portions of the island, the eye is attracted along the edges of the
sandy roads by fragments of the dislocated rings of a huge species of
millepede[1], lying in short curved tubes, the cavity admitting the tip
of the little finger. When perfect the creature is two-thirds of a foot
long, of a brilliant jet black, and with above a hundred yellow legs,
which, when moving onward, present the appearance of a series of
undulations from rear to front, bearing the animal gently forwards. This
_Julus_ is harmless, and may be handled with perfect impunity. Its food
consists chiefly of fruits and the roots and stems of succulent
vegetables, its jaws not being framed for any more formidable purpose.
Another and a very pretty species[2], quite as black, but with a bright
crimson band down the back, and the legs similarly tinted, is common in
the gardens about Colombo and throughout the western province.
[Footnote 1: _Julus ater_.]
[Footnote 2: _Julus carnifex_, Fab.]
CRUSTACEA.--The seas around Ceylon abound with marine articulata; but a
knowledge of the crustacea of the island is at present a desideratum;
and with the exception of the few commoner species that frequent the
shores, or are offered in the markets, we are literally without
information, excepting the little that can be gleaned from already
published systematic works.
[Illustration: CALLING CRAB OF CEYLON.]
In the bazaars several species of edible crabs are exposed for sale; and
amongst the delicacies at the tables of Europeans, curries made from
prawns and lobsters are the triumphs of the Ceylon cuisine. Of these
latter the fishermen sometimes exhibit specimens[1] of extraordinary
dimensions and of a beautiful purple hue, variegated with white. Along
the level shore north and south of Colombo, and in no less profusion
elsewhere, the nimble little Calling Crabs[2] scamper over the moist
sands, carrying aloft the enormous hand (sometimes larger than the rest
of the body), which is their peculiar characteristic, and which, from
its beckoning gesture has suggested their popular name. They hurry to
conceal themselves in the deep retreats which they hollow out in the
banks that border the sea.
[Footnote 1: _Palinurus ornatus_, Fab. P--n. s.]
[Footnote 2: _Gelasimus tetragonon_? Edw.; _G. annulipes_? Edw.; _G.
Dussumieri_? Edw.]
_Sand Crabs_.--In the same localities, or a little farther inland, the
_Ocypode_[1] burrows in the dry soil, making deep excavations, bringing
up literally armfulls of sand; which with a spring in the air, and
employing its other limbs, it jerks far from its burrows, distributing
it in a circle to the distance of several feet.[2] So inconvenient are
the operations of these industrious pests that men are kept regularly
employed at Colombo in filling up the holes formed by them on the
surface of the Galle face. This, the only equestrian promenade of the
capital, is so infested by these active little creatures that accidents
often occur through horses stumbling in their troublesome excavations.
[Footnote 1: _Ocypode ceratophthamus_. Pall.]
[Footnote 2: _Ann. Nat. Hist_. April, 1852. Paper by Mr. EDGAR L.
LAYARD.]
_Painted Crabs_.--On the reef of rocks which lies to the south of the
harbour at Colombo, the beautiful little painted crabs[1], distinguished
by dark red markings on a yellow ground, may be seen all day long
running nimbly in the spray, and ascending and descending in security
the almost perpendicular sides of the rocks which are washed by the
waves. _Paddling Crabs_[2], with the hind pair of legs terminated by
flattened plates to assist them in swimming, are brought up in the
fishermen's nets. _Hermit Crabs_ take possession of the deserted shells
of the univalves, and crawl in pursuit of garbage along the moist beach.
Prawns and shrimps furnish delicacies for the breakfast table; and the
delicate little pea crab, _Pontonia inflata_[3], recalls its
Mediterranean congener[4], which attracted the attention of Aristotle,
from taking up its habitation in the shell of the living pinna.
[Footnote 1: _Grapsus strigosus_, Herbst.]
[Footnote 2: _Neptunus pelagicus_, Linn.; _N. sanguinolentus_, Herbst,
&c. &c.]
[Footnote 3: MILNE EDW., _Hist. Nat. Crust_., vol. ii. p. 360.]
[Footnote 4: _Pinnotheres veterum_.]
ANNELIDÆ.--The marine _Annelides_ of the island have not as yet been
investigated; a cursory glance, however, amongst the stones, on the
beach at Trincomalie and in the pools that afford convenient basins for
examining them, would lead to the belief that the marine species are not
numerous; tubicole genera, as well as some nereids, are found, but there
seems to be little diversity, though it is not impossible that a closer
scrutiny might be repaid by the discovery of some interesting forms.
_Leeches_.--Of all the plagues which beset the traveller in the rising
grounds of Ceylon, the most detested are the land leeches.[1] They are
not frequent in the plains. which are too hot and dry for them; but
amongst the rank vegetation in the lower ranges of the hill country,
which is kept damp by frequent showers, they are found in tormenting
profusion. They are terrestrial, never visiting ponds or streams. In
size they are about an inch in length, and as fine as a common knitting
needle; but they are capable of distension till they equal a quill in
thickness, and attain a length of nearly two inches. Their structure is
so flexible that they can insinuate themselves through the meshes of the
finest stocking, not only seizing on the feet and ankles, but ascending
to the back and throat and fastening on the tenderest parts of the body.
In order to exclude them, the coffee planters, who live amongst these
pests, are obliged to envelope their legs in "leech gaiters" made of
closely woven cloth. The natives smear their bodies with oil, tobacco
ashes, or lemon juice[2]; the latter serving not only to stop the flow
of blood, but to expedite the healing of the wounds. In moving, the land
leeches have the power of planting one extremity on the earth and
raising the other perpendicularly to watch for their victim. Such is
their vigilance and instinct, that on the approach of a passer-by to a
spot which they infest, they may be seen amongst the grass and fallen
leaves on the edge of a native path, poised erect, and preparing for
their attack on man and horse. On descrying their prey they advance
rapidly by semi-circular strides, fixing one end firmly and arching the
other forwards, till by successive advances they can lay hold of the
traveller's foot, when they disengage themselves from the ground and
ascend his dress in search of an aperture to enter. In these encounters
the individuals in the rear of a party of travellers in the jungle
invariably fare worst, as the leeches, once warned of their approach,
congregate with singular celerity. Their size is so insignificant, and
the wound they make is so skilfully punctured, that both are generally
imperceptible, and the first intimation of their onslaught is the
trickling of the blood or a chill feeling of the leech when it begins to
hang heavily on the skin from being distended by its repast. Horses are
driven wild by them, and stamp the ground in fury to shake them from
their fetlocks, to which they hang in bloody tassels. The bare legs of
the palankin bearers and coolies are a favourite resort; and, as their
hands are too much engaged to be spared to pull them off, the leeches
hang like bunches of grapes round their ankles; and I have seen the
blood literally flowing over the ledge of a European's shoe from their
innumerable bites. In healthy constitutions the wounds, if not
irritated, generally heal, occasioning no other inconvenience than a
slight inflammation and itching; but in those with a bad state of body,
the punctures, if rubbed, are liable to degenerate into ulcers, which
may lead to the loss of limb or even of life. Both Marshall and Davy
mention, that during the march of troops in the mountains, when the
Kandyans were in rebellion, in 1818, the soldiers, and especially the
Madras sepoys, with the pioneers and coolies, suffered so severely from
this cause that numbers perished.[3]
[Footnote 1: _Hæmadipsa Ceylanica_. Bose. Blainv. These pests are not,
however, confined to Ceylon, they infest the lower ranges of the
Himalaya.--HOOKER, vol. i. p. 107; vol. ii. p. 54. THUNBERG, who records
(_Travels_, vol. iv. p. 232) having seen them in Ceylon, likewise met
with them in the forests and slopes of Batavia. MARSDEN (_Hist_. p. 311)
complains of them dropping on travellers in Sumatra. KNORR found them at
Japan; and it is affirmed that they abound in islands farther to the
eastward. M. GAY encountered them in Chili.--(MOQUIN-TANDON,
_Hirudinées_, p. 211, 346). It is very doubtful, however, whether all
these are to be referred to one species. M. DE BLAINVILLE, under _H.
Ceylanica_, in the _Dict. de Scien. Nat_. vol. xlvii. p. 271, quotes M.
Bosc as authority for the kind, which that naturalist describes being
"rouges et tachetées;" which is scarcely applicable to the Singhalese
species. It is more than probable therefore, considering the period at
which M. BOSC wrote, that he obtained his information from travellers to
the further east, and has connected with the habitat universally
ascribed to them from old KNOX'S work (Part 1. chap. vi.) a meagre
description, more properly belonging to the land leech of Batavia or
Japan. In all likelihood, therefore, there may be a _H. Boscii_,
distinct from the _H. Ceylanica_. That which is found in Ceylon is
round, a little flattened on the inferior surface, largest at the anal
extremity, thence gradually tapering forward, and with the anal sucker
composed of four rings, and wider in proportion than in other species.
[Illustration: EYES AND TEETH OF THE LAND LEECH OF CEYLON]
It is of a clear brown colour, with a yellow stripe the entire length of
each side, and a greenish dorsal one. The body is formed of 100 rings;
the eyes, of which there are five pairs, are placed in an arch on the
dorsal surface; the first four pairs occupying contiguous rings (thus
differing from the water-leeches, which have an unoccupied ring betwixt
the third and fourth); the fifth pair are located on the seventh ring,
two vacant rings intervening. To Mr. Thwaites, Director of the Botanic
Garden at Peradenia, who at my request examined their structure
minutely, I am indebted for the following most interesting particulars
respecting them. "I have been giving a little time to the examination of
the land leech. I find it to have five pairs of ocelli, the first four
seated on corresponding segments, and the posterior pair on the seventh
segment or ring, the fifth and sixth rings being eyeless (_fig_. A). The
mouth is very retractile, and the aperture is shaped as in ordinary
leeches. The serratures of the teeth, or rather the teeth themselves,
are very beautiful. Each of the three 'teeth,' or cutting instruments,
is principally muscular, the muscular body being very clearly seen. The
rounded edge in which the teeth are set appears to be cartilaginous in
structure; the teeth are very numerous, (_fig_. B); but some near the
base have a curious appendage, apparently (I have not yet made this out
quite satisfactorily) set upon one side. I have not yet been able to
detect the anal or sexual pores. The anal sucker seems to be formed of
four rings, and on each side above is a sort of crenated flesh-like
appendage. The tint of the common species is yellowish-brown or
snuff-coloured, streaked with black, with a yellow-greenish dorsal, and
another lateral line along its whole length. There is a larger species
to be found in this garden with a broad green dorsal fascia; but I have
not been able to procure one although I have offered a small reward to
any coolie who will bring me one." In a subsequent communication Mr.
Thwaites remarks "that the dorsal longitudinal fascia is of the same
width as the lateral ones, and differs only in being perhaps slightly
more green; the colour of the three fasciæ varies from brownish-yellow
to bright green." He likewise states "that the rings which compose the
body are just 100, and the teeth 70 to 80 in each set, in a single row,
except to one end, where they are in a double row."]
[Illustration: LAND LEECHES IN PURSUIT]
[Footnote 2: The Minorite friar, ODORIC of Portenau. writing in A.D.
1320, says that the gem-finders who sought the jewels around Adam's
Peak, "take lemons which they peel, anointing themselves with the juice
thereof, so that the leeches may not be able to hurt them."--HAKLUYT,
_Voy._ vol. ii. p. 58.]
[Footnote 3: DAVY'S _Ceylon_, p. 104; MARSHALL'S _Ceylon_, p. 15.]
One circumstance regarding these land leeches is remarkable and
unexplained; they are helpless without moisture, and in the hills where
they abound at all other times, they entirely disappear during long
droughts;--yet re-appear instantaneously on the very first fall of rain;
and in spots previously parched, where not one was visible an hour
before, a single shower is sufficient to reproduce them in thousands,
lurking beneath the decaying leaves, or striding with rapid movements
across the gravel. Whence do they re-appear? Do they, too, take a
"summer sleep," like the reptiles, molluscs, and tank fishes? or may
they, like the _Rotifera_, be dried up and preserved for an indefinite
period, resuming their vital activity on the mere recurrence of
moisture?[1]
[Footnote 1: See an account of the _Rotifera_ and their faculty of
repeated vivifaction, in the note appended to this chapter.]
Besides a species of the medicinal leech, which[1] is found in Ceylon,
nearly double the size of the European one, and with a prodigious
faculty of engorging blood, there is another pest in the low country,
which is a source of considerable annoyance, and often of loss, to the
husbandman. This is the cattle leech[2], which infests the stagnant
pools, chiefly in the alluvial lands around the base of the mountain
zone, whither the cattle resort by day, and the wild animals by night,
to quench their thirst and to bathe. Lurking amongst the rank vegetation
that fringes these deep pools, and hid by the broad leaves, or concealed
among the stems and roots covered by the water, there are quantities of
these pests in wait to attack the animals on their approach to drink.
Their natural food consists of the juices of lumbrici and other
invertebrata; but they generally avail themselves of the opportunity
afforded by the dipping of the muzzles of the animals in the water to
fasten on their nostrils, and by degrees to make their way to the deeper
recesses of the nasal passages, and the mucous membranes of the throat
and gullet. As many as a dozen have been found attached to the
epiglottis and pharynx of a bullock, producing such irritation and
submucous effusion that death has eventually ensued; and so tenacious
are the leeches that even after death they retain their hold for some
hours.[3]
[Footnote 1: _Hirudo sanguisorba_. The paddi-field leech of Ceylon, used
for surgical purposes, has the dorsal surface of blackish olive, with
several longitudinal striæ, more or less defined; the crenated margin
yellow. The ventral surface is fulvous, bordered laterally with olive;
the extreme margin yellow. The eyes are ranged as in the common
medicinal leech of Europe; the four anterior ones rather larger than the
others. The teeth are 140 in each series, appearing as a single row; in
size diminishing gradually from one end, very close set, and about half
the width of a tooth apart. When full grown, these leeches are about two
inches long, but reaching to six inches when extended. Mr. Thwaites, to
whom I am indebted for these particulars, adds that he saw in a tank at
Kolona Korle leeches which appeared to him flatter and of a darker
colour than those described above, but that he had not an opportunity of
examining them particularly.
[Illustration: DORSAL.]
[Illustration: VENTRAL.]
Mr. Thwaites states that there is a smaller tank leech of an olive-green
colour, with some indistinct longitudinal striæ on the upper surface;
the crenated margin of a pale yellowish-green; ocelli as in the
paddi-field leech; length, one inch at rest, three inches when extended.
Mr. E.L. LAYARD informs us, _Mag. Nat. Hist_. p. 225, 1853, that a
bubbling spring at the village of Tonniotoo, three miles S.W. of
Moeletivoe, supplies most of the leeches used in the island. Those in
use at Colombo are obtained in the immediate vicinity.]
[Footnote 2: _Hæmopsis paludum_. In size the cattle leech of Ceylon is
somewhat larger than the medicinal leech of Europe: in colour it is of a
uniform brown without bands, unless a rufous margin may be so
considered. It has dark striæ. The body is somewhat rounded, flat when
swimming, and composed of rather more than ninety rings. The greatest
dimension is a little in advance of the anal sucker; the body thence
tapers to the other extremity, which ends in an upper lip projecting
considerably beyond the mouth. The eyes, ten in number, are disposed as
in the common leech. The mouth is oval, the biting apparatus with
difficulty seen, and the teeth not very numerous. The bite is so little
acute that the moment of attachment, and the incision of the membrane is
scarcely perceived by the sufferer from its attack.]
[Footnote 3: Even men, when stooping to drink at a pool, are not safe
from the assault of the cattle leeches. They cannot penetrate the human
skin, but the delicate membrane of the mucous passages is easily
ruptured by their serrated jaws. Instances have come to my knowledge of
Europeans into whose nostrils they had gained admission and caused
serious disturbance.]
* * * * *
ARTICULATA.
_APTERA_.
THYSANURA.
Podura _albicollis_.
_atricollis_.
_viduata_.
_pilosa_.
Archoreutes _coccinea_.
Lepisma nigrofasciara, _Temp_.
_nigra._
ARACHNIDA.
Buthus afer. _Linn_.
Ceylonicus, _Koch_.
Scorpio _linearis_.
Chelifer librorum.
_oblongus_.
Obisium _crassifemur_.
Phrynus lunatus, _Pall_.
Thelyphonus caudatus, _Linn._
Phalangium _bisignatum_.
Mygale fasciata, _Walck_.
Olios taprobanius, _Walck_.
Nephila ... ?
Trombidium tinctorum, _Herm_.
Oribata ... ?
Ixodes ... ?
MYRIAPODA.
Cermatia _dispar_.
Lithobius _umbratilis_.
Scolopendra _crassa_.
spinosa, _Newp_.
_pallipes_.
_Grayii_? _Newp_.
tuberculidens, _Newp_.
Ceylonensis, _Newp_.
flava, _Newp_.
_olivacea_.
_abdominalis_,
Cryptops _sordidus_.
_assimilis_.
Geophilus _tegularius_.
_speciosus_.
Julus _ater_.
carnifex, _Fabr_.
_pallipes_.
_fiaviceps_.
_pallidus_.
Craspedosoma _juloides_.
_præusta_.
Polydesmus _granulatus_.
Cambala _catenulata_.
Zephronia _conspicua_.
_CRUSTACEA_.
DECAPODA BHACHTUEA.
_Polybius_.
Neptunus pelagicus, _Linn._
sanguinolentus, _Herbst_.
Thalamlta ... ?
Thelphusa _Indica, Latr_.
_Cardisoma_ ... ?
Ocypoda ceratophthalmus, _Pall_,
_macrocera, Edw_.
Gelasimus _tetragonon, Edw_.
_annulipes, Edw_.
Macrophthalmus _carinimanus, Latr_.
Grapsus _messor, Forsk_.
strigosus, _Herbst_.
Plagusia depressa, _Fabr_.
Calappa philargus, _Linn._
_tuberculata, Fabr_.
Matota victor, _Fabr_.
Leucosia _fugax, Fabr_.
_Dorippe_.
DECAPODA ANOMURA.
_Dromia_ ... ?
Hippa Asiatica, _Edw_.
Pagurus affinis, _Edw_.
_punctulatus, Oliv_.
_Porcellana_ ... ?
DECAPODA MACRURA.
Scyllarus _orientalis, Fabr_.
Palinurus ornatus, _Fabr_.
affinis, _N.S._
_Crangon_ ... ?
_Alpheus_ ... ?
Pomonia inflata, _Edw_.
Palæmon carcinus, _Fabr_.
Steaopus ... ?
Peneus ...?
STOMATOPODA.
_Squilla_ ... ?
Gonodactylus chiragra, _Fabr_.
_CIRRHIPEDIA_.
_Lepas_.
_Balanus_.
_ANNELIDA_.
Tubicolæ.
Dorsibranchiata.
Abranchia.
Hirudo _sanguisorba_.
_Thwaitesii_.
Hæmopsis _paludum_.
Hæmadipsa Ceylana. _Blainv_.
Lumbricus ... ?
* * * * *
NOTE
ON THE FACULTY OF REPEATED RE-VIVIFICATION POSSESSED BY THE _ROTIFERA_,
ETC.
The _Rotifer_, a singular creature, although it can only truly live in
water, inhabits the moss on house-tops, dying each time the sun dries up
its place of retreat, to revive as often as a shower of rain supplies it
with the moisture essential to its existence; thus employing several
years to exhaust the eighteen days of life which nature has allotted to
it. These creatures were discovered by LEUWENHOECK, and have become the
types of a class already numerous, which undergo the same conditions of
life, and possess the same faculty. Besides the _Rotifera_, the
_Tardigrades_, (which belong to the _Acari_,) and certain paste-eels,
all exhibit a similar phenomenon. But although these different species
may die and be resuscitated several times in succession, this power has
its limits, and each successive experiment generally proves fatal to one
or more individuals. SPALLANZANI, in his experiments on the _Rotifera_,
did not find that any survived after the sixteenth alternation of
desiccation and damping, but paste-eels bore seventeen of those
vicissitudes.
SPALLANZANI, after thoroughly drying sand rich in _Rotifera_, kept it
for more than three years, moistening portions taken from it every five
or six months. BAKER went further still in his experiments on
paste-eels, for he kept the paste from which they had been taken,
without moistening it in any way, for twenty-seven years, and at the end
of that time the eels revived on being immersed in a drop of water. _If
they had exhausted their lives all at once and without these
intermissions, these Rotifera and paste-eels would not have lived beyond
sixteen or eighteen consecutive days._
To remove all doubt as to the complete desiccation of the animalcules
experimented on by SPALLANZANI and BAKER, M. DOYÈRE has published, in
the _Annales des Sciences Naturales_ for 1842, the results of his own
observation, in cases in which the mosses containing the insects were
dried under the receiver of an air-pump and left there for a week; after
which they were placed in a stove heated to 267° Fahr., and yet, when
again immersed in water, a number of the _Rotifera_ became as lively as
ever.
Further particulars of these experiments will be found in the Appendix
to the _Rambles of a Naturalist, &c._, by M. QUARTREFAGE.
INDEX.
* * * * *
ABOU-ZEYD, his account of fish on dry land, 350 n.
Abyssinia, fishes of, 352.
_Acalephæ_, 398. _See_ Radiata.
Acanthopterygii, 360.
Accipitres, 245.
_Acherontia Sathanas_, 427
Adam's Peak, elephants on the summit, 109.
Ælian's account of the mermaid, 69.
his statement as to the export of elephants from Ceylon, 77 _n_., 209 _n_.
error as to the shedding of the elephant's tusks, 79 _n_.
describes elephants killing criminals with their knees. 87 _n_.
error as to elephants' joints, 102.
his account of Ceylon tortoises, 293.
his account of the superiority of the elephants of Ceylon, 209 _n_.
his description of the performances of the trained elephants at
Rome, 237.
his account of the sword-fish, 328.
describes a _Cheironectes_, 331.
African elephant, its peculiarities, 65.
not inferior to the Indian in tractability, 208.
Albino buffalo, 57.
deer, 59.
Albyrouni, on the pearl oyster, 375.
Alce, described by Pliny and Cæsar, 101 _n_.
Alexandria, story of the dogs at, 34.
Alligator, 283. _See_ Crocodile.
Almeida, Manoel de, on burying fishes, 353 _n_.
Amboina, mermaids at, 70.
Ampullaria, its faculty of burying itself, 355.
_Anabas_, 354.
Daldorf's account of, doubted, 349, 350.
accidents from, 351 n.
Angling bad in Ceylon, 335 _n_., 341.
_Annelidæ_, leeches, 479.
land-leech, its varieties, 482.
land-leech, its teeth and eyes, 480.
its tormenting bite, 482.
list of, 485.
Anseres, 260.
Ansted, Prof., on the geology of Ceylon, 61.
his statement as to the height of Indian elephants, 100 _n_.
Antiochus, elephants used by, 208.
Antipater, the first to bring the Indian elephant to Europe, 207.
Ant-lion, 411. _See_ Insects.
Ants, 420 _See_ Insects.
red, 420, 422.
white, 412. _See Termites_.
their faculty in discovering food, 421.
Armandi's work on the use of elephants in war, 208 _n_.
Aphaniptera, 433.
_Arachnidæ_, spiders, 464.
extraordinary webs, _ib_.
_Olios Taprobanius_, 470.
_Mygale fasciata_, 465.
erroneously called "tarentula," _ib_.
anecdote of, 466.
spiders, the Mygale, 465.
birds killed by it, 468.
Galeodes, 470.
ticks, their multitude, 471.
mites, 472.
_Trombidium tinctorum_, 472.
list of, 485.
Argus cowrie, 369.
Aripo, the sea-shore, 373.
Aristotle, account of fishes migrating overland, 344.
sounds made by elephants, 97.
his error as to the elephant's knees, 101.
Armitage, Mr., story of an elephant on his estate, 139.
Articulata, list of, 485.
Athenæus, anecdotes of fishes on dry land, 346.
Avicula, 373. _See_ Pearl Fishery.
Avitchia, story of, 244. _See_ Jackdaw.
Ayeen Akbery, elephant stomach described in, 128.