of that shell is ambiguous. There is a remote resemblance in the lateral
appendages of the beaks, but in other particulars the resemblance is
less obvious, the body is sometimes curved as in the shell before us and
sometimes straight, but the edges of the valves are parallel, and the
shell itself pellucid: the figure in Chemnitz is less than half the size
of our shell. This inhabits the seas of Timor and the Nicobar Islands.
It should be observed in conclusion that there is a specimen of our
species among the Hammer Shells in the British Museum, the _habitat_ of
which is indicated by the word “Amboina:” it is much smaller than our
shell. Besides this we have lately seen another example from New
Holland, of a growth still larger than the shell we have delineated.
We have entered thus minutely into the analogies of this shell from an
apprehension we might otherwise in this instance submit as a new species
an object that had been previously described. The result of our enquiry
will tend to shew that if the species has not remained entirely
unnoticed, it has never been described with much precision.
-----
Footnote 22:
Testa extus intusque nigra: lobo basis longiusculo. _Animaux sans
vertèbres. T. 6. p. 145._
Footnote 23:
Var. testâ albidâ; lobo basis abbreviato. _Ibid._
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Illustration:
_29_
_London. Published by E. Donovan & Mess.^{rs}
Simpkin & Marshall, Jan.^y 1, 1823._
]
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ENTOMOLOGY.
PLATE XXIX.
PAPILIO TROS
TROS’S BUTTERFLY.
LEPIDOPTERA.
GENERIC CHARACTER.
Antennæ thicker towards the tip, and generally terminating in a knob:
wings erect when at rest. Fly by day.
* EQUITES TROJANI.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER
AND
SYNONYMS.
Wings indented, tailed, above and beneath black; on the anterior wings
an abbreviated white band: posterior ones with sanguineous spots.
PAPILIO TROS: alis dentato caudatis concoloribus nigris: anticis fascia
abbreviata alba, posticis sanguinea maculari. _Fabr. Ent. Syst.
T. 3. p. 1. 10. 30._
_Jon. fig. pict. 1. tab. 23._
* * * * *
The tribe of Butterflies to which the Papilio now before us appertains,
includes many of the larger and more interesting species of the
Papiliones known. This tribe, as its designation implies, has been
dedicated by Entomologists to the memory of the more distinguished
worthies of the Trojan race, and above others to preserve the memory of
those heroes whose exploits in the defence of that rich and potent
station of the ancient world, the town of Troy, has been commemorated in
the Iliad by the immortal Homer. Our present species refers indeed to a
Trojan of an earlier period; it is named after Tros, the founder of the
Trojan name. Tros was the fifth king of the Trojan dynasty, from its
first establishment in the person of Scamander, and the last but three;
the destruction of Troy being accomplished under the reign of Priam. The
country before the time of Tros was called Dardania, from Dardanus, who
is usually stiled the first of the Trojan kings, though in Phrygia he
was preceded by Scamander and Teucer. Tros lived about fourteen hundred
years before the Christian Era, and reigned king of Troy for the space
of sixty years. It is in honour of this Trojan Monarch that Fabricius
has given the present insect the name of Papilio Tros.
There are several Papiliones which bear a nearer or more distant
resemblance to this Papilio, a circumstance that will impose some
caution upon the Entomologist before he can venture to pronounce upon
the species with decision: its characters are nevertheless sufficiently
conspicuous, and when examined with due attention, enables us to
determine the species from its nearest approximations, in a clear and
satisfactory manner. The wings are dark above as well as beneath, the
deeper colouring prevailing, however, on the upper surface as well as
beneath; the anterior wings are marked with a broad abbreviated whitish
band, and the lower wings with a large sanguineous or blood red spot of
considerable magnitude. This sanguineous spot from lying in the disk of
the wing is traversed and divided by the black nerves of the wing in
such a manner as to appear in the form of six distinct oblong spots,
placed laterally to each other: these spots appear also on the lower
surface, in the same form as above, but the colour is rather paler.
As there is no figure extant of this large and fine Papilio in the work
of any author, the delineation which we have the pleasure on this
occasion to submit before our readers will doubtlessly be viewed with
peculiar satisfaction. It need be only added that the species has been
definitively determined upon the authority of Mr. Jones’s collection of
original drawings, to which Fabricius so constantly refers, and that for
this reason its specific appellation may be implicitly upon by the
scientific Entomologist.
This interesting Papilio is a native of Brazil.
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[Illustration:
_30_
_London. Published by E. Donovan, & Mess.^{rs}
Simpkin & Marshall. Jan.^y 1, 1823._
]
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ORNITHOLOGY.
PLATE XXX.
PSITTACUS MELANOPTERUS
BLACK WINGED PARRAKEET.
ORDER
PICÆ.
GENERIC CHARACTER.
Bill falcated; upper mandible moveable and in general covered with a
cere: nostrils rounded, placed in the base of the bill: tongue fleshy,
obtuse, entire: feet formed for climbing.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER
AND
SYNONYMS.
Pale green, back and wings black: secondary wing feathers yellow, at the
tip blue: tail purple with a black band.
PSITTACUS MELANOPTERUS: pallide viridis, dorso alisque nigris, remigibus
secundariis luteis apice cæruleis, rectricibus purpureis fascia
nigra.—_Lath. Ind. Orn. T. 1. p. 132. n. 152._
PSITTACUS MELANOPTERUS: pallide viridis, dorso, tectricibus alarum,
caudæ fascia remigibusque primariis nigris, secundariis
flavescentibus cæruleo punctatis.—_Gmel. Linn. Syst. Nat. T. 1.
p. 350. n. 132._
Perruche aux ailes variées.—_Buff. Hist. Nat. des Ois. 6. p. 172._
Petite perruche de Batavia.—_Buff. Pl. enlum. n. 791. f. 1._
Petite perruche de l’isle de Luçon.—_Sonner. it. p. 78. t. 41._
BLACK WINGED PARRAKEET.—_Brown Illus. t. 3._
* * * * *
There are few beings of the feathered race more peculiarly distinguished
for the splendid gaiety and rich variety of colours with which their
plumage is adorned than the parrot race; for however they may differ in
size from the magnitude of a kite or hawk, to that of the comparative
diminutive thrush or sparrow, they are almost uniformly beautiful in
this particular, and exhibit a diversity that is scarcely found in any
other tribe. The species we have selected for our present representation
is one of the smaller kinds of the family distinguished by the name of
Parrakeets. Its total length is about six inches, its form robust or
bulky in proportion.
The bill and legs of this bird are usually described as being dusky, in
our specimen the bill is rather pale, tinged with brown and greenish,
and the legs inclining to flesh colour. The general colour of the head
and neck is green, and the same colour prevails on the breast, belly,
and thighs. Upon the crown of the head the green assumes a blueish tint,
and on the neck appears enlivened with yellowish, the disk of a number
of the feathers being of a yellow colour, with the edges brown, so as to
present a kind of scolloped appearance. The back and wing coverts are
deep black, with a somewhat velvet aspect; the greater quill feathers
black. But one of the characters by which it is distinguished chiefly is
the remarkable band of yellow, and its contiguous parallel band of blue
by which the wings are traversed. This conspicuous band is formed by the
secondary quill feathers, which being of a fine yellow, with the ends a
lively blue, appear like two distinct bands, and from their gaiety of
colouring are admirably relieved by the deep sable hues of the wings and
back. In the bird before us the black colour of the back extends nearly
to the tail, the ends of the tail coverts only being green. The most
singular contrast in the appearance of its plumage arises from the very
different colour of the tail: this is of a pale carnation, glossed or
changeable to a delicate violet. The tail, with the exception of the two
middle feathers, is traversed near the tip with a single broad band of
black; the two middle feathers are of the same pale carnation colour as
the rest, but rather more inclined to blueish.
The black winged Parrot is described as a native of Batavia and Luzonia.
Our specimen we are assured is from the Brazils. We have also very
lately had an opportunity of consulting an extensive series of drawings,
representing the principal Natural productions of Surinam, made by an
Englishman resident upon the spot, for his own amusement, and among
those drawings have met with one of the black winged Parrakeet. Upon
this authority we have no hesitation in pronouncing it to be a native of
Surinam; and indeed it seems to be so well known in that part of the
world that it is distinguished among the inhabitants by a peculiar name,
it is called by them _Ajàlàlero_.
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[Illustration:
_31_
_London. Published by E. Donovan & Mess.^{rs}
Simpkin & Marshall, Feb. 1, 1823._
]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ENTOMOLOGY.
PLATE XXXI.
PAPILIO HIPPODAMIA
HIPPODAMIA’S BUTTERFLY.
LEPIDOPTERA.
GENERIC CHARACTER.
Antennæ thicker towards the tip, and generally terminating in a knob:
wings erect when at rest. Fly by day.
**** P. HELICONII.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER
AND
SYNONYMS.
Wings oblong and entire; anterior pair black, with three hyaline bands:
lower ones hyaline.
PAPILIO HIPPODAMIA: alis oblongis integerrimis: anticis nigris: fasciis
tribus hyalinis, posticis hyalinis. _Fabr. Ent. Syst. T. 3. p.
1. 165. 509._
_Jon. pict. n. 149._
* * * * *
The Papiliones of the _Heliconii_ tribe are named by Linnæus after the
nymphs of the fabulous and mythological history of the ancient classics;
an example that has been followed by Fabricius, and subsequently by
other writers. Thus the present interesting insect is dedicated to
commemorate among the votaries of science, the name of Hippodamia, a
nymph feigned by the poets to be the daughter of Oenomaiis, and who
according to the legends of classic lore, besides being much celebrated
for her beauty, was distinguished for her swiftness in the race; and at
length bestowed her fair hand in marriage upon Pelops, because in speed
he excelled her.
This insect, which is of a moderate size, is of a light and elegant
structure. The wings are black, but the transparent spots occupy so much
space that the sable colouring does not appear predominant; it is less
prevalent in the posterior than the anterior wings, and yet less upon
the under surface than the upper. The form and disposition of these
transparent spots with which the dark colour of this fly is variegated,
are altogether characteristic, and deserve particular attention, because
there are other insects of the same tribe which pretty nearly resemble
it. From the middle of the anterior wing extends a transparent spot of a
very elongated heart shaped form, having the point directed to the
thorax, and a bar of black crossing it at the broader end, so as to give
it the appearance of two distinct spots; and beyond this is another
hyaline spot about the same size as the larger one of the two
transparent spaces of which the first-mentioned spot consists. The
posterior part of the wing is further marked with two bands of the same
transparent texture as the others, each consisting of three distinct
spots. The lower wings present a larger transparent space than the upper
wings, the whole disk being hyaline with only the posterior limb or
border opake, and of a black colour. The thorax and body is black.
The hyaline spots as seen on the under side are of the same size and
form as they appear above, but the opake spaces instead of being
uniformly black as on the upper surface, are agreeably diversified with
rufous and geminous dots of white: these double white dots are situated
on the black border at the tips of the wings, three on that of the
anterior pair, and three on that of the posterior ones.
From the very close analogy that prevails between this and several other
species of the same tribe, it would, no doubt, have been a matter of
considerable difficulty at this time to determine the Fabrician species
Papilio Hippodamia with precision, if we had not possessed the means of
reference to the Fabrician manuscripts, and the drawings in which it is
delineated; for it has remained to this period unfigured by any author.
It will be observed that Fabricius does not refer for this species to
the Collectanea of Mr. Jones, as in many other instances. The cause of
this omission will admit of a very easy explanation; Fabricius had seen
the insect in the first instance in the cabinet of M. Mauduit, at Paris,
to which he has referred. But subsequently when in England he found a
drawing of the insect in the collection of Mr. Jones, and inscribed the
name and character of the species upon the drawing, as it afterwards
appeared in his Entomologia Systematica; and it is upon this authority
that we are enabled to speak with certainty upon a species which, but
for this circumstance, would be now involved in ambiguity. The figures
in our plate are copied from the drawings of Mr. Jones, inscribed with
the hand-writing of Fabricius.
At the time Fabricius described this species its _habitat_ was unknown:
we have lately met with it in a collection of Brasilian insects, and
entertain no doubt of its having been brought with the rest from that
part of the globe.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Illustration:
_32_
_London. Published by E. Donovan & Mess.^{rs}
Simpkin & Marshall, Feb.^y 1, 1823._
]
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CONCHOLOGY.
PLATE XXXII.
CYPRÆA AURORA
AURORA, MORNING-DAWN,
OR,
ORANGE COWRY.
* UNIVALVE.
GENERIC CHARACTER.
Shell univalve, involute, subovate, smooth, obtuse at each end: aperture
effuse at each end, linear, extending the whole length of the shell and
denticulated each side.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER
AND
SYNONYMS.
Shell ovate ventricose, and somewhat globose, orange without spots:
margin white: throat orange or sometimes rosy.
CYPRÆA AURORA: ovato-ventricosa, subglobosa, aurantiâ immaculatâ:
margine alba, fauce aurantia vel incarnata.
CYPRÆA AURANTIUM: testa subturbinata aurantia margine alba immaculata
fauce rutila. _Gmel. Linn. Syst. Nat. T. 1. p. 6. 3403. 121._
CYPRÆA AURORA: testa ovato-ventricosâ, turgidâ subglobosâ, aurantiâ,
immaculatâ; lateribus albis; fauce aurantiâ. _Lamarck T. 7. 382.
14._
* * * * *
Every Conchologist is aware of the existence of this superb shell: its
magnitude is considerable, and its colour too conspicuously distinct
from that of all other species of its genus to be passed over without
immediate observation.
The Cypræa generally are a tribe of shells peculiarly striking: the most
common species possess an elegance of fervid colouring and politure that
never fail to recommend them to attention. But a few years only have
passed away, since the mantle decorations of the fire place in the
apartments of fashion, besides images and jars of china porcellain,
consisted of shells, among which the various kinds of Cowries were not
esteemed the least ornamental. And they are sometimes still seen in such
situations; while the grotesque statuary, the josses, and the dragons,
of China and Japan, in conformity with a better taste, have wholly
disappeared.
The shells of the Cypræa, genus which are most familiar to the
generality of observers, are the spotted Cowries, and some others of
usual occurrence. There are others which from their rarity are less
extensively known, and among the number we may truly rank the species
which we have now before us, the Orange Cowry, or as it is sometimes
called, the “Morning Dawn.” The beauty of this shell, as well as
scarcity, has established its celebrity; the species is well known, but
few collections, excepting those of the more costly kind, possess the
shell. Its magnitude is considerable, for its size is nothing inferior
to that of the Spotted Cowry, which ranks in this respect the chief
species of its family, while the distinction of its colour from that of
all other shells of the Cypræa tribe at once attracts particular
attention.
The colour of the back in this species is of a very fine orange, simple,
and unadorned with any marks or spots whatever. The tint of orange
varies in different shells from pale to darker, but whatever may be its
deviations in this respect, the tint of colour is constantly deepest
upon the back, and the transition as constantly becoming gradually paler
or more diluted as the colour descends upon the sides towards the
margin. This margin is rounded, projecting, and of a pure white, except
at the throat, as it is termed, where a tint of red or reddish prevails
to a small extent. The under surface of the shell is white, except at
the sides where the orange colour of the back descends, spreads, and
fades away into the white. The aperture of the shell is a longitudinal
opening down the middle as usual in the other kinds of Cowry; the
surrounding region of the shell is a pure white, but the edges of the
opening, both which are beset with numerous linear teeth, are of a fine
orange.
For the discovery of this extremely beautiful shell, like many other
acquisitions of importance in the cabinet of the Conchologist, we stand
indebted to the assiduities of that eminent Naturalist Sir Joseph Banks,
and those who accompanied him in the celebrated voyage of Captain Cook
round the world. They observed it among the ornaments with which the
natives of Otaheite had decorated their dresses, which were composed of
feathers, and the barks of trees. To these garments they were attached
by means of a string passing through a hole perforated for the purpose
on one side of the shell. The natives were not so easily induced to part
with these shells as the other decorations of their clothing,
appreciating them at a much higher value. Our navigators were at first
led to imagine these shells to be inhabitants of the seas surrounding
Otaheite, in which particular they were at length undeceived by the
natives who informed them to the contrary: they said the shells were
found near an island at a great distance from Otaheite, and from the
direction of the spot toward which they pointed, it was conjectured they
meant the Fegee or Fidgi Islands, which are inhabited by the most
ferocious cannibals throughout those seas.[24] Our navigators were
therefore able only to procure such specimens as were attached to the
dresses of the natives, and these being almost constantly perforated for
the better convenience of fastening them on safely, at once explains the
reason of the Orange Cowry being so rarely met with undisfigured by such
perforation.
The mention of this circumstance, which at this distant period can be
little known, is moreover of some importance, because as the shells were
really brought from Otaheite, it has been generally supposed to be a
native of that island, and has even sometimes been called the Otaheitan
Cowry. Gmelin, who records this shell under the name of Cypræa
Aurantium, speaks of it as a native of the Friendly Isles, “habitat ad
insulas amicas,” resting his authority, we apprehend, upon the
Conchology of Martyn, and which though published shortly after the
return of Captain Cook, could not be so well informed upon the subject
as the venerable friend who assured us it is neither a native of
Otaheite, nor the Friendly Islands. Lamarck has subsequently observed
that the species inhabits the seas of the Friendly Islands as well as
those of Otaheite, and also of New Zealand. Upon what authority the
_localities_ have been increased to this extent is not stated. We have
understood from very good authority that researches have been made
repeatedly of late years by our navigators to discover the shells in
those seas, and without effect; and this fact appears to be confirmed
from the increasing value and importance attached to the species. We are
indeed not entirely certain that any of these shells have ever been
procured, except as before observed from among the natives of Otaheite,
and the value of the shell has progressively advanced in consequence
from four, or five, to ten pounds. A specimen in the collection of Mrs.
Angus sold about three years ago in London for twenty guineas; thirty
guineas have been in vain offered for another specimen within the last
two or three years, and a collector at this period in London is in
possession of another which it is understood cost him very lately fifty
guineas. These circumstances, if we mistake not, conspire to prove, that
the Orange Cowry is a far more local species than might be inferred from
the observation of Lamarck.
Besides the name of Otaheitan Cowry, this shell has been also called the
“Orange Cowry,” and the “Morning Dawn,” in reference to the latin
“Cypræa Aurantium,” and “Aurora,” by both which it had been at different
times distinguished. That of Aurantium alludes only to the prevailing
orange colour of the shell, and has been given to it by Gmelin after
Martyn. There is something more poetically elegant, and perhaps no less
appropriate in the trivial name Aurora, which Lamarck adopts: we may in
truth compare its beauteous fulvous hues fading into white with
inexpressive softness, to the warm glowing tints and fainter blushes of
an opening morning sky in summer. We have also adopted this name as well
as Lamarck, for its peculiar elegance, in preference to that of
Aurantium.
The origin of the epithet “Aurora,” bestowed upon this shell has
probably long since been forgotten; it arose from one of those fugitive
events not likely to be recorded excepting only in the recollection of
collectors; and those in whose immediate knowledge the circumstance
occurred have long since passed this transitory scene and are perhaps
ere this themselves forgotten. The relation though in some respects
trivial, may afford amusement to the amateur: it serves to shew the
origin of its name “Aurora” at the same time that it presents a striking
illustration of that ardent zeal with which the science of Conchology
was cultivated in this country nearly half a century ago; its
authenticity may be relied upon. The circumstance as related to us by an
old collector some years ago was briefly this; a specimen of the shell
had very shortly after the return of the discovery ships been presented
by one of the officers to a lady, which coming to the knowledge of a
most zealous collector of that period, he solicited the indulgence of
seeing it; and waited upon the lady for the purpose, upon an intimation
that the favour would be readily granted. Madam, said the enraptured
visitor, gazing in admiration upon the Cowry, which he now beheld for
the first time, has this shell a price? will twenty guineas purchase
this lovely gem? it will not answered the lady. Allow me then said its
enthusiastic admirer to clasp it for a moment in my hands, and bending
on one knee, at the same time pressing the shell to his lips, pronounced
with an emphasis of poetic fervour, “thus do I salute the ‘Morning Dawn’
of the new discovered world!” Let poets reverence Venus the beauty of
the Grecian seas: my idol is “Aurora,” this sea-born nymph of surpassing
beauty, that rose upon the waves of the Southern deep!
Tu quoque cum Dea sis, Divâ formosior illâ
Concha per æquoreum quam vasa ducit iter.[25]
_Sec. 6. Basium._