and fisher¬
men, in amazement, crowded to the beach, and at length
began to recognize several of the French cliffs, and were
able to point out places they had been accustomed to visit.
From the summit of the eastern cliff the spectator at one
glance could see Dungeness, Dover cliffs, and the French
coast all along from Calais to St Valery; or as some af¬
firmed, as far to the westward as Dieppe ; and by aid of the
telescope elevated objects on the French coast, such as
buildings and trees, were readily discerned.
FATALIST, one who maintains the doctrine that all
things are subject to a predetermined fate, or that all events
are the result of an inevitable necessity, and therefore can¬
not be influenced by any choice or effort of man. See
Metaphysics, § On Necessity; Predestination ; Mo-
HAMMEDANDISM, § 1.
FATE. See Metaphysics, and Predestination.
FATES, in Mythology. See Parc^e.
FATHEMITES, or Fatimites, the descendants of
Mohammed by his daughter Fatima.
FATHER. See Parent.
Father, in Theology, the first person in the Trinity.
Father, as a title of honour, is given to dignitaries of the
church, superiors of convents, Popish confessors, &c.
FATHERS, the name usually given to the principal
writers of the early church. Those who wore contempo¬
rary with the apostles, and are supposed to have been their
disciples, are called Apostolic Fathers. Their works are not
numerous, and they have unfortunately come down to us in
a state which renders them very little worthy of confidence.
The genuineness of some of them has been justly sus¬
pected, because it is well known that writings were forged
in their name for the purpose of giving authority to parti¬
cular doctrines or rites; and there can be no doubt that
even their genuine writings were interpolated to promote
the hierarchical interest which arose in the church.
The earliest of the writings ascribed to the Apostolic
Fathers is the apocryphal epistle which, in the second cen¬
tury, was known in the Alexandrian Church under the
name of Barnabas, the companion and fellow-labourer of
the apostle Paul. The design of this epistle was to dimi¬
nish the respect which the Juclaizing members of the
church entertained for the peculiar institutions and rites of
the Mosaic economy, and to show that these were not
binding upon Christians. It does not contain any hint
that the author wished to have it supposed that he wras
Barnabas; and the spirit and style of the epistle indicate
that the writer was a Jew of the Alexandrian school who
had embraced Christianity.
Next to Barnabas we place Clement, who was bishop of
the church at Rome about the end of the first century, and
is believed to be the same Clement whom Paul (Philip, iv. 3)
calls his fellow-labourer, and one of those whose names are
in the Book of Life. The “ Epistle of the Church of God
sojourning at Rome to the Church of God at Corinth,” which
FATHERS. 491
Fathers, bears the name of this father, was written about the year a.d.
^ 96, and has been termed the most important monument of
this apostolical age remaining to us, and is probably the
most ancient of uninspired Christian writings. It was held
in such high respect during the first centuries that it was
read at public worship in many of the churches along with
the scriptures of the New Testament. The object of the
writer was to allay some internal dissensions in the Co¬
rinthian church, and to conciliate the minds of the people
to their pastors, some of whom they had expelled from their
offices, undeservedly as Clement asserts, and had thereby
introduced much confusion into the church. This epistle
is genuine in the main, but it has been subjected to several
important interpolations. A portion of what is termed a
second genuine epistle of Clement has been preserved, but
it is manifestly only the fragment of a homily. Two other
epistles ascribed to this father, and termed Recognitions,
have been preserved in the Syrian Church. They are
circular letters addressed particularly to those Christians
of both sexes who lived in the state of celibacy. These
epistles, however, are found nowhere cited before the fourth
century, and they bear every mark of having been forged
in some Eastern church about the close of the second or
during the course of the third century.
Under the name of Hermas (whom some suppose to be
the same as the person mentioned in Paul’s epistle to the
Romans (chap. xvi. 14) we have a work entitled “ The
Shepherd,” because in the second book an angel, the ap¬
pointed guardian of Hermas, is introduced in the character
of a shepherd. The work, which was written originally in
Greek, but has been preserved for the most part in a
Latin translation, was held in high repute among the Greek
writers of the second century, and is cited by Irenaeus under
the title of “ The Scripture.” “ It consists of three books,
in the first of which are four visions, in the second twelve
commands, in the third ten similitudes. The first and
third parts are very fanciful, yet they were not perhaps
unsuited to the genius of the countries and age to which
they were addressed; the second contains some excellent
moral precepts, and all abound with paraphrastical allusions
to the books of the New Testament.”
Ignatius, bishop of the church at Antioch, during the
journey to Rome which, according to tradition, terminated
in his martyrdom, is said to have written seven epistles—
six to the churches in Asia Minor, and one to Polycarp bishop
of Smyrna. Five other epistles, which were for some time
received as his composition, are now admitted to be spuri¬
ous ; and even the seven genuine epistles have been griev¬
ously corrupted and interpolated. These interpolations
have evidently been made by some zealous partisans of the
priesthood, for the purpose of unduly exalting the episcopal
dignity. In the epistle to Polycarp it is said, “ Attend to
the bishop that God may attend to you. I pledge my soul
for those who are subject to the bishop, presbyters, and
deacons. Let my part in God be with them.” “ All of
you,” says the epistle to the Church of Smyrna, “ obey the
bishop as Christ obeyed the Father, and the presbytery as
you would reverence the apostles, and the deacons as the
commandments of God. Wheresoever the bishop may
appear, there let the multitude assemble; even as the
Catholic Church is there where Christ Jesus is. It is not
lawful either to baptize or to celebrate an Agape without
the bishop, but whatsoever he shall approve that is like¬
wise well-pleasing to God.” Again—“ He who honours
the bishop is honoured by God ; he w ho acts without the
knowledge of the bishop is in bondage to the devil.” And
the Ephesians are told that “ it is their manifest duty to
look up to the bishop as to the Lord himself.” Statements
such as these, inculcating upon the people the most un- Fathers,
limited and blind obedience to the hierarchical order, pre- v-—
sent such a marked contrast to the sentiments which had
prevailed in the apostolic age, and which continued to pre¬
vail in the second century, that they can scarcely have
come from the pen of Ignatius, who is supposed to have
written about the sixteenth year of that century. A recent
ecclesiastical historian, who is disposed to regard these and
other similar expressions as genuine, accounts for them on
the ground that it was the principal object of Ignatius to
preserve the churches in sti-ict union and discipline during
the persecution which then threatened their destruction,
by subjecting the faithful in rigid obedience to every order
of their priesthood, but most especially to the highest. The
days were then approaching, and were already come, he
thinks, in which some severe system of subordination was
absolutely necessary (under God’s providence) for the pre¬
servation of the church.1
Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, who had been a disciple
of the apostle John, according to Irenaeus, wrote several
epistles, but only one is now extant, addressed to the
Church at Philippi. This epistle appears to have been
written soon after the death of Ignatius, as it refers to his
patience under suffering, and requests any information
which the Philippians had obtained respecting him. It
teaches the charitable spirit of Christian piety, and is valu¬
able from containing many scriptural expressions and fre¬
quent quotations of the recorded words of Christ. It
consists of thirteen sections, but the original Greek of the
tenth, eleventh, and twelfth is lost, and they have been pre¬
served in an ancient Latin version. As Polycarp suffered
martyrdom in the reign of Marcus Aurelius, a.d. 167, in the
ninetieth year of his age, his epistle to the Philippians was
probably written before the middle of the second century.
Another class of the fathers of the church are the Apolo¬
gists, w’ho in the order of time immediately succeeded the
Apostolical Fathers. The first of these is Quadratus, an
evangelist or Christian teacher not connected with any par¬
ticular church, but travelling about as a missionary to preach
the gospel. His Apology has unfortunately not come down
to us, but Eusebius has preserved the following remarkable
passage from it:—
“ The works of our Saviour were always to be seen, for
they were real. Those that were healed and those that
were raised from the dead were seen, not only when they
were healed or raised, but they were always there; not
only whilst he dwelt on the earth, but also after his depar¬
ture, which they long survived, so that some of them have
lived even to our own times.”2
The first of the Apologists whose writings have come down
to our times is Justin Martyr. He was a Samaritan by
birth, and successively adopted the tenets of the Stoics, the
Peripatetics, the Pythagoreans, and the Platonists, pro¬
bably not so much from a taste for speculative inquiries, as
from a longing after some stable ground of religious con¬
viction. Having discovered by experience the insufficiency
and emptiness of these systems of philosophy, he seems to
have been attracted to Christianity by the courage and
constancy with which its adherents endured the sufferings
inflicted upon them by their persecutors.
“ I was once,” says he, “ an admirer of the doctrines of
Plato, and I heard the Christians abused; but when I saw
them meet death and all that is accounted terrible among men
without dismay, I knew it to be impossible that they should
live in sin and lust. I despised the opinion of the multitude.
I glory in being a Christian, and take every pains to prove
myself worthy of my calling.”3 The conversion of Justin
Martyr is supposed to have taken place about the year 133
1 Waddington’s History of the Church, vol. i., p. 61.
2 Euseb., lib. in., chap. 37 ; iv. 3; v. 17. Neander, General Church History, vol. ii., p. 444.
Apology, i., pp. 50, 51.
492 FAT
Fathers, a.d. He wrote two Apologies for Christianity; the first
' addressed to Antoninus Pius, the second probably to Marcus
Aurelius. They are valuable compositions, not only because
they contain the most convincing arguments which had then
been published in defence of Christianity, but also because
they give numerous quotations from the four Gospels, and
relate many interesting facts respecting the religious cus¬
toms and ceremonies of the Christians of those early ages.
Next to the Apologies, the largest and most important work
of Justin is his Dialogue with Trypho the Jew. The object
of this treatise is to prove that Jesus is the Messiah pre¬
dicted and promised in the Old Testament Scriptures, and
to vindicate the doctrines of Christianity against the objec¬
tions of the Jews. It contains a good deal of useful matter,
mixed up, however, with not a few weak arguments, as well
as trifling and even erroneous interpretations of Scripture.
It is probable that it was composed at a later period than
either of the Apologies. Another production which bears his
name is entitled an Admonition to the Gentiles. Its design
is to convince the heathen of the insufficiency of their popu¬
lar mythology as well as of their philosophical doctrines, and
of the necessity of a divine revelation. It is supposed to be
the same treatise which is cited by Eusebius and Photius
under the title of The Refutation. A Short Address to
the Gentiles is ascribed to Justin, but it differs from the
style of his genuine writings, and its title is not to be found
in the ancient indexes to his works. His book against
Marcion, and a work which he wrote against all the heretical
sects of his day, have both perished. The fragment of a
treatise on the Resurrection was published under the name
of Justin, by John of Damascus, in the eighth century, but
its genuineness is extremely doubtful. The letter to
Diognetus on the characteristics of the Christian worship
compared with paganism and with Judaism, which is found
among the works of Justin, has been classed, on high autho¬
rity, amongthe finest remains of Christian antiquity. Its style
and turn of thought, however, as well as the silence of ancient
writers, prove that it could not have come from his hand,
although it bears unmistakeable evidence of high antiquity.
After the death of Justin Martyr, Tatian of Assyria, who
had been educated a heathen, and was converted by him
during a visit which he made to Rome, wrote a discourse
to the Gentiles, in which he vindicates the “ philosophy of
the barbarians” against the contempt of the Greeks, who,
nevertheless, had received from them originally the germs
of all science and arts. He was followed by Athenagoras,
who addressed his apology to the emperor Marcus Aurelius
and his son Commodus. A work from the pen of Athen¬
agoras, in defence of the doctrine of the Resurrection, has
come down to our day. Theophilus, bishop of Antioch, in
the reign of the emperor Commodus, wrote an apologetical
work in three books, which displays great learning and
power of thought. He also wrote a treatise against Marcion
and Hermogenes, and composed commentaries on various
portions of the sacred scriptures.
The most prominent of the Apologists next to Justin
Martyr was Irenasus, who was bishop of Lyons about the
year 178 a.d. His principal work is his Refutation of the
Gnostic System, in five books, which contains a confutation
of most of the errors which had then appeared in the church.
It has come down to us, for the most part, only in the old
Latin translation, together with some fragments of the Greek
original. Many of the writings of Irenaeus are known to us
merely by their names. Two of his epistles possess an his¬
torical interest on account of their object. One of these is
supposed to have been addressed to Blastus, who was pro¬
bably a presbyter in the Church of Rome, and who had oc¬
casioned a division in that church, by adhering to the cus¬
tom of Asia Minor with regard to the time of holding
F A U
Easter. The other epistle was addressed to Florinus, a Fathom
presbyter with whom Irenaeus in early youth had enjoyed ^ II
the society and instructions of the venerable Polycarp, and ( *aun-
who appears to have taught that God was the author of evil.
“ These doctrines,” says the venerable writer, in his appeal
to his former companion, “ the elders who preceded us, who
associated also with the apostles, did not teach thee; for
while I was yet a boy, I saw thee in company with Polycarp
in Asia Minor; for I bear in remembrance what happened
then better than what happens now. What we have heard in
childhood grows along with the soul, and becomes one with
it: so that I can describe the place in which the blessed
Polycarp sat and spake—his going in and out—his manner
of life, and the shape of his person—the discourses which
he delivered to the congregation—how he told of his in¬
tercourse with John, and with the rest who had seen the
Lord—how he reported their sayings, and what he had heard
from them respecting the Lord, his miracles and his doc¬
trine. As he had received all from the eye-witnesses of his
life, he narrated it in accordance with scripture. These
things, by virtue of the grace of God imparted to me, I
listened to even then with eagerness, and wrote them down
not on paper, but in my heart; and by the grace of God I
constantly bring them up again fresh before my memory.”1
All the writings of Irenseus which have come down to us
display the peculiarly practical character of his mind in his
mode both of conceiving and treating the doctrines of the
gospel; and while they manifest his zeal for the great fun¬
damental truths of our holy faith, they at same time show
his sincere aversion to religious dissensions, and his mode¬
ration and liberality of mind in all controversies about un¬
essential matters.
Hippolitus, one of the disciples of Irenseus, according to
Photius, occupied an important place among the ecclesiasti¬
cal writers belonging to the first half of the third century.
But unfortunately, only a few fragments of his works remain.
From the list of his writings given by Eusebius and Jerome,
it appears that, besides homilies, he composed treatises on
a variety of subjects, exegetical, dogmatical, polemical, and
chronological. For an account of the later fathers of the
church, see articles under their names.
(Neander’s General Church History, vol. ii.; Wadding-
ton’s Church History, vol. i.; Campbell’s Lectures on Ec¬
clesiastical History.) (j. T—R.)
FATHOM, a measure of length containing six feet. It
is chiefly used for regulating the length of cables and cord¬
age, and to ascertain the depth of water and mines.
FAUN (in Latin Faunus),\he name given in the Roman
mythology to a class of deities or genii supposed to inhabit
the forests and groves, and who were particularly reve¬
renced by husbandmen. The fauni correspond to the
Greek panes, and are confounded by the Roman poets
with the satyrs, which chiefly differed from the panes and
fauni by the want of horns. The fauns are usually repre¬
sented as of human form, but with the tail of a goat, pointed
ears, short horns, and a flat turned-up nose; sometimes
with the feet of a goat; and generally clothed in the shaggy
skin of some beast. They delighted more particularly in
vineyards ; and are frequently described as wearing crowns
of ivy or of vine-leaves, because, like the satyrs, they be¬
longed to the train of Bacchus. The poets describe them
as of a half-brutal nature, and devoted to pleasure and sen¬
suality ;—a character strongly impressed on most of the
ancient statues of fauns that have come down to us. Among
the most celebrated of these are—the old faun dancing, in
the Florentine museum—the young faun playing on a flute
—and the sleeping faun, now in the gallery at Munich.
These rural deities were regarded as the descendants of
Faunus, one of the early kings of Latium, who in later times
1 Euseb., lib. v., chap. 20.
FAY F E A 493
Fauna was worshipped as presiding over fields, herds, and shep-
I! herds, and also as an oracular divinity. He is thus identified
Favignana Greek Pan—the Mendes of the Egyptians. The
festival of the Faunalia, celebrated on the fifth of December
by the country people, had reference to Faunus as the
protector of agriculture and cattle ; and sacrifices were also
offered to him at Rome on the ides of February. In his
prophetic capacity he was supposed to reveal the future to
man, partly in dreams, and partly by mysterious voices in
certain sacred groves, one near Tibur, around the well
Albunea, and another on the Aventine mount.
FAUNA, in Mythology. See Bona Dea.
FAUNA (from Faun), in natural history, a collective
word, signifying all the animals of a particular region or
country, and also a description of them; corresponding to
the word flora in respect of plants.
FAUNALIA, in Antiquity, a rural festival celebrated
by the Romans with great rejoicing on the nones or 5th of
December, in honour of the god Faunus, as presiding over
agriculture, herds, and flocks. See Faun.
FAUSTINA, wife of Marcus Aurelius, Emperor of
Rome, a.d. 138-160, was the daughter of Antoninus Pius
and his wife Faustina Augusta. She was the mother of
Commodus—a son not unworthy of his maternal descent.
Faustina was distinguished equally for her beauty and her
licentiousness; and as cruelty usually accompanies sensu¬
ality when invested with power, she has been accused of
causing the death of her son-in-law Verus, and with encou¬
raging the rebellion of Avidius Crassus. These charges
rest on no good foundation, but her infamy is upon record.
Aurelius affected to be insensible to the irregularities of
Faustina. He advanced her paramours to public employ¬
ments, and on her death obtained for her divine honours.
Her statue was placed in the temple of Venus; and the
village in Cappadocia where she died was erected into a
city with the name of Faustinapolis. This, as M. Crevier
says, is carrying goodness too far. It was either weak cre¬
dulity, or vain dissimulation; but the subsequent conduct
of Marcus Aurelius, in admitting his son Commodus to the
imperial power while he was yet a boy, evinced an equal
want of judgment and dignity.
FAUST US. See Fust.
FAVERSHAM or Feyersham, a municipal borough
and market-town of England, county of Kent, 9 miles
W.N.W. of Canterbury. It is governed by a mayor, 4
aldermen, and 12 councillors, and in 1851 contained 4595
inhabitants. The town is very ancient, and obtained from
several of the early monarchs various charters and privi¬
leges, especially as regarded the judgment and punishment
of offences committed within its own jurisdiction. The
town consists of four principal streets, forming an irregular
cross, in the centre of which is the town-hall and market¬
place. The parish church is a spacious cruciform structure,
surmounted by a tower and spire. Faversham has a free
grammar-school, national school, theatre, and assembly-
rooms. Faversham Creek, which communicates with East
Swale, is navigable for vessels of 150 tons up to the town.
On 31st December 1853, 308 vessels of 15,300 tons aggre¬
gate burthen belonged to the port; and during that year
1532 vessels of 116,381 tons entered, and 1478 vessels of
44,983 tons cleared at the port. Market-days, Wednesday
and Saturday. The oyster fishery is extensively carried
on. There are several powder-mills in the vicinity, but the
government mills have been discontinued.
FAVIGNANA, the ancient AEgusa, one of the iEgates
or goat islands, lies off the W. coast of Sicily, 11 miles S.W.of
Trapani. It is 6 miles in length from E. to W., by about
2 in breadth, and contains about 4000 inhabitants. The
surface is low, but it is intersected from N. to S. by a range
of hills, on the highest point of which, near the centre of
the island, stands St Catherine’s Castle. It has extensive
tunny and anchovy fisheries, and an export trade in sheep, Favissae
goats, poultry, &c. II
FAVISSiE, in Antiquity, underground reservoirs or liear«
cellars near a temple, where water was kept, or in which
were deposited broken vessels and other things of no fur¬
ther use in the services of the temple.
FAVONIUS, the Latin name of the west wind; also
called Zephyrus.
FAVORINUS or Phavorinus, a celebrated sophist,
who flourished during the reign of Hadrian. He was a
Gaul by birth, being a native of Arelate (Arles) in the
south of France; but at an early age he left his native
place, and travelling through Greece and Italy, mastered
the languages and literature of these two countries. His
extensive knowledge, combined with great oratorical powers,
raised him to eminence both in Athens and Rome, where
he lived on intimate terms with the leading literary men
and philosophers of the day. Plutarch dedicated to him
his treatise on Cold, and Herodes Atticus was made the
legatee of his excellent library after his death. He enjoyed
for a while the favour and protection of the emperor, with
whom, however, he subsequently quarrelled. He used to
boast that, though a Gaul, he could speak and write Greek ;
that though he had offended the emperor, he still continued
to live; and that though a eunuch, he had been charged
with adultery. The titles of some of his works, which
comprised biography, philosophy, and history, have been
preserved; but of the works themselves, the remains are
not sufficient to afford the means of fairly testing their
value.
FAWKES, Francis, a poet and translator, was a native
of Yorkshire, and born in the year 1721. He studied at
Jesus College, Cambridge; and entering into holy orders,
was successively curate of Croydon, vicar of Orpington,
and rector of Hayes, and finally was made one of the
chaplains to the Princess of Wales. He published a volume
of poems in 1761, but derived more fame from his transla¬
tions of the minor Greek poets—Anacreon, Sappho, Bion
and Moschus, Musaeus, Theocritus, and Apollonius. These
classic versions by Fawkes are still our best. We may
safely predict, however, that when his translations are for¬
gotten, superseded by more spirited versions, Fawkes will
still be remembered for his fine song, Dear Tom, this
brown jug that now foams with mild ale. This learned
and jolly clergyman died on the 26th of August 1777.
FAWN, a young deer: a buck or doe of the first year.
FAYAL, one of the Azore Islands. See Azores.
FAYOUM, a province of Egypt. See Egypt.
FE, Fo—or Fom, the chief god of the Chinese, whom
they adore as the sovereign of heaven. He appears to be
the same as the Ceylonese Bhudd. They represent him as
shining all in light; with his hands concealed under his
robes, to show that his power does all things invisibly. He
has at his right hand the famous Confucius ; and at his left
Lao-Kieon, chief of the second sect of their religion.
FEALTY {fidelitas), in Feudal Law, denotes the oath
taken by a tenant on his entry, to be true and faithful to
the lord of whom he holds his land. Fealty bound the
tenant to fidelity, the breach of which was the loss of his
fee. All lands being held either mediately or immediately
of the crown, fealty is commonly divided into general and
special; the former, that due by a subject to his sovereign
the latter, that which is due by a tenant to his immediate
superior. Fealty is incident to every manner of tenure
except tenures at will and frank-almoign, though it chiefly
belongs to copyhold estates held in fee and for life. The
law as to fealty continues unchanged, though the oath of
fealty is now rarely or never exacted.
FEAR, a painful emotion or passion, excited by the
apprehension of impending evil, and attended with a desire
of avoiding it. It is used in Scripture for awe, reverence,
494
Pear
II '
Feasts.
F E A
veneration ; as in the expression—“ The fear of the Lord
1S FEAR^wa"1 "deified'1 by the Pagans. Tullius Hostilius
introduced the worship of this deity at Rome ; and the
Enhori of Sparta erected a temple to hear near their tri¬
bunal in order to strike awe into those who approached it.
Fear was likewise worshipped at Corinth and elsewhere.
FEAST, according to modern usage, is the homelier
term for a banquet, an occasion of good eating and dr in k-
ino-, generally assembling a number of guests, iwo or
three centuries ago, however, it was used to signify an oc¬
casion of religious joy and thanksgiving, and it is still thus
used in our Bibles and Prayer-Books. The word is formed
from the Latin fes turn, which some derive from/man, to
keep holiday; though others, as Yossius for example, derive
it from the Greek Icmaw, 1 feast or entertain, from ecma,
hearth, or fire. As a time of rejoicing in England is gene¬
rally celebrated chiefly by partaking of good cheer, it is easy
to see how the original usage of the word has been super¬
seded, and the word festival has been introduced as the
more common term for a day of religious rejoicing.
Almost every religion, true or false, ancient or modern,
has had its solemn feast days. 1 hey were divinely ap¬
pointed among the Jews, who were directed to congiegate
at Jerusalem three times a year for the solemn celebration
of the feast of the Passover, or of Unleavened Bread, the
feast of Weeks, and the feast of Tabernacles (see Deut. xvi.),
on which occasions they were to “rejoice before the Lord.”
The ancient Greeks'were similarly accustomed to con¬
gregate for the celebration of great religious solemnities ;
and as their gods gave peculiar sanction to recreation, the
religious observances were followed by gymnastic exercises
of various kinds. Hence arose those great festivals known
to us as the Olympian, Pythian, Isthmian, and Nemaean
games, which at a very early period drew together the
Greeks of every name and country at stated periods. In
process of time they had many others.
The Romans also had numerous stated feasts in honour
of their deities and heroes ; as the Saturnalia, Cerealia,
Lupercalia, Liberalia, Neptunalia, Consualia, Portumnalia,
Vulcanalia, Palilia, Divalia, and others. I hey had also
feasts instituted occasionally, as Carmentalia, Quirinalia,
Terminalia, Floralia, Compitalia, Lemuria, \ ernalia; be¬
sides other moveable and occasional ones, to give thanks to
the gods for benefits received, to implore their assistance,
or to appease their wrath, as the Paganalia, beralia, Bac¬
chanalia, Ambarvalia, Amburbalia, Suovetaurilia, and va¬
rious others, denominated ferice ; as Sementinae, Latinse,
&c. The feasts were divided into days ot sacrifice, and
days of banqueting; days of games, and days of rest or
ferice. As there wras but little history written, or at least
published, in those days, one object ot these feasts was to
preserve the remembrance of past occurrences.
The Mohammedans, besides their weekly feast or Sab¬
bath, which is observed on Friday, have two solemn feasts,
the first of which is called the Feast of Victims, and cele¬
brated on the tenth day of the last month of their year;
and the second is called Bairam. The Chinese have two
solemn annual feasts in memory of Confucius; besides others
of less note on various days of the year.
The feast days of modern Christendom include all Sun¬
days in the year, and certain week-days in commemoration
of the nativity, the circumcision, and the ascension of our
Lord ; the annunciation and the purification of the Virgin ;
the epiphany or manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles:
besides one devoted to the memory of each of the principal
apostles and evangelists ; one to St Michael and all angels ;
one to the Holy Innocents ; and one to include all saints in
general. These week-days are not only feasts but ferice
wherever the Roman Catholic religion has full sway. On
the other hand, the Presbyterian and other nonconforming
F E A
churches take no notice of them whatever. As to the time Feasts,
of their celebration, the feasts of the Christian church are
said to be moveable or immoveable. The moveable feasts
are always celebrated at a certain interval of time before or
after Easter Sunday, which, to conform it to the time of
the Passover, is kept on the first Sunday after the first full
moon that happens on or after the 21st of March. The im¬
moveable feasts are those which are celebrated always on
the same day of the year.
The prodigious increase of festival days in the Christian
church commenced towards the close of the fourth century,
and was occasioned by the discovery which was then made
of the remains of martyrs and other holy men, in com¬
memoration of whom they were established. But instead
of being set apart for pious exercises, these festivals were
spent in indolence, voluptuousness, and criminal indulgences.
Many of them were even instituted on pagan models, and
perverted to the most scandalous purposes. (For a particu¬
lar account of religious festivals in England, see Historia
Sacra, or the Holy History, giving an exact and compre¬
hensive account of all the feasts and fasts of the Church of
England ; 2d edit., 8vo, London.)
Feasts of the Ancients. In the Odyssey (b. i.) we
read of two kinds of feasts; the one called eilapine, given
by a single host; the other called eranos, which was of the
nature of a club, in which each guest shared the expense.
At the former kind there were—1st, the proper guests;
2d, the shadows, or those brought in by the invited guests ;
3d, the parasites, a kind ot sponging buffoons who came in
without any invitation. Among the Greeks it was not the
custom to invite women; but it was otherwise with the
Romans. As soon as the guests arrived at the house of
their host, their sandals were removed by slaves, and their
feet washed and anointed. It would appear that in the
Homeric age it was the custom to sit at meals; but the
recumbent posture was afterwards adopted, and the guests
were arranged around the table on couches. 1 wo persons
usually reclined on each couch; or three among the
Romans ; but the number varied. (The manner of reclining
at table is described under Accubation.) In eating, as the
luxury of knives and forks was unknown, the Greeks made^
use of their fingers ; but they used spoons in partaking of
soup and other liquids. The distributor gave to each guest
his proper portion of the viands, which were cut beforehand
into small pieces. There were three courses. I he fii st
consisted of such things as were calculated to whet the ap¬
petite, though this was rather a refinement of the Romans ;
the second or principal course then appeared ; and this was
followed by the dessert, at which the delicacies were pro¬
duced. The tables (which were not covered with cloths
as with us) were wiped with sponges after each couise.
Water for washing the hands was also handed round, but
every person brought his napkin with him. I he guests^
arrayed themselves in white garments, wore chaplets ot
flowers on their heads, and often anointed the hair and
beard with fragrant oils. The banqueting-room, too, was
decorated with garlands of roses, which were suspended
above the table as the emblem of silence or secrecy; and
hence the phrase, to utter a thing sub rosa. All the re¬
quisites for the entertainment were provided by the symposi-
arch, or master of the feast, who was either the host him¬
self or a person of his selecting; and the king of the feast,
or arbiter bibendi, presided over the drinking. The cup¬
bearers (generally beautiful boys) presented the wine in
goblets, which were frequently of exquisite workmanship,
and decorated with wreaths. The luxurious Romans drank
out of cups made of crystal, amber, or the costly porcelain
called murrha, as also of onyx, beryl, and richly-chased gold
set with precious stones. The wine, which was usually
much diluted with water, was mixed in a large vessel called
a crater ; and from that it was transferred to the goblets by
F E A
Feathers, means of a cyathus or ladle. It was customary to introduce
the drinking by making a libation of unmixed wine to the
“ Good Geniusand this ceremony was usually accom¬
panied with the singing of the pcean, and the playing of
flutes. Then the mixed wine was produced, and the first
cup was drank to “ Jupiter the Preserver.” The number
of cups was regulated sometimes by that of the Graces, or
more frequently by that of the Muses; yet even this num¬
ber was often exceeded—for it was not unusual both to
drink all round, and also to the health of absent friends and
mistresses, besides as many cups as the name contained let¬
ters. In this, however, and likewise in other particulars,
banquets differed with the character of the guests; for a
symposium of young men and one of philosophers and states¬
men had different kinds of entertainment. The symposia
of Plato and Plutarch give us a lively idea of such enter¬
tainments. From them we learn that, besides the conver¬
sation, which was sometimes of a serious and philosophic
cast, but frequently consisted in sallies of wit and repartee,
together with enigmas and riddles (a very favourite kind
of amusement), they had also singing and other music.
When the repast was ended, the flute-players, female sing¬
ers, dancers, and buffoons, were introduced ; or the guests
themselves engaged in games of various kinds, among which
the cottabus is famous. (See Cottabus.) At the close of
solemn and splendid feasts the distribution of the apopho-
reta took place, which were presents given by the host to
his friends to take home with them.
FEATHERS, the peculiar exterior covering of birds,
constituting what is called their plumage. Feathers vary
in size, form, colour, and function, in different species, in the
several parts of the same individual, and also in the same
bird at different stages of its existence; and their exquisite
adaptation to the several ends they are designed to serve has
often been adduced as illustrative of creative wisdom. “ The
covering of birds,” says Paley, -“cannot escape the most
vulgar observation: its lightness, its smoothness, its warmth,
the disposition of the feathers all inclined backward, the
down about their stem, the overlapping of their tips, their
different configuration in different parts, not to mention the
variety of their colours, constitute a vestment for the body,
so beautiful and so appropriate to the life which the animal
is to lead, as that we should have no conception of anything
equally perfect if we had never seen it, or can now imagine
anything more so.”
Feathers, when analyzed chemically, seem to possess
nearly the same properties with the hair of mammifers and
the scales of reptiles; but they differ essentially from the
integuments of these classes of animals in respect to me¬
chanical structure—being much more complex in their con¬
stituent parts. The principal parts of an ordinary feather
are the tube or quill, the shaft or stem, and the vane. The
quill is a hollow semi-transparent cylinder composed of co¬
agulated albumen, and is more or less protracted. It closely
resembles a thin piece of clear horn, both in appearance and
chemical constitution; while at the same time it combines,
in an eminent degree, the opposite qualities of strength and
lightness. The horny substance of the quill in many species
is disposed internally in longitudinal fibres, while the outer
part is composed of transverse or annular fibres. Hence
the reason why, in making a pen, the slit is always cleanest
when the exterior or annular layer has been scraped off.
The dry and shrivelled membranous substance inclosed in
the cavity of the quill forms part of an apparatus that has
been subservient to the growth of the other parts of the
feather, and consists of an imbricated series of conical cap¬
sules communicating with each other. The quill is also
provided at each end with a small orifice (termed respec¬
tively the upper and the lower umbilicus) through which
nourishment is conveyed to the other parts of the feather.
The shaft, which is a continuation of the quill, and com-
F E A 495
posed of an attenuated pellicle of the same substance, gra- Feathers,
dually passes into a sub-quadrangular form, narrowing until
it forms a point at the tip. The baek is more or less con¬
vex for some distance from its origin, and the face is formed
of two convex surfaces which are separated by a groove that
runs along its whole length, or of two inclined planes meet¬
ing at an obtuse angle ; while the lateral surfaces are more
or less plane. The white medullary substance forming the
interior of the shaft, is called the pith—a substance sui
generis, and which supplies strength and nourishment to the
feather.
The vane, or that part which gives the feather its breadth,
consists of two webs (one on each side of the shaft), and is
by much the most complicated of all its parts. The webs
consist of a series of laminae called barbs or rays, which are
set obliquely to, and are composed of the same material as,
the shaft from which they spring. The barbs are arranged
in close apposition, with their broad surfaces towards each
other—a disposition that enables them to offer very con¬
siderable resistance to being bent out of their plane, or that
direction in which they have to encounter the impulse and
pressure of the air, particularly in the act of flight; while it
admits of their yielding readily to the slightest pressure in
the line of the shaft. The barbs taper to a point towards
the outer edge of the vane; but at their base they are
broad, (particularly in the great feathers of the wing,) and
slightly hollowed on one side and convex on the other.
This conformation both gives strength to each individual
barb, and also enables it to afford support to its neighbour.
But the most complex part of the mechanism of the vane
is the apparatus of barbules, by means of which the barbs
are kept firmly in apposition. The barbules are minute
filaments that proceed from the upper part or edge of each
barb, in two sets, one on either side, and having a direction,
with respect to the barb, similar to that of the barbs with
respect to the shaft. Those on the side next the quill are
shorter, more adpressed, and curved upwards at the extre¬
mity; those on the side next the tip of the feather are
longer, more patulous, and curved downwards: and when
placed in apposition they form two distinct and continuous
edges, the incurvate or anterior series of one barb overlap¬
ping and hooking into the recurvate posterior series of the
barb next to it; and in this manner they give the barb a
closeness and compactness of texture that resembles the
effect of glutinous cohesion. When this connection is dis¬
turbed by external violence, the barbules reclasp when the
barbs are again brought into apposition. When the barbs
are pulled asunder in the plane of the web, their cohesion
is found to be very considerable in most feathers: when the
posterior barb is pulled downwards out of the plane of the
web, the cohesion is found still greater : but when the
anterior barb is pulled downwards, or the posterior barb up¬
wards, there is no cohesion at all. The barbules themselves
are frequently complicated by a similar apparatus, giving off
laterally two series of filaments called barbicels; but these
are much more sparse than those of the barbs, though they
appear to serve a similar end, namely, that of retaining the
barbules in apposition. When this clasping apparatus is
wanting, as in the ostrich, the barbules hang loose and
separate, and the feather is then termed & plume. In some
birds, as the emeu, two plumy feathers arise from one quill;
or even three, as exemplified in the cassowary.
There is in feathers the following gradation in respect to
division:—1st, a feather may consist of a quill and a shaft,
without any other part; 2d, of a quill, a shaft, and barbs
destitute of barbules, as in the crest-feathers of the golden
pheasant; 3d, of a quill, a'shaft, barbs, and barbules, as in
most birds; 4th, of a quill, shaft, barbs, barbules, and bar¬
bicels, as in the quills of the ring-tailed eagle, the albatross,
and helmet-hornbill. In most birds, each feather possesses
a downy tuft, more or less developed, at the upper end of
496
E E A
Feathers, the quilli anti this is termed the ptae. In the
    / cassowary this development is two-fold. In the feathers ot
many birds the downy part occupies by far the greater por¬
tion, while in others it scarcely exists. As an example ot
feathers all downy may be mentioned the subcaudal leathers
of the peacock, and the abdominal feathers ot the eagle-owl,
&c. Of such as have very little down may be mentioned
the different species of penguin. On the different parts ot
the bodv in many birds there exist feathers ot a pihfoim
character, resembling stiff bristly hairs. Besides the feathers
now described, the bodies of many birds are closely invested
(underneath the feathers proper) with a soft down, the
warmth or lightness of which is generally proportioned to
the habits of the species; being usually most dense in aquatic
birds, as in the eider-duck. Each down-feather consists of
an extremely delicate shaft, from which proceed, in general,
two sets of finely ciliated filaments. Down also constitutes
the first covering of young birds, previous to the develop¬
ment of feathers, which they guide as it were through the
skin, in the same manner that the old feathers during t le
moult of full-grown birds serve as the gubernacula of the
new. It may be observed generally, that in some species
the down presents certain modifications of structure different
from that now described, as in the case of other kinds of
feathers. In most birds, after the feathers have been re¬
moved, we find a number of simple feathers resembling
hairs. These are the hairs singed off in a common fowl
after it has been plucked. In the common pheasant their
structure is as follows;—from a very shoit bulbifoim tube
rises a very slender roundish piliform shaft, somewhat re¬
sembling a hair of the human nead, but much smallei and
straight, and giving off at its extremity two or three shoit
simple barbs on either side.
Every feather may well be said to be “a mechanical
wonder,” when we consider the perfection of its parts and
the mechanism employed in its formation the vessels that
secrete the fluid material, and the moulds and capsules by
which the process of formation is conducted, until the period
when the protecting sheath gradually withers and crumbles
away, leaving the young feather to unfold its beautiful and
complicated structure. Ornithologists give special names
to the feathers of the different parts of the body, indicative
of their position or particular function; but an enumeration
of these would be of little interest to the general reader,
and may be found in any elementary treatise on ornitho-
logy.
As intimately connected with the plumage, it should be
noticed that the feathered race generally are provided with
a kind of oiling apparatus, situated at the base of the tail,
and consisting of a double gland with a pore, filled with an
unctuous matter, which the bird expresses by means of its
beak and distributes over its feathers, thereby rendering
them impervious to moisture.
As to the colours of the plumage, the variety is almost
infinite, presenting every gradation from the most sombre
shade and purest white to hues that rival in brilliancy the
richest gems or the most gorgeous flowers; as in the hum¬
ming-bird, creeper, and sun-bird. The feathers of young
birds rarely exhibit the colours they are destined to assume
at a later period; the livery of the female too is generally
less lively, and sometimes altogether different from that of
the male bird: and sometimes the summer plumage is quite
distinct from that of winter. Moulting usually takes place-
after the female has laid her eggs, (with less regularity in
the domesticated birds), and is characterized by the dulness
and roughened aspect of the plumage, and the temporary
loss of voice among singing birds.
Uses to Man.—Feathers make a considerable article of
commerce; particularly those of the ostrich, heron, swan,
eider-duck, peacock, goose, common domestic fowl, &c.,
which are used for plumes and ernaments, beds, pens, &c.
Federal.
FEE
It has often been said that geese are plucked in some parts Febrifuge
of Great Britain several times a-year, and that in cold sea¬
sons many of them die from this barbarous custom; but we
trust this account is exaggerated, and feel assured that such
a practice is by no means general. The Somersetshire
feathers are esteemed the best, and those from Ireland the
worst. The best method of curing the smaller feathers,
such as those used for bedding, is to expose them in a dry
room to the sun, and, when they are dried, to put them in
bags and beat them well with poles, in order to soften them
and remove all adhering extraneous particles. The inhabi¬
tants of the high northern latitudes use the skins of several
kinds of water-fowl, with the feathers on, as clothing. The
Greenlanders make use of the downy skin of the eider-duck
as a protection against cold. The feathers of the ostrich
are much prized as ornamental articles of dress; and the
capture of these birds for the sake of their plumes affords em¬
ployment to many of the inhabitants of the desert. Feathers
are also occasionally applied to a variety of other ornamen¬
tal purposes, not the least curious of them being that of
forming pictures, in the manner of mosaic, of the splendid
feathers of the humming-bird, though it must be admitted
that the effect is by no means commensurate with the labour
required for their production. The French and Italians
are particularly skilful in fabricating feathers into beautiful
imitations of flowers.
FEBRIFUGE, an appellation given to such medicines
as serve to mitigate or remove a fever.
FEBRUARY, the second month of the year. In ordi¬
nary years it contains 28 days; but in bissextile 01 leap-
year, by the addition of an intercalary day, it consists of 29
days. This month was not in the Romulian calendar. In
the reign of Numa two months were added to the year,
namely, January at the beginning, and February at the
end; and this arrangement was continued until B.c. 452,
when the decemvirs placed February after January. The
ancient name of Februarius was derived from the verb
februare, to purify ; or from Februa, the Roman festival of
o-eneral expiation and lustration, which was celebrated dur¬
ing the latter part of this month. In February, also, the
Lupercalia were held, and women were purified by the
priests of Pan Lyceus at that festival.
FECAMP, a seaport-town of France, department of
Seine-Inferieure, situated on the English channel, at the
mouth of a small cognominal river 23 miles N.N.E. of
Havre. Pop. about 10,000. It occupies the bottom and
sides of a narrow valley opening out towards the sea be-
tween two high cliffs, on one of which stands a lighthouse.
Its port, though small, is one of the best on the channel,
and has latterly been greatly improved by the construction
of an inner port with a fine quay, &c. It carries on a con¬
siderable trade in Baltic and colonial produce, brandy, salt,
&c.; and sends out vessels to the whale, cod, mackerel, and
herring fisheries. The river affords abundant water-pow er
for numerous cotton, oil, and other mills. Fecamp has also
sugar refineries, tanneries, building docks, and manufactures
of hardware, candles, soda, &c. I he town consists almost
entirely of one street upwards of two miles in length. . The.
church, a large and handsome edifice, is the sole remains of
a celebrated abbey founded towards the end of the tenth
century, and destroyed during the Revolution.
FEDERAL, of or belonging to a league or covenant: a
term usually employed to designate the government ot a
confederacy consisting of several united sovereign states.
The principal purposes for which such a union is formed
are, the protection of the common interests of the members,
their defence against the attacks of foreign enemies as well
as against internal convulsions, and the superintendence of
their political and commercial intercourse with other na¬
tions, together with the regulation of the commerce between
the confederated states themselves. To accomplish these
FEDERAL.
Federal, purposes, the federation must be invested with full power
'o*to levy troops, to build and equip fleets, to raise the money
requisite for the support of an army and navy, to prescribe
rules for their government, and to direct their operations.
The members of the union must therefore surrender to the
joint body certain sovereign powers which they have been
accustomed to exercise in their several states. The inter¬
pretation of the contract which determines the extent of the
powers to be surrendered must belong to the joint body;
but it will be necessary for the protection of the rights of
the various members against the encroachments of the fede¬
ration, that any one party should be allowed to withdraw
from the union at pleasure. The degree to which the so¬
vereign states united under one federal government have
given up their individual rights varies considerably. In
some confederations there is no federal government, and the
union between the various associated states is not closer
tnan a mere treaty, offensive and defensive, would effect
between two states. In others the government is invested
with unlimited discretion to take measures for the common
defence—to make requisitions of men and money—to govern
the common army and navy, and to direct their operations ;
and the proceedings of the government are made constitu¬
tionally binding upon all the associated states, even without
their unanimous consent. In the old Germanic empire, one
member might wage war with another ; in the Swiss con¬
federation, the different states are allowed to conclude trea¬
ties with foreign powers, unless they are expressly prohibited
by the constitution ; while the confederated states of North
America have surrendered among other things all political
power in so far as it relates to foreign affairs. Professor
Austin makes a distinction between a supreme federal go¬
vernment and a system of confederated states. The former
enforces its commands in each and all of the associated
states, whereas the latter, through their representatives or
delegates, may assemble and pass resolutions which concern
all the members of the confederacy, yet leave these resolu¬
tions to be enforced in each state by its own sovereign
power. In this system, therefore, each of the several so¬
cieties is an independent political society, and each of their
several governments is properly sovereign or supreme. For
an example of this system of confederated states, the pro¬
fessor refers to the German confederation, which has suc¬
ceeded to the ancient empire. “ I believe,” he says, “ that
the present diet is merely an assembly of ambassadors from
several confederated but severally independent govern¬
ments ; that the resolutions of the diet are merely articles
of agreement, which each of the confederated governments
spontaneously adopts; and that they owe their legal effect in
each of the compacted communities to laws and commands
which are fashioned upon them by its own immediate chief.
I also believe that the Swiss confederation was and is of
the same nature. If, in the case of the German or of the
Swiss confederation, the body of confederated governments
enforces its own resolutions, those confederated govern¬
ments are one composite state rather than a system of con¬
federated states. The body of confederated governments
is properly sovereign : and to that aggregate and sovereign
body, each of its constituent members is properly in a state
of subjection.”
The principal examples of this form of government have
been the confederacy of the ancient Grecian republics, and
in more modern times, the Germanic empire, the Swiss re¬
publics, and the United States of North America. There
is conclusive evidence that several associations existed at a
very early period among the Grecian states, for the purpose
of repelling the attacks of their common foes, and of pro¬
tecting the temple of their common deity. The most im¬
portant of these confederations was the union of the twelve
tribes, which constituted the Amphictyonic League. All
the members of this confederacy retained the character of
VOL. IX
497
independent states, and, though some of them were very Federal,
insignificant, had equal rights and equal votes in the federal
council, which met twice every year, in the spring at Delphi,
and in the autumn at Anthela, near the pass of Thermopylae.
The deputies who were sent to these meetings were ap¬
pointed in their respective states by lot, and each state had
two votes. The council was empowered to watch over the
temple at Delphi, and to guard the immense wealth deposited
there—to decide all controversies between the members of
the league—to inflict a fine upon the aggressor—to employ
the whole power of the confederacy to punish those who
should disobey its mandates—to admit new members—to
declare and carry on war, and generally to adopt whatever
measures it deemed necessary for the common welfare of
the confederation. The Amphictyons were bound by an
oath mutually to protect and defend the associated states,
and to inflict vengeance on those who should sacrilegiously
despoil the temple of the deity whose worship formed the
external bond of union among them. The objects of the Am¬
phictyonic confederacy were no doubt wise and humane, but
they were never adequately carried out, and in their active
interference in the affairs of Greece the council showed
themselves more influential for evil than for good. The more
powerful members successively tyrannized over the weaker.
There was no cordial co-operation among them even in the
midst of the most dangerous defensive wars, and their mu¬
tual jealousies and incessant quarrels paved the way for the
ruin of their liberties and independence.
Another confederacy of Grecian republics was the famous
Achaean League, which dates from the year b,c. 280,
though it did not rise into importance till about thirty years
later. The states composing this league, as in the former in¬
stance, enjoyed a perfect equality. They retained their muni¬
cipal jurisdiction, and appointed their own officers, but they
had all the same laws and customs, the same weights and mea¬
sures, and the same money, though it is uncertain whether
this was the result of their own choice, or proceeded from
the authority of the federal council. This council had the
sole right of peace and war, of sending and receiving am¬
bassadors, of entering into treaties and alliances, and of
appointing a praetor or chief magistrate, who, with the ad¬
vice and consent of ten of the deputies, administered the
government in the recess of the council. At first the coun¬
cil had two praetors or presidents, who were nominated al¬
ternately by the different towns, and were associated in the
administration, but after a short trial only one was elected.
The union among the members of the Achaean League was
much closer, and its organization more judiciously framed,
than in the case of the Amphictyonic confederacy. The
united testimony of all the historians who have taken notice of
its affairs, shows that the government of this federal league
was administered with far greater justice and moderation ;
and the citizens of the various states under its superintend¬
ence were much less turbulent and seditious than in any of
the cities of Greece which exercised singly all the prero¬
gatives of independent and sovereign states. The popular
government, says the Abbe Mably, which was so tempes¬
tuous elsewhere, caused no disorders in the members of the
Achaean republic, because it was there tempered by the
general authority and laws of the confederacy.
In later times, another example of a federal government
was exhibited by the Germanic Empire, the administration
of which was vested in a representative diet, in the emperor
to whom the powers of the executive were entrusted, and
in two judiciary tribunals (the imperial chamber and the aulic
council) which possessed supreme jurisdiction in all disputes
among the members of the confederacy. To the diet was
entrusted the general power of legislating for the empire—
of making war and concluding peace—forming alliances—
assessing quotas of troops and money—constructing for¬
tresses—regulating the coinage—admitting new members,
3 r
498 FED
Federal, and subjecting refractory members to the ban of the em-
pire. To the emperor belonged the exclusive right to make
propositions to the diet—to negative its decrees—to name
ambassadors—to confer dignities and titles—to fill vacant
electorates—to receive and disburse the public revenues,
and generally to watch over the public safety. In certain
cases he was assisted by a council formed of the electors.
In theory this federal constitution seemed well fitted to gain
the end for which it was framed; but experience has shown
that it afforded no security either against external dangers
or internal dissensions. “ The history of Germany/ it has
been justly said, “ is a history of wars between the emperor
and the princes and states—of wars among the princes and
states themselves—of the licentiousness of the strong, and
the oppression of the weak—of foreign intrusions and foreign
intrigues—of requisitions of men and money disregarded or
partially complied with—of attempts to enforce them, alto¬
gether abortive, or attended with slaughter and desolation,
involving the innocent with the guilty—of general imbeci¬
lity, confusion, and misery.”1
The United Peovinces of the Netherlands were a con¬
federation composed of seven co-equal and sovereign states,
each of which consisted of several equal and independent
cities. The sovereign authority was vested in the states
general, consisting usually of about fifty deputies, who held
their seats, some for life, some for a fixed limited period,
and in two cases during pleasure. In all important matters,
not only the provinces, but the cities, required to be unani¬
mous. The executive magistrate was the stadtholder, to
whom was entrusted the command of the army and navy,
with authority to appoint all naval and military offices, to
assist at the deliberations of the states general, and to settle
all disputes between the provinces. The history of this
celebrated confederacy has shown that its practice differed
widely from its theory; and the mutual jealousies of its mem¬
bers, and the weakness of the government, ultimately brought
the league to anarchy and dissolution.
The Swiss Confederation consists of twenty-two so¬
vereign cantons, united for “ the maintenance of their li¬
berty, their independence, and security against any attacks
from abroad, as well as for the preservation of order and
tranquillity at home.” For these purposes, a certain fixed
contingent of troops is furnished by each canton whenever
required, amounting in all to about 34,000, and the reserve,
in case of need, to as many more. A pecuniary contribu¬
tion for defraying the military and other general expenses
of the confederacy is also paid by each canton in proportion
to its property and resources. The diet consists of the de¬
puties of the twenty-two cantons, who are chosen by their
respective governments. It is entrusted with authority to
declare war, to conclude peace, and to form alliances with
foreign powers ; and on these occasions three-fourths of the
votes are necessary to constitute a majority. All other
questions are decided by a simple majority. The diet also
appoints the military officers and the diplomatic agents of
the confederation, settles disputes among its members, acts
the part of mediator in cases of internal disturbances with¬
in a canton; and, in general, takes all steps that may be
deemed necessary for the safety of the country. No canton
is allowed to go to war with another canton, and the diet
may have recourse to arms to punish the violation of this
or of any other fundamental law of the confederacy. The
ordinary sessions of the diet, which last about five weeks,
are held annually in the chief town of one of three vororts,
or directing cantons, Zurich, Berne, and Lucerne, which
hold the office of vorort by turn, for two years. The council
or executive of the directing canton for the time being, along
with its burgomaster, is entrusted with the management of
the affairs ot the confederation during the recess of the diet,
FEE
but it is assisted in its duties by a federal chancery, con- Fee.
sisting of a chancellor and a secretary, both appointed by
the diet.
It will be evident from these statements, that the Swiss
republics do not form one united state, but rather a con¬
federation of states, having each their own peculiar consti¬
tution. They have, properly speaking, no permanent fede¬
ral executive, and the diet is merely an assembly of dele¬
gates, who vote according to the instructions given by their
constituents.
In this respect the Swiss confederacy differs widely from
the United States of North America, which have a perma¬
nent executive, with a federal treasury and army and navy
at its disposal. The federal legislature or congress consists
of two bodies—a house of representatives chosen for one or
two years, and a senate for a period varying from two years
to six—the former by popular election, the latter by the re¬
presentatives of the twenty-four states. The congress has
power to provide for the common defence and general
welfare of the United States—to regulate commerce with
foreign nations and among the several states—to levy taxes
and coin money—to declare war—to raise and support
armies—to establish and maintain a navy—to provide for or¬
ganizing, arming, disciplining, and calling forth the militia—
to admit new members into the Union—to constitute tribu¬
nals inferior to the supreme court—to regulate and dispose
of the territory or other property belonging to the United
States; and, in general, to make all laws which may be re¬
garded as necessary for carrying into execution the fore¬
going and all other powers vested by the constitution in the
government of the United States, and to propose amend¬
ments in the constitution, which, however, shall not be held
valid unless ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of
the several states.
The executive power is vested in the president for the
time being, who holds his office for four years, but is occa¬
sionally re-elected for four years more. He is commander-in¬
chief of the federal army and navy, and of the militia when
called into active service; and has power, with the advice
and consent of the senate, to make treaties, to appoint am¬
bassadors, the judges of the supreme court, and the other
public ministers, consuls, and officers of the United States,
whose appointments are not otherwise provided for by the
constitution. He has a partial and temporary veto upon the
measures adopted by congress. But if, on reconsideration of
the bill objected to by the president, two-thirds of both houses
adhere to their approval of the measure, it becomes a law.
A few amendments have been made on this form of go¬
vernment since its promulgation in 1798, but the constitu¬
tion itself has stood the test of more than half a century,
though exposed to several by no means inconsiderable
dangers. In 1827, the constitutional right of congress to
legislate for all the states of the confederation was called
in question by South Carolina, Georgia, and Virginia. The
cause of this hostility to the Union was the reduction of the
tariff’ on foreign produce, which was vehemently opposed
by these states ; but a compromise on the part ot the Union
restored the good-feeling of the disaffected provinces, al¬
though the principle of nullification was left unsettled, and
still continues to be so. The late violent discussions on
the slave question have likewise been attended with the
same hostility, and a threat to dissolve the Union.—(St Croix
des Anciens Gouvernements ; The Federalist; Vieusseau’s
History of Switzerland.) (J.t—R.)
FEE, in Law, the same as feud or fief, properly signifies
a conditional stipend or reward, and is applied to property
held of a superior on condition of rendering him service.
An estate of inheritance is said to be in fee-simple when it
is held in the freest manner, clear of any condition, limita-
1 The Federalist, vol. i., pp. 114-116.
F E I
Feejee tion, or restrictions to particular heirs, and descendible to
|| heirs general, whether male or female, lineal or collateral.
Feith. Limited fees are such as are burthened and confined with
conditions or qualifications ; and these may be divided into
two kinds, viz., qualified or base fees, and fees conditional
ox fees tail. A qualified or base fee is such as has a quali¬
fication annexed to it, and which must terminate when the
qualification subjoined to it is at an end; e. g. an estate
granted to A and his heirs, tenants of the manor of Dale,
is determined whenever A or his heirs cease to be tenants
of that manor. A conditional fee at common law was a
fee restrained to particular heirs exclusive of others; as, to
the heirs of a man’s body, by which collaterals were ex¬
cluded. In such case, if the donee had no heirs of his own
body, the land reverted to the donor on the death of the
donee ; but if heirs were born, his estate became absolute
and unconditional, so that he might aliene it, and thereby
bar not only his own issue, but also the donor, of his rever¬
sionary interest. If, however, the tenant did not so aliene
the land, the condition still remained in force; for if the
issue had afterwards died without any alienation, the land,
in terms of the donation, reverted to the donor on the death
of the donee. This naturally gave rise to fictitious sales of
land by tenants in possession, as soon as they had performed
the conditions specified in the grant; so that on the recon¬
veyance of the land into their hands they held it uncondi¬
tionally, or in fee-simple. To abolish this practice, the sta¬
tute of 13th Edw. I., cap. 1, commonly called the statute
de donis conditionalibus, was passed, enacting that from
thenceforth the will of the donor be observed, and that the
land should go to the heirs specified, if there were any, or
if none that it should revert to the donor. Thus the donee
had no longer a conditional fee-simple which became abso¬
lute and at his own disposal the instant any issue was born ;
but the estate was divided into two parts, leaving in the
donee a new kind of particular estate, denominated a fee-
tail, and vesting in the donor the ultimate fee-simple of the
land, expectant on the failure of issue ; which expectant
estate is termed a reversion. Estates tail are either general
or special; the former being where lands and tenements
are given to one, and the heirs of his body; the latter is
where the gift is restrained to certain heirs of the donee’s
body; as where lands and tenements are given to a man
and his heirs by his now wife. Estates in general and spe¬
cial tail are further diversified by the distinction of sexes in
such entails, for either may be in tail male or tail female.
See Entail.
FEEJEE or Fiji Islands, a group of islands in the
South Pacific, lying between S. Lat. 15. 30. and 19. 30.,
and E. Long. 177. and 182., and forming part of the Friendly
islands. The group comprises upwards of 150 islands, 65
of which are inhabited. They are of volcanic formation,
are rich and fertile, and some of them are very mountain¬
ous. The productions are sugar-cane, cotton, coffee, cocoa-
nut, bread-fruit, oranges, melons, citrons, olives, guavas,
and sandal-wood. The natives are well formed and active,
but warlike and cruel. The principal islands are Kantaon,
Ovolau, Ambau, and Muthuatu. The Feejee islands were
discovered by Tasman in 1643. Pop. estimated at 133,000.
FEITH, Rhynyis, a distinguished Dutch poet, was born
at Zwolle, in Overyssel, in 1753. He studied law at
Leyden, but not requiring to follow out that profession for
a subsistence, he devoted most of his time to the study of
art and polite literature. He rose to be burgomaster of his
native town, and was afterwards appointed receiver at the
Admiralty College. In 1779 he obtained a prize for a
poem on the blessings of peace, and in 1781 the gold medal
of the Leyden Poetical Society for a treatise on the essen¬
tial characters of epic poetry. Of his tragedies the best is
his Inez de Castro ; and his poem of The Grave is reckoned
one of the best didactic poems in the Dutch language.
PEL 499
Many of his occasional pieces are remarkable for purity of Felegyhaza
sentiment and loftiness of moral aim. He died in 1824. II
FELEGYHAZA, a town of Hungary, capital of the
district of Little Cumania, on the road between Pesth and v y
Temesvar, 65 miles S.E. of the former. Pop. about 16,000.
It has a Roman Catholic church, gymnasium, high school,
and a court of justice, in which the archives of the district
are preserved. It has also an extensive trade in corn, wine,
fruit, and tobacco, and large cattle fairs are held here. Some
Roman antiquities have been discovered in the vicinity.
FELIBIEN, Andre, Sieurdes Avaux etde Jayerct,
a distinguished French writer on various departments of art,
was born at Chartres in 1619. In his twenty-eighth year
he was appointed secretary to the French embassy at Rome,
and availed himself of his sojourn in that city to cultivate
the acquaintance of the greatest living exponents of art, the
most notable of whom at that time was his countryman
Poussin. On his return home he was promoted to a num¬
ber of important offices in connection with the arts and
manufactures, and was made councillor and historiographer
to the king. He died in 1695. His principal works are
his Entretiens sur les Vies et sur les Ouvrages des plus Ex-
cellents Peintres Anciens et Modernes, 1666—88, 5 vols.
4to; Principes de VArchitecture, de la Sculpture, et de la
Peinture, avec un Dictionnaire des Termes propres de ces
Arts, 1676, 4to; and Origine de la Peinture, 1660, 4to.
His son, Jean Francois, inherited to a certain extent his
taste for the fine arts, and enjoyed considerable fame as the
author of the Collection Historique des Vies et des Ouvrages
des Architectes les plus Celebres ; and also for his compa¬
rative view of ancient and modern Versailles.
FELICITAS, Felicity, or Happiness, was deified by
the ancients. Lucullus consecrated a temple to Felicitas,
as also did Lepidus. This goddess is generally represented
on medals with a cornucopia in one hand and a caduceus in
the other.
FELIS. See index to Mammalia.
FELIX, M. Minucius, a distinguished Roman lawyer,
concerning whose era there has been much dispute. Some
critics refer it to the middle of the second century after
Christ, others to the time of Diocletian, while St Jerome,
whose testimony may be taken as final, places him between
Tertullian and Cyprian, and thus assigns him to the first
half of the third century. He is now best known as the
author of Octavius, a dialogue on Christianity between a
Christian convert and a pagan. This work is deservedly
entitled to rank high among the early apologies of Chris¬
tianity. It is characterized throughout by an impressive
earnestness of tone, and closeness and cogency of reasoning,
while the style is as remarkable for precision and terseness
as the diction for grace and purity. It was long imagined
that the Octavius formed part of Arnobius’ treatise Adver-
sus Gentes, and it was not till 1560 that this mistake was
discovered, and the work assigned to its rightful author by
Balduinus. Since that date many editions of the work have
appeared.
Felix, the name of several Roman pontiffs. Felix I.
was chosen bishop of Rome in 271, and suffered martyrdom
in 275. Felix II., sometimes styled III. on account of an
anti-pope who assumed the former title, reigned from 483
to 492. Felix III., called also IV., succeeded to the papal
throne in 526, and died in 530. A detailed account of
Amadeus VIIL, Count of Savoy, who became pope under
the title of Felix V., is given under Amadeus.
FELLENBERG, Emanuel yon, a celebrated educa¬
tionist, was born in 1771 at Berne, in Switzerland. His
father was of patrician family, and a prominent public man
in his native canton, and his mother was a grand-daughter
of the celebrated Dutch admiral Van Tromp. In both of
his parents he was peculiarly fortunate, and to the tender
and pious care of his mother he used to attribute the sue-
500 F E L
' Fellow Cess of his efforts for the public good in after life. From
II her and from Pfeffel, the blind poet of Colmar, he received
Feiony. ^ better education than falls to the lot of most boys, while
the intimacy of his father with Pestalozzi gave to his mind
that bent which it afterwards followed. As soon as he was
able he began to make it the object of his life to investigate
thoroughly the social and moral condition of his country¬
men, and, in so far as he could, to improve it. For this
purpose he spent much of his time in travelling through
Switzerland, usually on foot, with a knapsack on his back,
visiting the hamlets and farm-houses, mingling in the labours
and occupations, and partaking of the rude fare and lodging
of the peasants and mechanics, and often extending his
journeys into the adjoining countries. In 1790 he went to
Tubingen, where he distinguished himself by his rapid pro¬
gress in legal studies. After the downfall of Robespierre,
he went to Paris and remained there long enough to be
assured of the storm impending over his native country.
This he did his best to avert, but his warnings were disre¬
garded, and Switzerland was lost before any efficient means
could be taken for her safety. Fellenberg, who had hastily
raised a levy en masse, was proscribed, a price was set upon
his head, and he was compelled to fly into Germany. lie
was shortly afterwards recalled however by his country¬
men, and sent on a mission to Paris to remonstrate against
the rapacity and cruelty of the agents of the French re¬
public. But in this and other diplomatic offices which he
held for a short time, he was witness to so much corruption
and intrigue that his mind revolted from the idea of a poli¬
tical life, and he returned home with a view to devoting
himself wholly to the education of the young. With this
resolution he purchased the estate of Hofwyl, near Berne,
intending to make agriculture the basis of a new system
which he had projected—for elevating the lower and
rightly training the higher orders of the state, and welding
them together in a closer union than had hitherto been
deemed attainable. His scheme at first excited only the
ridicule of his friends, but in the course of a few years it
began to attract the notice of foreign countries, and pupils
from every country in Europe flocked to Hofwyl, at once
for the sake of studying agriculture, now raised to the dig¬
nity of a science, and of imbibing those wholesome moral
precepts of which the agricultural system was made the
exponent. For 45 years Fellenberg, assisted by his wife,
and latterly by his sons, conducted this institution and raised
it to the highest point of prosperity and usefulness; and
when at length he died, Nov. 21, 1844, he left behind him
the reputation of one of his country’s greatest benefactors.
FELLOW, in Colleges, a distinction which entitles the
holder to a share in the revenues of the college. The na¬
ture of fellowships is more particularly explained under the
head Universities.
FELO-DE-SE, one who commits felony by suicide, or
who, being of sane mind and the age of discretion, deliber¬
ately takes away his own life. The chattels, real and per¬
sonal, of a felo-de-se are forfeited to the crown, but not
his lands of inheritance ; nor is his wife barred of her dower.
The forfeited chattels, however, are usually restored upon the
payment of certain fees. Formerly, a felo-de-se was buried
in the highway, with a stake thrust through his body ; but
this barbarous usage was abolished by act 4th Geo. IV., cap.
52, which provides that he be privately interred in a burial-
ground, between the hours of nine and twelve at night.
FELON, in Law, a person guilty of felony.
FELONY, in the general acceptation of the law, com¬
prehends every species of crime which occasions at common
law the forfeiture of lands or goods. This most frequently
happens in those crimes for which a capital punishment
either is or used to be inflicted; for those felonies which are
called clergyable, or to which the benefit of clergy extends,
were anciently punished with death in all lay or unlearned
F E L
offenders ; though now, by the statute law, that punish- Felony,
ment is for the first offence universally remitted. Treason
itself, says Sir Edward Coke, was anciently included under
the name olfelony ; and in confirmation of this we may ob¬
serve, that the statute of treasons (25 Edw. II Leap. 2), speak¬
ing of some dubious crimes, directs a reference to parlia¬
ment, that it may be there adjudged “ whether they be
treason or other felony.” All treasons, therefore, strictly
■speaking, are felonies ; though all felonies are not treason.
And to this also we may add, that all offences now capital
are in some degree or other felonies; but this is likewise
the case with some other offences which are not punished
with death, as suicide, where the party is already dead, man¬
slaughter, and larceny ; all which are, strictly speaking, felo¬
nies, as they subject those who commit them to forfeitures.
Upon the whole, therefore, the only adequate definition of
felony seems to be that which was before laid down, name¬
ly, an offence which occasions a total forfeiture of either
lands or goods, or both, at the common law, and to which
capital or other punishment may be superadded, according
to the degree of guilt.
The word felony, or felonia, is undoubtedly of feudal ori¬
gin, being frequently to be met with in the books of feuds,
and in other works; but the derivation of it has much
puzzled the juridical lexicographers Prataeus, Calvinus, and
others. Some derive it from the Greek ^Ads, an impostor
or deceiver ; others from the Latin fallo, fefelli, to coun¬
tenance which they would have called it fellonia. Sir Ed¬
ward Coke has given a still stranger etymology; that
it is crimen animo felleo perpetratum, a crime perpe¬
trated with a bitter or gallish inclination. But all agree
in the description that it is such a crime as involves the
forfeiture of the offender’s lands or goods. And this gives
great probability to Sir Henry Spelman’s derivation from
the Teutonic or German, in which language, indeed, as the
word is clearly of feudal origin, w'e ought rather to look
for its signification, than amongst the Greeks and Romans.
Felon, then, according to him, is derived from two north¬
ern words, namely, fee, signifying the fief, feud, or benefi¬
ciary estate ; and eon, which means price or value. Felony
is therefore the same as pretium feudi, the consideration for
which a man gives up his fief; as we say in common speech,
such an act is as much as your life or estate is worth. In
this sense it clearly signifies the feudal forfeiture or act by
which an estate is forfeited, or escheats to the lord.
To confirm this we may observe, that in the sense of
forfeiture to the lord, the feudal writers constantly use it.
For all those acts, whether of a criminal nature or not,
which at this day are generally forfeitures of copyhold es¬
tates, are styled felonice in the feodal law : scilicet, per quas
feudum amittitur. Thus, si domino deservire noluerit ; si
per annum et diem cessaverit in petenda investitura ; si
dominum ejuraverit, id est, negaverit se a domino feudum
habere ; si a domino in jus eum vacante, ter citatus non com-
paruerit; all which, with many others, are still causes of
forfeiture in our copyhold estates, and w^ere denominated
felonies by the feudal constitutions. So likewise injuries of
a more substantial or criminal nature were denominated
felonies, that is, forfeitures; as assaulting or beating the
lord; vitiating his wife or daughter, si dominum. cucurbi-
taverit, id est, cum uxore ejus concubuerit; all these are
esteemed felonies, and the latter is expressly so denomi¬
nated, si fecerit feloniam, dominum forte cucurbitando
And as these contempts or smaller offences were felonies or
acts of forfeiture, of course greater crimes, as murder and
robbery, fell under the same denomination. On the other
hand, the lord might be guilty of felony, or forfeit his seig-
nory to the vassal, by the same act as that by which the
vassal would have forfeited his feud to the lord. Si domi-
nus commiseritfeloniam, per quam vasallus amitteretfeudum
si eum commiserit in dominum, feudi proprietatem etiam do-
F E L
Felspar minus perdere debet. One instance given of this sort of
II felony in the lord is beating the servant of his vassal, so
Felt' that his service is lost; which seems merely in the nature
of a civil injury, in as far as it respects the vassal. And all
these felonies were to be determined per laudamentum sive
judicium parium suorum, in the lord’s court; as with us
forfeitures of copyhold lands are presentable by the homage
in the court-baron.
Felony, and the act of forfeiture to the lord, being thus
synonymous terms in the feudal law, we may easily trace
the reason why, upon the introduction of that law into
England, the crimes which induced such forfeiture or escheat
of lands (and by a small deflection from the original sense,
such as induced the forfeiture of goods also) wrere denomi¬
nated felonies. Thus it was that suicide, robbery, and
rape, w ere felonies ; that is, the consequence of such crimes
w as forfeiture : but by long use we began to signify by the
term felony the crime actually committed, and not the
penal consequence thereof. And upon this system only can
we explain the reason why treason in ancient times was held
to be a species of felony; we mean, because it induced a
forfeiture.
Hence it follows, that capital punishment does not by any
means enter into the true idea and definition of felony.
Felony may be without inflicting capital punishment, as in
the cases instanced of self-murder, manslaughter, and lar-
cenv; and it is possible that capital punishments may be
inflicted, and yet the offence be no felony, as in the case of
heresy, by the common law, which, though capital, never
worked any forfeiture of lands or goods—an inseparable inci¬
dent to felony. And of the same nature wras the ancient
punishment for standing mute, without pleading to an in¬
dictment ; which at the common law was capital, but with¬
out any forfeiture, so that such standing mute was no felony.
In short, the true criterion of felony is forfeiture ; for, as
Sir Edward Coke observes, in all felonies which are punish¬
able with death, the offender loses his lands in fee-simple,
and also his goods and chattels ; but in such as are not
punishable he loses his goods and chattels only.
There is a discretionary power in justices either to admit
to bail, or to commit to prison, as to all felonies (except
treason). The compounding of a felony by taking a reward
for forbearing to prosecute is punishable with fine and im¬
prisonment, and the mere concealment of a felony is simi¬
larly punishable.
FELSPAR. See Mineralogy, and Geology.
FELT, a kind of stuff resembling coarse cloth, made of
hair or wool, without weaving. The fur of the hare, rabbit,
seal, beaver, and the wool of the sheep, are the materials
chiefly used for making felt. The hairs and loose flocks
of wool are thoroughly mixed together by an operation
called bowing, which depends on the vibrations of an elastic
string ; when, in consequence of their anatomical structure,
they become matted together. This mass, after undergoing
pressure to render it firmer, is dipped into a liquor contain¬
ing a little sulphuric acid ; and, when intended to form a
hat, it is first moulded into a large conical figure, which is
afterwards reduced in its dimensions by working it with the
hands. It is afterwards formed into a flat surface, with
several concentric folds, which are still further compacted
in order to form the brim and the circular part of the crown.
It is then forced on a block, which serves as a mould for
the cylindrical part of the hat. The nap or outer portion
of the fur is afterwards raised by the application of a fine
wire brush. The hat is subsequently dyed and stiffened
with glue, or with an aqueous solution of shellac. It need
scarcely be observed, that these processes are not applicable
to the silk hat now in such very general use. See Hat-
Making. Besides its use in hat-making, felt is much em¬
ployed to encase the cylinders of steam-engines, and is also
rendered waterproof to be applied in the roofing of houses
FEN 501
and many other w^ays. Attempts have been made to form Feltham
woollen cloths by a process similar to that of felting, without H.
spinning or weaving ; but the cloth made in this way has v ’t
little strength or durability. ^
FELTHAM, Owen, author of the Resolves, Divine,
Moral, and Political, was a native of Suffolk. Of his pri¬
vate life so little is knowm that the dates of his birth and
death can only be appoximately conjectured. He was born
in the reign of James I., and he was alive in 1677. Beyond
this nothing has been ascertained concerning him, except
that his learning and great moral worth gained for him the
favourable opinion of the Earl of Thomond, and that he
enjoyed the hospitality of that nobleman for several years.
His only work, the Resolves, which is a collection of moral
essays, divided into centuries, is replete with the most pro¬
found thought and brilliant wit exercised on subjects chiefly
moral and religious, and displays at the same time so true
and great a knowledge of the world that readers of every
class cannot fail to be interested and instructed by a perusal
of its pages. It has been very frequently reprinted.
FELUCCA (Ital. feluca), a little vessel with oars and
lateen sails, common in the Mediterranean. It has a rudder
at the stem and another at the stern, to be applied as oc¬
casion requires.
FELT RE, the ancient Feltria, a town of Northern
Italy, delegation of Belluno, and 16 miles S.W. of the town
of that name. It stands on a hill at the foot of the Alps,
near the Piave, and has about 5500 inhabitants. The town
is partially fortified, and contains a handsome market-place,
cathedral, numerous churches, an episcopal gymnasium,
diocesan school, orphan asylum, &c. It has some trade in
corn, wine, and oil. and manufactures of silk twist, wax, and
leather.
FEMERN, an island in the Baltic, belonging to Den¬
mark, and lying off the coast of Holstein, from which it is
separated by the Femer-sund, a channel about a mile wide.
Area, 70 square miles. Pop. (1846) 8860. The surface is
low and level, producing corn, and affording good pasturage
for cattle, but the people devote their attention principally
to fishing. The chief town of the island is Burg, contain¬
ing about 1800 inhabitants.
FEMME COVERT, in Za/c, a married wroman: d&femme
sole signifies an unmarried woman.
FEMININE, in Grammar. See Gender, and Grammar.
- FEN, low land occasionally overflowed with water, or
abounding with pools or lakes, with intervening spots of
dry land. See Agriculture, vol. ii., p. 362, &c.; Bed¬
ford Level ; Lincolnshire ; and M£Culloch’s Statistical
Account of Britain, vol. i., p. 24.
FENCES. See Agriculture, vol. ii., p.269; Gar¬
dening; Horticulture; Forest; and M‘Culloch’s Sta¬
tistical Account, voh i., p. 467.
FENCE-MONTH, the month in which deer begin to
fawn, when hunting in the forest is prohibited. It com¬
mences fifteen days before Midsummer, and ends fifteen
days after it.
FENCING, is the proper use of the small-sword or foil.
The small-sword is a light court-dress sword, made to taper
gradually from the hilt to the point, and of a size regulated
by the judgment of the wearer, if he understand the use of
the weapon. The foil, with which the art of fencing is
practised, is a small quadrangular blade, about the length of
a small sword, and mounted in nearly the same manner;
but, for the convenience of the exercise, it is made lighter,
blunted, and covered with leather at the point, to prevent
accidents in practice.
The first weapon in use among mankind, whether for
offensive or defensive purposes, appears to have been the
sword, and combat with this weapon is perhaps nearly as
old as the world. The most ancient book extant makes
frequent mention of the sword, and the same thing may be
FENCING.
502
Fencing, said of Homer, who is full of continual allusions to this wea-
pon. The earliest swords wrere probably made of wood, like
those used by the natives of Mexico wdien first visited by the
Spaniards ; but after the discovery of metals, bronze swords
were introduced, of which kind many have at different times
been found in Ireland. As soon, however, as the art of
tempering steel had been discovered, that metal supersed¬
ed all other substances in the fabrication of arms; nor is it
probable that any change in this respect will take place, or
that any further improvement is attainable. The form of the
sword, however, has varied at different times and in different
countries. Those used by the Roman legions were short
and strong, with a blade seldom exceeding nineteen inches
in length, but two-edged, and calculated both for the cut
and the thrust. The British swords, called spathce, wrere
large, long, and heavy; and the Saxon and the Norman
partook of the same character. The ancient practice^ of
the weapon was probably carried to its greatest perfection
amongst the Romans, whose partiality for gladiatorial ex¬
hibitions formed a remarkable feature of their character.
The various and complicated methods of combat in which
this celebrated people took delight are either alluded to or
described by most of their writers, particularly by Livy,
Juvenal, Seneca, and Suetonius.
The history of the modern small-sword or rapier is in¬
volved in some obscurity. The latter term, though now
considered as synonymous with the former, properly de¬
notes a long, ordinary, old-fashioned, cutting sword. But
modern usage has identified the expressions, and by a ra¬
pier is now always meant a sword for the thrust, in contra¬
distinction to one constructed for cutting. The small¬
sword or rapier is undoubtedly very ancient, although there
is reason to believe that it was not brought into general
use until armour began to wear out of fashion. Since that
time the art of fencing has always been considered as a
gentlemanly accomplishment, and in many parts of the
Continent it is cultivated with the greatest zeal and assi¬
duity. Shakspeare, indeed, makes Hamlet, who lived at
the court of Florwendillus, a fencer ; but as our great dra¬
matist has not been very careful in avoiding anachronisms,
it may reasonably be doubted whether the small-sword has
any claim to such antiquity. Some have maintained that
the weapon was not used in England before the reign of
Elizabeth; and Darcie (Annals of Elizabeth) informs us
that one Rowland York, who appears to have betrayed De¬
venter to the Spaniards in the year 1587, was the first who
brought into England “ that wicked, pernicious fashion to
fight in the fields in duels with a rapier called a tucke only
for the thrust.” Stowe also mentions that long tucks and
long rapiers began about the twelfth or thirteenth year of
Elizabeth, and that “ he was held the greatest gallant that
had the deepest ruffe and largest rapier. The offence,”
he adds, “ to the eye of the one, and the hurt unto the
life of the subject that came by the other, caused her ma¬
jesty to make proclamation against them both, and to place
selected grave citizens at every gate to cut the ruffes and
breake the rapier’s points of all passengers that exceeded
a yard in length of their rapiers, and a nayle of a yard in
depth of their ruffes.”1
But at what time soever the small-sword came into use
in this country, it is not surprising that, when once intro¬
duced, it should have been cultivated as the fairest and
most equitable instrument of duelling. Before this period
meetings for the purpose of single combat were utterly re¬
volting to human nature. No regard was paid to equality
of arms or numbers; advantages, however unfair, were Fencing,
seized whenever an opportunity offered; and the ferocious
passions, instead of being curbed, had fuller scope given
for their gratification. “ The duellist of former times,”
says Sir Walter Scott, in a note to The Lady of the Lake,
“ did not always stand upon those punctilios respecting
equality of arms, which are now judged essential to fair
combat. It is true that in formal combats in the lists,
parties were, by the judges of tne field, put as nearly as
possible in the same circumstances. But in private duels
it was often otherwise.” In the desperate combat which
was fought between Quelus, a minion of Henry III. of
France, and Antraquet, with two seconds on each side,
and from which only two persons escaped alive, Quelus
complained that his antagonist had the advantage of a po¬
niard which he used in parrying, whilst his own left hand,
which he was obliged to use for the same purpose, had been
cruelly mangled. When he charged Antraquet with this
odds, “ Thou hast done wrong,” answered the latter, “to
forget thy dagger at home ; we are here to fight, not to set¬
tle punctilios of arms.” In another duel of a similar kind,
however, a younger brother of the house of Aubange in
Angouleme behaved more generously, and at once threw
away his dagger when his antagonist challenged it as an
undue advantage. Nevertheless, it would be difficult to
conceive any thing more brutal and savage than the mode
in which private quarrels were at this time conducted in
France. Those who were most jealous on the point of
honour, and who thence acquired the title of raffines, did
not scruple to avail themselves of every advantage of
strength, numbers, surprise, and arms, in order to accom¬
plish their revenge. See Duel.
Brantome, in his discourse on duels, informs us that the
Italian masters of the science of defence made a great mys¬
tery of their art and mode of instruction ; that they never
suffered any person to be present except the scholar who
was to be taught, and even examined beds, closets-, and other
places of probable concealment. The lessons of these teach¬
ers often gave the most treacherous advantages to their
pupils ; for the challenger having by usage a right to choose
his weapons, frequently selected some strange and inconve¬
nient kind of arms, the use of which he had practised un¬
der his instructor, and thus killed at his ease an antagonist,
to whom, perchance, the weapon was presented for the first
time on the field of battle. Nor can we doubt that the
same, or even still more treacherous advantages, are taught
by some Italian masters of the present day, especially when
we learn, from an authentic publication of the life of a late
pope, that in Rome upwards of a thousand persons annual¬
ly fall victims to the stiletto, either by the hands of hired
assassins, or in private quarrels. Dr Moore estimates the
number of murders perpetrated by the dagger in Naples
alone at not less than four hundred annually. Such are
the cowardly and ferocious modes in which vengeance usu¬
ally seeks its gratification amidst an enslaved and degraded
people.
The practice of deciding duels with the swrord, however,
may be considered as now extinct in this country. When
the rapier was looked upon as an indispensable part of a gen¬
tleman’s dress, the facility of immediate rencounter which
it offered gave occasion to frequent and dangerous brawls,
by which the public tranquillity was disturbed, and the
lives of peaceable citizens sometimes sacrificed. But still
it may reasonably be doubted, whether the comparatively
rare occurrence of duels since the introduction of the pis-
1 In The Two Angry Women of Abingdon, a comedy minted in 1599, we find the following pathetic complaint: “ Sword and buckler
fights begin to grow out of use. I am sorry for it; 1 shall never see good manhood again. If it be once gone, this poking fight of
rapier and dagger will come up ; then a tall man, and a good sword-and-buckler man, will be spitted like a cat or a rabbit.”
FENCING.
Fencing, tol, has not been overbalanced by a long list of fatal re-
v—suits, not to mention amputated limbs and distressing mu¬
tilations. Be this as it may, however, the discontinuance of
sword duels in England has, in a great measure, removed
one of the chief objections against fencing; namely, that
adroitness in the use of weapons creates a fondness for con¬
tention, and a disposition to indulge in violence and insult.
Since arms have ceased to be worn, such an objection can
no longer be urged against the art of defence ; and it may
perhaps be questioned whether it had much weight, even
when arms formed part of the equipment of every one who
called himself a gentleman. All parties were thus placed
upon nearly an equal footing ; and if turbulent characters
went about armed, there was nothing to prevent the peace¬
ably disposed from being as well provided as the brawlers,
and also on a par with them in respect of skill in the use
of weapons. If the thief makes use of a crowbar, the honest
housekeeper has the protection of an iron bolt. The pri¬
mary intention of fencing is the security of one’s own
person ; and where the weapons and the art of using them
skilfully were equally accessible to all, the evil disposed had
no advantage, and therefore small temptation to indulge
their turbulent propensities.
The practice of the foil in England, however, is now
confined to the most laudable purposes, namely, the en¬
joyment of salutary recreation, and the acquisition of a
graceful and unconstrained deportment. The beneficial
effects of moderate fencing to persons of weak constitutions,
or of studious and sedentary habits, have been attested
by medical practitioners of the first eminence. On this
subject the suffrages of the most distinguished members of
the British schools of medicine and of surgery, which Mr
Angelo has annexed to his engravings, illustrative of the
fencing attitudes, seem completely decisive.1 To the pub¬
lic speaker, also, the practice of the fencing-room has been
found to impart an ease and freedom of gesture attainable
perhaps by no other exercise, not excepting even the dis¬
cipline of the ballet-master. A modern writer on the sub¬
ject of delivery or elocution, gives it as his opinion that
the use of the foil and the broadsword diffuses ease, ele¬
gance, and grace all over the body, and imparts to the
look and gesture an appearance of intellectual vigour. It
does more ; it teaches invaluable lessons of patience and
self-command, and contributes to discipline the temper,
whilst it serves to develope the corporeal powers, and to
strengthen them by unconstrained and salutary exercise.
We may add here, that several works of merit have ap¬
peared on this subject; but the most valuable and complete
one yet published is Roland’s Treatise on the Theory and
Practice of the Art of Fencing, Edinburgh, 1823; nearly
all the others we have met with being deficient either in
explanation or in practical utility.
Having already described the weapons used in fencing,
we shall now proceed to give such definitions as appear to
be requisite for conveying a general idea of the subject,
referring the reader for the necessary details to the excellent
work of Mr Roland, which will be found equally clear in its
explanations, and comprehensive in its views of every
branch of the art.
After the first positions have been acquired, the differ¬
ent modes of attack come to be considered. Attacks are
503
made in three ways: first, by a quick thrust proceeding Fencing,
merely from the wrist, the arm at the same time being ele-
vated and advanced, with the point directed towards the
adversary’s breast; secondly, by what is technically called
an extension ; and, lastly, by longeing and recovering.
The parades, in which consists the defensive part of the
art, naturally follow the attack. A parade is a defence of
the body, made by an opposition of one’s blade to that of
an adversary, in such a situation as, upon his attack, to pre¬
vent the point of his sword hitting. The parades are eight
in number, viz. six simple, and two round or counter pa¬
rades, and they are called quarte, tierce, circle, octave, prime,
quinte, and round or counter in quarte and tierce. When
and how these parades are made in fencing may be learned
by consulting Mr Roland’s work (p. 32 et seqq.).
The next division of the subject includes straight thrusts,
simple disengagements, and bindings of the blade. A straight
thrust is used as an attack, when an antagonist, from his po¬
sition on guard, leaves sufficient opening to enable him to
be touched upon that side of the body on which blades are
joined. When such an opportunity offers, the wrist must
be suddenly raised, so as to bring the forte of one’s sword
to the foible of the adversary’s ; after which lunge immedi¬
ately on the same line to his breast, observing, however, to
preserve a correct opposition. In fencing, opposition sig¬
nifies the art of covering the body at the time of delivering
a thrust, on that side where the foils happen to cross, in
order to prevent an antagonist exchanging hits. The dis¬
engagement is made either as an attack, or as a return after
defending one’s-self from a thrust, and is executed both
under and over the wrist or foils. A disengagement over
the arm may be parried with tierce or prime, and, if made
low, by the parade of circle; from the position of octave,
by quarte, or, if the thrust be delivered lowr, by circle ; from
the position of quinte, by prime as the readiest defence, but
quarte and tierce are also correct parades against this thrust.
There are three different ways of binding the blade. Of
these, flanconnade is the principal, as it is sometimes a safe
attack when any other mode would be attended with con¬
siderable danger; it is also made as a riposte. The attack
of flanconnade is commenced when the blades are joined
in quarte, and it is parried either by octave or quinte, or
by the parade of quarte. The return over the arm, after
the parade of circle, is parried by prime or tierce, or by
changing quickly to the counter in quarte. The return
over the arm, after the parade of prime, is parried by prime
or tierce, or, if made at a considerable distance, by the
counter in quarte.
In fencing there are a great variety of feints, which it is
not easy to describe intelligibly without figures. K feint is
an intentional movement made to deceive an adversary.
All thrusts, therefore, may, strictly speaking, come under
the definition of feints, as the fencer’s object, in all his at¬
tacks, is to deceive his antagonist. For the sake of conve¬
nience, however, straight thrusts and simple disengagements
have been arranged under a separate head. In executing
the feint called one, two, inside of the arm, supposing the
adversary’s body to be covered in quarte, the parade of
tierce is deceived; commencing from the outside, that of
quarte is deceived; from the position of the circle the oc¬
tave, and from that of the octave the circle is deceived.
1 “ Perhaps there is no exercise whatever,” says Mr Roland, “ more calculated for these purposes (developing and cultivating bo¬
dily strength and activity) than fencing. Riding, walking, sparring, wrestling, running, and pitching the bar, are all of them cer¬
tainly highly beneficial; but, beyond all question, there is no single exercise which combines so many advantages as fencing. By it
the muscles of every part of the body are brought into play ; it expands the chest, and occasions an equal distribution of the blood,
and other circulating fluids, through the whole system. More than one case has fallen under the author’s own observation, in which
affections of the lungs, and a tendency to consumption, have been entirely removed by occasional practice with the foil; and he can
state, upon very high medical authority, that since the institution of a Salle d'Armes at Geneva, scrofula, which was long lamentably
prevalent there, has been gradually disappearing.” {Theory and Practice of Fencing, p. 163.)
fencing.
This feint, if made inside the arm, is parried by the parade
of quarte, or by the counter in tierce, made upon an oppo¬
nent’s second disengagement; upon the outside of the arm,
bv tierce, prime, or the counter in quarte; and from the
position of the octave, by octave or quinte. The feint one,
two, is likewise made as a return after the parade of quarte
or tierce, or sometimes after that of circle or octave. The
cut and disengage is a species of one, two, in making which
from the position of quarte, an adversary’s parade of tierce
quitting the blade in a dangerous position, or by making
too many disengagements in his feints, or by giving a va¬
riety of openings which the judgment of the fencer must
determine how he is to take advantage of. This thrust is
practised almost entirely upon irregular attacks, and re¬
quires great caution to be observed. It has been already
stated, that time thrusts in opposition, when correctly made
upon good attacks, are, perhaps, the finest movements in
fencing; but young fencers should nevertheless attempt
Fencing.
is°decei ved^and1 from theposition of tierce his parade of them very seldom, from the danger o misjudging the at
quarte CW and disengage, if made inside of the arm, is tack, and thus exposing themselves to the certainty of being
parried by quarte, or the counter in tierce ; if outside, by hit. And the time out of opposition is attended with s ill
tierce or counter in quarte. Feint seconde is another feint greater hazard, as its success depends rather upon the wide-
very nearly resembling one, two, and is generally made as ness and irregularity of an adversary s movements, than on
a return after the parades of tierce, prime, or quinte. In the security of one s own situation afforded by the opposi-
this feint the octave or quinte is deceived ; and it is parried tion in the former species of time thrust.
by tierce, prime, or quarte, the two former being the readiest W hen fencing was comparatively little known, it was
where quinte is the parade deceived, but if the feint has thought necessary that there should be some intermediate
been answered with octave, the thrust must then be parried practice for the pupil between the lesson of the master and
with quarte. The feint one, two, three, is made on either his making the assault; for which purpose, it appears^he
side of the blade, upon precisely the same principles as one,
two ; the only difference between them consisting in making
one disengagement more in the latter than in the former
movement. The cut a?id one two is a species of one, two,
three. These feints, if made over the arm, are parried with
the simple parade of tierce; if on the inside, with simple
quarte. The other feints are, doubling, which, mutatis mu¬
tandis, is executed upon precisely the same principles ; one
two and deceive the circle, executed from the inside position
of quarte; one two and deceive the counter, which may be
made from either side of the blade, but is most frequently
used commencing from the position of tierce ; feint jlan-
connade, which can be commenced only from the engage¬
ment of quarte ; feint one two and deceive octave, which is
commenced either from the outside or inside engagement;
feint seconde and deceive quarte, which is always commenced
from the outside engagement, whether made as an attack
or a return ; feint seconde and deceive tierce, which differs
from the preceding only in the last disengagement; one
two and deceive quarte from the position of the circle, w hen
the first disengagement is made over the adversary’s wrist
towards the body under the arm, and the second over the
wrist towards the inside of the body ; and doubling on both
sides of the arm, which is too complicated a feint to be fre¬
quently used in actual fencing, because it is difficult to fol¬
low the adversary’s swmrd with certainty through many dif¬
ferent parades, and there is much danger of time thrusts
upon feints wdnch consist of so many disengagements.
Time thrusts are so called because the success of these
movements depends entirely upon their being executed at
the exact moment of time employed by the adversary in
planning or in executing his attack; and, when made cor¬
rectly, they are by far the most scientific movements in
fencing. There are two sorts of time thrusts, in the exe¬
cution of one of which it is necessary that the blades should
cross each other, but for the completion of the other it is
not absolutely necessary that the blades should even meet.
Those time thrusts in the execution of which the blades
cross are more scientific, and expose the fencer less to ex¬
changed hits. There are two time thrusts in opposition;
one the time over the arm, and the other the time in octave.
The former is applicable to all thrusts, howrever simple or
complex the feint may be, provided the longe is made upon
the outside; whereas all longes directed to the inside of
the body, or under the arm, are exposed to the time in oc¬
tave ; and thus almost every thrust made in fencing affords
an opportunity for one or other of these two movements.
Those time thrusts in which the opposition is not essential
are made upon incorrect movements of the adversary, when
he exposes himself by the wideness of his attacks, or by
wras taught to longe, at a proper distance, at the wall. This
was called by the French tirer au mur, and w as considered
as useful for planting the learner well upon his legs, accus¬
toming him to measure distance correctly, and causing his
motions, in making his extension and longe, to follow one
another in the proper succession. But as the art became
better understood, observation induced masters to place
pupils together for their mutual advantage, the one to attack
by simple disengagements, the other to parry by quarte and
tierce alternately; and this practice, from its origin, was
for a considerable time called tirer au mur, a denomination
which it still retains amongst fencers of the old school. It
is now, however, generally known by the denomination of
quarte and tierce, and, in its improved state, is not merely
intended as an exercise for the scholar, but also as a graceful
display of the principal motions of fencing ; for w hich reason
it should be invariably practised before commencing the as¬
sault, and in fencing before company it is never dispensed
with. Quarte and tierce appears very simple in its execu¬
tion, yet it is exceedingly useful to fencers in all stages of
their progress, and-difficult to acquire w ith such correctness
that all its movements shall take place in their proper suc¬
cession, and be made with the grace and precision charac¬
teristic of a good fencer. For a description of the method
of thrusting quarte and tierce, we must refer the reader to
the fifth chapter of Mr Roland’s work, section first. The
counters is also a practice of importance to young fencers,
and should consequently be attended to by them.
In the language of the fencing-room, making the assault
and playing loose are synonymous, signifying the practice of
attack and defence, or, in other words,a just application of the
lessons received, w'hich, in fact, ought to be done as correctly
as if with sword in hand. In the assault, the mere movements
should be almost mechanical; for the mind being wholly
employed in discovering and counteracting the designs of
the adversary, as well as in concealing its own, the hand
should, on the proper opportunity being given, instantly
execute that which the mind conceives, without any con¬
sideration of the manner in which the particular motion is
to be made, as loss of time would most probably prove fatal
to its success. The rules to be observed are few and dis¬
tinct. The first thing which the attention of a young fencer
should naturally be directed to is, the most secure manner
in which he can come into the position of the guard, when
opposed to an adversary ready to take every advantage of
his inexperience. Whilst advancing into distance, it is
also an object of importance to have one side of the body
secured by the position, particularly that side to which the
antagonist’s blade is opposed; so that, if he commence an
attack during this movement, he must quit the blade in or-
FEN
FEN
505
Fencing der to direct his thrust or feint at any opening afforded him
/ (1 by the position of his opponent; and the opportunities of
Fen^lon attack being few, his designs will thus be the more easily
‘s*discovered. In short, the commanding an opponent’s blade
almost obliges him to effect some change in the relative
situations of the contending parties, before he advances into
distance; and as the necessity of such previous movement
must be foreseen, any attempt of this kind is favourable for
making an attack on him. And, generally, whilst standing
in the position of the guard, it is an advantage to have one
side of the body covered, and to command the foible of
the adversary’s blade. Straight thrusts and simple dis¬
engagements, executed with quickness and vigour, should
frequently be attempted, even though they do not succeed
in hitting ; and this counsel should be particularly attended
to in fencing with a stranger. Quick simple thrusts are
almost the only certain way of ascertaining his favourite
parades, and consequently of knowing by what feints to at¬
tack him with a probability of success. The suddenness
and rapidity of the attack will inevitably extort from him
the secret of his favourite defence.
Many masters of the old school, and some, too, of the
present day, have treated disarming as a matter of import¬
ance in the art; but, from its inutility, not to mention dan¬
ger, in the field, it is now considered by the highest autho¬
rities on the subject as incompatible with good fencing.
Mr Roland, in the work already referred to, shows by what
methods this may be accomplished, and at the same time
demonstrates the utter uselessness of the trick, for it is no
better. The only advantage of disarming indeed is that
of annoying the person disarmed; for, sword in hand, it is
rendered nugatory by the use of a sword-knot, with which,
it may be presumed, every person at all acquainted with the
weapon will take especial care to fasten it to his wrist in
a serious affair. As the manoeuvre of disarming may there¬
fore be defeated by the most ordinary precaution, attempt¬
ing it can serve no other purpose than to make one play
heavily and unpleasantly; whilst, from the strength it re¬
quires for the execution of its movements, it takes from
the necessary quickness, and affords an adversary favourable
moments of attack during the time an attempt is being
made to bind his blade. In short, disarming is considered
as characteristic of unskilful fencing; since perfection in
the trick can only tend to render fencing disagreeable with
the foil and ineffectual with the sword. We may add, that
volting, demi-volting, pirouetting, parrying with and op¬
posing the left hand, are manoeuvres now totally disused in
fencing.
As far back as 1692 a very curious book on the subject
of fencing was published by Sir William Hope ; it is now
very scarce. In 1780 a Lieutenant M‘Arthur published a
work on fencing, which he dedicated to the Duke of Ar¬
gyll, and which, we believe, is considered as a respectable
performance. But since the latter period nothing worth
noticing appears to have been written on the subject, with
the exception of Angelo’s book, illustrated by engravings,
and the works of the two Rolands ; of these, the most com¬
plete and satisfactory is Mr George Roland’s Treatise on
the Theory and Practice of Fencing above referred to.
The only standard French works on the subject are, a
Treatise by M. Danet, director of the royal academy of
privileged fencing-masters; and one by M. Laboissier;
both works of great merit, and highly esteemed, (j. b—e.)
FENELON, Francois de Salignac de Lamotte, was
descended of an ancient and illustrious family, and born at
the castle of Fenelon in Perigord, on the 6th of August
1651. Under the eyes of a virtuous father, he advanced
• in his literary studies with equal rapidity and success ; and
being from childhood nurtured in classical antiquity, and
in particular familiarised in his solitude with the master-
VOL. IX.
pieces of Grecian genius, his taste wras formed on the purest
models, whilst his benign genius was simultaneously de¬
veloped. Called to Paris by his uncle, the Marquis of Fe¬
nelon, to complete his philosophical studies, and commence
the course of theology requisite for the vocation to which
he was destined, he, at the age of fifteen, underwent the
same trial as Bossuet, and preached before an auditory,
less distinguished, perhaps, than that which assembled in
the hotel de Rambouillet, but still highly respectable, who
listened to him with a mixture of surprise and admiration.
But this premature reputation rather alarmed than grati¬
fied the Marquis of Fenelon, who, in order to withdraw the
young apostle from the seductions of the world and of
glory, placed him in the seminary of St Sulpice. In this
retreat Fenelon imbibed the evangelical spirit, and acquired
the friendship of the virtuous Tronson, the superior of the
establishment; and here also he received holy orders.
About this time his religious fervour inspired him with the
design of devoting himself to the missions in Canada. But
being thwarted in this scheme by the apprehensions of his
family and the weakness of his constitution, he soon turned
his regards towards the missions of the Levant, particu¬
larly Greece, where the sacred and the profane, St Paul
and Socrates, the church of Corinth, the Parthenon, and
Parnassus, equally invited his poetical and religious ima¬
gination. Fortunately for the Catholic church and for
France, however, this project also misgave ; and Fenelon,
diverted from distant missions, devoted himself to an apos-
tleship, which he thought not less useful, namely, the in¬
struction of the Nouvelles Catholiques, or newly-converted
women in Paris. The duties and cares of this employ¬
ment, in which he buried his genius during ten years, pre¬
pared him for the composition of his first work, entitled
Traite de VEducation des Filles, a masterpiece of delicacy
and of reason, which has not been equalled by the author
of Emile and painter of Sophie. This work was intended
for the Duchess of Beauvilliers, the pious mother of a nu¬
merous family. In the modest obscurity of his ministry,
Fenelon had already formed with the Dukes of Beauvil¬
liers and of Chevreuse that virtuous friendship which re¬
sisted equally the seductions of favour and the frowns of
disgrace, the smiles of the court and the decree of exile.
But in the case of Bossuet he met with an attachment
which was destined to be much less durable. Admitted
into familiarity with this great man, Fenelon studied his
genius and his life; and the example of Bossuet, whose
polemical religion exercised itself in controversies and
conversions, probably suggested to him the Traite du Mi-
nist&re des Pasteurs, a work in which he combats the he¬
retics with a moderation which formed no part of the cha¬
racter of his illustrious model. The subject, the merit of
this work, and the all-powerful suffrage of Bossuet in its
favour, induced Louis XIV. to confide to Fenelon the charge
of a new mission to Poitou. The rigorous uniformity which
the French monarch was desirous of establishing in mat¬
ters of religion, and the resistance which sprung from the
oppressive measures adopted for this purpose, often obli¬
ged the monarch to cause his missionaries be supported
by troops. Fenelon, however, not only rejected peremp¬
torily the co-operation of the dragoons, but even reserv¬
ed to himself the choice of the ecclesiastical colleagues
who should share with him in the ministry of persuasion
and gentleness. He converted without persecuting, and
made the faith of which he was the apostle an object of
love instead of hatred. The importance which was then
attached to such missions fixed all eyes upon Fenelon,
who had so happily acquitted himself of that entrusted to
his care.
A great object was now presented to his ambition and
his talents. The dauphin, grandson of Louis XIV., had
3 s
Fenelon.
at length passed the period of childhood, and the king was
looking out for a person to whom the education of the
youn<>' prince might be confided. Ihis was in the year
1689.° By the favour of Madame de Maintenon, virtue
obtained the preference in this appointment. M. de Beau-
villiers was named governor, and he recommended to the
king Fenelon as preceptor of the young prince. These
virtuous friends, seconded by the attentions of men worthy
of imitating them, commenced the task of educating the
future king ; and history attests that there was never seen
a more perfect concurrence of principle and exertion. But
Fenelon, by the natural superiority of his genius, formed
the soul of this reunion; it was he who, transported by
the hope of one day realizing the beau ideal of a prince
on the throne, and viewing the happiness of France as
in a great measure dependent on the education of its fu¬
ture sovereign, destroyed with admirable art all the danger¬
ous germs which nature and the premature sentiment of
power had implanted in his youthful breast, and gradually^
moulded an almost indomitable character to the habit of
the most salutary virtues. This system of education, pre¬
cious vestiges of which remain in some of the writings of
Fenelon, appears to have been a masterpiece of that genius
which devotes itself to advance the happiness of mankind.
When brought into the midst of the court, Fenelon, with¬
out intermingling in its intrigues, secured general admira¬
tion by the graces of his brilliant and ready wit, and the
charm of his noble and eloquent conversation. In his cha¬
racter the apostle and the great lord seemed to be strangely
united. Imagination and genius escaped him on all occa¬
sions ; and the most refined politeness at once embellished
and rendered pardonable in the eyes of courtiers, the ascen¬
dency of his talents. This personal superiority indeed ex¬
cited much more admiration than even the writings which
proceeded from his pen, and, at the period of his reception in
the Academy, was made the subject of eloquent commenda¬
tion. “ On sent,” says La Bruy ere, writing of him soon after¬
wards, “ la force et 1’ascendant de ce rare esprit, soit qu’il
preche de genie et sans preparation, soit qu’il prononce un
discours etudie et oratoire, soit qu’il explique ses pensees
dans la conversation ; toujours maitre de 1’oreille et du cceur
de ceux q\ii 1’ecoutent, il ne leur permet pas d’envier ni tant
d’elevation, ni tant de faculte de delicatesse de politesse.”
This ascendency of virtue, of grace, and of genius, which
excited in the hearts of the friends of Fenelon a tenderness
mixed with enthusiasm, and which had even won Madame
de Maintenon, in spite of her distrust and reserve, proved
altogether unavailing against the prepossessions of Louis
XIV. This monarch no doubt esteemed the man to whom
he had confided the education of his grandson, but he never
had any relish for his society. It is supposed indeed that
the brilliant and ready elocution of Fenelon was distasteful
to Louis, intolerant as he was of any sort of pre-eminence
except his own. But if we cast our eyes on the letter in
which Fenelon, in an expansion of confidence, informed
Madame de Maintenon “that Louis XIV. had no idea of his
duties as a king,” we shall probably find, in the expression
of this honest but uncourtly opinion, a better explanation
of the aversion of a monarch accustomed to adulation, than
in any supposed jealousy of the superiority of his conversa¬
tional powers. Fenelon passed five years in the eminent
situation of preceptor to the dauphin, w ithout asking or re¬
ceiving anything; and, indeed, during his residence at court
he had preserved the most irreproachable disinterestedness.
Louis XIV. however, who knew how to recompense merit,
even though its possessor might not be personally agreeable
to himself, wished to repair this oversight, and, in 1694,
named Fenelon Archbishop of Cambrai.
But at this moment of favour and prosperity his credit
was destined to receive a blow, which wmuld have inflict¬
ed a mortal wound on a less inviolable reputation. Fene¬
lon, whose natural temperament disposed him to cherish
a lively and spiritual devotion, had for some time fancied
that he recognised some of his own principles in the mouth
of a pious enthusiast, who, no doubt, had great talents
for persuasion, since she obtained an extraordinary influ¬
ence over several superior minds. Madame Guyon, writ¬
ing and discoursing on grace and on pure love, at first per¬
secuted and arrested, soon afterwards admitted into the
intimate society of the Duke of Beauvilliers, received by
Madame de Maintenon, and authorized to disseminate
her doctrine in St Cyr, then suspected by Bossuet, ar¬
rested anew, interrogated, and condemned, served as a
pretext for the disgrace of Fenelon. The inexorable Bos¬
suet, who loved not the mystical subtilties and refine¬
ments concerning divine love, with which the lively and
tender imagination of Fenelon was captivated, wished to
bring it about that the new Archbishop of Cambrai should
himself condemn the errors of a woman who had been his
friend. Fenelon, however, refused, both from conscience
and delicacy, to gratify his antagonist in this particular.
Fearing to compromise opinions which were dear to him,
wishing to exculpate the pietism of Madame Guyon, whose
only offence appeared to consist in some venial exaggera¬
tion about the love of God, and perhaps also shocked
at the theological haughtiness of Bossuet, who pressed
upon him as if for the purpose of proselytism, he stood
upon the defensive, and published his Maximesdes Saintes,
which may be regarded as an indirect apology for, or
even as a subdued exposition of, the principles of Ma¬
dame Guyon. In an age when a religious opinion was a
political event, the first appearance of this work excited
murmurs of astonishment; and all those who had been
secretly envious of the genius and the promotion of Fene¬
lon, declared loudly against the errors of his theology.
Bossuet, a man incapable of indulging mean or unworthy
sentiments, but at the same time inflexible, impatient of
contradiction, and regardless of all external observances,
when he believed the faith to be compromised, denounced
to Louis XIV. in the midst of his court, the alleged he¬
resy of the Archbishop of Cambrai; and at the moment
when this attack was made upon Fenelon, the burning of
his palace at Cambrai, and the consequent loss of his li¬
brary, manuscripts, and papers, put his patience to a new
trial, yet only drew from him the touching remark, “ It
is better that the fire should have consumed my dwelling
than the cottage of a poor labourer.” Nevertheless Bos¬
suet, committed by his declaration to the king, prepared
to pursue his rival, and seemed eager to extort from him
a recantation ; whilst, on the other hand, Madame de Main¬
tenon, hitherto the friend and protectress of henelon, treat¬
ed him with the greatest coldness. In the mean time Fe¬
nelon submitted his book to the judgment of the holy see.
Bossuet, however, having already composed remarks, in
which bitter and vehement censure is surrounded with
ostentatious expressions of friendship and regret, proposed
a conference ; but this Fenelon declined, preferring to de¬
fend his book at the tribunal to which he had appealed.
It was then that he received orders to quit the court and
retire into his diocese; a circumstance which occasioned
great grief to the Duke of Burgundy. I he cabal wished
to profit by the fall of Fenelon to overthrow the Duke of
Beauvilliers ; but the latter was saved by his own virtuous
conduct; for his devotion to the cause his unfortunate
friend interested the generosity of Louis XIV. and their
design miscarried. Notwithstanding the evident desire
of this monarch, however, the court of Rome hesitated to
condemn an archbishop so illustrious as Fenelon. But the
repugnance evinced by Innocent VIII. only served to sti¬
mulate the talents of the accuser and accused; and, whilst
F E N E L O N. 507
Fendlon. the judges (a commission consisting of ten cardinals) re- are convinced indeed that this generous precaution occu- F^n^Ion.
mained undecided, the writings of the two adversaries pied the mind of Fenelon whilst composing the work, and
succeeded one another with prodigious rapidity. The that, writing for the happiness of nations, he selected those
contest had, in fact, now changed its character. After primitive manners, and antique forms of society, which
having exhausted the dogma. Bossuet threw himself upon are the most remote from the picture of life presented by
the facts; and the Relation du Quietisme, wwitten with modern Europe, but which served equally well to embody
equal spirit and malignity, seemed calculated to involve his poetical conception, and to suggest those instructive
Fenelon in a portion of the ridicule which inseparably lessons which it was his grand object to inculcate. Be-
attached to Madame Guyon. The Abbe Bossuet, an sides, why should he have thought of representing Louis
unworthy nephew of the Bishop of Meaux, extended still XIV. under the character of the imprudent Idomeneus, or
further these personal inculpations, and, having collected that of the sacrilegious Adrastus, rather than under the
some odious rumours, sought to impeach the purity of masterly delineation of the great and virtuous Sesostris ?
Fenelon’s character. Never did the indignation of a vir- Fenelon, however, soon learned the indelible impression
tuous and calumniated spirit display itself in greater elo- which Telemaque had produced upon the heart of the king;
quence. Fenelon, in his defence, demolished these vile and, resigned to his banishment from court, which he had
accusations ; and it required new letters from Louis XIV. sometimes the weakness to call his disgrace, he sought to
prepared by Bossuet, and new intrigues, carried even to console himself for the loss ot the royal favour by endea-
the extent of menace, to extort from the court of Rome a vouring to diffuse happiness around him in his retreat at
reluctant condemnation, which, when obtained, was found Cambrai. The sanctity of the ancient bishops, the severity
to be softened both in the form and in the expressions.1 of the primitive church, the attraction of the most indul-
But the long and glorious resistance of the Archbishop gent virtue, the charm of the most captivating politeness,
of Cambrai had exasperated to the utmost the resent- the utmost eagerness to fulfil even the humblest duties of
ment of Louis XIV.; and the hesitation of the court of the ministry, indefatigable goodness, inexhaustible charity;
Rome to condemn him rendered his disgrace at that of such are the traits of Fenelon’s character as delineated by an
France more irrecoverable than ever. When the brief, so eloquent and virtuous prelate, who knew him well, and who
long delayed, and obtained after so much discussion and dwells writh enthusiasm on the picture which he has drawn
intrigue, at length arrived in 1699, Fenelon hastened to of his illustrious friend. The first care of Fenelon was to
subscribe it, and to ratify his own condemnation by a instruct the clergy of a seminary which he had founded;
mandatory letter, conceived in the most touching and nor did he even disdain to teach their catechism to the chil-
simple language, although Bossuet did not fail to discover dren of his diocese. Like the bishops of ancient days, he
in it much parade and ambiguity.2 often ascended the pulpit of his cathedral, and, trusting at
The modest submission of Fenelon, his silence, his epis- once to his faith and his feelings, spoke without prepara-
copal virtues, and the admiration which these had inspired, tion, diffusing all the treasures of his natural eloquence,
would not, in all probability, have re-opened to him the When the misfortunes of the war, which chastised the am-
doors of the court of Louis XIV.; but an unexpected event, bition of Louis XIV., brought the allied army into the
which occurred at this time, served to irritate that monarch diocese of Cambrai, the occasion called for new efforts and
more than ever against him. The Telemaque, composed newr sacrifices upon the part of the good archbishop, who, by
several years previously during the period of his favour, was his wisdom, his firmness, and the nobleness of his language,
published some months after the affair about Quietism, inspired the hostile commanders with a salutary respect for
through the infidelity of a domestic who had been employ- the unfortunate provinces of Flanders. Marlborough and
ed to transcribe the manuscript, and who, it appears, had Eugene indeed were wmrthy of listening to the voice of
contrived to take a copy for himself. The work, though the great man whose genius and worth they so well appre-
suppressed in France, was reproduced by the presses of dated.3 * * *
Holland, and obtained throughout all Europe a success The situation of Cambrai on the frontiers of France at-
which malignity rendered injurious to Louis XIV., by seek- tracted to the archiepiscopal residence many strangers, none
ing in it allusions to the conquests and misfortunes of his of whom approached or quitted its lord without being af-
reign. This prince, w7ho had always disliked the political fected with a sort of religious admiration. Not to mention
notions of Fenelon, and had even described him as “ un Ramsay, who passed several years under his roof, the cele-
bel esprit chimerique,” regarded the author of Tilemaque brated Marshal Munich, and the unfortunate Chevalier de
as a detractor of his glory, who to the guilt of ingratitude St George, called James III., experienced the delight of
added the more irritating injustice of satire. There can- his society, and derived instruction from his superior saga-
not be a greater absurdity, however, than to construe this city. By the wise counsels which he gave to James III.,
production as a political satire, or to seek in it for allego- Fenelon showed his high esteem for the English constitu-
I’ical and premeditated censure of Louis XIV.; all the de- tion, powerful alike against despotism on the one hand, and
tails being, in fact, combined in the best manner imagi- anarchy on the other. The archbishop was exempt from
nable for disconcerting allusions, and avoiding as much that narrow patriotism which undervalues whatever exists
as possible the inevitable fatality of resemblances. We beyond the frontiers. His virtuous and benevolent spirit
1 The interest of this discussion, so foreign to the ideas of our age, has been admirably preserved in the excellent History of Fentlon
by M. de Bausset, in which will be found an animated picture of the court of Rome and of the court of France, which took such a live¬
ly interest in this frivolous question, which, however, was aggrandized by the opinions of the time, and the prodigious talents ot the
rival disputants.
2 Pope Innocent, who appears to have heartily disapproved the violent proceedings adopted against the Archbishop of Cambrai,
wrote thus to the prelates who had particularly distinguished themselves as adversaries of Fdndlon : Peccavit excessu amoris divini, sed
vos peccdstis defectu amoris proxhni; one of the most pungent reproofs, perhaps, which is to be found in all history.
3 It is now known that the Vie du Prince Eugene, though written as if it were an autobiography in the first person, is the produc¬
tion of the Prince de Ligne. In this clever performance, the veteran is made to speak thus of the great preachers of Ills time.
Quand Bourdaloue me fait tout craindre, Massillon me fait tout esperer. Nous sommes nes la meme annee, et je Pai connu a son
entree dans le monde, parfaitement aimable. Bossuet m’etonne; Fenelon me touche. Je les avals vus aussi dans ma jeunesse; et
Marlborough et moi, nous avons rendu au dernier to\is les honneurs possibles, quand nous avoirs pris Cambrai.” (Viedu Prince Eugene,
p. 225. Paris, 1810, 8vo.)
508 F E N E L O N.
Fenelon. concerned itself for the welfare of the whole human family,
i -a,J “ I love my family,” said he, “ better than myself; I love
my country better than my family; but I love the human
race better than my country ” The humanity of Fenelon
was not, however, confined to exaggerated speculations
an 1 impracticable generalities, which always suppose great
ignorance of the details of human alfairs. His politics were
not the dream of a virtuous but fanciful mind. Fie had
seen and judged both the court and the world ; he was ac¬
quainted with the history of all ages; and he was endowed
with an independence of spirit which raised him above the
prejudices of his age and nation. In the different memoirs
which he addressed to the Duke of Beauvilliers may be
seen proofs of the wisdom of his views respecting the great¬
est interests, particularly the succession to the throne of
Spain, the policy best suited to Philip V., the views of the
allies, the conduct of the war, and the necessity of peace.
The disastrous war of the succession having brought the
theatre of action near to the archiepiscopal residence of
F'enelon, afforded him an opportunity, after ten years’ ab¬
sence, of seeing the young prince whom he had formed,
and who had just assumed the command of the French
troops. It cannot be disguised, however, that, in the com¬
mand of armies, the pupil of Fenelon fell far below the pro¬
mise of his youth and the opinion of France respecting
him. The letters of the archbishop to the Duke of Bur¬
gundy, at this decisive epoch, evince a severe frankness,
and show the ascendency which the master had acquired
over the mind of the scholar ; so much so, indeed, as to cre¬
ate a suspicion that the young prince, though well inform¬
ed, docile, and virtuous, was of too timid a genius. In
these letters also severe judgments are pronounced on all
the generals who then formed the hope of France. Fene¬
lon, in fact, though he possessed great sweetness of dispo¬
sition, had not a little of domination in his character. His
ideas were absolute and decisive ; the promptitude and force
of his mind rendered his judgments energetic and inflexible.
But the continual attention which he gave to the political
interests of France in no degree diminished his zeal for the
affairs of religion and the church ; and those who have been
accustomed to honour him as a philosopher, will perhaps
be surprised to find him entering into all ecclesiastical dis¬
cussions with an ardour equal to that of Bossuet himself.
When the unfortunate disputes about Jansenism were, af¬
ter a long interruption, revived, Fenelon wrote against men
who did not imitate him in his respect for the court of
Rome, and he soon found himself engaged in a controversy
scarcely less animated than that which had taken place
concerning Quietism.
I he courtiers supposed that in acting thus Fenelon had
views of ambition and flattery. But if he had desired to
regain the favour of the sovereign, he employed, about the
same period, a much more effectual method for accomplish¬
ing his object, by feeding at his own expense the whole
French army during the disastrous winter of 1709. His aim
in both cases was to serve religion and his country. The
same sentiments dictated the view which h,e presented the
following year of the evils of France, and also the project
of associating the nation with the government, by convok¬
ing an assembly of the notables, a proposition remarkable
in itself, and still more so when considered in connection
with subsequent events. In the memoir which contains
the exposition of this scheme, Fenelon shows that he had
rightly estimated the strength and the weakness of despo¬
tism, as well as the salutary power of liberty. Meanwhile,
an unexpected event appeared to accelerate the moment
w icn the counsels of Fenelon were to govern France,
ie giand dauphin died, and the Duke of Burgundy, long
oppressed by the mediocrity of his father, saw himself all
at once brought close to the throne of which he was heir,
and to the king, whose stay and support he now became, Fene'lon,
His virtues, freed from a jealous tutelage, had at length
scope for action ; and the pupil of Fenelon showed himself
worthy of his master. Full of hope and joy, the latter
wrote to the young prince, who, according to St Simon,
reigned in advance, “II ne faut pas que tous soient a un
seul, mais un seul doit etre a tous pour faire leur bonheur
language which, we believe, has but rarely been addressed
to the heirs apparent of thrones. But whilst Fenelon was
devising plans for promoting the welfare of France, and
advancing the glory of its future sovereign, all his hopes
were blasted by the sudden death of the young heir of the
old king, who remained unshaken amidst all the humilia¬
tions of his glory, and all the disasters of his family. Fe¬
nelon survived this event some time, and, notwithstanding
his grief, laboured to prevent the evils incident to a long
and inevitable minority. In several confidential memoirs
which he wrote on this subject, we discover the novelty of
his political views, and that spirit of liberty which, in his
age, was not the least of its innovations. One of these
papers is devoted to a discussion of the probabilities of the
guilt of the Duke of Orleans, and whether he was actuated
by an ambition which required other crimes besides that
which had been laid to his charge ; a memoir in which,
without dwelling upon all the horrors of the popular re¬
ports, he judges severely the scandalous profligacy of the
Duke of Orleans, and condemns his vices in the tone and
language which it became a Christian bishop to assume.
The last public discussion in which Fenelon engaged relat¬
ed to the bull Unigenitus, which, as is well known, gave rise
to much controversy, and occupied his attention towards
the close of his life. Malignity has supposed that the zeal
of Fenelon in this matter was sharpened by an old grudge
against the Cardinal de Noailles ; but when the conduct of
this virtuous and excellent man seems to be authorized by
his duty, it is not necessary to explain it by reference to
his alleged weaknesses. Faithful above all things to his
episcopal character, he conceived himself bound to com¬
bat errors which he considered as calculated to disturb the
consciences of men, and to interrupt the repose of the
church. But his wine of life was now upon the lees. His
friends, like the travellers on the bridge in the Vision of
Mirza, had dropped off one by one, till the Duke of Beau¬
villiers alone remained to him; and when the latter was
also removed by death, Fenelon followed him to the grave
at the brief interval of four months. This great and good
man expired on the 7th January 1715, at the age of sixty-
four; and his death, which a slight fall had accelerated,
was, like his life, that of a virtuous and exemplary Chris¬
tian bishop. In the Dissertations prefixed to this work
(vol. i. p. 335) the reader will find the characters of Fe¬
nelon and Bossuet ably contrasted, by Sir James Mackin¬
tosh.
The following list of the works of F^nelon includes every thing
of any consequence which proceeded from his pen: 1. Trait6 de
l Education des Eilles, 1681 and 1687 ; 2. Trait'e du Minisiere des
Pasteurs, 1688, in 12mo J 3. Explication des Maximes des Saints,
1697, in 12mo; 4. Aventures de TeUmaque, 1699, the editions of
which are innumerable; 5. Dialogues des Marts, composes pour
Vtducation d'un Prince, 1712, in 12mo ; 6. Dialogues sur VEloquence
en general, et sur celle de la Chaire en particulier, avec une Lettre a,
VAcademic Franqaise, 1718, in 12mo; 7. Examen de la Conscience
d un lloi, 1734 ; 8. Lettres sur divers sujets, concernant la Religion et,
la Metaphysique, 1718; 9. Demonstration de VExistence de Dieu,
tiree de la connaissance de la Nature, et proportionee a la faible intel¬
ligence des plus simples, 1713, in 12mo ; 10. Recueil de Sermons choisis
sur differents sujets, 1710, in 12mo; 11. (Euvres Spirituelles. There
is no very complete edition of the works of Fenelon. The clergy
of France undertook one some years before the Revolution, and en¬
trusted the preparation of it first to the Abbe Gallard, and after¬
wards to the Abbe de Querbeuf; but, from whatever cause, in this
collection of the writings of Fenelon, which appeared at Paris in
nine volumes 4to, 1787-1792, the reader will seek in vain for those
FEN
Fenton, on Quietism and Jansenism, his Explication des J/cm'mes, .and his
Mandements. In the edition of the Qduvres de Fenelon, published at
Toulouse, 1809-1811, in nineteen vols. 12mo, the life of Fenelon by
Querbeuf has been introduced, together with four Instructions Pas¬
torales, and an Abregb des Vies des anciens Philosophes, which are
not contained in the former edition. Some years after the death of
Fenelon there appeared Recueil de quelques Opuscules de M. de Sa-
lignac de Lamotte-Fenelon, archeveque de Cambrai, sur differentes ma-
tieres importances, in 8vo, a rare volume, which is precious as con¬
taining a detailed catalogue or notice of all his works, reprinted in
the edition of Les Aventures de Telemaque, published at Lyons in
1815. The eloge of Fenelon by D’Alembert will be found in the
Histoire des Membres de VAcademic Franqaise (tom. i. and iii.). That
of Laharpe gained the prize proposed by the Academy, whilst the
abbe obtained the accessit. But the most complete biographical ac¬
count of this illustrious man is that given by M. de Bausset, for¬
merly bishop of Alais, in his Ilistoire de Fenelon, 1808, in 3 vols.
8vo, reprinted the year following with corrections and addi¬
tions. _ _
FENTON, Sir Geoffrey, an eminent writer and states¬
man during the reigns of Elizabeth and James I., and
brother to Edward Fenton, the navigator, who accompanied
Sir Martin Frobisher in his expeditions, and was afterwards
sent out independently to endeavour to discover a noith-
west passage. Sir Geoffrey appears to have received a
liberal education, and certainly gave many proofs of his ac¬
quaintance with ancient and modern learning. He is best
known, however, for his translation of the History of the
Wars of Italy by Guicciardini, which he dedicated to Queen
Elizabeth. He also published, 1. Certain Tragical Dis¬
courses, written oute of French and Latin, lo67, in 4to;
2. An account of a dispute at Paris, between two Doctors
of the Sorbonne and two Ministers of Gods Word, lo/l ;
3. An Epistle, or Godly Admonition, sent to the Pastors of
the Flemish Church at Antwerp, exhorting them to con¬
cord with other Ministers; translated from the original of
Antonio de Carro, 1578; 4. Golden Epistles, containing
variety of Discourses, both moral, philosophical, and divine,
gathered as well out of the remainder of Guevara’s works,
as other authors, Latin, French, and Italian, 1577. T he
familiar epistles of Guevara had been published in English
by Edward Fellowes, in 1574; but Fenton’s collection con¬
sists of pieces not contained in that publication, and, like
his translation of Guicciardini, has risen in public estima¬
tion since the language and literature of the Elizabethan
age have been more generally studied. In the capacity of
queen’s counsellor or secretary, Fenton served for a consi¬
derable time in Ireland, where his conduct appears to have
given great satisfaction to his royal mistress. To his honour
be it stated, he took every opportunity of impressing on the
mind of the queen the important truth, that the safety and
glory of her government in that island depended on her
subjects enjoying the protection of equal laws. He died at
Dublin, Oct. 19, 1606. 0- z—v.)
Fenton, Elijah, an English poet of considerable note,
was born at Shelton, near Newcastle-under-Line, in Staf¬
fordshire, on the 20th of May 1683. Being the youngest of
twelve children, he was destined for the church as a pro¬
fession ; and with this view he was admitted a pensioner
of Jesus College, Cambridge; but having refused to take
the oaths to government, he was obliged to quit the univer¬
sity without a degree, and forced to trust to his abilities for
a subsistence. His first employment promised more than
it afterwards realized. He accompanied the Earl of Orrery
to Flanders in the capacity of private secretary, and re¬
turned with his lordship to England in 1705. Being thus
left without employment, he became assistant in a school
at Headley, in Surrey, and was soon afterwards appointed
master of the free grammar-school at Sevenoaks in Kent.
In 1710 he was prevailed on to give up the drudgery of
F E R
teaching for the worse drudgery of political dependence;
Lord Bolingbroke, who had persuaded him to take this un¬
wise step, having, with characteristic recklessness, neglected ^
his interest, and left him disappointed and in debt. But
not long afterwards he was appointed tutor to Lord Brog-
hill, only son of the Earl of Orrery ; and when this engage¬
ment expired, he was, on the recommendation of Pope, em¬
ployed to give private instructions to Mr Craggs, secretary
of state, who, feeling his own want of literature, was anxious,
with the aid of such an instructor, to supply the deficiencies
of his education. His next engagement was with Pope
himself. The success of the translation of the Iliad having
induced the latter to undertake that of the Odyssey, he, in
order to lighten the task, resolved to engage auxiliaries;
and, with this view, retaining twelve books for his own
share, he distributed the remaining twelve between Broome
and Fenton. Of these, according to Johnson and Warton,
Fenton translated the first, fourth, nineteenth, and twen¬
tieth ; though the Earl of Orrery has asserted that he trans¬
lated double the number of books which Pope has acknow¬
ledged.1 In 1723 his tragedy of Mariamne was brought
out, and performed with such success that the author s pro¬
fits are said to have amounted to nearly a thousand pounds.
The poetical merit of this tragedy is considerable; but the
diction is too figurative and ornate for a dramatic compo¬
sition, and accordingly it has not retained its place on the
stage. In 1727 Fenton superintended a new edition of
Milton’s Poems, to which he prefixed a life, of which John¬
son has spoken with commendation ; and in 1/29 he pub¬
lished a splendid edition of Waller, with notes. The latter
part of Fenton’s life was passed in tranquillity. By the re¬
commendation of Pope, Lady Trumbull appointed him tutor
to her son, first at home and afterwards at Cambridge; and
when he had acquitted himself of the duties of this office,
she still retained him in her family as auditor of her ac¬
counts, in which capacity he seems to have enjoyed his ease,
and found leisure to pay frequent visits to his literary friends
in London. He died at East Hampstead, Berkshire, on the
13th of July 1730, and was interred in the parish church,
where his tomb has inscribed on it an epitaph written by
Pope. Fenton, naturally indolent, was capable of greater
things than he performed. His reputation as a poet rests
chiefly on his Mariamne, and his share in the translation of
the Odyssey, which the readers of poetry have never been
able to distinguish from the portion executed by Pope him¬
self; but to his Miscellaneous Poems, published in 1717,
he has been indebted for a place amongst the English poets
in Dr Johnson’s collection. Of his morals and conversation
the account is uniform. “ He was never named,” says Dr
Johnson, “ but with praise and fondness, as a man in the
highest degree amiable and excellent. Such was the cha¬
racter given of him by the Earl of Orrery, his pupil; such
is the testimony of Pope; and such were the suffrages of
all who could boast of his acquaintance.” (j. b—e.)
FEOD, or Feud. See Feudal Law.
FEOFFMENT, in law (from the verb feoffare or infeu-
dare, to give one a fief), the gift or grant of any corporeal
hereditament to another, by delivery of the possession of
the hereditament conveyed and evidenced by an instru¬
ment in writing, without which, since the 29th Car. II., cap.
3, there can be no valid feoffment. This mode of convey¬
ance is now seldom resorted to; the 8th and 9th Viet., cap.
106, sec. 2, having enacted that all corporeal hereditaments
lie in grant as well as in livery of seisin, which was pre¬
viously required to perfect the conveyance by feoffment,
and a “ grant” or concessio is now substituted.
FERALIA, in Antiquity, a festival observed by the
509
Feod
II
Feralia.
1 In a letter to Mr Buncombe, Lord Orrery says, “His reward was a trifle, an arrant trifle. He has even told me that he thought
Pope feared him more than he loved him. He had no opinion of Pope’s heart; and declared him, in the words of bishop Atterb y,
“ Mens curva in cor pore curvoA
510 F E R
Ferdinand Romans on the 21st of February (Ovid says the 17th), in
II honour of the manes of their deceased friends and relations.
Ferenti- yarr0 derives the word from inferi, or from fero, on account
num’ . of a repast carried to the sepulchres of such as had that day
the last offices rendered to them. Festus derives it from
ferio, on account of the victims sacrificed. Vossius again
derives it from the epithet fera, cruel, frequently applied to
death. Macrobius {Saturnalia, lib. i., cap. 13) refers the
origin of the ceremony to Numa Pompilius. Ovid, in his
Fasti, goes back for its institution as far as the time of
jEneas. He adds, that on the same day a sacrifice was per¬
formed to the goddess Muta, or Dumb ; and that the per¬
sons who officiated were an old woman and a number of
attendant young girls.
During the continuance of this festival, which lasted
eleven days, presents were made at the graves of the de¬
ceased, marriages were forbidden, and the temples of the
gods were shut. Whilst the ceremonies continued, it was
imagined that the ghosts suffered no punishments in hell,
but that their tormentors allowed them to wander round
their tombs, and to feast upon the meats which their surviv¬
ing friends had prepared for them. During the feralia public
feasts were sometimes given to the people at the tombs of
the rich and great, by their heirs or particular friends.
FERDINAND, a name common among the royal fami¬
lies of some of the European states. Of the most distin¬
guished or notorious of those who have borne this title we
may mention Ferdinand I. of Austria, younger brother of
Charles V., born 1503, died 1564 ; his grandson Ferdinand
II. of Austria, who came to the throne in 1619, and died
in 1637. Of the Neapolitan Ferdinands maybe noticed—
Ferdinand I., natural son of Alfonso V. of Aragon and
Sicily,—born in 1423, died in 1494; his grandson Fer¬
dinand II., who died in 1496 ; Ferdinand III., who became
Ferdinand V. of Spain and Ferdinand IV. of Naples, or I.
of the united kingdom of the Two Sicilies, born 1751, died
1825. Of the Spanish Ferdinands the most noted was
Ferdinand II. of Aragon, the husband of Isabella of Cas¬
tile, born 1453, died 1516; by whose union the Spanish
monarchy was consolidated.
Fi£RE, La, a fortified town of France, in the department
of Aisne, situated on an island of the Oise, near its con¬
fluence with the Serre, 16 miles N.W. of Laon. It has a
large arsenal, a school of artillery, a powder mill, and salt¬
petre works. Pop. 3129. La Fere was taken by the allies
on 24th February 1814.
FERENTARII, in Roman Antiquity, light-armed troops
who fought with missile weapons. See Army, Roman, vol.
iii., p. 631.
FERENTINUM (now Ferentd), in Ancient Geography,
a city of Etruria, on the northern slope of the Ciminian
hills, about five miles from Viterbo, and the same distance
from the banks of the Tiber. It is only noted as the birth¬
place of the Emperor Otho, and as possessing a very old
and splendid temple of Fortune.
Ferentinum (now Ferentino\ in Ancient Geogra-
phy, a city of the Hernici, about 48 miles from Rome,
in a S.E. direction on the side of a hill rising immediately
on the left of the Via Latina. It appears to have been at
one time a Volscian city, but soon after the defeat of that
people by the Romans in b. c. 413 it was made over with
the adjoining territory to the Hernici. In the war which
this latter people waged with the Romans in b.c. 361 it was
taken by the Roman consuls, but so leniently dealt with,
that when the Hernici rebelled for the third and last time,
eientinum was one of the three Hernican cities that re¬
used to join the revolt. In consideration of this they were
a owed by the conquerors to retain their own laws, which
t ey pie ened to the Roman code. After the social war,
However, the Ferentines accepted the franchise. The an¬
cient remains at Ferentino possess considerable interest.
FEE
They consist chiefly of the old walls built somewhat in the Feretrins
cyclopean style, a kind of citadel on the top of the hill, on
which the cathedral now stands, and various other portions Ferguson-
of Roman buildings.
FERETRIUS, a surname of Jupiter, as the subduer of
enemies, and to whom the Romans consequently offered
the spolia opima.
FERG, or Fergue, Francis Paul, a landscape painter,
was born at Vienna in 1689, and there learned the first
principles of his art. He successively practised under Hans
Grafj Orient, and Thiele. The last of these, who was
painter to the court of Saxony, having invited him to Dres¬
den to insert small figures in his landscapes, Ferg repaired
to that city, whence he proceeded into Lower Saxony, and
painted for the Duke of Brunswick and for the gallery of
Salzdahl. From Germany he passed over to London, where
he might have lived in esteem and affluence, had he not, by
an indiscreet marriage, involved himself in difficulties from
which he was never able to extricate himself, and which,
it is said, terminated only by his death from actual starva->
tion. This pleasing artist, Walpole observes, had formed
a manner of his own from various Flemish painters, though
resembling Poelemburg most in the enamelled softness and
mellowness of his colouring; but his figures are greatly
superior, every part of them being sufficiently finished, and
every action expressive. He painted small landscapes, fairs,
and rural meetings, with much natural truth; his horses
and cattle are not inferior to those of Wouwermans; and
his buildings and distances seem to owe their respective
softness to the intervening air, not to the pencil. More
faithful to nature than Denner, he knew how to omit exact¬
ness when the result of the whole demanded less precision
in parts. The greater number of his works are in London
and Germany; and the price they now bear is the best
proof of their real merit. He also etched well with aqua
fbrtis ; and his works of that description are highly esteemed
by print-collectors.
FERGUSON, Adam, LL.D., a distinguished philoso¬
pher and historian, born June 20, 1723, at Logierait in the
Highlands of Perthshire, of which parish his father was
minister. This excellent man had a numerous family, of
whom Adam was his youngest son, by Mary Gordon, daugh¬
ter of Mr Gordon of Hallhead, in Aberdeenshire.
It is believed that Adam received the first part of his
education at the village school of his native parish, and
thence he was removed to Perth, where he is said to have
made uncommon progress in classical literature.
Towards the end of 1738 he entered the university of St
Andrews. The Greek class in St Leonard’s College was
at this time taught by Mr Francis Pringle, the ablest Greek
scholar Scotland then possessed; and in his class Adam
Ferguson was enrolled as a ternar—that is to say, one who
pays the lowest rate of fees. It has been alleged that he
was admitted one of the foundation bursars, having stood
first in the list of successful competitors; but if so, the
victory was not very splendid, as, of the twelve who entered
the class along with him, not more than eight (being of the
denomination of ternars) could have been permitted to share
in the contest. Ferguson appears to have acquired little
more at this seminary than a high admiration of the Grecian
and R oman literature, to the beauties of which he was more
nearly introduced than he had hitherto been. He obtained
the degree of master of arts May 4,1742, when he had nearly
completed his nineteenth year. In November of the same
year he entered the divinity hall; and he studied also a
year or two at Edinburgh ; but there his attention appears
to have been chiefly given to pursuits not immediately con¬
nected with his clerical views. In 1745, though he had
studied divinity only one-half of the usual period, the Gene¬
ral Assembly permitted his ordination by the presbytery of
Dunkeld, on the representation that young Ferguson had
FERGUSON.
511
Ferguson, been pitched upon as the fittest person, from his knowledge
of the Erse language, to fill the office of chaplain to the
Highland regiment (the 42d) under the command of Lord
John Murray. He continued attached to this regiment till
1757; about the beginning of which year he was elected
keeper of the Advocates’ Library, on the resignation of the
celebrated David Hume; but this office he relinquished in
about a year.
In the course of 1757 Ferguson rendered himself con¬
spicuous by the interest he took in the success of the tra¬
gedy of Douglas, written by his familiar friend the Rev,
John Home, and by his published defence of the morality
of stage plays. When Home resigned his living in June
of that year, Ferguson and he retired to Braid, in the vicinity
of Edinburgh, and there spent several months in study, en¬
livened by the intercourse of friendship. Ferguson’s cam¬
paigning experience appears to have given him a relish for
a migratory life: he delighted particularly in taking occa¬
sional excursions to the Highlands, and rambling amidst
the lakes and forests of Rannoch, or among his native hills.
It was here that the lofty enthusiasm of his spirit was
nursed and matured ; and it may be said that the dignity
and ease of manner for which he was distinguished above
most of the literary men of his country, was acquired not
so much in the intercourse of polished society, as in the
wilds of Athole. To use his owm expressive words:—“ If
I had not been in the Highlands of Scotland, I might be
of their mind who think the inhabitants of Paris and Ver¬
sailles the only polite people in the world. It is truly won¬
derful to see persons of every sex and age, who never tra¬
velled beyond the nearest mountain, possess themselves
perfectly, perform acts of kindness with an aspect of dignity,
and a perfect discernment of what is proper to oblige. This
is seldom to be seen in our cities or in our capital; but a
person among the mountains, who thinks himself nobly born,
considers courtesy as the test of his rank.”
In 1759 Ferguson succeeded Dr John Stewart as pro¬
fessor of natural philosophy in the university of Edinburgh.
He had paid comparatively little attention to physical
science ; yet with only four months to prepare his course,
he acquitted himself to the satisfaction of all.
Ferguson was appointed in 1764 to the chair of moral
philosophy, which had long been a favourite object of his
ambition. He entered on his new duties with a degree of
spirit and activity from which the most splendid results were
to be anticipated. In his discourses he seldom had recourse
to notes, but trusted to his memory ;—a method of lecturing
liable to abuse, and generally unsatisfactory to the student,
though in his hands happily executed. His class was
crowded by great numbers of gentlemen of high rank and
official station, as well as by younger students. Within
little more than a year after he commenced his labours as a
lecturer on morals, he published his Essay on the History
of Civil Society, which was received with great approba¬
tion. Mr Hume, in a letter, congratulates the author on
the success of the book, adding that he had “ met with no¬
body that had read it who did not praise it.” About this
time Ferguson married Miss Burnet, a young lady nearly
connected with his mother’s family, and still more nearly
related to his intimate friend Dr Black. Soon afterwards
he began to cultivate a farm in the parish of Currie, and,
at a considerable sacrifice of private interest, gratified his
taste for improvement, by transforming a barren heath into
a scene which became distinguishd for beauty and fertility.
All this time, however, he continued to conduct the busi¬
ness of his class with unremitted diligence, but seized every
interval of leisure to collect materials for a history of the
Roman commonwealth. Whilst thus engaged, he was so¬
licited by the guardians of Charles, Earl of Chesterfield, to
superintend that young nobleman’s education, which had
been much neglected. The negotiation was conducted
through the mediation of Dr Adam Smith; and Ferguson Ferguson,
was persuaded to accept the charge, though it necessitated
the suspension of his lectures in the university ; but having
obtained leave of absence for the next session, he joined
his young charge at Geneva in May 1774. This connec¬
tion, however, terminated about twelve months afterwards.
In the meantime he had very nearly been deprived of his
office in the university, the town-council before the conclu¬
sion of the session having thought fit to declare the chair
vacant. His friends in the university, particularly Drs
Robertson, Blair, and Black, were exceedingly indignant
at this decision, and endeavoured to get it reversed. As
the council, however, seemed to have determined to fill up
the place by a new election, it became necessary to apply
to the Court of Session to put a stop to their proceedings.
After his return, he continued, as formerly, to divide his
time between his literary and agricultural pursuits, and en¬
gaged occasionally in the political controversies which agi¬
tated the country during the progress of the American war.
Besides his pamphlet in answer to Dr Price’s observations
on liberty, he communicated his views from time to time
to Sir William Pulteney, and other members of parliament;
and when it was resolved by government to send out com¬
missioners to quiet the disorders in the colonies, he was ap¬
pointed secretary to the commission. It is well known that
the commissioners returned without accomplishing the ob¬
ject of their mission ; but they had an opportunity of ac¬
quiring more useful information of the state and temper of
the country than government had received in all the pre¬
vious course of the contest. Whilst Dr Ferguson was ab¬
sent during the session 1778-1779, his place was supplied
by Dugald Stewart, who, about five years afterwards, was
destined to succeed him in the chair of moral philosophy.
In 1780 Dr Ferguson was seized with an attack of apo¬
plexy, which, though not violent, was nevertheless sufficient
to alarm his friends. This formidable affection did not in
the slightest degree impair the force of his understanding;
and so abstemious did he afterwards become, as not only to
secure himself against the recurrence of the disease, but to
enjoy almost uninterrupted health for more than thirty years.
As he could not now venture to lecture extempore as for¬
merly, he wrote out his course, availing himself of the notes
taken by some of the more intelligent of his former pupils.
He was now (1783) busy in carrying his great historical
work through the press. This was the History of the Pro¬
gress and Termination of the Roman Republic, 3 vols. 4to ;
a book which not only delights by the clearness of its nar¬
rative and the boldness of its descriptions, but instructs and
animates by profound and masterly delineations of character,
as well as by the philosophical precision with which it traces
the connection of events.
No longer able for the fatigue of public teaching, in the
following year he resigned his chair in the university. He
was succeeded by Dugald Stewart, then professor of ma¬
thematics; and an arrangement was made by which Dr
Ferguson retained the salary. He now proceeded to revise
the notes of his lectures on ethics and politics ; and in 1792
they were published under the title of Principles of Moral
and Political Science. Though composed under disad¬
vantageous circumstances, this work contains an admirable
view of the systems both of ancient and modern philoso¬
phers, particularly respecting the foundations of moral ap¬
probation, and the sources of private happiness and public
security. Dr Ferguson, now in his seventieth year, resolved
to pay a visit to the ancient metropolis of the world. He
passed a short time at some of the principal cities of Europe,
Berlin, Vienna, Florence, Naples, and Venice, and resided
part of the winter of 1793 at Rome, in all of which places his
reception was extremely flattering. He was elected a mem¬
ber of the Academy of Berlin, as well as of other learned
societies. Upon his return to Britain in 1794, he took up
512 FEE
Ferguson, his residence at Nidpath Castle in Tweeddale, frorn which
V—^ he soon removed to Kailyards on Manor Water, and in this
agreeable retreat he spent the next fourteen years of his
life. At last, however, when his sight and his hearing had
in a great measure failed, he took up his abode at St An¬
drews. Here his strength gradually declined, but the vigour
of his mind continued unimpaired to the last hour of his
life. He died, after a short illness, Feb. 22, 1816, in the
ninety-third year of his age, leaving three sons and three
daughters.
In the various situations which it was his lot to occupy,
he had uniformly conducted himself with a dignity and de¬
cision which bespoke the elevation and force of his mind.
In private life his conversation was easy and elegant, and,
among his intimate friends, enlivened by a fascinating gaiety
and refinement of humour.
Among his writings are—The Morality of Stage Plays seriously
considered. Edinb. 1757. A Pamphlet on the Militia. Lond. 1758.
The History of the Proceedings in the case of Margaret, commonly
called Sister Peg. Three editions. Lond. 1762. Another, 1777.
Analysis of Lectures on Mechanics. Edinb. An Essay on the His¬
tory of Civil Society. Lond. 1767. This book has passed through
many editions, and has been translated into almost all the European
languages. Analysis of Pneumatics and: Moral Philosophy. Edinb.
1766. 12mo. Institutes of Moral Philosophy, 1769; 319 pages
12mo. Another edition, 1773 ; 294 pages. A translation of this
edition into French was published at Geneva in 1775, and revised
by the author. A third edition, enlarged, was published at Edinb.
1785; 317 pages, 12mo. This elementary work has been used as
a text book in several foreign universities. Remarks on a pam¬
phlet published by Dr Price, entitled Observations on the Nature
of Civil Liberty, &c. Lond. 1776. The History of the Progress and
Termination of the Roman Republic. Lond. 1783. 3 vols. 4to. A
translation into German was printed at Leipsig in 1784. It has
been translated into several other modern languages, and has passed
through a number of English editions. Principles of Moral and
Political Science. Lond. 1792, 2 vols. 4to. Minutes of the Life and
Character of Joseph Black, M.D., 1801. (Published in the Transac¬
tions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.} Biographical Sketch or
Memoir of Lieutenant-Colonel Patrick Ferguson. Edinb. 1817,
printed, but not published for sale. He left behind him many
papers; but a great mass of letters and other valuable documents
had been indiscriminately destroyed by his direction some years
before his death.
Ferguson, James, an eminent experimental philosopher,
mechanist, and astronomer, was born at Keith, in Banffshire,
in 1714, of parents in very humble circumstances. At an
early age his extraordinary genius began to unfold itself.
He first learned to read by overhearing his father teach his
elder brother ; and he had made this acquisition before any
one suspected he had done so. He soon discovered a pe¬
culiar taste for mechanics, which first indicated itself on
seeing his father use a lever; and having pursued this study
a considerable time, even when very young, he at length
made a watch in wood-work, from having once seen one.
As he had no instructor, nor any help from books, every¬
thing he learned had all the merit of an original discovery ;
and such in fact he very naturally believed it to be. As
soon as his age permitted he went out to service ; but he
met with hardships in this humhle capacity which rendered
his constitution feeble through life. Whilst he was servant
to a farmer, whose goodness he acknowledges in the modest
account of himself which he prefixed to his Mechanical
Exercises, he frequently contemplated the stars ; and he
began the study of astronomy by constructing, from his own
observations alone, a celestial globe. Flis kind master ob¬
serving these marks of his ingenuity, procured him the
countenance and assistance of some neighbouring gentle-
men, by whose help and instructions he went on acquiring
further knowledge, and was at length sent to Edinburgh.
1 here, having obtained some notion of drawing, he began
to take portraits in miniature, by which means he supported
himself and family for several years, both in Scotland and
England, whilst engaged in pursuing more serious studies.
In London he first published some curious astronomical
F E R
tables and calculations, and afterwards gave public lectures Ferguson,
on experimental philosophy, which he repeated in most of
the principal towns in England with general approbation.
He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society without pay¬
ing for admission; and he had a pension of L.50 per an¬
num given him, unsolicited, by King George III. on his
accession, who had heard his lectures, and who frequently
sent for and conversed with him on curious topics. He
also received several presents from his majesty, and from
other patrons of merit. The degree of consideration which
Mr Ferguson attained by the strength of his natural genius
alone is in fact known to every one. In astronomy and
mechanics he was pre-eminently distinguished, even in
this nation of philosophers; and he might justly be styled
self-taught, or rather heaven-taught; for in his whole life
he had not received above half a year’s instruction at school.
He was a man of the clearest judgment and the most un¬
wearied application to study ; benevolent, gentle, and inno¬
cent in his manners as a child; humble, courteous, and
communicative; and, instead of pedantry, philosophy seemed
to have produced in him only diffidence and urbanity. Al¬
together his history is in its way one of the most interest¬
ing and instructive that has ever been recorded. He died
in 1776, at the age of sixty-two.
The following is a list of Mr Ferguson’s published works :—1.
Astronomical Tables, and Precepts for calculating the true times of
New and Full Moon, 1763. 2. Tables and Tracts relative to seve¬
ral Arts and Sciences. 3. An easy Introduction to Astronomy,
1769, 2d edition. 4. Astronomy explained upon Sir Isaac New¬
ton’s Principles, 1772, 5th edition. 5. Lectures on Select subjects
in Mechanics, Hydrostatics, Pneumatics, and Optics, 1772, 4th edi¬
tion. 6. Select Mechanical Exercises, with a short account of the
Life of the Author by himself, 1773. 7. The Art of Drawing in
Perspective made easy, 1775. 8. An Introduction to Electricity,
1775. 9. Two Letters to the Reverend Mr John Kennedy, 1775.
10. A third Letter to the Reverend Mr John Kennedy, 1775. Mr
Ferguson also communicated several papers to the Royal Society,
which were printed in their Transactions. In 1805, a valuable
edition of his Lectures was published at Edinburgh by Dr, now
Sir David, Brewster, in two volumes 8vo, with notes and an ap¬
pendix, intended to adapt the whole to the actual state of science.
Ferguson, Robert, a Scottish poet who acquired a con¬
siderable share of celebrity at a very early period of life,
was born at Edinburgh on the 5th of September 1750 or
1751. His father, whose name was William, paid court to
the muses as well as the son ; but he wisely relinquished the
study of poetry for the more certain emoluments of trade and
commerce, and was employed in different mercantile houses
both in Edinburgh and in Aberdeen. He was an accoun¬
tant in the Linen Hall when he died, but never acquired
anything like an independent fortune.
The subject of this notice was of a weak and delicate con¬
stitution during infancy ; so much so, indeed, that small
hopes were entertained of his ever reaching the years of
manhood. Yet such were the care and attention of his pa¬
rents, that he was able to attend an English school by the
time he was six years of age, when his progress was consi¬
dered as very extraordinary; and it proved no less rapid at
the High School of Edinburgh, which he attended for lour
years, acquiring a competent knowledge of the Latin tongue
with very little labour or exertion. He then went to the
grammar-school of Dundee, and in two years afterwards to
the university of St Andrews, which his father preferred to
Edinburgh, because a gentleman of the name of Ferguson
had left two bursaries for the education of as many boys of
the same name.
Ferguson’s health was never at any time impaired by
severe study ; yet he kept alive at the university the opinion
which had been entertained of him whilst at school, and he
was decidedly the first mathematician of his own standing.
He was patronized by Dr Wilkie, professor of natural phi¬
losophy, and also known as the author of the Epigomad,
who conceived an attachment for him, as much perhaps for
FEE
F E R
513
Feriae. his poetical as his mathematical talents. This kindness was
—repaid by Ferguson, on the death of' Dr Wilkie, by a beauti¬
ful eclogue to his memory, written in the Scottish dialect.
He returned to Edinburgh when he had finished his
studies, without having fixed on any particular employ¬
ment ; for although he was destined for the church by his
father, on the death of the latter he paid but little attention
to the expostulations of his mother. He was, however, in¬
duced to attempt the study of the law, in which, as might
have been expected, he made no proficiency. He seems,
however, to have turned a wishful eye to some sinecure place,
in order to obtain which he paid a visit to a rich uncle who
resided at Aberdeen, hoping that, through his influence, he
might be settled in a manner suited to his merit. But in
this expectation he was completely disappointed; for al¬
though his uncle at first showed him every mark of attachment,
his fondness decreased by degrees ; and in six months he de¬
sired his nephew in an abrupt manner to leave his house,
without attempting to procure for him any kind of living.
His necessities at this period were so great that he copied
papers in the commissary clerk’s office for so much per
sheet, an employment which he soon left in disgust. His
exuberant wit, equalled only by his good nature, thought¬
lessness, and social propensities, made all who knew him re¬
ceive him with affection ; but his powers of song and talents
for mimicry often led him into the company of the dissipated,
whose example could not fail to do him essential injury, and
who had neither the power nor the inclination to provide
for him through life. The irregularities in which he was
thus led to indulge often awakened in him the reproaches
of conscience ; and the conversation of a minister, who
understood his manner of life, appears to have made a deep
impression on his mind. His remorse, indeed, soon after¬
wards assumed the appearance of absolute despair. His
sprightliness entirely forsook him; but he gradually re¬
covered from this despondency, and his health was at length
fully restored. Soon afterwards his head was cut so se¬
verely by a fall, that he became delirious from the loss of
blood; and in this condition he remained for some months,
till the want of sleep and perpetual delirium put a period
to his existence on the 16th of October 1774. He was
buried in the Canongate churchyard. Over his grave a
monument was erected by Robert Burns, who loved his
genius, and naturally sympathized with failings akin to his
own. Had Ferguson united prudence with his abilities,
ne would have no doubt risen to distinguished eminence in
the literary world. His poems in the Scottish dialect have
been very much admired by his countrymen; and when we
reflect that they were composed in the intervals of dissipa¬
tion, they must be considered as unequivocal evidences of
his genius. (j. F. s.)
FERLE, in Roman Antiquity, holidays, or days upon
which the people abstained from work. Proclamation was
generally made by the herald, by command of the Rex Sa-
crorum or Flamines, that all should abstain from business ;
and whoever transgressed the order was severely fined.
Theferice were of two kinds, public and private. The
public/er/o? were fourfold; first, Stativce, which were kept
as public feasts by the w?hole city upon certain immoveable
days appointed by their calendar, as the Compitalia, Car-
mentalia, and Lupercalia; secondly, Ferice Conceptivce,
which were moveable feasts, the days for the celebration of
which were fixed by the magistrates or priests, as the Ferice
Latince, Paganalia, Compitalia, and others, which happened
every year, though the days for observing them were left to
the discretion of the magistrates or priests ; thirdly, Ferice
Imperativce, which were instituted by the mere command
of consuls, praetors, or dictators, upon the gaining of some
victory or other fortunate event; and, fourthly, Nundince.
The private feriae were holidays observed by particular per¬
sons or families, on several accounts, as birthdays, funerals,
VOL. IX.
and the like. The ferice belonged to the dies festi, and
formed one division of them.
Ferine Latince, a festival at which a white bull was usually
sacrificed. On this occasion the Latin and Roman towns
provided each a quantity of meat, wine, and fruits ; and
during its celebration the Romans and Latins swore eter¬
nal friendship to each other, taking home a piece of the vic¬
tim to every town. The festival was instituted by Tarqui-
nius Superbus, when, having overcome the Etruscans and
made a league with the Latins, he proposed to build to Ju¬
piter Latialis a common temple, at which both nations might
meet and offer sacrifices for their common safety. At first
the solemnity lasted but one day, but it was at different
times extended to ten days. It was held on the Alban
Mount, and celebrated with chariot races at the capitol,
where the victor was treated with a large draught of infu¬
sion of wormwood.
FERISHTA, Mohammed Casim, a celebrated Persian
historian, was born in 1570, at Astrabad, on the shores of
the Caspian Sea. While he w-as still a child his father was
summoned away from his native country into Hindustan,
where he held high office in the Deccan ; and by his influ¬
ence the young Ferishta received court promotion. In
1589 Ferishta removed to Bejapore, where he spent the re¬
mainder of his life under the immediate protection of the
Shah Ibrahim Adil II. At the court of this monarch he
died in 1611. Large portions of his History have been trans¬
lated into English, particularly by Jonathan Scott. In the
introduction a resume is given of the history of Hindustan
prior to the times of the Mohammedan conquest, and also
of the victorious progress of the Arabs through the East.
The body of the work contains much information on the
geography and climate of Hindustan. Ferishta is reputed
one of the most trustworthy of the oriental historians, and
his work still maintains a high place as an authority.
FERMANAGH, an inland county in the south-western
portion of the province of Ulster in Ireland, bounded on
the north by Donegal and Tyrone, on the east by Tyrone
and Monaghan, on the south by Cavan, and on the west by
Cavan and Leitrim. According to the Ordnance Survey,
it comprises an area of 714 square miles, or 457,195 acres,
of which 289,228 are arable, 114,847 uncultivated, 6155 in
plantations, 210 in towns, and 46,755 under water. In
proportion to its area, therefore, Fermanagh has a greater
quantity of land covered with water, and, in proportion to
the arable land, a smaller extent of ground occupied by
towns and villages, than any other county in Ireland.
Fermanagh was made shire ground in the eleventh year
of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and divided into the eight
baronies of which it still consists, viz.
Feriae
Latinae
Ferma¬
nagh.
Baronies.
Clanawley  
Clankelly  
Coole 
Knockninny. .....
Lurg 
Magherastephana.
Magheraboy 
Tirkennedy  
Total
Contents in
acres.
75,286 3 35
39,068 0 34
18,963 2 36
30,604 0 7
83,109 2 33
61,729 0 6
94,171 1 13
54,353 3 3
457,286 3 7
Annual valua¬
tion.
£21,523 10
16,559 6
8,762 7
10,565 7
27,217 17
24,973 18
31,905 3
£29,160 14
£170,668 4 6
These baronies are subdivided into 23 parishes, all of
which are in the diocese of Clogher excepting three, which
are included in Kilmore diocese. The county is within the
military district of Belfast, with barrack stations at Ennis¬
killen and Belleek. The union workhouses are at Ennis¬
killen, Lisnaskea, and Lowtherstown, and part of the county
is comprised in the adjoining unions of Clones and Bally-
shannon. The net annual value of property rated to the
poor is L.195,864, and the amount of property valued under
3 T
514
F E K M A N A G H.
Ferma¬
nagh.
the 6th and 7th Will. IV., cap. 84 (Griffith’s valuation) is
L. 170,668.
The surface of the county of Fermanagh is uneven, ex¬
hibiting generally a succession of abrupt eminences of slight
elevation. The borders towards Tyrone and Cavan, on the
east, are mountainous. The north-western portion towards
Leitrim presents one continuous mass of hills, many of them
high, rough, and boggy. Of these Belmore Mountain, on
the northern edge of Lower Lough Macnean, attains an
altitude of 1312 feet. From the summit of the Toppid
Mountain the greater part of Fermanagh, Tyrone, and
Lough Erne may be seen. Quilca Mountain, partly in this
county and partly in Cavan, rises to a height of 2188 feet.
The south-eastern portion of the county is generally flat or
but slightly elevated.
The great feature of the county is Lough Erne, which
divides it nearly throughout its whole extent from north¬
west to south-east. This fine sheet of water forms two long
lakes about five miles apart, connected by a fine river or
strait, which, at about two-thirds of the distance from the
Upper Lake, divides into two branches, leaving between
them an island on which the principal part of the county
town of Enniskillen stands. They are distinguished by the
names of the Upper and Lower lakes. The former, or the
more inland and southern lake, which lies between Beltur-
bet and Enniskillen, is eleven miles in length, and from
half a mile to six miles in width. The Lower and northern
lake, which lies between Enniskillen and Belleek, is thirteen
miles long, and from two to ten broad. The borders of both
lakes are finely broken by numerous bays and inlets, formed
by the projections of the surrounding hills, and both are
studded with islands. Popular report makes the number of
these equal to that of the days of the year; and, if all the
detached points of rock or land visible above water were
taken into the account, this number would not be much
above the truth. There are not, however, more than 150
which deserve the name of islands. These are in general
well formed for scenic effect, and some are planted, chiefly
with ash and oak, to the water’s edge. The largest of them,
named Boa or Bow Island, containing about 1400 acres, is
situated near the western extremity of the lake. But De-
venish Island, near its eastern end, which comprises only
about 80 Irish acres, of great fertility, is of much greater
interest, from having on it one of the most perfect pillar
towers in Ireland. Its height is 82 feet, and its circum¬
ference 49. It is built of cut stone, and finished at the top
with a conical roof. Near the summit of the hill which
forms the island is the abbey of St Mary’s, of which the
belfry staircase and some of the Gothic pillars still remain.
At the foot of the hill is a church dedicated to St Molush ;
and in its vicinity are the remains of that saint’s house,
roofed and finished with cut stone. Within a few paces of
the house is a stone trough, about six feet long, said to have
been his bed, in which those affected with various com¬
plaints perform certain prescribed ceremonies, in the hope
of obtaining relief. In the island of Ennism’saint are the
ruins of an abbey founded by St Nevnid, whose festival is
annually celebrated in it. The saint’s bell, ornamented
with gold and silver, is, says Archdall, still preserved in the
island, and held in such veneration by the lower classes of
people that it is often judicially tendered to swear on.
“ Next to the rock of Cashel,” says Inglis, “ I look upon
Devenish Island to be the most interesting spot in Ireland,
to those who are attracted by the union of the antique and
picturesque.” Belle-isle, containing about 112 acres, once
the favourite residence of the Earl of Rosse, and celebrated
as well for its natural beauties as for the taste displayed in
its improvements, has been suffered to fall into such decay
that scarcely a vestige remains of what it once was. Belle-
isle is connected with the main land by a bridge. Lough
Erne is navigable during the winter season through its
whole extent to the fall of Belleek, within four miles of
Ballyshannon. The navigation of the lake is chiefly carried
on by small vessels called cotts, worked by oars; while a v
broad paddle at the stern serves instead of a rudder. A
steamer of 20 horse power also plies between Enniskillen
and the Ulster Canal at Wattle Bridge. Two other lines
of inland navigation have been completed, one commencing
at Lough Erne, and terminating at Lough Neagh; the other
proceeding from the southern end of the Upper Lough Erne
to the village of Leitrim, where it communicates with the
Shannon. There are some smaller lakes in the county, the
largest of which are Lough Melvin, on the borders of Lei¬
trim, and Lough Macnean, on the confines of Cavan and
Leitrim.
The only river of importance is the Erne, which rises in
the county of Cavan, and after passing through Belturbet,
falls into Lough Erne at its south-eastern extremity: thence,
passing by Enniskillen, it enters the Lower Lake, at the
north-western extremity of which it again narrows into a
river, and, passing through Belleek, forms a fine water-fall,
bursting out through a thick wood in a broad sheet: after¬
wards breaking over a ledge of shelving rocks, it foams
through the arches of the bridge here thrown over it, after
which it still maintains a rapid current, during a course of
nine miles, in which it crosses many lesser ridges of rock,
and at length precipitates its water down a noble cataract
into the Atlantic at Ballyshannon. The other rivers are,
the Arney, the Ballenclarogh, the Ballycassidy, the Clodagh,
the Kish Water, the Moorlaugh, and the Sills ; all of which,
together with upwards of 50 smaller streams, contribute to
feed the Loughs Erne.
The railway from Londonderry to Enniskillen is complete,
and the lines from Dundalk and Newry are (1855) in pro¬
gress. There is also a line of railway projected to Sligo from
Enniskillen.
The geological structure of the county consists of yellow
sandstone and carboniferous limestone, alternating with
tolerable regularity. Red sandstone exists in 1 oppid
Mountain. Yellow sandstone, well adapted for building,
lies round the town of Enniskillen. Millstone grit occupies
a district between the two sandstone formations. A beauti¬
ful species of brown marble is found near Florence-court,
a limestone district; but it requires to be worked to a greater
depth than at present in order to procure blocks and slabs
free from flaws. Coal is said to have been found in Glen-
garron Hills ; but there is no reason to suppose that it exists
in such abundance as to become of importance in a com¬
mercial point of view.
Mineral springs are numerous. Rutty gives a list of 19,
mostly sulphureous, but none are frequented by strangers.
The population of this county, according to the several
authorities, the earlier of which cannot be relied on, has
been stated as follows:—
1760, De Burgo  28,860
1792, Beaufort   71,800
1812, Parliamentary census 111,800
1821, Ditto 130,997
1831, Ditto 149,763
Baronies.
Clanawley...
Clankelly...,
Coole  
Knockninny
Lurg 
Magheraboy...
Magheraste- 1
phana J
Tirkennedy....
Total.
1841.
Males. Females. Total.
10,238
8,245
4,421
5,406
13,536
11,767
11,046
12,323
10,127
8,510
4,513
5,589
14,052
12,459
11,516
12,733
20,365
16,755
8,934
10,995
27,588
24,226
22,562
25,056
76,982 79,499 156,481 56,807
1851.
Males. Females. Total
7,446
5,395
2,793
4,307
9,990
8,394
8,492
9,990
7,265
5,591
2,875
4,399
10,397
9,405
8,881
10,387
59,200
14,711
10,986
5,668
8,706
20,387
17,799
17,373
20,377
116,007
Ferma¬
nagh.
F E R M A N A G H.
515
Ferma¬
nagh.
The proportion of the number of males and females in
this county is therefore about the average proportion for
all Ireland, but above that of the inland counties, where,
contrary to the general rule, the male population in several
instances exceeds the female in number, which it never
does in any of the maritime counties excepting Wicklow,
in the neighbourhood of the metropolis. Between 1841
and 1851 the population of Fermanagh decreased 25 per
cent., being 5 per cent, more than the average decrease
for all Ireland in the same period, and nine per cent, more
than the average for the province of Ulster.
The state of education, according to the returns made
under the population act in 1821, and the Board ot Educa¬
tion in 1824-26, was as follows :—
Boys. Girls. Total.
1821  1  4032 2303 6335
1824-C  5845 3948 9793
Of the numbers in the latter return, 5283 were of the
Established Church, 246 were Roman Catholics, 4204 Dis¬
senters, whilst of the religious opinions of 60 there was
no return. Eighteen schools, containing 1012 pupils,
were supported by grants of public money; fifty-nine, con¬
taining 3433 pupils, by voluntary subscription; and the
remaining 163 schools, containing 5348 pupils, were wholly
maintained by the fees of the pupils. In 1854 there were
137 national schools in operation, attended by 8846 chil¬
dren—5275 boys and 3571 girls.
Near the town of Enniskillen is the well-endowed Royal
School of Portora, founded in the reign of Charles II.
According to the latest returns, there were 85 boys in Fernm
the school; and in 1853 the rents received were L.1757, nagh-
and the salaries paid to masters and assistants amounted
to L.850.
Previously to the Union, the county was represented in
the Irish parliament by four members, two of whom were
returned for the county at large, and two for the borough
of Enniskillen. At that period the number was reduced
to three, one having been deducted from Enniskillen. No
alteration in this arrangement was made by the Reform act.
Since the Union, both town and county have been repre¬
sented exclusively by members of the Tory party.
The state of the constituency at the four periods follow¬
ing, viz.—the first, before the disfranchisement of the forty-
shilling freeholders, which took place on the passing of the
Catholic Relief bill; the second, subsequent to that event,
but previously to the passing of the Reform bill; the third,
subsequent to the Reform act; the fourth, under the 13th
and L4th Viet, cap. 69, was as under :—
L.50. L.20. L.10. 403. Total.
1st Jan. 1829   252 183 — 6443 6878
1830   254 256 522 — 1032
1832   178 250 1001 — 1429
1853   — — — — 4365
This county is almost exclusively agricultural. Farms
vary from nine acres, chiefly under tillage, to large tracts
for grazing.
The number of holdings of every class in 1852 and
1853 was as follows :—
1852.
1853.
Difference for 1853,
Not exceeding
1 acre.
470
466
From 1 to 5
acres.
1,229
1,167
- 4
- 62
From 5 to
15 acres.
4,777
4,845
+ 68
From 15 to
30 acres.
4,691
4,654
-37
From 30 to
50 acres.
2,111
2,088
- 23
From 50 to
100 acres.
From 100 to
200 acres.
1,046
998
- 48
270
276
From 200 to
500 acres.
85
83
+ 6
- 2
Exceeding
500 acres.
17
17
Nil.
The number of holdings exceeding one acre in extent
amounted in 1852 to 14,226, and in 1853 to 14,128, being
a decrease of 98, showing that this county is not one ot
the exceptions to the general practice latterly prevailing in
Ireland of consolidating farms.
Much land has heretofore been let in the gross to middle¬
men, who sublet it to smaller tenants. Landowners of
this description were distinguished by the name of terny-
begs, or little landlords—from the Irish tiernagh, a prince,
and beg, little. There is much land belonging to the see of
Clogher in the county. Rents are sometimes paid in the
mountainous districts in young cattle, butter, and yarn. Oats
and barley are the kinds of grain chiefly raised; wheat is
little grown. The manures are marl, limestone, limestone
gravel, bog-mould, and bog-ashes. The marl is white and
light, found under bogs and in banks. That about Florence-
court is upon clay and gravel, with springs under it, which
cause the marl to assume sometimes a tuberous form, co¬
loured by oxide of iron.
The extent of land under crops of various descriptions
from 1846 till the present year (1855) has been ascertained
to be as follows:—
1847.
1848.
1849.
1850.
1851.
1852.
1853.
Corn, Beans,
and Peas.
Acres.
55,233
55,852
55,097
52,698
53,082
48,709
45,387
Average [ 52,294
Potatoes.
Acres.
3,681
9,185
11,093
13,736
13,059
13,594
16,924
10,181
Turnips.
Acres.
3,575
4,606
5,980
5,280
5,724
5.407
5,509
5,154
Mangel Wurzel
and other Green
Crops.
Flax.
Acres.
961
1,481
2,769
1,982
2,602
2,534
2,232
Acres.
1,221
1,131
1,015
1,283
2,800
2,537
3,988
2,080
1,996
Meadow and
Clover.
Acres.
28,712
30,170
29,919
28,685
30,468
32,784
34,128
30,709
Total.
Acres.
93,383
102,425
105,873
103,664
107,735
105,565
108,168
103,830
The total produce of corn, beans, and peas in 1853 was
31,675 tons, or an average of 612 lbs. per head on the
population, being 88 lbs. less than the average for all Ire¬
land ; the produce of the potato crop in the same year was
979,620 barrels; average per head 169 stones, the ave¬
rage production for the whole country being 140 stones.
In the returns to an inquiry instituted into the compara¬
tive care or negligence prevailing in the cultivation of
516
Ferma¬
nagh.
F E R
farms and the condition of road-sides as to weeds in the
32 counties of Ireland, Fermanagh is numbered 14 in the
list of comparative freedom of farms from weeds, and 4 in
that representing the comparative condition of the road-
Timber is more general in Fermanagh than in some of
the neighbouring counties. Beech grows to a large size.
Ash is peculiarly abundant in Fermanagh as well as the
adjoining counties of Cavan and Tyrone. About sixty
FEE
years ago, in a mountain glen connected with the demesne
of Florence-court, the upright variety of yew tree,
known as the Irish yew, and a valuable object in pleasure-
grounds from its elegant and compact growth, was first
observed.
Concurrently with the decrease in the number of hold
ings in Ireland, the quantity of stock has largely increased.
The following table exhibits the quantity of live stock in
this county from 1846, and its estimated value since 1849.
Fermat.
Tears.
1847
1848
1849
1850
1851
1852
1853
Average.
Horses.
No.
6,081
6,510
6,773
6,446
6,518
6,416
6,814
6,508
Mules and
Asses.
Cattle.
No.
3,965
4,338
4,662
4,527
4.749
4,521
4.750
4,501
No.
75,689
81,710
87,657
88,040
88,651
85,102
94,735
85,940
Sheep.
No.
8,364
8,871
10,279
10,260
11,371
12,555
14,791
10,927
Pigs.
Goats.
No.
6,248
8,089
13,000
14,745
17,843
16,853
19,113
No.
2,138
2,229
2,572
2,722
3,055
3,461
3,787
Poultry.
Estimated
Value.
No.
110,297
151,622
167,179
180,594
195,674
191,728
209,561
662,367
664,665
675,185
650,981
723,022
13,698
2,852
172,522
675,224
The trade of the county in butter is considerable, and
the linen manufacture, of' a coarse description of goods,
chiefly for domestic use, is carried on to a small extent.
The number of scutching mills in the county is 10, all of
which are moved by water-power.
Fermanagh has few resident proprietors of high rank
or large income, all members of the Established Church
deriving their titles to their estates from Elizabeth, James
I., or Cromwell. The English family of the Coles received
large grants of land, and in 1760 John Cole was created
Baron Mount Florence, and his successor Viscount and Earl
of Enniskillen. The family mansion and demesne of Flo¬
rence-court is among the most beautiful in the country. I he
mansion of Castle Coole, the seat of the Earl of Belmore,
is built of Portland stone, in the Grecian style of architec¬
ture after a design by Wyatt, and at a cost of upwards of
L.200,000. Among the many other fine residences in this
county are Ely Lodge, the seat of the Marquis of Ely;
Castle Caldwell; Riversdale ; the modern Castle of Crum,
the seat of the Earl of Erne ; Castle Saunderson, &c.
A class of yeomanry is to be met with in this county who
distinguish themselves by the character of being “ as good
Protestants as any in Ireland.” These are farmers, who
hold tracts of land of considerable extent, and were settled
in the county when the right to the elective franchise was
exclusively in the hands of Protestants. At that period
Catholic tenants were often turned out of their farms, and
sent farther up the mountains, to make room for the privi¬
leged class. The population of Fermanagh are in general
a fine race, and Mr Foster remarks, that “ the difference in
the appearance of the people themselves in Leitrim and
Fermanagh is as remarkable as the difference in dress and
houses, and in the appearance of the country. At Ballina-
more, in Leitrim, at a fair—with at least 10,000 men pre¬
sent, amongst whom I walked, and to whom I spoke, I
scarcely saw a man above 5 feet 4 inches in stature, and I
do not think I saw a dozen men in the whole fair so tall as
myself. In the streets of Enniskillen every third man I
met was a bigger man than myself.”—Letters on the Condi¬
tion of the People of Ireland.
Enniskillen is celebrated as a depot for obtaining recruits
for the army. A regiment of horse was raised here in the
time of King William, which is still distinguished by the name
of the Enniskillen dragoons. This circumstance, together
with the general habits and character of the peasantry, has
tended to keep up a military spirit throughout the county.
The only large town in Fermanagh is the neat respect¬
able-looking county town of Enniskillen, situate on an island
having an area of sixty-two acres, formed by the river con¬
necting the upper and lower Loughs Erne, and partly on
the adjoining mainland on both sides, which communicate
with each other by two bridges. It was founded in 1612 by
William Cole, ancestor of the Earl of Enniskillen, to whom
the chief portion of the town still belongs. It contains a
parish church, a Roman Catholic chapel, Presbyterian and
Methodist meeting-houses, and the usual buildings common
to county and assize towns, but none of any great architec¬
tural pretensions. The corporation styled the “ Portreye
Free Burgesses and Commonalty of the Borough of Ennis¬
killen,” is now extinct, and its property^ vested in town
commissioners. The population of Enniskillen in 1851
was 6000, and it was the only place in the county
containing more than 2000 inhabitants. {Thoms Al¬
manac, &c.) (n* s R‘)
FERMAT, Pierre de, equally celebrated as a restorer
of ancient mathematics, and an original author of modern
improvements, was born at loulouse about 1595. His
public life was occupied by the active duties attached to
the situation of a counsellor for the parliament of Toulouse,
in which he was distinguished both for legal knowledge and
for strict integrity of conduct. Though the sciences were
the principal objects of his private studies, he was also an
accomplished scholar, an excellent linguist, and even a re¬
spectable poet.
His Opera Mathematica were published at Toulouse, in
two volumes folio, 1670 and 1679: they are now become
very scarce. The first contains the Arithmetic of Dio-
phantus, illustrated by a commentary, and enlarged by a
multitude of additional propositions. In the second we find
a Method for the Quadrature of Parabolas of all kinds, and
a Treatise on Maxima and Minima, on Tangents and on
Centres of Gravity; containing the same solutions of a va¬
riety of problems as wTere afterwards incorporated into the
more extensive method of fluxions by Newton and Leib¬
nitz ; and securing to their author, in common with Cavalleri,
Roberval, Descartes, Wallis, Barrow, and Sluse, an ample
share of the glory of having immediately prepared the way
for the gigantic steps of those illustrious philosophers. The
same volume contains also several other treatises on Geo¬
metric Loci, or Spherical Tangencies, and on the Rectifica¬
tion of Curves, besides a restoration of Apollonius s Plane
Loci; together with the author’s correspondence, ad¬
dressed to Descartes, Pascal, Roberval, Huygens, and
others.
It was too much Fermat’s custom to leave his most im¬
portant propositions wholly undemonstrated; sometimes,
FEU
Fermat, perhaps, because he may have obtained them rather by in-
duction than by a connected train of reasoning; and in
other cases, for the purpose of proposing them as a trial of
strength to his contemporaries. The deficiency, however,
has in many instances been supplied by the elaborate in¬
vestigations of Euler and Lagrange, who have thought it
no degradation to their refined talents to go back a century
in search of these elegant intricacies, which appeared to re¬
quire further illustration. It happened not uncommonly
that the want of a more explicit statement of the grounds
of his discoveries deprived Fermat, in the opinion of his
rivals, of the credit justly due to him for accuracy and ori¬
ginality. It was thus that Descartes attempted to correct
his method of maxima and minima, and could never be per¬
suaded that Fermat’s first propositions on the subject were
unexceptionable. Fermat was howpver enabled to pursue
his favourite studies with less interruption than Descartes;
and the products of his labour were proportionate, as La¬
croix remarks, to the opportunities he enjoyed, as well as
to the talents he possessed.
There is a very ingenious proposition of Fermat which
deserves to be particularly noticed, on account of the dis¬
cussion that it not long ago excited among mathematical
philosophers. He has demonstrated that the true law of
the refraction of light may be deduced from the principle,
that it describes the path by which it can arrive in the
shortest possible time from any one point of its tract or
course to another; on the supposition, however, that the
velocity of light is inversely proportional to the refractive
density of the medium : and the same phenomena of re¬
fraction have been shown by Maupertuis to be deducible,
upon the opposite supposition with respect to the velocities,
from the law of the minimum of action, considering the ac¬
tion as the product of the space described into the velocity.
But the law of Fermat is actually a step in the process of
nature, according to the conditions of the system to which
it belongs in its original form ; whilst that of Maupertuis is
at most only an interesting commentary on the operation
of an accelerating force. It was Newton who showed the
necessary connection between the action of such a force
and the actual law of refraction ; demonstrating that all the
nnenomena might be derived from the effect of a constant
attraction, perpendicular to the surface of the medium: and,
except in conjunction with such a force, the law of Mau¬
pertuis would even lead to a false result. For if we sup¬
posed a medium acting on a ray of light with two variable
forces, one perpendicular to the surface, and the other pa¬
rallel to it, we might easily combine them in such a man¬
ner as to obtain a constant velocity within the medium, but
the refraction would be very different from that which is
observed, though the law of Maupertuis would indicate no
difference; so that the law must be here applied with the
tacit condition that the refractive force is perpendicular to
the surface. In Laplace’s theory of extraordinary refrac¬
tion, on the contrary, the tacit condition is, that the force
must not be perpendicular to the surface; so that this theory
not only requires the gratuitous assumption of a different
velocity for every different obliquity, which is made an ex¬
press postulate, but also the implicit admission of the exist¬
ence of a force, determinate in direction and in magnitude,
by which that velocity is modified, and without which the
law of Maupertuis would cease to be applicable. It may
indeed be said, that the supposition of a medium exhibiting
unequal velocities, and attracting the light perpendicularly,
is unnatural, and that the law is the more valuable for not
being applicable to it; but a mathematical equation is true
even with respect to impossible quantities, and a physical
law, however useful it may be, requires physical proof; and
it will not be asserted that the law of Maupertuis has been
or can be established by physical evidence sufficiently ex¬
tensive to render it universal.
FEE 517
Fermat died at Toulouse in the end of 1664, or begin- Fermenta-
ning of 1665, at the age of seventy. He left a son, Samuel tl°n
de Fermat, who was a man of some learning, and published Fernando
translations of several Greek authors. (t. t.) p0.
FERMENTATION. See Brewing, Chemistry,
Wine-Making.
FERMO, the ancient Firmum, an archiepiscopal city of
central Italy, capital of a cognominal delegation in the Pa¬
pal States, 34 miles S. by E. of Ancona. The city is sur¬
rounded by old walls, and has besides the cathedral nu¬
merous churches and convents, a university, and two fine
collections of statuary and paintings. Lactantius and Gale-
azzo Sforza were born here. The port, Porto di Fermo,
is situated on the Adriatic, about four miles from the town.
The harbour is small, but has some trade in corn, silk, and
woollens. Pop. 7000.
FERMOY, a market-town of Ireland, county of Cork,
situated on the Blackwater river, 20 miles N.E. of Cork,
and 137 miles from Dublin. Previous to 1791, Fermoy
was a mere hamlet, but about that time the proprietor, Mr
Anderson, commenced a series of improvements; and shortly
afterwards infantry and cavalry barracks were erected, com¬
manding an important pass of the Blackwater, which is one
of the principal northern approaches to Cork. The river is
here crossed by a stone bridge of 13 arches, erected in
1689. Besides the parish church and Roman Catholic
chapel—both elegant edifices—Fermoy has also a Roman
Catholic college, a nunnery, court-house, theatre, bridewell,
and workhouse. It has likewise several extensive flour
mills, two paper mills, and a considerable trade in flour and
agricultural produce. Market-day, Saturday. Pop. (1851)
5844, besides 2682 in workhouse.
FERN or Farn Islands, a group of small islets and
rocks, 17 in number, lying off the coast of Northumberland,
but included in the county of Durham. There are two
lighthouses on these islands. It was here in 1838 that Grace
Darling and her father in stormy weather rescued the pas¬
sengers of the “ Forfarshire” steamer. The Fern Islands
are frequented bv immense numbers of sea-birds.
FERNANDO DE NORONHA, an island in the
South Atlantic, lying about 70 leagues from the coast of
Brazil. It is about 20 miles in circumference, and the sur¬
face is rugged and is mountainous. It has several harbours
defended by forts, and serves as a place of banishment for
criminals from Brazil. N. Lat. 3 56., W. Long. 32. 28.
FERNANDO PO, or Fernao do Pao, an island on
the W. coast of Africa, lying in the Bight of Benin, about
20 miles from the mainland, in N. Lat. 3.25., E. Long. 8. 50.
It is about 44 miles in length from N.N.E. to S.S.W., and
about 20 in breadth. The coasts are steep and rocky, and
the interior is mountainous. A ridge of mountains towards
the centre of the island rises to the height of 8000 feet, and
is terminated at each extremity by a peaked mountain,—the
one at the N. extremity attaining a height of 10,700 feet.
The southern extremity of the island is also intersected by
several steep mountains, varying from 1000 to 3000 feet.
These mountains are covered, most of them to their sum¬
mits, together with the intervening valleys, with dense
forests of shrubs and lofty trees of luxuriant growth. The
rocks are of volcanic origin; and the soil is rich and fertile,
producing rice, sugar-cane, cotton, tobacco, yams, palms,
&c. Sheep, goats, fowls, turtle, and fish, are abundant.
The climate is salubrious, though the rainy season lasts from
May to December, and is succeeded by a season of dense
fogs. The harbours are small, the largest being Port Cla¬
rence on the northern shore. This island was discovered
in 1471 by a Portuguese navigator, whose name it bears.
It was taken possession of by Spain in 1778, but aban¬
doned in 1782. The English in 1827 formed a settlement
here, but relinquished it in 1834 ; the Spaniards resumed
possession of it in 1844, and have given it the name of
513 F E R
Fernel Puerto de Isabel The native population is estimated at
II about 15,000. ,
Feroze- FERNEL, Jean Frar^ois, a distinguished brench phy-
shah' sician, was born at Clermont in 1497. His immense gene-
ra] erudition, and the skill and success with which he sought
to revive the study of the old Greek physicians, gained for
him a great reputation, and ultimately the office of physi¬
cian to the court. He practised with very great success,
and at his death in 1558 left behind him an immense for¬
tune. His principal works are, Monalosphcerium, sice As-
trolabii genus, generalis Horarii Structura et TJsus, Paris,
1526; l)e Abditis rerum Causis, a work which went through
thirty editions in a short time ; Medicina, ad Henricum II.,
&c., which was also very frequently reprinted ; and Consili-
orum Medicinalium Liber, Paris, 1582, a work which en¬
joyed a similar distinction.
FERNEY, a village in the arrondissement of Gex, de¬
partment of Ain, France, 5 miles N.W. of Geneva. It is
celebrated as having been for nearly 20 years the residence
of Voltaire, and hither the greatest personages of the
time eagerly resorted to pay their respects to that great
genius. Previous to his purchase of the estate in 1758,
Ferney was a wretched hamlet, consisting of a few hovels.
He formed it into a neat little town, colonized it with in¬
dustrious artizans, chiefly watchmakers from Geneva, and
drained and planted the adjacent grounds. The chateau in
which he resided has been so much altered by the present
proprietor, that scarcely a relic of Voltaire now remains.
FERNS, Filices. See Botany.
FEROE ISLES. See Faroe.
FERONIA, an ancient Italian divinity (related to Tel-
lus), the patroness of woods and orchards, and the guardian
deity of freedmen. Several groves were consecrated to
Feronia; and in these, on the festivals of the goddess, great
markets were held. Her chief sanctuary was at Terracina,
near Mount Soracte. Strabo relates, that those who sacri¬
ficed to Feronia walked barefoot on burning coals without
being hurt. She is variously represented;—viz. as the god¬
dess of liberty; of commerce and traffic; or as a goddess of
the earth.
FEROZEPOOR, a town of Hindustan, and the chief
place of a British district of the same name, which, upon
the demise of its native ruler in 1835, lapsed to the British
government as the paramount power. Since its occupation
by its new masters great improvements have been effected.
Both town and fort were, in the first instance, new-modelled
and rebuilt of burnt brick; the streets have now greater
width, and the colonnaded rows of shops exhibit the aspect
of an extensive mercantile city. From its position Ferozepoor
is well adapted for a commercial entrepot, being situate near
one of the great ferries over the Gharrah, and possessing
the means of easy communication with the lower part of the
Punjaub and Sinde, afforded by that river and its recipient
the Indus. It was here that in November 1838 the in¬
terview took place between Runjeet Singh, then ruler of
the Punjaub, and Lord Auckland the governor-general, on
which occasion 10,000 men rendezvoused at the town pre¬
viously to their advance to the invasion of Afghanistan.
Ferozepoor is distant N.W. of Calcutta 1181 miles. Lat.
30. 55., Long. 75. 35.
FEROZESHAH, in Hindustan, a village situated a few
miles from the left bank of the river Sutlej. Here, on the
21st December 1845, the camp of the Sikhs was attacked
by the British army under Sir Hugh Gough (afterwards
Lord Gough), and Sir Henry Hardinge (afterwards Lord
Hardinge). The camp was formidably intrenched, and the
contest was most severe. The fall of night did not alto¬
gether put an end to it, the guns of the assailants continu¬
ing to play on part of the enemy’s intrenchments. On the
22d fighting was resumed, and the final result was a com¬
plete triumph to the British arms; but it was dearly pur-
F E R
chased. The loss of the victors was immense ; and among Ferozpoor
the killed were included some of the best and most dis- II
tinguished officers of the British army. Through a mistake, v errara^
the force employed in the attack was lamentably deficient
in the two important arms of war, cavalry and artillery; which
led to a prolongation of the conflict, and might have af¬
fected its termination. Lat. 30. 52., Long. 74. 50.
FEROZPOOR, a town of Hindustan, and the principal
place of the district of the same name, in the British pro¬
vince of Goorgaon. The jaghire or feudal possession of
Ferozpoor, containing an area of about 140 square miles,
was bestowed in the beginning of the present century by
Lord Lake upon the Nawaub Ahmed Buksh Khan, in con¬
sideration of certain diplomatic services rendered by him
at the court of the ruler of Alwur. The Nawaub, dying in
1827, was succeeded by his son Shumsooddeen Khan. The
two younger brothers of Shumsooddeen having well-founded
claims upon a portion of the inheritance, Mr William Fraser,
the British political agent at Delhi, exerted himself to in¬
duce the British government to make a partition in their
favour. The result was the murder of Mr Fraser at Delhi,
by the hand of an assassin in the employ of Shumsooddeen.
This took place in October 1835. Shumsooddeen was
brought to trial for the murder, and being duly convicted,
was hanged; and his possessions being declared forfeited,
Ferozpoor was incorporated with the British province of
Goorgaon. The town is distant N.W, from Calcutta 895
miles. Lat. 27. 47., Long. 77. L
FERRARA, a celebrated city of the Papal States, capi¬
tal of a cognomina! legation, and the seat of an archbishop¬
ric, is situated in a low marshy plain on the left bank of the
Volano, an arm of the Po, about five miles S. of the main
channel. Ferrara is said to have had its origin about the
middle of the fifth century, and was walled by the exarch
of Ravenna in 585. In 657 it was made the seat of a
bishopric, and of an archbishopric in 1735. In 1240 the
family of Este became hereditary princes of Ferrara, and
continued to hold it sometimes under the pope and some¬
times as independent princes, till the reigning branch be¬
came extinct in 1597, when it was finally attached to the
papal dominions. During the latter part of this period Fer¬
rara was the seat of one of the most polished and refined of
the Italian courts, and is said to have contained more than
80,000inhabitants. Ferrarareceivesanadditional lustre from
its connection, about this time, with the names of Ariosto,
Tasso, and Guarini. In the fifteenth century it was famous
for its school of painting, which ranked as one of the first
in Italy. Calvin and other French reformers found an
asylum here when driven from France in the early part of
the sixteenth century. In 1796 Ferrara was taken by the
French, and became the capital of the department of Bas-
P6, but was restored to the pope in 1814. Ihe city has
long been in a state of decay, and is only interesting to the
traveller from its associations with the past: grass now
grows on its once well-trodden streets, and many of its
splendid palaces are uninhabited, and rapidly going to
decay.
“ Ferrara! in thy wide and grass-grown streets,
Whose symmetry was not for solitude,
There seems, as :t were, a curse upon the seats
Of former sovereigns, and the antique brood
Of Este, which for many an age made good
Its strength within thy walls, and was of yore
Patron or tyrant, as the changing mood
Of petty power impelled, of those who wore
The wreath which Dante’s brow alone had worn before.”
Childe Harold, iv. 35.
Being the most northern city in the Papal States, Ferrara
is strongly fortified, and is defended on the western side by
a pentagonal citadel, which, in accordance with the treaty
of Vienna, is garrisoned by Austrian troops, f he old ducal
palace, now the residence of the legate, stands in the middle
F E R
Ferrars of the town, and is surrounded by wet ditches, and flanked
with towers. The cathedral, a vast untasteful edifice,
Ferula, consecrated in 1135, is adorned with sculptures, bronze
statues, frescoes, and paintings. Many of the other churches
contain many finely sculptured monuments and paintings by
the great masters of the schools of Bologna and Ferrara.
The theatre is one of the largest and finest in Italy. The
university, founded in 1390, and revived by Leo XII., is
noted for its faculties of law and medicine. The public
library, founded in 1740, contains about 80,000 printed
volumes and 900 manuscripts, among which are the manu¬
scripts of the works of Ariosto and Tasso. The house in
which Ariosto lived is still in existence. The bust on his
tomb in the church of the Benedictines was, towards the
middle of the last century, struck by lightning, and the iron
laurels that wreathed its brow were melted; a circumstance
alluded to by Lord Byron in Childe Harold (iv. 41). In
1801 the remains and tomb of Ariosto were removed with
great pomp to the public library, and here are also his arm¬
chair and ink-stand. In the lunatic hospital of Santa-
Anna a small room on the ground-floor is still shown as
that in which Tasso was confined. In the principal square
are bronze statues of two of the dukes of Ferrara. The
manufactures and trade of the town are inconsiderable.
Pop. about 25,000, of whom about 2000 are Jews, who re¬
side together in the ghetto or Jews’ quarter.
The Legation of Ferrara is the most northern in the papal
dominions ; and is bounded on the N. by the main branch
of the Po, wrhich separates it from Austrian Lombardy, W.
by the duchy of Modena, S. by the legations of Ravenna
and Bologna, and E. by the Adriatic. The surface is gene¬
rally flat, and being in many parts below the level of the
Po it is protected from inundations by strong embankments
along the river. (See Po.) A considerable portion of the
eastern part of the legation is constantly under water. Area
1042 square miles. Pop. (1850) 229,862.
FERRARS, George, a literary courtier and man of
fashion of the sixteenth century, w'ho wrote among other
things a History of the Reign of Queen Mary, published in
Grafton's Chronicle, 1569, fol.; and six tragedies, or dra¬
matic poems, published in the Mir r our for Magistrates, first
printed in 1559, afterwards in 1587, and again in 1610.
FERRET. See index to Mammalia.
Ferret, in Glass-Making, the iron used to try the melted
metal. See Glass.
FERRO, or Hierro. See Canary Islands.
FERROL, a seaport-town of Spain, province of Coruna,
and one of the first naval arsenals in the kingdom, is situated
on the N. arm of the bay of Betanzos, 12 miles N.W. of
the tow n of Coruna. The harbour, which is one of the best
in Europe, is deep, capacious, and secure ; but the entrance,
which is a strait about two miles in length at the narrowest
part, only admits one ship at a time, and is commanded on
either side by strong forts. The town is protected on the
land side by a wall, on w hich 200 cannon might be mounted.
The dockyard is divided into two parts, the outer being the
smaller, and the whole occupying a space of more than
115,000 square yards. Behind the inner dock are the dwell¬
ings of the operatives, and in the N. angle are the foundries,
rope-walks, and magazines. They are all, however, as well
as the arsenal, in a neglected and ruinous condition. The
old town is very irregular, but the new town is a parallelo¬
gram of seven streets in width by nine in length, intersect¬
ing each other at right angles, and has two squares, in one
of which is a fountain, erected in 1812 in honour of Cosme
Churruca, a naval officer, killed at Trafalgar. The Alameda,
or public walk, is between the new town and the Astillero or
dockyard. Ferrol contains two hospitals, three large churches,
a monastery, consistory, prison, naval barracks, academies of
navigation and mathematics, and has 16,641 inhabitants.
FERULA, a wand or rod. Under the Eastern Empire
F E T
519
the ferula was the emperor’s sceptre, consisting of a long Fescennini
stem with a large flat head, as represented on medals. Jl
FESCENNINI, the name given to the rude and un- et ar^ y
couth verses of early Italy, in which the inhabitants of rural
districts used sportively to attack and ridicule each other.
From the country they found their way into the towns, and
Fescennine verses became a very favourite amusement at
marriages and other occasions of social festivity. From
having been at first only playfully harmless, however, the
“Fescennina licentia” degenerated into a dangerous kind
of satire, and ultimately required to be repressed by legal
enactment. A short account of the “ Fescennini” is given
by Horace in the Ars Poetica. It has been supposed that
this kind of composition originated among Etrurians at Fes-
cennse, and took its name from that town ; but it was prac¬
tised so widely throughout Italy at a very early period that
it seems somewhat arbitrary to assign its origin to any par¬
ticular spot.
FESS. See Heraldry.
FESTI Dies, in Roman Antiquity, certain days in the
year devoted to the honour of the gods. Numa, when he
distributed the year into twelve months, divided the same
into the dies festi, the dies profesti, and the dies intercisi.
The dies festi were again divided into days of sacrifices,
banquets, games, and feriae. The dies profesti were those
days allowed to men for the administration of their affairs,
whether of a public or private nature ; and they were divided
mto fasti, comitiales, &c. The dies intercisi were days com¬
mon to gods and men, that is, partly allotted to the worship
of the gods, partly to the transaction of ordinary business.
FESTOON, in Architecture, a sculptured ornament in
imitation of a garland of flowers, fruits, and leaves, inter¬
mixed or twisted together, and suspended between two
points. Sometimes it is an imitation of drapery similarly
disposed, with various additions, such as musical instru¬
ments, implements of war or of the chase, &c.
FESTUS, Sextus Pompeius, a celebrated Latin gram¬
marian of uncertain date, but who probably flourished in
the third century of the Christian era. His celebrated
work J)e Verhorum Significatione, a valuable treatise on
many obscure points of grammar, mythology, and antiqui¬
ties, was an epitome of the voluminous work of M. Verrius
Flaccus, a grammarian who flourished in the reign of Au¬
gustus. In compiling this abridgment Festus had made a
few alterations, and inserted some critical remarks of his
own, besides omitting altogether such ancient Latin words
as had long been obsolete. These he discussed in a sepa¬
rate work now lost, entitled Priscorum Verhorum Libri
cum Exemplis. Of Flaccus’ work only a few fragments have
come down to us. Of Festus’ epitome only one original
copy is known to be in existence, and that in a very imper¬
fect form. After passing through very many vicissitudes, it
found a temporary shelter in the Farnese Library at Parma,
whence in 1736 it was taken to Naples, where it now lies.
At the close of the eighth century Paulus Diaconus, who
happened to possess a copy of Festus’ work, epitomized it;
but as he was himself a poor scholar, he allowed countless
errors to creep into his abridgment. From this work of
his, and the solitary mutilated copy of the original which
still survives, some of the most distinguished scholars of
modern Europe have attempted to reconstruct the import¬
ant treatise of Festus. Of the early editions the best are
those of Scaliger, published in 1565, and of Fulvius in 1581,
by both of which editors many of the blanks are filled up
by conjecture. But by far the best of existing editions is
that of K. O. Muller, Leipzig, 1839. Festus’ work is in
many respects extremely valuable. He gives not only the
meaning of every w7ord, but also its etymology; and this
work, fragmentary as it is, has thrown much light on the
language, mythology, and antiquities of ancient Rome.
FETHARD, a town of Ireland, county of Tipperary,
520
Fetiales
il
Feudal
Law.
FEU
8 miles N. of Clonmel. Though now decayed, it was once
a place of considerable importance, and most of the original
walls and gateways are still preserved. It was built in the
reign of king John, and previous to the Union sent two
members to parliament. Pop. (1851) 2767.
FETIALES, or Feciales, in Roman Antiquity, a col¬
lege of priests, whose duty it was, when any dispute sprang
up between their countrymen and a foreign state, to demand
satisfaction, decide if war were necessary or advantageous, and
perform the solemn rites consequent on the declaration of
hostilities or the ratification of peace. The institution of
this college is attributed by common consent to Numa.
They are believed to have been twenty in number, and to
have been originally chosen from the noblest families. Their
office lasted for life, and their persons were deemed pecu¬
liarly sacred. The etymology of the word is very uncertain.
By some it is derived from the same root vritYiJidus and/o?-
dus; by others from ferio or facia ; while some modern
scholars trace it to the Creek A detailed account
of their principal duties will be found under Glarigatio.
FETICHE, the symbolic representation of the tutelary
deity worshipped by the negroes of Africa. Anything ap¬
pears to serve for a fetiche ; as a tree, a stone, the beak of
a bird, the fin of a fish, &c. See Congo, vol. vii., p. 246.
FETLOCK, a tuft of hair behind the pastern joint of
horses ; and hence the joint where it grows is called the
fetlock joint. See Horse.
FEU, in Scots Law, is used in contradistinction to ward¬
holding or military tenure, to signify that holding where the
vassal makes a return in grain or money in lieu of military
service. The person so holding is termed a-feuar ; and the
rent paid feu-duty.
FEUD, or Deadly Feud, among our Saxon ancestors,
was used to signify an irreconcilable enmity, to be satisfied
only with blood. Such enmity and revenge were sanctioned
by law. Thus when a man was killed, if no pecuniary satis¬
faction were made to his kindred, it became lawful for them
to avenge themselves by slaying his murderer.
FEUDAL LAW is that system of Gothic jurisprudence
which reached its full maturity during the middle ages, and
which long continued to regulate the tenure of real proper¬
ty in the principal countries of Europe. The relations of
lord and vassal have undergone very essential changes, the
knight no longer holds his estate on the condition of mili¬
tary service, and most of the feudal incidents have been
gradually superseded as unsuitable to the spirit of modern
times; but this law has left many deep traces behind it,
and is so closely interwoven with our national institutions,
that it could not without great difficulty be entirely disen¬
tangled. Where the substance has almost totally vanish¬
ed, the form is in some instances not very advantageously
retained.
Of the word feudal many different etymologies have been
proposed. According to Somner, who treads in the steps
of Selden and Spelman, feud is a German compound, which
consists of feh, feo, or feoh, signifying a salary, stipend, or
wages, and of hade, head, or hode, signifying quality, kind,
or nature; so that, in its primary acceptation, feudum, or
land held in fee, was such as was held m fee-hode, by con¬
traction feud or feod; that is, in a stipendary way, with the
acknowledgment of a superior, and a condition of return¬
ing some service for it, on the withdrawing of which, the
FEU
land was revertible to the superior.1 Sir Martin Wright
has remarked that “ this etymon not only suggests the ^
most probable account of the word, but gives us the clear¬
est description of the thing itself.”2
The origin of the feudal system is a question which has
been long and much agitated, and different authors have
arrived at very different conclusions. “ It has puzzled the
learned,” says Dr Stuart, “ to discover the nation of the
barbarians which first gave a beginning to fiefs. No in¬
quiry could be more frivolous. In all of them they must
have appeared about the same period; and they prevailed
in all of them in consequence of the similarity of their situ¬
ation on their conquests, and in consequence of their being
governed by the same customs. It is not therefore to the
principle of imitation that their universality is to be as¬
cribed.”3 But the most comprehensive and the most de¬
cided opinion is that of Mr Pinkerton, who avers that “ the
feudal system, about which so much noise is made, is the
natural fruit of conquest, and is as old in the world as con¬
quest. A territory is acquired, and the state, or the gene¬
ral, bestows it on the leaders and soldiers, on condition of
military service, and of tokens acknowledging gratitude to
the donors. It was known in the Greek heroic ages. It
was known to Lycurgus, for all the lands of Sparta were
held on military tenure. It was known to Romulus, when
he regulated Rome. It was known to Augustus, when he
gave lands to his veterans, on condition that their sons
should, at fifteen years of age, do military service. The
reason it did not preponderate and corrupt in Greece and
Rome was, that it was stifled by the necessary effects of
cities, as above mentioned. In Persia, where there were
no cities of any power or privilege, it preponderated and
corrupted at an early period. The feudal system, whether
in its original democracy, or corrupted into aristocracy,
must limit the power of kings; for men who hold their
possessions on military service, must of course have arms
in their hands: and even in absolute governments the sol¬
diers are free, witness the praetorian bands and armies of
imperial Rome, and the Turkish janisaries. By the feudal
system every man held arms and freedom in his hands.
Montesquieu has begun his account of the feudal system
with that of the ancient Germans, given by Tacitus,4 and
prides himself in leaving off where others began. A writer
more profound would leave off where Montesquieu begins.”5
This last sentence may be considered as a modest attempt
at impressing the reader with an opinion that Pinkerton is
a writer more profound than Montesquieu; but, without
acquiescing in all his notions, we may at least admit that
of the feudal system many authors have taken a viewr much
too narrow and limited. The peculiar relation of lord and
vassal, of territorial grants and the tenure of military ser¬
vice, is doubtless to be traced in very remote ages and
countries. All the feudal incidents it may often be diffi¬
cult to detect; but wherever we find portions of land grant¬
ed to military vassals under the condition, express or im¬
plied, of following the standard of their lord, we there find
the most essential characters of the feudal system. The
order of chivalry may not be found completely engrafted:
there may be no denomination equivalent to that of knight,
and such incidents as those of relief, aids, and wardships, may
be wranting; but instead of a faint analogy, there may still be
a very close resemblance between one system and another.
Feudal
Law.
1 Somner’s Treatise of Gavelkind, p. 106. Lond. 1660, 4to. * Wright’s Introduction to the Law of Tenures, p. 4.
3 Stuart’s View of Society in Europe, p. 218. Edinb. 1778, 4to.
4 Montesquieu de 1’Esprit des Lois, liv. xxx. chap. ii. seq—Dr Stuart commences his researches from the same point. “ In the
manners of the ancient Germans,” he remarks, “ I have found the source and spirit of the feudal law.” See likewise the elaborate
work of Meyer, Esprit, Origine et Progres des Institutions Judiciaires des principaux Pays de 1’Europe, tom. i. p. 4. Have, 1819-
23, 6 tom. 8vo.
f Pinkerton’s Dissertation on the Origin and Progress of the Scythians or Goths, p. 139. Lond. 1787, 8vo.
FEUDAL LAW.
521
Law3 f 1ES ^een,lerl common»” says Mr Hallam, “to seek to officers and soldiers various lands which had been ac- Feudal
^ j r t*‘e origin ot tends, or at least tor analogies to them, in quired on the frontiers, and which were to descend to their Faw-
the history ot various countries. But, though it is of great heirs on the condition of performing military service. This
importance to trace the similarity of customs in different was a plan for securing a permanent guard in the out-
parts of the world, because it guides us to the discovery of posts of the empire; and, as Taurellus and Gothofredus
geneial theorems as to human society, yet we should be on have remarked, it bears some resemblance to the feudal
our guard against seeming analogies, which vanish away system ;7 but Hotman has very clearly pointed out the dis-
when they are closely observed. It is easy to find partial tinction between these military retainers and the feudal
lesemblances to the feudal system. Ihe relation of patron vassals.8
and client in the Roman republic is not unlike thatoflord Sir Thomas Craig has not overlooked the strong resem-
and vassal, in respect of mutual fidelity; but it was not blance between the feudal tenures and the Turkish timars.9
founded on the tenure of land nor military service. The “ The Spahyes,” says Dr Thomas Smith, “ are another
\eteian soldiers, and, in later times, some barbarian allies great support of the Turkish empire; soldiers who are
of the emperors, received lands upon condition of public obliged to serve on horseback by the tenure of the lands
defence; but they were bound not to an individual lord, {timars) and estates they are possest of; these being not
but to the state. Such a resemblance to fiefs may be only the reward of their sweat and blood, but ties and obli-
!n t^ie zemindaries of Hindostan, and the timariots gations to further service in the field upon the first sum-
of lurkey. I he clans of the Highlanders1 and Irish fol- mons; each bringing so many horses with him according
lowed their chieftan into the field ; but their tie was that to the value of what he holds, which is the reason they do
of imagined kindred and respect for birth, not the sponta- not receive an asper of pay out of the Grand Signior’s ex-
neous compact of vassalage. Much less can we extend the chequer, and are therefore known by the name of Timar-
nanie of feud, though it is sometimes strangely misapplied, Spahyes, or Feudatory, to distinguish then from other Spa¬
te the polity of Poland and Russia." All the Polish no- hyes who live in the cities, and have not obtained a piece
11 i'Cre e(^ua^ ’n rights> an<^ independent of each other ; of land.”10 A more recent author represents this military
all who were less than noble, were in servitude. No go- establishment as still unchanged. “ These,” says Dr Walsh,
vernment can be more opposite to the long gradations and “ are a kind of feudal cavalry, possessing hereditary lands,
mutual duties of the feudal system.”3 on the tenure of appearing in the field when called on. If
Maciemwski, a learned civilian of our own age, discovers they have no male children, the lands devolve to the com-
vestiges of the feudal system among the ancient mander, who assigns them to others on the same terms, and
inhabitants of Tuscany.4 To the ancient relation of patron so the corps is kept up. It consists of sixteen legions ; who
and client, the origin of feudal tenures was traced by Bu- are perhaps the best mountain horsemen in the world.”11
dasus, one of the first lawyers in modern times who applied Major Denham discovered traces of the same system at
a very ample store of classical erudition to the illustration Bornou in the interior of Africa. “ The feudal law,” as he
of Roman jurisprudence.5 * The same opinion was adopted informs us, “ exists here in full force ; and a man unwilling
by Zasius, but it has deservedly been rejected by most of to serve, provides one or more substitutes, according to his
t le subsequent commentators; nor is it easy to acquiesce means.”12 Here however we have but an inadequate repre-
m the speculation of Connanus, who deduces the principles sentation of the feudal system. In the centre of India, this
of this law frorn the fraternities of Soldurii among the an- system is to be found in a more complicated and perfect
cient Gauls. The assignment of lands by the Roman em- form. Of its present character and condition in Rajasthan,
peroi s makes a nearer approach to the proper point. After some very curious and interesting details have been fur-
ugustus had supplanted his rivals, he parcelled certain nished by Lieut. Col. Tod, who supposes Asia to have been
lands in Italy among his veteran soldiers; and to the clas- the cradle of feudalism. “ The perfection of the system
sical leader it is well known that, upon this occasion, Virgil in England,” he remarks, “ is due to the Normans, who
m as deprived of his little patrimony. The example was brought it from Scandinavia, whither it was probably con-
ollowed by other emperors. Alexander Severus allotted veyed by Odin and the Sacasenae, or by anterior migrations,
, ^ ^e'V a1.^ at present,” says Dr Smollett, “ as free and independent of their chiefs as the law can make them ; but the original
attachment still remains, and is founded on something prior to the feudal system, about which the writers of this age have made
such a pother, as it it was a new discovery, like the Copernican system. Every peculiarity of poliev, custom, and even temperament
is affectedly traced to this origin, as if the feudal constitution had not been common to almost alf the nations of Europe. For my
fol vi epXP275 )0 866 the USe 0t trUnk'hose and buttered ale ascribed to the influence of the feudal system.” (Miscellaneous Works,
2 V ith respect to the state of vassalage in those two countries, consult Mr Coxe’s Travels into Poland, Russia, Sweden, and Den
mark, vol. i. p. 118. 137. vol. ii. p. 93. 110. Lend. 1784, 2 vols. 4to.
3 SaU.a™’s V.iew.of tbe Sta!:e of Europe during the Middle Ages, vol. i. p. 200. sec. edit. Lond. 1819, 3 vols. 8vo.
Macieiowski Historia Juris Romani, p. 36. edit. sec. Varsavim, 1825, 8vo. “ Antiquitus non videntur pertinuisse ad povulum
nisi patricn, monbus Etruscorum id ita serentibus; apud quos minime totus populus libertate gavisus est, sed ius, quod dicitur feu-
dale, ibi valuit. o 'x
5 Budaei Annotationes in Pandectas, p. 359. edit. Paris. 1535, fol.
‘ Connani Commentariorum Juris Civilis tom. i. f. 119. Paris. 1553, 2 tom. fol.—See Caesar de Bello Gallico, lib. iii. cap. xxii.
and Gebaven Vestigia Juris Germania antiquissima in C. Cornelii Taciti Germania obvia, p. 148. Gottingce, 1766, 8vo.
’ Taurelli de Militiis ex casu, ad Ant. Augustinum Epistola, p. 83. Gothofredus ad Cod. Theodos. lib. vii.’tit. xv p 305
“ Quae pleraque ad feudorum naturam proxime accedunt,” says this most able commentator. Haloander supposes feuds to be men*
tinned in the Novels under the name of militice. “ Animus erat in flnem adjicere Feudorum Consuetudines, quas veteres appellare
solebant jura militiarum, et Imp. nominal See his dedication prefixed to Novellarum Constitutionum Bn. Justiniani Prin-
u^Tvri^7^ exstant^ et ut exstant, Volumen." Noreinbergse, 1531, fol. This opinion has however been refuted by different writers.
Iihtiae enim,'’ says Cqntius, “ fuerunt officia certa ministris magistratuum assignata, quae pecunia vendi poterant, et ideo incom-
mercio erant, ut fuit officium apparitorum. Apparet ergo multum differre militiam a feudo. Nam militia est jits personm • feudum
in rebus immobilibus et quasi in possessione consistit.” (Fornerii et Contii Tractatus de Feudis, p. 84. Leovardim 1694 ’8vo )
Hotomam Disputatio de Feudis, p. 10. Lugduni, 1573, fol. » Cragii Jus Feudale, p. 27. edit. Baillie. Edinb. 1732 fol
n smith’s Remarks upon the Manners, Religion, and Government of the Turks, p. 133. Lond. 1678, 8vo.
Walsh’s Narrative of a Journey from Constantinople to England, p. 186. Lond. 1828, 8vo.
12 Denham’s Narrative of Travels and Discoveries in Northern and Central Africa, p. 150. Lond. 1826, 4to.
VOL. IX. 3 u
522
Feudal
Law.
FEUDAL LAW.
from Asia; which would coincide with Richardson’s hypo¬
thesis, who contends that it was introduced from Tartary.
Although speculative reasoning forms no part of my plan,
yet when I observe analogy on the subject in the customs
of the ancient German tribes, the Franks, or Gothic races.
I shall venture to note them. Of one thing there is no
doubt—knowledge must have accompanied the tide of mi¬
gration from the east: and from higher Asia emerged the
Asi, the Catti, and the Cimbric Lombard, who spread the
system in Scandinavia, Friesland, and Italy.”1 Nor was
this system confined to the continental part of Asia : Mo¬
lina informs us that it prevailed to a great extent in the
island of Japan.2 That the germ of the feudal system first
appeared in Asia, is at least highly probable. Its earliest
traces have been discovered among the Gothic tribes ot
Europe. Successive swarms of Goths moved towards the
north-western parts of the old world; and when they had
subdued many different nations, it may be presumed that
they settled the conquered provinces according to some ge¬
neral plan which they had learned in the east. Of the Asia¬
tic tribes it is orte great characteristic to adhere, from one
century to another, to the customs of their ancestors. This
remark is signally verified in the history of the Chinese and^
Hindus; and it seems applicable to all the other tribes of
men who inhabit that quarter of the globe.
Of the early progress of the feudal system, so able a de¬
lineation has been given by Dr Stuart, that we aie here
tempted to introduce a long extract from his work. Hav¬
ing quoted a passage from Tacitus,3 4 he proceeds with the
subsequent commentary. “ This passage abounds in in¬
struction the most important. It informs us that the Ger¬
man had no private property in land, and that it was his
tribe which allowed him annually for his support a propor¬
tion of territory ; that the property of the land was invest¬
ed in the tribe, and that the lands dealt out to individuals
returned to the public, after they had reaped the fruits of
them; that, to be entitled to a partition of land from his
nation was the distinction of a citizen ; and that, in conse¬
quence of this partition, he became bound to attend to its
defence, and to its glory. With these ideas, and with this
practice, the Germans made conquests. In conformity
therefore with their ancient manners, when a settlement
was made in a province of the empire, the property of the
land belonged to the victorious nation, and the brave laid
claim to their possessions. A tract of ground was marked
out for the sovereign; and, to the inferior orders of men,
divisions corresponding to their importance were allotted.
But while, in their original seats, such partitions were an- Feudal
nual, it was expedient that they should now be invested in
the possessor. A more enlarged idea of property had been
gradually unfolding itself; and though it was convenient
to, and suited the views of a narrow community, to take
back its land, the measure was not practicable in an exten¬
sive society. Nations wrere no longer to shift their habi¬
tations. The boundaries of particular states were to be
respected. The tribe ceasing to wander, the individual was
also to be stationary. The lot or partition now received
by him, was to continue in his possession, and to be an ob¬
ject of his industry. He was to take root, if I may so
speak, in a particular spot. He was to bestow on it his at-
fection; it was to feed and to enrich him with its produce.
His family was to feel an interest in his estate ; his sons
were to succeed him. Heirs were to fail in the blood of
the proprietor. It affected him, that the crown or a stiangei
should possess the subject of his toils and attentions. I he
powers of sale and donation came to be understood. I he
right of holding a landed territory with no limitation, and
of disposing of it at pleasure, was known and prevailed....
When we mount up to the origin of customs, we are to be
struck with their simplicity. The lot or partition to the
sovereign was to constitute his domains. It was to sup¬
port his splendour, to defray the expenses of government,
and to maintain his household. 1 he lot or partition to the
individual was to give rise to allodiality. It wras the land
which was free, in contradistinction to tenure; and, being
still the mark of a citizen, it subjected him as in Germany,
to the general obligation of taking arms in defence of the
community.4 But the domains ol' the sovereign, and the
lands of lot or partition to the people, could not exhaust all
the territory of a conquest. They were principal and na¬
tural objects of attention; yet, after their appointment,
there were much extensive property, and many fair pos¬
sessions. The ancient maxims of the people did not allow
them to seize these by a precarious occupation. Men who
had connected the property of land with the tribe, and not
with the individual, could not conceive any title in conse¬
quence of which they might arrogate possessions to hu¬
mour their fancy, or to flatter their pride. Their ancient
notions continued their operation : the community was con¬
cerned with what no man could claim. The lands accord¬
ingly which were assigned neither to the sovereign nor to
the people, which formed not the domains of the former,
nor the partitions of the latter, were the lands ot the state
or the fisc.”5
1 Tod’s Annals and Antiquities of Rajast’han, or the Central and Western llajpoot States of India, vol. i. p. 132. Lond. 1829-32,
2 0biter dixerim, apud Japonenses nil videri esse rrequentius quam feuda. Cum enim bellis perpetuo in ea ingenti insula
principes inter se contendant, antique inter eos more, quse unusquisque hello obtinet, continue dividit inter suos duces, et alios quos
diligit, cum onere sibi serviendi in bello, et alia onera pnestandi; mutatque dominos de uno loco in ahum, auferendo ab eis quse
possidebant, et alia eis largiendo. Majores autem dinastae sub supremo aliquo principe ita constitute divisa habent loca, qinbus aomi-
nantur, in alios sibi inferiores, cum eisdem oneribus sibi inseryiendi in bello et praestandi aha reaha onera, et ilh in alios, quousque
devenitur ad infimos tonos. quos ipsi vocant, qui similiter dominantur unusquisque in suo oppido, et simili jere ege, u va..sa i ip-
sum comitentur in bellum, et servitia alia realia prsestent. Mores tamen et usus feudorum non iidem, sed diversi m aliqmbus sunt
apud ipsos ab iis qui in Germania, Gallia, et Italia vigent.” (Molina de Justitia et Jure, tom. u. col. 1082. edi . j. ogun . o .
tom. fob)
8 Tacitus de Moribus Germanorum, cap- xxvi.
4 “ The allodial lands,” as Dr Stuart remarks, “ were enjoyed in full property, and are therefore opposed to feudal or beneticiary
possessions, which were received with limitations, and under the burden of military service to the grantors.” The word abod is sup¬
posed to be equivalent to all-hood, and therefore to indicate completeness of possession. It is synonymous with udal, which is employ¬
ed to denote the right of such lands in Orkney and Zetland; “ whereby,” as Lord Stair has stated, “ without any in e men
vestiture, or other right or writ, they enjoy lands and hereditaments.” (Institutions of the Law of Scotland, b. 11. tit. 11. 3 .) ee
likewise Lord Bankton’s Institute of the Laws of Scotland, vol. i. p. 541. This word is evidently borrowed from the ancient. orwe-
gian language. In the Islandic language, odal signifies allodial property, but it also signifies res derelicta. _ (Haldorsomi Lexicon 1s-
landicum, vol. ii. p. 121.) It is not therefore improbable that the term was originally applied to lands which, having been found de¬
serted, were occupied without form or ceremony. r- u c ^ i
£ Stuart’s View of Society in Europe, p. 24 It is not the object of this article to attempt a developement of the feudal system,
but merely a faint outline of the history of the feudal law. Besides the different works which we here have occasion to quote, parti¬
cularly those of Stuart and Hallam, we may refer the English reader to Dr Robertson’s View of Society in Europe, prefixed to hia
History of Charles V.
FEUDAL LAW.
523
Feudal
l.aw.
'^r—'
Du Moulin has traced the origin of the feudal law to the
Franks, by whom he supposes it to have been introduced
into Gaul.1 Grotius and other writers have, with greater
probability, represented it as having been widely diffused
at an early period.2 Lombardy has frequently been regard¬
ed as the place of its origin, because to that country we are
indebted for the ancient digest of this consuetudinary law.3
The Feudorum Consuetudines are said to have been com¬
piled by Gerardus Niger, who is likewise called Capagistus,
and by Obertus de Orto or Horto, who were both lawyers
and consuls of Milan.4 They lived in the reign of Fre¬
derick the First, surnamed Barbarossa, which commenced
in 1152, and terminated in 11 SO. Whatever share they
might have in preparing the materials, it may perhaps be
suspected that they did not digest the work in its present
form. Their opinions are on some occasions placed in op¬
position to each other, and are quoted as if from distinct
works. Thus in lib. ii. tit. li. § 3. “ Similiter si quis in-
vestitus fuerit de feudo, ita ut ad fceminas transiret, et duas
Alias tantum reliquerit, quarum una filium habeat, et altera
filiam; utrum post mortem illarum masculus tantum feu-
dum habere debeat ? Secundum Gerardum, masculus tan¬
tum : Obertus contra.” And in § 6 of the same title :
“ Similiter feudum lege commissoria datum non valet, id
est, si ad certum tempus pecunia non solvatur creditori, ut
habeat in feudum. Gerardus. Et secundum Obertum,
valet.” On other occasions, both names are subjoined:
“ Gerardus et Obertus.” It might indeed be conjectured
that the work was arranged by their joint labour ; and that
when any difference of opinion occurred, they took care to
state it in this formal manner. Du Moulin supposes Ober¬
tus to have been the sole compiler. We are assured by
Odofredus, a commentator on the Code, who lived about
the year 1250, that Hugolinus, otherwise called Hugo a
Porta Ravennate, who died in the year 1168, added the
feudal law to the ninth collation of the Novels, and that it
was received as a tenth collation.5 Some writers consider
the statement as a mere device, intended to enhance the
authority of this branch of jurisprudence. The feudal law
is commonly subjoined to the Corpus Juris Civilis, of
which many of the older civilians regarded it as a compo¬
nent part. “ The last tome of the civile law,” says Sir Tho¬
mas Ridley, “ is the Feudes, that is, the books of customes
and services that the subject or vassall doth to his prince
or lord, for such lands or fees as he holdeth of him.”6 In
the common editions, the Feudorum Consuetudines are di¬
vided into two books; but the edition of Cujacius, Coloniae,
1588, 8vo, exhibits a new arrangement, with a series of
five books. The first book he ascribes to Gerardus, the
second and third to Obertus; the fourth is taken from se¬
veral ancient authors, and the fifth consists of imperial con¬
stitutions relative to matters of feudal cognizance. To the
common editions in two books, are likewise appended con¬
stitutions of several emperors ; and two of them, issued by
Henry the Seventh, are described by the term Extrava-
gantes; a term which is also used in the canon law, to de¬
note documents which wander beyond the limits of a par¬
ticular collection.7 The work itself is partly composed of
such constitutions; and the entire collection closes with an
instrument relative to the peace of Constance, De Pace
Constantice, concluded, on the one part, between the em¬
peror Frederick the First, his son Henry king of the Ro¬
mans, and certain nobles of Germany, and, on the other,
various cities of Lombardy, the march of Ancona, and Ro¬
magna.
These books of the feudal law are evidently written by
individuals familiar with the doctrines and the phraseology
of the civil law ; and the new system of jurisprudence may
be considered as a scion from the old. The composition
necessarily partakes of the general barbarism of the age to
which it belongs, nor are the materials reduced to a syste¬
matic or lucid form.8 Some of the more classical civilians
have therefore treated this law of Lombardy with the ut¬
most contempt.9 As to the authority which properly be¬
longs to it, the feudalists have entered into much discus¬
sion, and have maintained various opinions. Some of the
early writers represent it as having been sanctioned by dif¬
ferent emperors, particularly by the first three Fredericks,
but others consider this sanction as more than doubtful.
Craig is induced to suppose that the feudal law must have
derived its authority from some imperial rescripts, although
they have not descended to our time ; for he cannot con¬
ceive that the emperors would otherwise have permitted it
to be taught in the schools, and observed in the judicato¬
ries. Du Moulin, on the other hand, considers the private
part of the compilation as unwritten law, “ jus non scrip-
turn,” adopted at Milan, and the remainder, the constitu¬
tions interspersed, as written law, “ jus scriptum,” retain¬
ing its force within the limits of the empire.10 This ap¬
pears to be a very sound opinion ; nor do we think it ne¬
cessary to mention the various suggestions and specula¬
tions of other writers. In many different countries, this
compilation has been received and partly adopted as con¬
suetudinary law, and in all those countries has been modi-
1 Molinsei Comnientarii in Parisienses Consuetudines, p. 10. edit. Genev. 1613, fol The same opinion is adopted by many
other writers, and, among the rest, by Herve in his The'orie des Matieres Fe'odales et Censuelles, tom. i. p. 2.-
2 Grotius de Jure Belli ac Pacis, lib. ii. cap. vii. § 21. See the same illustrious writer’s Historia Gotthorum, Vandalorum, et
Langobardorum, prol. p. 64. Amst. 1655, 8vo.
^ Panciroli Thesaurus variarum Lectionum utriusque Juris, p. 130. Yenetiis, 1611, fol. Giphanii AntinomiEe Juris Feudalis,
p. 29. Francofurti, 1606, 4to. “ Manet igitur verum,” says Giphanius, “ feuda, quoad originem, ad clientelas liomanorum, vel ad
homines liomanorum referre posse. Deinde, feuda sunt ex jure Longobardorum, non si spectemus originem, sed si respiciamus ad
rerum distinctiones, ordinationes, constitutiones, statuta, quae ex moribus et quotidiana observatione Longobardorum fluxerunt.”
4 Dieck’s Literargeschichte des Longobardischen Lehenrechts. Halle, 1828, 8vo. Laspeyres ueber die Fntstehung und iilteste
Bearbeitung der Libri Feudorum. Berlin, 1830, 8vo.
5 B. G. Struvii Historia Juris, p. 721. Jenae, 1718, 4to.
6 Ridley’s View of the Civile and Ecclesiasticall Law, p. 68. sec. edit. Oxford, 1634, 4to.
7 See F. A- Biener’s Geschichte der Novellen Justinian’s, S. 277- Berlin, 1824, 8vo.
8 “ Stilus forensis est, qualis jurisconsultorum ejus temporis esse potuit: script! enim sunt seculo inerudito, neque fieri potuit
quin aliquod ejus seculi vitium contraxerint. Verba ipsa Latina, nisi si quae sint fori propria. Phrasis, sive, ut grammatici loquun-
tur, constructio Longobardica est, ut facile quivis sine interprete sensum percipere potest. Tumultuarie sane sunt conscripti, ex ad-
versariis sive schedis Gerardi et Oberti relictis, ab alio puto quam ipsis collectis. Obertus enim et Gerardus, prout quaeque facti
species occurrerat, consult! quid de eo scntirent, scripto declararunt. Haec eorum adversaria, post eorum excessum, aliquis juris
feudorum studiosus in libros redegit, sine delectu, sine methodo, quod non est negandum : ita tamen eorum responsa celebrata sunt,
et in honore habita, ut pro jure certissimo a posteris adhuc sint usurpata.” (Cragii Jus Feudale, p. 36.)
9 “ Feuda postremo,” says Taurellus, “ quae non minus barbaro quam inepto, et sibi parum constant!, ac vix meo judieiolegidigno
volumine continentur.” (De Militiis ex casu, ad Ant. Augustinum Epistola, p. 81.) See likewise Gravinae Orio-mes Juris Civilis
p. 103. edit. Mascovii. ° ’
18 Molinaei Commentarii in Parisienses Consuctudines, p. 24—See likewise Duck de Usu et Authoritate Juris Civilis, f. 35. b.
Bitschii Commentarius in Consuetudines Feudorum, p. 14. G. A. Struvii Syntagma Juris Feudalis, p. 30.
FEUDAL LAW.
524
Feudal fied by tacit usage, or by express enactments, nor has it
Law. any other authority except such as it has thus obtained.
The Lombardic body of law is described as “ Feudorum
Consuetudines,” and “Jus Feudal e communethe first
title denoting that it is consuetudinary or unwritten law,
and the second, that it has obtained more or less authority
wherever the feudal law has been adopted.
The substance of these books was digested into a new form
by Antonius Minuccius a Prato Veteri, a professor in the
university of Bologna, who was born about the year 1380
and his labours are said to have received the sanction of
the emperor Sigismund, as they certainly did that of Fre¬
derick the Third.1 2 Haloander had originally intended to sub¬
join it to his edition of the Novels ; but it was not till after
a long interval that the work was first published by Schilter.
Another digest of the same materials was afterwards under¬
taken by Bartholomaeus Baraterius or de Barateriis, who
was a native of Piacenza, and was successively a professor
at Pavia and Ferrara. Having completed his work in 1442,
he dedicated it to the duke of Milan. It was first printed
at Paris in the year 1612.3 Neither of these works seems
to have obtained any permanent footing, even in the uni¬
versities of Italy. The books of the feudal law were exhi¬
bited in a German dress by Dr Lorenz Weidmann, who
likewise introduced some changes of arrangement. His
work, Die Lehenrecht verdeutscht, was printed by Schoiffer
of Mainz in the year 1530.
The principles of the feudal law had soon begun to be
taught in the universities. The text was illustrated by
many glosses and commentaries ; and many summaries
and treatises have from time to time been added. The
principal feudalists who preceded his own time, are thus
enumerated by Dr Duck : “ Horum librorum authoritatem
augent egregii illi jurisconsulti qui ad eos glossas, com-
mentarios, et tractatus scripserint. Glossas in Feuda scrip-
serunt Bulgarus, Pyleus, Ugolinus, Vicentius, Jac. Gof-
fredus, aliique ; sed Jac. Columbinus eorum ultimus omnes
superavit, et post eum, ait Jason, nemo glossas in Feuda
scribere tentavit.4 Alii summas et tractatus de Feudis com-
posuerunt, Odofredus, Jac. de Arena, Hostiensis, Jac. Ardi-
zoni, Zasius, Rebuffus, Hannetonius, Henr. Rosenthall,
aliique, qui omnem Feudorum scientiam amplissime tradi-
derunt. Commentarios in Feuda scripserunt Jac. de Bel-
visio, Andr. de Iserma, Baldus, Jac. Alvarottus, Math, de
Afflictis, Fr. Curtius, Jac. Cujacius, aliique, in quibus emi-
net Cujacii elegantia et literarum splendor, authoritas et
judicium Jac. de Belvisio et Baldi, quorum ille octies se le-
gisse libros Feudorum Papiae testatur, Baldus vero com- Feudal
mentarios suos scripsit postquam jus civile per quadraginta Law.
septem annos professus insignem famam acquisiverat. Et
inter hos omnes e glossographis Jacobo Columbino, e sum-
mistis Jacobo Ardizoni, e commentariis Jacobo de Belvisio
primus locus ab omnibus conceditur.”5 To this enumera¬
tion some names ought perhaps to have been added, par¬
ticularly those of Hotman and Vulteius. Of the more re¬
cent commentaries on the text, the most copious is that of
Caspar Bitsch, professor of law in the university of Stras-
burg.6 Among the systematic treatises which have ap¬
peared since the publication of Duck’s very useful work, it
may be proper to mention the elder Struve’s Syntagma
Juris Feudalis* which contains much information in a form
not very elegant or attractive.7 Many elementary works,
such as those of Schilter, Stryk, and G. L. Bohmer, and
an immense number of detached dissertations, have from
time to time been published in Germany, where every pro¬
vince of jurisprudence is most laboriously cultivated. Of
separate tracts on the feudal law, an ample collection was
published in Jenichen.8 Various writers treat of this law
as it has been adopted and modified in different countries.
Thus the feudal law, as applied in Scotland, has been illus¬
trated with much learning and ability by Sir Thomas Craig,
one of the greatest lawyers whom his country has produ¬
ced. One of the earliest books on the law of England is
Thomas Littleton’s treatise on tenures ; and the feudal law
of that country was afterwards discussed by Sir Henry
Spelman, Sir Martin Wright, Sir Jeffrey Gilbert, and vari¬
ous other writers.
In France the feudal law was embodied in the loicouturnier
of different provinces; and many curious reliques of jurispru¬
dence have thus been preserved. The most interesting of
these are perhaps the Coustumes de Beauvoisis, digested by
Philippes de Beaumanoir.9 Montesquieu has described it as
an admirable work,10 and has quoted it upon many different
occasions. “ This treatise of Beaumanoir,” says Mr Barring¬
ton, “ is so systematical and complete, and throws so much
light upon our ancient common law, that it cannot be too
much recommended to the perusal of the English antiquary,
historian, or lawyer. He kept the courts of the Comte de
Clermont, and gives an account of the customary laws of
Beauvoisis (which is a district about forty miles to the north¬
ward of Paris) as they prevailed in the year 1283. He is con¬
sequently a more ancient writer than Littleton, and, to speak
with all due reverence of this father of our law, perhaps a
better writer. It need hardly be said that the customs of
1 Pancirolus de claris Legum Interpretibus, p. 198. Savigny’s Geschichte des Rdmischen Itechts, Bd. vi. S. 255. Osservazioni e
Dissertazioni varie sopra il IMritto Feudale, eoncernenti ITstoriaele Opinioni di Antonio da Pratovecchio, celebre Giureconsulto del
Secolo xv. e Riformatore del Libri de’ Feudi. Livorno, 1764, 4to. This elaborate volume, which appeared without the name of
the author, was written by Migliorotto Maccioni, a professor in the university of Pisa.
2 Laspeyres iiber die Entstehung und iilteste Bearbeitung der Libri Feudorum, S. 126. Berlin, 1830, 8vo. This is a work of
much critical research, and the author, who is now a professor in the university of Halle, belongs to the school of Savigny.
3 The works of Minuccius and Rpraterius are subjoined to Schiller’s Codex Juris Feudalis Alemanniei. Argentorati, 1695, 4to.
4 See Savigny’s Geschichte des liemischen Rechts im Mittelalter, Bd. v. S. 82. Heidelberg, 1815-31, 6Bde. 8vo.
5 Duck de Csu et Authoritate Juris Civilis, f. 38. edit. Lond. 1653, 8vc. A similar account is given by Pancirolus, Thesaurus
variarum Lectionum utriusque Juris, p. 131. Venetiis, 1611, fol. See likewise Rittershusii Partitiones Juris Feudalis, p. 15. edit.
Argentorat. 1659, 8vo.
6 Caspar! Bitschii Commentarius in Consuetudines Feudorum. Argentorati, 1673, 4to.
7 Geo. Ad. Struvii Syntagma Juris Feudalis. Francofurti ad Moenum, 1703, 4to. This is the eighth edition.
8 Thesaurus Juris Feudalis, continens optuma atque selectissima Opuscula, quibus Jus Feudale explicatur. Francof. ad Moen.
17&0-4, 3 tom. 4to.
9 Coustumes de Beauvoisis, par Messire Philippes de Beaumanoir, Bailly de Clermont en Beauvoisis, Assises et bons Usages
du Royaume de Jerusalem, par Messire Jean d’lbelin, Comte de Japhe et d’Ascalon, S. de Rames etde Baruth, et autres anciennes
Coutumes; le tout tire des manuscrits, avec des notes et observations, et un glossaire pour 1’intelligence des termesde nosanciens au-
theurs, par Gaspard Thaumas de la Thaumassiere, Ecuyer, S. de Fuy-ferrand, Bailly du Marquisat de Chateau-neuf-sur-Cher,
Avocat en Parlement. Bourges, 1690, fol—Of the Assises de Jerusalem, a new and complete edition, in three volumes quarto, was in
1830 announced by Cotta of Stuttgard. The editors are E. H. Kausler and J. C. Bluntschli, who promise a very careful revisal of
the text, with copious and various illustrations; and, for the satisfaction of many readers, we may add that they write, not in Ger¬
man, but in Latin. Of the second part, the Assise de la Court des Borges, the original has not yet been printed. Some extracts, relative
to maritime law, may be found in Pardessus, Collection de Lois Maritimes anttrieures au XVIlIe Siecle, tom. i. p. 275. Paris, 1828, 4to.
10 Montesquieu de 1’Esprit des Lois, liv. xxvi. chap. xv.
FEUDAL LAW.
Feudal the two countries were at this time very similar, especially
Law. 0f thg more northern parts of France : if we wanted other
-J*~proof, the commentators on the oldest French law books
cite Littleton as illustrating their customs.”1 Of the cus¬
tomary laws of France the other collections are very nume¬
rous.2 Nor must we here neglect to particularize a very
curious relique of early jurisprudence, the Assises de Jeru¬
salem, which are decidedly of a French origin. After the
conquest of the holy city in the year 1099, the barons who
led the crusade elected Godefroy de Bouillon king of Je¬
rusalem ; and it was one of the new sovereign’s first cares to
form a body of laws for the government of his subjects.
By the counsel of the patriarch, and of his princes and ba¬
rons, “ et des plus sages homes qu’il pooit avoir,” he ap¬
pointed wise men to make enquiry at persons from different
countries as to the particular usages of those countries.
Having received tne desired information in writing, he
again assembled his principal adherents; and having laid
this document before them, and caused it to be read, he
afterwards, with their counsel and concurrence, selected
what to him seemed good, “ et en fit assises et usages que
Ton deust tenir et maintenir, et user au royaume de Jeru¬
salem, par lesquels il, ses gens, et son peuble, et toutes
autres manieres des gens alans, et venans, et demorans,
fussent governes et menes a droit et a raison el dit royaume.”
They were called Assises from the circumstance of their
having thus been confirmed in an assembly of the chief
persons of the state. They were afterwards modified and
enlarged by this king and his successors; and about the
year 1250 were arranged by Jean dTbelin, Comte de Japhe
et d’Ascalon, Seigneur de Rames et de Baruth. Flaving
been adopted in the kingdom of Cyprus, they were revised
in the year 1369 by sixteen individuals nominated in an as¬
sembly of the estates of that kingdom. They had been
translated into Greek for the benefit of those subjects who
did not understand the original language ; and of this ver¬
sion some portions have been preserved in the Royal Lib¬
rary at Paris. After Cyprus had fallen under the dominion
of the Venetians,3 the book was translated into the Italian
language.4 It is generally admitted that the laws thus
adopted in the kingdoms of Jerusalem and Cyprus, were in
a great measure derived from the customs and usages of
the kingdom of France.
I he feudal system seems to have arrived at maturity
during the reign and in the dominions of Charlemagne and
525
his immediate successors. The reliques of their legislation Feudal
are to be found in the Capitularia Regwn Francorum, Law.
of which we have given a separate account. As the em-
pire of Charlemagne not only included France and Ger¬
many, but likewise a great portion of Italy, and some por¬
tion of Spain, a certain uniformity of laws and usages was
naturally promoted by this political union. “ Feudal te¬
nures,” it is stated by Mr Hallam, “ were so general in the
kingdom of Aragon, that I reckon it among the monarchies
which were founded upon that basis. Charlemagne’s em¬
pire, it must be remembered, extended as far as the Ebro.
But in Castille and Portugal they were very rare, and cer¬
tainly could produce no political effect. Benefices for life
were sometimes granted in the kingdoms of Denmark5 and
Bohemia. Neither of these, however, nor Sweden,6 nor
Hungary, comes under the description of countries influ¬
enced by the feudal system. That system, however, after
all these limitations, was so extensively diffused, that it
might produce confusion, as well as prolixity, to pursue the
collateral branches of its history in all the countries where
it prevailed.”7 The prevalence of the feudal law in Lom¬
bardy has already been mentioned ; and it sooner or later
extended its influence to almost every corner of Italy, in¬
cluding the islands as well as the continental states.8 In
England and Scotland it struck a very deep and vigorous
root. Its progress in the former country seems to be cor¬
rectly stated by Blackstone. “ This feodal polity,” he re¬
marks, “ which was thus by degrees established over all
the continent of Europe, seems not to have been received in
this part of our island, at least not universally, and as a
part of the national constitution, till the reign of William
the Norman. Not but that it is reasonable to believe, from
abundant traces in our history and laws, that even in the
times of the Saxons, who were a swarm from what Sir Wil¬
liam Temple calls the same northern hive, something similar
to this wTas in use ; yet not so exclusively, nor attended with
all the rigour that was afterwards imported by the Normans.
For the Saxons were firmly settled in this island, at least
as early as the year 600 ; and it was not till two centuries
after, that feuds arrived to their full vigour and maturity,
even on the continent of Europe.”9 Craig supposes the
feudal law to have been established in Scotland before it
was established in England ;10 but this is an opinion which
apparently must continue to rest on conjecture, and not on
historical evidence. (d. i.)
1 Barrington’s Observations on the more ancient Statutes, p. 439.
1 See Lupin’s edition of Camus’s Lettres sur la Profession d’Avocat, tom. ii. p. 190.
8 See Johann Paul lieinhards vollstandige Geschichte des Kdnigreichs Cypern. Krlangen und Leipzig, 1706-3, 2 Bde. 4to.
* Le Assise et bone Ysanze del lleame de Hyervsalem. Yenetia, 1535, fol. The volume concludes with the following colophon :
“ A laude & honor del Omnipotente Iddio, fnisce il presente libro, qual e de le Assise & bone Ysanze del Reame de Hierusalem,
stampato in Venetia,. regnante 1’inclito Meser Andrea Gritti, Doxe di Venetia, nelli anni de la Natiuita del Signor nostro MDXXXV.
del mese di Marzo, in la stamparia di Aurelio Pincio Venetiano.” The name of the translator is Fiorio Bustron. This translation
contains both the laws which relate to L'alta Corte and those which relate to La Corte de H Borgesi. Both parts may be found in the
collection of Canciani, Barbarorum Leges antiquee, vol. ii. p. 479. vol. v. p. 107. Venetiis. 1781-92, 5 tom. fol.
1 See Dansk Lehns Ret af Peder Kofod Ancher. Kidbenhavn, 1777, 8vo.
* Stiernhddk de Jure Sueonum et Gothorum vetusto, p. 276. Holmise, 1682, 4to.
7 Hallam’s View of the Middle Ages, vol. i. p. 201.
8 l he Sicilians, says Mr Brydone, “ still boast that they retain more of the feudal government than any nation in Europe. The
shadow indeed remains, but the substance is gone long ago.” (Tour through Sicily and Malta, vol. ii. p. 225. Lond. 1773, 2 vols. 8vo.)
* Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England, vol. ii. p. 48. See likewise Dr Sullivan’s Historical Treatise on the Feu¬
dal Law, and the Constitution and Laws of England, p. 18. Lond. 1772, 4to.
14 Cragii Jus Feudale, p. 47. Brussii Principia Juris Feudalis, p. 5. Edinb. 1713, 8vo. See Dr Stuart’s Observations concern¬
ing the Public Law and the Constitutional History of Scotland, p. 7. Edinb. 1779, 8vo. Lord Karnes, whose speculations often
rest upon a very insecure foundation, is pleased to express himself in the following terms : “ I entertain some doubts whether the
feudal law was introduced into Scotland so early as in the reign of Malcolm II. What to me brought this thing first under suspi¬
cion, is a fact that can be made extremely evident. When one dives into the antiquities of Scotland and England, it will appear
that we borrowed all our laws and customs from the English. No so ner is a statute enacted in England, but, upon the first oppor¬
tunity, it is introduced into Scotland ; so that our oldest statutes are mere copies of theirs. Let the Magna Charta be put into the
hands of any Scotsman, without giving its history, and he will have no doubt that he is reading a collection of Scots statutes or regu¬
lations. Now it is a point settled among the best English antiquaries, that the feudal law was introduced into England by William
the Conqueror. 1 need not spend time upon this topick, after what is said by the accurate Spelman, and by our countryman Craig.
Joining these two things together, a strong presumption arises, that the feudal law made its progress from England to this country, as
all the English statutes, making improvements and alterations upon it, certainly did. But this presumption receives additional force,
526
P E V
Fever.
FEVER is the term applied to a class of diseases charac¬
terized generally by increased heat of surface, frequency ot
pulse, and disturbance of the various functions. All fevers
whatever be their nature, usually commence with general
feelings of illness, such as restlessness, irritability, languor,
pain in the back and all the joints, sensations of coldness,
even though the body may feel hotter than usual generally
terminating in shivering more or less severe ; the features
assume a peculiar and shrunken appearance, and the eye is
muddy and more or less injected. This cold stage is usu¬
ally followed by a hot one, when the skin has a dry burning
sensation, with hot dry tongue, increased pulse, &c.; and
this stage again terminates in a more or less copious sweat¬
ing, which forms the third stage of the disease. These three
stages may be passed through in one day, after which the
person may be restored to health. The malady is then termed
a “ weed” or ephemeral fever. On the other hand, these
three stages mav recur day after day at stated intervals,
when the disease is styled an intermittent fever. ihe
malady, however, may continue many days without being
marked by the occurrence of remissions or intermissions,
when it is termed a continued fever. When this last form
is attended wdth marked eruptions or rashes on the skin,
the disease receives the name of an eruptive fever. Fevers
are hence conveniently divided into three distinct clashes.
1. Continued fevers, as typhus; 2. Periodic fevers, as ague
and yellow fever; 3. Eruptive fevers, as smallpox, measles,
and scarlet fever.
Of all classes of disease fevers are the most common, and
not only attend in one or other of their forms almost every
derangement and injury of the human body, but by their
mortality they constitute one of the chief outlets of life.
When they rage as endemics or epidemics they are among
the most severe and fatal of diseases. In intertropical re¬
gions, after the subsidence of the rains, when the almost
vertical sun causes the malarious exhalations to arise in pro¬
digious quantities, all the low-lying districts become so un¬
healthy that no white man exposed to their influence escapes
fever in one form or other, and even the black races suffer
severely. ,
All fevers when they appear as epidemics seem to have
certain features in common, whether they belong to the
class of continued, periodic, or eruptive fevers. Thus the
virulence of all is increased by the want of cleanliness and
of ventilation in the dwelling, by the overcrowding in a con¬
fined space or dwelling, by the want of personal cleanliness,
by the use of indigestible or unwholesome food, by resi¬
dence in a damp low-lying locality, or where exhalations
from damp ground, from putrescent heaps, from marshes,
drains, or ditches abound. Hence the prevalence of fevers
in all marshy districts ; hence the mortality from fevers in
armies when kept long encamped on the same spot of ground;
hence the ravages of fever among our overcrowded and
under-fed lower classes, and among the Irish in the late fever
epidemics. A certain elevation of temperatvire, combined
with the miasmatous exhalations from damp grounds, ap¬
pears to be necessary to the existence of certain forms of
fever. Thus yellow fever north of the equator only breaks
out after the heavy rains of July and August, when the
ground, saturated with the heavy rains, begins to throw off
copious exhalations under the influence of the almost ver¬
tical sun. It scarcely ever appears where the mean tem¬
perature of the months during which it breaks out is below
70° Fahr., or where the ground is 2500 feet above the level
of the sea; hence it chiefly appears only during the months
of September and October. South of the line, the corre¬
sponding period when this deadly fever prevails is March
Fevre
FEZ
and April; and at these periods all low marshy coasts ought
to be avoided by whites, as this disease falls with especial ^
severity on them. In more temperate climes, or during the ^
other months of the year in intertropical regions, intermit-
tent fevers (or agues) of more or less severe type, seem to
take the place of yellow fever; while typhus fever is the
peculiar epidemic of crowded towns and of localities ill-yen-
tilated, ill-drained, or exposed to the miasmata arising from
decomposing animal or vegetable matter, in the more tem¬
perate regions of the earth.
Much may be done by draining and ventilation for the
prevention ot fever; and many instances are recoided where
both typhus and yellow fever have been almost quite ex¬
tirpated by improved drainage and ventilation. A large
tenement in Glasgow, formerly notorious as a nest foi ty¬
phus, is an instance of the first, and New \ ork and several
towns in North America are instances of the other.
As fevers form the especial scourge of adult life, the
means of preventing these attacks merit much attention;
and were sanitary measures more rigidly enforced in all our
towns it cannot be doubted that the misery, destitution,
suffering, and orphanage which prevail so much among the
lower classes would be greatly diminished.
FEVRE, Tannegui Le, a distinguished French scholar,
was born at Caen in Normandy in 1615. The numerous
difficulties which opposed his early education he overcame
by his own diligence and ability, and was at length enabled
to enter the Jesuit College of La Fleche, where he greatly
distinguished himself. Refusing to take orders in the Ro¬
mish Church, he left Normandy for Paris, where he was ap¬
pointed by Richelieu inspector of the press of the Louvre.
After the Cardinal’s death he retired to Langres and finally
to Preuilly, where he openly professed the doctrines of the
Reformed faith. He was immediately offered a chair in the
Academy of Saumur, which he shortly afterwards exchanged
for a more eligible appointment in Heidelberg. In this
latter city he died Sept. 12, 1672. Le Fevre is perhaps fully
better known as the father of Mme. Dacier than from the
merits of his editions of some ot the classics.
The following list contains the most important of these works
Editions of several works of Lucian; Longinus’s Treatise on the
Sublime ; the Fables of Phaedrus ; Lucretius ; the Histories of iElian;
Eutropius, Justin, Terence, and Horace ; the Library of Apollo-
dorus; Virgil; the Panegyric of Trajan by Pliny the younger;
Dionysius of Alexandria, Anacreon, and Sappho ; French transla¬
tions of the Festinus of Xenophon, the First Alcibiades of Plato, the
Treatise on Superstition by Plutarch, and the Life of Aristippus by
Dioo-enes Laertius; the translation into Latin verse of the Fables
of Lokman ; Diatribe FI. Josephi de Jesu Christo testimonium suppo-
situm esse ; Epistolarum partes II., Saumur, 1659,1665, in two yols.
4to ; Les Vies des Poetes Grecs, 1665, in 12mo, to which is subjoined
Le Mariage de Belfegor, translated from the Italian of Machiavelli,
and the Life of Theseus, translated from the Greek of Plutarch ;
Methods pour commencer les Humanites Grecques et Latines, in the
Memoires de Litterature of Sallengre; Notes on the Scahgeriana
Prima. (See Memoires pour servir d la Vie de Tannegui Lefevre, by
Fr. Graverol, 1686; and the Memoires de Nidron.)
FEZ, an extensive country of Africa, and at one time
the most flourishing kingdom in the northern part of that
continent. It now, however, forms a province of the em¬
pire of Marocco.
Fez, or Fas, the capital of the above kingdom, was built
in 793 a.d., by a prince named Edris, and having soon
risen to be a city of the first magnitude, became the capital
of the western Mohammedan states. In the twelfth cen¬
tury it is said to have contained seven hundred temples and
mosques, and other public edifices, a number of which weie
erected upon a magnificent scale, and adorned with a pro¬
fusion of marble pillars. It was at one time held in the
when it is considered, that if we had the feudal law before it came into England, it must have een a eiy r „ , L 7]7 s
the Normans, with whom we had no commerce.” (Essays upon several subjects concerning British ntiqui les, p. • •) > •)
Of such random assertions as these, it would be superfluous to attempt a formal retutation.
FEZ
FEZ
527
highest veneration ; and when the road to Mecca was shut
up, in the tenth century, pilgrimages to Fez were performed
by the western Moslems, who considered it as a place nearly
equally sacred with that where the Prophet had been born.
It was also distinguished for its learning, at a time when
the Saracens may be said to have enjoyed a monopoly of
all the knowledge which then existed. Its schools of phi¬
losophy, medicine, and astronomy, were famous throughout
the Mohammedan kingdoms of Spain and Africa, and were
not only resorted to by the youth of these countries, but
likewise by Christians. When the Moors were driven out
of Spain, Fez became the resort of numerous refugees, who,
being superior in knowledge and civilization to their ori¬
ginal countrymen, introduced several of the arts, the prac¬
tice of which for a time retrieved the decaying fortunes of
the city. But it gradually sunk with the declension of arts
and wealth in Northern Africa; and when the kingdom of
which it was the capital became incorporated with the em¬
pire of Marocco, it ceased to possess almost any political
importance. Fez is situated in a funnel-shaped valley open
only on the N. and N.E., and drained by one of the upper
branches of the Seboo River, in N. Lat. 34. 6. 3., \\ . Long.
4. 58. 15. The vicinity is fertile and well cultivated, being
covered with fields, gardens, and orange-groves. Fez con¬
sists properly of two parts, the old and the new town, the
latter standing on a height and overlooking the former. In
old Fez the streets are narrow, unpaved, and dirty, espe¬
cially in rainy weather; and from the great height of the
houses, are dark and gloomy. They are crossed at different
intervals by high walls, which prop up the bulging and
leaning walls of the buildings on each side. These cross¬
walls are perforated with arched passages, which being closed
at night cut off all communication between one part of the
city and another. The houses are built around court-yards,
and have a mean and ruinous appearance. I he windows
are either very small or they are altogether wanting. I he
different stories are surrounded with galleries supported by
colonnades, by means of which the adjoining rooms com¬
municate. The new town is better laid out and built than
the old one, and contains several palaces, numerous mosques,
and other public buildings. The palace of the sultan is
composed of a great number of court-yards which serve as
entrances to the apartments. Fez at present contains about
100 mosques, which are all built on a uniform plan. 1 hey
consist of a court-yard surrounded with arcades, and having
on the S. side a covered square. The chief mosque, called
El Carubin, was built during the flourishing period of the
city, and is described by Leo Africanus as being a mile and
a half in circumference. It possesses a great number of
arches and gates, upwards of 300 pillars, and two handsome
fountains in the court. The minaret contains globes and
astronomical instruments brought from Europe, but they
are now neglected, and most of them useless. I he mosque
dedicated to Edris, the founder of the city, is much fre¬
quented, and is a sanctuary for thieves and murderers.
The public baths are numerous, and the city is abundantly
supplied with water. T. he various trades and the different
articles sold are divided into classes in separate streets, so
that a whole street is occupied by those pursuing one traffic
or art. Provision markets are numerous, and the inhabi¬
tants of the surrounding country daily resort in great num¬
bers to the town as to a fair. Fez is still considered one
of the principal seats of Mohammedan learning, and has
schools attached to many of the mosques.
The manufactures of Fez consist of woollen sashes,
and silk handkerchiefs, slippers of good leather, which they
tan remarkably well, red felt caps, some coarse linen cloth,^
fine carpets, a curious kind of earthenware, weapons of
several kinds, saddlers’ ware, jewellery, and copper utensils.
The arts here find little encouragement, and are indeed far
inferior to those of Europe, except in the preparation of
leather, and in the fabrication of carpets and of hhaiks,
which the manufacturers know how to weave as fine and
as transparent as gauze. They are also expert workers
in wax, weapons, and harness. The heat during the sum¬
mer is very great; but in other seasons of the year, parti¬
cularly winter, the climate is agreeable. With regard to
the number of inhabitants, much difference of opinion pre¬
vails among travellers.
FEZZAN, a country of considerable extent in Northern
Africa. Its northern boundary is the village of Bonjem,
which, according to Dr Vogel, is situated in Lat. 30. 34. 58.^
N. South of this point it extends six degrees and a half of
latitude, or about 450 miles, and is bounded in that quarter
by what are called the Wells of Meshroo. To the south
and south-east is the country of the Tibboos, to the south¬
west that of the nomadic Tuaricks, and to the north-west
the borderers are Arabs. Of this tract of country it is cal¬
culated that about 300 miles, stretching from north to south,
are cultivated. The greatest breadth is estimated at 350
miles, the Black Haratch to the east and other deserts to
the south and west being included in its territory. Fezzan
may be said to consist of a chain of verdant islands em¬
bosomed in an ocean of sand. Fine yellow sand, and a
species of gravel, cover the whole surface of the plains, ex¬
cept where the Soudah and Haratch extend. It is only
in the immediate neighbourhood of towns that the palm is
cultivated, and that corn and esculent plants, of which a
little is raised with great difficulty and labour, are produced.
The plains of the desert consist of red sand and sandstone,
containing gypsum and rock-salt, associated with beds of
dolomite and carbonate of lime. Soda, alum, saltpetre, and
sulphur, are also found in this country.
In order to convey as clear and intelligible a view of
Fezzan as possible, we shall follow the route generally pur¬
sued by travellers in proceeding from Tripoli to Mourzouk,
the capital, and thence to the other parts of the country
which have been described. Bonjem is a small place with
120 inhabitants, and a few small gardens, and is only 204
feet above the level of the sea. The water of the numerous
wells is strongly purgative. About half a mile beyond the
walls of Bonjem, which is the northern frontier, stands a
Roman castle, situated among some high sand-hills. It
is of an oblong form, having in the centre of each of the
walls a large arched gateway, between two strong towers.
After leaving this interesting ruin, the traveller proceeds
over a barren desert called Klia, the soil of which, where
clear of sand, consists of gypsum intermixed with numerous
shells. Twelve miles south-south-east from Bonjem is
that remarkable hill called the Bazeen, 70 feet high, and
consisting of limestone. Further on is a similar hill called
Khayrna, resembling a tent, and 120 feet high. Twenty-
two miles from Bonjem the road leads through a defile called
Hormut Emhalla, or the Pass of the Army. After crossing
a range of table-mountains called Flood, running north¬
east and south-west, it passes through a stony and very
uneven plain, encircled with mountains, to the pass of Hor¬
mut Tazzet, which appears to be situated about sixty miles
from Bonjem. After clearing this pass, the road opens upon
a plain called El Grarat Arab Hoon. The journey now
becomes harassing, on account of the scarcity of vegetation
and water, and the frequency of sand-winds. The first
place of importance that is met with on this route is Sockna,
near which are a plantation of palms and two wells of fresh
water.
Sockna, which is about half way between Tripoli and
Mourzouk, is situated on an immense plain of gravel 1036
feet above the level of the sea. It is bounded to the south
by the Soudah Mountains, at the distance of about fifteen
miles; to the eastward by the mountains of Wadan, at the
distance of about thirty miles; to the westward by a distant
range of hills; and to the northward by the country above
Fezzaa.
528 FEZ
Fezzan. dGScribcd. I'liG town, which is about a mile in circumfci-
v ^—/ ence, is walled, and contains about 2500 persons. The
streets are very narrow, and the houses are built of mud
mixed with small stones. The water is almost all brackish
or bitter. In the immediate neighbourhood ,there are se¬
veral hundred thousand date trees, which pay duty to the
government. Sockna pays of duty annually about 2000
dollars, exclusively of a tax of one dollar on every 200 date
trees. The Tripoli money is the currency of Sockna; and
this occasions a considerable loss to the traders who are
obliged to pay their taxes in Spanish dollars, which they
purchase at exorbitant prices. The dates grow in a belt
of sand, at the distance of two or three miles from the towns;
and their quality is far superior to any produced in the north
of Africa, in consequence of which they bring a very high
price in Tripoli. In the gardens situated about three miles
from Sockna, barley, maize, a small quantity of onions, and
a few other garden-stuffs, are cultivated. But there is little
or no other kind of vegetation, so that all the animals are
fed on dates. This place is infested with an immense
quantity of fliesvattracted probably by the dates, which are
preserved in storehouses. The men have in general a clean
and neat appearance, whilst the woman are pretty and hand¬
some, but remarkable, it seems, for their love of intrigue.
The latitude of Sockna is 29. 4. 4. N., the longitude 16.
18. 30. E.
East of Sockna stands the town of Hoon. It is smaller
than the former, but is built and walled in the same manner.
Palm groves and gardens approach close to the walls of the
town, and completely conceal it. The soil is sand, but it
is fertilized and refreshed by little streams from wells of
brackish water. Twelve miles east by north of Hoon stands
the town of Wadan. Its external aspect is pleasing, being
built upon a conical hill, on the top of which are some en¬
closed houses called the castle ; but internally it is inferior
to the two other towns in point of neatness, comfort, and
convenience. There is here a well of great depth, cut
through the solid rock. The bulk of the inhabitants of
Wadan are schereefs, that is, pretended descendants of the
Prophet, and Arabs who act as shepherds. A few miles
eastward of the town there is a chain of mountains, which,
with the town itself, derives its name from a species of
buffalo called wadan, which is found here in immense num¬
bers. There is also a great abundance of ostriches amongst
these mountains, by hunting which many of the natives obtain
a subsistence. At all the three towns, Sockna, Hoon, and
Wadan, it is the practice to keep tame ostriches in a stable,
and in two years to take three cuttings of the feathers.
The whole way to Mourzouk is now an almost uninter¬
rupted succession of stony plains and gloomy wadys, with
no water but that of wells, generally muddy, brackish, or
bitter, and placed at widely extended intervals. Sand winds
also prevail, and their visitations are at all times harassing,
and not unfrequently destructive. Several towns or vil¬
lages are situated in this long and dreary waste, and they
are usually encircled with groves of palm. Sebha, which
stands in latitude 27. 2. 34. N., and 1380 feet above the
level of the sea, is a mud-walled town picturesquely si¬
tuated on a rising ground, and surrounded by a palm grove.
Two marches farther on lies Ghroodwa, a small and miser¬
able collection of mud huts. The palms here, which are
the property of the sultan, extend from ten to fifteen miles
east and west. The leading features of the above remark¬
able tract of country may be shortly described. The chain
known by the name of the Soudah, or Jebel Assoud, that
is, Black Mountains, commences near Sockna, and extends
from north to south three days’ journey, but in so tortuous
a direction as not, according to Major Denham, to exceed
thirty-five miles in a straight line, and only twenty-five ac¬
cording to Dr Vogel. To the westward they extend as far
as the well of Assela, on the road to Shiati, a district to the
Z A N.
westward of Sebha, where the red clay hills continue un- Fezzan.
broken, and unite with those of Benioleed in Tripoli. To
the east they extend three days to a wady called Temel-
leen, which lies on the way to Zella or Zula near Barca.
They form, indeed, a branch or continuation of the moun¬
tainous desert called Haratch el Assouat, which was tra¬
versed by Horneman in his route from Cairo to Mourzouk.
That traveller gives a fearful description of this wild region,
so much dreaded by those who have had to traverse it.
The mountain presents the appearance of an imperfect cone,
and the rock, upon fracture, seemed to Horneman to con¬
sist of ferruginous basalt. Range upon range of black and
dreary mountains, intersected by narrow and dismal ravines
rather than valleys, rose before his view. Here and there,
however, the eye was relieved by the sight of patches of
vegetation, approaching even to luxuriance, from the rains
which fall in this hilly region. Contiguous to the Black
lies the White Haratch, a chain of mountains composed of
friable limestone, and abounding in petrifactions. To the
south of Sockna, the description of the Jebel Assoud, as
given by Major Denham, exactly corresponds to that of the
Black Haratch. Dr Oudney describes the hills as from
400 to 600 feet in height, the tops being in general tabular,
but a few are irregular, and two or three terminate in co¬
nical peaks. The sides of all of them are covered with a
considerable quantity of debris. The Black Mountains con¬
sist of yellow sandstone impregnated with iron, from which
its crust receives a black colour, appearing in the sun’s rays
a deep blue. Large round patches of a yellow' or brown
colour are often seen on these black rocks, which give to
the whole a most remarkable appearance. The summits
are low and flat, and the valleys mostly circular or oval¬
shaped hollows, whilst the sides of the mountains are in
many instances overhung by pillars, curved, inclined, and
perpendicular. Animal and vegetable life is entirely ab¬
sent in this region, which vividly recals to mind a land¬
scape by moonlight. The whole exhibits a scene of bar¬
renness which, according to Major Denham, cannot be per¬
fectly described, either by poet or painter. After these
dreary wastes have been passed, the hills of Zeghren com¬
mence. They run nearly east and west, are low, long, oval,
and truncated at the top, and altogether different from any
others which Denham and Oudney had seen. The town
of Zeghren, according to the former traveller, is better built
than any other in Fezzan.
Mourzouk, the capital of Fezzan, which, according to Dr
Vogel, stands in latitude 25. 55. 16. N.. and longitude 14.
10. 15. E., 1495 feet above the level of the sea, is a walled
town, containing about 2000 inhabitants, very much mixed.
The walls are built of mud, but sufficiently thick and
high to guard the place from attack. As a substitute
for stones, which are not to be found, the people use baked
clay, a substance which is found sufficiently durable, as rain
is here unknown. The houses are generally of one story ;
the doors are low and without hinges, but made to move
upon a pivot. The streets are small and narrow, but there
are numerous open spaces, destitute of buildings, and covered
with sand, on w'hich the camels of the traders remain. Many
palms grow in the town, and a few red peppers and onions
are cultivated. The street of entrance is a place about a
hundred yards broad, leading to the walls which surround
the castle, and is extremely elegant. The castle itself is
an immense mud edifice, about ninety feet in height, and
furnished with small battlements immensely broad at the
base, but gradually tapering to about four feet in thickness
at the top. Like all the rest of the buildings, the castle has
no pretensions to regularity. It is the residence of the
sultan, whose apartments are of the best quality, although,
on account of the enormous mass of wall, all the rooms are
of very small dimensions. The more spacious houses in
Mourzouk are constructed in the manner which we shall
F E Z Z A N.
Fezzan. now endeavour to describe. A large door, sufficiently high
to admit a camel, opens into a broad passage, in which there
is a stable, and near it a room for slaves. Opposite the
stable is a large square apartment, the roof of which is sup¬
ported by palm trees. In the centre of the roof is an open
space, through which the apartment is lighted, for all the
houses are destitute of windows. There is generally a divan
or seat of mud about eighteen inches high and twelve feet
long. From the sides of the large room, doors open into
the smaller ones, and a passage leads into a yard which has
small houses attached to it, and a well. There are sixteen
mosques in Mourzouk, which are covered in, but some of
these are very small. The principal one is a low building,
destitute of elegance. The burying places are outside the
walls, and of considerable extent. Owing to the want of
wood, no coffins are used ; the bodies are merely wrapped
, in a mat or linen cloth, and covered with palm branches,
over which the earth is thrown. The men of the lower
orders of Mourzouk wear a large shirt of white or blue cot¬
ton, with long loose sleeves, trousers of the same, and sandals
of camel’s hide ; but the shirt being in general long, many
have no other covering. Those of the better sort, however,
attire themselves more gaily ; and their dress nearly re¬
sembles that of the people of Tripoli. The men have little
beard, which they mostly keep closely clipped. The dress
of the women here differs materially from that generally
worn by Moorish females, and their appearance is by no
means prepossessing. They plait their hair in thick bobbins,
which hang over the forehead, and anoint it so profusely
with oil that this liquid drips down over the face and clothes.
From the back hair, however, ornaments of silver or coral
are suspended. Other parts of the face and head, such as
the ears, are profusely adorned. A woollen handkerchief
is fastened to the back of the head, and falling over, is tied
by a leather strap under the chin. A blue shirt is generally
worn ; and a jereed and red slippers complete their equip¬
ment. Some of the better class of women wear trousers,
and all adorn their persons according to their rank and im¬
portance. Both men and women have a singular custom
of stuffing their nostrils with a twisted leaf of onion or clover,
which has a very disgusting appearance. The natives have
a variety of dances, two or three of which are peculiar to
the country. In Mourzouk the luxuries of life are very
limited, the people subsisting principally on dates. Many
of them do not taste corn for months together ; but when
obtained, it is made into cakes, which are baked in ovens
formed of clay in holes in the earth, and heated by burning
wood. Tobacco is very generally chewed by the women,
as well as by the men ; but smoking is the amusement of
a great man only.
The revenues of the sultan of Fezzan arise from slaves,
merchandise, and dates. For every slave that enters his
dominions he receives two Spanish dollars (in some years
the number of slaves amounts to 4000); for a camel’s load
of oil or butter, seven dollars; for a load of beads, copper,
or hardware, four dollars; and for one of clothing, three
dollars. All Arabs who buy dates pay a dollar of duty on
each load before they are allowed to remove it; an impost
which, at times, is equal to the market price of the article.
Above 3000 loads are sold to them annually. Date trees,
excepting those of the kadi and Mamelukes, are taxed at
the rate of one dollar for every 200. By this duty, in
the neighbourhood of Mourzouk, or, more properly, in
the few neighbouring villages, the sultan receives yearly
about 10,000 dollars. Of all sheep or goats he is entitled
to a fifth. On the sale of every slave he has, in addition to
the head money, a dollar and a half, which, at the rate of
4000 slaves annually, gives 6000 dollars. The captured
slaves are sold by auction, at which the sultan’s brokers
attend, bidding high only for the finest. The trees which
are his private property produce about 6000 camel-loads of
VOL. IX.
529
dates, each of 400 lbs. weight, which may be estimated at Fezzan.
about 18,000 dollars. Every garden pays a tenth part of ^
the corn produced. The gardens are very small, and are
watered with great labour from brackish wells, as rain is
unknown, and dews never fall. Pomegranate trees and fig
trees are sometimes planted in the water channels. Pre¬
sents of slaves are frequently made and fines levied. Each
town pays a certain sum, which is small; but as the towns
are numerous, the average amount may be estimated at
4000 dollars. Add to this the annual excursions for slaves,
sometimes bringing 1000 or 1500, of which one-fourth are
the sultan’s property, as well as the same proportion of
camels. He alone can sell horses, which he buys for five
or six dollars, when half starved, from the Arabs, who come
to trade, and cannot maintain them, and makes a great
profit by obtaining slaves in exchange for them. All his
people are fed by the public, and he has no money to pay,
excepting to the pasha, which was formerly 15,000 dollars
per annum. There are various other modes by which he
extorts money. If a man dies childless, the sultan inherits
the greater part of his property ; and if he thinks it neces¬
sary to kill a man, he becomes his sole heir.
In Mourzouk about a tenth part of the population are in
a state of slavery. There are some white families, who are
denominated Mamelukes, being descended from renegades
whom the pasha had presented to the former sultan. These
families and their descendants are considered as noble, and,
however poor and humble their situation may be, they are
not a little vain of their title.
The genera] appearance of the men of Fezzan is plain,
and their complexion is black; the women are of the same
colour, and ugly in the extreme. Neither sex is remark¬
able for figure, height, strength, vigour, or activity ; and
they have a very peculiar cast of countenance, which dis¬
tinguishes them from other blacks. But they are a cheer¬
ful people, fond of dancing and music, and obliging to each
other. The men almost all read and write a little ; but in
everything else they are very dull and heavy, their affec¬
tions being cold and selfish, and a kind of general indiffer¬
ence to the common incidents of life marking all their ac¬
tions. In Mourzouk the men drink a quantity of lackbi,
as also a liquor called busa, which is prepared from dates.
The Arabs generally practise hospitality ; but amongst the
Fezzanese that virtue does not exist. They are, however,
very attentive and obsequious to those in whose power they
are, or who can repay them tenfold for their pretended dis¬
interestedness. Their religion enjoins that, should a stran¬
ger enter whilst they are at their meals, he must be invited
to partake; but they generally contrive to evade this in¬
junction by eating with closed doors. The lower classes
are, from necessity, very industrious; but amongst people
of rank industry is not a characteristic virtue. In regard
to morals, they are much upon a level with the people of
Tripoli, being both dishonest and insincere. Falsehood is
not looked upon as odious unless it be detected.
The lower classes work neatly in leather. They weave a
few coarse barracans, and work iron in a solid although
clumsy manner. A few likewise work in gold and silver
with tolerable skill; and every man is capable of acting as a
carpenter or mason. The wood being that of the date tree,
and the houses built of mud, very little elegance or skill is
required in their construction.
From the constant communication with Bornou and with
Soudan, the languages of both these countries are gene¬
rally spoken, and many of their words are introduced into
the Arabic; but the pronunciation is very different from
that of the east. Their writing is in the Mogrebyn cha¬
racters ; but they have no idea of arithmetic, and reckon
everything by dots on the sand, ten in a line. Though
very fond of poetry, they are incapable of composing it.
The Arabs, however, compose a few little songs, which the
3 x
530
F E Z Z A N.
Fezzan natives have much pleasure in learning. The women are
kept in a state of abject subordination, as is indeed com-
nwn in all Mohammedan nations. The authority of parents
over their children is very great, in fact unnecessarily des¬
potic There are no written records of events among the
Fezzanese, and their traditions are so disfigured, and so
strangely mingled with religious and superstitious false¬
hoods, that no confidence whatever can be placed in them
Several scripture passages are selected and believed.
Psalms of David, the Pentateuch, the books of Solomon,
and many extracts from the inspired writers, are universally
known, and most reverentially considered.
The only towns of any consideration m Fezzan, besides
those already described, are Zuela, towards the eastern
frontier, on the road to Egypt; Germa, to the west; and
Gatrone, on the road to Bornou. In 1822, Dr Oudney and
Captain Clapperton visited Germa. It is a walled town,
and surrounded by a ditch. At a little distance from it
stands the remains of ancient Germa, which appeals to
have occupied mpre space than the modern town. It was
formerly the capital of Fezzan, and once gave its name to the
nation of the Garamantes; at least, unless there are tno
places of the same name, this must be the ancient Garama,
which is described by Pliny as a fine city, the capital of
Fazania. The inhabitants of the modern town are very
poor, and many of the houses are in ruins. The aspect of
the country between this place and Mourzouk is similar to
that of the other portions of Fezzan which we have already
described. The hills, which stand about a hundred yards
apart, are composed of sandstone, finely interstratified with
beds of blue and white pipeclay and alum slate. 1 here is
a valley of considerable dimensions, and also several villages.
The number of date trees in the eastern and western dm-
sions of this valley is very great. There is here a town called
Khraik, situated amidst some fine groves of palm trees, and
possessing cultivated patches of ground and wells of goo
viater. . . ,
The eastern and southern portions of F ezzan were visited
by Captain Lyon. In latitude 25. 55. stands the town of
Traghan, which was formerly a place as considerable as
Mourzouk. It is situated in a flat desert plain, with its gar¬
dens and date groves at a short distance, and contains four
mosques; but most of the houses, which are large, are in
ruins, and the population is very trifling. Major Denhatn
says that carpets are manufactured here equal to those of
Constantinople. The route to Zuela lies entirely through
salt plains and stony deserts, with here and there a small
village. Zuela, or Zuila, is situated in latitude 26. 11. 48.
It was formerly a considerable place, but is now only about
a mile in circumference. It contains three mosques and
three gates, but there are few good houses in it. I he in¬
habitants are nearly all white ; and Captain Lyon observes,
that “they are certainly the most respectable, hospitable, and
quiet people in Fezzan; and their whole appearance, for they
are handsome, and very neatly dressed, bespeaks some¬
thing superior to the other whites.” At a short distance from
Zuela are some very interesting ruins, one of them a castle,
which must have been a place of great strength, on ac¬
count of the immense thickness of the walls. 1 hese ruined
fabrics have been much commented upon, but there is
nothing to prove that they were of Roman origin. The
next town of any importance is Gatrone, which stands in
latitude 24. 47. 57. The country between Zuela and this
place is a perfect desert, which in one place consists of a
singular mixture of sand and salt. Gatrone is rather plea¬
santly situated. It is surrounded with sand hills and mounds
of earth, covered w ith a small tree called athuli. On leav¬
ing this place, Captain Lyon proceeded to Tegerhy, the
southernmost town in Fezzan, and situated in Lat. 24. 4. N.
Here the cultivation of the date and palm ceases, and the
Arabic gives place to the Bornouese language. The desert
comes close to the walls of the town, which is situated to Fezzan.
the southward of its palms. The dates are here very fine '
and plentiful. Tegerhy is commanded by a fort, containing
wells of water within the walls. A range of low hills ex¬
tends to the eastward ; and near the town are some salt
pools, which are frequented by snipes, wild ducks, and
geese*. The natives are black, and little superior to savages.
" Our information on Fezzan has recently been much en-
laro-ed by the expedition under Messrs Richardson, Barth,
Overweg, and Vogel, particularly as regards the north¬
western and western portions of the country. Dr Vogel
chose the usual road by Bonjem and Sockna, already de¬
scribed ; but the former three travellers selected the western
route, by Mizda, Ghareeah, and Hessi, which is very rarely
followed, as being less practicable and agreeable to travel.
There the Hamada, a frightful desert of 1400 to 2000 feet
mean elevation, and 110 geographical miles in width, has
to be crossed. As far as the eye can reach, neither trees
nor indications of wells are visible, and the scanty vegeta¬
tion which occurs is only found here and there in the tri¬
fling irregularities of the surface. The ground is covered
with small stones, pyramids of which, erected with great
labour, serve as road-marks to the intrepid camel-drivers by
day, while the Polar star and Antares are their guides by
night. This desert plateau, which it took the expedition
six long days’ journey to cross, forms the boundary between
Fezzan and Tripoli in that direction.
The southern edge of that tableland descends in perpen¬
dicular walks to the Wady el Hessi, where the black popu¬
lation and the dominions of Fezzan commence. Herbage
and trees are here found, affording food to numerous gazelles,
hares, and the wadan. South of Wady el Llessi, which is
only 696 feet above the level of the sea, follows another
barren region, ascending to 921 feet, and from 40 to 50
geographical miles in width, before Wady Shiati is leached,
where some wells of good water are found, and palms, wheat,
and barley, with a few figs and grapes, are cultivated. Be¬
tween Wady Shiati and Wady Gharbi another sandy desert
intervenes of nearly 60 geographical miles in width. It is
composed of black sandstone, the disintegration of which
forms a dark yellow sand, covering the inequalities of the
stony surface, from which stands out prominently the black
rock, in high cones of the most fantastic forms, strikingly
representing basaltic rocks. I he monotony of the dreaiy
black rock is relieved by the yellow sand, without which
the whole of Fezzan would be a lifeless wilderness, as it is
in the sand that the palm trees grow, and in the wadys
filled with it that the wells are found.
Wadi Gharbi, i.e. Western Wady, or Wady Lashal, or
the Wady, comprises the most fertile region of h ezzan. It
contains complete forests of palm-trees, through which peep
a number of small villages, as well as cultivated fields of
wheat and barley. It opens out on the east into the Wady
Shergi, or Eastern Wady, and its elevation above the sea at
the village of Ogrefah is 1192 feet.
In this journey from Mourzouk to Ghat, Messrs Richard¬
son, Barth, and Overweg went almost due west, and kept
nearly on the 26th parallel as far as the valley of Ghat.
They discovered some extremely curious rock-sculptures in
the Wady Tilissareh, which is situated in about 25. 58. N.
Lat., and 12. 8. E. Long. One of these sculptures consists
of two bird and bull-headed human figures, armed with
spears, shields, and arrow's, and combating for a child. The
other represents a fine group of oxen going to a watering-
place, most artistically grouped and skilfully executed. In
the opinion of the travellers, the two works bear a striking
and unmistakable resemblance to the sculptures of Egypt.
They are evidently of a very high antiquity, and superior
to numerous other sculptures of more recent date found, at
the same time, in which camels generally formed the piin-
cipal object. They most probably relate to a period of an-
F E Z Z A N.
Fezzan. cient Libyan history, when camels were unknown in that
part of Africa, and oxen were used instead.
As far as Tilissareh the road runs in a shallow wady called
Barjouj, which is fringed on both sides with extensive plains,
enlivened by numerous gazelles; only at some distance to
the south, and nearly parallel with Wady Barjouj, rises a
high range of sandstone hills. Wady Tilissareh is about
1800 feet high, and the ground keeps ascending other 30
miles further to the west, when the western edge of the
tableland of Mourzouk is reached. The road there is cut
through a narrow pass, consisting of blue marl, limestone,
and sandstone. It seemed to the travellers to have been
purposely cut out of the solid rock for the use of man, and
reminded them of a railway excavation. As they advanced
it assumed the form of a cave, slightly open at the top—
narrow, winding, and furnished with seats on either hand.
A dim light came from above. Nowand then the pass be¬
came quite a tunnel, but the concave roof being high enough
for any camel to pass. Little openings, containing groups
of tholukh, now and then made a pleasant impression, but the
general aspect of the pass was horrible and desolate. From
the gorge the plain of Taceta opens out to the west, an arid
region, covered with pebbles and blocks of sandstone and
limestone, and at the western end of this plain, in the meri¬
dian of 11° Long. E., the western boundary of Fezzan is
considered to be.
Dr Vogel has made very interesting observations on the
botany of Fezzan, the principal results of which may here
be alluded to. Unfortunately the vegetation between Tri¬
poli and Mourzouk was mostly dried up when he traversed
that region, the time being the height of summer. Within
Fezzan every vestige of wild plants had disappeared, save
a shrubby Tamarix and a spinous Papilionacea, called agul
by the Arabs, and used as fodder for the camels. For days
in succession he perceived no other plants but date-palms,
under which the drifting sand of the desert, the bane of
vegetation, had accumulated to a considerable height, as if
attempting to bury even these trees under its deadly mantle.
Respecting the cultivated plants of Fezzan, the inhabi¬
tants grow in the gardens of Mourzouk several kinds of grain
and culinary vegetables with great labour. During the
winter barley and wheat are cultivated, during the summer
ghussub and ghafuly. The ghafuly mozri, so often men¬
tioned by African travellers, is the Indian corn (Zea mais),
the spikes of which are gathered before they are quite ripe,
and in this state they are roasted and eaten. So small is
the agricultural produce in this part of the world that the
inhabitants cover each spike of the ghussub and ghafuly
abiad with a neatly-made basket, in order to prevent the
wild pigeons from picking the seeds. Amongst the few
trees growing near Mourzouk the finest is a Cornus, called
kurno by the Arabs ; it attains a height of 80 feet, and a
thickness of about 3 feet in diameter. Its chief native land
is Soudan, and the latitude of 26° N. appears to be its
northernmost limit. The gum acacia enlivens and adorns
the most stony sides of the valleys of the Wady Shergi and
Gharbi. The gum of the trees near the roads is collected
by the caravans and used as food. This article is brought
in considerable quantity by the Tuaricks from the regions
between Wadys Gharbi and Ghat. The senna plant, the
chief native country of which is Air, was found by Dr Vogel
in a spot near Djerma in Wady Gharbi.
In the materia medica of the Arabs, Peganum Harmala,
vernacularly termed harmel, occupies a prominent place.
It is used as a preventative against ophthalmia. For that
purpose a dozen of its seed-vessels are swallowed by the
natives in the spring, fancying that in so doing they will be
exempt from all diseases of the eyes. The plant ranges
from the coasts of Tripoli to Fezzan, and is very common.
Another common plant is a species of Cucurbitacea, known
by the name of colocynth, the fruits of which are eaten by
531
the ostriches. This Cucurbitacea occurs in great abundance Fezzan.
in the valleys of the Black Mountains, and forms a trouble-
some weed in the more fertile wadys of Fezzan. The Tibboos
are very fond of the seeds ; they roast them in the manner
those of the pumpkin are occasionally done on the continent,
after they have been previously soaked for twelve hours in
water to deprive them of their bitter taste. The fruit itself
is used against urinary complaints, and diseases of the sexual
organs. The only ornamental flower in the small gardens
of Fezzan is the sun-flower {llelianthus annuus), which
grows to the height of eight to nine feet. There is a use¬
ful plant met with by Dr Vogel, which resembles in foliage
the thorn. The bark of its root is used by the natives for
tanning leather and dyeing it red ; the charcoal of this
shrub is used in manufacturing gunpowder. At Beniolid,
in particular, the Arabs possess a great many secret powder-
mills, in which an inferior article of gunpowder, for about
2s. a pound, is manufactured.
The date-palm is the most important of the cultivated
plants of Fezzan. Of this tree Dr Vogel has given a com¬
plete history, of which only the following notes are extracted.
All that country and half of Tripolitania are fed on that pro¬
duct. The huts of the poorer classes are entirely made of
date-palm leaves, and the more substantial habitations con¬
sist chiefly of the same material; every door, every post, is
made of date-palm wood, and the ceilings of the rooms are
formed by its stems. The branches of the tree furnish the
most common fuel. It is often brought from a distance of
six to eight miles, a man’s lead consisting of two bundles,
fetching about twopence. The fruit of the tree forms the
food of both man and beast; camels, horses, dogs, all eat
dates. Even the stones of this fruit are softened in water,
and given to the cattle ; for in many districts the cattle have
no grass or any other herbage, except a little safshah {meli-
lotus), which in Mourzouk is cultivated with almost as much
care as the corn, and fetches the high price of about four-
pence a bundle, which is not more than a good handful.
The camels of Mourzouk are therefore often sent about 100
miles to the north to have sufficient pasture. The number
of the date-palms cultivated is enormous. When Abdel
Gelil besieged Sockna in 1829, he cut down no less than
43,000 trees, in order to compel the town to surrender;
nevertheless there are still 70,000 left. Their produce is
comparatively small, 100 full-grown trees yielding about 40
hundredweight of dates, worth at Mourzouk about 30s., but
at Tripoli about four times that sum. The dates, after hav¬
ing been gathered, are dried in the sun, and when quite
hard, buried in the sand. They may thus be preserved
about two years, but generally after the first 18 months they
are attacked by the worms, and in the beginning of the
third year nothing is left of them but the stones. As an
everyday food dates are considered very heating; in conse¬
quence they are not much used on the journey, as causing
great thirst. The most relishing and wholesome way to eat
them is when made into a paste, mixed with barley. When
the heart of the leaves has been cut out, a sweet thickish
fluid collects at that cavity, called lagbi, which is very re¬
freshing, and slightly purgative. A few hours afterwards
this fluid begins to ferment, becomes acid, and very intoxi¬
cating. From the ripe fruit a kind of treacle is prepared,
used especially for coating leather bags or pipes to render
them tight.
Dr Vogel also explored the celebrated Trona Lakes of
Fezzan, of which he gives the following description :—
The Trona Lakes are situated in a desert of the most
dreary and impracticable description, presenting a labyrinth
of hills, undulations, valleys, precipices, and literally not one
square yard of level ground; formed entirely of drifting sand,
in which the camels sink up to their bellies. For carrying
a tent and cooking apparatus, together with two water-
pipes—in all about 350 lb. weight, no less than five camels
FEZ
F I A
were required, and nevertheless only 9J miles could be ac¬
complished in eighteen hours# One of these sandhills^
measured trigonometrically,—for the transport of the baro¬
meter was found impossible—was ascertained to be 530
feet above the adjoining lake. The whole of these lakes
are situated along the northern side of Wady Shergi and
Wady Gharbi. In the eastern portion of the former Dr
Voo-el found the remains of ancient towers built by the
original inhabitants of Fezzan ; and in Wady Gharbi, near
the village of Kharaig, some extremely interesting ancient
tombs. These tombs consisted of about 50 pyramids,
mostly between 6 and 8 feet high, and 6 to 8 feet square
at the bases, the sides corresponding precisely with the
four cardinal points. Only two of these pyramids were 16
feet high. One of them was opened, and in the interior a
carefully constructed tomb was discovered, with the skeleton
of a child and some pearls and corals.
The Trona Lakes, and especially Bahr-el-Dood, were said
to be bottomless, but Dr Vogel found the depth of the lat¬
ter 18 feet at an average, and 24 feet where it was deepest.
This lake contains the celebrated Fezzan worm or Dood.
From the drawings sent home by Dr Vogel, Dr W. Baird
of the British Museum has found it to be a species of the
Artemia or brine shrimp, and has called it Artemia Oudneyi,
from having been first seen and described by Dr Oudney.
A full-grown specimen was measured by Dr Vogel and
found to be Paris lines (about a quarter of an English
inch) in length, and 1^ Paris lines (or about ^ of an
English inch) in breadth under the head. They are of a
very pretty colour, and in their bright hues resemble those
of the gold-fish. They are caught with cotton nets, in
which are hauled up innumerable other insects and flies,
with which the lake is filled; the whole is mixed with a
red kind of date and made into a paste, which has a smell
and taste similar to salt herring, and is eaten by the inhabi¬
tants of Fezzan, in place of meat, along with bazeen.
The pashalic of Fezzan is computed to contain about a
hundred towns and villages, but the population is thought
not to exceed 26,000. It is governed by a sultan, who, al¬
though in fact only a viceroy dependent upon the pasha
of Tripoli, possesses absolute sway. In regard to climate,
Fezzan cannot be considered as fortunate. In summer the
heat is intense, and the south wind, which is very dry, and
impregnated with sandy particles, is scarcely supportable
even by the natives. The winter, on the other hand, is
accompanied with a bleak and penetrating wind blowing
from the north, the cold of which is painfully felt even by
the natives of a northern climate. Rain falls seldom, and
in small quantities; thunder is also rare, but tempests of
wind frequently occur. With regard to the soil, we have
already spoken at sufficient length. The revenue, as de¬
rived from sources already mentioned, is devoted solely to
the maintenance of the sultan, his army, and court. The
cadi and other officers of justice, the ministers of religion,
and even the great officers of state are maintained from
grounds set apart for this purpose, and which are covered
usually with gardens, or woods of date trees. The office of
cadi or chief judge, to which is also attached that of first
minister of religion, is hereditary in a certain family. The
military force by which the Turks hold possession of this
vast but thinly-peopled territory is the very inconsiderable
number of 630 men.
This country was well known to the ancients under the
title of the Phazania Regia, and the country of the Gara-
mantes, whose ancient capital has been recognised by
Major Rennell in the modern Germa, as already noticed.
4 he name of Fasan or Fezzan seems to have been imposed
by the Saracens, when they overran Northern Africa and
established the Mohammedan faith ; and ever since it has
continued to prevail.
FIARS PRICES were originally instituted in Scotland
for the purpose of ascertaining the value of the victual or
grain rents, and feu-duties payable to the crown.
They were first ascertained by the exchequer upon the
prices of grain returned by the sheriffs of counties. After¬
wards it was left to the sheriffs themselves, who proceeded
through means of a jury.
Chalmers, in his Caledonia, vol. ii., p. 317, dates the
commencement of fiars in counties some time after 1617 at
the earliest, but the commissary fiars were much earlier.
The Commissary Court records mention them as far back
as 1564. The Act 1584, cap. 22, alludes to an exchequer
fiar ; and there are many instances during the latter half of
the seventeenth century to be found in the records of the
Teind or Tythe Court, when the judge ordained payments
to be made according to the sheriffs’ fiars.
It is remarkable, however, that there is no act of parlia¬
ment enjoining the striking or using the fiars prices, or re¬
gulating tiie procedure in taking the averages. The sheriffs
of the several counties seem to have assumed the right of
dictating the mode of procedure ; consequently the manner
of conducting this process is various, sometimes contradic¬
tory, and generally loose. Of late great dissatisfaction has
been expressed with the manner in which the average prices
of grain are ascertained, and proposals have been made for
applyingto parliament for an act for better regulating the fiars.
The English averages are more accurately attained. By
act of parliament, there are 290 towns the market clerks
of which send weekly to the general registrar in London
statements of the quantity and price of all grain sold in their
markets, from which the registrar makes up the weekly re¬
turns as published in the Gazette.
The Earl of Lauderdale, when sheriff of Edinburgh,
seems to have been the first who passed an act, Feb. 22,
1722, by which he ordained the summoning of a jury of
fifteen for striking the fiars, and laid down rules of proce¬
dure. But the contrariety of decisions in litigations before
the civil courts relative to the fiars prices attracted the at¬
tention of the Court of Session, which passed an act of se¬
derunt, Dec. 21, 1723, regulating the procedure in the fiars
courts. It is, however, doubtful if the Court of Session
had power to make such regulations ; and it was afterwards
acknowledged that it had no jurisdiction with regard to the
sheriffs in striking the fiars, consequently the matter is now
left in a great measure under the direction of the sheriffs
themselves.
The mode of striking the Haddington fiars is this—the
jury summoned by the sheriff takes the average of all the
prices as the middle fiars, the average of all the prices above
that rate is taken as the highest fiars, and the average of all
the prices below the same rate is taken as the lowest fiars,
and then two and a half per cent, is added to each class.1
In Scotland it has been found to be a fair and safe prin¬
ciple in letting farms on lease, that the whole or a certain
portion of the rent should be paid in grain or in the value
of so many bolls of wheat or barley, so that in the event of
a great fall of prices during the currency of the lease, the
tenant should not suffer, and on the other hand, that the
landlord should reap a fair share of the advantage in a rise
of prices. It is obviously, therefore, the interest of those
who have to pay that the fiars should be struck upon a low
average, whereas it is the interest of those who have to re¬
ceive that the rate should be high ; and it is believed that the
fiars are generally a little below the true market prices.
A great many contracts are regulated by fiars prices be¬
sides grain rents. There are feu-duties payable both to the
1 This, seems to have taken its origin from there being three qualities of each description of grain in the county. The averages, as taken
in Haddington, are generally higher than in the other counties of Scotland,
FIB
F I C
533
Fibre
Fibrin.
crown and private parties, grain teinds or tithes payable to
titulars, the stipends of the Established Church clergy, which
are always, as a general rule, awarded in victual (oatmeal or
barley), the salaries of the parochial schoolmasters, &c.
As tar as the counties of Scotland are concerned, Edin¬
burgh may be taken as a fair average of the whole, and we
have given a list of the fiars prices as struck in that county
between 1740 and 1854. These prices are higher than
they are in some counties, and lower than in others. They
are under those of Haddingtonshire by from 5 to 10 per
Fiars Prices-
cent., but they may be taken as a fair average of the fiars
prices over all the counties of Scotland.
The measure which was used in striking the fiars from
1740 (the earliest year in which the prices are recorded) to
1824 was the boll. The Linlithgow boll, which was used
in most of the counties, was equal to 8-1 Iths of the imperial
quarter. The Mid-Lothian boll was within a small fraction
of the same. From 1825, the year when the prices ceased
to be reckoned for bolls, they are given as in the following
table in imperial quarters.
-Mid-Lothian.
1740 is the earliest year for which the fiars prices were recorded for this county.
Year. Best Wheat. Best Barley. Best Oats, j Year. Best Wheat. Best Barley. Best Oats
1740
1750
1760
1770
1780
1790
1800
1801
1802
1803
1804
1805
1806
1807
1808
1809
1810
1811
1812
1813
1814
1815
1816
1817
1818
1819
1820
1821
1822
1823
1824
Per Boll.
£1 2 11
0 13
0 13
0 18
Per Boll
£0 17
0 10
0 10
0 13
0 14
0 17
2 0
1 5
0 17
0 18
1 10
1 3
1 6
1 10
1 10
1 10
1 7
1 16
1 19
1 11
1 4
0 18
1 11
1 13
2 0
1 2
1 0
1 0
0 19
1 5
1 10
0
Per Boll.
£0 14 6
0 9 4
0 8 4
0 12 0
0 11 0
0 14 10
1 13 2
0 16
0 15
0 17
0 18
0 18
1 0
1 7
1 4
1 0
0 18
1 3
1 11
1 1
0 18
0 14
1 5
1 3
1 4
0 17
0 16
0 15
0 15
1 0
0 17
6
6
6
6
9
0
0
0
9
0
0
6
6
3
3
11
0
0
6
3
4
0
0
10
1825
1826
1827
1828
1829
1830
1831
1832
1833
1834
1835
1836
1837
1838
1839
1840
1841
1842
1843
1844
1845
1846
1847
1848
1849
1850
1851
1852
1853
1854
Per Imp. Qr.
£3 0 8
16
8
14
12
18
17
9
8
0
13
14
14
5
16
16
13
5
11
3
4
4
11
4
13
16
17
6
2
8
8
0
8
8
4
0
0
8
6
0
7
0
0
8
6
0
6
4
10
0
Per Imp. Qr.
£1 19 0
18
10
18
10
13
13
9
7
8 10
7 5
Per Imp. Qr.
£15 2
7
2
4
1
6
3
0 18 10
0 18 0
10 0
0 0
7 6
1 3
8 0
4 8
2 10
1 2
0 19 0
1 1 0J
118
16 8
1 15 0
14 6
0 19 1
0 16 5
0 18 0
0 19 6
1 0 10
19 4
19 6
The average for all Scotland in 1847 was—wheat, L.2, 12s. 5d.; barley, L.l, 9s. 7d.; oats, b.l, 2s. ^d.
The average for Mid-Lothian was—wheat, L.2, 11s. 6d.; barley, L.l, 11s. 6d.; oats, L.l, 4s. 6d.
FIBRE (Eat.^/z&ra), a fine thread or filament; a fine
slender body, such as those of which flesh, nerves, plants,
roots, &c., are composed. In our manufactures vegetable
filaments and fibres are among the most important of the
whole series of raw produce ; furnishing thread, cloth, cord¬
age, and the like. For these purposes the filamentous parts
of the Gossypium, Cannabis, and Linum, or cotton, hemp,
and flax, are commonly used. The fibres of other plants
have been employed in different countries for the same uses.
Putrefaction destroys the pulpy matter, and leaves the tough
filaments entire. Different kinds of cloth are prepared in
the east from the fibres of the bark of certain trees boiled in
a strong lye. Some of these cloths are very fine, and ap¬
proach to the softness of silk, but in durability fall short of
cotton ; others again are coarser and stronger, and much
exceed cotton in durability. See Botany, vol. v., p. 69,
and Flax. For the chemical properties of vegetable fibre,
see Chemistry, vol. vi., pp. 515, 516.
FIBRIN, a peculiar organic compound, found both in
vegetable and animal substances. Fibrin is a soft solid,
white, insipid, inodorous, and insoluble in water. It is pro¬
cured in its most characteristic state from animal matter. It
exists in the chyle and in the blood, and constitutes the
chief part of animal muscle ; hence it must be regarded as
the most abundant constituent of animal bodies. Fibrin
may be readily obtained by agitating new'-drawn blood with
a bundle of twigs, when it will adhere to them in long reddish
filaments, which may be rendered colourless by washing in
cold water. When dried, fibrin becomes semitransparent,
yellowish, and brittle. It is composed of 53’36 carbon, 19-69
oxygen, 7-02 hydrogen, and 19-93 azote. Fibrin is a most
important element of nutrition, and is essential to the sus¬
tenance of carnivorous animals.
FIBULA (Eat. a clasp or buckle), the outer and smaller
bone of the leg ; so called from its connecting and giving
firmness to the other parts. See Anatomy, vol. iii., p. 37.
FICHTE, Johann Gottlieb, an eminent German meta¬
physician, was born at Rammenau, a village of Lusatia, on
the 19th of May 1762. His father was a ribbon manufac¬
turer, and carried on a small trade in haberdashery. A
wealthy person in the neighbourhood having been struck
with the extraordinary genius which young Fichte displayed,
put him to school, in order to give him an opportunity of
cultivating his talents ; but the boy becoming impatient of
restraint, ran off, and was found sitting on the banks of the
Saale, with a map, on which he was endeavouring to trace
the way to America. From this period he seems to have
prosecuted his studies in an extremely desultory manner ;
occasionally attending the lectures of the professors of Wit-
temberg and Leipsic, without devoting his attention ex¬
clusively to any particular science. Theology, however,
appears to have been his favourite study ; and this predi-
FICHTE.
534
Fichte, lection is conspicuous in many of his subsequent writings,
v  which are distinguished by a singular mixture of philoso¬
phical and religious mysticism. When he left the univer¬
sity, his situation was by no means enviable. He possessed
no fortune to enable him to indulge in the luxury of philo¬
sophical speculation ; and, in spite of his decided aversion
to every kind of constraint, he was compelled, by the neces¬
sity of his circumstances, to accept the situation of tutor in
the family of a Prussian gentleman. But his residence in
Prussia enabled him to cultivate the acquaintance of the
celebrated philosopher of Konigsberg, to whose judgment
he submitted his first work, the Critical Review of all Re¬
velations, which was published anonymously in 1792. In
the literary journals, this production, which had atti acted
considerable attention, was ascribed to the pen of Kant,
until the real author made himself known.
Having received fifty ducats from a Polish nobleman, in
whose family he had been tutor, Fichte set out on a course
of travels through Germany and Switzerland, and after¬
wards married a niece of Klopstock’s at Zurich. In 1 /93,
he published the* first part of his Contributions Uncards rec¬
tifying the Opinions of the Public respecting the French
Revolution. This book, which is written with considerable
force and originality, created a great sensation in Germany,
and was violently attacked, in consequence of a new and ap¬
parently dangerous theory which the author advanced relative
to the social contract. The book,however, was perused with
great avidity ; but the attacks to which we have alluded pro¬
bably prevented him from publishing the continuation.
The reputation of Fichte wras now so well established,
that he soon afterwards obtained an appointment to the
philosophical chair at Jena, as successor to Reinhold, who
had been called to the university of Kiel. Here he com¬
menced his lectures by a programme, in which he endea¬
voured to give an idea of the Doctrine of Science ( Wissen-
schaftslehre), the name by which he distinguished the prin¬
ciples of that system of transcendental idealism which he
afterwards more fully developed. In 1794, besides the or¬
dinary duties of his professorship, he every Sunday gave a
regular couse of lectures, in the form of sermons, On the
Literary Calling, which was numerously attended. Hav¬
ing established the principles of his doctrine of science, he
endeavoured to extend their application to the several de¬
partments of philosophy ; and with this view he published
in 1796 his Fundamental Principles of the Law of Future,
and two years afterwards his System of Morals. In con¬
junction with Niethammer, he also published a philosophi¬
cal journal, in which some articles were inserted, containing
certain philosophical views of religion, which were considered
by many as tending directly to atheism. Amongst a num¬
ber of objectionable propositions, it was maintained that
God was nothing else than the moral order of the universe ;
and that to worship God as a being who coidd only be re¬
presented as existing in time and space was a species of
idolatry. One of Fichte’s colleagues called the attention
of the Saxon minister Burgsdorf to these heretical proposi¬
tions ; and the consequence was the rigorous confiscation
of the work throughout the whole of Saxony. Fichte and
his friend Forberg wrote an Appeal to the Public, and seve¬
ral Apologies, in order to exculpate themselves from the
imputation of atheism. The government of Weimar behaved
on this occasion with prudence and moderation; but the
celebrated Herder, vice-president of the consistory, took part
against Fichte. Eberhard, on the other hand, although hostile
to the metaphysical system of Fichte, undertook his defence.
I he controversy was carried on with great violence, and ex¬
cited considerable ferment throughout the whole of Germany.
In the meantime Fichte resigned his professorship at
Jena, and repaired to Berlin, where he met with a very
flattering reception. Here his time was occupied in giving
private lectures, and in composing his various writings. In
1800 he published a short treatise, entitled The Exclusive Fichte.
Commercial State, containing one of those philosophical
systems of political economy from which the praise of in¬
genuity cannot be withheld ; whilst, at the same time, the
most cursory view of the general principles on which it is
founded must be sufficient to convince us that it could never
be advantageously reduced to practice.
About this period Fichte met with a formidable rival in
Schelling, who had formerly been a warm partisan of the
Doctrine of Science, but who now separated from his master,
and propounded a new metaphysical theory of his own, which
soon acquired a large share of popularity at the German
universities, especially at Jena. Fichte indeed endeavoured
to modify his theory of the Doctrine of Science, and to pre¬
sent it to the world in a new and more attractive form ; but
he never again recovered the sway which he had formerly
exercised over the public mind. Meanwhile, his ardent
wish to be again placed in an academical chair was at length
gratified by M. de Hardenberg, who in 1805 procured for
him the appointment of ordinary professor of philosophy in
the university of Erlangen. This appointment was accom¬
panied with the especial favour of being permitted to pass
the winter at Berlin, in order to continue his lectures there.
But this state of amphibious professorship, as his friends
used to call it in jest, did not last long. During the sum¬
mer of 1805 he delivered at Erlangen his celebrated lectures
On the Essence of the Literary Character {fiber das Wesen
des Gelehrten). The following winter he delivered to a nu¬
merous audience the course which he afterwards published
under the title of Guide to a Happy Life. This was one
of those publications in which he attempted to present his
metaphysical doctrines to the public in all their sublimity,
and, at the same time, with such clearness, as should render
them intelligible to common readers.
The disasters which assailed the Prussian monarchy in
1806 were attended with serious consequences to Fichte.
Erlangen having ceased to be a Prussian university, he did
not await the entry of the French into Berlin, but fled to
Konigsberg, and thence proceeded to Riga. In the sum¬
mer of 1807 he delivered a course of philosophical lectures
at Konigsberg. The peace which ensued enabled him to
return to Berlin, where he pronounced his famous Orations
to the German Nation, which were enthusiastically read and
applauded throughout all Germany. When the university
of Berlin was founded, he obtained, through the interest of
M. de Humboldt, the situation of rector, which secured to
him an honourable revenue, whilst his rank as first pro¬
fessor of philosophy gave him great academical influence.
His health, however, had suffered considerably from the
shocks he had for some time experienced, and he found it
necessary to have recourse to the waters of Bohemia, from
which he derived great benefit. But his wife was attacked
with a nervous fever, in consequence of her attendance on
the deserted sick; and although she recovered, Fichte,
whose affection would not allow him to leave her for a mo¬
ment, caught the infection, and died on the 29th of Janu¬
ary 1814.
Fichte was small in stature, but stout and well formed ;
his countenance was expressive of thoughtfulness and de¬
termination. In his intellectual character, genius was com¬
bined with inflexible firmness ; and these qualities enabled
him to surmount difficulties which would have overwhelmed
a man of less vigorous temperament. In other respects his
dispositions were amiable and his morals correct. It was
in the academical chair that the genius of Fichte was mani¬
fested in its greatest splendour. It was said of him that he
was born a professor ; and there was indeed a charm in his
manner of lecturing which had a powerful influence on the
minds of his pupils, many of whom were in the habit of talking
of him with enthusiasm. His fervid and brilliant eloquence,
the clearness of his reasoning, and the simplicity and correct-
FICHTE.
535
Fichte, ness of his language, seemed to diffuse a magic light and
l r colouring over the darkest and most abstruse metaphysical
problems. Those who were charmed with his eloquence
were easily convinced by his reasoning, and became willing
converts to his doctrines. His writings, especially those
works in which his peculiar doctrines are propounded in a
systematic form, are by no means so attractive as his lectures
appear to have been. On the contrary, notwithstanding a
constant affectation of strict and simple reasoning, his pro¬
positions are enveloped in such a degree of transcendental
obscurity, as renders it extremely difficult to comprehend
either the basis or the scope of that system of doctrines
which he laboured to establish.
Hence it is far from being an easy matter to give an intel¬
ligible abstract of the principles of the Doctrine of Science,
especially as we must necessarily presuppose some acquaint¬
ance, on the part of our readers, with the previous meta¬
physical labours of Kant. Fichte commenced his philoso-^
phical career precisely at that period when the writings ot
Kant had nearly obtained a paramount influence on the
German schools, and when men even of superior talents
thought it no mean glory to be able to comprehend a,nd
illustrate his doctrines. The Kantian theory was confes¬
sedly idealistic. Its celebrated author set out with an ana¬
lysis of the cognitive faculty, and endeavoured to describe
its various functions, as well as to ascertain the scope and
limits of its legitimate exercise. All our knowledge, ac¬
cording to the critical philosophy, must have a reference to
possible experience. Of external objects, or things in them¬
selves {noumend), we can have no absolute knowledge; for
we can know nothing but what is perceived by the senses,
and cognized (if we may be allowed the expression) by our
intellectual faculties, according to the laws peculiar to our
constitution. These intellectual laws, or subjective forms,
tend to combine our knowledge, and to render the field of
experience a comprehensible whole. As we can have no
knowledge of objects in themselves, but only of their phce-
nomena, neither can we have any knowledge of things be¬
yond the sphere of our experience, because these can neither
be perceived by our senses nor subjected to the laws of the
understanding. All reasoning, therefore, from mere ideas
must necessarily be futile, because it has no reference to
any corresponding object within the limits of experience.
And although we can have no absolute knowledge of objects
as they really exist, yet our knowledge of them possesses a
subjective reality (that is, a reality with reference to the
thinking subject), and may be said to correspond with the
objects, because, from the nature of our intellectual consti¬
tution, we are incapable of receiving any other impression
from them.
Reinhold was one of the earliest partisans of Kant, and
one of the most ingenious and most popular commentators
on the critical philosophy. But his talents were better
adapted for explaining and illustrating the doctrines of others,
than for discovering new truths, or inventing any original
system of his own; and although an indefatigable student
of philosophy, he seems to have never arrived at any settled
conviction in metaphysical matters, but to have alternately
adopted and abandoned every new theory which was suc¬
cessively presented to his view. After having been for
some time enthusiastically devoted to the doctrines promul¬
gated in the Critical Review of Pure Reason, which he
esteemed the greatest masterpiece of philosophical genius,
he at length discovered that Kant had neglected to secure
the foundations of the edifice he had raised, and this defect
he attempted to supply by his own Theory of the Faculty
of Perception {Theorie des Vorstellungsvermogens). The
main proposition laid down and illustrated in this work is
nothing more or less than this: We are compelled by con¬
sciousness to admit that every perception presupposes a per¬
cipient subject and an object perceived, both of which must
be distinguished from the perception to which they relate;
thus referring all our knowledge to consciousness as its ulti- v'-
mate principle. In the enunciation of this proposition there
is nothing very new or original; but the illustration of this
elementary doctrine, which, as a late reviewer of the Ger¬
man metaphysical theories observes, might have formed an
excellent- subject for a short philosophical dissertation of
two or three sheets, is dilated into a work nearly as large
as that to which it was intended to serve as a mere intro¬
duction ; nor is the unnecessary length of the treatise in any
measure compensated by the importance of the truths de¬
veloped, or the ingenuity displayed in the research.
With greater talents and consistency, Fichte, who an¬
nounced himself as a strict Kantian, attempted to resolve
the same problem, and to develop a system which, by de¬
ducing all our knowledge from one simple principle, should
give unity and stability to the critical theory. In his Doc¬
trine of Science ( Wissenschaftslehre), accordingly, he derives
all our knowledge from the original act of the thinking sub¬
ject in reflecting upon itself. I am I (which he expi esses
by the formula A = A), or the absolute position of the I by
the I, is in itself the certain principle of all philosophy and
of all our knowledge. But the creative energy of the I, in
the course of this reflective process, goes still further. By
its own act, also, the I places the not-1 (objects) as opposed
to itself. In reflecting upon itself, as the absolutely active
principle, it finds itself either determined by or determining
the not-I. In the former case, it appears as the intelligent
I; in the latter, as the absolutely free, practical I. Hence
the distinction between theoretical and practical philosophy.
The idea, then, which pervades the whole theory of Fichte
is this: The I, or the thinking subject, is the absolutely
active principle, which constructs the consciousness, and
produces all that exists, by position, contraposition, and
juxtaposition. Tbe whole universe, in short, is the product
of the I, or thinking subject.
We have thus endeavoured to give a very concise sketch
of a theory which we shall not think of pursuing through
its various ramifications, as we should despair of making
it intelligible to our readers by any length of exposition.
Fichte has been praised by his countrymen for his logical
and consistent reasoning; but to us it appears that his
theory proceeds entirely upon arbitrary assumptions, resting
upon no solid foundation. That he displays considerable
ingenuity in the development of his ideas we are willing to^
admit; but we are quite at a loss to perceive the merit of
the theory he has advanced, when considered as a system
of philosophical truths. The parade of scientific deduction
which his reasoning exhibits may impose upon the incau¬
tious student; but a careful examination will undoubtedly
convince him that the whole is a mere tissue of empty no¬
tions, derived from arbitrary and assumed principles.
In attempting to apply the principles of his doctrine of
science to the theory of morals and the law of nature, Fichte
exhibited many original and paradoxical opinions, along
with some very just and ingenious philosophical observa¬
tions. In his later writings he considerably modified his
original theory of the doctrine of science, and produced a
system of philosophical and religious mysticism, which ap-
*pears to have given birth to the transcendental idealism of
Schelling, an author who seems to have carried the extra¬
vagance of speculative reasoning to its utmost limits.
The following is a list of the works of Fichte :— Versuch einer
Kritik oiler Offenbarung (Critical Review of all Revelation), Ko-
nigsberg, 1792, 1793, 8vo; Ueber den Begriff der Wissenschaftslehre
(On the notion of a Doctrine of Science), Jena, 1794, 8vo; Grund-
lage der gesammten Wissenschaftslehre (Foundation of the whole
Doctrine of Science), Ibid. 1794, 8vo ; Grundriss des eigenthumlichen
der Wissenshaftslehre (Sketch of the peculiarity of the Doctrine of
Science), Weimar, 1794; Vorlesungen ueber die BestimmUng des
Gelehrtcn (Lectures on the Literary Calling), Jena, 1794; System
der Sittenlchre (System of the Doctrine of Morals), Jena and
Fichte.
536 F I C
Fichtel^e- Leipsic, 1795; Beytrdge zur Berichtigung der Urtheile des Pubhcums
birge3 ueber die Franzbsische Revolution (Materials for Rectifying the
|| Opinions of the Public respecting the French Revolution) ; Orund-
Ficus. lage des Naturrechts (Foundation of the Law of Nature), Jena, 1/96,
v j 2 vols. 8vo; Appellation an das Publicum ueber die Him bey-
^ gemessenen atheistischen Aeusserungen (Appeal to the Public re¬
specting the atheistical expressions imputed to him), Jena and
Leipsic, 1799; Ueber die Bestimmung des Mensehen (On the Destiny
of Man); Der geschlossene Handlesstaat (The exclusive Commercial
State); Sonnenldarer Bericht an das grossere Publicum ueber das
eigentliche Wesen der neuesten Philosophic (Luminous Report to the
greater public on the peculiar Character of the modern Philosophy),
Berlin, 1801 ; Wissenschaftslehre (Doctrine of Science), Tubingen,
1802, 8vo ; Vorlesungen ueber das Wesen der Gelehrten (Lectures
on the Literary Character), Berlin, 1806; Die Grundzuge des gegen-
w'drtigen Zeitalters (The Characteristics of the Present Age), Ibid.
1806; Anweisung zum seligen Leben (Guide to a Happy Lite),
Ibid. 1806; Reden an die Deutsche Nation (Discourses to the Ger¬
man nation) Ibid. 1806 ; Die Wissenschaftslehre in ihrem allgemeinsten
Umrisse dargestellt (The Doctrine of Science exhibited in its most
general outline), Ibid. 1810; Freidrich Nicolai's Leben und Son-
derbare Meinungen, herausgegebtn von Schlegel (Life and singular
opinions of Frederick Nicolai, edited by Schlegel), Tubingen, 1801;
Antwortschrieben an K. L. Reinhold, auf dessen Beytrdge zur leichtern
Uebersicht des Zastandes der Philosophic, &c. (Answer to K. L. Rein¬
hold, on his Materials for acquiring a more easy View of the State
of Philosophy, &c.), Tubingen, 1801; Ueber die einzig mogliche Std-
rung der academischen Freyheit (On the only possible disturbance
of Academical Freedom), Berlin, 1812 ; Ueber den Begrijf des wahr-
haften Kriegs, in Bezug auf den Krieg in jahre, 1813 (On the notion
of real war, with reference to the war in 1813), Tubingen, 1815.
Fichte is also the author of several essays in periodical publica¬
tions, and particularly in a philosophical journal edited by himself,
with the assistance of Niethammer.
Those who are desirous of obtaining more minute information re¬
specting Fichte’s philosophical theory, may consult the following
works : Tennemann’s Grundriss der Geschichte der Philosophic; De-
gerando, Histoire Comparee, &c. W. T. Krug, Briefe ueber die Wis¬
senschaftslehre. F. W. J. Schelling, Darlegung des wahren Verhdlt-
nisses der Naturphilosophie zu der verbesserten Fichtischen Lehre. J.
Fries, Reinhold, Fichte und Schelling. C. F. Bachmann, Ueber die
Philosophie meiner Zeit. Ancillon, Essai sur le premier probleme de
la philosophie; and Essai sur Vexistence et sur les derniers systemes de
mitaphysique qui ont paru en Allemagne. (j. C.)
F'ICHTELGEBIRGE, a mountain group of Germany,
in Bavaria, forming the centre from which three extensive
mountain ranges proceed,—the Erzgebirge in a N.E., the
Frankenwald in a N.W., and the Bohmerwald in a S.E.
direction. The streams to which it gives rise flow towards
the four cardinal points,—e.g. the Eger flowing eastward and
the Saale northward, both to the Elbe; the Main westward
to the Rhine, and the Naab southward to the Danube.
The chief points of the mass are the Schneeberg and the
Ochsenkopf, the former having a height of 3433 and the
latter of 3340 feet.
FICINO, Marsilio, a distinguished Italian scholar,
was born at Florence in 1453. Instead of devoting him¬
self, as the fashion of that age was, to the study of Aristotle,
he selected Plato as his favourite author; and may be con¬
sidered as the restorer of that philosopher’s doctrines in the
west. He translated the whole of his works into Latin,
besides portions of those of his most celebrated followers,
such as Plotinus, Proclus, Porphyrius, and Jamblicus. He
died at Correggio in 1499; and we are informed by Ba-
ronius that after his death he appeared to his friend Michaele
Mercato, to whom he had promised to manifest himself as
a confirmation of his doctrines regarding the immortality of
the soul. His collected works appeared first at Venice in
1516, and were afterwards reprinted at Basil and at Paris.
FICUS, a large genus of urticaceous plants, in which the
male and female flowers are mixed indiscriminately on the
inside of a hollow, turbinate, fleshy receptacle. The genus
comprehends the various species of fig-trees, which are all
either tropical or inhabitants of warm countries. Some of
tiese aie shrubs or small creeping plants ; while others are
among the largest trees of the forest. The species oi'Jtcus
have alternate leaves and branches, and secrete a milky
F I C
juice more or less acrid, and which exists even in the com- Ficus,
mon eatable fig in its unripe state. Upwards of 100 spe-
cies are known, of which the following are among the most
interesting.
1. Ficus Carica, a small tree which produces the common
eatable fig, is a native of Asia, Africa, and the south of
Europe, and has been cultivated from remote antiquity on
the shores of the Mediterranean. This tree grows from 15
to 25 feet high, and the trunk sometimes attains a diameter
of two feet. It has rough, lobed, deciduous leaves; the flowers
are minute, unisexual, and contained in great numbers in a
common receptacle, which is fleshy, turbinate, and almost
closed at its apex. The male flowers (which are compa¬
ratively very few in number) occupy the superior part of
this receptacle, while the lower and all the remaining part
is filled with the female flowers. It is this receptacle, with
its multitude of minute flowers imbedded in the pulp, which
when ripe constitutes the well-known fruit. In its fresh
state the fig is generally of a purplish hue, and has a soft,
sweet, fragrant pulp. At least fourteen varieties are culti¬
vated in this country, generally under glass, or in warm
sheltered situations. As the cultivated fig-tree bears, for
the most part, female flowers only, an artificial method of
fertilizing them is resorted to in the Levant. This is the
interesting process called-caprijication. The fact of this
artificial impregnation is mentioned by Aristotle, who ob¬
served that a certain insect was generated on the flowers of
the caprifig (wild fig), which, having become a fly, entered
the unripe fruit of the domestic fig and caused it to set.
Tournefort and other travellers describe the process of ca-
prification as practised in the Levant as follows:—At a par¬
ticular season branches of the wild fig are placed among
the cultivated trees, and the fertilizing pollen of the wild
plant is conveyed by the legs and wings of these insects (a
species of Cynips) into the interior of the receptacle. To
insure success, it is requisite to observe the proper period
for this operation, which should be performed just before
the insects will be ready to take wing, otherwise they might
be lost. The same artificial method of fecundation with
regard to the date-palm was practised in early times, accord¬
ing to Herodotus, by the Babylonians, who used to suspend
male clusters from wild dates over the females, though they
appear to have regarded the small flies found among the
wild flowers as the direct cause of the fertility of the females.
This process, which was caNieiS.palfnijication, was also known
to the Egyptians, the Phoenicians, and other nations of Asia
and Africa.
Dried figs constitute a principal article of sustenance
among the lower classes in Greece and the islands of the
Archipelago. The quantity imported into Britain in 1853
amounted to 50,428 cwts. The best come from Turkey,
Italy, Spain, and Provence; but the Turkish figs are most
esteemed.
2. Ficus sycamorus, or Egyptian Sycamore, is a large
tree with widely-spreading branches, and produces a deli¬
cate eatable fruit, which does not grow upon the tender
branches, but in clustered racemes on the trunk and old
limbs. It is planted extensively in Egypt on the highways
for the sake of the grateful shade it affords. A specimen
of this tree, much gnarled and broken, is figured in Salt s
Abyssinia under the name of Daroo tree. Some have sup¬
posed that the Egyptian mummy-cases were made of the ,
wood of this tree, which would imply a wonderful degree of
durability; but Professor Don is rather of opinion that the
timber of Cordia Myxa was the material employed for that
purpose.
3. Ficus indica, the Banyan tree, has been celebrated
from antiquity for the peculiar mode of its growth. It has
a woody stem, branching to a great height and vast extent,
with heart-shaped entire leaves terminating in acute points.
Some of these trees are of amazing size and extent, as they
FID
Fiction are continually increasing. Every branch from the main
II body throws out its own roots, at first in small tender fibres,
1 ' t several yards from the ground ; but these continually grow
“ v"®- thicker until they reach the surface, and then striking in,
increase to large trunks, and become parent trees, shooting
out new branches from the top, which again in time sus¬
pend their roots, and these, swelling into trunks, produce
other branches, till at length a single tree forms a little
forest. From its long duration, its outstretching arms, and
overshadowing beneficence, the Hindus regard the banyan
tree as an emblem of the Deity. Near these trees the most
esteemed pagodas are generally erected ; under their shade
the Brahmins spend their lives ; and the natives of all castes
and tribes are fond of recreating in tbe cool recesses, beau¬
tiful walks, and lovely vistas of this umbrageous canopy,
impervious even to the direct rays of a tropical sun. The
most celebrated tree of this kind is one on the banks of the
Nerbudda, which has been known, in the march of an
army, to afford shelter to 7000 men. Much of this re¬
markable tree has been swept away by high floods, but the
remaining portion is said to be near 2000 feet as measured
round the principal stems. The name banyan is derived
from baniya, i.c. a banker—the class among the Hindus
with which Europeans formerly had most frequent inter¬
course. A representation of a banyan tree is given under
Botany, vol. v., p, 77, fig. 65.
4. Ficus religiosa, the pippul tree, is a large tree com¬
mon to many parts of India, and is regarded with great
veneration by the Hindus as having given shelter to Vishnu
at his birth. It is often planted near houses for the sake of
its umbrageous canopy; and its leaves, which are heart-
shaped, long, and pointed, tremble like those of the aspen.
They are employed by the Arabs in tanning leather.
5. Ficus elastica, which affords a large supply of the
caoutchouc of commerce, abounds in Assam, and is plen¬
tifully distributed over some other parts of India. The
method of obtaining the juice has been described under the
head Caoutchouc. It is a fast-growing tree, with large,
shining, pointed, thick leaves, and produces a fruit about
the size of an olive, but which is not eatable.
FICTION. In a general sense a fiction is something
feigned or imagined, and in the most extensive acceptation
of the word anything which is unreal may be characterized
as a fiction. In a moral sense a fiction is a culpable false¬
hood, or rather an imposture, as it always supposes the in¬
tention of deceiving. In a literary sense fiction assumes a
different character. It is employed to produce an illusion,
and it is indispensable to its success that it should appear
in the guise of truth; nevertheless there is no intention here
to make that which is false pass for being true. Works of
fiction include novels, tales, romances, and even epic poems.
In a legal sense, a fiction is something assumed for the pur¬
poses of justice though not literally true; thus an heir is held
to be the same person as his ancestdr in order to make him
liable for tbe debts of him whose estates he has inherited.
In apolitical sense-, a fiction is that which, though literally
untrue, is sanctioned by considerations of expediency for the
preservation of order and security. Such is the received
axiom in constitutional monarchies, “ that the king can do
no wrong,” the intention of which is to establish the prin¬
ciple that the ministers are responsible for all the acts of the
crown. A similar axiom is, that “ the king never dies
that is, it can never be said of the sovereign that he is dead,
because on the moment of his decease there lives a sovereign
in the person of his successor.
FID, a square bar of wood or iron passed through the
hole in the heel or lower part of a topmast, and resting by
its ends on the trestle-trees of the mast below ; thus serving
to support the topmast. Fid also denotes a pin of wbod or
iron tapered to a point, for opening the strands of a rope in
splicing, &c. *
VOL. IX.
FIE 537
FIDDES, Richard, a laborious English writer, born at Fiddes
Hunmanby near Scarborough, in 1671. Having received ||
his grammatical education at a private school in the neigh- Fides.
bourhood, he was admitted first of Corpus Christ!, and then
of University College, Oxford ; but, after taking the degree
of bachelor of arts, in 1693, he returned to his relations,
and married the same year a lady of good family and for¬
tune. In 1694 he was ordained priest, and not long after¬
wards presented to the rectory of Halsham ; but was com¬
pelled by bad health to remove to Wickham, where he con¬
tinued for some time. Being thus unable to display his
talents as a preacher, he resolved to devote himself to lite¬
rature, and with this view proceeded to London in 1712,
where, by the favour of Swift, he was introduced to the
Earl of Oxford, who made him one of his chaplains, and
procured for him a similar appointment from the queen.
But the change of ministry in 1714 overturned all Fiddes’
hopes of preferment, and forced him to apply to writing
with greater assiduity than ever. In 1718 he was honoured
with the degree of doctor by the university of Oxford. He
died in 1725. Dr Fiddes was an ingenious but not very
learned man ; he possessed a retentive memory, and was
capable of the most intense application ; his publications
were more numerous than interesting ; his style as a writer
is tedious and prolix, and, though commonly judicious, he
almost never rises above mediocrity. His misfortunes, to¬
wards the close of his life, were chiefly owing to his con¬
nection with that party in the state to which, through
Swift, he had been led to attach himself upon his arrival in
London. (j. B—e.)
FIDDLE. See Music, and Violin.
FIDE-JUSSOR, in the Civil Law, is a surety, or one
who obliges himself in the same contract with a principal,
for the greater security of the creditor or stipulator.
FIDEI-COMMISSUM, in the Civil Law, sw estate left
in trust with any person, for the use of another.
FIDENA1 (now Castel Giubileo), in Ancient Geo¬
graphy, an old and important Latin city, on the left bank
of the Tiber, about five miles from Rome. It is said by
Livy to have owed its origin to the Etruscans ; but his tes¬
timony is not supported by that of any other historian. The
idea of its Latin origin is that now generally received. The
proximity of Fidense to Rorqe, and its jealousy of the rising
power of that state, soon brought the two cities into collision ;
indeed there is no Latin city which plays so important a
part in the annals of regal Rome as Fidense, which was not
only powerful in its own resources, but by its connection
and alliances with other Latin states. Hostilities first broke
out between the two cities in the time of Romulus, and
continued with little intermission and various success till
496 b.c., when, being abandoned by its allies, it was forced
to yield to the Roman arms. In 438 b.c. the Fidenates
revolted, slew the Roman ambassadors, and for twelve years
maintained an unequal contest with their powerful neigh¬
bours. At the end of that time, however, their city was
taken and plundered, and the inhabitants sold into slavery.
From this time Fidenae appears no more in history as an
independent city. In the later times of the republic and
under the empire, Fidense continued a small country village,
and is mentioned by Horace as almost proverbially lonely
and desolate. In the reign of Tiberius it acquired a dismal
notoriety from a fearful accident which happened in its
neighbourhood. An extraordinary gladiatorial show had
attracted vast multitudes of spectators from Rome and the
surrounding country, and the temporary wooden amphi¬
theatre in which they were accommodated fell during the
exhibition, and destroyed nearly 50,000 persons. No ruins
of Fidense now exist; but the site of the city has been
ascertained beyond a doubt at the modern Castel Giubileo.
FIDES, among the Romans, the personification of faith¬
fulness or fidelity, in whose honour Numa is said to have
3 Y
538
E I E
Fief
erected a temple on the Capitol. No animals were immo-
„ lated, nor was any blood spilt, in the sacrifices to this deity.
Fielding. Fides was represented as a matron crowned with olive or
'   ' with laurel, and bearing ears of corn or a basket of fruit in
her hand. The ancients also worshipped a god called 1 idms,
who was supposed to preside over ^promises and alhanceSj
F I E
Leyden, where he remained about two years, and is said
to have given the most earnest attention to the study ot
the civil law. Had he been permitted to continue the pur¬
suit in which he had thus engaged, the courts would pro¬
bably have gained an accomplished lawyer, and the world
would have lost a man of genius ; but the circumstances
of the father determined the chance in favour of posterity,
though against the interests and perhaps the welfare of the
son. Remittances, in short, failed, and the young civilian
was compelled to return, at the age of twenty, to plunge
into the dissipation of London, without a monitor to warn
or a friend to support him. His father had indeed pro¬
mised him an allowance of two hundred pounds a year ;
but this, as Fielding himself used to observe, any one might
pay who would. Possessed of a strong constitution, a live¬
ly imagination, and a keen relish of pleasure, with the
Fielding.
Fidius was properly a surname of Jupiter,
with the Sabine Sancus or Semo. r , .
FIEF, a term borrowed from the French, and applied to
an estate in lands held of a feudal superior. See tee.
FIELD, John, one of the most celebrated pianofoite-
players of his age. He was born in the year 1782, m
Dublin, where his father held an appointment as violinist
at the Theatre Royal. He learned the principles of piano-
forte-playing from his grandfather, who was an organ is ,
but displayed little industry or ^eal ^ 1 ^ w}ien capacity of enjoying the present and trusting to chance for
art till the He became the future, Fitldinl thui found himself his own master in
die'favourite pupil of this great master, and accompanied a place where the temptations to every expensive mdul-
Mmfto the Continent in 1802. He made a brillant debut gence are numerous, and the means of gratification easily
fn Paris enjoyed^similar success at Vienna, and thence pro- attainable ; and, with reckless improvidence, he squandered
needed with Clementi to Russia, where he spent the greater m pursuit of pleasure the scan y means which, with s net
part of his life. Ho Hirti at Moscow in 1837. The peculiar economy, might have enabled him to begin the world, at
He died at Moscow in 1837. The peculiar
characteristic of Field’s playing was its extreme delicacy,
precision, and gracefulness. The musical compositions ot
Field, consisting of seven concertos, a quintetto, sonatas,
variations, fantasias, &c., display those excellences foi which
his own performance was distinguished.
FIELD, in Heraldry. See Heraldry.
FIELD-MARSHAL, the highest military title in Eng¬
land and some other countries. The term is derived, through
the German feld-marschall, from the marechal de camp in
the old French service. In England the number of field-
marshals rarely exceeds five or six; they have no pay and
no especial authority as such ; but they retain their full pay
as generals.
FIELD-OFFICERS, in the army, officers above the
rank of captain ; as majors and colonels.
FIELDING, Henry, one of the greatest of English
novelists, was born at Sharpham-Park, Somersetshire, on
the 22d of April 1707. His father, General Edmund Field¬
ing, who had served under John Duke of Marlborough, was
the third son of Dr John Fielding, canon of Salisbury, who
was the fifth son of George Earl of Desmond, and brother
of William the third Earl of Denbigh ; and his mother, the
general’s first wife, was a daughter of Judge Gould. He
was also connected with the noble family of Kingston,
which, in the celebrated Lady Mary Wortley Montague,
boasted a brighter ornament than rank or title could be¬
stow. Henry Fielding was the only son of the first mar¬
riage ; but he had four sisters of the full blood, one of
whom, Sarah, was distinguished as an authoress by the
history of David Simple, and other literary attempts. Ge¬
neral Fielding, after the death of his first wife, married a
second time, and had a numerous family of sons, one of
whom is still remembered as a judge of police by the title
of Sir John Fielding. The expense attending so large a
family, together with a natural thoughtlessness of disposi¬
tion on the part of his father, of whose habits economy form¬
ed no part, were probably the occasion of Henry being early
involved in those embarrassments with which, excepting
at brief intervals, he continued to struggle through life.
After acquiring the rudiments of education under the
Rev. Mr Oliver, who is supposed to have furnished him with
the outline of Parson Trulliber’s character, young Fielding
was removed to Eton, where he made great progress in the
study of the Greek and Roman authors, and imbibed that
deep love of classical literature which may be traced
throughout all his works. As his father destined him for
the bar, he was, at the age of eighteen, sent from Eton to
the same time entailing upon himself those distresses and
misfortunes in which he was ever afterwards involved.
But as disagreeable impressions never remained long upon
his mind, and as it was his disposition to look at the bright¬
er side of things, or rather to enliven the gloomiest pro¬
spect with the colours which his own fancy cast upon it, he
flattered himself that he would find resources in his own
wit and genius, and that the difficulties in which he was
involved would be overcome by the exertions which he
conceived himself capable of making to surmount them.
To a man of pleasure, in fact, some resources were indis¬
pensably necessary, and Fielding found them in his pen,
having no alternative, as he himself used to say, but to
become a hackney writer or a hackney coachman. He at
first employed himself in writing for the stage, then in high
reputation, from having recently engaged the talents of
Wycherley, Congreve, Vanburgh, and Farquhar; his co¬
medies and farces were brought out in hasty succession ;
between the years 1727 and 1736, play succeeded play, to
the number of eighteen, which were struck off as his ne¬
cessities impelled, and sank oftener than swam in the the¬
atrical sea upon which he cast them. Of these, the only
pieces now known or read are the mock-tragedy of Tom
Thumb, the translated play of The Miser, and the farces of
The Mock-Doctor and Intriguing Chambermaid ; and yet,
as Sir Walter Scott justly observes, they are all the pro¬
duction of an author unrivalled for his conception and illus-
tration of character in the kindred department of imaginary
narrative. Whilst Fielding was thus living as a man of
wit and pleasure about town, seeking and finding amuse¬
ment in scenes of gaiety and dissipation, and endeavouring
to discharge the expense incidental to such a life by the
precarious resources afforded by the stage, which, as may
easily be supposed, were inadequate for the purpose, he
attempted to improve his circumstances by becoming him¬
self the manager of a company ; and having, in 1735, as¬
sembled a number of discarded comedians, he proposed
that they should perform his own plays, at the little theatre
of the Haymarket, under the whimsical title of the Great
Mogul’s company of comedians. But the project, as might
have been expected, did not succeed; and the company,
which seemed to have dropped from the clouds, were under
the necessity of disbanding. The whole scheme, in fact, has
more the air of a mad frolic than of a serious undertaking.
During his theatrical career, which, we have just seen, was
by no means brilliant, Fielding, like most authors of the
time, found it impossible to interest the public sufficiently
FIELDING.
Fielding, in the various attempts which he made to gain their favour,
^without condescending to flatter their political animosities.
In two of his dramatic pieces, Pasquin and the Historical
Register, he displays great acrimony against Sir Robert
Walpole, whom, in the year 1730, he had in vain attempt¬
ed to propitiate by some courtly verses. The keenness of
the satire made it felt, and its freedom is supposed to have
operated considerably in producing a measure which was
then thought necessary to restrain the licentiousness of the
stage, and to check that proneness to personal and political
satire which had been fostered by the success of the Beg¬
gars' Opera. But this measure, which consisted in vesting
a discretionary power in the Lord Chamberlain to refuse a
license to any piece which he should disapprove, was very
unpopular at the time, and, like all petty legislation, has
done mischief which was not intended by it, and failed to
accomplish the object for which it was designed.1
About the year 1736, Fielding having, it seems, formed
the resolution of settling in life, espoused a young lady of
Salisbury, named Craddock, possessed of considerable beau¬
ty, and of a fortune of L.1500 ; and, about the same time, he
succeeded, in right of his mother, to a small estate of L.200
per annum, situated at Stower in Derbyshire. With this
fortune, which, managed with prudence and economy, might
have afforded a decent competence, he retired from London
to his seat in the country, resolved to bid adieu to the fol¬
lies and irregularities of a town life, and to cultivate habits
of domestic enjoyment. But having unfortunately carried
with him the same improvident disposition to enjoy the
present at the expense of the future, which marked his
whole life, he soon forgot all his resolutions of amendment;
established an equipage with showy liveries; threw open
his gates to unbounded hospitality; and suffered his whole
substance to be devoured by horses, hounds, retinue, and
entertainments. Thus, in less than three years, Fielding
found himself landless, homeless, penniless, without any
other resource than his abilities, and having brought no¬
thing from the country except that experience of rural life
and its pleasures which afterwards enabled him to deline¬
ate with such inimitable truth and force the character of
Squire Western. Not discouraged, however, he entered
himself as a student of law at the Temple, and, after the
customary term of manducation, was called to the bar.
Fielding had now a profession, and, as he had vigorously
applied his powerful mind to the study of the law, it might,
have been expected that his success would have been in
proportion to his assiduity. But various causes conspired
to obstruct his rise in the legal profession. In the first
place, those persons who have it in their power to advance
or retard the practice of a young lawyer, seem to have mis¬
trusted the capacity of a man of wit and pleasure for steady
application to business ; and Fielding’s own conduct was
in all probability such as to justify this want of confidence
in his regularity. In the next place, disease, the conse¬
quence of a free life, came to the aid of dissipation of mind,
and interrupted the course of his practice by severe attacks
of the gout, which gradually undermined his naturally ro¬
bust constitution. But amidst all this difficulty and suf¬
fering, he pursued his researches with great though irre-
539
gular vigour ; and, as a proof of the eminence to which, in Fielding,
happier circumstances, he might have risen at the bar, he
left two manuscript volumes in folio on the Crown Law; a
branch to which he had most assiduously applied himself.
The exigencies of a family, to which he was tenderly at¬
tached, forced him however to have recourse again to the
stage, where he attempted to produce a continuation of his
own piece, The Virgin Unmasked ; but as one of the cha¬
racters was supposed to have been written in ridicule of a
man of quality, the Lord Chamberlain refused his license.
Political pamphlets, fugitive tracts, newspaper essays, and
sometimes farces, were the next means he had recourse to
for subsistence ; and as his ready pen supplied such produc¬
tions upon every emergency, he contrived out of the scanty
profits to support himself and family. But amidst the anxi¬
ety and labour of this precarious mode of life, he had the
misfortune to lose his wife ; a domestic calamity which so
deeply affected him that his reason was for a time endanger¬
ed by the excess of his grief. All violent emotions, however,
are happily transient; Fielding recovered from the blow
which had stunned him, though his regret was lasting ; and
the necessity of procuring subsistence compelled him to
resume his literary labours. At length, in the year 1741
or 1742, circumstances led him to engage in a species of
composition which he rescued from the degraded state in
which he found it, and rendered a classical department in
English literature.
The novel of Pamela, published in 1740, having raised
the fame of Richardson to the highest pitch, Fielding,
whether tired of hearing it overpraised,2 or whether, as a
writer for subsistence, disposed to catch at whatever inte¬
rested the public for the time, or whether, finally, seduced
by that malicious spirit of wit which delights to turn into ri¬
dicule the idol of the day, resolved to caricature the style, the
principles, and the personages of this favourite performance.
As Gay’s desire to satirize Philips produced The Shepherd's
Week, so Fielding’s purpose to ridicule Pamela suggested
The History of Joseph Andrews ; but, in both cases, more
especially the latter, a work was executed of infinitely
greater merit than could have been expected to arise out
of such a design ; and the reader received a higher gratifi¬
cation than the author himself appears to have proposed or
contemplated. In Fielding’s novel there is indeed a fine
vein of irony, as will appear from comparing it with the
pages of Pamela ; but the production against which the
ridicule was directed is now almost forgotten; whilst Jo¬
seph Andrews continues to be read for its admirable pic¬
tures of manners, and, above all, for the inimitable charac¬
ter of Parson Adams, which alone is sufficient to decide
the superiority of Fielding over all novel writers. “ His
learning, his simplicity, his evangelical purity of mind,”
says Sir Walter Scott, “ are so admirably mingled with
pedantry, absence of mind, and the habit of athletic and
gymnastic exercises, then acquired at the universities by
students of all descriptions, that he may be safely termed
one of the richest productions of the muse of fiction. Like
Don Quixote, Parson Adams is beaten a little too much
and too often; but the cudgel lights upon his shoulders,
as on those of the honoured knight of La Mancha, without
1 “ The regulation,” says Sir Walter Scott, “ was the cause of much clamour at. the time ; but licentious satire has since found so
many convenient modes of access to the public, that its exclusion from the stage is no longer a matter of interest or regret; nor is it
now deemed a violent aggression on liberty that contending political parties cannot be brought into collision within the walls of the
theatres, intended, as they are, for places of amusement, not for scenes of party struggle.” (Memoir of Fielding.) This is no
doubt true ; but has not the theatre suffered in consequence of the regulation by which all political allusions are excluded from the
stage, whilst neither the amount of licentious satire, nor its facilities of gaining access to the public, have been, in the slightest degree,
diminished ?
2 This production, many passages of which would now be thought highly indelicate, and condemned as suggestive of licentious
ideas, was in those days recommended even from the pulpit. Modern refinement, though it may not have succeeded in banishing
immodesty from the heart, has at least had the effect of purifying literary compositions of that grossness which, more or less, deforms
almost all those of the last age.
540
Fielding.
the slightest stain to his reputation ;
without being degraded.”1 Joseph Andrews was eminent¬
ly successful; and poor Richardson, whose greediness ot
praise was only equalled by his extreme sensitiveness to
ridicule, felt proportionally offended; whilst his admirers,
male and female, took care to echo back his resentment,
and to heap Fielding with reproach. The animosity of the
idol and his worshippers, in fact, survived the gifted man
who had rendered them all ridiculous ; and in Richard¬
son’s correspondence we find the most ungenerous, not to
say malignant, reproaches cast on his memory.- Rut y ield¬
ing does not appear to have retorted any of the ill-will m
which Richardson and his coterie indulged. If he gave the
first offence without provocation, he was also the first to
retreat from the contest, and to leave his exasperated an¬
tagonists in undisputed possession of the field. JNor was
Fielding slow in conceding to Richardson that praise to
which his genius entitled him from the liberality o ns
contemporaries. In the fifth number of the Jacobite Jour¬
nal, he warmly commends Clarissa Harlowe, by far the
best and most powerful of Richardson’s novels, and whic i,
with those scents in Sir Charles Grandison relating to
the history of Clementina, contains the passages of aeep
pathos on which his fame as a writer must finally rest.
“ Perhaps this is one of the cases,” says Sir Walter Scott,
“ in which one would rather have sympathized with the
thoughtless offender, than with the illiberal and^ ungene¬
rous mind which so long retained its resentment.
After the publication of Joseph Andrews, Fielding had
again recourse to the stage, and brought out The Wedding-
Day, which, though upon the whole unsuccessful, produced
him some little profit. This was the last of his theatrical
efforts which appeared during his life-time. The comedy
of The Fathers, in manuscript, was lost by Sir Charles Han-
bury Williams, and, when recovered, was performed after
the author’s death, for the benefit of his family.3 Besides
a variety of fugitive pieces, Fielding published, in l/4o, a
volume of miscellanies, containing, amongst other things,
The Journey from this World to the next; a tract of which
it is difficult to perceive the scope or aim, although it dis¬
plays a good deal of Fielding’s characteristic humour. His
next production was The History of Jonathan Wild the
Great; a picture of desperate vice, unrelieved by a single
indication of human feeling, or even by an accidental devia¬
tion into virtue. What object Fielding could have propos-
F I E L D I N G.
and he is bastinadoed ed to himself by so revolting a delineation, it is not^y to fheldmg.
conjecture. For, besides the disgust produced by the con¬
templation of wickedness naked and unredeemed, every one
must feel, that ascribing a train of fictitious adventures to
a real character, has in it something clumsy and inartifi¬
cial • whilst, on the other hand, it subjects the author to
a suspicion of having used as the title of his book the name
of an infamous depredator, in the hope of connecting the
one with the popular renown of the other. At the same
time, there are not many passages in Fielding’s works more
strongly marked with his peculiar genius, than the scene
between Jonathan Wild and the Ordinary, in Newgate.
Besides these more permanent proofs of his application to
literature, Fielding employed his ready pen in most of the
political and literary controversies of the times. He con¬
ducted one paper, called The Jacobite Journal, the object
of which was to eradicate those feelings and sentiments
which had already been so effectually crushed on the field
of Culloden ; and he either entirely composed or had a
principal share in The True Patriot and The Champion,
periodicals of the same class. Being attached to the prin¬
ciples of the Revolution, and to the settlement of the suc¬
cession in the family of Brunswick, he steadily advocated
what was then called the Whig cause ; but whilst far infe¬
rior writers were enriched out of the secret-service money
with unexampled prodigality, his zeal and ability remain¬
ed long unnoticed, and never met with any suitable re¬
compense.
As it was impossible, however, that such a man could be
altogether overlooked, Fielding, in 1749, received a small
pension, together with an appointment as a justice of peace
for Westminster ; an office then considered as disreputable,
and of which he was at liberty to make the most he could
by the wrorst means he chose. At this period the magistrates
of Westminster, being paid by fees for their services to the
public, were thence termed trading justices ; and in gene¬
ral they appear to have deserved this opprobrious appella¬
tion ; for the mean and wretched system on which they
were remunerated making it their interest to inflame pet¬
ty disputes, to wring out of thieves and pickpockets a por¬
tion of their unhallowred gains, and thus to traffic, as it
were, in guilt and misery, seemed equally well calculated to
encourage crime, and to degrade those whose ostensible
duty it was to repress it. The habits of Fielding, who was
never very select in his society, cannot be supposed to have
» The style of this piece is said in the preface to be an imitation of Cervantes ; but it bears more resemblance to that of the Roman
Cominue of Scarron, from whom Fielding appears to have copied the mock-heroic style, which narrates ludicrous events in the lan¬
guage of the classical epic ; a vein of pleasantry, however, which is soon wrought out, and which, if frequently employed, is apt to
degenerate into pedantry. .u » cu-
2 Richardson, being well acquainted with Fielding’s sisters, took occasion to complain to them, not of their brother s usage o nn*
self (this would have been natural and honest), but of his unfortunate predilection for what was mean and low in character and de¬
scription. The following passage is remarkable, first for the unexampled presumption of the writer, who thus constitutes himseit the
judge paramount of Fielding’s qualities; and, secondly, for the malignant indelicacy which could obtrude such observations on the sister
of a rival: “ Poor Fielding ! I could not help telling his sister that I was equally surprised at and concerned for his continued lowness.
Had your brother, said I,‘been born in a stable, or been a runner at a spunging-house, one should have thought him a genius, and
wished he had had the advantage of a liberal education, and of being admitted into good company !” The man who could be guilty
of such deliberate brutality as is here complacently chronicled, would not have scrupled to employ more criminal means to grati y ns
animosity, if he had not been restrained either by innate cowardice or a salutary fear of the laws. Alter this, however, we cannot
be surprised to find Richardson alleging that Fielding was destitute ol invention and talents; that the run of his best woiks was
nearly over; and that, as an author, he would soon be forgotten! _ ,
3 The following anecdote, which is given by former biographers, shows the carelessness of Fielding respecting his reputation as a
dramatist: “ On one of the days of its rehearsal (that is, the rehearsal of The Weftding-Day), Garrick, who performed a principal part,
and who was then a favourite with the public, told Fielding he was apprehensive that the audience would make free with him in a
particular passage, and remarked that, as a repulse might disconcert him during the remainder of the night, the passage should be
omitted ; “No, d—n ’em,” replied he ; “ if the scene is not a good one, let them find that out.” Accordingly the play was brought out
without alteration, and, as had been foreseen, marks of disapprobation appeared. Garrick, alarmed at the hisses he met with, retired
into the green-room, where the author was solacing himself with a bottle of champagne. He had by this time drank pretty freely ;
and, glancing his eye at the actor, while clouds of tobacco issued from his mouth, cried out, “ What’s the matter, Garrick ? what are
they hissing now ?” “ Why, the scene that I begged you to retrench,” replied the actor; “ I knew it would not do; and they have
so frightened me that I shall not be able to collect myself again the whole night.” “ Oh, d—n ’em,” rejoined he, with great coolness,
44 they have found it out, have they ?”
fielding.
Fielding, been improved by the position into which he was now
thrown; and from a humiliating anecdote told by Ho¬
race Walpole,1 in his usual lively but unfeeling manner, it
would appear, even after allowance is made for the aristo-
cratical exaggeration of the narrator, that his mind had sunk
to the level of his situation. Yet, though the circumstances
attending his official situation tended to foster the careless
and disreputable habits which he was unfortunately but too
prone to indulge, it is consoling to observe that Fielding’s
principles remained unshaken, and that there is no founda¬
tion whatever for the imputation of venality which, from
the popular discredit attaching to his office, and his own
thoughtless extravagance, the ill-natured world were at one
time but too ready to cast upon him. His own account of
his conduct respecting the dues of the office on which he
depended for subsistence has been confirmed by Mr Mur¬
phy, and never doubted or denied. “ I will confess,” says
he, “ that my private affairs at the beginning of winter had
but a gloomy aspect; for I had not plundered the public,
or the poor, of those sums which men, who are always rea¬
dy to plunder both as much as they can, have been pleased
to suspect me of taking; on the contrary, by composing
instead of inflaming the quarrels of porters and beggars
(which, I blush when I say, hath not been universally prac¬
tised), and by refusing to take a shilling from a man who
most undoubtedly would not have had another left, I had
reduced an income of L.500 a year, of the dirtiest money
upon earth, to little more than L.300, a considerable por¬
tion of which remained with my clerk.” Nor was this all.
Whilst Fielding thus evinced his disinterestedness as a ma¬
gistrate, he endeavoured, by various suggestions, to check
the growth of crime and depravity. Flis Inquiry into the In¬
crease of Thieves and Robbers contains several valuable hints
which succeeding statesmen have adopted, and some which
have not yet received the attention they deserve. He was
the first to expose the injurious effects of the frequency of
pardons, rendered necessary by the reckless multiplication
of capital punishments ; and he had the merit of directing
public attention to that swelling imposthume of the state,
pauperism, with the consequences to be apprehended from
the state of the poor laws and the mode in which they were
administered. He afterwards published a scheme for the
provision of the poor, which showed that he was fully sen¬
sible of the evil, without being able to suggest an effectual
or practical remedy ; but although his project for restrict¬
ing them to their parishes, and providing for them in work-
houses, was not approved of, it has never been disputed
that his treatise exhibits both the knowledge of the magis¬
trate and the picturesque expression of the novel writer.
541
He also published a Charge to the Grand Jury of Middle- Fielding.
sex, and some Tracts concerning Law Tri ds, which are
considered as valuable.
Before publishing his scheme for the provision oi the
poor, however, Fielding made himself immortal by the pro¬
duction of Tom Jones, or the History of a Foundling; a
work composed under all the disadvantages incident to an
author alternately harassed by his disagreeable magisterial
duties, and pressed by the necessity of hurrying out some
ephemeral essay or pamphlet to meet the demands of the
passing day.2 In these painful and precarious circum¬
stances was the first of English novels given to the public,
who had not hitherto seen any works founded upon the
plan of painting from nature, and who, consequently, were
quite unprepared for a work constructed on such a princi¬
ple. Even Richardson’s novels are but a step removed
from the domain of the old romance ; and, though approach¬
ing more nearly to the ordinary course of events, still re¬
semble it by dealing in improbable incidents, exaggerated
delineations, and characters swelled out beyond the ordi¬
nary proportions of humanity. Tom Jones, on the other
hand, is truth and human nature itself, and therein consists
the incalculable advantage which it possesses over all pre¬
vious fictions of this particular kind. Fielding is the Ho¬
garth cf novelists ; and he painted manners with the hand
of a master. The History of a Foundling was received
with unanimous acclamation by the public, and proved so
productive to Millar, the publisher, that he handsomely
added L.100 to the L.600 for which he had purchased the
work from the author.
“ The general merits of this popular and delightful
work,” says Sir Walter Scott, “ have been so often dwelt
upon, and its imperfections so frequently censured, that
we can do little more than hastily run over ground which
has been so repeatedly occupied. The felicitous contriv¬
ance and happy extrication of the story, where every inci¬
dent tells upon and advances the catastrophe, while at the
same time it illustrates the characters of those interested
in its approach, cannot too often be mentioned with the
highest approbation. The attention of the reader is never
diverted or puzzled by unnecessary digressions, or recalled
to the main story by abrupt and startling recurrences; he
glides down the narrative like a boat on the surface of
some broad navigable stream, which only winds enough to
gratify the voyager with the varied beauty of its banks.
One exception to this praise, otherwise so well merited,
occurs in the story of the Old Man of the Hill; an epi¬
sode which, in compliance with a custom introduced by
Cervantes, and followed by Le Sage, Fielding has thrust
1 “ Rigby gave me a strong picture of nature. He and Peter Bathurst, t’other night, carried a servant of the latter’s, who had
attempted to shoot him, before Fielding, who, to all his other vocations, has, by the grace of Mr Lyttleton, added that of Middlesex
justice. He sent them word he was at supper ; they must come next morning. They did not understand that freedom, and ran
up, where they found him banquetting with a blind man, a wh—, and three Irishmen, on some cold mutton, and a bone of ham, both
in one dish, and the dirtiest cloth. He never stirred or asked them to sit. Rigby, who had seen him come so often to beg a guinea
of Sir C. Williams, and Bathurst, at whose father’s he had lived for victuals, understood that dignity as little, and pulled themselves
chairs, on which he civilized.” {Letters from the Hon. Horace Walpole to George Montague, Esq. p. 58, London, 1818.) It ought to be
added, however, that Walpole, though he has here stigmatized the lowness of Fielding’s society and habits, has elsewhere done jus¬
tice to his talents. In The Parish Register of Twickenham, or poetical account of that place, Fielding’s residence in the neighbourhood
is not forgotten ; that residence,
Where Fielding met his hunter muse,
And as they quaff’d the fiery juice,
Droll nature stamp’d each lucky hit
With unimaginable wit.
2 Tom Jones is inscribed to the Hon. Mr, afterwards Lord Lyttleton, in a dedication where he intimates that, without his assist¬
ance, and that of the Duke of Bedford, the work would never have been composed, inasmuch as the author had been indebted to
them for the means of subsistence whilst engaged in composing it. Ralph Allen, the friend of Pope, is also alluded to as one of his
benefactors, but, by his own desire, not named. This modest and munificent patron of merit is said to have made Fielding a present
of L.200 at one time, and that before he was personally acquainted with the object of his bounty; an act of rare generosity, and*
from the manner in which it was performed, fully confirming the truth of Pope’s beautiful couplet:—
Let modest Allen, with ingenuous shame,
Do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame.
542 F I E L
Fielding, into the midst of his narrative, as he had formerly intro-
duced the History of Leonora, equally unnecessarily and
inartificially, into that of Joseph Andrews. It has also
been wondered why Fielding should have chosen to leave
the stain of illegitimacy on the birth of his hero ; and it
has been surmised that he did so in allusion to his own
first wife, who was also a natural child. A better reason
may be discovered in the story itself; for had Miss Bridget
been privately married to the father of Tom Jones, there
could have been no adequate motive assigned for keeping
his birth secret from a man so reasonable and compassion¬
ate as Allworthy.
“ But even the high praise due to the construction and
arrangement of the story is inferior to that claimed by the
truth, force, and spirit of the characters, from I om Jones
himself down to Black George the game-keeper and his
family. Amongst these, Squire Western stands alone ;
imitated from no prototype, and in himself an inimitable
picture of ignorance, prejudice, irascibility, and rusticity,
united with natural shrewdness, constitutional good hu¬
mour, and an instinctive affection for his daughter,—all
which qualities, good and bad, are grounded upon that basis
of thorough selfishness, natural to one bred up from infan¬
cy where no one dared to contradict his arguments or to
control his conduct. In one incident alone we think
Fielding has departed from this admirable sketch. As an
English squire, Western ought not to have taken a beating
so unresistingly from the friend of Lord Fellamar. We
half suspect that the passage is an interpolation. It is in¬
consistent with the squire’s readiness to engage in rustic
affrays. We grant a pistol or sword might have appalled
him ; but Squire Western should have yielded to no one
in the use of the English horsewhip; and as, with all his
brutalities, we have a sneaking interest in the honest jolly
country gentleman, we would willingly hope there is some
mistake in this matter.
“ The character of Jones, otherwise a model of gene¬
rosity, openness, manly spirit, mingled with thoughtless
dissipation, is, in like manner, unnecessarily degraded by
the nature of his intercourse with Lady Bellaston ; and
this is one of the circumstances which incline us to be¬
lieve that Fielding’s ideas of what was gentleman-like and
honourable had sustained some depreciation, in conse¬
quence of the unhappy circumstances of his life, and of
the society to which they condemned him.
“ A more sweeping and general objection was made
against the History of a Foundling by the admirers of
Richardson, and has been often repeated since. It is al¬
leged, that the ultimate moral of Tom Jones., which con¬
ducts to happiness, and holds up to our sympathy and es¬
teem a youth who gives way to licentious habits, is de¬
trimental to society, and tends to encourage the youth¬
ful reader in the practice of those follies to which his na¬
tural passions and the usual course of the world but too
much direct him. French delicacy, which on so many
occasions has strained at a gnat and swallowed a camel,
saw this fatal tendency in the work, and by an arret dis¬
charged the circulation of a bungled abridgment by De
la Place, entitled a translation. To this charge Fielding
himself might probably have replied, that the vices into
which Jones suffers himself to fall are made the direct
cause of placing him in the distressful situation which he
occupies during the greater part of the narrative; whilst
his generosity, his charity, and his amiable qualities, be¬
come the means of saving him from the consequences of
his folly. But we suspect with Dr Johnson, that there is
something of cant both in the objection and in the an¬
swer to it. ‘ Men,’ says that moralist, ‘ will not become
highwaymen because Macheath is acquitted on the stage;’
and we add, they will not become swindlers and thieves
DING.
because they sympathize with the fortunes of the witty Fielding,
picaroon Gil Bias, or licentious debauchees because they
read Tom Jones. The professed moral of a piece is usually
what the reader is least interested in; it is like the men¬
dicant, who cripples after some splendid and gay proces¬
sion, and in vain solicits the attention of those who have
been gazing upon it. Excluding from consideration those
infamous works, which address themselves directly to
awakening the grosser passions of our nature, we are in¬
clined to think, the worst evil to be apprehended from the
perusal of novels is, that the habit is apt to generate an
indisposition to real history and useful literature; and
that the best which can be hoped is, that they may some¬
times instruct the youthful mind by real pictures of life,
and sometimes awaken their better feelings and sympa¬
thies by strains of generous sentiment and tales of ficti¬
tious wo. Beyond this point they are a mere elegance,
a luxury contrived for the amusement of polished life, and
the gratification of that half love of literature, which per¬
vades all ranks in an advanced stage of society, and are
read much more for amusement than with the least hope
of deriving instruction from them. The vices and follies
of Tom Jones are those which the world soon teaches to
all who enter on the career of life, and to which society
is unhappily but too indulgent; nor do we believe, that in
any one instance the perusal of Fielding’s novel has add¬
ed one libertine to the large list, who would not have been
such had it never crossed the press. And it is with con¬
cern we add our sincere belief, that the fine picture of
frankness and generosity exhibited in that fictitious cha¬
racter has had as few imitators as the career of his follies.
Let it not be supposed that we are indifferent to morality,
because we treat with scorn that affectation which, while
in common life it connives at the open practice of liber¬
tinism, pretends to detest the memory of an author who
painted life as it was, with all its shades, and more than
all the lights which it occasionally exhibits, to relieve
them. For particular passages of the work, the author
can only be defended under the custom of his age, which
permitted, in certain cases, much stronger language than
ours. He has himself said, that there is nothing which
can offend the chastest eye in the perusal; and he spoke
probably according to the ideas of his time. But in mo¬
dern estimation, there are several passages at which deli¬
cacy may justly take offence; and we can only say, that
they may be termed rather jocularly coarse than seduc¬
tive ; and that they are atoned for by the admirable mix¬
ture of wit and argument by which, in others, the cause
of true religion and virtue is supported and advanced.
“ Fielding considered his works as an experiment in
British literature; and therefore he chose to prefix a pre¬
liminary chapter to each book, explanatory of his own
views, and of the rules attached to this mode of composi¬
tion. Those critical introductions, which rather interrupt
the course of the story, and the flow of the interest at
the first perusal, are found, on a second or third, the most
entertaining chapters of the whole work.”
The publication of Tom Jones placed Fielding at the
head of English novelists, but it seems to have been at¬
tended with little or no advantage to his fortune beyond
the temporary relief afforded by the copy-money. His last
work of importance was Amelia, which may be considered
as a continuation of Tom Jones ; but we have not the same
sympathy for the ungrateful and dissolute conduct of
Booth, as for the youthful, and on that account somewhat
excusable, follies of Jones. The character of Amelia is
said to have been drawn for Fielding’s second wife; and
if, as has been alleged, lie put her forbearance to tests of
the same kind, it must also be confessed that he has in
some degree repaid her by the picture which he has drawn
FIE
Fielding, of her purity, delicacy, and tenderness. Amelia was pub-
lished in 1751 by Millar, who paid a thousand pounds for
the copyright, and contrived to reimburse himself by an
ingenious stratagem which he practised on the trade. In
1752, Fielding, unmoved by former failures, commenced
a literary newspaper and review, to be published twice
a week, which he entitled the Covent-Garden Journal;
but although his ready pen, sharp wit, and classical at¬
tainments, highly fitted him for conducting a work of this
kind, it was his failing to embroil himself in the party
squabbles or literary feuds of the day; and on this occa¬
sion it was not long ere he involved himself in a quarrel
with Dr Hill and other periodical writers, amongst whom
we regret to mention Smollett, a man possessed of kindred
genius, and second only to Fielding in that department of
literature where both so eminently excelled. The warfare
was of short duration, and neither party would derive ho¬
nour from an inquiry into the cause or the conduct of hos¬
tilities.
Meanwhile Fielding’s strength was fast decaying; a
complication of disorders having terminated in a dropsical
habit, which totally undermined his naturally robust con¬
stitution. But as the Duke of Newcastle, then prime mi¬
nister, was desirous of receiving assistance from him in
the formation of a plan for the prevention of secret rob¬
beries, and for improving the police of the metropolis,
Fielding undertook, for the small consideration of L.600,
to be paid by government, to extirpate several gangs of
daring ruffians, who then infested London and its vicini¬
ty; and, though his health was thus impaired, he continu¬
ed to superintend the conduct of his agents, to take e\i-
dence, and to make out commitments, until this great ob¬
ject was accomplished. The exertions which were thus
rendered necessary, however, proved fatal to his exhaust¬
ed frame, which was now suffering under dropsy, jaun¬
dice, and asthma. The Bath waters were tried, but in vain ;
and various modes of cure or alleviation were resorted to,
though with little effect. As a last resource, therefore,
his medical advisers recommended him to try the effect of
a milder climate; and with this view he undertook a voy¬
age to Lisbon, of which he has left a record, written with a
hand trembling almost in its latest hour.1 Fielding, how¬
ever, reached that city alive, and remained there two
months; but he was unable to continue his proposed lite¬
rary labours. The hand of death was upon him; and in
the beginning of October 1754 he terminated his earthly
career, in the forty-eighth year of his age, leaving behind
him a widow and four children. “ Thus lived, and thus
died,” says Sir Walter Scott, “ at a period of life when
the world might have expected continued delight from
his matured powers, the celebrated Henry Fielding, father
of the English novel, and in his powers of strong and na¬
tional humour, and forcible yet national expression of cha-
F I F 543
racter, unapproached as yet even by his successful fol-
lowers.” (See Murphy’s Life and Genius of Fielding; a?,ias
Chalmers’ Biog. Diet.., art. Fielding ; and, above all, Sir Fifeshire.
Walter Scott’s Prefatory Memoir, in Ballantyne’s Novelist's .
Library?) (j. B—E.)
FIERI FACIAS, in Law, a judicial writ issued on a
judgment obtained for debt or damages in the king’s courts,
by which writ the sheriff is commanded to levy the debt
and damages on the goods and chattels of the defendant.
FIESOLE. See Fjesul^e.
FIFE, a military wind instrument, usually accompanied
with the drum. It is sounded by a side-hole, like the Ger¬
man flute, and has a compass of two octaves, from D on
fourth line of treble clef, up to D above in altissimo.
FIFESHIUE is situated between 56. 3. and 56. 25. N.
Lat., and 2. 30. and 3. 50. W. Long., and bounded by the
river and Firth of Tay on the north, by the German Ocean
on the east, by the Firth of Forth on the south, and by parts
of Kinross, Perth, and Clackmannan on the west. Its
greatest length from west to east is about 41 miles, and its
greatest breadth from north to south about 20 miles; its
medium length from east to west is about 35 miles, and its
medium breadth from north to south is nearly 13 miles. Its
area is 459 square miles, or 293,760 imperial acres. Among
the agricultural statistics collected by the Plighland Society,
and forwarded to the Board of Trade, the number of im¬
perial acres in Fife to which the report is applicable amounts
to 279,941. The most prominent features in Fifeshire,
when viewed at a distance from the south, are the two Lo¬
mond hills in the middle of the county, the Bishop hills far¬
ther west, Largo Law farther east, and Normans Law and
the Mount hill in the north-west and north of the county.
Tbe elevations of these hills have been ascertained by the
ordnance surveyors to be above the level of the sea in feet
as follows :—West Lomond, 1112'! ; East Lomond, 1470'8;
the highest Bishop hill, 14905 ; Largo Law, 953’0 ; Nor¬
mans Law, 936'0; and the Mount hill, 7303. Besides
these there are numerous other elevations scattered over the
county ; and indeed it is everywhere found to present a
pleasant variety of hill and valley, stretching in general from
west to east, parallel to the Tay and the Forth. The principal
valley is that through which the Eden flows, and is called
theHow e of Fife, or Strath Eden. It lies to the north of
the Lomond hills, which, with their western prolongation to
the Cleish and Saline hills and their eastern continuation to¬
wards St Andrews, divide the county into the northern and
southern portions. The valleys of the Leven and Ore are
bounded by very gentle elevations, which in many places
merge into the plain which may be said to slope from the
central range to the Firth of Forth. The hills to the north
of the Plow'e of Fife are a continuation of the Ochils, and
are composed of an uninterrupted mass of trap rocks, flanked
on either side by the lower beds of the old red sandstone
1 Of his departure for Lisbon he has himself left the following melancholy record, in which his si' nation is painted a thousand
times better than could have been done by any pen but his own : On this day, Wednesday, June 26, 1754, the most melancholy
sun I had ever beheld arose, and found me awake at my house at Fordhook. Ey the light of this sun, I was, in my own opi¬
nion, last to behold and take leave of some creatures on whom I doated with a mother-like fondness, guided by nature and passion,
and uncured and unh-ardened by all the doctrine of that philosophical school, where I had learned to bear pains, and to despise death.
In this situation, as I could not conquer nature, I submitted entirely to her, and she made as great a fool of me as she had ever done
of any woman whatsoever ; under pretence of giving me leave to enjoy, she drew me in to suffer, the company of my little ones dur¬
ing eight hours; and I doubt not whether in that time I did not undergo more than in all my distemper. At twelve precisely my
coach was at the door, which was no sooner told me, than I kissed my children, and went into it with some little resolution. My
wife, who behaved more like a heroine and philosopher, though at the same time the tenderest mother in the world, and my eldest
daughter, followed me. Some friends went with us, others here took their leave; and I heard my behaviour applauded, with many
murmurs and praises to which I well knew 1 had no title.” (Voyage to Liston, p. 1.) This affecting passage remains a singular ex¬
ample of Fielding’s natural strength of mind ; and, indeed, the whole of the Journey to Liston shows that, whilst struggling at once
with the depression and the irritability of disease, he could still exhibit a few flashes of that bright wit which used to set the world
in a roar. “ His perception of character, and power of describing it,” says Sir Walter Scott, “ had not forsaken him in those sad
moments; for the master of the ship in which he sailed, the scolding landlady of the Isle of Wight, the military coxcomb who visits
their vessel, are all portraits marked with the master-hand which traced Parson Adams and Squire Western.”
544
F I F E S H I B E.
Fifeshire. formation. The Howe of Fife is entirely occupied by those
 / Upper strata of the old red sandstone to which Dr Anderson
' of Newburgh has given the name of the yellow sandstone.
Mr Maclaren, in his work on the Geology of Fite and the
Lothians, has named the same deposits the calciferous sand¬
stone. The rocks of the southern division of bifeslure
chieflv belong to the coal formation of geologists, and form
a portion of the great coal-field of the Forth. Here glance
coal or blind coal as it is sometimes called, is met with occa¬
sionally; slate coal, pitch coal, and cannel coal are occasionally
found together in the same bed, and sometimes in separate
strata in the same pit. From a charter dated in March 1_91,
it would appear that coal has been worked in this county
for more than five centuries. In this charter \V ilham c e
Oberville grants liberty to the convent of Dunfermline to
open a coal-pit in his lands of Pittencreiff. The principal
coal-works at present are those in the parishes of Dunferm¬
line, Beath, Dalgetty, Auchterderran, Balhngry, Dysart,
Wemyss and Markinch. In the southern division of the
county three different limestone beds are met with, viz., the
mountain or encrinftic limestone, the fresh-water limestone,
and a stratum occurring in the midst of the coal measm es
which has received from geologists the name of the middle
limestone. The first of these, the mountain limestone, is
found in all directions around the outcrop of the coal strata.
It is worked extensively at Charleston in the west of Fife,
and at Fordel and Cults in the interior of the county. The
fresh-water limestone is less extensively distributed, and is
chiefly worked at Newbigging, near Burntisland, and used
by the Carron Company in smelting iron.
Blackband ironstone also abounds in the Fife coal-fields,
and for the last ten years it has formed one of the chief pro¬
ducts of the county. It is raised by the Forth Iron Com¬
pany at Oakly in the parish of Carnock, Steelend in Saline
parish, and Cowden-Beath in the parish of Beath. Iheie
are also extensive mines atLochgelly, Lumphinnans, Outh,
Inzievar, and Killernie in the wyest of Fife, and at M inthank,
near St Andrews, in the east of Fife. 1 here are at present
(1855) in full operation six smelting furnaces at Oakly, two
at Lochgelly, and one at Lumphinnans. At Oakly alone
there are more than 2000 workmen employed. The manu¬
facture of malleable iron is now carried on to a consideiable
extent at the works of the Weardale Iron Company at
Transy, near Dunfermline.
Sandstone abounds, and is quarried, in many places of
the county, both w'ithin and without the bounds of the coal
formation. It is sometimes of a fine grain and durable qua¬
lity, is much used in the county for building, and is often
exported for the purpose.
The trap rocks of Fifeshire may be divided into three
portions, viz., that extending through the north of F ife, and
forming the Ochils ; 2dly, that extending through the cen¬
tral part of the county in a long series of hills from Saline
to the neighbourhood of St Andrews ; and, 3dly, that form¬
ing the masses of igneous origin protruding through the
coal measures along the shores of the Forth, and rising to
considerable elevations in the hilly district near Inverkeith-
ing, and near Burntisland and Kinghorn, forming the Dun-
earn hill, Orrok hill, Glassmont hill, and the Bin, &c. Clink¬
stone forms generally the highest summit of the Ochils,
greenstone and amygdaloid cap the Lomonds and the
other hills of the central range, while basaltic rocks are
chiefly perceptible in the detached masses of the trap which
lie along the shores of the Forth.
In various parts of the county there are quarries in the
trap rocks, from which the whinstone is taken for road metal.
At Queensferry it is conveyed by sea to Newcastle and Lon¬
don for paving streets, and to various places on the English
coast for the construction of harbours.
Pyrope, resembling the precious garnet, is sometimes
found embedded in the trap tuff. At Ely they are gathered
on the sea-beach, or picked out of the rocks, and sold to Fifeshire.
jewellers under the name of Ely rubies. Copper and zinc v——'
are also said to have been met with in several places, and
lead has been worked in the Lomond hills. Marl is also
often found in the lakes, and dug out in dry seasons for
agricultural purposes.
° There are now no mineral springs of any note in the
county. The old ones have disappeared. The chalybeate
spring on the east of Dysart is now little frequented for me¬
dicinal purposes, and the petroleum or ink Craig of Carnock
is seldom visited even by the curious.
The only streams of any note in the county are the Leven
and the Eden. The former issues from Lochleven in Kin¬
ross-shire, flows eastward from an elevation of about 362 feet
above the sea level through a beautiful strath by Leslie, Bal-
gonie, and Balfour, and after a course of about twelve miles
Dlls into the Forth at the town of Leven. The latter
river, the Eden, flows from Strathmiglo hills through the
Howe of Fife by Cupar to near St Andrews, where it falls
into the German Ocean, about 18 miles from its source.
The lakes in the county are numerous, though none
of them are very large, such as those at Lin (lores, Kilcon-
quhar. Kinghorn, Lochgelly, Camilla, Lochfittie, and Loch-
glow ’ The county once contained many more, which have
been drained at-great expense. Of these the most con¬
siderable were the lakes of Rossie and Lochoie. 1 hen beds
are now used in raising valuable crops.
From the extensive drainage of the lakes and marshes,
and the general improvement of the fields by cultivation, the
climate within the last forty years may now be described as
good. The harvests are early, and the snow does not he
long on the ground. As the direction of the hills is from
east to west, vegetation is often checked in the spimg
months by the east winds which then pievail.
The soil above the trap rocks is in general of good qua¬
lity and where the subsoil is coal or sandstone it is in gene¬
ral of inferior quality. There is still a considerable poition
of moor and moss in the Howe of Fife ; and neai Dunfci in¬
line and Lochgelly and between St Andrews and berry-
port, and from Leven on the Forth for many miles east¬
ward, as well as in other places, there are considerable tracts
covered with drift sand. r
The number of farms or holdings in Fife is about 1 l/o: ot
these 534 contain less than 100 acres and 641 more than 100
acres. The most improved implements of husbandry are
everywhere in use. Threshing-mills, moved by horses, by
water power, or by steam engines, are to be found on all farms.
The principal manures in use are farmyard dung, sea¬
weed cast ashore and cut from the rocks, bone-dust, and
guano. Lime and marl are also in use in certain localities.
All the farm crops common in Scotland are cultivated
here, and a great portion of them on a large scale. Accoi cl¬
ing to the Highland Society’s report to the Board of 1 rade
upon the crop of 1854, the number of acres in tillage was
made up thus : wheat 24,252^, barley 27,93 if oats 43,o91
rye 41 7i, here or bigg 16J, beans 3894, pease 718?, vetches
1397i, turnips 27,961f, potatoes 14,4865, mangold <8, car¬
rots 43, cabbage 7^ flax 1648f, turnip seed 58f, bare fal¬
low 35474. The number of acres in grass was made up
thus: grass in the rotation of the farm 62,749f, permanent
pasture 29,931 f, irrigated meadows KHS*, sheep walks
10,378L The acres in buildings, woods, &c., werema e
up of houses, roads, fences, &c., 5903^, waste 43304, and
woods 15,548. .. ..
The farm stock in Fife, according to the same statistics,
is stated to consist of-horses 10,953, milch cows 8586, other
cattle 22,371, calves 83,111, ewes, gimmers and ewe hogs,
32,550, tups, wethers and wether hogs 33,866, awine 11,48 .
The gross produce of the county was—wheat 697,252
bushels, barley 1,075,603, oats 1,656,467, here or bigg 540,
beans 111,952, turnips 405,445, potatoes 68,US .
FIFES
Fifeshire. The average produce per imperial acre in Fife was—wheat
28 bushels and 3 pecks, barley 38 bushels and 2 pecks, oats
38 bushels, here or bigg 33 bushels and 1 peck, beans 28
bushels and 3 pecks, turnips 14 tons 10 cwts., potatoes 4
tons 14 cwts.
It will be found, from a comparison of the statistics of the
Scots counties, as given by the Highland Society, that
Fifeshire grows the greatest quantity of wheat and flax.
It also grows the largest proportion of barley, its quantity
being about one-seventh of the whole of that crop raised in
Scotland.
The cattle of the Fife breed are not now in so much re¬
pute as formerly. The horses are much the same as those
in use in all the lowlands of Scotland'. A great many pigs
have of late years been reared. Pigeons are still munerous,
and the pigeon-houses have been estimated at not less than
300.
There is nothing remarkable in the zoology of Fifeshire.
Rabbits abound in certain localities, and hares, pheasants,
and partridges are plentiful. There are a few grouse and
black cock, and fallow deer are occasionally seen. The
flora of the country is nearly the same as that of Mid-Lo¬
thian. Extensive plantations have, since the commence¬
ment of this century, been made in almost every parish.
Grain is sold extensively in stock and sample at various
weekly markets in Fife, of which the most considerable are
at Kirkcaldy, Dunfermline, Cupar, and St Andrews ; and
these and every other town of any consequence have one or
two yearly fairs for the sale of horses and cattle and agri¬
cultural produce, and for hiring farm servants and the pur¬
chase of agricultural implements, See.
There are three retteries in the county for the manufac¬
ture of flax from the straw grown in the county, and about
150 hands are employed in this branch of business.
In 1850 this county possessed forty flax-spinning mills,
which turned 52,344 spindles, had a moving steam-power
equal to that of 786 horses, and a water-power equal to that
of 567 horses. These mills employed 1038 males and 2942
females. Mr Fergus’s great flax-spinning mill at Prinlaws,
near Leslie, is the largest of the kind in Scotland. The flax
power-loom mills in 1850 were reported to be only three in
m number, to employ 194 looms, to have a steam-power equal
to that of 42 horses, and to employ 54 males and 166 females.
The number of hand-loom linen weavers employed at
present is estimated at 13,000. About 5000 more hands,
chiefly women and children, are engaged by the weavers
in the preparation of the yarns for them, and about 400
hands more are employed in the bleaching of these yarns at
about twenty separate bleachflelds, some of which are on a
large scale.
Although a portion of the yarn spun is bleached and
made into cloth in the county, a great portion is also ex¬
ported to the Continent unbleached.
The nature of the cloth manufactured ranges from the
coarsest sacking, and light, plain, and fancy dowlas, with
ticks and checks, to the finest damask, and is extensively
exported to all parts of the world. The fine table linens,
damasks, and diapers, used by her Majesty’s household at
Balmoral and Buckingham Palace, were made in this county,
and the reputation of the Fife manufacture of these articles,
particularly at Dunfermline, was fully sustained at the Lon¬
don Exhibition in 1851. The other seats of this trade are
Newburgh, Kingskettle, Dysart, Kirkcaldy, and Cupar.
A considerable part of the linens manufactured in Fife
is sent, before being sold, to be bleached in Perthshire and
Forfarshire, and even to Ireland, Besides the linen cloth
manufacture, the wool-trade, to a small extent, also exists
in Fife. The process of spinning and weaving is carried
on in two mills, moved by water with a power equal to that
of 28 horses, which turn 1480 spindles, and drive 26 looms.
4 hese mills employ 25 males and 34 females.
VOL. IX.
H I R E. 545
Since the report upon the state of the linen trade was Fifeshire.
framed, from which the information above given was taken
relative to the number of power-looms employed in the
manufacture of cloth, it has been greatly increased, and they
have been lately estimated at the number of 700.
Besides the trades and manufactures of the county, ship¬
building is carried on at Dysart, where there is a wet dock
and a Morton’s slip for raising vessels out of the water
for repair, and at Burntisland, where there is a good harbour
and dry dock. It is also carried on at other ports in the
county. There are also extensive distilleries and breweries
of ale, and several paper mills, brick and tile works, pot¬
teries, iron founderies, and tanneries, &c.
The shipping of the county is extensive, and its vessels
trade to all parts of the world. The state of the harbours
and the extent of their trade will be seen in the articles
Forth and Tay.
The banking business of the county is extensive ; and is
conducted in every town of any consequence by upwards
of 30 branches of the principal Scots banks.
Private railways of wood and iron have been used for
many years in transporting for several miles the produce of
coal and lime quarries to the harbours where they are
shipped. The most extensive of these railroads is that
belonging to the Earl of Elgin. It proceeds from near
Dunfermline to Charleston harbour, and has been for many
years open to the public for the purpose of carrying pas¬
sengers.
The great public trunk iron railway, from Burntisland on
the Forth to Ferry-Port-on-Craig on the Tay, was opened
throughout in the year 1848. The length of it between
these two points is 36 miles. It has a branch from Thorn¬
ton to Dunfermline of 15^ miles, and from the station at
Dunfermline this branch is continued to Stirling by the
Stirling and Dunfermline Railway Company. From Lady-
bank station, on the trunk line, a branch is also carried for
16 miles to its junction with the Scottish Central Railway
near Perth. It thus affords direct railway communication
between Edinburgh and Dundee, and also to Dunfermline.
A single line railway from Thornton station to Leven, 6
miles long, was attached to it in 1854; and a single line
railway, from Leuchars station to St Andrews, 5f miles
long, was attached to it in 1852. Bills are at present (1855)
before parliament for forming a railway 14 miles long from
Ladybank station to Kinross by Auchtermuchty, and to
form a railway from Leven to Kilconquhar, in continuation
of that from Thornton station.
The Edinburgh and Northern Railway Company, which
formed the first of these railways, is now united with the
Granton Railway Company, and the united company has
assumed the name of the Edinburgh, Perth, and Dundee
Railway Company.
It has acquired stations in Edinburgh and Leith, and at
Trinity and Granton, in Mid-Lothian, and formed or com¬
pleted railways between all these stations. It has also ac¬
quired the ferries between Granton and Burntisland, and
between Ferry-Port-on-Craig in Fife and Broughty in For¬
farshire. It has also formed branch railways from the trunk
line to Pettycur and Kirkcaldy harbours, and purchased
the harbours of Kinghorn and Pettycur, Ferryport, and
Broughty, and extensive properties at all the harbours and
stations where necessary for the undertaking.
The capital expended on these works and purchases, and
their appendages, including the plant of the railway, &c.,
and interest, amounted on 31st January 1855 to L.3,277,000,
of which L.1,661,000 has been paid by the shareholders,
and L.1,616,000 has been borrowed on debenture or from
banks or otherwise. The revenue arising from the traffic
amounted for the year ending at the same date to L. 155,453,
11s. 3d., which was made up as follows:—For 1,216,168
passengers, L.65,885, 10s. 2d.; for 292,794 tons of goods,
3 z
546
F I F
Fifeshire. 231,866 tons of coals, 10,359 cattle, 29,981 sheep,J3o3
nis-s L.87,280,15s.; and for miscellaneous articles, L,.—b /,
6s Id The working expenses for the same year amounted
to'about L.88,613, leaving a surplus for the payment of m-
terest, and towards the liquidation of the debts of the com
nanv, of L.66,840, 11s. 3d. , . .
1 The value of the different kinds of stock from which the
railway was made is according to the stock share list of T
February 1855, as follows-.—Original share, L.2o paid, L.o
now consolidated into capital stock; Granton preference,
4 per cent, do., L.20 paid, L.13, 15s.; preference, 4 per
cent, do., L.5 paid, L.3, 2s. 6d.
The capital expended by the St Andrews Railway Com¬
pany on the formation of that line was L.26,000 It is sup¬
plied with plant and worked by the Edinburgh, Peith, an
Dundee Railway Company. The revenue for the year
ending 31st January 1855 for 66,403 passengerswas 1,1826
12s. 9d.; for 16,651 tons of goods, 9970 tons of coal, 1 < 89
cattle, 2528 sheep, and 229 pigs, was L.13o5, 3s. lid.; to¬
gether, L.3181v16s. 8d. - , ,
The capital of the company which formed the railway
from Thornton to Leven is L.28,000. It is supplied with
plant and worked by the Edinburgh, Perth, and Dundee Rail¬
way Company, and the revenue and traffic corresponds with
the capital expended, so far as it has yet been ascertained.
The great turnpike roads of the county, which are made
and maintained by revenue collected at toll-bars, and the
cro^s and bye roads by a tax on householders, on carriages,
and on each plough-gate of land, are under the charge of par¬
liamentary trustees, consisting of justices of the peace and
commissioners of supply for the county, &c. The accounts
of these trustees are printed and published annually. The
only pontage or bridge tax levied in the county is that at
the bridge over the Leven near the town of that name.
In all parts of the county the dwellings of the nobility,
gentry, and agricultural labourers, and those of the other
working classes, have been extensively renovated and re¬
built, and a great number of new houses and villages have
been erected within the last fifty years.
The most ancient and celebrated buildings in the county
are the tower of St Regulus, Cathedral, and Castle, at St An¬
drews, the Abbeys of Dunfermline and Inchcolm, the Palace
of Falkland, the Castle of Ravenscraig, and Macduff’s castle
at East. Wemyss. There are many others ofless note.
The county contains thirteen royal burghs, with parlia¬
mentary privileges. St Andrews, Cupar, Anstruther Easter
and Wester, Pittenweem, Crail, and Kilrenny, send one
member to parliament; Kirkcaldy, Dysart, Burntisland, and
Kinghorn send another; and Dunfermline and Inverkeithing
join with Stirling, Queensferry, and Culross in electing a
member to represent them.
The sixty-three parishes within the county are repre¬
sented by another member.
These parishes form, for ecclesiastical purposes, the Synod
of Fife, which is divided into four presbyteries, viz., the presby¬
teries of Kirkcaldy, Cupar, Dunfermline, and St Andrews.
Before these ecclesiastical divisions of the county (or
kingdom of Fife, as it is sometimes called) were in general
use for secular purposes, it was split up into petty shires,
such as Lochoreshire, Dunfermlineshire, Gaitmilkshire or
Kinglassie, Wemyss-shire, Kingornshire, &c., &c. It was
also divided into regalities, constabularies, and baronies. A
map showing these ancient divisions is at present in pro¬
gress of construction by a learned antiquary, from the in¬
formation contained in ancient charters.
The regality of stewartry of Fife forfeited to the crown
at the condemnation of Murdo Earl of Fife, contained lands
lying in no less than nineteen of the modern parishes : the
other regalities were not so extensive.
The courts in the county for the trial of crime and civil
suits consist— 1. of the burgh courts, the magistrates of which
FIG
have jurisdiction within their respective royalties or burgh Fifth-Mon¬
te rri tor y only; 2. of the sheriffs’ ordinary courts, which archy-Mea
are held at Cupar and Dunfermline, and circuit small debt p. ],erag>
courts, which are held periodically at Kirkcaldy, Leven, v J3 ^ )
Colinsburgh, St Andrews, Newburgh, and Auchtermuchty ;
3. of the justice of peace courts for deciding claims for
small debts and petty offences, &c.
Thejails of the county are those of Cupar andDunfermline.
The educational establishments are the parish schools
and schools supported by private exertions in considerable
number in every populous locality.
The university of St Andrews, and the schools endowed
by Dr Bell, are noticed under St Andrews; and the
schools endowed by the late Mr Robert Philp, merchant
in Kirkcaldy, under Kirkcaldy.
From the population returns in 1851, it appeals that the
number of schools in Fife is 285, the children attending
23,145; the number of the Sabbath-schools is 183, and
the number of children attending 14,753.
The number of places of worship is 199, and the num¬
ber of attendants at public worship on the morning of Sun¬
day the 30th of March 1851 were 50,622. Qt these 21,274
belong to the Established Church, 12, /28 to the United
Presbyterian Church, and 13,083 to the Free Church.
The population of the county in 1801 was 93,743; in
1811, 101,272; in 1821 it was 114,550; in 1831 it was
128,800; in 1841, 140,140; and in 1851, 153,546.
FIFTH-MONARCHY-MEN, a sect of English fa¬
natics during the Protectorate, who supported Cromwell’s
government, which they regarded as the commencement of
the fifth monarchy, or that which should succeed to the
Assvrian, the Persian, the Grecian, and the Roman, and in
which Christ should reign with the saints on earth for a
thousand years. See Britain, vol. v., p. 416.
FIGEAC, a town of France, capital of a cognominal ar-
rondissement in the department of Lot, situated on the
right bank of the Selle, 32 miles N.E. of Cahors. It is en¬
closed by an amphitheatre of wooded and vine-clad hills,
but the town itself is ill built, and the streets are narrow
and dirty. Many of the buildings are remarkable for then-
antique style. It was formerly surrounded by ramparts and
ditches, but these were demolished in 1622, though remains
of them still exist. Among the public edifices worthy of
notice are the abbey church of St Sauveur, the church of
Notre Dame du Puy, the Chateau de la Baleine. At the
S. and W. extremities of the town are two obelisks
called /es aiguilles, octagonal in form, and upwards of oO feet
in height: they were used in former times as fire beacons
to guide travellers by night. Champollion the archceolo-
gist was born here in 1790, and an obelisk has been erected
to his memory near the river. Pop. (1851) 7197.
FIGUEIRA, a town of Portugal, province of Beira,
stands on the north bank of the estuary of the Mondego,
24 miles W.S.W. of Coimbra, of which it is the port. It
is a favourite bathing-place, and has an extensive export
trade in salt, wine, oil, and fruits. The harbour is difficult
of access for large vessels. Pop. 6500.
FIGUER AS, afrontier town of Spain, province of Gerona,
and 20 miles W.N.W. of the town of that name. It is a
straggling town, situated in a rich plain of olives and rice.
The citadel is an irregular pentagonal structure on the prin¬
ciples of Vauban, and is considered one of the strongest
fortresses in Europe. It was built by Ferdinand VI., and
has accommodation, magazines, &c., for 16,000 men. Ihe
buildings inside the walls are all bomb-proof, and the na¬
tural adaptation of its situation has been so taken advantage
of that trenches can scarcely be opened on any side, the
ground being everywhere rocky. It has, however, been
several times captured; as by the French in 1808, 1811,
and 1823. Figueras has manufactures of leather and paper,
and some trade with France. Pop. 8352.
547
FIGURE OF THE EARTH.
Figure of
the Earth.
SECTION I.
INTRODUCTION.
The determination of the figure and dimensions of the
earth is a problem of very great importance in astronomy,
inasmuch as it is in reference to the earth’s diameter that
the distances of the planets from the sun and from each
other are estimated. It is also a problem of very great
interest and curiosity; and has accordingly attracted the
attention of mankind since the earliest dawn of civiliza¬
tion.
There are two points of view under which this great
question may be considered. The figure of the earth may
be regarded as a fact to be determined by investigation
and experience, like any other phenomenon or law of na¬
ture ; in which case it is necessary to find, by the actual
measurement and comparison of different portions of the
terrestrial surface, the nature of its curvature, and the
magnitude of its diameters. Under the second point of
view, the question is one of pure theory. The earth may
he regarded as a congeries of material particles, attract¬
ing each other with forces reciprocally proportional to their
mutual distances, and endowed with a rotatory motion
about a fixed axis; and the problem is to determine the
form the whole mass would assume in virtue of the at¬
tractive and centrifugal forces by which the particles are
impelled. Vievved in this light, the actual figure of the
earth becomes one of the series of consequences resulting
from the universal gravitation of matter, and depending
on the same laws which regulate its motion in its orbit
about the sun.
It would be a waste of time to inquire what were the
notions of the figure of the earth which were or might
have been entertained by its earliest and most ignorant
inhabitants. A very slight attention to the most common
phenomena renders the fact of its general roundness al¬
most palpable to the senses. The uniform level appear¬
ance of the sensible horizon in every situation in which a
spectator can be placed,—the depression of the circum¬
polar stars as he advances toward the south, and their
elevation as he proceeds in a contrary direction,—the dis¬
appearance of a ship standing out to sea,—the projection of
the earth as seen in a lunar eclipse,—and a number of other
familiar appearances,—put the globular figure of our planet
beyond all manner of doubt. Reasoning from such ap¬
pearances, the earliest astronomers universally regarded
the earth as a sphere; and their attention was solely di¬
rected, in their various measurements and computations,
to ascertain its dimensions. Modern science has disco¬
vered that its figure deviates slightly from that of a sphere,
being compressed or flattened at the extremities of its
axis of rotation ; and the object of the astronomer, at the
present time, is to determine not only its dimensions, but
also the exact amount of its compression.
Attempts to estimate the magnitude of the earth were
made at a very early date; for Aristotle relates that the
mathematicians prior to his time had found the circum¬
ference to be 400,000 stadia. But Eratosthenes appears
to have been the first who entertained an accurate idea ol
the principles on which the determination of the figure
of the earth really depends, and attempted to reduce these
principles to practice. His results, in consequence of the
imperfect data from which they were deduced, were very
inaccurate; but his method is the same as that which is
followed at the present day, depending, in fact, on the Figure of
comparison of a line actually measured on the surface of the Earth
the earth with the corresponding celestial arc. He had
remarked, or been informed, that at Syene in Upper Egypt,
on the day of the summer solstice, at noon, objects cast no
shadows; whence he concluded that the sun was exactly
in the zenith at mid-day. On the same day at Alexan¬
dria he observed the sun’s meridional distance from the
zenith to be 7° 12', or a fiftieth part of the circumference.
Then, assuming Syene to be exactly under the meridian
of Alexandria (the error in this assumption was about 3°),
and the distance between the two places, measured in
a straight line, to be 5000 stadia, he had 5000 X 50
= 250,000 stadia for the whole circumference of the
earth. It is easy to see how very imperfect this opera¬
tion must have been. Without mentioning smaller errors,
the neglect of the solar diameter would alone occasion an
uncertainty as to the sun’s declination, and consequently
as to the length of the celestial arc, amounting to half a
degree on the observation at Syene; and there is no rea¬
son to suppose that that at Alexandria was more exact.
The terrestrial distance between the two places was as¬
sumed on equally, or probably still more loose and inaccu¬
rate determinations.
The next attempt to ascertain the dimensions of the
earth was made by Posidonius. This astronomer adopted
a method which differed from that of Eratosthenes only
in determining the celestial arc by means of the altitude
of a star, instead of the sun’s zenith distance. At Rhodes
the bright star Canopus, when on the meridian, barely
appears above the horizon. At Alexandria the same star
was observed to have a meridional altitude of a quarter of
a sign, or seven and a half degrees, which, therefore, was
the celestial arc intercepted between the zenith of Alex¬
andria and Rhodes. The terrestrial distance between the
two places was estimated, like that between Alexandria
and Syene, at 5000 stadia, and they were both supposed
to be under the same meridian. Hence, since seven and
a half degrees is the forty-eighth of the circumference,
we have 5000 X 48 •— 240,000 stadia, for the whole cir¬
cumference of the globe.
It is impossible to form any correct opinion of the de¬
gree of approximation attained in these ancient measures,
as the length of the stadium is not known with any cer¬
tainty. That it varied in different places, and at different
times, is sufficiently obvious from the statement of Pto¬
lemy, who, in his work on geography, assigns the length
of the degree at 500 stadia, and consequently the whole
circumference at 180,000, differing from the determina¬
tion of Posidonius in the proportion of three to four, and
still more from that of Eratosthenes. Ptolemy remarked
that it was not necessary that the line measured should
lie exactly in the meridian: it was sufficient to know its
inclination to the meridian, or the azimuthal angle, toge¬
ther with the latitudes of its extreme points, in order to
compare it with the meridional arc. The determination
of the azimuth is, however, an operation of considerable
difficulty ; and Ptolemy lias given no details of the method
by which he proposed to estimate it. He has been equal¬
ly silent in respect of the means by which the mean length
of a degree was ascertained to be 500 stadia, so that the
result which he has recorded is still less satisfactory than
those of the twro more ancient astronomers.
The active curiosity of the Arabians, wdiich was exerted
so successfully in promoting practical astronomy, did not
1 Contributed by Thomas Galloway, 1836; and brought up to the present date (1855) by C.P. S.—Ed.
figure of the earth.
ire of overlook the measure of the earth. The Caliph Alma-
Earth, moun, who began his reign m the year 814, ordcied a
company of astronomers to measure a degree on the leve
plain of Mesopotamia. Dividing themselves into two par¬
ties, the one proceeded northward, and the other south¬
ward, in the direction of the meridian, through a degree
of latitude, and measured with rods the itinerary distance
as they proceeded. The perfect agreement of their con¬
clusion with that of Ptolemy throws it open to great sus¬
picion ; and when it is considered that their operation was
repeated at a different place, with exactly the same re¬
sult, there can be no doubt that they blindly adopted the
statement of the Greek astronomer, either from inability
to execute the task assigned to them, or because they hat
no confidence in their own determination.
Prom the time of Almamoun, the problem of determining
the dimensions of the earth was neglected, till the revival
of astronomy with general learning in Europe. Ihe tirst
attempt to solve it was made by Fernel, who, about the
middle of the sixteenth century, measured the distance
from Paris to Amiens along the high road, by observing
the number of revolutions made by his coach-wheel in the
iourney between these two cities. Supposing them to be
under the same meridian, which is nearly true, and having
ascertained the difference of their latitudes, Fernel found
by this means the length of the degree to be 57,070 French
toises, or about 364,960 English feet. A degree was mea¬
sured long afterwards at the same place by Lacaille, in a
far more adequate and scientific manner, and he found it
to be 57,074 toises. This agreement is rendered less ex¬
traordinary by the circumstance that the toise of Fernel
was not exactly of the same length as that of Lacaille.
After all, it must be allowed that Fernel made a fortunate
guess. (Delambre, Astronomic, tom. iii. chap, xxxv.)
But the first who had the merit of attempting to exe¬
cute the geodetic operations that are indispensably neces¬
sary to effect the accurate measurement of a long line on
the surface of the earth, was Willebrord Snell, a native
of Holland, and a teacher of mathematics. Having esta¬
blished a chain of triangles between Alkmaer and Ber-
gen-op-Zoom, and observed the angles of each triangle by
means of a quadrant of five and a half feet radius, he
measured a base on the frozen surface of the meadows
between Leyden and the village of Soeterwoud, and de¬
termined the distance between the two places by trigono¬
metrical computation. The length of the degree which he
found was 28,500 Rynland perches, or about 55,020 toises,
which is about 2050 toises too small. This result was
published by Muschenbroek, who in fact revised or calcu¬
lated the observations from the original papers a century
after the death of Snell.
Norwood in the year 1635 attempted to measure a de¬
gree in England nearly in the same manner as Fernel.
He measured the distance between London and York
along the public road, taking the bearings and reducing
the direction to the meridian in a rough way. The dif¬
ference of latitudes he found by observations of the sol¬
stice to be 2° 28', and thence concluded the length of the
degree to be 367,176 English feet. Like the measure¬
ment of Fernel, this has been found to be a much nearer
approximation than the method employed would have led
us to expect.
The application of the telescope to circular instruments
gave a far higher degree of precision to geodetic opera¬
tions. Picard, to whom practical astronomy is indebted
for this capital improvement, was the first who measured
an arc of the meridian with such precautions and care as
the delicate nature of the operation requires. He twice
measured with wooden perches a base of nearly seven Eng¬
lish miles in length; and observed the angles of his triangles
with a quadrant, having a telescope adapted to it with Figure of
cross wires in its focus. He even calculated the error t^Earth.
produced by the instrument being placed out of the centre
of the station, and determined the zenith distance of a star
in the constellation Cassiopeia with a sector, for the pur¬
pose of obtaining the differences of latitude. The distance
between Amiens and Malvoisine was found to be 78,850
toises, and the difference of latitude 1° 22' 55", whence
the result gave for the degree at Amiens 57,060 toises;
but as the aberration and nutation were unknown at that
time, and the refraction was not taken into account,—
causes of error to which it is indispensably necessary to
have regard,—a determination which agrees so nearly with
the results of recent measures could only have arisen from
a fortunate compensation of errors. In fact, his toise was
somewhat shorter than that which has since been adopted
as the standard; and the error occasioned by this circum¬
stance nearly compensated that which was committed in
determining the celestial arc, so that in recalculating all
the observations, the degree is found to be very nearly
the same as was found by Picard.
Hitherto geodetic operations had been confined to the
determination of the magnitude of the earth ; but a disco¬
very made by Richer turned the attention of mathema¬
ticians to its deviation from the spherical form. This
astronomer having been sent, by the Academy of Sciences
of Paris, to the island of Cayenne in South America, for
the purpose of determining the amount of terrestrial re¬
fraction and other astronomical objects, observed that his
clock, which had been regulated at Paris to beat seconds,
lost about two minutes and a half daily at Cayenne, and
that, in order to bring it to measure mean solar time, it
was necessary to shorten the pendulum by more than a
line. This fact, which appeared exceedingly curious, and
was scarcely credited till it had been confirmed by the
subsequent observations of Varin and Deshayes, was first
explained in the third book of the Principia, by Newton,
who showed that it could only be referred to a diminu¬
tion of gravity arising from one of two causes—a protu¬
berance of the equatorial parts of the earth, and conse¬
quent increase of the distance from the centre, or from
the counteracting effect of the centrifugal force, occa¬
sioned by the rotation of the earth. The former could
not, on any reasonable supposition regarding the figure of
the earth, be regarded as adequate to produce the effect;
but the latter, which would produce a retardation of the
pendulum at Cayenne in the ratio of the square of the
sine of 6° to that of 49° (the respective latitudes of Cay¬
enne and Paris), might amount to P46 seconds, iliis
was the first direct proof that had been obtained of the
diurnal rotation of the earth.
From this time the exact determination of the figure of
the earth began to assume adegreeof importance which had
not formerly attached to it. The centrifugal force arising
from the diurnal rotation completely set aside the idea
of perfect sphericity. Newton, assuming that the earth
had been originally fluid, and supposing its density to be
the same throughout the whole mass, and supposing more¬
over that its constituent molecules attract one another in
proportion to the inverse square of the distance, demon-*
strated that it would assume, in consequence of the rota¬
tion, the form of a spheroid flattened at the poles ; and
that the proportion of its equatorial to its polar axis would
be 230 to 231. But the supposition of the equal density
of the earth is obviously very improbable, and consequent¬
ly the ratio of the equatorial and polar diameters must be
different from that now mentioned. Newton erroneously
concluded that if the density is greater in the interior
of the earth than at the centre, the compression would
be greater than in the case of a spheroid of equal den-
FIGURE OF THE EARTH. 549
Figure of sity. This mistake was pointed out by Huygens, who, in
the Earth. order to determine the amount of the compression from
theory, reasoned in this way. Suppose two tubes to be
united at the centre of the earth, forming a right angle
with each other at that point, and extending to the sur¬
face, one in the plane of the equator, and the other along
the polar axis, and filled with a homogeneous fluid. Now
the fluid contained in the polar branch exerts a pressure
on the centre equal to the whole of its weight, while the
pressure of that in the other tube will be diminished by
the centrifugal force. The second column, therefore, it
of the same length, will be less heavy than the first; and
in order to restore the equilibrium, it is necessary that
the equatorial tube shall have gained as much in length
as it has lost in weight through the effect of rotation.
Hence the sea in the equatorial regions must be higher,
or at a greater distance from the centre, than the polar
sea, and consequently the earth must have a flattened
form. Calculating from the supposition that the density
increases regularly from the surface to the centre, where
it is infinite, Huygens found the ratio of the diameters to
be that of 578 to 579. This investigation is given in his
work De Causa Gravitatis, published in 1690.
The theoretical determinations of the form of the earth
by Newton and Huygens were at variance with the results
of geodetic operations that had been carried on in France
under the superintendence of the first Cassini, from 1680
till 1716, for the purpose of making a geometrical survey
of that country. Cassini found the degree of the meri¬
dian to the south of Paris to be 57,092 toises, while on
the north of that city it was only 56,960 toises. This re¬
sult led to the conclusion that the earth is a protracted
spheroid, or elongated at the poles; a conclusion entirely
inconsistent with the principles of hydrostatic equilibrium,
and the deductions of Newton and Huygens. The ques¬
tion, however, was of too great importance to astronomy to
be allowed to remain undecided. Accordingly, the Aca¬
demy of Sciences of Paris determined to apply a decisive
test, by the measurement of arcs at a great distance from
each other. For this purpose some of the most distin¬
guished members of their body undertook the measure¬
ment of two meridional arcs, one in the neighbourhood of
the equator, and the other in a high latitude. In 1735
Godin, Bouguer, and La Condamine, proceeded to Peru,
where they were joined by two Spanish officers, Don
Georges Juan and Antonio d’Ulloa, and, after ten years of
laborious exertion, they measured an arc of above three
degrees, between the parallels of 2' 31" north and 3° 4/ 32"
south latitude. The other party, consisting of Maupertuis,
Clairaut, Camus, Lemonnier, Outhier, and Celsius, were in
some respects more fortunate, inasmuch as they completed
the measurement of an arc near the polar circle, of 57 mi¬
nutes, and returned to Europe within sixteen months from
the period of their departure.
The measurement of Bouguer was executed with great
care ; and, on account of the locality (the extremities being
on different sides of the equator), as well as the excellent
manner in which all the details were conducted, it has
always been regarded as a most valuable determination.
The original base was measured twice, and the difference
between the two measures was scarcely two and a half
inches. A second base of 5259 toises was measured with
the most scrupulous attention by Bouguer, Condamine,
and Ulloa, near the southern extremity of the arc, and the
result differed less than a toise from the length calculated
from the triangles. The latitudes at the two extremities
of the arc were determined by simultaneous observations
of the same star with zenith sectors. In fact, as the nuta¬
tion of the earth’s axis was then un'known, and as a con¬
siderable time necessarily elapsed before a large instru¬
ment could be transported from one extremity of the arc Figure of
to the other, the results of successive observations with a the Earth,
single instrument presented little accordance. By the 11 "w
simultaneous observations, the greatest deviation from the
mean did not exceed three or four seconds.
In consequence of a misunderstanding that unhappily
sprung up among the principal persons engaged in this
memorable expedition, their operations were conducted
separately, and we have accordingly three independent
results, but all agreeing very nearly with each other. The
first is that of Bouguer, who found, after the various re¬
ductions, the length of the degree of the meridian at the
equator, and reduced to the level of the sea, to be 56,753
toises. Condamine found 56,749 toises, and the Spanish
officers 56,768 toises.
The party of Maupertuis, though their labours were
sooner completed, had also to contend with very great
difficulties. At their departure from France they had
hoped to find a sufficient number of stations among the
small islands situated in the Gulf of Bothnia; but on their
arrival it was found impracticable to carry on a triangula¬
tion among the islands, consequently they were obliged
to penetrate into the forests of Lapland. They com¬
menced their operations at Tornea, a city situated on the
mainland near the extremity of the gulf, and which formed
the southern extremity of their arc. From this place they
carried a chain of triangles northward to the mountain of
Kittis, lat. 66° 48' 22". Here they commenced the observa¬
tions of latitude by observing the distance of their zenitli
from the star b Draconis; and having obtained a suffi¬
cient number of observations, they returned to Tornea, to
determine the latitude of their station there in the same
manner. At Tornea they observed not only the star b
Draconis, but also a Draconis; and some doubt having
arisen respecting the accuracy of the determination at
Kittis, they again repaired to that station, to observe the
last star there also. The amplitude of the celestial arc was
found, by taking the mean of the observations, to be 57'
29"*6.
It now remained only to measure a base, and thereby
determine the terrestrial distance between Tornea and
Kittis. This was accomplished on the frozen surface of
the river, by two parties who measured separately, and
the difference between their results amounted only to
about four inches. From this it resulted that the terres¬
trial arc between Tornea and Kittis was 55,023 toises,
giving 57,422 toises to the degree, and consequently ex¬
ceeding the degree measured by Picard in France by 362
toises.
As all these determinations concurred in proving that
the degrees of the meridian increase very sensibly in length
from the equator to the high latitudes, no doubt could any
longer be entertained that the earth is compressed at the
poles. The operations of the two Cassinis in France alone
gave results leading to an opposite conclusion ; and it there¬
fore became desirable to ascertain the cause of the ano¬
maly. For this purpose Maupertuis and his former asso¬
ciates undertook the verification of Picard’s operations;
and it resulted from the remeasurement of the arc between
Paris and Amiens that the degree was equal to 57,183
toises. But a more extensive series of operations was un¬
dertaken some time after by Cassini de Thury (the third
of that name) and Lacaille. With a view to determine
more accurately the variation of the degree along the
French meridian, they divided the whole arc between Dun¬
kirk and Collioure into lour partial arcs, embracing about
2° each, by observing the latitudes at five different sta¬
tions. While engaged in this measurement, they disco¬
vered that the toise which had been used by Picard was
shorter by about a thousandth part of the whole than that
550 FIGURE OF THE EARTH.
Figure of which formed their standard, and that his final results vyere
the" Earth, accordingly too great by about a thousandth part. They
also found the mean length of a degree between Paris
and Bourges to be 57,071 toises; between Bourges and
Rhodez only 57,040 toises ; and between Rhodez and
Perpignan 57,048 toises ; thus showing on the whole a
very sensible diminution as we proceed towards the
south. The last portion which they examined was that
between Paris and Dunkirk; and after a very careful
determination of the latitudes, and the measurement ol
a base of verification near Dunkirk, they found the de¬
gree to be 57,084 toises, greater than any of the former,
as ought to be the case on the hypothesis of a polar com¬
pression. _ jii
Another important operation was likewise undertaken by
Cassini and Lacaille, namely, the measurement of a de¬
gree of a parallel of latitude. rlhe place they selected was
near the mouths of the Rhone, under the forty-third pa¬
rallel. One of the observers took his station on the moun¬
tain Sainte Victoire, near Aix, and the other on Saint Clair,
near Cette. On the tower of the church of Sainte Marie,
a village situated between the two stations, a signal was
made by firing a quantity of loose gunpowder; and the
instant of the flash was noted by each of the observers.
The difference of sidereal time thus determined was 7
minutes 33-25 seconds, corresponding to a difference of
meridians of 1° 53' 19". The distance between the two
stations, which was ascertained by triangulation, being
reduced to the distance on the parallel intercepted be¬
tween the two meridians (at the latitude of 43°^), was
found to be 78,599-6 toises, whence the length of the de¬
cree was computed to be 41,618 toises. This exceeded
by about 260 toises the length of a degree of tlm same pa¬
rallel computed on the hypothesis of the earth’s being a
perfect sphere. The details of all these operations are
given in the Meridienne de Paris Verifiee.
About the middle of the last century several arcs of
meridian were measured in various countries, which,
though of inferior importance in comparison of the more
extensive surveys which have since been undertaken, are
nevertheless deserving of enumeration. In 1751 Lacaille
measured an arc at the Cape of Good Hope, whither he
had gone for the purpose of determining the lunar paral¬
lax, and making other astronomical observations. At the
latitude of 33° 18^' he found the degree of the meridian to
be 57,037 toises. " This result was nearly the same as had
been obtained in France, 10° farther from the equator; and
clearly proved either the existence of great local irregulari¬
ties in the form of the earth, or the dissimilarity of the two
terrestrial hemispheres. As theory recognised no such ab¬
normal condition of figure, and on the other hand, Lacaille’s
observations, all the details of which had been preserved,
appeared to have been carefully made and correctly com¬
puted, the result which they gave was for some generations
a very vexata qucestio amongst all geodesists. After the
lapse, however, of nearly a century, the arc has been lately
remeasured under the auspices of the British government,
with all the modern improved means and appliances ; and
an approximate calculation of the observations shows, that
the greater part of Lacaille’s anomaly was produced by
mountain attraction on his plumb-line. (1855.)
In 1751 the measurement of a terrestrial arc was un¬
dertaken in the Roman states by the Jesuits Maire and
Boscovich. It extended nearly two degrees, between
Rome and Rimini, and it was found that the degree of
meridian between these parallels, namely, 42° and 44°,
contained 56,973 toises. The details are given at length
by Boscovich, in a work of great elegance, and entitled
De Litteraria Expeditione per Pontificiam dilionem, &c.
Roma.-, 1755.
Liesganig, a Jesuit, in 1762 also executed two measures Figure of
of a meridional degree, one in Hungary and the other in the Earth
the Austrian states; but it has been shown by Baron
Zach, in his Correspondence Astronomique, vol. vii. that the
results merit no confidence, and, in fact, would lead to
certain error if employed as elements in determining the
figure of the earth.
About the same time, in 1764, an arc of meridian was
measured in North America, on the peninsula between the
Chesapeake and Delaware bays, by two Englishmen, Charles
Mason and Jeremiah Dixon. They employed no trian¬
gulation, but measured the line with deal rods along the
whole extent of the arc, the mean latitude of which was
39° 12'. Their rods were afterwards compared with the
five-feet brass rods made by Bird. The latitudes were
determined with a zenith sector. The length of the de¬
gree, after the necessary corrections and reductions were
made, was found to be 60,625 English fathoms, or 56,888
toises. There is no doubt that great care was bestowed
on this operation ; it is, however, easy to see that the
measurement of so long a line by means of rods is liable
to many causes of error from which the method of trian¬
gulation is exempt.
In 1762 Beccaria undertook to measure a degree in the
plains of Piedmont. He found the degree ol the meri¬
dian at the latitude of 44° 44' to contain 57,468 toises;
but great uncertainty remained respecting the correctness
of the latitudes, the extreme points of the arc being in
the near neighbourhood of immense ranges of mountains,
which could not fail to produce a very considerable de¬
viation of the plumb line. It was supposed that as both
ends of the arc were terminated by mountain ranges,
whereas Boscovich’s arc had been carried across the Appen-
nines and terminated at the sea coast, the errors ol the
two measures occasioned by the local attraction, being ol
opposite kinds, would neutralize each other, and give a
correct mean result.
Amidst the rapid advances of mathematical science to¬
wards the end of last century, the determination of the
figure of the earth was not overlooked. In the year
1783 a memorial was presented to the British govern¬
ment by Cassini deThury, stating the important advanta¬
ges that would result to astronomy and navigation, from
having the difference of longitude of the Greenwich and
Paris observatories determined by a geodetic measurement.
Fortunately this proposal was agreed to. The English ope¬
rations were placed under the superintendence of General
Roy, who to active and indefatigable zeal united great
skill and experience in practical astronomy and surveying.
In the summer of 1784 a base of rather more than five
miles was measured on Hounslow Heath. In the measure¬
ment of this base, deal rods were at first employed; but as
these were found to warp, and be affected with the variations
of the hygrometrical state of the atmosphere, glass tubes
were substituted; and in 1791 the same base was mea¬
sured with a steel chain carefully made by Ramsden, yet
the difference from the former measure was found to be
only three inches. The mean result was 27,404-2 feet
reduced to the level of the sea, and the scale being taken
at the temperature of 62° of Fahrenheit. A chain of 32
triangles, in connection with this base, extended over the
country to Dover and blastings ; and two more, stretching
across the channel, connected them with the French sig-.
mils on the opposite side. The instruments employed in
this survey were of the most excellent description, and
far superior to any that had ever been employed in simi¬
lar operations. The angles of each triangle were measur¬
ed by a large theodolite constructed by Ramsden; and
it was this splendid instrument that first exhibited the
spherical excess, or the minute quantity by which, on ae-
FIGURE OF THE EARTH 551
Figure of count of the sphericity of the earth, the sum of the three
the Earth. ang]es 0f a triangle on the earth’s surface exceeds 180°.
'***~\~^ The French part of this great operation was conducted
with equal ability by Cassini (the fourth of that name),
Mechain, and Delambre. The angles were measured
with the repeating circle of Borda; an instrument of a
very different description from the theodolite, but which
in geodetic operations may fairly be allowed to give, if
not equally, at least sufficiently correct results, while in
practice it is much more commodious. The result of the
combined measures showed the meridian of Paris to be 2°
19' 51" east of Greenwich, or 9'1' less than had been deter¬
mined by Dr Maskelyne.
Soon after this time a series of geodetic measurements
was commenced both in France and England, which, in
point of extent, as well as minute accuracy, far surpassed
all the operations which had yet been undertaken with a
view to determine the figure of the earth. In 1791 the
National Convention of France having agreed to remodel
the system of weights and measures, determined to adopt
a standard taken from nature, which might be universally
applicable in all countries, and capable of being restored
in any future age, if by accident it should happen to be
lost. Two such standards were proposed,—namely, the
length of the pendulum, which makes a given number of
vibrations in a given latitude; and the quadrant of the
terrestrial meridian. Of these the pendulum is by far the
most easy to be determined; but it was objected, that as
the length of the pendulum varies at different latitudes,
and also depends in some degree on the geological charac¬
ter of the country where it is measured, its length, if it
should happen to be lost, could not be recovered, without
knowing the precise place at which it had formerly been
determined. The length of the quadrant of the meridian
is, however, invariable, and, if the earth is a regular sphe¬
roid of revolution, must be the same at all places. Ac¬
cordingly, the Convention chose the ten millionth part of
the meridian from the equator to the pole as the unit of
their new scale; and in order that this unit might be de¬
termined with the greatest possible precision, it was re¬
solved to remeasure the arc of the meridian of Paris, and
to extend it from Dunkirk to Barcelona, a distance com¬
prehending altogether an arc of about nine degrees. The
practical execution of this undertaking was confided to
two astronomers of distinguished ability, Delambre and
Mechain, by whom the requisite operations were carried
on during the years 1792, 1793, and 1794, amidst all the
dangers and difficulties arising from the disorganized state
of the country, with a resolution and courage of which the
annals of science afford few examples. The triangles
amounted to 115 in number. Each of the three angles
of every triangle was separately observed with the repeat¬
ing circle. The different observations, with the original
registers and remarks of the observers, were compared
by commissioners, among whom were some of the ablest
men in France. A form was drawn up, after which all the
calculations were made. The calculations of the trian¬
gles, as well as of the azimuths, were examined by Tralles,
Van Swinden, Legendre, and Delambre himself. The tri¬
angles were connected in the neighbourhood of Paris with
a base of upwards of seven miles in length, being 6075*9
toises, at the temperature of 16^ centigrade, or 61£ of
Fahrenheit. A base of verification of 6006*25 toises was
measured by Mechain, near Perpignan, at the southern ex¬
tremity of the arc ; and the measured length was found to
differ by less than a foot from the length deduced by cal¬
culation from the first base, though the distance was more
than 436 miles. A line of this length, measured with ex¬
treme precision, is obviously quite sufficient to enable us
to infer, with all the requisite exactness, the length of the
quadrantal arc; but the French astronomers resolved to Figure r>f
extend the triangulation still farther. Accordingly, Me- (he Earth,
chain repaired again to Spain, and in the year 1805 con-
tinned the chain of triangles from Barcelona to Tortosa,
on the coast of the Mediterranean. At this place his la¬
bours were prematurely terminated by an epidemic fever
The prolongation of the arc was, however, committed to
two philosophers of distinguished reputation, Biot and
Arago. An immense triangle, one of the sides of which
exceeded 100 miles, connected the coast of Valentia with
the island of Iviza, which was joined by another triangle
with Formentera, distant no less than 12° 22' 13"*39
from Dunkirk, the northern extremity of the arc. The
result of the whole gave a value of the quadrantal arc,
differing somewhat from that determined by Delambre
and Mechain, but so little that the length of the metre
would be scarcely affected by four times the millionth part
of itself. The details of this magnificent operation are
given at length in the four volumes of the Base Metrique.
The English survey, which had been interrupted by the
death of General Roy in 1790, was resumed in 1793 under
the direction of Colonel Mudge. The original triangles
between Greenwich and Dover were extended along the
coast to Dunnose in the Isle of Wight, and thence through
Devonshire and Wiltshire, and connected with a base of
verification measured on Salisbury Plain. The length of
this base was found, after the proper reductions, to be
36574*4 feet, differing scarcely one inch from the length
deduced by calculation from the base on Flounslow Heath.
So near a coincidence, though probably owing in some de¬
gree to a compensation of errors, affords a convincing proof
of the extreme accuracy with which every part of the ope¬
ration had been conducted. In 1802 the triangulation
was carried into Yorkshire, and a meridian arc measured
from Dunnose to Clifton. The latitudes at the terminal
points were determined with Ramsden’s zenith sector.
The arc was afterwards extended to Burleigh Moor, and
has since been carried to the Shetlands. It may be re¬
marked that both the French and English arcs present this
singular anomaly, that when portions of them, at particular
places, are considered separately, the length of the de¬
gree appears to increase on going southward.
The survey has been continued, with occasional inter¬
ruptions, up to the present time, under the able direction
of Lieutenant-Colonel Colby;1 and the triangulation has
been carried to the remotest parts of Scotland, and over
a considerable part of Ireland. In the course of the ope¬
rations, several important improvements, both in respect
of the instruments employed, and in the method of con¬
ducting geodetic measurements in general, have been in¬
troduced into practice. A base of upwards of seven miles
has been measured near Londonderry; and it now only
remains to determine the latitudes of some stations, to
give us the elements of a new and greatly prolonged arc.
In the years 1801, 1802, and 1803, Maupertuis’ Swe¬
dish arc was re-measured by Svanberg, and extended
nearly 40' in amplitude. The methods were the same as
had been employed by Delambre. The extremities of
the new arc were at Mallorn and Pahtawara. The dis¬
tance was found to be 92,778 toises, and the difference of
the latitudes 1° 37' 20"*3; whence 1° = 57,196 toises.
This agrees much better than the result of Maupertuis
(57,422 toises) with other measures; but the difference,
which implies an error of 12" in the latitude of Kittis as
determined by the French academicians, has not been sa¬
tisfactorily accounted for; so that there is still some doubt
about the length of the degree in that latitude. (See
Svanberg’s Exposition des Operations faites en Lapponie,
&c. Stockholm, 1805.)
Since the beginning of the present century, two arcs of
1 Since this article was written, Col. Colby has been succeeded by Col. Hall, and still more lately by Major James. (1855.)
552
FIGURE OF THE EARTH.
"Figure of
the Earth.
meridian have been surveyed in India. Tne first was in
the neighbourhood of Madras, and comprehended only
1° 35'. °The second, however, is the longest which has
vet been measured. The first, and a large part of the
second, was accomplished under the direction of Colonel
Lambton; and the instruments and methods of observation
and calculation were exactly the same as those that had
been employed by Colonel Mudge in the English survey.
The southern extremity of the second arc was at Punnae,
near Cape Comorin, latitude 8° 9' 32"-51; and the north¬
ern at Daumergidda, latitude 18° 3' 167,07. I he ampli¬
tude is consequently 9° 53' 43"-56, and the distance be¬
tween the extremities was found to be 598,629-98 fathoms
(about 680 miles), giving 60,495 fathoms, or 362,970 feet,
for the length of the degree. Several bases were mea¬
sured, and the whole of the operations appear to have been
conducted with great skill and accuracy. Ihis aic has
since been extended by Captain Everest to Kaliana,
latitude 29° 30' 48"\8; so that the whole length now in¬
cludes more than twenty-one degrees. The details of
Colonel LambtonSi operations are given in the different
volumes of the Asiatic Researches (see vols. viii., x., xii.),
and those of Captain Everest, in his “ Account of the Mea¬
surement of an Arc of the Meridian between the Parallels
of 18° 3' and 24° 7',” printed at the expense of the East
India Company.1
Various geodetic operations on a less extensive scale
have been recently executed, which are better adapted,
perhaps, to give information respecting the local curvature
than the general form of the earth. Beccaria’s arc has
been remeasured by Plana and Carlini: the results clearly
demonstrate the existence of some errors in the original
measurement, but they are not yet altogether satisfactory,
and the country is very unfavourable. The distance be¬
tween Gottingen and Altona has been measured by Gauss;
and the amplitude of the corresponding celestial arc is
known with the utmost precision, from observations of the
latitude made at the respective observatories of the two
places. The amplitude, however, is only about two de¬
grees, and there is some doubt about the exact length of
the iron bars with which the base was measured. A
more extensive arc has been measured in Russia by Struve.
It extends at present to three and a half degrees, and it
is understood that it is in contemplation to prolong it still
farther.2 Many new methods have been employed in this
measurement; and it acquires additional value from its
high latitude, and the acknowledged skill and accuracy of
the observer.
The above are the principal arcs of meridian, but some
arcs of parallel have also been measured. Theoretically
speaking, the figure of the earth may be determined from
the measurement of arcs of parallel, as readily as from me¬
ridional arcs; and the geodetical operations in the one case
differ in no respect from those in the other. But the
great, and, we fear, insurmountable difficulty, is to deter¬
mine with sufficient precision the difference of astronomi¬
cal longitudes. In a subsequent part of this article we shall
have again occasion to mention Cassini’s measurement of
an arc of parallel across the mouth of the Rhone ; of the
English arc between Beachy Head and Dunnose ; and that
recently made from Marennes to Padua.
The problem of determining the earth’s figure from the
laws of hydrostatic equilibrium has not yet received the
complete solution which the present advanced state of
analytical science might lead us to expect. We have
already mentioned the results found by Newton and Huy¬
gens. Maclaurin first demonstrated that the ellipsoid
of revolution is a figure which satisfies the conditions of
equilibrium in the case of a revolving homogeneous body,
whose particles attract one another according to the law
of the inverse square of the distance; and he moreover Figure of
determined the amount of the attraction in a particle situ- the Earth,
ated anywhere on the surface of such a body. This was
an important step towards the solution of the problem. A
few years afterwards, Clairaut published his Theorie de la
Figure de la Terre, which, among other results, demon¬
strated with uncommon elegance, contained a very remark¬
able theorem which establishes a relation between the ob¬
lateness of the earth and the variations of gravity at differ¬
ent points of its surface, and consequently gives the means
of determining the earth’s figure by means of observations
of the length of the seconds pendulum at different latitudes.
Maclaurin’s discovery gave the intensity of the gravitating
force on the surface of the spheroid, or in its interior; but
it was necessary to assign the force with which an ex¬
terior point is attracted. This was partly accomplished
by D’Alembert, who proved that the attraction of any el¬
lipsoid whatever upon a point situated in the prolongation
of one of its axes, is to the attraction of a similar spheroid
having the same centre, and passing through the attracted
point, as the mass of the first spheroid is to the mass of
the second. Legendre found an approximate expression
by means of series, for the attraction on a point placed
anywhere without a spheroid of revolution; and Laplace
extended the solution to ellipsoids in general. But the
complete solution was reserved for Mr Ivory, who obtained
in finite terms a very simple expression for the attractive
force of an ellipsoid on an exterior point, and thereby com¬
pleted the theory of Maclaurin. It may be stated in a
general way, that notwithstanding all the researches that
have been made respecting this very intricate subject, the
only positive results which theory has yet supplied are the
three following:—ls^, Maclaurin s demonstration that a
homogeneous mass revolving about an axis will be in equi-
librio with the figure of an ellipsoid of revolution; 2d?, Clair-
aut’s theorem for determining the ellipticity by means of
pendulum observations; and, 3c?, the expression for the
attraction of ellipsoids on exterior particles, found by Mr
Ivory. A complete theory would determine whether there
are or are not other figures besides the ellipsoid, under
which the equilibrium could subsjst; but this has not yet
been accomplished. Indeed it has not even been proved
that the sphere is the only figure which could be assumed
by a body at perfect rest, and whose molecules are sub¬
jected to no other forces than their mutual attractions.
Our limits do not permit us to enter into details re¬
specting the numerous experiments that have been made
of late years to determine the figure of the earth by mea¬
suring the variations of gravity at different places by means
of the pendulum. The most valuable series of observa¬
tions of this kind we yet possess are those of Captain hoster,
reduced under the direction of Mr Baily, and published
in the Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society, vol. vii.
But a discovery recently made by Bessel proves that less
accuracy has been obtained by this method than was sup¬
posed. It has been found, that a pendulum, when vibrat¬
ing, drags along with it a portion of air, the precise effect
of which can be ascertained in no other way than by ac¬
tual experiment in vacuo with each individual pendulum.
The probable correction which it would be necessary to
apply to the results that have already been found, cannot
be satisfactorily determined.
The mean of the pendulum experiments gives rather a
higher value of the ellipticity than the results of geodetic
measures; but there are many elements, particularly the
irregular constitution of the exterior crust of the earth,
and the density of the strata surrounding the station,
which can scarcely be determined, and which yet affect
materially the results of the experiments. Ihis subject
will be resumed under the article Pendulum.
1 See some account of this great work in Dissertation VI., chap, iii., sect. 4. (1855.)
2 See as above.
FIGURE OF THE EARTH. 553
ure of Besides the methods which have now been alluded to,
Earth, physical astronomy furnishes other means of arriving at a
knowledge of the figure of the earth. The precession of
the equinoxes, and nutation of the earth’s axis, are phe¬
nomena depending on the compression of the earth ; and
as their amount is now ascertained, from astronomical
observations, with the utmost accuracy, we can recipro¬
cally deduce from them a knowdedge of the compression.
They do not, however, give us an absolute value of the
amount of compression, but they make known the limits
within which it must necessarily be confined. These limits
are and jj-g. But a more delicate measure of the same
element is furnished by some irregularities in the moon’s
motion to which it gives rise; and as the lunar theory
has now attained a very high state of perfection, and as
the small irregularities which cause so much perplexity in
geodetical measures here entirely disappear, this is per¬
haps the most satisfactory method of all of determining
the ellipticity of the earth. The equations into which the
irregularity in question enters were discovered by Laplace ;
and the ellipticity necessary to produce the observed effect
was found, on calculation, to be ; confirming in a most
remarkable manner the deductions from the measurement
of arcs and the observations of the pendulum.
SECTION II.
OF THE MEASUREMENT OF TERRESTRIAL ARCS.
The determination of the figure of the earth, being
founded on the comparison of lines actually measured on
its surface with the corresponding arcs of the celestial
sphere, requires a combination of geodetical and astrono¬
mical operations, which it will be our object in the pre¬
sent section to explain. Theoretically considered, the
geodetical line to be measured may lie in any direction,
because it can always be reduced to the meridian or to
any other given direction ; but, for practical reasons, which
will be pointed out hereafter, it ought to be taken, as
nearly as the nature of the country in which the measure¬
ment is made will permit, either in the direction of the
meridian, or of a parallel of latitude. Differences of la¬
titude, however, can be determined with greater precision
than differences of longitude; the meridional arcs are
consequently the best adapted to the purpose. Satisfac¬
tory results can only be obtained from the measurement
of lines of very considerable length, for example, of several
degrees; and this circumstance renders the geodetical
operations both laborious and complicated. In no place
of the world, probably, and certainly in no populous coun¬
try, could it be possible to find a territory so free from
obstructions as to admit of the direct measurement of a
line of two or three hundred miles in the same direction.
Hence, when an operation of this nature is to be under¬
taken, the country in which the direction of the line to be
measured lies is divided into triangles; the angles of each
triangle are accurately observed with a theodolite, or
some other equivalent instrument; and the side of one of
them being actually measured, all the other sides are com¬
puted from it by the rules of trigonometry. In this man¬
ner the length of the whole line is ascertained, and on
comparing it with the celestial arc, the data are obtain¬
ed for deducing the dimensions and form of the earth.
It appears, then, that in order to determine the figure
of the earth by the measurement of degrees, four distinct
sets of operations are necessary: ls£, The measurement
of one side of a triangle, or of t/ie base as it is called ; 2d,
the observation of the angles of each triangle, together
with the height of the station, in order that the triangles
VOL. IX.
may be reduced, if necessary, to the horizontal plane, and Figure of
to the level of the sea; 3<i, the observation of the azi-^e Earth.
ninths of the sides of the triangles, or the angles they
make with the meridional line ; 4dh, the latitudes of the
extreme points of the line. It is immaterial in what order
these operations are undertaken. We shall begin with the
measurement of the base.
The length of the base must be regulated in some de¬
gree by the nature of the locality; but being the funda¬
mental element from which the sides of all the triangles
are deduced, it should not be less than five or six miles.
A piece of ground must therefore be selected, as nearly
level as possible, and admitting a line of that length to
be described on it. The direction of the base is first
marked out by pickets ; and, in order to place these in the
same straight line, or rather in the same vertical plane,
a telescope, mounted in the manner of a transit instru¬
ment, is set up at one extremity, by means of which the
observer is enabled to direct an assistant, by signals, to
the exact position in which the picket is to be placed,
and also to bring their tops exactly into the same level.
As a farther guide, a rope may then be stretched between
the pickets; and, for greater security in the subsequent
operations, the whole extent may be approximately mea¬
sured by rods or chains, in the usual manner. The extre¬
mities of the base ought to be permanently marked by
points. The centres of metal tubes, cannon for example,
let into the ground to a considerable depth, answer this
purpose very conveniently.
These preliminary operations being accomplished, the
next step is to proceed to the more delicate operation of
measuring the exact distance between the terminal points,
or extremities of the base.
Various methods have been practised for this purpose.
In the measurement of the first base of the trigonometri¬
cal survey on Hounslow Heath by General Roy, deal rods
were at first employed, as had been done in almost all
previous measures; but though every precaution was
used in selecting the best seasoned timber, and every
means employed to secure the rods from flexure, it was
discovered, in the course of the operations, that they were
liable, from variations in the state of the atmosphere as
to moisture or dryness, to sudden and irregular changes
of such magnitude as to destroy all confidence in the re¬
sults. They were therefore laid aside; and glass rods,
consisting of straight tubes twenty feet in length, and
about an inch in diameter, and enclosed in wooden cases,
were substituted. The only alteration to which these
were subject arose from the expansion and contraction
from variations of temperature ; and as such alterations
follow constant and ascertainable laws, their effects could
be easily computed, and a correction made for them. But
the apparatus ultimately adopted, both in the measure¬
ment of this base, and the other bases subsequently mea¬
sured for the purpose of verifying the operations in the
English survey, consisted of two steel chains, made with
great care by Ramsden, of a hundred feet in length, and
composed each of forty links, joined in the manner of a
watch chain. The chains were supported by deal cof¬
fers, and after being placed in a straight line, were
stretched with a weight of fifty-six pounds. Their tem¬
perature and inclination to the horizon were carefully
noted at the same time, and the proper corrections subse¬
quently made.
This method has been objected to, on account of the un¬
certainty of giving the chain always the same degree of
tension, and of the rubbing and wear of the joints; but
the best proof of die accuracy of the results obtained by
it consists in the fact, that the two measurements of the.
base on Hounslow Heath, first by glass rods, and secondly
4 A
FIGURE OF THE EARTH.
554
Figure of by the steel chains, difFered from each other, after all the
the Earth, reductions were made, by less than three inches, altnoug i
v'—V—' the whole length exceeded five miles. For an account ol
the comparison of the chains with one another, and with the
standard brass yard made by Ramsden, we must refer to
the Philosophical Transactions, vol. i.
The use of chains has been confined to the English and
Indian surveys. For the determination of the meridian of
Dunkirk, Borda employed rules of platina, exactly two toises
in length, and furnished with a very ingenious contrivance
for ascertaining the expansion. Along one side of the rule
there was a slip of brass, firmly fixed at one extremity, but
at liberty to move along the rule at the other end, according
to the relative expansion of the two metals. The relative
expansion being read off by means of a micrometei, gave
a ready means of computing, from tables previously con¬
structed, the absolute expansion of the platina rule, hour
rules were made use of, three of which were always placed
on the ground at once ; and in order to prevent any de¬
rangement, they were not brought into absolute contact.
A small interval of a few millimetres was left between them,
which was measured by means of a slider attached to the
preceding end of each rule, and which was pushed out till
it came into contact with the following end of the preced¬
ing rule. See Delambre, Astronomic, tome fii. p. 538, on
Base du Systeme Metrique.
Various other contrivances have been used for the mea¬
surement of the base line. MM. Plana and Carlini, in the
re-measurement of Beccaria’s arc, employed measuring rods
of wood, twelve metres in length, of the form of hollow pa¬
rallelepipeds. For the Hanoverian base measure, between
Altona and Gottingen, Gauss employed three rods of ham¬
mered iron each twelve French feet in length. But the
most ingenious apparatus which has yet been invented for
this purpose, is that which was made by our celebrated
artist Troughton for the Irish base. As this instrument is
probably destined to supersede all others previously used, we
shall briefly describe the principle on which it is constructed.
Let AB and DE (Plate CCLVIL fig. 1) represent two
bars of different metals, firmly united to a transverse bar at
the middle C, but entirely free to move independently of
each other at the extremities, according to their different
expansions. AP and BQ are two tongues of steel attached
to the extremities of the two rods AD and BE, by double
conical joints, around which they are capable of making a
small angle with the lines perpendicular to AB or DE. At
a certain given temperature the bars are exactly of the
same length, when, consequently, AP and BQ are parallel
to each other, and perpendicular to the bars. Let us now
conceive the bars to receive an increase of temperature, and
that the dilatation of AB is greater than that of DE. In
consequence of the increased temperature, both bars will
be lengthened, but their lengths will no longer be equal;
consequently the two tongues AP and BQ will no longer
be parallel; for, suppose AB to become ab, and DE to be¬
come de, then AB being by hypothesis a more expansive
metal than DE, ab will be longer than de, and the steel
tongues will take the positions ax and by, inclined to each
other. But if the point P is taken at such a distance from
the bars that PA is to PD in the ratio of the dilatation
of AB to DE, then in the new position ax, the point P
will not sensibly deviate from the perpendicular AP, at
least for moderate variations of temperature. In the same
manner, the point Q will not sensibly deviate from its
first position in the perpendicular BQ, so that the dis¬
tance between P and Q remains sensibly the same. It is
easy, however, to see that the dilatation of the bars must
be confined within narrow limits ; for, as the length of Figure of
the tongue is invariable, P will not be found exactly m the Earth,
the line AP after the expansion has taken place; it will
be on the same side of AP on which are the points a and
d, and its distance from AP will be accurately measured
by the quantity AP X (tan. APa — sin. APa) ; and as
the same thing takes place with regard to Q, the distance
between P and Q will be increased by twice this quantity.
But as the angle APa must in all cases be extremely small,
the difference between its tangent and its sine is altoge¬
ther inappreciable. It is unnecessary to remark, that the
same consequences (inutatis mutandis) take place when
the temperature falls below the assumed standard.
In the instruments made use of in the measurement of
the Irish base, the bar AB was of brass, and DE of iron.
The length of each was ten feet, and the distance between
them two inches. The length of the tongue is hence easily
found from the relative dilatation of the two metals. Sup¬
pose the expansion of brass to be to that of iron in the
ratio of 83 to 53 for an increase of 1° of temperature, and
let PD — x inches, we shall have x : a; -1- 2 = 53: 83 ;
53
whence x ~ inches very nearly. But the pre-
15
cise position of the points P and Q must be determined by
actual experiment: for the expansion or contraction of no
two bars, even of the same metal, are ever found to be
exactly the same.
In practice^ five or six sets of bars, constructed in the
manner now described, and placed in strong deal boxes
supported on trestles, are laid along the line to be mea¬
sured, and accurately levelled. They are placed at a small
distance from each other, and the distance between the
dots on the adjacent steel tongues of two succeeding bars
is accurately measured by an ingenious micrometrical ap¬
paratus constructed so as to form a compensating instru¬
ment of exactly the same nature as the measuring bars.
The conception of this elegant apparatus belongs to
Lieutenant-Colonel Colby; and the practical results it
gives correspond with its theoretical excellence. It is
computed that the greatest possible error of the base mea¬
sured on the eastern shore of Lough Foyle, in the county
of Londonderry, cannot exceed two inches, though the
length is very nearly eight miles.1
The reduction to the level of the sea is made as fol¬
lows : Let r — radius of earth, x — height above the level
of the sea, a — measured length of the base, and d — its
reduced length; then
a' = a(^)=a(^
a series of which all the terms after the second may be
neglected, by reason of their smallness.
It is easy to see, that as the base is not, correctly speak¬
ing, a straight line, but an arc of a circle, or rather el¬
lipse, the sum of the lengths of all the rods or chains ho¬
rizontally applied to it is not precisely the length of the
arc, but of the circumscribing polygon. In order to de¬
termine how far this circumstance can affect the result,
let us suppose the length of the measuring rod to be ten
feet; when laid on the ground, exactly in the horizontal
plane, it forms two tangents to the surface, of five feet
each, and therefore each half length of the rod ought to
be diminished by the difference between the tangent whose
length is five feet, and the arc to winch it belongs. Let
A be the arc, then (Algebra, Sect. AAV. H. <L)
1 The three last bases measured in India, on which the northern half of the great meridional arc depends, were measure wi an app
tus exactly similar. On the Cape arc, Colonel Colby’s own bars were employed, having been sent for that purpose rom re a.n >
the several parts of the base being compared with each other by triangulation, indicated a probable error of only 0 -o of an inc . ( •)
FIGURE OF THE EARTH.
555
Figure of
the Earth.
tan. A
tan. A3
, tan. A3
i -pr- + &c-
125
3ra’
whence tan. A — A = ^
This must be multiplied by the number of times that the
half rod, or five feet, is contained in the whole base. Sup¬
posing the base to be five miles, or 5280 times the length
of the half rod, and the radius of the earth to be 4000
miles, or 4000 X 5280 feet, we should have tan. A — A
= 3 x 40002 X 5280 feet ’ a lluantity whicl1 is altogether
insensible.
We come now to the triangulation. The first thing to
be done is to select proper stations for the vertices of the
triangles. The selection will necessarily depend on the
nature of the country through which the survey is made;
but there are certain principles which ought to be ob¬
served, as nearly as the circumstances will permit. The
stations should be chosen so that each angle of the prin¬
cipal triangles should approach as nearly as possible to
60°, because a small error in the estimation of a very
acute or obtuse angle will greatly affect the length of the
opposite side computed from it. Excepting in unavoid¬
able cases, no angle ought to be less than 30°. The sides
cannot be too long, while the signal at one extremity is
visible from the other. The signals may be towers, spires,
or other conspicuous objects conveniently situated; but
such signals can seldom be well bisected by the wire of
the telescope. Flag-staffs are better when the distances
are not too great. Delambre preferred signals erected on
purpose. They were generally constructed of wood, and
of the form of a truncated pyramid. One considerable
advantage arises from the use of signals constructed in this
manner, namely, that the instrument can be placed exactly
at the centre of the station. Frequently Bengal lights, re¬
verberating lamps, and white lights, are employed; but
these of course can only be seen during the night. The
best signal of this sort was invented by Lieutenant Drum¬
mond. It is formed by directing a stream of hydrogen gas
on a small piece of ignited quicklime ; an intense light is
produced, which may be seen at very great distances. Care
should be taken to place the signals, if they are to be ob¬
served by day, in such positions that they may be projected
on the sky; if projected on forests or mountains, they will
seldom be distinctly visible. Svanberg constructed his
signals with openings, to permit the light of the sky to be
seen through them.1
The triangles being marked out, and the signals pre¬
pared, the next object is to measure the angles. When
the theodolite is used for this purpose, no correction is
required on account of the different altitudes of the signals,
the reduction being effected by the instrument itself; but
when a sextant or repeating circle is employed, the observed
angles must be reduced to the plane of the horizon.
Let P, Q, and R (fig. 2) be the three stations, PQR the
observed angle oblique to the horizon ; produce PQ and PR
till they meet Q' R', a line parallel to the plane of the hori¬
zon ; through Q' R' let a plane be conceived to pass parallel
to the horizontal plane, meeting PZ, the vertical passing
through P, in P' ; then Q' P' R' is the horizontal projection
of QPR, and the angles ZPQ, ZPR are the complements
of the inclinations of the line PQ and PR to the horizon.
With P as a centre, and a radius = 1, let a sphere be
described, intersecting PZ, PQ, and PR in the points A,
B, and C respectively; the angle BAG is evidently equal
to the horizontal angle Q'P'R'. Now, in the spherical
triangle ABC, we have given by observation the side AB Figure of
= the zenith distance of Q, AC = the zenith distance of the Earth*
R, and BC the oblique angle at the centre of the station,
from which we are to find the angle BAG = Q'P'R'.
Let BC — a, AC = b, AB c, and BAG = A. By
a well-known formula of spherical trigonometry,
cos. A =
cos. a —cos. b cos. c
sin. b sin. c
but cos. A == 1 —2 sin.2 J A,
therefore 2 sin.2 J A = 1 —
cos. a — cos. b cos. c
sin. b sin c ’
and 2 sin 2 § A = (*>-c)-cos. a
sin. b sin. c
Now, if p and q denote two arcs, we have (Algebra, XXV. D),
cos. p —cos. <7 r= — 2 sin. i (p + <?) sin. J (p —<?),
therefore
cos. (6 —c) —cos. a = — 2 sin. J (a + b — c) sin. | (6 —c —a)
— 2 sin. J (a + 6 —c)sin. % (a —b + c),
and the equation becomes
sin.2 * A = sin. si.D-i Q.rA+c)
sin. b sin. c
Let J (a + b + c) — s; then J (a + b — c) = s — c, and
§ (a —b 4- c)=rs — 6; consequently
 f sin. (s — c) sin. (S — b)\^
sin. b sin. c /
^ A /S
sin. J A = I -
From this formula the value of A is easily computed,
when the inclinations of the lines PQ and PR to the hori¬
zon are not very small. In practice, however, it frequently
happens that these inclinations are very small, or that the
angles b and c differ very little from right angles. When
this is the case, the logarithmic calculation of the formula
becomes troublesome, particularly if it is required to deter¬
mine A with great exactness; and it is better to adopt a
different method of proceeding.
Instead of seeking to find the projected angle Q'P'R', we
may find its difference from the observed angle QPR, which
difference will seldom amount to more than a few seconds.
Since the arcs 6and care supposed to differ little from 90°,
if we make b = 90° — /3, c = 90° — y, the angles (3 and y
will be very small. Substituting these values of b and c in
the formula
. cos. a — cos. b cos. c
COS. A =  :  —; 
sm. b sm. c
it becomes
but
. cos. a —sin. R sin. y
cos. A =     :
cos. (3 cos. y
P
sin. /3 = /3—  (- &c., sin. y
_ y
= y-~z
n2
COS. fi = 1 — + &C., COS. y — \ —-~
+ , &c.
+ , &c.
therefore, on substituting, and rejecting all terms above
those of the second order, we have
cos. a — Ry ,
COS. A = = cos. a-fiy + J (/32 + cos. a.
Let A = a + .r. It is evident that when f3 and y both va¬
nish, x also vanishes, and we get A =: a. Hence if (3 and
y be both very small, x is also very small, and consequently
we may suppose its cosine = 1, and its sine = x. In this
case cos. A |= cos. (a + x)|- = cos. a cos. x — sin. a sin. x
becomes
cos. A = cos. a — x sin. a.
Equating this with the former value of cos. a, we get
x sin. a = fiy — $ ([i2 + y2) cos. a
whence
x — (02+y2)CQS-
1 The best signal of all, and that which has been generally employed on the Irish, and later portions of the Indian surveys, is the
Heliostat or Heliotrope, in which the sun’s rays reflected from a plane mirror are passed through an aperture in a vane plumbed exactly
over the centre of the station, the appearance produced at a distance is exactly that of a bright star. An aperture of 2 inches was found
sufficient for a distance of 30 miles, and the signal has been employed at distances of 100 and upwards. (1855.)
FIGURE OF THE EARTH.
therefore, by substitution,
tan. Ja cot- ^a'
556
Figure of In order to adapt this fraction to logarithmic computa-
the Earth. tion, let both its numerator and denominator be muitipnea
v'—by 2 ; then, because cos. « = cos.2 —sin.2 and -py —
2(3y cos.2 ±a + 2(3y sin.2 ^a, we find, on multiplying and re-
ducinffj
2/5y —(/32 + 72) cos. a=(/3 + y)® sin.2 Ja — (/3 - y f cos
but sin. a = 2 sin. -|a cos. ^
* = (^r)r
Here the arcs x, fl, y are expressed in parts of the ladius ,
but they are given by observation in minutes and seconds.
Now an arc of 1" may be considered as equal to its sine:
hence the arc in seconds is to the arc in parts of the radius
as 1" to sin. 1"; consequently the arc in feet is equal to the
arc in seconds x sin. 1". Multiplying, therefore, by sin.
1", we get
x = | (i±*)2tan. ha-( cot. } sin. I"
Another reduction is necessary. Unless the signals are
constructed on purpose, it will rarely happen that the in¬
strument can be placed exactly in the centre of the station.
In this case it must be placed at some other point near the
centre of the station, and the observed angle reduced to
the centre by calculation. Suppose, for example, it were
required to determine the angle ACB (fig. 3), which the
objects A and B subtend at C, and that the instrument
cannot be placed exactly at C. Let P be the point, at a
short distance from C, where the instrument is actually
placed, and APB be the observed angle; then, since CP
can be measured, and CA, CB are supposed to be known,
approximately at least, the problem is, having given the
angle APB, and the distances CA, CB, and CP, it is re¬
quired to determine the angle ACB.
Let AC and BP intersect in E. Then, since AEB=
ACB + CBP^APB + CAP, we have
ACB - APB=C AP - CBP.
CP CP
But sin. CAP =— sin. CPA, and likewise sin. CBP=— sin.
CPB ; therefore, making AC ~ «i, BC r= n, CP=(f, ACB = C,
APB:=P, CPB=^, then CPA=:P + p, and by substitution,
sin CAP=- sin. fP + p), and sin. CBP=- sin. p, whence, divid-
m n
ing by sin. 1" to reduce the expression to seconds,
CAP=—
m sin. 1"
and CBP =—
d sin. p
But AD may be considered as equal to AC—m; whence sin. DAP tigure of
P , the Earth.
 « sin. (A p) ;—jan(j consequently, when expressed in seconds, ^ _iti_y
m sin. A /
. ~ ^ d sin. (A-») sin. P
DAP=C-P-. A . .
m sin. A sin. 1"
This expression vanishes when A - /> = 0, or when the
points P and D coincide, that is, when the instrument is
placed on the circumference of the circle circumscribing
the triangle ACB. And it may be so placed, unless ob¬
stacles intervene, by moving it along the line PB, till the
angle CDB is observed to be equal to BAC.
When the three observed angles of each triangle have
been reduced to the horizon, they represent the angles of
a spherical triangle, the sides of which are intercepted by
the verticals of the three stations, and the sum of the three
angles of each triangle exceeds 180° by a quantity which is
called the spherical excess. The sides ought therefore to
be calculated by the rules of spherical trigonometry; but
as the sides of the triangles are in all cases very small in
comparison of the radius of the earth, the calculation made
in this way (for which indeed the existing tables are not
well adapted) becomes exceedingly tedious. Instead, there¬
fore, of calculating directly the spherical triangle, it is more
convenient to compute its deviation, which is always very
small, from a plane triangle. The method employed by
Delambre was the following.
In the first place, the spherical angle, or that which is
formed by tangents at the surface, must be reduced to
the corresponding plane angle formed by the chords. This
is easily accomplished by the help of the theorem above
given for reducing the observed angles to the horizon ; for
the angle formed by the chord and the tangent of an arc is
equal to the angle at the centre subtended by half the arc;
consequently when the lengths of the two sides of a sphe¬
rical angle are known nearly, the angle of depression of the
chords is also known ; and therefore the preceding theorem
for reducing angles to the horizon can be immediately ap¬
plied. For example, suppose the sides of a spherical angle^
to be respectively p and q miles, and the circumference of
the earth to be 25,000 miles, then
360° P 2L600>=108^seconds
25,000
:p\'. 360 ; 2^000> ^ 25,000 ” 125
of a degree, which is the angle subtended at the centre
by the whole arc; and consequently one half of it, or
is the depression of the chord. In the same manner,
125
54"
or
sin. 1" ’
therefore (since CAP —0BP=ACB —APB=C —P),
^_d sin. (P +jp) d sin, p
~ m sin. I" n sin. V’
which gives C, or the angle ACB, expressed in seconds of
a degree.
This expression is exact; but an approximation more
convenient for calculation, and sufficient in almost every
case that can occur in practice, was generally followed by
Delambre. Let a circle be described about the triangle
ABC, intersecting BP in D, and let CD, DA, and AB be
joined. We have then ACB — APB = ADB — APB=
DAP. Let the angle CDB (=CAB, which is known by
observation) be denoted by A. In the triangle DP A,
D P DP
sin. DAP=i— sin. APB=:-^ sin. P,
and in the triangle DPC,
DP=FC^=Pc‘i°-<CD°-CPB).
sin. CDB sm. CDB
or DP—d S^n‘ ^—— ; therefore
sin. A.
. ^ „ d sin. (A —») . „
sin. DAP———  sin. P.
AD sin. A
(J- is the depression of the chord of q; and by substi-
125
tuting these in the formula
* “ {m- * a~ (^?)2cot' *a isin'v>>
we obtain the angles made by the chords, by means of
which the triangle may be computed in the same manner
as if it were a plane triangle.
To make this reduction, it is necessary to know, ap¬
proximately at least, the diameter of the earth as well as
the distances of the stations; but the result will be little
affected by a moderate error in either of these data. In
fact, it is only when the sides of the triangles are very
large that the effects of the earth’s curvature become at all
sensible. _ „
But a more elegant manner of estimating the eftects ot
the earth’s curvature, though not always of so easy applica-
cation, was proposed by Legendre. This illustrious geo¬
meter discovered the following very remarkable property of
spherical triangles; namely, that when the sides are very
1 This should always be done if possible, and when light signals are used there can rarely be any necessity for a deviation of
this kind. (1855.)
FIGURE OF
Figure of small in comparison of the radius of the sphere, if from each
the Earth, of the angles there be subtracted one-third part of the
quantity by which the sum of the three angles exceeds two
right angles, or 180°, the angles thus diminished may be
regarded as the angles of a plane triangle, the sides of which
are equal in length to those of the proposed spherical tri¬
angle. The excess of the sum of the three angles above
two right angles is proved by trigonometry to be equal to
—, a being the area of the triangle, and r the radius of the
IT
sphere ; so that the theorem of Legendre may be enume¬
rated as follows:—
“ If the angles of a spherical triangle whose surface is
small in comparison of the surface of the whole sphere, be
denoted by A, B, and C, and the opposites by a, b, and c,
the triangle may be calculated as a plane triangle, the sides
of which are a, 6, and c, and the opposite angles A — ^ e,
B—^e, C—^e, e being the excess of the sum of the three
angles of the proposed spherical triangle above two right
angles.”
In applying the above theorem, it is necessary first to
calculate e or —, which can always be done a priori from
the known parts of the spherical triangle considered as rec¬
tilinear. This being done, we have only to deduct ^ e from
each of the observed angles, and then compute the remain¬
ing parts, as in the case of a plane triangle.
By this method, the distances between the several signals
may be computed; and as the angles at all the stations are
given by observation, the inclinations of all the sides of the
triangles to any one of them are also known, so that it is
only necessary to determine very accurately the inclination
of one side of a triangle to the meridian, in order to ascer¬
tain the inclinations of all the other sides, and thence to
compute the meridian itself.
The determination of the azimuth of a signal is accom¬
plished by means of astronomical observation, and may be
performed in various ways, but all depending on the same
principle. It is necessary, however, in any case to be pro¬
vided with the means of determining the time with very
great precision. The azimuth of the sun, or a star, at any
given instant, can be determined with sufficient accuracy.
Let the observer, therefore, take his station at one of the
signals, and observe the angle formed between the other
signal and the sun, or a star, when nearly in the horizon,
and let him note the instant of time at which the observa¬
tion was made. Knowing the error of his clock or chrono¬
meter, he knows also the true time, and can consequently
calculate the azimuth of the observed celestial body. Tak¬
ing the sum or difference, as the case may be, of this and
the observed angle, he obtains the azimuth of the distant
signal, or the angle which the straight line joining the two
signals makes with the meridian. The refraction will scarcely
affect the result; but a small error with respect to the time
would lead to considerable errors. If the sun is observed,
the error of the clock must be determined by observations
of his meridional transits; but most frequently a circumpo¬
lar star, as Capella, is preferred. Sometimes the observa¬
tion is made on the pole star itself; but in this case it is
necessary to know the latitude of the station very accurately.
Another method is frequently resorted to. Having set up
a mark very nearly in the meridian, adjust a transit instru¬
ment upon it, and then, by means of the transits of stars at
different polar distances, or other means known in practical
THE EARTH.
astronomy, determine the deviation of the instrument from Pig
the meridian. This gives the direction of the mark with the
respect to the meridian, and consequently the angle to be v'-1"
added to or subtracted from the angle between the mark
and the signal.1 For greater security, the azimuths may be
observed at several signals. They ought at least to be ob¬
served at each extremity of the chain of triangles.
The triangles being calculated and reduced to the hori¬
zon, we are now in a condition to compute the length of
the arc between the parallels of the extreme stations. Let
ABCDEFG, &c. (fig. 4), be a chain of triangles lying
nearly in the direction of the meridian AZ, and traced on
a spheroidal surface, supposed to be formed by the conti¬
nuation of the ocean. Let L be the last station, and LX
the perpendicular passing through L and meeting AZ in
the point X; it is required to determine AX.
By means of the previous calculations, all the sides of the
triangles are supposed to have been computed, as w^ell as
the azimuth of C, or the inclination of AC to the meridian.
Let CD be produced to M. In the triangle ACM there
are given the side AC, and the two angles CAM, ACM.
To find the third angle AMC, first compute the spherical
excess e; from each of the angles CAM, ACM, subtract
^ e; take the sum of the two remainders from 180°, and
there will be left the value of AMC. The angles being
thus given, and also the side AC, the other two sides AM
and CM are computed in the same manner as if the triangle
were rectilinear.
In the quadrilateral MDFN there are given the two op¬
posite angles at M and F (the first from the previous calcu¬
lation, and the second by observation), together with the
two sides MD and DF. Draw the diagonal MF; then in
the triangle DMF there are given the two sides DM, DF,
and the included angle D. From D deduct ^ e, the excess
e being computed by an approximate value of the area of
the triangle, and compute, as in a plane triangle, the side
MF and the two angles DMF, DFM. To each of these
add ^ e, and the two sums being deducted from the angles
DMN and DFN, there will remain the two angles FMN
and MFN. Hence, since MF has been already computed,
we can find MN, FN, and the angle MNF, in the usual
manner.
Now, in the triangle NPH, NH is known (for FH and
FN have been calculated), and the adjacent angles PNH,
NHP are given by observation ; therefore we can compute
NP, PH, and the remaining angle NPH.
To find PX we may produce IL to Z, and resolve the
two triangles PIZ and ZLX. In the first of these, the side
PI, and the two adjacent angles PIZ, IPZ, are already
known; whence we find IZ, PZ, and the angle IZP. We
have then in the right-angled triangle LXZ, the side LZ,
and the angle LZX to find ZX. From PZ subtract ZX,
and there remains PX, the quantity sought.
In proceeding by the method now indicated, the spheri¬
cal excess e must be first computed for each of the triangles
to be resolved ; then each observed spherical angle must be
diminished by ^e, in order to allow the calculations to be
made by the rules of plane trigonometry; and when the
result has been found, we must again add to each angle the
small quantity ^e, in order to have the true spherical angle.
(See Delambre, Methodes Analytiques pour la Determina¬
tion dun Arc du Meridieni)
It is necessary to remark, that the point X, determined
by drawing a perpendicular from the last station to the me¬
ridian, is not situated exactly on the same parallel of lati-
1 The most accurate method, being that followed in all the later operations of the Indian survey, is to select a star within a few degrees
of the pole, and observe its angular deviation from a fixed mark at both elongations E. and W. of the meridian. The mean of these two
angles will give the true azimuth of the mark free from any error in the place of the star; as the star moves slowly in azimuth w'hen
near its elongation, a small error in the time is also of no consequence. The star should be selected so as to arrive at its elongations
not far from sunrise and sunset, and several observations may be made at each elongation. (1855.)
FIGURE OF THE EARTH.
558
Figure of tude with L. Its latitude is a little greater than that of L ;
the Earth. and unless the distance of the station from the meridian is
  Very small, the difference will be sensible, and requires to
be calculated. Conceive another point, L (fig. 5), on the
same parallel of latitude with L, and at the same distance
from the meridian on the opposite side. The point A is on
the circumference of a great circle, perpendicular to the
meridian PE, and passing through L and L ; but the sma
circle, or parallel of latitude of L and L', intersects the me¬
ridian in a different point l. Now let PE (fig. 6) be the
meridian, XC the intersection of its plane with that of the
great circle passing through the points LL, and In the in¬
tersection of the plane of the meridian and the plane ot the
small circle or parallel of latitude passing through the same
points LL', so that E/ is the latitude of L, EX that of the
point X, and /X the distance between the perpendicular
and the small circle passing through L. Let m and AC
intersect in m, then /X being a small arc, may be regarded
as a straight line ; consequently XI —mX tan. Xml. Eut
Xml = XCE = latitude of L very nearly, consequently,
taking X to denote the latitude of L, we have XI —mX
tan X. Now mX is the versed sine of the arc whose chord
LX2
we have also sin. MNBzrsin. (90° — t) — cos. lm, where- Figure of
„ / the Earth.
, -«r COS. I
fore BM = BN
BN
is LX; therefore, making dearth’s diameter
rnX —-
d
LX2
and consequently XI ——j- tan. X, which is the quantity to
be subtracted from the calculated meridional arc.
Delambre employed a different method of computing the
distance between the parallels of the terminal points of the
measured arc. It requires, however, the dimensions of the
earth to be previously known with tolerable accuracy. Let
AB (fig. 7) be the arc measured on the surface of the sphe¬
roid PAB; then, having observed the latitude ot the station
A, and the azimuth of AB, that is the angle BAP, we have
sufficient data, supposing the dimensions of the earth to be
nearly known, to find not only the distance between the
parallels of A and B, but also the latitude and longitude of
B, and the azimuth of BA, as observed from B. Ihrough
A and B draw the normals AM and BN, meeting the axis
in M and N; join BM, AN; and about M as a centre, with
an arbitrary radius, describe the circular arcs bp, pa, ab,
forming the spherical triangle pab. Now, if we compare
the triangle PAB on the spheroid with pab on the sphere,
we find pazzYA in degrees, each being the colatitude of
A ; jo6=PB, each being the colatitude of B; the angle apb
=APB being the difference of longitude of A and B, and
also the angle pab — YAY>, each measuring the inclina¬
tion of the planes PMA, AMB. But the angle pba is in
general not equal to PBA; for as the normals do not meet
the axis in the same point, the planes AMB and ANB do^
not coincide; and pba is the measure of the inclination of
PMB and AMB, whereas PBA is the measure of the in¬
clination of PMB and ANB. Nowr, in the triangle pba
there are given the angles at p and a, so that if the side ab
can be determined in terms of AB, the other parts of the
triangle may be computed, and thence the difference be¬
tween pb and pa, or the distance between the parallels,
which being found in terms of BA, will be expressed in feet.
We have therefore to find an expression for ab, or the
angle AMB. Now, in the triangle ABM there are given
AB (the measured arc), and AM the normal at A (the
dimensions of the earth being nearly known). But
BM = BN and if we make /=PNB the co-
sin. NMB ’
latitude of B, and x = NBM, we shall have NMB= PNB
— * = 90° — l — x; therefores in. NMB = cos. (/+#);
cos. {I + x)
cos. I
cos. I cos. x - sin. I sin. x
— BN
1
cos. x — tan. I sin. a?
- BN (1 + tan. I sin. a? + 2 sin.2 - + , &c. Now a? is a
very small angle; its sine is in fact expressed in terms of
the square of the excentricity, so that terms multiplied by
it may be neglected without any sensible error. We may
therefore assume BM=BN. In the triangle ABM we have
then given the three sides, whence the angles may be com¬
puted, and consequently a6=rAMB becomes known.
Having found ab, we have given in the triangle abp the
two sides pa, ab, and the observed angle pab, from which
to compute the remaining parts of the triangle, viz. pb the
latitude of B, apb its longitude, and pba the azimuth of
A, as seen from B. Make pd—pa, and P6 to PB, then
ba'— pb - pa is the distance between the parallels, the ra¬
dius being unit; therefore, since 1 : MA :: db : Ab', we
have A5' = AM x db, that is, the distance between the pa¬
rallels of the extreme stations on the spheroid.
When the distance betw'een the parallels of the extreme
points of the arc has been ascertained, it only remains to
determine the difference of their latitudes, or the length of
the corresponding celestial arc. This is the most difficult
part of the whole operation. The error of a single second
in the difference of the latitudes corresponds to about a
hundred feet on the terrestrial meridian; and when it is con¬
sidered that the latitudes of the best determined spots on
the earth, even of the Observatories of Greenwich and
Paris are still uncertain to the amount of at least half a
second, it will be easily apprehended that the errors of the
latitudes are more to be feared than any which can affect
the measurement of the base, or the angles, or the direction
of the meridian. In the British survey, that of India, and
some on the Continent, the latitudes were observed with
the zenith sector, an instrument peculiarly adapted to this
purpose. Ramsden’s zenith sector, made expressly for the
determination of the arc of meridian between Dunnose and
Clifton, carried a telescope of eight feet in length. With
this superb instrument, for a description of which we must
refer to the second volume of the Trigonometrical Survey,
the zenith distances of several of the northern stars were
observed at both extremities of the arc; and the difference
of twTo zenith distances of the same star is evidently the
same as the difference of the latitudes of the two stations.
It may be remarked, that the result of this observation is
independent of the declination of the star; and if the obser¬
vation is made at the second station wfithin a short time
after it was made at the first, the result is also nearly inde¬
pendent of the nutation.1
For the determination of the French arc of meridian,
the latitudes w^ere observed with the repeating circle.
This instrument, on account of its portability, is of the
greatest use in geodetic operations ; but it may be ques¬
tioned whether it can be safely relied on for the determin¬
ation of so very important an element as the latitude. Be¬
sides the want of power in the telescope, it is found to be
affected in some unaccountable way by a constant error,
which, however carefully its amount may have been deter¬
mined, leaves a degree of uncertainty with regard to the
results. Mechain mistook the latitude of Barcelona by
about 3". It is to be regretted that the latitudes of Dun¬
kirk and Formentera, the extremities of the French arc,
1 The latitudes of the later portions of the Indian meridional arc were measured by simultaneous observations at each extremity of
the same stars, with 3-feet altitude and azimuth circles; a method every way preferable to that with the sector. (1855.)
FIGURE OF THE EARTH. 559
Figure of have not been determined with the zenith sector. All
the Earth, the other operations connected with the measurement of
that extensive arc have been executed in a style of such
decided superiority, that a more satisfactory, if not more
accurate, determination of the latitudes is alone wanting
to render it the most valuable application of science that
has ever been made with a view to ascertain the magni¬
tude and exact figure of our globe.
The measurement of an arc of parallel usually forms
part of the operations connected with the survey of a large
extent of country. It will frequently happen that the
sides of some of the great triangles lie in a direction near¬
ly perpendicular to the meridian, in which case the arc of
the terrestrial parallel may be easily computed from an
approximate knowledge of the earth’s dimensions ; and if
the difference of longitude of the two stations, or the an¬
gle which their respective meridians make with each other,
has been accurately determined, the comparison of the
corresponding celestial and terrestrial arcs will give the
length of the degree on the parallel. By comparing this
result with the length of a degree measured on a different
parallel, or on the meridian, we can easily deduce the el-
lipticity.
Perhaps the simplest way of conveying an accurate idea
of the nature of the operations necessary to be undertaken
in the measurement of an arc of parallel, will be to de¬
scribe the method that was actually followed in the Bri¬
tish trigonometrical survey, in determining the length of
an arc of parallel from the measured distance between
Beachy Head and Dunnose.
Let BW (fig. 8) be an arc of the great circle perpendi¬
cular to the meridian of Beachy Head at B, meeting that
of Dunnose in W ; and let DR be an arc of the great cir¬
cle perpendicular to the meridian of Dunnose at D, meet¬
ing that of Beachy Head in R; and let BL and DE be
the parallels of latitude passing through B and D. It is
supposed that the latitudes of the two places have been
determined, together with the angles PBD and PDB,
which they reciprocally make with each other and the
pole ; and also that the distance between them on the arc
of the great circle has been measured: the question is
then to find the difference of their longitudes, or the angle
BPD, and the distance in feet between the meridians on
the arcs of the small circles BL and DE passing through
the places.
In the small spheroidal triangle WBD there were given
by observation the two angles WBD and WDB, which
being reduced to the angles made by the chords, gave the
two angles of the corresponding plane triangle. The side
BD was found by triangulation = 339,397-6 feet; whence
the chord of the perpendicular arc BW7 was found
= 336,115*6 feet. In like manner the chord of DR was
found — 336,980 feet.
The terrestrial distances being thus found, it was next
necessary to find the difference of longitude, or the angle
P, and the lengths of the arcs of parallel BL and DE in
degrees. For this purpose there are given PB the co¬
latitude of B, PD the colatitude of D, the angle PBD, which
is the azimuth of D as seen from B, and PDB the azimuth
of B as seen from D.
The rigorous solution of this problem on the spheroid is
attended with considerable difficulty. An approximation
is however easily obtained from a property of spheroidal
triangles (for the demonstration of which we must refer
to the Phil. Trans, vol. Ixxx.), namely, that the sum of the
horizontal angles on a spheroid (or indeed on any surface
differing little from that of a sphere) is nearly the same
as the sum of those which w-ould be observed on a sphere,
the latitudes and difference of longitudes being the same
on both figures. Assuming therefore the sum of the two
angles PDB and PBD to be the same as the sum of two Figure of
spherical angles, w-e have, from Napier’s analogies (see the Earth.
Trigonometry),
cos. 1 (PD + PB) : cos. £ (PD — PB)
= cot. i P : tan. 1 (PDB +PBD),
whence
ta"- * p = c-S-i-f^+ p-F) X cot- * (PDB + PBD) ;
that is to say, the tangent of half the difference of longi¬
tudes is equal to the cotangent of half the sum of the
azimuthal angles multiplied into the ratio of the cosine of
half the difference of the colatitudes to the cosine of half
their sum. In the case under consideration the angle P
was found = 1° 26' 47"*93.
We have now given, in the right-angled triangle PBW7,
which may be considered as spherical, the side PB and
the angle P, whence BW was found = 54' 56"-2L And
from the triangle PDR, in which the side PD and the
angle P are given, DR was found = 55' 4"*74.
The chords of the two perpendicular arcs BW and DR,
whose radius is the radius of the earth, are found, from an
approximate knowledge of the earth’s diameter, to be three
feet and a half shorter than the arcs'themselves, whence
the arc BW =: 336,119-1 feet, and DR = 336,983-5 feet.
Plence the length of the degree of the great circle per¬
pendicular to the meridian, at the middle point between
W and B, is found by proportion = 367,096-8 feet, and in
the middle point between R and D = 367,090-8 feet.
Therefore the mean, or 367,093-8, is the length of a de¬
gree of the great circle perpendicular to the meridian in
latitude 50° 41', which is nearly that of the middle point
between Beachy Head and Dunnose.
Now, by reason of the short distance between the two
stations, and their small difference in latitude, the two
radii of curvature at B and D may be regarded as inter¬
secting each other on the axis at M (fig. 9). Therefore
DM is the radius of the great circle perpendicular to the
meridian, and DE is the radius of the parallel at D.
Therefore 1° of the great circle : 1° of the parallel as
DM ; DE; and DM : DE — 1 : cos. latitude of D;
whence 1 : cos. 50° 44' 24" = 367,094 ; 232,314 feet for
the degree of parallel at Beachy Head, and 1 : cos. 50°
37'7" = 367,094 : 232,914 feet for the degree of parallel at
Dunnose. (Trig. Survey, vol. i. p. 113.)
The length of the degree of the great circle perpendi¬
cular to the meridian, deduced in the manner now explain¬
ed, is about 1250 feet greater than on the spheroid which
corresponds with the measurements of the meridional arcs.
This discrepancy gave rise to a suspicion of errors in the
observation of the azimuthal angles ; and, in fact, the dif¬
ference of longitude, in order to agree with other deter¬
minations, ought to be about 18" greater than that which
was determined in the survey. With this correction the
length of the degree of the perpendicular circle is found
= 365,838 feet. Assuming the dimensions of the earth
deduced from the survey, the length of the degree per¬
pendicular to the meridian at the mean latitude is 365,844
feet. Hence 1° parallel = 231,801 feet.
In the Philosophical Transactions for 1824 an account
is given of some experiments performed by Dr Tiarks for
determining the difference of longitude of Dover and Fal¬
mouth. Twenty-four chronometers were transported by
sea, three several times, from the one place to the other,
by which means the difference of the apparent times was
determined. The difference of longitude was thus found
to be 6° 22' 6"; and the length of the parallel, as found
from the survey, being 1,474,672 feet, we have the length
of a degree of parallel at latitude 50° 44' 24" — 231,563
feet.
The most extensive arc of parallel which has yet been
560
Figure of measured is that between Marennes (near Bordeaux) and
theEarth. patlUa. The details of the operations, which were per-
formed in 1822 and 1823, are given in the Connaissance
de Terns for 1829. The terrestrial arc was determined
by triangulation in the usual manner, and the astronomi¬
cal amplitude by fire signals observed from station to sta¬
tion at five intermediate stations. There are consequent¬
ly six independent arcs; and the final result is affected
with the accumulated errors at all the stations. The ter¬
restrial distance was found to be 1,010,996 metres, or
3,316,976 English feet; and the difference of time deter¬
mined by chronometers 51 min. 56-24 sec., corresponding
to 12° 59' 3"-75 of longitude. The mean length of the
degree, found from the partial arc between Marennes and
Geneva, is 255,546 feet, and from the whole arc between
Marennes and Padua 255,470 feet, both of which results
are greater than the degree on the regular spheroid, which
is found to represent most nearly the meridional arcs un¬
der the same parallel of latitude, namely, 45° 43' 12". A
better example has been afforded by the measurement in
1845 of the arc of parallel between Greenwich and Valen-
tia (Ireland) by the Astronomer Royal; while the instan¬
taneous transmission of time signals by the electric tele¬
graph, which has arisen even since that late date, is (1855)
being employed by many astronomers in Europe and America
for supplying still better materials for new arcs of parallel,
and making them indeed of as much scientific importance
as arcs of the meridian.
SECTION III.
DETERMINATION OF THE FIGURE OF THE EARTH FROM
GEODETIC MEASURES.
Assuming the figure of the earth to be that of an ellip¬
tic spheroid of revolution, the magnitude and ratio of its
equatorial and polar diameters may be determined from
the comparison of the lengths of lines measured between
determined points on its surface, with the corresponding
arcs of the celestial sphere, by means of theorems which
we shall now proceed to demonstrate.
1. To express the radius of curvature of a meridian in
terms of the latitude.
Let PDQ (fig. 10) be the meridian, CP half the polar
axis, CQ the radius of the equator, DM a perpendicular
to the tangent at D, meeting CP in M, and CQ in N;
and let
a — CP half the polar axis,
h — CQ the radius of the equator,
n — DN the normal at D,
r — radius of curvature at D.
Join CD; let CD'be the diameter conjugate to CD,
meeting DM in G; and through D draw DE and DF re¬
spectively perpendicular to CP and CQ. It is demon¬
strated in the article Conic Sections (Part IV. Sec. 2,
Prop. V. Cor. I.), that r X DG = CD'2; and (Prop. XVII.
Part II.) CD' X DG =: CP X CQ = ah; whence CD'2
— d1 l? -h- DG2; and consequently r X DG3 = a2 Z>2.
But (Prop. XXL Part II.) DN X DG = CP2; that is,
n X DG = a2; whence «3 X DG3 = a6, and therefore
FIGURE OF THE EARTH.
72 Figure of
and CF — —n cos. 1. But DF = CE = x and CF the Earth.
IP
— y ; substituting therefore n sin. I for x, and n cos. I
for y in the equation of the ellipse, namely,
DG3 =
n
no
3 consequently
IP w3
r —
a*
find
whence
4- JL - i
a2 62 ’
l rP cos.2 I _ 1
- + — 1,
a2 sin.2 I IP cos.2 V
Let h — a (\ + e) (e denoting the ellipticity or the
ratio of the difference of the semiaxes to the polar semi¬
axis, that is, e =■ —   ; by substituting, we get
sin.2 / + (1 + e)2 cos.2 I'
but since the ellipticity e is very small, all terms multi¬
plied by the square or higher powers of e may be rejected
without sensible error. Hence (1 + e)2 = 1 + 2 e, and
n*   J
therefore n2 —
-5-., or« — «(l + 2e cos.21)
5. I
• 0-)
Again (Prop. XXL Part II.) DN : DM = a2 : b*; and
the triangles NCM, NFD being similar, DN : DM = NF:
CF, whence CF = — NF. Now let the angle DNF or
the latitude of D = l; then DF = n sin. I, NF = n cos. /,
1 + 2 e cos.
whence, on developing and rejecting terms containing e2,
w = a (1 — e cos.2 1) (2.)
IP 1 + 2 e
Now, from equation (1), r = — n3 z= ——— n3; and
from equation (2), n3 — a3 — 3 e cos.2 1) ; therefore
r — a(\ + 2e)(l — 3e cos.21) = a (1 + 2 e — 3 ecos.2/);
or, finally,
r z= a (l — e + 3e sin.2 1) (3.)
2. To express the radius of a circle parallel to the equa¬
tor in terms of the latitude.
Suppose the parallel to pass through D, then DE — y
is the radius required. But it was shown in the last Prop.
b2
that CF (zz DE) =z — cos. I; therefore, substituting
«2 (1 + 2 e) for b2, we have y — n cos. / (1 + 2 e).
Substituting in this the value of n given by equation (2),
we have y — a cos. Z(1 + 2e)(l — e cos.2 /); whence
y — a cos. / (I + 2e — e cos.2 (), or
y = a cos. / (1 + e + e sin.2 /) (4.)
3. To find an expression for the length of an arc of the
meridian, in terms of the latitudes of its extreme points.
If the arc is small, it may be regarded as coinciding
with the osculating circle at its middle point. Let z —
the arc, and r — the radius of curvature at its middle
point; then {z being supposed small) we have z — rsin. z.
But z : sin. z ■=. 1" : sin. 1"; therefore sin. z — z sin. 1",
and the length of the arc in feet — r z sin. 1". Now let l
and II be the latitudes at the extremities of the arc, then
\ “l- 0 th0 latitude of its middle point; and on sub¬
stituting for r its value found in equation (3), the expres¬
sion for the length of a meridional arc, in terms of its ex¬
treme latitudes l’ and l, is
z = a j 1 — e + 3 e sin.2 \ (l + V) j (/' — /) sin. 1"...(5.)
But if the arc is of considerable extent, this expression
will not be sufficiently exact, and it becomes necessary to
find by integration the lengths of the arcs from the equa¬
tor to each extremity of the given arc: the difference of
these two will give z itself. At the latitude l, dz — rdl;
therefore, from equation (3),
dz =. a ( \ — e) dl 2> ae sin.2 I dl,
FIGURE OF THE EARTH.
Figure of and integrating,
the FartU. z — al — ael + 3 aesin.2 I dl.
But J'sin.2 ldlz= \l — ^ sin. 2 1; therefore
s=a|^(l \e) l — fe sin. 2 1^ (6.)
No constant is necessary, because at the equator z and l
vanish together.
* e =
2038  
3 X 362932 X sin.2 (52° 35' 4.5")’
1
561
Figure of
the Earth-
whence e = 7777..
346
Having found the value of e, that of the polar semi-dia¬
meter, or a, is obtained as follows. At the equator, where
L vanishes, we have Z = a (1—e) 3600 sin.", whence
z _ Z X 346
a ~ (1 _ e) 3600 sin. 1" — 345 X 3600 sin." ’
and substituting 362,932 for Z, we find
a — 20,855,000 feet nearly.
The method of deducing the ellipticity and dimensions
of the earth which has now been explained, may be con-
( . veniently employed when the measured arcs are small;
Z=. a \ (1 +-|e)(Z;—l) —16(810.2?—sin.2Z) 5 ; but when the arcs are considerable (and it is necessary
^ J that they should extend over several degrees, in order to
give results deserving of confidence), we must employ the
more accurate expression of the arc found in equation (7) ;
that is to say, we must employ the whole arc measured,
instead of the resulting length of a single degree. Equa¬
tion (7), when reduced to numbers, takes the form
-v A = am + aen   (10-)
=a$ (1 + £e)(? —l)sin.F—|ecos.(? + Z)sin.(?—Z) [(7.) in which m, n, and the arc A, are numbers determined by
l   J _ observation. Another arc will give a similar equation,
A' = am’ + aen',
and by combining the two equations we get
Am' — A'm An' — A'n
  - - -
Let 2' be another arc reckoned from the equator to the
point whose latitude is Z'; then, similarly,
2' = o|(l +Ae)Z' — |e sin. 2 Z' j- ;
and consequently
z1 — z
but sin. 2 1’ — sin. 2 1— 2 cos. (Z' + Z) sin. (V — Z);
therefore
s' — z — a | (1 + ^e) (Z'
or, as V — Z is expressed in seconds, z
■Z)—| e cos. (Z'+Z) sin. (V— Z) ,
4. To express the length of an arc of parallel in terms of
the radius.
Let y =z the radius, D z= the amplitude of the arc in
seconds, and V = its length in feet. Then, by what is
shown above, the length of the arc in feet is ?/D sin. 1".
Hence, from the value of y given in equation (4), the
length of the arc of parallel at latitude Z is
W — a cos. Z (1 -j- e + e sin.2 Z) D sin. 1" (8.)
5. From the measured length of two degrees of meridian
at different latitudes, to determine the axis and ellipticity of
the spheroid.
Let Z and Z' be the measured lengths of two degrees,
and the latitudes of their middle points be respectively L
and L'; then (since in this case V — Z =: 1° =2 3600") we
have, by equation (5),
Zzra(l — e + 36 sin.2 L) 3600 sin. 1",
Z' — a (1 — e + 3 e sin.2 L') 3600 sin. 1",
therefore
Z'__l — 6 + 3e sin.2 L'
Z — 1 — e + 3e sin.2 L ’
whence, performing the division, and neglecting terms
multiplied by e2,
'-A ~ 1 + 3 e (sin.2 L' — sin.2 L),
Li
from which we find the ellipticity
  S' ^ Z  S
3 Z (sin.2 L' — sin.2 L) v V
The accuracy of this expression will depend on the
magnitude of the denominator, or the difference between
L' and L. If L is nearly equal to L', the denominator be¬
comes very small, and the value of e in consequence un¬
certain. The most favourable determination, therefore,
that can be obtained is, when one of the degrees, Z', for
example, is measured near the pole, and Z at the equator,
where L is zero. As an example of this method, we may
deduce the value of e from a comparison of the lengths of
a degree at the equator and in England. Bouguer found
the length of the degree at the equator to be 362,932
English feet; and from the British arc, between Dunnose
and Clifton, the length of the degree is 364,970 feet, at
the latitude of 52° 35' 45". We have therefore Z = 362,932,
Z' = 364,970, L =: 0, L' = 52° 35' 45", by substituting
which in equation (9), there results
YOU. IX.
A!n — An!\,
mn! — rtin
.(11.)
If the terrestrial meridian were a regular ellipse, the
ellipticity deduced from two measured arcs would be the
same at every latitude. But it is found that no two dif¬
ferent measures that have yet been effected concur in
giving exactly the same figure to the meridian. Hence
it becomes necessary to seek the most probable mean
among the different results. Each new measure affords
a new equation of condition, of the form of equation (10) ;
and as the number of unknown quantities remains the
same, whatever may be the number of equations, recourse
must be had to the method of least squares, or some of
the other methods of combination employed by astrono¬
mers. In this way each individual measurement serves
to correct the results given by the former ones.
6. From the measured lengths of an arc of meridian, and
an arc of parallel, to determine the ellipticity of the sphe¬
roid.
Let 2 be the arc of meridian between the latitudes Z and
Z', V the length of the arc of parallel in feet at the lati¬
tude L, and D the difference of longitude in seconds be¬
tween its extreme points. From equation (5) we have
. e + 3 e sin 2 \{l’ + sin. 1",
and from equation (8),
V — (l + e + 6 sin.2 L) cos. L X D sin. 1",
whence
V 2
2 = a 4 1
cos. L X D sin. I"
= ae | 2 + sin.2L-
and, consequently,
V
(? — Z) sin. 1"
.3sin.2i(Z' + Z) j,
cos. L X D sin. 1" (f — Z) sin. 1"
a | 2 + sin.2 L — 3 sin.2 (Z' "t- 0
.(12.)
When the two arcs have been measured at the same
4 u
9
562 FIGURE OF THE EARTH.
Figure of latitude, that is, when L = £ (? + /)> the denominator of
the Earth, this fraction becomes a (2 — 2 sin.2 L) == 2 a cos.2 L.
This combination may be considered as giving a correct
representation of the curvature at any particular place,
or of the dimensions and eccentricity of the osculating
spheroid at that place. But, speaking generally, the ex¬
act determination of the differences of longitude is attend¬
ed with so much uncertainty, that the results obtained
from the comparison of arcs of parallel, either with one
another or with arcs of meridian, cannot be relied on
with much confidence. It is consequently unnecessary
to point out the equations to be employed in deducing
the ellipticity from the comparison of two arcs of parallel.
We shall now proceed to apply the above formulas to
the results of the principal geodetic measurements that
have been executed in different countries. The following
table contains twenty arcs of meridian, between the Figure of
equator and 66° of north latitude; and as they have all lhe
been determined with the utmost attention to every cir-
cumstance which could be supposed to affect their accu¬
racy, they may be regarded as decidedly the best ele¬
ments we yet possess for the solution of the problem of
the figure of the earth. We have excluded all the ancient
arcs except that of Bouguer, and also some recent ones,
where the locality was unfavourable. They are all re¬
duced to the level of the sea. In reducing the foreign
measures, the metre has been assumed (according to
Captain Kater’s determination) = 3‘280899 feet, and the
toise = 6*39'4596 feet, of Schuckburgh’s scale. The ori¬
ginal documents are given in the various works to which
reference has been made in the first section of this
article.
No.
Extremities of Arc.
Peruvian Arc.
Latitude.
Amplitude.
Length in
English Feet.
I
Tarqui  — 3°
Cotchesqui   + 0
4' 32"-07
2 31 -39
3° 7' 3"'5
1,131,057
1st Indian Arc.
2
Trivandeporum
Paudree 
+ 11 44 52-59
13 19 49 -02
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
2d Indian Arcs-
Punnae 
Putchapolliam 
Namthabad 
Daumergidda* 
Takal Khera 
Kullianpoor* 
Kaliana  
Modern French Arcs.
Formentera 
Montjouy 
Carcassone 
Evaux  
Pantheon 
Dunkirk 
Greenwich 
English Arcs.
Dunnose 
Arbury Hill 
Clifton 
Burleigh Moor 
Hanoverian Arc.
Gottingen 
Altona 
Russian Arcs.
Jacobstadt  
Dorpat 
Hochland 
Svanberg’s Swedish Arc.
Mallorn  
Pahtawara  
+ 8 9 32-51
10 59 43 -05
15 5 54 -33
18 3 16 -07
21 5 51 -94
24 7 11-85
29 30 48 -90
+ 38 39 56-11
41 21 46-58
43 12 54-31
46 10 42-54
48 50 49 -37
512 8 -50
51 28 40-00
+ 50 37 8 -60
52 13 28-59
53 27 31-99
54 34 21 -70
+ 51 31 47-85
53 32 45 -27
+ 56 30 4 -64
58 22 47 -41
60 5 9 -90
+ 65 31 31-06
67 8 51-41
1 34 56 -4
2 50 10-5
4 6 11-3
2 57 21 -7
3 2 35 -9
3 1 19 -9
5 23 37-05
2 41 50 -5
1 51 7 -7
2 57 48 -2
2 40 6 -8
2 11 19-1
0 26 31 -5
1 36 20 -0
1 14 3-4
1 6 49 -7
2 0 57 -4
1 52 42 -8
1 42 22 -5
1 37 20 -3
574,318
1,029,171
1,489,198
1,073,409
1,105,499
1,097,320
1,961,157*1
982,247
674,623
1,079,706
973,853
798,971
161,412
586,319
450,018
406,516
736,426
686,022
623,719
593,278
* On remeasurement by Colonel Everest, the arc from Damergidda to Kalianpoor was found to embrace an amplitude of 6° 3/55"-97,
and a length of 2202926-2 feet. (1855.)
FIGURE OF THE EARTH.
563
Figure of
the Earth.
Substituting in equation (7) the values of 2? — z, l, and
V, for each of the arcs in the above table, we obtain the
following equations of condition :
1. a X •0544111 — aeX •05426 = 1131057
2. a X •0276169 — aeX •02371=: 574368
3. a X -0495037 — aeX -04536 = 1029171
4. a X -0716119 — aeX -06058 = 1489198
5. a X -0515924 — aeX -03891 = 1073409
6. a X -0531157 — ae X -03519 = 1105499
7. a X -0527472 — aeX -02933 = 1097320
8. aX-0470778 + oeX-01131= 982247
9. a X-0323260 + ceX-01159= 674623
10. a X-0517210 + ae X-02504=1079706
11. aX-0465751 + aeX-02940= 973853
12. a X-0381990 + aeX-02893= 798971
13. a X-0077158 + aeX-00636= 161412
14. a X-0280221 + aeX-02335= 586319
15. aX-0215422 + aeX-01900= 450018
16. aX-0194397 + aeX-01875= 406516
17. a X-0351849 + aeX-03132= 736426
18. a X-0327868 + aeX *03708= 686022
19. aX-0297797 + aeX-03618= 623719
20. a X‘0283097 + «eX-04293= 593278
From any two of these equations we may deduce values
of a and e; but, as might be expected, the results are
found to be very different according as different arcs
are selected for comparison. We may also add any
number of the equations together, for instance Nos. 3, 4,
5, 6, and 7, the sum of which forms the continuous arc
measured in India by Colonel Lambton and Captain Eve¬
rest: or Nos. 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12, which form the French
arc from Dunkirk to Formentera. But as it is impossible
to satisfy at once all the equations by any value whatever
that can be assigned to a and e, in order to exclude all
arbitrary hypotheses, it is necessary to suppose all the
observations to have been alike good, and deduce values
of a and e from a combination of the w-hole. The best
method of effecting the combination is that of minimum
squares, the principle of which is contained in the follow¬
ing rule : Multiply all the terms of each of the proposed
equations by the co-efficient of a in that equation, taken
with its proper sign, and make the sum of all the products
equal to zero. This will give an equation in which the sum
of the squares of the errors is a minimum in respect of a.
Multiply then each equation by the co-efficient of ae in
that equation, and make the sum of all the products = 0.
This will give a second equation, in which the sum of the
squares of the errors is a minimum in respect of ae. From
the two equations thus obtained, the values of a and ae,
and consequently e, are found in the usual manner. The
operation is extremely laborious when the equations are
numerous, but it is attended with no difficulty.
By combining the above twenty equations in the man¬
ner now described, M. Schmidt obtained the following re¬
sults, which are given in No. 213 of Schumacher’s Astro-
nomische Nachrichten, p. 371; and they are unquestionably
entitled to be regarded as the best determination of the
magnitude and figure of the earth which has been found
from the operations that have been undertaken up to the Figure of
present time for the measurement of meridional arcs.
Radius of equator = 5 = 20921665 Eng. feet.
Radius of pole — a — 20852394
Ellipticity = e = = 30^02 “ ‘O032555
Degree at equator  = 362732
Degree at latitude 45° = 364543-5
In order to discover how nearly the different measures
agree with a spheroid having the dimensions now given,
we shall compare the length of a degree, as given by each
of the above twenty arcs, with its length, computed from
these values of a and e at the same latitudes.
No.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Latitude of
Middle Point.
9
13
— 1° 31' 0"
12 32 21
34 43
2 54
16 34 42
19 34 34
22 36 32
40 0 52
42 17 21
44 41 48
47 30 46
49 56 29
51 15 24
51 25 18
52 50 30
54 0 56
52 32 17
57 26 26
59 13 58
66 20 11
Measured
Length of
Degree.
362,809
362,988
362,863
362,873
363,125
363,257
363,084
364,152
364,239
364,347
364,962
365,052
365,116
365,208
364,625
365,002
365,301
365,203
365,551
365,697
Computed
Length of
Degree.
362,736
362,905
362,834
362,919
363,029
363,139
363,268
364,233
364,376
364,528
364,706
364,859
364,940
364,952
365,036
365,109
365,019
365,310
365,412
365,777
Error in
Measure.
73
83
29
46
96
+
+
+
+
+ 118
— 184
— 81
— 137
— 181
+ 256
+ 193
+ 176
+ 256
— 411
— 107
+ 282
— 107
+ 139
— 80
From this table we see that the degrees increase gra¬
dually from the equator to the pole ; but the increase is by
no means regular. It occurs in some instances that the de¬
grees appear to diminish on going northward ; but these
anomalies must be ascribed either to errors in the observa¬
tions or to local irregularity of form or density. The most
probable source of error is in the latitudes, first, on account
of the difficulty of the observation to the requisite degree
of accuracy ; and, secondly, on account of the irregularities
in the density of the exterior crust of the earth, which
cause a deflexion of the plumb-line from the true ze¬
nith. Hence the longest arcs are the best; for the pro¬
bable error in the determination of the difference of lati¬
tudes is the same whether the arcs are great or small. An
error of 1" in the latitude corresponds to about a hundred
feet on the ground.
If we compare the degree found by some of the mea¬
sures which have been rejected from the foregoing table,
with the degree computed for the same latitudes, we shall
find the errors or anomalies much greater.
Lat. of Middle
Point.
Measured
Length of
Degree.
-33c
39
42
44
66
18' 30"
12 00
59 00
57 30
19 37
364,712
363,786
364,262
368,242
367,086
Computed
Length of
Degree.
363,826
364,181
364,418
364,543
365,774
Difference.
+ 886
— 395
— 156
+ 3699
+ 1312
Arcs.
Lacaille’s arc at Cape of Good Hope... 
North American arc, by Mason and Dixon.
Roman arc, by Boscovich  
Piedmontese arc, by Plana and Carlini 
Maupertuis’ Swedish arc 
564 FIGURE OF THE EARTH.
Figure of Two of these differences are considerably greater than
the Earth, any in the preceding table. Lacaille’s arc corresponds to
v^V^/ one in the northern hemisphere at a higher latitude by
14>°, whence it has been inferred that the two hemispheres
are not exactly similar. The measurement of Plana and
Carlini appears to have been excellent; but both extre¬
mities of the arc were in the immediate vicinity of lofty
mountain ranges, and the very great deviation from the
mean result of the other measures can only be accounted
for by the disturbing effects of local attraction. Mauper- Figure of
tuis’ arc was never reckoned of much value, as it was evi- the Earth,
dent from the first that there was an error in the deter-
mination of the latitudes.
Taking the results of the four arcs of parallel mention¬
ed before, and computing the corresponding degree from
the formula a cos. Z (1 + e + e sin.2 1) 3600 sin. P' (sup¬
posing a and e to have the same values as above), we
get the following table :
Latitude.
43°
50
50
45
3F
44
44
43
50"
24
24
12
Measured
Degree.
266,345
232.331
231,579
255,480
Computed
Degree.
265,154
231,542
231,542
255,370
Difference
+ 1191
+ 789
+ 37
+ 110
Arcs of Parallel.
Lacaille’s arc across the mouth of the Rhone.
Roy’s arc from Beachy Head to Dunnose  
Arc from Dover to Falmouth 
Arc from Padua to Marennes  
It is remarkable that all these errors are affected with
the same sign; and the circumstance might seem to
strengthen a conclusion indicated by a comparison of the
errors of the meridional arcs, namely, that the meridional
curve is not exactly an ellipse, but protuberant between
the latitudes of 40° and 52° ; in consequence of which the
degrees of meridian are shorter, and the degrees of parallel
longer between those latitudes, than if the earth were a
regular ellipsoid. There is no reason to infer that the
meridians are not similar, or that the earth is not a solid
of revolution.
The six partial arcs into which the whole arc from
Marennes to Padua was divided, give the following re¬
sults (Connaissance des Terns, 1829).
Arcs.
Astronomical
Amplitudes.
Length in
Feet.
Length of
Degree.
Marennes to St Preuil...
St Preuil to Sauvagnac.
Sauvagnac to Isson 
Isson to Geneva 
Geneva to Milan  
Milan to Padua 
48-99
23-09
51-39
57-82
9-57
10 45-38
244,123
407,429
437,493
764,736
776,646
686,549
255,865
255,248
255,228
255,686
255,486
255,308
The mean of these results, or the most probable value
of the degree of parallel at the latitude of the stations
(45° 43' 12"), is 255,470 feet, exceeding the computed
length only by a hundred feet; and the ellipticity which
SECTION IV.
THEOKETICAL INVESTIGATION OF THE FIGURE OF THE
EARTH FROM THE LAWS OF HYDROSTATICS.
they indicate is ■ ggg.g ' This is considerably greater than
the ellipticity indicated by the measures of meridional
arcs, but agrees pretty nearly with that which we shall
see is given by the pendulum observations. The results,
however, though valuable as confirming the results ob¬
tained by other methods, are not by any means worthy
of the same confidence as those deduced from the mea¬
surement of meridional arcs.
We shall conclude this section with a re-statement of
the dimensions of the earth, resulting from the principal
measures of arcs of meridian.
Equatorial diameter 
Polar diameter 
Difference of diameters,
polar compression 
Ratio of diameters 
Ellipticity =1
} =
Feet. Miles.
41843330 = 7924-873
41704788 = 7898-634
1
301-026
138542 =
302026 :
26-239
301-026
Length of degree at equator = 362732 feet.
Length of degree at lat. 45° = 364543-5 feet.
In attempting to deduce the figure of the earth from
the general laws of hydrostatic equilibrium, we suppose
the whole mass to have been originally fluid, or in such a
state, that all its molecules were at liberty to obey the
forces by which they are impelled. These forces are,
\st, the attraction of the molecules on one another, ac¬
cording to the Newtonian law; and, 2dly, the centrifugal
force generated by the revolution of the whole mass
about a fixed axis; and the problem is, to determine the
form which such a body, under the influence of these
forces, would ultimately take. In order to obtain a solu¬
tion of the question thus generally enunciated, it is ne¬
cessary to know, a priori, the attractions of the different
parts of the fluid body on one another. But the attrac¬
tion of its different parts depends on their mutual ar¬
rangement; that is to say, on the internal constitution
of the body or the variations of its density, and also on
its form. Of the density in the interior of the earth
we know little; and its form is the very element we are
seeking to determine. This mutual dependence of the
attraction of the mass on its form, and of its form on its
attraction, renders it necessary to have recourse to cer¬
tain arbitrary assumptions respecting the primitive figure
of the earth and its internal structure, in order to deter-
FIGURE OF THE EARTH
565
Figure of mine the relation of the forces with which its different
the Earth. parts attract each other, and thence assign its figure,
s-^si and the variations of gravity at the different points of its
surface.
A fluid mass whose particles are impelled by no other
forces than those which result from their mutual attrac¬
tions, would assume (it is natural to suppose) a spherical
form. Such at least would be a figure of equilibrium ; for
the surface of the sphere being everywhere at right angles
to the directions of the attracting forces, which in this
case all pass through the centre of gravity, a particle
placed on its surface would have no tendency to move
along the surface in any direction. But if the mass is
made to revolve, the rotation gives rise to an extraneous
force, tending to cause every particle to recede from the
axis, and which acts with an energy on each particle di¬
rectly proportional to the distance of the particle from the
axis. Hence the attraction of the mass on each particle,
in the direction perpendicular to the axis of rotation, is
diminished, and the diminution is greatest towards the
equatorial parts, where the distance from the axis is
greatest. In order, therefore, that the equilibrium may
be restored, an accumulation of matter must take place
about the equator, so that the mass will bulge out in that
quarter, and become flattened at the poles, where the
force of attraction is not counteracted. This considera¬
tion led Newton to suppose the figure of the earth to be
that of an oblate spheroid, or the figure that is generated
by the revolution of an ellipse about its shorter axis.
J Before proceeding with the investigation, it will be pro¬
per to inquire what are the conditions necessary to ensure
the equilibrium of a mass of fluid matter, the particles of
wdiich are acted on by their mutual attractions and the
centrifugal force of rotation. Conceive the particles ot a
body A to be solicited by accelerating forces of any kind.
Suppose dm (which may be regarded as a rectangular
parallelepipedon, having its faces parallel to the planes of
the co-ordinates) to be one of the molecules of the mass,
and x, y, z, the co-ordinates of the solid angle nearest the
origin ; then, putting k = the density of the mass, we
shall have dm — k .dx dy dz. Let X, Y, Z be the accele¬
rating forces acting on dm in the direction parallel to the
respective axes of the co-ordinates, then the motive forces
in the direction of the same axes will be respectively
Xdm, Ydm, 'Ldm.
Now let y — the pressure in the direction of the axis
of ar, referred to the unit of surface ; then p . dydz is the
whole pressure on the face dydz of the element dm. But
p may be regarded as a function ot x, y, z; therefore at
the point whose co-ordinates are x + dx, y, z, the pres¬
sure on the unit of surface 18 P ^x’ anc* c°nse(luent‘
ly the whole pressure on the face of dm opposite to dxdy is
(p + Y dxj dydz. The particle dm is thus urged in the
direction of the axis of x by the two forces p . dydz and
^ dxj dydz, or by a force equal to their difference,
namely, ^ dxdydz. In order, therefore, that dm may re¬
main at rest, this last force or pressure must be exactly
balanced by the motive force acting in the direction of
the same axis; that is to say, we must have dxdydz
Xrfm. In the same manner, we must have dxdydz —
t _ Figure of
Ydm, and ^ dxdydz = Zdm; whence, since dm = the Earth.
•(«)•
k . dx dy dz, we deduce
^ = iX, ^ = iY,^ =
dx dy dz
Let the first of these equations be multiplied by dx, the
second by dy, and the third by dz, the sum of the pro¬
ducts gives
dp = k (Xdx + Ydy + Zdz) (b).
The first member of this equation being an exact diffe¬
rential, it is necessary, in order that the equilibrium be
possible, that the second member be an exact differential
likewise. This, therefore, is a condition which must be
satisfied. .
At the surface of the mass the pressure p vanishes,
and equation (b) becomes
0 = k (Xdx + Ydy + Zdz),
which expresses that the resultant of the three forces
X, Y, Z, is perpendicular to the surface.
If the fluid is homogeneous, the density k is constant,
and may be represented by unit. In this case equation
(b) becomes
dp — Xdx + Ydy + Zdz,
and the equation of the surface is
Xdx + Ydy + Zdz) — constant.
It will be remarked that this last equation does not be¬
long merely to the exterior surface or to the homogeneous
fluid i by giving a different value to the constant it will
form the equation of any surface in the interior of a mass
of heterogeneous fluid, at every point of which the pres¬
sure or the density is the same. For let the second mem¬
ber of equation (b) be a complete differential, and equal
to kdf. We have then dp — kdf, whence k is necessarily
a function of jo and/. But on integrating the equation,/
will be given in a function ofp, consequently k must be a
function of jo. When therefore k is constant, p must be
constant, or t/p = 0; hence
y" (Xdx + Ydy + Zdz) = constant.
The different surfaces defined by this equation all possess
the common property of intersecting at every point the
resultant of the accelerating forces X, Y, Z at right angles ;
hence they are denominated level surfaces.
It follows, therefore, that when the above equation is
satisfied, two conditions necessary to the equilibrium are
fulfilled; namely, that the resultant of all the forces urg¬
ing any particle in the interior of the mass is peipendi-
cular to the level surface passing through that particle ;
and that the force acting on any particle of the surface is
perpendicular to the surface. W hen the fluid is homoge¬
neous, or the density equal throughout the mass, the first
of these conditions is always satisfied, and the second is
of itself sufficient. WYiters on this subject have therefore
in general considered that all the conditions necessary to
ensure the equilibrium of a fluid mass, whethei homoge¬
neous or heterogeneous, revolving about a fixed axis, are
comprehended in the single equation
J\Xdx + Ydy + Zdz) = constant;
and this is the view which has been taken of the ques¬
tion by Clairaut, D’Alembert, Lagrange, Laplace, Legen¬
dre, and Poisson. It has, however, been demonstrated
by Mr Ivory, in an elaborate paper in the Philosophical
Transactions for 1824, that when, as in the case of the
earth, a mutual attraction exists among the constituent
molecules of the mass, another condition must be fulfilled ;
and that the equilibrium will not necessarily take place,
unless the figure of the mass is such, that any interior
body of the fluid, bounded by a level surface, be in equili-
566
FIGURE OF THE EARTH.
Figure of brio with respect to the attraction of all the exterior mat-
the Earth. ter>» Hence, in addition to the equation derived from
tjie princ}ple 0f equal pressure in all directions, a second
equation must be satisfied, in virtue of which every level
stratum must possess such a figure as to attract all parti¬
cles in the inside with equal force in opposite directions.
Without having regard to this condition, the problem
cannot be completely solved. (See also Philosophical Ma¬
gazine for April 1825.)
Within the limits to which the present article must
necessarily be confined, it would be in vain to attempt to
give a general solution of this very intricate problem.
We shall therefore content ourselves with demonstrating
that all the conditions of equilibrium will be satisfied, if
the figure of the earth (assumed to be fluid) is that of a
spheroid of revolution of small ellipticity. We shall, first,
suppose the fluid to be homogeneous; and, secondly, that
its density is variable.
Prop. I.—A particle placed anywhere within a hollow
solid of homogeneous matter, generated by the annular
space comprised between two similar and similarly situ¬
ated concentric ellipses revolving about their common
axis, is attracted by the solid equally in all directions.
For let p (fig. 11) be such a particle, and ab any straight
line passing through jo, meetingthe exteriorsurface in a and
b, and the interior in c and d; then if ab be bisected in e,
cd will also be bisected in e, because the figures are simi¬
lar and similarly situated. Therefore ac — db. Now con¬
ceive ab to be the axis of two opposite pyramids having
their vertices at p, and terminated by the surface at a and
b, and let mn be an infinitely thin slice of the pyramid ab,
formed by surfaces parallel to that of the given spheroid.
The attraction of mn on p is directly as the surface nui
and inversely as pm? ; but the surface mn is proportional
to pm?; therefore the attraction of p on the pyramidal
slice mn is constant; hence the attraction of/? on the
whole frustum between a and c is proportional to the num¬
ber of such slices, or to ac. In the same manner the at¬
traction of p on the frustum between d and b is propor¬
tional to db. But ac — db ; therefore/? is attracted equally
in both directions. The same thing being true of all other
pyramids which have their vertices at /?, it follows that
the particle p is attracted equally in all directions, or re¬
mains at rest.
This property, which is true also of the sphere, and
forms one of the necessary conditions of equilibrium, was
first demonstrated by Newton in the Principia.
Prop. II.—To find the ratio of the axes of a homoge¬
neous spheroid of revolution, when a fluid column from
the equator to the centre balances the column from the
pole to the centre, the spheroid being supposed to revolve
about its minor axis, and its particles to attract one ano¬
ther with forces varying in the inverse ratio of their mu¬
tual distances.
Let PQ (fig. 12) be a meridian of the spheroid, of which
the centre is C. Let us assume in the following pro¬
positions, 1
I — the attraction of the spheroid at the pole, or
gravity,
Q = the attraction at the equator,
f = the centrifugal force at the equator,
Q —P the gravitation at the equator, or the
attraction of the spheroid there diminished by the
centrifugal force.
Let also
a — CP half the polar axis,
b ~ CQ the radius of the equator.
In CP take any point E, and make CE = *. It is demon¬
strated in the article Attraction (art. 8), that the force
with which a particle at E is attracted towards C, is to Figure of
that with which a particle at P is attracted in the same ^le Lartl1-
direction as CE to CP, or x to a; therefore the force
X
at E = P . -. Now if we suppose the area of a section
of the column perpendicular to the axis = 1, the mass of
the element of the column will be 1 X cfo = dx, and
X
its pressure will consequently be P - dx. Let this quan¬
tity be represented by du. On integrating, and observing
that while x increases u diminishes, we find
X^
u — const. — P • —.
2a
At the surface a = 0 and x — a; therefore
0 = const. — P' r—;
ia
whence, by subtraction, a = P •
a* — x1
2a
and consequently at the centre, where * = 0, a =: P*
In like manner, if in CQ we take a point F, and make
CF = y, the force at F resulting from the attraction of
V
the spheroid will be Q But the centrifugal force at F
is to that at Q as CF to CQ, or as y to £ ; therefore the cen-
trifugal force at F =: p • Hence the force with which a
particle at F is attracted towards the centre is (Q — <p)^
V
— and the pressure of the element of the column
= Q'^dy. Putting this = du', and integrating as before,
we find, at the centre, u' = Q' |. But, by hypothesis, at
the centre a' — u; therefore — Q'tj> whence P: Q' =
b \ a ; that is to say, the attraction at the pole is to the
gravitation at the equator as the radius of the equator to
the radius of the pole.
Prop. III.—If the radius of the equator is to the radius
of the pole as the attraction at the pole is to the gravita¬
tion at the equator, the resultant of all the forces which
urge a particle situated any where on the surface of the
spheroid is perpendicular to the surface.
Let D (fig. 10) be the particle, and PDQ the meridian
passing through it. As the plane of the meridian divides
the solid into two parts exactly alike in every respect, it
is obvious that the particle can have no tendency to move
out of that plane ; we shall therefore only consider the di¬
rection of the force urging it in the plane of the meridian.
Let DE be perpendicular to CP, and DF to CQ; and
make CE zr x, CF — y. It is demonstrated in the article
Attraction (21 and 22), that the force which attracts
D in the direction DF, perpendicular to the plane of the
equator, is to the force at the pole as DF to CP, or as
x\a; and that the force attracting D in the direction DE
perpendicular to the axis is to the attraction at Q as DE
to CQ, or as y : ; but the centrifugal force at D, which
also acts in the direction DE, is to that at Q as DE to
CQ; therefore, taking X to represent the whole force at
D in the direction parallel to the axis, and Y that in the
direction perpendicular to the axis, we have
X : P = a:: a, and Y : Q' = y :
FIGURE OF THE EARTH.
567
S;£„he„ceX=p2,Y = Q'£.
In QC take the point N such
that FN : FD = Y : X; then FN : FD = Q' | : P
FN • x : FD • ?/ = Q'a : Fb, whence, since FD = x, and
FC = y, FN FC = Q'a : Fb. But by hypothesis Q! : P
z=a:b, therefore FN : FC = a? : b2, whence by the well- whence
known properties of the ellipse FN is the subnormal, and
DN the normal or perpendicular to the surface of the
spheroid at D.
Corollary. If the attraction at the pole is represented
by CP, then the force at any point D on the surface, in
the direction perpendicular to the surface, is proportional
to DN the normal passing through D. It is also propor¬
tional to DM (the normal produced till it meets the axis);
for, by conic sections, DM : DN = i2: a2; that is, DM has
to DN a constant ratio.
The proposition which has now been demonstrated is
sufficient for the equilibrium of a homogeneous fluid mass
revolving about an axis. It may, however, be shown di¬
rectly, that when the above condition is fulfilled, any par¬
ticle in the interior of the mass will be equally urged in
all directions, or will remain at rest. Thus:—
Prop. IV.—If the radius of the equator is to the radius
of the pole as the attracting force at the pole is to gra¬
vitation at the equator, the pressure which any point D
in the interior of the spheroid sustains from the fluid in
canals of any form, extending from that point to the sur¬
face, is the same for every canal.
Let DD'd (fig. 13) be a canal drawn from any point D
in the interior of the spheroid to D' and d in the surface.
Let a/, y, z' be the rectangular co-ordinates of D, and x",
y", z" those of D'. Take F and f, any two points in the
canal indefinitely near each other, and let x, y, z be the
co-ordinates of F; then x -f- dx, y 4" dy, and z + cfe aie
those of/. Now X, Y, and Z being the resultants of the
forces acting on F in the directions of the co-oi dinates,
the forces X, Y, Z will be reduced to the direction of the
canal at F by multiplying them respectively by the co¬
sines of the angles which that direction makes with the
axes, that is, by 0 representing the canal).
Hence the accelerating force acting on F in the direction
and supposing the
therefore, by subtraction,
P = F
t’K a/2 7,"2
* +Q' —
-y
+ z'12—*2
Figure of
the Earth.
or
2a
Now the equation of the surface of the spheroid gives
^ = ji2—(/* + z"2) j,
p — p   p
1 2a 2
a Da(y'2+i''!)
Zb3
and, by hypothesis, P : Q' — & : a, or Pa — Q!b; therefore
Vx—-F--
2a 2
■Q
y2 +y
2b
and on substituting this in the above expression of the
value of we get, finally,
n-va p (y+ 2/1
P~F2 P2a U 2b
This equation being independent of the form of the
canal, and of the situation of the point D7, will necessari¬
ly be the same for every canal extending from D to the
surface of the spheroid; consequently the point D sus¬
tains the same pressure in all directions.
From what has now been demonstrated, it appears that
a fluid spheroid of uniform density, revolving about its
lesser axis, and whose particles attract one another with
forces varying in the inverse ratio of the distances, will
be in equilibria when the gravity at the pole is to the gra¬
vity at the equator diminished by the centrifugal force
there, as the equatorial axis to the polar axis. The equa¬
tion of equilibrium of such a spheroid is therefore Fa=QJb ;
and from this we shall now proceed to determine the ra¬
tio of the axes, or of a:b, corresponding to a given velo¬
city of rotation.
Letcbe the eccentricity, that is, let £
_b2 — a2,
whence
J2 = a2(l + *2> It is demonstrated in the article At¬
traction (23 and 24), that
c2
1 -J-
P = 4era —^— (e — arc tan. s)
Q=(Q.’+<p) = 2irb 1 * (i
arc tan. i
1 +
7).
of the canal is X$ + Y^ + Z
du
area of a section of the canal = 1, the pressure produced
by the action of this force on the fluid contained in tho
„ . , („ dx , V dy \ ry dz\
portion of the canal F/ 18 ^ + Y + Z du)'
But, by what has been demonstrated in the aiticle At¬
traction (9), X = P ^,Y = Q' z = Q,71 ; therefore,
denoting the whole pressure of the canal on F by p, and
observing that/? diminishes as F is nearer the surface, we
have 7 j \
( X dx y /y , 0,z ^
-dp = Aqp-.s+a bduy
and integrating,
the density of the mass being 1, and v the semicir¬
cumference of a circle whose radius is unit. Now if t
denote the time of a revolution, we shall have, from the
theory of central forces, b; and making | = w, we
get ip — \nrbm, whence
Q! = 2^ | ■~1 (arc tan. 1 — — 2m j.
Substituting these values of P and Q! in the equation
Pa = Q'6, it becomes
--— (s — arc tan. t) =
2nb2
4ca2
+ *2
m
arc tan. t
1 + s'
■) _ 2m } ;
x2
p — const. P Q
v.V
+ z2
2b
At the point D this becomes
„ ny2+ z'2
p - const. — P 2^—^ yA ’
and at D', where p = 0,
whence, putting a2 (1 + s2) instead of i2, and neglecting
the common factors, we get
3s 4- 2ms3 ^
arc tan. s ==
3 + s2
0 = const
2a
In order to discover whether this equation, which is
transcendental, has a real root, or how many, we may put
„ 3s + 2mi3 t *
13 =  arc tan. 1 (2),
o "■p s
568
Figure of and suppose the curve to be described, of which £ is the
the Earth. a{)SCjSg) an(l [3 the ordinate. This curve will evidently
cut the axis at the origin of the co-ordinates; for when
s = 0, we have also (3 = 0; but the root i = 0 has no con¬
cern with the question ; for the velocity, and consequently
f, is supposed to be a real quantity. By changing the sign
of «, the value of /3 undergoes no alteration, whence the
curve has two equal and similar branches on opposite sides
of the origin; we need therefore attend only to the posi¬
tive values of £. If then we suppose £ to increase from
nothing to infinity, the value of will begin and end with
being positive, whence between these two values of t the
curve will either not cut the axis at all, or cut it an even
number of times ; or, which is the same thing, the equa¬
tion has either no roots, or an equal number.
To find the values of t corresponding to the greatest
and least values of/3, we must make d/B = 0. Differen¬
tiating equation (2), we get, after arranging the terms,
FIGURE OF THE EARTH.
cording to the powers of f, and converging rapidly. Be- figure of
dp
ds
2£3|rt2£4 + (10m — 2y + 9m| _
<1 + £2) (3 + «2)2
whence, making d@ = 0,
wi£4 + (10m — 2)»2 + 9m = 0...
the two roots of which are
•(3),
e2
=s——z±= y (5—-)—9.
m ^ \ m)
reduction,
arc tan. f =
7 r5 + 30£3 + 21 i
(3 + s*)(l + il) (9 + s2)’
or, dividing the terms by (3 + £2),
?£3 + 9s
cause (see Algebra, sect. xxv. (H 2)
£3 . s5
arc tan. £ — £ — ^ ’4" 5“
and because
Since these are the only roots of equation (3), it fol¬
lows that there can be only one maximum and one mini¬
mum value of the ordinate (3 on each side of the origin of
the abscissa. Hence we infer that the curve intersects
the positive abscissa only in two points exclusive of the
origin ; so that there are two, and only two, real and po¬
sitive roots of the equation (1). Thus there are two
forms of the oblate spheroid, which, for a given velocity
of rotation, satisfy the condition of equilibrium ; a curious
result, which was first made known by Legendre.
The limits within which the roots of equation (1) are
possible will be obtained by determining the values of >
and m at the point where the curve touches the axis of
the abscissa without cutting it. At this point (3 0, and
dP = 0. When dp — 0, equation (3) gives
2*2 2e2
m = 64 + 10 £2 +~9 = (1 + *2) (9 + *2) ;
substituting this in (2), and making p = 0, we get, after
=: s
+
&c.
&c.
arc tan. £ ~^1 +
an equation which can have only one positive root besides
» =: 0. On solving it by approximation we easily find, on
a few trials,
1 = 2-5292 ;
whence, from equation (4), the corresponding value of
m is
m = 0-11234.
From this we conclude that, when the value of m is
smaller than 0-11234, the equation (1) has two unequal
positive roots; that when m is equal to this number, the
two roots become equal, or the two intersections of the
curve with the axis pass into a contact; and that when m
is greater than 0-11234, equation (1) has no real roots, or
the equilibrium is impossible.
When the eccentricity e is a very small fraction, as in
the case of the earth, the values of the quantities denoted
by P and Q may be developed in series proceeding ac-
1 + £5
the preceding expression for P becomes
whence, on multiplying, and rejecting all terms involving
higher powers of s than the square,
p = 4m(! + 'i3i!!)=ir(1 +i'‘}
Making the same substitutions in the value of Q, we find
Q = 2*6 i±jl S3_ i ,5 +, &c.),
and multiplying as before,
a=^(i-As2)=4-r(1-5 4
Now, if instead of s we introduce the ellipticity e, and
make e — ^ -, we shall have 5 — « (1 + e). But we
have already assumed a2 (1 + £2) ; whence 1 + e
— V 1 + e2 ; and on rejecting the second and all the
higher powers of e (which may be done because e is sup¬
posed to be a very small fraction), we have 1 + 2e =1 + £2,
and consequently 2e zr £2. Substituting this in the above
formulas, and observing that b -=z a (\ -\- e), we get
_ 4-3-0!/, . 4 \ „ 4-372/ , 3 \
p = -r(1 + 5e); Q = -3-(1 + 5ej;
and since <p — k<xbm — 4-372 (1 -j- e) in — kvcam (for m and
e being both very small fractions, their product me may
be neglected), we have also
Q’=Q_P=—(l+^-
Substituting these values of P and Q'in the equation ot
equilibrium, Pa = Q!b — Q'a (1 + e)> there results
1 + — (1 + e) ^1 + ^ e — ;
whence, rejecting terms multiplied by e2 and em, we find
15
e — — m.
4
The ratio of the centrifugal force to gravitation at the
5 £
4 Q'
3m^.
equator is y,, or
V6
P ™  =3m; hence e = j that
1+ - e — 3m
5
is to say, the ellipticity of a homogeneous spheroid re¬
volving about an axis, and whose form does not differ
greatly from that of a sphere, is equal to the fraction
formed by dividing five times the centrifugal force at
the equator by four times the gravitation at the equa¬
tor. By comparing the length of the arc described by a
point on the earth's surface in a second of time, with the
descent of falling bodies, Newton found this ratio in the
case of the earth to be^rr, whence m —
/dOiJ
1
867’
and consequently g ” ’J' * 3 x 289
3 X 289
15 1 1 *
= 9TF’ 80 that' SUP'
posing the earth to be homogeneous, the ratio of its polar
to its equatorial axis ought to be 230 to 231 very nearly.
FIGURE OF THE EARTH.
569
Figure of The ellipticity deduced from the actual measurements of
the Earth, degrees, as well as from the variations of gravity indicat-
ed by pendulum observations, is considerably less than
1
231
consequently the earth is not homogeneous.
7T
In what precedes, we have supposed generally m — -,
and found for the limit which m cannot exceed, m
=: O'11234. Let be what m becomes in the case of
the earth, and V be the time (expressed in parts of a mean
solar day) in which the earth makes one revolution about
its axis; t being the time in which a spheroid of the same
mean density as the earth would make a revolution when
™ = 011234. We
have then m! — - ,
r
= t- : tfl, whence t — tfj1—. But ^ = 23 h. 56 m. 4 sec.
** m
— -99727 day ; and we have already found m' there-
whence m’ : m
fore t - -99727
*/ 8G7
1
867
= 01009 day = 2
867 X 011234
hours 25 minutes 26 seconds. Hence a fluid mass of the
same density as the earth could not be in equilibrium with
the figure of an ellipsoid of revolution if its time of rota¬
tion were less than 2 h. 25 m. 26 sec. If the time of ro¬
tation is greater, there are two elliptic spheroids, and not
more, which, with the same velocity of rotation, give a
figure of equilibrium.
Hitherto we have considered only one of the roots of
equation (1), and seen that it gives 230 : 231 as the ra¬
tio of the polar to the equatorial axis. Let us now in¬
quire into the value of the other root.
As the value of s9 in the former case was very small, it
will now be large ; we may therefore proceed as follows:
The identical equation
1 f 1
arc tan. i ~ — v — arc tan. —
gives
1 1 , 1 1,0
arc tan. * = 2 7 + 3?~575 +’ &C’
whence equation (1) becomes
 .1 _L _i 1 1 l
3? 2 « 3.9 5e5+,&
Reverting this series, in order to find e in a series pro¬
ceeding by the powers of m, we get
<x
8 12»i^
3ffV +
&c.
in the*case of the earth, the ellipticity of such a spheroid Figure of
would be different from the actual ellipticity of the earth, the Earth,
as determined by observation. It follows that the terres-
trial spheroid must be heterogeneous, or of variable den¬
sity ; and this supposition is rendered more probable by
what is otherwise known of the nature of the earth. The
difficulties of the problem are however greatly increased
in the case of a heterogeneous fluid ; indeed it is only
brought within the power of analysis by assuming that
the form of the revolving mass differs very little from that
of a sphere, and that it is regularly composed of concen¬
tric layers, increasing in density from the surface towards
the centre, according to a determinate law. Admitting
these assumptions, it may be demonstrated that the ob¬
late spheroid of revolution is in this case also a figure
of equilibrium.
The demonstration will be greatly simplified by means
of the two following propositions respecting the attraction
of homogeneous spheroids of small ellipticity, and which
are easily deduced from the properties demonstrated in
the article Attraction.
Prop. V.—To find the measure of the attractive forces
that urge a particle situated any where within or in the
surface of a homogeneous oblate spheroid of revolution,
in the directions parallel and perpendicular to the axis,
the ellipticity being small.
Let D be the particle, x and y its rectangular co ordi¬
nates (x being taken along the axis, and y perpendicular
to the axis, in the meridional plane passing through D) ;
let also X and Y denote the attractive forces soliciting the
particle in those directions, and k = the density of the
spheroid..
By Attraction (25), P : X = a : and Q : Y = 6
therefore X = P-and Y = Q^. But it has been already
a 0
shown, that when the elipticity is small,
4<t
■p 4w
r = Ta
>
therefore
X
(i+r)'Q=T“(
=M>+Hy=tM1+7)
attraction
1
is
e = -785398  2-546479 — 4-436656 m.
m
, _ 1
Relatively to the earth, it has been seen that m — ;
by substituting which in the above equation, we find 1 = 680
nearly; so that Vl + e2, the ratio of the equatorial to the
polar axis, is 680 : 1. In this case the spheroid is extreme¬
ly flattened.
In the preceding propositions it has been demonstrated
that a fluid mass of uniform density revolving about a fixed
axis will be in equilibrio, if its form is that of an oblate
spheroid, provided the velocity of rotation does not ex¬
ceed a certain limit, which has been ascertained. . But it
has been remarked, that if the same relation exists be¬
tween the attraction and the centrifugal force as exists
VOL. ix.
Introducing the density k, to which the
a 1
directly proportional, and observing that ^ > these
expressions become
x=Tfa(1+!e)iY = T^(1-7);
Prop. VI.—To find the measure of the forces with which
an oblate spheroid, whose ellipticity is small, attracts a
particle situated any where without it, in the direction
parallel to the axis, and in the direction perpendicular to
the axis, the density being uniform.
Let PQ (fig. 14) be the given spheroid, of which the
axes are a and b, D the given point without the spheroid,
and x’ y' the co-ordinates of D. From the two assumed
xP i/2
equations U2 — an = b2 — a*, and ^ = 1, find a' and
V, and conceive another spheroid FQ' to be described
whose polar and equatorial semidiameters are respectively
a' and 5', whose centre coincides with that of the given
spheroid, and which has its equator in the same plane.
The surface of this spheroid, in consequence of the equa¬
tion
D.
<+2^_
l/2
1, will necessarily pass through the point
„ T , ax'
Make x — —, y '■
a
W
V ’
then, by what is demonstrat-
4 c
570
FIGURE OF THE EARTH.
Figure of eel in Attraction (26), the point D', whose co-ordinates
the Earth are x and ?/, is in the surface of the given spheroid PQ;
and the attraction of the spheroid PQ on a particle at D
is to the attraction of the spheroid P'Q' on the point D', as
U1: IP in the direction perpendicular to the equator, and as
ab : dV in the direction perpendicular to a plane passing
through the axis. If, therefore, we denote by X and Y
the attractions of the given spheroid PQ on D, and by X'
and Y' those of the spheroid P'Q' on D', in the directions
of the co-ordinates x and y respectively, we shall have
X:X' = b* : bn, and Y : Y'= ab : a’V,
consequently
Y —X> Y — — Y’
X- 1 - a'l/1-
But by the last proposition,
x' = Tfa(1 + HY' = T^(1-|e')
(e' being the ellipticity of the spheroid P'Qy) ; therefore
and, on substituting for x and y their values - x' and ^y',
we have
x=t^H1+5T; Y-TM^hv~5er
We must now eliminate from these equations the quan¬
tities a', U, and e\ by means of the three equations of con¬
dition^- + 1,Z»'2 — a!2 =b2 — a2, and 6' = a'(1 + e/).
au
In order to abridge, let r = CD, the distance of D from
the centre of the spheroid, and & — the angle DCP. We
have then x — r cos. 6, y — r sin. 6, and the first of the
above equations becomes r2 (J/2 cos.2 & + a'2 sin.2 0) =
a!2, IP, which, since V — ar (l + s'), and consequently i'2
= a'2 (1 + 2P), reduces to r2 (1 + 2 e' cos.2 6) = of2
(1 + 2e!). On dividing by 1 + 2e', and neglecting terms
multiplied by e2, this gives a!2 z=. r2 ( \ — 2e! sin.2 6), and
consequently a!2 d — r2 d.
But bn = a'2 (1 + 2e'), therefore V2 — a'2 = 2a!2d;
and in like manner, b2 — a2 =■ 2a2e; whence, by reason
of U2 — arl =■ b2 — a2, we have a!2 e! ■=. a2 e; consequently
Substituting these expressions in the above values of X Figure of
and Y, writing r cos. 6 for xr, and r sin. 6 for y', we get Earth.
X = k % -f 1 + 2e — e (2 — 5 sin.2 6) | cos. 6,
e —„ (4 — 5 sin.2
■e = i3 e!, and P
a"
2 C-
r2
Substituting this value of P in
ab2
dV2
and
= ^ I1 + 2e—(2 —5sin-2<0}
l1 b^)~dV2Y 5r2 6)
_ «3 f , , o 3a* /A C
1 + 2e—ex^(4 — 5
ab9
dF2
Y=
4w . a3
-r h
3 r2
\
1 + 2e-
br2
G) j- sin.0.
the equation a'2 = r2 (\ — 2e' sin.2 d), we get a'2 — r2 —
2a2 e sin.2 0; whence, neglecting terms in e2, d — r —
ctf^G sin ^ ^
-—^T~~’ From the equation an = r2 (1 — 2P sin.2 6)
we also get b® — d2 = bn — r2 (1 — 2^ sin.2 6); but b'2
— d2 — 2d2 d — 2a2 e ; therefore 2a2 e = b12 —^ r2 (1 —
2P sin.2 6), and consequently b'2 = r2 + 2a2 e cos.2 9.
From these values of d and b'2 we find, on multiplying
and neglecting terms involving the square and higher
powers of e, d b'2 = r3 2a2 re cos.2 9 — a2 re sin.2 9
= r3 + rcPe (2 — 3 sis1..2 9). But b2 = a2 (1 + 2e),
and ab2 «3(1 -f- 2e), therefore
'l + ^)=^(l +^e
6)
r
Thus the expression of the force with which a homo*
geneous spheroid attracts a point placed without it has
been found in finite terms. The ingenious process of ana¬
lysis by which this result, of very great importance in
the theory of the figures of the planets, has been obtain¬
ed, is one of the many discoveries for which mathemati¬
cal science is indebted to Mr Ivory.
Prop. VII.-—To find the measure of the forces with
which an oblate spheroid whose ellipticity is small, attracts
a particle situated any where on its surface, in the direc¬
tion parallel to the axis, and in the direction perpendicu¬
lar to the axis, the density being variable.
In the solution of this problem we suppose the spheroid
to be composed of infinitely thin concentric layers, bound¬
ed by spheroidal surfaces of different ellipticities, and that
the density is uniform for a single layer, but variable from
one layer to another.
Let PQ' (fig. 15) be the given spheroid, d, b' its polar
and equatorial radii, and D the attracted point. Let D'
be any point within the spheroid P'Q', and PQD' be a sphe¬
roidal surface at every point of which the density is the
same, a, b its polar and equatorial radii, and e its ellipti¬
city. Also let/?, q be another spheroidal surface indefi¬
nitely near PQ, of which the polar radius C/? = a + da,
the equatorial Cq = b + db, and the ellipticity = e + de.
Between the two surfaces PQ and pq the density k may be
supposed constant.
In order to find the attraction of the whole spheroid on
D, we must first find expressions in terms of a for the
forces with which D is attracted by the elementary layer
VQpq ; the integration of these expressions from a := 0 to
a —d will give the attractions of the spheroid.
Conceive for a moment the density of the spheroid
CPQ to be uniform and = h. The forces X and Y with
which this spheroid attracts D are given by the last pro¬
position, and the forces with which C/?<7 attracts D will
be found by substituting a da for a, and e de for e
in the same expressions for X and Y. Now, as the ellip¬
ticity varies from C to P', e may be regarded as a func¬
tion of a; its variation is consequently included in the
variation of a, and the attractions of the spheroid Qpq
hence become
X^-d~ da, Y + ^ da.
da da
The difference between the attractions of the spheroids
Cpq and CPQ is the attraction of the layer YQqp, which
is therefore ^ da, and da. Hence, if we represent
da da
the attractions of the whole heterogeneous spheroid CP'Q'
by X! and Y', we shall have
x'=/f Y'=/S’"“'
which integrals must be taken from a = 0 to a = a', the
density k, which enters as a factor into X and Y, being re¬
garded as a function of a.
Let us first consider the force X'. By last proposition
we have
*3 r 3r/2 „ . „
5 sin.2 0) V
4ff a*
X = — k —
3 r2
{l + 2e-e%(2.
cos. 9,
Figure of whence
the Earth.
(^da~Y? { ^1+2e'aS)~^(2—5 sin-^Ka5e)}
Integrating, and regarding k as variable, and a function of
a, and going through the same process with respect to Y,
we get for the attractions of the spheroid CP'Q' in the di¬
rections respectively parallel and perpendicular to the axis,
X'=^| i fkd(l + 2i*') j
FIGURE OF THE EARTH. 571
Xrf=Xf + X" Yw=Y' + Y" ; Figure ot
and if the spheroid revolves about its polar axis, Yw must the Earth,
cos.4. be diminished by the amount of the centrifugal force =
— , — r sin. Q; therefore the attractions of the given sphe-
3 E
roid on the point D' are
X"=X' + X",
Y'r-Y'+Y"
1 + 2e.a3)-
3(4—5sin.2/))
5rl
-Jltd(a5e) | sin.0.
Prop. VIII.—To find the measure of the forces with
which a heterogeneous layer, included between two level
surfaces, attracts a particle situated anywhere within it.
Let D' (fig. 15) be the given particle situated within
the spheroidal layer PQQ'P, x' and if the co-ordinates of
D', a — polar semiaxis, and e = eccentricity of the inner
surface PQ passing through D', a! — polar semiaxis of the
exterior surface P'Q', and h — density at the interior
surface.
Suppose the interior of the spheroid PQ to be filled
with matter of uniform density h, then by Proposition V.,
the attractions of that spheroid on Dr are
Y=T*(1_te)y’
or, changing a/ into r cos. 0, and if into r sin. 6,
X— + ^e^cos. Y = ^ejsin. 0.
Now the attraction of another similar spheroid Cpq, whose
polar semiaxis is a + da, wall be found by substituting
a + da for a and e-f cfe for e in the above expressions ; and
the attraction of the elementary layer VQ.pq on D will
be the difference of these attractions. But
da— . - rkde cos. <1,
da 3 b
dY 7 4cr
^*=-T
^ rkde sin.
5
Sir
— • — r sin. 6.
e being regarded as a function of a. The integral of these
expressions will give the attraction of the layer PQqp on
D'; but as this attraction diminishes while a increases,
if we take A to represent what J\de becomes when a be¬
comes a', and denote by X" and Y" the attractions of
the whole layer PQQ'P', we shall have
X7= |r—Jkde'jcos. 6,
Y”= — ^. f r^A —-Jkdejsin. 6.
Prop. IX.—To find the attraction of a heterogeneous
spheroid on a point within it.
Let D' (fig. 14) be the given point, and CP'Q' the
given spheroid, r cos. 6 and r sin. $ the co-ordinates of D',
o', and d, the polar semiaxis and ellipticity of the given
spheroid CP'Q', and a and e those of the spheroidal sur¬
face passing through D' and all the points of equal den-
sity.
The whole force urging D' may be conceived as made
up of two parts ; that arising from the spheroid CPQ, the
surface of which passes through D, and that of the sphe¬
roidal shell PQQ'P. The first of these forces is given by
the expressions represented by X' and Y' in Prop, VII.
and the second by the expressions represented by X* and
Y" in Prop. VIII. Therefore, if we denote by X'" and Y'"
the attractions of the whole spheroid on the particle D', in
the direction parallel to the axis, and in the direction per¬
pendicular to the axis, we shall have
4vr
F * >
Pkop. X. To find the ratio of the ellipticity to the
density of any level surface, when the component of all
the forces urging any point on the surface is perpendicular
to the surface. ,
The forces urging the particle D' (fig. 14) being X'" and
Y'", in order that their resultant may be perpendicular to
the surface, we must have
X'" : Y'" = ME : ED (fig. 10).
ip
But ME (the subnormal)(1 + 2e) a/, and ED=y;
therefore X'": Y'" = (l + 2e>' : y, whence, substituting
yjn Y'"
r cos. ^ for Pand r sin. d for y, -r — • x (1 + 2s)=:0.
cos. & sin. 0
Now, if we substitute for X'" in this equation the values
of X' and X" given by Propositions VII. and VTIL, and
for Y'" the values of Y'and Y" multiplied by (1 -p2e), and
neglect terms involving e2, we shall find, on changing the
signs and having regard to the centrifugal force,
I,/M (T+2e. a3) (<*) - f ^ (a -/**)-
2=1 = 0.
Dividing by 2r, and substituting a for r (which may be
done without sensible error, because all the terms of the
equation are small, and because r2 differs from cd only by
a quantity depending on the ellipticity e), we shall find
yid(f+2l.a?)-- | (A-/**)-
3t
2t2
= 0.
From this we infer that if k and e have the relation to
each other indicated by this equation, and that e is very
small from a=0 to a—a!, each of the level surfaces will
be intersected at every point by the resultant of the at¬
tractive forces under an angle which will differ from a
right angle only by an infinitesimal of the second order,
supposing the centrifugal force to be very small in com¬
parison of gravity. Hence, neglecting quantities of the
second order, the elliptical spheroid (supposing the equa¬
tion possible) is a figure of equilibrium.
In order to discover whether the equation which has
now been obtained is possible, it must be differentiated
twice in order to eliminate^*kd(a5e) andJ'kde, both of
which contain the ellipticity e. Observing that as the
first term is multiplied by e, we may suppose, without sen¬
sible error, J'hd(1 + 26 . a3)=-^J kd(a?)——^J'kdUla,
and the first differentiation gives, on multiplying by a6,
^ a3Jkdrda — Sa?eJ'ka^da + J'kd{a5e)-Q.
Differentiating again, and considering da as constant, we
shall find, after reduction,
d~e
da1
2ka2 ,de_L.( 2ha J> \ _n
'J' ka2da * da' xj'htdda a? Je~ '
572
FIGURE OF THE EARTH.
Figure of This is the equation given by Clairaut (Figure de la therefore
the Earth. j'erre) p, 276). It can be integrated by the usual me-
thods when k is expressed in terms of a ; consequently
the equilibrium is always possible if the density is a func- vvhence
tion of the distance from the centre. The integration
being performed, an equation will result between the den¬
sities and ellipticities of the different spheroidal layers,
by means of which, when one of these elements is sup¬
posed to be given, the other can be determined.
Prop. XI.—To find the whole force urging a particle
situated at any point on the surface of a heterogeneous
spheroid revolving about its shorter axis.
By Prop. VII. the force urging the particle in the di¬
rection of the axis is X', and in the direction perpendicu¬
lar to the axis Y'; but in consequence of the centrifugal
force, the latter becomes Y' — p, therefore the whole
force urging D in the direction of the normal
M
5a5
N-
M m
' 2a?
— 0,
Figure of
the Earth.
3 N
5a4
M M / m\
V 2)’
=^/xK+(Y'-cpy.
Neglecting the^ terms which involve e2 and e<p (<p being
small as well as e), and puttingJkd(] + 2e.a3) = M,and
y"* . _ 4‘T2
kd (a5e) = N, and substituting — r sin. 6 for <p, we get
'irrV .. 6(2-
3 ,7r 3 N
Substituting these values of — and —— in the above
t OU*
value of U, we get, after reduction,
u= T-^{1"2e+m-(lm-c)sin-'‘1}-
At the equator sin. £) = 1, and this equation becomes
4* M/ 3 )
and at the pole, where sin. d zz 0, it gives
4cr M
P =
^1 — 2e + m ;
X'2
(V
|m2
_ /4ff\2
cos.2d-
M2sin.2^-
5r2
6(4
5sin‘2^ M N cos.2 6 ^
• 5 sin.2 6)
6 M err3 sin.2 0
5r4
MNsin.2^
whence, putting X2 + (Y-
D-(^r i-
<p)2 =z U2, there results
6(2 — 3sin.
5 r2
MN
6 M^rr3 sin.2 ^
3^rrsin.2 4
consequently the difference between the force of gravity
at the pole and that of gravitation at the equator is
4?r M /5m \ „• -j- >• 1 1 1 ••
— . —2- f-g —ej. Dividing this by the polar gravity P,
. . .5m , . , ,
we get for the quotient — e, which, therefore, ex¬
presses the ratio of the excess of the polar gravity above
the gravitation at the equator to the gravity at the pole.
Let this ratio = n, we have then
5
n = 2m — e’
a very remarkable relation between the gravity and el-
lipticity, which was discovered by Clairaut, and is gene¬
rally called Clairaut's theorem.
If we substitute 1 — cos.2 4 for sin.2 4 in the equation
j.. 11=^.^ 11 — 2e-\-m — i^m—ej sin.2 4 | ,
and extracting the square root,
it _ 4?rJM 3(2 —3sin.24)XT
3 ( r2 5 r4
But the equation of the ellipse gives
2 2 4 _L ^ S*n‘2 ^ 2
r2 cos.2 4 H r—p—— = a*
1 + 2 e
whence we deduce r2 = a2 (l+ 2e sin.2 4) ; therefore, sub- or, neglecting quantities of the order me,
stituting and dividing, and neglecting terms in Ne and ep,
we get
TT 4 M J 3
U=-3 +
(f —e) cos*2 ^ j ’
D
3 \a2^
2esin.24) — p.
' 5
3 ‘T2 a sin.2 4
3^7’ U=V'“(l-t-|»){l + (|»-.)cM..,}i
I
whence we have U = Q(1 + « cos.2 4). Now in this equa¬
tion the angle 4 may be taken for the complement of the
latitude, from which indeed it differs only by a quantity
Let the centrifugal force at the "equator z= m X gra- °f t,le second order, and the equation then becomes
vity ; then, if m is a very small fraction (as in the case of U = Q(1 + rc sin.2 1); whence we infer that, on going
1 v from the equator towards the pole, the increase of gravity
the earth, where m = ^cjh terms involving the product is proportional to the square of the sine of the latitude.
, . ' Letp be the length of the seconds pendulum at the
m e may be neglected, and the last equation, multiplied by equator, y its length at any latitude l, and U the intern-
m, wi ecome sity of the gravitating force at the same latitude/. When
the time of oscillation is constant, the length of the pen¬
dulum is directly proportional to the intensity of gravity;
therefore //:p — U: Q, and consequently
p'—p U — Q
rT 4ir M
m U = —• m
3 a2
but the centrifugal force at the equator — ^2_a(l+e),
which does not differ sensibly from-A-ay thereforea
4 vr M 3 «* M m.
Now, at the surface the
4 s’2
-p- — m, or - —
da? p
M m
P
therefore,
P'—P
Q
zz n sin.21
But U z= Q (1 + » sin 2 /),
5 m
(5 m \
= (—
sin.21.
equation of equilibrium in Prop. X. becomes
3 „ 3*
-3m.
a3
5 a5
N-
2f2
= 0,
rrJ ____ rv\ ^
At the pole sin. I — l,and^-   z: — —e; therefore.
p d
. b — a p' — p , b — a 5 m
since e — ,     +    — —
a p a 2
FIGURE OF THE EARTH.
573
Figure of Now it has been shown that in the case of a homoge-
the Earth.
neons spheroid the ellipticity is; hence
theorem:
In the case of a heterogeneous spheroid, the excess of
the length of the pendulum at the pole above its length
at the equator divided by its length at the equator, and
the excess of the axis of the equator above the polar axis
divided by the polar axis, form two fractions, of which
the sum is constant, and equal to twice the ellipticity the
spheroid would have if homogeneous.
SECTION IV.
ON THE FIGURE OF THE EARTH AS DETERMINED BY
OBSERVATIONS OF THE PENDULUM.
As the various methods of determining the length of a
pendulum which makes a given number of vibrations in a
mean solar day, and the corrections that are required to
reduce the observations to the same circumstances in re¬
spect of altitude, temperature, barometric pressure, &c.
form the subject of a separate article, we shall here limit
ourselves to a brief abstract of the results of some of the
latest and best observations.
The ellipticity of the earth is deduced from the observ¬
ed number of vibrations made by an invariable pendulum
of a given length at different latitudes, by means of the
theorem of Clairaut. Let N = the number of oscillations
made by a pendulum at the equator in a mean solar day,
N' — the number of oscillations made by the same pendu¬
lum at the latitude l; then Q representing, as before, the
gravitation at the equator, and U the gravitation at lati¬
tude l, we have, by the last proposition in the preceding
section,
U = Q(I + ri sin.21).
But by the property of the invariable pendulum, the
square of the number of vibrations is directly proportion¬
ed to the force of gravitation ; therefore U : Q =: N'2: N2,
whence N'2 — N2 (1 + « sin.2 /).
fourteen different sets of observations with
pendulums. They are as follows :
we have this 1. The observations of Captain Kater at different sta-
invariable Figure of
the Earth.
In this equation n = - m-
— e; there
“ 2 X 289
fore, as N'2 is given by observation at any station, we can,
by combining the results at two different latitudes, deter¬
mine N and n, and consequently e. The pendulum gives
no information respecting the magnitude of the earth.
Instead of N and N', we might substitute in the above
equation the lengths of the seconds pendulum at the equa¬
tor, and the latitude l (the length of the seconds pendu¬
lum being also directly proportional to the intensity of
gravity) ; but as the invariable pendulum is now almost
universally employed for the measurement of the va¬
riations of gravity, the formula under the above form is
more immediately applicable to the results of observation.
The absolute length of the pendulum (which is not very
easily determined) has no concern with the present ques¬
tion.
For the purpose of exhibiting the variations of gravity,
we shall confine our attention to the results that have
been found from observations with the invariable pendu¬
lum. The results given by pendulums of a different kind
are probably not less exact, but they are not directly com¬
parable, on account of the great uncertainty that remains
respecting the correction that ought to be applied for the
buoyancy of the atmosphere.
In the seventh volume of the Memoirs of the Royal
Astronomical Society, Mr Daily has given the results of
tions in Great Britain. These are detailed in the Philo¬
sophical Transactions for the year 1819.
2. Those of Mr Goldingham at London and Madras,
and of Mr Lawrence and Mr Robinson with the same
pendulum at the small island of Pulo Guansah Lout, on
the western coast of Sumatra, and almost immediately
under the equator. {Phil. Trans. 1822.)
3. Those of Captain Hall at the Galapagos Islands,
San Bias, Rio Janeiro, and London. (Phil. Trans. 1823.)
4. Those of Sir Thomas Brisbane at London and Para¬
matta. {Phil. Trans. 1823.)
5. Those of Captain Sabine in various parts of the At¬
lantic Ocean and the North Sea, in the years 1822-4.
(Sabine’s Account of Experiments, &lc. 1825.)
6. Those of Captain Foster at Greenwich, London, and
Port Bowen. {Phil. Trans. 1826.)
7. Those of Mr Fallows at the Cape of Good Hope.
The same pendulum w'as swung in London previous to its
departure.
8. 9, 10. Those of Captain Sabine for the purpose of
determining the difference in the number of oscillations
at London and Paris {Phil. Trans. 1828), London and
Greenwich {Phil. Trans. 1829), and at Greenwich, Lon¬
don, and Altona {Ibid. 1829 and 1830).
11. Those of Captain Freycinet, who commanded an
expedition fitted out by the French government in 1817,
for the purpose of making scientific observations in a voy¬
age round the world. The stations at which the experi¬
ments were made were the island of Rawak (near the
coast of Guinea), Guam (one of the Ladrones), the Isle of
France, Mowi (one of the Sandwich Islands), Rio Janeiro,
Port Jackson, Cape of Good Hope, Paris, and the Falkland
Islands. ( Voyage autour du Monde, par M. Freycinet.)
12. Those of Captain Duperrey, who commanded ano¬
ther French expedition. The stations were, island of
Ascension, Isle of France, Port Jackson, Toulon, Paris,
and the Falkland Islands. {Connoissance des Terns for
1830.)
13. Those of Captain Leutke, a Russian officer, under
whose orders a ship of war was dispatched to the South
Seas, for the purpose, among other things, of swinging the
pendulum at various places. The stations at which experi¬
ments were made were Ualan (one of the Caroline Isles),
Guam, St Helena, Bonin Island (off the south-east coast
of Japan), Valparaiso, Greenwich, Petropaulouski, Sitka
(off the north-west coast of America), and Petersburg.
(Mr Daily’s Report in the Memoirs of the Royal Astrono¬
mical Society, vol. vii.)
14. Those of Captain Foster, in his last voyage, which
commenced in 1828, and which form perhaps the most
valuable series of the whole. The observations were made
at fourteen different stations, principally in the southern
hemisphere, from the equator to the latitude of 63°. Cap¬
tain Foster carried out with him four pendulums, two of
brass, one of iron, and one of copper, and at seven of the
stations all four wrere swung. The details are published
at full length in the volume of the Astronomical Society's
Memoirs to which we have already referred, with an ex¬
cellent Report by Mr Daily.
The results of all these observations are contained in
the following table, in which the observed number of vi¬
brations at each station is corrected, for any deviation
from the standard temperature of 62°, or from the true
correction for the buoyancy of the atmosphere, and af¬
terwards reduced to a comparison with Captain Foster's
mean pendulum, assumed as making 86,400 vibrations in
a mean solar day at London.
574
Figure of
the Earth.
FIGURE OF THE EARTH.
Rawak   
Pulo Guansah Lout....
St Thomas 
Galapagos 
Para   
Maranham 
Ditto 
Fernando de Noronha.
Ualan 
Ascension 
Ditto 
Ditto 
Sierra Leone 
Porto Bello 
Trinidad 
Ditto 
Bahia 
Madras  
Guam  
‘Ditto -
St Helena 
Ditto 
Jamaica 
Isle of France 
Ditto 
Mowi 
St Bias 
Bio Janeiro 
Ditto 
Bonin Island 
Valparaiso 
Paramatta 
Port Jackson 
Ditto 
Cape of Good Hope 
Ditto  
Ditto 
Monte Video 
New York 
Toulon 
Paris 
Ditto 
Ditto  
Shanklin Farm 
Greenwich  
Ditto 
Ditto 
Ditto 
Ditto  
London 
Ditto  
Ditto 
Ditto  
Ditto 
Ditto 
Ditto 
Ditto 
Ditto  
Ditto  
Ditto 
Falkland Island.
Ditto... 
Arbury Hill 
Petropaulouski..
Clifton  
Altona 
Staten Island—
Cape Horn 
Leith Fort 
Sitka  
Portsoy 
Petersburg 
Unst 
South Shetland.
Drontheim 
Hammerfest....,
Fort Bowen 
Greenland  
Spitzbergen 
Vibrations.
0° P
0 1
0 24
0 32
1 27
2 31
2 31
3 49
5 21
7 55
7 55
7 55
8 29
9 32
10 38
10 38
12 59
13 4
13 26
13 27
15 54
15 56
17 56
20 9
20 9
20 52
21 32
22 55
^2 55
27 4
33 2
33 48
33 51
33 51
33 54
33 55
33 55
34 54
40 42
43 7
48 50
48 50
48 50
50 37
28
28
28
28
28
51 31
51 31
51 31
51 31
51 31
51 31
51 31
51 31
51 31
51 31
51 31
51 31
51 35
52 12
53 0
53 27
53 32
54 46
55 51
55 58
57 2
57 40
59 56
60 45
62 56
63 25
70 40
73 13
74 32
79 49
34" S.
49 N.
41 —
19 —
0 S.
35 —
43 —
59 —
16 N.
23 S.
48 —
48 —
28 N.
30 —
55 —
56 —
21 S.
9 N.
21 —
51 —
59 S.
7 —
7 N.
23 S.
56 —
7 N.
24 —
13 S.
22 —
12 N.
30 S.
43 —
34 _
40 —
37 —
15 —
56 —
26 —
43 N.
20 —
14 —
14 —
14 —
24 —
40 —
40 —
40 —
40 —
40 —
8 —
8 —
8 —
8 —
8 —
8 —
8 —
8 —
8 —
8 —
17 —
44 S.
18 —
55 N.
53 —
43 —
45 —
23 S.
20 —
41 N.
58 —
59 —
31 —
28 —
11 S.
54 N.
5 —
39 —
19 —
58 —
Observed.
8626L46
86266 64
86268-84
86264-56
86260 61
86258-74
86259-19
86271-20
86275 44
86272-26
86272-06
86272-56
8626754
86272-01
86267-24
86266-78
86272-38
86272-36
86280-64
86282-98
86288-29
86288-29
86284-66
86297-60
86298 08
86297-52
86288-80
86293-48
86294-90
86322-06
86328-16
86331-48
86334-06
86332-94
86331 33
86331-58
86332-56
86334-36
86358-06
86367-16
86388-01
86388-30
86388-56
86396-40
86398 90
86399-24
86399-46
86400-67
86400-72
86399-76
86399-90
86399-72
86400-00
86400-00
86400-00
86400 00
86400-00
86400-00
86400 00
86400-00
86399-84
86396-74
86403-68
86408-90
86407-48
86408-98
86415-22
86417-98
86418-02
86420-54
86424-70
86432 20
86435-40
86444 52
86438-64
86461-14
86470-48
86470-72
86483-28
Computed.
86264-86
86264-86
86264-87
86264-88
86265-00
86265 30
86265-30
86265-86
86266-78
86269-06
86269-08
8626908
86269-70
86270-96
86272-42
86272-42
8627607
86276-19
86276-84
86276-90
86281-54
86281-64
86285-90
86291-20
86291-23
86293-00
86294-77
86298-52
86298-52
86310-81
86330-82
86333-55
86333-68
86333-68
86333-90
86333 95
86333-98
86337-48
86359-22
86368-48
86390-54
86390-54
89390-54
86397-32
86400-58
86400-58
86400-58
86400-58
86400-58
86400-74
86400-74
86400-74
86400-74
86400-74
86400-74
86400-74
86400-74
86400 74
86400-74
86400-75
86400-78
86400-99
86403-35
86406-34
86407-99
86408-28
86412-80
86416-72
86417-16
86420-96
86423-21
86430-94
86433-64
86440 65
86442-20
86462-23
86468-06
86470-75
86479-58
Difference.
— 3-40
+ l-7«
+ 397
— 0-32
— 4-39
— 6-56
— 611
5-34
8-66
3-20
2-98
3-48
— 216
+ 105
_ 5-18
— 5 64
— 3 69
_ 3-83
+
3- 80
608
6-75
6-75
1- 24
6-40
6-85
4- 52
— 5-97
— 504
— 3-62
+ 11 -25
— 2-66
— 207
0-38
0 74
2- 57
2-37
1-42
3J2
1-16
1- 32
2- 53
2-24
1-98
0-92
1-68
1-34
1-12
0-09
0-14
0-98
0-84
1- 03
0-74
0-74
0-74
0-74
0-74
0-74
0-74
0 75
0 94
4-25
0-33
2- 56
0-51
0-70
2- 42
1-26
0-86
0-42
1-49
1-26
1-76
3- 87
3-56
1- 09
2- 42
0-03
3- 70
Observer.
Freycinet.
Goldingham.
Sabine.
Hall.
F oster.
Foster.
Sabine.
Foster.
Leutke.
Foster.
Duperrey.
Sabine.
Sabine.
F oster.
Foster.
Sabine.
Sabine.
Goldingham.
Leutke.
Freycinet.
Leutke.
Foster.
Sabine.
Duperrey.
Freycinet.
P'reycinet.
Hall.
Freycinet.
Hall.
Leutke.
Leutke.
Brisbane.
Freycinet.
Duperrey.
Foster.
Freycinet.
Fallows.
Foster.
Sabine.
Duperrey.
Freycinet.
Sabine.
Duperrey.
Kater.
Foster.
Leutke.
F oster.
Sabine.
Sabine.
Fallows.
F oster.
Sabine.
Kater.
Goldingham.
Hall.
Brisbane.
Sabine.
Sabine.
Sabine.
F oster.
Duperrey.
Freycinet.
Kater.
Leutke.
Kater.
Sabine.
Foster.
Foster.
Kater.
Leutke.
Kater.
Leutke.
Kater.
Foster.
Sabine.
Sabine.
F oster.
Sabine.
Sabine.
Figure of
the Earth
FIGURE OF THE EARTH.
575
Figure of Taking the mean results of the observed vibrations given
the Earth. in col. 4 of the above table, and forming with each of them
the equation of condition N'2 — N2 (1 + « sin.21), seven¬
ty-nine equations are formed, from which, on deducing
the values of N2 and n by the method of least squares, Mr
Daily obtained the following results :
N2 = 7441625711
n = -00514491
e =■
1
285-26 ’
By means of these values of N2 and n, the number of
vibrations made by a pendulum which beats seconds at
London, at any latitude l, supposing the earth to be a re¬
gular spheroid, is given by the formula ^
N' = 86246-8(1 + -00514491 sin.21)2 ;
and from this the results given in col. 5 of the table have
been computed.
Although the differences between the observed and
computed^vibrations are in some instances considerable,
the observations are on the whole well represented by
supposing the ellipticity = 2sl-26' T° be satlsfied of
this, it will be sufficient to remark, that as the differences
in the table present twenty-four alternations of sign, the
curve which represents all the observations intersects the
meridian having that ellipticity no less than twenty-four
times along an arc of 152° (from Spitzbergen to South
Shetland), or, on an average, once for every 6\ degrees ;
and (with the exception of the island of Bonin) the de¬
viations on the opposite sides are nearly equal. .
If, instead of seeking an ellipticity by the fusion (if we
may so speak) and agglomeration of all the observations by
the method of least squares, we consider the results of the
different voyagers separately, we shall find marked diffe¬
rences among them. Taken by themselves, Captain Sa¬
bine’s observations give e = ggyTq, ; Captain Foster s,
£ =T8WDuperreyV = 2MT5 F,'eycinet’S’ * =
267-6 ’ rise
and Leutke’s, e = The singular agreement of the
results of the foreign voyagers with each other, and their
difference from those of Captains Sabine and Foster,
which also agree well with each other, have not been sa¬
tisfactorily explained. , , ~ .
In one of the numbers of the Annales des Sciences
d Observation (tome i. No. 3), M. Saigey has computed
the ellipticity from fifty-one different observations, com¬
bined by the method of least squares. Captain Fosters
observations are of course not included in the table ; but
it contains those of Biot, made with a variable pendulum
at different stations along the French and British arcs
of meridian, and more recently in Italy and the Lipan
1
Islands. The result gives e —
The differences between the observed and computed
values are, in many instances at least, too great to be as¬
cribed entirely to errors of observation. Ihey must,
therefore, be occasioned by real differences in the intensi¬
ty of gravity, arising either from variations in the density figure of
of the materials which compose the exterior crust of the ^ v
earth, or from local deviations of its form from that of the
regular spheroid. On attending to the preceding table,
it will be perceived that the differences are generally in
excess where the station is on small islands, and espe¬
cially if situated at a great distance from the main land.
From this it may be inferred, that such islands are com¬
posed of denser materials than the general crust of the
earth ; but it is not improbable that part of this effect may
be occasioned by a difference of the level of the surface of
the ocean. On the shores of elevated continents, the
direction of gravity is altered by the action of the high
land; and the surface of the water, which is perpendicu¬
lar to gravity, deviates from the regular curvature, and
becomes elevated above the general level of the ocean.
Hence the apparent elevation is less than the real eleva¬
tion of the station, and the observed intensity of gravity
is consequently less than it was calculated to be. How
far the disturbing influence of this cause may affect the
results, will be better understood when we shall be fur¬
nished with numerous pendulum observations, made in
the interior of the large continents, and at a great dis¬
tance from the sea.
All the pendulum experiments agree in giving a great¬
er ellipticity to the earth than that which is deduced
from the comparison of arcs of meridian. lo what cause
this discrepancy is to be assigned is by no means apparent.
The geological character of the country in the immediate
neighbourhood of the station probably exerts a consider¬
able influence in accelerating or retarding the pendulum;
but the experiments have now been made at so many
points, that we might expect to find the effects of local ir¬
regularities almost entirely eliminated, and a much nearer
agreement between the results of the two methods of in¬
vestigation than actually exists. We can, however, have
no difficulty in giving the preference to the results of the
geodetic measures.
It was mentioned in the first section of this article that
the ellipticity of the earth may be deduced from certain
inequalities in the motions of the moon, to which it gives,
rise; but this part of the subject belongs to the theory of
the lunar perturbations. The ellipticity so deduced U
about -gfa, which agrees well with that given by the me¬
ridional arcs; and the result has the advantage of being
entirely independent of local disturbance.
One conclusion cannot fail to be drawn from the re¬
sults of this enquiry. However irregular the surface of
the earth may be in its details, its general form agrees so
nearly with the figure of hydrostatic equihbiium, that the
agreement cannot be regarded as fortuitous oi accidental.
The regular increase of gravity from the equator to the
poles, indicated by the pendulum experiments, also proves
that it is symmetrically constituted, or that the materials
in its interior are disposed about the centre of gravity in
regular elliptical strata, and arranged according to the or¬
der of density. The earth must therefore have taken its
present form while its particles were at liberty to arrange
themselves in obedience to the forces arising from their
mutual attractions and from the rotation; in other words,
it must have existed at some period of time in a state of
fluidity. This inference, which so many geological facts
tend to confirm, may be extended to all the other planets.
576 F I L
Filament FILAMENT. See Fibre.
II FILANGIERI, Gaetano, celebrated for his valuable
Filangieri. worl<s on political economy and legislation, was born at
Naples on the 18th of August 1752. He was the third
son of Cesar prince of Araniello, by Marianna Montalto,
daughter of the Duke of Fragnito. Gaetano from his in¬
fancy was destined for the profession of arms; when he was
seven years of age he was enrolled in one of the royal regi¬
ments, and commenced actual service at the age of four¬
teen. His education was at first neglected, from a miscon¬
ception of his character, which was supposed to be averse
to all literary or speculative pursuits. A lucky accident, how¬
ever, not only removed this impression but showed that his
former impatience of the modes of tuition then in use arose
from the clearness and vigour of his judgment. It hap¬
pened that his brother’s preceptor had one day mistaken
the solution of some geometrical problem. Gaetano imme¬
diately perceived the source of this error, which he demon¬
strated to the master. This incident, apparently trivial,
determined his future destiny. Encouraged by his success,
he quitted the military service, and determined to follow
his natural taste for science and philosophy. So diligent
was he in repairing the defects of his education, that at
twenty years of age he had acquired a knowledge of Greek
and Latin, of ancient and modern history, of the great prin¬
ciples both of civil and of public law, and was besides well
initiated in mathematical science. Although his genius in¬
clined him solely to the study of legislation and policy, he
sacrificed his views to the wishes of his friends, and entered
on the profession of the law, which was then the certain
road both to honour and fortune. His eloquence and his
extensive knowledge soon obtained him success; and about
this period a circumstance happened which greatly con¬
duced to his celebrity. Enormous abuses prevailed in the
judicial proceedings at Naples, arising from the uncertainty
of the law, which occasioned constant misconceptions, and
almost always led to arbitrary judgments. By a wise ordi¬
nance of the king, passed in the year 1774 at the suggestion
of the minister Tanucci, those abuses were reformed ; the
law was restored to its proper authority; its judgments were
freed from the control of precedents ; and the judges were
ordained in every case to publish the grounds of their deci¬
sions. Although this reform was generally applauded, it ex¬
cited the murmurs of the bar. Filangieri now became the
advocate of the court, and published a defence of the royal
decree, founded upon the most enlarged views of equity and
reason. The extensive knowledge and matured judgment
displayed in this performance attracted the attention of the
ministers, and Filangieri was encourged to pursue the
course in which he had already acquired so much distinction.
Through the influence of his uncle, the Archbishop of Pa¬
lermo, he was in 1777 placed in an honourable office at
court; and almost at the same time he was named officer of
the royal corps of marine volunteers, who were more par¬
ticularly attached to the king’s person. But his abode at
court neither broke in upon his regular habits of life, nor
interrupted the course of his studies; nor did he allow it to
interfere with the composition of the great work on legisla¬
tion and government in which he was engaged, and to which
for several years he had devoted all his inquiries. About
the commencement of the eighteenth century a great school
of philosophy had been formed at Naples, in which the prin¬
ciples of the civil law, of the law of nations, and of legisla¬
tion, were established on the solid and comprehensive basis
of general utility. From this school numerous works of
celebrity have proceeded; amongst others, the great work of
Beccaria, which, though confined to one branch of legisla¬
tion, contains principles which are of universal application.
There was still wanting, how’ever, a general treatise on legis¬
lation, for the purpose of examining the science in all its
relations, and of laying down some common and universal
F I L
principles of equity and expediency as its only true basis ; Filangieri.
and it was to this important undertaking that Filangieri’s
philosophical mind was now directed. His subject he pro¬
posed to divide into seven books. The first, in which he
demonstrates the general rules of legislation, and the second,
which treats on political laws, and on those laws also which
are connected with the general structure of society, ap¬
peared at Naples in 1780; and such was its popularity, that
not only in Italy, but throughout Europe at large, the author
was ranked among the most celebrated writers on public
law. According to his theory, the goodness of laws is either
absolute or relative. It is absolute when they are agreeable
to those great and universal principles of equity and expe¬
diency which are obligatory on man under every diversity
of country, climate, government, or manners ; it is relative,
according as the laws agree with the nature of the govern¬
ment, with the genius and character of the people, with the
climate, with the fertility or sterility of the soil, with the
physical circumstances of the country, with the religion of
the inhabitants, and with the degree of civilization to which
they have advanced. In his second book, which treats of
political laws, and of those laws also which are connected
with the general economy of society, he examines two points;
namely, the state of population and of wealth. With re¬
spect to the first point, the great question which he considers
is, whether Europe is as populous as it might be ? This
question he resolves in the negative, and he proceeds to
explain the causes of this deficient population. According
to his hypothesis, the state of agriculture affords in every
country the surest evidence as to the state of the popula¬
tion ; but the backwardness of agriculture in most parts of
Europe sufficiently indicates that the population is deficient;
therefore he infers the defective state of European legisla¬
tion on these two capital points. The great obstacles to
the improvement of agriculture, and, consequently, to the
increase of population, he considers to be, ls£, the small
number of proprietors, and the great number of non-pro¬
prietors ; Idly, too many large, and too few small proper¬
ties ; ?>dly, the exorbitant and inalienable possessions of the
church in several states ; \thly, the excess of the public
imposts, and the violent modes of levying them; 5thly, to
these he adds other causes of less importance, such as the
state of most of the regular troops of the European states ;
also public corruption, and the dissoluteness of private
morals. The progress of agriculture, the great source of
wealth as well as of population, may also be obstructed by a
bad political administration, by bad laws, or by those causes
which occasion a great influx of inhabitants to the respec¬
tive capitals of the different states. It belongs to a pure
system of legislation to remove some of these, obstacles, and
to counterbalance such others as are inevitable, by suitable
encouragements. Having discussed these momentous ques¬
tions, he next enters into a comprehensive survey of the
other sources of riches, namely, arts, manufactures, and
commerce, and points out how these may be obstructed by
at faulty legislation, and, at the same time, the means by
which such obstructions may be removed. In order fully
to comprebend the merits of these performances, we must
consider that all the faults which the author reprehends
were committed by his own government; a circumstance
which imposed on him the delicate task of stating obnoxious
truths with freedom and boldness, and, at the same time,
without giving unnecessary offence. So well, however, did
he appreciate the views of those whom it was his wish to en¬
lighten, that he was immediately promoted by the king to
a commandery in the royal order of Constantine. In 1783
he married a Hungarian lady of noble birth, who was en¬
trusted with the education of the second daughter of the
king, and who to outward attractions united the gift of a
sound judgment and an agreeable disposition. That he
might the more freely enjoy domestic happiness, and at the
F I L
Filangieri. same time have leisure for the composition of his work, on
which he became every day more intent, he resigned, with
the consent of the king, all his military employments and
his office at court, and retired to a country-seat about 20
miles from Naples. In the same year he published his third
book, relating entirely to the principles of criminal juris¬
prudence. In these discussions he maintains the same tone
of decision and independence as before. Abuses are freely
pointed out, and the defects of the penal code, and the
forms of criminal procedure, are fairly exposed. In thus
pointing out those defects in the domestic administration of
his government, Filangieri excited the hatred of an inte¬
rested and powerful class ; and a proposition which he made
in his third book, for the reformation of abuses in the Roman
Catholic Church, drew down upon his work the censure of
some of the ecclesiastical tribunals. In 1785, however, he
published the fifth, sixth, and seventh volumes of his work,
which comprehended his fourth book. These were de¬
voted to the consideration of education, morals, and public
instruction; and though on these important points we may
be occasionally disposed to question his views, we must
nevertheless admire his mild and philosophical spirit still
opposed to every excess, his extensive knowledge, and his
happy talent of arranging and combining it for the illustra¬
tion of his argument; his animated, flowing, and perspicu¬
ous style ; and, above all, that rectitude and philanthropy
which are diffused over all his reasonings. His fifth book,
which treated of the laws relative to religion, was soon after¬
wards published. But his health was now considerably
impaired, owing to an excess of application, so that the re¬
mainder of his work advanced but slowly ; and other inter¬
ruptions soon followed. In the year 1787 he was called
by the new king, Ferdinand IV., to the supreme council of
finance. He returned to Naples, and from that time was
wholly engrossed with the important business of this office.
His health, already injured, was soon completely broken by
severe and active application; and several domestic misfor¬
tunes, operating upon a mind of deep sensibility, at last threw
him into a state of melancholy. He finally retired from all
business into the country, where he soon afterwards became
seriously ill, and on the 21st of July 1788 he expired. Be¬
fore his death he had finished the eighth volume of his work,
containing the first part of the fifth book, in which he treats
of the different systems of religion that preceded Chris¬
tianity. Of the second part of the same book he had only
made a rude sketch, in which were noted down the prin¬
cipal subjects of discussion ; namely, the advantages of
Christianity and the dangers of superstition ; the incon¬
veniences of mixing spiritual with temporal concerns ; the
excessive riches of the clergy, and the immense increase
of their power. He was also to examine the foundation
of ecclesiastical rights, and to present, in a new system of
legislation, a remedy for the abuses which he pointed out.
A chapter on toleration would have terminated this book.
In his sixth book he proposed to treat of the laws relative
to property ; and in his seventh and last, of the nature of
the paternal power and the government of families. He
had also other important works in contemplation when his
course was terminated by death. Filangieri, besides some
of the rarest gifts of genius, was endowed by nature with
the additional advantage of a most imposing presence. His
manners were eminently graceful and dignified. His coun¬
tenance bore the traces of habitual reflection, and of deep
sensibility, mingled with an expression of soft melancholy.
In private life nothing could exceed the simplicity of his
character, except the animation and interest of his conver¬
sation. See La Scienza della Legislazione, Livorno, 1807,
5 tomes 8vo. This is the last Italian edition of Filangieri’s
great work. There is a French translation in 7 vols. 8vo,
published at Paris in 1798, from the Neapolitan edition of
1784. The first two books have been translated into Eng-
VOL. ix.
F I L 577
lish, under the title of The Science of Legislation, from Filbert
the Italian of Filangieri, and published in 2 vols. 8vo, Lond. jl
1806. (»• b—n.) gj,1*1
FILBERT, the fruit of the cultivated hazel. See v ^ ^ y
Hazel. '''
FILE, a well-known instrument of steel for cutting and
abrading metal, ivory, wood, &c. Files are of various forms,
sizes, and cuts, according to the uses to which they are to
be applied. When the surface is cut in transverse furrows
by a straight sharp-edged chisel and mallet, the instrument
is properly called a file ; but when it is raised by a triangu¬
lar punch, it is termed a rasp. This last kind is chiefly
employed for rubbing wood and horn. The larger kinds
of files are made of blistered steel; but the small and fine
files of cast steel. Various ingenious machines have been
contrived for cutting the teeth of files, but these have not
hitherto succeeded so well as to supersede file-making by
the hand. After the file has been cut it must undergo the
process of tempering. This is said to be well effected in
the following manner: A saturated solution of common
salt, stiffened to the consistence of cream with ale grounds,
or with any cheap farinaceous matter, such as bean-flour
(some use well-dried chimney-soot), is to be spread oyer
the file, in order to preserve its surface from oxidation
during the process ; it is then uniformly heated in a coke
or charcoal fire to a cherry-red colour; and on its removal
from the fire it is to be suddenly quenched in cold and pure
spring water. It is subsequently cleaned with charcoal and
a rag; after which it is laid up in wheat bran to preserve
it from rust. When the file is intended to cut iron or steel,
it is found preferable to substitute animal carbon for the
grounds or farinaceous matter mentioned above. This will
give even to iron a superficial hardness sufficient for any
kind of file.
FILIAL PIETY. Ancient history furnishes many ex¬
traordinary instances of this amiable virtue.
The Roman dictator T. Manlius, having exercised great
cruelty over the citizens, was cited at the expiration of his
office to answer for his conduct. Among a number of
things laid to his charge, he was accused of treating with
barbarity one of his own sons. All were highly exaspera¬
ted against Manlius, excepting the son himself, who, under the
greatest concern lest he should furnish grounds of accusa¬
tion against his father, resolved to put a stop to the pro¬
ceedings. Going to the house of the tribune Pomponius,
who had accused his father, while Pomponius was yet in
bed, he was immediately admitted by the tribune, who did
not doubt but he was come to discover some new instances
of his father’s severity ; but young Manlius drew out a
dagger and declared he would stab Pomponius to the heai t
if he did not swear, in the form he should dictate, never to
hold the assembly of the people for accusing his father.
Pomponius, when he saw the dagger glittering at his
breast, was compelled to yield, and took the oath demanded
of him.
Amongst the multitude of persons who were proscribed
at Rome under the second triumvirate, were Cicero and his
brother Quintus. But the latter found means to conceal
himself so effectually at home, that the soldiers could not
discover him. Enraged at their disappointment, they put
his son to the question, in order to make him disclose the
place of his father’s concealment; but filial affection re¬
mained proof against the most exquisite tortures. An in¬
voluntary sigh, and sometimes a deep groan, was all that
could be extorted from the youth. Quintus, who was close
at hand, when he heard the sighs and groans of a son ex¬
piring in tortures to save his life, quitted his place of con¬
cealment, and, presenting himself to the assassins, beseeched
them to dismiss the innocent youth, and to take his life in¬
stead ; but the only answer to this appeal was that they
must both die. Then a new contest of tenderness arose
4 D
F I L
who should die first; but this the assassins soon decided,
hv behead ins them both at the same time.
b Epaminondas, in the midst of the applause bestowed on
him after his splendid victory over the Spartans at Leuctra,
wiTh an unaffected simplicit/ that marked the greatness of
Ms character, observed-” My joy arises ftom my sense of
that which the news of my victory will give my fatuu ana
^Among^n incredible number of illustrious persons who
were put to death by the tyrant Nero, was Barea Soranus,
a man noted for his justice and integrity. During his con¬
finement, his daughter Servilia was apprehended on the
charge that she had converted into money all her ornaments
and jewels, to defray the expense of consulting magicia .
To this the young Servilia with tears replied that she had
indeed consulted magicians, but for the sole
covering whether the emperor and senate would attord p
tection Ind safety to her beloved parent aga-st Ins accusers
“ With this view,” said she, “I presented the diviners with
my jewels, apparel,* and other ornaments, as I would have
presented my blood and my life, could my blood and
life have procured my father’s liberty. If this be a crime,
my father was an utter stranger to it, I alone am the delin-
uuent.” Notwithstanding this affecting appeal, she was con¬
demned to die along with her father, but in what mannei
history is silent. .
Valerius Maximus likewise mentions a very singular cir¬
cumstance connected with this subject. A woman of il u»-
trious birth had been condemned to be strangled. But the
jailor who was ordered to execute her, being struck with
compassion, resolved rather to let her perish of hunger.
He also permitted her daughter to visit her, taking caie,
however, that the former brought nothing in the shape of
sustenance. As this continued many days, he was sur¬
prised that the prisoner should live so long ; but having
narrowly watched the daughter, he discovered that she
nourished her mother with her own milk. On the fact
being made known, the criminal was pardoned, and a decree
was passed that the mother and daughter should be main¬
tained for the rest of their lives at the public expense.
The same author gives a similar instance of filial piety in
a young woman called Xantippe towards her aged father
Cimonus, likewise confined in prison, and which is com¬
monly known by the name of the Homan charity. Both
these instances appeared so extraordinary to that people,
that they could only account for them by supposing that the
love of children to their parents was the first law of nature.
Putaret aliquis, says the author cited, hoc contra naturam
factum esse, nisi prima natures lex esset diligere parentes.
FILIBEG, or Philibeg. See Philibeg.
FILICAJA, Vincenzo da, a celebrated Italian poet,
descended of a noble family of Florence, was born in that
city on the 30th of December 1642. He commenced his
studies under the Jesuits at Florence, and completed them
in the university of Pisa. Grecian and Homan antiquity,
philosophy, theology, and jurisprudence, were successively
the objects of his study ; poesy served merely as a relaxa¬
tion from severer pursuits. Like most young devotees of
the muses, he began with amatory verses; but the lady
whom he loved and celebrated having died in the flower of
her age, he burned all the verses which he had inscribed
to her, and resolved henceforth to sing only heroic or sacred
themes, a resolution which he most religiously observed.
Having returned to Florence, after a residence of about
five years at Pisa, he was received into the academy Della
Crusca, and, in a short time, married a daughter of the
senator Scipio Capponi; but as this lady brought him little
fortune, and his own means were limited, he withdrew en¬
tirely from the world on the death of his father, and esta¬
blished himself in the country, where he divided his time
between his studies, the education of his children, and the
F I L
contemplation of the wonders of nature and its Author. He Filicaja.
every day composed verses either in Latin or Italian, which
he submitted to the judgment of his friends, and improved
according to the advice which they gave, without any de¬
sire for publication, or indeed any other object than that
of exercising his own powers. But a memorable occur¬
rence drew him from the voluntary obscurity in which he
had buried himself. Vienna, besieged by an army of
200 000 Turks, was delivered by John Sobieski, king of
Poland, and by Charles, afterwards fifth Duke of Lor¬
raine. This great event, which saved Christendom frona
the most imminent danger, excited the enthusiasm of
Filicaja, who, in a magnificent canzone or ode, celebrated
the victory of the Christian armies ; he also addressed a
second to the Emperor Leopold L, a third to the King of
Poland, a fourth to the Duke of Lorraine, and a fifth to the
God of Armies ; and, the Ottomans having been entirely de¬
feated in another battle, he celebrated this new triumph in
a sixth ode, which is perhaps the most beautiful of all.
These six triumphal odes excited universal admiration.
The grand duke, of his own accord, sent copies of them to
the princes whose exploits were commemorated, and fiom
the latter the author received the most flattering acknow¬
ledgments. But as the copies of his odes became daily de¬
formed by new errors, in proportion as they were multiplied,
his friends at length obtained permission to print them.
They accordingly appeared at Florence in 1684, in 4to ;
and Filicaja was, almost in spite of himself, placed m the
first rank of Italian lyric poets. Another great ode, which
he addressed the same year to Queen Christina of Sweden,
fully supported the reputation which he had gained by Ins
former productions. This princess, who then exhibited in
private life the generosity of a sovereign, did not confine
herself to a mere expression of her satisfaction, or corre¬
sponding with the author, or admitting him into the academy
which she had formed at Rome of men most distinguished
in poetry and letters : being informed of the depressed state
of his circumstances, she in some sort adopted his two sons,
undertook to defray the expense of their education, and ex¬
acted from their father, as the only expression of his grati¬
tude, that he would maintain the most profound silence,
not choosing, as she said, to have to blush before the public
for having done so little to serve a man who had so many
claims to her esteem. But a severe malady with which
he was seized some years afterwards, was followed by
another subject of affliction, which he felt much more sen¬
sibly ; he lost his eldest son, who had been appointed page
to the grand duke after the death of the queen his benefac¬
tress. This bereavement, which he bore with Christian
fortitude, fixed on him the particular attention of the prince,
who, interested in his fortune, conferred on him the dignity
of senator, and soon afterwards appointed him ducal com¬
missary of Volterra, then commissary of Pisa, and, lastly,
secretary au tirage to the magistrates, an important office,
which gave him immediate access to the prince, and initi¬
ated him in the secrets of the government. Filicaja, in all
his employments, secured at once the gratitude of the pnblic,
the attachment of those under him, and the esteem of his
sovereign. Neither the multiplicity of his occupations, nor
the progress of age, however, prevented him from dedicat¬
ing several hours each day to the cultivation of letters a.nd
the exercise of his poetical talent; but as his piety, which
had always been great, increased with his years, he at length
confined his reading to religious books, and treated only of
sacred subjects. Nevertheless, he had resolved to collect
all his pieces, to revise and correct them anew, and to pub¬
lish himself a complete edition of his lyrical compositions ;
but, whilst occupied with this undertaking, in which he had
made considerable progress, he was seized with a violent
affection in the chest, which in a few days put a period to
his life. He died at Florence on the 24th of September
E I L
Filigree. 1707, in the sixty-fifth year of his age, and was interred in
, j the family vault in the church of St Peter, where his son
Scipio erected a monument to his memory. The edition
of his poetical works in Italian, which he was preparing, and
had even begun to print at the time of his death, was also
speedily published by the same son, who dedicated it to the
Grand Duke Cosmo III., under the title of Poesie Toscane
di Vincenzo da Filicaja, senatore Fiorentino el accademico
della Crusca, Florence, 1707, in 4to. They were reprinted
in 1 720, with a life of the author, by Thomas Bonaventuri,
a Florentine ; which life had previously appeared in the
second volume of the Vile degli Arcadi lllustri. But a
more, valuable though less beautiful edition, from which all
the subsequent editions have been taken, is that of Venice,
1762, in two volumes 8vo ; the first of which contains the
Poesie Toscane, and the second the Latin verses of the
same author, there for the first time collected from the dif¬
ferent publications in which they had been previously scat¬
tered. There are subjoined some pieces in prose of inferior
interest, if we except a literary correspondence of Filicaja
with Francesco Redi, Menzini, and Gori, who shared with
him the glory of having, in a corrupt age, remained faithful
to the principles of good taste and sound literature. The
canzoni, to which we have above referred, are perhaps the
most remarkable compositions in this collection ; but some
of the other pieces are not inferior to these either in the
dignitv of the subject or the majesty and force of the style ;
and several of his Sonnets are worthy of these beautiful
odes. Is there an Italian heart that can be insensible to
the deep patriotic feeling, expressed with such a mournful
and affecting sublimity, in the well-known sonnet, com¬
mencing
Italia, Italia, 0 tu cui feo la sorte
Dono infelice de Bellezza, &c.;
one of the most perfect compositions of the kind in exist¬
ence, and which, though it consists of only fourteen verses,
will sustain a comparison with the most celebrated lyrical
effusions, ancient or modern ? We subjoin a happy trans¬
lation.
“ Italia ! thou to whom in evil hour
The fatal boon of beauty nature gave,
Yet on thy front the sentence did engrave,
That ceaseless wo should be thy only dower !
Ah ! were that beauty less, or more thy power !
That he who now compels thee to his arms
Might gaze with cold indifference on thy charms,
Or tremble at thine eye’s indignant lower;
Thou shouldst not then behold in glittering line
From the high Alps embattled throngs descend,
And Gallic foes pollute thy Po’s clear wave;
Nor, whilst encompassed close by spears not thine,
Shouldst thou by foreign hands thy rights defend,
Conquering or conquered, evermore a slave.
FILIGREE or Fillagree {ItA.filigrano; 'L&t. filum
a thread, and granum a grain) ; a very delicate kind of
ornamental work in gold or silver, wrought in the manner
of little threads, or threads and grains intermixed. Filigree
work is of Eastern origin, and was first introduced into
Europe by the Italians. In Sumatra, manufactures of this
kind have been carried to the highest degree of perfection,
and yet the tools employed are exceedingly coarse and
clumsy. These are generally rudely and inartificially
formed from any piece of old iron. A piece of iion h0()P
suffices for making the wire-drawing instrument; an old
hammer head, stuck in a block, serves as an anvil; and two
old nails, tied together at one end, will suffice for a pair of
compasses. The gold is melted in a piece of preeoo or
earthen rice-pot, or sometimes in a crucible of oi dinary
clay. In general no bellows are used, but the fire is blown
with the mouth, through a joint of bamboo ; and if the
quantity of metal to be melted is considerable, three or
four persons sit round the furnace, which is an old bioken
F I L 579
quailed or iron pot, and blow together. At Padang, where
the manufacture is most considerable, they have adopted ngir0
the Chinese bellows. The method of drawing the wire puiet.
differs but little from that which is used by European work- \.
men. When drawn to a sufficient fineness, it is flattened
by beating it on the anvil; and when flattened, a twist is
given to it by rubbing it on a block of wood with a flat
stick. After twisting they again beat it upon the anvil,
and thus it becomes flattened wire with indented edges.
The end of the wire is folded down with a pair of pincers,
and thus is formed a leaf, or element of a flower, which is
cut off. The end is again folded and cut oft', till they have
a sufficient number of leaves, which are laid on singly.
Patterns of the flowers or foliage, in which there is seldom
much variety, are prepared on paper of the size of the gold
plate on which the filigree is to be laid. According to these,
they begin to dispose on the plate the larger compartments
of the foliage ; for which they use plain flattened wire of
a larger size, and fill it up with the leaves before men¬
tioned. In order to fix the work, they employ a gelatinous
substance made of the berry called boca sago, ground to a
pulp on a rough stone. After the leaves have been all
placed in order, and stuck on bit by bit, a solder is pre¬
pared of gold filings and borax moistened with water, which is
strewed over the plate, when it is put in the fire for a short
time, and the whole becomes united. This kind of work
on a gold plate is called carrang pagan ; but when the
work is open, it is called carrang trouse. In executing the
latter, the foliage is laid out upon a card, or soft kind of
wood, and stuck on, as before described, with the sago
berry; and the work, when finished, being strewed over
with the solder, is put into the fire, when the card or soft
wood burning away, the gold remains connected. If the
piece be large it is soldered at several times. In the manu¬
facture of badjoo buttons, they first make the lower part
flat, and having a mould formed of a piece of buffalo’s horn,
indented to several sizes, each like one half of a bullet
mould, they lay their work over one of these holes, and
with a horn punch press it into the form of a button ; after
which they complete the upper part. When the filigree
is finished "they cleanse it by boiling it in water with com¬
mon salt and alum, or sometimes lime juice ; and in order
to give it that fine purple colour which they called sapo,
they boil it in water mixed with brimstone. The manner
of making the little balls with which their works are some¬
times ornamented, is simple. They take a piece of char¬
coal, and having cut it flat and smooth, make in it a small
hole, which they fill with gold dust, and this being melted
in the fire becomes a little ball. They are very inexpert
at finishing and polishing the plain parts, hinges, screws,
and the like, being in this as much excelled by the Euro¬
pean artists as the latter fall short of them in the fineness
and minuteness of the foliage. The Chinese also make
filigree, mostly of silver, which looks elegant, but wants
the extraordinary delicacy of the Malay work. The price
of the workmanship depends upon the difficulty or uncom¬
monness of the pattern. In some articles of usual demand
it does not exceed one-third of the value of the gold, but in
matters of fancy it is generally equal to that of the metal.
FILIPPO D’ARGIRO, San, the ancient Agyrium,
a town in the province of Catania, Sicily, situated on the
summit of a lofty isolated hill near the centre of the island,
and 32 miles W.N.W. of Catania. It has numerous churches
and convents, and the vicinity is noted for producing the
best saffron in Sicily. Agyrium was the birthplace of Dio¬
dorus Siculus. Pop. 7000.
FILLET, in Carpentry, is applied to a small piece to
which a board, joist, quarter, &c. is nailed. In architec¬
ture fillet is of very frequent occurrence, and is applied to
a flat rectangular moulding. It divides or terminates other
mouldings, as in the cavetto surmounted with a fillet; in
580
Filter.
F I L
the fluting of columns which are divided by a fillet; and in
entablatures. , f
FILTER, an instrument or apparatus contrived to
clearing liquids from any impurities mechanically combin¬
ed wdth them. Filters are of various kinds, according to
the nature of the liquor requiring to be clarified ; but they
all act on the same general principle, namely, straining tlie
liquor by passing it through earth or other porous material;
the process being thus exactly analogous to that ol sitting,
as used for powder or other dry substances. The opera¬
tion of filtering is extensively used in chemistry and the
arts, and also in purifying water for domestic purposes, and
for the use of ships in long voyages ; and hence the con¬
struction of artificial filters on a large scale for the supp y
of towns and cities with pure water becomes a very nice
and difficult operation, and now forms an important branch
of civil engineering. The pureness of spring water arises
entirely from a process of filtration. Such water generally
issues from a considerable depth beneath the surface of the
ground, as is evident from the force with which it is dis¬
charged, and the equable temperature which it preserves
throughout the year, being cool in summer, and in winter
never freezing. Hence, in its course from the surface
downwards, it must pass through a variety of soils, sub¬
soils, and porous rocky strata; and it is by the perfect
straining which it receives in percolating through such
vast masses of filtering materials as must occur in the
bowels of the earth, that it comes out at last with that ad¬
mirable purity and transparency which we observe. But
notwithstanding of this, spring water contracts, often among
the rocks and minerals with which it comes in contact, va¬
rious impurities, which become chemically dissolved in it,
and from w'hich it cannot be freed by filtration or any other
mechanical process. It becomes often, therefore, unfit on
this account for domestic use or the purposes of the arts,
and is rarely equal, and never superior, to rain or river wa¬
ter properly filtered. The great importance of this opera¬
tion, therefore, is evident, more especially from the frequent
and serious failures which have taken place. But it may
be better to defer the consideration of this branch of the
subject till it can be resumed along with other hydraulic
operations. See Water-Works.
Water fil- On a smaller scale, for domestic use, water filters have
ters for do- at different times been brought forward, and for many of
rnestic use. t]iem patents taken out. But as they are all very similar
in principle, and none appears greatly distinguished above
the rest, it is unnecessary to enter into a minute descrip¬
tion of them. They are all liable to the objection of clog¬
ging up, and getting foul in the course of time. But if re¬
gularly cleaned, any of them will answer the purpose suffi¬
ciently well, the process of filtration being so simple and
so easily effected. Several ingenious plans have been pro¬
posed for self-cleaning filters; the water, for instance, be¬
ing made to ascend, or to pass alternately in opposite direc¬
tions, and thus carry off the impurities by the process it¬
self. But as none of these have succeeded completely, it
will be found most convenient in small filters to clean them
regularly ; and those are therefore to be preferred which
afford the means of doing this most conveniently.
Filtering In these filters the filtering material generally used is
mrterials. gravel, sand, porous stone, or unglazed earthenware. Char¬
coal is sometimes added, but this is more for its antiseptic
and purifying quality, and is only necessary in the case
of fetid or very impure water. Gravel, though the best of
all materials on a large scale, is rather coarse in itself for
small filters. But where it occurs in nature in very thick
beds, the large mass of material makes up for the coarse¬
ness of the grain , and many instances occur where springs
from this source are scarcely inferior in purity to distilled
water. But in small filters it requires a bed of sand above
F X L
Filter.
it to detain the impurities. Sand is perhaps, after all, the
best filtering material; it should, however, be clean sea or w
river sand, with no tincture of iron ; this last is indicated
by its reddish colour, w hich, if deep, will communicate an
iron taint to the water, a circumstance harmless enough in
itself for most domestic uses, but very prejudicial for the
purposes of bleaching, paper-making, &c. in the arts.
In filters constructed with gravel or sand, all the appa- Sand and
ratus that is necessary is a vessel to contain the filtering gravel fil-
material, with a space above for holding a quantity of theters-
water to be filtered, and a vessel below for receiving the
filtered water. A simple and convenient apparatus of this
kind was contrived by Messrs Hearman and Dearn, pot¬
ters, Redriff, described in Nicholson’s Journal, vcl. viii., and
represented in Plate CCLVIIL fig. 1, which exhibits the
whole apparatus, and shows, in fig. 2, a shaded section. A
is a vessel of stone-ware perforated with holes, m, at bot¬
tom, upon which coarse gravel, h, is laid, and on that again
a stratum of fine gravel, and, lastly, fine sand, g. Or,
otherwise, the bottom may be covered with a coarse cloth,
which will render the graduated fineness of the gravel and
sand less necessary. Upon the top of the sand is laid a
perforated and loaded board or plate of earthenware, to
prevent the sand from being disturbed when the water is
poured in. B is a lower vessel, into which the filtered wa¬
ter from A drops, together with any sand that may escape
from above. The clear water flows out through the neck
ac into the vessel d for use.
On this plan an excellent filtering apparatus may be con¬
structed at little expense, and in various ways, according to
the means or conveniencies most readily at hand ; and the
sand and gravel possess a decided advantage over filtering
stones or other materials, from the great facility of cleaning,
the latter being liable, from long use and the impurities lodg¬
ing in their pores, to give the water an unpleasant taint.
A very simple arrangement in the above plan is to have
a cylindrical jar of earthenware, as at fig. 5, with twro parti¬
tions or false bottoms, dividing the height into three equal
portions, the partitions resting each on a shoulder formed all
round on the jar, or otherwise supported ; the middle divi¬
sion for the filtering material, the upper one for the w ater to
be filtered, and the lower one for containing the filtered
water, with a stop-cock for drawing it off at pleasure, and a
vent or opening at the top for the admission and discharge
of air. The stop-cock must be placed three or four inches
from the bottom, to allow full space for any sand or other
material to deposit in the bottom ; and the air vent must be
carried up by a small pipe to the top of the jar, to prevent
the water ever rising and overflowing by it. The partitions
are made of earthenware, with a number of small holes to
allow the water to descend. If sand only is used, it will
be necessary to spread a layer or two of cloth under it, to
prevent the sand getting through the openings. But if
gravel can be had, it will be better to lay a bed of this, of
two inches or more in thickness, on the bottom, and the
sand above it. After the sand is filled in to the height of
the upper partition, this is placed on as a cover, which hav¬
ing also a number of small openings in it, the water flows
from the upper division downwards. The cover Should
press on the top of the sand, in order to prevent its being
disturbed by the entrance of the water, or a layer of gravel
should be placed on the top of the sand. If a layer or
two of cloth be laid over the partition, it will serve to
detain some of the impurities ; and being frequently wash
ed, it will make the filter continue longer clean- In or¬
der to clean this filter it is only necessary to remove the
upper partition, take out the upper stratum of sand to the
depth of two or three inches, wash it thoroughly, and re¬
place it; or, if sand can be had readily, let the whole be
replaced with a fresh quantity, clean and pure. This is,
F I L T E R.
581
Filter, on the whole, a very simple, perfect, economical, and con-
venient filter. It may be constructed of wood or other
convenient material, and is both very easily formed, and
easily kept clean and in order ; and by varying the thic k-
ness of the bed of sand, it can be adapted to the exact de¬
gree of filtration required. The vessel also admits of any
ornamental shape which taste may direct; and several ele¬
gant figures of this kind, contrived by the manufacturers,
are shown at the bottom of the plate. If the lower di¬
vision also were left unglazed and porous, an evaporation
would go on from the outside, so that in summer it would
act as a cooler as well as a filterer. Should much sedi¬
ment be found collecting in the lower vessel, perhaps it
would be better to place the whole apparatus upon a
second jar, so wide as to allow the first to stand over it,
and having a pipe in the bottom rising nearly to the top of
the vessel, and open at the top. The filtered water would
flow over this, and descend into the lower vessel, which
being detached, could always be kept perfectly clean in
the bottom. The upper end of the pipe should be cover¬
ed with a fold or two of cloth. An ingenious plan, intro¬
duced by Mr Parkes, chemist, for drawing off the water in
the reservoir of a filtering or purifying apparatus, though
applied rather on a larger scale, might often be used with
advantage in smaller filters, such as those for bleachers,
paper-makers, and others. It is represented at fig. 6, and
consists in connecting the stop-cock for the discharge of
the water with a pipe and flexible joint terminating in a
rose-head and floating ball, which keeps the head always
immersed a little under water, and thus discharges it from
near the surface, although the level of the water may vary
considerably. The water here is also let in, not directly
into the reservoir, but by an upright pipe having a funnel
at the top, and descending to near the bottom, which
causes the water to enter below, where it must deposit any
impurity before this can rise to the surface.
In the sand and gravel filters here described, the water
descends during the whole of the process, and this causes
a slight tendency to carry minute particles of sand or
other impurities along with it. To remedy this defect,
various plans have been proposed for making the water,
after descending, again ascend ; and this plan certainly
possesses advantages, and is a decided improvement on
the other. A very neat contrivance of this kind is that
proposed by Professor Parrot of Paris, in Nicholson’s Jour¬
nal, and is represented at fig. 3.
It consists simply of an inverted siphon, which could
be easily made of lead, having the bend filled with sand,
and being covered on the top with gravel in each branch.
The water entering the longer branch from a reservoir,
passes through the sand, and rising up, is discharged at the
other end, which should be three inches below the level
of the first. When the section of the tube is four inches
by two, and eighteen inches the length of sand, it was cal¬
culated that six Paris pints of pure water would be pass¬
ed in an hour.
By Sir H. Another plan, proposed by Sir Henry Englefield, in the
Englefield. same work, is shown at fig. 4. It consists of a conical ves¬
sel placed within the one containing the sand, and allow¬
ing the water to descend on the inner vessel, and ascend
again in the outer one.
But the simplest mode of effecting the ascent of the
water is merely to divide the jar or filtering vessel by a
vertical partition, open at the bottom. The water being
then poured into the one side, descends to the bottom,
passes under the partition into the other side, and ascends
to the same level at which it entered, and can then be
drawn off by a stop-cock or other means at pleasure. In
that case a single vessel only is wanted, and contains in
itself the means of holding separately the filtering mate-
Filter.
Filtering
by descent
and ascent.
By Profes¬
sor Parrot.
nal, the water to be filtered, and the water after filtra- ^
tion. Upon the whole, this appears by far the simplest,
most perfect, most economical, and most convenient filter
of this, or perhaps of any kind, that can be contrived. All
that is necessary is to have a pretty deep vessel of earth¬
enware, wood, or other material; a tub or barrel will an¬
swer perfectly. Put a vertical partition in the middle,
reaching nearly to the bottom, fill it half or three fourths
full of sand, with a layer of gravel on the top, and it is
ready for use. It may be found convenient, to prevent the
gravel being disturbed, to place a cover over it, with holes.
The water may either be drawn directly from the pure
side with jugs, or let off by a stop-cock. Instead of sand
and gravel, some have proposed to use charcoal, either by
itself or in combination with the others; and an appara¬
tus of this kind was contrived by Mr John Isaak Hawkins. Charcoal
It is only, however, when the water has an impure taint, filter by
which cannot be removed by sand, that the charcoal
should be resorted to, as it is more expensive, and more
difficult to be cleaned. In long voyages, however, char¬
coal, as proposed by Hawkins, may, in conjunction with
sand, be found very useful.
Instead of the water descending and then ascending, se- Filtering
veral ingenious methods have been contrived where the by ascent
water only ascends through the filter, being let in below,a one-
and forced upwards by the pressure of an external head of
water. I he advantage of this is, that the filtei can be
cleaned by letting the water return and run out at the
place where it usually enters. These plans, however, on
a small scale, are hardly ever found to supersede cleaning.
On this principle was the patent granted in 1791 to Mr Pea- Mr Pea¬
cock, which he intended for small filters as well as those on cock,
a large scale. His apparatus consisted of a vessel of wood,
lead, or other materials, of any shape or dimensions re¬
quired, divided near the bottom by a horizontal grate or
partition, upon which the filtering medium was spread in
layers, beginning with the coarsest and ending with the
fine. The lower division had a communication with a more
elevated reservoir, from which the water flowed, and rose
through the filtering bed. This consisted of gravel, sand,
broken and pulverized glass or pottery, all well washed
and sifted with sieves. On a similar principle Mr Bra- Mr Bra¬
mah had a patent for various modes of conveying andmah.
drawing off beer and other liquors, in which he describes
a filtering apparatus which be proposed to place in the
pipes to conduct the liquor. This was a cylindrical ves¬
sel, made of copper tinned within, or of any other mate¬
rials ; the upper end was closed by a lid screwed on by
a flange, and the lower end terminated in a cone ; a pipe
was inserted into the vessel near the lower part, to intro¬
duce the liquor; and from near the upper end a similar
pipe proceeded to convey it away. Between these two
was fixed the filtering floor, consisting of flannel, sand in
bags, sponges or other similar substances, which were
spread upon a horizontal plate pierced full of small holes,
and fixed in the cylinder above the filtering substance;
and another similar plate was fixed and screwed down to
confine it. The liquor was introduced by the lower pipe
by means of a pump or otherwise, and ascending through
the filtering floor, passed off in a clarified state; the impu¬
rities which are separated collect in the conical bottom of
the cylindrical vessel, whence they can be drawn by a cock.
This contrivance is adapted to give a slight filtration to a
great quantity of liquor, such as beer; and Mr Collier, in Mr Collier,
a patent for the purification of oils, claimed the principle of
filteringascensum combined with hydrostatic pressure.
Such are the different contrivances for filtering water, Filtering
where sand and gravel are the materials ; but notwith- stones,
standing their simplicity, filters of porous stone are those
which have hitherto been most generally in use. The
582
Filter.
Filtering
upwards.
Anglesea
earthen¬
ware fil¬
ters.
FILTER.
stones are procured from beds of sandstone, and some¬
times a kind of limestone. They are found in Northamp¬
tonshire, Derbyshire, and other parts of England, and
are often imported from the island of Teneriffe. The
construction of the filter is extremely simple. A thick
bowl or basin is formed of the stone, and mounted in a
frame. The foul water, being poured into the basin,
passes slowly through the substance of the stone, and
drops into a receptacle belowr, in a perfectly transparent
state. When the water is foul, a small quantity of mud
or slime is found to collect at the bottom of the basin, and
must occasionally be cleared out; but in the course of
time the more minute impurities will insinuate themselves
into the pores of the stone, and at last clog up the passage
of the water. This is remedied by chipping away the in¬
terior surface of the stone one half or three fourths of an
inch, because the impurities do not penetrate deeper into
the stone. This will restore its action for a long time.
The basin shape used in these filters is obviously not
the most proper, as it leaves an unequal thickness in the
bottom for the water to penetrate, and also the pressure
of the fluid is unequal. The bottom should be flat and of
equal thickness, and in fact it would be much better not
to make the stone a reservoir at all; but to use a filtering
vessel such as above described, substituting for the sand
and gravel a plate of the filtering-stone, of such thickness
as may be found best adapted for the nature of the water.
If a thin plate also were placed on the top of a thick one,
it might then be removed without any trouble when it got
foul, and replaced by another, without disturbing the lower
mass; or several plates could be laid one above another
till the requisite thickness for filtering were obtained.
Instead of pouring the water into the basin and allow¬
ing it to filter downwards, the water may be contained in
a vessel in which the basin is nearly immersed ; and in
this way the water will filter partly laterally, but chiefly
per ascensum, and leave much of its deposit behind, so as
to enable the stone to continue longer clean. A filter on
this plan was contrived by Mr Moult, and is described
in the Transactions of the Society of Arts. The filtered
water runs in and fills the basin, from which it can be ta¬
ken out or let off by a pipe. This principle was also pro¬
posed by Mr Collier, and it possesses all the advantages
we have already described in filtering upwards with sand ;
and if it were used with plates of the stone instead of a
basin, it would be still more effectual.
The unglazed earthenware for filtering has been intro¬
duced as a substitute for the filtering stones. It is made
of different compositions of pottery. The original patent
was granted to Mrs Johanna Hempel, potter, Chelsea, in
the year 1790. The proportions were four out of nine of
tobacco-pipe clay, and five out of nine of coarse sea, river,
or pit sand. This was intended for basins not exceeding one
gallon. For larger capacities it is liable to fly or crack in the
fire. A second composition, therefore, consisted of equal
parts of tobacco-pipe clay and sea or river sand; or if
this was found insufficient to prevent the cracking, three
parts tobacco-pipe clay, one of Stourbridge clay, or clay
from the surface of the coal mines, one of Windsor loam,
or other loam of equal quality, and four of coarse river
or sea sand; or four parts of tobacco-pipe clay, three of
sand, and one of the burnt ground clay of which crucibles
are made. The above ingredients are brought to the
proper basin or bowl shape on the wheel, and are then
hardened in the furnace like other pottery ware. The
same objection, however, applies here to the basin shape
as to the stones; in fact, it would be better to have this com¬
position formed into plates of different thickness, which
could then be used, one or more in number, in the filter¬
ing vessels, instead of sand or stone; one could be taken
out when foul, and another put in, with the utmost faci- Filter,
lity; and this would certainly be attaining the perfection v—
of a filtering apparatus.
Another still simpler plan would be to have one filtering
vessel, with a vertical partition of the porous ware reaching
to the bottom. The one half of the vessel would then be
filled with the impure and the other with the pure water ;
and if several of these.plates were at hand, one partition
could be taken out when foul, and another inserted in its
place, or there might be two porous partitions, and a solid
one between them. The one would then ascend and run
over the top of the solid partition, and again descend and
pass through the second porous partition, which would
therefore hardly ever require renewal.
A filter, the invention of Mr Robins of London, and for
which he took out a patent, has been much recommended to
the public. The external appearance is varied according
to taste , and figs. 13, 14, 15, already referred to, represent
some of the neatest and most elegant patterns. We are not
acquainted with the interior construction, but understand
it consists of various strata of filtering material, such as we
have above described, arranged so as to act with peculiar
efficacy. At the top there is a sponge neatly inserted into
a recess above the upper partition, which is a very judicious
and useful mode of detaining any impurities, and prevent¬
ing them from getting into the filterer, the sponge being
easily taken out and washed from time to time. The pa¬
tentee, however, claims far higher powers for his inven¬
tion than that of mere filtration. He states that the inte¬
rior process involves a voltaic action, which decomposes
soluble substances, and renders the water equal in purity
to distilled water. We confess we have great doubts in
regard to this, and think it irreconcilable with any idea of
voltaic or chemical action with which we are acquainted.
Still we have no doubt, from the various testimonials brought
forward, that the filter is a good one. Fig. 14 is about three
feet high, and one and a half broad, and is calculated to filter
fifty gallons a day ; the others in proportion.1
From the great success with which water has been pu¬
rified by filtration, attempts have been made to purify
oils in the same manner ; and an ingenious apparatus for
this purpose was contrived, and a patent taken out, by Mr
Joshua Collier, applicable also to water and other liquids,
and of which an account will be found in the Repertory
of Arts, vol. x. But in oils there is generally so many
impurities, chemically or otherwise united, that filtration
can do little for their purification. Charcoal is the sub¬
stance chiefly employed. A filtering machine contrived by
Mr Innes of Edinburgh is said to answer well for oils and
other fluids. By it the fluid is forced through the pores of
wood by the action of a forcing-pump. Such a degree of
pressure is unnecessary for water; but for oil, quicksilver,
and other valuable fluids, it appears certainly well adapted.
Filtration is much used in chemical processes. The Filtration
materials employed are unsized paper, cloth, flannel, tow, in chemis-
sponge, sand, pulverized glass, flints, porous stones, earth-try.
enware, &c. In fig. 12 is represented a neat little filter¬
ing apparatus constructed by Mr Parkes; and the follow¬
ing remarks and directions are taken from Mr Faraday’s
excellent work on Chemical Manipulation. “ Of the above
substances, the first is almost exclusively in use at the
laboratory, a few of the others now and then being resort¬
ed to only on particular occasions.
“ Funnels are continually necessary to support the paper
through which filtration is to take place. The ordinary
funnels required in the laboratory for the passage ot fluids
answer the purpose very well, but they are of use for sup¬
porting filters, when, from their necks being broken off,
they are otherwise unserviceable. They may be either
of glass or good Wedgewood or other earthenware ; those
1 Besides those already mentioned, there are many excellent filters in common use, hut their construction offers nothing to call for a
special notice.
FIN
Filter of glass are to be preferred, because the progress of the
|| filtration and the state of the filter can be better ascer-
Finances. tained in them. Metal funnels should not be allowed in
the laboratory.
“ The funnels containing filters may be frequently sup¬
ported by the glass or jar intended to receive the filtered
fluid, and at other times by the rings of retort stands. But
notwithstanding these facilities, so frequently is the ope¬
ration required, that a laboratory should be supplied with at
least one filtering stand of considerable size. The end
of such a stand is represented in fig. 7.
“ It is no easy matter for the chemist to obtain unobjec¬
tionable filtering paper. It is amongst the thinner varieties
,of unsized paper, or white blotting-paper, that the chemist
will probably find the kind best suited to his purpose.
“ Filtering paper should be cut ready for use into differ¬
ent sizes. The simplest filter is made by folding the paper
twice in opposite directions, so as to bring the four corners
together, and by opening one corner from the other three,
so as to produce an irregular conical cavity, as in fig. 8. Such
a filter being put into a funnel and then filled with liquid, will
immediately permit its passage ; but from the similarity of
form between the filter and the funnel, and the close adhesion
of the former to the latter over by far the greater part of
its surface, considerable obstruction is opposed to the pas-
sao-e of the fluid. Much the best expedient for facilitating
its passage is so to fold the filter that ribs may exist in
the paper itself. For this purpose, the paper is first to be
doubled, and in this state is again to be folded in half, each
half folded into quarters, and each quarter into eighths, the
folds being all on the same side, and radiating at equal dis¬
tances from the middle of the folded edge to the other
edo-es. Fig. 9 represents the doubled paper thus divided
into eight parts. Each eighth is now to be divided into
half by folds in the opposite direction, but in lines still
originating at the same centre, which makes the doubled
piece resemble a child’s paper fan, both when closed and
when a little open : it is represented by fig. 10. Whilst
in this state, the projecting corners should be taken off by
a knife ; folding the whole up tight like a closed fan, and
making the section at about a. Having opened it suffi¬
ciently to separate tlie cut edges from each other, it will be
found that the paper is equally divided into parts forming
alternate external and re-entering angles, except at the two
edges bb, where two external angles come together. Here
the intervening portion of paper between the two contigu¬
ous external angles should be folded, by bringing the latter
together, and creasing the paper down, so as to form a re-
entering angle between them : this should be done at both
places. Its appearance when perfectly formed is repre¬
sented at fig. 11.
For further information on this subject see Repertory of Arts;
Hempel, vol. ii., p. 230 ; Collier, vol. x., p. 389 ; Peacock vol. xi.,
p 221 vol. xiii., p. 140 ; Nicholson’s Jowmoi ,• Hearman and Dearn,
vol viii., p. 126; Parrot, vol. ix., p. 40 ; Sir H. Englefield, vol. ix.,
p. 95 ; Lillaeh, Phil. Mag. vol. vi., p. 240 ; Mem. Acad. Par. 1745,
Hist. 82 • 1748, Hist. 121; Machines Approuvees, tom. vii., p. 280;
Gilbert’s Journal der Physik, vol. xiii., p. 108. (o. B N.)
FIN. See Ichthyology ; and Mammalia, § Cetacea.
FINAL CAUSE. See vol. hi., p. 540.
FINALE, a seaport-town of the kingdom of Sardinia,
on the Gulf of Genoa, 10 miles N.N.E. of Albenga. It
consists of two parts about a mile distant from each other
the one Finale Borgo standing on a hill, the other P male
Marino on the shore. It has some trade in fruits, but the
harbour is small and insecure. In the vicinity are numerous
ruined forts. Pop. 5000. There is another Finale in the
duchy of Modena, on the Panaro, 10 miles from its junc¬
tion with the Po. It has manufactures of silk and woollen
fabrics, and some trade in eorn, wine, and hemp. Pop. 7000.
FINANCES, in Political Economy, the revenues ot a
FIN
king or state ; analogous to the treasury or exchequer of the
£nglish, and the jiscus of the Romans. The word is derived
from the German finantz. See Taxation.
FINCH, Heneage, first Earl of Nottingham, and lord
high chancellor of England, was the son of Sir Heneage
Finch, recorder of London, and born in December 1621.
He received his education at Westminster School, and at
Christ-Church College, Oxford, of which he was a gentle¬
man commoner; and he studied law in the Inner Temple,
where, by his talents and diligence, he became remarkable
for great legal acquirements. On the restoration of Charles
II. he was made solicitor-general, and created a baronet.
He was also appointed reader of the Inner Temple, and
chose as his subject the statute of the 39th Elizabeth, con¬
cerning the payment and recovery of debts of the crown,
which he treated with great force of reason and depth of
legal erudition. As solicitor-general, he took an active part
in the trials of the regicides; and in 1661 he was chosen
member of parliament for the university of Oxford, by the
recommendation of Lord Clarendon. In 1667, when Lord
Clarendon was impeached for certain alleged high crimes
and misdemeanours, Sir Heneage defended him against the
charges preferred by his enemies. In 1670 he was appointed
attorney-general, and, some years afterwards, lord keeper.
He was then raised to the peerage by the style and title of
Baron Finch of Daventry, in the county of Northampton;
and, in 1675, appointed lord high chancellor of England.
He officiated as high steward at the trial of Lord Stafford,
who, in the madness of that time, was found guilty of high
treason by his peers, on a charge of being concerned in the
Popish plot. In 1681 he was created Earl of Nottingham,
and died the following year, at his house in Queen Street,
Lincoln’s-Inn-Fields. Lord Nottingham wasdistinguishedfor
both sagacity and eloquence ; and, though he lived in times
when it was difficult to pursue a steady and consistent course,
he conducted himself in such a manner as to retain the fa¬
vour of the court without forfeiting the approbation of the
people. “ He was a person,” says Mr Justice Blackstone,
“ of the greatest abilities, and most incorrupted integrity;
a thorough master and zealous defender of the laws and
constitution of his country ; and endued with a pervading
genius that enabled him to discover and pursue the true
spirit of justice, notwithstanding the embarrassments raised
by the narrow and technical notions which then prevailed
in the courts of law, and the imperfect ideas of redress which
had possessed the courts of equity.”
In the name of the Earl of Nottingham have been published,
1. Several Speeches and Discourses on the Trials of the Regicides ;
2. Speeches Delivered in both Houses of Parliament; 3. Speech at
the Sentence of William Viscount Stafford, 7th December 1680;
4. Answers to His Majesty’s Command upon several Addresses Pre¬
sented to His Majesty at Hampton Court, 19th May 1681; 5. The
Arguments upon which he made the Decree in the Cause between
the Honourable Charles Howard, plaintiff, Henry Duke of Norfolk,
Henry Lord Mowbray, his son, Henry Marquis of Dorchester, and
Richard Marriot, Esq., defendants, folio; 6. An Argument on
the Claim of the Crown to Pardon on Impeachment, folio. He
also left in manuscript Chancery Reports, and notes on Coke s
Institute. B E')
Finch. See Fringilla in index to Ornithology.
FINDHORN, a river of Scotland. See Morayshire.
FINE, in Law, has different applications. Until re¬
cently it was a very usual species of assurance of lands or
tenements, or of anything inheritable, and was so called
because it put an end to all suits and controversies concern¬
ing the same matter. It bound not only the granter him¬
self and his heirs, but also all mankind, whether concerned
in the transfer or not, if they failed to put in their claims
within the time allotted by law. By the 3d and 4th Will.
IV., cap. 74, no fine can be levied after 31st Dec. 1833.
Fine also signifies a sum of money paid for entering lands
or tenements let by lease ; and sometimes a pecuniary mulct
583
Finch
II
Fine.
584 FIN
Fine Arts for an offence committed against the king and his laws, or
against the lord of the manor.
Finland. °FINE ARTS. See Arts, and Exhibition.
FINGAL, king of Morven. See Ossian.
Fingal’s Cave. See Staffa.
FINIAL. See glossary to Architecture.
FINISTERE, or Finisterre, the most western of the
French departments, and forming part of the old province
of Bretagne, is bounded on the N.W. and S. by the °ccan,
while on the E. it has the departments of Cotes-du-Nord
and Morbihan. It extends from N. Eat. 47. 44. to 48. 47.,
and from W. Long. 3. 22. to 4. 50.; being 78 miles m
length from N. to S. by 63 in width, and having an area ot
666,705 hectares, or 2574 square miles. Two chains of
hills run nearly parallel from E. to Vv. through this depait-
ment, and divide it into three zones of nearly equal extent,
conveying the waters in three different directions. INoith of
the Arrez, or more northern of the two chains, the wateis
of the Douron, Jarleuc, Penze, Fleche, &c., flow northward
to the sea. South of the Noires range the Odet, Aven,
loste, and Elle, flow southward ; while the region inclosed
by the two chains having a declination westward, the waters
of the Aulne and the Elorn flow into the Brest roaas. The
rivers are all small, and none of the hills attain a height of
900 feet. The coasts are generally steep and rocky, and
indented with numerous bays and inlets, affording some
excellent harbours, the principal being those of Brest, Mor-
laix, Landernau, Quimper, and Douarnenez. I he only
navigable rivers are the Aulne, Elorn, and Odet. Off the
coast lie a number of islands and rocky islets, the principal
of which are Ushant and Bas. The climate is temperate,
but rather humid; the prevailing winds are the W., S.W.,
and N.W. Of the 1,647,521 acres contained in this de¬
partment, 675,142 are arable, 663,678 heath and waste
land, 81,055 woods and forests, 101,095 meadow' land, and
24,797 gardens, orchards, &c. Though so small a portion
of the land is under cultivation, yet the produce of corn is
more than sufficient for the population, and would be still
greater were more scientific methods pursued in its culti¬
vation. The chief crops are oats, rye, w heat, and barley;
flax, hemp, and pulse, of good quality, are also produced.
The pasturage being good, considerable attention is given
to the rearing of cattle ; and the fisheries of the coast, parti¬
cularly the pilchard fishery, employ a great many hands, and
render this department an excellent nursery of seamen for
the French navy. Finistere is rich in minerals—iron, coal,
lead, bismuth, and zinc mines, are worked; as w ell as
quarries of granite, slate, marble, and porphyry. I he lead
mines of Poullaouen and Huelgoet are among the largest
in France, and the ore extracted yields a considerable quan¬
tity of silver. The manufactures are linens, woollens, sail¬
cloth, ropes, paper, leather, earthenware, soda, soap, candles,
sugar, &c. Ship-building is carried on at Brest and other
of the seaports. Finistere is divided into 5 arrondissements
as follows:—•
Arrondissements. Cantons. Communes. Pop. in 1851.
Quimper  9 62 117,489
Brest  12 83 204,765
Chateaulin  7 59 105,658
Morlaix  10 58 142,863
Quimperle  5 20 46,935
Total  43 282 617,710
FINLAND, called by the natives Suomenwa, the Region
of Lakes or Swamps, is a government of Russia, comprising,
besides the old Swedish province of Finland, the twro Lap-
marks of Kami and Tornea, and the district of Wiborg. It
lies between N. Lat. 59. 50. and 70. 6., and E. Long. 20.
30. and 32. 45., being bounded on the N. by Norwegian
Finmark, by Sweden W. and the Gulf of Bothnia, S. by
the Gulf of Finland, and E. by the governments of St
Petersburg, Olonetz, and Archangel. It is about 730 miles
F I N
in length from N. to S., with an average breadth of about Finland.
185 miles. The sea-coast of Finland throughout its entire
extent presents the same succession of fiords and rocky
headlands as characterize the whole seaward frontier of
Sweden and Norway. The fiords of Finland, however, are
far more limited than those to the west of the Gulf of
Bothnia, and seldom exceed a few miles in extent, although
their mouths contain an equal number of islands, some of
which, as the isles of Sveaborg, have been converted into
fortresses of great strength. The coasts of the Bothnian
and Finland Gulfs are thickly strewn with rocks of granite
and limestone, presenting in some places a labyrinthine
archipelago of little islands, rendering the navigation ex¬
tremely dangerous. The greater portion of the interior is
a vast table-land averaging in height from 400 to 600. feet,
and interspersed with hills of no great elevation. In the
north, however, are the Manselka Mountains, which attain
a height of nearly 4000 feet, and stretch southward, though
with several interruptions, until they terminate in lofty cliffs
on the Gulf of Bothnia. The great mass of the mountains
is composed of red granite, and vast quantities of the same
rock lie in boulders on the lower grounds, and prove a very
serious obstacle to their cultivation. Many of the heights
are bare, but the greater part of them being of moderate
elevation are covered with forests chiefly of pine; a.nd in
combination with the vast number of lakes inclosed by their
bases, often form very romantic scenery. The extensive
forests are sometimes devastated by the tempests of winter,
which seem to find access to their very centres in torna¬
does, tearing up by the roots or bending and snapping the
largest pines. Frequently also ravages are committed in
them by conflagrations occasioned often through the care¬
lessness of the peasants. T-he interior of Finland is also
intersected and broken up by a vast number of lakes, throw¬
ing out winding arms and branches in all directions, which,
while they offer the greatest facilities for inland navigation,
render land travelling circuitous and dangerous. Many ot
the high roads pass over islands on these lakes, the natural
strength of whose situation has been taken advantage of, to
cover them with batteries ; and some of them, as at W iborg
and Nyslot, are considered impregnable, save to fraud or
famine. The principal of these lakes are Ladoga, the
greater portion of which belongs to this government; Lake
Saima, which is crowded with islands and discharges its
superfluous waters in a series of cataracts into Lake Ladoga,
but which is now connected by means of a canal with the
Gulf of Finland near Wiborg; and Lake Enara in the ex¬
treme north, covering above 1000 square miles, and having
its outlet in the Frozen Ocean. The chief rivers are the
Ulea, which is navigated by trading vessels though its stream
is very rapid ; the Cano which passes Biorneborg; the
Aurajoki which at Abo is about 100 yards broad; the
Kymen which flows into the middle of the Gulf of Finland ;
and the Tornea which discharges itself at the northern ex¬
tremity of the Gulf of Bothnia, and forms the present
boundary between Sweden and Russia. 1 he climate varies
much according to the locality. In Lapmark, in the north,
it is polar somewhat modified, and the sun disappears during
December and January. Further south at Uleaborg, win¬
ter begins in October and continues to May, to which
month spring is limited. Summer commences in June and
lasts three months, which are generally so hot and dry that
the crops, particularly where the soil is of a sandy na¬
ture, often suffer from drought. 1 he autumn, like the
spi'ing, is confined to one month, and may be said to com¬
mence and terminate in September. Even in summer the
nights are cold, particularly about the middle of August.
During summer, however, the progress of vegetation is re¬
markably rapid; and there have been instances of grain being
sow n and reaped in six weeks. In the more southern parts
the climate is less severe; the w inter being of five or six
F I N
Finland, months’ duration. Dense fogs are frequent, and heavy rains
take place in autumn. The soil is for the most part stony
or sandy; but notwithstanding this it is much more pro¬
ductive then the opposite part of the Scandinavian peninsula,
and when in the possession of Sweden it was termed the
granary of that country. The principal crops are barley
and rye, but owing to the nature of the surface and climate
a large portion of the land is fit only for pasture. In the
north, where vegetation is almost confined to the growth
of moss and lichen, other domestic animals are superseded
by the reindeer, of which great herds are kept. In addition
to timber (chiefly fir), large quantities of potash, pitch, and
rosin are obtained, and form the principal articles of export.
Thd mineral productions are chiefly confined to iron, lead,
sulphur, slate, and granite. The first is only wrought to
a limited extent for the supply of a few furnaces ; wrought
iron being now7 principally imported from Sweden. A great
number of excellent granite quarries have been opened,
chiefly on the borders of the lakes or sea-coasts to secure
the advantage of water carriage. From these are obtained
blocks of extraordinary magnitude and beauty, which are
employed for architectural and artistic purposes. One of
the finest specimens is the monolith obelisk recently erected
in St Petersburg to the Emperor Alexander. In its rough
state it was 12 feet in diameter, and 80 feet in length. The
manufactures of Finland are insignificant. Agriculture,
the rearing of cattle, and fishing are the principal occupa¬
tions of the inhabitants. The coasts present many good
harbours, but on account of the long winter they cannot be
extensively used. In winter sledges afford an easy and
rapid communication with different parts, and even with
Sweden across the Gulf of Bothnia. In March 1809, Bar¬
clay de Tolly crossed over with a division of the Russian
army from Vasa to Umea in Sweden.
From official documents the returns of the trade of Fin¬
land for the year 1848 were in silver rubles of the value
of about 3s. 2d., as follows :—
Exports.
To Swreden and Norway  197,942
To other countries  1,946,994 .
Export duty on the same    38,704
Total  2,183,640
Imports.
From Sweden and Norway    430,366
From other countries  3,123,590
Deduct import duty thereon.,
3,553,956
893,500
FIE
trictS) and herads or bailiwicks. There is a distinct esta¬
blishment at St Petersburg for the government of this vast
province. The governor-general, who resides at Helsing¬
fors, has the superintendence of the military affairs. Fin¬
land has a diet composed of the four orders of the nobility,
clergy, citizens, and peasantry, and a code of law's and judi¬
cial system similar to that of Sweden, but the diet is rarely
convoked, except to consent to the imposition of fresh taxes,
a senate more recently established having replaced it in the
exercise of its functions. The regiments raised in Finland
are not promiscuously intermixed with the general forces
of the Russian empire ; and their fleet, by far the best
manned portion of the Russian navy, forms a distinct squad¬
ron under the Finnish flag. None but a native Finlander
can hold any office of trust in the country. Almost all the
inhabitants are Lutherans under the bishops of Abo and
Borgo, except in the circle of Wiborg, where they belong
to the Russian Church. Public education is in a very back¬
ward state. At Helsingfors is a university, transferred from
Abo in 1828 ; and all the towns have schools, but there is
a great deficiency of country schools. The majority of the
inhabitants are Fins, who call themselves Suomalans or
Suomes, but they are denominated Tschudes by the Rus¬
sians. They are of middle height, 1'obust, flat-faced, with
prominent cheek-bones, light, reddish, or yellowish-brown
hair, gray eyes, little beard, and a dull sallow complexion.
They are courageous, hospitable, and honest, but obstinate
in the extreme, indolent, dirty, and it is said revengeful.
Their customs and habits have been handed down from
time immemorial, and their costume forcibly bears out the
supposition of their being of oriental origin. The peasants
wear long loose robes of a coarse w'oollen manufacture, se¬
cured by a silken cincture like the kummerbund of the
Mussulmans. The eight Ians with their.areas and popula¬
tions are as follows, commencing from the south and east:—
Area. Population.
Wiborg    16,700 224,701
St Michael  9,271 135,231
Nyland  5,376 149,714
Tavastehuus  7,112 132,586
Abo   10,626 250,238
Vasa  15,938 199,437
Kuopio  17,039 156,706
Uleaborg  63,415 125,114
585
Finland,
Gulf of,
II
Firdusi.
Total  145,47/
1,373,727
2,660,456
Showing an excess in the imports over the exports of
476,816 rubles, which, however, was in part covered by the
freight earned by the merchant shipping. The above state¬
ments indicate a falling off as compared with former years
in the export trade to Norway and Sweden. To these two
countries the leading articles of expoit and their value
were—fish 23,569 rubles ; hides 8616 ; beef 24,578 ; grain
15 083; tallow 30,809; tar 11,483; firewood 11,483. The
imports were—books 16,200 rubles ; fish 25,228 ; iron and
steel 250,870; sugar 66,418; tobacco 4677; dye-woods
and stuffs 23,990. The exports to other countries were
also less than in former years; the chief articles were—
potash 16,733 rubles; butter 183,409 ; tar 324,717; wood
and timber 921,360. The chief imports from other coun¬
tries were—medicines 20,914 rubles ; cotton 138,318 ;
arrack, rum, brandy, 169,794; coffee 597,708; fruits
106,042; dye-stuffs 134,550; yarn 349,933; iron and
steel 89,709; salt 531,665 ; sugar 544,485 ; wine 140,528;
manufactures wove 666,145.
In 1831 Finland w7as divided administratively into eight
circles or la?is, which are sub-divided Into fogderier or dis-
VOL. IX.
The chief towns of Finland are Helsingfors the present
capital, Abo the former capital, Wiborg, Tavastehuus,
Vasa, Uleaborg, and Tornea. The Fins were Pagans
living under their owm independent kings till the twelfth
century, about the middle of which Finland was conquered
by the Swedes, who introduced Christianity. The province
of Wiborg was seized by Peter the Great in 1721, and
the remainder of the country was annexed by conquest to the
Russian dominions in 1809.—(Atheticeum, 18th March 1854.)
Finland, Gulf of. See Baltic.
FIORENZUOLA, a town of Northern Italy, duchy of
Parma, on the Emilian way, 18 miles W.N.W. of Parma.
The town contains many remains of antiquity, and the sa¬
cristy of the collegiate church has some curious relics of an¬
cient art. It is supposed to be the ancient Fidentia ; and
about eight miles to the south were discovered in 1761 the
ruins of Veleia, buried in the fourth century by the fall of
the mountain at the foot of which it was situated. Cardinal
Alberoni was born at Fiorenzuola in 1664. Pop. 3000.
FIR. See Planting; Timber; Strength of Materials.
FIRDUSI, or, as the name is variously written, Ferdusi
or Ferdousi, Abul-Casim Mansour, a celebrated Persian
poet, was born at Shadab in Khorassan. The date of his
birth is not very well known, but from the internal evi¬
dence of the Shah Nameh may be assigned approximately'
to the year 930. His father was a gardener in the service of
\ E
586
Fire,
Nature of,
Greek Fire.
FIR
a wealthy Persian, and from the name of the spot which he
cultivated (Firdus or Ferdus, *. Paradise) it is believed
that the young poet derived his name. Firdusi had already
passed the prime of life when he left his native village for
the court of the Sultan Mahmoud, who at that time lived in
the citv of Ghazna. Chancing to fall upon an old history
of Persia, he perused with the utmost eagerness the old le¬
gends of the early wars of that country ; and by the advice
of Mahmoud he began a complete poetical history of the
Persian kings. For thirty years he laboured at this work,
encouraged ”by the sultan, who promised him a thousand
pieces of gold for every couplet. At the end of that period,
however, he was doomed to be cruelly disappointed. Some
of the courtiers had taken umbrage at the seventy with
which he satirized their intrigues, and had poisoned the
mind of Mahmoud against him, so that instead of keeping
his promise, that monarch rewarded the poet with silver
pieces instead of gold. Enraged at this meanness, Ferdusi
quitted the court, leaving behind him a manuscript which he
requested should be read to the sultan the first time he felt
himself exhausted with fatigue or out of temper. The do¬
cument in question was a satire on his majesty, which so
irritated the monarch, that he persecuted the poet during
the remainder of his life, and compelled him to wander from
country to country till his death. He first took refuge at
Mazanderan. Driven thence he fled to Baghdad, the caliph
of which city presented him with a reward equal to that
which he ought to have received from the Sultan Mahmoud.
But the emissaries of that potentate still continued to per¬
secute him, till a pardon was with difficulty extorted from
their master, and the ill-starred poet returned to his native
town, where he died in 1020, in the eighty-ninth year of
his age. Ferdusi’s great work, the Shah Namely which is
a history of the Persian monarchy from its foundation till
the year 641 a.d., is of little value in an historical point of
view, except in so far as it preserves many of the old tra¬
ditions of the country. As a poem, however, it still holds^
a very high place in Oriental literature. 1 his perpetuity of
fame is due in an equal degree to the intrinsic poetical
merits of the work and the purity of the Persian in which
it is written. It is said that no work in the Persian lan¬
guage is so free from foreign admixture as the Shah Nameh.
No complete copy of the work is known to exist. Several
collations of numerous MSS. have been made, though un-^
successfully, with a view to making up a complete text. Of
these may be mentioned that made by Dr Lumsden, of
which only a part has been published; and that of Mr
Macan, published at Calcutta in 1829, in 4 vols. 8vo. An
abridgment of the Shah Nameh in prose and verse was
published by Mr James Atkinson, London, 1833.
FIRE, Nature op. See Heat.
Greek Fire, a kind of artificial or factitious fire, which
is said to have been used with wonderful effect in the wars
of the Christians and Saracens in the seventh century. Its
ingredients are not known, the composition of it having
been kept a profound secret; nor do the accounts that have
come down to us admit of anything but conjecture as to its
nature. From the descriptions of its effects, however, it
seems probable that the principal ingredient was naphtha,
with the addition of nitre, and perhaps sulphur. The use
of naphtha, from its great inflammability, and the difficulty of
quenching its flame, may account for the havoc and dismay
which the Greek fire is said to have occasioned, and may
have given rise to the stories of its burning with greater vio¬
lence in water than in air, though a sufficient admixture of
nitre, by the oxygen it gives out in combustion, might ren¬
der such a composition for a time almost unextinguishable
even by water. We are told too that it was employed wdth
equal effect by sea and land, in battles or in sieges. “ In
two sieges,” says Gibbon, “ the deliverance of Constanti¬
nople may be chiefly ascribed to the novelty, the terrors,
FIR
and the real efficacy of the Greek fire. The important Fire-Balls,
secret of compounding and directing this artificial flame was
imparted by Callinicus, a native of Heliopolis in Syria, who
deserted from the service of the caliph to that of the em¬
peror. It was either poured from the rampart in large
boilers, or launched in red-hot balls of stone and iron, or
darted with arrows and javelins, twisted round with flax and
tow which had imbibed the inflammable oil; sometimes it
was deposited in fire-ships, and was most commonly blown
through long tubes of copper, which were planted on the
prow of a galley, and fancifully shaped into the mouths of
savage monsters that seemed to vomit a stream of liquid and
consuming fire. This important art was preserved at Con¬
stantinople as the palladium of the state: the galleys and ar¬
tillery might occasionally be lent to the allies of Rome, but
the composition of the Greek fire was concealed with the
most jealous scruple. The secret was confined above 400
years to the Romans of the East. It was at length either
discovered or stolen by the Mohammedans; and in the holy
wars of Syria and Egypt they retorted an invention, con¬
trived against themselves, On the heads of the Christians.
The feu Gregois, as it is styled by the more early of the
French writers, “ came flying through the air,” says Join-
ville, “ like a winged long-tailed dragon, about the thick¬
ness of a hogshead, with the report of thunder and the ve¬
locity of lightning; and the darkness of the night was dis¬
pelled by this deadly illumination. The use of the Greek
fire was continued to the middle of the fourteenth century,
when the scientific or casual compound of nitre, sulphur,
and charcoal, effected a new revolution in the art of war
and the history of mankind.”
It should be observed, that in all probability many dif¬
ferent inventions have been described under the general
name of Greek fire. Although the invention has usually
been ascribed to Callinicus of Heliopolis, in the reign of
Constantine Pogonatus, a.d. 668, it seems highly probable
that naphtha (which abounds in many parts of the ancient
Persian kingdom, in India, and on the shores of the Cas¬
pian) had been applied to the purposes of warfare at a much
earlier period by the Oriental nations. This subject has
been ably discussed by Dr Macculloch in the Quarterly
Journal of Science, fyc. vol. xiv.
Fire-Balls, called also Bolides and Fiery Meteors, glo¬
bular masses of fire which appear at a considerable height
above the earth, shining occasionally with very great splen¬
dour, and sometimes leaving a luminous track behind them.
The larger ones in this hemisphere proceed generally from
north to south with great velocity, frequently exploding
into globes of smaller size, and sometimes vanishing with a
report, sometimes without one. They are not unfrequently
attended with a discharge of solid compounds of earthy
and metallic matters, called meteoric stones, the descent of
which, though stubbornly denied for a time, was finally
established about the beginning of this century.
These luminous appearances no doubt constituted part
of the ancient prodigies, blazing stars or comets, which last
they sometimes resemble in being attended with a train;
but they sometimes appear with a round and well-defined
disk. The first of these of which we have any accurate
account was observed by Dr Halley and some other philo¬
sophers at different places in the year 1719. From the
slight observations they could take of its course, the per¬
pendicular height of this body was computed at about
70 miles above the surface of the earth. I he height
of others has also been computed, and found to vary from
33 to 100 miles. The velocity at which they travel is
estimated at from 5 to 33 miles in a second. One of the.
most remarkable of these on record appeared on the 18th of
August 1783, about nine o’clock in the evening. It was
seen to the northward of Zetland, and took a southerly
direction over an immense space, being observed in the
F I R
Fire-Balls, southern provinces of France, and, according to one account,
at Rome. During its course it frequently changed its shape;
sometimes appearing in the form of one ball, sometimes ot
two or more, sometimes with a train, sometimes without
one. It passed over Edinburgh nearly in its zenith, and
had then the appearance of a well-defined round body, ex¬
tremely luminous, and of a greenish colour—the light which
it diffused on the ground giving to objects a greenish cast.
After passing the zenith it was attended by a train of con¬
siderable length, which continually augmented, and at last
entirely obliterated the head, so that it looked like a wedge
flying with the obtuse end foremost. I he motion was not
apparently rapid, by reason of its great height: though it
must have moved with great velocity, on account of the
immense space over which it travelled in a short time. In
other places its appearance was very different. At Green¬
wich we are told that u two bright balls parallel to each
other led the way, the diameter of which appeared to be
about two feet; and were followed by an expulsion of eight
others, not elliptical, seeming gradually to mutilate, for the
last was small. Between each two balls a luminous senaied
body extended, and at the last a blaze issued which terminated
in a point. Minute particles dilated from the whole, i he
balls were tinted first with a pure bright light, then followed
a tender yellow, mixed with azure, red, and green; which,
with a coalition of bolder tints, and a reflexion from the
other balls, gave the most beautiful rotundity and variation
of colours that the human eye could be charmed with. I he
sudden illumination of the atmosphere, and the form and
singular transition of this bright meteor, tended much to
make it awful; nevertheless, the amazing vivid appearance
of the different balls, and other rich connective parts not
very easy to delineate, gave an effect equal to the rainbow'
in the full zenith of its glory.”
Dr Blagden, in a paper on the subject inserted in the
seventy-fourth volume of the Philosophical Transactions,
not only gave a particular account of this and othei meteors
of the kind, but offered several conjectures as to the pro¬
bable causes of them. The first thing which occurred to
philosophers on this subject wras, that the meteois in ques¬
tion were burning bodies rising from the surface of the
earth, and flying along the atmosphere with great rapidity.
But this hypothesis was soon abandoned, on considering
that there was no power known by which such bodies could
either be raised to a sufficient height, or projected with the
velocity of these meteors. The next hypothesis wTas, that
they did not consist of one single body, but of a train of
inflammable vapours, extending a vast way through the
atmosphere ; which being kindled at one end, displayed the
luminous appearances in question by the fire running fiom
one end of the train to the other. To this hypothesis,
which w?as broached by Dr Halley, Dr Blagden objected
that no just explanation was given of the nature of the
vapours themselves, the manner in which they were raised
up, or their regular arrangement in straight lines of such
vast extent; or how they could be supposed to burn in such
rarefied air. “Indeed,” says he, “it is very difficult to
conceive how vapours could be prevented, in those regions
where there is in a manner no pressure, from spreading
out on all sides in consequence of their natural elasticity,
and instantly losing that degree of density which seems
necessary for inflammation. Besides, it is to e ex
pected, that such trains would sometimes take fire in the
middle’, and thus present the phenomenon of two meteors
at the same time, receding from one another in a direct
For these and other reasons the hypothesis of Dr Halley
was abandoned, and another substituted in its place. ^ his
was, that the meteors in question are permanent solid bodies,
not rising from the earth, but revolving round it in very
excentric orbits, and thus in their perigee moving w it i
F I R
587
inconceivable rapidity. Another theory supposes that the Fire-Arms
meteors in question are a kind of bodies which take fire as
soon as they come within the atmosphere of the earth. Sir v ^ ^ y
Humphry Davy’s discovery that the earths and alkalies are
metallic oxides, affords some plausibility to this theory,
especially in cases where the meteors are accompanied with
the descent of solid bodies to the earth. It has been sug¬
gested that the bases of the earths may exist in the meteor
Tn a metallic state, and that when the body arrives within
the range of our atmosphere, the strong affinity which it is
well known these metallic bases have for oxygen causes
them to unite and produce violent combustion. The origin
of fire-balls has also been ascribed to the agency of elec¬
tricity, and there seems little doubt that this is really the
true way of accounting for them.
Falling or shooting stars are the same phenomena upon
a smaller scale. See Falling Stars, and Metegrolites.
Dispersed through the volumes of Von Humboldts Cosmos
the reader will find many curious and interesting observa¬
tions on these phenomena.
FIRE-ARMS. See Gun-Making.
FIRE-DAMP. See Damps, and Lamp, Safety.
FIRE-ENGINE, a species of forcing pump in which the
water is subjected to pressure sufficiently strong to raise it
to the required height. Those of the ordinary construction
• consist of two forcing pumps, wrought by the reciprocating
motions of two transverse levers. I he water is forced into
an air-vessel, by which means the inclosed air is condensed,
and by its reaction it forces the water through a moveable
pipe, which terminates in a conical form, and is directed
upon the flame. Braithwaite’s steam fire-engine is an in¬
genious application of the moving power of steam to the
working of fire-engines. 1 he mechanical arrangement of
this machine consists of two cylinders of about six inches in
diameter, one of them being the steam-cylinder, and the
other the water-pump; and they are placed horizontally, so
that a parallel motion is easily obtained. An engine of this
kind will deliver about 9000‘gallons an hour to the height
of 90 feet. The time of getting the engine into action from
the moment of igniting the fuel (the water being cold) is
only 18 minutes. For further observations upon fire-
engines, see Hydrodynamics, chap, iii., sec. 2.
FIRE-ESCAPES. See Life-Preservers.
FIRE-FLIES. See index to Entomology.
FIRE, ST ANTHONY’S. See Erysipelas.
FIRE-WORKS, See Pyrotechny.
FIRE-WORSHIPPERS. SeeGuEBRES; Magi; Per-
SLA. . , . ,
FIRKIN, a measure of capacity, being the fourth part
of a barrel. The firkin of ale, which formerly was 8 gal¬
lons, by an act of 1803 was made 9 gallons, the same as
the barrel of beer, or 9T5340 imperial gallons. The firkin
of butter is equal to 561b.; that of soap, 641b.
FIRLOT, a dry measure used in Scotland, containing
4 pecks or ^ of a boll. The Linlithgow wheat firlot (used
also for rye, pease, beans, salt, and grass seeds) is to the
imperial standard bushel as 0-998256 to 1. The barley
firlot (also used for malt, cats, fruit, and potatoes) is to the
imperial standard bushel as 1-4562794 to 1.
FIRMAMENT, in the ancient astronomy, the eighth
heaven or sphere, with respect to the seven spheres of the
planets which it surrounds. It is supposed to have two
motions; a diurnal motion, given to it by theprimum mo¬
bile, from east to w*est, about the poles of the ecliptic; and
another opposite motion, from west to east; which it com¬
pletes, according to Tycho, in 25,412 years; according to
Ptolemy, in 36,000; and according to Copernicus, in
25,800; when the fixed stars return to the same precise
points in which they were at the commencement. This
period is commonly called the Platonic or great year.
FIRMAN, a passport issued by the grand vizier in the
588
Firmic’js
II
Fisher.
F 1 S
name of the sultan to travellers and others. In the East Indies,
the term firman is used for a written permission to trade.
FIRMICUS, Maternus Julius, a Latin writer who
’ flourished under the successors of Constantine. About the
vear 345 he composed a work entitled Be Erroribus Pro-
fanarum Religionum, which he inscribed to Constantins
and Constans, the sons of Constantine, and which is happily
still extant, accompanied with the annotations of o n
Wouver To Firmicus are also attributed eight books on
astronomy, first printed by Aldus Manutius m 1501, and
reprinted^ several times since; but as this work contains
nothing relating to the true science of astronomy, and is
filled with astrological calculations after the mannei o ^ ie
Babylonians and Egyptians, Baronius doubts whether
<rood and pious Christian, as Firmicus is represented to
have been, could have indulged m such profane and impi¬
ous speculations. Cave, however, very reasonably supposes
that he might have written these books anterior to the date
of his conversion from Paganism. Of the treatise on the
Errors of the Profane Religions, the principal editions sub¬
sequent to that of Aldus are, one printed at Strasburg in
1562, another at Heidelberg in 1599, and a third at Pans
in 1610, all in 8vo; but afterwards it was conjoined with
Minucius Felix, and printed at Amsterdam in 164o,. at
Leyden in 1652, and again at Leyden by James Gronovius,
in 1709, 8vo. It is likewise to be found in xhe Bibliotheca
Patrum, and at the end of Cyprian, printed at Paris in
1666. (Dupin; Cave; Moreri; Fabricius, Zaif. and
Bibl Lat. Med) (J- B—E;)
FIRST-FRUITS(primitia)arefrequently mentioned by
ancient Christian writers as forming part of the church re¬
venue. In the Church of England, first-fruits are the pro¬
fits of every spiritual living for the first year, according to
the valuation thereof entered in the King’s Books. Tenths
are the tenth of the yearly value of such living, given
anciently to the pope throughout all Christendom, but in
England, by statute 26th Henry VIII. cap. 3, transferred to
the king. 'Ey statute 27th Henry VIII. cap. 3, no tenths
are payable the first year, as then the first-fruits are due ;
and, by several statutes in the reign of Queen Anne, bene¬
fices under L.50 per annum shall be discharged of the
payment of first-fruits and tenths. She also gave up the re¬
venue arising from first-fruits and tenths, and by act 2d and
3dof her reign, cap. 2, established a perpetual fund therefrom,
vested in trustees, for the augmentation of poor livings. This
is called Queen Anne's Bounty, and is further regulated by
subsequent statutes. By 3d and 4th William IV., cap. 37, the
payment of first-fruits in Ireland is abolished. (See Burn’s
Ecclesiastical Law)
FISC, (Lat./ymv), in Civil Law, the treasury or revenue
of a state. Fiscus in its primary sense denoted a basket or
hanaper used by the Romans for holding large sums of
money, and hence was applied to a money-chest or a purse.
Under the emperors the term fiscus came to be applied to
the imperial revenue or privy purse, in contradistinction to
the eerarium or public treasury. Ultimately, when the
emperors had concentrated in themselves the whole sove¬
reign power, the word fiscus lost its distinctive character,
and was used in the same sense as serarium under the re¬
public. Various officers were employed in the administra¬
tion of the fiscus; as procuratores, advocati, patroni, and
prsefecti. From fisc is derived the word confiscation, which
signifies to take the goods of a condemned person and ap¬
propriate them to the public treasury.
FISH. See Ichthyology.
FISHER, John, Bishop of Rochester, was born at Be¬
verley in Yorkshire, in the year 1459, and educated in the
collegiate church of that place. In 1484, he removed to
Michael Llouse in Cambridge, of which college he was
elected master in the year 1495. Having applied himself
FIS
to the study of divinity, he took orders ; and becoming emi¬
nent as a divine, attracted the notice of Margaret, Countess k,
of Richmond, mother of Henry VII., who appointed him
her chaplain and confessor. In 1501 he took the degree
of doctor in divinity, and the same year was elected chan¬
cellor of the university. In the year following he was ap¬
pointed Lady Margaret’s first professor of divinity in Cam¬
bridge ; and in 1504 he was consecrated Bishop of Roches¬
ter. It is generally known that the foundation of the two
colleges of Christ-Church and St John’s, Cambridge, was
owing to Bishop Fisher’s influence with the Countess of
Richmond; he not only formed the design, but superin¬
tended the execution, and was appointed by the statutes
visitor for life after the death of Lady Margaret. On the
promulgation of Luther’s doctrine, the bishop was the first
to enter the lists against him. Upon this occasion he ex¬
erted all his influence, and is generally supposed to have
written the book on account of which Henry VIII. ob¬
tained the title of Defender of the Faith. Hitherto he had
continued in favour with the king; but in 1527, having
opposed his divorce from Catherine of Aragon, and denied
his supremacv, he was soon exposed to the full brunt of
that monarch’s resentment. In 1533 the parliament found
him guilty of misprision of treason, for concealing certain
prophetic speeches of Elizabeth Barton, a fanatical impostor
known as the Holy Maid of Kent, relative to the king s death,
and condemned him, with five others, to suffer loss of goods
and imprisonment during his majesty’s pleasure. He was
subsequently released upon payment of a fine of L.300.
King Henry having now espoused Anne Boleyn, his ob¬
sequious parliament took the oath of allegiance. But in
this oath the Bishop of Rochester steadily refused to join,
alleging that his conscience had not been convinced that
the king’s first marriage was against the law of God. For
this refusal he was attainted by the parliament of 1534, and
committed to the Tower, where he experienced cruel treat¬
ment, and would probably have died under his sufferings.
It was now that Pope Clement, at once to reward Fisher
and spite the king, sent him a cardinal’s hat. This kindness,
however, only hastened the bishop’s ruin. 4 he king, bent
on his destruction, sent Rich the solicitor-general, under
the pretence of consulting the bishop upon a case of con¬
science, but really with a design to draw him into a con¬
versation concerning the supremacy. The honest old bishop
spoke his mind without suspicion or reserve; and an in¬
dictment and conviction of high treason were the conse¬
quence. Fie was beheaded at Power Hill on the 22d of
of June 1535, in the seventy-seventh year of his age. It
is impossible to withhold from Fisher, notwithstanding his
inflexible enmity to the Reformation, the character of a
learned, pious, and honest man. His works attest his learn¬
ing ; his inflexible zeal for his faith, and the readiness with
which he died for his creed, plainly prove his honesty as
well as his piety.
The Bishop of Rochester was the author of a number of works,
of which the following is a \\st:—Assertionum Martini Luthcri Con-
futatio ; Defensio Assertionis Henrici Octavi de Septem Sacramentts ;
Epistola Besponsaria Epistolce Lutheri; Sacerdotii Defensio contra
Lutherum ; Pro Damnatione Lutheri; De Veritate Corporis et San¬
guinis Christi in Eucharistia, adversus (Ecompoladium; De Unica
Magdalena; Petrum fuisse Romce; Several Sermons, amongst which
was one preached at the funeral of Henry VII., and another at that
of the Countess of Richmond; His opinion of King Henry the
Eighth’s marriage, in a letter to T. Wolsey, printed at the end of
the second volume of Collier’s Ecclesiastical History. Most of the
tracts above mentioned were collected and printed in one volume
folio, at Wurtzburg, in 1595. Fisher, as already stated, is supposed
to have had a considerable share in the .composition of Henry s
book entitled Assertio septem, Sacramentorum; and in the Norfolk
library of manuscripts belonging to the Royal Society there is an
answer made by him to a book printed at London in 1530, con¬
cerning Henry’s marriage with Queen Catherine.
Fisher.
589
F ISHEEIES.
Fisheries. Fisheries are of high importance to almost all nations, and
v j peculiarly so to those whose territories are either entirely
insular, or partially bounded by the sea. The direct ant
chief advantage is, of course, to such people as capture, as
well as feed upon, the finny tribes ; but the curative pro¬
cess, whether for a lengthened period by means of salted
pickle, or for a shorter preservation, by the use of ice, now
spreads the benefit far inland, into many a distant land
which never heard the surging of the sea. As the great
nursery for sailors, and the producer of habitual hardihood,
and a fearlessness of winds and waves, our British fisheries
are altogether invaluable—that is, they greatly transcend
all those merely pecuniary advantages, however great, which
can be calculated and made manifest by statistical docu¬
ments of whatever kind. Sir Henry Wotton was of opinion
that there was something in the capture of fish, even when
pursued as a trade, which tended to improve the moral, it
not the intellectual character of those engaged in it, and to
bring them up for the most part, however unlettered, as a
patient, simple, humane, and hardy race—not insensible,
in the midst of stormy days and nights of darkness, to the
sublime feeling of dependence on a higher power and with
a preparedness to acknowledge and obey the divine will.
We are told from the highest source that they that do
business in the great waters, these see the works of the Lord,
and his wonders in the deep.” How far they are permanently
impressed thereby, to their own advantage, we are not pre¬
pared to say; but the difficulties which beset their adven¬
turous calling, and the early period at which their profes¬
sional life commences, and becomes of value, make it ail
the more incumbent upon others to attend both to the
educational and spiritual interests of a peculiar people to
whose hardihood we owe so much. “ Men-of-war, and
merchantmen,” writes Sir Robert 1’Estrange, consume
men and breed none ; the collier brings up now and then
an apprentice, but still spends more than he makes; tie
only other and common nursery of seamen is this fishery
(that of herrings), where every buss brings up, it may be,
six, eight, or ten new men every year, so that our fishery
is iust as necessary to our navigation as to our safety and
well-being. And it is well observed that all the princes aie
stronger or weaker at sea, according to the measures of
their fisheries.” Lacepede regards the herring as une de
ces productions dont Temploi decide de la destinee des em¬
pires and the great Cuvier has recorded that the govern¬
ment of all nations possessed of any sea-coast where that hs i
is known, has given special attention and encouragement to
its capture—regarding such occupation as the finest nursery
for the formation of robust men, intrepid sailors, and skilful
navigators, and so of the highest consequence towards the
ensuring of maritime greatness. I his remark, it has been
well observed, coming from the native of a country with
limited sea-coast, has irresistible force when applied to
islands like Great Britain and Ireland, possessed of immense
colonies in every quarter of the earth, “on whose dominions
the sun never sets,” and thus requiring unceasing supplies Fisheries,
of seamen for a naval and commercial marine of greater
size and power than any known in ancient or modern times.
Let these authorities suffice as an introductory exordium.
It does not matter much which department of our sub¬
ject we beo-in with. Let us take up the fresh waters first,
and in these, we need scarcely say, the most important spe¬
cies we can encounter is the salmon Salmo salar of natu-
rali^ts.
As regards the historical view, wre may state, that the
ancients knew little of trout, and nothing of salmon, which
are the glory of the group. If observed in any way by the
Greeks, the latter would not have escaped the notice of
the lynx-eyed Aristotle. The salmon is not a Meditenanean ^
species, and so does not occur in such of the rivers of h ranee
as debouche into that inland sea. It is cursorily alluded to
by Pliny, who of course does not describe it as an Italian fish,
but as native to certain rivers in Aquitaine. Ausomus is
the first Latin poet who mentions the salmon under its pre¬
sent title :—
Nec te puniceo rutilantem viscere, balmo,
Transierim:
And in another place he writes of,
Purpureisque salar stellatus tergora guttis.1
We have here to do, however, with the natural and com¬
mercial rather than the classical history of the finny tribes,
and so shall proceed to consider them as they are known to
us in this our day.
The parent salmon show themselves at the mouths ot
rivers, and endeavour to ascend the same during almost
every month throughout the year, although the process of
spawning does not usually take place till winter, that is,
from the beginning of October to the close ot Januaiy—
November and December being the principal months m
the majority of rivers. They generally delay their ascent
in any great number till the streams are somewhat swollen
bv heavy rains, although in the lower portions of the larger
rivers there may be a more frequent run. When the fresh
or flood has fairly intermingled with the estuaries the up¬
ward movement is often rapid and multitudinous, especially
if there has previously occurred a long continued course of
dry weather.2 This marvellous instinctive desire to return
to their native streams is irrepressible. It induces them to
stem the current of surging rivers, to force their peiilous
wav into many a “ hell of waters,” to ascend precipitous
falls, and pass over weirs and similar obstacles ot human
intervention, which no other or less pervading power could
either vanquish or evade.
The spawn is deposited in troughs made by the parents
to a considerable depth in the gravel, and is afterwards
covered over in like manner. Both sexes are necessarily
present, but observers differ as to the share assumed by the
male in the removal of the gravel, and whether the female,
supposing that she is the chief builder, makes most use of her
head or tail.3 According to Mr Andrew Y oung, the fish al-
r amusing^=~ on the literary history of fish has been recently published. See Pro, or ^
and Modern Fish Tattle. By the Rev. is° thatwhich befel the fishermen of Thurso, more than a century ago At
2 The greatest haul of salmon that we know of o > were secured. A large net was used sweepingly, from the cruivesof the
a single sweep one day in Jufy the ^“^“taken by 18 or 20 men, who kept the ground-rope low with long poles. The fish (includ-
river down to the lower end of P > afterwards taken ashore in a smaller net.
ing, we doubt not, grilse, as well as adult salmon) « n the female) and that the excavation is performed chiefly
3 Mr Shaw is of opinion that the labour of the ^ J of force in fishes. The same observation, or rather inference
by a flapping movement of the tar , w ic i pottg in relation to “fie Tweed salmon, as long since quoted by Pennant in his British
had been made (unknown to Mr ^hav.) y ; , in8(rument by which the gravel is displaced, in consequence of his having so frequently
SLulrtfuS”“ Sed a* it wereiy viol™. ^ Mr Fraser of Dochoalurg (to whom we owe a pamphlet on th, salmon
FISHERIES.
590
Spawning wayS approach the spawning bed in pairs. The places usually
of salmon. ge]ectecj are rippling fords or shallows of not more than two
or three feet in depth, sometimes less, where the gravel is
clean and not too heavy, and the water clear and in constant
flow. Their first object is to dig a trench, a work of some
labour, as they prefer a somewhat firm or compacted bed,
less liable to shift than one of looser gravel. They begin
the operation by falling down a few yards below the chosen
spot, and then tilting up against it with their heads, thus by
repeated efforts displacing a portion of the gravel, and so
forming the commencement of their first parallel. The ex¬
cavation varies in depth from nine to eighteen inches, ac¬
cording to the nature and consistence of the material, or the
requirements of the situation, of which, no doubt, the fishes
themselves are the best judges. When the trench is ic-
garded as of sufficient depth, the female deposits in it the
ripest portion of her ova, and the male sheds his milt among
them. A careful observer may perceive both products fall¬
ing into, and settling at the bottom, and as soon as all is
right in that respect, another tilting takes place against the
gravel, the effect of which is to continue the trench, while
the loosened materials are aided in their movement by the
current, and falling into the previous hollow, help to cover
up the ova. fhis higher portion in like mannei iecei\es
its share of ova and milt, and so the w'ork proceeds till it is
finished. In this labour several days may be consumed.
The parent fish then fall down the river into the first deep
they come to, and there they abide for a time for repose
and restoration. They are usually much discoloured at this
period, the females dark and inky, the males streaked and
stained with rusty red, and the under jaw very obtrusive,
and upturned into a snout or hip. They then gradually
make their way through stream and pool towards the tide¬
way, and by this time, although flabby and flavourless, their
stains have been in a great measure washed away, and the
silvery lustre re-assumed. Hence the Scotch expression of
“a weel-mended kelt,” signifying a fish in this half-re¬
covered but still impoverished condition, and which the
deluded (and deluding) angler not seldom seeks to glorify
by the name of salmon. The majority of early spring fish
taken by the rod are kelts, and many a man would much
rather never fish at all than kill a score of them. In gene¬
ral the males are the first to leave the river, many of the
females abiding there till March or even May, especially in
dry weather when they cannot pass in safety downwards
from pool to pool. It is believed that they no sooner reach Early state
the salubrious sea than their muscular firmness, fine flavour, of salmon,
and brilliant lustre are restored. They then increase rapidly,
and after a few months return to the rivers as beautiful, and
far bigger than before—the soonest down being probably
the earliest to re-appear. So much for the old fish.1 Let
us now inquire after the spawn.
The period of hatching of the ova varies with the rigour
of the season and the time of deposition. If spawned early
the young will burst their cerements in from 90 to 100
days, while such as are laid in December may require 140
days before they break the shell. There are also inter¬
mediate periods corresponding to the temperature of the
place or season. The fry are at first very slender, but ex¬
tremely agile little things, about three-quarters of an inch
in length, with none of the fins distinctly developed save
the pectoral, and bearing beneath the body a compara¬
tively large bag of a beautiful transparent red, like a pale-
coloured currant, attached to the abdomen, and affording
the young fish an ample supply of nourishment for several
weeks. This is the yelk or vitelline portion of the egg.
They continue for a length of time to keep themselves in
a great measure concealed from public view among the
stones and gravel, are quick-sighted as well as active, and
have the instinct of self-preservation so strongly implanted
from the first, that the waving of the smallest wand, or the
passing shadow of an outstretched arm, is sufficient to cause
their instantaneous disappearance among the multitudinous
little caves and arched recesses with which their shingly
bed abounds. While quiescent, they seem to be almost in
a helpless state, and are not only borne down but over¬
balanced by the pea-like body attached to the abdomen,
and which, gravitating in accordance with its own constitu¬
tion, throws the fry over on their sides. In this position
they so resemble the subjacent soil, that though a score of
them may be lying in the impressed mark of a horse’s hoofj
they can only be discov ered by the brilliant colour of their
“provision bag.” As soon, however, as they are set in
motion they assume their natural position, and swim away
with the bag beneath them, and with great facility. They
continue in this independent and inconspicuous state for
several weeks, being nourished all the time, so far as has
been ascertained, by the gradually absorbed remains of the
vitelline portion of the egg, which constitutes the bag just
mentioned. The period of absorption seems to vary with
fisheries) describes the action as resembling that of a hen shuffling with her wings in earth or sand. The spawners, he alleges, ic on
their sides, and, while making the furrows, remove the gravel by a quick jerk and curvature of their bodies, hut principally tty the tins
and tail. At this period, as he further informs us, they are always accompanied by a horde of trouts, which are very alert in pic ing
up the ova as they drop, and the male spawner is every now and then seen chasing them away.
The following are Mr Shaw’s most recent observations, regarding the same process as performed by the common river trout, Salmo
fario, and which he regards as confirming by analogy the proceedings of the salmon. “I have had many excellent opportunities this
last autumn of observing the interesting process of trouts depositing their spawn in a small stream which runs into a well-stocked loch
in this neighbourhood. The stream in which they were spawning was not more than six inches deep, and the fishes were as distinctly
seen as if in a glass on the drawing-room table. By creeping up to them on hands and knees under the shade of a dark bush, I was ab.e
to watch them for hours unseen, and so near that I could have put my hands on them with ease. The male, as 1 have already often
stated, took no part in the process of digging, contenting himself by keeping nearly parallel with the female, and close to the bottom
of the spawning bed when at rest. The female, while in the act of removing the materials, always had her head a few inches a ove t o
level of the gravel at the bottom, while her tail was at the same time working actively on the gravel immediately under it, and the smal
pebbles could be distinctly seen in motion at the same time. I do not mean to say that the female salmon removes the gravel wit i lei
tail, as if actually with a spade, but that by the broad surface of the caudal extremity acting vertically on the water near the bottom, t at
water readily removes the gravel below, which is always loose and shingly on spawning streams. In short, the fact of the salmon re¬
moving the gravel by the action of the tail can no longer admit of a doubt.”—MS., 16th March 1855. _ ,
1 We have reason to believe that salmon suffer by & forced retention in the sea, as well as from a too prolonged sojourn in e res i
waters. A case of this kind is supposed to have occurred at the mouth of the Grimsta, in the island of Lewis, in August 18 -. urmg
a continuance of dry weather at that time, the fish were found dying in great numbers in the salt water, just off the river s mouth, and
this was attributed to their inability from want of water to ascend the stream. The immediate ailment, whatever might be its cause,
seemed to be a softening and slight discoloration of a part of the upper portion of the skull, with an appearance of sinking or indenta¬
tion in its centre : a specimen was kindly transmitted to us by Mr Francis W. Wilson for examination. We have preserved the skull.
Another cranium of a salmon in our collection is slightly disorganized from a different cause. While a friend was playing a kelt one
morning in early spring, near Cardrona, on the Tweed, our notice was attracted by a bright red light (the signal of danger) which the
fish seemed to bear aloft upon its forehead. When stretched upon the dewy turf, we found on closer examination that there was a large
fresh wound, which seemed nearly to have fractured the skull, laying it bare for about a couple of inches. It had no doubt been quite
recently inflicted by a violent though misdirected blow from a leister, and yet the fish had not been so sickened thereby as to lose its
appetite for artificial flies, one of which, though a frail thing compared with a poacher's trident, had just caused its capture.
FISHERIES.
591
Early state the temperature and other circumstances, and admits of a
of salmon, range of from 27 to 50 days. While lessening, it assimilates
somewhat in colour to the rest of the body, and finally dis¬
appears. That animalcular food is also, towards the con¬
clusion of this period, obtained through the mouth, there
need be no doubt. It is not, however, till they are nearly
two months old that they can be perceived as in pursuit of
prey.
The growth of salmon fry is by no means rapid during
their first summer. For several months they require to be
narrowly looked for among the shingle (into which they are
so fond of darting) before they can be seen. But as at this
period, and throughout the season, our rivers are amply
stbcked with small fry of the same kind, but much more
conspicuous from their larger size, and less timid habits, it
becomes evident that we have two broods in hand, the
smaller of which are the product of the immediately pre¬
ceding spring, the larger that of the spring of a year and
some months passed and gone. Both broods taken together
constitute what are termed parr, and the larger set are those
which afford such frequent though improvident amusement
to the more juvenile class of anglers. Now the great con¬
stitutional change which converts an old parr into a young
salmon (commonly called a smolt) takes place in spring,
and consists mainly in the following alterations. The black
spots upon the opercles or gill-covers disappear ; the pale-
coloured pectoral fins become deeply suffused by an inky
hue at their extremities; the broad and conspicuous bars
or blotches on the sides are effaced or rendered invisible,
and the prevailing hues of dusky brown and yellowish
white are converted into a dark bluish black upon the upper
parts, and into a brilliant silvery white upon the lower sides
and abdomen. The old opinion was that salmon fry grew
to the length of six or seven inches in as many weeks.
What led to this long-continued error was the rapidity with
which the mature parr assumed the aspect of the acknow¬
ledged smolt. Superficial observers, and almost all were
so on this particular point at the tivne referred to, taking
cognisance, first, of the hatching of the ova in early spring,
and secondly, of the sudden appearance and seaward migra¬
tion of smolts so soon afterwards, erroneously imagined these
two facts to take place in immediate or speedy succession
and connection, whereas in truth they had no more to do
with each other than an infant in the nurse’s arms has to
do with any active lad who may be setting forth to push
his fortunes in a far country. It is now known and univer¬
sally admitted that the parr remains at least an entire year
in the fresh water streams before it becomes a smolt, so
that the latter is necessarily not of the same generation as
those hatched during the spring, in which it seeks the sea.
We owe the demonstration of this important fact, which
had been previously nothing more than surmised, to Mr
John Shaw of Drumlanrig. The essential value of Mr
Shaw’s discovery consists in his having proved the iden¬
tity of that abundant little fish commonly called parr, with
the young or earliest condition of the salmon. He also
showed its long continuance in fresh water, its after con¬
version into the smolt, and the consequent absurdity of
supposing that the latter went off to the sea in a few weeks
after it was hatched. The importance and originality of
his observations are independent of the fact—whether a
certain portion of parr require one or two years in fresh
water.
That excellent observer had been long convinced, in
opposition to the prevailing sentiments upon the subject,
that the small and most abundant, though by no means well-
known fish, commonly called parr, was the young or natu¬
ral produce of the salmon, and that all previously recorded
attempts to trace the true history of the latter noble species
in its early state were delusive and without foundation. So
far back as the 11th of July 1833, he captured a few
score of these small fishes, and placed them in a commo- Identity of
dious pond, supplied by a wholesome streamlet, where they
were as happy as the day was long. They throve and pro- ^ .
spered to a wish, and in the ensuing month of April began
to assume a somewhat different aspect, and in the earlier
part of May were converted into what are usually called
salmon smolts—that is, they lost the perpendicular or
transverse bars, became of a fine deep blue upon the back.
the sides and under portions being as lustrous as silver, and
the scales deciduous, or coming easily oft' upon the hand.
In March 1835 he renewed the experiment, by taking from
the river about a dozen parr of a large size—that is, about
six inches long. They at this time bore the transverse
blotches, and all the other obvious characteristics of the so-
called parr. He transferred them to his pond, and by tne
end of April of the same year they too assumed the livery
of the salmon fry, the dark bars becoming overlaid by sil¬
very scales. It is clear that if all parr were converted
into smolts when they were only about a year old, then so
soon as the smolting process and the immediately ensuing
migration to the sea have taken place, none would remain
in the river except the small and inconspicuous fry of a few
weeks old, already referred to as the darkling denizens of
the shingle. But as this is not the case—as June, July,
August, and so on, have from the first their shapely well-
grown parr, besides those more minute and unobtrusive re¬
latives amid the stones below, we can draw no other con¬
clusion than that which Mr Shaw has drawn—to wit, that
all the larger summer and autumnal parr are in truth young
salmon advancing into their second year, and not ripe for
the smolting process till the ensuing spring, by which time
of course they must be two years old.
Prior to this ingenious identification of the parr and
salmon smolt, and the demonstration of the lengthened
sojourn of the latter in fresh water, the former was unavoid¬
ably regarded as constituting in its proper person a distinct
and permanent species—that is, a continuous and inconver¬
tible parr. What might be its early history no one knew, and
as no female parr with matured roe had been ever met with,
a considerate observer must have been sorely perplexed
when he thought of its maternity. Its predecessors and
posterity were alike a mystery—the only ascertainable fact
being a truism, and fortunately self-evident, that the
existing race existed. Mr Shaw, while making in the
month of May 1834 a minute examination of some streams
in which salmon were known to have spawned during the
preceding winter, found there in vast numbers a very
minute but extremely agile fish, which, from its position, he
naturally concluded to be the young parr or actual samlet
of the season. To test the truth of this opinion he scooped
up a few score, the individuals not measuring more than an
inch long. He placed them in his ponds, where they throve
well, although after the lapse of an entire year they ‘were
only three inches and a half in length. At this time (May
1835) they entirely corresponded to the small or medium¬
sized parr to be seen in the natural streams of the river,
and neither the free nor the captive brood of these dimen¬
sions exhibited any tendency to assume the silvery aspect
of the smolt. Our observer, however, felt satisfied, from
the result of his former tentative experiments on the parr,
that they would ultimately assume that aspect; so he
allowed them to bide their time, and accordingly in May
1836 they were transmuted into smolts or salmon fry. They
then measured six inches and a half in length, the colour
of the dorsal region being a fine bluish-black, the sides and
abdomen silvery white, the dorsal, caudal, and especially
the pectoral fins tinged with black. The smolts in the
river were at this time descending seawards,—no differ¬
ence could be discovered between these and their brethren
in captivity,—the latter were known to have completed
their second year, and so Mr Shaw very naturally asks,
FISHERIES.
592
Age of “ Is it likely that those in the river were only a few weeks
smolts. old ? ”
v--^ It thus appears that the fry of salmon may be seen by
any careful observer, in such rivers as produce them, early
in the month of April, but so young and weak, in conse¬
quence of their recent emergence from the spawning beds,
as to be unable to struggle with the current. They there¬
fore betake themselves to the gentler eddies and other quiet
places during spring and the earlier part of summer ; but
as they gain an increase of size and strength they begin to
scatter themselves more independently over all the shal¬
lower portions of the river, especially where the bottom is
composed of fine gravel. They thus continue compara¬
tively unobserved throughout the whole of their first sum¬
mer, during which they seldom take the angler’s fly. But
no sooner "do the two-year-olds, according to Mr Shaw’s
theory, disappear as smolts in spring than these smaller
fishes, now entering upon their second season, become
bolder and more apparent, and then constitute, and con¬
tinue for another year to constitute, the parr of anglers and
of other observers. Their shy and shingle-seeking habits
during the early months of their career so screen them from
ordinary observation as to have induced the erroneous be¬
lief already mentioned, that the silvery smolts were the
actual produce of the very season in which these are first
observable, and were only a few weeks old—the fact seem¬
ing to be, that prior to their seaward emigration they had
dwelt for a couple of years in “rivers of water.” Now
that we know this strange history, it seems still stranger
that in the days of our ignorance no angler should have
troubled himself to inquire what became of the older gene¬
ration of parr—that is, of the comparatively large indivi¬
duals which may be captured late in autumn and in early
spring, but scarcely one of which can be detected after the
departure of the smolts into the sea. If the two were not
identical, how did it happen that one so constantly disap¬
peared simultaneously with the other ? But their identity
has been demonstrated, and the disappearance of these full-
grown parr is caused by their conversion into smolts.
In giving Mr Shaw’s view of the comparatively slow
progress of the development of parr, and stating our own
belief, for the reasons assigned, in the general truth of
the biennial theory, as it may be called, we must not omit
to state that several excellent, experienced, and trust¬
worthy observers have come to another conclusion, and,
while admitting the value and importance of Mr Shaw;’s
discoveries, maintain that a single completed year suffices
to convert a parr into a smolt. It may be here mentioned,
that in the course of Mr Shaw’s experiments, it happened
each time that some of his captive specimens smolted
when they were little more than a year old ; and this, say
some, instead of being an exceptional occurrence, was rather
an indication of what would have happened to the whole,
had they been in their natural and unconstrained condition
in the open river, instead of being shut up in a pond. We
think Mr Shaw has fenced the matter well, by showing that
a similar change was very obviously going on in the river
among the larger and older parr, but not among the younger
and smaller; and his opponents can in no way explain or
account for (consistently with their annual theory) the con¬
tinuance of so many obviously year-old parr in the river for
such a continuous length of time after the departure of the
smolts in spring. At the same time it is proper to con- Age of
sider the facts on both sides. Mr Andrew Young of Inver- smolts.
shin, who has well availed himself of the amplest oppor-
tunities for experimental observation, informs us that the
fry (or parr) of his ponds became smolts at the end of the
first year, and that frequent trials brought forth the same
result. We have every confidence in Mr Young’s state¬
ments, and therefore know not how to reconcile the oppos¬
ing facts. This much, however, consists with our own
knowledge, that the river Shin, by the banks of which Mr
Young’s experiments were made, abounds all summer With
well-grown parr in their second season—that is, we find them
there, as elsewhere, for many a month after the smolts have
taken their departure to the sea. These specimens we
have not seldom had it in our power to exhibit to Mr
Young himself. We observe that Mr Ramsbottom has
also recently followed the same course. He observes, in a
note addressed to us from the banks of the Shin, and dated
12th May 1855, “ I killed for him (Mr Young) in his own
river, with a small midge fly, both the year-old parr and
the two-year-old smolt, and could kill a hundred of both
ages in one day if he required them.” And we continue to
find them in, and to have them transmitted from, numerous
other salmon rivers. They are now (August 1855) plenti¬
ful in the Tay, although the smolts are long since gone.
It will be seen then that Mr Young’s opponents may also
on their part assume that his cases might be deemed excep¬
tional, by reason of being pond-bred, and that they were
thereby rendered more mature-—just as he alleges that Mr
Shaw’s were made exceptional by the same means though
in the opposite direction, being retarded rather than has¬
tened in their great change.1 The truth is that perfect
accuracy of observation is by no means easy, even with the
best intentions. Of this we have a good example in the
reports published from time to time regarding the parr
brought up in the great and successful breeding pond at
Stormontfield, a few miles above Perth. The ova were
deposited after subjection to the artificial or mechanical
process of impregnation in the winter of 1853, and were
hatched in the spring of 1854. Though necessarily of very
small dimensions during the first summer, they throve well,
and were reported on as being not only a healthy colony of
young fish, but as by the month of October attaining
“nearly the size and getting the silvery appearance of
smolts.” This silvery appearance had never been seen or
heard of before, as manifested by any parr of salmon born,
when it was scarcely seven months old. Nothing of the
kind was observable in any of the natural streams of
Scotland. So also, early in the ensuing month of April a
party of gentlemen from Perth visited the ponds, and
brought back with them “ a smolt completely covered with
silvery scales, and fully as forward as any at present in the
river. The fish was caught with the rod and a small fly,
and was the only one that rose, and may be considered as
a fair average specimen of what the pond contains. In
shape it is faultless, being finely grown, and the parr marks
obliterated by the newly-acquired scales. So this long-
disputed question has at length been settled, and Mr
Andrew Young’s, of Bonar Bridge, statement has been
proved the true one.” If by this it was meant that all
parr assume the aspect of smolts, and become fit for their
seaward migration when little more than a year old, the
1 In regard to these supposed exceptional cases, Mr Shaw, in a recent letter, observes as follows :—“ The circumstance of some indi¬
viduals assuming the smolt condition at the end of twelve months, in each brood, does not in the least degree invalidate my statement
that by far the larger portion of them do not. The smolts of the Nith have now all departed for the sea, and consequently the truth of
what I have so often stated is at this moment very clear, there being no other parr to be caught with the fly but the one year-olds, mea¬
suring from 3J to 4 inches long, while the young of this year measure about 14 inches. There is one very important fact which has
escaped the notice of my opponents, that is, the characteristic condition of the male autumnal parr, in respect to the maturity of its milt,
not one of the persons connected with the Perth ponds having ever asserted that even a single sample of their brood had been yet found
in that condition. Now it is notorious to every one that parr are found in thousands in that state every autumn, in every salmon river,
and that they are then capable of reproduction.”—MS., June 11, 1855.
FISHERIES. 593
Age of conclusion is certainly erroneous, and can easily be dis-
smolts. proved. We believe there is some risk that, when the
matter under discussion comes to bear upon the commer¬
cial or industrial branches of the subject, the wish may be
the father of the thought. As all parr in spring, just like
the feathered tribes during the same season, become beau¬
tified by a great freshening in their general aspect—an
increase of blue and silver, a decrease of brown and yellow
—they are thus apt to be designated as smolts, when they
are really far from that condition. The term, too, is very
vaguely applied. All parr are smolts in the sense that they
are young salmon, but the title, to avoid confusion, ought
to be restricted to that brief period of the spring in which
the'se small fishes have changed their barred and spotted
livery into a more contrasted coating of bluish-black and
shining silver, and are at the same time under the influence
of the migratory movement to the sea. Of course this
universal conversion at a year old, if the correct view,
would be by much the more advantageous one for the arti¬
ficial breeder, in so far as, in the rearing of his young fish,
he would save a year’s care and keeping ; and where there
is only a single artificial pond, that pond might be emptied
of its contents each season, and the newly-hatched fry let
dowrn into it from the spawning-troughs above, without any
risk of their being swallowed alive by their stronger if not
more carnivorous connections.
Having our own prepossessions in favour of Mr Shaw’s
views, although we trust without undue bias from any spirit
of partizanship, we felt anxious to satisfy ourselves by per¬
sonal inspection regarding facts which did certainly not
accord with our own experience. So in company with Mr
Shaw, we availed ourselves of an invitation to meet the
parties principally concerned at Stormontfield on the 2d of
May 1855. This was more than six months after the time
of these fry having been first reported as assuming the smolt
aspect, and a few weeks after that of their being for the
second time so reported. We shall now state what oc¬
curred. The most ample opportunity and every conve¬
nience were afforded us for a satisfactory examination of
the contents of the pond, which is excellently well con¬
structed for the purpose in view. We saw many thousands
of these imprisoned parr with sufficient distinctness to re¬
ceive a correct impression of their actual state; and we
moreover netted a sufficient number to serve as representa¬
tives for a closer and more minute examination. Although
these fish were by that time at least about thirteen months
old, and were in fine condition, tAere ivas not a single smolt
among them. They corresponded entirely to the year-old
parr, which we took for comparison from the adjoining river
Tay. The only example of a smolt exhibited to the meet¬
ing, in the course of a careful and prolonged investigation,
was one caught by a gentleman while angling in the river,
and who had tried his skill for a corresponding specimen in
vain within the precincts of the pond. He brought it up
to us without delay, and when placed in a vessel beside the
pond-bred parr, its greater size, more salmon-like shape, and
spotless silvery lustre, made its difference of aspect obvious
to all. The meeting, therefore, came to the unanimous
and unavoidable conclusion that the multitudinous inhabi¬
tants of the pond were still, without exception, parr ; and in
this opinion Mr Shaw and the writer of this article cor¬
dially concurred. Lord Mansfield and others pressed for Age of
their detention for another year, and their continued capti- smolts.
vity was, as we understood, determined on.
We here record only to the extent that we have person¬
ally ascertained and seen. But we doubt not that fishes,
like flies and flowers, are under the influence of temperature,
and as the preceding winter and spring were seasons of
great severity, an unusual retardation may have taken place.
Mr Robert Buist of Perth, to whom we have been indebted
for much valuable information on these matters, informs us
that in the course of a week or two after our visit a marked
change took place, and that a great number of smolts, in
the genuine silvery state, began to show themselves, while
many others exhibited unmistakable symptoms of a corre¬
sponding change. It is not alleged that this conversion was
complete or universal, but we can entertain no doubt, from
the evidence laid before us, that at least a transformation
of some kind occurred. Samples have been sent us which,
though somewhat discoloured by the medium in which they
were preserved, seem to have lost the parr markings, and
assumed the silvery aspect. We do not know in what pro¬
portion this took place, but we may presume, from the as¬
certained fact of so many midsummer parr of good size being
still found in the Tay, that these would have continued and
been recognised as likewise in the ponds, if not set at liberty
with their more brilliant brethren. The determination as
to further detention was, however, altered, the sluice was
lowered, and the fry allowed their freedom.1 We have no
doubt they will make a good use of it, and that such as
prefer a second season in fresh water will rejoice in the
pleasant reaches of the Tay. Meanwhile the thing to guard
against on the one side is the assertion that no parr becomes
a smolt till the termination of its second year, and on the
other, that all parr become smolts soon after the conclu¬
sion of their first twelvemonth. If it takes some time to
prove the former statement, there is scarcely a day in the
year in which we cannot disprove the latter.
We have ourselves repeatedly demonstrated, by observa¬
tions of the easiest and most simple kind, that there are
three distinct stages or different broods of parr, that is,
young salmon, in our rivers during early spring. We have,
Jirst, those which, recently excluded from the ova, are still,
if not invisible to common eyes, so small and inconspicuous
as to be unobservable till notice is directed towards them.
We have, secondly, those which are just completing their
first year, and which, owing to the continued cold of the
preceding winter, and consequent deficiency of insect food,
are very little larger than they were at the end of the pre¬
ceding month of October—seldom measuring more than
three inches. They increase, however, rapidly as the sum¬
mer advances, and then form the obvious and admitted parr
which stock our rivers. We have, thirdly, for a short time,
along with the two preceding broods, those large and (so
far as concerns the males) sexually developed parr, which
have completed their second year, and are characterized by
their brightness as well as size. In the months of April
and May these lose the parr appearance, are converted into
silvery smolts, and immediately take their departure down¬
wards to the sea. A fter this all those parr that are only a year
old, or a little upwards, are found in the rivers (whatever
they may be in the ponds) apparently as numerous as ever.2
1 “ The rapid growth of the fry, the large proportion which immediately progressed into indisputable smolts, and the striking evidences
which the larger inhabitants of the ponds themselves clearly manifested that the time of migration had really arrived, led to the wiser
resolution of the committee, that the more advanced and matured of their charge should be allowed to follow the dictates of their nature.”
Perthshire Courier, 26th July 1855.
2 Mr Eamsbottom of Clitheroe, who has had great experience as an angler, and has of late been largely employed in conducting the
process of artificial impregnation, of which he has watched the results, records his opinion as follows :—“ Artificial propagation has not
only proved and settled this great question, but it has taught me to see it in thirty-three different rivers in Great Britain and Ireland,
in which I have angled with the rod. You must understand that the parr or salmon fry, towards the close of the second year, has to
undergo a change which it cannot attain to in its first. Every male fry or parr belonging to the salmon gets a developed milt at the
close of its second year, and parts with it in winter in the spawning bed of the adult salmon. It then becomes a smolt in spring, just
VOL. IX. 4 F
594
fisheries.
Constitu. We may now notice some anomalous and very peculiar
tion of the circumstances connected with the natural constitution o
male parr. the r which some have recently^upposed to throw great
light upon this vexed question, if they do not reconcile its
apparent contradictions. It is well known to every expe¬
rienced observer that a va " proportion of the larger parr so
frequently referred to are males ; that is, that so. far as any
sexual characteristics are manifested, it is the milters alone
which show such signs. The male parr is sexually mature
when sixteen or eighteen months old (of course, if conveited
into smolts when a year old, they could have no existence
at such an age), while the female, even in her most advanced
state, has the ovaries so slightly developed, and their con¬
tents so extremely minute, that they generally require the
aid of a lens to detect the granular form of the incipient
ova. (Exceptional cases occur, though rarely. Mr J. C.
Heysham of Carlisle took a female parr in March with the
ova largely developed. Other instances are recoided by
Mr Yarrell, British Fishes, vol. ii., p. 48). .The observa¬
tion is as old as the joint work of Kay and Willoughby {De
Historia Piscium, Oxon., 1686). In this early, though
admirable volume, we have first a description of the salmon,
and then of a small fish resembling the young river trout,
and which these authors properly regard as identical with
the hranlin of the north of England; in other words, the
parr. The passage is headed—<4 fealmulus, Herefbidise sam¬
let dictus, Branlino D. Johnson inferiore descripto, ut nobis
videtur, idem.” “ Hujus generis,” he adds,. “ omnes (quod
minim) mures esse aiunt. I ruttm persimilis est, at certa-
men specie differe videtur.” We have, then, an enumera¬
tion of “ Pisces fluviatiles et anadromi e genere truttaceo in
Septentrionalibus Anglise observati a D. Johnson,” in the
course of which the branlin above named is described in
more detail, and some very remarkable peculiarities in its
sexual character and constitution are particularized: ■
“ Branlinus, nonnullis fingerins, i.e. digitales, dicti, quia
notas seu areolas transversas nigricantes quinque aut sex,
veluti tot digitorum vestigia impressa, in lateribus obtinent,
cum macula rubra in unaquaque areola. Caudae sunt forci-
patie, salmonum ritu; quodque mirum est, omnes mares.
Cum salmonibus, procreandi causa, misceri eos mihi per-
suasum est. Quum primum enim salmo ovorum editorum
congeriem, seu acervum, mails dicere, relinquit, branlinus
mox ei incumbit, ovaqne (ut verisimile est) spermate suo
irrigat et foecundat; nec alibi unquam inveniuntur hranlmi
quam iis in locis qua; salmonis frequentant.”
It need scarcely be noted that the preceding observa¬
tions were not likely to be known to Mr Shaw. But,
guided by what he had actually seen occurring in the river
beds, he took, in the month of January 1837, a female
salmon, weighing fourteen pounds, from her natural spawn¬
ing place, from whence also he secured a male parr, weighing
one and a half ounce. With the milt of the latter he fecun¬
dated the ova of the former, and placing the spawn in the
small streamlet which acts as the feeder of one of his ponds,
he carefully observed its growth, as he had previously that
of the salmon spawn impregnated in the ordinary way, and
found both the hatching and subsequent growth to corre¬
spond in all points with the usual ongoings of nature. This Alleged
remarkable experiment was repeated with the same results difference
during the winter of 1838, and the parr (taken from the ^VfmaTe
river) which had been used as males w'ere kept alive till and female<
spring, when they assumed the migratory dress of young v ^ y
salmon. He ther^ tried a corresponding experiment by im¬
pregnating the\)va of three adult salmon taken from the
river with the milt of three parr bred in confinement, and
the results in these cases were the same, both as regards
hatching and final growth. The subjects of these trials are
now preserved in the museum of the Royal Society of Edin¬
burgh. As these male parr are not mature till well ad¬
vanced into their second year, and some months after all
smoking has ceased, it is clear that, so far as they are con¬
cerned, the biennial theory is the one that suits them, and
which they confirm.
We have already said tlmt certain observations had re¬
cently been made which some regarded as reconciling the
opposing views. We have seen them in the Scotsman
newspaper (of June 6, 1855), from which we make the fol¬
lowing extract. The writer begins by stating his belief
that, as not unfrequently happens in such discussions, while
both parties are in the right, both are also in the wrong. He
knows, from observations continued during several years
under peculiarly favourable circumstances, that about one-
half of the salmon fry produced descend to the sea w'hen
one year, and the other half when two years old.
“ This important and certainly very singular fact I learned
under the following circumstances :—The river Wharfe in
Yorkshire was, from forty to fifty years ago, and is yet, for
anything I know to the contrary, a sort of experimental
breeding-stream for salmon, where the progress and appear¬
ance of the young fry may be observed with great accuracy
and certainty. Owing to the existence of a very lofty and
difficult weir at Wetherby, the salmon can only pass beyond
that place when there is a peculiarly favourable concurrence
of high floods in autumn; and the consequence has been,
that for many years past the fish have succeeded in making
their way as far as Harewood and Otley about, on an ave¬
rage, once in five or six years, and the fishermen are there¬
fore enabled to observe what follows the spawning of a few
salmon in any particular year without being puzzled and
misled by having fry of different years mixed together ;
from which fact nearly all the uncertainty that has attended
this subject in former years has unquestionably arisen. They
are thus enabled to state beforehand what sort of salmon fry
will be found in the first, second, and third years after
spawning has taken place.
“ During the first summer they find in the river small
parr, which in autumn begin freely to rise at the fly, and
are then of two perfectly distinct sizes. In the following
spring, generally in April, but varying according to the tem¬
perature, the larger of these two species of parr assume the
silvery appearance of the smolt, and descend to the sea,
leaving behind them all those which were of the second
size, and which still retain in perfection the peculiar mark¬
ing of the parr. These grow considerably during the sum¬
mer, and in autumn afford, when numerous, sport to the
as it enters on its third year. This is also the case with both the sea trout and the brown trout, nature having so. ordered it that the
male fish is ready for spawning twelve months before the female—a great secret this, which has puzzled all the writers on tiesu
and of which they are ignorant te this day. Every female, on the contrary, deposits her first ova at the close of the third year.. \ ou will
find your young fish very little larger this month (March) than they were in October last, as neither trout nor salmon grow in winter.
Some people will tell you that the young fish are retarded by being kept in the pond during winter. Ask them just to piove it. iut
whether the salmon fry be retarded in its growth or not, whether it be lean for want of food, or through abundance be grown to double
its natural size, it will in either case become a smolt as it enters on its third year.”—MS., 5th March 1855.
We may here add that Mr liamsbottom is very sanguine of an extremely advantageous result from the new process which now prevails,
and in the manipulation of which he has been singularly successful. This process consists in capturing (with net) a male and female
salmon, both about to spawn, and mingling the milt of the one with the ova of the other. These impregnated ova are then deposited in
gravel beds made in imitation of the natural spawning places, a current of pure water being kept constantly in movement over and
among them. The chief advantage of the artificial process is its certainty. The natural spanning places are too often torn up, and
their contents carried away and so destroyed by sudden floods ; but in those artificially constructed, the supply of water is moderated by a
sluice, and thus no injury from its violent action can occur.
FISHERIES.
Alleged juvenile angler. I have caught hundreds of them in and
difference about the month of October, and have almost invariably
^in the ha- foun(j them to contain milt, showing that they were male
andf 6 fish* necessary inference from this fact is, of course,
\ , j that those who had descended to the sea during the previous
spring were females. These male fish, during the following
spring, generally about the beginning of March, assume the
blue and silvery appearance of the smolt, the change being
evidently due to the greater opacity of the scales, which no
longer permit the spots and markings of the parr to be
visible through them. Another change also takes place in
these fish about the same time ; their pectoral fins assume
a deep blue colour. This change, if I recollect rightly, is
not observable in the females when they descend to the sea
at the end of the first year.
“ When the males have descended the rivers, no salmon
fry of any kind are left in the Wharfe, and none will be
found there probably for two or three years, when another
arrival of the parent fish will cause a repetition of the facts
which I have just detailed.
“It was by a careful observation of these facts that the
fishermen on the Wharfe were, fifty years ago or more, well
acquainted with the natural history qf the salmon, when the
wildest absurdities were almost universally maintained re¬
specting it in other quarters. It was generally asserted and
believed that the smolts which filled the river in the spring
were the produce of the spawn deposited during the pre¬
ceding winter, although that spawn was at the very time
still lying in the spawning beds ; and^Mr Yarrell, in the first
edition of his excellent work on British Fishes, was so per¬
plexed by what he had heard on the subject, as to make in
two different pages of his book the two ptterly inconsistent
statements to which I have just referred.
“ I may here remark—lest it should be supposed that the
two different classes of smolts to which I have just referred
were, or might be, the produce of different fish of the salmon
kind—that no salmon-mort, sea-trout, or bull-trout, was ever,
so far as I know, seen in the Wharfe above Wetherby. None
but good strong salmon could, in, fact, o/ercome the diffi¬
culties of ascending the river above that place ; so that no
confusion could possibly arise from a difference of origin.
“ Of course I am not so unreasonable as to suppose that
my statements on this subject will convince those who have
taken up decided opinions to the contrary, but it cannot be
difficult to put these statements to a satisfactory test. Let
the inmates at the ponds of Stormontfield be carefully exa¬
mined. No doubt some few will still be left there with the
silvery appearance of the smolt. Let one or two of them
be examined anatomically to determine their sex. Let the
same be done with some of those which now retain—and,
if my theory is correct, will be found to retain all the sum¬
mer—the appearance of parr. Let some portion of these
be kept in the ponds until next spring, and it will then be
found, if I am not mistaken, that they will assume the sil¬
very appearance, and at the same time the peculiar indigo
blue colour of the pectoral fin, which is characteristic of the
salmon. A few careful observations directed to test the
accuracy of my views on the subject will probably tend to
remove an uncertainty which has long and generally pre-
595
vaile'd; in which case I shall be extremely glad to have Advan-
contributed in any degree, however trifling, to the attain-tages t^e
ment of such a desirable object.”—Piscator. system”
This statement is worthy of consideration. It certainly ^ ^ ~y
accords with, if it does not account for, the anomaly already
noticed, of the number of mature male parr, and the great
rarity of females in the same condition. No doubt Dr
Heysham informs us, that he has at different times and sea¬
sons examined 395 parr (or samlets, as they are called at
Carlisle), and found 199 males, and 196 females. But this
may have been when they were intermingled; or he may
have counted many females at one time, and many males
at another. It does not, however, reconcile the contending
theorists. We cannot suppose that certain salmon produce
only male ova, and others only female, yet something of
this kind must be assumed, to account for Mr Shaw’s spe¬
cimens almost all requiring two years to smolt, while Mr
Young’s never needed more than one. How could the
former chance to be almost all males, and the latter almost
all females? Another odd circumstance will result from
this new view, viz., that no pair of grilse, of different sexes,
can ever be of the same age. A brood of young salmon
are hatched, say in the spring of f853. In that of 1854 all
the females become smolts, descend to the sea, and return
from it as grilse in summer. But their male companions
abide for two years in the river, and so have no chance of
being grilse till the summer of 1855. On the other hand,
the actual male grilse of 1854 must (according to the theory)
have been bred in 1852, and so are necessarily a year older
than those with which they pair. So also must there be a
difference of at least a year in the age of all salmon (as such)
of different sexes. A female fish hatched in the spring of
1853 becomes a grilse in the summer of 1854, but all the
males of her early acquaintance must wait for their conver¬
sion until the summer of 1855, by which time she has her¬
self become a salmon. Her brothers, no doubt, become
salmon in 1856, and they are then all in the same state, and
also actually of the same age, although the females have the
advantage of being in their second year as salmon, while
the males (having lost a year in fresh water) are only in
their first. Of coux*se there are both male and female smolts
descending together to the sea during each and every spring,
but according to this new notion the former are tw'o-year-
old, and the latter only one. Let this point be hencefor¬
ward looked to carefully by anglers, and all others who
have opportunities of observation. The whole subject of
the age of smolts has now become of high importance in an
economical point of view, to those who raise the fish in
ponds. As a consequence of the annual theory (if founded
on fact) being reduced to practice, we shall have it in our
power to produce good marketable grilse in fifteen or six¬
teen months from the hatching of the ova, while, according
to the biennial view, that advantage will not be obtained
until the lapse of about two years and a quarter. It is like
the sudden conversion of “ gimmers” into fbur-year-old mut¬
ton, a mutation which the sheep-farmer would fondly see.1
Having now endeavoured to explain the prevailing opi¬
nions regarding parr and smolts, we shall proceed to con¬
sider briefly the third stage of a salmon’s life, that which
1 We are indebted to Mr Robert Buist of Perth for giving us recent information regarding the condition of the parr and smolts of the
Stormontfield ponds. It appears that although so obvious a change was observable among the majority by the end of May that they were
allowed to take their departure into the river, a great number of a smaller size neither exhibited the same external change nor a like
willingness to leave the pond. There they still abide as parr, no doubt waiting for the spring of the ensuing year.. Some hundred
thousand are supposed to have been successfully hatched, and of these Mr Buist calculates that about 130,000 took their departure sea¬
wards. Of these about 1300 were marked by cutting off the small dorsal or adipose fin ; and several of them have been already captured
on their return as grilse. The hope is entertained that for every marked grilse that returns, 100 others (also original inmates of the
pond) return with it It may not be easy to ascertain the actual proportion which still remain in the pond. If the original number
brought up there amounted to 300,000, then the exodus consisted of not one half. “ One third,” says the Perthshire Courier of 26th
July 1855 “ of the original stock are still in the pond, and although the sluice has never been closed since it was first opened in May,
they manifest no desire whatever to leave it. In print of fact, with perfectly free means of egress, not one of them has left the pond
since the general migration ceased at 7th June lash Thus, while one portion of the same hatching are being captured m the river,
596
fisheries.
Conversion immediately precedes its adult state to wit, the condition
of smolts of grilse. So salubrious is the sea, so enlarging le in u
into grilse. 0f wide domain, that no sooner has a smolt ot a very Jew
 ' 0Unces in weight been launched into that vast abyss than
it suddenly expands in growth, even as the children ot tiie
Anakim. In a couple of months it will then weigh more
pounds than it previously did ounces. This great and rapid
growth seems to depend entirely upon what the hsh obtains
in salt water, and the longer it remains there the larger it
becomes. The chief run of grilse into the rivers does not
take place till summer is well advanced. Very small gi i &e
are sometimes caught in early spring. They cannot then
be otherwise than small, because they have chosen to return
to the rivers in a few weeks after they had left them as
smolts. Larger grilse, but still of small dimensions, aie
caught in early summer, and they thus increase in size m
proportion to the length of their sojourn in the sea. Ot
course, a smaller grilse may be sometimes caught in August,
and a larger one in July, but this quite conforms to the
general principle which regulates their growth the latter
having been longest in the sea, as one smolt may migrate
early in April, and another not till the beginning of June,
some being sooner ready for their journey, because earliei
hatched. There is no proof of anything like a lengthened
and continuous succession in the migratory movements of
smolts. These movements may be in some measure modi¬
fied by the temperature of the preceding season, and so
extend, more or less, over several weeks in spring. 1 hus,
also, the size of grilse and the periods of their appearance
vary, but the great mass begin to ascend about the middle
of July, by which time they have been nearly three months
in the sea. The largest grilse are found in autumn, and the
least in spring. We regard this as a sufficient proof that
the smoking process ceases soon after the commencement
of summer. If any parr became smolts in autumn (as some
suppose, thereby seeking to account for the continuance ot
the middle-sized kind in the rivers after spring), and made Conversion
only a short sojourn in the sea, then we should have small
grilse coming up in winter, which is not the case ; or if they ^ ° gl j
remained in the sea for a longer time, then we should have
large grilse in spring, which is equally well known to be not
the fact.1
That smolts become by conversion grilse has been satis¬
factorily demonstrated by Mr Andrew Young. In the spring
of 1837 he marked a number of the former, just as they
were about to descend towards the sea, by making a per¬
foration in the caudal fin by means of a small pair of nip¬
ping irons constructed for the purpose, and in the course of
the season he re-captured a considerable number on their
return to the rivers, all in the state of grilse, and varying
from three to eight pounds, “ according to the time which
had elapsed since their first departure from the fresh water,
or, in other wmrds, the length of their sojourn in the sea.
In the spring of 1842 he likewise marked many descending
smolts, by clipping off the small ray-less protuberance upon
the dorsal line, called the adipose fin. In the course of the
ensuing June and July he caught them coming up the river
as grilse, bearing his peculiar mark, and agreeing with those
of 1837, both in respect to size and the relation which that
size bore to the lapse of time.
Note of Smolts marked in the river Shin, and recaptured
as grilse on their first ascent from the sea?
Weight when
recaptured.
4 lb.
5 lb.
5 lb.
Period of marking
as smolts.
1842, April and May.
Period of recapture
as grilse.
1842. June 28.
July 15.
... 15.
... 25.
... 25.
... 30.
7 lb.
5 lb.
3J lb.a
As the growth of grilse is dependent on the sea, fish in
that stage, though necessarily younger, may be of greater
dimensions than adult salmon, and for the following reasons:—
beautifully grown grilses of four and twenty inches in length, another portion is still enjoying the shelter of the pond, tiny creatures,
none of them more than three or four inches long.” . , * tc
It is impossible at present to say what the effect of superabundant feeding may be m hastening the process of deveiopment If scatter¬
ing quartities of boiled and grated bullock’s liver several times a-day into the ponds, has produced an earlier smolting then the triumph
of artificial rearing of salmon stock is all the greater, and the more assiduously should the process be put in practice We certainly
noticed and pointed out to others, during our examination of the ponds, that all those parr which continued to swarm in the small stream¬
let which flowed from the hatching troughs into the large feeding pond, were much smaller and otherwise less mature than such as swam
and fed in the expanded piece of water, in the comparative stillness and extent of which they had no doubt a more ample supply of food
and a greater range of ground, than what were enjoyed by the inmates of the running water. We know from observation that the
increased rate of growth in young trout, when their native streamlet has been converted by damming into a large pond, is sudden and
extraordinary ; audit is possible that the constitutional change which parr undergo in their natural conversion into smoHs, may be
induced at an earlier period by artificial feeding. Mr Shaw’s specimens, so few of which smolted when a year oid, were left to their
own resources. In the meantime, many considerate people view the combatants in this field as they would the knights of old> .°
disputed from opposite sides whether the face of the shield was of gold or silver. There are now abundance of undoubted parr still in
the pond, though far advanced into their second year, while it seems just as certain that a great multitude took their departure two or
three months ago as smolts, and are now returning, there is every reason to believe, as grilse. “ teo, says Mr Buist, \ oung and fahaw
will be both right. Young’s smolts are off, Shaw’s parr remain. What can be the cause ? „ ,
The following is a note of the number, weight, and sex of the marked grilse taken in the Tay up to_ the 4th of August of the same
season (1855) as that in which they were marked as smolts. July 7, 3J lb., a female, taken near the junction 0 f e arl1 an
July 20, 54 lb., likewise a female, taken four miles below Perth. July 24, 5 lb., a male, taken fourteen miles below 1 erth July JO,
lb., a male" taken at Perth. August 1, 7£ lb., a male, taken at Perth. August 4, 6 lb., taken near Perth ; also one of 7 lb., taken below
Elcho Castle, and two others reported, but pot transmitted for examination. The sex of these last four was not stated. v\ e may a a
our recent observations and reports do not confirm the idea that the female parr become smolts and migrate in one season, an e ma e
parr in another. We now find both sexes among the midsummer parr, the males being sexually developed, the females in t la respec
immature, that is, with the ovaries but scarcely formed, and only minutely granular in their contents. ^ + +v. i
1 Mr Young states that the majority of grilse remain in the sea only for about a couple of months, and he has shown t at e °nS®r
they remain there the larger they become. He admits that the smallest are caught in spring and early summer, the largest towards e
close of the latter, and in autumn. Now if the majority of smolts soon return from the sea, and all that abide in it for a fne 9
time become large grilse, what is the result or produce of such smolts, as, according to Mr Young's view, descend to the sea in cto er .
If they return soon they would necessarily be small grilse, if late, large ones ; but no small grilse ascend in winter, and no large ones in
spring, although that would unavoidably happen, in accordancewith his supposition of an autumnalsmolting,if that supposition werecorrect.
2 See a paper by Mr Young, On the Growth of Grilse and Salmon, in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, vol. xv.
3 Our object, in regard to the important points now under discussion, being to ascertain and communicate the truth, we have always^
great pleasure in receiving information or opinions from people of practical experience. We believe in the rapid transmutation ot
smolts into grilse as recorded by Mr Young, and confirmed by the corresponding changes undergone by the sea-trout of the Nith (Salmo
trutta), where their smolts are as rapidly converted into herlings, which are the grilse of that minor species, as shown by Mr Shaw.
But we shall here note, as not conforming with those views, the sentiments of Mr Paulin of Berwick, agent for the shipping company
there, to whom we are otherwise indebted for some valuable statistical information concerning the salmon fisheries of the Tweed.
“ I observe at Perth there is a strong belief that the smolts of this season, which have just lately gone to the sea, will return as grilse
FISHERIES.
597
Conversion One grilse leaves the sea early and ascends into the river,
of grilse where his growth gains no increase. He descends after
spawning, and makes his second return to the river, in early
spring, a small but aiult salmon. But he may not have
been more than six weeks each time, that is, three months
altogether in the sea. Another grilse abides continuously
in the salt water all summer, and having gone down early
(as a smolt) and ascended late, he may weigh 8 or 9 pounds
when he goes up the river, being, as a large grilse, heavier
than a small salmon. Grilse, then, ascend the rivers, and
breed there when their time comes, after the manner of adult
salmon. They re-descend to the sea in like manner towards
the, close of winter, or in early spring, undergoing the same
process of deterioration by long residence in the river, and
of restoration through marine agency, and on their second
return to the fresh waters they are salmon, properly so called.
This conversion of grilse into salmon had been known
from an early period of the fish’s history. The rate of pro¬
gress has more recently been shown by Mr Young. He
commenced marking grilse as far back as 1837, and has
frequently done so since. We shall here record only the
result of two successive seasons. In the spring of 1841
he marked a number of spawned grilse of four pounds
weight soon after the conclusion of the spawning period, by
putting a peculiarly twisted piece of wire through the
dorsal fin. They were immediately thrown into the river,
and of course disappeared, making their way down wauls
with other spawned fish towards the sea. In the course of
the ensuing summer he recaptured several of them, and
found that they had grown in the short period of four or
five months into beautiful full-formed salmon, varying from
9 to 14 lb. in weight, the difference depending on the
length of their respective sojourn in the sea. In January
1842 he repeated the same process of marking four-pound
grilse w hich had spawned, and were therefore about to seek
die sea; but instead of placing the wire in the back fin,
he this year fixed it in the upper lobe of the tail. On their
return from the sea he caught many of these quondam
grilse as before. The following table, which we owe to
Mr Young, illustrates the rate of growth.
List of grilse marked after having spawned, and ie-
captured as salmon, on their second ascent from the sea.
1 Weight when Weight when
Period of recapture. marked. recaptured
1841. June 23. 4 lb.
23. 4 1b.
25. 4 1b.
25. 4 1b.
July 27. 4 lb.
28. 41b.
July 1.
1.
Period of marking.
1841. Feb. 18.
18.
18.
18.
18.
18.
March 4.
4.
4.
1842. Jan. 29.
29.
29.
March 8.
Jan. 29.
March 8.
Jan. 29.
1842. July
27.
4.
14.
14.
23.
29.
Aug. 4.
11.
4 lb.
4 lb.
4 lb.
4 lb.
4 lb.
4 lb.
4 lb.
9 lb.
11 lb.
9 lb.
10 lb.
13 lb.
10 lb.
12 lb.
14 lb.
12 lb.
8 lb.
9 lb.
8 lb.
9 lb.
11 lb.
10 lb.
12 lb.
We commenced the preliminary portion of our present
treatise by an indication of this fine fish in its parental state, mon^
and we now complete the somewhat complicated circle by ^ ^ ^
coming round to the point from which we started. 1 here
is no proof before us that salmon, after once fairly ascend¬
ing a river, however early in the season that ascent may be,
ever return seawards that same summer. They seem to
abide continuously in the rivers till the breeding season
commences on the occurrence of cold weather, and do not
descend again till they have spawned. The following bears
on this important point. Mr Stephen stated, in his evidence
before a committee of the House of Commons, that our
cruives on the river Don are so constructed, that salmon
of ten pounds weight can at all times go up, but none can
descend past the cruives. We fish generally in the pool
above the cruives ; and if the unspawned salmon returned
again down the river, we would undoubtedly catch them
there, which is never the case. They are never seen to de¬
scend the river except as kelts after having spawned.” The
after conditions of the adult salmon life being beset by diffi¬
culties which no man can number, its ultimate term of exist¬
ence, and the size to which it might eventually attain, are as
unknown quantities, or at least can only be approximately
inferred from casual cases. Such individuals as for seve¬
ral seasons succeed in avoiding the deadly and deceptive
chambers of the bag and stake nets (Lasciate ogni sper-
anza, voi, die ,ntrate), and escape, moreover, the sweeping
meshes of the boatmen, the wily prison of the darksome
cruives, the angler’s gaudy lure, and the poacher s relentless
leister, will no doubt continue to increase from year to year.
But such are now the multiplicity and perfection of our
various fisheries, and so great the’ facilities for preserving
and transmitting this princely and highly-prized species
from even our far northern rivers, to the luxurious cities of
more southern districts, that it may be greatly doubted
whether any British salmon ever attains to a good old age,
or dies a natural death. We therefore possess but few^
data from which to judge of either their natural term of
life, or their final dimensions. They are still occasionally,
though rarely, killed of the weight of forty, or even fifty
pounds. But these are giants of their race. We know,
however, that a few years ago, in the then comparatively
slightly-fished rivers of Norway, salmon of those sizes
were by no means uncommon ; and it is authentically re¬
corded that even in this country, and in our own days, a
female fish came into the possession of Mr Groves of Bond
Street, which weighed 83 lb. Pennant had previously
recorded one of 74. We shall here note one or two cases
of the ascertained increase of size in adult salmon. In the
year 1841 Mr Young marked some spawned salmon by
means of copper wire. One of them which had been
marked on the 4th of March, when it weighed 12 lb.,
was recaptured on its return from the sea, on the 16th of
July, weighing 18 lb. He found that the majority of his
marked fish did not continue absent more than two months,
and his experiments not only demonstrated this fact, but
another of great consequence to the breeder of salmon
in Tnlv and August next From my own experience I think this will be found not to he the case, although among the fishermen it was
in July and August next. * 0 J £ M lg51 there were a great many smolts in the Tweed marked by a silver wire being
th* “"ITku ‘ iflhL tiL hev Sd not be above two of tbre? ounce in weight, and .be brat of them that wa. caught was m
Cist 18S2 whin ft weighed four found, four ounces. There were several others taken during the same season some with the wire m
fh7r,i ’and others with he mark of the wire worn out, so that the experiment was very satisfactorily proved and one of the pec,mens
If nclved ta spiriTsr„ the Tweed Commissioners" office until this day. It would appear, therefore, that grilse are the smolts of the
* , v niit tn vi bat nart of the sea they retire during the intermediate time is yet a mystery.
Tf'hP S crrowth of the -rilse has been argued as a reason for the belief that they are smolts of the first year. W hen they first make
I he idpi g o certainly found to be less than two pounds in weight, and before the end of the season (15th
as seven or eight pounds; but faking the average of seven years (1845-1851) I found
withTuct,‘rapidity fTfeigh ounces in June (which would be twenty ^ "■h‘1C *•
fish, weighing 3J pounds in June, does not double its weight in the next four months ensuing. —MS., 29th June 18 5.
598
fisheries.
Varieties of that these fish invariably (if permitted so to do) return to
salmon. j]le rivers in which they have been bred. Mr Young’s
V"-' position was peculiar in the opportunities which it afforded
for the ascertainment of this feature in their history.
Although five good rivers fall into the estuary, or central
course of the Oikel, the marked fish were always found
again, each in the particular river in which its badge had
been imposed; and although all these rivers fill into the
same estuary at different places, and the fish must come up
promiscuously together through the briny waters, of the
lower portion for twenty miles, each river has its own
peculiar race, and each race always finds out and enters
its own river.
“ The first of these rivers,” says Mr Young, referring to
the upper portions of the so-called Dornoch Frith, “that
falls into the estuary, has a run of well-shaped salmon,
whose average weight is about 10 lb. The second has
strong, coarse-scaled, rather long to be well shaped, but
very hardy salmon, whose average weight is about 17 lb.
The third has a mkldling-shaped fish, whose average is
about 9 lb. The fourth river has long ill-shaped salmon,
averaging about 8 lb. And the fifth river, though the
smallest of the five, has fine-shaped fish, averaging fully
14 lb.; and although the fish of all these rivers mix to¬
gether, and all travel together on the common road to the
sea, feed there promiscuously on the common feeding
ground, and then return by the same common path, each
party finds out its own home with the greatest precision,
for scarcely ever is one of them seen in its neighbour’s
possessions. This precision is yet a mystery, among many
others; for although we see rivers of different temperature
arising from the size or situation of lakes from which they
are fed, we find others of the same situation and temperature,
and yet the fish must know a distinctive quality that leads
them to their own native streams. It is true that salmon
have their summer and winter courses for travelling in the
same river, and that is also kept with the most exact pre¬
cision ; for in winter, and up to the first of May, salmon
invariably run up the north side of rivers, whereas from
1st May to November they run on the south side.”1
The most remarkable instance of rapid return, with ex¬
traordinary increase of growth, of any salmon we have ever
heard of, is that recorded by the Duke of Atholl. A fine
fresh-run fish, much exceeding the ordinary size, was
transmitted to his Grace from the lower portion of the
river Tay. It bore the badge of “ No. 129.” “ On re¬
ferring to my journal,” observes the Duke, “I find that I
caught this fish as a kelt this year on the 31st of March
with the rod, about two miles above Dunkeld Bridge, at
which time it weighed exactly 10 lb. ; so that in the short
period of Jive weeks and two days it had gained the in¬
credible increase of 11 lb. and a quarter, for when weighed
here on its arrival, it was 21 lb. and a quarter.”2
That all the individuals of the fish commonly called the
salmon (Salmo salar) belong to one and the same species,
we entertain no doubt, although the variations of that
species are considerable. Whether these are original con¬
formations, or the result of local influences, it would be
hard to say. That the fish of each river naturally desire
to return to that river is also an ascertained fact; and it is Varieties of
by taking advantage of the facilities afforded by that strong salmon,
and steady instinct that the age and growth, within a cer-.
tain period, of individual salmon (and so approximately of
the whole) have been ascertained. In one river a large
breed of salmon is found—so large as to average nearly
eighteen pounds in weight—while in another almost ad¬
joining, that is, in the same district, the breed is so small
as not to exceed an average of seven pounds. In some
rivers the salmon, even in their best condition, are long and
lank ; in others broad and short, so much so, that when cut
up their transverse section is almost circular. In one river
we may find all the salmon nearly straight along the dorsal
line, while in others they are rounded or hog-backed. In
some places all these fish have large and clumsy heads ; in
others that part is small and neat. Even in the very vari¬
able character of spots and scales, there is often an obvious,
that is, a permanent or abiding difference. Mr Fraser has
stated that in the Ness and its branches there are three
sorts or varieties of salmon—one with three rows of spots,
one with four, and one with five, exclusive of the difference
in shape and size. But it is the difference in the river that
generally manifests the difference in external aspect, and
this, when dimensions are concerned, is still a mystery.
All salmon gain their growth in the sea, and the same
marine food (whatever it consists of) is open alike to the
natives of all rivers. The waters which flow through the
Kyle of Sutherland, and, becoming confluent with the
Carron, discharge themselves into the head waters of the
estuary of Dornoch, near Bonar Bridge, have each, as we
have said, a distinguishable kind of salmon ; and those which
eventually enter the Shin are twice the size of most of the
others. Yet they must seek the same parts of the sea by
the same channel, and while parr, or during their early
period of fresh-water growth, seem as well fed in one river
as in another. As the increase of growth undoubtedly
depends on sea-feeding, it is less easy to understand the
cause of difference when the feeding is the same. Why
has a Shin parr the power of becoming a much larger
salmon than one from the Oikel ? Or how have the Shin
salmon sprung up into a large race under apparently the
same physical conditions as those with which, in the sea
and estuary, they are intermingled? If the growth was in
the river, then we could comprehend how great differences
in size might result from existing differences in the breadth
and depth, as feeding grounds, of our multitudinous and
very varied streams. But as it is known that fresh waters
have nothing to do with the growth of salmon after they
have ceased to be either parr or smolts, and the fish of one
river cannot appropriate to themselves any marine food dis¬
tinct or different from that which is also at the option of all
the others, we find it more difficult to understand how a
large average size of fish should result from one river, and
a small average size from another near it. But so it is.
Before proceeding to take a view of the commercial
bearings of the subject, and the modes by which these fish
are captured, we shall inquire briefly into the laws which
regulate that capture, and constitute the legal rights of the
captors.
1 The, Natural History and Habits of the Salmon, London, 1854.
2 In regard to this marking of grilse and salmon, the following apprehension has sometimes come into our mind. It is easy to suppose
an individual of high rank, great wealth, and large public spirit, taking pains to mark certain fish, and record their re-capture after a
certain time. To secure or induce their restoration when caught by others in some far-distant portion of the river, a reward is probably
promised (besides the market value) to whoever takes and delivers up the marked fish on its re-ascent from the sea. If the identical
fish is re-produced, and the times and weights compared, of course the rate of growth is correctly ascertained, and may be relied on as a
fact. But it is also quite as easy to suppose an individual of low rank, no wealth, and as little public spirit, catching, by leister or other¬
wise, a 10-lb. marked kelt on its way downwards. He removes the mark (kippers the kelt), and in due time attaches it to a fresh-run
fish of 17 lb. 8 oz., which he carries as quickly as he can to some palatial residence where rich men congregate. The fact is easily ascer¬
tained that the latter fish now weighs 7J lb. more than did the former when laid in the balance ; but is it equally an ascertained fact
that the original kelt has really gained that increase in a given time ? These observations do not apply to such practical experiments as
Mr Young s, conducted from first to last by the same individual, seeing with his own eyes, offering no reward to any one, and having the
great advantage of the entire control of a short though productive river. Mr Young can keep the Shin ,as it were, under lock and key.
Regulating
laws of
salmon-
fisheries.
FISHERIES.
599
By the law of Scotland salmon-fisheries are regarded as
inter regalia, and the result of this is that they are not car¬
ried by a general grant of the lands and their appurtenants in
any grant holding of the crown (which is the way in which
all land rights are held in Scotland ultimately), but must
be the subject of special grant, either express or implied.
The subject of the former is, where a charter is given by
the crown expressly cum piscationibus salmonum. An im¬
plied grant is where the words used may be simply cum.
piscationibus, without any addition of salmonum, or where
the grant is of a barony. In the former of these two later
cases, if the salmon-fishing has been possessed by what is
accepted as a legal mode of possession—’not simply fishing
with the rod, which is not so regarded, but by some
greater, w^e shall not say nobler, exercise of the right of
fishing ;—if the salmon-fishing has been so possessed under
a grant cum piscationibus simply, the salmon-fishing will
be carried. With respect to the grant of a barony, it is
doubtful whether a mere grant with possession gives’ pre¬
scriptive right. Lord Rutherfurd has stated his opinion
that the grant of a barony, followed by possession of sal¬
mon-fishing, exercised by some higher species of posses¬
sion than that of the rod, would carry the grant of sal¬
mon-fishing also. Scotch salmon-fishings do not require
any parliamentary ratification, and the grants are equally
good at whatever period they have been made. There is
no reason why the crown should not now make a grant of
salmon-fishing which shall be quite effectual to the grantee,
provided, of course, it does not interfere with any previous
grant already made by the crown, whether that previous
grant is expressed or implied, and if in the latter case it has
been made effectual by prescriptive possession. I o establish
a right in Scotland the period of prescription is forty years ;
but the possession for that time, to establish the prescriptive
right, must proceed upon what is termed a sufficient title. It
is a sufficient title, in the case of salmon-fishing, if there has
been continuous and uninterrupted possession for forty years
following the grant simply cum piscationibus, or the grant
of a barony. Salmon-fisheries, in Scotland, belong to the
crown by beneficial title, and not merely in trust for the
public, after the manner of highways. 1 hus all grants of
salmon-fishings hitherto made by the crown have been for a
consideration, although, through favour to the subject, the
payment may be made illusory, as a penny yearly, or the
blast of a horn. This right of salmon-fishing has been very
extensively granted by the crown along the shores of navi¬
gable rivers and on the sea-coasts, and may be quite dis¬
tinct from the possession of the land upon the banks or
shore. Thus the grant of a salmon-fishing may not be the
grant of the shore on either side of the river—the party
may not be the grantee of the shores ot the estuary, or the
coast of the sea. These regal rights were not constituted
by any acts of the Scotch parliament, but are part of the
immemorial law of Scotland.
There are three natural positions in regard to which
salmon-fishings may be the subject of royal grant in Scot¬
land. First, they may be simply upon the sea-shore, and in
the sea, and at such a distance from the mouth of a livei
that they cannot be considered as part and parcel of any
other fishing, either of river or estuary. These being less
special than the others, and impinging upon the open or
public sea, have been less jealously regarded, and there is
no doubt that many shore proprietors, with no deputed right
from the crown, exercise that right erroneously, though to
their own advantage. Secondly, these salmon-fishings (in
this case often of great value) may be in what are called
estuaries, a somewhat ambiguous term, differently constiuec
at different times and places, but the fisheries of which the
ancient Scotch acts of parliament define as being in fi esche
watteris, quhar the see fillis and ebbis, and ‘ upon sand
and schauldes far within the water.” The third position in
which salmon-fishings may be carried on is in pure rivers, Regulating
where the water is always fresh, and always descending. Sai^0n-
As there is a prohibition by statute of all fixed machinery £slieries>
for the fishing of salmon in the “rivers” and “ waters of
Scotland, where the sea ebbs and flows, disputes have not
seldom arisen (from the difficulty of applying the principle
to special localities) between the seaward proprietors who
desire to extend the region of stake-nets riverwards, and
the upper proprietors who equally desire to drive them
downwards. It has been held, according to Mr Bell—1st,
that the prohibition extends to all rivers and estuaries to the
fullest extent to which the sea ebbs and flows, and down to
the fauces terrcc at the mouth of the firth, and the sands di\
at low water, as well as in the channel; 2d, that it does not
comprehend the proper shores of the sea; 3d, that stake-
nets are prohibited in the land-locked estuaiy of a liver,
being the intermediate space between what is strictly the
river* and strictly the sea, but where the river and fresh
water still exists with predominating influence; and that
they cannot lawfully be placed either in the channel of such
river or estuary, or on sands which are left dry by the ebbing,
of the sea; and, 4th, there is an exception in the statute of
1563 (prohibiting machinery where the sea ebbs and flows),
“ that it shall not be extended to the cruives and zairs being
upon the water of Solway,” which is the subject of paiti- »
cular regulation, being a border fishery.
The protection and encouragement of the breed of salmon
in the rivers of Scotland appear to have engaged the atten¬
tion of the legislature from a very ancient period, and nu¬
merous enactments have been passed from time to time.
Some of these related exclusively to the regulation of the
cruives or other engines in which the fish were caught,
without reference to the localities in which they might be
placed; and it seems not improbable that originally this
matter of regulation was the thing chiefly in view. But in
progress of time, when the importance of the fisheiies began
to be felt and acknowledged as a great branch of inteina¬
tional wealth and source of subsistence, other laws were
enacted, not merely to regulate the cruives and zairs, but
also to prohibit them absolutely in certain situations where
their existence was ascertained to be adverse to the impor¬
tant object of maintaining the breed of fish. With this pur¬
pose in vievvr, a numerous series of enactments was passed
from the reign of .Tames I. down to the union of the two
kingdoms; and in one respect those enactments pioceed
invariably on the same principle. While they permit cruives.
and other kinds of fixed machinery in the fresh waters of
rivers to which the tide does not extend (subject to certain
regulations and conditions), they absolutely prohibit all such
machinery below that point, or within the influence of the
tide. They prohibit it “ in fresche watteris, quhar the see
fillis and ebbis,”—“ in watteris that fillis and ebbis,”—“ in
rivers that has course to the sea, and “ within the flude-
mark of the sea,”—“in waters quhair the sea fillis and ebbis,
—“ within salt watteris, quhar the sea ebbis and flowis,”—
“ within salt waters that ebbis and flowis,”—“ upon sands
and schauldes far within the water,” and in general “ upon
the water sandis.”
An estuary is admitted to be different from a river, and.
the difference is constituted by a certain intermingling of
marine features. The ascertainment of the upper portion
of an estuary, where it is gradually lost in the river, is, we
presume, a point not mooted in any stake-net question,
which rather seeks to determine the lower limit of the es¬
tuary, where the remnants of its fresh-water characteis fade
awray, and its marine ones increase, to the eventual entile
exclusion of the others. It is clear that where a river dis¬
charges itself upon an open coast at once into the sea, its
independent character is almost instantaneously destioyed,
without the intervention of any estuary or other debateable
region. The ocean waters are so boundless and ledundant,
600
fisheries.
Deb.ts.Me those of tlie river so narrow and restricted, that no effect is
waters, produced upon the former hy the latter, fins is the case
V ^ ^ with one of our noblest streams at Tweed mouth, where we
have river and sea, yet no estuary. But where the river,
as in the instances of Tay and Oikel, has to work its way
through “sands and schauldes,” and along the centre of what,
in comparison with the open coast, may be called an inland
valley, the basin of an extensive watershed on either side,
and which receives at its head a confluence of rivers flowing
from remote and ramified upland districts, the position of
affairs, as between salt and fresh water, becomes entirely
changed. There we have a small, confined, and shallow
sea, crossing, it may be, an obstructing bar or other sand¬
bank, its force during flow being exhausted by having to
expand over wastes of mud and shoals of gravel ; its saltness
decreased, and ere long destroyed, by the influence of the
multitudinous streams and rivers which rush ceaselessly by
night and day into its bed (to say nothing of an extensive
though unobservable drainage from the land); and the sea
itself, such as it is. allowed to advance so far inland merely
bv the flatness of the upper portion of the landward basin.
The term estuary, though not seldom very vaguely ap¬
plied, is always intended to signify such w^ers as lie be¬
tween the undoubted fresh-water river anct the firth or sea.
0 An arm of the sea (such as Loch Fine, Loch Sunart, and
others, on our western shores) is a lengthened body of marine
water entering inland, and varying in height with the state
of the tide as relates to ebb and flow, but never withdrawing
itself from its retentive basin, the productions of which are
essentially marine. The purest of all sea water is of course
that found at a great distance from land, where neither ani¬
mal fior vegetable productions are at all abundant, and
where even birds and fishes, each and all of whom are
winged messengers” in their way, are much less numerous
than nearer shore. The closer, within certain limits, we
approach the coasts, the more abundant are marine produc¬
tions. But as we ascend firths, and enter the mingled
waters of estuaries and the fresh ones of rivers, these gra¬
dually diminish, and eventually disappear.
It has been argued that the ascertainment by philosophi¬
cal investigation of some single great physical fact, such as
the precise point inland at which the tide is always either
ebbing or flowing, would and ought to determine the dis¬
puted question, as to w here the sea ends and the estuary
commences. This, of course, would be where the fresh
water of the river meets the salt water of the sea at lowest
ebb ; a theoretical test not likely to have been much in the
minds of Scotch barons in the days of Robert the Bruce,
and which, if applied in our own days, would destroy at least
the majority of the net-and-coble salmon-fishings through¬
out the country. Mr James Jardine, our eminent civil en¬
gineer, was the first to point out and ascertain this test for
determining where a river ends and a firth begins, having
been employed in that investigation in 1810, in the great
Tay case, the Duke of Atholl v. the Honourable W illiam
Maule. Mr Jardine gave in a report, in which he professed
his object to be, to inquire into such circumstances in re¬
gard to the localities of the Tay, “as might seem of im¬
portance in determining the common boundary of the firth
and riverand among the various points which he states
as ascertained are the following :—First, that of the com¬
mon section of the mean surface of the sea and river, which
he determined to be at a place called Friarton ; secondly,
the line in the firth above which the sea-ware ceases to
grow ; and, thirdly, the point of the lowest ebb in the chan¬
nel of the river. That part of the report which relates to
the last-mentioned point, is entitled “ Of the highest point
at which the sea is always either ebbing or flowing,” and
under this head we have as follows:—“ From a series of
observations on more than fifteen tides, it was found that
the highest point at which the medium tide was always either
ebbing or flowing, was immediately above the confluence of Debateable
the Earn and Tay. This determination, however, must be waters,
considered as less accurate than could be wished, on account
of the advanced season of the year in which the observa¬
tions were made.” The report then concludes with a gene¬
ral summary. “ Having thus examined in detail the several
circumstances proposed, I am led, in estimating their com¬
parative importance for determining the common boundary
of the river and firth of Tay, to lay the greatest stress on
the three last, particularly on that which determines the
highest point at which the tide, is continually ebbing and
flowing. This boundary cannot, I think, be placed higher
than Friarton, where the common section of the mean
surfaces of the sea and river has been shown to take place;
nor can it be lower than the line which stretches across the
firth from Errol-Dyke to the stone above Bambreich Castle,
where the sea-ware ceases to grow. It appears to me,
therefore, that the confluence of the Earn and Tay is the
proper place of the boundary in question, since it is nearly
the mean between the limits above mentioned; is the com¬
mencement of the character of a river, as indicated by the
appearance of gravel ; and, lastly, is the highest point or
place where the medium tide is continually ebbing or flow¬
ing.” To this Professor Playfair added a brief opinion,
in which he states, that “ the highest point in the river
where the tide is continually either ebbing or flowing, fur¬
nishes, in my opinion, the best criterion for ascertaining
where the firth ends and the river begins ; it is a rule ap¬
plicable in all cases, and much more definite than what could
^e deduced from the mean level of the sea, the saltness of
me water, or the growth of sea-weed,—all of which, how¬
ever, Mr Jardine has determined in the present case with
all the accuracy of which their nature would admit. 1 his
criterion, therefore, which I believe to be new, is valuable,
not only as applicable to the present and all similar ques¬
tions, but as establishing an important fact in the natural
history of rivers.”
We believe that no single character or criterion can be
adopted in the solution of this question as it bears upon
salmon-fishing. That referred to, however interesting as a
question in hydrology, or the geography of physics, is cer¬
tainly not the test of the statutes, and their construction in
accordance with it would, in most cases, exclude the greater
portion of the space which falls within their meaning and
consequent protection. J he adoption of what is called the
medium level of the sea would of course be still worse.
That level, for example, cuts the surface of the river lay
at Friarton, and the bottom at the I ownford, and so would
carry the fixed engines above the best regions of the net-and-
coble. The same point, in relation to the estuary of the
Oikel, would carry the sea several miles above Bonar-
Bridge, where the water is fresh even at high tide, and
where at ebb the river descends with all the rapidity, and
a thousand times the strength, of a mountain torrent. We
believe that each estuary must be tried upon its own merits,
so greatly do those inland reaches differ in their natural
character and conditions. The sea is a great intruder, and
is sure to find its own level in spite of all opposing obstacles.
If, in pursuit of such level, it flows over vast hollow basins,
and into lengthened ravines of great depth, scooped out into
the very bosom of the loftiest hills, as is the case in all our
western lochs (Sunart, Nevish, Hourn, Alsh, Torridon,
Broom, Laxford, &c.), it necessarily abides there continuously
and for ever, in the ratio of the excess of depth over the
difference between high and low water; so that if the actual
depth of these great sea-lakes is one, two, or three hundred
feet, a difference of 12 or 16 feet (consequent on the rise
and fall of tide) makes really no alteration upon them what¬
ever. They are essentially the same at low-water as at
high, and are arms or branches of the sea, not estuaries.
Though goodly streams may pour into them abundance of
FISHERIES.
601
Debateable sweet water, the general watershed above and around them
waters, is quite insufficient to deprive them of their strictly briny
attributes, and their steep cavernous shores are haunted
habitually by lobsters and other truly marine creatures, and
visited periodically by millions of herrings, which, as in the
branching lochs of Shieldag and Torridon, or the still deeper
indentations of lochs Dim and Cul, between Assynt and
Edderachillis, swim up in glittering hordes to the very bases
of the inmost hills. It is this character of depth, and con¬
sequently of abiding quantity, which in truth distinguishes
the western sea-lochs from the so-called firths upon the
eastern side of Scotland.
It ,is equally clear that fresh water, being specifically
lighter than salt, can never so plunge beneath a depth ot
sea as to make and keep an alveus fluminis, or maintain
any permanent or influential character of its own, after
meeting a great mass of abiding sea-water. It reaches at
once its final bourne—has no struggles to endure with sands
and shaulds, but sinks into immediate insignificance among
the great sea-waters. The consequence is, you may have
herrings, haddocks, codling, skate, mackerel, and many other
fishes, up to the very inmost parts ot these saline branches,
where also lobsters and other Crustacea, with oysters, and
more of the testaceous class, rejoice respectively in holes or
flatter scalps, over which fresh water cannot flow.
But if the sea far below its line of lowest ebb is extremely
shallow and of small extent, if it be so broken up by “ sands
and shauldes far within the water,” and encompassed by a
^j^pad continuous stretch of gravel and slimy or alluvial
on either side, so as to present at low water an ap-
j^Jkice along shore as if there “ was no more sea ; these
are diameters different from those just alluded to, and which
form most important elements in estimating the true attn-
butes of a particular locality, of which the essential featui es
result from diffidences in depth and quantity. Most of the
exposed space may (and indeed must) be below the medium
level of the ocean, but this is not the question, which, in
truth, does not concern levels. That question we conceive
mainly to be, the proportional power and influence ot the
salt water over the fresh, or vice versa, because by that
power, one way or other, are marine or fresh water produc¬
tions respectively encouraged or destroyed. Now, it seems
clear that if the sea in its usual state at low water, is merely
commingled with and partly overcome by the linum fluminis
A general belief prevailing that bag-net fishing for salmon
was practised along our shores by parties not legally entitled J y
to exercise that privilege, the advisers of the crown have
recently interfered by bringing an action against a Kincar¬
dineshire proprietor for fishing along shore ex adverse of
his own lands. These were the lands and barony of Port-
lethen, belonging to Mr Ernest Gammell, and possessed by
him under a charter from the crown, in which they are de¬
scribed as “ All and whole, &c., with the seaport, haven, and
harbour of Portlethen, and whole tolls, duties, customs, and
anchorages pertaining and belonging thereto, with the white
fishings in the sea adjacent to the said lands, and whole
privileges and pertinents thereof, all lying within the parish
of Banchory and sheriffdom of Kincardine, now erected
into a free barony, called the barony ot Portlethen, &c.
The property is situate to the southward of Aberdeen, and
is bordered by the open sea. The action was brought at
the instance of the Lord Advocate, on behalf of the com¬
missioners of the woods and forests, against the proprietor
and the lessees of his salmon fishery, and on the expressed
oround that all salmon fishings around the coasts of Scot-
fand, and in the navigable estuaries, bays, and rivers thereof,
so far as the same have not been granted to any subject y
charter or otherwise, belong to the sovereign jure corona,
and form part of the hereditary revenues ot the crown in
Scotland ; and that as the charters of the defendant and his
predecessors contain no such grant of salmon fishings, he
has no right, &c., and never attempted to exercise that
right till within the last few years.. The prosecutors for the
crown had offered to grant a lease of these salmon fishings
at a moderate rent, which the defender had declined. 1 lie
defences were as follows 1. Mr Gammell being proprietor
of lands erected into a barony, the right of salmon-fishing
in the adjoining water is attached thereto. 2. I he right ot
salmon-fishing in the sea does not belong to the crown as
part of its hereditary revenue. 3. 1 he right of fishing
within the British seas is a privilege belonging to, and may
be exercised by, all British subjects, and cannot be con¬
strained, or defeated, or interfered with by the crown 4.
According to constitutional law, the right to public fishings
vested in the crown is a right of protection for the benefit
of the subject, but is not a right of property. 5. I he right
of salmon'fishings in the seals not inter regalia, and there¬
fore the crown has no right to grant it, or any other right
_ . _ -i .i f* 1   »» iv-» + £vrr£»r*£> Tvith
commingled with and partly overcome by the linum jiummis bfishe8 0f the sea, or interfere with
which pervades its centre, and constitutes its main cha e , I P ^ f j public. 6. The defenders
and even after the completion of its upward ^ ^ K ^^fishes in the sea, and the crown hav-
spread its shallow waters only over the bare and bioad ex
. ^Jaeing entitled to take fishes in the sea,
flesh watered in a^and^dre.a.ns ^ „ ,,™
the same, the proportional quantity of that water must de¬
pend upon the mass of sea with which it is required to
mingle; or, in other words, the solution of the question,
“ Sea or estuary?” must depend almost entirely upon the
depth of the trough into which the river falls.
The machinery permitted in pure rivers or streams ot
unmixed fresh water, in which the sea does not ebb or flow,
is regulated on the principle, that there shall be a sufficient
passage left for the descent of the young fry, and, to a certain
extent, for the ascent of the full-grown fish. The hecks,
or open frame-work of all cruives, must be pulled up every
Saturday evening during the fishing season at 6 o clock, and
the space remain open till the same hour on Monday morning.
power of using and erecting such apparatus as they may
consider best suited for the purpose of taking and catching
fish in the sea.1 ,.
The question was argued before the court, as regarding
a right at common law (the alleged right by charter, which
is the first defence, being waived for the time), and the de¬
fences were repelled by a majority of the judges, that is, a
verdict was given for the crown, by sustaining the first con¬
clusion of the summons—that the salmon-fishings around
the sea-coast of Scotland belong exclusively to the sove¬
reign, and form part of the hereditary revenues of the crown
in Scotland, so far as not expressly granted to any vassal.
In England, as we understand, the general law is, that
. „ appeai?to)sjhat!he"above?ief(nc&fau)xce[rt
session of the adjoining land, and so wou IU°a hpr.ieeJ’an(i a number from Stonehaven (the place in question lies exactly half
Gammell would do if half a dozen traders from bag.nets on each side of the same. Would the pro¬
way between the two), were to take a fancy ‘‘constrained, or defeated, or interfered with ?”
prietor, acting upon his own principles of aw, » . actiial interlocutor, and the Lord Justice-Clerk Hope, especially,
P * It is understood that some of the judges ^ero./lss1e"tl1epnrit j1,0111 ^ loldsMp was of opinion that the line of argument pursued con-
expressed his opposing view strongly and of the crown ; and he knew of no authority to consider the former
founded two distinct things, the jus regale, and ^ heredit y salmon fisheries in riVers is not equivalent
as of the same legal character, or as forming part of the latter. 1 he right man b 4 &
VOL. IX.
k
602
FISHERIES.
English
law.
no right of fishing can be acquired by an individual upon
the sea-coast, or in a navigable river, unless by prescription
' as ancient as the reign of Henry II., or by act of parlia¬
ment vesting such right in that individual. So jealously
have the rights of the public been protected in England,
that there is said to be no instance since the passing of the
Great Charter of a grant of free fishery being made by the
crown, submitted to by the public, and allowed in a court
of justice. No such grants as those so frequent in Ireland
have been made in England since the days of John, and there
is no English authority for saying that they could be made.
Lord Mansfield states the rule of law to be uniform. In
English rivers not navigable, the proprietors of the land
have the right of fishing on their respective sites, and it
generally extends adfilum medium aqxice ; but in navigable
rivers the proprietors on each side have it not, the fishing
is common, it is prima facie in the king, and is public. All
the authorities concur in declaring that the right of fishing
in the sea and public navigable rivers belongs not exclu¬
sively to the king,‘but is common to every one of his sub¬
jects. So clear is this, that a plea of prescription of common
right of fishing in the sea, as appurtenant to certain lands,
has been held to be as idle and absurd as a claim of tra¬
velling on the king’s highway, or breathing the common air,
as appurtenances to a certain estate. Sir Matthew Hale
thus expounds the great charter:—Before the statute of
Magna Charta, chap. 10, it was frequent for the king to put
as well fresh as salt rivers in defenso for his recreation, that
is, to bar fishing or fowling in a river till the king had taken
his pleasure and advantage of the writ defemione riparice,
which anciently was directed to the sheriff to prohibit rivia-
tion in every river in his bailiwick.” “ Kiviation,” adds
Blaekstone, ‘‘ I suppose is a word which implies fishing
rights. I never saw it elsewhere.” The great charter
having been extorted from King John, to prevent a recur¬
rence of illegal encroachments, the construction put upon
it in the courts of justice has been, that it is only declara¬
tory of the common law. All the old enactments regarding
England are alleged to have been made applicable also to
Ireland by the 10th Henry VII. cap. 22. This last is
usually called Poyning’s act.1
Sir Mathew Hale states, that public rivers for the com¬
mon passage of vessels, whether large or small, are “ high¬
ways by water,” and as much under the control of the king
as “ the common high-ways on the land “ and as the
high-ways by land are called altce vice regice, so these pub¬
lic rivers for passage are called ftuvii regales and haul
streams le roi, not in reference to the propriety [property]
of the river, but to the public use ; all things of public
safety and convenience being in a special manner under
the king’s care, supervision, and protection ; and therefore
the report of Sir John Davis, of the piscary of the Banne,
mistakes the reason of those books that call these streams
le roi, as if they were called so in respect of propriety, for
they were called so because they are of public use, and
under the special care and protection of the king, whether
the soil be his or not.” Schults says, “ A high-way is called
in the old books le haut chemin le roi ; yet it
English
law.
was adtfp
he^irown.
to the proposition that all the salmon in the rivers of Scotland, if not granted out, form part of the hereditary revenues of the
The right is derived from this, that a salmon-fishery being a jus regale, that is, one of the higher rights of property, supposed by fiction
to be peculiar to the monarch personally for his own sport or pleasure, and so reserved from ordinary grants, must be given specially
with a view to its being devolved upon a subject. But assuredly no one has ever said that the salmon of all the rivers in Scotland formed
part of the hereditary revenues, that is, of the proper patrimony of the crown, for if so, then no grant whatever wdfild be competent,
being struck at as an alienation contrary to the statutes. His lordship apprehended that there was no authority whatever for holding
salmon-fishings to be any part of the hereditary revenues of the crown, or for regarding a jus regale as a portion of those revenues.
After a careful review of the authorities regarding jara regalia, he had satisfied himself that none of them includes, or was intended to
include, salmon-fishings in the sea proper, and that all the writers are treating of those mouths of rivers sc often called sea or salt water,
in reference to the flow of the tide, and it may be in one or two cases land-locked bays, which seem to be within the proper line of the
land coast, and included as it were within that line. The argument founded on the fact that grants had actually been made by the
crown of salmon-fishings which were said to be in the sea, was, in his lordship’s opinion, inconclusive in point of principle, and weak
even as a matter of practice, most of these grants being really in firths, estuaries, or the mouths of rivers, or at a turn where the coast
begins to trend off, and where it is difficult to say where the proper sands of the tidal river cease. This he believes to be the explanation
of the expression used,—of fishings as well in salt as in fresh water, in aquis dulcibus quam salsis. That some grants have been made of
salmon-fishings in the sea proper is undoubted; but this may be accounted for by the manner in which grants were formerly obtained
from the Scotch exchequer, of subjects which ought not to have been so granted, and to which the crown had advanced no claim, a
practice stopped by Baron Hume. “ It by no means follows that the rights of salmon-fishings enjoyed by the proprietors who have obtained
such grants are therefore not maintainable as valid rights of fidBng ; although I do not think that the right depends on the grant, I
think a station on the shore, or in the sea for stake-nets, bas^^, or other such machinery, is quite capable of appropriation by the
proprietor of the lands ex adverse, as a fair adjunct to his pjjppTty, and a natural use for him to make of the coast, so far as he does not
interfere with the right of navigation.'’ “ I have no doubt that proprietors, without any such grants, will be able successfully to defend
this appropriation of the sea-shore or stations in the sea, as a fair adjunct of their right of property. The plea of the crown would
equally prevent the proprietor fishing by net and coble—and the summons distinctly goes that length—and catching salmon by long
nets swept out by a boat, and then drawn into the shore ; a use of the sea-coast which, I am of opinion, the proprietors may make for
salmon as well as for white fish, and the denial of which seems to me to be totally repugnant to all notions of constitutional or feudal law
which I have ever heard. I may further add, that I am satisfied that the legislation as to stake-nets and fixed engines was limited in
the Scotch statutes to estuaries, where the sea ebbs and flows, and was not extended to the sea, because the legislature only intended to
regulate fishings which were the proper subjects of exclusive grants, and did not intend to apply such regulations to the general right
common to all, to fish salmon as well as other fish in the sea.” “ I see that a distinction is attempted to be taken between fishings in
alto mare as something different from the fishings along the sea-coast. That distinction seems to me wholly to fail, and in the authorities
. 111 a^)° n13-1,6 ’ is used as contradistinguished from the sea in estuaries, but directly as applicable to the sea along the open coast of the
is and.. Cases decided in the Court of Session, &c.—(Messrs Tennent, Eraser, and Murray’s Reports')—vol. xiii., p. 866.
It will thus be seen that some “ glorious uncertainty,” so far as great difference of opinion is concerned, still pervades this important
question. Meanwhile the ruling judgment maintains the general doctrine of the law of Scotland to be that salmon-fishing is a beneficial
interest, and remains with the crown, unless it has been conveyed away. That doctrine is not made to depend upon special situation,
‘ ^ (U^)<h11 ^le °^ec*: a(1<^ na*:ure of the operation. It is true that the localities most generally resorted to were rivers, estuaries, or other
in e s, because those situations afforded the greatest facilities for catching this particular fish, which is remarkable for its instinctive
enire to leave the open sea and ascend the restricted waters. Our earlier salmon-fishers feared the “ injurious sea,” because the howling
+Vln“%an ro^inS waves were too much for their comparatively feeble gear. “ But if in process of time,” says the judgment just referred
^covered that even upon the open coast the possession of the shore might be turned to account for the same purpose, it
she)1 Id \ h 866 ^ PrinclP*e whY th0 accommodation afforded by the possession of the coast for the purpose of salmon-fishing
more th 6 ‘f^+i ^ ^ave Peen; carried by the crown charter (meaning a charter without a special grant, cum piscationibus sahnonum) any
8th Vietn 1 1 'n- antjs. along a river or estuary,” p. 862. It was well observed by Lord Medwyn that the recent statute, 7th and
low-wate' ’ . lick declares, that a penalty may be inflicted on any person who shall fish for salmon in the sea within one mile of
also to a Permisslon l*10 proprietor of the salmon-fishery, necessarily recognises the royal right as one pertaining
A compendious statement of the Fishery Laws, as concerns England and Ireland, will be found in the Dublin Review for Nov. 1841.
FISHERIES.
Salmon- judged by the whole court, that all profit arising therefrom,
fisheries of anci trees growing thereon, belonged to the lord of the
^the Tay. piace . anci again? that every one has an interest in the
king’s high-way.” Hale compares the king’s “right of pro¬
priety or ownership” in the sea and its branches to that of
the lord of a waste or common, and says, that although he
“ is owner of this great waste, and, as a consequent of his
property, hath a primary right of fishing in the sea, and the
creeks and arms thereof, yet the common people of Eng¬
land have regularly a right of fishing in the sea, or creeks
or arms thereof, as a public common of piscary, and may
not, without injury to their right, be restrained of it unless
in such places, creeks, or navigable rivers, where either the
king of some particular subject hath gained a propriety ex¬
clusive of that common liberty.” And the latest writer on
the subject says, “ All the writers on the common law of
England agree that the supreme dominion or jurisdiction of
60S
his British seas belongs to the sovereign as the head and Salmon-
representative of his people, and that the free and universal fisheries of
right of fishing and navigation in such seas, ports, and arms the Tay‘
of the sea and navigable rivers exercisable under his juris-
diction belongs to the subjects in general. The right of
fishing in these seas never was vested in the crown exclu¬
sively, and of course is not to be considered as a legal fran¬
chise. As a public right belonging to the people, \t prima
facie vests in the crown; but such legal investment does
not diminish the right of the subject, and is merely reposed
in the crown for the sake of regulation and government.” 1
We shall now endeavour to illustrate the past and pre¬
sent condition of the salmon-fisheries of Scotland, by exhi¬
biting the returns of the river Tay, the greatest and pro¬
bably the most productive we possess. We shall confine
ourselves, in the first place, to the two principal fishings of
the upper portion of the estuary.
Table showing the Produce of Lord Gray’s and Sir Thomas Moncrietfe ’s Fishings for jive periods of ten years each.
Before the erection of Stake Nets.
Ten
Years.
1788
1789
1790
1791
1792
1793
1794
1795
1796
1797
Kinfanns.
Salmon.
5,773
9,996
6,635
8,639
15,242
7,866
9,924
9,392
6,285
7,451
Grilse.
1,538
1,083
1,829
1.320
2,206
2,155
1,549
2.320
441
2,699
17,140
1,714
2,827
2,036
2,488
1,644
1,667
1,717
2,809
2,017
2,740
1,599
21,544
2,154^
697
364
531
258
315
548
850
922
145
337
4,967
496tt7
During the existence of Stake Nets.
Ten
Years.
1801
1802
1803
1804
1805
1806
1807
1808
1809
1810
Kinfauns.
Salmon.
6,635
7,037
4,208
4,051
5,458
4,072
5,306
3,371
3,393
3,132
46,663
4,666t%
Grilse.
3,061
1,141
887
3,219
1,258
1,242
2,209
1.132
1,072
947
16,168
Salmon.
2,916
3,081
1,925
1,351
3,808
1,928
1,662
880
1,190
1,608
20,349
1,616A 2,034^
Grilse.
1,537
483
795
1,282
604
616
966
668
518
663
8,132
813rf
After the removal of Stake Nets.
Ten
Years.
1815
1816
1817
1818
1819
1820
1821
1822
1823
1824
Salmon. Grilse.
8,239
10,811
15,056
10,080
10,743
6,328
9,879
6,435
4,998
7,536
90,105
7,674
12,746
7,719
7,026
12,220
10,780
6,310
4,638
7,317
10,461
87,091
9,010* 8,709*
Salmon.
2,280
2,214
3,439
2,224
2,761
1,901
2,445
2,061
1,268
2,470
23,063
2,306*
Grilse.
2,755
2,388
1,504
1,791
2,870
4.009
2^019
2,133
2,052
3,601
25,113
2,511*
The following affords the means of comparing these same fishings for ten years before and ten years after certain
artificial alterations had been made in the bed of the river Tay.
Ten
Years
Before Perth Navigation Bill.2
1825
1828
1827
1828
1829
1830
1831
1832
1833
1834
Average
Salmon. Grilse,
7,005
3,500
2,629
4,721
5,566
5,828
3,218
5,292
3,672
5,960
47,391
4,739*
Moncrieffe.
Salmon. Grilse
12,774
7,000
6,078
12,342
7,853
10,605
6,836
9,822
9,016
10,196
92,522
9,252*
1,805
1,814
1,239
2,272
2,726
2,349
1,748
2,388
1,291
2,128
19,760
1,976
4,384
2,544
2,650
5,297
3,773
3.391
3,523
3,934
2,778
3.392
35,666
3,566*
Ten
Years,
1836
1837
1838
1839
1840
1841
1842
1843
1844
1845
After Perth Navigation Bill.
Kinfauns.
Salmon. Grilse,
7,668
5,352
5,523
7,379
3,735
7,757
7,305
9,847
7-772
4,991
69,329
8,179
12,641
9,639
6,686
9,215
12,398
21,153
11,353
7,775
10,269
109,308
6,932* 10,930*
Salmon. Grilse.
16,570
1,657
2,549
3,450
2,541
1,384
1.963
2,076
4,023
2,363
1,658
2,031
24,038
2,404
The most remarkable feature in the former of these
tables is the great preponderance which its early periods
exhibit of salmon over grilse. We cannot easily account for
this disparity upon any natural principle, and have some¬
times thought it must have arisen from the nets used in
earlier times being larger in the mesh than now, and so
admitting of many of the least-grown grilse making their
way through the cordage. This escape would tell in two
respects, as diminishing the amount of captured grilse of
that year, and adding to the number of adult salmon during
the one which followed; and this effect would continue to
be produced each successive season. However, we have
failed to ascertain the fact, that any change or restriction
in the dimension of the meshes took place in the Tay so
recently as the year 1823. It will be observed from the
table, that grilse preponderate during two or three prior
seasons—those of 1816, 1819 ,1820,—and fall off again fora
couple of years; but that after that they greatly increase,
1 Report of the Select Committee on the Irish Fisheries, p. 8. (1849.)
2 The Perth Navigation Bill, above referred to, is an act of parliament passed with a view to the improvement of the river Tay, so
as to admit of easier access from the sea to the “ Fair City.”
fisheries.
604
Salmon- ami keep the lead apparently to the close, with the excep-
fisheries of tion of the seasons ot 1839 and l«44.
the Tay. Although the young of all animals are naturally more
-v— numerous than their parents, it is not necessarily so as re¬
spects the proportion between grilse and salmon. Yo i 0
salmon including their various adolescent stages, aie doubt-
""abundant than old ones ; but as concerns stmpb-
arilse, it must be borne in mind that these are all the pro
duce of one season, and represent only a smgk summei o
the salmon life, whereas salmon, properly so called’ aie f e
congregated or abiding produce of several years A grilse,
whether he lives or dies, can exist, as such, for only a po
tion of a single season. If he is captured, and sent to c
ket" his days are ended; if he escapes till the ensmng sum¬
mer, he is converted, by a law of his nature, and whethe e
will or no, into a salmon. So in either case he must cease
to be a grilse. The later of the Tweed returns show that
of the whole of the salmon kind captured, including young
and o\(\, four-Jifths are killed on their first ascent from the
sea, and consequently before they have become parents, or
added to their kind. The severity of fishing now prac¬
tised decreases the average duration of salmon life. 1 he
result of this is, that the fish are not only fewer m number
but smaller in size. The reason that so many forty-pound
salmon were found by our anglers in Norway is, that they
were old fish in a new field. Far fewer of that size now
occur there, because the veterans have been killed out, and
the increase of sportsmen has become so great and con¬
tinuous, that the fish have no sufficient time to grow. I he
same causes, multiplied a thousand-fold, affect our fis at
home. The small proportion that escape from year to year
must be a wonder to themselves. To pass from the sea to Salmon-
the far shallows where the spawning-places lie, as many dan-
gers must be successfully surmounted as those which beset ^ ^
our troops between Cabul and Jellalabad. We believe that
only a single man ever gained the fortress. Had the con¬
ditions of his life required that he must, under a constant
continuance of the same perils, have gone back to Cabul,
and then rejourneyed to Jellalabad, and so on every season
in succession, we could scarcely marvel at his not becoming
an old man. A very large salmon must be rather an elderly
one, but as no salmon now dies a natural death, and almost
all are cut off in the very blossom of their days, it is easy
to see how their dimensions have decreased. It is many
years since Mr Hogarth (at one period the greatest lessee
of salmon-fisheries in Britain) gave his opinion that over¬
fishing had diminished their size as well as number. “ We
now seldom see a salmon above two years old.” The weight
of fish, from the undue prevalence of the imaginative faculty
among the sons of men, is frequently exaggerated, espe¬
cially by the votaries of the rod and line. This inaccuracy
seems sometimes to obtain even among the working people
of the commercial fisheries. When the celebrated “ Rob
Kerse of the Trows” (on the Tweed, at Makerstoun) was
asked, somewffiat upbraidingly, how it happened on a cer¬
tain occasion that those above him were catching larger
fish than himself, he replied, “ It’s no that the’re gettin’ ony
bigger fish than us up yonder, only the folk themsel s arc
far bigger leears.”
We have no note of the produce of the Tay since the
season of 1844, but the following Rentals will show the
money value of these fisheries for the last 30 years.
Rental of Fishings in the River Tay, from Perth to Neivburgh, for the seasons from 1825 to 1855, both inclusive
Proprietors.
Lord Gray 
City of Perth   
Sir J. Richardson of Pitfour.
Sir Thomas Moncrieffe 
Inchyra Fishings   
Earl of Wemyss....  
Mr Hay of Seggieden   
Mr Hay of Mugdrum  
Mr Patterson of Carpou 
Mr Allan of Errol..... 
Total.
1825. 1826
L.
4000
1100
1000
800
600
270
160
130
250
199
8509
L.
3800
1300
1000
1000
600
270
160
180
250
199
8759
1827.
L.
4000
1300
1000
1000
600
350
180
180
250
175
1828.
L.
4000
1300
1000
1000
600
350
180
180
300
123
1829.
8735
9033
L.
4000
1300
1000
1000
600
500
180
180
330
123
9183
1830. 1831. 1832. 1833. 1834. 1835. 1836. 1837
L.
3600
1300
1000
1000
400
500
180
180
300
123
L.
4000
1305
1000
1000
400
500
180
180
330
102
L.
2000
1305
1000
1000
355
500
185
120
295
102
8283 8967 6862
L.
2500
1305
1000
800
355
500
185
120
295
102
L.
2700
1305
1000
800
355
340
220
100
295
95
7162 7210
L.
2700
1305
1500
800
386
490
195
100
210
91
L.
2700
824
1500
800
386
490
195
100
210
91
7775 7296
L.
2700
824
1500
800
386
490
210
110
210
95
1838.
7325
L.
2700
824
1500
800
386
490
210
120
287
101
7418
L.
3000
1000
1500
800
386
490
210
167
288
101
L.
3000
1000
1475
800
650
600
95
167
288
101
7942 8176
Proprietors.
1841.
Lord Gray   
City of Perth 
Sir J. Richardson of Pitfour.,
Sir Thomas Moncrieffe 
Inchyra Fishings  
Earl of Wemyss 
Mr Hay of Seggieden 
Mr Hay of Mugdrum 
Mr Patterson of Carpou 
Mr Allan of Erroll 
Total.
L.
3000
1000
1475
800
650
500
305
167
121
101
1842.
8119
L.
3000
1000
1050
800
650
550
370
190
73
101
7784
1843.
L.
3000
1000
1150
800
660
550
370
190
73
260
8053
1844.
L.
3200
1000
980
800
660
550
370
190
73
236
1845.
L.
3000
1000
757
800
660
1369
381
190
73
212
8059
8442
1846.
1847. 1848. 1849. 1850. 1851. 1852. 1853
L.
3000
1000
757
400
660
1369
381
190
73
180
8010
L.
3000
1055
1030
550
915
1369
381
371
50
sis
9039
L.
3000
1055
1055
550
915
1802
577
377
50
337
9718
L.
3000
1055
1055
550
915
1802
577
382
50
297
9683
L.
2293
1000
878
450
625
1436
380
346
50
253
L.
2018
1023
932
450
610
1590
500
352
51
287
7711 7813
L.
1600
822
642
225
595
1213
440
293
80
188
6098
L.
1800
822
647
250
700
1607
400
421
84
231
6962
1854.
L.
2100
822
648
250
700
1818
430
643
140
211
7762
1855
L.
2100
822
1014
250
700
1727
500
686
161
457
8417
The preceding table shows no great variation in the
total value of these fisheries during the last thirty years;
the produce of 1825 being L.8509, and of 1855 L.8417,
with a decline in 1852 to L.6098. But individual proper¬
ties will be seen to exhibit a wide range in both direc¬
tions. Thus the fishings of Lord Gray and Sir Thomas
Moncrieffe have fallen off, while those of Lord Wemyss,
Mr Hay of Mugdrum, and Mr Allan of Errol, have largely
increased.
Our next table presents a complete exposition of the cap¬
tures in the Tay, and its tributary the Earn, for a period
of fifteen years.
1 We have made a calculation from the foregoing tables, that during the three given periods often years prior to 1824, there was a
total takeof salmon 352,955, of grilse only 158,611; while during the two periods of ten years between 18-5 and I84D the take was,
of salmon 152,950, of grilse 261,535, the proportions being thus reversed.
FISHERIES. 605
TMc of the Salmon and Onlse caught in the fi.Wrs and Earn, conumneing with the season 0/1830, and ending unth that 0/ 1M4.
Lady Keith 
Lord Willoughby 
Lord Dunmore 
Mr Richardson,, Ballathy....
Duke of Athol 
Stanley Company 
Lord Lyndoch   
Lord Mansfield   
Lord Kinnoull 
Sir Thomas MoncriefFe  
ity of Perth 
Lord Gray  
Mr Hay of Seggieden 
Lord Wemyss 
Mr Cristal of Inchyra 
Mr Paterson of Carpou 
Sir J. Richardson 
Mr Hay of Leys  
Miss Yeaman of Muir 
Mr Allan of Errol 
Lord Dundas... 
Hon. Mr Stuart 
Mr Wedderburn 
Mrs Morrison of Naughton.
Mr Stewart, St Fort 
Lord Douglass 
Proprietors.
1830.
SAL. GRIL.
Town of Dundee.... 
General Hunter 
Colonel Fotheringham 
Mr Kier of Grange 
Mr Hunter of Blackness—
Mr Dalgleish of Seotscraig
Lord Panmure 
Mr Hunter of Seaside 
Total of each year
32
679
596
246
189
113
590
999
1,277
2,349
3,603
5,828
588
841
1,038
271
2,875
340
210
232
211
46
208
79
230
Not
fished.
300
102
264
272
114
1,037
1,884
15
1831.
1832.
SAL. GRIL.
33
1,136
913
429
152
33
1,422
1,608
2,052
3,391
7,790
10,605
938
1,681
1,966
793
5,813
1,194
337
816
666
106
575
277
367
671
130
474
872
204
1,680
4,073
52
27,658
53,249
32
262
242
160
90
56
204
448
510
1,748
2,126
3,218
231
1,014
603
450
2,186
293
15
336
266
91
343
155
343
225
241
489
116
168
1,574
1,530
62
SAL.
1833.
19,827
33
301
208
180
50
22
188
235
594
3,523
5,236
6,836
494
3,174
1,420
1,210
4,794
721
71
890
758
178
781
369
412
307
350
876
435
204
2,067
1,731
106
32
235
196
160
51
29
245
476
694
2,388
2,625
5,292
588
1,137
942
711
3,749
430
356
508
960
68
371
175
329
424
82
202
101
70
1,071
1,121
80
SAL.
38,754 25,898
33
333
113
180
10
169
450
632
3,934
5,269
9,822
974
3,201
2,186
2,110
8,995
1,910
1,075
1,848
2,499
236
846
492
581
566
108
243
108
128
1,874
1,997
158
32
295
345
160
90
33
218
300
477
1,291
1,796
3,672
356
656
1,118
458
2,118
217
78
414
381
88
354
155
271
602
184
583
163
101
2,087
1,418
45
1834.
SAL.
33
380
399
180
50
318
100
713
2,778
4,842
9,016
1,071
2,591
2,726
1,295
6,307
847
163
996
996
327
990
520
640
1,708
306
1,580
472
152
5,378
2,591
147
32
370
347
160
90
82
150
594
742
2,128
2,522
5,960
604
1,390
1,448
454
3,775
317
83
390
533
134
490
209
294
GRIL.
1835.
SAL.
33
372
360
180
50
34
120
487
774
3,392
4,518
10,196
1,233
2,939
2,379
976
7,639
809
233
726
1,390
416
1,190
537
500
GRIL.
53,085 20,556 50,612 28,045
847
190
620
163
132
1,516
1,089
190
1,059
246
430
472
158
2,007
1,140
474
47,469
19
202
717
140
200
63
187
514
690
2,557
2,583
7,591
832
1,253
2,147
783
40
148
217
1,117
173
527
175
182
1836.
SAL.
24
365
567
160
166
21
348
460
1,171
5,357
5,381
13,876
2,136
2,582
4,623
1,819
9,463
2,001
376
335
1,275
199
543
183
196
831
86
480
163
132
2,429
898
78
1,104
108
590
472
146
3,547
1,172
187
84
598
429
220
143
85
207
506
659
2,276
2,934
7,668
714
791
1,775
565
2,998
447
73
389
175
22
105
113
63
14
373
81
290
51
17
1,760
998
Not
GRIL.
15
445
329
180
75
35
302
494
540
2,549
3,478
8,179
975
1,364
2,415
874
3,809
771
100
817
301
27
192
213
80
5
479
94
406
32
15
2,170
812
fished.
GRIL.
32,964 60,953 27,623 32,572 23,871 54,069
/o
422
155
195
152
57
227
400
421
1,642
2,525
5,352
577
1,348
1,814
495
1,747
481
154
784
209
26
189
231
142
Not
fished,
425
77
383
83
73
1,293
650
67
74
522
237
408
152
15
348
396
684
3,450
5,301
12,641
1,461
5,202
4,170
1,380
7,300
1,606
520
1,392
401
43
384
529
327
666
177
491
72
116
2,627
850
125
Proprietors.
Lady Keith 
Lord Willoughby  
Lord Dunmore 
Mr Richardson, Ballathy ...
Duke of Athol 
Stanley Company  
Lord Lyndoch 
Lord Mansfield 
Lord Kinnoull 
Sir Thomas MoncriefFe 
City of Perth 
Lord Gray  
Mr Hay of Seggieden 
Lord Wemyss .....
Mr Cristal of Inchyra  
Mr Paterson of Carpou 
Sir J. Richardson 
Mr Hay of Leys 
Miss Yeaman of Muir 
Mr Allan of Errol 
Lord Dundas   •
Hon. Mr Stuart  
Mr Wedderburn 
Mrs Morrison of Naughton.
Mr Stewart, St Fort 
Lord Douglass 
Town of Dundee 
General Hunter 
1838.
1839.
SAL. GRIL.
SAL.
GRIL.
Colonel Fotheringham 
Mr Keir of Grange 
Mr Hunter of Blackness 
Mr Dalgleish of Scotscraig...
Lord Panmure 
Mr Hunter of Seaside 
Total of each year  21,492 41,936
40
445
189
110
134
29
245
468
457
1,494
2,298
5,523
550
1,165
1,802
395
1,810
317
285
142
131
85
130
184
161
218
32
418
74
1,422
52
582
105
46
646
293
219
125
5
573
499
489
2,541
4,376
9,639
1,117
2,479
3,449
928
3,532
830
396
300
543
253
434
550
490
698
108
1,119
95
3,699
115
1,147
203
44
306
175
118
151
59
220
580
484
1,871
2,415
7,379
228
1,752
1,686
367
2,614
457
72
428
146
85
114
90
94
169
29
177
71
933
70
596
13
1840.
SAL.
23,981
40
200
223
44
60
27
309
445
254
1,384
2,086
6,686
219
1,900
1,719
406
2,464
561
84
486
153
253
96
149
64
73
25
112
82
639
61
415
35
GRIL.
21,754
24
170
115
56
32
23
128
234
464
969
1,223
3,735
345
411
1,053
196
1,784
212
75
322
92
16
45
37
33
80
16
136
27
343
204
50
12,650
48
149
146
163
43
12
405
377
826
1,963
3,197
9,215
757
1,526
2,293
646
4,690
690
167
479
256
27
128
175
76
152
50
304
29
692
343
150
1841.
SAL.
30.162
28
349
245
162
70
25
288
333
570
1,772
2,333
7,757
853
1,329
1,617
456
2,611
447
41
418
150
47
228
102
100
103
47
268
67
845
46
605
62
GRIL.
24,373
40
325
400
187
83
21
564
305
892
2,076
3,761
12,398
1,325
2,732
3,051
967
4,686
842
72
622
331
121
252
164
230
154
91
297
109
1,446
62
817
140
1842.
SAL.
GRIL.
1843.
39,563
11
365
321
195
95
71
234
484
534
1,489
2,973
7,305
905
1,704
1,891
205
3,328
992
150
632
272
36
203
55
61
239
47
222
58
903
57
632
110
26,779
12
622
659
656
99
30
719
761
1,039
4,023
8,370
21,153
1,776
9,278
7,259
776
10,378
4,059
520
1,628
732
195
698
170
246
568
91
414
52
1,874
111
1,367
204
80,539
681
341
307
120
89
310
533
655
1,861
4,251
9,847
908
2,760
2,876
408
3,511
1,479
305
800
300
60
180
84
112
24
275
47
185
64
908
44
688
115
395
345
321
100
16
638
390
688
2,363
4,813
11,475
852
5,607
4,143
658
3,676
2,165
391
1,042
500
72
200
116
160
13
500
91
174
59
884
37
547
152
1844.
SAL.
35,126 43,617 31,213
50
343
178
115
85
55
180
339
517
2,114
3,411
7,772
719
3,336
2,458
502
3,076
1,643
189
733
350
50
160
163
120
30
255
Not
fished.
206
88
1,203
34
584
151
GRIL.
50
86
118
104
50
9
176
250
487
1,658
2,922
7,775
681
4,079
3,276
581
2,707
1,964
242
792
410
110
210
215
160
22
276
138
95
1,070
15
374
251
31,353
606
FISHERIES.
Salmon- It will be seen from the preceding table that the cap-
fisheries tures frequently vary considerably from year to year, but
of the tjiat Qn wh0]e there has been no diminution. In fact,
Tweed. the ^ of the jast t]iree years is greater by nearly 5000 fish
than that of the first three. The best year was 1842, the
next best 1835. The worst year for grilse was 1839, the
worst for salmon 1840.
We shall now exhibit the produce of the Tweed (one of
the greatest of the salmon rivers of our country) for the
preceding forty-four years. It includes only the commercial
fisheries, which are those of its lower districts, and excludes
all captures by the rod and the nefarious leister.
Calculated Produce of the river Tweed as transmitted from
Benvick.
record for salmon is that of 1814 ; the most remarkable for Salmon-
grilse that of 1816. More recently, 1842 was a very pro- fisheries
ductive season for grilse, and that of 1844 was a good one
for salmon. These and the adjoining years being favourable, .
the quinquennial average, as taken in 1845, mounted up.
But since 1846 there has been a sudden and large decline,
especially of' salmon (1848 was great in grilse) ; although in
1854 salmon rose in number, while grilse fell. It will be
seen that the supply of sea-trout is also going down.
Salmon.
The totals of our j
first five years are J ’
The totals of our 1 .0 o-it
, * 1 48,617
last five years are j
Grilse. Trout.
340,285 156,176
139,435 189,786
Decrease, 151,867 Decrease, 210,850 Increase, 33,610
Average for five Years. Salmon.
1811 to 1815  40,297
1816 to 1820  37,938
1821 to 1825  22,930
Grilse. Trout.
68,057 31,235
87,089 48,078
57,647 62,475
1826   12,040 85,378
1827  M0,725 54,034
1828   13,511 39,248
1829   5,350 34,773
1830   7,415 66,520
59,203
43,441
39,563
64,630
37,486
Average for five years... 9,804
1831   13,197
1832   9,709
1833   10,428
1834   16,106
1835   22,642
53,990 48,864
43,244 77,037
41,411 77,308
93,939 60,178
59,262 48,852
87,707 82,229
Average for five years...14,416
1836   16,957
1837   14,577
1838   12,785
1839   15,508
1840   10,920
65,112 69,121
34,864 63,616
60,429 57,426
78,577 40,876
35,449 56,124
52,117 56,342
Average for five years...14,149
52,283 54,877
We entertained some hope, from the apparent improve’
ment, at least of salmon, in 1854, that the current season
might have turned out a good one. We regret to learn,
however, that this is not the case.1
In regard to the rental of the Tweed, it may be observed
that it does not vary in the same way as the produce, as
much depends upon the length of existing leases, the prices
at which the fish happen to sell for, and a good deal upon
the profit and loss account of the tenants, who in some sea¬
sons may have a considerable gain, and in others a heavy
reverse. For the present year of 1855, it is believed that
(unless a very favourable change takes place before the close)
not one shilling will be gained by any fishing in the Tweed,
and the tenants will consequently have to bear the loss;
while the rental, as assessed for taxes, will probably ap¬
pear not much less than that of the preceding year. At
the same time the rent must always in some degree be re¬
gulated by the state of the fishing, and the following is the
amount at which the Tweed tax has been assessed during
the last nine years for all the salmon-fishings in the lower
district of the river, which extends from Eden-mouth to
the sea:—
1841  16,464
1842....   19,198
1843   17,777
1844   21,830
1845   18,962
71,254 64,672
109,935 76,071
66,293 54,209
88,003 99,256
69,752 54.355
Average for five years...18,846 81,047
1846   17,878 37,506
1847   9,032 53,075
1848   9,478 97,102
1849   11,484 59,405
1850   9,522 33,864
69,712
38,679
67,796
52,541
39,435
49,701
Average for five years... 11,479
56,190
49,630
1851    8,789
1852   5,808
1853   9,199
1854   15,299
16,855 45,326
28,902 24,773
43,075 37.341
16,739 32,645
Average for four years... 9,774 26,393 35,021
It will be seen from the preceding columns that the
Tweed, although with periods of resuscitation, is suffering
• from symptoms of a deep decline. The greatest year in our
For the Year
1846  L.5358 2 0
1847   5435 19 6
1848   5054 10 7
1849   5214 1 0
1850   5051 12 6
For the Year
1851  L.5098 0 10
1852   4682 10 6
1853   4561 11 6
1854   4302 1 62
We have taken some pains to ascertain the average value
of salmon, which, however, we have found it by no means
easy to do, in as far as both the weight of the fish and the
prices vary much in different seasons; and, therefore, to
arrive at anything like an exact idea of the money value,
the weights and prices for each season would require to
be taken separately. Mr Paulin informs us that, taking a
general view, the Tweed salmon will average from 11 to
12 pounds, the grilse about 6 or pounds, and the sea-
trout from 4 to 5 pounds. Among the latter there is often
a pretty large supply of whitlings, which are the younger
fish, and which reach about 2 or 2% pounds each. In the
earlier part of the season the Tweed salmon do not average
above 8 pounds, but before the end of the season they will
weigh above .14 pounds. The following is a note of the
1 In a communication with which we have been favoured by Mr Paulin of Berwick-upon-Tweed, from whom we received the above
statement, he remarks as follows :—<c You will observe that the tendency is still downwards, especially with grilse ; and I regret to say,
that, so far as this season has gone, salmon are not more than one-third of what they were last year—grilse are considerably short of
what they were last year, although it was the worst upon record—and trouts are not much above one-half; so that this season has all the
appearance of turning out to he the very worst ever known. This is something very unaccountable; for from the extended protection
that has been afforded to the Tweed for these four or five years past, and the great expense incurred in keeping up a large police force,
it might have been expected that the numbers of salmon, grilse, and trout would have all increased, which is quite the reverse, and almost
makes o^rm think that there must be some natural law in operation affecting the breed of salmon other than is generally supposed.”—7th
Mr Paulin adds :—“ Tl ou will see from the above that the rental of the Tweed has fallen off considerably of late years, and I have no
doubt but it will continue to go lower yet, as I have every reason to believe that even the above sums have not been realised as rent from
the balance of the produce less the working expenses, for several years past.”
FISHERIES.
Salmon-
iisheries
of the
Tweed.
»
average value (wholesale prices, we presume) at Berwick
for three years :—
Salmon. Grilse. Trout.
In 1847  L.O 7 10 L.O 2 2£ L.O 1 2
1848   0 8 lOf 0 2 If 0 1 1J
1849   0 8 3f 0 10 7£ 0 1 Og-
^?ge°f.!h:ee} s 4»
L.O 2 1
L.O 1 If
We are unable to give the exact rental of all the fisheries
on the Tweed, but as concerns the lower portions, that is,
from the mouth to about 20 miles upwards, we may state
the following facts. In 1814, the rent was L.20,000; in
1823, L.10,000 ; and for seven years preceding that, the
average was L. 12,000. In 1831 the assessment was upon
L.4691; in 1838 it had fallen as low as L.3759, after which it
gradually rose again till the recent fall in 1852. As a trading
speculation, salmon-fishing may be regarded as precarious,
and seldom in the long-run successful. The hope of a suc¬
cessful year, from natural causes, is indulged in, and some¬
times gratified, but the profession is an adventurous one, and
subject to great mischances. It is understood that frequent
losses are incurred by the lessees of fisheries both in Tweed
and Tay. But let us hope that the expenses are often
more than paid by a successful catch and good markets
during the earlier portions of the season, and then, as fish
require no feeding, and come uncalled for from the “ vasty
deep,” whatever afterwards enters the net may realize Frank¬
lin’s phrase, “ a bit of silver pulled out of the water.” A
beautiful and sumptuous bit it often seems to be, although
to the angler’s eye of brief presentment—“ a moment white,
then gone for ever.”
We may state that there are no fixed nets of any kind
allowed within five miles of either side of Tweed-mouth.
They are prohibited by an act passed in 1830. But that
salmon course, or run, as it is termed, along the sea-shore,
instead of entering rivers directly from the open sea, is shown
both in a general way by the success of bag-nets along our
eastern coasts, often in places remote from rivers, but more
specially by certain stations near the above five-mile boun¬
dary. The number of salmon and grilse captured at a
station with two small clusters of nets, occupying only a few
yards of beach, and near no flow of fresh water, or indenta¬
tion of the coast, averaged during the last four or five years
preceding 1851, nearly one-half of the whole number taken
in the Tweed.
In considering the deficiencies of our salmon rivers, we
must bear in mind this increased supply of sea-salmon from
our outer shores, and the general fact that no animal killed
in one place can be captured in another. The decline
during recent years of the salmon-fisheries in so many of
our estuaries and the mouths of rivers, may, we doubt not,
be attributed to various causes, of which, however, the great
increase of stake and bag nets, is the chief. The greater
cheapness of salmon in earlier times, so often quoted in
proof of its former abundance, must be considered in con¬
nection with a much smaller population, a deficiency in the
means of transport, and entire ignorance of any plan of pre¬
servation by ice. We have been told that the practice of
sending Scotch salmon to the London markets packed in
ice was introduced by the late George Dempster, Esq. of
Dunichen. This, of course, raised the price of fish, and
gave a great stimulus to an increased capture. Too many
can scarcely now be be taken at a time, seeing that a well-
known method is at hand for their at least temporary pre¬
servation. In former times all redundant salmon were salted,
and this indeed became so regular a trade, that 1000 barrels
have been annually preserved and exported from certain
stations, the entire produce of which would not now equal
one-half of that amount.1 The salting vats were soon filled,
and the fishing ended so early, that grilse, which arrived
later, were deemed of little consequence. Of course the
upper portions of such rivers as had a good run of water
were well supplied with both early and breeding fish, and
thus anglers, and all others, whether legal or illegitimate,
had ample sport, without interfering with futurity.
The increase of land-drainage, especially of the open
sheep drains of the pastoral districts, is supposed to have
proved injurious, by bringing the surface water more rapidly,
and in greater volume, into the river, and hastening its
descent into the sea. Salmon prefer travelling upwards
when the river water is neither muddy and uproarious on
the one hand, nor too low and limpid on the other. They
prefer it full but clear, that is, by no means clayey. But
these required natural conditions are now less easily ob¬
tained than formerly, in consequence of man’s artificial
labours in the improvement of the land. These sudden
floods also alter the character and structure of the spawn¬
ing beds by shifting the gravel, or destroy them altogether
after the parent fish have performed their duties to poste¬
rity. Many of the more lowland streams are deteriorated
in their nature by the increase of human settlements along
their banks, and the consequent increase of various manu¬
facturing works, the operations of which produce refuse,
abhorrent to the tastes of salmon. Suppose one of these
fish about to leave the translucent basin of the Firth of
Clyde, and desirous to enter what he considers as a tran¬
quil change into pure sweet water. He first shows himself
1 It appears from the accounts of stores of provisions for the religious houses given in Dugdale’s Monasticon, that salted fish, especially
salmon, were in large request as winter food. It may be inferred that a great mass of private persons were dependent on a like supply.
Even armies could not be marched without their cured fish. We have in Rymer’s Fcedera an order by Edward the Second to provide
3000 dried salmon for the sustenance of his men ; and Monstrelet, when mentioning the defeat of the English, and the capture of their
army, adds, “ Que grande partie du charoy des dits Anglois etoient charges de harenc, et a cette cause la battaile fut appelle la baitaile des
harencs.” All wild animals diminish in amount as the surrounding tribes of the human race increase in number and civilization.
We all know how bountiful is the supply of salmon, or fish of the salmon kind, in the dreary northern regions. So abundant are they
at the mouths of certain rivers of Boothia Felix that 3378 were obtained at a single haul. They varied in weight from 2 to 14 pounds,
and exceeded in the aggregate 6 tons. This was Sahno Rossii of Richardson. Sir George Simpson found salmon so plentiful in the
Columbia river, that as many as 1000 per day, some of them weighing above 40 pounds, have been captured in a basket. In a little
stream in New Archangel (Russian America), within a mile of the fort, so numerous are salmon, that when ascending the stream they
have been literally known to embarass the movements of a canoe. About 100,000 are salted annually for the use of the fort.
Mr Erman tells us {Travels in Siberia) that the Russian traders annually fit out great fishing expeditions to the Obi, and settle them¬
selves in the neighbourhood of the most productive sand-banks, which they purchase or hire from the Ostyak inhabitants. The nets
used are 800 feet in length. The salmon are salted and packed in tubs, which contain from 800 to 2500 fish each. Some of these Rus¬
sian companies are said to have recently realized a profit of 150,000 rubles (about L.25,000) in a single summer. “ But,” adds Mr Erman
“ it is at the same time equally certain that the fisheries of the Ostyaks round about were thereby seriously damaged.” The Russian
official agents, to whom the superintendence of the country is confided, have always been perplexed by the difficulty of reconciling the
conflicting interests of the case. M. Kamiloff has proposed a felicitously characteristic expedient to his government, that it should take
into its own entire and immediate possession all these valuable fisheries on the Obi, and lease them only to Russians, “ for then ” he
observes, “the harmless and amiable Ostyaks, to whom the sand-banks belong by inheritance, would at once and for ever be relieved
from the anxiety of retaining possession of them, and nothing more would be heard of their troublesome complaints of local injuries done
to them. The fish-eating inhabitants might then learn to support themselves on the nuts of the Siberian pine (fir tops!), or by catching
birds and quadrupeds ; so engaged they would not be troubled with competitors, and might enjoy tranquillity of mind !!”
607
Supposed
causes of
deteriora¬
tion.
608
Supposed
causes of
deteriora¬
tion.
fisheries.
near Dumbarton like a wedge of lustrous silver, with deep
cerulean back, and breast like that of leper, white as snow.
He passes upwards, and finds himself in the course of the
first night at the Broomielaw, or other now not very rural
nortio/of the river, in the midst of many ships, in the im¬
mediate vicinity of 11,965 inhabited houses, and surrounded
by a population of 329,097 men, women, and children-his
own actual object being to seek some sohtary stainless pool,
reflecting a lichen-coloured rock or emerald bank, and dap¬
pled with many a golden light playing as with living lustre
over the beautiful mosaic of its pebbly floor. W e cannot
wonder that after losing sight of Ins fair partner in tha
turbid stream, he should turn tail with disgust, and revisit
the mouth of the Moiendinar burn no more for ever.
The destruction offish about to spawn during close time
is another alleged cause of the decrease of salmon. Of
course a fish killed before it spawns will never voluntarily
spawn afterwards, but we doubt not that great destruction
of this sort took place ^likewise in bygone days, and that it
is not a new evil under the sun, although the more it is
now prevented the better for the future fry. It has been
argued that a considerable extension of the period o
angling after the commercial close would be beneficial, by
enabling the legitimate sportsman to check or overawe the
illegitimate poacher. “ When we look at the circumstances
and the localities in which salmon are bred, and those in
which they are killed, the wonder seems to be, not that the
supply of this noble fish should be so rapidly diminishing
and deteriorating, as that even its immense natural powers
of reproduction should have hitherto been able to pi event
its absolute extinction. The seed is sown above, and the
harvest is reaped below. Those who sow do not reap, and
those who reap do not sow,—what, then, more natuial than
that both processes should be ill performed ? There is too
little sowing and too much reaping. Those in whose waters
the seed is sown say, ‘ The fish are never allowed to leach
us till the law prohibits us from killing them; why should
we incur trouble and expense, and offence, for the benefit
of the very people who do their utmost to inteicept what
nature sends us ?—let the poachers work their will.’ Those
who reap say, 6 The people above will take no caie or these
fish; let us by all means capture all we can, careless ot the
future,—it will last our time,’ that being seldom so much
as a five-years’ lease. And so, between these two opeia-
tions—a careless and wasteful seedtime, and a rigorous
reaping and gleaning—the crops are becoming poorer and
poorer, and the harvest-grounds hastening to absolute
sterility.”1 There is no doubt that if some accommodating
arrangement were entered into, by which more favour should
be shown to the upper heritors, resident proprietors, and
the higher class ot farmers in those uplands, would do
much more among their people to check all illegal and
nocturnal malpractices in the way of burning and leister¬
ing, than however large a squad of hired bailiffs have it in
their power to do. The present mode of prevention is not
only precarious but expensive—the proprietors ot some
fisheries paying about 20 per cent, of their rental for that
object alone. We hope it may be felt as a check upon
the over-fishing with nets before referred to, that it is now
beginning to tell along the sea-shore, as well as in the
estuaries, at the mouths of rivers, and up the streams and
tributaries. It may again be found, as it was once of old,
to be but a short-sighted policy to kill the goose that laid
the golden eggs.
But it is evident that when the seaward salmon-fisheries Supposed
were unknown or neglected, those in the higher Statons causes
must have been necessarily in a more flourishing condition. tion>
The fisheries on the Tay above Perth bridge produced  ,
11,500 fish in the year 1792, 10,400 in 1795, and never ^
less than 5000 in any one year up to that of 1800. Iheir
take in 1850 was reduced to about 1500, and may possibly
be decreasing from year to year. This is in no way owing
to fewer fish being bred above than formerly, but to far
more being captured below. The lower fisheries of the
river and tideway have increased in number and activity, and
must be worked hard to keep up a remunerating produce,
while the owners make a corresponding complaint that the
sea-shore fisheries intercept so large a portion of what was
in use to ascend their way. In salmon-fisheries, as possibly
in several other things, the terms productive and destruc¬
tive are relative, and even convertible. A successful stake-
net fishery is regarded by its proprietor as very productive,
while it is viewed as destructive, exactly in the same pro¬
portion, by the owners of more inland stations. There are
now as many fish bred as ever, but that they are killed at
an earlier age is evident from our tabular views, in which
it will be seen how greatly the slaughter of grilse now ex¬
ceeds that of salmon. But so long as the shore fisheries
are worked only by those who have the legal right to do so.
the other proprietors can scarcely complain that a new held
has been opened by others, which may reduce or equalize
their own previously exclusive gains. Of course all that
the pensive public desires is a fair field and no favour, in
the hope that a larger supply, at a lower price, may accrue
Mr James Bell, a lessee in former days of salmon in the
Tay and Tweed to the amount of L.9200 a-year, stated
in evidence before the Select Committee of the House ot
Commons (1824), that salmon taken in the stake-nets were
often inferior to those secured by net and coble, because, un¬
less removed before low tide, the water receded, and left
the fish “ floundering about, heated, and dying.” It is no
doubt quite possible to convert, in the lapse of no long
time, a good stake-net salmon into a bad one, but the folly
of the owner would be more surprising than the state of the
fish. Mr J. Crawford, who had been long engaged in the
Waterford salmon-trade, gave his opinion to the Select
Committee of 1849, that as good a sale could not be made
of salmon caught by the fishermen with cots (small boats)
and nets as of what were taken by the weir, as, by plunging
about in the nets, they are apt to knock their scales off, and
injure their aspect and condition. He, moreover, men¬
tioned, in regard to the difference of value between a salmon
caught in the sea or in fresh water, that the^London sales¬
men give fourpence a-pound more for a tide-water hs i,
cauMit near the mouth of a river; that fish going up, and
remaining above three weeks out of the tide-water, into
fresh water, become “gray” and of a gluey nature, and that
salesmen mark in their account the number o gray s i a
4d. per lb. less than what they pay for the tide-water take.
However much people may vie with each other, and even
vary their views to suit a change in their own position, we
consider no fact in the posthumous history of a salmon more
firmly established than this, that the nearer the sea the better
the fish. “ A salt-water salmon,” says Mr Brabazon, is
far superior to one that has been even a short time in river
water the flesh is a better colour, with a large flake of curd
between each flake offish, which is both firm and rich. -
' Edinburgh Review, \o\. x flnvnlir of salmon. Among other fisheries
2 We have sometimes fancied that even a few hours in river water made a difference ;nto which the river Inver
of his grace the Duke of Sutherland, there is one at Loch Inver, a small sea bay upon the nor i-wes ’ , but gtill in galt water,
is discharged at once without any intervening estuary. The salmon are caught with a scnnge-ne near ’ meaj an(j our impres-
and about a mile upwards fish of the same tide are captured in a cruive. Both kinds may ® a* f ^ of such as'were taken from
sion was that the difference was at least perceptible in the slightly fresh-water flavour (so manifest in 10U ‘ , mu i te ^jr
the cruive. Yet an entirely different opinion seems to be entertained by others of greater experience ia
FISHERIES.
Supposed As the public is beneficially served by stake-nets, and
causes of their erection is legal in sea-firths and on open coasts, it
tion. ^ould be in vain to complain that they injure the upper
fisheiies. No salmon can be caught and killed twice over,
and the opposing interests cannot be easily reconciled.
W hen up an estuary, or near a river’s mouth, there is no
doubt that the injury is direct and demonstrable. Mr Buist
has shown, from the books of the Dundee Shipping Com-
pany, by whom the almost entire produce of the Tay was
in former times despatched to London, that during the last
three years of the stake-net operations in that estuary
(1810, 1811, 1812) the average annual export from the
river fishings was only 1665 boxes; while the stake-net
fishers- exported 4000 boxes—making together 5665 boxes
yearly. But during the first three years after the stake-
nets were removed, the average yearly product of the river
fisheries rose to 4552 boxes, while during the next three
years, when the recovery of the river was completed, it
amounted to 5930 boxes, being for that later period 265
boxes a-year beyond the product of both fisheries while the
stake-nets were in operation. Of course the alteration in
the individual fishings and their rents was conformable.
Lord Gray’s portion of the river, which during the stake-
net practice produced in two years only 8534 grilse and
salmon, yielded in the same period after the removal of the
nets 46,332 of these fishes. The rent, which during the
former period had fallen to L.1205, immediately rose to
L.4000; and that of the whole river fisheries from L.5101
to L. 12,005.
In other estuaries, of course, similar causes produce the
same effects. Mr John Stevenson stated to the Commit¬
tee of the House of Commons, that previous to the intro¬
duction of stake-nets into the Cromarty Firth his fishing in
the Conan produced in one year 7656 salmon, while subse¬
quent to their introduction the same fishing produced during
another year only 633. But during that latter year Mr
James Taylor had intercepted in his stake-net no less than
6500.
It was stated to the Committee by Mr Alexander Fraser,
that the rent of the fisheries in the river Ness was, sixteen
years ago (prior to 1828), L.1055, and had then fallen to
L.124. We believe that its commercial value is now even
less than the latter sum, although the revenue which is de¬
rived from angling may have increased there, as in most
other rivers.
In relation to the supposed decline of our salmon-fish¬
eries, we may state that the late Sir Humphrey Davy de¬
livered into the hands of the select committee of the House
of Commons (which sat some years prior to the passing of
the Scotch act of 1828) a paper containing the following
observations and recommendations. “ There is a general
complaint,” he observes, “ of the diminution of salmon in
fisheries. In the Thames it can scarcely be said to exist;
and even in the Avon, the Severn, and the Trent, it is be¬
coming comparatively a scarce fish. The great northern
fisheries, and the Irish fisheries, are much less productive
than formerly.” He then states the remedies for this na¬
tional evil to be as follows : 1. To suffer more fish to spawn,
and fish of all ages and sizes ; 2. to prevent any fish from
being killed in rivers after spawning; and, 3. to prevent
the young or fry from being destroyed. He is, moreover,
of opinion that as all salmon and salmon-trout return to
609
their native rivers, so stake-net fishings ought to be abo- Proposed
lished, as they enable persons having no interest in the river remedies,
to cut off almost entirely its supply of fish, as salmon do not v-—'
go far out into the sea, and always return along the coast,
scenting out, as it were, their own river; and that a strong
net put across an estuary might destroy in one year the
whole fishery of a river. He recommends that no close
wears should be allowed, but that there should be always a
free passage for fish, so that early fish may go up as well as
late fish ; that no machinery should be permitted in a river
by which the spawning fish may be killed ; that nets should
be limited to a certain size, so as to render it impossible to
sweep a river; and that no angling should be allowed for
salmon till May, nor after October.
The remedies named above are more obvious than easy,
and have been not seldom proposed both before and since.
They undoubtedly go to the root of the matter, but their
enforcement is the difficulty. It has been often tried, but
seldom effected. The suggestion as to stake-nets, consider¬
ing the nature of now vested rights, could never be carried
into effect, and, so far as the public interest in a supply of
good salmon is concerned, ought not to be so. Besides
there are no fixed nets in estuaries, as they are illegal wherever
the estuary character is demonstrable. At all events, there
is no such thing any where allowed as a net across an estu¬
ary, or even hnum jiuminis. A free passage must be left,
and the so-called estuaries have had ample justice done
them,—1st, as in the Tay case, where the sea is declared to
end when we reach the “ Drumly Sands and, 2d, in that
of the Dornoch Firth, where the estuary is made to extend
to the wild moaning of the “ Gizzen Briggs,” opposite to,
and below the town of Tain. Close weirs on rivers do little
harm (such are the productive powers of fish) if properly
constructed, and the legal “ slap” of 24 hours every week
is observed. If a free passage were so left open as to ac¬
commodate the fish in the favourite portion of their run up
the river, they would all escape, and the weir-dyke would
not defray the expense of its erection. Like sheep leaping
in single files “ each after each ” over a broken fence, so
would the salmon vault through that watery way. If, again,
the main rush of the river were deceptive, and contained a
cruive with hecks, and the actually open space were in some
out-of-the-way quiet corner, the eager and impetuous fish
would never make the discovery, nor find out their mistake
till it was too late to mend it. If any of these early sum¬
mer fish got through, their after capture would no doubt
please one or more of the upper proprietors, but they would
be of little use, parentally considered, because they must
bide their natural time to the close, and when that time
comes there will be many far fitter for parental functions
than themselves, even should they escape the angler’s lure.
To limit the dimensions of the net would be of little use in
rivers the two sides of which, as so often happens, belonged
to different persons, and who, if they did not agree to the
usual practice of taking alternate sweeps of the whole, would
each incessantly harry his own half. To allow no angling
till May would deprive the rod-fisher in the earlier rivers of
his best months, when the fish are fresh and the waters full,
fo debar angling after October, or, in other words, to permit
it to the close of that month, would be merely an extension
of the present period (except as concerns the Tweed, which
has seven days more), although, from the mode of expres-
Mackenzie of Ardross, who cherished peculiar views of many other things besides salmon, writes as follows “ Salmon are always better
tor being a few days in their native water. It increases, like crimping, the firmness of the fish ; insomuch that while a salmon caught
m the morning in the sea is soft enough to be boiled and pickled the same evening, one caught in the fresh water retains its firmness
and would break in the kettle if boiled before next morning. The fish curers or boilers, who are great epicures, always accordino-ly
preter for their own palates fish that have been some days in fresh water.”—Fiew of the Salmon Fisherxj of Scotland Note to p 4<> In
regard to the practice of parboiling salmon immediately after they are captured, in order to preserve the curdy texture, it is a crood plan
it a couple of days has to elapse before they are eaten. But a friend of good taste in Berwick (who dines on the produce only of the
afternoon tide), tells us, that if a person must partake of a salmon killed in the morning of the day it is eaten, it is better to keen it cool
till dinner time, and then boil it once for all. 1
VOL. IX. 4 H
610
fisheries.
Proposed Sion used, we know not that extension was the object in
remedies. v}ew. As leading to stricter preservation in the uplands,
's—^ we doubt not it would be of use. _
In regard to the interest of the upland proprietors, which
we have always advocated, and have already referred to, we
should like to guard against extreme views. I hey chance
to possess a good supply of fine clear shallow water ot a
rippling lively character, with abundant beds of clean-washed
gravel, such as a fond parental salmon loves to haunt. In
these, without much trouble to the proprietor, the parr are
hatched, and there they dwell during the days of their in¬
nocent childhood, and till such time as they migrate sea¬
wards. They measure even at the last only a very few inches
in length, and do not \yeigh more than half as many ounces.
In obedience to a mysterious and most irresistible, but
wisely ordered, instinct, they suddenly descend to certain
marine pastures, where their increase of growth is rapid
and remarkable. But they are by this time, it may be, a
couple of hundred miles from the margin of those tiny
streams where they had passed their childhood I hey are
now well-grown grilse, or even (supposing their second
iourney to the sea) large-sized salmon. They have de¬
fended by a difficult and devious route, along many inter¬
vening lands, into the open sea, have wandered at their own
sweet°will far into that blue profound ; and coasting again
shorewards in pursuit of food or frolic, to whom do they be¬
long ? Certain shore proprietors, to whom the royal right
has-been deputed by our gracious Queen, or her august pre¬
decessors, erect at great expense, and work with difficulty
and sometimes danger, bag-nets, or other ingeniously-con¬
structed modes of capture ; and when they thus secure a
splendid salmon of 30 pounds weight which calls no man
master, can any reasonable being maintain that it belongs
to some small proprietor, one of the “ children of the mist,
who owns the barren banks of a feeble tributary among the
distant hills, where it no doubt first saw the dim light of day,
but from which it had departed of its own accord, so soon
as it felt proudly conscious of having become a smolt ?
There is surely no unjustifiable interference here. The
'parr may have originally belonged to another person (though
not necessarily to the proprietor of its native land, who in
all probability had no salmon rights whatever), but it has
undergone a remarkable metamorphosis, and passed, it may
be said, into another state of existence ; and, as a salmon,
it now belongs to whoever possesses and puts in action the
legal right to catch it, whether in salt or fresh water. But
undeniably there is a natural and necessary connection, as
in the relation of cause and effect, between the breeding
places above and a productive fishery below; for while we
know that without the sea there would be no salmon, so we
also know that without the streams there would be no parr
—therefore no salmon. But the sea, as usual, is the
mightier and more influential power, and eventually yields
upon the river produce an increase of many hundred fold.
Thus, all that any upland heritor could reasonably claim as
his particular share in any salmon would be a small cut
about the length of, but otherwise no larger, than his mid¬
dle finger. At the same time he is entitled to many of
these, as his progeny, though minute,are multitudinous; and
the unkindest cut of all is that which debars his almost ever
seeing a single fin of them again till they are as black as
ink, or as rusty as old iron,—for these are the conditions in
which the grown fish revisit the shallow streams of their
nativity. But the case is too often argued, as if a parr bore
the same relationship, even in its extrinsic conditions, to a
salmon, as a lamb does to a sheep,—as if the first owner not
only bred, but fed and brought it up, and so was entitled
to it in its final and complete condition. It is obvious that
it is not so. But as the river heritors alone have the direct
power of improvement, by breeding and preservation, in
their own exclusive hands, it would be good policy to in¬
duce them (by making it worth while) for their own sakes Proposed
as well as those of others, to exercise that power. There remedies,
is no doubt that the royal grants of river fisheries were given
long before those of the coasts were thought of. They pro¬
ceeded on the observed and ascertained habits of the fish
their periodically entering into narrow waters, and were ex¬
press in relation to rivers, estuaries, and other inlets; and
mainly for this reason, that salmon-fishing, unlike many
other kinds, cannot be accomplished independent of the
uses of the land. These fine fish do not take in the sea
with hand lines, or long lines, or in any other way requiring
an act of volition on their own part. They afterwards, no
doubt, exhibit a fantastic fancy for artificial flies ; but this,
with scarcely an exception, is an appetite acquired or mani¬
fested only in fresh or running waters. In earlier times
the mechanical portion ot the art (with the exception of
cruives) was comparatively feeble, it not imperfect; and it
is only in modern days, when men have sought out many
inventions, that the continuous strength of stake-nets planted
upon shoal ground, and the resisting power of bag-nets
placed in deeper waters, have been brought to bear up en-
duringly against the force of winds, and waves, and the surg¬
ing swell of the heaviest tidal currents.
Many regard it as a great loss both to Tweed and Tay,
that these noble and productive rivers should be divided
into so many distinct fishing stations, all wrought sepaiately,
whereby the expenses are much increased. Fixed nets
require far fewer men, and catch far more fish. On the
other hand, the tear and wear at the fixed stations is greater
than for net-and-coble. The comparative advantage of
simplification in the mode, and fulness of occupation to the
people, forms the problem in political economy before re¬
ferred to.
“ The grand evil in the salmon-fishery,” observes Mr
Mackenzie of Ardross in 1834, “ is the multiplicity of fish¬
ings, which begets so many contending interests, and makes
each individual pursue a selfish system of destiuction in¬
compatible with the improvement on a great scale of the
fishery. If anything could justify the violation of private
rights for the benefit of the public, the owners of minor
fishings should be made to sell their rights for a just equi¬
valent, in order to concentrate the fishery as much as pos¬
sible. If a whole river belonged to one individual, he might
do with it as he liked. In such a river there should be no
close time. Fhe owner of it would take caie to keep it at
all times full of breeding fish. He might make it like a
game preserve, in which immense quantities would be i eared.
He would restrict the fishery entirely to a few stations neai
its mouth, and fish these constantly while clean fish ap¬
peared, supplying the public with new fish as they came on,
even at the period the old fish were breeding in the upper
parts of the river, without the smallest injuiy to the fisheiy;
but a single upper heritor, were his fishery not worth L.5
a-year, could put a stop to the whole plan. Iheie aie,
accordingly, no rivers in the kingdom at present undei so
complete a system of improvement as those of the Duke of
Sutherland in Sutherlandshire, under the able direction of
Mr Loch, M.P. But this cannot happen in rivers which
belong to different proprietors, and, therefore, a close time
seems absolutely necessary for such rivers, that is, such a
close time as a majority of the proprietors should consider
best suited to each river, it being always understood, as we
have already said, that the interest of the owners of the
rivers and of the public is necessarily the same, viz., the pro¬
duction of as many fish as possible. On the coasts, if coast
fishings are to be allowed, the close time should always
commence some weeks earlier, as the fish towards close
time do not proceed quickly on, and may take that much
time to reach the rivers, so that the fish that would pass the
coast fishings during that period would not be killed at the
rivers, but would be left for breeding.
FISHERIES.
611
Proposed “ We believe that one of the reasons which influenced Mr
remedies. Drummond in establishing a general close time for all the
rivers was, lest the salmon of one river might be smuggled
to market as coming from another. But what did it sig¬
nify, if the fish were clean, from what river they came?
And foul fish never can be sent to market as clean fish, for
theii* appearance would betray them at once. The decep¬
tion would be seen at a glance. As well might a man at¬
tempt to sell a black horse as being a grey one. In truth,
no salesman would now venture to present foul fish at
market; and if the fish are salted or kippered, we would
defy any man to determine whether they were killed a week
before, or after close time, or, indeed, to bring legal evi¬
dence to bear on the subject; since, as we said, salmon are
as foul in some rivers in August as they are in other rivers
in October. Besides, protection to one river can never be
a good reason for injustice to the owners of another; and
nothing can be more grossly unjust than to deprive the
owners of the rivers Ness and Thurso of a great part of
their properties, lest foul fish from the Tay or Tweed should
be sent to market as coming from those rivers. If the Tay
or Tweed are poached, let the proprietors be at the expense
of a greater establishment of river keepers, and not look to
the annihilation of other properties to save their own purses.”
There is no doubt that the Ness and certain other early
rivers are put at a disadvantage by the longer continuance
of the close time now than formerly. It was proved in
evidence before a select committee of the House of Com¬
mons in 1825, that when the mid-winter fishings were open,
the amount of salmon killed in the Ness during eight years
(from 1811-12 to 1818-19) made a total for the months of
December1 2405
January ..3554
February 3239
March 3029
April 2147
May    1127
June  170
July  253
August  2192
September  430
It further appears, from the evidence above referred to,
that during these years no grilse ran up the Ness till after
the month of May. The month of
June produced  277 August 4229
July 1358 September 1493
We may here observe, that the fluctuations in the salmon-
fisheries seem to result not unfrequently from causes over
which we have not only no control, but regarding which we
have scarcely any acquired or actual knowledge. Clear dry
weather, not unusual during the midsummer months of
June and July, never fails to affect disadvantageously all
fisheries at any distance upwards from a river’s mouth. July
and August are the chief months for the upward run of grilse.
The longer they abide in the sea the bigger they become,
so that a September fish fresh from the salt water is twice
the size of a June one. The existence in our rivers towards
the end of winter or in early spring of grilse which have
spawned, and yet weigh only three or four pounds, is of it¬
self a conclusive proof of the retardation of growth in fresh
water. These small fish must have entered the river water
soon after midsummer of the preceding season, but had
made no progress. Had they remained in the sea till
autumn, their dimensions would have been considerably
greater; or had they spawned sooner, or descended more
speedily to the sea, they might have returned river-
wards in spring as small salmon, while their less adventu¬
rous brethren of the same age were still in the streams as
grilse.
The working of net and coble does little or no harm to
the fry, and cannot injure the spawning beds, either by dis¬
placement or otherwise, because these are always either
higher up, or in shallower water, than suits the process.
Many of the best breeding places are in the tributaries, and
the majority of these have never any salmon in them dur- Proposed
ing summer. The clearness of the water at that time, and remedies,
its small amount, as effectually debar their ascent as if a '
cruive dyke were thrown across their mouth. Fish in a large
river have been known to wait for six weeks near the still
too shallow mouth of a favourite tributary, that they might
ascend the latter with a view to spawn, rather than continue
their journey up the former, which was not their native
home. They ascend in the course of the autumn floods,
and descend again when the winter is well advanced, and
during early spring. Thus the majority of these upland
beds are nothing but nurseries, of little or no value to the
proprietors, but of infinite importance to the seaward owners
of the salmon-fisheries down below. In the Tay, for ex¬
ample, there is no fishing of any consequence (angling of
course excepted) beyond the mouth of the Isla, about eight
miles above Perth, although Lord Breadalbane has a few
good bawling places in Loch Tay, and fish continue their
courses into the wild uplands watered by the Dochart, as
far as they can go. We saw, when last in that quarter,
a brace of fine salmon, rather gray, but in excellent eating
order, and weighing nearly 42 lb. the pair, killed with the
fly, a short way below the well-kept hostelrie of Luib. But
upon this principle of non-ascent in summer, many upper
proprietors of small streams, although entitled to considera¬
tion, are in error when they suppose that fine angling would
necessarily come their way if there was an earlier close in
autumn, or less assiduous fishing down below. There can¬
not be many well-conditioned fish in the smaller streams,
because they do not desire to run till the commencement
of the autumn floods. If there was no net-and-coble fish¬
ing during the first fortnight of September, no doubt some
fine fish would make their way well upwards; but even if
all obstructions were removed, there would still be no good
summer angling for salmon in the higher or smaller streams
owing to the deficient supply of water, and its extreme clear¬
ness. No modification of the present law would give good
angling in the upper countries that would not be too inju¬
rious to the commercial fisheries; but a somewhat earlier
close would be of advantage to both parties—immediate to
the one and eventual to the other.
In favour of an altered close time, that is of an earlier
close, it ought to be borne in mind that the parent fish which
ascend from the sea in autumn are the best and most pro¬
ductive breeders, although themselves of less value as
articles of food. Those which ascend later, or in wintry
weather, may be also good breeders ; but the conditions
under which they then exist are less favourable for the de¬
position and future safety of the spawn.
It has been distinctly ascertained that no salmon grows,
or at least increases in weight of flesh (although the bony
structure may be enlarged), after it has entered the fresh
waters. On the contrary, it rather decreases in weight, as
it admittedly deteriorates in condition, and consequently in
value, as a marketable commodity. We think it is a fair
inference, and believe it to have been confirmed by actual
observation, that salmon, whether male or female, entering
a river in spring or early summer, and remaining there for
months, would, from the deteriorating influence of river
water, and the absence of their highly nutritious marine
diet, whatever that may be, suffer not only in the fulness of
their general condition as to fat and muscle, but also in the
development of their sexual attributes. It is indeed an
ascertained fact, from repeated observations by various in¬
dividuals, that many female salmon which have been long
in fresh water, have the ovaries not only not increased by the
advance of the season, but sometimes diminished almost to
extirpation. Thus it is probable that the use of such indi¬
viduals as breeders is lost for a year at least, if not for ever. .
Some of the Irish rivers also yield a good December fishery of clean salmon, or did so before restricted by a change of close time,
612
FISHERIES.
Autumnal If, on the other hand, they are still able to propagate their
H fish the kind after this lengthened sojourn in the “ rivers of water,
best there is a probability that their progeny will be less nu-
breeders. merous, and of inferior nature, to such as derive their
origin from parents fresher from the sea, and in which the
sexual system is capable of more fully performing its func¬
tions. _ _ . .
It is satisfactory to consider, in connection with this view
of the subject, that the capture of salmon in spring and sum¬
mer does not in fact interfere with a good and abundant
supply of future fish. On the contrary, that it is better that
such supply should proceed from the autumnal run, and thus
two objects are attained,—1st, the markets are furnished
for a length of time during spring and summer with fresh-
run and finely seasoned fish, the spawning period of which
is far distant; and, 2dly, the young brood are produced by
parents which have been nourished for a prolonged period
in the sea, and although deteriorated as articles of food by
the advanced condition of the spawn, that spawn itself is
fully developed—the chief consideration in respect to breed¬
ing fish.
But although the late-run fish are the best breeders, the
sooner that these are encouraged to spawn the better.
When the net-and-coble and stake-net fishings are con¬
tinued working well into September, a large proportion of
the finest early-breeding fish are destroyed, and just at the
time that their breeding functions might be most success¬
fully performed. About this period the fords or shallows
(the chief spawning places) are well filled, although not
overfilled, with water. The fish are consequently not
tempted to spawn too near the margins, which they are apt
to do in floods, and in which case the spawn is likely to be
left dry when the waters recede. At this time, too, the
rivers are free from ice, which is injurious to the brood,
not so much by destroying the spawn, which is of a hardy
nature if once properly laid and covered up, as by prevent¬
ing the process of spawning itself. Or if there is no severe
frost during the late or winter spawning, then floods or spates
occur, and are very hurtful, because, although the parent
fish always prefer spawning in lively or rippling water, they
cannot of course do so advantageously if the current over
the shallows is too strong. This increased current is apt
to sweep away what would otherwise be the sinking spawn,
or prevent its being properly covered up.
Thus, as either flood or hard frost is disadvantageous to the
successful performance of the spawning process, the greater
number of fish that are allowed to spawn early the better.
For this an additional argument may be assigned. There
is every reason to believe that fish which spawn early de¬
scend again all the sooner to the sea as kelts, are there in¬
vigorated and renewed in strength and condition, and return
early to the rivers, so that at least a portion of them will
seek to re-ascend as clean fish in spring, when the market¬
able value of salmon is greatest. A sufficient number of
salmon will always remain throughout the summer season
in the sea, and ascend towards the spawning beds in autumn ;
and so great is the productive powers of these fish, that a
comparatively small number of breeders, if properly pro¬
tected, and allowed to spawn successfully during the most
fitting period, will suffice to stock the rivers, so that no limi¬
tation need be made of the numbers caught during spring
and summer.
From the principle here set forth, it will follow that no
particular advantage need be expected to follow from pre¬
serving the courses of a river from the angler during the
earlier or middle portions of the season. For example, we
do not see that any great benefit would arise to the Suther¬
land rivers from the spring and summer jubilee of 1848,
because, as no fixed obstructions are offered to the ascent
of the fish there after the 25th day of August, a sufficiency
of spawning fish would be sure to make their way upwards
in good time from the sea, and would prove better spawners Autumnal
than those which had previously ascended the rivers. We
would therefore even go the length of saying, that it would breee|ers>
be better for the spawning beds not to be subjected to the ^ ^
chance of being occupied except by the autumnal-run fish,
and therefore the smaller the number of early (and neces¬
sarily deteriorated) salmon which have abode long in the
fresh water that are allowed to remain in it during the actual
spawning season the better. This is of course an argument
in favour of rod-fishing, and the mere fact of its being
agreeable and advantageous to the angler is certainly in no
way against it, if otherwise true. If all stake-nets were dis¬
mantled, all bag and cruive nets removed, and all net-and-
coble fishing terminated, by the 20th of August, we have
no doubt that a deal of productive spawning would take
place in September, and that a corresponding increase of
grilse and salmon in our rivers would eventually take place.
Kod-fishing might be continued without disadvantage up to
the 20th of September. The chief damage to spawning
fish is done by the poacher’s leister rather than by the
angler’s rod. The fish, while engaged on the shallows best
adapted for spawning will not take the angler’s fly, although
the leister takes them whether they will or no. There are
always, even in autumn, fish less advanced with spawn than
others, and which keep for a time in the deeper pools and
stronger currents, where the angler chiefly plies his voca¬
tion ; and the taking out of these fish is much less wantonly
injurious than destroying the others, both because they are
themselves in better condition, and so of greater use, and
because, as winter breeders, they would run the risk of
spawning (as already stated) under disadvantageous, pos¬
sibly unproductive, conditions. Angling being also a favou¬
rite recreation, and frequently advantageous to the proprie¬
tor as a source of income, it carries its compensation along
with it. And another direct advantage, we doubt not, would
arise from the fact, that while the authorized and legitimate
angler is on the river, the illegal poacher is more likely to
keep away from it, and the greater value of the privilege of
angling, if continued after all kinds of netting have ceased,
would induce proprietors and lessees to be more active and
zealous in their general guardianship of the streams. As a
matter of political expedience also, it may be advisable to
allow an extension of time in the angler’s favour, as not un¬
likely to propitiate some legislators, who might otherwise
object to any change at all.
We doubt whether a bill proceeding, as was at one time
proposed, upon a presumed knowledge of the varying
habits of salmon as entering certain rivers sooner or later
than others, and so dividing the country into different dis¬
tricts, could be either made practical in its application, or
worked with good effect. A lengthened inquiry and in¬
vestigation of the actual facts, and a detailed and authenti¬
cated report upon their ascertainment, would be indispen¬
sable; and it might be difficult to reconcile competing in¬
terests, or draw distinctions between rivers physically the
same though in different districts, or physically different
though in the same district. A river flowing out of a
valley filled with water (that is a lake) may fall into the sea
in the near neighbourhood of another river which in early
spring draws its main sources from ntnnerous alpine streams
subjected to the icy influence of frost. The lake-born
river will be an early one, that of the open valley and hilly
district a late one, or at least later than the other, although
both co-exist in the same district; so that almost every
river might require to be defined and designated in the act,
and an appropriate clause inserted in relation to each.
This complication would be found inconvenient if not im¬
practicable. At all events a commission of inquiry would
be necessary to furnish the groundwork of any admissible
enactment proceeding upon the principle of local divisions,
or districts. A general act may doubtless entail some little
FISHERIES.
613
Close- hardship by debarring the natural advantages of a few
times, peculiar rivers, but on the whole the general interests will
—be best guarded by an act of general application. A re¬
stricted act, applicable to a single river, might, in many
cases, be difficult to decide upon, even by the proprietors
themselves, in so far as the interests of the upper and lower
heritors are not only different, but stand directly opposed,
or at least are deemed to do so. A proprietor of a stake-
net in the sea, or of a net-and-coble fishery in an estuary,
might possibly deem himself aggrieved by such an early
close as would benefit him whose restricted stream winds
its far upland course among the desolate hills, and whose
only chance of a well-conditioned fish must almost entirely
depend on, or at least be greatly increased by, an early
termination of the commercial fishery down below. In the
long run, we believe, the advantage would be mutual in
the more careful protection of the breeding fish, which
would soon ensue, and the consequent increase of the
general stock.
The upper proprietors would thankfully accept of what,
under the circumstances, they are entitled to—a week or
two of rod-fishing—as some compensation for what they
have lost in modern times by the increased and more skil¬
ful application of the various devices now fallen upon by
the lower and seaward proprietors to ensnare the finny
tribes. These upper heritors have but a slight chance of
ever catching a good fish in their own waters, although the
responsibility, and a portion of the expense, of protection
during the breeding season, are not seldom thrown upon
them. They are thus, as Sir Walter Scott used to express
it, reduced to the condition of mere “ clockin’ hens” for the
hatching of other people’s eggs.1 As to actual injury com¬
mitted by the angler, it ought ever to be borne in mind
that the rod is but a precarious engine of death, at no time
very deadly. From the frequency of floods in the end of
autumn, not a great many days during the last three weeks
of the season would with certainty afford successful angling;
and a strong salmon not seldom takes his own way both
with hook and line, although he must succumb to the noc¬
turnal glare of the burning brand and the leisterer’s deadly
spear.
The art of angling has been for a length of time among
the most highly favoured and most assiduously pursued of
all our British sports, and has consequently become of great-
value to proprietors in a pecuniary point of view ; so what¬
ever is likely to add to that value becomes of great import¬
ance. Many considerate people are of opinion that some
modification of the laws relating to salmon would be advan¬
tageous, but the subject is jealously regarded by others,
and several attempts to obtain a modification of the exist¬
ing act of parliament (9th Geo. IV., cap. 39) have failed.
In rivers which pertain entirely to a single person, or in
others where the various proprietors have agreed to act in
unison, the use of nets and cruives is voluntarily given up
some time before the legally required period, and advantage
has been found to result therefrom. It has hence been
inferred, that if this wise practice were enforced in all rivers,
still greater benefit would arise. What is called the close
time, during which it is illegal to kill salmon, or fish of the
salmon kind, extends at present, as regards all rivers north
of the Tweed, from “ between the 14th day of September
and the 1st day of February”—that is, as we construe it, Close-
no one is permitted to angle for or otherwise kill salmon times,
from the 15th day of September to the 31st day of January,
both included. Certain southern rivers of Scotland are re¬
gulated by special acts of their own, with a reservation for an
additional time in favour of angling. The Tweed, for ex¬
ample, closes as concerns nets or commercial fishery on the
loth day of October, but continues open for rod fishing till
the 7th of November. It opens both for net and rod fishing
on the 15th of February. The Annan, in accordance with
its own special act (4th Viet. cap. 18, May 1841) is closed
“between the 25th day of September and the 10th day
of March” as against net-fishing; the legal period being
prolonged in favour of rod-fishing until the 1st day of
November inclusive, while the day of opening is the same
for both modes. The Nith opens on the 10th of March
for rod and net fishing, and closes for both on 25th Sep¬
tember.
Nothing is more frequently observable, or better known,
than the fact that there is a remarkable difference in the
habits of salmon of different rivers as regards their period
of entering these rivers.2 Whatever their ultimate object
may be, it is clear that the spawning process, which does
not usually take place till towards the commencement of
winter, cannot be much in the minds of such fish as seek
the fresh waters in early spring. It is a mistake, however,
to suppose that there is a corresponding difference in the
actual periods of spawning. Some rivers have a greater
proportion of well-conditioned fish for a later period than
others, but to delay or greatly alter the close time on their
account would be very injudicious, notwithstanding the
admitted hardship upon the proprietors of certain places
where fresh-run fish are found in good order even for some
weeks after the present close. A select committee of the
House of Commons, appointed to inquire into the expedi¬
ency of regulation by a varied rule, reported (in 1836) as
follows :—“ The only object of the close season being to
afford protection to the fish when they are breeding, and
during their state of exhaustion consequent upon it, your
committee are of opinion that the legal close time ought to
be so regulated as to coincide as nearly as possible with the
period so defined by nature. It has been established in
evidence, that in different rivers the periods at which the
salmon ascend the rivers for the purpose of spawning, and
afterwards descend towards the sea, vary considerably, and
therefore, upon the principle above laid down, your com¬
mittee are of opinion that it would be advantageous to the
general interests of the salmon-fisheries of Scotland to
have the fence-months or close time so regulated accord¬
ing to the respective rivers or districts, instead of having
one uniform season as at present.” It was upon this prin¬
ciple that the bill introduced by the late Mr Patrick Stewart
and Mr James Loch was framed, not, we fear, without some
confusion of the running and the spawning periods, which have
often little to do with each other. It divided Scotland into
twelve districts, the majority of which were made to differ
from each other in their times—the Ness, for example,
being made to close from the 16th day of July to the 1st
day of December, and so on with the others, only three of
them remaining as they are now. Fourteen clear days
were to be allowed in each district after the close for the
1 The illustrious sheriff of Selkirk had a kindly bias towards the sports of the people, of which the spearing of salmon is one of
the most ancient and exciting. He no doubt often saw, amid his own nocturnal musing, the flickering lights along that turfy shore,
’ starring the far reaches of the river, while he listened to the leisterers’ cry, with no u act anent the killin of black fish ” in all his
thoughts. He has even thrown himself (dramatically) with great gusto into the feelings of those who have sometimes taken the law
into their own hands by the destruction of “ fixed engines ” at a river’s mouth. “ In truth I heard it, provost; and was glad to hear
that the scoundrels had so much pluck as to right themselves against a fashion which would make the upper heritors a sort of clockin’
hens to hatch the fish that the folks below were to catch and eat.”—Redgauntlet.
2 The subject of the close time is still further complicated by the fact that several rivers yield both early and late fish, because
certain of their branches or tributary streams produce some the one and some the other, all having previously to ascend by the same
channel from the sea.
614
District
system.
FISHERIES.
purposes of angling. This bill was either abandoned or
thrown out, and a similar fate has attended several others.
A previous one had been introduced by the same parties
(in 1835), which proceeded on the principle that the pro¬
prietors of salmon-fishings in rivers, at a meeting to be
called as therein provided, should determine, by a majority
of their number and value, the period of close time in each
river, &c. ; that there should be no fishing for salmon after
1st September, but that twenty-one days should be allowed
for the exclusive use of the rod after the commencement
of the close time. In 1839 two bills were brought in by
Mr Wallace and Mr Hume—one proposing that the fish¬
ing season should commence generally over all Scotland
upon the 10th of January, and terminate upon the 24th of
August—the other legalising twenty-one exceptional days
in favour of angling with the rod. Passing over one
or more intermediate attempts at legislation, we may briefly
notice the bill prepared and introduced by Mr Edward
Ellice and Mr Thomas Mackenzie in the spring of 1842.
With a view to reconcile or accommodate the interests of
all parties, it threw the arrangement and decision ot the
whole affair into the hands of the commissioners of the
Board of Fisheries, thus assimilating the Scotch to the
Irish system. It was likewise laid upon the shelf. The
latest attempts at salmon legislation was the bill introduced
by the Duke of Argyll, and which passed through the
House of Lords in 1851. It made the close time com¬
mence somewhat earlier than it does now, was more strin¬
gent in its enactment in relation to the “ Saturday’s slap”
of stake-nets, &c., and gave the angler a chance of some
amusement for a week or two in the upper country by pro¬
longing the period of the rod. It was rejected by the
House of Commons. So the regulating act for Scotland
is still the 9th of George IV., commonly called Home
Drummond’s Act, passed in July 1828.1
One of the boldest proposals for the simplification of the
salmon-fisheries of rivers has been given in recent years.2
The writer holds that the entire system, whether by fixed
or moving nets, proceeds on a false plan, bequeathed from
times under different conditions, which performs badly and District
expensively what might be well accomplished at a small system,
cost. His plan of radical reform is this,—to erect and work
in each river, at such place or places as might be found
most suitable, some engine which shall, with easy and well
regulated alternations, capture every ascending fish, or allow
all, or a sufficing number, to pass up at proper times, divid¬
ing the produce among the proprietors of the present fish¬
eries, in such proportions as shall be equitably ascertained
by evidence and arbitration. We fear, from what we know
of human, as well as of salmon, nature, that this scheme is
Utopian, and will never come to pass. Another and a prior
proposal was made by Mr John Younger of St Boswells,
an ingenious writer of the hard-working and self-taught
school.3 Having full knowledge, and a high estimate, of
the great angling value of the Tweed, he is of opinion that
no other engine but the rod should be allowed at all, and
that its use should be legalized by act of parliament all the
year round. There is no doubt that our rural and village
population, having an impression, however erroneous it may
be, that their natural rights are somewhat unfairly abridged
by the privileged claims of the higher orders, consider close
time as the poor man’s proper, because now only, period.
Being also a time of delegation to the water-bailiffs, these
watchmen of the night are more easily evaded, or effrayed,
than would be the local lairds or tenants, had the latter any
great inducement to interfere. Of all the fresh-water pira¬
cies, the practice of leistering is the most deadly and de¬
structive, as well as daring, and is habitually effected in
spite of whatever police force may be arrayed against it.
As the use of the leister is, for the most part, a nocturnal
practice, and lights (in themselves illegal) are necessary
both to detect the fish and to astound them, the poachers
can scarcely hope to conceal their nefarious proceedings,
and so assemble in full force. With “ visage discomposed,”
that is, with blackened faces, and otherwise arrayed in wild
attire, they descend upon a spawning place, where, it may
be, fifty pair of large and heavy fish are gathered together,
and with blazing lights and long-shanked leisters they com-
1 Although exceptional cases may occur in several rivers, it is certain that the great mass of salmon are in had condition by the
month of October, and frequently long before it. They continue, with the same exceptions, in that unsound state for many months
thereafter. The present act of parliament is an “Act of Uniformity” for all rivers north of the Tweed, and although it may bear hard
upon the Ness and other early streams, it would be difficult to enact local regulations, giving a difterence of times to different districts.
As the subject, however, is not unlikely to have legislative attention again directed towards it, we think advantage may arise from our
here re-printing the boundaries and their respective seasons, as given in the bill constructed on the local principle, and presented to the
House of Commons :—
First District. From Duncansbayhead in Caithness, to Tarbetness in the county of Ross, comprising all the rivers, streams, lakes,
waters, estuaries, and sea-coast, situate between these two points, from the twentieth day of August to the fourteenth day of January, both
days inclusive. Second District. From Tarbetness aforesaid, to Fort George Point in the county of Nairn, including the Beauly Frith
and the rivers connected therewith, except the river Ness, from the twentieth day of August to the fifth day of January, both days inclu¬
sive; and for the said river Ness, from the sixteenth day of July to first day of December, both days inclusive. Third District, t rom
Fort George Point aforesaid, to the Knockhead of Cullen, in the county of Banff, from the first day of September to the seventeenth day of
January, both days inclusive. Fourth District. From the Knockhead of Cullen aforesaid, to Trouphead in the county of Banff, from the
fourteenth day of September to the thirty-first day of January, both days inclusive. Fifth District. From Trouphead aforesaid, to Dunottar
Castle in the county of Kincardine, from the first day of September to the seventeenth day of January, both days inclusive. Sixth Jjistuct.
From Dunottar Castle aforesaid, to the Redhead in the county of Forfar, from the fourteenth day of September to the last day of January,
both days inclusive. Seventh District. From the Redhead aforesaid to Fife Ness, from the twenty-seventh day of August to the twelfth day
of January, both days inclusive. Eighth District. From Fife Ness aforesaid, to Berwick Bounds, from the twenty-seventh day of August to
the twelfth day of January, both days inclusive. Ninth District. From the confines of the Solway Frith to the northern boundary of the
county of Ayr, from the fourteenth day of September to the thirty-first day of January, both days inclusive. Tenth District. From the
northern boundary of the county of Ayr, to Ardnamurchan Point in the county of Argyle, including all Western and other islands
situated within the parallels of the said two points, from the fourteenth day of September to the thirty-first day of January, both days in¬
clusive. Eleventh District. From Ardnamurchan Head aforesaid, to the Point of the Coygach in the county of Ross, with all the Western
Islands situated within the parallels of these two points, from the first day of September to the seventeenth day of January, both days
inclusive. Twelfth District. From the Point of Coygach aforesaid, to Duncansbayhead first hereinbefore mentioned, from the twentieth
day of July to the sixth day of December, both days inclusive; and for “the Lewis,” from the first day of August to the seventeenth
day of December, both days inclusive; and for “ Harris,” from the tenth day of September to twenty-sixth day of January, both days
inclusive.
Y hen about to apply to Mr Loch for some information regarding the natural data on which the preceding divisions were established,
we heard with deep regret of the death of that estimable person.
2 Edinburgh Review, vol. xciii., p. 367.
Mr ’i ounger is by trade a shoemaker, and dresser of artificial flies, in the village of St Boswells. He has written an excellent little
book On River Angling for Trout and Salmon (Edin. 1840), and is also the author of an essay On the observance of the Sabbath, which
gained for him an English prize, and led to his showing himself on the platform of Exeter Hall, from which we doubt not he gladly
returned to the gentler murmurs of the Tweed.
FISHERIES.
Mr Young- mence, and speedily complete, their remorseless slaughter,
er’s pro- Meanwhile a dozen paid bailiffs may be innocuously shi-
posal. vering on some neighbouring height, but no more able to
interfere with what is going on than Tam O’Shanter in the
midst of the witches’ joyous dances would have dared to
seize upon the black piper. This practice is still a prevail¬
ing one in the higher portions of the Tweed, and is pro¬
secuted with the greater facility and success, in consequence
of the tenants, or resident proprietors, if such there be, find¬
ing it more difficult to sally forth at dead of night to prevent
such improvident destruction, than to tarry at home and
divide the spoil. Such a dialogue as the following may be
not unfrequently heard between a farmer’s servant and his
erhployer during close time. “ Maister, twa or three o’ us
are thinking o’ lighting a bit bleeze at the reds (spawning
beds) the nicht, up at the shaw-brae fords, whar we saw
them tumlin up this afternoon, like brewers’ swine drunk
we maut-draff.” “ Weel, Davie, I daresay, for my pairt at
least, ye may just tak what ye can get when ye hae them
here, as I’m sure I havena seen three good fish in our water
thro’ a’ the simmer. They kep them a’ about Berwick or
Norham now, wi’ their lang nets, except just a while at the
tail o’ the saison, when the floodings get ower heavy for their
net warks.” 1
Before the passing of the present act of parliament the
Tweed opened on the 10th of January, which was much too
early for so late a river, and interfered with the breeding
fish. As it now stands, the time (loth February) is fully
too soon, as it gives occasion to the catching of so many
newly-spawned, or otherwise ill-conditioned fish.2 It also
involves this further inconsistency, that leistering, and all
other unkindly and injurious practices, which are illegal on
the evening of the 14th of February, become legal on the
morning of the ensuing day, when they cannot be put in
practice without an equally unnecessary waste of life, in the
destruction of fish almost utterly useless for all domestic
purposes.
Now Mr Younger’s proposal is, that as the proprietors
consider the produce of the running waters of as much im¬
portance as the productions of the solid land, they might
make the former much more valuable as concerns both pro¬
fit and pleasure, by abolishing all net and leister fishing at
whatever time, and instead of expending their money in
maintaining a strong, though seldom effective force of bai¬
liffs, they should raise funds to lease all the now commercial
fisheries at the river mouth, or upwards, so as to admit of
a free and continuous accession of fresh-run fish all the year
round. “ If the net-fishings are worth being rented by in¬
dividual tacksmen, they are surely worth more in value
(overlooking the sport) to the whole proprietors of seventy
miles of the Tweed. Those rents would be, individually,
a mere fractional consideration to the rents that might be
drawn in letting mile-lengths to gentlemen rod-and-line
anglers, who cannot, under present arrangements, be one-
hundredth part accommodated. The benefit, too, to the
localities where the anglers would be thus attracted by their
favourite amusement, would be worthy of consideration.
The distribution of salmon in the river generally would
depend solely upon casual floods throughout the year.
There would always be plenty of fish for the rod; many
would live to attain to a great size, and rod-fishing would
then be one of the most pre-eminent, desirable, healthful,
and exhilarating standard amusements in our country. It
615
would beat Grecian games, as well as English horse-racing Mr Young-
and hound-coursing, all to nothing. The bodily exercise er s pro-
then would place the angler on the top of the calculation of posal.
the bill of health. The excitement would be one of the
most nourishing principles of the mind, without the engross¬
ment of the faculties from higher pursuits. It would be a
charming relaxation from sedentary employments and severe
studies, besides an honest source of livelihood for a few poor
fellows like myself, who, living by the side of the waters,
have from observation and practice, acquired a taste and
use of hand in practical fly-dressing, and the preparation of
other necessary tackle, rods, and lines, to dispose of to our
richer amateurs of high fancy for the gentle craft.”3 We
believe that the angling rent of a river, with such a length¬
ened and continuous, yet finely varied flow, as that of Tweed,
might really be made to equal, if not exceed, the present
commercial result, which we have shown has not much ex¬
ceeded L.5000 per annum for many years, and is now far
below it. But the plan might be modified so as to admit
of an occasional, yet advantageous, working of one or two
seaward stations for the markets, with ever and anon, es¬
pecially in showery weather, a prolonged period of free in¬
gress to a few7 thousand “ bits of silver,” with permission to
make their way upwards and along that lengthened course,
to be assayed in fair proportions, here and there. An ob¬
jection, however, to the practical fulfilment of such a plan,
must not be overlooked, in the exclusive right which some
of the older proprietors possess, not only to their own salmon
but those of their neighbours. Many portions of old estates
have been sold to new families, the original proprietor re¬
serving the right of salmon-fishing to himself and his suc¬
cessors. We believe, for example, that he who, in one sense,
was the greatest man upon the Tweed, Sir Walter Scott,
had no legal power to take a single salmon from the Ab¬
botsford portion of the river, the “ Royal Fish” being, by
reserved right of ancient grant, the property of an old bor¬
der family, the Scotts of Gala, who had in earlier times dis¬
possessed themselves of the land eventually acquired by
the great Magician. We believe the scheme could never
be reduced to practice.4 * *
Although all salmon deteriorate rapidly in fresh water,
and are always the better-flavoured the nearer to the sea, or
the shorter their time out of it, yet the sea-borne fish also de¬
cline greatly in condition by the close of the season. How¬
ever, good individuals do continue to show themselves from
time to time, which have not yet lost “ all their original
brightness,” and these, of course, would bring a high price,
supposing their capture and sale were legalized. rI he largest,
and some of the finest of the late or winter running fish, are
those called locally on Tweedside the “ grey school.” The
lateness of their arrival indicates that they are also among
the last to spawn. Though always late, they are by no means
pointed as to the precise period of their advent, being
guided, if not constrained, by the conditions of the river.
They seldom show themselves till towards the close of No¬
vember, and become more frequent in the course of the tw o
ensuing months. Their arrival in close time, according to
Mr Younger, in a great measure accounts for their large
size, “ escaping in their youth the nettings within tideway,
unlike most of our other summer fish, and thus live to in¬
crease with age. Hence, if not our finest fish, they are at
least our heaviest and most valuable, weighing from 12 to
25 lb. Hence, too, when they get early up the river, they are
1 Blackwood’s Journal of Agriculture, new series, No. 15, p. 505.
2 It might be supposed that the had condition of these fish would prove their safe-guard, and that although their capture may be often
unavoidable, they would he immediately returned into the river. This was formerly and in some stations may be still the case; but in
many instances they are sent off with their false fresh-water shine upon them to Leeds and other large inland towns, where there are
many thousands of worthy people who have no knowledge of fish. 3 Blackwood’s Journal of Agriculture, No. 15, p. 506.
4 The Duke of Roxburghe, and other great proprietors, would be enormously benefited by the removal of the commercial fisheries,
but who could force them to share their increase with others, or to join with the general company of anglers, when they have already as
much as they need, and are not asking for more ?
FISHERIES.
616
The “ grey grancl Sp0rt for the rod-angler, strong and fresh, like a grass-
school.” fe(| heifer a little gone in calf. It has a spirit-stirring effect
to feel their tug, and see their first grand sally and plunge
abroad in the river, at the end of a tight gut line.” We do
not agree with our author in supposing that these fish of the
“grey school” constitute any special kind of themselves, or
that there is anything in the habits of their early life that
renders them less liable to fall victims to the ruthless net
than their neighbours. They have not escaped in conse¬
quence of belonging to a particular school, but the converse
is the case; and had they been sooner killed, they could
not have been detected as belonging to any school at all.
They have chanced to escape the net and other accidents
by flood and field; but the chief cause both of their
diminished lustre and increased bulk, is simply their
having remained for a month or two longer in the salu¬
brious sea than the rest of their relations. We have already
said, that it is only among its marine pastures that any
salmon grows. In a river it never increases at all except in
ugliness.
Although the Tweed does not now open till the 15th of
February (a fortnight later than all the more northern rivers),
many think the time is still too soon. It is well known that
on that day a great slaughter sometimes takes place at seve¬
ral of the netting stations, not only of kelts (or spawned
fish), but of what are called kippers and baggits, that is, male
and female unspawned salmon. Mr Stoddart states, that
scores of ripe spawners have been captured below Tweed
Mill during the opening week of the season, and that he has
known of eighty she-fish, all large and primed w ith ova,
having been taken in a single day from tbe Tweed near
Twizel. In connection with this wanton w^aste of life, he
rmakes the following very judicious proposal:—that the pro¬
prietors, or others holding salmon-fishings on that fine river,
shall instruct competent persons to attend at the netting sta¬
tions when the season opens, for the purpose of expressing
and mingling the ova and melt of the unspawned fish, and
immediately committing it to “ redds” in the river, formed,
in imitation of the natural places, by plow or spade. He
opines, that for every clean or fresh-run fish taken in the
Tweed for the first fortnight, there are at least a dozen of
kelts, and four or five unspawned fish in a very forward
or mature state. These are unavoidably captured by the
same sweep of the net that secures the marketable fish, and
therefore no extra expenditure would be required to obtain
a great supply of spawn. There is here a vast amount of
incipient life to be rescued from destruction, and which, if
placed in properly prepared receptive beds of gravel, would
eventually produce a great increase. Two hundred baggits,
each yielding say 10,000 ova, would produce, supposing all
were hatched, two million of fry, all vitalized at the ex- Bull-trout
pense of a few pounds sterling. Even supposing many of the
of the eggs to be unproductive, and tbe greatest and Tweed.
most reckless destruction also to ensue of the future fry,
still an addition might surely be relied upon of many
thousands.
Mr Stoddart assumes the number of female fish which
spawn annually in the Tweed to be 15,000, and he takes
10 lb. as their average in respect to weight. A ten-pounder
is believed to carry 10,000 ova, and that number multiplied
by the amount of fish, gives 150,000,000,—a very fair sup¬
ply, as it seems to us, for the general market, if they all
came to hand.1
The great abundance (as shown in our Tweed table) of
that large species of sea-trout (Salmo eriox), called bull¬
trout, or Berwick trout, in the lower portions of the Tweed,
is too remarkable to be passed without remark. The num¬
ber taken on an average of many years back has been about
equal to that of grilse, and about four times that of salmon.
This applies to the river, while on the outward or coast
fisheries it is quite different, the proportion of trout in these
latter reaching to not more than a ninth of that of grilse,
and a fourth of that of salmon. Thus by net-and-coble are
taken three or four trouts for every salmon, while the fixed
engines secure three or four salmon and nine or ten grilse
for every trout. This curious disparity is explained by the
local fishermen as follows. When a salmon or his aspiring
progeny, a grilse, strikes the leader or shoreward portion of
the fixed net, he follows close along its side till he volun¬
tarily, though in ignorance, enters the inclosed chamber
or trap, into which it conducts; whereas the bull-trout,
whether naturally more acute and observant, or, for his size,
of greater age, and, consequently, experience in the world,
when he comes upon the leader, falls away backwards from,
instead of submitting to, such treacherous guidance. He
has thus an increased chance of eventually making his
escape, at least from these marine dangers, by taking more
outward bearings for his next approach. A glance at our
table of the produce of the Tweed will suffice to show, that
during the first quinquennial period, the average proportion
of trout to salmon was as three to four, while during the
later of those periods it was as four to one. This enormous
change of proportion between the kinds of fish which the
fixed nets spare and those they capture, has been noted as
of “ terrible significancy.”2 It has been found, that on an
average of seven years the proportions of the three kinds
above referred to, taken respectively by the shore and river
fisheries of the Tweed district, is as follows:—For every
100 salmon, the shore takes 313 grilse and 34 trouts; the
river 438 grilse and 333 trouts. For every 100 grilse the
1 The quantities of spawn said to be contained in various fishes are probably in many cases assumed rather than ascertained. The
general statement in regard to the species with which we are now engaged is, that a grilse, or a small salmon, contains about 5000 ova,
and that a fish of 20 lb. contains as many as 20,000 ova. We have not ourselves acquired any precise knowledge of this matter from
actual observation. The following statement, however, may be relied upon, as coming from the pen of an excellent sportsman and per¬
severing inquirer, the late Robert Wallace, Esq. of Kelly:—“ I went yesterday, 11th September 1848, to fish in the river Carron, which
falls into the Dornoch Firth, where the counties of Ross and Sutherland meet, at Bonar Bridge. The banks showed evidently, by the foot¬
marks along them, that the river had been closely fished before my arrival, and left but little prospect of much sport; and it so hap¬
pened that I had not a rise till past four o’clock, after which I raised four fish in very shallow water, slightly hooking two, and killing
one of the others, a small female grilse of only five pounds weight, nearly one pound of which was roe, already grown about the size of
No. 2 shot; and this, be it remembered, in a small grilse, which many self-sufficient and very learned sportsmen insist are not breeders,
although all really practical men, whether fishers or dealers in salmon, know quite well that grilse are even more early breeders than full-
grown salmon. Well, the roe in my five-pound grilse counted no fewer than 3782 grains, and to the extent of that number I have marred
the chance of a similar quantity of smolts going to sea, and returning free of cost of any kind, as a most delicious fish to eat, and a
capital size to angle. The mischief I happened to do on the Carron has been done in a greater or less degree by every successful angler
o\er all Scotland, including of course those on the Ness, and especially the fortunate captor of its annual boast, ‘the big fish.’ The
avv sanctions tbe destruction now universally complained of, so that those who act under it must not be found fault with; but the
aw itself, and those who doggedly maintain it, must bear the blame; thus raising the question, Should such a law remain any longer
unrepealed?” > ^ o
The follow ing further statement on this curious subject is from Mr Foley of Lismore in Ireland. The left lobe of the roe of every
1 1S+ i^er than t5le rlShti ar*d in his opinion the right and left lobes contain distinct genders of fish. On the 17th of September
. , ’ 16 a 15-lb. female salmon, the roe of which contained 10,260 eggs. On the 16th of October he took a lOJ-lb. fish, the right
° o6 2, ;W,1C11 contained 4612 eggs, and the left weighing 14 ounces, 4816 eggs.
2 Edinburgh Review, vol. xciii., p. 356.
F
Bull-trout shore takes 32 salmon and 12 trouts, the river 23 salmon
of the and 76 trouts.1
Tweed. jt is alleged that these sea-trout, or bull-trout, of the
Tweed, prey upon the ova and fry of the true salmon ; and
it certainly appears from the above as if the Tweed salmon
were diminishing, while sea-trout were on the increase. At
the same time it is not easy to understand how the supply
of grilse is not diminished in the same proportion by the
destruction of the young. As sea-trout are not alleged to
prey on grown grilse, it might naturally be supposed that a
river well frequented by the latter would also in each suc¬
cessive season produce a corresponding amount of salmon ;
but it may be, that by means of a more skilful and assiduous
mode dt fishing a greater proportion of existing grilse are
captured than in former years, and so the supply of salmon
is diminished by two causes combined, viz., the destruction
of ova and fry by the bull-trout, and an increased propor¬
tional capture of a diminished number of grilse,—that pro¬
portion still yielding the same supply to the market as
before, but necessarily debarring the after occurrence of
the old amount of salmon, which are the fish of the ensuing
year. Whoever kills a grilse one season, destroys a salmon
in expectancy for that which follows.
The destruction of salmon spawn by trout is strongly
illustrated by the following extract of a letter from Mr W.
H. Haliday. It relates to the capture of salmon in Galway,
preparatory to the stocking of a small rill at Outerard with
impregnated ova:—“ A very curious fact was also ascer¬
tained in the course of this experiment. In taking up the
spawning salmon we also caught a quantity of trout, and in
every instance we examined, save one, these trout contained
salmon ova, on which they were preying. From the gullet
of one large trout we considered that 600 were by pressure
ejected; and I retained this, along with a further quantity
from other trout, deposited it in boxes isolated from the
others, and found that a considerable portion of it came to
life.” Mr Buist confirms this destruction of ova by inform¬
ing us of the fact, that the men employed upon the Tay
in taking up the breeding fish secured a winding or sea-
trout, of not more than three-quarters of a pound in weight,
and observed salmon ova coming out of its mouth. This
fish being brought to Perth for examination, 300 impreg¬
nated salmon ova were taken from its stomach in an undi¬
gested state. “ It may therefore fairly be presumed that
this youngster had taken this quantity to his breakfast; and
if he dined and breakfasted in the same style each day
during the breeding season, it is difficult to estimate the
expense of his keep. Such is the amount of loss of im¬
pregnated roe in one morning from a trifling fish; what
must it then be throughout the season from the various
enemies that it has to encounter!” Facts of this kind
are the strongest arguments in favour of the breeding and
bringing up in ponds, where food is plentiful and foes are
few.
Mr Young, too, informs us regarding the voracious habits
of the common river-trout. He has caught numbers during
the spawning time, but never found one of them that was
not full of swallowed ova. He adds, that their destruction
is not confined to the ova, but that, as soon as the spawning
process is over, they attack the fry of the river, and continue
to feed on them until they take their departure to the sea.
As an experiment, he put into a pond, one fine evening,
along with a trout of not more than half a pound in weight,
a dozen fine smolts of five inches long. When the pond
was examined next morning, it was found that the whole
dozen were devoured. Mr Young entertains rather pecu-
617
liar, but in many respects, we think, well-founded views, Modes of
regarding another supposed enemy of salmon. He thinks capturing
that otters, owing to the vast quantity of trout they kill, ‘5almon-
should be encouraged as much as possible in all salmon
rivers, and is of opinion that these cunning creatures seldom
kill salmon, and do so chiefly at a chance time, when the
lochs and pools are shut up by frost, and they are induced
to prowl into a still open stream. We know not exactly
how this may be, but we remember distinctly more than
once finding a good cut, consisting as usual of the caudal
half, of grilse or salmon, left by the otter on the banks of .
northern rivers. “ This animal fishes for sport often when
food is not required, and when he falls in with a well-stocked
pool he leaves dozens of trout upon the bank unbroken,
which he never returns to eat; for when the river is
open there is no difficulty of procuring plenty more, and
at a cheap rate. And on the whole, when all circum¬
stances are taken into consideration, in place of the otter
being ranked among the salmon’s enemies, we must give
him the credit of being the first of their four-footed bene¬
factors.”
We shall conclude this portion of our subject by a brief
notice of the different means employed in the capture of
salmon. The principle upon which stake and bag nets are
constructed is the same. Each has a lengthened arm called
a leader, stretching for some hundred yards seawards of the
high-water mark, and at right angles with the shore. The
leader of the bag net has floats aoove and weights below,
and conducts to an oblong bag or chamber of the same ma¬
terials as to mesh, cork, and lead, but its walls are kept apart
by means of anchor ropes at the quarters, and light staves
a-top. Where the leader joins the bag there are open¬
ings (on the mouse-trap principle), narrowing as they re¬
cede, and admitting the salmon into the chamber, within
which it may reside for a length of days without ever find¬
ing the narrow and now projecting slit by which it entered,
and to which it presents its broad side as it swims around
within its prison wall. These anchor nets are usually set
in deep water, over rough or stony shores, upon the open
coast, and are not left dry at low water. They are visited
by boats at every tide, and their contents extracted. Stake
nets are of greater extent, and more expensive structure.
A leader of great length, composed of strong netting, sup¬
ported by stakes, is stretched across a comparatively shallow
shore with smooth bottom, and conducts to a staked and
netted chamber, with easy though deceptive ingress. This
terminal prison is often so placed as to be left dry at low
water, and the fish are taken out by men entering the cham¬
ber when the water has receded.
The net-and-coble fishing is worked by one or more men
in a small boat, making a semicircular sweep from the shore
or bank outwards and downwards, paying out the net from
the stern as they proceed. The upper end of the net con¬
tinues to be held by men on shore near the point of depar¬
ture, the boatmen ere long land again, and the two termina¬
tions of the net being brought together, the ground rope
with its sinkers rather in advance of the surface one with
its floats, the whole is drawn upon the shallow shore ; the
fish, if within range, being inclosed in a wall of net-work on
either side, and finally captured in the purse-shaped form
which the middle portion of the net assumes when it im¬
pinges on the shore. Each salmon as it emerges from the
water gets one or two taps on the head with a stout stick, to
put an end to any further contention or dubiety as to its ulti¬
mate destination. Lastly, cruives are traps constructed of
ISHERIES.
1 If the increasing deficiency of salmon could be distinctly traced to or connected with the great increase of sea-trout, we should not
hesitate to regard the advent of that decidedly inferior fish as a disadvantage, but if it is not in any way the cause of the destruction
or disappearance of salmon, then, of course, its own abundance being admittedly of considerable value, must counterbalance rather than
occasion the loss.
VOL. IX. 4 J
618
Irish
salmon-
fisheries.
z—'
FISHERIES.
stone walls set across a river with an intermediate chamber
of wooden spars, into which salmon may enter, but from
which there is no escape.
We shall now advert to a very important subject,—the
salmon-fisheries of Ireland. Of these there has as yet been
no proper historical or other exposition, and our own limited
space, even if we possessed the requisite knowledge, would
not here admit of our attempting to fill that great hiatus.
All we can do is, to present a few miscellaneous notices,
gathered from recent and authentic sources, such as
the Reports and Correspondence of the Irish Board o*
Works.1 .
It appears that the salmon-fisheries of Ireland are to a
far greater extent public property than those of Britain; and
the public in Ireland, to a corresponding extent, exercise
the common-law right of fishing in the estuaries and tide¬
ways. In Scotland there is a vastly greater amount of pri¬
vate rights, mile after mile of estuary and sea-coast being
leased, and rents paid to individual proprietors. It is not so
in Ireland—the exclusive individual or “ several fisheries
there being few and exceptional; and for this reason it is
probable that a different mode of legal regulation is re¬
quired. Although royal grants of Irish fisheries were given
from an early period, the royal prerogative was chiefly ex¬
ercised by our James VI., who, on ascending the English
throne, seems to have carried up with him the Scotch na¬
tional view of the fishing franchise. Many of the weirs,
though since transferred by patents to other parties, owe
their origin to the church, in other words, they w'ere en¬
croachments by priors and abbots on the “ Kings Rivers.
In the year 1537, when “ coming events cast their shadows
before,” and the advent of the Reformation induced inquiry
into the possessions of the monastic establishments, four
high commissioners were sent over to Ireland to inquire
into and reform abuses. It appears from a manuscript in
the British museum (quoted by Mr Hore), that a jury of
the city of Kilkenny presented, that ‘‘ Item, the prior of
Inystoke, the abbot of Jerypont, and divers others dwelling
nere unto the ryver, doo make and set such weares from
banke to banke in the same ryver, from Inystocke unto the
mountayne of Bleme, that no ferye ne bote may have their
course.” Accordingly the act of 28th Henry VIII. w7as
passed, reciting that “ where at all times necessarie boates,
scowtes, wherries, coltes, and other vessels, have been used
to passe and repasse in the king’s rivers of the Barrow, the
Noyre, the Suyr, and the Rie, .... yet now of late
divers wilful persons, having no respect to the premises,
but more rather to their own wilfulnesse, singular commo-
ditie, and benefite, have in divers places made such wires,
purpressures, ingines, strictes, and other like obstacles, that
by no means any boates, &c. can conveniently passe, and
through which the salmon frie be cleerly destroyed, contrary
to the effect and purport of the statutes therein provided ; ”
and it was then enacted, that any person in company with
the sheriff, or seneschal of the neighbouring shires, might
prostrate and break down all such obstructions. It was
also declared that a convenient gap for passage was to be
made in every mill-dam.
“ A remarkable feature,” observes Mr Hore, “ in the his¬
tory of the river fisheries of Ireland is the amount of pro¬
perty obtained in them by the clergy, and by monastic foun¬
dations. Their claim, whether founded on that of the
church of St Peter, or for the sake of enhancing their power
in capturing an article of food, the use of which is enjoined
by their creed, seems to have been universally recognised,
whether on the part of the crown, the nobles, or the people; ^
and to have occasioned the frequent establishment of those
means forbidden by the laws, solid wiers or dams con¬
structed across the entire bed of rivers, on the banks
of which the seats of the church were more numerous
than in any other country in Christendom.”—Inquiry,
Ac., p. 11. .
Ireland derives advantage, so far as her salmon-fisheries
are concerned, from the comparative absence of gieat com¬
mercial cities, which so often injure the rivers on the banks
of which they stand ; and many of the tributary streams be¬
ing clear and rapid, with a gravelly bottom, are well fitted
for the production of these fine fish. I he majority of the
English streams are too slow and silent in their courses, are
often artificially obstructed, and labour under disadvantage
from the increase of civilization, which is against the super¬
abundance of all creatures, of whatever kind, that require to
be left in a great measure in a state of nature. The ancient
Irish traditions point to the number of fish in the inverse
estuaries; and it is characteristic of the countiy that the
warrior Finn M^acCool was killed by a fisherman of the
Boyne with his yoff. His father-in-law, the monarch Cor-
mac MacArt, was choked by the bone of a salmon. It is
recorded in a tract on the O’Sullivan family, in the library
of the Royal Irish Academy, that Mac Fineen Duff of
Ardee was in use to receive L.300 per annum fiom the
Spaniards for the liberty of fishing in the river of Kenmare.
The value of some of these Irish fisheries, as producing an
export trade, may be deduced from the soubriquet of
O’Donnell, chief of Tyrconnel (now Donegal), who was
called in Spain “ the King of Fish,” in consequence of the
qurmtity imported in exchange for wine. The poet Spencei,
in his State of Ireland, after bewailing the “ lamentable
desolation” and “ utter waste” brought by civil war upon the
province of Ulster, breaks forth into praises of the land.
“ And sure it is yet a most beautiful and sweet county as
any under heaven, being stored throughout with many
goodly rivers, replenish’d with all sorts of fish most, abun¬
dantly, sprinkled with many very sweet islands, and goodly
lakes, like little inland seas, that will carry even ships upon
their waters.” “ And lastly, the heavens most mild and
temperate.” In his Faerie Queen he takes note of many
a river—of
Irish
salmon-
fisheries
« Tke goodly Barrow, which doth hoord
Great heaps of salmons in his deepe bosom.”
And the—
« Pair Star, in which are thousand salmons bred.”
The great poet also describes the “fishy fruitful Ban;”
and, according to Pennant, 320 tons of salmon were taken
at Coleraine in the year 1760.
There is no doubt that the great Irish rivers, with their
numerous tributaries, if managed with judgment and assi¬
duity, might be made of high commercial value. 1 he
Waterford estuary, though supplied by a less area than the
Shannon, is the most important salmon-fishing in Ireland,
as its entrance is not injured by a weir. We have no river
in Britain comparable in capacity to “the spacious Shenan,
spreading like a sea,” and continuing open for boat-work,
with short exceptions, for upwards of 200 miles above its
entrance into the Atlantic.2 * * *
1 Mr Wakefield takes some note of these fisheries in his Account of Ireland, Statistical and Political, 2 vols. 4to, 181... Sir Charles
Morgan has compiled an Historical Sketch of the British and Irish Fisheries. Mr John Finlay has given us a Treatise on the Game and
Fishing Laivs of Ireland, in 1827 ; and some useful information will be found in Mr Herbert Francis Hore's Inquiry into the Legislation,
Control, and Improvement of the Salmon and Sea Fisheries of Ireland, published in 1850. _ _ ... , .
The following table gives the areas of the catchment basins from which the principal Irish rivers and their tributaries derive their
FISHERIES.
619
Irish But for the weir at Limerick, the Shannon would be
salmon- navigable for some distance above its site. The tide rises
fisheries. a height of 12 feet on either side. The weir is made of
stone piers, extending across the river like those of a bridge,
and lath-work is stretched securely from pier to pier at the
western side, or that on which the salmon ascend from the
sea. To every alternate pair of piers there is lath-work
affixed at the eastern side also, so as to inclose a complete
chamber. There is an aperture for the salmon to get in,
but none to let them out. Between the other piers there
is no passage, so that when the salmon push their snouts
against the lath-work they are forced to grope their way
alongside till they get into “ chambers,” of which they have
a short lease, though one for life. This weir stands con¬
tinually, night and day, during the fishing season. It now
has in its centre the mona-rea gap, or queen’s share. Up
to the winter of 1825-6 this obstruction was so formed that
no salmon could pass, and it had not even the “ middle
passage” required by statute. It was carried away by the
floods, and the lessee of the corporation of Limerick re¬
placed it by the present contrivance. (See Dublin Review,
vol. xi., p. 387.) Although the corporation had at one time
claimed the exclusive fishing of the Shannon for a distance
of 63 miles from their weir above the city, to the river’s
junction with the main sea (as granted by Queen Eliza¬
beth), they afterwards restricted their claim from the
“ great Lax-wier, down the river, to a place examined by
the viewers,” namely, a castle near Cratloe-more, which is a
distance of three or four miles westward on the river, and
which has been but recently ascertained as the boundary.
On this reservation the right of fishing was ruled in their
favour. We believe its commercial value is much decreased.
It formerly realized in certain seasons L.2500 a-year. At
an after period (though before the introduction of stake
nets at the mouth of the estuary) it still yielded an annual
rent of L. 1150. The lease of 1813 was for L.800 a-year,
and the present contract (dated 1834) is for L.300 only,
with a clause of surrender.
In all fishing questions there seems a tendency to parti-
zanship. The word rivalry is supposed to be derived from
rivalis, belonging to a bank. We believe that the legal
rights of the corporation of Limerick to this great weir,
whether by patent or prescriptive title of many hundred
years old, cannot be questioned; but the obstruction it
offers both to a free run of fish, and to the still more
important purposes of navigation, is undoubtedly a crying
evil, and one which ought to be lessened by every lawful
means. It now stretches diagonally across the river, where
the breadth of the stream is 1141 feet, and has only a single
central opening, where, in summer, in consequence of a
neighbouring bank, the water is so shallow, that a keel boat
drawing only a few inches cannot pass upwards. It is built
of stones, bound together by upright posts of timber, and
does not quite touch the banks on either side.
There is no doubt that in various parts of Ireland stake
nets and fixed weirs have, in opposition to the express pro¬
visions of the act of parliament, been erected in improper
places, and even worked during illegal times. They have
sometimes been re-constructed by the same parties after
prosecution and conviction. In one instance of a very valu¬
able salmon fishery, iron spikes were found so placed across Irish
the “ free pass,” or queen’s share, as to prevent all upward
migration; and in another case an endeavour was made to ^
defeat the object of the statute enforcing that open space,
by placing glaring substances within it, and particularly a
huge uncouth figure in the form of a crocodile, to frighten
the fish from going farther.
Although not a few of the fishing privileges in Ireland
have the sanction of a very high antiquity, many of the
prescriptive claims to the powers exercised are of a more
or less doubtful nature. The prevailing belief in Ireland
is, that the law as it now stands (5th and 6th \ ict., cap.
106, 1842) is in opposition to Magna Charta, and the
common-law right. It has, in fact, been sometimes so
declared by the judges, who have laid it down that not¬
withstanding that act gave permission to parties to erect
Scotch weirs where the river was more than three-quarters
of a mile wide, yet that neither that law nor any other can
or does interfere with the common-law right, which is this,
that no man can put up an obstruction, either to navigation,
or to the passage of fish, in the king’s highway, or in the
tide-way. “ With regard to the other portion of that clause
which says that a person who has maintained a Scotch weir
over twenty years, where the river is not three-quarters of a
mile wide, shall be entitled to fish that weir, there again
the judges have declared that that is illegal, inasmuch as
it is a fixed engine, and an obstruction both to navigation
and the passage of fish ; and although the act of parliament
does in a certain degree legalize it, yet it does legalize it
against the common law of the land.” (Evidence of the
Earl of Glen gall, Report of Select Committee in 1849.)
There is no doubt that after the passing of the act of 1842
a great increase of fixed engines followed. The 22d
section of that act permits the erection of fixed engines
within one mile on either side of the mouth of a river,
where the channel of the tideway is more than three-
quarters of a mile wide at low water of spring tides, by
persons not previously possessed of a “ several ” or ex¬
clusive fishing, either inwards or outwards of the mouth of
a river less than half a mile wide. rI he exact position of
what is to be deemed the “mouth” of a river, is to be de¬
fined by the commissioners. Their task is neither easy
nor enviable.
Lord Glengall stated, in his evidence ^before the Com¬
mons’ committee of 1849 {Report, p. 150) that great ad¬
vantage would arise to the revenue of Ireland from the
removal of obstructions in the rivers, and the suppression
of poaching ; and for this reason, that the moment the upper
proprietors find that the fish ascend the river in the open
season, and that they have a direct interest in protecting
the breeding fish, they will protect them, just as they would
their sheep or bullocks ; but at present they feel little in¬
terest in the breeding fish, as those in good condition are
“ all taken by the Scotch weir owners.” His lordship
further informs us, that before the introduction of the
Scotch weirs the Suir was, without exception, the best sal¬
mon river in Ireland. Fine fish, weighing 18 and 20
pounds, frequently ascended as high as 55 miles above
Waterford; but soon after the Scotch system commenced
very few salmon got up the river except during some heavy
supply of water. It is taken from Sir Robert Kane’s Industrial Resources of Ireland, and was chiefly furnished by W. Mulvany, Esq.,
Commissioner of Drainage :—
Total Fasin, square miles.
Shannon -  4544
Barrow, Suir, and Nore (Waterford)  3400
Erne (Ballyshannon)  1585
Foyle (Derry)   1476
Galway Waters     1374
Bann, Upper and Lower (Coleraine), and the Main ... 1266
Blackwater, county Waterford   1219
Boyne and Blackwater, in Meath   1086
Moy  1033
Total basin, square miles.
Slaney     315
Lee   735
Liffey, Dodder, and Tolka     568
Blackwater (Armagh)  526
Mayne and Inny (Killarney)  511
Feale and Gale (Listowel)  479
Roughty (Kenmare)   475
Bandon   228
Lagan (Belfast)   227
fisheries.
620
Irish floods. The Suir River Preservation Society was after¬
salmon- warfls instituted, and as it was not only well conducted,
fisheries. bu(. « ag many as 27 of the Scotch weirs were prostrated,”
the fish not’ only ascended the river again for 55 miles
as they used to do thirty years before, “ but to our great
astonishment we last year captured many fish of 30 and
25 pounds weight, 45 miles from the sea. Now, no man
had ever seen a 30 or 25 pound fish for 30 years in those
waters before.” The case of the Lake of Killarney is also
a curious one as regards the effects of fixed engines near
the mouths of rivers. In former days the lake was full of
salmon, and vast numbers of people resorted to that beauti¬
ful region for the sake of angling. It is chiefly the propel ty
of Mr Herbert of Mucross, and Lord Kenmare. For many
years after the erection of Scotch weirs at the mouth of
the river, scarcely any salmon ascended to the lake; but
when the act of 1842 was passed, the proprietors of the
lake were instructed how to proceed against the parties hold-
in <>• the weirs, and six of them were prostrated. One still
remains, but, in spite of it, the lake is now remarkably well
supplied with salmon.
The Irish salmon-fisheries are regulated chiefly by the
act 5th and 6th Viet, cap. 106. It was passed in 1842, for
the purpose of consolidating and amending the others then
in force, and repeals all former acts relating to the salmon-
fisheries of that country. The commissioners of the board
of works are thereby constituted commissioners for the exe¬
cution of the act, and have had conjoined with them two
inspecting commissioners of fisheries. They are intrusted
with a variety of important duties, and can make bye-laws
for the alteration of close time, and its variation in different
districts. The main object of the act of 1842 was to in¬
duce the capture of the largest quantities of fish, in the best
condition, during the open season, consistently with the in¬
crease of the breed. It fixed a uniform close time, from
the 20th of August to the 12th of February, to come into
operation after the 1st of January 1844. It was not at¬
tempted to be enforced until after the 20th of August 1844,
and was in truth but little attended to forsome time afterwards.
In a later act, that of 9th and 10th Viet., cap. 14, which
was prepared and submitted to parliament, in order to carry
into effect certain regulations regarding close time, a clause
was introduced in its passage through the House of Com¬
mons, whereby eight counties (viz., Antrim, Tyrone, Do¬
negal, Londonderry, Mayo, Fermanagh, Leitrim, and Sligo)
were exempted from the operation of the law.1 This pro¬
duced great confusion, and the Irish commissioners have
since had applications from almost all those counties for the
extension to them, by bye-law, of the benefits of the former
close time, from which they were excluded by the clause
just referred to.2
The annexed tabular view (see page 621), for which we
are indebted to the kindness of Thomas F. Brady, Esq.,
one of the inspecting commissioners of the Irish fisheries,
exhibits the exact state of the close-times of the various
districts up to August 1855. We believe that some of the
changes indicated in the table have been made rather with
a view to meet the wishes of the individuals interested in the
localities, than from a conviction on the part of the commis¬
sioners of their absolute expediency. But as the commis¬
sioners have the power, under the 35th section of the act, to Irish
rescind any order for change of season after three years, salmon-
they are probably induced to allow persons to have their ^fisheru's'
own way for a time, and not a few are said to have become
convinced of their error from practical experience. The
laws on the subject of the annual or weekly close seasons
in Ireland are now very stringent, and the penalties for their
infringement heavy. Assuredly they ought to be strictly
enforced, because any wide departure from the legal prin¬
ciple is the more to be regretted in a country where so
large a portion of the salmon and trout fishing is, by law,
public property.
For some seasons after the passing o the act of 1842,
large captures ensued, and thus the practical operation of
the amended law was to produce improvident destruction—
nothing in the way of counteracting remedies being used to
replenish or keep up the stock. Voluntary contributions
having failed in their sufficiency to afford protection and
remove obstructions, the act of 11th and 12th Viet., cap. 92,
was passed (in 1848), authorizing assessment upon engines
used in fishing, in order to create a fund for the purposes
of preservation, to be administered by local boards of con¬
servators, elected on a broad basis. This act did not come
into operation till 1849, but it is now believed to be pro¬
ducing the desired effect. It also empowers the Irish board
of works to divide the “ Green Isle” into districts, and the
recent arrangements will be seen from the annexed table.
The same variations take place in the Irish rivers as in
those of Scotland, and the same somewhat contentious com¬
plaints are made by opposing parties against each other.
The natives of the more upland streams bewail the un¬
sparing and irresistible captures by sweep nets and fixed
engines, while those who rejoice in, because they benefit
by, the latter, are shocked at the unprincipled poaching and
general want of protection which prevail in places where
the spawning beds abound. The select committee on the
fisheries of Ireland (1849) conclude their report by desiring
“ to record, once for all, their decided conviction, that the
wholesale and wasteful destruction of the breeding fish and
fry has materially injured the inland fisheries, and has ex¬
cited and kept alive much local discontent, and demands
the immediate attention of parliament, in order to the adop¬
tion of such alterations in the existing law as may be found
expedient.” In the minutes of evidence taken by that com¬
mittee, Mr Ffennell, one of the inspecting commissioners,
while referring to the advantages arising from a private pro¬
tective association, and when asked, “ Why did your asso¬
ciation cease to exist ?” replies, “ Many persons found that
they were going to expense, and taking a great deal of
trouble in protecting the fish for the persons in the tideway,
not one of whom would subscribe one farthing.” Being
asked, “ to whom do you allude when you say ‘ persons in
the tideway ?’ ” he answers, “ all the persons, the river
owners, the cot fishermen, and every class of persons in the
tideway ; we found that we could get no subscription what¬
ever from them, and that we were doing it all at our ou n
expense, and that others were making the harvest. The
large benefit of our protection must be to the tideway people,
and it is there that the commercial value of the fish must
always exist.”
1 An odd effect of these exceptions was that, for example, during a portion of the season, it was illegal to fish in one side of a river
and bay in the county of Mayo, while it was legal to fish in the other side of the same river and hay in the county of G-alway.
2 The Irish Commissioners are appointed for the execution of the Fishery Acts by the 2d sect, of the 5th and 6th V ict., cap. 106, and
the 2d sect, of the 11th and 12th Viet., cap. 92, and are empowered by the 33d section of the former, and 39th section of the latter act,
to alter the close seasons in any river or district upon inquiry made and proof presented that such alteration is expedient. The 3d
sect, of the 11th and 12th Viet., cap. 92, also directed the Commissioners to divide Ireland into districts, which they have done accord-
ingly. That section, and the 6th sect, of the 13th and 14th Viet., cap. 88, conferred the power on the Commissioners to alter such districts,
and to fix other boundaries, and to subdivide them as they saw fit. The districts of Bantry, Westport, and Londonderry have thus been
subdivided, and so many alterations have been made in the close times (tending to uniformity) that Sligo, Fermanagh, and Leitrim are
now the only excepted counties. In addition to these changes, the Commissioners have been called upon by persons interested in the
fisheries of several districts to alter the seasons as fixed by law, and they have accordingly done so in the districts of Killarney, Limerick,
Wexford, and Cork. Our tabular view will show these details distinctly.
Table showing the Close Seasons for Salmon and Trout in the different Districts in Ireland, as fixed by Statute Law, or the Order of the Commissioners.
621
FISHERIES.
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* But for Fixed Nets 14th September to last day of February.
FISHERIES.
622
Irish The attention of the public, however, has recently been
salmon- much directed towards Ireland and its capabilities, and an
fisheries. jnterest }n the salmon-fisheries has evidently been on the
increase from year to year. We believe the more they are
considered the higher will their importance be appreciated
as a branch of industrial occupation.
“ And although,” says Mr Ffennell, “ an alleged decrease
must be admitted to have occurred, yet some exaggeration
prevails on the part of those persons whose interests have
been diminished in value by the changes which have recently
taken place in the capture of fish, and some miscalculations
also arise in consequence of the more rapid and extended
flow by which the tide of commerce, through the agency of
steam, conveys the produce from local to distant markets.
Proprietors of several fisheries sometimes judge the question
of supply by the amount of their own capture solely, for¬
getful of, or misinformed on, the aggregate quantity cap¬
tured by the many who fish outside, and which is there
taken. The consumers in the principal towns, who, before
the extension of railroads and steam navigation afforded
means of cheap and quick transit to other markets, and be¬
fore the facility of obtaining ice for its preservation at a
reasonable charge existed, obtained salmon at low prices,
complain of high prices, advance it as a test also of dimi¬
nished supply, forgetting or overlooking the fact of the large
quantity which is daily transmitted from their immediate
vicinity to more remunerating customers in distant places.
The grounds of disappointment and miscalculation are evi¬
dent with regard to these classes, while others, who have
been restrained by the enforcement of the law from undue
interference with public as well as private rights, pronounce
the alleged decrease in the salmon-fisheries of Ireland to be
progressive in proportion as legislation has advanced for the
purpose of meeting the evils complained of; and although
the latter class may find some discontented persons, from
selfish motives, ready to join in this too summary mode of
disposing of the question, very many must conclude that it
tends to mislead rather than induce a useful or disinterested
discussion of the subject. Salmon having attained a price
in the market as a luxury only available to the wealthy por¬
tion of society, and this increased value having stimulated
a corresponding energy on behalf of the public to procure
it for such profitable disposal, an improvident desire of over¬
capture has for some years been induced, which we believe
to be the main point necessary to guard against and re¬
strain. The ingenuity of man has also increased the effi¬
ciency of the means of capture, and the legislature having
sanctioned the use of engines, under certain limitations, be¬
fore restrained, at the same time, however, giving increased
powers to protect; whilst the power to take has been in¬
juriously applied, the intended equivalent of better protec¬
tion has been too much neglected.”—Report, 1852, p. 237.
Of course, the same nefarious practices prevail among the
natives of the sister isle as with ourselves. The habit of
“ burning the water” is common in many of the wilder dis¬
tricts. The excitement of the sport, in addition to its pro¬
ductive nature, may be viewed as affording some excuse, but
none can be offered for that deadly and altogether inde¬
fensible act of “ poisoning ” which is not seldom had re¬
course to. This is sometimes practised in Scotland by
means of lime, a small quantity of which will destroy every
fish in a pool. An equally opprobrious procedure is fol¬
lowed, too, in the county of Kerry. There, and elsewhere in
Ireland, a species of spurge occurs in woods, and is called
Euphorbia hibernica. It has a white juice, which may be
extracted by pounding in a tub. If some of this liquid is
thrown into a river when the wTater is low, the fish are killed
for a considerable distance, and soon show themselves by
floating on the surface. They are, unfortunately, not
thereby rendered unfit for food; and when the country
people hear that a river has been “ poisoned,” they as¬
semble on its banks to share the spoil. Poaching is also Irish
carried on to a great extent, and, according to one autho-
rity, this has been greatly increased by the diminution of sal- v
mon during the open season. ^ v
“ I remember,” observes Mr J. D. Croker, speaking of
the Blackwater, “ when the river was so well stocked that
the lower classes were universally permitted by the gentry
to angle in every place without any obstruction. We
found that by so doing we enlisted them, I may say, as
bailiffs to protect the breeding fish in the winter, and that
we had a sufficient quid pro quo. By and by, when their
weirs were closed, and their mill barriers were shut up, the
salmon decreased in the river in numbers, and the conse¬
quence was then, that the gentleman fond of angling pro¬
hibited, to a certain degree at first, those men who used
before to be permitted to fish ; and finally, I may say,
they found there were so few salmon that they kept them
for themselves, and in many places they were not allowed
to fish where they formerly enjoyed the sport; the conse¬
quence was, that these fellows, when they could not get
them in the summer, turned to poaching in the winter.
When there is a flood in the river, and the weirs are open in
the winter, they come up in thousands, and the destruction
is beyond anything which you can conceive. The landed
proprietors, finding that in the whole of the open season
they had no fish, take no interest in preserving the spawn¬
ing fish for the proprietors who have the monopolies at the
mouth of the river; and I believe this to be the chief cause
of the decline of salmon.”—Report from the Select Com¬
mittee on Irish Fisheries (1849), p. 36.
It is difficult to obtain actual data from which to ascer¬
tain the money value of the general salmon-fisheries of a
country. In regard to those of Ireland, we observe it
stated in evidence by Sir Richard De Burgo that he cal¬
culated the value of salmon caught by “ every engine ” (for
the year 1847) to be close upon L.300,000. He had as¬
certained that there were L.l8,000 worth caught in the
estuary of the Suir, Nore, and Barrow. He put down the
Shannon at L.20,000; and so on with the Lee, and other
districts, however small. He applied to various parties for
information regarding their own vicinity. “ l then re¬
ceived from the same parties, as closely as they could give it
to me, the number of rods, and every other engine that was
used in their estuary, river, or in the entire district; and
they fixed what they conceived the productive properties of
the weirs, or whatever else the engine might be.” It w'as
thus that he made up his data. He regarded the above as
a low estimate, and was of opinion that if some changes
in the law were effected, and due protection afforded to
spawning fish and fry, the Irish salmon-fisheries might be
raised to the annual value of not less than L.2,000,000.
The following list, though imperfect, will show, at least
approximately, the produce of the principal salmon-fisheries
of Ireland, and will also indicate the names of the rivers,
&c., where these occur. It was obtained in the year 1844-
45, and applies to the quantities and value of that period.
jS umber of Fish, or money value,
Name of River. as far as could be ascertained.
('From 5000 to 7000 salmon, of
an average weight of 7|- lb.,
1. Liffey  I was the produce of 1844 ; the
average price was from 8d.
L to Is. per lb.
2. Owenavarra  About L.140.
3. Slaney  About L.2000.
4. Barrow I
5. Nore  > About L.17,000 or L.18,000.
6. Suir J
7. Blackwater  From L.3500 to L.4000.
s- Mlow« "o-11-1900-
9. Bandon  About L.170.
10. Hen  About L.90.
11. Snave and Ballylicky. About L.180.
FISHERIES.
623
Name of River.
12. Blackwater  About L.60.
Number of Fisb, or money value,
as far as could be ascertained.
13. Roughly
14. Curraan.
15. Eenagh..
16. Carra ...
17. Laune ..
18. Maine ...
19.
20.
About L.7000.
Cashen  About 1500 salmon.
Peal  
21. Shannon ( ^PPer-" l
( Lower... J
22. Corrib or Galway 
About 6000 salmon and 24,000
peal.
{ 4221 salmon ; 10 tons average
yearly produce.
23. Spiddal   About 400 salmon.
24. Costello 
25. Ballinahinch
5114 salmon,34,747 lb.; 14,385
lb. trout, average yearly pro¬
duce.
26. Benoyle Fishery  About 10 tons annually.
610 salmon, 3847 lb.
606
average
27. Delphi   ■! trout, 1417 lb.,
{ yearly produce.
28. Errive, or Ass  60 salmon, last year’s produce.
29. Killieries    Between L.300 and L.400.
30. Bellclare  L.18 or L.20 a-year.
f In 1845 the produce was 8 tons
  1 salmon, and 3 tons trout.
31. .Newport ....
32. Burrishoole
33. Ballycroy...
f 1841, 34 tons salmon; 1843,
  | 21 tons ; 1844, 24 tons.
34. Owenmore  About L.50.
35. Munhim   Between 2 and 2J tons.
36. Glenamoy  23 cwt. was last year’s produce.
37. Moy
38. Easky
6 tons, 13 cwt., 3 qrs
last year.
39. Ballysadare  About 300 salmon yearly.
20 lb.
40. Sligo.
r
tons, 7 cwt., 3 qrs., 2 lb.
average.
41. Drumcliff    About L.30.
42. Bundrowes  9 tons, 18 cwts., 1 qr., 2 lb.
43. Erne 
50
51. Roe
52. Bann.
53. Bush.
pears that the public fisheries, which comprise the chief
portion of the tidal rivers, are not rateable. It must also
be borne in mind that the rating is only upon what is fixed
or stationary—no floating nets, draught-nets, sweep-nets,
or such like, being charged at all. There are even many
fixed engines not rated; because those who work them in
the tideways do not do so as having any private right, thus
gaining the benefit of a private property, but avoiding the
poor-rate on the ground that it is public. But whatever
may be the cause, there is no doubt of great neglect in tbe
true valuation of the Irish fisheries under the poor law.
The stake-nets, or Scotch weirs as they are called, are
taxed at a certain sum whatever may be their productive
value, and many of them are not rated at all.1
In the Report of the Commissioners for 1836, we have
the following table, showing the produce of the Foyle
fishery for 16 years prior to the introduction of the stake-
nets :—
Number of
Year. Fish.
1808  14,837
1809  14,413
1810  17,145
1811   9,601
1812  19,285
1813  14,375
1814  18,434
1815  20,630
N umber of
Year. Fish.
1816  17,624
1817  16,644
1818  17,860
1819  23,334
1820  18,930
1821  11,490
1822  22,816
1823 20,384
Gross produce of 16 years 277,802
This gives an annual average of 17,363. In the same
report we have another table, showing the take of the same
fishery for 9 years preceding 1836, during which years the
stake-nets were in full operation.
In 1827, the number of salmon taken was, in
Stake-nets, 13,911
Draught-nets, 32,090
f 1844, 753 lb. salmon, 2185
44. Inver    ■I trout; 1845, 1242 lb. sal-
( mon, 1106 lb. trout.
45. Owentorker 
46. Owenea 
47. Clady 
48. Lacagh   1116 salmon, 7712 lb. average.
49. Ratbmelton  Average 9625 lb. salmon.
Foyle  About 82,000 salmon.
| 51 tons, 1 cwt., 17 lb., average
  \ of six years.
| 10 tons, 6 cwt., 1 qr., 10 lb.,
  ( average of four years.
54. Glyde and Dee   About L.600.
55. Fane   Between L.20 and L.30.
56. Boyne  
We anticipated the power of obtaining some detailed and
accurate information regarding the pecuniary value of the
Irish salmon-fisheries from the returns of the assessment
laid upon them by the Poor Law Act. That such assess¬
ment must, however, be carried on in a very lax and care¬
less manner, is evident from the fact that their total rated
value, as laid before the select committee of the House of
Commons in 1849, was only L.12,366, and even in that
sum were included a few oyster and eel fisheries. It ap-
1828,
1829,
1830,
1831,
1832,
1833,
1834,
1835,
Stake-nets,
Draught-nets,
Stake-nets,
Draught-nets,
Stake-nets,
Draught-nets,
Stake-nets,
Draught-nets,
Stake-nets,
Draught-nets,
Stake-nets,
Draught-nets,
Stake-nets,
Draught-nets,
Stake-nets,
Draught-nets,
Gross produce in nine years—Stake-nets,
Draught-nets,
Annual average, 53,603.
13,070
37,536
9,770
23,000
30,957
35,096
23,267
39,293
31,497
32,950
20,757
29,580
20,575
33,173
22,344
33,562
186,148
296,280
Irish
salmon-
fisheries.
46,001
50,606
32,770
66,053
62,560
64,447
50,337
53,748
55,906
Total, 482,428
1 The following is the scale of license duties for each engine, net, instrument, or device used in salmon, trout, pollen, or eel-fisheries
in Ireland:—
Single salmon rods  L.l 0 0
Cross lines and rods    2 0 0
Snap nets  1 lb 0
Draft nets or seines   3 0 0
Drift nets    3 0 0
Trammel nets or draft nets for pollen   1 10 0
Pole nets   2 0 0
Other nets or similar engines, not named above, to have
the license duties fixed by the Commissioners.
Bag nets  L.5 0 0
Fly nets  5 0 0
Stake nets or stake weirs (Scotch)  15 0 0
Head weir  3 0 0
For every box, crib, cruive, or drum-net in any weir for
taking salmon or trout     5 0 0
For every gap, eye, or basket in any weir for taking
eels    ?  1 0 0
624
FISHERIES.
Irish
salmon-
fisheries.
In a subsequent report (1846), we have the following
statement in relation to the six seasons, from 1839 to 1844,
both inclusive:—
In 1839,the
In 1840,
In 1841,
In 1842,1
In 1843,
In 1844,
total number taken in the Foyle fishing was 43,181
59,305
52,582
82,106
62,348
49.387
It appears from the preceding tables, that while the an¬
nual average of certain seasons prior to the introduction
of stake-nets was 17,363 fish, the smallest number taken
in any one year afterwards (that of 1839), was 43,181, of
which 23,934 were taken by means of draught-nets alone,
being 6571 more than the average of those nets in earlier
times. It further appears, that while in 1830 the produce
of both kinds of nets was 66,560, that of 1842 was 82,106;
so that after fifteen years working of the stake-nets, the
quantity taken by both means had increased. The report
for 1836 is headed—“ The product of the Foyle salmon-
fisheries has increased very much within these last ten years,
in consequence of the introduction of stake-nets, and an im¬
proved mode of fishing with draught-nets ; also, by esta¬
blishing a more vigilant and effective system of water-keep¬
ing.” We doubt not that the productive powers of these
fish are so great, that if the fry (parr and smolts) are effec¬
tively protected while in the river waters, a great increase
of captures may be looked for. The practice of preserving
the fish in ice, and the enlarged facilities of transmission by
steam-boats, have no doubt increased the value of salmon in
Ireland as elsewhere; and Loch Foyle being a fishery of the
“ Irish Society,” that company is believed to have added to
its protective staff, and exercised greater activity and vigi¬
lance in watching the spawning grounds, thus ensuring an
increased take and a larger income.
The following particulars, which further illustrate the va¬
lue of the Irish fisheries, may be gleaned from the various
reports by select committees of the House of Commons
(1824-25-27-36). Mr Little, one of the principal lessees
of the north-western stations, stated that the fish from each
of the rivers Bann, Foyle, and Moy were worth at least
from L.5000 to L.6000 per annum, and in some years from
L.8000 to L.9000. The sale of salmon caught in them
during 1835, amounted in Liverpool to L.9000, in Man¬
chester to L.5000, in the neighbourhood of the rivers them¬
selves to L. 1800, besides considerable consignments to Dub¬
lin, London, and Glasgow, the total being nearly L.18,000.
The annual produce of the Foyle for nine years prior to
1836 was 53,603 salmon, weighing above 140 tons, and
worth nearly L.17,000. The quantity of salmon shipped by
Mr Little and his partner to Liverpool, from their fisheries
on the Bann, Bush, Foyle, Ballina, Ballyshannon, and Port
Bush, from 1808 to 1823 (including shipments for the last
year to London, Bristol, Glasgow, and Whitehaven), was
somewhat over 2134 tons 14 cwt., which, at a shilling per
pound, made the sum of L.239,141, 3s. In some seasons
the Port-Rush fishery produced 18 tons of salmon, the
Bush 15 tons, the Moy, at Ballina, 100 tons, and the Bal¬
lyshannon 90 tons. When such is the value of these com¬
paratively small fisheries, which are nothing like those of
the Shannon, Kenmare, and Blackwater, it has been inferred
that the value of all the fisheries from which the public are
now excluded cannot be under L.500,000 a-year.2 So plen¬
tiful were salmon at one time in the Bann, that, according to
Mr Finlay, 1400 have been caught at a single haul, and Irish
1000 at the succeeding one.3 salmon-
Mr Christopher Keays, who had been for twenty-two years fisheries-
connected with the fisheries at Killorglen on the Laune (the
Killarney river), used to pay from L.5000 to L.6000 annu¬
ally for the fish he bought, including the price of the Water-
ville fish. The prices were, for spring fish Is. per pound,
for summer fish 3^d., and for May fish 6d. He had five or
six ice-houses, and did not require to import that material.
He sent the fish to England packed in ice, and sometimes
pickled. Got the greatest number of good spring fish in
April, and of grilse in June. In the year 1834, the greatest
number he got from the Carra was in December, and they
were in the finest condition. “ The nearer the fish to the
sea the better. The fish begin to loose their curd as soon
as they go up the fresh water.” We shall here give the
monthly produce in weight for four successive seasons.
Amount of salmon purchased at Killorglen by Messrs
Keays & Ronayne for the years mentioned:—
For 1841.
November 1840
December 1840
January 1841
February „
March ,,
April „
May „
J une „
J uiy „
August „
September „
3,719 lb.
4,233 „
6,454 „
4,584 „
6,355 „
8,772 „
12,310 „
33,317 „
47,946 „
16,882 „
2,404 „
Total, 146,9761b.
For 1843.
November 1842
December 1842
January 1843
February „
March „
April „
May „
June „
J uiy „
August ,,
3,789 lb.
3,719 „
5,318 „
7,129 „
5,652 ,.
4,461 ,.
11,398 „
49,171 „
61,409 „
14,273 „
Total, 166,3191b.
For 1842.
November 1841 ...
December 1841
January 1842
February ,,
March „
April „
May „
June „
July »
August „
2,412 lb.
4,522 „
4,120 „
4,531 „
2,420 „
3,787 „
13.972 „
28,615 „
55,188 „
17,766 „
Total, 137,3331b.
For 1844.
November 1843
Dec. 13th, 1843
January 1844
February ,,
March ,,
April „
May „
June „
J uly „
August „
2,774 lb.
4,444 „
10,052 „
5,330 „
9,320 „
19,162 „
39,536 „
46,477 „
8,168 „
Total, 145,2631b.
More than L.4000 worth of salmon were taken in the Slaney
in 1842 ; and a Scotchman of the name of Hector, an ex¬
perienced owner of bag-nets at the mouth of the estuary,
stated in evidence that if properly fished and efficiently
protected, it might be raised to the value of L.7000 per
annum. The river Moy fishery is rated to the poor-law
valuation at L.1768, 15s. a-year, although it is believed on
good authority to be worth L.4000. The annual expense of
protecting the Moy, Bann, and Foyle amounted to L.1500 or
L.1600. There were four hundred men employed as keepers,
and yet many of the tributary streams were left unwatched.
The lessees complained of this expense of protection, which
was a tax nearly equal to the rent. However, the amount
of sales of salmon from these three rivers amounted during
the preceding year to L.17,450. When the native supply of
ice failed, the cost of importing that indispensable material
from Norway amounted to L.1500 a-year. Prior to the
year 1824 employment was given by that fishery to 800
people. In consequence of increased preservation the pro¬
duction rose. The annual average produce of the Foyle,
for sixteen years before the introduction of stake-nets, had
1 The season of 1842 was an excellent one for the salmon-fisheries in general. During that year nearly 110,000 grilse were taken in
the lower portions of the Tweed. No season was so successful within our recollection since 1816, in which these same fisheries produced
above 120,000 grilse. The year first named was excellent also in the Tay, the Kinfauns fisheries having yielded above 21,000 grilse, or
nearly double the average of that time. A productive salmon season may arise from one or other of two causes, or both combined. It
may depend on a preceding spawning time having been unusually favourable, or upon the weather during the season of capture having
been advantageous for the working of net and coble, and the ascent of fish from the sea.
ublin Review, vol. xi., p. 360. 3 Treatise on the Game and Fishery Laws of Ireland, Note to p. 175.
FISHERIES.
625
Irish been 17,363 salmon, weighing about 43^ tons. The pro¬
salmon- duce for the last nine years (Commissioners’ Report for
fisheries. 1846) had been 53,603 salmon, weighing above 140 tons;
so that in addition to an increase of about fifty per cent, in
the quantity taken by the draught-nets, nearly as large a
take as in former years by these alone was made by the
therf newly introduced stake-nets. Thus the produce of
the Foyle alone was raised from an average, prior to 1823,
of 43 tons, to a steady return of nearly 200 tons, and in the
great year of 1842 to close upon 300 tons. The numerical
produce that year was 82,106 salmon. According to the
evidence of the agent of the lessees, the entire produce of
the river during the first year of his management was 39
tons. He commenced protecting, and three years after¬
wards the yearly return rose to 100 tons, and the average
produce of seven years is now (evidence given in 1845)
140 and odd tons. It is stated in Lord Strafford’s Letters
(1638), that the fishery at Derry (that of the Foyle) pro¬
duced to the crown in that year 240 tons of salmon, which
sold at L.15 a ton, “so as I hope, the charge of getting,
salting, and packing the fish, deducted, there will be cleared
at least L.1400, while it was never let for above L.1000
before, so as his majesty, you see, will come by no loss the
whilst.” By modern protection it is again approaching the
limit of its ancient produce.
Return of the quantities of rawr and manufactured salmon
exported from Cork by the establishment of Mr John Chris¬
topher Keays. The fisheries embrace about a mile on the
Clare shore, from near Money Point to Clonderlaw Bay;
and on the south, from a mile on the other side of Tarbet
to Foynes, including a range of 12 or 14 miles. There are
eleven stake-nets.
1842. —Exports, extending over a period of ten months.
No. of Fisti. Gross lb.
Raw salmon, iced, 3811 boxes, containing... 56,937 381‘116
Manufactured, 3529 kits, containing  15,744 102'347
Total  72,681 483-463
1843. —Exports, extending over a period of six months.
No. of Fish. Gross lb.
Raw salmon, iced, 2766 boxes, containing... 38,980 276-651
Manufactured, 2873 kits, containing  14,914 86-548
Total  53,894 363-199
1844. '—Exports, extending over a period of six months.
No. of Fish. Gross lb.
Raw salmon, iced, 2330 boxes, containing... 33,815 233 061
Manufactured, 2449 kits, containing  11,665 69-966
Total  45,480 303 027
We have an abstract of the monthly supply of salmon
received at the establishment of Messrs Keays and Ronayne,
Youghal (Blackwater fishery). We shall here give only
the totals for two years.
No. of Salmon. Weight. Amount Paid.
Tons. Cwts.
1842   14,511 33 15 L.1479 14 7
1843   9,823 24 17 1159 0 4
In both the above years the season commenced on I4th
February. Mr Hodnett received about one-third additional.
The following is the gross produce of the weir and fishery
of Lismore each year since 1823—odd pounds excluded.
Salmon. Tons. Cwts.
1823   6,086 20 6
1824   6,988 19 0
1825   5,813 16 7
1826   4,802 15 6
1827   5,819 17 13
1828   7,592 23 17
1829   6,379 19 0
1830   6,890 20 10
1831   6,978 17 17
1832   8,738 29 7
1833   9,184 25 0
VOL. IX.
Salmon. Tons. Cwts.
1834   7,934 23 7
1835   9,379 28 10
1836   4,792 14 17
1837   8,501 23 11
1838  12,033 33 12
1839   8,645 26 . 1
1840   8,259 23 17
1841   6,904 21 6
1842   7,590 20 19
1843   6,913 21 1
1844   4,248 13 15
During these twenty-one years they always fished in the Irish
same manner. The return includes the entire take. They salmon-
fished in the tideway, but not below Salter Bridge. The ^,slieries-
greatest run of early fish the lessee ever had was in the
month of February 1844. On the opening day of that
season (14th of the month), 288 fish were captured, weigh¬
ing 2311 lb. I he weekly close time had been strictly ob¬
served in 1843, but those conversant with the locality do
not consider that the increase was produced by that observ¬
ance, but rather by the fact that the Scotch weirs further
down were not in fishing order. From 1823 up to the
passing of the act of 1842, the close time was not strictly
attended to. They used to catch in the month of Decem¬
ber the most delicious fish of the year. This seems a
parallel case to what has been stated regarding the Ness,
and some other northern rivers.
The Moy presents a fair example of the good effects of
protection. In 1811 half of the lease was purchased from
one of the holders, but the partners were “ bad friends,”
and one of them would not concur in the expense of watch¬
ing. The quantity of fish taken that year was only 6 tons
4 cwt. This condition of affairs continued until 1815,
when the lease falling wholly into the hands of the new pro¬
prietors, they immediately appointed water-keepers, and in
the following year were rewarded by a take of 42 tons.
Since that time, 100 tons have been killed in a single sea¬
son, and the average has been 60 tons ; so that an increase
of ten-fold “ arose from the protection afforded to the mo¬
ther fish.”—Evidence, of 1824. The Newport river affords
similar and more recent testimony. After the passing of
the act of 1842, Sir Richard O’Donnell, being sole proprie¬
tor of this small river in the county of Mayo, took advan¬
tage of the provisions of the act, and paid liberally for the
protection of the fish. In the course of three years he raised
the produce from a ton to eight tons of salmon, and three
tons of white trout, for the season ending the third year.—
Evidence in Fourth Report, 1846.
The produce of the salmon-fisheries of Ireland (as else¬
where) for 1850 was about the least upon record. We find
its failure foreseen and predicted by Mr Caulfield, superin-
tendant of the Hon. Mr Plunket’s fishing in Killevy Bay,
situate in a mountain district. The following letter was
addressed by him to the commissioners :—
“ I beg to call your attention to a letter written by me
on the 4th of March 1848, in which you will find that I
predicted that many persons would be disappointed in the
take of salmon in 1850. The spawning season ending
January 1847 was very bad from the time the salmon be¬
gan to deposit their spawn. One flood was higher than
another, tearing away bridges, the banks of rivers, the spawn¬
ing fords, and, in some parts, covering those fords with a
depth of gravel scarcely credible. Since I came here, I
never saw so many floods in the spawning season. I am
fully convinced then that the greater portion of the spawn
were swept to the lakes and sea, and became the prey of
other fish. You will remember that I stated that this would
not tell till 1850, for I was convinced, and am now a greater
dogmatist in my own opinion than ever, that we would take
very little salmon under two and a half years old. For in¬
stance, the fry spawned in November 1847 remained in
fresh water till May 1850. They remain at sea three or
four months before they return to the mouths of the rivers
they had forsaken when fry, and then weigh from six to
seven and eight pounds. You will see that this would be
exactly allowing the fish spawned in December 1847 to be
killed in June, July, and August 1850. I said in my letter
of 4th March 1848 that the decline of our salmon-fisheries
began with the change of our winter seasons from frost and
snow to continual rains, causing high floods, and these floods .
happening invariably in the months of November and De¬
cember when the fish are spawning. In December 1847,
4 K
626
fisheries.
Irish
salmon-
fisheries.
during the spawning season, stones above twelve tons weight
were carried from the top of the spawning fords above fifty
yards down the river by the strength of the curren . Where
then must the small pea of a salmon, dropped in such a
current, have gone, even if it had reached the bottom of the
pit where the mother fish intended to deposit it? When
our salmon-fisheries were productive, the Tnth
ber was what we call a hard month, freezing all through.
It is a fact well known to all experienced in the nature of
salmon, that in the month of December the greater bulk of
the fish spawn, and if freezing then, the fish will come into
the fords at night and make the ruts in water not above six
inches deep. Here the mother fish begins to drop the
spawn, and gets them all deposited, as there is no current
to carry them away. One salmon will get more pea de¬
posited in low water than sixty in high floods. In 1847,
during the spawning season, baskets full of the spawn could
be gathered along the shores at Bundurra, where the pie-
ceding tide had left them in the sea-weed. Now, as 1 have
ventured to predict for 1850, I will again venture to pre¬
dict for 1851 and 1852. The spawning season of 1848 was
passable. There were some high floods, but not many that
I could call destructive. In 1851 there will be a reason¬
able take, leaving proprietors and lessors of fisheries fully
satisfied that the fisheries have all much improved. 1852
will convince every one that the salmon was not devoured
bv the renowned sea-serpent.”—Report, 1851, p. llo.
The origin of this deficiency in 1850 has led to some
discussion ; and those who maintain that it may be traced
to the unfavourable conditions of the spawning season of
1847, of course do so in accordance with Mr Shaw’s view,
which is, that the ova of that year would produce the grilse
of 1850. “ That the deficiency in the salmon-fisheries of
last year,” say the commissioners in 1851, “was mainly
produced by natural causes in the spawning season of 1847,
is admitted by most persons to whose opinion weight can
be attached, and is in some degree confirmed by the im¬
provement in the fishery of the present year referred to in
the report of the inspecting commissioners.” It is wisely
added elsewhere, that if the means and times of fishing be
strictly limited to those fixed by law—if suitable passes be
made for the migration of fish, and the Sunday or weekly
close time be enforced on all coast fisheries, as well as in
the estuaries and inland waters—and finally, if the capture,
possession, or sale of fish, during close-time, be effectually
prevented bv the authorities, no doubt need be entertained
that these fisheries will obtain a great development.
While discussing the Scotch salmon-fisheries we referred
to the subject of drainage disparagingly, as if that agricul¬
tural process were often of piscatorial disadvantage. It
seems to be otherwise in Ireland, where the system of ar¬
terial drainage, and the improvement of the navigation, have
been of service.
“ To some,” observes the inspecting commissioner, “ it
has appeared anomalous that the fisheries should be be¬
nefited by works of drainage, but the experience already
obtained fully justifies the anticipations which were formed
on this subject. In cases where works have been exe¬
cuted at the mouths or tidal parts of rivers, the deepen¬
ing and confining of the channels through extensive flats
to the seas, and the extension of the tidal influences on
brackish water inland, have afforded facilities for the salmon
and white trout to enter the rivers; whilst the formation of im¬
proved migration passes over obstructions, and the regularly
deep channels have facilitated the access of the fish to the
upper waters and breeding grounds. The floods, too, in
rivers that have been thus opened are much more frequent,
though small in amount, than in an undrained country ; and
where, as in Ireland, the river-courses have but very little
fall, and there exist numerous lakes and deep reaches of
the river at the back of mill and navigation weirs, the mi¬
gration of the fish is not only facilitated but promoted,
whilst the increased discharge of water into the sea conduces
to the capture of the fish by leading them to the rivers. ^
These results have been proved practically in the lower
Bann at Coleraine, where the fishery has been importantly
increased, at the Fane near Dundalk, the Clyde and Dee,
county Louth, and the Balleyteige district, county of Wex¬
ford, where salmon and trout were almost unknown before
the execution of the works, and where, in addition, large
quantities of herrings and other fish have for the last two
years been taken within the bar or mouth of the estuary.
But in the cavernous limestone districts of the counties of
Galway and Mayo still more interesting experience has
been obtained. In these districts where very large portions
of the waters were discharged by cavernous passages, and
through interstices in the strata too small to admit the
passage of fish, and where in summer no water was dis¬
coverable as flowing from very large tracts of country, very
important changes have been effected. In the Lough
Corrib and Mask district, lakes containing more than
30,000 acres of water, and rivers and their tributaries more
than eighty miles in length, have been opened for the first
time to the free access of the salmon, by means of long and
deep cuts through rocks, which were required for the diain-
age of the country, and which as they become completed
afford constant streams of water even in the summei season.
The salmon have already been taken in the upper waters
of these districts, and it would be difficult to estimate tie
benefits which in a few years may naturally be expected to
result from this improved means of access and increase of
spawning ground to the fisheries of the distiicts.
The rivers Dee, Clyde, and Fane, in the Drogheda dis-
trict, are stated by those who fish in them to have been
much improved by the drainage operations. The removal
of shoals has enabled the fish to ascend, and more fish have
been captured both by the net and the rod than for many
preceding years, and the salmon have reached a distance in
the upper waters before unknown. Report, 1852, p. 240.
The completion of the works under the drainage acts at
the fishing weir or cutts of Coleraine, by which the original
construction has been altered and improved, has afforded
to persons fishing in Lough Neagh and the upper wateis
an increased supply of salmon, which, while it is not moie
than equitable to the upper proprietors, will ultimately
much increase the value of the lower fisheries. 1 he eel
fisheries of the Bann are held by an Englishman, and pro¬
duce a rent of L.1150 per annum. The salmon-fisheries
of the Foyle and the Bann were taken in 1851 by a mer¬
chant in Londonderry at a rent of L.2400 per annum.
'fhe principal fishery of the Sligo district, in the towm of
Sligo, was leased in 1851 to some experienced Scotchmen,
who worked it with energy, employing during the close
season forty water-bailiffs well armed, and who afforded a
salutary protection to the breeding fish. The commis¬
sioners were informed in the ensuing spring that the capture
of large fish returning from the sea (and which otherwise
would have been destroyed in the upper waters) had even
then repaid the outlay. . f
The advantage of improving the salmon-fisheries ot
Ireland is indicated in the following notice regarding the
Bangor district. “ The supply of fish here has been very
good, and the fresh waters, many of which are occupied by
anglers who pay for their amusement, have not disappointed
the followers of the gentle art, whose visits to the wilds ot
Erris are of much more importance than may appear to a cur¬
sory observer, inasmuch as that several who have been hist
induced to visit this remote part ot the country to seek for
amusement, have either themselves become owners of land,
or induced others to purchase, and the sale of property has
been considerably assisted by this attraction. Report,
1852, p. 241.
Irish
salmon-
fisheries.
FISHERIES.
627
There is no part of Ireland more interesting, in relation
to its fisheries, than the Galway district. We there find
two great several or exclusive commercial fisheries—one at
Ballinahinch, occupied by Mr Robertson, who has been in
use to pack and preserve his fish in tin cases, for exporta¬
tion ^ to foreign countries; and another called the Galway
Fishery, which was sometime ago purchased for the sum of
L.5000 by Mr Ashworth, an English gentleman of wealth
and enterprise. The rivers Costelloe, Gowlaur, Inver, and
Spiddal are occupied by noblemen and gentlemen, who
spend the greater portion of the summer in the wilds of
Connemara, producing even by that temporary residence
great benefit to the people employed. The large lakes of
Corrib, Mask, and Ballinahinch, are open to the angling
tourist, and their being so induces many to dwell for months
by the side of those sweet waters. The navigation and
drainage operations, under the board of works, tend to de-
velope the natural resources, and consequently increase the
commercial and other value of these fisheries, by connect¬
ing the Lakes Mask and Corrib, and so enabling the fish to
ascend to the former, from which they can command an
enlarged field of spawning ground, previously unprofitable.
The clearing of rivers tributary to those lakes, and the for¬
mation of upward passes wherever natural obstructions are
found to occur, will perfect such important works. Much
benefit may be anticipated from the exertions of Mr Ash¬
worth and his local agent.
In our observations on the Scotch salmon-fisheries, we
alluded to the alleged advantage of economising the modes
by which fish are captured. This is a mixed problem in
political economy which we shall not here seek to solve.
The natural tendency in all things seems to be towards
simplification in connection with discovery or improvement
in the mechanical arts. The occupation of the copyist and
illuminator of MSS. disappeared or diminished on the spread
of printing, but probably far more printers are now em¬
ployed than were ever penmen of any kind in earlier ages.
The following is an Irish writer’s view of the bad effects of
the mechanical improvement or invention in the art of net-
fishing, that is, working by means af fixed machinery.
“ It is not only in enhancing the price of fish to an ex¬
travagant amount, and rendering the fisheries utterly insig¬
nificant compared with what they might be under other
circumstances, that the monopolists inflict the greatest in¬
jury on the people at large, but in the mode in which they
carry on those fisheries. Were the public right of fishing
in these waters allowed to be exercised, every one who
could command a rod or a net might go out and fish when
and where he liked best, and thus thousands might amuse
or employ themselves according to their tastes or neces¬
sities ; but under the present system things are managed
otherwise. In the fishing seasons the salmon go up from
the sea towards the fresh-water rivers. Instead of employ¬
ing a number of men to pursue them in boats, with nets or
lines, in their progress along the monopolised coasts, bays,
or rivers, the patentees or proprietors fix down weirs at the
narrowest points nearest the fresh-water streams, extending
generally in bays and rivers from shore to shore, and on the
coasts of the sea as far as possible into the tide. These
w'eirs secure all the salmon that attempt to pass them, and
at the ebb of the tide three or four men take them out of
the nets or chambers, and bring them ashore. Thus a weir
and three or four men deprive perhaps ten thousand people
of legitimate and profitable employment. Of the actual
numbers thus debarred from employment, the reports be¬
fore us give no return or estimate; nor have we been able,
though we have spared no efforts, to obtain any from other
sources; but, to enable the reader to form some conjecture
on the matter, we shall state the facts which have come
under our observation with regard to the only two rivers
respecting which we have been fortunate enough to ascer¬
tain any particulars of this nature. According to the report hash
of 1836, there is no part of Ireland in which the rights of salmon-
the public to fish in the sea and tidal rivers seems to be so fisheries-
well understood and generally exercised as in Wexford.
\ et the commissioners, who in this instance only conde¬
scended to hear any evidence but that of the monopolists,
adopting the statements of the fishermen, say—‘ The pre¬
sent laws appear to be very strict, and passed as if intended
to protect the employment of the fishermen from the en¬
croachment of the gentlemen and weir-owners; but it is
quite evident that these laws have remained a dead letter
for the last century. The gentlemen and managers who
should enforce them became weir-owners, and in the receipt
of large revenues therefrom, allowed the fishermen, who
were thirty years back a comfortable, well-clad, well-housed,
people, to dwindle away into wretchedness and poverty,’
though the salmon-fishery, if properly and legally managed,
would ‘ give ample and well-paid employment to one thou¬
sand five hundred people for six months of the year.’—Re¬
port, p. 66. The report does not say, but we suppose, that
the herring, mackerel, and other fisheries, would employ
them during the remaining six months. The Shannon is
214 miles long from its source to its mouth, and navigable
throughout all that extent except for a few miles between
Limerick and Killaloe, and a few miles more near its source.
It passes through several large inland lakes (one 14 miles
by 10); is affected by the tide for 64 miles; is 9 miles
wide at its mouth ; for 40 miles has an average breadth of
3 miles; and for the remaining 24 miles gradually nar¬
rows to something less than a quarter of a mile at Limerick.
About 2 miles above Limerick the corporation erected a
weir across the channel from shore to shore. This weir was
so constructed that not a salmon could pass through or over
it. Between it and the main sea the corporation would not
allow any one to fish, and between it and the source of the
Shannon they of course did not allow a salmon to appear;
and thus all the fishing in the river was confined to that one
spot, and was managed by five men, four to take the fish
out of the weir, and the fifth to kill and count them. Had
that weir been indicted and abated as a nuisance, and all
other illegal weirs and fixtures along the course of the river
been removed, and all persons been allowed to exercise their
rights of fishing, and in a lawful manner only, there would
have been ‘ ample and well-paid employment’ afforded to
at least 40,000 persons.”—Dublin Review, xi., p. 364.
A bill was introduced into the Irish parliament in 1784 for
the promotion of the Irish fisheries, and one of its clauses
provided that in each weir in the Shannon there should be
fixed a sluice or flood-gate, of six feet in width; and that
it should be left open from Saturday evening to Monday
morning to permit the fish to ascend the river to spawn.
This bill was lost, but a few years afterwards another was
brought in and passed. It provides that in every weir in
every river, and in the deepest part of that river, there
should be a passage 21 feet wide, called the “ king’s gap,” left
always open. It is said that this statute has been in most
cases disregarded by the weir-owners, and the Limerick
corporation for a long time set it at defiance, till legal pro¬
ceedings were taken against them.
Observations on the subject of bag-nets have been
made by the Inspecting Commissioners of Fisheries in
Ireland:—
“ The use of these engines still continues to be a subject
of complaint on the part of those whose interests lie inside
their sphere of action, and many allegations are made with
respect to the injury which they are said to occasion. It is
asserted by some that when they intercept the free run of
fish in their courses by the shore, seals and porpoises take
advantage of the difficulty of escape thus occasioned, and
seize them in large quantities during the confusion caused
by these impediments; while others maintain, that when
623
fisheries.
t • Vi onn nlaced near the entrance of rivers they turn the fish to sea,
StieT am^ prevent their approach to the inner water; and whde
we are disposed to concur m the latter proportion, to a
certain extent, during calm weather, and in clear water
more particularly, we are not prepared to pronounce a de¬
cided opinion one way or the other upon the correctnes, of
the former. We regret, however, to be obliged to state
that the owners of bag-nets in too many instances provoke
the hostility of rival parties by neglecting to comply with
the law in respect to weekly close season, and some more
unreasonable than others have gone the length of remon¬
strating against the enforcement of this salutary regulation ,
but in evfry instance of this nature which has come to our
knowledge we have recommended the penalties of the lav
to be inflicted, and have refused to sanction any relaxation
of its provisions with respect to removing the leaders of the
nets, Ind have on many occasions called the attention of
the coast-guards to the authority with which they are in¬
vested for the prevention of such offences. Repor,
1852, p. 239.
Having now, with greater amplitude than we intended,
discussed the subject of the salmon-fisheries in their na¬
tural, legal, and commercial bearings, we shall proceed to
the sea-fisheries, properly so called, and may as well com¬
mence with a notice of those of Ireland, so as to finish what
we have to say of the aquatic resources of that portion of
the kingdom. , „ . . ^ c
If the sea-fisheries of Ireland are defecti ve m the way' of
production, this is certainly in no way owing to any defi¬
ciency of natural supply, but rather to the industrial spirit
of the people not having been successfully and continuously
exercised. Some improvements were at one time mani¬
fested ; but the “ famine years,” instead of leading to more
active exertion, produced the contrary effect. The employ¬
ment of the people under the labour rate acts, when the
average number relieved by daily labour from Oct. 18 b
to June 1847 was 356,000 men (the prodigious host amount¬
ing at one period to 700,000 persons) however necessary it
may have been deemed at the time, had a deleterious effect.
Some scarcity of sea-fish is alleged as regards the eastern
waters, but this must be principally in those where the
poorer fishermen with insufficient gear are known to congre¬
gate ; for the English trawlers, who fish the deeper waters,
and are better appointed, make no complaints. Mr Bartlett
acknowledges a steady profit of 30 per cent, upon his out¬
lay. The Nymph Bank, off Waterford, is famous for both
the quantity and quality of its white fish. The same obser¬
vation applies to the fishery of herrings. These fish are
said to be less abundant than formerly off the Irish coasts,
but they are nevertheless met with by those boats that
stand out into deeper water.
When the establishment which had been formed by go¬
vernment in 1819, for the promotion of the Irish fisheiies,
was dissolved in 1830, it was found that around the coasts
of Ireland there were 64,771 fishermen, and 13,119 fishing-
boats. In 1836 there were, according to a carefully re¬
vised enumeration made by the officers of the coast-guard,
only 54,119 fishermen, and 10,761 boats. “ Ibis decrease,
observe the commissioners, “ of 10,652 in the number of
persons occupied in supplying fish for the markets of an
increasing population occurring so suddenly, while the con¬
sumption of all other domestic supplies has been consider¬
ably augmented, and in a period during which the markets
of Liverpool and Manchester have largely increased the de¬
mand on the industry of Irish fishers, is a lamentable fact,
too plainly indicative of much local suffering, It appears,
however, that at the appointment of the late fishery board,
the total fishing population of Ireland amounted to but
36,000, and that during the short course of its activity the
numbers increased to nearly the double. Hence it may be
inferred that the subsequent falling off must, in part at least, Irish sea-
be a result of some previous excess of stimulation ; and that series^
the bounties had indeed drawn more persons to this branch
of industry than in the then condition of the country were
really enabled to support themselves by its exercise without
government aid.”
It was found, on inquiry, that the fishermen of Ireland
generally occupied small portions of land, and often de¬
pended for subsistence on that source more than on the
sea, their condition being thus mainly determined by the
local circumstances of agriculture. Although great distress
was too frequently apparent, it was ascertained that the
well-equipped and skilful fisherman was able to support his
family, independent of the land, on a scale of comfort supe¬
rior to that of other labourers. It is now distinctly under¬
stood, from the experience of the Scotch fisheries, that
where there exists a facility of transport to large markets,
the sale of fish in a fresh state is safer, and for the most
part more profitable, than after they have been cured.
Under the existing conditions of some of the remoter coast
districts of Ireland this ready market cannot be yet ob¬
tained; and when the almost nominal price which a poor
though hard-working fisherman sometimes obtains for the
produce of his night’s labour is considered, his depression
and apparent indolence can scarcely be wondered at. The
inspecting commissioners inform us that “ fine haddocks are
now (April 1849) offered at Belmullet for 6d. per dozen.”
And Mr Wade, a person of experience, who superintends a
fishing establishment in Galway, states (in May 1855) that
a crew of four men, after having taken forty large tuibot
in a single shot of their lines, will sometimes have to iow
them to market 16 miles through a heavy sea, and sell the
whole lot for 25s. Yet, that the general quantity of fish,
whether fresh or cured, obtained from Irish fishermen is
insufficient to meet the demands of the country, is obvious
from the quantity of salt herrings imported from Scotland.
Wick herrings are found on sale in the great majority of
Irish towns, and even at places near the coast, “ almost be¬
side the living shoals.” As to other kinds of salted fish,
such as the dried kinds, the evidence from Galway shows
that the Irish fish are cured in a coarse and careless way,
and so cannot yet compete with the Scotch or English
in the foreign markets. The great success which has at¬
tended the establishment of certain stations by the British
Fishery Society, such as that of Pultney-town at Wick, in¬
dicates” the nature of some remedial measure. When steam
navigation or a railway is at hand, fresh fish at i emunerating
prices may be sent a long way to market; but even irre¬
spective of these facilities, a great deal may be done as be¬
tween an active and adventurous population on the one
hand, and a few liberal curers on the other. According to
Mr Loch, the great danger of the British Fishery Society
arose from a tendency to over-building, while almost all
that is essentially necessary to place the curer or fish mer¬
chant in a position for active operations, is a convenient and
commodious station for his work, and a weather-tight shed
for his salt and barrels. The establishment of curing sta¬
tions in favourable positions in the N.W. of Ireland has
been therefore recommended as likely to lead to advan¬
tageous results, though, considering the constitutional dif¬
ference in the character of the people, the commissioners
are cautious in anticipating any immediate sequence of
those effects which have attended the labours of the British
Fishery Society in Scotland. I hey are favourable to the
granting ofloans to fishermen in aid of building and repaii-
ing boats, and furnishing nets and other gear, a species of
benevolence which must be exercised with caution. W here
the distress to be relieved arises from disasters at sea, un¬
avoidable sickness, or temporary depression in trade, its re¬
lief may be safe, but such relief must not be suffered to
draw additional hands into an occupation already sufficiently
FISHERIES.
629
Irish sea- supplied. In Scotland the grants for the repair of boats
fisheries. an(j ajj to fishermen have been recently withdrawn, and
“V*-'' the money added to the sums applied to the erection of
piers and the improvement of harbours. In the last-named
country the curing of fish is kept as a distinct trade from
that of their capture, and the necessary advances of money
are mftde to the boatmen by the curers. The Irish com¬
missioners, probably feeling that more was expected from
them than was reasonable, have thought it their duty to
declare that the result of their most anxious inquiries has
been a full persuasion that no means can be proposed for
obtaining, by any summary process, so desirable an event
as a sudden amelioration of the Irish fisheries. “ The pro¬
gress of a gradual improvement may indeed be assisted
and hastened by certain measures, in which the government
might beneficially co-operate; but a real and permanent
prosperity can only be effected by the hearty endeavours of
individuals and bodies locally interested, who, from good
motives or trading enterprise, may seize favourable oppor¬
tunities and apply means for the purpose-”
It is obvious from the form of Ireland, her deeply in¬
dented creeks and spacious bays, that that great island pre¬
sents an extraordinary range of coast compared with her
actual area. She is therefore surrounded by a proportion¬
ally greater and more easily accessible supply of food. The
denseness, notwithstanding the recent exodus, of her popu¬
lation, her improved commercial facilities, increasing com¬
mand of markets, and stronger infusion of the Saxon blood,
would seem to hold out a fair prospect of a remunerating
trade. From what is known of her natural resources, it
might have been imagined that Ireland would not only fur¬
nish an ample supply of fish for home consumption, but
such a superabundance as would meet and satisfy a foreign
demand. But the actual fact is the reverse of this—the
quantity captured around her coasts falling far short of the
requirements even of her own ill-fed inhabitants. “ And
during the height of the late terrible famine, when it might
have been thought that a people curtailed in the fruits of
the land would have availed themselves of those afforded
by the sea, one of those anomalous contrasts so frequently
occurring in the history of Ireland was presented,—the im¬
plements for capture were powerless in the hands of the
poor,—the food itself rotted in masses for want of the means
to preserve it, and the country obtained its chief supply of
an article, the use of which is enjoined by the prevalent
creed, from the industry of another people.” Hore’s Inquiry,
p. 123. It certainly became the duty of our rulers (and
one which was munificently responded to) to enlarge the
means of life to a nation undoubtedly afflicted, from what¬
ever cause, by “ a desolation wider than any recorded in
history, or shadowed forth by tradition.” Report of Com^
mittee on Poor Laws (Ireland). 1849, p. 301.
It was observed that no branch of the industrial resources
of Ireland suffered more severely, in the first instance, from
the deep distress of the years 1846-7, than the fisheries,—
both those of inland waters and the deep sea. It is re¬
corded by the Irish commissioners of public works, that in
the autumn of 1846, when the impending famine was cer¬
tain in all its horrors, and when deaths from starvation had
already occurred, supplies of fish, the most abundant which
had been known for years, existed on many parts of the
coast, and that on portions of the southern and western
shores, large quantities of fish were allowed to rot, or were
even scattered as “ dung upon the earth.” I his extra¬
ordinary state of things is supposed to have resulted partly
from a prejudice against the use of fish as a dietary, with¬
out potatoes, partly from the utter prostration and distress If1811 s03--
which the want of food produced (and which compelled the fisheiieb-
coast population to dispose of their boats, tackle, and all
other gear and implements of future earnings, that they
might maintain existence), but mainly from tl.e fact, that
the fisheries of Ireland, however valuable and important, are
not settled or assured on the solid basis of an established
trade, nor followed or maintained as a real commercial un¬
dertaking for the profit which they would directly yield.
Whilst the sea-fisheries were thus injuriously affected by
the withdrawal of boats and tackle, left to rot upon the
shore, or in pawn-offices, or by the fishermen themselves
resorting to the more sure and immediate means presented
by the public works, and to soup-kitchens for the bare sup¬
port of life,—the inland fisheries were materially injured by
the increased infringement of the laws passed for their pro¬
tection and improvement. The poor and suffering people
thus appear to have left undone the fishing work to which
they ought to have attended, and to have attended to that
with which they had no right to intermeddle. “ 1 he fact
of great numbers of persons dying from want of food (or
such profitable employment as would enable them to buy
it) along the shores of a sea abounding in fish, and which
was calculated to afford remunerative employment in its
production, has established beyond all controversy the ne¬
cessity for permanently developing and relying upon the
fisheries in this country as a source of industry and trade,
and consequently of food.” Sixteenth Annual Report of the
Commissioners of Public Works.
This total derangement in the social condition of the
great mass of the coast population, occasioned by the fa¬
mine of 1846, rendered it impossible, through the existing
registry of boats, to arrive at any calculation even approxi¬
mating to accuracy regarding the number of men or ves¬
sels engaged in the fisheries. Boats lay upon the beaches
unemployed and abandoned, not immediately ceasing to
exist, but by degrees mouldering to decay, while ownership
in many cases was denied, lest this test being applied, might
debar the parties concerned from receiving gratuitous re¬
lief. The following abstract exhibits the number of ves¬
sels, men, and boys upon the register in 1845 before the
famine, and the number afterwards ascertained approxi¬
mately for 1849:—
Before the
famine.
Number of vessels and boats of all 1845.
classes  19,883
Number of men and boys em¬
ployed   93,073
In relation to the preceding, the inspecting commissioners
state that they have reason to fear the decrease is under¬
rated. It has since been ascertained that it is greatly so,
and that the falling off both in boats and men is much
larger than above stated.
The establishment of the government curing stations at
Inniscoe, Kyllebegs, Belmullet, Roundstone, Valentia, Cas¬
tletown, and Baltimore, has been of as much benefit as
could, under the circumstances, have been anticipated, and
although the commercial winding-up of such undertakings
may not exhibit a profitable pecuniary result, yet in an
educational point of view, and as examples of an ameliorated
system, and a higher standard, much may have been gained.
The actual extent of business transacted is, in such cases,
of less consequence than the production and exhibition of
an improved article, and an opportunity to those who desire
training to acquire a better and more thrifty mode of ma¬
nagement.1 Fish being an article that pays no rent,—a
Since the
famine.
1849.
15,247
68,380
4,636
24,693
1 The experiment was tried by making a loan of L.5000 from the Reproductive Loan Society, and considering the nature of the
country and its people, that seven stations were formed, buildings, smoking-houses, and others, required for the trade erected, agents,
fish-curers, and rents paid, salt, tackle, and other articles imported, and numerous people employed at full wages, and a sum of L.900
returned in a season or two to the Lords of the Treasury, surely a beneficial purpose was obtained.
Several adverse circumstances attended these humane endeavours. The people at Inniscoe were so weak and depressed as to be almost
FISHERIES.
630
Irish sea- free gift as it were of nature to its captor, it might be
fisheries, thought that the occupation of the fisherman would be
equal to itself, and require no artificial fostering from with¬
out. Yet many nations have made powerful efforts to
create or increase their fisheries, and some of them in vain.
Sir Charles Morgan assumes that the solution of this seem¬
ing paradox lies in the perishable nature of the commodity,
and the consequent disproportion between the cost of tak¬
ing, and that of preserving and conveying it to the distant
market. To transport fish in a fresh condition so rapidly
enhances its price, that at a small distance from the sea it
becomes an article of luxury, and its market is restricted
accordingly. Only inferior kinds can be offered for sale at
such prices as permit their being used extensively as articles
of ordinary food, and these kinds are so low in their nutri¬
tive qualities, and so much less tempting to the palate, than
what is commonly called animal food, that people who can
afford to purchase butcher meat will not consume much
fish. Except during occasional large supplies of fresh
mackerel and herrings, the artisans of London but rarely
purchase fresh fish, and the cured or salted sorts they seem
almost entirely to decline. We believe, however, that the
abundant supplies of fresh fish, at a diminished price, which
are now, by means of railways, poured daily into the great
commercial cities of the south, have increased the inclina¬
tion towards that pleasant and salubrious food.
“ To obtain,” says Sir Charles Morgan, “ an extensive
sale for this article, it is for the most part necessary that it
should be subjected to the processes of curing, and ren¬
dered capable of conveyance to far-distant markets. But
the curing of fish, while it implies a considerable degree of
art and some outlay of capital, so far decreases the estima¬
tion of the commodity in consumption, that salt fish usually
finds a still less ready market than fresh, and in thriving
communities it is consumed only by the poorest population,
and at times when better articles of diet are scarce and in¬
accessible. The general use of even the best kinds is very
much confined to Catholic countries, and depends rather
on a dogma of religion than on a principle of political eco¬
nomy.
“ Fish, therefore, must be an object of commerce very
readily liable to over-production, and sudden fluctuations in
the quantity taken greatly increase the difficulty of main¬
taining a proper ratio between demand and supply. The
fish market is constantly varying between extreme points
of glut and scarcity ; and the necessary consequence must
be a low average profit to those engaged in its capture.
“ The fisheries, as an object of national importance, de¬
pend altogether on a demand for the salted article, and
that too in some more extensive market than the immediate
neighbourhood of the fisheries ordinarily affords. Before
such a market is found and rendered accessible, it is to no
purpose that fish abound. They exist in the sea, as good
land lies in the back settlements of America. Both are
susceptible of supplying the wants of man; but both are
useless through their distance from a centre of distribution.
Again, the most productive fishing grounds of the British
Islands happen to lie principally off remote and ill-inha¬
bited coasts, and before they can become extensively avail¬
able to the native population, capital and industry must seek
them out, and bring to the spot all the materials for curing
and for fishing on a large scale. But in a climate tolerably Irish sea-
genial, such a mode of investing capital would hardly be fisheries,
adopted, until the demands of agriculture and manufacture
were tolerably satisfied.
“ Accordingly, it was the Dutch who, having little land
to cultivate, and being dependent almost exclusively on
commerce for subsistence, were the first to render the
fisheries a staple of national industry ; and they are still the
only nation who have very largely depended on that species
of wealth for the source of their prosperity. For England,
from its earliest commercial existence, capital has found
ample sources of investment without embarking largely in
the fisheries. Although its waters abound in fish, the
trade for ages was very nearly confined to the supply of
the local markets ; and it was not until the time of the
Stuarts that the fisheries excited public attention ; when,
owing to the political jealousies then commencing between
England and Holland, the desire was formed of depriving
the Dutch of their herring trade, and of thus crippling her
warlike resources.
“ In this anxiety to injure an enemy, the nation did not
advert to the different situations of the two countries; but
rushing at once into a cumbrous and expensive scheme for
becoming impromptu fishermen, they entered blindfold upon
a series of experiments, from which even now they are not
totally disengaged. The eagerness of the nation to jump to
the desired conclusion would not brook the naturally slow
development of the trade, but strove by monopolies and
privileges, by bounties, &c., to force it into a precocious
maturity. The result was (as might have been foreseen) re¬
iterated failure; and it was not till the war of the French
revolution had utterly annihilated the Dutch commerce,
that a real opening was made for the profitable investment
of British capital in this branch of industry. To these
causes of failure, which circumscribed the growth of the
British fisheries, others peculiar to Ireland may be added.
Besides the necessity imposed on the latter country of
following in the career of the former, two circumstances
may have been active in drawing the attention of Ireland
to the resources of its waters. 1st. The neglected state of
the manufactures, and consequent want of employment;
and, 2ndly, the periodical recurrence of local famines. The
latter, more especially, could not fail to excite the attention
of the public by the dreary contrast it presented between
starvation on shore, and an abundant supply of food exist¬
ing in the neighbouring sea; a supply which wanted only
to be taken to become available to the wretched peasantry.
Accordingly, the money raised by charitable subscriptions has
more than once been spent in equipping the coast popula¬
tion to become fishers ; and legislative efforts have been
made to attain the same end, in a more permanent way.”
The following were the instructions issued to the govern¬
ment agent at each of the established curing stations
already named.1 1. To afford employment and fair
remuneration to the fishermen, by purchasing the fish
which they may take, thus ensuring to them, as far a?
possible, a steady daily market. 2. By a regular market
to promote an increased capture of fish, and thus provide
an additional quantity of cheap food for the country. 3.
To render that food valuable and available to the fullest
extent, by adopting such modes of cure as may be required
incapable of exertion ; and as soon as the potato planting commenced, the fishermen all abandoned the fishing at the very season when
their operations would have been followed by the greatest success.
An unfortunate circumstance happened at Belmullet after the opening of that station, when the fishermen had been for some time
delivering large quantities of fish. A body of them residing at a place called Tip plundered a vessel laden with flour,—they were arrested
m the act by the coast guards, and thirteen curraghs, with their crews of four men each, were brought into Belmullet. The men were
confined in prison for several months, and the curraghs, of course, detained, “ which was necessarily a great impediment to the success
the station.” !
1 That a set of cooper’s tools could not be found in Ireland suitable to making the vessels required in fish-curing is an evidence of the
backward state in which the fisheries remained, considered commercially. A few skilled coopers, with the necessary implements, have
been sent from Scotland.
FISHERIES. 631
Irish sea- to preserve it; and such also as will suit the demands for
fisheries, its use either near the coasts, or in markets of the in-
terior.
There was reason to expect, according to the commis¬
sioners’ report for 1845, that the construction of railways in
Ireland would impart new life and vigour to the fisheries,
especially those on the western coast, where, although the
choicest description of fish are found in great abundance,
yet the fishermen are indifferent if not opposed, to the
adoption of improved modes of capture, chiefly from want
of sufficient and remunerative markets for their disposal.
“ From some parts of the south of Ireland an export to
the English markets of superior kinds of ‘ flat fish,’ packed
in ice, has already commenced ; and from the whole of
the north, east, south, and south-west coast, very large
quantities of salmon are shipped, having previously af¬
forded extensive employment to great numbers of persons
engaged in their capture, preparation, carriage, procuring
of ice, and packing, &c. The progress of improvement in
the fisheries of Ireland is doubtless materially checked by
want of small piers and harbours on the coast; and we are
of opinion that every reasonable encouragement and assist¬
ance should continue to be afforded, with a view to remedy
this palpable evil, in conjunction with an improved organisa¬
tion of system in the collection of local funds applicable to
the same purpose.”
Some have advocated the supply of suitable boats, rig¬
ging, &c., by means of grants or loans, through the in¬
strumentality of government, seeing that for a great extent
round the north-west coast of Ireland, very few first-class
fishing-boats, suitable for deep-sea fishing, are to be found.
In one district (Report for 1845) containing 52 miles of
coast, there was only one such boat registered, while, in
another of 174 miles of extent, there was not a single sea¬
going boat. The most effectual remedies, and those now
advocated, and successfully practised in Scotland, are the
erection of additional and more commodious piers and har¬
bours, for the encouragement and protection of men and
boats, the opening of markets for the disposal of produce,
and an increase in the means of communication.
In the commissioners’ twentieth annual report (of date
August 1852), we are informed that the opening of the
railway from Dublin to Galway has given great stimulus to
the fresh fish market there, and large supplies of sea-fish
and lobsters have been sent to Dublin and the English mar¬
kets by that route. They look forward to much greater
results so soon as certain local prejudices regarding trawl¬
ing, and the improved modes of capture, gradually yield to
the influence of a regular daily market, and remunerating
prices. The branch from the Dublin and Cork railway to
Kilkenny, and the completion of the line between \\ ater-
ford and Limerick, Waterford and Kilkenny, with the in¬
creasing steam navigation from these ports, have opeiated
in giving a new and increased value to the fisheries of the
south and west coasts. It is regretted that the county of
Sligo, and the greater portion of Mayo and Donegal, have
no immediate prospect of such advantages, although they
possess some of the finest fishing banks off their coasts, but.
require railway communication as the primary means of
developing their industrial resources, by placing them more
upon an equality with the rest of the kingdom. The gra¬
dual junction and completion of the northern Irish railways,
and the daily steam communication from the ports to Eng¬
land and Scotland, have already afforded to those quarters
the advantages referred to.
The deep-sea fishing of Ireland is carried on chiefly by
means of long lines called spilliards, better known as spil-
lets on the western coast. The species taken by that mode
are cod, haddock, ling, hake, conger, and dog-fish. Very
large haddocks, said to weigh from 15 pounds and upwards,
are caught off Clew Bay, on the Innishay banks, but they
are in bad condition by the time they reach the markets of Irish sea-
Newport and Westport. The ling and cod are also very fishenes.
fine. The spilliard line has generally a length of 210 or
220 fathoms, with hooks fastened to it by snowding lines
of nearly two fathoms in length, at a fathom’s distance be¬
tween each snowding. There are thus 200 baited hooks
on each spilliard, one spilliard is a man’s share, and every
boat carries five spilliards, or 1000 hooks. These, alter
being baited, are arranged in a basket in circular rows,
and "the line is set by the boat being rowed over the
fishing ground, the hooks descending over the side, and
dropping into the sea without entanglement, as the line
veers out. If the fish are biting freely, the first hooks are
lifted immediately after the last are laid, but it is the more
frequent practice to let them lie from six to twelve hours
in the water. The bait is usually small pieces of fish of
about an inch square, and half an inch in thickness. The
conger eel is the most successful kind in use upon the
western coasts. I he mussel is the best bait for haddocks,
lug-worms (much in favour with flat-fish), and the inha¬
bitant of the scollop shell, are also had recourse to. In
many places there is a scarcity of bait, and consequently a
difficulty in obtaining it,—an inconvenience also experienced
on the Scottish coasts. These spilliard lines are partially
supported by buoys, placed at long intervals, made of dog
skins filled with air, and called watchmen by the natives.
Mr Brabazon informs us, as an example of what may be
achieved in this way, that in the early part of 1847 three
boats left Port Rush, and went round to the western coast
to try the long line fishing. They returned, after an absence
of seven weeks, with a cargo of thirty-six long hundred (of
six score) of ling (that is 3600 fish), which they sold for 8d.
a piece, independent of a supply of cod, hake, conger, and
six barrels of oil to each boat, taken from the cleanings.
These people green-salt their own fish. Four men split
and gut them, two men wash them in a trough full of pickle,
and as soon as they are clean, two men carry them up the
beach, and lay them out on rocky or stony places, free from
sand. They are afterwards packed up in large square piles
upon the beach, being covered with a tarpauling in wet
weather, and also at night to keep off the dew as well as
rain. The Rush fishermen have eighteen score of hooks
to each man’s share of line, and they have a buoy at the end
of every share. The lines are shot in succession from the
boat, according to lots previously drawn from a hat, if they
have one. They are shot across the tide, which keeps them
clear, for when dropped with the tide the lines are apt to
bunch up, and so get foul. They dare not shoot them in
stormy weather, as the friction on the buoy line produced
by the rolling at the surface would cut them across, and the
rubbing against the bottom is also injurious. This fishing
is usually practised over rough and rocky ground, or in water
too deep for trawling. It occasions great fatigue to the men,
who have to go to and from the scene of operations, in small
row-boats, every day. To remedy this inconvenience va¬
rious plans have been suggested, especially the establish¬
ment of fishing companies, with large vessels, well sup¬
plied, and capable of standing out at sea till a full cargo
is obtained.
“ A company,” says Mr Brabazon, “ undertaking the Irish
fisheries for profit, at the same time that they gave remu¬
nerative wages, and afforded the fishermen of the coast a
certain medhljn price for their fish, whether there was a
glut of fish in the market or a scarcity, would be the best
way of improving the condition of the people along the west
coast, and certainly lessen the effects of famine with which
they are so often visited, by the failure of their crops. The
company should establish stations along the coast; say they
began with three, one at Kyllebegs, one at Newport Pratt,
and one at the Shannon mouth, it would be found that when
vessels could procure a cargo of cured fish without delay at
FISHERIES.
632
Irish sea- the company’s stores, it would create an extensive trade with
fisheries, the west of Ireland in fish, corn, coals, and salt. Each sta-
V—^ tion should have a store, curing house, and ice-house at¬
tached to it. From the store at Ballyshannon, I would send
the fresh fish packed in ice, and also cured fish by water
carriage through the Enniskillen lakes, and by the Ulster
Canal on to Belfast, supplying all the intermediate towns
and interior of the country, giving a great deal of employ¬
ment to the owners of carrier boats at so much per ton
freight, and have it sold by agents at different localities
through the interior, who would be paid by a percentage on
the sales. Upon the same principle, the fish from the sta¬
tion at the Shannon mouth could be sent up the Shannon
per steamer, and on to Dublin, taking advantage of the
cheap water carriage afforded by the canal. The company
could either have their own boats for carriage, or give that
employment to the carrier boats already established on these
lines.
“ The chief expense to the company would be a fleet of
three or more large \yherries or schooners of about 150 tons
burthen at each station, and a tender of 50 tons. They
could attend all the fisheries, herrings, long-lines, sun-fish¬
ing, and trawling, at their different seasons. I would pre¬
fer wherries to cutters, as they have not the great weight of
masts that cutters have, the weight being divided, which
would make them work much easier in the heavy rolling
seas of the Atlantic, nor have they the great weight of
boom of a cutter, which takes up a good deal of room, and
requires many hands to work in stormy weather; they are
also much easier made snug in a short time in a heavy
burst of bad weather, or white squalls, so common on the
west coast of Ireland ; also from their having, a long line of
low canvas, when close reefed they can beat into shore in
any gale, when a cutter, from her narrow taut trisail, would
make a bad hand of it. One fact in favour of the wherry
rig is, that there is a wherry in Howth (the Bull) of 40 tons
burthen, which on several occasions carried the mail-bags
across to Holyhead in the days of the sailing packets, which
were fine cutters of 70 tons, but which could not put to sea
in such weather. They have a great advantage as trawlers
in the act of jibing, which they often go through while shoot¬
ing their trawl. The expense of each of these vessels would
be about L.1000, fully found with trawling gear, long lines
and hooks, herring nets, harpoons and lines, and two good
whale boats for each vessel, so that they could attend each
fishery in its season. These vessels should be manned by
a crew consisting of a skipper, mate, or store-keeper, three
men and a boy, who should have charge of the vessel and
never leave her. I would take crews of the coast fisher¬
men for the whale boats, that is, two crews for each boat out
to the fishing ground, and maintain them on board until the
vessel had her cargo of fish caught, then return to the sta¬
tion, discharge her cargo into the store, take in fresh pro¬
visions and water, and go to sea again. These vessels could
run out to the fishing ground with the crews of the whale
boats on board, a crew could then man each of the boats,
and shoot their lines from them ; while the two spare crews
on board could also shoot their lines over the vessel’s side,
when the crews of the whale boats lifted their lines and
came on board to take off the fish, and rebait the first lines
shot, the spare crews could man the boats and lift the lines
that had been shot from the vessel. Thus each boat’s crew Irish sea-
could make three or four shots of as many sets of spilliard fisheries,
lines as belonged to each crew in the day, as they would
not be fatigued with rowing or sailing fifteen or twenty
miles to the fishing ground, but leave the vessel’s side fresh
after their meals. During the time they were fishing, the
vessel could beat up to windward and shoot her trawl, which
would keep her under such easy way that the boats could
make her at any time. If there was a great take of fish,
and fine weather, these vessels could tow out four or five of
the shore boats with their crews also, sell them what provi¬
sions they might require, and buy their fish at so much per
cwt., and give it a partial salting onboard,—what the North
Sea fishermen term green-salting, that is, in case of their
being delayed at sea. Then on Saturday evening run into
the station, land their cargo, replenish the ship’s stores, and
run out again to their fishing ground on Monday morning.
It is only by fishing with large vessels of this class that the
great difficulties presented by the storms of the Atlantic,
and the mountain tempests of the Irish coast, can be suc¬
cessfully contended with.” 1
This scheme of a commercial fishing company for the
advantageous development, in favour of all concerned, of the
marine resources of Ireland, is advocated and explained in
a more recent work.2 Galway is recommended for the
headquarters of the company, as combining all the advan¬
tages requisite for success. It is situate at the head of a
magnificent fishing bay, thirty miles long and seven milea
broad, in which almost every sort of fishing may be carried
on throughout the year in its respective season. It is like¬
wise in the centre of a district of coast abounding with fish
and bait of every kind, with good harbours, and a fishing
population of 7297 men, 497 boys, with 1818 boats, while
there are extensive salmon and white trout rivers, from
which these fish may be obtained on advantageous terms.
There is a considerable local demand for both fresh and
cured fish, especially for the somewhat coarser kind, which
do not so surely pay the expense of distant carriage ; there
are capacious docks, with storeage and curing houses to any
extent desired, at a moderate rent, with cheap markets for
provisions, and a railway station within six hours of Dublin,
eighteen of Birmingham, and twenty of London. 1 he craft
recommended are, vessels from seventy-five to eighty tons,
some of them to be fitted with wells for keeping fish, lob¬
sters, and bait alive ; also a smaller class of vessels of from
twenty-five to thirty tons for the drift-net fishing, and a
class of row-boats, from thirty to thirty-five feet long for
the bay herring and mackerel fishing, and for working the
seine nets. Lastly, a fore-and-aft schooner well-boat, with
an auxiliary screw propeller, to be employed in carrying
fish from the vessels on the banks, or the stock purchased
at the stations along the coast.3 She would prove a va¬
luable auxiliary in towing the vessels or drift-net boats to^
the fishing grounds in light weather, and in the capture ot
sun-fish, which generally show themselves during. calms.
Commander Symonds concludes his pamphlet by the fol¬
lowing resume, p. 55.
1. That the waters of the west coast of Ireland abound
with cod, turbot, soles, lobsters, and other fish of the finest
quality. 2. That the w^ant of success which has heretofore
attended any development of these fisheries, has arisen from
1 The Deep Sea and Coast Fisheries of Ireland, with suggestions for the working of a Fishing Company. By Wallop Brabazon, Esq.
Dublin: 1848.
2 Observations on the Fisheries of the West Coast of Ireland, having reference more particularly to the operations of the London and est of
Ireland Fishing Company. By Thomas Edward Symonds, Commander, R.N. London: 1855.
In the construction of the above vessels it will be necessary to effect such a combination of form and rig as will render their adap¬
tation to different modes of fishing both facile and expeditious. They should unite considerable speed with average stowage and good
accommodation for the men, and have the least possible amount of gear and rigging, so as to keep down wear and tear. Ihese advan¬
tages may be readily combined in fore-and-aft schooners, similar to those the Americans use in the South Sea seal-fishery, which are
splendid sea boats; this rig is admirably adapted to the west coast of Ireland, which, in common with all mountainous coasts, is sub¬
ject to sudden and heavy squalls when the wind is off shore, the sails and spars being lighter and more easily handled than those of a
cutter of half the tonnage.”-—Symonds, p. 12.
FISHERIES.
633
Irish sea- the inadequacy of the capital and means employed. 3. That
fisheries, there is in London alone a demand for fish exceeding in
-v—^ quantity anything which could be imagined by those who
have no practical experience in the matter. 4. That the
regular supply of fish to the principal markets in better con¬
dition than has hitherto been accomplished, and at a lower
price, fnust necessarily create a more extended demand.
5. That the application of steam in the manner suggested,
and which forms one of the main features of the London
and West of Ireland Fishery Company, is an element of
the highest importance in an undertaking of this kind,
and, combined with the favourable arrangements which
will be made with railway companies, will save the loss of
time which has- heretofore occurred, and consequently the
enormous loss occasioned between the quantity of fish
caught, and the quantity capable of being delivered at the
markets in good condition. 6. 1 hat the application of a
process for converting the coarse fish, and the refuse at the
different curing stations, into manure or fish guano, will it¬
self form a valuable source of revenue, by turning to profit¬
able account that which is now thrown away. 7. ihat the
application of capital on the west coast of Ireland, in a na¬
tional point of view, must be attended with most beneficial
effect on the national industry of the country, and the con¬
version of the waste fish into manure must also be hailed
as a boon to the agricultural interests.
The fishermen of the western shores of Ireland, however
uninstructed in many things, are said to understand their
own vocation well, at least so far as hook-fishing is con¬
cerned. What they chiefly want are more regular markets
to induce and reward continuous labour. Their boats are,
however, too often “ ill-found,” being very deficient in sails,
rigging, and fishing gear. Mr Brabazon mentions, that
scarcely one crew in every ten in Clew Bay have fishing
tackle, but believes if they were supplied with the requisite
materials at a moderate price, they would bring ashore
great store of fish. The distress among the fishermen of
the east coast, he thinks, is chiefly caused by the spawn
upon the fishing banks being destroyed by trawlers, while
on the west coast their poverty arises from the want of
markets or demand for fish. “ The fishermen often see
the west coast crammed with fine fish, when they could take
tons of them at a haul, or shot, with a deep seine oi diift-
net, but when caught they would be useless, as they could
neither salt nor sell them. I have been told by an in¬
specting officer of the coast guard, that he has seveial times
seen herrings on the coast of Donegal sold for lOd. per
1000, which would make two barrels of herrings, worth in
Dublin L.2, 10s. Different persons, to whom I have talked
about the fisheries on the west coast, expressed a doubt that
bait could be found in sufficient quantity to carry on an ex¬
tensive fishery. I have never felt a doubt upon this point,
as any fisherman will tell you, that wherever there is a.fish
there is a bait, as the fish are the bait in case a less expen¬
sive one cannot be obtained; but there is always a mixture
of inferior fish fit for bait in the same shoal with prime fish.”
The boats which prosecute the herring-fishery off the
western coasts of Ireland are very inadequately provided,
especially as regards the smallness of their train of nets.
Each train is generally composed of from six to ten parts
called slings, and a sling is about 25 fathoms in length.
The Galway and west coast nets are 6 score of meshes (about
9 feet) deep, while our Scotch nets are at least 15 score, or
22 feet deep. Thus the Irish nets are so narrow, that large
shoals of fish can easily pass beneath them, even in a mo¬
derate depth of water, where a Scotch net would stop the
passage and mesh the fish. I he Irish nets are generally
attached to what is called the back rope, and the buoys have
seldom more line attached to them than suffices to secure
them to that rope. Thus the upper edge or line of the net
is necessarily always at or close upon the surface, as there
VOL. IX.
are no means of lowering it, however deep below the fish Irish sea-
may be. But the St Ives men and our Scotch fishers, be- s eri^8‘y
sides having deeper nets, can let them sink by lengthening
the buoy ropes, which are fastened at intervals to the back
rope, or that called the spring-back, which runs along the
whole length of the train, and is strong and thick from its
fastening at the boat to about the centre of the train, and
lighter from that centre to the farther end. 1 he buoy ropes
are several fathoms in length, so that the nets can be de¬
pressed from, or raised towards the surface, according as
the shoal of fish is high or low.
That the herring-fishery might be made of great value
to Ireland is evident from the fact, that her people fre¬
quently import above 100,000 barrels of that fish f rom Scot¬
land. It is alleged that a great falling off has taken place
in the herring-fishery of Ireland for ten or twelve years (piior
to 1850). Formerly abundant supplies were frequently ob¬
tained upon the west and south coasts, purchasers fiom
Scotland and elsewhere attended, and a trade existed upon
a large scale, of great importance to the country. It is not
improbable that the fish are still upon the coast, although
they may not now embay in the same places as fbimerly.
Changes of this kind have been noted as occurring off the
western isles of Scotland, especially about St lloag and
other stations on the outer shores of the Long Island, in the
bays of which herrings, now rare, once abounded. But there
is no doubt, that a fair fishing harvest • is still reaped from
year to year, by others than the nativesp>off several portions
of the Irish coast. A herring-fishery is uniformly prosecuted
off the east coast of Ireland, whither a fleet of between 200
and 300 vessels, chiefly Cornish, annually repairs, and for
several weeks is continuously and profitably occupied in
the capture of these prized fish, for the supply of the Dublin
and Liverpool markets. The commissioners (in their Report
for 1851) remark, that the only really important herring-
fishery which came under their observation in a concentiated
form, was most abundant. 11 Our Cornish neiglibours, this
year, have visited Howth and Kingstown in increased num¬
bers, and with unusual success. I hey have had an excellent
season, a fair take, and good prices.” These results seem
all that fishermen can reasonably look for here below.
Many of these fish, after coming into the hands of Scotch
or English curers, are shipped to Dublin and other Irish
ports, and sold there at from 26s. to 30s. per barrel. It is^
clear that if cured upon the spot, they might be disposed of
at an equal profit to the producer, and at a great leouction
to the consumer.
In regard to the natural abundance of Irish fish, we may
here quote from a report made in December 1853, by Mr
Howard, a gentleman who has been fishing the North Sea
and coast of Norway in welled vessels during these last
thirty years, for the supply of the London markets with live
fish and lobsters.
“ Having proceeded all round the southern coast from
Cork to Breahaven, and from my own inspection, and from
what I heard from persons of all classes, I have no hesita¬
tion in saying, both as regards quantity and quality, the
banks off the coast and the Irish shores are richer in fish of
all descriptions than those of any country I have evei seen.
I spent a day and night at Kinsale—the only place in the
south of Ireland where the fishings are carried on to any
extent. There are, I think, about forty hookers, the largest
only thirty tons. These being only half-decked could not
with safety, I conceive, live in a heavy sea; and as not one
of them has a well, the fish are killed as soon as captured,
and daily brought on shore; and I am further convinced
from the inspection of all the fishing gear, that not half the
quantity are taken that might be, if the hookers were
equipped in an efficient manner. I saw the fish on the
morning of the 29th, when landing from the vessels ; the
cod, haddock, and ling, were very prime,—the haddock, I
4 L
634 FISHERIES.
Irish sea- am convinced, the finest in the world. I proceeded along
fisheries, the coast to Crookhaven, Bantry, and Breahaven; at every
^ place we found the fact corroborated as to the abundance
of fish; but, except a few small boats in Glandore, Balti¬
more, and Breahaven, there were none to be heard of, as^
the fishing has nearly ceased from 1847, in consequence of
famine, emigration, and no market for the fish, if taken. On
returning from Breahaven to Bantry, we came by boat, and
literally rowed across that fine bay through a bank of her¬
rings ; and I feel confident that with nets, such as those
used in Scotland, the Isle of Man, or on the Cornish coast,
40,000 barrels might have been taken that night; in fact,
the whole coast was swarming with them, and^ it properly
fished, would rival Scotland in her annual take.”
The following relates to the produce of the Galway coast.
“ The Claddagh fishermen have been blessed by Provi¬
dence with an abundant harvest, in their line, this wreek.
On Wednesday night the boats were actually laden to re¬
pletion with herrings. They had scarcely reached the road¬
stead, going out to [ay their nets, when the shoal met them,
swimming against the sides of the boats, and under the
clear and beautiful moonlight, illuminating the bright waters
as though it was a sea of silver on which they floated. Next
morning the cargoes were sold, but not at a price equiva-
valent to their value: 17s. per 1000 was the highest figure,
and from that down to 14s.
“ The herrings were remarkably fine, some of them being
nearly of the size of bream or mullet. The quantity of hake,
cod, and other fish taken, was unusually large; and if pro¬
per sources for the sale of it were available, the fishermen
would be well rewarded for the risk and labour they under¬
go. Very fine hake or cod fish hawked about would be
bought for a penny or twopence a-piece.”—Saunder’s News
Letter, 6th November 1854.
The western coast of Ireland has, moreover, like Yar¬
mouth, and our own Firth of Forth, the advantage of a re¬
gular irinter herring fishery, which, if assiduously prose¬
cuted, and with the aid of a screw-steamer, in addition to
the railways, might be made very profitable, during a sea¬
son which admits of a lengthened journey, with little dimi¬
nution of freshness. The fish are of great size, and when
in full season fourteen of them are said to weigh a stone.
They make their appearance in December, and generally
remain for about ten weeks. They may be often purchased,
in any quantity, at from 10s. to 15s. per long thousand,
while in a great city market they would probably realize in
retail from 6s. to 8s. a hundred.
The cod and ling fishery of Ireland may be prosecuted
during ten months of the year, being divisible into the early
or in-shore fishing, and the late or distant fishing. From
the month of November until the middle of March the cod
fish are in prime condition. In May 1853, Captain May of
the coast guard at Clifden, county of Mayo, stated that a
person of the name of Butler of that place was absent for
three days in a small hooker of five tons, with four men,
and returned with forty dozen of fine ling. In December
1854, a row-boat, with eight men belonging to Cleggan, in
Mayo, took fifty dozen in nine days, besides a quantity of
other fish. It has been inferred that if these quantities are
not unfrequently taken in a desultory manner by ill-equipped
vessels, a much larger capture would reward those who pur¬
sued the fishing in a more systematic and efficient manner.
There are great quantities of turbot on the west coast of
Ireland. They often cut up these fine fish/or bait for their
long lines. Boys will wade into the water with small spillet
lines, and with these they will take from fifteen to twenty
chicken, or young turbot, at a cast. Haddocks abound, and
ir kept alive in welled boats, so as to reach the London
market undeteriorated, would fetch a high price. In the
west, according to Commander Symonds, they are of great
size, and when fresh and in fine order, are even superior to
the celebrated Dublin Bay haddocks. The soles are said Irish sea-
to be equal to those of Torbay, and may be taken in lai'ge fisheries,
quantities at Dingle, and many other places, as well as in
the deep sea. Hake fishing begins in June and ends in
November in Galway Bay, and during that time from 500
to 1000 are usually taken in a haul of five or six hours in
the trawl-net. Dory, brill, holibut, are abundant. Large
mackerel are driven into Arran (thirty miles off) by the sun-
fish in spring, but a smaller kind swarm in Galway Bay in
June. Sprat fishing is followed chiefly for the sake of the
oil, and the fish themselves are bought at a cheap rate by the
poor people after the oil has been expressed. The quantity
is almost unlimited. From August to Christmas last (1854),
they may be said to have existed in a solid mass both within
and outside the Galway docks, and on several nights they
rose to the surface in such numbers that the people took
them up in hampers, which they filled to the brim at a single
dip. A person totally unacquainted with trade was induced
to expend L.250 in the purchase of sprats, from which four
thousand gallons of oil were made, worth about two shillings
per gallon, or L.400. “ After expressing the oil,” says Sy¬
monds, “ nearly 300 tons were sold for food, the proceeds
of which covered all expenses.” The selling price, in the
fresh state, is from six to ten shillings per ton. Lobsters
are very plentiful along the west and north-west coasts of
Ireland. Large welled boats are sent from London and
other English ports, and purchase them for from four to six
shillings a dozen. Ten thousand per week may be obtained
at that rate from many stations, and the average wholesale
price at Billingsgate is one shilling each, or L.50 per thou¬
sand. The returns of the Midland and Great Western
Railway of Ireland show that 101 tons 6 cwt. of lobsters
were carried from Galway by that line, in addition to those
transported by sea to London.
Another occupation, formerly much practised in Scot¬
land, but now almost peculiar to Ireland, is that of sun¬
fishing. The sun-fish is the Squalus maximus, or basking
shark. If the weather is bright and warm towards the end
of April these gigantic creatures are sure to show them¬
selves, and are visible at a great distance to a practised eye,
in consequence of the dorsal fin projecting several feet out
of the water, while its owner lies upon the surface basking
in the sun. At this period of unwary indolence they are
easily approached by a boat, in the bow of which a strong-
armed man stands steady with harpoon in hand. The barbed
weapon is attached to a line of 200 fathoms coiled up in
circles on the fore-sheets, and another man is near with a
hatchet ready to cut the line should it chance to get en¬
tangled with anything in running out. When the fish is
first struck he makes a tremendous rush of a hundred fathoms,
or it may be more, descending, as the fishermen allege, to
the bottom, where he rubs and rolls himself to get quit of
the harpoon. He is generally allowed to take his own way
for about an hour before his captors begin to haul upon the
line. In doing so they carefully coil up the slack in readi¬
ness for another run, just as the salmon-fisher keeps his reel
in order, with this difference, that the worst mishap will only
graze the skin of the angler’s finger, whereas in the case of
the Squalus a man may be drowned, or lose an arm or leg, by
the rapid motion of the rope. Sometimes, when the fish is
powerful, as well as sulky, eight or nine hours will elapse
before he comes to the surface, having this great advantage
over a whale, that he can breathe under water. He is struck
again as soon as an opportunity offers, with one or more
harpoons, and is finally hauled to the vessel, alongside of
which they stretch him fore and aft with a jowl rope around
his head, and the bite of a hawser round his tail. His own
bite is not to be trusted, and to destroy the enormous power
of his caudal extremity, two deep cuts are inflicted with a
hatchet on each side the tail. They then cut flesh holes in
his body on both sides, through which they reeve strong
FISHERIES.
Scotch sea- ropes, and by hauling these taut on the side of the fish next
fisheries, the vessel, and slacking away on the opposite one, they con-
v*'' trive. to cant him over on his back. They then split him
down in front, take out his liver, and allow his huge carcase
to go adrift. This fish, which is of great thickness, some¬
times measures thirty-six feet in length. There is no blub¬
ber between the skin and the flesh as among whales, but
the oil from the liver is as fine as spermaceti, and a single
fish will yield a couple of tons worth L.50. They are fre¬
quent on what is called Sun-fish Bank, about 100 miles
west of Clew Bay. The fishermen there reckon it a day’s
sail out of sight of land. They are also met with in large
numbers off Tory Island, and along the north-west coast of
Donegal, where the Skerries men have sometimes found
them so abundant that they dared not venture out to lift
their cod lines in case of accidents to their boats. Though
of a sluggish nature they must be harpooned with caution,
as a blow of their tails would stave a boat to pieces, or throw
the wounded men into the water. The chief defect in the
Irish mode of attacking the sun-fish is, that the fishermen
are unacquainted with the use of the lance, a deep thrust
from which, instead of a second harpoon, when the creature
rises, would accelerate its final capture.
We shall now consider the important subject of the sea-
fisheries of Scotland. Of these the most valuable is that
of herrings. The Caithness herring-fishery is, for the time
it continues, the most abundant in Britain, and Wick may
be regarded as its most productive centre. Like the sal¬
mon-fishing, that for herrings is more or less a lottery. The
average of the Wick fishing may be stated at about 100
crans1 per boat, though some boats may land in all from
300 to 400 crans, while many may have far less than even
the first named number. In addition to the improvement
in the modes both of capture and cure, three more ex¬
trinsic things have tended greatly to the advantage of the
fisheries in recent times. 1st (and this chiefly as relates to
salmon), the invention of the use of ice ; 2d, the introduc¬
tion of steam-navigation ; 3d, the formation of railways.
In illustration of the vast advantage of the last, it may be
mentioned that between four and five thousand tons of
fresh herrings are now sometimes sent in a single season of
a few weeks from the town of Dunbar alone, into the in¬
terior of the country. What a vast benefit to the great
commercial and other cities of the south to have so cheap
a supply of such salubrious food!2
We shall not here enter into the natural history of the
herring further than to say, that all that is stated by Pennant
and others since his time, regarding the migrations of that
fish from the northern regions, and its breaking up in vast
bodies on both sides of Great Britain and Ireland, is without
the slightest foundation in fact. The herring is a native
fish which breeds along our shores, and never altogether
leaves them, although it becomes invisible for a time, espe¬
cially after the spawning period, by sinking, for security,
into the deeper sea. The truth is, that at one station or
other we may be said to carry on the herring-fishing all
the year round. It commences in May oft' the eastern
635
side of the Lewis or Long Island, and continues into mid- Scotch sea-
summer. It then spreads along both the western and fisheries*
eastern shores of Scotland, attaining its maximum off the
Caithness coast in August. It continues in Loch Fyne
and other western sea-lochs almost into the winter season.
It commences in autumn off the Yarmouth district, and
continues during a portion of the winter. It recommences
in December in the Firth of Forth (unexhausted by the
summer slaughter), and is carried on as a winter fishery.
Finally, it prevails at Ballintrae, and other places off the
Ayrshire coast, in spring, by which time, however, the fish
are spawning, and in bad condition. We have then only
a few blank weeks from the end of March to the middle of
May, when herrings begin to show themselves again, as we
have said, off the Lewis, at first in rather poor condition,
but improving rapidly there and elsewhere as the season
advances. The young are found, and too often captured,
in our firths and bays of the size of sprats, a sufficient proof,
had we no other, that the notion of the parent fish retiring
to breed among the arctic regions is a fable.
There is no article of diet more palatable and salubrious
than fresh herrings in first-rate condition. In their natural
state these fish may be divided into three classes, viz.,
maties, full fish, and spent fish. Maties are those in which
the roes and milts are distinctly but not largely developed,
and this is the state in which they are in the highest order
as food. Although they do not then exhibit so bulky an
appearance as that of the full fish, they are in reality much
fatter, for the bulk of the latter is deceptively produced by
the great enlargement of the roe and milt; and this does
not take place without a corresponding diminution of the
body of the fish. The full fish, however, are those which
are most sought after in a mercantile point of view, espe¬
cially for the Irish market, because of their larger size.
They are also much more abundant than the others, or at
least are captured in much greater quantities, as they are then
congregated in larger shoals, and also, being nearer their
spawning time, make closer approaches to the shore. The
great north-eastern herring-fishery of Scotland is mostly
made up of full fish. It commences about the middle of
July, and by the beginning of August is often general from
the Tyne to Shetland. The earlier Dutch fishery contains
more maties, and is carried on at a greater distance from
the coast. It is of importance to encourage an early fishing
among ourselves, for the sake of somewhat cooler weather,
which admits of more careful and deliberate salting. August,
which is, however, the chief herring month, is not seldom
sultry. We shall now describe first the mode of capture,
and then that of cure.
Our principal herring-fishery has, almost from time im¬
memorial, been carried on by drift-nets. There is no close
time as regards these fish, nor any legal regulations, further
than that the act 48th Geo. III., cap. 110, sec. 12, declares
that the meshes of these nets must not be less than one
inch from knot to knot, while a more recent act (14th and
15th Viet., cap. 26, sect. 6) makes the use of the traivl-
net in the capture of herrings illegal.
A train of herring drift-nets consists of several lengths
1 A cran contains 45 gallons of ungutted herrings. It is the measure by which the captors deliver their fish to the curers, or other
purchasers. A barrel contains 37£ gallons of gutted herrings, and is the measure in which the salted fish are sent to market. It
ought to be capable of containing 32 gallons English wine measure.
2 The number of boats fishing from, or visiting Dunbar (though belonging to other stations) in 1853, was about 350. The quantity of
herrings landed at Dunbar in 1853 was 43,000 crans. The value of herrings landed at Dunbar that season was L.34,500. The value
of boats and gear employed was L.43,000.
« Tim above,” observes Mr Sutherland, the fishery officer at Eyemouth, from whom we have the information, “ are for both harbours
(of Dunbar), and but for the existence of Victoria Harbour (that so largely aided by the board of fisheries), probably not more than one-
third of the business could be carried on satisfactorily, particularly now that there is such exertion used to get fish put quickly into packages
for despatch to market, every available space on the quays and about the harbours being taken up in this way.”—MS., 29th Sept. 1854.
It is evident that the combination of a railway station, with increased harbour accommodation, has rendered Dunbar a highly eligible
point for the inland transit of fresh herrings. Mr Sutherland adds that the price is generally higher there than at any other station on
the east coast, and that this is an additional inducement for fishermen to frequent the port. We may here note that Dunbar is included
under the Eyemouth district in the board of fishery returns.
636
FISHERIES.
Scotch sea-of nets united together in a line, and kept suspended in
fisheries. t]ie wgter by means of buoys floating on the top. (
different lengths of the nets so united are, in fishermen s
language, measured by barrels, each length being about the
quantity of net a barrel would hold. A barrel of nets is
generally 90 yards in length. I he depth of the net is from
20 to 24 feet, and when new, it costs from L.4 to L.o. A
whole train consists, according to the wealth of the fisher¬
men, of from 7 to 25 barrels of nets. It measures from bOO
to 2000 yards in length, and its value is from L.^o to above
L 100 A strong rope runs along the back ot the tiain,
which'is called the “back rope,” and to this the buoys are
attached by short ropes for floating the net in the water.
In the narrow waters of Loch Fyne, about Tarbert and its
neighbourhood, where the Loch is some four miles wide,
the average length of train runs from 8 to 15 barrels, or
from 650 to 1350 yards. Further down, between Arran
and the Argyllshire coast, in the Sound of Kilbrennan and
towards Campbeltown, the longer trains of 1500 or 2000
yards are used, and‘in the same way on all parts ot the
coasts, long trains are preferred wherever there is sufficient
space for them.1
Owing to the great bulk of a tram of nets, a boat ot large
size is required, and accordingly, the regular full-sized drift-
net boat is one of a superior description, the best and
largest class costing from L.60 to L.100, with a crew of
from four to six men,, though an intermediate kind, costing
less, with a single .lug sail, and from two to three men,
is sometimes used. :In Loch Fyne and about the Clyde,
the greater part of the drift-net boats are sloop-rigged, with
three sails, requiring some degree of management. These
boats often make voyages of considerable length, such as
to the Isle of Man and the Island of Lewis, whereby the
crews become acquainted with the use of the compass, are
inured to the sea, and gain the rudiments of seamanship—
making this class of boat a valuable nursery for seamen.
The nets having been put on board, the boats sail to those
parts of the loch, or adjoining sound, or sea, where it is ex¬
pected fish will be found. As almost all the fishermen take
the same signs as a guide for finding fish, the boats thus
gather together in fleets in particular spots, and so long as
fish are found there, or are hoped for, the boats do not re¬
move, but continue fishing in the same place.
The process of setting a drift-net is as follows : as soon
as a boat reaches the fishing ground the first net of the train
is put out over the stern, and the boat is gently sailed or
rowed, the men in the stern carefully tending the nets as
they pass out, till the whole train is in the water. 4 he boat
is then made fast to the train by a rope of about 20 fathoms,
called the “ swing rope,” and both boat and train drift to¬
gether with the wind or tide. The further end of the train,
according to the situation and the nature of the ground, is
either left floating, or fixed by a rope called the “ tailing
rope,” to an anchor or stone, and sometimes is made fast to
the shore. Putting the net out of the boat is technically
called u shooting the netand drift-net boats, to give room
to each other, and prevent fouling and collisions from une¬
qual drifting, usually shoot so as to allow a clear space of
about 60 yards between the train of each boat after the
whole have shot. The nets are always shot at or soon after
sunset, and the fishing goes on through tfie night.
It requires some time to shoot a train of nets, but it takes
still longer, and is a work of more labour, to haul it in. The
drift-net boats therefore are particularly loath to shift their
o-round often, by which so much time and strength are ex- Scotch sea-
pended. Still, however, to prevent too long lingering on fisheries,
unfavourable ground, an arrangement or privilege is ad-
mitted among fishermen of lifting out of the water parts of
each other’s nets to examine, and see whether fish are in
them or not. This is technically called “ preeing,” and
when no fish are found, the news spreads, and frequently
becomes the signal for the boats to haul in their nets, and
move away. This “ preeing” is viewed with some jealousy.
The immense length of the trains, and the distance of the
owners from almost every part except just the last net to
which the boat they are lying in is fixed, make them fear
plunder or injury of their nets under a false pretence. For
the same reason, the moving about of small boats among
trains of nets is much disliked and objected to, and drift-
net boats seldom or ever take any small boat with them.
A small boat, besides being rarely wanted, and therefore
rather an incumbrance, is regarded by fishermen as giving
most mischievous opportunities for pilfering from nets, and
they set their faces against it. The fish are caught by
meshing, that is, by pushing their heads and gills through
the interstices of the net, from which they have no power
to withdraw them.
In former years, in Loch Fyne and its neighbourhood, at
the early part of the season, it was common for drift-net
fishermen to take off from their trains, perhaps two or three
barrels of nets, and securing one end to the shore, carry the
other end out into the loch, and make it also fast there by
an anchor or stake, thus forming a set net. This net was
technically called a “ trammel net,” and was often very suc¬
cessful in taking herrings of large size, and fine quality, the
widest meshed nets being generally selected for setting as
trammels. But the system of drift-net fishing, as above de¬
scribed, is the one almost universally practised on our eastern
coast, and is also the usual one elsewhere.
The net distinguished by the herring fishers of Scotland
as the trawl net, is improperly so called, the real name be¬
ing “ seine net.” It consists of a net varying in length from
140 to 170 yards, and from 9 to 14 yards deep. Its value
is about L.4, 10s. At each end is a short rope called the
“ bridle,” kept stretched by a wooden spar called the “ beam,
to which is attached a rope varying from 100 to 200 fathoms
in length, called the “ drag rope.” There are no buoys to
the net, but it is kept upright in the water by means of
pieces of cork, set about two feet apart. The whole ap¬
paratus is light and portable, and easily managed compared
with the drift-net. The boats used with it are small, depend¬
ing chiefly on oars, making no very long voyages, and com¬
monly costing from L.10 to L.20, with crews of four oi five
men each, more men in proportion to the size of the boat
being required for the work of hauling the trawl.
The trawl-net is used in different ways, according as it is
to be worked from the shore, or from boats. For using from
the shore, it is carried by the trawl boat to a place that ap¬
pears favourable. The drag rope at one end of the net is
handed to a party of men stationed on the shore, who hold
it there while the boat rows off, the crew in her laying out
the net in a semicircle, and when the net is all out, bring¬
ing the drag rope at the other end in with the boat to the
land. A full and wide sweep is thus made with the net
stretched to the full length of itself and the drag ropes, and
a very considerable area of water is embraced by it. It
resembles the net-and-coble salmon-fishing, formerly de¬
scribed, only on a much more gigantic scale.
1 The above statement chiefly refers to, as it was derived from, our western shore. We believe that the designation of a barrel of
nets” originated from the practice which at one period prevailed of carrying the nets in barrels^ from many p aces on. lr .
Clyde into the interior lochs, or other fishing-ground, with a view to the saving of stowage in the boats. ut we ave jus een m
formed that the general custom, both in the west and east, now is for these portions of net to be made 50 yards long, and io score o
meshes deep, with a back rope of 34 yards in length, and a gable line of about 11 yards; so that each single net n^w co^ ains a ®.as,
374 square yards, and is about 33 feet in depth ; of course the drift varies in length in accordance with the number oi pieces w ic
may be combined.
FISHERIES.
637
Scotch sea- On the boat reaching the land, the net is hauled in by
fisheries. t]ie r0pes, the parties at each rope coming nearer and
nearer together to complete the circle. The net thus brings
in with it fish of every description, herrings and all others,
great or small, whatever may chance to exist within the
circle. The object with the trawl-net is not to w'ait till
the fish'mesh themselves by entanglement, as with the drift-
net, but to shift ground and make as many hauls as possible
during the night, sweeping off the whole of the fish in suc¬
cession at each spot visited.
When fish are not found inshore, the trawls are used in
the middle of a loch or estuary, sometimes by means of two
boats, sometimes with only one. When two boats are used,
one remains fixed ; the other row s away from it in a circle,
till it comes round again to the first boat. The net is then
hauled by the joint crews, the bottom being gathered in
with the sides, so as to form a sack in the water. When
one boat only is used, the tail end of the net is made fast
to a buoy, the boat then rows away, swiftly passing out the
net in a circle till it comes round again to the buoy, when
the net is immediately hauled in after the same fashion as
with the tw o boats.
This explanation is sufficient to show that trawl or seine
net fishing does not require the capital, skill, or seamanship,
of drift-net fishing, but that from its nature, and from the
capture by single hauls of masses of fish, it gains immense
and sudden prizes; while from the rapidity with which this
net can be set and hauled again, as well as moved from
place to place, a few trawling boats, in narrow w7aters and
convenient situations, may, though only manned with lands¬
men and not fishermen, carry away many entire shoals of
fish, having gone over in rapid succession all the best water.
The use of the trawl or circle net, and the dragging a drift-
net through the water, in the manner of trawling, for the
purpose of taking herrings, are both prohibited by the 6th
clause of the act 14th and 15th Victoria, cap. 26.
The drift-net and the trawl-net fishermen are greatly op¬
posed to each other. The drift-net men are by much the
most numerous, and wherever the trawl-net is used, whether
it be on the west or east coast of Scotland, the same objec¬
tions are stated against it, though in greater or less degree,
according to locality. The drift-net men say (especially as
regards Loch bine, and other narrow wateis), that trawling
disturbs and disperses the shoal of fish as it enters from
the sea, and scares it away. They call this “ breaking the
eye of fish,” and they say that when the eye or centre of
the shoal of herrings is broken in its progress up a loch,
the body of fish are scattered and lost, that they do not
reunite in a shoal and continue to swim together after
the manner of herrings, but are split up into sepaiate
fragments, wdiich, thus detached from the main body, seek
back to deep water or the open sea for safety. 1 hey say that
the herring is a timid and easily frightened fish, and there¬
fore, for the good of the fishing, that its capture should be
effected without disturbance of the water, and by the quiet
process of letting the fish mesh itself. Those thus caught
remain in the net to all appearance swimming, and no shock
is given to the shoal. Whereas trawl-nets are brought with
violence against the main body, forcibly driving it back,
with much disturbance in the lower parts of the water.
They further affirm that the operation of the trawl-net in
catching large masses of fish of all sorts and sizes, and
jumbling them up together, bruises and injures many, which
being unsaleable, are left dead or dying in the water, thus
destroying the fishing grounds, lhat the small ny of the
fish are caught indiscriminately along with the full-sized
parents, to the injury of the brood. That herring spawn
is destroyed. That no trammel-nets can be set, because
traw'lers take possession of the bays, and the trawds would
tear down any other nets placed there. That drift-nets in
the same way are driven out of the bays and best places into
the middle of lochs, and other unfavourable situations, be-Scotch sea-
cause the trawl-net must inevitably foul the drift-net and fisheries,
destroy it, if it is used near it. That trawling-skiffs often *■''
come among the trains of drift-nets, where the crews trawl
by making fast their drag ropes to the back ropes of the
drift-nets, thus intercepting and carrying off the very fish
that are about to be captured by the latter. That in mov¬
ing about among the trains, these crews are frequently guilty
of lifting the drift-nets, and stealing the fish. That from
malice they often stab the drift-net buoys, and thus sink
both nets and fish, which are thereby totally lost. That
trawlers, in general, are not genuine fishermen (though
of course there are individual exceptions), but interlopers,
consisting of tradesmen, small farmers, farm servants, and
other landsmen, who may have sufficient skill to manage a
boat in fine weather, but who do not follow sea-fishing as a
profession, although they may venture upon a kind of gam¬
bling speculation, with the chance of earning a twelve¬
month’s income by a few weeks’ work. That they take
from drift-net men the large class of herrings which were
formerly caught by trammels, and which would be so caught
again if trammels could be set. 1 hat the extravagant gains
of great trawling hauls are thus monopolized by a few, and
those not regular fishermen, while the same quantity oi fish
divided among men with trammels and drift-nets, would sup¬
port and enrich the families of many real fishermen. That
trawling can never be a general mode of fishing for herrings,
as it is capable of being carried on only in certain localities,
and under certain conditional circumstances, and thus the
returns of such a system must, always be confined to a few
persons who are enabled by it to fill the markets suddenly
with fish, from the enormous hauls they meet with. 1 hese,
however, which are often very much the result of accident,
deprive the established fisherman of his fair livelihood, by
rendering his fish unsaleable except at prices which entail
on him a positive loss. That in Loch Fine there has been
a falling off in the quantity of fish since trawls were adopted,
now not much more than a dozen years ago.
The trawl-net fishermen, on the other hand, deny all
these allegations. They state that they are able to take
larger and finer herrings than wrere ever known till the trawl
was introduced. That this large herring is a slow swim¬
ming fish, which will mesh but seldom, and can only be
caught with certainty by being forcibly pent up in a net.
That herrings being a timid fish, will not mesh during the
early summer nights, because there is too much light, and
they see the drift-nets. To catch them at that time of year,
therefore, they say they must be encircled by a trawl-net.
That they also catch mackerel, and other sorts of fish, with
the trawl-net, when fishing for herrings. That a small ca¬
pital is made to produce a comfortable livelihood. That
the produce of the sea is free to all, and as marine fish call
no man master, they may be taken at any season, by who¬
ever is able, and in whatever manner can be devised.
The trawlers also deny that the fishing has suffered from
their operations, or that they interfere with drift-nets, or any
other kind. On the contrary, they affirm that by working
with their trawl-nets along shore, they often drive the her¬
rings into the middle of the lochs, to be captured by the
drift-nets laid out there, and from which they would other¬
wise escape.
While the statements of the two parties are thus opposite
and conflicting, there is one point which admits of no doubt,
viz., that trawling any kind of herring-net practically
supersedes the provision of the act 48th Geo. III., cap.
110, sec. 12th, requiring the mesh to be one inch from
knot to knot; for the act of drawing the net through the
water in a circular form, immediately narrows the mesh below
the inch-square, even though it should be in itself somewhat
more than an inch from knot to knot. It is from this effect,
and from the packing up of the net with a solid accumula-
FISHERIES.
638
Scotch sea- tion of fish, that under-sized herrings and fry are frequently
fisheries. taken and destroyed by the trawl-net. If trawl-net fishing
for herrings could be admitted without detriment to the
herring-fisheries, as is stated by its advocates, it seems to
be unreasonable to maintain any legislative provision, such
as that just cited, or to prohibit drift-net fishers from using
any size of mesh they please.
The inch-mesh is universal over the coasts of Great Bri¬
tain, and, we believe, is observed in Ireland. It forms an
article in the fishery convention with France, and fishermen
of that country are required to adhere to it as strictly as
our own. Whatever may have been its origin, the mean¬
ing of the regulation is obvious, viz., that full and sizeable
herrings should alone be caught, and the young allowed to
grow. The medium mesh of an inch accomplishes both
these objects. How far they are important, or could be con¬
tinued were all restriction upon the size of mesh removed,
is matter of opinion and conjecture ; but a mass of netting
in the sea, with meshes drawn close and thick, certainly
seems calculated to debar the natural progress and circula¬
tion of the fish among* the different boats, must undoubtedly
capture the young fry, and would probably, from its in¬
creased visibility of cordage, be apt to frighten away the
heavy shoals of mature fish. The existing regulation for
the size of mesh is popular, and seems to be approved of by
fishermen of all classes.
Trawling for herrings is practised on the west coast of
Scotland, chiefly in Loch Fine, the Kyles of Bute, the Firth
of Clyde, especially on parts of the Ayrshire coast, and in
Loch Ryan. It is also occasionally resorted to in some of
the other Lochs. The most active and determined trawlers
on the west coast are those of Tarbert, a fishing village half¬
way up Loch Fine. On the east coast of Scotland, it is
chiefly practised in the Firth of Forth, and occasionally,
but slightly, in the Firth of Tay, Beauly Firth, and Firth
of Cromarty. The act for its suppression is frequently en¬
forced.
There is, undoubtedly, some disadvantage in establishing
a uniform standard of mesh, or one general law for herring¬
fishing, that admits of no exceptions; for there may be cases,
either in respect of the time of year, or of a breed of her¬
rings of smallish size, where a power of relaxation and adap¬
tation might be found beneficial. There is reason to be¬
lieve, that in certain lochs of the Highlands, and in other
parts, herrings occur below the average dimensions, although
quite fit for food, and that for these, nets with meshes less
than an inch from knot to knot, might be used with advantage.
When a train of drift-nets has remained in the water for
a sufficient length of time to allow the herrings to mesh,
the nets are raised, and the fish carefully shaken out of
each successive portion as it is taken on board. This is a
much better plan than one too frequently followed, of
allowing them to remain among the meshes till the whole
mass is taken to the shore. By the former practice, the
fish are much less liable to be bruised or broken, and so
do not so soon become soft or tainted. An additional
advantage is that the nets are all the sooner ready to be
spread out or hung up to dry. If not intended to be con¬
sumed in the fresh state, the sooner salt is applied to
herrings the better, as it secures the adhesion of the scales,
so important to the after appearance of the fish. For this
purpose salt should be sprinkled over them, as they are
emptied in successive portions from the cran measure into
the great receiving or gutting trough. All herrings should
if possible, be gutted, cured, and packed on the day they
are caught.
All along the inner harbour, and in almost every street
and quay, of the town of Wick, as well as within many large
inclosed yards and covered buildings, there are numerous
square wooden boxes as big as ordinary-sized rooms, the
containing sides, however, being only two or three feet high.
Into these huge troughs the herrings are carried from the Scotch sea-
boats as soon as possible after they arrive. There they are fisheries,
all tumbled in helter-skelter, in a long-continued stream of
fish, until the boats are emptied or the troughs are filled.
Then come troops of sturdy, females of various ages and
complexions, each armed with knife in hand, who range
themselves around the fishy chambers,—the process of
gutting immediately commences, and is carried on with
such ceaseless and untiring activity, that the unaccustomed
eye can scarcely follow the quickness of their mani¬
pulations. One woman will eviscerate about two dozen
of herrings in a minute; and when nearly 2000 of them
are working at that rate, with but brief intermission from
early morning till the close of day, the amount of disem-
bowelment may be more easily imagined than described.
This important process is effected in the following manner:—•
The practitioner takes a herring in her left hand, its back
lying in her palm, and inserts the point of her knife into the
near side of the neck, bearing well down upon the back¬
bone, and making the weapon protrude a little through the
other side. She then gives the knife a turn, and pulling it
outwards and upwards, with an opposing pressure of the
thumb, she draws forth in the first place the gills, stomach,
and intestinal canal, and tosses them into an adjoining
barrel. She then inserts the knife a second time, and by a
peculiar twitch removes what is called the crown gut, or
caecal appendages, and liver. There are thus two ac¬
tions performed, each of which seems to occupy about a
second of time. This is the ordinary Scotch, and we pre¬
presume English, practice. The Dutch method is some¬
what different. They leave in the crown gut, and so with
them a single pull suffices to remove whatever is to be taken
away. This latter mode is partially followed in this country,
as being best adapted for the continental market, where it
is believed that the crown gut has a powerful influence in
improving the flavour of the fish, and where the appearance
of the herring is held to be injured if it is removed.
These fair gutters usually work together in little compa¬
nies of two or three, so that while one is filling a measure
with her gutted fish, another carries them off to be roused,
as it is called, that is, cast into other vats or barrels, then
sprinkled with salt, then more herrings and more salt, and
next a brawny arm plunged among them far above the el¬
bow, thus mingling them together, and so on till the space
is filled. They may lie a longer or shorter time in this
state, according to the supply of labour at command, and
the immediate necessities of gutting and rousing; but the
next usual step in the routine is for a third hand to remove
those herrings from the second vats or vessels, and re-salt
and pack them carefully, every successive row crossing at
right angles that which precedes it. Herrings intended for
the foreign market are usually arranged with their backs
downwards, while those for the Irish market are preferred
when packed flat, or more upon their sides. Each row gets
a fresh sprinkling of salt until the barrel is filled. The head
of the cask is then laid loosely on, the contents being allowed
to settle down, or pine, as it is called, for a time; which
they soon do so considerably as to admit of each cask re¬
ceiving another row or two, with additional salt, before be¬
ing closed by the cooper. The barrels should then be
headed up, tightened in the hoops, laid upon their sides,
and placed under cover, so as to be shaded from the sun’s
rays, which are injurious to the fish. They should also be
rolled half over every second or third day, until they are
bung-packed ; which process, if the after intention is to re¬
ceive the official brand of the board of fisheries, must not be
sooner performed than after the lapse of ten free days from
the date of capture. “ When the pickle has been sufficiently
poured off, a handful of salt, if required, should be thrown
around the inside of the barrels, and the herrings should be
pressed close to the inside of the casks, and additional fish,
F I S H FRIES.
Scotch sea- of the same description and date of cure, should be
fisheries, packed in until the barrel is properly filled; after which
it should be flagged, headed, blown, and tightened, and
the curing marks scratched upon the sides. The barrel
may then have its pickle poured in, and be finally bunged
up.”1 t
An injurious practice prevails among our people, of allow¬
ing the gutters and packers to stand “ idle in the market¬
place” until a large quantity of herrings is poured into the
curing vats. Every hour lost between the capture of the
fish and their being salted down into the barrel produces
injury. The gloss of their marine freshness passes away as
the dew of the morning, and it is the preservation of this
natural splendour, so to say, from the cure commencing on
board ship almost the minute they are taken from the water
which causes Dutch herrings to be so highly prized. The
British curer should bear this in mind, and remember that
while he is in possession of great local conveniences from
curing on shore, these may be counterbalanced by some
disadvantages which it requires care to obviate. The Dutch
herrings escape all exposure to the sun. They pass at
once from the sea to the salting tub. But the British fish
are frequently for hours beneath a burning sun, while the
boats are delayed by calms, or are beating up to their
desired haven against adverse wind and tide. The curers
too often add to this delay, by waiting till such an ample
supply has been accumulated as will enable all the gutters
and packers to set to work simultaneously. The general
adoption of the plan of placing sheds or covers of some
kind over the curing tubs, would be very advisable. In
many places the curing under cover is totally disregarded,
although it is obvious that the reputation of British herrings
can never be perfectly kept up while improvements so easy
to accomplish are neglected. Our Banff herrings began to
rank high at an early period, in consequence of their care¬
ful cure ; and even now, when no doubt many other places
are equal, it is the custom of several of the Caithness curers
to brand the word “ Banff” upon their barrels, although
they have no connection with that locality. The cause
which we have seen assigned for the excellence of the
Banff herrings is, that they are usually caught in small or
moderate quantities, so that more pains can be bestowed
upon their preparation. On the Caithness coast they are
often got in overpowering numbers, so that some of them
may be too hastily cured. Of course, the presence and
inspection of the fishery officer checks any bad effect from
this, so far at least as concerns the guarantee afforded by
the application of the crown brand.
We understand that the commissioners of the Board of
Fisheries, with a view to test the progress that has been
made in the cure of British herrings, instituted, some sea¬
sons back, in Edinburgh, a trial of different sorts, compared
with some of the finest Dutch samples. The conjoined
kinds were submitted to the taste of competent judges, and
were privately marked by distinguishing cyphers unknown
to those who had to give their opinion. There was no
other clue to the quality than what the skill of the judges
could supply. The result was highly satisfactory : for by
a unanimous decision, two classes of British herrings—viz.,
Maties and Crown Full Brand—were declared to be supe¬
rior to Dutch of the finest quality, which had been im¬
ported expressly for this competition. Of course, we must
not build too much on this, as a few selected and super-
excellent samples may not necessarily indicate, or at least
prove, the superiority of the entire cure considered in
relation to some hundred thousand barrels. I hat superi¬
ority, from causes already mentioned, probably still abides
with the Dutch. The experiment was renewed during an
639
after year, and was conducted in the same public manner, Scotch sea-
and with similar arrangements to prevent the judges from fisheries.^
having any clue to the kind of herring set before them,
The result of this other trial was different, although it
testifies to the freedom from favouritism of those con¬
cerned. The Dutch were decided to be the best, though
only in a slight degree; and a more searching trial on the
succeeding day proved that the prize, determined with
difficulty, had been justly awarded. To an ordinary pur¬
chaser, it is probable that no difference would have been
perceptible, and the British barrels from which the samples
had been taken would no doubt have passed for Dutch, as
they often do in the Rhenish provinces. But in every
particular these Dutch herrings showed a delicacy of treat¬
ment evidently the result of long experience, and the
nicest tact. In both trials, however, it was evident how
prodigious an advance had been made within a few years
in the British mode of cure, when it was able to stand suc¬
cessfully, under the keenest criticism, so close a comparison
with that of the Dutch.
The lively interest taken by the Dutch government in
the furtherance of their fisheries, is shown by the fact of
their placing superintending men-of-war to aid their fleet
of fishing vessels while engaged off the coasts of Scotland
and the Shetland Islands. They also order a government
steamer of great power and large dimensions (the “Cerberus ’
was heavily armed, with a crew of 100 men), to attend upon
the boats, and receive on board the early catch of fish, so
that these may be carried off with all expedition, to secure
the highest price in the continental markets. The import¬
ance of the Dutch fishery was perceived by the nation at
an early period, and their inroads upon our own resources
were bemoaned by many writers. “ It maketh much,” says
Sir John Burroughs, in his Sovereignty of the British Seas,
“ to the ignominy and shame of our English nation, that
God and nature offering to us so great a treasure, even at
our own doors, we do, notwithstanding, neglect the benefit
thereof, and by paying money to strangers for fish of our
own seas, impoverish ourselves to make them rich.” W hen
the population of the States General was estimated in 1669,
it was found that, out of a total of 2,400,000 persons, 450,000
were either fishermen or connected with the building and
equipment of ships and boats belonging to the fisheries.
So the pensionary De Witt scarcely exaggerated when he
stated that every fifth man in Holland earned his subsist¬
ence by the sea, that the country derived her main support
from it, and that the herring-fishery ought to be regarded
as the right arm of the republic. In the height of her pros-
pei’ity and power, it is said that not less than 3000 boats
of various kinds were employed off her own coasts, besides
800 vessels, of from 60 to 150 tons burden, occupied on
the British seas in the capture chiefly of cod and ling. She
had, moreover, between the mouth of the I hames and
Buchan-Ness, a fleet of 1600 busses engaged in the herring-
fishery, and employing so many minor vessels in the carrying
of salt and cured fish, that the total number of shipping
amounted to 6400, calculated to give employment to 112,000
mariners and fishermen. The Dutch themselves admitted
that the wealth and strength of the United Provinces were
derived from their sea-fisheries, the importance of which
was emphatically indicated by an expression in common
use among them, that “ the foundation of Amsterdam was
laid on herring bones.” Of course there was this essential
difference between the Dutch and ourselves, that they grew
no grain, were scarce of cattle, and possessed few manufac¬
tures, and so depended largely on the produce of the sea,
to enable them to effect the required exchanges with other
countries.
1 Directions for taking and curing Herrings, and for the curing of Cod, Ling, Tusk, and Hake. By Sir Thomas Dick Lauder, Bart.
Edinburgh, 1846.
640
Scotch sea'
fisheries.
FISHERIES.
We shall now endeavour to illustrate by tables the
extent and value of our herring fishei y. . n a
Abstract of the Total Quantity of White Herrings Cured,
Branded, and Exported, in so far as the same have been
brought under the cognizance of the Officers of the f ishery,
from the 1st of June 1809, when the system hitherto in force
for the Encouragement and Improvement of the British
Herring Fishery took place, to the 31st of December 18o4 ;
distinguishing each Year as under, and the Countries to
which they have been Exported. The Periods are cal¬
culated as ending 5th April each year up to 1845, and from
]845 they are calculated as ending 5th January. After
1850 the Table includes Scotland and the Isle of Man only.
Total
Cured.
1810
1811
1812
1813
1814
1815
1816
1817
1818
1819
1820
1821
1822
1823
1824
1825
1826
1827
1828
1829
1830
1831
1832
1833
1834
1835
1836
1837
1838
1839
1840
1841
1842
1843
1844
1845
1846
1847
1848
1849
1850
1851
18521
18522
1853
1854
Total
Quantity —  
of
Herrin cs To Ire
Branded. land.
Total Quantity of Herrings
Exported.
90,185
91,827
111,519
153,488
110,542
160,139
162,651
192.343
227,691
340,894
382,491
442,195
316,524
248,869
392,190
347,665
379,233
288,495
399,778
355,979
329,557
439,370
362,660
416,964
451.531
277,317
497,614
397,829
507,774
555,559
543,945
557,262
667.245
623,419
665,359
526,032
532,646
607,451
562,743
644,368
770,698
544,009
594,031
498,787
778,039
Barrels.
34,701
55,662
58,430
70,027
38,184
83,376
116,436
140.018
183,089
270,022
309,700
363,872
263,205
203,110
299,631
270,844
294,422
223,606
279.317
234,827
218,418
237,085
157,839
168,359
178,000
85,079
192.317
114,192
141,552
153,659
152,231
154,189
190,922
162,713
182,988
140,632
142,473
156,278
146,500
153,944
213,286
172,024
201,636
160,159
248,136
To other
places in
Europe.
To
places
out of
Europe
Grand
Total Ex¬
ported.
Barrels
or Cr an s.
28,014
28,212
30,417
57,980
43,061
49,635
29,456
36,341
53.386
89,704
101,109
125,445
102,719
56,528
116,747
96,409
121.386
78,735
109,108
107,651
89,680
130,300
128,458
114,137
149,254
73,960
168,960
102,968
139,095
149,926
157,359
150.517
187,953
165,327
127,770
120,293
127,027
102,585
102,690
78,262
78,889
66,138
81,340
60,414
95,339
Barrels.
Barrels.
4,730
11,046
23.943
35,891
15,563
44,432
43,896
52,333
64.302
89,524
34,752
38,002
40,231
35,029
28,167
16,701
24,489
28,280
24.302
61,655
31,100
47,556
55,852
34,050
48,451
46,777
57,388
64,870
82,515
90,951
91,069
120,136
181,953
143,754
113,678
148,363
142,532
168,049
257,108
198,403
182,659
221,979
242,853
636,562 211,844 121,883 237,893 1,919 361,69
7,834
9,921
27.672
40,699
51.399
55,778
62,668
57,855
65,057
85,125
88,104
79,836
77,485
75,914
82,652
70,577
67.519
70,970
78,061
69,944
67.672
72,947
57,941
58,991
66,987
50,795
55,982
39.520
38,674
24,934
12,647
8,668
5,713
6,336
3,793
2,326
2,488
4,765
4,959
3,682
4,258
2,367
205
1,133
4,438
Barrels.
35,848
38,133
62,820
109,725
118,403
141,305
107,688
138,628
162,339
227,162
253,516
294.805
214,956
170,445
239,630
202,016
217,073
166,406
211,659
205,875
181,654
234,903
217,499
220,684
272,093
158.805
273,393
189,265
235,158
239,730
253,522
250,137
284,736
291,800
313,516
266,373
243,194
255,714
250,181
249,994
340,256
266,908
264,204
283,526
342,630
N.B.—In the Six Years ending 5th April 1815, the Bounty
on Herrings Cured Gutted was 2s. per Barrel, while there
was a Bounty at the same time of 2s. 8d. per Barrel, payable
by the Excise on the Exportation of Herrings, whether Cured
Gutted or Ungutted, but which ceased on the 1st June 1815
in the Eleven Years ending 5th April 1826, the Bounty on
Herrings Cured Gutted was 4s. per Barrel; in the Four sue
ceeding Years, the Bounty was reduced Is. per Barrel each
Year till the 5th of April 1830, when it ceased altogether
and has not since been renewed.
quantities exported, whether to Ireland or elsewhere, vary Scotch sea-
greatly. The recent falling off in Ireland followed the fisheries.^
famine, and the failure in the potato crop. Salt herrings
cannot be eaten alone, and the common Irish have little or
no bread. The exports to “ places out of Europe” were
chiefly to the West Indies, but the changed condition of
what was formerly the slave population of thpse islands has
caused a great alteration in their diet. They do not now
voluntarily purchase to any great extent what they were
formerly supplied ivith in their state ot bondage. It will
be observed, however, that the general exports to the
European markets are on the whole greatly on the in¬
crease, and no doubt, under an alteration oi import duties,
admit of an enormous enlargement. _
Our next table exhibits in local detail the fishing of
1854, of which season the totals are given at the close of
the preceding abstract.
A n Account of the Total Number of Barrels of White Her¬
rings which have been Salted or Cured on Board of Vessels
fitted out for the Fishery, or Cured by Fish-Curers on
Shore, in Scotland and the Isle of Man, in the year ended
Slsi December 1854 ; distinguishing the Districts where
Landed or Cured.
Wick  126,625J
Lybster  41,550
Helmsdale  31,785
Cromarty   14,/83
Findhorn   31,566
Banff  46,995J
Fraserburgh  44,215
Peterhead..  66,691
Anstruther   77,646J-
Isle of Man  13,797$
Total  636,562
Leith  6,695J
Eyemouth  25,353
Greenock   8,456
Glasgow  12,410
Rothesay     2,399£
Inverary  20,632^-
Loch Carron and Skye 2,056
Loch Shildag   658
Loch Broom  1,328
Stornoway  31,515
Shetland Isles  9,009
Orkney Isles  20,394|
In addition to the above, there was taken and sold or
otherwise consumed in Scotland and the Isle of
Man, the following amount of barrels or crans,
not cured, but disposed of fresh, viz.,  103,789^
Thus making a grand total for 1854 of  740,351
We owe to Mr Alexander Wellmann, a Prussian mer¬
chant, some valuable statistical information regarding the
conditions of the herring market at Stettin, to which port a
large proportion of our Scotch herrings are exported. 1 lie
following is a note of the quantities of the Stettin importa¬
tions for a period of twenty-seven years :—
Years. Barrels.
1838   40,209
1839   49,456
Years. Barrels.
1824   15,468
1825   18,160
1826   7,695
1827   15,082
1828    13,478
1829   14,449
1830   33,866
1831   13,077
1832   31,837
1833   31,711
1834   19,060
1835   26,875
1836   28,227
1837   36,309
1840   73,949
1841   50,732
1842   62,135
1843   143,659
1844   105,097
1845   81,189
1846   104,372
1847   112,260
1848   103,402
1849   147,103
1850   116,538
It will be seen from the preceding abstract that the
Mr Wellmann records his opinion as follows regarding
the advantage of the brand “ I take this opportunity of
stating, that the official brand of Scotch crown and full
branded herrings obtains the greatest confidence, not only
in our market, but also in the interior of Germany, where
the meaning of that brand is understood, and my hrm be¬
lief, and also that of other people engaged in this branch ot
business, is, that it would be injurious to the trade shou d
the brand cease to exist, for Scotch herrings are only so d
in small quantities in this market and the neighbourhood ;
they are chiefly sent great distances, of from 100 to bO
1 For year ending 5th January.
For year ending 31st December.
FISHERIES.
Scotch sea- miles English, into the interior of Germany and Poland,
fisheries, either by orders or offers, without the assistance of commis-
sion merchants, for the great expense of forwarding them
does not permit any commission to a third party. The
great distance likewise prevents dealers from inspecting
the herrings on the spot here, who therefore make their
purchases solely on their trust in the official brand, knowing
that the fish must be selected well, and properly cured ;
that the barrels be of the legal size ; and that they require
to be well and tightly made before the brand can be
affixed.
“ These herrings are generally forwarded by crafts which
are often six to eight wrecks on their passage, and it fre¬
quently happens that a great fall in the market takes place
during that time, and, should the official brand be removed,
dealers in the interior might easily take advantage of such
falls, for it would not be difficult to find complaints, such,
for instance, that the fish w^ere not properly selected or well
cured, that the fish had too much or too little salt, or that
the barrels were of a smaller size (for no one can then
say of what size the barrels require to be), and, as most
herrings are sold on credit, they would consequently be often
stored at the risk and the expense of the shipper, and per¬
haps in markets where that person who purchased them is
the only dealer.
“ Part of the present business consists of consignments
by the curer in Scotland, who receives an advance when
the herrings are shipped ; and my opinion is, that this ad¬
vance will cease to be given as soon as the official brand is
removed, as our merchants here are then unable to judge
what proceeds they wall receive out of them when sent to
the interior, and consequently the Scotch curer must feel
it seriously whenever this brand is taken away, as he would
not be able to embark so much capital, and from him it
must show its influence upon the fishermen, and those
people connected with the fishing.”1
* 641
We may here observe, that although a large quantity of Scotch sea-
Norwegian herrings are exported, they are not cured under fisheries,
the superintendence of the government, and as therefore
no certain reliance can be placed on their quality, they are
scarcely ever sent into the interior of continental countries,
but, so tar at least as Prussia is concerned, are chiefly con¬
sumed at Stettin and the neighbouring provinces, from
whence dealers are able to proceed for a detailed inspection ;
and hence Norwegian fish are in general more difficult to
be sold than Scotch. We understand that in some places
in Norway local boards have of late been formed, and al¬
ready herrings shipped from these ports both find quicker
sales, and are sent further into the interior. The sale of
Norwegian herrings, however, greatly depends upon the
prices of Scotch fish, for when the latter are low the former
are more difficult to be disposed of, and the Prussians pre¬
fer our fish to those of the Norwegian cure, because they
are of superior quality, better preserved, and the barrels
contain a greater number. Dutch herrings must still be
regarded as belonging to “ high art” in their style of cure,
but the difference in price is great, and so the Scotch kind
abroad still find a readier sale. But the improved cure, and
increased cheapness, of our fish, continue to operate in our
favour, as the following, from the preceding report, will
suffice to show:—
In 1834, barrels of Dutch herrings received at Stettin, 4,546
... ... of Norwegian do. ... 53,981
of Scotch do. ... 19,960
In 1850, ... of Dutch do. ... 568
... ... of Norwegian do. ... 12,507
of Scotch do. ... 116,5382
In 1849 our exportation to Stettin amounted to 147,103
barrels. That year had produced the most extraordinary
take of herrings ever recorded in Scotland, and so gave the
power, wdiile Prussia afforded the opportunity, of an ex-
1 Letter to George Traill, Esq., M.P., in Report on British Fisheries for 1850.
2 We may here note the duties charged abroad on herrings. In the confederated states of Germany (the Zollverein), the present duty
is one dollar per barrel, equal to about 3s. sterling. Austria charges 2 gulden 30 kreutzers per cwt., making about 15s. sterling per
barrel, a prohibitory duty nearly equal to what is often the prime cost. Russia (we know not her present views regarding the Baltic
trade) used to makfe a difference in her tariff between Scotch and Norwegian herrings, the former paying an import duty of 1 ruble 30
cops silver per barrel, equal to about 4s. 6d. sterling, the Norwegian being charged only 35 cops silver, being about Is. 3d. sterling per
barrel. The duty in Poland was formerly lower on Scotch herrings, but has been raised to that of Russia since the 1st of January 1851,
and we have lost, in the meantime, a good market as concerns that “nationality.” In France the duty is from 37s. to 40s. per barrel,
more than double the actual price, and so of course it is entirely prohibitory. In Naples it is still nearly as high as it formerly was in
Belgium (from 12s. to 15s. per barrel), but we know not its precise amount at the present time. From Spain and Portugal we understand
that our herrings are excluded, we presume by reason of the excessive duty. None are ever sent there. The Spaniards, however, consume
the finest of our cured cod and ling, on which the duty is as follows :—Direct from the place of cure,—In Spanish vessels, L.6, 10s. per
ton; in British vessels, L.8, 13s. per ton. Indirect, or from a port not at the fishing-ground,—In Spanish vessels, L.10 per ton • in
British vessels, L.12 per ton.
The following are the duties on British fish in Belgium, according to the convention, signed at London, March 22, 1852 :—
francs. Cents.
Herrings—pickled or drysalted, per barrel of 150 kilogramme, gross weight,  13
Others, per thousand,     8
Lobsters—destined for the national beds, per 100 francs value, !   '.... 6
Others, per 100 francs value,         12
Oysters—destined for the national beds, per 100 francs value,   1
Others, per 100 francs value,   12
God—pickled or drysalted, per barrel of 150 to 160 kilogramme, gross weight,  22 50
Stockfish—per 100 kilogramme,  1
The above conditions were to come into operation on the 10th of April 1852. They are a modification and reduction of the former
tariff, but certain of the duties are still so high as to be in fact prohibitory. The weight of 150 kilogramme is about equal to that of a
Scotch barrel of herrings, and the imposed duty is 13 francs, or about 11s. sterling. Under such a tax on importation the trade will
never open. The smoked or red herrings are more leniently dealt with, a duty of 8 francs, or 6s. 8d., on the thousand, being one farthing
on every three herrings. This, it is thought, may admit of an increased consumption, and produce a profit to our people. Flanders is
noted for its industrial and concentrated population, and has now the advantage of a net-work of railways. Within a circumference of
half a day’s journey we have the following large cities:—Brussels, 140,000 inhabitants; Ghent, 100,000; Liege, 80,000; Louvain 55 000 •
Antwerp, 90,000 ; Bruges, 60,000 ; Mons, 30,000 ; Namur, 30,000 ; Malines, 50,000 ;—to say nothing of several others of less note/ An
established taste for herrings, of whatever kind or colour, among such hordes of hungry people, would assuredly be of great advantage
both to them and us.
We may add that the transit duties, that is, the tax imposed on transmission into countries not pertaining to the place of original im¬
portation, have an influential bearing on prices and profits. Prussia has recently reduced her transit duties on herrings from Is. 6d. to
4jd. per barrel. Those imported by Russia used to be charged 10 silver groschen, equal to about Is. sterling per barrel, on the Oder as
well as Vistula, while on the river Elbe it is only 2J. Holland charges about 3s. sterling per barrel for the transit of herrings on the
Rhine. Denmark levies a duty of 3d. sterling per barrel on all herrings that pass through the Sound. Hanover charges one halfpenny per
barrel for such as pass the Elbe at Stade.
VOL* jyj-
642
Scotch sea-cessive exportation
fisheries. ] 349 was as follows :
The capture during the season
fisheries.
of Attract, for Scotland and the Me of Man, of the Scotch ,e,,.
of Boats, (be., employed in the year 18o4. ustienes.
Barrels.
,  770,698
Total quantity cured,.....-----  g-^
Total quantity disposed of fresh, •-da'L’
Grand Total 1,151,979
Of the former, 149.505 barrels were cured at Wick alone.
Of the latter the following large quantities were taken and
sold fresh at the stations of the Firth ot Forth, viz.:
Barrel s.
Anstruther,  
78,486
Yarmouth'produced during that same season 113,574
barrels of fresh herrings, the London station 26,224, an
Liverpool aud the Me" of Man 27,600. The grand o.al
for 1849 includes the English stations, which y ek ed
209 362 barrels, leavfng for Scotland and the Isle o
942’,617 barrels. The season of 1853 was a^so very pro¬
ductive, the returns for that year, exclusive of the English
stations, giving a total of 908,800 barrels.
The value and importance of this great fishery as a sea¬
faring occupation and marine nursery are too obvious to
require mention. The following abstract is exclusive of the
English stations, and also of between lour and five thou¬
sand men engaged in the export fishing tiade. 1
„ , v mpn emnloved, and the value of the materials engaged
The following ^exhatothe^nt .f^e^ .
.34,243
Districts to which the Boats
belong.
Leith 
Eyemouth   
Greenock 
Glasgow 
Rothesay 
Inverary   —
Loch Carron and Skye.
Loch Shildag 
Loch Broom 
Stornoway 
Shetland Isles..... 
Orkney Isles 
Wick 
Lybster.
Helmsdale
Cromarty.
Findhorn.
Banff.
Fraserburgh
Peterhead
Anstruther.
Isle of Man.
Total.
Fish-
curers,
1,979
1,652
2,497
224
2,042
4,303
5,513
1,188
2,414
3,324
4,268
3,695
6,782
2,219
1,464
3,205
1,595
4,307
3,100
4,880
4,703
2,500
25
47
33
20
76
65
36
87
11
28
61
48
197
46
21
17
27
56
39
76
68
43
67,8342 1,127
ile exhibits the amount ox umnagtt, nC herrings during the season of 1854.
in the cod and ling fishery, as well as in that o* nei rings, »   
Districts.
Tonnage and Number
of Men employed in
carrying Salt for the
Fisheries direct from
Liverpool or from
foreign parts.
Leith  
Eyemouth 
Greenock 
Glasgow 
Rothesay    
Inverary 
Loch Carron and Skye.
Loch Shildag  
Loch Broom  
Stornoway 
Shetland Isles 
Orkney Isles 
Wick 
Lybster  
Helmsdale   
Cromarty 
Eindhorn   
Banff   
Fraserburgh 
Peterhead  
Anstruther 
Isle of Man.. ....
Tonnage and Number
of Men employed in
Exporting Herrings or
Cod and Ling Fish
Tonnage.
1,600
2,600
935
300
155
698
750
240
210
698
1,264
1,106
6,705
1,872
1,645
1,027
1,048
2,270
1,471
3,020
2,567
468
Total,
Men.
160
162
71
20
13
56
76
30
21
64
102
87
521
124
75
53
86
170
105
190
171
47
Tonnage of
Boats em¬
ployed in
the Her¬
ring or Cod
and Ling
Fisheries.
Value of
Boats em¬
ployed in the
Fisheries.
Value of Nets
employed in
the Fisheries.
Tonnage.
1,900
318
158
1,366
123
97
38
1,441
1,610
2,558
14,018
2,181
2,524
1,187
2,540
3,455
3,424
2,846
793
377
32,649 | 2,404
Men.
190
36
13
112
82
22
5
163
133
247
1,012
170
190
107
190
279
239
201
52
56
42,954 ' 3,499
Tons.
3,540
2,200
1,667
100
2,284
3,638
4,200
1,563
3,426
3,312
2,192
3,681
7,996
2,084
1,578
1,893
2,249
5,890
2,527
7,834
4,750
3,810
Value of
Lines em¬
ployed in the
Fisheries.
L.10,620
7,700
6,556
300
7,300
12,566
8,200
4,173
8,330
5,615
6,285
9,670
22,840
7,170
3,320
4,800
4,800
27,417
6,923
18,855
22,500
19,890
L.10,089
7,900
10,348
500
8,350
22,735
15,000
12,650
13,898
5,560
4,710
12,607
31,615
9,950
4,400
13,300
9,850
29,584
14,580
16,228
30,567
19,274
Total Value
of Boats,
Nets, and
Lines em¬
ployed in the
Fisheries.
L.1,062
2,640
72,414 L.225,830
L.303,666
1,849
35
1,500
1,451
1,200
619
1,142
5,725
4,310
1,103
2,370
263
750
500
1,560
7,804
3,695
5,910
8,924
3,512
L.21,771
18,240
18,753
835
17,150
36,752
24,400
17,413
23,370
16,900
15,305
23,380
56,825
17,383
8470
18,600
16,210
64,805
25,198
40,993
61,991
42,676
L.57,924 L,587,420;
1 The Yarmouth herring-fishery is chiefly an autumnal and eariy winter one but^it seems ^^^l^hboaTsreturnid, after an
We are informed by Mr John Miller, the intelligent inspector-general of * ’ -iocs', hpo-un business again off Dunbar.”
absence at the Yarmouth herring-fishery, with L.300. These boa.ts have now (~d ^ ugus . ) ^he total anl(funt was much larger.
2 The above numbers are exclusive of the southern fishing stations. \V hen these w ipvpri qo qq 065 besides 1530 curers,
Thus, in 1846 the report, as made up for the preceding season, gives the total number of persons 7P^ye^a^r9s!o0n6s5’bbees^dpe; ZZS\
and nearly 5000 men engaged in the export trade. The great season of 1849 gave occupation to 98,326 persons be^
and 6101 men engaged in the export trade. It ought also to be borne in mind, while estimating t^ import^^^^^^ries^
field of industrial occupation, that these high figures are altogether irrespective of the numerous individual I y
fisheries, and in those for turbot, flat-fish, mackerel, and many other kinds. T.nndnn North Sunderland
3 The returns of the board of fisheries now give estimates only for Scotland and the Isle o 3n‘ Spnc0n ending in the winter
and Whitby were included, the value of the materials employed was of course much greater. lhus,_for the s §
of 1846, the boats were estimated at L.702,206; the nets at L.481,262 ; the lines at L.92,371; ma ing a o a . , ,
FISHERIES.
643
Scotch sea- We shall now say a few words regarding red herrings.
fisheries. It is believed that the taste for these, when the smoking
^ process is carefully performed, is on the increase, and might
be turned to the advantage of Scotland. Our north-eastern
stations, say from Peterhead to Caithness inclusive, have
great facilities in the way of cure as wTell as capture, and
it ought to be understood that the super-excellence ot a
red herring depends both on its original state and its sub¬
sequent mode of treatment. Smoked herrings are made
from salted ones. They are converted pickles, so to say,
and have not always been in the best condition when com¬
mitted to the brine. But if allowed to lie there for any
considerable length of time, they must be steeped in fresh
water to remove a portion of the salt previous to smoking,
and it is by this intervening process that the quality is de¬
teriorated. There is a certain period during which herrings
may be removed at once from the pickle to the smoking-
house, and there is a longer time after which they must be
steeped. Yarmouth bloaters are among the best of things,
but our southern neighbours labour under this great disad¬
vantage, that their fishing is chiefly a winter one, when
herrings are seldom in prime condition, while along our
north-eastern shores they are caught in the months of July
and August, when these fish are in perfection. The cure
may be good, but the southerns have not the same articles
to begin with. To use Mr Thomson’s illustration, a Hol¬
stein or Yorkshire ham may have every attribute of excel¬
lence in the cure, but as the animal has not lived in the
woods of Westphalia, so its flesh has not the sweetness and
flavour imparted by the acorn.
A larger outlay of capital is called for to carry on a manu¬
factory of smoked herrings than simply to cure with salt
and pack into barrels. It "takes a house of considerable size
to hang what may make up 300 barrels at one time. The
herrings must hang on the smoking-spits for three weeks,
and as the prime of the fishing lasts only about six weeks,
the house can be filled only twice, if a lengthened lie in
pickle and the steeping process are to be avoided. To do
the thing in perfection, the produce of a considerable num¬
ber of boats would be required at once, because if a fort¬
night from the commencement of the fishing were allowed
to elapse in the filling of the smoking-house, the curer would
have no opportunity of filling it a second time, at least with
freshly pickled and unsteeped fish. A change is said to
have taken place in the taste for red herrings. They were
formerly preferred of a silvery brightness instead of a golden
yellow, and to produce the former state only a few hours’
smoking was required. Of course these did not keep, and
were sorely distressed by sultry weather. But the taste is
now tending rather towards a complete cure, that is, a three
weeks’ careful and continuous smoking, after which a her¬
ring of originally sound constitution will keep almost as long
as an Egyptian mummy, and be much better eating in the
end.
Along our eastern shores the smoking of herrings is car¬
ried on extensively in Aberdeen, Montrose, Dundee, Burnt¬
island, and Leith, and in the west chiefly in Glasgow. But
these localities are not stations for the herring-fishery itself,
and so many of our curers have smoking establishments
at Peterhead, Fraserburgh, and Wick, where they can ob¬
tain a full and immediate supply of fresh fish.
The supply of the home market with red herrings and
bloaters was formerly engrossed by the Scotch and Yai -
mouth curers, but it is yearly becoming more extended, and
shared by a greater number. Transit by steam is so lapid
from the Hebrides, Shetland, Orkney, and other distant
places, to railway harbours, and thence by railways into Eng¬
land, that smoking-houses for preparing bloaters are now in
use in Liverpool, Manchester, and Birmingham. At dis¬
tant fishing stations the herrings for bloaters are slightly
mixed with salt in dry barrels or boxes, from which the
pickle is allowed to escape to prevent over saltness ; they Pilchard-
are speedily forwarded to the smoking premises, where they ^ ^ er^‘
are washed (but not soaked), and smoked for 24 to 36 hours, ^ “ v""*'
and then despatched as bloaters per rail for London, or the
other great English markets, in barrels, halt barrels, or in
small boxes each containing 100 herrings. Many of the
fishing stations are now regularly frequented by English
buyers, who daily purchase and forward herrings to Eng¬
land, fresh or slightly sprinkled with salt, according to the
season. When the supply of fresh fish is large, or greater
at market than the demand, the surplus is often purchased
at a reduced price by resident English dealers, smoked for
24 or 36 hours, and again presented at market in small neat
baskets as prime Yarmouth bloaters. This gives the Eng¬
lish adventurer an advantage over his distant competitors,
which he is not slow to avail himself of, and he frequently
sells a part of his own fish at an unremunerating figure, and
purchases by agents the fish sent to market on consign¬
ment at a lower price than he paid for his own at the curing
station.
Another class of red herrings are salted for thirty-six or
forty-eight hours at the curing station. They are then
washed, but not soaked, and smoked for twenty-one oi
twenty-eight days. These keep well, and have much of
the rich flavour of Westphalian ham. Herrings made into
reds for exportation, or those smoked in winter for home
use, having been salted and cured in pickle, are soaked
from thirty to thirty-six hours, according to quality, and
then smoked for periods varying from three to four weeks.
The soaking of the fish greatly injures their flavour.
Having closed our account of the greatest of our fresh
and salt water fisheries, those for salmon and herring, we
shall now proceed to notice the capture of other species, of
great though unequal value.
One of the most important of our southern fisheries (of
which we have as yet said nothing) is that for pilchards
{Clupcea pilchardus), a species nearly related to the
herring. This fishery is pursued chiefly oft the coast of
Cornwall. The fish show themselves while swimming past
the Scilly Islands in the month of July, and are there
caught with a drift-net. They then advance inland in
August, during which month the principal or “ in-shore ”
fishin0- begins. They visit various parts of the coast until
October or November, and then disappear till the ensuing
summer. I hey are occasionally caught off the south¬
western part of Devonshire, and also near the most south¬
ern portion of Ireland, but northwards of these two points
they are seldom seen off any other district of the British
s^ores- . p ,
“ The first sight,” says an eye-witness, “ from the cliffs,
of a shoal of pilchards advancing towards the land, is not a
little interesting. They produce on the sea the appearance
of the shadow of a dark cloud. This shadow comes on,
and on, till you can see the fish leaping and playing on the
surface by hundreds at a time, all huddled close together,
and all approaching so near to the shore, that they can be
always caught in some fifty or sixty feet of water. Indeed,
on certain occasions, when the shoals are of considerable
magnitude, the fish behind have been known to force the
fish before literally up to the beach, so that they could be
taken in buckets, or even in the hand, with the greatest
ease. With the discovery of the first shoal, the active
duties of the ‘ look-out’ on the cliffs begin. Each fishing-
village places one or more of these men on the watch all
round the coast. They are called ‘ huers,’ a word said to
be derived from the old French verb huer, to call out, to
give an alarm. On the vigilance and skill of the 4 huer ’
much depends. He is therefore not only paid his guinea
a-week while he is on the watch, but receives besides a
perquisite in the shape of a percentage on the produce of
644
Pilchard-
fishery.
FISHERIES.
all the fish taken under his auspices. He is placed at his
post, where he can command an uninterrupted view of the
sea, some days before the pilchards are expected to appear;
and, at the same time, boats, nets, and men, are all ready
for action at a moment’s notice.
“ The principal boat used is at least fifteen tons in bur¬
den, and carries a large net called the ‘seine,’ which
measures 190 fathoms in length, and costs L.170, some¬
times more. It is simply one long strip, from 11 to 13
fathoms in breadth, composed of very small meshes, and
furnished all along its length with lead at one side and corks
at the other. The men who cast this net are called the
‘ shooters,’ and receive 11 s. 6d. a week ; and a perquisite
of one basket of fish each out of every haul. As soon as
the ‘ huer ’ discerns the first appearance of a shoal, he
waves his bush. The signal is conveyed to the beach im¬
mediately by men and boys watching near him. The
‘ seine ’ boat (accompanied by another small boat to assist
in casting the net) is rowed out where he can see it.
Then there is a pause, a hush of great expectation on all
sides. Meanwhile, the devoted pilchards press on—a com¬
pact mass of thousands on thousands of fish swimming to
meet their doom. All eyes are fixed on the ‘huer;’ he
stands watchful and still until the shoal is thoroughly em¬
bayed in water which he knows to be within the depth of
the ‘seine’ net. Then, as the fish begin to pause in their
progress, and gradually crowd closer and closer together,
he gives the signal; the boats come up, and the ‘seine’
net is cast, or, in the technical phrase, ‘ shot ’ overboard.
“ The grand object is now to inclose the entire shoal.
The leads sink one end of the net perpendicularly to the
ground, the corks buoy up the other to the surface of the
water. When it has been taken all round the fish, the two
extremities are made fast, and the shoal is then imprisoned
within an oblong barrier of network, surrounding it on all
sides. The great art is to let as few of the pilchards escape
as possible while this process is being completed. When¬
ever the ‘ huer ’ observes from above that they are startled,
and are separating at any particular point, to that point he
waves his bush ; thither the boat is steered, and there the
net is ‘shot’ at once. In whatever direction the fish at¬
tempt to get out to sea again, they are thus immediately
met and thwarted with extraordinary readiness and skill.
This labour completed, the silence of intense expectation
that has hitherto prevailed among the spectators on the
cliff is broken. There is a great shout of joy on all sides—
the shoal is secured !
“ The ‘ seine’ is now regarded as a great reservoir of
fish. It may remain in the water a week or more. To se¬
cure it against being moved from its position in case a gale
should come on, it is warped by two or three ropes to points
of land in the cliff, and is, at the same time, contracted in
circuit, by its opposite ends being brought together and
fastened tight over a length of several feet. While these
operations are in course of performance, another boat, an¬
other set of men, and another net (different in form from
the ‘seine’), are approaching the scene of action. This
new net is called the ‘ tuck’; it is smaller than the ‘ seine,’
inside which it is now to be let down for the purpose of
bringing the fish closely collected to the surface. The men
who manage this net are called ‘regular seiners.’ They
receive ten shillings a-w'eek, and the same perquisite as the
‘ shooters.’ Their boat is first of all rowed inside the seine
net, and laid close to the seine boat, which remains station¬
ary outside, and to the bows of which one rope at one end
of the ‘ tuck-net’ is fastened. The ‘ tuck’ boat then slowly
makes the inner circuit of the ‘seine,’ the smaller net being
diopped overboard as she goes, and attached at intervals to
the larger, lo prevent the fish from getting between the
two nets during this operation, they are frightened into the Pilchard-
middle of the inclosure by beating the water at proper fishery,
places with oars, and heavy stones fastened to ropes. When
the ‘ tuck’ net has at length travelled round the whole circle
of the ‘seine,’ and is securely fastened to the ‘seine’ boat
at the end, as it was at the beginning, everything is ready
for the great event of the day—the hauling of the fish to
the surface.
“Now the scene onshore and sea rises to a prodigious pitch
of excitement. The merchants, to whom the boats and nets
belong, and by whom the men are employed, join the
‘huer’ on the cliff; all their friends follow them; boys
shout, dogs bark madly; every little boat in the place puts
off crammed with idle spectators ; old men and women
hobble down to the beach to wait for the news. The noise,
the bustle, the agitation, increases every moment. Soon
the shrill cheering of the boys is joined by the deep voices
of the ‘ seiners.’ There they stand, six or eight stalwart,
sunburnt fellows, ranged in a row in the ‘seine’ boat, haul¬
ing with all their might at the ‘ tuck’ net, and roaring the
regular nautical ‘Yo-heave-ho!’ in chorus! Higher and
higher rises the net; louder and louder shout the boys and
the idlers. The merchant forgets his dignity, and joins
them ; the ‘ huer,’ so calm and collected hitherto, loses his
self-possession and waves his cap triumphantly. . . . The
water boils and eddies ; the ‘ tuck’ net rises to the surface,
and one teeming, convulsed mass of shining, glancing, sil¬
very scales, one compact crowd of thousands of fish, each
one of which is madly endeavouring to escape, appears in
an instant. The noise before was as nothing compared
with the noise now. Boats as large as barges are pulled
up in hot haste all round the net; baskets are produced by
dozens : the fish are dipped up in them, and shot out, like
coals out of a sack, into the boats. Ere long the men are
up to their ankles in pilchards ; they jump upon the rowing
benches, and work on, until the boats are filled with fish as
full as they can hold, and the gunwales are within two or
three inches of the water. Even yet the shoal is not ex¬
hausted; the ‘tuck’ net must be let down again and left
ready for a fresh haul, while the boats are slowly propelled
to the shore, where we must join them without delay.
“ As soon as the fish are brought to land, one set of men,
bearing capacious wooden shovels, jump in among them,
and another set bring large hand-barrows close to the side
of the boat, into which the pilchards are thrown with amaz¬
ing rapidity. This operation proceeds without ceasing for
a moment. As soon as one barrow is ready to be carried
to the salting-house, another is waiting to be filled. When
this labour is performed by night, which is often the case,
the scene becomes doubly picturesque. The men with the
shovels, standing up to their knees in pilchards, working
energetically; the crowd stretching down from the salting-
house across the beach, and hemming in the boat all round ;
the uninterrupted succession of men hurrying backwards
and forwards with their barrows through a narrow way, kept
clear for them in the throng; the glare of the lanterns giv¬
ing light to the workmen, and throwing red flashes on the
fish as they fly incessantly from the shovels over the side of
the boat, all combine together to produce such a series of
striking contrasts, such a moving picture of bustle and ani¬
mation as no attentive spectator can ever forget.” 1
The fish are then carried to the curing-house, on the
floor of which they are laid, with alternate layers of salt.
There they remain “ in bulk” for five or six weeks, during
which time a quantity of oil, salt, and water, drips from
them into wells perforated in the centre of the stone floor
on which they lie. When taken out of “ bulk,” they are
washed clean in salt water, and packed in hogsheads, which
are shipped to Penzance, and other places, for exportation.
1 Hambies beyond Railways, or Notes in Cornwall taken a-foot. By W. Wilkie Collins. P. 148.
FISHERIES. 645
Mackerel- The trade is chiefly to the shores of the Mediterranean—
fishery. Italy and Spain being the great foreign markets. The home
<s—v-"*-'7 consumption is next to nothing. Of course the value varies,
but the average wholesale price may be stated at about
oOs. per hogshead. The general export is about 22,000
hogshead^. The quantity sometimes taken is almost in¬
credible. As many as 2200 hogsheads have been secured
in a single seine, and Borlase mentions even 3000 as the
result ot a single capture. The number of pilchards to a
hogshead was formerly 3500, it afterwards fell to 3000, and
has since been reduced to about 2500, although they are
not individually counted. According to Mr Yarrell, an in¬
stance has been known of 10,000 hogsheads being taken
ashore at one spot in a single day, thus providing the enor¬
mous multitude of twenty millions of living creatures drawn
almost at once from the briny deep for the sustenance of man.1
We know not the present value or importance of the
pilchard-fishery, but so far back as 1827, when the bounty
began to be withdrawn, the conditions were as follows:—
number of seines employed, 186; not employed, 130; total
number of seines, 316; number of drilt boats, 368; men
employed on board drift-boats, 1600; number of men em¬
ployed on seines at sea, 2672 ; number of persons on shore
to whom the fishery affords direct employment, 6350; total
number of persons employed in the fishery, 10,521 ; cost of
seines, boats, See., used in the fishery, L.209,840; cost of
drift-boats and nets, L.61,400; cost of cellars for curing,
and other establishments on shore for carrying on the fishery,
L.169,175; total capital invested directly in the pilchard-
fishery, L.441,215. The outfit of a seine amounts to about
L.800. A string of drift-nets will cost about L.6 ; the net
and the boat from L.100 to L.150; but these are used
throughout the year for the other purposes of fishing.2
Although white bait, sprats, shads, and others, belonging
to the herring family i^Clupeidd), should here be mentioned
as of some importance in our fisheries, we must pass them
over without any detailed notice, in consequence of our
want of space.
The mackerel {Scomber scomber), though long regarded
as a migratory fish, may be taken, like the herring, on some
part of our coast, during every month throughout the year.
Those got in the months of May and June are considered
to be in higher condition than such as are brought to table
either in autumn or early spring. Of all fishes, they dete¬
riorate the most rapidly after death, and so, to be eaten in
perfection, they ought to be consumed as soon as caught.
Mackerel were first allowed to be cried through the streets
of London on a Sunday in the year 1698, and the practice
has continued ever since. It seems the habit of this fish to
present itself ever and anon in the most extraordinary
quantities, and the greater the pity that it should so speedily
lose its natural flavour. “ Mackerel,” says Mr Yarrel,
“ were so plentiful at Dover in 1808j that they were sold at
sixty for a shilling. At Brighton, in June of the same year,
the shoal of mackerel was so great, that one of the boats
had the meshes of her nets so completely occupied by them,
that it was impossible to drag them in ; the fish and nets,
therefore, in the end sunk together, the fishermen thereby
sustaining a loss of nearly L.60, exclusive of what the cargo,
could it have been got into the boat, would have produced.
The success of the fishing in 1821 was beyond all prece¬
dent. The value of the catch of sixteen boats from Lowe-
stoffe, on the 30th June, amounted to L.5252 ; and it is
supposed that there uTas no less an amount than L. 14,000 Cod-
altogether realized by the owners and men concerned in fishery,
the fishing of the Suffolk coast.3 In March 1833, on a
Sunday, four Hastings boats brought on shore 10,800
mackerel, and the next day two boats brought 7000 fish.
Early in the month of February 1834, one boat’s crew from
Hastings cleared L.100 by the fish caught in one night.”4
This was an earlier appearance than usual. During the
last-named year a large quantity of fine mackerel were shown
in the London markets in the second week of February.
They were cried through the streets of the metropolis, three
for a shilling, in the middle of March, and had then been
plentiful for a month.
The usual mode of fishing for mackerel is by a drift-net
120 feet long and 20 feet deep. It is corked at the top,
but has no leads below. It is made of fine twine, the size
of the mesh being about two inches and a half, or rather
more. From twelve to eighteen of these nets are attached
to each other lengthways, by being tied along a thick rope
called the drift-rope. When arranged for setting, a large
buoy attached to the end of the drift-rope is cast into the
sea, the vessel is put before the wind, and, as she makes
w-ay, the rope with the nets attached is passed over the
stern, till the whole is run out. The drift-rope is then
shifted from the stern to the bow of the vessel, after which
she rides as if at anchor, while, at the sametime, the conjoined
nets, sometimes a mile and a half long, are thereby kept
strained, or in a straight line. When a large shoal, or schul,
as it is called in Cornwall—
“ In sculls that oft
Bank the mid sea,”
says Milton—shows itself, the congregation is encompassed
by a small meshed seine-net, after the pilchard mode already
mentioned, and are lifted on board the boats in flaskets.
Sometimes the whole mass is hauled bodily ashore upon the
beach. As mackerel will bite at almost any bait, quantities
are likewise killed by hook and line. A slice cut from the
side of one of themselves, near the tail, is a successful lure
for its quondam companions, and even a slip of red leather
or scarlet cloth, will slay its hundreds. The boat is kept
in progress under sail, and a fresh breeze is advantageous.
We shall now devote a few columns to the consideration
of the cod-fishery. Although it might be supposed that,
amid the exhaustless resources of the almost illimitable sea,
the production of the finny tribes would not be greatly in¬
fluenced by the actions of the human race, there seems to
be no doubt that constant fishing tells upon these tribes to
a certain extent, just as it is known to do more largely on
those of narrower waters. By the statements of fishermen
in general, it appears that the boats are almost everywhere
obliged to go farther from the land than formerly before they
find fish ; and it is hence assumed, either that these have
changed their ground, or that the places near the shore
have been to a certain extent exhausted by over-wTork.5
Of this there is no doubt, that much longer voyages are
now undertaken in connection with the cod-fisheries than
of old. Expeditions of smacks and other vessels to Davis’
Straits to fish for cod, have been set agoing of late years,
with various success. English smacks have made trips
to Iceland, landing their fish, as they brought them home,
at Stornoway in Lewis. Some were kept alive in w'ells
of the smacks, but the greater part were salted. From
1 Pennant, while referring to the great capture of pilchards recorded by Borlase, has committed the extraordinary mistake of reckon¬
ing 35,000 fish to a hogshead, instead of 3500. 2 Yarrell’s British Fishes, vol, ii., p. 105.
3 Messrs C. and J. Paget, in their Natural History of Yarmouth and its Neighbourhood, state that, in 1823, 142 lasts of mackerel were
taken there. A last is 10,000. This makes 1,422,000 individuals. 4 British Fishes, vol. L, p. 126.
6 Sometimes local changes of a contrary kind occur. Thus, Mr Yarrell (writing about 1837) informs us that formerly the Gravesend
and Barking fishermen captured no cod nearer than the Orkneys or the Dogger Bank, but that “ for the last two or three years the supply
for the London market has been obtained by going no farther than the Lincolnshire and Norfolk coasts, and even between that and London,
where previously very few fish could be obtained.”—British Fishes, vol. ii., p. 147.
646
FISHERIES.
Cod-
fishery.
two smacks alone 27,000 cod-fish were landed. This cod¬
fishing off the Icelandic shores has long drawn the at-
’ tention of the French, and has been actively and success¬
fully prosecuted by them. There seems no reason why
the British should not be at least equally adventurous m the
same quarter. Vessels sailed from Shetland for the haroe
Isles in 1851, and one of these returned with as much cod
and ling as when dried weighed thirty tons. Our cod and
lino- fisheries may be said to be of a much more stationary
character than that for herrings. Though the value may
be sometimes suddenly affected by the occasionally great
success of the far northern captures just referred to, the
annual yield of our own coasts seems very uniform.
It has been bountifully ordained, that while fish of the
herring family usually most abound in summer and autumn,
those of the Gadidce, including cod, haddock, whiting and
several others, all more or less remarkable for the excellence
of their flesh, are in best condition during the colder season
of the year. The common cod {Morrhua vulgaris) is of
the highest intrinsic value, and is providentially spread over
a great expanse of the European seas, from Iceland almost
to Gibraltar. It does not enter the Mediterranean, but all
alono- the eastern shores of North America and its islands,
from8the 40th to the 66th degree, the supply is countless
and inexhaustible. It is fortunately a fish of great voracity,
and so is easily taken with a variety of baits. The usual
mode of capture is by long deep-sea lines, with hooks fast¬
ened at regular distances along their whole length by shoitei
cords called snoods. The latter are six feet long, and are
placed about twelve feet apart. Of course variations occur
in the practice of particular places. Buoys and small an¬
chors are fixed to each end of the line, which is shot acioss
the run of the tide. An improvement was suggested many
years ago by Mr Cobb, who was sent to Shetland by the
commissioners of the fisheries. He attached a small piece
of cork within about a foot of the hook. I his suspended
the bait, and prevented its lying concealed from the fishes’
view by the inequalities of the ground, and also kept it more
clear from the attacks of crabs and star-fish. A deal of
hand-line fishing is also practised for cod, haddock, and
and other white fish. Each fisherman has too lines armed
with a pair of hooks, kept apart by a piece of wire or whale¬
bone, and leaded so as to keep the bait near the ground.
Cod inhabit deep water, and are usually fished for in from
25 to 40 or 50 fathom. Many cargoes are kept alive in
welled-smacks, and are carried from great distances to the
vicinity of the metropolitan markets. We once took occa¬
sion to visit one of those vessels at Stromness in Orkney.
She was sloop-rigged—a capital sea-boat—went extremely
fast—and measured 62 tons, old register. The skipper said
he thought he would have no chance with a good yacht in
light winds, but that in heavy weather he would keep a fair
place with anything. The well was immediately abaft the
mast, boarded off from the rest of the vessel, and communi¬
cating with, and receiving its water directly from, the sea
beneath, by means of numerous perforations in the bottom
of about two inches in diameter. Its length backwards from
the mast seemed about ten or twelve feet, and its breadth
nearly that of the sloop itself. The well was capable of
holding about fifty score of live cod, and there were about
ten score in it at the period of our examination. I hey
seemed rather softened and subdued by their captivity, and
came ever and anon with a lazy heave to the surface, show¬
ing their great flat heads, dim unexpressive eyes, and gap¬
ing mouths. Though heavy and stupid in their aspect, they
seemed to have their senses about them, and speedily seized
upon and swallowed such portions of shell-fish as we dropped
into their watery chamber. To produce perpetual change
in the waters of the well, these vessels are usually either
anchored in a tideway, or one of the sails is kept partially
set, so as to produce a constant heaving motion, and a con- ^
sequent circulation of the briny flood. The fish are often v
confined in this way for a fortnight or three weeks, and it
they show any symptoms of sickliness, the usual medical
routine is reversed in their case,—they are killed first and
cured afterwards. These sloops venture with their cargoes
no farther up the Thames than Gravesend, beyond which
the influence of the intermingling fresh water would prove
destructive. From that point they are conveyed to market
in boats with closed wells filled with sea-water. During all
this lengthened period of confinement they seldom give
them any food, although those we saw seemed well inclined
to eat, from the rapid voracity with which they gobbled up
our limpets.
Although the deep-sea and hand-line fishing are thus of
importance in affording to the fish-eating public a salubri¬
ous supply in firm and fresh condition, it is the quantity of
cured cod and other allied kinds which constitutes their
chief mercantile importance.
YEARS
Cod, Ling, or
Hake Cured.
Cod,
Ling, or
Hake Ex¬
ported.
Cured
Dried.
Cured
in
Pickle.
Cod, Ling, or
Hake Cured.
Cod,
Ling, or
Hake Ex
ported.
Cured
Dried.
1822
1823
1824
1825
1826
1827
1828
1829
1830
1831
1832
1833
1834
1835
1836
1837
1838
69,136
95,161
82,515
81,321
101,914
37,674
50,293
58,461
52,710
44,152
38,040
66,892
84,996
Barrels.
5,621
9,025
6,142
6,819
8,836
2,950
3,779
6,467
5,522
3,767
6,276
7,273
10,303
Cwt». ,
19,578
19,398
23,098
14,087
7.281
14,051
13,208
20,587
16,369
11,920
20,168
14,754
16,298
10,632
10,992
10,195
22,166
1839
1840
1841
1842
1843
1844
1845
1846
1847
1848
1849
1850
1851
18521
18522
1853
1854
Cured
Dried.
Cured
in
Pickle.
Cwts.
85,279
93,560
91,494
76,849
77,207
92,813
83,919
92,323
90,783
86,624
85,463
98,903
90,658
92,083
102,976
105,596
109 684
Cured
Dried.
Barrels.
10,051
6,053
9,480
7,038
6,431
5,123
1,726
5,037
6,341
6,247
6,810
6,588
5,032
7,019
6,886
5,122
6,166
Cwts.
26,701
29,656
30,550
25,293
23,737
35,476
28,815
29,352
34,435
25,662
22,608
24,154
22,304
17,141
18.994
22,650
19,557
jVjj, The books of the Board of Fisheries do not exhibit the
total quantity of cod, ling, or hake cured till the year com¬
mencing 5th April 1825. The bounty, from the commencement
of this Abstract to the 5th of April 1830, was 4s. per cwt. for fish
cured dried, and 2s. 6d. per barrel for fish cured in pickle, taken
by the crews of vessels or boats not on the tonnage bounty ; while
the bounty for vessels licensed for the cod and ling fishery, or the
tonnage bounty, was 50s. per ton, for tonnage and cargo to the
5th of July 1826; 45s. from thence to the 5th of July 1827 ; 40s.
to the 5th of July 1828 ; and 35s. to the 5th of April 1830, when
the bounties ceased altogether, and have not since been renewed
Cod-
fishery.
Abstract of the Total Quantity of God, Ling, or Hale, Cured
and Exported, in so far as the same have been brought
under the cognizance of the Officers of the f ishery, from the
\0th October 1820, when the system hitherto^ in force for
the encouragement and improvement of the Cod and Ling
Fishery tool place, to the 31sf December 1854, distin¬
guishing each Year as under. From 1822 to 1844 in¬
clusive, the periods are calculated as front 10th October
to 5th April. They then run from 5th April to 5th Janu*
ary, up to 1852 inclusive. From 5th January 1851 and
onwards, the quantities noted are for Scotland and the
Isle of Man only.
Stornoway, and the Orkney and Shetland Islands, aie the
principal stations for these fish. Ihus, of the 109,684 cwt.
taken at the twenty-one stations of which our cod districts
consist, 73,707 cwt. belonged to the three localities just
named. The quantitv of individual fish of the cod and ling
kind killed in 1854 was 3,523,269, of which 1,385,699 were
from the Shetland Islands. The great exports of dried fish
For the year ended 5th January.
^ For the year ended 31st December; and so also for the two subsequent years.
FISHERIES. 64/
Cod- are also from these islands. Thus, there were last year ex¬
fishery. ported to Ireland 7855 cwt., and to continental Europe
5630 cwt., making 13,485 cwt. out of 19,557, the entire
quantity exported. Besides these weights of cured fish,
there was 58,042 cwt. disposed of fresh, making a grand
total of 167,726 cwt., cured or fresh, and 6166 barrels pre¬
served in pickle.
The following is the mode of curing dried cod, &c., prac¬
tised in our northern isles. The fish are generally gutted
before they are brought ashore. As soon as they are
landed, the splitter with a large knife cuts them open from
head to tail, and extracts the upper half of the back-bone.
He then hands them over to the washer, who, with a brush
and sea-water, cleanses them of every particle of blood.
When all the fish have been in this way split and washed,
they are allowed to drain, and then come into the hands of
the salter, who places a stratum of salt at the bottom of a
large wooden vat, and over it a stratum of fish, and so on
alternately till the vat is filled. Above all are laid heavy
stones to keep the fish beneath the pickle. After the lapse
of some days they are taken out, well washed, and brushed
from shoulder to tail, and put up in small heaps, called
clamps, to drain. They are then spread upon the shingly
beach slantingly, with the back undermost, exposed to the
action of the sun and air; and after being thus alternately
clamped and exposed singly, they are built into larger
stacks, called steeples, which, for the sake of equal pressure,
are themselves occasionally taken down and rebuilt, by
which means the fish that were uppermost at one time, are
undermost at another. As soon as this drying, or pining, as
it is technically called, is completed (as indicated by a white
efflorescence appearing on the surface, named the bloom),
the fish are transported to a dry cellar lined with wood, and
piled up closely, if not speedily shipped off1 to market.1 We
may add, that the Yorkshire curers, who are thought the
best in the world, dry their fish on wooden flakes, raised on
posts three feet high, of such length as may be requisite,
and about four feet wide. 4 here is a platform of cross bars
at the top, placed six inches asunder, on which the fish are
laid. The great advantage of this method is, that it pre¬
serves the fish perfectly clean, while, owing to the current
of air passing iinderneath, the process of drying goes on as
x'apidly below as above. It also prevents the fish being
sunburnt, blistered, or scalded, when first laid out, as not
unfrequently happens if they are suddenly placed upon a
stony beach in a hot day. When nothing but the beach
is available, great care should be taken not to lay the
fish out, for the first time, when the stones are too warm.
Fish prepared for the Spanish market (where they are in
great demand) ought to be rather lightly salted, of a pure
greenish colour and transparent aspect, and very hard
dried.
As the greatest cod-fishery in the world is earned on
over the banks of Newfoundland, we shall here give a
sketch of the modus operandi, as from a recent eye witness.
The fish are all caught with hooks, and, as usual, from the
bottom. Each fisherman has a strong line of from 60 to
70 fathoms in length, to which is attached a lead of a cylin¬
drical shape, weighing about five pounds. From this pro¬
ceeds the pennant,” which is a cord about twice the size
of the line, and three feet in length. To the lower end of
the pennant, and attached to it by a small copper swivel, is
the “craft,” which is a stout cord about 2| feet in length,
having three strips of whalebone laid around it at the
dle, where it is attached to the swivel of the pennant. The
whole is then serried or wound round with tarred twine.
On each end of the craft is a smaller swivel, into which the
gauging of the hooks is attached. The whalebone serves
to keep the hooks about a foot apart, so there is little danger Other sea-
of their becoming entangled with each other. fisheries.^
The men arrange themselves on the windward side of the
deck, throw over their leads, and unreel their lines, till the
lead rests on the bottom. It is then drawn up, so that the
hook will touch the bottom with the down pitch of the
vessel. They lean over the bulwarks, patiently awaiting a
bite, which is known by a slight jerk on the line. They
then give a sudden pull, in order to hook the fish, stand
back, and haul in the long line, hand over hand, until the
fish comes up to the surface, when he is taken on deck, un¬
hooked, and thrown into a square box, which each man has
fastened by his side, called a “ kid.” The hooks are then
baited and hove over again, and the fisherman, while the
line is running, picks up the fish caught and cuts out his
tongue.
Towards night the fish are counted out from the kids,
each one separately, and thrown into a large kid near the
main hatch, called the “ dressing kid. I hey are counted
aloud as they are thrown along, and each man is required
to keep his own account, and report to the skipper at night,
who keeps a separate account for each man on the log-book.
The dressing-gang, consisting of a “ throater, ’ a “ header,
a “ splitter,” and a “ salter,” now commence dressing down.
After passing through the hands of the first three, they
assume somewhat the shape seen in market. I hey are
then passed down between decks to the salter, who puts
them up in kenches or layers, laying the first tier on the
bottom of the hold, and building up with alternate layers of
salt and fish till the kench reaches the desired height. The
decks are then washed down, sails taken in, and the vessel
anchored for the night.2
The haddock (Morrhua ceglefinus) now deserves a brief
notice. This fish is of great value, from its excellence and
frequency combined. It may be traced everywhere along
the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland, the largest and
finest being taken in Dublin Bay, and off the Nymph
Bank. The haddock is extremely abundant on our eastern
English shores from Yarmouth to the Tyne, and occurs
plentifully on the same side of Scotland. This fish does
not exist either in the Baltic or Mediterranean. It swims
in great shoals, and not unfrequently shifts its stations, pio-
bably from the necessity of a change consequent on the
consumption of food. The mode of capture is with long
lines and hand-lines; and where the trawl-net is in use for
other fish, the haddock, which, like the majority of the
bearded fishes, feeds near the ground, is frequently taken
by the trawl.
In the north-east of Scotland many people prepare these
fish, not only for their own use, but also for sales, to a very
large amount, at their own firesides, by appropriating a
space in their chimneys, where the heat and smoke are
applied without in any way interfering with the other
domestic arrangements ; and in those districts where wood
is not to be had, peat or turf is used, and answers every
purpose.
The fish, when freed from the head and intestines, is split,
washed, and thoroughly cleaned from all impurities. It is
then put in salt from one hour to five, and smoked and
dried from six hours to twelve, the degrees of salting and
smoking being modified according to the size and thickness
of the fish, and the length of time it may be required to
preserve it for consumption. At Findon in Aberdeenshire,
from whence the “ Finnans ” derive their name, the fisher¬
men use nothing but turf in the smoking process. Three
hundred fish can be prepared at an ordinary-sized domes¬
tic fireside at one time. The split fish are hung from
timber rods, which are passed across their upper or widest
1 See Hibbert’s Shetland Islands, p. 519, and Wilson’s Voyage round Scotland, vol. ii., p. 331.
8 See Hunt’s Merchants’ Magazine for March 1855.
FISHERIES.
648
Other sea- part, so as to keep them extended; these rods are then
fisheries. piace(j acr0ss the space from the wall to the chimney-
/ piece at either side of the hearth, and small quantities of
damp turf being lighted beneath, the smoke performs its
office by ascending the chimney. For a near market,
where the fish are likely to be consumed in about four or
five days, half an hour in salt or pickle, and four to six
hours’ smoking will be sufficient. To supply the markets
not only of Aberdeen, but even of the great southern cities,
great quantities of this description of fish are now prepared
and sent off from many other northern villages besides Findon.
The degree of cure is regulated by the time which must
elapse before the article can be used, an additional half-
hour or more in salt, and two or more hours longer smoking^
being given if required. Attention is paid to the state of
the weather, the distance from markets, and the taste of the
consumers.
The commerce in this description of fish has greatly
increased in Scotland, many having embarked in it on
a large scale by erecting extensive curing-houses, and
purchasing haddocks from numerous captors, who confine
themselves almost solely to this department of fishing.
The wffiole process, when performed upon the smaller scale,
and by the country people, takes only a few hours; so that
fish caught in the evening may be in a market many miles
distant on the morning of the following day. The real
Finnans are generally small, and of a pleasant pale yellow
colour; but larger fish are cured at the great commercial
stations, and in a way intended to admit of their being sent
a longer distance, and keeping for a longer time.
The whiting (Merlangus vulgaris) is regarded by many
competent judges as the most delicate fish of this family.
It occurs around our coasts, and advances pretty far north-
vvards from the Orkneys to Cape Clear. Large examples
are caught upon the Dogger Bank,1 as well as on the coast
of Cornwall, and the southern and other shores of Ireland.
The whiting is fished for with lines ; and although taken
almost all the year through, it is most abundant in mid¬
winter, by which time it makes its approaches to the spawn¬
ing places, at no great distance from the shore, and may
then be taken in larger quantities than usual, within from
half a mile to three miles from shore.
The coal-fish {Merlangus carbonarius) is a larger and
coarser species, which is spread far northwards, being well
known off Spitzbergen and in Davis’ Straits. It enters
the Baltic Sea, and is very abundant in Scotland and among
our western and northern isles, where the fry, fished for
from the rocks, often afford good sustenance to the poorer
classes. It rejoices in many names, being in its different
stages and districts known as silloch, podley, cuddy, sethe,
coal-fish, and gray-lord. It attains to a weight of from
fifteen to thirty pounds, and is often salted, and cured dry—
bringing, however, a lower price than its congeners.
The hake {Merlucius vulgaris) is another of the coarser
kind, caught like the preceding by hook and line. It is less
abundant in Scotland than along some of the southern
shores of England. Portsmouth is largely supplied from
the Devonshire coast. Mr Couch describes it as roving
about the Cornish shores in a somewhat irregular way, and
as being extremely voracious in its habits. It is often in¬
closed in the circle of the seine-net, along with the pilchards,
and being sometimes left undisturbed for several days it
gluts itself to its heart’s content. Seventeen of these fish
have been taken from the interior of a hake of ordinary size.
It occurs around Ireland, and is so abundant in the Bay of Other sea-
Galway as to have given the name to that district, as marked fisheries.^
in some ancient maps, of the Bay of Hakes. In the salted
state it is exported to Spain, although itself common on the
northern shore of the Mediterranean, where it affords con¬
siderable traffic, being packed up in aromatic plants, and
transmitted to the towns of the interior.
The ling {Lotus mold) is a much finer fish. Large
quantities are taken by hook and line from Cornwall and
the Scilly Isles to Shetland. It is excellent wrhen cured,
is much used for home consumption, and is pretty largely
exported to Spain.
The tusk {Brosmius vulgaris) is another highly-esteemed
species. It is one of the best in the cured state, swelling
out well when boiled, and separating into thick firm flakes.
It is a northern fish, frequent in the Orkneys, and abundant
in Shetland. According to Faber (to whom we owe so
much information regarding northern species), it seems to
possess less power of resisting the violence of the sea than
the majority of fishes, as it is sometimes dashed ashore dead
in incredible numbers on the coasts of the Faroe Islands and
the south of Iceland. He adds that, “ Jan Olsen” says, that
the fresh fish is badly tasted, but wdien dried is the best of
food. We have not the pleasure of being acquainted with
Jan Olsen, but the former portion of his opinion is most
erroneous, and must be corrected. Fresh tusk is one of the
very best of all fishes, either in or out of the sea, and it is
worth any man’s while to make a voyage to the Shetland
Isles (in themselves so interesting), for no other purpose
than to eat it. Jan is really very wrong.
A few words must suffice for flat-fish. Of these we have
in this country at least sixteen different kinds, the majority
in good request as food. Plaice, flounders, dabs, &c., may
pass without any special notice. The largest of all the
flat-fish, or Pleuronectidee, is the holibut {Hiypoglossus vul¬
garis), a species which sometimes weighs from 300 to 500
pounds. It is a northern fish well knowm in Greenland,
not unfrequent in the Scotch markets, but rarer as we pro¬
ceed southwards.
Of smaller size, but far more delicate flavour, is the true
turbot {Rhombus maximus), the finest of the flat fishes.
Its localities are much more southern than those of the pre¬
ceding. It is caught both by the long line system already
described, and by trawling. The English markets are
largely supplied from the various sand-banks which lie be¬
tween our eastern coasts and Holland. The Dutch turbot
fishery begins about the end of March, a few leagues to the
south of Scheveling. The fish proceed northwards as the
season advances, and in April and May are found in great
shoals upon the banks called the Broad Forties. Early in
June they surround the island of Heligoland, where the
fishery continues to the middle of August, and then termi¬
nates for the year. At the beginning of the season the
trawl-net is chiefly used, but on the occurrence of warm
weather the fish retire to deeper water, and to banks of
rougher ground, where the long line becomes indispensable.
Although a considerable quantity of turbot is taken on vari¬
ous parts of our own coasts, a preference is said to be given
in the London markets to those caught by the Dutch. Ac¬
cording to a calculation made some years ago (in the pre¬
ceding edition of this Encyclopaedia), that nation was sup¬
posed to draw not less than L.80,000 a-year for the supply
of our metropolitan market alone; while the Danes (to
whom the outer shores of Scandinavia formerly pertained)
1 As tearing upon the general character and condition of this famous hank, we make the following extract from an amusing and in¬
structive article on the “ London Commissariat,” in the Quarterly Review. “ No better proof that its stores are failing could be given
than the fact that, although the ground, counting the Long Bank and the north-west flat in its vicinity, covers 11,800 square miles, and
that in fine weather it is fished by the London companies with from fifteen to twenty dozen of long lines, extending to ten or twelve
miles, and containing from 9000 to 12,000 hooks, it is yet not at all common to receive even as many as four score fish of a night, a
poverty which can he better appreciated when we learn that 600 fish for 800 hooks is the catch for deep-sea fishing about Kinsale.”
No. CXC., p. 280, September 1854.
FISHERIES.
649
Other sea- charged us from L.12,000 to L.14,000 a-year for sauce, made
fisheries. from 0ne million of lobsters exported from the rocky shores
of Norway. Mr Yarrell informs us that about one-fourth
of the whole supply of London turbot is furnished by the
Dutch. There is good trawling, as well as long-line fish¬
ing for tljis highly-prized species, over two extensive sand¬
banks called the Varne and the Bridge—the one about
seven, and the other about twelve miles from Dover, to¬
wards the French coast, d rawling for turbot is also ex¬
tensively practised along the coast of Devonshire, from
which supplies are sent to Bath and Exeter, as well as
London.
The sole (Solea vulgaris), though a much smaller, is a
highly esteemed species. It inhabits sandy shores around
the coasts of both Britain and Ireland. Those of our south
and west districts are of larger size and finer quality than
such as occur off the north and east stations. Soles seldom
take a bait, but are caught in enormous quantities by means
of the beam-trawl. The principal grounds lie along the
south coast from Sussex to Devonshire. Two very produc¬
tive stations are Brixham and Torbay.
Although skate, eels, and several other fishes of some
value, remain unnamed, we must here close a treatise which
has extended to a greater length than was foreseen at its
commencement. The importance of the general subject,
and the multiplicity of its departments, must plead our
excuse. We shall conclude with a brief extract, and one
more tabular view.
“ Next to the herring-fishery,” says the writer already
referred to, “ the sea-harvest of most importance to the poor
of London is that of sprats, which come in about Lord
Mayor’s day, and it is a popular belief that the first dish is
always sent to the chief magistrate of the city. The plaice
season succeeds that of sprats, with the interval of mackerel,
which continues until the end of May, when Scotland and
Ireland pass their salmon into the market. But where do
all the lobsters come from ? The lovers of this most deli¬
cious of the crustacean tribe will probably be astonished to
learn, that they are mainly brought from Norway, France,
and the Channel Islands. Orkney and Shetland do, it is
true, contribute a few to the metropolitan market; but full
two-thirds are reluctantly, and with much pinching and
twisting, dragged out of the thousand rock-bound inlets
which indent the Norwegian coast. The fighting, twisting,
blue-black masses are taken as soon as purchased to what
are termed ‘ the boiling-houses,’ of which there are four,
situated in Duck and Love Lanes, close to the market, and
here, for a trifling sum per score, they change their dark
for scarlet uniforms. They are all plunged into the boiling
cauldron, basket and all, and in twenty minutes they are Other sea-
done. Crabs are cooked in the same establishments, but fislieries-
their nervous systems are so acute, that they dash off their
claws in convulsive agony, if placed alive in hjt water. To
prevent this mutilation, which would spoil their sale, they
are first killed by the insertion of a needle through their
head. The lobster trade is mostly in the hands of one
salesman, Mr Saunders, of Thames Street, who often has
upwards of 15,000 consigned to him of a morning, and who
causes no less than L.15,000 a-year to flow into the fishy
palms of Norwegians for this single article of commerce.”1 2
The following table of the total supply of fish to the
London market, is from Mr Mayhew’s work on London
Labour and the London Poor.
Description of Fish.
No. of Fish. Weight of Fish.
Wet Fish.
Salmon and salmon-trout(29,000 boxes,
14 fish per box) 
Live cod (averaging 10 lb. each) 
Soles (averaging J lb. each) 
Whiting (averaging 6 oz. each) 
Haddock (averaging 2 lb. each) 
Plaice (averaging 1 lb. each)  
Mackerel (averaging 1 lb. each) 
Fresh herrings (250,000 barrels, 700
fish per barrel) 
Ditto in bulk 
Sprats 
Eels from Holland (principally), Eng¬
land and Ireland (6 fish per lb) 
Flounders (7200 quarterns, 36 fish per
qtn  
Dabs (7500 quarterns, 36 fish per qtn.)
lb.
406,000 3,480,000
400,000 4,000,000
97,520,000 26,880,000
17,920,000 6,720,000
2,470,000 5,040,000
33,600,000 33,600,000
23,520,000 23,520,000
175,000,000 42,000,000
l,050,000,000a 252,000,000
4,000,000
} 9,797,760 {
259,200 43,200
270,000 48,750
Dry Fish.
Barrelled cod (15,000,40 fish per barrel)
Dried salt cod (5 lb. each) 
Smoked haddock (65,000 barrels, 300
fish per barrel) 
Bloaters (265,000 baskets, 150 fish per
basket) 
Red herrings (100,000 barrels, 500 fish
per barrel) 
Dried sprats (9600 large bundles, 30
fish per bundle)3 
Shell Fish.
Oysters 
Lobsters (averaging 1 lb. each).., 
Crabs (averaging 1 lb. each)   
Shrimps (324 to a pint).., 
Whelks (227 to half bushel) 
Mussels (1000 to half bushel) ,...
Cockles (2000 to half bushel) 
Periwinkles (4000 to half bushel) 
750,000
1,600,000
19,500,000
147,000,000
50,000,000
288,000
495,896,000
1,200,000
600,000
498,428,648
4,943,200
50,400,000
67,392,000
304,000,000
4,200,000
8,000,000
10,920,000
10,600,000
14,000,000
96,000
1,200,000
600,000
(j. w—N.)
1 Quarterly Review for September 1854, p. 280.
2 We feel somewhat doubtful in regard to this enormous aggregate. It will be seen from our preceding exposition of the herring-
fishery, that the entire recorded take for the whole of Britain (including the fish consumed fresh, cured in salt, and smoked as reds),
amounted in 1849 to 1,151,979 barrels. This, allowing 800 to a barrel, would give nine hundred million of individual herrings, with
above twenty-one million over. .Now the quantities in the above table (including both barrels and bulk) would seem to show that the
London market alone, and supplied chiefly from Yarmouth, receives an annual stock of fresh herrings amounting to twelve hundred million
of individuals, w'ith twenty-five million over. We have applied to the Board of Fisheries for the English returns for 1849, of herrings
disposed of fresh, and find as follows: „
r Barrels. Barrels.
Bristol  3,500 North Sunderland   21,400
Isle of Man  10,000 Whitby  29,123
Liverpool     17,600 Yarmouth  113,574
St Ives  1,800
Whitehaven  12,790 Making a total for the south country of  236,011
London   26,224
This, at the rate of 800 to a barrel, gives only one hundred and eighty-nine millions of individuals, with above two hundred thousand
over. Of these a considerable number (probably the majority of such as were caught upon the western coasts) would be consumed else¬
where than in London. We know not how much of the Yarmouth herrings “in bulk ” may have been transported rapidly, and without
record, but upon the whole we apprehend some exaggeration or mis-statement in the matter.
We desire in this place to express our obligations to the Hon. B. F. Primrose, secretary to the Board of Fisheries, and his assistants in
office, for the readiness with which he and they have at all times aided us in our researches.
3 We may note as follows (from the Return of the quantity of fish sold at Billingsgate in 1850) regarding certain species omitted from
the aboveTurbot (from 2 to 16 lb. each) 2500 tons, or 800,000 fish. Brill and Mullet (3 lb. each) 1500 tons, or 1,220,000 fish.
VOL. IX' . 4 N
650
Pearl
Fishery
II
Fitz-
stephen.
FIT
Pean Fishery. See Moixdsca, § Pearls ; anti Peak!..
Whale Fishery. See Balcena, index to Mammalia.
FISHGUARD, a seaport-town of South Wales,
of Pembroke, 14 miles N. of Haverfordwest. It is called
by the natives Abergivaen, from its situation at the mout i
of the little river Gwaen, over which there is a good stone
bridge. The town is small and ill-built, and in the older
part of it the street is so ill constructed as to be extremely
inconvenient for the passing of carriages. The harbour is
capacious, and at all times easy of access, being unobstructed
by shoals or bars, and sheltered by the bold promontories
of Dinas Head and Penainglas. ^ The bay extends from ly.
to W. about 3 miles, and from N. to S. more than a mile
and a half. Its general depth is from 30 to 70 feet, and
ships of the largest size may anchor in all parts of it with
perfect security. The trade, however, is unimportant.
About 2J miles S. of the town a French force of 1400 men,
under General Tate, landed on 22d February 1797, and
next day surrendered to a few militia and yolunteeis not
half their own number. Fishguard unites with Haverford¬
west and Narberth in returning a member to parliament.
Pop. (1851) 1757.
FISHING. See Angling, and Fisheries.
FISSIROSTRES. See index to Ornithologt.
FISTULA was used by the Romans to denote any small
pipe, a reed, &e.; and more particularly the shepherd’s or
Pan’s pipe, which was a combination of reeds gradually de¬
creasing in length and calibre, corresponding to the syrinx
of the Greeks.
Fistula, in Surgery, a deep, narrow, and callous ulcer,
arising generally from abscesses. It differs from a sinus in
being callous, which the latter is not.
FITCH, a chick-pea, a vetch. See Agriculture, vol.
ii., p. 328-9.
FITCHY, in Heraldry (from the French fiche, fixed),
a term applied to a cross when the lower branch ends in a
sharp point. The origin of this device is supposed to be,
that the primitive Christians were accustomed to carry about
crosses with them, and when they stopped at any place on
a journey they fixed these portable crosses in the ground
for the purposes of devotion.
FITZ, the old French word for fils, a son, and which, as a
prefix to proper names, corresponds to the Celtic Mac, to
the Hebrew Ben, and its Aramaic synonym Bar.
FITZHERBERT, Sir Anthony, a distinguished law¬
yer in the reign of Henry VIII., was born at Noroury in
Derbyshire, but in what year is not known. He was edu¬
cated at Oxford, passed rapidly through the lower grades
of the legal profession, and in 1523 was made a puisne
judge of the court of common pleas, an office which he held
till his death in 1538.
Fitzherbert’s works are—The Grand Abridgment collected by that
most reverend judge Mr Anthony Fitzherbert, lately conferred with
his ovvnmanuscript corrected by himself, togetherwith the references
of the cases to the book, by which they may be easily found, printed
in folio byPynson in 1514, by Wynken de Worde in 1516, and again
in 1577 ; The Office and Authority of Justices of Peace, 1538, but
often reprinted, the last edition being dated 1617 ; The Office of
Sheriffs, Bailiffs of Liberties, Escheators, Constables, Coroners, and
others, 1538 ; Of the Diversity of Courts, 1529 ; The New Nature,
Brevium, 1534, to which, in the last edition, published in 1794, 2
vols. 8vb, is added a commentary supposed to have been written by
Chief-Justice Hale, with notes, references, and an enlarged index ;
Of the Surveying of Lands, 1539; The Book of Husbandry, 1534,
reprinted several times in the reigns of Mary and Elizabeth. Of
these works, five, in the order in which they are here enumerated,
were, with the exception of part of the second, originally written
in French.
FITZ JAMES, James. See Berwick, Duke of.
FITZSTEPHEN, William, author of the earliest ex¬
tant description of London, was of Norman extraction, but
born in the English metropolis during the first half of the
twelfth century. He became a monk of Canterbury, and
FIX
filled various offices in the household of Thomas a Becket. Fl,*me
When that prelate was murdered, Fitzstephen alone ot Ins FixmiU.
numerous clerks and attendants did not fly, but was an eye- ner.
witness of the whole transaction. His Description ot Lon-
don originally formed part of another work, entitled Ihe
Life and Passion of Archbishop Bechet. Stow, in his
Survey of London, has appended a translation of Pitz-
stephen’s work ; but the best edition of it is that of Dr
Pegge, London, 1772. Fitzstephen in his work shows a
considerable acquaintance with the best Latin authors, and
even a certain knowledge of the Greek classics. He is be¬
lieved to have died in 1190.
FIUME (Illyrian Reka, German St Veit am tlaum), a
seaport-town of the Austrian dominions, formerly capital of
the Hungarian district of Littorale, now of the palatinate ot
Fiume in Croatia. It is situated on the gulf of Quarnero,
at the mouth of the Fiumara in the Adriatic, 38 miles S.1.
of Trieste. It consists of an old and a new town, the toi -
nier standing on a hill, and consisting of steep and narrow
streets, with old and mean houses; the latter extending
along the shore, and having wide, clean, and well-payed
streets, and many handsome edifices. In the old town is a
fine Roman arch, but so hemmed in by hovels as to be diffi¬
cult of access. The church of St Veit is an elegant build¬
ing, not unlike that of St Maria della Salute at Venice. I he
casino is a handsome edifice, containing coffee and bal
rooms and a theatre. On an adjacent height stands the old
castle of Tersat. Fiume has manufactures of linens, coarse
woollens, leather, paper, sugar, rosoglio, wax, and earthen¬
ware. It has been a free port since 1722. being the im¬
mediate outlet by sea for the produce of Hungary, it was
early looked upon as a place of importance ; and the em¬
peror Charles VI. constructed a magnificent road called
Carolina, about 75 miles in length, between it and Carl-
stadt in Croatia, where the inland navigation, by means ot
the Culpa and the Save, terminates. In 1809 the Lmsen
Strasse, also leading from Fiume to Carlstadt, was opened,
and is now the principal means of communication between
those two places. Carlstadt communicates with the coast
at Zeng by means of a third road, constructed by the empe¬
ror Joseph II., and hence called Josephina. Fiume, how¬
ever, is not a place of extensive trade, being naturally much
inferior to Trieste. The harbour is accessible only to
vessels of small burden, large vessels being obliged to
anchor about three miles from the shore. I he chief
exports are wheat, wine, tobacco, timber, rags, and hemp.
Pop. 11,000’ „ i
FIXED AIR, carbonic acid gas. See Chemistry, vol.
vi., p. 471, &c. . c
FIXITY, or Fixedness, in Chemistry, the opposite ot
volatility ; or that property by which bodies resist dissipa¬
tion by heat.
FIXMILLNER, Placidus, a learned German astrono¬
mer, was born at Achleuthen, near Linz in Austria, in
1721. In 1737 he entered the Benedictine monastery at
Kremsmiinster, where a few years later he was appointed
professor of ecclesiastical law, an office which he held lor
forty years. His fame, however, rests chiefly on his astro¬
nomical learning. The abbot had caused an observatory to
be erected in the monastery, and Fixmillner was appointed
chief astronomer. When he first entered upon the duties
of this appointment his acquaintance with astronomy was
very defective; but by severe study and unremitting appli¬
cation he not only overcame the deficiencies of Ins. eai y
training, but even earned a.very respectable place in t e
second rank of astronomical observers. Ihe value ot ns
observations on the planet Mercury was publicly acknow¬
ledged by Lalande. Fixmillner was also one of the.first to
determine the orbit of the planet Uranus. FIis principal
astronomical works are his Meridianus Specula: Astrono¬
mies Cremifanensis, 1766; Decennium Astronomicum,
FLA
Flaccus 1776. He likewise contributed a large number of papers to
II many of tbe scientific journals of his own and other countries.
fL He died in 179L
FLACCUS, Caius Valerius, a Roman poet, of whose
personal history little is known. He was contemporary with
Martial, who addressed one of his epigrams to him, in which
he urges him to exchange literary for legal pursuits as more
likely to lead to fortune. He seems to have been a native
of Padua, though, from the names Setinus Balbus found
appended to some MS. copies of his works, some writers
have attempted to show that he was born at Setia in La-
tium. The time of his death is equally uncertain. From
the somewhat vague sentence of Quinctilian “ Multum in
Valerio Flacco nuper amisimus,” it may be inferred that he
died about the year 88 a.d., while still a youth. Flaccus’
only known work, the Argonautica, is rather imitated than
translated from the Greek of Apollonius. Though it abounds
in episodes and digressions, sometimes wearisome and amid
which the action of the plot is altogether lost sight of, it never¬
theless contains many passages of fine description and poeti¬
cal sentiment; and it has been remarked that those parts
of the work are best in which he disregards his original
model and works out scenes and incidents of his own inven¬
tion. His diction is pure, though strange words sometimes
occur, and ordinary words are sometimes found with unusual
meanings. The sense is likewise occasionally obscured by
the useless display of erudition in which Flaccus delighted,
by the frequency of remote allusion, and the employment
of far-fetched and unnatural similes. Altogether, Flaccus is
an author much more admired than read. He appears to
have been wholly unknown to the scholars of the middle ages.
His works were first brought to light by Poggio Bracciolini,
who discovered a MS. copy of part of the work in 1416 in
the monastery of St Gall. Of the numerous editions which
have appeared since that date, the best is that of Peter
Burman, Leyden, 1724. The Argonautica has been trans¬
lated into English by Nicholas Whyte, 1565, under the
title, “ The story of Jason, how he gotte the golden fleece,
and how he did begyle Media;” out of Laten into Eng-
lische ; into Italian by Pindemonte, Verona, 1776; into
German by Wunderlich, Erfurt, 1805 ; and into French by
De Lamalle, Paris, 1811.
FLAG, an ensign or colours; a cloth on which are usually
displayed certain devices, and attached to a staff. In the
army, it signifies a small banner by which one regiment is
distinguished from another ; in the marine, a certain banner
by which an admiral is distinguished from the other ships
of his squadron, or by which the ships of one nation are
distinguished from those of another.
In the British navy flags are either red, white, or blue,
and are displayed from the top of the main-mast, fore-mast,
or mizen-mast, according to the rank of the admiral. When
the flag is displayed from the staff on the main-mast, the
officer distinguished thereby is known to be an admiral;
when from the fore-mast, a vice-admiral; and when from
the mizen-mast, a rear-admiral.
The first flag in Great Britain is the royal standard, which
is only displayed when the king or queen is on board the
vessel; the second is that of the anchor of hope, which
characterizes the lord high admiral, or lords commissioners
of the admiralty ; and the third is the union flag, in which
the crosses of St George and St Andrew are blended to¬
gether. This last is appropriated to the admiral of the fleet,
who is the first naval officer under the lord high admiral.
The next flag after the union is that of the white squa¬
dron, at the main-mast head; and the last, which charac¬
terizes an admiral, is the blue, also at the main-mast head.
For a vice-admiral, the first flag is red, the second white,
and the third the blue, at the flag-staff on the fore-mast.
The same order is observed with regard to rear-admirals,
whose flags are displayed at the mizen-top-gallant-mast head.
FLA 651
The lowest flag in our navy is accordingly the blue on the Flag
mizen-mast. Officers
To lower or strike the Flag, in the navy, is to pull it II
down upon the cap, or to take it in, as a token of the re- ja^.g"
spect due from all ships or fleets to those which are unde- y t \ j
niably their superiors. To lower or strike the flag in an
engagement is a sign of submission or surrender.
The method of leading a ship in triumph is to attach the
flags to the shrouds, or the gallery in the hind part of the
ship, letting them hang down towards the water, and to
tow the vessels by the stern. Livy relates that this was
the mode in which the Romans used the ships of Carthage.
To Heave out the Flag, is to display or put abroad the flag.
To Hang out the White Flag, is to ask quarter: or, when
a vessel has arrived on a coast, it shows that it has no hos¬
tile intention, but comes to trade, or the like. The red flag
is a sign of defiance and battle.
Flag Officers are those who command the several squa¬
drons of a fleet; such as the admirals, vice-admirals, and
rear-admirals. The flag-officers in our pay are the admiral,
vice-admiral, and rear-admiral, of the white, red, and blue.
See Navt, and Signals.
FLAGELLANTS, a sect of religious fanatics, one of
the leading doctrines of whose creed was that by mortifying
the flesh in every conceivable manner they propitiated the
wrath and gained the favour of the Deity. The first re¬
corded instances of self-flagellation are isolated cases which
happened about the beginning of the fifth century of the
Christian era. From this date the practice began to spread
till the middle of the eleventh century, when, by the pre¬
cepts and example of cardinal Peter Damian, it came to be
regarded by many religious persons as a sort of duty. The
custom was very warmly opposed by the more liberal minds
among the clergy, but it continued to spread in despite of
all opposition; and soon after the middle of the thirteenth
century, the devotees of the system, no longer content to
mortify themselves in private, began to do so in public,
under the idea that they thus humiliated themselves more
completely in the sight of God. Societies were now formed
by which the doctrine of flagellation was promulgated
throughout Europe; and the excesses into which they were
frequently hurried by the ardour of their enthusiasm excited
the astonishment even of their contemporaries. The ori¬
ginator and promoter of these fraternities was a monk of
Perugia, Rainer by name. “ About this time,” says the
monk of Padua in his chronicles of the year 1260, “when
all Italy was filled with vice, the Perugians suddenly entered
upon a course never before thought of, after them the Ro¬
mans, and at length all Italy. The fear of Christ exerted
upon the people so strong an influence, that men of noble
and ignoble birth, old and young, traversed the streets of
the city naked, yet without shame. Each carried a scourge
in his hand with which he drew forth blood from his tor¬
tured body amid sighs and tears, singing at the same time
penitential psalms, and entreating the compassion of the
Deity. Both by day and night, and even in the coldest
winters, by hundreds and thousands they wandered through
cities and churches, streets and villages, with burning wax
candles. Music was then silent, and the song of love
echoed no more ; nothing was heard but atoning lamenta¬
tion. The most unfeeling could not refrain from tears ;
discordant parties were reconciled; usurers and robbers
hastened to restore their unlawful gains; criminals before
unsuspected came and confessed their crimes.”
From Italy the Flagellants crossed into Germany, and
visited Bavaria, Bohemia, Poland, and Alsatia, making
many proselytes on the way. The princes and higher
clergy, however, were little pleased with the fanatics, whose
popularity lay chiefly with the lower orders. The public
exposure of the person which this sect practised as a matter
of duty offended good manners; their travelling in large
652 FLA
Flageolet numbers afforded opportunities for every sort of tumult and
II sedition ; and their extortion of alms was a severe tax upon
Flamen. tiie peaceful citizens. From the Continent they passed
's—^ over into England, where they astonished the burghers of
London and other cities by the severity of their discipline;
but they were finally obliged to retire from Britain without
having made a single convert. The purity of the early
Flagellants was not long maintained by their successors ;
and^at length, as immorality began to spread in many of the
countries which they visited, they gradually fell into dis¬
favour even with the people. At length their order w:as
openly attacked by the celebrated Gerson ; Pope Clement
VII. thundered anathemas against them from the Vatican ;
and the officers of the Inquisition persecuted them with such
severity that the sect at last disappeared altogether. An
attempt made in Thuringia in 1414 by Conrad Schmidt to re¬
vive the order was suppressed by the trial and execution of
that leader, and the more prominent among his followers.
FLAGEOLET, a wind-instrument of music, made of
hard wood, and blown by a mouth-piece. Some flageolets
are very small, and have a shrill piercing sound. Flageo¬
lets are of different sizes, and tuned to different keys, e.g.
C, D, E flat, F, and G. There are also double-flageolets,
capable of playing two parts, in which two flageolets are
joined together, and sounded by the same mouth-piece.
FLAIL, an instrument for threshing corn, consisting of
the hand-staff, or piece held in the thresher’s hand ; the
swiple, or that part which strikes the corn; the caplins,
strong leathern thongs which unite the hand-staff and
swiple ; and the middle-band, a leathern thong or fish-skin
that ties the caplins together.
FLAMBEAU, a kind of torch made of thick wicks,
covered with wax, and used in the streets at night, at illu¬
minations, and in processions. Flambeaux usually consist
of four wicks or branches, about an inch in thickness, and
three feet long, made of coarse half-twisted hempen yarn ;
and these, being suspended by one end, are coated with
white or yellow wax, which is poured over them from a
ladle until the requisite thickness be obtained.
FLAMBOROUGH HEAD, a cape or promontory on
the eastern coast of Yorkshire, five miles east of Burling¬
ton, and 215 from London. This was the Fleamburg of
the Saxons ; having, it is supposed, been so called from the
lights made on it to direct the landing of Ina, who, in 547,
joined his countrymen in these parts with a large reinforce¬
ment from Germany, and founded the kingdom of North-
umberland. In the time of Edward the Confessor, Flam-
borough was one of the manors of Harold, earl of the West
Saxons, afterwards king of England ; but on his death the
conqueror gave it to Hugh Lupus, who bestowed it on the
monastery of Whitby. Remains of a Danish tower and
fosse are still to be seen. The cliffs rise perpendicularly
from 300 to 450 feet in height, and are composed of a
rock of the chalk formation, containing numerous extensive
caverns, and frequented by immense numbers of sea-fowl
and wild pigeons. Many of the rocks are insulated, and of
a pyramidal figure, soaring up to a vast height. The bases
of most are solid, but in some instances they are pierced
through and arched. In 1806 a lighthouse was erected
here, having a revolving light 214 feet above the sea. N.
Lat. 54. 7., E. Long. 0. 5. Flamborough is a small fishing
village, with an ancient parish church, which contains a
curious monumental inscription to the memory of Sir
Marmaduke Constable.
FLAME. See Heat; Chemistry; Damps; Pyro-
techny ; Fire.
FLAMINGO. See index to Ornithology.
FLAMEN, in Roman Antiquity, the name of any priest
consecrated to the service of some particular deity. Of the
flamens the highest in point of rank were the Flamen
Dialis, Flamen Martialis, and Flamen Quirinalis, who were
FLA
always selected from among the patricians. When the Flammia
number of flamens was raised from three to fifteen, those
already mentioned w'ere entitled majores, in contradistinc- Flam|!tee(i,
tion to the other twelve, who were called minores, and were ^ ^ y
chosen from the plebs. The flamens were held to be
elected for life, but they might be compelled to resign office
for neglect of duty, or on the occurrence of some ill-omened
event during the performance of its functions. The official
dress of the flamens was the apex or cap, surmounted with
a piece of pointed olive-wood, round the base of which a lock
of wool was twisted; the laena or mantle; and a laurel wreath.
The most honourable of all these priests was the Flamen
Dialis, who, in virtue of his office, was entitled to a lictor,
to a seat in the senate, to the toga prsetexta, and to a curule
chair. If a person in fetters took refuge in his house he
was immediately loosed from his bonds; and if a criminal
on his way to the scene of his punishment met him and
threw himself at his feet he was respited for that day. To
counterbalance these privileges, numerous restrictions were
laid upon the Flamen Dialis. He was not allowed to leave
the city for a single night; to ride or even touch a horse,
a restriction which incapacitated him for the consulship ; to
swear an oath ; to wear a ring, &c. The wife of the Dialis
(who was not allowed to re-marry in the event of her death)
was called Flaminica, and was obliged to assist her husband
at the sacrifices and other religious duties which he per¬
formed. Some of the municipal towns in Italy had flamens
as well as Rome. When it became customary to deify the
emperors, flamens were appointed in all the provincial
towns to superintend their worship.
FLAMINIA VIA, an ancient Roman road, constructed
by C. Flaminius during his censorship, 220 b. c. Proceed¬
ing from Rome through Etruria in a direct line to Narnia,
now Narni, in Umbria, it there divided into two branches,
the one stretching eastwards through Terni and Spoleto to
Foligno, where it met the other, which passed through
Careoli and Bevagna. It then continued its course to
Nuceria, where it again branched off in two directions, the
one passing through the district of Picenum to Ancona, and
along the coast of the Adriatic to Fanum For tun ae (Fano),
where it met the other, which followed the more direct line
of Intercisa or Furlo, and Forum Sempronii or Fossom-
brone. The Via Flaminia terminated at Ariminum. (Ber-
gier, Hist, des Grands CJiemins.)
FLAMINIUS, C., a general of the Roman republic.
The most memorable event in his history is the terrible defeat
which he sustained from Hannibal at the T. hrasymene Lake,
b.c. 217, in which he was slain, along with the greatest part
of his army. See Roman History.
Flaminius, T. Quintius (b.c. 230-174), an illustrious
general of the Roman republic. He distinguished himself
chiefly in the wars between Rome and Greece, in tbe course
of which he gained the celebrated victory of Cynoscephalse
over the Macedonians, b.c. 197. For the details of his va¬
rious campaigns in Greece, see Roman History.
FLAMSTEED, John, one of the most laborious and
distinguished of British practical astronomers, and the first
who obtained the appointment to the Royal Observatory,
was born at Denby, near Derby, Aug. 9, 1646. He re¬
ceived the elements of his education at the free school of
that town, wdiere his father carried on the business of a
maltster. When fourteen years of age, imprudent bathing
brought on a severe rheumatism, from the effects of which
his limbs never entirely recovered. This induced him, when
nineteen, to visit Ireland, for the purpose of consulting a
notorious quack, who professed to cure all diseases by his
touch ; but, as might have been anticipated, he soon returned
no better than he went.
Even at a very early age Flamsteed showed a decided
inclination for mathematical and astronomical researches.
The books which seem to have awakened his mind to such
FLAMS
Flamsteed, studies were Sacrobosco’s treatise De Sphcera, which he par-
v—v-*-' tially translated into English, and Street’s Astronomia Caro¬
lina ; but a present afterwards made to him of Kepler’s
Tabulce Rudolphime, and Riccioli’s Almagestum Novum,
with a few other tracts on astronomy, confirmed his taste for
that science ; and he soon began to exhibit much ingenuity
in the constfuction of astronomical instruments.
The state of his health, and perhaps also his father’s cir¬
cumstances, probably prevented his proceeding to the uni¬
versity with some of his schoolfellows. He remained at
Derby for several years, eagerly engaged in practical astro¬
nomy ; and there, about 1667, gave a practical demonstra¬
tion of the true principles of the equation of time; and he
appears decidedly to have been the first astronomer who
brought into common use the method of simultaneously ob¬
serving the right ascension of the sun and stars, a mode by
which the true place of any star is determinable by means
of meridional altitudes and transits.
His first astronomical communication to the Royal Society
was made in 1669, under an assumed anagram, which was
soon detected by Oldenburg, the secretary. In the same
year, in his own name, he communicated to the president,
Lord Brouncker, his calculation of the solar eclipse, that had
been omitted in the Ephemerides, with some other astrono¬
mical observations. This paper was submitted to a com¬
mittee of the Royal Society, and obtained for its author the
applause of the astronomical world.
In the following year he was invited by his father to Lon¬
don, and introduced to the great philosophers of the capital.
He had now opportunities of seeing the best astronomical
instruments then known, far surpassing those he had been
accustomed to make with his own hands ; and he was well re¬
ceived by his warm friend and admirer Sir Jonas Moore, who
furnished him with several delicate instruments, among which
was Townley’s micrometer. In returning to Derby he visited
Cambridge, and entered himself of Jesus College, where he
became acquainted with Ban-ow and Newton, with whom he
long kept up a close correspondence.
In 1672 he sedulously applied to the study of dioptrics, with
the view of improving his astronomical apparatus, and conti¬
nued most assiduously his celestial observations, which from
time to time afforded communications to the Royal Society.
In 1673 he composed his treatise on The True and Appa¬
rent Places of the Planets when at their Greatest and Least
Distance from our Earth ; a work of which Newton availed
himself in the first edition of The Principia. In the same year
Flamsteed obtained the degree of master of arts at Cambridge.
In 1674 Flamsteed published his Ephemeris, and drew
up a table of the tides, which Sir Jonas Moore presented to
Charles II. and his brother the Duke of York. Flamsteed
had also constructed two barometers, then uncommon in¬
struments ; which, through the same friendly hand, were
presented to the royal brothers and graciously received.
Flamsteed had decided on entering the church ; and, al¬
though Moore had urged his settling in another vocation in
London, he persevered in his determination, and was ad¬
mitted into holy orders in 1675 ; but he never obtained any
higher preferment than the small living of Burslow in Sur¬
rey, to which he was presented by Lord Keeper North in
1684, the year in which he lost his father.
Sir Jonas had determined on establishing Flamsteed in
his own private observatory at Chelsea, when the enormous
errors of the astronomical tables then in use were brought
under the notice of King Charles II., who determined to
found an observatory. Through the good offices of Moore,
Flamsteed was appointed the first “ astronomical observa-
tor and he immediately began his celestial observations at
the queen’s house at Greenwich until the observatory should
be finished, which it was in 1676. It was named Flam¬
steed House; and from this era Mr Baily dates the com¬
mencement of modern astronomy.
TEED. 653
The salary was only L.100 a-year, and that not always Flamsteed,
punctually paid. Here the indefatigable Flamsteed col-
lected the enormous mass of materials from which he fur¬
nished the first trustworthy catalogue of the fixed stars; and
it was on his observations chiefly that Newton laid the
foundation of his Lunar Theory. Yet Flamsteed was ill
supported by the government. His instruments, chiefly
procured at his own expense, from his scanty salary and the
emoluments of his living, were very imperfect; and his re¬
quests for assistance were unheeded. The government pro¬
mised much, but did nothing; though a very small portion of
what was squandered during this reign on mistresses and pan-
derers to the low pleasures of the court would have completely
furnished the best observatory in Europe, and enabled this
acute and indefatigable man to have still farther extended the
sphere of astronomical science and the honour of his country.
His Doctrine of the Sphere appeared in the mathematical
treatise of his friend Moore, in 1681.
Much light has been thrown on the private history of
Flamsteed, and the unjust treatment he alleged he had re¬
ceived at the hands of some of the brightest names in the
galaxy of British science, by F. Baily’s discovery in 1832
of a vast mass of Flamsteed’s papers and correspondence,
which was published in 1835 at the expense of the admi¬
ralty. The correspondence gives Flamsteed’s own version
of the disputes between him and some of the most eminent
philosophers of the day; and it would be unjust from such
ex parte statements to derogate from the fair fame of a
Newton or a Halley on the accusations of a man acknow¬
ledged to have been of a very irritable temper, and indig¬
nant at what he conceived to be gross injustice to himself.
The defence of Sir Isaac Newton from his accusations has
been partly undertaken by Dr Whewell; and the public
have at length received the most complete and satisfactory
vindication of this illustrious philosopher in the Memoirs of
the Life, Writings, and, Discoveries of Sir Isaac Newton,
by Sir David Brewster.
Flamsteed had very freely communicated his astrono¬
mical discoveries to Cassini, who had ever treated him with
equal candour; and it is not denied that he had furnished
Newton with every lunar observation he had made before
the publication of the first edition of the Principia, which
appeared in 1685. Flamsteed’s unwillingness or refusal to
contribute his observations to Sir Isaac, after their quarrel,
arose from his considering himself unjustly treated by New¬
ton and his colleagues of a committee appointed by govern¬
ment to examine and report on the papers of the royal astro¬
nomer. This committee consisted of Sir Isaac Newton, Sir
Christopher Wren, Dr Gregory, Dr Arbuthnot, and Mr
Roberts. They had, it seems, broken a seal, at the com¬
mand of the sovereign, which Flamsteed had put on his
imperfect catalogue of stars, on delivering it to the com¬
mittee. Of this he bitterly complains. Though the report of
the committee was in favour of printing Flamsteed’s papers,
what seems chiefly to have irritated him was, that the super¬
intendence of printing them was not given to persons of his
appointment, but confided by the committee to Dr Halley.
Flamsteed demanded back his papers, which was refused,
as they were considered public property; and he com¬
menced a law-suit for their recovery, the result of which
Mr Baily could not learn ; but the correspondence of Flam¬
steed states, that after he had spent L.200 in this suit, they
were delivered up to him by Newton.
The zealous Flamsteed had expended on instruments
and in completing his catalogue of stars, not only his salary,
but L.2000 more, and he determined to print it. The
husband of Queen Anne, on learning this, offered to print
it at his own expense, and paid for the first edition; but
Prince George dying in 1708, Flamsteed lost the aid of
this liberal patron. During great part of the reign of Queen
Anne, the astronomer royal was not on good terms with the
654
FLA
Flanders government, which he ascribed to the influence of Newton
II and Hallev. On the death of the Queen in 1714, and ot
Flannel. Newton’s court patron, the Earl ot Halifax, in the following
year Flamsteed asked and obtained from the treasury pos¬
session of the remaining 300 copies of Halley’s publication
of the first and second volumes of the Historia Ccelestis ;
a large portion of which he immediately committed to the
flames, preserving only about 97 sheets of each volume,
which was printed as he wished, and which he afterwaids in¬
troduced into the first volume of this great work.
From 1715 to 1719 Flamsteed was earnestly employed
in publishing this noble work, which he did not live to see
completely printed. After his death the publication was
continued by his widow, aided by Mr Crosthwaite, the ob¬
servatory assistant, and Mr Abraham Sharp, a steady friend
of the author. It was completed in three folio volumes in
1723. His valuable Atlas Ccelestis did not appear till 1753.
Of these works it is sufficient to say, that considering
the period, and the then comparatively imperfect state of
astronomical instruments, they are highly honourable to the
author and his country, and mark an important era in the
history of practical astronomy. _ .
The first volume of the Historia Ccelestis contains his
observations at Derby and Greenwich on the fixed stais,
planets, Jupiter’s satellites, comets, and spots on the sun’s
disk; the second contains the transits of stars and planets
over the meridian, together with their places detei mined
by such observations; the third volume contains an account of
the methods and instruments used by Tycho Brahe and him¬
self; catalogues of the fixed stars by Ptolemy, Ulugh Beigh,
Tycho, the Landgrave of Hesse, and Hevelius, together with
his own British catalogue of the true places of 2884 stars.
Flamsteed, though of a feeble constitution, and worn
down by incessant labour, lived to his seventy-third year,
when he was rather suddenly carried off by strangury on
31st December 1719. (t.s.t.)
FLANCH, or Flange, a projecting rim or rib on any¬
thing which serves to unite it with something else; as ex¬
emplified in the flat rims by which cast-iron pipes are fre¬
quently connected.
FLANDERS, formerly an extensive country of Europe,
now forming the provinces of East and West Flanders in
Belgium, part of the province of Zeeland in Holland, and
the department du Nord in France. See Holland, Bel¬
gium, France, &c.
FLANNAN Islands, a group of small islands, seven
in number, 12 miles N.W. of the Island of Lewis. They
are wild, rocky, and uninhabited; but afford excellent pas¬
ture for sheep. From existing remains of sacred edifices,
they appear to have been formerly the residence of the
Culdees or some other religious order.
FLANNEL, a woollen stuff, composed of a woof and warp,
and woven after the manner of baize.
Dr Black assigns as a reason why flannel and other sub¬
stances of the same kind keep the body warm, that they
compose a rare and spongy mass, the fibres of which touch
each other so lightly that the heat moves slowly through
the interstices, which being filled only with air, and that
too in a stagnant state, give little assistance in conducting
the heat. ’ From the experiments of Count Rumford, it
appears that thei’e is no relation between the power which
the substances usually worn as clothing have of absorbing
moisture, and that of keeping the body warm. Having
provided a quantity of several of these substances (as men¬
tioned below), he exposed them, spread out upon clean
china plates for the space of twenty-four hours to the warm
and dry air of a room which had been heated by a German
stove for several months, and during the preceding six hours
he had raised the thermometer to 85° of Fahrenheit; after
which he weighed equal quantities of the different substances
with a very accurate balance. They were then spread out
F L A
upon a china plate, and removed into a very large uninha¬
bited room upon the second floor, where they were exposed
forty-eight hours upon a table placed in the middle of the
room, the air of which was at 45° of Fahrenheit. At the v
end of this time they were weighed, and then removed into
a damp cellar, where they were placed on a table in the
middle of the vault, the air of which was at the temperature
of 45°, and, by the hygrometer, seemed to be fully satu¬
rated with moisture. In this situation they were suffered
to remain three days and three nights, the vault being all
the while hung round with wet linen cloths, to render the
air as completely damp as possible. At the end of three
days they were weighed, and the weights at the different
times were found as in the following table:—
Flat
II
Flavel.
Sheep’s wool 
Beaver’s fur 
The fur of a Russian hare 
Eider down 
r Raw single thread 
Silk ... -j Ravellings of white \
( taffety   J
r Fine Lint  
Linen.. < Ravellings of fine 1
( linen  J
Cotton wool 
Ravellings of silver lace 
Weight af¬
ter being
dried in
the hot
room.
Parts
1000
Weight
after com¬
ing out of
the cold
room.
1084
1072
1065
1067
1057
1054
1046
1044
1043
1000
Weight
after re¬
maining
72 hours
in the
vault.
1163
1125
1115
1112
1107
1103
1102
1082
1089
1000
In regard to these experiments Count Rumford observes
—that though linen, from the apparent ease with which it
receives dampness from the atmosphere, seems to have a
much greater attraction for water than any other, yet it
would appear, from what is related above, that those bodies
which receive water in its unelastic form with the greatest
ease, or are most easily wet, are not those which in all cases
attract the humidity of the atmosphere with the greatest
avidity. “ Perhaps,” says he, “ the apparent dampness of
linen to the touch arises more from the ease with which
that substance parts with the water it contains than from
the quantity of water it actually holds; in the same man¬
ner as a body appears hot to the touch i-n consequence of
its parting freely with its heat; while another body which
is really at the same temperature, but which withholds its
heat with great obstinacy, affects the sense of feeling much
less strongly. It is well known that woollen cloths, such
as flannels, &c., worn next the skin, greatly promote insen¬
sible perspiration. May not this arise principally from the
strong attraction which subsists between wool and the watery
vapour which is continually issuing from the unman body ?
That it does not depend entirely on the warmth of that
covering, is clear; for the same degree of warmth produced
by wearing more clothing of a different kind does not pio-
duce the same effect. The perspiration of the human body
being absorbed by a covering of flannel, it is immediately
distributed through the whole thickness of that substance,
and by that means exposed, by a very large surface, to be
carried off by the atmosphere ; and the loss of this watery
vapour which the flannel sustains on the one side by eva¬
poration, being immediately restored from the other, in con¬
sequence of the strong attraction between the flannel and
this vapour, the pores of the skin are disencumbered, and
they are continually surrounded by a dry and salubiious
atmosphere.”—(Philosophical Transactions, No. 483.)
FLAT, in Music. See Music. ,
FLAVEL, John, an English nonconformist divine of
great learning and ability, was born at Broomsgrove in
Worcestershire in 1627. He was the eldest son of Mr
Richard Flavel, described in contemporary records as “ a
E L A
painful and eminent minister.” By this parent he was edu¬
cated with the utmost care, first at home and afterwards
at the grammar-schools of Broomsgrove and Haslar. Finally,
he was entered of University College, Oxford, where he
greatly distinguished himself in all the academical pursuits
of the plage. Soon after taking orders in 1650, he obtained
a curacy at Deptford, and ingratiated himself so completely
with the people by the earnest fervour of his eloquence in
the pulpit, and the faithful discharge of his other ministerial
duties, that on the death of the vicar he was unanimously
appointed to succeed him. From Deptford he removed to
Dartmouth, to which he had been tempted as affording a
wider sphere of usefulness, though in a pecuniary point of
view he suffered considerably by the change. In 1662
the Act of Uniformity was passed, and Flavel, refusing to
comply with its requirements, wras ejected from his living.
He still continued, however, to preach and administer the
sacraments privately till the Oxford Act of 1665 compelled
him to retire to Slapton, five miles from the scene of his
official labours, and for the next twenty years he underwent
every kind of hardship and persecution in common with his
nonconforming brethren till a presentiment of danger com¬
pelled James II. to abate somewdiat the severity of his
brother’s enactments against them. After the expulsion of
the Stuart dynasty, Flavel was urgently pressed to accept
various calls that were offered him by metropolitan congre¬
gations ; but he refused to accept any of them, and con¬
tinued to labour among his parishioners of Dartmouth till
his death in 1691, shortly after the union of the Independent
and Presbyterian churches, an event which gave him very
great joy on his death-bed. Flavel was four times married,
but does not appear to have left any family behind him.
His principal works are his Treatise on the Soul of Man;
The Fountain of Life, in forty-two Sermons ; The Method
of Grace ; A Token for Mourners ; Husbandry Spiritual¬
ized ; Navigation Spiritualized. It cannot be denied that
these works are in their totality heavy and cumbrous in
their structure ; but they have received a very scant mea¬
sure of justice at the hands of most English writers who
have thought it worth while to notice them. They contain
many isolated passages of striking merit, even in a literary
point of view, and many detached thoughts of rare and
daring originality. If it be true, as Johnson says, that it is
the lot of Milton to be more admired than read, it is equally
true that Flavel, less fortunate than his contemporary, has
the misfortune to be slightingly dismissed by many persons
who prove by the very character of their criticism that they
have never read a line of his works. This misfortune, how¬
ever, he shares with the majority of those divines who are
generally classed together as the “ Puritan.”
FLAX, the fibre of Linum usitatissimum, a plant of the
natural order Linacece, which is spun into thread and woven
into linen textures. (See Botany, vol. v., p. 187.) The
seeds yield on expression a large quantity of oil, know n as
linseed-oil; and the residue, called linseed-cake, is much
employed to fatten cattle. Flax has been cultivated from
the earliest ages in Great Britain and many other coun¬
tries ; but in general we have been in the habit of im¬
porting a large proportion of our supplies, particularly from
Russia. The fibre of Phormium tenax, or New Zealand
flax as it is commonly called, is said to exceed every other
kind of fibre in strength, and has been imported in some
quantity as a substitute for hemp in the manufacture of
canvas and cordage. For the culture of flax, see Agricul¬
ture, vol. ii., p.332, &c. (See also Spinning; Linen; Hemp.)
The quantity of flax imported into Great Britain has
for a considerable number of years been gradually increas¬
ing. Twenty years ago the annual importation was about
48,000 tons; ten years since it had increased to about 65,000
tons; and at the present time it is about 80,000 tons. The
proportion per cent, of this quantity imported from different
F L A 655
countries maybe judged of by the following table, calculated Flax,
on the average imports of the years 1840, 1844, and 1849 :—
1840. 1844. 1849.
Russia 69-0 7-0 74-0
Prussia 1P0 10-0 100
Holland   9 0 8-0 6-5
Belgium  6'5 7’0 4-0
France  3'5 S'S P5
Other countries  1-0 P5 4'5
During the last few years great efforts have been made
to extend and improve the manufacture of this valuable fibre
in various parts of the world. The increase under the last
head in the preceding table, for 1849, is chiefly due to the
importation of flax from Egypt. It must be remembered
that, in addition to the above-mentioned quantity of flax
annually imported, the manufacturers of England have con¬
sumed rather more than a quarter as much again, cultivated
in various parts of the British empire, but chiefly in Ireland.
This proportion has also considerably increased during the
last twenty years, and a most marked improvement in the
quality of the flax itself has also been effected ; a change in
great measure to be traced to the efforts of the Royal Society
for the Promotion and Improvement of Flax in Ireland. At
the thirteenth annual meeting of that society the number of
acres under flax cultivation in Ireland was given as follows:—
1848   53,863 value L.15 per acre.
1849   60,314
1850   91,040
1851  138,619
1852  136,009
1853  175,495
The value of flax depends in part on the climate and soil
in which it is cultivated ; and in part also on the mode in
which the fibre is prepared, and on the care and skill with
which the process is conducted. According to its quality,
its value varies from about L.40 to L.180 per ton. An¬
other circumstance which has given a considerable impetus
to the cultivation of flax is the introduction of the late R.
B. Schenck’s new process of steeping. Formerly the se¬
paration of the fibre from the woody matter of the stem was
effected by the process of “ retting,” of which there were
three modifications—dew-retting, pond-retting, and river-
retting. The stem of the plant consists essentially of two
parts ;—a wooden centre or core, the shove or boon, and
the external fibrous portion, which, when separated from
the former, constitutes the flax. These two are cemented
together by a glutinous matter, not soluble in water alone,
and which must be got rid of by some means before the
pure fibre can be separated from the woody shove. The
old mode consisted merely in exposing the flax stems to air
and moisture, under circumstances favourable to fermenta¬
tion or incipient putrefaction, so that the glutinous matter
being destroyed, the fibre could then be easily separated
from the shove. Whether this species of fermentation is
effected by exposing the flax for some weeks to the action
of the dew and rain spread over meadows, whether it is ef¬
fected by steeping it in ponds or pits of stagnant water, or,
lastly, by sinking it in large wooden frames in the current
of a deep and slow flowing river, there are serious practical
difficulties which have long directed the attention of inge¬
nious men to the possibility of discovering a less objection¬
able mode of preparing flax. During the slow retting of
the flax, certain putrid vapours are given off in large quan¬
tity, the water and the very air itself are poisoned; and this
alone is no trifling objection to the process. So serious an
objection, indeed, have these putrid exhalations been found
to the use of water-retting, that in some districts of Belgium,
in Hainault and Namur especially, it is forbidden by law,
as being dangerous to u public safety and the health of the
inhabitants.” In Flanders, however, no such laws are in
force, and it is there commonly believed that dew-retted
flax is, of necessity, meagre and dry. Many different mo-
656
Flax.
difications and peculiar modes of retting are followed in the
various flax districts of Belgium, Holland, and France ; and
in different localities dissimilar modes of retting have long
been in use, often involving very considerable variations in
principle. Thus, at Courtrai the flax crop is dried in the
field and stored for some months in barns, before it under-
o-oes the process of retting in the river Lys. In the district
of Waes it is retted immediately after being gathered, the
preen stems being at once thrown into pits of stagnant water.
As, however, the whole operation, in every kind of water-
retting, depends on the amount of fermentation produced
(which must be enough to insure the decomposition of the
glutinous matter, but not enough to cause any injury to the
fibre), the process is necessarily slow, tedious, and very un¬
certain, especially towards the close of the operation, because
then the flax must be most carefully watched, m order to
put a stop to the fermentation as soon as the desired effect
is produced, A slight change of temperature, or exposure
for a few hours when the fermentation is complete, may in¬
volve the ruin of the fibre. Dew-retting is of course even
slower than water-retting ; depending, as it necessarily does,
on the nature of the season, and being greatly retarded by
long-continued dry weather.
During the last half century various attempts have been
made to effect the separation of the fibrous from the woody
portion of the flax stem by chemical and mechanical means.
In several cases the results at first appealed to be very pro¬
mising, but in every instance it was soon found that there
were insuperable practical objections. Among chemical
agents, solutions of sulphuric acid, caustic potash, caustic
soda, quicklime, and soft soap, were all in turn tried and dis¬
carded ; and among mechanical processes, the ingenious
contrivances of Mr James Lee and Messrs Hill and Bundy
shared the same fate. Whatever may have been the com¬
parative meritsof the two processes of these rival inventors, in
the course of a few years both were relinquished and forgot¬
ten. Various other ingenious mechanical arrangements have
been devised, but hitherto they have had very little success.
Schenck’s process, for which he obtained a patent in
1846, is undoubtedly a very important improvement. It
consists merely in steeping the flax stems in warm water,
heated artificially to the temperature best suited to fermen¬
tation. In this simple way the operation is rendered rapid
and certain, all uncertainty from fluctuations in the tempera¬
ture and weather is avoided, and the whole process is en¬
tirely under the command of the manufacturer. The tem¬
perature best suited for this purpose is about 80°, or from
80° to nearly 90°. Above this point the process proceeds
too rapidly, and the fibre is almost sure to be more or less
injured. The time required is from about 70 to 90 hours.
It appears to be generally admitted that the warm-water
steeping increases the percentage of fibre obtained from the
flax stem over that obtained by the old modes of retting by
nearly one-fifth ; and that, whilst the fineness and spinning
qualities of the fibre are increased, the strength is in no way
weakened or diminished, unless the process be permitted
to proceed too far,—an accident that need never happen,
from the complete control over it which the manufacturer
has throughout. Although there is no doubt as to the prac¬
tical value of the use of warm water in flax-retting, yet the
introduction of Schenck’s process is far from removing all
the difficulties of the flax manufacture ; much still remains
to be effected, and it is by no means improbable that ere long
a yet more perfect process may be devised.
It is interesting to observe, that the use of warm water
in the preparation of vegetable fibre is not altogether new,
it having been employed by the Malays, and by the natives
of Rungpoor, in Bengal. The process adopted at Ben-
coolen is stated by Dr Campbell to consist in steeping the
stems of the hemp in warm water, in which it is allowed to
remain for two days and nights. The old German pro-
F L A X.
ces« called “ Molkenrdst,” sometimes used in preparing the
finer sorts of flax, is also, to some extent, an application v'-
of the same principle. In this mode of retting the flax
was steeped for four or five days in a warm mixture of
milk and water, and thus the desired degree of fermen¬
tation in the flax stems was produced. This operation
must be distinguished from the more modern one in which
sour milk was used, in order to give a good colour to
]inen?—a process introduced by the Dutch towards the mid¬
dle of last century. The linen was boiled in a weak alka¬
line lye, and subsequently treated with sour butter-milk, for
the purpose of aiding in removing the alkali, and dissolving
the earthy impurities present in the fibre. Occasionally,
also, salt of sorrel was used for the same purpose ; and in
1775 Reuss states that sulphuric and muriatic acids might
be used for the same end; but that being too costly, they
had not as yet come into general use. Of couise, all pro¬
cesses in which boiling or even hot water is used, are quite
different in their mode of action from those in which only
warm water is employed. When boiling-water is used, it
is with a view of dissolving and removing the useless mat¬
ters which incrust the fibrous parts of the plant; whilst, on
the other hand, warm water is used to soften them, and
to aid in their putrefaction or decomposition through the
agency of fermentation. In 1787 much interest was ex¬
cited in Ireland by the publication of a plan for impioving
the retting of flax by the action of hot watei. In this
scheme it was proposed to scald the flax-stems in boiling-
water to soften them, and to remove a portion of the ex¬
traneous vegetable matters which they contain ; and it was
conceived that after this treatment the subsequent retting
of the flax would be more rapid, certain, and manageable;
so that time would be saved, the noisome process of pond-
retting be obviated, and the result be to yield a stionger
and whiter fibre. The minute and careful experiments of
Hermbstaedt on the chemical principles involved in the
retting of flax (made about the beginning of the present
century) threw much light on the whole subject, and to
some extent indicated the influence of temperature on the
success of the operation.
Flax-cotton is a material prepared from flax, hemp, and
other vegetable fibres, and which very nearly resembles the
fibre of the Gossypium or cotton-plant. M. Claussen s in¬
genious process tor making flax-cotton (patented August
1850) consists essentially in boiling the cut and crushed
stems of the flax, hemp, or other plant, in a dilute solution
of caustic soda, containing about -g-oVo^h Pai’t of alkali. 1 he
fibrous matter is then removed, and plunged into a bat i
of dilute sulphuric acid, containing -jooth part of acid, in
which it is boiled for about an hour. It is next transfen ed
into a solution containing about ten per cent, of carbonate
of soda; and, lastly, when it has remained in the latter for
an hour, it is plunged into a weak solution of sulphuric acid,
consisting of one part of acid to 200 or 500 parts of watei;
in this it is left for about half an hour, and the process is
completed. The effect of these several processes is “ to
divide and split up” the fibre in a most remarkable manner,
so as completely to alter its character. Flax thus tieated
is converted into a substance very nearly resembling cotton.
It is probable that flax-cotton can be advantageously used
in the manufacture of mixed fabrics, as it appears capable
of being spun with wool, silk, and other fibres; it may,
therefore, perhaps hereafter lead to several neu and im¬
portant practical applications.
The idea of modifying the fibre of flax and hemp, so as
to convert it into a kind of cotton, is by no means ^evv*
In 1747 Lilljikreuzes and Palmquist described a mode of
converting flax into “ cotton,” by boiling it for some time
in a solution of caustic potash, and subsequently washing it
with soap. In 1775 considerable quantities of refuse flax
and hemp were converted into “ flax-cotton by Lady
Flax.
FLA
Flaxman. Moira, with the aid of T. B. Bailey, of Hope, near Man-
Chester. The full details of the process employed do not
appear to have been published; but from Lady Moira’s let¬
ters in the Transactions of the Society of Arts for 1775, it
appears that the fibre was boiled in an alkaline lye, ora so¬
lution of kelp, containing carbonate of soda, and subse¬
quently scoured. The result of this was that “ the fibres
seem to be set at liberty from each other,” after which it
may be “ carded on cotton cards.” It appears that at this
time flax-cotton “ was made and sold at 3d. a pound;” and
Lady Moira states, that she believes that it takes colours
better than flax. It is curious to observe the fate of Lady
Moira’s scheme: she says,—“ I have no reason to be vain
of the samples I have sent you ; they merely show that the
material of flax-cotton, in able hands, will bear manufactur¬
ing, though it is my ill fortune to have it discredited by the
artizans who work for me. I had, in Dublin, with great dif¬
ficulty, a gown wove, and three waistcoats; but had not the
person who employed a weaver for me particularly wished
to oblige me, I could not have got it accomplished.”
Subsequently to this, several attempts were made in Ger¬
many to convert flax into a fibre resembling cotton. In
1777, Baron Meidinger proposed to convert flax into a sort
of cotton, by the action of alkaline solutions, &c. In 1780
a factory was established at Berchtoldsdorf, near Vienna,
for the practical working of this process; and similar plans
were subsequently brought forward by Kreutzer in 1801,
Stadler and Haupfner in 1811, by Sokou in 1816, and by
several others. At the factory at Berchtoldsdorf, not only
was flax converted into cotton, but likewise a useful cotton¬
like fibre was prepared from tow and refuse flax; and the
same is said to have been done by Haag, near Press-
mirg, in 1788, by Gobell in 1803, and Segalla in 1811.
Whether these various plans failed from the effects of jea¬
lousy and opposition, like that which prevented Lady Moira
from introducing her “ flax-cotton,” is unknown, but it does
not appear that any of them were long persevered in : it is
probable, that in most cases the neighbouring manufac¬
turers set themselves against the introduction of flax-cot¬
ton : for Beckmann, who speaks of its manufacture near
Brunswick, states that the work-people determined not to
use the newr material, though at the same time he observes,
that excellent fustians were made which could not be dis¬
tinguished from those manufactured with ordinary cotton.
The extreme similarity of flax-cotton to ordinary cotton is
also remarked by Des Charmes (1799), who states, that if
the staple be cut before it is carded, it is not possible to dis¬
tinguish it from cotton, either in its raw state, or when
manufactured. The matter was subsequently investigated
by Berthollet, by Gay Lussac, and by Giobert, who em¬
ployed alternately steepings in hot solutions of soap, alkali,
and sulphuric or muriatic acid. Berthollet observes, that
equally fine cotton is obtained from the commonest refuse
tow as from the best flax.
For some valuable information on fibrous materials, the
produce of India, which may be cheaply and usefully sub¬
stituted for Russian hemp and flax, see “ The Fibrous Plants
of India fitted for Cordage, Clothing, and Paper,” by J.
Forbes Royle, M.D., F.R.S., Lond. 1855; and also an
article, entitled “Indian Substitutes for Russian Produce”
in the Edinburgh Review for July 1855.
FLAXMAN, John, an eminent English sculptor, born
at York July 6, 1755, was the second son of John Flax-
man, a moulder in plaster, who kept a shop in London for
the sale of his figures. He was of a weakly constitution,
and slightly deformed, which prevented him from mingling
in the robust pastimes of youth; but he was not idle.
Behind his father’s counter, with drawing materials before
him, he busily employed himself in transferring to paper
representations of the numerous figures with which he was
surrounded. But he did not confine himself to copying
VOL. IX.
FLA
657
alone. Young as he was, he had dipped into the Iliad, Flaxmaa.
and actually attempted to design historical illustrations of ^ v /
that immortal epic. His education seems to have devolved
principally upon his parents; and as his thirst for know¬
ledge was great, the superintendence of his studies must have
been an easy task. At his books and models he laboured
incessantly, and before he entered his tenth year he had
made a great number of small models in plaster of Paris,
wax, and clay, some of which are still preserved; and,
besides being interesting as the first efforts of genius, they
possess considerable merit as works of art. At ten years
of age a salutary change took place in his health ; he be¬
came strong, lively, and active ; and the crutches by means
of which he had hitherto walked were thrown aside. With
renovated health he came to the determination to follow
sculpture as a profession. In his father’s shop, where he
assiduously pursued his studies, he learned form and pro¬
portion from the casts of antique statues which it con¬
tained ; whilst in the woods and fields he was supplied with
new images and ideas of beauty. At the house of a Mrs
Mathew, whose husband had been attracted to the youthful
sculptor, Flaxman often spent his evenings hearing her
read Homer and Virgil, and discourse upon sculpture and
poetry. By this lady he was encouraged to study the dead
languages; and although he never attained to great scholar¬
ship, he obtained such a knowledge of Greek as enabled
him to embody the ideas of the ancient poets in a manner
which no modern artist has surpassed. He embodied those
passages which caught his fancy whilst he sat listening to
Mrs Mathew; and the taste displayed in these juvenile
efforts induced a gentleman to order six large drawings in
chalk, the subjects being chosen from antiquity. The
praise bestowed upon these gave new impulse to his genius,
and strengthened that consciousness of superior power
which he early experienced; yet he never overrated him¬
self, nor allowed his industry to relax on account of the
flatteries of friends, but continued to labour assiduously,
well knowing that it was only in this manner that great
eminence was to be attained in art.
In his fifteenth year Flaxman became a student of the
Royal Academy, and soon made himself known by assidu¬
ous and enthusiastic application. In the same year he car¬
ried off the silver medal; and in due time became a candi¬
date for the gold one, but was unsuccessful. This defeat,
however, only increased his assiduity ; but finding himself
now compelled to labour for bread, he employed himself
with the Wedge woods, the enterprizing potters, to make
designs for adorning their wares. His sketches consisted
chiefly of small groups in very low relief, the subjects being
taken from ancient poetry and history. Previously to this
period the porcelain of England had little external beauty
to recommend it; and the genius of Flaxman may be said
to have created this branch of art in his native country.
In 1782 he quitted the paternal roof, and married Miss
Ann Denman, a lady of many virtues and accomplishments,
in whose society he enjoyed much domestic happiness.
During the ten years which preceded this event he had
exhibited some thirteen works at the Royal Academy, but,
from the pecuniary difficulties under which he laboured,
none of these were executed, in marble. Shortly after his
marriage he formed the resolution of studying at Rome;
and at the end of five years of incessant labour, during
which he executed several monuments and other works of
considerable merit, he was enabled to carry his design into
execution. In Rome he executed a number of works.
For three individuals of his own country he illustrated
Homer, JEschylus, and Dante. These designs are splendid,
being varied with great skill, and drawn with a fine sense
of the beautiful and harmonious in composition. Of works
in marble he executed a small-size group of Cephalus and
Aurora ; a statue of Lord Mansfield; a group representing
4 o
658
Flaxman.
FLA
F L E
Fleam
c Atlinmas from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, consist-
the “f A |ieroic size ; and the restoration
Kat splendid torso which is generally believed to be a
ot that sp H 1 This last undertaking was as.
Sr as it turned out to be thankless. He not only
b H til figure of Hercules, but added another ot
Omphale. But this statue did not give satisfaction to the
connoisseurs of Italy, and Flaxman caused it to be destroyed
some tTme previously to his death, without any injury to
his fame. The remains of ancient sculpture m Rome, and
in other cities of Italy, engaged not a little of Ins attention
He executed numerous drawings, and made a great many
memoranda, the most valuable of
embodied in his lectures on sculpture. He had been electc
a member of the academies of Florence and Carrata , and
after seven years’ residence abroad, he at length returned
h°Fhixman’s statue of Lord Mansfield had raised the ex-
pectations of his countrymen to a high pitch. In 1 /J7
was elected associate of the Royal Academy, during which
year he sent to the exhibition three sketches in bas-relief
from the New Testament, and a monument to Sir \\ ilham
Jones The sketches are distinguished for their elegance
of grouping. The monument is a bas-relief, but not one
of the artist’s most fortunate efforts in that line. In the
forty-fifth year of his age Flaxman was elected a member
of the Royal Academy, and, as is usual on such occasions,
presented to the institution a work ot art. His offering on
this occasion was a marble group of Apollo and Marpessa ;
the conception of which is fine, though the workmanship is
not so good. In the mechanical use ot the chisel he never
excelled. It was now his ambition to be employed upon
some great national work, and he proposed to make a statue
of Britannia two hundred feet in height, but the project
was not carried into execution. His fame, however, was
now firmly established, and commissions flowed rapidly in.
A quick succession of noble works followed from his hand,
one of which, a monument in memory or the family ot Sir
Francis Baring, is considered among the greatest efforts ot
his genius. One of his biographers remarks with respect
to it, “ This is one of the finest pieces of motionless poetry
in the land.” Of historical monuments Flaxman executed
several, but they are not equal to his other works. They
have been admired for the fine sentiment which pervades
them, but their execution is considered by many as coarse
and heavy. The statue of Sir Joshua Reynolds is one ot
his best productions. But the works he loved most weie
those which embodied poetical passages in the Bible; and
of these he executed a great number. In 1810 the Ro\a
Academy created a professorship of sculpture, and besto wed
it upon Flaxman. His lectures are ten in number. 1 he
style is rather heavy; yet although his compositions are
destitute of those flashes ot poetry which irradiate the
pages of Fuseli, they display a very comprehensive know¬
ledge of the subject, much sound sense, and are more cal¬
culated to convey definite information to the student than
those of the other artist above named. But if the offspring
of his pen was cold and uninformed with ideal beauty, the
productions of his pencil and chisel display an exuberance
of imagination. His sketches and drawings are very nume¬
rous. Amongst the works which he illustrated w7ere the
Pilgrim’s Progress, Sotheby’s translation of Oberon, and
Plesiod. These designs are in all respects fully equal to
his other works, and unsurpassed by anything which ever
was executed in that line. During the last ten years of his
life Flaxman produced some of his noblest works. Amongst
these were the group of the Archangel Michael vanquish¬
ing Satan, the Shield of Achilles, Psyche, the Pastoral
Apollo, and the statues of Michael Angelo and Raffaelle.
The first is a work of the highest merit, and worthy of the
great poem which it illustrates. “ In the Psyche and the
Pastoral Apollo,” says Mr Allan Cunningham, “ the genius
of him who illustrated Homer is sufficiently apparent; a
certain austere composure is breathed over them. I lie
Michael Angelo and the Raphael are poetic, yet real;
heroic yet familiar; and their costume, though not antique,
is at once historic and picturesque.” Flaxman’s statues ot
Burns and Kemble, executed about the same time, are
scarcely so happy. Amongst his other works were monu¬
ments to Collins at Chichester, and to Earl Howe in St
Paul’s; and statues of Washington, Nelson, 1 itt, and Sir
Tohn Moore. They are of various excellence, yet all more
or less bear the impress of genius and taste. But the
career of this great sculptor was drawing to a close. In
the beginning of December 1826 he was seized with an
inflammation of the lungs, which terminated fatally on the
7th of the same month. , , . _ ,.
In stature Flaxman was small, and his figure was slim.
In manners he was mild, gentle, and placable ; and his
mind, whilst it was rich in the gifts ot genius, was embued
with unaffected piety. Of his works there are four km ';
the religious, the poetic, the classic, and the historical, in
each of these he has left specimens which entitle him to
rank very high as an artist, but in all he has not attained
the same degree of excellence* In the historical and the
classic he was less successful; but in the religious and
poetic he has been surpassed by no modern sculptor in
purity, simplicity, and taste. His religious compositions
consist of groups and figures embodying moral and spiritual
passages from Scripture. They are generally of small di¬
mensions, but very numerous. His mind was essentia y
poetical; and his productions are embued with the finest
inspiration. It was probably of some of these works that
Sir Thomas Lawrence spoke when he said of Ilaxman,
“ His solitude was made enjoyment to him by a fancy
teemino- with images of tenderness, purity, or grandeur.
His genius, in the strictest sense of the words, was ongina
and inventive.” His lectures were published in 1829, m
one vol. 8vo, illustrated with fifty-two plates. fo. F. SO
FLEAM, in Farriery, the name given to several kinds
of instruments used to open veins for letting blood.
FLECHE, La, a town of France, department of barthe,
and capital of a cognominal arrondissement, stands m a
pleasant valley on the right bank of the Loir, 24 miles S.S.W
of Mans. The streets are wide and clean, and ornamented
with fountains. It is chiefly noted for its royal mili¬
tary college, formerly a celebrated Jesuit s college, founded
by Henri IV. in 1603, and which numbered among its
students Descartes, Mersenne, and Prince Eugene. Among
other public buildings are the Church of St Ihomas, with
a spire (fieche), from which the town takes its name, the
town-hall, court-house, and hospital. The vicinity is fer¬
tile and well cultivated. Pop. (1851) 6543.
FLECHIER, Esprit, bishop of Nismes, one ot the most
celebrated preachers of his age, and author ot a number ot
works, was born at Pernes, a small town in the diocese of
Carpentras, on the 10th of June 1632, and educated undei
the eye of his uncle, Father Audifret, general of the Con¬
gregation of Christian Doctrine, a learned and estimable
man According to the constitution of the congregation,
Flechier, having completed his own education, was imme¬
diately employed in teaching. In 1659, when only twen y -
seven, he professed rhetoric at Narbonne, and there pro¬
nounced the funeral oration of M. de Rebe, archbishop of
that city. A few months afterwards, on the death of Au¬
difret, Flechier laid aside the habit of the Doctrinaire, and
proceeded to Paris, where he was at first employed in t le
humble occupation of a parochial catechist; but he soon
made himself known by his Latin and French poetry and
particularly by a description in Latin verse of the brilliant
carousal, Circus Regius, given by Louis XIV. m
This was the commencement of Flechier s reputation. He
E L E FEE
Flechier. was now entrusted with the education of Louis Urbain
Lefevre de Caumartin, afterwards intendant of finances and
counsellor of state ; and as the house of his pupil’s father
was then frequented by the most considerable personages
both of the court and the city, Flechier was introduced into
the first society, and soon made many friends for himself
by his virtues and talents. The Duke of Montausier de¬
clared himself his patron, and procured him the place of
reader to the Dauphin. The sermons of Flechier increased
his reputation, which was afterwards raised to the highest
pitch by his funeral orations. Having been chosen to pro¬
nounce that of Madame de Montausier, he displayed so great
talent on the occasion, that his discourse opened to him the
doors of the French Academy, into which he was received
in 1673, in the room of M. Godeau, bishop of Venice.
The favours of the court now flowed upon Flechier. The
king gave him successively the abbey of St Leverin, in the
diocese of Poitiers, the office of almoner to the dauphiness,
and, in 1685, the bishopric of Lavaur, accompanying his
kindness with the most flattering expressions of favour and
regard. “ I have made you wait a little for a place which
you have long merited,” said the monarch ; “ but I did not
wish to deprive myself sooner of the pleasure of hearing
you.” From the see of Lavaur Flechier was, in 1687,
translated to that of Nismes, which was more valuable, and
also accounted more honourable. His own wish was to re¬
main at Lavaur; but the king overcame his repugnance to
the proposed translation by making him sensible that he
would be more useful to the church at Nismes than at La¬
vaur, and that in the former place there was more labour to
be performed and more good to be done. In fact the Cal¬
vinists were very numerous at Nismes; and although se¬
veral had made abjuration, their conversion was at best but
equivocal. But Flechier, by his prudent conduct, in which
zeal was tempered by charity, brought back the greater
number of these sectaries to the bosom of the church, and
made himself esteemed and beloved even by those who de¬
clined to abjure their faith. During the troubles in the
Cevennes he softened, as much as in him lay, the rigour of
the edicts, and showed himself so sensible of the evils of
persecution, and so indulgent even to what he regarded as
error, that his memory was long held in veneration amongst
the Protestants of that district. In the famine which suc¬
ceeded the W'inter of 1709, he did much to alleviate the
prevalent distress, by assisting the poor in his diocese without
regard to their religious tenets ; alleging that all alike were
his children. He also published an eloquent pastoral letter
on the subject of a cross of St Gervais, which, it was pre¬
tended, worked miracles, and warned his flock against those
lying winders by which the credulity of the people has
frequently been abused. This appears to have been amongst
his last efforts in the cause of truth and religion, Lie died
at Montpellier on the 16th February 1710, at the advanced
age of seventy-eight. “He died,” says D’Alembert, “ la¬
mented by the Catholics, regretted by the Protestants, and
having always exhibited to his brethren an admirable model
of zeal and charity, simplicity, and eloquence.”
Flechier’s works are, 1. Antonii Marice Gratiani de Vita Joan-
nis Francisci Cammendoni Cardinalis, libri iv., Paris, 1699, in
12mo ; 2. La Vie du Cardinal Commendon, Paris, 1671, in 4to;
3. De Casibus Virorum Illustrium autore Antonio Maria Gratiano,
opera et studio Sp. Flecherii, Paris, 1680, in 4to; 4. Histoire de
Theodose-le-Grand, Paris, 1679, in 4to, composed for the education
of the dauphin ; 5. Ilistoire du Cardinal Ximenes, Paris, 1693, in
4to; 6. Oraisons Funebres, 1681, in 4to and in 12mo; 7. Panegy-
nques des Saints, Paris, 1690, in 4to ; 8. Sermons de Morale prtches
devant le Roi, avec des Discours synodaux et les Sermons preches par
Flechier aux Flats de Languedoc et dans sa Cathedrale, in 3 vols.
12mo; 9. CEuvres Posthumes contenant ses Harangues, Compliments,
Discours, Poesies Latines, Poesies Franqaises, Paris, 1712, in 12mo;
10. Mandements et Lettres pastorales, avec son Oraison Funebre par
VAbbe du Jarry, Paris, 1712, in 12mo; 11. Lettres Choisies sur divers
sujets, Paris, 1715, in 2 vols. 12mo; 12. Relation d un Voyage en
Auvergne. The only collection yet published of the works of
Fl6chier is that of the Abbe Ducreux, canon of Auxerre, which ap¬
peared under the title of CEuvres Completes de Messire Esprit
Flechier, Nismes, 1782, in 10 vols. 8vo. If we except the History
of Theodosius, pulpit eloquence is the only branch of the belles-
lettres cultivated by Flechier in which he excelled. His Funeral
Orations have been compared with those of Bossuet, without attend¬
ing to this distinction, that comparisons become useless between two
kinds of genius which are totally different. That of Bossuet was
sublime throughout. Flechier, on the other hand, was only remark¬
able for the nobleness of his thoughts and the harmony of his dic¬
tion. It is true that he possessed in an eminent degree these two
qualities of an orator, and that nobody has carried the latter further
than he; but even in that department where he has been most
successful Flechier is not without faults, and may be reproached
with an ambition of giving point to his thoughts, an affectation of
symmetry in the style, and a love of antitheses, all at variance with
the principles of good taste. But if his funeral orations and ser¬
mons lose much of their merit by a too measured elegance, his pas¬
toral instructions and synodal discourses are wholly free from such
affectation, indeed as remarkable for simplicity of style as for gene¬
rosity of sentiment, and that indulgent spirit which laments whilst
it combats error, and which, repudiating all attempts at persecu¬
tion, seeks to win men over to the right way, not by the instrumen¬
tality of fear, but through the medium of their understanding and
affections. “ O’est dans ces ouvrages,” says a distinguished French
critic, “ que la philosophic elle-meme apprendra Pusage qu’on doit
faire des lumineres et du sentiment, et se convaincra que 1’huma-
nit6 n’a pas de consolation plus solide que la religion, comme la
politique n’a pas de meilleur appui.” (J. B—e.)
FLECKNOE, Richard, a poet and dramatic writer in
the reign of Charles II. He was an Irishman by birth, and
was originally a priest of the Order of Jesus. Like many
of the small wits and minor poets of that day, Flecknoe
owes the rescue of his name from oblivion to the satirical
genius of Dryden. That satirist availed himself of Fleck-
noe’s name as a stalking horse from behind which to assail
the poetaster Shadwell, who had been appointed to replace
him in the laureateship. The opening lines of this satire
may be quoted as a specimen of the whole :—
All human things are subject to decay;
And when fate summons, monarchs must obey.
This Flecknoe found, who, like Augustus, young
Was called to empire, and had governed long;
In prose and verse was owned without dispute
Throughout the realms of nonsense absolute, &c. &c.
It is but fair, however, to remark, that clever and effective
as this poem is, it is in its application to Flecknoe utterly
unjust. Flecknoe was the author of several plays, one of
which was acted with considerable success, and also of many
minor pieces, which, though possessing no great merit in
the matter of versification, nevertheless contain many happy
turns of thought and felicities of expression. His most im¬
portant works were the lollowing :—
Les Demoiselles d la Mode, printed in 1677, and addressed to the
Duke and Duchess of Newcastle; Ermina, or the Chaste Lady;
Love's Dominion, printed in 1654; and The Marriage of Oceanus
and Britannia. His other works consist of, 1. Epigrams and Enig¬
matical Characters, 1670, in 8vo; 2. Miscellanea, or Poems of all
sorts, with divers other pieces, 1653, in 12mo; 3. Diarium, or the
Journal, divided into twelve Jornadas, in burlesque verse, London,
1656, in 12mo. Flecknoe died in 1678.
FLEECE, the covering of wool shorn from a sheep. See
Wool.
FLEECE, Order of the Golden, one of the most emi¬
nent orders of knighthood in Europe, was founded in 1430
by Philip III. duke of Burgundy. By its foundation his
successors were declared hereditary grand-masters ; and
thus the title passed to the imperial house of Austria w-ith
the Burgundian inheritance, and thence to the Spanish line
of the same house after the death of the emperor Charles V.
When the Spanish Netherlands, however, became Austrian,
and the Bourbons became monarchs of Spain, the grand-
mastership was claimed by the archdukes of Austria. Hence
at present the Spanish and the Austrian sovereigns alike
confer the order, and at both courts it gives the highest rank.
FLEET, a navy or a squadron of ships of war; or a num-
659
Flecknoe
II
Fleet.
660
Fleet
Prison
II
Fleetwood.
F L E
her of ships in company, whether ships of war or of com-
merce.
FLEET PRISON. See London.
FLEETWOOD, a rising seaport and watering-place in
T an rash ire, at the mouth of the Wyre, and connected with
"r/a railway 22 miles in length. Fleetwood a es
its rise from 1836, and takes its name from Sn 1 . H. 1 leet
wood by whom it was laid out, and who has erected various
public buildings. It has a neat church, several chapels and
schools, mechanics’ institute, subscription news-room, mai ket-
house, lighthouse, docks, two wharfs, custom-house, and
bonded warehouses. Steamers ply between it and Glasgow,
Belfast, Londonderry, and Isle of Man. I he number ot
vessels registered at the port on 31st December 1853 was
30 sailing vessels of 3804 tons, and 5 steamers of 904 tons,
during that year 443 sailing vessels of 33,874 tons, and 6/2
steamers of 117,880, entered; and 268 sailing vessels of
19,255 tons, and 671 steamers of 118,725 tons left the port.
Pop. (1851) 3048. , n .rill
FLEETWOOD, Charles, lord-deputy of Ireland undei
the Commonwealth, and son-in-law of Cromwell, was one ol
the most prominent of the minor figures in that troubled period
of English history. Entering the ranks of the parliamentary
forces? he rose in 1644 to the rank of colonel of horse, and
was appointed governor of Bristol in that same year. In
the course of the civil wars that afterwards distracted the
kingdom he distinguished himself, particularly at the battle
of Worcester, and by his conduct on that occasion gained
the favour of Cromwell and the whole army. After the
death of his first wife he was pitched upon by Cromwell as
a fitting husband for his eldest daughter Bridget, the widow
of Ireton, and was appointed commander-in-chief ol the
forces in Ireland. Though the Protector did not place
very much confidence in Fleetwood’s attachment to himself,
political motives afterwards induced him to nominate him
one of the fourteen major-generals to whom the internal ad¬
ministration of the commonwealth was intrusted. On the
death of the Lord Protector, Fleetwood did his best, by
means of his influence with the troops, to supplant Richaid
Cromwell; but in the midst of his intrigues the nation re¬
called the exiled Stuarts. Fleetwood’s prominent position
marked him out as an object of vengeance to the restoied
king, and it was only with very great difficulty that he
escaped with his life. Not long after the Restoration he
died in wretchedness and obscurity at Stoke Newington,
whither he had retired.
Fleetwood, William, alearned English bishop, descended
of an ancient family in Lancashire, was born in the Power
of London, Jan. 21, 1656. He received his education
at Eton, and at King’s College, Cambridge. About the
time of the Revolution he entered into holy orders, and hav¬
ing soon become a distinguished preacher, was appointed
chaplain to King William and Queen Mary. By the in¬
terest of Dr Godolphin, vice-provost of Eton and residen¬
tiary of St Paul’s, he was appointed rector of St Austin’s,
London, which is in the gift of the dean and chapter ot St
Paul’s ; and soon afterwards he also obtained the lecture¬
ship of St Dunstan’s in the West. In 1691 he published
his Inscriptionum Antiquarum Sylloge, in two parts; one
containing remarkable pagan inscriptions, the other part
ancient Christian monuments. In 1692 he published a
translation of Jurieu’s Plain Method of Christian Devotion,
the twenty-seventh edition of which was printed in 1750. In
1701 appeared his Essay on Miracles, which called forth the
animadversions of several writers, particularly Hoadly. In
1704 he published anonymously The Reasonable Commu¬
nicant ; and in 1705, Sixteen Practical Discourses on the
relative duties of parents and children, husbands and wives,
masters and servants, with three sermons on the case of self-
murder. In the following year he was nominated to the
see of St Asaph. In 1710 he published a vindication of the
F L E
thirteenth chapter to the Romans, upon the authority of Flemish
which the regal dignity had been so magnified by some as
to make tyranny seem an ordinance of God, and to repre- ^
sent the most abject slavery as founded upon the principles
of religion. This degrading doctrine was highly offensive
to Bishop Fleetwood, who in this tract contends that, in the
chapter referred to, St Paul requires of no people any more
submission to the higher powers than that which is enjoined
by the laws of their several countries. In 1712 he pub¬
lished Four Sermons, one on the death of Queen Mary in
1694, another on that of the Duke of Gloucester in 1700,
a third on that of King William in 1701, and a fourth on
the accession of Queen Anne; and also, the same year, an
anonymous tract on Lay Baptism, according to the Church
of England, a subject which then engaged a good deal ot
attention. The Life and Miracles of St Wenefrede, to-
gether with her Litanies, appeared in 1713, likewise without
his name ; the object of which was to expose the absurd
superstitions by which weak minds are apt to be influenced,
and, in particular, to show the delusions which had been
practised under the names of pretended saints. In 1714 he
was translated from the see of St Asaph to that of Ely, and
continued there till his death, which took place at Totten¬
ham, Middlesex, on the 4th of August 1/23.
The remaining works of Bishop Fleetwood are these: 1. the
Chancellor's Plea in the Divorce of Sir G. Downing, 1715 ; 2.
Papists Not Excluded from the Throne on Account of Religion,
1717 ‘ 3. A Letter from Mr T. Burdett, Executed at Tyhurn for
the Murder of Captain Falkner, to some Attorneys’ clerks of his
acquaintance, 1717 ; 4. A Letter to an Inhabitant of the P*11,1811 ®f
St Andrews, Holborn, about New Ceremonies in the Church, 171/ ;
and 5. A Defence of Praying Before Sermon, as directed by the
fifty-fifth canon. All these tracts, however, were published without
the author’s name. Bishop Fleetwood’s character stood deservedly
high in general estimation. His virtue was without any alloy of
fanaticism, and his piety wholly untinctured with superstition. He
was the friend of liberty and learning, equally zealous in defending
the one and in encouraging the other. He assisted Dr Hickes in
his great work Linguarum veterum Septentrionalium Ihesaurus; and
Hearne also confesses himself to have been under many obligations
to him. In a professional point of view, he was unquestionably the
best preacher of his time ; and his occasional sermons exhibit a
felicity of adaptation to the circumstances that had called them
forth, which we should perhaps seek for in vain in similar composi-
tions of that period. B E’^
FLEMISH Language, that which is otherwise called
Loiv Dutch, to distinguish it from the German, ot which it
is a corruption and a kind of dialect. It differs fiom the
Walloon, which is a corruption of the French language.
Flemish School. See Painting; and Arts, § Line
FLENSBORG, a seaport-town of Denmark, duchy of
Sleswick, at the head of a fiord, about 16 miles from its
mouth in the Baltic, and 20 N. by W. of Sleswick. Next
to Copenhagen it is the most important commercial townm
the Danish dominions. It has a number ot vessels engaged
in the West India trade and in the Greenland whale fishery:
shipbuilding, with its collateral branches of industry, is car¬
ried on to a considerable extent; and there are extensive
sugar-refineries, distilleries, soap-works, paper-mills, &c. t
has one German and three Danish churches, thiee maiket-
houses, a school of navigation, midwifery school, exchange,
theatre, and public library. The churchyard is interesting
as containing the remains of the Danish soldiers who tell in
the battle of Istedt (25th July 1850). The government
has placed a marble headstone at each grave—officers and
common soldiers—with the same simple inscription on each,
viz., after the name and rank, “ fell at Idstedt.” A railway
has recently been opened connecting this town with lon-
ning. Pop. (including suburbs) about 18,000.
FLESH, a compound substance, consisting of the various
softer solids of the animal body, and so denominated in con“
tradistinction to bone. It consists chiefly of fibiin, with
albumen, gelatine, extractive, phosphate of soda, phosphate
F L E FEE 661
Fleta of ammonia, phosphate and carbonate of lime, and sulphate
II of potash. The general term flesh includes the muscles,
t etc Ten fat) g]an(}s, &c., though sometimes it is restricted to muscle.
See Anatomy.
FLETA, an excellent Latin treatise on the entire body
of the English law, by an anonymous author who lived in
the time oPEdward L, and wrote it during his confinement
in the Fleet prison (hence Fleta).
FLETCHER, Andrew, of Saltoun, a conspicuous poli¬
tical and social figure in Scotland during the latter half of
the seventeenth century, was born in 1653 at Saltoun, in
East Lothian, memorable also as the birth-place of Dunbar,
the greatest of the old Scottish poets. The minister of the
parish to whose care the education of the young Fletcher
was intrusted was Gilbert Burnet, afterwards the cele¬
brated bishop of Salisbury. It is not unlikely that from this
preceptor Fletcher’s mind received that political direction
which he pursued in after life with such undeviating con¬
sistency. He certainly acquired, under Burnet’s care, that
knowledge of the Greek and Roman classics which after¬
wards supplied him with precedents for those political ideas
which it was the main object of his life to realize in his na¬
tive land. On reaching manhood Fletcher visited the Con¬
tinent and spent several years in examining the laws and
institutions of the leading European states. He then re¬
turned home, and in 1681 took his seat in the Scottish parlia¬
ment as commissioner for the shire of East Lothian, and
distinguished himself by the bitter and inflexible spirit in
which he opposed the tyrannical tendencies of Charles the
Second’s government. Soon after he found it necessary to
retire to Holland, at that time the general resort of all Bri¬
tish political malcontents. In consequence of this step he
was outlawed and his estate was confiscated. In 1683 he
ventured over to England; but not being able to effect any¬
thing at that time, returned to the Continent, where he
wraited for two years till the Duke of Monmouth had com¬
pleted his arrangements for a descent upon England. In
this expedition Fletcher took part, but shortly after the
landing at Lyme in Dorsetshire he had the misfortune to
kill the mayor of that town in a quarrel, and was obliged in
consequence once more to seek safety abroad. He fled to
Spain ; was there thrown into prison, from which he escaped
in a manner (according to the traditionary accounts) savour¬
ing somewhat of the miraculous; and after a long pedes¬
trian tour through that country passed into Hungary, where
he joined the army as a volunteer, and distinguished himself
by his daring and military capacity in the Turkish cam¬
paigns. On returning to the Hague he took an active part
in forwarding the scheme of the English Revolution ; and
in 1688 returned to his native country. He immediately
regained possession of his estate, and sat as a member, first
in the Scottish Convention, and afterwardsin the parliament.
His intractable temper, and the jealousy with which he
watched over the interests of Scotland, soon led him to op¬
pose the government of William as stoutly and vehemently
as he used to denounce and resist the encroachments of
that monarch’s two immediate predecessors. To the very
last he held out against the Union of the two kingdoms;
and when, very much to his chagrin, that measure was ef¬
fected, he proposed in one of his works twelve Limitations,
which he was strongly of opinion should be observed in the
political relations of England and Scotland. Failing to se¬
cure the adoption of these, he retired from public life alto¬
gether, under the melancholy idea that he had survived not
only his country’s glory but her very existence as an inde¬
pendent nation. He died at London in 1716.
In a contemporary record, prefixed to one of the editions
of his works, Fletcher is described as a “ low thin man, of
a brown complexion, with a stern, sour look, and fifty years
old.” The stern earnestness of his republicanism, accord¬
ing to this same writer, “ made him oppose King Charles,
invade King James, and oppose the giving so much power Fletcher,
to King William, whom he never would serve ; nor does
he ever come into the administration of this Queen, but
stands up a stout pillar for the constitution of the parlia¬
ment of Scotland.” On religious topics, however, it seems
that his view's were somewhat more liberal; for it is added,
“ His thoughts are large as to religion, and could never be
brought within the bonds of any particular sect.” His
temper wras so untractable as on many occasions to lead
him to excesses utterly unwarrantable. One of the most
notable instances of this was his murder of the mayor of
Lyme, who merely attempted to remonstrate, when Fletcher,
without asking leave, took possession of a horse belonging
to that official, when he rode into Monmouth’s camp with a
view to aiding that adventurer in his attempt on the Eng¬
lish crown. Less disastrous in its consequences, but equally
characteristic, w'as Fletcher’s conduct to Lord Stair, when
he collared that nobleman, and threatened him with personal
violence in the parliament house merely for letting drop a
few words which Fletcher believed to reflect on him. To
his political creed he adhered with unyielding consistency
till his death, and, according to the testimony of Lockhart
of Carnwath, “ was so exceedingly wedded to his own opi¬
nions that there were few (and those, too, must be his be¬
loved friends, and of whom he had a good opinion) he could
endure to reason against him, and did for the most part so
closely and unalterably adhere to what he advanced, which
was frequently very singular, that he’d break with his party
before he’d alter the least jot of his scheme and maxims.”
It is hard to decide whether his hatred of monarchical go¬
vernments, or of England and the Union, was the most in¬
tense. Lockhart, however, believes that his aversion to the
latter was so great that “ in revenge to them he’d have sided
with the royal family.” He was, however, both by birth
and temper, completely aristocratic in his tendencies, and
it is said “ liked, commended, and conversed with high¬
flying Tories more than any other set of men, acknowledg¬
ing them to be the best countrymen and of most honour
and integrity.” Still, however, the general character both
of his writings and of his political career was such as to en¬
title him to a high place among the advocates of British
democracy. His personal character is absolutely free from
every taint of meanness or dishonesty. In the words of
Lockhart, “ he hated and despised whatever was mean or
unbecoming a gentleman, and was so steadfast to what he
thought right that no hazard or advantage—not the uni¬
versal empire nor the gold of America—could tempt him
to yield or desert it.”
Fletcher was a man of very considerable accomplishments.
He was a complete master of the Latin, Greek, Italian,
French, and Spanish tongues, and was well versed in history
and civil law'. His writings also in point of literary quality
reach a high, sometimes even a remarkable, degree of ex¬
cellence. 'fhe sagacity of his remarks, the freshness, energy,
and occasional eloquence of his style, and the singular feli¬
city of many isolated expressions, give a charm to his writ¬
ings which compensates in a certain measure for the nar¬
rowness of view and illiberal bigotry with which they have
been often charged. The most important of his works are
—A Discourse of Government with relation to Militias,
Edin., 1698; Two Discourses concerning the affairs of
Scotland, Edin., 1698; Discorso delle Cose di Spagna,
Napoli, 1698; Speeches by a Member of the Parliament
which began at Edinburgh the 6th of May 1703, Edin.,
1703; An Account of a Conversation concerning a right
regulation of Governments for the common good of Man¬
kind, Edin., 1704. In the last of these works, in which the
interlocutors are Sir Edward Seymour, Sir Charles Mus-
grave, the Earl of Cromarty, and Fletcher himself, occurs
for the first time in English literature the oft-quoted re¬
mark of the superiority of the national ballad-maker to the
662
F L E
Fletcher national legislator. In the discourse on the ^
1! land a singular proposal is found, to the effect that the poo
Fletewood. ouXt to be provided for by the resuscitation of a scheme
‘ of slavery such as the author believed to subsist among the
ancient Greeks and Romans. The life of Fletcher was
written in the style rather of a panegyrist than ol a cntica
biographer by the late Earl of Buchan. His works, which
in their original and detached form are now very rare, were
collected and published in 1737, under the title of i he
Political Works of Andrew Fletcher, Esq.
(Earl of Buchan’s Essay on the Life and W ritings of
Fletcher of Saltoun ; Chambers’s Biog. Diet, of Eminent
Scotsmen, &c. &e.) ...
Fletcher, Giles and Phineas, two celebrated religious
poets of England, were the sons of Dr Giles Fletcher, En g¬
lish ambassador in 1558 at the court of Russia, and the
cousins of the distinguished dramatist, John Hetcher.
Giles, the elder of the two brothers, was born about the
year 1580; was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge;
took orders in the Church of England, and died in 1623 at
his living of Alderton in Suffolk. The only poem which he
has left us consists of four several parts, joined together
under the common title of “ Christ’s Victory and Fiiump is.
It is a kind of narrative of the redemption of man, remind¬
ing us to some extent of Milton’s epic, and bearing, in foim
at least, a still more striking resemblance to that of Spenser.
The animation of the narrative, the liveliness of the fancy,
and the deep pathos that pervades the whole work, conti i-
bute to make it in its totality one of the most beautiful reli¬
gious poems in any language, and, as Southey remarks,
“will preserve the author’s name while there is any praise.
It has been complained that it abounds too much in allegory ;
and though this charge may be partly true, the interest of
the poem is admirably maintained to the last. The work
itself is written in a sort of variety of the Spenserian stanza,
and its beauties are set in phraseology so marked and pecu¬
liar as to be readily recognised wherever quoted. This cha¬
racteristic is still more striking from the antitheses and appa¬
rent paradoxes in which Fletcher delighted. Such lines as
the following occur frequently throughout this poem :
“ The silence of the thought loud-speaking hears ;”—
“ The death of life, end of eternity ;”—
“ The obsequies of him that could not die.”
Phineas, the younger brother of Giles, was born about
1584; entered King’s College, Cambridge, in 1600; gra¬
duated there and took orders in the church, and in 1621
became vicar of Hilgay in Norfolk, where he died about
1660. His principal work—The Purple Island; or, The
Isle of Man—is the nearest thing in English literature to an
imitation of Spenser. It is confessedly an allegory, intended
to symbolize all the functions of the human mind and body,
especially the latter, and is quite unworthy of the fame it once
enjoyed. It is wearisome throughout; and though it con¬
tains occasional passages of much beauty, it can hardly be
said, on the whole, to repay perusal. Phineas Fletcher
wrote, besides The Purple Island, some eclogues, a drama
entitled Sicelides, and a poem in Latin hexameters, called
])e Literatis antiquee Brita/nnice, preesertim qui doctrina
claruerunt, quique collegia Cantabrigice funddrunt.
Fletcher, John. See Beaumont and Fletcher.
FLETEWOOD, William, an English lawyer, and re¬
corder of London in the reign of Elizabeth, was a natural
son of Mr Fleetwood of Hesketh, in Lancashire. He was
educated at Oxford, and studied law at the Middle Tem¬
ple. In 1569 he was appointed recorder of London, and
during his holding of this office he exercised his power very
zealously against popish priests and their chapels. He was
eminent as an orator and politician. As an author his
chief works are—An Oration, spoken before the Lord
Mayor at Guildhall; A Table to Plowden’s Reports ; The
Office of a Justice of the Peace, 1658; Annalium tam
Fleury.
F L E
Regum Edwardi V., Richardi III., Henrici VII. quam F]eur-de-
Henrici VIII.; Titulorum ordine Alphabet, et Elenchus, 118
1579 and 1597. He died in 1593.
FLEUR-DE-LIS, in Heraldry, a charge representing ^
a lily, but conjectured to have originally been intended to
represent the head of a javelin. The fleur-de-lis has been
borne from a very early period in the royal arms of France.
FLEURY, Andre FIercule de, Cardinal, the cele¬
brated minister of Louis XV. of France, was born in 16o3
at Lodeve, in Languedoc. He was educated by the Jesuits at
Paris, and became successively almoner to Marie Therese,
queen of Louis XIV., in 1699 bishop of Fregus, and ultimately
preceptor to the young prince, who afterwards succeeded to
the French throne as Louis XV. On the death of the
Regent Orleans in 1723, Fleury was made a member of
the Council of State, and in 1726 (though at that time in
his seventy-third year), was called to the office of prime-
minister, which he held till his death in 1743. At the
time when Fleurv was called to the direction of affairs, the
condition of France was truly deplorable. The nation was
impoverished and worn out, and the exchequer emptied by
the long wars of the Grand Monarque and the extrava¬
gances of the regent. Commerce was annihilated, public
credit ruined, the government held in contempt, and the
church distracted by internal dissensions. Fleury im¬
mediately set himself to reform these abuses, and by his
honesty, economy, disinterestedness, and decision, effected^
very great reforms. Indeed the only reputable part of
Louis the XV.’s reign was that in which the helm of state
was guided by the hand of the aged cardinal. I hough he
was a confirmed friend to peaceful measures, he was twice
driven by court intrigues to take part in foreign wars;
first, in the case of Stanislaus Leczinsky, the dethroned
king of Poland, whose daughter Louis had maiiied; and
afterwards in that of the Austrian succession, of which he
did not live to see the end. One of the most useful acts
of Fleury’s administration was the completion of the Royal
(now the Imperial) library, which he enriched with many
valuable manuscripts, chiefly in the oriental languages.
Fleury, Claude, Abbe, was born at Paris, December 6,
] 640. Destined for the bar by his father, he was placed
at the college of Clermont (now that of Louis-le-Grand),
where the sons of the first families of France were educated.
After passing brilliantly through the regular collegiate stu-^
dies, he was nominated an advocate to the parliament of
Paris in 1658, and continued during nine years to pursue
the legal profession. Feeling a strong desire to enter the
church, being fond of solitude, but especially influenced by
the religious sentiments which he had imbibed during his
early education, he renounced the law, which, with history
and literature, up to this time had formed the principal ob¬
jects of his study, in order to devote himself to theology
exclusively. He had already been some time in holy orders,
when Louis XIV., in 1672, selected him as tutor of the
princes of Conti; and so well did he acquit himself in this
office that the king intrusted to him afterwards the educa¬
tion of the Count of Vermandois, one of his natural sons;
and at the death of the young prince, Fleury received as
recompence for his services the abbey of Loc-Dieu, in the
diocese of Rhodez. Five years after this he was appointed
sub-preceptor of the dukes of Burgundy, of Anjou, and of
Berri. He thus became intimately associated with Fenelon,
the chief preceptor of his rcyal pupils. In 1696 he was
selected to fill the place of La Bruyere in the French aca¬
demy ; and on the completion of the education of the young^
princes, the king bestowed upon him the rich priory of
Argenteuil, in the diocese of Paris. On assuming this be¬
nefice he resigned that of the abbey of Loc-Dieu, thus set¬
ting an example of rare disinterestedness. It was about
this time that he decided, according to the suggestions of
his friends, on commencing his great work, for which he
F L I
F L I
663
Fleurus had long been collecting materials—the Histoire Eccle-
II siastique. Hitherto France did not possess any work of
Flinders. eqUa] merit in this department of literature. There existed
many works more or less voluminous on matters of doctrine
and discipline, but no one had written a history of the church
—a complete and scientific exposition of the progress of
Christian society, of its organization and its primitive doc¬
trine, of its varied changes in connection with the state, of
the successive development of its institutions, of all the
modifications introduced into its symbols and its rites. Of
this great work the French say: “ One work only was
wanting at that time which should collect together the scat¬
tered information of the epoch, and that was the very time
to publish it.” Fleury had evidently the intention of writing
a history of the church for all classes of society ; but at the
time in which his great work appeared it was less religion than
theology that absorbed the attention of the clergy ; and his
work, as well as all those that had been published pre¬
viously, is more a work for the student than one for the
people, dwelling as it does very particularly on questions of
doctrine, of discipline, of supremacy, and of rivalry between
the priesthood and the imperial power, while it notices very
slightly general questions affecting religion and morality.
Notwithstanding all this, the success of the Histoire EccU-
siastique was very great. The first edition, printed at Paris,
in 20 volumes 4to, 1691, was followed by many others,
among which may be mentioned that of Brussels, in 32
vols. 8vo, 1692, and that of Nismes, in 25 vols. 8vo, 1778
to 1780. The work of Fleury only comes down to the
year 1414. It was continued by T. Claude Fabre down
to 1698, in 16 vols. 4to, and thence by Alexandre Lacroix
down to 1778. These supplementary continuations are very
inferior to the labours of Fleury; they are mere compila¬
tions of facts, with little criticism, and still less talent. In
consulting the work of Fleury and its supplements the ge¬
neral table of contents, published by Rondel, Paris, 1758,
1 vol. 4to, will be found very useful. Translations have been
made of the entire work into Latin, German, and Italian.
Fleury has left other works, though not at all so cele¬
brated. These are Mceurs des Chretiens, Paris, 1662 ;
and Mceurs des Israelites, Paris, 1 772—two works at first
published separately, but afterwards united and published
in 3 volumes 12mo, written with elegance and precision ;
Catechism Historique, first published in 1679, 12mo; EIn¬
stitution au droit Ecclesiastique, Paris, 1687: besides se¬
veral minor works of little importance.
FLEURUS, a small town of Belgium, province of
Hainault, 7 miles N.E. of Charleroy, and remarkable for
the battles fought there in 1622, 1690, 1794, and 1815.
Pop. (1851) 3483.
FLEXOR, in Anatomy, a name applied to several mus¬
cles, whose office is to bend the parts to which they belong;
in opposition to the extensors.
FLINDERS, Matthew, a distinguished English navi¬
gator, was born at Bonington, in Lincolnshire, in 1760.
After serving in a variety of subordinate capacities, he was
commissioned by the English government in 1801 to cir¬
cumnavigate and explore New Holland, to our knowledge
of which country he contributed more than any other dis¬
coverer of that day. He underwent the most dreadful
hardships and successfully braved the greatest dangers in
the course of this expedition. On his way home he was
driven by stress of weather to Mauritius, where he was
seized by the French authorities, and detained in confine¬
ment for six years. Reaching home at length in 1810, he
began to prepare for press the narrative of his voyage and
adventures. This work was published in 1814 (on the
very day on which its author died), under the title ot A
Voyage to Terra Australia, §c., in the years 1801, 1802,
and 1803, in 11.31. ship Investigator, and subsequently
in the armed vessel Porpoise, and Cumberland schooner,
in two vols., with Atlas. For a detailed account of his dis¬
coveries, see art. Australia, vol. iv., pp. 253-4.
FLINT, silicious mineral. See Mineralogy. It con¬
sists of 98 silica, 0‘50 lime, 0'25 alumina, 0’25 oxide of
iron, and PO loss. This mineral occurs of various colours,
but generally yellowish or dark gray, and usually in a com¬
pact amorphous body, of various shapes. It is widely dis¬
persed over the world, occurring chiefly in the chalk for¬
mations, but especially in limestone. Its principal use is
for gun-flints, and for striking light with steel; and it also
forms, when reduced to powder, an ingredient in procelain
and glass. The manufacture of gun-flints is very simple,
and is performed with an iron mallet and chisel. A dexterous
workman will make 1000 in a day.
FLINT-GLASS. See Glass-Making.
FLINT (Welsh Ffflint. Tegcingl), the capital of the
county of the same name, a market, borough, and seaport
town, N. Wales, 173 miles N.W. from London, situated on
the south, shore of the estuary of the Dee, on the narrow
strip of flat land lying between the sea and the hills of the
inland parts of the county. The houses are for the most
part well built, but the place has altogether an air of decay.
The harbour and wharfs have been lately much extended ;
but the accumulation of sand is so great that there is little
or no prospect of any important increase of shipping. The
principal exports are coals, lead in a manufactured state, and
iron. Ship-building is carried on to some extent in the
smaller description of vessels. The town possesses a hand¬
some Gothic church, and five chapels belonging to the dif¬
ferent Dissenting bodies. There are also a guildhall and
county jail, and handsome schools.
Close by the shore stands the ruins of the ancient castle
of Flint. It is said to have been built by Edward I.; and
it was here that Percy delivered Richard II. to Boling-
broke. It was dismantled by order of the House of Com¬
mons in the time of the civil wars in 1646.
The borough along with Caergwrle, Caerwys, Overton,
and Rhyddlan, returned one member to parliament from
1536 to 1832 ; since the latter period Holywell, Mold, and
St Asaph have been added as contributing boroughs ; con¬
stituency in 1852, 817. The political influence is chiefly
in the hands of Lord Mostyn. Population in 1851, 3296;
inhabited houses, 693. The assizes are now held at Mold.
FLINTSHIRE (Welsh, Sir Ffflint), a maritime county
in North Wales. This county is made up of two separate
portions lying at a distance of 8 miles from each other.
The main portion is bounded on the N. by the estuary of
the Dee ; on the N.E. and E. by Cheshire; and on all other
sides by the county of Denbigh. Its greatest length is
from S.E. to N.W. about 26 miles, and its breadth is about
12 miles. The detached and smaller portion of this county
lies to the S.E. It is bounded on the N. by Cheshire ; on
the E. and S. by Shropshire ; and on the W. by Denbigh¬
shire. It is about 9 miles long by 5 broad. The whole
of the county possesses an area of 289 square miles or
184,905 acres, and it is the smallest of the Welsh counties.
The origin of the name is involved in obscurity. The
greater part of this county is situated on the coal measures,
and the other members of the group of carboniferous rocks.
The northern rim of the North Wales coal-field extends
along nearly the whole of its northern boundary. Along
the southern edge of the coal strata the millstone grit ex¬
tends in a continuous line, which, further south, is followed
by the carboniferous or mountain limestone ; and in the
extreme south by the upper Silurian (Wenlock) rocks. The
eastern as well as the westeni extremities of the main por¬
tion of the county, and also the whole of the detached part,
are situated on the new red-sandstone formation.
Along the southern boundary the Wenlock rocks rise in¬
to a mountain chain of considerable elevation, forming the
northern limb of the Berwen range ; and terminating about
Flint
II
Flintshire.
664 F L I
Flintshire, a mile from the shore of the Dee, near the western extre-
V v / mity of the county. The small portion of land lying still
further west is flat, and much of it consists ot rich alluvium
embracing a portion of the well-known Rhyddlan marsh,
and forming part of the celebrated Vale of Clwyd (see
Denbighshire). The watershed of the Berwens forms the
county boundary for a considerable distance along the
south ; and the summit of a member of this range, the Moel
Fammau, common to this county and Denbighshire, rises
to the height of 1845 feet. The general character of the
county is mountainous, although the hills, with the excep¬
tion of those already mentioned, do not rise to any great
elevation. Besides the tract of flat rich land on the ex¬
treme west, there is a similar tract of no great extent in
the same geological formation in the east; and from the
one to the other there extends along the southern shore of
the Dee a narrow strip of rich alluvial soil. The detached
portion of the county is also flat.
Some of the small valleys are very beautiful, although not
equal to those of other parts of North Wales. With the
exception of that part of the vale of Clwyd embraced by
this county, the vale of the Alyn is the most important.
The principal rivers are—the Dee, forming part of the
northern boundary of the main part of the county, and also the
eastern boundary of the detached portion; the Clwyd, which
forms the western boundary for about 3 miles; the Elwy,
which enters the county near the city of St Asaph in the west,
and after joining the Clwyd falls into the sea at llhyl ; and
the Alyn, which, rising in the Berwens, near the eastern
extremity of the county, after a very tortuous course, flow¬
ing first west and then east, is discharged into the Dee,
after traversing part of Denbighshire.
Flint possesses few lakes, and these are small and unim¬
portant. The principal ones are Llyn Helygin the N.W.,
and Llyn Cyffynwy in the S.E.
Owing to its proximity to the sea the climate is for the
most part mild ; although, of course, on the Berwens and
other elevated land the air is keen. The cultivated crops
consist of wheat, beans, oats, barley, Welsh here, rye,
vetches, pease, hay, potatoes, turnips, mangold-wurtzel, and
carrots. Clover seed is also grown, but not to any great
extent. The eastern part of the county is liable to be
flooded by the overflowings of the Dee, and is mostly in
pasture. The farms are of considerable size, and the far¬
mers are more intelligent than in most other parts of Wales.
Agriculture is therefore in a more advanced state. In ad¬
dition to the crops, already mentioned, there is a good deal of
cheese and butter made ; there is also a very considerable
production of mutton and beef, for which a ready market is
found among the thickly planted mining population. Wool
and oak bark as well as timber are produced to a considerable
extent, but it is for its mineral wealth and manufacturing in¬
dustry that the county of Flint is chiefly remarkable. In ad¬
dition to its numerous coal mines and limestone quarries, it
contains some of the richest lead and calamine mines in the
British islands, and large quantities of carbonate of baryta
have been lately found there. There are numerous smelt¬
ing works; and at those at Bagillt a very large proportion of
allthelead ore raised in the worldis smelted,and has the silver
separated from it. There is a very extensive foundry and en¬
gine manufactory at Mold; and there are numerous iron,
chemical, coarse pottery, and other works scattered all over the
more accessible parts of the county, and giving employment
to a very large number of work-people. The shipping trade
isnot extensive, for,owing to the gradual silting upof theDee,
only vessels of light draught can enter the Flintshire ports.
The lower parts of Flintshire are well supplied wdth
means of communication and transport, for, in addition to
the water carriage on the Dee, extending the whole length
of the country, the Chester and Holyhead railway traverses
its greatest length, and the Chester and Mold railway pene-
F L 0
trates to the centre, and opens up a communication with Flip
all parts by means of the valley of the Alyn. Ij
The principal towns are Flint, Mold, St Asaph, Rhyl, F°elden
and Holywell; besides which there are several smaller v ^
ones, the principal of which are Rhyddlan, Hawarden,
Caergwrle, Caerwys, and Overton. The county is divided
into 28 parishes, and is for the most part in the diocese of
St Asaph. It returns one member to parliament, and has done
so since 1536. The political influence is almost entirely in
the hands of Lord Mostyn, and the political opinions are
chiefly of a liberal tendency ; constituency in 1852, 2912.
Theaverage gross rental of the county is as high as 24s. 9d.
per acre. The annual value of real property paying income
tax in 1851 was L.399,261, and of property assessed to the
relief of the poor in 1850, L.222, 16s.
The population of the county by the census of 1851 was
68,156, giving an average of 235 persons to a square mile,
or 2-7 acres to a person. Of the total numbers 34,452 were
males, and 33,704 females. Flint is thus, next to Glamor¬
gan, the most densely peopled county in Wales, and contains
rather more than four times as many people to an acre as
Radnor, the most thinly peopled of the Welsh counties.
The number of inhabited houses was 14,041, uninhabited
798, building 80, giving an average of 49 houses to a square
mile, and 4-8 persons to a house. The following table gives
the census returns for the last fifty years :—
It is calculated that about eight per cent, pf the popula¬
tion live by agriculture, and nine per cent, by trade, manu¬
factures, &c. About one-fourth of the whole are in the
condition of labourers, servants, &c. About thirteen hundred
persons possess independent means, and five hundred fol-
lowr professions.
In 1847 the total number of children of the working
classes at day schools within the county was 7586. Ot
schools 60 were church or “national” schools, with 4893
scholars ; 1 Calvinistic Methodist, with 48 scholars ; 2 In¬
dependent, with 103 scholars ; 2 Roman Catholic, with 55
scholars; 5 British and Foreign, with 806 scholars; 5 ot
no denomination, with 311 scholars ; 2 workhouse schools,
with 112 scholars ; 1 factory school, with 30 scholars ; and
53 private adventure, with 1228 scholars. It appears that
the average annual income of the teachers from all sources
was only L.25, 5s. lOd. The total number of Sunday schools
was 133, with 15,310 scholars. Of these 26 were Church,
with 3841 scholars ; 2 Baptist, with 161 scholars ; 43 Cal¬
vinistic Methodist, with 5092 scholars ; 27 Independents,
with 2377 scholars ; 34 Wesleyan Methodist, with 3779
scholars ; 1 of other denominations, with 60 scholars. In
51 of these schools instruction was given in the Welsh lan¬
guage only ; in 18 in the English language only ; in 62 in
both languages; and in two, which language was not ascer¬
tained. A great proportion of the population use the English
language, and, as may be supposed, from the proximity to
England, and the great industrial progress of this county,
the manners and habits approach more nearly to the English
type than in most other parts of Wales.
There are numerous fine gentlemen’s seats throughout
this county ; and there is a cathedral and bishop’s palace at
St Asaph.
FLIP, a mixed drink composed of malt liquor, brandy,
and sugar, and esteemed among sailors.
FLODDEN Field, in the county of Northumberland,
eight miles S.E. of Coldstream, is memorable as the scene of
the battle fought there on 9th September 1513 between the
FLO
Flood English under the Earl of Surrey and the Scotch command-
Plorinpp ^ James IV., in which the latter were totally defeated
v  ", and their king slain. See Scotland.
* FLOOD. See Deluge.
FLOOR, in building. See Building. Boards for floor¬
ing may be prepared with great despatch by means of the
flooring-machine, by which the several operations of saw-
planing, grooving, and tonguing, are all carried on at
the same time by a series of saws, planes, and revolvino-
chisels.
FLORA, in Roman Antiquity, the goddess of flowers.
There is an old tradition extant in the Latin classics to the
effect that Flora was originally a courtezan, who amassed a
large fortune, which she bequeathed to the Roman people
on condition of being annually commemorated in a festival.
Her worship, however, dates from a very remote period, as
it is recorded that latius built in her honour a temple, for
the service of which a special flamen was consecrated by
Numa. 1 he temple of Flora was situated near the Circus
Maximus. Flora is commonly represented as a woman in
the very prime of life, bearing in her left hand a cornucopia
filled to overflowing with flowers of every kind.
Flora, in Botany, denotes a catalogue or account of
flowers or plants.
FLOR ALES LUDI,or FLORALiA,in Roman Antiquity,
a festival in honour of Flora, which lasted for five days, from
April 28 to May 2. It is said to have been instituted in
the year 238 b.c., and to have been afterwards discontinued
in consequence of the license and immorality to which it
gave occasion. In the year 173 b.c., however, it was re¬
stored at the command of the senate, as the blossoms had
suffered very severely in the spring of that year from the
severity of the weather. The aediles, as usual, presided
over these games, which consisted chiefly in the exhibition
of mimic fights and indecent dances performed by women
of loose character, who used also to throw beans and chick¬
peas among the crowd. Instead of wild beasts, hares and
rabbits were let into the arena, and chased about for the
public amusement. The spot where the Floralia were held
is still called the Campo di Fiora, and at this day forms
one of the squares of Rome, and is used as a market-place.
Festivals very like the floralia are still celebrated through¬
out Italy, where they have always been very popular. Floral
games, or jeux floraux, was the name given to the reunions
held in the south of France, especially at Toulouse, where
garlands of flowers were awarded as prizes to successful
competitors in the poetical contests.
FLORENCE, (Italian Firenze, and in old writers Fior-
enza,) a famous city of Italy, capital of the grand duchy of
Tuscany, is situated on the river Arno, which divides it
into two unequal parts. The important place which this
city occupies in history, the beauty of its situation, the
treasures of art which it contains, all contribute to its in¬
terest and celebrity.
“ Girt by her theatre of hills, she reaps
Her corn, and wine and oil, and Plenty leaps
To laughing life, with her redundant horn.
Along the banks, where smiling Arno sweeps,
Was modern Luxury of Commerce born,
And buried learning rose redeemed to a new morn.”
Childe Harold, Canto iv., 48.
The origin of Florence is not clearly ascertained; but
it probably owes its rise to the establishment of a Roman
colony here by Octavianus after the victory of Perusia,
though there seems some reason to believe that one had
been established here about 40 years previously by Sulla.
The only important notice of Florence to be met with in
the ancient writers is in Tacitus, Annal. i. 79, where it is
mentioned among the municipia which, in the reign of
Tiberius, sent deputies to Rome to remonstrate against the
intended diversion of the course of the Clanis into the
Arnus, by which their town and territory would have been
VOL. IX.
F L O 665
rendered liable to inundations. The only remains of the Florence.
Roman period are some relics of an amphitheatre near the
church of Santa Croce, and a lew inscriptions. In 406 Flo¬
rence was besieged by the Goths under Radagaisus and re¬
duced to the last extremity, till the arrival of Stilicho with
an army, who defeated the barbarians and relieved the
town. It was almost entirely destroyed by Totila, king of
the Goths, in 541, and remained in ruins and obscurity
till the end of the eighth century, when it was rebuilt by
Charlemagne after that monarch had conquered the Lom¬
bards. brom this time it rose rapidly into importance, and
at length assumed a republican form of government. Dur¬
ing the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries it was one of the
most opulent cities in Europe ; and from the many eminent
and learned men who flourished here, under the patronage
of the Medici family, at a time when the great nations of
Europe were only beginning to emerge into civilized exis¬
tence, it has justly acquired the designation of “ Etruscan
Athens.” See Italy, Tuscany, &c.
The city of Florence is situated in the fertile and well-
wooded Valdarno, or vale of the Arno, encircled by the
Apennines. The magnificent and stately character of many
of its buildings, the numerous bright villas scattered about
the vale and on the slopes of the hills, and the fine forms of
the mountains which inclose the prospect, have earned for
it the title of Firenze la Bella. Behind the city rise hills
covered with olive and fig trees and other plants, natives of
warmer climates; beyond are chestnut-covered mountains;
while in the distance the naked and rugged summits of the
lofty Apennines rise to the height of more than 3000 feet
above the plain. The city extends along both banks of the
Arno, which intersects it from S.E. to N.W. Its form is
that of an irregular pentagon, of which the greater portion
is on the right or northern side of the river." It is inclosed
by old walls nearly six miles in circuit and pierced by eight
gates. They are still unbroken, except where the citadels
ot Belvedere and the Fortezza da Basso have been inserted,
but are totally useless as a means of defence; and the towers
which ornamented their circuit have generally been demo¬
lished or lowered to the level of the curtain. That portion
of the Arno within the walls is crossed by four bridges, the
finest of which is the Santa Trinita, adorned with statues,
and having a central arch of 95 feet span. Beyond the walls,
on each side, was a suspension bridge, but one of these
was carried away by the great flood of 1844. In the cen¬
tral or older portion of the town the streets are generally
narrow and irregular, but in the more modern parts they
are wide, straight, and well paved. Florence contains a
great number of magnificent edifices and squares, generally
adorned with statues, columns, or fountains. First among
its public buildings is the cathedral, commenced by Arnolfo
in the end of the thirteenth century, and completed in the
fifteenth by Brunelleschi. It is 454 feet in length; the
transept is 334 feet long ; height of nave 153, and of side
aisles 96^ feet. The magnificent cupola by Brunelleschi
excited the admiration of Michael Angelo, and is said to
have served him as a model for that of St Peter’s at Rome.
It is of an octagonal form, 384 feet high, and 138£ in dia¬
meter. The interior of the building is rather dark from the
smallness of the windows, and the deep and rich colours of
the stained glass with which they are filled. The exterior
is almost entirely cased in marble, and the pavement is
tesselated with red, blue, and white marble. Detached
from the cathedral, and like it cased in marble, is the belfry,
a light and elegant tower 276 feet in height. In front of
the principal entrance of the cathedral stands the baptistery
of St John, an elegant octagonal building. These, like
most of the other churches and public buildings, are richly
adorned with works of art. The church of Santa Croce,
called the Pantheon of Florence, is interesting from the
number of sepulchral monuments which it contains; among
4 p
666
Florence
I!
Flores.
FLO
whirh are those of Michael Angelo, Galileo, Machiavelh,
H Alfilri The church of San Lorenzo, bu.lt by Brunel-
Lscht contains the mausoleum of the Medici family An¬
nexed to it is the building begun by Michael AngGo ami
finished by Vasari, containing the Laurentian llb™ y>
nhnve 190 000 volumes, and a valuable collection o
amounting to more than 9000. The Palazzo Veccho now
occupied bv government offices, is a square massive- ooktng
stmcmre surmounted by a tower 268 feet in height. The
Palazzo Pitti, the residence of the grand duke, is enriched
bv numerous fine statues, busts, and paintings, and has a
library of 70,000 volumes and 1500 MSS. Attached to i
are the extensive gardens of BoboK, laid »ut m ™mng“kr
walks flanked with cut trees, and having terraces, statues,
and fountains. Connected with these gardens is a botanical
garden, a museum of natural history, an anatomical coffee-
bon modelled in wax, and a fine library. The i alazzo
Riccardi is used partly ibr government and partly for literary
purposes, and contains a library of about 20,600 volumes
and 3600 MSS. ‘The Magliabechi, a library in the UJJizi,
obita a copy of every hodr published in ‘^Tuscan states,
and contains upwards of 150,000 volumes and 12 000 MSS.
The Marucellian library contains about 50,000 volumes.
The Uffizi, erected after a design of Vasari by Cosmo 1.,
forms three sides of a parallelogram. In the upper floor of
this building is the celebrated Florentine gallery, one of the
richest existing collections in sculptures, medals, bronzes,
paintings, and other works of art. Among its statuary is
the famed Venus de’Medici, discovered in the sixteenth
century in the Villa Hadriana, near Tivoli, d he whole of
the left arm and part of the right are modern, haying been
restored by Bandinelli. The collection of paintings com¬
prises superb specimens of all the best schools, and is said
to surpass even that of the Vatican. Florence contains no
fewer than 170 churches, 89 convents, 2 ducal and many
other palaces, 12 hospitals, and 8 great and small theatres.
The literary and educational institutions are numerous and
important. "Chief among these is the academy ZW/a trusca,
established in 1582, to which is united the University of
Florence, founded in 1438. Its grand object is the sifting
or purifying of the Italian language, and hence its name
Crusca, chaff, or husk of corn. There are also academies
of the fine arts and of agriculture, a medico-chirurgical col¬
lege, an athenaeum, and a number of other literary societies.
The charitable institutions are numerous and varied, includ¬
ing asylums for the deaf and dumb, blind, orphans, and an
association of the higher classes for ministering to the ne¬
cessities of the sick and infirm poor. The inhabitants of
Florence are industrious, cheerful, and hospitable. I he
chief manufactures are silks, straw-hats, carpets, poicelain,
mosaic work, perfumery, and jewellery. I he salubrity and
beauty of the town and neighbourhood ; its libraries, read¬
ing-rooms, and collections in the fine arts; its mild and
liberal government; and the moderate price of provisions,
render this the most pleasant place of residence in Italy,
and have attracted to it a great number of English families.
It has produced many individuals eminent in arts, science,
and literature : among others, Machiavelli the political
writer ; Dante Allighieri, Luigi Rucellai, Menzini, and
Filicaja, poets; Guicciardini the historian, Michael Angelo
Buonarotti the artist, Galileo the astronomer, Amerigo
Vespuccio the navigator, Lulli the musician, and the artists
of the school of this city. Florence is situated N. Lat. 4o.
46. 41., E. Long. 11. 15. 55., and is 182 from Genoa, 186
from Venice, 72 from Bologna, 53 from Pisa, 41 from
Siena, and 190 from Rome. It is connected by jail ways
with Pistoja, Pisa, and Siena. Pop. (1854) 115,675.
Florence, an ancient English gold piece coined by Ed¬
ward III., of six shillings sterling value.
FLORES or Floris, an island in the Indian Archipel¬
ago, about 200 miles in length, and 42 to 50 in extreme
FLO
breadth, lying between E. Long. 119. 55. and 123., and S. Flonan
Lat. 7. and 9. 5. The surface is hilly, particularly towards rioj!ida>
the south, where there are several high volcanic mountains, ^ __  ,
but the interior is very imperfectly known. 1 he principal
port, Ende, on the south has an excellent harbour. The
chief products are cotton, rice, sulphur, saltpetre, sandal¬
wood, bees’-wax, horses, and slaves ; and its trade is carried
on principally with Singapore. The native inhabitants are
Timuri, but the coasts are chiefly inhabited by Bugis and
Malays. The Dutch have a fort on the N. coast called
Pota. Flores gives name to the strait which separates it
on the E. from Solor and Adenar. This is also the name
of one of the Azores. See Azores.
FLO RIAN, Jean Pierre Claris de, was born in 1755
at the Chateau of Florian, near Sauve, in Languedoc. His
uncle, who had married a niece of Voltaire, introduced him
on one occasion to that philosopher in his retreat at Ferney,
and the young Florian remained with the dictator of French
literature till his fifteen year. In 1768 he attached himself
to the Due de Penthievre, who first of all gave him a com¬
mission in a dragoon regiment, and afterwards made him
one of his own gentlemen in ordinary. In 1783 Florian
produced his first work Galat?e, a professed imitation of
the Galatea of Cervantes, which was followed two years
later bv his Numa Pompilius, an equally undisguised imi¬
tation of the Telemaque of Fenelon. In 1788 appeared
Estelle, a pastoral romance, bearing a strong general re¬
semblance to the Galatee, but esteemed superior to that,
and indeed to most of the author’s other works. In 1 /91
appeared his romance of Gonzalve de Cordoue, which, as
well as the prefatory history of the Moors, was warmly com¬
mended. But Florian’s chef-d’oeuvre is his collection of
fables, the best beyond a doubt that has appeared in France
since the days of La Fontaine. On the breaking out of
the French Revolution, Florian retired to Sceaux, where,
however, he was soon discovered and dragged to prison by
the Parisian sans-culottes. During his confinement he
wrote Guillaume Tell, the weakest production of his mind.
His imprisonment was not of long duration, but it injured
his health so materially that he only survived his release
by a few months. Florian died September 13,1794, having
just reached his fortieth year. After his death appeared
his translation or rather his trashy abridgment of Von
Quixote, which has been much censured for its want of
humour. The best collective edition of Florian s works is
thatof 1812, in 16 vols. 18mo. Tt ^
FLORIDA, one of the most southern of the United
States of North America, is a peninsula stretching far into
the Gulf of Mexico, and to the Atlantic Ocean, comprised
between the parallels of 25. and 31. N. latitude and the
meridians of 80. and 87. 35. W. longitude. It is 350 miles
in length, and from 50 to 250 in breadth, containing o9,268
square miles. Florida is bounded on the N. by Alabama
and Georgia, E. by the Atlantic Ocean, S. and W. by the
Gulf of Mexico. During the greater part of the sixteenth
century, however, the southern part of the eastern coast of
North" America was comprehended under the name ot
Florida; and in 1763, when ceded to Great Britain by
Spain, it extended as far W. as the Mississippi, the northern
boundary being the St Mary’s river, from the ocean to its
source, thence by a right line to the junction of the Flint and
Appalachicola rivers, thence up the Appalachicola to the
parallel of 31. N., and thence due W. on that parallel to
the Mississippi river. That portion lying between the Mis¬
sissippi and Perdido rivers is now included in the states of
Lousiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, while that part Ijing
E. of the Perdido is in Florida. „
It is now generally conceded that Florida was first dis¬
covered in 1497 by Sebastian Cabot, a Venetian in the
English service, whence a right to it was claimed by the
English ; and it was included with Georgia in the charter
FLORIDA. 667
Florida, granted by Charles II. to Carolina. In 1512 it was more
V—' fully explored by Juan Ponce de Leon, a companion of
Columbus in his second voyage. He embarked from Porto
Rico March 3, 1512, with three ships fitted out at his own
expense. On Easter Sunday, called by the Spaniards
“Pascua Florida,” land was seen, to which he gave the
name Florida. He was subsequently appointed governor,
and attempted, in 1521, to colonize the newly discovered
land ; but he was attacked by the Indians, many of his men
were killed, and he himself mortally wounded.
In May 1539, Hernando de Soto arrived in the bay of
Spiritu Santo, and passed across the country to the Missis¬
sippi. In February 1562 the French Calvinists sent an
expedition under the command of llibault, who discovered
the St John’s River; and taking formal possession of the
continent, left a small colony on Lemon Island, while he
returned to France. The colonists were hospitably received
by the natives, but suffered many hardships, and were on
the point of abandoning their settlement when Ribault again
arrived from France, bringing supplies and reinforcements.
But the Spaniards, who not yet renounced their claim,
actuated by jealousy against the Calvinists, sent an expedi¬
tion under Pedro Melendez, who arrived in August 1565,
and on the 4th day of September attacked and captured
the French, who were all hanged on trees, with the inscrip¬
tion “not as Frenchmen, but as heretics.” Three days
afterwards the Spaniards landed in the harbour of St Augus¬
tine, on the Atlantic coast, and laid the foundation of that
town, which is the oldest, by more than forty years, in the
United States. Houses in it are yet standing which are
said to have been built before Virginia was colonized.
In 1586, St Augustine was taken and pillaged by Sir
Francis Drake. In 1597 the French, under Dominic de
Gourges attacked and defeated the Spaniards, and, by way
of retaliation, hung their prisoners on trees, with the in¬
scription, “ not as Spaniards, but as assassins.”
In 1702 Col. Moore besieged the town for three months ;
but the Spaniards coming to its relief, he was obliged to
retreat. Another attempt was made in 1740 by General
Oglethorpe of Georgia to take St Augustine, but without
success. In 1763 Florida was ceded to Great Britain by
Spain, who received Havana in exchange. The British
government subsequently gave great encouragement to
agriculture, and numerous colonists poured into the country
from various parts of Europe, and the settlements were in
a most flourishing condition. It was, however, by a well-
concerted scheme of the Spaniards, recaptured in 1781,
and guaranteed to them in the peace of 1783. In 1821
Spain ceded the Floridas to the United States, and in July
following it was, in behalf of the latter, formally occupied
by General Andrew Jackson. Since its acquisition by the
United States, Florida has been the seat of many sangui¬
nary conflicts with the Seminoli Indians, led on by their
daring chief Osceola. The savages, although a mere hand¬
ful, managed to baffle for seven years the United States
soldiers, by retreating to their swamps ; and before they
were finally subdued, in 1842, the expense to government
was many millions of dollars. In 1846 the greater part of
the tribe was removed beyond the Mississippi river, in pur¬
suance of a treaty made with the U.S. government. In
1838 a state constitution was adopted preparatory to admis¬
sion into the Union, which, however, was not consummated
until March 3, 1845.
The executive power in Florida is vested in a governor
elected by the people for four years, and receiving a salary
of #1500 a-year. The legislative power is in the hands of
a senate of 19 members elected biennially, and a house of
representatives of 40 members, elected annually, and both
by popular vote. The judiciary consists, 1st, of a supreme
court composed of a chief and two associate judges, who
hold four sessions annually, one in each of the following
places—Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Tampa, and Marianna; Florida,
and, 2d, of four circuit courts. Florida has but one mem-
ber in the House of Representatives, and three electoral votes
for the president. The assessed value of property in 1850
was #22,784,837, ordinary expenses, $45,000 per annum.
Chief towns—Tallahassee, pop. 1391 ; Jacksonville, pop.
1045. J allahassee is the capital. Florida is generally level,
probably never elevated more than 250 or 300 feet above
the sea. The southern part of the peninsula is covered
with large sheets of water called the Ever-glades, of im¬
mense extent, and filled with islands, and which, it is sup¬
posed, may be rendered available by drainage. The central
portion of the peninsula is somewhat elevated, the highest
point being 170 feet above the level of the ocean, and
gradually declining towards the coast on each side.
The western coast of the state has a number of bays, Bay? and
viz., Chatham, Charlotte Harbour, Tampa, Appalachee, rivers.
Appalachicola, Choctawatchee, and Pensacola bays. The
last affords an excellent harbour. There is also a chain of
lakes running through the middle of the state, the largest and
most southern of which is Lake Okechobee. The rivers are
numerous, and are navigable for second-class vessels. In
the N.W. is the Perdido, a small river separating Florida
from Alabama, followed in order by the Escambia, the
Blackwater, the Yellow-watex*, the Choctawatchee, and the
Chipola, but none of great length; and all entering from
the state of Alabama, discharge their waters in the Gulf of
Mexico, with the exception of the Chipola, an affluent of
the Appalachicola, which last also flows through Florida.
The rivers flowing into the Atlantic are the St Mary’s
(dividing Florida from Georgia), the St John’s river, and
Indian rivex-. The St John’s is navigable for 100 miles by
vessels drawing 8 feet water. Among the other rivers on
the western coast of Florida may be mentioned the Ock-
lockonee, the Suwanee. the Amasura, and the Charlotte.
The soil of this state is generally sandy, except in the Soil and
hummocks, where it is mixed with clay ; yet, owing to the produc-
mild climate, it is highly productive in many parts. The tions-
best lands, however, of the state lie useless at present for want
of drainage, and can be had at $5 or $10 per acre. Florida
is particularly well adapted for grazing. The number of
farms in Florida in 1850 was 4304, containing 349,049
acres of improved land, and yielding 1,996,809 bushels of
Indian corn, 66,586 of oats, 135,359 of peas and beans,
757,226 of sweet potatoes, 1,075,090 lbs. of rice, 998,614
lbs. of tobacco, 18,052,400 lbs. of cotton, 23,247 lbs. of
wool, 371,498 lbs. of butter, 18,015 lbs. of cheese, 2510
tons of hay,and 2,750,000 lbs. of sugar ; live stock valued
at #2,880,058, and slaughtei'ed animals $514,685.
Florida exports about 80,000 to 100,000 bales of cotton
annually. The capacity and production, &c., may be stated
as follows for the year 1854 :
Number of bales of 400 lbs. produced    90,000
Labourers employed   23,000
Acres in cultivation  175,000
Florida abounds in forest trees, among which are the live
oak (highly esteemed for ship-building), and other varieties
of oak, swamp cypress, pine, hickory, magnolia, dogwood,
and laui-el. The Palma christi or castor-oil bean here be¬
comes a large tree. On the islands and keys box-wood,
satin-wood, mastic, and lignumvitae, abound; arrowroot
grows wild, and ginger and cinnamon are easily cultivated.
The pine grows in that portion of the state near Indian
river. Fruit trees in great variety find a congenial soil and
climate in Florida (except in a few seasons of unusual
severity). The lime, lemon, orange, olive, cocoa-nut, plan¬
tain, pine-apple, banana, guava, citron, pimento, coffee,
pepper, cloves, &c., may all be successfully cultivated.
Florida is not a manufacturing state. There were in Manufac-
1850 but 121 establishments, producing annually $500 and tures.
upwards. Of these, the cotton factories employed 28 males;
668 F F O
Florin flour and grist mills, 14 ; saw and planing mills, 489 ; tur-
|| pentine making, 75 ; tanning and currying, 12 ; brick
Florusv making 97. Value of home-made manufactures,
v lM- v > Ver'y little progress has been made in works of internal
communication, nor is it to be expected in a state so thinly
peopled, and whose settlements for the most part he con¬
tiguous to some navigable waters. In 1853 there were 54
miles of railway completed, one connecting St Mark’s with
Tallahassee, and the other lola and St Joseph’s
F L O
There is no system of free schools in Florida, nor any Flotsam,
college. According to the census report of 1850, there >v—-
were^flg public schools, and 34 academies and other schools. Schools.
Of the 177 churches in Florida, 56 belonged to the Religion.
Baptists, 10 to the Episcopalians, 1 to the Free Church,
87 to the Methodists, 16 to the Presbyterians, 5 to the
Roman Catholics, and 2 to minor sects, having a total ac¬
commodation of 44,960 sittings. Value of church pro¬
perty, #165,400.
Statistics of Florida.
Nativities, Dwellings, &c.
Education and Religion.
Born out of State.
Names of Counties.
Alachua 
Benton   
Calhoun 
Columbia 
Dade 
Duval 
Escambia 
Franklin 
Gadsden 
Hamilton 
Hillsborough.
Holmes 
Jackson  
Jefferson. 
Leon 
Levy 
Madison 
Marion 
Monroe 
Nassau 
Orange 
Putnam 
St Johns 
St Lucie 
Santa Rosa....
Wakulla 
W alton 
Washington..
W
854
325
598
1830
36
936
1337
528
2153
1021
801
684
2177
1562
1828
146
1902
1358
479
387
66
379
184
49
1347
724
827
913
9
10
12
8
85
69
469
273
25
283
2
18
39
78
10
11
16
1082
9
6
.7
63
50
56
23
37
20
274
113
165
569
23
451
563
261
684
301
253
185
560
520
737
64
498
394
420
188
55
108
321
22
526
227
267
273
274
117
165
569
23
455
563
261
684
302
257
187
577
520
737
64
498
394
443
188
55
108
345
22
527
229
267
275
Academies and
Private Schools.
® 3
C o
3 «
25
100
180
60
40
47
349
100
73
160
GO
22
35
#420
2900
3600
1000
1000
1300
1450
1000
419
Public Schools.
30
60
44
162
64
269
30
300
120
20
172
54
140
60
85
33
50
100
20
20
45
g a
c ^
960
2356
5280
350
3600
1400
4300
600
1150
300
100
1750
240
960
2356
5700
3250
7200
2400
1000
4300
600
2450
300
1550
2750
659
79
93
105
278
159
415
152
454
97
250
53
221
426
400
2
185
128
241
104
53
25
375
5
239
86
50
71
'd
C
642
223
377
1471
31
850
873
315
1588
763
485
442
1233
1173
1195
127
1153
810
592
421
99
186
552
17
815
450
639
575
2 is
£ ^
272
65
95
363
15
165
197
100
49
201
132
168
437
280
166
15
29
59
154
133
20
95
100
2
178
114
69
186
a S
635
875
200
2700
3050
2500
1500
7300
1350
660
230
950
3900
4850
6200
1800
1200
1700
1600
1250
275
235
FLORIN is sometimes used to signify a coin, and some¬
times a money of account. Florin, as a coin, is of different
values, according to the different metals, and different coun¬
tries where it is struck. See Monet.
FLORINIANI, an obscure Gnostic sect in the early
Christian church, who owed their origin to Florinus, a pupil
of Polycarp, and a presbyter of Rome, excommunicated by
the Bishop Eleutherius. They never numbered among their
members any person remarkable either for intellect or in¬
fluence, and the history of their doctrines is involved in as
much obscurity as that of their origin and progress. It is
only known for certain, from a passage in Eusebius (Fist.
Eccles. lib. v., cap. 20), that they adopted the Gnostic heresy.
FLORIS, Franz, a distinguished Flemish painter, born
at Antwerp in 1520. He began the study of art as a sculp¬
tor, but in his twentieth year laid aside the chisel and de¬
voted himself to the more congenial pursuit of painting. A
pilgrimage to Italy, and a careful study of the great masters
of Italian art, so modified his taste and manner that on re¬
turning to his native city he adopted their style and attained
such eminence in it as to earn the title of the Flemish
Raphael. His best works are his “ Twelve Labours of
Hercules,” and “ The Last Judgment,” now in the Museum
at Brussels; and his “ Adoration of the Shepherds,” and
“ Fall of the Rebel Angels,” at Antwerp. Floris died in 1570.
FLORUS, Lucius Annjeus, author of the Epitome de
Gestis Romanorum, was a native of Spain, or, according to
others, of Gaul, and lived under the Emperors Trajan and
Hadrian. A good deal of difficulty and variety of opinion
prevails as to the identity of this Florus. By some writers
he is thought to be the Lucius Julius Florus who lived in
the time of Augustus, and to whom Horace addressed two
of his epistles; but this position is hardly tenable, as Flot us
in the introduction to his history talks of the Emperor Tra¬
jan as then reigning. By others he is identified with the
Julius Florus or Floridus, who lived in the time of Hadrian,
and wrote the Pervigilium Veneris, an imitation of Horace s
Secular Hymn. This idea is equally gratuitous with the
other. The Epitome of Florus gives a condensed view of
Roman history from the foundation of the city to the closing
of the temple of Janus by Augustus. I he details of geo¬
graphy and chronology are not always to be implicitly
trusted; but the general view of Roman history is stiiking
and philosophic. The style is inflated and declamatory,
and rather that of a panegyrist than of a critical historian.
The Epitome is chiefly useful as a sort of substitute for the
last books of Livy. The best editions of Florus are that of
Titze, Prague, 1819; and that of Duker, Leipzic, 1832,
which last is generally regarded as the standard edition.
FLOTSAM, Jetsam, and Ligan. In order to consti¬
tute a legal wreck the goods must come to land. If they
continue at sea, the law distinguishes them by the barbaious
FLO
Flour, St and uncouth appellations of jetsam, flotsam, and hgan.
II Jetsam is where goods are cast into the sea, and there sink
Flower. an j reijjajn under water; flotsam is where they continue
swimming on the surface of the waves ; ligan is where they
are sunk in the sea, but are tied to a cork or buoy, in
order that,they may be found again. Jetsam, flotsam, and
ligan belong to the king, or his grantee, if no owner appears
to claim them within a year. They are accounted so far
distinct from legal wreck, that by the king’s grant of wrecks,
things jetsam, flotsam, and ligan will not pass.—(Blackstone,
b. i., c. 8.)
FLOUR, St, a town of France, capital of a cognominal
arrondissement in the department of Cantal, 33 miles E.N.E.
of Aurillac. It stands on a basaltic plateau 300 feet high,
at the foot of which flows the Dauzan. The town is ill-
built, with narrow and irregular streets; and the houses being
constructed of basalt give it a dull and sombre appearance.
It is, however, the seat of a bishopric, and has tribunals of
primary instance and commerce, a communal college, pub¬
lic library, agricultural society, museum, hospital, and a pub¬
lic fountain. Pop. (1851) 5254.
FLOWER, in botany, that part of a plant which is espe¬
cially subservient to the production of seed. In its common
acceptation the word is used for the flower-bud of a plant
when the petals are expanded.
Preserving of Flowers, fyc. The preserving of flowers
in their natural beauty throughout the whole year has been
attempted by gathering them when dry and not too much
opened, and burying them in sand ; but this, though it pre¬
serves their figure well, diminishes the liveliness of their
colour.
The flowers of plants are by much the most difficult parts
of them to preserve in any tolerable degree of perfection.
Sir Robert Southwell has proposed a method of drying
plants, by which these defects are said to be in a great mea¬
sure remedied. For this purpose two strong plates of iron are
prepared of the size of a large half sheet of paper, or larger;
and in these there must be a hole made near each corner
for receiving a screw to bring them closely together. Gather
the plants with their flowers when they are quite perfect, in
the middle of a dry day; and then place the plant and its
flower on a sheet of paper, spreading out all the leaves and
petals as nicely as possible. If the stalk be thick, it should
be cut in two, so that it may lie flat: if woody, the bark
alone should be retained. When all is thus prepared, lay
several sheets of paper over the plant, and as many under
it; then put the whole between the iron plates, and having
screwed them close, put them into an oven after the bread
is drawn, and let them lie there two hours. When the
flowers are removed from the pressure of the plates, rub
them lightly over with a camel’s-hair pencil dipped in a mix¬
ture of equal parts of brandy and aquafortis; then dry them
by gentle pressure between sheets of thick soft paper. When
the plant is thus far prepared, take the bulk of a nutmeg of
gum-dragon, put this into a pint of pure cold water, and let
it stand twenty-four hours, in which time it will be wholly
dissolved; and then with a fine hair-pencil dipped in this
liquor, daub over the posterior sides of the leaves, and lay
them carefully down on half a sheet of white paper, and
press them down. When the gum water is fixed, let the
pressure and paper be removed, and the operation is com¬
plete. The leaves in this case retain their verdure, and
the flowers usually preserve their natural colours. Some
care, however, must be taken that the heat of the oven be
not too great. When the flowers are thick and bulky, they
should be reduced by paring away a portion of the back;
after which, if any of them are wanting, their places may be
supplied with some of supernumerary ones dried at the same
time ; and if any of them are faded, it will be better to sub¬
stitute others in their stead. The leaves may be also dis¬
posed and mended in the same manner.
FLU 669
But the most valuable method of preserving living plants Fludd
excluded from the atmosphere is by means of the Wardian ||
case, for an account of which see Botany, vol. v., p. 107. Flux.
FLUDD, Robert (called in Latin De FLUCTiBUg), an
English physician and Rosicrucian philosopher, was the son
of Sir Thomas Fludd, treasurer of war to Queen Elizabeth
in France and the Low Countries, and was born at Milgate,
Kent, in the year 1574. Blending the incomprehensible
reveries of the Cabbalists and Paracelsians, he formed anew
physical system, replete with mystery and absurdity, and
believed in two universal principles, the northern or con¬
densing, and the southern or rarefying power. Innumerable
genii, as he conceived, presided over these powers, and com¬
mitted the charge of diseases to legions of spirits collected
from the four winds of heaven. In his estimation, a har¬
mony subsisted between the macrocosm and the microcosm,
or the world of nature and the world of man. It is impos¬
sible to enumerate all his fancies and whims, which, however
absurd and extravagant, being supported by mysterious gra¬
vity and the semblance of erudition, attracted the notice of
the philosophers of that age. Even Kepler himself thought
the preposterous jargon of Fludd worthy of refutation, and
Gassendi with the same view wrote his Examen Philosophies
Fluddiance, 1629.
Fludd wrote two books against Mersenne, the first entitled So¬
phias cum Moria certamen, in quo lapis Lydius, a falso structore Patre
Marino Mersenno monacho reprobatus, celeberrima voluminis sui Ba-
bylonici in Genesim jigmenta> accurate examinat,, Franefort, 1629,
folio; and the second, Summum Bonorum quod est verum Magice,
Cabalce, Alchymice, Fratrum Rosea; Crucis Verorum, Subjectum, etc.
1629, folio. His other works were, 1. Utriusque Cosmi, majoris et
minoris, Technica Historia, Appenheim, 1617,,in 2 vols. folio; 2.
Tractatus Apologeticus integritatem Soc. de Rosea Cruce defendens,
Leyden, 1617 ; 3. Monochordon Mundi symphoniacum, seu Replicatio
ad Apologiam Joannis Kepleri, Francfort, 1620 ; 4. Anatomioe Thea-
trum triplici ejjigie designatum, ibid. 1623 ; 5. Philosophia Sacra-et
vere Christiana, seu Meteorologia Cosmica, ibid. 1626 ; 6. Medicina
Catholica, seu mysticum artis medicandi sacrarium, ibid. 1626; 7.
Integrum Morborum mysterium, ibid. 1631 ; 8. Be Morborum Signis,
ibid. 1631; 9. Claris Philosophies et Alchymice Fluddiance, ibid. 1633;
10. Philosophia Mosaica, Goudse, 1638; and, 11. Pathologia Bcemo-
niaca, ibid. 1640.
FLUSHING, a town of Holland. See Vlisslingen.
FLUID, an appellation given to all bodies the particles
of which yield, without separation, to the slightest pressure.
See Hydrodynamics, and Pneumatics.
FLUTE, a wind-instrument of great antiquity, the older
varieties of which are described by Pere Mersenne in his
Harmonic Universelle, Paris, 1636. The Flute-a-hec (dis¬
used for more than a century) was of various dimensions.
The largest was a bass-flute, with a compass from F in the
bass-clef, below the first line, up to D below the first line
of the treble clef. The next, a tenor-flute, extended from
B flat on the second line of the bass clef up to G on the
second line of the treble clef; and each of these large flutes
was sounded through a bent tube, like the S of a bassoon.
The alto-flute reached from F on the fourth line of the bass
clef up to D on the fourth line of the treble clef. The treble¬
flute extended from F in the first space of the treble clef
up to F two octaves above. These two had beaks, like the
bill of a cock. But all these flutes gave way, early in the
last century, to the German flute, which, however, was then
very imperfect in its intonation, having only one finger-key.
By the addition of various finger-keys, for semitones, the
German flute has been much improved in the present cen¬
tury. Like the fife, it is blown by an oval side-hole. It
consists of four separable tubes, and has a compass of nearly
three octaves, from the lowest C in the treble clef upwards.
Smaller flutes of this kind are called third, fourth, and octave
flutes. The octave flute is the peccolo, used in modern or¬
chestras and in military music. See Music. (g. p. g.)
FLUX, a general term for any substance employed to
promote the fusion of metals or minerals, as alkalies, borax,
tartar, &c.; and in the large way, limestone, and fluor-spar.
670
FLUXIONS.
Introduc- INTRODUCTION,
tion.
The calculus of fluxions, the most important addition
that ever was made to the fabric of abstract science, was
invented in the latter part of the seventeenth century.
Considered as a purely intellectual speculation, it far
transcends any theory that had been previously known in
pure mathematics; and it is not less estimable by reason
of its applicability to physical knowledge. By its powers
as an instrument of analysis, the science of geometry has
been exceedingly enlarged ; and the elegant speculations
of the ancient geometers now go but a little way into the
vast field of knowledge which has been laid open by the
fluxional calculus, the sublime discoveries of Apollonius
and Archimedes being merely easy deductions from more
extended theories. It has, further, rendered most efficient
aid in the investigation of the laws of nature, more espe¬
cially in establishing the true theory of the motions of the
heavenly bodies, which, without its assistance, could not
have attained its present high position in the scale of hu¬
man knowledge.
It may easily be supposed that the invention of the
calculus was not at once fully revealed to the world.
Its principles being inherent in the nature of geometrical
magnitude, they would of course be gradually disclosed
with the advance of mathematical science.
As long as the geometers of antiquity confined their
speculations to the comparison of figures bounded by
straight lines, there was no difficulty. The axioms and
the mental process of conceiving the magnitudes com¬
pared to be placed one upon another, was sufficient to es¬
tablish the equality of triangles in the cases when these
could be brought entirely to coincide. The principle of
superposition might have been carried further in the ele¬
ments, so as to prove the equality of parallelograms, which
are the complements of those about the diameter of a
parallelogram; also of parallelograms having equal bases
and altitudes; and the equality of the square on the hy¬
potenuse of a right angled triangle to the squares on its
sides. In fact, the doctrines of plane geometry were suf¬
ficient to prove that any two equal rectilineal figures ad¬
mit always of being decomposed into spaces, such that,
corresponding to every space in one of the figures, there
may be found a space exactly equal and similar to it in
the other figure; so that in this way any two equal recti¬
lineal figures, however dissimilar, may yet, by division, be
brought to coincide.
The principle of superposition, which was sufficient for
the comparison of rectilineal plane figures, one with an¬
other, could not, however, be extended to the compari¬
son of rectilineal with curvilineal, or of curvilineal with
curvilineal figures. In treating of these, the ancients
found it necessary to introduce new notions and modes
of demonstration into geometry; and the difficulty which
occurred in reasoning about curvilineal figures gave rise to
the method of exhaustions, the most refined and important
of their geometrical theories.
The fundamental principle of the method of exhaustions
is this very simple proposition, that the difference of any
two unequal quantities, by which the greater exceeds the
less, may be added to itself so often, as to exceed any
finite quantity of the same kind. On this the geometers
°/* ant>flu*ty founded their propositions concerning curvi¬
lineal figures. By its aid they found that polygons may
be inscribed in circles, which shall differ from them by
less than any assignable space; and hence they might in- Introduc-
fer that the circles have to each other the same ratio as don.
similar polygons inscribed in them, namely, the squares
of their diameters. Although in this way they could as¬
sure themselves of the truth of the propositions, yet as
this kind of proof was of a looser nature than that by
which they established their more elementary doctrines,
they fortified it against all cavil by their usual mode of
synthetic demonstration, proving that the square of the
diameter of one circle was to that of another as the first
circle to a space that was neither less nor greater than
the second, and therefore exactly equal to it. By a like
process they proved that a cone is one third of a cylinder
of the same base and altitude; and from the demonstra¬
tions which they gave of these propositions, it might be
concluded in general, that when two variable quantities
which have a constant ratio approach to two determined
quantities, so as to differ at last from them by less than
any assignable space, the same constant ratio is also the
ratio of the determined quantities, which are the limits of
the variable quantities.
The cautious way in which the ancients proceeded in
finally establishing the truth of their propositions concern¬
ing the proportions of solids, could be of very little use in
their original discovery. Indeed we may reasonably sup¬
pose, that in the first instance they arrived at a knowledge
of their truth by a much shorter road, probably in a way
not very different from that followed by the earlier geo¬
meters in modern times, who have extended their theories.
But whatever path they followed, it led them to some
truths of the highest importance at the time they were
first known. After ages of fruitless labour in attempting
to square the circle, the fine discoveries of Archimedes,
that the parabola was two thirds of its circumscribing pa¬
rallelogram, and the sphere two thirds of its circumscrib¬
ing cylinder, and its surface four times that of one of its
great circles, must have been received by his contempo¬
raries with high satisfaction.
In the beginning of the seventeenth century, the writ¬
ings of Archimedes greatly engaged the attention of the
principal cultivators of mathematical science, who soon
seized the spirit of his method, which was altogether dis¬
tinct from the unwieldy machinery of the ancient mode
of synthetic demonstration. He had only considered such
solids as could be generated by the revolution of conic
sections about an axis, and he had not even exhausted all
the cases of these. The celebrated Kepler greatly ex¬
tended this theory, in a treatise which he composed on the
mensuration of round solids. These he conceived to be
formed by the revolution of the conic sections about any
ordinate, or a tangent to the curve at the vertex, or, in
short, about any line whatever within or without the curve.
In this way he described about ninety new solids, and
proposed them as problems for the consideration of his
contemporaries; but of these he resolved only a few of
the most simple. In this work he first introduced the
name and notion of infinity into the language of geo¬
metry. He considered the circle as composed of an
infinite number of triangles, having their vertex at the
centre, and forming the circumference by their bases.
The cone he regarded as composed of an infinite number
of pyramids, resting on the infinitely small triangles which
formed its circular base, and having their vertices at its
vertex ; and he supposed a cylinder of the same base and
altitude as the cone to be made up of prisms having the
FLUXIONS.
671
Introduc- same bases and altitudes as those which composed the
tion.
cone.
The hold extension which Kepler thus gave to the cau¬
tious language of geometry drew the attention of his con¬
temporaries, some of whom eagerly followed in his steps.
Cavalieri, a friend and disciple of Galileo, embodied the
new views in his geometry of indivisibles, the theory of
which he possessed in 1629, although it was not publish¬
ed until 1635. In this work, lines were considered as
made up of points, surfaces as composed of lines, and so¬
lids as formed of surfaces. Cavalieri was exceedingly care¬
ful to verify his method, comparing his results with those
which had been established by the ancient geometrical
mode of demonstration ; and, assured by their agreement,
he ventured boldly in his new career. His principles
were attacked, but he defended them by showing that
they might be translated into those of Archimedes, from
which they only differed in brevity of expression ; his
surfaces and lines being in fact merely the thin solids and
small inscribed and circumscribed triangles of the ancient
geometer, and their number being supposed so great that
the difference between them and the figure about which
they were described was less than any assignable quantity.
'I'he new views proposed by Kepler were taken up in
France by Roberval, who had carefully studied the writ¬
ings of Archimedes, and formed a theory by which he
could resolve problems concerning curvilineal figures.
Instead of supposing lines to be made up of points, and
surfaces of lines, as had been assumed by Cavalieri, he
regarded a line as composed of an infinite number of in¬
finitely short lines, a surface as composed of an infinite
number of infinitely narrow surfaces, and so on; an assump¬
tion which at bottom was the same as that of the Italian
geometer, but capable of being wrought up into a theory
differing less from the spirit of the ancient geometry. Ro¬
berval concealed his views, employing them secretly as the
means of invention in geometry, and expecting in this way
to get the start of his contemporaries in reputation as a
geometer. In the meanwhile the work of Cavalieri ap¬
peared and frustrated his selfish expectations.
The facility which the introduction of the notion of in¬
finitely small quantities gave in the extension of geometry,
induced all the mathematicians of that day to employ it in
their researches. In the doctrine of curve lines it was
applied to the theory of tangents by Roberval, Descartes,
and Fermat, with great success. So very near had this last-
mentioned geometer approached to the fluxional or diffe¬
rential calculus, that Laplace says he ought to be reputed
its true inventor. Laplace was no doubt a great autho¬
rity ; but the facts on which he formed his opinion have
always been generally known, and no one before him has
attempted to reverse the decision of the age in which the
calculus was invented. The justice of the decision has been
subjected to a scrutiny by men of the highest powers of
mind, who, differing in many of their opinions, have yet
agreed in ascribing the invention to others.
The problem of drawing tangents to curves is indeed
closely connected with the calculus, and at the period
when this was about to be revealed that problem was
much agitated, and successfully resolved by Slusius, Wal¬
lis, Barrow, and others. The writings and discoveries of
Descartes exerted a most beneficial influence on the new
geometry, particularly by his happy application of algebra
to geometry. Before his time geometrical problems had
been resolved by algebra, and a rich mine of discovery
thereby opened. But he was the first who thought of ap¬
plying algebraic formulae to express the nature of curve
lines; an invention of vast importance to both branches
of mathematical science.
Another most important benefit that resulted from the
new views which Descartes brought forward, was the no¬
tion of variable quantity. The early analysts distinguish¬
ed quantities chiefly from the circumstance of their be¬
ing known or unknown ; and the main object of inquiry
with them was to discover the chain of reasoning by which
they might pass from the given quantities to the determi¬
nation of those required. The view which Descartes took
of geometrical magnitude brought the relations of quan¬
tities forward as a principal subject of contemplation. A
new subject of discussion was brought into mathematical
science, namely, the changes which take place in quan¬
tities connected by an invariable relation, when one of
them is supposed to change its value, and pass from one
state of magnitude to another. The science of geometry
owes its elegance and the variety of its doctrines to the
combined effect of magnitude and position, as they influ¬
ence the subjects under consideration ; and, in addition to
these, the doctrine of curve lines has introduced a new
element, namely, the property of varying in magnitude, as
an attribute of quantity. This property of indefinitude,
in respect of greatness, although it may appear a trivial
affection of quantity, has, however, led to the most im¬
portant consequences; for from this, combined with other
principles, have sprung the fluxional calculus and other
mathematical theories, which, originating in the ordinary
conceptions of the human mind, have engaged the atten¬
tion of men endowed with the highest powers of intellect
for more than a century past.
In the progress of time the notions of infinite quantity
introduced by Kepler, Cavalieri, and others, into mathe¬
matics, became familiar to geometers, who perceived the
immense value of the improvement, and saw that, by due
care in its application, there was no risk of its leading
into error. Dr Wallis, in the year 1655, gave an admir¬
able specimen of this new analysis in his Arithmetic of
Infinites; a work which contained the first traces of the
algebraic analysis applied to the quadrature of curvilineal
spaces. Pursuing the views of Cavalieri, he reduced the
problem of finding the areas of curves to the summation
of the powers of an arithmetical series, consisting of an
infinite number of terms, or rather the ratio of the mean
of all the terms to the last term. He also showed by the
same principles, that certain curve lines might be rectified,
or that straight lines might be found to which they were
exactly equal; a remark that was shortly afterwards veri¬
fied by William Neil, a young mathematician of that pe¬
riod, who, at the age of nineteen, showed that the length
of the semicubical parabola might be found in finite terms.
This was the first curve that was rectified, and the se¬
cond was the cycloid, a discovery due to Sir Christopher
Wren.
Thus the principles of the fluxional calculus were at this
period coming gradually into view. Their importance was
seen and understood, and in substance, although without
an appropriate notation, they were employed in extend¬
ing the dominion of geometry ; it might therefore be sup¬
posed that in the course of time they would have been
gradually formed into a system, just in the way the sci¬
ence of algebra advanced from the rude form it had when
first introduced into Italy, to that degree of compactness
and perfection which it acquired by the successive im¬
provements of Vieta, Harriot, and Descartes. But, in
the case of the fluxional calculus, a happy combination
of circumstances anticipated the slow operation of time.
Newton and Leibnitz, two men endowed with the highest
powers of mind, appeared nearly at the same time in the field
of discovery. The genius of each shone with resplendent
lustre, even amidst the blaze of intellect which enlighten¬
ed the latter period of the seventeenth century, and which
has rendered it for ever memorable in the annals of hu-
672 FLUX
Introduc- man knowledge. They both turned their attention to this
tion. branch of mathematical science, and, as is now generally
admitted, each, independently of the other, collected the
undigested principles into a system, and, by a powerful
effort, performed at once what the united labour of ordi¬
nary minds would have hardly accomplished in a century.
In ascribing to each of these great men the full ho¬
nour due to the merit of the invention of the calculus, it
is proper to add, that this is a question which at one
time divided the opinions of the learned world, and gave
rise to a controversy which was agitated with great keen¬
ness for almost a whole century. There never could be
any doubt as to Newton being the inventor of the calcu¬
lus of fluxions. He has been acknowledged by all to have
been the inventor, and the first inventor ; but the ques¬
tion strongly contested has been, whether Leibnitz, with¬
out knowing what had been done by Newton, invented
his differential calculus by the force of his own mind, or
borrowed it from the fluxional calculus, with which at
bottom it is identical.
In the course of tlfis controversy it was clearly esta¬
blished by the British mathematicians, who almost to a
man ranged themselves on the side of their illustrious
countryman, that, as far back as the year 1669, Newton,
then in his twenty-sixth year, and a fellow of Trinity Col¬
lege, communicated to Dr Barrow a tract, entitled De
Anahjsi per JEquationes Numero Terminorum Infinitas.
In this manuscript the method of fluxions was first indi¬
cated ; and rules deduced from it given for the quadra¬
ture of curves, and various other matters to which the
calculus is applicable, were distinctly specified. From this
tract, which was sent by Dr Barrow to Collins, the secre¬
tary of the Royal Society, it is established beyond all
doubt that Newton was then in full possession of his me¬
thod ; and indeed it is certain from other evidence that
he must have had it as far back as 1666. The important
discoveries made by Newton were communicated without
reserve by the secretaries of the Royal Society to mathe¬
maticians on the Continent, as well as to those in Britain.
In this w'ay it might be generally known that Newton
possessed a most valuable instrument of research, by which
he had been led to these results, although its nature was
too obscurely indicated to give any assistance in divining
its precise form.
Leibnitz appears to have been later than Newton in be¬
ginning his career of discovery in the mathematics. In
the year 1672, being then in London, he communicated to
some members of the Royal Society what he supposed to
be discoveries relating to the differences of numbers. It
was, however, shown to him that the same subject had
been discussed long before, by Mouton, a French geome¬
ter. He then appears for the first time to have turned
his attention to infinite series. Afterwards, on his return
to Germany in 1674, he announced to Mr Oldenburgh,
then secretary of the Royal Society of London, that he
possessed very general analytical methods, by which he
had found theorems of great importance relating to the
quadrature of the circle, by means of series. In answer,
the secretary informed him that Newton and James Gre¬
gory had also discovered methods which gave the quadra¬
ture of curves, and which extended to the circle.
In the year 1676 Newton addressed a letter to the se¬
cretary of the Royal Society, which was made known to
Leibnitz. This was the first direct communication between
these two great men. It contained the binomial theo¬
rem, which Newton had known in the year 1669, and a
variety of other matters relating to infinite series and
quadratures; but nothing directly relating to the me¬
thod of fluxions. . At this time Newton entertained no
jealousy of Leibnitz, for he speaks of him in the letter
IONS.
with great respect. In a second letter Newton explained Introduc-
at his request the way in which he had found the binomial tion-
theorem, and he adverted also to his own calculus, explain-
ing the purposes to which it could be applied, but conceal¬
ing its nature under the form of an anagram of transposed
letters, which wras expressed thus, §accdae\Aeffl\?>lS)n\o
49?r4.s9H2y.r. It is not easy to see what certain informa¬
tion Leibnitz could draw from this assemblage of charac¬
ters ; yet such was the effect of national prejudice in bias¬
sing the minds of the British mathematicians, that Raph-
son, in his History of Fluxions, a work dedicated to the
Royal Society of London, expressly asserts that Leibnitz
deciphered the anagram, and found it to be this sentence,
Data equations jluentes quotcunque quantitates involvente in¬
venire fluxiones, et vice versa. “ Having any given equa¬
tion involving never so many flowing quantities, to find
the fluxions, and vice versa ” We believe there was not
the least ground for this assertion; and from such a spe¬
cimen of want of candour, it is easy to infer that there
was very little chance of Leibnitz getting justice done him
by the English mathematicians.
In the month of June 1677 Leibnitz sent to Mr Olden¬
burgh, to be communicated to Newton, a letter contain¬
ing the first essays of a method which extended to all
that could be done by that of Newton. The death of
Oldenburgh, which happened soon afterwards, put an end
to the correspondence, and it was not until the year 1684
that Leibnitz made his discovery public, it being then in¬
serted in the Leipsic Acts ; so that whilst Neu'ton’s claim
to the priority of the discovery must be admitted by all,
it is not less certain that Leibnitz was the first to give the
full benefit of the calculus to the wrorld ; for Newton’s Me¬
thod of Fluxions only became generally known in the year
1687, by the publication of his Philosophice Naturalis
Principia.
It is certain that Leibnitz enjoyed unchallenged for fif¬
teen years the honour of being the inventor of his calcu¬
lus ; even Newton himself rendered him that justice in
the first edition of his immortal work. Subsequently, how¬
ever, a foreign mathematician, Fatio de Duillier, piqued,
it is said, by having been omitted in an enumeration of
eminent geometers by Leibnitz, declared, in a treatise on
the line of shortest descent, printed at London in 1699,
that he was obliged by the undeniable evidence of things
to acknowledge Newton not only as the first, but as by
many years the first inventor of this calculus ; from whom,
whether Leibnitz, the second inventor, borrowed any thing
or not, he would rather they who had seen Newton’s let¬
ters and other manuscripts should judge than himself.
The insinuation contained in this passage of Fatio’s book
could not but be very offensive to Leibnitz, who inserted
an animated reply in the Leipsic Acts of 1700, and com¬
plained to the Royal Society of London of the injustice
done him; and here the affair rested for a time : but it
was revived some years afterwards. When Newton’s trea¬
tise on the quadrature of curves, and his enumeration of
lines of the third order, was published, the Leipsic jour¬
nalists gave an unfavourable review of the work. Amongst
other things, after a brief exposition of the nature of flux¬
ions, they added, that Newton uses and has always used
fluxions for the differences of Leibnitz, just as Fabri had
substituted in his synopsis of geometry motion instead of
the indivisibles of Cavalieri. This most unjust accusation
excited great indignation in the minds of the British ma¬
thematicians, one of whom, Keill, Savilian professor of as¬
tronomy at Oxford, in a paper inserted in the Philosophi¬
cal Transactions of the year 1708, affirmed that Newton
wras the first inventor of the calculus, and that Leibnitz,
in publishing it in the Leipsic Acts, had merely changed
the name and the notation. Leibnitz, thus directly charg-
FLUX
Introduc- ed with having taken his calculus from that of Newton,
addressed a letter t0 Mr’ afterwards Sir Hans Sloane, the
secretary of the Royal Society, in which he required that
Keill should retract his accusation. Keill however refused
to do this, and in answer addressed a letter to the secretary,
in which he professed to show, not only that Newton had
preceded Leibnitz in the invention, but that he had given
so many indications of his calculus that its nature might
easily be understood by any man of ordinary understand¬
ing* This letter was sent to Leibnitz, who addressed a se¬
cond letter to the Royal Society, requiring that they should
stop these reproaches of Keill, saying that he was too
young a man to know what had passed between him and
Newton.
The society, thus appealed to as a judge, appointed a
committee to examine the old letters, papers, and docu¬
ments which had passed between the mathematicians on
the subject. The report of this committee does not ap¬
pear altogether satisfactory. “ We take the proper ques¬
tion to be,” say the reporters, “ not who invented this or
that method, but who was the first inventor of the method ;
and we believe those who have reputed Leibnitz the first
inventor, knew little or nothing of the correspondence be¬
tween Mr Collins and Mr Oldenburg long before, nor of
Mr Newton having that method about fifteen years be¬
fore Mr Leibnitz began to publish his in the Acta Erudi-
torum of Leipsic ; for which reason we reckon Mr Newton
the first inventor, and are of opinion that Mr Keill, in
asserting the same, has been nowise injurious to Mr Leib¬
nitz.” This declares nothing on the only point about which
there could be any doubt, namely, whether Leibnitz had
formed his calculus entirely by the power of his own ge¬
nius, or had availed himself of a knowledge of Newton’s
invention. The judgment satisfied neither party. Keill
wished to establish against Leibnitz the charge of plagia¬
rism, but was disappointed ; and Leibnitz found in the de¬
cision grounds of complaint against the Royal Society. In
a communication to the Abbe Conti, a Venetian nobleman
and a common friend of his and Newton, then in Eng¬
land, he accused the English nation of desiring to be con¬
sidered as almost the only inventors. He said it did not
appear, as had been well observed by Bernoulli, that New¬
ton possessed before him the infinitesimal characteristic
and algorithm, although it would have been easy to have
found it if he had been so disposed, just as it would have
been easy for Apollonius to have discovered the theory of
curve lines of Descartes. He complained that his oppo¬
nents had attacked his candour by forced and unfounded
interpretations of his words. The question was the cal¬
culus of differences, and his opponents made it turn en¬
tirely upon series, where Newton had no difficulty in
going before him. He maintained that he had found for
himself a general method for series, and that he had no
need of Newton’s method of extractions. There were
other grounds of complaint, such as, that only extracts
from letters had been given in the Commercium Epistoli-
cum, whereas the entire letters should have been publish¬
ed. Throughout the whole, which is a postscript to a let¬
ter, he manifests much chagrin; and he concludes with pro¬
posing this problem, intended, he says, to feel the pulse of
the English analysts : To find a line which shall cut per¬
pendicularly all curves of a determinate species, and of
the -same kind; for example, all hyperbolas, which shall
have the same vertex and centre. This he desires the
abbe to propose as from himself, or a friend.
In the abbe’s reply to this letter he informed Leibnitz
that he had delayed writing until he could at the same
time send the answer which Newton had given to his
postscript. He tells him that he had read the Commer¬
cium Epislolicum, and the originals of the letters which it
VOL. IX.
IONS. 673
contained, and, on the whole, he inferred that, setting Introduc.
aside matters foreign to the dispute, the only question at tion.
issue was, whether Newton had found the Calculus of In-
finitesimals, or Fluxions, before, or after him ? The abbe
says, you published it first, it is true; but you admit that
Newton allowed much to transpire in the letters which he
wrote to Oldenburgh and others. This has been proved
at length in the Commercium and its extract; what is your
answer ? I his is what the public requires, to form a cor¬
rect opinion on the matter. The abbe further informs
Leibnitz that his friends believe he ought to give an an¬
swer, if not to Keill, at least to Newton himself, who, in
the letter which the abbe had received from him to be
communicated to Leibnitz, had challenged him in express
terms. In a spirit of friendship and good sense, he fur¬
ther adds, that he wishes to see a good understanding be¬
tween them, that the public will profit but little by their
disputes, and that the additions to knowledge which they
prevent are a pure loss to posterity. He moreover tells
him that the king, George I., had desired to be informed
of all that had passed between Newton and him. From
this we may judge what an interest was excited in the
public mind by a dispute which, even at this day, few
could perfectly understand. The answer which Leibnitz
gave to the abbe’s friendly advice was, that he had put his
letters, and Newton’s, with his own answers to them, into
the hands of Mr Remond at Paris, with a view to have
a neutral and impartial opinion as to the matters in dis¬
pute. The whole were then to be submitted to the Abbe
Varignon and other members of the Royal Academy of
Sciences, and afterwards sent to England. In his an¬
swers he disavowed the sense which the English mathe¬
maticians had extracted from the assertion of the Leipsic
journalists, namely, that Newton employed and always had
employed fluxions for the differentials of Leibnitz, which
they understood to mean that Newton had availed him¬
self of Leibnitz’s method, only substituting fluxions for
differentials. It was from this passage that the English
had declared Leibnitz to be the aggressor, in having abet¬
ted an attack of Newton ; but Leibnitz declared the Eng¬
lish interpretation to be full of malignity towards him,
and that the sentence in the Leipsic Acts (Pro differentiis
Leibnitianis D. Newtonus adhibet semperque adhibuit flux-
lories'), meant that Newton had employed fluxions after
having seen his differences, and also before he had seen
them.
We believe enough has been detailed to show that, be¬
sides a desire to arrive at truth, there was infused into
this controversy the jealousy of two rivals for the glory
of a great discovery; and, in addition, the spirit of parti-
zanship of their respective admirers, and that natural
feeling which induces men of different countries to exalt
their own nation, although sometimes at the expense of
their neighbours. It is not wonderful, then, that at the
time this controversy was at its height, men were greatly
divided in their opinions.
It is now impossible to obtain absolute certainty as to
the question, whether Leibnitz derived any aid from the
discoveries previously made by Newton, which, to a cer¬
tain extent, were made known to the scientific world. It
may therefore be some satisfaction, in the want of perfect
evidence, to have the judgment of Montucla, the his¬
torian of the mathematics, on this subject. “ In regard to
the principle of fluxions,” says he, “ there are only three
places of the Commercium Epistolicum which treat of
it with sufficient clearness to prove that Newton had
found it before Leibnitz, but I believe too obscurely to
take from him the merit of the discovery. One of
these is a letter from Newton to Oldenburgh, who had re¬
marked to him that Slusius and Gregory had found a very
4 Q
X
674
F L U X I O
i of tnn(Tpnts. Newton answered that he
co7ectured wb.°t it "fs, and he gave an exantple, which
“S effect the satne thing as these two geometers had
found. He added that it was but a particular case, or
rather a corollary to a method much more general, by
which tangents to all sorts of curves, whether geometri¬
cal or mechanical, might be found without laborious cal¬
culation. He repeated the same thing, without explain-
. ins himself further, in his second letter, which has been
already mentioned, and he concealed the principle under
transposed letters. The only writing in which Newton
had allowed any thing of his method to transpire
Analysis per Equationes nurmro Terminorum infinites, tie
there briefly and obscurely reveals his principle of fluxions.
It cannot be denied that the principle and method were
there indicated; but it is not certain that Leibnitz had
ever seen the passage. His adversaries have never said
that it had been communicated to him by letter, tl ey
have merely thrown out a suspicion that Collins might
have communicated ‘it to him in his second journey to
London. Indeed the suspicion is not altogether void ot
probability, inasmuch as Leibnitz admitted that in his in¬
terview with the secretary he had seen a part of his epis¬
tolary correspondence. I believe, however, that it would
be rash to pronounce upon this. There might have been
grounds for suspicion if Leibnitz had merely given a few
essays of his new calculus; but when we consider the
improvements he made, as appears by the number of
pieces he contributed to the Leipsic Acts, it seems proba¬
ble that he owed his calculus to his own genius, and his
efforts to divine the nature of a method by which Newton
had made so many fine discoveries. This is the more
probable, as from the method of tangents of Barrow to
the differential calculus, the step is not too great to have
been made by a power of mind of which Leibnitz had
given so many proofs.” ...
If it had been true, as the British mathematicians al¬
leged, that Leibnitz had taken his calculus from that of
Newton, it would have been a very remarkable circum¬
stance that such a long period should have elapsed be¬
tween his first putting forth his pretensions to the honour
of the invention, and the denial of Newton and his fiiends.
This is a thing uncommon in the history of contested
claims to discovery, when both the claimants are alive
and all the facts known. It is also remarkable that New¬
ton, while in the prime of life, did not of his own accord
bring forward a charge of plagiarism against his contem¬
porary. On the contrary, in the first edition of his Prin-
cipia, which appeared in 1687, he expressly admitted
Leibnitz’s claim ; and this admission is found even in the
edition of the Principia published in 1/13. It is now
well known, that before the period of the controversy be¬
tween Newton and Leibnitz, the mind of the former had at
one time been in a state which rendered him unfit to draw
correct conclusions from the ordinary incidents of life;
witness his letters to Mr Pepys and Mr Locke in Septem¬
ber 1693 (Brewster’s Life of Newton). At this time he
seems to have laboured under great bodily indisposition,
from which he afterwards in appearance recovered; in¬
deed it may be doubted whether his temper was so equal
and mild in the latter period of his life as has been re¬
presented by his biographers. A collection of letters
which passed between Flamsteed the astronomer and
Abraham Sharp the celebrated calculator, which have
lately come into the possession of the Astronomical So¬
ciety of London, prove that Newton, in conjunction with
Halley, opposed Flamsteed in the publication of his His-
toria Ccelestis, a work of the highest merit, and the result
of the labour of his life, with a pertinacity of purpose
which is by no means an amiable trait in his character.
It is certain that Newton entertained towards Leibnitz
a very different feeling at one period of his life, from ^
that which he in the end evinced. In the edition of the
Principia 1713, and those which preceded it, he says,
“ Ten years ago, in a correspondence with Mr Leibnitz,
I informed him that I had a method of determining max¬
ima and minima, of drawing tangents, and resolving si¬
milar problems, which applied alike to rational and ir¬
rational terms, but concealed it under transposed letters.
He answered that he had found a like method, which he
communicated, and which differed from mine only in the
terms and the signs, and in the way of conceiving quanti¬
ties to be generated.” This concession was liberal, and
worthy of Newton. However, in the edition of 1/26, he
retracted this act of justice, haying struck out the pas¬
sage, as Montucla assures us, with his own hand. I he
historian of the mathematics, however, finds an excuse
for this harshness in the treatment which Newton had
received from Leibnitz s friends. .
The circumstance of the calculus having had two dis¬
tinct origins, had the inconvenient effect of giving it two
different forms and names. Newton at different times
used different notations before he finally adopted that
which has been followed by the English mathematicians.
Leibnitz and his followers employed one somewhat differ¬
ent ; and each sect pertinaciously adhered to the exam¬
ple set by its leader. There was a still greater difference
in the view which each party took of quantity, and the
way in which it may be generated. Newton conceived
geometrical magnitudes to be generated by continued
motion, a line by a point in motion, a surface by a moving
line, a solid by a moving surface, an angle by a line turn¬
ing about a point, and so on. It is evident, that by as¬
suming geometrical quantities as the representatives of
time, force, and whatever can be expressed by number,
these can be conceived to increase or decrease according
to the same laws as their geometrical representatives.
His calculus therefore consisted of two parts:
1st, Supposing two quantities to have a given relation
to each other (for example, the one to be always equal
to the square of the other), and the rate of increase of
one of them at any instant of time to be known; to find
the rate of increase of the other at the same instant.
These rates of increase were called the fluxions ot the
quantities ; and the rules for their determination consti¬
tuted the direct method of fluxions.
2d, The second part was the reverse problem, in which
the relation between the rates of increase of two quantities
which depended the one on the other, being given, it was
required to discover the relation of the quantities, ihis
was the inverse method. . . , .
Leibnitz at first supposed quantity to increase by the
addition of some indefinite portion of a quantity of the
same kind, and his differentials were quantities propor¬
tional to the instantaneous changes in the greatness ot
the quantities thus generated. He afterwards found it
shorter to introduce directly these instantaneous changes
into his calculus under the name of infinitely little differ¬
ences (mfiniment petites). These however he did not re¬
gard as absolute zeros, but only as not comparable to finite
magnitudes. His calculus had, like Newton s, two parts,
the differential calculus, which gave rules for deducing
the relation of the differentials of quantities from that of
the quantities themselves, and tbe integral calculus, which
resolved the reverse problem, or discovered the relation
of the quantities when the relation of their differentials
was known. This corresponded to the inverse method of
fluxions, as the differential calculus corresponded to the
direct method.
There is this distinction, then, between the two methods:
FLUX
Introduc- Newton’s fluxions are any finite quantities which have to
each other the ratio of the velocities, or degree of quick-
ness with which the quantities are generated. The dif¬
ferentials of Leibnitz are infinitely small quantities, a cre¬
ation of the mind more removed from ordinary apprehen¬
sion than the finite representatives of fluxions. This dis¬
tinction has often been urged in favour of the superiority
of Newton s calculus. On the other hand, Newton has
introduced time into his calculus. Now this is an ele¬
ment foreign to geometry, and belonging to mechanics, a
quite distinct branch of science. The metaphysical dis¬
tinctions between the two forms of the calculus have had
but little influence on its progress. Whichever of the two
forms is chosen, the rules are the same; and so also are
the difficulties to be overcome.
Some time elapsed before the newly invented calculus
was actively employed. At length Leibnitz, to rouse the
attention of geometers, proposed in 1687 this problem:
To determine the curve along which a heavy body must
descend, so as to approach by equal distances in equal
times to a horizontal plane. Huygens was the first to
resolve the problem. He showed what was the nature of
the curve ; but he did not give his demonstration. James
Bernoulli also resolved the problem by the differential
calculus, and published his analysis in the Leipsic Acts.
His younger brother John united himself in a close friend¬
ship with Leibnitz, and continued throughout life his
coadjutor and staunch defender. He made the calculus
known in France, where he resided for a time, and gave
lessons to the Marquis de I'Hopital. Part of these form
the Analyse des ivfiniment Petits, a work which bears the
name of the marquis, with but a slight acknowledgment
in the preface of the share which his preceptor had in its
composition. Indeed it was almost entirely his; and of
this injury Bernoulli complained justly, but privately, in
his correspondence with Leibnitz. The remaining lessons,
which teach the integral calculus, are given in the collec¬
tion of Bernoulli’s works, published in 1742. The whole
form an excellent exposition of the principles of the cal¬
culus, and contain some of its finest applications.
The continental mathematicians who were remarkable
for their skill in the differential calculus were at first few
in number. They might be nearly all included in the
names of Leibnitz himself, James and John Bernoulli, De
1 Hopital, and Varignon. They were, however, remarka¬
bly active, particularly the Bernoullis, whose writings have
contributed powerfully to its advancement.
The inventor of the fluxional calculus seems to have
taken but little interest in its extension. His treatise on
quadratures did not appear till 1706; and his work on
fluxions was not published in his life time, but appeared
in 1736, nine years after his death. He had however
fully availed himself of its power in the composition of
his Principia, without revealing to the full extent the na¬
ture of the instrument with which he wrought, but esta¬
blishing the truth of his propositions by synthetic demon¬
stration, after the manner of the ancient geometers. Pro¬
bably this was done in deference to the taste of that time;
for a contemporary writer, Hermann, in following his ex¬
ample in the composition of his Phoronomia, assigned to
Leibnitz as a reason, that the geometrical method was
likely to be better understood than the analytical in Italy.
This way of proceeding is now, however, disused by the
best writers, and replaced by the more legitimate and un¬
disguised use of the calculus.
The extensive views which the new calculus opened up,
afforded the means of resolving problems which had baffl¬
ed the skill of the earlier mathematicians, and suggested
many new ones, which without its aid would have been
quite intractable. The cycloid and the catenary, curves
IONS. 675
which had eluded the penetrating mind of Galileo, were Introduc-
more fully comprehended ; many new ones were suggested, ti011-
and the cultivators of the calculus challenged each other
to an investigation of their properties. There is an ele¬
gant class of problems which relate to the greatest and
least values of quantities. Some of these, called pro¬
blems of maxima and minima, can be resolved by the ordi¬
nary geometry and algebra; but there is a class which lies
beyond the dominion of these, and to it belongs the solid of
least resistance, the curve of swiftest descent, and, in ge¬
neral, the problems called isoperimetrical, one of the sim¬
plest of which is to find the nature of the line which, being
given in length, shall comprehend the greatest possible
space. These formed the subject of a warm but honour¬
able contest between the two Bernoullis, brothers; and
their investigation laid the foundations of that branch of
the calculus, the highest, which has been formed into a
theory by the labours of Euler and Lagrange, under the
name of the Calculus of Variations.
Among the early cultivators of the calculus in Britain
we may reckon Cotes, the friend of Newton, who died at
the early age of thirty-four (his Harmonia Mensurarum,
and other writings, indicate a genius of the highest order),
De Moivre, Taylor, Craig, David Gregory, and Stirling. It
must, however, be confessed, that the continental school
in the course of time advanced before that of Britain, as
well in the number of its disciples, as in their high mathe¬
matical genius and the importance of their discoveries.
John Bernoulli had two sons, Nicolas and Daniel, who ri¬
valled their father’s skill in the applications of the calcu¬
lus ; and these had as condisciples Hermann and Euler.
This last mathematician has carried the subject to a point
of perfection far beyond what it had attained in the hands
of those that had gone before him.
Amongst the means by which the improvement of the
calculus has been promoted, we may reckon the problems
which passed between the British and continental mathe¬
maticians as challenges to each other, in answering which
Newton himself condescended sometimes to enter the
lists. The doctrine of infinite series, a branch of the ma¬
thematics of English origin, gives powerful aid to the
calculus in its greatest difficulties ; but, legitimately, its
assistance ought not to be called in if the problem admit
of being resolved in finite terms. The English sometimes
failed in the observance of this most proper condition of
a good solution, and thus gave rise to reproaches from
their opponents, which in at least one instance were not
unjustly incurred by Newton himself. In the course of
this warfare, Keill, the champion of the English, proposed
as a challenge to John Bernoulli, to determine the nature
of the curve which a projectile describes in a medium re¬
sisting as the square of the velocity. Bernoulli soon re¬
solved the problem, not only in the case proposed, but also
when the resistance was as any power whatever of the
velocity. He then proposed to put his solution into the
hands of some confidential person in London, provided
that Keill would deliver his solution to the same person.
Keill, however, had upon trial not been able to resolve
the problem, and therefore preserved a profound silence,
and made himself, by his boasting and failure, quite ridi¬
culous. The triumph of Bernoulli was complete, and he
did not miss the opportunity of bestowing severe castiga¬
tion on his humbled adversary, recollecting, we may sup¬
pose, the treatment which his deceased and lamented
friend Leibnitz had received from him and his friends.
As another proof of the spirit and rivalry of the sup¬
porters of the two analytical theories, we may mention
that Brooke Taylor proposed a problem in the integral
calculus to all geometers not English, and sent it to&Mr
Montmort to be communicated to the foreign geometers.
676
fluxions.
vJ-J-O Rprnoulli who in return ofFered to wager fifty Louis tna
he would resolve the problem, and to stake fifty more
that he would propose a problem which he himself could
resolve, Zt which Taylor could not. The English ma¬
thematician did not think it prudent to accept the offered
condition. Indeed it was a complaint against the English
o-eometers, that although they made no scruple of trying
to puzzle foreigners with difficulties, they raie y resp
edPto the counter challenges proposed to themselves
Perhaps there never was a considerable invention or
discovery which had not to encounter opposition; some¬
times from the slowness with which the human mind
yields to the force of truth when opposed to long-received
opinions, and sometimes from less excusable causes, such
as mistaken or interested views, or mere jealousy excited
by the fame of the inventor. The new ca cuius had m the
very outset its opponents, such as the Abbe de Catelan, a
zeafous Cartesian, who declared that it would be bette
to extend the principles of the Cartesian geometry than
to seek for new methods; and this was said in the preface
of a book composed on the principles, somewhat disguis¬
ed, of the very calculus of which he was an opponent. It
had another adversary in Nieuwentnt, a man who had
written some tolerable works on morality and religion, but
who had but small pretensions to be regarded as a geo¬
meter. Catelan was satisfactorily answered by De l Ho-
pital, as was Nieuwentiit by Leibnitz, and afterwards by
Bernoulli and Hermann, who proved that this adversary
of the calculus really did not know what he opposed.
The calculus had a more formidable enemy in M. Kobe,
a skilful algebraist and indefatigable calculator, but a man
full of confidence in his own notions, rash in forming his
opinions, and jealous of the inventions of others. He at¬
tacked the certainty of its principles, and he attempted
to show that its conclusions were at variance with those
obtained by methods previously known, which were ac¬
knowledged to be correct. His attack was repelled by
Varignon, who completely obviated the objections to the
truth of the principles, and further showed that the sup¬
posed discrepancy between its conclusions and those ob¬
tained by other methods, were mistakes he had commit¬
ted from haste and inadvertence. These disputes oc¬
cupied the French Academy a considerable part of the
year 1701. The members were chiefly geometers con¬
siderably advanced in years, who had been long accus¬
tomed to other methods, and were therefore not much dis¬
posed to receive new doctrines. Some took no part in the
dispute, yet were not sorry to see a storm raised against
a theory for which they had no great liking, and took no^
means to allay it; others, more under the influence ot
their passions and prejudices, yielded to these, and de¬
clared open war against it. In this state of things the
best course was supposed to be that of hearing all which
could be said for and against the calculus. I he academy
was long involved in the dispute. Rolle brought forward
objection upon objection; and although Varignon conti¬
nually obviated them, yet the former always claimed the
victory. In the end the dispute degenerated into a real
quarrel, and commissioners were appointed to decide on it.
These were Pere Gouye, MM. Cassini and de la Hire,
who, however, pronounced no judgment; but the public
opinion, or at least the opinion of geometers, was in favour
of Varignon. The first controversy thus ended, or at least
was suspended, for want of a decision from the commission;
but Rolle, the champion of the opponent of the calculus,
soon renewed hostilities. Its defence was next taken up
by M. Saurin. The ground of attack was the indefinite
form which the calculus gives for the subtangent of a curve
at the point where two branches intersect each other, In^uc*
and which in this case is expressed by the fraction -• —
Saurin’s answer was satisfactory; but Rolle, intrenched in
masses of calculation, obstinately maintained the combat.
The academy was again appealed to. The Abbe Big-
non, who conducted its affairs, undertook to decide the
controversy, with the assistance of MM. Gallois and De la
Hire, two judges by no means favourable to Saurin. They
gave’no absolute judgment; but recommended to Rolle
to conform more strictly to the rules of the academy,
and to Saurin to forgive the proceedings of his adversary.
Rolle suffered in the estimation of competent judges ; he,
however, afterwards did justice to the calculus, by acknow-
ledo-ing that he had done wrong in opposing it, and admit¬
ting that he had been urged forward by ihe instigation of
malevolent persons, one of whom was the Abbe Gallois;
and his demise in 1707 accordingly put an end to the con¬
troversy. , , , ,
In England the Newtonian calculus had to sustain an
attack on its principles from a writer of first-rate talents,
Berkeley, bishop of Cloyne. The circumstances which led
to it are curious. Mr Addison had given the bishop an
account of the behaviour of their common friend, Dr Garth,
in his last illness, which was highly unpleasing to these
two advocates of revealed religion ; for when Addison
began to discourse with Garth on a future state, “ ^ure'
ly,” said the latter, “ I have no reason to believe these
trifles, when my friend Dr Halley, who has dealt so much
in demonstration, has assured me that the doctrines of
Christianity are incomprehensible, and religion itself anim-
posture.” The bishop therefore took up arms against Ha ¬
ley and in the year 1734 addressed to him, as an infidel,
a discourse called The Analyst, the object of which was to
prove that mathematicians acted inconsistently in object¬
ing to mysteries in faith, seeing that they did not hesi¬
tate to admit much greater mysteries, and even false¬
hoods, in their own science ; and he chose the principles
of the doctrine of Fluxions, as laid down by Newton and
adopted by his followers, to prove the truth of his propo¬
sition. It may be supposed that so able a writer would
not fail to make an impression on the public mind. But
the mathematicians were not slow in coming forward in
defence of the doctrines of their chief. In the same year
came out a tract with this title : “ Geometry No Friend to
Infidelity, or a Defence of Sir I. Newton and the British
Mathematicians, by Philalethes Cantabrigiensis, suppos¬
ed to be Dr Jurin. As usual the attack was renewed, and
again repelled by the same hand. Other defences of New¬
ton appeared, one of the best of which was from the pen of
Benjamin Robins ; it was entitled A Discourse concerning
the Nature and Certainty of Sir Isaac Newton s Method ot
Fluxions, and of Prime and Ultimate Ratios. But the most
important result of this controversy was A Treatise on flux¬
ions from the pen of Colin Maclaurin, professor of mathe¬
matics in the university of Edinburgh, printed in 174^.
This defence of the principles of Newton’s views, express¬
ly intended to obviate all objections, is quite satisfactory.
The treatise is indeed considerably prolix ; but this was a
consequence of the circumstances in which it was compos¬
ed. It however contains a great deal more than a mere
theory of fluxions. We have in it some of the finest ap¬
plications of analysis to the principal problems which had
been agitated amongst geometers from the invention ot t le
calculus to the time in which the work appeared.
By the middle of the century the calculus proceeded
with a rapid march of improvement. Euler in 1744
lv enriched it by his solution of the Isoperimetnc Problem
(Solutio problernatis isoperirnetrici latissimo sensu accepti), a
theory which he afterwards wrought up into the Calculus
FLUXIONS.
677
Introduc- of Variations, and which has been still further improved
tion. by Lagrange. Brooke Taylor, by his Methodus Incremen-
torum, had extended the foundations, and even proceeded
a great way in the structure, of a kindred calculus, that of
finite differences. Stirling had followed in the same path
in his Methodus Differentialis ; and Euler had opened a new
field for discovery in the calculus of partial differences, in
which D’Alembert followed his steps, and carried the sub¬
ject further. The same period abounded in good writers.
In this country Demoivre, Simpson, Landen, and Waring,
stand among the foremost in the list for the originality of
their views; on the continent Ricatti, Clairaut, Fontaine,
and others, followed in the train of Euler and the Bernoullis.
It is a curious fact in the history of mathematics, that
there are instances of ladies who have applied their talents
to its study and improvement with much success. Hypa¬
tia, the daughter of the ancient geometer Theon, is one
notable instance. Unfortunately we have no vestiges of
her writings by which we might form an estimate of her
proficiency in a science which at first sight seems not to have
many attractions for the female mind. We have another
instance in an Italian lady, Maria Gaetana Agnesi, who
was actually professor of mathematics in the University of
Bologna in the year 1748 ; and how well she was qualified
for the office appears from her Analytical Institutions, a
work of great excellence on algebra, the theory of curve
lines, and the differential calculus, composed for the
instruction of the youth of Italy. This work is so excel¬
lent, that Bossut, a French mathematician of great emi¬
nence, translated the part on the differential calculus into
French, and incorporated it with his Course of Mathe¬
matics, as the best treatise he could find on the subject.
There is also an English translation by the Rev. John
Colson, Lucasian professor of mathematics in the univer¬
sity of Cambridge. Her countryman Frisi, a most competent
judge, mentions her in enumerating the mathematicians
of Italy, and bestows great praise on her work, calling it
opus nitidissimum, ingeniosissirmnn, et maximum certe opus
quod hactenus ex femince alicujus calamo prodierit. At
the present time we have another admirable instance of a
lady who has surmounted the difficulties of the calculus.
Mrs Somerville, in her work entitled Mechanism of the
Heavens, London, 1831, has enriched English literature
with a treatise on physical astronomy, in which the differ¬
ent branches of the calculus are combined with the most
refined theories of mechanics. Her book does her infi¬
nite credit, and indeed is highly honourable to the whole
female sex.
Geometers have differed in opinion as to the best way
of working up the principles of the calculus into a sys¬
tem. Newton, as has already been stated, employed the
theory of motion as the means of connecting its doctrines
with the principles of the ordinary algebraic analysis.
Leibnitz, again, with the same view, conceived quantity
as passing from one degree of magnitude to another by
the continual accretion of infinitely small parts. The
mind finds no great difficulty in distinctly apprehending
the subject in its simplest state either way. Objections
have, however, been taken to both, and attempts made
to substitute a better. Euler considered the infinitely
small quantities of Leibnitz as absolute zeros, that have
to each other ratios derived from those of the vanishing
quantities which they replace. D’Alembert proposed to
make the basis of the calculus the consideration of the
ratios of the limits of the quantities. An English mathe¬
matician, Landen, has substituted for the Newtonian me¬
thod of fluxions another purely analytical. His views are
contained in a work entitled The Residual Analysis, a
new branch of the Algebraic Art, by John Landen, 1764.
Lastly, Lagrange, in the Memoirs of the Berlin Academy
for 1772, proposed to make the calculus altogether inde- Introdue-
pendent of the consideration of infinity, and to rest on ti011-
principles purely analytical, thus connecting it with the
doctrines of the ordinary algebra. He has since realised
and extended his views in his Theorie des Fonctions Ana-
lytiques, also in his Lemons sur les Calcul des Fonctions;
works which, from their excellence and the celebrity of
their author, have formed a new era in the history of the
calculus.
The twofold origin of the calculus, besides placing its
principles on different foundations, gave it also two differ¬
ent forms of notation ; and in this state it continued during
the whole of the eighteenth century, to the great incon¬
venience of mathematical students, and, we may add, to
the hindrance of the progress of science. A change,
however, has taken place within the last twenty years;
during that period some British geometers, imbued with
the mathematics of the continent, adopted also its nota¬
tion in preference to that of the followers of Newton, and
employed it publicly in their researches. This spirit of in¬
novation in time took possession of the minds of the junior
members of the university of Cambridge, and now we may
say that it has completely supplanted the native notation.
We have retained the name of Fluxions, because, from the
changes which have taken place in the way of treating
the subject since the days of Leibnitz and Newton, it
seems to be as proper as the term differential. It is other¬
wise with the notation. This is consecrated by its having
been employed in the writings of Euler, D’Alembert, La¬
grange, and other great masters in mathematical science ;
and besides, it has advantages over the other in point of
symmetry and compactness, and the established reputa¬
tion of a whole century of useful service. It is true, the
late illustrious Lagrange laid it aside in his attempt above
mentioned to new-model the calculus; but subsequent
writers, in extracting what was excellent from his works,
have in general invested his views with the ordinary no¬
tation of the continent. In the following treatise we shall
conform to this beneficial alteration.
Writers on the Infinitesimal Calculus, before the Invention of the
Method of Fluxions.
Kepler, Nova Stereometria Doliorum Vinariorum  1615
Cavalieri, Geometria Indivisibilium  1635
   Exercitationes Geometric* Sex    1647
Roberval, Traite des Indivisibles. Mem. de I’Acad. des
Sciences  1666
Descartes, in his Letters and Geometry, book 2d, and his
mathematical works  1637
Torricelli, De Sphsera, et Solidis Sphseralibus   1644
Gregory St Vincent, Opus Geometricum de Quadratura Circuli 1647
Wallis, Arithmetica Infinitorum  1655
Fermat, Opera Varia Mathematica  1679
Mercator, Logarithmo-Technia  1668
James Gregory, Vera Circuli et Hyperbolae Quadratura  1668
Brouncker, Squaring the Hyperbola, Phil. Trans. London  1668
Huygens, Opera; Horologium Oscillatorium  1673, 1724
Barrow, Lectiones Geometric*  1670
Slusius, Tangents to all Geometrical Curves, Phil. Trans  1672
Wren, Rectification of the Cycloid, ibid  1673
Ismael Bullialdus, Arithmetica Infinitorum, libri vi  1682
Leibnitz, Quadrature of the Circle, Leips. Acts and Phil.
Trans  1682
Viviani, Exerc. Math, de Formatione et Mensura Fornicum.. 1692
Writers on the Fluxionary or Differential Calculus.
Newton, De Analysi per iEquationes numero terminorum In-
finitas, circulated in manuscript in 1669, and printed in
the Commercium Epistolicum, 1712. Also contained in a
volume edited by W. Jones, and entitled Analysis per
Quantitatum Series, Fluxiones, ac Differentias  1723
  Principia, lib. ii. sect. iii. lemma 2  1687
  Tractatus de Quadratura Curvarum, published with
his Optics  1704
678
Introduc¬
tion.
FLUXIONS.
Newton, The Method of Fluxions ••• • •  1736
Leibnitz, Nova Methodus pro maximis et minimis itemque
tangentibus. Leipsic Acts ; 1684
James Bernouilli, Analysis Magni Problematis Isopenmetrici;
Acta Erud. See also his Works     1744
John Bernouilli, Acta Erud. Ldp.; also Memoires de l Acad.
des Sciences 1742
Leibnitz and Bernouilli, Commercium Phil, et Math. 2 vols.
  1745
Demoivre, Use of Fluxions in Geometric Problems, in the
Phil. Trans   1695
De PHopital, Analyse des Infiniment Petits 
David Gregory, On the Catenary, Phil. Trans  1697
Carr6, Methode pour la Mesure des Surfaces  1700
Craig, Solid of least Resistance and Curve of quickest De¬
scent, Phil. Trans  i
  De Calculo Fluentium   I71®
Cheyne, Fluxionum Methodus Inversa  I703
Harris, Lexicum Technicum    l7^4
Hayes, A Treatise on Fluxions  1761
Ditton, Institution of Fluxions  . In'r
Manfredi, De Construct. Bquat. Diff. primi gradus  1707
Taylor, Methodus Incrementorum  It 15
Cotes, Harmonia Mgnsurarum - \ 1722
 Estimatio errorum in mixta Mathesi  J
Riccati, Animad. in Equat. differenti ales secundi gradus, Acta
Erud  1724
Clarke, An Institution of Fluxions  _  1726
Hermann, De Constructione Equationum Differentialium,
Comm. Petrop   1726
Fontenelle, Siemens de la Geometric de 1’Infini  1727
Clairaut, Determinatio Curves ejusdem Differentialis, Acta
Erud   1729
Demoivre, Miscellanea Analytica  1730
Stone, Method of Fluxions    4736
Hodgson, The Doctrine of Fluxions  1736
Deidier, Le Calcul Differential  1740
Simpson, A Treatise on Fluxions  1737 and 1750
Maclaurin, A Treatise on Fluxions  1742
Emerson, The Doctrine of Fluxions  1743
Donna Agnesi, Instituzioni Analitiche    1748
French translation of the same work by Cousin  1775
An English translation by Colson  1801
Euler, Methodus Inveniendi Lineas Curvas maximi minimive
proprietate gaudentes  1744
  Introductio in Analysin Infmitorum  1748
  Institutiones Calculi Differentialis  1755
  Institutiones Calculi Integralis   1768-70
The titles of Euler’s academical memoirs, of which there is a
very great number on the Differential Calculus, are given
in the edition of his Calculus TKfferentialis, printed at Pavia
in 1787, and occupy thirty-two quarto pages.
Walmesly, Analyse des Mesures des Rapport et des Angles... 1750
Stirling, Methodus Differentialis  1753
Bougainville, Traite du Calcul Integral  1754
Landen, Mathematical Lucubrations  1755
 The Residual Analysis   1764
■ Mathematical Memoirs    1780
Saunderson, Method of Fluxions  1756
Lyons, Treatise of Fluxions  1758
Kaestner, Separatio Indeterminat. in ALquat. Diff.  1756
D’Alembert, Opuscules Mathematiques 1761-80
Robins, Mathematical Tracts  1761
Waring, Miscellanea Analytica    1762
• Meditationes Analytic®    1776
Condorcet, Du Calcul Integral  1765
Le Seur et Jacquier, Siemens du Calcul Integral  1768
Lexell, Methodus Integrandi A3q. Diff. Comm. Petrop  1769
Fontaine, Traite du Calcul Diff. et Integral  1770
Gianella, De Fluxionibus et earum Usu  1771
Cousin, Lemons du Calcul Difffirentiel, &c  1777
La Place, L’Usage du Calcul aux Differences partielles, Mem.
deVAcad    1777
Condorcet, De Integ. cujusdam iEquationis, Comm, de Bonon 1783
Malfatti, Delle formale differential! la cui integrazione dipende
dalla rettificatione delle sezione coniche  1784
Paoli, Memoria sull’ equazione a differenze finite e parziali... 1784
Monge, Sur le Calcul Integral des Equat. aux Dif. partielles,
Mem. de VAcad  1784
Charles, Recherches sur le Calcul Integral, Mem. de VAcad... 1784
L Huillier, Exposition des Principes de Calcul Superieur  1786
 Principiorum Calculi Diff. et Integ  1795
Mascheroni, Annotationes ad Cal. Integ. Euleri  1790
Tabiescen, Principia atque Historia Calculi Differ, et Integ.
nec non Methodi Fluxionum  1793
Lagrange, Calcul des Variations, Mis. Taur. vol. ii. and iv. 1760-69
 Th6orie des Fonctions Analytiques  1797
2d edit  1813
 Le9ons sur les Calcul des Fonctions, 2d edit  1806
The titles of his Memoirs, inserted in Academical Collections,
are given in his Mecanique Analytique, second edition  1795
Vince, Principles of Fluxions  1797
Carnot, Reflexions sur la Metaphysique du Calcul Infinitesimal 1797
Bossut Traite du Calcul Differentiel  1798
Lacroix, Traite du Calcul Differentiel et du Calcul Integral,
first edit. 1797, second   1810-19
Ahrogast, Du Calcul des Derivations   1800
Hind’s Principles of the Differential Calculus, second edit.... 1831
Cours d’Analyse de 1’Ecole Polytechnique par Duhamel, 2
vols  1840-1
Traite Elementaire de la Theorie des Fonctions et du Calcul
Infinitesimal par M. A. A. Cournot, in 2 volumes  1841
De Morgan’s Differential and Integral Calculus    1842
Lemons de Calcul Differentiel et de Calcul Integral, par M.
1’Abbe Moigno, 2 vols  1840-4
Hymer’s Integral Calculus  1844
Expose Elementaire de la Theorie des Integrals Definies par
A. Meyer 1851, in the Memoires of the Royal Society of
Science at Liege; and many valuable papers on the subject
in the Journal de L’Ecole Royale Polytechnique, and in the
Journal de Mathematiques Pures et Appliquees par Joseph
Lionville.
Hall’s Differential and Integral Calculus, fifth edition...  1852
Todhunter’s Differential and Integral Calculus.,  1852
Price’s Infinitesimal Calculus, in 2 vols  1854
The last two are the most perfect treatises on the subject in
the English language, and Price’s abounds in lucid and ele¬
gant illustrations and applications of the subject.
Carmichael’s Treatise on the Calculus of Operations, designed
to facilitate the processes of the Differential and Integral
Calculus, and the Calculus of Finite Differences; London 1855
Besides the above, many valuable papers have appeared on the
subject in the Mathematician, and in the Cambridge and
Dublin Mathematical Journals.
Levy’s Differential and Integral Calculus in the Encyclopedia
Metropolitana.
The preceding catalogue contains the names of the prin¬
cipal improvers and cultivators of the calculus, from its first
invention to the present time (1855). However, it does not
contain all their writings; to have enumerated these would
have extended the catalogue to too great a length. Almost
all the improvements of the calculus were first given in the
form of academical memoirs, from which they have been
drawn, and incorporated into the systems that have from
time to time been published. The great repertories in
which it is contained are the writings of Newton, Cotes,
Demoivre, the Bernouillis, Maclaurin, Simpson, Euler,
D’Alembert, Lagrange, Legendre, La Place, Monge,
Poisson, Gauss, Ampere, Ivory, &c. From these have
been constructed the treatises of De I’Hopital, Bougain¬
ville, Le Seur and Jacquier, Cousin, and others, which
were the most complete at the different periods when they
appeared. At this time the most extensive treatise is the
second edition of Lacroix, which came out between 1810 and
1819. In the present century there have been published
in France treatises by Gamier, Du Bourguet, Bouchariat,
Cauchy, and others which we have not seen. In Britain,
we have had treatises by Woodhouse, Dealtry, Lardner,
Jephson, Young, Thomson, and others. The university of
Cambridge, long infertile, now teems with treatises on the
subject. There are, besides, treatises on the calculus in
courses of mathematics, such as the Elementi d’Algebra of
Paoli, the Cours des Mathematiques of Bezout, a like work
by Francoeur, and a Course of Mathematics for the Naval
and Military Academy by Dr Rutherford and others.
There have also been works constructed for the benefit ot
students, which may be used with any treatise on the sub¬
ject ; such as the excellent collection of examples by Pea-
FLUXIONS.
Direct
Method.
cock, Herschel, and Babbage, which was intended as an
accompaniment to an English translation of an abridgment
of Lacroix’s treatise; and the integral tables of Hirsch,
which have been translated from the original German into
English. And since then Hind’s Exercises on the Diffe¬
rential Calculus, and Gregory’s Exercises in the Differen¬
tial and Integral Calculus.
There is a branch of the calculus of great interest, which
of late has engaged, and will probably long engage, the
attention of mathematicians ; we mean the subject of Ellip¬
tic Transcendents. This theory originated in the discovery
of a very remarkable property of the ellipse and hyperbola
by Fagnani, an Italian mathematician, who first showed
that arcs of these curves can be assigned, of which the
difference is expressible in finite algebraic terms. Le¬
gendre, who gave this name to functions represented by the
integrals of this form, discovered several of their very re¬
markable properties, and deduced from them the means of
calculating their approximate values. For all the interest¬
ing but lengthy and minute details of these important in¬
vestigations, we must refer those who feel desirous of inves¬
tigating them thoroughly, to the following list of treatises
on the subject. The student, however, should be aware
that the term fluxion is very seldom used by the best scien¬
tific scholars of the present time. The reader of such works
should also be aware that not only is the notation of New¬
ton different from that of Leibnitz, but that which the
latter calls difference the former calls fluxion, because he
supposes that the co-ordinates, and in general the quantities
augmented indefinitely and gradually were produced by a
flowing or fluxion of infinitely small parts.
Fagnani, Produzioni Mathematiche, tom. ii. p. 336        1750
Euler, Calculus Integralis, tom. i. sect. ii. and tom. iii. supp.
Bossut, Leipsic Acts, 1754; Mem. de Math, et de Phys. tom. iii.
Landen Lond. Phil. Trans. 1775; and Mathematical Lucu-
brations   1780
Legendre, Mem. de PAcad. des Sciences, 1786 ; Memoire sur
les Transcendantes Elliptiques, 1792. (There is an English
translation of this memoir in Leyhurn’s Mathematical
Repository, vols. ii. and iii. new series.) Exercises de
Calcul Integral, 3 vols. ; Schumacher’s Journal, Nos. 123,
127, 130.
    Trait6 des Fonctions Elliptiques  1825
 Miscell. Taur. tom. iv. ; Theorie des Fonct. Analy-
tiques, 2d edit.
Ivory, New Series for the Rectification of the Ellipse, Trans.
R. S. Edin. vol. iv.; Fagnani’s Theorem made more gene¬
ral, Leyburn’s Math. Repository, vol. i. new series ; On
the Theory of the Elliptic Transcendents, Trans. R. S.
Lond. 1831.
Wallace, Formula for the Rectification of an Ellipse, &c.,
Trans. R. S. Edin. vol. v.
Woodhouse, Integration of Certain Differentials, Trans. R. S.
Lond. 1804.
Brinkley, Demonstration of Fagnani’s Theorem, Trans. Irish
Acad. vol. ix.
Ahel, J. Crell’s Journal, vol. ii.
Jacobi Fundamenta Nov® Theorise Functionum Ellipticarum 1829
Plana, Memoir read in the Turin Academy  1828
Many other papers on the above subject may be found
in the mathematical journals mentioned at the end of the
preceding list, besides numerous smaller works which do
not deserve mention here, though possessing great merit.
PART I.
DIRECT METHOD OF FLUXIONS, OR DIFFERENTIAL CAL¬
CULUS.
1. In the application of algebra to the theory of curve
lines, some of the quantities under consideration are con¬
ceived as having always the same magnitude as the pa¬
rameter of a parabola, and the axes of an ellipse or hyper¬
bola ; others again are indefinite in respect of magnitude,
and may have any number of particular values ; such are
the co-ordinates at any point in a curve. This difference
in the nature of the quantities has equally place in various
theories of the pure and mixed mathematics, and it na¬
turally suggests the division of all quantities into two
kinds; namely, such as are constant, and such as are va¬
riable.
A constant quantity is that which is supposed to have
always the same value. A variable quantity, again, is
that which may change its value by increasing or decreas¬
ing, so that in passing from one degree of magnitude to
another it will have had in succession every possible in¬
termediate magnitude.
Thus, in a circle, the radius is a constant quantity, and
any arc of the circle, also its cosine, sine, tangent, secant,
&c. are variable quantities. In the ellipse, the axes or
semiaxes are considered as constant; and the co-ordinates
to any point in the curve, and in general any lines or
spaces or angles which in the same ellipse admit of differ¬
ent values, are variable. So again in the parabola, the
parameter is constant, and the co-ordinates to any point
in the curve, also any arc of the curve, and the space con¬
tained by that arc and the co-ordinates, are to be regard¬
ed as variable.
In what follows, we shall in general call constant quan¬
tities simply constants, and variable quantities variables.
It is usual to denote constants by the letters a, b, c, &c.
towards the beginning of the alphabet, and variables by
the letters x, y, z, &c. towards the end.
2. One quantity is said to be a function of another when
they are so related that the latter being supposed to
change its value, the former also changes its value. Thus,
in geometry, the radius of a circle being constant, the
cosine, the sine, the tangent, the secant, &c. are functions
of the arc. On the other hand, the arc may be consider¬
ed as a function of any one of these quantities. In me¬
chanics, the force by which a body is urged forward, the
space it has passed over, and its velocity at every instant,
may all be regarded as functions the time.
In this algebraic expression,
a -X- x
y = -^rx'
in which a is a constant and x a variable, the quantity y
is regarded as a function of x, which is called the indepen¬
dent variable. Here y is expressed by x; but by resolv¬
ing the equation, x may be expressed by y thus :
y + 1
the quantity x is now a function of y. In either case, the
constants a and I are not considered. In these exam¬
ples,
u — a-^bx-^-cx1,
u ~ iff -f- bx -j- x2),
a + bx
u~ c + x? ’
« is a function of a:.
A quantity may be a function of several independent
variable quantities. Thus, in the expression
u — ax* + bxy -f- cy1,
u is a function of the independent variables x and y.
The variety of forms of functions of a variable is end¬
less. They may, however, be resolved into a few elemen¬
tary functions such as these,
679
Direct
Method.
xn, ax, log#, sin#, cos#.
The first of these, #n, in which n is constant, and all that
can be formed from it by a finite number of the elemen-
680
FLUX
Direct tary operations of algebra, are called algebraic functions;
Method, for example, this,
, ba? — c’-x
u — axr + — -,
Va2 -}-
which is formed by addition, subtraction, multiplication,
division, and the extraction of the square root. These
two, ax, logx, which cannot be expressed by a finite num¬
ber of terms composed of powers of x, are called trans¬
cendental functions, and the remaining two, sin x, cos x,
and such as may be formed from them, viz. tan x, sec x,
&c. are called trigonometrical, also angular and circular
functions.
In the last example, the value of the function u may be
immediately found, if the value of x be known. Such
functions are called explicit. There are functions, how¬
ever, which require to be separated from the variable by
the resolution of equations, or other means, before their
value can be found; as in this example,
ux
u x
u — x
in which u is supposed to be a function of x. In this
case, before the value of u, corresponding to a given value
of x, can be found, a quadratic equation must be resolved.
Such a function is called an implicit function of x. On
the other hand, x is an implicit function of u. By the
resolution of an equation we find
1 f 1
''-2\X + x
+
vV 4- 6x2 +
w is now an explicit function of x.
The early algebraists indicated the square root of a
quantit}' by placing the letter r before it; thus rx meant
the square root of x. The letter was afterwards changed
into the sign y', and the square root of x was convenient¬
ly expressed thus, Vx. In like manner, it is convenient
to have a symbol which shall express generally a function
of a variable, and accordingly it is now usual to express
any function of a variable x by the symbol fx or f (x) ;
also by Fx, or (fix. Here the letters^ or F, or <p, are con¬
sidered merely as the abbreviation of the word function,
and not as a co-efficient to the letter x. In this way we
include all these expressions,
u — xn, u — ax, u — log x, u — cos x, u — sin x,
in one general expression, viz. u — fx, or u =f (x).
When a function depends on two variable quantities x,
g, which are independent of each other, such as this ex¬
pression,
u — ax2 -f- bxg -(- eg2,
we shall express it thus,
u=f(x,g).
Here we take no notice of the constant quantity a, b, c.
A like notation may be applied when three independent
variables enter a function.
3. The manner in which we propose to treat this subject
requires that the reader should distinctly understand what
is meant by a limit to the value of a variable function, or
a variable ratio. In the elements of geometry it is shown
that the area of a circle is less than that of any regular
Polyg°n described about it; and that the greater the num¬
ber of sides of the polygon, the more nearly is its area
equal to that of the circle ; so that any space being given,
however small, a polygon may be described about the
circle, which shall differ from it by less than that space,
ouppose now a series of polygons to be described about a
circle, each having the number of its sides greater than
that which preceded it, the double for example. These
v> i approach continually to an equality with the circle as
IONS.
a limit, which the series, however far continued, can never Direct
absolutely reach in respect of magnitude, but from which Method,
some term, and all that follow it, may differ by less than
any space assignable.
In like manner, the circle is the limit of the area of all
regular polygons inscribed in it; and the circumference
of the circle is the limit of the perimeters of regular po¬
lygons described in it or about it.
In our article Algebra (sect. 266) it has been shown,
that, putting a for an arc of a circle, the fraction ~— is
r sin a
always greater than an unit, but that ^ ^ is always less ;
farther, that the arc being supposed to decrease continually,
these fractions approach to each other, and may differ by
less than any assignable quantity ; therefore unity, which
is always between them, is their common limit. Hence it
appears, that of these three quantities, an arc, its sine, and
its tangent, the limit of the ratio of any two is that of
equality. In the same article it has been shown that the
arc a is the limit of the fractions n tan. — and n sin
n n
supposing the number w to be increased continually.
The geometrical series
1 + x + x2 + x3 . . . . + x” —1
1 xn
is equivalent to the function (Algebra, sect. 56) ;
when x is less than 1, and n is infinitely great, then x’1 = 0,
and the function — ——; therefore, in this case, the
1 —x
sum of any finite number of terms of the series will al¬
ways be less than ^ —, but will approach to it as the
number of terms increases, and may differ from it by less
than any assignable quantity; hence it follows that the
function r is the limit of the sum of the series.
1 —x
By the binomial theorem
+do (*-;;) (1-!)+-&c-
This is true, whatever be the numerical value of n;
but suppose w to be a large number, then the factors
12
1—-, 1—-, &c. will differ but little from unity; and
n n
they will differ the less as n is greater. Suppose now n
to be indefinitely great, then these factors may be ac¬
counted each equal to an unit; and, therefore,
0^)"=
i i
i -r 1 Tl
+
1.2.3
+ , &c.
It has been shown in algebra (sect. 177) that the se¬
cond member of this equation is the development of the
function (f, where e denotes the number 2’7182818, viz.
the base of Napier’s logarithms; therefore, if n be sup¬
posed to increase continually, the expression
will approach to as its limit; and making x = 1, the
limit of ^1 + -^ —e — 2,7182818, a constant quantity.
4. Since the value of a function depends essentially on
that of the variable, which is its basis, any change in
the value of the latter will produce a corresponding change
in the value of the former.
Direct
Method.
FLUXIONS.
Fust, let the function beu — x1, and let us suppose
/ 1 lat tvariable changes its value, being increased by
a quantity n, and thereby becoming cc + h; let denote
the corresponding value of u, so that we have
u'=(x+ ky = x* + 2xh + h2=u + 2xh + Zr;
hence u'—m — 2xh + 7i2.
It thus appears that, h denoting the increment of the va¬
riable x, the corresponding increment of the function, viz.
u' — u, is 2xh + h~.
The algebraic expression for a ratio is a fraction whose
numerator is the antecedent, and denominator the conse-
quent. In the present case, the ratio of the increment of
the function to that of its variable is
v!—u „ , ,
~~h~ = ~x + ]l-
As another example, let the function be u x3; then,
supposing, as before, that the variable x is increased by
tie quantity h, and, putting uf for the new value of the
function, we have
681
■u . Direct
, the ratio Method.
v! — (x + K)31 — ^ + Sxh'1 + h3
v J {=u + 3x*h + Sxtf + h3;
v!— u
—j— = Sx2 + 3xh + h\
In this case we see that when x has increased to x + h
the function u has become
u + 3*2/i + 3xh?- + h3,
having received the increment 3x'h + 3/^2 + h3, a quan¬
tity composed of the integer powers of h. Farther, it ap¬
pears that the expression for the ratio of the increments is
3x* + 3x/i -j- A2,
of which the first term Sz2 is entirely independent of the
value of A, the increment of x.
When the function is u = x4, we have, putting, as in
the former examples, A for the increment of the variable,
and u' for the new value of the function,
u'=u + 4x3/i + 6x‘2/(2 + 4x/i3 + A4,
—_ - 4x3 + 6x2A + 4xA2 + A3.
. From these examples it appears, that when x changes
its value and becomes x + A, then the new value of the
function
u = x2 becomes m + 2xA + A2,
= x3 becomes u'= u + 3x2/t + 3xA2 + A3,
u = x4 becomes u'= u + 4x3A + 6x2A2 + 4xA3 + A4;
and in general that
u — xn, any integer power of x, becomes
u' = u +jo/t + qh2 + rh3 + sA4 -f, &c.
the new value of the function being composed of a series
of terms, the first of which is its original value, and the
following terms, integer powers of the increment A, mul¬
tiplied by p, q, r, &c. certain other functions of x, the
forms of which depend on the original function, whence
they have been derived.
Farther, it appears that
Thus it appears that the expression for
of the increment of the function xn to that of its variable x,
may be resolved into two parts, one,p, which is independent
of the increment, and another, qh~]rrh2~\~sh?'\mi &c. j or
h(q + rh + sii1 +, &c\),
which, having A the increment as a factor, must decrease
with it, and, by giving a sufficiently small value to A, may
become less than any assignable quantity, so that the first
term p is the limit of the ratio.
Let us consider the complex function
u — a bx -f- cx2.
When x becomes x + A, u becomes
(# + A) + c (x + A)2
= « + Ax + cx2 + (A-j-2cx) A + cA2,
hence u*—w (A + 2cx) A +cA2,
u> — u
—-—• = A + 2cx + cA.
In this case the limit of the ratio is A + 2ex. By a like
examination of particular functions it will be found that
they have all a common property, that is,
If o be any function of a variable x, and if in that
function x be supposed to change its value and become
x + h ; the corresponding new value of the function will be
u' = u + ph + qh2 + rh3 + , &c.
and the ratio of the increments of thefunction and its variable,
o!
when u — x2, then
when u — x3,
— (I
jr— z= 2x -f- A ;
= 3x2 + SxA + A2;
when u = x4, —^ = 4x3 + 6x2A + 4xA2 + A3;
and, in general, that when x — u", n being any whole
number, then
~ p f (ft f rh2 + sh3 +, &c.
— p + qh + rh2 +, &c.;
an expression which, when h is supposed to decrease conti¬
nually, has for its limit the first term p; and this limit ivill
be different for different f unctions, there being such a con¬
nection betiveen the f unction and its limit, that the one may
be found, from the other.
I his property of the increments of a function and its
variable suggests an important and extensive analytical
theory, which will consist of two parts.
I. Any function of a variable quantity being proposed,
to determine the limit of the ratio of the corresponding
increments of the function and its variable.
II. On the other hand, having given the ratio of the
increments, to find the function from which it has been
derived.
These two inquiries constitute at bottom the Direct and
Inverse Method of Fluxions of Newton, the Differential
and Integral Calculus of Leibnitz, and the Theory of
Functions of Lagrange. Our present subject is the direct
method of fluxions, or its equivalent, the differential cal¬
culus.
5. We have seen (4), that by the transition of a func¬
tion, for example, u — x2, from one state of magnitude to
another, by a change in the magnitude of its variable x, it
acquires the new value if — uf 2xh + A2. The ivhole dif¬
ference u’— u between its new and first values is 2xA + A2.
It is the first term of this difference, viz. 2xA, that constitutes
what is called the differential of the function from which it
has been derived ; and the determination of this first term
for any function is the object of this first part of our calculus.
In like manner, in the function u — x3, which, when x
becomes x + A, changes to w' — m + 3 x2A + 3 xA2 + A3, the
whole difference between the two states of magnitude of
the function is 3x2A + 3xA2 + A3, and its differential is
3x2A. And the whole difference between the first and
succeeding value of the function w — x4 is 4x3A + 6x2A2
+ 4xA3 -F h4, and its differential, is 4x2A. And, in general,
whatever be the nature of the function m, if x + A be sub¬
stituted in it instead of x, and the expression thus formed
be expanded into a series,
u + ph + qh2 + rh3 + sh4, &c.
4 R
VOL. IX.
682
Direct
Method.
FLUXION
the complete difference between the two states of the
function is i 74 , c „
ph + qli1 + rW + s^4 +> ^c*
and its differential is the first term ph-
In conformity with this definition, the differential of the
variable a: itself will be its increment h, which, because ot
its use in generating the differential of the function, has
be-en designated by a peculiar symbol, viz. dx: here the
letter d is to be understood as a characteristic, not as a
ro-efficient. The letter d is also prefixed to the symbol
for a function to denote its differential. 1 bus, supposing
u - x\ we have du = 2xdx, an expression which means
that the differential of the function mis equal to the differ¬
ential of the variable multiplied by 2x as a co-efficient; so
also if m = the equation du — Sx^x means that the
differential of m is equal to the differential of a: multiplied
V)v S#2.
6. Since, when u = a;2, then du = 2xdx, this last expres¬
sion may otherwise* stand thus, ^ — 2a;>' under tllis f’orm
2x is the co-efficient in the expression for the differential
of m, and it is on that account called the differential co¬
efficient of the function u or a:2. In like manner, when
u — ot?, then du — '$x?dx and — 3a4 ; in this case
is the differential co-efficient of the function u — ar3. Tne
general symbol for the differential co-efficient of any func¬
tion m is 1^, and the new value of u being u + ph +^2
which indeed maybe the very thing to be investigated by ^irect.
the calculus. Now we have seen (4) that the co-efficient
of this term is the expression for the limit of the ratio of
the corresponding increments of a function and its vari¬
able, and the same quantity is the differential co-efficient of
the function (6), therefore the determination of the dif¬
ferential of a function is the same thing as the determi¬
nation of the limit of the ratio of the increments.
Qj
Let the function be m = —; then u! — ^ ^
a2 a" _ — cPh _
U U = x + h x ~~ x (x + h ) ’
a1
and
and the limit of the ratio of the increments is
h "’#(# + h)'
Now, without expanding the expression for the limit, it is
obvious that as h decreases, that expression approaches to
_ which is therefore the differential co-efficient of
dx
the function; hence du =
cd dx
x?
In like manner, u
beino- the general expression for any function, and u! —
u _j_ ph -f qh2 +, &c. its expanded value when x + A is
put instead of x, we have
u' ~u z=p + qh +, &C.
h
• • f*
and limit of
— — p — and du — pdx.
dx
and
serves to denote its differen-
+ &c. we have — — where p is some function of x,
dx
which depends on the form of the function u, and is de-
ducible from it when its form is known. _
To denote the differential of an expression formed m
any wav, wre prefix the symbol d to the expression. Ihus
d{(a + x)(b^ — x,l)} denotes the differential of a func¬
tion produced by multiplying the factors a + ^nod b' x ,
, d{(a + x) (b2 — x2)}
dx
tial co-efficient.
The definition which has been given of a differential
suggests immediately this rule for finding the differential
of a function of a single variable.
Substitute x + h in the function instead of x ; expand
the expression thus formed into a series of terms composed of
integer powers of h, and take the term which contains the
first power of h for the differential, exchanging the letter h
for the symbol dx.
Thus, let the function be m ax + bx2, in which a and
b are constants, then, putting x h for x, and u! for the
new value of u, we have
f — a (a; + ^) + & (x-fh)2
u’ \ = ax + ^ + (a + 2bx) h + bh2
( = m + (a + 2bx) h + bh2.
Here du, the differential of the function, is (a + 2iai)/i,
or (a + 2bx) dx, and ^ r= a + 2bx the differential co-ef-
h r dx'
According to this view of the subject, the differential
calculus is the finding of the ratios of the simultaneous in¬
crements of a function and of the variable on which it de-
The process of calculation by which the differential of
any function u is found, may be regarded as a particular
operation performed on quantity, analogous to the ele¬
mentary operations of algebra; and it may, like these, be
distinguished by a particular name accordingly. Hie re¬
sult of the process being the differential, the process itself
is called differentiation, and to perform the process on a
function is to differentiate the function. . .
8. It is material to observe, that the limit of the ratio of
the increments of a function and its variable are the very,
same, whichever of the two be considered as a function ot
the other. Thus, u being a function of x, when x becomes
x + h, u becomes u + ph + qh2 + rid -f-, &c. p, q, r,
&c. being functions of x, deducible from the function u.
Let us put
k = ph + qh2 4- rid 4-, &c.
so that the contemporaneous increments of a? and u aie h
and h. Now, from the value of k, by the reversion of se¬
ries ( Algebra, art. 163), we find
h — - k — ^A24-,&c.
p p
So that, regarding a; as a function of u, when u becomes
u + k, x becomes
-h
+, &c.
ficient.
7. The rule given in last article, for determining the dif¬
ferential of a function, supposes that we have methods,
by which any function may be expanded into a series of
terms, into each of which some integer power of the in¬
crement h enters only as a factor. It is sufficient for our
purpose, however, if we can find that term of the series
which contains the simple power of h; and this can in
general be found easier than the general development,
P P
and the general expression for the ratio of the incre¬
ments is
&c.
p p°
1 . . ~ , . k .
which has for its limit —, and the limit of the ratio — is, as
p
before, — p- . .
9. It is easy to see that two equal functions must have
equal differentials; for whatever be the value of the va-
FLUXIONS.
683
Direct
Method.
riable on which they depend, it must necessarily happen
that the respective changes they receive in consequence
of the change which is attributed to the variable must also
be equal. Thus, if u and v be two functions, such, that
u — v, whatever may be the value of x; and if, when x
becomes x + h, then u becomes v!, and v becomes v\ we
shall have v! — 1/, and uf — u = v' — v, and
u' — u v* — v
A ~ h ’
If then/> and q denote the limits of these ratios, p — q
and pdx — qdx, that is, du = dv.
From this it follows, that under whatever form a func¬
tion appears, its differential is the very same quantity.
For example, the differential of a? + a3 will be identical
with the differential of (x + a) (x~ — ax + a2), its equal.
The converse of this proposition is not generally true,
and we should be wrong in affirming that two equal dif¬
ferentials belong to equal functions. For, \et u — a -\-
bx be a function of x, then, substituting a? + A for x, and
putting u' for the new value of u, we have u' = a bx
bh =: u -{• bh, and
A
zz b.
A
The terms rp' and sp in the second member of this equa¬
tion are functions of x, which are independent of the
function A; the following terms are all multiplied by A,
therefore they decrease and vanish with it. So that
limit of ratio U—~j~ — rP' + SP'
rpf , J* .S' - $
Now p — limit of —j—, and q = limit of ——.
* A A
Instead of the limits of the ratios, let us put the differ¬
ential co-efficients of the functions u, r, s (art. 6), and
we find
du  ds . dr
dx T dx S dx
and du — rds + sdr.
Hence we have this rule,
To find the differential of the product of two functions, mul- Direct
tiply the differential of each by the differential of the other Method.
function, and add the products. S***~\~>*J
11. Since, when u — rs, we have du — sdr + rds, it
follows that
du   ds
u r s'
If we suppose u = rtv, the product of three factors, by
putting s =z tv, we have u — rs, and
du
u
but since s — tv, we have for the same reason
dr ds
r s
ds dt , dv
' — ~ I 9
s t v
therefore
die
dr dt
r t
dv
v ’
We see here that the constant a does not enter into the
limit of the ratio of the increments, which would there¬
fore be the very same for the function u — bx ; hence it
follows that the differential bdx belongs alike to a + bx,
and to bx. Thus it appears, that in differentiating any
function whatever, all the constant quantities combined
with it, either by addition or subtraction, disappear. With
respect to those which are connected by multiplication
and division, they enter the result as co-efficients.
10. The differential of any function of a variable x maybe
found by the general methods indicated in article 6; but
it is convenient to have rules adapted to particular cases.
Let r and s be two functions of a variable x. It is pro¬
posed to investigate a rule for finding the differential of
u z= rs, their product.
Suppose that by the substitution of a; + A for x in the
functions r and s, and their expansion, they become
p zr ?■ -f- ph + qh2 +, &c. ^ = s + p'h + q'lr -j-, &c.
In these expressions, p, q, &c. represent functions of x,
derived from r; and ff, q', &c, other functions of x deriv¬
ed from s. Corresponding to these let u' denote r's', the
new value of the product rs z=. u. By actual multipli¬
cation we find
u1 — r'd — + (rp' + sp) A + (rq -f- pp' + sq) A2 +, &c.
Hence, putting u for rs, also transposing and dividing by
A, there is got
= rp’ + sp + (rq' + pp -fs q) A +, &c.
By writing the product rs instead of u, there is got, after
proper reduction,
du — tvdr + rvdt + rtdv.
In general, If a function be the product of any number of
functions of a variable, its differential is the sum of the pro¬
ducts obtained by multiplying the differential of each by the
product of all the other functions.
The same rule may also be briefly expressed in sym¬
bols, thus : whatever be the number of functions r, s, t, v,
j . (dr , ds . dt . dv 1
d (rstv) — rstv  [ 1 + — >.
s t v )
12. To find the differential of a fraction whose numerator
and denominator are functions of a variable x; let u =
T
—, then r — us, and
s
dr — uds + sdu,
T
and, putting for u its value -,
dr -T—+ sdu;
s
therefore, du z=
sdr — rds
Hence we have this rule : To find the differential of a
fraction ; from the differential of the numerator multiplied
by the denominator subtract the differential of the denomina¬
tor multiplied by the numerator, and divide by the square of
the denominator.
The rule for the differential of u
— may be also sym¬
metrically expressed thus:
du dr
ds
s
TSt
and in general, if w = —, then
& vy
du
dr
— r
ds dt dv dy
s t v y ‘
rst
For, by what has been shown, it appears that when u = —,
vy
then
du d(rst) d(vy)
u ~ rst
d(rst) dr ds , dt
— "T" "T ~P'.
rst
Now
rst
vy
and
d(vy) _ dv dy
vy
684
Direct
Method.
FLUXIONS.
dt efo dj/
u r s ~t r y'
It also follows, from what has been shown, that if the
„ du <lr \ fh_ a. — 
therefore, T ^ t
that is, d(Vy) —
dy
2Vy
Direct
Method.
.»• j—-.-.fi »• "irKTS..,.™ of. i... i..
— — i— + — + — — — — — function of y ; it is proposed to investigate a rule for
d\vy) vy\r s t v y ) finding the differential of u relatively to x.
13 \ye siiall next investigate a rule for the differential Suppose x to change its value and become x + h, then y
of any power of a function y, which may be either itself becomes y = y +^4 + qh* + rid + , &c.; or, puttingyi/i
an independent variable, or else some function of another _j_ ^ r^3 -fl ? &c. — y becomes y + k. But u being
vanabl g*
First,’let u = yn, n being any whole number
function may be put under this form,
u — y-y-y-y-" t0 n terms,
and then (11) we have
dy , dy , dy
The
+ ^ +
du dy ,
~^-~y y ' y ' y
du ndy
that is, — =■—>
u y *
ndy
and du = —- u = nyn
y
to n terms
dy.
Next, let us suppose that the function has a fractional
exponent, and that u — y
and nun—1 du = my
m ym 1
n un 1
and du —
n , then un — ym,
11—1 dy, by art. 9,
dy;
a function of y, when y becomes y + k, then u becomes
u’=u +2/11 + (ftf + dk3 +,&c.; here q', d, &c. de¬
note certain functions of y, which are independent of k
and also of h. Hence, by substituting for k in this last
series, its value + qh2 + ,&c., it appears that when x
becomes x + h, u becomes
u' —u+ p’ph + (p'q + q'p'1) Id +, &c.
and hence —— — p’p + (jp'y + y'pd^h + s &c.
Suppose now h to decrease continually, we have
limit of —t— — tfld'
Now, y being a function of x, y = and u being con¬
sidered as a function of?/, P but if we consider u as
a function of x, then
du
dx
— limit
- P’P-
but u — yn and
therefore
yn—!_
Hence it follows that
-V
du _ du
dx ~ dy
dy
dx'
t 7 rn -
and du — — y7
-l
dy
, , (du dy\ 7
and*=(,^ x iir*-
Lastly, let us suppose w to be a negative whole number
or fraction, so that M In tb!s case we may aPP]y
the rule for a fraction (12) ; and observing that the nume¬
rator here is a constant, of which the differential must be
accounted rr 0, we have
ni/K 1dy „ , ,
u a __ — ny — n 1 oy ;
du —
T
thus it appears, that whether n be whole or fractional, po¬
sitive or negative,
d(yn) — nyn 1 dy.
Hence this rule : To differentiate any power of a func¬
tion, multiply it by the exponent, diminish the exponent by
an unit, and multiply by the differential of the variable.
If the function have a co-efficient, the differential must
be multiplied by that co-efficient. Thus
d{axn) = naxn 1 dx.
The determination of the differential of a power of a
variable might have been shortened by assuming the truth
of the binomial theorem, as found in our article Alge¬
bra, art. 160, 161. That theorem however may be de¬
rived from the differential calculus, and we shall give its
investigation as one of its applications.
It frequently happens that the differential of Vy = y\,
the square root of a function, is to be found; therefore a
rule for that case will be convenient. By the general
rule for a power,
dfff ) = \y*~ Xdy — \y~Cldy,
dx
dy
Hence this rule: To find, relatively to x, the differen¬
tial of u, a function of y, the quantity y being a function
of x, Find the differential co-efficient of u considered as
a function of y only, and the differential co-efficient of y
considered as a function of x ; multiply the product of these
co-efficients by the differential of x, and the result is the dif¬
ferential of u.
It has been found that
du ^ dy du
dy dx ~ dx’
Now if we suppose that u = x, then this expression be¬
comes
dy _ dx
dx ~ dx
and hence it appears that
dx _ \
dy ~~ dy
dx
This shows that the differential co-efficient of x consi¬
dered as a function of y, is the reciprocal of the differen¬
tial co-efficient of y considered as a function of x, a con¬
clusion which may also be deduced from art. 8.
15. Let v, y, z be functions of a variable x, and let it
be proposed to find the differential of
u — a bv cy — ez,
where a, b, c, e, denote constants.
Let us suppose that when x becomes x + h, then
v becomes v + ph + qW +, &c.
y becomes y + ph + qh~ +, &c.
z becomes z + p"h + fh2 +, &c.
FLUXIONS.
Direct
Method.
U —
Let v! be the corresponding value of u, so that
fa-\-bv + aj — ez
  ' + (bp + cp — ep^h
) + (bq + cq’ — eqn')h2
v + , &c.
Hence, putting for the first term of the second member of
the equation its value u, and transposing and dividing by
h, we get
u’ — u
—— z= bp cp — ep" + (bq + cq' — eq")h, &c.
And passing to the limits, observing that the limit of
is the differential co-efficient of u, also that
h
and p* are the differential, co-efficients of v, y, and z re¬
spectively, we get
du  bdv ^ cdy edz
dx dx dx dx ’
and du — bdv + cdy — edz.
From this it appears that the differential of a. function
made up of others simply by addition and subtraction is com¬
posed in like manner of the differentials of the several terms,
each with the sign of the function from which it was derived ;
the differential of a constant being reckoned — 0.
16. These rules are sufficient for the differentiation of
any explicit algebraic function, and we shall now give
examples.
1. Let u — oa:5; this is a particular case of the general
function u — axn ; therefore, by the rule (13) du — oax^dx.
2. Let u=-7 — ax’
x5
■5; then duz= — 5 ax-6 dx —
— dadx
in this case du— § x ~dx — | dxVx.
3. Let u—Vx? —xt
4. Let u — ax3 + bx* cx e ;
then du = Sax^dx + 2bxdx + cdx,
or du — (fax2- 2bx + d)dx.
Here the constant e, which is a term of the function,
has disappeared by the differentiation.
5. Letw = (a bxn)P; we may put y =: a bx11, and
then u — iff and du = py^ ^dy.
Now iff 1 = (a -j- bxn)F~ \ and dy — bnx1 ^dx;
therefore du — bnp (a + bxn)p 1 xn ^dx.
We might have dispensed with using the symbol y, and
regarded a + bx'1 as a single function, and w as a power
of that function, and found the differential by the rule of
art. 13.
As an example of the rule of art. 10, for the product of
two functions,
6. Let u — x? (a xf ;
put p — x3, and <7 — (« + xf ; then u z=. pq,
and du — qdp -f- pdq.
Now dp — Sx^dx, and dq = 2 (a -{■ x) dx ;
therefore du = Sx2 (a + xfdx + 2a.’3 (a + x) dx
— a;2 (a + x) (3a + bx) dx.
In practice, the introduction of the symbols jo and q may
be omitted.
7. Let u = x (1 +a’)(l + xz). In this case, u is the pro¬
duct of three functions ; therefore, by the rule of art. 11,
du= (1 + x) x") dx + x (\-\-x2) dx 2a^ (1 + #) dx.
This, when abbreviated by multiplication, becomes
du — (1 -f" 2 x Sx2 + 4#3) dx.
We might have proceeded otherwise by the rule
,, . (dr , ds , dt \
d(rSl) = rstj-+T + Tj;
accordingly, we would have had
. s . ox (dx 1 dx , 2xdx 1
du = x(l + x)(\ + x?) | 1 +   ’
x 1 + «
an expression reducible to the former.
1 + a^ / ’
685
X £)irect
8. As an example of a fractional function, let u = 5 Method.
we have, following the rule of art. 12,
7 _ (1 + x2) dx — 2 x2dx (1 — xfdx
dU ~ (1 + xff _ (1 + x2)2 ‘
. . . . «3 + a; x(x2 + 1) , •
9. Again, >et« = jIz^T-1=jjl=^Fq;th.Smay
exemplify the rule
Jrs\ rs (dr , ds dt\
d\T) = -\7 + J-Tr
Accordingly, making x — r, x2 1 «, a4 — a?* + 1
= t, we have
du —
x3 x jdx 2xdx
x* — a4+l l+a4
(4a;3 — 2a;) dx 1
x* — a^ + 1 i
This by reduction becomes
— {x6 + 4x4 — 4x2 — 1 }c?a
du —
(x4 X2 + l)2
10. As an example of the rule in art. 14, let u — 3^2,
and y =. x3 ax; then
du dy
dy dx
dff — Qv dJ.-Zx? + a-
dy~ y’ dx~ ^ ’
= by (3x2 -f a) z= 18 x2y + bay,
and du — . dx — XHxxydx + baydx.
(X If dJC
We may in such an example proceed otherwise, thus;
because u — 3^/2, du rz bydy;
and since y z=. x3 ax, dy — 3x2t/x + adx,
substitute this value of dy in the expression for du, and it
becomes
du ■=. 18x2ycfx + baydx,
the same as before.
17. The subjects which are to follow require the ap¬
plication of the binomial theorem, we shall therefore give
its investigation, as the first application of the calculus.
Supposing n to be any number whatever, whole or frac¬
tional, positive or negative, it is easy to infer, from the
consideration of particular cases, that
(1 + x)n z= 1 + Ax + Bx2 + Cx3 + Dx4 +, &c.,
the co-efficients A, B, C, &c., in the series being numbers
altogether independent of x, and deducible from the index
n alone. The expression (1 + x)n and its development
being equal for all values of x, they form an identical
equation, and must have equal differentials, hence (art. 9)
we have, taking the differential of each term,
^(l+x)”-1^— Arfx+ 2Bxefo; + 3CxVx+ 4Dx3<7x + ,&c.
Leaving now dx out of each term, and multiplying both
sides by 1 + x, the result is
«(1 +x)nz= A+ (A + 2B)x + (2B + 3C)x2+ (3C + 4D)x3
+ , &c.
But from the assumed series we have
«(l + x)n z= » + rcAx + wBx2 + «Cx3 +> &c.
Now the terms of these two expansions of«(l + x)" must
be identical; therefore
A zz n,
A + 2B = nA,
2B + 3C = wB,
3C + 4D = nD,
&c.
> and hence
A = n;
__ (n
B = V
--A;
C=’,-42-B;
&c.
686
fluxions.
« , , n(n—1) „ 2 o
_ nn-i x an“2 xl
Direct By substituting for A its value in B, and for B the re-
Methoil. suiting value in C, and so on, there is found
- , n , n(n—\) „ . n(n—l)(n—2) ,
(i+x)"=i + J* + rnr* + “ttsTs x +
and again, by putting ^ instead of x, and multiplying both
sides of the equation by cin, we get
(a + a;)" = a” -b -j- ^ ~ ^
+ «n-3 ^3 +j &c.
18. In the investigation of the binomial theorem we
have employed a principle of analysis of continual use in
the calculus, namely, that in such an equation as this
('called an Identical Equation),
a + bx+cx^+ex^ + bc., = A + Bx + C*2 + E* + &c.(l.)
in which a, b, c, &c., A, B, C, &c. are constants, and * is
variable ; in order that the equation may hold universally
true, it is necessafy that a = A, b = B, c = C, e = E,
&c. For since x is indeterminate, we may suppose it to
decrease until it vanish; then all the terms into which it
enters also vanish, and we have a — A \ therefore, leaving
these equal terms out of both sides of (1), and dividing
all the remaining terms by x, we get
b + cx + ex2 +> &c., = B+ ca; + Ea;2 +, &c. (2.)
By proceeding with this equation as with the former, we
obtain b = B, c = C, e = E, &c., and so on.
19. We come now to the investigation of the differen¬
tials of transcendental functions of a variable, and begin
with the exponential function u — ax, the exponent x
being variable, and the quantity a constant. Assuming
that when x becomes x h, u becomes u', we have
We have now this rule for differentiating a function
which is a variable power of a constant quantity.
Multiply the f unction by the differential of the variable
index, and by Napiers log. of the constant quantity.
Note. The logarithm of a number a, in any system
whatever, will in what follows be expressed by the ab¬
breviation log a ; but when the system is that of Napier,
we shall denote it thus, 1. a.
20. To find the differential of the transcendental uz=. log
x, the base of the system being a. By the definition of a
logarithm (Algebra, art. 165),
U
x z=l a
and, supposing that x becomes x + h, and that u be¬
comes u',
x h — an •,
therefore, h — au — a1 — a1 iff1 u—l)=x(aM —1)>
and hence, making h — u! — u,
Direct
Method.
h
_x(ak—\)'
ul— u k
1 h
and
n x a><_i
Passing now to the limits of the two sides of the equation,
and observing (as was proved in last article) that k being
supposed to decrease continually,
limit of — -j—,
ak _X \.a
du
we have —
u — a
, x + h  x h
u zz a —a a /
therefore, u'— u ■=. ax a1 — ax — ax (a1 — 1) ;
and
X ®
h h
The determination of the limit of the ratio of the incre¬
ments requires that we determine the limit to which the
-- J _ ,
value of the fraction—^— tends when h is supposed to
decrease continuall}7. Let us put a z= 1 + e ; by the bi¬
nomial theorem (art. 17),
/=(1+c)*=1 +
&c.
J_ 1
dx \.a x
Let M denote the constant factor, viz. the reciprocal
of Napier’s logarithm of the base of the system of loga¬
rithms, which is the modulus of the system (Algebra,
art. 172), and we have
7 Mdx
du — 5
x
That is, The differential of the logarithm of a number is
found by multiplying the differential of the number by the
modulus of the system and dividing by the number.
Note.—In Napier’s system M = 1.
21. The differentials of the trigonometrical functions
sin x and cos x are next to be investigated.
Let«=sin#,andw'zzsin (x + h)\ then (Algebra, 240),
u' — u=. sin (x h) — sin x = 2 cos (x ^ A) sin h,
and U>
■ u , , . ,. sin. ^ h
— cos (x + % h)
therefore, — =c+ - ^ ^ c2 +
(A-
-l)(A-2) ,
+ &c.
2 . 3
Now A being supposed to decrease continually, the se
cond side of this formula manifestly approaches to
1 . — 2 . — 3 , , 0
- c4 + &c.
A  iA
Observing now that A being understood to decrease
continually until it vanish, the limit of cos (a? + ^ A) is
cos x, and the limit of ■ ~, y ■— = I (Algebra, 266), we
have
^ = limit
dx
v! — u
zz cos x;
2
3
2 . 3
that is, to c — 4c2 + -ic3 — ^c4 -p, &c.
= (a _ 1) __ l(a _ l)* + L(a _ 1)3 _ l(« -1 )4 +, &c.
Now it has been shown in Algebra (art. 173), and will
be proved in the sequel, that this series expresses Na¬
pier’s logarithm of the number a. Therefore,
i
and du zz dx cos x.
Next let u — cos x, and u’ zz cos (x + A) we have now
u' — u zz cos (x + A) — cos x z: — 2 sin (x + £ A) sin ;
U' U . , 1 1 7 \ s*n i ^
— — sin (x + ^ A)
A
\ A
limit of
zz Nap. log
Passing now to the limits by supposing A to decrease
continually,
and hence, ^ zz limit -
dx
du .. . u! —
— zz limit —r-
dx A
• sinx;
— — a* (Nap. log a),
and du zz (Nap. log a) axdx.
and du — — dx sin x.
Hence it appears that The differential of the sine of an
arc is the product of the differential of the arc and its cosine ;
FLUXIONS.
687
Direct and that the differential of the cosine is the product of the
Method, differential of the arc and its sine with the sign — prefixed.
Note.—The negative sign indicates, that while the arc
increases the cosine decreases when it is positive.
The differential of the cosine might have been found
otherwise, by regarding it as a function of the sine. Thus,
putting v for the sine, and y for the cosine; because
y2 — 1 — v2, by differentiating, ydy rr — vdv; now x
being the arc, dv = ydx ; therefore ydy — — vydx, and
dy — — vdx.
' 22. The functions m tan w = cot x, &c. may be con¬
sidered as formed from the elementary functions sin x
and cos x.
then, proceeding as in the foregoing examples, we find Direct
Method.
du —
— dx
(1.) Let w = tan a? = then (art. 12 and 20),
d (sin x) cos a: — d (cos a?) sin x
du — — y ‘ 
cos^a?
(cos2 x + sin x?)dx _ dx
cos2 x cos2 x
Hence, again, du — dx sec2a? — dx(\ + tan2 a:).
(2.) In the same way, if w = cot x, we find
du =. — — dx cosec2 x — — dx (1 + cot2 x).
sin ar
1
(3.) Let u ~ sec x ~ —— ; then
v ' cos x
, Gaisina; 7 „
du =  = dx tan x sec x.
cos2 x
(4.) Let u — cosec x —
sin x
du =
dx cos x
— — dx cot x cosec x.
sin2 a?
23. Corresponding to the direct functions
u 'zz sin x, u — cos x, &c.
there are the reverse functions,
u — arc (sin =z x), u = arc (cos x), &c.
The first, viz. the arc whose sine is x, is sometimes by
British writers expressed thus ; w — sin *a? ; and the se¬
cond, the arc whose cosine is x, thus; u — cos 1a?.
(1.) Let u — arc (sin ■=. x') z=. sin lx;
then x ~ sin u ; and dx = du cos u — duVl — x2;
dx
xV X2 1
24. Having now found rules for the differentiation of
the elementary transcendentals and trigonometrical func¬
tions, we proceed to exemplify their application to the
differentiation of complex functions.
(1.) Let the function be m = x^, that is a variable x
raised to a power y, a function of the variable.
By the theory of logarithms \. u = y \. x.
Put v = \.ii and z= \.x; then v — yz ;
and dv = ydz + zdy (art. 10).
Now c?(1.m) = —; andcfe = c/(].£) = — (20) ;
u w
, _ du ydx , , .
therefore, — = f- h ^ • dy,
u x
— u {7~dx \.x.dy 1
I « J
= xJ'\ 1- dx x . dy i-
(a? J
^ ydx + a/ J. x. dy.
(2.) If m = xx, then, by last example,
du zz xx 1 + l. a? j- dx.
r.X -p y
(3.) Let u — a ; put K — y, then u — a,
and du — \. a cl dy, also dy — \.h .h dx (19) ;
hx
therefore du = 1. a. 1. b. a bx dx.
In the following examples we shall suppose the loga¬
rithms to be those of Napier’s system.
(4.) Let m = 1. /   \ . Making X . = z.
y > \ 5 j vV + x2
and du =
-1
and du —
VI —
_1
’ xVx1— 1
(6.) Let u = arc (cosec = x) - cosec-
-1
and du
( V dl + x2
we have du = — \ but
z
x2dx
dxVd2 + V —
dz -
V a2 + x2
a2dx
VI — x2
(2.) Let u = arc (cos = x) = cos x:
then x — cos u ; and dx — — dusmuz= — du Vl — x2
— dx
«2 + a^
therefore du —
(a2 + a,,2V
a2dx
a;(a2 + a?2)
(3.) Let u = arc (tan = x) = tan
then x ~ tan u and dx — du{\ + a;2) ;
and du — —?—r.
1 + a;2
(4.) Let u zz arc (cot zz x) zz cot~~lx;
then xzzcotu and dx zz —du (1 + u2),
— dx
and du zz l
(5.) Let u zz arc (sec zz x) zz sec lx;   
then x zz sec u; and dx zz du sec u tan u zz du x\/x- 1,
dx
and du
_ . T f Vl + a;+ Vl —a? \
(o.) Let u zz]. 4 r ■ ■ f >
uVl + x— Vl —x )
put y zz Vl + a; + Vl —a;>2r = Vl + x—Vl —x>
then u zz i'~\zz 1. (y) — h (z) ;
and du—— — —•
y z
dx
dx
Now ^ 2V1+5 2VT=rx
  ^ -f Vl + x — Vl—x 1 ~
2V1—x1 l * >
dx dx
■zdx
2 V1—x2
and dz zz
+
2 V1 + a; 2 V1 —x
dx c   .— 4 y^x
dx C
2V1 —x2
V1 + a? + V1
-x} =
• zdx
2V1—a^
ydx
, „ dy dz
therefore — = r—7——7—„ /- -5
y * 2yV\—x2 22V1—tf2
1
688
Direct
Method.
FLUXIONS.
__ — (.V2 _
2yz\f 1—x2
and observing that
t/2 + z2 = 4, yz — 2x,
— dx
we find at last du — /.
a;v 1 — a;
In the next two examples we shall merely put down the
results
(6.)
(7.)
w = + VI + a;2j
dx
du —
Vl + a:2
1 / VI + a^ + a? ^ ■
^ V1 + a^—x f
du —
dx
sin x.
(2.) Let u — (tan a?);
dx sec2 x
du
dx
1=
tan x
2dx
sin x cos x
sec2 u
dz
{r=
= — ndu (sin nu cos” u + cos wmsinmcos”
ndu cos” ^ u (sin nu cos u + cos nu sin it)
— — ndu cos u sin (n + 1) u,
dz
ra+1
dz
{E
, dz
and — — n
dx
u cos (rc + 1) u,
cos (rc + 1) u cos” + 1 u.
For example, from the function u r= xn, we deduce
^■ zzn x11 1 : putting now/> — nx11 1, we hence derive ^
dn
the dilferential co-efficient ~ — n(n — l)a” 2;andput-
iingq—n^n—l)xn
Vl -f- a;2
25. As examples combining logarithmic and angular
functions:
(1.) Let m — 1. sin x ;
. 7 dx cos x T
then du — —r  zz dx cotan x.
dx
2, we find ^=w(n—1)(«—2)a;” 3.
We may proceed in this way, until the result of a differ¬
entiation be a constant, and then the process will stop;
but in some cases it may be continued indefinite!}^.
There is an appropriate notation to express the rela¬
tion in which the successive differentials, p, q, &c. stand
to the original function m, from which they have been de¬
rived : since
d(^\
p ~ and q — therefore q = ydx) _
dx * dx * dx '
The symbol d be more simply expressed by
and thus we have
dx
du dp
P = dx^ = d-x:
d2u
dx2
d2u
sin 2 x *
26. As examples of complex angular functions :
(1.) Letw tan 1 x; that is, let u be the arc whose
tangent is x, and let z — cos nu cos” u.
. dz
It is proposed to find the differential co-efficient —.
In the first place, du — —^— = dx cos2 u,
and — z=. — n sin (« + 1) m cos
(2.) Next, u being the same function of x as before,
let z — sin nu cos” u,
dz
to find the differential co-efficient-V-
dx
In this case,
ndu (cos nu cos” u — sin nu sin u cos” * u)
ndu cos” 1 u (cos nu cos u — sin nu sin «)
ndu cos” *
so that by the expression q — it is to be understood
that q is the result of two differentiations performed on
the function u, the differential of the variable, \\z.dx, be¬
ing considered as constant.
From the function q we may now deduce
_dq _ d?u
dx dx?'
and so on continually’'; but the different import of the
characters d?u and dx? must be carefully attended to ; the
former implies that the operation of differentiation has
been performed three times on the function u, and the
latter denotes the third power of dx. The combination
cfiu
of the two, --.j, expresses the function that results from
the three differentiations, in each of which the factor dx
has been left out, and the final result divided by its third
power, or, if retained, that it has been regarded as con¬
stant.
(1.) As a particular case of the function u z= axn, let
u ~ ax?;
&U = 4-5a^,
i du „ ,
then -p-zr bax*.
dx
dx1
d3u
d?u
dx?
dPu
d?x
z=. S^'dax*, —, = 2,3*4-5a^,
dx*
= 2-3-4-5a.
Successive Differentiations.
27. Afunctionofavariable, when differentiated,produces
a new function, viz. its differential co-efficient. This in
its turn may be differentiated, and there will be produced
another differential co-efficient, which will stand in the
same relation to the former as that did to the original
tunction. By another differentiation, a third differential
co-efficient may be formed ; and so on continually, unless
some differential co-efficient come out = 0.
In this example we have come to a differential co-effi¬
cient which is a constant, and the series stops ; but if the
index of the power ar” be a fraction or negative, the se¬
ries may be continued indefinitely.
The expression (~ is called the first differential co-effi¬
cient of the function u, or the differential co-efficient of
theyzrs^ order ; those which follow are called the second,
third, &c. or the differential co-efficients of the second,
third, &c. orders.
In the case of the function u — x?, writers on the cal¬
culus of fluxions call du — bx?dx the Jirst fluxion of the
function ; d2u — 2Cte3cfa2 its seceme?fluxion ; d3u — Q0x?dx?
its third fluxion; and so on, the terms of the series con¬
stituting the different orders of fluxions.
FLUXIONS.
689
Direct Other examples of successive differentiation :
Method. , (ill
(2.). Let « = a1; then (article 9), — n l.a a ,
(Pu n .
- (1-<‘) “ > dz?
d,X (uy a1, ^. = 0*.)'a*, &c.
dx1
(3.) Let u — log. x; then (art. 20) ^
<Pu_ M (Pu_ 1-2M dhi _ _
dx x? dx? x3 ’ dxA
(4.) Let u — sin x; then ^ — cosar,
dzu . d'3u
-=_sm a:,
L2-3M
, &c.
dx3
d*u . .
— cos x, -r-. — sin x, &c.
dxr
du
(5.) Let u = cos x; then ^ = — sin x,
dlu
dx2
(6.) Let u =z
d?u
dx3
dhi
dxA
then ~ z=
-2azx
a2 + a?2 ’ dx~ (a2 + a;2)2’
d^u — 2a4 + 6a2a:2
dx1
d3u 
dap ~ (a2 + a-2)4
(a2 + a;2)3 ’
24a4ar — 24a2a;3 „
&c.
Taylor's Theorem.
28. We have assumed for the foundation of the differ¬
ential calculus an important analytical principle, first par¬
ticularly recognised by Euler, viz. Let f{x) denote any
function of a variable quantity a?; if instead of x there be
substituted x h,h being any indeterminate quantity,
so that the function becomes f(x + A), this new value
may always be expanded into a series of this form,
/(a?) + ph + qld rh3 +, &c.,
in which the quantities p, q, &c. are new functions of x
derived from the primitive function, and independent of
the indeterminate quantity h.
29. The truth of this principle has been exemplified by
induction from particular cases. Lagrange has, however,
given a demonstration of it in his Theorie des Fonctions,
which is to the following effect:
In the first place, the development of the function
(a? + A) cannot contain any fractional power of A, so long
as x is entirely indeterminate. For the radicals of A can
only come from radicals in the primitive function ; and it
is manifest that the substitution of a? + A instead of x can
neither increase nor diminish their number, nor change
their nature, while x and A are indeterminate. On the
other hand, by the theory of equations, every radical ex¬
pression has as many different values as there are units in
its exponent; from which it follows, that every irrational
function has as many distinct values as there are combi¬
nations of the different values of the radicals which it
contains. Therefore, if the development of the func-
m
tion^a; + A) could contain a term of the form uhn , the
function fx must necessarily be irrational, and contain a
certain number of different values, which must be the
same for its development; but this development being
represented by the series f(x) + ph + qh2 +, &c.
m
+ uhn +, &c. every value of the function f (x) (the
first term) might be combined with each of the n values
of the radical n^/xm, so that the function / (a; + A) ex-
VOL. IX.
panded would have more values than the same function
unexpanded, which is impossible.
This demonstration is general and rigorous so long as
x and A continue indeterminate; but it fails if determi¬
nate values be given to x, for it may happen that these
values may destroy some radicals in the function f(x),
which may yet exist in the function f(x + A).
30. It being proved that the development of the func¬
tion cannot have any fractional powers of A, it is easy to
be assured that it cannot contain negative powers. For
Direct
Method.
T
if among the terms one had the form m being a posi¬
tive integer number, then, in making A = 0, that term
would become infinite, and the function (x + A), and of
course f(x), would in this case be infinite, which can¬
not be, unless a particular value be given to x. Thus it
is clearly established that the development of the func¬
tion can contain neither fractional nor negative expo¬
nents.
31. The general form of the development of the func¬
tion, viz.
f(x + A) —f(x) + ph + qh2 + rh3 +, &c.
being thus ascertained, the next question is, what is the
law of relation between the original function y^x) and
the functions p, q, r, &c. which are derived from it ?
We owe the discovery of this relation to a celebrated
English mathematician, Brooke Taylor, who gave it in
his Methodus Incrementorurn, published in the year 1715
in the form of an analytical theorem, which is now called
by his name : we shall now give its investigation. The
following is that of Lagrange.
Let f(x) — u be any function of x ;
then, supposing x to become x h, u becomes
/(# + A) z= w + pA qh2 + rh3 + sld +, &c.
Suppose now that x changes again its value, and be¬
comes x k, and here A, like A, is independent of x.
Then
f(x-\- A) becomes/^ + A + A).
There are two ways of finding what the series
f (x + A) = u -f- ph + qh2 + rh3 + shx +, &c.
becomes, when a? + A becomes a; + A + A. We
may have the value of the series by substituting A + A in
every term instead of A. 2dly, We may also have its
value by substituting a; + A in the functions jo, q, r, s, &c.
for x ; that is, instead of p, and q, and r, &c. we must
put the values they have when a; + A is supposed to be
substituted in them instead of a?.
By the first-mentioned process we find/(a; + A + A) =
v + ph + qh2 + rh3 + sld +, &c.
+ pk + 2qhk + 3rA2A + 4sA3A +, &c.
+ qk2 + 3rAA2 + 6sA2A2 +, &c.
+ rk3 + 4sAA3 +, &c.
+ sA4, +, &c.
And, in employing the second, it must be considered
that, when x becomes a; + A, then
u becomes « +7?A + ^A2 + rk3 + sA4 +, &c.
because A here takes the place of A in the function
/(a; + A), and its development u ph qh2 + rh3 +,
&c.
The supposition that x changes its value to a; + A, leads
to corresponding changes in the functions jo, q, r, &c.; so
that
p becomes p + p’h + //'A2 + //"A3 +, &c.
q . . .</ + # + q’k2 + (fk3 +, &c.
r . . . r + r'A + ^'A2 + r'”k3 +, &c.
s . . . s + 5% + s''A2 + /"A3 +, &c.
&c.
4 s
690
fluxions.
„ , . J r „ t1ipr WP cunnose v to vary and to become v + h, while z JPirect
Here o', if, &c. denote functions of a; derived from p, the^ame, or z to vary and become z + A, while
t\e\e p,p, ^ ^ derived from the function u; and remains tne sam^  1/.o fl_ ,rolM, camp viz.
Direct  ± * .
Method, just as jo, 9, r, &c.
^Hke SIS wHes ,o ^ &c. also to / &c. and
cn nn Substituting now these new values of u, p, q, r,
&c in the saHes u\ ph + ^ + SA< + , ^ »e
have f{x h k) —
u JL. piqW- + rJf + sk +, &C.
X Ph+ p'hk + fhv +p"'hV +, &c.
+ qJf + q'ffk + q"h-k2 +, &c.
+ rh3 + r'/fh +> &c'
+ slf +, &c.
Bv comparing the co-efficients of like powers, or pro¬
ducts of powers, of h and k in the two expressions for
f(x + k + k), it appears that, to make them identical,
we must have
2q =pr, 3r = g', 4s = f, and so on.
Therefore q-^-,r-= -|p $= ^
Now bv the defimtion of a differential, pdx is the dif- SUpp0Sjng z variable and v constant,
ferential of u, where p is the co-efficient of h ,n the series
u+ph + qW +, &c. Therefore P = ^ Similarly,
q’dx is the differential of q, where q' is the co-efficient of tjierefore
k in the development q-q'k+ q'W +, &c. Therefore,
remains .
v remains constant, the result is the very same, viz.
f(v + z + h)=f(x + h) ;
therefore, in the development of / 0 + z + ^) —
f(x + h), viz.
" f (x) + ph + qh2 + rh3 +, &c. _
in which p, q, &c. are functions of x; that is, ot v + z,
these functions will be the very same, whichever of the
two, v and z, has been considered as the variable, the other
remaining constant. Now, by the nature of a differential
(art. 7), we have
4/0)}-4/(> + z)).
^ dx d(v z)
and upon the supposition that v is variable and z constant,
then
d{f(v + z)}
^ dv ’
d{f(v + z)} _
dz
— and in like manner, f = —and 5'__
(IX ax
dx1
and so
on ; hence
^ dx
?=Ip'=iJ=
r — xf/ —  
3 7-3 dx- l2.3 dx?
1 (Pu
1.2 dx2 ’
1 (Pu
s = lr' =
dr
1 d^u
tTx=~\2J74 ~dx?'
&c.
These values of p, q, r, s, &c. being substituted in tlie
series u + ph + q/d + rh3 + sfd +, «&c. we obtain
f(x + h) =
, duri d'U If , d*u h3 d^u K
u-r-rh + 'T-r, -jzt 71T5 +
&c.
dx" ' dx1 1.2 1 da? 1.2.3 ^ dx? 1.2.3.4 1 '
where u — f (x) ; this is Taylor’s theorem. 1 •
32. We shall now give another investigation of this
important formula, which is remarkable for its brevi¬
ty and simplicity. It rests on the following analytic
principle. .
If u be any function whatever of v -T z, which relation
may be expressed thus, u — f (v -f-z) ; the differential co-effi¬
cient of u, found on the supposition that\ is variable and z
constant, will be the very same as if it were found on the
supposition that z is variable and x constant.
To exemplify this in particular cases, suppose + zf,
then, making v variable and z constant, — z= n{i' + z)w *;
and making z variable and v constant, ^~ — n(y-\-z')n *,
Again, let m :=
d{f(v + z)) _ ^(/(^ + .
dv dz
the first side of this equation being the result of the
differentiation, supposing v variable, and the second the
result, on the hypothesis that z is variable. Since the two
expressions and are identical
and the same function v z, we may represent that
function by the symbol F (v + z) ; then, by reasoning as
before, we shall have
J{F{v + z)} _ d{¥(v + z)}
dv dz
{/ (v + z)} _ <P{f(v + *))
tnat is, ~ dz*
Thus it appears that the second differential co efficient of
the function y (v + z) is the same expression, whether v
or z be regarded as the variable; and the reasoning may
be extended to the co-efficient of any order.
33. Supposing now f (#) — w to be any function of a?, and
fix + h) = u' to be its value when x becomes a; + h, it
has been proved (art. 29, 30), that the expansion of u is
u1 — u ph + qlf + rIf + sti';
and here jo, q, r, &c. are functions of x, into which x does
not at all enter; while, on the other hand, h is entirely
independent of x. From the identity of the function 11
and its expansion, their differentials, taken on the same
hypothesis, must be equal, whichever of the quantities x
and h be regarded as the variable. Supposing, first, x
variable and h constant, we have
du'
_du ^
dx dx
^Ph + +, &c.
dx dx dx dx
= a*
then
the same as before.
^and— are expressed by the same quantity \.a.av a*
-\.a.av+x.
The truth of the principle is almost self-evident; for if
we make r + z 1= a*, so thaty^r + z) =f(x) ; then, whe-
and next, supposing h to be variable and x constant,
(^r = p + 2qh + Srh2 + ^sk3 +, &c.
dh
dv! _ du' '
Now it has been shown in last article that ^ ’
therefore the series which are their expansions must be
identical; and hence the terms independent of A must be
equal, also the co-efficients of the same power of h, so
that
du „ dp
P ~ dx ^ dx
3r-^
6 ~ dx'
dr „
4s = -3-, &c.
dx
FLUXIONS.
691
Direct du . c . dp , d°u ,
Method, and since P = ^ therefore — \ ^-2, and r =
. do 1 d?u . .dr 1 „ .
* dx~ 2T3 5 a S° 5 - 4 ^ - o q /. —&c.; and,
dx ~ 2.3.4 dx*
on the whole,/(x + K) —
. du . . d2uh2 . d?u h3 dAu A4
“=“ + &A+<^2+&*2^ +&*273TI
+ > &C.
From this formula it appears, that if h be the increment
of the variable x ; the whole increment of u, any function
of x, is
h?
+ ,&c.
duh . d'U h2 . d?Ju
U ~U = dx\ + dx? 172 + cte3 i . 2.3
A2
✓ . 7x . ' i , n(n— 1)
(x + A)n := a?n + nxn _ 1A + - xn ~ ‘
n(n—1)(V< — 2) , 7, ,
+ —^—-j——   xn~3 h3 +, &c.
This is the well-known binomial theorem (Algebra,
art. 160).
35. Next, let f (x) be u = ax, a variable power of the
constant quantity a. Then, putting
A=(a-l)-l(a-iy + i(a-iy~l(a-iy+, &c.
n 1 m du A x d?u X d3u x
By article 19, ^ = Aa , ^ = A'a , = A3 « ,
d*u A . x „
^5 = A “ -&C-
Remarking now that f (x h) — ax ^ h — ax a1, we
have
^ h * f. , . , , A2A2 , A3 A3 A4A4 , I
a a —a |l + A<+ L2 + 1.2.3+ 1.2.3.4+ ’&C‘J 5
and dividing both sides by ax, and changing A into x,
x , . . , A2a;2 A3#3 A4#4
a =l+Ax+rr2+T-w-l+j-w:rri+,&c.
If we suppose x = 1, then,
, . a . A2 . A3 , A4
"_1+ + 1.2+ 1.2.3+ 1.2.3.4 + 5 cCC'
and if we make x = 4-, we have
A
a = 1 + 1 + —r, +
+
1.2 1.2.3' 1.2.3.4
+ , &c.
Hence it appears that aA is a constant number, which is
the sum of this series. By taking the sum of a sufficient
number of its terms, we find
aA= 2-718281828459.
Let this number, which will frequently recur, be denoted
by the letter e, and we have
Direct
Method.
and a — e and
'= 1 + Az-f
A2®2 . A3a^
AV
&c.
a series composed of the successive differential co-effi¬
cients of the function, each multiplied by an integer
power of A, and divided by the products 1, 1.2, 1 . 2.3,
&c.
Application of Taylor s Theorem to the Development of
Functions.
We shall now give some applications of this most im¬
portant analytic formula to the development of functions.
34. Let the function f (x) be w — so that/ (# + A)
— (# +A)". By successive differentiation (art. 13 and 27),
du „ . dsu . , x „ .•> d3u , 0x „ 3
—r—nxn-1, -^-—nin—])xn~2, —.—n(n—1) (n—2)Xn~3,
dx dxi2 v ' dx3 v v
—4 — n(n — 1) (w — 2) (n — 3) xn ~ 4, &c.
These differential co-efficients, when substituted in the
formula, give
1.2 ' 1.2.3 ' 1.2.3.4
and making y — Ax, so that y may be any number,
0y-1 J'l + y3_ + r_ + &c.
^ 1.2.3^ 1.2.3.4+’
i remarkable property of the
I+J/+ 1.2
expresses
This formula
number e.
36. Let the function f (x) be w zz log x to base a,
then, by article 20,
du 1 d~u — 1 d3u 1.2
dx Ax dx? Ax' dx3 Ax3’ ^C*
diu
dx*
1.2.3
d5u
dx5
1.2.3.4.5
&c.
Ax4 dx* Ax5
Hence, by the theorem, f (x A- A) — log (x + h) =z
J_ f A_ A2 A3 _ A4
0°X A a; 2a? 3a?3 4a^ 1 dx5
Make a? zz 1, and observe that log 1 zz 0, and change A
into x, and we have
’A5 * 0 )
5a^ _’ &C’ } ’
log (1 -f *) = — {a;—i*2 + +, &c.|
This is the logarithm of 1 -f a; in the system whose
base is a.
In the preceding article we found that a = eA, hence,
from the theory of logarithms (Algebra, sect, xix.), A
is the logarithm of a to the base e. Now
A = a - 1 -1 (« - 1)! + I ( a- 1 r-i(“-1)4,+, &c.
Therefore, in the system whose base is e,
logo zz a—1 —l(a— l)2 + ±(a—])3 — l(a — V/;
and hence, putting Iff-a? for a, and a? for a— 1, in that
system,
log (1 + a;) zz x — \x?-\-±x? — i^ff-j &c.
Now we found that in the system whose base is a,
log (1+a?) = — \x2+±x3 — lar4-]-, &c.}
By comparing these two expressions for log (Iff-a:), it
appears that in the system whose base is e, the constant
quantity A, which is
e-l-K*- 1)2+K« — l)3~ Ke — !)4+»
is equal to unity. Logarithms computed according to
this system are the same as those first given to the world
by Napier, the celebrated inventor of logarithms, who
was, however, led to them by a very different path from
that here followed. It so happens that the same loga¬
rithms express hyperbolic areas, and hence they were
called hyperbolic logarithms, a distinction quite improper,
because hyperbolic areas may be expressed by logarithms
of any system. Accordingly, it is now common to deno¬
minate them, in honour of the inventor, Napierian loga¬
rithms. In speaking of these, then, it must be understood
that their base is e=2-718281828459, &c.; and remem¬
bering that the letter 1 prefixed to any expression of a
function means Napiers logarithm of that function (art.
19).
1. (l + x)=x—^xP-hix3—,^ ff-, &c.
and since A = Nap. log a (see last article), therefore in
the system whose base is a,
log (1+a?)=ff7^{‘
^ff-ffa?3 — ^ff-j&c.}
692
Direct
Method.
FLUXIONS.
The constant multiplier p1--, called the modulus of the By (1) ^=2.3 sin in cos4 u,
dhi
1. a
system, is, for Briggs’s logarithms,
1 — -4342944819033 —, and its reciprocal,
i.(io)-
1. (10) — 2-302585092994.
37. Let the function befx=uz=: sin x, then
fhi d2u . d3u
^c=+c0SX’dtf=-SmX’d^ = - C°S
4^7 = + sin X, ~ = + cos x, &c.
dxi ‘ dx5
These values of the differential co-efficients being sub¬
stituted in the theorem, it gives/(# +A) = sin (x + h)
h . A2 hi
= sin x + cos x j— sin #-j-y — cosx ^ ^ - + sin x ^2.3.4
+ , &c.
f . /. hl A4 A6
dxA
d5u
Direct
Method.
By (2) -^-3 = 2.3.4 cos 5u cos5 u,
- <|
1 sm a; H — 2 + 2 3 A 2 3.4.5.6
+ cos ai^A
A3
+ -
A5
+ , &c. j
&C- )
2.3 ' 2.S.4.5
Let the function befx = u =z cos x, then
du . d2u d?u
dx dx9- dx3
d^u d5u . .
—r—r = COS X, -r-T =  Sin X, &C.
did dx>
and by substituting in the formula/(a;-!-A) — cos (a;-j-A)
.A A* . A3 , A4
—cos x—sinx-r—cosa? — -f-sin x —-f-cos a? ——-—,&c.
1 /C 1C.O.41
/_ A2 . A4 A6 , o \
cos a.^1 —~2 + 23A~ 2.S.4.5.6 +’ &C7
sinK/i_ra
2 1 2.3.4
A3 , A5
3
By (1) -^r — 2.3.4.S sin bu cos6 w,
By (2) = — 2.3.4.5.6 cos lu cos? u, «&c.
Hence, if we put tan u — x, and tan v! = x-\-h, we de¬
duce from Taylor's theorem this very general and re¬
markable formula :
, , A . 0 2 A2 o , A 3
u —Um\~ cos u cos u.- sm 2mcos^ u—— cos 3m cos3 m —-
I O
4- sm 4m cos4 m — + cos 5m cos5 m —
1 4 5
— sin 6m cosb m — , &c.
6
If the arc u be supposed r= 0, then sin m, sin 2m, &c.
are each 0, and the powers of cos u each 7= 1, and the
formula becomes
1 1 r 1
m — tan m — 3 tan3 wf^tan5 u — ^ tan7 m + , &c.
a formula due to James Gregory. We have found this
series in a very different way (Algebra, art. 270), and
have there applied it to the determination of the ratio of
the diameter to the circumference. It will be therefore
sufficient to state the result here. Let cr denote half the
circumference of a circle, of which the rad. = 1, then
‘zr— 3-141592653590—.
Maclauriris Theorem.
id
Put P = 1
Q = A
2 ^ 2.3.4
‘ 2.3.4.5 2.S.4.5.6.7
A4 A6
A3
-h
A5
2.S.4.5.6
id
+ , &c.
+ , &c
2-3 1 2.S.4.5 2.3.4.5.0.7
Then sin (a; + A) = P sin a: + Q cos x,
cos (az + A) r= P cos x — Q sin x.
Hence, by eliminating Q and P in succession,
sin (a: + A) sin a; + cos (az + A) cos a; =r P,
sin (a; +A) cos x — cos (az + A) sin x = Q.
Therefore (Algebra, 239), cos h = P, sin A—Q; and
exchanging A for x,
17*2 t»4 716
Us . tO tO | .
 "1“ ^7771 — —-0 c , &C,
)39. There is a general formula nearly related to that of
Taylor, and indeed an easy deduction from it, commonly
called Maclaurin s Theorem. It is given at page 610 of
the second volume of his fluxions (printed in 1742); but
it is proper to say, that the same formula, in substance,
was given in 1717 by Stirling, in his Linece Tertii Ordines
Neutoniance, p. 32.
We have found that/(a?) = u being any function of a
variable x,
d3u A3 . g?4m A4
,&c.
/./ , x \ , du . 1 d m A
f(x+k)=u+Txh+^
dx3 2.3 1 dx^ 2.3.4
Suppose now that x = 0, and that by making this assump¬
tion
x?
2.3.4
xh
2.3.L5.6
x7
. f(x) = m becomes U,
also that—becomes U',
dx
+ , &c.
S!n*= *-273+ 2.3.4.5 2.3A5.6.7
The same results might have been obtained easier by
making a? 0 in the series for sin (az+A) and cos. (az + A).
38. Let the function be the arc whose tangent is x,
that is, m ~ tan 1
U",
U"
x;
dx
then du = Y-\-x9 “ COs2 U ^art‘
, du
and — = cos u cos u.
dx
T-he succeeding differential co-efficients will be found
by formulae (1) and (2) of article 26.
t> / ■, \ d? u .
tty (1) = — sin 2m cos2 m,
„ d3n
57 ^ ~d&~~2 C0S 3“ C0S3
d2u
dx1
cPu
dx3
&c.
Then Taylor’s theorem becomes
A2 A3
J{h)=U+ Uh + TJ" + U‘" ^3 +, &c.
or, changing A into x,
x2 , x?
f(x) = U+ Ux + U" i :2 +
U"‘
+ , &c.
1.2.3
From this it appears, that provided u be such a func¬
tion of x as admits of being expanded into a series of the
form
m — A + Ba; + Ca;2 -f- Da;3 +, &c.
where A, B, C, D, &c. are constant quantities, then, U
being the value of m when a; = 0, and U', U", U'", &c. be-
FLUXIONS.
Method. ing the values of the differential co-efficients-7^, (,
doc doc doc
&c. found on that hypothesis, we have
A= f7,B= U',C= U’\ D = U'", &c.
and consequently,
u=:U^ U'x+U"~ + U"~ +, &c
This is Maclaurin s theorem, of which we shall now
give some applications.
40. Let w = (a + x)n. The expansion of this expres-
du
sion has the requisite form ; then -j- — n (a + a?)"-1,
cos x ■— 1
a?2
+
a4
x6
+ ,&c.
1.2 ' 1.2. 3.4 1.2.3.4.5.6
44. Let u denote the arc whose sine is xj that is, let
u = sin-1 x. In this case (23),
du ,, 1
— = (l—xz) 2,
cPu .
M = n(n-
1) (a + x)n-2,
dx
d^u
dxf
d3u
dx3
dAu
dx*
2,
dfiuL
— ~n{n~~ 1) (« — 2) (« + a?)”-3, &c.
The supposition that x=0 makes
uz=a- = U,^ = nan~l = U\ d^ = n(n—\) a"-* = U",
~ a; (1 — a:2)"
=(1—^)~l+3^(l
= 3.3ar (1 — a;2)-^
&c.
— X2) V
+ 3.5a?3 (1 —x2)
(Pu
—3 = n (n —\)(n — 2) an-3 — ty", &c.
The proper substitutions being made in the general theo¬
rem, we have
(a + *)” = «” + rca”-1 a? + ^ a~-2 a:2 f(x+h) = u+~j +
Making x = 0 we get 17 = 0, U' — 1, U" — 0, Um — 1,
Ulw — 0; and, by continuing the process of differentiation,
£7V — 3.3, &c. therefore
x* , 3 . Sx5 , 32.5V , 0
U~X + 1.2.3+ 1.2.3.4.5+1.2.3.4.5.6.7+’ &C*
Cases in which Taylor s Theorem fails.
45. We have seen that Taylor’s theorem, viz. u—f(^x)
being any function of a variable x,
du h , d~u A2 , d7u A3
+ 7^
+ , &c.
+
n(n — 1) {n
1.2.3
2)
— an~3 x? +, &c.
41. Let u — a . This function is also of the kind that
admits of expansion by the theorem; the differential co¬
efficients are (art. 19), putting A = 1. a,
du . x d?u x d?u „ x
= A“ ’ d^=A a ’ = = A3“ > &o.
dx
dx3
The supposition that a? = 0 gives u=z 1, and
du . d2u .. d3u
- = A' - = A*’ ^ = A,'&c-
dx2 1.2' dx3 1.2.3
will always hold true, provided that the variable x be re¬
garded as indeterminate. If however particular values
be given to a?, there are cases in which the development
is of no use, because in these cases it is not applicable to
the function.
For example, let m A -f- {x— a)- ; in this case,
du 1 d?u 1
i, &c.
dx
a)i’d*!
4>(x — a)%-
dx
dx2
A3ar3
+ , &c.
Hence = 1 + Ax + 3
as was found in art. 35.
42. The formula u = ]og x does not admit of being ex¬
panded into a series of the prescribed form, for in this case
du 1. •.*, _ . du
— — — ; the supposition that x = 0 makes u and --,as
ClOC J\X
well as all the following differential co-efficients, infinite.
The function u — log \n + x), however, admits of the
application of the formula. In this case (art.' 20),
du _ l d2u __ — 1 <Pu 1 . 2
dx~ K(n -f x)’ dx? ~ A(n + x)2’ dx? ~ Afi + x)3’ &C'
The assumption that a: = 0 makes u = log n — U, and
2 (al¬
and by the theorem,
/(a; + A) r= A + (a: — a + A)2 = A + (a; — a)^
1 A2 +, &c.
+
A
du_ 1 _ JJt <^u _
dx An ’ dx2 ~~
1 TT d?u 1.2
= U’^=A^=V"'’&'-
An2
We have now, by the general formula,
log(n + x) = log*+i-|^_|l +
By making n = 1, and therefore log n = 0, we have the
expression for log (1 + #), as already found.
43. The theorem may be applied to the functions
u = sin x, and u = cos x, without the least difficulty. For
the first we have
17= 0, V’ = 1, U" = 0, U"' = — 1, &c.
0$ oc*
and sin x= x — - —-—- + i—o - r. 7—p +, &c.;
1 . 2
for the second function
u= 1, u> = 0, U" =
1.2.3.4.5
-1, Uw = 0, &c.
2 (a; — a)2 8 (a: — a)2
Now if we give to x any particular value greater than
a, the development is perfectly significant, and expresses
truly the value of A + (a: — « + A)2. If however we give
to x the particular value a, then x — a — 0, and the de-
A A2
velopment becomes A + 0 +    — +, &c.
2(0)2 8(0)2
from which no conclusion whatever can be drawn, because
all the terms having zero in the denominator are infinite.
If in the expression A + (ar— a + A)2 we make x = a,
it becomes A -(- A^. This expression has two values, viz.
A + 'Oh, A — Vh. The development given by the the¬
orem contains, however, only positive integer powers of
A ; therefore it can have only a single value; and hence
it is impossible that it should express the function in the
particular case of x = a. In such cases the theorem has
been said to fail; this however happens not from any
imperfection in the theorem, but merely because it is
unsuitable to the purpose to which it has been applied;
and this want of applicability is indicated by the co-effi¬
cients of the powers of A failing to express any thing de¬
finite.
46. Again, let the function be w =
(*—a)!
; then
693
Direct
Method.
' ^
694
Direct
Method.
FLUXIONS.
25 d?U
65
— {x—af' dx2 (x — a)4’
&c.
b _ b 25 7
Ax+h) ~ (x—a + Kf ~ (x—af (x—af 1
+ ( ^ ,u h* —> &c.
(a; — <i)4
Here x may have any particular value greater or less than
a, and the development will be perfectly significant; if,
however, x be equal to a, it becomes
JL — h + w &c-;
{of (of ^ (of
an expression that has no meaning, because each of the
co-efficients of h is infinite.
If we make a; = « in ^ + ^2 > the function to be
expanded, it becomes = bh~z, an expression in which
the exponent of h is negative; therefore this case cannot
be included in a formula which contains only positive in¬
tegers of 5, and hence the apparent failure of the theorem.
47. That a general formula should not express all par¬
ticular cases, was at one time regarded as a kind of para¬
dox in analysis. Lagrange first cleared up this point, and
showed, that when by giving particular values to x, the
new state of the function contains terms of the form
m
— or QJin, that is, negative or fractional powers of h,
then, from the very nature of the calculus, all the co-effi¬
cients in the general development after a certain term
will become infinite. On the other hand, when a parti¬
cular value of x renders the co-efficients infinite, we may
conclude that the development in that case ought to
contain fractional or negative powers of h. In such par¬
ticular easels as appear not to admit of expansion by
Taylor’s theorem, other methods deducible from the cal¬
culus are applicable ; in general, the ordinary algebraic
methods are sufficient.
Differentiation of Equations of two Variables.
48. We have as yet differentiated only equations in
which the variables were separated, such as this, y — a
+ 5 a; + cx2, where y is an explicit function of x. But
the equations which chiefly occur in analytical inquiries
contain for the most part the two variables combined or
mixed together; as in this equation,
y2 — 2 mxy + a;2 — or = 0.
If we suppose the equation resolved, so that y is ex¬
pressed in terms of x only, which gives
y = =±= Va? + (m2 — 1) a;2,
the differentials may be found by the rules already ex¬
plained. In general, however, the variables cannot be so
separated, and therefore it is necessary that we be able to
determine the differential co-efficients of a function by
other means.
49. An equation formed in any way from two inde¬
pendent variable quantities may be represented by the
general symbol
/(x> y) = 0.
The variable y must be expressible in some way by x ;
therefore we may represent its value, however found, by
the equation ?/ — X, where X denotes an expression
made up of terms containing only x and constant quanti¬
ties. When this value of y is substituted in the equation,
it becomes
f(x, X) = 0.
This is an identical equation, involving x only, which Direct
must hold true whatever value be given to x. Let the Method
expression/(x, X) =/(x, y) be denoted briefly by u. Sup¬
pose now x to change its value and become x -f h; by
Taylor’s theorem, its new values will be
, . du , . dlu . d?u . ,
u = u + Txh + ^h +d?h +’&c-
The equation/(x> y) — u = Q must hold true whatever
value be given to x ; therefore we must have u’ — 0, and
this requires that the co-efficients of the different powers
of the indeterminate quantity h be separately z= 0 (art.
18), so that from the equation u zr f(x, y) — ^ there may
be derived a series of equations,
du cPu d?u
dx~ °’ dx2~ °’ dx* ~ °’ &
which must all hold true at the same time as the original
equation.
50. Let us take for example the equation
y2 -f x? — a2, or y2 + x2 — a2 =: 0 (1.)
in which a is a constant quantity; in this case,
u — y2 + x2 — a2;
hence we have by differentiation
. dy x
and ~ — .
ax y
•(SO-
To determine the differential co-efficient of the second
order, put ^ = p, and we have
du
dx
= 2 yp + 2 x ;
as is a function of x and y, and y is, 0. function of x,
therefore jo is a function of x. Taking now the differen¬
tials, and dividing by dx, the result is
S=2(4+4+i)=0i
. , dy . dp d2y
hence, because p — and ^
S=^S+S+0 = o  w
From this equation we get
^1. - 4- A
dx1 ~ y \dxl ^ V
or, since
dy
y
1
.(4.)
dx
d2y _ x1
dx? if y
To find the differential co-efficient of the third order, we
put ^ — and substituting p for ^ in equation
(a/Jl CL iV
dx? dx
(3), it becomes
d‘2u
dx2
= 2 (yq + p2 + 1) = 0 ;
observing that p and q are functions of x and y, and con¬
sequently of x, we may find by differentiation an expression
which will involve, besides x and y, these quantities,
ffl dp _ (Py dfy . . _ dp _
dx1 dx dx2' 2 dx1' " dx’
(lo (ArlJ
and from this equation ^ may be determined, ob¬
serving that and ^ are expressed by x and y in equa¬
dx
tions (4) and (2).
51. The preceding analysis gives the following rule for
FLUXIONS.
695
Direct determining the differential co-efficients of y, a function
Method. 0f x, when the relation between x and y is expressed by
an equation.
Take the differentials of the terms of the equation, con¬
sidering y as a function of x, and dividing by dx, the re-
dy
suit will be an equation which gives the value of
Again, take the differentials of the terms of this equation,
considering y and as functions of x, and the result will
(Py
equivalent to + (1
y (?/ — inxy
53. Differential equations of all orders hold true simul¬
taneously wdth the primitive from which they have been
derived, therefore any combination of them will also hold
true ; and whatever number of values the function y has
(in the preceding example it has two), the differential co¬
efficients into which y enters will have the same number.
It has appeared (art 15) that in functions of a certain
form the constants they contain vanish from their diffe-
,, , rentials. A like remark applies to differential equations,
be an equation involving and -X which, combined Thus, if i/2 rr a# + & be a primitive equation, in which
a and b are constants, the differential equation is Zydy
with the former, serves to determine g. A third equa- = .«f •' *is be'0^s, ^"“frivinf al"
’ dot? which can be formed from the primitive, by giving an
tion may be found from this, by taking the differentials, possible values to b. I he constant a may also be made
7 « " to disappear by putting the equation under this form,
and considering y, and as functions of#,* and this,
(Py
combined with the other two, gives and so on to any
number of equations.
Let y be such a function of x that
y1 — 2 mxy + #2 — a2 zr 0 (1.)
It is proposed to determine its differential co-efficients.
By a first differentiation
{y — mx) dy — (my — x) dx — 0,
and  (2.)
dx y — mx
Again, by differentiating,
d*y _ (i — fy (i —ffl2),y
Direct
Method.
y2 j ^
x x
for this by differentiation gives
2xydy — y’dx — bdx
x? x? ’
and 2xydy — (y2
7N t w dy y2 — b
■ b)dx _ 0; or — _ ^
dx* (y — mxy ' dx (y — mocf
dy
and, substituting for its value,
— 2 mxy + x1 —(1 — m2)a2 ^
<h?- — v" " ; (y — mxf ~ (y—mxf
If we take the differentials of both sides of equation
(3), and consider ^f, as functions of x, we shall ob¬
tain
 (5.)
d%y _ p d^y dy
dx 3 ~ ^ dx? + ^ dx +
Here P, Q, R, denote expressions composed of y and x.
By substituting for and ^ their values as given by
equations (4) and (2), there will be obtained the value of
—in terms of x and y.
dx3
52. The equations which may be deduced by differen¬
tiation from a proposed equation are called fluxional or
differential equations, and the equation from which they
have been deduced is called the primitive equation. The
dy
equation which gives the value of ^ is said to be of the
d?y
first order, and that which involves ^ is of the second
order, and so on for the higher orders.
Thus, the primitive equation being
y2 — 2mxy + x1 — a2 = 0,
we have found, for the differential equation of the first
order,
dy my — x _ Q _
dx y — mx
and that of the second order,
dfiy__ (1 mi)x ' dy_ (1 —ml)y_
dx1 (y—mx)"1 ’ dx (y—mxy ’
This equation expresses a relation which subsists be¬
tween the quantities x, y, independently of any parti¬
cular value of the constant a.
The very same equation will be obtained by eliminat¬
ing, by the ordinary process (Algebra, sect. 7), a from
the two equations
y2 = ax + b, 2ydy — adx.
If the constant quantity which is eliminated is not of
the first degree in the proposed equation, the result will
contain powers of the co-efficient ^ higher than the first.
For example, let the equation be
y2 — 2ay + x2 = a2 ;
then, by differentiating,
ydy — ady + xdx — 0,
, ydy + xdx
hence a —    .
dy
This value of a being substituted in the proposed equa¬
tion, we obtain, after due reduction,
dy
an equation that expresses a relation between x, y, —,
which is independent of any particular value of a.
By resolving the equation in respect of a, we find
a — —y z±= V/2y2 + ;
and hence, the constant a forming a term by itself, it dis¬
appears by differentiation, and we have
+ xdx _ n
V2y2 + x2
an equation which, being freed from the radical sign, will
be identical with the former.
54. Any number of constants whatever may be made
to disappear by repeating the process of differentiation as
often as there are quantities to be eliminated ; for ex¬
ample, let the equation be y2 = /w (a2 — x2); by a first dif-
dy
ferentiation y = — mx ; taking the differentials a se-
696
FLUXIONS.
MetS. cond time, we get = — m' This value of "
m being substituted in the former equation, it becomes
dy dyz d2y
ytx-xt*F-xyd^
a result which is independent of both a and m.
= 0,
Of Vanishing Fractions.
55. When the numerator and denominator of a fraction
are such functions that, by giving a particular value to
their variable, they both become = 0 at the same time,
the fraction is then called a vanishing fraction. The frac-
_____ *
tion  is of this kind ; for when x = a, the numera-
x — a
tor and denominator both vanish, and the fraction takes
the form jj, from which we can draw no conclusion as to
its true value, although it be evident that the fraction
has then a determinate value; for
x2 — a2 (x a) (x — a) .
 r=   —   =z x a ;
x — a x — a
and when x — a, its true value is as a + a = 2a.
It appears that the above fraction has taken the pecu¬
liar form ^ when x — a, from the circumstance of its hav¬
ing the factor x— a in the numerator and denominator.
The same is true of this other fraction,
af5 — x^a — xa2 + a?
which takes form jj when x-= a. The numerator and deno¬
minator have a common divisor, x — a ; when freed from
■; when x ■=. a, this fraction be-
this, it becomes —
comes which is truly = 0. Again, this fraction
dX —— Q?’
^2 2ax -|_ a2> which has the same property when x=a,
by reason of the common factor x — a, when freed from
the factor is
Thus when x = a becomes —, that
x — a
is, the value is infinite. In these cases the common fac¬
tor is obvious ; but it is not so always. Take this as an
1 - Qin 'Y* -4- y
example, —: -r- — ; when a; is a quadrant, or
sin x + cos x— I 1
= i-ir, this fraction becomes For its true value in this
case, see ex. 4 of art. 57.
56. When the terms of the fraction are algebraic func¬
tions, their greatest common measure may be found by an
elementary operation in Algebra (art. 20), and the frac¬
tion disengaged from it by division. A more simple and
general solution may, however, be obtained from the dif¬
ferential calculus,
p
Let — denote a fraction, the terms of which are func¬
tions of x that vanish when x — a, some given quantity.
Suppose now that x becomes x h, then, by Taylor’s
theorem, the fraction will become
. <pp h?
+ — —V, ^ +, &c.
By hypothesis, when x a, then P and Q both vanish ; Direct
therefore, leaving them out of the expression, and putting Method.
P', P", Pw, &c. to denote the differential co-efficients of P
in the numerator, and Q', Q", Qw, &c. those of Q in the
denominator, and dividing the terms by h, the fraction
will be expressed by
P + lP"h + f?"'h2 +, &c.
Q! + h2 +, &c.’
P'
When 4=0, this expression becomes —; and when a
is put in this fraction instead of x, the result will be the true
P . .
value of ? f°r it is manifestly the same thing to suppose,
first, that x becomes x + h, and then that x = a and
h = 0, as to suppose at once that x — a.
If it happen that one of the two quantities, P', Q', be¬
comes — 0 when a is substituted instead of x, then the
P
fraction will be = 0, or infinite, according as the va-
y
nishing quantity is the numerator or denominator ; if both
become — 0 at once, then, leaving them out, the expres¬
sion becomes, by reduction,
P" + fPwh +, &e.
Q" + ^Qf'h +, &c.5
P" . . .
and making A = 0, it become —, which, putting a instead
y
p
of x, will be the value of the fraction yr-, and so on.
y
P
57. Hence we have this rule : To find the fraction in
y
the particular case of x — a, supposing that P and Q are
both reduced to 0 by this supposition. Divide the diffe¬
rential co-efficient of the numerator by that of the deno-
P' .
minator; let the result be in which make # = a; then,
y
if this expression does not become it is the value sought;
0 . P' .
but ifit takes the form -, treat the fraction in all respects
like the original fraction, and deduce from it a new frac-
tion~, and proceed in this way until an expression be
found which does not become when a is put for x ; and
the first expression that is found having this property is
the value sought.
Ex. 1. The sum of the geometrical series
1 + a? + ic2 + a^...+ x?1-1 to n terms
xn  J
is  Find its value when a? = 1.
x— 1
In this case, P zz a?” — 1. Q z= x— 1; hence we deduce
dP . dQ „ P'
-j- — nx"-1 = Pr; -j- = 1 = Q, — nxn~x;
dx dx Q!
P'
when a; = 1, the fraction = w, the value of the sum of
the series, as is manifest.
ax2 + ac2 — 2acx P
C?
Ex. 2. Let the fraction be
bx2 — 2bcx + be?
X, ydP - , d2P h2
+ aA + g T72
^ dx'1^ dx2\ .2
0
dx3 1.2.3
which becomes — when x — c, to find its value. In this
h3
dx3 1.2.3
+ , &c.
dP o
case —j— — 2aa;.
dx
2ac z=P';~ = 2bx — 2bc = Q!;
FLUXIONS.
Direct
Method.
P'   2ax — 2ac ax — ac
Q! 2b x — 2bc bx — be
Making x = c, this fraction becomes jj, therefore, pro¬
ceeding as before,
d2P „ „
— 2a — P" . — 9/, — O" -  
~ ’ dx* ~ Q" ~ b’
hence it appears that when x — c, the value of the frac-
. a
tion is -7.
o
Ex. 3. The fraction becomes^ when a; = 0.
x 0
Find its value then. In this case,
= 1. (a) ax — 1. (6) bx z=. P'; 1 = Q'.
dx
When a; 0, ^ becomes 1. (a) — 1. (6) — 1. the value
required.
Ex. 4. Let the fraction be
0
1 — sin a? + cos x
sin x + cos x — 1
which
becomes - when x — |<r. Here
d? dQi .
jj, = — cos x — sin ar — F; — — cos x— sin x = Qf;
P' _ — cos x — sin x
Q! ~ cos x — sin a:
When x = ^ir, a quadrant, then cos x =z 0, and sin x
z= 1; the value of the proposed fraction is therefore 1^-2:
= 1.
Ex. 5. Let the fraction be
to find its
a', a = a', and a < a'. In the first case, we may write
the expression thus:
Ah* — *' + +,&c.
A'+ +,&c. ’
Under this form, it is manifest that as long as a is greater
than a', the supposition of h z= 0 will make the fraction
A
equal to nothing, and that it will become — when <x — a!;
A
but when a a', we write the expression thus:
A + +,&c.
A'Aa'— “ + B'// ~ , &c. ’
and by the supposition of ^ zr 0, this result becomes in¬
finite. In all cases the true value depends on the first
term alone of each series.
59. The following rule extends to all fractions which
can occur under the indeterminate form jj.
Take thefirst term of each of the series which express the
development of the numerator and denominator when x
= a + h ; reduce the resulting fraction to its most simple
form, and then make h = 0.
Aj.2   a2\|
The fraction   whose value cannot be found
(# — a)%
by differentiation, when x — a becomes by this method
(2ah + A2) ^ 3
^ = (2a + A)2,
h?
when x is changed into x h; making now A = 0, we
have its true value (2a)2.
This last rule will sometimes be preferable to the for-
mer, by differentiation, even when that process is applica¬
ble. For example, four successive differentiations must
be performed on the numerator and denominator of this
fraction,
697
Direct
Method.
value when x = a. In this case P z= a0 ~ —
Q — a — x.
making x zz a, we have a° n i\. a ^ \ for the
l a J
value required.
58. The rule of last article will not apply when Taylor’s
theorem fails to give the developments of the functions P,
Q, in the case when x — a. When this happens, we may
substitute a + A instead of x in the fraction
P
Q’
and ex¬
pand the numerator and denominator into ascending se¬
ries, which proceed by the powers of A ; we shall then
have
AA* + BAg +, &c.
Mha' + B7/ +, &c.
instead of the proposed fraction. If in this result we sup-
p
pose A 0, we shall have the value of the fraction —
Li
when x zz a. Now there are here three cases; viz. a >
VOL. IX.
xr —. fax1 + id1 x — 2a3 — 2ag v 2ax — a2
a?2 — 2ax — a2 + 2a y' 2ax — a?2
in order to find its true value when x zz a; by writing
a + A instead of x, it becomes
2a3 -f 2a2 A ah2 + h3 ~ 2a2 a2 4- 2a/
— 2a2 + A2 + 2a </ a* — A2
and reducing the radical quantities into series, we have
A2 . A3 5A4
y' a2 — A2 = a — — A4
2a Sa^
Sa3’
—, &c.
+ , &c.
By substituting these series in the fraction, and putting
A — 0, we obtain — 5a for the value sought.
Of the greatest and least Values of a Function.
60. In supposing that a function changes its value, we
may assume that the variable increases continually from
0 to infinity, either positively or negatively. To get dis¬
tinct notions, it may be convenient to suppose that the
variable increases or decreases by successive equal differ¬
ences. The function however may not increase or decrease
continually along with its variable. It may first increase
to a certain magnitude, and afterwards decrease; or it
may decrease and afterwards increase; or it may alter¬
nately increase and decrease several times. We may re¬
present the variable x by the abscissa of a curve, and the
function y by the corresponding ordinate. The curve, from
4 T
fluxions.
698
Direct its nature, may recede continually from its axis, like the pa-
Method. rabola and hyperbola; or it may first recede from and at-
V^V ' tervvards approach to the axis, like the circle and ellipse; or
it may be sinuous, alternately approaching and receding.
When a variable function, by a continual change in its
magnitude, first increases and afterwards decreases, there
will be one value of the function which will be greater
than those which immediately preceded it, and also great¬
er than those which immediately follow it. In this state
the value of the function is the greatest possible, at least
within certain limits on each side of that extreme value;
and then it is said to be a maximum. On the other hand,
if a function, by a continual change in its value, first de¬
creases, until it be reduced to a certain magnitude, and
afterwards increases, it is said to be a minimum, when it
is just changing from the state of a decreasing to that of
an increasing quantity.
A variable function may have several values, each of
which will be a maximum or minimum, according to the
definition. The essential character of a maximum consists
in its being greater than the values which preceded and which
follow it; and that of a m inimum, in being less than the pre¬
ceding and following values. So that as many changes as
there may be from increase to decrease, or the contrary,
so many maxima and minima there will be.
61. Before proceeding farther, it will be convenient to
establish this principle. In a series of the form
ph + qh2 + rlfi + sld +, &c.
in which h is indeterminate, and independent of p, q, r,
&c. such a value may be given to h, that any term shall
exceed the amount of all that follow it. For, putting the
series under this form,
h (p + qh + rh2 + sld +, &c.);
by supposing h to decrease, qh + 'rid + sh? +, &c. may
become less than any assignable quantity, and therefore
less than p ; consequently, qh2 + rh3 + +» &c. may
be less than ph, in any ratio of inequality. In the same
way it will appear that rh + sh2 +, &c. may be less than
q, and rhs + sA4 +, &c. less than qh2, and so on. Hence
it follows, that in the series joA + qh2 + rh3 + sh1 +, &c.
A may have such a value that the amount of all the terms
beginning with any assigned term shall have the sign of
that term, + if it be +, and — if it be —.
62. Let y denote any function which may become a
maximum or minimum when its variable has attained
some particular value ; then, if a; — A and a: + Abe sub¬
stituted successively in the function instead of x, the two
results must be both less than the maximum value, and
both greater than the minimum value. Denoting now the
value of the function which corresponds to a; — A by xy,
and the value which corresponds to a; + A by yx, we have,
by Taylor’s theorem,
dy r , Ty A2 d3x A3
iv=y-JJ + A
magnitude between ,*/ and ?/,, which cannot be. when it
is a maximum or minimum. T le efore, in order that y may
be a maximum or minimum, we must have = 0, and
then, in the expressions
. d2y h2 d?y Id .
's'=3'+5?o_&ir23+’Sc'
Vr
. cPy A2 . d‘‘y A3
= y + — — +
+ , &c.
dxl 1.2 ‘ dx3 1.2.3
such a value may be given to A as shall make xy and yt
both less than y in the case of a maximum, or both greater
in that of a minimum.
It may, however, happen that the value of x which
makes ^ = 0 shall also make = 0, so that we have
dx2 dx2
d3y A3 , d',y Id
L2.3 + dxd 1.2.3.4
_„+€>A_
yi-J^dx3 1.2.3 ^ dad 1.2.3.4
-, &c.
+ ,&c.
dx3 1.2.3
dy 7 , (Py A2 d3y A3
v _ „ _L 4 4. JL _ + _£
'J \ —u ' „ ' n-vti i 9 ‘
+ >&c.
dx * 1 dxi~ 1.2 1 dx? 1.2.3
Now, it is impossible that xy and yx can at the same
time be both less or both greater than y, if the co-effi¬
cient ~ be not = 0 ; for if it have some value different
dx
dy
from zero, then such a value may be given to A that ^ A
shall exceed in any given ratio of inequality all the terms
which follow it, and one of the two series beginning with
dy
z+z A will be a positive quantity and the other nega¬
tive ; and if this were true, y would be of an intermediate
Then the function cannot be a maximum or minimum,
dfijj
unless the same value of x make ~ = 0, and give a fi-
mte value lor —4
63. On the whole, we have this rule, to determine the
maximum or minimum value of y, a function of x.
Make the differential co-efficient ^ — 0: Find the value
ofx, and substitute it in —^ ; and if the result be negative,
the function is a maximum ; but if it be positive, the function
d3y
is a minimum. And if it be z=. 0, then put j^-3 rr 0, andfind
x, and substitute it in , and draw the same conclusions
from the signs as before, and so on.
The rule for determining a maximum or minimum of a
function was first given correctly by Maclaurin, in his
Fluxions, chap. ix.
64. We shall now apply the theory to the resolution of
problems, of which there may be an endless variety, and
many highly interesting.
Ex. 1. To determine whether the function u — 2ax
— x2 has a maximum or minimum value.
In this case the differential co-efficient = 2 (a — x),
which being put rr 0, we have x — a. The second differ-
(ffiu
ential co-efficient ^5 = — 2, a negative quantity, there¬
fore the function has a maximum value (art. 63), viz.
when x— a ; and that value is w a", as is indeed evi¬
dent from the nature of the function.
Ex. 2. Let « r= a;2 + 3a; + 2; then ^ = 2a; + 3. This
(pU . .
put — 0, gives x ■= —|. Again, 2 = 2, a positive
quantity, therefore the function is a minimum when x =
— f. In that case u — — j.
Ex. 3. Let u — x3 — 15 a? + 56a; — 60. Here
^ = 3a;2 —30 a;+ 56, ^ = 6* —30.
dx dx2
FLUXIONS.
699
Direct . du
Method. The equation — = S*2 — 30# + 56=0 being resolved,
c j 15 — */r , • 15 =1= V57
we find x =   . Mai ing a? =   , we find
Fig. 1.
d^u
dtf ~ 6x
30 = rd= 2 V57. Hence it appears that the
function has a minimum, and also a maximum value; the
former corresponding to # =
15 — ^57
to # = .
15 + V57
  > and the latter
if _ 15 + ^57 38 —
MX— ^ , u — — 30 — V57, a minimum.
Direct
Method.
If# =
15
_ -v/57 38  
-g- > u — — 30 H—y- V57, a maximum.
Ex. 4. Let m = #5 —. dx* + S#3 + 1 ;
then ^ = 5#4 — 20#3 + 15#2 = 5#2 ('#2 — 4# + 3) ;
cPu
^ = 20#3 — 60#2 + 30# = 10 # (2#2 — 6# + 3).
The equation ~ = 5#2 (#2 — 4# + 3) = 0,
gives four values of #, viz. # = 3, # = I, the other two
are = 0.
cPu
These being substituted in show that the function
has a maximum and minimum:
when # = 3, ?/ = — 26, a minimum ;
# = 1, m = 2, a maximum ;
when # = 0, then vanishes, therefore there is neither
dx2
maximum or minimum in this case.
Ex. 5. To determine the maxima and minima values of
the function y — xx; we have found (art. 24, ex. 2),
that
^ = ^(1+1.*);
and hence ^ { I + (l+1. i)' };
The function xx cannot be = 0; we must therefore put
1+1. # = 0;
hence 1. # = — 1, and # = e 1 = —.
e
This value of #, substituted in the second differential co¬
efficient, makes
1
d?u /1\« . .
-Jtf = [-) * e’ a positive quantity ;
i_
1 /1\e
therefore, when # = -, x* — (—) , a minimum,
e \ej
Ex. 6. To find the greatest space that can be enclosed
by four given straight lines :
Let the given lines be AB = a, BC = b, CD = e,
DA —f: Let # = angle B, v = angle D, ?/ = the area
ABCD : Draw the diagonal AC.
By trigonometry, g!2 + 52 — 2ab cos # = AC2,
e2 _j_y2 — 2ef cos v — AC2;
Hence, 2ab cos # — 2ef cos v = a2+52-—e2—f2 (1)
And because trian. ABC = ^ab sin #; trian. ADC
= kf sin v,
therefore, y — +ab sin # + £ef sin v (2)
This last equation by differentiation gives, by the na¬
ture of a maximum,
dy dv
-fa = \ao cos x+±ef — cos v = 0 (3)
By differentiating equation (1), we find
abdx sin # — efdv sin # = 0;
j , rdv T sin #
and hence ei — ab — :
dx sin v
Therefore, from eq. (3), ab\ cos #+ ^ x cos v 1 —- 0 ;
( sin # 1
and hence sin v cos # + cos # sin # = 0 ;
that is (Algebra, art. 239), sin (x+v)=0, and x + v='r.
Thus it appears that the opposite angles B, D must to¬
gether make two right angles ; therefore the figure will
be a maximum when it is inscribed in a circle; and since
in this case
cos # = — cos v, sin # = sin u ;
from equations (1) and (2),
2{ab + e/1) cos # = a2 + 52 — e2 —-f2,
2(ab-\-ef) sin # = \y.
By squaring both sides of these equations, and adding,
and observing that cos2 # + sin2 # = 1, we have
4(«5 + ef f - (a2 + 62 — e2—Z2)2 + 16/,
and 16/ = 4(g5 + ef)” — (a2 + Z>2 — e2 —/2)2.
The" right-hand side of this formula admits of being re¬
solved into these two factors, viz.
2aZ> + 2ef+a2+52 — e2—f~2 — (a +J)2 — (e —/)2>
2ab + 2ef—- a2—52 + e2 +/2 - (e +/)2 _ (a _ b)2 ■
and these again admit of this further resolution,
(a + 6 + e—/) (« + 5 —e+/),
(e+/ +« — 5) (e+/—a-\-b) ;
If we now put s — £(a + 5 + e+/),
we have a + 5 + e—f — 2(s — f),
« + 5 — e+f = 2(s — e),
e +/ + a — 6 = 2(s — b),
e +/— a + 5 = 2(s — a).
Hence 16/ = 16(s —a) (s — b) (s — e) (s —f) ;
and y=V(s — a) (s — b) (s — e) (s^f).
We have now found by the calculus an elegant geome¬
trical theorem.
Ex. 7. To determine the dimensions of a cyiindric mea¬
sure, open at top, which shall contain a given quantity of
grain, liquor, &c. under the least internal superficies.
Fig. 2.
700
Direct
Method.
FLUX
T et x AB be the diameter of the base, v = AC its
Wh 7the number 3-1416 (viz. half the circumfe-
reTcc’of a circle whose rad. = 1), and c the co^nt »f
the cylinder. By Geometry, the area of the base
= and its circumference = cr*, and the internal curved
surface of the cylinder = Now, the ^content of the
cylinder c = ^ J and therefore v = \ therefore
the internal curved surface = ^ and putting y for the
whole inside surface of the measure,
therefore, -f- =
y =
dy _
nx1 . 4c
—+ Y’
IONS.
Ex. 9. To find the position of the planet Venus in re- Direct
spect of the earth and sun when her light is the greatest. Method.
The planet does not appear brightest when her disc is
perfectly round; she is then too remote to produce that
effect; and besides, she is seen in the direction of the
sun. In her inferior conjunctions her crescent is too nar¬
row, almost the whole illuminated part being turned to¬
wards the sun. It is therefore in some intermediate po¬
sition, which is to be determined, that she is brightest.
Let S be the sun, E the earth, and ACBD Venus,
ADB its illuminated hemisphere which is turned towards
the sun, and CBD its hemisphere towards the earth; pro¬
duce S V to F.
Fig. 4.
4c
= 0;
nx
' dx 2
dly ir ■ 8c
“ 2 a3'
The first of these equations gives
tfr* = 8e — 2iro^v, and x = 2v ;
hence the diameter of the base must be twice the depth :
The second differential co-efficient being a positive quan¬
tity, shows the surface to be a minimum.
Ex. 8. A candle stands on a horizontal table, directly
over a point at a given distance from a small object on the
table ; what ought to be the height of the flame when the
object is illuminated the most possible.
Fig. 3.
Let A be the object on the table, B the point under
the candle, and C the flame, considered as condensed at
a point. The intensity of the illumination on the object
A depends on its distance from C, and on the angle
which the rays make with the surface (supposed to be
horizontal). ' By the principles of optics, the intensity at
different distances, the angle of obliquity being the same,
will be inversely as the square of the distance; and
with different degrees of obliquity, the distance being the
same, as the sine of the angle which the rays make with
the surface. Therefore the intensity, as depending on both
obliquity and distance, will be expressed by
1 • BC
AG2 Sin CAB “ AC3'
Put a — AB, x — sin CAB, and let y denote the il¬
luminating power on the surface at A ; then
BC AB2 1 sin x cos2 x
y z= — X — X
The portion of the illuminated surface turned towards
the earth is contained between two planes DV, BV, per¬
pendicular to the plane EVS ; and this surface will mani¬
festly be projected into a crescent, the breadth of which
is the versed sine of the angle BVD, which is equal to
EVF, because if BVE be added to both, each is a right
angle. Now the area of the crescent is always as its
breadth ; therefore, the whole disk being taken as an unit,
the illuminated part of it will be expressed by the versed
sine of the angle EVF, or by 1 + cos EVS.
Again, the brightness ol the planet at different dis¬
tances is inversely as the square of the distance ; therefore
the brightness depending on its position in respect of the
sun and its distance from the earth jointly, will be pro-
1 + cos EVS
portional to  •
Let a — ES the distance of the earth from the sun,
b — VS the distance of Venus from the sun,
x — VE the distance of Venus from the earth;
a:2 -j- 52 or
Then, cos EVS =
2 bx
and 1 + cos EVS =
+ 2 bx + b2 — a2
AC AC2
AB2
dx \
cos3 x — 2 sin2 x cos x
hence, 2 sin2 x cos x z= cos3 x,
sin2 x 1 — cos 2 x
and
cos- x
= 4, and cos 2 £C =
1 + cos 2 x
By the trigonometrical tables, 2 x = 70° 32', and
x — 35° 16'; this gives BC = AB X . 71 nearly: so
that the height ef the flame must be about -fa of the dis¬
tance AB.
2 bx
_ (x b + a) (x + b — a) _
—' 2 bx
therefore, putting 7/ to denote the brightness of the planet,
(x-\-b-\- a) (x -{■ b — a)
v — k ! 1 Ifa— J a maximum ;
y — 2 bx*
and this, by differentiation, gives
dy  (a; & fl- a) (# -}- b — a) f 1
dx~ 2 bx* \ a: + 6 + «
+ 1 §1=0;
x + b — a x )
and hence, 3 (a2 — b*) — 4 J a: — x2 ~ 0 ;
a:2 + 4 5a: = 3 (a2 — 52),
x = ±VS^+~b2 — 25.
The negative value of x is not applicable, and we have
a: = V3 a2 + 52 — 2 b.
In numbers, a — 10000, b — 7233, therefore x — 4304,
the angles E = 39° 43' 30", V = 117° 55' 20", S
= 22° 21' 10".
Ex. 10. Let ABDB'A' be a kirb roof supported by
FLUXIONS.
Direct
Method.
four rafters AB, BD, DB', B'A', two and two of which are
equal, viz. AB = A'B', and BD — B'D, and all perfectly
’ free to turn about the points A, B, D, B', A', as joints.
Suppose also that AA' the span, and DC the height of
the roof, are given, and that AB has to BD a given ratio.
Determine the position of the rafters when by their weight because tan y
they form an equilibrium.
This formula expresses a property of all roofs made of
four beams, which are equal two and two, when by their
position they form an equilibrium.
Join AD, and put y — angle DAC which is known,
DC
AC
we obtain
, a , N mn cos v sin x .
(m2 + 2 mn) cos x : — — U ;
^ ' sin w
and from this again,
tan x_m ^
tan v ~ n
•(!•)
— y — v. Now, in the triangle ABD, sin A
= DB : BA, that is, sin {x — y) \ sin (y — v)-
therefore,
sin D
n \
sin (x-
sin (y ■
ll — —
■ v) m'
.(2.)
Suppose the roof to be inverted so as to form a polygon
hanging suspended from the points A, A'; by a known
principle in statics, when it forms an equilibrium, the
centre of gravity of the mass of matter in the polygon
will be the lowest possible. If now the polygon were re¬
versed and placed in its position as a roof, without chang¬
ing the angles at the joints, the equilibrium would not
be disturbed, and in this position the centre of gravity
would be the highest possible.
Draw a line from B to B', which will be parallel to AA';
and draw the perpendiculars BE, B'E'. Put the angle
BAG rr B'A'C — x, DBF = DB'F — v ; let the given
ratio of AB to BD be that of a given number m to a given
number n ; these numbers may represent the length, also
the weight, of the rafters, which may be supposed placed
in their centres of gravity, or middle of the beams.
By trigonometry, BE ~ m sin x, DF = n sin v, there¬
fore DC =: ms\n x n sin v ; and, by statics, the height
of the centre of gravity of AB, also of A'B', above AA
will be \ BE = 1 m sin x, and the height of the centre
of gravity of BD, also of B'D, will be ^ (BE + DC) = m
sin x + n sin v; and since the distance of the common
centre of gravity of all the beams from A A' will be found
by multiplying the distance of each centre by the mass,
supposed placed at that centre, and adding the results
into one sum, and dividing by the sum of all the masses;
the height of the centre of gravity of the whole system of
beams above AA' will be
m2 sin a; + « (2 m sin x -{- ft sin v)
2 (/ft + ft)
Let this height be denoted by//; then, rejecting the
constant denominator 2 (ni + ft),
y — (/ft2 + 2 ///ft) sin a? + ft2 sin », a maximum;
and since AC, half the span of the roof, is a given quan¬
tity, we have
/ft cos x n cos v — AC, a constant.
From the first equation,
— (/ft2 + 2 /ft//) cos a; + ft2 cos ft ^ = 0;
CIX OjX
and from the second,
. . dv n . dv m sin x
/ft sin a; + ft sin ft = 0 ; hence -r- = : .
dx dx ft sin ft
dv • • dv
This value of — being substituted in the value of -—y
we get
tan ft
sin x cos ft
= 3,
cos x sin ft
cos a: sin ft sin (x — ft)
i
— 2
The angle BAD r=a? — y, and BD A
These equations (1), (2), determine the angles x, v,
when the ratio of AB to BD is given; from their form,
the angles may be easily found by trials in the trigono¬
metrical tables. The elimination of one of the angles
would produce an equation of the fourth degree; for this
reason, the method of trials is the best way of proceeding.
When the angles x and v are known, every thing else may
be readily found.
If we suppose the beams AB, BD, to be of equal length,
then m =z ft, and our two equations become
tan x . . % . , v
  =3, sin (a? — ylzrsinfy—ft).
tan ft v v/ 7
In this case, a; + ft =: 2y; then, from the equation
tan x sin x cos v
sin x cos ft + cos x sin v sin (a; + v)
and hence sin (x — ft) — ^ sin (x v) — \ sin 2y ;
and putting for v its value 2y — x,
sin 2 (a; — 7) = i s^n
This determines the angle x, and v = 2y — x.
The theory of equilibriums opens a wide field for the
application of the calculus, as must be evident from the
preceding solution; but our limits will not permit us to
enter on it farther.
Determination of Tangents to Curves.
65. Let HPK be any curve referred to an axis AC ;
and let AB = x and PB ~ // be the co-ordinates of any
point P in the curve ; the point A being the origin of
the abscisses. Let PT, a tangent to the curve at P, meet
the axis in T; and let SPQ,any straight line drawn through
P, meet the curve in Q and the axis in S. Draw QC per¬
pendicular to the axis, and PR perpendicular to QC; and
let PR — BC = h, and QC = //', the ordinate correspond¬
ing to the absciss x + h.
Fig. 6.
By similar triangles, QR : RP = PB : BS, that is,
y' — y :h = y 1 BS.
Now, by Taylor’s theorem (art. 31),
V-v = lih+lkht + &c-
hence, dividing the first antecedent and consequent by h,
702
Direct
Method.
FLUX
<?y_ + dLih+ &c.
(lx da?
1 = ^ : BS.
This proposition holds true whatever be the magnitude
of h the increment of a;. But now let us suppose h to de¬
crease continually; the point Q will approach to P, and
the line QPS approaching to coincidence with PT, the
point S will approach to T; and when h vanishes, Q will
be at P, and S at T, and BS will have become BT; our
proportion will now be
% ; l _
dx
y
BT.
The line BT, between the ordinate PB and tangent
PT, is called the subtangent; from this proportion it ap¬
pears, that x and y being co-ordinates at any point in the
curve,
dy dx
BT, the subtangent, y -r-^= V-yy1'
•(1)
that is, the subtangent is equal to the ordinate divided by
its differential co-efficient; or it is a third proportional
to the differential df the ordinate, the differential of the
abscissa and the ordinate. The subtangent being known,
the position of the tangent is determined.
Let PD, a perpendicular to the tangent at P, and con¬
sequently to the curve, meet the axis in D ; the line PD
is called a normal to the curve; and BD, the segment of
the axis between the ordinate and normal, is called the
subnormal.
The triangles TBP, PBD are similar, therefore
TB : BP — BP : BD, ox dx \ dy — y \ BD ,
hence the subnormal BD = y
dy
dx
.(2).
PB
Because the tangent of the angle PTB = an^ t^ie
PB
BD
tangent of tne angle PDB
therefore,
tan angle T
dy
rjx
—, and tan D — -j-.
dx dy
.(3).
In the right-angled triangles TBP, PBD, we have PT2
: PB2 + BT2, and PD2 = PB2 + BD2; therefore,
tangent PT
normal PD
w
= yj
1 +
dx*
~dy%
1 +
dy1
da?
(4)
..(5)
66. We shall now apply these general formulae to some
particular curves.
Ex. 1. Let the curve be the parabola, and supposing
AC to be the axis, and A its vertex : by the nature of the
curve, putting a for the parameter, y2 — ax,
dx 2y
dy a ’
hence Hydy — adx ;
, . dx 2y2 2ax
subtan. BT = —y ~ — — 2x;
dy a a
that is, the subtangent is double the absciss AB.
Again, for the subnormal, we have
subnor. BD = ~ =
dx2dx 2
I bus it appears that the subnormal is constant, and
equal to half the parameter.
Ex. 2. Let the curve be an ellipse, of which OA half
t le greater axis — a, OB half the lesser axis ~ b ; and
supposing the origin of the co-ordinates to be at O the
centre, let OQ — x, PQ — y. By the nature of the curve,
a- : i2 = — %) ’- y? (Conics) ;
IONS.
The general formula for the subtangent was found on
the hypothesis that it was on the same side of the ordi¬
nate as the absciss ; in this case they are supposed to be
on opposite sides, and hence its value has the negative
sign ; leaving the direction of the subtangent in respect
of the absciss out of consideration, we have
eft eft
QT — x, and OT — —,
x x
hence it appears that OQ : OA = OA : OT.
When the axes are equal, the ellipse becomes a circle, but
the subtangent is independent of the ratio of the axes.
Fig. 8.
Ex. 3. Let the curve be the hyperbola, of which
a — OA the semitransverse axis, and b — the semiconju¬
gate ; then, putting OQ = x, and PQ z= y, we have (by
Conics),
ft2 ft2
/ = ^2 c*2—a*)’ ydv = xdx >
subtan. =
dy
hence OT = OQ — QT = —.
x
This shows that the tangent always passes between the
centre and the vertex when x has a finite value ; but when
a; becomes infinite, then OT — 0, and the tangent becomes
an asymptote to the hyperbola.
Fig. 9.
but first the nature of the curve must be expressed ana¬
lytically. Conceive a circle to roll along a straight line,
moving always in the same plane, just as the wheel of p
carriage rolls along a straight road. By this motion any
given point in the circumference of the circle will describe
FLUXIONS.
70S
Direct a continuous curve in that plane, which will meet the line
Method, along which it rolls at intervals equal to its circumference.
Let be the line along which a circle CDA rolls, be¬
ginning its motion from a point of contact b, and com¬
pleting a revolution when it has come to B. The point
of the circumference which was in contact with the line
at b will then have generated the curve line Z>AB. This
is the cycloid, and the line 6B its base.
Let ADC be a fixed circle in the position of the gene¬
rating circle when it has completed half a revolution, O
its centre, and AC its diameter, called the axis of the cy¬
cloid. Let AD be any arc of this circle. Draw the radius
CD. When the generating circle, by rolling along CB
from the position C, has passed over a distance equal to
the arc AD, the centre O will have generated a straight
line OE parallel to CB, and equal to the same arc AD ;
moreover, the moveable radius, which was coincident
with OA, will, by the rotation of the circle, have come
into a position EP, parallel to OD, because the angular
motion of the radius about the moving point E will always
be proportional to the arc of the circle that has been ap¬
plied to the base, that is, by hypothesis, to the arc AD;
and since the lines OD, EP are equal and parallel, a straight
line drawn from P through D, meeting AC in Q, will be pa¬
rallel to EO, and therefore perpendicular to AC ; and since
PD — OE = arc AD, it follows that PQ, any ordinate to
the axis AC, is equal to the sum of the arc AD and its sine
DQ. This is the distinguishing property of a cycloid.
To express it by equations, let the radius of the generat¬
ing circle be a, and the angle AOD = v, then PD = arc
AD = av, and DQ = a sin v, so that, putting AQ — x,
and PQ — y, we have for the equations of the curve
x = a (\ — cos v), y =: a (y sin v) ;
and from these every property of the curve may be inves¬
tigated.
To determine the tangent: by differentiation
dx
dx—adv sin v, dy — adv (T 4-cos v), 3 3—: >
* v ' dy 1 cos v
, „„ dx {.v -f- sin v) sin v PQ . QD
subtan Q1 = y— — v — —
dy
Let HPK be such a curve, generated by the revolution Direct
of a variable radius AP about a given point A in AC, a line Method,
given in position. Through A draw AT' perpendicular
to AP; let a tangent to the curve at P meet this line in
T' and the axis in T; draw PQ perpendicular to the axis
AC, and draw the normal PD, meeting T'A in D. Then
AT' is the subtangent and AD the subnormal. Let
AQ = x, PQ — y, the revolving radius AP = r, the vari¬
able angle PAC = v, and the angle PTA = t. The lines
x, y, r are now to be considered as functions of the an¬
gle v.
The angle T'PA being the supplement of the sum of
PTA and PAT; that is, oi v t, we have (Algebra,
art. 236 and 242),
* 1 tvd a _ / 1 .\ tan v + tan £
tan angle T'PA — — tan (v + £) =
Now tan v — -, and tan t = =
x IQ
PQ
tan v tan t-
dy
dx ’
-T
therefore tan T'PA rr
dy
dx
ydy
xdx
xdy — ydx
xdx -f ydy
Again,
=d(y)=d (tan v) =
therefore xdy —ydx — dv
a?
— r^dv ;
and xdx + ydy = \d (x? y*) — \d (r2)
therefore tan T'PA _
rdr dr
rdr ;
CQ
1 + cos V
hence CQ : DQ = PQ : QT.
But by the nature of the circle CQ: DQ = DQ: QA ;
therefore PQ: QT — DQ : QA ; hence the triangles PQT,
DQA are similar, and the tangent PT is parallel to the
chord DA.
Ex. 5. In the logarithmic curve of which the equation
is ?/ = ax, we have dy — ax A. a .dx— y\. a .dx ; there¬
fore
dx 1 ,
— y— j—^ = subtangent.
Hence it appears that the subtangent is a line of a con¬
stant given length.
67. To find a formula for the subtangent and normal of
curves whose nature is expressed by a polar equation.
Fig. 10.
and since by trigonometry T'A z= AP tan TP A, therefore
subtangent T'A = ^ ^ >
  sin v also, since T'A ; AP = AP : AD ; therefore
dv
subnormal AD = —.
dv
Ex. Let the curve PH be the spiral of Archimedes,
the nature of which is defined by the equation 2«t — av,
where t r= 2 right angles, and a is a given line, viz. the
value of r when v — 2vr. In this case
, dv „ 2ffr2
subtangent = — . r- — ——.
68. In some curves the segment of the axis between the
origin of the co-ordinates and the tangent increases with
the variable x, and may exceed any given line. In others
the tangent cuts the axis always at a finite distance from
the origin ; it is then an asymptote to the curve. If from
dx
the subtangent QT — g^y (fig* 8) the absciss AQ = x be
dx
subtracted, the remainder — y — a; is the general expres¬
sion for AT. Now if when x is infinite this expression is
finite, we may conclude that the curve has asymptotes;
but if it be infinite, the curve has no asymptotes.
In the conic hyperbola we found (ex. 3, art. 66)
dx a? , c dx a2
— V — x ^ ; therefore — y — x — r; when x is
dyu ar dy ^ x*
infinite, the expression = 0, hence it follows that
the hyperbola has an asymptote which passes through the
centre.
dx
In the parabola, ex. 1, we found — y-=. therefore
704
Direct
Method.
fluxions.
^  x _ %!. X — 2x — xz=x. When x is infinite
dy*a
this quantity is also infinite, therefore the parabola has no
asymptote. . .
The method of drawing tangents to curves is an import¬
ant branch of the theory of curve lines. It serves also to
determine their greatest and least ordinates (which may
also be found by the theory of maxima and minima), and
many other circumstances relating to their figure.
Differential of the Area of a Curvilineal Space, and of the
Arc of a Curve.
69. In curve lines it is convenient to consider x, one of
the co-ordinates, as an independent variable quantity ; and
any area having an arc of the curve for a boundary, also
the arc, and in general every other variable quantity con¬
nected with the curve, as functions of that variable. If
the curve be expressed by a polar equation, the angle
which the revolving radius makes with the variable may
be taken as the independent variable, and the co-oidinates
and other variable quantities related to the curve as
functions of that angle.
We begin by investigating a formula for the area.
Fig. 11.
Put PB = r, the angle PBQ = v, and the curvilineal
space PCDB = s; also let BQ = x, PQ = y, then
ds =: d (space CDQP) + d (triangle PQB).
Now d (space CDQP) = — ydx, which is negative,
because x decreases when the space increases ; and d (tri¬
angle PQB) = c? (l xy) = \ydx + £ xdy ; therefore,
ds = —ydx + | ydx + \ xdy = ^ {xdy — ydx)
= ^dg)(art.l2).
Direct
Method.
But in the right-angled triangle PBQ,
(y
BQ — x — r cos v,
V
- — tan v,
x
dff) =
dv
cos^v
hence ds — \ rldv.
(art. 22) ;
.(3).
In this case The differential of the area is half the product
of the square of the revolving radius, and the differential of
the angle which it makes with the axis.
71. We have already found (art. 23) various expressions
for the differential of the arc of one particular curve, viz.
the circle. We shall now investigate general expressions
for the differential of the arc of any curve. For this pur¬
pose it will be convenient to establish the following geo¬
metrical proposition.
Fig. 12.
curve
and C
a Tf
Let AB be the axis of any
given points in the axis and curve, PQ, HK any two va¬
riable ordinates, and CD an ordinate given in position
at the given point C; draw PE and HF perpendiculars
to HK, PQ.
Put AQ = x, PQ — y, curvilineal space PQDC — s ;
AK — HK yf, HKDC = s' ;
then QK ■= x' — x, and PHKQ ■=. s' s.
The space PHKQ is greater than the rectangle PEKQ,
but less than the rectangle FHKQ (supposing y to in¬
crease from the position PQ to HK), therefore,
d — sy{od — x) y, s’ — s<C(x’ — x)y’;
and
<f-
x!—x " sc?—x
Hence, since when HK approaches to coincidence with
PQ, y' approaches to equality with y, we have
d — s
■=y>
ds
— = hm.
dx
x! ■
and ds — ydx (1).
Thus it appears that The differential of a curvilineal area
is the product of the ordinate and the differential of the absciss.
In the formula just found, the ordinates have been sup¬
posed perpendicular to the axis. If they be oblique, let
a be the angle of inclination ; then s' — s will be greater
than (x1 — x)y . sin a, but less than (A — x) y'. sin a ;
and hence, reasoning as before, we find
ds = sin a . ydx (2).
70. To find a formula applicable when the nature of
the curve is expressed by a polar equation, let B be the
pole, and PB the variable radius,
Let CPMD be a curve, that between the points P
and M continually approaches to or continually recedes
from an axis AB. Let PQ, MN be ordinates to the axis
at the extremities of the arc PM, and PK, MH tangents
to the curve at the points P, M, meeting the ordinates in
K and H : The length of the arc is always of an inter¬
mediate magnitude between the lengths of the tangents
PK, MH. , . .
Draw the chord PM, and let I be the intersection of
the tangents. It is easy to see that PK, one of the tan¬
gents, meets the parallel ordinates in an angle K more
acute than M, the angle made by the chord PM and
ordinate MN; and the other in an angle H less acute ,
therefore the chord will be less than the formei and
greater than the latter. Now the arc is greater than the
chord; therefore MH, the least of the tangents, is less
than the arc PM. . .
Again, in the two triangles PIH, MIK, it is evident
that the two parts PI, IK, of the longest tangent, are re¬
spectively greater than HI, IM, those of the shortei ,
therefore PK is longer than the sum of PI and IM; but
the arc PM is by an axiom of geometry less than the sum
of PI and IM, therefore the tangent PK is greater than
the arc PM. . .
72. Let A be a given point in the axis, and C in the
curve ; draw PE, HF parallel to AB; put AQ = x,
AN = x!, PQ = y, CP = z, CM = z'; then PE x'—x,
and arc PM = z' — z. Because PM = z' — z is less
than PK, but greater than MH, therefore
Direct
Method.
FLUXIONS.
705
z'— z
af—x
\ > axel
Z*— z HM
x' — x^ HF‘
Now US and
Jr ili
HM
KfF
are the secants of the angles KPE
o
andMHF; therefore the ratio ——is expressed by a
quantity less than the secant of one of these angles, and
greater than the secant of the other angle. Suppose
nows'—-s and xf — x, the terms of the ratio, to be conti¬
nually diminished ; the angles at H and P will approach
to equality, and at last become equal, therefore the limit
of the ratio, viz. —, is equal to the secant of the angle
KPE ; but it was shown (art. 65) that the tangent of the
angle which a line touching a curve makes with the axis,
or any line parallel to the axis, is equal to and conse-
ax
quently its secant to ; therefore
ax1
dz / , (hi1  
^ ~ v 1 + ^and ^ + dv* 0)
Hence it appears that The square of the differential of
the arc of a curve is equal to the sum of the squares of the
differentials of its rectangular co-ordinates.
73. In the case of curves expressed by a polar equation,
let A be the given point about which the variable radius
point A on the tangent; if now we know the relation be- Direct
tween the perpendicular AF, and the angle FAB, which Method,
it makes with the line AB, the length of the perpendicu-
lar Corresponding to any given value of the angle can be
found ; thus the position of the tangent will be known;
the calculus gives a general formula for PF, the segment
of the tangent between the point of contact and its inter¬
section with the perpendicular ; thus the point of contact
P is known, and in this way may any number of points in
the curve be determined.
75. Let D be another point in the curve, DH a tangent,
and AH a perpendicular on the tangent, and let us put
angle FAB = «, perp. AF = p, tan PF — t, arc CP = z;
HAB = u’, AH = p\ DH = t?y CD = zf
Fig. 14.
Fig. 13.
AP turns; put v for the variable angle which the line
AP — r makes with AB, a line given in position ; let the
rectangular co-ordinates be AQ — x, PQ — y; then
x =z r cos v, y — r sin v ;
From the position of the lines in the figure,
HD — FP - HE 4- ED — (FK + KE — EP)
= PE + ED — FK — (KE —HE).
By trigonometry, FK = AF. tan FAK rr p tan (u'
— u); and because in the equiangular triangles AFK,
EHK, the angles at A and E are equal, therefore HE
= KE . cos (u — u'); hence the above equation may be
expressed thus,
1PE + ED —jo. tan (u'—u)—{1 — cos (u'—z<) }KE;
and dividing by u' — u,
V — £_PE + ED tan (u' — u) 1—cos(m'—“Xp
u'—u! — u u!— u u! — u
Suppose now the point D to approach to coincidence
with P, we have these limits to the ratios :
dx— — rsm v dv cos v dr — —ydv - dr
dy — r cos v dv sin v dr — xdv + - dr ;
r
dx* - yW + ~dr* — dvdr;
r1 r
df = x*dv* + y-% dr* + dvdr;
rxr
therefore, dx1 + dy* — (x* + if) [dv* + ~
But dx* + dy* — dz*, and x* + y* — r2;
therefore, dz* — r* dv2 + dr*,
and dz — V r^dv* + dr* (2)
This formula gives the differential of an arc of a curve
in terms of the differentials of the variable radius vector,
and of the angle which it makes with the axis.
74. We shall now give a method of defining a curve by
a polar equation, which leads to a simple and elegant ex¬
pression for the differential of an arc of the curve.
Let CPD be any curve, and A a given point in AB, a
line given by position; draw a tangent PF at any point
P in the curve, and a perpendicular AF from the given
YOL. IX.
lim.--~t = U . lim. PE + ED dz
v! — u du
u' — u du ’
lim. -n-U' ~ U = 1; lim. 1 — cos (u> — u)
u! — u v! — u
= ]in,.8sin,*(K,-“)=0;
u! — u
hence, on the whole,
dt   dz
du~ df —P’ and^ = dt + Pdu'
ox d{z — t) — pdu.
In the figure from which the formula has been investi¬
gated, the arc and tangent lie in the same direction from
the point of contact. If they had proceeded in contrary
directions, the formula would have been d(z + £) —pdu,
so that, in general,
d (z rp: t) = pdu (3)
The differential of the arc may be expressed indepen¬
dently of t; for
AH — AF = KH + AK — AF;
Now KH = HE . tan HEK = HE tan (uf — u), and
AF = AK cos (u' — u) ; therefore, dividing by uf — ru
we have
4 u
706
Direct
Method.
P' — P _
FLUX
„„ tan (u’ — u) ^ 1 — cos (u> — u) AK .
11 ^ Z’  — u> u
and, passing to the limits, observing that lim. HE = t,
1 — cos (u'— u) _
lim,
tan (u — u)
v! — u
— 1, and lim.
v! — u
= 0,
we find — t;
du
directions, then — ^ so that, including both cases in
one formula, t —
dp
du
The sign + is to be taken when the arc and tangent
lie in the same direction, but the sign —when they have
IONS.
scribes an element of the curve, and an element of a circle
whose momentary centre is H and radius HP.
(3.) That to a certain extent the part of the involute
adjoining to P, and towards C, is more incurvated than a
circle whose radius is PH; because, supposing P to pro¬
ceed towards C, the variable radius PH is gradually be¬
coming shorter. On the other hand, a portion of the curve
if the tangent and arc lie in contrary from p towards D is less incurvated than a circle whose
radius is CP, because the generating radius is continual¬
ly becoming longer.
(4 ) That since the curvature of the involute on one
side of P, and adjoining to it, is less than that of a circle
whose radius is PH, and the curvature on the other side
of P is greater, it follows that at the point P the curva¬
ture of the involute is exactly the same as that of a circle
described with the radius HP. The point H is therefore
contrary directions; and because dt — therefore called the centre of curvature of the curve CPD in the
““ point P ; and PH, its radius of curvature at that point;
in every curve ^ an(j a circ]e described with the line PH is the circle of
a — j A. ^P rht — fn 4- ^-P\du AiA equal curvature with the curve at the point P. From the
z — p u ^ — \P  V J ciose union of the circle and curve they have been said
to osculate. It must, however, be kept in mind that the
two curves have no common segment; they meet in a
geometrical point at P, and separate on both sides of it.
We may also infer that the circle of curvature has a more
intimate contact with the curve than any other circle that
passes through that point.
(5.) That the evolute of a curve is the locus of the
centre of curvature of every point in the curve.
78. We shall now investigate general formulae for the
radius of curvature, and for the evolute of any curve, by
which these may be found when the nature of the curve
is known.
Let AB be the common axis of the involute CPD, and
its evolute EHB, and A the origin of co-ordinates; letH
be the centre, and PH the radius of curvature at P; and
H' the centre, and P'H' the radius of curvature of ano¬
ther point P', near the former. Let the radii produced,
if necessary, meet the axis in N and N'; and let O be the
point in which they intersect each other.
Put AQ ~ x, PQ = y, arc CP = z, arc CP' == z\
angle PNA — v, angle P'N'A — v', rad. of curv. PH = r.
By trigonometry, PG OG . sin POG ; P'G — OG. sin
PG + P'G
P'OG ; therefore, OG = ——j—:—r^7T7T*
sin POG + sin P'OG
Suppose now the points P', P to approach continually
towards coincidence, the line GO will manifestly have
for its limit PH, the radius of curvature at P. The li¬
mit of the sum of the tangents PG, P'G will be the arc
PP' — z’■—z. The limit of the sines of the angles POG,
P'OG will be the arcs which measure the angles, and that
of the sum of the sines will be the measure ot the angle
POP NON = v' — v. Hence it appears that r — limit
rgf _____ g
of   , and therefore, that
v— v
Direct
Method.
This is the formula which was to be found.
Generation of Curves by Evolution: Radius of Curvature :
Evolutes.
76. The method of generating curves by evolution is a
geometrical theory invented by Huygens, and given in
his Horologium Oscillatorium. He explained it upon geo¬
metrical principles, for his work appeared many years
before the calculus was invented.
Fig. 15.
Let BHE be a model of a plane curve made of a solid
material, having some thickness, and let one end of a
thread HEC be fastened at a point B on the edge of the
model, and applied along its convexity, so as to coincide
with it entirely between B and E, the remaining portion
EC of the thread forming a straight line touching the
curve at E. Suppose now the thread to be gradually un¬
lapped from the curve BE, keeping it always tight; the
end C will now describe another curve CPD.
All curves, in which the curvature is neither infinitely
great nor infinitely small, may be generated in this way
by the evolution of a thread from another curve.
77. The curve EHB, by means of which the curve
CPD is generated, is called its Evolute; and the curve
CPD thus generated by evolution, is called the Involute
of the other curve.
Irom the way in which the involute is generated from
its evolute, we may infer,
(1.) I hat PH, the part of the thread disengaged from
the arc EH, is a tangent to the evolute at H.
(2.) lhat the line PH is perpendicular to a tangent to
the curve CPD at P, and that at the same time it de-
dz
dv'
•(0
This is our first general expression for the radius of
dy (Py dp
curvature. Put ^ — p
dx2 dx
Because (art. 12') dz = Vdofi -j- dy2 — dx/J1
+
djf
dx1'
therefore dz — dx */1 -j- p1.
When treating of tangents to curves, we found (art. 65)
, dx . „ 1 Vl + jo2
that tan v — -r-, therefore, tan v = sec v zz ,
dy' p p
FLUXIONS.
707
Direct
Method.
and d (tan v) = dv sec '*■ v — —
dp
. 1 + »2 7 qdx
hence, ^—dv— —-—
pi
, 7 qdx
and dv = — ~—5.
1
If now the values of dz and dv be substituted in our
first formula for the radius of curvature, there is obtained
=  <2>
This is a second general formula for the radius of curva¬
ture.
Let 5 denote the normal PN. In the right-angled
PQ
triangle PQN, by trigonometry, sin N r= that is,
sin v but since
s
dx 1 , „ y
tan v — therefore - —
dy p s
VI + pl
.(3)
and Vl + »2 = and (1 + />2)2 = —7.
Referring now to our second formula, we have
s3   s3 dx2
r~ qy3 y'3 ' d"y 
This is a third formula for the radius of curvature.
If we suppose the nature of the curve (see fig. 14, art.
74) expressed by an equation between AF = p, a perpen¬
dicular from a given point in the axis on a tangent PF,
and FAP — v, the angle which that perpendicular makes
with the axis, and therefore also equal to the angle
which the normal PN makes with the axis; then, since
\
p + ~y~^ijdv ; from formula (1) we get also
r=p+iS   w
This is a fourth formula for the radius of curvature.
79. To determine the nature of the evolute EHB, from
any point H in the curve draw HK perpendicular to AB,
and HI perpendicular to PQ; and assuming A, the origin
of the co-ordinates of the involute also as the origin of
those of the evolute, let AK = a, HK = /3; in the tri¬
angle PHI, HI = PH . cos H = r cos v, and PI = r sin v,
therefore
a — x r cos v, ft — y — r sin v.
We have found that tan « — and therefore
P
p . 1
cos v — — - sin v — — ;
Vl+jo2’ Vl+jo2
hence, combining these with the expressions for r, we
have
Ct=ix — ^(1+i?2), P = y+ ^(1+p2);
or, substituting for jo and q the quantities they denote,
dy dx2-{- dy2 „ . dx2 + dy2
B=v+^i-
In these formulae, and in the second and third for the
-adius of curvature, x is regarded as the independent va¬
riable, and ?/ as a function of x.
80. From the way in which a curve may be generated
by an evolute, we have a method of finding any number of
curves which may be rectified, that is, whose length may
be assigned in algebraic terms ; for PH, the radius of the
curvature, is the sum of the straight line CE, and the arc
EH of the evolute. Now we can form innumerable curves
whose radius of curvature will be known, therefore, corre¬
sponding to every curve whose radius of curvature can be
found and expressed in algebraic terms, there is a curve
which can be exactly rectified.
81. We shall now give examples of the application of
the formulae.
Ex. 1. Let the curve be a parabola, of which AC is the
axis : let c denote the parameter, and let AQ = x, and
PQ nr y, be the co-ordinates of P, any point in the curve.
Let CH be the evolute, and let AK nr a, FIK m /3, be the
co-ordinates of H, the centre of curvature at P, the radius
of curvature being PH rn r.
By the nature of the curve, y2 m e#, therefore,
dy e , , „ c2 + 4w2 c4-4a:
— = P = iu.’ i+r^-y—  
dx
(PjL
dx2
*y
\x
V
dp cdy \
dx~ ^ ~ 2 dx' y2
(1 +p2)2  (e2 + 4?/2)2 (c2 + 4ca?)'2
q 2e2 2c2
4^3 ’
qy^ cr (a0)2 (semipar.)2*
Next, to find the evolute, we have
P / -\ 9 \ ! 4* + C
a nr X—- (1 +02) m x-\ 
q
m 3x-\-^c ;
there-
y
^6
27c
Direct
Method.
This is the expression for the radius of curvature by
formula (2). If we put the normal PN rn s, we have, by
formula (3) (art. 78),
.s3 _ 4s3   s3 __ (normal)3
e2
1 +p2 c2 -f- 4 ?/ —4?/3
/3 = y + —= y 
/c2£\ 3
Hence xzz ^ (a, — \c), ?/ = —f —1 ;
and since, by the nature of the parabola, cx = y2,
fore the equation of the evolute is
Take AC m j^c, then C is a given point; and CK n:
a — ^c. Put CK rn x’; HK = fi == —y', and the equa¬
tion of the involute becomes
Hence it appears that the evolute is the semicubical pa¬
rabola. This is the first curve that was rectified by the
infinitesimal calculus.
Ex. 2. Let the curve be an ellipse, of which OA nr a is
the semitransverse axis, and OB nr b the semiconjugate.
Let cm Va2—b2 be the eccentricity, and, assuming the
centre as the origin of co-ordinates, let OQ rr x, PQ rn y,
HP, the radius of curvature at P, nr r.
/p2
The equation of the curve is — + — nr 1 ; or 62 x2 -f-
a9-y2 rr a2b2: Hence
708
Direct
Method.
Fig. 17.
B
FLUXIONS.
By the nature of the cycloid (art. 66, ex. 4),
a: = -y + sin y = 1 — cos v, ,
therefore dx dv (1 + cos v), dy — dv sin v,
dij sin y „ 2 dv
dx~~^ 1 + cosy ' r 1 + cosy 1 + cosy
d-y _dp _   1
dx~ ~dx~^~ (\ + cosy)2’
(l-F/i2)2 
Hencer,therad.of cur. — — ^ —V8 (1 cosy).
Fig. 18.
H
OjL?lS - -lr <a> - Wf = TT - eVY
Hence the radius of curvature
r = — («•-A’)3 = (^ + w?
Direct
Method.
The formula r — ^ (where s = the normal PN)
tfq.
gives this other value,
A2
|^ow- — is half the parameter of the transverse axis;
a
therefore r —
(normal)3
.(2)
(\ parameter)2
To find the equation of the evolute, let H be any point
in the curve ; OK — a, and HK = /3, the co-ordinates.
The values of p, 1 +y»2, and q, being substituted in the
formula (art. 79), we have
a — x —
b2x
a2y
(3-y-
(dy3
a9y3
b2 cd — ex°
bl ’ a1 * dLyl
b% — eh/2 _ dy3
b^ ’ (dy1 b*
Let us exchange a and /3 for a/ and y', and we have
.1 ->.2
  /axh 3 y2 _ {biA3
~w) ’ ~&-w) •
Observing now that in the ellipse — + -^7 — 1, we have
for the equation of the evolute
(?) + (?) ”1; or (Ga?')5 + - (rf—vY-
The form of this equation is remarkable from its ana¬
logy to that of the ellipse itself. The curve has the form
shown in figure 17.
Ex. 3. Let the curve be the cycloid ; of which let
AA' be the base, BC the axis, BDC a circle whose dia¬
meter is BC. From P any point in the curve, draw PDE
perpendicular to the axis, meeting the circle in D ; draw
PQ perpendicular to the base, and let PH be the radius
of curvature.
Since all cycloids are similar figures, we may make the
radius of the generating circle =: 1; let CQ — PE = x,
PQ = CE — y, the arc BD = y.
Draw the chord CD, and because
1 _p cos y — 2 cos2 -^y (Algebra, 249) — 2 sin2 \ arc CD
— % chord2 CD.
Therefore, PH — y — 2 chord CD.
It was shown (art. 66) that a tangent atP is parallel to
BD, the chord of the supplement of CD; therefore PH,
which is perpendicular to the tangent, is parallel to the
chord CD ; it is therefore determined in position and mag¬
nitude for any given point in the curve.
The evolute AHF may be found by the general foi mu-
la (art. 79), or otherwise from the expression for PH, the
radius of curvature, thus :
Draw AL perpendicular to AC, and equal to BC, but
on the opposite side of AC; describe the semicircle
AML, and draw HMR perpendicular to AL, cutting the
semicircle in M; let PH meet AC in N.
Because CA semicircumference CDB, and CN = DI
— arc BD, therefore AN = arc CD. But because PH —
2CD = 2PN ; and therefore PN = NH ; the parallels PE,
HR are equally distant from CA ; and hence CE — RA, and
arc CD = arc AM and chord CD = chord AM, also an¬
gle DCA = angle CAM. Now CD = PN r= NH : there¬
fore AM — NH ; but AM is parallel to NH ; therefore
MH = AN — arc CD = arc AM ; and HR = arc AM
-j- sin MR ; thus it appears that H is a point in a semi¬
cycloid having the same base as the cycloid ABA'. In¬
deed LAF is just the semicycloidal space CBA' transferred
to the position AHF, the point B being placed at A, and
A' at F. If the other semicycloidal space AB be trans¬
ferred to the position FA'L', the arc APB in the position
FA'will form another branch of the evolute, exactly simi¬
lar to FA, but turned the contrary way.
From what has been found it appears, that if the semi¬
cycloids FLA, FL'A' were placed in a vertical plane, with
the point F uppermost, and the semi-bases FL, FL' in a.
horizontal line; and if a weight were suspended from h
by a thread equal in length to P’S, and made to vibrate
in that plane, like a pendulum ; the weight would manifest¬
ly vibrate in an arc of a cycloid. Ihis elegant property
of the curve was discovered by Fluygens, who also found
that the vibrations would bp isochronal, that is, performed
FLUXIONS.
709
Direct
Method.
in equal times. This is an important proposition in dy¬
namics.
Contact of Curves.
82. The ancient geometers paid particular attention to
the contact of straight lines, with the few curve lines which
they considered. Apollonius even touched on the con¬
tact of circles and the conic sections; for he treated of
the shortest line that can be drawn from a given point in
the axis to the curve. It is only, however, since the in¬
vention of the differential calculus that this branch of
geometry has been carried to any considerable extent.
83. The curvature of a circle being the same through¬
out, it serves as the means of comparing the curvature in
different points of a curve. It is, however, easy to under¬
stand, that in like manner we might consider the nature
of the contact of a parabola, or a curve of any kind what¬
ever, with a proposed curve.
Let y —f (x) and t? = F (x) be the equations of two
curves CPD, C'P'D', which have a common axis AB, and
the same point A for the origin of co-ordinates. Let x
Fig. 19.
be a common absciss, and y the corresponding ordinate
of any point in the curve CD ; also v, the like ordinate in
the curve C'D'. Suppose now that when x becomes
x + A, y becomes y\ and v becomes v'\ by Taylor’s
theorem,
, . dy 7 . d^y Id
y=y + ^A + ^rn
+ &c.
, dv d2vh2
V + lxh + dtf\2+ &C-
Suppose now the curves to have a common point H,
at which y — v ; then, If the curves be such that ~ = -j-,
their contact at P will be of such a nature, that no third
curve can pass between them at that point, unless it has a
like property.
Let HK —y — v, KQ =r h, PQ, = f, PrQ = v'. Also,
let u — HK be the ordinate of a third curve that passes
through H, and u' its value, corresponding to AQ —x-\-h,
then
, , du . d^u w , .
m' = m + — A + -r- -—; + &c.
dx aar 1 . 2
We are to prove it to be impossible for the thir
in leaving the point H, to pass between the arcs
HP', unless ^ = ~ For suppose it possib
dx dx dx
because in general
PP'—y—v'—y—v -p
\dx
dv
dx.
:)
j /d2y d~v\)
rr =jr-„=j,-„-r T ^
and, because at the point H, y — v, and, in tl
, dy dv ,
-f- — —, we have
dx dx
fdhy d?v\ld
CIJC CLJu
, (cdy d-v\ Id . f Py d^v\}d
^ V ~~ \dx2 dx2) 2 \dx3 dx3) 6
+
This is the general expression for P'P, the difterence
between the ordinates of the curves CD, C'D', whatever
be the magnitude of KQ h.
In like manner, the difference between yr, the ordinate
of the first curve, and u', that of the third, will be gene¬
rally expressed by
if—u’ — y—u
du
dx
duPld .
~~d?) 2
&c.
Direct
Method.
which, on the hypothesis that y = u, becomes
d2u\h2 , „
■d^k + &c'
Now, if it were possible that the third curve, in leaving
the common point H, could pass between the other two,
we should, to a certain extent from the point H, have
y — v’ greater than y' — u', that is, after dividing the ex¬
pressions for y — v' and y’ — vl by h,
(d2y d2v\ h . (dhy d?v\ hr .
^ h ,
^ dx dx \dx% dx2) 2
And this equation ought to hold true, however small the
line KQ = h be taken. But h may be taken so small,
that all the terms in the expression for y — v' shall be
less than any assignable quantity, while those of y' — id
continually approach to
dy du
dx dx
as a limit, which by hy¬
pothesis is not equal to zero. Now these two conclusions
are incompatible with each other ; therefore it is impos¬
sible that the third curve can pass through the point P
between the other two, when ^ is not equal to^.
dx ^ dx
If, however, f~ — -j~, then the third curve may pass
CMC CMC
between the other two; for it will only be necessary that
d-y drv d2y d2u . dru d2v
dx2 dx2 ^ dx2 dx2’ 1 at 1S» ^2 ypt ’
which is evidently possible.
8L Again, if there be two curves whose equations are
y — f (x), v — F (x), and which have a common ordi¬
nate y — v, and if they be such, that
dy dv d2y d2v
dx dx' dx2 dx2 ’
then no third curve of which the equation is m p (#),
and which has a common ordinate with the other two,
can pass between them, unless at the same time
dy du d?y d2u
dx dx dx2 dx2'
This proposition is proved exactly in the same way as
that in last article, by means of Taylor’s theorem. These
are particular cases of a general proposition relating to
the contact of curves which may be stated thus : If two
curves have a common absciss and ordinate, and if the
differential co-efficients of the first order of the ordinates
be equal, no third curve passing through their intersec¬
tion can go between them, unless the differential co effi¬
cient of its ordinate, corresponding to the same absciss,
be equal to the differential co-efficients of their ordinates.
And if, besides their first differential co-efficients, their
second differential co-efficients be equal, then no third
curve passing through their intersection can go between
them, unless the first and second differential co-efficients
of its ordinate be equal to the first and second differential
co-efficients of the two curves, and so on to differential
co-efficients of all orders.
no
Direct
Method.
FLUXIONS.
In fact, the two curves meet only in the point in which
their ordinates are the same, and the equality of the dif-
’ ferential co-efficients merely indicates that no other curve
in which the same equality does not take place can pass
between them.
From what has been shown, it appears that the con¬
tacts of curve lines may be distinguished into different
orders. The degree of contact in which the ordinates
and also the first differential co-efficients are equal, may
be called a Contact of the first order ; when, in addition to
these, the second differential co-efficients are equal, it is
a Contact of the second order ; and so on.
85. In illustration of this theory of contacts, let us con¬
sider the nature of the contact of any curve HPK (see
fig. 6), with a straight line FT. Let A be the common ori-
gm of the co-ordinates. In the curve, let AB =: a-, PB = y.
Its nature will be expressed by an equation y=f(x). In
the straight line, let TA = c, AB = x, PB = r, angle
PTB — a ; the equation of the straight line is v = (c + x)
tan ol The hypothesis that the curve and straight line
have a common point, gives y v ; and the equation of
the straight line, considering that c and a must be regard-
dv . . dy
ed as constants, gives — — tan a ; now, by our theory,
— tan a. This result coincides with
and it gives the sub-tangent
The equation of the curve CPD may be expressed ge¬
nerally \>y y —f (x'). And, since IH = a — x, PI = v —
P> and PH = r, the equation of the circle will be
(a — xf -f (v — /3)2 = r~ (1)
„ , „ i . . dy dv
A contact of the first degree requires that
Now, observing that a, jS, and r must be considered as
dv a
constants, we have — —
Direct
Method.
therefore ~-
dx dx
65
BT =
y-
what was found in art.
y dx
tan a~ dy
It is impossible that any straight line can pass between
the straight line PT and the curve ; for, if possible, let the
straight line PS pass between them, and meet the axis in
S. Put AS = d, AB — x, PB u, the angle PSB = a/.
The equation of the straight line PS is m (d + x) tan
a'. Now, that the line PS may
, Till dll dV
pass between PT and the curve, we should have ^
a'; and hence -7- = tan
dx
tan a' =r tan a, and a'
/3
, hence andbecausey = r,
%
dx
.(2)
y — $\ 
The second side of this formula expresses the trigo¬
nometrical tangent of the angle HPI. Hence (art. 65)
the line PN is a normal to the curve at P, and the
circle and curve have a common tangent at that point.
By a second differentiation
dCiv 1 a — x dv _ (a — xf + (v—/?)2
dx*-~- v —13 (v — f3)2’ dx ~ (v — (3)3
Now, that the circle and curve may have a contact of
d2v
the second degree of closeness, it is necessary that
xf
— —therefore, observing that v y, and that (a •
dx1
(i« — (S)2 — r2, we have
d2y  — r2
dv2 (y —
The three equations (l), (2), (3) serve to determiner,
the radius of the circle, and a, (3 the co-ordinates of its
centre. From the first and second we get
rdy „ rdx
.(3)
y
13 =
(dx2 + dy2)* (dx2
and from these, and equation (3), we get
+ diffi
(dx2 + dy2)* _
dxd2y
r= ~ (art. 83) ; therefore,
thus it appears that the lines PS, PT must coincide;
therefore the straight line PT is a tangent to the curve,
in the strictest sense.
86. Let us next consider the nature of the contact of a
circle and any curve. Let CPD be the curve, and C'PD'
a circle referred to the same axis AK, in which A is the
common origin of the co-ordinates. In the curve CPD
let AQ = x, PQ = y. Let H be the centre of the cir¬
cle; draw the radius PH, and produce it to meet the axis
in N, and draw HI, HK perpendicular to PQ and AQ.
Put AQ = x, PQ = v, these being co-ordinates of Pany
point in the circumference of the circle ; and put AK = a,
HK == /3, the co-ordinates of its centre; and PH = r its
radius.
Fig. 20.
a~ x—--j-
dx
dy dx2 + dy2
= y +
dx2 + dy2
d2y ’ ^ dly
These expressions for a, |3, andr determine the position
and magnitude of the circle; they are manifestly identi¬
cal with the radius of the circle of equal curvature, and
the co-ordinates of its centre formerly found (art. 78
and 79). Hence we conclude, that the circle of equal
curvature with a curve in any point, determined by the
theory of evolutes, is identical with a circle, having with
the curve a contact of the second order.
And since it appears that only one circle can have with
a curve a contact of the second order, and that no circle
can pass between that circle and the curve, therefore the
same must be true of the circle of equal curvature, found
by the theory of evolutes.
87. From what has been shown in regard to the de¬
grees of contact of a straight line and circle with a curve,
it appears that these depend on the number of constants
which enter into the equation of the touching line. The
equation of a straight line contains two constants, and it
admits of one order of contact only. The equation of a
circle has three constants, and it admits of a contact of
the second order. It is easy to see that the number of
differential co-efficients that can be made equal in the two
curves will always be one less than the number of con¬
stants in the touching curve. The equation of a parabola
is 3/ = a + fix + yx2. This and the differential equations
which may be deduced from it serve to determine the
three constants a, fi, y, and thence the parabola of equal
curvature ; but since there are only two differential co-ef¬
ficients, the parabola can have a contact of the first and
F L U X I O N S.
Direct also of the second order with any curve, but no higher
Method. or{3er of contact. A cubic parabola, whose equation is
?/=a + /3o; + Xa?2 + &C3, may, however, have a contact
of the third order, because it involves four constants, and
so on.
Development and Differentiation of Functions containing
two Variables.
88. Let u be a function of two independent variables, x
and y; for example, u — aa,12 + bxy + c?/2, and in general
u z=f (x, y). Suppose now that x changes its value, and
becomes x + h, and that y becomes y -{■ k, so that u'
being the new value of the function, u'= f(x + h, y + k).
It is proposed to expand ur into a series of terms proceed¬
ing by the integer powers of h and k. In particular cases
the method of proceeding is obvious ; a general formula
may be found by Taylor’s theorem as follows.
It is easy to see that the result will be the same whether
we substitute at once x -V h for x, and y k for y, in the
function w, and then expand it; or, otherwise, first sub¬
stitute x + A, then expand the function, according to the
powers of /<, and in this first result put y k for y, and
afterwards expand it into terms proceeding by the powers
of k ; or we may reverse this process, beginning with the
expansion according to the powers of A, and ending with
that proceeding by the powers of h.
Resuming the function u — f {x, y) \ when x becomes
x + /q we have by Taylor’s theorem f(x-\- h, y) —
. du , . d^u h2 . d3u h3
u + T ll + -T-Z Trr + -T-T TTT7T + &C.
d*it 7r
dx2 1.2
-f" &c.
-■}- &c.
If the substitutions of x + h for x, and y + k for y,
had been made in an inverse order, we would have had
fill + k, x + /i) equal to
i du j,
U + — R
dy d)f
du
dy2 1.2.3
the function — becomes
dx
du . dx . .
dx + -dyk +
.-du
ddi
k2
d3
du
dy2 1.2
the function becomes
dx2
d^U
d2u . dx1 , .
3 h +
d2
cPu
dx2 k2
dx
the function
dy
d?u
dx?
d3u
dy2
becomes
+
+
dx k3
Iff L^3
+ &c.;
dx?
k3
1.2 1 dy3 1.2.3
+ &c.;
d3u
dx3
+
dx3
dy
d2
k +
dx3 k2
+
a6 
dx3
k3
dy2 1.2 dy3
1.2.3
du
+ &c.
d2u
and in the differentiation of the functions u, —2, &c.,
y is taken as the variable, and * as a constant. By mak¬
ing the proper substitutions, we have f{x + /«, y + F) ex¬
pressed by the series
d}u k2
dy2 172
, du 7
w + -t-A
dy
+
+ &c.
+SA +
Au
d~dx
-ff- hk + &c.
dy
, du . . d2u h2 ,
u + —h + — +
dx dx? T 2
&c.
+
d
<^k+ ~^hk+ &c.
dy dx
dx ' dx2 1.2 1 dx3 1.2.3
the differentials being taken upon the supposition that x
is variable, and y a constant. And in this series y is con¬
tained only in the function u, and the differential co-effi-
du d2u .
cients —, -7-5-, &c.
dx dx2
Suppose now that y becomes y k, then, in the series,
the function u becomes
. d2u k2 . d?u k3
+ ~ — + + &c.;
. d2u k2
+ rfy2 Tl + &C*
The order in which the substitutions are made being
arbitrary, the two developments of/(# + A, y + A) must
be identical, consequently the terms containing the same
products of h and k must be equal. Thus, passing over
the terms which are the same, we have
du du
dlx _ dlhj
dy dx ’
89. This formula proves an important theorem in the
calculus, namely, if a function u of two independent vari¬
ables x and y be twice differentiated, first, on the hypo¬
thesis that x is variable and y constant, and then the re¬
sult on the supposition that y is variable and x constant.
And again, if the order of the differentiations be reversed,
that is, if y be made variable and x constant, and then x
variable and y constant, the final result either way will be
the very same.
..du
dTx
The symbol which expresses the result of two dif¬
ferentiations performed on w, a function of two variables
x and y (the first on the supposition that x is variable and
y constant, and the second on the reverse supposition),
may conveniently be simplified into - . By this nota-
uxciy
tion the theorem just enunciated in words will be express¬
ed in symbols thus:
d2u   d2u
dxdy dydx‘
By continuing the two developments a term farther, we
would have arrived at the conclusion that (having regard
to the notation just premised),
d3u (Pu cPu
dxdydx dx?dy
d3u
and that
dydx2
d3u
— 9 , &c.
dxdy2 dy2dx
Suppose, for example, that u-=. xPy5, then
du
dU 0 9*
Tx = 3xV,
d2u
dxdy
cPu
= 15 xff,
= 30 xf,
- = 5*y,
A- = IS a?/,
IX U LLiAj
d?u .
= 30 xy*.
dx?dy u dydx2
Adopting now the abbreviated notation, when u =
f(x, y), we have/(# + h, y + k) =
u + ~h +
dx
cPu h2 , d3u
dx2 2 dx? 2
h3
+
d?u
du k
dy dydx
hk +
d3u
3
h2k
dydx:2 2
+ &c.
+ &c.
712
Direct
Method.
FLUXIONS.
+
(P u. hi?
d?/u 1? ,
chf- 2 dyldx
+ &c.
+
dlu 1?
+ &c.
dif 2.3
This is the complete development of the funccion u.
90. Supposing^ tobe any function of#, and that#becomes
x-\-h, by which ^becomes u-^r ph-^r qlr -\- &c., or (consider¬
ing h as the differential of x) u + pdx + qdx^ + &c. We
have defined the differential of u to be the term pdx,v\z. that
which contains the simple power of/t or dx, and called the
. , du
functionp, the differential co-efficient, representing it by^-.
We may now extend these definitions to jf(#, y'), a func¬
tion of two variables, and changing h into dx and k into
dy in the development of the function, we shall have
„ , d a , , du ,
dffoc, y) = du = -dx + ^ dy.
From this it appears that the complete differential of a
t . r . du J
function of two variables consists of two parts, viz. —^ a#,
or the differential taken on the supposition that x alone is
variable, and $ dy, or the differential taken when ?/only
dy J
is variable.
We may also apply to functions of two variables
the rules which have been given (art. 10-23) for those
which depend only on one; and for this purpose we must
differentiate the function first with respect to one of its vari¬
ables, and then with respect to another ; and take the sum of
the results for the complete differential required. By this
rule
d (x y} z=. dx dy
d (xy) — ydx + xdy,
^ _ dx xdy _ ydx—xdy
has two differential co-efficients for the first order, three Direct
for the second, &c. These may be deduced from the two Method,
first, beginning with
_ du , du ,
du — — dx —— dy;
dy
— dy — nxmyn 1 dy,
-\yn — i (mydx + nxdy).
dx
du du
then, taking the differentials of -7- and —, which must be
’ 0 dx dy
treated as functions of two variables, we have
dhi j
dy,
du  dzu , ,
ddx~ dP-*^ dydx
ydu  d^u
dy ~ dxdy
dx +
d^u
dy2
dy;
and since the second differential is nothing more than
the differential of the first,
d^u
dhi = ^ tf#2 + 2 „ ,
dx1 dxdy
d^u 7 , . d^u 7 .
dxdy + -^2 dif.
Here dx and dy are considered as constant quantities,
and the differential co-efficients whose denominators con¬
tain only the products of dx and dy differently arranged,
are considered as identical. By a repetition of this pro¬
cess, an expression may be found for the third differential
co-efficient of the function u, and so on to any differential.
92. What has been explained in respect of a function
of two independent variables, will apply to a function of
any number; thus, \f U—f (t, x, y, z), then,
7 du 7 .
du — — dt +
dt
du ^ , du i , du
dx "1 dy ■ I- , ■ dZ)
dy ^ dz
dx
where the symbols
\yj y y
Again, let u = xmyn, we have
du , m i „ , du
-— dx — mxm 1 yndx,
dx u
, du 7 . du .
dx — -rdx H——dy — xm'
dx dy
91. The manner in which the differentials of functions
which depend on more than one variable are written,
gives rise to some important remarks. The expression
— dx must not be confounded with du, which it might be
dx
if u contained only the variable x; the symbol has in
this case a particular meaning, and denotes the differen¬
tial co-efficient taken on the hypothesis of x only being
variable ; or it is the quotient of the first term of the de¬
velopment of the difference taken on that supposition divid¬
ed by the increment dx ; and ^dy signifies the same with
respect to y.
du du
The quantities —, — are commonly called partial dif-
(ZX CL1J
ferences of the first order of the function u, and generally
dm + nu
dxmdyn rePresents one those of the order m n, which
arises by differentiating m times in respect of x, and n
times in respect of y.
A function of a single variable has only one differential
co-efficient of any order; but a function of two variables
du du au du
dt’ dx dy dz
denote the differential co-efficients of the function u taken
on the supposition that £ or # or y or z alone varies.
This notation owes its origin to Fontaine. Euler fear-
du
ed that the differential co-efficient — might be confound¬
ed with the ratio of the complete differential du to the
differential dx, which is equivalent to
du 7 . du , . du , , dz ,
— dt + -r dx + — dy + -j- dz
d t dx dy J dz
dx
du
he therefore denoted this ratio by —, whilst he expresses
the differential co-efficient found by supposing x alone
variable by ^ie nature °f ^ie subject, however,
in general shows which of the two is intended, and ren¬
ders this distinction superfluous.
Of Changing the Independent Variable.
93. Supposing y to be any function of x, we have esti¬
mated every change in the magnitude y by that of the
value of#, which has been supposed to vary in any way
whatever. It is, however, sometimes convenient to re¬
verse the hypothesis, and consider # as a function of y.
We are now to investigate general rules, by which we
may pass from the differentials of y, regarded as a function
of#, to those of# considered as a function ofy.
Let y — f (x), and let us suppose that when # becomes
# + h, y becomes y + h. By Taylor’s theorem,
7 ^y_] ±.<Ey}il \ <i?’y h3
“-dx dx* 2 ^ t/#3 2.3
+ &c.
•(1)
FLUX
F ( ?/) a func-
Direct On the reverse hypothesis, supposing x
Method, tion of then, similarly,
V ' k3
dy * 1 d ip- 2 1 dy
Let the value of k, as given by the first equation, be
substituted in the second; and, in order to abridge, let
, dx 7 , d2x k2 , d3x ..
A=^+^2 + */2T3+&C-
.(2)
USPUt2 = y’S = 3,’’&C-
dx
dy
Lldb d^X
also — ■= —„ == a/', &c.;
dy2
A2
h = xf (y'h + y” ^ + y‘
A3
then we have
A3
2.3
+ &c.)
/v/f ✓ ^2 7i3 \ 2
+ ~2 [y'h + 2/" 2 + 2/'" 273 + &C-J + &c<
Hence, by actually involving the series to the second,
third, powers, &c. and bringing into one term like powers
of A, we find
A2
0 — (xryf — 1) A + (x'y" + x,,yf2') —
A3
+ (xfym + 3x"y'yf’ + x^y) - + &c.
Now, that this equation may be satisfied, the co-effi¬
cients of the powers of A must be each =r 0; thus,
x’y’ — 1 = 0, x'y" + xf'j/2 = 0,
x'y"f~\r Sx,fyfy" + x'^ — 0, &c.
These equations give us
1 .. x” ... 3 a;"2 x?"
y =
a23’
y
x'5 x,i'>
15a;''3 . 10afa2" x'
xP
+
a;'6
 77, &C.
Reversely, we have
^=i„
y
x!' — -
1 St/"3
y"
y*
IQj/Y"
y6
v2.
y" >
— &c
2/
y4’
y7 yu y
As an application of these formulae, we may transform the
expression for the radius of curvature found (art. 78), on
the hypothesis that ?/ is a function of x, into another in
which a; is a function of y. Employing the notation of last
article,
, O+y'8)1-
y"
xP
Now by the formulae y* — and y” — — —^: this substi¬
tution being made, we obtain
(a/2 + l)2 (dx2 + dy^Y
x" dyd2x
94. Instead of supposing that one of the two variables
x, y, is a function of the other, it is sometimes convenient
to regard both as functions of a third quantity. Thus,
in geometry, supposing x and y to be the co-ordinates of
a curve, we may consider the one as a function of the
other; or we may consider both as functions of the angle
which a tangent makes with the axis, which angle is then
the independent variable. Or x and y denoting the co-or¬
dinates of the path of a projectile, both may be consi¬
dered as functions of t, the time of the motion.
Suppose that when t becomes t + i, x becomes a; + A,
and that y becomes y + A ,• to abridge, put a?', x!\ &c. for
J, &c.; also y, y", &c. for % &c. and (y), (y),
IONS.
By Taylor’s theorem,
A2
y=f(x) gives k = (y’)h + <Y) o + &c C1)
y =¥(t) gives A = y'i + y h + &c.
 (2)
x ~ <p (t) gives h= x't xf^ + &c (3)
The three increments A, A, i are generated together,
therefore these equations must all hold true at the same
time. Let the value of A, found from the third equation,
be substituted in the first, then, putting the two values of
A equal, we have
(y) x'i + a/' ^ + &c. |
j" +
*2
=y't + y !j + &c.
Hence, by involution, and making the co-efficients of
like powers of* equal to zero, as usual, we find
a2(y) = y, x"(y’) + a72 (y") — y, &c.
y
therefore (y'J = —
x’ " ' xf2
As an example, let us take the formula for the ra¬
dius of curvature, which, by the notation just premised,
will be
r —
{i+W}
By substituting for (y) and (l/r) their values, it becomes
+ y*)1
T      ——- •
x'y" — y'x" ’
. dx „ . dy n d2x c „ A ^y
and hence, putting — fora2, fory, — for a7', and —
for y7, we get
  (dx2 + dy2)'2
dyd2x — dxd2y ’
The independent variable t does not appear in the
formula; nevertheless, in its application, we must keep in
mind the hypothesis by which it was found.
Of the Method of Infinitesimals.
95. The ideas which we have of infinity may be embo¬
died in this proposition ; A quantity is not infinite so long
as it admits of augmentation. If, therefore, in the quanti¬
ty a; + «, we suppose x to become infinite, then a must
be suppressed, otherwise it would be supposed that x
might be increased by the quantity a, which is contrary
to the definition. To show the consistency of the propo¬
sition, let there be an equation
1 + I = M.
a x
•(1)
which being multiplied by the product ax, becomes
x a — Max (2)
Suppose now that x increases until it becomes infinite;
the fraction having reached its last degree of diminu¬
tion, is reduced to 0, and therefore equation (1) be¬
comes
&c. for &c.
dx dx~
M = —, or M« — 1;
a
VOL. IX.
4 x
713
Direct
Method.
^  
714
Direct
Method.
FLUXIONS.
and this value being substituted in equation (2) itbecomes
x + a = x. This shows that when x is infinite, a: + a is
The quantity a, in respect of which x is infinite, is call¬
ed an infinitesimal in respect of x. . . .
Since we consider here only the ratios of quantities, the
preceding demonstration holds good when a; has a finite
value, provided that a be infinitely small in respect of
Thus, if we compared, a finite quantity, with the fraction
then,« being supposed to increase continually, - will de¬
crease, and may become smaller than any assignable quan¬
tity ; and when z is infinite, the fraction is = 0, so that,
in comparison with 6, it may be neglected..
The ratios of quantities are altogether independent of
their absolute magnitude. The halves, or any like parts
of quantities, have the same ratios as the wholes. Ihe
symbols we employ in our reasonings are not the repre¬
sentatives of absolute magnitudes, but of numbers, which
have a reference»to an unit; they therefore repiesent
ratios only, and the absolute magnitudes of the terms of
the ratios are never considered. Ihe differentials of quan¬
tities are the ratios to which the ratios of the increments
of the variables continually approach ; these increments
may have any magnitude whatever. Leibnitz supposed
them to be infinitely small quantities. Upon this hypo¬
thesis a theory has been constructed, which, by following
certain ascertained principles, has led to the discovery of
the most recondite truths in geometry and physics.
96. The admission of infinitesimals into the mathema¬
tical sciences, necessarily leads to a succession of differ¬
ent orders of infinitesimals. In a circle the ratio of. the
diameter to the chord of an arc is the same as the ratio of
the chord to the versed sine ; therefore, if the chord be in¬
finitely small in respect of the diameter, or an infinitesimal
of the first order, the versed sine will be infinitely small,
in respect of the chord; and, consequently, in respect of
the diameter, will be an infinitesimal of the second oidei.
So also, in a series of continued proportionals, 1, #, a?2, a.J,
&c. of which the first term is finite, and the second, a?, an
infinitesimal of the first order, the third, a;2, will be of the
second order, and the fourth, a;3, of the third, and so. on.
Upon the same principle, the product ab of two infi¬
nitesimals, c!, b of the first order will be an infinitesimal of
the second; for we may consider that \ \a—b \ab, that
is, ab is a fourth proportional to three quantities 1, a, and
b, of which the first is finite. In like manner, the product
of three infinitesimals of the first order, also the product
of an infinitesimal of the first and of the second order,
will be an infinitesimal of the third order.
97. When the infinitely small increments of quantities
are once taken as their differentials, the different rules
for differentiation are easily found.
Thus, if m ~ xy ; then u, x, and y receiving the infinitely
small augments dih dx, and dy, we have
u-{- du — {x dx) (y -f dy) = xy -{■ xdy + ydx + dxdy ;
and, taking from these equals the equals u and xy,
du — xdy -j- ydx -j- dxdy.
Now du, xdy, ydx are infinitesimals of the first order, and
dxdy is an infinitesimal of the second, therefore it is in¬
comparably smaller, and in respect of the others ought to
be rejected, so that we have simply
du — xdy -}- ydx.
98. In this theory a curve is considered as a polygon of an
infinite number of sides, any one of which is the differen¬
tial of the arc, therefore the differential of the arc will
be the hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle, of which
the sides are the differentials of the co-ordinates; and
these being denoted by x and y, and the arc by z, we have
. to t'* i • ,1 • 
5 denote the area of a curve, the increment of s or cfe will Inverse
be ydx + \dxdy; but the second part of this, viz. \dxdy,\s
a differential of the second order, and therefore infinitely
less than ydx, which is of the first order, therefore we
have simply ds —ydx, agreeing with the formula of art..69.
In a circle, the infinitely small increments of the cosine,
the sine, and the arc form a right-angled triangle similar
to that formed by the sine, the cosine, and the radius, so
that x being put for the arc, the radius being unity,
1 : cos x = dx:d sin x, 1 : sin a? = dx : — d cos x,
hence d sin x — dx cos x, and d cos x — xdx.
It is equally manifest, according to the infinitesimal
theory, that the subtangent is a fourth proportional to dx
(the differential of the absciss), dy (the differential of the
ordinate), and y the ordinate ; so that, as has been shown,
art. 65,
dV,
subtan r=
dx
y.
the positive sign being used if the absciss and ordinate
increase together, otherwise the sign —.
The great facility which the theory of infinitesimals
gives in the applications of the calculus to the higher geo¬
metry, and more especially to the doctrines of physics, is
a high recommendation in its favour. Indeed, whatevei
view be taken of the subject, the mathematician will bald¬
ly be restrained from taking the shortest way he can find
to the object he wishes to attain, and that is in general
by the infinitesimal calculus. Accordingly we observe
that M. Poisson, in the second edition of his Traite de Me-
canique, distinctly premises that he will exclusively em¬
ploy the method of infiniment petits throughout his work.
PART II.
INVERSE METHOD OF FLUXIONS, OR INTEGRAL CALCULUS.
99. The inverse method of fluxions, or integral calculus,
treats of the analytic processes by which a function may be
found, such, that being differentiated, it shall produce a
given differential. Phis function has been called, by w riters
on fluxions, the fluent or flowing quantity ; and by writers
on the differential calculus, the integral of the proposed
differential. ...
To find the integral of a differential is to integrate^ that
differential; and the process by which the integral is found
is called integration. ,
100. When an integral is proposed, its differential may al¬
ways be found by general rules. There is however no direct
rule by which we may return from the differential to the
integral, except the obvious one of retracing the steps by
which the differential has been deduced from the integral.
When these are distinctly indicated, there is no difficulty ;
but in general the steps of calculation by which the dif¬
ferential might have been deduced from an integral are
obliterated or unknown ; or the differential may not have
been a direct result of differentiation ; and then there will
be no traces to show how we may pass from it to the in¬
tegral.
^101. It is convenient to have a symbol by which the in¬
tegral of a differential may be indicated without regard to
its particular form: for this purpose the letter^(the ini¬
tial letter of the word sum) is employed, llius, the in¬
tegral of the differential Xdx is expressed by the symbol
j'Xdx.
102. We have seen (art. 9) that in differentiating an
ciicoc UCllig Ltd lU tv. LI t'j' dL cliiU If * clLlLl LllLx clIL; ^'jWL-iicivc kjv-v/ y j 1
fife2 == dx1 -p dy1. Proceeding on the same principles, if expression of the form X =±= C, which is the sum or dit-
FLUXIONS,
Inverse ference of a variable function and a constant quantity, the
Method, constant disappears; therefore, reversely, in taking the
integral of any differential, the constant, C, must be added
to make the integral complete. This indeterminate quan¬
tity has been called by early English writers the correction'
of the fluent or integral, but now it is generally called the
arbitrary constant. It may be written either with the sign
+ or—; its value is to be determined, as will appear
hereafter, from the particular problem under considera¬
tion.
Integration of Rational Functions involving one Variable.
103. The general form of a differential of the first order
of a function is Xofa;, where X dendtes any function of a
single variable x. Now this function may have various
forms, and may be rational or irrational.
The rational forms of the function may be
Kxm + Bx11 +CxP+ &c. =z U,
Axm + Bxn +CxP+ £c. _ U
A'xm + Wx11 + Crxn + &c. ^
the first of which is integral and the second fractional.
Irrational functions have the form
uv ,
and transcendental functions,
XU, 1. U), /(U, sin v), &c.
104. The simplest case of a rational function is ax11, the
differential of which is naxn ^dx; therefore, putting
?n — n— 1, so that w = w* + 1, we have,
when dy — axmdx,
then y — [axfndx — —xn + 1 + C.
* J m + l
Hence this rule : To integrate a differential of one term,
such as ax11 dx, we must increase the exponent of the variable
by an unit, and then divide by the new exponent and by
This, when n + 1 — = 0 and n — — 1, gives
J-~ = a{\. x — \.b} = a\. x + C.
This result coincides entirely with the expression for
the differential of the logarithm of a number (art. 20).
106. By the rule of art. 104 it is evident that if
dy rr axmdx -\-bxn dx + cxp dx,
m+l
then, y =:
bx'
n+1
+
rP+l
+ C.
dx.
We may give the indeterminate constant C the form
ab
M+l
n+1
and then we shall have
r a(xn+l — bn+1
/ axndx = — — 
J 1
By substitution, we have now dy —
gration,
zndz
m+l
+ C=i^±fr+I + C
y =
f+=f
This is the form the integral should have, if it has the
property of vanishing in the particular case of a; — b.
105. There is a particular case to which the general
rule of last article will not immediately apply; it is that
in which n — — 1 ; in that case it gives
dx /* —I^r_a(a?° — —1)_0
0 0 O'
From this no conclusion can be drawn, and the integral
has been said to fail. This, however, js only in appear¬
ance ; for, putting n+ \ ■= m, we have (art. 35)
x™ = l +(1. x) m + (\. ^c’
bm -\ + (\.b) m + (1. bf^~+ &c.
715
Inverse
Method.
m+l M + l 1 p+1
This is true, however many terms there may be in the
differential: the indeterminate constant C represents the
aggregate of all the constants of the integrals of the seve¬
ral terms.
In general, since (art. 15),
d(u + v — 2) — du + dv — dz,
therefore u + v — 2 =Jdu + J^dv —Jdz ;
and in general, P, Q, R, being any functions of x,
J'l+dx + Qidx — Rcfo) — /\*dx + Jctdx —J\ldx.
107. It has been found that u and v being any func¬
tions of a variable, d(uv) — udv + vdu, therefore
J'udv — uv —Jvdu.
In like manner, from the differential of a fraction we
find
F dv _ u . rdu
J V2 V J V '
Since d{au) — adu, we may conclude that
J'aA.dx — aj'X.dx.
108. To integrate the differential
dy z= (ax + b)mdx,
we may expand the given power, and integrate the terms
of the result separately; otherwise, make z zz ax + by
then
2 — b 1 dz
x —  , dx — —.
a a
and by inte-
a(m + 1) ' ~ " a(m + 1)
The integral of dy zz (axn + b)m x11 ^ dx may be
found in the same way, by putting axn + b zz z; we thus
get
(axn + b)m + 1
y
+ c.
na(m + 1)
109. We shall next consider fractional functions, and
begin with the simple case of dy
z zz: ax + b, vie find
. , .. „ , making
(ax + b)n 0
z — b
and consequently
. dz
dx zz —,
a
dy —
= {1. * — 1. 6} w+{(l. xf — (1. 6)2} ^+&c.
A (2— b)mdz
am +T^~-
= 1. X-
\.b+{(\.xf-(\.by-^+ &c.
By expanding (2 — b)m into a series, then multiplying
the terms by dz, and dividing by 2n, the differential will be
transformed into a series of terms of the form czPdz, which
716
Inverse
Method.
may be integrated severally by the rule (art 104)
particular example, let m ~ <i, n — 2, then
7 A(z — b)3dz
dy — 7312
fluxions.
As a
— — 1 zdz — 2>bdz +
Wz
— 1
dz — IP z ^ dz
N (a' + a") + N' (a + a!') + N" (a + a') = B,
is a'a' + N'aa" + N"aa' = C;
which are only of tlie first degree with respect to the
undetermined quantities N, N', N'. Resolving these equa¬
tions, we find N, N', N7, and have
(Aar* + Bx + C)dx
Inverse
Method.
Hence, integrating by the rule,
v- ^[^- — Zbz + Wl.z + V z
J ~ a'l 2
+ c.
x3 + A'x* + B'x + C'
Ndx . ~N'dx , N"dx
Ir
a
+
We now substitute for z its value, and find
fax + bP — 2>b(ax + b~)
b3
V
A
(+3J2 L + ^ + + A
+ C.
Making x
mz
+
x + a' 1 x + a7*
a — z, we have dx — dz, and
Ntfx
x + «
the integral of which is N 1. z = N 1. (x + a);
110. All differentials which are rational fractions may
be reduced to this form,
N' 1. O + a’) = N" J. (x + a').
(Ax’
— 1
Bx” ^ -}- Cx
n —3
+ T)dx
x« + A' 1 + B' xM —2 . . . + P
The general method of integrating such a differential
consists in decomposing it into others whose denomina¬
tors are more simple, which are called partial fractions.
These are obtained as follows.
Assume the denominator of the proposed fraction equal
to zero, thus forming the equation
x” + A' xn— 1 + B'x” 2 .... + T' = 0.
Let the roots of this equation be
x z= — a, x — —, d, x — — a", x = — a'", &c.
and supposing them all different, the first side of the
equation will be (Algebra, art. 99) the product of n
factors,
x + a, x + a', x + a", x + a"', &c.
We now assume that the proposed fraction is the sum
of the fractions
Ne?x N'rfx N"e?x
~,n &c-
similarly,
/NV/x
x + a'
So that we have now
(Ax2 + B x + C)rfx
/:
x + a’ x + a” x + a"
of which the denominators are the factors of the proposed
fraction, and the numerators are undetermined constants.
These being reduced to a common denominator, and add¬
ed, the result will be a fraction identical with the proposed
fraction ; and by putting the co-efficients of like powers of
x in their numerators equal to one another, a series of
equations will be had, by which the undetermined con¬
stants N, N', N", &c. may be found.
As an example, suppose the differential to be integrated is
(Ax2 + Bx + C) dx
x3 + A'x2 + B'x + ty
and that by the resolution of an equation we know that
x3 + A'x2 + B'x + C' = (x + a) (x + a') (x + a"),
setting aside dx, we assume that the fraction is equiva¬
lent to
N + N' N"
x + a x + a' x + a"’
The sum of these is
N(x + a') (x + a") + N'(x + a)(x + a") + N"(x -f- a) (x -f-«')
(x + a) (x + a') (x + a7)
The numerator of this fraction is, by multiplying its
factors,
(N + N' + N'Ox2 +{N(a'+a") + N'(a + a") + N'(a + a') } x
+ Na'a" -j- K'aa" + N'W
x3 + A'x2 + B'x + C'
=: N l.(x + a) + N'l. (x + a') +N"1. (x + a7) + const.
= 1. {(x + a) • (x + a') • (x + a7) } + const.
This process, which may be extended to all rational
fractions whose denominators are decomposable into un¬
equal factors of the first degree, has no difficulty, inde¬
pendent of the decomposition of the denominator into its
factors, which, however, requires the numerical resolution
of equations.
111. If some of the factors of the denominator of the
proposed fraction are equal, the process will require to be
modified to suit that case. Suppose the denominator
x" + A'x”-1 +, &c.... + T' to contain a factor (x+«)^»
then, for every such factor, it will be necessary to assume
a partial fraction of the form
(Px^-1 + Q^-2 +, &C....+ Y)dx
(x + afi
This and the other partial fractions being reduced to a
common denominator, and added, and the terms of the
numerator in the result being put equal to those of the
numerator of the proposed differential, as before, as many
independent equations will be obtained as there are co¬
efficients to be determined.
112. It is not difficult to see that the partial fraction
suited to the case of equal factors may be transformed
into an expression of the form
Ne?x , N'dx , NVx
+
x + a’
(x + a)-*7 (x + afi 1
therefore we may at once substitute this instead of the
equivalent single fraction. We shall now have to inte¬
grate a series of differentials of the form
N«/x
(x + a)p
which, by making x + a = z, and therefore dx =: dz, gives
/
Nrfx
(x -p afi
’Ncfo
7?
N
/JNdz _ Nz' -r
~P ~ 1 —
-P + \
P
(1—^)(«+ a)P
— 1
NJx
and as this must be equal to the numerator of the proposed These will be all algebraical except the last, j , ,
differential, whatever be the value of x, the co-efficients x a
of hke powers of x will be equal (art. 18) ; hence we have whlch wil1 involve a logarithm.
these three equations, H3. If there be imaginary factors, these will occur in
^ + N' + N" = A. pairs of the form x + a+ jSV — 1, x + a — /3V — 1,
FLUXIONS.
Inverse and their product will be ar2 + Sax' + a2 + /32. In this
Method. case thg best way (;q proceed will be to resolve the deno-
minator of the proposed differential into real factors of
the first and of the second degree, which is always possible
(see Equations). If there be several pairs of these ima¬
ginary factors, each pair the same, the denominator of
the proposed differential will have factors of the form
(#« + 2a.r + a2 + /32)5. Then, for the single factor
x* + 2ax + ct2 + /S2, we must assume, in addition to the
partial fractions, for factors of the first degree, one of this
form,
(Ka? + L)efce
xl + 2ax + a2 + /32 ’
and for factors of the second form, this fraction,
(Q.x2^ 1 + R.T2g~2... + T) dx .
(^e2 -J- 2ax + a2 +
or, instead of this, a series of fractions,
(Kx + L) dx + (KT + V)dx 
(a:2 + 2 ax + a2 +^)q (x* + 2ax + a2 + ^z)q~ 1
we shall at once make x a. = z, and L —
By this the differential is transformed to
(Yi.zJr'L')dz _ Kzcfe . 'L'dz
Ka = U.
+
(z2 + ^)q (zz + $l)q (z* + $2)q
To transform the first part, we make 22 + /S2 = w, so that
zdz — and consequently,
/)S.zaz _ K pdu _
4- nl
. u
uq 2 ’ ~Y^q
I ’
+
(YJ"x + U")dx
x1 + 2ax + a2 + /32 ’
the co-efficients to be determined, as before explained.
114. To integrate the fraction
(Kar + L) dx
x1 + 2ax + o2 + /32’
we observe that x1 + 2ax + a2 + /32 = (a; + a)2 + /S2;
and if we make x a — z, then
(Ka; + L)e?a;  (K« + L — Ka)(/z
+ /30?
To integrate the second part, we assume the equation
/dz   Gz dz
(z2 + /32)? (z2 + /32)?”1 + (z2 + /32/-
that is, we assume the integral to be equal to an alge¬
braic quantity, together with another integral whose de¬
nominator is less by an unit than the first. We now dif-
feientiate the terms of the assumed equation, observing-
that the removal of f, the sign of an integral, is equiva¬
lent to the differentiation of that integral; we also reject
such factors as are common to all the terms of the result,
and thus have
1 = G (z2 + /32) — 2{q — 1) Gz2 + H (z2 + /32) ;
and {(3 — 2q) G + H} z2 + (G + H) ^2 — 1 = 0.
Now, that z may remain undetermined, we must have
(G + H)£2—1 = 0, (3 — 2q) G + H z= 0.
From these equations, we find
1 TT 2q — 3
{x + a)2 + /32 “
Kze?z
z2 + /32
Udz
fj
— . —--V — — tan~l v const.
/3 v2 + 1 ft
L' i
— — tan _ 1
P
+ const.
Adding now these results, we get
XKz + Lr)dz _ | \/z2 + jS2 + -^ tan “11 + const.
J z2+/32 " 13
When the value of z and L' are replaced, we have
(Kx; -f- L)dx
f
x1 + 2ax + a2 +
= const.
-f K1. Vx;2 + Sax; + a2 + /32 + L ^ K“ tan
115. To integrate the differential
(Kx; + L)dx
_i x; + a
3 *
(x2 + 2ax; + ^2 "f fi2)
G =
H
(2q — 2j^  (2q— 2)/32’
The values of G and H being substituted in our as¬
sumed equation, it becomes
dz l z
~ z2 + (32 ^ Z2 + (3r
Here L' is put for the constant quantity L— Ka. Now,
the integral of the first of these differentials may be
expressed by a logarithm; for, making z2 + /32 =«/, we
have zdz—\du, which gives
f Kafe -g ^ = Ki^.«=Kl.V?T?,.
J z' + P 2.1 u 2
With respect to the second part, we make z fix, then,
L'dz _ If dv
z2 + /32 ~ /3 v2 + T
But we have found (art. 23) that ^ is the differen¬
tial of the arc whose tangent is v, which is expressed by
tan-1«;, therefore
/
(z2 + (32)q (2q — 2)0* (z2 + 02)?-
2q — 3 /• dz
-1’
+
fz
7—1’
(2q — 2!)f32 ^(z2+^)q-
This formula gives the means of depressing the index
of the denominator of the proposed fraction ; for, putting
q— 1 instead of q, we find
dz l z
/
<y + (2? _ 4)3' O' + 3')s—2’
2q — 5 dz
+ (2q — 4)(32 (z2 + 02)3-2 :
and again, putting ^ — 2 for g, we get
dz \ z
(z2 + 02)2
—2
\9—3
—6)02 (z2 + 02)9
2y — 7 /» <7z 
+ (2q—6)(3* ^(z2 + 02)?-3‘
In this way the integral f- is expressed by an
J J(z2 + I32)q
/> dz
— ;  
(z2 + 02)9
and this last by another algebraic quantity, and the inte¬
gral /- —  ; and so on, until we come to the inte-
*f(z2+02)?-2
gralwhich is known, and expressible by the arc
of a circle. Here the process must stop; tor the next
transformation would involve the integral^^ w*tl1
717
Inverse
Method.
718
fluxions.
Inverse an infinite co efficient, from which no conclusion can be
Method, drawn. Here we see the application or a method ol m-
tegration at once fertile and elegant. .
From what has been explained, it appears that dittei-
entials which are rational fractions may be always inte¬
grated either algebraically or by means of logarithms or
circular arcs; all that is necessary is to decompose them
into partial fractions, whose denominators are either bino¬
mial or trinomial quantities.
116. We shall now give some examples of the integra¬
tion of differentials which are rational fractions.
adx
1. Let the differential be ———tl>
X  O'
In this case the denominator x1 — a2 = (a: — a) (a? + a);
we therefore assume
/V
J alx
+ bx*
dx — 1.
3. Let the differential be-
(a2 — x2)
3a" — 5
i (a + &)
dx.
+ C.
Inverse
Method
x2— 6a; + 8
To resolve the denominator into simple factors, we
make a;2 — 6a; + 8 = 0, and find the roots of this equa¬
tion to be a; = 2, and a; r= 4; therefore, x2 — 6a; + 8
— (x —2) (a; — 4). To decompose the fraction, leaving
out dx, we now assume
3a; — 5 _ A B
(a; — 2) (a; — 4) ~ x — 2 a; — 4’
-2B
x — 2
(A + B)a;—4 A-
adx
(x — a) (x + a)
{
A
x—a
+
B
1
dx.
x-\r a )
We now reduce the second side to a single fraction,
and, leaving out da;,.have
a    (A + B)a;+(A —B)a _
(a; — a) (a; + a) — a) "t- a)
therefore a (A + B) a; + (A — B)«.
Now, x being indeterminate, according to the principle
of art. 18, we must have
(A — B)q = q, A + B = 0;
these equations give A r= B z= —^; the proposed dif¬
ferential is now
adx , dx , dx
(a; — 2) ( x— 4)
Hence, equating the like terms in the numerators, we
have
A+B = 3, — 4 A — 2 B - — 5.
7
From these equations we find A = — 1, B -, and
/(3a; — 5) dx _ 1 /• dx 7 y* dx
xl — 6a; -j- 8 2»/ x — 2 2^/ a
= 2 1* (a; — 4) — ^ 1. (a; ■
.4’
•2)+ C.
_  x
v2 — 2
a;^—“ x
and, by integrating,
— q 2 a; + q ’
4. As an example of equal simple factors in the deno¬
minator, let the differential be
x?dx x2dx
(x2 — q2) (x—q) ~ (x — q)2 (x + a)'
In this case we assume (art. 112),
a^ A _j_ ^ C
■a4-
^ 1. (a; + q) + C,
(x — q)2(a; + a) (x—a)'
x + a
= 11
x
a
+ C
a; + q
2. Let the differential be
a; + q
a3 + b'X2
C.
A a
; — a^
dx.
The factors of the denominator are x and q2 — x2, which
last resolves into (a — x) (q + a;) ; therefore, leaving out
dx, we assume
+ bx* _ _j_
■ x) (q + x) ~ x
B
+
— x q + x’
x(q — x) (a + x) x a — x
The second side of this equation, by reducing its terms
to a common denominator, and adding, is
Aq2 + q(B + C) x + (B —A —C)x2
x(q — x) (q + x)
By equating the co-efficients of the powers of x, we
have
Aq2 z= q3, q(B + C) = 0, B — A — Q,—b.
Here there are three unknown quantities, viz. A, B, C,
and three simple equations, therefore they may be found,
as taught in Algebra, sect. viii.; and accordingly we
have
A —a, B =: 1 (q + b), C = — i
q3 + bx2 7 adx . q + 6 7 a ^ .
—1 ^ \ dx 1 ^ f | ^ doc y
_ A(x + q) + B(x2—q2) + C(x—q)2
 Bq2 + Cq2 + (A— 2qc/x + (B + C)x2
(x — q)2 (x + a)
By equating like terms of the numerators, we have
Aq — Bq2 + Cn2 = 0, A — 2qC = 0, B + C=l.
Hence, by the ordinary process for resolving simple
equations involving three unknown quantities, we find
A = \a, B = f, C = £,
and the transformed differential is
x2dx a dx i h dx , , dx
„ ' 4
+
x + q ’
(x—q)2 (x + «) 2 (x—q)2
By integration we have
—i, f^L-X^x—a), (x+q);
./(x — q)2 x—ajx—q J xa
therefore, supplying the co-efficients of the partial frac¬
tions, and, as usual, an indeterminate constant, we have
f Mx =
^/(x2 — q2) (x—q)
5. Let the differential be
2 x — q
+ 11. (x + q) + const.
x3 + x2 + 2
dx.
dx —
q2x — x3
and, integrating,
a3 + bx2
x ~ 2(q — x)
2(q + x)
x (x + l)2 (x — l)2
The denominator contains two pairs of equal factors; we
0C^ ^
therefore assume (art. 112) xrTirTCrTWTXmTW eilua^ t0
/« -p m
q2x —
dx = a\.x — ^ (a —
B
q + 6
— +
x (x + l)2
+
X (x + l)2 (x — l)2
C + D
^ +
E
r
1. (q + x) + C.
By the nature of logarithms 1. P + 1. Q = 1. (PQ) and
« h P = 1. Pn ; hence the integral may be otherwise ex¬
pressed thus,
(x+ 1) ' (x — l)2
By proceeding as in the foregoing examples, uniting the
partial fractions into one fraction, and equating the co-ef¬
ficients of like powers of x, we find
A = 2, B = -—i, C = —f, D=l, E = —f.
The proposed differential is now decomposed into these,
Inverse
Method.
*ldx
dx
dx
+
dx
FLUXIONS.
dx
719
x 2 (# + l)2 4 a; + 1 1 (a; — 1)
Hence, by integration,
r x3+x? + 2 01
Jr (■* -L na  A^2dx —2\. x + 2
5  
4 a: — 1’
1
a?(x + l)2 {x—l)2
1
a; + 1
f 1. (a? — 1) + const
117. The method of resolving a rational fraction into Inverse
its component partial fractions, by the theory of indeter-
minate co-efficients (art. 110-113), is the most elemen¬
tary of any; it is however tedious. We shall therefore
f 1. (x + 0 now show how the labour may be abridged.
x — l
6. As an example of a fraction, in which one of the fac¬
tors in the denominator is a function of the second de¬
gree, which does not admit of resolution into real factors
of the first degree, let the differential to be integrated be
a bx .
—; r dx.
xJ — 1
The denominator x3 — l =z (x — 1) (x2 + a; + 1).
The expression + a; + 1 is of that kind which can¬
not be resolved into real factors, although it may into two
imaginary factors. For, making ar2 + a? + 1 = 0, and
resolving this quadratic equation, we find a; = ~ ~
and ar2 + a; + 1 = (a? + 1 + £ V —3)(a? + | —i^Hs).
To avoid impossible quantities, we assume (art. 113),
 a + bx  A Ba; + C
(x — 1) (x2 + a: —1) ~ a; — 1 + x —1’
Reducing now the partial fractions to a common denomi¬
nator, and comparing the co-efficients of like powers, we
find
A = ^ (a + b), ¥>=—% (a + b), C — f (2a — b).
I he proposed differential and its equivalent transformed
expression will therefore be
Let ^ be a rational fraction in its lowest terms, the de¬
nominator of which has unequal divisors of the first degree ;
let a; + a be one of them, and Q the product of all the
other factors, whether of the first or second degree ; so
that
V = (a? + a) Q.
In this case we assume
U_ A P
V “ a: + a Q’
where A is independent of x, and P and Q are functions of
x, the latter being supposed known. By reducing to a com¬
mon denominator, and remembering that V = (a; + a) Q,
we have the identical equation
U = AQ + P (* + «)>
in which, by hypothesis, neither U nor Q are divisible by
x a. Let us make a? + a = 0, that is, a; = — a, and
upon that hypothesis let u and q denote the values of U
and Q respectively; then the equation becomes u — Aq,
and hence A = -.
7
partial fraction
This determines the numerator of the
-, and in the same way may the nu-
a. + bx
(x— I) (a;2 -f a: + 1)
dx ~
a b dx
a? + a
merators of all the partial fractions be found.
As an example, let the fraction to be resolved be
U mx + n A . B
3
v—1
V (x a) (x — b)
, (a b) x 2a — b
S' o i ■ t ctx •
X2 + X + l
The first integral of these differentials is expressible by
a logarithm ; to transform the second, we put a?2 + a; + 1
under the form (x + l)2 + f, and make x + ± = z;
then, x = z — dx = dz, (a + b) x + 2a — b =
(a + &) z + f (a — b), and
zdz
then,
and
mx + n
x — b
tux + n
= A +
= B +
, +
x a x —
B / a.
£=6 (* + “)•
O — *)•
V
x a ~ x a
Making x = — a, the first of these gives
ma + n ma — n
A =
— a — b
, (a + 6) a; + 2a — 6 a + b
^ *2 + a; + 1 dX ~ “ 3~ ^
a b
+
+
a — b dz
2 *2 + f
The first of these two is also expressible bjf a logarithm.
To simplify the second, we make z2 = so that dz
and making x — + b, the second gives B =
Hence we have
mx + n
mb + n
1
a + 6 *
mb + n
( ma — n mb + w |
\ x + a x — b J*
_x/3
dv, and —
dz
dv
On the whole,
2 “““ z2 + | y'S 1 + v2'
the differential prepared for integration by known rules is
(a + bx) dx a b dx a + 6 zdz
x3— 1 '
3 x
a — b
- 1
dv
+
and, integrating,
v/3 1 + v2'
^ >■ 1.0* +1)
— b
\/3
tan-1 v + const.;
this integral, by putting for z and v their values in terms
of a?, will also be
»(a + bx) dx __ a b ^ x — 1
X3 1 3 /y/^.2 ^ J
(a? + a) (a? — b) a + 6 ( a; + a x ■
118. The differential calculus may be applied to the
determination of the constants A, B, &c. Resuming the
equation V = (a; + a) Q, we have, by differentiation,
^ = Q + (x + a). Suppose that when x z=. — a,
dV
then — becomes v’, and, as before, that Q becomes q,
the differential equation will now become v' — q; and since
A = -, therefore also A =
q d
In the preceding example, in which V = (a: + a)
(x — b), we have
<~- = 2x a — b.
dx
f
dV
The supposition that x z=. — a makes —-— =
dx
a— b
a — b
■73"
tan-
‘{^7} +con8t-
= V, and the supposition that x =. b makes — = a
dx
•F 6 these values of d =. q give the values of A
and B, the same as before.
720
Inverse
Method.
FLUXIONS.
U 120. In this case we may also find the numerators A,
119. Let us now suppose, that in the fraction y, the by the differential calculus. From the equation
of art. 119 we have
tt n f A + B (« + «) + C (a7 + a)2...
+E(:c + «)n-1 + PO + «)”.
If we now differentiate this equation (n— 1) times in
succession, and then make # + a = 0, both in this equa¬
tion and those which we deduce from it, there will arise
U = AQ,
Inverse
Method.
denominator V = 0 + «) that is, the product of n
equal factors, and Q, the product of all the remaining fac-
. . u u
tors; so that the assumption is y =
+
i —1
4-
—2
Q (a: + «)
...+
A. + Z
*+« Q’
(x + a)n (ar+a)" A (x+a)1
where A, B, C, ...E are constant quantities, and P, Q
functions of a\ In this case, multiplying all the terms by
(a; + a)n, we have
H — A + B (ar + «) + C (a? + «)2 ...
y.
+ E (a? + «)H—1 + ^
The supposition that x = — a gives to U and Q parti¬
cular values, which, as before, we denote by u and q; the
terms which contain a; + a all vanish, and we have A
— - ; thus A is known.
Since ^ = B (a; + a) + C (a: + a)2 + &c.
y
the numerator, U — AQ, of the first side of the equa¬
tion must necessarily be divisible by ar + «, and may be
expressed by Ui (a? + «). We have now
^ =B + C (* + a)... + E O + a)”-2 + £ O + a)n~\
y y
The quantity Uj not being divisible by a? + a, the as¬
sumption that x= —a will give it a particular value,
which we shall denote by Mj. This assumption will give
Q the same particular value as before; the terms which
contain (a? + a) as a factor will all vanish, and we shall
u
have B —. In this way may all the remaining numera¬
tors C, &c. to E be found.
As a particular example of this process, let the fraction
— - A
dx ~
da
dx
+ BQ,
^=A^ + 2B^ + 2CQ,
dx2 dx2 dx
d3U , d3a , Qn d2a , dQ
&S = A1P + 3B^ +6C&
&C.
+ 6DQ,
U
be
x2
(1 —x)3 (1 + a;2)
xz A
We assume
B
- +
1 + a;2 ’
(1 + a;2) (1 — x)3 (1 —x)3 ' (1 — x)2 1 1-
hence, multiplying by (1 — x)3, we have
r^=A + B(l-a0+C(l-*)« + r!^(l-*):’.
Making 1 —a;r=0, or a;=l, we have A r= i, and
equations which determine each of the unknown quanti¬
ties A, B, C, &c. by means of those which precede it, it
being well understood that we substitute after each differ¬
entiation — a in the place of x in the differential co-effi¬
cients. In this case the most simple way of determining
Q will be to divide V by (a? — a)n. But it may also be
found by differentiation, as in art. 118.
121. Let us now suppose that the fraction to be
decomposed, has a factor of the second degree, viz.
x2 + 2cca: + a2 + |82, which cannot be resolved into two
real factors of the first degree.
In this case, V — (ar2 + 2ax + a2 + /32) Q, and we as¬
sume
U_ Ax + B P
V a?2 + 2aa: + cc2 + /32 Q
Then, U = (Ax+B) Q + P (x2 + 2ax+an~ + (3*).
If we substitute for x one of the imaginary roots of the
equation a;2 + 2aa; + a2 +/32 — 0, the term containing P
will disappear, and the result will contain two kinds of
terms; one real, and the other imaginary. We must now
put the real quantities equal to each other, and also the
imaginary quantities ; thus two equations will be obtained
by which A and B may be determined.
Let the fraction be
x _ Ax + B , P
(x— 1) (a^ + a; + 1) xP + x+l Q
Then x — (Ax + B) (a: — 1) + P (a12 + a; + 1).
i
o ▼
— A=—
and
Now x? + x + l — 0 gives x — — ^ — 3; there¬
fore, by substituting in the last equation, it becomes, after
collecting the terms,  
— = —iB±(iB —A)V —3.
Hence — f B = — l and £ B — A |, therefore B ^
and A — — +
1 + x
1 + a: P
2(1 +a;2/1 ^)=B(1 a?) + C(l x)2+ ^ ]22. In the last place, let us consider the case in which
1 + a1
2(1 + a2) _ B + C ^ ^ + 1 + a2 ^ ;
again, making a; — 1, we find B = —+ and
2(1+^) B ~ 2(1 +X2) 1 a:)-C(1—a;) + 1 + ^
and2(TO) = c + rT^(1-^
, Lastly, making x = 1, we have C = — and the frac¬
tion
the fraction ^ —
Aa + B
+
Ca + D
 +b
 _, i
(1 +a2)(l—x)3  r1'*3
1
1
(l_a>)3 2(l_x)2 41—a 1 1+a2'
(x2 + 2ax +a2+[32)n ‘ (x2 + 2ax + a2 +++ 1
and here V r= (a2 + 2aa + a2 + fS2)n Q. We have now
^ = (Aa + B) + (Ca+D) (a2 + 2aa + a2/32)...
+ -Y(a2 + 2aa + a2 + /32)nV.
y
This case is compounded of the two preceding, and
must be treated in the same manner. In the first place,
we substitute for. a, one of the roots of the equation,
a2 + 2aa + a2 + j82 = 0, by which all the terms contain¬
ing this quantity disappear, and the equation is reduced
FLUXIONS.
721
Inverse
Method.
to
V
a
= A* + B; and here V and Q are functions of
the particular value of x, which satisfies the above-men¬
tioned equation. As in the last case, we shall have an
equation of the form r sV — 1 —r' + s'V — 1, r and
s being composed of constants and the indeterminate
quantities A, B; and these last will be found from the
equations
r — r', s — s'.
We now differentiate the preceding equation, and, after
omitting the terms in the result that contain x2 + 2ax
+ a2 + fS2, have
dQ
= A + (2x + 2a) (Cx + D).
By substituting in this expression the imaginary value
of x, which satisfies the equation a?-\-2ax a2 + /32 = 0,
and putting the real and imaginary terms on each side
equal, two equations will be obtained which determine C
and D.
x — 3
As an example, let the fraction be
We assume it
Ax + B
+
(x2 — 2x + 2)2
Cz + D
(x2 — 2a; + 2)2 1 x2 — 2a; + 2’
By reducing to a common denominator, we find
x3 — 2a;2 + a; — 3 Aa; + B + (Ca; + D)(a;2 — 2a; + 2),
one of the roots of the equation a^ — 2a; + 2 0 is
x = \ V — 1 ; this being substituted for x, the equa¬
tion, becomes
_4_-/ZrT - A + B + AV — 1.
Hence, to determine A and B, we have A + B — —4,
and A = — 1 ; therefore B = — 3. Substituting the
values of A and B, and transposing, we have
x3 — 2a;2 + 2a; — (Ca; + D) (a;2 — 2a;-l-2) ;
and, taking the differentials, and dividing by dx,
3x2 — 4a;-|-2 = (Ca; + D) (2a; — 2) + , &c.
By again substituting 1 + V — 1 for x, this equation be¬
comes
— 2 + 2 V- _2 C + 2(C + D)
hence C 1, D — 0, and the proposed fraction is equi¬
valent to
a- + 3
(ar ■
+
2a; + 2)2 1 a?—2a;+ 2*
There is an extensive class of differentials, rational frac¬
tions, in which the denominator has the form x2n z±=2a;”
cos a + 1 ; also of this form, xn 1. How these func¬
tions may be resolved into factors of the first and second
degrees has been explained in Algebra, art. 274-278.
This resolution being effected, the integration may be
performed as has been explained.
Integrals of Irrational Fractions.
123. When a differential involves irrational functions,
if by any means these can be transformed into others en¬
tirely rational, their integration may be effected by the
rules already explained.
For example, let the differential be
(1 + >fx — 3Afx2)dx
1 + 3\/x
It is evident, that making x = z6, all the extractions indi¬
cated by the radical signs may be effected; and since dx
— fiz5^, the differential is transformed to
6z5c?z(l + z3 — z4)
;
VOL. IX.
and by actually dividing the numerator by the denomi- Inverse
nator, this last may be expressed thus, Method^
— 6(z7 — z6 — z5 + z4 — z2 + \)dz — i ^-2’
whose integral is
-6(T-T-T + T-T + *-tan~'*) +const
1
By replacing the value of z, viz. a;6, the integral may be
expressed in terms of x.
124. We shall now consider those irrational functions
which include the radical Va + bx ea;2 only, and which
appear under one or other of the two forms,
 _____ Vdx
VdxV a bx cx2,
Va + bx ex?
where P denotes any rational function of x. These may,
however, be included in one ; for if the first be multiplied
by the radical, and the same quantity written under it as
a denominator, it becomes
P(a + bx + cx2)dx
Va -{• bx -p c2 5
an expression of the same kind as the second.
dx
We begin with the simple form, ^ i
however, has two cases, according as the sign of c in the
denominator is positive or negative.
m dx
125. I. To integrate the differential ^ fTbx~-{- cx2’
Assume Va + bx ex? = py
•(1)
Here p and q are indeterminate constant quantities, to
which such values are to be given as shall serve to trans¬
form the proposed differential into another that may be a
rational fraction ; we have now
a + bx + cx2 =z p2y2 + ^pq + p-*
To make the left-hand side of this equation a perfect
square, we transpose its first term, then multiply both
b2
sides by c, and add — to each side of the result; it then
becomes
+ bcx+ c2x2 = c[p2y2 + 2p2 — a + |^ +
The second side will also become a square if we make
b2
2pq a + — = —2pq,
4ac — l?
or     ,
which is evidently always a possible assumption ; by this,
the equation becomes
L + bex + (?x? — c^ppy2 — 2pq + ;
id hence, by taking the square roots,
+ cx = vc{py—ffj (2)
From this, by differentiation, we obtain
Vc dx — —{/py + -) = — Va + fa; + ar8’
v y\ y) y
and hence,
dx 
Va + bx + cx2
_L
Vc y '
.(3)
4 Y
722
fluxions.
Inverse Dividing now both sides of equation (2^ by v^> and
Method, adding the results to equation {l), we get
^ _ -l- xs/c bx "t* cx^ ~ 2py}
2^/c
and, taking the logarithms,
+ xa/c+ Va + hx + cx^j = 1*2/ +l.(2p)—(4)
Now 1. y ’.a* C ; here, C being any constant what-
ever, we may suppose it = C'-l. (ip), where C'denotes
another indeterminate constant; therefore,
lv + \.(ip)=/f+C’.
By comparing this last equation with (3) and (4), we
find
dx
y Va bx ex2'
 L1. ( p xt/c + Va +bx + cx2) + C,
— 1. lb + 2cx + 2VcVa + bx + cxA + C.
\ 7
These logarithmic functions differ from each other only
by the constant 1 (2Vc’)
_ dx
126. II. To integrate the differential ^
assume Va bx — cx2- —p sin <p (1)
p representing here an indeterminate constant, and <p a
variable angle. Then
a-\-bx — cx2 ~ pP sin2 <p p? —P2 cos2 <p ;
and hence, proceeding as in last article,
JO fyl
  hex + dx2 — cp2 cos2 p + — + ac — p?c.
The left-hand side of the equation is now a complete
square, and to make the right also a square, we assume
that
We have also
dx
/v
2  
JVa-\-bx — cx1 V1 Vb2bac
for the angle whose cosine is any number v differs from
the angle whose sine is —v by a right angle, which is a
constant, and therefore the differentials of these angles
will be the same expression.
127. We shall now integrate the formula
xndx
Va + bx + cx1
n being any whole number. We put
-i
2cx — b
Inverse
Method.
= + C;
X = Va + bx + cx2, y — xmVa + bx+ex2 = xmX,
then y2 — ax^m + ia;2OT+1 + ca;2OT+2,
and differentiating, we have 2ydy —
(2mas?m 1 + (2m + \)bx2m + (2m + 2)cx2m+l)dx;
and hence, dividing by y = xmX,
xm ^dx . . , xm dx
2dy — 2ma ^ b (2m +1)6
+ (2m + 2)c
xm+Xdx
X ’
Let us now make — n, and therefore m — n — 1,
m—l = w —2, 2m = 2n — 2, 2m+l = 2w —1, 2m +
2z=2n; thus we obtain
2dy=.(2n — 2)a
X
+ 2wc
'dx , /Q dx
— +(2n—1)6-
X
xndx
“IT
and hence, by proper arrangement of the terms,
2n — 1 b xn Ydx n — 1
a xn~2dx
„ 62 . . Vb2 + 4ac
cp2 = — + <xc, or TpVc — 2 
and thus obtain
W
.(2)
xPdx _ dy   _      
X nc 2n ' c X n c X
and, by integration, and putting for y and X the functions
they represent, we have
(* xndx 1 „ v , 
, ,, - =T— ~x ^Va + bx + cx2
VaVbxV ex* nc
b r~n-'-
c J V
£
2n — 1
vdx
2n
V a-\-bx-\- cx2
— bex + dx2 — cp2 cos2 <p,
a p
’ cJtj
xn-2dx
and, taking the square roots,
b
- — CX — Vc p COS <p.
..(3)
and hence, differentiating, and dividing by Vc>
dx — -,-p sin (b — Va + bx — cx2',
Vc r Vc
and hence,
dx i
V a bx — ex? Vc ^
Taking now the integral, we have
dx 1
Jv^+fe_^=77*5 + const-
To determine <p, we have, (3) and (2),
b — 2cx b — 2cx
cos <p =
Therefore,
dtp
VaVbxV cx2
The proposed integral is now expressed by an algebraic
function, and two other integrals of the same form, but
in which the exponents of x are of lower degrees. We have
found its value (art. 125, 126) when n = 0, a case to
which the formula just found does not apply, because then,
n entering into the denominators of the fractions, they
become infinite. When n the last of the two integrals
in the second side of the equation vanishes, because its
coefficient = 0, and we have
/;
xdx
Va +6x+ I
^-Va + bx+cx?
dx
%V c p V62 + 4ac’
/;
dx
1 b — 2cx
cos ~1 ■-7===== + C.
Va + bx — cx2 s/c C°S Vb1 + 4ac
r .
2c J Va-\-bx-\- cx2
Knowing now the integrals in the cases of« 0 and
m — 1, the preceding general formula gives it in the case
of w — 2 ; and in the case of w — 3, it is found from the
cases of w — 1 and n — 2\ and so on to any extent, sup¬
posing w to be a positive number.
128. When n is negative, the formula will be better
under another form. Writing — n instead of + n, and
arranging the terms of the result anew, we have
FLUXIONS.
Inverse
Method.
dx
f&V a-\- bx-\- cxz
2n — 3 b
— 1 V'a + bx -}-•car2
(n
V—
ajx«—
V)a x
dx
c— 1
2n — 2 aJ -n—Wa + bx+cx*
n — 2 c /» dx
_ £ /*
' 1 ’ aj rJl —
n I aj ^ ^Va + bx + cx1
In this formula, n is understood to be positive.
129. This formula of transformation will not apply to
the case of w = 1, because then the fractions which have
n— 1 in the denominator become infinite. It is therefore
• • • dx
necessary to investigate the integral of •—  sepa-
xV a-\-bx-\- cx1
rately. Let # z= i; then — = —and
y x y
 dx   — dy
xVa bx ex'1 V c-\- by ay1
This transformed differential has two cases, according as
a is positive or negative ; when a is positive, the integral
is, by article 125,
2«^ + 2\/a Vc+by + aif) -f C.
We are at liberty to give the radical »/a either the
sign + or the sign — ; therefore, giving it the latter, the
integral is
1  
Va1, (^ + 2^—SVa Vc + by + ay^ + C-,
and hence, substituting for y its equivalent -, we have
__ j a — Vgt+cx1 ^ ^
x
The second of these integrals is obtained from the first
by passing 1. (2a) into the arbitrary constant C. It may
yet have another form ; for
Zadx (a — +
'~L~ Tli   +C.
723
Inverse
Method.
£
xV a2 + ex?
£
Now — cxz zz (a + Va2 + cx2) (a — vV + cx?) ;
therefore, substituting and reducing,
adx i] a — Va* -f cxz
xV a2 + cx? 2 a + Va2-\-cx%
This example shows that the integral is much modified
by the arbitrary constant which enters it.
. 1S1- Corresponding to these logarithmic integrals there
is a set of similar integrals which are expressed by angles
or arcs of a circle. Thus we have, art. 126,
dx
/;
d? — x?
dx
-= sin
-1-+c,
a
/v^tf?=cos"I(l-29+c’
and by formula 2 of art. 129,
adx
z= sec -1 - + C zz cos -1 - -f C.
a
L
dx
xV a-{-bx-{- cx2
 Lt 2a + Jx — 2*/a */a-\-bx-\-cx2 ,
Va1’ ^ +C;
observing, as above stated, that the radical a may have
the sign + and also the sign —.
In the second case we have
 dx —dy
xV—a-{-bx-\- cx1 Vc-\-by — ay2'
Now, by art. 126,
r —dy I • , 2ay — b . _
,— zz sin-1 — 4-C
*’ Vc-\rby — a2y2 Va Vb?-\-^ac
xy/ x2 — a? a x
132. As an example of the way of proceeding in the
integration of a differential which involves radical quan¬
tities, let it be proposed to integrate the differential
dx /a? — x2
x x? •— b2’
By an obvious transformation, we find
dx id? — x2 __ a?dx
x v x- — b2~ x*/ ( (a2 — x?)(x2 — i2)).
xdx
V{(a2~x2Xx?—b2)y
The first of these differentials may be otherwise ex¬
pressed thus,
x \xj
Therefore we have
dx /a? — x?
1
zz — cos
\fa
1 .
2ay — b
VW + kac
= +C.
Therefore, putting - instead of y,
JvV —
dx
— — cos
2a — bx
+ C.
dx fa? — x?   —xdx 
x x?—^"“^/((a2 — x?)(x? — 62))
i.(i)
j {(i-ik-i)}’
■a + bx + cx2 Va xVl? + 4ac
130. The formulas investigated from articles 125 to
128 serve for the integration of innumerable differentials.
Thus, from art. 125 we have
/* dx  
/» dx  
^== = l.(^+^+Vte + ^) + C;
and, from the first formula of art. 129
adx
•J xV a2-\-cx?
= 1.
2a2 — 2a Va2 + cx2
+ C
and it is evident that the two differentials have precisely
the same form.
To integrate the first of these, let us assume
x? — a2 cos2 <p b2 sin2 <p ;
then xdx zz (b2 — a2) sin p cos <p dtp,
a? — a;2 zz (a2 — 62) sin2 <p (1)
x2 — 52 zz (a2 — b2) cos2 tp (2)
 —xdx   (a2 — b2) cos p sin p c? <p_ ,
\?\(a?—x2)(x2—l?)') (a2 — 52)cospsinp ^
Exactly in the same way, if we make
£r=4r«>s2+ + -Trsin'.|/,
X
724
fluxions.
Inverse we get
Method.
vp
m +
i,i©=(i-i)sin'J'cosW’
_1 L — sin2 -v}/ (3)
a2 3? \a2 b2)
^-i=(i-i)cos,'f/ (4)
= (^41^°:^=d+.
7{(f4)(i-F)}(^-^)siri'1/cos'1/
On the whole, if <p and ^ be such angles that
= yCT
sions may be made rational, whenever —is a whole
. m .p •
number; or, what is the same thing, whenever - "T " 18
an integer. ^
The differential x4 dx (a + &X3)3 is of this description,
m
Inverse
Method.
since
_5 p_\ m _ 2>
n ‘S? q ^ n 9. ^
In applying to the differential
up
m + ■
cos 9
cos 4- = - cos <p;
then
/dx j d2—a:2 — a j. 4- const.
x J xl—ft2 b
Integration of Binomial Differentials.
133. These differentials are represented by the formula
P_
xm ^dx (a + bxn)^ ,
whose generality will not be affected by supposing that
m and n are whole numbers. The object we propose is
to find in what case this differential may be made ra¬
tional.
P
We assume a -j- bxnz=. z^, so that (a bx )<*
we then find
m
<Z _ /~?
— a m_ fzq — a\ n
x x -{ b ) ’
m
710 j
^dx=vbzi 1 (VT dz;
and the proposed differential is now transformed into
•no ^
an expression which is evidently rational whenever ^
is a whole number.
The differential xMx (a + btf) q satisfies this condition,
since m = 9, n = S, — 3, and it is transformed into
n
2^   i
it, q dx (ax ”+ b)q,
the substitution indicated for the first form of this dif¬
ferential, we shall makeax~n + b = zq, and thence de¬
duce a + bxn — xn zq\ and if we transform immediately the
I
expression of1 dx (a -f- 5xra) q by means of the equa¬
tion preceding, we shall evidently obtain the same lesult
as if we had at first given it the form
np . p
x q dx(axrn + b)q.
134. Since it is not possible to integrate in every case
P_
the formula x”1-1 dx (a + bxn)q, we may try to change
it into another more simple, as has been done in inte¬
grating a differential (art. 115). We have found that
"fudv — uv —fvdu. If therefore we can decompose the
differential into two factors, one of which being inte-
grable, may be represented by dv, and the other by u,
the integration of the proposed differential will be made
to depend on that of vdu, which in some cases will be
more simple than the proposed differential. This method,
which is at once extensive and elegant, is called integra~
tion by parts.
For the sake of abridging, we shall write simply p in¬
stead of -, supposing p to represent a fractional number.
The formula will then become
xm 1 dx (a + bxn p.
Among the different ways of resolving this differential
into factors, we choose this :
x™-11 xn-Y dx(a + bxny.
One of the factors, xl ^ dx (a + &xw)^,isintegrable,
whatever be the value of p (art. 108); representing it
therefore by dv, we have
(a + bx )p+1 , m—n
*=W+ira ’
whence there results
9 rP + l —
3bZ
1 •
The differential xm"~ 1 dx (a + bxn) q admits of ano¬
ther form, by making the index of x between the brack¬
ets negative, or by dividing the quantity a + bxn by xn ;
then we have
P E
xm ~1 Jx (a + bx-) q = xm-ldx{(ax~n + b)xn}q
m+^-l £
— x q dx (ax ” -{• b)q;
and by the process preceding, the last of these expres-
J x dx (a + bx ^ + y >
__m-n + +
nb (p +
but fxm-~n~~ldx(a + bxn)F + 1
=Jxn-n"1 dx (a + bx-y (a + bxn) =
a,fxm~n-1 dx (a + bx)p +
bj*x ni~-1 dx(a + bxn)p,
FLUXIONS.
725
Inverse putting this last in the preceding equation; and collecting as many units as it contains; and by its application, along Inverse
Method. , .... . „ w_i , , , , with formula (A), we may make the integral Method,
the terms containing the integral Px axia-f- bxnY .
we obtain, after reduction, . Jx + ^ ) depend on
Jxm r ” “ 1 _j_ bxn)P ~~s, rn being the greatest
jn n + 1 multiple of m contained in m — 1, and s the greatest
b (pn + m) whole number contained in p.
(A.)
J*1 efcc (a + bxn^)P — X—~
a (m — n)
f
m — n— 1
dx(a + lxn'f. The integral\Jx^dx(a + bz?)2, for example, may be re-
b (pn + m)’
It is obvious that since we may reduce the integration of duced by formula (A) successively to
xm ~1 dx (a + bxn)p to that of xm~n- ldx (a + bxn)p, fadx(a + bxrf, fxdx(a + bx?)2 ;
we may reduce this last to the integration of xm 2,8 *
dx (a bx*1^ by writing m — n in the place of 7n in equa- and by formula (V»),Jxdx(a + bx?)^ is reduced to
tion (A) ; then, by changing m — n into m — 2n, we shall 3
be able to determine /V'8-2”—1 dx(a + bxn)p by Jxdx(a + fa3)2, and that again toJ‘xdx(a + fa3)2.
means
off ^
m — 3m — 1
dx (a + fa”)^, and so on.
136. It is evident that if m and n were negative, the
In general, if r denote the number of reductions, we formulae (A) and (B) would not accomplish the purpose
, „ , , ^ r m — rn \ , i -.v ^ for which they have been investigated; they would then
s la at last come to J x dx (a-{■ bxn) , and increase the exponent of x without the parenthesis, as
the last formula will be wep as that of the parenthesis itself; but by reversing
fxm — (r—1)n— 1 dx(a + bxn)p them we shall find others suited to the case in question.
^ , -i From formula (A) we deduce
_xm-"(a+bx«y+l _ W ,
b[pn + m — (r—l)n} 1 _ x_ <°..+-foL> ,
„ aim-n)
, , . 7 rt—f / x ^ dx (a -f" bzn ) P.
b (pnrn — (r—\)n\J K '
_b(m + np) pn - 1 ^ +
It appears from this formula, that if m be a multiple a\m . .
m_\ In this expression, substitute m n m place of m and
of n, the integration of the proposed formula x dx jt becomes
(a + bxn)p may be effected in algebraic terms, since the
last integral of the transformed expression will be multi¬
plied by m — r7i = Q. This result agrees with that of
art. 133.
135. There is another way of reduction by which the b^+n + np) pm + n 1 . jl. l n p
exponent of the quantity within the parenthesis may be ^ Jx dx(a + fa ) .
(C)
7n, . , n.p + 1
»-1 dx(a + ? (a.+..faJ 
iXz LltAx l Lv I \J*Aj J  
v x a,7n
b(m + « + np) pm + m — 1
diminished by an unit; for this purpose it is only neces¬
sary to observe that
fxm 1 dx(a + bx1l)p
Jx
<m— 1
__ fx- 1 dx(a + bxn)P (a + fa”)
xm ldx(a + bxf
= afx
m + n — 1
+ bJx
b
* ?M + M 1
dx(a + bf)P ^
This formula diminishes the exponent without the pa¬
renthesis, since m n — 1 becomes — m + ft — 1 when
— is put instead of + w.
To reverse the formula (B), we take
/» , m, . 7 n.p
X”- Ma + IxY- 1 = - * A+> >■
v pna
+ Vl±!vpn-idxia + bxy.
Jplld
then we write/? + 1 instead of/?, and thus find formula
(D)
+ xdx(a. + bxY-1 = Jxm-ldx{a + bx'J = -
la + bxY - amfx!" - '&(« +bxy-1 + ^±^±ys.fxm - ' dx(a +bx")I’+l.
This formula answers the proposed purpose, since /? + 1
Formula (A), by changing m into m + n, and p into
P — gives m/' i j n\
b(p?i + ft?) .
Substituting this value in the preceding equation, we have becomes —/? + 1, when/? is negative
m — 1
(B)
m, , t K\P
Pm — 1 7 / i 7 n\P x (d ~t bx )
fx dx(a + fa ) z= —    
*/ v y p7i + m
+
pn + ft?,
pn +
dx(a + fa”/
pna /‘Tn — 17^ , , nxP — 1
By this formula we may take away successively from p Vl —x2
y1Xj,v * dx
—==r, where ft? is a whole
VI — x2
positive number. Making a — 1, b = — 1, ft — 2,
p = — we find
yxm — ldx -m — 2*/' ™ o /*Vn —
x "Vl — x2 — % fx dx
ft? — 1 ^ V\  x?
m — 1
FLUXIONS.
726
Inverse Writing m in place of — 1> we have
Method. m i i  g . ** r]y
f x dx xm— 1 V1 — x? m — 1 j x ax
,' ^2 rn m \/\  
m— I
J Vl —
dx
Inverse
Method.
</\ — a? Writing
If we give to m successive different values, beginning
with the uneven numbers, we have
/;
m J V\ — af
m instead of — m — 1, this becomes
dx
— VI — x1
f xdx___ _ _ VI — xl + const.
J Vl — x*
^— = — IxWl — ^2+ f j
J V l   X2 " *
xmv\ —X2 (m_
^_2 . 
m — —
- l)x
dx
m — 1
/;
Vl
f:
x7dx
Vl — «2
ofidx
Vl —
&c.
and hence we deduce
x?dx
= —i V'v1 —^ v1 — ^
« “ Vl — x?
We cannot make m = 1, because that value would make
the denominator zero and the co-efficient infinite. We
have already found the integral in this case, viz.
p dx I — Vl — a?2 . , . on\
/—=== = + 1. h const, (art. 130).
./aVl — x2 1 x
Proceeding now, making m — 3, tn = 5, &c. we have
f dx Vl — ^ jl. i C-
Jx3Vl — xl ~~ 2x? x*
dx
dx
x?dx . / 1.2\ S
/vCT = -(^ + r3)V1-^
f ^dx _ _ (l^ + lia;2 + —V1
JvT=^- v +3.5X ^ 1.3.5)
c x~dx
Vl
s* ax
Ja^Vl — xl~
dx Vl
4a:4'
'a;Vl — x
„ dx
+ l/xvr
>2 *
fx
1.6
1.4.6
a^
a;7Vl
&c.
a^
6a;6
+ if>
dx
xW 1
, 1.2.4.6\  5
+ 1 Vl — x2.
T 1.3.5.7;
&c.
The law of formation of the integrals is evident; an ar¬
bitrary constant is to be annexed to each.
Let us now consider the even values of m. Supposing
m — 2, 4, 6, &c. we have
* + dX
«/ \
Making m — 2, m — m = 6, &c. we find
/* dx Vl — a2 1 *
I  ..    -}- const.
•/ a;
a?Vl — a:2
dx
xWl—\
dx
Vl
3a?s
</a;
Vl —
5x5
a:2Vl —
dx
+ V*vrir
r ^
,/Vl — a:2
f-^^ = -ieVl-x2 + ifvT
- ft
Vl — a^
xrdx
x^dx
JvTT
X2
xidx
ot?
&c
Here all the integrals depend on
/* - — sin _ 1 a; +*const. (art. 23.)
c/v'’
Vl — x
Let us call A the arc whose sine is x, and we have
/• dx
J Vl — x
,, ofidx
J Vl —' x
xeVl — a^
&c.
From these two series of equations we deduce, as in the
former article, a series of differentials integrated by loga¬
rithms, and another by algebraic formulae.
Integration by Series.
139. The integral / X rfa: is easily found when the
function X is expanded into a series, because then we have
only to integrate a series of single terms in succession, to
which the rule of art. 104 immediately applies.
Thus, let X= kxmjrBxm+n+Ca;wl+2”+Dxm+3” + &c.
If both members of this equation be multiplied by dx, and
each term be separately integrated, we have
— A + const.
Xdx =
Ax
m + 1
Bx
wi+n+1
Cx
jw+2b+1
m ~+T wpw+l m + 2«+l
-f- &c. “H c.
E
= _ la; Vl
»* + 2 A + const.
1.3
a?
i-3 * ,
+ — A + const.
xPdx _ f
jV 1 — x1 '
, 1-3.5 ,
+ 2X6 A + COnSt'
Vl — x2
f
If in the expansion of X any term of the form — occur,
the integral corresponding to that term will be E 1. a: (art.
20). We shall now give particular examples.
dx
Ex. 1. To integrate ^ by a series.
We know that the integral comprehends in it Napier’s
logarithm of a + a: (art. 20). Now, by division,
a-\-x
_A *t 4. ^ 4.  &c
a a2 ^ a3 a4 ^ a6
Therefore, multiplying by dx, and integrating,
138. Let us now consider the formulae which answer
to the case of m negative; then by formula (C) art. 136,
j‘ x m ^dx x m V\ ~x?~
v —vT ^ ~
I
dx
= x_ 5: . ^ + &c. + c.
a -j- x a 2a2 3a3 4a4
m
This series expresses the general integral, without any
regard to its particular application. If, however, we con¬
sider it as expressing 1. (a + x), then we have
FLUXIONS.
Inverse
Method.
'yi /yS /y>3 /yt4
1. (a + *) =--^ + + &■=• + C.
The constant quantity C is now no longer indeterminate ;
it must have such a value as satisfies this equation what¬
ever be the value of x. If we make a; = 0, then all the
terms of the series vanish, and we have ]. a = C.
Thus the value of C is determined, and we have
l.(a + *) = l.a + --2-5 + 3^
■ &c.
This result agrees with what we found (art. 86).
dec
Ex. 2. To integrate | by a series. By division,
~, = I — #2 + a4 — a:6 + &c.
1 + ar
Multiplying now both sides of this equation by dx, and
integrating, we have
dx
= *-T + T-T + &c- + C'
1 a/*2
As a formula purely analytical, the constant C must be
regarded as indeterminate. We know, however, that
—r is the integral of an arc of which x is the tangent,
1 + ar
the radius being unity (art. 22, Ex. 3). Therefore, if we
mean to express tan-1 a: by a series, then
7*3 t*5 7*7
tan-1 x — x — y + &c. -f C.
The constant C has now a precise value, and it may
be found by giving any corresponding known values to
tan-1 x and x. Now we know that when tan-1 a: r= 0,
then x — Q. Therefore, considering that when all the
terms in the series vanish, we have 0 = 0 -j- C; thus it ap¬
pears that C = 0.
dec
Ex. 3. In the last example, the integral of j—_j_ ^ was
expressed by a series of terms formed from the ascend¬
ing powers of a?. We may, however, express that inte¬
gral by a descending series. By division
And
/:
ii l + l S;c.
a;2 + 1 z? a:4 a;6
-^Ur = --+ A—i + &c- + c.
x2 + 1 x 3ar bx5
If we now regard the integral as the angle or arc whose
tangent is x, we have
tan-1 x —
— 1
+ &5-5S5-+&C- + C-
The value of C cannot now be found by making a; = 0,
because then the arc = 0, and the substitution of ar — 0
makes all the terms of the series infinite. If we suppose
the arc to be a quadrant = then x is infinite, and the
terms of the series are each = 0; by this assumption,
= C. We have now
tan-1 x = %
1 1 1 ire
•5 + + &c-
Ex. 4. The differential of the arc whose sine is x is
dx
It is proposed to integrate this differential by
V\ —a?2*
a series.
L===(i _*»)-* =
V\ — a^
727
. , , . . 1.3 , . 1.3.5 . 1.3.5.7 n I » Inverse
1 + ^ + + +2A&8^ + &C- ,Method-,
Hence we have sin-
in-1 x —
dx
V\
1.3a^
• a?2
1.3.5a’7
1
^ + ^3 + 2A5 + 2.4.G.7
"I" &c.
When the arc = 0, then the sine = 0; therefore both
sides of this equation vanish together, and no constant is
wanted to adjust it to equality.
140. The object of integration by series being to ob¬
tain approximate values of the integrals when they can¬
not be found accurately, it is important to have several
series, so that we may be able to choose one convergent
for a proposed value of x. Ascending series, or those
which proceed by positive and increasing powers of x, do
not converge sufficiently unless x be a small fraction, as
happens w ith the series of Ex. 2; whilst those which
proceed by the negative powers of x, or descending series,
converge only so as to be of use when a; is a large number.
141. In having recourse to series, it is sufficient to find
one, of which the terms are separately integrable, although
m
each may not have the form Axn dx ; they may have any
form, the integral of which can be expressed by an alge¬
braic quantity, or a logarithm, or an arc of a circle; or,
in short, any function, the numerical value of which is
most readily obtained, provided always that the conver-
gency be such as to admit of the sum of all the terms
which are not taken in being rejected, because of its
smallness in comparison to the sum of the terms taken in.
In the application of the calculus recourse is only to be
had to series as a last resource, when the integral, from
its nature, cannot be found in finite terms, or by logarithms
or arcs of a circle, which in fact are the sums of infinite
series. Indeed it would be very convenient to have va¬
rious other tables, ready computed, of the value of a func¬
tion corresponding to given successive values of the vari¬
able. The labour of their computation, their necessary
great extent, and the infrequency of their use, have hither¬
to limited this valuable aid in calculation to a table of
Napier’s Logarithms, in addition to the Trigonometrical
Tables.
Integration of Logarithmic Functions.
142. Let it be required to integrate Vdx (1. x)n, that is,
the nth power of Napier’s logarithm of x multiplied by
Pdx, P being an algebraic function of x. Here we apply
the formula f udv = uv —fvdu ; and making u = (1. xf,
i dx
from which we find du ■=. n (1. xf1 —, also dv — Ydx,
we have, making in order to abridge /= N,
JVdx (1.*)” = N (1. x)n — nj^ (1. x)n ~1 N.
If now we represent the integral ^ by we
have
y^N(l.ar)”-(»—
By this reduction the proposed integral is made to de¬
pend on another of the same kind, in which the exponent
of the logarithm is an unit less. Thus, if P = xmi we have
rptYl “j" 1 71 /+ 1
/”* o- ■*)”=^+1 ('• *)" - ^Tt/(U)” *”*•
By the binomial theorem,
728
Inverse
Method.
FLUXIONS.
By applying the formula to this last integral, and again
to the result, we find^Jxmdx (1. #)” =
! f (ha?)n _
\ w + 1 (jn l)2
n(n—1) Q.x)n-2
yv &(*+!;) =
+ c.
iz
Inverse
Method.
m +
+
(w + l)3
}
&c. V + c.
For example, let z = x3 — 1, then — = 3a;2, and
f^dxi^x? + #3 — l) =ex (x3 — 1) + C.
145. In other cases we may have recourse to the me¬
thod of integration by parts (art. 134). Thus, let the dif¬
ferential be xnaxdx, then, by the formula/?^ = uv—fvdu,
J*axxndx —
a x
1. a
It is evident that this will always terminate when n is mak;no. u _ ^ dv _ we find
a whole number. ^ „ „
143. If w be a whole negative number, we must apply
the formula fudv — uv — fvdu so as to increase the ex¬
ponent of the logarithm. Thus in the differential
Ydx Pa; / , w, v—n dx
tt—rn = XT .(—n+l) (1. x)
(\.x)n —w+1 x
we make Pa; = u, and (l.*)-” v = dv> by which
n
1. a<
xjn — 1.
— 1
dx.
By treating the differential (fx11 dx'm the same way,
and repeating this as often as necessary, we ?m<\Jaxxndx ■=.
(1- x)
—n+\
Pa;
■w + 1 t ~¥dx
— v; for then we have i n~fy —
{\.a
n— 1
ftiAs
1.2.3...W
i(n — 1)
n — 2
(l.a)3
(i.*r”+1 +
(U')>
d(Vx).
(1. a)
n+I
+ C.
Let us suppose P =r xm, then this formula becomes
146. If the exponent n be negative, by following the
same method we may increase the exponent of x. Ac¬
cordingly, from the formula / udv zz uv —fvdu} making
■•xmdx
/xux —
(\.xY (n—
 rm +1
(ha;)” («—1) (La;)”—1 w — 1 ^ (1.a;)’*—1
By repetitions of this transformation, we at last make the
■>xmdx
+
jrj- /•
— 1^ (
xmdx
u — aX, and dv — —, we find
’ xn
f
ax
dx
 zzr +
(n — 1) a;” “1 n
. a P axdx
— \ J —1
proposed integral depend on Now, puta;,w+1 By repeating this transformation, we bring the integral
J pax dx A A , t fadx
J —— to depend at last on J -
— z, then 1. a; zr
~~ ■ and xmdx — —^~r, therefore
m-\-\ m + i
xmdx
1. x
dz
Tz
1. z
If we make ax — z, then a; 1. o zz 1. 2;, and x zzr^—and
f. a
. ^ • 1 • 1 dz . ax dx
The integral of this last quantity is a transcendental of dx — —^ — ; hence —^—
a peculiar kind, which cannot be otherwise expressed than
by infinite series.
_L (If
1. a 1. z'
, and
' dz
Paxdx _ J_ f _
J x 1. ay 1. z'
Integration of Exponential Functions.
144. It appears from art. 19, that d(ax} — \.(a)ax dx,
therefore
These two integrals involve the same difficulty, and have
greatly exercised the ingenuity of analysts. It appears
they can only be integrated by infinite series. See on this
subject, Lacroix, Trade dn Calcul Differentiel, vol. iii. No.
1224.
147. If w be a fraction, either of the preceding methods
will apply to reduce the exponent of x to some fraction
between 0 and + 1 or — 1; and then recourse must be
had to the method of infinite series.
Whatever has been done in regard to the integral of
braic function of a*, then, putting ax zz «, we have Ydx ^^dxP wi!1 t0 Pa*^’ suPPosing P ^ be any func-
^du tion of x whatever.
f
axdx zz t—— + C.
1. a
And because dx zz ——- ; therefore, if V be
ax\.a
any alge-
= an expression which, in respect of u, has an alge¬
braic form.
For example, let V zz
1 I n
1
=, then,
f.
axdx
V 1 + on
=/r
du
a -v/l + *
The integral of this last expression may be found by
rules which have been investigated.
Let z be any function of x, then, e being the number of
Integration of Angular or Circular Functions.
148. There are several ways of integrating expressions
which contain circular or trigonometrical functions of a
variable.
Method I.—Let x be an arc whose sine or cosine is z ;
for example, let sin x = z, then
  dz
cos x zz Yl — z2, dx zz
Vl —
1— I
dx sinm x cos” a; zz (1 — zr2) ' dz.
1. If n be any odd number, then, in the binomial dif-
whirh i i 1 t v * ' A1 u ue any ouu numoer, men, m me oinomiai uh
therefore ~ ’ we iave d(ze )— e dz e zdx, ferential, the radical in the transformed expression dis
appears.
FLUXIONS.
2. If m is an odd number, the exponent of z without the
parenthesis, when increased by unity, will be a multiple
of 2 its exponent, within the parenthesis. Thus one of
the conditions of art. 133 is satisfied, and the difterential
may be made rational.
3. If m and n are even numbers, then the second con¬
dition of art. 133 will be satisfied, and the differential may
be integrated.
As an example, let the differential be dx sin3 * x. This,
dz
by making z = sin a?, becomes \/x j. Now, by art. 137,
- p
nj
dx sinm ~2 x cosnx.
m + n{
By resolving the proposed differential into the two fac¬
tors dx cos x sin”*^ and cos” 1 x, and proceeding in the
same way, we find
(/3)
s* z3 dz
J \/1 — z2
149. Method II.—The powers of the sine or cosine
may be transformed into series, of which the terms are
sines or cosines of the multiples of the arc ; the terms to
be integrated will then have the form dx cos kx, dx sin
kx. Now
Vi — z-
— — cos x (2 sin2 x~) -f- C.
J
dx sinm x cos" x —
n — 1
• m + \ n
sin x cos
m -j- n
jdx sinm x cos" ~2 x.
/'
J
dx cos ^ sin + C;
dx sin kx — — cos kx + C.
k
Ex. 1. Let the differential be dx cos5 a?. By the cal¬
culus of sines (Algebra, 258), cos5 x zz (cos 5 a: + 5
cos 3ai + 10 cos x) ; therefore
Jdx cos5 x = -Jy sin 5x sin 3a; + |- sin a^ + C.
This method is often used, because the sines and co¬
sines of the multiples of an arc are more easily found
than the powers of the sine and cosine.
Ex. 2. Let the differential be dx cos2 x sin3 x. In the
first place, we have (Algebra, art. 260),
cos2 x sin3 a; — -jij (— sin 5a; + sin 3a; + 2 sin x).
Hence, multiplying by dx, and integrating,
fdx cos2 x sin3 x = Jjj cos 5x — ^ cos 3a; — cos a; + C.
150. Method III.—It has been found (Algebra, art.
270), that e being the base of Napier’s logarithms,
f
dx sin”1 a;
. m — 1
sin x
(in—m)cos n — ^x
1 f'dx sinm ' x
i — 1 /*-
— n J
V— 1
cos X —
+ e
X V  1
V— i xV — 1
2 V— 1
These exponential expressions for the sine and cosine
enable us to transform differentials containing circular
functions into others involving exponential and logarithmic
functions, and to integrate by the methods explained (art.
140-145).
151. Method IV.—We may reduce the integration of
such a differential as sin™ x cos" x dx, to that of another
in which the indices of the sine or cosine are smaller num¬
bers, by the formula J'udv — uv — fvdu. For, making u
— sin™ 1 a; and dv — dx sin x cos" x, we find v —
nne ” + 1 T
and
This makes the integral sought depend on that of
dx sin x dx .. • jj t>
 or , according as m is odd or even, liy
cos" a; cos" a;
dz
making cos x — z, the first of these becomes — —, of
which the integral is obvious. The integral of the other
will be shown presently in art. 153.
The second of the two general formulae, by making n
negative, and bringing the integral in the second side of the
equation to stand alone, and lastly, changing 11 into n — 2,
gives
(*)
/
e?a’sinTOa;  sin”1 + 1 x
cosnx (n — 1) cos" ~1.
m — « + 2 n dx sin”1 x
-t- ^ n ax?,
i J cos"
/
+ 1
dx sin”1 x cos" x — —
— 1
By this the integral sought is reduced to that of tfosin”* x,
or t0 S'n -, according as n is even or odd. The first
cos x
is found by formula (a) (art. 151), the other is presently
to be noticed.
153. If we make m or n — 0, we have
m — 1
+ 1
+
n +
1 n + 2 • r
Yjdx cos a; sin
« + 1
X cos X
+2
f
f
dx?inmx —
m
■\cdfi  1
- J'dx sir
dxcosn xzz-
n
cos a;
x — 1
/
dx cos"
dx
From this expression, by putting for cos 1 "r x, its va¬
lue cos” a; (1 — sin2 ar), and transposing, we find
(a)
dx sin”1 x cos" x —
sin™ ^ x cos” ^ x
VOL. IX.
/dx — cos x _j_ m — a p
sinma; — (m — l^in”1-1 x m—
/ dx sin a; w — 2 f' dx
cosnx~(n—l)cos"“1a; n—w cos" ~2 a;*
154. When the exponents of the sine and cosine are
both negative, we multiply the numerator by cos2a;+ sin2*
= 1, and have
4 z
729
Inverse
Method.
m + w.
One of these formulae serves to depress the exponent of
the sine, and the other that of the cosine, and by their
joint application the differential may be found when m
and n are two positive integer numbers. For example,
f dx sin3 x cos2 x — — 3- sin2 x cos3 x \ fdx sin x cos2 x,
fdx sin x cos2 x — ^ sin2 x cos x + ^fdxsvox;
this last term — — 3- cos a; + C, after collecting the
terms, we have fdx sin3 x cos2 x —
cos x (— J- sin2 x cos2 * + yy s*n2 x — it) + C*
152. When m and n are negative, these formulas re¬
quire some modification. The first, by changing n into
— n, gives
(/)
m -{• n
730
Inverse
Method,
FLUX
dx
' r dx   r ^ P
' J sm”*aTcos”a5 ^ sinm ~'2 x cos" x J sinro#cos7t ~*x
fractions witli sin x or cos x in tlic denonnnatoi.
If m — «, then because sin x cos a? r= sin 2x, by
making 2x = 2, the fraction takes the form of the third
of the preceding formulae.
155. We shall conclude this branch of the subject by
integrating four of the more elementary circular func¬
tions.
1. To integrate -r—. We observe that sin x = 2 s\n%x
sin x
}2 x, therefore,
dx dx
sin a; 2 sin I a?cos i a?
_ j dx sec2 x
2 tan ^ x
r/.tan U x
tan i x ’
and
f'^X- — 1. (tanla;) + C.
J smx
2. To integrate
sin x
dx
Putting it to denote an arc of
90°,
and
and x = ^
cosx
z, we have dx
dx p— dz
cos a; J sin 2
— —1. tan 42=1. ■
dz, cos x = sin 2,
+ C.
tan
Now
tan
2 tan(4 * — hx)
dx
— tan (|-w + \x).
Therefore f—— — 1. tan (1 cr + l a;) + C.
,/ cos a;
This and the preceding integral may be otherwise ex¬
pressed thus,
fi
dx
= 41.
1
1 + cosa;
- + C.
Si
dx
dx
tan x
3. f
J 1
J dx tan x
cosa;
da; cos a;
j j 1 -f- sin a;
— - '1 — sin a;
IONS.
Ex. 1. Let the curve be a parabola, of which p is the
parameter. By the nature of the curve, 1/ = px, and
y — p* x*, and ydx — p^ a;* dx; therefore, taking the
integral by art. 104,
s z=. J ydx = §/>2a;2 + c 2= § ?/a; + C (1)
Let AD = a, CD = b; when s 2= 0, then x — a,
y — b. These values being substituted in the above ge¬
neral expression for the area, it becomes
0 22: f + C.
If we now subtract the sides of equation (2) from the
corresponding sides of (1), the indeterminate constant C
will disappear, and we shall have
522 f (xy — ah').'
This is a convenient way of eliminating the indeterminate
constant. If A, the origin of the abscissa a;, be the vertex
of the parabola, and if the area s be supposed to begin at
the vertex, then «22 0, b—^\ and the area comprehended
between the axis, an ordinate, and the curve, is fa;?/, that
is, f of the circumscribing parallelogram.
Ex. 2. Let the curve be a circle Kpa (see fig. 7, art.
66), of which Ka is a diameter. Suppose the origin of co¬
ordinates to be at O, the centre ; let Ob be the radius per¬
pendicular to OA ; put OQ 22 x, pQ 22 y, OA the radius
22 a, the space OQpb = s; by the nature of the circle
x2 -j- y2 = a2, and y — Vd1 — a;2; hence
s —Jydx 22 Jdx Vcr — a;2.
This integral cannot be expressed in finite algebraic
terms ; therefore recourse must be had to an infinite series.
By the binomial theorem, Va~ — xz 22 (a2 — x2)h —
l.x* 1 .1 . a;4 1.1.3 . a;6
Inverse
Method.
+ c.
&c.
/'
=/
sin a;
dxsinx
cosx
22 1. (sin x) + C.
22 1.
+ C.
2. a 2.4a3 2.4.6a5
Each term of this series being multiplied by dx, and the
integral taken, we have
a^ 1.1 a^ 1.1.3 a;7
s = ax 2*3^'
, —r   &C. + C.
Applications of the Integral Calculus.
2.4* 5a3 2.4.6’7a5
To determine C, we consider that when a; 22 0, thens220,
these values make both sides of the equation 22 0; there¬
fore C 22 0 ; when x — a, then s 22 4 the area th0
Before we proceed farther in the explanation of the circle; therefore the area of a circle whose radius 22 a is
theory of the calculus, we shall apply its principles to 4 2/l 1 1 LI \ L1.3 1 & \
some of the more important problems in Geometry. 4C\1 2 ’ 3 2.4 ‘ 5 2.4.6 * 7 ’)'
n ;. / . f r1 • This series converges slowly, so that a considerable num-
l^uac 1 a me oj urves. 0f terms would be required to give its value near the
156. Let AQ 22 a;, PQ 22 y, be the co-ordinates of a truth. If we make x 22 cos arc 60°, then, drawing the
curve, of which AB is the axis ; and let the area CDQP, radius Op, the area OQpb will manifestly be made up of
comprehended between CD, an ordinate given in posi- the sector P06, which is of the area of the circle, and
tion, and PQ any other ordinate, be denoted by s. We
Fig. 21.
/Q
the triangle OQp, which is 4 OQ.pQz= —^a2.
Putting ^ for x in the series, it will now converge much
faster, and the sum of seven of its terms will be •4783057a2,
from which subtracting —| a2 22 ’2165063a2, there re¬
mains -2617994a2 for of the area, and 3-1415928a2 for
the whole area of the circle. We have found this num¬
ber by a less laborious calculation, in Algebra, 273. We
may make A, one end of the diameter (fig. 7, art. 66), the
origin of the co-ordinates, so that AQ 22 x, pq 22 y, seg¬
ment ApQ 22 s • then, because y 22 ,V2ax — x1, the area
s 22 Jdx V 2ax — x2 — Jdx V 2ax ^1 — j
The integral of this expression will be had by convert-
x V
2a)
area s — f ydx
Inverse
Method.
FLUXIONS.
ing ^1——^ into a series, then multiplying the terms
separately by dxV2ax, and integrating.
Ex. 3. To find the area of the elliptic segment APQ
(fig. 7, art. 66). Let OA, the semitransverse, — a, OB,
the semiconjugate, =b, AQ=#, PQ^, the area APQ=s.
By the nature of the ellipse, y=- VZax—x?-, therefore
a
the elliptic segment
s ~ Jydx — V %ax —
Let APa be a semicircle on the same axis, and let d
denote the segment cut off by the ordinate />PQ, which
is common to both curves. We found in last example
that d — Jdx V2ax — x2; therefore s =z- d. Thus it ap¬
pears that the area of APQ, any segment of an ellipse,
has to the area of ApQ the corresponding segment of the
circumscribing circle, the constant ratio of the lesser axis
to the greater. Neither of the integrals require a con¬
stant, because both vanish when x — 0.
Ex. 4. To find the area of the hyperbolic sector PCA,
C being the centre of the hyperbola, and CA the semi¬
transverse axis.
Fig. 22.
Draw the ordinate PQ; let the semitransverse axis
CA = a, the semiconjugate axis — b, CQ x, PQ — y,
the sector PAC — s.
Because s = triangle CPQ— space APQ = ^xy —fydx;
therefore ds = % xdy + \ydx — ydx — \ {xdy — ydx).
Now, by the nature of the curve, y — - Vx* — a2, there-
a
fore dy — -
ds
xdx
a V x2 — d
_b ( x2dx
2a «</xci.
:, and
—dxV x
‘2—a2| =
lab
dx
V x2-
dx
Now, by art. \2b,f-   - 1. Lc + Vx'2 — a2) + C.
J V x2 — a2 J
ab
ab ,
s = Ti.
{f+f}-
Now, when x — a, then s r: 0 ; in this case 0 — ab\. a-\-C,
or C = — ab\. a ; hence, substituting for C its value, and
X
putting 1. - for Lx — 1. a, we have
•s z= ab 1. -.
a
oc s
From this formula we find
a ab
Therefore s 1. (a? + Vx2—dl) + C.
Flere C denotes an indefinite constant: To determine its
value, we consider that when x— a, then 0 ; therefore
in this particular case,
0 = ^l.a + C.
Hence, by subtracting equals from equals, and observing
that the difference of two logarithms is the logarithm of
their quotient, we eliminate C, and have
_ ab tf-f-Va;2 —a2
s — 9 i. 
4 a
Because Vx2 — dl — therefore also
b
731
Ex. 5. To find the area of s, the hyperbolic space APQ,
we have s— triangle CPQ — sector CAP, or
. ab . (x , y)
Ex. 6. Let the curve be an equilateral hyperbola, of
which AX, AY are the asymptotes: To find s, the area
included by the hyperbolic arc CF, the straight lines CE,
FQ, which are parallel to one asymptote, and EQ, the
segment of the other asymptote between them ; suppose
CE one of the parallels to be given in position. Put
AE = a, EC = b, AQ — x, EQ— y. By the nature of the
curve, xy =z ab; hence y — —, and
s -=-Jydx — ab'J^- — ab 1. x -f C.
Fig. 23.
Inverse
Method.
Thus it appears
that Napier’s logarithm of any number — may be expressed
by a hyperbolic area; hence it has happened that the lo¬
garithms of his system have been called hyperbolic.
If M be the modulus oLeLwy system, the log of — in that
X
system will be M 1. —; therefore, in any system of which
the modulus is M, we have
. x M
log. — T S.
° a ab
Thus we see that logarithms of any system may be ex¬
pressed geometrically by hyperbolic areas, and therefore
that the name hyperbolic cannot with propriety
be given to one kind of logarithms rather than to another.
Ex. 7. Let the curve be the cycloid (fig. 9, art. 66), of
which AC is the axis, and AH a perpendicular to the axis
at the vertex A. From any point in the curve draw PG
perpendicular to AH : it is proposed to find 5, the area of
the external space contained by the straight lines AG,
GP, and the cycloidal arc AP.
Let O be the centre of the generating circle ; draw
PDQ perpendicular to AC, meeting the circle in D,
and join OD. Put x ~ AG, y — PG, a — AO, v —
angle AOD ; then (art. 66) PQ — a (v + sin v), AQ a
(1 — cos v), therefore,
x — a{v + sin v), y — a{\ — cos v), dx z= adv( 1 + cos v),
ds — a2( 1 — cos v)( 1 + cos v)dv — ardv sin2 v,
and integrating by 153,
• of*'
s zz arj dv sin2 v = — (y — sin cos v) -j- C.
When v — 0, then 5 ought to vanish; this requires that
C =: 0. Putting now the arc AD for av, and DQ • OQ for
a2 sin v cos v, we have
s = i AO • arc AD — | DQ • OQ = circ. seg. ADQ.
732
Inverse Ex. 8. To find the area contained by AF, a line drawn
Method. from focus 0f a parabola to the vertex, FP a line drawn
  to any point of the curve, and the intercepted arc AP.
Fig. 24.
Let a denote the parameter = 4AF, u = the angle
AFP, r — FP, s — the parabolic sector APF. Draw PC4
perpendicular to the axis AF. By the nature of the curve,
PF — AQ + AF. Now, supposing PFA to be an obtuse
angle, FQ = —r cos v, AQ = ja — r cos v, AF = ^ a,
therefore, r = ^ a—r cos v, and r(l+cos v) =hence,
since 1 + cos v = 2 cos2 £ z?, r = |
Now, by formula 3, article 70, ds — \ ridv, therefore
a2 \dv
FLUXIONS.
another value = AQ, the lines AD, AQ being supposed Inverse
given in magnitude, and the relation between x and y
known. The same thing is briefly indicated by this nota-
tion :
area CPQD r= / ydx,
t/ a
in which a and x denote the lines AD and AQ.
From what has been shown it appears that an integral
is an indeterminate quantity, the result of a change in the
value of its variable ; and that to know its absolute value
we must know the values of the variable at its commence¬
ment and completion.
158. The analogy between a curvilineal area and an in¬
tegral indicates a general method of finding its numerical
value to any degree of nearness. Supposing y to be any
function of#, let it be proposed to find the integral/^#
between x — a and x~b.
Fig. 25.
ds —
16 cos4
To integrate this differential, we consider that
4- dv dv i \
- = sec2 \ v — — d(tan \ v)\
— sec2 = 1 + tan2 \ v;
cos-4 i v
and that —„
cos2 £ v
therefore, multiplying these equations, we get
%dv
-— = t/(tan g v) + tan2 v d(\.ox\ v) ;
and hence, integrating by the rule art. 104, we find
— = tan 4 v i tan3 \v-\-C.
„ cos'1 ^ v
Observing now that when v 0, then s = 0 ; therefore
C = 0, and we have
s = ^q (tan iv + Y tan3 ±v).
This integral might have been found by the formula of
art. 153; not so easily, however. The formula here found
is wanted in the astronomy of comets.
157. Since the area of any plane curve is expressed by
an integral fydx, in which y the ordinate is some func¬
tion of x the absciss, so, on the other hand, any integral
may be represented geometrically by the area of a curve.
The geometrical representation of an integral shows dis¬
tinctly wherein it differs from a common analytic func¬
tion, such as « + &#”, or ax, or sin#, &c. These last have
determinate values corresponding to any given value of
#, and each is independent of its preceding and follow¬
ing values; but the magnitude of the space represented
by an integral fydx is the increment that a certain area
receives while the variable # passes from one state of mag¬
nitude to another. Thus the absolute magnitude of the
space CDQP (fig. 11), which represents an integral fydx,
and which, when the curve is a parabola, is expressed by
f#?/ + C, cannot be known before C is determined, or else
eliminated from the expression.
Whatever be the nature of the curve, the integral
fydx — space CPQD is correctly indicated, so as to admit
of being computed, when we say that it is generated
while the variable # increases from any value = AD, to
Let CPD be a curve, of which the co-ordinates are
# and y. In the axis AB, take AQ = a, the least value
of#, and AQ"'=b, its greatest value, and draw the ordi¬
nates PQ, PWQ'". The area PQQ'"P'" will be the geome¬
trical expression of the integral between the proposed
limits ; and by whatever means that area can be found, the
same will apply to the determination of the integral.
Divide QQW into any number of equal parts at the points
Q', Q", &c. and draw the ordinates P'Q', P"Q", &c. These will
divide the whole figure into the spaces PP'Q'Q, P'P7Q'Q',
&c. Let a series of rectangles PQ', P'Q", P"Q'" be formed,
each having the least of two adjoining ordinates for a
side: these will fall within the curve, supposing it to be
entirely concave or convex towards the axis. Let another
series P'Q, P"Q', P'"Q" be constructed, each having the
longest of two adjoining ordinates for a side : the aggre¬
gate of these will exceed the area of the curve. I he
length of the base of each rectangle will be known, and,
from the nature of the curve, its height will also be known ;
hence the areas of all the rectangles may be found. The
sum of the areas of the inscribed rectangles will be less
than the integral, and the sum of the areas of the circum¬
scribing rectangles will be greater. The difference be¬
tween these sums is the rectangle PMSIl, which, by sup¬
posing its base PM ~ QQ' to be sufficiently small, may be
less than any assignable space. Thus an approximate
value of the integral may be found, which shall differ from
the truth by as small a quantity as we please.
Draw the chords PP', P'P", P"P"', thus forming a series
of trapeziums, which will differ from the curvilineal area
by less than the sum of either the inscribed or circum¬
scribing parallelograms, and will be a mean between them.
This will be a nearer approximation than either sum to
the integral.
As an example of the application of this method, let it
be proposed to approximate to the integral^ j
is, to the arc whose tangent is #, between the values of
# = 0 and # — 1, which arc is of a semicircle, the radius
FLUXIONS.
Inverse being supposed — 1. In this case the equation of the curve
Method. ^
is y =
Let us suppose the base QQ,W to be divided
into ten equal parts ; then, making a; = 0, x =. •!, ‘2,
&c. to a1 = 1, we obtain eleven equidistant ordinates or
values of y as follows :
The 1st, 1.00000 The 7th, -73529
2d, -99010 8th, -67114.
Sd, -96154 9th, -60975
4:th, -91743 10th, -55249
5th, -86207 11th, -50000
6th, -80000
By the elements of geometry, the area of the rectili¬
neal figure formed by the trapeziums is found by adding
together all the ordinates except the first and last, and
half the sum of the first and last, and multiplying the re¬
sult by the common breadth of the trapeziums, which is
•1. This gives -784981 for the area or value of the integral
J ■yqp^T- The true value expressed by a series is 1 —
i + j — y + &c. which converges too slowly to be of any
practical use: by other methods the more correct value
of the integral is -7854 nearly*
159. Supposing the ordinates PQ, P'Q', &c. to go on
continually increasing, the inscribed rectangles will be
constructed on the 1st, 2d, 3d, &c. ordinates, and the cir¬
cumscribing rectangles on the 2d, 4th, 6th, &c.
Observing now that the ordinates are the values of y
corresponding to AQ, AQ/, &c. values of x, which differ
by the common interval QQ', we have manifestly the fol¬
lowing rule for approximating to an integral J ydx be¬
tween the limits ot'x — AQ a and x — AQW — b. Di¬
vide the interval Q,Q!" =: b — a into m equal parts, each
equal to h.
Find Y, Y', Y7, .... Y^ the particular values of Y
corresponding to x = a, x =:a h, x = a + 2/i . . . .
xz= a nh — b.
Then, supposing the ordinates to go on increasing,
/*ydx > A (Y + Y' + Y" *... + Y^-1));
•/ a
fh ydx < A (Y' + Y" + Y''.. .. + Y^).
*/ a
The difference of these is A(Y^ —■ Y), which, by tak¬
ing A sufficiently small, maybe as small as we please. We
may reason in the same way when the ordinates form a
decreasing series. If they first increase and then de¬
crease, the interval b —a may be divided into two or more
portions, such that y increases or decreases continually
from one end of each to the other.
Whatever be the values of y, provided they be always
finite from x—a to x—b, putting for them Y, Y', X" . . Y^>
we have
fh ydx . = YA + YA + Y"A .... + Y”-1 A.
J a
Leibnitz and his followers considered the integral fydx
as the sum of the infinitely little elements YA, Y'A, &c.
Hence the origin of the terms integral, to integrate, in¬
tegration, &c. When A is infinitely little, and repre¬
sented by dx, the differential of x, then ydx is the dif¬
ferential of the integral.
Rectification of Curves.
160. We have found (art. 72) that z being any arc of
a curve referred to an axis by rectangular co-ordinates
x, y, the differential of the arc, viz. dz, — Vdx2 + dy
are now to apply the calculus to particular curves.
Ex. 1. Let the curve be a parabola (fig. 16) of which
the parameter rr 2a, the absciss AQ r= x, the ordinate
PQ = y. The equation of the curve, 2ax ■=. y2, gives
1
adx — ydy and dz =. Vdx1 + dy2 — - dy Vor y2.
If in formula B, art. 135, w’e make m — 1, n — 2,
p — b = 1, and put y instead of x, and o2 instead of a,
we have
fed Va* + y* = %y Vai + y2 + i
The integral in the second side of this equation is, by
the formula of art. 130, 1. (?/ + Va2 + yz) + C; there-
Va2 + j/2 + 11. (y + Va* + y2) -f C.
fore z —
za ~ '4
If we suppose z to begin at the vertex, then, when
z — 0, y — 0; therefore C z=
- 1. a, and
— J^Va2
2a
+ / + -o- 1
y V a? y2
Ex. 2. Let the curve be the second cubic parabola of
which the equation is yz — ax2. In this case the general
formula gives
— dy 1
dz — dy
+ ~ and z
4a
= * +
+ c.
4a/
This curve is perfectly rectifiable. Indeed it is the
evolute of the parabola (art. 81, ex. 1).
Ex. 3. Let the curve be a circle (fig. 7), of which the
radius OA = a. Reckoning the co-ordinates from the
centre, let OQ = x, pQ — y, bV =. z. The equation
hence y
of the curve is x
dy — —
= a2 — xl,
This integral can-
Va2 — x2 Va2 — x2
not be otherwise expressed than by an infinite series. We
have already found it (art. 139, ex. 4) on the supposition
that the radius 1; when the radius = a, we have only
to put - instead of x, thence we get
1 a
la;3. 1.3
z _ a; + 2 . 3a2+ 2A
x°
1.3.5 x7
n fi +
&C.
5a4 1 2.4.6 7a6
There is no constant wanted; because, from the nature of
the case, z and x begin together.
From this example, also from ex. 2, art. 156, and ex. 2,
art. 139, it appears that the quadrature, also the rectifica¬
tion of the circle, is equivalent to the determination of any
/**   dx dx
one of these integrals^tfaVl — a;2,
which is a problem in pure analysis, and which does not
seem to admit of a solution in finite terms. The solution
of that celebrated geometrical problem is therefore hope¬
less.
Ex. 4. Let the curve be an ellipse (fig. 7), of which
the semitransverse axis OA zr 1, the semiconjugate OB
zz b, the eccentricity, which is Vl.— b‘l, — e. Let O the
centre be the origin of the co-ordinates OQ zz x, PQ — y;
and, reckoning the arc from the extremity of the lesser
axis, let BP zz: z. By the nature of the curve, y — b
  — bxdx
Vl — xz, therefore dy = ^ and
7 / , ; ,—tt dxVl—(1—A2)*2 dxVl—e2x2
dz~V dx1 + dy1— zz  —
J VI—X2
Vl—a
734
Inverse The integral of this differential is of such a nature as
Method. not t0 admit of being expressed either by arcs of a circle
or logarithms. Therefore it can only be expressed by in¬
finite series.
FLUXIONS.
the tangent, and parallel to it draw the semidiameter CH, Inverse
which will be the conjugate to that drawn from C through Method.
D ; and draw HK perpendicular to the axis. Let CA
= 1, CB = b, VI — IP, the eccentricity, =r e. Make the
Bv the binominal theorem Vi -
J ].l , 1.1.3 R _
l_uv —
■ elx- —
1.1.3.5
— &c.
Fig. 26.
•2C"'—2.4.6"" 2.4.6.S
The terms of this series must now be multiplied each
hv —^==, and the integrals found, and their sum will
u.>Vl — x1
express the length of the arc z. .
The integrals, leaving out the numeral co-eiticients,
will all have the formJtherefore they wlU be
found by the second formula of article 137. Thus, putting
<f> for the arc whose sine is x, we have
~ dx
fsr=S = f’
.A
Vi — x
x9dx
Vi —x
x^dx
=^ = ~hxVl
x*dx /
Vi — x2 V
x*
&c.
ix> +
X2 +
1.3
2.4
*)
Vi
' +
1.3
¥74
perpendicular CE = p, the tangent DE — t, the c«ngle
ACE = CHK = 0, and the arc AD = z’. By the nature
of the ellipse, CA2,HKZ = CB2 (CA2— CK'), that is, be¬
cause HK = CH cos <p, and CK = CH sin p, CH2 cos2 <p
— b\i — CH2 sin2 9), and hence b2 = CH2 (cos2 ? + b2
b
sin2 9) = CH2 (1 — e2 sin2 9), and CH = Vl 2 si^-
^TT CA-CB b
Now, by the nature of the ellipse, CH ^ — = -,
Now it has been shown
pd<p, and
These integrals being multiplied by their respective co¬
efficients, we have the elliptic arc 2 =
1.1.3 1.1.3.3.5
'(‘"O'
+ i(?QtXVl — x2)
+ Li e* (.
+ 2.4 V
2.2.4.4
2.2.4.4.6.6
1 — &c.^
[ix
:Vl
+
1.1.3
  „ fi ^ + T~l ^ + 9 f * ^
2.4.6 \° 4.6 2.4.6/
“h &c.
Here no constant is wanted, because the functions on
both sides of = vanish when « rr 0, as they should.
If we make x — i, then all the terms multiplied by
Vl — Evanish ; and as in this case 9 a quadrant = }2 <r,
we get the elliptic quadrant AB =
/ 1.1 1.1.3 . 1.1.3.3.5 R 0 \
¥T2e — 2.2.4.4e ~2.2.4.4.6.6 6 &C7
This expression converges pretty fast when e is small,
but when e is nearly = 1, it is hardly of any use. To
have a complete solution, we ought to have another series
suited to the case of e = 1 nearly. Our limits, however,
do not admit of our entering on its investigation here.
therefore p Vi — e2 sin2 i
(art. 75) that in every curve d(z +0 ^ ,
therefore z t — f pd<p; hence, in the ellipse, z’ t
— JdfVl — e2 sin2 9.
In the semi-axis CA take CQ r= CA • sin ECA = sin 9,
draw the ordinate QP, and put z — elliptic arc BP. By
what was shown in last article, dz — dtp Vi—e2 sin2 9,
and z = f dp Vi — e2 sin2 9; thence it appears that the
functions z' + t and z have the same differential, therefore
they can only differ by a constant, that is, z -f- £ ~ s -p C.
Now when z ~ 0, then 9 — 0? uud z' — 0, also £ ~ 0; there¬
fore the variables z, z', and ^ begin together, and the con¬
stant C 0; thus we have z' + £ — z and z —z' —t.
Hence we have this very remarkable property of an
ellipse. At any point D in the curve draw a tangent DE,
and from the centre C draw CE perpendicular to the
tangent. In CA take CQ rr CA • sin ECA ; draw the or¬
dinate PQ. The difference of the elliptic arcs BP, AD
{that is, BP — AD), is equal to the tangent DE. This is
in substance Fagnani’s theorem. Hence it follows that any
arc of an ellipse being given, another may be found by a
geometrical construction, such, that their difference shall be
an assignable straight line.
—dp
We have found (art. 75) that in all curves t —
dp
In
The integration of the differential
dxV 1 — e2*2
■, which,
Vi—x2
putting 9 for the arc whose sine rr x, may be also ex¬
pressed thus, <79^1 —e2 sin2 9, has greatly engaged the
attention of mathematicians. On this subject consult the
works quoted in the conclusion of our History of Fluxions,
page 640.
The length of a hyperbolic arc may be found exactly in
the same way as that of the ellipse from its equation
y =z bV x2 — 1.
161. We shall here explain the remarkable property of
the ellipse, first discovered by Fagnani, as has been men¬
tioned, page 640, and which has proved the fertile germ
of some of the finest discoveries in the modern analysis.
In the ellipse ABa, let DE be a tangent at any point
D in the curve, draw CE from the centre perpendicular to
 —  dp —e2 sin 9 cos 9
the ellipsep — Vi — e sin29and^_ -===.
Therefore, without any reference to the length of the
tangent,
e9 sin 9 cos 9
Z P — - t —
V i — e2 sin2 9
There are corresponding properties of the hyperbola,
but our limits forbid our entering on them.
Cubature of Solids.
162. Let AB be the axis of any plane curve APP', and
PQ, P'Q' ordinates perpendicular to the axis; draw PIT
perpendicular to the ordinate P'Q', andP'K perpendicular
to PQ. Conceive now the plane figure AP'Q' to revolve
about the axis AB; the curve AP will generate a solid
AP'E'jt/, called a solid of revolution; and the rectangles
Inverse
Method.
FLUXIONS.
735
PQQ'H, P'Q'QK will generate cylinders whose bases are
circles PEp, P'E'p', and common altitude QQ'.
Fig. 27.
A
Put AQ = x, KQ! = PQ = y, P'Q' = y'; the solid
generated by the space APQ = s, that generated by
AP'Q' — s'. Let v — 3-1416 — the area of a circle whose
radius is 1. The content of the cylinder whose base is
PEp will be — x)y'1, and that of the cylinder whose
base is PE'p' will be — x)y’2.
The solid generated by the curvilineal space PQQ'P'
being greater than the cylinder whose base is PEp, but
less than the cylinder whose base is PTTp', we have
— s ir^x' — x)y2, and s' — s < ir^x’ — x)y'z;
therefore —* > *y2, and ~  
iAj ~ iAj *Aj 1
Conceive now the circle P'E'p' to approach continually
to the circle PEp ; they w ill ultimately coincide and be
■ §
equal; therefore cry2 is the limit of — and conse¬
ds
quently — cry2, and
ds — 'jaf-dx, and s — rfy-dx.
By this formula the content of a solid of revolution gene¬
rated by any given plane curve may be found.
163. Ex. 1. Let the solid be a paraboloid generated by
the revolution of a parabola AP about its axis AQ.. By
the nature of the curve, y2 — ax ; therefore, in this case,
s rr rrfaxdx — ^‘rax2 -j- C — ^nxy2 + C.
If the integral begin when * — 0, then also s = 0 and
C := 0; now cnry2 is the content of a cylinder having the
same base as the paraboloid, therefore, a paraboloid is half
a cylinder of the same base and altitude.
From this geometrical theorem we may find the con¬
tent of the solid between two sections of a paraboloid by
planes perpendicular to its axis, which is called & frustum
of a paraboloid. Let A be the area of the base of the frus¬
tum, a the area of its top, h its height, x the segment of
the axis between the vertex of the paraboloid and top
of the frustum. The content of the whole paraboloid
— i(« + 4)A, and the content of the part cut off = \xa,
therefore the content of the frustum i(a?A + 4A—xa).
Now by the nature of the solid
x + h A . .
 — —, hence xA—xa
x a
=.ha, therefore the content of the frustum is i(A+ «)/*.
Hence it appears that a frustum of a paraboloid is equal
to a cylinder of the same altitude, and whose base is a
mean between the top and bottom of the frustum.
Ex. 2. Let the solid be a cone whose vertex is A, and
base P'Ep', a plane figure of any kind.
Let AB be the altitude of the cone, and PEp a section
parallel to the base, meeting AB in Q. Let b ■= the area
of the base P'E'p', v — area of section PEp, c = AB,
x — AQ, 5 = content of solid A-PEp. In this case,
ds — vdx, an expression the same as for a solid of revo¬
lution, and found in the same way. Now, sections of si¬
milar cones are proportional to the squares of their like
Fig. 28.
Inverse
Method.
dimensions ; therefore c2 : x2 ■=. b •.
ds =. ^,ar<£r, and by integration s
hx*
, hence v — -y and
S+c=f+c-
If x and s begin together, then C = 0 and s ^ vx.
Thus it appears that a cone of any kind is -s of its circum¬
scribing cylinder.
To find the content of a frustum of a cone, or space
between the base and a plane parallel to its base; put
A = area of base, a = area of top, h rr height of frus¬
tum, x — height of cone cut off above the frustum.
The content of the whole cone — ^ (A + a?) A, and the
content of the part cut off = xa, therefore the content
of the frustum = ^ (AA + xA — xd) — ^ h A + -y#
,T A (# + h)2 , a/A x h
ISlow — —   5—— and —  ,
a x2 /fa x
/ n
hence x — -  — h, and a; (A —d) — tfa (v'A
A — a
+ /fd) h ■=. (yAa d) h. On the whole, the content of
the frustum (A + a + VAd) h.
Ex. 3. To find the content of a spheroid generated by
the revolution of an ellipse about either of its axes.
Fig. 29.
(A — d).
Let PQp be a section of the solid perpendicular to the
fixed axis AB. Put AB = a, the revolving axis DE = b,
also AQ — x, PQ = y. From the nature of the ellipse,
9 fr2 / , rtb2 t*. 2W irb2
y2 — — (ax — x2), hence s z=. -^r J \ax — % jdx — —£
ax2 — ^ a^) + C.
If we suppose 5 — 0 when x 0, then C 0. If we
make x — a, then s, the whole spheroid, — “g— = f « X
area of middle section. Hence it appears that the whole
solid is f- of its circumscribing cylinder. This proposition
was discovered by Archimedes.
If the axes a, b, be supposed equal, the solid is a sphere;
<7T
hence it appears that the content of a sphere = - a3, a
being the diameter.
Ex. 4. Let the solid be a parabole spindle which is ge¬
nerated by the revolution of APB, an arc of a parabola,
about ACB, an ordinate to its axis. From P any point in
736
Inverse
Method.
FLUXIONS.
Fie. 30.
these quantities, one of which is greater than , and
the other less, become ultimately equal; for the lines
y, y", ij become equal, and (y + if) PE + (y + y") PE
PE + P'E
becomes (yl + y) (PE + FE), and the fractions
Inverse
Method.
arc P'P
chord PP'
arc PF
the revolving curve, draw PQ perpendicular to the ordi¬
nate AB, and PR perpendicular to the axes of the para¬
bola. Make DC = y>, AC = y, CQ = ER == Q
— CR = y, the solid (between the sections DEL, PEp;
— s. By the nature of the curve, PR2 : AC2 = DR : DC ;
that is, a?:q2 =p — y:p; hence p xz = pq2 — <? y,
and y* = ^ ~ + x% and
s — J'irfdx — 2q2xldx -p tfdx)
— PI (qix—§ q2a? + j ^) + C.
If the integral begin when a; r= 0, then C = 0. If we
make x — q^ we got P^'q^ for half the content of the
solid generated by the curve ADB.
Surfaces of Solids.
164. Let AB be the axis of any plane curve APP', and
PQ, FQ' ordinates to the axis ; draw PE, P'E tangents to
the curve at P and P', meeting in E; draw EF perpendi-
Fig. 31.
A
z! — .
P
P
— >17 (^ + y)
chord P'P
are ultimately each = 1 ; therefore,
, dv „
— 2‘xy, and — = 2^y ;
limit
z! — z
hence, dv z= 2'xrydz — 2vy Vdxl + dyl.
Now 2-Try expresses the circumference of the section
Vp ; hence it appears that the differential of the surface of
revolution is equal to the differential of the arc of the gene¬
rating curve multiplied by a section of the surface made
by a plane perpendicular to the axis.
165. Ex. 1. Let the solid be a sphere, of which the ra¬
dius is a. Then, making AQ=a:, PQrr y, the arc AP=.z,
the surface of the segment cut off by the plane Vp — v;
the equation of the curve being y — V2ax — x2, we have
adx
y ’
dy —
adx — xdx
dzz=Vdxl + dy1 —
adx
V2ax — x2 V2ax — i
dv — 2<itydz — 2a<irdx, and the surface v — 2a<KX ;
here no constant is wanted, because we suppose that
when x = 0, then v — 0.
Since 2a-rr is the circumference of a circle whose dia¬
meter is a, it follows that the curve surface of a segment of
a sphere is equal to a rectangle contained by a straight line
equal to the circumference of the sphere and the height of the
segment i and hence it follows, that the whole surface of
the sphere is four times the area of one of its great circles.
These conclusions were found by Archimedes.
Ex. 2. To find the surface of a paraboloid. Put AQ = x,
PQ = y, arc AP = z, curve surface generated by AP =
v, the parameter — 2a. We found (article 160)
dz = — Va2 -p y2, hence,
2flr
dv — 2*ydz — — ydy*d dlJry2,
2*
and, integrating, v ydyV a2-\-y2z=.-^fff + «/2)2 + C.
When ?; = 0, then ^ = 0 ; therefore, at the vertex we have
2-rra3 , „ , p 2to3
0   + C and L = 5— ;
3a 3a
therefore, substituting for C, we have
v = ~ {(a2+y2ff — a3} = | {Va(2x + a)3 —a2}.
Rectification of Curves of Double Curvature.
166. Let CPD be a line of double curvature referred to
three co-ordinate planes YAX, ZAX, ZA\. From every
point in the curve let perpendiculars PF, &c. be drawn to
one of the planes, YAX ; these will all be in the surface of
a cylinder that meets the plane in a curve C'P'D, which will
be the projection of the proposed curve. Again, from P'
draw P'Q, P'R perpendicular to AX, AY. Let AQ = P'R
— x, AR FQ - y, FP = the arc CP = v, its projec¬
tion C'F = P : Then dP = \/dx2 + dy2, (art 72). Sup¬
pose now the cylindric surface to be extended into a plane
surface; the curve CPD will then be changed into a com¬
mon plane curve, and its projection C'P'D' into a straight
line of the same length as before. We may now consider
cular to AB, and draw the chord PP'. Suppose now the
curve to revolve about its axis AB ; the arc APP' will ge¬
nerate a curve surface, to be found; the portion PP' of
the arc will generate an increment of that surface, which,
by an axiom in geometry, will be less than the sum of the
conical surfaces generated by the tangents PE, P'E, but
greater than the conical surface generated by the chord
PF. Put AQ 1= a?, AQ' = a:', PQ = y, P'Q' r= ?/, EF = y",
arc AP = z, arc AP' = z', surface generated by arc AP
v, surface generated by arc AP' — P.
By the elements of geometry, the surfaces generated
by the tangents PE P'E will be
-rr (PQ + EF) PE = 7r(y + y") PE,
-rr (P'Q' + EF) P'E = 7T (y + y") P'E,
and the surface generated by the chord PP' will be
(PQ + P'Q') PP' = T(y + y') PP'.
Therefore P — ^ “C (3/ + y") PE + (y' + y") P'E j,
P — v tf(y + y') chord PP',
and —TL_W / - (y + y”) PE + (y' + y") P'E
^ ‘ arc FP
arc P'P
Now, the point P being supposed to approach to P',
Fig. 32.
FLUXIONS.
Inverse
Method.
737
rf and z as co-ordinates of the curve v, and then dv
— V'dv'1 -f- dz1; therefore, by substituting for dvn its va¬
lue da? -(- rfy2, we find
dv — Vdxl r/y2 -}- dz1.
This is a general formula for the rectification of any line
of double curvature. The nature of the line will be ex¬
pressed by two equationsy (a?, ?/) rr 0, F (x, z) — 0. From
these we find </?/ = Pdx, dz z= Qdx, expressions in which
P and Q are functions of x only. Thus we have
dv z=dx Vl -f- P2 -f- Q2 — dxR, R being a function of the
single variable x. The integral v z= ^Refo; may now be
found by the ordinary rules.
Zj being functions of z only ; and since dy r= zdx -j- xdz,
the equation will be, after dividing by xm, 'Ldx -j- Zx
{xdz -j- zdx) = 0, a result which may be put under the
form
dx Tj^dz ^
x + Z + ^Zj “
from which we get
/dx . Tu^dz  
~x +J~Z + zZl “ L'
170. Ex. 1. Let us apply this transformation to the
equation xdx + ydy =. nydx or (x — ny) dx + ydy — 0,
which, making y — xz, and therefore dy =. xdz + zdx,
becomes a; (1 — nz) dx + x^zdz + xzc"dx — 0, or (1 —
1IZ + z1) dx -\-xzdz — 0, and/ — + /v —r, = C,
J x J l —nz-\- z2
or 1. a? + (- —~T—i = C. This integral may be sim-
a/ I 712 "j Z
plified by observing that
zdz , 2zdz — ndz
 i
— 2
1 — nz -p z
for it then becomes
1 — nz z2
l.^ + ih (1
■nz +z2) + %Jy
. ndz
2 1 — nz
ndz
+ 22
= C.
Integration of Differential Equations of two Variables. tions.
167. Every differential equation of the first order which
contains only the single powers of dx and dy, has the form
Mc&c -}- nr 0, and it expresses the relation which
subsists between the variable x, the function y, and its
(fa/ •
differential co-efficient The object of inquiry is to
discover, if possible, the primitive equation f (x, y) r= 0,
which by differentiation may produce the proposed differ¬
ential equation.
168. The method which first presented itself to analysts
was to endeavour to separate the variables, so as to give
it the form Xdx + Ydy = 0, X being a function of x
alone, and Y a function of y. When this can be done,
the differentials Ydx, Ydy are separately integrable, and
we haveJ* Y.dx -‘rf'My = C an arbitrary constant.
Let the equation be mydx -J- nxdy = 0 ; by dividing its
, . . , , mdx . ndy n mi
terms by xy, it is changed to   -{- —— = u. Ine va-
x y
/• mdx s* Tidy
— + f —
x *' y
= m\. x + n\. y = C, or \. (xm) + 1. (yn) = C, or
1. (xmyn) = C. We may suppose C = 1. c, and then xmyn
r: c is the primitive equation.
The variables may be separated when the differential
equation has the form Xdy + Ydx = 0, X being a func-
dx dy
tion of x, and Y a function of y ; for then + y ^ °-
169. The variables may always be separated in homo¬
geneous equations, the distinguishing property of which is,
that the sum of the exponents of x and y is the same in
each of its terms. For example, axmyndx + bxm-lyn+ldy
is a homogeneous equation ; because the sum of the ex¬
ponents of x and y \§ni -p w in each term. Let Yidx -j-
Xdy ~ 0 be a homogeneous equation. Make y — xz, then
M will take the form Zxm, and N the form Zxxm,Z and
VOL. IX.
Inverse
Method.
nz + z1
The integral which yet remains to be found will depend
on logarithms, if ^ w > 1; on arcs of circles, if 1 < 1;
and will be algebraical if ^ = 1. In each case it may
be had by the methods given for integrating rational frac-
Ex. 2. Let it be proposed to integrate the equation
xdy — ydx — dx V x2 x2.
By making y — xz, bringing all the terms to one side
of the equation, and dividing by x, we shall have dx
V1 -p z2 — xdz — 0, and hence
dx dz ^
X vT + 32 - ’
and by the separate integration of each term,
x
= C.
\.x — \.(z +VL +O=l.c,or-+ V1 + ^
and replacing z by its value x, there will result
x2  
  „ — C, or — y + Vx2 -p y2 —V\
y + V*2 -\-y2 ^ ^ 1 ^
and hence again, by transposing y, and squaring, x2 = C2
+ 2C^, which is the primitive equation.
The equation
(a mx ny) dx + (b + px + qy) dy = 0,
which is not homogeneous in its present form, may be
transformed so as to become homogeneous. Assume x
— t a, y z=. u + ft, then dx zz dt, dy — du, and the
proposed equation becomes
(a-\-mu-\-nft-\- mt-\- ?m)dt-\- (b-\-pu-\-qft-\- pt-\-qu)du=*0.
To make the constant terms disappear, we assume a -p
ma nft —t), b + pa qft zz 0, equations which deter¬
mine a and ft, and then there remains the different equa¬
tion
(mt -p nu) dt -p {pt -p qu) du zz 0,
which is homogeneous in respect of the new variables t
and u. This transformation gives no result when mq
— np zr 0, a case in which a and ft become infinite;
but then qzz^\ and consequently m {px + qy) =
p {mx -p ny). The proposed equation being changed to
adx + bdy + {mx + ny) {dx + -^dy) zz 0,
5 A
FLUXIONS.
mdx
738
Method. we now make mx + ny = z> 80 tliat = ^ ’
/ by substitution and proper reduction our equation now be-
comes
(bm + pz) dz   0
dx amn — bm" + m (n — p)z~ '
The integral of this equation will contain logarithms, ex¬
cept in the case where n — p, when it will be
2bmz + pz2 _
X ‘ 2m {an — bm) ~~
171. The separation of the variables is easily effected
in the equation dy + Vydx — Qdx, where P and Q de¬
note any functions whatever of x. Substituting Xs and
zdX + Xdz instead of y and dy, it becomes
zdX + Xdz + VXzdx = Qdx.
Here X denotes an indeterminate function of x, to which
we may give such a form as shall conduce to the sepaia-
tion of the variables. For this purpose we make Xdz +
PXzdx — 0, which requires that zdX — Qdx. If we di¬
vide the first equation by X, it becomes dz + Pzdx = 0,
from which we deduce — + Ydx = 0, and 1. z + fPx
Z
 r Pdx
— 0 ; and oassing from logarithms to numbers, zzze
(here e is the base of Napier’s logarithms), we neglect
the arbitrary constant in the meantime, as it will be add¬
ed at the end of the operation. Afterwards, deducing
the value of dX from the second equation, and substitut¬
ing it in the first, we shall have
dX = Qdx, X = fJVdx Qdx + C,
and consequently,
y = e-^{fe^QdX+c}
Ex. Let the equation be dy + ydx — ax? dx: then
P- 1,Q- ax\fVdx = x, efVdx = e-fVdx =
jV^dx Qdx — J'aex x?dx— aex (a?3 — 3a?2 + 6x — 6) ;
therefore y — e x { aex(x3 — 3a;2 + 6a? — 6) + C}
— Ce x + « (a?3 — 3a?2 + 6a; — 6),
172. The early writers on the integral calculus classed
differential equations by the number of their terms. In
equations which had but two terms, and whose form is
consequently fiugzhdz — auz^du, the variables are se¬
parated immediately, since we thence deduce fti^^dz
— au sdu. This however is not the case with equa¬
tions of three terms, which are expressed by the formula
<yu£ dz + Qifiz1 du — auz^du.
This may be simplified by dividing the terms by yulzf,
it then becomes
l
7
^dz + - '
1 z1 ^du — — u * da.
7
Suppose now ^dz—-—~-7—r, us
k—J +1
then we have z* ‘,,s
ldu =
dx
9—i+ 1 ’
y, us *' ‘ — a?, and
y (9r-i+l)7J dX-(jg-i+l)f
To abridge, let us put
l)/3 l)q
{9 * + 1) 7 ’ (gr — * + 1) y’
h —f e — g
and the equation will become
dy + byndx — axmdx.
When n — the equation belongs to the class treated
of in last article. When n ■= 2, the equation is
dy + bifdx — axrndx,
which was first considered by an Italian geometer, Bic-
cati, whose name it bears. When m z=. 0, the variables
are separable, and we have
dx 
  7 Q
a — by*
Proceeding from this case, analysts have succeeded in se¬
parating the variables when m is any number of the form
i being supposed an integer number. Riccati’s
equation was first considered by James Bernoulli, who
gave an approximate solution of it. (Jac. Bernoulli Opera,
p. 1053.) The general problem, however, remains yet
unresolved.
173. When a differential equation is the immediate re¬
sult of the differentiation of a known function, then that
function, put equal to C a constant, will be the integral
required. The differential equation xdy-\-ydx = 0 is of
this class; it is the differential of the product xy, there¬
fore the primitive equation is xy — Q. A differential equa¬
tion may, however, not be the immediate result of the
differentiation of a function of x and y; it may be formed
by the elimination of some constant quantity contained
in the function and also in its differential (art. 54); or it
may be the result after the differential of the primitive
has been divided by some factor common to all its terms.
Thus, if the primitive be y = cx, or y — ca? rr 0, the dif¬
ferential equation \s dy — cdx— 0. If however we elimi¬
nate c by the usual algebraic process, we find xdy—ydx=0,
an expression which is not the immediate result of any
differentiation. The same result will be obtained if the
primitive x — cy be put under the form c ; for then,
by differentiating, V<]X~ ^ — 0, and, rejecting the fac¬
tor ydx — xdy — 0. This expression is not an exact
differential ; however, it becomes so by restoring the fac-
tor —, and then it is the differential of —.
V y . . .
174. In general let u zz f{x, y) be the primitive equa¬
tion, the differential being du — Mdx + Xdy, where M
denotes that is, the differential co-efficient found on
dx
the supposition that x is variable and y constant, and N
denotes the co-efficient taken on the reverse hypo-
dy
thesis of y being variable and x constant; now we have
/-72^/ eta’ll -r
found that -7-7- —-—j- (art. 89); therefore, if Mefo-l- Nc?y
dxdy dydx
be the differential of « = f{x, y), then
dM c?N p ^
dy ~~ dx  ^
Inverse
Method.
Hence, If Mdx + Ndy is an exact differential, the con¬
dition expressed by formula (1) will always be satisfied.
And, conversely, if M and N are such functions of x and y
that ^ then Mdx + Ndy shall be an exact differ-
dy dx
ential, and in every case its integral may be found. 1 his is
called the Condition of Integrability.
To prove the second part of the proposition, let us sup-
FLUXIONS.
Inverse pose that the integral of M<£c is taken on the supposition
Method. tjlat jn the function M, x is variable and y constant; and
]et the integral be P + Y, where Y is any function of y,
which comes in the place of the indeterminate constant
that enters into every integral, and P is a known func¬
tion of x and y, which results from JM.dx relatively to x
dP
only, so that M —
dx'
The complete differential of P + Y is (art. 91)
dP
dx
dx — dy dY, or Wdx + ^ dy -pdY. By compar¬
ing this with the differential M.dx-\- Nc/y, it appears that
dP
if such a value be given to Y that N% = ^ dy-pdY or
that
rfY=(N-f)rfy
.(2)
then the integral of Mefo-f-Nrfy will be P + Y. Now, by
dP. dYl d2P
differentiating — in respect of y, we have = -■
(XiXy U dy doc
u u . (/M c?N , c?2P d*P ,
but by hypothesis —j— — —, and 7 . — -—(art. 89),
J J1 dy dx dydx dxdy v 7
therefore
d*P
<
dx dxdy
, rfN d*P
and dx ~ dOdy
— 0, that is,
dP\
N — J 0, the differential being taken supposing
rfP
x only to be variable ; therefore N ^ is constant in re-
dy
spect of x, and is a function of y only ; hence the possibility
of finding Y — ^^jdy is proved, and we have the
integral of Mefc + Nt/y expressed by P+ ^ )<%.
and here P = fYldx, the integral being taken on the sup¬
position that y is constant.
We may begin with finding the integral of Nd'y, sup¬
posing x to be constant, proceeding in all respects as has
been explained. In general we ought to begin with the
term which brings out the integral with least calculation.
Ex. 1. It is proposed to fina whether the differential
i/doc - xdv
—satisfies the condition of integrability, and, if it
does, to integrate it.
We put the differential under the form
V . x
du =
dx
therefore M :=
dy
xl _J_ yl yi
V VT X
jdy>
x2 + y‘l
x2 — if
N =-
JN
dx
x1 y2’’
x2 — ?y2
r=/M^=/^=/r
+
, X
tan-1 -,
y
y
whence u — tan-1 — + Y.
y
where K rr
M
N'
so that du — Pdx + Qdy, and ^ P +
therefore P + = 0.
dx
therefore ^ + K = ^
dx dx
+ K =
(x2 -j- y2)2’ dx (x2 + y2)2’
The condition of integrability is in this case satisfied,
ydx ■ xdv
and therefore ^is an exact differential.
xz + yl
To determine the integral, we have
dx
ydx __ i‘ y
x2
du
(^dx’
and hence
739
Differentiating, and considering the whole as variable,
x2 + y2
This, compared with the proposed differential, shows that
JY = 0, and Y C a constant.
Ex. 2. To find the integral of the differential
du—{ 2y2x + 3?/3) dx + (2x2y + 9a?y/2 + 8?/3) dy.
In this example, M. = 2y2x-\-‘5yi, Yi—2x2y-3r^xy2JrSy3,
" = ^ + 9/ = §i
the proposed function is therefore a complete differential.
Integrating in respect of we find
fMdx — y2x2 + ■Sy3x + Y,
and u — y2x2 + + Y.
Differentiating this expression in respect of y,
^=2^ + 9^ + ^-,
but we had ^ =: 2x2y + §xy2 + 8//3;
therefore, — 8?/3, and ^ '=J fy3dy = 2yi + C,
and consequently the integral is
u — y2 x? -p 3y3x + 2^ + C.
175. If in the equation MJx + NJy 0, the condition
. JM JN . . ^ J
of mtegrability, viz. is not satisfied, we may
next inquire whether some factor, a function of x and y,
can be found by which the expression Yldx + Psdy can
be rendered a complete differential.
dy
Let the equation be put under the form ^ + K = 0,
Inverse
Method.
This equation is the result of the eli¬
mination of a constant quantity c between a primitive
equation, which maybe represented by f(x,y, c) = 0 and
its immediate differential. Or else c may be eliminated
directly by bringing the primitive equation to the form
F(zr, y) — c, which will lead to the same result (art 53).
Put u for F(az, y), also Pdx for the differential of u taken
relatively to x, and QJ?/ for its differential relatively to y,
Since this equation does not
contain C, it ought to be identical with the equation ^
+ K =: 0;
+ L = Fdx + Q(Iy that is ^y
+ Q "" Qdx ’ 1S> dx
Q(dy + K Jr) — du.
Now the second side of the equation is a complete in¬
tegral ; hence it appears that there is always a factor Q, by
which, if the differential equation dy -+- Kdx — 0 multi¬
plied, the result will be a complete integral.
Let both sides of the equation be multiplied by U, any
function of U, and we have
UQ(Jy + KJx) = UJw.
Now \}du is still a complete differential, and as the fac¬
tor UQ, may have an infinite variety of forms, it follows
that there are an infinite number of factors, such that if a
differential equation be multiplied by any one of them, it
will be a complete differential.
740
fluxions.
Inverse Since it appears that when the equat'on + - 0
Method. does not satisfy the condition of integrabdUy, it is because
differentiation and subsequent elimination of the arbitrary
constant have caused a factor to disappear, which, it it
were known and restored, would render the expression
a complete differential, the discovery of that factor is a
most important problem in the calculus. Its solution, how¬
ever, transcends the present powers of analysis, although
it can be resolved in particular cases. When the func¬
tions M and N are homogeneous, the factor can be found ,
but that case can always be integrated as has been ex¬
plained. When the variables can be separated, a multi¬
plier can be found, but then it is not wanted. It canalso
be found when the equation has the formt*/+
but this also can be integrated by other means. _
Euler, who has entered deeply into this subject, has
reversed the problem ; and, in his Calculus Integrahs, sup¬
posing the integrating factor given, has investigated the
nature of the functions which must enter into a differen¬
tial equation of a given form, in order that it may be m-
te"Table. These investigations, however, frequently lead
^differential equations, which cannot be integrated by
any known method; and the cases in which they are suc¬
cessful are of no great importance or extent.
176. Let M be anyfunction of x and y, and let u —J max,
the integral being taken on the supposition that x is va¬
riable and y constant: it is sometimes required that the
differential co-efficient ^ be found; or, in other words,
that the differential of/Mete relatively to y be found
without having actually integrated the expression lela-
du
lively to ir. Because u -fUdx, therefore ^ = M> and
dhi _dM but dhi
dxdy ~~ dy ’ dxdy
d2u
dydx
(art. 89), therefore
d'U ■
dydx
v — fY^dx ; but if the equation be more easily resolvable Inverse
with respect to x than with respect to the co-efficient
which we wdll represent by p, and if we have also
dx
x = P, a function of p, and thence dx — dP; then, since
dy — pdx, therefore dy — pdi\ and y = pP—fPdp. The
relation between x and y is now to be found by eliminat¬
ing p by means of the equations
x=P, y—Pp —fPdp-
Let us take as an example xdx + ady = bVdx1 + dy2,
  dy
or x + ap = h Vl + p\ by writing p in the place of ^
This last equation gives immediately x — — ap +
bVY + P2, and consequently
y — bp V'l + pl — \apl — bf dp Vi + p2.
179. When the primitive equation cannot be deduced
from the differential equation by any of the known artifices
of analysis, then, as a last resource, recourse must be had
to approximation by infinite series.
Ex. Let the differential equation be dy + ydx — mxndx,
and suppose it to be known that when x — a, then y — b :
we now make x — a -p t, y — b + u, the equation
by this transformation becomes du -p (b + u)dt —
m (a + t) ndt. We now assume that
M = a*05 + +1 + a* + 2 + &c.
and hence, putting instead of u and du their values, and
bringing the terms to one side, we have
‘-1 + (a + l)Bfa+ (« + 2)a“ + 1 + &C.1
+ M* + Bif* + 1 + &c. 1, =o.
W0--i)„n-2;2_&c.
aKt
+ b
n .
■ m
■in
1.2
_ ^ anc| ^ dx, and integrating relatively to x,
~ dy' dy dy
W.M
dy
dx.
In this equation we must suppose a — 1 = 0, and we
shall then find
. ^ miian ~1 — man 4- b
A — man “ 1 — b, B = 
1.2
dy J dy
^ . . /• ydx
Ex. Let u — 1 / o —
J vy—
, du
dy
, and •
.3J dy
s-
here M =
— x2dx
y
Vyz —
=, and
C' =
mn(n — 1 )an " 2 — mnan ~ 1 + man — b
1.2.3
, &c.
(y- — x2f u/y ^ (y2 — V)2
The theorem investigated in this article was found by
Leibnitz, and was reckoned an important discovery in the
calculus. (See Bossut, Trade du Calcul Dijf- &c. vol. ii.
P- 58*) ... • ^ •
177. The elimination of a constant contained in a pri¬
mitive equation may introduce the second or higher powers
of the differentials into the resulting differential equation
(art. 53): in such cases we must find the values of
dx
by the resolution of an equation.
These values being substituted in the series, we have u
expressed by t and known quantities; we may then put
x a for t, and y — b for u, and the result will express
the relation between x and y.
In the series assumed for the value of u, the expo¬
nents of t form an arithmetical progression, of which
the common difference is 1. In many cases, however,
the common difference will be a fraction, as in this ex¬
ample, {dx -P dy)yz= dx. Here we assume
y — Axa-p Px*-p Qxc-p &c.
By proceeding as before, there is obtained
A2ax2a~~l + ABaxa + b—l+ACaxa + c~1 + &c.
dy2
+ ABbxa + 6 —1 + Wbx2 b ~~ 1 + &c.
dy
dx
For example, if dy2 — a2dx2 — 0, or ^—5 =r a2, we have
1= z±z a and dy + adx = 0, also dy — adx — 0 ; there¬
fore y-pax-pc — 0 and y — ax-pd ~ 0 are two primitive
equations, from each of which the differential equation
may be derived ; also from their product {y -p ax -p c)
{y — ax-pd) = 0.
178. WThen the equation contains only one of the va-
dy
riables, x for example, we deduce from it = X, and
=0.
+ AC cxa + c 1 + &c.
_1 +Axa +Pxb +&cJ
Hence 2a— 1 = 0, a + b—l = a, « + c—1 —b,&c.;
therefore a — b = \, c — &c.
Again, A2a = 1, AB (a + 6) + A = 0, &c.
Hence A = \/2, B r= — f• C = y1^ a/2, &c.
and y = x4 y2 — f ^ x" y/2 — «&c.
On the integration of differential equations by seiies,
consult Euler, Instit. Cal. Integ. vol. i. sect. 2; Lacroix,
du Calcul Diff. part ii. chap. 6.
FLUXIONS.
Inverse
Method.
Differential Equations of the Second and Higher Orders.
180. The difficulty of the integrations becomes so much
the greater the higher the order of the differential co¬
efficients which they involve, and we only succeed in ef¬
fecting it in a very small number of very limited equations.
Let the expression
f {x, y, c, d) = 0 (1)
represent any primitive equation composed of the variables
x, y, and two constant quantities c, d, besides any other
constants. By differentiation (as explained art. 48-54),
there is formed its differential equation of the first order,
du
which will contain -f. Let this differential co-efficient be
dx
The differen-
represented by/), and let ^
tial of the first order will contain a?, y,/>, c, c', and may be
represented by
f (x, y, p,c, d) = 0   (2)
By differentiating this equation we obtain another which
contains also = q, and may be expressed by
f"(x,y,p,q,c,d) = 0 (3)
Since these three equations must hold true at once, we
may eliminate the constants c, d, and the result will be
a single equation,
F(x,y,p,q)=0   (4)
in which c, d are not found. This will be the differential
equation of the second order, deducible from the primi¬
tive (1), and which is independent of the constants c, d.
We may arrive at the very same equation (4) in two
other ways. We may give the primitive (1) these forms:
<p (x,y, c) = d, (x, y, d) = c,
from which, by differentiation, two results will be obtain¬
ed, one entirely free from c', and the other from c: these
again may have the forms
f (x> V’ P) — ci 4' y,p) = d.
By taking now the differentials of these equations, we
shall obtain the very same equation from each, wdiich
will be identical with equation (4).
For example, let the primitive equation be
a?2 — 2ax + 2by = 0,
in which a and h represent the constants c, </; by differ¬
entiation, we find
*-a + iTx = 0’ 1 + i^ = °-
After eliminating a and b by the three equations, we
have this differential equation,
2y — 2x~- +
* dx
S = »-
We may otherwise put the primitive equation under
these forms:
+ 2by
— 2a,
2ax
- — 2b.
Taking now the differentials, and arranging the results
so that the constants may stand alone, and putting p in¬
stead of we have
dx
- 2b,
2xy
2a.
y — xp y — xp
By differentiating either of these, the constants disap¬
pear, and in each case the result is the same, viz.
%-
2x~--\-
dx
0.
dx1
may not be found in the differential equation of the second
order derived from it, so, reversely, in returning from a dif¬
ferential equation of the second order to its absolute pri¬
mitive, the latter cannot be complete unless it contain two ar¬
bitrary constants, which are not in the former ; and as the
same differential equation of the second order may be ob¬
tained from two distinct differential equations of the first
order, it follows that every differential equation of the se¬
cond order has two distinct differential equations of the first
order, each having its own arbitrary constant; and these
again have one and the same absolute primitive equation.
The properties of differential equations of the third and
higher orders are perfectly analogous to these.
182. The most simple differential equation of the se¬
cond order is = X, a function of x; then — fXdx.
dx4 dx J
Let P be the variable part of the integral fXdx, and c the
ci> 7/
constant, so that = P + c; hence again dy = Pdx +
cdx, and by a second integration, y — fVdx + ex + d.
Since fPdx ■= Px — fxdP — xfXdx — fxXdx, therefore,
y — xfXdx —fxXdx + ex + c'.
The primitive of the differential equation d3y — Xdx3
— 0 may be found in the same way. We first put it under
the form — Xdx; then we have by a first integration
a second integration, =r fPdx + ex + = P' +
ex + c ; here P' fPdx. We have now eft/ — P'dx +
cxdx + ddx; and lastly, y — fP'dx + -|ex2 + dx + c".
The primitive thus containing three arbitrary constants:
a like differential equation of the fourth order would con¬
tain four, and so on.
183. When a differential equation of the second order
involves and and constants; if we put — p,
dx ax2 dx *
, t j d^V dp ,
then, regarding dx as constant, ^; the equation
will now involve/), dp, dx and constants; and it will be
of the first order, in respect of/) and x. We may thence
find dx — Ydp, P being here put for some function of p ;
and since dy = pdx — Ypdp, we have
xz=fPdp, y—fYpdp.
These integrals being found, and a constant added to
each, by eliminating p, we find an equation expressing
the relation between x and y.
5
Ex. To integrate the equation   gX(py ' — a’ ^
putting pdx for dy, and dpdx for d^y, the equation is
i a f (1+Pciydx
changed to y-  
a, from which we deduce
dx —
adp
(i + Py
Ihe integration gives
ap
dy — pdx — —
apdp
(1 +pff
x — c -\-
y — d-
VI -f-
pi
741
Inverse
Method.
(fry
P + c; and hence — Ydx + cdx ; by
181. Since two of the constants in a primitive equation
VI + p2
Hence (c — x)2 + {y — dfi r= a2.
The proposed differential equation is nothing more than
the general expression of the radius of curvature (art. 78)
made equal to a constant quantity a. We have resolved
the geometrical problem, to find a curve whose radius of
742
fluxions.
Inverse curvature is a constant, and found it to be a circle, as was
^Method. Q^yicus. ^
184. We may remark, that the equation at = C+J p-> and
,2 . Inverse
(l x _ q and in which dy is constant, may be treated in Method.
dyi ’ dx   ^
the same way as that in art. 183, by making ^ an(i
It may also be reduced immediately to the
6?^ CC d(£
dy = C + f-^T’ severally satisfy the differential equa- = jy-
form <^y — p, bv passing by the formula of art. 93, to the
dx1
dp
dx
tion _i_ = P ; and that, by supposing their second mem
bers integrated, they will be only of the first order. This
agrees with what was observed, art. 181, viz. that there
are two equations of the first order which satisfy a differ¬
ential equation of the second order.
cPy
185. Let us now consider differentials of the form ^ = Y,
Y representing any function of y.
If we make dy — pdx,
pdp
, dy , . , . d2y dp
thence deduce dx = y, which gives =
dy
hypothesis of dx being constant, which will be effected by
—dxd^y. , -d^x
the substitution of ■ in place of —.
If the proposed equation had been taken on the suppo¬
sition ofV^W being constant, and if it involved only
dx, dy, d?y, or dy, dx, dx1, it might still be treated in the
same manner as that of art. 183, after transforming it into
one in which dx was constant.
. . d^y dy , .
187. When the equation contains ~ and the va-
Substitutino- this in the proposed equation, there results riable x, it may, as before, be transformed into a differen-
from \tpdp= Ydy ; by integrating, we find p" — '2f\dy, tial equation of the first order, by substituting pdx for dy,
C and hence and dpdx for d?y ; then, if the primitive of that differen-
_ dy tial equation, and thence the value of p in terms of x, can
— VC + 2fYdy, and x = j + be found, we may have the value of y from the formula
P
dx “ v t £j i. uy y _ jpyx . or e]se> jf vve have the value of x in terms of
It is proper to observe that the above integration may ^ then, because fpdx — px — fxdp, we shall have y — px
be effected by multiplying the proposed equation by dy, —fxdp.
for thence we
„ , dy dhi „, , • d~y , dy Ex. Let the equation be
find -4- .-4 — Ydy ; and since = d-f-, ^5
dx dx dx dx ,72,^2
rdt-
we have f ^
l = j\dy + C, or^ = V2 C + 2/Yrfy.
Ex. Let the equation be dzy Vay ■= dx2 ; we shall have
d-y _ 1 dy d2y _ dy
dx2 ay' dx’ dx ay'
and, by integrating,^ ^ + C; changing C into
(dx2Jrd2y)2 _ ^
dxd2y
(i -Yp^dx
dp
= X,
where x denotes a given function of x ; then
dx —dp . pdx —p
_  and / -4-C — ~
-A* /l I \ O
(l+P2)1
p 
v
-rr + C, then p —
A VI —
+ C'; ?/ is now expressed by
V
and
dx
2c
~y/ai we deduce ^rom tfience
dy2 4 . . x
£ = + c)’
2dx
4Va
dy
Vc + */y
Now, making c + — zi there will result
dx (z — c)
4Va — 4z
and finally,
y=J?d*+c'=J4=vt
means of x only. This is the analytical solution of the geo¬
metrical problem to find the nature of a curve whose ra¬
dius of curvature shall be a given function of*, the absciss.
dz — (z2 — cz 2 )dz
If we suppose Xr=—, then
x2 c
— p __/*2xdx__x2 r
a2 — ’
(x2-\-c)dx
p*=d£
1 ~dx-
V \ p
J VV{a4 —
4Va
— 2 cz2 + c'zz$(\/y —2 c)Vc-\- */y. + d.
a4 — {x2 + c2)2 “““ ^ JV{ai — (a^ + c)2} ’
here c is put generally for an indeterminate constant.
This is the equation of the elastic curve.
188. If the proposed differential equation is composed
of vL and y, we may, as before, put p = from
doc2' dx J dx
(fty (Jjj 'nd'D
which we get yj=i -j- z=. ; the equation will nov/
involve dp, dy, p and y only. When the primitive equa¬
tion can be found, and thence the value of p in terms of
of these hypotheses it has been calculated. The preced- 3/? we may find x by the formula * = / — ; but when y
ing examples all correspond to the case of y being a func- . , , , K ? 1
tion of*, and consequently of dx being constant; but it 18 expressed by p, we may then employ the formula
will be easy to discover, among relations deduced relative- # — -f-
ly to other hypotheses, to which of them they may be re- p J p2
ferred. Igg. Differentials of the second order, which have this
It is immediately evident that, if we represent by Q form,
186. We have seen in the differential calculus, art. 93, that
beyond the first order the form of the differential equa¬
tions would be changed, according as * or y, or even a
function of these quantities, was assumed as the indepen¬
dent variable ; which comes to the same thing as assuming
that dx, or dy, or a given function of these variables, was
constant. It is therefore necessary, in integrating equa¬
tions which exceed the first degree, to know upon which
£ • dx
any tunction whatever of —, every equation of the form
d^y ,
dx1
rJ + %=R,
FLUXIONS.
Method. 111 w 11C 1 ^ ^ are any functions of x, are called linear,
^ nis0 equations of tlie degree, because y is only of one
dimension. It will easily be understood that the difficul¬
ty of finding the primitive equation will be greater than
in the like equation of the first order ; and, indeed, except
in particular cases, there is no known method of reducing
the integration to the finding of the differential of a sin¬
gle variable; that is, to the quadrature of a curve. If
K nr 0, in which case the equation is
% + PS + Qi’ = 0’
it may be reduced to a differential equation of the first
degree, by a very simple transformation. Let e, as usual,
denote the base of Napier’s logarithms ; assume y nr Judx,
then, regarding dx as constant, w’e have
dy rn udxe J'udx, d2y — e fudx (dudx + u-dx2) :
the value of and ef2?/being substituted in the equation,
and the common factors rejected, it becomes
du + (u~ + Pm -f- Q) r= 0.
When P and Q are constants, which may be represented
by A and B, the equation becomes
du + (V -f Am + B) efo = 0 ;
in which the variables are separated, if we give it the
form
du
v | T i 77 1 dx — 0.
m2 + Am + B
As it is merely necessary to satisfy this equation, we may
make u nr m, m being any constant; then du rn 0, and nd
+ Km -f B =: 0. This last equation gives, in general,
two values of m; if we represent them by a and b, we
shall have two values of fudx ; viz. ax c and bx + d,
and hence we have two values of y, viz.
y — e
ax + c
bx +(/
or, putting C for ec, and C' for e0',
y=Cea\ y = C'e6j\
These, however, are only particular values of the func¬
tion y, because each contains only a single arbitrary con¬
stant; but by adding them, we get
y rn Ce“’ + C' ex
as the complete primitive equation.
To prove this, by differentiating, we get
'y = aCe
dx
ax
+ bC'e
bx
d2y
dx1
Ceax + ¥ C'e
bx.
From these and the above primitive equation, we have,
after eliminating C and C',
^ + (<‘ + 4)s-',^=°-
This will agree with the proposed equation, if we give a
and b such values that a + b =1?, ab = — Q.
If a and b come out impossible quantities, the exponents
of a and b in the value of?/ will have the form
M rr a + /3 V — 1, b — a — /3 V — 1;
we have then
y--QeaX + P* V—1 Q'f?*—
= ea*(Ce^V^T + .
This result is rendered real by eliminating the imagi¬
nary quantities, by means of sines and cosines; thus we
have (Algebra, art. 269),
e^x V/ ^rr cos Bx-\-V— 1 sin (3x,
e l= cos (3x — V—1 sin (3x,
y = e“x{ (C + C’) cos Px + (C — C')V—T sin fa];
and making C + C' = c, (c — c')V— 1 ~ d,
y — eaX (c cos /Sx + P sin fix) ;
or, making c —p sin q, d —p cos q,
y — peaX sin
When the roots a and b are equal, the value of y being
reduced to
Cear + C'eaX - (C + C’)eax,
it becomes incomplete. In this case we may proceed, as
in art. 58, by supposing that a and b differ by a very
small quantity. Let us suppose that b = a-\-k, there
thence results
y = Ceax + C'eM+tr - eax (C + Oekx) :
developing kx according to the powers of k, we have
y = eax(C + V+C'kx+V^- + &c.)
or, putting C + C' c and c'k = d
y — eax(c +dx + dk:i- + &c.)
This last expression, which satisfies the proposed equa¬
tion for all values of k, agrees with it likewise if k =z 0, or
b — a; and, in that case, it becomes
y — ex(c-\-dx).
190. When P and Q are variable quantities, functions
of x, then if v and d are two values of y which each sa¬
tisfy the equation
5l + pi + Q^=°>
we may take
y — cv-\-dv
for the complete primitive equation. For then dy = cdv
-\-cdd, d^y — cdtv + cd~v, and the differential equation
becomes
(ddv dv , ^ \ . , fdrv , dd , _ A „
+Q,,J+^(*r«+s + Q*)=0-
Now, by hypothesis,
\-ndv, cPd d/d , „ 7 .
^i+l^+Qt.= 0; —+p_+Q^=0.
Therefore the equation is identical, and so the value ofy
is truly determined.
As an example of the integration of a differential equa¬
tion of the second degree, see the article Arch (art. 57).
191. We shall now give an example of the integration
of a differential equation of the first degree and the se¬
cond order.
Let the equation be
dry + aodydx1 — 0.
If we suppose
y=Kxa+ Bxa + S + Cxa + 2 5 + &c.
and that the series of exponents is an increasing one,
or that d is positive, we may, when x is supposed very
small, conceive y to reduce itself to its first term, since
the others are too small to be compared with this first.
On this supposition, we may confine ourselves to as¬
suming
y — kx*\ then (Py z=z a (u — 1) Aa:a~2 cfo:2,
and the proposed equation will become
«(« _ 1) A** - 2 + akx* + ” - 0.
It is not possible to determine a so as to make the two
exponents a — 2 and a -f- n equal, except in the parti¬
cular case of n =. — 2; but the exponent of x being
greater in the second term than the first, we may neglect
one of these terms in comparison with the other ; and the
equation may then be verified in two ways (by approxi-
743
Inverse
Method.
744
FLUX
Invene mation), viz. by mailing a = 0, and a _ 1, since upon
either hypothesis the term a(a — 1) Ax‘ - 2 (the great¬
est in the equation) vanishes : A, therefore, remains mde-
terminate, and we have two series, one beginning with A,
and the other with Ax.
If we take successively
y = A + + cx2^ + &c.
y - A*1 +S+ B,1 + 2* + c*1+2S + &c.
and substitute for y these values, and for (Py its corre¬
sponding values, we shall then find, by properly arranging
the terms, that 3 must be = 2; and, in either case, deter¬
mining the values of the co-efficients A, B, C, &c. we ar¬
rive at these two series,
aAxn + 2 . a*Ax2n + * 
A~ 0+1)0+2) o+ 1)(w + 2X2w + 3X2?i + 4)
a3Ax?n + 6  
“ (n +!)(« + 2) (> + 3) (2n + 4) (3n + 5) (3n + 6)
+ &c.
„« + 3 aPAx2 n + 5
Ax —
a Ax
O + 2) (?«+ 3) O + ^) (w + ^) (2w (2w
«3A3 M + 7
~ (n + 2) O + 3) (2^T+ 4) (2n + 5) (3/i + 6) (3» + 7)
+ &c.
These developments are only particular cases, since
they contain each but one arbitrary constant A; but, on
account of the particular form of the proposed example
(189), we shall obtain a general expression for y, by
writing in the latter of them Ax for A, and taking their
sum.
IONS.
logarithmic tangents of half the complements of the lati¬
tudes, a rule easily found from the preceding solution; ^
but the difficulty of proving this was then considered so
great, that Mercator offered to wager a sum of money
against any person that should undertake to prove it either
true or false. James Gregory, however, proved it in his
Exercitationes Geometries, published in 1668; also Bar-
row, in his Geometrical Lectures : their demonstrations,
however, were intricate. Afterwards Dr Wallis and Dr
Halley gave demonstrations which were sufficiently sim¬
ple and elegant.
Problem 2.
If any number of straight lines are drawn according
to some determinate law, it is required to find the na¬
ture of a curve to which these are tangents.
For example, let AE be a straight line given by posi¬
tion, and K a given point without it; let any number of
lines KD, KD', &c. be drawn to meet AE in D, D', &c.;
and let perpendiculars DC, D'C', &c. be drawn to these
lines; it is required to find the nature of the curve ACC',
to which these perpendiculars are tangents.
Without attending to the particular case, we shall re¬
solve the general problem, and suppose AE to be the axis of
Fig. 33.
Inverse
Method.
Having now given as full a view of the principles of the
fluxional calculus as we conceive to be compatible with
the nature of our work, we shall conclude with a few
more examples of its application to geometry.
Problem 1.
To find the length of the enlarged meridian in Mer¬
cator s, or rather Wright's projection of the sphere.
In this projection, the meridians and parallels of lati¬
tude are straight lines, which intersect each other at right
angles ; and the projection of any small arc of a meridian
(as one minute), reckoned from any parallel, is to the pro¬
jection of a like arc of longitude in that parallel, as radius
to the cosine of the latitude of the parallel, that is, in the
same ratio as the arcs themselves in the sphere. Supposing
the radius of the sphere to be unity, let v be any arc of
latitude reckoned from the equator, z its projection on the
chart, or the enlarged meridian. Let v' and z! be any
small increments of v and z; then, by the principles of the
z' rad ,
projection,-— ; therefore, putting the ratio of the
v cosv 1 °
differentials for the limit of the ratio of the increments, ^
dv
= and dz — ——. Therefore, taking the integral
(art. 155), 2—1. {tan (45° -j- ^v)}. Here no correction
is wanted, because when v — 0, then z zz ]. (tan 45°)
= 1. (1) = 0, as it should be.
Henry Bond, in the year 1650, discovered, by chance,
t lat the enlarged meridian might be expressed by the
the curve, A being the origin of the co-ordinates, and CD
any position of the tangent, which meets the axis in D.
From the point of contact C draw the perpendicular CB ;
and, considering C as a point in the curve, put AB 2= x,
BC = y ; but again considering C as any point whatever
in the tangent, put AB x1, BC — y'. Then, whatever
be the conditions that determine the position of the tan¬
gent, the relation of a/and y', the co-ordinates of any point
in it, may be expressed by the equation y' = Paf + Q,
where P and Q are put to denote generally certain func¬
tions of constant quantities, and some quantity p, which
has the same value for any given position of the tangent,
but which changes its value if the tangent changes its
position. For example, p may express the angle which
the tangent makes with the axis, or it may represent the
subtangent BD, &c.
Let us now suppose that the variable quantity p chan¬
ges its value, and becomes p -{- h, and that C' D' is the
new position of the tangent corresponding to p + h;
then, considering P and Q as functions of p, by Taylor’s
theorem (art. 31),
^ „ dP ^ (FP h2
P becomes P + — A -1—j-? — 4- &c.
1 dp dp1 2
^ _ dQ , rf2Q A2 c
Q becomes Q +-r ^ + tt + &c*
dp dp1 2
The relation of xf to tj in the new position of the tangent
will now be expressed by the equation
y = Pip + q + (^x' + ^)h + K//2 + &c-
Where KA2 -f &c. is put for all the remaining terms of
the series.
Now, as this equation holds true of every point in the
FLUXIONS.
Inverse tangent C' D', and the equation y Pa/ -f Q holds true
Method, of every point in the tangent CD, it follows that at c, the
intersection of the two tangents, both equations must be
true at the same time; therefore at c we have
(fI' + f)A + KA! + &- = 0^
and, dividing by y -j- ^ -j- K/i -f- &c. = 0.
Conceive now the two tangents to approach to coinci¬
dence ; when C' comes to C, then c will also fall at C ; and
A, and all the terms into which it enters, vanish ; also x'
and y become x and y : and, to determine the nature of
the curve, we have these two equations:
y = Px + Q (1)
° = f* + f   (2>
By eliminating p from these, the resulting equation will
express the nature of the curve.
Ex. 1. Let us now recur to the particular case of AE,
a straight line given by position, K a given point, and
KDC a right angle: Draw KA perpendicular to AE;
put AB = x, BC = y, KA r= a, and let AD be the varia¬
ble quantity/). The triangles KAD, DBC are manifest¬
ly similar; therefore KA : AD = DB : BC, that is, a :
p — x —p : y ; hence ay — px —/>2, and y — ^x-
Compare this with equation (1), and it will appear that
P = £ Q = _£l; therefore^ A; ^ hence
a a dp a dp a
the nature of the curve is expressed by the two equations
-P~ P2
y
X
a a
a a
Hence x — (AH + BH) = 4^- a + «,
sin 2p sin 2p *
, sin 2p
and y ~ -f- x
cos 2p
sin p
(a)
cos2 2p’ dp
Hence, by formula (2),
cos p
2x
= {;
cos 2p
2 sin 2p sin p
}
is2 2p ^ cos 2p 1 cos2 2p
From equations (a) and (/3) we readily find
■03)
745
Inverse
Method.
cos 2p
By comparing this with the general formula (1), it ap¬
pears that
sin 2p sin p
P = Q    a, hence,
cos 2p cos 2p
dP _ 2 dQ cos p 2 sin 2p sinp
dp ~ cos2 2/)’ dp cos 2p cos2 2p a‘
x= cos 2p cos p -f- sin 2p sin p) a,
y = (jj sin 2p cos p — cos 2p sin p) a ;
and hence, by observing that sin 2p —2 sin p cos /?, and
that cos 2p=2 cos2 p — 1 zr 1 — 2 sin2 p (Arithmetic of
Sinest Algebra), we have also
rr ^ cos jo (1 -j- 2 sin2 p) a ; y— (sin3 p)a.
From these equations it is easy to eliminate the trigo¬
nometrical quantities cos p and sin p, and the result will
be the equation of the curve, which is an epicycloid. The
curve in question is the catacauslic curve to a circle.
It is easy to see that the general problem, of which
we have now given two examples, is very comprehensive.
We may evidently find, by the formulae (1) and (2), cata-
caustic and diacaustic curves in all cases whatever. These,
and an infinite number of other geometrical problems, are
contained in the following more general problem.
Problem 3.
The second of these equations gives p — \x ; and hence
/£j2 /^2
the first becomes y — ; therefore ^ ay z=. x1 is
the equation of the curve, which is evidently a parabola,
of which AK is the axis, K the focus, and A the vertex.
Ex. 2. Suppose a ray of light RD, coming from the sun,
to fall upon FEG, the concave surface of a sphere, at D,
and to be thence reflected in the direction DH; it is pro¬
posed to find the nature of the curve to which this, and
all rays reflected in the same manner, are tangents.
Fig. 34.
E
Draw AD the radius of the sphere, and AE parallel to
the incident ray RD ; let C be the point in which the re¬
flected ray touches the curve ; let DC meet AE in H, and
draw CB perpendicular to AE. Put AD = a, AB = x,
BC = y, and let p be the variable angle DAE.
By the principles of optics, AD bisects the angle RDH,
which is equal to DHE, that is, to the sum of the angles
DAH, ADH ; therefore the angles ADH, DAH are equal,
and angle DHE r: 2p. Now, by trigonometry,
AH —
BH =
sin ADH
sin AHD
cos CHB
sin CHB
, _ sin »
X AD = ——a,
sin 2p
cos 2p
x CB = ihT#-'
Determine the nature of a curve which touches an in¬
finite number of lines of a given kind, described upon a
plane according to some determinate law. For example,
suppose the lines to be parabolas described by a projec¬
tile thrown from an engine with a given velocity, at every
possible elevation in a vertical plane.
Let HCD be any one of the lines of a given kind (a para-
Fig. 35.
bola, for example), and suppose it referred to an axis AB,
by the rectangular co-ordinates AB = x' and BC y'. Let
p denote some quantity belonging to the line or curve
HCD, which has always the same value in the same
curve, but which has different values in different curves.
Thus, if the curve be a circle,/) may be its radius ; or if
the curve be a parabola, p may be its parameter, &c.
This quantity p may also by analogy be called the para¬
meter of the curve HCD. Let us suppose the nature of
this curve to be expressed by the equation
/<y> y> i?) = 0. (1)
that is, let some function oi'x\y’, and/), be supposed 0.
If p now be supposed to change its value, and become
p + h, then the curve HCD will change its figure, and
have some other position H'C'D'. Let AB' = x”, and B'C'
5 B
VOL. IX.
746
fluxions.
Inverse = y*, be any co-ordinates of this other curve, and as, by
Method, hypothesis, the two curves are expressed by equations of
the same form, we must have
/ (x"> y\ /> + A) = 0;
and this expression, by Taylor’s theorem, is equivalent to
(2)
dUid', y'\ p)}. , ,
/(^/^)+——dP  + h + ’
the differential being taken upon the hypothesis that p
alone is variable, and K/i2 + &c. being put for all terms
of the series following the second, each of which is multi¬
plied by a power of /<• , . . , , .
Let the two curves intersect each other in c, and let
Kb = x, and cb = y, be the common co-ordinates ; then,
as equation (1) holds true of every point in the curve
HCD, and equation (2) holds true of every point m
H'C'D', both must hold true at once, if we substitute in
them a: and y, the co-ordinates belonging to their common
point c ; that is, wg must have
/ 0> y> P) = °’
+ rf;/(y,?,lU+Kg+&c. = 0;
and hence we must also have
d{f(x,y,p)}
dp
Let C and C; be now supposed the points in which the
curves HcD, H'cD' touch the curve PCC'Q, whose nature
is required ; then, if we suppose h to decrease continual¬
ly, and at last to vanish, the points C' and c will approach
to C, and at last will coincide with it, so that x and y,
which are co-ordinates of c, the intersection of the two
curves HcD, H'cD', will then become the co-ordinates of
the curve PCQ. As all the terms which contain h will
then vanish, wre have evidently this rule.
Let the equation of the given curves be
f(x,y,p) = 0 (a)
x and y being the co-ordinates, and p a variable parame¬
ter. From this equation, by taking the differential, sup¬
posing p to be variable, and all the other quantities con¬
stant, we deduce this other equation,
d \f{x,y, />)} _ 0 ^
v da . i u Inverse
therefore - = ; but from equation (2), taking the Method.
x dp
r. 7 7 ii dq 2a—p
differentials, qdq = 2adp —pdp, and hence= —-—,
7/ (t —— QQ d dC
and by the first equation - =   , therefore   =
J 1 X p V
■ V- and hence o2 — qx— 2ap — p2; and substituting
9
for 9Z its value given by equation (2), we get qx = 2ap;
hence, and by equation (1),
a:2 _ 2ax
P ~ 2a — y ^ 2a — y
These values of p and q being substituted in the second
equation, and the common denominator rejected, it be¬
comes
4a2ic2 — (8a2 — 4 ay — d(F)r}.
Hence bay — 4 a2 — ic2, and this is the equation of the
curve PCQ, which is evidently a parabola having its fo¬
cus at A, the common intersection of all the parabolas,
its axis perpendicular to the horizon, and its parameter
— 4 a.
The geometrical theory comprehended in the second and
third problems has a corresponding analytical theory re¬
lating to the integrals of certain differential equations.
This is the theory of singular primitive equations, which
are not included in the complete primitive equation. Thus,
the differential equation
dy (xl -f- y2 — b) — ydx — xdx = 0,
has for its complete primitive equation
a? — 2 ay — a2 — b ■= 0,
where a is the arbitrary constant quantity; but, besides
this, it has a singular primitive equation,
a?2 + 3/2 — 6 = 0,
which does not admit of an arbitrary constant, although
it equally satisfies the differential equation, as is easily
proved by differentiating. The bounds within which it
was proper to confine this treatise have not allowed us to
enter into this branch of the subject, which, although in¬
teresting, is yet not elementary.
Investigation of the Properties of the Catenary.
Suppose a chain or thread of uniform thickness, and
perfectly flexible, but inextensible, to be fastened by its
extremities at two points A, B in a vertical plane ; by the
action of gravity it will take the form of a curve ACPB,
called the catenary.
+ K/i + &c. = 0.
dp
By these eliminate />, and the result will be an equa¬
tion, which expresses the nature of the curve that touches
all the given curves.
Ex. Let ACD, AC'D', &c. be parabolas described
by a projectile thrown from a given point A, with a
given velocity, in a given vertical plane. It is proposed
to find the curve PCQ which touches them all. Let EF
be the axis of any one of the curves, AD an ordinate to
the axis, AP zz a the height due to the velocity of pro¬
jection, AB = x, BC = y, the co-ordinates of C, any
point in the curve. Put the parameter of the axis — p,
and considering. AD as a function of/>, which is to be re¬
garded as variable, put AD rr q.
By the theory of projectiles, EF zr a — ^p, and by the
nature of the parabola, AF2 — p X EF, and AB X BD
— p X BC; hence we have these two equations,
qx — x1 = py, (1) q1 — 4op —p2, (2)
From the first of these,
/(x, y, p) ~ x- py — qx =
and, taking the differentials, considering x and y as con¬
stant, and y as a function of the variable quantity p,
dp u dp
The curve will evidently be all in one plane, and a hori¬
zontal line CD, in that plane, at C its lowest point, will
manifestly touch the curve, which is retained at rest by a
mutual balancing of the forces produced by the weight of
the particles of the chain.
If we suppose its lowest point to be fixed at C, it is easy
to understand that the part BC will not on that account
change in the least its figure, because the tension of the
chain at C, when it was free, is now replaced by the re¬
action of the force exerted in the horizontal direction
CD.
FLUXIONS.
Inverse The forces exerted on the points B, C will evidently be
Method, the same in quantity and in direction, whether the chain
be considered as flexible, or rigid like a solid wire ; hence
it may be regarded as kept at rest by three forces, viz.
its gravity acting vertically, and the re-actions of the ten¬
sions at B and C; the former exerted in the direction of
a tangent to the curve at B, and the latter in the direc¬
tion CD, the tangent at the lowest point C.
In like manner any portion PC between P and its low¬
est point may be considered as kept at rest by the joint
action of the gravity of the mass PC, the tension of the
chain at C, which is constant, and the tension at P, which
is variable ; and by the nature of an equilibrium (Mecha¬
nics), these forces will be to each other as the sides of
any triangle which are parallel to their directions. Draw
a horizontal line OX in the plane of the curve as an axis,
meeting the vertical through C in O, which may be ta¬
ken as an origin of co-ordinates ; draw PQ perpendicular
to OX, and PT touching the curve and meeting the axis
in T. From what has been explained, the tension of the
curve at C will be to the weight of the matter in PC as
TQ to PQ, that is, as radius to the tangent of the angle
which PT makes with any horizontal line.
Put OQ rr x, PQ = y, arc CP — z, angle PTQ = p;
and let a be the tension of the curve at the vertex C: we
have then a\ z— 1: tan p; hence
tan ®
r a
•(1)
This is the distinguishing property of the curve, from
which we are to deduce its other properties.
From equation (1), by differentiation,
rfp dz
co& <p ~ a’
Now in all curves,
dx dy
’os <p ~ sin p ’
hence we obtain
dz —
dx = a.
dtp
7 d<p sm o
dy — a. — 
cos p ' cos <p
From these, by integration,
x — a\. tan (45° + ^ f) + const, (art. 155)
a
y — 4- const.
^ cos <p 1
If we assume that OC measures the tension at C, which
is a constant quantity, then because when p := 0, a? = 0,
and y — a, we have the relation of the quantities x, y, <p,
expressed by these equations,
x zz a], tan (45° + ^ p), )
« >-   (2)
zz a sec ^ '
1/ =
cos <p
The constant line a is called the parameter of the curve,
also its modulus. From the first of these equations, put¬
ting for 45° ^ <p, we have
tan = ea, cot ^ zz e
tan •>]/ + cot ^ = ea+ e a .
xt * . , sin -vj/ . cos >4/
Now, tan -q, + cot j +
cos
2
sin 2 \j</ cos p
sin >4/’
2 _2y
a
* — x
therefore y zz^^ea e a j-
.(3)
This exponential equation expresses the relation be¬
tween x and y by means of e, the base of Napier’s loga¬
rithms. From this last equation, observing that yzza sec p,
we get
r 2x — 2x x
= ile~ +e~ +2/,
sec2 p
sec2 p
r 2x — 2x x
-l = i \elr + e'~ir-2 },
r x — .r x
r=ri = i{e«_e—).
tan p = Vsec2 p ■
But it was found that z zz a tan p,
x —x
therefore zzz ^-^ea —e a |
From formulse (3) and (4) we have
y z zz aea, y — zzz ae
therefore ?/2 — z2 — o2 
hence again,
y zz Va2 + z2, z zz Vy2 — a2....
and since from formula (5)
-1 y + z -
1. ^ = 1.
a a y — z
therefore also, - <
_ ] V + Vy2
■ an
z Vz2 d2
•(4)
.(5)
.(6)
•(7)
.(8)
.(9)
Let s denote the area bounded by the arc PC and the
straight lines CO, OQ, PQ ; then, since dx zz
D cosp
and
y zz —— , therefore
cos p
ds zz ydx
and s zz az 
a~ dp
cosz p
= adz.
.(10)
Thus it appears that the arc CP is always proportional
to the conterminous area CPQO. It is evident that the
catenary, if inverted, would form an equilibrated arch.
From this property it appears that if a wall, whose height
above the crown of the arch is equal to the line CO, be
horizontal at the top, the structure thus formed will con¬
stitute an equilibrated arch with a straight roadway.
(See on this subject our article Arch.) (w. w.)
747
Inverse
Method.
'w-y-w'
748
Fly
II
Flying
Fish.
FLY
FLY. See Diptera, index to Entomology.
Fly in Mechanics, the name of an appendage to many
machines, either as a regulator of their mottons or as an
accumulator of power. It .s usually m the form of a metal
disc or a wheel with a heavy rim, sometimes in that ot a
cross or bar loaded at the extremities, and is attached to
the revolving shaft of the machine in order to distribute
the force of the power equally in all parts ot its revolution.
When used as an accumulator of power for the purpose ot
nroducing a very great instantaneous effect, as in the com-
fno- press, it is frequently seen in the form of heavy knobs
at the opposite extremities of a straight bar. I he liy is
especially useful in all cases where the power or the resist¬
ance acts with an irregular or intermitting force in the
different parts of a revolution.
FLY-CATCHER. See index to Ornithology.
FLYING, the progressive motion of a bird or other
winged animal through the air.
Artificial Flying. Attempts have been made by various
persons in all ages to imitate the motions of birds in the
air by means of mechanical contrivances, but hitherto with
very little success—the balloon being the only known
machine that can sustain the body of a man in the air for
any considerable length of time. Friar Bacon tells us that
he knew how to make a machine by which a man might
convey himself through the air like a bird ; and he adds,
that a person had tried it with success. 1 he secret con¬
sisted in a couple of large thin hollow copper globes, ex¬
hausted of air; which being much lighter than common
air, would sustain a chair on which a person might sit and
be buoyed along. Father Francisco Lana, in his Prodromo,
proposes the same thing. He computes that a round vessel
of plate-brass, fourteen feet in diameter, weighing three
ounces the square foot, will only weigh 1848 ounces,
whereas a quantity of air of the same bulk will weigh 2155§
ounces, so that the globe will not only be sustained in the
air, but will carry with it a weight ot 307§ ounces ; and by
increasing the bulk of the globe without increasing the
thickness of the metal, he conceives that a vessel might be
made to carry a much greater weight. But the fallacy is
obvious. A globe of the dimensions he describes, as shown
by Dr Hook, would not sustain the pressure of the air, but
be crushed inwards. Besides, in w'hatever ratio the bulk of
the globe is increased, in the same ratio must the thickness
of the metal, and consequently the ■weight, be increased ; so
that there would be no advantage in such augmentation.
The philosophers of Charles II.’s time were much busied
about this art. The celebrated Bishop Wilkins was so con¬
fident of success in the attempt, that he says he does not
question but in future ages it will be as usual to hear a man
call for his wdngs when he is going a journey as it is now to
call for his boots. Among such contrivances may be no¬
ticed another, consisting of huge wings, the cavities of
which are to be filled with hydrogen gas, and which the
flying man is to move with his arms. It is almost needless
to observe that this machine is quite incapable of effecting
the object in view, as must be every other constructed upon
the same principle.
The flying apparatus constructed by Sir George Cayley
can scarcely be considered as a successful experiment, since
the wings of that ingenious mechanician acted rather on
the principle of the parachute, merely floating the ex¬
perimenter, who started from a moderate elevation, by a
very gradual descent towards the earth.
FLYING FISH, a name given to several species of
fishes which, by means of long fins, can sustain themselves
for some time in the air. The common flying fish of the
Mediterranean is thus able to raise itself so far above the
surface of the sea as frequently to throw itself upon the
deck of a ship; but the extreme limit of its flight is con¬
fined to an arch extending about 120 feet, when the drying
F O I
of its fins necessitates its return to its proper element. See F°al
index to Ichthyology. ,. , ^ , 7, Foix.
FOAL, the young of the horse kind. The word colt, K ^
among dealers, is applied to the male, and filhj to the
klFOCHABERS, a village of Scotland, parish of Bellie,
Morayshire, situated on the Spey, 4 miles from its mouth
in the Moray Firth, and 9 miles E. of Elgin. It is neatly
built; and in the vicinity is the magnificent domain of
Gordon Castle, the property of the Duke of Richmond.
FOCUS, in Geometry and Conic Sections, is applied to
a certain point in the parabola, ellipsis, and hyperbola, where
the rays reflected from all parts of these curves meet. In
Optics, a point in which any number of rays meet, after
being reflected or refracted. .
FCETUS, the young of viviparous animals whilst in the
womb, and of oviparous animals before being hatched. See
Anatomy, and Physiology.
FOG, or Mist See Meteorology, and Physical
Geography. .
FOGGIA, a city of Naples, capital of the province ot
Capitanata, and situated near the centre of the great plain
of Apulia, 80 miles E.N.E. of Naples. The town is well
built; and the principal streets, which are wide and clean,
contain some handsome houses and good shops. The
dral, originally a stately Gothic edifice, was destroyed by
an earthquake in 1731, and the upper part of it has been
rebuilt in a different style, by which its effect is greatly
injured. Foggia contains numerous other churches, a go¬
vernor’s palace, theatre, custom-house, and the remains of
a palace which, together with a large well, was constructed
by Frederick II. It is the seat of the provincial courts,
and the centre of all the trade of the province, which, in
spite of its ill-chosen and unhealthy situation, give it a more
animated appearance than any other city in the kingdom
except the capital. The corn magazines (fosse) are very
extensive, consisting of vaults lined with masonry, extend¬
ing under the principal streets and squares. Foggia is a
staple market for corn and wool, and the place at which a
toll is collected upon the numerous flocks of sheep that
descend annually in autumn from the mountains of Abruzzo
into the plains of Apulia, to avoid the cold of the higk
country. It is traversed by roads leading to Naples, Ban,
Piscara, Bovino, Manfredonia, &c., and is thus the entrepot
of an extensive trade in agricultural and other produce.
Pop. about 21,000. c
FOGO, one of the Cape Verd Islands, lying W. ot
Santiago, in N. Lat. 14. 50., W. Long. 24. 34. It is about
40 miles in circumference, and is almost entirely occupied
by a volcanic mountain, which rises to the height of up¬
wards of 9000 feet. An eruption of this volcano took place
in 1847, and caused great damage. The island is very fer¬
tile, and contains about 7000 inhabitants.
FOHR or Fora, an island of Denmark, lying oft the
coast of Schleswig, in the North Sea; N. Lat. 54. 43., E.
Long. 8. 30.; area 25 square miles. The eastern part ot
the island, with a population of 2650, belongs to Schleswig ;
and the western, with 2100 inhabitants, to Jutland. 1 ie
inhabitants are chiefly engaged in navigation, fishery, manu¬
facture of hosiery, and the taking of wild fowl. Ihe prin¬
cipal port is Wyk. . . ,
FOIL, in fencing, a kind of blunt sword, which is tipped
with a button covered with leather.
Foil, among jewellers, a thin leaf of metal placed under
transparent stones in order to improve their colour or
heighten their lustre. Foil also denotes the sheet of tin
amalgam laid on the back of a mirror to make it reflect a
perfect image. Coloured foils are prepared by covering
thin sheets of copper, highly polished, with coloured var¬
nishes.
FOIX, a town of France, capital of a cognominal arron-
F 0 L
Fo-Kien dissement, and also of the department of Ariege, is situated
II on the left bank of the Ariege, in the gorge of a narrow
Folcmote. valley) bounded by rocky and precipitous hills, 44 miles S.
of Toulouse. It was the capital of the old Comte de Foix ;
and on an isolated rock, rising from amidst the houses,
stands the old castle of the counts. It has three fine
towers, all anterior to the fifteenth century, the tallest
being 136 feet high. They are now used as a prison.
Foix has a considerable trade in iron. Pop. (1851) 4110.
FO-KIEN, or Fu-Kiani, a large province of China,
bounded on the N. by Che-Kiang, E. by the Chinese
Sea, S. by Kwang-Tung, and W. by Kiang-Si: estimated
area, 53,480 square miles. This province is generally
mountainous, particularly in the northern and western
parts, where it is bounded by the high range of the Nan-
ling. Its sea-coast is bold and rugged, but presents many
capacious and secure harbours. Off the coast lie nume¬
rous islands, whose lofty granitic or trap peaks extend in
precipitous barren headlands from Namoh as far as the
Chusan Archipelago. The river Min, formed by the union
of three large streams at Yenping-fu, drains about three-
fourths of the province, or all that part of it lying east of
the Wu-i hills, and empties itself into the ocean by several
mouths. Tea, sugar, camphor, tobacco, and indigo are the
chief articles grown for export. The population is esti¬
mated at 15,000,000.
FOKSCHAN, or Fokschani, a town of European
Turkey, on the Milkov, 92 miles N.N.E. of Bucharest. It
consists of two parts, one of which belongs to Wallachia,
the other to Moldavia; and has a considerable trade in
cattle, corn, and other agricultural produce. Good wine
is produced in the vicinity. Pop. 6000.
FOLARD, Jean Chaeles de, born on the 13th of
February 1669 at Avignon, was a French military officer
distinguished for his writings on tactics. His genius was
roused by reading Caesar’s Commentaries; and at the age
of sixteen he entered the army contrary to his father’s wish.
By the Duke of Vendome, who commanded in Italy in
1702, he was intrusted with part of his forces ; and so well
did he acquit himself, that he was honoured with the cross
of St Louis, and received a pension of 400 livres. In the
battle of Cassano, in August 1705, he lost, by a wound, the
use of his left hand; and in 1706 he defended Modena
against Prince Eugene, by whom he was taken prisoner
some time after the battle of Blenheim. In 1711 he was
appointed governor of Bourbourg, and in 1714 helped to
defend Malta against the Turks. Soon after this he entered
the service of Charles XII. of Sweden, and accompanied
him in the invasion of Norway; but returned to France,
where he served as colonel under the Duke of Berwick. In
his later years he applied himself to the study of military
art, and died at Avignon in 1752. His works are : Nou-
velles Decouvertes sur la Guerre, 1724, 12mo; Commen-
taires sur Polybe, 1753, 7 vols. 4to ; and Fonctinns et De¬
voirs dun 0(ficier de Cavalerie, 1733, 12mo.
FOLCLANDS, or Folklands. Copyhold lands were
so called in the time of the Saxons, as charter-lands were
called boclands. Fockland was terra vulgi or terra popu-
laris, the land of the common people, who had no certain
estate therein, but held it under the rents and services ac¬
customed or agreed, at the will only of their lord the thane ;
and it was therefore not put in writing, but accounted prce-
dium rusticum et ignobile.
FOLCMOTE, or Foekmote (Saxon, folcgemote, that is,
conventus populi), is composed oi folk, people, and mote or
F O L 749
gemote, to assemble, and originally signified a convention of Foldvar
the people, to consult respecting public affairs. According II
to Spelman, the folcmote was a sort of annual parliament or ^ 0 engo.^
convention of the bishops, thanes, aldermen, and freemen, “ v
which assembled upon every May-day, and in which the
laymen were sworn to defend one another and the king, and
to preserve the laws of the kingdom, after which they con¬
sulted of the common safety. But, from the laws of the
Saxon kings of England, Dr Brady infers that it was an in¬
ferior court, held before the king’s reeve or steward every
month, to do folk right, or compose smaller differences ; and
that from it there lay an appeal to the superior courts.
Squire seems to think that the folkmote was not essentially
distinct from the skiremote, or common general meeting of
the county. (See his Angl. Sax. Gov. 155, n.) Manwood
mentions folcmote as a court holden in London, in which all
the/o/A and people of the city did complain of the mayor
and aldermen for misgovernment within the said city; and
this word is still in use, denoting celebrem. ex tota civitate
conventum. According to Kennet, the folkmote was a com¬
mon council of all the inhabitants of a city, town, or borough,
convened by sound of bell, or otherwise, to the Mote Hall
or House; or it was applied to a larger congress of the free¬
men within a county, called the shiremote, where formerly
all knights and military tenants did homage to the king, and
elected the annual sheriff on the first of October, until 1315,
when, to avoid tumults and riots, this popular form of elec¬
tion was by 3d Edward I. merged in nomination by the king.
After this time the city folkmote was swallowed up in a select
committee or common council and the county folkmote in
the sheriff’s tourn and assizes.
The 'NoxiS. folkmote was also used to signify any kind of
popular or public meetings, as those of the tenants at the
court leet or court baron, in which signification it was of
a less extent than that above explained. (Paroch Antiq.
120.)
FOLDVAR, a town of Hungary, county of Tolna, on
the right bank of the Danube, 50 miles S. of Buda. It is
a steam-packet station, but is chiefly noted for its sturgeon-
fishery. Pop. 10,000.
FOLENGO, Theophilus, better known by his assumed
name of Merlin Cocajo, an excentric genius and burlesque
poet, was descended of a noble family of Mantua, and born
at a place called Cipada in the year 1491.1 From his in¬
fancy he showed great vivacity of mind, and a singular faci¬
lity of turning everything that occurred into verse. He
completed his studies at Bologna, and at the age of sixteen
entered the order of Benedictines of the congregation of
Monte Cassino, near Brescia. He then assumed the name
of Theophilus instead of Jerome, which was his baptismal
name, and eighteen months afterwards he made profession
as Benedictine. At first his life was regular ; but he soon
forgot his vows, and ended by quitting the monastery to
stroll about with a young woman named Giron Dieda, who
had captivated his fancy. With her he wandered about for
ten years, with no other resource for procuring a livelihood
than his talents and his verses. He had commenced a poem
in Latin, which, as far as it went, displayed much elegance ;
but he soon quitted serious poetry, in which he could at most
only hope to obtain a secondary rank, for a kind which he
called Macaronic, in which he conceived himself quali¬
fied to occupy the first place. The basis of the language
employed by him is Latin, mixed with Italian words, and
still more with the Mantuan patois, which was his mother
tongue, and to which he gave Latin terminations. In his
1 Folengo, in his verses, has several times mentioned the place of his birth in his own peculiar vein:
Magna suo veniat Merlino parva Cipada.—
Mantua Virgilio gaudet, Verona Catullo,
Dante suo florens urbs Tusca, Cipada Cocajo.—
Nec Merlinus ego, laus, gloria, fama Cipadse, etc.
750 F O L
Foliating poem he recounts the ridiculous adventures of a hero called
H Baldus, among which are several which had happened to
Foligno. himself; and under the mask of burlesque and buffoonery
v—may be found thoughts and maxims instinct with good sense.
F 0 M
Folio
not to mention original and piquant touches of satire on the
conduct of the great, the vanity of titles, and the different
pursuits of men. Instead of dividing his poem into books
or cantos, he divided it into macaronis (macaronea prima,
macaronea secunda, etc.), of which there were seventeen in
the first edition and twenty-five in the subsequent ones;
and he published the whole under the name of Merlinm
Cocajus, which afterwards became famous. In a few years
several editions were published; but the success of these
facetious productions did not prevent their being bitterly
criticised. The author was severely censured, both for the
style and the license of idea and expression in which he in¬
dulged ; a circumstance which irritated him so much that,
changing language and name, he composed in three months
a satirical Italian poem, in eight cantos, on the infancy of
Roland, to which he gave the title of Orlandino, and affixed
the name of Limerno Pitocco; Limerno being the anagram
of Merlino, and Pitocco or mendicant being significative of
the state to which he was occasionally reduced. He had
nevertheless made many friends in the world by the repu¬
tation which he had acquired, the extent of his knowledge,
and the agreeable qualities of his mind ; and he had even
retained some in the cloister, into which, when tired of a
wandering and miserable life, he was received back with
open arms. He signalized his return by a work on the sub¬
ject of his conversion, entitled II Chaos del Triperuno, or
The Chaos of Three for One, meaning himself, who had
been successively Theophilus Folengo, Merlin Cocajo, and
Limerno Pitocco. The work is a medley of verses, songs,
and narrations, in Latin, Italian, and the Macaronic dialect,
in short, a veritable chaos, divided into three parts, called,
after Statius, Sylvce. Folengo appears to have remained
during several years at Capri, a country house belonging to
his order, between Brescia and Bergamo, and to have di¬
vided his time between this retreat and Brescia till 1536 or
1537, in one or other of which years he composed his
Italian poem on the Humanity of the Son of God, the most
orthodox of all his works, and which would be the most
edifying if one could really be edified by that which is un¬
readable. He was then sent into Sicily to the monastery
of St Martin delle Scale, where he appears to have remained
till 1543, when he returned into Italy, and retired to the
convent of the Holy Cross of Campesa, near Bassano, on
the banks of the Brenta, where he died in little more than
a year afterwards, 9th December 1544, in the fifty-third year
of his age.
FOLIATING of Looking-Glasses, the process of
covering the glass with amalgam, in order that it may re¬
flect the image. The method, as practised at the largest
looking-glass manufactory in Britain, at St Helen’s in Lan¬
cashire, is as follows :—On a smooth and level table of stone
or iron with a slightly elevated border, mercury is poured
in a thin stratum : the mercury is covered with tinfoil; and
the glass-plate, previously well cleaned, is slowly slid along
the metallic surface, so as to exclude air-bubbles: weights
are then placed on the glass, to make its contact with the
amalgam of tin and mercury more complete. The amalgam
soon adheres to the plate, which is then raised on its edge
to allow the superfluous mercury to drain off. It is then
carried to the drying-room—and the process is complete.
FOLIGNO, the ancient Fulginium, a town of the Papal
States, delegation of Perugia, on the Topino, 20 miles S.E.
of Perugia. This is an active and industrious town, and has
manufactures of woollens, paper, parchment, and wax can¬
dles. It has a cathedral and numerous churches, some of
which contain fine paintings. During the middle ages it for
a long time maintained its independence, but was at length
reduced by its more powerful neighbours; and in 1439 was
incorporated with the States of the Church. Pop. 9000. Fomaihaut.
FOLIO, a book of the largest size, formed by once ^ /
doubling a sheet of paper. It is also applied to the opposite
pages of an account-book, expressed by the same figure.
FOLKES, Martin, an eminent English antiquary, was
born at London in 1690. At the age of seventeen he was
entered of Clarehall, Cambridge, where he distinguished
himself so much in mathematics, that when only twenty-
three years of age he was chosen a fellow of the Royal So¬
ciety. Newton, the president of that body, secured his
election as one of the vice-presidents; and on the death of
that great philosopher, Folkes became a candidate for the
presidency, but without success, as the higher standing and
superior influence of Sir Hans Sloane carried the election
against him. In 1733 he set out on a tour through Italy,
in the course of which he composed his admirable “ Disser¬
tations on the Weights and Values of Ancient Coins,” which
he read before the Society of Antiquaries. Before that same
body he read in 1736 his “ Observations on the Trajan and
Antonine Pillars at Rome,” a work which was afterwards
printed. In that same year he communicated to this same
society his “Table of English Gold Coins from the 18th
year of King Edward III., when gold was first coined in
England, to the present time, with their Weights and Intrin¬
sic Values;” and in 1745 he printed this work along with
another on the history of silver coinage. In 1741 Folkes
succeeded Sir Hans Sloane as president of the Royal So¬
ciety ; in the following year he was made a member of the
French Academy ; and 1746 was honoured with the degree
of LL.D. from Cambridge and Oxford. He died in 1754.
FOLKESTONE, or Folkstone, a municipal borough,
seaport, and market-town ofEngland, county of Kent, 7 miles
W.S.W. of Dover, of which it is a sub-port. It is governed
by a mayor, 4 aldermen, and 12 councillors, and is included
in the parliamentary borough of Hythe. At an early period
this was a place of some importance, and since the opening
of the South-Eastern Railway it has been rapidly increas-
insr. It is situated in a hollow between two precipitous
chalk cliffs, and is irregularly built. The parish church is
a cruciform structure in the early Gothic style, with a tower
rising from the intersection. There are several Dissenting
chapels, a grammar-school, market-house, and baths. It is
frequented in summer for sea-bathing; and many of the
inhabitants are engaged in the fisheries. The coast is de¬
fen ded by three mar tel lo towers; and a strong modern battery,
situated on the heights, protects the town. The pier-har¬
bour is 19 acres in extent, and has recently been much im¬
proved by the removal of shingle at its mouth, so as now to
admit vessels of 150 tons burden. The South-Eastern Rail¬
way is here conducted over a magnificent viaduct; and steam-
packets ply daily between this town and Boulogne. On
31st December 1853, 14 vessels of 1037 tons were regis¬
tered as belonging to the port, and during that year 305
sailing vessels of 30,350 tons, and 431 steam vessels of
64,781 tons, entered ; and 9 sailing vessels of 719 tons, and
429 steam vessels of 64,638 tons, cleared at the port. In 1847
the custom-house receipts amounted to only L.4008, and in
1852 had increased to L.122,133. This town has suffered
much at different periods from encroachments of the sea.
Harvey, the discoverer of the circulation of the blood, was born
here in 1578. Market-day, Thursday. Pop. (1851) 6726.
FOLLICLE (follis, a bag), in Botany, a carpel that opens
longitudinally by the ventral suture, and of which the peri¬
carp is not fleshy, but usually foliaceous. There are gene¬
rally many follicles in the same flower. It is also applied
to a vessel distended with air; as on the leaves of aldro-
vanda.—In animal bodies, a gland, folding, or cavity.
FOMALHAUT, a star of the first magnitude, in the con¬
stellation Piscis Australis; rt. ascen. (1856) 22:49:41 ;
deck 30:23:3*7, with annual var. = + 3*33 seconds.
F O N
Fondi FONDI, the ancient Fundi, a town of Naples, province
II of Terra di Lavoro, 14 miles N.W. of Gaeta. This is now
Fontaine. a wretched town of about 5000 inhabitants, and only re-
markable for the remains of the ancient city. The Appian
Way passes through the town, and constitutes its principal
street, the ancient pavement being still almost entire. Re¬
mains of the Cyclopean walls, and of numerous ancient build¬
ings, are still to be seen. The cathedral is a very ancient
Gothic edifice. Fundi was celebrated among the Romans
for the excellence of its wines, and the famous Ccccubus
Ager was in the vicinity. The town is very unhealthy from
proximity to the Lacus Fundanus.
FONT (fans), a vessel used in churches to hold water for
the purpose of baptism, and also for holy water in Roman
Catholic churches. Many of the English fonts are curious
both for their antiquity and their elaborate architectural em¬
bellishments.
Font or Fount (fondre, to cast), in Printing, a com¬
plete assortment of printing types of one size, including the
running letters, large and small capitals, points, numeral
characters, &c. See Type-Founding, and Printing.
FONTAINE, Jean de La, the celebrated French
fabulist, and one of the greatest of French poets, was born
in 1621 at Chateau-Thierry in Champagne. His father
was Maitre des Eaux et des Forets in that town, and had
little time to bestow on the education of his son, who did
not exhibit a spark of intelligence till he had reached his
twenty-second year. At Rheims, where he got all the
education he ever received, he devoted himself more to
pleasure than to study, and in after days described in flow¬
ing and melodious verse the gallantries of which he had then
been guilty. In 1641 he entered the monastery of the
Oratoire, but finding the monkish way of life extremely
distasteful, he left it and returned home. Scon after this he
married and succeeded his father in his office, performed
his duties extremely ill, and finally abandoned his wife
(with whom he had lived on very indifferent terms) to go
to Paris in the train of the Duchess de Bouillon, niece of
Cardinal Mazarin. Before this time, however, his mind
had begun to awaken to a consciousness of its strength.
An ode of Malherbe, which was once read in his hearing,
is said to have elicited from him the expression, “ I too am
a poet,” and to have first stimulated him to literary enter¬
prise. He began a systematic study of the writers of his
own country and of the ancient classics, and the first-fruits
of his labours was a translation of the “ Eunuchm'7 of
Terence. This work had very poor success, and was in
many respects so unsatisfactory as not to deserve much.
In the French metropolis La Fontaine was kindly received,
and spent much of his time and far more money than he
could afford in the pursuit of those pleasures for which that
city affords unrivalled facilities; but none of the reverses of
fortune by which he was overtaken ever altered his disposi¬
tion in the least. His indifference to his worldly affairs
compelled him to sell year by year a portion of his patri¬
monial estate, and it is not known to what straits he might
have been reduced had not a charitable lady, Mme. de la
Sabliere, received him into her house, and taken care of
him for twenty years. When driven by her own necessi¬
ties to reduce her establishment, this lady used to talk to
her friends of having retained only her three animals—her
dog, her cat, and La Fontaine. In 1684 La Fontaine was
admitted into the French Academy, but Louis XIV., in¬
dignant that he should have been preferred to Boileau,
refused to sanction his appointment. Another vacancy
occurring soon after gave an opportunity for Boileau’s
election, and both candidates were admitted without any
opposition from the king. On the death of Mme. de la
Sabliere, La Fontaine was reduced to great extremities,
and had seriously bethought himself of going to England
on the invitation of St Evremond. Luckily, the kind in-
F O N 751
tervention of the Duke of Burgundy in his behalf enabled Fontaine,
him to remain at home. His health at this time became
very bad, and was not much improved by his squabbles
with the clergy, who, believing him to be dying, threatened
him with the terrors of the church unless he made a public
apology for his licentious tales, and burned a comedy which
he was preparing for the stage. After a good deal of hesi¬
tation, he complied with both these demands. In 1693 his
health became rapidly w'orse, and he spent the most of his
time in translating hymns for the church and in other lite¬
rary exercises, chiefly of a religious character. His last days
were cared for by the kindness of his friend D’Hervart,
who received him into his house and tended him with
almost filial care till his death in 1695.
The character of La Fontaine is a curious medley of
strength and weakness. His acute perception of what was
right, and his inability to practise it, remind us of Richard
Steele. His invincible laziness and good-humour are only
to be paralleled by the similar qualities in the author of The
Seasons. His shrewd yet childlike simplicity, his vanity,
his tenderness of heart, his awkwardness, and his absence
of mind, are all qualities which he had in common with our
own Goldsmith ; and indeed, the epithet of “ inspired idiot,”
unjustly applied to that author, might with much propriety
have been gived to the French fabulist. His weaknesses
were all of a k.nd that made him at once the pet and the
laughing-stock of his friends. With Racine, Moliere, and
Boileau he lived on terms of the most intimate friendship.
They often rallied him, and sometimes w ith good reason,
on his many failings ; but as Moliere said on one of these
occasions, “ Ils ont beau se tremousser, ils n’effaceront pas
le bonhomme.” The sobriquet of “ Le Bonhomme” was
so pat that it stuck to him through life, and has been con¬
firmed by posterity. He otten exhibited the strangest
want of interest in matters or the deepest concern, and a
dreamy absorption in trifles, such as seemed to argue some
unaccountable intellectual weakness. Possessed as he un¬
doubtedly was of rare and remarkable literary powers, his
range both of sympathy and knowledge in literary affairs was
astonishingly limited. On one occasion hearing Racine
read some extracts from Plato, he suddenly broke out into
a rhapsody of admiration for the Greek philosopher, whom
he praised as one of the most amusing of writers. At
another time, being present at a theological debate that
was carried on with much spirit, he fell asleep, and on
awakening asked the company whether they thought that
St Augustine was as witty a writer as Rabelais. Racine
once took him to the “ Tenebrae,” and seeing that he w'as
wearied by the length of the performance, put a Bible into
his hands. La Fontaine opened it at the book of Baruch,
and was so much struck with what he there read that he
could not help crying out to his companion, “ This Baruch
is a very fine writer; do you know anything of him?”
And for several days after he asked everybody that he met,
“ Have you ever read Baruch ? Lie’s a man of first-rate
genius. Do you know who he was ?” One day he met
his own son, whom he did not recognise, and remarked to
him that he was a lad of parts and spirit. Being told that
the youth was his own son, he merely observed that “ he
was very glad to hear it.” In 1693, when he was believed
to be dying, Poujet, vicar of St Roch, brought him the
New Testament. He read it, and assured his friends “ Je
vous assure que e’est un fort bon livre; oui, par ma foi,
e’est un fort bon livre.”
As an author, La Fontaine will be best known to poste¬
rity by his Fables. He published other works, of which
the best known are his “ Contes'7 or Tales, the first volume
of which appeared in 1664, the second in 1671. These
abound in fine touches of his genius, but are polluted with
such a taint of gross license and indecency that they are
now seldom read even by his own countrymen. As a
752
Fontaine¬
bleau.
F 0 N
fabulist, however. La Fontaine has never had his equal
either in ancient or modern times. He has, indeed, little
or no originality of invention, for most of his tales are token
from Boccaccio, Ariosto, Machiavelli, and others ; and Asop
has suggested the idea of the great majority ot his fables.
His reflections are not remarkable either for depth or
novelty, and he displays an almost total incapacity for con¬
tinuous thinking; but his manner of telling his stories is
quite inimitable, and in that lies the principal charm .of his
writino-s. ‘His narrative,’ as has been remarked by Laharpe,
< is distinguished by that ease and grace which are to be
perceived, not described; for if after a profound philoso¬
phical investigation we arrived at the ultimate causes of
excellence, and referred the matter to La Fontaine himself,
the ‘ bonhomme’ would say “ I know nothing about all
this; I wrote as my humour dictated, and that was all.”’
The rapidity of his transitions from the most sparkling
wit to the most touching pathos, his. occasional gleams of
the finest humour and fancy, and his delicate touches of
observation, are all enhanced by a diction simple and i e-
fined, and presenting in almost every line some happy turn
of expression, or some graceful naivete of sentiment. (For
a detailed analysis of La Fontaine’s fables, see art. Fable.)
There have been many editions of the Fables, of which
the most Sumptuous is that of 1 755-59, in 4 vols. fol. . La
Fontaine’s other works are Les Amours de Psyche, a
romance; Le Florentin, a comedy ; L’Eunuque, a trans¬
lation from Terence ; Anacreontiques, Lettres, and some
pieces d’occasion, published collectively in Les (Euvres
diverses de La Fontaine.
FONTAINEBLEAU, a town of France, capital of an
arrondissement in the department of Seine-et-Marne, is
distant about 37 miles in a S.E. direction from Paris, on
the lines of high road and railway that connect that city
with Lyons. Pop. of commune (1851) 8278. The town
stands in the midst of the Forest of Fontainebleau (which is
nearly 64 square miles in extent); is well-built, and has
some wide and handsome streets. It possesses a college,
excellent barracks for cavalry, hospitals of various kinds,
public baths, and a good public library. In the immediate
vicinity of the town is the celebrated palace—one of the
largest, and interiorly one of the most sumptuous of the
royal residences in France. The kings of France are known
to have had a palace at Fontainebleau as far back as the year
1169; and this palace was a favourite abode of Louis VIL,
Philippe-Auguste, and St Louis. The existing building was
begun by Francis I., who laid out immense sums of money
upon it. Primaticcio, a famous Italian architect, was in¬
structed to draw out the plans of it; while such artists as
Leonardo da Vinci, Andrea del Sarto, and Benvenuto, were
commissioned to expend upon it all the resources of their
various arts to make the place a truly royal x’esidence. The
edifice was completed as it now stands by Louis XIV.; but
after his death it fell into disfavour, and was used for a while
as a military school. Napoleon restored it with great splen¬
dour, and often resided in it; but after the Restoration it was
allowed to fall into disrepair. Louis-Philippe expended im¬
mense sums of money upon it; and in point of internal de¬
coration it is now inferior to none of the French palaces.
Many events of importance have taken place at Fon¬
tainebleau. Philippe-le-Bel, Henri III., and Louis XIII.
were all born in the palace, and the first of these kings died
there. Flenri IV., who greatly improved and embellished
it, made it his favourite residence ; as did also his daughter,
Henriette, widow of Charles I. of England. Christina, the
self-exiled queen of Sweden, lived here; and one of the
galleries is still shown as the spot where she caused her un¬
fortunate secretary, Monaldeschi, to be murdered. In 1685
the revocation of the Edict of Nantes was signed here ; and
in the following year the great Conde closed his career in
the very room in which the eldest son of Louis XV. after-
F 0 N
wards died. Pope Pius VII. was here confined prisoner for Fontaines
a year and a half by Napoleon; and in 1814 the emperor FonJana>
took leave of Ms guard, and signed his abdication of the ^ '
French throne at Fontainebleau. The present emperor of ^~
the French sometimes resides here to enjoy the sports of
the forest, which is well stocked with game of various kinds,
especially wild boars. The beautiful gardens and orna¬
mental waters immediately surrounding the palace form a
great attraction to the Parisians, large numbers of whom
arrange parties of pleasure to Fontainebleau during the sum¬
mer months, especially on Sundays.
FONTAINES, Pierre Francois Guyot des (1685-
1745), a French critic of considerable note. He was a mem¬
ber of the Society of Jesus, and held various ecclesiastical
appointments, but at the age of thirty he renounced the
church and devoted himself to literature. In 1724 he be¬
came editor of the Journal des Sgavants, which he did much
to rescue from the discredit into which it had fallen. From
the imputation of an infamous crime for which he was im¬
prisoned he was saved by Voltaire; though between him and
his benefactor there afterwards broke out one of the most
bitter and disgraceful literary quarrels on record. Des Fon¬
taines constituted himself the leader of an anti-Voltairean
movement, and reviewed some of Voltaire’s works with un¬
justifiable severity. That author retaliated, and exerted all
his influence, political, literary, and social, to ruin his quon¬
dam friend. Even after Des Fontaines’ death Voltaire strove
to tarnish his memory, and held him up to ridicule in Le
Pauvre Diable. Des Fontaines, however, had some of the
qualities of a good critic. He possessed a solid judgment,
quick insight, and very considerable learning. But he was
neither impartial nor disinterested, and, as a writer, is little
above mediocrity. His principal works are a prose-version
of the /Eneid; translations of various works of Swift and
Pope ; and some novels deservedly forgotten. He also con¬
tributed largely to the Journal des Sgavants, the Nouvel-
liste du Parnasse, and other periodicals.
FONTANA, Felice, a distinguished physiologist and
experimental philosopher, born at Pomarolo, a little town
in the Tyrol, on the 15th April 1730. He began his studies
at the neighbouring city of Roveredo, and continued them
in the schools of Verona and Parma, and afterwards in the
universities of Padua and Bologna. He then visited Rome,
and went to Florence, where he obtained from the Emperor
Francis I. who was at that time Grand Duke of Tuscany,
the appointment of professor of philosophy at Pisa; but the
Grand Duke Peter Leopold, who was also afterwards em¬
peror, invited him to settle at Florence, and gave him an
establishment connected with his household, as L isico or
naturalist, and as director of the cabinet ot natural history,
which was afterwards rendered by his exertions one of the
principal ornaments of the city ot h lorence.
Fontana wrote many works on physiology, natural philo¬
sophy, and chemistry. In 1757 he was engaged in an in¬
vestigation tending to confirm the doctrines of Haller re¬
specting the irritability of the muscles, considered as a dis¬
tinct quality inherent in those organs. Plaller has published
several of his letters as a part of his own Memoires sur les
parties sensibles et irritables; and the subject afforded Fon¬
tana the materials of several successive essays De Irrita-
bilitatis legibus nunc primum sancitis, Atti di Sienna, vol.
iii., p. 209, 1767 ; Ricerche filosofiche sopra la Fisica ani-
male, 4. Flor. 1775. This volume contains only the Essay
on the Laws of Irritability, stating, first, the general out¬
line of the doctrine, then entering into the different inten¬
sity of the property of irritability, and its loss by exhaus¬
tion or by inactivity, and discussing the action of the heart,
and the peculiarities of death occasioned by electricity.
Another link of the same chain of investigation is found in
the earlier publication, Dd moti delV Lride, 8. Lucca, 1765;
showing: that the contraction of the pupil depends on the
F 0 N
Fontana, effect of light falling on the retina, and not on the iris itself,
and establishing an analogy between the motions of the uvea
and the semi-voluntary actions of the muscles of respiration.
One of the most important of Fontana’s works is his Ri-
cerche Jisiche sopra 7 Vene.no della Vipera, Lucca, 1767;
containing an immense multitude of experiments calculated
to show that the poison of the viper acts by mixing with
the blood, and destroying the irritability of the muscles to
which it is conveyed; but that the bite of the Vipera aspis,
though fatal to small animals, is scarcely ever capable of
producing any immediately dangerous effects on the human
frame. The same matter was republished with many addi¬
tions in the Traite sur le Venin de la Vipere, sur les Poi¬
sons Americains, sur le Laurier-cerise,et sur quelques autres
Poisons, Berlin, 1787; together with some observations on
the primitive structure of the animal body, experiments on
the reproduction of the nerves, and remarks on the anatomy
of the eye. In 1766 our author published an essay entitled
Nuove Osservazioni sopra iglobetti rossi del sangue, Lucca;
confuting the assertions which had lately been advanced
by Della Torre respecting the complicated structure and
changes of form of the globules of the blood. In the next
year appeared Osservazioni sopra la ruggine del grano,
Lucca, 1767 ; describing an animalcule like an eel, to which
he attributes the rust of coin, but which has not always been
found by subsequent observers in similar cases, perhaps for
want of accurate distinction. There is also a Lettre sur
VErgot, Journ. Phys. vii., p. 42. The Lettera sopra le
Idiatidi ele Tenie, Opuscoli Scelti. vi,, p. 108, Milan, 1783,
contains an account of the hydatids which produce the symp¬
toms of vertigo in sheep. A Lettre a M. * * *, Journ. Phys.
vii., p. 285, contains some remarks on the circulation of the
sap in plants. In an essay Sur le Tremella, Journ. Phys.
vii. p. 47, a zoophyte of a green colour, described by Adan-
son and others as a plant, is shown to consist of a multitude
of little animals in continual motion.
Fontana entered also very minutely, but with more in¬
dustry than accuracy or closeness of reasoning, into the che¬
mical novelties which occupied so much attention through¬
out Europe in the latter half of the last century. He seems,
however, to have had the merit of first applying the disco¬
veries of Priestley respecting the effects of the nitric oxide
to the examination of the qualities of the atmosphere by
means of the eudiometer, which is the subject of his Des-
crizione e usi di alcuni Stromenti per misurar la salubrita
delV aria, 8. Flor. 1774, 4to, 1775, and is further illustrated
in his Recherdies physiques sur la nature de Vair dephlogis-
tique et de Vair nitreux, 8. Par. 1776. He also observed
the remarkable property that charcoal possesses of absorb¬
ing several times its bulk of different gases. In the Ri-
cerche jisiche sopra Varia Jissa, 4. Flor. 1775, he is by no
means equally fortunate, having fancied that the acidity of
the fixed air is not essential to it, but accidentally derived
from the stronger acid employed in expelling it from the
earth or alkali. The Philosophical Transactions for 1779,
p. 187, contain his Experiments and Observations on the In¬
flammable Air breathed by various Animals, consisting of a
’repetition of Scheele’s attempt to breathe hydrogen gas,
which did not always create a sensation of immediate un¬
easiness, though it was sometimes productive of alarming
consequences. In the same volume, p. 432, we find an in¬
teresting Account of the Airs extracted from different kinds
of Waters, with thoughts on the Salubrity of the Air at dif¬
ferent places, showing that the air afforded by water is very
different under different circumstances, but that the quality
of the atmosphere itself scarcely ever exhibits any variations
which can be rendered sensible by chemical tests.
To the Memoirs of the Italian Society Fontana contri¬
buted several short essays ; the first, entitled Principi ge-
nerali della solidita e della jluiditd dei corpi, vol. i., p. 89,
Verona, 1782, containing the prevalent theories of the day
VOL. IX.
F O N 753
respecting the change in the forms of aggregation of the Fontana,
same substance, together with experiments on the elasticity
of different gases. The second is a collection of definitions,
entitled Sopra la luce, la fiamma, il colore e il flogisto, p.
104, characterizing these supposed elementary principles
according to the ideas of Bergman, Scheele, and others. In
a later volume, v. p. 581 (1790), we find a Lettera del Ca-
valiere F. Fontana al Sign, de Morveau, in which it is con¬
jectured that inflammable air may be a compound of phlo¬
giston and water, and it is observed that the white crusts of
flints contain as great a proportion of pure silica as their
internal parts. Our author remarks, however, that his atten¬
tion had of late been much distracted from chemical pur¬
suits by the attention required for the completion of his col¬
lection of wax models of anatomical subjects, and for the
duplicates which he was preparing for the cabinet of Vienna
at the request of the emperor. At a subsequent period
another series of copies of these models was ordered by
Bonaparte to be sent to Paris; but it was there judged in¬
ferior to the preparations already existing in the Ecole de
Medecine, which had been made under the direction of
Laumonier, and Fontana’s collection was sent to the uni¬
versity of Montpellier. Fie was latterly engaged for some
time in the preparation of a. colossal model of a man, built
up anatomically of all his component parts, which were ac¬
curately represented in wood; but this elaborate design was
never completed.
Fontana was also the author of a few other chemical and
mineralogical papers of less importance. His last work is
entitled Principes raisonnes de la Generation. He was also
meditating an essay on the revivification of animals, but he
did not live to complete it. A collection of his works, trans¬
lated into French by Gibelin, was published at Paris in 1785,
entitled Observations Physiques et Chimiques. Fontana
died March 9th 1806, and was buried in the church of the
Holy Cross, not far from the tomb of Galileo. (Cuvier, in
Biographic Universelle, vol. xv. 8. Par. 1816.) (t. y.)
Fontana, Gregorio, a profound mathematician and na¬
tural philosopher, younger brother of Felice Fontana, was
born at Villa de Nogarola, near Royeredo, on the 7th De¬
cember 1735.
He receh ed the first rudiments of his education at Ro-
veredo, and continued his studies at Rome, where he en¬
tered into the Scuole Pie, and soon distinguished himself
by his talents and assiduity. He was entrusted with the
care of a part of the public instruction in the school called
the Collegio Nazareno, and was soon afterwards sent as a
professor to Sinigaglia. It was here that he formed an in¬
timacy with the Marquis Fagnani, whose example and as¬
sistance contributed very much to the advancement of his
mathematical studies, to which he very soon in a great mea¬
sure confined his attention. He was then removed by his
superiors to Bologna; but his co-operation was found more
necessary for the pious schools which had lately been esta¬
blished at Milan, and he there obtained the patronage and
friendship of the Count de Firmian, the Maecenas of the
day, who greatly encouraged the publication of his first
works. From these works he acquired so much credit, that
he was summoned in 1763 to occupy the chair of logic and
metaphysics in the university of Pavia; and he was ap¬
pointed by Firmian director of the public library which he
founded about the same time for the university. Two years
afterwards he w'as advanced to the professorship of the
higher mathematics, which had become vacant by the death
of the celebrated Boscovich, and he filled this situation with
high reputation for thirty years. In April 1795 he was
elected a foreign member of the Royal Society of London.
About this time his health began to decline, and his physi¬
cians considered him as having suffered from too great ap¬
plication to his studies. In 1796 he received great marks
of respect from Bonaparte, then commanding the French
5 c
754
F O N
Fon.ar.bia army in Italy ; and he was made “ “e“b“ *e *e^'
II f ive body of the newly erected Cisalpine republic. In 18W
Fontenelle. liavinff resigned the professorship at Pavia, ie '
MUarf and was afterwards nominated one of the Elec oral
Colle-e of the Dotti. He was still occupied in a variety of
literary pursuits, when he was attacked by a violent fever,
which cLed his death at Milan, on the 24th Angus 1803
Fontana’s principal publications were seven Academical
Dissertations on various departments of mathematical and
mechanical science ; a great variety of papen in the Me¬
moir e della Societd Italiana delle Scienze ; and numeious
translations. ^ v • v
FONTARABIA. See Fuente-rabia.
FONTENAY, or Fontenai, the capital of a cognomi-
nal arrondissement in the department of Vendee, France,
is situated on the river Vendee, at the point where it be¬
comes navigable, 35 miles S.E. of Bourbon-Vendee. The
town is old and generally ill-built. It was formerly fortified
and still has some remains of its castle, which belonged to
the counts of Poictiersv The only remarkable object is the
parish church, which has a spire 311 feet in height. It has
manufactures of course linen and woollen cl(^ths’^on_
siderable trade in timber and wines. Pop.
FONTENELLE, Bernard Le Bovier de, author of
the Eloqes, Dialogues des Marts, &c., was born at Rouen,
Feb. 11, 1657, died at Paris Jan. 9, 1757, having very
nearly attained the age of 100 years. His father was an
advocate settled in Rouen; his mother was a sister of the
great Corneille. Lie was educated at the college of t ie
Jesuits in his native city, and distinguished himself by the
extraordinary precocity as well as the amazing versatility
of his talents. His teachers, who readily appreciated his
abilities, were anxious to allure him into their oidei, but
his father designed him for the bar, and he became an ad¬
vocate. He lost the first cause which was entrusted to him
to plead, and immediately after abandoned law for the more
congenial pursuits of literature. In 16/4 Fontenelle visited
Paris for the first time, and began his literary career as a
poet. He competed for three of the prizes offered by the
French Academy for the best poems on certain prescribed
subjects, but without success, despite the powerful influence
brought to bear on his behalf. He had the additional mis¬
fortune to see his tragedy of Aspar damned, though, for the
purpose of annoying Racine, his uncle Ihomas Corneille
had already sounded forth his praises in the Mercure as the
most gifted of the rising dramatists of France. Fontenelle
afterwards acknowledged the justice of this sentence by
burning his unfortunate drama, of which nothing but the
name now survives. Still undaunted by his failures, he
persisted in the belief that poetry was his true vocation, and
produced a number of operas and comedies, the mediocrity
of which, considering the author’s real talent, is positively
astonishing. His opera of Thetis et Pelee, though highly
praised by Voltaire, is little superior to the others. Of all
his dramatic works, seventeen in number, not one has kept
the stage. His Poesies Pastorales, with equally small claim
to permanent repute, are striking from their novelty and
the extravagant conceits in which they abound. They
exhibit neither sentiment nor nature; the shepherds are
all bergers de salons. His Hylases and Sylvanders speak
like the wits of the Hotel Rambouillet. The utmost that
can be said for his poetry in general is that it displays much
of the limce labor, great purity of diction, and occasional
elegance and elevation of sentiment. The Dialogues des
Marts, Fontenelle’s first real title to literary renown, was
published in 1683. This was a remarkable work for the
era in which it appeared, and contains much fine and inge¬
nious thinking, along with much that is wire-drawn and
paradoxical. Three years later (1686) appeared his En-
tretiens sur la pluralite des Mondes, which, in the words
of D’Alembert in the general preface to the Encyclopedic,
EON
was the first work “ qui ait appris aux savants a secouer le Fontenelle.
joug du pedantisme.” Voltaire pronounced it “ le premier
exemple de fart delicat de repandre les graces jusque sur
la philosophic,” and, in the verses which he afterwards wrote
on its author, characterized its happy combination of science
and wit in the line—
“ L’ignorant I’entendit, le savant I’admira.”
It was precisely such a work as Fontenelle was capable of
executing well, both from the natural bent of his intellect,
and the course of his previous studies. His object was to
popularize among his countrymen the astronomical theories
of Descartes, and it is to be doubted if that philosopher
ever ranked a more ingenious expounder among the num¬
ber of his disciples. The pointed and happy illustrations
with which Fontenelle has interspersed this essay are as
amusing as they are instructive to the reader, and though
some of the ideas advocated in it are rather startling, and
sometimes quite opposed to received opinion, they are so
plausibly stated, and set in so obvious a light, that they are
at once adopted as old and familiar truths. In 1687 Fon¬
tenelle published his Histoire des Oracles, a book which
made a considerable noise in the theological as well as the
philosophical world. It was not so much an original work
as a redaction from the Latin of Van Daale, and consisted
of two essays, the first of which was designed to prove that
oracles were not given by the supernatural agency of de¬
mons ; and the second, that they did not cease with the
birth of Christ. The clearness and precision of the style,
and the naturalness and regularly progressive flow of the
reasoning in this treatise, have been always much admired.
It excited the suspicion of the church, however, and a Je¬
suit, by name Baltus, published a ponderous refutation of
it; but the peace-loving disposition of its author impelled
him to leave his opponent unanswered.
In 1691 Fontenelle was received into the French Aca¬
demy in spite of the efforts of Racine and Boileau, who
on four previous occasions had secured his rejection. In
1708 appeared the first edition of his Eloges historiques des
Academicians, the work by which he is best known to poste¬
rity. In these Eloges, which are at once biographical and
critical, the author has so happily blended history and en¬
comium that the formal character of the composition is quite
lost sight of, and the eulogy is managed with such delicate
tact that it is greatest where it seems least intended.
The only other works of Fontenelle that remain to be
mentioned are his Geometric de VInfini, and his Apologie
des Tourbillons, treatises which display rather a calm spirit
of philosophy than strong scientific powers.
Fontenelle is likely to be remembered by posterity as
much from his splendid social qualities, and the brilliancy
and variety of his acquirements, as from the enduring value
of his works. He combined in a singularly happy degree the
philosopher and the man of fashion. As a writer, he strikes
at first sight by his universality. Voltaire pronounced him
the only universal man of the seventeenth century. Lie was
in his own era very much what that writer was in the sub¬
sequent one. Without the restless energy and martyr spirit
that distinguished Voltaire, Fontenelle nevertheless achieved
noiselessly a great result. The vast extent of his reading
gave him a thorough command of happy and pertinent illus¬
tration ; and the perfect clearness and definiteness of his
views on evei'y department of science, joined to his high
literary powers, enabled him to throw open to the multitude
the gates of science, which till his day none but the scho¬
larly few had possessed the secret of unlocking. This re¬
sult was attained in a manner so simple and so noiseless
that it did not appear to be the work of any individual
agency so much as the natural growth of circumstances.
Though Fontenelle cannot claim the merit of having made
any great discovery, or contributed to the general store of
positive knowledge, yet he sowed the seeds of that spirit of
F O O
Food. free inquiry into the principles of religion, politics, and
—‘v*-'' morals, which sprang up at the close of the seventeenth
century, and which (in some departments at least) have not
yet attained their full bloom and verdure.
Fontenelle’s mind was eminently well-balanced. He was
at once bold and circumspect, cool in temperament yet
with wide sympathies, independent but not strongly opinion-
ative ; in a remarkable degree, as Voltaire remarked, dis¬
creet. In theory he was an egotist, in practice a man of
much benevolence, and his large means enabled him to do
a great deal of good with very little noise. He used to
boast of being worse than he really was, and though his
actions alw'ays belied his words, he has had the misfortune
to be more generally judged by his words than his actions.
He was perhaps the first man that ever said on the approach
of death that if he had his life to live over again he would
do exactly as he had done before. On his death-bed he
consoled himself by remarking “ I am a Frenchman ; I
have lived a hundred years, and I never threw the slightest
ridicule on the smallest virtue.” The calmness with which
he met his death was in keeping with the serenity of his
life. He merely observed, “ Je ne souffre pas, mes amis;
mais je sens une certaine difficulte d’etre.”
F O o 755
There have been several collective editions of Fonte- Fontenoy
nelle’s works, the best of which are those of Paris, 8 vols. II
8vo, 1764; and 5 vols. 8vo, 1825. Some of his separate Wood¬
works have been very frequently reprinted.
FONTENOY, a village of Belgium, province of Hain-
ault, five miles S.E. of Tournay, and celebrated for the vic¬
tory gained there, in 1745, by the French under Marshal
Saxe, over the allies commanded by the Duke of Cumber¬
land.
FONTEVRAULT, Order of, a religious order insti¬
tuted about the end of the eleventh century, and taken un¬
der the protection of the holy see by Pope Pascal II. in
1106, confirmed by a bull in 1113, and invested by his
successors with very extraordinary privileges. This order,
which consisted of both monks and nuns, was under the
superintendence of an abbess. The order was divided into
four provinces, which were those of France, Aquitaine,
Auvergne, and Bretagne, in each of which they had formerly
several priories. In 1804 this ancient abbey was converted
into a prison.
FONTINALIA, in Antiquity, a festival celebrated by
the Romans on the J 3th October in honour of the deities
who presided over springs and fountains.
FOOD.
The subject of human food may perhaps be most con¬
veniently considered under the following five heads:—
I. The chemical composition and the physiological action
of the various proximate principles of animals and vegetables
commonly employed as food. II. The varieties of animals
and vegetables used as food in this country, the different
alimentary products obtained from them, and their various
composition. III. The modes of preparing food for use, and
the rationale of their respective actions. IV. The modes of
preserving articles of food from decomposition. V. The
principles of diet, and some dietary tables.
I. The chemical composition and the physiological action of
the various proximate principles of animals and vege¬
tables commonly employed as food.
The different proximate principles {i.e., specific unions of
some of the elementary bodies of chemistry1) of animals and
vegetables that may be used as food, and become converted in to
blood for the purpose of keeping up in adults the constant
waste of the tissues, and for the same purpose and also for afford¬
ing the additional matter that is required in growing individuals,
have been, since the publication of Dr Front’s treatise, usually
arranged into three classes and water. These three classes
are—the saccharine, the members of which are composed
of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, the two latter being com¬
bined in the same proportion that they are in water; the
oleaginous, which likewise consists of the same elements,
but in which the hydrogen and oxygen are not in the same
proportion that they exist together in water ; and the albu¬
minous, which are essentially composed of the four elements
of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and also nitrogen, the last-
named element being almost invariably in the proportion of
about fifteen per cent. But, besides these four elements, the
human body, and therefore the nutritious parts of animals and
vegetables that keep up that body, contain, although in small
proportions, sulphur, phosphorus, sodium, chlorine, &c. The
manner in which these elementary bodies are, in animal and
vegetable structures, combined, is certainly not ascertained,
and the subject will be partially considered by-and-by, when
noticing Mulder’s theory of proteine compounds, but they
may, for all practical purposes, be stated to be combined
with the albuminous proximate principles.
A. Saccharine proximate principles derived from vege¬
tables.’—1. Cellulose. The basis, or skeleton, as it were, of
vegetable structures, is either cells, or vessels that are in fact
composed of a number of ruptured or elongated cells. The
walls of these cells are composed of the proximate principle
under notice'—cellulose. In order to separate it from the other
constituents of the vegetable, it is necessary to cut the stem into
small bits and digest them (for the purpose of separating the
other constituents of the wood) successively in alcohol, ether,
potassa water, hydrochloric acid, and water. Cellulose is not
soluble in any of these, while the other constituents of the stem
are, and hence cellulose is left behind. It is a white substance,
but is changed into a violet colour if iodine be added to it. Its
composition2 is as follows : 24 atoms of carbon, 21 of hydrogen,
and 21 of water. By the action of acids or of heat it is con¬
verted into starch, and therefore if a little sulphuric acid be
added to it, the violet colour produced by the iodine (see next
paragraph) is converted into a blue. Substances that contain
a very large proportion of cellulose are not employed as human
food, but such (as hay and straw) are much used in feeding
cattle and horses; and when this is done, it is probable that
the cellulose is converted into starch by the hydrochloric acid
of the stomach. Cellulose is apt in old plants to part with a
portion of its oxygen, and is then converted into a principle
named lignine. This is known from cellulose by its solubility
in caustic potassa water. As its hydrogen and oxygen are not
united in the proportions that they are in water, it is not exactly
a saccharine proximate principle. It exists in potato skins,
the peel and core of fruit, the seed-coat or skin of nut kernels,
&e., and it seems doubtful if it can afford food. The principle
said to have been detected in mushrooms (and which perhaps also
occurs in other cellular plants)—fungine, is probably a variety
of lignine or of cellulose. Braconnot,3 however, reports that
it contains nitrogen. 2. Starch. In plants that have come
nearly to maturity, starch is probably the proximate principle
that, next to cellulose, is most abundant. It is also contained
in large quantities in many ripened, indeed in most ripened
1 The body of man, as will be more fully explained in section v., consists of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, sulphur, phosphorus,
chlorine, iron, sodium, calcium, potassium, magnesium, and fluorine. As the body cannot form an element, of course the food must
contain and consist of these elements. 2 Johnston. 3 Anal. Chem., 79.
756
FOOD.
Food.
or matured cues. It is easily obtained from flour (pr gromid
cereal arrains) ; the tubers of potatoes; the stem ot the sago-
rrilm &c &lc If any vegetable structure that contains starch
h washed tiih cold water upon a sieve, a milky fluid passes
through, which, when set aside, deposits a white powder. I h s
is starch. Starch is, when pure, without taste, colour, or smell.
It does not dissolve in cold water, but does so very readily m
hot • and, when this is the case, it forms, upon cooling, a gela-
tmn’iis mass. When moistened with a solution ot iodine, it
strikes a blue colour. Its formula is 12 carbon, 10 hydrogen,
and 10 oxygen ; or 24 carbon, 20 hydrogen, and 20 oxygen.
It therefore diflersfrom the cellulose, from which it is probably
derived, in containing one atom less (or the atoms that contain
one atom less) of water. The rationale of the action ot sul¬
phuric acid, when it converts cellulose into starch, is that it
abstracts from it this one atom of water. There are two sub-
varieties of starch, called Mme (obtained from the dahlia, and
other roots), and lichen starch (which is_ procured trom the
lichen). They differ from common starch in their action upon
iodine, in their relations to water, and in a very slight degree
in the proportion in which their elements are arranged, .put
for all practical purposes these variations may be disregarded.
3. Dextrine. If starch* be heated up to a temperature ot JUU ,
or if diluted sulphuric acid be added to it, or indeed it it be
boiled in ordinary water for some time, a proximate principle—
dextrine—is obtained, which differs from starch in being soluble
in cold water. This change of starch into dextrine is naturally
brought about during the germination of those seeds that con¬
tain starch. In this case the change is brought about by the
contact ofa peculiar nitrogenous principle—diastase—soon to be
noticed. This principle may be separated from barley that is
being converted into malt in the malt-house, and if a little of
this separated principle be added to any starch, it (the starch)
is soon converted into dextrine—a substance that, although
having the same chemical composition as starch, unlike that
principle, is soluble in cold water. This conversion of search
into dextrine is brought about in nature by the action of dias¬
tase during the germination of those seeds that contain starch.
The albuminous proximate principle of diastase will be after¬
wards noticed, and if a little of it be added to starch, the starch
is speedily converted into dextrine. If sulphuric acid be added
to dextrine, the dextrine is converted into another proximate
principle of this group—sugar. The formula of dextrine is of
course the same with that of starch. 4. Gum. Many vege¬
tables secrete gum, of which proximate principle there are two
varieties, which merely differ in the one, arabine, dissolving in
cold, and the other, cerasine, requiring hot water for its solution.
The chemical composition of gum is identical with that of dex¬
trine and of starch, but gum differs from the latter in not giv¬
ing the blue colour with iodine, and from the former in not
readily giving up some of its oxygen and hydrogen to sulphuric
acid, being thereby converted into sugar. 5. Cane Sugar.
Many plants, as the sugar-cane, the maple, the beetroot, &c.,
contain another proximate saccharine principle, cane sugar.
This is soluble in water, forming with it an oily compound-
syrup—from which, however, the sugar gradually separates in
crystals, which are commonly known as sugar-candy, and which
sugar-candy has an extremely sweet taste. Its formula is 24
carbon, 18 oxygen, and 18 hydrogen. If diluted sulphuric
acid, as before mentioned, be added to starch, first dextrine is
obtained, and then cane sugar. And when cane sugar is itself
heated with dilute sulphuric or other acids, it is blackened by
it, and becomes converted into another form of sugar, next to
be noticed. 6. Grape Sugar. This is found in the grape, apple,
and many other fruits, and is produced from cane sugar by the
action of acids and heat. In this latter mentioned manner it
is extensively produced, when a solution of malt, &c. is fer¬
mented by the brewer or distiller. Grape sugar is neither so
soluble in water nor so sweet as cane sugar. Its formula, too,
is different, being 24 carbon, 22 hydrogen, and 22 oxygen;
and it may be readily distinguished from cane sugar by not
being blackened when boiled with diluted sulphuric acid. Other
subvarieties of sugar may be omitted. One called pectine is
contained in many fruits and roots, and contains an excess
of oxygen. Combined with sugar, it forms a jelly. 7. Alco¬
hol. Correctly speaking, this proximate principle does not
belong to the purely saccharine group, for its atoms of hydro- ^
gen are in excess over those of oxygen. Neither does it,
like all the above mentioned saccharine proximate principles,
exist ready formed in plants, although by art,1 when the plant
has been some time dead, they can be converted into alcohol.
In order to procure alcohol there must be a solution of grape
simar (or of cane sugar, dextrine, or starch, under those condi¬
tions in which these respective principles may become con¬
verted into grape sugar), a certain temperatureand the pre¬
sence of some albuminous matter, as gluten (as in grapes), or
yeast, as in beer-making, or the like. When these conditions
occur, carbonic acid is given off, and alcohol is left in the water.
The following is the change that occurs:—1 atom of grape
su°ar and 2 of water are composed of 24 carbon, 24 hydrogen,
and 24 oxygen. If we subtract from this 4 atoms of carbonic
acid, which contain 8 of carbos and 16 of oxygen, we have left
2 atoms of alcohol, which together contain 16 atoms of carbon,
24 of hydrogen, and 8 of oxygen. The formula of alcohol is
therefore 8 of carbon, 12 of hydrogen, and 4 of oxygen. Ob¬
tained in this manner alcohol is always much diluted, consti¬
tuting wine, beer, &c. To obtain it in a purer form it requires
to be distilled and rectified. .
B Saccharine proximate principles derived from Ani¬
mals.—1. Milk Sugar. If the milk of any mammiferous ani¬
mal be taken, and the curd separated, as is done in ordinary
cheese-making, and then the whey boiled so as to evaporate
a considerable portion of the water, the remaining whey gra¬
dually deposits a number of crystals, which, on examination, are
found to be a variety of sugar, to which the name of milk
suo-ar is given. It is not so sweet to the taste as either cane or
grape sugar, neither is it so soluble in water, and it is harder
and grittier when chewed than they are. Its formula is 24
carbon, 19 hydrogen, and 19 oxygen. By the action of acids
it is converted into grape sugar, and is then susceptible of the
alcoholic fermentation. Milk sugar is never sold in this
country except for scientific purposes ; but in Switzerland it
forms an article of commerce, and it is the source of the alco¬
holic drink of some nomadic tribes. In this last-mentioned case
the lactic acid (see p. 758) is allowed to separate, the free lactic
acid then converts this sugar into grape sugar, and the albu¬
minous principle of the curd or cheese acts as a ferment. Ihe
physiological action of all the saccharine proximate principles
is the same, and consists altogether, or mainly, in affording
carbon, and this almost solely for the purpose of keeping up
the animal heat, and not for the purpose of depositing fat.
Man requires to keep up a temperature of about 100° hahr.,
which is one much higher than that of the atmosphere that sur-
rounds him. In order that he may do this his economy is able
to take the carbon of his food, including, of course, the carbon
of the saccharine principles that constitute his food, and com¬
bine it, just.as wood, or coal, or coke are combined in a com¬
mon fire, with oxygen (which oxygen man and animals take m at
the lungs from the air). The result is, in this as in all ordinary
cases of combustion, the formation of carbonic acid by the ^ni[04n
of the carbon of the food and the oxygen of the air ; and this
carbonic acid, when the elements that composed it have served
their purpose of heating the body, is cast out at the lungs. 1 e
amount of pure carbon necessary to be taken in as food by an
ordinary-sized adult man for the purpose of burning in 111111
is about eleven ounces a-day. But some of this maybe de¬
rived, and in many cases is, from the oleaginous proximate
principles now to be noticed. . .
C. Oleaginous proximate principles derived from Vege¬
tables.—Plants usually, and, as far as regards those used as
food, almost without an exception, contain a considerable quan¬
tity of oily matter. This is usually deposited around the seeds,
as in the husks of cereal grains, or among the cellular tissue,
as in turnips, potatoes, grass, &c. When fixed oily matter is
present in considerable quantity in a vegetable, it may be
generally separated by means of pressure, or, if that is not
convenient, by being dissolved out by means of ether, and the
ether afterwards evaporated. Volatile oils are readily obtained
by distillation with water. The fatty matters that can be thus
obtained from plants may, for all practical purposes, be ar-
Food.
1 Alcohol is, however, sometimes produced in nature. Very ripe gooseberries, and probably grapes, and many other very ripe but
ungathered fruits contain it.
ranged into three, viz,—1. Elaine, which is a liquid, and may
he readily procured from the solid constituent of olive and other
oils hy freezing. The part, in such a case, that is left fluid is
the elaine. There are two sub-kinds of it, one that is not
acted upon by the air, and another that, when exposed to the
air, absorbs oxygen, and undergoes other changes, the result of
which is to convert it into a resin, or oxygenated oil. This
latter is the drying oil of painters. The composition of the
two kinds is identical, their formulas being 94 carbon, 87
hydrogen, and 15 oxygen. 2. Margarine. This is the solid
portion that is left when most vegetable oils are frozen. It is
white, hard, and brittle, and melts at 118°. The composition
is 74 carbon, 74 hydrogen, and 12 oxygen. 3. Stearine. This
is very analogous to the preceding, and is obtained by freezing
some vegetable oils (not, however, many), of which it constitutes
the solid part. It differs from margarine in containing less
oxygen, and in requiring a higher temperature (129°) to melt
it. These oleaginous principles are usually mixed together in
vegetables, and likewise contain small quantities of some essen¬
tial oil peculiar to each plant, to which the odour and sapid
taste are often owing.
I). Oleaginous proximate principles obtained from animal
articles of food.-—1. Elaine. This is the liquid part of almost
all animal fats, and is quite identical with vegetable elaine.
2. Margarine. This is the solid part of the fat of man, the
goose, cows, &c. It is the same as vegetable margarine.
3. Stearine. This is the solid part of the oily matter of cattle,
sheep, pigs, and other animals, and in no respect differs from
stearine obtained from vegetables. Animal oils, like vegetable
oils, often contain a minute proportion of some oil peculiar to
the animal, upon which their peculiar odour, sapid taste, &c.,
depend. These three oleaginous proximate principles of vege¬
tables and animals are now, however, known to be compounds
of elaic, margaric, and stearic acids with oxide of glycerine. For
the properties and compounds of these substances see Che¬
mistry. The physiological action of the oleaginous proximate
principles of plants and animals whose structures are used as
food is, like those of the saccharine group, to furnish carbon,
partly for the purpose of being consumed as food, and partly
to furnish fat. Indeed, under ordinary circumstances, they only
fulfil the latter indication. Nations the members of which, as
Greenlanders, &c., have a small supply of saccharine proxi¬
mate principles either to eat or to convert into alcohol, consume
a large amount of animal fat. They have little or no vege¬
table fat; and something of the same kind has been observed
to be the case with individuals in other nations who can obtain
saccharine proximate principles, but who, from some reason or
other, do not.
E. Albuminous proximate 'principles obtained from vege¬
table articles of food.—1. Vegetable Albumen. If the expressed
juice of many plants, as of the potato, turnip, carrot, the seeds
of the cereal grains, &c., be filtered, and the fluid that remains
be exposed to a heat of 180° Fahr., a portion of it coagulates
and falls down in flakes. This is albumen, and may be col¬
lected upon a filter. Albumen may be distinguished from
other nitrogenous proximate principles by coagulating at a heat
of about 180°, by drying into a hard white mass, by being
soluble in alkalies, and by being precipitated from these alka¬
line solutions by all acids save the phosphoric and acetic. It
is believed that albumen exists in plants in two states, one a
soluble one, and another not so. Albumen essentially con¬
tains carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen. The exact
proportions of these are perhaps not very accurately ascer¬
tained. The following is the result of an analysis by Jones:1 —
Carbon, 5474; hydrogen, 777; nitrogen, 15-85: oxygen, 21-64 = 100.
2. Gluten. If the flour of wheat or other cereal grain, or in¬
deed of many other parts of several plants, be made into a
dough with water, and the dough well washed, the saccharine
and'oleaginous matters, and also the albumen, are carried away
by the water, and a stiff tenacious substance is left.. This is
gluten. It is, as the mode of obtaining it sufficiently indicates,
insoluble in water, but it is partly so in alcohol. The portion
that does so dissolve in alcohol is called glutin, and sometimes
vegetable fibrme. 1 he chemical composition of gluten is very
analogous to that of albumen, out of which it is probably formed.
Gluten does not coagulate at a heat of 180 , it dissolves in
acetic acid, and may also be distinguished from other proxi¬
mate albuminous principles by its great tenacity. 3. Vege¬
table Caseine. After boiling the sap of some plants, as of
potatoes, pears, &c., and straining the liquid that remains from
the albumen that is by the heat coagulated, if a little hydro¬
chloric (or other acids) be added, a white powder gradually falls
to the bottom. This is caseine. Its chemical composition pro¬
bably differs but slightly from those of albumen and gluten,
but it may be known by its coagulating in many acids.
4. Theine. If tea, coffee, or cocoa be boiled in water, and the
solution treated with sugar-of-lead, this proximate principle,
theine, which had been combined with tannic acid, is thrown
down in brilliant long crystals of a silvery lustre. It is composed
of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen, but the latter is in
greater proportion than in any other albuminous compound (it
actually contains 29 per cent, of this element), and, as we shall
afterwards see, this accounts for the nutritious effect of tea, &c.,
in individuals who consume little food of other descriptions.
5. Diastase. If pounded malt be infused in cold water, the
solution considerably evaporated, and then alcohol added, a
white powder falls down, to which the name of diastase is given.
Diastase exists in all germinating seeds or tubers, and is pro¬
bably during germination the last product obtained from the
above-mentioned albuminous principle caseine. If a little of
this diastase be applied to starch it has the remarkable pro¬
perty of converting it, first of all into (soluble) dextrine, and
eventually into grape sugar. Diastase is an albuminous proxi¬
mate principle, but its exact composition is not known, one
reason for this being that it is very readily decomposed and
separated into inorganic compounds, one of these being am¬
monia. The very important action that it has in ripening and
maturing vegetable productions is ascertained, but in this place
we have only to consider its action in fermentation. It is not
known if diastase in itself furnishes nutriment or not.
F. Albuminous proximate principles obtained from animal
articles of food.—Animal Albumen. This constitutes the
white of the egg, or it may be readily obtained by heating the
serum of the blood up to 180° (Fahr.), upon which it coagulates
and falls down in flakes. It is also abundant in almost all
animal tissues. It is probably exactly identical in all its pro¬
perties with vegetable albumen. 2. Fibrine. If recently
drawn blood be whisked with a birch wand, a white fibrous
matter attaches itself to the twigs. This is fibrine. It may
also be obtained by a little management from any muscular
structure. It differs (besides in other respects) from albumen
in coagulating at ordinary temperatures, and from gluten (to
which principle it is very analogous) in coagulating at all.
Its formula is carbon 52, oxygen 23, nitrogen 16, and hydro¬
gen 7. It is probably formed in animals out of albumen. 3.
Gelatine. This may be obtained by boiling bones, skin, car¬
tilage, &c. in water, and putting the solution to cool. It is dis¬
tinguished from the two former substances by dissolving readily
in hot water, and by this solution forming a jelly-like mass when
cold. It also combines with tannin and forms the impervious
compound called leather (which contains also fibrine). Gela¬
tine is probably formed out of fibrine, and in its chemical con¬
stituents is nearly identical with that compound, but it contains
a little more oxygen. It is important to recollect that pectose,
whichis sometimes called vegetable gelatine, isnot an albuminous
compound at all. 5. Kreatine. Some years ago Chevreul an¬
nounced the presence in butcher meat of a crystallizable prin¬
ciple to which he gave the name of kreatine. It is, however,
almost certainly the product of decomposition, and in no de¬
gree nutritive. 6. Osmazome. Cooked animal meat has a
very different smell and taste from the same when raw. If
the former be treated with alcohol, an odorous and sapid ex¬
tract is obtained, to which the name of osmazome has been
given. If this be a proximate principle, it is almost certainly
an albuminous one, but it is very doubtful if it is .such. It is
perhaps a compound of lactates with the salt employed in cook¬
ing, but it may be that part of it is a resin obtained by the
deoxidation of some of the fat during the application of heat.
7. Proteine, and the ashes of vegetable and animal structures
that are used as food. If the structures of vegetables and ani¬
mals that are used as food be examined, they are found to con¬
sist of an aggregation of several of the above proximate prin-
1 Annalen der Chimie.
FOOD.
758
Food. ciples (or of slight modifications of them that are purposely
omitted), of water, and of a small quantity of salts, or ot the
' acids and bases that form salts. If any of the substances that
we use as food be exposed to considerable heat, the water is
first driven off, the four elements in the proximate principles
just noticed enter into new combination (carburetted hydro¬
gen, ammonia, &c. &c.), and pass off into the air, but a small
quantity of ash is left behind. In plants this ash is found to
consist of sodium, potassium, chlorine, phosphorus, sulphur,
calcium, magnesium, iron, silicon. In animals the constituents
of the ash are the same, with the exception that animals con¬
tain no silicon. In the undestroyed structures of vegetables
and animals these constituents of the ash probably exist as
chlorides, phosphates, and sulphates of soda, potassa, &c. (or
chlorides, phosphurets, and sulphuretsof sodium and potassium),
iron, &c. It has been maintained that the albuminous proximate
principles are in reality compounds of a peculiar substance, to
which the name of proteine has been given, and that the differ¬
ence of the albuminous compounds essentially consists in their
being respectively combined with varying portions of these con¬
stituents of the ash. This opinion is perhaps not supported by
sufficient evidence, but the elements that form the ash may.be
considered as in some way or other united during life with
the albuminous proximate principles of vegetables and animals.
G. Acids found in the recently dead structures of plants and
animals that serve for food.—n. Acids derived from vegetables.
—1. Acetic acid. This acid and the following (the lactic) resemble
the saccharine proximate principles in being composed of carbon,
hydrogen, and oxygen, and in the hydrogen and oxygen being
in the same proportions as they exist in water. But they differ
in this that they have an acid reaction, reddening litmus paper,
and forming neutral salts with alkaline bases. Acetic acid as
formed during the germination of seeds, is a product, at least
often, of incipient putrefaction in many plants, particularly in
those that had contained much sugar, but it probably also is con¬
tained in many living juices. Acetic acid (undiluted) consists
of 4 carbon, and 3 respectively of hydrogen and oxygen. One
of its chemical characteristics is that its solution gives a white
precipitate (acetate of silver) with lunar caustic, and that this
pricipitate is little soluble in water. Acetic acid is also ob¬
tained abundantly from the fermentation of weak alcohol and
the destructive distillation of wood. 2. Lactic acid. If chopped
cabbage, flour, grains, or many other vegetable substances, be
allowed to ferment, the starch or sugar is decomposed, and lactic
acid is formed. The composition of it is carbon 6, hydrogen 6,
and oxygen 6. It is also formed in animal structures that are
beginning to undergo putrefaction. It perhaps never occurs
in a living plant or animal. It appears, however, to be cer¬
tainly an aliment. 3. Tartaric acid. This and the following
consist of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, but they have the
last-mentioned element in excess. They have acid reactions,
but may be regarded otherwise as corresponding with the olea¬
ginous principles of food. Tartaric acid exists in the juice of
the grape, tamarind, and other fruits. In combination with
potassa (argol), it is deposited in wine-casks and bottles. Its
composition is carbon 4, hydrogen 2, and oxygen 5. 4. Malic
acid. This acid exists in large quantities in apples, pears,
and other fruits, particularly before they are ripe, or in those
varieties of them that never become very ripe or sweet. Its
composition is carbon 4, hydrogen 2, and oxygen 3. b. Acids
derived from animals.—1. Lactic acid. If milk be allowed to
stand for a while, it becomes sour. This is owing to its sugar,
or a part of its sugar, having become converted into lactic acid,
a substance identical with that noticed above, as being formed
by the decomposition of cabbage, &c. It is also formed in
flesh undergoing incipient putrefaction. 2. Butyric acid.
This acid exists in butter, a substance that contains like¬
wise two other acids, the consideration of which may be here
omitted. 3. Inosinic acid. This acid perhaps exists in flesh
just beginning to putrefy.
H. Composition and physiological action of the different
parts of animals and vegetables usually employed as food,
and which contain two or more proximate principles.'—
a. Vegetable structures. The various nutritive principles are
generally so much combined in vegetables that a very few lines
may suffice for this section. The stem of young edible plants
is usually composed of cellulose, oil, some sugar and starch,
and a small quantity of albuminous matter. The seed of
the cereals, besides starch, a little sugar, and gum, contains
a large amount of albuminous matter, surrounded by a husk Food,
that is very rich in oil. Esculent roots and tubers gene-
rally contain an admixture of albuminous matter, saccharine
(usually starch), and oleaginous, the two last usually prepon¬
derating. Ripe fruits, besides albumen and oil (this in gene¬
ral very sparingly), contain sugar in considerable amount, and
usually one or more acids. Unripe fruits consist almost en¬
tirely of cellulose and acids. All of these have also a large quan¬
tity of water mixed up with their structures, b. Animal struc¬
tures.—1. Bone. This substance consists of about 33 per cent,
of albumen and gelatine, principally the latter, and about 67 of
phosphate of lime and other commonly-termed inorganic mat¬
ters. The long bones also contain marrow, a substance which
is a mixture of elaine and stearine. The bones of young ani¬
mals contain a much larger proportion of the gelatine than
those of old ones of the same species. 2. Cartilage. This con¬
sists almost entirely of gelatine and albumen, and is analogous
to bone that has been deprived of its inorganic matter. 3. Cel¬
lular Tissue. This consists of cells that are composed of an
albuminous principle, probably gelatine, and which inclose
elaine and margarine. When the cells are very much filled
with the fatty matter, the compound is named adipose tissue,
or commonly fat, and a variety of it suet. 4. Muscle. The
flesh of animals consists of muscle proper or lean, and also, in
all or nearly all animals relished as food, of fat, which is depo¬
sited in the cellular tissue surrounding the fibres, and also that
surrounding the entire muscles, which then often becomes adi¬
pose tissue. Some albumen, too, derived from the blood is
contained amongst it, and of course various saline matters. As
before mentioned, the kreatine found in dead meat is pro¬
bably the first stage of decomposition, and the osmazome
present in cooked meat developed by that process. Muscle
contains about 74 or more percent, of water. 5. Glands and
Viscera. The tongue, the kidney, the sweetbread, and other
internal organs, are used for food. They generally contain a
good deal of albumen and fibrine. Sweetbread contains 6 per
cent, of gelatine, liver has a peculiar brown oil, and the kid¬
neys certainly often appear to retain urea. 6. Nervous Matter.
Nervous matter contains albumen, various fatty matters, a pe¬
culiar acid that contains about 2 per cent, of nitrogen, various
saline ingredients, and about 80 per cent, of water. Nervous
matter is very little employed as food, being only occasionally
used as a garnish. 7. Blood. Blood constitutes so great a pro¬
portion of the structure of animals, that some is almost inva¬
riably retained in the muscular structure. But blood is only
used by itself as an article of food in the form of black pud¬
dings, which consist essentially of cooked hog’s blood. Blood
in composition and in nutritive quality is analogous to flesh.
II. The varieties of animals and vegetables used as food in
this country, the different elementary products obtained
from them, and their various composition.
A. The varieties of Alimentary Vegetables.
a. Cereal Grains.—1. Wheat (Triticum). The grain of wheat has
for a very long time constituted an important article of food,
and in England has for about three centuries been the staple
grain. The kind usually cultivated is the Triticum sativum. A
bushel of it should weigh, if very good, about 64 lb. Wheat in
the form of flour is sometimes manufactured as macaroni and
vermicelli; but its almost universal use is as bread. (See Baking).
The following is the composition of first-class wheaten flour: —
Water, 14 0; albuminous compounds, 14'6 ; oil, 1'2; saccharine
compounds, 66'9 : cellulose, 1-7 ; ash, T6. The greater part of the
ash is made up of phosphorus, potassium, and magnesium. The
bran contains much less saccharine matter, but absolutely more oil
and more albuminous matter ; and “ seconds ” in this respect stand
intermediate between fine flour and bran. The cheaper price of
seconds and bran, therefore, appears to be somewhat arbitrary and
improper, and brown bread is probably more economical than that
made from fine flour. The objection to it is probably that bran
does not leaven particularly well. 2. Oats (Avena sativa). In
Scotland, the climate and soil of which seem peculiarly adapted to
its cultivation, this cereal has long constituted the staple article of
diet. This is also the case in the high-lying land in the West Rid¬
ing of Yorkshire and the adjacent parts of Lancashire. A bushel
of good oats weighs about 45 lbs. Oats are made into flour or meal,
and before being submitted to the mill they are always kiln-dried,
to facilitate the separation of the husk. The proportion of husk is
FOOD.
759
Food. perhaps about a quarter per cent. When the husk is separated, hut
*before the grain is ground, the seeds receive the name of groats.
When ground the dust constitutes oatmeal, and it is found in prac¬
tice that oats afford about half their original weight of meal, the
loss being the water expelled by the kiln-drying, the husk, and the
chaff. The following is Norton’s analysis (the arrangement being
altered) of oats that had been dried to 212°. Perhaps in this dry¬
ing the loss of water vcould be about 20 per cent. Albuminous
compounds, 19-91; saccharine do., 68-68; oleaginous do., 7'33;
husk, 2-28; ash, 2,60. The proportion of ash, principally phos¬
phates and sulphates of lime, potassa, and magnesia, is sometimes
in much larger quantity. Oatmeal, therefore, contains considerably
more nutritious matter than the same weight of wheat flour. The
husks consist mainly of cellulose, and are almost never used as
human food. 3. Rye (Secale cereale) has been cultivated from time
immemorial, and was for long much used for breadmaking in this
country, as it still is (constituting the staple) in Russia, many parts
of Germany, &c. A bushel of rye weighs about 54 lb. Rye grain
is very coarsely pow'dered, and the mixture of flour and bran made
into fermented bread, which is distinguished from other bread
by its black colour. The following is an analysis of rye flour,
the w-ater having been previously expelled. Albuminous com¬
pounds, 10-5; saccharine do., 78-0; oil, 3-5; salts, 6-0, princi¬
pally phosphates of potassa, soda, and magnesia; loss, 2-0=100-0.
These three cereal grains constitute the basis of the food of the mo¬
dern European nations. In order that wheat may produce a good
crop, it requires land rich in alumina, and also considerable summer
heat; while rye thrives best on sandy soil. The oat does best with
a dampish and somewhat cold climate, and seems to almost prefer
a thin soil lying over primitive and metamorphic rocks. 4. Bar¬
ley {Hordeum distichon). Barley is occasionally made into bread;
and it is also used, when deprived of its husk, for making soup.
But by far the most important use of barley is that it may be con¬
verted into malt (i. e. that its starch may be converted into sugar),
for the purposes of brewing and distillation. The reason it is thus
selected is, that of all grains, if put under the conditions favourable
to germination, its diastase soonest converts the starch into sugar.
A common weight of a bushel of good barley is 56 lb. It contains
about 68 per cent, of starch, upon which its value to the maltster
or distiller mainly depends. 5. Rice (Oryza sativa) supplies in the
Eastern world the place occupied in the Western by wheat, oats,
and rye, and is also pretty extensively used on a small scale in this
country. The following analysis of rice is abstracted from Payen ;
—Albuminous principles, 7-5; saccharine do., 87-3; oil, 0-8; salts,
0-9 ; woody tissue (cellulose), 3‘4. Thus, save in saccharine proxi¬
mate principles, rice is far less nutritious than any of the preced¬
ing. 7. Indian corn (Zea mats') is the staple of North America,
Mexico, &c., and has been, in times of scarcity of our own cereals,
beneficially imported into this country. It is also sometimes, but
precariously, cultivated in England. According to Payen, 14 or
15 per cent, of water having been previously expelled, the grain
contains more than 12 per cent, of albuminous matters, nearly 72 of
saccharine, and the immense proportion of 9 of oleaginous. It is,
therefore, extremely nutritive.
b. Viniferous Vegetables.—1. Grape (Vitis vitifera). The grape
vine is one of the oldest of our cultivated plants, the main object of
its culture having been, as now, to obtain from its juice a wine,
which is the staple drink 1 of many millions of men. Like the
wheat plant, its native habitat is unknown, and if neglected by man
it degenerates. The limits to the culture of the vine in Europe are
(Boussingault) where the mean temperature is from 50° to 52°,
and where the mean heat of the summer is from 65° to 67°. Ripe
grape juice, when expressed, is found to contain grape sugar, gluten
and albumen, tartaric acid and potassa, a volatile oil, tannin, co¬
louring matter, and water. Of dried grapes or raisins there are
two kinds, the smaller or Corinthian currants, and the larger, of
which there are many varieties.
c. Sugar-yielding Vegetables.—1. Sugar-Cane (Saccharum offici¬
nale). Its ripe juice consists of sugar, gum, acetic acid, malic acid,
potassa, &c. This is boiled with lime, and then evaporated, the raw
or muscovado sugar being obtained. The impurities are got rid
of by means of refining, and crystallized sugar is the result. A
portion of the sugar, however, will not crystallize, and constitutes
the tenacious fluid called molasses or treacle. Cane sugar is now
enormously consumed as an article of food. Although the diete-
tical action of sugar is unquestionably mainly to supply carbon
for the purpose of respiration, it would also certainly seem to be
able to afford fat. During the time of taking the crop in Jamaica,
and when the labour is severe, the work-people use it liberally,
and “ every negro on the plantations, and every animal, even the Food,
dogs, grow fat.”
a. Subsection of Sugar-yielding Vegetables. Fruits.—1. Apple
(Pyrus Malus). A great many varieties of apples are cultivated,
some of which, perhaps, differ a little in the relative proportion of
their constituents. Their average composition is probably about
85 or 86 per cent, of water. 10 of saccharine (a portion of this, how¬
ever, gum), rather more than one of malic acid, and a small quantity
(perhaps not yet ascertained) of albuminous principles. They
likewise contain a volatile matter, salts, and some tannin, as is
indicated by the black colour they strike if cut with a steel knife.
In many parts of France and the States of America, apples consti¬
tute an important article of food, but unless the amount of albu¬
minous matter is greater than is known, they can only afford carbon
to the system. 2. Pears, Ac. {Pyrus communis). The pear does not
materially differ in chemical constitution from the apple. The
varieties of smell and taste probably are dependent upon a little
peculiar volatile oil. A jargonelle yields one-fifth of albuminous
matter. Plums, cherries, oranges, &c., consist mainly of water, with
a small portion of saccharine, a still less of albuminous principles,
malic and other acids, and various essential oils upon which their
flavours and colours depend. 3. Gooseberries, Currants, Ac. {Ribes).
All these are tolerably nutritious, containing nearly seven per cent,
of saccharine proximate principles, and almost one of albuminous.
d. Products obtained by art from Sugar-yielding Vegetables.
With the exception of cane sugar, the products artificially ob¬
tained from the preceding sugar-yielding plants are in this
country of far more dietetical consequence than the original
structures of the vegetables themselves. The theory of the pre¬
paration of their products will be found in Section III. In this
place their chemical composition, their physiological action, and
their more important varieties, are described. 1. Wine. This
beverage consists of grape-juice, the sugar of which has, by the
action of its albumen, been made to ferment, to evolve carbonic acid,
and to leave behind alcohol. As grape-juice essentially contains
tartaric acid, so does wine essentially contain it, and this possession
of tartaric acid is in fact the distinguishing mark of wine from
other fermented drinks. Wine also contains a volatile oil, which
seems to vary much in grapes grown in different climates and on
different soils, and this oil is technically called its bouquet. Wine
also contains a colouring matter, often tannin, free acids, &c.
Wines may be arranged into three classes.—a. Thoroughly fermented
wines, in which all the sugar, or nearly all of it, is converted into
alcohol and carbonic acid, and the latter product allowed to escape
into the air. This class includes port, sherry, burgundy (still),
claret, hock (which, however, contains an excess of tartaric or other
acid), madeira, and the like. b. Wines not thoroughly fermented,
and in which a considerable portion of the sugar remains as unde¬
composed sugar; as tent, tokay, frontignac, Candian wine, &c.
c. Wines thoroughly fermented, but in which some of the carbonic
acid is not allowed to escape into the air, but retained in the li¬
quid, as in champagne and sparkling moselle. The proportion of al¬
cohol in different kinds of wine is variable both in the different kinds
of wine and in different years. Port usually contains about 25 per
cent., claret about 15, and hock and champagne about 12 per cent.
In France, however (where the chemical changes that take place in
wine-making are thoroughly understood), if the juice of the grape
contain too little sugar, beetroot sugar is added, and thus the ave¬
rage strength of French wine is kept up. The great dietetical
use of wine, in a mere animal point of view, is to supply carbon
for the purpose of preserving the animal heat, and it will be ob¬
served that alcoholic compounds are more permanent than most
other ^saccharine or oleaginous matters, and less bulky than
these. The action of wine upon the nervous system is also an
important one, but one that need not here be entered into. An
average yield of wine per acre in France is 170-9 gallons. 2.
Cider and Perry. These are produced by converting the sugar of
apple and pear juice into alcohol. This is effected by bruising
them, and then mixing up in one pulp the saccharine and albumi¬
nous proximate principles. See Cider. They both, however,
differ from wine in containing malic instead of tartaric acid. Be¬
sides alcohol, malic acid, and water, cider and perry contain volatile
oil, colouring matter, &c. The physiological action of these beve¬
rages is probably identical with that of wine, but malic acid fer¬
mented drinks are not so much relished as tartaric acid ones. Cider
and perry contain from 8 to 9 per cent, of alcohol. 3. Beer, Ale,
and Porter. These consist of solutions of the sugar of malt, which
has been converted by fermentation into alcohol. They also con¬
tain the soluble principles of malt, and for long have been flavoured
1 It is not perhaps sufficiently borne in mind that all articles of food approach more or less to the liquid form, and in this respect only
differ from one another in the proportion of water which they contain. And this difference is by no means so great as is generally
supposed. Butcher meat may be put down generally as containing about 75 per cent, of water, and beer 95 per cent., turnips nearly
90, &c. &c.
760
FOOD.
Food.
with infusion of hops. When coloured black or dark brown by
means of charred malt, porter is obtamed ; when not so coloured the
stron<r kind constitutes ale, and the weaker beer. All malt fer
mented liquors differ from wine and cider in containing neither
tartaric nor malic acids. London porter contains on an average
about 4 per cent, of alcohol; stout, nearly 7 ; ale, perhaps nearly
the same - and beer, 2 more or less. Beer that cannot be distin¬
guished from the above is made by employing common sugar
instead of sugar of malt. The physiological action of malt liquor
L identical lith that of wine and cider. (See Brewing.) 4.
BriUsh Wines. These are the fermented juices of native fruits, to
which as they seldom contain enough sugar to afford the requisite
amount of alcohol, sugar is generally artificially added. Most of
our fruits contain malic acid, and therefore domestic wines resemble
cider • but if argol be added during the fermentation, they then
become analogous to grape wine. The demand for them not being
at least openly (for a great deal of supposed continental wine is of
home origin), very great, they are sold at a high profit, but they
might be produced nearly as cheap as cider. Their physiological
action is the same as that of other fermented drinks. 5. Alcohol
and spirituous drinks. Alcohol evaporates at 173°, while the boiling
point of water is 212°. Hence the alcohol can be separated from any
of the wines, ciders, or malt liquors, by a little skilful application of
heat, and then condensed in proper vessels. This separated al¬
cohol can also be freed from essential oils and other impurities;
and when so freed and mixed with one-half of water, it constitutes
proof-spirit, which has a specific gravity of -920. Proof-spirit, how¬
ever, is not used dietetically, but several varieties of it either natu¬
rally or artificially flavoured are extensively consumed. The most
important of these are—a. Brandy. When wine is distilled, there
comes out along with the alcohol a quantity of water, and of the
flavouring matter of the wine. This is brandy. It contains 53
per cent, of alcohol. A fictitious brandy is made from cider, malt,
and from fermented potatoes, the latter constituting British brandy,
b. Rum and Whisky. These are the distilled spirits of the fer¬
mented juice of the sugar cane and of malt (ov wash as the distiller
calls it). Both these are the strength of 11 overproof, sometimes
(as always in the case of newly-imported rum) much more; and
the physiological action of all of them is to supply carbon to
the system. They perhaps contain the carbon in far too con¬
centrated a form for actual use until diluted. They are also
powerful stimulants upon the nervous system, this action being
probably the result of their carbon-supplying properties, c. Li¬
queurs. Among these may be noticed—gin, which is spirit fla¬
voured with sugar, and in the better kinds juniper berries, but in
the inferior oil of turpentine; curafoa, which is a solution in alcohol
of sugar and peach-stones, or other analogous stone fruits, which
undergo decomposition with some of the water present, and form a
little prussic acid ; creme d’absynthe, which is essentially a solu¬
tion of wormwood in alcohol, sugar, and water. The physiological
action of liqueurs is essentially the same as that of spirits, d. Vi¬
negar. This is a diluted solution of acetic acid, generally obtained
by the farther fermentation of alcohol, but sometimes now by the
destructive distillation of wood. Vinegar, properly speaking, is
soured wine or ale (alegar), but in practice a solution of sugar is
employed to prepare commercial vinegar. This first becomes a so¬
lution of alcohol, and then, by obtaining more oxygen, a solution of
vinegar. At sea, and in many parts of the continent, vinegar (or
sour krout) is found very useful as affording a supply of carbon.
It has probably also another action; for a certain supply of vegetable
acids seems essential for the long-continued preservation of health.
(This subject will be noticed in Section V.) In this country it is
chiefly valued for its antiseptic properties.
e. Leguminous Plants. The leguminous plants used as food in this
country agree in their seeds being when ripe exceedingly nutritious,
and also in affording an agreeable although less nutritive food when
immature. 1. Bean (Vicia faba). The ripened seed of the bean is
scarcely ever now avowedly used as human food, although it is a very
common practice among millers to mix bean-flour with that of wheat.
Bean-meal is extremely nutritious, containing 22 per cent, of albumi¬
nous proximate principles, 45 of saccharine, and about 3 of oleagi¬
nous. A bushel of good beans weighs 65 lb. Immature beans contain
much more water and less albuminous matter. 2. Pea (Pisum sa¬
tivum). Ripe peas ground into meal, and baked with water or milk,
were formerly a very common article of food in Scotland, but peas
bread or bannocks are now almost entirely confined to Selkirkshire
and a few other localities. Ripe peas are extremely nutritious,
containing 20 per cent, of albuminous proximate principles, 55 of
saccharine ones, and 2 of oleaginous. They are much used for soups,
and very extensively and very beneficially in the royal navy along
with fat pork. In this case, contrary to the vulgar opinion, the peas
afford the nitrogenous (or what is incorrectly called the nutritious
matter, par excellence), a.r\d the flesh the carboniferous matter. Beans
and peas, perhaps, contain somewhat less phosphates than the cereal
grains. 3. French Beans (Phaseolus vulgaris). This, the kidney bean,
and another variety, the scarlet, are much cultivated abroad for
their ripe seeds, which are very nutritious, but in this country their
pods before they are ripe are eaten. They probably contain a very
small quantity of salts.
f. Brassicacious Vegetables. All the edible members of the cab¬
bage family are wholesome articles of diet, and nutritious, con¬
sidering the very large proportion of watery fluid which they con¬
tain ; inasmuch as they contain an admixture of saccharine,
oleaginous, and albuminous proximate principles. They gene¬
rally contain a large proportion of sulphur, and, when boiled, some
of this usually combines with some hydrogen, sulphuretted hydro¬
gen being formed, and thus give rise to the disagreeable smell of
water in which cabbage, &c. has been boiled. 1. Cabbage (Brassica,
various kinds of). Under this head may be comprehended the kinds
used for their leaves, kail, hearting cabbage, savoys, and Brussels
sprouts, all of which are merely modifications of the same original
stock. They contain about 92 per cent, of water, some albumi¬
nous principles, some saccharine, and a considerable quantity of
oleaginous. Their ash is usually great, and contains a good deal of
sulphur, chlorine, phosphorus, soda, potassa, and lime. If cabbage
be sliced and pressed, its saccharine principles become converted
into lactic acid, and sour krout is produced. It is a nutritious, and,
as will appear in Section V., a wholesome winter dish, but it is lit¬
tle used in this country. Caulifloiver. The flower of this species of
cabbage is the part used. It is remarkable for containing an im¬
mense amount of albuminous matter. 2. Turnips {Brassica rapa).
A turnip contains about 89 per cent, of water, 7 of saccharine prin¬
ciples, less than 1 of albuminous, and about £th of oil. Its ash is
rich in phosphorus. Sea-kale and other vegetables of a somewhat
analogous nature are omitted, they being only used on a small scale,
and there being no accurate analyses of them.
g. Root Crops.—-1. Potato {Solanum tuberosum). It is only in popular
language that the potato can be called a root. It is a tubercle or tuber
attached to the root and subterranean stem. A well-grown potato
contains about 75 per cent, of water, nearly 20 of saccharine com¬
pounds, about 1J of albuminous, and a small quantity of oleaginous.
Its ash, which constitutes on an average at least 1 per cent., contains
a very large quantity of potassa, and a considerable amount of phos¬
phorus and sulphur. Potatoes have also been stated to contain
citric acid. Potatoes are a nutritious article of food, and capable
alone of maintaining life; but their saccharine principles are so much
in excess that they ought to be eaten along with articles of food
abounding in albuminous and oleaginous principles. It may be here
mentioned that pigs fed upon potatoes only become fat, and acquire
more fat than the oil of the potatoes can be expected to afford. This
is a strong reason for admitting that saccharine proximate prin¬
ciples can be deoxidated in the animal economy, and deposited as
oleaginous. 2. Beet {Beta vulgaris). The white beet, or mangold-
wurzel, is seldom grown for human food, and is not palatable; but
the red kind is a common article of diet. This contains about 2 per
cent, of albuminous compounds ; the amount of oily matter has not
yet been ascertained,but the saccharine proximate principles amount
to the very large proportion of 15 per cent. For the last-mentioned
cause beet (a white variety) is much grown in France and Belgium,
for the purpose of extracting sugar from it. Did the excise regula¬
tions permit it, it is calculated that sugar might be produced from
beet by the farmer of this country, and sold with a profit at 2^d. a
pound. If desired, too, all the fermented and distilled drinks of
this country might be made from beet sugar in place of barley and
other corn. The ash of beet consists mainly of potassa, but it also
has something like 10 percent, of silica. It also contains a consider¬
able portion of other alkalies and alkaline earths, and very little acid.
3. Carrot {Uaucus carota). The root of the carrot contains 80 per
cent, of water, about 18 of saccharine proximate principles, 1 of
albuminous, and a little oil. It has also a volatile oil, and some malic
acid. Its ash is considerable, and has much potassa and common
salt. 4. Parsnip {Pastinaca sativa). This is a very nutritious root,
as it contains 18 per cent, of saccharine principles, and more than
2 of albuminous. The amount of its oleaginous contents and of its
ash do not seem to have been ascertained. Owing to its large
quantity of sugar it is sometimes fermented; and from this li¬
quid a spirit is also distilled. 5. Girasole, vulgarly Jerusalem Arti¬
choke {Helianthus tuberosus). The tubers contain 77 per cent, of
water, 18 of saccharine proximate principles, about 1 of albuminous,
and some fat. It has also some citric acid. The ash is pretty con¬
siderable. Skirret, scorzonera, and some other roots now little used
as food, are omitted, h. Alliaceous vegetables. These plants are ex¬
tensively employed as food in many continental states, but are in
this country principally used as flavouring agents. They contain
albuminous and saccharine matter (probably in very considerable
quantity), and a peculiar volatile oil to which they owe their fla¬
vour and pungency. This oil appears to relieve the oppression of
very hot weather. They contain citric acid, and their ash is rich in
Food.
FOOD.
761
Food. sulphur and phosphorus. The most important of them are the
onion and the leek. In this country garlic, rocambole, eschallots,
and chives, are little grown, i. Asparaginous vegetables. Aspara¬
gus, artichoke, and spinach are nearly entirely composed of water,
but they have some saccharine principles, and also peculiar ones to
which they owe their characteristic flavour. They probably contain
acids, k. Salad vegetables. Lettuce, celery, endive, &c., perhaps
contain a larger proportion of nutrient matter than is generally
thought, as they constitute an important article of diet in most
southern continental countries. They probably are mainly useful
in affording carbon, and thus allowing the eater to dispense with
an equivalent of fermented drink. But there does not appear to
be any recent analysis of them. 1. Nuts. Ifuts are little employed
as an article of diet in this country, but in many continental states
they form staple articles of food, and are very nutritious. The
sweet acorns, the seeds of the ilex, are chiefly those eaten, and con¬
tain 47 per cent, of saccharine proximate principles, 15 of albu¬
minous, and 3 of oleaginous. The nuts chiefly eaten in this country
are the hazel, the walnut, and the chestnut, m. Oil-producing
vegetables.—1. Olive tree (Olea europea). The expressed oil of the
olive is the only vegetable oil that is dietetically used in an iso¬
lated form in this country. The oil is imported from the south of
France and Italy, and also, but of inferior quality, from Spain, It
consists of oleine and margarine, the former being most abundant.
Its alimentary action is to supply carbon. On the Continent it is
extensively used with bread and a great many dishes, but in this
country its use is confined for the most part to salads. In many
parts of Italy and Greece ripe olives are salted, and form a staple
food. Unripe olives pickled in an aromatic solution of salt are
imported as a luxury to this country, n. Beverage vegetables.—1.
Tea {Thea viridis and Thea Bohea). The prevalent opinion is that
black tea is the produce of T. Bohea, and green of the T. viridis, and
that the different varieties of each sort depend upon modes of pre¬
paration. Notwithstanding the immense consumption of infusion
of tea, and the very important place that it has taken among the
dietetics of this country, our knowledge of its chemical constitution,
and consequently of its physiological action, is by no means definite.
Tea certainly would appear to contain at least a third of an astrin¬
gent principle, about 6 per cent, of saccharine proximate principles
in the form of gum, 2 or 2£ of volatile matter, upon which its
fragrance &c. depend, and 6 of albuminous matter, including about
a half per cent, of the peculiar principle called theine. From 45 to
60 per cent, are cellulose or lignin. Even from this very imper¬
fect analysis it will be apparent that an infusion of tea is a nutri¬
tious agent, affording to the system saccharine and albuminous, and
perhaps oleaginous proximate principles. Daily experience proves
this; for many people who lead a sedentary life, i. e. who require
not very rapid supplies of food, particularly of nitrogen and carbon,
keep up their flesh and strength upon a diet of which tea is the
principal or a principal part. Indeed a pint of tea of ordinary
strength will contain nearly 1 per cent, of albuminous and saccha¬
rine compounds, which is not much less than weak soup has. But
the principle theine has perhaps some nutritive action with which
we are not yet familiar; and this probability is increased when we
consider that both coffee and chocolate contain it. Liebig’s conjec¬
ture is that it serves to form bile ; but this hypothesis is not likely
to find much favour with those English physiologists who maintain
that bile is an excretion. The action of tea upon the nervous system
will be noticed in Section V. Green tea differs from black in con¬
taining more volatile oil and more tannin, although this latter is
denied. The different commercial kinds of black and green teas
differ from one another in their mode of preparation, and in the
consequent amount of volatile matter &c. they possess. The follow¬
ing are the most important of them. a. Varieties of Black Tea. a.
Bohea. This, and particularly the kind called Canton bohea, is the
refuse and large and coarse leaves of the other black kinds, and is
often employed to adulterate other sorts, b. Congou is the full-de¬
veloped leaf, and is the kind generally used in this country, c.
Souchong is another full-developed black-tea leaf, and is distin¬
guished from the previous by the greener colour of its infusion, d.
Pekoe is prepared from the undeveloped or unexpanded leaf-bud of
the black tea. It is considered the hest kind, but is difficult to
procure unmixed, b. Varieties of Green Teas.—a. Twankay is a com¬
mon kind not much used. It consists of the expanded leaf. b. Hyson
consists of the expanded leaf, but it is said to be of the second or
third crop. It is the green tea usually drank in this country, c. Gun¬
powder consists of the unopened buds of the spring crop of the green-,
tea plant, and, like the pekoe, it is the best of its class. Accord¬
ing to Mr Fortune the green tea is a leaf dyed in the process of dry-
ing by a mixture of indigo, turmeric, and gypsum. 2. Coffee (Coffea
arabica)—the berries of the coffee plant with the husk removed. The
following analysis of coffee is by Payen :—Cellulose, 34 ; water, 12 ;
fat, 13 ; dextrine and other saccharine principles, 15; caseine, legu-
mine, 10; nitrogenous substance, 3; caffeine (theine), 8; oil, 3; ash,
YOL. IX. v
6; other matters, 3. According to this analysis coffee is an extremely Food,
nutritious substance. The roasting process, preparatory to its infu¬
sion, has no effect upon its nutritive properties, but merely commu¬
nicates the characteristic flavour and smell. Of the several kinds, the
Mocha coffee is the most esteemed. 3. Chicory (Chicorium Intybus).
The roasted root of this plant when ground is either mixed with coffee
or used alone. We have no recent analysis of it, but We know that
it contains a good deal of saccharine principles, and a bitter extrac¬
tive matter upon which its flavour seems to depend. Experience
also teaches that it is perfectly wholesome, and to many people it
forms a very palatable beverage, (See Chicory.) 4. Chocolate
(Theobroma Cacao). The kernels of the seeds of this plant contain
more than 50 per cent, of oleaginous matter, nearly 17 of albuminous,
and 18 of saccharine principles. It also possesses a principle called
theobromine, analogous to theine. Chocolate is consequently one of
the most nutritious articles of food which we possess; but its large
quantity of oil makes it indigestible to many persons. It is now
advantageously substituted in the navy to supply carbon, in place
of some of the large quantity of rum formerly allowed. There are
several modes of preparing the seeds. The roasted and ground
kernels, made into a paste with vanilla, &c., and dried in mould,
constitute chocolate proper. In order to diffuse it among boiling
water it requires the somewhat tedious process of milling. A patent
preparation (there are two or three varieties of it), Fry’s chocolate,
can be dissolved in water at once. The kernels of the roasted seeds
constitute nib cocoa of the shops. The entire roasted seeds of both
kernels and their husks ground down, make cocoa.
B. The varieties of Animals used as Human Aliment.
a. Quadrupeds. The various proximate principles that enterintothe
several structures of the quadrupeds used as human food are enu¬
merated at p. 758. Herbivorous quadrupeds may almost always be
eaten without danger. Sometimes, however, articles of food derived
from quadrupeds do become poisonous, or at any rate injurious. The
following have occasionally been noticed to do so. a. Bacon, and
other cured or salted meat. There are several instances on record of
bacon having become somewhat poisonous, although it has never
perhaps destroyed life. It would appear that decomposition ensues,
and that kreatine or some analogous compound combines with the
salt or with the nitre used in the preserving, and that a deleterious
compound is thereby produced. Such an accident, however, is ex¬
tremely rare. b. Sausage poison. Sausages, at least in Germany,
have pretty often acquired poisonous properties, and have occasion¬
ally destroyed life. This has generally occurred in long-kept sau¬
sages, and usually in the spring season. The decomposing sausages
become acid and soft, and acquire a nauseous taste and smell. When,
however, they begin to emit sulphuretted hydrogen their poisonous
property is lost, but until then they are stated to be very deleteri¬
ous. Of the nature of this sausage poison nothing is known,
c. Cheese. Cheese has occasionally in Germany, and perhaps also in
Cheshire, acquired poisonous properties, owing probably to some
modification of an acetous fermentation. These very rare, and
sometimes perhaps not very well-founded, cases of poisoning prove
with what impunity in general food derived from quadrupeds may
be used. 1. The Ox (Bos taurus). The flesh of the mature ox, or
beef, constitutes in this country by far the greatest proportion of
animal food that is eaten. That of the ox proper is most esteemed,
next that of a heifer that has never been a milch cow, next that of
a milch cow, and lastly that of a bull; it may be, however, that part
of the dislike felt to the beef of cows and bulls is attributable to
these animals not generally being slaughtered until they become so
old that the cartilaginous matter dispersed among the muscles is
tending to become osseous, and that other earthy deposits are being
formed, the result of which is that the meat becomes ill-flavoured and
tough. Occasionally some of the small breeds, as the Shetlands, are
kept on grass for five years or longer, but by far the greater propor¬
tion of oxen are now slaughtered when they are in their third year,
and some, as most shorthorns, before they are two years old. In this
latter case, and indeed practically in almost all cases, they are now
fattened more or less upon turnips, often with the addition of a
little oil-cake. And it is quite certain that oxen put up to fatten in
hammels in October, and slaughtered in a few months, i. e. entirely
fattened without grass, afford as good beef as those altogether or
entirely (as in the old way) fattened upon grass ; and this is exactly
in accordance with what our knowledge of the proximate prin¬
ciples of the food of oxen would teach us. The beef of the dif¬
ferent breeds varies a little. That of the Shetland is perhaps
the most compact, or finest grained as it is called. Next to the
Shetland beef, that of the West Highland breed, and of the Welsh
(the latter, however, rarely well enough fattened), is probably
best; next that of the Galloways, Angus, and those of the Devon
breed; and lastly the Herefords and shorthorns. But the last,
or shorthorns, will always, in arable districts, form the preponder-
2
FOOD.
^ atinff breed, from the readiness with which they become maturely
°0d' fat ft an early age upon turnips. Every hundred pounds of a fat ox
give of butcher meat fincluding bones) ^ ^ ,Pet,cent’ ® ^
«er cent • hide, 5-5 per cent.; entrails and offal, ^.8 8 per cent,
a rvf Vito larcrer breeds grow to an immense size, attaining a
«Tghfof b “nfr,d .toneefud more; but the beef of such is not
in such estimation as that of the smaller kinds. Shetland oxen per¬
haps do not average twenty stones. The flesh of young bovine am-
,n Is which is known as veal, differs from beef in containing less
fibrine and in most parts of it containing considerably more gelatine.
It has also an appreciable quantity more water, and the meat is
whiter owing to the portion of blood left among its fibres containing
a smaller quantity of red globules. About London a calf is usually
slaughtered when ten weeks old, when it will weigh as many impe¬
rial stones of veal (the offal being omitted). As gelatine !§ longer
in being converted into chyme than fibrine veal is less readily di¬
gested Than beef; and the same may be said of the flesh of most
young animals. 2. The Sheep {Ovis aries). Mutton differs pro¬
bably in only some trifling peculiarities from beef. Among these
is thSt its retained blood contains fewer globules, and is therefore
not so dark-coloured. Sheep are occasionally kept for four or five
years, and occasionally longer, before they are considered fit for the
butcher; but the great majority of those sent to the market (and
their meat cannot be distinguished from older ones) are not much
more than two years old. By far the best mutton is that of the
wether, next that of a young ewe, then of an old ewe, and the
worst of all that of a tup. The offal of a sheep is to the part sale¬
able as food as one to three. Perhaps 120 pounds may be stated as
the weight of an ordinary sheep’s carcase. Of the several breeds,
the Leicester sheep is the largest, and the one that comes earliest to
maturity ; but its flesh contains a large, and indeed excessive, quan¬
tity of oleaginous matter, mixed with the muscular fibre; and this
renders the meat heavy and unpalatable. But as Leicester sheep
soon become fat, and at a very early age, and attain, moreover a
very large size, the breed is a favourite one with the farmers. Ihe
Cheviot and Southdown (the two breeds are dietetically analogous)
are smaller than the preceding, have darker meat, less fat, and are
in every respect superior. The black-faced and Welsh varieties are
still smaller, have less fat, and their flesh is much darker. Their
flesh, too, has a particular, and, to most people, a very agreeable,
flavour, owing probably to some peculiar oil in the fat.. It well
fed they are, contrary to a popular opinion, in perfection when
about two years of age. The flesh of lambs differs from that of
sheep in containing more gelatine and water, and less fibrine. It
is therefore less easy of digestion. 3. Goat and Kid {Capra hyrcus).
Formerly goat-flesh was much used, and in modern Italy and the
Peninsula it still is; but in this country the use of goat-flesh is
confined to a few localities in the Highlands and in Wales Kid-
flesh is probably very analogous to that of lamb. 4. Deer(Cervus).
Three kinds of venison are used as food in this country that of the
fallow-deer, which is considered the best; that of the larger stag;
and that of the roebuck. All venison is darker than any other
meat, owing, probably, to its retaining more blood corpuscles; and
in flavour it resembles that of black-faced sheep. Fallow-deer and
stags are considered to be in perfection at four years of age, an
are not good food for three or four months after August. Venison
has less fat than even black-faced mutton. 5. Hog (Sus scrofa).
Of all quadrupeds whose flesh is employed as food, the hog is per¬
haps the most profitable. In the course of a twelvemonth it attains
a large size (often 20 stones, or indeed much more). From its seden¬
tary habits it wastes far less flesh, and consumes less of the carbon
of its food, than any other of our domesticated animals, and has
likewise a far less proportion of offal to useable meat than any other
animal. Thus a pig that, when alive, weighed 199 lb., yielded a
clean carcase that weighed 139 lb. {Stephens.') A well-fed hog,
too, contains a large proportion of oleaginous matter separate from
its muscles; and its physiological action when employed as food, in
the form of bacon, is mainly to supply carbon. This fat also, when
separated from its cellular tissues, differs from most other animal
fats in containing more oleine, and is hence much used in cooking.
For the same reason, the flesh of hogs when salted is less dry than
that of any other salted meat. Fresh pork contains about 19 per
cent, of albuminous matter, 1£ of salts, and more than 78 of
water. 6. Hare {Lepus timidus). From its very active habits,
the hare consumes the carbon of its food, and hence deposits no
fat. For some reason or other, partly from its never having been
bled, the blood is retained in great quantities among the muscles,
and this makes the flesh very dark-coloured, but at the same time
renders its infusion in soup very nutritious. Hares are not
good food from February to August, that being their breeding¬
time. Hares weigh from 3 or 4 lb. to 10 or 12. The Alpine
hare {Lepus variabilis) is smaller than the common hare, from
which it may at once be known by its shorter ears and white
fur in winter; and the colour of its flesh is intermediate between
that of the common hare and the rabbit. 7. Rabbit (Lepus
cuniculus). The wild rabbit, like the hare, has no fat, and its flesh is
much whiter. It is used almost all the year round. A common
weight is about 3 lb. Tame rabbits grow to a much larger size, and
often contain fat. Of hares and rabbits, the eatable portion amounts
perhaps to 50 per cent, of the original weight of the animal.
b. Birds. In birds that use active flight, or have been intended
to do so, as partridges, fowls, &c., the pectoral muscles are whiter
and drier, and are considered better than those which move the
lews ; but the reverse of this is usually held to be the case in
aquatic birds, as ducks, which use principally the leg muscles.
The cooking of the entrails of a woodcock, and the inducing in
the goose an enlarged and diseased state of the liver, are also
practices, but surely not very commendable ones, of epicures. 1.
Foivl (Gallus domesticus). As compared with beef, the flesh of the
fowl contains a little less water, only a fraction per cent, less of
albuminous matter, and a greater proportion of salts. Hence, as
a flesh-forming product, fowl is more nutritious than beef, but it
is deficient in oleaginous or carbon-supplying matter. 2. Turkey
{Meleagris gallopavo). Young turkeys about nine months old of¬
ten weigh from 15 lb. upwards. In chemical constitution and in
physiological action the flesh of a turkey is probably nearly iden¬
tical with that of the common fowl. There are three varieties
of turkeys—the black, the white, and the mottled gray. Of
these the black is the hardiest, and is also thought to yield the
best food. 3. Guinea-fowl {Meleagris Numida) very much re¬
sembles the turkey in the properties of its flesh, but owing pro¬
bably to its semi-wild habits, it has somewhat of a game flavour,
and is used as a substitute for game when game is out of season,
4. Peacock {Pavo cristatus). The flesh of the old pea-fowl is
coarse and ill-flavoured, but the young bird is palatable, though
rarely used as food. 5. Partridge (Perdix cinerea). The flesh of
this and the four following birds has a peculiar flavour, arising
doubtless from something introduced into their system by their
food. There are two kinds of partridge, the common one and the
red-legged partridge. They are only used from September to
February. In common with other game, partridges, when long
kept, acquire a peculiar smell and bitter flavour, both probably
owing to kreatine. A partridge, with its feathers and entrails,
wmighs generally somewhat less than 1 lb. b. Black-cock {Te-
trao tetrix). This beautiful and delicate bird is in season from
the 20th of August to the 10th of December. It feeds pretty
much on mountain berries, beath tops, and birch tops, which pro¬
bably communicate part of its peculiar flavour.. A cock weighs
about 1 lb. The female (called a gray hen) weighs about 2 lb.
7. Pheasant {Phasianus colchicus). Except in its larger size, this
bird resembles dietetically the partridge. It is in season from the 1st
of October to the 2d of February. 8. Grouse and Ptarmigan {Lago-
pus scoticus and vulgaris). The red and white grouse live very
much upon heather, which communicates to their flesh its peculiar
flavour. Each weighs when killed about 1J lb. The capercailzie,
Tetrao urogallus, (sometimes called woodland grouse) is perhaps
extinct in the country, but sometimes appears in the market. One
will weigh from 7 to 12 lb. 9. Quail {Goturnix vulgaris). This
small bird resembles the patridge in flavour, and is in season from
May to October. 10. Duck {Anas boschus). The flesh of aquatic
birds is still darker than that of the game birds noticed above,
this being owing to their muscles retaining more blood. Also,
when in condition, they have a good deal of fat underneath their
skins. As their lean is quite as nutritious as that of fowls and
game, and as they contain this oleaginous matter in addition, they
are more valuable as nutritive agents. The duck is in best condi¬
tion in autumn ; but ducklings are sold earlier. A common weight
of a full-grown tame duck is 2 J or 3 lb. The wild duck is smaller.
Wild ducks taken near the sea have usually a fishy taste, derived
from their food. The widgeon {Anas penelope) is a species of wild
duck. Its flesh is dark and dry, and is by many esteemed, but it
is often fishy. Its average weight is 1J lb. The teal (Anas crecca)
is a still smaller kind of wild duck, the flesh of which is thought
much superior to that of the widgeon. It is below 1 lb. in weight.
Widgeons and teal are fat and in season at the end of the year.
11. Goose (Anser palustris). In common with that of most aquatic
birds, the flesh of the goose seems to contain some peculiar matter,
perhaps oleaginous (although this is quite contrary to what hap¬
pens in birds), but the nature of which is unknown. A goose
weighs (without feathers and offal) 6 lb. and upwards. e o an
goose, as it is called (Pelicanus bassanus), is really a pelican. t
is caught on the Bass rock in the Firth of Forth, and in the e-
brides. It is salted and smoked. The flavour is very fishy. One
weighs about 7 lb. A very analogous bird is the puffin, which is
also salted, but, like the solan goose, it has a very fishy taste, and
its use as food is almost wholly confined to the poor. They aie
chiefly captured for the sake of their feathers. 12. Pigeon (Oohimba).
The flesh of the different kinds of pigeon, and of the lark (a bird be-
FOOD.
763
Food. longing to a different natural family), is intermediate between that
lL ) of poultry and game both in colour and flavour. As rich in albu-
minous matter it probably ranks high. The flesh of the pigeon
indeed contains 2l| per cent, of albuminous matter, and is there¬
fore, as a flesh-forming article of diet, not only more nutritious than
beef, but indeed more so than any article of animal food. Only
the young (before they fly) of the domesticated pigeon are used at
table. 13. Woodcock (Scolopax rusticola). This and the following
four birds are waders, and their food consists of aquatic insects,
small fishes, and the like. Their flesh is considered delicate; but
it has not been subjected to analysis. A woodcock weighs 12 oz.,
and is in season from October to March. The common snipe, jack-
snipe, plover, and landrail, are only considered fit for table when
fat, which is at the beginning of winter, and during that season.
The bustard, of the family of Cursores, is now nearly or altogether
extinct in this country. A few are sometimes yet caught in France,
and sell very high. 14. Rook, (Corvus frugilegus). The only pre¬
dacious bird that is used for food is the young rook, and this but
to a small extent. Its flavour is peculiar, and to many persons
far from agreeable. 15. Egga, The eggs of birds are a rather im¬
portant article of diet. They resemble one another very much in
composition and in their physiological action, and the several kinds
probably do not materially differ from each other, save in con¬
taining some small amount of a peculiar volatile oil. A bird’s
egg essentially consists of shell, a membrane lining it, a white or
albumen, and a yolk. Besides these, the yolk contains a membrane,
the chalaza, which, as a dietetical agent, may be altogether over¬
looked. The shell is composed of a little animal matter, and phos¬
phates of lime and magnesia, with 97 per cent, of carbonate of
lime. The white of a common hen’s egg is composed of water, 8-0 ;
mucus, 4-5 ; albumen, 15-5. It also contains about 4 per cent, of
inorganic ingredients (omitted in this analysis). These are sulphur,
phosphorus, chlorine, potassa, soda, lime, and magnesia. The yolk
contains, water, 53'73 ; albumen, 17'47 ; oil, 28-75. This oil contains
90 per cent, of oleine and only 10 of stearine. There is also a
colouring principle, and nearly 6 per cent, of ash, the composition
of which is much the same as that of the white, but it contains a
greater proportion of phosphorus and (according to Liebig) iron.
From these analyses it will be seen that eggs are extremely nutritious,
being rich in albuminous and oleaginous compounds. The eggs of
different birds probably contain a little volatile oil peculiar to each
species, upon which their characteristic flavour depends.
c. Reptiles. Although several species of reptiles are used as
food in other countries, the only one ever so employed in this is
green turtle (Testudo myas'), which is now regularly imported
from the West Indies. It is particularly valued for a green ge¬
latinous substance, commonly but erroneously termed its fat. In
this country turtle is almost exclusively made into soup, but in the
West Indies it is made into steak, &c. Turtle contains much gela¬
tine and little fibrine. It probably, in a nutritive point of view,
resembles, but is inferior to, veal. Vipers were formerly used in
this country as a remedy for consumption, and a receipt for making
viper-broth was once contained in the pharmacopoeia. A species of
frog is used as food on the Continent, but it is perhaps never eaten
in this country. Indeed here the animal is rare.
d. Fishes. Fish constitute an important and economic article of
food. The result of various analyses of fishes is to indicate that
their muscles contain nearly but not quite as much of albuminous
proximate principles as the flesh of quadrupeds, and fully as much
of saline ingredients. Hence as flesh-producing articles of diet
they are nearly equal to beef, &c. Some of the fishes, as trout,
salmon, &c., contain also much oleaginous matter; but in others,
as cod, haddock, &c., the oil is entirely confined to the liver.
This latter class of fishes does not afford so much carbon to the
system for respiratory purposes. Fish are in season before spawn¬
ing, and for some time after they have spawned they are not
good; but as most fish resort to the deep water after spawning,
they are seldom caught in this state. Not only is recently-
spawned fish flabby and tasteless, but it is sometimes positively
unwholesome. Fish in tropical countries have sometimes proved
poisonous, probably from the nature of their food. It is, however,
certain that in this country no fish in season is unwholesome, al¬
though the barbel and the pike have for long been considered in¬
jurious. The following is a short account of the various species
of fish commonly employed as food in Great Britain. 1. Lamprey
{Petromyzon marinus). The sea lamprey is an oily and fibrous fish,
whose bones are composed of cartilage (having no osseous matter). It
is about two feet long. It ascends the rivers from the sea to spawn
in spring, and is then in season. It is considered a great delicacy.
It is not a common fish in Britain, only occurring, at least abun-
iantly, in some southern rivers, but in many European rivers they
occur so plentifully that they are salted and barrelled. There is also
another smaller species. 2. Dog-fish (Scyllium canicula). This is a
member of the shark family, and is very often caught in the her¬
ring-nets on the Scottish coasts. It is an oily and fibrous fish, and Food,
has a cartilaginous skeleton. Dog-fish are dried and used as winter
food by the poorer people of the northern coasts. From their com¬
position they are very nutritious, but they have a strong, disagree¬
able taste. 3. Skate (Raia batis). The larger skate live in deep
water, and are seldom caught; but even the smaller ones in the
shallows have been known to weigh 200 lb. Those commonly
taken weigh perhaps from 6 to 20 lb. The flesh, from its contain¬
ing oil, is very nutritious. Skate is in season from July till nearly
the end of winter. 4. Thornback (Raia clavata) may be known from
the skate by having spines upon the back, and it is smaller, sel¬
dom exceeding two feet in length. The young ones are called maids.
The flesh resembles that of skate. 5. Sturgeon (Acipenser sturio). This
fish sometimes ascends our rivers, and gets entangled in the salmon-
nets. Thesegenerally are from 4 to8 feetlong (sometimes longer), and
occasionally weigh 300 lb. Sturgeon is in season in winter and
spring. The skeleton is gelatinous. Its flesh nearly resemblesthe taste
of veal, and is much esteemed. The salted roe of the sturgeon consti¬
tutes caviare. It is sometimes imported to this country from Bussia.
6. Salmon (Salmo salar). The salmon begins to enter the rivers
for the purpose of spawning in autumn, and the parent fish return
to the sea during the months of February, March, and April. The
hatched young ones follow in April, May, and June. The salmon
is in greatest perfection when ascending the rivers; but there is
such a demand for salmon, that it has been found necessary to
make enactments, rendering the taking of salmon legal only in cer¬
tain seasons. All salmon fisheries north of the Tweed open on the
1st of February, and close on the 14th of September. The Tweed
fishing opens on the 15th of February, and closes the 15th of Octo¬
ber. As the spawn is deposited from October to February, this keeps
up the breed ; but it is plain that some of these fish will be caught
when they are not in season, being weakened by the spawning.
From 6 to 10 lb. is a common weight of a salmon, though sometimes
this fish attains a much greater weight. As salmon contain olea¬
ginous principles mixed among its albuminous, it is very nutritious,
A young salmon returning for the first time to its native river,
and weighing from 3 to 6 lb., is a grilse. 7. Bull trout (Salmo
eriox). This fish is not in much esteem. Its flesh is white. 8. Sea
trout, or salmon trout (Salmo trutta). This fish is about 18 inches
long, and weighs about 3 lb. Its flesh is red, and is considered
very good. Its migrations and seasons are much similar to those
of the salmon. 9. Trout (Salmo fiario). This well-known fish is
a permanent resident in our rivers.. There are several sub-varieties
of it, which differ mainly in their flesh being more or less of a
reddish hue; but, in general, it is nearly white. The Gillaroo
trout differs from the common trout in having a very thick stomach.
Trout are in season from February to August, and when full grown
are about a foot long, and weigh about 1 lb. Sometimes, particu¬
larly in weirs, they attain a much larger size. The char, another
variety of the salmon, only occurs in one or two lakes. 10. Smelt
(Osmerus eperlanus). This little fish is generally about 8 or 9
inches long, and weighs less than J lb. It is remarkable for the
great transparency of its body, particularly of its head, and for a
peculiar odour, which is thought to resemble that of a cucumber.
It is a sea fish, but enters the estuaries to spawn, and stays there
from autumn till March. It is in season in November, December,
and January. 11. Grayling (Salmo thymallus) is a migrating fish,
leaving the sea in the end of autumn to ascend clear rivers, for the
purpose of spawning. It should be stated, that there is some doubt
it it really does live in the sea. It is in best season at mid-winter.
Its flesh, which is firm and white, is considered to have a very fine
flavour. It weighs about as much as a trout. The above six fishes
belong to the salmon family, and by some naturalists are considered
species of the same genus, Salmo. 12. Herring (Clupca harengus').
This fish is one of the most useful that approaches our shores. Im¬
mense shoals of it appear off the Shetland Islands in April, and are
succeeded by a still more immense shoal in June. These shoals
extend southward on the east and west coasts of Scotland, and in
localities on the eastern coast of England. Their purpose in ap¬
proaching the estuaries and coasts is to spawn; and, like other
fish, they are then in best season. The herring contains a large
quantity of oleaginous matter mixed with its albuminous principles,
and is very nutritious. A herring is about a foot long, and seldom
weighs quite a pound. Herrings are extensively employed both
pickled and dried. 13. Pilchard (Clupea pilchardus) very much
resembles the herring, but has a rounder body and no teeth. It
appears in vast shoals off the Cornish coast in July, and is occa¬
sionally caught in more northern seas. The flesh contains more
oil than that of the herring. In Cornw'all, during their season,
they are so extremely cheap as to be sometimes used as a manure.
The sardine, which in a pickled state is imported from the Medi¬
terranean, seems to be a small pilchard. The fry of the herring and
pilchard are sold indiscriminately under the name of sprats. There
is, however, a distinct small species, the Clupea sprattus. All these
764 F O
Food are pickled red with cochineal or red lead, and sold as pickled an-
, chovies. They may be distinguished by always retaining more or
less of backbone in an osseous state. 14. Shad (Clupea alosa)
ascends the Severn and Thames to spawn, and is in season in
July. It is in no esteem. The white bait is by many considered to
be its fry, although naturalists maintain that it is a distinct species,
Clupea alba. 15. Anchovy (Clupea encrasicolus). This little fish
is abundant enough on our own coasts for our own supply, but it is
imported in a pickled state from the Mediterranean. During the
pickling it is boiled, and its backbone is quite dissolved. 16. Pike
(Esox lucius) is a fresh-water fish that inhabits our rivers and lakes.
A full-grown one weighs from five to a great many pounds, and when
under 2 lb. is called a jacfc. The pike affords a very dry food, and
has no oil. The sea pike or gar (Belone vulgaris) is pretty often caught
on our coasts, but is not esteemed. Its backbone, as in the viviparous
Blenny, becomes green by boiling. 17. Carp (Cuprinus carpio). This
fish, before the railways conveyed salt-water fish to inland parts, was
in greater esteem than it is now, or probably ever will be again in
this country. It is‘the fish that is most commonly bred in ponds.
It weighs from 3 to 20 lb. Carps are in season from April to Octo¬
ber. Other fishes of the same family (the Cyprinidae) all fresh-water
ones, are sometimes used as food, and may be here mentioned. The
barbel inhabits English rivers, and grows to two or three feet long,
but it is considered very indifferent food. The little gudgeon is
caught during summer in shallow streams, and is regarded as very
good. The tench is perhaps the best dietetical fish of the family.
It sometimes attains a weight of 4 or 5 lb., but is usually under 1
lb. It is in season from May to October. The bream is another
fresh-water fish that inhabits some of our lakes and sluggish rivers.
In appearance it almost resembles a flat fish. It is not much es¬
teemed in this country, but in France it is. It spawns in July,
and is in season two or three months before, but some regard it as
in best season in September just after it has recovered its strength.
It weighs from £ lb. to 3 or 4 lb. The chub, the roach, and
the dace are all river fish, and in little estimation. Their flesh ap¬
pears to contain an excess of water which perhaps renders them
insipid. Walton, however, maintained that the chub owed its bad
reputation to ignorant cookery. 19. The Cod family. Members
of this very important group afford large and most valuable sup¬
plies of food, both in a fresh and salted state. They all contain a
due proportion of albuminous matter, but their muscular part has
no oleaginous principle, all their oil being contained in their livers;
although perhaps the milts contain a little, a. Cod (Mvrhua vul¬
garis, or, old name, Cadus Morhua). This, one of the most numerous
of fishes, is abundant on many of our coasts, and (salted) is exported
in abundance from Zetland, Iceland, and Newfoundland. It spawns
in spring, and is therefore in season in the winter months, but it
appears to recover from spawning sooner than almost any other fish,
or at least large fish, and is good during the greater part of summer.
It weighs from 6 to 20 lb., and occasionally more. Young cod, or
codlings, are far more watery and insipid than the mature cod.
Indeed many that are sold as such are really young coal-fish. The
swimming bladders of the cod are also salted, and used as food.
They consist almost entirely of gelatine, b. Haddock (Morhua
ceglijinus, or Cadus ceglifinus) is much smaller than the cod, sel¬
dom being longer than 1^ ft., or weighing more than from 2 to 3
lb. Its flesh, however, is more delicate than that of the cod. Had¬
docks are in season from May to September. They are used fresh,
slightly salted, or smoked (then called Finnan haddocks), c. Ling
(Molva vulgaris, or Gadus Molva) is taken in considerable quantities
on our northern and north-eastern coasts. It is much slenderer
than the cod, and, like it, is eaten both fresh and salted. Contrary
to the general opinion, it is in both ways superior to the cod. It
spawns in June, and is in perfection to the end of May, and it may
be known to be in season by its liver being white. It seems pro¬
bable that a great many of the so-called cod sounds are ling sounds.
The ling attains the same weight as the cod. Dried cod is very often
sold as dried ling. d. Tusk and Hake(Brosmius vulgaris, and Merluccivs
vulgaris, or Gadus Brosmius and Gadus Merluccius). The first of these
is common in the north and the other in the south. They are both caught
ah nig with ling and cod, and are about the same size. They are gene¬
rally dried and salted. Another species of the same family, and of the
same genus as the tusk, is the coal-fish, which in certain localities,
as the Scottish islands, is extensively used. It has variousnames.
In Scotland a young one is called a podley and an old one a sethe.
Considerable quantities of cod, ling, tusk, hake, and coal-fish are
salted and dried, and largely exported. It is called stock-fish; and
as most of the water is expelled it is an extremely concentrated and
nutritious article of diet, though not very digestible, e. Whiting
(Merlangus vulgaris or Gadus Merlangus) is the most delicate fish of
its family. It spawns from March to September, and is therefore
in best season during the two first months of the year. It is how¬
ever pretty good towards the end of the year. In the south of Eng¬
land it is frequently salted, and is there called “ buck-horn.” A
O D.
whiting is usually about a foot long, and seldom weighs more than Food.
1 lb. 20. The Flat fish. These fishes belong to the Pleuronectidm, and l
are easily recognised by their flattened form, and by having both 7
their eyes on one side. They are much esteemed for their delicate
flavour. The oleaginous principles are confined to their livers, and
hence they only furnish albuminous matter, but they contain (at
least some of them) more than 20 per cent, of it. a. Plaice (Platessa
vulgaris). This and the two following platessae are known from the
other flat fish by each jaw having a single row of obtuse teeth, a
spine at the beginning of the anal fin, and a rounded tail. The
body is rhomboidal, and the eyes are generally on the right side.
The plaice has a smooth body, with six tubercles on its head. It is
considered one of the most flabby and worst of the flat fish. It
weighs from f of a lb. to 3 or 4 lb. b. Flounder (Platessa plesus).
The body of the flounder or fluke is smooth, and it has a band of
sharp spines on the side lines and at the junction of the anal and
dorsel fins with the body. It is in season from January to March,
and from July to September, c. Dab (Platessa Limanda) has scales,
and is rather less and thinner than the flounder. It spawns in May,
and is out of season in that and the following month, d. Halibut
(Hippoglossus vulgaris) may be known by its slender pointed teeth,
its elongated body, and lunated tail. It is a large fish, sometimes
weighing 200 lb." Its flesh is white and good, although by many
not much esteemed. In Scotland it is very frequently sold as tur¬
bot. Holibut is best in season in March, April, and May. e. Tur¬
bot (Rhombus maximus). The genus rhombus may be known by their
thick-set pointed teeth, eyes being generally placed on the left side,
and entire mouth. The turbot itself is the most esteemed of all the
flat fishes, and may be known by its numerous round and hardish
tubercles, particularly on its coloured side. Its under side is cream-
coloured, and on this side it has no scales. It has no red spots, which
at once distinguishes it from the plaice. It is often two feet long, and
weighs from 12to201b. It appears to be in season all the year round.
Its flavour, which is so much esteemed, probably depends upon the
crustaceous animals upon which it feeds. Turbot is the dearest of
all fish. Among the Scotch fishermen it is called bannock fluke.
f. Brill (Rhombus vulgaris) may be distinguished from the turbot
(which as food it almost equals) by its not having the tubercles on
its coloured side, and by its colouring, which is fuscous, being spotted
with brown-yellow and white. It has scales, too, on both sides. Brill
is considerably smaller than turbot, from 1 to 3 lb. being a common
weight. It is exposed for sale nearly at all seasons indiscriminately.
Its Scotch name is Bannetfleuk. g. (Solea vulgaris). The genus Solea
is distinguished from the foregoing by its twisted mouth, and by
the jaws of the eye side having no teeth. The sole inhabits the
sandy shores of our island, and its meat is very much esteemed,
being firm, white, and delicate. It spawns towards the end of
February, and is out of season for a few weeks afterwards. A sole
weighs from f lb. upwards. 21. Eel (Anguilla vulgaris) is one of
the fishes that contains oil amongst its muscular texture. In shape
it resembles a snake. Its scales are not visible to the naked eye.
It is considered to afford good food, but to be difficult of digestion.
It is always in season. A pound is a common weight of an eel,
although eels very often attain a much larger size. The conger-eel
(a permanent inhabitant of salt water) may be known by the mar¬
gins of its fins being black. It grows to an enormous size, some¬
times attaining a weight of 100 lb. In the Peninsula it is dried
and powdered for the purpose of putting into ragouts, but it is
seldom eaten in Scotland. The little sand-eel, common on our
sandy shores, is properly a launce. 22. Wolf or Cat-fish (Anarrhichas
lupus) is common, and may be recognised by its very ugly appear¬
ance, and by its dorsal fin extending the whole length of the back.
It furnishes, nevertheless, very good food. In Scotland it is im¬
properly sold as John Dory—a fish altogether different. Its com¬
mon weight is 3 or 4 lb. 23. Perch (Perea fluviatilis). The common
perch may be known by the spines of its first, dorsal fin. It spawns
in the beginning of May, and is out of season for a few weeks
afterwards. It is considered one of the best of our fresh-water
fishes. Sometimes it attains a weight of several pounds, but one
pound is perhaps more than an average. 24. Gurnard (Trigla
cuculus). This (like other members of the genus) is common on
the English and Irish coasts, weighs about 3 lb., is in season from
October to the end of winter, and is considered to afford good food.
25. Red Mullet (Mullus surmuletus) is taken on the south-western
coasts of England, but rarely on our northern shores. It is about a
foot long, is in best season in May and June (although sold at all
seasons), and is regarded as very excellent food. The gray mullet
(Mugil capelo) is a fish of a different genus, and is abundant on
the south and west coast of England. It is 1£ feet long, and its
flesh is esteemed. The roe is sometimes made into caviare. It is
one of the few fishes that are sometimes artificially fattened. 26.
Mackerel (Scomber vulgaris) one of the most beautiful and delicious
of our fishes, is in season from May to the end of summer. It is
more common in the southern than in the northern part of our
FOOD.
765
Food. coast. For some reason not well understood, it is apt to become
rapidly putrescent after it is taken from the sea. An ordinary
length is from 12 to 18 (sometimes even 20) inches, and the weight
from 1 to 1^- lb. The tunny mackerel ox* common tunny (Scomber
Thynnus) is sometimes taken on the western coast of Scotland. It is
from 3 to 6 feet long, and like sturgeon its flesh resembles that of
quadrupeds. It is much esteemed in France. 27. John Dory or
Boree (Zeus Faber) is not a common fish, but is occasionally caught on
the Cornish and Devonshire coasts. It is a very ugly animal—its
head being disproportionately large for its body. It is very much
esteemed. It is in season at the end of spring, and commonly
weighs 4 or o lb. Unless kept for a day or two after being caught,
it is tough.
e. Invertebrated Animals.—a. Crustaceans animals having shelly
coverings and feet.—1. Lobster (Astacus marinus or grammarus). This
animal, improperly called a shell-fish, inhabits all the northern seas.
The full-grown ones are in season from October to May, but small ones
are eaten all the year round. Lobsters are of a blue-black colour,
but when boiled their shell assumes a bright red. The male is
known by its narrower tail, and is most esteemed, particularly
during winter, but the female is found superior for some culinary
purposes. The muscular parts of the lobster and of the three suc¬
ceeding animals contain (we have no exact analysis) fibrine, gelatine,
and a peculiar principle to which they probably owe their flavour,
and also perhaps their indigestibility. Theeommon cray/sAMstacws
palinurus) is similar but inferior to the lobster. 2. Crab (Cancer
pagurus). The crab is very abundant on all our rocky shores. It
is in season all the year except May, June, and July, although in¬
dividuals may be obtained fit for the table at any season. The male
is usually preferred. 3. Shrimp (Crangon vulgaris). This little animal
is common on our sandy shores. It is nearly transparent; but when
boiled it becomes of a brownish-red colour. 4. The prawn (Palcemon
serratus) is analogous to the shrimp, but considerably larger, b. Mol¬
luscous animals without feet. 1. Oyster (Ostrea edulis). This much-
esteemed animal is in season from September to April. In May it
spawns, and requires all the summer to recruit its condition. Oysters
are abundant on our shores, where they stick to rocks or other solid
bodies, but they are often collected and fattened in beds. They
contain about 12 per cent, of albuminous matters, and are therefore
moderately nutritious. 2. Cockle (Cardium edule). This little
bivalve burrows in the sand about low-water mark. It is in sea¬
son in spring, and is palatable. The pecten, the razor-fish, the
periwinkle and whelk, are analogous molluscous animals which are
sometimes used as food, chiefly by the common people. 3. Mussel
(Mytylus edulis). The sea-mussel lives in flocks on hard ground
above low-water mark. It has a peculiar beard by which it sticks
to the sand or rock. It is in season in autumn and in spring. It is
occasionally poisonous.
f. Insects.—Perhaps with the exception of the locust and some larvae
no insect is used by man as food. Honey, however, the produce of the
bee, is largely used by man. It is probably somewhat modified from
its original state in the flower by secretions from the bee. Honey con¬
sists of two kinds of sugar, one that will crystallize and therefore be
separated in the solid form, and one that will not. It also contains
colouring and odoi’ous matter (and some other matters) derived from
the flowers upon which the bees feed, and its flavour consequently
varies with the plants from which it is gathered. Fermented honey
is mead—a drink now little used. Honey may be used as sugar,
and supplies the system with carbon.
g. Aqueous Aliment.— Water. As nearly four-fifths of the body of
man consists of water, this fluid is a necessary ingredient in his food.
All the so-called solid matter that he eats, as has been before stated,
contains it most abundantly. It is almost certain that a portion of
the water taken into the stomach is decomposed in the system, and
yields oxygen and hydrogen. Spring water usually contains a small
quantity of saline ingredients derived fi’om the rocks through which
it has flowed. When it contains much lime or magnesia it is said
to be hard. It often too contains a little organic matter.
h. Condiments. Only one condiment, common salt (the action
of which is inexplicable, none of the theories proposed regarding
it being satisfactory), is absolutely necessary, but in civilized
countries several others are used for the purpose of promoting the
appetite and stimulating the digestion. And notwithstanding the
stereotyped outcry, there can be no doubt but that if used in modera¬
tion they are conducive to health. 1. Common salt is obtained
from sea-water and also from salt mines, which are portions of
beds of extinct seas. It is indispensable to all food, but it is not
known whether it acts as food itself (to afford sodium and chlorine)
or for some other purpose. Perhaps it is necessary to form the
hydrochloric acid of the stomach. However this may be, every
adult man consumes a considerable quantity of it. Two kinds are
known in commerce, bay salt or large crystallized salt, and white,
basket, or small crystallized salt. Salt is also used for preserv¬
ing articles of food, and for this purpose the large or bay salt
is preferred. Many specimens of salt contain magnesia, but it is Food,
essentially composed of chlorine and sodium. The notion that
salt or salted meats produce scurvy is erroneous. When this
disease breaks out at sea it is not the presence of salted food
but the absence of fresh vegetables that excites it. 2. Vinegar.
What is sold in the shops as vinegar is diluted acetic acid. Four
strengths are sold, called Nos. 18, 20, 22, and 24 ; No. 22 is the
best for domestic purposes. Vinegar is often adulterated with sul¬
phuric acid. A small quantity of it is probably assimilated and sup¬
plies the system with carbon. It is frequently flavoured with capsi¬
cum, tarragon, &c.; and pickles, although the vegetables in them go
for something, are essentially spiced vinegar. The use of vinegar
as an antiseptic will be afterwards considered. When fresh vege¬
tables cannot be regularly obtained, as in voyages, a liberal allow¬
ance of vinegar is found very conducive to health (see Section V.)
Lemon-juice, which is a diluted solution of citric acid, is also used
advantageously for the last-mentioned purpose. 3. Spices. Nearly
all the spices are natives of tropical countries, contain aromatic
and stimulating essential oils, and yield little or no nutriment, but
are unquestionably useful in artificial states of society as promoting
appetite and digestion. The most important of them are the peppers,
turmeric, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, mace, ginger, and pimento.
4. Seasoning and Sweet Herbs. These resemble the preceding, but
are natives of our own climate. They all contain an essential oil,
and unquestionably are, if taken in small quantities, useful. The
most common of them are mustard, horse-radish, parsley, tarragon,
thyme, sage, mint, savoy, and tansy. Capers, which belong to this
class, are imported in a salted state from the Levant. 5. Sauces
and Compound Condiments. These are also useful flavouring in¬
gredients. Catsup is the seasoned juice of mushrooms, and some¬
times of green walnuts. Soy ought to be the juice of the Bolichos
Soja, a Japanese plant, but is usually a mixture of fermented pease-
juice, catsup, and spices. Anchovy sauce is a solution of anchovies
and spices. Curry-powder is a mixture of turmeric, pepper, corian¬
der, ginger, and other flavouring ingredients. The various sauces
of the shops have for their base catsup, and their difference con¬
sists in their seasoning ingredients.
III.—The Modes of Preparing Food for Human Use, and
the rationale of their respective actions.
Most animal and vegetable articles of food are exposed to heat
before being used. The effect of this is in albuminous compounds
to coagulate the albumen, to promote the formation of osmazome
and kreatine, and to expel a portion of the water (and fat, if
any be present). Heat applied to starchy compounds (if, as is
always the case, water be present) causes them to swell, and the
starch grains split, and form more or less of a homogeneous
mass, and in this way they become more palatable, and also in
a state that the digestive juices can act better upon them. And
vegetables too, in some manner which it is not easy to explain, lose
by the application of heat a great part of their acidity, and some¬
times sugar is formed in the process. The operations of cooking
may be divided generally into roasting, baking, broiling, frying,
boiling, and stewing, and to these may be added the making of
bread, the processes connected with vinous fermentation, distilla¬
tion, and vinegar-making. 1. Roasting. Professor Wallace many
years ago made some experiments relative to the loss of weight
sustained during this process, and he found that taking 10 lb. joints,
the average loss of 100 lb. of beef in roasting was 32 lb., of necks
of mutton 35 lb., of shoulder of mutton 3l£ lb., and of legs of mut¬
ton 21^ lb. But in Professor Wallace’s experiment fatter meat was
probably used than what is customary now ; and he did not ascer¬
tain the amount of bone. The inquiries of Donovan are more in¬
structive, and the conclusion that he came to is that the loss in
roasting in the best piece of beef (as the sirloin), is 19£ per cent.,
in a fore-quarter of lamb 22£, in a goose 19|, in a turkey a little
more, in a duck 27^-, and in a chicken 14j per cent. The propor¬
tion of the bones in a i-oasted joint of meat, as ascertained by the
same experimenter, is also important. He took a piece of the longer
ribs of beef that weighed 111 lb. This when roasted lost 2 lb. 6
oz., of which 28 oz. were water and 10 fat, &c. The meat was then
dissected from the bones, and these were found to weigh 16 oz.
Consequently, of the original joint which weighed more than 11 lb.
there was less than 8 lb. of meat; so that if it was bought at 8Jd.
a lb., the roasted beef that could be actually consumed would cost
more than Is. a lb. Part of a sirloin of beef that weighed 12 lb.
lost by roasting 44 oz., of which 27 were water and 17 fat, &c.
The bones weighed 2 lb., and the beef that was actually suitable for
eating weighed 7J lb. Hence if the cost of the joint were at the
rate of 8£d. per lb., the value of the roasted meat would be Is. 2d.
per lb. A leg of mutton that weighed when bought 9^ lb., lost
when roasting 1 lb. of fat, &c., and 14 oz. of water. The bone
weighed 16 oz. Only 6 lb. 6 oz. were left, and if the butcher had
766
Pood.
v—
FOOD.
charged 8d. per lb., the cooked meat would cost more than lid. per
lb. Lamb, it was found, lost a little more by roasting than mutton.
A goose (not stuffed) prepared for roasting weighed lb. When
roasted it was found to have lost 18 oz., and the bones weighed
12 oz. The edible part that remained, therefore, if the goose sold at
Is. alb. would be worth Is. 8£d. A turkey properly trussed weighed,
including its liver and gizzard, 6 lb. 11 oz. It lost 20 oz. in roast¬
ing, and its skeleton weighed nearly 14 oz., the weight of its edible
part being 4 lb. 10 oz. Had the original price of the turkey been
os. the value of the roasted meat would be Is. Id. According to
the same authority, a duck when prepared for roasting weighed
1 lb. 10J- oz. In roasting it lost 6£ oz., and the bones weighed 4 oz.
The edible portion was therefore only about 1 lb. ; and if the duck
cost 2s. or Is. 8d., the food it yielded would be this sum per lb.
A fowl weighing 1J lb. lost 3 oz. when roasted, and its skeleton
weighed 3J oz. The edible portion therefore was 16£ oz. At the
price fowls commonly sell at, the cost of the roasted meat would be
Is. 6d. per lb. 2. Baking. The difference between roasting and
baking consists in tlfis, that in the latter process there is no free
current of air allowed, the result of which is, that less water is
evaporated, and that also less oil is expressed out. Hence baked
meat is partly roasted by the hot air, and partly boiled in its own
water and fat. Wallace found that 100 lb. of meat lost in baking
30 lb., being 2 per cent, more than the same quantity, in his experi¬
ments, lost when roasted. 3. Broiling. This is a very rapid mode of
roasting, by means of applying more intense heat, the substance to
be cooked being placed immediately over instead of before the fire.
The albumen at the outside of meat so cooked is immediately coa¬
gulated, and a little crust formed, which (unless the meat be pricked
with a fork), prevents the escape of much water, fat, or gelatine.
4. Boiling. The following experiments of Donovan’s show the loss
sustained by boiling various articles of food, and consequently the
value of the soup. A piece of flank of beef weighing 10 lb., had
8 oz. of bone. It was boiled and found to lose 23 oz. Supposing,
therefore, it cost 6d. per lb., its price when cooked would be 7£d.
A leg of mutton weighed 9£ lb. When boiled its bone including
its shank weighed 1 lb., and the loss of the meat was 1 lb. 2 oz.
If it cost 8d. a lb., it would be worth when boiled lOJd. A ham
without its shank that weighed 8 lb. was boiled. The bone weighed
8 oz., and the loss by boiling was 1 lb., and by skinning and brown¬
ing (a partial roasting) I lb. The meat that was left therefore
weighed 6 lb. Had the ham cost lOd. per lb., when cooked it would
be worth Is. lljd. per lb. A piece of bacon that previously weighed
4 lb., lost by boiling 4 oz. The bone weighed 2f oz., and the skin
and loss by boiling amounted to J lb. The edible portion weighed
3 lb. 1 oz. If it originally cost 8d. a lb., the meat when cooked
would be worth lOJd. per lb. A turkey that weighed 4J lb. and
which cost 3s. 6d., lost 12 oz. in boiling, and its bones weighed 10
oz. The edible portion therefore amounted to 3 lb. 2 oz., and had
cost at the rate of 13d. per lb. A chicken that weighed 1^ lb., lost
3|- oz. by boiling, and its bones weighed 4 oz. This left 12J
of meat, which, if the chicken cost Is. 6d., was worth nearly 2s. per
lb. A turbot that weighed 9 lb. and cost 7s., lost in boiling 8 oz.
"and its bones weighed 21 oz. Hence its edible part after cooking
amounted to lljd. per lb. The following table prepared from the
same source shows the average loss from roasting and boiling:—
per cent.
Loss in roasting beef, 19£
... mutton, 24f
... turkey, 20^
... chicken, 14f
per cent.
Loss in boiling salt beef, 15
... mutton, 10
... turkey, 16
chicken, 13J-
a. Soup-making. Soup is a decoction in water of a good deal of
gelatine, some fibrine, albumen, phosphate of lime, other salts, and
osmazome. The fibrine, however, rises to the surface and is skimmed
off. Of course, vegetables, as will be seen by a reference to their
chemical composition, yield exactly the same kind of soup as butcher
meat or fish. In practice, however, a mixture of animal and vege¬
table matter well boiled is found to afford the most economical soup.
Animal soup probably contains little albumen, but when vegetables
are boiled down, their albuminous proximate principles are quite
mixed up with the fluid. This is probably the reason that the
vegetable or nearly vegetable soups so much employed by the
labouring classes in Scotland and France are found to produce in
their consumers such a high degree of material vigour. Soup also
perhaps contains some kreatine and certainly generally lactic acid ;
and Liebig affirms that the addition of the latter (in the form of sour
krout) improves the flavour of the soup; but the experience of
Lnglish gastronomists at least scarcely confirms this opinion. The
same distinguished chemist also affirms that chloride of potassium
improves the piquancy of soup. 4. Stewing. By this method of
pieparing meat, less of the principles of the meat are absorbed by
t!ie surrounding menstruum, and the greater portion of the gelatine
in particular remains among the coagulated albumen. Hence stew¬
ing is an economical form of cooking. 5. Frying. In this culinary Food,
process it is probable that a portion of the glycerine of the fat is ^ .
decomposed, and that a new substance or principle is formed,
which principle seems somewhat difficult of digestion. 6. Bread*
making. Common fermented wheaten bread is made by mixing
flour, water, salt, and some albuminous matter, either yeast or
leaven (i. e. a piece of old bread), and placing the compound in a
warmish situation. Two catalytic actions very soon begin; a por¬
tion, and the greater portion, of the sugar, is converted into alcohol
and carbonic acid; the greater part of the former of these compounds
is evaporated (by the after heat of the baking), but the carbonic
acid gas is retained among the tenacious gluten, and produces the
vesicular structure that characterizes ordinary fermented bread.
Then some of the starch is likewise converted into sugar. If the
alcoholic fermentation be allowed to go on too long, it runs into the
acetous, and the bread consequently becomes sour. It is said that
the salt employed in the mixture, besides communicating flavour,
communicates stiffness to the dough, probably by abstracting some
of its water. After these changes have taken place the bread is
baked, the result being that a considerable quantity of water and
the alcohol are driven off and the albumen is coagulated. 100 lb.
of flour produce 139 lb. of bread ; but the apparent gain is derived
from the water that is used—the flour being diminished in quantity
by the conversion of part of it into alcohol and carbonic acid. The
baker often adds potato-flour and also alum to his dough. The lat¬
ter adulteration makes the loaf whiter, but is highly injurious to
the consumer. Brown or household bread differs from white bread,
in the flour of which it is made containing more or less of bran.
Rolls are made to ferment more rapidly than loaf bread by adding
more ferment, and hence are more porous. None but wheaten flour
is used in this country for making leavened bread, but formerly rye
or black bread, still so common abroad, was extensively employed.
For many years occasional attempts have been made to make bread
spongy by adding to the dough, in place of yeast, hydrochloric acid
and carbonate of soda. Carbonic acid is given off, which mixes
among the gluten and makes the bread light, and chloride of sodium
or common salt is left behind. In this manner the waste caused by
the conversion of the sugar into alcohol is avoided. Properly pre¬
pared gingerbread is rendered porous in a similar manner. Car¬
bonate of potassa and treacle are added to the dough. Treacle
contains a free acid which combines with the potassa salt and liber¬
ates the carbonic acid. Some kinds of light bread are rendered
porous by adding carbonate of ammonia to the dough, the ammonia
of which is expelled by the heat of the oven; and some cakes are
made light by the addition of carbonate of magnesia. Wheat flour
is also used unfermented in various ways—as in pastry, biscuits,
macaroni, &c. &c. (See Baking). 7. Wine and Vinegar Making.
Grape wine is now rarely made in this country, as the grape grown
out of doors rarely contains sugar to afford an alcoholic mixture that
is strong enough. Raisin wine, however, it is believed, is pretty
extensively made, and the greater part of it sold as sherry. Do¬
mestic wines are made by fermenting the juices of currents, goose¬
berries, and other fruits, with the addition of sugar and tartaric
acid, and frequently a little spirit. Vinegar is oxidated alcohol,
and is usually prepared by fermenting a saccharine solution, and
then exposing the diluted alcohol thereby obtained to the air.
IV.— The Modes of Preserving Articles of Food from
Decomposition.
The elements that compose all living structures, vegetable or ani¬
mal, are grouped together in obedience to certain laws of vital affinity.
But this obedience is transitory, and whenever life departs from an
animal or plant, they tend to, and ultimately always do, return to
the dead world, and become subject to the laws of chemistry. The
series of changes that they undergo in thus passing from one arrange¬
ment of their elements to another is termed putrefaction, and consists
mainly in the followingprocesses :—The carbon absorbs oxygen from
the air, and carbonic acid is formed and given off; some of the hydro¬
gen and oxygen unite together and form water, and another portion
of the hydrogen unites with the nitrogen (if any be present) and
forms ammonia, while another portion of it unites respectively with
carbon, phosphorus, and sulphur, the results being carburetted, phos-
phuretted, and sulphuretted hydrogen gases, the last of which com¬
municates a great part of the disagreeable odour of putrefying food.
Very probably, too, kreatine, &c., are formed and decomposed during
the putrefying process. An albuminous substance putrefies the
most rapidly, owing to its albuminous compounds acting catalyti-
cally as a ferment. A purely saccharine or oleaginous substance
putrefies much more slowdy, and is only resolved into water and
carburetted hydrogen, and hence has little bad smell. It often
becomes previously converted into vinegar. In order, however,
that putrefaction take place, trvo conditions are necessary—in the
first place, water must be present, and it is indispensable, at
0 D.
F 0
least for rapid putrefaction, 1st, That the alimentary matter he
exposed to oxygen, or, what comes to the same thing, to air. This
enables us to understand why one article of food putrefies so much
sooner than another. If a piece of meat, for example, be exposed
to the atmosphere, say in the month of September, along with a
bone and a potato, the meat being fully exposed to the air, and
containing a large proportion of albuminous matter and water,
soon putrefies ; while the other two—the one containing little water,
and the other protected from the air by its skin, retain their struc¬
ture for a number of months. 2d, Heat, in virtue of the power
it possesses of removing its atoms from one another, strongly pre¬
disposes to putrefaction ; so also does the presence of any other
putrefying substance, which seems to act catalytically. This action
may be counteracted by excluding the air or the water, and also
by the use of certain antiseptic substances, as salt, sugar, vinegar, &c.,
the action of most of which, however, is to be explained by the pro¬
perty that they possess of acting upon air or of abstracting water.
If meat appear likely to become tainted, it may be preserved for a
few days by any of the following means :—It may be kept enveloped
in a wet cloth, which in consequence of the evaporation produces cold;
it may be slightly smeared over with pyroligneous acid; it may be
surrounded by a little powdered charcoal, which absorbs the sul¬
phuretted hydrogen and other decomposing gases; or it may be
kept in an atmosphere of creasote. This last seems to be a most
effectual plan, and Dr Stenhouse of Glasgow reports most favour¬
ably of its success, not only with himself, but also with a butcher
who tried it. 1. Articles of food may be preserved from putrefac¬
tion for a very considerable time by expelling the water they contain
by the action of heat. Indeed something of this kind is occasionally
witnessed in nature; and in hot sandy deserts where rain seldom
or never falls, the bodies of camels and of travellers are found un¬
decomposed, and have probably been so for ages. Advantage is
seldom taken in this country to preserve vegetables in this manner,
although the kiln-drying of wheat and other grains is partly a
process of this nature, and the usual manner of preserving sweet or
pot-herbs is essentially so. Abroad, and sometimes perhaps here,
apples and pears are sliced and put into a heated oven, so as to
expel the water, and the fruit thus dried may be kept for a con¬
siderable time. The flesh of mammals is rarely so preserved in this
country, but the Indians thus prepare pemmican, an imitation of
which made of beef, but which is generally also smoked, has been
employed in our Arctic expeditions. It was in this way the buc¬
caneers preserved their beef. Portable soup is essentially a dried
meat. It is made by preparing a strong beef soup from a bony
piece, as the leg of an ox, skimming off the fat, and then evaporat¬
ing the water. According to Liebig, the test for distinguishing
the true extract of flesh from the spurious imitation, which consists
almost entirely of gelatine, is that 80 per cent, of the true extract
is soluble in alcohol, and only 4 or 5 of the gelatine cakes. 2. Many
articles may be preserved from putrefaction by means of solidify¬
ing the water they contain by applying cold. Water becomes solid
at 32°, and when the water of a structure has been thus converted
into ice all putrefaction is impossible. Thus the fossil elephant
that was found imbedded in Siberia was quite fresh although it had
probably been so imbedded for thousands of years. This mode
of preserving food, however, is not applicable to vegetables, for the
starch of a frozen vegetable is almost certain to be converted by frost
into sugar. But in cold countries, as in the north of Russia, Canada,
&c., it is very extensively used as a means of preserving flesh, whole
animals being often frozen, and thus kept throughout winter. If,
however, frozen meat be not gradually and slowly thawed by being
at first immersed in cold water, putrefaction comes on so rapidly
that the meat is unpalatable. In this country butcher meat is seldom
or never preserved in this manner ; but fish, especially salmon, is
so on a very large scale. Every salmon-fishery of any consequence
in Scotland has an ice-house, and the salmon intended for the English
markets are packed in the ice and thereby frozen or nearly frozen.
In this manner they reach their destination in a fresh state. The
fishmongers too preserve their other fish in a similar manner. 3.
Articles of food may also be preserved from putrefaction by exclud¬
ing them from air. This has long been done in a great variety of
ways. The oldest and most imperfect of these is potting, which is
usually performed by beating up the meat into a paste, then putting
it into jars and covering it up with clarified butter. Another
variety of meat similarly preserved is the common sausage. The
exclusion of air, however, is only partial, and consequently sausages
do not keep very long. This defect is obviated in the Bologna sausage
by smoking the meat of which it is made. Long ago, Mr Boyle
tried the experiment of keeping food in an exhausted receiver,
and he found that no putrefaction took place; but the plan of
preserving food by thoroughly excluding the air was scarcely
carried into practice until 1810, when M. Appert (who seems
to have been quite ignorant of Boyle’s experiments) published
his plan of effecting this, and received a reward for it from the
French government. Since then his method, with some modi- Food
fications of detail, has been extensively pursued. It consists in v
first coagulating the albumen of the animal and vegetable struc- ^
ture to be preserved by parboiling it, and thus attaining two ends,
the coagulated albumen being far less disposed to putrefy than un¬
coagulated, and a great portion of air being drawn off; and secondly,
in putting the parboiled food in jars or bottles (the latter in the
case of liquids), and plunging these into boiling water, which expels
a great portion of the remaining air contained in the food. Some
air indeed always remains, but the oxygen of most of it combines
with carbon and forms carbonic acid; why, it is not very easy to
say. The jars ai-e then hermetically sealed, and their impervious¬
ness to air tested. At present, instead of bottles tin canisters are
employed, and these have the additional advantage of collapsing a
little from atmospherical pressure. As, however, some air is left,
the food eventually putrefies. Meat prepared in this manner sells
from Is. 3d, to 2s. a lb., soup from 2s. upwards per quart, and milk
at about Is. a pint. The various plans followed for the preserva¬
tion of eggs all depend upon the exclusion of air. A simple plan
is to stop up the pores of the shell by smearing the eggs with some
unctuous substance, as suet. Another mode is to pack the eggs in
bran, salt, &c. A third is to boil them for a few seconds, and thus
form a small layer of coagulated albumen underneath the shell. It
should be observed that eggs are very apt to contract an unpleasant
flavour from the readiness with which they absorb odorous effluvia.
Thus, when packed in old straw, their flavour is frequently much
affected. 4. Articles of food may be preserved from putrefaction by
means of salt. This plan has been practised from time immemorial,
and in this country, before the turnip culture allowed the farmer to
furnish continuous supplies of butcher meat, was even much more
extensively used than now. One part of the action of the salt is to
abstract a great part of the water, another is to abstract the juices
from the outside (thereby forming brine), and thus to envelope
the meat in a hardened case which more or less excludes the air;
but there is probably some other property of the salt of an anti¬
septic nature, the exact nature of which is not known. As all arti¬
cles of food preserved by salt retain a portion of the salt in their
texture, they are always a little firmer in their structure than the
same foods unsalted. In the ordinary manner of salting animal
food, about one-third of the juices, including some of the soluble
albumen, passes off into the brine. If this statement be correct
salted meat is of course much less nutritious than fresh. Lie¬
big proposes to employ a salt that contains chlorides of calcium
and magnesium. The lime and magnesia, according to him,
unite with the phosphates of the juice and cover the meat with
a crust or white froth of phosphates of lime and magnesia which
effectually keep in the juices. It is generally believed among
practical salters that the salt which occurs in large crystals or bay
salt is preferable to the finer kind, and as bay salt is not so pure
as the fine, this would appear to confirm Liebig’s hypothesis.
In salting a piece of meat or of fish, the salt is generally rubbed
in, and the brine allowed to run off, and in this case it is then dried
and frequently smoked. When the food is kept immersed in the
brine it is said to be pickled. Vegetables are sometimes salted dry,
but generally pickled. It is also very common to add nitrate of
potassa or saltpetre in the salting of flesh. This substance acts as
an antiseptic by abstracting water, but it also forms a compound
of a red colour with meat. Sugar, another antiseptic, is also now
commonly added to the salt and salt brine, and frequently -also
spices for the purpose of communicating a flavour. 5. Articles
of food may be preserved from putrefaction by means of sugar
alone. Sugar is a powerful antiseptic, part of its action being
owing to its abstraction of water; but it also possesses a peculiar
but inexplicable power of preventing a substance with which it is
placed in contact from obtaining oxygen. Sugar, however, although
much employed mixed with salt, is seldom used alone to preserve
animal food; some fish, as salmon and mackerel, are occasionally
so preserved, but the great application of sugar in this respect is
to vegetables. Sometimes fruits are preserved in a strong syrup
(strong toprevent it running into the alcoholic fermentation); some¬
times the water of the syrup is evaporated, the result being a dry
confect or a candy; sometimes a portion of the water of a fruit is
evaporated, and then sugar added, the result being a jam when it
is pretty moist, and a marmalade when it is drier; and sometimes
only the juice of a fruit is preserved, and in this case the product
is called a jelly. Honey is equally efficacious as sugar in these
respects, but it is seldom so used. Fruits preserved by means of
honey used formerly to be called confections. 6. Articles of food
may also be preserved by means of pyroligneous and acetic acids.
Under this head may not only be included the direct application
of the acids, but also the employment of creasote and of wood smoke.
The action of all these is the same, and consists in coagulating the
albumen at the surface, and thereby preventing the access of air.
The application of creasote to meat to protect it for a few days has
FOOD.
been noticed above; but if meat be dipped in it and then dried, it
may be kept for a very long time without decomposing; but this
process is rarely adopted in this country, dhe smoke of burning
wood, however (which contains creasote), is very much employed
to cure both meat and fish. These substances are usually first salted
and then exposed to the smoke of bark or oak-wood, to which juni¬
per, rosemary, &c., are sometimes added. Bacon hams, tongues,
pieces of beef, herrings, salmon (then called kippered salmon), are
extensively treated in this manner, and haddocks (then named
Finnan or Findon) are preserved by wood smoke alone, without
any application of salt. It is now known, that if a piece of meat
or a fish be slightly smeared over with pyroligneous acid, or dipped
in it for a few seconds, it is protected from putrefaction, and has
the same flavour as smoked food. Common vinegar obtained from
alcohol is not used for preserving any article of food derived from
a mammal, but it is used to coagulate the albumen of some fish,
as salmon and herrings, and of some mollusca, as oysters. The an¬
tiseptic properties of ^inegar, however, are principally taken ad¬
vantage of for the purpose of preserving vegetables. As vegetables
contain much water, it is necessary either to use a strong vinegar,
or to abstract a portion of the water of the vegetable intended to
be acted upon. In practice the latter is done by adding salt to the
vegetable, and pouring off the brine that is in that manner obtained.
Sour krout so much used abroad, is also in part a pickle, but the
cabbage of it would seem to undergo also a fermentation of its own,
in which probably lactic acid is formed. 7. Articles of food may
also be preserved in alcohol, which acts by coagulating the albu¬
men ; but owing to its expense it is never applied to animal food,
and only on a small scale for preserving some of the finer fruits.
V.— The Principles of Dietetics.
The human body consists of the following elementary bodies va¬
riously combined together,—oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon,
sulphur, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium, chlo¬
rine, and iron. These are probably arranged so as to form water,
albuminous proximate principles, oleaginous ones, and to a very
small extent saccharine ones, all these being grouped together so as
to form flesh, glands, bones, &c. All these elements must be taken
into the human body in the form of food, and they must exist in the
combinations that they have acquired in vegetables or in animal flesh
that has been nourished on vegetables, either directly or indirectly,
through the medium of a herbivorous feeding animal. But even
when an adult man has taken into his stomach the amount of the
above elements that he requires, either in the form of vegetable
or animal nutriment, and has by means of his organs of digestion
and assimilation converted them into his owrn oleaginous, albu¬
minous, and other principles, these elements can only remain a
part of his frame for a very limited time. After a short interval
they become putrid and poisonous, and are cast olf as excretions.
The weight of these excretions correspond each day, in a healthy
individual, exactly with the weight and the food that, under the
guidance of appetite, is taken in the same period, with this excep¬
tion, that a large amount of carbon in the form of wine, alcohol, fat,
&c., requires to be likewise received into the system to serve as fuel,
combine with oxygen, and so keep up the animal heat. In a grow¬
ing person, as a child, there is required an amount of food which,
besides replenishing the daily waste, will also afford material for
the mew structure that is daily being added to the bulk. It may be
also stated, that the rapidity with which the structures are wasted
and the carbon consumed, depends very much on the amount of
exercise that is taken ; and accordingly the daily quantity of food
varies in different individuals, and in the same individuals in dif¬
ferent circumstances.
From the structure of the teeth, and from the relative conforma¬
tion of the stomach and intestines, comparative physiologists judge
that man is omnivorous, and facts in his habits certainly confirm
the conclusion. Many men, as the natives of Bengal and other
countries, live entirely upon vegetables ; and others, as the Esqui¬
maux, altogether upon animal food, while most examples of the
human species use a mixed diet of animal and vegetable matter ;
and the majority of people find it most convenient to obtain a por¬
tion of their supply of carbon from fermented drinks, or from
drinks distilled from such. The number of people who abstain
from fermented drinks, however, proves that the requisite amount
of carbon may be obtained from saccharine or oleaginous com¬
pounds, the deficiency being in general, probably, made up from
the latter. There appears, nevertheless, to belittle doubt but that,
in order to attain the full perfection of the mental and bodily fa¬
culties, an admixture of animal and vegetable articles of food is
essential; and also that a portion of the carbonaceous supply
should be derived from alcoholic drinks. Those who live almost
entirely upon animal food become stunted in growth, and liable to
ravages of scurvy, and their mental and moral faculties are blunted
and sensual; those who consume only vegetables are generally in- Food,
active and listless, and incapable of either active bodily or mental
labour; and independently of other objections, there is reason to
fear that the offspring of those who abstain entirely from fer¬
mented drinks become in a generation or two enervated in mind
and body. It is probably in this last-mentioned manner that the
decadence of the different Mohammedan nations and races is to be
accounted for, at least in part.
The subject of digestion will be fully treated of in another
place; but it is necessary here to notice some facts connected with
it that have a more immediate bearing upon dietetics. Plants,
and the classes of animals living fixed to a spot, appear to be
almost constantly taking in food, and have no receptacle in which to
close it. The higher animals, as man, have however such, or a
stomach which receives and contains the various articles of food for
some time before they are assimilated. The relative capacity of
this stomach varies much in the different classes of animals. In
the carnivorous, who live upon food that contains little water, and
is therefore concentrated, it is small; in the herbivorous, with the
members of which the contrary is the case, it is very large, while
in man it is midway between the two. The proximate principles
of animals and plants, when taken into this stomach, are acted upon
by the gastric juice there secreted, (and which juice consists of w'ater,
hydrochloric acid, and pepsine,) and are converted into a pulpy mass,
chyme, from which the albuminous, oleaginous, and saccharine prin¬
ciples (the mixture of which is called chyle) are absorbed and poured
into the blood to be expended in nourishing and warming the body.
The length of time that it takes for food to be converted into chyme
varies according to the kind of food taken, in different individuals,
and in the same individuals at different times; for digestion, although
an organic process, is nevertheless influenced by states of the ner¬
vous system. Dr Beaumont made some experiments upon a man w'ho
had an opening into his stomach from his side—the consequence of
a wound. He ascertained the length of time occupied by various
articles of food to become digested. The following are extracts from
his table, but they only give approximative results, and it is certain
that many of them did not hold good in the majority of people
hr.
1
1
1
1
min,
0
0
30
30
Boiled eggs,   3
Beefsteak,   3
Boiled mutton, 3
Roasted mutton, 3
Fried flounder 3
Cheese, 3
hr. min.
0
0
0
15
30
30
Mutton soup, 3 30
Bread,—   3
Broiled veal, 4
Boiled fowl,   4
Roasted do., 4
Boiled salt beef, 4
Boiled pork, 4
Fried veal, 4
Boiled cabbage, 4
30
0
0
0
15
30
30
30
Roast pork, ...5 15
Boiled rice, 
Boiled tripe, 
Boiled salmon trout,.
Fried do.
Broiled venison,  1 45
Boiled tapioca, 2 0
Boiled barley, 2 0
Boiled milk, 2 0
Raw eggs,   2 0
Raw cabbage and vinegar, 2 0
Boiled turkey, 2 25
Roast do 2 30
Roast sucking pig, 2 30
Roast potatoes, 2 30
Roiled beef, 2 45
Baw apples, 2 50
Raw oysters, 2 55
From more satisfactory and often repeated dietetic experiments
it appears certain that food is more rapidly converted into chyme
wrhen cooked than when raw', although some people appear to be
able to digest fruit, salads, and raw oysters with rapidity. Salted
meat appears to be longer of digestion than unsalted, and so also do
pickled vegetables than fresh ones. Animal food is certainly more
rapidly digested when in a state of incipient putrefaction than when
subject to the contraction of tonicity. The meat of young animals
takes longer to become converted into chyme than that of old of
the same kind, owing to the gelatine that it contains requiring a
long time to digest. The old opinion that cooked vegetables are
more difiicult of digestion than cooked animal substance wmuld seem
to be quite unfounded.
With regard to the intervals between meals and the times of tak¬
ing food, strong statements have been made by writers upon dietetics
w'hich have perhaps no very exact foundation. Some carnivorous
animals, as serpents, only require a meal once in several weeks, but
carnivorous mammals seem to need a supply of food once in the
24 hours. Dogs, for example, require feeding once a-day ; but it is
found with regard to them, and also to hyenas, &c., kept in zoolo¬
gical gardens (but it must be remembered that these animals get
very little real active exercise), that two meals a-day decidedly in¬
jure their health. On the other hand, graminivorous animals, as
sheep, oxen, &c., eat almost incessantly. The conformation of the
digestive organs of man, and his omnivorous habits, would indicate
a mean between these two. But he has unquestionably a singular
pow'er of accommodating himself to circumstances with regard to the
interval betw'een his meals. It is plain that one meal a-day was
and even yet is not a very uncommon regimen. But now, espe¬
cially among those classes that labour principally with their minds,
the principal meal or dinner is taken late in the day, and a smaller
FOOD.
Food. meal or breakfast is taken immediately after rising. Members of
those classes who physically labour also take at least two meals, but
such often work for an hour or two before breakfasting, and appear
none the worse for their procrastination. But most of the members
of the first-mentioned class feel their energies and strength not en¬
tirely recruited until some food has been taken, and that if they
do not breakfast immediately after dressing, they experience a sen¬
sation of lassitude and muscular debility during the whole day. If
only two full meals are taken in the day, and the one immediately
after rising in the morning, it seems reasonable enough to eat the
latter, or dinner, in the evening. It is sometimes assumed that
digestion should never stop in the human stomach, and that as
breakfast is soon digested dinner should be taken in the middle of
the day, but there seems to be no good reason for admitting this as
a general rule. Many people, however, do feel exhausted if they do
not take m the middle of the day a small lunch, and experience
shows that if too much albuminous matter be not then taken into
the system the habit is at any rate quite innocuous. The meal called
tea, taken soon after dinner, is in fact a part of dinner. To those
who dine late, suppers, beyond very slight ones, seem unnecessary,
and are certainly often injurious.
There is another important alimentary law which applies to
human dietetics. It is, that without a due and pretty regular allow¬
ance of fresh vegetable food, not only does the strength become im¬
paired, but the very dangerous disease of scurvy is induced. Be¬
fore the present system of agriculture was established this pestilence
was endemic every spring and latter part of winter, and still later
it played fearful ravages among sailors during long voyages. Since,
however, there has been a supply of potatoes and other vegetables
during winter on land, and since some vegetable juices have been re¬
gularly supplied to sailors, the disease has nearly vanished, and has
only occurred occasionally where fresh vegetables have been for
some time neglected to be consumed.
The following then may be laid down as established facts regard¬
ing the philosophy of the food of man :—1. Articles containing
albuminous proximate principles must be frequently received into
the system to supply the continual waste of the economy, and these
may be derived from either the animal or vegetable world. A
mixture of the two, although the amount of nutriment and relative
digestibility be nearly equal, seems the best. 2. A large amount
of food rich in carbon must be also regularly taken into the system
for respiratory purposes, and this may be done by means of oleagin¬
ous animal or vegetable principles, or saccharine principles, or by
means of substances derived from saccharine ones. 3. It is indis¬
pensable to take, besides, some fresh vegetables or vegetable acids.
4. Almost all articles of food are more digestible when cooked than
when raw. 5. The hours of taking food and the intervals between
meals are, with a moderate limit, of little consequence ; and an ap¬
proximation to regularity from day to day seems to be the most
important matter to aim at.
FOOD, Adulterations of. It has long been known that very
fraudulent, and sometimes very unwholesome, adulterations of
food are extensively practised ; but until lately it was not easy
in all cases to pronounce decidedly on the nature of the fraud
that had been committed. Now, however, by means of the
microscope and the chemist’s test tube, there is little diffi¬
culty in so doing, and many important disclosures have by their
use been made. The proprietors of the Lancet employed Dr
Hassall (one of the most accomplished of the microscopical ob¬
servers of our day) to thoroughly investigate the subject, and
his reports have appeared from time to time in that periodical.
As he published the names of the different tradespeople from
whom he bought spurious or adulterated articles of food, and
as none of them have succeeded in disproving (and indeed very
few have ventured to contradict) any of the statements, the
thorough accuracy of the report may be relied upon, and the
facts in this article are based upon it. Although Dr Hassall
purchased the articles of food that he examined from London
shopkeepers, there can be no doubt that the same adulterations
will be found in the provinces. Indeed, the great adulterators
are the wholesale houses, who supply indiscriminately London
and country shopkeepers.
1. Adulterations of articles of food not avowedly of a ma¬
nufactured nature.—Milk, usually supposed to be much adul¬
terated, is comparatively little so. In towns water is generally
added to it, and a portion of the cream is likewise abstracted ;
but chalk, gum, Ac., are very rarely employed (as has often
been alleged) to give the appearance of greater strength. Salted
butter is frequently melted, and when in that state has water
added to it. In this manner fifty per cent, of water may, it is
said, be incorporated. Lard is mixed up with water, potato
flour, and refuse mutton fat, and the amount of the potato
769
VOL. IX.
starch has sometimes been known to amount to twenty per cent.
Oatmeal, in London, and perhaps elsewhere, is extensively
mixed with barley meal; the latter, as it contains so much
more water, only selling for about half the price of the former;
but wheat flour, unless it contains alum (as it perhaps does),
seems quite pure. Arrowroot is adulterated to a large extent.
Of 50 samples, bought from London shops, Dr Hassall found
22 to be impure ; of these, 10 scarcely contained any arrow-
root at all, but were made up of sago, tapioca, and potato
starch ; while in the others there was a considerable admixture
of these cheaper articles. Raw sugar has many impurities,
among which the immense number of acari with which it swarms
are the most disgusting, but it is also extensively mixed with
flour (apparently to make impure dark sugar appear like purer
and lighter-coloured), and perhaps with other foreign ingre¬
dients. Loaf-sugar seems sufficiently pure. Tea is in a la¬
mentable state, for it is meddled with by both the Chinese and
those through whose hands it passes here. With regard to
black tea, Dickson maintains that the Chinese mix with their
exportations of tea to this country many millions of pounds of
leaves of other plants, which they mix with genuine tea plants.
In other respects, however (and even, perhaps, in this), the
Chinese do not adulterate the common black teas, as Congou,
Souchong, and ordinary Pekoe; but other descriptions, as
scented Orange Pekoe and Caper, are, almost without an ex¬
ception, impure; the former by being glazed with black-lead,
and the Caper by being extensively mixed with Paddy and Lie
tea {i.e., an imitation of tea leaves obtained from other plants),
or by not containing any tea leaves at all, but altogether
other leaves sprinkled with tea dust, and made up into little
masses by means of gum, and which masses are glazed with
plumbago, turmeric or Prussian blue, and the whole sprinkled
over with mica, &c. But imitation black teas are also entirely
made up of the leaves of indigenous plants of this country, as
those of sycamore and horse-chestnut, broken down, sprinkled
with catechu (to communicate tannin), dried, and coated -with
gum. But a still more common imposition is to purchase ex¬
hausted tea leaves (which are sold at about 3d. a lb.) from
hotel-keepers and the like, and attempt to imitate fresh tea by
admixture with catechu, gum, sulphate of iron (to strike a dark
colour with the catechu), Prussian blue, logwood, black-lead,
talc, &c. Some of these adulterations—as the Prussian blue,
for example—are calculated to have serious effects upon the
health. Green teas are more adulterated than black ones, a
really unadulterated specimen being very rarely to be met
with. They are mixed in China with leaves of other plants,
are subsequently glazed with gum, Prussian blue, turmeric,
and various other substances, some of which are very unwhole¬
some. Imitation green teas of British manufacture are also
occasionally, perhaps even often, exposed for sale. Coffee,
until the government interfered to prohibit the sale of a mix¬
ture of coffee and chicory as “ coffee,” almost invariably con¬
tained a large, and sometimes an amazingly large, admixture
of chicory. Several contained in addition roasted corn, beans,
potatoes, sometimes red ferruginous earths, and other impuri¬
ties. Ground chicory itself, so much employed to secretly
mix with coffee, is itself an article extremely adulterated.
Nearly a half of the specimens examined were largely so, the
substances employed for the purpose being roasted wheat,
ground acorns, mangold-wurzel, carrots, magohany sawdust’
and ferruginous earths,'—the two latter for the purpose of
communicating colour. Cocoa and chocolate are no better, the
great majority of samples of them being largely mixed with
sugar, and with potato, and other starch ; but a worse adul¬
teration is, that they also contain colouring earthy matter
(usually, probably, of a ferruginous nature, but which some¬
times perhaps have for ingredients red lead and vermilion,
two very dangerous ingredients), and tallow and other fats
seem to be sometimes mixed with them. The acknowledged
substitutes for tea, coffee, and cocoa, as Revalenta, Semola,
Prince of Wales’ Food, &c., &c., are very familiar substances.’
Du Barry’s much vaunted “ Revalenta” is a mixture of pounded
lentils and barley meal, and the syrup that accompanies it is
treacle. Bullock’s “ Semola ” is the gluten of wheat with a
little starch ; and “ the Prince of Wales’ Food” is potato flour.
Ground ginger is very commonly, and very largely adul¬
terated. Dr Hassall found three-fifths of his samples to be so,
the substances admixed being sago-meal, potato flour, com¬
mon flour, ground rice, cayenne pepper, and mustard husks,
5 E
Food.
770
Fools,
Feast of,
II
Foot.
F O 0
and these generally constituting the greater part of the hulk
of the powder. Mustard—i.e., ground—is almost invariably
adulterated, the articles employed for the purpose being flour
and turmeric, and these sometimes constitute nearly the
whole of the article. Pepper is likewise very frequently mixed
with linseed meal, pea meal, powdered mustard, and other
substances cheaper than itself. Cayenne pepper is scarcely
ever sold pure ; and as the adulterations employed are bisul-
nhuret of1 mercury, red lead, and other mineral colouring-
matter, cayenne pepper is often a pretty active poison. In
like manner, curry-powder, of which four samples out of five
were found to be adulterated, frequently contains red lead,
and is therefore very deleterious. Of the other spices, cinnamon
Sd mixed spice are7often impure ; but pimento, mace cloves
and turmeric, are almost always pure Vinegar was found by
Or Hassall to vary a good deal m strength, and also m the
quantity of sulphufic acid that most of it contains; many
samnles containing more of this than was formerly allowed
when the vinegar-makers were under the control of the excise ;
but some specimens, and these very good vinegars, were found
to contain none of it, and this is a satisfactory proof that the
addition of sulphuric acid is by no means necessary to vinegar.
2 Adulteration of articles of food avowedly of a manu¬
factured nature.—Although some of the above adulterations
communicate poisonous properties, yet most of them are fiauds
merely ; some of which, however, must press very severely upon
the artisan, to whom a nominally cheap article is almost irre¬
sistible. But the adulterations now to be noticed are all ot a
deleterious nature, and probably produce an immense amount
of chronic disease, and sometimes indeed speedy. death.
Every sample of bread—forty-nine in number—examined by
Dr Hassell contained alum, indeed the sale of 'stuff (which
is a mixture of alum and salt) to the bakers is carried on on
a very large scale. The object of the baker m using it is to
take advantage of the affinity that it has for water, and thereby
make the bread retain more water than it otherwise would,
and thus give his loaves an artificial weight, and also to whiten
bad and discoloured flour, and make it pass for that of superior
quality. Each 4-lb. loaf contains on an average 82 grains, and
a person consuming two such loaves a-we,ek introduces into his
system in that period 2 drachms and 44 grams of a um—a
quantity which, as alum is a powerful astringent, must be very
injurious, and which probably produces a great deal of the
dyspepsia of large towns. The unnecessary quantity ot salt em¬
ployed by bakers is also for the purpose of retaining water
amongst the bread in unnecessary abundance. The pickles
FOG
sold in bottles in the shops are very bad indeed. In the first Foote,
place few of them, if we take trie definition of pickle as given
in the article Food, are pickles at all. The vegetables are
greened with copper, preserved with salt and water, and
packed into bottles, into which some very weak vinegar and
diluted sulphuric acid are poured. Even the vegetables are
not always genuine, and white cabbage is dyed to pass for red,
slices of turnips made to look like cucumbers, &c. Of twenty
specimens examined by Dr Hassall, the supposed, vinegar never
contained the proper amount cf acetic acid, and in general only
about half. All contained oil of vitriol, and, which is still worse,
all (sixteen were tested for this purpose) salts of copper two
in small quantities only, eight in much, one in considerable,
three in very considerable, one in highly deleterious, and two
in immediately poisonous amount. Ot the extremely inju¬
rious effects upon the health of those who daily eat these
pickles thus contaminated with copper there can be no doubt.
Among the symptoms produced by the continued use of cup¬
reous preparations in small doses are paralysis, chronic inflam¬
mation of the respiratory and digestive apparatus, slow lever,
and wasting of the body. The store sauces are extensively
adulterated'. Of twenty-eight samples of anchovy sauce, twenty-
three contained Armenian bole (a ferruginous earth ol a lull
red colour). All the samples of soy were found to consist ot
treacle and salt, or at least nearly so. Six out of seven bottles
of tomate sauce contained colouring matter, in all cases save
one Armenian bole; and a very extensively used fish sauce
contains acetate of lime and chips of charred wood. JNone
of the sauces, however, were found to contain lead or copper.
This however, is not the case with preserves and jams, and thirty-
three of these out of thirty-five that were tested were found
to be adulterated with copper, and some of them in very large
amount. Fruits preserved in bottles, too, nearly all had copper ;
and French olives in particular contained a large amount. As
in preparing bottled fruits no copper utensils are employed,
the poison must be deliberately added. This, too, must often
be the case with preserves. Articles of sugar-confectionary
are perhaps the most deleterious of all. Besides often contain¬
ing sulphate of lime, which is not wholesome, the greater pro¬
portion of the colours employed are virulent poisons. Among
these may be mentioned red oxide of lead, carbonate ot lead,
and the chromate of lead, carbonate of copper arsemte ot
copper, and bisulphuret of mercury. Accordingly, from time
to time, cases of virulent poisoning follow the use of these
coloured articles of sugar-confectionary. (See also Adultera¬
tion.)
FOOLS, Feast of, a festival anciently celebrated on
New Year’s Day in churches and monasteries, particularly
in France, and said to have been derived from the Saturnalia
of the Romans, The extravagances and indecencies that
prevailed at its celebration occasioned much scandal to the
church, and various attempts w^ere made to suppress it ;
but these for a long period were quite ineffectual, and it
was not until about the fifteenth century that it began
generally to fall into disuse. Many of its characteristic ex¬
travagances are still preserved in the modern carnival. (Du
Tilliot, Memoire pour servir d Vhist&ire de la fete des fousf)
FOOT. See Anatomy, and General Index.
Foot, a measure of length derived from the length of
the human foot, and consisting of 12 linear inches. See
Mensuration ; and for its length in different countries, see
Weights and Measures.
Foot, in Prosody, a measure consisting of certain com¬
binations of long and short syllables. 1 hese combinations,
as enumerated by the best Latin and Greek prosodians,
amount in all to twenty-eight, as may be seen by the fol¬
lowing table :
Pyrrhic 
Spondee  
Trochee  
Iambus 
Tribrach  u
Molossus  -■
Dactyl    — ■
Anapsest  o
Amphibrachys  o - v
Amphimacer  - o —
Bachaeus  ^ —
Palimbacchseus  — v
Proceleusmaticus .... v v v u
Dispondaeus  
Ditrochaeus  — o - v.
Diiambus  \j — \j -
Choriambus     — 'J '
Antispastus    « —-
lonicus a majore  ■
lonicus a minore  o o •
Paeon primus   -
Paeon secundus
Paeon tertius  vv-v
Paeon quartus  o v/ v -
Epitritus primus   
Epitritus secundus... - v —
Epitritus tei tius   —u-
Epitritus quartus.
uaeon secuuuus  „ — „ «  -j
By rejecting such of those feet as are merely compounus
or reduplications, the number of simple feet is reduced to
FOOTE, Samuel, a celebrated English humourist and
actor of the eighteenth century, was born of a good family
at Truro, in Cornwall, in 1720. He was educated at the col¬
legiate school of Worcester, and in his seventeenth year
elected scholar of Worcester College, Oxford. During
his academic career his powers of mimicry and hu¬
mour began to show themselves, and were exercised witii
such success and indiscretion against some of the Univer¬
sity dons, that Foote found it convenient to leave college
in 1740, “without having incurred, however, any public
censure.” He carried away with him a very respectable
amount of classical learning, and entered himself ot the
Temple as a student oflaw. But the pleasures of the town
had greater attractions for him than Coke upon Lyttleton,
and in a short time he had lost a handsome pa nmony a
the gambling-table. It is generally stated that about t is
time Foote married ; but no traces of any such settled con¬
nection are discoverable in his career. I e lac two .ons,
indeed, but they were not born in lawful wedlock, and he
used wittily to excuse his bachelorhood by saying, tha you
F O 0 FOE 771
Foote, must count a lady’s age as you do a hand at picquet, twenty-
five, twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine—
sixty, and he had no ambition to awake one morning and
find himself so unequally matched for the whole length of
a life.” Driven to the stage for support, he made his debut
in the character of Othello ; but finding tragedy ill-suited
to his powers, he renounced it and betook himself to comedy,
in which, however, he only played with mediocre success,
till he began to parts of his own writing. In 1747 he be¬
came manager of the Haymarket theatre, and succeeded in
drawing large crow'ds by his admirable mimicry of all the
social and political notabilities of the day. Pie kept his
theatre open for many years without a patent; but he pro¬
cured one at length through the influence of the Duke of
York in the following manner. Hiding out one day in com¬
pany with that nobleman, he was thrown from his horse, and
received injuries which necessitated the amputation of his
leg. The Duke of York procured for him the long-with¬
held patent by way of compensation for the accident. The
loss of his limb did not force him immediately to quit the
stage, but it undermined his constitution so much that he
disposed ofhis patent to the elder Colman, and only acted
when it suited his humour. His death is said to have been
accelerated by the shock he received from being obliged to
stand a public trial in consequence of an infamous charge
brought against him by an old servant of his own, suborned
by the notorious Duchess of Kingston, whose enmity Foote
had incurred by delineating her character and detailing her
history in one ofhis comedies. In October 1777 he set out
for France with the hope of there recovering his health, but
death arrested his progress at Dover. He w as buried in
Westminster Abbey, where no memorial has yet been erected
in his honour. Common consent has awarded to Foote the
title of the English Aristophanes. In some respects the
epithet is happy enough ; in others it is little short of ridi¬
culous. It was said of the Greek comedian that he wielded
a censorship more formidable than that of the archons; it
is equally true of the Englishman, that he exercised a wider
jurisdiction than any chief-justice of his day. There was
also a strong resemblance between the two satirists in point
of wit, ready and abundant flow of humour, keen sarcasm,
and above all in the audacity with which both employed
their powers in bringing down laughter and scorn upon the
living vices and hypocrisies of their respective eras. But
Aristophanes, had he chosen to devote himself to tragedy,
would have attained to as high eminence in that field as he
has done in comedy. In this he shows to great advantage
beside Foote, who, with comic powers as great, had neither
the imagination nor the wmalth of poetry of the Greek.
Few of Foote’s pieces are now produced on the stage. I he
very qualities which made him so formidable in his own day
have contributed more than anything else to ensure his
being forgotten in ours. His comedies, though containing
admirable delineations of character, were generally pieces
d?occasion, and are consequently devoid of that wide and
general human interest which secures the immortality of an
author. The whims, humours, caprices, and even persons
of his own day were the subjects to which Foote was most
partial. His plays are now more valuable in an historical
than a dramatic point of view, and are now read chiefly by
those who desire to know the spirit of social life in London
during the latter half of last century.
Foote’s most important plays are “ The Minor" levelled
chiefly against the Methodists ; “ The Englishman returned
from Parisf which satirizes the mania for travelling. The
bar is lashed in “ The Lame Lover f debating societies in
“ The Oratorsand newspapers in “ The Bankrupt.”
Those of his pieces which kept the stage longest were “ The
TAar” and “ The Mayor of Garrat,” the humour of which is
less individual than in most of his other plays. Altogether
Foote is likely to be remembered by posterity rather as a
social figure than as a writer or actor. As a converser he is Forage
admitted to have had almost no superior in his own day in II
England, except Johnson. His bon-mots are scarcely infe- Forbes*
rior to any in the English tongue. The personal character
of Foote was in many respects very amiable, He dissipated
thx*ee fortunes, of which he inherited the first and made the
other two, but his heart remained as open to noble influences
at the end of his career as at the beginning. He was utterly
devoid of jealousy, the besetting sin of his craft; and count¬
less instances are recorded ofhis generosity to obscure but
meritorious actors. His friend Jewel erected a monument
to his memory in Dover where he died, and inscribed on it
nothing about his genius or his humour, his acting or his
writing, but merely that “he had a hand as open as day to
melting charity.” (See Quarterly Bevieiv, vol. xcv., p. 483.)
FORAGE, in Military affairs, denotes food of any kind
brought into the camp for the sustenance of the horses, &c.
FORBES, Duncan, of Culloden, one of the most honest
and enlightened of Scottish patriots, was descended from
the Forbeses of Tolquhoun in Aberdeenshire, a branch of
whom had settled in Inverness about the end of the six¬
teenth century. His great-grandfather, the first northern
Duncan Forbes, carried on business in the Highland capital,
exchanging the native products of the country (chiefly
salmon and the skins of game and cattle collected from
every strath and glen) for the conveniences and luxuries to
be had in England and Holland. He built ships, traded
largely, and was able in 1625 to purchase the barony of
Culloden from the laird of Mackintosh. He was also pro¬
vost of the town, and in this capacity it fell to the lot of
“ Grey Duncan” (as from his flowing grey beard he was
usually called) to receive the Marquis of Montrose, a pri¬
soner, on his way from the north to Edinburgh, where
shortly afterwards he was tried and beheaded. Forbes was
a stern old Whig, but it appears he did not, like some
others of higher rank, insult the fallen general in his mis¬
fortunes. He spread a table at the market cross, in the
street through which Montrose had to pass, and covered it
with wines and other refreshments, of which the prisoner
partook. He accompanied him to the end of the town, and
on taking leave of him courteously said, “ My lord, I am
sorry for your circumstances.” Montrose replied, “ I am
sorry for being the object of your pity.” (MS. History of
the Frasers.) The incident has a touch of the picturesque
romance of the old feudal times. The son and successor of
Grey Duncan continued the prosperity of the family, and
added to its possessions the barony of Ferrintosh in Ross-
shire, and the estate of Bunchrew, a pleasant well-wooded
spot on the southern shore of the Moray Frith, about three
miles from Inverness. Both of these properties were pur¬
chased from the Frasers of Lovat, on whose more ancient
greatness the Forbeses were now encroaching. A second
Duncan Forbes inherited the strong Presbyterian Whig
principles, as well as the lands of his progenitors, and was a
conspicuous member of the Convention Parliament. As
such, in 1689, his estates were ravaged and wasted by the
Jacobite soldiery under Buchan and Cannon, and to com¬
pensate him for his losses, the Scottish Parliament granted
him a privilege, always dear in the Highlands—a license
perpetual to him and his heirs to distil duty free all the
barley that might be grown in Ferrintosh. The “ loyal
Forbes’ chartered boast,” as Burns designates it, became a
valuable possession. It was enjoyed nearly a century, and
was withdrawn by the government in 1785, when a sum
of about L.20,000 was granted as compensation. The third
Duncan Forbes, afterwards Lord President, was born at
Bunchrew or Culloden in the year 1685. He studied law at
Edinburgh and Leyden, and was admitted advocate at the
Scottish bar in 1709. His own talents, and the influence of
the Argyle family, soon elevated him in his profession. At
the period of the rebellion in 1715, he stood firm to the
772 FOR
Forbes. Hanoverian cause, as did also liis brother, John Forbes,
^ then Laird of Culloden, a popular and hospitable Highland
gentleman, whose convivialities are described in Burt’s Let-
tersfrom the North of Scotland, In 1722 Duncan Forbes
was returned member for Inverness, and in 1725 he was
appointed Lord Advocate. He succeeded to the patii-
monial estates in 1734, and in 1/3/ he attained to the high¬
est legal honours in Scotland, being made Lord President
of the Court of Session. As Lord Advocate, Forbes had
laboured to improve the legislation and revenue of the
country, to spread manufactures and extend trade, and no
less to render the imperial government popular and respected
in Scotland. In the proceedings which followed the memo¬
rable Porteous mob, when the government brought in a
bill (which passed the Lords) for disgracing and removing
the Lord Provost‘of Edinburgh, and for abolishing the
town-guard and city gate, Forbes opposed the measure,
and both spoke and voted against that paltry and vindictive
outrage on the national feeling. A miserable spirit of fac¬
tion and jealousy pervaded the ministry as to all just and
public claims, especially on Scottish questions, while at the
same time they were profuse and profligate on private and
party objects. Forbes’ influence abated if it could not re¬
move this evil, and as Lord President he also carried out
some legal reforms and insured the quick and impartial ad¬
ministration of the law. The Rebellion of 1745 found him
at his post, and it tried all his patriotism. He had in vain
urged upon the government the expediency of embodying
Highland regiments, putting them under the command of
colonels whose loyalty could be relied upon, but officering
them with the native chieftains and cadets of old families in
the north. Such a plan was afterwards successfully pur¬
sued by Chatham ; but though Walpole is said to have ap¬
proved of Forbes’s scheme, the Council unanimously rejected
it. Had it been adopted in time, and a few thousand
pounds placed in Forbes’s hands to be spent usefully in the
Highlands, there would have been no Jacobite rising in
’45. Through his personal influence with the chiefs of
Macdonald and Macleod, those two powerful western clans
were prevented from taking the field for Charles Edward;
the town of Inverness he also kept loyal and well protected
at the commencement of the struggle, and many of the
neighbouring proprietors were won over by his persuasions.
His correspondence with Lord Lovat, published in the
Culloden Papers, affords a fine illustration of his character, in
which the firmness of loyal principle and duty is found
blended with neighbourly kindness and consideration. In
the case of Lovat he had to contend with inveterate dupli¬
city and low-minded ambition. The crafty old chief had
been nearly all his life a plotter for the restoration of the
Stuarts, but he would never have raised his clan had he not
obtained from the Court of St Germains a commission as
lieutenant-general and a patent of dukedom. This grati¬
fied his inordinate vanity and love of power. The ducal
coronet, surmounting his yew-crested bonnet as chief of the
Frasers, formed a vision of greatness unparalleled in the
north ! At this critical juncture of affairs, the apathy of the
government was immovable. No advance of arms or
money could be obtained until it was too late, and though
Forbes employed all his own means and what money he
could borrow on his personal security, his resources were
quite inadequate to the emergency. And it is doubtful
whether these advances were ever fully repaid. Part was
doled out to him, after repeated solicitations, that his credit
might be maintained in the country—his own sacrifices he
did not mention, but he had fallen into disgrace in conse¬
quence of his exertions to mitigate the inhuman and im¬
politic severities inflicted upon the poor misguided High¬
landers after their defeat at Culloden. His entreaties for
mercy were heard with contempt—a brigade, it was said,
would give laws! The ingratitude of the government, and
FOR
the many distressing circumstances connected with this in- Forbes,
surrection, sunk deep into the mind of Forbes. He never
fairly rallied from his depression, his health declined, and he
died on the 10th of December 1747, in the sixty-second
year of his age. A tardy act of justice was rendered to his
family. Two years after his death, a pension of L.400 per
annum was granted to his only son, John Forbes ; and the
same good fortune that had attended the early history of his
race, enabled this worthy man (the chosen associate of
Thomson the poet in his youth) to free the estate from the
debt so generously contracted by his father, and to add to
the amount of his possessions by the purchase of contiguous
lands. The fair fame of the President is, however, the
proudest inheritance of his descendants. He was a patriot
without ostentation or pretence—a true Scotsman with no
narrow prejudices—an accomplished and even erudite scholar
without pedantry—a man of genuine piety without asceti¬
cism or intolerance. His country long felt his influence
through her reviving arts and institutions, and the example
of such a character in that coarse and venal age, and among
a people distracted by faction, political strife, and national
antipathies, wdule it was invaluable to his contemporaries
in a man of high position, is entitled to the lasting grati¬
tude and veneration of his countrymen. In his intervals of
leisure, President Forbes cultivated the study of Hebrew
and biblical criticism. He was something of a speculative
theologian, having embraced the views of his friend John
Hutchison, the English philosopher and theological writer,
that a system of natural science as well as religion could be
drawn from the books of the Old Testament if interpreted
according to the radical import or root of the language. In
his retirement at Bunchrew—his favourite retreat—he is
said to have read the Hebrew bible through eight times.
His published writings are—-1, A Letter to a Bishop, con¬
cerning some Important Discoveries in Philosophy and
Theology; 2, Some Thoughts concerning Religion, natural
and revealed, &c.; and 3, Reflections on Incredulity. His
correspondence was collected and published in 1815, and
a Memoir of him (from the family papers) was written by
John Hill Burton, Esq., advocate, and published along with
a Life of Lord Lovat, in 1847. (e. C—s.)
FORBES, Edward, F.R.S., F.G.S., &c., Professor of
Natural History in the University of Edinburgh, was a
distinguished naturalist. His range of subjects was exten¬
sive, while his consistent conduct, the candour of his dis¬
position, the cheerfulness and amenity of his mind and
manners, all added to the influence produced by the pos¬
session of great natural powers, assiduously and successfully
devoted to the attainment of knowledge. So early was his
admiration of natural objects developed, that he has been
heard to say, that had he attempted to define the period
when the love of natural history first arose as the day-star
in his heart, he must have searched back into the dim and
distant recollections of his earliest childhood. At this
period, also, he compiled, for private use, a Manual of Bri¬
tish Natural History, in all its branches,—a youthful labour
to which he often afterwards referred with advantage.
At the age of sixteen he visited London, and while there
occupied himself chiefly in the acquirement of the art of
drawing, under Sass, a well-known trainer for the Royal
Academy in those days. The careful practice of drawing in
outline from the antique afterwards proved of great advan¬
tage to him in all his pursuits and publications. He pro¬
ceeded in 1831 to Edinburgh, where he entered the medical
classes. Although the study of medicine was the ostensible
object of his matriculation, it was foreseen that the practice
of that profession would have but few charms for one
whose mind was so pervaded by the love of nature; and
he in truth soon devoted himself almost entirely to the study
of natural history. He became at once the friend and pupil
Jameson, of whom he eventually became the successor;
FOR
Forbes, and he also derived great advantage from his acquaintance
—with Professor Graham, whom he delighted to accompany
in his botanical explorations in the Highlands of Scotland.
During this youthful and energetic period, scarcely a sea¬
son elapsed without some important excursion in connec¬
tion with botany, or the dredging of the great waters. At
the age of eighteen, with the companionship of a fellow-
student, he visited Norway, from which he returned with
large collections. His first public contribution to science
was now made under the title of “ Notes of a Natural History
Tour in Noway,” in the 8th and 9th volumes of Loudon’s
Magazine. At nearly the same period, and in the same work,
he printed his earliest papers on submarine researches,
“ Records of the result of Dredging,” a department in which
he eventually became so noted.
He thus pursued his studies with great intensity of thought,
yet with such radiant cheerfulness and buoyancy of spirit, as
possibly to induce the belief, among those who saw not
beneath the surface, that he was making less progress than
others of less impulsive habit who kept upon the shady side
of science. Neither did he confine himself to purely scien¬
tific matters, but mingled with these many miscellaneous
exercises of a literary nature ; thus strengthening and en¬
larging his intellectual faculties, and fitting himself all the
more to take advantage of those points in the minds of
younger men of the same kindly constitution, to whom a
discursive power and some imaginative impulse are required
to create and carry onwards their scientific tendencies.
But though bold and adventurous, he was by no means
fanciful. If it was by the exercise of something akin to
the imaginative faculty that he foresaw and felt the gran¬
deur of those general views, such as the graduated zones
of living life, which exist not alone upon the sunny surface
of the earth, but in the ^darksome waters far beneath it,
w hich he was among the first to announce, it was by the
most patient and oft-repeated investigations that he ascer¬
tained and combined the facts on which his final views were
founded. The important law, of which he was among the
earliest, as he afterwards became the most successful, expo¬
nent, is this,—that as there are great and characteristically
distinct zones of animal and vegetable life in height, as we
proceed upwards on the sides of mountains, or into alpine
valleys, from the sea shore, so there are also equally dis¬
tinct and different zones of animal and vegetable life in
depth, as we proceed from that shore down the sides of sea-
encircled mountains and into the great submerged and
sunless valleys of the ocean.
Forbes continued to make Edinburgh his headquarters
almost uninterruptedly till 1839; though he spent the
greater part of 1837 in Paris, studying geology under
Constant Prevost, mineralogy under Beudant, and zoology
under De Blainville and Geoffrey St Hilaire. During the
autumn of these several years he explored some interest¬
ing portions of Continental Europe, or beyond it, doing
good service to science by a somewhat lengthened sojourn
at one time in Illyria, at another in Algiers. In 1838 he
visited Styria and Carniola, and published some observa¬
tions on those countries in the “ Proceedings of the Botani¬
cal Society,” as he afterwards did an account of the fresh¬
water shells of Algiers and Bougia, in the “ Annals of
Natural History” for 1839. About the same period he
published a short treatise on the mollusca of the Irish Sea,
and several papers in zoology and botany.1 In the winter
of 1839 he also delivered two courses of lectures on
zoology and comparative anatomy—one strictly scientific—
the other of a more popular nature.
In 1841 he published his beautiful and well-known w7ork,
the “ History of British Star Fishes and other Echinoderms,”
adorned by not fewer than 120 illustrations, all designed
B E S. 773
by himself. It may be here stated that his great artistic Forbes,
skill was fully and frequently employed, not only in the
accurate representation of the precise forms of animal life,
but also in sketches of rural and architectural scenery, and
most characteristically of all in the vignettes and tail¬
pieces to his various works, w'here we have humour and
sentiment very gracefully combined. In the spring of
1851 he accepted an invitation from his friend Captain
Graves to join the surveying ship Beacon, then employed
on the coast of Asia Minor and the adjacent islands; and
having obtained a nominal appointment from the Admiralty,
he joined that vessel in the capacity of naturalist. During
1841, and the following year, he pursued his researches
with continuous and unabated energy, assisted by Captain
Graves, who omitted no opportunity of enabling his scien¬
tific companion to accomplish all in his power. What mar¬
vel, then, that in the course of almost countless excursions
with the Beacon and her boats, along the coasts of Asia
Minor, and among the islands of the dEgean Sea, so rich a
harvest should have been reaped. The results of their
researches were made known to the public in the “ Re¬
port on the Mollusca and Radiata of the Aegean Sea, and
on their distribution, considered as bearing on Geology,”
read to the meeting of the British Association held at Cork
in 1843. It appears that the data on w'hich that report
is founded were derived from eighteen months’ constant
researches. The calculations were based on very numerous
and fully recorded dredging operations at various depths,
from 1 to 130 fathoms, and in many localities from the
shores of the Morea to those of Asia Minor—the chief
objects being to give account of the distribution of the
several tribes of mollusca and radiata in the Eastern Medi¬
terranean, to exhibit their range in depth, and the cir¬
cumstances under which they are found, to inquire into
the laws which appear to regulate their distribution, and to
show the general bearings of these investigations on the
science of geology.
The most important result of these inquiries was the as¬
certainment of the almost uniform occurrence of particular
species in particular zones of depth below the surface.
This distribution of marine life is determined by three
primary, modified by several secondary, influences. The
primary influences are—climate, sea composition, and depth
—the most important of the secondary agencies being the
character and constitution of the sea-bottom—for accord¬
ing as rock, mud, sand, gravelly or weedy ground prevails,
so will the number of the several genera and species vary.
The form and geological construction of the neighbouring
coast are also modifying features, and considerable influence
is exercised by the run of tides and currents, and the influx
of fresh water. The elements to be considered are there¬
fore of a somewhat complicated nature.
Forbes gives us in this report an ample description of
eight well-marked regions of depth in these eastern waters,
each characterized by its own peculiar fauna, and, in such
places as produce plants, by its flora. These regions are
distinguished from each other by the association of the
species they severally include. Certain species occur in
no other, several are found in one region which do not
range into the next above, whilst yet they extend to that
below, or vice versd; certain species have their maximum
of development in each zone, being most prolific in indivi¬
duals in that zone in which is their maximum, and of
which they may be regarded as specially characteristic,
Every zone has also a more or less mineral character,
the sea-bottom not being equally variable in each, and be¬
coming more and more uniform as we descend. The deeper
zones, too, are the greater in extent, so that whilst the first
or most superficial is but 12, the eighth or lowest is above
1 For a nearly complete list of Professor Edward Forbes’ writings, see Bibliographic/, Zoologies, et Geologice, vol. ii., pp. 445-450.
774 FOR
Forbes. 700 feet in perpendicular range—its horizontal extent in-
^ .jim ^ —jii.^ creasmo- in a somewhat similar proportion. Another mailced
and significant feature is, that as we attain to the eighth
zone tiie number of species, and of individuals, diminishes
as we descend—thus pointing to a zero in the distribution
of animal life, as yet unvisited. Species disappear in depth,
which do not seem to be replaced by others; and from
various observations the inference has been deduced, that
the extent of the range of a species in depth is correspon¬
dent with its geographical distribution. These eight regions
are themselves the scene of incessant change, for not only
are the depths modified by the addition of fresh matter, but
the very animals themselves, by their own increase, so
alter the nature of the sea-bottom as to render it unfit for
their own existence, until a new layer of sedimentary mat¬
ter, uncharged wifh living organic contents, has formed a
fresh soil for similar or other animals to thrive on. Of these
observations, the high importance is obvious as explaining
so many of the constantly recurring phenomena now brought
under the notice of the geologist, such, for example, as the
interstratification of fossiliferous and non-fossiliferous beds.
The report refers to the phenomena which would be pre¬
sented to us were the bottom of the iEgean Sea to be ele¬
vated and converted into dry land, or to be filled up by a
long serious of sedimentary deposits, and concludes by stat¬
ing that, “ supposing such an elevation to have taken place,
a knowledge of the association of species in the regions of
depth would enable us to form a pretty accurate notion of the
depth of water in which each bed was deposited. A beautiful
example is given from observations made on the island of San-
torin,and under different circumstances the contrary observa¬
tions might be made; the geologist is thus enabled, by a care¬
ful examination of the successive overlying groups of species,
to ascertain whether, in any given locality brought under
his notice, the sea-bottom was being elevated or depressed.”
The Beacon having visited the coasts of Lycia in the be¬
ginning of 1842, for the purpose of carrying oft' the re¬
markable remains of antiquity discovered at Xanthus by
Sir Charles Fellows, her crew were employed there in
making excavations among the ruins, and preparing for the
removal of the marbles. For the latter task, however, the
vessel proved unfitted, and while she was sent back to
Malta for the necessary requirements, Forbes and Lieu¬
tenant Spratt (having been previously joined by the Rev.
Mr Daniel, an accomplished draughtsman) were permitted
to remain, for the sake of further antiquarian, as well as
natural history, investigations. On one occasion, in com¬
pany with Mr Hoskyn, the party discovered the sites of
two of the Cibyratic cities; and a second excursion was
still more important, as they determined the precise position
of not less than eighteen ancient cities, till then unknown
to geographers,—the names of fifteen being identified by
inscriptions found among the ruins. During this expedi¬
tion, Mr Daniel unfortunately fell a victim to the malignant
malaria of the country, and Forbes himself narrowly es¬
caped. However, he so entirely recovered as to have been
on the point of setting out to prosecute his dredging opera¬
tions in Egypt and the Red Sea, when the information
reached him that he had been appointed to the chair of
Botany in King’s College, London, vacant by the death of
David Don. He returned immediately to England, and
delivered his inaugural lecture May 8, 1843.
A short time prior to this, Forbes had become closely
connected with another important institution. On the close
of 1842, Mr Londsdale, the valued curator of the museum
of the geological society, resigned that situation, and
horbes was appointed in his room. But before the close
of 1843, his abilities as a palaeontologist introduced him
into a more extended sphere of action. On the establish¬
ment of the museum of practical geology, in connection
with the ordnance geological survey, under the direction
B E S.
of Sir Henry De la Beche, Forbes was appointed palaeon- Forbes,
tologist to that new institution. O ) the removal of the
museum to Jermyn Street, he was named its professor of
natural history; and here his talents had ample scope for
exercise.
Towards the conclusion of 1846 he published, in con¬
junction with Lieutenant (afterwards Captain) Spratt, “ Tra¬
vels in Lycia, Milyas, and the Cibyrates,” an admirable work.
About this period he gave forth also a most important con¬
tribution to geology and the sciences to which it is related,
“ On the connection between the Distribution of the exist¬
ing Fauna and Flora of the British Isles, and the geological
changes which have affected their area.” In this work we
have opened up to us a wide field of speculative research
into almost every department of natural science, while it
contains, imbedded in itself, a large and varied mass of
knowledge. It throws great light on some difficult and
complex inquiries regarding the age and relationship of the
rocks of Britain. It affords an admirable example of the
aid to be derived from other branches of natural history
in the prosecution of geological researches, and of the ap¬
plication of animal and vegetable physiology, and a know¬
ledge of the habits and distribution of animals and plants,
in the elucidation of very difficult problems in geology.
The principle or theory of this essay is based on the pre¬
sumed existence of specific centres, or certain geographical
points from which the individuals of each species have been
diffused, involving their consequent descent from a single
progenitor or pair, according as the sexes are united or dis-^
tinct. The author is of opinion that the abandonment of
that doctrine would place in a very dubious position all
evidence the palaeontologist could offer to the geologist to¬
wards the comparison and identification of strata, and the
determination of the epoch of thejjr formation. Having thus
assumed the truth of the doctrine of specific centres, he then
proposes to solve the problem of the origin of those assem¬
blages of animals and plants which now inhabit the British
Islands. Within even that limited area naturalists have
recently shown that there are numerous animals and plants
which are by no means universally distributed, but are
congregated in such a way as to form distinct groups cr
provinces of life. Our vegetation, for example, exhibits
five well-marked Floras, four of which are restricted to
definite districts, whilst the fifth, besides exclusively claim¬
ing a portion of the area, also commingles with and over¬
spreads the others. Forbes was of opinion, that of the
three modes by which an isolated area may become inha¬
bited by animals and plants, immigration before isolation of
the area was that by which the British Isles have chiefly
acquired their existing fauna and flora, terrestrial as well
as marine, and that it took place subsequently to the mio-
cene epoch. From this argument it follows, that previous
to the isolation of our area, it must have been in direct
union with those portions of the European continent the
floras of which are shown to be identical with one or other
of the five floras of the British Isles. These five distinct
floras, and the districts with which he maintains they de¬
monstrate our former connection, are as follows :—
1. The West Irish Flora. The high lands in the north
of Spain present the nearest point where a vegetation oc¬
curs identical with that which is characteristic of the moun¬
tainous district of the west and south-west of Ireland ; con-
sequently, at some period or other, continuous dry land
must have existed from the coast of Spain to that of Ire¬
land. 2. The Devon Flora,—connected with that of the
Channel Islands, and the neighbouring parts of France. 3.^
The Kentish Flora. The vegetation of the south-east of
England is distinguished by the presence of a number of
species common to this district and the opposite coast of
France. 4. The Alpine Flora. On the tops of some of
our most lofty mountains, particularly in Scotland, are
FOE
Forbes, plants not found elsewhere in the British islands, but which
are identical with those of the Scandinavian Alps, thus
pointing to a former connection in that direction. 5. The
General Flora. This universal flora is almost identical as
to species with the flora of central and western Europe, and
may properly be styled Germanic.
The distribution of marine species, both of animals and
plants, is also very skilfully handled. That of the British
mollusca, a favourite department, is gone into con amore,
and a mass of information presented of great value, and at
that time elsewhere unattainable. It is of great importance
to the student of the tertiary geology. The author’s con¬
clusions are : That the flora and fauna, terrestrial and
marine, of the British islands and seas have originated, so
far as that area is concerned, since the miocene epoch :
That the greater part of the terrestrial animals and flower¬
ing plants now inhabiting the British islands are members
of specific centres beyond their area, and have migrated to
it over continuous land, before, during, or after the glacial
epoch : That all the changes, before, during, or after that
epoch appear to have been gradual and not sudden, so that
no marked line of demarcation can be drawn between the
creatures inhabiting the same element and the same locality
during two proximate periods.
For many successive seasons after this time, Forbes
laboured with great assiduity, not only with pen and pencil,
but in the arrangement and classification of the vast store
of fossils collected by the ordnance geological surveyors,
and placed in the Jermyn Street Museum. In connection
with this department may here be mentioned the palaeon¬
tological and geological map of the British islands, with
explanatory dissertation, and the map of the “ Distribution
of Marine Life.” In 1853 he was elected president of the
Geological Society, and had scarcely occupied that chair
for half the allotted time when the death of his old master,
Jameson, opened up to him the professorship of natural
history in the University of Edinburgh.
Professor Forbes delivered a course of lectures in Edin-
burgh during the summer session of 1854. He had com-
menced his more extended winter course when he was
seized with an internal ailment from which he had pre¬
viously suffered. The symptoms soon became alarming,
his strength sunk rapidly, and he died, after not many days’
illness, at Wardie, near Edinburgh, on the evening of
Saturday, Nov. 18, 1854, in the fortieth year of his age,
leaving a widow, with two infants, a son and a daughter.
He was buried in the Dean Cemetery.1 (j. w.)
Forbes, John, one of the most learned divines that
Scotland has produced, was born May 2, 1593. He was
the descendant of an ancient and opulent family : his father
was Patrick Forbes, bishop of Aberdeen, his mother was
Lucretia the daughter of David Spence of Wormiston.
His paternal ancestor was a younger son of Lord Forbes,
and he was thus connected with some of the principal fami¬
lies in his native district.
John Forbes, who was the second son of Patrick Forbes,
after having studied at Aberdeen, was sent to the univer¬
sity of Heidelberg. He likewise prosecuted his studies at
Sedan, and in other universities. Having devoted much
time and labour to the accjuisition of Greek and Hebrew,
he returned to his native country in 1619, being then in
the twenty-sixth year of his age, and on the 27th of April
he was admitted professor of divinity in King’s College,
Aberdeen, where he laboured with great diligence, and ac¬
quired the character of an able and useful teacher. He was
skilled in ecclesiastical antiquity; and, not content with de-
B E S. 775
livering what is called a system of divinity, he exhibited a Forbes,
very elaborate deduction of the progress of Christian doc- ^
trine in various ages of the church. Of the value of his in¬
structions in this department, a very adequate opinion may
be formed from the perusal of a work which he published
in the maturity of his learning and judgment. Nor did he
neglect to instruct his students in practical religion: one
division of his lectures related to moral theology, another
to the pastoral care and to residence.
While he was engaged in these useful and honourable
labours, the kingdom was agitated by religious dissensions.
Episcopacy, commonly described by the more odious name
of prelacy, was no favourite with the great body of the
people; and the five articles of Perth, passed in 1618, and
relating to kneeling at the communion, the observance of
festivals, confirmation, private baptism, and private com¬
munion, had excited a violence of opposition with which it
was found very difficult to contend. Dr Forbes, who was as
much distinguished by his piety as by his learning, endea¬
voured to promote peaceable measures; and with this view,
he published his earliest work, bearing the title of Ireni-
cum Amatorihus Veritatis et Pads in Ecclesia Scoticana.”
Aberdoniae, 1629, 4to. Of this work he sent a copy to
Archbishop Usher, who received it with much cordiality.
The bishop of Aberdeen did not live to witness the subver¬
sion of episcopacy: he died on the 28th of March 1635, in
the seventy-first year of his age. This prelate being re¬
garded as the restorer of the university, and as a great pillar
of the church, his death was sincerely lamented by the ad¬
herents of his own party. As his eldest son had died ten
years before, the professor of divinity succeeded to the family
estates. Soon after the bishop’s decease, a volume of 429
pages, and including a portrait, was published under the
following title :—“ Funerals of a Right Reverend Fa¬
ther in God, Patrick Forbes of Corse, Bishop of Aberdeen.
Toi) iv dytots Reverendissimi in Christo Patris, Patricii For-
besii a Corse, Episcopi Abredoniensis, Tumulus, a multis
omnium ordinum collachrymantibus variegato opere exor-
natus.” Abex’dene, 1635, 4to.
Dr Forbes, who was naturally disposed to think that no¬
thing is better than peace,2 next published “ A peaceable
Warning to the Subjects in Scotland; given in the yeare
of God 1638.” Aberdene, 4to. It was speedily answered
in a tract ascribed to Calderwood, the most strenuous de¬
fender of the Presbyterian cause. Dr Forbes was treated
with some degree of tenderness; and the Covenanters being
solicitous to gain such a convert, the proceedings against
him in the ecclesiastical courts were protracted for several
years. After some preliminary steps, he was in 1640 cited
to appear at Aberdeen before a delegation of the general
assembly. He was declared to be free from the taint of
popery and Arminianism; but as he still adhered to epis¬
copacy, and declined to subscribe the covenant, his case,
through the influence of Baillie, was remitted to the pres¬
bytery of Edinburgh. He was allowed a month to yield
satisfaction to this judicatory, and as he failed to do so, sen¬
tence of deprivation was pronounced against him. In 1643
he moved the synod of Aberdeen to make application to
the general assembly, that he might be permitted to retain
his professorship without subscription ; but it was there de¬
termined that his deprivation was valid from the beginning.
He had purchased two houses adjoining to the college, and
had assigned one of them to the professor of divinity, and
the other to the cantor, a person on the foundation. In the
deed of conveyance, he neglected to reserve to himself a
liferent in the professor’s house ; nor can it be mentioned
1 Professor Edward Forbes’s life and labours, and lamented death, were faithfully and feelingly recorded in most of our literary and
scientific journals, and in many newspapers of the day. We have made the preceding brief memoir to conform chiefly with a notice in
No. 1 (for January 1855) of the New Series of the Edinburgh New Philasophical Journal, and have availed ourselves, in our geological
abstracts, of some observations by W. J. Hamilton, Esq., President of the Geological Society, contained in his anniversary address. See
Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, May 1855. -Qullv imv uyuvov ilrfms. (S. Ignatii Epistolas genuinae, p. 17, edit. Smith.)
776 FOR
Forbes, without regret and indignation that he was obliged to resign
it to his successor in office.
He was anxious to continue his residence in the univer¬
sity, for the benefit of prosecuting his researches in the pub¬
lic libraries; but he found that he must either subscribe the
solemn league and covenant, or abandon his native country.
Preferring the latter alternative, he embarked for Holland
on the 5th of April 1644, and, after a voyage of five days,
landed at Campvere. He travelled through the different
provinces, and frequently preached in the Scottish and Eng¬
lish churches. He had formerly married a lady of Middel-
burg, named Soete Roos-boom, who died on the 19th of
January 1640. She was the mother of nine children ; but
only one of them, a son named George, was alive at the
time of the father’s exile. Dr Forbes resided chiefly at
Amsterdam, and occupied himself in preparing for the press
a work of great research and value. It appeared under the
title of “ Inslructiones Historico-Theologicce de Doctrirue
Christiana, et vario Rerum Statu, ortisque Erroribus et
Controversiis,jam inde a temporibus Apostolicis ad tempora
usque seculi decimi-septimi prior a.” Amst. 1645, fol. A
second edition followed after a considerable interval. Ge-
nevae, 1680, fol. And an abridgment of the work was
published by Arnoldus Montanus, under the title of For-
besius contractus. Amst. 1663, 8vo. Forbes was enabled
to prefix to his ample volume the favourable judgment of
the theological faculties of Leyden, Utrecht, and Franeker,
as well as that of Rivet, Maresius, and Yossius. This book
established the reputation of the author as a theologian of a
very high rank. Bishop Burnet speaks of it as “ a work
which, if he had finished it, and had been suffered to enjoy
the privacies of his retirement and study, to give us the
second volume, had been the greatest treasure of theological
learning that perhaps the world has yet seen.”1 Dr Cave
has likewise mentioned it as a work of great value,2 and it
has received similar commendation from writers of many
different nations.
After having resided upwards of two years in Holland,
Forbes embarked at Campvere on the 8th, and arrived at
Aberdeen on the 14th of July 1646. He immediately re¬
tired to his country-seat at Corse, and was permitted to
spend the remainder of his days in learned and devout se¬
clusion. He died on the 29th of April 1648, having com¬
pleted the fifty-fifth year of his age. A short time before
his death, he made application to the presbytery for per¬
mission to have his bones deposited in Bishop Dunbar’s
aisle in the cathedral church, beside those of his father and
wife ; but even this last favour was denied to a learned and
excellent man, whose fault was a difference of opinion on
the subject, not of Christian doctrine, but of ecclesiastical
polity. He then directed his body to be interred in the
churchyard of Leochel, wdiere no monument was erected
to his memory.3 He left an only son, who is described by Dr
Garden as the heir of his father’s estates, but not of his virtues.
Dr Forbes was small in stature, and of a somewhat swarthy
complexion ; and, with respect to his habits of study, we
are informed that he always read and wrote in a standing
posture. One of the few relaxations in which he indulged
was the game of golf. His conduct was upright and con¬
sistent in times of no small difficulty and distress.
An honourable monument was at length erected to his
memory, in a collective edition of his Latin works. “ Re-
verendi viri Johannis Forbesii a Corse, Presbyteri et SS.
Theologice Doctoris, ejusdemque Professoris in Academia
Aberdonensi, Opera omnia, inter qucc plurima posthuma,
reliqua ab ipso auctore interpolata, emendata atque aucta”
Amstelaedami, 1703,2 tom. fol. The second volume bears the
date of 1702. The edition is introduced by two dedications
FOR
written by George Garden, D.D., an advertisement by Wet- Forbes,
stein the printer, and a preface by Dr Giirtler, professor of v—
divinity at Deventer. A copious life of the author, by Dr
Garden, is next subjoined. Under the title of “ J. Forbesii
Vita interior A he has had added an abstract of Forbes’s
diary, which was written in English. One of the posthu¬
mous works is an ample treatise, entitled “TheologiceMoralis
libri decern ; in quibus Prcecepta Decalogi exponuntur, et
varice circa Dei Legem, et specialia ejusdem Prcecepta, Con-
troversice dissolvuntur, et Casus Conscientice explicanturS
Forbes, William, bishop of Edinburgh, born at Aber¬
deen in the year 1585, was the son of Thomas Forbes,
a respectable citizen descended from Forbes of Corsinday,
whose ancestor was the second son of the same Lord Forbes
from wdiom Forbes of Corse derived his lineage. His mo¬
ther was Janet the sister of Dr Cargill, an eminent physi¬
cian. From the grammar-school, where he had made un¬
usual progress, he was at the early age of twelve removed
to Marischal College, and there took the degree of A.M.
The principal, Gilbert Gray, was so much pleased with his
scholarship and modesty, that he procured his appointment
to the professorship of logic. It was his duty to teach the
logic of Aristotle, whom he very strenuously defended against
the attacks of Ramus. This office he resigned at the expi¬
ration of four years, and afterwards prosecuted his theolo¬
gical studies on the Continent. Having landed at Dantzig,
he travelled through a great part of Prussia and Poland.
He studied in several of the universities, particularly those
of Helmstiidt and Heidelberg. He rendered himself fami¬
liar with the writings of the fathers and schoolmen; and in
the Hebrew language he became a great proficient. After
spending four years in Germany, he went to Holland, and
visited the university of Leyden, where his relation Dr Jack
was then a professor of philosophy; and thence he sailed
for England. From London he proceeded to Oxford, where
his learning was held in so much estimation that he was
offered the professorship of Hebrew in that university; but
his countryman Dr Craig, physician to the king, advised
him to consult his health by returning to his native air; and
he accordingly arrived at Aberdeen, after an absence of five
years. The corporation immediately conferred upon him the
freedom of the city. When his health was in some measure
restored, he was appointed minister of Alford, whence he
was removed to Monymusk. He soon acquired the reputa¬
tion of a most eloquent preacher, and after a short interval
he became one of the ministers of Aberdeen. During the
king’s visit to St Andrews in the year 1617, Forbes was
created D.D.; and not long after, he was nominated prin¬
cipal of Marischal College, where he not only read lectures
in divinity, but likewise taught Hebrew. After retaining
the office for two years, he was induced to accept of a pas¬
toral charge in Edinburgh, where, however, he soon dis¬
covered that his character and doctrines were held in much
less estimation than in his native city. Aberdeen was the
stronghold of Episcopacy, and its clergy were among the
most learned and respectable of the Episcopalians ; but in
Edinburgh the Presbyterians were the predominant party,
and Dr Forbes therefore found himself placed in a situation
far from agreeable. When he already thought of resigning
his living, his old friends at Aberdeen induced him to re¬
sume his spiritual labours among them, and there he con¬
tinued to reside till near the close of his life. When King
Charles visited Edinburgh in the year 1633, Forbes was one
of those who preached before him ; and the king was so
much struck with his eloquence, that when he erected the
newr see he spontaneously nominated him as the first bishop.
His patent bears the date of January 26, 1634; but he was
not long permitted to enjoy his new dignity: he died on
1 Burnet’s Life of Bedell, pref.
3 Orem’s Description of King’s College, Aberdeen, p. 85.
2 Cave, Histories Literaria, p. xxx.
FOR
FOR
777
the 11th of April, before he had completed the third month
of his episcopate, and when he had only attained the forty-
‘ ninth year of his age. His remains were interred in the
cathedral church of St Giles.
Bishop Forbes was a man of very extensive reading, but
he did not himself publish any work. Twenty-four years
after the author’s death, however, Thomas Sydserf, bishop
of Galloway,1 published “ Considerationes modestcE et paci-
Jicce Controversiarurn de Justificatione, Purgatorio, Invo-
catione Sanctorum et Christo Mediatore, Eucharistia, per
Gulielmum Forbesium, S. T. D. et Episcopum Edinbur-
gensem primum. Opus posthumum, diu desideratum.”
Lond. 1658, 8vo. The preface, subscribed T. G., that is,
Thomas Gallovidiensis, is followed by an account of the
authors life. This volume, which was reprinted at Helm-
stadt in the year 1704, attracted a very considerable degree
of attention, and is mentioned by many of the continental
writers.2 The character of the learned author has thus been
drawn by Bishop Burnet: “ He was a grave and eminent
divine: my father, that knew him long, and being of coun¬
cil for him in his law-matters, had occasion to know him
well, has often told me, that he never saw him but he thought
his heart was in heaven, and he was never alone with him
but he felt within himself a commentary on these words of
the apostles, £ Did not our hearts burn within us while he
yet talked with us, and opened to us the Scriptures?’ He
preached with a zeal and vehemence that made him forget
all the measures of time; two or three hours was no extra¬
ordinary thing for him; those sermons wasted his strength
so fast, and his ascetical course of life was such, and he sup-
plyed it so scantily, that he dyed within a year after his pro¬
motion ; so that he only appeared there long enough to be
known, but not long enough to do what might have been
otherwise expected from so great a prelate. That little
remnant of his that is in print shews how learned he was.
I do not deny but his earnest desire of a general peace and
union among all Christians has made him too favourable to
many of the corruptions in the Church of Rome: but tho’
a charity that is not well balanced may carry one to very
indiscreet things, yet the principle from whence they flowed
in him was so truly good, that the errors to which it carried
him ought to be either excused, or at least to be very
gently censured.”3
FORCE, in Philosophy, denotes the cause of change in
the state of a body, when, from being at rest, it begins to
move, or has a motion which is either not uniform or not
direct. While a body remains in the same state, either of
rest or of uniform and rectilinear motion, the cause of its
remaining in such a state is in the nature of the body, and
it cannot be said that any extrinsic force has acted on it.
This internal cause or principle is called inertia. See Me¬
chanics, and Physics, § Mechanical Philosophy.
FORCEPS (Lat.), literally a pair of pincers or tongs.
In surgery, an instrument for extracting things from wounds,
&c. Also a pair of scissors for cutting off or dividing the
fleshy membranous parts of the body.
FORCER, in Mechanics, a solid piston (without a valve)
applied to pumps for the purpose of producing a constant
stream, or to raise water to a greater height than it can be
raised by the pressure of the atmosphere. See Pump.
FORCHHEIM, a fortified town of Bavaria, circle of
Upper Franconia, situated near the junction of the Wiesent
with the Regnitz, 16 miles S.S.E. of Bamberg. It has a
castle, a collegiate and two other churches, synagogue,
monastery, hospital, and considerable trade and manufac¬
tures. In the middle ages several diets and councils of the
church were held here. Pop. about 3500.
FORD, John, a distinguished dramatic author, was born
in 1586 at Ilsington, in Devonshire. Little is known of
his personal history, but that he was educated for the bar,
became a member of the Middle Temple in 1602, and con¬
tinued to devote himself to his profession as a means of sup¬
port while prosecuting his labours as a dramatic litterateur.
His earliest efforts as a writer for the stage were in joint
authorship with Dekker and Webster; but thirteen plays
are understood to have been exclusively his own. The
Lover's Melancholy appeared in 1628; the Brother and
Sister, the Broken Heart, and Love's Sacrifice, in 1633.
These were followed by the spirited historical drama, Per¬
kin Warbech. Fancies Chaste and Noble appeared in 1638,
and the Ladle's Trial, which was his last work, in 1639.
He is supposed to have died shortly afterwards. It is ge¬
nerally admitted that Ford’s greatest drama is that called
’ Tis Pity She’s a Whore. The unpleasant title indicates
a plot still more repugnant to modern taste and feeling,
embodying the development of an incestuous passion; but
the poetry is of the highest order. The scenes in the
Brother and Sister, in like manner, descriptive of the cri¬
minal loves of Annabella and Giovanni, are painfully in¬
teresting, and abound with passages of exquisite pathos and
tenderness. It was usual with the old dramatists to employ
their genius upon such themes as kindled the fires of passion.
They lived in an age of excitement, and withdrew not them¬
selves to study in retirement while the fierce conflict was
raging around them between the newly awakened intellect
and the long indulged appetites. With them the passion
of love was a quenchless fire, before which the decencies of
life were but as stubble ; and though often wild and unna¬
tural, it was not seldom imbued with preternatural sweet¬
ness as well as fervour. Nor even was the light of religion
wholly quenched; there were glimpses of heaven in the
midst of their darkest scenes of vice. Ford was pre-eminent
among them for spending his poetic strength and building
his reputation, on unnatural and objectionable themes ; but
though his imagination was thus morbid, his personal de¬
portment is said to have been by no means irregular; and
Mr Hartley Coleridge suggests that it may merely have
been as an exercise of intellectual power that he chose such
horrible stories for his two best tragedies; and that “his moral
sense was gratified by indignation at the dark possibilities of
sin, and by compassion for rare extremes of suffering.”
FORDINGBRIDGE, a market town of Hampshire, on
the Avon, which is here crossed by a stone bridge of seven
arches, 19 miles N.W. of Southampton, and 89 miles from
London. It has some manufactures of sail-cloth and tick¬
ings ; flax-mills; and calico-printing works. Market-day
Friday. Pop. of parish (1851) 3178.
FORDUN, John, the venerable father of Scottish his¬
tory, apparently derived his surname from a village in the
county of Kincardine, where he is supposed to have been
born. He was a secular priest; and in some manuscripts
of his history he is described as a chaplain of the cathedral
of Aberdeen ; a title which Goodall seems to have consi¬
dered as equivalent to canon. Bower describes him as a
simple man, who had never graduated in the schools. He
was engaged in the composition of his work towards the
close of the fourteenth century. The first five books, and
twenty-three chapters of the sixth book of the Scotichroni-
con, are the composition of Fordun : for the remainder of
the work in its present form, we are indebted to Walter
Bower, who was born at Haddington in the year 1385, and
was unanimously elected abbot of St Colm in the year 1418.
This monastery, situated in a small island in the Firth of
Forth, belonged to the canons regular of St Augustin. The
1 Baillie’s Letters and Journals, vol. ii., p. 426.
® Bibliotheque Choisie, tom. v., p. 396. Bayle, Dictionnaire Historique et Critique, tom. ii., p. 1194.
3 Burnet s Life of William Bedell, D.D., Bishop of Kilmore, pref. Lond., 1685, 8vo. A portrait of Bishop Forbes may be found in
Pinkerton’s Iconographia Scotica, or Portraits of Illustrious Persons of Scotland. Lond., 1797, 4to.
VOL. IX.
5 F
Ford
II
Fordum.
778 FOR
Fordiin. abbot is sometimes called Bowmaker, which is equivalent
' in signification to Bower. From 1395 to 1399 John Bow-
maker appears as the deputy of the bailies or of the custo-
mars of Haddington, at the presentation of their accounts.
As the first of these dates is only ten years subsequent to
the abbot’s birth, and as he was a native of that town, this
individual might possibly be his father or other relation.
At the request of Sir David Stewart of Rossyth, lie under¬
took to transcribe the papers of Fordun; but instead ol
executing a mere transcript, he inserted large interpolations,
and continued the narrative to the death of James the First,
having thus extended the work to sixteen books. Of this
continuation the principal materials had however been col¬
lected by his predecessor. Bower professes to have been
careful to distinguish what belonged to each ; but as the
negligence of subsequent copyists has omitted all his marks,
we must chiefly be guided by the internal evidence in ad¬
justing their respective claims. The Latinity of the Scoti-
chronicon, though certainly far from being classical, is less
barbarous than that of many other chronicles of the middle
ages. Winton, the author of a chronicle in Scottish verse,
is perhaps a more judicious writer than either Foidun or
Bower, though his share of credulity and superstition is by
no means inconsiderable. Beyond this period we hav.e
scarcely any records professedly historical, except the Chio-
nicle of Melrose, and a few other fragments, neither consi¬
derable for their value nor extent.
It would be endless, as Nieolson has remarked, “ to com¬
pute into how many several chronicles this of Fordun’s has
been multiply’d: for, being in every monastery of the king¬
dom under the anonymous title of Scoto-chronicon, it com¬
monly borrowed a sirname from the place to which it be¬
long’d.”1 The Black Book of Scone, and the Black Book
of Paisley, were copies which obtained no small celebrity,
and which seem to have been commonly regarded as two
distinct chronicles compiled in those two monasteries. Thus,
the Book of Pluscardine was a copy belonging to the priory
of that name. Magnus Macculloch and Patrick Russell,
who are sometimes mentioned as continuators, were in all
probability little more than transcribers of Fordun.
Some portions of the Scotichronicon were inserted in the
collection of Dr Gale,2 who obtained a defective copy, which
he supposed to have belonged to Hector Boyce. In the
year 1719, Richard Hay, a canon regular of St Augustin,
issued “ Proposals for Printing the Chronicle of John For¬
dun, with the Additions and Continuation of Walter Bow-
maker, Abbot of Inch-Colm, containing the memorable
things which happened in every year, since our first rise,
to King James the First’s death ; conform to an authentick
manuscript, belonging of old to one of our decay’d monas¬
teries : with several notes, for clearing the dark parts of our
history.” The manuscript, “ a large folio, written in old,
but in glorious characters,” belonged to the Cistertian mo¬
nastery of St Mary at Cupar in Angus: it afterwards came
into the possession of Hay, and was deposited in the Advo¬
cates’ Library. He concludes his Proposals in the follow¬
ing manner: “ Many persons of an eminent character have
appeared desirous to have it printed, because w'hat copies
thereof were carried to England, France, Flanders, Italy,
and elsewhere, during the heat of the Reformation, or our
late disturbances, are probably lost for us. And what re¬
main in the country, in private hands or in particular libra¬
ries, are of no use to the publick, whilst they are shut up,
and as if it were hidden in obscure places, where scarce any
number of men of an ordinar capacity are allowed access.
Therefor I have been willing to publish this manuscript,
with several notes, for the greater intelligence of our his¬
tory, and a large preface, where I shall give an exact ac¬
count of the fate and fortune of the most part of the others,
FOR
transcribed by different hands, in former ages, with whom I Fordyce.
have compared this original. The charges and expences of
publishing this book will be certainly considerable. So those
that are pleased to further and incourage this enterprize,
are desired to pay ten shillings sterling at subscribing, and
as much at the delivery of the printed copy, which will
prove a good folio, on fine paper, and in good caracters,
and will consist of 160 sheet and above. Their names and
designations shall be insert in the front, and their respective
houses or families shall be kindly remembered in the notes.
As to the subscriptions, they are to be taken by the author,
at his lodging in Howison’s Land in the Potterravv; by Mr
John Mackenzie of Delvin, at his lodging in the Parliament
Close; by Mr Henry Massie, merchant, near the foot of
Blackfriar-Wynd; by Mr William Adams, printer, over
against the trone-Church; by Mr Ruddiman in the Ad¬
vocates’ Library ; who shall deliver to the persons concerned
the author’s obligation to have the compleat copy remitted
to them about the end of the following year, 1720, they
paying ten shillings more at the time appointed. This
plan was never carried into execution ; but a valuable edi¬
tion was soon afterwards published by Hearne, under the
title of “ Johannis de Fordun Scotichronicon genuinum,
una cum ejusdem Supplemento ac Continuatione.” Oxon.
1722, 5 tom. 8vo. The editor proceeds upon the plan of
separating the interpolations of Bower from the text of
Fordun. After an interval of nearly forty years, another
edition was published by Walter Goodall, assistant-keeper
of the Advocates’ Library: “ Joannis de Fordun Scotichro¬
nicon, cum Supplementis et Continuatione Walteii Boweii,
Insulae Sancti Columbae Abbatis. Edinb. 1 / 59, 2 tom.
fol. Goodall chiefly adheres to an excellent manuscript,
written on vellum, and preserved in the library of the uni¬
versity of Edinburgh. (D-10 .
FORDYCE, David, professor of moral philosophy in
Marischal College, Aberdeen, was born in that city in 1711.
Having received the early part of his education at the gram¬
mar-school, he, at the age of thirteen, entered the Greek
class in Marischal College, Aberdeen ; in 1728 he took the
degree of master of arts, and in 1742 he was admitted pro¬
fessor of philosophy in the same college. Being originally
designed for the church, he applied himself with great ar¬
dour to the study of divinity, in which he made great pro¬
gress, though he never became a settled minister in the
establishment of his native country. That he was well qua¬
lified to be such, however, appears from his Theodorus, a
dialogue concerning the art of preaching, which he after¬
wards published. In I7o0 he went abroad on his travels,
in order to obtain fresh stores of knowledge; but after a
successful tour through several parts of Europe, he was, on
his return home, unfortunately cast away in a storm on the
coast of Holland, in the forty-first year of his age. Besides
the above work, he wrote Dialogues on Education, 8vo,
and a Treatise on Moral Philosophy, published in the Pre¬
ceptor. The third edition of his Theodorus was published
in London, after his death, by his brother James, the sub¬
ject of the following article.
Foedyce, James, a Scottish clergyman of considerable
eminence, was born at Aberdeen in the year 1720. Fie
received his classical education at the public grammar-school,
and afterwards entered Marischal College, where he went
through the course of studies necessary to qualify him for
being a minister of the gospel. His natural abilities were
excellent; and having improved to the utmost the favour¬
able opportunities he enjoyed at the university, he was con¬
sidered as qualified for becoming a preacher of the gospel
at an early period of life. His first appointment was that
of second minister of Brechin, in the county of Angus, after
which he accepted of a call to Alloa, near Stilling. 1 le
1 Nicolson’s Scottish Historical Library, p. 92.
2 Histories Britannicce Scriptores XV., vol. i., p. 565.
FOR
FOR 779
Fordyce. people of this parish were prepossessed in favour of another,
and prejudiced against Mr Fordyce, which could not fail to
prove an unpleasant circumstance ; yet by his impressive
delivery, and indefatigable attention to every part of his
ministerial duty, he soon overcame their prejudice, and ac¬
quired their esteem and admiration.
During his residence at Alloa, he attracted the notice of
the public by three sermons; the first on the eloquence of
the pulpit, the second on the method of promoting edifica¬
tion by public institutions, and the third on the delusive
and sanguinary spirit of popery, preached before the synod
of Perth and Stirling. But still greater admiration was ex¬
cited by his sermon on the folly, infamy, and misery of un¬
lawful pleasure, preached before the General Assembly of
the Church of Scotland in 1760. About this time the uni¬
versity of Glasgow conferred upon him the degree of doc¬
tor of divinity, probably on account of the fame he had ac¬
quired by this sermon.
The friends of Dr Fordyce being mostly in the metro¬
polis, he was invited to become the colleague of Dr Law¬
rence, minister of a respectable congregation in Monkwell
Street, London, on whose death, which happened a few
months afterwards, Dr Fordyce became once more cele¬
brated for his pulpit eloquence, generally preaching to over¬
flowing audiences. The best specimen of pulpit eloquence
which perhaps proceeded from his pen was delivei’ed at the
ordination of Mr James Lindsay, who, after Fordyce de¬
clined officiating as a minister, became his successor. The
remainder of his life he spent chiefly in retirement in Hamp¬
shire, in the vicinity of the residence of Lord Bute, with
whom he lived on the greatest intimacy, and to whose va¬
luable library he had unrestricted access. He afterwards
went to Bath, where he suffered much from an asthmatic
affection, which he bore with the fortitude of a Christian,
and expired without a groan on the 1st of October 1796, in
the seventy-sixth year of his age.
The Doctor’s writings discover much genius and a cor¬
rect taste, extensive knowledge of the world, and a happy
method of engaging the attention. He was the author of
Sermons to Young Women, 1765, in 2 vols. 12mo; A Ser¬
mon on the Character and Conduct of the Female Sex;
Addresses to Young Men, 1777, in 2 vols. 12mo ; Addresses
to the Deity, 1785, in 12mo; A volume of Poems; A dis¬
course on Pain, 1791; and Additions to his brother’s Tem¬
ple of Virtue.
Fordyce, George, a writer and lecturer on medicine,
was born at Aberdeen in 1736, and studied at the univer¬
sity of that city, where he took the degree of master of arts
at the early age of fourteen. He became apprentice to an
uncle who practised surgery at Uppingham in Rutland¬
shire, when he was only fifteen; and afterwards went to
the university of Edinburgh, where his diligence and pro¬
gress attracted the attention of Dr Cullen, at that time pro¬
fessor of chemistry, who very generously promoted his im¬
provement. He graduated in 1758, when only twenty-two
years of age ; after which he resided during one winter at
Leyden. The greater part of his patrimony having been
spent on his education, he resolved to try his fortune in
London, where he settled in the year 1759. He commenced
with a course of lectures on chemistry; and although his
encouragement at first was by no means flattering, yet he
steadily and diligently persevered, notwithstanding unfa¬
vourable appearances, till his literary merit began gradually
to be discovered and appreciated. A number of young men
who came to study in London did not think that their me¬
dical course was complete without availing themselves of the
benefit of his lectures. In 1768 he published his Elements
of the Practice of Physic, which formed the text-book of
his medical course, and were much read as a valuable epi¬
tome of medicine. His private practice was very respect¬
able ; and in the year 1 770 his medical reputation was so
great that he was chosen physician to the hospital of St Forecastle
Thomas, although he had to contend against a gentleman p0|.'est
with very powerful interest; whilst his merit as a man of v ^ ‘ y
science procured him admission as a member of the Royal *
Society in 1776. In 1787 he was chosen a fellow of the
College of Physicians ; and his chemical knowledge was of
much importance to that body in preparing a new edition
of their Pharmacopoeia. By the influence of his connec¬
tions, but probably more so by his literary reputation, he
was appointed to furnish the navy with sour krout, which
we believe he executed with advantage both to himself and
to the public. By this time, however, his constitution had
discovered symptoms of premature decay ; yet he continued
to discharge his professional duties till he fell a victim to
an irregular gout, and water in the chest, on the 25th of
June 1802, in the sixty-sixth year of his age. If his lec¬
tures wanted the charms of eloquent delivery, he made
amends by the originality of his ideas and the extent of his
scientific information. His works are, Elements of Agri¬
culture and Vegetation; Elements of the Practice of Phy-
sick; A Treatise on the Digestion of Food; Four Disser¬
tations on Fever, to which has been added a fifth, published
from his manuscript since his death. His other works ap¬
peared in the Philosophical Transactions, to which he con¬
tributed eight papers, and in the Medical and Chirurgical
Transactions, to which he contributed three.
FORECASTLE, that part of the upper deck of a ship
forward of the foremast. Also, in merchant vessels, the for¬
ward part of the ship under the deck, where the sailors live.
FOREIGNER, the natural-born subject of a foreign
state. Foreigners, though made denizens, or naturalized,
are disqualified from bearing any office in government, from
being of the privy council, sitting in parliament, &c. See
Denizen.
FOREJUDGER, in Law, a judgment by which a per¬
son is deprived or put out of the thing in question.
FORELAND, North and South, two headlands on the
east coast of the county of Kent. North Foreland consists
of chalky cliffs nearly 200 feet in height, and has a light¬
house with a fixed light 184 feet high, and seen 24 miles
off. South Foreland is about 16 miles south of the former,
and has two lighthouses 1347 feet apart, and 380 and 275
feet high, visible 25 and 22 miles off.
FORE-LOCK, in nautical language, a flat wedge of iron,
driven through the end of a bolt to prevent its drawing.
FOREMAST, the forward mast of all vessels.
FOREST, a large extent of ground covered with trees.
The word is formed from the base Latin foresta, which first
occurs in the capitulars of Charlemagne, and is itself derived
from the German forst, signifying the same thing. Vossius
and Spelman refer it to the Latin for is, as being extra
urbem et agros.
The Caledonian and Hercynian forests are famous in his¬
tory. The former was a celebrated retreat of the ancient
Piets and Scots ; and the latter, in Caesar’s time, extended
from the borders of Alsatia and Switzerland to Transyl¬
vania, being computed at sixty days’ journey in length and
nine in breadth. The ancients had a superstitious venera¬
tion for forests, as being the favourite abodes of many of
their gods. Temples were frequently built in the thickest
forests, the gloom and silence of which were calculated to
inspire sentiments of devotion. For a similar reason the
Druids dwelt in forests, performing sacrifices, instructing
youth, and giving laws in their umbrageous recesses.
Forest, in Law, is defined by Manwood, “ a certain ter¬
ritory or circuit of woody grounds and pastures, known in
its bounds as privileged for the peaceable being and abid¬
ing of wild beasts and fowls of forest, chase, and warren, to
be under the king’s protection for his princely delight;
bounded with unremoveable marks and meres, either known
by matter of record or prescription ; replenished with beasts
780
Forest-
Laws
Forestall¬
ing.
FOR
of venevy or chase, and great coverts of vert foi succour of
the said beasts; for preservation whereof there are particular
laws, privileges, and officers belonging thereunto.” Forests
are of such antiquity in England that, excepting the New
Forest in Hampshire, erected by William the Conqueror,
and Hampton Court, erected by Henry VIII., there is no
record which makes any certain mention of their erection,
though they are often alluded to by various writers, and in
several of our laws and statutes. Ancient historians tell us
that New Forest was raised by the destruction of twenty-
two parish churches, and many villages, chapels, and manors,
for the space of thirty miles together, which was attended
with divers judgments on the posterity of William I., who
erected it; for'William Rufus was there shot with an
arrow, and before him Richard, the brother of Henry I.;
and Henry, nephew to Robert, the eldest son of the con¬
queror, was, like Absalom, suspended by the hair of the
head in the boughs of the forest. The Conqueror, says the
‘ Saxon Chronicle,’—“ loved the red deer as if he had been
their father; ” and he is said to have visited the slaughter
of one of these animals with greater severity than murder
itself. This king is said to have possessed in different parts
of England no fewer than sixty-eight forests, besides an
immense number of chases and parks.
Legally, a forest can only be in the hands of the sove-
reio-n ; for the sovereign alone has power to grant a com¬
mission to be justice in eyre of the forest. A chase differs
from a forest in being capable of being held by a subject,
in being of smaller extent, and subject to the common law,
and not to the forest laws. A chase also may be comprised
within a forest.
Forest-Laws, are peculiar laws, different from the com¬
mon law of England. Before the making of the Carta de
Foresta (granted by Henry III. a.d. 1224, and confirmed
by Edward I. in 1299), offences committed in the forest
were punished at the pleasure of the king in the severest
manner. By this charter many forests were disforested and
stripped of their oppressive privileges, and regulations were
made for the government of those which remained; in
particular, killing the king’s deer was declared to be no
longer a capital offence, but only punishable by fine, im¬
prisonment, or abjuration of the realm. Still, in this charter
there were some grievous articles, which, however, were
modified by the clemency of later princes; and indeed the
forest laws may now be said to be practically abolished.
FORESTALLING, in Laic, is, by statute 5th and 6th
Edw. VI., c. 14, described to be the buying or contracting
for any merchandise or victual coming in the way to mar¬
ket; or dissuading persons from bringing their goods or
provisions there ; or persuading them to enhance the price
when there. This, as well as engrossing, which is the buying
up of large quantities of corn, or other dead victuals, with
intent to sell them again, and regrating, the buying up of
such commodities in any market, and selling them again in
the same market, or within four miles of it, was looked upon
as injurious to the public, by unnecessarily tending to raise
the price of provisions; and accordingly several statutes
were passed prohibiting forestalling under severe penalties.
Statute 31st Edw. I. enacted that “no forestaller shall be
suffered to dwell in any town who manifestly is an oppressor
of the poore, a publike enemie of the whole comminaltie and
countrie, who meeting grain, fish, herring, and other things
coming by land or by water to bee solde, doeth make haste
to buy them before other, thirsting after wicked gaine, op¬
pressing the poore, and deceiuing the rich.” By the statute
of Edw. VI. already referred to, it was enacted that whoever
should buy any corn or grain with intent to sell it again,
should for the first offence suffer two months’imprisonment,
for the second, six months’ imprisonment, and forfeit double
its value, and for the third, be set in the pillory, suffer im¬
prisonment during the king’s pleasure, and forfeit all his
FOR
goods and chattels. This statute further enacted that no Forfar,
one could transport corn from one part to another without
a licence, ascertaining his qualifications as a man of probity
and fair dealing.
The very imperfect knowledge of political economy that
then prevailed led to the belief that the intervention of a
third party between the producer and consumer tended to
raise the price of provisions, and that corn would be bought
from the farmer cheaper than from the corn-merchant. It
may seem somewhat strange that though the law thus com¬
pelled the farmer to deal directly with the consumer, yet it
in many cases prohibited the manufacturer from selling his
own wares by retail, in order that the shopkeepers might not
be undersold. The farmer was thus forced to carry on two
trades ; and part of the capital which should have been em¬
ployed in the improvement and cultivation of land was
obliged to be kept in his granaries and stockyard: whereas
the corn-merchant, by affording a ready market for the
farmer’s produce, enables him to employ his whole capital
in cultivation ; and the existence of a free competition
obliges the corn-merchant to sell his corn as cheap as the
farmer could afford to do. The principle here is the same
as in manual labour. The workman who is wholly em¬
ployed in one operation accomplishes a greater quantity of
work, and can afford to do it at a cheaper rate, than one
who has to carry on several operations; and, in the same
way, the dealer whose whole stock is employed in a single
branch of business acquires so easy and ready a method of
transacting business that, with the same capital, he can
carry on a much larger business, and so dispose of his goods
cheaper than if his capital and attention were employed in
a greater variety of objects. “ If,” says Adam Smith, “ a
merchant ever buys up corn, either going to a particular
market, or in a particular market, in order to sell it again
soon after in the same market, it must be because he judges
that the market cannot be so liberally supplied through the
whole season as upon that particular occasion, and that the
price therefore must soon rise.”
The rigour of the statute of Edward VI. was very much
softened by subsequent statutes, which successively per¬
mitted the engrossing of corn when the price of wheat
should not exceed 20s., 24s., 32s., and 48s. the quarter;
and statute 12th Geo. III., cap. 71, repealed the restrictions
and penalties imposed by previous statutes, which by pre¬
venting a free trade in corn and other victuals, had a ten¬
dency to discourage the growth and enhance the price of the
same. This statute, however, did not declare that these
offences should no longer be indictable at common law ; and
hence we find that when, in 1800, the price of corn rose to
an unusual height, the clamour against the corn-dealers was
so loud that one of the name of Rusby was indicted for the
offence of regrating, though he was not brought up for
judgment. It was not till the passing of the act /th and 8th
Viet, cap. 24, that the several offences of badgering, en¬
grossing, forestalling, and regrating, were utterly taken
away and abolished. It declares “ that no information, in¬
dictment, suit, or prosecution, shall lie either at common
law, or by virtue of any statute, or be commenced or pro¬
secuted against any person for or by reason of any of the
said offences or supposed offences.”
FORFAR or ANGUS, a county of Scotland, is
bounded by the shires of Aberdeen and Kincardine on
the north, the German Ocean on the east, the Firth of
Tay, which separates it from Fife, on the soutR and by
Perthshire on the west. It is situated between 56 27 and
57° north latitude, and between 2° 28' and 3° 22 west
longitude from Greenwich, and extends from north to
south about 36 miles, and from east to west 27 miles. It
contains, according to the agricultural statistics taken in
1854, 457,054J imperial acres, of which 5843^ acres are let
to small holders under L.10 of rent. Excluding the latter,
F 0 E F A B.
781
Forfar, the acreage is occupied as follows: 89,361 in cereals, or
^ white crop ; 1601^ in beans, pease, and vetches ; 32,200 in
turnips; 12,530 in potatoes ; 63 in mangold, carrots, and
cabbage; 136 in flax; 77,350 in grass under rotation;
27,225 in permanent pasture; 106,809 in sheep walks;
69,940 waste ; 26,604 woods; the remainder being occu¬
pied by houses, roads, &c. More than one-third of its area
is occupied by sheep-walks and waste ground, forming part
of the Grampian range, here called the Binchinnin hills,
which join the Braes of Mar in Aberdeenshire. The sur¬
face of this northern division of the county, or the Braes of
Angus, with the exception of the mountains at the head of
Glen Clova, is not in general so bold and abrupt as many
other Alpine districts in Scotland ; the hills are for the
most part rounded, and rather tame, and covered with a
thin coat of moorish soil, bearing stunted heath. Catlaw,
the highest, is 2264 feet above the level of the sea. There
are several considerable valleys in this district, the principal
of w'hich are Glen Isla, Glen Prosen, Glen Esk, Clova, and
Lethnot, which are watered by streams that rise in the west
and north, and commonly flow south-east, receiving in¬
numerable torrents from the mountains in their progress.
South from the Grampians ; and parallel to them, is another
but lower range, called the Siedlaw Hills, supposed to be
a continuation of the Ochils: some of these are 1400 feet
in height. Between these two grand divisions lies Strath¬
more, the Great Valley, as the name in Gaelic denotes, or
as it is commonly called the How of Angus, forming a con¬
tinuation of the How of the Mearns, extending about 33
miles in length, and from six to eight in breadth ; a district
beautifully diversified by gentle eminences, fertile fields,
plantations, villages, and gentlemen’s seats, very little of it
being 200 feet above sea-level. The Aberdeen and Scot¬
tish Midland Railways run along this valley, from which
there are branches to Arbroath, Dundee, Kirriemuir, Blair¬
gowrie, &c. The fourth and remaining division extends
from the Siedlaw Hills to the German Ocean on the east,
and the Firth of Tay on the south, and is, with a few ex¬
ceptions, a rich and well-cultivated tract, varying in breadth
from three to eight miles, and comprehending about a
fourth part of the whole country.
The general colour of the soils in the lower districts is
red, in other parts often inclining to dark brown or black.
The soil in the Grampians is generally moorish over whitish
retentive clay, but loose, friable, and productive in the glens.
Over the pudding-stone, or farcilite rock, in the lower
grounds, it is sometimes thin, mossy, and encumbered with
stones, and over the sandstone a tenacious clay often occurs.
The soil above whinstone is fertile, though sometimes
shallow. There is no great extent of moss, the greater
part of it having been drained and cultivated during the
last twenty years.
The mineralogy of a considerable portion of Forfarshire
was examined by Colonel Imrie, who has given a minute
description of it in a paper published in the sixth volume
of the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
In the Grampian districts, towards the summit of the
county, on the confines of Aberdeenshire, the prevailing
rock is granite, some of it very beautiful, and containing
in its cavities or fissures topazes and rock-crystals called
cairngorms, from a mountain of that name in Aberdeen¬
shire ; also micaceous schistus, and porphyry, dykes of the
latter in some places intersecting the former. Laminated
mica, called by the natives sheep’s siller, from its silvery
lustre, is found in veins, in mica slate, and the rock-crystals
are found in the beds of torrents. Lead was once wrought
at Gilfianan, above the old castle of Invermark, in the upper
part of the parish of Lochlee, and also at Ardoch, near Mill-
den on the Esk. At the former place, according to Edward,
in his Description of Angus, published in 1678, it yielded
one sixty-fourth part of silver; but both mines have long
since been abandoned. Limestone in small quantities here Forfar,
frequently occurs, but is now seldom or never worked, v ^
There are also broad beds of slate, but which, from some
imperfections, is of little use. In descending the Grampians
to Strathmore, pudding-stone prevails; and afterwards on
the lower grounds, sandstone. Clay marl is found both in
Strathmore and the Siedlaw hills, but is little used. Shell
marl, which is the remains of myriads of small testaceous
animals, is in greater request, although not so much now
as some years ago: it abounds in different parts, particu¬
larly in the lochs of Kinordie, Lundie, Logie, near Kirrie¬
muir, and Restennet near Forfar. These lochs have been
partly drained, and the marl rendered of easy access. It
is also found in the lochs of Forfar, Rescobie, and Bal-
gavies, where it is raised by scoops, and conveyed to the
shore in boats. The Siedlaw hills are chiefly composed of
sandstone of various colours. Sandstone flags, which are
much used for roofing houses, are raised in great quantities
on the Hill of Balmashanner, in the moor to the south of
Forfar, in the parish of Carmylie, and along the southern
declivity of the Siedlaw hills. The principal lime-works
are in the maritime division at Hedderwick, near Mon¬
trose, and at Boddin, in the parish of Craig. The only
mineral springs worth noticing are chalybeate, one of which
is near Montrose, another to the west of Arbroath, two
in the side of a rivulet about a mile farther west, and one
in the north-west corner of Dumbarrow, in Dunnichen
parish.
The botany and zoology of the county were explored
with great industry a good many years ago by Mr George
Don of Forfar, who presented a very ample enumeration
in both departments, in a paper subjoined to Mr Headrick’s
survey for the Board of Agriculture. A few years ago the
late Mr Wm. Gardiner of Dundee, a good botanist and florist,
published a small useful work on the botany of Forfarshire.
The most prevailing rains are from the east and south¬
east, as experienced all along the east coast of Scotland.
At Crescent, half a mile westward of Dundee, the quantity
of rain that fell during six years, from 1790 to 1795 in¬
clusive, varied from 22'27 to 34T2 inches ; but at Bel¬
mont, in the centre of Strathmore, during the same years,
it was from 31*45 to 39*55 inches. The mean height
of the barometer at Belmont during the first three of these
years was 29*60°, and that of the thermometer 42°. At
Crescent, the mean degree of cold during winter for the
whole period was from 32£° to 39§°, and of heat during
summer, from 60^-° to 66°. The south-east wind blows
at Crescent 21 days, and the south-west 109 annually;
whereas at Belmont the former prevails 85, and the latter
138 days. It may be interesting to add the following
meteorological observations, taken with great accuracy by
Mr Alexander Brown, writer, Arbroath, for the ten years
inclusive from 1845 to 1854. The situation was 50 feet
above the level of the sea, and about half a mile distant
from it.
Barometer.
Reduced to Temperature of 32°, and Corrected.
1845
1846
1847
1848
1849
1850
1851
1852
1853
1854
Mean
Spring.
29’86
29-75
29-72
29-71
29-92
29-89
29-88
3005
29-88
29-97
29-86
29-66
29-58
29-69
29-71
29-74
29 71
29-76
29-78
29-80
29-85
29-73
Autumn.
29-78
29-72
29-77
29 92
2984
29-85
29 93
29-70
29-81
29-82
29-81
Winter.
29-74
29-93
29-77
29-93
29 94
29- 84
30- 01
29-93
29-83
29-84
29-87
Mean.
29-76
29-74
29-74
29-82
29-86
29-82
29-89
29 86
29-83
29-87
29-82
782 FOR
Forfar. On the 22d December 1849, the barometer stood at
V—-' 30’96; and on the 27th December 1852 it stood 28'00.
Temperature.
By average of Self-registering Thermometer, 11 feet from ground.
Years.
1845
1846
1847
1848
1849
1850
1851
1852
1853
1854
Mean
Spring.
42°4
44-4
43- 7
44- 5
43-5
43- 2
44- 5
43-8
43-0‘
45- 9
43-9
Summer.
54- 5
59-4
57-4
54,4
53-5
55- 8
55-6
58 0
583
57-0
56-4
46-4
48-7
46-3
45- 1
44- 3
46- 8
46-2
45- 6
46,6
46- 4
46-2
39-1
34- 3
35- 8
38 0
36- 0
39-3
37- 5
360
35-8
33-5
36-5
45- 6
46- 7
45-8
45- 5
44- 3
46- 3
45- 9
45-8
45-9
45-7
45-7
The maximum heat was on 14th July 1847, 83 ; the
minimum on 17th February 1855, 4 . At Arbroath, daily
observations of the thermometer made at 8h 20m a.m., and
7h 35m p.m., local mean time, give the mean annual tem¬
perature of the year.
Depth of Rain in Inches.
Rain-Gauge 3 feet from ground.
1845
1846
1847
1848
1849
1850
1851
1852
1853
1854
Mean.
Spring.
1-620
6152
7-016
6- 105
4-514
4-490
7- 280
2- 323
3- 043
3-897
4-644
9-021
8- 103
5- 167
9- 823
6- 857
5- 764
7- 308
6- 120
7-515
5-744
7-142
Autumn.
8- 926
10-787
5- 506
7-242
4-530
6- 239
3-481
9- 186
9-128
6-417
7-144
4- 840
3- 494
12-808
6-793
8-033
6-212
6-869
11-525
5- 242
4- 220
7-004
Total.
24-407
28- 536
30-497
29- 963
23- 934
22-705
24- 938
29-154
24-928
20-278
25-934
Dew-point.
Deduced from observations of Wet and Dry bulb Thermometer.
Year. Spring. Summer. Autumn. Winter. Mean.
1854 39°-9 52°-l
Autumn.
40°-9
25°-2
39-5
Average Direction of Wind, and Number of Fair and
Rainy Days, from 1845 to 1854 inclusive.
38-5
27-5
22-8
39-4
57-7
56-
61-5
40-
21-6
365
218i
146|
The above tables will assist in forming a pretty correct
idea of the climate of this county, which is one generally
favourable to the production of white and green crops of
all kinds, and salubrious.
In addition to the lochs or lakes already mentioned, there
are other two considerable ones—viz., Lochlee, among the
Grampians, from which the North Esk issues, and Lent-
rathen near their base. This river, after leaving Lochlee,
flows towards the east and then the south-east, where it
forms the boundary between this county and that of Kin¬
cardine, and falls into the sea about three miles north-east
of Montrose, having received in its course the Mark, the
Tarf, the Westwater, the Cruik, the Luther, and other
smaller streams. The South Esk rises in the north-western
part of the county among the Grampian summits of Clova,
F A R.
and passing by Brechin, discharges itself into the basin of Forfar,
Montrose, after being joined by the waters of Prosen, Car- v.
rity, and other mountain and a few lowland streams. Its
general course is from north-west to south-east. Isla, the
last stream of any note, has also its source in the Gram¬
pians, flowing from the summit of the glen which bears its
name, in a direction from north to south, until at Ruthven
it bends to the westward, and joins the Tay in Perthshire.
Below the Bridge of Craig it has cut a chasm, in some
places more than a hundred feet in depth, through a barrier
of porphyry and gravel-stone rocks, where it forms cascades
of singular beauty. The Dean, the Lunan, the Dighty,
and a few others, are inconsiderable streams.
Much of the landed property of Forfarshire has changed
its owners within the last century ; and of the forty barons
mentioned by Edward in the work already referred to, the
descendants of not more than a third of them now possess
estates in it, and most of these are considerably reduced in
size. In 1811 a large proportion of the estates were from
L.100 to L.1000 a year, some from L.2000 to L.6000, and
only one or two w-orth L.12,000 a year. At that date
about a third part of the county was held under entail, but
the entail act has been taken advantage of extensively in
effecting either actual sales, or in placing the properties in
xhefee simple possession of the owners. The valued rent
in 1674 was L.171,239, 16s. 8d. Scots. At the above date
there were 266 estates, three-fourths of which were below
L.500 Scots.
The real rental of the lands in 1811 was set down at
L.260,196, 15s., and of the houses L.64,108 sterling. The
whole number of farms was then 3222, of which about the
half were under L.20 of yearly rent, and only 86 above
L.300. Since that period the tendency of landowners has
been to add to the size of their farms by joining smaller
ones together—a policy which, in some respects, has been
much questioned. The rent of lands in 1853-4 was
L.295,664; of quarries, fisheries, and other property,
L.7952; and the yearly value of house-property was
L.278,479. Total value of real property, L.582,095.
There are more than sixty gentlemen’s seats, some of them
venerable for their extent and antiquity, such as the castles
of Glammis, Brechin, Airley, &c.; and the castles of Kin-
naird and Panmure are at present undergoing such repairs
and additions as will render them among the most commo¬
dious and magnificent mansions in Scotland. There is one
estate that yields above L.25,000 a year, and two or three
from L.16,000 to L.20,000. The farms rent from L.1500
downwards. Great improvements have been made during
the last twenty years in the erection of substantial farm¬
houses and steadings, but very little advance has been made
in supplying suitable accommodation to either married or
single farm-servants. A movement has lately been set on
foot, which is only a revival of one or two similar attempts
formerly made to remedy this evil, but the obstacles in-the
way are not easily overcome. The greatest of these is,
doubtless, the want of capital (and in many cases disposi¬
tion conjoined) to erect proper cottages ; and to supply the
means necessary for this purpose, the “ Agricultural La¬
bourers’ Association” does not recommend any measure
of relief by loan or otherwise.
Great advancement has, of late years, been made in this
county in the science and practice of agriculture, and it
contains a class of tenantry nowhere exceeded in Scotland
for enterprise and intelligence. The system of rotation
varies according to soil and situation. The five-course
shift is that most usually adopted ; but as guano and artifi¬
cial manures are becoming more in use, there^ is less land
kept in grass, and more sown in green crop. Wheat, which
accdrding to Pennant was a rare crop in 17 / 5, is now much
cultivated upon almost every variety of soil, to the height
of more than 1000 feet above the level of the sea ; while a
FOE
FOR
783
Forfar, very small proportion is sown with here or bigg, which,
with oats, used to be the principal white crops sown. A
corresponding progress has been made in the improvement
of live stock. What is usually known as the Clydesdale or
west country breed of farm-horses, is common in the lower
districts. The garron and small highland breeds, so famous
for their action and durability, are now almost extinct.
Last year there were 9290 saddle and work horses, of the
probable value of L.300,000; and, perhaps, 2000 colts and
fillies, worth L.30,000. About fifteen or twenty years ago,
the Angus, a black polled breed of cattle, was almost ex¬
clusively raised. These are well known and highly valued,
being in the estimation of some agriculturists of note better
suited in certain respects for a northern climate than the
breeds more recently introduced, especially for feeding
purposes, by crossing with a short-horn bull. Crossing,
however, has become so common during the last ten or
fifteen years, that the pure Angus breed is not easily ob¬
tained, except from a comparatively few agriculturists who
have made breeding of first-class stock a main object, the
most eminent of whom is Mr Watson of Keillor. Last
year there were 13,764 milk cows, 25,605 other cattle, and
10,874 calves, in all 50,243, of which 2240 belonged to
tenants under L.10 of rent. The total value may be esti¬
mated at above L.500,000, being nearly double of what
they were reckoned to be worth twenty years ago. The
flocks of black-faced sheep are considerable; and during
the last few years sheep-grazing has become general in the
lowlands—the Leicester, or a cross between them and the
black-faced, being most in favour. There are of ewes,
gimmers, and ewe-hogs, 53,169 ; and of tups, wethers, and
■wether-hogs, 51,349, which may be valued at upwards of
L.100,000. There are few or no goats worth mentioning
kept. The quantity of swine fed is limited, owing to there
being few or no large dairy farms. The number is 8822,
of which upwards of 1000 belong to the small holders.
The value of swine may be L.l 0,000; and the total value
of live stock within the county cannot be much under
L.l,000,000 sterling.
Forfarshire contains five royal burghs—viz., Forfar, the
county town, Dundee, Montrose, Arbroath, Brechin, to¬
gether with a number of villages, such as Kirriemuir,
Glammis, &c.
The fisheries on the coast for herring, white fish, and
salmon, are prosecuted with considerable success.
Many religious and military ruins are to be found in
Forfarshire. Among the former, the most celebrated are
the remains of the Abbey of Arbroath. This building was
founded and dedicated to Thomas a Becket in 1178 by
William the Lion, whose ashes repose within its walls. It
was richly endowed, and has some historical interest attached
to it from having, among other incidents, been the place
where was held the parliament of Robert Bruce, which
addressed the celebrated remonstrance to the Pope assert¬
ing the independence of the kingdom. The abbey was
destroyed before the Reformation in the sixteenth century.
Beside the cathedral of Brechin is a curious round tower,
of which, though such be common in Ireland, only two, it
is said, have been observed in Britain—this and another
one at Abernethy, in Perthshire. (See Bkechin.) A hill
called Cater-thun, in the parish of Menmuir, north-west
of Brechin, is worthy of notice. Pennant thinks it was
one of the posts occupied by the Caledonians before their
engagement with Agricola, at the foot of the Grampians.
There are fifty-six parishes in the county. In 1833
there were about 20,000 communicants or members of the
Established Church, and about 2300 dissenters. Since
that period the number of church members has greatly de¬
creased, a large proportion of them since the Disruption
having become dissenters.
Among the eminent men connected with this county
may be mentioned Hector Boetius, who was born in the Forfar,
parish of Panbride; Archbishop Leighton and Andrew v—<
Melville, born in the parish of Craig; the Marquis of Mon¬
trose, Joseph Hume, and Sir Alexander Burnes, born in
Montrose; and in Mains and Strathmartine was the residence
of Grahame of Claverhouse. The county sends one mem¬
ber to parliament, the burgh of Dundee one, and the other
royal burghs, in conjunction with Bervie, one.
Twenty years ago there was no assessment levied for the
poor within the county. One half of the parishes are now
assessed. Last year the number of poor on the roll was
5172, for whose support L.25,976 were expended; and
there were of casual poor 1454, who received L.l 165.
These sums amount to more than an eleventh part of the
land-rental of the county, exclusive of the sum raised by
voluntary assessment.
See Edward’s Description of Angus, reprinted in 1791,
and Colonel Imrie’s Section of the Grampians, already
referred to; Beauties of Scotland, vol. iv. ; Headrick’s
General View of the Agriculture of Angus or Forfar¬
shire ; Memoirs of the Wernerian Society, vol. ii.; The
General Report of Scotland ; Playfair’s Description of
Scotland, vol. i.; and the old and new Statistical Account
of Forfarshire. (j. C—E.)
The following are the returns of the population, &c.,
from 1801 to 1851 :—
1801
1811
1821
1831
1841
1851
Inhabited.
16,135
16,812
19,597
36,184
22,446
Unin¬
habited.
505
576
945
2071
725
Males.
45,427
48,115
52,036
65,093
79,343
88,324
53,626
59,072
61,319
74,513
91,110
102,940
Total
of Persons.
99,053
107,187
113,355
139,606
170,453
191,264
By the computation of 1841 flats were reckoned houses.
Forfar, a royal and parliamentary burgh of Scotland,
and capital of the county of the same name, in the valley
of Strathmore, near the railway from Aberdeen southwards.
Forfar is of considerable antiquity, having been constituted
a burgh before a.d. 1300. It was at one time the residence
of royalty ; and in the accounts of the chamberlain of the
royal household, in the reign of Alexander III., and of some
preceding monarchs, a charge is entered for the king’s gar¬
deners at Forfar. The town was protected by a castle,
which stood on a mound on the north side. Its origin is
uncertain, but it is believed to have been the place where,
in 1057, the first parliament of Malcolm Caenmore assem¬
bled after the defeat of Macbeth.
The site of this ancient fortress is now marked by the
town-cross. The castle, which was surrounded with water,
was occupied and strongly garrisoned by the English in
the beginning of the fourteenth century; but in 1307, King
Robert Bruce, on his way through Angus, captured, and,
as was his custom in such cases, destroyed it, after putting
the English to the sword.
It is rather a singular incident in the history of this town,
that the weekly market-day previous to the reign of James
VI. occurred on Sunday, when it was changed by act of
parliament to Friday. In 1661, a special commission was
appointed by the crown to try several parties accused of
witchcraft, some of whom were condemned to be burnt, and
the bridle which was put into their mouths in leading them
out for execution is still preserved in the burgh. Further,
it is recorded, that John Ford, for his services as a “ witch
pricker,” was on the same occasion admitted a burgess along
with Lord Kinghorn. Previous to the middle of last cen¬
tury, the town was composed of very few two-story houses ;
and notwithstanding its proximity to good gray slate quar-
784 FOR
Forfeiture ries, the houses were almost all thatched. At that time
II beef was not sold by weight. A leg of an ox weighing five
Forgery. stone have been purchased for as many shillings, and
L.2 worth served the demands of the town lor a fortnight.
To show the domestic condition of the inhabitants at that
time, it may be stated that in this royal burgh, once the
seat of royalty, there were only one or two time-pieces of
any kind, and none of them patent to the public; modern
luxuries, or rather necessaries, were so rare, that it could
boast of only seven tea-kettles, and as many hand-bellows,
while peats and wood constituted the only fuel. Since the
introduction of the manufacture of “ Osnaburgs” (a kind
of linen), about the year 1746, the trade of the town, in
various branches, has progressed rapidly. Here, as in the
other towns in the county, the staple trade is the linen
manufacture, which employs 2900 weavers of all kinds. 1 he
number of pieces annually produced is 104,000, compre¬
hending 13,o20,000 yards, the value of which is L.260,000.
The annual revenue of the burgh is L.1527, 12s. 3d., and
it is gradually increasing. There are 285 electors in the
burgh, which, in conjunction with Montrose, Arbroath,
Brechin, and Inverbervie, sends one member to parliament.
Pop. of town and parish in 1801 was 5167 ; in 1841 the town
population was 8362, and the landward 1258; in 1851, it
was in the former 9311, and in the latter 1698. (j. C—e.)
FORFEITURE originally signifies a transgression or
offence against some penal law. It is an inseparable inci¬
dent to felony punishable with death, and obtains to a
greater or less extent of the lands of the offender, and totally
in regard to his goods and chattels. The word is formed
from the base Latin forisfactura, whence forfaitura sxndfor-
faictura, and the French forfait. Forisfactura comes from
forisfacere, which, according to Isidore, signifies to hurt or
offend, facere contra rationem; and is not improbably de¬
rived from for is, out, and facer e, to do, an action out of rule,
or contrary to the rules. Borel thinks forfait is derived
from the using of force or violence ; and Lobineau, in his
glossary, supposes forisfacta properly to signify a mulct or
amend, not a, forfeit, which latter he derives from the Bas-
Breton forfed, a penalty. But with us it is now more fre¬
quently used for the effect of such transgression, as the
losing some right, privilege, estate, honour, office, or effects,
in consequence thereof, than for the transgression itself.
Forfeiture differs from confiscation in this, that the former
is more general; whilst confiscation is particularly applied
to such things as become forfeited to the king’s exchequer;
and goods confiscated are said to be such as nobody claims.
See Attainder, Treason.
FORFICULA, the Earwig, a genus of coleopterous in¬
sects. See index to Entomology.
FORGE, a furnace where wrought iron or other metal
is hammered and fashioned with the aid of heat. I his is
called a smith’s forge. In ships a very convenient kind is
the portable truck forge. Forge is also applied to the blast
furnace, in which iron ore is smelted; also, where the pro¬
duction of the blast furnace is fused, and afterwards beaten
with enormous hammers, or drawn through cylinders of dif¬
ferent diameter, in order to render the metal soft, pure, and
more malleable and ductile. Such great workshops are other¬
wise called shingling mills. See Iron-making.
An ordinary smith’s forge consists of the hearth or fire¬
place, which is merely a cavity in masonry or brick-work,
lined with fire-clay or brick, and containing ignited fuel,
upon which a powerful blast of air is driven through the
nozzle of double-bellows, worked by a hand-lever. There
are also portable forges, of small dimensions, but answering
all the ordinary purposes of a smith’s forge. Such are the
travelling forges of armies, those used on board ships, &c.
FORGERY (from the French forger, signifying accu-
dere, fabricare, to beat on an anvil, forge, or form), may be
defined at common law to be the fraudulent making or al-
E O E
teration of a writing or seal, to the prejudice of another Forgery,
man’s right; or it is the crime of imitating the subscription
of another, adhibiting it to a deed, and putting that deed
to use by acting under it, receiving property in virtue of it,
founding on it as a title to sue or to defend, or transferring it
to another. In considering forgery, it is necessary to attend,
first, to the mode of proof by which the crime is established;
and, secondly, to the punishment which is inflicted on the
perpetrator thereof.
The proof of forgery is either direct or indirect. The
direct proof consists in the examination of the writer of the
deed, and of the witnesses who sign the deed and attest the
subscription. As the subscription of witnesses is an at¬
testation to which the law gives effect to the extent of re¬
ceiving it on their death as evidence of the regularity of the
deed, and as weight is given to the subscription of a wit¬
ness, even where he does not recollect having adhibited it;
so, to cut down a deed regularly attested, the instrumentary
witnesses, as they are called in Scotland, must be brought
to swear to circumstances of sufficient force to invalidate the
evidence given by their subscriptions; a species of proof
which the law does not £fnd indeed cannot reject. The in¬
direct mode of proof consists in an investigation of all the
circumstances from which it may be inferred that the per¬
son by whom a deed is said to have been executed actually
did not subscribe; as, for instance, an error in the date, an
alibi, the stamp, the contexture of or date impressed upon
the paper, or a comparatio literarum. The comparison of
the handwriting is made with genuine subscriptions of the
same date as that alleged to have been forged; and where
the real subscriptions differ materially from the one founded
on, the forgery of the latter may be pronounced on with a
considerable degree of certainty. It is an established rule,
however, that the proof of forgery by a mere comparison
of handwriting is not admissible.
Until recently the punishment of forgery was not ex¬
pressly laid down by statute; but by the common law and
practice of the country, conviction was usually followed by
a capital punishment in all cases of gross forgery; whilst
those of less moment, as forgeries of executions, or where
the evidence was not in every respect conclusive, were com¬
monly visited with what in Scotland is denominated an
arbitrary punishment, that is, with imprisonment or trans¬
portation. At length, however, the severity of the law in
this particular was considerably mitigated, and the punish¬
ment of death restricted to the cases of forgery enumerated
by the 11th Geo. IV. and 1st William IV., cap. 66. After¬
wards by the 2d and 3d William IV., cap. 123, entitled an
“ act for abolishing the punishment of death in certain cases
of forgery,” it was enacted, that where any person shall
thereafter be convicted of any offence whatsoever for which
the previous act of William IV. enjoins or authorizes the
infliction of the punishment of death, or for any offence
which shall consist wholly or in part of forging or altering^
any writing, instrument, matter, or thing whatsoever, or of
offering, uttering, or disposing of any writing, instrument,
matter, or thing whatsoever, knowing the same to be forged
or altered, or of falsely personating another, such offender
shall not suffer death, or have sentence of death awarded
against him, but shall be transported beyond the seas for
the term of such offender’s life. But it is at the same time
specially provided that nothing in this act shall be con¬
strued to extend to the forging or altering, offering, utter¬
ing or disposing of, knowing the same to be forged or altered,
any will, testament, codicil, or testamentary writing, with
intent to defraud any body corporate or person whatsoever,
or of forging or altering, or of uttering, knowing the same
to be forged or altered, any power of attorney or other au¬
thority to transfer any share or interest in any stock, annuity,
or other public fund, transferable at the Bank of England
or South-Sea House, or Bank of Ireland, or to receive any
FOR
Forging dividend payable in respect of such share or interest, with
|| intent to defraud any body corporate or person whatsoever,
Fork. or 0f procuring, aiding, or assisting in the commission of
such offences, for all which offences the punishment of death
is to continue the same as if this act had not been passed.
And further, by 3d and 4th William IV., cap. 44, it is en¬
acted, that persons punishable with transportation for life
under the act of 2d and 3d William IV., shall be liable, pre¬
viously to their being transported, in case the court before
which they are convicted shall think fit, to be imprisoned,
with or without hard labour, in the common gaol or house
of correction, or to be confined in the penitentiary for any
term not exceeding four years nor less than one. And,
lastly, by the 7th William IV. and 1st Viet, cap. 84, the
punishment of death was abolished in all cases of forgery,
and the punishment substituted of transportation for life, or
not less than seven years, or imprisonment for not exceeding
four nor less than two years, with or without hard labour
and solitary confinement, if the court think fit. As it for¬
merly stood its excessive severity had rendered it to a cer¬
tain extent inoperative; for as the natural feelings of man¬
kind revolt at the indiscriminate sacrifice of human life for
offences of a secondary description, judges and juries had
tacitly combined to evade giving it effect in the less aggra¬
vated class of cases, and thus to reconcile with public opinion
the practical administration of justice in this particular.
From this mitigation which has taken place the efficacy of
the law has been augmented by increasing the certainty of
the punishment it awards ; and a diminution in the number
of offences of this kind resulted, which the excessive but
irregular severity of the law, as it formerly stood, had failed
to produce.
FORGING, in Smithery. See Forge, and Iron-
Making.
FORIS, a seaport-town of Naples, on the W. coast of
the island of Ischia. It has a good harbour and some trade,
and several hot springs in the vicinity. Pop. about 5000.
FORISFAMILIATION, \wLaw. When a child, upon
receiving a portion from his father, or otherwise, renounces
his legal title to any further share of his father’s succession,
he is said to be forisfamiliated.
FORK, a well-known instrument, consisting of a handle
and a shaft terminating in two or more points or prongs.
The table-fork did not come into use in England till the
reign of James I., as we learn from a remarkable passage in
Coryat, who thus solemnly relates the history of its intro¬
duction : “ Here I will mention a thing that might have
been spoken of before in discourse of the first Italian townes.
I observed a custom in all those Italian cities and townes
through the which I passed, that is not used in any other
country that I saw in my travels, neither do I think any other
nation of Christendome doth use it, but only Italy. The
Italians, and also most strangers that are commorant in
Italy, doe always at their meals use a little forke when they
eat their meate ; for w hile with their knife, which they hold
in one hand, they cut the meate out of the dish, they fasten
the forke, which they hold in the other hand, upon the same
dish, so that whatsoever he be that sitting in the company
of any others at meale shall unadvisedly touch the dish of
meate with his fingers from which all the table doe cut, he
will give occasion of offence unto the company as having
transgressed the lawes of good manners, insomuch that for
his error he shall be at least browbeaten, if not reprehended
in wordes. This form of feeding, I understand, is generally
used in all parts of Italy, their fbrkes for the most part being
made of yronn, steele, and some of silver, but those are used
only by gentlemen. The reason of this their curiosity is,
because the Italian cannot by any means indure to have his
dish touched with fingers, seeing all men’s fingers are not
alike cleane. Hereupon I myself thought good to imitate
the Italian fashion by this forked cutting of meate, not only
VOL. IX.
FOR 785
while I was in Italy, but also in Germany, and often times Forkel
in England since I came home : being once quipped for ||
that frequently using my fork, by a certain learned gentle- Form,
man, a familiar friend of mine, Mr Lawrence Whitaker, who v',—
in his merry humour doubted not to call me a furcifer,
only for using a forke at feeding, but for no other cause.”
FORKEL, J. Nicholas, a German musician and musi¬
cal historian, was born at Meeder (in Saxony) in 1749. He
was appointed “Director of the Music” in the University
of Gottingen. His works are : A General History of Music,
in 2 vols. 4to; A General Biography of Musicians ; and
The Critical Musical Library, in three vols., published at
Leipzig. The best of his works is the “ General History
of Music,” which is still considered in many parts of Ger¬
many as a standard work. He died in 1818.
FORLI, the ancient Forum Livii, a city of Italy, capi¬
tal of a cognominal legation in the Papal States, is situated
at the foot of the Apennines, in a pleasant and fertile plain,
watered by the Ronco and the Montone, 38 miles S.E. of
Bologna. It stands on the vEmilian way, and is surrounded
by old walls, which however are of little use as a means of
defence. The town is handsome and well built, and the
streets are adorned with arcades. It has a fine square, a
cathedral, several elegant palaces, a city hall, and other
public buildings. It carries on a considerable trade in agri¬
cultural produce, and has manufactures of silk ribands and
twist, oil-cloth and woollen fabrics, and wax, salt, and nitre
refineries. Forli is said to have been founded by Livius
Salinator after the defeat of Hasdrubal. During the middle
ages it became a place of some importance; and in the fif¬
teenth century the citadel (now used as a prison) was nobly
defended by Catherine Sforza. In 1797 it was taken by
the French, and made the capital of the department of the
Rubicon, but in 1815 it was restored to the Pope. Pop.
about 16,000.
FORLORN HOPE, in military affairs, the body of
picked men guided by engineer officers, detached to lead
the assault, or storm a fortress, or to perform any service
attended with great danger and peril. Ihe term is synony¬
mous with the French enfans perdus.
FORM, in Physics, denotes the manner of being pecu¬
liar to each body ; or that which constitutes it such a par¬
ticular body, and distinguishes it from every other. But
Mr Harris uses the term form in another sense, as an effi¬
cient animating principle ; to which he supposes Ovid to
refer in the first lines of his Metamorphoses
In nova fert animus mutatas dicere formas
Corpora.
These animating forms are not of themselves objects either
ot the ear or of the eye ; but their nature or character is
understood in this, that were they never to exert their pro¬
per energies on their proper subjects, the marble on which
the sculptor exercises his art would remain for ever shape¬
less, and the harp from which the harper calls forth sounds
would remain for ever silent.
Substantial forms seem to have been first broached by
the followers of Aristotle, who thought matter, under differ¬
ent modes or modifications, not sufficient to constitute dif¬
ferent bodies, but that something substantial was necessary
to set them at a greater distance, and thus introduced sub¬
stantial forms, on the footing of souls, which specify and
distinguish animals. What led to this erroneous notion
were the circumstances of life and death. For observing
that, as soon as the soul had departed out of a man, all mo¬
tion, respiration, nutrition, and other animal functions, im¬
mediately ceased, they concluded that these functions de¬
pended on the soul, and consequently that the soul was the
form of the animal body, or that which constituted it such ;
indeed nobody doubted that the soul was a substance inde¬
pendent of matter ; and hence it was concluded that the
forms of other bodies were to be equally substantial. But
5 G
786
FOR
FOR
Formality to this it is answered, that though the soul be that by which
II y man is man, and consequently the form of the human body
Forman. as human, yet it does not follow that it is properly the torm
of this body of ours, as it is a body, or of the several parts
thereof, considered as distinct from one another, h or those
several parts have their proper forms so closely connected
with their matter, that it remains inseparable therefrom
lono- after the soul has quitted the body ; thus flesh has the
form of flesh, bone of bone, and so forth, long after the,
soul is removed, as well as before. The truth is, the body
does not become incapable of performing its accustomed
functions because the soul has deserted it; but the soul
takes its departure because the body is no longer in a con¬
dition to perform its functions.
The ancient and modern corpuscular philosophers, there¬
fore, with the Cartesians, exclude the notion of substantial
forms, and show, by many arguments, that the form is only
the modus or manner of the body in which it is inherent.
And as there are only three primary modes of matter, figure,
rest, or motion, with two others arising therefrom, magnitude
and situation, the form of all bodies they hold to consist in
these modes, and suppose the variations which they are
capable of sufficient to present all the variety observable in
bodies.
Forms are usually distinguished into essential and acci¬
dental. Though the five modes above mentioned, generally
taken, be adventitious, yet to this or that body, as to fire or
water, they are essential. Thus it is accidental to iron to
have this or that magnitude, figure, or situation, since it
might exist in different ones; yet to a knife or hammer,
the figure, magnitude, and position of parts, which consti¬
tute it a hammer or knife, are essential, and they cannot
exist or be conceived without these. Hence it is inferred,
that though there be no substantial, yet there are essential
forms, by which the several species of bodies become what
they are, and are distinguished from all others. Accidental
forms are those really inherent in bodies, but in such man¬
ner as that the body may exist in all its perfection without
them ; such as whiteness in a wall, heat in water, &c.
FORMALITY, as defined in the scholastic philosophy,
is the manner in which a thing is conceived ; or a manner
in an object importing a relation to the understanding, by
which it may be distinguished from another object. Thus
animality and rationality are formalities. The Scotists made
great use of formalities, in opposition to the virtualities of
the Thomists.
Formalities, in matters of lawq are frequently used for
the formulae themselves, or the rules prescribed for judicial
procedure. In contracts of strict law all the formalities
must be strictly observed, as an omission of the least maj*
ruin the whole convention.
FORMAN, Andrew, archbishop of St Andrews, Earl
of Pittenweem, and of Cottingham in England, one of the
lords of the regency appointed by the states during the
minority of King James V. of Scotland, legate a latere,
primate of all the kingdom of Scotland, and archbishop of
Bourges in France, was descended from the family of the
Formans of Hutton in the county of Berwick, and is con¬
sidered as having been one of the best statesmen of the age
in which he lived. He was employed in 1501, along with
Robert Blackader, archbishop of Glasgow, and Patrick earl
of Bothwell, to negotiate a match between James IV. of
Scotland and Margaret, eldest daughter of Henry VII. of
England, which next year was ratified by the Scottish am¬
bassadors. He was afterwards frequently employed as
Scottish ambassador to Rome, England, and France, upon
the most important occasions. In 1514 he was translated
from the see of Moray, to which he had been appointed in
1502, to that of St Andrews. During the time he pos¬
sessed the former, he was employed as mediator between
Pope Julius II. and Louis XII. of France, who were at
that time at variance ; and he happily succeeded in conci¬
liating the difference. Having taken leave of the pope, he
on his return home passed through France, where he was
kindly received by the king and queen, who bestowed upon
him the bishopric of Bourges in France, which brought
him annually 400 tuns of wine, 10,000 francs of gold, and
other smaller matters. Besides this, he was most liberally
rewarded by Pope Julius, who promoted him to the arch¬
bishopric of St Andrews, as has been already mentioned,
conferred on him the two rich abbeys of Dunfermline and
Aberbrothick, and made him his legate a latere. At that
time, however, there were two other candidates for the
archiepiscopal see. The learned Gavin Douglas, bishop of
Dunkeld, having been nominated by the queen, had actually
taken possession; but John Hepburn, a bold and factious
man, having been preferred by the monks, drove out the
officers of Gavin Douglas, and placed a strong garrison in
the castle. And so great was the power of this man, that
when Forman was nominated by the pope, no person could
be found to proclaim the bulls for his election. At last
Lord Home, at that time the most powerful nobleman in
Scotland, was induced, by large promises, besides some con¬
siderable gifts, amongst which was the donation of the ab¬
bacy of Coldingham to his youngest brother David, to un¬
dertake the task. It was executed at Edinburgh and at St
Andrews, to which places Lord Home’s brother proceeded
with 10,000 men ; though the doing of it, contrary to For¬
man’s inclination, proved a source of much trouble to that
nobleman afterwards. The quarrel between Hepburn and
Forman, however, was at last terminated by the latter sur¬
rendering the bishopric of Moray, as well as some years’
revenue of the archbishopric itself, and paying Hepburn
three thousand French crowns annually out of his eccle-^
siastical revenues. On the appointment of the Duke of
Albany to the regency, Hepburn endeavoured to under¬
mine the primate’s credit with that nobleman, by repre¬
senting him as one who had in a manner collected all the
money in the country, and who consequently might endan¬
ger the tranquillity of the kingdom. These insinuations,
however, were but little regarded by the regent; and For¬
man had the good fortune afterwards to compose a differ¬
ence between him and the nobility, which was likely to be
attended with bloodshed. In 1517 the archbishop was ap¬
pointed by the states one of the lords of the regency, on
the occasion of the Duke of Albany’s going to Franee. His
embassy to Pope Julius II. has been already mentioned. In
Mackenzie’s Lives we are informed, that in the collection
of the Letters of the Scottish Kings from the year 1505 till
the year 1626, in the Advocates’ Library, there is a letter
from the pope to King James IV., in which he not only
commends Forman highly, but likewise promises that at the
first creation of cardinals he should be made one. This
letter is dated the 6th of May 1511; but the pope died be¬
fore he had an opportunity of performing his promise. In
the same collection there is a letter from the Duke of Al¬
bany to Leo X., successor of Julius, in which he urges the
pope to advance Forman to the dignity of a cardinal, pro¬
mised him by his predecessor, and to continue him as legate
a latere. Archbishop Forman died in the year 1521, and
was buried at Dunfermline. Dempster says that he wiote
a book against Luther, a book concerning the Stoical phi¬
losophy, and a collection out of the Decretals.
FORMED ON, in Law {breve de forma donationis), a
writ that lies for a person who has a right to lands or tene-
ments by virtue of any entail, arising from the statute of
W estminster.
FORMENTERA, theancient Ophiusa oxPityusaMinor,
one of the Balearic Islands belonging to Spain, and lying
3 miles S. of the island of Iviqa. It is about 13 miles in
length, by from 2 to 10 in breadth, and takes its name
from the abundant crops of wheat raised in the western part,
Formedon
FOR
Formiae the eastern part being chiefly covered with wood. It con¬
tains no town, and the inhabitants, amounting to about 1500,
Formula. |jve jn villages or detached cottages.
FORMIdS (now Mola di Gaeta), a city of Latium, near
the Via Appia, on the innermost recess of the Sinus Caie-
tanus, or Gulf of Ga'Aa. It was founded very anciently by
the Tyrrhenians. Some of the later poets supposed the
city of Lamus, which Homer mentions, to be the same as
Formiae. At an early period Formiae received the Roman
franchise and became a municipium. Villas were built at
this spot by many of the noble Romans who were attracted
by the rich beauty of the surrounding country. The villa
of Cicero may still be seen near Castiglione at the villa
Marsana, the furthest of the three from Mola. The vine of
the Formian hills produced excellent wine in the time of
Horace.
FORMICA, the Ant. See index to Entomology.
FORMOSA (Chinese Taeican, i.e. Terrace Beach), an
island lying about 90 miles off the coast of China, from
which it is separated by the channel of Fo-kien. It is about
250 miles in length from N. to S., and 80 in breadth, lying
between N. Lat. 22. and 25. 30., and E. Long. 120. 30. and
122. A volcanic mountain chain, rising to the height of up¬
wards of 12,000 feet, traverses the centre of the island from
N. to S., and separates the Chinese portion of it on the W.
from the independent portion on the E. Some parts of the
coast present bold headlands; but all the W. shore is flat
and surrounded with rocks and quicksands, presenting no
good harbours, with the exception of Kelung at its northern
extremity. The Chinese portion of it is fertile and well
watered, and possesses a very salubrious climate. Almost
all grains and fruits may be produced on some part of the
island, which is familiarly known as the granary of the mari¬
time provinces of China. The rice trade alone with these
provinces employs more than 300 vessels. Among its other
articles of trade are maize, tobacco, sugar, fruits, timber,
salt, sulphur, camphor, cotton, hemp, silk, &c. Of the east¬
ern portion of the island little is known; the inhabitants
bear no resemblance to the Chinese, but are apparently
allied to the Malay or Polynesian tribes. They are of a
slender form, olive complexion, wear long hair, and blacken
their teeth. They have no written language, and their re¬
ligion seems to be confined to a superstitious belief in de¬
mons and sorcerers. Many of the aboriginal inhabitants aie
still to be found on the western portion of the island, living
in independent villages; others however have become incor¬
porated with the Chinese settlers, or live in villages of their
own, under the general supervision of Chinese officers.
Formosa was unknown to the Chinese till about 1403.
About 1634 the Dutch established themselves here, and
built Fort Zealand on a small island commanding the har¬
bour of the capital Taewan. After retaining possession of
it for 28 years, they were expelled by the famous Chinese
rebel Coxinga, whose successors ruled in the island till 1683,
when it was taken by the Chinese. Taewan, the capital,
stands on the W. coast in N. Lat. 23. E. Long. 120. 32;
but the entrance of its harbour is now choked up. The
population of Formosa is estimated at from 2,000,000 to
3,000,000.
FORMULA, or Formulaky, a rule or model, or certain
terms prescribed or decreed by authority, for the form and
manner of an act, instrument, proceeding, or the like.
In Church affairs, a profession of faith. In Medicine, the
constitution of medicines, either with respect to their pre¬
scription or their consistence. Chemical Formula are sym¬
bols representing the different substances, simple and com¬
pound.
Formula, in Mathematics, a theorem or general rule or
expression, for solving certain particular cases of some pio-
blem; so 4 s + ^ eHs a general formula for the greater
of two quantities whose sum is s, and difference d; and
FOR
787
5 ^ 5 c? is the formula or general value for the less quan- Formulary
tity. Also Jax - x1 is the formula or general value of the 11^
ordinate to a circle whose diameter is a and absciss x. ^ orrce. ^
FORMULARY, a book or writing containing stated “
and prescribed forms, as of oaths, declarations, prayers, and
the like ; a book of precedents ; a prescribed form in any-
thing.
FORNACALIA, in Roman Antiquity, a festival insti¬
tuted by Numa, in honour of Fornax, the goddess of ovens,
at which certain cakes were offered in sacrifice. Hartung
identifies Fornax with Vesta.
FORNAX, a constellation. See Astronomy.
FORNIX, in Anatomy, a part of the corpus callosum
in the brain, so called from its somewhat resembling a
Gothic arch in shape when viewed in a particular direction.
FORRES, a royal and parliamentary burgh of Scotland,
county of Moray, situated on a rising ground three miles
S. of Findhorn, its port at the mouth of the river of the
same name. It is a neat and well-built town, surrounded
by scenery of great beauty. The great road to Inverness
forms its main street, from which several smaller ones
branch off. It possesses an excellent academy, called the
Anderson Institution (from its founder, a private gentleman
of that name), in which the classics, mathematics, natural
philosophy, and other branches are taught. Besides this
academy there are several private schools; also a newsroom,
subscription library, and various friendly societies. Besides
the parish church, there are a Free Church, and chapels for
Episcopalians, United Presbyterians, and Independents.
On a hill W. of the town are some remains of the ancient
castle of Forres; and on another eminence in the vicinity
a tower in memory of Nelson has been erected. Forres
unites with Inverness, Nairn, and Fortrose, in returning a
member to parliament, and is governed by a provost, three
bailies, and thirteen councillors. Pop. (1851) of municipal
burgh 3339, of parliamentary burgh 3468. Forres is noted
for the possession of one of the most remarkable ancient
stone obelisks to be found in Britain. It is thus described
by Mr Cordiner, in a letter to Mr Pennant: “ In the first
division, underneath the Gothic ornaments at the top, are
nine horses with their riders marching forth in order. In
the next is a line of warriors on foot, brandishing their
weapons, and in the act of shouting for the battle. The
import of the attitudes in the third division is very dubious,
their expression indefinite. The figures which form a square
in the middle of the column are pretty complex, but dis¬
tinct ; four serjeants with their halberts guard a canopy,
under which are placed several human heads which have
belonged to the dead bodies piled up at the left of the divi¬
sion ; one appears in the character of executioner severing
the head from another body ; behind him are three trum¬
peters sounding their trumpets, and before him two pair of
combatants fighting with sword and target. A troop of
horse next appears, put to flight by infantry, whose first
line have bows and arrows, the three following swords and
targets. In the lowermost division now visible, the horses
seem to be seized by the victorious party, their riders be¬
headed, and the head of their chief hung in chains or placed
in a frame ; the others being thrown together beside the
dead bodies under an arched cover. The greatest part of
the other side of the obelisk, occupied by a sumptuous cross,
is covered over with an uniform figure, elaborately raised,
and interwoven with great mathematical exactness. Under
the cross are twn august personages, with some attendants,
much obliterated, but evidently in an attitude of reconcilia¬
tion ; and if the monument was erected in memory of the
peace concluded between Malcolm and Canute, upon the
final retreat of the Danes, these large figures may represent
the reconciled monarchs. On the edge below the fretwork
are some rows of figures joined hand in hand, which may
also imply the new degree of confidence and security which
788 FOR
Forskal took place, after the feuds were composed, which were cha-
II racterized on the front of the pillar. But to whatever par-
Forster. ticular transacti0n it may allude, it can hardly be imagined
that, in so early an age of the arts in Scotland as it must
have been raised, so'elaborate a performance would have
been undertaken but in consequence of an event of the most
general importance; it is therefore surprising that no dis-
tincter traditions of it arrived at the era wdien letters were
known. The height of this monument (called King Suenos
Stone) above the ground is 23 feet, besides 12 or 15 feet
under ground. Its breadth is 3 feet 10 inches by 1 foot 3
inches in thickness.”
FORSKAL, Peter, a celebrated oriental traveller and
naturalist, was born in Sweden in 1736. He studied at
Gottingen, where he published a dissertation entitled Dubia
de Priricipiis Pltilosophiee Recentioris, which is considered
a creditable production. Thence he returned to his own
country, and in 1759 he wrote Pensees sur laLiberte Civile,
a pamphlet which the rulers of Sweden highly disapproved
of. At this time Linnaeus was in the zenith of his fame; and
Forskal, through his fondness for natural histoi’y, became
acquainted with the great naturalist, who recommended him
to Frederic V. of Denmark. Here, after obtaining the title
of professor at Copenhagen, he was appointed to accompany
Niebuhr in an expedition to investigate the antiquities of
Arabia and Egypt. But his career was cut short by death
at Jerim, July 11, 1763. Though his time was short, and
his difficulties very great, yet his account of the vegetation
of Egypt and Arabia is a model of the method in which
such investigations should be prosecuted. His friend and
companion Niebuhr was entrusted with the care of editing
his MS., from which he produced a Fauna Orientalis, entitled
Descriptiones Animalium, Avium, Amphibiorum, Piscium,
Insectorum, Vermium, quae in itin. orient, observavit Petrus
Forskal. 1775, 4to. In the same year appeared also an
account of the plants of Arabia Felix and of Lower Egypt,
under the title of JEgyptiaco-Arabica. This work is far in
advance of those of the same nature produced by the ad¬
herents of Linnaeus; and is especially remarkable as being
one of the first works in which the importance of the rela¬
tion of vegetation to climate is fully appreciated. By the
remarkable assertion that “ the specimens of plants being
given, the latitude, the elevation of the surface, and the
zones of vegetation upon the mountains of a country may
be found,” Forskal laid the foundation of geographical
botany, which has proved of such interest and importance in
the hands of Humboldt and other recent scientific travellers.
FORSTER, John Reinhold, a celebrated naturalist
and geographer, and an accomplished scholar and linguist,
born Oct. 22, 1729, at Dirschau in Polish Prussia, where
his father was burgomaster or mayor. His family was of
English descent, and had quitted Great Britain in the time
of Charles I. At the age of fourteen he was placed for a
year at the public school of Marienwerder, and was after¬
wards admitted into the gymnasium of Joachimsthal at
Berlin, where among his schoolfellows was Pallas the cele¬
brated naturalist. Forster applied with diligence to the
study of the ancient and modern languages, and in particu¬
lar of the oriental languages; and he continued the same
pursuits at the university of Halle, which he entered in
1748. After three years, having completed his theological
studies, he resided for two years more at Danzig, preach¬
ing as a candidate. In 1753 he obtained a small benefice
at the neighbouring town of Nassenhuben ; and the next
year he married his cousin Elizabeth Nikolai. The ex¬
penses of his increasing family induced him to accept the
proposals of the Russian consul at Danzig to superintend
the establishment of the new colonies at Saratof on the
Volga: but Forster, not satisfied with his success in the
undertaking, in 1766 resolved to try his fortune in England,
whither he proceeded well recommended but with exhausted
FOR
finances. Soon afterwards, however, he received a gratuity Forster,
of 100 guineas from the Russian government, and he ob-
tained some remuneration from the booksellers for his trans¬
lations from the German and the Swedish. He declined an
offer of Lord Baltimore to manage his estates in America,
preferring the appointment of a teacher of modern languages
and natural history in the dissenting academy of Warring¬
ton. He was not, however, very popular as an instructor.
In 1772 he was appointed naturalist to the expedition under
the command of Captain Cook, in his second voyage of cir¬
cumnavigation ; and he took with him his son George, then
seventeen years old. For this undertaking Forster was
abundantly qualified as a man of science and an accurate
observer, though his temper and conduct were not always
such as to make him agreeable to his shipmates, nor was he
uniformly considerate and humane in his intercourse with
the uncivilized inhabitants of the countries he explored.
After the return of the expedition, there were repeated dis¬
putes respecting Forster’s share in the intended publication
of the narrative of the voyage. Two thousand pounds,
which had been granted by government for the plates of
the work, were to have been equally divided between Cook
and Forster for this purpose ; but Forster’s performance ot
his part of the undertaking was disapproved, and he was
deprived of the advantage which he expected to have de¬
rived from the plates. He was supposed to be concerned
in the account of the voyage which was published by his
son; and this participation was generally considered as an
infringement of the conditions of his engagement; besides
that many offensive remarks and a few inaccuracies were
introduced into the work. All these circumstances made
Forster’s residence in England by no means agreeable, and
his pecuniary embarrassments became so pressing that he
was at one time in confinement for debt. He was, how¬
ever, set at liberty in 1780, by the munificence of the king
of Prussia, who paid his debts and established him at Halle
as professor of natural history, and inspector of the botani¬
cal garden. The following year he took the decree of M.D.
in the university. He was not always on the most cordial
terms with his academical colleagues, and his circumstances
were also much embarrassed by his unfortunate propensity
to play, which absorbed his whole earnings. The prema¬
ture death of his two sons seriously affected his health, and
he died on the 9th December 1798. His life has been
written by Professor Kurt Sprengel, but in a manner some¬
what too flattering with regard to Forster’s moral character.
He appears to have been master of seventeen languages;
and he was as extensively acquainted with things as with
words, being as much indebted for his various knowledge
to his industrious and accurate observation of nature, as to
his great reading and his profound learning. He was long
intimate with BufFon, and was in constant correspondence
with Linnaeus and his son, the latter of whom gave the name
of Forstera to a new genus of plants. In conversation he
was witty, but too satirical; and his unguarded sallies
created him many enemies. He became a fellow of the
Society of Antiquaries soon after his arrival in England;
in Feb. 1772 was elected a fellow of the Royal Society ;
and in 1775 he received the honorary diploma of LL.D.
from the university of Oxford.
His principal publications are as follows -.—Specimen Historic^ Na-
turalis Volgensis, Phil. Trans. 1767, p. 312, containing a description
of the country about Saratov. An Introduction to Mineralogy, 8vo,
Lond. 1768; with a Translation o/Lehmann’s Halotechnia. A Cata¬
logue of British Insects, 8vo, Warrington, 1770. A Translation of
Kalm’s Travels into North America, 3 vols. 8vo, Warrington and Lond.,
1770, 1771. Osbeck’s Voyage to China and the East Indies, trans¬
lated from the German ; with a Faunula and Flora Sinensis, 2 yols.
8vo, Lond. 1771. A Translation of Bossu's Travels in Louisiana,
with Notes, and a Systematic Catalogue of all the.known Plants of
English North America; together with an Abstract of Lbfling’s Tra¬
vels, 2 vols. 8vo, Lond. 1771. Novce Species Insectorum, Centuria 1,
8vo, Lond. 1771; consisting chiefly of English insects. An Account
FOR
FOR
789
Forster, of the management of Carp in Polish Prussia, Phil. Trans. 1771, p.
310. An Easy Method of Assaying and Glassing Mineral Substances,
•with a Translation of Scheele’s Experiments on Sparry Fluor, 8vo,
Lond. 1772. Translation o/Bougainville’s Voyage, 4to, Lond. 1772.
Epistolce ad J. D. Michaelis, 4to, Gdttin. 1772, containing remarks
on this author’s Spicilegium Geographies Exterce. An Account of the
Roots used by the Indians in the neighbourhood of Hudson's Bay to
dye Porcupines' Quills, Phil. Trans. 1772, p. 54; the Galium tine*
torium and Helleborus trifolius. An Account of Several Quadrupeds
from Hudson's Bay, Phil. Trans. 1772, p. 370. An Account of the
Birds sent from Hudson's Bay, p. 382. An Account of some Curious
Fishes sent from Hudson's Bay, Phil. Trans. 1773, p. 149. Trans¬
lation of Grainger’s Travels and Riedesel’s Travels. Catalogue of the
Animals and Plants represented in Catesby's Carolina, with the Lin-
ncean names. Characteres generum plantarum, quas in itinere ad
insulas maris australis collegerunt J. R. et G. Forster, fol. Lond.
1776, containing descriptions and figures of 75 new genera. Liber
singularis, de Bysso antiquorum, quo ex JEgyptiaca lingua res ves-
tiaria antiquorum, 8vo, Lond. 1776. The object of this essay
is to prove that the byssus of the ancients was cotton, not linen.
Observations made during a Voyage Round the World, on Physical
Geography, Natural History, and Ethic Philosophy, 4to, Lond. 1778.
A French translation of this interesting work was added as a
fifth volume to that of Cook’s Voyage, 4to, Paris, 1778. Descrip¬
tion of the Yerbua Capensis, Swed. Trans. 1778, p. 108. Translation
of Von Troll’s Letters on Iceland, 8vo, Lond. 1780. On Buflbn’s
Epochs of Nature, Gdttin. Mag. 1780, i. i. p. 140. On the Tiger-Cat
of the Cape, Phil. Trans. 1781, p. 1; the Felis Capensis, found from
Congo to the Cape, and capable of being tamed like a cat. Historia
Aptenodytoe, Commentat. Gdttin. vol. iii., p. 121. Zoologia Indica
Selecta, Latin and German, fol. Halle, 1781, 4to, Lond. 1790; 2d
edit. Halle, 1795. Account of a New Insect, Naturforscher, vol. xvii.
p. 206, Halle, 1782 ; a species of cancer. A Picture of England for
1780, continued to 1783, 8vo, 1784; German, 8vo, Dessau, 1784;
giving some particulars of many of the principal public characters
at the time of the American war. Essays on Moral and Physical
Geography, 3 vols. 8vo, Leips. 1781,1783 ; continued by his son-in-
law Matthias Sprengel. A Collection of Memoirs relating to Domestic
Economy and Technology, 8vo, Halle, 1784. On the Albatross, Mem.
Sav. Etr. vol. x. p. 563 ; the Diomedea. History of Discoveries and
Voyages in the North, 8vo, Francfort on the Oder, 1784; English,
Lond. 1786, Fr. Paris, 1788. Project for abolishing Mendicity, espe¬
cially at Halle, 8vo, Halle, 1786. Enchiridion Histories Naturali
inserviens, 8vo, Halle, 1788. A Memoir on the Badjer Cit. Mem.
Acad. Berl. 1788,1789, p. 90; the Manis pentadactylus. Magazine
of Modern Voyages and Travels, translated from various Languages,
with Remarks, 16 vols. 8vo, Halle, 1790,1798. An edition of Ber-
gius iiber die Leckereyen, a work on diet, with notes by Forster, Kurt,
and Sprengel, 2 vols. 8vo, Halle, 1792. A Letter to Schreber on the
Persea, Magazin fur die Botanik, vol. v.p. 234. Onomatologia nova
systematic oryctognosice vocabulis Latinis expressa, fol. Halle, 1795, 1
page. Observations and Truths united to Probabilities, or Materials
for a new Essay on the Theory of the Earth, 8vo, Leipz. 1798.
(Sprengel’s Memoir; Eyries in Biographic Universelle, vol. xv. 8vo,
Paris, 1816; Aikin’s General Biography, vol. iv. 4to, Lond. 1803;
Chalmers’s Biographical Dictionary, vol. xiii. 8vo, Lond.1814.) (t.y.)
Forster, John George Adam, commonly called George,
a distinguished naturalist and circumnavigator, the son ot
John lleinhold Forster, was born at Danzig in 1754, and
enjoyed, in his earliest youth, the advantage ot his father’s
assiduous and affectionate instructions, by which he profited
so rapidly, that he was capable, at the age of ten years, when
he went with his father into Russia, of ascertaining the spe¬
cies of a plant by comparing it with the Linnaean description.
He was for a short time at a school in Petersburg. Upon
his arrival in London, he was at first placed in a merchant’s
counting-house, but soon found his health unequal to the
employment, and followed his father to Warrington, where
he continued his studies at the academy with so much appli¬
cation, that he became a perfect master of the English lan¬
guage, and otherwise distinguished himself by the strength
of his memory and the vigour of his imagination, at the same
time that he assisted his father in giving lessons in French,
and in completing a variety of translations of voyages and
travels. He also accompanied his father, together with
Sparrman, in the arduous engagement of making all kinds of
physical observations in the circumnavigation of the globe;
and he was particularly employed in delineating the various
objects of natural history which were discovered. After his
return he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society; but he Forster,
soon quitted England to settle at Paris. In 1779, however, v ^ ^
he was appointed professor of natural history at Cassel; and
in 1784 he was nominated to a similar situation in the uni¬
versity of Wilna, where he took a degree of doctor of phy¬
sic ; but he found little satisfaction in residing amongst a
people so imperfectly civilized. The Empress of Russia
had engaged him to take an important part in a new voyage
of discovery which she meditated; but the design was aban¬
doned upon the commencement of the war with the Turks.
He was next invited by the Elector of Mentz to accept the
appointment of president of the university newly established
in that city, and he was residing there at the time wThen the
French army entered it. Being a declared republican in his
political principles, he was despatched as an envoy to Paris
to solicit the incorporation of Mentz with the French re¬
public ; but during his absence the Prussian troops retook
the city, and he lost the whole of his property, including his
numerous manuscripts. He had married a Miss Theresa
Hayne, and had one daughter as early as 1788; but, at a
subsequent period, his wife’s conduct gave him great reason
for uneasiness; and though he affected to despise what he
called the prejudices of social life, and to excuse her infide¬
lity, and even attempted to facilitate her union with a more
favoured admirer, still the affair in reality affected him
deeply, and he resolved once more to leave Europe, as if
in search of the waters of oblivion; and he was actually
preparing for a voyage to Thibet, when his health was sub¬
dued by the ravages of a scorbutic disorder, and he died on
the 13th February 1792. Besides the assistance which he
rendered his father in many of his literary undertakings, he
was also the author of a variety of separate publications
under his own name.
1. A Voyage Round the World in his Britannic Majesty's Ship
Resolution, commanded by Captain James Cook, during the years
1772, 1773,1774, and 1775, 2 vols. 4to, London, 1777 ; in German,
2 vols. 4to, Berlin, 1779, 1780, and 3 vols. 8vo, 1784. The style
of this work is rather more animated and poetical than that of the
official account of the voyage ; the second volume is considered as
the best written, and the freest from affectation and false senti¬
ment. 2. Mr Wales, the astronomer of the expedition, published
some remarks on the work, which occasioned a Reply to Mr Wales’s
Remarks, 8vo, London, 1778, in which the author declares that his
father had no concern whatever in the book, but he admits that he
had committed some inaccuracies. 3. A Letter to the Earl of Sand¬
wich, 4to, London, 1779. 4. His Answer to the Authors of the Lite¬
rary Journal of Gottingen exhibits considerable warmth of language,
but candidly admits some errors; it excited some further animad¬
versions from Professor Meiners, who declared himself the author
of the criticisms. 5. In 1787 he published at Berlin, in 4to, A
Translation of Captain Cook's Third Voyage, performed in 1776-
1780, with an introduction and other additions. 6. A Description
of the Gentiana saxosa, Swedish Trans. 1777, p. 183. 7. Life of Dr
Dodd, 8vo, Berlin, 1779. 8. Preface to Sparrman's Travels, 8vo,
Berlin, 1784. 9. He undertook, together with Professor Lichten-
berg, the publication of the Gottingen Magazine, which was con¬
tinued from 1780 to 1785, and published in it, amongst other essays,
A Description of the Red Creeper, or Certhia coccinea of Owhyhee, i.
vi., p. 346, 10. Experiments with Vital Air, vol. iii., ii., p. 281 ;
examining its effects on glow-worms. 11. A Decade of New Plants,
N. Act. Upsal, vol. iii., 1780, p. 171. 12. On Pygmies, Hessiche
Beytrage, vol. i., p. 1, 1785. 13. History and Description of the
Bread-Fruit Tree, p. 208, 384 ; also separately, 4to, Cassel, 1784.
14. Florulce Insularum Australium Prodromus, 8vo, Gottingen, 1786.
15. Vasculus Plantarum Magellanicarum, Commentat. Soc. Gott.,
vol. ix., p. 13. 16. Plantce Atlanticce, p. 46. 17. Miscellanies, or
Essays on Moral and Physical Geography, Natural History, and
Moral Philosophy, 6 vols. 8vo, Leipsic and Berlin, 1789-1797; the
last two volumes are posthumous, and chiefly of a political nature.
18. Picture of the Lower Rhine, Brabant, Flanders, Holland, England,
and France, taken in the year 1790, 3 vols. 8vo, Berlin, 1791-1794 ;
Dutch, Haarlem, 1792, 1793; French, called Voyage Philosophique,
2 vols. 8vo, Paris, 1795, 1796. This work contains many interest¬
ing remarks on manners and on the arts, showing that the author
possessed very extensive information, as well as originality of talent;
but there is too much affectation of sentiment, and an injudicious
display of hostility to Great Britain. 19. Historical Remembrances
790 FOR
V(,rt of the Year 1790, 8vo, Berlin, 1793, There are also several political
M pamphlets of a temporary nature, which could add little or nothing
Vitr fied to their author’s fame ; and a few scattered memoirs in different
FWts periodical publications. He was also concerned in the Collection of
v , Voyages published by Professor Sprengel; and, together with Pallas
an(j others, in an edition of Martini’s Dictionary of Natural History.
Indeed, his life, though short, was one continued scene of literary
activity ; but his application to the labour of compilation was too
unremitting to allow him to concentrate the whole force of Ms mind
on the performance of any one great original work of genius. The
Sketches of the Mythology and Customs of the Hindoos were written
by another author of the same name.
{Life by Pougens; J. R. Forster in Jacobi’s Annals, and in the
Dedication of his Enchiridion; Eyries in Biographic UniverseUe, vol.
xv., 8vo, Paris, 1816; Aikin’s General Biography, vol. iv., 4to,
London, 1808 ; Chalmers’s Biographical Dictionary, vol. xiii., 8vo,
London, 1814.) (T- Y-)
FORT, a small fortified place, environed with a ditch,
rampart, and parapet. rl he use of forts is to secure some
high ground, or the passage of a river, to make good an
advantageous post; to defend the lines and quarters of a
siege, and the like. Forts are built of different figures and
dimensions, according to the exigencies of the case. Some
are provided with bastions, others with demi-bastions ; some
are of a square form, others pentagonal, and others again are
stellated, having five or seven angles. See Fortification.
Vitrified Forts. This name has been given to certain
remarkable ruins, situated for the most part on the tops of
certain hills in the Highlands and northern parts of Scot¬
land. They were first described, about the year 1 n 3,
by Mr Williams, an intelligent mineral surveyor. These
singular structures derive their appellation of vitrified from
the circumstance of the stones composing them presenting^
the appearance of having been melted or fused by means of
fire ; thus forming a solid mass of a glassy structure, some¬
what resembling volcanic lava, or the refuse of a furnace.
In form, size, and situation, they present every variety.
Some of them are round or elliptical, whilst others are in
the form of squares or parallelograms. In magnitude they
vary from a few yards to some eighty or ninety in length,
whilst their breadth differs in a proportional degree. The
walls likewise vary much in thickness. Some of them are
only two or three, and others are about twenty feet in breadth.
In height they also differ considerably, having apparently
in some instances been twelve feet, and in others not a third
of that height. In one or two instances there are a series
of walls, two or three in number, inclosing the same area of
ground, with a space between each of the works sufficiently
large to admit of active defensive operations on the part of
those who occupied the place. Their vitrification is very
irregular. Occasionally it does not extend a few feet above
the ground on which the fabric stands, nor penetrate beyond
the surface, whilst in a few instances it rises to the height of
ten or twelve feet, and passes inwards to a considerable ex¬
tent on both sides ; and sometimes only isolated parts of the
walls show traces of vitrification. They generally occupy
commanding positions; but are also found on the sea¬
shore, and sometimes many miles inland. In general their
structure displays nothing like regular masonry. A few
of them are approached by regular causeways; and many
are furnished with wells, an indispensable requisite for a
garrison.
After the publication of Mr Williams’s account, the in¬
genuity of the learned was turned to their probable origin,
and many ingenious theories were hazarded on the subject.
Some declared them to be of volcanic origin, whilst others
contended that they were works of art. The most proba¬
ble conjecture respecting the vitrification of these struc¬
tures appears to be, that the ancient inhabitants of Britain,
who were unacquainted with the use of mortar, discovered,
probably by accident, that some rocks which resist the ac-
F 0 R
tion of fire become fusible when subjected to a high tern- Vitrified
perature in contact with certain others ; and that the know- Forts,
ledge of this fact led them to employ masses of such mixed
rocks in their structures, the stones of which were then
cemented together or vitrified, by heaping combustibles
about them and setting them on fire.
Vitrified remains are of very frequent occurrence in Scot¬
land, more particularly in the northern and north-western
counties. Many of these have been minutely described in
various works, to some of which we shall presently refer,
and in this place shall merely give an account of one or two
of the more remarkable of such remains, in order to illus¬
trate their general character.
Dun MacSniochain, which lies in Argyleshire, is thus
described by Dr Maceulloch.1 “ It is situated on a small
rocky hill, which forms a kind of island in the plain, of a
narrow prolonged shape, and scarped all round, except at
one extremity, which affords access to the summit and the
fort. The height of this hill or rock above the plain seems
to be about forty or fifty feet; and it is, even in the mo¬
dern military sense, a strong position. It is important to
remark, that the rock consists of limestone and slate inter¬
mixed, the plain itself being chiefly alluvial, and the nearest
hill and rocks being of trap, and of that pudding-stone so
well known to all travellers, which also abounds in the vi¬
cinity of Oban. That stone is itself formed of fragments
of various trap rocks, and is remarkable for its ready fusi¬
bility, while the rock on which the fort stands is of an in¬
fusible nature. The fort itself is so contrived as to occupy
nearly the whole summit, which is about 250 yards long,
and consists of three distinct parallelogramic enclosures.
The dimensions of these are as follows, as nearly as could
be measured by pacing. The outer is about thirty yards
long and about twenty-four broad ; the next is about thirty-
seven, with a similar breadth ; and that at the further ex¬
tremity is about fifty-six yards in length, but being imper¬
fect, it may formerly have been longer. Besides this, be¬
tween the first and second works there is a transverse wall
which reaches from the one precipitous face to the other,
so as, when entire, to have cut off the communication from
without to the two inner works. The circumferences of the
two inner enclosures make collectively a line of about 260
yards, which, according to the modern military computation
for a redoubt, would contain more than 500 men. Ihe ex¬
ternal work would dispose of about a hundred more. Flence
it is plain that this must have been a military work of some
consequence, as capable of holding a large garrison.” He
continues, “ when it is said that the walls here or elsewhere
are vitrified, it must not be supposed that they form a solid
mass of glass or slag. rI hat condition is very various in
different specimens throughout Scotland, and if it is here
more perfect than in many, it is less so than in some others.
To speak more accurately, many of the stones which form
the walls are more or less perfectly slagged or scorified; so
that while some have been thus changed throughout, the
surfaces only of others are affected, while others again, con¬
sisting of less fusible materials, are only burnt. A certain
proportion has escaped the fire altogether, or has never been
exposed to it; and if we may judge from the ruins, this has
taxen place chiefly towards the upper part of the wall. The
general result, however, is, that in some parts the wall
forms a solid mass, but of an irregular composition, consist¬
ing of scoria, slag, burnt stones, and stones scarcely altered,
united together, but with vacant intervals ; while in other
places it is separable into lumps of various sizes, and into
single stones.”
That of Dunadeer is described as follows:—-
“ The hill of Dunadeer, having an elevation of about
600 feet2 from the irregular plain on which it stands, with
1 Macculloch’s Highlands and Western Isles, vol. i., p. 283.
2 This is an exaggeration ; it is only about 400 feet high at the moat.
VITRIFIED FORTS.
Vitrified a steep acclivity all round, has a flat oval summit, which is
Forts, entirely occupied by the enclosure, so as to form a strong
military position. Though much ruined, and consequently
obscured, having apparently been used as a quarry for
building a more modern castle in the same spot, it is not
difficult to trace either the dimensions or the disposition of
the original work. The form is a parallelogram, of which
one extremity is curved, so as to be nearly semicircular, and
its longest side is about fifty-eight yards, the shortest being
about twenty-four. The thickness of the wall seems ori¬
ginally to have been eighteen or tw-enty feet; although,
from the state and nature of the ruin, it is impossible to be
very accurate in this particular. The highest remaining
portion is about six feet above the present surface; and if
one foot be added for the increase of soil, and two for the
loss which it has sustained at the summit, to be computed
from the ruined part at its foot on each side, we shall have
eight feet as the probable original altitude.
“ The materials of the hill are chiefly gray granite, an
infusible rock ; but there are scattered in the surrounding
plain blocks of a black variety, which, from containing
hornblende, is very fusible. To pass over the obviously
more modern ruins at this place,1 as not concerning the
present question, there are at a certain stage down the hill
the well-marked traces of a work which once seems to have
encircled the whole. It is a kind of fortification well known
to antiquaries as occurring frequently in the ancient British
hill forts; and it resembles a modern military field work, as
it consists of a single ditch and wall, the latter being formed
of loose stones not vitrified. I consider this as part of the
original defences, because a similar one is found on Noath.
“ The materials in the vitrified wall are, as at Dun Mac-
Sniochain, partly roasted without adhesion, and partly vi¬
trified, or glazed or scorified, in a similar manner. It is
easy to see that the dark granite forms the vitrified and
scorified substances ; but, not to enter on the more minute
details, which rather concern the chemist and mineralogist
than the antiquary, but which are very interesting to them,
I shall only further remark, that wherever stones not capa¬
ble of vitrification themselves have undergone this change,
it has been produced by the alkali ot the wood used in the
process; whence the glazed surfaces of many unvitrifiable
substances.
“ Now I remarked that at Dun MacSniochain the ma¬
terials of the hill itself were not vitrifiable, but that a very
fusible rock was present at a short distance, or scattered in
fragments about the plain. 1 he same is true here ; and
in both cases the forts are not erected out of the materials
nearest at hand, which are infusible, but collected with con¬
siderable labour from a distance. It is hence evident that
the builders of those works were aware of the qualities ot
these various rocks, and it is equally evident that they chose
the fusible in preference to the infusible, although with a
considerable increase of labour.”
Among other vitrified forts more particularly deserving
of notice, may be mentioned that upon the hill of Noath in
Aberdeenshire ; and the large one on the hill of Knock-
farril, two miles west of Dingwall in Ross-shire.
Another of these forts is situated about a mile from In¬
verness, upon the hill of Craig-Phadrick (or Rock of Peter)
at the eastern end of the Great Glen, and forming the ter¬
mination of the high sandstone and conglomerate hills of
Loch Ness. Craig-Phadrick is about 435 feet in height
above the sea. The summit presents two vitrified walls
quite round the area. The space within the inner wall is
80 yards long and 30 broad. It is now overgrown with
wood and moss; but in 1812, when the late Mr Telford
was engaged in the construction of the Highland loads and
791
bridges, the interior was cleared out, and the vitrification Vitrified
minutely examined. Both the outer and inner ramparts Forts,
are chiefly composed of a reddish coloured schistus, which
seems to have been taken from the south-west end of the
fort, where there is an opening that had apparently been
occupied by this species of rock up to the common surface.
The pieces of stone composing the walls are none of them
large. They have been laid down without any order or
regularity, and so carried up in this manner to within about
two feet of the present top, where a stratum or crowning ot
small fragments of pudding-stone or conglomerate has been
laid on, and by some means brought into a state of vitrifi¬
cation. The great mass of schistus composing the ramparts
is quite loose and not vitrified, but nearly the whole of it
bears evident marks of having been exposed to a consider¬
able degree of heat, as appears from its yellowish red or
brick colour. In the north-west ramparts, especially the
outer one, the vitrification is wanting for a considerable
space, but the remaining schistus bears all the marks of that
found under the vitrification. The most practical-looking
conjecture is that over the wall of schistus work was placed
a thick layer of timber, faggots of furze or heath, and then
a stratum of conglomerate stones laid over all, when the
timber, &c., being set on fire would produce the desired
vitrification, and give to the lower work the scorched ap¬
pearance it possesses. Seaware, of which there is abun¬
dance at hand, may have been used as a flux. The principal
entrance into the fort appears to have been at the north¬
east end, which was defended by the strongest ramparts,
and by a deep trench. The passage over the trench is by
a solid dyke composed of similar materials to the ramparts.
The entrance at the south-west end is not so well defined,
the top of the inner rampart there being nearly as high as
the adjacent parts. The chasm or passage through the rock
below the outer rampart to the deep hollow which separates
Craig-Phadrick from the chain of mountains on the south¬
west appears to be natural, not artificial, as was conjectured
by the late Mr Tytler of Woodhouselee. Such appearances
are not uncommon. The four stones or boulders lying on
the rocky platform near the brink of this passage are cer¬
tainly fragments of a larger rock that must once have occu¬
pied the platform, and were not placed there, as Mr Tytler
supposed, to stop the progress of an invading army. The
largest of the boulders is about 10 or 11 tons weight, and a
whole regiment might have passed before it could have been
put in motion by manual labour, while the other stones are
too small to have given any serious obstruction to an enemy.
It has been stated that there is a well of about 6 feet in
diameter at the summit of Craig-Phadrick, in the centre of
the inner area, but this is a mistake. There is no water
nearer than a spring about 300 feet perpendicular below the
summit of the hill. From the scarcity of water and the
want of room, cattle could not have been admitted for any
length of time into the fort, and it is probable that at the
date of these erections the principal animal food of the people
was that procured by the chase and hunting in the forests.
The theory that the vitrified forts were merely beacons to
warn the country of approaching invasion, seems inadmis¬
sible. The circular ramparts and vitrification are too re¬
gular to guarantee this supposition. They may, however,
have been used in the middle ages as sites for alarm fires;
and Craig-Phadrick is within sight of a chain of similarly
vitrified structures communicating over the country; but
there are others (in Nairnshire for example) which could
not have answered for this purpose. They are much more
likely to have been the fortified residences of petty chiefs
at a period before the use of lime cement was known in the
north of Scotland—perhaps ages before the Scandinavians
1 This we presume, refers to the remains of an oblong tower constructed of lime, mortar, stone, and fragments of the earlier vitrified
fort, to which the opponents of Dr Macculloch ascribe a more modern date than belongs to the rest of the structure.
792 FOR
Fort- were possessed of knowledge requisite for equipping fleets
Augustus powerful enough to give much disturbance to their southern
Fortalice ne‘g^^ours- ^ *ie baronial castles and forts of the middle
v  ‘j ages are frequently found in situations nearly as inconvenient
” for domestic comforts as the more ancient vitrified forts.
In the parish of Meigle, Perthshire, there is a hill called
Barryhill, which appears to have been strongly fortified,
though without any attempt at cementing stones; but at
the south-east extremity of the fort there was a vitrified
mass in the form of a wall or dyke occupying the bottom of
the trench between the summit and the outer rampart.
Near Creich, in the county of Sutherland, there are some
vitrified remains; as also near the church of Amwoth, in
the county of Kirkcudbright; and in the island of Bute, in
the parish of Kingarth, there is a vitrified fort. In Cantyre,
at the entrance of the bay of Carradale, on a small island,
about a rood of ground is enclosed by vitrified masses,
Others have been observed in Argyleshire, particularly one
on the hill of Dunskeig, which commands the entrance of
Loch Tarbert.
On the hill of Laws, near the village of Sturdymuir, a few
miles north-east from Dundee, there is a vitrified fort. About
four miles east from Forfar is the castle-hill of Finhaven, the
vitrifications on which have been compared by Dr Ander¬
son to the effects of fire in a limekiln.
It is impossible in this place to point out all the vitrified
ruins, amounting to about fifty, and extending over Perth¬
shire, Forfarshire, Kincardineshire, Aberdeenshire, Banff¬
shire, Morayshire, Inverness-shire, which contains an im¬
mense number, Ross-shire, Cromartyshire, Argyleshire,
Buteshire, Berwickshire, and Galloway. Dr Hibbert, in a
paper read to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland in 1831,
informs us that he had discovered masses of vitrified matter
at Elsness in Sanday, one of the Orkney islands. Of these
curious remains, which he calls vitrified cairns, or beacon
cairns, he counted more than twenty. They are of a round
shape, from three to five yards in diameter, and elevated
from two to three feet above the surface of the ground.
The stony fragments of which they are composed appear to
have been collected from the beach, and consist of an argil¬
laceous schist. Their fusibility they derive chiefly from
the feldspar, or rather the alkali, which they contain. For
further information respecting vitrified forts and similar re¬
mains of antiquity, see Macculloch’s Highlands and Western
Isles; ArchfBologia Scotica; Transactions of the Society of
Antiquaries of Scotland, vol. iv., &c. &c.
FORT-AUGUSTUS, FORT-GEORGE, and
FORT-WILLIAM. See Inverness-shire.
FORT ST DAVID, a town of Hindustan, on the sea-
coast of the Carnatic, situated on the river Tripapolore.
Three rivers of considerable size all fall into the sea in the
space of four miles within the bounds of Fort St David.
The Panaur is about 1800 yards to the north of the Tri¬
papolore, and the two streams communicate by a canal
which runs parallel to the margin of the sea, from which it
is distant about 1000 yards. Fort St David stands in the
angle formed by the junction of the canal with the Tripa-
polore, which passes close to the site of the fort, and then
sends to the south an arm that joins at no great distance
the river of Bandapollam, where both in one channel con¬
tinue along the eastern side of Cuddalore, separated from
the sea by a mound of sand. This factory was first esta¬
blished in the year 1691. After the capture of Madras by
the French in 1746, the English were besieged here with¬
out success ; and from this period it continued the head of
the English settlements till 1758, when it was taken by
Lally after a short siege, and the fortifications were destroyed.
It is 100 miles S.S.W. from Madras, and 15 S.S.W. from
Pondicherry. Long 79. 50. E., Lat. 11. 46. N.
FORTALICE, the name given in Scotland in former
times to a small place of strength, built for the defence of
FOR
the country, and which on that account was considered as Fortaven-
belonging to the king, and consequently did not go along tura
with the lands upon which it was situated without a special II
grant from the crown. Now, fortalices go as part and per- Fortescue-
tinent of the lands. K*m**vm~*>
FORTAVENTURA, or Fuerteventura, one of the
Canary Islands. See Canary Islands, vol. vi., 167.
FORTESCUE, Sir John, an eminent English lawyer
in the reign of Henry VI., was descended from an ancient
family in Devonshire, though both the time and place of
his birth are unknown. He is supposed to have been edu¬
cated at Oxford, and the great learning displayed in his
writings does no discredit to such a supposition ; but it is
nevertheless altogether uncertain at which university he
studied, or whether he ever studied at any. When he
turned his views to the legal profession he entered himself
of Lincoln’s Inn, where he soon distinguished himself by
his knowledge of the civil as well as of the common law.
In the fourth year of Henry VI. he was appointed one of
the governors of Lincoln’s Inn, and three years afterwards
the same office was again conferred upon him. In 1441
he was made a king’s serjeant at law, and the following
year chief justice of the King’s Bench. As a judge For¬
tescue is highly commended for his wisdom, gravity, and
uprightness; and he seems to have enjoyed great favour
with the king, who is said to have given him some substan¬
tial proofs of esteem and regard. He held his office during
the remainder of the reign of Henry VI., to whom he steadily
adhered; and having faithfully served that unfortunate
monarch in all his troubles, he was attainted of treason in
the first parliament of Edward IV., which assembled at
Westminster in November 1461 ; having been included in
the same act by which Henry VI., Margaret of Anjou his
queen, Edward their son, and many persons of the first dis¬
tinction, were likewise attainted. When Henry subse¬
quently fled into Scotland, he is supposed to have appointed
Fortescue, who appears to have accompanied him in his
flight, chancellor of England ; and although the name of
the latter is not found recorded in the patent rolls, because,
as Selden remarks, “ being with Henry VI. driven into
Scotland by the fortune of the wars with the house of York,
he was made chancellor of England while he was there,”
yet several writers have mentioned him by this style and
title; and in his book De Laudibus Legum Anglice, he
calls himself Cancellarius Anglice, which seems to settle
the question. Early in 1463, Fortescue embarked at Bam¬
berg with Queen Margaret, Prince Edward her son, and
many other persons of distinction who followed the fortunes
of the house of Lancaster, and landed at Helvoetsluys,
from which the party were conducted by Bruges and Lisle
to Lorraine. Being thus expatriated, he remained many
years on the Continent, moving about from place to place,
as the necessities of the royal exiles required, and endea¬
vouring to promote their interest by eve^y means in his
power. But his most important labours during this period
were of a different and more lasting kind. Having observed
that Prince Edward applied himself wholly to military ex¬
ercises, and seemed to think of nothing but qualifying him¬
self to command in battle, Fortescue, who had observed in
him indications of a sound understanding, judged it high
time to endeavour to give him other impressions, and par¬
ticularly to infuse into his mind just notions of the consti¬
tution of his country, as well as a due regard for its laws.
With this view he drew up his celebrated work De Lau¬
dibus Legum Anglice, which, though it failed of its primary
intention, owing to the barbarous murder of the young
prince for whose benefit it was composed, will yet remain
a lasting monument of the author’s learning and patriotism.
When the prospects of the exiles began to brighten a little,
the queen and the prince returned to England, accompanied
by Fortescue and others, who no doubt hoped that a more
FOE
FOE
793
Forth, auspicious day was about to dawn upon the descendant of
time-honoured Lancaster. But destiny still counter-worked
the designs of the heroic Margaret. Her attempt to assert
the rights of her son totally failed; and the chancellor,
forced to reconcile himself as he best could to the victorious
Edward IV., wrote an apology for his conduct, which, though
Selden had seen it, has never been published. Little fur¬
ther is known respecting the life of this remarkable man,
excepting that, amidst all the changes of masters and varie¬
ties of fortune, he steadfastly maintained those constitutional
principles which he had with equal ability and conciseness
explained in the celebrated treatise above referred to. He
appears to have died at a very advanced age, though the time
of his death, like the date of his birth, has notbeen ascertained.
Fortescue’s masterly vindication of the laws of England,
though received with great favour by the learned of the
profession to whom it was communicated, did not appear
in print until the reign of Henry VIII., when it was pub¬
lished by Whitechurch in 16mo, but without a date. In
1516 it was translated by Mulcaster, and printed by Tot-
tel; and again in 1567, 1573, and 1575, and also by White
in 1598, 1599, and 1609. It was likewise pi'inted, with
Hengham’s Summa Magna et Parva, in 1616 and 1660,
12mo; and again with Selden’s notes in 1672, in 12mo.
In 1737 it appeared in folio; and, in 1775, an English
translation, with the original Latin, and Selden’s notes, be¬
sides a variety of remarks relative to the history, antiqui¬
ties, and laws of England, was published in 8vo. Water-
house’s Fortescue Illmtratus, which appeared in 1663,
hough prolix and defective in style, may be consulted with
advantage, and will serve to facilitate the labours of more
judicious and able inquirers. 2. Another valuable and
learned work by the same author, but written in English,
was published in the reign of Queen Anne, under the title
of The Difference between an absolute and limited Mo¬
narchy, as it more particularly regards the English Consti¬
tution, and accompanied with some remarks by John Fortes¬
cue Aland of the Inner Temple, London, 1714, in 8vo ; and
a second edition with amendments appeared in 1719, 8vo.
In the Cotton Library there is a manuscript of this work,
in the title of which it is said to have been addressed to
Henry VI,: but many passages show plainly that it was
written in favour of Edward IV. 3. Of the author’s other
writings, which were pretty numerous, but never printed,
we know nothing more than can be collected from the titles,
and the commendations bestowed on them by persons who
had perused the manuscripts. I hose still extant are, 1.
Opusculum de Natura Legis Nature?., et de ejus censura in
successions Regnorum Supremorurn; 2. Defensio juris
Damns Lancastrice: 3. Genealogy of the House of Lan¬
caster ; 4. Of the Title of the House of York ; 5. Genea-
logice Regum Scotice; 6. A Dialogue between Understand¬
ing and Faith; 7. A Prayer Book which savours much of
the Times we live in; with some others, which, as the
author was a man of great knowledge and observation, will,
we trust, yet be printed. When lord-chancellor, Fortescue
is said to have drawn up the statute of the 28th Henry VI.
on the resumption of certain grants of the crown, which,
though much relied on by writers on that subject, is not
extant in any edition of the statutes. (j. b—E.)
Length, FORTH, one of the largest rivers in Scotland. It is
breadth, first formed of several small streams rising on the north of
and depth. gen Lomond, or flowing from Loch Katrine and the other
lakes in the adjacent country. It proceeds easterly in a
direct course for above 100 miles, receiving in its progress
the tributary waters of the Goodie, the Feith, and the
Allan above Stirling, and below it the Devon, the Carron,
the Avon, the Almond, the Leith, the Esk, the Leven, the
Tyne, and others ; and it discharges itself into the German
Ocean in about 56. 10. of north latitude. 1 he windings of
the Forth, both above and below Stirling, are extremely
VOL. IX.
beautiful. From its junction with the Teith above Stirling Forth,
to the carse ground below Gartmore the windings extend
about 28 miles, although the distance in a direct line is only
about 20. From Stirling harbour to Alloa the length of
the river is lO^ miles, although in a straight line it is not
more than 5, and here it is comparatively narrow, shallow,
and winding. From Alloa to Grangemouth the distance is
5 miles; and here the Forth widens, with a variable depth of
from 4 to 15 feet at low water. From Grangemouth to the
Long Ci’aig Beacon at North Queensferry, a distance of 10
nautical miles, proceeding downwards the depth increases
in the first mile from 10 to 15 feet, and in the second mile
to 25 feet at low water, and at the third mile to 53 feet,
while the remaining part of the distance—7 miles, includ¬
ing the great anchorage of St Margaret’s Hope—has a depth
generally of about 60 feet at low water. At Queensferry the
river is 2 miles wide ; at Kinghorn nearly 6; between Dysart
and Aberlady about 12 ; and between St Abb’s Head and
Fifeness, where the Forth joins the German Ocean, it is from
35 to 40 miles. Near Queensferry, between Inchgarvey
and the north shore, it deepens to 37 fathoms. Between
Elie and the south shore its depth is sometimes 30 fathoms ;
and it never exceeds this depth to the westward of its junc¬
tion with the north sea, except as above stated.
The Forth, like other streams connected with the ocean, Tides,
ebbs and flows twice in 24 hours, but the flood and ebb
run about two hours longer in the middle than at the shore.
The tide flows 4jr miles above Stirling shore. At this har¬
bour spring tides rise 7 feet 9 inches, and at Alloa 19^ feet.
It was high water, according to Captain Thomas’s obser¬
vations in 1815, at
Spring Tides Neap Tides
H. m. rise rise
Elie Harbour 2.11p.m. 14 feet. 6 feet.
Leith and Burntisland 2.15 „ 16J „ 7 ,,
Hopetoun House   2.30 „ 17 „ 6£ „
The tides at Leith and Kinghorn rise sometimes as high
as 19 feet above low-water mark, the average being 17£ feet.
There are in the Forth, as elsewhere in similar rivers Currents,
and arms of the sea, particular currents. Among the most
remarkable are those known by the name of Leahies above
the Queensferry, which are particularly observed from Cul-
ross to Alloa. “ These consist in an intermission of the
tide at certain places during the flood, and before high water
the sea ebbs. On the contrary, while the sea ebbs, and
before low water, the ebb intermits, and a flow commencing,
continues some time ; after which the ebbing is resumed
until low water. This is seen during two hours, and the
irregularity occupies more or less of the river according
as it is spring or neap tide.”
Certain winds, acting upon the great mass of the Atlantic Winds.
Ocean, affect the times at which it is high or low water in
the Forth, while their effect upon the extent of the rise or
fall of its waters is frequently very considerable.
The prevailing winds of the Forth will be seen by the
following table, constructed from observations taken every
day, at ten o’clock forenoon, on the island of Inchkeith, for
the ten successive years ending on 31st December 1826.
Direction of the Winds.
South..... 
South-West..
West 
North-West.
North 
North-East .
East 
South-East..
Changeable..
Description of the Winds.
Light Airs. Breezes. Gales. Storms. Total
96
42
275
44
26
68
334
104
101
1090
165
181
807
157
105
90
345
109
12
1971
29
111
267
13
20
23
34
6
503
2
5
22
3
1
24
26
5
88
292
339
1371
217
152
205
739
224
113
3652
5 H
794
Forth.
FORTH.
The prevailing winds and their relative force, as indi¬
cated at the Calton Hill Observatory, may also «be seen
from the following table constructed from the observations
taken there every day under the superintendence of the
astronomical observer for the same ten years, ending on
31st December 1826. The entry in the register for each
day is applicable to the winds of its whole 24 hours.
Direction of the
Winds.
South 
South-West.
West 
North-West,
North 
North-East ....
East 
South-East.,
Changeable
Description of the Wini
Moderate Brisk. Sharp. High. Very Extremely Total
and Calm. High. High.
85
310
444
207
61
122
381
131
588
2
43
54
33
6
11
37
8
44
2329 i 238 25 789 215
17
178
235
143
17
21
45
14
119
3
68
54
48
5
2
4
2
29
4
30
8
9
29
111
630
798
444
93
158
471
158
789
56 3652
Waters.
22001
33-16
42-08
7-84
From these tables it will be observed that the prevailing
winds in the Forth, the gales and the storms at Inchkeith,
and the “very high” and “extremely high” winds at the
Calton Hill Observatory, chiefly proceed from westerly
directions.
The waters of the Forth and its tributary streams are all
fresh until they mingle with that of the ocean. Long be¬
fore the river becomes two miles wide they acquire a salt¬
ness which differs little, if at all, from that of the sea. 1 he
water in the neighbourhood of the coal-works on the Forth
has been often evaporated for the sake of the salt, which
was here at one time an extensive article of manufacture.
The constituent parts of 10,000 parts of the waters of the
Forth were found by Mr Murray, in the course of three dif¬
ferent analyses made in different ways, to contain
Muriate of soda  .....242-51 245-04
Sulphate of magnesia    7-86 17-04
Sulphate of soda  9-99 2-66
Muriate of magnesia    34-49 28'63
Muriate of lime   
Sulphate of lime —.... 9-45 9 72
304-30 30309 303-09
Mr Murray placed most confidence in the results obtained
from the last of these analyses.
The minerals of which the banks of the Forth are com¬
posed will be found described under the counties of East
Lothian,Mid-Lothian, West Lothian, Stirling, Clackmannan,
Perth, and Fife, by all of which the Forth is bounded. Coal,
besides being wrought in these counties, was once worked
near Culross and Torryburn under the bed of the river, and
partly by pits within high-water mark. At the mouths of
these pits there were piers, at which vessels were loaded
with coals. But the mines above referred to have for many
years been filled with water. At West Wemyss, however,
there are still extensive coal mines worked under the sea.
Bed of the The bed of the Forth consists to a great extent of mud,
river. an(j }n many places the sandstone bottom is covered with it
to the depth of 20 feet. Its banks above Alloa, and a great
way below that place, are formed of this material, which is
brought down by the waters from the higher levels; and
the carses of Stirling and Falkirk, &c., which have been
formed from its accumulation, are secured at their lowest
levels by sea dykes against inundations occasioned by the
rise of the tides. The recent alluvial cover to the westward
of Alloa has been found by Mr Bald in some places to be
no less than 90 feet deep, and to contain trunks and branches
of large trees, and beds of sand and sea shells, particularly of
the oyster, cockle, mussel, donax, &c.; and similar beds of
shells not only abound at and below Alloa, but are found
several miles to the westward of Stirling similarly situated.
Many of the oyster-shells are of uncommon thickness, and
Minerals
on the
banks.
larger than any specimens that can now be found. What Forth,
makes the westerly position in which these uncommonly
large shells are found very remarkable is that there are no
specimens of the oyster now found farther up the Forth than
Queensferry. f
There is also a bed of marine shells on the banks of the
Forth near Borrowstownness about three miles in length and
several feet in thickness, and which is situated many feet
above the present level of the waters of the Forth. This
circumstance would favour the opinion that the sea in this
quarter had at one time occupied a higher elevation in rela¬
tion to the land than at present; an opinion which is far¬
ther supported by the fact of the skeleton of a large
whale having been found some time ago in the lands of
Airthrey, near Stirling. The surface of the ground where
the remains of this huge marine animal were deposited was
ascertained by Mr Stevenson to be 24 feet 9 inches above
the present level of the high water of the Forth at spring
tides. The skeleton of another whale, with a bone harpoon
sticking in it, was also found seven miles farther inland, on
what is now the Blair Drummond moss.
But if the land has been gaining on the waters in the
upper part of the Forth, ground has been lost farther down
the estuary. The sea has made considerable encroachments
at North Berwick ; at Newhaven an arsenal and dock, built
in the reign of James IV. in the fifteenth century, has been
swept away. On the coast of Fife, in 1803, the last remains
of the Priory of Crail and the ground on which it stood met
with a similar fate ; and no traces can now be found of the
lands which extended into the sea, and formed, in 1225, the
estuary, the fisheries of which were then a subject of an im¬
portant dispute between the monks of Dryburgh and those
of the Isle of May ; all that now remains of this estuary is a
small streamlet called the Drill burn, which flows through
a portion of the sands in West Anstruther harbour.
At Largo Bay the sea seems now to be covering ground
which was formerly dry land. Here a submarine forest has
been discovered, the roots of the trees penetrating into a
brown clay, over which is irregularly distributed a covering
of sand and fine gravel. The peat upon it is composed
of land and fresh-water plants, amongst which are hazel
nuts, and the remains of birch, hazel, and alder trees. 1 he
root of one tree, apparently an alder, was here traced by
Dr Fleming to an extent of more than 6 feet from the trunk.
On almost all the shores of the Forth there is an abun- Sea-weed,
dant supply of sea-weed, which has often been burned at
various places to form kelp, but this trade is now given up.
The produce of the rocks and what is cast ashore in storms
is now therefore only used as manure.
Numerous porpesses are often seen tumbling and disport- Large
ing in the firth, and seals lying on the rocks or swimming fishes,
along the coasts. Sharks of several species have occasionally
made their appearance, and have been brought ashore by
the fishermen in their nets about Anstrutlfer and elsewhere.
Numerous cetacea from 20 to 30 feet long have often
been stranded in the Forth. From twenty-five to thirty of
these animals were at one time on shore between Cambus-
kenneth and Alloa. A male Beluga or white whale, ap¬
parently of full growth, appeared in its waters in 1815. It
was killed by the salmon fishers near the same place, and
sent to Edinburgh, where it was dissected by the late Dr
Barclay. .
The salmon is abundant in the Forth, and salmon fisheries Salmon,
have been established for many years at Stirling, Abercorn,
near Queensferry, and many other places on both sides of
the firth, as far down as Largo Bay. Ihe whole of these
fisheries belong to thirty proprietors, and such of them as
were let in 1854 produced a gross rental of L.1316. The
rent of the town of Stirling’s fishing then amounted to
L.354, of another proprietor to L.240, of another to L.126,
of two others to L.70 each, and others were let under that
FOETH.
795
Forth.
Herrings
&c.
Shell-fish,
&c.
Wild-fowl.
Islands,
Fords, and
peat ac¬
cumula¬
tion.
sum, a few at a rent of L.5, and thirteen of them brought
no rent at all, as they appear to have been considered of
little value.
Herrings are also plentiful in the Forth, and at various
fishing stations the fishery is prosecuted successfully. To
give some idea of its extent, in the Anstruther district in
Fife, which includes all the sea-ports from St Andrews to
Buckhaven inclusive, the total number of barrels or crans
of herrings taken (1854) amounted to 17,906^, whereof
11,468 were sold fresh, 3699^ were sold and exported to
Continental markets, and 2739 cured and sent to Ireland.
The number of full-sized cod and ling caught and cured
was 84,855, of which 1089 cwts. were dried, and 1865^ bar¬
rels were pickled. In addition to these, 9958 cwts. of full-
sized cod and ling were caught and sold in a green state and
sent to and consumed in Leeds, Preston, Birmingham,
Edinburgh, Glasgow, Cupar, Stirling, Perth, Dundee, &c.
The value of the annual average of haddocks sold fresh has
lately been estimated at L.4000, of smoked L.12,000, of
turbot, halibut, lobsters, crabs, &c., L.458, and of peri¬
winkles, L.136.
There were engaged in this district, in 1854, 500 boats,
2099 fishermen, 97 coopers, 1444 gutters and packers, and
1063 labourers, all in the employment of 68 fish-curers.
The value of the boats and their appurtenances was reported
to the fishery commissioners to be L.61,991.
In the Leith district, which includes all the portion of the
firth above North Berwick on the south, and East Wemyss
on the north shore, the total number of crans or barrels
of herrings taken (in 1854) were 16,045j, whereof 6695^
were cured, and 9350 were sold fresh; 13,714^ were sold
to Continental markets, and 496^ sold and sent to Ireland.
The number of ling and cod caught by the fishermen of
this district were all sold fresh, and have been estimated to
the commissioners at 5900. All the other fish caught here
were also sold and consumed in a fresh state. There were
employed in this trade, in 1854, 354 boats, 1166 fishermen,
100 coopers, 489 gutters and packers, and 224 labourers,
all in the employment of 25 curers. The value of the boats
and their appurtenances was reported to be L.21,77l.
Besides the fisheries in the Forth above stated, there
were 35 boats, 134 fishermen, 25 coopers, 205 gutters and
packers, and 40 labourers employed in the same trade by
2 curers at Canty Bay, and 30 at Dunbar, and the fish
taken by them are generally sold fresh.
In addition to the Scotch fishermen, it may be mentioned
that all parts of the firth are occasionally fished by English
vessels, and a dozen at a time of English fishing smacks,
and as many as 20 French boats, have been occasionally
seen by the Anstruther fishermen to be so employed; 40
sail of foreign vessels were at one time known to have been
fishing cod near St Abbs’ Head.
Lobsters and crabs are caught at all the fishing-stations
in the Forth, as well as in the Anstruther district. Mussels,
cockels, limpets, and whelks are also collected and sold in
great quantities at the places where they abound, and oysters
are extensively fished at the oyster beds, which are met
with near Inchkeith and farther up the Forth.
There is nothing remarkable about the wild fowl resort¬
ing to the firth in winter. The solan geese of the Bass
have been already described under the head Bass, to which
the reader is referred.
Besides the Bass, in the entrance to the Forth, there is
another island, the May ; and the larger islands farther up
the Forth are Inchkeith, Inchcolm, and Inchgarvey, which
will be found described in separate articles. The smaller
islands are Fidra, the Lamb, and Craigleith, near the Bass,
and Mickry and Cramond islands, near Inchcolm.
The principal obstructions to the navigation of the Forth
between Alloa and Stirling have hitherto arisen in a great
measure from the two fords of the river, the one called the
Town ford and the other the Abbey ford, and from the chan- Forth,
nel being rendered shallow partly by large boulders and
partly by accumulations of peat. The peat accumulations
have arisen chiefly from the proprietors above Stirling clear¬
ing several thousand acres of their lands for cultivation, by
removing the peat which covers them, and moving it into
the river in order to be carried away by the current to the
sea. This practice has been followed since 1732. The
moss covering the soil varies in depth from 14 to 4 or 5 feet,
but the greater proportion is 10 feet. Mr Drummond of
Blair-Drummond, from 1783 to 1839, floated away upwards
of 1600 acres of this substance.
The principal sandbanks which obstruct the navigation Sand-
farther down the firth are the Drum-sands, near Cramond, kariks'
and the Sand-end on the east of Burntisland harbour.
The principal rocks which require to be avoided by the Dangerous
mariner are the South Carr Reef, lying N.N.W. from Dun- rocks,
bar, the North Carr, about a mile and a quarter east of
Fifeness, the Blae to the west of Kinghorn Ness, the
Commons to the west of Burntisland, Craig Waugh S.E.-^E.
of Inchkeith, and the Gunnet Rock, Pallas Rock, Long
Craig, Briggs, and Harwit in its neighbourhood ; and
several miles farther west and nearer Inchcolm, the Oxcares,
Carcraig, and Mickry Stone. Many of these rocks are seen
at the lowest ebbs ; their position, together with the differ¬
ent land-marks, which are necessary to point them out to
the mariner, are delineated on the Admiralty Charts, and
the sailing directions for the Firth of Forth, contained in
the Coaster’s Assistant, which is published in Leith. To
show their position still better, floating buoys have been Beacons
placed upon Craig Waugh, the Gunnet, the Harwit, and and buoys
the Pallas Rocks; and beacons have been erected on the
Oxcares, the North Carr, and on the Long Craig, and on
most of the other dangerous rocks, and on several shoals and
sand-banks.
Besides these provisions for aiding the navigation, there Digbt-
are two lighthouses on the Isle of May, one on the Island bouses-
of Inchkeith, and various other lighthouses are now erected
on all the harbours and landing places of importance in the
firth.
The anchorage of the Firth of Forth is excellent. Mr Anchor-
Osborne, in a report to the Lords of the Admiralty on 2d aSes-
May 1853, says of it, “ Between the Humber and the Frith
of Cromarty there is no other harbour or anchorage into
which large ships of war can safely run for shelter or ren¬
dezvous other than the Frith of Forth, and more particu¬
larly in the reach above the Queensferry, where the shelter
is complete. But as the Frith of Cromarty is away from
all important interests, the Frith of Forth must be con¬
sidered the only war port north of the Humber, and there¬
fore a most fitting place for a naval arsenal.” But besides
the great and important anchorage at St Margaret’s Hope,
in the reach above the Queensferry, which is more particu¬
larly referred to in this Admiralty Report, Leith Roads to
the west of Inchkeith is another which is capable of holding
a large fleet of ships of war of any size. The minor an¬
chorages in the firth, which are also very good, are at Aber-
lady Bay, the western part of Largo Bay, Burntisland, St
Davids, Limekilns, &c.
The landing-places in the Forth are, on the south side the Harbours,
harbours of Dunbar, North Berwick, Port Seton, Morrison’s
Haven, Fisherrow, Leith, Newhaven, Trinity, Granton,
South Queensferry, Borrowstownness, Grangemouth, and
Stirling shore, and on the north side Grail, Anstruther, Elie,
Pittenweem, Leven, Methel, West Wemyss, Dysart, Kirk¬
caldy, Kinghorn, Pettycur, Burntisland, Starleyburn, Aber-
dour, St Davids, Inverkeithing, North Queensferry, Charles¬
ton, Crombie Point, Culross, Kincardine, and Alloa. Great
improvements and new erections have been lately made at
most of these harbours which are of any note ; and in par¬
ticular, the Duke of Buccleuch’s magnificent harbour in
796
FORT II.
Forth, progress of formation at Granton, and the extension of
— r-—' Leith Pier into deep water maybe referred to. Of less
magnitude is the deepening of the channel of the horth
between Alloa and Stirling by commissioners acting under
the Act of Parliament 6th and 7th Victoria, cap. 47. Since
the pa®sing of this act in 1843, a channel of about 500 yards
in length has been formed through the Abbey ford, giving
about 3 feet 6 inches greater depth of water than formerly.
A channel about 1000 yards in length has also been formed
through the Town ford, which is not yet fully completed as
regards its depth of water. In these operations many
thousands of large boulder stones and the peat accumula¬
tions which formed obstructions to the navigation have
been removed, and no doubt is entertained by the inspec¬
tors, who have reported to Government on the subject, but
a depth of 16 or 17 feet at spring-tides will be obtained up
to Stirling when the works in progress are completed.
Upwards of L.9000 (including the expense of the act and
of erecting a quay at Stirling) have already been expended
by the Harbour Commissioners on these operations, and
L.7000 more is about to be expended upon them. This sum
is to be paid to the commissioners by the town-council of
Glasgow for damage likely to arise to the improvements in
progress on the Forth, from the liberty obtained by the
City of Glasgow to draw a large quantity of water from
Loch Katerine. In addition to these sums the revenue of
the Forth Commissioners, which is considerable, will enable
them still further to extend their works.
Further, the low-water ferry landing-place at Burntisland,
belonging to the Edinburgh, Perth, and Dundee Railway
Companv, is a great improvement at that port; and at Kiik-
caldy, Buckhaven, and other harbours, extensive works are
in progress under Harbour Commissioners.
Coasting The coasting and foreign trade of the Forth is carried on
and foreign jn vessels varying in size from 18 to 500 tons. The prin-
trade. cipal port to which they belong is Leith; but theie aie
several whalers and large vessels engaged in the Australian,
American, Mediterranean, and Baltic trades, which belong
to other ports in the Forth.
The traffic in goods and passengers between the ports in
the Forth and London, Greenock, Glasgow, Liverpool,
Hull, Newcastle, Dundee, Perth, Aberdeen, Inverness,
Peterhead, and almost every considerable seaport in Scot¬
land, is conducted chiefly by vessels of joint-stock companies,
which vessels sail periodically. Joint-stock companies aie
also engaged in the Leith trade with Hamburgh and Rot¬
terdam. The Glasgow, Greenock, and Liverpool trade is
chiefly conducted through the Forth and Clyde Canal,
as to which see Navigation, Inland, and Grange¬
mouth.
The number and tonnage of the vessels belonging to the
ports in the Forth in 1855 are as follow:—
At Alloa, including the creeks of Kincardine and Stir¬
ling, 74 vessels, with a tonnage of 
At Borrowstownness, including the creeks of Charleston
and Limekilns, 47 vessels, with a tonnage of 
At Grangemouth, 54 vessels, with a tonnage of 
At Inverkeithing, 23 vessels, with a tonnage of 
At Kirkcaldy, including the creeks of Largo, Leven,
Wemyss, Dysart, Kinghorn, Burntisland, and Aher-
dour, 60 vessels, with a tonnage of 
At Leith, including the creeks of Granton, Fisherrow,
Cockenzie, and Dunbar, 176 vessels, with a ton¬
nage of 
12,402
3,781
9,233
2,36 L
7,687
25,404
Forth.
Total 434 vessels, with a total tonnage of
60,868
To facilitate the communication between the northern Bridges
and southern parts of Scotland by a passage across the an4 teilies.
Forth, wooden bridges were erected at an early period, and
the old stone bridge of Stirling was erected before 1571 ;
the new stone bridge and the railway bridge near it were
erected only a few years ago. 1 here was once a project of
erecting a suspension bridge at the Queensferry, and another
project of making a tunnel there ; but both the schemes
were abandoned.
The passage of the river and firth by ferries has been
an object of legislative enactment since 1467. Before the
introduction of steam navigation, the traffic at these fen ies
was chiefly conducted by open boats, pinnaces, and yawls
of various sizes, and from the want of low water piers they
seldom departed from either side except at high water.
Most of these ferries are still private property. The private
rights of the Queensferry passage were purchased by Parlia¬
mentary Trustees in 1809, and large sums have been ex¬
pended on its improvement. The ferries of Kinghorn and
Burntisland were also under Parliamentary Trustees for
many years ; but they have now' ceased to be so, and the
Fife and Mid-Lothian ferries and their landing-places at
Kinghorn, Pettycur, and Burntisland, are now the property
of the Edinburgh, Perth, and Dundee Railway Company,
who afford the ferry accommodation as a portion of the rail¬
way business. For the extent and particulars of this tiade,
reference is made to the article Fife.
797
F 0 E T IFI
Fortifica- Is art securing a portion of ground, whether occupied
tion. by a town, or including within it a dock-yard, port, or harbour,
or serving, in military language, as the position of an army,
from the attack of an enemy, by surrounding or covering
it with works of defence; and as such works are so many
obstacles placed in the way of the advance of their assail-
4 ants, whilst they are at the same time the means of shel¬
tering the defenders, it is the art of enabling a small num¬
ber of men to defend themselves against the attack of a much
larger. Various modifying terms have been adopted in
connection with the general one of fortification, but none of
them are of much use in considering this subject, and some
may lead to error, by inducing an engineer to restrict him¬
self under some circumstances to a very limited view of his
subject. Thus, fortification natural and fortification arti¬
ficial, imply a very useless distinction, as every engineer
must avail himself both of the natural advantages or ob¬
stacles of the ground, as well as of the obstacles his science
and genius enable him to add to them; and thus in every
fortification nature and art must act together. Again, for¬
tification regular and fortification irregular, are terms equally
defective, as no fortification can be possibly regular unless
it should so happen that the ground it occupies, as well as
the ground surrounding it, is on all sides perfectly iden¬
tical in its levels and general character. Fortification per¬
manent and fortification field or temporary, refer again
only to the immediate object of the works, or to the appli¬
cation of the science, and in no way affect its principles,
which remain the same whether the work is a simple earthen
intrenchment, or a great fortress surrounded by masonry
walls. Fortification offensive and fortification defensive,
are of all the most objectionable terms, since, strange
as it may appear, they imply a contradiction to fact, as
the perfection of defence depends as much on its active
or offensive operations as on the protection its covering
works afford, whilst the perfection of attack is equally de¬
pendent on the skill with which its covering works are con¬
structed and pushed forward towards the fortress attacked,
as on its offensive operations, or on the fire of its batteries.
The principles of defence then should be studied un¬
shackled by any of these limiting distinctions, and the en¬
gineer should apply his means to his end, using without le-
striction the works best suited to his purpose ; and it is in
this way that the study of the subject will be here treated.
ELEMENTARY FORTIFICATION.
It is often desirable to examine the exact meaning of
technical words, as a ready mode of acquiring a distinct
notion of the ideas they were intended to convey; and of
obtaining a glimpse of the historical progress of the science
in which they are used. Fortify, Fortification, Fortress,
Fort, are all words depending on the Latin words fortis,
forte, strong, and fortifico ov forte facto, to make strong;
hence the idea they suggest is that, by some artificial or
other arrangement, additional strength is bestowed upon one
combatant over another, or upon one party of combatants
over another party. A shield, the trunk of a tree, or bank
of earth, or any other similar contrivance which shelters
the body of one soldier from the missiles of his opponent
whilst it leaves him free to discharge his own, may be con¬
sidered a simple element of fortification.
A bank of earth, when reduced to the requisite thick¬
ness, and moulded into a proper form, with such slopes as
the particular tenacity of the earth may require to insure
stability, or which the intended direction of the fire over
its summit may render necessary, becomes a parapet, so
CATION
called from the Italian words para, a defence or guard, and Fortifica-
petto, the breast, or, in English, a breastwork. If the breast- tion.
work or parapet were only made sufficiently high to permit
the soldier to fire over it, he would be greatly exposed
after firing, and be forced to crouch down in order to obtain
cover. The parapet is therefore made sufficiently high to
cover the soldier when standing up, so as to enable him
with ease and security to reload, as well as to move from
one place to another. This increased height has rendered
it necessary to introduce a banquette or step (accessible by
an easv slope) from which the soldier can fire and then re¬
tire by the interior slope to the lower ground behind it; the
name banquette being derived from banchetta, a little bench
or step. As parapets are usually formed artificially, the earth
for their construction is derived from a ditch, which being
dug immediately in front of and parallel to the parapet, forms
by its depth an additional obstruction to an advancing enemy.
Ordinary intrenchments are formed of the simple parapet
and ditch, but in forts and fortresses the height is still fur¬
ther augmented by elevating the parapet on another mound
of earth called the rampart {riparo, in Italian), and as
this additional mass requires a greater quantity of earth, the
ditch is also made both wider and deeper. In this manner
the difficulties of attack are increased, additional cover is
given to the magazines or other buildings within the for¬
tress, and the command over the country is increased and
improved in efficiency, by elevating the soldier so that he
can see over the many minor obstacles likely to restrict his
field of view. A natural and simple mode of distinction
may be therefore derived from the presence or absence of
a rampart, and the two leading sections of the subject stated
thus: parapet, or field fortification, and rampart, or town
fortification.
In order to study efficiently the results of combining
together these simple elements, and forming from them ex¬
tensive works of defence, it is necessary that we should
know the manner in which such works are represented on
paper. As in architecture, of which in earlier times forti¬
fication was only a military branch, this is effected by the
plan, the section, and the elevation, of which the two first
are the most important. The plan of a work is the ortho¬
graphic projection of the lines of intersection of the planes
of its slopes on the plane of construction. The elevation
is a similar projection on a vertical plane. The section or
Fig. i.
profile is taken on a plane perpendicular to the lines of in¬
tersection of the planes or slopes, and therefore represents
798
FORTIFICATION.
Portifica- the traces of these planes on the sectional plane. Fig- 1
tion. represents a small portion of a simple parapet in plan and
profile, and leads to the following explanation of terms:—
In the plan, cc represents the crest of the parapet or
highest ridge line of the work. In delineating the mere
outline form of a work, it is this line which is always drawn,
and is called the trace. Between cc and ee is the supe¬
rior slope; between ee and a line parallel to it, through s
of the profile, is the exterior slope, prolonged in this case
to the bottom of the ditch dd, being continuous with the
scarp sd ; gg, crest of the glacis, or ridge of a slightly ele¬
vated mound of earth raised on the exterior edge of the
ditch, or of the counterscarp, and sloping gently outward,
so as to bring the assailants directly in the prolonga¬
tion of the superior slope of the parapet, and therefore into
the line of fire from its crest, and by its elevation to increase
the amount of descent into the ditch. Within the crest of
the parapet is seen the interior slope of the parapet, bounded
by bb, the banquette, between bb and bb, and the interior
slope of the banquette, bounded by aa.
Relief.—This term is adopted to show either the height
of any point of the work above the plane of construction,
which is sometimes equivalent to the plane of sight, and Fortifica-
may then be called constructive relief; or the height above tion.
the bottom of the ditch, when it may be called absolute re-
lief. The relief taken in the latter sense is a very important
datum, as it expresses the total amount of the obstruction
offered by the parapet and ditch to the ascent of the assailant,
and also as it is necessary in regidating the length of lines,
which mutually defend each other, as will be seen hereafter.
Relief of a work refers to the relief of the crest of its pa¬
rapet. Command of a work means the height of the crest
of its parapet, either above the plane of sight if horizontal, or
above any point of that plane specially referred to, or above
the crest of the parapet of any other work in front of it; the
difference of height, therefore, between the crest of the
parapet in fig. 1 over the crest of the glacis is the command
of the parapet over the glacis ; in the one case it is absolute,
in the other relative command. An examination of the
profile figure brings also under consideration, in respect to
the row of palisades, another simple principle, namely, that
an enemy should be stopped as he advances to the parapet
by every obstacle which can be thrown in his way, and thus
kept exposed as long as possible to the fire either of the
work in front of him, or of some other vvork taking him in
flank; if simply opposed by a front fire from the parapet,
palisades, arranged as these are, would only check for a very
short time the progress of an enemy, and are more useful
for gaining time on the part of the defenders than for ulti¬
mate defence.
Obstacles Many other obstacles may, however, be so arranged as
against ap- to assist materially in rendering even the simple direct fire
proaches, more effective.
Abattis.—These are formed of trees cut down, and ar¬
ranged side by side with the branches interlaced together
outwards, and the stems inwards; the branches should be
freed from foliage, and their ends cut sharp. They may
Fig. 3.
be arranged either in one or more rows, and when placed
so that the fire from the parapet should sweep along their
summits, they would, their stems being firmly fastened
down by pickets to the ground and partly buried in it,
occasion great loss to the enemy whilst attempting to re¬
move them under fire.
Fig. 2 exhibits an arrangement of this kind ; and it will be
observed that on this profile the exterior slope of the para¬
pet and the scarp have been formed into one gentle slope,
whilst the counterscarp retains its ordinary slope. By this
modification the difficulty of descending into the ditch re¬
mains as before, and the sloping pickets in front of the
abattis prevents the assailants from immediately endea¬
vouring to clear it away. In simple inclosed works, such
as redoubts, as well as in lines, the defence frequently
depends on direct fire alone ; and in these cases an arrange¬
ment of the profile, as here figured with obstacles, would be
far more effective in checking an enemy than an ordinary
profile though in itself more difficult of ascent, without such
obstacles, and in consequence would render it impossible
that an ordinarily watchful garrison should be surprised; and
this is a very important consideration, as a vigorous and bold
enemy could scarcely be stopped if he had succeeded in ar¬
riving at the foot of the scarp unchecked.
Fig. 3 is another adaptation of an abattis formed only of large
branches securely picketed down to the ground. In this
case the form of the ground is taken advantage of, and even
the profile of the defensive line is modified, a trench being
cut out behind it, and the banquette being
formed on the surface of the ground itself. The
engineer will often, by simple arrangements
of this kind, be able to carry his defensive lines
over a large extent of ground in a short period
of time, and to obtain a much more effective
defence from the natural facilities afforded by the ground
than he would have done by superadding to them, at the
expense of great labour and much time, elevated works, not
so well fitted to scorn the face of the ground, and to act
immediately upon the obstacles then checking the progress
of the assailants.
Chevauz-de-frise.—The cheval-de-frise is an artificial
substitute for an abattis. It consists of a strong horizontal
beam, about 12 feet long and 9 inches square, through which
Fig. 4.
are passed strong lance-like rods of either wood or iron,
sharp at both ends, and about 6 inches anart. Several of these
FORTIFICATION.
799
Fortifica- may be joined together by means of a ring at one end and
tion. the hook at the other end of the beam. The difficulty of mak-
ing chevaux-de-frise, as their construction requires a number
of carpenters and much wood, renders them unfitted for sud¬
den emergencies, and they are also, under ordinary circum¬
stances, easily removed or destroyed; but with these, as
with all military implements, there may be opportunities of
using them with effect. If planted at the bottom of a hol¬
low, exposed to a well-directed fire, and so placed that they Fortifica-
must either be pushed uphill forward or pulled uphill back- tion.
ward, and then secured to the ground, either by chains, or v ^ ^
by being fastened to upright posts, they would often prove
a formidable obstacle. They are more generally used as a
barrier to close an open work.
Fraises.—The fraise is distinguished from the palisade by
being fixed in a horizontal, or nearly a horizontal position.
They are made about 10 feet long and o inches thick, being
bound together by two ties, one nailed above and the
other below them; without which precaution they would
be much more easily torn away. They are sometimes
fixed on the counterscarp as well as on the scarp.
Fig. 5 represents, in section, a row of fraises on the
scarp. In this profile the ordinary banquette for musketry is
represented by dotted lines below a wider terreplein formed
for artillery to fire over the parapet, or a barbette, as it is
usually called; but this will be more fully explained in a
future paragraph.
Chausse-trapes.—These are made of four
points of iron so arranged that one should
always project upward in whatever manner
they may be thrown on the ground. The
points are either 2 or 4 inches long, and they
are sown over a space about 12 feet broad.
Without doubt, troops coming suddenly, and
in the dark, on such obstacles as these, would
be much annoyed by them; and, in conse¬
quence, they were formerly much used, more ^ ^
so than they are now.
Trous-de-loup, or wolf-traps,
are holes made in the ground in
the form of a truncated cone, the
sides of which are as little sloped
as is consistent with the stability
of the soil. They are made from
5 to 6 feet deep, and 6 or 8 feet
in diameter. At the bottom a
sharp picket is fixed, from 3 to 4
feet long, or, in place of it, the
branch of a tree cut into sharp
points, or a number of smaller
sharp pickets, or a quantity of
chausee-trapes. The figure shows
the arrangement of trous-de-loup
proposed by Wenzel, in plan and Tig-7.
in section. If along the defensive line of a position, either
on the glacis or on the scarp, when gradually sloped as in fig.
2, small trees or shrubs are planted, and on an emergency
cut down, and the points of their stumps sharpened, they
become very annoying to an assailant. Harrows have also
been used, and, in short, every expedient which ingenuity
can suggest should be adopted by an engineer to check the
progress of an advancing enemy, and to keep him as long
as possible under fire.
Stockades.—Before proceeding to an investigation of the
principles which should regulate the relief and thickness of
ordinary parapets, viewed in reference to simple defensive
lines and to direct fire, it is right to notice the stockade as
a substitute, and in some circumstances an advantageous one,
for a parapet. The stockade is formed of either one row of
stout palisades, or two rows, one behind the other ; and the
following is one of the simplest modes of constructing it:—
A row of very strong palisades, pointed at the top, from
8 to 12 inches square, is formed, with intervals of 3 inches
between every two palisades, and behind this row is formed
another corresponding to the open intervals in the first.
These second palisades are only from 5 to 7 inches thick,
and are cut square at the top, every second one being cut
short, or to the length of 4^ inches, so as to fire over it as
through a loophole. This stockade is shown in plan, eleva¬
tion, and section; it has a banquette of earth, which may
be replaced when desirable by a wooden step. By cutting
out the triangular portion shown in the section, and throw¬
ing the earth up against the front of the palisades, an exte¬
rior slope and scarp are formed which keeps an enemy con¬
stantly in view. Such a stockade as this brought up close
to the edge of a steep bank, requiring defence, has a great
advantage over a parapet, as the men behind it have a much
more effective command of the ground before them when
firing through the loopholes than they could possibly have
when firing over a parapet. It is here supposed that artil¬
lery fire cannot be brought to act in front against the stock¬
ade, but it may possibly be brought to act against it in a
longitudinal, or, as it is called, enfilade direction ; and in
this case the line of stockades should be interrupted by
traverses, which are usually banks of earth placed trans¬
versely to the line they are intended to protect from en¬
filade fire.
Fig. 8.
Fig. 9 shows the adaptation of a stockade of this descrip¬
tion to the defence of precipitous ground. When stockades
800
FORTIFICATION.
are formed into inclosed works, they constitute what are
called “ tambours.”
It may in a simi¬
lar manner be desir¬
able to throw an or¬
dinary parapet for¬
ward to the edge of
a bank, the slope of
which supplies the
function of a scarp,
and hence to dig the
ditch behind instead
of before it, as in fig.
10, where it will be
also observed that the slope of the banquette is broken into
two steps, the tenacity of the earth when first excavated
allowing it to stand firm ; and the principle of this exca¬
vated form of structure is also adopted in sunken batteries.
Fig. 9.
Fig. 10.
Sometimes the object of the parapet is merely cover and not
active defence, in which case the banquette is omitted as in
Fig. 11.
fisr. 11 ; and the work is called an epaulement.
In this
profile it will be observed that a space is left between the
face of the epaulement and the internal ditch, which is called
a berm. Such a space should always be left, whether the
ditch is within or without, when the work is to be formed
of any considerable elevation, as it forms a stage upon
which the builders can stand, and lessens the height to which
the diggers have to throw the earth from the ditch; and it is
very important to keep the berm clear by throwing forward
or back the earth as quickly as it is raised. The distinguish-
Fig. 12.
ing characteristic of an able engineer is to be found in the
power of varying his appliances at will;—thus the abattis may
become the fraise, or may displace the palisade, as in fig. 12.
Were this principle not kept in view, more evil than
good would sometimes result from systematic instruction ;
as the person who had acquired a knowledge of some one
contrivance might be found crippled by his constant efforts
rather to conform to it than to look about him for some
other better fitted for the existing circumstances. In this Fortifica-
profile a berm is represented, as it would be difficult to ar- tl0n*
range the abattis, and to build the parapets without it.
The arrangement of the trous-de-loup, combined with
stakes driven into the ground, is shown in fig. 13, an ad¬
vanced glacis having been formed of the earth thrown
out of the excavations. The ditch is in this case triangu¬
lar; and it is scarcely necessary to add that the choice
of any particular form must be determined by the en¬
gineer from a knowledge of the nature of the ground
itself, only remembering that the contents of the ditch,
or ditches, must supply material for forming the parapet;
and further, that as its depth adds to the difficulty of as¬
sault, it should not be diminished except from necessity.
After these elementary remarks, the student may be con¬
sidered prepared to enter on the consideration generally of
parapet or field fortification.
RULES FOR DETERMINING THE DIMENSIONS OF PARAPETS.
Determination of the Relief of a Parapet, hirst, in
respect to the protection of troops in a normal posi¬
tion, where the ground is considered horizontal. Now,
the minimum for "a simple parapet may be here stated at
6' 6" as a musket ball would penetrate the parapet for
about 6" below its crest, and the maximum at 8 feet, a
height which gives the defenders perfect security under
almost every circumstance of fire, including even that of
mounted soldiers.
Defilade.—Secondly, where the ground is uneven, and
it is necessary to defilade the work from the point or points
which command it. Now, figure 14, No. 1, explains the
first case in which the points A, B, C, are on the same level,
the distance AB being the space intended to be protected
by the parapet at C. The line CF represents the supposed
height at which it is presumed the assailants may fire, or
in this case 8 ft.; BE will be the same; and AD cut by
the line drawn from F to E will also be 8 ft. In fig. 14,
No. 2, A, B are still considered to be in one horizontal
plane, but C is considerably elevated ; and hence, adopting
the same data as to height, and drawing the line FE and
the line CB parallel to it, AD, or the height of the para¬
pet, equal to AI -j- ID ; ID being equal to BE, or CF, or
N, the normal height. Calling also AB, or the distance
to be covered, d; AH, or the distance from the commanding
point, D; HC,or the height of C above A and B, H; we have
AI : CH :: AB : BH; or AI : H :: e?: d + D ; and hence
AI = <r^T) ' H’ and AD = N +T+T) ' H
So that the necessary height of the parapet increases as the
height of the commanding point increases, or as the dis¬
tance AB to be defiladed increases; and diminishes as the
distance from the commanding point increases, laking
go
D = 600 ft., d — 30 ft., H = 60 ft., AI = —, or 2 ft.
10 in., and AD, or the height of the crest of the parapet,
equal to 8 ft. + 2 ft. 10 in. = 10 ft. 10 in.; or taking D
= 1200 ft., or 400 yards, AD = 9' 6".
Fig. 14, No. 3, represents A lower than B by a quantity
— AO = GH = h; hence AD — AO + 01 -}- ID, and
OI = 2^=DT-TH-A)’orAD = N + /,+
 ; • (2)i
an equation which shows that the deeper A is sunk be¬
low B and C, the more elevated must be the parapet, and
hence that this is a very unfavourable condition of parapet.
For example, let A be 2 ft. below B, and all othei data the
same, ^ . (FI —h) = 2 ft. 9 in., and AD 8 ft. -j-
2 ft. 9 in. + 2 ft. = 12 ft. 9 in.; or when D = 1200 ft..
FORTIFICATION.
801
Fortifica- 11 ft. 4 in. ; and if it should be necessary to defilade a
tion. distance of 90 ft. instead of 30, the heights of the parapet
would necessarily become 18 ft. 8 in., and 14 ft. 2 in.
Again (fig. 14, No. 4) in this figure A is higher than B,
or than C, which is the lowest of all; and if H still represents
the difference of level of A and C, and A the difference of level
of A and B, AD = N - A - g—• (H - A) . . . (3);
and, of course, so far as concerns the height alone of the
parapet, this is the most favourable condition of all.
Any other case is easily resolvable by one or other of
the formulae;—thus, when A and C are on the same level,
and B higher than A, H becomes O, and No. 2 becomes
AD = N + d, „ . h.
L) “p u
And in No. 3, if B be higher than A, it becomes posi¬
tive, and AD = N + /« — ^ • (H + h) . . . (4) ;
or if h be 0, A and B being on the same level, AD =r
N  — . H.
D+ <r
In equation (4), if the station C, though below A and B,
falls between the horizontal line drawn through A, and the
line BR or BA be prolonged till it cuts the surface of the
ground, sloping from B towards D, then jj—• (H + h) is
less than h, and AD is greater than N ; but should C be
below the line BR, then (H-f Ji) is greater than /*,
and AD is less than N; or, in other words, if the line of
defilade passing through BA meets the ground at R within
the prescribed limits of defilade, or the effective ranges of
musketry and artillery, which may be now assumed as 500
yards for the first and 1000 yards for the second, if the point
C be above that line the parapet at A must be made higher
than the normal height, and if below it may be made lower.
A comparison between the numerical results attached to
equation (2) will exhibit the great disadvantage, to the de¬
fenders of simple lines, of having any ground near to their
own moderately elevated, and care should be therefore taken
either to occupy the ground or to throw back the lines op-
VOL. IX.
posite such eminences as far as possible, and should it have Fortifica-
the character of a ridge, to bring some portion of the fire of tl0n-
the line to act in the direction of its length. The space
AB to be defiladed must depend upon circumstances, but
the minimum to allow for a safe communication for the
troops behind and actually defending the parapet ought not
to be taken below 30 feet, and where troops are required
to be drawn up behind the parapet at 90; but in cases of
double lines or of inclosed works the distance must of
course vary, as the object will then be to protect not only
the troops nearest to the enemy from a direct fire, but the
troops arming the more distant parapet from a reverse fire.
In assuming the normal height as 8 feet, on the supposition
that the fire might proceed from mounted soldiers, a condi¬
tion is adopted which is not generally likely to occur in the
attack of intrenchments : if, however, the normal height
were assumed at 7 feet, the space behind the parapet must
be very imperfectly defiladed, as the trajectory of the ball,
being in its descending curve, will come to the ground at
a much nearer point than in the original supposition of a
straight line of trajectory; and hence it is desirable to
adhere to the normal height of 8 feet. In equation (3),
and in one case of (4), as explained, the height of the
parapet becomes less than N, but should the diminu¬
tion extend so far as to reduce the height of the parapet
below 7 feet, the absolute relief should be restored to its
proper amount, or to 7 feet, by excavating the ground be¬
hind the parapet, or, in other words, forming a terreplein
below the level of the plane of site. In a similar manner,
in respect to equation (2), and in one case of (4), where the
parapet becomes greater than N, it would be very incon¬
venient to augment the height above 12 feet, and it is pre¬
ferable therefore to excavate behind the parapet, whenever
the defilade requires so great an increase of height.
In the preceding observations the parapet has been con- Flanking
sidered as forming a simple continuous line, deriving itsor reciPr°-
defence solely from its own direct fire; but such a COndi-caldefence-
tion would most frequently be found inapplicable, even as
regards form, in consequence of the natural inequalities of
the ground, and, with few exceptions, unsatisfactory, as re¬
gards defence, in consequence of the imperfect operation of
direct fire from the top of a parapet, which can only be
brought to bear upon some external line, and must there¬
fore leave the foot of its scarp unseen and unprotected,
after an advancing enemy has come within the limiting line
of defence. A fire, therefore, so directed as to take the eriemy
in flank has been adopted, and a line or work is therefore
said to be flanked when some portion either of its own
parapet, or of the parapet of another work, has been so ar¬
ranged that the fire from it shall take an enemy advancing
towards the other portion in flank. In lines of intrench¬
ments this arrangement leads to a bent line, having angles
projecting towards the country called salient angles, and
angles retired from the country called re-entering angles ;
and it is evident that in this arrangement (fig. 15) the
lines AB and AC, which are flanked by BD, CD, do in
their turn flank BD and CD, and that flanking defence
may therefore be called reciprocal defence, a term which
more accurately defines its object and value.
Referring back, then, to the subject of defilade, it is evi¬
dent that a bent line of this kind affords more facility for
defilading than a straight one, as it is often possible so to
arrange the position of the angles that the salients shall oc-
cupy high points of ground, while the re-entering angles
though placed on lower shall be compensated for this defect
by being further removed from the commanding ground of
the enemy.
Whilst a simple straight line has the disadvantage of de- Enfilade
pending for its defence solely on direct fire, it has the ad- fire-
vantage of not being exposed to a fire from the enemy so
directed as to sweep along its whole length from one end to
5 i
802
FORTIFICATION.
Fortifica- the other, a fire which is called enfilade fire, and is neces-
tion. sarilv very destructive, as it produces the same effect in
   * ?/ ,
S'
V'*'X 2 ''x c' \ \
1'ig. 15.
attack as a flanking fire in defence, by taking the defenders
of the line in flank. To guard against this evil, should it^
be indispensable to take up a position in front of ground oi
a superior command, the long lines AB, AC should at least
be so directed that their prolongations should fall in low
ground at EF, and not as they would do in the case of AB ,
AC, on the high ground at E'F ; and of course, if possible,
and where the high ground is not continuous, that the pro¬
longations of both short and long lines should fall on the low
ground between the commanding eminences, an arrange¬
ment which will be more especially beneficial should the low
ground be marshy or otherwise difficult of occupation by an
enemy. Such observations as these can only be suggestive,
since no fixed rules can be laid down for an engineer in such
cases, as he should look at his ground and adjust his works Fortifica-
so as to make the most of the natural advantages it presents, tl0n'
and to neutralize, as far as possible, the ill effects of any
disadvantages it may possess. To determine the height of
the parapet by defilading in the manner stated, it is neces¬
sary to have a correct plan of the ground, and to know the
exact levels of the points A, B, C, in every case; but the
defilading may be effected by levelling poles or boning rods
where there is no such plan. In this case the inner boun¬
dary of the ground within the parapet required to be defil¬
aded being staked out, a boning rod of 7 or 8 feet high,
according to the intended normal height of the parapet,
should be placed at BC, on the staked-out line, and another
of equal height on the commanding point or ground, fig. 16,
supposed to be either at or within the range of the projectiles
against the fire of which the work is to be secured. A rod
about 12 feet high is then fixed at A, and a cross-piece or
marker, as in levelling staves, is raised up or down until it
meets the point where the visual line from the top of B to the
top of A intersects the pole at A; so that this operation is
simply the mechanical determination oftheheightobtained in
the other method by calculation. If it be required to defilade
the whole space between two parallel lines, oi that included
between the two lines forming the salient angle in fig. 15,
it is evident that the work must be defiladed from both
sides, and further, that the soldiers standing on the ban¬
quette of one line should be secured from the fire of the
ground in front of the other, or from the fire called
“ reverse fire,” as taking them in rear. This is effected by
placing a mound of earth or traverse between them, and
determining its height as well as the height of the parapets
in the following manner:—On the commanding point C is
placed the boning rod CD of the normal height, and
another BE, at B, or at the position of the traverse of the
same height ; then the height of the crest of the parapet
of A is determined by the intersection of the visual line
from D to E with the pole fixed at A, at the point a, which
is here high, as C is so much higher than A. See preced¬
ing rules and equations. In like manner a pole of the
proper height being fixed at the extent of range on the
opposite side at C, the visual line from D to E determines
the height of the parapet of A' at a, which is much lower
than the parapet of A, as A' and b are nearly on the same
level. Now, to defilade the banquettes, and to determine
the height of the traverse necessary for that purpose, set
up on the banquette of A a pole bb of the same height as
CD, C D', BE, and the visual line from D to b determines
the height of the traverse at f, which is necessary to secure
the banquette of A from the reverse fire of C, whilst the
visual line drawn from D to H determines the height of the
traverse sufficient to protect the banquette of A from the
reverse fire of C, The application of these principles is
shown in reference to a work formed of two lines (or
faces as they are called), terminating in a salient angle, by
fig. 17 ; whether that work is connected with a line of
intrenchment as in a redan, or is detached as in a ravelin
and other outworks, or forms part of a peculiar system or
arrangement of works as in the tenaille system of Monta-
lembert, called by its author the angular system ; terms
and works which will be hereafter more fully explained.
Here the commanding point is supposed to be at M, and to
secure the defenders of the face AB from a reverse fire,
it is necessary to interpose the traverse cd, called from its
obiect a parados. The length of the traverse cd is deter¬
mined by the line MB, beyond which it should project
s,M,
si
Fig. 17.
sufficiently to give ample security to a space about 50 feet
wide behind the parapet. At the other end, the traverse
is not carried up to the salient angle, as it would interfere
with the communication, but is completed by ba, perpendi¬
cular to the other face, by which arrangement the space
within the salient and the banquette are left free. I he
two lines MdB, and Me/, will be directed to points raised
above the banquette by the normal height assumed, whether
7 or 8 feet, and thus determine the height of the traverse.
It may, however, happen that the commands are so situ¬
ated as to produce an enfilade fire along both the faces
AB AB'; fig. 18. In this case a small work is formed HAD
in connection with the parapet, by drawing lines parallel
to the crest of CB and C'B' at a distance from it equal
to the breadth of the banquette, and then determining, in
the manner explained, the height of A necessary to defilade
a certain length of the banquette of CB and C B sweeping
FORTIFICATION.
803
Fortifica¬
tion.
Bonnet.
it, and assuming the greatest of the two as the height of the
parapet at A. This work is called a bonnet; and when the
height necessary to defilade the whole of one or both faces
is found to exceed 12 feet, the height of A should be re¬
strained to that limit, and traverses, T, T, T2 be placed at
such distances as shall cause a complete defilade without
exceeding the height of 12 feet.
Fig. 18.
The internal space may frequently be sufficiently defil¬
aded by raising the salient portion of the parapet without
disturbing the line of direction of the crest; but in that
case the banquette of the two faces would not be covered
from the enfilade fire, and hence the necessity of a bonnet.
The increased height of the parapet of the bonnet renders
now be in the defilading plane, and by moving the triangle Fortifica-
on the base as a hinge until the mark on the boning rod at tlon-
the point of command is just seen along the surface of the
frame, it is evident that the triangle itself will then be in
that plane also. Fixing the
frame in this position, it is
only necessary to look along
its surface in any direction in
order to mark on the boning
rods set up on the line of the
crest of the parapet the neces¬
sary height at each point.
Where the parapet is con¬
tinued not only on the flanks
but also in the rear,so as to form
an inclosed work, it may often Fig-20-
be necessary to defilade it in various directions as in fig. 20.
Where two traverses or parados cross each other, they
must, of course, be so placed that they shall not only com¬
plete the defilade of the whole interior space of the work,
but secure from reverse fire the banquette on each side, the
normal N being therefore, at least, 6 ft. 6 in. above the
banquette. Where traverses of this kind become neces-
sary, the engineer must take into account the space they
will occupy, and plan his work accordingly ; and should
he be able to render the difficulty of attacking one side of
his works very great, he may so construct one or more of the
traverses that they may be used as retrenchments, and thus
increase the means of defence ; for example, S being the
salient of greatest strength, bob might be first defended, and
then bed.
Fig. 19.
it necessary to adopt two banquettes b', one below' the
other, and each provided with steps to facilitate ascent, fig. 19.
The operation of defilading may be also effected by planes
of defilade ; as, for example, if the line which marks out or
limits the space to be defiladed be first drawn, and a plane
be supposed to pass through a line either 6 ft. 6 in. or 8 ft.
(or whatever height between these may be assumed as the nor¬
mal height N) above the limiting line, and through a point
the same height above the commanding point, this plane
will determine the height of the parapet, the crest of which
will necessarily be in it. Practically it may be done thus:
On the boning rods marking the ends of such portion of
the limiting line as can be included in one operation, mark
the normal height N considered necessary, and then re¬
membering that a vertical plane through the boning rods
would necessarily intersect the defilading plane in a straight
line, place one edge of an equilateral-triangular frame of
w'ood in the intersecting line by directing it to the marks
on the boning rods, and then attach the frame in that posi¬
tion to an intervening rod. The base of the triangle will
This subject has been enlarged upon because it is one
of the most important in engineering, as the safety of a
long line of works may be endangered by defective defilad-
ing. Though exhibited here in a practical form, it depends
essentially on geometrical principles, and instruction there¬
fore in descriptive geometry is now considered essential in
all schools of military engineering.
Having determined the relief of the crest of the parapet
in reference to the plane of site, all the other vertical dimen¬
sions depend upon it, as shewn in several of the preceding
figures; whilst the horizontal are regulated either with regard
to the slopes required to ensure stability, or the thickness
necessary to resist the enemy’s missiles. For example, it has
been determined that the penetration at a mean range in
common earth, after having been dug up and well-rammed,
and the thickness for security, are as stated below:—
Weapon. Penetration. Required thickness for
r security.
Musket. 1 ft. 6 in. 3 ft.
6-pounder. 3 6 to 4 ft. 6 in. 6
9 „ 6 6 to 7 6 9
12 „ 8 6 to 10 0 14
18 and 24 pounder 11 6 to 13 0 18
But as neither the 18-pounder nor 24-pounder is now
often brought into the field, the thickness of parapet has
been usually assumed to be 14 ft. In the Austrian ser¬
vice, in which, as in the Russian, the 18-pounder is a re¬
cognised field-gun, it is usual to allow the following thick¬
nesses :—
Feet.
For defence against Musket balls    4'3
„ 3-pound shot  4-6
„ 4 and 6 pound  8-6
„ 8 and 12, and 7 and 10 pound 1 . „ „
howitzers J
„ 18-pounder shot  Id^
With light, sandy, or gravelly soil, or, when tamping
can only be imperfectly performed, a greater thickness
ought to be allowed; and, as the presence of a wide and
deep ditch must always materially strengthen the work
before which it is placed, there can be no other reason
than want of time, want of men, or difficulty of ground,
Dimensions
of profile.
FORTIFICATION.
804
Fortifica- for reducing the thickness of the parapet below 14, 01 at
tion. the utmost 12 feet. If wood be used, the same authority
^ gives us the necessary thickness for resisting musket balls
at from 5^ to 6J inch; against 3, 4, or 6 lb. shot, 3' 3" to 4'
11" ; against 8 and 12 lb. shot, or 7 and 10 lb. shells, 4 9
to 5' 4'P; and against 18 lb. shot, 6' 6". Brick walls from
2' 8" to 3' 3" thick; and rubble walls from 3' 3" to 3 10
will resist field-guns. For forming the parapet under pe¬
culiar circumstances of difficulty the engineer will avail
himself of every fitting substance which may be at hand;
such as bags of wool, mattresses, fire-wood, manure heaps,
as well as fascines, either by themselves or packed in gabions.
Of these latter substances the resistance is not great, the
penetration in wool being double that in rammed earth, and
the strength of fascine works being rapidly diminished by the
speedy fracture of the branches when exposed to a sharp fire.
1 With these data it will be easy to regulate all the dimen¬
sions of the parapet, the height of its crest, or the relief of
the work, having been first established. Thus the plane of
the banquette or step on which the men stand, when firing
over the parapet, should for convenience be 4' 3" below the
crest, and on no account should exceed 4' 6". The breadth
or tread for a single rank should be 3', for a double rank
4' 6"; the surface should slope backwards 2 or 3 inches
in the 3'—3 or 4| inches in the 4' 6", so as to discharge
water freely and keep the banquette dry; the base of the
interior slope of the banquette up which the men mount
should be twice its height; it the height of the parapet ex¬
ceed the normal height, it will be desirable to form two
treads or steps to the banquette, the lower about seven feet
below the crest, so that one rank of men may stand there
whilst reloading the muskets of those in advance of them
or, to adopt steps with a rise to each of T, and a tread of
1' or 1^", sloping slightly to the rear, by which arrangement
the necessary excavation of the ditch will be diminished,
and less of the interior space occupied. Tim interior slope
of the parapet should be T, or a base of 1 to 4 of the
height, and should never exceed a slope of 1 to 3—the
superior slope or plongee, of the parapet, by which the fire
is directed towards the point on which it is to act, should
not be less than -J, nor more than £ of its thickness, and in
service is generally made but as the increase of the slope
facilitates the destruction of the crest, it should be kept as
small as possible ; and it is usual on the continent to retain
the angle of the crest as a constant quantity, at 100°, and
hence to increase the base of the interior slope as the plunge
increases, and vice versa; but this is not satisfactory, since
the height of the soldier’s shoulder remaining constant,
whilst the direction of the prolongation of the line of plunge Fortifica-
varies, the fire will not be always in the true direction ; v _1011' j
and it seems therefore preferable to keep the base of the
interior slope as small as possible, and to make the top of
the parapet at the crest horizontal for one or two feet, com¬
mencing the plunge at that point, and bringing it inwards
in proportion to the increase of plunge. This flat space
will facilitate the use of sand bags (bags filled with earth),
which are sometimes so arranged on the crest of the parapet
as to form loopholes for the musketry, whilst they add to the
cover of the men ; the base of the exterior slope of the
parapet is equal to its height, in earth ot a medium tena¬
city, so as to form an angle of 45 ; and in some paiticulai
cases where the materials wrould naturally stand at a steeper
slope, it may be made f. The bases of the slopes of the
scarp and counterscarp of the ditch, as being cut in undis¬
turbed ground, need not exceed ^ of the depth as a general
rule, though occasionally in very loose ground the slopes
will require to be as gradual as in the exterior slope, or slope
of made ground, in order to insure stability. Where
steeper slopes are deemed indispensable, the earth must be
supported in place by a retaining coating (or wall) called a
revetement, which may be formed of fascines (long cylin¬
drical bundles of faggots), hurdles, sods, planks, clay pud¬
dling, and, in interior works, of sand bags. rI he base of
the interior slope of the glacis should be equal to its height,
and the exterior slope have a plunge of 1 foot in 12. I he
command of the crest of the parapet over that of the glacis
should be such that an assailant, having arrived on the
crest, should not be able to fire into the interior of the
work: a condition which requires a command ovei the
glacis of 5| feet, so that with a parapet of 7 feet high the
maximum "height of glacis would be feet. The mini¬
mum height of the glacis is determined by another condi¬
tion, viz., that the fire from the parapet should be in a plane
not more than 2 feet above the surface of the glacis; and
in no case should the plunge or slope of the glacis be gieatei
than that of the parapet. An advanced glacis is sometimes
adopted either for rendering the cover more effectual, or to
occupy a favourable line for first opposing the progress, of
the enemy. Fig. 21 shows this arrangement, <7, g being
the first or ordinary glacis, and g\ gz the second or ad¬
vanced glacis. The slope of neither glacis should be such
as to withdraw the assailants from the grazing fire of the
parapet, and if it be not possible to extend the slope of
g'1 f so far as to keep it in the prolongation of the line C ,
it should be at least so arranged that no point of the slope
should be more than 2 feet below that line or the plane
C
FORTIFICATION.
805
whilst at the same time the volume of any portion of the
excavated ditch will also be equal to its mean section mul¬
tiplied by the length of that portion. If, then, P represent
the area of the mean section of this portion of the parapet,
D the area of the mean section of the corresponding por¬
tion of the ditch, and L the length of this portion, LP should
be = LD, providing the earth of the excavation were of
the same bulk as after it; but such is not the case, and after
having been broken up from its previously closely packed
condition, it is found that the “ remblai ” or earth built up
exceeds the “ deblai,” or earth excavated by a co-efficient
varying with the nature of the soil, being in sandy soil
nearly 0. Thus if — represent the coefficient, it is in
sand 0; in earth of medium tenacity ; and in very strong
and naturally compressed earth £; so that to render the
earth of the ditch just equal to that of the parapet, the
above equation should be LP = L and P =
D + —D, or D =—r
m m +1
P. As, however, the earth resulting
from this excess, even allowing for the greater length of the
ditch in polygonal works, will be required for forming the
glacis, or for making up the banks in the salient called “ bar¬
bettes,” and intended for raising guns sufficiently high to
fire over the parapet, the dimensions of the ditch may be
safely estimated without reference to the excess, as fol¬
lows :—
Let x be the breadth of the bottom of the ditch, and y
its depth ; and let the sum of the bases of the slopes of the
scarp and counterscarp be represented as a function of the
depth by the fraction —y> then x + — 3/will be equal to the
s s
breadth of the ditch at top, and D = -^- (x + x+j y^
whence — -rr-y, and y=-- (■
2,sr r \
V
x-\-
^ + td)-
Now as the defensive object of the ditch requires that it
should be both deep and wide enough to form a decided
obstruction in the way of an enemy, the width ought not
to be less than 18 feet, whilst the depth should have no
other limit than that arising from the difficulty of raising the
earth which makes 12 feet about the maximum. Taking
then 3/= 12,-=“, and D=108 superficial, ar=9 —9 = 0,
s £
and the width of the ditch therefore =^- of 12 = 18
the
ditch being triangular.
Assuming a profile area of 70, corresponding to a para¬
pet 7 feet high and only 6 feet thick, and making ^ = 0 for
atriangular ditch, y
=V-D=<
and the width of the
ditch = 14^ feet: with a profile area of 116 feet correspond¬
ing to a parapet 7\ feet in height and 12 feet thick, the
depth of the ditch, if triangular, is 12| feet and its width
18f ; so that this profile appears about the maximum for a
triangular ditch with a profile area of 163 feet, corresponding
to a parapet 8 feet high and 18 feet thick. With a banquette
4^ feet wide a triangular ditch would give 3/ = 14f feet, so
that such a form would be inconvenient; but taking a? =4
as the width of the bottom of the ditch, y or the depth be¬
comes 12' 4", and the width of the top of the ditch 22|feet
—a very well-proportioned ditch.
In the preceding cases the base of slope of the scarp has
been assumed as equal to its height, and that of the coun¬
terscarp slope as half the height. Should the nature of the
soil be such as to require the base to be equal to the height
in both scarp and counterscarp, ~y—2y ; and where the soil Fortjfiea-
is sufficiently firm to admit of a base of one-half in both,
-y=y. In the first of these cases even the large profile area
last named may be made triangular with a depth of 12^ feet,
and breadth of 25 ; and in the second a triangular ditch is in¬
admissible even with an area of 116 feet, as it would require
a depth of more than 15 feet; and it could only be used with
profile areas up to 85 superficial feet, for which a depth of
13 feet would be required. Before leaving this subject, a
few words may be said respecting the “ berm.” The most
effectual scarp in respect to defence is that which forms one
continuous plane with the exterior slope, or at least which
commences immediately where the other ends, as the abso¬
lute relief of the parapet is therefore made a maximum, and
there is no berm; but in many cases it would be impru¬
dent to carry the parapet up to the edge of the scarp, as tlm
latter might be easily injured and occasion a fall of part of
the parapet, and further, the difficulty of construction would
be greatly increased by having no intermediate stage be¬
tween the bottom of the ditch and the top of the parapet.
The “ berm” or step between the top of the scarp and bot¬
tom of the parapet is made from 2 to 4 feet according to the
nature of the ground, and it then becomes possible in most
cases to increase the slope of the scarp to a base of or
at least to such a slope as shall bring the prolongation of
the exterior slope of the parapet to the base of the scarp.
The berm is encumbered with such obstacles as shall pre¬
vent an enemy from making it a halting place (see fig. 12).
The slope of the counterscarp is usually or -§, when
that of the scarp is t>, or 1 ; and it should be added that
the bottom of the ditch ought always to slope on each side
towards the centre, so as to carry off the water, and that
it should be so arranged as to prevent the enemy from col¬
lecting together, and reforming his men in the ditch which
in all cases of simple lines, without flanking defences, he
would do were the bottom left free from obstructions.
APPLICATION OF THE PARAPET IN COMBINED OR RECIPRO¬
CAL DEFENCE, CONSTITUTING PARAPET OR FIELD FORTI¬
FICATION.
The parapet has been hitherto considered principally in
its character as the simplest element of defensive works,
affording at once protective cover to the soldiers behind it
and an obstruction to the advance of their enemies ; but it
is now time to consider the manner in which this parapet
may be so arranged as to constitute a series of defensive
and mutually defending works. Were the antiquity of an
invention to be estimated in reference to an epoch in the
social history of any race of mankind rather than to a point
in absolute time, there can be little doubt that earth-works
would, as might be naturally expected, claim the priority
over all other modes of defence. In North America ves¬
tiges of circular intrenchments, as well as of works of a
more complicated outline, have been discovered, the anti¬
quity of which is unknown ; and even now, when a small
party of the aboriginal inhabitants have been suddenly en¬
countered by a much greater number of a hostile tribe,
they have been known to excavate a hollow space in the
ground, and, throwing out the earth, to form around them a
circular intrenchment, in which they have defended them¬
selves to the last. In Ireland its ancient inhabitants have
left similar relics of their earthen defences, as in Great
Britain the Romans have left of theirs; but the further
consideration of the value of earthen works, when adopted
in the defence of extensive fortresses, will be resumed in a
future passage, and they will be considered here only in
connection with the arrangements adopted by an army in
the field for its own immediate security.
806 F 0 R T I F X
Fortifica- The art of constructing all kinds of temporary works in
tion. the for this purpose is usually called field fortification,
's—name here replaced by that of paiapet fbitification. An
army intrenched, or fortified, in the field, produces, in
many respects, the same effect as a fortress; for it covers
a country, supplies the want of numbers, stops the advance
of a superior enemy, or, if he chooses to risk a battle, obliges
him to engage at a disadvantage. “ In a war of march and
manoeuvre,” says Napoleon, “ if you would avoid a battle
with a superior army, it is necessary to intrench every
night, and to occupy a good defensive position. Those
natural positions which are ordinarily met with are not suffi¬
cient to protect an army against superior numbers without
recourse to art. Those who proscribe lines of circumvalla-
tion, and all the ^assistance w hich the science of the en¬
gineer can afford, deprive themselves gratuitously of an
auxiliary which is never injurious, almost always useful,
and often indispensable. It must be admitted at the same
time that the principles of field fortification require im¬
provement. This important branch of the art of war has
made no progress since the times of the ancients. It is
even inferior to what it was two thousand years ago. En¬
gineer officers should be encouraged in bringing this art to
perfection, and in placing it on a level with the rest.”1
Whenever Napoleon had time and occasion for strength¬
ening his position by field-works, he acted upon the prin¬
ciples recommended in the above extract, as almost all his
predecessors had done. In the wars which followed the
revolution of 1688, in those of Queen Anne’s reign, and
during the Seven Years’ War, we find the commanders of
each period, William III., the Duke of Marlborough,
Marshal Villars, Marshal Saxe, Frederick II., and Marshal
Daun, practically exemplifying their conviction of the great
utility of field-works. A few redoubts saved Peter the
Great at Pultowa, and enabled him to gain a decisive vic¬
tory over his formidable antagonist; and at Borodino, some
slight open field-works, thrown up by the Russians, caused^
the French great loss, and rendered too costly to be of
almost any avail the victory which, by incredible efforts of
gallantry, they gained. It has been argued by some,
against intrenchments and field-works, that they have
oftener been carried than successfully defended, and that
hence incommensurate importance has been attached to
them. But it should be remembered, on the other hand,
that victorv in such circumstances has generally been pur¬
chased at an expense which rendered it in effect equivalent
to defeat; and that a practice which the greatest com¬
manders of ancient and modern times have approved and
followed cannot be one of doubtful utility’. At Auster-
litz, where the contending armies were nearly equal, Na¬
poleon was preparing to superintend the construction of
intrenchments when he found himself called upon to receive
battle ; and in Portugal, the Duke of Wellington showed
to what importance the art of the engineer might be turned
for influencing, not merely the fortune of a campaign, but
the fate of a cause. The lines of Torres Vedras, which
formed the ne plus ultra of the powerful French army
under Massena, and from which the tide of war was rolled
back broken into Spain, were perhaps the most remarkable
works of the kind ever constructed.
“ Lisbon,” says Sir John Jones, “being situated at the
extremity of a peninsula formed by the sea and the Tagus,
it is plain that if an army be so posted as to extend across
CATION.
the peninsula, no enemy can penetrate into the city with- Fortifies-
out a direct attack on the army so formed. It was on this tion-
principle that the lines covering Lisbon were planned by S—
Lord Wellington. Nature drew the rude outline of a
strong defensive position, and art rendered it perfect. A
tract of country thirty miles, extending from the mouth of
the Zizandra on the ocean, to Alhandra on the Tagus, was
modelled into a field of battle ; mountains were scarped
perpendicularly, rivers dammed, and inundations formed;
all roads favourable to the enemy were destroyed, and others
made to facilitate the communications of the defenders ;
formidable works were erected to strengthen and support
the weak parts, whilst numerous cannon, placed on inacces¬
sible points, commanded the different approaches to them,
and gave an equality of defence to the whole position.”2
These lines were not continuous and connected works;
they consisted of independent forts, redoubts, fleches,
redans, batteries, &c., so placed as to command and enfi¬
lade every approach, and to support each other by a cross
or a flanking fire. The first line occupied a front of twenty-
nine miles between the sea and the Tagus; and by means
of telegraphs intelligence could be conveyed from one ex¬
tremity to the other in a few minutes; whilst the troops
were disposed in masses in the rear of the works ready to
move upon any7 point that might be attacked, by interior
communications shorter than any by which the enemy could
advance. “ The aim and scope of these works,” says
Colonel Napier, “ was to bar the passes, and to strengthen
the fighting positions between them, without impeding the
movements of the army. These objects were attained ; and
it is certain that the loss of the first line would not have
been injurious, save in reputation, because the retreat was
secure upon the second and stronger line, and the guns of
the first were all of inferior calibre, mounted on common
truck carriages, and consequently immoveable and useless
to the enemy.”3 * * * Both lines occupied a front of fifty miles,
on which there were erected one hundred and fifty forts,
mounting in all about six hundred pieces of artillery.
Before this formidable position, defended by a double
line of works, and by an army massed and ready to move
upon any point by interior communications, the French
remained five months, wasting their numbers and resources;
until at length, finding it utterly impracticable to force any
part of even the exterior line, they were obliged to retire
from Portugal, closely followed and harassed by the army
which thev had previously driven out of Spain. Yet though
the lines of Torres Vedras were thus perfect in themselves,
and though one of the ablest of the French generals and a
veteran French army were foiled before them, it is not
meant to refer to this system of separate field-works as a
model to be followed on all occasions; for whilst the old
method of covering a considerable front by a continued
line of regular bastions and curtains has been universally
condemned by modern engineers, it is nevertheless certain
that there are situations where a partial application of con¬
tinued lines may be most judiciously made. In fact, it is not
by any fixed rule, but from the nature of the ground and of
the position to be defended, that the species of works calculated
to be most useful should, in every case, be determined.
At this point it is necessary to remember, that in any
protracted defence, or, indeed, in any efficient defence,
artillery must be combined with musketry; and hence that
in the arrangement of lines provision must be made for the
1 Military Maxims of Napoleon. _ , ,, , . hj- j
2 War in Spain, p. 124. The French army which invaded Portugal under Massena consisted of three corps, un ir . ars y
Junot and General Regnier, amounting in all to 66,000 infantry and 6000 cavalry, besides a strong body of the imperial £ua™. wmen
crossed the Pyrenees after the invading force had commenced its march from the neighbourhood of Salamanca. e orce co ec o
oppose this threatened invasion did not exceed 48,000 infantry and 3000 cavalry, of which about a half was composed ot 1 ortuguese
levies, yet untried in any general action, and of which a very unfavourable opinion still continued to be entertaine . n porn o num
bers, and still more in the composition of their army, therefore, the French had a decided superiority; but al t eir a van ages were
neutralized by the defensive position of Torres Vedras. 3 History of the b ar in the eninsu a, vo . iu.
FORTIFICATION.
807
Fortifica- use of cannon. W hen it is possible so to place guns that they
tion. may bear on definite lines or points, such as a natural
' ravine, an artificial road or other communication, a line of
Artillery abattis or other obstacle, the ditch, the scarp, the glacis
in defence. 0f some portion of the works which must be passed in
advancing to the attack, or the point in front of a salient,
it is desirable that they should be preserved in that posi¬
tion, ready to act at the right moment; and hence it is
that they should not fire over but through the parapet, and
the opening made in the parapet for this purpose is called
an “ embrasure.” It is more usual to make these embra¬
sures in field-works shortly before they are required to be
used, so that the parapet may be made quite solid and
firm in the first instance, and without the trouble which
attention to the preservation of the opening would neces¬
sarily occasion in construction. In order to obtain command
over a glacis constructed in reference to the exterior slope
of the parapet, and yet to insure cover, the parapet must be
raised so as to cover the men serving the gun placed on the
usual barbette terreplein—(see fig. 22)—which would other-
Fig. 22.
wise fire over the ordinary parapet, and not, as here repre¬
sented, through an embrasure. The section shows by dotted
lines the difference of level between the terreplein of the gun
and the plane of the banquette of the ordinary parapet. The
dimensions of the embrasure are determined on simple
principles—the interior opening or neck is made only 20
inches wide to avoid unnecessary exposure of the men,
and the exterior opening is made half the thickness of the
parapet, measured along the ridge line of the exterior slope ;
(see fig. 23). When the guns are intended to flank the
ditches, or to fire along a ravine, or the crest of a natural scarp,
which fulfils the function, as an obstacle, of the ditch, the
embrasures are cut in the ordinary parapet, and the guns
stand on the natural terreplein of the work, as stated above.
The portion of parapet left below the embrasure is called
genonillere, from genon, the knee ; and for field-guns should
be 3| feet high; the portion between two embrasures is
called merlin, from the Italian merlone, a battlement; the
bottom of the embrasure is called its sole ; and in the same
manner as has been suggested in respect to the superior
slope of the parapet, it should be horizontal for the first
four feet from the neck or interior opening, and then slope
downwards as much as may be necessary to attain the
amount of depression required in firing. The direction of
the embrasure depends on the intended direction of the
line of fire, and is either perpendicular to the crest as at dh,
or oblique as at mn (fig. 23). In the latter case, should
the obliquity be very great, or exceeding 70°, the crest of
the parapet must be made re-entering, as at oi, so as to
strengthen it near the neck, and to enable the gun carriage
to be brought up square to the parapet; o P should be at
least 8 feet; the sides of the embrasure are called cheeks,
and should be rivetted either with planks, with sods, with Fortifica-
fascines, or with gabions (hollow cylinders made of wicker tion*
Fig. 23.
work, and filled with earth). In fig. 24, on the left, at B, a
direct embrasure is seen cut straight through the parapet:
and on the right at A, an oblique one, both being intended
to enfilade the ditches opposite them; and it will be ob¬
served that, from the obliquity of the right-hand embrasures,
the interior of the work becomes so much exposed, that a
traverse, T, behind the embrasure, becomes necessary.
Barbettes are also shown in this figure—one at the salient
at D for four guns, and another at C, perpendicular to the
face or branch, for two.
Fig. 24.
The terreplein of the barbette
should be from 3 to 3^ feet below the crest of the parapet;
its height from front to rear from 18 to 20; and its breadth,
for a single gun, from 15 to 18, according as it may be
necessary to fire more or less obliquely; and a breadth of
12 to 15 feet should be added for every additional gun.
To add to the lateral sweep or range of the gun, without
diminishing the banquette, or, in other words, the musketry
fire, the barbette may be made wider in the rear than in
front. In proportion to its magnitude should be the number
ofli ramps,” or slopes
of approach ; as, for
example, at C only
one, at D three. The
ramps should be from
8 to 9 feet wide, and
their slope should
have a base equal to
4 times the height of
the barbette. The
lateral slopes of the
barbette and of its
ramps should be re-
veted whenever it is
possible to obtain
D ' sods, fascines, or hur-
Fig. 25 a. dies, in order to eco¬
nomize space in the work, as the base of the slope may
be then reduced to ^ or <1- the height; more generally they
are left unreveted, with slopes of The terreplein of
the barbette may require, as at C, to be covered in flank
by a traverse.
salient is exhibited in fig. 25 a.
At any point g of the face AB raise a perpendicular gh,
either 18 or 20 feet in length, to include the amount of re-
The mode of constructing a barbette in a
808
FORTIFICATION.
tior
Fortifica. c0il; at the point h thus determined raise a perpendicular
to gh and prolong it to its intersection with the other face
AC at E, then setting off AF on the other face equal to AE.
On the capital AD, set off a double perpendicular at any
point i, prolonging it both ways, and making ik and il each
at least equal to 4^ feet to represent the half breadth of the
platform on which the gun-carriage is intended to stand and
move; through the points k and l draw parallels to the
capital, cutting the faces on the points m and n; join m, n,
and parallel to the line mn draw the line OP at 18 or 20
feet distant from it, when m n P O, form the platform.
Join FO and EP, and AEPOF will represent the contour
or trace of the barbette. The manner in which the crest
of the parapet is formed above the salient A, and the mode
in which the firing may be effected in directions perpendi¬
cular to the face^ as well as in the direction of the capital,
is shown in fig. 25 b.
Fig. 25 b,
In the case of a partly sunken parapet, in which the
intuitive judgment which comprehends at a glance the true Fortifica-
bearing or character of objects as well as events, is neces- tion-
sary to enable them to convert theoretical stores of informa-
tion to the best practical uses. In passing through a country,
it requires an experienced eye to seize quickly on whatever
it presents calculated to prove advantageous or disadvanta¬
geous to an army destined to attack or defend it; to appre¬
ciate the value of villages, stone-inclosures, and broken
ground ; to know where to dam up rivers, to scarp heights,
to form abattis, trous-de-loup, and other obstacles; to select
the best situations for field-forts and redoubts, and the best
sites for batteries; and to arrange all the defensive means
employed, with reference to the number of troops destined
to act upon the different parts of the line, so that the move¬
ments of the defenders may not be obstructed or retarded,
and the communications throughout may be short and easy.
The variety of ground, however, upon which military opera¬
tions are for the most part carried on, precludes the possi¬
bility of laying down fixed rules in regard to this subject;
the accidents of ground, and the peculiar circumstances of
each individual case, must, as already observed, determine
the extent and description of the works to be constructed,
as well as the obstacles most proper to be formed for retard¬
ing, if not obstructing, the advance of an enemy.1
At the same time, though the observance of fixed rules
be impracticable, general principles are of universal appli¬
cation ; and certain maxims founded upon them hold equally
good in regard to the construction of field-works as in that
of the more complicated works of a fortress. These are, first,
that the works to be flanked must never be beyond the range
of the projectiles used in the works flanking them, or in
other words the length of the lines of defence never exceed
the effective range of musketry; secondly, that the angles of
defence should be about right angles; thirdly, that the salient
angles of all works should be as obtuse as possible; fourthly,
that the ditches should be as efficiently flanked as is possible;
portion above the banquette is raised above the plane of fifthly, that the relief of the flanking works must be deter
site, and the portion below the banquette excavated as in
fig. 26, the barbette constructed in the hollow portion will
enable the gun to fire over the parapet; and it should be
protected by forming a bonnetted embrasure, which may be
sometimes made large enough, as here represented, to held
two guns. It need scarcely be added that an engineer
ought to be ready in adapting any of the expedients here
briefly noticed to the circumstances of any particular case,
and that a mind stored with resources against any possible
casualty is one of the highest endowments of a really good
officer. It must be obvious indeed that even a limited know¬
ledge of the art of war opens a wide field for the exercise
of the talents and resources of engineers in field fortifica¬
tion; but the possession of a military coup-d’ceil, or of that
mined by the length of the lines of defence; and, sixthly,
that in the construction of field-works, reference should not
only be had to the direct and immediate obstacles which
the work itself is calculated to present to the enemy, and
the positive effect of its fire on the approaches to it, but
the relative value of the work should likewise be considered
with respect to the support it can receive from or give to
other works. These principles or maxims are of invariable
application.
Field-works are either open at the gorge as in fig. 1, 2,
3, 4, PL CCLIX, or inclosed all round as in fig. 5, 6, 7;
namely—
Redans, or simple heads fig. !•
Double redans, or queues d’hironde fig. 2.
Tenailled heads fig- 3.
Bastioned heads.... fig* 4.
Redoubts ' fig. 5.
Star-forts    fig- 6-
Bastioned forts fig* 7.
Lines a cretnaillieres   fig- 8.
Lines of redans fig- 9-
Lines of tenailles fig- 10-
Lines of bastions fig- H.
Lines of demi-bastions fig. 12-
Lines broken or with intervals fig. 14-
The first class are of the simplest kind of field-works,
and serve as a mere cover in front of avenues, bridges, (see
fig. 13), causeways, and the like; but being quite open at
the gorge, they are only suited for defence when their ex¬
tremities rest on rivers, or obstacles which prevent their
being turned, or when within the full sweeping fire of works
1 Shaw’s Course, of Field Fortification, p. 9, et seqq. Much assistance has been derived from this useful work in the compilation of this
article, as well as from the admirable Treatise on Field Fortification by Fischmeister, translated by Rieffel into renc , ie 0ures o
which have been freely used.
809
FORTIFICATION.
Fortifica- in their rear. To increase the strength of a redan, its faces
tion. are sometimes broken into a kind of flank, as in %. 1, PI-
CCLIX. In the double redan, or queue d'hironde, fig. 2,
the re-entering faces defend each other; the tenailled heads
are used in situations which require a greater extent of
front; and the bastioned heads are also employed in similar
circumstances. See fig. 3 and 4.
Redoubts are works closed on all sides; they are con¬
structed of a square or polygonal figure, but most commonly
square, as, when of this form, each front can furnish a strong
perpendicular fire. Provision should be made for defend¬
ing the ground before the angles, which, however, are some¬
times rounded or cut en cremailliere, so that a fire may be
delivered from them. See fig. 5.
Stai'-forts were proposed in order to remedy the defects
of redoubts having the ground before them undefended by
a flanking fire, so that a cross fire might be delivered from
the adjacent sides. But according to Jomini, “star-forts
are the very worst description of fortification; they cannot
have flanks, and the re-entering angles take so much from
the interior space that it is impossible to place troops and
artillery in them sufficient for their defence:” an opinion
confirmed by the practice of Sir Richard Fletcher and Sir
John Jones in the construction of the lines of Torres Vedras,
where the trace of the redoubts was made subservient to
the conformation of the ground, to the object in view, and
to the protecting them as much as possible from the fire of
the enemy’s position.
In bastioned forts, fig. 7, the flanking defence obtained
for the ditch is nearly perfect. As bastioned forts are only
constructed in cases of great importance, no labour or ex¬
pense should be spared in the formation of such works.
Forts with demi-bastions, fig. 12, are objectionable, as
the ditches are only defended by an oblique fire of their
faces. The parapets of all these works should be of sufficient
thickness to resist the fire of the heaviest guns that can be
brought against them. In some cases, however, the parapets
need only be strong enough to resist the fire of light field-
guns, whilst in others it will be sufficient if they serve as a
cover to the men within them against musketry. The latter
kind is generally that which is thrown up in an evening
after taking up a position, and which, if the army does not
move next day, it may be considered as necessary to
strengthen in some parts, according to circumstances.
Continued lines, or connected works, are resorted to in
order to inclose the front, or to connect important works
or forts. The most simple tracing is that of redans joined
together by curtains (fig. 9); but as the ditches of these
curtains can only be defended by an oblique fire from the
faces of the redans, this defect may be remedied by break¬
ing the curtains so as to form nearly right angles with the
faces of the redans, in which case they are called lines of
tenailles.
Lines en cremailliere have long faces, with flanks per¬
pendicular to these, in order to defend their ditches. When
the faces can be directed towards ground upon which it is
impracticable to establish enfilading batteries, the construc¬
tion is considered as good.
Bastioned lines form the strongest trace which can be
given to continued lines, when the ground will admit of its
adoption. A perfectly regular trace is only suited for level
ground. The ditches in field-works are often sloped en
rampe towards the adjoining flanks, in order that the deblai,
or quantity of earth excavated, may not exceed the remblai,
or quantity contained in the mass of the rampart or parapet,
a circumstance which often occurs in field-works, where
there is seldom any rampart, and only cover sufficient for
the defenders.
Lines with intervals. Fig. 14 shows the general trace of
lines of this kind. The salient works should never be be¬
yond the range of musketry from the re-entering works,
VOL. IX.
and the angles of defence between the two lines should be Fortifica-
as near as possible to right angles. 1011'
Tetes-de-pont, or bridge-heads, are works generally open
at the gorge, and whose flanks rest upon a river, in order
to cover one or more bridges. The best situation for these
works is the re-entering sinuosity of a river. As tetes-de-
pont, fig. 13, are usually constructed for the purpose of
enabling a retiring army to cross a river in order, and to
check an enemy pressing upon it, the tracing and profile
should be such as to secure a double advantage to the great¬
est extent possible. In Sir Howard Douglas’s able work
on the Construction of Military Bridges will be found much
valuable scientific information upon this important subject.
The obstacles which are usually added to field-works, in
order to render the approaches more difficult to the enemy,
such as palisades, barriers, abbatis, trous-de-loup, chevaux-
de-frise, harrows, and crows'-feet, have been already noticed.
For the defence of open towns and villages, the following
methods, recommended by the French minister of war in
1814, are considered as the best that have yet been sug¬
gested : “ To admit of a town being advantageously in¬
trenched, it is necessary that it should not be commanded
within any short distance, that the houses should not be of
a construction easily set on fire, and that its extent should
not be out of proportion to the means and time at the dis¬
posal of the defenders. The first thing to be done is to
clear the approaches to the town, by levelling houses, hedges,
shrubberies, and whatever may favour the assailants. Wood
ought to be cut two feet from the ground, that it may serve
to impede the advance of the enemy without masking the
fire of the defenders. The next object is to form or com¬
plete the inclosure round the town. For this purpose ad¬
vantage is taken of buildings, walls, and fences applicable
to the defence. The openings which remain must be closed
by palisades, stockades, or ditches strengthened by abattis.
All streets leading out of town must be barricaded. The
barricades must be sufficient to resist field artillery, and high
enough not to be easily got over ; and they ought to be
flanked by loopholing the neighbouring houses. When
pressed for time, carts filled with dung and the wheels taken
off, sand-bags, bales of wool or cotton, and furniture taken
from the neighbouring houses, all form good barricades.
If there should be any old castle, church, or large substan¬
tial building, it should be converted into a keep, by block¬
ing up useless entrances, loopholing walls, and surrounding
them by a ditch or abattis. If a town is situated near a
stream or river, by which part of it may be covered by in¬
undations, this should never be neglected.”
Villages are intrenched on similar principles, and being
generally surrounded by gardens with live hedges, the latter
may be made use of in forming the lines of defence. If
there should only be sufficient troops to defend part of a
village or town, a part only should be intrenched and sepa¬
rated from the rest by means of carts and barricades. If
there are very few houses, it may be necessary to confine
the defence to the church or churchyard, which may in all
cases serve as a sort of keep.
The destruction of bridges. Nothing is of greater con¬
sequence to a retiring army than to be able to destroy the
bridges in its rear, in order to retard the advance of the
enemy. Its safety, nay even its existence, may depend
upon the success with which this operation is performed.
In order to destroy a stone-bridge, a trench in the form of
a cross is made in the crown of the arch, the branches of
which are about ten feet in length, and sunk to the top of
the arch-stones. One hundred and sixty pounds of powder
are placed in each cut or trench for an arch three feet thick,
strong planks are then laid over the powder, and the whole
being well covered with rubbish, the fire is communicated
by means of a saucisson or long powder-hose. Stone bridges
are also destroyed by simply cutting a trench about eigh-
5 K
810
FORTIFICATION.
teen inches deep across the crown of the arch, and placing
in it 345 pounds of powder covered in the manner just de¬
scribed. This quantity has been found sufficient to destroy
semicircular arches of twenty-five feet in span, and three
feet in thickness at the key. Wooden bridges may be de¬
stroyed in different ways ; they may be pulled to pieces,
burned, or blown up. When there is time to take them to
pieces, they are unspiked, and the timbers so separated that
they may be speedily removed. The best method of burn¬
ing'such bridges is to tar them, and to cover and surround
them with fascines or tarred brushwood. When it is ne¬
cessary to blow up wooden bridges, this may be effected by
means of 220 pounds of powder suspended under the su¬
perstructure, and fired in the manner above described.
A ford is rendered impassable by throwing in large stones,
by sinking boards with spikes standing upright in them, by
scattering in it crows’feet, or by placing harrows taken from
the neighbouring farms. A low rubble wall may be formed
across, so as not to be perceptible above the water ; strong
stakes may be driven into the bottom, and trees fastened to
them; waggons loaded with stones, and the wheels taken
off, may in like manner be employed; not to mention a
number of other things which may be easily found, and
which will answer the purpose equally w'ell. The rendering
a ford impassable by such means is only second in import¬
ance to the destruction of a bridge, when the enemy whose
progress it is desired to retard has either no pontoon-train
at all, or has outstripped it by the rapidity of his advance.
In this way, much valuable time may be gained on the one
hand and lost on the other.
In order to bring a retiring army into the position when
the business of intrenching itself would naturally begin, some
portions of the subject of defence have been in part antici¬
pated in the preceding passages, and the main line of argu¬
ment will be now resumed.
The essential characteristic of all works formed of earth
is, that the musketry fire, on which the defence must mainly
depend, being discharged over the crest of the parapet, the
line of fire will be nearly in the plane of the superior slope
of the parapet, and perpendicular to the line of its crest; and
hence opposite a salient angle, as in the redan, fig. 27, there
rig. 27.
will be a large space of ground at A, in this case extending
over 180° — 60° = 120°, not defended by the fire of the work
itself, and which is called a dead angle. Opposite re-entering
angles, on the other hand, the defect is of a different kind,
as the plane of the superior slope or plane of fire passing so
high above the foot of the scarp, necessarily leaves it unseen
and unprotected, notwithstanding that the two lines theore¬
tically flank each other. The object, therefore, in arrang¬
ing all field works for mutual defence should be so to regu¬
late their reliefs that the line of defence should terminate
at such a distance from the ground as to give an effective
defence to the part of the work intended to be flanked. The
redan may be considered the most simple form of defensive
work, though a portion of straight parapet terminating by
short returns at each flank, either in the form of epaule-
ments or of regular parapets, may occasionally be combined
with defensive works, and is an ordinary form of offensive
work in batteries. The redan is open in the rear, and the
line BDC is called the gorge—in this case a straight line— Fortifica-
the two demi-gorges BD, CD coinciding in direction. tl0n-
The lunette is a redan to which flanks or lateral wings
have been added; and in form, therefore, it resembles a
bastion. In Plate CCLIX., fig. 14, lunettes are shown so
arranged that the faces of those in rear may flank the faces of
those in front: but with respect to the distribution and ar¬
rangement of the works destined to form lines of intrench-
ment more will be said hereafter.
The tenaille is a work the reverse of a redan, as it con¬
sists of two lines forming a re-entering angle facing the ex¬
terior. It can, from its form, only be used in direct or ap¬
proximate connection with other works which shall close up
or cover the ends of its lines. Either alone or combined
with redans it is very commonly used in continued lines of in-
trenchments. Plate CCLIX., fig. 9, represents a line of
redans joined by straight lines, and fig. 10 a line of irregular
tenailles, whilst the annexed cut, fig. 28, represents a normal
Fig. 28.
line of tenailles, of which the re-entering angles should not
exceed 100°, and the sides are equal; and cut fig. 29, an
A c E ^
Fig. 29.
arrangement of tenailles, with irregular sides, by which a re¬
dan, as DEF, is interposed between every pair of tenailles.
Theline en cremalliere, Plate CCLIX., fig. 8, is also derived
from a combination of irregular tenailles, and is in many cir¬
cumstances a very satisfactory arrangement. In selecting
between these and other arrangements, including the bastion
trace, Plate CCLIX., fig. 11, the engineer must be guided
by his judgment on the nature of the ground and the special
objects to be attained, and cannot therefore be bound by any
rigid rules. A slight consideration, however, is sufficient
to show that the combination of regular tenailles, in cut 28,
is only applicable to ground in itself regular, an observation
which applies to every strictly systematic arrangement in
fortification. In almost every case the ground will be more
or less irregular, and the works to defend it must be so also.
When it is necessary to approach closely to a bank of a river
or a ravine, the cremalliere line, PI. CCLIX., fig. 13, is the
simplest and best, the short or flanking sides being so placed
as to face the probable direction of approach, and next to
that the combined redan and tenaille. Of open works,
lunettes admit of the most scientific arrangement, as they
can be so placed in lines with intervals as reciprocally to
flank each other, and thus to form a line of defence very
similar to a regular bastioned line. The employment, how¬
ever, of works open at the gorge must be restricted to posi¬
tions where the enemy can only approach in front, his advance
in other directions having been rendered impossible either by
other works, or by obstacles so arranged as to close that parti¬
cular line of approach to an enemy. In every case it is desir¬
able to take advantage of any peculiarities in the features of
the country, and so to modify them as to produce such in¬
surmountable obstacles as may relieve the minds of the de¬
fenders from apprehension of danger in that diiection, and
leave them at liberty to direct their attention more exclu¬
sively to the weaker points of their position; but in no case
FORTIFICATION.
811
Fortifica- should even the apparently inaccessible points be left un-
tion. guarded, or rather unwatched, as an enterprising and skilful
adversary wall sometimes surmount difficulties which had
appeared to others insurmountable. As such naturally de¬
fended points in a position can only be looked upon as
exceptional advantages, it is evident that works left entirely
open at their gorges would be liable to easy and frequent
surprise, and therefore prove but imperfect instruments of
defence. On this account it has been usual to prescribe as
a rule that such works should only be left unclosed when
within range of musketry fire from the defences behind
them; but it is better to lay down as a fixed principle that
in every case they should be secured at the gorge, as the
power of driving an enemy out of the interior of such a
' work when taken is in reality of no value, as his object
would not be to remain in its interior, but to turn its
parapet to his own uses. The manner in which this is ge¬
nerally done is shown in fig. 30, which is a lunette se-
Fig. 30.
cured at its gorge by a loop-holed stockade, which is an
obstacle effective against an enemy, and, at the same time,
easy of destruction, should he succeed in temporarily ob¬
taining possession of the works. Any of the obstacles
previously described, such as abattis, &c., may be used
for the same purpose, but they have the disadvantage of
not covering the defenders of the work from the enemy’s
fire. An engineer in deciding between open works, such
as those described, and close works, which will now be
described, ought to take into consideration not only the
circumstances of ground as regards the security of the
work itself, but also the ease or difficulty with which
support can at any moment be afforded to its garrison.
Open works are not fitted for any position where they are
likely to be left to their owm resources, even for a mode¬
rately short time, as small bodies of men cannot be expected
to stand firm against a vigorous attack from an overwhelm¬
ing force, unless satisfied that support is at hand. Closed
works, therefore, in which the parapet is continuous on all
sides, can alone be relied upon under such circumstances ;
and even then the nature of the obstructions adopted in
their construction should be such as to afford the garrison a
reasonable confidence, that by a vigorous defence they may
be able to hold the enemy at bay; for no general should
expect to find in soldiers, as a body, that heroism which
leads to self-sacrifice without hope. The easy capture of
the redoubts at Balaclava, garrisoned by the Turks, is an
illustration of this principle ; for though it is possible that
they might have been longer maintained by French or
British soldiers, it would have been unreasonable to ex¬
pect that their defenders should remain firm until over¬
powered and cut down by their assailants, which must have
been the result had not a supporting force been at hand to
relieve them. As general rules, therefore, it may be laid
down, that in all detached works the mode and time of re¬
lief should be palpable to the garrison; the nature of the
constructions such as to inspire confidence in the garrison
as to its power of resistance for a reasonable time ; and,
above all, that the garrison of such works should be com- Fortifica-
posed of the best, not of the worst soldiers. tion.
Closed works may be either constructed without or with
flanking defences; the first, which have only salient angles,
being called redoubts, from the Italian ridotto, a place of
rendezvous; the latter forts. Redoubts may be either formed
as regular or irregular polygons of any number of sides,
but the square redoubt is the most simple and the most
generally used, see PI. CCLIX., fig. 5. All such redoubts
have the disadvantage of dead salient angles not having any
flanking defence; and it is usual, therefore, to place the
guns used in their defence, in the salients, so as to fire along
the capitals or lines bisecting the salient angles, as well as
the dead space in front of them. In like manner the sides
should be made to front the probable line of approach, and as
shown in one half of fig. 31, which represents a rectangular
redoubt, the scarp is sometimes sloped gently down to the bot¬
tom of the ditch, and covered with abattis or other obstacles,
which can then be seen and defended in front by direct fire. It
is indeed impossible to repeat too often that the efficiency of
defence in such works must mainly depend on the power of
arresting the progress of the assailants just on those points
where they will come under the fire of the defenders. The
entrance to a redoubt should be made in the least exposed
side, and be protected by a parapet traverse behind it, as in
fig. 31, where an arrangement of palisades is shown by
which the traverse may be connected with the other por¬
tions of the parapet, and the entrance be closed by gates or
barriers as required. Other traverses may be also con¬
structed in such works either for the purpose of defilade or
for affording additional cover to the troops. They may be
formed, when the work is-sufficiently capacious, of long
parallel epaulements, with a space between them, which
may be even covered over or blinded when it is likely that
quence that a more secure and comfortable lodging will be
desirable for the garrison. Magazines for ammunition may
be also constructed either against or in such traverses ; and
fig. 32 (see next page) represents, in plan and section, one
which, formed behind a gabion traverse, is isolated from
the parapet in front of it. This magazine is sunk partly
in the ground, the sides being formed of planks and the
roof of strong scantling, forming a ridge in the centre
covered first with fascines and then with a coating of two
or three feet of earth. Its dimensions are—length 8 feet,
breadth 5, height 6.
Having thus generally sketched, as it were, this section
of our subject, it is necessary to determine the least size
which can be given to redoubts, so as to ensure a sufficient
812
FORTIFICATION.
Fortifica- interior space for the accommodation of the garrison re-
tion. quired for the defence of the parapet, remembering that in
^orks not provided with flanking defences the whole parapet,
unless secured in part by some insurmountable natural ob¬
stacle, must be defended.
A general formula may be easily obtained for determin-
ino- the least regular polygonal trace in the following man-
ner:—Let x be the side in feet of any regular polygon, n
the number of sides, A the interior surface reckoned from
the foot of the banquette, y the number of men forming
the garrison, f the number of linear feet allotted to each
soldier, F the number of square feet occupied by each man
in the interior,—then
, „ . _ nx A
fy = nx, and Fy = A, or y —_
n¥ x
= A.
—, whence „
/ _ F ’ /
Again, let the perpendicular Cd, from the centre of the
polygon (fig. 33) to its
side AB, be p; the dis¬
tance db from the side
AB to the boundary line
of the available interior
space mn be d; then
Cb z=. p — d; and as
Cd : AB : Cb : mn,
p : x \ \ p — d : mn, or
px — dx
dx
V
V
x -
Now, the value
Fig. 33.
of x and of the angle of
cot. <£, varies with
of p expressed as a function
the centre <£, which is = a? z .
the nature of the polygon ; and replacing, therefore, the
variable coefficient \ cot. ^ by /?, y = fix, and mn,
dx  _ dx 
Qx *
the side of the interior space mnpo, = x
x and Cb= mn X cot. = fi ^x - . 1 he
surface of the interior triangle Cmn = ^ mn x Cb is there¬
fore ~\fi (^x--jy, and A (x --jj 5 whence
raF\r y —5 and by reduction x= ^ + yT+
~r y,d +y ^ • The variable fi = ^ cot. ^ ^ is as
follows:—
In the triangle, 0288
,, square, 0500
„ pentagon, 0'688
„ hexagon, 0’866
and taking the square under the following conditions :—
rf = 12 feet,/ = 3, F = 6 x 3 = 18, a; = 62‘81 feet (21
yards), which may therefore be taken as the side of the smallest
square redoubt to be defended by one rank only of soldiers, Fortifica-
the garrison being 84 men with a single rank : and a re- tion"
serve equal to •§■ of the garrison ; / = 2, and x = 76'66 feet, v'*-'
or nearly 26 yards, the garrison being 156 men. If there are
g
to be two ranks,/=— and x — 89-6 = 30 yards nearly, the
garrison being 240 men ; and if two ranks, with a reserve
equal to ^ the whole garrison, / = 1 and* = 115 feet, or
about 38 yards, the garrison being 456 men.
Triangular redoubts are rarely used, from their small in¬
terior space as compared with the length of their parapet;
thus the smallest triangular redoubt intended to be defended
by a garrison of two ranks should have a side (*) 54 yards
in length, and a garrison of 324, the total length of parapet
required to be constructed for this force being 162 yards;
whereas a square redoubt of 38 yards’ side will accommo¬
date a garrison of456 men, admitting of a two-rank defence,
and of a reserve of ^ the whole garrison, with a total length
of parapet of only 152 yards ; and this objection of limited
space is further strengthened by the great amount of dead-
angle space before the salients. Keeping these numbers,
as regards square redoubts, in recollection, the engineer will
be able at once to determine his arrangement of the pro¬
posed garrison, and yet to limit himself to the least amount
of work in parapet. If, however, he has to provide for guns,
for traverses, or for other constructions, he must increase the
side of his square, remembering that in the case of the
square of 38 yards’ side the augmentation of 1 yard per side
will require only the addition of 12 men to the garrison,
making it 468, and the additional interior space for their
accommodation of 216 square feet; whereas there will be a
gain of space of 549 square feet, leaving an excess towards
the objects stated of 333 square feet; and if the side were
increased to 45 yards, and the garrison to 540 men, there
would be a surplus interior space of2709 square feet, being
sufficient for barbettes for three guns and for one howitzer,
and for a traverse ; and this size may therefore be assumed
as the best for a normal redoubt. It is generally stated
that, passing this limit, some of the forms of forts should be
adopted, as diminishing to a certain degree the defects of
redoubts, by introducing more or less perfect flanking de¬
fence ; but in practice it will be often preferable to use a
larger redoubt, as the flanking defence obtained on very
short lines must be extremely imperfect, and therefore more
liable to deceive by false security than to benefit. In
PI. CCLIX., fig. 5, one of the angles is shown with an
indented parapet as a means of correcting the defect of a
dead salient; but this is difficult of construction, and it will
generally be preferable either to cut it simply off as in an¬
other angle of the figure, or to round it as in a third, or to
occupy it by a gun en barbette, as in the fourth. Of forts,
fig. 6 exhibits a star fort of eight points formed upon a
square, which is far preferable to one of six points formed
upon a triangle, as giving comparatively more available
space. The defect, however, in this trace is, that though
the intermediate angle F is sufficiently open—as it exceeds
60°,—the angles A and B are less than 60°. Dowm to the
lowest limit of such forts, in which AB of fig. 6 is taken at
60 yards, and the sides AE, EF, EB at 20 yards, there is
still sufficient space to accommodate the necessary garrison,
which should be in that case about 900 men. It is useless
to describe those forms of star forts, which would not ac¬
commodate the required garrisons ; but that represented in
fig. 34 (next page) is well fitted for a large garrison. A
simple construction onapentagon is:—Bisect AB inC; make
the perpendicular CP = £ AB; join AP and BP; make Be?
and Ad each ^ AB, and joins dc, dc. In this case the
angles at A and B will be 64°, and the short sides (with an
exterior side of 120 yards) each 23 yards. From what has
been already said in a preceding page, half-bastion forts,
FORTIFICATION.
813
Fig. 34.
CCLIX., fig. 12, will rarely be adopted ; but when the extent
of the proposed garrison is such as to require a large amount
of accommoda¬
tion, and theie i2o\y(irds
is time to under- A''
take such works,
the bastioned
trace should be
adopted, as it in- >
troduces a prin-
ciple not observed ;
in the preceding 1
traces, namely,
that of defending
the whole by a
part, the opposite
flanks EG, EG
of the two bas¬
tions G E A F G,
GFBFG, de¬
fending the inter¬
vening curtain GG between them, as well as the faces
AE, BE of the bastions—whilst the fire of one flank
necessarily sees the scarp of the opposite one and de¬
fends it. The bastions are indeed, like their analogous
lunettes, works in themselves ; the curtain being only a
connecting line, forming several bastions into one connected
whole. PI. CCLIX., fig. 7, is a square bastioned fort, but
the pentagon is a better form, and should be adopted when
practicable. It may be said that the bastioned form of
field forts has been derived from the more massive struc¬
tures adopted in the permanent defences of fortresses, whilst
the other traces have naturally sprung out of the earliest
and rudest works even of savage tribes, for they too had
their redoubts, and have only been reduced to more definite
rules by the progress of military science. The history,
therefore, of the bastion trace, so interesting in itself, will
be postponed to a future page. Little more then requires
to be said on this section of the subject, further than to
point out the great importance of field-works, in securing a
base of operations for an advancing army. PI. CCLIX.,
fig. 13, exhibits, for example, a bridge bead consisting of a
bastioned front, with either simple straight branches or
branches provided with a short flank as shown in the
figure (see also fig. 35 below). This is, as stated before,
technically called a born work ; and if there bad been
two such fronts so placed as to throw a bastion in the
centre, and connected as before with the river by straight
branches, the work would have been called a crown work.
Lunettes also may be used, and evan redans constructed,
as fig. 1 of the plate (left side), for a similar purpose,
where the object is simply first to secure the bridge from
Fig. 35.
the enemy’s attack and fire, and secondly to allow the
defending army to manoeuvre on the opposite side when
desirable: but just in proportion to the numbers passed over
the bridge, and to the extent of advance contemplated, will Fortifica-
it be necessary to increase the importance of the works t^on•
forming the bridge head, as it will be often necessary to
form more than one bridge in connection with it. Nothing
can be more fatal to a retreating army than to find itself:
driven back to a river, and to have no sufficient line of in-
trenchment to enable it to maintain its ground whilst its
arrangements for passing the river are in progress. Fig. 35
exhibits one such arrangement in which the horn work
front has been much enlarged, and a lunette as a keep in¬
troduced within it. The mode in which the troops can move
out at the sides, under protection of covering and flanking
parapets, is shown, as well as the barbettes tor guns, which
become necessary in works having so important an object.
Fig. 36 represents a line of tenable intrenchments in front
of the lunette, and a line of intrenchment is also shown on
the near side of the river, from part of which the last ter¬
minal branches of the tenailles are flanked. In this figure
T, T represent traverses, and F, F either chains or lines of
pickets placed across the stream; the object of the first being
to secure the bridge from the ricochet fire of the enemy,
and of the second to secure it from destruction by burning
or explosive bodies launched by the enemy in the stream,
and allowed to float down. More extended intrenchments
might be formed of lines of lunettes with intervening in¬
trenchments; but it is unnecessary to pursue the subject in
this suggestive manner further, as the engineer must neces¬
sarily adapt his works to the nature of the ground, and to
the extent of the army for which he is required to prepare
in this manner a defensive position, from which it may
either advance or retire, without risk or confusion, as the
necessities of war may require.
RAMPART OR TOWN FORTIFICATION.
If, as has been stated, the simple lines or works of para- Rampart
pet fortification appear to have been adopted even by the fortifica-
rudest tribes of wandering savages, for their temporarytl0n-
defence or security, the more massive and artistic works of
rampart defence would seem to imply a certain amount of
civilization. As an art, indeed, fortification is very nearly
as ancient as the existence of society. When men first
assembled together for the purpose of mutual protection,
and placed their habitations on the same spot, the law of
necessity, springing in this case out of the principle of
self-defence, rendered it indispensable for them to adopt
some means for securing their families and their property
against the sudden inroads of enemies. Hence, when
Cain, the son of Adam, built a city, he surrounded it with
a wall; and, in like manner, the Babylonians, when they
built cities soon after the Deluge, encompassed them with
similar defences. In the early ages, men considered them¬
selves as sufficiently protected by a single wall, from behind
which they could with safety discharge their darts, arrows,
and other missiles, against an assailant. But when, in the
progress of impi-ovement, new and more powerful means of
attack were discovered, it became necessary to increase, in
a corresponding degree, the inert force of resistance; and
814 F O R T I F I
Fortifica- accordingly the feeble defensive structures of the primitive
tion* ages were in time succeeded by solid rampaits, flanked and
1 v 1 commanded by elevated towers. In short, as the powei of
attacking fortresses or places of strength was augmented by
successive devices and inventions, the means of resistance
were proportionally increased, until the art of fortification
arrived at a state of comparative perfection, in which it
remained for many ages nearly stationary
The various improvements which were from time to
time made in strengthening the walls, and adding to the
defences of ancient cities, are recorded in history, and
need not be detailed in this place. The first walls which
we read of consisted of brick, the material employed by
Cain for the protection of the city which he founded, and
called by the name of his son Enoch. Amongst the ancient
Greeks, brick artd rubble stones intermixed were used for
the same purpose, as we find from the description of the
wall which connected Mount Hymettus with the city of
Athens ; but, in addition to such structures, should be
noticed the works, surrounding several cities, of Cyclopean
structure, built of huge stones, placed with their longer
axis transversely to the"line of wall, and arranged with great
care and skill, though without mortar. The walls of
Babylon and Nineveh indicate a prodigious advancement
in the art of fortification, and are justly accounted amongst
the wonders of the ancient world. Those of the former
city, ascribed by some to Belus, and by others to Semir-
amis, were thirty-two feet in thickness, and one hundred feet
in height, surmounted by towers at an average ten feet
higher, and cemented by means of bitumen or asphaltum ;
they encompassed a vast area, and presented a solid de¬
fence, which no means of attack known in ancient times
were sufficient to overcome or beat down. The walls of
Jerusalem, though of smaller dimensions, appear to have been
little inferior in strength and solidity to those of Babylon ;
for, in the siege of that capital by Vespasian, all the Roman
battering-rams and other engines, though used with the
utmost vigour, required a whole night to disengage four
stones in the masonry of the tower of Antonia. But when
fortification had arrived at the state in which we find it in
the works of these and other cities, it remained stationary
for ages, and perhaps even retrograded somewhat, until the
discovery of gunpowder, the invention of artillery, and the
application of both to military purposes, effected an entire
revolution in the principles of attack and defence. I hen
the round and square towers, which had formed secure
flanking defences against assailants armed only with arrows
and with darts, afforded no protection against the projec¬
tiles discharged by cannon; and even those battlements
which had defied the catapult and the battering-ram speedily
yielded to the force with which they were now assailed,
whilst their defenders were at the same time destroyed, or
buried in their ruins.
It being thus found that the ancient system of fortifica¬
tion was of little or no avail against the new method of
attack which had been discovered, and which came into
general use towards the close of the fifteenth century, it
became indispensably necessary to adopt another method
of defence. The plan of fortifying with bastions is believed
to have commenced with the Italians early in the fifteenth
century ; though Papacino D’Antoni, professor of artillery
and engineering of Turin, states, in his Architettura Mili-
tare (1759), that several small bastions had been con¬
structed in the preceding century, and that the ruin of a
large bastion which had formed part of the fortifications of
Turin, built for Duke Louis of Savoy, still existed in the
royal gardens at that time. The bastions on the enceinte
of Verona, built by the Italian engineer Micheli, in the
year 1523, are generally supposed to be the oldest extant;
and the next, probably, are those still to be seen in the
citadel of Antwerp, and which were constructed for the
CATION.
Emperor Charles V. in the year 1545, by the Italian Fortifica-
engineer Paciotto D’Urbino. These bastions are small, don.
with narrow gorges and snort flanks and faces; and they
are placed at a great distance from one another, it being
the invariable practice, at the time when they were built,
and for a considerable time afterwards, to attack the cur¬
tains, and not the faces, of the bastions.
Errard of Bois-le-duc, one of the principal officers of
the engineer corps first organized by Sully, prime minister
of Henri IV., and from which has sprung the French Corps
du Genie, was the first in France who laid down rules re¬
specting the best method of fortifying a place, so as to cover
its flank. At the command of the minister, he wrote a book
on the subject, which was published in 1594, and in which
the details of his method are explained. As a writer on
fortification, he was preceded in France by Beril de la
Treble, who published his work on fortifying towns and
castles in 1557. Errard fortified inwards ; and in the square,
pentagon, hexagon, heptagon, and octagon, he made the
flank purpendicular to the face of the bastion ; but in the
enneagon, and in all polygons of a greater number of sides,
he made it perpendicular to the curtain. In endeavouring
to accomplish his object, however, he made the gorges too
small, the embrasures too oblique, and left the ditch almost
defenceless. This engineer constructed part of the en¬
ceinte of the citadel of Doutens, as well as the citadel of
Amiens, and also some works at Montreuil and Calais.
The Chevalier Antoine de Ville, who succeeded Errard,
published a treatise, dated 1629, in which he completed
much that his predecessor had only sketched, and rectified
various defects in the method of the latter. The Chevalier
was employed under Louis XIII., and constructed new
enceintes for Montreuil and Calais. His plan of fortifying
has been denominated by some the French method, and
by others the Compound System (Systeme a trait compose),
because it united the Italian and Spanish methods, from the
latter of which it differs only in having no second flanks and
fichant lines of defence, and in not confining the flanked
or salient angle of the bastion to ninety degrees. The
leading maxims of the Chevalier de Ville were, to place
the flanks perpendicularly to the curtain, to make them
equal to the demigorges, or each equal to a sixth part of
the side of the interior polygon, and, in the hexagon and
all higher polygons, to confine the flanked angle to ninety
degrees. But" this plan is liable to nearly the same objec¬
tions as that of Errard ; for here, also, the embrasures are
too oblique, especially in the polygons, and the ditch is
necessarily but ill defended.
Sixteen years after the publication of De Ville’s treatise
appeared the work of the Comte de Pagan, which issued
from the press in 1645, and contained the development of a
system which, in a short time, entirely superseded those of
his predecessors. In fact, it was the Comte de Pagan who
first disengaged the science of fortification from a number
of suppositions which custom had in some measure conse¬
crated, and which, resting more on abstract mathematical
reasoning than on practical observation and experience, had
hitherto retarded the progress of the art. This engineer
acquired great reputation during several sieges which he
assisted in conducting under Louis XIII.; but having be¬
come blind at the age of thirty-eight, he was obliged to
retire from the service, in which he had already obtained
the rank of mareschal-de-camp, and he died six years after
completing the treatise above-mentioned, in which he em¬
bodied a full exposition of his system. The Comte de
Pagan made the flank perpendicular to the line of defence,
in order as much as possible to cover the face of the oppo¬
site bastion ; and he also pointed out a method of building
casemates in a manner peculiar to himself. Vauban bor¬
rowed from the Comte de Pagan the length of his perpen¬
dicular, and Allain Manesson Mallet, whose construction
F 0 It T I F I
Fortifica- still remains in favour with many, also proceeded upon the
tion. principles laid down by this scientific soldier.1
The MareschaldeVauban was born in 1633; and in 1655,
at the time of the Comte de Pagan’s death, he had already
acquired reputation at several sieges. Vauban followed up
the principles suggested by Pagan, and employed them
extensively in practice, with consummate skill and judg¬
ment. He constructed thirty-three new fortresses, repaired
and improved one hundred; and having conducted about
fifty sieges, he left his extensive works, and a treatise De
VAttaque et de la Defense des Places, published in 1737,
to speak for themselves. From the different constructions
observable in these works have been compiled the systems
which, in the military schools, are denominated Vauban’s
first, second, and third systems of fortification, and which
the reader will find developed in the sequel. Had the ge¬
nius of Vauban been applied to the discovery of a method
for securing a permanent superiority to the defence of for¬
tified places, posterity would have been greatly indebted to
him, and even humanity would have had cause to rejoice in
such a triumph of military art. But, being engaged in the
service of the most ambitious monarch of modern times,
Louis XIV., he applied his great talents to forward his
master’s views, and soon perfected that irresistible system
of attack,2 which has ever since been so successfully fol¬
lowed. Before his time the general superiority was on the
side of the defence ; but ever since, the case has been so
completely reversed, that the success of an attack made
with adequate means, and scientifically conducted, is a
matter of ultimate certainty.
Nor should the protracted siege of Sebastopol be consi¬
dered an exception to this rule, as the principal cause of its
hitherto successful defence must be sought in its freedom
from investment and the consequent incessant renewal of its
garrison, thus withdrawing the siege operations from the in¬
fluence of the sound maxims of Vauban.
Considering that at this time, when the public mind is
generally impressed with a desire to have a more practical
bearing given to general education, there still may be a ten¬
dency on the part of public authorities to retrograde as regards
military education, and to substitute for the mathematical
sciences the classical languages, it is well to notice briefly the
characters of Errard, of Pagan, and of Vauban. Errard was
one of the most distinguished members of a corps formed
out of the best instructed and most experienced military men
he could find, by the great Sully, who was grand-master or
master-general of the artillery in the reign of Henri IV. of
France. This corps, called by Sully “ Engineers in or¬
dinary to the King,” has now become the Corps du Genie,
and has to this day maintained its high character as a body
of scientific men. Compte Pagan had from his earliest years
devoted himself to the study of mathematics and fortifica¬
tion. At the age of thirty-eight he was afflicted by blind¬
ness, but before that time he had served with distinction at
twenty-five sieges, and acquired the rank (then second only
to that of marshal of France) of field marshal. Besides his
celebrated work on fortification, he published several others
on Astronomy. Vauban was no ordinary man in any sense.
As the inventor of parallels in sieges, and of the ricochet
fire, he stands on the first rank of military engineers for in¬
vention, and when it is considered that he conducted fifty-
three sieges and shared in 140 battles and skirmishes, he
must be considered an equally experienced one. At fifty-
five years of age he attained the highest honour of the
French army, being created marshal of France ; yet amidst
this stirring and successful military life he never failed to
CATION. 815
turn to account the geometrical knowledge for which he was Fortifica-
distinguished when a youth, and which had obtained for him ^ tlor1, ]
the early notice of the Prince de Conde. His mind was,
thei’efore, never idle, but constantly directed to projects of
public utility, whether military or civil, and he lelt behind
him records of such labours in twelve folio manuscript vo¬
lumes, entitled Mes Oisivetes, at once a monument of his
own ability and industry, and a beacon to guide subsequent
engineers to that course of useful as well as intellectual ac¬
tivity which it ought to be their pride to follow.
M. Minno Baron de Coehorn, first a general of artillery,
then a lieutenant-general of infantry, and ultimately direc¬
tor-general of all the fortified places belonging to the United
Provinces of Holland, was the contemporary and rival of
Vauban. This able engineer, convinced that, however ex¬
pensively the rampart of a town may be constructed, it can¬
not long resist the shock of heavy ordnance, invented three
different systems for throwing such obstacles in the way of
a besieging force, that, although the place be not thereby
rendered impregnable, it can only be approached with great
difficulty and hazard. But these methods, without much
modification, are only applicable to low and swampy situa¬
tions, such as are to be found in Holland, and are there¬
fore not available where the localities are of a different or
opposite description. At the same time, Bergen-op-Zoom,
Manheim, and other places fortified by this engineer, parti¬
cularly the two former, have very great merit, inasmuch as
it is impossible for a besieger to penetrate into any of the
works, without being exposed, on all sides, to the fire of the
besieged, who are under cover ; and from artillery and mus¬
ketry it is scarcely possible for an assailant to shelter him¬
self. In fact, Coehorn was a great master, and combined,
as will be observed hereafter, many of the means of de¬
fence springing from another source with the bastioned
trace. He published his first work on fortification before he
had acquired much practical experience; and in fortifying
Bergen-op-Zoom, which is allowed to be his masterpiece,
did not reproduce, except as f ragments, any of his published
systems.
Since Vauban’s time several improvements have been
suggested, particularly by Cormontaigne, who entered the
corps of French engineers in 1716, nine years after Vau¬
ban’s death, and died a mareschal-de-camp in 1750. Some
account of the system of Cormontaigne will be found in
a subsequent part of this article. The three methods de¬
livered by Belidor are all applicable to an octagon of two
hundred toises. Scheiter distinguished his systems into
great, mean, and little, in imitation of Pagan, requiring the
exterior sides of the polygon to be, respectively, two hun¬
dred, a hundred and eighty, and a hundred and sixty toises :
he adopted from Castriotto detached bastions, and made
use of a continuous fausse-braye. Fritach, a Pole, proposed
two methods, which he exemplified on different polygons.
Dogen, a Dutchman, published a large volume on fortifica¬
tion, in which, after enumerating various modes employed
by different writers for determining the salient angle, he
selected three as the most approved, and proposed as many
methods of construction, one of which is borrowed from
Fritach, the Pole. Pietro Sardi, an Italian, suggested a
peculiar method of construction on a hexagon. The Sieur
de Fontaine found the flanked or salient angle of the bastion
by adding fifteen degrees to half the angle of the figure,
from the square up to the dodecagon, in which last it be¬
comes ninety degrees, and at this he continued it in all the
higher polygons. He also constructed outwards, and, in
every regular figure, made the curtain equal to seventy-two
1 Mallet constructs outwards, making in every figure or polygon the demigorge equal to a fifth part of the side of the interior polygon
or figure, the capital of the bastion equal to a third part of the same side, the curtain equal to three-fifths or thrice the demigorge, and
the angle of the flank equal to 98°. The faces of the bastions and the flanks are determined by the lines of defence, which are razant.
From these data all the other lines and angles are easily found. 2 See his work De VAttaque et de la Defense des Places, passim.
816
FORTIFICATION.
Fortifica- toises, the face of the bastion to forty-eight, and the flank,
tion- which he placed perpendicularly to the curtain, to eighteen
toises, or a fourth part of the curtain. Ozanam and Muller
delivered each four methods of construction, the particulars
of which will be found in their respective works. In 1751,
Charles Bisset, who, as an engineer-extraordinary, served
with the Duke of Cumberland in the Netherlands, and was
present during the siege of Bergen-op-Zoom by the Ma-
reschal Lowendahl, published a treatise on the theory and
construction of fortification, in which there are many sen¬
sible and judicious remarks; and the same general descrip¬
tion may be applied to an Essai sur la Fortification, ou
Examen des Causes de la grand superiorite de VAttaque
sur la Defense, published anonymously in 1755. In a work
entitled Science de la Guerre, which appeared at 1 urin
eight years before the date last mentioned, a new method
of construction is proposed, in which the principal objects
to be attended to are, that there be mines under all the
works, and that a regular communication be kept up with
the chambers by means of subterraneous galleries, to be
resorted to in proportion as the enemy approaches the body
of the place. The third volume of the (Euvres Militaires
contains some useful observations and maxims relative to
irregular fortification; and in the Supplement to the Reve¬
ries of Mareschal Saxe, by Baron d’Espagnac, the subject
of fortification generally is amply discussed, and an accurate
description given of the different means of attack and de¬
fence. Besides the writers above enumerated, may be
mentioned the Chevalier St Julien, an able engineer, who
published a method by which, he asserts, works may be
constructed at a less expense, yet in such a manner as to
render the defence or attack more formidable ; Francisco
Marchi, of Bologna, who, in 1599, furnished no less than a
hundred and thirty-nine different methods of constructing
fortifications, many of which are very valuable, and afforded
useful hints to subsequent engineers, who have indeed greatly
profited from his work; Bombelle, who established three kinds
of fortification, called the grand royal {grand royal), the
mean royal {moyen royal), and the little royal {petit royal) ;
Blondel, who published a system divided into two principal
heads, the great and the little, whose exterior sides are re¬
spectively two hundred and a hundred and seventy toises ;
Donato Rosetti, a canon of Livorno, who wrote on the
method of constructing works in what he calls fortification
d rebours, or fortification in reverse, so denominated be¬
cause the re-entering angle of the counterscarp being oppo¬
site to the flanked angle, it will, according to him, be neces¬
sary to attack it from the reverse side of the other works ;
and Antonio de Herbart, major of artillery in the Duke of
Wurtemburg’s service, who published a treatise on fortifi¬
cations with what he calls angular polygons. The treatise
entitled Nouvelle Maniere de fortifier les Places, tiree des
methodes du Chevalier de Ville, du Comte de Pagan, et de
M. Vauban, avec des Remarques sur Vordre renforce, sur
les desseins du Capitaine Marchi, et sur ceux de M. Blon¬
del, which appeared in 1689, is full of strong reasoning,
whence the author deduced a new system ; but it contains
little that is really original, though it gives numerous refer¬
ences to what had previously appeared, and disposes the dif¬
ferent parts in a judicious manner. M. de Montalembert’s
system of casemated and reverse fire has been in part adopted
in the splendid fortress of Alessandria in Italy, constructed
under the directions of Napoleon.
Of the more recent treatises on fortification, by far the
most elaborate and complete is that of M. de Bousmard,
entitled Essai General de Fortification, (£Attaque et de
Defense des Places, dans lequel ces deux Sciences sont ex-
pliquees et anises Vune par lautre a, la portee de tout le
monde; a work which enjoys a deservedly high reputation.
It is remarkable for great accuracy and research, and may Fortifica-
be considered as embodying in itself every thing that is tioD-
valuable in connection with the subject of which it treats.
M. de Bousmard’s work, therefore, though intended to serve
as an elementary treatise on fortification, is too expen¬
sive for the pecuniary means of a great number of inferior
officers, whose instruction the author professes to have had
chiefly in view: but to teachers of fortification it is alto¬
gether indispensable; and as long as the science and prac¬
tice shall continue on their present footing, it will be de¬
servedly considered as the most comprehensive and valuable
work on the attack and defence, as well as the construction,
of all kinds of fortification.
With regard to Carnot’s Traite de la Defense des Places
Fortes, it was written to serve a temporary purpose; and
the exaggerated celebrity which it acquired on its first ap¬
pearance has been succeeded by an equally unfounded
neglect. The more prominent innovations recommended
in this treatise were, first, an alteration, which, however,
was not original, in the trace or outline of the polygon;
secondly, the suppression of the exterior revetement of the
covered-way, known as the counterscarp; thirdly, the de¬
tachment of the scarp-wall from the rampart, and the con¬
struction of the latter without revetement; fourthly, destruc¬
tive personal conflict with the besiegers by means of fre¬
quent sorties; and, lastly, making vertical fire the basis
rather than an accessory of the defence. With regard to
the first of these proposals, all of which the reader will find
very ably discussed in Jones’s Journals of Sieges in Spain
and Portugal) we have only to remark, that by means of
an increased expenditure for retrenchments and casemates,
as recommended by Carnot, the strength of particular por¬
tions of the polygon may be increased; and that, if he has
failed in tracing a perfect front, founded on the basis of
Montalembert’s system of casemated and reverse fire, he
has at least rescued a valuable suggestion from unmerited
neglect, and rendered an important service to science by di¬
recting the attention of military men to the means most likely
to create a barrier against the growing powers of the attack.
The Traite de Fortification Souterraine, suivi de quatre
Memoires sur les Mines, by M. Mouze, lieutenant colonel
of engineers in the French service, was published at Paris
in 1804, and is justly considered as the most complete work
on the subject it treats of which has yet been given to the
public. Subterranean fortification is a branch of the art
which, until a very recent period, was wholly neglected in
this country, and in which our engineers were far behind
their brethren of the continent. We learn from Colonel^
Jones’s work on the Peninsular Sieges, that the Duke of
Wellington’s arrhy in Spain was unattended by a single
regularly-trained sapper or miner until late in the year
1813; and many valuable lives were sacrificed, from the
want of these valuable, or rather indispensable auxiliaries.
In this respect things are now changed, and the engineer
has the assistance of a body of men well instructed in the
duties of the trench, the sap, and the mine; but it cannot
yet be said that the corps of sappers and miners has been
sufficiently augmented, whilst it may be feared that the
growing idea that the ordinary navvies might with advan¬
tage replace them, may check the desire of increasing the
body. In war, it must be remembered that discipline is as
important as skill, and that the labourer who would have
worked with the greatest effort under ordinary circumstan¬
ces might be found very ineffective when forced to work
on his knees in a sap, and when exposed to an enemy s
fire obliged to remove calmly the man before him when
killed, and then, with equal composure, to step into his
place.
The preceding hasty and imperfect summary ot the pro-
1 Yol. ii., p. 131, et seqq.
FORTIFICATION.
817
Fortifica- gress and literature of fortification has been given princi-
tion. pally in connection with the bastioned trace, as the one
more generally used both in the French and English schools
in teaching the principles of the science ; and justly so, as,
theoretically speaking, it exhibits the most perfect arrange¬
ment of flanking or reciprocal defence. It is, however, de¬
sirable, before going further, to recur back to the earlier
epochs, and to investigate the manner in which the ancient
arrangement of a wall, with its round or square towers,
passed into the present systems of defence. The accom¬
panying figure (No. 37), will explain the natural and pro-
the plural “ Basteien,” for his new work. As the attention For tifica-
of military men was at this early period more directed to ^ tl0n'
cannon than to the rude musket as an instrument of de-
fence, it was natural that the latter should be less consi¬
dered in these arrangements than the former. Diirer based
his systems on the principle that the defences of basteien
or other works which depend only on the cannon placed
on their terreplein, may be effective whilst the enemy is
at a distance, but cannot be so when the enemy, under
cover of his epaulements, has advanced to the ditch; and
leaving therefore to the cannon on the terreplein the task
of firing upon the enemy’s troops and
batteries at a distance, he placed his
cannon, and it may be said also his
musketry, either in vaulted galleries
Fig. 37.
bable manner in which the old tower or rather tower-fort
(baluardo) was changed into a pentagonal bastion. If, for
example, lines of defence be drawn from the extremes
of two adjacent curtains to the angles a and c of the
square tower-fort A, a space would be left, cab, unseen
from the adjacent forts B and C, and therefore unde¬
fended, except by downward or vertical fire from machi¬
coulis, or projections from the walls supported by corbels
made for that express purpose. Such a space would be
turned to account by the besiegers in fixing their scaling
ladders ; and the change of the straight line ac into the two
faces cb, ab seems but the result of a self-evident neces¬
sity. As the work became enlarged, the portions of the
fort within the connecting walls m m were omitted, and the
flanks dc,fa alone remained of the old work, forming with
the faces the bastion/a&ec?, which only required to be im¬
proved in proportions to become the bastion of modern
times. It is, however, said that the towers were sometimes
placed with an angle salient as in B, and if so, omitting the
portions n n, the resulting bastion has a strong analogy to
those of Errard before mentioned. By using the old wall
merely as a retaining wall, and as an obstacle against esca¬
lade, and adding to it a rampart and a parapet of earth,
the Italians completed the system of bastioned defence,
which, notwithstanding all the modifications of the French,
ought to be called the Italian system. In this system,
whilst imitating the construction of the old towers by using
casemated or masonry-vaulted chambers for artillery, in
addition to the guns mounted on the rampart, the Italians
placed the musketeers on the banquette of the parapet, and
made them fire over it. Now this arrangement of the mus¬
ketry fire is an essential characteristic of the Italian system,
and the reliefs of the several works are hence restricted
within certain limits, as it is necessary so to determine the
levels of the opposite flanks that the fire along their superior
slopes shall defend the whole of the intervening curtain :
but there are other modes of using musketry as well as ar¬
tillery fire in the defence of the ditches, and on these were
founded other systems of fortification.
The first Italian writer on fortification was Tartaglia,
whose work was published in 1546; but the ve^Wy first writer
on the science was Albrecht Diiiei, at once a great painter,
a sculptor, an engraver, and a civil and military architect,
whose work is dated 1527, being published one year before
his death. This remarkable man founded his system on the
old circular tower-forts C, fig. 37, in which the dead space
is much less than in the square, and enlarging them to an
enormous extent, he adopted the word, “ Bastei, or in
VOL. IX.
in caponnieres, also vaulted or case-
mated works, built across or transverse
to the ditch. The great circular bastei
of his third and most improved system
was no less than 130 yards in diameter,
with a scarp 120 feet high, a ditch in
front 100 feet wide, and a massive envelope, about 80 feet
thick and 100 feet high, formed of earth with thick ma¬
sonry revetements both in front and in rear, as a mask
between the main work and the counterscarp. Such
gigantic proportions as these have led many to consider
Diirer as little more than a speculative writer, but this
would be an unjust estimate of his real merits. Reducing
his works to more reasonable dimensions, they would, with
proper modifications, have become practicable, and
afforded many useful hints to the scientific engineer. The
defects of the circular form were compensated by the graz¬
ing fire of the caponnieres in his system, and the main
work was retained in an effective state by the cover afforded
to it by the envelope. We shall have occasion to refer
again to Diirer, but in the meantime it may be said that
whilst the Italians are properly considered the originators of
bastioned systems with an earthen parapet over which the
musketry fire is directed, IDrirer has an undoubted claim
to be considered the author of the other branch of fortifi¬
cation in which casemated defence in the main works, as
also in caponnieres, becomes the essential characteristic
a branch which has proved as fertile in results in modern
times as the bastioned system.
SYSTEMS OF PERMANENT FORTIFICATION.
1. Vauban’s First System.
Before commencing to draw a plan of fortification, it is
usual to determine upon some polygon on which to de¬
scribe it. In this figure, accordingly (see Plate CCLX.
fig. 1), we have taken the angle of an octagon, and called
the length of the side 360 yards. In constructing a fortifi¬
cation, a figure is determined on, as near that of a regular
polygon as possible, within which the enceinte or chain of
main works is to be contained. I he enceinte or body of
the place consists of as many bastions, connected with cur¬
tains, as there are sides to the figure, and each of these is
made as near 360 yards as possible, so that every part may
be within range of such arms as are to be employed in its
defence.
The principal or outline denotes the contour or line by
which the first figure of the work is defined. This line is
supposed to pass along the superior part of the cordon, and
is that from which all the other parts of the work are set off.
The exterior side, or side of the polygon above mentioned
as equal to 360 yards, is that upon which the front of the
fortification is described, and it extends from the flanked
angle of one bastion to the corresponding angle of the next,
as AB. These lines are bisected, and a perpendicular, DC
5 L
818 FORTIFICATION.
Fortifica- is drawn from the point of bisection towards the place, its
ticm. length beinij proportional to the extent of the exterior side
and adjacent angle of the polygon; that is, one-sixth for the
hexagon and all figures of a greater number of sides, one-
seventh for the pentagon, and one-eighth for the square.
The lines of defence AEG, BEH, are drawn from the
extremities of the exterior sides through these points, and
produced to an indefinite length ; and upon the lines so
drawn are set off two-sevenths of the exterior sides, equal to
102f yards, which marks out the point for the shoulder of
the bastion E and F. The distance between these points
is then laid along the continuation of each line of defence,
and a line is drawn connecting them the curtain GH,
from the extremities of which lines are drawn to the point
marked off for the shoulder of the bastion, and thus form
the flanks. And in this manner is drawn a front of fortifi¬
cation, which being repeated round the sides of the poly¬
gon, completes the works of the enceinte or body of the
place.
Vauban divided his first system into three parts; namely,
the little, the mean or intermediate, and the great. The
first he used for small forts of four or five sides, citadels,
horn-works, and crown-works, making the exterior sides
from 120 to 240 yards, the perpendicular in the square
equal to one-eighth, and in the pentagon one-seventh, and
the faces of the bastions in each equal to two-sevenths of
the exterior side. In the mean or intermediate, which is
adapted for all sizes of towns, the exterior side varies from
250 to 360 yards, the perpendicular is one-sixth, and the
faces are two-sevenths. In the great the exterior side va¬
ries from 360 to 520 yards. This kind was never adopted
for all the sides of a place, but only when one of these hap¬
pened to be near a river or a marsh; in which case the dis¬
tances of the bastions should be so regulated that they may
not be out of musketry range from one another. When the
curtain becomes unavoidably too long, this defect is in part
remedied by erecting on it a flat bastion, which is not so
high as the rest of the works.
Ground which will admit of being regularly fortified
throughout is seldom or never to be met with, but* never¬
theless, the rules of regular fortification must be observed
as nearly as possible; that is, the flanked angles should not
be less than 60°, the lines of defence should not exceed
musket range, and the sides should be lengthened or short¬
ened so as to obtain a well-proportioned front upon each.
After an irregular place has been reduced to as regular a
form as possible, lines are drawn parallel at the distance of
about 30 yards from the houses, in order to give sufficient
space for the rampart; and these lines form the interior
polygon, which may be fortified inwards, by setting off the
demigorges of the bastions, and raising their flanks at an
angle of 100° with the curtain: Or, the exterior side may
be formed and fortified inwards by drawing a line parallel to
each of the interior sides ; and when the angle is that of a
polygon of more than five sides, the distance from the ex¬
terior to the interior sides should not be less than 100 yards.
If a side extend from 360 to 520 yards, the perpendicular
should be diminished to about 50 yards, and the faces of
the bastions be made from 100 to 120 yards. When a side
is very long, it may be divided into several parts of from
340 to 360 yards each, which may be fortified with flat
bastions, as was occasionally done by the Italians, an ex¬
ample of which may be seen in the bastion Anastasius at
Corfu. All these dimensions may, however, be now much
increased, and placed more in relation to the range of the
modern musket.
I he ditch ov fosse is an excavation of from 12 to 24 feet
in depth, and from 30 to 50 yards in breadth, surrounding
the rampart on the exterior side, and the earth dug out of
which serves to raise the rampart and parapet. The side of
the ditch next the place forms part of the escarpe, the side
next the country is called the counterscarp, and it is made Fortifica-
circular opposite the salient angles of the works. In fig. 1 Sn¬
ares are described with a radius of 30 yards, opposite the v'—
salient angles of the bastions, tangents to which are drawn
upon the shoulders of the neighbouring bastions, and thus
form the ditch. The general dimensions of a ditch should
be such that its excavation, or deblai, would produce suf¬
ficient earth, or remblai, for the formation of the works.
The breadth varies from 30 to 50 yards, in order that, in
passing across it to the assault, the enemy may, for a con¬
siderable time, be exposed to the fire of the works; and its
depth must also be such as to render difficult the escalade
of the parapet, as well as to prevent the besiegers at the
crest of the glacis from being able to see to breach the
lower part of the revetement of the escarpe. The line of
the counterscarp is drawn from the rounding at the salient
angles of the bastions upon the shoulders of the bastions
next adjoining, in order that the whole of the ditch may be
defended by the fire of the flanks of the collateral bastions.
Ditches are of three kinds ; wet, dry, and such as may oc¬
casionally be rendered either wet or dry. The wet ditch is
calculated to prevent sudden surprises or assaults, except¬
ing during hard frost, as in the attempt made to surprise
Bergen-op-Zoom in the year 1814; but, independently of
this exception, the number of bridges of communication,
which require continual repair, and the difficulty of making
sorties, which a wet ditch creates, renders it extremely in¬
convenient. A dry ditch, which is capable of containing
works for its own defence, and by means of which commu¬
nications round the works may more easily be maintained,
is therefore preferable to a wet one; but the third kind,
which unites the advantages of the other two, should, when
practicable, be preferred to either. It is only in particular
situations, howevex*, that the advantage of such a ditch can
be obtained.
The tenaille, in the form given to it by Vauban, does
not appear in the works of earlier engineers, but it seems
to be naturally derived from the ti'ace of Rimpler (1673),
in which the middle flank is analogous in function to the
tenaille, and occupies its position ; it is a work placed in
front of the curtain, and is formed by the continuation of
the lines of defence, at the distance of ten yards from the
angle of the shoulder ; the ends are then drawn parallel to
the flanks of the bastions ; it is made sixteen feet broad;
the angle formed by the meeting of the two lines which de¬
termine its rear is then cut off, at the distance of ten yards,
parallel to the curtain ; and another line is drawn at the
distance of sixteen yards, parallel to this, and forming a
small curtain upon the line of defence or front of the
tenaille. The x’elief or height of the tenaille is determined
by that of the neighbouring flanks, and it has a parapet of
seven or seven and a half feet in height, and from twelve
to fifteen feet in thickness* The use of the tenaille is to
cover the postern gate, which is often made in the curtain
or flank, when the ditch is dry, to protect the ti’oops who
may be formed behind the work for the defence of the
ditch ; and when the ditch is a wet one, to cover the boats
which may be collected for the same purpose. It also
serves to augment the defence, as its fire, from being more
horizontal, and nearer to the plane of the bottom of the
ditch than that from the flanks, is of course proportionally
more effectual.
The ravelin or demilune was a work originally designed
to cover the entrance gate and ridge of a fbrti’ess, but it
soon assumed the dimensions and performed the office of
a most important work of defence, appearing as such in
some early Italian traces. Speckle, the great German
engineer, who fortified Schlottstadz, Hagenau, Ulm, Col¬
mar, Bale, and Strasbourg, was, however, the first who re¬
cognized fully its importance, and laid down as a I'ule that
“ great ravelins materially augment the defensive power of
FORTIFICATION. 819
Fortifica- a bastioned system.” Acting upon this principle, the ravelins
tion. of Speckle were even larger than are those of Cormon-
taigne’s system, and covered nearly the whole of the faces
of the bastions, the faces of the ravelin being directed
on the salients of the bastions and their capitals, extend¬
ing about 150 yards in advance of the exterior side of
the polygon. Speckle was another man of science, hav¬
ing studied mathematics and military engineering in his
youth, and then perfected his knowledge by personally visit¬
ing and studying the most remarkable Italian fortifica¬
tions existing in his time. The Ravelin is a work con¬
structed opposite the curtain, and composed of two faces
meeting in an outward or salient angle, with two demi-
gorges formed by the counterscarp. Its use is to cover the
curtain, the gates, and the flanks of the bastion. The
ravelin is constructed as follows : eleven yards are set off
along the faces of the bastion from the shoulder ; an arc is
described from the angle of the flank upon the perpen¬
dicular produced, with a radius of 160 yards ; from this in¬
tersection lines are drawn bearing upon the points set off at
eleven yards from the shoulders of the bastion, but not fur¬
ther than the lines of the counterscarp ; and at the intersec¬
tion of the lines of the counterscarp or re-entering angle six
yards are set off on the capital or line bisecting its angle,
whence lines are drawn parallel to the lines of defence till
they meet, those of the counterscarp. Stairs, called pas-
de-souris, are constructed here in order to facilitate the
entrance of the ravelin from the ditch. The ditch in the
ravelin, which is twenty-four yards in breadth, is made cir¬
cular at the salient angle, and drawn parallel to the faces
till it joins the main ditch.
The covered-tvay was first described by Tartaglia in
1554, so that it must have been used at a very early epoch
pf Italian fortification. Some of the first bastioned for¬
tresses were, however, without this highly important work;
and it is recorded that at the siege of Vienna by the Turks,
the garrison having made a sortie, some companies were
pursued by the Turks up to the counterscarp, and forced
over it into the ditch. The necessity of being able to
assemble the troops intended for a sortie under cover
from the enemy’s fire, and to affoi’d them when repulsed a
place for refornaing and checking the enemy’s progress,
and thus insui'ing an ordeidy retreat into the body of the
place, soon became apparent, and a covered-way was sup¬
plied to works originally constructed without one. It is a
space of ten yards in breadth, extending all x’ound the
counterscarp of the ditch, and covered by a parapet of from
seven to nine feet in height, with a banquette. The
superior part of this pai'apet forms a gentle slope towards
the country, which tei'minates at the distance of fi-om forty
to seventy yards ; and this slope is called the glacis. The
covei’ed-way serves for drawing up troops in order to make
sorties, and costs less than any other part of the works in
pi'oportion to the difficulty of taking it. In the salient and
re-entering angles of the covered-way spaces are contrived
which have been denominated places of arms.
The salient places of arms are formed by the circular
parts of the counterscarp, and the prolongation of the
branches of the covered-way till they intersect. The re¬
entering places of arms are constructed with two faces,
forming a salient angle of 100° with the covered-way. The
demigorges of the re-entering places of arms are generally
from twenty-four to thirty yards; but when they are in¬
tended to contain a redoubt or intrenchment, they are from
forty to forty-eight yards. The re-entering places of arms
are meant to flank the branches of the covered-way, and to
contain the troops for its defence. The salient places of
arms also serve for assembling the troops destined to de¬
fend the covered-way.
Traverses are consti’ucted across the covered-way, upon
the prolongation of the sides of the ravelins and bastions,
perpendicular to the line of the counterscai’p ; they are from Fortifiea-
eiglxteen to twenty feet thick, and serve to cover the troops tlon-
from the enfilading fire of the enemy. Other traverses
should be constructed between these, so that the distance
from the one to the other should not exceed thirty-six or
forty yards. Openings are cut into the parapet of the
covered-way about ten or twelve feet wide, in order to keep
up the communication from one part to another round the
ends of the traverses, which, however, may be shut by a
gate when requwed. In the more improved systems of
Cormontaigne and others, these passages are constructed
in such a manner that each can be defended by the fire
from the travei'se in rear of it.
The glacis, as ah-eady stated, forms a gentle slope or
declivity from the parapet of the covered-way towards the
country, and varies from forty to sixty yards. Its parapet
cannot be ruined by the fire of the enemy ; it covers the
revetement of the body of the place; and being an inr
dined plane, it can be easily seen and defended from any
part of the works.
The rampart is an elevation of earth, being the part of
the woi'ks situated next to the town. It must be thick
enough to receive a mound of eaxth, called the parapet,
and also leave sufficient space behind it for working the
guns, as well as x'oom for the defenders to pass round
freely. The ditch is immediately in fi’ont of the x'ampart,
the faces of which are reveted or built up with stone
walls, backed interiorly, at every fifteen or twenty feet,
by buttresses or counterforts of masonry, to strengthen
it. The rampart is divided into the interior slope, the
terreplein, the banquette, the parapet, and the exterior
slope or escarpe. See fig. 4, profile.
The revetement or face of masonry ai'ound the work on
both sides of the ditch is intended to prevent the earth
forming the rampart from falling into the ditch. To as¬
certain the proper thickness of masonry for this pxxrpose
has always been a work of considerable ti’ouble and dif¬
ficulty. Genei’al Sir Charles Pasley of the royal engineers
has given the following rules : 1st, For full-scai’ped revete-
ments without berms, and for demi-revetements having bei’ms
equal to one-fourth the height of the masonry, the thick-r
ness of the wall should be seventeen-sixtieths, and the
length of the counterforts or buttresses one-fifth of their
height. 2dly, For demi-revetements without berms, the
mean thickness of the wall should be three-tenths, and
the length of the counterfort one-fifth of the height. 3dly,
For counterscarp x'evetements, having only to retain sim¬
ple tei'repleins, the mean thickness should be one-fourth,
and the counterfort one-sixth of the height. In all these
cases Colonel Pasley supposes the revetement to be coun-
tersloped, that is, to have the exterior slope in a vertical
plane, and the inteifor face inclined, so that the base of the
wall may be broader than its upper surface by one-fifth of
its height; and he also supposes the counterforts to be
rectangular, and the intervals between their centres to be
equal to four times their width. 4thly, He recommends
that the foundations be made deeper in rear than in front,
and that the coui’ses of masonry form an angle with the
horizon of about 10° excepting at the exterior points,
where it should be made horizontal, to prevent the rain
fi-om penetrating, and that the interior face of the wall
should be of an ix-regular form. In order to diminish the
latei'al pressure of the earth against the revetements,
sevei’al tiex-s of arches may be built between the counter¬
forts in the form of segments of a cii-cle.
The cordon is a round projection of stone, about a foot
in diameter, which goes quite round the revetement wall,
near the top, and serves to throw the drip of rain off the face
of the masonry. It is also a considerable obstacle to besiegers,
in placing their ladders for escalade against the escarpe.
The profile or section of Vauban’s first system is given
820 F O R T I F I
Fortifica- in Plate CCLX., fig. 4, in order to illustrate the relative
tion. relief or height of the respective works, and also to show
the command which each has over the others. When the
heio-ht of the rampart, including that of its parapet, is 20
feet, and that of the parapet of the covered-way is 9 feet
above the plane of the site, then the rampart will have a
command of 20 feet over the country, and 11 feet over the
crest of the covered-way ; and the latter, again, will have a
command of 9 feet over the field. There are three sorts of
command, namely, in front, in rear, and in enfilade. That
in front is when any eminence directly faces the work which
it commands ; that in rear is when the eminence is behind
the work; and that in enfilade is when the eminence is
situated laterally on the prolongation of any line or work.
The last, which is the most dangerous kind of command, is
best remedied by raising the salient of works exposed to it
(see woodcut 18, p. 775), or by erecting traverses. In
drawing this figure, a line, called the line of site, and sup¬
posed to be the surface of the ground on which the fortifi¬
cation stands, is drawn, and perpendiculars are erected on
it equal to the respective heights of the different parts of
the works corresponding to the lines in the figure. 1 hus a
shows the terreplein of the rampart, b the banquette or step
to enable the soldiers to fire over the parapet, c the parapet, d
the revetement, e the escarpe,/ the counterscarp, and so on.
2. Vauban’s Second and Third Systems.
Having thus endeavoured to explain, with as much mi¬
nuteness as possible, the principles of Vauban’s first system,
we trust, from what has been said, that no great difficulty
will be experienced in understanding the methods of other
engineers who have constructed works varying but little in
the main from those prescribed by this system, whilst even
these varieties have arisen from difference of situation and
local peculiarities, more than from any other cause. The
same general observation, indeed, applies to the other me¬
thods of construction followed by Vauban himself, who, in
his second and third systems (Plate CCLX. fig. 2), merely
modified, according to circumstances, the principles upon
which the first is based. When this celebrated military
engineer was called upon to repair or improve the fortresses
of Landau, Brisach, and others, and found these places al¬
ready surrounded with strong walls surmounted by small
towers at the angles, he did not, as some might have sup¬
posed, proceed to destroy these defences, but, with his ac¬
customed judgment and ability, he immediately took ad¬
vantage of them, and constructed, nearly in the same pro¬
portions as in his first system, large counterguards or bas¬
tions in front of the towers which crowned the angles of the
wall, just as the Italian Castriotto had done in 1584. And
by this method an important object was attained ; for, as in
front of each tower, or rather tower-bastion, there ran a
ditch which cut off all communication between it and the
counterguard, so the enemy, even if they should have suc¬
ceeded in establishing themselves in the counterguard, would
still have another ditch to cross, and another wall to breach,
before they could attempt to give the assault.
There is so little difference between the second and third
systems of Vauban, that a description of the former will be
sufficient to enable the reader to distinguish and appreciate
the peculiarities of the latter. In the second system, the
interior side of the polygon, from the centre of one tower-
bastion to that of the next, is supposed to be equal to 240
yards, and from its extremities, at the distance of 24 yards,
perpendiculars are erected equal to 36 yards, for the flanks
of the tower-bastions. A line is then drawn parallel to the
interior side AB, till it meets the oblique radius of the poly¬
gon, or line drawn from the centre of the polygon bisect¬
ing its angle, and this being done on both sides of the angle
forms the tower-bastion. The oblique radius is then pro¬
duced 78 yards, and lines of defence are drawn to the angle
CATION.
where the tower-bastion joins the curtain or line AB. On Fortifica-
these lines of defence, the faces of the counter-guard, or ti00-
exterior bastion, are set off equal to 128 yards, and from '
the point forming the shoulder, flanks are directed to a point
set off on the line AB, at the distance of 70 yards from its
extremities. From the salient angles of the tower-bastions
arcs are described with a radius of 14 yards for the breadth
of the ditch, and tangents to these arcs are drawn parallel
to the faces of the tower-bastion, but stopped where they
would meet a line drawn from the salient angle of the tower-
bastions, at the distance of 20 yards from the flanks.
The tenaille is the same as in the first system, excepting
that, at its ends, it is carried down till it meets the line drawn
between the flanked or salient angles of the tower-bastions.
The ditch in front of the counterguards, or, in other words,
the main ditch, is constructed in the same manner as in the
first system. The ravelin is formed by setting off 90 yards
from the re-entering angle of the counterscarp, and direct¬
ing its faces to points set off on the counterguards, at the
distance of 20 yards from the shoulders. A flank is formed
by cutting off the corners of the ravelin at the distance of
14 yards on its demigorge, and 20 on its face ; and this flank
serves for the placing of guns in such a manner that their
fire may be directed into the counterguard, or into the ditch
before them, as occasion may require. Again, at the dis¬
tance of 48 yards from the re-entering angle of the counter¬
scarp, lines are drawn parallel to the faces of the ravelin for
the redoubt; a ditch is formed in front of this, and parallel
thereto, about 18 feet in breadth; and the redoubt thus
constructed has a command of 4 feet over the parapet of the
rampart, as the tower-bastions have over the counter guards.
The covered-way and glacis are formed as in the first sys¬
tem. It sometimes happens that redoubts are constructed
in the re-entering places of arms ; in which case their de-
migorges are made from 15 to 40 yards, and their faces set
off at an angle of 100 degrees, as before.
3. Cormontaignds System.
The difference between the systems of Vauban and Cor-
montaigne may easily be discovered by an examination of
Plate CCLX., fig. 3. Vauban makes the faces of his bas¬
tions two-sevenths of the exterior side, and Cormontaigne
one-third. Vauban, in his first system, produces the faces
of his ravelin to the distance of 11 yards upon the face of
the bastion from the shoulder, and in his second and third
systems, to the distance of 20 yards ; but Cormontaigne
makes the capital of his ravelins about 120 yards, and pro¬
duces the faces to the distance of 30 yards from the shoulder;
by which means the flanks are better covered, and the bas¬
tions and ravelins are enlarged. And this is an advantage ;
for he is thus enabled to construct a larger redoubt in his
ravelin, the curtain and flank are also better covered, and,
as the former is shorter, communications are more easily
kept up between the bastions. Cormontaigne gives the same
breadth to his covered-way as Vauban, but he arranges in
a different manner the communication round the extre¬
mities of the traverses, as may be seen by inspecting the
plate. By this zigzag line of communication, which re¬
sembles the cremailliere trace adopted by Speckle in his
covered-way, the passage round the extremity of one traverse
may be defended by the fire of the other in its rear, or
nearer to the body of the place, and the advance of assail¬
ants along the covered-way completely checked. As
Speckle planned in 1589, or long before the invention of
ricochet fire by Vauban had rendered traverses an essen¬
tial element in fortification, his object was not the same as
that of Cormontaigne, but simply to ensure a more perfect
flanking defence of the branches of the covered-way than that
afforded by the places of arms of his systems. The ditches
are, as shown in fig. 3 of this Plate, on different levels the
main ditch being about 23 feet deep, the ditch of the re-
FORTIFICATION.
821
Fortifica¬
tion.
doubt of the ravelin only 7 feet, so that from this latter
ditch there is a fall of 16 feet to the main ditch, rendering
it impossible to attack the ravelin by its gorge without the
aid of ladders. An examination of the several figures
which represent Yauban’s and Cormontaigne’s systems, as
also the outworks of fig. 3, Plate CCLXI, will at once ren¬
der evident the vital defect of the ordinary arrangements of
outworks—that they expose by their ditches the scarp of
either the body of the place, or of the work on which their
faces or branches are directed, to be breached. In the
system of Cormontaigne, as well as in the modern system
next to be considered, the increased projection of the
ravelins, by throwing the intervening bastion into a deeply
re-entering position, secures it from attack by approaches
until the salients of the ravelins have been taken ; but
this great advantage is diminished by the power of breach¬
ing the bastion from the glacis through the opening af¬
forded by the ravelin. For the purpose of covering the
communication to the re-entering place of arms, a demi-
caponniere, or work composed of a parapet and
glacis, was thrown across the ditch of the ravelin,
as shown in the figure of the modern system,
Plate CCLXI., fig. 2. This work afforded cover
also to troops assembling preparatory to a sortie
upon the enemy when making the passage of the
ditch, but, from the depth of the ravelin ditch, it
w'as insufficient to mask the revetement of the
bastion behind it. It will presently be shown how
this object was afterwards effected ; and it may be
fairly said that without any material change as to
system, the general result of Cormontaigne’s va¬
riations from Vauban’s trace is an unquestionable
improvement.
4. The Modern System.
The modern system, which is shown in Plate
CCLXI. fig. 2, varies but little from Cormon¬
taigne’s. Its perpendicular is one-sixth of the
exterior side, and the faces of the bastions are
one-third. The flanks are at right angles with
the lines of defence, whereas in Vauban’s system
they form an angle of about eighty-two degrees ;
which is not so good, because, in the modern sys¬
tem, the guns placed in the flanks can fire straight
along the ditch without being moved or turned on
their platforms. The ravelin is formed by setting
off thirty-four yards from the shoulder angle of
each bastion along the face, which line forms one
side of an equilateral triangle, the vertex of which,
opposite the centre of the curtain, forms the sa¬
lient angle of the ravelin. The redoubt of the
ravelin is formed by drawing its faces parallel to
those of the ravelin from the shoulder angle of the
parapet of the bastion ; and it has flanks with a
ditch about twenty yards in breadth. The cava¬
lier in the bastion is drawn parallel to the faces of
the bastion, at the distance of forty-eight yards.
The ditch on the faces is ten yards in width, but
there is no ditch on the flanks. The coupure
connected with the cavalier retrenchment is drawn
perpendicular to the faces of the bastions, at thirty-
four yards for the counterscarps of the coupures,
whilst the scarps are at ten yards, and parallel to
these. This system originated in the School of Mi¬
litary Engineering instituted at Mezieres in 1750,
and was for some time called the System of the
School of Mezieres. It has, however, been suc¬
cessively much improved ; and the system which
is now recognised as the modern system is that of General
Noizet. Referring, however, to fig. 2 of the Plate, it will
be seen that coupures have been introduced on the faces Fortifica-
of the ravelin ; and as the ditch of the ravelin in this sys- v tl0D-
tem has by many engineers been sunk less by 7 or 8 feet ^ v ^'
than the main ditch, there is a sufficient fall between the
two to check the enemy in his passage to the latter, whilst
the demi-caponniere is raised so much higher,
and therefore begins to mask more effectually
the revetement of the bastion. In General
Noizet’s system this demi-caponniere is formed
into an elevated mask, which effectually se¬
cures the revetement from the breaching
effect of the fire from the enemy’s battery on
the crest of the ravelin glacis. This is shown
in the annexed woodcut; and the system mo-
4
Scale of Metres^:
10,000
Fig. 38.
dified from the former modern system in this respect, as
well as in other arrangements, is now the normal bastioned
822 F O R T I F I
Fortifica- system of all the French schools. In General Noizets ar-
tion. rangement the flanks are not made perpendicular to the
lines of defence, but, as in Vauban’s first system, the flank
forms an angle of about 80 with the line of defence. In.
the citadel of Ghent, which is a most beautiful example of
this system, with still further modifications, the retrench¬
ment of the bastion is so formed as to take advantage of this
construction, and the flanks being casemated and pierced
in both directions, they become on one side the flanks of the
retrenchment, whilst on the other they are the ordinary
flanks of the bastion, thus giving a much longer curtain to
the retrenchment than in the form exhibited in fig. 3 of
Plate CCLXI., as it occupies the whole gorge of the
bastion.
5. Outworks.
Plate CCLXI., fig. 3, shows several kinds of outworks,
as a horn-work g, tenaillons k and k, bonnet d, lunettes a
and d, an entrenched bastion e, batardeau f, and caponniere
h. These, and other works of a similar description, are
constructed for the purpose of occupying some of the
ground which might otherwise be of service to the be¬
siegers, or as in the caponniere to cover a communication ;
but their application must of course depend upon certain
localities, and the judgment of the engineer must therefore
determine, in each particular place, which is best adapted
to the ground, and most proper to be employed with re¬
ference to the general defence of the place.
ABM AM ENT OF FORTRESSES.
Having thus described, though briefly, the systems of
fortification which, mainly depending on the principles first
adopted by the early Italian engineers, may be considered
the result of the gradual development of these principles in
the more mature and skilful arrangements of successive
engineers, it is right before describing other systems to say
a few words respecting the means of defending a place after
it has been fortified. And here we may observe, that it is
difficult to lay down any exact rules as to the proportion of
ordnance, ammunition, and stores of every kind required for
the defence of a fortified place, seeing this must necessarily
vary according to the particular situation of each fortress,
the system on which its works have been constructed, and
the species of attack to which it may be exposed. If, for
example, one of the sides be covered by a morass, swamp,
or any other obstruction which it is difficult or perhaps im¬
possible to surmount, it must be obvious that, in this case,
a smaller proportion of artillery will be required than if the
fortress were equally accessible on every side ; and, on the
other hand, a maritime fortress, accessible at all points, will
necessarily require for its defence a larger proportion of
ordnance than if it were only assailable on one or a few of
these points. Where every front is equally exposed to
attack, all must of necessity be equally prepared.
On this subject, however, there have been established
certain maxims, of which the following appear to be the
most important: First, the proportion of ordnance, ammu¬
nition, and stores, should never exceed the quantity neces¬
sary for a brave and resolute defence. Secondly, those
points which are considered as being most exposed to at¬
tack should be most completely armed, whilst the partial
armament of the remaining points may suffice. Thirdly,
for each of the faces of the bastions which are liable to
be attacked, five or six pieces of ordnance should be al¬
lotted ; for each of the flanks of these bastions, four; for
the faces of the ravelins, from five to seven; for the lu¬
nettes, when there are such, four pieces of ordnance should
be reckoned; besides two or three pieces for each of the
places of arms in the covered-way. Supposing, therefore,
that one front of a place is to be completely armed, the
C A T I 0 N.
proportions of ordnance required will be, for the faces of Fortifica-
the bastions from ten to twelve pieces, for the two interior tion-
flanks from six to eight, for the faces of the ravelins from
five to seven, and for five places of arms from ten to fifteen;
making the total of ordnance for one front from thirty-one
to forty-two pieces. Fourthly, when a place is exposed to
attack on two consecutive fronts, the armament of each
should be augmented one half; when it is threatened with
attack on detached fronts, the armament should, in that
case, be doubled. Fifthly, each of the other fronts should
merely be provided with such a proportion as to secure it
against insult. Lastly, from the foregoing maxims, it ap¬
pears that a hexagon, having only one front exposed to
attack, requires from fifty-eight to sixty-eight pieces of ord¬
nance on such front, whilst in more extensive places, six,
eight, or ten pieces should be added for each additional
front. For the present increased power of the ordnance
brought into the field this proportion should be increased
by about ^le total number.
The next consideration is the proportion which the se¬
veral kinds of ordnance should bear to one another. And
here let it be remembered that ordnance of the higher
calibres is not the only description which ought to be em¬
ployed. In many cases medium and even light guns are
more efficacious; for when only troops or working parties
are to be fired at, light guns will answer every purpose, as
the range of the shot is nearly equal to that of larger guns,
and they are of course much more manageable, and may be
worked with greater rapidity. But short guns of heavy
calibre are best adapted for the flanks ; and, generally, the
large or heavy ordnance should only be employed to destroy
the besiegers’ batteries and dismount their guns. The
flank guns being only required for the defence of the ditch,
short pieces of large calibre, as carronades, which throw a
heavy charge of grape or canister shot, are the most proper
to be employed. The light guns, as they can easily be
withdrawn, should be placed on the covered-way and places
of arms, and on outworks of every description. The heavy
long guns and mortars, as they are not so easily moved,
should be within the body of the place, and as they require
a great quantity of ammunition, they should be less fre¬
quently used, and only upon urgent occasions. A judicious
economy of ammunition is a duty incumbent upon every
governor or commandant of a fortified place attacked. The
conduct of General Chasse in the defence of the citadel of
Antwerp was a model in this respect. From the com¬
mencement till the close of the attack, scarcely a single
shot was needlessly expended by the garrison.
ATTACK AND DEFENCE OF FORTIFIED PLACES.
Having thus treated of that important branch of fortifi¬
cation which is denominated permanent, and which, being
applied solely to the defence of towns, is not liable to be
destroyed except by an enemy, we now proceed to con¬
sider the attack of fortified places, the general system of
which was introduced by Vauban, and so far perfected by
that great engineer that it has ever since served as a model
for the plans of his successors.
“ La resolution des sieges,” says the Mareschal, “ est une
affaire de cabinet. File est une suite naturelle de la
superiorite que Ton croit avoir sur ses ennemis; mais leur
execution etant une des plus serieuses, des plus impor-
tantes, et des plus difficiles parties, elle demande aussi le
plus de mesure et de circonspection.” He then goes on to
state that the success of sieges depends on several circum¬
stances, such as, “1. Du secret, sans lequel il est difficile
de reussir : 2. Des forces que 1’on a sur pied pour attaquer
les places des ennemis, et defendre les siennes: 3. De la
disposition des ennemis ; car s’ils sont reunis, et aussi forts
que nous, ils peuvent nous empecher d’en faire: 4. De
FORTIFICATION.
Fortifica- Fetat des magazins les plus a portee des lieux sur lesquels
tion. on peut entreprendre: 5. De la conjoncture des terns, parce
que tous ne sent pas propres aux sieges, et rien n’etant plus
ruineux que ceux d’hyver, on les doit eviter tant qu’on
peut: 6. Des fonds necessaires a leurs depenses ; car Fargent
est le nerf de la guerre, sans lui on ne sgauroit reussir en
rien. Ce sont la des mesures a prendre de longue main,
qui doivent etre dirigees & loisir ; et apres tout cela, quand
on croit les avoir bien prises sou vent tout echappe ; car
Fennemi, qui n’est jamais d’accord avec vous, pourra vous
interrompre  II faut bien peser toutes ces considera¬
tions, avant que de se determiner; et prendre toujours si
bien son terns, que Fennemi ne puisse vous tomber sur les
bras avant vos etablissemens.”1
A siege, therefore, being one of the most arduous un¬
dertakings in which an army or corps d’armee can be em¬
ployed—one in which the greatest fatigue, hardships, and
personal risk are encountered, and in which the prize can
only be won by complete victory; it is obvious that, upon
the success or failure of such an enterprise may depend
the fate of a campaign, sometimes that of an army, and
perhaps even the existence of a state. Of this the fail¬
ures before Pavia in 1525, before Metz in 1552, before
Prague in 1557, before St Jean d’Acre in 1799, and before
Burgos in 1812, present instructive examples. By the
first, France lost her monarch, the flower of her nobility,
and all her Italian conquests ; by the second, she was saved
from destruction, whilst thirty thousand of her enemies
perished; by the third, the greatest warrior of his age,
Frederick the Great, was brought to the very brink of
destruction ; by the fourth, the most successful general of
France, and perhaps the greatest commander that any age
or country has produced, was stopped short in his career of
victory; and by the last, a beaten enemy gained time to
recruit his forces, concentrate his scattered corps, and re¬
gain that ascendancy of which the victory at Salamanca
had for a time deprived him. Innumerable other instances
of the disastrous consequences usually attendant on the
failure of sieges might easily be produced; but those which
have just been referred to are sufficient to establish the
importance of the undertaking, and to show that the dearest
interests of a country may frequently be staked on the sure
and speedy reduction of a fortress.
It is therefore of the greatest importance to a state that
the sieges undertaken by its armies should be carried on in
the best and most efficient manner possible, or, in other
words, that by a due combination of science, labour, and
force, these operations should be rendered not only short,
but certain, and unproductive of any great expenditure of
life. But the sieges undertaken by the British have almost
never united these three indispensable conditions; and
with regard to those which took place during the contest
in the Peninsula, it is well known that various defects of
organization, and particularly the want of a body of men
such as sappers and miners, trained to the labour required
at sieges, and an inadequate supply of materiel, neces¬
sitated a partial departure from established principles and
rules of attack, and consequently led to a waste of life
wholly unprecedented in modern sieges. Till late in 1813
the army was unattended by a single sapper or miner:
regular approaches were therefore difficult if not imprac¬
ticable : it was necessary, in almost every ease, to take
the bull, as the saying is, by the horns ; the last operation
of a siege scientifically conducted, namely, battering in
breach, was amongst the first undertaken: and the troops
were marched to the assault whilst the defences remained
nearly entire, and exposed to every species of destruction
which the unreduced means of the besieged could bring
823
to bear against them. The army of a country which has Fortifica-
outstripped all others in the useful arts and in mechanical tion.
improvements, was left wholly unprovided with those ap-
pliances which at once economise labour and life, and
serve to render both most effectual for the purposes to
which they are applied. But, notwithstanding this great
anomaly, which is chargeable against the government
alone, and not against either the nation or the army which
in the most adverse circumstances so nobly sustained its
reputation, it may be observed that, in all periods and
in all countries, the means employed for the reduction of
fortresses have generally increased and become more over¬
whelming and irresistible in proportion to the advancement
of knowledge and the improvement of the useful arts ; and
that in Europe during the last two centuries, the extensive
diffusion of wealth and knowledge, accompanied by an un¬
precedented development of talent, all more or less directed
towards military movements, has caused the results of sieges,
and indeed of almost all the operations of war, to depend
much less on individual exertion or casual displays of hero¬
ism, than on mere combination and expenditure. This
may be made apparent by a slight retrospect of the sieges
of the sixteenth century.
At the period here referred to, the art of disposing the
several works of a fortress so as to cover each other, and
to be covered by their glacis from the view of an enemy,
was either unknown or disregarded ; whilst the small quan¬
tity of artillery in use, its unwieldiness, and the great ex¬
pense and difficulty of bringing it up, occasioned so little
to be used in sieges, that the chief object in fortifying
towns was to render them secure against escalade and sur¬
prise, by means of lofty walls or altitude of situation. All
places fortified prior to the sixteenth century are invari¬
ably of this construction. And as the simplicity of the
fortresses to be attacked necessarily gave the same charac¬
ter to the operations directed against them, so, in those
days, everything was effected by daring courage, without
the aid of science ; and gallantly contending in individual
combat, or fearlessly confronting danger, were considered
as the highest qualities of a besieger. Thus the contest
dragged on for months, in petty but sanguinary affairs, and
the most persevering or the most hardy troops, however
ill organised or supplied, were the most dreaded, and not
unfrequently the most successful. But when artillery be¬
came more moveable, and large quantities began to be
employed in sieges, lofty and exposed walls no longer op¬
posed any adequate barrier ; large breaches were speedily
effected; places which had formerly resisted for months
were carried in a few days ; and hence, in order to restore
an equality of defence, it became necessary to screen the
ramparts from distant fire. The attempt to gain security
by concealment rapidly advanced towards perfection, whilst
the means of the besiegers remained the same ; and between
the middle of the sixteenth and commencement of the
seventeenth century, works were so skilfully disposed and so
well covered, that the defence of towns obtained a temporary
superiority over the attack as the latter was then practised.
Of this the obstinate and successful defences made by the
Dutch against the Spaniards during the reigns of Philip II.
and Philip III. may be cited as remarkable examples.2
The pre-eminence of the defence over the attack was
mainly due to the great difficulty of dragging up heavy
ordnance with a besieging army, so that the weight of metal
being generally in favour of the besieged, the fire of the
fortress was enabled to keep in check that of the batteries
of attack. Vauban, however, in the reign of Louis XIV.,
restored the preponderance of power to the attack by the
invention of ricochet fire, as the guns of the besieged were
1 De VAttaque et de la Defense des Places, pp. 1 and 2. Hague, 1737, 4to.
2 Journals of Sieges in Spain, by Colonel Sir John T. Jones; Preliminary Observations on the Attack of Fortresses.
824 F O R T I F I
Fortifica- thereby dismounted or disabled at an early stage of the
tion. siege, and the besiegers were enabled to push forward their
v'—v—'' approaches by the sap, being relieved in great measure
from the dangers and difficulties of a direct and powerful
opposing fire of artillery. Vauban also matured into a
system the attack by laying down rules for the establish¬
ment of parallels, for the location of enfilade and other bat¬
teries, and for the general conduct of the approaches. The
real type of an attack is a moving parapet, the besieger
carrying on with him his cover, and thus depending for his
success not so much on his offensive as on his defensive
arrangements. It was by this combination of science and
labour, aided by the steady advances of brave and well-
trained sappers, that the reduction of fortresses, which would
have resisted for ever the rude assaults of the most deter¬
mined enemy, was rendered comparatively easy and certain.
These increased means of attack, to which it was found
impossible to oppose a successful resistance, caused the art
of concealment or covering to be further studied, till at
length, in well-constructed fortresses, not a single wall re¬
mained exposed to view, and the sap and the mine became
as necessary as the gun and the mortar to the success of a
besieger. To render this intelligible to the general reader,
it may be proper to introduce here a descriptive sketch of
the progress of a modern attack, from the excellent work
of Sir John Jones, already referred to.
“ The first operation of a besieger,” says that able and
experienced engineer, “ is to establish a force able to cope
with the garrison of the town to be attacked, at the distance
of six or seven hundred yards from its ramparts. This is
effected by approaching the place secretly in the night with
a body of men, part carrying entrenching tools, and the re¬
mainder armed. The former dig a trench in the ground
parallel to the fortifications to be attacked, and with the
earth that comes out of the trench raise a bank on the side
next to the enemy, whilst those with arms remain formed in
a recumbent posture, in readiness to protect those at work,
should the garrison sally out. During the night this trench
and bank are made of sufficient depth and extent to cover
from the missiles of the place the number of men requisite
to cope with the garrison, and the besiegers remain in the
trench during the following day, in despite of the fire or
sorties of the besieged. This trench is afterwards progres¬
sively widened and deepened, and the bank of earth raised
till it forms a covered road, called a parallel, embracing all
the fortifications to be attacked; and along this road, guns,
waggons, and men securely and conveniently move, equally
sheltered from the view and the missiles of the garrison.
Batteries of guns and mortars are then constructed on the
side of the road next the garrison, to oppose the guns of the
town, and in a short time, by superiority of fire, principally
arising from situation, silence all those which bear on the
works of the attack. After this ascendancy is attained, the
same species of covered road is, by certain rules of art, car¬
ried forward, till it circumvents or passes over all the exte¬
rior defences of the place, and touches the main rampart
wall at a spot where it has been previously beaten down by
the fire of the batteries erected expressly for the purpose in
the more advanced parts of the roau.
“ The besiegers’ troops being thus enabled to march in
perfect security to the opening or breach in the walls of a
town, assault it in strong columns ; and being much more
numerous than the garrison defending the breach, soon
overcome them, and the more easily as they are assisted by
a fire of artillery and musketry directed on the garrison from
portions of the road only a few yards from the breach ; and
which fire can, at that distance be maintained on the de¬
fenders of the breach until the very instant of personal con¬
tention, without injury to the assailants. The first breach
being carried, should the garrison have any inner works, the
covered-road is by similar rules of art pushed forward through
CATION.
the opening, and advanced batteries are erected in it to Fortifica-
overpower the remaining guns of the place; which effected, tion.
the road is again pushed forward, and the troops march in
security to the assault of breaches made in a similar man¬
ner in those interior works, and invariably carry them with
little loss. But as it is always an object to preserve the
life of even a single soldier, so, when time is abundant, the
loss of men attendant on the assault of breaches under these
favourable circumstances may be avoided, by pushing up
the covered-road through the breach, without giving the
assault, and thus, by art and labour, the strongest defences
frequently fall without any exertion of open force.”
From this description it must be obvious that the most
important object at a siege is to carry forward the covered-
road to the walls of the place ; that all the other operations
are secondary to and in furtherance of such an advance ;
and that hence the efficiency of armies at sieges depends
upon their ability to complete the road at a small expense
of life. But in forming this covered-road, different degrees
of difficulty are experienced in proportion as it advances.
At its commencement, the work being about six hundred
yards from the fortifications, can easily be performed by the
common soldiers. But when the road or trench has ar¬
rived within a fair range of musketry, or three hundred
yards from the place, then particular precautions are re¬
quired ; yet the work at this stage is not so difficult as to
prevent its being executed by soldiers who have had a
little previous training. At the last stage, when the ap¬
proaches have been pushed close to the place ; when to be
seen is to be killed; when mine after mine blows up the
head of the road, with every officer and man on the spot;
when the space becomes so confined that little or no front
of defence can be obtained ; and when the enemy’s grena¬
diers sally forth every moment to attack the workmen, and
deal out destruction to all less courageous or weaker than
themselves; then the work becomes truly hazardous, and
can only be performed by selected brave men, called sap¬
pers, who have acquired the difficult and dangerous art from
which they derive their name. An indispensable auxiliary
to the sapper, however, is the miner, who, in the exercise
of his art, requires even a greater degree of skill, conduct,
and courage. The duty of a miner at a siege is to accom¬
pany the sapper, to listen for and discover the enemy’s
miner at work, and to prevent his blowing up the head of
the road, either by sinking down and meeting him, in which
case a subterranean conflict ensues, or by running a gallery
close to that of his opponent, and forcing him to desist from
working by means of suffocating compositions, and various
arts of chicanery, the knowledge of which he has acquired
from experience. Without the aid of skilful miners, sappers
would be unable to execute that part of the covered-road
forming the descent into the ditch, not to mention other
operations in the progress of which the assistance of the
miner is equally indispensable; and without their joint la¬
bours and steady co-operation, no besiegers’ approaches
ever reached the walls of a fortress. In the British service,
indeed, they are blended into one honourable body, the
Sappers and Miners.
But a siege, though it calls for great personal bravery,
unremitting exertion, and extraordinary labour in all em¬
ployed, yet, if scientifically prosecuted, is alike certain in
its progress and its result. More or less skill and exertion
in the contending parties may in some degree prolong or
abridge its duration; but the sapper and the miner, when
skilfully directed and adequately supported, will ultimately
surmount every obstacle. On the other hand, sieges under¬
taken by armies imperfectly supplied with these auxiliaries,
as the British army once was, are hazardous in the ex¬
treme. Their only chance of success consists in scrutiniz¬
ing the exterior of a fortress, in order to discover some spot
whence, from the irregularity of the ground, or fault of con-
FORTIFICATION.
Fortifica- stmction, the main escarpe wall may be seen at a distance
tion. sufficiently great to enable the ordinary working parties to
^ approach with the covered-road, and there to establish bat¬
teries for breaching the wall or forming an opening through
it into the place. When this is effected, the troops at once
advance to the assault of the breach, as in the sixteenth
century, thus losing the shelter of the covered-road at the
moment when the tire of the place becomes most powerful
and destructive; and as the tire of the besieger’s distant
batteries is necessarily suspended during the assault, in order
to avoid killing their own storming party, the garrison can
therefore with impunity mount their ramparts and employ
every kind of weapon, missile, and instrument in their de¬
fence. All the chances are thus in favour of the besieged;
for should the columns of attack, under all these disadvan¬
tages, arrive in good order at the brink of the ditch, they
must descend into it by a wall from fourteen to sixteen feet
in depth, which cannot fail to break their order and throw
them into confusion; and as no new formation can be at¬
tempted in a spot where death is incessantly showering
down on them, the assailants rush to the breach more like
a rabble than a solid column. From this moment success
hinges on the individual and confident bravery of the officers
and troops, and the unshrinking firmness of the general
commanding, in at once encouraging and supporting their
efforts. But although these qualities, when united in a high
degree, may, at a great sacrifice of life, enable the assailants
to overcome all resistance, yet an assault of this nature,
attempted under ordinary circumstances and feelings, has
almost invariably proved unsuccessful. Indeed it may be
laid down as the general result of experience, that should
an army unprovided with sappers and miners, and the ne¬
cessary materials and means to render their services efficient,
be opposed to a place fortified according to the modern
system, with its walls completely covered, all the usual me¬
thods to reduce it would prove unavailing; no period of
time nor sacrifice of men would be sufficient to purchase
success, and the prudent course would be to decline an at¬
tempt pregnant with hazard, perhaps ruin.
“ These considerations,” says Sir John Jones, to whom
we are indebted for the above account of the various modes
of attacking fortified places, “ have for many years had their
due weight with the great powers of Europe, and induced
them to form and keep up, as integral portions of their mi¬
litary strength, every necessary auxiliary for the reduction
of fortresses ; and their sieges have in consequence become
certain and comparatively bloodless. But England, con¬
stitutionally jealous of permanent military establishments,
always discountenanced military organization and military
preparation till the hour of need ; and with respect to sieges,
they being of rare occurrence, and moreover exclusively
offensive operations, even carried her jealpus feelings be¬
yond the bounds of rational prudence; for, possessing a
corps of officers professionally educated and well grounded
in the science of attack and defence, she denied them every
requisite establishment to render their acquirements avail¬
ing, and most unreasonably expected her armies to reduce
the skilfully fortified and well-covered places of the nine¬
teenth century with means inferior to those brought against
the exposed and ill-constructed places of the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries.” And what was the immediate con¬
sequence of this irrational jealousy and niggardly parsimony?
Contrary to all ordinary calculation, the fortresses garrisoned
by the French in Spain were reduced; but at what a pro¬
digious expenditure of life was this effected ? In the several
attacks upon Badajoz, two of which, from extrinsic circum¬
stances, proved abortive, a little army was sacrificed; as
many men, in short, as would have been sufficient for the
consumption of ten sieges undertaken with adequate means,
and conducted according to the ordinary rules of science.
But this is not to be understood as involving any reflection
VOL. IX.
825
against the military talents of the general or the professional Fortifica-
ability of the engineers. General Foy, in his work on the tio11-
war in the Peninsula, has indeed made such a charge, con-
demning the mode of attacking fortresses adopted by the
British in Spain as unskilful and inefficacious, and bringing
it forward as indisputable proof of the low state of military
knowledge in our army. But it should be recollected that
the adoption of this mode was not a matter of choice, but
of necessity; and that if it was in its own nature rash, ha¬
zardous, and inefficient, the fact of its having been directed
against Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajos with such rapidity of
development and certainty of result as to outstrip the cal¬
culations of the French marshals, deceive the vigilance of
French governors, paralyse the science of the French en¬
gineers, and baffle every defensive effort of the French gar¬
risons, is surely no evidence of deficiency in military talent
and professional skill. The objections to this mode of attack
are insurmountable and decisive ; that it succeeded in the
instances referred to is merely a proof what British soldiers,
even when acting under the greatest disadvantages, are ca¬
pable of accomplishing. The force of the remarks of Sir J.
Jones has not become less by the progress of time, as the
present war found us, not indeed so deficient in well-trained
sappers as we were at the commencement of the last, but
equally so in all the most important elements of modern
organization, and, as regards this special branch of the ser¬
vice, not yet determined as to what the field equipment of
the engineer establishment ought to be. We have still to
learn the importance of that scientific knowledge which
would enable the engineer to vary that equipment so as to
meet the necessities of the geological structure of each par¬
ticular country.
Having thus given a general description of the methods
of attack, wre shall now subjoin, on high authority, a view
of what is considered as necessary for the proper defence of
fortified places. An order issued by the French minister
of war in 1813 contains directions on the subject which are
almost universally applicable, and therefore deserve a place
here. Every commander is directed to consider his garri¬
son as liable to be unexpectedly attacked, and to pass at
once from a state of peace into one of war or siege, either
by rebellion, by unlawful assemblies, by the presence of an
enemy, by surprise, or by sudden assault; in a word, by
unforeseen causes, of which the history of war offers nume¬
rous examples. He is therefore ordered, even in time of
peace, to fix his plan and arrangement for defence, accord¬
ing to such supposed attacks as may appear most probable,
and to determine, for the principal cases which may be likely
to occur, the necessary posts, reserves, and movements of
the troops, and to take measures to ensure the due and
active co-operation of every corps of the garrison. He ought,
particularly, to make himself thoroughly acquainted with,
Jirst, the ground beyond the place which may be within the
circle of action, of investment, and of attack ; secondly, the
fortifications of the place, its interior, its buildings, its mili¬
tary edifices or establishments ; thirdly, the garrison, the
means of the place in artillery, in ammunition, and in other
stores of every kind; fourthly, the population to be sub¬
sisted in time of siege, the men capable of bearing arms,
the master and journeymen artificers fit to be employed
either on the works or in case of fire ; and, fifthly, the pro¬
visions, materials, tools, and other resources which the town
itself and surrounding country can furnish, and which it
might be necessary to secure in case of siege. In order to
enable governors and commanders to comply with these
instructions, which are equally clear and precise, the minis¬
ter proceeds to detail their principal duties, according to
the circumstances in which they may find themselves placed;
but for these we must refer to the general order itself, which
is a masterpiece of its kind, and in all probability emanated
directly from Napoleon himself. Its object appears to have
5 M
826
FORTIFICATION.
Fortifiea- been to inspire a governor with hopes, that by taking
tion. proper precautions, and making a full use ot means pre-
*s—■•'v viously provided, the defence might be rendered equal, if
not superior, to the attack; and although it is still con¬
sidered that the idea of attaining such an advantage for the
defence is far from being realised, yet the importance of
the directions embodied in the order is not on that account
diminished, and where they are duly observed, the nature
and extent of the resistance must be materially increased.
The protracted and able defence of Sebastopol will doubt¬
less lead many to doubt the accuracy of the opinion thus
stated, and to imagine that the Russians have by some new
defensive arrangements solved the problem so long under
discussion, and again restored to the defence its former
superiority over the attack. This idea has indeed so taken
possession of the public mind, that already persons have
been found ready not only to assert the supposed fact, but
also to explain the mode in which the improvement has
been effected; whenever Sebastopol shall fall, and as le-
gards the southern defences, the period of such fall seems
approaching, this delusion will doubtless be dispelled, and
the real merits of the Russian engineers will be found to
consist not in the discovery of new principles, but in the
skilful application of those principles which, recognised at
an early period, have been by degrees matured and enlarged.
In estimating the comparative results of the attack and de¬
fence of Sebastopol, it must also be remembered that neither
can be judged by strict rules, as neither has conformed to
such rules. The north side being left open by the impos¬
sibility of fully investing the whole line of defences, the
south became a detached line of powerful intrenchments,
upon which the whole force of an army, not of a garrison,
could be directed at will in its defence. In another point,
also, the attack has not had its usual advantage, not having
been able to use, with the customary effect, the enfilading
ricochet fire, as the disposition of the line of works was such
as not to offer sufficiently salient points, and therefore to
leave so much to be done by direct fire. The unlimited
extent of the garrison, being capable of continued renewal
from the external army, has permitted the use of detached
forts or works which, when backed by a line in rear of them
sufficiently strong to resist a coup-de-main, constitute one
of the most powerful modes of defence. Such a fort or
work is the celebrated Malakoff Tower, and the redoubt
enveloping it, the type of which may be found in the Lu¬
nette of Darqon, of which fig. 39 is a plan. In this lunette,
intended to be prepared beforehand, T is a powerful tower,
LL a lunette, in this case reveted, butwhich might have been
made, as at the Malakoff, a simple earth-work—c an under¬
ground communication to gg, loopholed galleries for flanking
the ditches. This little sketch will show the general principle
of defence involved in such works, but of course the form
must vary in the hands of an able engineer, so as to suit
the peculiarities of the ground. At the Malakoff the redoubt
has been made circular, but as to principle it is strictly
analogous to the lunette. Hereafter, without doubt, the
details of this remarkable siege will become the study of
military men, but at present it is necessary to select some
other example, as there is as yet far too much uncertainty Fortifica-
as respects the exact form, construction, and position of the
works of Sebastopol to enable an engineer to reason with
certainty upon them.
For the elucidation, then, of the attack, we shall now pro- Siege of
ceed to give a sketch of the attack on the citadel of Ant- the citadel
werp ; first, because this was the most regular and scientific of nt'
siege which had taken place for many years ; and, secondly, werP‘
because, as a practical operation, an account of it must not
only be more interesting, but at the same time more in¬
structive, than any description whatsoever of the formal
theoretical plans which are usually drawn in the military
schools.
The French army employed to cover and conduct the
attack of the citadel of Antwerp, in November and De¬
cember 1832, was placed under the command of Marshal
Gerard, and amounted to 54,000 infantry, 6000 cavalry, and
6450 engineers, artillery, and pontonniers, making a total
of 65,450 men, and 14,300 horses, with 144 pieces of siege,
and 78 of field artillery. On the 24th of November Mar¬
shal Gerard established his head-quarters at the village of
Berchem, about 2500 yards from the citadel, and issued
orders to commence operations in the evening as soon as it
became dark. The garrison of the citadel, under General
Baron Chasse, amounted to 4470 men, with 144 pieces of
ordnance of all calibres, and abundance of ammunition and
stores.
It will be observed here that a garrison of about 5000
men was opposed to the attack of a besieging army thirteen
times its strength.
At eight o’clock p.m. on the 29th November the French
troops destined for this service consisted of 18 battalions,
900 artillery, and 400 sappers, in all about 17,140 men, as¬
sembled at the depots of intrenching tools. The flank com¬
panies of these brigades, supported by twelve eight-pounders
and a strong piquet of cavalry, formed the covering party
under the direction of General Haxo, by whom and the
officers of his department (the engineers) the first parallel
and approaches were traced out, whilst General Niegre and
the officers of artillery marked the sites of the projected bat¬
teries. The first parallel leaned on the covered-way of the
right face of Montebello, and extended towards Kiel, its
nearest point being about 325, and its farthest 435 yards
from the advanced front of the citadel. The distance co¬
vered by the first parallel, from right to left, was 1870
yards, and that by the approaches 3750 yards. The com¬
munications from the right and centre debouched from the
Malines Chaussee, in the village of Berchem, parallel to the
road leading from that village to the Harmony and St Lau¬
rent ; that from the left commenced near to the garden
called Heinrich’s; whilst a fourth, on the extreme right,
sprung from the covered-way of the left flank of Montebello,
opposite to the first traverse.
On the second night, from 30th November to 1st De¬
cember, five approaches were pushed on in front of the first
parallel; two in the direction of the capital of the Toledo
bastion, two upon that of the Lunette St Laurent, and one,
being the fifth, terminating in a place of arms on the ex¬
treme left. From the 1st to the 2d December two zigzags
were added to the approaches; one from the centre, in the
direction of the gorge of St Laurent, and the other on the
right, diverging towards the curtain, between the Toledo
and Fernando bastions. The badness of the weather sadly
incommoded the workmen, and prevented the artillery get¬
ting the guns into battery. Between the 2d and 3d De¬
cember four zigzags were made in front of the approaches
on the right and centre, and half a parallel was formed to
complete the place of arms constructed on the left during
the night of the 30th November. The heads of the zigzags
were pushed to within 135 yards of the glacis. The bat¬
teries Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 9, with two for mortars
F ORTIFI
Fortifica- in the rear, were armed, and ready to be unmasked at a
tion. moment’s notice. The arming of Nos. 7, 8, and 10, on the
extreme left, was impeded by the difficulties of the ground.
From the 3d to the 4th December, the second parallel was
traced and commenced, its right leaning on the foot of the
glacis of the counterguard, its centre and right 130 yards
distant from the place of arms in the covered-way of the
Toledo bastion, and its left towards the right of the covered¬
way of St Laurent, at 90 yards from the crest, and 15 from
the foot of its glacis. The length of the second parallel was
1250 yards, and, together with its approaches from the first
parallel, it occupied 3025 yards of ground. By the greatest
exertions batteries Nos. 7, 8, and 10 were armed during the
night. This completed the armament, and, at 11 a.m. on
the 4th, the embrasures were unmasked, and the signal
being given, the batteries opened their fire from centre to
flanks, and maintained it steadily during the day.
From the 4th to the 5th of December an approach was
pushed on from the second parallel, almost in a direct line
upon the salient angle of St Laurent, and an entry was made
into the covered-way by a return to the left. The garrison
discovered this, and opened a sharp fire from the lunette ;
a lodgment was, however, effected near the spot usually oc¬
cupied by the first traverse. At this time the garrison suf¬
fered much from the fire of the besiegers. From the 5th
to the 6th the lodgement made the previous night in the
covered-way of the salient place of arms of St Laurent was
prolonged as far as the first traverse. But the besieged
kept up so vigorous a fire that the French engineers were
obliged to renounce the flying and adopt the full sap. The
zigzag in the counterguard, being about three feet in width
and four in depth, was conducted along the parapet, nearly
to the extremity of the right flank, and within 180 yards of
the counterscarp of bastions Toledo and Fernando; and
two lodgments, blinded with fascines, were made in the
parapet for six rampart guns to enfilade the covered-way of
the Toledo bastion. In the meantime a steady fire was kept
against Kiel, the ravelin in its rear, and the Paciotto bastion.
From the 6th to the 7th a battery of 24-pounders near the
village of Burcht on the left and Hoboken on the right
opened on the gun-boats which flanked the French post at
the Melk Huys. It was intended to assault St Laurent this
evening ; but as the lunette was found to be too well pro¬
tected by trous-de-loup, the project of storm was aban¬
doned, and the regular method of descent, passage, and
mine, determined on.
Between the 7th and 8th of December a shell penetrated
the blindage of the laboratory, and setting fire to loaded
bombs and other combustibles, caused considerable havoc.
A battery for six mortars, E, on the right between Nos, 3
and 4, now opened its fire ; another, F, also for six mortars,
was traced behind the centre of the parallel; and platforms
for four mortars were laid down near Montebello. rIhe
fire of these batteries was directed on the Toledo bastion
and the buildings within it. On the previous day jets of
smoke and flame were seen to issue from the Great Bar¬
racks, and, in spite of every exertion on the part of the gar¬
rison, the whole building soon became involved in a general
conflagration, which raged with such fury, that by the even¬
ing of the 8th it was entirely consumed.
From the 9th to the 10th of December the operations
against St Laurent were renewed with great activity, and
the sap advanced to the crotchet of the second traverse,
whilst that intended to debouch upon it from its r:ght was
likewise pushed on. The principal operation of the night,
however, was the opening of the third parallel, 130 yards in
advance of the second, its right debouching beyond the
Boom Chaussee, from the branch running into the covered¬
way of the counterguard, and its left uniting with the boyau
parallel to the foot of the glacis of St Laurent. At this time
the garrison suffered much from the vertical fire of the mor-
CATION. 827
tars and howitzers, especially the great mortar, and the new- Fortifica-
model eight-inch howitzers. Until the year 1822, the eight- tion.
inch howitzer in common use in France measured three feet
six inches French, and weighed 1096 lb., or twenty-three
times the weight of the loaded projectile, whilst its calibre
was equal to a solid shot of 80 lb., and contained 65 ounces
of powder. The new-model howitzer is an improvement
on the Russian licorne and the Spanish heavy howitzer, per¬
fected by Colonel Paixhans. The raft for the blinded de¬
scent into the ditch was brought up to the lodgment, and a
second descent d del convert was commenced to the left of
the first. The third parallel was, at the same time, improved
and widened. A little after dusk on the 10th the besieged
made a sortie, which was driven in, but not until damage
enough had been done to occupy the French all the night
of the 10th and morning of the 11th in repairing it. From
the 11th to the 12th three rafts were got ready, and placed
in the descents to the ditch; they were about twelve feet
by eight. At dusk the miners returned to the escarpe, and,
in an excavation made the previous night, fixed two petards,
which, by their explosion, produced a fissure in the wall;
and a serjeant having immediately entered the hole, com¬
menced a gallery under the centre of one of the arches. At
11 a.m. on the 12th the battery mortars, H, on the ex¬
treme right of the second parallel, opened their fire, which,
combined with that from the others, told severely on the
Toledo bastion. The miners still continued their work
under the lunette St Laurent, and commenced chambers
for three mines. The fourth parallel was widened during
the day.
Between the 12th and 13th of December the miners were
at work in the chambers under St Laurent, which were not
yet completed. On the right the covered-way of the left
face of the Toledo bastion was crowned to within sixty-five
yards. From the 13th to the 14th, after nearly sixteen
nights of open trenches, the arrangements for the assault
of St Laurent were completed, and orders were issued to
prepare for the storm. Much, a great deal too much, was
said of this out-work, defended by little more than a hun¬
dred men, one five-and-a-half inch howitzer, two coehorn
mortars, and a six-pounder. The mine being reported
charged, the blinded descent into the ditch was pierced as
soon as it became dark, and everything got ready for the
assault. Three storming parties, consisting of the flank
companies of the 65th regiment of the fine, were posted in
readiness, with a column of reserve ; and at 5 a.m. on the
14th, every preparation being completed, the match was
applied to the saucissons of the mines. After a few mo¬
ments of suspense, three successive explosions took place,
and the escarpe immediately presented a wide and practi¬
cable breach. The fascines for crossing the ditch had been
injured by the explosions ; but after a little delay the storm¬
ing party entered almost without opposition, and made pri¬
soners one lieutenant and forty-eight rank and file, the others
having escaped into the citadel. Thus fell the lunette St
Laurent.
After this operations were carried on against the citadel,
and at 11 a.m. of the 21st December the battering in breach
commenced, and continued for two days. At length, on
the 23d, when a practicable breach had been formed, and
Marshal Gerard was about to deliver the assault, the garri¬
son surrendered, after as gallant a defence as any recorded
in military history, though more remarkable for its passive
than its active character. When Marshal Gerard, accom¬
panied by the French princes, entered the fortress, they
found General Chasse in a casement in the Alba bastion,
which he had occupied during the siege. On their pro¬
gress from the gate to the governor’s quarters, they passed
through a scene of desolation and ruin, intermixed with
painful and disgusting objects, which baffles all description.
The whole, indeed, presented an unparalleled chaos of black
828
FORTIFICATION.
Fortifica¬
tion.
and smouldering destruction ; and, with the exception of
the principal powder magazine, two or three service maga¬
zines, and the hospital, not a building was standing. 1 he
terrepleins of the bastions were ploughed into deep ruts by
the shells; the gorges were encumbered with heaps ot
fallen rubbish ; and though the casemates and subterranean
communications were not perforated, all of them had sus¬
tained damage from the incessant explosion of shells, and
they emitted an offensive, nay, almost insupportable odour,
caused by the number of men who had been crowded into
these vaults. Everything was of course said by the victors
to console and flatter the vanquished. When Count Gerard
took his leave of General Chasse, he observed to the brave
veteran, “ that it was high time to surrender ; that he had
gallantly and honourably done his duty, and that he ought
not to have held out a day longer.” With a fortress re¬
duced to a heap of ruins, a garrison exhausted and ex¬
tenuated, and a breach sufficiently wide to admit a column
formed upon a front of a hundred, it would not have been
bravery, but madness, to attempt, under such circumstances,
to stand an assault.
The following is a list of the different batteries, with the
direction of their fire respectively
f
No. of
Bat¬
teries.
11
fl2
I 13
! E
F
G
H
K
14
15
16
Distance
in
Y ards.
14
20
Direction of Fire.
( 535 &
1550
500
640
650
( 630 &
1 430
700
( 380 &
1 700
465
820
( 650 &
1 520
850
1000
1050
850
Battering the left face of Toledo
and gorge of St Laurent.
Ricochetting the left face of To¬
ledo.
Battering the left face of the Ra¬
velin.
Ricochetting left face of the Ra¬
velin.
Battering right face of Toledo
andRioochetting left of Toledo
Ricochetting left face of Toledo
Ricochetting left face of St Lau¬
rent, and battering right face
of Paciotto.
Ricochetting left face of Ravelin
Battering salient angle of Pa¬
ciotto.
Battering left face of Ravelin
and Lunette of Kiel.
Not armed.
Body of the Citadel.
40
10
500
435
220 &
275
500
490
650
380
600
50
350
125
250
Battering the right face of To¬
ledo.
Battering the Batardeau.
Battering the left face of Ravelin
The body of the Citadel.
Breaching Battery.
Counter-battery against the left
flank of Fernando.
Six pierriers on the Ravelin and
Toledo.
Terreplein and rampart of To¬
ledo.
This operation, so instructive in a military point of view,
is also remarkable as having occurred in a time of general
peace. It would be out of place here to enter into any de¬
tail of the complicated series of events and negotiations out
of which so singular an occurrence arose : we shall therefore
content ourselves with observing, generally, that Great
Britain and France, as joint guarantees for the integrity and
independence of Belgium, having failed in every attempt to Fortifica-
procure the evacuation of Antwerp by means of negotiation, tlon*
were obliged, by the faith of treaties, to have recourse to V*'''
force. Hence the siege, politically considered, is to be
viewed merely as an ejectment executed against the king
of Holland, who had refused to renounce possession, unless
compelled to do so.1
The French brought against this place 66,450 men,
14,300 horses, and 222 guns of all descriptions ; and they
lost during the siege 108 killed and 695 wounded, total put
hors de combat 803. The Dutch had 4937 men in the gar¬
rison, of whom they lost 122 killed, 369 wounded, and 70
missing, total 561.
A careful comparison of the details of this siege with the
general principles which have been enunciated will enable the
reader to recognise the importance of the following maxims.
1. Independently of the great amount of labour to be
provided for in the construction of parallels, approaches, and
batteries, there will be a daily drain upon the besieger’s
forces by casualties, so that he can scarcely expect for suc¬
cess unless his original preponderance in numbers has been
such as to leave him at the final moment of assault in a con¬
dition to attack the diminished garrison with an overwhelm¬
ing force. In addition, therefore, to a covering army when
external relief is threatened or anticipated, the besieging
army should be from four to five times the strength of the
garrison, or even more, should the nature of the ground, as
at Sebastopol, add to the ordinary difficulties of approach.
This superiority of force is necessary to give celerity and
steadiness to the operations, which would otherwise be
tedious and interrupted.
2. A perfect investment is not merely expedient but in¬
dispensable. So long as any portion of the enceinte of a
fortress is left open or unwatched, the garrison is able to re¬
cruit its strength from without, whilst within it is relieved
from that moral depression which must, more or less, oppress
men when entirely closed up within a narrow space, and ex¬
posed, day after day, to fatigue and danger. Under such
circumstances there seems to be no natural limit to the
power of defence, as fresh supplies of men enable the be¬
sieger to go on adding intrenchment within intrenchment,
and it is only possible to overcome him by determined, re¬
iterated, and overwhelming assaults. Such have been the
circumstances of Sebastopol, as the system of attack adopted
by the allies has never enabled them to isolate even the
southern section of the fortress, the means of communica¬
tion between the south and north remaining available to
this day. Without doubt fresh troops, or rather reliefs, are
brought to the south side frequently, and a temporary supe¬
riority in numbers on that side given to the defenders over
the immediately attacking force. It ought not, therefore,
to be a matter of surprise that the progress of the siege is
slow, and, to the eye of the general observer, uncertain, be¬
cause so frequently interrupted.
3. Good and secure lines of communication are most
essential, as there ought not to be any cause of interruption
when once the ground has been broken and the siege com¬
menced. Neither in the attack nor in the defence should
guns be fired idly, or from distances and positions which
would render their fire useless ; but when the proper dis¬
tance has been arrived at, battery should succeed battery as
the works of approach advance, and no interval for rest or
for repairing injuries should be allowed to the besiegers;
but how can this object be ensured with roads so heavy and
bad as to stop the transport of ammunition and of ordnance ?
4. The importance of advanced works was strongly ex¬
hibited at the siege of Antwerp, as the whole force of the
attack was directed against the advanced lunette St Lau-
1 The account of the siege given above is abridged from that published in the United Service Journal, and which is decidedly the best
that has yet appeared.
F 0 R T I F I
Fortifica- rent, whilst the defence was good, although under the dis-
tion. advantage of wanting the collateral defence of the Lunette
Montebello (see Plate CCLXII.) In such a case as Sebas¬
topol, the garrison being in fact a small army, such works
must afford the best means of an obstinate defence, and, by
forcing the besieger to act on the circumference of a larger
circle, diminish very much his ordinary advantage of con¬
centration.
Siege of Dantzic.
Having thus given an example of an interior and pas¬
sive defence, we shall now, in further illustration of the
principles already laid down, advert to one of a different if
not opposite kind. The siege of Dantzic, whether con¬
sidered with reference to the magnitude of the operation,
the difficulties to be surmounted by the besiegers, or the
active and varied character of the defence, was certainly
one of the most memorable events in the campaign of 1807.
Before the war of 1806 and 1807 the fortifications had been
much neglected, because, from the position of the place, no
one suspected that it would have to sustain a siege. But
when the battles of lena and Auerstadt had entailed destruc¬
tion on the Prussian army, and laid open the kingdom,
General Manstein, who commanded at Dantzic in the ab¬
sence of Field-marshal Kalkreuth, the titular governor, had
laboured with much activity in improving the exterior works,
and particularly in causing them to be strongly pallisaded.
It is necessary, therefore, to describe the principal defences
at the period when the place was invested by Marshal Le-
febvre, at the head of the tenth corps of the grand army,
and immediately before the commencement of the trenches
on the 1st of April 1807.
The city of Dantzic, traversed by the Moltau, was sur¬
rounded with large ditches filled by that river, the waters of
which, retained by several sluices, formed, to the eastward,
a vast inundation, which, reaching on one side to the suburbs
of Ohra and St Halbrecht, and on the other to the dykes
of the Vistula, extended about four leagues, and covered
two-thirds of the eastern fronts. On the north the Vistula
runs about 260 yards from the covered-way, leaving a space
between the left bank and the glacis of the place, consisting
of an impracticable marsh, intersected by some canals; and
at its embouchure, distant nearly three miles, the banks were
defended on the right by the fort of Weichsemlunde, and^
on the left by an intrenched camp in the small island of
Neufahrwasser, intended to cover and protect the arrival of
such succours as might come from the seaward. The
ground adjoining the banks of the Vistula being intersected
by canals and covered with marshes, was extremely unfa¬
vourable to a besieger, as it rendered it difficult for him to
form establishments or raise works of proper solidity, and
forced him to extend his quarters, disseminate his troops,
and multiply his posts. At the period in question this in¬
convenience was the more severely felt, because the be¬
sieging force was inferior in numbers to that of the garrison,
and it required the most vigilant caution to occupy nume¬
rous posts without unduly weakening it. The communica¬
tion between the place and the fort of Weichselmunde was
maintained by a series of redoubts constructed on the bor¬
ders of the Vistula, and particularly by the advantageous
position of the isle of Holm, which enabled the besieged so
to approximate the fire of the place to that of the fort as
only to leave between them an interval of about 1400 yards,
and also to communicate with Weichselmunde by the canal
of Laack, in spite of batteries which the besiegers might
establish at Schellmuhl. The French, therefore, could not
attempt to throw a bridge over this part of the Vistula until
CATION. 829
they had made themselves masters of the isle of Holm. On Fortifica-
the west two chains of hills, separated by the valley of Schid- tion.
litz, covered this part of the enceinte; and the prolonga-
tions of these hills were crowned by two forts, that of
Bischopsberg and that of Hagelsberg, which, being con¬
nected by continuous intrenchments, formed a second en¬
ceinte, flanked upon one side by the inundation of the Mol¬
tau, and upon the other by the left bank of the Vistula.
This new enceinte, though constructed of earth, and with¬
out revetement, was nevertheless secure against insult; and
as the covered-wav, as well as the foot of the scarps and
counterscarps, bristled with strong fraises, which served in¬
stead of revetements, the besiegers had no hope of succeed-
ing by a coup-de-main, and were therefore obliged to pro¬
ceed by a regular attack. How analogous was this condi¬
tion of the lines of defence to that of southern Sebastopol
after the besiegers had allowed the garrison to recover from
their first alarm, and under the guidance of able engineers
to place their old works in order, and to supply their defi¬
ciencies by new works.
From this description of the defences ot Dantzic, it is
easy to perceive that the difficulties attending the operation
must have been very great. The principal of these, as stated
by General Kirgener,1 who, until the arrival of General
Chasseloup, directed the attack, were, 1st, that Marshal
Lefebvre had at first an army inferior to that of Marshal
Kalkreuth, and that this army was in a great measure com¬
posed of new troops, all those destined for the siege not
having then arrived; 2dly, that, owing to the badness of
the roads and the inclemency of the season, the artillery ex¬
perienced the greatest difficulty in bringing up its convoys,
whilst the establishment of the batteries was retarded, and
a scarcity of ammunition sometimes prevailed; Sdty, that
the place requiring an immense circumvallation, which, in
fact, could not be completed until after the arrival of rein¬
forcements, the corps of troops which occupied the quarters
were extremely weak, and hence could neither furnish a
sufficient number of workmen at a time, nor even the
number of men necessary for guarding the trenches; and,
4thly, that the besiegers had no good plan of the place,
no idea of the depth of the ditches, and that, as the acci¬
dents of ground in front of the fortifications were extremely
diversified, they could only be reconnoitred in proportion as
the works advanced. These circumstances, all of which
were reproduced at Sebastopol, the necessity of concentrat¬
ing the greater part of the troops close to the camp of Neu¬
fahrwasser, by which succours arriving by sea might de¬
bouch, and, lastly, the advantage which the besieged had
been able to preserve of remaining masters of part of the
suburbs, determined the chief engineer, after the investment
had been effected, to direct the principal attack against the
Hagelsberg, and a false one against the Bischopsberg fort.
The true point of attack was the long branch of lines in the
plain connected with the bastion on the right of the Hagels¬
berg : “ c’etait la le defaut de la cuirasse but, for the rea¬
sons above stated, General Kirgener was induced to direct
his approaches against the fort itself.
As the details of this great siege would fill a considerable
volume, all that our limits permit us to attempt is merely
to indicate the principal occurrences. On the 1st of Feb¬
ruary 1807 the troops of General Dombrowski began to ap¬
proach Dantzic, and took up a position at Mewe, upon the
left bank of the Vistula. On the 15th General Menard,
commanding the Baden contingent, arrived at the same
point, and repulsed a detachment of the garrison of Dant¬
zic, which had advanced from Dirschau to attack him.
On the 23d General Dombrowski, having been reinforced,
1 This officer, the head of the engineer staff, and one of the most distinguished in that branch of the service, fell on the field of battle
at Bautzen, where he received his death-wound from the same ball which killed Duroc, the grand marshal of the palace, and the intimate
friend of Napoleon.
830
F O R T I F I
received orders to attack a large detachment of the enemy
which occupied an advantageous position at Dirschau and
its environs. The combat here was obstinate and sangui¬
nary ; but the Prussians, though intrenched in a church
and a churchyard, were dislodged and driven back, chiefly
by the Poles, who, exasperated by their long resistance,
put to death without mercy all who fell into their hands.
After the combat of Dirschau, General Manstein nolonger
sought to obstruct the distant approaches. The troops
destined to form the besieging army now arrived in succes¬
sion, and the park of artillery began to be formed. On the
12th of March Marshall Lefebvre found himself in a con¬
dition to close in on the place ; and the troops of the garri¬
son having withdrawn, he distributed his own in the follow¬
ing positions: A battalion ol french light infantry at Ohra,
a Saxon battalion at St Halbrecht in the Burgerfeld, and
two others at Tiefensee and Kemlade ; the Poles occupied
Schonfeld, Kowald, and Zunkendin; some battalions took
post at Wonnenberg, Neukau, Schudelkau, and Sniekau ;
the Saxon cuirassiers and light horse were stationed at St
Halbrecht and Guirsehkens ; the 19th regiment of French
chasseurs at Burgfeld, and the 23d at Schudelkau ; the
Baden dragoons and hussars at Wonnenberg, and the Polish
lancers at Langenfurt. On the 16th the marshal attacked
the village of Stolzenberg, which he carried after a warm
resistance, as he did also the suburb of Schidlitz, to which
the Prussians had retired; and on the 18th the place was
entirely invested, with the exception of the eastern part,
which, by the isle of Nehrung, communicated with Kbnigs-
berg. Field-marshal Kalkreuth now arrived in Dantzic,
and assumed the command of the place. The next opera¬
tion of the besiegers was the attack of the isle of Nehrung,
which, after a severe and protracted struggle, was carried
in the most gallant manner, and measures immediately
taken to secure possession of this important conquest. A
bridge was also established on the Vistula, and various
works constructed to check the attempts of the enemy
either on the side of Dantzic or on that of Pillau. At this
time the governor, who, besides the burgher militia, had
under his command a garrison of 18,000 men, made a sortie
for the purpose of destroying the works already commenced
by the besiegers ; but the attempt failed, and the Prussian
columns were compelled to retreat ijnto the place without
having obtained the smallest success upon any point.
As it had been decided that the principal attack should
be directed against the fort of flagelsberg, favoured by two
false attacks, the one directed against the intrenched camp
at Neufahrwasser, and the other against Bischopsberg, and
also by two other secondary attacks on the left bank of the
river, ground w’as broken on the night of the 1st and 2d
April, at the distance of 1600 yards from the pallisades.
The approaches were pushed forward with the greatest
vigour, and on the night of the 11th the second parallel
was commenced by means of the flying sap. On the morn¬
ing of the 12th the marshal ordered the batteries to be
armed, which was accordingly done. On the 13th the
enemy made a sortie in force, attacked the Saxons with
great impetuosity, carried a redoubt constructed upon the
mamelon of Hagelsberg, and even penetrated to the head
of the trenches ; but they were ultimately repulsed, though
not without difficulty and loss. By the 23d all the bat¬
teries of the first and second pai’allels, and those of Stolzen¬
berg, were armed, and emplacements were provided for
field howitzers, in order to throw shells into all quarters of
the city. At daybreak on the 24th the batteries were un¬
masked, and though the garrison returned the fire with the
greatest vivacity, that of the besiegers soon obtained the
ascendancy, committing great ravages in the place. Being
apprised of this circumstance, Marshal Lefebvre summoned
the governor, who replied in a manner worthy of himself.
The fire of the mortar and reverse batteries continued during
CATION.
the 25th, in the course of which a new battery was con- Fortifica-
structed between the low flanks of the Stolzenberg; and tion.
the direction of some others changed, in order to batter the '
right bastion of Bischopsberg, the fire of which had greatly
incommoded the French batteries. During the day of the
26th, the fire on both sides was exceedingly animated; but
at seven in the evening, that of the garrison suddenly
ceased, and a column of 600 Prussian grenadiers, followed
by 200 workmen, soon afterwards sallied out of the place. As
the sortie had been foreseen, however, preparations were
made to repulse it, which was done by a combined attack
in front and on both flanks, in consequence of which the
whole column was either killed or taken. Meanwhile the
works were vigorously pushed forward at all points. 1 he
batteries of Stolzenberg were united with the attack on the
Bischopsberg; emplacements were prepared for batteries
a ricochet; at the attack of the Lower Vistula the works
were continued, and a tongue of land situated at the extre¬
mity of the isle of Holm taken possession of and isolated by
means of a cut; whilst at the principal attack the greatest
exertions were made to prolong the right of the third paral¬
lel, and enlarge the communications. On the 30th April
the batteries of the besiegers, augmented by several pieces
which had arrived from Warsaw, thundered on the place,
in different quarters of which conflagrations now appeared ;
and the besieged replied by the fire of all the batteries of
the front of the attack, directing more than thirty pieces on a
redoubt which fired with the greatest effect. But as the fire
of the besiegers had made little impression on the exterior
fortifications, which were of earth, it was during the first
days of May directed chiefly against the palisades, in order
to facilitate the assault of the place; and the utmost acti¬
vity was at the same time evinced in extending, improving,
and urging forward the attack; whilst, on the other hand,
the garrison showed equal vigour in obstructing the ap¬
proaches and destroying the works of the^ besiegers. In
fact, notwithstanding the address of the French artillery,
that of the garrison still remained effective, because it had
not been possible to ricochet the lines of the fortifications,
and the resources of the besieged in munitions of all kinds
were more considerable than those of the besiegers. In the
whole of these circumstances may be seen a rehearsal, as it
were, of those of Sebastopol; and the reader will, after a
perusal of this description, cease to imagine that the Rus¬
sians had acquired their knowledge of the use and impor¬
tance of earth-works from the writings of any author of
our day. At Dantzic, as at Sebastopol, a powerful army,
guided by a skilful engineer, was enabled to apply the re¬
sources of parapet fortification so effectually in defence as to
baffle for a long time the efforts of the besiegers.
On the urgent recommendation of General Chasseloup,
who had by this time assumed the direction of the attack,
it was now decided that the isle of Holm should be assaulted,
as the possession of it wrould enable the besiegers to con¬
struct new batteries, to take in reverse the front of the at¬
tack. The besieged had spared no pains for the preserva¬
tion of this important post. In the night of the 6th and
7th of May, however, it was attacked, and, alter a desperate
resistance, carried; whilst the possession of it was secured
by works added to the intrenchments which had just been
stormed, and the batteries were turned against the place.
At the principal attack the fire of the besiegers had also
mastered that of the besieged; and Marshal Lefebvre was
preparing to assault the fort of Hagelsberg, when a Russian
corps d’armee under the command of General Kamenskoi
arrived by sea, and disembarked at the intrenched camp of
Neufahrwasser.
At the moment of landing his troops, General Kamen¬
skoi was ignorant of the capture of the isle of Holm, and
he was disconcerted to find such an obstacle to his com¬
munications with the place. I his occasioned delay, which
FORTIEI
Fortifica- proved fatal to his enterprise; for had he attacked irame-
t-1011, diately on landing, it is not improbable that he would have
succeeded. It was only on the 15th of May, however,
being the fourth day after the disembarkation, that he re¬
solved to make an attempt to succour the besieged city.
He began to debouch at four in the morning, and, under
cover of a brisk cannonade, formed his force, consisting of
from 11,000 to 12,000 men, in four columns of attack. The
onset was impetuous, and at first the Russians gained ground,
thrice attempting to penetrate the French line ; but they
were ultimately repulsed at all points, and forced to retreat
with great loss to the intrenched camp. Field-marshal
Kalkreuth made no attempt to second this attack by means
of a general sortie, which would have placed the French
between two fires; and by its failure the fate of Dantzic
was decided. Such was the issue of the only effort made
by the allies to relieve this important fortress.
The works of the besiegers were now pushed forward
with redoubled vigour; and in the course of the following
day preparations were made for the assault of Hagelsberg.
Foreseeing this, Marshal Kalkreuth resolved to make a last
effort to destroy the nearest works of the besiegers, and for
this purpose ordered a grand sortie, which took place on
the evening of the 20th May; but although the Prussians
fought with all the fury of despair, they were at length
driven back, and pursued even into the ditch of the place.
On the 21st the army of siege was reinforced by the arrival
of the troops of Marshal Mortier, part of which had remained
before Colberg ; the marshal himself quickly followed ; and
orders were immediately issued for the assault of Hagels¬
berg. Before giving the signal, however, Marshal Lefebvre
again summoned the governor of Dantzic, who, having no
longer any hope of being succoured, and convinced that the
besiegers were in a condition to make themselves masters
of the fort of Hagelsberg, showed a disposition to capitulate.
A suspension of arms was accordingly agreed to, and this
was followed, on the 24th of May, by a capitulation, the
principal conditions of which were similar to those which
the field-marshal himself had granted to the garrison of
Mayence in 1793.1
The preceding narrative will in so many respects appear
to be an anticipation of the defence of Sebastopol, that it
may be well to remark that such as the two defences have
been in their beginning and progress so may it be expected
that the two sieges will be in their termination—namely,
successful for the besiegers. The Prussians and the Rus¬
sians did everything which bravery and skill could do to
save Dantzic, making at the last a bold and gallant attempt
to raise the siege by a general attack. Already the Rus¬
sians have made several grand sorties, and two general at¬
tacks of no ordinary magnitude and importance, and it may
be expected that before winter they will again endeavour
to force the position of the allies; but should they fail, and
can it be doubted that they will, how can the Emperor of
Russia expect to keep longer from their grasp the just re¬
ward of gallantry and perseverance, almost beyond example,
for which they have been contending! The hope of the
Russians can now only be formed on success in the field,
and as that hope becomes with each successive attempt and
failure less bright, so must the gloom of disappointment and
despair darken until the end shall come, and Sebastopol,
although perhaps in ruins, be abandoned to its fate.
BASTIONED SYSTEMS OF THE NETHERLANDS.
The bastioned system of the Italians was soon carried
CATION. 831
into other countries by their engineers, who were exten- Fortifica-
sively engaged in the service of foreign princes, and it was v tl0D^ j
thus that the celebrated Italian engineer Marchi, coming to
Brussels with Margaret of Austria in 1559, appears to have
introduced the bastioned system into the Netherlands. It
has been shown that in rampart defences, the ordinary
earthen scarp adopted in ditches of parapet works had been
replaced by a masonry revetement as a security against sur¬
prise, in consequence of which, in old Italian fortresses, lofty
revetements were almost universal; but in a country the
soil of which was permeated by water within a few feet of
the surface, such a mode of guarding against escalade would
have been enormously expensive, and in consequence ad¬
vantage was taken of the nature of the country to form
broad wet ditches round the ramparts, and thus, by securing
them from any sudden attack, to render the revetement un¬
necessary. The first example of a fortress surrounded by
simple earthen ramparts without revetements is said to be
that of Breda, fortified in 1553 by Count Henry of Nassau,
and this arrangement required only to be moulded into the
bastioned trace to constitute the ancient system of the
Netherlands, as described by Freitag in 1630. Freitag
made the flanks of his bastions perpendicular to the curtain,
the faces 98 yards long, with a flanked angle not exceeding
90°, and the length of the curtain 149 yards.
Freitag had strange notions respecting his profiles, regu¬
lating the height and thickness of his ramparts not so much
by the resistance they were required to make against artil¬
lery as by the number of sides of his polygon; but disre¬
garding these vagaries of the systematist, the annexed cut,
fig. 40, may be assumed to represent the profile usually
adopted by the Dutch engineers, R being the body of the
place, F the fausse-braye, D the ditch.
Fig. 40.
It will be observed from the profile, that the main ram¬
part is surrounded by an advanced parapet called a fausse-
braye, a work to which reference has ‘been made in a pre¬
ceding page. By this parapet it was intended to obtain a
grazing fire on the ditch, whilst the space between it and
the rampart formed a spacious chemin des rondes well fitted
for the assemblage and movement of troops for defensive
purposes; but great as these advantages are, the fausse-
braye has dropped into disuse, as it was found scarcely pos¬
sible to remain in it under a heavy vertical fire, the shells
either dropping directly, or rolling down into it from the
superior slope of the rampart above. Such shell traps, as
they are called, are scrupulously avoided by modern en¬
gineers, who well know that the improvement of vertical
fire will ere long add materially to the difficulties of defence.
In the recent bombardment of Sweaborg, a tolerable illus¬
tration has been afforded of what maybe done by heavy
mortars, when the shell has been made a better represen¬
tative of a mine than it now is. At present a 13-inch shell
weighs, when loaded, 200 pounds, and may carry with it,
when filled, a charge of 11 lb. of powder, which is ample
for breaking the shell and scattering its fragments, but is
insufficient for producing great effects as a mine. Should
however the projects of Nasmyth and of Mallett be carried
into effect, and there can be little doubt that in a modified
shape and degree they will, the shell becoming a mine will
1 Dumas, Precis des Evenemens Militaires, tom. xviii., chap. 19, p. 123. Relation authentique du Siege de Dantzick. “ Les principals
conditions de la capitulation furent que la garnisoifesortirait avec armes et bagages, drapeaux deployes, tambour battant, meche allumee,
avec deux pieces d’artillerie legere et leur caissons attelSs de six chevaux, pour etre conduite aux avant-postes de I’armee Prussienne a,
Pillau, en passant par Pile de Nehrung, et en cinq jours de marcbe. Cette garnison s’engageait a ne pas servir contre Parmee Franfaise
pendant un an.” (Dumas, ubi supra.)
FORTIFICATION.
832
Fortifica. carry with it 1, 2, or 3 cwt. of powder, to destroy not only
tion. buildin but also earthen parapets and ramparts. Pass-
ing from the ancient Dutch system as described by
Freitag, Marolois, and others, the modern or improved
Dutch system of Coehorn deserves especial attention, and
is represented in Plate CCLXL, fig. 1, which exhibits his
first system.
The oreat characteristic in this system is the combination
of wet and dry ditches, and the use of covering works, or
couvre-faces, intended to preserve the body of the place
from injury till an advanced period of the siege. These Fortifica-
envelopes were first proposed by Diirer, and in like manner tion.
the remarkable orillon of Coehorn is a reproduction on a
moderate scale of the complicated masonry, or casemated
structure of one of his basteien. Coehorn was also well
acquainted with the principles enunciated, and the systems
proposed by the truly eminent German engineer Speckle,
and has manifestly adopted them when applicable to his
purpose. The profile, fig. 41, will best enable the student
to appreciate the difference between the dry ditches of
Fig.
Coehorn and the narrow passage afforded by the fausse-
braye of the older engineers. A, inner or upper bastion;
B, outer or lower bastion ; D1, dry ditch betwixt the two ;
D2, wet ditch.
The profile also exhibits the loop-holed galleries of the
counterscarp, by which a reverse musquetry fire may be
obtained on the reveted scarp of the inner rampart; a sys¬
tem of defence which has since been very generally adopted,
and is most valuable when a secure communication can be
kept up between the galleries and the work which they are
intended to defend. After the great siege of Corfu by the
Turks, and its successful defence by Schullemburg, some
Dutch engineers who had been invited to Corfu by him,
and had taken part in the defence, were employed in add¬
ing detached forts to the old Italian bastioned fronts. In
these works, now partly in ruins and partly destroyed, nu¬
merous examples of loop-holed galleries and loop-holed tra¬
verses may be observed, and they serve to demonstrate,
that though Coehorn adopted in his systematic writings his
reliefs to the aquatic sites of Holland, he developed princi¬
ples and means of defence which were equally applicable
to other sites and other countries. It has been argued by
Bousmard and others, that an opening would be formed by
shells through the couvre-face; and that the flanks of the
bastions would be thereby exposed to the fire of the counter
batteries on the glacis; but it remains yet to be proved
whether such an opening through an earthen mass as is here
assumed to be made by the horizontal firing of shells could
really be thus effected; and the French translator of Zas-
trow, M. Neuens, captain of artillery, justly remarks, “ that if
shells fired horizontally into earthen works are so efficacious
in destroying them, such shells must be a still more power¬
ful instrument in the hands of the defenders for destroying
the besiegers’ batteries.” If indeed, Zastrow himself ob¬
serves, we admit with Coehorn and others, that though the
besieger may succeed in destroying a few feet of the para¬
pet of the lower or outer face of the bastion, he would in
vain by firing horizontal shells into its mass endeavour to
lay open the counterscarp galleries, it must be admitted
that the besieger on mounting the low face would find him¬
self in a most critical position, as all the defences, both di¬
rect and reverse, of the dry ditch, would remain uninjured,
and be in full action against him. These dry or inner
ditches, as greatly facilitating the war of sorties, and the re¬
verse or counterscarp galleries, are defensive arrangements
of great merit, and may, by fitting modification of profile,
be adapted to any site; though, of course, the advantage
possessed by the dry ditches in such countries as Holland,
of not allowing the besieger to excavate in them without
41.
coming to water, cannot be expected in other sites, and must
be made up for by stone pavements, or other contrivances
likely to embarrass the besieger in his excavation. Coehorn
assumes the plane of site to be only 4 feet above the level
of the water, and the dry ditch of his bastion is at its centre
just on the level of the water, so that a passage by sap be¬
comes impossible, as the spade sinks at once into water; but
near the scarp and counterscarp the ditches only sink 2^
feet, sloping on each side towards the central portion. The
breadth of the dry ditch of the bastion is 98 feet, and that
of the wet ditch before the salient 148 feet. All the slopes
are at an angle of 45°. The whole breadth or thickness of
the couvre-face, measured at the water level, is 52 feet, so
as not to allow room for the besiegers’ batteries; and its
relief of construction only 12^. Ravelin, relief of low face
10 feet, of high face 18^, and the height of its revetement
8 feet; here also the thickness of the low face would not
afford space for forming batteries. The width of the dry
ditch is the same as that of the bastion. These few details,
together with an examination of the Plate CCLXI., and of
the woodcut 41, will enable the student to comprehend the
general principles of this great engineer, and it is rather by
tracing out the several ideas of a master mind, as exhibited
in the peculiarities of his plans, than by studying the plans
themselves as wholes, that the younger engineer will ac¬
quire that store of practical knowledge which will enable
him to vary his own projects, so that they may really be
the best suited for the ground he is working upon.
Coehorn himself exemplified the observations which have
been here made, as he never restricted himself to the rules
even of Ins own system. In fortifying Groningen he was
required to construct works on an eminence which com¬
manded the town, and he adopted a trace which, towards
the exterior, exhibited a series of tenailles, the gorges of
which were closed by small bastioned fronts constructed
of walls which should be easily breached from the main
works when the enemy had succeeded in gaining possession
of any one of the intervening redans. By this curious
combination of the tenaille and bastioned systems, Coehorn
gave an undoubted proof of his superiority to the narrow
prejudices which prevent many men from adopting the sys¬
tem best suited for the particular place. His example
should be followed by every sensible engineer.
BOUSMARD, CARNOT, CHASSELOUP, DUFOUR, HAXO,
CHOUMARA.
It would be wrong to dismiss the subject of bastioned sys-
t ms without at least some more reference to the works of
FORTIFICATION.
Fortifica- these distinguished engineers than has been given in tracing
tion* the history of this subject. Bousmard makes the faces of
his bastions as well as their flanks curvilinear, the former
convex, and the latter concave outwards; but though from
this arrangement the effect of ricochet fire may be dimi¬
nished, the difficulty of effectually defending the salient from
the flanks is much increased. His great innovation, how¬
ever, consisted in placing the ravelin and its redoubt in ad¬
vance of the glacis of the body of the place, and forming
in front of them a second or advanced covered-way; the
object of the arrangement being to close the main ditch
entirely, so that the batteries should not fire upon the body
of the place through the ditch of the ravelin. The covered¬
way is made en cremailliere, and at each bend there is a sort
of redoubt, or casemated traverse, not a simple hollow tra¬
verse loop-holed, such as those in the detached works of
Corfu. It has been objected to Bousmard’s system that
his advanced works would be speedily taken by turning the
gorges both of the ravelin and its redoubt, but it should be
remembered that the interior slope of both is replaced by a
loop-holed wall, being the front of an arched gallery run¬
ning all round, so that the enemy could not remain within
exposed to the fire from the galleries, as well as to that
from the body of the place. Without advocating the pre¬
cise form and disposition of the works recommended by
Bousmard, it may be reasonably asserted that in every case
of a powerful and well appointed garrison the defence will
gain by assuming an active character beyond the precincts
of the glacis.
It has been already observed that an unmerited indiffer¬
ence has been manifested by many engineers to the merits
of Carnot, principally, it may be believed, from his exag¬
gerated estimate of the effects of a vertical fire of small pro¬
jectiles. Notwithstanding, however, his appeal to imagina¬
tion rather than to calculation, when he assumed that by
substituting 600 wrought iron balls, weighing each ^ lb.,
for the one shell of 150 lb. he might expect with 6 mor¬
tars to project 3600 balls, and to put hors de combat 20
men at each discharge, or in 100 discharges 2000, he was
right in urging the importance of vertical fire. Carnot,
born in 1753, was at an early age a member of the Corps of
Engineers, and for his mathematical works elected a mem¬
ber of several learned societies. At the Revolution he was
a member of the constituent Assembly ; he voted for the
death of the king, distinguished himself in the army of the
North, and when a member of the committee of public
safety, directed in great measure the movements of the
French army. In 1795 he was named minister of war, but
quickly expelled by Barras and exiled the country; but being
recalled, was again, in 1799, appointed minister of war. In
1802 he retired from office, and with that stern integrity
which marked his character and made it resemble so much
the noble independence of Arago, he voted against the ele^
vation of Napoleon to the imperial dignity. Napoleon did
not allow this rigid adherence to principle to disqualify the
patriot for employment, and charged him with the defence
of Antwerp, as he at a later day named him a peer of
France, and confided to him the office of minister of the
interior. After the fall of Napoleon he became a member
of the provisional government, and w7as immediately after¬
wards banished from France. He died at Magdeburg in
1823.
Carnot constructed his scarp without a revetement but
placed a detached loop-holed wall in front of it with a
chemin des rondes between, which is one essential feature
of his system, the wall being constructed with arched
niches in rear so as to shelter the men defending it; the loop¬
holes are in two rows. He provided arched casemates for
mortars on the gorge of his bastion in order to fire upon the
capital, and the loop-holed wall of an inner curtain being
continued along the retired flanks and in front of these mor-
VOL. ix.
833
tar casemates, formed a complete inner retrenchment. Be- Fortifica-
tween the tenaille and the ravelin was an elevated earthen tlon-
cavalier, occupying the position of a redoubt in the ravelin,
before the bastion’s counterguard; so that the whole of the
interior works were maskedby these earthen envelopes. There •
is much ingenuity in these arrangements, and at least as full
an appreciation of the value of earthen works as can be found
in the writings of any modern writer. Carnot’s leading prin¬
ciple however was, that a successful defence must depend
on the active operations of the garrison, and that sorties there¬
fore should be frequent and determined as soon as the enemy
had approached close to the fortress. For this purpose he
removed the revetement from the counterscarp, and formed it
into an easy, or countersloping, glacis to admit of the ready
advance of the troops from the ditch upon the head of the
besiegers’ sap. He supposed that the overwhelming verti¬
cal fire of the 10 mortars in the mortar batteries in the
gorges of his bastions would prevent the enemy from accu¬
mulating large covering parties in the trenches, and that
he should therefore be able to fall upon the working parties
and successfully delay the progress of the works. It has
been shown that Carnot entertained an exaggerated view of
the effects to be produced by a peculiar description of ver¬
tical fire, but the idea of securing his mortars in casemated
buildings is good and has been adopted in one part of
the citadel of Ghent; and it is impossible to study his
works without being benefited by them. Chasseloup was
born in 1754, and died in 1835. He was a lieut.-gene-
ral, and under Napoleon, Lieut.-General of engineers.
Like Bousmard he placed his ravelin in advance of the
glacis, and provided it with a small casemated keep, the
flanks of which are pierced for two guns each. The ten¬
aille is also provided with casemated flanks, and in front of it
is a casemated redoubt or bastionette to supply the place of
the ordinary ravelin, and to flank the salient portion of the
face of the bastion, the general face being by him bent into
two so as to place the salient portion in line with the ex¬
terior side of the polygon and thereby secure it from the
ricochet fire. Casemated redoubts in the re-entering and
salient places of arms, a defensive barrack, and a permanent
entrenchment on the bastion are also included in his ar¬
rangements. De Sellon {Memorial de IJIngenieur Mili-
taire) observes, “ It would indeed be well to force the be¬
sieger to pass through two sieges, if the outworks, pushed
so far forward, had higher scarps, and were not so easily
turned at the gorge; but as the scarp is only 13 feet high,
this possibility of attacking the works by the gorge without a
previous descent into the ditch, presents such serious incon¬
veniences that it is surprising to observe that Bousmard and
Chasseloup should have adopted so defective an arrange¬
ment.” But notwithstanding this strong condemnation, it is
at least doubtful whether such works are not the most suit¬
able for a vigorous defence by a strong garrison, as they
would enable the besieged to fall upon the assailants at the
most critical moment of their attack with a powerful force ;
and further, it may be added, that a skilful engineer would
know how to throw many difficulties in the way of turning
these advanced works, whilst the continuance of the be¬
siegers in them might be rendered both difficult and dan¬
gerous in the extreme.
The most remarkable feature in Dufour’s modification of Dufour.
the modern system is, that one face of the redoubt in the
re-entering place of arms is carried across the ditch, and
connected with the coupure of the ravelin, so as completely
to close the ditch and cover the face of the bastion from
the fire of a battery on the glacis of the salient of the rave¬
lin. Dufour also raised the salient of the ravelin into a
high cavalier, so as to secure the faces from ricochet; and
he proposes that the cavalier shall be formed of gravel or
small stones, so that the fire from the body of the place may
cause the enemy, when he has in part destroyed it, and is
5 n
834
FORTIFICATION.
Haxo.
Fortifica- attempting to form a lodgment, great damage by scattering
tl0n^ about these natural missiles.
v'-’General Noizet has been already mentioned in connec-
Noizet. tion with the modern system, his modification of which is
now the normal system adopted at all the French military
schools. Not adopting Dufour’s mode of closing the ditch
of the ravelin by carrying across it one face of the redoubt
of the re-entering place of arms, he effected this object by
placing a massive mask between the coupure of the rave¬
lin and the re-entering place of arms, from the inner scarp
of which it is separated by a passage. The counterscarp of
the bastion is carried continuously along the inner edge of
the mask, whilst in front of it is a ditch which separates it
from ademi-caponniere forming its counterscarp and covered¬
way, and a glacis sloping down the ravelin of the ditch.
The mask, the lunette redoubt in the ravelin, and the re¬
doubt in the re-entering place of arms, form a combined
series of works of great efficiency for defence, and which
completely cover all but the salient portion of the face of
the bastion. The flank of the bastion, as before observed,
forms an angle of 80° with the line of defence, and the
advantage taken of this in the citadel of Ghent in
forming a most powerful intrenchment in the bastion, with
a curtain as long as that of the main front, has also been
pointed out.
General Haxo wras one of the most able engineers of
modern times. Under Napoleon he distinguished himself
at the sieges of Lerida, Mequinenza, and Tarragona. On
the restoration he was appointed president of the engineer
committee, and directed the construction of the fortifica¬
tions of Belfort, Sedan, Grenoble, and 1’Ecluse. He di¬
rected the operations of the siege of Antwerp, and died in
1838. Haxo did not publish his scheme of defence, nor
did he reproduce it as a whole in the works he constructed ;
doubtless considering, as has been so frequently urged, that
systems, so called, can only be looked upon as the exhibi¬
tion of great principles, not as a rigid rule for their applica¬
tion. His ravelin is made very prominent, and the salient
is formed into a traverse, or mask, casemated and armed with
artillery. Within the ravelin there is a redoubt, and within
that a casemated caponniere or bastionette. The ditch of
the ravelin is closed by continuing the counterscarp across it
wTith a glacis slope into the ravelin ditch, and by this ar¬
rangement the ditch of the redoubt in the ravelin is also
closed. The counterguards, the higher and the lower bas¬
tions, form almost three lines of defence, of which two, the
outer and inner, are powerfully armed with artillery. The
peculiar characteristic of the system is, that the parapet is
thrown back, and made in its trace independent of the scarp,
so that, whilst the latter retains the usual straight line, the
parapet is broken into several portions not in the same line,
and thus secured from the effects of ricochet—an arrange¬
ment of very great merit. Haxo is probably better known
to English engineers as the inventor of casemated batteries
a I’Haxo than from his merits as an engineer, great as they
manifestly were. These batteries are formed in the para¬
pet, and though arched over with masonry are covered with
earth. They are open in the rear to the terreplein, and the
openings in front for the guns are continued into embrasures
formed in an extension of the parapet at these points be¬
yond its ordinary retired position in Haxo’s system. These
batteries are thus secured from the effects of the enemy’s
fire, and when the embrasures are masked are equally hidden
from his view, so that they may at any moment suddenly open
a powerful and unexpected fire upon the besiegers. Being
open in the rear, and connected together by arched openings
between every pair, the circulation of air is sufficient to do
away with the inconvenience from smoke, so generally com¬
plained of in casemated batteries. The batteries a l’Haxo
have been used at Grenoble and Lyons, and in the forts of
Loyasse and Sainte-Foy.
The work of the commandant of engineers, M. Chou- Fortifica-
mara, entitled Memoirs sur la Fortification, was published tion.
in 1847. In this work he maintains the principle, that the ^
direction of the parapet should be independent of that of Choumara.
the scarp, the latter being formed in straight lines, and con¬
sidered permanent during the siege, whilst the former may
be broken into several lines, and may be modified during
the siege so as to facilitate the defence in any direction.
Haxo had in his lessons or studies pointed out the importance
of this principle ; but Choumara was the the first to advocate
it in print, though it should be observed that the castle of
Naples exhibits an early example of the reverse operation, a
new scarp having been built in ifont of the ancient round-
tower forts, so as to change them at the base only into
bastions, whilst the upper portion of the towers became
retired and independent parapets. Choumara, not re¬
lying on the bent trace of his retired parapet as a security
from ricochet, proposed a traverse in the capital of his
bastion, placed outside of the retired parapet, and 33 yards
in length. This traverse, made 26 feet high and 78 feet
wide at its base, would occupy less than two-thirds of the
space of the twelve ordinary traverses required to secure
from enfilade the faces of Choumara’s bastions 164 yards
in length, whilst it would cover not only the bastions but
also the flanks. In addition, however, to the traverse or
mask in the capital, Choumara proposed high traverses,
formed parallel to the flanks, at about 22 yards from the
salients, which would not only secure the faces from enfilade,
but would form secure or interior flanks, as cavalier flanks
commanding and firing over those in front. By making the
cavalier flanks 98 yards long, and casemating them a VHaxo,
15 guns might be placed in each, and the covered-way of the
bastion attacked would be commanded by 30 guns in addi¬
tion to those of the ordinary flanks, whilst the traverse of
the capital would secure the flank cavaliers from ricochet.
Any one who reads and studies these simple and yet effec¬
tive arrangements will not, it is hoped, longer imagine that
the importance of earthen works in their proper place had
been overlooked by modern engineers, even though they
had learnt to value the beautiful and scientific arrangements
of their predecessors. The last and most remarkable sug¬
gestion of Choumara is another illustration of the same re¬
mark, as he proposes to widen his ditch to about 50 yards,
and leaving a passage of communication of 16 yards round
the base of the scarp, to form an interior glacis, sloping
up from the base of the counterscarp towards the sum¬
mit of the scarp, and having a base of 34 yards wide, thus
constituting a continuous mask round the whole escarp. In
respect to countermines, Choumara proposes to replace the
great galleries, which are usually made 6 feet high and 3
feet wide, and which are, as it were, the great arteries of a
system of mines, by large vaulted galleries from 16 to 20
feet wide, pierced through the counterscarp, and continued
as far as the third parallel. Six of these galleries were to
be formed in each front, being placed about 55 yards apart,
and connected together by minor transverse galleries or
branches. Galleries of this magnitude would, in time of
peace, be useful as stores, and in time of war w'ould greatly
facilitate the operations of the miner. The subject of mili¬
tary mining is so extensive in itself, that it must be deferred
to a future article on the subject; but it may be here stated,
that this subterranean warfare exercises great ingenuity,
and requires great skill both on the part of the besieged and
the besieger. The besieged has had the advantage of
forming the main galleries of his countermines beforehand,
but in spite of this a war of mines must generally be in fa¬
vour of a besieger, since every explosion of the mines of the
besieged, however partially destructive it may have proved
to the immediate assailants, must destroy some portion of
the works of defence, whilst each one of the besieger’s
mines must operate in favour of the attack alone. Starting,
FORTXFI
Fortifica- however, with this principle, that a fortress, except in some
tion. situation which renders regular attack impossible, must ul-
timately fall, the real object of defence is to occupy the
enemy for a sufficient time to suit the purposes for which it
was constructed, and in this view of the case the destruc¬
tion of the battery or of the lodgement of a besieger might
materially protract the resistance of the intrenchment formed
in a bastion, and thus enable the besieger to maintain his
ground so much the longer. The most simple form of
mine, and that which may be most readily applied as an
obstacle in the way of the assailant, is the fougasse. It
consists of a chamber placed at the bottom of a simple pit
about 12 feet deep, so as to dispense with the labour of
forming a gallery. The charge is placed in a wooden box,
and both the charge and size of the box may be thus esti¬
mated. When the line of least resistance, or shortest line
drawn from the centre of the charge to the surface of the
earth, which in this case is the depth of the pit, is 10 feet,
a charge of 100 lb. will produce an entonnoir or excava¬
tion, the radius of which is equal to the line of least resist¬
ance, and it has been ascertained that the volume of the
excavation varies with the charge, the line of resistance and
the resisting medium being the same, and that the volume
varies also as the cubes of the lines of least resistance; hence,
therefore, if W represent the weight of the charge, B the
bulk of the entonnoir corresponding to 100 lb. of powder and
a line of resistance equal to 10 feet, and b that of the enton¬
noir corresponding to the charge W and the line of least
resistance R, we have 100: W :: B : ; but as B : 6 :; 103:
R3
R3, we have 100 : W :: 103: R3, and W = —. Now let S
= side of cubical box to contain the charge—55 lb. of
powder thrown loosely in filling one cubic foot, and fe =
U—=0*122 R, or nearly £ R in feet. The pits
v 10 X 5o
for fougasses vary generally from 8 to 12 feet in depth,
and from 3 to 4 feet in width, being made square, and
either secured by being revetted with planks or not, as
the earth is or is not firm enough to support itself; and
for this latter purpose gabions may be used made of dif¬
ferent diameters, so that one may be slipped through the
others which have been previously fixed. I he box for
the powder is well tarred, and when intended to be
left in the ground for some time, it may be covered with
tarred canvas and then put into another box, also taired
both inside and out. The charge is ignited by a saucis-
son or linen tube about an inch in diameter, filled with
powder, and either laid in a wmoden case well tarred, or
suspended in it. The saucisson and its wooden case, or
other covering, whatever it may be, should be sunk some
feet in the earth in conveying it from the charge and pit to
the place from which it is to be ignited, in order to secure
it from accidents as well as from the enemy’s observation
(see wroodcut, fig. 41). In the figure is also represented the
mode in which the fire is applied by what may be called the
fire-box, the end of the trough and powder-hose being in¬
troduced into it. As the object of military mines requires
immediate explosion, it is manifest that the firing must be
effected by some contrivance for producing instantaneous
ignition to be really effective, but this may now be done in so
many ways independently of voltaic action by the use, for
example, of friction and detonating tubes—that it would be
useless to detail them. It is true that experience has shown
how little real injury the explosion of fougasses can do to
an assailant; but, as the moral effect of the belief of their
existence is a certain degree of hesitation oi irresolution,
often greater than that produced by actual casualties fiom
musketry fire, the mine must still be considered, usefid to
defence as an obstacle in the way of the assailant. Loaded
shells packed in a case may be substituted for the ordinary
CATION. 835
charge, the case being formed with a partition, and the Fortifica-
fuses of the shells placed on the lower portion of the case, ^ tl0n- y
passing through holes in the partition, so as to be brought v ~ v ^
into connection with the saucisson or firing-hose in the upper
portion of the case. Another form is the stone f ougasse,
which is probably the most effectual of all. It is constructed
thus : a conical pit is made in the earth about 5 or 6 feet
deep, the axis being directed tow'ards the enemy at an
angle of 45° with the plane of construction, and at the bot¬
tom a charge of 50 lb. of powder is placed in a well-tarred
box. Over the box, and perpendicularly to the axis of the
cone, is fixed a lid, on which as a platform are packed either
stones or broken bricks, which, on explosion, are scattered
over a space of about 60 by 70 yards. It should be laid
down as a rule that means for discharging mines ought to
be provided within the fortress, either by using the voltaic
battery for the purpose, or by preparing openings in the
works through which the powder-hose may be carried.
The last great modification proposed by Choumara is the
extension of the exterior side, and this can no longer be a
matter of doubtful expediency when the effective range of
the rifled musket has become equal to that of smaller ord¬
nance. The length of the line of defence may now be
safely and advantageously fixed at 400 yards, so that mus¬
ketry and artillery may co-operate together efficiently.
Chasseloup had, indeed, also proposed to make his exte¬
rior side about 700 yards long; and he was not a mere
speculative engineer, as he had fortified with great skill
under the orders of Napoleon, Alessandria in Piedmont;
but it must be borne in mind that no greater distance should
be allowed for musketry than is compatible with distinct
vision and a correct appreciation of distance, and further,
that the men intended to use the rifle in a fortress ought to
be well trained for that object, as the loose fire of untrained
men would probably be little better with the rifle than with
an ordinary musket.
CONCLUSION.—GERMAN SYSTEMS OF DEFENCE.
After having traced the history of bastioned defence to
the high state of perfection it has now attained, a brief sum¬
mary of other systems seems necessary to complete the sub¬
ject. It has been shown that no sooner had the Italians in¬
vented the bastioned system of defence, than it found in
every country persons who devoted themselves to what they
considered the improvement of its details: France had its
Errard, its Pagan, and its Vauban; the Netherlands its Freitag
and its Coehorn ; Germany its Speckle ; and it may be as¬
serted that the last-named was at least equal to any of the
others. Germany, however, though it might have justly
prided itself on Speckle, has gone back to Diirer, and adopted
from him the other system of flanking defence, which de¬
pends on the use of casemated galleries, and of capon-
nieres or casemated works thrown across the ditches. Yet
though this has become the result, it is remarkable that the
Germans have taken their systems, as exhibited in the most
remarkable of their modern works, from a French officer—■
the celebrated Marc Rene, Marquis de Montalembert, who
was born in 1713, and commenced his military service as an
officer of dragoons in 1731. He was a person of very varied
acquirements, and became when still a youth a member of
the Academy of Sciences of Paris, but fortification and the
art of war were his favourite studies. In 1776 he published
his celebrated work entitled “ Perpendicular Fortification,
or an Essay on Several Methods of Fortifying a straight
line, a triangle, a square, and all polygons of any number
of sides, giving to their defence a perpendicular direction.
Also, Methods of Improving Existing Defences, and ren¬
dering them much stronger. Also, Redoubts, Forts, and
Field Intrenchments, of a New Construction,” a colossal
work, embracing 11 quarto volumes, enriched with 165
large plates, and which must be considered the source from
836 F 0 R T I F I
Fortifica- which all the modern inventions in this branch of fortifica-
tion- tion have been derived. In referring back to earlier Ger-
z1 man wrjterSj it appears that Rimpler in 1673 proposed a
system which is a combination of bastions with tenailles,
and Landsberg one in 1712 which is purely a tenaille system ;
but both of these adhere to earthen ramparts and parapets,
either with revetements in the first, or without them in the
second, and their systems may be therefore considered an ex¬
tension of the trace of parapet fortification to rampart fortifi¬
cation. ButMontalembert,in his tenaille system, replaces the
simple revetement at the re-entering angles with casemated
works in two stages, thus affording both direct artillery and
musketry for the defence of the ditch and faces of the redans,
the remaining portion of the trace being occupied by an
earthen couvre-face work, with a detached loop-holed gallery
in front of it, being evidently the prototype of Carnot’s de-
tatched revetement. The re-entering casemates were calcu¬
lated to hold 24 guns in two tiers. Behind the couvre-face
was the body of the place of the redan, being also fronted
by a casemated gallery, and separated from the couvre-
face by an inner wet-ditch. In this system, then, the de¬
fence by musketry as well as by artillery is at two levels, the
one at a moderate height above the bottom of the ditch,
and not, as in the old Italian systems, at the high level of
the crest of the parapet. At the gorge of each redan is
placed a formidable casemated tower ; whilst in front of the
main ditch there is a general couvre-face provided also with
casemated galleries, a second or advanced ditch, places of
arms in front of the re-entering angles, a covered-way,
and a glacis.
The polygonal system may be considered as springing
directly from Diirer’s work of the same name, only in this
case the simple earthen ramparts of Diirer are exchanged
for a combination of casemated towers, casemated galleries,
earthen couvre-faces; and the caponnieres, which, as in
Diirer’s, flank the ditches, assume the more artistic form of
bastionettes. In Diirer’s polygon the sides were straight or
unbroken, but in Montalembert’s the centre was thrown
back and formed into an Italian bastioned trace, the faces
flanking the faces of the caponniere, and again, there¬
fore, exemplifying the difficulty of ensuring perfect flanking
defence by any other trace. In forts which formed a tri¬
angle or square Montalembert was rich in resources, though
the massive casemated tower, casemated galleries, and
earthen couvre-faces may be considered the essential ele¬
ments of all. In France, the views of Montalembert
have never been received with enthusiasm, though Cher¬
bourg is fortified in conformity to them, and it was even
alleged that the corps du genie was indisposed to re¬
ceive instruction from an officer of another arm; but it is
more reasonable to suppose that the cherished name of
Vauban has induced its officers rather to direct their at¬
tention to the improvement of the bastioned system, which
they have certainly carried to perfection, than to the de¬
velopment of one depending on such different principles.
In Germany, on the contrary, Speckle is less known than
Vauban, and though probably a thought of Diirer may not
enter into the question, Montalembert’s systems, founded
upon some of his principles, have been readily adopted, and
may be studied in the works of defence of Coblentz. In
all such works masonry defences or casemated buildings
assume a character of the highest importance, but it
should not be forgotten that no masonry can resist the
force of a concentrated fire of heavy guns, and can only be
considered safe when protected by earthen masks or couvre-
faces. The Maximilian towers of the defences of Lintz,
therefore, are not now approved by modern engineers, and
the Russians have exhibited their distrust of the most for¬
midable looking masonry defences, even when opposed to
ships, by closing the harbour of Sebastopol against approach
by sinking a large portion of their own fleet; and this is not
CATION.
to be wondered at, when it is remembered, that to bring the Fortifica-
guns forward in order to give them a necessary latitude of tion-
fire within casemated batteries, the walls must be much cut
into, and therefore greatly weakened. This great defect
of masonry defences is well known to engineers, in addition
to the further evils of smoke in close casemates, but it is
presumed that no one who has read this essay will now ima¬
gine that it was necessary to wait to the present epoch for this
knowledge, as the earthen mask or couvre-face has been shown
to have been applied at a very remote period of the history
of the science. In the earliest periods of the Italian fortifi¬
cation, the necessity of increasing the active power of the
flanks beyond that which could be obtained by their length
alone was strongly felt, and in consequence retired flanks,
one rising above the other, were adopted, as well as case-
mated flanks which admitted of two or more tiers of guns,
thus, as in Montalembert’s system, obtaining a greater num¬
ber of guns by extending the battery vertically. At first
sight this appears a natural mode of gaining a superiority
over the attack, in which the batteries can only be extended
laterally, but in practice the retired flanks were soon found to
be untenable, as those in front were complete shell-traps, and
the casements were practically useless from the difficulty of
clearing them from smoke. The systems of Montalembert
partake of the same defects ; and however imposing the ap¬
pearance of several successive tiers of guns may be, it should
be remembered, that, if covered by the mask, they can only
be partially used when the enemy is at a considerable dis¬
tance, and that the tiers exposed to view may be easily
destroyed by the guns of attack of the calibres now used at
500 yards. Several writers have proposed systems based
upon similar principles to those of Montalembert, but it is
perhaps sufficient here to mention the work of Don Jose
Herrera Garcia (Teoria Analytica de la Fortificacion Per-
manente), as it unquestionably affords the most remarkable
development of the tower system of defence. Garcia pro¬
poses several successive lines of massive casemated build¬
ings or towers, of an egg-shape, connected together with
what may be called casemated curtains. The towers are
surmounted by a parapet, which at the ends next the enemy
is broken into a series of smaller curves, and is retired or
independent of the exterior wall or scarp. As each of these
towers is defensible of itself, the work of forcing a way
through three lines of them would undoubtedly be most
formidable, but of course the .expense of such a system
would be enormous.
The system of the Swedish general Virgin belongs to
the bastioned systems, but it is mentioned here in con¬
trast to Garcia’s, as it disperses in the defences separate
bastioned forts of a form somewhat approaching to Rim-
pler’s, and covered by outworks so arranged as to secure
the inner works from injury until the enemy has effected
his lodgement upon them. These forts were to be sur¬
rounded on all sides by ditches, and connected together by
secure communications. Ingenious as Virgin’s system is, it
is manifest that though the loss of one fort would not en¬
sure the fall of the others, it would at least render all the
interior space inclosed by the line of forts untenable, and
place the town, the arsenal, or other public buildings, at the
mercy of the besiegers. This may be said of all detached
forts, and it must be again laid down as a maxim, that the
ultimate value of such forts, as a means of securing some
important object, depends on an inner line of defence ot a
nature to resist any sudden attack or coup-de-main; and this
principle should be applied to the defences of such places
as Portsmouth and Gosport. Detached forts will be, for
such a purpose, more effectual than a simple continuous
line, as they may be so placed as to keep the enemy at a
proper distance, but they will cease to be of use if an enemy
can safely pass them and attack a defective interior line be¬
hind, incapable of resisting a coup-de-main.
FOR
Fortified Zastrow, in commenting on the systems of Montalembert,
Island remarks, “ the appearance of the system of Montalembert
P has overthrown all which was before considered good and
Fortitu e. exce]]en^” ancj ti-,e Germans have acted upon that dictum
“ both in their teaching and in their constructions; but now
another writer, who, like the early Italian writers on the art
of fortification, is an architect by profession, has endeavoured
to replace the massive masonry woi'ks of Diirer and Mont¬
alembert by equally massive earthen defences- In his system
is seen a ditch 50 feet deep and from 150 to 300 feet wide
to afford earth for a rampart rising at its inner crest to about
60 feet above the plane of construction, and formed into
five concentric parapets, being in fact so many fausse-brayes
of the old Dutch system. Such was the system when first
proposed to the consideration of the corps of engineers, but
now, is it too much to say, partly from the remarks then
offered upon it, the exterior circle has been shaped into some¬
thing very like a bastioned trace, so as to flank the ditches
by strong narrow bastions or caponnieres, thus introducing the
German or Diirer principle in combination with the Italian
one. The Haxo principle of casemated batteries appears to
be that adopted by Mr Ferguson for his guns, and he ima¬
gines that he can thus gain the increased fire of several
tiers of guns without the inconveniences consequent upon
casemated masonry buildings. It is to be regretted that
Mr Ferguson should have charged upon the corps of en¬
gineers illiberality, because they hesitated to publish in their
professional papers a scheme of defence not even then ma¬
tured by its author, and not supported by any estimate of
its cost; and further, because they have pointed out that
the caponnieres or the lower flank of his bastion built up
against the earthen scarp would be destroyed with ease at
a considerable distance, and the main ditch, when dry, left
without defence, as the lofty battery alone could afford it
no protection.
So far from engineer officers rejecting improvement, from
whatever source it may come, it may be asserted with jus¬
tice, that they are quite ready to admit the ingenuity of Mr
Ferguson, though they may not be prepared to admit that
a multiple general intrenchment, without interior flanking
defence, would really render a fortress impregnable ; and
they believe that ere long an accurate description of the
works of Sebastopol will prove that the Russians could not
have derived their ideas of defence from works which, like
those of Mr Ferguson, require ditches of enormous depth,
FOR 837
and ramparts of vast height, the work of great time and Fortitude.
It has been well stated by the French translator of Zas¬
trow, that the reduction of a place may be considered as a
certain amount of work to be performed, the magnitude of
which depends on various elements, amongst which the dis¬
position and nature of the works constitute the most impor¬
tant ; and that the attack has to perform this work in a cer¬
tain time, and with certain means, amongst which the
principal elements are the quantity of heavy artillery, and,
it may be added, the nature of the ground over which the
approaches must be carried. When, therefore, it is said
that a work fortified on Vauban’s first system would fall on
the twenty-eighth day,—on Cormontaigne’s, with a cava¬
lier intrenchment in the bastion, on the thirty-first,—
it must be remembered that this implies the possibility
of steadily advancing the approaches over a soil easily
worked by the sapper; but should the ground be rocky,
and every inch require to be gained by hard and in¬
cessant toil, protracting the time during which the sapper
is uncovered, and therefore greatly adding to the daily losses
of the trenches, these periods may readily be extended to
twice or three times the ordinary length. Southern Sebas¬
topol, for example, has now fallen—the intelligence having
arrived whilst these last few pages have been passing through
the press—and it has cost a year to obtain this signal triumph
over an enemy who has exhibited in its defence the highest
qualities of military skill and bravery. In this remarkable
siege the assailants have laboured under every disadvantage ;
they have toiled over ground most difficult to sap, and they
have been unable to shut off from the enemy, by a perfect
investment, those supplies of stores and men which have
changed a garrison into an army, and enabled the defenders
to keep up to the last that war of sorties and of intrench-
ments which was so strongly advocated by Carnot. When
at length the Russians yielded up the prize, interior intrench-
ments were yet existing sufficient to check the progress for
a time even of victorious soldiers; but the enemy feeling,
that, commanded by the Malakoff, these intrenchments must
have fallen before another day’s attack, and that their re¬
treat would have been then cut off, abandoned them, and
thus again confirmed the experience of more than 150
years, that the attack, when conducted with skill and
bravery by an army of sufficient strength, must finally pre¬
vail. (J- E. P.)
FORTIFIED Island, an island in the Indian Seas, lying
off the coast of Canara, about a mile from the land, a little
way north from the entrance to Lake Onore. The island
abounds in cocoa-nut, palm, and plantain trees, and has
plenty of fresh water. It produces the best kind of cari,
which is used by the natives in painting their houses. Its
name is derived from its fortifications, which were greatly
strengthened by Tippoo Saib, from whom it was taken in
1792 by three British frigates. It is upwards of a mile in
circuit. Long. 74. 27. E.; Lat. 14. 16. N.
FORTITUDE, a virtue or quality of the mind, which is
generally considered to be the same as courage, though in
a more accurate sense the one may be distinguished from
the other. Courage maybe a virtue or a vice, according to
circumstances; fortitude is always a virtue. We speak of
desperate courage, but not of desperate fortitude. A con¬
tempt or neglect of danger, without regard to consequences,
may be called courage ; and this some brutes possess as well
as man. In them it is chiefly the effect of natural instinct;
in man it depends partly on habit and partly on strength of
nerve. But fortitude being the virtue of a rational and con¬
siderate mind, is founded on a sense of honour and a regard
to duty. _
This virtue takes different names, according as it acts in
opposition to different kinds of evil; but some of these are
applied with considerable latitude. With respect to danger
in general, fortitude may be termed intrepidity; with re¬
spect to the dangers of war, valour; with respect to pain
of body or distress of mind, patience; with respect to
labour, activity ; with respect to mpwy, forbearance ; with
respect to our condition in general, magnanimity.
The motives to fortitude are many and powerful. This
virtue tends greatly to the happiness of the individual, by
giving composure and presence of mind, and keeping the
other passions in due subordination. To public good it is
essential ; for without it the independence and liberty of
nations would be impossible. It gives to character that
elevation which poets, orators, and historians have in all
ages rejoiced to celebrate. Nothing so effectually inspires
it as rational piety ; the fear of God is the best security
against every other fear. A true estimate of human life,
particularly its shortness and uncertainty, together with the
numberless evils and temptations to which, by a long con¬
tinuance in this world, we must unavoidably be exposed,
ought by no means to discourage or throw any gloom on
our future prospects, but should teach us that many things
838 FOR
Fortrose are more formidable than death, and that nothing is lost, but
|| much gained, when, by the appointment of Providence, a
Forum, well-spent life is brought to a conclusion.
's—FORTROSE, a royal and parliamentary burgh of Scot¬
land, county of Ross, situated on the N. side of the Moray
Firth, nearly opposite Fort-George, from which it is 2^
miles distant, and with which it has regular ferry communi¬
cation. It was made an episcopal see in the 12th century
by David I., but only a small portion of the cathedral now
remains. It has a handsome episcopal chapel and academy,
and a good harbour, with a depth of 14 feet water at high
tide. The parish church is at Rosemarkie, about a mile
eastward. Sir James Mackintosh received his early educa¬
tion here. Fortrose unites with Inverness, Forres, and
Nairn in returning one member to parliament. Pop. of
burgh, which includes Rosemarkie (1851), 1148.
FORT UNA, in Ancient Mythology, goddess of for¬
tune, was worshipped with especial honours in various parts
of Italy. Her name does not occur in the earlier Greek
authors, w7ho refer the chances of life to the will of Jupiter
and the decrees of the Fates. The worship of this goddess
seems to have been common in Italy at a very early period.
Before the Roman era, the Etruscans (among whom she
was known by the name of Nursia) had erected a temple in
her honour at Volsinii, and the Latins at Prseneste. But
the most splendid of all her temples w7as that at Antium,
which Horace has celebrated in his ode beginning—
0 Diva, gratum quas regis Antium,
and of which the sortes or oracular responses were very
celebrated. Fortuna was sometimes represented as blind,
with winged feet, resting on a wheel, at others with a sun
and crescent moon on her head. The Romans had a tra¬
dition, that when this goddess entered their city she laid
aside her wings and sandals, indicating by this means that
she intended to remain there for ever. Fortuna is men¬
tioned by Roman writers with a great variety of epithets
attached to her name, such as publica, privata, muliebris,
virilis, &c. &c. At Rome alone the number of her temples
amounted to twenty-six.
FORTUNATAl Insulae, the name by which the Canary
Islands were known to the ancients. The Carthaginians
wrere no doubt acquainted with these islands at an early
period; but it was the selfish nature of their policy to con¬
fine such knowledge to themselves, for the sake of the com¬
mercial advantages to be derived from it. It was not, there¬
fore, till the fall of Carthage that the Greeks and Romans
acquired any accurate information respecting the islands on
the west coast of Libya. Statius Sebosus, the friend of
Lutatius Catulus, consul 242 b. c., wdio flourished in the
time of the Cimbrian war, could not have been the first
who made the discovery, though he was probably the first
who gave a description of them to the public. Of this ac¬
count we possess only a few notices by Pliny, who seems
to have derived no information from any other quarter. Yet
there must have been considerable intercourse with these
islands, as we find that Sertorius, when flying before the
superior force of the party of Sylla, was so charmed with
the account of them he received from some sailors, that he
was strongly tempted to take refuge there. The name
seems at first to have been restricted to two, Convallis, the
island of Teneriffe, and Planaria, now Canaria, from which
the Canary Islands derive their name. Ptolemy extends
the name to six islands. (Strab. i. 3 ; Plin. vi. 32 ; Plut.
Sert. 9; see Minano, Diccionario Geoqrafico, &c., Madrid,
1826.)
FORUM, in Roman Antiquity, signified originally the
open space in front of any public building, and was after¬
wards applied to the central square in the ancient Roman
cities where public business was transacted, and where in
the early ages of Rome causes were tried. The forum of
the Romans corresponded to the agora of the Greeks, being
F O S
commonly oblong rather that perfectly square in form, Foscari.
and was surrounded with temples, public buildings, and por-
ticos. The Roman fora were of two kinds, “civilia” and
“ venaliathe former set apart for meetings of the people
and the administration of justice, and the latter for purposes
of trade. The city of Rome itself contained nineteen im¬
portant fora—the forum Antonini, Archemorium, Argenta-
rium, August!, Boarium, Csesaris, Cupidinis, Nervae, Olito-
rium, Piscarium, Piscatorium, Pistorium, Romanum, Sallustii,
Suarium, Trajani, Transitorium, and Vespasiani. Of these
the forum Romanum, Nervse, Trajani, Boarium, and Pisca¬
torium still present many interesting remains of the magni¬
ficent edifices with which they were once adorned. By far
the most important of the ancient fora was the Forum Ro¬
manum, which was for a long time the only one of its kind,
and was at first known as the forum. In later times, when
their number was greatly increased, it was distinguished
from the others by the epithets of vetus or magnum. It
was seven “jugera” or acres in extent, and was situated in
the low ground between the Palatine and Capitoline hills,
not very far from the Tiber; but it does not seem possible
now to fix its exact limits. It was surrounded on every
side by the most splendid buildings of the ancient city—
temples, basilica;, triumphal arches. It contained also many
statues of illustrious Romans, and the rostra or stage from
which the people were addressed, so called from its being
adorned with the beaks of ships taken from the Antiates in
the early wars of that people with the Romans. 1 he forum,
in its widest sense, appears to have comprised the comi-
tium (or place of assembly for the curiae), which was sepa¬
rated from the forum (in its narrower sense the place of
meeting of the comitia tributa) by the rostra. Originally,
orators, wdien addressing the people from the rostra, looked
towards the comitium and the curia; but the younger
Gracchus got a law passed compelling them to face the
forum, and thus acknowledge the sovereignty of the people.
In the comitium or upper part of the forum the laws of the
Twelve Tables were exposed for public inspection, and the
Fasti were afterwards exhibited there on white tables that
the citizens might know on what days it was lawful to tran¬
sact legal business. In 308 b.c. the forum was adorned
with the gilt shields taken from the Samnites, and these
trophies of Roman valour were afterwards annually exhi¬
bited there during the Ludi Romani. One of the most in¬
teresting ornaments in the forum was the Columna Rostrata,
on which were hung the beaks of the Carthaginian ships
taken by the consul Duilius in the first Punic war. Be¬
sides the forum Romanum there were two other/ora judi-
ciaria at Rome, one of them built by Julius Caesar, and the
other by Augustus, to provide for the great increase of
public business during their supremacy. None of the other
fora were at all to be compared either in size or splendour
with these three. A beautiful restored view of the Forum
Romanum was designed by Mr C. R. Cockerell, of which
a reduced plan was published in the “Pompeii” of the So¬
ciety for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.
FOSCARI, Francesco, the celebrated doge of Venice,
was elected to that office in 1423, and retained it for 34
years, dying in 1457, three days after his resignation. He
did good service to his country, both by his foreign con¬
quests and the excellence of his home administration. His
domestic relations, however, were singular. He had the
misfortune to lose three of his sons, and to see a charge of
treason brought against the fourth and last, who was put
on the rack and tortured before his own eyes, while he was
himself compelled to acknowledge the justice of the whole
trial. A very detailed and excellent account of the subse¬
quent persecution of Foscari and his unfortunate son will
be found in the second volume of Smedley’s Sketches oj
Venetian History. Byron’s tragedy of the Fwo Foscari is
based upon this narrative.
F O S
Foscolo, FOSCOLO, Ugo, a distinguished Italian poet and mis-
Ugo. cellaneous writer, was born about 1777 on board a Vene-
■V»~/ tian frigate, near Zante, in the Ionian Sea. While a mere
boy he had the misfortune to lose his father, who was a phy¬
sician and government-inspector of hospitals at Spalatro, in
Dalmatia. He studied at the university of Padua, and after
completing his studies there he removed to Venice without
having adopted a profession. A good deal of mystery hangs
over this period of his life, but he seems to have been pre¬
paring for a literary career, and produced in 1797, as the first
fruits of his labours, his tragedy of Thyestes and Ajax. This
play had very equivocal success on the stage, and so strongly
was its author convinced of its worthlessness that he himself
penned the severest criticism of it that appeared anywhere.
In that same year the French, who with Bonaparte at
their head had taken Venice with the professed object of
renublicanizing it, made it over once more to the Austrians.
Foscolo, with some of the leading members of the patriotic
party, retired to Milan, where he gave vent to his excited
feelings in his Lettere di Due Amanti (afterwards repub¬
lished under the title of Le Ultime Lettere d,i Jacopo Ortiz),
a sort of political romance which had an immediate and pro¬
digious success. 1 he work possesses little interest as a
novel, but is valuable for its pictures of Italian society in
those troubled times, its beautiful style, its pathetic tone,
and its occasional bursts of impassioned eloquence. In 1799
Foscolo volunteered into the Lombard legion, served in the
disastrous campaign of that year, took part in the defence
of Genoa under Massena, and, after the battle of Marengo
once more threw Lombardy into the hands of the French,
retired into private life at Milan, and resumed his literary
pursuits. In 1802 Bonaparte called together at Lyons a
meeting of Italian deputies to sketch the plan of a constitu¬
tion for the Cisalpine Republic, and Foscolo was invited to
lay before the First Consul the real state of the country
and the wishes of the people. He executed this commis¬
sion with a boldness so startling that it was judged unsafe
to submit the document to the First Consul; but it was
afterwards printed at Milan, and serves to set in a very clear
light the high and uncompromising spirit of its author.
Italy had not heard her political condition and wants so
boldly described since the days of Rienzi, perhaps of Taci¬
tus. In 1807 Foscolo served, with the grade of captain of
the staff, in an Italian regiment that belonged to the army
destined for the invasion of England. In his leisure mo¬
ments at St Omer he studied alternately military tactics and
English literature, and executed part of a highly successful
Italian version of Sterne’s Sentimental Journey. After the
breaking up of the camp at Boulogne, Foscolo abandoned
the career of arms and retired to Brescia, where he composed
his little poem Dei Sepolcri. I his work, elicited by an
order which forbade the erection of any memorial to de¬
parted worth or genius, was dedicated to Pindemonte, a kin¬
dred spirit, and immediately took rank as one of the highest
flights of lyric power in the literature of modern Italy . In
1808 Foscolo was appointed professor of belles-lettres in the
university of Pavia, and was privately warned by ceitain.
official friends to inaugurate his lectures with a tribute of
praise to the Emperor Napoleon. Instead of doing this,
though tempted with the promise of the cordon of the legion
of honour, Foscolo delivered an opening address on the
Origin and Duty of Literature, glowing with such a fiery
eloquence, and informed by so daring a spirit of independ¬
ence, that the orator incurred the suspicions of the govern¬
ment, and his chair was shortly7 afterwards suppiessed. His
tragedy of Ajax, though it had no great success when pro¬
duced on the stage at Milan, did not tend much to conci¬
liate for him the favour of the authorities, as it was believed
that under the names of Agamemnon, Ajax, and Calchas,
he had intended to paint Napoleon, Moreau, and Pius VII.
A satire on the pedantry and sycophancy of certain influ-
F 0 S
ential academicians raised against him such a host of ene¬
mies that he was obliged to retire for a short time from
Milan. At Florence, to which he now removed, he com-
pleted his translation of the Sentimental Journey, and pro¬
duced his tragedy of Ricciarda. besides a variety of minor
poetical pieces. In the political history of Northern Italy,
after the abdication of Napoleon, Foscolo played a promi¬
nent part; but finding it useless to contend against the over¬
whelming numbers of the Austrians, he being moreover ac¬
cused of tergiversation by his own party, he suddenly quitted
Italy and fixed his residence at Hottingen near Zurich in
Switzerland, where he earned a scanty livelihood foi two
years by his pen. In 1816, with a view to bettering his
fortune, he came to England, where he formed literary con¬
nexions, and wrote many articles for the Edinburgh and
Quarterly Reviews. In London he republished his Ric¬
ciarda, and wrote historical disquisitions on Dante, Petrarch,
and Boccaccio, all displaying great knowledge and much
critical sagacity. At the time of his death, which happened
in 1827, he was engaged in superintending a valuable edi¬
tion of Dante. His death, which was caused immediately
by an attack of dropsy, was accelerated by pecuniary em¬
barrassments which fretted his naturally irritable temper,
and impelled him to literary exertion quite beyond his phy¬
sical strength. Though the character of Foscolo was dashed
by some strange eccentricities, he yet possessed qualities,
both of head and heart, which gained firm friends for him
in every country where he happened to fix his residence.
The most striking of these peculiarities was his vanity, which
prompted him in society7 to talk far more about his own ex¬
ploits and sufferings than was consistent either with modesty
or self-respect. This same weakness showed itself in his
dramatic works, in which the hero is generally the alter ego
of himself, and probably prevented him from realizing the
prophecy which Alfieri made about him on witnessing his
first play, and hearing that the author was only nineteen
years of age :—a If that be true,’ said Alfieri, then he will
excel me.” But this infirmity was far more than atoned
for by the lofty independence of his character, which in the
general prostration of Italy before Napoleon, enabled him
To stand aloof, and offer the only opposition which that con¬
queror experienced from any native-born Italian. In the
words of Pecchio, the biographer of Foscolo, “ If, amidst the
Asiatic idolatry towards Napoleon, any kind of opposition
can be said to have existed in Italy, Foscolo must be con¬
sidered the leader of it. Among a crowd of literati, who
prostituted their character, he alone succeeded Alfieri in
gathering around him those youths who felt the love of study
and independence, and without uselessly challenging an
irresistible power, he tempered with his principles and ex¬
ample their souls for present dignity and future resistance.”
Foscolo was no partizan, and refused to associate with such
of his own countrymen as would have been content with
anything less than the absolute and unconditional inde¬
pendence of Italy. His aspirations in literature and politics
were high and noble, and his talents were never employed
except in the cause of virtue. His dramatic productions
are not very valuable; but his prose works are in point of
style and matter among the most vigorous and original in
the literature of modern Italy.
FOSSE, or Foss (from fossus, part, offodio to dig), in
Fortification, a ditch or moat; in Anatomy, a peculiar ca¬
vity in a bone, with a large aperture.
FOSS-WAY, a Roman military road in England, leading
from Totness through Exeter to Barton on the Humber,
and so called, says Camden, from the ditch on both sides.
FOSSANO, a city of Piedmont, province of Coni, Sar¬
dinia, situated on a lofty hill near the left bank of the Stura,
15 miles N.N.E. of Coni. The hill is crowned with an old
castle, and the town itself is encircled by walls. It has an
antique and rather gloomy appearance, the houses being
839
Fosse
II
Fossano.
840 F O S
Fossarii built upon ranges of arches under which are the footways.
I It has a cathedral, royal college, mineral baths, and manu-
Foster. factures of silk, paper, and leather. Pop. 16,000.
v—FOSSARII, in the ancient Eastern Church, officers ap¬
pointed to bury the dead. Ciacconius relates that Con¬
stantine created 950 fossarii, and that they were exempted
from taxes, services, burdensome offices, and the like.
FOSSIL, in a general sense, denotes anything that is
dug out of the earth. But the word is generally used among
geologists and mineralogists to designate either simple or
compound mineral bodies, such as metals, stones, salts, earths,
and other minerals, or, more commonly, the petrified forms
of plants and animals which occur in the several strata of
the earth. Native fossils are minerals, properly so called,
as earths, salts, metallic bodies, &c. Extraneous fossils are
bodies of the animal or vegetable kingdoms, accidentally
buried, in the earth ; such as plants, shells, corals, bones, and
other substances, most of which exist in a petrified state.
See Geology.
FOSSOMBRONE, the ancient Forum Sempronii, a
town of the Papal States, legation of Urbino e Pesaro, si¬
tuated on the Metauro, here crossed by a handsome one-
arched bridge, 7 miles E.S.E. of Urbino. The cathedral
contains many good paintings and interesting inscriptions.
In the vicinity, Asdrubal the brother of Hannibal was de¬
feated and slain (207 b.c.) by the Romans. The inhabi¬
tants, amounting to about 5000, are chiefly engaged in agri¬
culture, and in the manufacture of silk, which is said to be
the finest in Italy.
FOSTER, John, generally distinguished as “ The Es¬
sayist” was born in the parish of Halifax, Yorkshire, Sept.
17, 1770. His parents occupied a small farm-house between
Wainsgate and Hebden-bridge, and maintained themselves
partly by farming and partly by weaving. They were per¬
sons of earnest piety, and of strong intelligence, though of
limited cultivation, with little book-knowledge except such
as they obtained from some ponderous volumes of Puritan
theology. They married rather late in life: John was their
first-born, and they had no other child besides his brother
Thomas, who was four years younger1—circumstances not
favourable to the development of the social qualities. From
childhood his character was marked by a sharply-defined in¬
dividuality. To use his own expressive language, he felt
“ as if dissociated from the whole creation,” and recoiled
from human beings into a cold interior retirement. His
outward life was marked by timidity and “ infinite shyness
his interior life was crowded and agitated with incommuni¬
cable feelings. His antipathies were strong, though not
malicious, and his associations intensely vivid. For a num¬
ber of years he would not sit on a stool which belonged to
a man who died in a sudden and strange way, and whose
ghost was said to have appeared in a barn near his house.
His emotions were strongly roused by passages in favourite
authors, such as Young’s Night Thoughts. Single words
(as chalcedony or hermit) or the names of ancient heroes
had a mighty fascination for him. But while he felt isolated
and shut out from human sympathy, he found relief and
exquisite delight in the contemplation of natural scenery.
“ Sweet nature ! ” he exclaimed many years after, “ I have
communed with her with inexpressible luxury.” A flower,
a tree, a bird, a fly, was enough to kindle a delightful train
of ideas and emotions, and sometimes to elevate the mind
to sublime conceptions. Yet, in very early life, the great
interested him more than the beautiful. Great rocks, vast
trees and forests, emphatically dreary, caverns, volcanos,
cataracts, and tempests, were, in reading and fancy, the
objects of his highest enthusiasm ; and in the contemplation
of human character he preferred the bold and the heroic.
Filled with restless thoughts and aspirations, he felt as a
foreigner in his native place, and some of his earliest musings
were on plans for leaving it. The dull monotonous occu-
F 0 S
pation of weaving, in which he assisted his parents, and the Foster,
utter want of sympathy in those around him, increased his ^
disgust with his position. He performed the tasks assigned
him with evident signs of repugnance, and in a manner
which showed little aptitude for them ; yet his general con¬
duct was exemplary, reverential to his parents, and very free
from any marked irregularity.
As a compensation for much that was undesirable in his
social relations, the moral and religious influences he was
under were powerful and salutary. His impressions of re¬
ligion assumed as early as his fourteenth year a decided
form. Just after the completion of his seventeenth year he
joined the religious society of which his parents were mem¬
bers—that of the Baptist denomination—at Wainsgate
Their pastor was Dr John Fawcett, a man venerable for
his piety, with talents devoid of brilliancy but assiduously
cultivated, and who combined with a puritanic theology an
extensive acquaintance with English literature (including
works of fiction), which placed him, in point of mental cul¬
tivation, far ahead of his co-religionists in Yorkshire and the
neighbouring districts. For many years Dr Fawcett con¬
ducted a flourishing seminary at Brearley Hall, which was
subsequently carried on by his son at Ewood Hall. With him
young Foster was placed for the purposes of general educa¬
tion and of preparation for the ministerial office, in accord¬
ance with his own inclination and the wishes of his friends,
who had some perception of his mental superiority. Part
of each day was still spent in his customary employments at
home; but, to make up for this interruption of his studies
whole nights were frequently devoted to reading and medi¬
tation, sub dio, in his preceptor’s garden. His school exer¬
cises were accomplished slowly and laboriously, which was
the case with all his literary performances. At Brearley
he had access to a large and miscellaneous library; he was
most interested with voyages and travels, and these consti¬
tuted throughout life his favourite reading. On leaving
Brearley he proceeded to the Baptist college at Bristol,
at that time (1791) and for some years later the only theo¬
logical institution belonging to that denomination. The Rev.
Joseph Hughes, the originator and dissenting secretary of
the Bible Society, was then the classical tutor, having suc¬
ceeded Robert Hall, who had just removed to Cambridge.
Foster remained only a twelvemonth at Bristol, and, if his
own statement be taken as correct, without much improve¬
ment in scholarship; but during that period he gained the
friendship of Hughes, visited Hannah More and her sisters
at Cowslip Green, and listened for the first time to the
eloquence of Hall. On leaving Bristol he spent three
months at Newcastle-on-Tyne, where he preached to a very
small audience, and whiled away his leisure time in desul¬
tory musings, conscious of possessing superior powers, but
neither happily combined nor fully brought out. After
visiting his Yorkshire friends he went to Ireland, where he
spent little more than a year, in Dublin, first as a preacher,
and then as a schoolmaster, but failed to establish himself in
either capacity. Early in 1797 he became the minister of
a general Baptist church at Chichester; here he remained
for two years and a half, and though his religious earnest¬
ness increased, it produced little effect on his hearers. We
next find him at Battersea, visiting his friend Hughes, and
instructing twenty-one young Africans brought over by
Zachary Macaulay from Sierra Leone. In 1800 he removed
to Downend, a village five miles from Bristol, and preached
alternately in a small chapel there, and in another at Fish¬
ponds belonging to a lunatic asylum then under the manage¬
ment of Dr Joseph Mason Cox, whose brother-in-law he
afterwards became. In 1804, on the recommendation of
Robert Hall, who described him as “ a young man of the
most original and extraordinary genius, of unexceptionable
character, and of the most amiable temper,” he became
minister of a congregation at Frome. The characteristics
EOS
Poster, of his preaching at this period have been traced with great
fidelity by his friend (and constant hearer) Mr Sheppard.
“ The sermons of Foster,” he remarks, “ were of a cast quite
distinct from what is commonly called oratory, and indeed
from what many seem to account the highest style of elo¬
quence, namely, a flow of facile thoughts through the smooth
channels of uniformly elevated polished diction, graced by
the utmost appliances of voice and gesture. They were
distinguished by an unambitious and homely sort of lofti¬
ness, which displayed neither phrase nor speaker, but things,
while the brief word and simple tone brought out the sublime
conception ‘in its clearness’ by a fund of varied associa¬
tions and images, by graphic master-strokes, the frequent
hints of profound suggestion for after meditation, by cogent
though calm expostulations and appeals, and by shrewd
trains of half-latent irony against irreligion and folly, in
which, without any descent from seriousness and even
solemnity, the speaker moved a smile by his unconscious
approach to the edge of wit, yet effectually quelled it by the
unbroken gravity of his tone and purpose.”
After two years a swelling in the thyroid gland, which
constant public speaking, and even much talking in com¬
pany, tended to aggravate, obliged Mr Foster to resign his
charge at Frome. He had also a growing conviction that
the press, and not the pulpit, was the chief medium through
which he could efficiently employ the talents committed to
his trust. For some time, evidently with a view to author¬
ship, he had committed to paper observations on natural
objects, illustrations of human character, and reflections on
morals and religion, in an aphoristic form. Many of these
contain the germ, and even the exact phraseology, of pas¬
sages to be found in his published writings. During his
residence at Frome he wrote and published the Essays,
which at once established his reputation “ as (to use Sir
James Mackintosh’s language) one of the most profound
and eloquent writers that England has produced.” \\ ithin
little more than a twelvemonth they passed through three
editions; the eighteenth appeared in 1845, and since that
time their circulation has been unabated. Multitudes of
young persons have regarded as a bright era in their mental
history the hour when this volume first came into their
hands, and have never ceased to rejoice in its stimulating
and elevating influence on their faculties. It has been to
them a dayspring revealing a world of living beauty and
wonders where all was before involved in deathlike torpor
and gloom. Its intellectual power and deep-toned eloquence
has dissolved in many minds the unhappy and absurd asso¬
ciation of piety with mental weakness and vulgarity; while,
on the other hand, it has released from their trammels not a
few who had been wont to regard general literature and
freedom of thought as the exclusive property of the profane.
The last of the four essays, On some of the Causes by which
Evangelical Religion has been rendered unacceptable to
Persons of Cultivated taste, has probably contributed more
than anything else to that reformation in style which is per¬
ceptible in our modern religious literature, and of which
Foster himself in his posthumous lectures has given so many
beautiful specimens.
Before leaving Frome, Foster commenced writing in the
Eclectic Review, and for the next twelve years contributed
from ten to above twenty articles annually. In May 1808 he
married the lady to whom his Essays were originally addressed
in an epistolary form, and with whom his acquaintance had
commenced seven years before atBattersea. Her mother and
two of her sisters resided at Bourton-on-the-water, a retired,
respectable village in Gloucestershire. I o this place he
removed on his marriage, which proved an eminently happy
one. Here he led a very secluded life, writing reviews
during the week, and on Sundays preaching in the neigh¬
bouring villages : the latter employment he valued as aiding
his own piety, and keeping up an acquaintance with man-
VOL. IX.
EOT . 841
kind. While at Bourton he lost both his parents, and be- Fothergill.
came the father of five children, two of whom died in in-
fancy. In 1817 he returned to Downend, where he wrote
his Essay on the Evils of Popular Ignorance, in which he
warmly urges the necessity of a national system of edu¬
cation, and portrays with appalling truthfulness the bar¬
barism existing in our masses ; a repulsive spectacle, which
he terms “ a gloomy monotony : death without his dance.”
Having relinquished his ministerial office at Downend, and
removed to the neighbouring village of Stapleton, about
two miles from Bristol, he delivered a series of discourses
at Broadmead chapel, which were well attended by per¬
sons of almost all denominations. On Robert Hall’s set¬
tlement in Bristol, he declined to continue this service,
saying, “ Now Jupiter is come, I can try it no more.”
Most of these discourses were published soon after his
decease, and have lately been reprinted by Mr Bohn in
his Standard Library. In 1826 his only son, an amiable,
thoughtful youth, died of consumption. Six years later he
was deprived of his inestimable wife, to whom he felt himself
indebted not only for a very great portion of happiness, but
for whatever mental improvement he had made during their
married life, a period of five and twenty years. Her intel¬
lect was remarkably strong and correct, and in refinement
of perception and depth of reflective feeling she had few
equals. This event deepened his constitutional pensive¬
ness, and prompted him to indulge more than ever in those
intense musings on the state after death, “ the secrets of the
invisible world,” which form an ever-recurring topic in his
correspondence. In addition to this greatest loss, he found
himself, by the deaths of Hall, Hughes, and others, stand¬
ing almost alone, bereft of the companions of his youth and
mature life. His latter days were, however, soothed by the
affectionate attentions of his two daughters who resided with
him. After languishing for some weeks in a state of de¬
vout preparation for the final event to which he looked for¬
ward with a calm dignity and a childlike humility that were
most impressive, he expired quietly and (as he wished)
alone, October 15, 1843.
Besides the works already mentioned, Foster published
a Discourse on Missions in 1818; an Introductory Essay
to Doddridge’s Rise and Progress of Religion (since re¬
printed separately) in 1825; and Observations on Mr Hall’s
Character as a Preacher, appended to Dr Gregory’s Me¬
moir in the collected edition of Hall’s Works, 1832. He
also wrote An Introduction to a pamphlet by Dr Marsh-
man in vindication of the Serampore Missionaries. He was
the author (anonymously) of Tivo letters on the Established
Church, addressed to the editor of the Morning Chronicle ;
and of Five Letters (in the same journal) on the Ballot, of
which he was a strenuous advocate ; these and Fine Letters
of Religious Advice and Consolation to an interesting
young person (the niece of his friend Mr Cottle) in her last
illness, will be found in his Life and Correspondence, 2
vols., the third edition of which has lately appeared in Bohn’s
Standard Library.
His contributions to the Eclectic Review amounted to
185 articles, of which Dr Price published a selection, con¬
taining 59 papers, in 1844. (j. e. r.)
FOTHERGILL, Dr John, an eminent physician, was
born of Quaker parents, in 1712, at Carr End in Yorkshire.
The doctor was the second of five children, and received
his education under the care of his grandfather Thomas
Hough, a person of fortune in Cheshire, and at Sedburgh
in Yorkshire. Having served his time to an apothecary at
Bradford, he removed to London, and became a pupil of
Dr Wilmot, at St Thomas’s Hospital. He then went to
the university of Edinburgh for the purpose of studying
medicine, and there took his degree. From Edinburgh he
went to Leyden: but after a short stay he returned to
London, and began to practise about the year 1740, in a
5 o
842
F 0 S
F 0 U
Fouche.
Fothering- house in White-hart Court, Lombard Street, where he re¬
gay Castle gijgd during the greater part of his life, and acquired most
of his fortune. In 1746 he was admitted as a licentiate of
the College of Physicians in London; and in 1754 as a
fellow of that of Edinburgh, to which he was a considerable
benefactor. He afterwards became a member of the Royal
Medical Society at Paris, as w'ell as of the Royal and An¬
tiquarian Societies. He continued his practice with un¬
interrupted success till within the last two years of his
life, when an illness, which had been brought on by unre¬
mitting labours, obliged him to give up a considerable
part of it. Besides his application to medical science, he
had imbibed an early taste for natural history, and devoted
his leisure to eonchology and smaller objects of botany.
His pamphlet on the ulcerous sore throat is the best of his
publications, but it owes much of its merit to the prior in¬
formation of Dr Letherland. It was printed in the year
1748, on the re-appearance of that fatal disorder which in
1739 had carried off the two sons of Mr Pelham. He was
the patron of Sidney Parkinson, and drew up the preface to
his account of the voyage to the South Seas. At his expense
also was made and printed an entirely new translation of the
Bible, from the Hebrew and Greek originals, by Anthony
Purver, a Quaker, in two volumes, 1764, folio; and also, in
1 780, an edition of Bishop Percy’s Key to the New Testa¬
ment, adapted to the use of a seminary of young Quakers at
Ackworth. In the influenza of 1775 and 1776, he is said
to have had sixty patients on his list daily, and his profits
were estimated at L.8000 per annum. The disorder which
hastened his death was a schirrus of the prostate gland,
and an obstruction of the bladder. He died at his house
in Harpur Street, in the month of December 1780, and
his remains were interred in the Quakers’ burying-ground
at Winchmore Hill. The doctor by his will appointed
that his shells and other specimens of natural history should
be offered to Dr Hunter at L.500 under the valuation
which he had ordered to be taken of them, and accordingly
Dr Hunter bought them for L.1200. His drawings and
collections in natural history were also offered to Sir Joseph
Bankes at a valuation. His English portraits and prints,
which had been purchased by him for eighty guineas, were
bought by Mr Thane for two hundred guineas. His books
were sold by public auction.
EOTHERINGAY CASTLE, in which Mary Queen
of Scots was long confined, and was beheaded 8th Feb.
1587, is situated in Northamptonshire, 3-| miles N.N.E. of
Oundle. It wras demolished by order of her son, James X.
of England.
EOUCHIil, Joseph, Duke of Otranto, minister of police
under Napoleon, was born at Nantes in 1763. In the
oratoire of that city where he was educated he distinguished
himself by his proficiency in the various departments of
study, and on leaving it taught successively in the colleges
of Juilly, Arras, and Vendome. The outbreak of the Revo¬
lution found him settled quietly in his native town, practis¬
ing as an advocate. In 1792 he was returned to the Na¬
tional Convention as member for the department of Loire
Inferieure, and in this capacity voted for the death of the
king, without the right of appeal to the people. Having
earned the character of a zealous republican by his conduct
at Nievre, where he suppressed public worship, plundered
the churches, imprisoned the priests, and decreed material¬
ism by inscribing over the entrance to the town cemetery,
“ La mort est un Sommeil eternel.” Fouche was associated
with Collot d’Herbois in that frightful mission which razed
Lyons to the ground, and deluged the south of France with
blood. On his return to Paris he was made president of
the Jacobin Club, though he was shortly afterwards ex¬
pelled from it altogether by the intrigues of Robespierre.
Fouche avenged this disgrace by doing his best to bring
about the downfall and death of Robespierre; but he was
himself seized and imprisoned as a dangerous terrorist; and Fougasse
though he was released under the act of general amnesty
in 1795, yet, finding his enemies become more numerous F°uger,es*
and powerful, he judged it prudent to retire for a while into
the obscurity of private life. In 1798 he was engaged in
the public service in Italy ; and on returning home was ap¬
pointed to the ministry of police, a situation for which he
was eminently qualified by his unscrupulous boldness, his
matchless cunning, and his capacity for intrigue. Having
assisted Bonaparte in his rise, he was continued in office,
and contrived to stand well both with that conqueror and
with the royalists, whom he frequently screened from Na¬
poleon’s vengeance. In the foreign wars of the emperor,
Fouche’s system of espionage preserved the internal tran¬
quillity of France. Sometimes, as in the case of the Eng¬
lish expedition against Holland in 1809, he acted with an
independent boldness that accorded very ill with the dicta¬
torial mind of his master. On that occasion he called forth
the national guard ; and in his address to them said, “ Let
us show Napoleon that his presence is not indispensable for
the repulsion of the enemies of France.” Napoleon both
hated and feared him, but wisely consulted his own interests
in employing and promoting him. In 1809 Fouche was
made Duke of Otranto, but was obliged in that year to re¬
tire into the country for a time. In 1810 he was made
governor of Rome, and in 1813 of the Illyrian provinces,
and afterwards of Naples. During the Hundred Days he
resumed his old functions of minister of police, and after
Waterloo strongly urged Napoleon to abdicate, while he
secured his own interest with the Bourbons at Ghent. His
services were retained for a while by Louis XVIII.; but in
1816 he shared the fate of the surviving revolutionists who
had voted for the death of Louis XVI., was banished from
France, and deprived of his estates. He died at Trieste in
1820, leaving behind him an enormous fortune. His me¬
moirs, which were published in France in 1824, were not
acknowledged by his sons; but there are good reasons for
believing them to be authentic. Various attempts have
been made to defend the character of Fouche, but with very
indifferent success. The best thing that can be alleged in
his favour is, that he does not appear to have been a coward.
It is to be doubted if the French Revolution produced a
worse man than Fouche. He was only less bloodthirsty
than Collot d’Herbois, and less of a hypocrite than Barrere.
In cunning and the unscrupulous abuse of great power, a
parallel, or even a second to him is not to be found in these
disjointed times. In such a man it would be too much to
look for honesty of purpose or single-heartedness of aim, and
accordingly we find him, though fulfilling his official duties
as they never were fulfilled before or since, animated through¬
out his whole career solely by the principle of an ambitious
self-interest. He succeeded so well, that it may be doubted
if even Napoleon himself exercised a more despotic power
in France during the period of his reign than did his for¬
midable minister of police. Much light is thrown on
Fouche’s character, and the hidden workings of his political
machinery, in the Temoignages Historiques, ou quinze ans
de haute police sous Napoleon, par Desmarets.
FOUGASSE, in the art of war, a small mine in which
the chambers are placed from 3 to 10 feet under ground,
dug under some work, fortification, or post, and charged
with sacks of powder, or powder placed in a chest, and
covered with earth and stones. They are very efficient in
defending works, especially if placed near the foot of the
glacis or ditch. The powder is fired, as in larger mines, by
means of a saucisson. Fougasses are also formed by bury¬
ing several loaded shells with the fuse downwards.
"FOUGfCRES, the capital of a cognominal arrondisse-
ment in the department of Ule-et-Vilaine, France, stands
on an eminence near the left bank of the Nanpon, 24 miles
N.E. of Rennes. This was formerly one of the strongest
F O U
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843
Foula places in Brittany, and frequently figures in history from the
II eleventh to the fifteenth centuries. It was taken by the
Foundery. ]7nglish in 1202, and again in 1448. During the last cen-
tury it suffered from four destructive fires, so that few of
its ancient buildings now remain. It is a pleasant town, and
has some mineral springs, which attract numerous visitors.
Its trade and manufactures are considerable, the former in
agricultural and dairy produce, the latter of sail-cloth and
hempen fabrics, flannels, hats, leather, &c. Pop. (1851)
8771.
FOULA, or Fowla Island, one of the Shetland Isles,
lying between six and seven leagues west from Main¬
land. It is about three miles in length, narrow, and full of
ruo-cred, steep, and bare rocks. Its summit has an elevation
of 1.350 feet. Foula, it has been conjectured, is the Thule
of Tacitus. It is pastoral, and maintains a few families.
FOULAHS, a people of Africa. See Africa, vol. ii.,
p. 222.
FOULIS, Robert and Andrew, supposed to have been
natives of Glasgow, were two learned printers, and passed
their lives in comparative obscurity. They succeeded, how¬
ever, in establishing a press, and from it issued some of the
most accurate and elegant editions of standard works that
were produced during the eighteenth century. Robert’s
first attempt was about 1740, which ended in the publica¬
tion of an excellent 4to edition of Demetrius Phalereus in
1743. Next appeared his immaculate 12mo edition of
Horace, of which the sheets, as they were struck off, were
suspended in the college at Glasgow, and a reward offered
to those who should point out an inaccuracy. Soon after
the publication of this famous edition of Horace, the brothers
entered into partnership, and continued during 30 years to
issue a series of the classics and other works, printed in the
most accurate and elegant manner. Of these the most re¬
markable are the small editions of Cicero, Tacitus, Corne¬
lius Nepos, Virgil, Tibullus and Propertius, Lucretius, and
Juvenal; a beautiful edition of the Greek Testament, in
small 4to ; Homer, fol. 4 vols., 1756-1758; Herodotus,
Greek and Latin, 9 vols. 12mo, 1761 ; Xenophon, Greek
and Latin, 12 vols. in 12mo, 1762-1767. To these we may
add Gray’s Poems ; Pope’s Works; Hales of Eton, &c.
It is sad to relate that these learned, indefatigable, and
successful men were at length ruined by their taste, for the
fine arts. This ivas brought about by their establishment
of an academy for the instruction of youth in sculpture and
painting, but chiefly by the enormous expense incun ed in
sending young artists to Italy to copy the ancients. They
found the city of Glasgow a very ungenial soil into which
to transplant the imitative arts; and thus after having real¬
ized ample fortunes by their classical publications, they died
in poverty, after having parted with the last of their paint¬
ings at Christie’s in Pall Mall. Andrew died in 1775, and
Robert in 1776.
FOULQUES, the name of a distinguished French fa¬
mily, which produced a number of famous warriors and
counts of Anjou. The principal of them were—Foulques
I., called le Roux, Count of Anjou, who succeeded his
father, Ingelger, in 888 a.d. He made war upon the Bre¬
tons and Normands, and died in 938. Foulques II., called
le Bon, son of the preceding, and succeeded by Geoffroi L;
Foulques HI., called Nerro or le Noir, son of the last-
mentioned; Foulques IV., called le Rechin-, and Foulques
V., called le Jeune, son and successor of the preceding, in
the year 1109.
FOUMART, the pole-cat. See index to Mammalia.
FOUNDERY, or Foundry, the art of melting and cast¬
ing metals. See Copper-Smelting ; Iron-making; Fur-
Foundery of Small Works, or Casting in Sand. The
sand commonly used for casting small works is at first of a
pretty soft, yellowish, and clammy nature; but it being
necessary to strew charcoal dust in the mould, it at length Foundery.
becomes of a quite black colour. Ihe sand is worked over " v-*
and over, on a board, with a roller and a kmil of knife ; and
is placed over a trough to receive it, after it has by these
means been sufficiently prepared.
This being done, the workmen take a wooden board ot
a length and breadth proportional to the things to be cast,
and putting a ledge round it, they fill it with sand a little
moistened, to make it duly cohere. They then take either
wood or metal models of what they intend to cast, and apply
them to the mould, and press them into the sand so as to
leave their impression there. Along the middle of the
mould is laid half a small brass cylinder, as. the chief canal
for the metal to run through, when melted, into the models
or patterns ; and from this chief canal are placed several
others, which extend collaterally to each model or pattern
placed in the frame. After this frame is finished, they take
out the patterns, by first loosening them all round, that the
sand may not give way ; then they proceed to woik the
other half of the mould with the same patterns in just such
another frame, only that it has pins, which, enteiing into
holes corresponding to it in the other, make the two cavities
of the pattern fall exactly on each other.
The frame, thus moulded, is carried to the melter, who,
after extending the chief canal of the counterpart, and add¬
ing the cross canals to the several models in both, and
strewing mill dust over them, dries them in a kind of oven
prepared for the purpose. Both parts of the mould being
dry, they are joined together by means of the pins; and to
prevent them giving way, by reason of the melted metal
passing through the chief cylindrical canal, they are screwed
or wedged up as in a press.
Whilst the moulds are thus preparing, the metal is fus¬
in'7 in a crucible of a size proportional to the quantity of
metal intended to be cast. When the moulds have cooled,
the frames are unscrewed or unwedged, and the cast work
is taken out of the sand, which sand is worked over again
for other casting.
Foundery of Statues. The casting of statues depends
on the due preparation of the pit, the core, the wax, the
outer mould, the inferior furnace to melt oft the wax, and
the upper to fuse the metal.
The pit is a hole dug in a dry place, somewhat deeper
than the intended figure, and made according to the pro¬
minence of certain parts of it. I he inside of the pit is
commonly lined with stone or brick; but when the figure
is very large, they sometimes work on the ground, and
raise a proper fence to resist the impulsion ot the melted
metal. The inner mould, or core, is a rude mass, to which
is given the intended attitude and contours. It is raised on
an iron grating strong enough to sustain it, and is strength¬
ened within by several bars of iron. It is generally made
either of potters’ clay mixed with cow-hair, or of plaster of
Paris mixed with brick-dust. I he use of the core is to
support the wax and the shell, and lessen the weight of the
metal. The iron bars and the core are taken out of the
brass figure through an aperture left in it for that puipose,
which is soldered up afterwards. It is necessary to leave
some of the iron bars of the core, which contribute to the
steadiness of the projecting part, within the brass figure.
The wax is a representation of the intended statue. If it
be a piece of sculpture, the wax should be all from the hand
of the sculptor himself, who usually forms it on the core ;
though it may be wrought separately in cavities, moulded
on a model, and afterwards arranged on the ribs of iron over
the grating, filling the vacant space in the middle with liquid
plaster and brick dust, by which means the inner core is
proportioned as the sculptor carries on the wax. When the
wax, which is of the intended thickness of the metal, is
finished, small waxen tubes perpendicular to it from top to
bottom are filled, to serve both as canals for the conveyance
844
F 0 U
F 0 U
Foundery. of the metal to all parts of the work, and as vent-holes to
give passage to the air, which wTould otherwise occasion
great disorder when the hot metal came to encompass it.
The work being brought thus far, must be covered with
its shell, which is a kind of crust laid over the wax, and
which being of a soft matter, easily receives the impression
of every part, which is afterwards communicated to the
metal upon its taking the place of the wax, between the
shell and the mould. The matter of this outer mould is
varied according as different layers are applied. The first
is <renerally a composition of clay and old white crucibles
well ground and sifted, and mixed up with water to the
consistence of a colour fit for painting; and it is applied
w'ith a brush, by means of which it is laid on seven or eight
times successively. For the second impression horse-dung
and natural earth are added to the former composition ; but
for the third impression only horse-dung and earth are used.
Lastly, the shell is finished by laying on several more im¬
pressions of this last matter, made very thick with the hand.
The shell, thus finished, is secured by several iron girths
bound round it, at about half a foot distant from each other,
and fastened at the bottom to the grating under the statue,
and at top to a circle of iron where they all terminate.
If the statue be so large that it would not be easy to
move the moulds with safety, these must be wrought on the
spot where it is to be cast. This is performed in two ways.
In the first place, a square hole is dug in the ground, much
larger than the mould to be made therein, and its inside is
lined with walls of freestone or brick. At the bottom is
made a hole of the same materials, w’ith a kind of furnace,
having its aperture outwards ; and in this a fire is made,
to dry the mould, and afterwards melt the wax. Over this
furnace is placed the grating, and upon this the mould,
formed as above. Lastly, at one of the edges of the square
pit is made another large furnace, to melt the metal. In
the other way, it is sufficient to work the mould above
ground, but with the precaution of a furnace and grating
underneath. When finished, four walls are run around it,
and by its side a melting furnace is prepared. For the rest,
the method is the same in both cases. The mould being
finished, and inclosed as described, whether below ground
or above it, a moderate fire is lighted in the furnace under
it, and the whole covered with planks, that the wax may
melt gently down, and run out at pipes contrived for that
purpose at the foot of the mould, which are afterwards
exactly closed with earth, as soon as the wax is all carried
oft. When this is done, the whole is filled up with bricks
thrown in at random, and the fire in the furnace augmented,
until both the bricks and mould become red hot. The fire
is then extinguished, and everything being cold again, the
bricks are taken out, and their place filled up with earth,
moistened, and beaten a little at the top of the mould, in
order to render it the firmer. These preparatory measures
being duly taken, there remains nothing but to melt the
metal, and run it into the mould. This is done by means
of the furnace above described, which is commonly made
in the form of an oven with three apertures, one to put in
the wood, another for a vent, and a third to run the metal
out at. From this last aperture, which is kept very close
whilst the metal is in fusion, a small tube is laid, by which
the molten metal is conveyed into a large earthen basin,
over the mould, into the bottom of which all the large
branches of the jets or casts, which are to convey the metal
into the different parts of the mould, are inserted.
These casts or jets are all terminated with a kind of plugs,
vhich are kept close, so that, upon opening the furnace, the
biass, which rushes out with violence, may not enter any of
them till the basin be full enough of matter to run into
them all at once; upon which occasion they pull out the
plugs, which are long iron rods with a head at one end, ca¬
pable of filling the whole diameter of each tube. The whole
of the furnace is then opened with a long piece of iron Foundery
fitted at the end of each pole, and the mould filled in an II
instant. This completes the work in relation to the cast- Foundling
ing part; the rest is the sculptor’s or carver’s business, who HosPltals-
taking the figure out of the mould and earth with which it v'—
is encompassed, saws off the jets with which it appears
covered over, and finishes it with chisels, gravers, puncheons,
and other instruments. See also Casting.
Fouxdery of Bells. The metal for casting bells, it is
to be observed, is different from that employed for casting
statues; there being no tin in the statue metal, whereas in
the bell metal there is a fifth, and sometimes more.
The dimensions of the core and the wax for bells, espe¬
cially a chime, are not left to chance, but must be mea¬
sured upon a scale, or diapason, which gives the height, the
aperture, and the thickness, necessary for the several tones
required. It is on the wax that the several mouldings and
other ornaments and inscriptions, to be represented in relief
on the outside of the bell, are formed. The clapper or
tongue is not properly part of the bell, but is furnished
from other hands. In Europe it is usually of iron, with a
large knob at the extremity; and is suspended in the middle
of the bell. In China a wooden mallet is used, which is
struck by the hand against the bell; and hence the Chinese
bells can have comparatively little resonance. The Chinese
have a method of increasing the sound of their bells, by
leaving a hole under the cannon; but this our bell-founders
would reckon a defect.
The proportions of our bells differ very much from those
of the Chinese. In ours, the modern proportions are, to
make the diameter fifteen times the thickness of the brim,
and the height twelve times. The parts of a bell are, first,
the sounding bow, terminated by an inferior circle, which
grows thinner and thinner; secondly, the brim, or that part
of a bell whereon the clapper strikes, and which is thicker
than the rest; thirdly, the outward sinking of the middle of
the bell, or the point under which it grows wider to the
brim ; fourthly, the waist or furniture, and the part that
grows wider and thicker quite to the brim; fifthly the upper
vase, or that part which is above the waist; sixthly, the
pallet, which supports the staple of the clapper within; and,
seventhly, the bent and hollowed branches of metal uniting
with the cannons, to receive the iron keys, by which the
bell is hung up to the beam, and which forms its support
and counterpoise when rung out.
Without entering into the details of the operations, we
may state, that the business of bell-foundery is reducible to
three heads; first, the proportion of a bell; secondly, the
forming of the mould ; and, thirdly, the melting of the metal.
Foundery of Cannon, &jc. See Cannon-Making.
Letter-Foundery, or Casting of Printing Letters. See
Type-Making, and Feinting.
FOUNDLING HOSPITALSarecharitable institutions
established in most large towns in Europe, for the reception
of children exposed or deserted by their parents. The ex¬
posing of children was a common practice among the nations
of antiquity ; for notwithstanding that infanticide might be
practised with impunity, yet natural feeling would prompt
parents to expose their children rather than become the
immediate instrument of their death. For this purpose they
generally selected such places as were much frequented,
where there was a chance of their attracting the notice of
the benevolent. In Athens and Rome there were places
set apart for the purpose. The children so found were de¬
clared to be the slaves or absolute property of those by
whom they were reared. Some of these were saved from
death, not from humane motives, but that their foster-fathers
might, by mutilating their persons, and exhibiting them in
the streets, obtain an infamous livelihood from the alms
given them by passers-by. This detestable practice seems
to have been carried on pretty extensively ; and it is even
F 0 17
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845
Foundling vindicated by Seneca, upon the ground of their being slaves.
Hospitals. “ Qallio fecit Mam questionem:—An in expositis Icedipossit
respublica ? Non potest, inquit. An Icedi possit in aliqud
sud parte? Hcec nulla reipubliccepars est; non incensu illos
invenies, non in testamentisA (Scnecce Controvers., v. 33.)
In the fourth century the exposure of children was pro¬
hibited by Valentinian, Valens, and Gratian ; but the edicts
of these emperors were only partially effective, the slavery
of these unfortunates continuing till the year 530, when it
was abolished by Justinian. Even in ancient times the
state made provision for the preservation of {bundlings ; but
the institution of foundling hospitals is of later date. The
first distinct trace of an express foundation of this kind is
at Milan, in 787. In the year 1198, Innocent III. allotted
a part of the great hospital of Spirito Santo at Home to the
reception of foundlings; and with a view to prevent the
crime of infanticide, by affording persons every facility for
depositing their illegitimate children without the risk of be¬
ing recognized, there was fixed in the wall of the hospital
a "turning-box, in which the infant was placed, and taken
in upon a signal being given by ringing a bell. The same
secret mode of admission was afterwards adopted in many
similar institutions on the Continent, and at a later period
in those of London and Dublin. This facility of disposing
of children led, as might have been foreseen, to very great
abuses; since any woman, of whatever rank, might thus
avoid the stigma of appearing as the mother of an illegiti¬
mate child; and unnatural parents, rich or poor, could avoid
the expense and trouble of rearing their own children. This
system has been said to find favour in some countries on
account of the numbers it furnishes for the military service.
The great foundling hospital of Paris was established in
1620, and up to the year 1807 had received 464,628 children.
The number of foundlings in France in 1784 amounted
to 40,000; in 1798 to more than 51,000; and in 1822 to
138,500. In 1847, out of 918,581 children born in France,
the illegitimate births amounted to 65,626, and the found¬
lings to 27,284. The proportion of illegitimate children in
Paris is one in every three births; and of the total number
of illegitimate children, about 58 out of every 100 become
inmates of the foundling hospital, where nearly two-thirds
of them die before they are a year old. (See Guerry, Sta-
tistiqueMoralede la France; and Benoiston de Chateauneuf,
Considerations sur les Erfans-trouves dans les Principaux
etats de VEurope.) According to the Annuaire du Bu¬
reau des Longitudes for 1855, the total number of births in
Paris in 1853 was 34,049, of which 10,833 were illegiti¬
mate.
The mortality in foundling hospitals has always been very
large, though this evil has been greatly mitigated by im¬
proved management, and the practice of giving out the
children to be nursed. Our own country, when such insti¬
tutions existed in their original form, was no exception to
this reproach ; for about the middle of last century, out of
14,934 children received into the London Foundling Hospi¬
tal’during a period of rather less than four years, only 4400
lived to be apprenticed to trades; and in that of Dublin the
mortality during the six years ending 1797, was probably
unparalleled by any other institution of the kind. The
Foundling Hospital of London was founded in 1 /39; but
it was soon discovered that the funds of the institution were
quite inadequate for its support, so great was the influx of
inmates; and in consequence of the enormous abuses to
which the facility of admission rendered the system liable,
it became necessary to modify the character of the insti¬
tution, or rather to convert it into a kind of orphan asylum.
In 1760 a total change was effected in its constitution by
authority of the legislature, and it then ceased to be a re¬
ceptacle for foundlings. No child whose mother does not
personally appear, and wTho cannot satisfactorily answer the
questions put to her, is received: if, however, the mother
Fount
Four
can show that she had previously borne a good character,
and that, owing to the desertion of the father, she is unable
to maintain the child, it is admitted, but not otherwise. Boroughs’
The arguments for and against foundling hospitals are Court,
very nicely balanced, and the problem is one that is ex-
tremely difficult to solve. On the one hand it is undeni¬
able that they render the crime of infanticide and aboition
less frequent, and that in the majority of cases the children
are better nursed and educated than they could be at home
by bad parents and bad nurses; wbile, on tbe other hand, it
is objected that such institutions powerfully contribute to the
corruption of morals. It seems to be the prevailing opinion
in this country, that the influence of these establishments
has been on the whole more pernicious than beneficial;
that they have rarely accomplished their object; but that
instead of preventing crime, they scatter its seeds and
spread its roots on all sides. (See M‘Culloch s Principles
of Political Economy?)
FOUNT, or Font, among printers, a set of characters
or letters of each kind, cast by a letter-founder, and sorted.
A complete font includes the running letters,, large and
small capitals, single letters, double letters, points, commas,
lines, and numeral characters in their established propor¬
tions, according to the language. See Type-Founding,
and Printing.
FOUNTAIN, a spring or source of water rising out ot
the earth. Among the ancients, fountains generally were
esteemed sacred; but some more especially so than others.
The good effects resulting from cold bathing appears to
have given rise to the belief that springs and rivers derived
their salutary influence from some presiding deity. It was
customary to throw little pieces of money into springs, lakes,
or rivers, in order to render the presiding divinities propi¬
tious ; as the touch of a naked body was supposed to pol¬
lute their hallowed waters. For the phenomena, theory,
and origin of fountains or springs, see Physical Geo¬
graphy ; Springs; Artesian Wells; and General Index.
Artificial fountains, of which there are various kinds, are
all formed by pressure of some kind or other upon the water,
by tbe pressure or weight of a head of water, or by
viz., — ,  - 0
the pressure arising from the spring and elasticity of con¬
densed air.
Fountain-Tree, or Til-Tree, a very extraordinary tree
said to have existed formerly in the island of Hierro, one of
the Canaries, and to have distilled water from its leaves in
such abundance as to satisfy the requirements of those who
lived near it. Whether such a tree ever existed is ques¬
tionable ; yet various writers have mentioned the fountain-
tree of Hierro in apparently good faith. Glasse, in his His¬
tory of the Canary Islands, published at London in 1 <64,
alludes to it in the following terms:—“ Many writers have
made mention of this famous tree, some in such a manner
as to make it appear miraculous ; others again deny the
existence of any such tree, among whom is Father Feyjoo,
a modern Spanish author, in his Teatro Critico. But he,
and those who agree with him in this matter, are as much
mistaken as those who would make it appear to be mira¬
culous. This is the only island of all the Canaries which I
have not been in ; but I have sailed with natives of Hierro,
who, when questioned about the existence of this tree, an¬
swered in the affirmative.”
FOUR BOROUGHS’ COURT, an ancient Scottish
court, so called because composed of delegates from four
royal burghs ; originally the burghs of Edinburgh, Stirling,
Berwick, and Roxburgh; but from the year 1348, when
the last two burghs were in the hands of the English, the
burghs of Edinburgh, Stirling, Lanark, and Linlithgow.
These delegates were assembled yearly at Haddington, be¬
fore the Lord Chamberlain of Scotland, and formed for ap¬
peals from the burgh courts and chamberlain ayres, a court
which was to the inhabitants of the burghs what the high
846 F O U
Fourcham- court of parliament was to the other inhabitants of the
bault kingdom, the highest and ultimate court of appeal.
II In 1405, when the regent, Robert Duke of Albany, uncle
Fourche. to K;ng James L, was lord chamberlain, a court of the four
burghs was held at Stirling, where it was resolved that
deputies from the royal burghs south of the Spey should
convene yearly with the four burghs, to consider and con¬
clude on all matters affecting the common weal of all the
royal burghs. This convention, though at first assembled
with the court of four burghs, does not appear to have ever
formed a constituent part of the latter assembly, and it
seems also soon to have disregarded both the place and
time of its meeting ; for in 1487 its constitution was mate¬
rially improved, representatives from all the royal burghs,
“ baith south and north,” being by a statute of that year
appointed to meet in convention yearly at Inverkeithing,
“ there to commoun and treate upon the weilfare of mer-
chandice, the gude rule and statutes for the common profite
of burrowes, and to provide for remeid upon the skaith and
injuries sustained within the burrowes.”
The chamberlain ayres, which had long been regarded
by the nation as a grievance demanding immediate refor¬
mation, were thus substantially superseded, and accordingly
soon afterwards fell into disuse. The court of four boroughs
continued somewhat longer ; but on the institution of the
Court of Session, which was vested with a universal civil
jurisdiction, its judicial functions were swallowed up, and it
likewise expired. The office of lord chamberlain itself
also, falling into the hands of the nobility and court favour¬
ites, ceased to be exercised ; and his place in the conven¬
tion came to be occupied by the Lord Provost of Edin¬
burgh, who, though not a member, is the constant preses
of the convention. The origin of this last circumstance,
hitherto, we believe, unexplained by our writers, seems to
be this. The convention was, by the statute above-men¬
tioned, appointed to meet at Inverkeithing. This, how¬
ever, it did not long continue to do; but, like the Court
of Four Boroughs and the other supreme courts of the
kingdom, removed to Edinburgh as early as the time of
Alexander Lord Home, who was great chamberlain from
1488 to 1517; and as that gentleman was at one time both
lord provost of Edinburgh and great chamberlain of Scot¬
land, and also, as it seems, the last in the latter office who
exercised its duties in person, hence, no doubt, arose the
practice of the lord provost of Edinburgh being the perma¬
nent preses, and the town-clerk of Edinburgh the perpetual
clerk, of the convention. This civic parliament has con¬
tinued till the present time. By stat. 1607, c. 6, letters of
horning were allowed to issue on all its acts and decrees
oetwixt burgh and burgh, and burgesses of free burghs, on
a simple charge of ten days.
FOURCHAMBAULT, a hamlet in France, depart¬
ment of Nievre, and commune of Garchizy. Its exten¬
sive iron-works give employment to about 3000 hands.
FOURCHE, Baton la, a river of the United States,
in the state of Louisiana, and one of the numerous arms
into which the Mississippi divides itself in the lower part of
its course. Near Donaldsonville it separates from the Mis¬
sissippi in the parish of Ascension, runs through that of
Assumption, forms the boundary between the parishes of
Terrebonne and Lafourche Interieure, and, after a S.E.
course of nearly 120 miles, falls into the Gulf of Mexico,
east of the Bay of Timballier.
Fourche Grande, a river of Lower Canada, which runs
through the C6te-de-la-grande-Fourche across the Temis-
conata Portage into the N.W. branch of the river Troispis-
toles. -Fourche Petite, a river, also in Lower Canada,
which issues from Lake Dessangues; it also crosses Te-
misconata Portage, and flows into the S.W. branch of the
same river, Troispistoles.
F o u
FOURCROY, Antony Francis de, a celebrated che- Fourcroy.
mist and physician, born at Paris on the 15th June 1755»
was the son of John Michael de Fourcroy, by his mar¬
riage with Jane Laugier. His family had been long esta¬
blished in the capital; several of them had been distin¬
guished at the bar, and Fourcroy de Ramcourt was well
known as an engineer of considerable talent, and a mem¬
ber of the Academy of Sciences.
His father was an apothecary attached to the house¬
hold of the Duke of Orleans, and was a great sufferer by
the abolition of places of this kind, which was procured
by the corporation of apothecaries, some time before the
Revolution. Young Fourcroy was sent to the college of
Harcourt, but made no progress in his learning there, and
underwent great hardships, from the cruelty of an unjust
master. He was afterwards obliged to subsist by his la¬
bour in copying, and by taking pupils as a writing mas¬
ter. He was, however, fortunate in the patronage and
assistance of Vicq d’Azyr, who had been a friend of his
father, and under whose auspices he resolved to study
physic ; obtaining his support in the mean time by giving
his assistance to richer persons than himself in their lite¬
rary labours, and by a few translations, for which he was
very ill paid. When he had gone through the regular
course of study, he became a candidate for a gratuitous
diploma, upon a foundation established by Dr Diest;
but he failed of success, from a party quarrel. His own
party, however, which was that of Vicq d’Azyr, indemni¬
fied him for the loss, by making a collection to discharge
the fees, amounting to about L.250; but the highest de¬
gree, that of doctor regent, was still refused him ; and he
was therefore incapable of holding a professorship under
the Parisian faculty of physic. He resolved to apply him¬
self to science as the readiest way of acquiring medical
reputation; but he seems to have been little known, at
any time of his life, as a practical physician. The deter¬
mination, however, like that of the countryman in the
fable, was still a beneficial one; and though he failed of
discovering the golden treasure for which he dug, he pro¬
fited by the increased fertility of the soil, and by the
abundant fruits which it bore him.
In natural history he soon distinguished himself as a
pupil worthy of Geoffroy, by an entomological publication ;
and in anatomy, by his description of the tendons and
their sheaths, which appears to have procured his admis¬
sion into the Academy of Sciences in 1785. He stood at
first in the capacity of an anatomist, though he was af¬
terwards removed to the section of chemistry. His favou¬
rite pursuit, however, from the beginning, was chemistry;
and in this he derived considerable assistance from Buc-
quet, who was then a professor in great esteem ; and hav¬
ing once undertaken to deliver a lecture in his place, on
occasion of a temporary indisposition of Bucquet, though
wholly unprepared, he found himself capable of speaking
for two hours with great fluency, to the delight and asto¬
nishment of his audience. The reputation of Bucquet
was soon transferred to Fourcroy; and he was enabled,
by an advantageous marriage, to purchase the apparatus
of his predecessor, and to succeed to his lectures.
In 1784, upon the death of Macquer, then professor of
chemistry in the Royal Garden, the Count de BufFon
found the claims of Eourcroy so strong, that he thought
it right to appoint him to the vacant chair, though no less
a chemist than Lavoisier was a rival candidate ; the com¬
petition not being wholly decided either by talent or by
depth of learning, but probably, in a great measure, by the
reputation in the art of teaching which Fourcroy had al¬
ready acquired. His success in this new situation was
brilliant and universal; and he continued for twenty-five
years to absorb the whole attention of a numerous au-
F O IT R C R O Y.
847
Fourcroj'. dience, by bis eloquence, and by the perspicuity of his
mode of explaining some of the most important novelties
that have ever appeared in any age. The science which he
taught was then making its most rapid progress. It was
then that Bergman and Scheele had introduced into ana¬
lytical chemistry a precision almost geometrical; that
Priestle}' had discovered the aeriform elements of the
animal and vegetable world; that Black and Wilcke had
methodised the phenomena of heat; that Cavendish had
discovered the composition of water and of the nitric
acid; that Monge had repeated and extended his expe¬
riments ; and that Lavoisier had reduced the whole of
chemistry to a uniform system, which, though founded on
a generalization somewhat too hasty, has still been of im¬
portant service to the science, by concentrating the at¬
tention of the philosophic reasoner on various classes of
phenomena, which could not so easily have been compre¬
hended in one view, without the aid of some such hypo¬
thesis. M. de Fourcroy was particularly happy in his
tact of perceiving whether or not all his audience were
fully in possession of the ideas he wished to communicate
to them, and he was never tired of explaining himself, till
he w^as satisfied that he had said enough. Ilis manner
was energetic, and such as an Englishman might peihaps
have thought pompous and affected; but we must recol¬
lect that there is no fixed standard of propriety in mat¬
ters of taste, and that, as the common conversation of the
French is naturally accompanied with more of emphasis
and gesture than our own, it is very possible that, witn-
out any greater proportional exaggeration than is intro¬
duced in similar cases in Great Britain, an actor, a lec¬
turer, or a preacher, may exhibit what to us would appear
a caricature, while it only affects his own countrymen as
a natural, though impressive, style of public speaking.
The chemical amphitheatre of the Public Garden was
crowded by students from all countries, and from all
quarters of the globe, some prompted to visit Paris by
their own love of learning only, some assisted in their pur¬
suits by their respective governments; and it was twice
in succession necessary to provide more extensive accom¬
modations for the overflowing numbers that sought for
admittance.
M. de Fourcroy’s political life, though not unsuccess¬
ful, seems to have contributed less materially to his hap¬
piness than his scientific career. He was chosen a sup¬
plementary member of the National Convention, and en¬
tered on the functions of the office in the dreadful period
of 1793. He had, however, the wisdom to refrain from
employing the eloquence that he possessed under circum¬
stances so dangerous, and he almost entirely confined his
exertions to some attempts to soften the cruel tyranny of
the times. Darcet was one of the destined victims that
he had the good fortune to save; but he soon found it too
dangerous to persist in such interferences. M. Cuvier,
however, very fully acquits him of any approbation of the
judicial murders which were committed, and of any conni¬
vance at such proceedings as it might have been possible
for him to avert; declaring, that if, upon the strictest in¬
quiry, he could have discovered that there was the least
foundation for charging him with having been indifferent
to the fate of his great rival Lavoisier, no consideration on
earth could have induced him to become the biographer of
a person so odious and contemptible. It w'as at a later pe¬
riod that Fourcroy acquired some little influence as a di¬
rector of the public instruction ; and in this capacity he had
oreat scope for the exertion of his talents, in the re-esta¬
blishment of the many public institutions connected with
science, which the madness of the Revolution had de¬
stroyed. The Ecole de Medecine was one of the first that
was restored ; but the name of Medecine seeming to carry
with it too much of respect and authority for the levelling Fourcroy.
spirit of the day, the new institution was at first called
Ecole de Sante. M. de Fourcroy was also very essential¬
ly concerned in the organization of the Ecole Polyte.ch-
nique, as well as of the central schools of the departments,
and of the Normal schools of Paris ; nor was he an indiffe¬
rent spectator of the establishment of the Institute, which
was at first intended to be as much immediately subser¬
vient to public instruction, as to making known the re¬
sults of private study. He had also considerable influ¬
ence in obtaining the adoption of a law calculated greatly
to facilitate the formation of a museum of natural his¬
tory on a magnificent scale. If, in the pursuit of these^
objects, he sometimes appeared to forget the dignity of
language most appropriate to his subject, it must be re¬
membered that he lived in times when the choice of ex¬
pressions was by no means at the option of the speaker.
He was once denounced by the Jacobins, merely for his
silence in the assembly; but he excused himself, by
pleading the absolute necessity of applying himself to
chemical pursuits for the support of his family.
In 1798 his duties as a senator were terminated; but
he was made a counsellor of state under the consular go¬
vernment, and again employed in the department of pub¬
lic instruction, with less liberty to pursue his own ideas
than before, but with more effectual means of attaining
the objects of his appointment. In this capacity he di¬
rected, in the course of five years, the establishment of
twelve schools of law, and of more than thirty lyceums,
afterwards called royal colleges, and three hundred ele¬
mentary schools ; exhibiting, in the performance of this la¬
borious duty, the greatest possible judgment and attention
in overcoming the local difficulties which perpetually oc¬
curred in the details of the undertaking, and depending on
none but himself for the whole of the required arrange¬
ments. He conducted himself with great impartiality in
his choice of the persons to be employed, though he some¬
times found himself obliged to pay a ceitain degiee of
deference to the arbitrary power under which he acted,
or even to his own political connexions. Remembering
the difficulties which he had himself encountered in the
early part of his career, he was particularly kind and
benevolent in his intercourse with those young men to
whom he wras the dispenser of public munificence, in ad¬
mitting them to a gratuitous education.
The great number and extent of M. de Fourcroy s sci¬
entific labours may be considered as paramount to a more
immediate participation in the discovery of some of the
new facts which changed the aspect of the science of
chemistry. His ideas were, however, often rather en¬
larged than profound ; and he was not uncommonly some¬
what too precipitate in his conclusions; but he was ge¬
nerally methodical in the mode of conducting his re¬
searches, and clear in relating their results. His pursuits
and projects w'ere sometimes varied a little capriciously,
though he prosecuted them all with equal warmth and
eloquence. He was too much the slave of public opinion
for his own comfort; and even the slightest expression of
censure that occurred in private society, or the most un
important criticism that appeared in a periodical work,
became a heavy misfortune to him, and deprived him of
his tranquillity for a considerable time. But the desire of
universal approbation acted upon him as a strong incen¬
tive to continued exertion; and, amongst all his political
and official labours, he continued his experiments, his me¬
moirs, and his lectures, with as much eagerness as if they
had constituted his whole occupation. His nerves seem
ultimately to have suffered by his unremitting application,
and he became subject to palpitations, which, as he was well
aware, rendered the duration of his life extremely preca-
848
F O U R C E 0 Y.
Fourcroy. rious. At last, on the 16th of December 1809, at the age
' of fifty-four, as he was signing some dispatches, he ex¬
claimed suddenly, “ I am dead;” and his words were true.
It happened, that on that day his family were about to
assemble for the celebration of an anniversary in which
they were particularly interested ; the assembly actually
met, though only to mourn his loss ; and their disappoint¬
ment was rendered the greater, upon the receipt of some
distinguished marks of the imperial favour, which arrived
too late to be of any use to his spirits or to his health, but
which would have been of the more value to him, as he
had before been passed over, when some of his colleagues
had received considerable gratifications. He had, how¬
ever, been made a count of the empire, and a commander
of the legion of honour, in addition to his various lite¬
rary and scientific titles ; and he must have had the heart¬
felt satisfaction of reflecting, that he had been of use to
the promotion of knowledge by his experiments and his
writings ; to his country by the public institutions which
he had established; and to many deserving individuals
by the benefits which he had bestowed on them, without
the remorse of having done injury to any one.
He left a son by his first marriage with Mile. Bettinger,
the Count de Fourcroy, an officer of artillery, who was
afterwards killed in the campaign of 1813 in Saxony, and
a daughter, Mad. Foucaud. By his second marriage with
Mad. Belleville, the widow of M. de Wailly, he had no
children. His two maiden sisters also survived him, though
by no means in a state of affluence; but they received
great kindness from his friend and assistant M. Vauquelin.
His place at the Institute was very ably filled by M.
Thenard; M. Laugier succeeded him at the Museum,
and M. Gay Lussac at the Ecole Polytechnique.
The chief of M. de Fourcroy’s separate publications are, Ussai
sur les Maladies des Artisans, 12. Paris, 1777, translated from Ra-
mazzini. Analyse Chimique de VEau Sulfureuse d'Enghien, par
Fourcroy et Laporte, 8vo, 1778. Leqons Elementaires d'Histoire
Naturelle de Ghimie, 2 vols. 8vo, 1782; 5 vols. 8vo, 1789, 1794;
translated by Nicholson. Mtmoires et Observations de Ghimie, 8vo,
1784; intended as a sequel to the elements. Most of these had
been read to the academy before the author was a member. They
relate to the metallic carbonates, to detonations, to tests for water,
to combustions in a stream of oxygen, and to the properties of
several saline and metallic substances. An edition of the Entomo-
logia Parisiensis of Geoffroy, 2 vols. 12mo, 1780; extracted from
Geoffrey’s larger work, with the addition of 250 new species.
L'Art de connaitre et d'employer les Medicarnentt dans les Maladies,
2 vols. 8vo, 1785. Methods de Nomenclature Chimique, par de Mor-
veau, Lavoisier, Berthollet, et De Fourcroy, 8vo, 1787. Essai sur
le Phlogistique et les Acides, 8vo, 1788; from the English of Kirwan.
La Medicine clairie par les Sciences Physiques, 4 vols. 8vo, 1791,
1792; a collection of papers, with some original essays. Philoso¬
phic Chimique, ou Veritis Eondamentales de la Chimie Moderne, 1792,
1796, 1800. Reviewed by Deyeux, Ann. de Chim. Ivi. ; a work
which has been translated into almost every European language,
including modern Greek. Proc£d&s pour extraire la Soude du Sel
Marin, 4to, 1795. Systems de Connaisances Chimiques, 10-vols. 8vo,
5 vols. 4to, 1800. Rev. Ann. Gh. xxxvi. xxxvii. Translated by
Nicholson. Tableaux Synoptiques de Chimie, fol. 1800, 1805. Abrkgk
de Chimie, pour Vusage des Scales veterinaires. Chimie pour les
Lames, in the Bibliotheque des Dames.
Besides his separate works, Fourcroy was the author of more
than 160 memoirs, printed in different publications, the principal
of which it will he sufficient to enumerate in a very cursory man¬
ner. The most important of his later researches were published
jointly in his own name and in that of his pupil Vauquelin; and it
is supposed that the processes were generally conducted and often
suggested by Vauquelin, but that the investigations were set on
foot and directed, and the results described and methodized, with
inferences and theoretical reasoning, by Fourcroy.
In the Memoirs of the Academy of Sciences we find an Anatomical
History of the Tendons and their Mucous Capsules, 1785, 1786,1787.
On the Smoking Oil of Vitriol of Saxony, and the Concrete Salt ob¬
tained from it, 1785 ; modifications of the sulphurous acid. On
epatic Gas, 1786. Report on a Sand from Peru containing Cop-
Ler' , . and its Production in animals, 1787. On detecting
Lead m Wines, 1787. On Combustions in the Oxymuriatic Acid,
788. On Metals preciqntated by Ammonia, 1788. Experiments
on Animal Substances, made at the Lyceum, 1789. On a Liver Fourcroy,
changed by putrefaction, 1789. On the Colours derived by Vege¬
tables from Oxygen, 1789. On an Ore of Lead from Roziers, 1789.
On the Sulphate of Mercury, and on Triple Ammoniacal Salts, 1790.
On the Formation of the Nitric Acid by the Action of the Oxyd of Mer¬
cury on Ammonia, 1790. On the Combustion of Hydrogen in close
vessels, by Fourcroy, Vauquelin, and Seguin, 1790. On Barita and
Strontia, Mem. Inst. vol. ii. 1797. On Phosphate of Lime and on
Phosphorus, ib. On the Urinary Secretion in Horses and in the Hu¬
man Subject, ib. On Urinary Calculi, with two more Memoirs on the
Secretion, iv. 1803. On the Nitrous Oxyd, by Fourcroy, Vauquelin,
and Phenard, \ i. 1806. On Cow s Milk, ib. On Guano, used as a
Manure, ib. On Tabasheer, ib. On the Chemical Nature of Carious
Wheat, ib. On a Detonating Substance obtained from Indigo, ib.
On Animal Substances treated by Nitric Acid, ib. Two Memoirs on
Crude Platina and a new Metal found with it. On the effects of Ger¬
mination and Fermentation on Corn and Pulse, vii. 1801. In the
Memoirs of the Royal Society of Medicine for 1782-83-84, Par. 1787,
we find-a valuable memoir On the Muriate of Lime, p. 267. On
Morbid Changes in some of the Animal Fluids, p. 488. On the Nature
of Muscular Fibres, and on the Seat of Irritability; showing the ana¬
logy of muscular fibre to the coagulable lymph of the blood.
Many of these earlier papers have also been printed in the An-
nales de Chimie, but they are sometimes altered, and they are mired
with others which are original. On Azote (20), vol. i. (1789). This
memoir exhibits no very favourable specimen of the author’s accu¬
racy ; for he asserts in it that pure azote turns vegetable blues to
green, and that it may be obtained, by means of a low heat, from
the oxide of manganese. On the Gas in the Air Vessels of the Carp.
On a Morbid Change in the Blood, ib.; exuding from the face. On
detecting Lead in Wine (21), ib. On two Ores of Lead, ii. On the
action of Oxyds on Ammonia, ib. On the Salts of Magnesia, ib. On
a Change in the Liver after Death (25), iii. On Biliary Calculi, ib.;
describing the adipocere of these substances. On the Albumen of
Vegetables, ib. On the Carbonate of Barita of Alston Moor, iv. On
the Medical Properties of Oxygen, ib. On the Triple Salts of Ammonia
and Magnesia, ib. ; an elaborate and interesting paper. Cn Com¬
bustions in Oxymuriatic Acid Gas, ib. On the effect of Oxygen in co¬
louring Vegetables, and on the preparation of Solid Pigments, v. On
the Changes observed in the Cemetery of the Innocents, ib. Fourcroy
had observed that the muscular parts were often changed into a
substance resembling spermaceti. On a Black Sand from St Do¬
mingo, vi. On the Water of Enghein, (2), ib. Discoveries in Animal
and Vegetable Chemistry, ib. On the Formation of the Nitric Acid
from the Action of the Oxyd of Mercury on Ammonia, ib. On the Cul¬
ture of Cloves in the Isle of Bourbon, vii. Experiments on Animal
Substances made at the Lyceum in 1790, (24), ib. Second Memoir
on the Substances found in the Cemetery. On the Cinchona of St Do¬
mingo, viii, x.; On the Combustion of Hydrogen, (30), viii. Report
on Loyser's Art de la Verrerie, ix. On Bell Metal, ib. The prin¬
cipal object of this paper is to discover a ready mode of converting
the spoils of the churches into copper coin. On Tears and Mucus,
x. On the Sulphate of Mercury, and its combination with Ammonia,
ib.; On the Refinement of Saltpetre, xi. On the Juice which furnishes
Elastic Gum, ib. Note on the Decompiosition of the Carbonic Acid
Gas, effected by Mr Tennant, xii. On Triple Salts, xiii. On Animal
Concretions, from the Dictionnaire Encyclopedique. On the Brain,
xvi. Report on some Artificial Pencils, xx. Extract of a Memoir
on Hydrocarbonous Gas, and on the supposed Combustion of Azote,
xxi. On Detonations by Percussion, ib. Extract of a Memoir of
Proust on Odoriferous Substances, ib. On obtaining Pure Barita,
ib. ; an elegant and effectual process. On the Union of Chemistry
with Pharmacy, ib. On Vitality, and on Humboldt's Experiments,
xxii. On the Action of the Sulphuric Acid on Vegetable and Animal
Substances, xxiii. On the Formation of the Sulphuric Ether, ib. On
the Sulphurous Acid, xxiv. Report on some Colours for Porcelain, xxv.
Letter to Humboldt on the Chemistry of Life, xxvii. Examination of
Dr Pearson’s Experiments on Calculi, ib. On Pneumatic Medicine,
xxviii. On the Experiments of Mayow, from the Dictionnaire En¬
cyclopedique, xxix. Novelties from Egypt, ib. On Congelation by
Artificial Cold, ib. Letter to Giobert on Calculi, xxx. Notice of
Ventenat’s Vegetable System, ib. On the Chemical and Medical His¬
tory of the Urinary Secretion, xxxi. xxxii. His investigations re¬
specting calculi, however, notwithstanding their importance, were
in a great measure anticipated by Wollaston, whose paper, however,
is not mentioned by M. de Fourcroy. Notice of the Chimie Optema-
thique, xxxi. Account of a Memoir of Fabroni on Fermentation and
on Ether, ib. Chemical Novelties, xxxii. Report on Paul's Artificial
Waters, xxxiii. On Dabit’s Ether, xxxiv. On the Identity of the
Three Empyreumatic Acids with the Acetic, xxxv.; suggesting that
they might be substituted for it in some economical processes.
Galvanic Experiments, xxxix; by Fourcroy, Vauquelin, and The¬
nard. Note in Answer to Proust, xlii. Remarks on a, Memoir of the
Dutch Chemists on the Carbonic Oxide, xliii. On a New Phosphate
F 0 U
Fourier found in the Bones, xlvii.; that of magnesia, not before observed.
Extract of a Memoir on Platina, xlviii. Two Memoirs on Crude
Fou Tchow Platina, and on a Metal found ivith it, xlix. ]. Extract from Izarn's
Fou. Manual of Galvanism, 1. On the Alumina of Saxony, Hi. On a
k V Fluid found in the Caoutchouc of the Castilloya Elastica, Iv. On a
Denonating Substance formed by the Action of the Nitric Acid on In¬
digo and Animal Matters, Iv.; the investigations relating to indigo
have since been carried further by Mr Hatchett. On the Products
of Animal Substances treated with the Nitric Acid. Ivi. On the Guano
(39), Ivi. Experiments on Ivory, Recent and Fossil, and on the Ena¬
mel of the Teeth, in search of the Fluoric Acid, Ivii.; these experi¬
ments were not completely successful, though the fluoric acid had
been detected by Morichini in the teeth before that time, and by
Berzelius more recently.
M. de Fourcroy was for some years the editor of the Journal des
Pharmaciens ; he first suggested the idea of the publication of the
Annales du Museum d Histoire Naturelle, and contributed several
valuable papers to it, as well as to the Journal de VEcole Polytech¬
nique, and to the Magazin Encyclopedique. He was also the author
of some very voluminous articles in the chemical part of the Ency-
cloptdie Methodique ; but the fabric of his celebrity is principally
founded on the works which have already been enumerated.
(Palissot de Beauvois, Eloge Historique, Par. 1810 ; Cuvier, Eloge,
M. Inst. A. Math. 1810, and in Biographic Universelle, xv. 8. Par.
1816; Thomson’s Annals, i. May 1818, p. 321; Aikin’s General
Biography, vol. x. 4to, Bond. 1815.)
FOURIER, Charles, the celebrated French sociologist
was born at Besanpon in 1772, and died at Paris in 1837.
A detailed account of his life with an analysis of his doc¬
trines is given under the article Communism, vol. vii. pp.
209-210.
FOURMONT, Etienne, professor of the Arabic and
Chinese languages, and one of the most learned men of his
time, was born at Herbelai, near Saint Denis, about four
leagues from Paris, in 1683. He studied in Mazarin Col¬
lege, and afterwards in the Seminary of Thirty-three. He
was at length appointed professor of Arabic in the Royal
College, and admitted a member of the Academy of Inscrip¬
tions. In 1738 he was chosen a member of the Royal
Society of London, and in 1741 a member of that of Berlin.
He was often consulted by the Duke of Orleans, first prince
of the blood, who had a particular esteem for him, and made
him one of his secretaries. Fourmont was the author of many
learned works, the most important of which are—Racines
de la Langue Latine mises en vers Francois, Paris, 1706,
in 12mo; Reflexions Critiques sur les Histoires des Anciens
Peuples, Paris, 1735, in 2 vols. 4to; Meditationes Sinicce,
1737, in folio ; Grammatica Sinica (Chinese Grammar),
1742 ; and several Dissertations printed in the Memoires
de VAcad. des Inscriptions. Fourmont died at Paris on
the 18th December 1745, at the age of sixty-two. He
must not be confounded with Michel Fourmont, his young¬
est brother, who was professor of the Syriac language in the
Royal College, and a member of the Academy of Inscrip¬
tions, and who died in 1746.
FOURNESS, or Furness, a tract of land in Lancashire.
See Lancashire.
FOU TCHOW FOU, or Fuhchau Fu, a city of China,
capital of the province of Fo-kien, and one of the five ports
recently opened for commerce, stands on the N. side of the
Min river, 34 miles from its mouth, and 9 from Pagoda
island, where ships anchor. N. Lat. 26. 5.; E. Long. 119.
20. The walled city is about 3 miles from the river, but
extensive suburbs stretch along both its banks. They are
connected with each other, and with a small islet in the
river by a stone bridge 420 paces long, lined with shops,
and resting on solid stone piers, 40 on the northern, and 9
on the southern side. Several lookout houses are placed
over the streets, or upon the roofs of buildings, one of
which immediately attracts the attention of the visitor
from its height, and its clock-dial with Roman characters.
Few vacant spaces occur within the walls of the city, which
is everywhere equally well-built. Serpentine canals divide
the country around into plats of greater or less extent, and
help to drain the city, as well as provide channels for boats
YOU. IX.
FOX 849
to come up from the river. These parts of the landscape Fowey
are dotted with hamlets and cottages, or, where the ground
is higher, with graves and tombstones. The maritime com- P°x-
merce of this city is very considerable, and its manufactures
of cotton goods and porcelain ware are extensive. The po¬
pulation of Fou Tchow Fou and suburbs, is estimated at
about 600,000.
FOWEY, a decayed seaport, borough, and market-town
of England, county of Cornwall, at the mouth of a small
river of the same name, 11 miles S.S.E. of Bodmin. The
town is surrounded by scenery of great beauty, but it is ir¬
regularly built, and the streets are very narrow and full of
angles. The inhabitants are engaged chiefly in the catch¬
ing and curing of pilchards. The harbour is safe and com¬
modious, and is defended by an ancient and two modern
forts. Previous to the Reform Act by which it was dis¬
franchised, it returned two members to parliament. This
town became famous in the old French wars, and in 1347
sent 37 tall ships to the siege of Calais. It was burned by
the French in 1457. Pop. of parish (1851) 1606.
FOX, in Zoology< See index to Mammalia.
FOX, Charles James, a celebrated statesman and ora¬
tor, was third son of the Right Honourable Henry Fox,
afterwards Lord Holland, and of Lady Georgina Caroline
Fox, eldest daughter of Charles, second Duke of Rich¬
mond. He was born on the 24th January 1749.
Mr Fox received the first rudiments of his education
in a private school of some celebrity, kept by a Mr Pam-
pelune at Wandsworth. In 1758 he was sent to Eton,
where he gave early promise of future eminence. In
the beginning of summer 1763 the mistaken indulgence
of his father carried him first to Paris, and then to Spa.
After wasting idly three months abroad, he was sent home
to England, and at his own desire he went back to Eton.
He had left school a boy; he returned to it with all the
follies and fopperies of a young man. At Spa he had
been initiated in play; and his father, whose fondness for
him was excessive, had encouraged him in a propensity
which was the source of much future unhappiness to both.
In the autumn of 1764 he was removed from Eton and
sent to Oxford, where he was placed at Hertford College,
under the tuition of Dr Newcome, afterwards primate of
Ireland. At Oxford as well as at Eton he distinguished
himself not less by his powers of application than by the
quickness and superiority of his parts. The following
letter, which he preserved with care, and used to show
with triumph when reproached for idleness, is a curious
document of his diligence in study while he was at col¬
lege. “ You judge rightly,” says Dr Newcome in a letter
to his pupil, “ in thinking that I should be much surpris¬
ed by the information which you were so obliging as to
give me. But, on reflection, I think you have done well
to change the scene in such a manner, and I feel myself
inclined to envy you the power of doing it. Application
like yours requires some intermission ; and you are the
only person with whom I have ever had connection to
whom I could say this. I expect that you will return
with much keenness for Greek, and for lines and angles*
As to trigonometry, it is matter of entire indifference to
the other geometricians of the college (who will probably
continue some time here), whether they proceed to other
branches of mathematics immediate^, or wait a term or
two longer. You need not, therefore, interrupt your amuse¬
ments with severe studies ; for it is wholly unnecessary to
take a step onwards without you, and therefore we shall
stop till we have the pleasure of your company. All your
acquaintances here whom I know are well, but not much
happier for your absence.” This letter was probably writ¬
ten in spring 1765, when Mr Fox made a second excur¬
sion to Paris with his mother.
In autumn 1766 he quitted Oxford, and accompanied
5 p
850 F °
Fox. his father and mother to the south of Europe, where Lord
'—Holland had been advised to pass the winter on account
of his health. He remained with them at Naples during
the winter, and not finding a good Italian master there,
taught himself that language. In the following spring he
attended them as far as Turin in their way to England,
and then went to Genoa to meet Lord Fitzwilham, with
whom and Mr Uvedale Price he spent the summer in
Italy, chiefly in Tuscany. In the beginning of winter he
rejoined his father and mother at Paris, and accompanied
them to Nice, where he passed with them the winter of
1767-68. It was during this long residence in Italy that
he contracted his strong partiality foi Italian literatuie.
In a letter to Mr Fitzpatrick, written from Florence in
September 1767, he conjures him to learn Italian as fast
as he can, if it were only to read Ariosto. “ Iheie is
more good poetry in Italian than in all othei languages I
understand put together.” He appears to have indulged
freely at this period in all the pleasures natural to his
time of life, but never to have intermitted entirely his ap¬
plication to study, i/c travaille toujouTS le mating he says,
in another letter written from Nice. Acting plays was
also at this time one of his favourite passions, though he
confesses that the last time lie acted he fell far short of
his own expectations ; “ but then,” he adds, “ my expec¬
tations, it must be confessed, were very high.” In the
course of this journey he made a visit to Voltaire at Fer-
nay, in company with Mr Price.
He did not return to England till August 1768 ; and
having been elected one of the burgesses for Midhurst in
his absence, he took his seat in the ensuing session, and
made his first speech in the House of Commons on the
15th of April 1769, in support of the decision in favour of
Colonel Luttrel, on the famous Middlesex election. He
spoke, says Horace Walpole, with insolence, but with in¬
finite superiority of parts.
Lord Holland, father to Mr Fox, had begun his politi¬
cal career as an adherent of Sir Robert Walpole, and con¬
tinued ever after one of the steadiest friends and warmest
admirers of that great statesman. The treachery of the
Pelhams to Ids patron excited an early prejudice in his
mind against all the members of that family ; and the
falseness, folly, and fickleness of the Duke of Newcastle
added contempt and distrust to his dislike. After a long
rivalship with Mr Pitt, he was finally driven from the
cabinet by a coalition of the Pitt and Newcastle parties,
and reduced to the subordinate though lucrative employ¬
ment of paymaster of the forces. In this situation he
was found by Lord Bute at the conclusion of the war, and
recommended to the king as the only person in the
House of Commons who had courage and ability to de¬
fend the peace against Mr Pitt and the Newcastle party.
It wras with great difficulty he was prevailed on by his
majesty to undertake this office, but when engaged in it,
he performed it most successfully. For his services on
this occasion he wras rewarded with a peerage ; but the
part he had taken estranged him for ever from his old
friends the Dukes of Cumberland and Devonshire, and
other leaders of the Whig party. It was at this period
that his son Charles received his first political impres¬
sions ; and there is still extant a copy of French verses
written by him in 1764, in praise of Lord Bute, and full
of invective against Mr Pitt. Wfien brought into parlia¬
ment, he was, therefore, in the first instance, connected
with the Duke of Grafton’s administration, which, though
originally formed under the auspices of Lord Chatham,
had been gradually sinking into a mere court party.
Mr Fox was not of age when returned to parliament,
and probably for that reason, after his first speech, he
took little part in public debate till January 1770. Du-
X.
ring this interval he made another excursion to the Con¬
tinent, where he is chiefly taken notice of for his losses ^
at play. He had, as already mentioned, acquired a pas¬
sion for play as early as his first journey to Spa ; and for
many years afterwards, when not engaged in active poli¬
tical business, play and Newmarket were his chief avoca¬
tions. His losses were such as early to embarrass, and
finally to ruin, his private fortune ; but so great a hold had
these pursuits taken of his mind, that, till the payment
of his debts in 1794, he could never prevail on himself
to renounce them entirely. From that moment he gave
them up for ever.
In February 1770 he was rewarded for his support of
government with the place of junior lord of the admiralty,
which he retained for two years, and resigned on the 20th
of February 1772, partly in consequence of some slight
offence he had received from Lord North, and partly be¬
cause he had resolved to oppose the royal marriage bill,
“ which, in place," he says, “ I should be ashamed of do¬
ing but he had no thoughts, he adds, “ of going into
opposition.” Fie had an immediate and satisfactory ex¬
planation with Lord North ; but, to punish him for his
speech against the royal marriage act, which was a mea¬
sure entirely the king’s own, he was suffered to lemain a
considerable time out of office. At length, in January
1773, he was made one of the lords of the treasury, a si¬
tuation he continued to fill till his memorable quarrel with
Lord North in the following year.
Some gross and scandalous reflections upon the speakei
of the House of Commons, written by the celebrated
Horne Tooke, having appeared in the Public Advertiser,
Mr Woodfall, the printer of that newspaper, was called to
the bar of the house, and having there confessed himself
publisher of the libel, he was declared guilty of a breach
of privilege; on which IMr Herbert moved that he should
be taken into the custody of the serjeant-at-arms. I he
house, unwilling to engage in a fresh contest with the
press and the city, were disposed to acquiesce in this mo¬
tion ; but Mr Fox, thinking the punishment inadequate
to the offence, without consulting Lord North, moved, as
an amendment, that MrWoodfall should be committed to
Newgate. Lord North found himself compelled by this
motion to resist Mr Herbert’s proposition; but though he
substituted the Gatehouse for Newgate, as a less objec¬
tionable place of confinement, he was left in a minority
on the division, the original motion being carried by a
great majority. Incensed at this disgrace, and determin¬
ed to punish his youthful colleague for his temerity, he
had a new commission of the treasury made out a few
days afterwards, in which the name of Mr Fox was omit¬
ted. This happened in February 1774.
Long before his breach with Lord North, Mr jox had
formed an intimate acquaintance with Mr Burke, one of the
leading members of the Whig or Rockingham paity in the
House of Commons ; and to the friendship he contracted
with that gentleman may, in a great measure, be attribut¬
ed the decided change in his political character and opi¬
nions, which commenced at this time. He had been
brought up by his father in the maxims and principles of
Sir Robert Walpole ; and from this education he derived
the love of peace, the good-humoured spirit of concilia¬
tion, and ardent attachment to civil and religious liberty,
which were afterwards the most conspicuous features of his
public character, and are certainly the chief merits of the
Walpole school. But the tone and character of Sir Ro¬
bert Walpole’s policy, though suitable, and perhaps neces¬
sary, for the times in which he lived, was no longer adapt¬
ed to the state of the country. When the Jacobites re¬
nounced their idol without changing their creed, and
transferred to the house of Brunswick the same allegiance
FOX.
Fox. which they had borne to the Stuarts, the weapons which
Sir Robert had employed to preserve the constitution be¬
came, in the hands of its enemies, instruments of its de¬
struction. Mr Burke was the first to perceive, or at least
the first to explain, the change that had taken place in
our interna] government, and the first to point out a plan
of systematic opposition in parliament, as the only means
of preventing, or at least of retarding, what Mr Hume has
called the euthanasia of English liberty. In Mr Fox he
found a pupil ready to receive his lessons, and prepared
by character and turn of mind to act upon them with for¬
titude and perseverance. From Mr Burke's example and
instructions Mr Fox caught more elevated notions of
public principle than had animated the successors of Sir
Robert Walpole ; and from the writings and conversation
of the same great man he learned the necessity of party
connections in a mixed government like ours, to counter¬
act the influence of government, and preserve a due ba¬
lance of power between the crown and the people. The
American war roused all the energies of his mind. The
discussions to which it gave rise involved all the first prin¬
ciples of free government. The vicissitudes of the con¬
test tried the firmness of its opponents. Its duration ex¬
ercised their perseverance. Its magnitude and the dan¬
gers of the country called forth their powers. The pro¬
gress of Mr Fox was steady and uninterrupted. So early
as the beginning of 1775, we are told by Gibbon that “ he
discovered powers for regular debate, which neither his
friends hoped nor his enemies dreaded.”
But, notwithstanding the brilliancy of his talents and
the reputation he acquired in the House of Commons, the
levity and want of decorum of his private life, the dissi¬
pation in which he indulged, and the embarrassments in
which he was involved, prevented him, for some years,
from obtaining the weight and consideration with opposi¬
tion, due to his extraordinary abilities and exertions. So
late as the beginning of 1778 he was under no engage¬
ments with any set of men; but, though not absolutely
engaged in party connections with the Whigs, he had de¬
termined on no account to abandon their principles; and
from a cool consideration of his own character, and a just
conception of the prevailing sentiments of the country, he
had already fully made up his mind to the fate that ulti¬
mately awaited him. “ People flatter me,” he says in a
letter to Mr Fitzpatrick, written in 1778, “ that I continue
to gain rather than to lose character as an orator; and I
am so convinced this is all I ever shall gain (unless I chuse
to be one of the meanest of men), that I never think of
any other object of ambition. I am certainly ambitious
by nature, but I have, or think I have, totally subdued
that passion. I have still as much vanity as ever, which
is a happier passion by far, because great reputation, I
think, I may acquire and keep; great situations I never
can acquire, nor, if acquired, keep, without making sacri¬
fices that I will never make. If I am wrong, and more
sanguine people right, tantmieux, and I shall be as happy
as they can be ; but if I am right, I am sure I shall be hap¬
pier for having made up my mind to my situation.” He
expresses great joy at the prospect of Fitzpatrick’s return,
who he knew would be of his opinion in certain emer¬
gencies that might arise. “ I shall be told by prudent
friends that lam under no sort of engagements to any set
of men. I certainly am not; but there are many cases
where there is no engagement, and yet it is dishonour¬
able not to act as if there was one. But even suppose
it were quite honourable, is it possible to be happy in
acting with people of whom one has the worst opinion,
and being on a cold footing (which must be the case)
with all those whom one loves best, and with whom one
passes one's life ?” With these sentiments it is not to be
851
wondered at that he rejected overtures made to him by Fox.
Lord Weymouth, in summer 1778, to join administration ;
nor, with his powerful talents and unremitted exertions, the
inflexible steadiness of his public conduct, and the unex¬
ampled force and vehemence of his eloquence, that he
gradually acquired the perfect confidence of the Whigs,
and came at length to be considered as the leading mem¬
ber of the Rockingham party in the House of Commons.
It ought to be recorded to the credit of Mr Burke, that he
witnessed with pleasure, unmixed with envy, the progress
and elevation of his pupil, and cheerfully resigned to him
the station he had so long himself occupied in the party.
The day of triumph at length arrived. A resolution
against the further prosecution of the American war was
carried in the House of Common. Ministers still linger¬
ed in office, but the fears of a direct vote of censure com¬
pelled them to resign. The king, whose pertinacity in
support of his favourite principles of government had been
the chief if not the sole cause of the apparent reluctance
of his ministers to retire from office, was compelled at
length to yield to the wishes of his Commons ; but in the
very act of forminga new administration, he contrived to sow
the seeds of disunion in its bosom. The opposition to the
American war had been composed of two parties, united
in their disapprobation of that contest, but disagreeing on
many other points of external as well as of internal policy ;
both calling themselves Whigs, but Whigs of dift’erent
schools; the one consisting of the old Whig connection,
formed and educated in the principles of Mr Burke; the
other composed of the friends and followers of Lord Chat¬
ham. At the head of the first was the Marquis of Rock¬
ingham, whilst the leader of the second was the Earl of
Shelburne. His majesty began by sounding Lord Rock¬
ingham, through the chancellor. The demands of Lord
Rockingham were, to have full power to recognise the in¬
dependence of America, and authority to bring forward,
as ministerial measures in parliament, bills for reducing
the influence of the crown, by abolishing offices, exclud¬
ing contractors from the-FIouse of Commons, and depriv¬
ing revenue officers of their votes at elections ; and, with
respect to reform in the representation, or limitation of
the duration of parliament, he declined to lay himself un¬
der restrictions. After taking time to consider this an¬
swer, his majesty sent for Lord Shelburne, and had a con¬
ference with him at Buckingham house. Two days after¬
wards he sent for him again, and offered him the treasury,
which his Lordship declined, saying that no administra¬
tion suited to the present emergency could be formed un¬
less Lord Rockingham was at the head of it; on which
the king desired him to go to Lord Rockingham with an
offer of the treasury, and to add, that he had full powers
from his majesty to treat both with respect to men and
measures, with one reservation only, that he should him¬
self be one of the secretaries of state. The first impulse
of Lord Rockingham was to decline this offer, upon the
ground, that if it was the king’s intention to place him at
the head of the treasury, his majesty could have no fit ob¬
jections to conversing with him on the arrangement of the
administration ; but his friends persuaded him to overlook
that objection, lest his refusal should be ascribed to pique
or jealousy, at a moment when the public was extremely
impatient for the formation of a government. Many fatal
consequences ensued from the negotiation taking this
course and passing through the hands of Lord Shelburne.
No direct communication took place between the king
and the Rockingham party, who were to compose the ma¬
jority of the cabinet, with respect to the measures to be
pursued, till after the administration had been formed.
Lord Thurlow, a decided partisan of the old system, and
an enemy to every species of reform, was retained as lord
FOX.
852
Fox. chancellor; Mr Dunning having been prevailed upon by
his friend Lord Shelburne to waive his pretensions to that
office. When this arrangement was communicated to Mr
Fox, he told Lord Shelburne plainly, “ that he perceived
the administration was to consist of two parts, one be¬
longing to the king, the other to the public.” But the
worst effect of all was the impression left on the mind of
Lord Shelburne, that he alone possessed the confidence
of his sovereign, to the exclusion of his colleagues. This
persuasion bred distractions in the cabinet, which soon be¬
came a theatre of dissension and open division ; and these
divisions, whispered about, weakened the government
whilst it lasted, and contributed materially to its fall.
Of this short-lived administration, the principal mea¬
sures were the pacification of Ireland and the bills for eco¬
nomical and parliamentary reform, which, though short of
the public expectation, are still the most important acqui¬
sitions of that description obtained since the accession of
the house of Hanover. The death of Lord Rockingham
dissolved the ministry over which he presided. The trea¬
sury was immediately offered to Lord Shelburne, on pre¬
tence that, having refused it before, it naturally devolved
on him on Lord Rockingham’s death. His acceptance of
it destroyed the former balance of parties in the cabinet,
and overset entirely the balance of power in the govern¬
ment. Accordingly Mr Fox and Lord John Cavendish
immediately resigned, and, after some interval, they were
followed by Lord Keppel. The Duke of Richmond and
General Conway remained in office; the latter from sim¬
plicity, the former from dissatisfaction at seeing the Duke
of Portland preferred to himself as leader of the Whig
party. The other members of the cabinet were friends of
Lord Shelburne.
Mr Fox has been severely blamed for his precipitancy
on this occasion; and, though his resignation was a mea¬
sure that could not long have been deferred, the time at
which it took place makes it perhaps liable to that impu¬
tation. It followed so immediately the appointment of
Lord Shelburne to the treasury, as to have the appearance
of being the result of disappointed personal ambition, ra¬
ther than of any difference on public grounds. It reduced
his friends who were in office to the alternative of imme¬
diately following his example, or of passing for adherents
of Lord Shelburne ; and, as the whole of his motives could
not at that time be explained in public, it gave an oppor¬
tunity to the Duke of Richmond and others to keep their
places without forfeiting their characters. It took place
at the close of a session of parliament, and left Lord Shel¬
burne and the court for six months in undisturbed pos¬
session of the government. It was a cruel disappointment
to the public, which had expected a firm and united ad¬
ministration on the principles of those who had opposed
the American war and the sj^stem that gave rise to it.
But to those who judged rightly, the elevation of Lord
Shelburne to the treasury was the utter extinction of
these hopes. The Rockingham party had found in Lord
Shelburne an active and spirited ally in opposition; but
they had never been confidentially united with him; and
though ready to co-operate with him in a subordinate of¬
fice, they were not prepared to act under him as premier.
It was not the impatience and dissatisfaction of Mr Fox
alone that broke up the administration. As soon as the
appointment of Lord Shelburne to the treasury was known
in Dublin, the Duke of Portland determined to resign his
office of lord-lieutenant of Ireland. Lord John Cavendish
could with difficulty be prevailed upon to postpone his
resignation for a few days. Mr Burke urged strongly to
Mr hox the impossibility of his remaining long in office
as a clerk under Lord Shelburne; and it must be owned
that, in the subsequent treatment of his colleagues, that
nobleman fully justified the apprehensions then entertain- Fox.
ed of his future conduct. Elated with the fancied pos-
session of court favour, he from that time forward treated
the other ministers as mere ciphers; made additions to
his cabinet without consulting or even apprising them of
his intentions; and is even said to have settled and con¬
cluded the terms of his peace with France, without the
advice or participation of his secretaries of state.
There were, besides, before the death of Lord Rock¬
ingham, differences of such importance in the cabinet as
must have led to a dissolution of the administration. It
was the policy of Mr Fox to detach Holland and America
from their unnatural connection with France; and the
great object of his foreign politics was, to form a continen¬
tal alliance as a balance against the house of Bourbon.
The system of Lord Shelburne was to conciliate France,
to cultivate a confidential understanding with her govern¬
ment, and to treat her allies as so many inferior and de¬
pendent powers. Mr Fox had recommended and carried
in the cabinet (23d May 1782) a resolution to instruct
Mr Grenville, his majesty’s plenipotentiary at Paris, to
propose the independence of America in the first instance,
instead of making it a condition of a general treaty; and
this offer, to which his majesty’s consent had been obtain¬
ed, was actually communicated by Mr Grenville to Dr
Franklin, Lord Shelburne, though obliged to acquiesce
in the determination of the cabinet, endeavoured after¬
wards to represent the offer as only conditional, to be re¬
called if not accepted as the price of peace ; and this ex¬
planation having been adopted by a majority of the cabi¬
net after the illness of Lord Rockingham, Mr Fox declar¬
ed his determination to resign. The discovery of a mys¬
terious negotiation at Paris contributed to strengthen this
resolution. It was a great object with Mr Fox, in pursu¬
ance of his system of policy, to open a free and unreserv¬
ed communication with Dr Franklin, Through Mr Gren¬
ville he had hoped to accomplish this design, and he had
nearly succeeded in his purpose, when he had discovered,
to his infinite surprise and indignation, that Lord Shel¬
burne had been carrying on a clandestine intercourse with
Franklin through Mr Oswald, and had received from him
and made to him important communications, which had
not been imparted to his colleagues. This discovery,
which was made before Lord Rockingham’s death, de¬
stroyed all confidence in Lord Shelburne among the friends
of that nobleman, though, from the delicate nature of the
transaction, it was impossible at the time to make it the
subject of public animadversion, or even allusion.
The resignation of Mr Fox and his friends compelled
Lord Shelburne to strengthen his government from every
quarter where support could be obtained. Mr Pitt, who
had declined accepting a subordinate office in the Rock¬
ingham administration, became his chancellor of the ex¬
chequer. Rigby, Dundas, and Jenkinson, old supporters
of the American war, attached themselves to his train.
A negotiation was opened with the remaining partisans
of Lord North, which only failed of success in consequence
of Mr Pitt, with more judgment than feeling, making per¬
sonal objections to Lord North himself, which wounded
the pride, and excited the indignation, of his friends and
family. When parliament met after the signing of the
preliminaries of peace, there were three parties, nearly of
equal strength, in the Flouse of Commons; that of the
minister, reinforced by the court, and several of the most
objectionable members of Lord North’s administration;
the Rockingham party, who had gone into opposition with
Mr Fox; and, lastly, Lord North and his friends. That
three separate parties, so equally balanced, should con¬
tinue to act in the House of Commons without some
coalition, was not to be expected. A re-union of the
FOX.
853
Fox. Whigs would have been most acceptable to the public;
"v'’^ but recent differences, mutual recriminations, and distrust
of Lord Shelburne, rendered such a coalition impractica¬
ble. The personal objections, so harshly and acrimoni¬
ously stated, against Lord North, had exasperated his
friends against the ministry. Nothing, therefore, remain¬
ed but a junction of the two parties in opposition; and
this coalition, which time would naturally and impercep¬
tibly have brought about, was hastened and matured by
the coincidence of their opinions against the peace. The
first step was to concert an amendment to the address
of thanks on the preliminary articles signed at Versailles ;
and this amendment was carried in the Commons by
a small majority, but not without great indignation be¬
ing expressed in the house, and a violent outcry raised
out of doors, at the apparent junction of the two parties.
No coalition had yet taken place. Lord North was still
at liberty to have formed an administration without Mr
Fox; and it was the opinion of one of the most judici¬
ous friends of the latter, that to undertake the govern¬
ment with Lord North, “ was to risk their credit with
the public on very unsafe grounds.” On the part of the
Whigs there seems to have been a momentary hesitation
whether to proceed farther or to step back. “ Unless a
real good government is the consequence of this junc¬
tion,” says one of the most sagacious of the party, “ no¬
thing can justify it to the public.” “ There never was a
case of more difficulties and dangers to the real friends of
whiggism and good principles.” The die was at length
cast; and in an evil hour, if we are to judge, not from
principles, but from results, the coalition was effected.
The united strength of the two parties procured a vote of
censure on the peace. Lord Shelburne, who still flatter¬
ed himself with the possession of court favour, is said to
have proposed an immediate dissolution of the parliament.
But he had served his turn, and was no longer wanted.
His majesty judged rightly, that the time was not yet
come for so bold a measure, and allowed his minister to
resign.
A long interval ensued before the coalition administra¬
tion was formed. Repeated attempts were made to de¬
tach Lord North from Mr Fox; and when these had fail¬
ed, it was stated as an indispensable preliminary to any
ministerial arrangement, that Lord Thurlow should be
continued as lord high chancellor. But the fatal effects
of a secret enemy in the cabinet had been too severely
and too recently felt to concede a point of so much im¬
portance. A complete change of administration wras in¬
sisted upon, and was granted at last, but with the worst
possible grace, and with every symptom of ill humour and
dissatisfaction. It wras not merely the triumph of the
coalition that filled the royal bosom with such indignation.
His majesty considered the Rockingham party as enemies
to his just prerogative. Nor could he forgive them for their
zeal against the American war, and inflexibility, when they
came into office, in insisting on the unconditional acknow--
ledgment of American independence. “ The extraordi¬
nary and never to be forgotten vote of February 1782,
and the hurry for negotiation that after ensued, ’ had, in
his opinion, lowered the spirit of the country, and given
confidence to its enemies; and in his own mind had produ¬
ced such indifference on political subjects, that he felt no
anxiety for the arrival of the definitive treaty, or concern
for the delays that retarded its conclusion. When it was
suggested to him that a wish on his part to receive a mi¬
nister from America would be favourably received in that
country, and might tend to preserve peace and restore
harmony in future, he is said to have replied with bitter¬
ness, that to receive a minister from America, he could
never say would be agreeable to him ; and that he should
ever have a bad opinion of any Englishman who could ac- Fox.
cept being an accredited agent to that revolted state.
With such feelings rankling in his mind, is it to be w’on-
dered at that his majesty was hostile to an administration,
the majority of which had zealously concurred in the grant
of independence to America?
The coalition ministry was hardly settled, when a mis¬
understanding arose about the establishment of the Prince
of Wales ; and so skilfully had the affair been managed on
the part of the king, that if his royal highness had not
submitted entirely to his father’s pleasure, the administra¬
tion must have been overturned almost as soon as formed.
But though no change was attempted before the meeting
of parliament, his majesty contrived on every occasion to
show ill humour to his ministers, and no one in a situa¬
tion to observe could doubt for a moment that he only
waited for a favourable opportunity to turn them out.
The India bill afforded such opportunity. That measure
was represented as an invasion of chartered rights, as
the establishment of a ministerial oligarchy, independent
both of prince and people. The nation, disgusted and
offended at the coalition, listened with credulity and fa¬
vour to these accusations. The king, who had carefully
disguised his sentiments to the last moment, procured the
rejection of the bill in the Lords, through the agency of
Lord Temple, and instantly dismissed his ministers.
The coalition ministry was at an end, but its leaders
still possessed the confidence of the House of Commons.
The cry of secret influence was raised, and more violent
addresses carried to the throne than had ever been pre¬
sented to any prince of the house of Brunswick. Lord
Temple, who had accepted the seals, grew frightened at the
storm he had raised, and gave in his resignation. Even
Mr Pitt became alarmed in the progress of the contest;
and the firmness of the Duke of Richmond alone prevent¬
ed him from following the example of his kinsman. But,
as the struggle proceeded, the voice of the people was
every day more unequivocally declared in support of the
new administration. Courtiers and reformers, church¬
men and dissenters, squires and nabobs, joined in exe¬
crating the coalition and applauding the minister, in pro¬
fessions of attachment to the king, and declarations of
hostility to the Commons. After the attempt of the coun¬
try gentlemen to make a new coalition of parties had fail¬
ed, the majorities of opposition began to diminish ; and
when some necessary votes had been obtained, this re¬
fractory House of Commons was punished by a premature
dissolution, for its want of subserviency to the crown.
Our limits will not permit us to follow with the same
minuteness the political life of Mr Fox in the subsequent
parts of his public career. From 1784 to 1792 he was
leader of a powerful party in the House of Commons, in
opposition to Mr Pitt. His most remarkable exertions
during that period were against the Westminster scru¬
tiny, on the regency, against the abatement of impeach¬
ments by a dissolution of parliament, on the libel bill, and
on the Russian armament. He never published nor cor¬
rected any of his speeches, except the one on moving a
new writ for the borough of Tavistock ; and of those which
appeared in the newspapers, and have since been collected,
his speech on the scrutiny is the only one so well reported
as to give the reader an adequate notion of his style of
speaking. It failed at the moment in procuring justice
for the Westminster electors; but the impression it made
on the house was such, that in the following year an end
was put to that odious and vexatious piece of chicanery,
worthy of the pettyfogging genius of its inventor, but dis¬
graceful to the minister who gave it his countenance and
support. We have not room to discuss at length the re¬
gency question. The case was new and unprovided for.
854 FOX.
Fox. There was no direct precedent, nor legal authority in the
kingdom to make one. Constitutional analogy pointed
out the heir-apparent as the fittest person to exercise the
royal authority during the indisposition of the king; and
the same analogy indicated the great council of the realm
as the body most competent to declare the incapacity and
apply the proper remedy. Strict or legal right there was
none on either side. The prince had no legal right to
the regency; nor till they chose to declare it themselves,
had the two houses of parliament any legal right to elect
a regent, or to fetter him, previous to his election, with re¬
strictions. The contrivance to create, first a phantom,
and then a regent, was a clumsy piece of machinery,
nearly allied to treason. The claim of right advanced
for the prince was a flimsy speculation of Lord Loughbo¬
rough, adopted on his authority, without due examination,
by Mr Fox, who returned in haste from Italy, while the
discussions on the regency were pending. As explained
afterwards, the doctrine, if not true, was at least harm¬
less. But the opportunity was skilfully laid hold of by
the minister, for the purpose of making his rival unpopu¬
lar, and of gaining time for the king’s recovery, which
Addington, who had great experience in such maladies,
assured him, from the beginning, would certainly take
place. In his argument against the abatement of im¬
peachment by a dissolution of parliament, Mr Fox had
the support of Mr Pitt, and never was a more triumphant
reply than his answer to the arguments on the other side.
Of the libel bill it is unnecessary to say a word. The
country still profits by it, and regards it as a most impor¬
tant security to our constitutional freedom. By his exer¬
tions on the Russian armament, he had the satisfaction to
save his country from at least one unnecessary, unjust, and
expensive war. We must hasten to an occasion where
his efforts were less successful.
The beginning of the French revolution gave universal
satisfaction to the friends of liberty in this country. Soon
after the taking of the Bastille, Mr Fox describes it “ as
the greatest, and much the best event that ever happened
in the world;” and adds, “ all my prepossessions against
French connections for this country will be at an end,
and indeed most part of my European system of politics
will be altered, if this revolution has the consequence that
I expect.” When the king of France was brought back
from Varennes, a report having been circulated in Eng¬
land that it was the intention of the national assembly to
bring the queen to trial for her life, he composed a letter
to Barnave, one of the leading members of the assembly,
with whom he was personally unacquainted, exhorting
him against such a measure of useless cruelty, which
could not fail to bring disgrace on the cause of liberty.
The letter was never sent, in consequence of the report
proving to be unfounded; but we subjoin some extracts
from it, in order to show the spirit in which it was writ¬
ten. After an apology for obtruding his advice on one
who was unknown to him, except by reputation, and stat¬
ing the bad impression that any unnecessary severity to
the queen would produce in England; after praising the
assembly for the firmness they had displayed on receiving
the news of the king’s escape, and urging them to show
as much clemency and moderation in prosperity, as they
had manifested coolness and resolution in danger; after
stating the argument for sending the queen out of the
country, or, at most, for confining her in a place of secu-
rity, he proceeds as follows: “ De 1’autre cote, si on la
juge cette malheureuse femme, qu’on la condamne, et
qu elle subisse son sort, je ne sais que trop bien que ce ser-
aient les ennemis de la liberte qui en triompheront. On
la peindra cette liberte comme feroce et cruelle, on ta-
chera de la rendre odieuse, et parmi les ames faibles on
ne reussira peut-etre que trop bien. Le despotisme a tou- Fox.
jours eu 1’addresse de se servir des passions des hommes '**~y~^*
pour les subjuguer. II a eu a ses gages la superstition et
1 interet personnel, et il seroit bien facheux que la pitie,
la plus aimable de toutes les faiblesses humaines, se ran-
geat aussi de son cote. Je ne sais si je me trompe, mais
il me parait que vous etes precisement dans la position ou
vous pouvez faire une action belle et genereuse sans le
moindre danger; c’est-a-dire, que vous etes dans la pro-
sperite la moins equivoque. Vous avez donne par vos
travaux la liberte a votre patrie, et vous trouvez dans elle
une recompense aussi touchante que juste. Travaillez
actuellement pour le genre humain, et faites aimer la
liberte a toutes les nations de la terre, en prouvant qu’elle
nourrit dans fame non seulement les vertus males comme
le courage et la justice, mais aussi la douceur, la modera¬
tion, et la clemence.” Such were the sentiments and con¬
duct of a man, who was afterwards represented to his
countrymen as the blind apologist of all the horrors of the
revolution, and indifferent spectator of the calamities of
the ro}ral family of France.
As the revolution departed from its original character
of justice and moderation, its favourers in this country
began to fall off. Mr Burke, scandalized at the confisca¬
tion of church property, was the first of the Whig party
to declare against it. His violent and outrageous quarrel
with Mr Fox in the House of Commons is too well known
to need to be here related. No event of his life had ever
given such unfeigned sorrow to Mr Fox, as this breach
with his old friend and political instructor. But he had
soon many other losses of the same sort to deplore. The
excesses of the revolution, the democratic form it as¬
sumed, the fear lest its example should prove contagious
in England, filled with alarm the older, richer, and more
aristocratic members of the Whig party. Younger and
more ardent spirits, looking to the goodness of the cause,
disregarded the unfitness of the instrument used to pro¬
mote it; and, exulting in the progress of political freedom
abroad, thought the occasion favourable for extending
and enlarging our constitutional rights at home. A schism
was gradually formed in the Whig party, which the forma¬
tion of the Society of the Friends of the People, and the
royal proclamation in May 1792, brought to a public ex¬
plosion. Mr Fox was eagerly courted on both sides; but
if he appeared to hesitate, it was only to keep his friends,
if possible, together, and prevent a permanent separation,
which he foresaw would invest the minister, as it did,
with absolute power. But the revolution of the 10th of
August, the massacres of September, the success of the
French arms under Dumourier, the violence and indiscre¬
tion of the friends of reform at home, spread a panic terror
over the land; and the minister who had trifled and tem¬
porised till it was too late, found himself unwillingly forced
into a war, which he had not wisdom to avert or genius
to conduct.
We cannot follow Mr Fox in his opposition to this dis¬
astrous war, nor in his subsequent efforts for the restora¬
tion of peace. On no occasion was the vigour of his in¬
tellect, the sagacity of his foresight, the firmness and re¬
solution of his character, more conspicuous than during
the struggle he maintained against overwhelming majori¬
ties from 1792 to 1797. Till the Duke of Portland, and
other alarmists of the Whig party, joined administration
in 1794, he always flattered himself with the hope of re¬
newing his connection with his old friends, when their
fears should have subsided ; and at every harsh or violent
act of the government his letters express surprise that
the men with whom he had acted so long should support
such measures. When finally separated from his old aris¬
tocratic connections, and convinced by fatal experience that
FOX. 855
Fox. the House of Commons had sunk into the passive instru- of persons resist the temptations of titles and emolu- Fox
ment of ministerial power, his opinions became gradually ments; and, if these things aie so, oug it we to a anc on
more inclined to parliamentary reform, from utter despair a system from which so much good has been cenvec, e-
of seeing the revival of those party connections to which he cause some men have acted inconsistent y , an ecause,
had been accustomed to look for the preservation of pub- from the circumstances of the moment, we are not i e y
lie liberty. But if he appealed to the constituent body to act with much effect? . It was with gieat re uctance,
against their representatives, he only followed the example however, and with great violence to his own wis ics, t la
which the court and his great opponent had given in the he persevered in this fruitless struggle. I am quite
memorable dissolution of 1784. Nothing indisposed him sick of politics,” he says in August 1/94, “ and atten to
so much against the House of Commons as the indiffer- them only because I think it a duty to do so, an t lat it
ence it manifested on every occasion where liberty was would be unbecoming my character to quit them at sue i
infringed, or injustice committed by the government, a moment.” His desire to retire from public hte became
“ Arguments against the war and our alliances,” he ob- stronger in the following year. “ I grow eveiy cay to
serves, in a letter written in 1794, “are favourably heard think less of public affairs, he says in April 1 9o ,
in the House of Commons, though they do not get us a wish I could he persuaded that it was right to quit public
vote ; but sentiments of liberty, and complaints of oppres- business, for I should like it to a degree that 1 cannot ex-
sion, are very little attended to, however well founded, press ; but I cannot yet think that it is not a duty to pei-
In short, liberty is not popular ; and of those who are at- severe. I am so sure that secession is the measure a
tached to it there are too many who have wild and im- shabby fellow would take in our circumstances, that I
practicable schemes of government, to which the miser- think it can scarcely be right for us; but, as far as wis es,
able state we are in, both with respect to foreign affairs no man ever wished any thing more. I am perfectly
and our constitution, gives more plausibility and credit happy in the country. I have quite resources enough to
than they are by their own merit entitled to. The conn- employ my mind, and the great resource of literature I
try seems divided (very unequally I admit) between the am fonder of every day. However, events and circum-
majority, who are subdued by fears or corrupted by hopes, stances may happen which may make that right, which i
and the minority, who are waiting sulkily for opportuni- am sure would he pleasant, and I think it not unlikely
ties for violent remedies. The few who are neither sub- but they may.” .
dued enough to be silent through fear, nor desperate The popular spirit manifested against the treason and
enough to give up regular opposition, in expectation of sedition bills, in winter 1795, revived his public zeal, but
more violent measures, are weak both in numbers and was far from giving satisfaction to his mmd. “ My view
weight; but, though weak, we are right, and that must of things,” he writes in November 179o, “ is, I own, very
be our comfort.” But, however changed the sentiments gloomy, and I am convinced that in a very few years this
of the country, his own opinions of the value of political government will become completely absolute, or that con-
liberty were not altered. “ I believe,” says he, in another fusion will arise of a nature almost as much to be depre¬
letter to the same correspondent, “ the love of political cated as despotism itself. Ministers mean to bring on
liberty is not an error ; but if it is one, I am sure I shall the first of these evils, and I cannot disguise from myself
never be converted from it, and I hope you never will. If that there are but too many who wish for the second,
it be an illusion, it is one that has brought forth more of After his success at the Westminster meeting against the
the best qualities and exertions of the human mind than bills, he says, “ It is clear we have the popularity, and
all other causes put together; and it serves to give an I suspect we shall have it universally among the lower
interest in the affairs of the world, which without it would classes. 1 need not tell you how I dislike this state of
be insipid.” “ We live,” he observes on another occasion, things, but I cannot submit quietly to Mr Hume s
“ in times of violence and of extremes; and all those who nasia, which is coming on very fast. As he became
are for creating, or even for retaining, checks upon power, more persuaded of the existence of a strong spirit of h-
are considered as enemies to order. However, one must berty among the lower classes, he became more inclined
do one’s duty, and one must endeavour to do it without to the popular doctrines of parliamentary leform. In
passion.” After relating the final junction of his old 1796 he expresses himself in the following manner upon
friends with administration, he adds, “ You will easily that subject: “ Perhaps, instead of saying now that the
imagine how much I feel the separation from persons with power of the House of Commons ought to be first re-
whom I had been so long in the habit of agreeing; it stored, and its constitution considered afterwards, it woud
seemed in some way as if I had the world to begin anew; be better to invert the order, and to say parliament should
and, if I could have done it with honour, what I should first be reformed, and then restored to its just influence,
best have liked would have been to retire from politics You will observe that I state this opinion as being mine
altogether; but this could not be done, and therefore wow, in contradistinction to those times when the Whig
there remains nothing but to get together what remains party was only beaten, but not dispersed, and when I cer-
of our party, and begin, like Sisyphus, to rollup the stone tainly was of a different opinion. At piesent I think we
again, which, long before it reaches the summit, may pro- ought to go further towards agreeing with the democratic
bably roll down again.” or popular party than at any former period, for the fol-
The last of these extracts shows that, notwithstanding lowing reasons: We, as a party, I fear can do nothing,
the defection of some of the friends he most loved and and the contest must be between the court and the demo-
esteemed, he was still convinced of the necessity of party crats. These last, without our assistance, will either be
connections, in order to maintain the cause of liberty in too weak to resist the court, and then comes Mr Hume’s
this country. He argues the question at length with his cor- euthanasia, which you and I think the worst of all events ;
respondent, and concludes by saying, “ But the decisive ar- or, if they are strong enough, being wholly unmixed with
gument upon the subject appears to me to be this : Is there any aristocratic leven, and full of resentment against us
any other mode or plan in this country by which a rational for not joining them, will go probably to greater excesses,
man can hope to stem the power and influence of the and bring on the only state of things which can make a
crown ? I am sure that neither experience nor any well man doubt whether the despotism of monarchy is not the
reasoned theory has ever shown any other. Is there any worst of all evils.’
other plan which is likely to make so great a number The time at length arrived when the state of things to
856 FOX.
Fox. which he alluded in his letter of April 1795 came to pass.
His remaining political friends were persuaded that it was
useless to persevere longer in their parliamentary exer¬
tions, and that it was even “ in some degree hurtful, as
tending to deceive the country into an opinion that the
House of Commons was still a place in which it was worth
while to try the effect of argument and reason.” When
he found that no good was to be done in parliament, that
no beneficial impression was to be made on the country,
and that the friends for whom he was ready to sacrifice
his time and inclinations wished him to retire from public
life, with doubt and hesitation in his mind as to the pro¬
priety of the measure, he gave his consent to the seces¬
sion ; resolving no longer to attend his duty in the House
of Commons, unless particularly called upon to do so by
his own constituents.
Having once retired to St Anne’s, he found such en¬
joyment in the calmness and tranquillity of a country life,
that it was with the utmost difficulty he could now and
then be brought back to the House of Commons. The
happiest years of his life were those which he passed in re¬
tirement from 1797 to 1802. He still took a lively interest
in public concerns, and applauded and encouraged the
exertions of his friends when they returned to parliament,
but he could seldom be induced to follow their example.
His time passed placidly and agreeably in books, conversa¬
tion, and the society of his family. He had always been
fond of gardening, and his residence in the country gave
him a turn for farming. Of the amusements of his early
years the love of shooting was the only one in which he
continued to indulge, and the exercise it gave him pre¬
served his health. His passion for literature, which had
never subsided entirely, revived and became stronger than
ever. Poetry and criticism were his favourite pursuits,
and history his amusement. He applied with ardour to
the study of the Greek tragedians, and as his proficiency
increased, he found an agreeable occupation for his mind
in the niceties and difficulties of that noble language.
Some time after his retreat he conceived the plan of
writing a History of the Revolution of 1688. He had
many years before expressed himself in the following
manner, of the work of our great historian : “ 1 think Mr
Hume’s History of Charles I. the most mischievous book
that ever was written. It is written with infinitely more
art than any other part of his work, and is, I think, in
that view a masterpiece. I do not think any answer to
it or comment on it would do much good, or at least not
so much as another history of the times written with his
art, or even with the half of it, in the opposite view.”
But, though his opinion of the utility of a new history of
the civil war, as an antidote to Hume, may possibly have
first turned his thoughts to a work on English history, the
period he selected for his own labours shows that he had
no intention to set himself up as a rival to that great his¬
torian. His sole object seems to have been, to tell the
story of the Revolution, to explain how it was brought
about, and to show in what its constitutional value con¬
sisted. Had he lived to complete his plan, the criticisms
on Hume, in his introduction, would have formed but a
small part of his book.
Mr Fox went abroad with Mrs Fox in summer 1802,
partly from curiosity to see France after the extraordinary
changes that had taken place in that country, and partly
to collect documents for his history. As the constant
friend of peace, he was received with enthusiasm where-
eyer he went by the French people, and treated with
distinguished civility and attention by their government.
He had several long conversations with the first consul,
in which the latter talked to him with the utmost free¬
dom on a variety of topics ; on the concordat then re¬
cently made, on the trial by jury, on the licentiousness Fox.
ol the English newspapers, on the difference between
Asiatic and European society. On one occasion Napo¬
leon having insinuated that Mr Windham was concerned
in the assassination plots against his person, Mr Fox vin¬
dicated his old friend with warmth against so odious and
unfounded an imputation. Having finished his labours at
Paris, during which he collected a large mass of materials
for his history, he went to La Grange, the country seat
of his friend La Fayette, and after passing some days
there most agreeably, returned to England.
On his arrival in London he found great irritation in
England against the consular government, and an absurd
cry for war raised by the newspapers, and re-echoed by
all who expected in any way to profit by that calamity.
Ministers were apparently undecided, and, in the hopes
of confirming them in a pacific disposition, he resolved
for a short time to renew his attendance in parliament.
“ I shall attend on the address,” he says, “ because,
though, if the ministry is warlike, I have no hope of dis¬
suading them ; on the other hand, if they are pacific, I
may serve in some degree to encourage them.” Besides
his general objections to war, where it could be avoided
with honour, he thought there was “ in this case a moral
certainty of failing in our object, and of aggrandizing
France still more than we had done.” Peace should be
preserved, “ if it could be done with honour and he had
no doubt it might, provided our government was so dis¬
posed. If Pitt, who had not yet declared himself, should
be for peace and Addington, there would be no occasion
for the old opposition taking an active part; but if he
should join the war party, or “ hold a conduct between
peace and war,” then Addington will want support, “ and
the support given him will be both useful and honourable.”
He had been told that he should “ be as much abused
for pacific language now as he had been ten years before,
but being in parliament, he was determined not to blink
such a question and, on making the trial, found “ his
speech in favour of peace better received by the house
than any he had made since the Russian armament.”
The country in general, he was persuaded, was inclined
to peace ; and while there was “ hope of contributing to
prevent war, he felt himself in a manner bound” not to
discontinue his attendance in the House of Commons.
When the short session before Christmas closed, he still
thought ministers sincerely desirous of maintaining peace.
“ If I have any fears,” he says on the 29th of December
1802, “ it is only from a suspicion of a want of courage in
ministers to speak out what they really think, and if they
should long continue to be afraid of speaking bold pacific
language, ill humours may arise, and war begin without
any wish for it in either government.”
It has been invidiously said, that Mr Fox, after his re¬
turn from Paris, was unwillingly dragged from his retire¬
ment by the importunity of his friends, in order to sup¬
port their views in parliament, and that his health and
comfort were sacrificed to their party objects. The fact
is directly the reverse. It was he who urged them to
attend, not they who solicited him. His return to pub¬
lic life was his own spontaneous act, unsolicited and un¬
expected by his friends. His object, in the first instance,
wras to assist in the preservation of peace; and when the
message in March 1803 had opened his eyes to the real
intentions of the ministry, his indignation at the hollow¬
ness and duplicity of their conduct made him persevere
in his parliamentary attendance. From the state of par¬
ties in the House of Commons he began also to entertain
hopes of the revival of a Whig opposition, such as had
existed before the fatal schism in 1792 ; and with his opi¬
nions of the necessity of party connections, as the only
FOX.
857
Fox. means of maintaining; public liberty in this country, there
was no personal sacrifice be was not willing to make for
the attainment of such an end. The revival of his former
connection with his old friends was the object nearest to
his heart; and in Lord Grenville, though a new associate,
he found, as he had formerly done in Lord North, an ho¬
nourable coadjutor, with whom he could act in perfect
confidence, though they had differed warmly on points
that were no longer the subjects of public discussion. He
was even ready to form a junction with Mr Pitt, till he
discovered that Pitt, though willing to join in opposing
particular measures of administration, would not break
with the court by going into regular opposition. It is a
certain fact, that, of all his party, Mr Fox was the person
most anxious to form a coalition with Lord Grenville ;
and that, whatever difficulties occurred to retard that junc¬
tion, they arose not from him, but from his friends. He
considered then, as lie had done from the time of the
American war, the influence of the crown to be the most
dangerous enemy to good government in this country ;
and the violence expressed for war, after the royal mes¬
sage, contrasted with what he conceived to have been
previously the general disposition for peace, he regarded
as a strong confirmation of all his apprehensions. “ The
king’s minister,” he says in March 1803, “ he he who he
may, is in peace, at last, all powerful; whether or not, in
case of a war, the universal apprehension of mischief from
the weakness of those men could do any thing, may be
more of a question, but even in that case I think the
crown in earnest would beat us all. This influence, he
contended, not only governed men’s actions, hut even
swayed their opinions. “ I should not be surprised, he
says in January 1804, “ if in a short time the present
minister is reckoned the ablest man in the kingdom ; or,
if that cannot he compassed, it will he thought and main¬
tained, that a minister without abilities is the best for this
country.” He was anxious for a junction of parties, not
from motives of personal ambition, but in order to coun¬
teract this servility. “ A stand should be attempted,
which, though unsuccessful at present, will keep some¬
thing alive against other times, lo temporise is cer¬
tain, absolutely certain, confirmation of the evil; no na¬
tion ever did, or ever can, recover from slavery by such
methods.”
The first distinct overture for a formal coalition of what
were then called the new and old opposition, was made
in January 1804, and came from the friends of Lord Gren¬
ville. It was proposed to co-operate in a systematic op¬
position, for the purpose of overturning Mr Addington’s
administration, and of substituting in its place one upon
the most comprehensive basis possible. To this proposal
Mr Fox was willing to have acceded at once ; hut, owing
to some repugnance on the part ot his friends, it was set¬
tled that the two parties should co-operate and concert to¬
gether the measures to be brought forward in parliament,
in order to give to their debates and divisions all the
strength they could, without any formal or compact en¬
gagement in case of success. The same proposition had
been made to Mr Pitt, who owned that the present minis¬
try was weak and inadequate to the crisis, that their dis¬
mission would be a benefit to the country, and that, in
case of such an event, an administration should be form¬
ed on the broadest possible basis. It his majesty, on such
an occasion, were to send for him, he should think it right
to endeavour to comprehend in the arrangement all par¬
ties, and even those who had been most hostile to him ;
but though, on many points, he would support the new
opposition if it took place, he was determined never to
en«m<re with any set of men in systematic opposition.
Such was the state of parties at the meeting of parliament
VOL. ix.
in February 1804. As the session advanced Mr Pitt grew
more hostile to ministers; and, after the Easter recess, '-‘’■’V*-'
the three parties in opposition acted in concert with so
much vigour, that Mr Addington thought it prudent to
resign. IMr Pitt, who was sent for to foim a new admi¬
nistration, had previously declared that he would endea¬
vour to form one in conjunction with Lord Grenville and
Mr Fox ; but if he found his majesty impracticable, he
should feel himself bound to try one by himself. The result
is well known. His majesty was found to be impracti¬
cable on the subject of Mr Fox. Lord Grenville, though
unfettered by engagements, refused to concur in an ad¬
ministration from which Mr box was excluded ; and, by^
his conduct on this occasion, “ satisfied those” persons of
the old opposition, “ who had been most prejudiced”
against a junction of tbe two parties. Mr Pitt, abandon¬
ed by all, except his personal friends and adherents, was
compelled to coalesce with the wrecks of the administra¬
tion he had contributed to destroy.
After various ineffectual attempts, during the recess,
to strengthen the government, Mr Pitt found himseli ob¬
liged, before the meeting of parliament, to take back Mi
Addington into office. A fresh quarrel ensued; and, at
the close of the session, Mr Addington (now Lord Sid-
mouth) and his friends again resigned. Insinuations were
then thrown out of an intention to negotiate with opposi¬
tion ; but, if such overtures had been made, the new en¬
gagements contracted on the Continent, independent of
other reasons, must have put a stop to the negotiation.
Russia, offended at the arrogance of Napoleon, had ex¬
pressed her desire to form a closer connection with Great
Britain. It had been the advice of Mr Fox that advan¬
tage should be taken of this disposition to propose reason¬
able terms of peace to France, under the mediation of
Alexander, and, if these were refused, to conclude a de¬
fensive alliance with Russia, but on no account to provoke
afresh Continental war, which must ruin Austria if unsuc¬
cessful. Unhappily this advice was not taken. Austria
was seduced, or rather bribed, into a declaration of hosti¬
lities. The war was pre-eminently unfortunate, and all
hope for a time extinguished of any balance to the power
of France upon the Continent.
The death of Mr Pitt dissolved the administration he
had formed. Lord Grenville was sent for by the king,
and had no difficulty in persuading his majesty to accept
of the advice and services of Mr Fox. When the differ¬
ent parts of the new administration were to be cast, his
hope and desire of peace induced Mr Fox to take the
office of secretary of state for foreign affairs ; and, before
his fatal illness, he had begun a negotiation for peace, with
every apparent prospect of success. The short time he
was in office prevented him from realizing the sanguine
expectations which his friends and the public had con¬
ceived from his past conduct and principles of govern¬
ment. It ought to be remembered, however, that it was
to his firmness Mr Windham was indebted for the success
of his limited service bill ; a measure that had to encoun¬
ter every opposition which power and prejudice could
raise against it; and that to his exertions, and to those of
Lord Grenville, was owing a resolution of both houses of
parliament to abolish the slave trade, which Mr Pitt, in
the plenitude of his power, had failed to obtain.
Mr Fox had inherited an uncommonly vigorous consti¬
tution ; but, about two years before his death, he had an
illness at Cheltenham, which probably laid the foundation
of the malady that occasioned his death. His attend¬
ance on Lord Nelson’s funeral, in January 180(i, brought
on a complaint to which he was ever after occasionally
liable. The duties of office, and the fatigue of constant
attendance on the House of Commons, did not tend to re-
5 Q
858 FOX
* ox- store or confirm his health. About the middle of June he
had symptoms of dropsy, both general and local, and soon
afterwards his complaint had made such alarming pro¬
gress as to excite the greatest fears for Ids life. The uni¬
versal interest excited in his fate afforded the surest evi¬
dence of his great popularity. From the remotest corners
of the kingdom letters arrived daily to his family, express¬
ing the deepest concern in his situation, and recommend¬
ing remedies of all sorts for his disease. His malady, in the
mean time, gained ground daily, and his physicians were
at length compelled to have recourse to the common sur¬
gical operation for dropsy of the belly. The relief ob¬
tained, as usual, was but temporary. The operation was
repeated, and soon after he fell into a state of languor,
from which he never recovered. He expired on the 13th
of September 1806, having retained his senses and under¬
standing to the last. It has been said that his death was
accelerated by the exhibition of digitalis, administered in
the vain hope of effecting a perfect cure of his disease ;
but the story is utterly false and unfounded, and has been
publicly contradicted by his physicians. The cause of his
complaint was ascertained to be a schirrous affection of
the liver.
“ Mr Fox, to use the words of one who knew him well
during the last, fifteen years of his life, and who has de¬
lineated his character with equal truth, force, and discri¬
mination,1 “ united, in a most remarkable degree, the
seemingly repugnant characters of the mildest of men
and the most vehement of orators. In private life he was
gentle, modest, placable, kind, of simple manners, and so
averse from dogmatism, as to be not only unostentatious,
but even something inactive in conversation. His supe¬
riority was never felt but in the instruction which he im¬
parted, or in the attention which his generous preference
usually directed to the more obscure members of the com-
pany. Ihe simplicity of his manners was far from ex¬
cluding that perfect urbanity and amenity which flowed
still more from the mildness of his nature than from fa¬
miliar intercourse with the most polished society of Eu¬
rope. The pleasantry perhaps of no man of wit had so
unlabouied an appearance. It seemed rather to escape
from his mind than to be produced by it. He had lived
on the most intimate terms with all his contemporaries
distinguished by wit, politeness, or philosophy, or learn¬
ing, oi the talents of public life. In the course of thirty
yeais he had known almost every man in Europe whose
intercourse could strengthen, or enrich, or polish the
mind. His own literature was various and elegant. In
classical erudition, which by the custom of England is
moie peculiarly called learning, he was inferior to few pro¬
fessed scholars. Like all men of genius, he delighted to
take refuge in poetry, from the vulgarity and irritation of
business. His own verses were easy and pleasant, and
niight have claimed no low place among those which the
Fi ench caM vers de societe. The poetical character of his
mind was displayed by his extraordinary partiality for the
poetry of the two most poetical nations, or at least lan¬
guages, of the west, those of the Greeks and of the Ita-
nans. He disliked political conversation, and never wil-
hngly took any part in it.”2
Io speak of him justly as an orator would require a
iong essay. Everywhere natural, he carried into public
FOX
something of that simple and negligent exterior which
belonged to him in private. When he began to speak, a
common observer might, have thought him awkward; and
even a consummate judge could only have been struck
with the exquisite justness of his ideas, and the transpa¬
rent simplicity of his manners. But no sooner had he
spoken for some time than he wras changed into another
being. He forgot himself and every thing around him.
He thought only of his subject. His genius warmed and
kindled as he went on. He darted fire into his audience.
Torrents of impetuous and irresistible eloquence swept
along their feelings and conviction. He certainly pos¬
sessed above all moderns that, union of reason, simplicity,
and vehemence, which formed the prince of orators. He
was the most Demosthenean speaker since the days of
Demosthenes. ‘I knew him,’ says Mr Burke, in a pamphlet
written after their unhappy difference, ‘ when he was nine¬
teen ; since which time he has risen, by slow degrees, to
be the most brilliant and accomplished debater the world
ever saw.’
Ihe quiet dignity of a mind roused only by great ob¬
jects, the absence of petty bustle, the contempt of show,
the abhoirence of intrigue, the plainness and downright¬
ness, and the thorough good nature, which distinguished
Mr Fox, seem to render him no unfit representative of the
old English character, which, if it ever changed, we should
be sanguine indeed to expect to see it succeeded by a
better. Ihe simplicity of his character inspired confi¬
dence, the ardour of his eloquence roused enthusiasm,
and the gentleness of his manners invited friendship. ‘ I
admired, says Mr Gibbon, after describing a day passed
with him at Lausanne, ‘ the powers of a superior man,
as they are blended, in his attractive character, with all
the softness and simplicity of a child ; no human being
w'as ever more free from any taint of malignity, vanity, or
falsehood.’
“ Ihe measures which he supported or opposed may
divide the opinion of posterity, as they have divided those
of the present age. But he will most certainly command
the unanimous reverence of future generations, by his pure
sentiments towards the commonwealth ; by his zeal for the
civil and religious rights of all men; by his liberal prin¬
ciples, favourable to mild government, to the unfettered
exei cise of the human faculties, and the progressive civi¬
lization of mankind; by his ardent love for a country of
which the well-being and greatness were, indeed, insepara¬
ble fiom his own glory ; and by his profound reverence for
that free constitution which he was universally admitted
to understand better than any other man of his age, both
in an exactly legal and in a comprehensively philosophi¬
cal sense.” (j. a—N.)
Fox, George, the founder of the sect of Quakers, was
born at Drayton, Leicestershire, in the year 1624. His
father, a zealous Presbyterian, was a weaver. Youn" Fox
from his earliest years, showed uncommon gravity, aifd par¬
ticipated in none of the diversions natural to his age; he
courted solitude, and when he spoke it was in a melancholy
tone. His parents were unable to give him any education
beyond reading and writing,- but they early inspired him
with sentiments of religion and virtue. Fox was at first
placed with a wool-merchant, and sent to tend sheep in the
woods; a circumstance which seems to have confirmed his
Fox.
¥'2°Ter °f Mr Fox' hy Sir James Mackintosh.
PATRJS VARVICENCIS.
Published in Dr Parr s Collection, entitled Ckuracters of Mr Fox, by Philo-
of
politival^ubjecfs'rfot^o^ake'an eap-er^nartTi? frr ^ °nly‘ fTiU his seParation from h;s old friends in 1793 his mind was too full of
what inactive in conversation he w-i<? verv PG. conversation oven in private ; and, when a young man, instead of being some-
company, and has assio-ned a reason for his snnnL .e reYerse\ *)r Johnson was mistaken in supposing him habitually silent when in
“a-igneu a reason tor his supposed taciturnity quite inconsistent with his real character.
FOX
Fox. inclination for a solitary and contemplative life. He was
then put as an apprentice to a shoemaker at Nottingham ;
and from the accounts of the times we learn, that as he
wrought at his trade, he used to meditate much on the
Scriptures, which, with his solitary course of life, improving
his natural melancholy, induced him at length to fancy him¬
self inspired; and in consequence he set up as a preacher.
He proposed but few articles of faith, insisting chiefly on
moral virtue, mutual charity, the love of God, and a deep
attention to the inward motions and secret operations of the
Spirit; he required a plain, simple worship, and a religion
without ceremonies, making it a principal point to wait in
profound silence for the directions of the Holy Spirit. Fox
met with much rough treatment on account of his zeal, was
often imprisoned, and several times in danger of being put
to death. But, in spite of all discouragements, his sect,
which received the name of Quakers, prevailed, and many
considerable men were led to join them; amongst whom
were Barclay and Penn. Fox died on the 16th of January
1690. He was comparatively an uneducated man, as we
have already seen ; but he possessed in an eminent degree
the talent of persuasion, since, although born in an inferior
grade of society, and devoid of any but the simplest instruc¬
tion, he succeeded in recommending his doctrine to men of
a superior rank in society. It was undoubtedly owing to
this circumstance that the society of Quakers, or, as they
call themselves, Friends, was enabled to outlast so many
other sects founded by enthusiasts, which have generally
disappeared immediately after the death of their authors;
whereas Quakerism acquired every day new force, and the
laws which at first persecuted, ended by tolerating and
even protecting it. Fox, however, only laid the foundation ;
it was reserved for Barclay and Penn to raise the super¬
structure. The writings of Fox have been collected in
three volumes folio ; the first containing his Journal, which
is eminently curious ; the second, his Correspondence ; and
the third, all that he has written on his Doctrine. Some
persons have indeed pretended that he is not really the
author of these different productions; but his followers, on
the other hand, maintain that whatever is most admirable in
this collection really proceeded from the pen of their patriarch.
Fox, John, the martyrologist, was born at Boston in
Lincolnshire, in the year 1517. At the age of sixteen he
was entered a student of Brazen-Nose College in Oxford ;
and in 1543 he took his degree of master of arts, and was
chosen fellow of Magdalen College. He discovered an early
genius for poetry, and, conformably to the taste of his age,
wrote several Latin comedies upon subjects taken from
Scripture. Of these, one still remains, entitled De Christo
Triumphante, printed at London in 1551, and at Bale in
1556, 8vo, and reprinted in 1672. But having forsaken
the muses, he applied himself with great assiduity to the
study of theology and church history; and having mani¬
fested an inclination, which he took no pains to conceal, for
the doctrines of the Reformation, he was, in the year 1545,
expelled from his college as a heretic, happy, it is said, to
have fared no worse. He had lost his father early in life,
and, as his mother had married again, his stepfather availed
himself of this occurrence to retain the whole of his patri¬
mony, knowing that Fox would not venture to sue him for
restitution. This rascality on the part of his mothers hus¬
band reduced him to the greatest distress; but he soon
afterwards found an asylum in the house of Sir Thomas
Lucy, Warwickshire, who employed him as tutor to his
children. When this engagement expired, Fox, who had
in the meanwhile married the daughter of a citizen of Co¬
ventry, proceeded to London; but finding no immediate
means of subsistence, he was again reduced to absolute want.
Relief, however, at length came, and in a manner which is
described as almost miraculous. As he was one day sitting
in St Paul’s church, emaciated with hunger, a stranger ac-
ERA
859
costed him familiarly, and, bidding him be of good cheer, Fox-Glove
put a sum of money into his hand; telling him, at the same
time, that new hopes were at hand. And, in fact, he was
three days thereafter received into the family of the Duchess
of Richmond, as tutor to the Earl of Surrey’s children, who,
upon their father being sent to the Tower, were committed
to her care. In this family he lived at Ryegate in Surrey,
during the latter part of the reign of Henry VIIL, the en¬
tire reign of Edward VL, and part of that of Queen Mary ;
but he could never discover the generous person who had
at once relieved his distress and predicted his good fortune.
At length, however, being persecuted by his implacable
enemy Bishop Gardiner, he was obliged to seek refuge
abroad; and he selected as the place of his retreat Basil in
Switzerland, where he subsisted by correcting for the press.
But on the death of Queen Mary he returned to England,
where he was graciously received by his former pupil the
Duke of Norfolk, who retained him in his family as long as
he lived, and bequeathed him a pension at his death, which
took place in 1563. Mr Secretary Cecil also bestowed on
him a rectory near Salisbury ; and, in point of fact, he might
have obtained considerable church preferment, had it not
been for his unwillingness to subscribe to the canons. He
died in the year 1587, in the seventieth year of his age, and
was buried in the chancel of St Giles’s, Cripplegate. Fox
wras a man of great industry, and considerable learning ; a
zealous, but not a violent reformer ^ a nonconformist, but
not an enemy to the Church of England. The most cele¬
brated of his works is that which is entitled Acts and Monu¬
ments of the Church, and commonly called Martyrology,
containing a history of the troubles in the Church of Rome,
since the tenth century, particularly in England and Scot¬
land. It was published at London, 1563, in folio, but after¬
wards augmented and printed for the fourth time in 1583,
two vols. folio, and in 1632, three vols. folio. He relates
in detail the history of the martyrs of the Protestant religion,
but embellishes his narrative with so many marvellous cir¬
cumstances, that his enemies, it must be confessed, had
some reason in applying to it the name of Legend. The
Catholics, in particular, reproached him with passion and
with grossness; and, what was far more serious, accused
him of having often altered the truth in order to swell the
number of martyrs to his creed. Nor can it be denied that
in the first edition, he had enrolled amongst the number of
those who had sealed their testimony with their blood per¬
sons still living, and who remonstrated against the honour
intended for them. But notwithstanding all these and many
other objections, some of which are undoubtedly well founded,
the Martyrology met with prodigious success in England,
where, amidst all the changes which have taken place in
taste and opinion, it still maintains its ground. The other
writings of Fox, which were very numerous, consist of works
on theology, and particularly controversy; and some of his
letters which have been preserved reflect honour on his
character as a man of sense and humanity.
FOX-GLOVE {Digitalis purpurea), an herbaceous
plant, inhabiting the temperate and southern parts of Europe.
See Botany, vol. v., p, 202. Nat. Ord. Scrophulariacece.
The flowers of this beautiful plant are usually purple; but
sometimes white. When fresh, it possesses a bitter, nause¬
ous taste, and is violently emetic and cathartic. When pre¬
pared and administered medicinally, it has the remarkable
property of diminishing the strength and frequency of the
pulse, and is at the same time diuretic; hence it is much
esteemed as a remedy in diseases of the heart and dropsy.
FOX-HOUND. ' See Hound.
FOYERS. See Invernesshire.
FOYLE, a river and lough in Ireland. See Donegal.
FRACASTORIO, Hieronymous, one of the most
learned men of his time, was born at Verona in the year
1483. Two singular circumstances are related of him in
860 F K A
Fracas- his infancy; one that his lips adhered so closely when he
tone. Came into the world, that a surgeon was obliged to divide
them with his incision knife ; and the other, that his mother
was killed with lightning, whilst he, though in her arms at
the moment, escaped unhurt. Fracastorio was a man of
such admirable parts, and made so great progress in every¬
thing he undertook, that in time he became eminently skilled
not only in the belles-lettres, but in most arts and sciences.
He was a poet, a philosopher, a physician, an astronomer,
and a mathematician ; and he was also a man of consequence
in his time, as appears from the fact of Paul III. having
made use of his authority to remove the council of Trent
to Bologna, under the pretext of a contagious distemper,
which, as Fracastorio declared, made it no longer safe to
continue at Trent. He was intimately acquainted with
Cardinal Bemho, Julius Scaliger, and most of the great men
of his time. Fracastorio died of apolexy at Casi, near
Verona, on the 8th of August 1553 ; and in 1559 the town
of Verona erected a statue in honour of him. Fracastorio
was the author of many works, both as a poet and a physi¬
cian ; but no man was more disinterested in both capacities,
for as a physician he practised without fees, and as a poet
he was indifferent to fame. It is owing to this that we have
so little of his poetry ; and that his odes and epigrams, which
were read in manuscript with admiration, have now been lost.
His medical productions are as follow :—
Syphilidis, sive Morbi Gallici libri tres, Verona, 1530, in 4to, after¬
wards frequently reprinted. De Vini Temperatura, Venice, 1534,
in 4to. Homocentricorum, sive de Stellis liber units, and De Causis
Criticorum Dierum libellus, Venice, 1535, in 4to. De Sympathia et
Antipathia Rerum liber unus; De Contagionibus et Contagiosis Morbis,
et eorum curatione, libri tm, Venice, 1546, in 4to. All the poetical
productions of Fracastorio were collected and printed at Padua,
1728, 8vo. His complete works appeared for the first time under
the title of Hieronymi Fracastorii Veronensis Opera Omnia, in unum
proxime post illius mortem collecta; accesserunt Andrew Naugerii
patricii Veneti Orationes duce, Carminaque nonnulla. Venetiis apud
Juntas, 1555, in 4to. Besides the works already mentioned, there
are included in this collection the three following, which appeared
for the first time, viz.:—Naugerius, sive de Poetica dialogue ; Tur-
rius, sive de Intellectione dialogue, libri ii. Alcon, sive de cura Canum
Venaticorum, Fracastorius, sive de Anima dialogus.
FRA
FRACTION, in Arithmetic and Algebra, a broken part Fraction
or division of an unit or integer ; or a number which stands ||
to a unit in the relation of a part to its whole. Fractions Franca^
are usually divided into decimal, sexagesimal, and vulgar. Vllla‘
See Algebra, and Arithmetic. v>—
FRACTURE. See Surgery, and Mineralogy.
FRAISE. See Fortification.
FRAME, among printers, a stand to support the cases
in which the types are distributed. Kmcmg founders, a kind
of ledge inclosing a board filled with wetted sand, and which
serves as a mould for castings. It also denotes a sort of
loom, on which linens, silks, or stuffs are stretched for em¬
broidering or quilting.
FRAMLINGHAM, a market-town of England, county
of Suffolk, on an eminence near one of the sources of the
Aide, 14 miles N.E. of Ipswich. The church is a fine old
edifice, constructed of black flintstone, with a carved roof and
several monuments of the Norfolk family, and surmounted
by a tower 96 feet high. The castle of Framlingham was
an important fortress in the middle ages, and hither Queen
Mary retreated on the death of Edward VI. The remains
consist of the walls, 44 feet high and 8 feet thick, 13 towers
58 feet high, a gateway, and some outworks. Market-day
Saturday. Pop. of parish (1851) 2450.
FRANC, a French silver coin of the value of nearly ten-
pence sterling. The ancient franc, or frank, was a gold
piece in value somewhat more than the gold crown; and
the old silver franc was in value a third of the gold one.
FRANCA VILLA, a town of Naples, province of Otranto,
14 miles W.S.W. of Brindisi. The town is large and regu¬
larly built, the streets are wide and straight, and the houses
showy, though in a heavy style of architecture. A consi¬
derable part of the town was thrown down by an earthquake
in 1734, and the houses erected since are only one story
high. The main street is handsome, and avenues to the
gates are well planted, and afford an agreeable shade.
It has a cathedral, college, several hospitals and convents;
and manufactures of woollen and cotton stuffs, earthenware,
and snuff. Pop. 12,000. There are several other towns
of this name in Naples.
END OF VOLUME NINTH.
ORGANS or the MOUTH, <f-c.
J.
ENTOMOLOGY.
PL A TM rrA ’A MU.
COLEOPTERA.
ENTOMOLOGY.
/V>. / TV CCXKXJV.
Ci/ i/tdela si/h n/jau.
Manticom Maxillosa
An/Juu ■ /. j/iMata
Enceladus ou/as.
Afout/iof'
. In/Jua. lO. guttata
Grapkipterus rruitligattains.
■Jiruc/unus Jurinei
Scarites suhterru/icas
Cicindela t/irwjpes
Pripta, niticoltis.
Head of
Lor. pilicornis.
Ranagceus fu/gipennis.
Mouth of Pi
HarptUus tricolor
Sphceroderus nitidicollis
Ditoinus violaceas.
Morrnolyce phyllodes
. IcanthoceUs ruluvrui.
COLEOPTERA.
ENTOM O LO GY.
PLATE rCXXYK
Read or' / serrimrr/js.
Pamborus- aiternans
Di/tiscus Jfenninuri.
Dijlisais Reesdlii.
ft.
fibre lex/ of Colymbetes.
JO.
Pupa ofPi/tiscus.
Micropeplus Mallei. Hyp robin Herrnanm.
Lana of JJydsars.
J3.
Antenna of Gyrinus.
Gyrimis suleatus.
Ojcyporus mtlis.
Staphylmus erydiropterus
Tachinus atricapiUus.
. 29. ,
Palpus of 23. Palpus or 2d.
Tachiporus moryrnatus.
/Ulelocera Chafiarmi.
Ceraphytum elaJeroit/es.
Iferrdrrhipus flabd/icornls
Published by A&CBlack, Edinburgh.
Callirhipis Gon/i.
Head of Cal. fi)c/ennii.
lLna‘? by G. AH;rr.iu.J't,.
I
COLEOPTERA.
ENTOMOLOGY.
PLATE PCX A AVI.
Rfupi/rm qjanea.
Dictyoptem sanguinea.
Lycus /aJjs,n/riM\
Female of 5.
Larva, of 5.
/3.
19.
Nerrobia, via hum,.
Nitidida. ferruyinea.
MalMnus biyuttatus.
Lampyris Savignii.
22-.
Wecrophorur vesplllo.
/'tilinus pecdnatus.
Rtterocems wary in atm.
27.
Rermestes lardarius.
Hydrous gurus.
Published by A.&C.Black, EdinbuiXdi.
Any ‘1 by A.Aikman.EJin "
COLEOPTXRA.
EX TO MO LOGY
/‘LA TK rrxxxrii.
Chirorv grandis.
Bulbocerus tulvus.
Oryctes ChevwlaBi.
Maxilla of 23.
20.
Mandible of 23.
92.
Labium, of 23.
/bitela Tiitidissima.
Lfexodon redculatus.
27.
Serica
flavirnan/i.
Antenna ofMel-.ndgarus.
Female.
Chnisophora chrysochlom..
Antenna of Serial .
Melnlnntha fh/lo.
Area da Kirbii.
fublislied by A & C.BlackEdinbu rgh
Iaia* by G.dtlfonxr . JSdtfi ~
'() LEO FT ERA.
ENTOMOLOGY.
/>LA'/7: ccxxjvni.
Passaius pentaphyllus.
/
Akis Goryi.
PublisliedtyA^C.Black.Ediii'burgli.
Moluris luteipes.
Kna* by G. A ikman. Edjn T
C OLE O PTE BA.
ENTOMOLOGY.
PLATE CCAXXIX.
Cossyphus
JJiaperis boleti. Aoajttfwmem LTofYrrumseyyu.
yratUJa..
Scotmus
Brazihensis.
Upis cemmfwides.
(Edemera podoyrcui'n.
Mylabris chicorii.
Bprochroa Ripipfiorus bimaadatus
candinaLLs.
13.
Meloe proscarabceus.
Cordons
rolds.
Cantharis vesicatoruj.
Mordello fasciola.
Horia testacea.
Brudius pisi.
An dirib us lu tiros trL
Brentus anchi>rago.
(jtayus
ntandibularias.
Tenebno mautor
Curadio Uyusdci.
Antenna o)
Orthocerns mnlicus.
Bostriduis capuanus.
Orchestes aini.
Scolytus Ulzni.
Larva of 23.
Antenna of 26.
Basycerus s id coins.
31.
Heterotarsus
tenebrinides.
Tarsus of 30.
tarsus of 26
36
Liras pamplecUcus.
27.
Tarsus of 30.
Lissonotus unriasciatus.
Trachydercs niyrofasi
Chirosedis bitenestralu.
Brio mis Besmares di.
Publi she d_hyA.& CBlack, E dioburgh.
Lny d by tr.Aikman.L. <
COIEOPTERA.
ENT O MO LOOT.
PLATE CCXL.
5.
Sterwptaus elegans.
Rhagiuni bifasdatum.
Megascdis prasuvn.
Alumus corcdUnus.
11.
Hispa Fabridi.
Ti/rwrrlui baLmriai.
Ouysoniel/i humeralis.
Erotylus gibbosus.
15.
Endomydius cocdnms.
Cocdsidla ocellata.
Pselaphus kcemaliais.
fublishedlDy AJcCBlack, Edinburgh.
25.
Eumorphus Sumatrensis.
Cbetuum bituberadaliun.
26. 27.
Clca'iger longicornis.
Eng i by 6. A Hamm .EHin'.
Antenna of 26.
O HTHO PTERA .
F/XTOM OLO GY.
PLATA' rrxLi.
Gryllo-talpa vulgaris.
Acrydium miymionum.
TruxaJis
V
nasutus.
Pn.ewrtara papulosa.
Tetrix h/ptoie/a/a.
Publlslied by AAQBlack, E dinBurglri.
HF:M7 PTF. RA .
ENTOMOLOGY
PLATE CCA Lit.
ScuteUem Diver.
2.
\ /
'/krsem&ma Sofmemtu.
3.
PhDea cassidoides.
4.
Do reus paradoaus.
8.
/Edrvmetrn imeiuis.
. V 'otoneeia. g/iwat.
/'hii/ora amdeianxi.
Divia Junco mm.
Coccus cacti.
Female.
TTirips.
22.
Under vien’ ol ‘77.
Ena ? by G. Aikmart
Publi shed, by A.& QBlack, E dinburgh.
ENTOMOLOGY.
PLATE CCXLm.
. YE UN on ENA.
2.
J.
Libellula
Nymph of
Ayrion puNJ/i
Ayrion C/iuuirisis
Libellula Indica
Ephemera mlyata
Ephemera ^
lim/mta. \
tnoajlu/a
Parwrpa
communis.
formicariwn
Myrmeleon
Nemoptera halterata
Eyys of Hemerobuis.
Braziliensis.
Termes thtalerJ.an'a or Worker.
Asccdaphus
Raphidui ophiopsis.
Termes fatale.
Male.
Case Worm, or Larva of
Phryyanea.
Termes fatnleyir Tiliite AnC,
Gravid Female.
Publishe d by A. & C. Black, Ediaburgli.
Phryyanea..
Case Worm, or Larva of
Phryyanea.
Eng I* by G.Aiknum
*
W». .. V.- »<
HYMENOPTEKA.
ENTOMOLOGY.
PLATE CCALIV.
j.
Cimi>ex axMaris.
2.
Hy/otoma noser,.
Tenthredo zona/a.
4.
Lophyn/s pim.
6.
Female, of l.
Kny ?l)j/ &Aiki. EdinS
JYphydria
Oryssus cononatus.
giyas.
Outline, of IP.
fiireatzis.
Stephanas
Feenns aipensis.
polycerator.
Peieeiruis
s msee
manifestutor.
Peltastes suarius.
Chalets minuta
dorsufem
Lem-aspis
z'lljif of
ps Melittee
Larvae, o f Cy nips rosce magnified.
Published by A.& C.B lack, E diuburgli.
Tenos Peekii
// YMEArOJ> TER A.
E XTOMO LOGY.
PLATE CCXLV.
Mutil/a foccinea.
Hedycfuum lua/hdu/n
Rarnopes cornea
Formica ru/a
Female.
'ans.
Tiphia fenwratti
j2 Scolut ifiiadrif>unctata
Doruhts /icivofus.
usis cteruleus
Lam/ co/laris
Bembev restrain
Tn/paxi/lon Tgulns.
Ponipi/us viaticus
Crabro cribarius.
Masaris apifom/is
Vespa vulgaris
big hens albipcs
crab tv
llel/it/us ru t icorn is
Yomada mimata
Zylocopa vio/acca
Meyachi/c centuncularis.
F. ucera antennata
Dasypodn p/wnipes.
Ipis melUfira
Worker.
Fug loss a /lentata
Coml> or the ffotuy Bee,
with one of the Royal Colls
Apis t/iellitica
Vale or /trono.
Apis ntellifica.
Female or (lueeti
Bombas rttdc/alas
PublishedbyA.&C. Black, Edinburgh.
L'di/t r
• ■ .
E NTO M OLO GY. pi.atj; ccjxti.
Publish.ed/byA.&:C.Black, Edinburgh.
LEP1DOPTKRA.
ENTO MO LOGY.
PLATE CCXLm.
Payonia acadina.
JVymphaUs ethea.
Larva of
Argymds papMa.
Larva of
Nymphalis ilia.
NymphaJis Jasius.
Morpho actorion.
Ayrriphalis Jasius.
Eng. bu G. ALbruui. Edbi T
Published by A.&C. Black,Edinburgh.
%
. :
»» .
-
■
.
L EPID OPT ERA .
ENTOMOLOGY.
PLATE CCXLVHL
Larva ofMorpho phidippus.
Uraruja BnisduyaM.
Eurybia Carolina.
Myrina Jaffra.
L E PI D O P 7’ERA.
PLATE rf XIJA'.
ENTOMOLOGY.
'Igarista Fairs.
Co ranis Leachii.
Castrda Acmoides
.arva
Zygoma fUzpendnhr
Inrva of Sphinx jas.
jasrmnearum
Chrysalis
Thyris scpulchralis.
JEgocem neclilimn
Zygcaia palckella
Ixrrva of 12.
Sesia asilipennis.
Smerinthus
Maxmurtrei
Cossus
Atychm j pumlla .
Pmcris ncbnlasa.
Aglaope Americana
Glauwpis FoUetii.
Larva of Cossus ligniperda
ImimM
Serimria
scaLaris.
ranceceps.
Bombyx digramma.
australis.
Isoswcampa probosddea
Larva of
Hepialus kunudi
Larva of
Salurnia Luna
Saturnia Baudrinuz.
Published byA-&C. Black, Edinburgh.
Yotodonta zu~«c
Dicranoura borealis.
CaUimorpha Lecontri
CheLonia widens.
ibjdwaimpe ai/uatili.
Noctua (Ophideres) Impemtor
Botys diluddalis
PhahmcL quttaria
Phcdcena rnochaonami
Erebus Umacwa
Crambus retusalh
lylasso, dilucidalis.
Herminia sidorda
Pyrcdis fagana
Euplacainpus nnthmdiius.
Akidta asperelda.
Tinea tapezaiui
Onieodes hemdaeb/lus.
Pterophoms pUlodantylus.
Adda Degeerella.
Published by A&GBlack Edinburgh.
Aikman. EdatT
Yponomeatn pusidla.
Ilithya cornea.
Larva of Erebus (Omoptem)putrescens.
PLATE CCLI.
niPTEP A.
E NTO M OLOGY.
Psi/cJ/od/i. orAJans.
Chirvnomus depans.
Beris tibiaus.
I fy das htsritanicus
Tabanus taurirvjs.
d'/try sops (xerutirns.
Athens' marymata
Anthrax pandara
Dasypoyon
rutiaorms, 4
Ocydrvmia y/abnada
SombyLius cruciatus.
J/dara dlipi
Hemerodnomia manastiyma
Henops yibbosus.
Syrphus luxorum
Saryus cupneus.
Callomyia am/ena
Pipu/uzdzis flavipes
Borphymps diaphanus.
Lonchoptena, tnstis.
Scenopinus fenestrtdis.
Gastrus eq ui
Female.
Oq/ptera
bmssicana.
CEstnis oris.
Conops rlavipes.
Fhom \ elutuuL
Ifippobosca equina
Gastms equi
Male.
S'tomoxys stimul/u/s
Trypeta hyosa/ami
PublishedbyA.&CBlackEdiiiburgh.
MTRIAPOJDA.
Fig? 1.2.3.4.5.6 £9.
ENT O M O LO GY AND MYRIAPODA.
FLATS CCLU.
Glomeris mn/rji/uiJa.
/jjjiobms.
foriieati/s.
Juius sabulsj.vu.r
Pob/d&smus complanata.?.
Pediciifoes ku/ntmus.
Machilis | pob/poda.
Pulex irritans\or commo/v ilea
Lepisma, \ \
Pulex
pmetmns,
male.
Podum v/l/csa
morsUans.
SRC TOR1A ,FigS 12,13 a, 14,14 a dll b. THYSAISTO URA.Pig f 7,4.12 £17 a.' RA RA SITA, Fig f 10,11 dll a.
Publlslxe dby A.&C. Black. Edinburgh-
ETRUSCAN VASES.
plate cci/n.
ULYSES APUD CIRCEN POTUS.
BE LIMN A ETRUSCORCTM.
PoblisliedtyA.&CBlack,Edinburgh.
Geo.Aihnajt, Sculp.
ETRUSCAN VASES. plate ccltv.
JO VIS FESTl/M ET SA CRt/M.
ACJJI1.IIS EATA.
Enc/*by G.AAman,Edin r
PLATE mV.
ETRUSCAN ANTI QUIT 1 ES.
(See Mijxdl, JuUi/j,.)
Piiblislied byA.& C.Black Edinburgh.
$
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MCffTp’ K.•....-. ^ " o , i u rjlOltR^ ^y 1 -_qT. i ^ ? wteNl\S»»a , •
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wardeh
tsak ^LNissoz Rniwv* r I
■ . „ 'r Y .. . , •/ 7 Tuywva
ruk* \ Siric{udk
wm
Engraved bv S.Hall.Burv Str* Bl<
piitfl
byA.fc C.BJarb
F IGURE OF THE KARTH . plate ccltii.
FO RT1 FI CATION.
PLATE CCLIX.
FIELD FORTIFICsXTION ■
Fit). 8.
bn# ‘tty & Aikman, Edin V
L 'la ud. Shaw, Roy!’ArtJ Dell
Published byA.& C-Blaclt,Edinburgh.
"
f>LATf; ((LX.
Clcuul.Shau’. Rov! Art1? JJelt
VA fjBAN'S SECOND SYSTEM.
Fig. 3.
H K „ 90
360 Yards
360 Yards.
FORTIFICATION.
VA DEAN'S FIRST SYSTEM.
C' ti 360
c - 6
A E = -fof A B
Fig.I.
E E-
(J h = 90
Poblishei by A.& CBlack, Edinburgh.
-Terre plein, b-Baru/itette, c. Parapet, d- Revetment, e- Escarp, f-Counterscarp.
FORTIFICATION.
PLATE CCLXI.
ClaudShaM', Roy^jlrt-r Del?
Dngd’by G.Aikman,Ddinf
A E) A B
F B) 3
g h = g k.h k
Pablisliedl3y A.& CBlack, EdinbuxgL
Detached Lunette, b- L’/ect/e, Lunettes, Bonnet, e_ Entrenched ftast/or/s, L /iutardeau. tf-liornu ork, h- Caporuiiere, k-TemriUon.
'f
FOR TI FI CATION.
/*LA 77i’ CCLX1I.
/>/.. I A' of ATT. 1CK of rjie CITADEL of. I .VTHE/x'f from 23?JJecrj83‘.
1 Fernanda
2 Toledo
3 Taeietto
4 -Duke
3 _ AIho \ 9_ Port de I’Dscaut
6 _ PnturdeaJi 10 _ Gen l Chasse Casemate
7_ Port de Secours , A'. Descent into J)itrk
8 - Port de La l^ZLe B'_ Dreac/t
0.'.Descent into Difch
of the Rayelin.
too 200 300
/2ixl JJOO JSQO Peel
John Muter. Scottish MU?Aeaderu-
PublisliecL byA.& C.Black .Eduiburgh..
/■.ttq i by G.ALfa/mri. A'doi!"
'