CHAPTER I.

MAMMALIA.

With the exception of the Mammalia and the Birds, the fauna of Ceylon has, up to the present, failed to receive that systematic attention to which its richness and variety so amply entitle it. The Singhalese themselves, habitually indolent and singularly unobservant of nature in her operations, are at the same time restrained from the study of natural history by tenets of their religion which forbid the taking of life under any circumstances. From the nature of their avocations, the majority of the European residents engaged in planting and commerce, are discouraged from gratifying this taste; and it is to be regretted that the civil servants of the government, whose position and duties would have afforded them influence and extended opportunity for successful investigation, have never seen the importance of encouraging such studies.

The first effective impulse to the cultivation of natural science in Ceylon, was communicated by Dr. Davy when connected with the medical staff of the army from 1816 to 1820, and his example stimulated some of the assistant surgeons of Her Majesty's forces to make collections in illustration of the productions of the colony. Of the late Dr. Kinnis was one of the most energetic and successful. He was seconded by Dr. Templeton of the Royal Artillery, who engaged assiduously in the investigation of various orders, and commenced an interchange of specimens with Mr. Blyth[1], the distinguished naturalist and curator of the Calcutta Museum.

[Footnote 1: _Journ. Asiat. Soc. Bengal,_ vol. xv. p. 280, 314.]

The birds and rarer vertebrata of the island were thus compared with their peninsular congeners, and a tolerable knowledge of those belonging to the island, so far as regards the higher classes of animals, has been the result. The example so set has been perseveringly followed by Mr. E.L. Layard and Dr. Kelaart, and infinite credit is due to Mr. Blyth for the zealous and untiring energy with which he has devoted his attention and leisure to the identification of the various interesting species forwarded from Ceylon, and to their description in the Calcutta Journal. To him, and to the gentleman I have named, we are mainly indebted, for whatever accurate knowledge we now possess of the zoology of the colony.

The mammalia, birds, and reptiles received their first scientific description in an able work published recently by Dr. Kelaart of the army medical staff[1], which is by far the most valuable that has yet appeared on the Singhalese fauna. Co-operating with him, Mr. Layard has supplied a fund of information especially in ornithology and conchology. The zoophytes and crustacea have been investigated by Professor Harvey, who visited Ceylon for that purpose in 1852, and by Professor Schmarda, of the University of Prague, who was lately sent there for a similar object. From the united labours of these gentlemen and others interested in the same pursuits, we may hope at an early day to obtain such a knowledge of the zoology of Ceylon, as may to some extent compensate for the long indifference of the government officers.

[Footnote 1: _Prodromus Faunæ Zeylanicæ; being Contributions to the Zoology of Ceylon_, by F. KELAART, Esq., M.D., F.L.S., &c. &c. 2 vols. Colombo and London, 1852. Mr. DAVY, of the Medical Staff; brother to Sir Humphry, published in 1821 his _Account of the Interior of Ceylon and its Inhabitants_, which contains the earliest notices of the natural history of the island, and especially of the Ophidian reptiles.]

I. QUADRUMANA. 1 _Monkeys_.--To a stranger in the tropics, among the most attractive creatures in the forests are the troops of _monkeys_, which career in ceaseless chase among the loftiest trees. In Ceylon there are five species, four of which belong to one group, the Wanderoos, and the other is the little graceful grimacing _rilawa_[1], which is the universal pet and favourite, of both natives and Europeans.

[Footnote 1: _Macacus pileatus_, Shaw and Desmmarest. The "bonneted Macaque" is common in the south and west; and a spectacled monkey is _said_ to inhabit the low country near to Bintenne; but I have never seen one brought thence. A paper by Dr. TEMPLETON in the _Mag. Nat. Hist_. n.s. xiv. p. 361, contains some interesting facts relative to the Rilawa of Ceylon.]

KNOX, in his captivating account of the island, gives an accurate description of both; the Rilawas, with "no beards, white faces, and long hair on the top of their heads, which parteth and hangeth down like a man's, and which do a deal of mischief to the corn, and are so impudent that they will come into their gardens, and eat such fruit as grows there. And the Wanderoos, some as large as our English Spaniel dogs, of a darkish grey colour, and black faces with great white beards round from ear to ear, which makes them shew just like old men. This sort does but little mischief, keeping in the woods, eating only leaves and buds of trees, but when they are catched they will eat anything."[1]

[Footnote 1: KNOX, _Historical Relation of Ceylon, an Island in the East Indies_.--P. i. ch. vi. p. 25. Fol. Lond. 1681.]

KNOX, whose experience was confined almost exclusively to the hill country around Kandy, spoke in all probability of one large and comparatively powerful species, _Presbytes ursinus_, which inhabits the lofty forests, and which, as well as another of the same group, _P. Thersites_, was, till recently, unknown to European naturalists. The Singhalese word _Ouanderu_ has a generic sense, and being in every respect the equivalent for our own term of "monkey," it necessarily comprehends the low country species, as well as those which inhabit other parts of the island. And, in point of fact, in the island there are no less than four animals, each of which is entitled to the name of "wanderoo."[1]

[Footnote 1: Down to a very late period, a large and somewhat repulsive-looking monkey, common to the Malabar coast, the Silenus veter, _Linn_., was, from the circumstance of his possessing a "great white beard," incorrectly assumed to be the "wanderoo" of Ceylon, described by KNOX; and under that usurped name it has figured in every author from Buffon to the present time. Specimens of the true Singhalese species were, however, received in Europe; but in the absence of information in this country as to their actual habitat, they were described, first by Zimmerman, on the continent, under the name of _Leucoprymnus cephalopterus,_ and subsequently by Mr. E. Bennett, under that of _Semnopithecus Nestor (Proc. Zool. Soc._ pt. i. p. 67: 1833); the generic and specific characters being on this occasion most carefully pointed out by that eminent naturalist. Eleven years later Dr. Templeton forwarded to the Zoological Society a description, accompanied by drawings, of the wanderoo of the western maritime districts of Ceylon, and noticed the fact that the wanderoo of authors (S. veter) was not to be found in the island except as an introduced species in the custody of the Arab horse-dealers, who visit the port of Colombo at stated periods. Mr. Waterhouse, at the meeting (_Proc. Zool. Soc._ p. 1: 1844) at which this communication was read, recognised the identity of the subject of Dr. Templeton's description with that already laid before them by Mr. Bennett; and from this period the species in question was believed to truly represent the wanderoo of Knox. The later discovery, however, of the P. ursinus by Dr. Kelaart, in the mountains amongst which we are assured that Knox spent so many years of captivity, reopens the question, but at the same time appears to me to clearly demonstrate that in this latter we have in reality the animal to which his narrative refers.]

Each separate species has appropriated to itself a different district of the wooded country, and seldom encroaches on the domain of its neighbours.

1. Of the four species found in Ceylon, the most numerous in the island, and the one best known in Europe, is the Wanderoo of the low country, the _P. cephalopterus_ of Zimmerman.[1] It is an active and intelligent creature, not much larger than the common bonneted Macaque, and far from being so mischievous as others of the monkeys in the island. In captivity it is remarkable for the gravity of its demeanour and for an air of melancholy in its expression and movements, which is completely in character with its snowy beard and venerable aspect. Its disposition is gentle and confiding, it is in the highest degree sensible of kindness, and eager for endearing attentions, uttering a low plaintive cry when its sympathies are excited. It is particularly cleanly in its habits when domesticated, and spends much of its time in trimming its fur, and carefully divesting its hair of particles of dust.

[Footnote 1: Leucoprymnus Nestor, _Bennett_.]

Although common in the southern and western provinces, it is never found at a higher elevation than 1300 feet.

When observed in their native wilds, a party of twenty or thirty of these creatures is generally busily engaged in the search for berries and buds. They are seldom to be seen on the ground, and then only when they have descended to recover seeds or fruit that have fallen at the foot of their favourite trees. In their alarm, when disturbed, their leaps are prodigious; but generally speaking, their progress is made not so much by _leaping_ as by swinging from branch to branch, using their powerful arms alternately; and when baffled by distance, flinging themselves obliquely so as to catch the lower boughs of an opposite tree, the momentum acquired by their descent being sufficient to cause a rebound, that carries them again upwards, till they can grasp a higher branch; and thus continue their headlong flight. In these perilous achievements, wonder is excited less by the surpassing agility of these little creatures, frequently encumbered as they are by their young, which cling to them in their career, than by the quickness of their eye and the unerring accuracy with which they seem almost to calculate the angle at which a descent would enable them to cover a given distance, and the recoil to elevate themselves again to a higher altitude.

2. The low country Wanderoo is replaced in the hills by the larger species, _P. ursinus_, which inhabits the mountain zone. The natives, who designate the latter the _Maha_ or Great Wanderoo, to distinguish it from the _Kaloo_, or black one, with which they are familiar, describe it as much wilder and more powerful than its congener of the lowland forests. It is rarely seen by Europeans, this portion of the country having till very recently been but partially opened; and even now it is difficult to observe its habits, as it seldom approaches the few roads which wind through these deep solitudes. It was first captured by Dr. Kelaart in the woods near Neuera-ellia, and from its peculiar appearance it has been named _P. ursinus_ by Mr. Blyth.[1]

[Footnote 1: Mr. Blyth quotes as authority for this trivial name a passage from MAJOR FORBES' _Eleven Years in Ceylon_; and I can vouch for the graphic accuracy of the remark.--"A species of very large monkey, that passed some distance before me, when resting on all fours, looked so like a Ceylon bear, that I nearly took him for one."]

3. The _P. Thersites_, which is chiefly distinguished from the others by wanting the head tuft, is so rare that it was for some time doubtful whether the single specimen procured by Dr. Templeton from Neuera-kalawa, west of Trincomalie, and on which Mr. Blyth conferred this new name, was in reality native; but the occurrence of a second, since identified by Dr. Kelaart, has established its existence as a separate species.

Like the common wanderoo, this one was partial to fresh vegetables, plantains, and fruit; but he ate freely boiled rice, beans, and gram. He was fond of being noticed and petted, stretching out his limbs in succession to be scratched, drawing himself up so that his ribs might be reached by the finger, and closing his eyes during the operation, evincing his satisfaction by grimaces irresistibly ludicrous.

4. The _P. Priamus_ inhabits the northern and eastern provinces, and the wooded hills which occur in these portions of the island. In appearance it differs both in size and in colour from the common wanderoo, being larger and more inclining to grey; and in habits it is much less reserved. At Jaffna, and in other parts of the island where the population is comparatively numerous, these monkeys become so familiarised with the presence of man as to exhibit the utmost daring and indifference. A flock of them will take possession of a Palmyra palm; and so effectually can they crouch and conceal themselves among the leaves that, on the slightest alarm, the whole party becomes invisible in an instant. The presence of a dog, however, excites such an irrepressible curiosity that, in order to watch his movements, they never fail to betray themselves. They may be seen frequently congregated on the roof of a native hut; and, some years ago, the child of a European clergyman stationed at Tillipalli having been left on the ground by the nurse, was so teased and bitten by them as to cause its death.

The Singhalese have the impression that the remains of a monkey are never found in the forest; a belief which they have embodied in the proverb that "he who has seen a white crow, the nest of a paddy bird, a straight coco-nut tree, or a dead monkey, is certain to live for ever." This piece of folk-lore has evidently reached Ceylon from India, where it is believed that persons dwelling on the spot where a hanuman monkey, _S. entellus_, has been killed, will die, and that even its bones are unlucky, and that no house erected where they are hid under ground can prosper. Hence when a house is to be built, it is one of the employments of the Jyotish philosophers to ascertain by their science that none such are concealed; and Buchanan observes that "it is, perhaps, owing to this fear of ill-luck that no native will acknowledge his having seen a dead hanuman."[1]

[Footnote 1: BUCHANAN'S _Survey of Bhagulpoor_, p. 142. At Gibraltar it is believed that the body of _a dead monkey_ is never found on the rock.]

The only other quadrumanous animal found in Ceylon is the little loris[1], which, from its sluggish movements, nocturnal habits, and consequent inaction during the day, has acquired the name of the "Ceylon Sloth." There are two varieties in the island; one of the ordinary fulvous brown, and another larger, whose fur is entirely black. A specimen of the former was sent to me from Chilaw, on the western coast, and lived for some time at Colombo, feeding on rice, fruit, and vegetables. It was partial to ants and other insects, and always eager for milk or the bone of a fowl. The naturally slow motion of its limbs enables the loris to approach its prey so stealthily that it seizes birds before they can be alarmed by its presence. The natives assert that it has been known to strangle the pea-fowl at night, and feast on the brain. During the day the one which I kept was usually asleep in the strange position represented below; its perch firmly grasped with all hands, its back curved into a ball of soft fur, and its head hidden deep between its legs. The singularly-large and intense eyes of the loris have attracted the attention of the Singhalese, who capture the creature for the purpose of extracting them as charms and love-potions, and this they are said to effect by holding the little animal to the fire till its eyeballs burst. Its Tamil name is _theivangu_, or "thin-bodied;" and hence a deformed child or an emaciated person has acquired in the Tamil districts the same epithet. The light-coloured variety of the loris in Ceylon has a spot on its forehead, somewhat resembling the _namam_, or mark worn by the worshippers of Vishnu; and, from this peculiarity, it is distinguished as the _Nama-theivangu_.[2]

[Footnote 1: Loris gracilis, _Geoff_.]

[Footnote 2: There is an interesting notice of the loris of Ceylon by Dr. TEMPLETON, in the _Mag. Nat. Hist_. 1844, ch. xiv. p. 362.]

II. CHEIROPTERA. _Bats_.--The multitude of _bats_ is one of the features of the evening landscape; they abound in every cave and subterranean passage, in the tunnels on the highways, in the galleries of the fortifications, in the roofs of the bungalows, and the ruins of every temple and building. At sunset they are seen issuing from their diurnal retreats to roam through the twilight in search of crepuscular insects, and as night approaches and the lights in the rooms attract the night-flying lepidoptera, the bats sweep round the dinner-table and carry off their tiny prey within the glitter of the lamps. Including the frugivorous section about sixteen species have been identified in Ceylon, and of these, two varieties are peculiar to the island. The colours of some of them are as brilliant as the plumage of a bird, bright yellow, deep orange, and a rich ferruginous brown inclining to red.[1] The Roussette[2] of Ceylon (the "Flying-fox," as it is usually called by Europeans) measures from three to four feet from point to point of its extended wings, and some of them have been seen wanting but a few inches of five feet in the alar expanse. These sombre-looking creatures feed chiefly on ripe fruits, the guava, the plantain, and the rose-apple, and are abundant in all the maritime districts, especially at the season when the silk-cotton tree, the _pulun-imbul_,[3] is putting forth its flower-buds, of which they are singularly fond. By day they suspend themselves from the highest branches, hanging by the claws of the hind legs, pressing the chin against the breast, and using the closed membrane attached to the forearms as a mantle to envelope the head. At sunset launching into the air, they hover with a murmuring sound occasioned by the beating of their broad membranous wings, around the fruit trees, on which they feed till morning, when they resume their pensile attitude as before. They are strongly attracted to the coco-nut trees during the period when toddy is drawn for distillation, and exhibit, it is said, at such times symptoms resembling intoxication.[4]

[Footnote 1: Rhinolophus affinis? _var_. rubidus, _Kelaart_. Hipposideros murinus, _var_. fulvus, _Kelaart_. Hipposideros speoris, _var_. aureus, _Kelaart_. Kerivoula picta, _Pallas_. Scotophilus Heathii, _Horsf_.]

[Footnote 2: Pteropus Edwardsii, _Geoff_.]

[Footnote 3: Eriodendron orientale, _Stead_.]

[Footnote 4: Mr. THWAITES, of the Royal Botanic Garden, at Kandy, in a recent letter, 19th Dec. 1858, gives the following description of a periodical visit of the pteropus to an avenue of fig-trees:--"You would be much interested now in observing a colony of the _pteropus_ bat, which has established itself for a season on some trees within sight of my bungalow. They came about the same time last year, and, after staying a few weeks, disappeared: I suppose they had demolished all the available food in the neighbourhood. They are now busy of an evening eating the figs of _Ficus elastica_, of which we have a long avenue in the grounds, as I dare say you remember.

"These bats take possession during the day of particular trees, upon which they hang like so much ripe fruit, but they take it into their heads to have some exercise every morning between the hours of 9 and 11, during which they are wheeling about in the air by the hundred, seemingly enjoying the sunshine and warmth. They then return to their fevourite tree, and remain quiet until the evening, when they move off towards their feeding ground. There is a great chattering and screaming amongst them before they can get agreeably settled in their places after their morning exercise; quarrelling, I suppose, for the most comfortable spots to hang on by during the rest of the day. The trees they take possession of become nearly stripped of leaves; and it is a curious sight to see them in such immense numbers. I do not allow them to be disturbed."]

The flying-fox is killed by the natives for the sake of its flesh, which I have been told, by a gentleman who has eaten it, resembles that of the hare.[1]

[Footnote 1: In Western India the native Portuguese eat the flying-fox, and pronounce it delicate, and far from disagreeable in flavour.]

There are several varieties (some of them peculiar to the island) of the horse-shoe-headed _Rhinolophus_, with the strange leaf-like appendage erected on the extremity of the nose. It has been suggested that bats, though nocturnal, are deficient in that keen vision characteristic of animals which take their prey at night. I doubt whether this conjecture be well founded; but at least it would seem that in their peculiar oeconomy some additional power is required to supplement that of vision, as in insects that of touch is superadded, in the most sensitive development, to that of sight. Hence, it is possible that the extended screen stretched at the back of their nostrils may be intended by nature to facilitate the collection and conduction of odours, as the vast development of the shell of the ear in the same family is designed to assist in the collection of sounds--and thus to reinforce their vision when in pursuit of their prey at twilight by the superior sensitiveness of the organs of hearing and smell, as they are already remarkable for that marvellous sense of touch which enables them, even when deprived of sight, to direct their flight with security, by means of the delicate nerves of the wing. One tiny little bat, not much larger than the humble bee[1], and of a glossy black colour, is sometimes to be seen about Colombo. It is so familiar and gentle that it will alight on the cloth during dinner, and manifests so little alarm that it seldom makes any effort to escape before a wine glass can be inverted to secure it.[2]

[Footnote 1: It is a _very_ small Singhalese variety of Scotophilus Coromandelicus; _F. Cuv_.]

[Footnote 2: For a notice of the curious parasite peculiar to the bat, see Note A. end of this chapter.]

III. CARNIVORA.--_Bears_.--Of the _carnivora_, the one most dreaded by the natives of Ceylon, and the only one of the larger animals which makes the depths of the forest its habitual retreat, is the bear[1], attracted by the honey which is to be found in the hollow trees and clefts of the rocks. Occasionally spots of fresh earth are observed which have been turned up by them in search of some favourite root. They feed also on the termites and ants. A friend of mine traversing the forest near Jaffna, at early dawn, had his attention attracted by the growling of a bear, which was seated upon a lofty branch thrusting portions of a red-ant's nest into its mouth with one paw, whilst with the other he endeavoured to clear his eyebrows and lips of the angry inmates which bit and tortured him in their rage. The Ceylon bear is found only in the low and dry districts of the northern and south-eastern coast, and is seldom met with on the mountains or the moist and damp plains of the west. It is furnished with a bushy tuft of hair on the back, between the shoulders, to which the young are accustomed to cling till sufficiently strong to provide for their own safety. During a severe drought which prevailed in the northern province in 1850, the district of Caretchy was so infested by bears that the Oriental custom of the women resorting to the wells was altogether suspended, as it was a common occurrence to find one of these animals in the water, unable to climb up the yielding and slippery soil, down which his thirst had impelled him to slide during the night.

[Footnote 1: Prochilus labiatus, _Blainville_.]

Although the structure of the bear shows him to be naturally omnivorous, he rarely preys upon flesh in Ceylon, and his solitary habits whilst in search of honey and fruits, render him timid and retiring. Hence he evinces alarm on the approach of man or other animals, and, unable to make a rapid retreat, his panic rather than any vicious disposition leads him to become an assailant in self-defence. But so furious are his assaults under such circumstances that the Singhalese have a terror of his attack greater than that created by any other beast of the forest. If not armed with a gun, a native, in the places where bears abound, usually carries a light axe, called "kodelly," with which to strike them on the head. The bear, on the other hand, always aims, at the face, and, if successful in prostrating his victim, usually commences by assailing the eyes. I have met numerous individuals on our journeys who exhibited frightful scars from these encounters, the white seams of their wounds contrasting hideously with the dark colour of the rest of their bodies.

The Veddahs in Bintenne, whose chief stores consist of honey, live in dread of the bears, because, attracted by its perfume, they will not hesitate to attack their rude dwellings, when allured by this irresistible temptation. The Post-office runners, who always travel by night, are frequently exposed to danger from these animals, especially along the coast from Putlam to Aripo, where they are found in considerable numbers; and, to guard against surprise, they are accustomed to carry flambeaux, to give warning to the bears, and enable them to shuffle out of the path.[1]

[Footnote 1: Amongst the Singhalese there is a belief that certain charms are efficacious in protecting them from the violence of bears, and those whose avocations expose them to encounters of this kind are accustomed to carry a talisman either attached to their neck or enveloped in the folds of their luxuriant hair. A friend of mine, writing of an adventure which occurred at Anarajapoora, thus describes an occasion on which a Moor, who attended him, was somewhat rudely disabused of his belief in the efficacy of charms upon bears:--"Desiring to change the position of a herd of deer, the Moorman (with his charm) was sent across some swampy land to disturb them. As he was proceeding we saw him suddenly turn from an old tree and run back with all speed, his hair becoming unfastened and like his clothes streaming in the wind. It soon became evident that he was flying from some terrific object, for he had thrown down his gun, and, in his panic, he was taking the shortest line towards us, which lay across a swamp covered with sedge and rushes that greatly impeded his progress, and prevented us approaching him, or seeing what was the cause of his flight. Missing his steps from one hard spot to another he repeatedly fell into the water, but he rose and resumed his flight. I advanced as far as the sods would bear my weight, but to go further was impracticable. Just within ball range there was an open space, and, as the man gained it, I saw that he was pursued by a bear and two cubs. As the person of the fugitive covered the bear, it was impossible to fire without risk. At last he fell exhausted, and the bear being close upon him, I discharged both barrels. The first broke the bear's shoulder, but this only made her more savage, and rising on her hind legs she advanced with ferocious grunts, when the second barrel, though I do not think it took effect, served to frighten her, for turning round she retreated at full speed, followed by the cubs. Some natives then waded through the mud to the Moorman, who was just exhausted and would have been drowned but that he fell with his head upon a tuft of grass: the poor man was unable to speak, and for several weeks his intellect seemed confused. The adventure sufficed to satisfy him that he could not again depend upon a charm to protect him from bears, though he always insisted that but for its having fallen from his hair where he had fastened it under his turban, the bear would not have ventured to attack him."]

Leopards[1] are the only formidable members of the tiger race in Ceylon, and they are neither very numerous nor very dangerous as they seldom attack man. By Europeans they are commonly called cheetahs; but the true cheetah, the hunting leopard of India (_Felis jubata_), does not exist in Ceylon. There is a rare variety which has been found in various parts of the island, in which the skin, instead of being spotted, is of a uniform black.[2] The leopards frequent the vicinity of pasture lands in quest of the deer and other peaceful animals which resort to them; and the villagers often complain of the destruction of their cattle by these formidable marauders. In relation to them, the natives have a curious but firm conviction that when a bullock is killed by a leopard, and, in expiring, falls so that _its right side is undermost_, the leopard will not return to devour it. I have been told by English sportsmen (some of whom share in the popular belief), that sometimes, when they have proposed to watch by the carcase of a bullock recently killed by a leopard, in the hope of shooting the spoiler on his return in search of his prey, the native owner of the slaughtered animal, though earnestly desiring to be avenged, has assured them that it would be in vain, as, the beast having fallen on its right side, the leopard would not return.

[Footnote 1: Felis pardus, _Linn_. What is called a leopard, or a cheetah, in Ceylon, is in reality the true panther.]

[Footnote 2: F. melas, _Peron_ and _Leseur_.]

The Singhalese hunt them for the sake of their extremely beautiful skins, but prefer taking them in traps and pitfalls, and occasionally in spring cages formed of poles driven firmly into the ground, within which a kid is generally fastened as a bait; the door being held open by a sapling bent down by the united force of several men, and so arranged to act as a spring, to which a noose is ingeniously attached, formed of plaited deer hide. The cries of the kid attract the leopards, one of which, being tempted to enter, is enclosed by the liberation of the spring and grasped firmly round the body by the noose.

Like the other carnivora, they are timid and cowardly in the presence of man, never intruding on him voluntarily and making a hasty retreat when approached. Instances have, however, occurred of individuals having been slain by them, and like the tiger, it is believed, that, having once tasted human blood they acquire an habitual relish for it. A peon on night duty at the courthouse at Anarajapoora, was some years ago carried off by a leopard from a table in the verandah on which he had laid down his head to sleep. At Batticaloa a "cheetah" in two instances in succession was known to carry off men placed on a stage erected in a tree to drive away elephants from the rice-lands: but such cases are rare, and as compared with their dread of the bear, the natives of Ceylon entertain but slight apprehensions of the "cheetah." It is, however, the dread of sportsmen, whose dogs when beating in the jungle are especially exposed to its attacks: and I am aware of one instance in which a party having tied their dogs to the tent-pole for security, and fallen asleep around them, a leopard sprang into the tent and carried off a dog from the midst of its slumbering masters.

They are strongly attracted by the peculiar odour which accompanies small-pox. The reluctance of the natives to submit themselves or their children to vaccination exposes the island to frightful visitations of this disease; and in the villages in the interior it is usual on such occasions to erect huts in the jungle to serve as temporary hospitals. Towards these the leopards are certain to be allured; and the medical officers are obliged to resort to increased precautions in consequence. On one occasion being in the mountains near Kandy, a messenger despatched to me through the jungle excused his delay by stating that a "cheetah" had seated itself in the only practicable path, and remained quietly licking its fore paws and rubbing them over its face, till he was forced to drive it, with stones, into the forest.

Major Skinner, who for upwards of forty years has had occasion to live almost constantly in the interior, occupied in the prosecution of surveys and the construction of roads, is strongly of opinion that towards man the disposition of the leopard is essentially pacific, and that, when discovered, its natural impulse is to effect its escape. In illustration of this, I insert an extract from one of his letters, which describes an adventure highly characteristic of this instinctive timidity.

"On the occasion of one of my visits to Adam's Peak in the prosecution of my military reconnoissances of the mountain, zone, I fixed on a pretty little patena (i.e. meadow) in the midst of an extensive and dense forest in the southern segment of the Peak Range, as a favourable spot for operations. It would have been difficult, after descending from the cone of the peak, to have found one's way to this point, in the midst of so vast a wilderness of trees, had not long experience assured me that good game tracks would be found leading to it, and by one of them I reached it. It was in the afternoon, just after one of those tropical sun-showers which decorate every branch and blade with its pendant brilliants, and the little patena was covered with game, either driven to the open space by the drippings from the leaves or tempted by the freshness of the pasture: there were several pairs of elk, the bearded antlered male contrasting finely with his mate; and other varieties of game in a profusion not to be found in any place frequented by man. It was some time before I could allow them to be disturbed by the rude fall of the axe, in our necessity to establish our bivouac for the night, and they were so unaccustomed to danger, that it was long before they took alarm at our noises.

"The following morning, anxious to gain a height in time to avail myself of the clear atmosphere of sunrise for my observations, I started off by myself through the jungle, leaving orders for my men, with my surveying instruments, to follow my track by the notches which I cut in the bark of the trees. On leaving the plain, I availed myself of a fine wide game track which lay in my direction, and had gone, perhaps half a mile from the camp, when I was startled by a slight rustling in the nilloo[1] to my right, and in another instant, by the spring of a magnificent leopard which, in a bound of full eight feet in height over the lower brushwood, lighted at my feet within eighteen inches of the spot whereon I stood, and lay in a crouching position, his fiery gleaming eyes fixed on me.

[Footnote 1: A species of one of the suffruticose _Acanthacea_ which grows abundantly in the mountain ranges of Ceylon. See _ante_, p. 90 n.]

"The predicament was not a pleasant one. I had no weapon of defence, and with one spring or blow of his paw the beast could have annihilated me. To move I knew would only encourage his attack. It occurred to me at the moment that I had heard of the power of man's eye over wild animals, and accordingly I fixed my gaze as intently, as the agitation of such a moment enabled me, on his eyes: we stared at each other for some seconds, when, to my inexpressible joy, the beast turned and bounded down the straight open path before me." "This scene occurred just at that period of the morning when the grazing animals retired from the open patena to the cool shade of the forest: doubtless, the leopard had taken my approach for that of a deer, or some such animal. And if his spring had been at a quadruped instead of a biped, his distance was so well measured, that it must have landed him on the neck of a deer, an elk, or a buffalo; as it was, one pace more would have done for me. A bear would not have let his victim off so easily."

It is said, but I never have been able personally to verify the fact, that the Ceylon leopard exhibits a peculiarity in being unable entirely to retract its claws within their sheaths.

Of the lesser feline species the number and variety in Ceylon is inferior to that of India. The Palm-cat[1] lurks by day among the fronds of the coco-nut trees, and by night makes destructive forays on the fowls of the villagers; and, in order to suck the blood of its victim, inflicts a wound so small as to be almost imperceptible. The glossy genette[2], the "_Civet_" of Europeans, is common in the northern province, where the Tamils confine it in cages for the sake of its musk, which they collect from the wooden bars on which it rubs itself. Edrisi, the Moorish geographer, writing in the twelfth century, enumerates musk as one of the productions then exported from Ceylon.[3]

[Footnote 1: Paradoxurus typus, _F. Cuv_.]

[Footnote 2: Viverra Indica, _Geoffr., Hodgson_.]

[Footnote 3: EDRISI, _Géogr_., sec. vii. Jaubert's translation, t. ii. p. 72.]

_Dogs_.--There is no native wild dog in Ceylon, but every village and town is haunted by mongrels of European descent, which are known by the generic description of _Pariahs_. They are a miserable race, acknowledged by no owners, living on the garbage of the streets and sewers, lean, wretched, and mangy, and if spoken to unexpectedly, shrinking with an almost involuntary cry. Yet in these persecuted outcasts there survives that germ of instinctive affection which binds the dog to the human race, and a gentle word, even a look of compassionate kindness, is sufficient foundation for a lasting attachment.

The Singhalese, from their religious aversion to taking away life in any form, permit the increase of these desolate creatures till in the hot season they become so numerous as to be a nuisance; and the only expedient hitherto devised by the civil government to reduce their numbers, is once in each year to offer a reward for their destruction, when the Tamils and Malays pursue them in the streets with clubs (guns being forbidden by the police for fear of accidents), and the unresisting dogs are beaten to death on the side-paths and door steps, where they had been taught to resort for food. Lord Torrington, during his tenure of office, attempted the more civilised experiment of putting some check on their numbers, by imposing a dog tax, the effect of which would have been to lead to the drowning of puppies; whereas there is reason to believe that dogs are at present _bred_ by the horse-keepers to be killed for sake of the reward.

_Jackal_.--The Jackal[1] in the low country hunts in packs, headed by a leader, and these audacious prowlers have been seen to assault and pull down a deer. The small number of hares in the districts they infest is ascribed to their depredations. An excrescence is sometimes found on the head of the jackal, consisting of a small horny cone about half an inch in length, and concealed by a tuft of hair. This the natives call _Narri-comboo_, and they aver that this "Jackal's Horn" only grows on the head of the leader of the pack.[2] The Singhalese and the Tamils alike regard it as a talisman, and believe that its fortunate possessor can command by its instrumentality the realisation of every wish, and that if stolen or lost by him, it will invariably return of its own accord. Those who have jewels to conceal, rest in perfect security if along with them they can deposit a Narri-comboo, fully convinced that its presence is an effectual safeguard against robbers.

[Footnote 1: Canis aureus. _Linn_.]

[Footnote 2: In the Museum of the College of Surgeons, London (No. 4362 A), there is a cranium of a jackal which exhibits this strange osseous process on the super-occipital; and I have placed along with it a specimen of the horny sheath, which was presented to me by Mr. Lavalliere, the district judge of Kandy.]

Jackals are subject to hydrophobia, and instances are frequent of cattle being bitten by them and dying in consequence.

_The Mongoos_.--Of the Mongoos or Ichneumons five species have been described; and one which frequents the hills near Neuera-ellia[1], is so remarkable from its bushy fur, that the invalid soldiers in the sanatarium, to whom it is familiar, call it the "Ceylon Badger." I have found universally that the natives of Ceylon attach no credit to the European story of the Mongoos (_H. griseus_) resorting to some plant, which no one has yet succeeded in identifying, as an antidote against the bite of the venomous serpents on which it preys. There is no doubt that in its conflicts with the cobra de capello and other poisonous snakes, which it attacks with as little hesitation as the harmless ones, it may be seen occasionally to retreat, and even to retire into the jungle, and, it is added, to eat some vegetable; but a gentleman who has been a frequent observer of its exploits, assures me that most usually the herb it resorted to was grass; and if this were not at hand, almost any other that grew near seemed equally acceptable. Hence has probably arisen the long list of plants; such as the _Ophioxylon serpentinum_ and _Ophiorhiza mungos_, the _Aristolochia Indica_, the _Mimosa octandru_, and others, each of which has been asserted to be the ichneumon's specific; whilst their multiplicity is demonstrative of the non-existence of any one in particular to which the animal resorts for an antidote. Were there any truth in the tale as regards the mongoos, it would be difficult to understand, why other creatures, such as the secretary bird and the falcon, which equally destroy serpents, should be left defenceless, and the ichneumon alone provided with a prophylactic. Besides, were the ichneumon inspired by that courage which would result from the consciousness of security, it would be so indifferent to the bite of the serpent, that we might conclude that, both in its approaches and its assault, it would be utterly careless as to the precise mode of its attack. Such, however, is far from being the case; and next to its audacity, nothing is more surprising than the adroitness with which it escapes the spring of the snake under a due sense of danger, and the cunning with which it makes its arrangements to leap upon the back and fasten its teeth in the head of the cobra. It is this display of instinctive ingenuity that Lucan[2] celebrates where he paints the ichneumon diverting the attention of the asp, by the motion of his bushy tale, and then seizing it in the midst of its confusion.

[Footnote 1: _Herpestes vitticollis_. Mr. W. ELLIOTT, in his _Catalogue of Mammalia found in the Southern Maharata Country_, Madras, 1840, says, that "One specimen of this Herpestes was procured by accident in the Ghat forests in 1829, and is now deposited in the British Museum; it is very rare, inhabiting only the thickest woods, and its habits are very little known," p. 9. In Ceylon, it is comparatively common.]

[Footnote 2: The passage in Lucan is a versification of the same narrative related by Pliny, lib. viii. ch. 35; and Ælian, lib. iii. ch. 22.]

"Aspidas ut Pharias caudâ solertior hostis Ludit, et iratas incertâ provocat umbrâ: Obliquusque caput vanas serpentis in auras Effusæ toto comprendit guttura morsu Letiferam citra saniem; tune irrita pestis Exprimitur, faucesque fluunt pereunte veneno."

_Pharsalia_, lib. iv. v. 729.

The mystery of the mongoos and its antidote has been referred to the supposition that there may be some peculiarity in its organisation which renders it _proof against_ the poison of the serpent. It remains for future investigation to determine how far this conjecture is founded in truth; and whether in the blood of the mongoos there exists any element or quality which acts as a prophylactic. Such exceptional provisions are not without precedent in the animal oeconomy: the hornbill feeds with impunity on the deadly fruit of the strychnos; the milky juice of some species of euphorbia, which is harmless to oxen, is invariably fatal to the zebra; and the tsetse fly, the pest of South Africa, whose bite is mortal to the ox, the dog, and the horse, is harmless to man and the untamed creatures of the forest.[1]

[Footnote 1: Dr. LIVINGSTONE, _Tour in S. Africa_, p. 80. Is it a fact that in America, pigs extirpate the rattlesnakes with impunity?]

The Singhalese distinguish one species of mongoos, which they designate "_Hotambeya_," and which they assert never preys upon serpents. A writer in the _Ceylon Miscellany_ mentions, that they are often to be seen "crossing rivers and frequenting mud-brooks near Chilaw; the adjacent thickets affording them shelter, and their food consisting of aquatic reptiles, crabs, and mollusca."[1]

[Footnote 1: This is possibly the "musbilai" or mouse-cat of Behar, which preys upon birds and fish. Could it be the Urva of the Nepalese (_Urva cancrivora_, Hodgson), which Mr. Hodgson describes as dwelling in burrows, and being carnivorous and ranivorous?--Vide _Journ. As. Soc. Beng._, vol. vi. p. 56.]

IV. RODENTIA. _Squirrels_.--Smaller animals in great numbers enliven the forests and lowland plains with their graceful movements. Squirrels[1], of which there are a great variety, make their shrill metallic call heard at early morning in the woods, and when sounding their note of warning on the approach of a civet or a tree-snake, the ears tingle with the loud trill of defiance, which rings as clear and rapid as the running down of an alarum, and is instantly caught up and re-echoed from every side by their terrified playmates.

[Footnote 1: Of two kinds which frequent the mountains, one which is peculiar to Ceylon was discovered by Mr. Edgar L. Layard, who has done me the honour to call it the _Sciurus Tennentii_. Its dimensions are large, measuring upwards of two feet from head to tail. It is distinguished from the _S. macrurus_ by the predominant black colour of the upper surface of the body, with the exception of a rusty spot at the base of the ears.]

One of the largest, belonging to a closely allied subgenus, is known as the "Flying Squirrel,"[1] from its being assisted in its prodigious leaps from tree to tree, by the parachute formed by the skin of the flanks, which on the extension of the limbs front and rear, is laterally expanded from foot to foot. Thus buoyed up in its descent, the spring which it is enabled to make from one lofty tree to another resembles the flight of a bird rather than the bound of a quadruped. Of these pretty creatures there are two species, one common to Ceylon and India, the other (_Sciuropterus Layardii_, Kelaart) is peculiar to the island, and is by far the most beautiful of the family.

[Footnote 1: Pteromys oral., _Tickel_. P. petaurista, _Pallas_.]

_Rats_.--Among the multifarious inhabitants to which the forest affords at once a home and provender is the tree rat[1], which forms its nest on the branches, and by turns makes its visits to the dwellings of the natives, frequenting the ceilings in preference to the lower parts of houses. Here it is incessantly followed by the rat-snake[2], whose domestication is encouraged by the native servants, in consideration of its services in destroying vermin. I had one day an opportunity of surprising a snake which had just seized on a rat of this description, and of covering it suddenly with a glass shade, before it had time to swallow its prey. The serpent, which appeared stunned by its own capture, allowed the rat to escape from its jaws, which cowered at one side of the glass in the most pitiable state of trembling terror. The two were left alone for some moments, and on my return to them the snake was as before in the same attitude of sullen stupor. On setting them at liberty, the rat bounded towards the nearest fence; but quick as lightning it was followed by its pursuer, which seized it before it could gain the hedge, through which I saw the snake glide with its victim in its jaws.

[Footnote 1: There are two species of the tree rat in Ceylon: M. rufescens, _Gray_; (M. flavescens; _Elliot_;) and Mus nemoralis, _Blyth_.]

[Footnote 2: Coryphodon Blumenbachii.]

Another indigenous variety of the rat is that which made its appearance for the first time in the coffee plantations on the Kandyan hills in the year 1847, and in such swarms does it infest them, that as many as a thousand have been killed in a single day on one estate. In order to reach the buds and blossoms of the coffee, it cuts such slender branches, as would not sustain its weight, and feeds as they fall to the ground; and so delicate and sharp are its incisors, that the twigs thus destroyed are detached by as clean a cut as if severed with a knife. The coffee-rat[1] is an insular variety of the _Mus hirsutus_ of W. Elliot, found in Southern India. They inhabit the forests, making their nests among the roots of the trees, and like the lemmings of Norway and Lapland, they migrate in vast numbers on the occurrence of a scarcity of their ordinary food. The Malabar coolies are so fond of their flesh, that they evince a preference for those districts in which the coffee plantations are subject to these incursions, where they fry the rats in oil, or convert them into curry.

[Footnote 1: Golunda Ellioti, _Gray_.]

_Bandicoot_.--Another favourite article of food with the coolies is the pig-rat or Bandicoot[1], which attains on those hills the weight of two or three pounds, and grows to nearly the length of two feet. As it feeds on grain and roots, its flesh is said to be delicate, and much resembling young pork. Its nests, when rifled, are frequently found to contain considerable quantities of rice, stored up against the dry season.

[Footnote 1: Mus bandicota, _Beckst_. The English term bandicoot is a corruption of the Telinga name _pandikoku_, literally _pig-rat_.]

_Porcupine_.--The Porcupine[1] is another of the _rodentia_ which has drawn down upon itself the hostility of the planters, from its destruction of the young coco-nut palms, to which it is a pernicious and persevering, but withal so crafty, a visitor, that it is with difficulty any trap can be so disguised, or any bait made so alluring, as to lead to its capture. The usual expedient is to place some of its favourite food at the extremity of a trench, so narrow as to prevent the porcupine turning, whilst the direction of his quills effectually bars his retreat. On a newly planted coco-nut tope, at Hang-welle, within a few miles of Colombo, I have heard of as many as twenty-seven being thus captured in a single night; but such success is rare. The more ordinary expedient is to smoke them out by burning straw at the apertures of their burrows. The flesh is esteemed a delicacy in Ceylon, and in consistency, colour, and flavour, it very much resembles that of a young pig.

[Footnote 1: Hystrix leucurus, _Sykes_.]

V. EDENTATA, _Pengolin._--Of the _Edentata_ the only example in Ceylon is the scaly ant-eater, called by the Singhalese, Caballaya, but usually known by its Malay name of _Pengolin_[1], a word indicative of its faculty of "rolling itself up" into a compact ball, by bending its head towards its stomach, arching its back into a circle, and securing all by a powerful fold of its mail-covered tail. The feet of the pengolin are armed with powerful claws, which they double in in walking like the ant-eater of Brazil. These they use in extracting their favourite food, the termites, from ant-hills and decaying wood. When at liberty, they burrow in the dry ground to a depth of seven or eight feet, where they reside in pairs, and produce annually one or two young.

[Footnote 1: Manis pentadactyla, _Linn._]

Of two specimens which I kept alive at different times, one from the vicinity of Kandy, about two feet in length, was a gentle and affectionate creature, which, after wandering over the house in search of ants, would attract attention to its wants by climbing up my knee, laying hold of my leg with its prehensile tail. The other, more than double that length, was caught in the jungle near Chilaw, and brought to me in Colombo. I had always understood that the pengolin was unable to climb trees; but the one last mentioned frequently ascended a tree in my garden, in search of ants, and this it effected by means of its hooked feet, aided by an oblique grasp of the tail. The ants it seized by extending its round and glutinous tongue along their tracks. In both, the scales of the back were a cream-coloured white, with a tinge of red in the specimen which came from Chilaw, probably acquired by the insinuation of the Cabook dust which abounds along the western coast of the island. Generally speaking, they were quiet during the day, and grew restless as evening and night approached.

VI. RUMINATA. _The Gaur._--Besides the deer and some varieties of the humped ox, which have been introduced from the opposite continent of India, Ceylon has probably but one other indigenous _ruminant_., the buffalo.[1] There is a tradition that the gaur, found in the extremity of the Indian peninsula, was at one period a native of the Kandyan mountains; but as Knox speaks of one which in his time "was kept among the king's creatures" at Kandy[2], and his account of it tallies with that of the _Bos Gaurus_ of Hindustan, it would appear even then to have been a rarity. A place between Neuera-ellia and Adam's Peak bears the name of Gowra-ellia, and it is not impossible that the animal may yet be discovered in some of the imperfectly explored regions of the island.[3] I have heard of an instance in which a very old Kandyan, residing in the mountains near the Horton Plains, asserted that when young he had seen what he believed to have been a gaur, and which he described as between an elk and a buffalo in size, dark brown in colour, and very scantily provided with hair.

[Footnote 1: Bubalus buffelus; _Gray_.]

[Footnote 2: _Historical Relation of Ceylon, &c._, A.D. 1681. Book i. c, 6.]

[Footnote 3: KELAART, _Fauna Zeylan_., p. 87.]

_Oxen_.--Oxen are used by the peasantry both in ploughing and in tempering the mud in the wet paddi fields before sowing the rice; and when the harvest is reaped they "tread out the corn," after the immemorial custom of the East. The wealth of the native chiefs and landed proprietors frequently consists in their herds of bullocks, which they hire out to their dependents during the seasons for agricultural labour; and as they already supply them with land to be tilled, and lend the seed which is to crop it, the further contribution of this portion of the labour serves to render the dependence of the peasantry on the chiefs and head-men complete.

The cows are worked equally with the oxen; and as the calves are always permitted to suck them, milk is an article which the traveller can rarely hope to procure in a Kandyan village. From their constant exposure at all seasons, the cattle in Ceylon, both those employed in agriculture and on the roads, are subject to the most devastating murrains, which sweep them away by thousands. So frequent is the recurrence of these calamities, and so extended their ravages, that they exercise a serious influence over the commercial interests of the colony, by reducing the facilities of agriculture, and augmenting the cost of carriage during the most critical periods of the coffee season.

A similar disorder, probably peripneumonia, frequently carries off the cattle in Assam and other hill countries on the continent of India; and there, as in Ceylon, the inflammatory symptoms in the lungs and throat, and the internal derangement and external eruptive appearances, seem to indicate that the disease is a feverish influenza, attributable to neglect and exposure in a moist and variable climate; and that its prevention might be hoped for, and the cattle preserved by the simple expedient of more humane and considerate treatment, especially by affording them cover at night.

During my residence in Ceylon an incident occurred at Neuera-ellia, which invested one of these pretty animals with an heroic interest. A little cow, belonging to an English gentleman, was housed, together with her calf, near the dwelling of her owner, and being aroused during the night by her furious bellowing, the servants, on hastening to the stall, found her goring a leopard, which had stolen in to attack the calf. She had got him into a corner, and whilst lowing incessantly to call for help, she continued to pound him with her horns. The wild animal, apparently stupified by her unexpected violence, was detained by her till despatched by a gun.

_The Buffalo_.--Buffaloes abound in all parts of Ceylon, but they are only to be seen in their native wildness in the vast solitudes of the northern and eastern provinces, where rivers, lagoons, and dilapidated tanks abound. In these they delight to immerse themselves, till only their heads appear above the surface; or, enveloped in mud to protect themselves from the assaults of insects, luxuriate in the long sedges by the water margins.

When the buffalo is browsing, a crow will frequently be seen stationed on his back, engaged in freeing it from the ticks and other pests which attach themselves to his leathery hide, the smooth brown surface of which, unprotected by hair, shines with an unpleasant polish in the sunlight. When in motion he throws back his clumsy head till the huge horns rest on his shoulders, and the nose is presented in a line with the eyes. When wild they are at all times uncertain in disposition, but so frequently savage that it is never quite safe to approach them, if disturbed in their pasture or alarmed from their repose in the shallow lakes. On such occasions they hurry into line, draw up in defensive array, with a few of the oldest bulls in advance; and, wheeling in circles, their horns clashing with a loud sound as they clank them together in their rapid evolutions, the herd betakes itself to flight. Then forming again at a safer distance, they halt as before, elevating their nostrils, and throwing back their heads to take a cautious survey of the intruders. The sportsman rarely molests them, so huge a creature affording no worthy mark for his skill, and their wanton slaughter adding nothing to the supply of food for their assailant.

In the Hambangtotte country, where the Singhalese domesticate the buffaloes, and use them to assist in the labour of the rice lands, the villagers are much annoyed by the wild ones, which mingle with the tame when sent out to the woods to pasture; and it constantly happens that a savage stranger, placing himself at the head of the tame herd, resists the attempts of the owners to drive them homewards at sunset. In the districts of Putlam and the Seven Corles, buffaloes are generally used for draught; and in carrying heavy loads of salt from the coast towards the interior, they drag a cart over roads which would defy the weaker strength of bullocks.

In one place between Batticaloa and Trincomalie I found the natives making an ingenious use of them when engaged in shooting water-fowl in the vast salt marshes and muddy lakes. Being an object to which the birds are accustomed, the Singhalese train the buffalo to the sport, and, concealed behind, the animal browsing listlessly along, they guide it by ropes attached to its horns, and thus creep undiscovered within shot of the flock. The same practice prevails, I believe, in some of the northern parts of India, where they are similarly trained to assist the sportsman in approaching deer. One of these "sporting buffaloes" sells for a considerable sum.

The buffalo, like the elk, is sometimes found in Ceylon as an albino, with purely white hair and pink iris. There is a peculiarity in the formation of its foot, which, though it must have attracted attention, I have never seen mentioned by naturalists. It is equivalent to an arrangement that distinguishes the foot of the reindeer from that of the stag and the antelope. In them, the hoofs, being constructed for lightness and flight, are compact and vertical; but, in the reindeer, the joints of the tarsal bones admit of lateral expansion, and the broad hoofs curve upwards in front, while the two secondary ones behind (which are but slightly developed in the fallow deer and others of the same family) are prolonged till, in certain positions, they are capable of being applied to the ground, thus adding to the circumference and sustaining power of the foot. It has been usually suggested as the probable design of this structure, that it is to enable the reindeer to shovel under the snow in order to reach the lichens beneath it; but I apprehend that another use of it has been overlooked, that of facilitating its movements in search of food by increasing the difficulty of its sinking in the snow.

A formation precisely analogous in the buffalo seems to point to a corresponding design. The ox, whose life is spent on firm ground, has the bones of the foot so constructed as to afford the most solid support to an animal of its great weight; but in the buffalo, which delights in the morasses on the margins of pools and rivers, the formation of the foot resembles that of the reindeer. The tarsi in front extend almost horizontally from the upright bones of the leg, and spread widely on touching the ground; the hoofs are flattened and broad, with the extremities turned upwards; and the false hoofs descend behind till, in walking, they make a clattering sound. In traversing the marshes, this combination of abnormal incidents serves to give extraordinary breadth to the foot, and not only prevents the buffalo from sinking inconveniently in soft ground[1], but at the same time presents no obstacle to the withdrawal of his foot from the mud.

[Footnote 1: PROFESSOR OWEN has noticed a similar fact regarding the rudiments of the second and fifth digits in the instance of the elk and bison, which have them largely expanded where they inhabit swampy ground; whilst they are nearly obliterated in the camel and dromedary, which traverse arid deserts.--OWEN _on Limbs_, p. 34; see also BELL _on the Hand_, ch. iii.]

_Deer_.--"Deer," says the truthful old chronicler, Robert Knox, "are in great abundance in the woods, from the largeness of a cow to the smallness of a hare, for here is a creature in this land no bigger than the latter, though every part rightly resembleth a deer: it is called _meminna_, of a grey colour, with white spots and good meat."[1] The little creature which thus dwelt in the recollection of the old man, as one of the memorials of his long captivity, is the small "musk deer"[2] so called in India, although neither sex is provided with a musk-bag; and the Europeans in Ceylon know it by the name of the moose deer. Its extreme length never reaches two feet; and of those which were domesticated about my house, few exceeded ten inches in height, their graceful limbs being of similar delicate proportion. It possesses long and extremely large tusks, with which it inflicts a severe bite. The interpreter moodliar of Negombo had a _milk white_ meminna in 1847, which he designed to send home as an acceptable present to Her Majesty, but it was unfortunately killed by an accident.[3]

[Footnote 1: KNOX'S _Relation, &c_., book i. c. 6.]

[Footnote 2: Moschus meminna.]

[Footnote 3: When the English took possession of Kandy, in 1803, they found "five beautiful milk-white deer in the palace, which was noted as a very extraordinary thing."--_Letter_ in Appendix to PERCIVAL'S _Ceylon_, p. 428. The writer does not say of what species they were.]

_Ceylon Elk_.--In the mountains, the Ceylon elk[1], which reminds one of the red deer of Scotland, attains the height of four or five feet; it abounds in all places which are intersected by shady rivers; where, though its hunting affords an endless resource to the sportsmen, its venison scarcely equals in quality the inferior beef of the lowland ox. In the glades and park-like openings that diversify the great forests of the interior, the spotted Axis troops in herds as numerous as the fallow deer in England; and, in journeys through the jungle, when often dependent on the guns of our party for the precarious supply of the table, we found the flesh of the Axis[2] and the Muntjac[3] a sorry substitute for that of the pea-fowl, the jungle-cock, and flamingo. The occurrence of albinos is very frequent in troops of the axis. Deer's horns are an article of export from Ceylon, and considerable quantities are annually sent to the United Kingdom.

[Footnote 1: Rusa Aristotelis. Dr. GRAY has lately shown that this is the great _axis_ of Cuvier.--_Oss. Foss._ 502, t. 39, f. 10. The Singhalese, on following the elk, frequently effect their approaches by so imitating the call of the animal as to induce them to respond. An instance occurred during my residence in Ceylon, in which two natives, whose mimicry had mutually deceived them, crept so close together in the jungle that one shot the other, supposing the cry to proceed from the game.]

[Footnote 2: Axis maculata, _H. Smith_.]

[Footnote 3: Stylocerus muntjac, _Horsf_.]

VII. PACHYDERMATA. _The Elephant._--The elephant and the wild boar, the Singhalese "waloora," are the only representatives of the _pachydermatous_ order. The latter, which differs in no respect from the wild boar of India, is found in droves in all parts of the island where vegetation and water are abundant. The elephant, the lord paramount of the Ceylon forests, is to be met with in every district, on the confines of the woods, in whose depths he finds concealment and shade during the hours when the sun is high, and from which he emerges only at twilight to wend his way towards the rivers and tanks, where he luxuriates till dawn, when he again seeks the retirement of the deep forests. This noble animal fills so dignified a place both in the zoology and oeconomy of Ceylon, and his habits in a state of nature have been so much misunderstood, that I shall devote a separate section to his defence from misrepresentation, and to an exposition of what, from observation and experience, I believe to be his genuine character when free in his native domains.

VIII. CETACEA.--Among the Cetacea the occurrence of the Dugong[1] on various points of the coast, and especially on the western side of the island, will be noticed elsewhere; and whales are so frequently seen that they have been captured within sight of Colombo, and more than once their carcases, after having been flinched by the whalers, have floated on shore near the light-house, tainting the atmosphere within the fort by their rapid decomposition.

[Footnote 1: _Halicore dugong_, F. Cuv.]

From this sketch of the Mammalia it will be seen that, in its general features, this branch of the Fauna bears a striking resemblance to that of Southern India, although many of the larger animals of the latter are unknown in Ceylon; and, on the other hand, some species discovered there are altogether peculiar to the island. A deer[1] as large as the Axis, but differing from it in the number and arrangement of its spots, has been described by Dr. Kelaart, to whose vigilance the natural history of Ceylon is indebted, amongst others, for the identification of two new species of monkeys[2], a number of curious shrews[3], and an orange-coloured ichneumon[4], before unknown. There are also two descriptions of squirrels[5] that have not as yet been discovered elsewhere, one of them belonging to those equipped with a parachute[6], as well as some local varieties of the palm squirrel (Sciurus penicillatus, _Leach_).[7]

[Footnote 1: Cervus orizus, KELAART, _Prod. F. Zeyl_., p. 83.]

[Footnote 2: Presbytes ursinus, _Blyth_, and P. Thersites, _Elliot_.]

[Footnote 3: Sorex montanus, S. ferrugineus, and Feroculus macropus.]

[Footnote 4: Herpestes fulvescens, KELAART, _Prod. Fann. Zeylan_., App. p. 42.]

[Footnote 5: Sciurus Tennentii, _Layard_.]

[Footnote 6: Sciuropterus Layardi, _Kelaart_.]

[Footnote 7: There is a rat found only in the Cinnamon Gardens at Colombo, Mus Ceylonus, _Kelaart_; and a mouse which Dr. Kelaart discovered at Trincomalie, M. fulvidi-ventris, _Blyth_, both peculiar to Ceylon. Dr. TEMPLETON has noticed a little shrew (Corsira purpurascens, _Mag. Nat. Hist_. 1855, p. 238) at Neuera-ellia, not as yet observed elsewhere.]

But the Ceylon Mammalia, besides wanting a number of minor animals found in the Indian peninsula, cannot boast such a ruminant as the majestic Gaur[1], which inhabits the great forests from Cape Comorin to the Himalaya; and, providentially, the island is equally free of the formidable tiger and the ferocious wolf of Hindustan.

[Footnote 1: Bos cavifrons, _Hodgs_, B. frontalis, _Lamb_.]

The Hyena and Cheetah[1], common in Southern India, are unknown in Ceylon; and though abundant in deer, the island possesses no example of the Antelope or the Gazelle.

[Footnote 1: Felis jubata, _Schreb_.]

_List of Ceylon Mammalia._

A list of the Mammalia of Ceylon is subjoined. In framing it, as well as the lists appended to other chapters on the Fauna of the island, the principal object in view has been to exhibit the extent to which its natural history had been investigated, and collections made up to the period of my leaving the colony in 1850. It has been considered expedient to exclude a few individuals which have not had the advantage of a direct comparison with authentic specimens, either at Calcutta or in England. This will account for the omission of a number which have appeared in other catalogues, but of which many, though ascertained to exist, have not been submitted to this rigorous process of identification.

The greater portion of the species of mammals and birds contained in these lists will be found, with suitable references to the most accurate descriptions, in the admirable catalogue of the collection at the India House, now in course of publication under the care of Dr. Horsfield. This work cannot be too highly extolled, not alone for the scrupulous fidelity with which the description of each species is referred to its first discoverer, but also for the pains which have been taken to elaborate synonymes and to collate from local periodicals and other sources, little accessible to ordinary inquirers, such incidents and traits as are calculated to illustrate characteristics and habits.

Quadrumana.

Presbytes cephalopterus, _Zimm_. ursinus, _Blyth_. Priamus, _Elliot_ & _Blyth_. Thersites, _Blyth_. Macacus pileatus, _Shaw_ & _Desm_. Loris gracilis, _Geoff_.

Cheiroptera.

Pteropus Edwardsii, _Geoff_. Leschenaultii, _Dum_. Cynopterus marginatus, _Hamilt_. Megaderma spasma, _Linn_. lyra, _Geoff_. Rhinolophus _affinis, Horsf_. Hipposideros murinus, _Elliot_. speoris, _Elliot_. armiger, _Hodgs_. vulgaris, _Horsf_. Kerivoula picta, _Pall_. Taphozous longimanus, _Hardw_. Scotophilus Coromandelicus, _F. Cuv_. _adversus, Horsf_. Temminkii, _Horsf_. Tickelli, _Blyth_. Heathii.

Carnivora.

Sorex coerulescens, _Shaw_. ferrugincus, _Kelaart_. serpentarius, _Is. Geoff_. montanus, _Kelaart_. Feroculus macropus, _Kelaart_. Ursus labiatus, _Blainv_. Lutra nair, _F. Cuv_. Canis aureus, _Linn_. Viverra Indica, _Geoff., Hodgs_. Cynictis Maccarthiæ, _Gray_. Herpestes vitticollis, _Benn_. griseus, _Gm_. Smithii, _Gray_. fulvescens, _Kelaart_. Paradoxurus typus, _F. Cuv_. Ceylonicus, _Pall_. Felis pardus, _Linn_. chaus, _Guldens_. viverrinus, _Benn_.

Rodentia.

Sciurus macrurus, _Forst_. Tennentii, _Layard_. penicillatus, _Leach_. trilineatus, _Waterh_. Sciuropterus Layardi, _Kelaart_. Pteromys petaurista, _Pall_. Mus bandicota, _Bechst_. Kok, _Gray_. rufescens, _Gray_. nemoralis, _Blyth_. Indicus, _Geoff_. fulvidiventris, _Blyth_. Nesoki _Hardwickii, Gray_. Golunda Neuera, _Kelaart_. Ellioti, _Gray_. Gerbillus Indicus, _Hardw_. Lepus nigricollis, _F. Cuv._ Hystrix leucurus, _Sykes_.

Edentata.

Manis pentadactyla, _Linn._

Pachydermata.

Elephas Indicus, _Linn._ Sus Indicus, _Gray_. _Zeylonicus, Blyth_.

Ruminantia.

Moschus meminna, _Erxl_. Stylocerus muntjac, _Horsf_. Axis maculata, _H. Smith_. Rusa Aristotelis, _Cuv_.

Cetacea.

Halicore dugung, _F. Cuv_.

NOTE (A.)

_Parasite of the Bat_.

One of the most curious peculiarities connected with the bats is their singular parasite, the Nycteribia.[1] On cursory observation, this creature appears to have neither head, antennæ, eyes, nor mouth; and the earlier observers of its structure assured themselves that the place of the latter was supplied by a cylindrical sucker, which, being placed between the shoulders, the creature had no option but to turn on its back to feed. This apparent inconvenience was thought to have been compensated for by another anomaly: its three pairs of legs, armed with claws, being so arranged that they seemed to be equally distributed over its upper and under sides, the creature being thus enabled to use them like hands, and to grasp the strong hairs above it while extracting its nourishment. It moves by rolling itself rapidly along, rotating like a wheel on the extremities of its spokes, or like the clown in a pantomime hurling himself forward on hands and feet alternately. Its celerity is so great that Colonel Montague, who was one of the first to describe it minutely[2], says its speed exceeds that of any known insect, and as its joints are so flexible as to yield in every direction (like what mechanics call a "ball and socket"), its motions are exceedingly grotesque as it tumbles through the fur of the bat.

[Footnote 1: This extraordinary creature had formerly been discovered only on a few European bats. Joinville figured one which he found on the large roussette (the flying-fox), and says he had seen another on a bat of the same family. Dr. Templeton observed them in Ceylon in great abundance on the fur of the _Scotophilus Coromandelicus_, and they will, no doubt, be found on many others.]

[Footnote 2: Celeripes vespertilionis, _Mont. Lin. Trans_, xi. p. 11.]

To enable it to attain its marvellous velocity, each foot is armed with two sharp hooks, with elastic pads opposed to them, so that the hair can not only be rapidly seized and firmly held, but as quickly disengaged as the creature whirls away in its headlong career.

The insects to which it hears the nearest affinity are the _Hippoboscidæ_ or "spider flies," that infest birds and horses, but, unlike them, it is unable to fly.

Its strangest peculiarity, and that which gave rise to the belief that it is headless, is its faculty when at rest of throwing back its head and pressing it close between its shoulders till the under side becomes uppermost, not a vestige of head being discernible where we would naturally look for it, and the whole seeming but a casual inequality on its back.

On closer examination this apparent tubercle is found to have a leathery attachment like a flexible neck, and by a sudden jerk the little creature is enabled to project it forward into its normal position, when it is discovered to be furnished with a mouth, antennæ, and four eyes, two on each side.

The organisation of such an insect is a marvellous adaptation of physical form to special circumstances. As the nycteribia has to make its way through fur and hairs, its feet are furnished with prehensile hooks that almost convert them into hands; and being obliged to conform to the sudden flights of its patron, and accommodate itself to inverted positions, all attitudes are rendered alike to it by the arrangement of its limbs, which enables it, after every possible gyration, to find itself always on its feet.

CHAP. II.

BIRDS.

Of the _Birds_ of the island, upwards of three hundred and twenty species have been indicated, for which we are indebted to the persevering labours of Dr. Templeton, Dr. Kelaart, and Mr. Layard; but many yet remain to be identified. In fact, to the eye of a stranger, their prodigious numbers, and especially the myriads of waterfowl which, notwithstanding the presence of the crocodiles, people the lakes and marshes in the eastern provinces, form one of the marvels of Ceylon.

In the glory of their plumage, the birds of the interior are surpassed by those of South America and Northern India; and the melody of their song will bear no comparison with that of the warblers of Europe, but the want of brilliancy is compensated by their singular grace of form, and the absence of prolonged and modulated harmony by the rich and melodious tones of their clear and musical calls. In the elevations of the Kandyan country there are a few, such as the robin of Neuera-ellia[1] and the long-tailed thrush[2], whose song rivals that of their European namesakes; but, far beyond the attraction of their notes, the traveller rejoices in the flute-like voices of the Oriole, the Dayal-bird[3], and some others equally charming; when, at the first dawn of day, they wake the forest with their clear _reveille_.

[Footnote 1: Pratincola atrata, _Kelaart_.]

[Footnote 2: Kittacincla macroura, _Gm_.]

[Footnote 3: Copsychus saularis, _Linn_. Called by the Europeans in Ceylon the "Magpie Robin." This is not to be confounded with the other popular favourite, the "Indian Robin" (Thamnobia fulicata, _Linn_.), which is "never seen in the unfrequented jungle, but, like the coco-nut palm, which the Singhalese assert will only flourish within the sound of the human voice, it is always found near the habitations of men."--E.L. LAYARD.]

It is only on emerging from the dense forests, and coming into the vicinity of the lakes and pasture of the low country, that birds become visible in great quantities. In the close jungle one occasionally hears the call of the copper-smith[1], or the strokes of the great orange-coloured woodpecker[2] as it beats the decaying trees in search of insects, whilst clinging to the bark with its finely-pointed claws, and leaning for support upon the short stiff feathers of its tail. And on the lofty branches of the higher trees, the hornbill[3] (the toucan of the East), with its enormous double casque, sits to watch the motions of the tiny reptiles and smaller birds on which it preys, tossing them into the air when seized, and catching them in its gigantic mandibles as they fall.[4] The remarkable excrescence on the beak of this extraordinary bird may serve to explain the statement of the Minorite friar Odoric, of Portenau in Friuli, who travelled in Ceylon in the fourteenth century, and brought suspicion on the veracity of his narrative by asserting that he had there seen "_birds with two heads_."[5]

[Footnote 1: The greater red-headed Barbet (Megalaima indica, _Lath_.; M. Philippensis, _var. A. Lath_.), the incessant din of which resembles the blows of a smith hammering a cauldron.]

[Footnote 2: Brachypternus aurantius, _Linn_.]

[Footnote 3: Buceros pica, _Scop_.; B. coronata, _Bodd_. The natives assert that B. pica builds in holes in the trees, and that when incubation has fairly commenced, the female takes her seat on the eggs, and the male closes up the orifice by which she entered, leaving only a small aperture through which he feeds his partner, whilst she successfully guards their treasures from the monkey tribes; her formidable bill nearly filling the entire entrance. See a paper by Edgar L. Layard, Esq. _Mag. Nat. Hist._ March, 1853. Dr. Horsfield had previously observed the same habit in a species of Buceros in Java. (See HORSFIELD and MOORE'S _Catal. Birds_, E.I. Comp. Mus. vol. ii.) It is curious that a similar trait, though necessarily from very different instincts, is exhibited by the termites, who literally build a cell round the great progenitrix of the community, and feed her through apertures.]

[Footnote 4: The hornbill is also frugivorous, and the natives assert that when endeavouring to detach a fruit, if the stem is too tough to be severed by his mandibles, he flings himself off the branch so as to add the weight of his body to the pressure of his beak. The hornbill abounds in Cuttack, and bears there the name of "Kuchila-Kai," or Kuchila-eater, from its partiality for the fruit of the Strychnus nux-vomica. The natives regard its flesh as a sovereign specific for rheumatic affections.--_Asiat. Res._ ch. xv. p. 184.]

[Footnote 5: _Itinerarius_ FRATRIS ODORICI, de Foro Julii de Portu-vahonis.--HAKLUYT, vol. ii. p. 39.]

As we emerge from the deep shade and approach the park-like openings on the verge of the low country, quantities of pea-fowl are to be found either feeding amongst the seeds and nuts in the long grass or sunning themselves on the branches of the surrounding trees. Nothing to be met with in demesnes in England can give an adequate idea either of the size or the magnificence of this matchless bird when seen in his native solitudes. Here he generally selects some projecting branch, from which his plumage may hang free of the foliage, and, if there be a dead and leafless bough, he is certain to choose it for his resting-place, whence he droops his wings and suspends his gorgeous train, or spreads it in the morning sun to drive off the damps and dews of the night.

In some of the unfrequented portions of the eastern province, to which Europeans rarely resort, and where the pea-fowl are unmolested by the natives, their number is so extraordinary that, regarded as game, it ceases to be a "sport" to destroy them; and their cries at early morning are so tumultuous and incessant as to banish sleep, and amount to an actual inconvenience. Their flesh is excellent when served up hot, though it is said to be indigestible; but, when cold, it contracts a reddish and disagreeable tinge.

But of all, the most astonishing in point of multitude, as well as the most interesting from their endless variety, are the myriads of aquatic birds and waders which frequent the lakes and watercourses; especially those along the coast near Batticaloa, between the mainland and the sand formations of the shore, and the innumerable salt marshes and lagoons to the south of Trincomalie. These, and the profusion of perching birds, fly-catchers, finches, and thrushes, which appear in the open country, afford sufficient quarry for the raptorial and predatory species--eagles, hawks, and falcons--whose daring sweeps and effortless undulations are striking objects in the cloudless sky.

I. ACCIPITRES. _Eagles_.--The Eagles, however, are small, and as compared with other countries rare; except, perhaps, the crested eagle[1], which haunts the mountain provinces and the lower hills, disquieting the peasantry by its ravages amongst their poultry; and the gloomy serpent eagle[2], which, descending from its eyrie in the lofty jungle, and uttering a loud and plaintive cry, sweeps cautiously around the lonely tanks and marshes, where it feeds upon the reptiles on their margin. The largest eagle is the great sea Erne[3], seen on the northern coasts and the salt lakes of the eastern provinces, particularly when the receding tide leaves bare an expanse of beach, over which it hunts, in company with the fishing eagle[4], sacred to Siva. Unlike its companions, however, the sea eagle rejects garbage for living prey, and especially for the sea snakes which abound on the northern coasts. These it seizes by descending with its wings half closed, and, suddenly darting down its talons, it soars aloft again with its writhing victim.[5]

[Footnote 1: Spizaëtus limnaëtus, _Horsf_.]

[Footnote 2: Hæmatornis cheela, _Daud_.]

[Footnote 3: Pontoaetus leucogaster, _Gmel_.]

[Footnote 4: Haliastur indus, _Bodd_.]

[Footnote 5: E.L. Layard. Europeans have given this bird the name of the "Brahminy Kite," probably from observing the superstitious feeling of the natives regarding it, who believe that when two armies are about to engage, its appearance prognosticates victory to the party over whom it hovers.]

_Hawks_.--The beautiful Peregrine Falcon[1] is rare, but the Kestrel[2] is found almost universally; and the bold and daring Goshawk[3] wherever wild crags and precipices afford safe breeding places. In the district of Anarajapoora, where it is trained for hawking, it is usual, in lieu of a hood, to darken its eyes by means of a silken thread passed through holes in the eyelids. The ignoble birds of prey, the Kites[4], keep close by the shore, and hover round the returning boats of the fishermen to feast on the fry rejected from their nets.

[Footnote 1: Falco peregrinus, _Linn_.]

[Footnote 2: Tinnunculus alaudarius, _Briss_.]

[Footnote 3: Astur trivirgatus, _Temm_.]

[Footnote 4: Milvus govinda, _Sykes_. Dr. Hamilton Buchanan remarks that when gorged this bird delights to sit on the entablature of buildings, exposing its back to the hottest rays of the sun, placing its breast against the wall, and stretching out its wings _exactly as the Egyptian Hawk is represented on their monuments_.]

_Owls_.--Of the nocturnal accipitres the most remarkable is the brown owl, which, from its hideous yell, has acquired the name of the "Devil-Bird."[l] The Singhalese regard it literally with horror, and its scream by night in the vicinity of a village is bewailed as the harbinger of approaching calamity.

[Footnote 1: Syrnium indranee, _Sykes_. The horror of this nocturnal scream was equally prevalent in the West as in the East. Ovid Introduces it in his _Fasti_, L. vi. 1. 139; and Tibullus in his Elegies, L.i. El 5. Statius says--

"Nocturnæ-que gemunt striges, et feralia bubo _Danna canens_." Theb. iii. I. 511.

But Pliny, 1. xi. c. 93, doubts as to what bird produced the sound; and the details of Ovid's description do not apply to an owl.

Mr. Mitford, of the Ceylon Civil Service, to whom I am indebted for many valuable notes relative to the birds of the island, regards the identification of the Singhalese Devil-Bird as open to similar doubt: he says--"The Devil-Bird is not am owl. I never heard it until I came to Kornegalle, where it haunts the rocky hill at the back of Government-House. Its ordinary note is a magnificent clear shout like that of a human being, and which can be heard at a great distance, and has a fine effect in the silence of the closing night. It has another cry like that of a hen just caught, but the sounds which have earned for it its bad name, and which I have heard but once to perfection, are indescribable, the most appalling that can be imagined, and scarcely to be heard without shuddering; I can only compare it to a boy in torture, whose screams are being stopped by being strangled. I have offered rewards for a specimen, but without success. The only European who had seen and fired at one agreed with the natives that it is of the size of a pigeon, with a long tail. I believe it is a Podargus or Night Hawk," In a subsequent note he further says--"I have since seen two birds by moonlight, one of the size and shape of a cuckoo, the other a large black bird, which I imagine to be the one which gives these calls."]

II. PASSERES. _Swallows_.--Within thirty-five miles of Caltura, on the western coast, are inland caves, the resort of the Esculent Swift[1], which there builds the "edible bird's nest," so highly prized in China. Near the spot a few Chinese immigrants have established themselves, who rent the royalty from the government, and make an annual export of their produce. But the Swifts are not confined to this district, and caves containing them have been found far in the interior, a fact which complicates the still unexplained mystery of the composition of their nest; and notwithstanding the power of wing possessed by these birds, adds something to the difficulty of believing that it consists of glutinous algæ.[2] In the nests brought to me there was no trace of organisation; and whatever may be the original material, it is so elaborated by the swallow as to present somewhat the appearance and consistency of strings of isinglass. The quantity of these nests exported from Ceylon is trifling.

[Footnote 1: Collocalia brevirostris, _McClell_.; C. nidifica, _Gray_.]

[Footnote 2: An epitome of what has been written on this subject will be found in _Dr. Horsfield's Catalogue_ of the Birds in the E.I. Comp. Museum, vol. i. p. 101, etc.]

_Kingfishers_.--In solitary places, where no sound breaks the silence except the gurgle of the river as it sweeps round the rocks, the lonely Kingfisher sits upon an overhanging branch, his turquoise plumage hardly less intense in its lustre than the deep blue of the sky above him; and so intent is his watch upon the passing fish that intrusion fails to scare him from his post; the emblem of vigilance and patience.

_Sun Birds_.--In the gardens the Sun Birds[1] (known as the Humming Birds of Ceylon) hover all day long, attracted by the plants over which they hang, poised on their glittering wings, and inserting their curved beaks to extract the tiny insects that nestle in the flowers. Perhaps the most graceful of the birds of Ceylon in form and motions, and the most chaste in colouring, is that which Europeans call "the Bird of Paradise,"[2] and the natives "the Cotton Thief," from the circumstance that its tail consists of two long white feathers, which stream behind it as it flies, Mr. Layard says:--"I have often watched them, when seeking their insect prey, turn suddenly on their perch and _whisk their long tails with a jerk_ over the bough, as if to protect them from injury."

[Footnote 1: Nectarina Zeylanica, _Linn_.]

[Footnote 2: Tchitrea paradisi, _Linn_.]

_The Bulbul_.--The _Condatchee Bulbul_[1], which, from the crest on its head, is called by the Singhalese the "Konda Coorola," or _Tuft bird_, is regarded by the natives as the most "_game_" of all birds; and the training it to fight was one of the duties entrusted by the Kings of Kandy to the Kooroowa, or Bird Head-man. For this purpose the Bulbul is taken from the nest as soon as the sex is distinguishable by the tufted crown; and being secured by a string, is taught to fly from hand to hand of its keeper. When pitted against an antagonist, such is the obstinate courage of this little creature that it will sink from exhaustion rather than release its hold. This propensity, and the ordinary character of its notes, render it impossible that the Bulbul of India can be identical with the Bulbul of Iran, the "Bird of a Thousand Songs,"[2] of which poets say that its delicate passion for the rose gives a plaintive character to its note.

[Footnote 1: Pycnonotus hæmorrhous, _Gmel_.]

[Footnote 2: _"Hazardasitaum,"_ the Persian name for the bulbul. "The Persians," according to Zakary ben Mohamed al Caswini, "say the bulbul has a passion for the rose, and laments and cries when he sees it pulled."--OUSELEY'S _Oriental Collections_, vol. i. p. 16. According to Pallas it is the true nightingale of Europe, Sylvia luscinia, which the Armenians call _boulboul_, and the Crim-Tartars _byl-byl-i_.]

_Tailor-Bird_.--_The Weaver-Bird_.--The tailor-bird[1] having completed her nest, sewing together the leaves by passing through them a cotton thread twisted by the creature herself, leaps from branch to branch to testify her happiness by a clear and merry note; and the Indian weaver[2], a still more ingenious artist, having woven its dwelling with grass something into the form of a bottle, with a prolonged neck, hangs it from a projecting branch with its entrance inverted so as to baffle the approaches of its enemies, the tree snakes and other reptiles. The natives assert that the male bird carries fire flies to the nest, fastening them to its sides by a particle of soft mud, and Mr. Layard assures me that although he has never succeeded in finding the fire fly, the nest of the male bird (for the female occupies another during incubation) invariably contains a patch of mud on each side of the perch.

[Footnote 1: Orthotomus longicauda, _Gmel_.]

[Footnote 2: Ploceus baya, _Blyth_; P. Philippinus, _Auct_.]

_Crows_.--Of all the Ceylon birds of this order the most familiar and notorious is the small glossy crow, whose shining black plumage shot with blue has obtained for him the title of _Corvus splendens_.[1] They frequent the towns in companies, and domesticate themselves in the close vicinity of every house; and it may possibly serve to account for the familiarity and audacity which they exhibit in their intercourse with men, that the Dutch during their sovereignty in Ceylon enforced severe penalties against any one killing a crow, under the belief that they are instrumental in extending the growth of cinnamon by feeding on the fruit, and thus disseminating the undigested seed.[2]

[Footnote 1: There is another species, the _C. culminatus_, so called from the convexity of its bill; but though seen in the towns, it lives chiefly in the open country, and may be constantly observed wherever there are buffaloes, perched on their backs and engaged, in company with the small Minah (_Acridotheres tristis_) in freeing them from ticks.]

[Footnote 2: WOLF'S _Life and Adventures_, p. 117.]

So accustomed are the natives to its presence and exploits, that, like the Greeks and Romans, they have made the movements of the crow the basis of their auguries; and there is no end to the vicissitudes of good and evil fortune which may not be predicted from the direction of their flight, the hoarse or mellow notes of their croaking, the variety of trees on which they rest, and the numbers in which they are seen to assemble. All day long they are engaged in watching either the offal of the offices, or the preparation for meals in the dining-room; and as doors and windows are necessarily opened to relieve the heat, nothing is more common than the passage of crows across the room, lifting on the wing some ill-guarded morsel from the dinner-table.

No article, however unpromising its quality, provided only it be portable, can with safety be left unguarded in any apartment accessible to them. The contents of ladies' work-boxes, kid gloves, and pocket handkerchiefs vanish instantly if exposed near a window or open door. They open paper parcels to ascertain the contents; they will undo the knot on a napkin if it encloses anything eatable, and I have known a crow to extract the peg which fastened the lid of a basket in order to plunder the provender within.

On one occasion a nurse seated in a garden adjoining a regimental mess-room, was terrified by seeing a bloody clasp-knife drop from the air at her feet; but the mystery was explained on learning that a crow, which had been watching the cook chopping mince-meat, had seized the moment when his head was turned to carry off the knife.

One of these ingenious marauders, after vainly attitudinising in front of a chained watch-dog, which was lazily gnawing a bone, and after fruitlessly endeavouring to divert his attention by dancing before him, with head awry and eye askance, at length flew away for a moment, and returned bringing with it a companion who perched itself on a branch a few yards in the rear. The crow's grimaces were now actively renewed, but with no better result, till its confederate, poising himself on his wings, descended with the utmost velocity, striking the dog upon the spine with all the force of his beak. The _ruse_ was successful; the dog started with surprise and pain, but not quickly enough to seize his assailant, whilst the bone he had been gnawing disappeared the instant his head was turned. Two well-authenticated instances of the recurrence of this device came within my knowledge at Colombo, and attest the sagacity and powers of communication and combination possessed by these astute and courageous birds.

On the approach of evening the crows assemble in noisy groups along the margin of the fresh-water lake which surrounds Colombo on the eastern side; here for an hour or two they enjoy the luxury of the bath, tossing the water over their shining backs, and arranging their plumage decorously, after which they disperse, each taking the direction of his accustomed quarters for the night.[1]

[Footnote 1: A similar habit has been noticed in the damask Parrots of Africa (_Palæornis fuscus_), which daily resort at the same hour to their accustomed water to bathe.]

During the storms which usher in the monsoon, it has been observed, that when coco-nut palms are struck by lightning, the destruction frequently extends beyond a single tree, and from the contiguity and conduction of the spreading leaves, or some other peculiar cause, large groups will be affected by a single flash, a few killed instantly, and the rest doomed to rapid decay. In Belligam Bay, a little to the east of Point-de-Galle, a small island, which is covered with coco-nuts, has acquired the name of "Crow Island," from being the resort of those birds, which are seen hastening towards it in thousands towards sunset. A few years ago, during a violent storm of thunder, such was the destruction of the crows that the beach for some distance was covered with a black line of their remains, and the grove on which they had been resting was to a great extent destroyed by the same flash.[1]

[Footnote 1: Similar instances are recorded in other countries of sudden mortality amongst crows to a prodigious extent, but whether occasioned by lightning seems uncertain. In 1839 thirty-three thousand dead crows were found on the shores of a lake in the county Westmeath in Ireland after a storm.--THOMPSON'S _Nat. Hist. Ireland_, vol. i. p. 319, and Patterson in his Zoology, p. 356, mentions other cases.]

III. SCANSORES. _Parroquets_.--Of the Psittacidæ the only examples are the parroquets, of which the most renowned is the _Palæornis Alexandri_, which has the historic distinction of bearing the name of the great conquerer of India, having been the first of its race introduced to the knowledge of Europe on the return of his expedition. An idea of their number may be formed from the following statement of Mr. Layard, as to the multitudes which are found on the western coast. "At Chilaw I have seen such vast flights of parroquets coming to roost in the coco-nut trees which overhang the bazaar, that their noise drowned the Babel of tongues bargaining for the evening provisions. Hearing of the swarms which resorted to this spot, I posted myself on a bridge some half mile distant, and attempted to count the flocks which came from a single direction to the eastward. About four o'clock in the afternoon, straggling parties began to wend towards home, and in the course of half an hour the current fairly set in. But I soon found that I had no longer distinct flocks to count, it became one living screaming stream. Some flew high in the air till right above their homes, and dived abruptly downward with many evolutions till on a level with the trees; others kept along the ground and dashed close by my face with the rapidity of thought, their brilliant plumage shining with an exquisite lustre in the sun-light. I waited on the spot till the evening closed, when I could hear, though no longer distinguish, the birds fighting for their perches, and on firing a shot they rose with a noise like the 'rushing of a mighty wind,' but soon settled again, and such a din commenced as I shall never forget; the shrill screams of the birds, the fluttering of their innumerable wings, and the rustling of the leaves of the palm trees, was almost deafening, and I was glad at last to escape to the Government Rest House."[1]

[Footnote 1: _Annals of Nat. Hist_. vol xiii. p.263.]

IV. COLUMBIDÆ. _Pigeons_.--Of pigeons and doves there are at least a dozen species; some living entirely on trees[1] and never alighting on the ground; others, notwithstanding the abundance of food and warmth, are migratory[2], allured, as the Singhalese allege, by the ripening of the cinnamon berries, and hence one species is known in the southern provinces as the "Cinnamon Dove." Others feed on the fruits of the banyan: and it is probably to their instrumentality that this marvellous tree chiefly owes its diffusion, its seeds being carried by them to remote localities. A very beautiful pigeon, peculiar to the mountain range, discovered in the lofty trees at Neuera-ellia, has, in compliment to the Vicountess Torrington, been named _Carpophaga Torringtoniæ._

[Footnote 1: Treron bicenta, _Jerd_.]

[Footnote 2: _Alsocomus puniceus_, the "Season Pigeon" of Ceylon, so called from its periodical arrival and departure.]

Another, called by the natives _neela-cobeya_[1], although strikingly elegant both in shape and colour, is still more remarkable far the singularly soothing effect of its low and harmonious voice. A gentleman who has spent many years in the jungle, in writing to me of this bird and of the effects of its melodious song, says, that "its soft and melancholy notes, as they came from some solitary place in the forest, were the most gentle sounds I ever listened to. Some sentimental smokers assert that the influence of the propensity is to make them feel _as if they could freely forgive all who had ever offended them_, and I can say with truth such has been the effect on my own nerves of the plaintive murmurs of the neela-cobeya, that sometimes, when irritated, and not without reason, by the perverseness of some of my native followers, the feeling has almost instantly subsided into placidity on suddenly hearing the loving tones of these beautiful birds."

[Footnote 1: Chalcophaps Indicus, _Linn_.]

V. GALLINÆ. _The Ceylon Jungle-fowl_.--The jungle-fowl of Ceylon[1] is shown by the peculiarity of its plumage to be distinct from the Indian species. It has never yet bred or survived long in captivity, and no living specimens have been successfully transmitted to Europe. It abounds in all parts of the island, but chiefly in the lower ranges of mountains; and one of the vivid memorials which are associated with our journeys through the hills, is its clear cry, which sounds like a person calling "George Joyce." At early morning it rises amidst mist and dew, giving life to the scenery that has scarcely yet been touched by the sunlight.

[Footnote 1: Gallus Lafayetti, _Lesson_.]

VI. GRALLÆ.--On reaching the marshy plains and shallow lagoons on either side of the island, the astonishment of the stranger is excited by the endless multitudes of stilt-birds and waders which stand in long array within the wash of the water, or sweep in vast clouds above it. Ibises[1], storks[2], egrets, spoonbills[3], herons[4], and the smaller races of sand larks and plovers, are seen busily traversing the wet sand, in search of the red worm which burrows there, or peering with steady eye to watch the motions of the small fry and aquatic insects in the ripple on the shore.

[Footnote 1: Tantalus leucocephalus, and Ibis falcinellus.]

[Footnote 2: The violet-headed Stork (Ciconia leucocephala).]

[Footnote 3: Platalea leucorodia, _Linn_.]

[Footnote 4: Ardea cinerea. A. purpurea.]

VII. ANSERES.--Preeminent in size and beauty, the tall _flamingoes_[1], with rose-coloured plumage, line the beach in long files. The Singhalese have been led, from their colour and their military order, to designate them the "_English Soldier birds_." Nothing can be more startling than the sudden flight of these splendid creatures when alarmed; their strong wings beating the air sound like distant thunder; and as they soar over head, the flock which appeared almost white but a moment before, is converted into crimson by the sudden display of the red lining of their wings. A peculiarity in the beak of the flamingo has scarcely attracted due attention, as a striking illustration of creative wisdom in adapting the organs of animals to their local necessities. The upper mandible, which is convex in other birds, is in them flattened, whilst the lower, instead of being flat, is convex. To those who have had an opportunity of witnessing the action of the bird in its native haunts, the expediency of this arrangement is at once apparent. The flamingo, to counteract the extraordinary length of its legs, is provided with a proportionately long neck, so that in feeding in shallow water the crown of the head becomes inverted and the upper mandible brought into contact with the bottom; where its flattened surface qualifies it for performing the functions of the lower one in birds of the same class; and the edges of both being laminated, it is thus enabled, like the duck, by the aid of its fleshy tongue, to sift its food before swallowing.

[Footnote 1: Phoenicopterus roseus, _Pallas_.]

Floating on the surface of the deeper water, are fleets of the Anatidæ, the Coromandel teal[1], the Indian hooded gull[2], the Caspian tern, and a countless variety of ducks and smaller fowl. Pelicans[3] in great numbers resort to the mouths of the rivers, taking up their position at sunrise on some projecting rock, from which to dart on the passing fish, and returning far inland at night to their retreats among the trees which overshadow some ruined watercourse or deserted tank.

[Footnote 1: Nettapus Coromandelianus, _Gmel._]

[Footnote 2: Larus brunnicephalus, _Jerd._]

[Footnote 3: Pelicanus Philippensis, _Gmel._]

Of the birds familiar to European sportsmen, partridges and quails are to be had at all times; the woodcock has occasionally been shot in the hills, and the ubiquitous snipe, which arrives in September from Southern India, is identified not alone by the eccentricity of its flight, but by retaining in high perfection the qualities which have endeared it to the gastronome at home. But the magnificent pheasants which inhabit the Himalayan range and the woody hills of the Chin-Indian peninsula, have no representative amongst the tribes that people the woods of Ceylon; although a bird believed to be a pheasant has more than once been seen in the jungle, close to Rambodde, on the road to Neuera-ellía.

_List of Ceylon Birds_.

In submitting this catalogue of the birds of Ceylon, I am anxious to state that the copious mass of its contents is mainly due to the untiring energy and exertions of my friend, Mr. E.L. Layard. Nearly every bird in the list has fallen by his gun; so that the most ample facilities have been thus provided, not only for extending the limited amount of knowledge which formerly existed on this branch of the zoology of the island; but for correcting, by actual comparison with recent specimens, the errors which had previously prevailed as to imperfectly described species. The whole of Mr. Layard's fine collection is at present in England.

Accipitres.

Aquila Bonelli, _Temm_. pennata, _Gm_. Spizaëtus Nipalensis, _Hodgs_. limnæëtus, _Horsf_. Ictinaëtus Malayensis, _Reinw_. Hæmatornis cheela, _Daud_. spilogaster, _Blyth_. Pontoaëtus leucogaster, _Gm_. ichthyaëtus, _Horsf_. Haliastur Indus, _Bodd_. Falco peregrinus, _Linn_. _peregrinator, Sund_. Tinnunculus alaudarius, _Briss_. Hypotriorchis chicquera, _Daud_. Baza lophotes, _Cuv_. Milvus govinda, _Sykes_. Elanus melanopterus, _Daud_. Astur trivirgatus, _Temm_. Accipiter badius, _Gm_. Circus Swainsonii, _A. Smith_. cincrascens, _Mont_. melanoleucos, _Gm_. _æruginosus, Linn._ Athene castonatus, _Blyth_. scutulata, _Raffles_. Ephialtes scops, _Linn_. lempijii, _Horsf_. sunia, _Hodgs_. Ketupa Ceylonensis, _Gm_. Syrnium Indranee, _Sykes_. Strix Javanica, _Gm_.

Passeres.

Batrachostomus moniliger, _Layard_. Caprimulgus Mahrattensis, _Sykes_. Kelaarti, _Blyth_. Asiaticus, _Lath_. Cypselus batassiensis, _Gray_. melba, _Linn_. affinis, _Gray_. Macropteryx coronatus, _Tickell_. Collocalia brevirostris, _McClel_. Acanthylis caudacuta, _Lath_. Hirundo panayana, _Gm_. daurica, _Linn_. hyperythra, _Layard_. domicola, _Jerdon_. Coracias Indica, _Linn_. Harpactes fasciatus, _Gm_. Eurystomus orientalis, _Linn_. Halcyon Capensis, _Linn_. atricapillus, _Gm_. Smyrnensis, _Linn_. Ceyx tridactyla, _Linn_. Alcedo Bengalensis, _Gm_. Ceryle rudis, _Linn_. Merops Philippinus, _Linn_. viridis, _Linn_. quincticolor, _Vieill_. Upupa nigripennis, _Gould_. Nectarina Zeylanica, _Linn_. minima, _Sykes_. Asiatica, _Lath_. Lotenia, _Linn_. Dicæum minimum, _Tickell_. Phyllornis Malabarica, _Lath_. Jerdoni, _Blyth_. Dendrophila frontalis, _Horsf_. Piprisoma agile, _Blyth_. Orthotomus longicauda, _Gm_. Cisticola cursitans, _Frankl_. omalura, _Blyth_. Drymoica valida, _Blyth_. inornata, _Sykes_. Prinia socialis, _Sykes_. Acrocephalus dumetorum, _Blyth_. Phyllopneuste nitidus, _Blyth_. montanus, _Blyth_. viridanus, _Blyth_. Copsychus saularus, _Linn_. Kittacincla macrura, _Gm_. Pratincola caprata, _Linn_. atrata, _Kelaart_. Calliope cyanea, _Hodgs_. Thamnobia fulicata, _Linn_. Cyanecula Suevica, _Linn_. Sylvia affinis, _Blyth_. Parus cinereus, _Vieill_. Zosterops palpebrosus, _Temm_. Iöra Zeylanica, _Gm_. typhia, _Linn_. Motacilla sulphurea, _Bechs_. Indica, _Gm_. Madraspatana, _Briss_. Budytes viridis, _Gm_. Anthus rufulus, _Vieill_. Richardii, _Vieill_. striolatus, _Blyth_. Brachypteryx Palliseri, _Kelaart_. Alcippe nigrifrons, _Blyth_. Pitta brachyura, _Jerd_. Oreocincla spiloptera, _Blyth_. Merula Wardii, _Jerd_. Kinnisii, _Kelaart_. Zoothera imbricata, _Layard_. Garrulax cinereifrons, _Blyth_. Pormatorhinus melanurus, _Blyth_. Malacocercus rufescens, _Blyth_. griseus, _Gm_. striatus, _Swains_. Pellorneum fuscocapillum, _Blyth_. Dumetia albogularis, _Blyth_. Chrysomma Sinense, _Gm_. Oriolus melanocephalus, _Linn_. Indicus, _Briss_. Criniger ictericus, _Stickl_. Pycnonotus penicillatus, _Kelaart_. flavirictus, _Strickl_. hæmorrhous, _Gm_. atricapillus, _Vieill_. Hemipus picatus, _Sykes_. Hypsipetes Nilgherriensis, _Jerd_. Cyornis rubeculoïdes, _Vig_. Myiagra azurea, _Bodd_. Cryptolopha cinereocapilla, _Vieill_. Leucocerca compressirostris, _Blyth_. Tchitrea paradisi, _Linn_. Butalis latirostris, _Raffles_. Muttui, _Layard_. Stoparola melanops, _Vig_. Pericrocotus flammeus, _Forst_. peregrinus, _Linn_. Campephaga Macei, _Less_. Sykesii, _Strickl_. Artamus fuscus, _Vieill_. Edolius paradiseus, _Gm_. Dicrurus macrocereus, _Vieill_. edoliformis, _Blyth_. longicaudatus, _A. Hay_. leucopygialis, _Blyth_. coerulescens, _Linn_. Irena puella, _Lath_. Lanius superciliosus, _Lath_. erythronotus, _Vig_. Tephrodornis affinis, _Blyth_. Cissa puella, _Blyth & Layard_. Corvus splendens, _Vieille_. culminatus, _Sykes_. Eulabes religiosa, _Linn_. ptilogenys, _Blyth_. Pastor roseus, _Linn_. Hetærornis pagodarum, _Gm_. _albifrontata, Layard_. Acridotheres tristis, _Linn_. Ploceus manyar, _Horsf_. baya, _Blyth_. Munia undulata, _Latr_. _Malabarica, Linn_. Malacca, _Linn_. rubronigra, _Hodgs_. striata, _Linn_. pectoralis, _Jerd._ Passer Indicus, _Jard. & Selb._ Alauda gulgula, _Frank_. Malabarica, _Scop_. Pyrrhulauda grisea, _Scop_. Mirafra affinis, _Jerd_. Buceros gingalensis, _Shaw_. coronata, _Bodd_.

Scansores.

Loriculus Asiaticus, _Lath_. Palæornis Alexandri, _Linn_. torquatus, _Briss_. cyanocephalus, _Linn_. Calthropæ, _Layard_. Layardi, _Blyth_. Megalaima Indica, _Latr_. Zeylanica, _Gmel_. flavifrons, _Cuv_. rubicapilla, _Gm_. Picus gymnophthalmus, _Blyth._ Mahrattensis, _Lath_. Macei, _Vieill_. Gecinus chlorophanes, _Vieill_. Brachypternus aurantius, _Linn_. Ceylonus, _Forst_. _rubescens, Vieill_. Stricklandi, _Layard_. Micropterus gularis, _Jerd_. Centropus rufipennis, _Illiger_. chlororhynchos, _Blyth_. Oxylophus melanoleucos, _Gm_. Coramandus, _Linn_. Endynamys orientalis, _Linn_. Cuculus Bartletti, _Layard_. striatus, _Drapiez_. canorus, _Linn_. Polyphasia tenuirostris, _Gray_. Sonneratii, _Lath_. Hierococcyx varius, _Vahl_. Surniculus dicruroïdes, _Hodgs_. Phoenicophaus pyrrhocephalus, _Forst_. Zanclostomus viridirostris, _Jerd_.

Columbæ.

Treron bicincta, _Jerd_. flavogularis, _Blyth_. Pompadoura, _Gm_. chlorogaster, _Blyth_. Carpophaga pusilla, _Blyth_. Torringtoniæ, _Kelaart_. Alsocomus puniceus, _Tickel_. Columba intermedia, _Strickl_. Turtur risorius, _Linn_. Suratensis, _Lath_. humilis, _Temm_. orientalis, _Lath_. Chalcophaps Indicus, _Linn_.

Gallinæ.

Pavo cristatus, _Linn_. Gallus Lafayetti, _Lesson_. Galloperdix bicalcaratus, _Linn_. Francolinus Ponticerianus, _Gm_. Perdicula agoondah, _Sykes_. Coturnix Chinensis, _Linn_. Turnix ocellatus _var._ Bengalensis, _Blyth_. Turnix ocellatus _var._ taigoor, _Sykes_.

Gralliæ.

Esacus recurvirostris, _Cuv_. Oedienemus crepitans, _Temm_. Cursorius Coromandelicus, _Gm_. Lobivanellus bilobus, _Gm_. Goensis, _Gm_. Charadrius virginicus, _Bechs_. Hiaticula Philippensis, _Scop_. cantiana, _Lath_. Leschenaultii, _Less_. Strepsilas interpres, _Linn_. Ardea purpurea, _Linn_. cinerea, _Linn_. asha, _Sykes_. intermedia, _Wagler_. garzetta, _Linn_. alba, _Linn_. bubulcus, _Savig_. Ardeola leucoptera, _Bodd_. Ardetta cinnamomea, _Gm_. flavicollis, _Lath_. Sinensis, _Gm_. Butoroides Javanica, _Horsf_. Platalea leucorodia, _Linn_. Nycticorax griseus, _Linn_. Tigrisoma melanolopha, _Raffl_. Mycteria australis, _Shaw_. Leptophilus Javanica, _Horsf_. Ciconia leucocephala, _Gm_. Anastomus oscitans, _Bodd_. Tantalus leucocephalus, _Gm_. Geronticus melanocephalus, _Lath_. Ibis falcinellus, _Linn_. Numenius arquatus, _Linn_. phoeopus, _Linn_. Totanus fuscus, _Linn_. ochropus, _Linn_. calidris, _Linn_. hypoleucos, _Linn_. glottoides, _Vigors_. stagnalis, _Bechst_. Actitis glareola, _Gm_. Tringa minuta, _Leist_. subarquata, _Gm_. Limicola platyrhyncha, _Temm_. Limosa ægocephala, _Linn_. Himantopus candidus, _Bon_. Recurvirostra avocetta, _Linn_. Hæmatopus ostralegus, _Linn_. Rhynchoea Bengalensis, _Linn_. Scolopax rusticola, _Linn_. Gallinago stenura, _Temm_. _scolopacina, Bon_. _gallinula, Linn_. Hydrophasianus Sinensis, _Gm_. Ortygometra rubiginosa, _Temm_. Corethura Zeylanica, _Gm_. Porzana pygmæa, _Nan_. Rallus striatus, _Linn_. Indicus, _Blyth_. Porphyrio poliocephalus, _Lath_. Gallinula phoenicura, _Penn_. chloropus, _Linn_. cristata, _Lath_.

ANSERES.

Phoenicopterus ruber, _Linn_. Sarkidiornis melanonotos, _Penn_. Nettapus Coromandelianus, _Gm_. Anas poecilorhyncha, _Penn_. Dendrocygnus arcuatus, _Cuv_. Dafila acuta, _Linn_. Querquedula crecca, _Linn_. circia, _Linn_. _Fuligula rufina, Pall_. Spatula clypeata, _Linn_. Podiceps Philippensis, _Gm_. Larus brunnicephalus, _Jerd_. ichthyaëtus, _Pall_. Sylochelidon Caspius, _Lath_. Hydrochelidon Indicus, _Steph_. Gelochelidon Anglicus, _Mont_. Onychoprion anasthætus, _Scop_. Sterna Javanica, _Horsf_. melanogaster, _Temm_. minuta, _Linn_. Seena aurantia, _Gray_. Thalasseus Bengalensis, _Less_. cristata, _Steph_. Dromas ardeola, _Payk_. Atagen ariel, _Gould_. Thalassidroma _melanogaster, Gould_. Plotus melanogaster, _Gm_. Pelicanus Philippensis, _Gm_. Graculus Sinensis, _Shaw_. pygmæus, _Pallas_.

NOTE.

The following is a list of the birds which are, as far as is at present known, peculiar to the island; it will probably at some future day be determined that some included in it have a wider geographical range.

Hæmatornis spilogaster. The "Ceylon eagle;" was discovered by Mr. Layard in the Wanny, and by Dr. Kelaart at Trincomalie.

Athene castonotus. The chestnut-winged hawk owl. This pretty little owl was added to the list of Ceylon birds by Dr. Templeton.

Batrachostomus monoliger. The oil bird; was discovered amongst the precipitous rocks of the Adam's Peak range by Mr. Layrard. Another specimen was sent about the same time to Sir James Emerson Tennent from Avisavelle. Mr. Mitford has met with it at Ratnapoora.

Caprimulgus Kelaarti. Kelaart's night-jar; swarms on the marshy plains of Neuera-ellia at dusk.

Hirundo hyperythra. The red-bellied swallow; was discovered in 1849 by Mr. Layard at Ambepusse. They build a globular nest with a round hole at top. A pair built in the ring for a hanging lamp in Dr. Gardner's study at Peradinia, and hatched their young, undisturbed by the daily trimming and lighting of the lamp.

Cisticola omalura. Layard's mountain grass warbler; is found in abundance on Horton Plain and Neuera-ellia, among the long Patena grass.

Drymoica valida. Layard's wren-warbler; frequents tufts of grass and low bushes, feeding on insects.

Pratincola atrata. The Neuera-ellia robin; a melodious songster; added to our catalogue by Dr. Kelaart.

Brachypteryx Palliseri. Ant thrush. A rare bird, added by Dr. Kelaart from Dimboola and Neuera-ellia.

Pellorneum fuscocapillum. Mr. Layard found two specimens of this rare thrush creeping about shrubs and bushes, feeding on insects.

Alcippe nigrifrons. This thrush frequents low impenetrable thickets, and seems to be widely distributed.

Oreocincla spiloptera. The spotted thrush is only found in the mountain zone about lofty trees.

Merula Kinnisii. The Neuera-ellia blackbird; was added by Dr. Kelaart.

Garrulax cinereifrons. The ashy-headed babbler; was found by Mr. Layard near Ratnapoora.

Pomatorhinus melanurus. Mr. Layard states that the mountain babbler frequents low, scraggy, impenetrable brush, along the margins of deserted cheena land.

Malacocercus rufescens. The red-dung thrush added by Dr. Templeton to the Singhalese Fauna, is found in thick jungle in the southern and midland districts.

Pycnonotus penicillatus. The yellow-eared bulbul; was found by Dr. Kelaart at Neuera-ellia.

Butalis Muttui. This very handsome flycatcher was procured at Point Pedro, by Mr. Layard.

Dicrurus edoliformis. Dr. Templeton found this kingcrow at the Bibloo Oya. Mr. Layard has since got it at Ambogammoa.

Dicrurus leucopygialis. The Ceylon kingcrow was sent to Mr. Blyth from the vicinity of Colombo, by Dr. Templeton.

Tephrodornis affinis. The Ceylon butcher-bird. A migratory species found in the wooded grass lands in October.

Cissa puella. Layard's mountain jay. A most lovely bird, found along mountain streams at Neuera-ellia and elsewhere.

Enlabes ptilogenys. Templeton's mynah. The largest and most beautiful of the species. It is found in flocks perching on the highest trees, feeding on berries.

Loriculus asiaticus. The small parroquet, abundant in various districts.

Palæornis Calthropæ. Layard's purple-headed parroquet, found at Kandy, is a very handsome bird, flying in flocks, and resting on the summits of the very highest trees. Dr. Kelaart states that it is the only parroquet of the Neuera-ellia range.

Palæornis Layardi. The Jaffna parroquet was discovered by Mr. Layard at Point Pedro.

Megalaima flavifrons. The yellow-headed barbet, is not uncommon.

Megalaima rubricapilla, is found in most parts of the island.

Picus gymnophthalmus. Layard's woodpecker. The smallest of the species, was discovered near Colombo, amongst jak trees.

Brachypternus Ceylonus. The Ceylon woodpecker, is found in abundance near Neuera-ellia.

Brachypternus rubescens. The red woodpecker.

Centropus chlororhynchus. The yellow-billed cuckoo, was detected by Mr. Layard in dense jungle near Colombo and Avisavelle.

Phoenicophaus pyrrhocephalus. The malkoha, is confined to the southern highlands.

Treron flavogularis. The common green pigeon, is found in abundance at the top of Balacaddua Pass and at Ratnapoora. It feeds on berries and flies in large flocks. It was believed to be identical with the following.--_Mag. Nat. Hist._ p. 58: 1854.

Treron Pompadoura. The Pompadour pigeon. "The Prince of Canino has shown that this is a totally distinct bird, much smaller, with the quantity of maroon colour on the mantle greatly reduced."--Paper by Mr. BLYTH, _Mag. Nat Hist._ p. 514: 1857.

Carpophaga Torringtoniæ. Lady Torrington's pigeon; a very handsome pigeon discovered in the highlands by Dr. Kelaart. It flies high in long sweeps, and makes its nest on the loftiest trees.

Carpophaga pusilla. The little-hill dove, a migratory species found by Mr. Layard in the mountain zone, only appearing with the ripened fruit of the teak, banyan, &c., on which they feed.

Gallus Lafayetti. The Ceylon jungle fowl. The female of this handsome bird was figured by Mr. GRAY (_Ill. Ind. Zool._) under the name of G. Stanleyi. The cock bird had long been lost to naturalists, until a specimen was forwarded to Mr. Blyth, who at once recognised it as the long-looked for male of Mr. Gray's recently described female. It is abundant in all the uncultivated portions of Ceylon; coming out into the open spaces to feed in the mornings and evenings.

CHAP. III.

REPTILES.

LIZARDS. _Iguana_.--One of the earliest if not the first remarkable animal to startle a stranger on arriving in Ceylon, whilst wending his way from Point-de-Galle to Colombo, is a huge lizard of from four to five feet in length, the Talla-goya of the Singhalese, and Iguana[1] of the Europeans. It may be seen at noonday searching for ants and insects in the middle of the highway and along the fences; when disturbed, but by no means alarmed, by the approach of man, it moves off to a safe distance; and, the intrusion being over, returns again to the occupation in which it had been interrupted. Repulsive as it is in appearance, it is perfectly harmless, and is hunted down by dogs in the maritime provinces, where its delicate flesh is converted into curry, and its skin into shoes. When seized, it has the power of inflicting a smart blow with its tail. The Talla-goya lives in almost any convenient hollow, such as a hole in the ground, or the deserted nest of the termites; and home small ones which frequented my garden at Colombo, made their retreat in the heart of a decayed tree. A still larger species, the Kabragoya[2], which is partial to marshy ground, when disturbed upon land, will take refuge in the nearest water. From the somewhat eruptive appearance of the yellow blotches on its scales, a closely allied species, similarly spotted, formerly obtained amongst naturalists the name of _Monitor exanthemata_, and it is curious that the native appellation of this one, Kabra[3], is suggestive of the same idea. The Singhalese, on a strictly homoeopathic principle, believe that its fat, externally applied, is a cure for cutaneous disorders, but that inwardly taken it is poisonous.[4] It is one of the incidents which seem to indicate that Ceylon belongs to a separate circle of physical geography, this lizard has not hitherto been discovered on the continent of Hindustan, though it is found to the eastward in Burmah.[5]

[Footnote 1: Monitor dracæna, _Linn_. Among the barbarous nostrums of the uneducated natives both Singhalese and Tamil, is the tongue of the iguana, which they regard as a specific for consumption, if plucked from the living animal and swallowed whole.]

[Footnote 2: Hydrosaurus salvator, _Wagler_.]

[Footnote 3: In the _Mahawanso_ the hero, Tisso, is said to have been "afflicted with a cutaneous complaint which, made his skin scaly like that of the _godho_."--Ch. xxiv. p. 148. "Godho" is the Pali name for the Kabra-goya.]

[Footnote 4: In the preparation of the mysterious poison, the _Cobra-tel_, which is regarded with so much horror by the Singhalese; the unfortunate Kabra-goya is forced to take a painfully prominent part. The receipt, as written down by a Kandyan, was sent to me from Kornegalle, by Mr. Morris, in 1840; and in dramatic arrangement it far outdoes the cauldron of _Macbeth's_ witches. The ingredients are extracted from venomous snakes, the Cobra de Capello (from which it takes its name), the Carawella, and the Tic prolonga, by making an incision in the head and suspending the reptiles over a chattie to collect the poison. To this, arsenic and other drugs are added, and the whole is to be "boiled in a human skull, with the aid of the three Kabra-goyas, which are tied on three sides of the fire, with their heads directed towards it, and tormented by whips to make them hiss, so that the fire may blaze. The froth from their lips is then to be added to the boiling mixture, and so soon as an oily scum rises to the surface, the _cobra-tel_ is complete."

Although it is obvious that the arsenic is the main ingredient in the poison, Mr. Morris reported to me that this mode of preparing it was actually practised in his district; and the above account was transmitted by him apropos to the murder of a Mohatal and his wife, which was then under investigation, and which had been committed with the _cobra-tel_. Before commencing the operation of preparing the poison, a cock is first sacrificed to the yakkos or demons.]

[Footnote 5: In corroboration of the view propounded elsewhere (see pp. 7, 84, &c.), and opposed to the popular belief that Ceylon, at some remote period, was detached from the continent of India by the interposition of the sea, a list of reptiles will be found at p. 203, including, not only individual species, but whole genera peculiar to the island, and not to be found on the mainland. See a paper by DR. A. GÜNTHER on _The Geog. Distribution of Reptiles_, Magaz. Nat. Hist. for March, 1859, p. 230.]

_Blood-suckers_.--These, however, are but the stranger's introduction to innumerable varieties of lizards, all most attractive in their sudden movements, and some unsurpassed in the brilliancy of their colouring, which bask on banks, dart over rocks, and peer curiously out of the decaying chinks of every ruined wall. In all their motion there is that vivid and brief energy, the rapid but restrained action which is associated with their limited power of respiration, and which justifies the accurate picture of--

"The green lizard, rustling thro' the grass, And up the fluted shaft, _with short, quick, spring_ To vanish in the chinks which time has made."[1]

[Footnote 1: ROGERS' _Pæstum_.]

One of the most beautiful of this race is the _green calotes_[1], in length about twelve inches, which, with the exception of a few dark streaks about the head, is as brilliant as the purest emerald or malachite. Unlike its congeners of the same family, it never alters this dazzling hue, whilst many of them possess the power, like the chameleon, but in a less degree, of exchanging their ordinary colours for others less conspicuous. The _C. ophiomachus_, and another, the _C. versicolor_, exhibit this faculty in a remarkable manner. The head and neck, when the animal is irritated or hastily swallowing its food, becomes of a brilliant red (whence the latter has acquired the name of the "blood-sucker"), whilst the usual tint of the rest of the body is converted into pale yellow. The _sitana_[2], and a number of others, exhibit similar phenomena.

[Footnote 1: Calotes viridis, _Gray_.]

[Footnote 2: Sitana Ponticereana, _Cuv_.]

_Chameleon_.--The true chameleon[1] is found, but not in great numbers, in the dry districts in the north of Ceylon, where it frequents the trees, in slow pursuit of its insect prey. Whilst the faculty of this creature to blush all the colours of the rainbow has attracted the wonder of all ages, sufficient attention has hardly been given to the imperfect sympathy which subsists between the two lobes of the brain, and the two sets of nerves which permeate the opposite sides of its frame. Hence, not only have each of the eyes an action quite independent of the other, but one side of its body would appear to be sometimes asleep whilst the other is vigilant and active: one will assume a green tinge whilst the opposite one is red; and it is said that the chameleon is utterly unable to swim, from the incapacity of the muscles of the two sides to act in concert.

[Footnote 1: Chamælio vulgaris, _Daud_.]

_Ceratophora_.--A unique lizard, and hitherto known only by two specimens, one in the British Museum, and another in that of Leyden, is the _Ceratophora Stoddartii_, distinguished by the peculiarity of its having no external ear, whilst its muzzle bears on its extremity the horn-like process from which it takes its name. It has recently been discovered by Dr. Kelaart to be a native of the higher Kandyan hills, where it is sometimes seen in the older trees in pursuit of sect larvæ.[1]

[Footnote 1: Dr. Kelaart has likewise discovered at Neuera-ellia a _Salea_, distinct from the S. Jerdoni.]

_Geckoes_.--But the most familiar and attractive of the class are the _Geckoes_[1], which frequent the sitting-rooms, and being furnished with pads to each toe, are enabled to ascend perpendicular walls and adhere to glass and ceilings. Being nocturnal in their habits, the pupil of the eye, instead of being circular as in the diurnal species, is linear and vertical like those of the cat. As soon as evening arrives, they emerge from the chinks and recesses where they conceal themselves during the day, in search of insects which retire to settle for the night, and are to be seen in every house in keen and crafty pursuit of their prey. In a boudoir where the ladies of my family spent their evenings, one of these familiar and amusing little creatures had its hiding-place behind a gilt picture frame, and punctually as the candles were lighted, it made its appearance on the wall to be fed with its accustomed crumb; and, if neglected, it reiterated its sharp quick call of _chic, chic, chit_, till attended to. It was of a delicate grey colour, tinged with pink; and having by accident fallen on a work-table, it fled, leaving its tail behind it, which, however, it reproduced within less than a month. This faculty of reproduction is doubtless designed to enable the creature to escape from its assailants: the detaching of the limb is evidently its own act; and it is observable, that when reproduced, the tail generally exhibits some variation from its previous form, the diverging spines being absent, the new portion covered with small square uniform scales placed in a cross series, and the scuta below being seldom so distinct as in the original member.[2] In an officer's quarters in the fort of Colombo, a Geckoe had been taught to come daily to the dinner-table, and always made its appearance along with the dessert. The family were absent for some months, during which the house underwent extensive repairs, the roof having been raised, the walls stuccoed, and ceilings whitened. It was naturally surmised that so long a suspension of its accustomed habits would have led to the disappearance of the little lizard; but on the return of its old friends, at their first dinner it made its entrance as usual the instant the cloth had been removed.

[Footnote 1: Hemidactylus maculatus, _Dum_. et _Bib., Gray_; H. Leschenaultii, _Dum_. et _Bib_.; H. frenatus, _Schlegel_.]

[Footnote 2: _Brit. Mus. Cat_. p. 143; KELAART'S Prod. Faun. Zeylan. p. 183.]

_Crocodile_.--The Portuguese in India, like the Spaniards in South America, affixed the name of _lagarto_ to the huge reptiles which infest the rivers and estuaries of both continents; and to the present day the Europeans in Ceylon apply the term _alligator_ to what are in reality _crocodiles_, which literally swarm in the still waters and tanks throughout the northern provinces, but rarely frequent rapid streams, and have never been found in the marshy elevations among the hills. Their instincts in Ceylon present no variation from their habits in other countries. There would appear to be two well-distinguished species in the island, the _Allie Kimboola_[1], the Indian crocodile, which inhabits the rivers and estuaries throughout the low countries of the coasts, attaining the length of sixteen or eighteen feet, and which will assail man when pressed by hunger; and the Marsh crocodile[2], which lives exclusively in fresh water, frequenting the tanks in the northern and central provinces, and confining its attacks to the smaller animals: in length it seldom exceeds twelve or thirteen feet. Sportsmen complain that their dogs are constantly seized by both species; and water-fowl, when shot, frequently disappear before they can be secured by the fowler.[3] The Singhalese believe that the crocodile can only move swiftly on sand or smooth clay, its feet being too tender to tread firmly on hard or stony ground. In the dry season, when the watercourses begin to fail and the tanks become exhausted, the Marsh crocodiles are sometimes encountered wandering in search of water in the jungle; but generally, during the extreme drought, when unable to procure their ordinary food from the drying up of the watercourses, they bury themselves in the mud, and remain in a state of torpor till released by the recurrence of the rains.[4] At Arne-tivoe, in the eastern province, whilst riding across the parched bed of the tank, I was shown the recess, still bearing the form and impress of the crocodile, out of which the animal had been seen to emerge the day before. A story was also related to me of an officer attached to the department of the Surveyor-General, who, having pitched his tent in a similar position, had been disturbed during the night by feeling a movement of the earth below his bed, from which on the following day a crocodile emerged, making its appearance from beneath the matting.[5]

[Footnote 1: Crocodilus biporcatus. _Cuvier._]

[Footnote 2: Crocodilus palustris, _Less_.]

[Footnote 3: In Siam the flesh of the crocodile is sold for food in the markets and bazaars. "Un jour je vis plus de cinquante crocodiles, petits et grands, attachés aux colonnes de leurs maisons. Ils les vendent la chair comme on vendrait de la chair de porc, mais à bien meilleur marché."--PALLEGOIX, _Siam_, vol. i. p. 174.]

[Footnote 4: HERODOTUS records the observations of the Egyptians that the crocodile of the Nile abstains from food during the four winter months.--_Euterpe_, lviii.]

[Footnote 5: HUMBOLDT relates a similar story as occurring at Calabazo, in Venezuela.--_Personal Narrative_, c. xvi.]

The species which inhabits the fresh water is essentially cowardly in its instincts, and hastens to conceal itself on the appearance of man. A gentleman (who told me the circumstance), when riding in the jungle, overtook a crocodile, evidently roaming in search of water. It fled to a shallow pool almost dried by the sun, and, thrusting its head into the mud till it covered up its eyes, it remained unmoved in profound confidence of perfect concealment. In 1833, during the progress of the Pearl Fishery, Sir Robert Wilmot Horton employed men to drag for crocodiles in a pond which was infested with them in the immediate vicinity of Aripo. The pool was about fifty yards in length, by ten or twelve wide, shallowing gradually to the edge, and not exceeding four or five feet in the deepest part. As the party approached the bund, from twenty to thirty reptiles, which had been basking in the sun, rose and fled to the water. A net, specially weighted so as to sink its lower edge to the bottom, was then stretched from bank to bank and swept to the further end of the pond, followed by a line of men with poles to drive the crocodiles forward: so complete was the arrangement, that no individual could evade the net, yet, to the astonishment of the Governor's party, not one was to be found when it was drawn on shore, and no means of escape was apparent or possible except descending into the mud at the bottom of the pond.[1]

[Footnote 1: A remarkable instance of the vitality of the common crocodile, _C. biporcatus_, was related to me by a gentleman at Galle: he had caught on a baited hook an unusually large one, which his coolies disembowelled, the aperture in the stomach being left expanded by a stick placed across it. On returning in the afternoon with a view to secure the head, they found that the creature had crawled for some distance, and made its escape into the water.]

TESTUDINATA. _Tortoise_,--Of the _testudinata_ the land tortoises are numerous, but present no remarkable features beyond the beautiful marking of the starred variety[1], which is common, in the north-western province around Putlam and Chilaw, and is distinguished by the bright yellow rays which diversify the deep black of its dorsal shield. From one of these which was kept in my garden I took a number of flat ticks (_Ixodes_), which adhered to its fleshy neck in such a position as to baffle any attempt of the animal itself to remove them; but as they were exposed to constant danger of being crushed against the plastron during the protrusion and retraction of the head, each was covered with a horny case almost as resistant as the carapace of the tortoise itself. Such an adaptation of structure is scarcely less striking than that of the parasites found on the spotted lizard of Berar by Dr. Hooker, each of which presented the distinct colour of the scale to which it adhered.[2]

[Footnote 1: Testudo stellata, _Schweig_.]

[Footnote 2: HOOKER'S _Himalayan Journals_, vol. i. p. 37.]

The marshes and pools of the interior are frequented by the terrapins[1], which the natives are in the habit of keeping alive in wells under the conviction that they clear them of impurities. The edible turtle[2] is found on all the coasts of the island, and sells for a few shillings or a few pence, according to its size and abundance at the moment. At certain seasons the turtle on the south-western coast of Ceylon is avoided as poisonous, and some lamentable instances are recorded of death which was ascribed to their use. At Pantura, to the south of Colombo, twenty-eight persons who had partaken of turtle in October, 1840, were seized with sickness immediately, after which coma succeeded, and eighteen died during the night. Those who survived said there was nothing unusual in the appearance of the flesh except that it was fatter than ordinary. Other similarly fatal occurrences have been attributed to turtle curry; but as they have never been proved to proceed exclusively from that source, there is room for believing that the poison may have been contained in some other ingredient. In the Gulf of Manaar turtle is frequently found of such a size as to measure between four and five feet in length; and on one occasion, in riding along the sea-shore north of Putlam, I saw a man in charge of some sheep, resting under the shade of a turtle shell, which he had erected on sticks to protect him from the sun--almost verifying the statement of Ælian, that in the seas off Ceylon there are tortoises so large that several persons may find ample shelter beneath a single shell.[3]

[Footnote 1: _Emyda Ceylonensis_, GRAY, _Catalogue_, p. 64, tab. 29 a.; _Mag. Nat. Hist._ p. 265: 1856. Dr. KELAART, in his _Prodromus_ (p. 179), refers this to the common Indian species, _E. punctata_; but Dr. Gray has shown it to be a distinct one. It is generally distributed in the lower parts of Ceylon, in lakes and tanks. It is put into wells to act the part of a scavenger. By the Singhalese it is named _Kiri-ibba_.]

[Footnote 2: Chelonia virgata, _Schweig_.]

[Footnote 3: "Tiktontai de ara en tautê tê thalattê, kai chelônai megintai, ônper oun ta elytra orophoi ginontai kai gar esti kai mentekaideka pêchôn en chelôneion, hôs hypoikein ouk oligous, kai tous hêlious pyrôiestatous apostegei, kai skian asmetois parechei."--Lib. xvi. c. 17. Ælian copied this statement literatim from MEGASTHENES, _Indica Frag_. lix. 31; and may not Megasthenes have referred to some tradition connected with the gigantic fossilised species discovered on the Sewalik Hills, the remains of which are now in the Museum at the East India House?]

The hawksbill turtle[1], which supplies the tortoise-shell of commerce, was at former times taken in great numbers in the vicinity of Hambangtotte during the season when they came to deposit their eggs, and there is still a considerable trade in this article, which is manufactured into ornaments, boxes, and combs by the Moormen resident at Galle. If taken from the animal after death and decomposition, the colour of the shell becomes clouded and milky, and hence the cruel expedient is resorted to of seizing the turtles as they repair to the shore to deposit their eggs, and suspending them over fires till heat makes the plates on the dorsal shields start from the bone of the carapace, after which the creature is permitted to escape to the water.[2] In illustration of the resistless influence of instinct at the period of breeding, it may be mentioned that the same tortoise is believed to return again and again to the same spot, notwithstanding that at each visit she had to undergo a repetition of this torture. In the year 1826, a hawksbill turtle was taken near Hambangtotte, which bore a ring attached to one of its fins that had been placed there by a Dutch officer thirty years before, with a view to establish the fact of these recurring visits to the same beach.[3]

[Footnote 1: Chelonia imbricata; _Linn_.]

[Footnote 2: At Celebes, whence the finest tortoise-shell is exported to China, the natives kill the turtle by blows on the head, and immerse the shell in boiling water to detach the plates. Dry heat is only resorted to by the unskilful, who frequently destroy the tortoise-shell in the operation.--_Journ. Indian Archipel._ vol. iii. p. 227, 1849.]

[Footnote 3: BENNETT'S _Ceylon_, ch. xxxiv.]

_Snakes_.--It is perhaps owing to the aversion excited by the ferocious expression and unusual action of serpents, combined with an instinctive dread of attack, that exaggerated ideas prevail both as to their numbers in Ceylon, and the danger to be apprehended from encountering them. The Singhalese profess to distinguish a great many kinds, of which not more than one half have as yet been scientifically identified; but so cautiously do serpents make their appearance, that the surprise of long residents is invariably expressed at the rarity with which they are to be seen; and from my own journeys, through the jungle, often of two to five hundred miles, I have frequently returned without seeing a single snake.[1] Davy, whose attention was carefully directed to the poisonous serpents of Ceylon[2], came to the conclusion that but _four_, out of twenty species examined by him, were venomous, and that of these only two (the _tic-polonga[3]_ and _cobra de capello_[4]) were capable of inflicting a wound likely to be fatal to man. The third is the _caraicilla_[5], a brown snake of about twelve inches in length; and for the fourth, of which only a few specimens have been, procured, the Singhalese have no name in their vernacular,--a proof that it is neither deadly nor abundant.

[Footnote 1: Mr. Bennett, who resided much in the south-east of the island, ascribes the rarity of serpents in the jungle to the abundance of the wild peafowl, whose partiality to snakes renders them the chief destroyers of these reptiles.]

[Footnote 2: See DAVY'S _Ceylon_, ch. xiv.]

[Footnote 3: Dabois elegans, _Grey_.]

[Footnote 4: Naja tripadians, _Gunther_.]

[Footnote 5: Trigonocephalus hypnale, _Wegl_.]

_Cobra de Capello_.--The cobra de capello is the only one exhibited by the itinerant snake-charmers: and the accuracy of Davy's conjecture, that they control it, not by extracting its fangs, but by courageously availing themselves of its accustomed timidity and extreme reluctance to use its fatal weapons, received a painful confirmation during my residence in Ceylon, by the death of one of these performers, whom his audience had provoked to attempt some unaccustomed familiarity with the cobra; it bit him on the wrist, and he expired the same evening. The hill near Kandy, on which the official residences of the Governor and Colonial Secretary had been built, is covered in many places with the deserted nests of the white ants (_termites_), and these are the favourite retreats of the sluggish and spiritless cobra, which watches from their apertures the toads and lizards on which it preys. Here, when I have repeatedly come upon them, their only impulse was concealment; and on one occasion, when a cobra of considerable length could not escape sufficiently quickly, owing to the bank being nearly precipitous on both sides of the road, a few blows from my whip were sufficient to deprive it of life. There is a rare variety which the natives fancifully designate the "king of the cobras;" it has the head and the anterior half of the body of so light a colour, that at a distance it seems like a silvery white.[1] A gentleman who held a civil appointment at Kornegalle, had a servant who was bitten by a snake, and he informed me that on enlarging a hole near the foot of the tree under which the accident occurred, he unearthed a cobra of upwards of three feet long, and so purely white as to induce him to believe that it was an albino. With the exception of the rat-snake[2], the cobra de capello is the only serpent which seems from choice to frequent the vicinity of human dwellings, but it is doubtless attracted by the young of the domestic fowl and by the moisture of the wells and drainage. The Singhalese remark that if one cobra be destroyed near a house, its companion is almost certain to be discovered immediately after,--a popular belief which I had an opportunity of verifying on more than one occasion. Once, when a snake of this description was killed in a bath of Government House at Colombo, its mate was found in the same spot the day after; and again, at my own stables, a cobra of five feet long, having fallen into the well, which was too deep to permit its escape, its companion of the same size was found the same morning in an adjoining drain.[3] On this occasion the snake, which had been several hours in the well, swam with ease, raising its head and hood above water; and instances have repeatedly occurred of the cobra de capello voluntarily taking considerable excursions by sea. When the "Wellington," a government vessel employed in the conservancy of the pearl banks, was anchored about a quarter of a mile from land, in the bay of Koodremalé, a cobra was seen, about an hour before sunset, swimming vigorously towards the ship. It came within twelve yards, when the sailors assailed it with billets of wood and other missiles, and forced it to return to land. The following morning they discovered the track which it had left on the shore, and traced it along the sand till it disappeared in the jungle.[4] On a later occasion, in the vicinity of the same spot, when the "Wellington" was lying at some distance from the shore, a cobra was found and killed on board, where it could only have gained access by climbing up the cable. It was first discovered by a sailor, who felt the chill as it glided over his foot.[5]

[Footnote 1: A Singhalese work, the _Sarpa Doata_, quoted in the _Ceylon Times_, January, 1857, enumerates four species of the cobra;--the _raja_, or king; the _velyander_, or trader; the _baboona_, or hermit; and the _goore_, or agriculturist. The young cobras, it says, are not venomous till after the thirteenth day, when they shed their coat for the first time.]

[Footnote 2: Coryphodon Blumenbachii. WOLF, in his interesting story of his _Life and Adventures in Ceylon_, mentions that rat-snakes were often so domesticated by the natives as to feed at their table. He says: "I once saw an example of this in the house of a native. It being meal time, he called his snake, which immediately came forth from the roof under which he and I were sitting. He gave it victuals from his own dish, which the snake took of itself from off a fig-leaf that was laid for it, and ate along with its host. When it had eaten its fill, he gave it a kiss and bade it go to its hole."

Since the above was written, Major Skinner, writing to me 12th Dec. 1858, mentions the still more remarkable case of the domestication of the cobra de capello in Ceylon. "Did you ever hear," he says, "of tame cobras being kept and domesticated about a house, going in and out at pleasure, and in common with the rest of the inmates? In one family, near Negombo, cobras are kept as protectors, in the place of dogs, by a wealthy man who has always large sums of money in his house. But this is not a solitary case of the kind. I heard of it only the other day, but from undoubtedly good authority. The snakes glide about the house, a terror to thieves, but never attempting to harm the inmates."]

[Footnote 3: PLINY notices the affection that subsists between the male and female asp; and that if one of them happens to be killed, the other seeks to avenge its death.--Lib. viii. c. 37.]

[Footnote 4: STEWART'S _Account of the Pearl Fisheries of Ceylon_, p. 9: Colombo, 1843.

The Python reticulatus (the "rock-snake") has been known like the cobra de capello, to make short voyages at sea. One was taken on board H.M.S. "Hastings," when off the coast of Burmah, in 1853; it is now in the possession of the surgeon, Dr. Scott.]

[Footnote 5: SWAINSON, in his _Habits and Instincts of Animals_, c. iv. p. 187, says that instances are well attested of the common English snake having been met with in the open channel; between the coast of Wales and the island of Anglesea, as if they had taken their departure from the one and were bound for the other.]

In BENNETT'S account of "_Ceylon and its Capabilities_" there is a curious piece of Singhalese folk-lore, to the effect, that the cobra de capello every time it expends its poison _loses a joint of its tail_, and eventually acquires a head which resembles that of a toad. A recent discovery of Dr. Kelaart has thrown light on the origin of this popular fallacy. The family of "false snakes" (_pseudo-typhlops_), as Schlegel names the group, have till lately consisted of but three species, one only of which was known to inhabit Ceylon. They belong to a family intermediate between the lizards and serpents with the body of the latter, and the head of the former, with which they are moreover identified by having the upper jaw fixed to the skull as in mammals and birds, instead of movable as amongst the true ophidians. In this they resemble the amphisbænidæ; but the tribe of _Uropeltidæ_, or "rough tails," has the further peculiarity, that the tail is truncated, instead of ending, like that of the typhlops, in a point more or less acute; and the reptile assists its own movements by pressing the flat end to the ground. Within a very recent period an important addition has been made to this genus, by the discovery of five new species in Ceylon; in some of which the singular construction of the tail is developed to an extent much more marked than in any previously existing specimen. One of these, the _Uropeltis grandis_ of Kelaart, is distinguished by its dark brown colour, shot with a bluish metallic lustre, closely approaching the ordinary shade of the cobra; and the tail is abruptly and flatly compressed as though it had been severed by a knife. The form of this singular reptile will be best understood by a reference to the accompanying figure; and there can be, I think, little doubt that to its strange and anomalous structure is to be traced the fable of the transformation of the cobra de capello. The colour alone would seem to identify the two reptiles, but the head and mouth are no longer those of a serpent, and the disappearance of the tail might readily suggest the mutilation which the tradition asserts.

The Singhalese Buddhists, in their religious abstinence from inflicting death on any creature, are accustomed, after securing a venomous snake, to enclose it in a basket of woven palm leaves, and to set it afloat on a river. During my residence in Ceylon, I never heard of the death of a European which was caused by the bite of a snake; and in the returns of coroners' inquests which were made officially to my department, such accidents to the natives appear chiefly to have happened at night, when the animal having been surprised or trodden on, had inflicted the wound in self-defence.[1] For these reasons the Singhalese, when obliged to leave their houses in the dark, carry a stick with a loose ring, the noise[2] of which as they strike it on the ground is sufficient to warn the snakes to leave their path.

[Footnote 1: In a return of 112 coroners' inquests, in cases of death from wild animals, held in Ceylon in five years, from 1851 to 1855 inclusive, 68 are ascribed to the bites of serpents; and in almost every instance the assault is set down as having taken place _at night_. The majority of the sufferers were children and women.]

[Footnote 2: PLINY notices that the serpent has the sense of hearing more acute than that of sight; and that it is more frequently put in motion by the sound of footsteps than by the appearance of the intruder, "excitatur pede sæpius."--Lib. viii. c. 36.]

_The Python_.--The great python[1] (the "boa," as it is commonly designated by Europeans, the "anaconda" of Eastern story), which is supposed to crush the bones of an elephant, and to swallow the tiger, is found, though not of so portentous dimensions, in the cinnamon gardens within a mile of the fort of Colombo, where it feeds on hog-deer and other smaller animals.

[Footnote 1: Python reticulatus, _Gray_.]

The natives occasionally take it alive, and securing it to a pole expose it for sale as a curiosity. One which was brought to me in this way measured seventeen feet with a proportionate thickness: but another which crossed my path on a coffee estate on the Peacock Mountain at Pusilawa, considerably exceeded these dimensions. Another which I watched in the garden at Elie House, near Colombo, surprised me by the ease with which it erected itself almost perpendicularly in order to scale a wall upwards of ten feet high.

Of ten species which ascend the trees to search for squirrels and lizards, and to rifle the nests of birds, one half, including the green _carawilla_, and the deadly _tic polonga_, are believed by the natives to be venomous; but the fact is very dubious. I have heard of the cobra being found on the crown of a coco-nut palm, attracted, it was said, by the toddy which was flowing at the time, as it was the season for drawing it.

_Water-Snakes_.--The fresh-water snakes, of which four species have been described as inhabiting the still water and pools, are all harmless in Ceylon. A gentleman, who found near a river an agglutinated cluster of the eggs of one variety _(Tropidonotus umbratus)_, placed them under a glass shade on his drawing-room table, where one by one the young serpents emerged from the shell to the number of twenty.

The use of the Pamboo-Kaloo, or snake-stone, as a remedy in cases of wounds by venomous serpents, has probably been communicated to the Singhalese by the itinerant snake-charmers who resort to the island from the coast of Coromandel; and more than one well-authenticated instance of its successful application has been told to me by persons who had been eye-witnesses to what they described. On one occasion, in March, 1854, a friend of mine was riding, with some other civil officers of the government, along a jungle path in the vicinity of Bintenne, when they saw one of two Tamils, who were approaching them, suddenly dart into the forest and return, holding in both hands a cobra de capello which he had seized by the head and tail. He called to his companion for assistance to place it in their covered basket, but, in doing this, he handled it so inexpertly that it seized him by the finger, and retained its hold for a few seconds, as if unable to retract its fangs. The blood flowed, and intense pain appeared to follow almost immediately; but, with all expedition, the friend of the sufferer undid his waistcloth, and took from it two snake-stones, each of the size of a small almond, intensely black and highly polished, though of an extremely light substance. These he applied one to each wound inflicted by the teeth of the serpent, to which the stones attached themselves closely, the blood that oozed from the bites being rapidly imbibed by the porous texture of the article applied. The stones adhered tenaciously for three or four minutes, the wounded man's companion in the meanwhile rubbing his arm downwards from the shoulder towards the fingers. At length the snake-stones dropped off of their own accord; the suffering of the man appeared to have subsided; he twisted his fingers till the joints cracked, and went on his way without concern. Whilst this had been going on, another Indian of the party who had come up took from his bag a small piece of white wood, which resembled a root, and passed it gently near the head of the cobra, which the latter immediately inclined close to the ground; he then lifted the snake without hesitation, and coiled it into a circle at the bottom of his basket. The root by which he professed to be enabled to perform this operation with safety he called the _Naya-thalee Kalinga_ (the root of the snake-plant), protected by which he professed his ability to approach any reptile with impunity.

In another instance, in 1853, Mr. Lavalliere, the District Judge of Kandy, informed me that he saw a snake-charmer in the jungle, close by the town, search for a cobra de capello, and, after disturbing it in its retreat, the man tried to secure it, but, in the attempt, he was bitten in the thigh till blood trickled from the wound. He instantly applied the _Pamboo-Kaloo_, which adhered closely for about ten minutes, during which time he passed the root which he held in his hand backwards and forwards above the stone, till the latter dropped to the ground. He assured Mr. Lavalliere that all danger was then past. That gentleman obtained from him the snake-stone he had relied on, and saw him repeatedly afterwards in perfect health.

The substances which were used on both these occasions are now in my possession. The roots employed by the several parties are not identical. One appears to be a bit of the stem of an Aristolochia; the other is so dried as to render it difficult to identify it, but it resembles the quadrangular stem of a jungle vine. Some species of Aristolochia, such as the _A. serpentaria_ of North America, are supposed to act as a specific in the cure of snake-bites; and the _A. indica_ is the plant to which the ichneumon is popularly believed to resort as an antidote when bitten[1]; but it is probable that the use of any particular plant by the snake-charmers is a pretence, or rather a delusion, the reptile being overpowered by the resolute action of the operator, and not by the influence of any secondary appliance, the confidence inspired by the supposed talisman enabling its possessor to address himself fearlessly to his task, and thus to effect, by determination and will, what is popularly believed to be the result of charms and stupefaction. Still it is curious that, amongst the natives of Northern Africa, who lay hold of the _Cerastes_ without fear or hesitation, their impunity is ascribed to the use of a plant with which they anoint themselves before touching the reptile[2]; and Bruce says of the people of Sennar that they acquire exemption from the fatal consequences of the bite by chewing a particular root and washing themselves with an infusion of certain plants. He adds that a portion of this root was given him, with a view to test its efficacy in his own person, but that he had not sufficient resolution to undergo the experiment.

[Footnote 1: For an account of the encounter between the ichneumon and the venomous snakes of Ceylon, see Pt. II. ch. i. p. 149.]

[Footnote 2: Hassellquist.]

As to the snake-stone itself, I submitted one, the application of which I have been describing, to Mr. Faraday, and he has communicated to me, as the result of his analysis, his belief that it is "a piece of charred bone which has been filled with blood perhaps several times, and then carefully charred again. Evidence of this is afforded, as well by the apertures of cells or tubes on its surface as by the fact that it yields and breaks under pressure, and exhibits an organic structure within. When heated slightly, water rises from it, and also a little ammonia; and, if heated still more highly in the air, carbon burns away, and a bulky white ash is left, retaining the shape and size of the stone." This ash, as is evident from inspection, cannot have belonged to any vegetable substance, for it is almost entirely composed of phosphate of lime. Mr. Faraday adds that "if the piece of matter has ever been employed as a spongy absorbent, it seems hardly fit for that purpose in its present state; but who can say to what treatment it has been subjected since it was fit for use, or to what treatment the natives may submit it when expecting to have occasion to use it?"

The probability is, that the animal charcoal, when instantaneously applied, may be sufficiently porous and absorbent to extract the venom from the recent wound, together with a portion of the blood, before it has had time to be carried into the system; and that the blood which Mr. Faraday detected in the specimen submitted to him was that of the Indian on whose person the effect was exhibited on the occasion to which my informant was an eye-witness. The snake-charmers from the coast who visit Ceylon profess to prepare the snake-stones for themselves, and preserve the composition as a secret. Dr. Davy[1], on the authority of Sir Alexander Johnston, says the manufacture of them is a lucrative trade, carried on by the monks of Manilla, who supply the merchants of India--and his analysis confirms that of Mr. Faraday. Of the three different kinds which he examined--one being of partially burnt bone, and another of chalk, the third, consisting chiefly of vegetable matter, resembled a bezoar,--all of them (except the first, which possessed a slight absorbent power) were quite inert, and incapable of having any effect exclusive of that on the imagination of the patient. Thunberg was shown the snake-stone used by the boers at the Cape in 1772, which was imported for them "from the Indies, especially from Malabar," at so high a price that few of the farmers could afford to possess themselves of it; he describes it as convex on one side black, and so porous that "when thrown into water, it caused bubbles to rise;" and hence, by its absorption, it served, if speedily applied, to extract the poison from the wound.[2]

[Footnote 1: _Account of the Interior of Ceylon_, ch. iii. p. 101.]

[Footnote 2: _Thunberg_, vol. 1. p. 155.]

_Caecilia_.--The rocky jungle, bordering the higher coffee estates, provides a safe retreat for a very singular animal, first introduced to the notice of European naturalists about a century ago by Linnæus, who gave it the name _Caecilia glutinosa_, to indicate two peculiarities manifest to the ordinary observer--an apparent defect of vision, from the eyes being so small and imbedded as to be scarcely distinguishable; and a power of secreting from minute pores in the skin a viscous fluid, resembling that of snails, eels, and some salamanders. Specimens are rare in Europe from the readiness with which it decomposes, breaking down into a flaky mass in the spirits in which it is attempted to be preserved.

The creature is about the length and thickness of an ordinary round desk ruler, a little flattened before and rounded behind. It is brownish, with a pale stripe along either side. The skin is furrowed into 350 circular folds, in which are imbedded minute scales. The head is tolerably distinct, with a double row of fine curved teeth for seizing the insects and worms on which it is supposed to live.

Naturalists are most desirous that the habits and metamorphoses of this creature should be carefully ascertained, for great doubts have been entertained as to the position it is entitled to occupy in the chain of creation.

_Frogs_.--In the numerous marshes formed by the overflowing of the rivers in the vast plains of the low country, there are many varieties of frogs, which, both by their colours and by their extraordinary size, are calculated to excite the surprise of strangers.[1] In the lakes around Colombo and the still water near Trincomalie, there are huge creatures of this family, from six to eight inches in length[2], of an olive hue, deepening into brown on the back and yellow on the under side. The Kandian species, recently described, is much less in dimensions, but distinguished by its brilliant colouring, a beautiful grass green above and deep orange underneath.[3]

[Footnote 1: The Indian toad (Bufo melanostictus, _Schneid_) is found In Ceylon, and the belief in its venomous nature is as old as the third century B.C., when the _Mahawanso_ mentions that the wife of "King Asoca attempted to destroy the great bo-tree (at Magadha) _with the poisoned fang of a toad_."--Ch. xx. p. 122.]

[Footnote 2: Rana eutipora, and the Malabar bull-frog, R. Malabarica.]

[Footnote 3: R. Kandiana, _Kelaart_.]

In the shrubberies around my house at Colombo the graceful little hylas[1] were to be found in great numbers, crouching under broad leaves to protect them from the scorching sun; some of them utter a sharp metallic sound at night, similar to that produced by smacking the lips. They possess in a high degree the power of changing their colour; and one which had seated itself on the gilt pillar of a dinner lamp was scarcely to be distinguished from the or-molu to which it clung. They are enabled to ascend glass by means of the suckers at the extremity of their toes. Their food consists of flies and minute coleoptera.

[Footnote 1: The tree-frog, Hyla leucomystax, _Gracer_.]

_List of Ceylon Reptiles_.

I am indebted to Dr. Gray of the British Museum for a more complete enumeration of the reptiles of Ceylon than is to be found in Dr. Kelaart's published lists; but many of those new to Europeans have been carefully described by the latter gentleman in his _Prodromus Faunae Zeylanicae_ and its appendices, as well as in the 13th vol. _Magaz. Nat. Hist._ (1854).

Saura.

Monitor dracæna, _Linn._ _Hydrosaurus salvator, Wagl._ _Mabouya elegans, Gray_. _Riopa punctata, Linn._ _Hardwichii, Gray_. _Tiliqua rufescens, Shaw_. _Eumeces_ Taprobanius, _Kel._ Nessia Burtoni, _Gray_. _Acontias_ Layardi, _Kelaart_. Argyrophis bramieus, _Daud._ Rhinophis Blythii, _Kelaart_. Mytilia Gerrardii, _Gray_. Templetonii, _Gray_. animaculata, _Gray_. melanogaster, _Gray_. Siluboura Ceylonica, _Cuv._ Uropeltis Saffragamus, _Kelaart_. grandis, _Kelaart_. pardalis, _Kelaart_. Dapatnaya Laukadivana, _Kel._ Trevelyanii, _Kelaart_. Hemidactylus frenatus, _Schleg._ Leschenaultii, _Dum & Bib._ _trihedrus, Less._ maculatus, _Dum & Bib._ Piresii, _Kelaart_. Coctoei, _Dum & Bib._ Peripia Peronii, _Dum & Bib._ Gymnodactylus Kandianus, _Kel._ Sitana Ponticercana, _Cuv._ Lyriocephalus scutatus, _Wagl._ Ceratophora Stoddartii, _Gray_. Salea Jerdoni, _Gray_. Calotes ophiomachus, _Gray_. versicolor, _Dum. & Bib._ Rouxii, _Dum. & Bib._ mystaceus, _Dum. & Bib._ Chamelo vuelgaris, _Daud._

Ophidia.

Trimesuras viridis, _Lucep._ Ceylonensis, _Gray_. nigro-marginatus, _Gthr._ Megæra trigonoerphalux, _Latr._ Trigonocephalus hypnalis, _Wagl._ Dabois elegans, _Gray_. Pelamys bicolor, _Doud._ Aturia lapemoides, _Gray_. Hydrophis sublævis, _Gray_. Chersydrus granulatus, _Merr._ Cerberus cinereus, _Gray_. Tropidophis schistosus, _Daud._ Python reticulatus, _Gray_. Cylindrophis rufa, _Gray_. maculata, _Linn._ Aspidura brachyorrhos, _Boie._ Haplocercus Ceylonensis, _Gthr._ Ohgodon subquadratus, _Dum. & Bib._ subgriseus, _Dum. & Bib._ sublineatus, _Dum. & Bib._ Simotes Russellii, _Daud_. purpurascens, _Schleg._ Ablabes collaris, _Gray_. Tropidonotus quincunciatus, _Schleg._ var. funebris. var. carinatus. stolatus, _Linn_. chrysargus, _Boie_. Cynophis Helena, _Daud_. Coryphodon Blumenbachii, _Merr._ Cyclophis calamaria, _Günther_. Chrysopelea ornata, _Shaw_. Dendrophis picta, _Gm._ punctulata, _Gray_. Dryiophis _prasina, Reinw._ Passerita, myeterizans, _Linn_. var. fusca. Dipsas _multimaculata Reinw._ Dipsadomorphus Ceylonensis, _Gray_. Lycodon aulicus, _Dum. & Bib._ Cercaspis carinata, _Kuhl._ Bungarus fascinatus, _Schneid._ Naja tripudians, _Merr._

Chelonia.

Testudo stellata, _Schweig._ Emys Sebæ, _Gray_. Emyda Ceylonensis, _Gray_. _Caretta imbrieuta, Limm._ _Chelonia virgata, Schweig._

Emydosauri.

Crocodyius biporderes, _Cuv._ palastris, _Less._

BATRACHIA.

Rana cutipora, _Dum. & Bib._ Kuhlii, _Schleg._ vittigera, _Wiegm._ robusta, _Blyth._ tigrina, _Daud._ _Leschenaultii, Dum & Bib._ Kandiana, _Kelaart._ Neuera-elliana, _Kelaart._ Rana Malabarica, _Dum. & Bib._ Ixalus variabilis, _Gray._ leucorhinus, _Martens._ poecilopleurus, _Martens._ aurifasciatus, _Dum. & Bib._ Pyxicephalus fodiens, _Jerd._ Polypedates leucomystax, _Gray._ Polypedates microtympanum, _Gray._ eques, _Gray._ _stellata, Kelaart._ _schmardana, Kelaart._ Limnodytes lividus, _Blyth._ macularis, _Blyth._ mutabilis, _Kelaart._ maculatus, _Kelaart._ Bufo melanostictus, _Schneid._ Kelaartii, _Gray._ Engystoma marmoratum, _Cuv._ rubrum, _Jerd._ Kaloula pulchra, _Gray._ balteata, _Günther._

PSEUDOPHIDIA.

Cæcilia glutinosa, _Linn._

NOTE.--The following species are peculiar to Ceylon; and the genera Aspidura, Cercaspis, and Haplocercus would appear to be similarly restricted. Trimesurus Ceylonensis, T. nigro-marginatus; Megæra Trigonocephala; Trigonocephalus hypnalis; Daboia elegans; Cylindrophis maculata; Aspidura brachyorrhos; Haplocercus Ceylonensis; Oligodon sublineatus; Cynophis Helena; Cyclophis calamaria; Dipsadomorphus Ceylonensis; Cercaspis carinata; Ixalus variabilis, I. Leucorhinus, I. poecilopleurus; Polypedates microtympanum, P. eques.

CHAP. IV.

FISHES.

Little has been yet done to examine and describe the fishes of Ceylon, especially those which frequent the rivers and inland waters. Mr. Bennett, who was for some years employed in the Civil Service, directed his attention to the subject, and published in 1830 some portions of a projected work on the marine ichthyology of the island[1], but it never proceeded beyond the description of about thirty individuals. The great work of Cuvier and Valenciennes[2] particularises about one hundred species, specimens of which were procured from Ceylon by Reynard Leschenault and other correspondents, but of these not more than half a dozen belong to fresh water.

[Footnote 1: _A Selection of the most Remarkable and Interesting Fishes found on the Coast of Ceylon_. By J.W. BENNETT, Esq. London, 1830.]

[Footnote 2: _Historie Naturelle des Poissons_.]

The fishes of the coast, so far as they have been examined, present few which are not common to the seas of Ceylon and India. A series of drawings, including upwards of six hundred species and varieties, of Ceylon fish, all made from recently-captured specimens, has been submitted to Professor Huxley, and a notice of their general characteristics forms an interesting article in the appendix to the present chapter.[1]

[Footnote 1: See note C to this chapter.]

Of those in ordinary use for the table the finest by far is the Seir-fish[1], a species of scomber, which is called _Tora-malu_ by the natives. It is in size and form very similar to the salmon, to which the flesh of the female fish, notwithstanding its white colour, bears a very close resemblance both in firmness and flavour.

[Footnote 1: Cybium (Scomber, _Linn_.) guttatum.]

Mackerel, dories, carp, whitings, mullet, red and striped, perches and soles, are abundant, and a sardine (_Sardinella Neohowii_, Val.) frequents the southern and eastern coast in such profusion that on one instance in 1839 a gentleman, who was present, saw upwards of four hundred thousand taken in a haul of the nets in the little bay of Goyapanna, east of Point-de-Galle. As this vast shoal approached the shore the broken water became as smooth as if a sheet of ice had been floating below the surface.[1]

[Footnote 1: These facts serve to explain the story told by the friar ODORIC of Friule, who visited India about the year 1320 A.D., and says there are "fishes in those seas that come swimming towards the said country in such abundance that for a great distance into the sea nothing can be seen but the backs of fishes, which casting themselves on the shore, do suffer men for the space of three daies to come and to take as many of them as they please, and then they return again into the sea."--_Hakluyt_, vol. ii. p. 57.]

_Poisonous Fishes_.--The sardine has the reputation of being poisonous at certain seasons, and accidents ascribed to its use are recorded in all parts of the island. Whole families of fishermen who have partaken of it have died. Twelve persons in the jail of Chilaw were thus poisoned about the year 1829; and the deaths of soldiers have repeatedly been ascribed to the same cause. It is difficult in such instances to say with certainty whether the fish were in fault; whether there may not have been a peculiar susceptibility in the condition of the recipients; or whether the mischief may not have been occasioned by the wilful administration of poison, or its accidental occurrence in the brass cooking vessels used by the natives. The popular belief was, however, deferred to by an order passed by the Governor in Council in February, 1824, which, after reciting that "Whereas it appears by information conveyed to the Government that at three several periods at Trincomalie death has been the consequence to several persons from eating the fish called Sardinia during the months of January and December," enacts that it shall not be lawful in that district to catch sardines during these months, under pain of fine and imprisonment. This order is still in force, but the fishing continues notwithstanding.[1]

[Footnote 1: There are two species of Sardine at Ceylon; the _S. neohowii_, Val., alluded to above, and the _S. leiogaster_, Val. and Cuv. xx. 270, which was found by Mr. Reynaud at Trincomalie. It occurs also off the coast of Java. Another Ceylon fish of the same group, a Clupea, is known as the "poisonous sprat," the bonito (_Scomber pelamys?_), the kangewena, or unicorn fish (_Balistes?_), and a number of others, are more or less in bad repute from the same imputation.]

_Sharks_.--Sharks appear on all parts of the coast, and instances continually occur of persons being seized by them whilst bathing even in the harbours of Trincomalie and Colombo. In the Gulf of Manaar they are taken for the sake of their oil, of which they yield such a quantity that "shark's oil" is now a recognised export. A trade also exists in drying their fins, and from the gelatine contained in them, they find a ready market in China, to which the skin of the basking shark is also sent;--it is said to be there converted into shagreen.

_Saw Fish._--The huge saw fish, the _Pristis antiquorum_[1], infests the eastern coast of the island[2], where it attains a length of from twelve to fifteen feet, including the powerful weapon from which its name is derived.

[Footnote 1: Two other species are found in the Ceylon waters, _P. cuspidatus_ and _P. pectinatus_.]

[Footnote 2: ELIAN mentions, amongst the extraordinary marine animals found in the seas around Ceylon, a fish _with feet instead of fins; [Greek: poias ge mên chêlas ê pteri gia.]_--Lib xvi. c. 18. Does not this drawing of a species of Chironectes, captured near Colombo, justify his description?

But the most striking to the eye of a stranger are those fishes whose brilliancy of colouring has won for them the wonder even of the listless Singhalese. Some, like the Red Sea Perch (_Helocentrus ruber_, Bennett) and the Great Fire Fish[1], are of the deepest scarlet and flame colour; in others purple predominates, as in the _Serranus flavo-cæruleus_; in others yellow, as in the _Chæetodon Brownriggii_[2], and _Acanthurus vittatus_, Bennett[3], and numbers, from the lustrous green of their scales, have obtained from the natives the appropriate name of _Giraway_, or _parrots_, of which one, the _Sparus Hardwickii_ of Bennett, is called the "Flower Parrot," from its exquisite colouring, being barred with irregular bands of blue, crimson, and purple, green, yellow, and grey, and crossed by perpendicular stripes of black.

[Footnote 1: _Pterois muricata_, Cuv. and Val. iv. 363. _Scorpæna miles_, Bennett; named, by the Singhalese, "_Maha-rata-gini_," the Great Red Fire, a very brilliant red species spotted with black. It is very voracious, and is regarded on some parts of the coast as edible, while on others it is rejected. Mr. Bennett has given a drawing of this species, (pl. 9), so well marked by the armature of the head. The French naturalists regard this figure as being only a highly-coloured variety of their species "dont l'éclat est occasionné par la saison de l'amour." It is found in the Red Sea and Bourbon and Penang. Dr. CANTOR calls it _Pterois miles_, and reports that it preys upon small crustaceæ.--_Cat. Malayan Fishes_, p. 44.]

[Footnote 2: _Glyphisodon Brownriggii_, Cuv. and Val. v. 484; _Chætodon Brownriggii_, Bennett. A very small fish about two inches long, called _Kaha bartikyha_ by the natives. It is distinct from Chætodon, in which Mr. Bennett placed it. Numerous species of this genus are scattered throughout the Indian Ocean. It derives its name from the fine hair-like character of its teeth. They are found chiefly among coral reefs, and, though eaten, are not much esteemed. In the French colonies they are called "Chauffe-soleil." One species is found on the shores of the New World (_G. saxatilis_), and it is curious that Messrs. Quoy and Gaimard found this fish at the Cape de Verde Islands in 1827.]

[Footnote 3: This fish has a sharp round spine on the side of the body near the tail; a formidable weapon, which is generally partially concealed within a scabbard-like incision. The fish raises or depresses this spine at pleasure. It is yellow, with several nearly parallel blue stripes on the back and sides; the belly is white, the tail and fins brownish green, edged with blue.

It is found in rocky places; and according to Mr. Bennett, who has figured it in his second plate, it is named _Seweya_. It is scarce on the southern coast of Ceylon.]

_Fresh-water Fishes._--Of the fresh-water fish, which inhabit the rivers and tanks, so very little has hitherto been known to naturalists[1], that of nineteen drawings sent home by Major Skinner in 1852, although specimens of well-known genera, Colonel Hamilton Smith pronounced nearly the whole to be new and undescribed species.

[Footnote 1: In extenuation of the little that is known of the fresh-water fishes of Ceylon, it may be observed that very few of them are used at table by Europeans, and there is therefore no stimulus on the part of the natives to catch them. The burbot and grey mullet are occasionally eaten, but they taste of mud, and are not in request.]

Of eight of these, which were from the Mahawelli-ganga, and caught in the vicinity of Kandy, five were carps[1], of which two were _Leucisci_, and one a _Mastacemblus_, to which Col. H. Smith has given the name of its discoverer, _M. Skinneri_[2], one was an _Ophicephalus_, and one a _Polyacanthus_, with no serræ on the gills. Six were from the Kalany-ganga, close to Colombo, of which two were _Helastoma_, in shape approaching the Choetodon; two _Ophicephali_, one a _Silurus_, and one an _Anabas_, but the gills were without denticulation. From the still water of the lake, close to the walls of Colombo, there were two species of _Eleotris_, one _Silurus_ with barbels, and two _Malacopterygians_, which appear to be _Bagri_.

[Footnote 1: Of the fresh-water fishes belonging to the family Cyprinidæ, there are about eighteen species from Ceylon in the collection of the British Museum.]

[Footnote 2: This fish bears the native name of _Theliya_ in Major Skinner's list; and is described by Colonel Hamilton Smith as being "of the proportions of an eel; beautifully mottled, with eyes and spots of a lighter olive upon a dark green." This so nearly corresponds with a fish of the same name, _Theliya_, which was brought to Gronovius from Ceylon, and proved to be identical with the _Aral_ of the Coromandel coast, that it may be doubtful whether it be not the individual already noted by Cuvier as _Rhyncobdella ocellata_, Cuv. and Val. viii. 445.]

In this collection, brought together without premeditation, the naturalist will be struck by the preponderance of those genera which are adapted by nature to endure a temporary privation of moisture; and this, taken in connection with the vicissitudes affecting the waters they inhabit, exhibits a surprising illustration of the wisdom of the Creator in adapting the organisation of His creatures to the peculiar circumstances under which they are destined to exist.

So abundant are fish in all parts of the island, that Knox says, not the running streams alone, but the reservoirs and ponds, "nay, every ditch and little plash of water but ankle deep hath fish in it."[1] But many of these reservoirs and tanks are, twice in each year, liable to be evaporated to dryness till the mud of the bottom is converted into dust, and the clay cleft by the heat into gaping apertures. Yet within a very few days after the change of the monsoon, the natives are busily engaged in fishing in those very spots and in the hollows contiguous to them, although entirely unconnected with any pool or running streams; in the way in which Knox described nearly 200 years ago, with a funnel-shaped basket, open at bottom and top, which, as he says, they "jibb down, and the end sticks in the mud, which often happens upon a fish; which, when they feel beating itself against the sides, they put in their hands and take it out, and reive a ratan through their gills, and so let them drag after them."[2]

[Footnote 1: KNOX'S _Historical Relation of Ceylon_, Part 1. ch. vii. The occurrence of fish in the most unlooked-for situations, is one of the mysteries of other eastern countries as well as Ceylon and India. In Persia irrigation is carried on to a great extent by means of wells sunk in line in the direction in which it is desired to lead a supply of water, and these are connected by channels, which are carefully arched over to protect them from evaporation. These _kanats_, as they are called, are full of fish, although neither they nor the wells they unite have any connection with streams or lakes.]

[Footnote 2: KNOX, _Historical Relation of Ceylon_, Part I. ch. vii.]

This operation may be seen in the lowlands, which are traversed by the high road leading from Colombo to Kandy, the hollows on either side of which, before the change of the monsoon, are covered with dust or stunted grass; but when flooded by the rains, they are immediately resorted to by the peasants with baskets, constructed precisely as Knox has stated, in which the fish are encircled and taken out by the hand.[1]

[Footnote 1: As anglers, the native Singhalese exhibit little expertness; but for fishing the rivers, they construct with singular ingenuity fences formed of strong stakes, protected by screens of ratan, which stretch diagonally across the current; and along these the fish are conducted into a series of enclosures from which retreat is impracticable. Mr. LAYARD, in the _Magazine of Natural History_ for May, 1853, has given a diagram of one of these fish "corrals," as they are called.

So singular a phenomenon as the sudden reappearance of full-grown fishes in places which a few days before had been encrusted with hardened clay, has not failed to attract attention; but the European residents have been contented to explain it by hazarding the conjecture, either that the spawn had lain imbedded in the dried earth till released by the rains, or that the fish, so unexpectedly discovered, fall from the clouds during the deluge of the monsoon.

As to the latter conjecture; the fall of fish during showers, even were it not so problematical in theory, is too rare an event to account for the punctual appearance of those found in the rice-fields, at stated periods of the year. Both at Galle and Colombo in the south-west monsoon, fish are popularly thought to have fallen from the clouds during violent showers, but those found on the occasions that give rise to this belief, consist of the smallest fry, such as could be caught up by waterspouts, and vortices analogous to them, or otherwise blown on shore from the surf; whereas those which suddenly appear in the replenished tanks and in the hollows which they overflow, are mature and well-grown fish.[1] Besides, the latter are found, under the circumstances I have described, in all parts of the interior, whilst the prodigy of a supposed fall of fish from the sky has been noticed, I apprehend, only in the vicinity of the sea, or of some inland water.

[Footnote 1: I had an opportunity, on one occasion only, of witnessing the phenomenon which gives rise to this popular belief. I was driving in the cinnamon gardens near the fort of Colombo, and saw a violent but partial shower descend at no great distance before me. On coming to the spot I found a multitude of small silvery fish from one and a half to two inches in length, leaping on the gravel of the high road, numbers of which I collected and brought away in my palankin. The spot was about half a mile from the sea, and entirely unconnected with any watercourse or pool.

Mr. WHITING, who was many years resident at Trincomalie, writes me that he "had often been told by the natives on that side of the island that it sometimes rained fishes; and on one occasion (he adds) I was taken by them, in 1849, to a field at the village of Karran-cotta-tivo, near Batticaloa, which was dry when I passed over it in the morning, but had been covered in two hours by sudden rain to the depth of three inches in which there was then a quantity of small fish. The water had no connection with any pond or stream whatsoever." Mr. CRIPPS, in like manner, in speaking of Galle, says: "I have seen in the vicinity of the fort, fish taken from rain-water that had accumulated in the hollow parts of land that in the hot season are perfectly dry and parched. The place is accessible to no running stream or tank; and either the fish, or the spawn from which they were produced, must of necessity have fallen with the rain."

Mr. J. PRINSEP, the eminent secretary to the Asiatic Society of Bengal, found a fish in the pluviometer at Calcutta, in 1838.--_Journ. Asiat. Soc. Bengal_, vol. vi p. 465.

A series of instances in which fishes have been found on the continent of India under circumstances which lead to the conclusion that they must have fallen from the clouds, have been collected by Dr. BUIST of Bombay, and will be found in the appendix to this chapter.]

The surmise of the buried spawn is one sanctioned by the very highest authority. Mr. YARRELL in his "_History of British Fishes_," adverting to the fact that ponds which had been previously converted into hardened mud, are replenished with small fish in a very few days after the commencement of each rainy season, offers this solution of the problem as probably the true one: "The impregnated ova of the fish of one rainy season, are left unhatched in the mud through the dry season, and from their low state of organisation as ova, the vitality is preserved till the recurrence, and contact of the rain and oxygen in the next wet season, when vivification takes place from their joint influence."[1]

[Footnote 1: YARRELL, _History of British Fishes_, introd. vol. i. p. xxvi.]

This hypothesis, however, appears to have been offered upon imperfect data; for although some fish like the salmon scrape grooves in the sand and place their spawn in inequalities and fissures; yet as a general rule spawn is deposited not beneath but on the surface of the ground or sand over which the water flows, the adhesive nature of each egg supplying the means of attachment. But in the Ceylon tanks not only is the surface of the soil dried to dust after the evaporation of the water, but the earth itself, twelve or eighteen inches deep, is converted into sun-burnt clay, in which, although the eggs of mollusca, in their calcareous covering, are in some instances preserved, it would appear to be as impossible for the ova of fish to be kept from decomposition as for the fish themselves to sustain life. Besides, moisture in such situations is only to be found at a depth to which spawn could not be conveyed by the parent fish, by any means with which we are yet acquainted.

But supposing it possible to carry the spawn sufficiently deep, and to deposit it safely in the mud below, which is still damp, whence it could be liberated on the return of the rains, a considerable interval would still be necessary after the replenishing of the ponds with water to admit of vivification and growth. But so far from this interval being allowed to elapse, the rains have no sooner ceased than the fishing of the natives commences, and those captured in wicker cages are mature and full grown instead of being "small fish" or fry, as affirmed by Mr. Yarrell.

Even admitting the soundness of his theory, and the probability that, under favourable circumstances, the spawn in the tanks might be preserved during the dry season so as to contribute to the perpetuation of their inhabitants, the fact is no longer doubtful, that adult fish in Ceylon, like some of those that inhabit similar waters both in the New and Old World, have been endowed by the Creator with the singular faculty of providing against the periodical droughts either by journeying overland in search of still unexhausted water, or, on its utter disappearance, by burying themselves in the mud to await the return of the rains.

_Travelling Fishes._--It was well known to the Greeks that certain fishes of India possessed the power of leaving the rivers and returning to them again after long migrations[1] on dry land, and modern observation has fully confirmed their statements. The fish leave the pools and nullahs in the dry season, and led by an instinct as yet unexplained, shape their course through the grass towards the nearest pool of water. A similar phenomenon is observable in countries similarly circumstanced. The Doras of Guiana[2] have been seen travelling over land during the dry season in search of their natural element[3], in such droves that the negroes have filled baskets with them during these terrestrial excursions.

[Footnote 1: I have collected into a note, which will be found in the appendix to this chapter, the opinions entertained by the Greeks and Romans upon this habit of the fresh-water fishes of India. See note B.]

[Footnote 2: _D. Hancockii_, Cuv. et Val.]

[Footnote 3: Sir R. Schomburgk's _Fishes of Guiana_, vol. i. pp. 113, 151, 160. Another migratory fish was found by Bose very numerous in the fresh waters of Carolina and in ponds liable to become dry in summer. When captured and placed on the ground, "they _always directed themselves towards the nearest water, which they could not possibly see_, and which they must have discovered by some internal index." They belong to the genus _Hydrargyra_, and are called Swampines.-- KIBBY, _Bridgewater Treatise_, vol i. p. 143.

Eels kept in a garden, when August arrived (the period at which instinct impels them to go to the sea to spawn) were in the habit of leaving the pond and were invariably found moving eastward _in the direction of the sea_.--YARRELL, vol. ii. p. 384. Anglers observe that fish newly caught, when placed out of sight of water, always struggle towards it to escape.]

Pallegoix in his account of Siam, enumerates three species of fishes which leave the tanks and channels and traverse the damp grass[1]; and Sir John Bowring, in his account of the embassy to the Siamese kings in 1855, states, that in ascending and descending the river Meinam to Bankok, he was amused with the novel sight of fish leaving the river, gliding over the wet banks, and losing themselves amongst the trees of the jungle.[2]

[Footnote 1: PALLEGOIX, vol. i. p. 144.]

[Footnote 2: Sir J. BOWRING'S _Siam_, vol. i. p. 10.]

The class of fishes which possess this power are chiefly those with labyrinthiform pharyngeal bones, so disposed in plates and cells as to retain a supply of moisture, which, whilst crawling on land, gradually exudes so as to keep the gills damp.[1]

[Footnote 1: CUVIER and VALENCIENNES, _Hist. Nat. des Poissons, _tom. vii. p. 246.]

The individual which is most frequently seen in these excursions in Ceylon is a perch called by the Singhalese _Kavaya_ or _Kawhy-ya_, and by the Tamils _Pannei-eri_, or _Sennal_. It is closely allied to, if not identical with, the _Anabas scandens_ of Cuvier, the _Perca scandens_ of Daldorf. It grows to about six inches in length, the head round and covered with scales, and the edges of the gill-covers strongly denticulated. Aided by the apparatus already adverted to in its head, this little creature issues boldly from its native pools and addresses itself to its toilsome march generally at night or in the early morning, whilst the grass is still damp with the dew; but in its distress it is sometimes compelled to travel by day, and Mr. E.L. Layard on one occasion encountered a number of them travelling along a hot and dusty gravel road under the midday sun.[1]

[Footnote 1: _Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist_., May, 1853, p. 390. Mr. Morris, the government-agent of Trincomalie, writing to me on this subject in 1856, says--"I was lately on duty inspecting the bund of a large tank at Nade-cadua, which, being out of repair, the remaining water was confined in a small hollow in the otherwise dry bed. Whilst there heavy rain came on, and, as we stood on the high ground, we observed a pelican on the margin of the shallow pool gorging himself; our people went towards him and raised a cry of fish! fish! We hurried down, and found numbers of fish struggling upwards through the grass in the rills formed by the trickling of the rain. There was scarcely water enough to cover them, but nevertheless they made rapid progress up the bank, on which our followers collected about two bushels of them at a distance of forty yards from the tank. They were forcing their way up the knoll, and, had they not been intercepted first by the pelican and afterwards by ourselves, they would in a few minutes have gained the highest point and descended on the other side into a pool which formed another portion of the tank. They were chub, the same as are found in the mud after the tanks dry up." In a subsequent communication in July, 1857, the same gentleman says--"As the tanks dry up the fish congregate in the little pools till at last you find them in thousands in the moistest parts of the beds, rolling in the blue mud which is at that time about the consistence of thick gruel."

"As the moisture further evaporates the surface fish are left uncovered, and they crawl away in search of fresh pools. In one place I saw hundreds diverging in every direction, from the tank they had just abandoned to a distance of fifty or sixty yards, and still travelling onwards. In going this distance, however, they must have used muscular exertion sufficient to have taken them half a mile on level ground, for at these places all the cattle and wild animals of the neighbourhood had latterly come to drink; so that the surface was everywhere indented with footmarks in addition to the cracks in the surrounding baked mud, into which the fish tumbled in their progress. In those holes which were deep and the sides perpendicular they remained to die, and were carried off by kites and crows."

"My impression is that this migration takes place at night or before sunrise, for it was only early in the morning that I have seen them progressing, and I found that those I brought away with me in chatties appeared quiet by day, but a large proportion managed to get out of the chatties at night--some escaped altogether, others were trodden on and killed."

"One peculiarity is the large size of the vertebral column, quite disproportioned to the bulk of the fish. I particularly noticed that all in the act of migrating had their gills expanded."]

Referring to the _Anabas scandens_, Mr. Hamilton Buchanan says, that of all the fish with which he was acquainted it is the most tenacious of life; and he has known boatmen on the Ganges to keep them for five or six days in an earthen pot without water, and daily to use what they wanted, finding them as lively and fresh as when caught.[1] Two Danish naturalists residing at Tranquebar, have contributed their authority to the fact of this fish ascending trees on the coast of Coromandel, an exploit from which it acquired its epithet of _Perca scandens_. Daldorf, who was a lieutenant in the Danish East India Company's service, communicated to Sir Joseph Banks, that in the year 1791 he had taken this fish from a moist cavity in the stem of a Palmyra palm, which grew near a lake. He saw it when already five feet above the ground struggling to ascend still higher;--suspending itself by its gill-covers, and bending its tail to the left, it fixed its anal fin in the cavity of the bark, and sought by expanding its body to urge its way upwards, and its march was only arrested by the hand with which he seized it.[2]

[Footnote 1: _Fishes of the Ganges_, 4to. 1822.]

[Footnote 2: _Transactions Linn. Soc._ vol. iii. p. 63. It is remarkable, however, that this discovery of Daldorf, which excited so great an interest in 1791, had been anticipated by an Arabian voyager a thousand years before. Abou-zeyd, the compiler of the remarkable MS. known since Renandot's translation by the title of the _Travels of Two Mahometans_, states that Suleyman, one of his informants, who visited India at the close of the ninth century, was told there of a fish which, issuing from the waters, ascended the coco-nut palms to drink their sap, and returned to the sea. "On parle d'un poisson de mer que sortant de l'eau, monte sur la cocotier et boit le suc de la plante; ensuite il retourne à la mer." See REINAUD, _Relations des Voyages faits par les Arabes et Persans dans le neuvième siècle_, tom. i. p. 21, tom ii. p. 93.]

There is considerable obscurity about the story of this ascent, although corroborated by M. John. Its motive for climbing is not apparent, since water being close at hand it could not have gone for sake of the moisture contained in the fissures of the palm; nor could it be in search of food, as it lives not on fruit but on aquatic insects.[1] The descent, too, is a question of difficulty. The position of its fins, and the spines on its gill-covers, might assist its journey upwards, but the same apparatus would prove anything but a facility in steadying its journey down. The probability is, as suggested by Buchanan, that the ascent which was witnessed by Daldorf was accidental, and ought not to be regarded as the habit of the animal. In Ceylon I heard of no instance of the perch ascending trees[2], but the fact is well established that both it, the _pullata_ (a species of polyacanthus), and others, are capable of long journeys on the level ground.[3]

[Footnote 1: Kirby says that it is "in pursuit of certain crustaceans that form its food" (_Bridgewater Treatise_, vol. i. p. 144); but I am not aware of any crustaceans in the island which ascend the palmyra or feed upon its fruit. Birgus latro, which inhabits Mauritius and is said to climb the coco-nut for this purpose, has not been observed in Ceylon.]

[Footnote 2: This assertion must be qualified by a fact stated by Mr. E.A. Layard, who mentions that on visiting one of the fishing stations on a Singhalese river, where the fish are caught in staked enclosures, as described at p. 212, and observing that the chambers were covered with netting, he asked the reason, and was told "_that some of the fish climbed up the sticks and got over_."--_Mag. Nat. Hist._ for May 1828, p. 390-1.]

[Footnote 3: Strange accidents have more than once occurred in Ceylon arising from the habit of the native anglers; who, having neither baskets nor pockets in which to place what they catch, will seize a fish in their teeth whilst putting fresh bait on their hook. In August 1853, a man carried into the Pettah hospital at Colombo, having a climbing perch, which he thus attempted to hold, firmly imbedded in his throat. The spines of its dorsal fin prevented its descent, whilst those of the gill-covers equally forbade its return. It was eventually extracted by the forceps through an incision in the oesophagus, and the patient recovered. Other similar cases have proved fatal.]

_Burying Fishes._--But a still more remarkable power possessed by some of the Ceylon fishes, is that of secreting themselves in the earth in the dry season, at the bottom of the exhausted ponds, and there awaiting the renewal of the water at the change of the monsoon.

The instinct of the crocodile to resort to the same expedient has been already referred to[1], and in like manner the fish, when distressed by the evaporation of the tanks, seek relief by immersing first their heads, and by degrees their whole bodies, in the mud; and sinking to a depth at which they find sufficient moisture to preserve life in a state of lethargy long after the bed of the tank has been consolidated by the intense heat of the sun. It is possible, too, that the cracks which reticulate the surface may admit air to some extent to sustain their faint respiration.

[Footnote 1: See _ante_, P. II. ch. iii. p. 189.]

The same thing takes place in other tropical regions, subject to vicissitudes of draught and moisture. The Protopterus[1] which inhabits the Gambia (and which, though demonstrated by Professor Owen to possess all the essential organisation of fishes, is nevertheless provided with true lungs), is accustomed in the dry season, when the river retires into its channel, to bury itself to the depth of twelve or sixteen inches in the indurated mud of the banks, and to remain in a state of torpor till the rising of the stream after the rains enables it to resume its active habits. At this period the natives of the Gambia, like those of Ceylon, resort to the river, and secure the fish in considerable numbers as they flounder in the still shallow water. A parallel instance occurs in Abyssinia in relation to the fish of the Mareb, one of the sources of the Nile, the waters of which are partially absorbed in traversing the plains of Taka. During the summer its bed is dry, and in the slime at the depth of more than six feet is found a species of fish without scales, different from any known to inhabit the Nile.[2]

[Footnote 1: _Lepidosiren annectans_, Owen. See _Linn. Trans._ 1839.]

[Footnote 2: This statement will be found in QUATREMERE'S _Memoires sur l'Egypte_, tom. i. p. 17, on the authority of Abdullah ben Ahmed ben Solaim Assouany, in his _History of Nubia_, "Simon, héritier présomptif du royanme d'Alouah, m'a assuré que l'on trouve, dans la vase qui couvre le fond de cette rivière, un grand poisson sans écailles, qui ne ressemble en rien aux poissons du Nil, et que, pour l'avoir, il faut creuser à une toise et plus de profondeur." To this passage there is appended this note:--"Le patriarche Mendes, cité par Legrand (_Relation Hist. d'Abyssinie_, du P. LOBO, p. 212-3) rapporte que le fleuve Mareb, après avoir arrosé une étendue de pays considérable, se perd sous terre; et que quand les Portugais faisaient la guerre dans ce pays, ils fouilloient dans le sable, et y trouvoient de la bonne eau et du bon poison. Au rapport de l'auteur de _l'Ayin Akbery_ (tom. ii. p. 146, ed. 1800), dans le Soubah de Caschmir, près du lieu nommé Tilahmoulah, est une grande pièce de terre qui est inondée pendant la saison des pluies. Lorsque les eaux se sont évaporées, et que la vase est presque sèche, les habitans prennent des bâtons d'environ une aune de long, qu'ils enfoncent dans la vase, et ils y trouvent quantité de grands et petits poissons." In the library of the British Museum there is an unique MS. of MANOEL DE ALMEIDA, written in the sixteenth century, from which Balthasar Tellez compiled his _Historia General de Ethiopia alta_, printed at Coimbra in 1660, and in it the above statement of Mendes is corroborated by Almeida, who says that he was told by João Gabriel, a Creole Portuguese, born in Abyssinia, who had visited the Merab, and who said that the "fish were to be found everywhere eight or ten palms down, and that he had eaten of them."]

In South America the "round-headed hassar" of Guiana, _Callicthys littoralis_, and the "yarrow," a species of the family Esocidæ, although they possess no specially modified respiratory organs, are accustomed to bury themselves in the mud on the subsidence of water in the pools during the dry season.[1] The _Loricaria_ of Surinam, another Siluridan, exhibits a similar instinct, and resorts to the same expedient. Sir R. Schomburgk, in his account of the fishes of Guiana, confirms this account of the Callicthys, and says "they can exist in muddy lakes without any water whatever, and great numbers of them are sometimes dug up from such situations."

[Footnote 1: See Paper "_on some Species of Fishes and Reptiles in Demerara_," by J. HANDCOOK, Esq., M.D., _Zoological Journal_, vol. iv. p. 243.]

In those portions of Ceylon where the country is flat, and small tanks are extremely numerous, the natives in the hot season are accustomed to dig in the mud for fish. Mr. Whiting, the chief civil officer of the eastern province, informs me that, on two occasions, he was present accidentally when the villagers were so engaged, once at the tank of Moeletivoe, within a few miles of Kottiar, near the bay of Trincomalie, and again at a tank between Ellendetorre and Arnetivoe, on the bank of the Vergel river. The clay was firm, but moist, and as the men flung out lumps of it with a spade, it fell to pieces, disclosing fish from nine to twelve inches long, which were full grown and healthy, and jumped on the bank when exposed to the sun light.

Being desirous of obtaining a specimen of the fish so exhumed, I received from the Moodliar of Matura, A.B. Wickremeratne, a fish taken along with others of the same kind from a tank in which the water had dried up; it was found at a depth of a foot and a half where the mud was still moist, whilst the surface was dry and hard. The fish which the moodliar sent to me proved to be an Anabas, and closely resembles the _Perca scandens_ of Daldorf.

But the faculty of becoming torpid at such periods is not confined in Ceylon to the crocodiles and fishes, it is equally possessed by some of the fresh-water mollusca and aquatic coleoptera. The largest of the former, the _Ampullaria glauca_, is found in still water in all parts of the island, not alone in the tanks, but in rice-fields and the watercourses by which they are irrigated. There it deposits a bundle of eggs with a white calcareous shell, to the number of one hundred and more in each group, at a considerable depth in the soft mud, under which, when the water is about to evaporate during the dry season, it burrows and conceals itself[1] till the returning rains restore it to liberty, and reproduce its accustomed food. The _Melania Paludina_ in the same way retires during the droughts into the muddy soil of the rice lands; and it can only be by such an instinct that this and other mollusca are preserved when the tanks evaporate, to re-appear in full growth and vigour immediately on the return of the rains.[2]

[Footnote 1: A knowledge of this fact was turned to prompt account by Mr. Edgar S. Layard, when holding a judicial office at Point Pedro in 1849. A native who had been defrauded of his land complained before him of his neighbour, who, during his absence, had removed their common landmark by diverting the original watercourse and obliterated its traces by filling it to a level with the rest of the field. Mr. Layard directed a trench to be sunk at the contested spot, and discovering numbers of the Ampullaria, the remains of the eggs, and the living animal which had been buried for months, the evidence was so resistless as to confound the wrongdoer, and terminate the suit.]

[Footnote 2: For a similar fact relative to the shells and water beetles in the pools near Rio Janeiro, see DARWIN'S _Nat. Journal_, ch. v. p. 90. BENSON, in the first vol. of _Gleanings of Science_, published at Calcutta in 1829, describes a species of _Paludina_ found in pools, which are periodically dried up in the hot season but reappear with the rains, p. 363. And in the _Journal of the Asiatic Soc. of Bengal_ for Sept. 1832, Lieut. HUTTON, in a singularly interesting paper, has followed up the same subject by a narrative of his own observations at Mirzapore, where in June, 1832, after a few heavy showers of rain, which formed pools on the surface of the ground near a mango grove, he saw the _Paludinæ_ issuing from the ground, "pushing aside the moistened earth and coming forth from their retreats; but on the disappearance of the water not one of them was to be seen above ground. Wishing to ascertain what had become of them, he turned up the earth at the base of several trees, and invariably found the shells buried from an inch to two inches below the surface." Lieut. Hutton adds that the _Ampullariæ_ and _Planorbes_, as well as the _Paludinæ_, are found in similar situations during the heats of the dry season. The British _Pisidea_ exhibit the same faculty (see a monograph in the _Camb. Phil. Trans._ vol. iv.). The fact is elsewhere alluded to in the present work of the power possessed by the land leech of Ceylon of retaining vitality even after being parched to hardness during the heat of the rainless season. Vol. I. ch. vii. p. 312.]

Dr. John Hunter[1] has advanced the opinion that hybernation, although a result of cold, is not its immediate consequence, but is attributable to that deprivation of food and other essentials which extreme cold occasions, and against the recurrence of which nature makes a timely provision by a suspension of her functions. Excessive heat in the tropics produces an effect upon animals and vegetables analogous to that of excessive cold in northern regions, and hence it is reasonable to suppose that the torpor induced by the one may be but the counterpart of the hybernation which results from the other. The frost which imprisons the alligator in the Mississippi as effectually cuts him off from food and action as the drought which incarcerates the crocodile in the sun-burnt clay of a Ceylon tank. The hedgehog of Europe enters on a period of absolute torpidity as soon as the inclemency of winter deprives it of its ordinary supply of slugs and insects; and the _Tenrec_[2] of Madagascar, its tropical representative, exhibits the same tendency during the period when excessive heat produces in that climate a like result.

[Footnote 1: HUNTER'S _Observations on parts of the Animal Oeconomy_, p. 88.]

[Footnote 2: _Centetes ecaudatus_, Illiger.]

The descent of the _Ampullaria_, and other fresh-water molluscs, into the mud of the tank, has its parallel in the conduct of the _Bulimi_ and _Helices_ on land. The European snail, in the beginning of winter, either buries itself in the earth or withdraws to some crevice or overarching stone to await the returning vegetation of spring. So, in the season of intense heat, the _Helix Waltoni_ of Ceylon, and others of the same family, before retiring under cover, close the aperture of their shells with an impervious epiphragm, which effectually protects their moisture and juices from evaporation during the period of their æstivation. The Bulimi of Chili have been found alive in England in a box packed in cotton after an interval of two years, and the animal inhabiting a land-shell from Suez, which was attached to a tablet and deposited in the British Museum in 1846, was found in 1850 to have formed a fresh epiphragm, and on being immersed in tepid water, it emerged from its shell. It became torpid again on the 15th November, 1851, and was found dead and dried up in March, 1852.[1] But the exceptions serve to prove the accuracy of Hunter's opinion almost as strikingly as accordances, since the same genera of animals which hybernate in Europe, where extreme cold disarranges their oeconomy, evince no symptoms of lethargy in the tropics, provided their food be not diminished by the heat. Ants, which are torpid in Europe during winter, work all the year round in India, where sustenance is uniform.[2] The Shrews of Ceylon (_Sorex montanus_ and _S. ferrugineus_ of Kelaart) which, like those at home, subsist upon insects, inhabit a region where the equable temperature admits of the pursuit of their prey at all seasons of the year; and hence, unlike those of Europe, they never hybernate. A similar observation applies to the bats, which are dormant during a northern winter when insects are rare, but never become torpid in any part of the tropics.

[Footnote 1: _Annals of Natural History_, 1850. See Dr. BAIRD's _Account of Helix desertorum; Excelsior, &c._, ch. i. p. 345.]

[Footnote 2: Colonel SYKES has described in the _Entomological Trans._ the operations of an ant which laid up a store of hay against the rainy season.]

The bear, in like manner, is nowhere deprived of its activity except when the rigour of severe frost cuts off its access to its accustomed food. On the other hand, the tortoise, which immerses itself in indurated mud during the hot months in Venezuela, shows no tendency to torpor in Ceylon, where its food is permanent; and yet is subject to hybernation when carried to the colder regions of Europe.

To the fish in the detached tanks and pools when the heat, by exhausting the water, deprives them at once of motion and sustenance, the practical effect must be the same as when the frost of a northern winter encases them in ice. Nor is it difficult to believe that they can successfully undergo the one crisis when we know beyond question that they may survive the other.[1]

[Footnote 1: YARRELL, vol. i. p. 364, quotes the authority of Dr. J. Hunter in his _Animal OEconomy_, that fish, "after being frozen still retain so much of life as when thawed to resume their vital actions;" and in the same volume (_Introd._ vol. i. p. xvii.) he relates from JESSE'S _Gleanings in Natural History_, the story of a gold fish (_Cyprinus auratus_) which, together with the water in a marble basin, was frozen into one solid lump of ice, yet, on the water being thawed, the fish became as lively as usual Dr. RICHARDSON, in the third vol. of his _Fauna Borealis Americana_, says the grey sucking carp found in the fur countries of North America, may be frozen and thawed again without being killed in the process.]

_Hot-water Fishes_.--Another incident is striking in connection with the fresh-water fishes of Ceylon. I have mentioned elsewhere the hot springs of Kannea, in the vicinity of Trincomalie, the water in which flows at a temperature varying at different seasons from 85° to 115°. In the stream formed by these wells M. Reynaud found and forwarded to Cuvier two fishes which he took from the water at a time when his thermometer indicated a temperature of 37° Reaumur, equal to 115° of Fahrenheit. The one was an Apogon, the other an Ambassis, and to each, from the heat of its habitat, he assigned the specific name of "Thermalis."[1]

[Footnote 1: CUV. and VAL., vol. iii. p. 363. In addition to the two fishes above named, a loche _Cobitis thermalis_, and a carp, _Nuria thermoicos_, were found in the hot-springs of Kannea at a heat 40° Cent., 114° Fahr., and a roach, _Leuciscus thermalis_, when the thermometer indicated 50° Cent., 122° Fahr.--_Ib_. xviii. p. 59, xvi. p. 182, xvii. p. 94. Fish have been taken from a hot spring at Pooree when the thermometer stood at 112° Fahr., and as they belonged to a carnivorous genus, they must have found prey living in the same high temperature.--_Journ. Asiatic Soc. Beng_. vol. vi. p. 465. Fishes have been observed in a hot spring at Manilla which raises the thermometer to 187°, and in another in Barbary, the usual temperature of which is 172°; and Humboidt and Bonpland, when travelling in South America, saw fishes thrown up alive from a volcano, in water that raised the temperature to 210°, being two degrees below the boiling point. PATTERSON'S _Zoology_. Pt. ii p. 211; YARRELL'S _History of British Fishes_, vol. i. In. p. xvi.]

_List of Ceylon Fishes._

I. OSSEOUS.

Acanthopterygii.

_Perca_ argentea, _Bennett_. Apogon roseipinnis, _Cuv. & Val_. Zeylonicus, _Cuv. & Val_. thermalis, _Cuv. & Val_. Ambassis thermalis, _Cuv. & Val_. Serranus biguttatus, _Cuv. & Val_. Tankervillæ, _Benn_. lemniscatus, _Cuv. & Val_. Sonneratii, _Cuv. & Val_. flavo-ceruleus, _Lacep_. marginalis, _Cuv. & Val_. Boelang, _Cuv. & Val_. Serranus faveatus, _Cuv. & Val_. angularis, _Cuv. & Val_. punctulatas, _Cuv. & Val_. Diacope decem-lineatus, _Cuv. & Val_. spilura, _Benn_. xanthopus, _Cuv. & Val_. Mesoprion annularis, _Cuv. & Val_. Holocentrus orientale, _Cuv. & Val_. spinifera, _Cuv. & Val_. argenteus, _Cuv. & Val_. Upeneus tæniopterus, _Cuv. & Val_. Zeylonicus, _Cuv. & Val_. Russeli, _Cuv. & Val_. cinnabarinus, _Cuv. & Val_. Platycephalus punctatus, _Cuv. & Val_. scaber, _Linn_. tuberculatus, _Cuv. & Val_. serratus, _Cuv. & Val_. Pterois volitans, _Gm_. muricata, _Cuv. & Val_. Diagramma cinerascens, _Cuv. & Val_. Blochii, _Cuv. & Val_. poeciloptera, _Cuv. & Val_. Cuvieri, _Benn_. Sibbaldi, _E. Benn_. Lobotes crate, _Cuv. & Val_. Scolopsides bimaculatus, _Rupp_. Amphiprion Clarkii, _J. Benn_. Dascyllus aruanus, _Cuv. & Val_. Glyphisodon Rahti, _Cuv. & Val_. Brownrigii, _Benn_. _Sparus_ Hardwickii, _J. Benn_. Pagrus longifilis, _Cuv. & Val_. Lethrinus opercularis, _Cuv. & Val_. fasciatus, _Cuv. & Val_. frænatus, _Cuv. & Val_. cythrurus, _Cuv. & Val_. cinereus, _Cuv. & Val_. Smaris balteatus, _Cuv. & Val_. Cæsio coerulaureus, _Lacep_. Gerres oblongus, _Cuv. & Val_. Chætodon vagabundus, _Linn_. Sebanus, _Cuv. & Val_. Layardi, _Blyth_. xanthocephalus, _E. Bennett_. guttatissimus, _E. Benn_. Hæniochus macrolepidotus, _Linn_. Scatophagus argus, _Cuv. & Val_. Holacanthus xanthurus, _E. Benn_. Platax Raynaldi, _Cuv. & Val_. ocellatus _Cuv. & Val_. Ehrenbergii, _Cuv. & Val_. Anabas _scandens_, _Dald_. _Helostoma_. _Polyacanthus_. _Ophicephalus_. Cybium guttatum, _Bloeh_. Chorinemus moadetta, _Ehren_. Rhynchobdella ocellata, _Cuv. & Val_. Mastocemblus Skinneri, _H. Smith_. Caranx Heberi, _J. Benn_. speciosus, _Forsk_. Rhombus triocellatus, _Cuv. & Val_. Equula dacer, _Cuv. & Val_. filigera, _Cuv. & Val_. Amphacanthus javus, _Linn_. sutor, _Cuv. & Val_. Acanthurus xanthurus, _Blyth_. triostegus, _Bloch_. Delisiani, _Cuv. & Val_. lineatus, _Lacep_. melas, _Cuv. & Val_. Atherina duodecimalis, _Cuv. & Val_. _Blennius_. Salarias marmoratus, _Benn_. alticus, _Cuv. & Val_. Eleotris sexguttata, _Cuv. & Val_. Cheironectes hispidus, _Cuv. & Val_. Tautoga fasciata, _Bloch_. Julis lunaris, _Linn_. decussatus, _W. Benn_. formosus, _Cuv. & Val_. quadricolor, _Lesson_. dorsalis, _Quoy & Gaim_. aureomaculatus, _W. Benn_. Ceilanicus, _E. Benn_. Finlaysoni, _Cuv. & Val_. purpureo-lineatus, _Cuv. & Val_. Gomphosus fuscus, _Cuv. & Val_. viridis, _W. Benn_. Scarus pepo, _W. Benn_. harid, _Forsk_.

Malacopterygrii (abdominales).

_Silurus_. Bagrus albilabris, _Cuv. & Val_. Plotosus lineatus, _Cuv. & Val_. _Cyprinus_. Barbus tor, _Cuv. & Val_. Nuria thermoicos, _Cuv. & Val_. Leuciscus Zeylonicus, _E. Benn_. thermalis, _Cuv. & Val_. Cobitis thermalis, _Cuv. & Val_. Hemirhamphus Reynaldi, _Cuv. & Val_. Georgii, _Cuv. & Val_. Exocoetus evolans, _Linn_. Sardinella leiogaster, _Cuv. & Val_. lineolata, _Cuv. & Val_. Saurus myops, _Val_.

Malacopterygii (Sub-brachiati).

_Pleuronectes, L._

Malacopterygii (Apoda).

_Muræna_.

Lophobranchi.

_Syngnathus, L._

Plectognathii.

Tetraodon ocellatus, _W. Benn_. argyropleura, _E. Bennett_. argentatus, _Blyth_. Balistes biaculeatus, _W. Benn_. Triacanthus biaculeatus, _W. Benn_.

II. CARTILAGINOUS

_Squabus, L._ Pristis antiquorum, _Lath._ cuspidatus, _Lath._ pectinatus, _Lath._ _Raia, L._

NOTE (A.)

INSTANCES OF FISHES FALLING FROM THE CLOUDS IN INDIA.

_From the Bombay Times_, 1856.

Dr. Buist, after enumerating cases in which fishes were said to have been thrown out from volcanoes in South America and precipitated from clouds in various parts of the world, adduces the following instances of similar occurrences in India. "In 1824," he says, "fishes fell at Meerut, on the men of Her Majesty's 14th Regiment, then out at drill, and were caught in numbers. In July, 1826, live fish were seen to fall on the grass at Moradabad during a storm. They were the common cyprinus, so prevalent in our Indian waters. On the 19th of February, 1830, at noon, a heavy fall of fish occurred at the Nokulhatty factory, in the Daccah zillah; depositions on the subject were obtained from nine different parties. The fish were all dead; most of them were large: some were fresh, others were rotten and mutilated. They were seen at first in the sky, like a flock of birds, descending rapidly to the ground; there was rain drizzling, but no storm. On the 16th and 17th of May, 1833, a fall of fish occurred in the zillah of Futtehpoor, about three miles north of the Jumna, after a violent storm of wind and rain. The fish were from a pound and a half to three pounds in weight, and of the same species as those found in the tanks in the neighbourhood. They were all dead and dry. A fall of fish occurred at Allahabad, during a storm in May, 1835; they were of the chowla species, and were found dead and dry after the storm had passed over the district. On the 20th of September, 1839, after a smart shower of rain, a quantity of live fish, about three inches in length and all of the same kind, fell at the Sunderbunds, about twenty miles south of Calcutta. On this occasion it was remarked that the fish did not fall here and there irregularly over the ground, but in a continuous straight line, not more than a span in breadth. The vast multitudes of fish, with which the low grounds round Bombay are covered, about a week or ten days after the first burst of the monsoon, appear to be derived from the adjoining pools or rivulets and not to descend from the sky. They are not, so far as I know, found in the higher parts of the island. I have never seen them, though I have watched carefully, in casks collecting water from the roofs of buildings, or heard of them on the decks or awnings of vessels in the harbour, where they must have appeared had they descended from the sky. One of the most remarkable phenomena of this kind occurred during a tremendous deluge of rain at Kattywar, on the 25th of July, 1850, when the ground around Rajkote was found literally covered with fish; some of them were found on the tops of haystacks, where probably they had been drifted by the storm. In the course of twenty-four successive hours twenty-seven inches of rain fell, thirty-five fell in twenty-six hours, seven inches within one hour and a half, being the heaviest fall on record. At Poonah, on the 3rd of August, 1852, after a very heavy fall of rain, multitudes of fish were caught on the ground in the cantonments, full half a mile from the nearest stream. If showers of fish are to be explained on the assumption that they are carried up by squalls or violent winds, from rivers or spaces of water not far away from where they fall, it would be nothing wonderful were they seen to descend from the air during the furious squalls which occasionally occur in June."

* * * * *

NOTE (B.)

MIGRATION OF FISHES OVER LAND.

_Opinions of the Greeks and Romans_.

It is an illustration of the eagerness with which, after the expedition of Alexander the Great, particulars connected with the natural history of India were sought for and arranged by the Greeks, that in the works both of ARISTOTLE and THEOPHRASTUS the facts are recorded of the fishes in the Indian rivers migrating in search of water, of their burying themselves in the mud on its failure, of their being dug out thence alive during the dry season, and of their spontaneous reappearance on the return of the rains. The earliest notice is in the treatise of ARISTOTLE _De Respiratione_, chap. ix., who mentions the strange discovery of living fish found beneath the surface of the soil, [Greek: tôn ichthuôn oi polloi zôsin en tê gê, akinêtizontes mentoi, kai euriskontai oruttomenoi]; and in his History of Animals he conjectures that in ponds periodically dried the ova of the fish so buried become vivified at the change of the season.[1] HERODOTUS had previously hazarded a similar theory to account for the sudden appearance of fry in the Egyptian marshes on the rising of the Nile; but the cases are not parallel. THEOPHRASTUS, the friend and pupil of Aristotle, gave importance to the subject by devoting to it his essay [Greek: Peri tês tôn ichthyôn en zêrô diamonês], _De Piscibus in sicco degentibus_. In this, after adverting to the fish called _exocoetus_, from its habit of going on shore to sleep, [Greek: apo tês koitês], he instances the small fish ([Greek: ichthydia]), which leave the rivers of India to wander like frogs on the land; and likewise a species found near Babylon, which, when the Euphrates runs low, leave the dry channels in search of food, "moving themselves along by means of their fins and tail." He proceeds to state that at Heraclea Pontica there are places in which fish are dug out of the earth, ([Greek: oryktoi tôn ichthyôn]), and he accounts for their being found under such circumstances by the subsidence of the rivers, "when the water being evaporated the fish gradually descend beneath the soil in search of moisture; and the surface becoming hard they are preserved in the damp clay below it, in a state of torpor, but are capable of vigorous movements when disturbed. In this manner, too," Theophrastus adds, "the buried fish propagate, leaving behind them their spawn, which becomes vivified on the return of the waters to their accustomed bed." This work of Theophrastus became the great authority for all subsequent writers on this question. ATHENÆUS quotes it[2], and adds the further testimony of POLYBIUS, that in Gallia Narbonensis fish are similarly dug out of the ground.[3] STRABO repeats the story[4], and one and all the Greek naturalists received the statement as founded on reliable authority.

[Footnote 1: Lib. vi. ch, 15, 16, 17.]

[Footnote 2: Lib. viii. ch. 2.]

[Footnote 3: Ib. ch. 4.]

[Footnote 4: Lib. iv. and xii.]

Not so the Romans. LIVY mentions it as one of the prodigies which were to be "expiated," on the approach of a rupture with Macedon, that "in Gallico agro qua induceretur aratrum sub glebis pisces emersisse,"[1] thus taking it out of the category of natural occurrences. POMPONIUS MELA, obliged to notice the matter in his account of Narbon Gaul, accompanies it with the intimation that although asserted by both Greek and Roman authorities, the story was either a delusion or a fraud.[2] JUVENAL has a sneer for the rustic--

"miranti sub aratro Piscibus inventis."--_Sat_. xiii. 63.

[Footnote 1: Lib. xlii. ch. 2.]

[Footnote 2: Lib. ii ch, 5.]

And SENECA, whilst he quotes Theophrastus, adds ironically, that now we must go to fish with a _hatchet_ instead of a hook; "non cum hamis, sed cum dolabra ire piscatum."[1] PLINY, who devotes the 35th chapter of his 9th book to this subject, uses the narrative of Theophrastus, but with obvious caution, and universally the Latin writers treated the story as a fable.

[Footnote 1: _Nat. Quæst._ vii 16.]

In later times the subject received more enlightened attention, and Beckmann, who in 1736 published his commentary on the collection [Greek: Peri Thaumasiôn akousmátôn], ascribed to Aristotle, has given a list of the authorities about his own times,--Georgius Agricola, Gesner, Rondelet, Dalechamp, Bomare, and Gronovius, who not only gave credence to the assertions of Theophrastus, but adduced modern instances in corroboration of his Indian authorities.

* * * * *

NOTE (C.)

CEYLON FISHES.

(_Memorandum, by Professor Huxley._)

See p. 205.

The large series of beautifully coloured drawings of the fishes of Ceylon, which has been submitted to my inspection, possesses an unusual value for several reasons.

The fishes, it appears, were all captured at Colombo, and even had those from other parts of Ceylon been added, the geographical area would not have been very extended. Nevertheless there are more than 600 drawings, and though it is possible that some of these represent varieties in different stages of growth of the same species, I have not been able to find definite evidence of the fact in any of those groups which I have particularly tested. If, however, these drawings represent _six hundred_ distinct species of fish, they constitute, so far as I know, the largest collection of fish from one locality in existence.

The number of known British fishes may be safely assumed to be less than 250, and Mr. Yarrell enumerates only 226, Dr. Cantor's valuable work on Malayan fishes enumerates not more than 238, while Dr. Russell has figured only 200 from Coromandel. Even the enormous area of the Chinese and Japanese seas has as yet not yielded 800 species of fishes.

The large extent of the collection alone, then, renders it of great importance; but its value is immeasurably enhanced by two circumstances,--the _first_, that every drawing was made while the fish retained all that vividness of colouring which becomes lost so soon after its removal from its native element; _second_, that when the sketch was finished its subject was carefully labelled, preserved in spirits, and forwarded to England, so that at the present moment the original of every drawing can be subjected to anatomical examination, and compared with already named species.

Under these circumstances, I do not hesitate to say that the collection is one of the most valuable in existence, and might, if properly worked out, become a large and secure foundation for all future investigation into the ichthyology of the Indian Ocean.

It would be very hazardous to express an opinion as to the novelty or otherwise of the species and genera figured without the study of the specimens themselves, as the specific distinctions of fish are for the most part based upon character; the fin-rays, teeth, the operculum, &c., which can only be made out by close and careful examination of the object, and cannot be represented in ordinary drawings however accurate.

There are certain groups of fish, however, whose family traits are so marked as to render it almost impossible to mistake even their portraits, and hence I may venture, without fear of being far wrong, upon a few remarks as to the general features of the ichthyological fauna of Ceylon.

In our own seas rather less than a tenth of the species of fishes belong to the cod tribe. I have not found one represented in these drawings, nor do either Russell or Cantor mention any in the surrounding seas, and the result is in general harmony with the known laws of distribution of these most useful of fishes.

On the other hand, the mackerel family, including the tunnies, the bonitos, the dories, the horse-mackerels, &c., which form not more than one sixteenth of our own fish fauna, but which are known to increase their proportion in hot climates, appear in wonderful variety of form and colour, and constitute not less than one fifth of the whole of the species of Ceylon fish. In Russell's catalogue they form less than one fifth, in Cantor's less than one sixth.

Marine and other siluroid fishes, a group represented on the continent of Europe, but doubtfully, if at all, in this country, constitute one twentieth of the Ceylon fishes. In Russell's and Cantor's lists they form about one thirtieth of the whole.

The sharks and rays form about one seventh of our own fish fauna. They constitute about one tenth or one eleventh of Russell and Cantor's lists, while among these Ceylon drawings I find not more than twenty, or about one thirtieth of the whole, which can be referred to this group of fishes. It must be extremely interesting to know whether this circumstance is owing to accident, or to the local peculiarities of Colombo, or whether the fauna of Ceylon really is deficient in such fishes.

The like exceptional character is to be noticed in the proportion of the tribe of flat fishes, or _Pleuronectidæ_. Soles, turbots, and the like, form nearly one twelfth of our own fishes. Both Cantor and Russell give the flat fishes as making one twenty-second part of their collection, while in the whole 600 Ceylon drawings I can find but five _Pleuronectidæ_.

When this great collection has been carefully studied, I doubt not that many more interesting distributional facts will be evolved.

* * * * *

Since receiving this note from Professor Huxley, the drawings in question have been submitted to Dr. Gray, of the British Museum, and that eminent naturalist, after a careful analysis, has favoured me with the following memorandum of the fishes they exhibit, numerically contrasting them with those of China and Japan, so far as we are acquainted with the ichthyology of those seas:--

Cartilaginea. China and Ceylon Japan.

Squali 12 15 Raiæ 19 20 Sturiones 0 1

Ostinopterygii.

Plectognathi. tetraodontidæ 10 21 balistidæ 9 19 Lophobranchii syngnathidæ 2 2 pegasidæ 0 3 Ctenobranchii lophidæ 1 3 Cyclopodii. echeneidæ 0 1 cyclopteridæ 0 1 gobidæ 7 35

China and Ceylon Japan.

Percini. callionymidæ 0 7 uranoscopidæ 0 7 cottidæ 0 13 triglidæ 11 37 polynemidæ 12 3 mullidæ 1 7 percidæ 26 12 berycidæ 0 5 sillaginidæ 3 1 sciænidæ 19 13 hæmulinidæ 6 12 serranidæ 31 38 theraponidæ 8 20 cirrhitidæ 0 2 mænidiæ 37 25 sparidæ 16 17 acanthuridæ 14 6 chætodontidæ 25 21 fistularidæ 2 3 Periodopharyngi. mugilidæ 5 7 anabantidæ 6 15 pomacentridæ 10 11 Pharyngognathi. labridæ 16 35 scomberesocidæ 13 6 blenniidæ 3 8 Scomberina. zeidæ 0 2 sphyrænidæ 5 4 scomberidæ 118 62 xiphiidæ 0 1 cepolidæ 0 5 Heterosomata. platessoideæ 5 22 siluridæ 31 24 cyprinidæ 19 52 scopelinidæ 2 7 salmonidæ 0 1 clupeidæ 43 22 gadidæ 0 2 macruridæ 1 0 Apodes. anguillidæ 8 12 murænidæ 8 6 sphagebranchidæ 8 10

CHAP. V.

CONCHOLOGY, ETC.

I. THE SHELLS OF CEYLON.

Allusion has been made elsewhere to the profusion and variety of shells which abound in the seas and inland waters of Ceylon[1], and to the habits of the Moormen, who monopolise the trade of collecting and arranging them in satin-wood cabinets for transmission to Europe. But, although naturalists have long been familiar with the marine testacea of this island, no successful attempt has yet been made to form a classified catalogue of the species; and I am indebted to the eminent conchologist, Mr. Sylvanus Hanley, for the list which accompanies this notice of those found in the island.

[Footnote 1: See Vol. II. P. ix. ch. v.]

In drawing it up, Mr. Hanley observes that he found it a task of more difficulty than would at first be surmised, owing to the almost total absence of reliable data from which to construct it. Three sources were available: collections formed by resident naturalists, the contents of the well-known satin-wood boxes prepared at Trincomalie, and the laborious elimination of locality from the habitats ascribed to all the known species in the multitude of works on conchology in general.

But, unfortunately, the first resource proved fallacious. There is no large collection in this country composed exclusively of Ceylon shells. And the very few cabinets rich in the marine treasures of the island having been filled as much by purchase as by personal exertion, there is an absence of the requisite confidence that all professing to be Singhalese have been actually captured in the island and its waters.

The cabinets arranged by the native dealers, though professing to contain the productions of Ceylon, include shells which have been obtained from other islands in the Indian seas; and books, probably from these very facts, are either obscure or deceptive. The old writers content themselves with assigning to any particular shell the too-comprehensive habitat of "the Indian Ocean," and seldom discriminate between a specimen from Ceylon and one from the Eastern Archipelago or Hindustan. In a very few instances, Ceylon has been indicated with precision as the habitat of particular shells, but even here the views of specific essentials adopted by modern conchologists, and the subdivisions established in consequence, leave us in doubt for which of the described forms the collective locality should be retained.

Valuable notices of Ceylon shells are to be found in detached papers, in periodicals, and in the scientific surveys of exploring voyages. The authentic facts embodied in the monographs of Reeve, Kuster, Sowerby, and Kienn, have greatly enlarged the knowledge of the marine testacea; and the land and fresh-water mollusca have been similarly illustrated by the contributions of Benson and Layard in the _Annals of Natural History_.

The dredge has been used but only in a few insulated spots along the coasts of Ceylon; European explorers have been rare; and the natives, anxious only to secure the showy and saleable shells of the sea, have neglected the less attractive ones of the land and the lakes. Hence Mr. Hanley finds it necessary to premise that the list appended, although the result of infinite labour and research, is less satisfactory than could have been wished. "It is offered," he says, "with diffidence, not pretending to the merit of completeness as a shell-fauna of the island, but rather as a form, which the zeal of other collectors may hereafter elaborate and fill up."

Looking at the little that has yet been done, compared with the vast and almost untried field which invites explorers, an assiduous collector may quadruple the species hitherto described. The minute shells especially may be said to be unknown; a vigilant examination of the corals and excrescences upon the spondyli and pearl-oysters would signally increase our knowledge of the Rissoæ, Chemnitziæ, and other perforating testacea, whilst the dredge from the deep water will astonish the amateur by the wholly new forms it can scarcely fail to display.

Dr. Kelaart, an indefatigable observer, has recently undertaken to investigate the Nudibranchiata, Inferobranchiata, and Tectibranchiata; and a recently-received report from him, in the Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, in which he has described fifty-six species,--thirty-three belonging to the genus Doris alone--gives ample evidence of what may be expected from the researches of a naturalist of his acquirements and industry.

_List of Ceylon Shells._

The arrangement here adopted is a modified Lamarckian one, very similar to that used by Reeve and Sowerby, and by MR. HANLEY, in his _Illustrated Catalogue of Recent Shells_.[1]

[Footnote 1: Below will be found a general reference to the Works or Papers in which are given descriptive notices of the shells contained in the following list; the names of the authors (in full or abbreviated) being, as usual, annexed to each species.

ADAMS, _Proceed. Zool. Soc._ 1853, 54, 56; _Thesaur. Conch._ ALBERS, _Zeitsch. Malakoz._ 1853. ANTON, _Wiegm. Arch. Nat._ 1837; _Verzeichn. Conch._ BECK in _Pfeiffer, Symbol. Helic._ BENSON, _Ann. Nat. Hist._ vii. 1851; xii. 1853; xviii. 1856. BLAINVILLE, _Dict. Sc. Nat.; Nouv. Ann. Mus. Hist. Nat._ i. BOLTEN, _Mus._ BORN, _Test. Mus. Cæs. Vind._ BRODERIP, _Zool. Journ._ i. iii. BRUGUIDRE, _Ency. Méthod. Vers._ CARPENTER, _Proc. Zool. Soc._ 1856. CHEMNITZ, _Conch. Cab._ CHENU, _Illus. Conch._ DESHAYES, _Encyc. Méth. Vers.; Mag. Zool._ 1831; _Voy. Belanger; Edit. Lam. An. s. Vert.; Proceed. Zool. Soc._ 1853, 54, 55. DILLWYN, _Descr. Cat. Shells._ DOHRN, _Proc. Zool. Soc._ 1857, 58; _Malak. Blatter; Land and Fluviatile Shells of Ceylon._ DUCLOS, _Monog. of Oliva_. FABRICIUS, _in Pfeiffer Monog. Helic.; in Dohrn's MSS._ FÉRUSSAC, _Hist. Mollusques._ FORSKÄL, _Anim. Orient._ GMELIN, _Syst. Nat_. GRAY, _Proc. Zool. Soc._ 1834, 52; _Index Testaceologicus Suppl.; Spicilegia Zool.; Zool. Journ._ i.; _Zool. Beechey Voy_. GRATELOUP, _Act. Linn. Bourdeaux_, xi. GUERIN, _Rev. Zool_. 1847. HANLEY, _Thesaur. Conch_. i.; _Recent Bivalves; Proc. Zool. Soc_. 1858. HINDS, _Zool. Voy. Sulphur; Proc. Zool. Soc_. HUTTON, _Journ. As. Soc_. KARSTEN, _Mus. Lesk_. KIENER, _Coquilles Vivantes_. KRAUSS, _Sud-Afrik Mollusk_. LAMARCK, _An. sans Vertéb_. LAYARD, _Proc. Zool. Soc_. 1854. LEA, _Proceed. Zool. Soc_. 1850, LINNÆUS, _Syst. Nat_. MARTINI, _Conch. Cab_. MAWE, _Introd. Linn. Conch.; Index. Test. Suppl_. MEUSCHEN, in _Gronov. Zoophylac_. MENKE, _Synop. Mollus_. MULLER, _Hist. Verm. Terrest_. PETIT, _Pro. Zool. Soc_. 1842. PFEIFFER, _Monog. Helic.; Monog. Pneumon.; Proceed. Zool. Soc_. 1852, 53, 54, 55, 56 _Zeitschr. Malacoz_. 1853. PHILIPPI, _Zeitsch. Mal_. 1846, 47; _Abbild. Neuer Conch_. POTIEZ et MICHAUD, _Galerie Douai_. RANG, _Mag. Zool_. ser. i. p. 100. RÉCLUZ, _Proceed. Zool. Soc_. 1845; _Revue Zool. Cuv_.1841; _Mag. Conch_. REEVE, _Conch. Icon.; Proc. Zool. Soc_. 1842, 52. SCHUMACHER, _Syst_. SHUTTLEWORTH. SOLANDER, in _Dillwyn's Desc. Cat. Shells_. SOWERBY, _Genera Shells; Species Conch.; Conch. Misc.; Thesaur. Conch.; Conch. Illus.; Proc. Zool. Soc.; App. to Tankerville Cat_. SPENGLER, _Skrivt. Nat. Selsk. Kiobenhav_. 1792. SWAINSON, _Zool. Illust_. ser. ii. TEMPLETON, _Ann. Nat. Hist_. 1858. TROSCHEL, in _Pfeiffer, Mon. Pneum; Zeitschr. Malak_. 1847; _Weigm. Arch. Nat_. 1837. WOOD, _General Conch_.]

Aspergillum Javanum, _Brug._ Enc. Mét. sparsum, _Sowerby_, Gen. Shells.[1] clavatum, _Chenu_, Illust. Conch. Teredo nucivorus, _Spengl_. Skr. Nat. Sels.[2] Solen truncatus, _Wood_, Gen. Conch. linearis, _Wood_, Gen. Conch. cultellus, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. radiatus, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. Anatina subrostrata, _Lamarck_, Anim. s. Vert. Anatinella Nicobarica, _Gm_. Syst. Nat. Lutraria Egyptiaca, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab. Blainvillea vitrea, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab.[3] Scrobicularia angulata, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab.[4] Mactra complanata, _Deshayes_, Proc. Zool. Soc.[5] tumida, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab. antiquata, _Reeve_ (as of _Spengler_), Conch. Icon. cygnea, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab. Corbiculoides, _Deshayes_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854. Mesodesma Layardi, _Deshayes_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854. striata, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab.[6] Crassatella rostrata, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. sulcata, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. Amphidesma duplicatum, _Sowerby_. Species Conch. Pandora Ceylonica, _Sowerby_, Conch. Mis. Galeomma Layardi. _Deshayes_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1856. Kellia peculiaris, _Adams_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1856. Petricola cultellus, _Deshayes_ Proc. Zool. Soc. 1853. Sanguinolaria rosea, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. Psammobia rostrata, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. occidens, _Gm_. Systema Naturæ. Skinneri, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon.[7] Layardi, _Desh_. P.Z. Soc. 1854. lunulata, _Desh_. P.Z. Soc. 1854. amethystus, _Wood_, Gen. Conch.[8] rugosa, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert.[9] Tellina virgata, _Linn_. Syst. Nat.[10] rugosa, _Born_. Test. Mus. Cæs. Vind. ostracea, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. ala, _Hanley_, Thesaur. Conch. i. inæqualis, _Hanley_, Thesaur. Conch. i. Layardi, _Deshayes_, P.Z. Soc. 1854. callosa, _Deshayes_, P.Z. Soc. 1854. rubra, _Deshayes_, P.Z. Soc. 1854. abbreviata, _Deshayes_, P.Z. Soc. 1854. foliacea, _Linn_. Systema Naturæ. lingua-felis, _Linn_. Systema Naturæ, vulsella, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab.[11] Lucina interrupta, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert.[12] Layardi, _Deshayes_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1855. Donax scortum, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. cuneata, _Linn_. Syst, Nat. faba, _Chem_. Conch. Cab. spinosa, _Gm_. Syst. Nat. paxillus, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. Cyrena Ceylanica, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab. Tennentii, _Hanley_, P. Z. Soc. 1858. Cytherea Erycina, _Linn_. Syst. Nat.[13] meretrix, _Linn_. Syst. Nat.[14] castanea, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. castrensis, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. casta, _Gm_. Syst. Nat. costata, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab. læta, _Gm_. Syst. Nat. trimaculata, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. Hebræa, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. rugifera, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. scripta, _Linn_. Syst. Nat gibbia, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. Meroe, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. testudinalis, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. seminuda, _Anton_. Wiegm. Arch. Nat. 1837. Cytherea seminuda, _Anton._[15] Venus reticulata, _Linn_. Syst. Nat.[16] pinguis, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab. recens, _Philippi_, Abbild. Neuer Conch. thiara, _Dillw_. Descriptive Cat. Shells. Malabarica, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab. Bruguieri, _Hanley_, Recent Bivalves, papilionacea, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. Indica, _Sowerby_, Thesaur. Conch. ii. inflata, _Deshayes_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1853.[17] Ceylonensis, _Sowerby_, Thes. Conch. ii. literata, _Linn_. Systema Naturæ, textrix, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab.[18] Cardium unedo, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. maculosum, _Wood_, Gen. Con. leucostomum, _Born_. Test. Mus. Cæs. Vind. rugosum, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. biradiatum, _Bruguiere_, Encyc. Méth. Vers. attenuatum, _Sowerby_, Conch. Illust. enode, _Sowerby_, Conch Illust. papyraceum, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab. ringiculum, _Sowerby_, Conch. Illust. subrugosum, _Sowerby_, Conch. Illust. latum, _Born_, Test. Mus. Cæs. Vind. Asiaticum, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab. Cardita variegata, _Bruguiere_, Encyc. Méthod. Vers. bicolor, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. Arca rhombea, _Born_, Test. Mus. vellicata, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. cruciata, _Philippi_, Ab. Neuer Conch. decussata, _Reeve_ (as of Sowerby), Conch. Icon.[19] scapha, _Meuschen_, in Gronov. Zoo. Pectunculus nodosus, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. pectiniformis, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. Nucula mitralis, _Hinds_, Zool. voy. Sul. Layardi, _Adams_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1856. Nucula Mauritii (_Hanley_ as of _Hinds_), Recent Bivalves. Unio corrugatus, _Müller_, Hist. Verm Ter.[20] marginalis, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. Lithodomus cinnamoneus, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. Mytilus viridis, _Linn_. Syst. Nat.[21] bilocularis, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. Pinna inflata, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab. cancellata, _Mawe_, Intr. Lin. Conch. Malleus vulgaris, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. albus, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. Meleagrina margaritifera, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. vexillum, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon.[22] Avicula macroptera, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. Lima squamosa, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. Pecten plica, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. radula, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. pleuronectes, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. pallium, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. senator, _Gm_. Syst. Nat. histrionicus, _Gm_, Syst. Nat. Indicus, _Deshayes_, Voyage Belanger. Layardi, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. Spondylus Layardi, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon, candidus, _Reeve_ (as of _Lam_.) Conch. Icon. Ostrea hyotis, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. glaucina, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. Mytiloides, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert, cucullata? var. _Born_. Test. Mus Vind.[23] Vulsella Pholadiformis, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. (immature). Placuna placenta, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. Lingula anatina, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. Hyalæa tridentata, _For_. Anim. Orient.[24] Chiton, 2 species (_Layard_). Patella Reynaudii, _Deshayes_, Voy. Be. testudinaria, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. Emarginula fissurata, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab.[25] _Lam_. Calyptræa (Crucibulum) violascens, _Carpenter_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1856. Dentalium octogonum, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert aprinum, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. Bulla soluta, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab.[26] vexillum, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab. Bruguieri, _Adams_, Thes. Conch. elongata, _Adams_, Thes. Conch. ampulla, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. Lamellaria (as Marsenia Indica, _Leach_. in Brit. Mus.) allied to L. Mauritiana, if not it. Vaginula maculata, _Templ_. An. Nat. Limax, 2 sp. Parmacella Tennentii, _Templ_.[27] Vitrina irradians, _Pfeiffer_, Hon. Helic. Edgariana, _Benson_, Ann. Nat. Hist. 1853 (xii.) membranacea, _Benson_, Annal. Nat. Hist. 1853 (xii.) Helix hæmastoma, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. vittata, _Müller_, Vermium Terrestrium. bistrialis, _Beck_, in Pfeiffer, Symbol. Helic. Tranquebarica, _Fabricius_, in _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. Juliana, _Gray_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1834. Waltoni, _Reeve_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1842. Skinneri, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon, vii. corylus, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. vii. umbrina, (_Reeve_, as of _Pfeiff_.), Conch. Icon. vii. fallaciosa, _Férassac_ Hist. Mollus. Rivolii, _Deshayes_, Enc. Méth. Vers. ii. Charpentieri, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. erronea, _Albers, Zeitschr_. Mal. 1853. carneola, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. convexiuscula, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. ganoma, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. Chenui, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. semidecussata, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. phoenix, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. superba, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. Ceylanica, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. Gardneri, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. coriaria, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. Layardi, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. concavospira, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. novella, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. verrucula, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. hyphasma, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. Emiliana, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. Woodiana, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. partita, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. biciliata, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. Isabellina, _Pfeiff_. Proc. Zool. Soc. trifilosa, _Pfeiff_. Proc. Zool Soc. 1854. politissima, _Pfeiff_. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854. Thwaitesii, _Pfeiff_. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854. nepos, _Pfeiff_. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1855. subopaca, _Pfeiff_. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1853. subconoidea, _Pfeiff_. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854. ceraria. _Benson_, Annals Nat. Hist. 1853 (xii.) vilipensa, _Benson_, Ann. Nat. Hist. 1853 (xii.) perfucata, _Benson_, Ann. Nat. Hist. 1853 (xii.) puteolus, _Benson_, Ann. Nat. Hist. 1853 (xii.) mononema, _Benson_, Ann. Nat. Hist. 1853 (xii.) marcida, _Benson_, Ann. Nat. Hist. 1853 (xii.) galerus, _Benson_, Ann. Nat. Hist. 1856 (xviii.) albizonata, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1858. Nietneri, _Dohrn_, MS.[28] Grevillei, _Pfeiff_. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1856. Streptaxis Layardi, _Pfeiff._ Mon. Helic. Cingalensis, _Pfeiff._ Monog. Helic. Pupa muscerda, _Benson_, Annals Nat. Hist. 1853 (xii.) mimula, _Benson_, Ann. Nat Hist. 1856 (xviii.) Ceylanica, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. Bulimus trifasciatus, _Brug_. Encycl. Méth. Vers. pullus, _Gray._ Proc. Zool. Soc. 1834. gracilis, _Hutton_, Journ. Asiat. Soc. iii. punctatus, _Anton_, Verzeichn. Conch. Ceylanicus, _Pfeiff_. (? lævis, _Gray_, in Index Testaceologicus.) adumbratus, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. intermedius, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. proletarius, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. albizonatus, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. mavortius, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. fuscoventris, _Benson_, Ann. Nat. Hist. 1856 (xviii.) rufopictus, _Benson_, Ann. Nat. Hist. 1856 (xviii.) panos, _Benson_, Ann. Nat. Hist. 1853 (xii.) Achatina nitens, _Gray_, Spicilegia Zool. inornata, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. capillacea, _Pfeiff_. Monog, Helic. Ceylanica, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. Punctogallana, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. pachycheila, _Benson_. veruina, _Bens_. Ann. Nat. Hist. 1853 (xii.) parabilis, _Bens_. Ann. Nat. Hist 1856 (xviii.) Succinea Ceylanica, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. Auricula Ceylanica, _Adams_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854.[29] Ceylanica, _Petit_, Proc. Zool Soc. 1842.[30] Layardi, _Adams_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854.[31] pellucens, _Menke_, Synopsis Moll. Pythia Ceylanica, _Pfeiff_. Zeitschr. Malacoz. 1853. ovata, _Pfeiff_. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854. Truncatella Ceylanica, _Pfeiff_ Proc. Zool. Soc. 1856. Cyclostoma (_Cyclophorus_) Ceylanicum, _Sowerby_, Thes. Conch. involvulum, _Müller_, Verm. Terrest. Menkeanum, _Philippi_, Zeitsch. Mal. 1847. punctatum, _Grateloup_. Act. Lin. Bordeaux (xi.) Loxostoma, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Pneumon. alabastrum, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Pneumon. Bairdii, _Pfeiff_. Monog Pneumon. Thwaitesii, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Pneumon. annulatum, _Troschel_, in Pfeiff. Mon. Pneumon. parapsis, _Bens_. Ann. Nat. Hist 1853 (xii.) parma, _Bens_. Ann. Nat Hist. 1856 (xviii.) cratera, _Bens_. Ann. Nat. Hist 1856 (xviii.) (_Leptopoma_) halophilum, _Benson_, Ann. Nat. Hist. (ser. 2. vii.) 1851. orophilum, _Bens_. Annals Nat. Hist. (ser. 2. xi.) apicatum, _Bens_. Ann. Nat Hist 1856 (xviii.) conulus, _Pfeiff_. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854. flammeum, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Pneumon. semiclausum, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Pneumon. poecilum, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Pneumon. elatum, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Pneumon. Cyclostoma _(Aulopoma)_. Itieri, _Guérin_, Rev. Zool. 1847. helicinum, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab. Hoffmeisteri, _Troschel_, Zeitschr. Mal. 1847. grande, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Pneumon. spheroideum, _Dohrn_, Malak. Blätter. (?) gradatum, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Pneum. Cyclostoma (_Pterocyclos_). Cingalense, _Bens_. Ann. Nat Hist. (ser. 2. xi.) Troscheli, _Bens_. Ann. Nat. Hist 1851. Cumingii, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Pneumon. bifrons, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Pneumon. Cataulus Templemani, _Pfeiff_. Mon. Pneu. eurytrema, _Pfeiff_. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1852. marginatus, _Pfeiff_. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1853. duplicatus, _Pfeiff_. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854. aureus, _Pfeiff._ Proc. Zool. Soc. 1855. Layardi, _Gray_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1852. Austenianus _Bens._ Ann. Nat. Hist. 1853 (xii.) Thwaitesii, _Pfeiff_. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1852. Cumingii, _Pfeiff_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1856. decorus, _Bens_. Ann. Nat. Hist. 1853. hæmastoma, _Pfeiff_. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1856. Planorbis Coromandelianus, _Fabric_, in _Dorhrn's_ MS. Stelzeneri, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1858. elegantulus, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1858. Limnæa tigrina, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1858. pinguis, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1858. Melania tuberculata, _Müller_, Verm. Ter.[32] spinulosa, _Lam._ Anim. s. Vert. corrugata, _Lam._ Anim. s. Vert. rudis, _Lea_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1850. acanthica, _Lea_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1850. Zeylanica, _Lea_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1850. confusa, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1858. datura, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1858. Layardi, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1858. Paludomus abbreviatus, _Reeve_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1852. clavatus, _Reeve_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1852. dilatatus, _Reeve_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1852. globulosus, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. decussatus, _Reeve_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1852. nigricans, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. constrictus, _Reeve_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1852. bicinctus, _Reeve_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1852. phasianinus, _Reeve_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1852. lævis, _Layard_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854. palustris, _Layard_, Proc. Zool. So. 1854. fulguratus, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. So. 1857. nasutus, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1857. sphæricus, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. So. 1857. solidus, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1857. distinguendus, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1857. Cumingianus, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1857. dromedarius, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1857. Skinneri, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1857. Swainsoni, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. So. 1857. nodulosus, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. So. 1857. Paludomus (_Tanalia_). loricatus, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. erinaceus, _Reeve_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1852. æreus, _Reeve_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1852. Layardi, _Reeve_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1852. undatus, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. Gardneri, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. Tennentii, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. Reevei, _Layard_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854. violaceus, _Layard_, Proc. Zool. So. 1854. similis, _Layard_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854. funiculatus, _Layard_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854. Paludomus (_Philopotamis_). sulcatus, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. regalis, _Layard_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854. Thwaitesii, _Layard_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854. Pirena atra, _Linn_. Systema Naturæ. Paludina melanostoma, _Bens_. Ceylanica, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. So. 1857. Bythinia stenothyroides, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1857. modesta, _Dohrn_, MS. inconspicua, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1857. Ampullaria Layardi, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. moesta, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. cinerea, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. Woodwardi, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1858. Tischbeini, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1858. carinata, _Swainson_, Zool. Illus ser. 2 paludinoides, Cat. _Cristofori & Jan._[33] Malabarica, _Philippi_, in Kust. ed. Chem.[33] Luzonica, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon.[33] Sumatrensis, _Philippi_, in Kust. ed. Chem.[33] Navicella eximia, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon, reticulata, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. Livesayi, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1858. squamata, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. So. 1858. depressa, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. Neritina crepidularia, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. melanostoma, _Troschel_, Wiegm. Arch. Nat. 1837. triserialis, _Sowerby_, Conch. Illustr. Colombaria, _Recluz_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1845. Perottetiana, _Recluz_, Revue Zool. Cuvier, 1841. Ceylanensis, _Recluz_, Mag. Conch. 1851. Layardi, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. rostrata, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. reticulata, _Sowerby_, Conch. Illustr. Nerita plicata, _Linn_. Systema Naturæ. costata, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab. plexa, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab.[34] Natica aurantia, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. mammilla, _Linn_. Systema Naturæ. picta, _Reeve (as of Recluz)_, Conch. Icon. arachnoidea, _Gm_. Systema Naturæ. lineata, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. adusta, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab f. 1926-7, and _Karsten_.[35] pellis-tigrina, _Karsten_, Mus. Lesk.[36] didyma, _Bolten_, Mus.[37] Ianthina prolongata, _Blainv._, Diction. Sciences Nat. xxiv. communis, _Krauss_, (as of _Lamarck_ in part) Sud-Afrik. Mollusk. Sigaretus. A species (possibly Javanicus) is known to have been collected. I have not seen it. Stomatella calliostoma, _Adams_, Thesaur. Conch Holiotis varia, _Linn._ Systema Naturæ. striata, _Martini_ (as of _Linn._), Conch. Cab. i. semistriata, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. Tornatella solidula, _Linn._ Systema Nat. Pyramidella maculosa, _Lam._, Anim. s. Vert. Eulima Martini, _Adams_, Thes. Conch. ii. Siliquaria muricata, _Born_, Test. Mus. Cæs. Vind. Scalaria raricostata, _Lam._, Anim. s. Vert. Delphinula laciniata, _Lam._, Anim. s. Vert. distorta, _Linn._, Syst. Nat.[38] Solarium perdix, _Hinds._, Proc. Zool. Soc. Layardi, _Adams_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854.[39] Rotella vestiaria, _Linn._, Syst. Nat. Phorus pallidulus, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. i. Trochus elegantulus, _Gray_, Index Tes. Suppl. Niloticus, _Linn._ Syst. Nat. Monodonta labio, _Linn._ Syst. Nat. canaliculata, _Lam._ Anim. s. Vert. Turbo versicolor, _Gm._ Syst. Nat. princeps, _Philippi_.[40] Planaxis undulatus, _Lam._ Anim. s. Vert.[41] Littorina angulifera, _Lam._ Anim. s. Vert. melanostoma, _Gray_, Zool., Beech. Chemnitzia trilineata, _Adams_, Proc. Zool Soc. 1853.. lirata, _Adams_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1853. Phasianella lineolata, _Gray_, Index Test. Suppl. Turritella bacillum, _Kiener_, Coquilles Vivantes. columnaris, _Kiener_, Coquilles Vivantes. duplicata, _Linn._ Syst. Nat. attenuata, _Reeve_, Syst. Nat. Cerithium fluviatile, _Potiez & Michaud_, Galerie Douai. Layardi (Cerithidea), _Adams_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854. aluco, _Linn._ Syst. Nat. asperum, _Linn._ Syst. Nat. telescopium, _Linn._ Syst. Nat. palustre obeliscus, _Linn._ Syst. Nat. fasciatum, _Brug._, Encycl. Méth. Vers rubus, _Sowerby_ (as of _Martyn_), Thes. Conch. ii. Sowerbyi, _Kiener_, Coquilles Vivantes (teste Sir E. Tennent). Pleurotoma Indica, _Deshayes_, Voyage Belanger. virgo, _Lam._ Anim. s. Vert. Turbinella pyrum, _Linn._ Syst. Nat. rapa, _Lam._ Anim. s. Vert. (the Chank.) cornigera, _Lam._ Anim. s. Vert. spirillus, _Linn._ Syst. Nat. Cancellaria trigonostoma, _Lam._ Anim. s. Vert.[43] scalata, _Sowerby_, Thesaur. Conch. articularis, _Sowerby_, Thesaur, Conch. Littoriniformis, _Sowerby_, Thes. Conch. contabulata, _Sowerby_, Thes. Conch. Fasciolaria filamentosa, _Lam._ Anim. s. Vert. trapezium, _Linn._ Syst. Nat. Fusus longissimus, _Lam._ Anim. s. Vert. colus, _Linn._ Mus. Lud. Ulricæ. toreuma, _Deshayes_, (as Murex t. _Martyn_). ed. _Lam._ Amin. s. Vert. laticostatus, _Deshayes_, Magas. Zool. 1831. Blosvillei, _Deshayes_, Encyl. Méthod. Vers., ii. Pyrula rapa, _Linn._ Syst. Nat.[44] citrina, _Lam._ Anim. s. Vert. pugilina, _Born_, Test. Mus. Vind.[45] ficus, _Linn._ Syst. Nat. ficoides, _Lam._ Anim. s. Vert. Ranella crumena, _Lam._ Anim. s. Vert. spinosa, _Lam._ Anim. s. Vert. rana, _Linn._ Syst. Nat.[46] margaritula, _Deshayes_, Voy. Belanger. Murex haustellum, _Linn._ Syst. Nat. adustus, _Lam._ Anim. s. Vert. microphyllus, _Lam._ Anim. s. Vert. anguliferus, _Lam._ Anim. s. Vert. palmarosæ, _Lam._ Anim. s. Vert. ternispina, _Kiener_, (as of _Lam._), Coquilles Vivantes. tenuispina, _Lam._ Anim. s. Vert. ferrugo, _Mawe_, Index. Test. Suppl.[47] Reeveanus, _Shuttleworth_, (teste _Cuming_) Triton anus, _Linn_, Syst. Nat.[48] mulus, _Dillwyn_, Descript. Cat. Shells. retusus, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. pyrum, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. clavator, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab. Ceylonensis, _Sowerby_, Proc. Zool. Soc. lotorium, _Lam_. (not _Linn_.) Anim. s. Vert. lampas, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. Pterocera lambis, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. millepeda, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. Strombus canarium, _Linn_. Syst. Nat.[49] succinctus, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. fasciatus, _Born_, Test. Mus. Cæs. Vind. Sibbaldii, _Sowerby_, Thesaur. Conch. t. lentiginosus, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. marginatus, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. Lamarckii, _Sowerby_, Thesaur. Conch. Cassis glauca, _Linn_. Syst. Nat.[50] canaliculata, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. Zeylanica, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. areola, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. Ricinula alboiabris, _Blainv_. Nouv. Ann. Mus. H. N. i.[51] horrida, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. morus, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. Purpura fiscella, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab. Persica, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. hystrix, _Lam_. (not _Linn_.) Anim. s. Vert. granatina, _Deshayes_, Voy. Belanger. mancinella, _Lam_. (as of _Linn_.) Anim. s. Vert. bufo, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. carinifera, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. Harpa conoidalis, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. minor, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. Dolium pomum, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. olearium, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. perdix, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. maculatum, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. Nassa ornata, _Kiener_, Coq. Vivantes.[52] verrucosa, _Brug_. Encycl. Méth. Vers. crenulata, _Brug_. Encycl. Méth. Vers. olivacea, _Brug_. Encycl. Méth. Vers. glans, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. arcularia, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. papillosa, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. Phos virgatus, _Hinds_, Zool. Sul. Moll. retecosus, _Hinds_, Zool. Sulphur, Moll. senticosus, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. Buccinum melanostoma, _Sowerly_, App. to Tankerv. Cat. erythrostoma, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. Proteus, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. rubiginosum, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. Eburna spirata, _Linn_. Syst. Nat.[53] canaliculata, _Schumacher_, Sys. Anim. s. Vert.[54] Ceylanica, _Bruguiere_, En. Méth. Vers. Bullia vittata, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. lineolata, _Sowerby_, Tankerv. Cat.[55] Melanoides, _Deshayes_, Voy. Belan Terebra chlorata, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. muscaria, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. lævigata, _Gray_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1834. maculata, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. subulata, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. concinna, _Deshayes_, ed. _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. myurus, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. tigrina, _Gm_. Syst. Nat. Cerithina, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. Columbella flavida, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. fulgurans, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. mendicaria, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. scripta, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert.(teste _Jay_). Mitra episcopalis, _Dillwyn_, Descript. Cat. Shells. cardinalis, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. crebrilirata, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. punctostriata, _Adams_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854. insculpta, _Adams_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854. Layard, _Adams_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854.[56] Voluta vexillum, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab. Lapponica, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. Melo Indicus, _Gm_. Syst. Nat. Marginella Sarda, _Kiener_, Coq. Vivantes. Ovulum ovum, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. verrucosum, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. pudicum, _Adams_, Proc. Zool Soc. 1854. Cypræa Argus, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. Arabica, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. Mauritiana, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. hirundo, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. Lynx, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. asellus, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. erosa, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. vitellus, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. stolida, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. mappa, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. helvola, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. errones, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. cribraria, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. globulus, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. clandestina, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. ocellata, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. caurica, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. tabescens, _Solander_, in Dillwyn Descr. Cat. Shells. gangrenosa, _Solander_, in Dillwyn Desc. Cat. Shells. interrupta, _Gray_, Zool. Journ. i. lentiginosa, _Gray_, Zool. Journ. i. pyriformis, _Gray_, Zool. Journ. i. nivosa, _Broderip_, Zool. Journ. iii. poraria, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. testudinaria, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. Terebellum subulatum, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. Ancillaria glabrata, _Linn_. Syst Nat. candida, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. Oliva Maura, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. erythrostoma, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert, gibbosa, _Born_, Test. Mus. Cæs.[57] nebulosa, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. Macleayana, _Duclos_, Monograph of Oliva. episcopalis, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert, elegans, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert, ispidula, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. (partly).[58] Zeilanica, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert, undata, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. frisans, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert, (teste _Duclos_). Conus miles, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. generalis, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. betulinus, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. stercus-muscarum, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. Hebræus, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. virgo, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. geographicus, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. aulicus, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. figulinus, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. striatus, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. senator, _Linn_. Syst. Nat.[58] literatus, _Linn_. Syst. Nat imperialis, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. textile, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. terebra, _Born_, Test. Mus. Cæs. Vind. tessellatus, _Born_, Test. Mus. Cæs. Vind. Augur, _Bruguiere_, Encycl. Méth. Vers. obesus, _Bruguiere_ Encycl. Méth. Vers. araneosus, _Brug_. Encycl. Méth. Vers. gubernator, _Brug_. Encycl. Méth. Vers. monile, _Brug_. Encycl. Méth. Vers. nimbosus, _Brug_. Encycl. Méth. Vers. eburneus, _Brug_. Encycl. Méth. Vers. vitulinus, _Brug_. Encycl. Méth. Vers. quercinus, _Brug_. Encycl. Méth. Vers. lividus, _Brug_. Encycl. Méth. Vers. Omaria, _Brug_. Encycl. Méth. Vers. Maldivus, _Brug_. Encycl. Méth. Vers. nocturnus, _Brug_. Encycl. Méth. Vers. Ceylonensis, _Brug_. Encycl. Méth. Vers. arenatus, _Brug_. Encycl. Méth. Vers. Nicobaricus, _Brug_. Encycl. Méth. Vers. glans, _Brug_. Encycl. Méth. Vers. Amadis, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab. punctatus, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab. minimus, _Reeve_ (as of _Linn_.), Conch. Icon. terminus, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. lineatus, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab. episcopus, _Brug_. Encycl. Méth. Vers. verriculum, _Reeve_, Conch. Cab. zonatus, _Brug_. Encycl. Méth. Vers. rattus, _Brug_. Encycl. Méth. Vers. (teste _Chemn_.) pertusus, _Brug_. Encycl. Méth. Vers. Nussatella, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. lithoglyphus, _Brug_. En. Méth. Vers.[59] tulipa, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. Ammiralis, _var. Linn,_ teste _Brug._ Spirula Peronii, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vett. Sepia Hieredda, _Rang_. Magas, Zool, ser. i. p. 100. Sepioteuthis, _Sp_. Loligo, _Sp_.

[Footnote 1: A. dichotomum, _Chenu_.]

[Footnote 2: Fistulana gregata, _Lam_.]

[Footnote 3: Blainvillea, _Hupé_.]

[Footnote 4: Latraria tellinoides, _Lam_.]

[Footnote 5: I have also seen M. hians of Philippi in a Ceylon collection.]

[Footnote 6: M. Taprobanensis, _Index Test. Suppl_.]

[Footnote 7: Psammotella Skinneri, _Reeve_.]

[Footnote 8: P. cærulescens, _Lam_.]

[Footnote 9: Sanguinolaria rugosa, _Lam_.]

[Footnote 10: T. striatula of Lamarck is also supposed to be indigenous to Ceylon.]

[Footnote 11: T. rostrata, _Lam_.]

[Footnote 12: L. divaricata is found, also, in mixed Ceylon collections.]

[Footnote 13: C. dispar of Chemnitz is occasionally found in Ceylon collections.]

[Footnote 14: C. impudica, _Lam_.]

[Footnote 15: As Donax.]

[Footnote 16: V. corbis, _Lam_.]

[Footnote 17: As Tapes.]

[Footnote 18: V. textile, _Lam_.]

[Footnote 19: ? Arca Helblingii, _Chemn_.]

[Footnote 20: Mr. Cuming informs me that he has forwarded no less than six distinct _Uniones_ from Ceylon to Isaac Lea of Philadelphia for determination or description.]

[Footnote 21: M. smaragdinus, _Chemn_.]

[Footnote 22: As Avicula.]

[Footnote 23: The specimens are not in a fitting state for positive determination. They are strong, extremely narrow, with the beak of the lower valve much produced, the inner edge of the upper valve denticulated throughout. The muscular impressions are dusky brown.]

[Footnote 24: An Anomia.]

[Footnote 25: The fissurata of Humphreys and Dacosta, pl. 4--E. rubra, _Lamarck_.]

[Footnote 26: B. Ceylanica, _Brug_.]

[Footnote 27: P. Tennentii. "Greyish brown, with longitudinal rows of rufous spots, forming interrupted bands along the sides. A singularly handsome species, having similar habits to _Limax_. Found in the valleys of the Kalany Ganga, near Ruanwellé."--_Templeton_ MSS.]

[Footnote 28: Not far from bistrialis and Ceylanica. The manuscript species of Mr. Dohrn will shortly appear in his intended work upon the land and fluviatile shells of Ceylon.]

[Footnote 29: As Ellobium.]

[Footnote 30: As Melampus.]

[Footnote 31: As Ophicardelis.]

[Footnote 32: M. fasciolata, _Olivier_.]

[Footnote 33: These four species are included on the authority of Mr. Dohrn.]

[Footnote 34: N. exuvia, _Lam_. not _Linn_.]

[Footnote 35: Conch. Cab. f. 1926-7, and N. melanostoma, _Lam_. in part.]

[Footnote 36: Chemn, Conch. Cab, 1892-3.]

[Footnote 37: N. glaucina, _Lam._ not _Linn._]

[Footnote 38: Not of _Lamarck_. D. atrata. _Reeve_.]

[Footnote 39: Philippia L.]

[Footnote 40: Zeit. Mal. 1846 for T. argyrostoma, _Lam._ not _Linn._]

[Footnote 41: Buccinum pyramidatum, _Gm._ in part: B. sulcatum, var. C. of _Brug_.]

[Footnote 42: Teste Cuming.]

[Footnote 43: As Delphinulat.]

[Footnote 44: P. papyracea, _Lam._ In mixed collections I have seen the Chinese P. bezoar of _Lamarck_ as from Ceylon.]

[Footnote 45: P. vespertilio, _Gm._]

[Footnote 46: R. albivaricosa, _Reeve_.]

[Footnote 47: M. anguliferus var. _Lam._]

[Footnote 48: T. cynocephalus of _Lamarck_ is also met with in Ceylon collections.]

[Footnote 49: S. incisus of the Index Testaceologicus (urceus, var. _Sow_. Thesaur.) is found in mixed Ceylon collections.]

[Footnote 50: C. plicaria of _Lamarck_, and C. coronulata of _Sowerby_, are also said to be found in Ceylon.]

[Footnote 51: As Purpura.]

[Footnote 52: N. suturalis, _Reeve_ (as of _Lam_.), is met with in mixed Ceylon collections.]

[Footnote 53: E. areolata _Lam_.]

[Footnote 54: E. spirata, _Lam_. not _Linn_.]

[Footnote 55: B Belangeri, _Kiener_.]

[Footnote 56: As Turricula L.]

[Footnote 57: 0. utriculus, _Dillwyn_.]

[Footnote 58: C. planorbis, _Born_; C, vulpinus, _Lam_.]

[Footnote 59: Conus ermineus, _Born_, in part.]

A conclusion not unworthy of observation may be deduced from this catalogue; namely, that Ceylon was the unknown, and hence unacknowledged, source of almost every extra-European shell which has been described by Linnæus without a recorded habitat. This fact gives to Ceylon specimens an importance which can only be appreciated by collectors and the students of Mollusca.

2 RADIATA.

The eastern seas are profusely stocked with radiated animals, but it is to be regretted that they have as yet received but little attention from English naturalists. Dr. Kelaart has, however, devoted himself to the investigation of some of the Singhalese species, and has given the fruits of his discoveries in the Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Asiatic Society for 1856-8. Our information respecting the radiata on the confines of the island is, therefore, very scanty; with the exception of the genera[1] examined by him. Hence the notice of this extensive class of animals must be limited to indicating a few of those which exhibit striking peculiarities, or which admit of the most common observation.

[Footnote 1: Actinia, 9 sp.: Anthea, 4 sp.; Actinodendron, 3 sp.; Dioscosoma, 1 sp.; Peechea, 1 sp.; Zoanthura, 1 sp.]

_Star Fish._--Very large species of _Ophiuridæ_ are to be met with at Trincomalie, crawling busily about, and insinuating their long serpentine arms into the irregularities and perforations in the rocks. To these they attach themselves with such a firm grasp, especially when they perceive that they have attracted attention, that it is next to impossible to procure unmutilated specimens without previously depriving them of life, or at least modifying their muscular tenacity. The upper surface is of a dark purple colour, and coarsely spined; the arms of the largest specimens are more than a foot in length, and very fragile.

The star fishes, with immovable rays[1], are not by any means rare; many kinds are brought up in the nets, or may be extracted from the stomachs of the larger market fish. One very large species[2], figured by Joinville in the manuscript volume in the library at the India House, is not uncommon; it has thick arms, from which and the disc numerous large fleshy cirrhi of a bright crimson colour project downwards, giving the creature a remarkable aspect. No description of it, so far as I am aware has appeared in any systematic work on zoology.

[Footnote 1: _Asterias_, Linn.]

[Footnote 2: _Pentaceros?_]

_Sea Slugs._--There are a few species of _Holothuriæ_, of which the trepang is the best known example. It is largely collected in the Gulf of Manaar, and dried in the sun to prepare it for export to China. A good description and figure of it are still desiderata.

_Parasitic Worms._--Of these entozoa, the _Filaria medinensis_, or guinea worm, which burrows in the cellular tissue under the skin, is well known in the north of the island, but rarely found in the damper districts of the south and west. In Ceylon, as elsewhere, the natives attribute its occurrence to drinking the waters of particular wells; but this belief is inconsistent with the fact that its lodgment in the human body is almost always effected just above the ankle, which shows that the minute parasites are transferred to the skin of the leg from the moist vegetation bordering the footpaths leading to wells. The creatures are at this period minute, and the process of insinuation is painless and imperceptible. It is only when they attain to considerable size, a foot or more in length, that the operation of extracting them is resorted to, when exercise may have given rise to inconvenience and inflammation.

_Planaria_.--In the journal above alluded to, Dr. Kelaart has given descriptions of fifteen species of planaria, and four of a new genus, instituted by him for the reception of those differing from the normal kinds by some peculiarities which they exhibit in common. At Point Pedro, Mr. Edgar Layard met with one on the bark of trees, after heavy rain, which would appear to belong to the subgenus _geoplana_.[1]

[Footnote 1: "A curious species, which is of a light brown above, white underneath; very broad and thin, and has a peculiarly shaped tail, half-moon-shaped, in fact, like a grocer's cheese knife."]

_Acalephæ_.--Acalephæ[1] are plentiful, so much so, indeed, that they occasionally tempt the larger cetacea into the Gulf of Manaar. In the calmer months of the year, when the sea is glassy, and for hours together undisturbed by a ripple, the minute descriptions are rendered perceptible by their beautiful prismatic tinting. So great is their transparency that they are only to be distinguished from the water by the return of the reflected light that glances from their delicate and polished surfaces. Less frequently they are traced by the faint hues of their tiny peduncles, arms, or tentaculæ; and it has been well observed that they often give the seas in which they abound the appearance of being crowded with flakes of half-melted snow. The larger kinds, when undisturbed in their native haunts, attain to considerable size. A faintly blue medusa, nearly a foot across, may be seen in the Gulf of Manaar, where, no doubt, others of still larger growth are to be found.

[Footnote 1: Jellyfish.]

The remaining orders, including the corals, madrepores, and other polypi, have yet to find a naturalist to undertake their investigation, but in all probability the species are not very numerous.

CHAP. VI

INSECTS.

Owing to the combination of heat, moisture, and vegetation, the myriads of insects in Ceylon form one of the characteristic features of the island. In the solitude of the forests there is a perpetual music from their soothing and melodious hum, which frequently swells to a startling sound as the cicada trills his sonorous drum on the sunny bark of some tall tree. At morning the dew hangs in diamond drops on the threads and gossamer which the spiders suspend across every pathway; and above the pool dragon flies, of more than metallic lustre, flash in the early sunbeams. The earth teems with countless ants, which emerge from beneath its surface, or make their devious highways to ascend to their nests in the trees. Lustrous beetles, with their golden elytra, bask on the leaves, whilst minuter species dash through the air in circles, which the ear can follow by the booming of their tiny wings. Butterflies of large size and gorgeous colouring flutter over the endless expanse of flowers, and frequently the extraordinary sight presents itself of flights of these delicate creatures, generally of a white or pale yellow hue, apparently miles in breadth, and of such prodigious extension as to occupy hours, and even days, uninterruptedly in their passage--whence coming no one knows; wither going no one can tell.[1] As day declines, the moths issue from their retreats, the crickets add their shrill voices to swell the din; and when darkness descends, the eye is charmed with the millions of emerald lamps lighted up by the fire-flies amidst the surrounding gloom.

[Footnote 1: The butterflies I have seen in these wonderful migrations in Ceylon were mostly _Callidryas Hilariæ, C. Alcmeone_, and _C. Pyranthe_, with straggling individuals of the genus _Euploea, E. Coras_, and _E. Prothoe_. Their passage took place in April and May, generally in a north-easterly direction.]

No attempt has as yet been made to describe the class systematically, much less to enumerate the prodigious number of species which abound in every locality. Occasional observers have, from time to time, contributed notices of particular families to the Scientific Associations of Europe, but their papers remain undigested, and the time has not yet arrived for the preparation of an Entomology of the island.

What Darwin remarks of the Coleoptera of Brazil is nearly as applicable to the same order of insects in Ceylon: "The number of minute and obscurely coloured beetles is exceedingly great; the cabinets of Europe can as yet, with partial exceptions, boast only of the larger species from tropical climates, and it is sufficient to disturb the composure of an entomologist to look forward to the future dimensions of a catalogue with any pretensions to completeness."[l]

[Footnote 1: _Nat. Journal_, p. 39.]

M. Neitner, a German entomologist, who has spent some years in Ceylon, has recently published, in one of the local periodicals, a series of papers on the Coleoptera of the island, in which every species introduced is stated to be previously undescribed.[1]

[Footnote 1: Republished in the _Ann. Nat. Hist_.]

COLEOPTERA.--_Buprestidoe; Golden Beetles_.--In the morning the herbaceous plants, especially on the eastern side of the island, are studded with these gorgeous beetles whose golden elytra[1] are used to enrich the embroidery of the Indian zenana, whilst the lustrous joints of the legs are strung on silken threads, and form necklaces and bracelets of singular brilliancy.

[Footnote 1: _Sternocera Chrysis; S. sternicornis_.]

These exquisite colours are not confined to one order, and some of the Elateridæ[1] and Lamellicorns exhibit hues of green and blue, that rival the deepest tints of the emerald and sapphire.

[Footnote 1: Of the family of _Elateridæ_, one of the finest is a Singhalese species, the _Compsosternus Templetonii_, of an exquisite golden green colour, with blue reflections (described and figured by Mr. WESTWOOD in his _Cabinet of Oriental Entomology_, pl. 35, f. 1). In the same work is figured another species of large size, also from Ceylon, this is the _Alaus sordidus_.--WESTWOOD, 1. c. pl. 35, f. 9.]

_Scavenger Beetles_.--Scavenger beetles[1] are to be seen wherever the presence of putrescent and offensive matter affords opportunity for the display of their repulsive but most curious instincts; fastening on it with eagerness, severing it into lumps proportionate to their strength, and rolling it along in search of some place sufficiently soft in which to bury it, after having deposited their eggs in the centre. I had frequent opportunities, especially in traversing the sandy jungles in the level plains to the north of the island, of observing the unfailing appearance of these creatures instantly on the dropping of horse dung, or any other substance suitable for their purpose; although not one was visible but a moment before. Their approach through the air is announced by a loud and joyous booming sound, as they dash in rapid circles in search of the desired object, led by their sense of smell, but evidently little assisted by the eye in shaping their course towards it. In these excursions they exhibit a strength of wing and sustained power of flight, such as is possessed by no other class of beetles with which I am acquainted, but which is obviously indispensable for the due performance of the useful functions they discharge.

[Footnote 1: _Ateuchus sacer; Copris sagax; C. capucinus_, &c. &c.]

_The Coco-nut Beetle._--In the luxuriant forests of Ceylon, the extensive family of Longicorns live in destructive abundance. Their ravages are painfully familiar to the coco-nut planters.[1] The larva of one species of large dimensions, _Batocera rubus_[2], called by the Singhalese "_Cooroominya_" makes its way into the stems of the younger trees, and after perforating them in all directions, it forms a cocoon of the gnawed wood and sawdust, in which it reposes during its sleep as a pupa, till the arrival of the period when it emerges as a perfect beetle. Notwithstanding the repulsive aspect of the large pulpy larvæ of these beetles, they are esteemed a luxury by the Malabar coolies, who so far avail themselves of the privilege accorded by the Levitical law, which permitted the Hebrews to eat "the beetle after his kind."[3]

[Footnote 1: There is a paper in the _Journ. of the Asiat. Society of Ceylon_, May, 1845, by Mr. CAPPER, on the ravages perpetrated by these beetles. The writer had recently passed through several coco-nut plantations, "varying in extent from 20 to 150 acres, and about two to three years old; and in these he did not discover a single young tree untouched by the cooroominya."--P. 49.]

[Footnote 2: Called also B. _octo-maculatus; Lamia rubus_, Fabr.]

[Footnote 3: Leviticus, xi. 22.]

_Tortoise Beetles_.--There is one family of insects, the members of which cannot fail to strike the traveller by their singular beauty, the _Cassidiadæ_ or tortoise beetles, in which the outer shell overlaps the body, and the limbs are susceptible of being drawn entirely within it. The rim is frequently of a different tint from the centre, and one species which I have seen is quite startling from the brilliancy of its colouring, which gives it the appearance of a ruby enclosed in a frame of pearl; but this wonderful effect disappears immediately on the death of the insect.[1]

[Footnote 1: One species, the _Cassida farinosa_, frequent in the jungle which surrounded my official residence at Kandy, is covered profusely with a snow-white powder, arranged in delicate filaments, which it moves without dispersing: but when dead they fall rapidly to dust.]

ORTHOPTERA. _The Soothsayer_.--But the admiration of colours is still less exciting than the astonishment created by the forms in which some of the insect families present themselves, especially the "soothsayers" (_Mantidæ_) and "walking leaves." The latter[1], exhibiting the most cunning of all nature's devices for the preservation of her creatures, are found in the jungle in all varieties of hue, from the pale yellow of an opening bud to the rich green of the full-blown leaf, and the withered tint of decaying foliage. And so perfect is the imitation in structure and articulation, that these amazing insects when at rest are almost indistinguishable from the verdure around them: not the wings alone being modelled to resemble ribbed and fibrous follicles, but every joint of the legs being expanded into a broad plait like a half-opened leaflet.

[Footnote 1: _Phyllium siccifolium._]

It rests on its abdomen, the legs serving to drag it slowly along, and thus the flatness of its attitude serves still further to add to the appearance of a leaf. One of the most marvellous incidents connected with its organisation was exhibited by one which I kept under a glass shade on my table; it laid a quantity of eggs, that, in colour and shape, were not to be discerned from _seeds_. They were brown and pentangular, with a short stem, and slightly punctured at the intersections.

The "soothsayer," on the other hand _(Mantis superstitiosa_ Fab.[1]), little justifies by its propensities the appearance of gentleness, and the attitudes of sanctity, which have obtained for it its title of the praying mantis. Its habits are carnivorous, and degenerate into cannibalism, as it preys on the weaker individuals of its own species. Two which I enclosed in a box were both found dead a few hours after, literally severed limb from limb in their encounter. The formation of the foreleg enables the tibia to be so closed on the sharp edge of the thigh as to amputate any slender substance grasped within it.

[Footnote 1: _M. aridifolia_ and _M. extensicollis_, as well as _Empusa gongyloides_, remarkable for the long leaf-like head, and dilatations on the posterior thighs, are common in the island.]

_The Stick-insect_--The _Phasmidoe_ or spectres, another class of orthoptera, present as close a resemblance to small branches or leafless twigs as their congeners do to green leaves. The wing-covers, where they exist, instead of being expanded, are applied so closely to the body as to detract nothing from its rounded form, and hence the name which they have acquired of "_walking-sticks_." Like the _Phyllium_, the _Phasma_ lives exclusively on vegetables, and some attain the length of several inches.

Of all the other tribes of the _Orthoptera_ Ceylon possesses many representatives; in swarms of cockroaches, grasshoppers, locusts, and crickets.

NEUROPTERA. _Dragon-flies._--Of the _Neuroptera_, some of the dragon-flies are pre-eminently beautiful; one species, with rich brown-coloured spots upon its gauzy wings, is to be seen near every pool.[1] Another[2], which dances above the mountain streams in Oovah, and amongst the hills descending towards Kandy, gleams in the sun as if each of its green enamelled wings had been sliced from an emerald.[3]

[Footnote 1: _Libellula pulchella._]

[Footnote 2: _Euphoea splendens_, Hagen.]

[Footnote 3: _Gymnacantha subinterrupta_, Ramb. distinguished by its large size, is plentiful about the mountain streamlets.]

_The Ant-lion_.--Of the ant-lion, whose larvæ have earned a bad renown from their predaceous ingenuity, Ceylon has, at least, four species, which seem peculiar to the island.[1] This singular creature, preparatory to its pupal transformation, contrives to excavate a conical pitfall in the dust to the depth of about an inch, in the bottom of which it conceals itself, exposing only its open mandibles above the surface; and here every ant and soft-bodied insect which, curiosity tempts to descend, or accident may precipitate into the trap, is ruthlessly seized and devoured by its ambushed inhabitant.

[Footnote 1: _Palpares contrarius_, Walker; _Myrmeleon gravis_, Walker; _M. dirus_, Walker; _M. barbarus_, Walker.]

_The White Ant_--But of the insects of this order the most noted are the _white ants_ or termites (which are ants only by a misnomer). They are, unfortunately, at once ubiquitous and innumerable in every spot where the climate is not too chilly, or the soil too sandy, for them to construct their domed edifices.

These they raise from a considerable depth under ground, excavating the clay with their mandibles, and moistening it with tenacious saliva[1] until it assume the appearance, and almost the consistency, of sandstone. So delicate is the trituration to which they subject this material, that the goldsmiths of Ceylon employ the powdered clay of the ant hills in preference to all other substances in the preparation of crucibles and moulds for their finer castings; and KNOX says, in his time, "the people used this clay to make their earthen gods of, it is so pure and fine."[2] These structures the termites erect with such perseverance and durability that they frequently rise to the height of ten or twelve feet from the ground, with a corresponding diameter. They are so firm in their texture that the weight of a horse makes no apparent indentation on their solidity; and even the intense rains of the monsoon, which no cement or mortar can long resist, fail to penetrate the surface or substance of an ant hill.[3]

[Footnote 1: It becomes an interesting question whence the termites derive the large supplies of moisture with which they not only temper the clay for the construction of their long covered-ways above ground, but for keeping their passages uniformly damp and cool below the surface. Yet their habits in this particular are unvarying, in the seasons of droughts as well as after rain; in the driest and least promising positions, in situations inaccessible to drainage from above, and cut off by rocks and impervious strata from springs from below. Dr. Livingstone, struck with this phenomenon in Southern Africa, asks: "Can the white ants possess the power of combining the oxygen and hydrogen of their vegetable food by vital force so as to form water?"--_Travels_, p. 22. And he describes at Angola an insect (A. goudotti? Bennett.) resembling the _Aphrophora spumaria_; seven or eight individuals of which distil several pints of water every night.--P. 414. It is highly probable that the termites are endowed with some such faculty: nor is it more remarkable that an insect should combine the gases of its food to produce water, than that a fish should decompose water in order to provide itself with gas. FOURCROIX found the contents of the air-bladder in a carp to be pure nitrogen.--_Yarrell_, vol. i. p. 42. And the aquatic larva of the dragon-fly extracts air for its respiration from the water in which it is submerged. A similar mystery pervades the inquiry whence plants under peculiar circumstances derive the water essential to vegetation.]

[Footnote 2: KNOX'S _Ceylon_, Part I, ch. vi. p. 24.]

[Footnote 3: Dr. HOOKER, in his _Himalayan Journal_ (vol. i. p. 20) is of opinion that the nests of the termites are not independent structures, but that their nucleus is "the debris of clumps of bamboos or the trunks of large trees which these insects have destroyed." He supposes that the dead tree falls leaving the stump coated with sand, _which the action of the weather soon fashions info a cone_. But independently of the fact that the "action of the weather" produces little or no effect on the closely cemented clay of the white ants' nest, they may be daily seen constructing their edifices in the very form of a cone, which they ever after retain. Besides which, they appear in the midst of terraces and fields where no trees are to be seen; and Dr. Hooker seems to overlook the fact that the termites rarely attack a living tree; and although their nests may be built against one, it continues to flourish not the less for their presence.]

In their earlier stages the termites proceed with such energetic rapidity, that I have seen a pinnacle of moist clay, six inches in height and twice as large in diameter, constructed underneath a table between sitting down to dinner and the removal of the cloth.

As these lofty mounds of earth have all been carried up from beneath the surface, a cave of corresponding dimensions is necessarily scooped out below, and here, under the multitude of cupolas and pinnacles which canopy it above, the termites hollow out the royal chamber for their queen, with spacious nurseries surrounding it on all sides. Store-rooms and magazines occupy the lower apartments, and all are connected by arched galleries, long passages, and doorways of the most intricate and elaborate construction. In the centre and underneath the spacious dome is the recess for the queen--a hideous creature, with the head and thorax of an ordinary termite, but a body swollen to a hundred times its usual and proportionate bulk, and presenting the appearance of a mass of shapeless pulp. From this great progenitrix proceed the myriads which people the subterranean hive, consisting, like the communities of the genuine ants, of labourers and soldiers, which are destined never to acquire a fuller development than that of larvas, and the perfect insects which in due time become invested with wings and take their departing flight from the cave. But their new equipment seems only destined to facilitate their dispersion from the parent nest, which takes place at dusk; and almost as quickly as they leave it they divest themselves of their ineffectual wings, waving them impatiently and twisting them in every direction till they become detached and drop off, and the swarm, within a few hours of their emancipation, become a prey to the night-jars and bats, which are instantly attracted to them as they issue in a cloud from the ground. I am not prepared to say that the other insectivorous birds would not gladly make a meal of the termites, but, seeing that in Ceylon their numbers are chiefly kept in check by the crepuscular birds, it is observable, at least as a coincidence, that the dispersion of the swarm generally takes place at _twilight_. Those that escape the _caprimulgi_ lose their wings before morning, and are then disposed of by the crows.

The strange peculiarity of the omnivorous ravages of the white ants is that they shrink from the light, in all their expeditions for providing food they construct a covered pathway of moistened clay, and their galleries above ground extend to an incredible distance from the central nest. No timber, except ebony and ironwood, which are too hard, and those which are strongly impregnated with camphor or aromatic oils, which they dislike, presents any obstacle to their ingress. I have had a case of wine filled, in the course of two days, with almost solid clay, and only discovered the presence of the white ants by the bursting of the corks. I have had a portmanteau in my tent so peopled with them in the course of a single night that the contents were found worthless in the morning. In an incredibly short time a detachment of these pests will destroy a press full of records, reducing the paper to fragments; and a shelf of books will be tunnelled into a gallery if it happen to be in their line of march.

The timbers of a house when fairly attacked are eaten from within till the beams are reduced to an absolute shell, so thin that it may be punched through with the point of the finger: and even kyanized wood, unless impregnated with an extra quantity of corrosive sublimate, appears to occasion them no inconvenience. The only effectual precaution for the protection of furniture is incessant vigilance--the constant watching of every article, and its daily removal from place to place, in order to baffle their assaults.

They do not appear in the hills above the elevation of 2000 feet. One species of white ant, the _Termes Taprobanes_, was at one time believed by Mr. Walker to be peculiar to the island, but it has recently been found in Sumatra and Borneo, and in some parts of Hindustan.

HYMENOPTERA. _Mason Wasp_.--In Ceylon as in all other countries, the order of hymenopterous insects arrests us less by the beauty of their forms than the marvels of their sagacity and the achievements of their instinct. A fossorial wasp of the family of _Sphegidoe_,[1] which is distinguished by its metallic lustre, enters by the open windows, and disarms irritation at its movements by admiration of the graceful industry with which it stops up the keyholes and similar apertures with clay in order to build in them a cell, into which it thrusts the pupa of some other insect, within whose body it has previously introduced its own eggs; and, enclosing the whole with moistened earth, the young parasite, after undergoing its transformations, gnaws its way into light, and emerges a four-winged fly.[2]

[Footnote 1: It belongs to the genus _Pelopoeus_, _P. Spinoloe_, St. Fargeau. The _Ampulex compressa_, which drags about the larvæ of cockroaches into which it has implanted its eggs, belongs to the same family.]

[Footnote 2: Mr. E. L. Layard has given an interesting account of this Mason wasp in the _Annals and Magazine of Nat. History_ for May, 1853.

"I have frequently," he says, "selected one of these flies for observation, and have seen their labours extend over a period of a fortnight or twenty days; sometimes only half a cell was completed in a day, at others as much as two. I never saw more than twenty cells in one nest, seldom indeed that number, and whence the caterpillars were procured was always to me a mystery. I have seen thirty or forty brought in of a species which I knew to be very rare in the perfect state, and which I had sought for in vain, although I knew on what plant they fed.

"Then again how are they disabled by the wasp, and yet not injured so as to cause their immediate death? Die they all do, at least all that I have ever tried to rear, after taking them from the nest.

"The perfected fly never effects its egress from the closed aperture, through which the caterpillars were inserted, and when cells are placed end to end, as they are in many instances, the outward end of each is always selected. I cannot detect any difference in the thickness in the crust of the cell to cause this uniformity of practice. It is often as much as half an inch through, of great hardness, and as far as I can see impervious to air and light. How then does the enclosed fly always select the right end, and with what secretion is it supplied to decompose this mortar?"]

_Wasps_.--Of the wasps, one formidable species (_Sphex ferruginea_ of St. Fargeau), which is common to India and most of the eastern islands, is regarded with the utmost dread by the unclad natives, who fly precipitately on finding themselves in the vicinity[1] of its nests, which are of such ample dimensions, that when suspended from a branch, they often measure upwards of six feet in length.[2]

[Footnote 1: In ought to be remembered in travelling in the forests of Ceylon that sal volatile applied immediately is a specific for the sting of a wasp.]

[Footnote 2: At the January (1839) meeting of the Entomological Society, Mr. Whitehouse exhibited portions of a wasps' nest from Ceylon, between seven and eight feet long and two feet in diameter, and showed that the construction of the cells was perfectly analogous to those of the hive bee, and that when connected each has a tendency to assume a circular outline. In one specimen where there were three cells united the outer part was circular, whilst the portions common to the three formed straight walls. From this Singhalese nest Mr. Whitehouse demonstrated that the wasps at the commencement of their comb proceed slowly, forming the bases of several together, whereby they assume the hexagonal shape, whereas, if constructed separately, he thought each single cell would be circular. See _Proc. Ent. Soc_. vol. iii. p. xvi.]

_Bees_.--Bees of several species and genera, some divested of stings, and some in size scarcely exceeding a house-fly, deposit their honey in hollow trees, or suspend their combs from a branch; and the spoils of their industry form one of the chief resources of the uncivilised Veddahs, who collect the wax in their upland forests, to be bartered for arrow points and clothes in the lowlands.[1] I have never heard of an instance of persons being attacked by the bees of Ceylon, and hence the natives assert, that those most productive of honey are destitute of stings.

[Footnote 1: A gentleman connected with the department of the Surveyor-General writes to me that he measured a honey-comb which he found fastened to the overhanging branch of a small tree in the forest near Adam's Peak, and found it nine links of his chain or about six feet in length and a foot in breadth where it was attached to the branch, but tapering towards the other extremity. "It was a single comb with a layer of cells on either side, but so weighty that the branch broke by the strain."]

_The Carpenter Bee_.--The operations of one of the most interesting of the tribe, the Carpenter bee,[1] I have watched with admiration from the window of the Colonial Secretary's official residence at Kandy. So soon as the day grew warm, these active creatures were at work perforating the wooden columns which supported the verandah. They poised themselves on their shining purple wings, as they made the first lodgment in the wood, enlivening the work with an uninterrupted hum of delight, which was audible to a considerable distance. When the excavation had proceeded so far as that the insect could descend into it, the music was suspended, but renewed from time to time, as the little creature came to the orifice to throw out the chips, to rest, or to enjoy the fresh air. By degrees, a mound of saw-dust was formed at the base of the pillar, consisting of particles abraded by the mandibles of the bee; and these, when the hollow was completed to the depth of several inches, were partially replaced in the excavation after being agglutinated to form partitions between the eggs, as they are deposited within.

[Footnote 1: _Xylocopa tenuiscapa_, Westw.; X. _latipes_, Drury.]

_Ants_.--As to ants, I apprehend that, notwithstanding their numbers and familiarity, information is very imperfect relative to the varieties and habits of these marvellous insects in Ceylon.[1] In point of multitude it is scarcely an exaggeration to apply to them the figure of "the sands of the sea." They are everywhere; in the earth, in the houses, and in the trees; they are to be seen in every room and cupboard, and almost on every plant in the jungle. To some of the latter they are, perhaps, attracted by the sweet juices secreted by the aphides and coccidæ; and such is the passion of the ants for sugar, and their wonderful faculty of discovering it, that the smallest particle of a substance containing it, though placed in the least conspicuous position, is quickly covered with them, where not a single one may have been visible a moment before. But it is not sweet substances alone that they attack; no animal or vegetable matter comes amiss to them; no aperture appears too small to admit them; it is necessary to place everything which it may be desirable to keep free from their invasion, under the closest cover, or on tables with cups of water under every foot. As scavengers, they are invaluable; and as ants never sleep, but work without cessation, during the night as well as by day, every particle of decaying vegetable or putrid animal matter is removed with inconceivable speed and certainty. In collecting shells, I have been able to turn this propensity to good account; by placing them within their reach, the ants in a few days will remove every vestige of the mollusc from the innermost and otherwise inaccessible whorls; thus avoiding all risk of injuring the enamel by any mechanical process.

[Footnote 1: Mr. Jerdan, in a series of papers in the thirteenth volume of the _Annals of Natural History_, has described forty-seven species of ants in Southern India. But M. Nietner has recently forwarded to the Berlin Museum upwards of seventy species taken by him in Ceylon, chiefly in the western province and the vicinity of Colombo, Of these many are identical with those noted by Mr. Jerdan as belonging to the Indian continent. One (probably _Drepanognathus saltator_ of Jerdan) is described by M. Nietner as "moving by jumps of several inches at a spring."]

But the assaults of the ants are not confined to dead animals alone, they attack equally such small insects as they can overcome, or find disabled by accidents or wounds; and it is not unusual to see some hundreds of them surrounding a maimed beetle, or a bruised cockroach, and hurrying it along in spite of its struggles. I have, on more than one occasion, seen a contest between them and one of the viscous ophidians, _Coecilia glutinosa_[1], a reptile resembling an enormous earthworm, common in the Kandyan hills, of an inch in diameter, and nearly two feet in length. It would seem as if the whole community had been summoned and turned out for such a prodigious effort; they surrounded their victim literally in tens of thousands, inflicting wounds on all parts, and forcing it along towards their nest in spite of resistance. In one instance to which I was a witness, the conflict lasted for the latter part of a day, but towards evening the Cæcilia was completely exhausted, and in the morning it had totally disappeared, having been carried away either whole or piecemeal by its assailants.

[Footnote 1: See ante, Pt, 1. ch. iii. p. 201]

The species I here allude to, is a very small ant, called the _Koombiya_ in Ceylon. There is a still more minute description, which frequents the caraffes and toilet vessels, and is evidently a distinct species. A third, probably the _Formica nidificans_ of Jerdan, is black, of the same size as that last mentioned, and, from its colour, called the _Kalu koombiya_ by the natives. In the houses its propensities and habits are the same as the others; but I have observed that it frequents the trees more profusely, forming small paper cells for its young, like miniature wasps' nests, in which it deposits its eggs, suspending them from the leaf of a plant.

The most formidable of all is the great red ant or Dimiya.[1] It is particularly abundant in gardens, and on fruit trees; it constructs its dwellings by glueing the leaves of such species as are suitable from their shape and pliancy into hollow balls, which it lines with a kind of transparent paper, like that manufactured by the wasp. I have watched them at the interesting operation of forming their dwellings;--a line of ants standing on the edge of one leaf bring another into contact with it, and hold both together with their mandibles till their companions within attach them firmly by means of their adhesive paper, the assistants outside moving along as the work proceeds. If it be necessary to draw closer a leaf too distant to be laid hold of by the immediate workers, they form a chain by depending one from the other till the object is reached, when it is at length brought into contact, and made fast by cement.

[Footnote 1: _Formica smaragdina_, Fab.]

Like all their race, these ants are in perpetual motion, forming lines on the ground along which they pass, in continual procession to and from the trees on which they reside. They are the most irritable of the whole order in Ceylon, biting with such intense ferocity as to render it difficult for the unclad natives to collect the fruit from, the mango trees, which the red ants especially frequent. They drop from the branches upon travellers in the jungle, attacking them with venom and fury, and inflicting intolerable pain both upon animals and man. On examining the structure of the head through a microscope, I found that the mandibles, instead of merely meeting in contact, are so hooked as to cross each other at the points, whilst the inner line is sharply serrated throughout its entire length; thus occasioning the intense pain of their bite, as compared with that of the ordinary ant.

To check the ravages of the coffee bug (_Lecanium coffeoe_, Walker), which for some years past has devastated some of the plantations in Ceylon, the experiment was made of introducing the red ants, who feed greedily on the Coccus. But the remedy threatened to be attended with some inconvenience, for the Malabar Coolies, with bare and oiled skins, were so frequently and fiercely assaulted by the ants as to endanger their stay on the estates.

The ants which burrow in the ground in Ceylon are generally, but not invariably, black, and some of them are of considerable size. One species, about the third of an inch in length, is abundant in the hills, and especially about the roots of trees, where they pile up the earth in circular heaps round the entrance to their nests, and in doing this I have observed a singular illustration of their instinct. To carry up each particle of sand by itself would be an endless waste of labour, and to carry two or more loose ones securely would be to them embarrassing, if not impossible; they therefore overcome the difficulty by glueing together with their saliva so much earth or sand as is sufficient for a burden, and each one may be seen hurrying up from below with his load, carrying it to the top of the circular heap outside, and throwing it over, whilst it is so strongly attached as to roll to the bottom without breaking asunder.

The ants I have been here describing are inoffensive, differing in this particular from the Dimiya and another of similar size and ferocity, which is called by the Singhalese _Kaddiya_; and they have a legend illustrative of their alarm for the bites of the latter, to the effect that the cobra de capello invested the Kaddiya with her own venom in admiration of the singular courage displayed by these little creatures.[1]

[Footnote 1: KNOX'S _Historical Relation of Ceylon_, pt i. ch vi. p. 23.]

LEPIDOPTERA. _Butterflies_.--Butterflies in the interior of the island are comparatively rare, and, contrary to the ordinary belief, they are seldom to be seen in the sunshine, They frequent the neighbourhood of the jungle, and especially the vicinity of the rivers and waterfalls, living mainly in the shade of the moist foliage, and returning to it in haste after the shortest flights, as if their slender bodies were speedily dried up and exhausted by the exposure to the intense heat.

Among the largest and most gaudy of the Ceylon Lepidoptera is the great black and yellow butterfly (_Ornithoptera darsius_, Gray); the upper wings, of which measure six inches across, are of deep velvet black, the lower, ornamented by large particles of satiny yellow, through which the sunlight passes, and few insects can compare with it in beauty, as it hovers over the flowers of the heliotrope, which furnish the favourite food of the perfect fly, although the caterpillar feeds on the aristolochia and the _betel leaf_ and suspends its chrysalis from its drooping tendrils.

Next in size as to expanse of wing, though often exceeding it in breadth, is the black and blue _Papilio Polymnestor_, which darts rapidly through the air, alighting on the ruddy flowers of the hibiscus, or the dark green foliage of the citrus, on which it deposits its eggs. The larvæ of this species are green with white bands, and have a hump on the fourth or fifth segment. From this hump the caterpillar, on being irritated, protrudes a singular horn of an orange colour, bifurcate at the extremity, and covered with a pungent mucilaginous secretion. This is evidently intended as a weapon of defence against the attack of the ichneumon flies, that deposit their eggs in its soft body, for when the grub is pricked, either by the ovipositor of the ichneumon, or by any other sharp instrument, the horn is at once protruded, and struck upon the offending object with unerring aim.

Amongst the more common of the larger butterflies is the _P. Hector_, with gorgeous crimson spots set in the black velvet of the inferior wings; these, when fresh, are shot with a purple blush, equalling in splendour the azure of the European "_Emperor_."

Another butterfly, but belonging to a widely different group, is the "sylph" (_Hestia Jasonia_), called by the Europeans by the various names of _Floater, Spectre,_ and _Silver-paper-fly_, as indicative of its graceful flight. It is found only in the deep shade of the damp forest, frequenting the vicinity of pools of water and cascades, about which it sails heedless of the spray, the moisture of which may even be beneficial in preserving the elasticity of its thin and delicate wings, that bend and undulate in the act of flight.

The _Lycoenidoe_[1], a particularly attractive group, abound near the enclosures of cultivated grounds, and amongst the low shrubs edging the patenas, flitting from flower to flower, inspecting each in turn, and as if attracted by their beauty, in the full blaze of sun-light; and shunning exposure less sedulously than the other diurnals. Some of the more robust kinds[2] are magnificent in the bright light, from the splendour of their metallic blues and glowing purples, but they yield in elegance of form and variety to their tinier and more delicately-coloured congeners.

[Footnote 1: _Lycana polyommatus, &c._]

[Footnote 2: _Amblypodia pseudocentaurus, &c._]

Short as is the eastern twilight, it has its own peculiar forms, and the naturalist marks with interest the small, but strong, _Hesperiidoe_,[1] hurrying, by abrupt and jerking flights, to the scented blossoms of the champac or the sweet night-blowing moon-flower; and, when darkness gathers around, we can hear, though hardly distinguish amid the gloom, the humming of the powerful wings of innumerable hawk moths, which hover with their long proboscides inserted into the starry petals of the periwinkle.

[Footnote 1: _Pamphila hesperia, &c._]

Conspicuous amidst these nocturnal moths is the richly-coloured _Acherontia Satanas_, one of the Singhalese representatives of our Death's head moth, which utters a sharp and stridulous cry when seized. This sound has been variously conjectured to be produced by the friction of its thorax against the abdomen, and Reaumur believed it to be caused by rubbing the palpi against the tongue. I have never been able to observe either motion, and Mr. E. L. Layard is of opinion that the sound is emitted from two apertures concealed by tufts of wiry bristles thrown out from each side of the inferior portion of the thorax.[1]

[Footnote 1: There is another variety of the same moth in Ceylon which closely resembles it in its markings, but I have never detected in it the utterance of this curious cry. It is smaller than the _A. Satanas_, and, like it, often enters dwellings at night, attracted by the lights; but I have not found its larvæ, although that of the other species is common on several widely different plants.]

_Moths._--Among the strictly nocturnal _Lepidoptera_ are some gigantic species. Of these the cinnamon-eating _Atlas_, often attains the dimensions of nearly a foot in the stretch of its superior wings. It is very common in the gardens about Colombo, and its size, and the transparent talc-like spots in its wings cannot fail to strike even the most careless saunterer. But little inferior to it in size is the famed Tusseh silk moth[1], which feeds on the country almond (_Terminalia catappa_) and the palma Christi or Castor-oil plant; it is easily distinguishable from the Atlas, which has a triangular wing, whilst its [wing] is falcated, and the transparent spots are covered with a curious thread-like division drawn across them.

[Footnote 1: _Antheroea mylitta_, Drury.]

Towards the northern portions of the island this valuable species entirely displaces the other, owing to the fact that the almond and _palma Christi_ abound there. The latter plant springs up spontaneously on every manure-heap or neglected spot of ground; and might be cultivated, as in India, with great advantage, the leaf to be used as food for the caterpillar, the stalk as fodder for cattle, and the seed for the expression of castor-oil. The Dutch took advantage of this facility, and gave every encouragement to the cultivation of silk at Jaffna[1], but it never attained such a development as to become an article of commercial importance. Ceylon now cultivates no silkworms whatever, notwithstanding this abundance of the favourite food of one species; and the rich silken robes sometimes worn by the Buddhist priesthood are still imported from China and the continent of India.

[Footnote 1: The Portuguese had made the attempt previous to the arrival of the Dutch, and a strip of land on the banks of the Kalany river near Colombo, still bears the name of Orta Seda, the silk garden. The attempt of the Dutch to introduce the true silkworm, the _Bombyx mori_, took place under the governorship of Ryklof Van Goens, who, on handing over the administration to his successor in A.D. 1663, thus apprises him of the initiation of the experiment:--"At Jaffna Palace a trial has been undertaken to feed silkworms, and to ascertain whether silk may be reared at that station. I have planted a quantity of mulberry trees, which grow well there, and they ought to be planted in other directions."--VALENTYN, chap. xiii. The growth of the mulberry trees is noticed the year after in a report to the governor-general of India, but the subject afterwards ceased to be attended to.]

In addition to the Atlas moth and the Mylitta, there are many other _Bombycidoe_ in Ceylon; and, though the silk of some of them, were it susceptible of being unwound from the cocoon, would not bear a comparison with that of the _Bombyx mori_, or even of the Tusseh moth, it might still prove to be valuable when carded and spun. If the European residents in the colony would rear the larvæ of these Lepidoptera, and make drawings of their various changes, they would render a possible service to commerce, and a certain one to entomological knowledge.

_The Wood-carrying Moth._--There is another family of insects, the singular habits of which will not fail to attract the traveller in the cultivated tracts of Ceylon--these are moths of the genus _Oiketicus_,[1] of which the females are devoid of wings, and some possess no articulated feet; the larvæ construct for themselves cases, which they suspend to a branch frequently of the pomegranate,[2] surrounding them with the stems of leaves, and thorns or pieces of twigs bound together by threads, till the whole presents the appearance of a bundle of rods about an inch and a half long; and, from the resemblance of this to a Roman fasces, one African species has obtained the name of "Lictor." The German entomologists denominated the group _Sack-träger_, the Singhalese call them _Dalmea kattea_ or "billets of firewood," and regard the inmates as human beings, who, as a punishment for stealing wood in some former stage of existence, have been condemned to undergo a metempsychosis under the form of these insects.

[Footnote 1: _Eumeta_, Wlk.]

[Footnote 2: The singular instincts of a species of Thecla, _Dipsas Isocrates_, Fab., in connection with the fruit of the pomegranate, were fully described by Mr. Westwood, in a paper read before the Entomological Society of London in 1835.]

The male, at the close of the pupal rest, escapes from one end of this singular covering, but the female makes it her dwelling for life; moving about with it at pleasure, and entrenching herself within it, when alarmed, by drawing together the purse-like aperture at the open end. Of these remarkable creatures there are five ascertained species in Ceylon. _Psyche Doubledaii_, Westw.; _Metisa plana_, Walker; _Eumeta Cramerii_, Westw.; _E. Templetonii_, Westw.; and _Cryptothelea consorta_, Temp.

All the other tribes of minute _Lepidoptera_ have abundant representatives in Ceylon; some of them most attractive from the great beauty of their markings and colouring. The curious little split-winged moth (_Pterophorus_) is frequently seen in the cinnamon gardens and the vicinity of the fort, resting in the noonday heat in the cool grass shaded by the coco-nut topes. Three species have been captured, all characterised by the same singular feature of having the wings fan-like, separated nearly their entire length into detached sections resembling feathers in the pinions of a bird expanded for flight.

HOMOPTERA. _Cicada._--Of the _Homoptera_, the one which will most frequently arrest attention is the cicada, which, resting high up on the bark of a tree, makes the forest re-echo with a long-sustained noise so curiously resembling that of a cutler's wheel that the creature which produces it has acquired the highly-appropriate name of the "knife-grinder."

HEMIPTERA. _Bugs._--On the shrubs in his compound the newly-arrived traveller will be attracted by an insect of a pale green hue and delicately-thin configuration, which, resting from its recent flight, composes its scanty wings, and moves languidly along the leaf. But experience will teach him to limit his examination to a respectful view of its attitudes; it is one of a numerous family of bugs, (some of them most attractive[1] in their colouring,) which are inoffensive if unmolested, but if touched or irritated, exhale an odour that, once perceived, is never after forgotten.

[Footnote 1: Such as _Cantuo ocellatus, Leptopelis Marginalis, Callidea Stockerius_, &c. &c. Of the aquatic species, the gigantic _Belostoma Indicum_ cannot escape notice, attaining a size of nearly three inches.]

APHANIPTERA. _Fleas._--Fleas are equally numerous, and may be seen in myriads in the dust of the streets or skipping in the sunbeams which fall on the clay floors of the cottages. The dogs, to escape them, select for their sleeping places spots where a wood fire has been previously kindled; and here prone on the white ashes, their stomachs close to the earth, and their hind legs extended behind, they repose in comparative coolness, and bid defiance to their persecutors.

DIPTERA. _Mosquitoes._--But of all the insect pests that beset an unseasoned European the most provoking by far are the truculent mosquitoes.[1] Even in the midst of endurance from their onslaughts one cannot but be amused by the ingenuity of their movements; as if aware of the risk incident to an open assault, a favourite mode of attack is, when concealed by a table, to assail the ankles through the meshes of the blocking, or the knees which are ineffectually protected by a fold of Russian duck. When you are reading, a mosquito will rarely settle on that portion of your hand which is within range of your eyes, but cunningly stealing by the underside of the book fastens on the wrist or finger, and noiselessly inserts his proboscis there. I have tested the classical expedient recorded by Herodotus, who states that the fishermen inhabiting the fens of Egypt cover their beds with their nets, knowing that the mosquitoes, although they bite through linen robes, will not venture though a net.[2] But, notwithstanding the opinion of Spence,[3] that nets with meshes an inch square will effectually exclude them, I have been satisfied by painful experience that (if the theory is not altogether fallacious) at least the modern mosquitoes of Ceylon are uninfluenced by the same considerations which restrained those of the Nile under the successors of Cambyses.

[Footnote 1: _Culex laniger_? Wied. In Kandy Mr. Thwaites finds _C. fuscanus, C. circumvolens_, &c., and one with a most formidable hooked proboscis, to which he has assigned the appropriate name _C. Regius_.]

[Footnote 2: HERODOTUS, _Euterpe_, xcv.]

[Footnote 3: KIRBY and SPENCE'S _Entomology_, letter iv.]

_List of Ceylon Insects._

For the following list of the insects of the island, and the remarks prefixed to it, I am indebted to Mr. F. Walker, by whom it has been prepared after a careful inspection of the collections made by Dr. Templeton, Mr. E.L. Layard, and others; as well as those in the British Museum and in the Museum of the East India Company.

"A short notice of the aspect of the Island will afford the best means of accounting, in some degree, for its entomological Fauna: first, as it is an island, and has a mountainous central region, the tropical character of its productions, as in most other cases, rather diminishes, and somewhat approaches that of higher latitudes.

"The coast-region of Ceylon, and fully one-third of its northern part, have a much drier atmosphere than that of the rest of its surface; and their climate and vegetation are nearly similar to those of the Carnatic, with which this island may have been connected at no very remote period.[1] But if, on the contrary, the land in Ceylon is gradually rising, the difference of its Fauna from that of Central Hindostan is less remarkable. The peninsula of the Dekkan might then be conjectured to have been nearly or wholly separated from the central part of Hindostan, and confined to the range of mountains along the eastern coast; the insect-fauna of which is as yet almost unknown, but will probably be found to have more resemblance to that of Ceylon than to the insects of northern and western India--just as the insect-fauna of Malaya appears more to resemble the similar productions of Australasia than those of the more northern continent.

[Footnote 1: On the subject of this conjecture see _ante_, Vol. I. Pt. I, ch. i. p. 7.]

"Mr. Layard's collection was partly formed in the dry northern province of Ceylon; and among them more Hindostan insects are to be observed than among those collected by Dr. Templeton, and found wholly in the district between Colombo and Kandy. According to this view the faunas of the Neilgherry Mountains, of Central Ceylon, of the peninsula of Malacca, and of Australasia would be found to form one group;--while those of Northern Ceylon, of the western Dekkan, and of the level parts of Central Hindostan would form another of more recent origin. The insect-fauna of the Carnatic is also probably similar to that of the lowlands of Ceylon; but it is still unexplored. The regions of Hindostan in which species have been chiefly collected, such as Bengal, Silhet, and the Punjaub, are at the distance of from 1,300 to 1,600 miles from Ceylon, and therefore the insects of the latter are fully as different from those of the above regions as they are from those of Australasia, to which Ceylon is as near in point of distance, and agrees more with regard to latitude.

"Dr. Hagen has remarked that he believes the fauna of the mountains of Ceylon to be quite different from that of the plains and of the shores. The south and west districts have a very moist climate, and as their vegetation is like that of Malabar, their insect-fauna will probably also resemble that of the latter region.

"The insects mentioned in the following list are thus distributed:--

Order COLEOPTERA.

"The recorded species of _Cicindelidoe_ inhabit the plains or the coast country of Ceylon, and several of them are also found in Hindostan.

"Many of the species of _Carabidoe_ and of _Staphylinidoe_, especially those collected by Mr. Thwaites, near Kandy, and by M. Nietner at Colombo, have much resemblance to the insects of these two families in North Europe; in the _Scydmoenidoe,_ _Ptiliadoe, Phalacridoe, Nitidulidoe, Colydiadoe_, and _Lathridiadoe_ the northern form is still more striking, and strongly contrasts with the tropical forms of the gigantic _Copridoe, Buprestidoe_, and _Cerambycidoe_, and with the _Elateridoe, Lampyridoe, Tenebrionidoe, Helopidoe, Meloidoe, Curculionidoe, Prionidoe, Cerambycidoe, Lamiidoe_, and _Endomychidoe_.

"The _Copridoe, Dynastidoe, Melolonthidoe, Cetoniadoe_, and _Passalidoe_ are well represented on the plains and on the coast, and the species are mostly of a tropical character.

"The _Hydrophilidoe_ have a more northern aspect, as is generally the case with aquatic species.

"The order _Strepsiptera_ is here considered as belonging to the _Mordellidoe_, and is represented by the genus _Myrmecolax_, which is peculiar, as yet, to Ceylon.

"In the _Curculionidoe_ the single species of _Apion_ will recall to mind the great abundance of that genus in North Europe.

"The _Prionidoe_ and the two following families have been investigated by Mr. Pascoe, and the _Hispidoe_, with the five following families, by Mr. Baly; these two gentlemen are well acquainted with the above tribes of beetles, and kindly supplied me with the names of the Ceylon species.

Order ORTHOPTERA.

"These insects in Ceylon have mostly a tropical aspect. The _Physapoda_, which will probably be soon incorporated with them, are likely to be numerous, though only one species has as yet been noticed.

Order NEUROPTERA.

"The list here given is chiefly taken from the catalogue published by Dr. Hagen, and containing descriptions of the species named by him or by M. Nietner. They were found in the most elevated parts of the island, near Rambodde, and Dr. Hagen informs me that not less than 500 species have been noticed in Ceylon, but that they are not yet recorded, with the exception of the species here enumerated. It has been remarked that the _Trichoptera_ and other aquatic _Neuroptera_ are less local than the land species, owing to the more equable temperature of the habitation of their larvæ, and on account of their being often conveyed along the whole length of rivers. The species of _Psocus_ in the list are far more numerous than those yet observed in any other country, with the exception of Europe.

Order HYMENOPTERA.

"In this order the _Formicidoe_ and the _Poneridoe_ are very numerous, as they are in other damp and woody tropical countries. Seventy species of ants have been observed, but as yet few of them have been named. The various other families of aculeate _Hymenoptera_ are doubtless more abundant than the species recorded indicate, and it may be safely reckoned that the parasitic _Hymenoptera_ in Ceylon far exceed one thousand species in number, though they are yet only known by means of about two dozen kinds collected at Kandy by Mr. Thwaites.

Order LEPIDOPTERA.

"The fauna of Ceylon is much better known in this order than in any other of the insect tribes, but as yet the _Lepidoptera_ alone in their class afford materials for a comparison of the productions of Ceylon with those of Hindostan and of Australasia; 932 species have been collected by Dr. Templeton and by Mr. Layard in the central, western, and northern parts of the island. All the families, from the _Papilionidoe_ to the _Tineidoe_, abound, and numerous species and several genera appear, as yet, to be peculiar to the island. As Ceylon is situate at the entrance to the eastern regions, the list in this volume will suitably precede the descriptive catalogues of the heterocerous _Lepidoptera_ of Hindostan, Java, Borneo, and of other parts of Australasia, which are being prepared for publication. In some of the heterocerous families several species are common to Ceylon and to Australasia, and in various cases the faunas of Ceylon and of Australasia seem to be more similar than those of Ceylon and of Hindostan. The long intercourse between those two regions may have been the means of conveying some species from one to the other. Among the _Pyralites, Hymenia recurvalis_ inhabits also the West Indies, South America, West Africa, Hindostan, China, Australasia, Australia, and New Zealand; and its food-plant is probably some vegetable which is cultivated in all those regions; so also _Desmia afflictalis_ is found in Sierra Leone, Ceylon, and China.

Order DIPTERA.

"About fifty species were observed by Dr. Templeton, but most of those here recorded were collected by Mr. Thwaites at Kandy, and have a great likeness to North European species.

"The mosquitoes are very annoying on account of their numbers, as might be expected from the moisture and heat of the climate. _Culex laniger_ is the coast species, and the other kinds here mentioned are from Kandy. Humboldt observed that in some parts of South America each stream had its peculiar mosquitoes, and it yet remains to be seen whether the gnats in Ceylon are also thus restricted in their habitation. The genera _Sciara, Cecidomyia_, and _Simulium_, which abound so exceedingly in temperate countries, have each one representative species in the collection made by Mr. Thwaites. Thus an almost new field remains for the Entomologist in the study of the yet unknown Singhalese Diptera, which must be very numerous.

Order HEMIPTERA.

"The species of this order in the list are too few and too similar to those of Hindustan to need any particular mention. _Lecanium coffeoe_ may be noticed, on account of its infesting the coffee plant, as its name indicates, and the ravages of other species of the genus will be remembered, from the fact that one of them, in other regions, has put a stop to the cultivation of the orange as an article of commerce.

"In conclusion, it may be observed that the species of insects in Ceylon may be estimated as exceeding 10,000 in number, of which about 2,000 are enumerated in this volume.

Class ARACHNIDA.

"Four or five species of spiders, of which the specimens cannot be satisfactorily described; one _Ixodes_ and one _Chelifer_ have been forwarded to England from Ceylon by Mr. Thwaites."

NOTE.--The asterisk prefixed denotes the species discovered in Ceylon since Sir J.E. Tennent's departure from the Island in 1849.

ORDER, Coleoptera, _Linn._

Fam. CICINDELIDÆ, _Steph._ Cicindela, _Linn._ flavopunctata, _Aud._ discrepans, _Wlk._ aurofasciata, _Guér._ quadrilineata, _Fabr._ biramosa, _Fabr._ catena, _Fabr._ *insignificans, _Dohrn._ Tricondyla, _Latr._ femorata, _Wlk._ *tumidula, _Wlk._ *scitiscabra, _Wlk._ *concinna, _Dohrn._

Fam. CARABIDÆ, _Leach._ Casnouia, _Latr._ *punctata, _Niet._ *pilifera, _Niet._ Ophionea, _Klug._ *cyanocephala, _Fabr._ Euplynes, _Niet._ Dohrnii, _Niet._ Heteroglossa, _Niet._ *elegans, _Niet._ *ruficollis, _Niet._ *bimaculata, _Niet._ Zuphium, _Latr._. *pubescens, _Niet._ Pheropsophus, _Solier._ Catoirei, _Dej._ bimaculatus, _Fabr._ Cymindis, _Latr._. rufiventris, _Wlk._ Anchista, _Niet._ *modesta, _Niet._ Dromius, _Bon._ marginifer, _Wlk._ repandens, _Wlk._ Lebia, _Latr._ bipars, _Wlk._ Creagris, _Niet._ labrosa, _Niet._ Elliotia, _Niet._ pallipes, _Niet._ Maraga, _Wlk._. planigera, _Wlk._ Catascopus, _Kirby._ facialis, _Wied._ reductus, _Wlk._ Scarites, _Fabr._ obliterans, _Wlk._ subsignans, _Wlk._ designans, _Wlk._ *minor, _Niet._ Clivina, _Latr._ *rugosifrons, _Niet._ *elongatula, _Niet._ *maculata, _Niet._ recta, _Wlk._ Leistus, _Froehl._ linearis, _Wlk._ Isotarsus, _Laferté._ quadrimaculatus, _Oliv._ Panagæeus, _Latr._ retractus, _Wlk._ Chlænius, _Bon._. bimaculatus, _Dej._ diffinis, _Reiche._ *Ceylanicus, _Niet._ *quinque-maculatus, _Niet._ pulcher, _Niet._ cupricollis, _Niet._ rugulosus, _Niet._ Anchomenus, _Bon._ illocatus, _Wlk._ Agonum, _Bon._ placidulum, _Wlk._ Colpodes? _Macl._ marginicollis, _Wlk._ Argutor, _Meg._. degener, _Wlk._ relinquens, _Wlk._ Simphyus, _Niet._ *unicolor, _Niet._ Bradytus, _Steph._ stolidus, _Wlk._ Curtonotus, _Steph._ compositus, _Wlk._ Harpalus, _Latr._ *advolans, _Niet._ dispellens, _Wlk._ Calodromus, _Niet._ *exornatus, _Niet._ Megaristerus, _Niet._ *mandibularis, _Niet._ *stenolophoides, _Niet._ *Indicus, _Niet._ Platysma, _Bon._ retinens, _Wlk._ Morio, _Latr._ trogositoides, _Wlk._ cucujoides, _Wlk._ Barysomus, _Dej_ *Gyllenhalii, _Dej._ Oodes, _Bon._ *piceus, _Niet._ Selenophorus, _Dej._ infixus, _Wlk._ Orthogonius, _Dej._ femoratus, _Dej._ Helluodes, _Westw._ Taprobanæ, _Westw._ Physocrotaphus, _Parry._ Ceylonicus, _Parry._ *minax, _West._ Psysodera, _Esch._ Eschscholtzii, _Parry._ Omphra, _Latr._ *ovipennis, _Reiche._ Planetes, _Macl._ bimaculatus, _Macleay._ Cardiaderus, _Dej._ scitus, _Wlk._ Distrigus, _Dej._ *costatus, _Niet._ *submetallicus, _Niet._ *rufopiceus, _Niet._ *æeneus, _Niet._ *Dejeani, _Niet._ Drimostoma, _Dej._ *Ceylanicum, _Niet._ *marginale, _Wlk._ Cyclosomus, _Latr._ flexuosus, _Fabr._ Ochthephilus, _Niet._ *Ceylanicus, _Niet._ Spathinus, _Niet._ *nigriceps, _Niet._ Acupalpus, _Latr._ derogatus, _Wlk._ extremus, _Wlk._ Bembidium, _Latr._ finitimum, _Wlk._ *opulentum, _Niet._ *truncatum, _Niet._ *tropicum, _Niet._ *triangalare, _Niet._ *Ceylanicum, _Niet._ Klugii, _Niet._ *ebeninum, _Niet._ *orientale, _Niet._ *emarginatum, _Niet._ *ornatum, _Niet._ *scydmænoides, _Niet._

Fam. PAUSSIDÆ, _Westw._ Cerapterus, _Swed._ latipes, _Swed._ Pleuropterus, _West._ Westermanni, _West._ Paussus, _Linn._ pacificus, _West._

Fam. DYTISCIDÆ, _Macl._ Cybister, _Curt._ limbatus, _Fabr._ Dytiscus, _Linn._ extenuans, _Wlk._ Eunectes, _Erich._ griseus, _Fabr._ Hydaticus, _Leach._ festivus, _Ill._ vittatus, _Fabr._ disclocans, _Wlk._ fractifer, _Wlk._ Colymbetes, _Clairv._ interclusus, _Wlk._ Hydroporus, _Clairv._ interpulsus, _Wlk._ intermixtus, _Wlk._ lætabilis, _Wlk._ *inefficiens, _Wlk._

Fam. GYRINIDÆ, _Leach_. Dineutes, _Macl._ spinosus, _Fabr._ Porrorhynchus, _Lap._ indicans, _Wlk._ Gyretes, _Brullé_. discifer, _Wlk._ Gyrinus, _Linn_. nitidulus, _Fabr._ obliquus, _Wlk._ Orectochilus, _Esch._ *lenoeinium, _Dohrn_.

Fam. STAPHILINIDÆ, _Leach_. Ocypus, _Kirby_. longipennis, _Wlk._ congruus, _Wlk._ punctilinea, _Wlk._ *lineatus, _Wlk._ Philonthus, _Leach_. *pedestris, _Wlk._ Xantholinus, _Dahl_. cinctus, _Wlk._ *inclinans, _Wlk._ Sunius, _Leach_. *obliquus, _Wlk._ Oedichirus, _Erich_. *alatus, _Niet._ Poederus, _Fabr_. alternans, _Wlk._ Stenus, _Latr._ *barbatus, _Niet._ *lacertoides, _Niet._ Osorius? _Leach_. *compactus, _Wlk._ Prognatha, _Latr._ decisa, _Wlk._ *tenuis, _Wlk._ Leptochirus, _Perty_. *bispinus, _Erich_. Oxytelus, _Grav._ rudis, _Wlk._ productus, _Wlk._ *bicolor, _Wlk._ Trogophloeus? _Mann_. *Taprobanæ, _Wlk._ Omalium, _Grav._ filiforme, _Wlk._ Aleochara, _Grav._ postica, _Wlk._ *translata, _Wlk._ *subjecta, _Wlk._ Dinarda, _Leach_. serricornis, _Wlk._

Fam. PSELAPHIDÆ, _Leach_. Pselaphanax, _Wlk._ setosus, _Wlk._

Fam. SCYDMÆNIDÆ, _Leach_. Erineus, _Wlk._ monstrosus, _Wlk._ Scydmænus, _Latr._ *megamelas, _Wlk_. *alatus, _Niet._ *femoralis, _Niet._ *Ceylanicus, _Niet._ *intermedius, _Niet._ *pselaphoides, _Niet._ *advolans, _Niet._ *pubescens, _Niet._ *pygmæus, _Niet._ *glanduliferus, _Niet._ *graminicola, _Niet._ *pyriformis, _Niet._ *angusticeps, _Niet._ *ovatus, _Niet._

Fam. PTILIADÆ, _Woll._ Trichopteryx, _Kirby_. *cursitans, _Niet._ *immatura, _Niet._ *invisibilis, _Niet._ Ptilium, _Schüpp._. *subquadratum, _Niet._ Ptenidium, _Erich_. *macrocephalum, _Niet._

Fam. PHALACRIDÆ, _Leach_. Phalacrus, _Payk._ conjiciens, _Wlk._ confectus, _Wlk._

Fam. NITIDULIDÆ, _Leach_. Nitidula, _Fabr._ contigens, _Wlk._ intendens, _Wlk._ significans, _Wlk._ tomentifera, _Wlk._ *submaculata, _Wlk._ *glabricula, _Dohrn._ Nitidulopsis, _Wlk._ æqualis, _Wlk._ Meligethes, _Kirby_. *orientalis, _Niet._ *respondens, _Wlk._ Rhizophagus, _Herbst_. parallelus, _Wlk_.

Fam. COLYDIADÆ, _Woll._ Lyctus, _Fabr._ retractus, _Wlk._ disputans, _Wlk._ Ditoma, _Illig._ rugicollis, _Wlk._

Fam. TROGOSITIDÆ, _Kirby_. Trogosita, _Oliv._ insinuans, _Wlk._ *rhyzophagoides, _Wlk._

Fam. CUCUJIDÆ, _Steph._ Loemophloeus, _Dej._ ferrugineus, _Wlk._ Cucujus? _Fabr._ *incommodus, _Wlk._ Silvanus, _Latr._ retrahens, _Wlk._ *scuticollis, _Wlk._ *porrectus, _Wlk._ Brontes, _Fabr._ *orientalis, _Dej._

Fam. LATHRIDIADÆ, _Woll._ Lathridius, _Herbst_. perpusillus, _Wlk._ Corticaria, _Marsh_. resecta, _Wlk._ Monotoma, _Herbst_. concinnula, _Wlk._

Fam. DERMESTIDÆ, _Leach_. Dermestes, _Linn_. vulpinus, _Fabr._ Attagenus, _Latr._ defectus, _Wlk._ rufipes, _Wlk._ Trinodes, _Meg._ hirtellus, _Wlk._

Fam. BYRRHIDÆ, _Leach_. Inclica, _Wlk._ solida, _Wlk._

Fam. HISTERIDÆ, _Leach_. Hister, _Linn_. Bengalensis, _Weid._ encaustus, _Mars._ orientalis, _Payk_. bipustulatus, _Fabr._ *mundissimus, _Wlk._ Saprinus, _Erich_. semipunctatus, _Fabr._ Platysoma, _Leach_. atratum? _Erichs_. desinens, _Wlk._ restoratum, _Wlk._ Dendrophilus, _Leach._ finitimus, _Wlk._

Fam. APHODIADÆ, _Macl._ Aphodius, _Illig._ robustus, _Wlk._ dynastoides, _Wlk._ pallidicornis, _Wlk._ mutans, _Wlk._ sequens, _Wlk._ Psammodius, _Gyll._ inscitus, _Wlk._

Fam. TROGIDÆ, _Macl._ Trox, _Fabr._ inclusus, _Wlk._ cornutus, _Fabr._

Fam. COPRIDÆ, _Leach._ Ateuchus, _Weber._ sacer. _Linn._ Gymnopleurus, _Illig._ smaragdifer, _Wlk._ Koenigii, _Fabr._ Sisyphus, _Latr._ setosulus, _Wlk._ subsidens, _Wlk._ prominens, _Wlk._ Orepanocerus, _Kirby._ Taprobanæ, _West._ Copris, _Geoffr._ Pirmal, _Fabr._ sagax, _Quens._ capucinus, _Fabr._ cribricollis, _Wlk._ repertus, _Wlk._ sodalis, _Wlk._ signatus, _Wlk._ diminutivus, _Wlk._ Onthophagus, _Latr._ Bonassus, _Fabr._ cervicornis, _Fabr._ prolixus, _Wlk._ gravis, _Wlk._ diffieilis, _Wlk._ lucens, _Wtk._ negligens, _Wlk._ moerens, _Wlk._ turbatus _Wlk._ Onitis, _Fabr._ Philemon, _Fabr._

Fam. DYNASTIDÆ, _Macl._ Oryetes, _Illig._ rhinoceros, _Linn._ Xylotrupes, _Hope._ Gideon, _Linn._ reductus, _Wlk._ solidipes, _Wlk._ Phileurus, _Latr._ detractus, _Wlk._ Orphnus, _Macl._ detegens, _Wlk._ scitissimus, _Wlk._

Fam. GEOTRUPIDÆ, _Leach._ Bolboceras, _Kirby._ lineatus, _Westw._

Fam. MELOLONTHIDÆ, _Macl._ Melolontha, _Fabr._ nummicudens, _Newm._ rubiginosa, _Wlk._ ferruginosa, _Wlk._ seriata, _Hope._ pinguis, _Wlk._ setosa, _Wlk._ Rhizotrogus, _Lair._ hirtipectus, _Wlk._ æqualis, _Wlk._ costatus, _Wlk._ inductus, _Wlk._ exactus, _Wlk._ sulcifer, _Wlk._ Phyllopertha, _Kirby._ transversa, _Burm._ Silphodes, _Westw._ Indica, _Westw._ Trigonostoma, _Dej._ assimile, _Hope._ compressum? _Weid._ nanum, _Wlk._ Serica, _Macl._ pruinosa, _Hope._ Popilia, _Leach._ marginicollis, _Newm._ cyanella, _Hope._ discalis, _Wlk._ Sericesthis, _Dej._ rotundata, _Wlk._ subsignata, _Wlk._ mollis, _Wlk._ confirmata, _Wlk._ Plectris, _Lep. & Serv._ solida, _Wlk._ punctigera, _Wlk._ glabrilinea, _Wlk._ Isonychus, _Mann._ ventralis, _Wlk._ pectoralis, _Wlk._ Omaloplia, _Meg._ fracta, _Wlk._ interrupta, _Wlk._ semicincta, _Wlk._ *hamifera, _Wlk._ *picta, _Dohrn._ *nana, _Dohrn._ Apogonia, _Kirby_. nigrieaus, _Hope._ Phytalus, _Erich._ eurystomus; _Burm._ Ancylonycha, _Dej._ Reynaudii, _Blanch._ Leucopholis, _Dej._ Mellei, _Guer._ pinguis, _Burm._ Anomala, _Meg._ elata, _Fabr._ humeralis, _Wlk._ discalis, _Wlk._ varicolor, _Sch._ conformis, _Wlk._ similis, _Hope._ punctatissima, _Wlk._ infixa, _Wlk._ Mimela, _Kirby_ variegata, _Wlk._ mundissima, _Wlk._ Parastasia, _Westw._ rufopicta, _Westw._ Euchlora, _Macl._ viridis, _Fabr._ perplexa, _Hope._

Fam. CETONIADÆ, _Kirby._ Glycyphana, _Burm._ versicolor, _Fabr._ luctuosa, _Gory._ variegata, _Fabr._ marginicollis, _Gory._ Clinteria, _Burm._ imperialis, _Schaum._ incerta, _Parry._ chloronota, _Blanch_ Tæniodera, _Burm._ Malabariensis, _Gory._ quadrivittata, _White._ alboguttata, _Vigors._ Protætia, _Burm._ maculata, _Fabr._ Whitehousii, _Parry._ Agestrata, _Erich._ nigrita, _Fabr._ orichalcea, _Linn._ Coryphocera, _Burm._ elegans, _Fabr._ Macronota, _Hoffm._ quadrivittata, _Sch._

Fam. TRICHIADÆ, _Leach._ Valgus, _Scriba._ addendus, _Wlk._

Fam. LUCANIDÆ, _Leach._ Odontolabis, _Burm._ Bengalensis, _Parry._ emarginatus, _Dej._ Ægus, _Macl._ acuminatus, _Fabr._ lunatus, _Fabr._ Singhala, _Blanch._ tenella, _Blanch._ Fam. PASSALIDÆ, _Macl_. Passalus, _Fabr_. transversus, _Dohrn_. interstitialis, _Perch_. punctiger? _Lefeb_. bicolor, _Fabr_.

Fam. SPHÆRIDIADÆ, _Leach_. Sphæridium, _Fabr_. tricolor, _Wlk_. Cercyon, _Leach_. *vicinale, _Wlk_.

Fam. HYDROPHILIDÆ, _Leach_. Hydrous, _Leach_. *rufiventris, _Niet_. *inconspicuus, _Niet_. Hydrobius, _Leach_. stultus, _Wlk_. Philydrus, _Solier_. esuriens, _Wlk_. Berosus, _Leach_. *decrescens, _Wlk_. Hydrochus, _Germ_. *lacustris, _Niet_. Georyssus, _Latr_. *gemma, _Niet_. *insularis, _Dohrn_. Dastarcus, _Wlk_. porosus, _Wlk_.

Fam. BUPRESTIDÆ, _Stph_. Sternocera, _Esch_. chrysis, _Linn_. sternicornis, _Linn_. Chrysochroa, _Solier_. ignita, _Linn_. Chinensis, _Lap_. Rajah, _Lap_. *cyaneocephala, _Fabr_. Chyrsodema, _Lap_. sulcata, _Thunb_. Belionota, _Esch_. scutellaris, _Fabr_. *Petiti, _Gory_. Chrysobothris, _Esch_. suturalis, _Wlk_. Agrilus, _Meg_. sulcicollis, _Wlk_. *cupreiceps, _Wlk_. *cupreicollis, _Wlk_. *armatus, _Fabr_.

Fam. ELATERIDÆ, _Leach_. Campsosternos, _Latr_. Templetonii, _Westw_. aureolus, _Hope_. Bohemannii, _Cand_. venustulus, _Cand_. pallidipes, _Cand_. Agrypnus, _Esch_. fuscipes, _Fabr_. Alaus, _Esch_. speciosus, _Linn_. sordidus, _Westw_. Cardiophorus, _Esch_. humerifer, _Wlk_. Corymbites, _Latr_. dividens, _Wlk_. divisa, _Wlk_. *bivittava, _Wlk_. Lacon, _Lap_. *obesus, _Cand_. Athous, _Esch_. punctosus, _Wlk_. inapertus, _Wlk_. decretus, _Wlk_. inefficiens, _Wlk_. Ampedus, _Meg_. *acutifer, _Wlk_. *discicollis, _Wlk_. Legna, _Wlk_. idonea, _Wlk_.

Fam. LAMPYRIDÆ, _Leach_. Lycus, _Fabr_. triangularis, _Hope_. geminus, _Wlk_. astutus, _Wlk_. fallax, _Wlk_. planicornis, _Wlk_. melanopterus, _Wlk_. pubicornis, _Wlk_. duplex, _Wlk_. costifer, _Wlk_. revocans, _Wlk_. dispellens, _Wlk_. *pubipennis, _Wlk_. *humerifer, _Wlk_. expansicornis, _Wlk_. divisus, _Wlk_. Dictyopterus, _Latr_. internexus, _Wlk_. Lampyris, _Geoff_. tenebrosa, _Wlk_. diffinis, _Wlk_. lutescens, _Wlk_. *vitrifera, _Wlk_. Colophotia, _Dej_. humeralis, _Wlk_. [vespertina, _Fabr_. perplexa, _Wlk_.?] intricata, _Wlk_. extricans, _Wlk_. promelas, _Wlk_. Harmatelia, _Wlk_. discalis, _Wlk_. bilinea, _Wlk_.

Fam. TELEPHORIDÆ, _Leach_. Telephorus, _Schäff_. dimidiatus, _Fabr_. malthinoides, _Wlk_. Eugeusis, _Westw_. palpator, _Westw_. gryphus, _Hope_. olivaceus, _Hope_.

Fam. CEBRIONIDÆ, _Steph_. Callirhipis, _Latr_. Templetonii, _Westw_. Championii, _Westw_.

Fam. MERLYRIDÆ, _Leach_. Malachius, _Fabr_. plagiatus, _Wlk_. Malthinus, _Latr_. *forticornis, _Wlk_. *retractus, _Wlk_. fragilis, _Dohrn_. Enciopus, _Steph_. proficiens, _Wlk_. Honosca, _Wlk_. necrobioides, _Wlk_.

Fam. CLERIDÆ, _Kirby_. Cylidrus, _Lap_. sobrinus, _Dohrn_. Stigmatium, _Gray_. elaphroides, _Westw_. Necrobia, _Latr_. rufipes, _Fabr_. aspera, _Wlk_.

Fam. PTINIDÆ, _Leach_. Ptinus, _Linn_. *nigerrimus, _Boield_.

Fam. DIAPERIDÆ, _Leach_. Diaperis, _Geoff_. velutina, _Wlk_. fragilis, _Dohrn_.

Fam. TENEBRIONIDÆ, _Leach_. Zophobas, _Dej_. errans? _Dej_. clavipes, _Wlk_. ?solidus, _Wlk_. Pseudoblaps, _Guer_. nigrita, _Fabr_. Tenebrio, _Linn_. rubripes, _Hope_. retenta, _Wlk_. Trachyscelis, _Latr_. brunnea, _Dohrn_.

Fam. OPATRIDÆ, _Shuck_. Opatrum, _Fabr_. contrahens, _Wlk_. bilineatum, _Wlk_. planatum, _Wlk_. serricolle, _Wlk._ Asida, _Latr_. horrida, _Wlk._ Crypticus, _Latr_. detersus, _Wlk_. longipennis, _Wlk._ Phaleria, _Latr_. rufipes, _Wlk._ Toxicum, _Latr_. oppugnans, _Wlk_. biluna, _Wlk._ Boletophagus, _Ill._ *morosus, _Dohrn_. *exasperatus, _Doh._ Uloma, _Meg_. scita, _Wlk._ Alphitophagus, _Steph_. subfascia, _Wlk_.

Fam. HELOPIDÆ, _Steph_. Osdara, _Wlk_. picipes, _Wlk_. Cholipus, _Dej_. brevicornis, _Dej_. parabolicus, _Wlk_. læviusculus, _Wlk_. Helops, _Fabr_. ebenius, _Wlk_. Camaria, _Lep. & Serv_. amethystina, _L. & S_. Amarygmus, _Dalm_. chrysomeloides, _Dej_.

Fam. MELOIDÆ, _Woll_. Epicauta, _Dej_. nigrifinis, _Wlk_. Cissites, _Latr_. testaceus, _Fabr_. Mylabris, _Fabr_. humeralis, _Wlk_. alterna, _Wlk_. *recognita, _Wlk._ Atractocerus, _Pal., Bv_. debilis, _Wlk_. reversus, _Wlk_.

Fam. OEDEMERIDÆ, _Steph_. Cistela, _Fabr._ congrua, _Wlk_. *falsitica, _Wlk_. Allecula, _Fabr_. fusiformis, _Wlk_. elegans, _Wlk_. *flavifemur], _Wlk_. Sora, _Wlk_. *marginata, _Wlk_. Thaccona, _Wlk_. dimelas, _Wlk_.

Fam. MORDELLIDÆ, _Steph_. Acosmus, _Dej_. languidus, _Wlk_. Rhipiphorus, _Fabr_. *tropicus, _Niet_. Mordella, _Linn_. composita, _Wlk_. *defectiva, _Wlk_. Myrmecolax, _Westw_. *Nietneri, _Westw_.

Fam. ANTHICIDÆ, _Wlk_. Anthicus, _Payk_ *quisquilarius, _Niet_. *insularius, _Niet_. *sticticollis, _Wlk_.

Fam. CISSIDÆ, _Leach_. Cis, _Latr_. contendens, _Wlk_.

Fam. TOMICIDÆ, _Shuck_. Apate, _Fabr_. submedia, _Wlk_. Bostrichus, _Geoff_. mutilatus, _Wlk_. *vertens, _Wlk_. *moderatus, _Wlk_. *testaceus, _Wlk_. *exiguus, _Wlk_. Platypus, _Herbst_. minax, _Wlk_. solidus, _Wlk_. *latitinis, _Wlk_. Hylurgus, _Latr_. determinans, _Wlk_. *concinnulus, _Wlk_. Hylesinus, _Fabr_. curvifer, _Wlk_. despectus, _Wlk_. irresolutus, _Wlk_.

Fam. CURCULIONIDÆ, _Leach_. Bruchus, _Linn_. scutellaris, _Fabr_. Spermophagus, _Steven_. convolvuli, _Thumb_. figuratus, _Wlk_. Cisti, _Fabr_. incertus, _Wlk_. decretus, _Wlk_. Dendropemon _Schön_. *melancholicus, _Dohrn_. Dendrotrogus, _Jek_. Dohrnii, _Jek_. discrepans, _Dohrn_. Eucorynus, _Schön_. colligendus, _Wlk_. colligens, _Wlk_. Basitropis, _Jek_. *disconotatus, _Jek_. Litocerus, _Schön_. punctulatus, _Dohrn_. Tropideres, _Sch_. punctulifer, _Dohrn_. fragilis, _Wlk_. Cedus, _Waterh_. *cancellatus, _Dohrn_. Xylinades, _Latr_. sobrinulus, _Dohrn_. indignus, _Wlk_. Xenocerus, _Germ_. anguliferus, _Wlk_. revocans, _Wlk_. *anchoralis, _Dohrn_. Callistocerus, _Dohrn_. *Nietneri, _Dohrn_. Anthribus, _Geoff_. longicornis, _Fabr_. apicalis, _Wlk_. facilis, _Wlk_. Aræcerus, _Schön_. coffeæ, _Fabr_. *insidiosus, _Fabr_. *musculus, _Dohrn_. *intangens, _Wlk_. *bifovea, _Wlk_. Dipieza, _Pasc_. *insignis, _Dohrn_. Apolecta, _Pasc_. *Nietneri, _Dohrn_. *musculus, _Dohrn_ Arrhenodes, _Steven_. miles, _Sch_. pilicornis, _Sch_. dentirostris, _Jek_. approximans, _Wlk_. Veneris, _Dohrn_ Cerobates, _Schön_. thrasco, _Dohrn_. aciculatus, _Wlk_. Ceocephalus, _Schön_. cavus, _Wlk_. *reticulatus, _Fabr_. Nemocephalus, _Latr_. sulcirostris, _De Haan_. planicollis, _Wlk_. spinirostris, _Wlk_. Apoderus, _Oliv_. longicollis ? _Fabr_. Tranquebaricus, _Fabr_. cygneus, _Fabr_.? scitulus, _Wlk_. *triangularis, _Fabr_. *echinatus, _Sch_. Rhynchites, _Herbst_. suffundens, _Wlk._ *restituens, _Wlk._ Apion, _Herbst_. *Cingalense, _Wlk._ Strophosomus, _Bilbug_. *suturalis, _Wlk._ Piazomias, _Schön._ æqualis, _Wlk._ Astycus, _Schön._ lateralis, _Fabr.?_ ebeninus, _Wlk._ *immunis, _Wlk._ Cleonus, _Schön._ inducens, _Wlk._ Myllocerus, _Schön._ transmarinus, _Herbst_.? spurcatus, _Wlk._ *retrahens, _Wlk._ *posticus, _Wlk._ Phyllobius, _Schön._ *mimicus, _Wlk._ Episomus, _Schön._ pauperatus, _Fabr._ Lixus, _Fabr._ nebulifascia, _Wlk._ Aclees, _Schön._ cribratus, _Dej._ Alcides, _Dalm._ signatus, _Boh._ obliquus, _Wlk._ transversus, _Wlk._ *clausus, _Wlk._ Acicnemis, _Fairm._ Ceylonicus, _Jek._ Apotomorhinus, _Schön._ signatus, _Wlk._ alboater, _Wlk._ Cryptorhynchus, _Illig._ ineffectus, _Wlk._ assimilans, _Wlk._ declaratus, _Wlk._ notabilis, _Wlk._ vexatus, _Wlk._ Camptorhinus, _Schön.?_ reversus, _Wlk._ *indiscretus, _Wlk._ Desmidophorus, _Chevr._ hebes, _Fabr._ communicans, _Wlk._ strenuus, _Wlk._ *discriminans _Wlk._ inexpertus, _Wlk._ *fasciculicollis, _Wlk._ Sipalus, _Schön._ granulatus, _Fabr._ porosus, _Wlk._ tinctus, _Wlk._ Mecopus, _Dalm._ *Waterhousei, _Dohrn._ Rhynchophorus, _Herbst_. ferrugineus, _Fabr._ introducens, _Wlk._ Protocerus, _Schön._ molossus? _Oliv._ Sphænophorus, _Schön._ glabridiscus, _Wlk._ exquisitus, _Wlk._ Dehaani? _Jek._ cribricollis, _Wlk._ ? panops, _Wlk._ Cossonus, _Clairv._ *quadrimacula, _Wlk._ ? hebes, _Wlk._ ambiguus, _Sch.?_ Sitophilus, _Schön._ oryzæ, _Linn._ disciferus, _Wlk._ Mecinus, _Germ._ *? relictus, _Wlk._

Fam. PRIONIDÆ, _Leach_. Trictenotoma, _G.H. Gray_. Templetoni, _Westw._ Prionomma, _White_. orientalis, _Oliv._ Acanthophorus, _Serv._ serraticornis, _Oliv._ Cnemoplites, _Newm._ Rhesus, _Motch._ Ægosoma, _Serv._ Cingalense, _White_.

Fam. CERAMIBYCIDÆ, _Kirby_. Cerambyx, _Linn._ indutus, _Newm._ vernicosus, _Pasc._ consocius, _Pasc._ versutus, _Pasc._ nitidus, _Pasc._ macilentus, _Pasc._ venustus, _Pasc._ torticollis, _Dohrn._ Sebasmia, _Pasc._ Templetoni, _Pasc._ Callichroma, _Lair._ trogoninum, _Pasc._ telephoroides, _Westw._ Homalomelas, _White_. gracilipes, _Parry_. zonatus, _Pasc._ Colobus, _Serv._ Cingalensis, _White_. Thranius, _Pasc._ gibbosus, _Pasc._ Deuteromma, _Pasc._ mutica, _Pasc._ Obrium, _Meg._ laterale, _Pasc._ moestum, _Pasc._ Psilomerus, _Blanch._ macilentus, _Pasc._ Clytus _Fabr._ vicinus, _Hope_. ascendens, _Pasc._ Walkeri, _Pasc._ annularis, _Fabr._ *aurilinea, _Dohrn._ Rhaphuma, _Pasc._ leucoscutellata, _Hope_. Ceresium, _Newm._ cretatum, _White_. Zeylanicum, _White._ Stromatium, _Serv._ barbatum, _Fabr._ maculatum, _White._ Hespherophanes, _Muls._ simplex, _Gyll._

Fam. LAMIIDÆ, _Kirby_. Nyphona, _Muls._ cylindracea, _White_. Mesosa, _Serv._ columba, _Pasc._ Coptops, _Serv._ bidens, _Fabr._ Xylorhiza, _Dej._ adusta, _Wied._ Cacia, _Newm._ triloba, _Pasc._ Batocera, _Blanch._ rubus, _Fabr._ ferruginea, _Blanch._ Monohammus, _Meg._ fistulator, _Germ._ crucifer, _Fabr._ nivosus, _White_. commixtus, _Pasc._ Cereopsius, _Dup._ patronus, _Pasc._ Pelargoderus, _Serv._ tigrinus, _Chevr._ Olenocamptus, _Chevr._ bilobus, _Fabr._ Praonetha, _Dej._ annulata, _Chevr._ posticalis, _Pasc._ Apomecyna, _Serv._ histrio, _Fabr._ var.? Ropica, _Pasc._ præusta, _Pasc._ Hathlia, _Serv._ procera, _Pasc._ Iolea, _Pasc._ proxima, _Pasc._ histrio, _Pasc._ Glenea, _Newm._ sulphurella, _White_. commissa, _Pasc._ scapifera, _Pasc._ vexator, _Pasc._ Stibara, _Hope_. nigricornis, _Fabr._

Fam. HISPIDÆ, _Kirby_. Oncocephala, _Dohrn_. deltoides, _Dohrn_. Leptispa, _Baly_. pygmæa, _Baly_. Amblispa, _Baly_, Döhrnii, _Baly_. Estigmena, _Hope_. Chinensis, _Hope_. Hispa, _Linn_. hystrix, _Fabr_. erinacea, _Fabr_. nigrina, _Dohrn_. *Walkeri, _Baly_. Platypria, _Guér_. echidna, _Guér_.

Fam. CASSIDIDÆ, _Westw_. Epistictia, _Boh_. matronula, _Boh_. Hoplionota, _Hope_. tetraspilota, _Baly_. rubromarginata, _Boh_. horrifica, _Boh_. Aspidomorpha, _Hope_. St. crucis, _Fabr_. miliaris, _Fabr_. pallidimarginata, _Baly_. dorsata, _Fabr_. calligera, _Boh_. micans, _Fabr_. Cassida, _Linn_. clathrata, _Fabr_. timefacta, _Boh_. farinosa, _Boh_. Laccoptera, _Boh_. 14-notata, _Boh_. Coptcycla, _Chevr_. sex-notata, _Fabr_. 13-signata, _Boh_. 13-notata, _Boh_. ornata, _Fabr_. Ceylonica, _Boh_. Balyi, _Boh_. trivittata, _Fabr_. 15-punctate, _Boh_. catenata, _Dej_.

Fam. SAGRIDÆ:, _Kirby_. Sagra, _Fabr_. nigrita, _Oliv_.

Fam. DONACIDÆ, _Lacord_. Donacia, _Fabr_. Delesserti, _Guér_ Coptocephala, _Chev_. Templetoni, _Baly_.

Fam. EUMOLPIDÆ, _Baly_. Corynodes, _Hope_. cyaneus, _Hope_. æneus, _Baly_. Glyptoscelis, _Chevr_. Templetoni, _Baly_. pyrospilotus, _Baly_. micans, _Baly_. cupreus, _Baly_. Eumolpus, _Fabr_. lemoides, _Wlk_.

Fam. CRYPTOCEPHALIDÆ, _Kirby_. Cryptocephalus, _Geoff_. sex-punctatus, _Fabr_. Walkeri, _Baly_. Diapromorpha, _Lac_. Turcica, _Fabr_.

Fam. CHRYSOMELIDÆ, _Leach_. Chalcolampa, _Baly_. Templetoni, _Baly_. Lina, _Meg_. convexa, _Baly_. Chrysomela, _Linn_. Templetoni, _Baly_.

Fam. GALERUCIDÆ, _Steph_. Galeruca, _Geoff_. *pectinata, _Dohrn_. Graptodera, _Chevr_. cyanea, _Fabr_. Monolepta, _Chevr_. pulchella, _Baly_. Thyamis, _Steph_. Ceylonicus, _Baly_.

Fam. COCCINELLIDÆ, _Latr_. Epilachna, _Chevr_. 28-punctata, _Fabr_. Delessortii, _Guér_. pubescens, _Hope_. innuba, _Oliv_. Coccinella, _Linn_. tricincta, _Fabr_. *repanda, _Muls_. tenuilinea, _Wlk_. rejiciens, _Wlk_. interrumpens, _Wlk_. quinqueplaga, _Wlk_. simplex, _Wlk_. antica, _Wlk_. flaviceps, _Wlk_. Neda, _Muls_. tricolor, _Fabr_. Coelophora, _Muls_. 9-maculata, _Fabr_. ? Chilocorus, _Leach_. opponens, _Wlk_. Seymnus, _Kug_. variabilis, _Wlk_.

Fam. EROTYLIDÆ, _Leach_. Fatua, _Dej_. Nepalensis, _Hope_. Triplax, _Payk_. decorus, _Wlk_. Tritoma, _Fabr_. *bifacies, _Wlk_. *preposita, _Wlk_. Ischyrus, _Cherz_. grandis, _Fabr_.

Fam. ENDOMYCHIDÆ, _Leach._ Eugonius, _Gerst_. annularis, _Gerst_. lunulatus, _Gerst_. Eumorphus, _Weber_. pulchripes, _Gerst_. *tener, _Dohrn_. Stenotarsus, _Perty_. Nietneri, _Gerst_. *castaneus, _Gerst_. *tomentosus, _Gerst_. *vallatus, _Gerst_. Lycoperdina, _Latr_. glabrata, _Wlk_. Ancylopus, _Gerst_. melanocephalus, _Oliv_. Saula, _Gerst_. *nigripes, _Gerst_. *ferruginea, _Gerst_. Mycetina, _Gerst_. castanea, _Gerst_.

Order Orthoptera, _Linn_.

Fam. FORFICULIDÆ, _Steph_. Forficula, _Linn_.

Fam. BLATTIDÆ, _Steph_. Panesthia, _Serv_. Javanica, _Serv_. plagiata, _Wlk_. Polyzosteria, _Burm_. larva. Corydia, _Serv_. Petiveriana, _Linn_.

Fam. MANTIDÆ, _Leach_. Empusa, _Illig_. gongylodes, _Linn_. Harpax, _Serv_. signifer, _Wlk_. Schizocephala, _Serv_, bicornis, _Linn_. Mantis, _Linn_. superstitiosa, _Fabr_. aridifolia, _Stoll_ extensicollis ? _Serv_.

Fam. PHASMIDÆ, _Serv_. Acrophylla, _Gray_. systropedon, _Westw_. Phasma, _Licht_. sordidum, _De Haan_. Phyllium, _Illig_. siccifolium, _Linn_.

Fam. GRYLLIDÆ, _Steph_. Acheta, _Linn_. bimaculata, _Deg_. supplicans, _Wlk_. æqualis, _Wlk_. confirmata, _Wlk_. Platydactylus, _Brull_. crassipes, _Wlk_. Steirodon, _Serv_. lanceolatum, _Wlk_. Phyllophora, _Thunb_. falsifolia, _Wlk_. Acanthodis, _Serv_. rugosa, _Wlk_. Phaneroptera, _Serv_. attenuata, _Wlk_. Phymateus, _Thunb_. miharis, _Linn_. Truxalis, _Linn_. exaltata, _Wlk_. porrecta, _Wlk_. Acridium, _Geoffr_. extensum, _Wlk_. deponens, _Wlk_. rufitibia, _Wlk_. cinctifemur, _Wlk_. respondens, _Wlk_. nigrifascia, _Wlk_.

Order, Physapoda, _Dum_. Thrips, _Linn_. stenomelas, _Wlk_.

Order, Neuroptera, _Linn_.

Fam. SERICOSTOMIDÆ, _Steph_. Mormonia, _Curt_. *ursina, _Hagen_.

Fam. LEPTOCERIDÆ, _Leach_. Macronema, _Pict_. multitarium, _Wlk_. *splendidum, _Hagen_. *nebulosum, _Hagen_. *obliquum, _Hagen_. *Ceylanicum, _Niet_. *annulicorne, _Niet_. Molanna, _Curt_. mixta, _Hagen_. Sctodes, _Ramb_. *Iris, _Hagen_. *Ino, _Hagen_.

Fam. PSYCHOMIDÆ, _Curt_. Chimarra, _Leach_. *auriceps, _Hagen_. *funesta, _Hagen_. *sepulcralis, _Hagen_.

Fam. HYDROPSYCHIDÆ, _Curt_. Hydropsyche, _Pict_. *Taprobanes, _Hagen_. *mitis, _Hagen_.

Fam. RHYACOPHILIDÆ, _Steph_. Rhyacophila, _Pict_. *castanea, _Hagen_.

Fam. PERLIDÆ, _Leach_. Perla, _Geoffr_. angulata, _Wlk_. *testacea, _Hagen_. *limosa, _Hagen_.

Fam. SILIADÆ, _Westw_. Dilar, _Ramb_. *Nietneri, _Hagen_.

Fam. HEMEROBIDÆ, _Leach_. Mantispa, _Illig_. *Indica, _Westw_. mutata, _Wlk_. Chrysopa, _Leach_. invaria, _Wlk_. *tropica, _Hagen_. aurifera, _Wlk_. *punctata, _Hagen_. Micromerus, _Ramb_. *linearis, _Hagen_. *australis, _Hagen_. Hemerobius, _Linn_. *frontalis, _Hagen_. Coniopteryx, _Hal_. *cerata, _Hagen_.

Fam. MYRMELEONIDÆ, _Leach_. Palpares, _Ramb_. contrarius, _Wlk_. Acanthoclisis, _Ramb_. *--n. s. _Hagen_. *molestus, _Wlk_. Myrmeleon, _Linn_. gravis, _Wlk_. dirus, _Wlk_. barbarus, _Wlk_. Ascalaphus, _Fabr_. nugax, _Wlk_. incusans, _Wlk_. *cervinus, _Niet_.

Fam. PSOCIDÆ, _Leach_.

Psocus, _Latr_. *Taprobanes, _Hagen_. *oblitus, _Hagen_. *consitus, _Hagen_. *trimaculatus, _Hagen_. *obtusus, _Hagen_. *elongatus, _Hagen_. *chloroticus, _Hagen_. *aridus, _Hagen_. *coleoptratus, _Hagen_. *dolabratus, _Hagen_. *infelix, _Hagen_.

Fam. TERMITIDÆ, _Leach_. Termes, _Linn_. Taprobanes, _Wlk_. fatalis, _Koen_. monoceros, _Koen_. *umbilicatus, _Hagen_. *n.s. _Jouv_. *n.s. _Jouv_.

Fam. EMBIDÆ, _Hagen_.

Oligotoma, _Westw_. *Saundersii, _Westw_.

Fam. EPHEMERIDÆ, _Leach_. Bætis, _Leach_. Taprobanes, _Wlk_. Potamanthus, _Pict_. *fasciatus, _Hagen_. *annulatus, _Hagen_. *femoralis, _Hagen_. Cloe, _Burm_. *tristis, _Hagen_. *consueta, _Hagen._ *solida, _Hagen_. *sigmata, _Hagen_. *marginalis, _Hagen_. Cænis, _Steph_. perpusilla, _Wlk_.

Fam. LIBELLULIDÆ. Calopteryx, _Leach_. Chinensis, _Linn_. Euphoea, _Selys_. splendens, _Hagen_. Micromerus, _Ramb_. lineatus, _Burm_. Trichocnemys, _Selys_. *serapica, _Hagen_. Lestes, _Leach_. *elata, _Hagen_. *gracilis, _Hagen_. Agrion, _Fabr._ *Coromandelianum, _F._ *tenax, _Hagen._ *hilare, _Hagen._ *velare, _Hagen._ *delicatum, _Hagen._ Gynacantha, _Ramb._ subinterrupta, _Ramb._ Epophthalmia, _Burm._ vittata, _Burm._ Zyxomma, _Ramb._ petiolatum, _Ramb._ Acisoma, _Ramb._ panorpoides, _Ramb._ Libellula, _Linn._ Marcia, _Drury._ Tillarga, _Fabr._ variegata, _Linn._ flavescens, _Fabr._ Sabina, _Drury._ viridula, _Pal. Beauv._ congener, _Ramb._ soror, _Ramb._ Aurora, _Burm._ violacea, _Niet._ perla, _Hagen._ sanguinea, _Burm._ trivialis, _Ramb._ contaminata, _Fabr._ equestris, _Fabr._ nebulosa, _Fabr._

Order, Hymenoptera, _Linn_.

Fam. FORMICIDÆ, _Leach._ Formica, _Linn._ smaragdina, _Fabr._ mitis, _Smith._ *Taprobane, _Smith._ *variegata, _Smith._ *exercita, _Wlk._ *exundans, _Wlk._ *meritans, _Wlk._ *latebrosa, _Wlk_ *pangens, _Wlk._ *ingruens _Wlk._ *detorquens, _Wlk._ *diffidens, _Wlk._ *obscurans, _Wlk._ *indeflexa, _Wik._ consultans, _Wlk._ Polyrhachis, _Smith._ *illaudatus, _Wlk._

Fam. PONERIDÆ, _Smith._ Odontomachus, _Latr._ simillimus, _Smith._ Typhlopone, _Westw._ Cartisii, _Shuck._ Myrmica, _Latr._ basalis, _Smith._ contigua, _Smith._ glyciphila, _Smith._ *consternens, _Wlk._ Crematogaster, _Lund._ *pellens, _Wlk._ *deponens, _Wlk._ *forticulus, _Wlk._ Pseudomyrma, _Guré._ *atrata, _Smith._ allaborans, _Wlk._ Atta, _St. Farg._ didita, _Wlk._ Pheidole, _Westw._ Janus, _Smith._ *Taprobanæ, _Smith._ *rugosa, _Smith._ Meranoplus, _Smith._ *dimicans, _Wlk._ Cataulacus, _Smith._ Taprobanæ, _Smith._

Fam. MUTILLIDÆ, _Leach._ Mutilla, _Linn._ *Sibylla, _Smith._ Tiphia, _Fabr._ *decrescens, _Wlk._

Fam. EUMENIDÆ, _Westw._ Odynerus, _Latr._ *tinctipennis, _Wlk._ *intendens, _Wlk._ Scolia, _Fabr._ auricollis, _St. Farg._

Fam, CRABRONIDÆ, _Leach._ Philanthus, _Fabr._ basalis, _Smith._ Stigmus, _Jur._ *congruus, _Wlk._

Fam. SPHEGIDÆ, _Steph._ Ammophila, _Kirby._ atripes, _Smith._ Pelopoæus, _Latr._ Spinolæ, _St. Farg._ Sphex, _Fabr._ ferruginea, _St. Farg._ Ampulex, _Jur._ conapressa, _Fabr._

Fam. LARRIDÆ, _Steph._ Larrada, _Smith._ *extensa, _Wlk._

Fam. POMPILIDÆ, _Leach._ Pompilus, _Fabr._ analis, _Fabr._

Fam. APIDÆ, _Leach._ Andrena, _Fabr._ *exagens, _Wlk._ Nomia, _Latr._ rustica, _Westw._ *vincta, _Wlk._ Allodaps, _Smith._ *marginata, _Smith._ Ceratina, _Latr._ viridis, _Guér._ picta, _Smith._ *simillima, _Smith._ Cælioxys, _Latr._ capitata, _Smith._ Crocisa, _Jur._ *ramosa, _St. Farg._ Stelis, _Panz._ carbonaria, _Smith._ Anthophora, _Latr._ zonata, _Smith._ Xylocopa, _Latr._ tenuiscapa, _Westw._ latipes, _Drury._ Apis, _Linn._ Indica, _Smith._ Trigona, _Jur._ iridipennis, _Smith._ *præterita, _Wlk._

Fam, CHRYSIDÆ, _Wlk._ Stilbum, _Spin._ splendidum, _Dahl._

Fam. DORYLIDÆ, _Shuck._ Enictus, _Shuck._ porizonoides, _Wlk._

Fam. ICHNEUMONIDÆ, _Leach._ Cryptus, _Fabr._ *onustus, _Wlk._ Hemiteles ? _Grav._ *varius, _Wlk._ Porizon, _Fall._ *dominans, _Wlk._ Pimpla, _Fabr._ albopicta, _Wlk._

Fam. BRACONIDÆ, _Hal._ Microgaster, _Latr._ *recusans, _Wlk._ *significans, _Wlk._ *subducens, _Wlk._ *detracta, _Wlk._ Spathius, _Nees._ *bisignatus, _Wlk._ *signipennis, _Wlk._ Heratemis, _Wlk_ *filosa, _Wlk._ Nebartha, _Wlk_. *macropoides, _Wlk_. Psyttalia, _Wlk_. *testacea, _Wlk_.

Fam. CHALCIDIÆ, _Spin_. Chalcis, _Fabr_. *dividens, _Wlk_. *pandens, _Wlk_. Halticella, _Spin_. *rufimanus, _Wlk_. *inficiens, _Wlk_. Dirrhinus, _Dalm_. *Anthracia, _Wlk_. Eurytoma, _Ill_. *contraria, _Wlk_. *indefensa, _Wlk_. Eucharis, _Latr_. *convergens, _Wlk_. *deprivata, _Wlk_. Pteromalus, _Swed_. *magniceps, _Wlk_. Encyrtus, _Latr_. *obstructus, _Wlk_.

Fam. DIAPHIDÆ, _Hal_. Diapria, _Latr_. apicalis, _Wlk_.

Order, Lepidoptera, _Linn_.

Fam. PAPILIONIDÆ, _Leach_. Ornithoptera, _Boisd_. Darsius, _G. R. Gray_. Papilio, _Linn_. Diphilus, _Esp_. Jophon, _G. R. Gray_. Hector, _Linn_. Romulus, _Cram_. Polymnestor, _Cram_. Crino, _Fabr_. Helenus, _Linn_. Pammon, _Linn_. Polytes, _Linn_. Erithonius, _Cram_. Antipathis, _Cram_. Agamemnon, _Linn_. Eurypilos, _Linn_. Bathycles, _Zinck-Som_. Sarpedon, _Linn_. dissimilis, _Linn_. Pontia, _Fabr_. Nina, _Fabr_. Pieris, _Schr_. Eacharis, _Drury_. Coronis, _Cram_. Epicharis, _Gudt_. Nama, _Doubl_. Remba, _Moore_. Mesentina, _Godt_. Severina, _Cram_. Namouna, _Doubl_. Phryne, _Fabr_. Paulina, _Godt_. Thestylis, _Doubl_. Callosune, _Doubl_. Eucharis, _Fabr_. Danaë, _Fabr_. Etrida, _Boisd_. Idmais, _Boisd_. Calais, _Cram_. Thestias, _Boisd_. Mariamne, _Cram_. Pirene, _Linn_. Hebomoia, _Hübn_. Glaucippe, _Linn_. Eronia, _Hübn_. Valeria, _Cram_. Callidryas, _Boisd_. Phillipina, _Boisd_. Pyranthe, _Linn_. Hilaria, _Cram_. Alemeone, _Cram_. Thisorella, _Boisd_. Terias, _Swain_. Drona, _Horsf_. Hecabe, _Linn_.

Fam. NYMPHALIDÆ, _Swain_. Euploea, _Fabr_. Prothoe, _Godt_. Core, _Cram_. Alcathoë, _Godt_. Danais, _Latr_. Chrysippus, _Linn_. Plexippus, _Linn_. Aglae, _Cram_. Melissa, _Cram_. Limniacæ, _Cram_. Juventa, _Cram_. Hestia, _Hübn_. Jasonia, _Westw_. Telchinia, _Hübn_. violæ, _Fabr_. Cethosia, _Fabr_. Cyane, _Fabr_. Messarus, _Doubl_. Erymanthis, _Drury_. Atella, _Doubl_. Phalanta, _Drury_. Argynnis, _Fabr_. Niphe, _Linn_. Clagia, _Godt_. Ergolis, _Boisd_. Taprobana, _West_. Vanessa, _Fabr_. Charonia, _Drury_. Libythea, _Fabr_. Medhavina, _Wlk_. Pushcara, _Wlk_. Pyrameis, _Hübn_. Charonia, _Drury_. Cardui, _Linn_. Callirhoë, _Hübn_. Junonia, _Hübn_. Limonias, _Linn_. Oenone, _Linn_. Orithyia, _Linn_. Laomedia, _Linn_. Asterie, _Linn_. Precis, _Hübn_. Iphita, _Cram_. Cynthia, _Fabr_. Arsinoe, _Cram_. Parthenos, _Hübn_. Gambrisius, _Fabr_. Limenitis, _Fabr_. Calidusa, _Moore_. Neptis, _Fabr_. Heliodore, _Fabr_. Columella, _Cram_. aceris, _Fabr_. Jumbah, _Moore_. Hordonia, _Stoll_. Diadema, _Boisd_. Auge, _Cram_. Bolina, _Linn_. Symphædra, _Hübn_. Thyelia, _Fabr_. Adolias, _Boisd_. Evelina, _Stoll_. Lubentina, _Fabr_. Vasanta, _Moore_. Garada, _Moore_. Nymphalis, _Latr_. Psaphon, _Westw_. Bernardus, _Fabr_. Athamas, _Cram_. Fabius, _Fabr_. Kallima, _Doubl_. Philarchus, _Westw_. Melanitis, _Fabr_. Banksia, _Fabr_. Leda, _Linn_. Casiphone, _G. R. Gray_. unduluris, _Boisd_. Ypththima, _Hübn_. Lysandra, _Cram_. Parthalis, _Wlk_. Cyllo, _Boisd_. Gorya, _Wlk_. Cathæna, _Wlk_. Embolima, _Wlk_. Neilgherriensis, _Guér_. Purimata, _Wlk_. Pushpamitra, _Wlk_. Mycalesis, _Hübn_. Patnia, _Moore_. Gamuliba, _Wlk_. Dosaron, _Wlk_. Samba, _Moore_. Cænonympha, _Hübn_. Euaspla, _Wlk._ Emesis, _Fabr._ Echerius, _Stoll._

Fam. LYCÆNIDÆ, _Leach._ Anops, _Boisd._ Bulis, _Boisd._ Thetys, _Drury._ Loxura, _Horsf._ Atymnus, _Cram._ Myrina, _Godt._ Selimnus, _Doubled._ Triopas, _Cram._ Amblypodia, _Horsf._ Longinus, _Fabr._ Narada, _Horsf._ Pseudocentaurus, _Do._ quercetorum, _Boisd._ Aphnæus, _Hübn._ Pindarus, _Fabr._ Etolus, _Cram._ Hephæstos, _Doubled._ Crotus, _Doubled._ Dipsas, _Doubled._ Chrysomallos, _Hübn._ Isocrates, _Fabr._ Lycæna, _Fabr._ Alexis, _Stoll._ Boetica, _Linn._ Cnejus, _Horsf._ Rosimon, _Fabr._ Theophrastus, _Fabr._ Pluto, _Fabr._ Parana, _Horsf._ Nyseus, _Guér._ Ethion, _Boisd._ Celeno, _Cram._ Kandarpa, _Horsf._ Elpis, _Godt._ Chimonas, _Wlk._ Gandara, _Wlk._ Chorienis, _Wlk._ Geria, _Wlk._ Doanas, _Wlk._ Sunya, _Wlk._ Audhra, _Wlk._ Polyommatus, _Latr._ Akasa, _Horsf._ Puspa, _Horsf._ Laius, _Cram._ Ethion, _Boisd._ Cattigara, _Wlk._ Gorgippia, _Wlk._ Lucia, _Westw._ Epius, _Westw._ Pithecops, _Horsf._ Hylax, _Fabr._

Fam. HESPERIDÆ, _Steph._ Goniloba, _Westw._ Iapetus, _Cram._ Pyrgus, _Hübn._ Superna, _Moore._ Danna, _Moore._ Genta, _Wlk._ Sydrus, _Wlk._ Nisoniades, _Hübn._ Diocles, _Boisd._ Salsala, _Moore._ Toides, _Wlk._ Pamphila, _Fabr._ Angías, _Linn._ Achylodes, _Hübn._ Temala, _Wlk._ Hesperia, _Fabr._ Indrani, _Moore._ Chaya, _Moore._ Cinnara, _Moore._ gremius, _Latr._ Cendochates, _Wlk._ Tiagara, _Wlk._ Cotiaris, _Wlk._ Sigala, _Wlk._

Fam. SPHINGIDÆ. _Leach._ Sesia, _Fabr._ Hylas, _Linn._ Macroglossa, _Ochs._ Stellatarum, _Linn._ gyrans, _Boisd._ Corythus, _Boisd._ divergens, _Wlk._ Calymnia, _Boisd._ Panopus, _Cram._ Choerocampa, _Dup._ Thyelia, _Linn._ Nyssus, _Drury._ Clotho, _Drury._ Oldenlandiæ, _Fabr._ Lycetus, _Cram._ Silhetensis, _Boisd._ Pergesa, _Wlk._ Acteus, _Cram._ Panacra, _Wlk._ vigil, _Guer._ Daphnis, _Hübn._ Nerii, _Linn._ Zonilia, _Boisd._ Morpheus, _Cram._ Macrosila, _Boisd._ obliqua, _Wlk._ discistriga, _Wlk._ Sphinx, _Linn._ convolvuli, _Linn._ Acherontia, _Ochs._ Satanas, _Boisd._ Smerinthus, _Latr._ Dryas, _Boisd._

Fam. CASTNIIDÆ _Wlk._ Eusemia, _Dalm._ bellatrix, _Westw._ Ægocera, _Latr._ Venulia, _Cram._ bimacula, _Wlk._

Fam. ZYGÆNIDÆ, _Leach._ Syntomis, _Ochs._ Schoenherri, _Boisd._ Creusa, _Linn._ Imaon, _Cram._ Glaucopis, _Fabr._ subaurata, _Wlk._ Enchromia, _Hübn._ Polymena, _Cram._ diminuta, _Wlk._

Fam. LITHOSIIDÆ, _Steph._ Scaptesyle, _Wlk._ bicolor, _Wlk._ Nyctemera, _Hübn._ lacticinia, _Cram._ latistriga, _Wlk._ Coleta, _Cram._ Euschema, _Hübn._ subrepleta, _Wlk._ transversa, _Wlk._ vilis, _Wlk._ Chalcosia, _Hübn._ Tiberina, _Cram._ venosa, _Anon._ Eterusia, _Hope._ Ædea, _Linn._ Trypanophora, _Wlk._ Taprobanes, _Wlk._ Heteropan, _Wlk._ scintillans, _Wlk._ Hypsa, _Hübn._ plana, _Wlk._ caricæ, _Fabr._ ficus, _Fabr._ Vitessa, _Moor._ Zemire, _Cram._ Lithosia, _Fabr._ antica, _Wlk._ brevipennis, _Wlk._ Setina, _Schr._ semifascia, _Wlk._ solita, _Wlk._ Doliche, _Wlk._ hilaris, _Wlk._ Pitane, _Wlk._ conserta, _Wlk._ Æmene, _Wlk._ Taprobanes, _Wlk._ Dirades, _Wlk._ attacoides, _Wlk._ Cyllene, _Wlk._ transversa, _Wlk._ *spoliata, _Wlk._ Bizone, _Wlk._ subornata, _Wlk._ peregrina, _Wlk._ Deiopeia, _Steph._ pulchella, _Linn._ Astrea, _Drury._ Argus, _Kollar._

Fam. ARCTIIDÆ, _Leach_. Alope, _Wlk._ ocellifera, _Wlk._ Sangarida, _Cram._ Tinolius, _Wlk._ eburneigutta, _Wlk._ Creatonotos, _Hübn._ interrupta, _Linn._ emittens, _Wlk._ Acmonia, _Wlk._ lithosioides, _Wlk._ Spilosoma, _Steph._ subfascia, _Wlk._ Cycnia, _Hübn._ rubida, _Wlk._ sparsigutta, _Wlk._ Antheua, _Wlk._ discalis, _Wlk._ Aloa, _Wlk_. lactinea, _Cram._ candidula, _Wlk._ erosa, _Wlk._ Amerila, _Wlk._ Melanthus, _Cram._ Ammatho, _Wlk._ cunionotatus, _Wlk._

Fam. LIPARIDÆ, _Wlk._ Artaxa, _Wlk._ guttata, _Wlk._ *varians, _Wlk._ atomaria, _Wlk._ Acyphas, _Wlk._ viridescens, _Wlk._ Lacida, _Wlk._ rotundata, _Wlk._ antica, _Wlk._ subnotata, _Wlk._ complens, _Wlk._ promittens, _Wlk._ strigulifera, _Wlk._ Amsacta? _Wlk._ tenebrosa, _Wlk._ Antipha, _Wlk._ costalis, _Wlk._ Anaxila, _Wlk._ notata, _Wlk._ Procodeca, _Wlk._ augulifera, _Wlk._ Redoa, _Wlk._ submarginata, _Wlk._ Euproctis, _Hübn._ virguncula, _Wlk._ bimaculata, _Wlk._ lunata, _Wlk._ tinctifera, _Wlk._ Cispia, _Wlk._ plagiata, _Wlk._ Dasychira, _Hübn._ pudibunda, _Linn._ Lymantria, _Hübn._ grandis, _Wlk._ marginata, _Wlk._ Enome, _Wlk._ ampla, _Wlk._ Dreata, _Wlk._ plumipes, _Wlk._ geminata, _Wlk._ mutans, _Wlk._ mollifera. _Wlk._ Pandala, _Wlk._ dolosa, _Wlk._ Charnidas, _Wlk._ junctifera, _Wlk._

Fam PSYCHIDÆ, _Bru._ Psyche, _Schr._ Doubledaii, _Westw._ Metisa, _Wlk._ plana, _Wlk._ Eumeta, _Wlk._ Cramerii, _Westw._ Templetonii, _Westw._ Cryptothelea, _Templ._ consorta, _Templ._

Fam. NOTODONTIDÆ, _St._ Cerura, _Schr._ liturata, _Wlk._ Stauropus, _Germ._ alternans, _Wlk._ Nioda, _Wlk._ fusiformis, _Wlk._. transversa, _Wlk._ Rilia, _Wlk._ lanceolata, _Wlk._ basivitta, _Wlk._ Ptilomacra, _Wlk._ juvenis, _Wlk._ Elavia, _Wlk._ metaphæa, _Wlk._ Notodonta, _Ochs._ ejecta, _Wlk._ Ichthyura, _Hübn._ restituens, _Wlk._

Fam. LIMACODIDÆ, _Dup_. Scopelodes, _Westw._ unicolor, _Westw._ Messata, _Wlk._ rubiginosa, _Wlk._ Miresa, _Wlk._ argentifera, _Wlk._ aperiens, _Wlk._ Nyssia, _Herr. Sch._ læta, _Westw._ Nesera, _Herr. Sch._ graciosa, _Westw._ Narosa, _Wlk._ conspersa, _Wlk._ Naprepa, _Wlk._ varians, _Wlk._

Fam. DREPANULIDÆ, _Wlk._ Oreta, _Wlk._ suffusa, _Wlk._ extensa, _Wlk._ Arna, _Wlk._ apicalis, _Wlk._ Ganisa, _Wlk._ postica, _Wlk._

Fam. SATURINIDÆ, _Wlk._ Attacus, _Linn._ Atlas, _Linn._ lunula, _Anon._ Antheræa, _Hübn._ Mylitta, _Drury._ Assama, _Westw._ Tropæa, _Hübn._ Selene, _Hübn._

Fam. BOMBYCIDÆ, _Steph._ Trabala, _Wlk._ basalis, _Wlk._ prasina, _Wlk._ Lasiocampa, _Schr._ trifascia, _Wlk._ Megasoma, _Boisd._ venustum, _Wlk._ Lebeda, _Wlk._ repanda, _Wlk._ plagiata, _Wlk._ bimaculata, _Wlk._ scriptiplaga, _Wlk._

Fam. COSSIDÆ, _Newm._ Cossus, _Fabr._ quadrinotatus, _Wlk._ Zeuzera, _Latr_. leuconota, _Steph._ pusilla, _Wlk._

Fam. HEPIALIDÆ, _Steph._ Phassus, _Steph._ signifer, _Wlk._

Fam. CYMATOPHORIDÆ, _Herr. Sch._ Thyatira, _Ochs._ repugnans, _Wlk._

Fam. BRYOPHILIDÆ, _Guén._ Bryophila, _Treit._ semipars, _Wlk._

Fam. BOMBYCOIDÆ, _Guén._ Diphtera, _Ochs._ deceptura, _Wlk._

Fam. LEUCANIDÆ, _Guén._ Leucania, _Ochs._ confusa, _Wlk._ exempta, _Wlk._ inferens, _Wlk._ collecta, _Wlk._ Brada, _Wlk._ truncata, _Wlk._ Crambopsis, _Wlk._ excludens, _Wlk._

Fam. GLOTTULIDÆ, _Guén._ Polytela, _Guén._ gloriosa, _Fabr._ Glottula, _Guén._ Dominica, _Cram._ Chasmina, _Wlk._ pavo, _Wlk._ cygnus, _Wlk._

Fam. APAMIDÆ, _Guén._ Laphygma, _Guén._ obstans, _Wlk._ trajiciens, _Wlk._ Prodenia, _Guén._ retina, _Friv._ glaucistriga, _Wlk._ apertura, _Wlk._ Calogramma, _Wlk._ festiva, _Don._ Heliophobus, _Boisd._ discrepans, _Wlk._ Hydræcia, _Guén._ lampadifera, _Wlk._ Apamea, _Ochs._ undecilia, _Wlk._ Celæna, _Steph._ serva, _Wlk._

Fam. CARADRINIDÆ, _Guén._ Amyna, _Guén._ selenampha, _Guén._

Fam. NOCTUIDÆ, _Guén._ Agrotis, _Ochs._ aristifera, _Guén._ congrua, _Wlk._ punctipes, _Wlk._ mundata, _Wlk._ transducta, _Wlk._ plagiata, _Wlk._ plagifera, _Wlk._

Fam. HADENIDÆ, _Guén._ Eurois, _Hübn._ auriplena, _Wlk._ inclusa, _Wlk._ Epiceia, _Wlk._ subsignata, _Wlk._ Hadena, _Treit._ subcurva, _Wlk._ postica, _Wlk._ retrahens, _Wlk._ confundens, _Wlk._ congressa, _Wlk._ ruptistriga, _Wlk._ Ansa, _Wlk._ filipalpis, _Wlk._

Fam. XYLINIDÆ, _Guén,_ Ragada, _Wlk._ pyrorchroma, _Wlk._ Cryassa, _Wlk._ bifacies, _Wlk._ Egelista, _Wlk._ rudivitta, _Wlk._ Xylina, _Ochs._ deflexa, _Wlk._ inchoans, _Wlk._

Fam. HELIOTHIDÆ, _Guén._ Heliothis, _Ochs._ armigera, _Hübn._

Fam. HÆMEROSIDÆ, _Guén._ Ariola, _Wlk._ coelisigna, _Wlk._ dilectissima, _Wlk._ saturata, _Wlk._

Fam. ACONTIDÆ, _Guén._ Xanthodes, _Guén._ intersepta, _Guén._ Acontia, _Ochs._ tropica, _Guén._ olivacea, _Wlk._ fasciculosa, _Wlk._ signifera, _Wlk._ turpis, _Wlk._ mianöides, _Wlk._ approximans, _Wlk._ divulsa, _Wlk._ *egens, _Wlk._ plenicosta, _Wlk._ determinata, _Wlk._ hypætroides, _Wlk._ Chlumetia, _Wlk._ multilinea, _Wlk._

Fam. ANTHOPHILIDÆ, _Guén._ Micra, _Guén._ destituta, _Wlk._ derogata, _Wlk._ simplex, _Wlk._

Fam. ERIOPIDÆ, _Guén._ Callopistria, _Hübn._ exotica, _Guén._ rivularis, _Wlk._ duplicans, _Wlk._

Fam. EURHIPIDÆ, _Guén._ Penicillaria, _Guén._ nugatrix, _Guén._ resoluta, _Wlk._ solida, _Wlk._ ludatrix, _Wlk._ Rhesala, _Wlk._ imparata, _Wlk._ Eutelia, _Hübn._ favillatrix, _Wlk._ thermesiides, _Wlk._

Fam. PLUSIIDÆ, _Boisd._ Abrostola, _Ochs._ transfixa, _Wlk._ Plusia, _Ochs._ aurifera, _Hübn._ verticillata, _Guén._ agramma, _Guén._ obtusisigna, _Wlk._ nigriluna, _Wlk._ signata, _Wlk._ dispellens, _Wlk._ propulsa, _Wlk._

Fam. CALPIDÆ, _Guén._ Calpe, _Treit._ minuticornis, _Guén._ Oroesia, _Guén._ emarginata, _Fabr._ Deva, _Wlk._ conducens, _Wlk._

Fam. HEMICERIDÆ, _Guén._ Westermannia, _Hübn._ superba, _Hübn._

Fam. HYBLÆIDÆ, _Guén._ Hyblæa, _Guén._ Puera, _Cram._ constellata, _Guén._ Nolasena, _Wlk._ ferrifervens, _Wlk._

Fam. GONOPTERIDÆ, _Guén._ Cosmophila, _Boisd._ Indica, _Guén._ xanthindyma, _Boisd._ Anomis, _Hübn._ fulvida, _Guén._ iconica, _Wlk._ Gonitis, _Guén._ combinans, _Wlk._ albitibia, _Wlk._ mesogona, _Wlk._ guttanivis, _Wlk._ involuta, _Wlk._ basalis, _Wlk_. Eporedia, _Wlk_. damnipennis, _Wlk_. Rusicada, _Wlk_. nigritarsis, _Wlk_. Pasipeda, _Wlk_. rufipalpis, _Wlk_.

Fam. TOXOCAMPIDÆ, _Guén_. Toxocampa, _Guén_. metaspila, _Wlk_. sexlinea, _Wlk_. quinquelina, _Wlk_. Albonica, _Wlk_. reversa, _Wlk_.

Fam. POLYDESMIDÆ, _Guén._ Polydesma, _Boisd_. boarmoides, _Wlk_. erubescens, _Wlk_.

Fam. HOMOPTERIDÆ, _Bois_. Alamis, _Guén._ spoliata, _Wlk_. Homoptera, _Boisd_. basipallens, _Wlk_. retrahens, _Wlk_. costifera, _Wlk_. divisistriga, _Wlk_. procumbens, _Wlk_. Diacuista, _Wlk_. homopteroides, _Wlk_. Daxata, _Wlk_. bijungens, _Wlk_.

Fam. HYPOGRAMMIDÆ, _Guén_. Briarda, _Wlk_. precedens, _Wlk_. Brana, _Wlk_. calopasa, _Wlk_. Corsa, _Wlk_. lignicolor, _Wlk_. Avatha, _Wlk_. includens, _Wlk_. Gadirtha, _Wlk_. decrescens, _Wlk_. impingens, _Wlk_. spurcata, _Wlk_. rectifera, _Wlk_. duplicans, _Wlk_ intrusa, _Wlk_. Ercheia, _Wlk_. diversipennis, _Wlk_. Plotheia, _Wlk_. frontalis, _Wlk_. Diomea, _Wlk_. rotundata, _Wlk_, chloromela, _Wlk_. orbicularis, _Wlk_. muscosa, _Wlk_. Dinumma, _Wlk_. placens, _Wlk_. Lusia, _Wlk_. geometroides, _Wlk_. perficita, _Wlk_, repulsa, _Wlk_. Abunis, _Wlk_. trimesa, _Wlk_.

Fam. CATEPHIDÆ, _Guén_ Cocytodes, _Guén._ coerula, _Guén_. modesta, _Wlk_. Catephia, _Ochs_. lioteola, _Guén_. Anophia, _Guén_. acronyctoides, _Guén_. Steiria, _Wlk_. subobliqua, _Wlk_. trajiciens, _Wlk_. Aucha, _Wlk_. velans, _Wlk_. Ægilia, _Wlk_. describens, _Wlk_. Maceda, _Wlk_. mansueta, _Wlk_.

Fam. HYPOCALIDÆ, _Guén_. Hypocala, _Guén_. efflorescens, _Guén_. subsatura, _Guén_.

Fam. CATOCALIDÆ, _Boisd_. Blenina, _Wlk_. donans, _Wlk_. accipiens, _Wlk_.

Fam. OPHIDERIDÆ, _Guén_. Ophideres, _Boisd_. Materna, _Linn_. fullonica, _Linn_. Cajeta, _Cram_. Ancilla, _Cram_. Salaminia, _Cram_. Hypermnestra, _Cram_. multiscripta, _Wlk_. bilineosa, _Wlk_. Potamophera, _Guén._ Manlia, _Cram_. Lygniodes, _Guén_. reducens, _Wlk_, disparans, _Wlk_. hypoleuca, _Guén_.

Fam. EREBIDÆ, _Guén._ Oxyodes, _Guén_. Clytia, _Cram_.

Fam. OMMATOPHORIDÆ, _Guén_. Speiredonia, _Hübn_. retrahens, _Wlk_. Sericia, _Guén._ anops, _Guén_. parvipennis, _Wlk_. Patula, _Guén_. macrops, _Linn_. Argiva, _Hübn_. hieroglyphica, _Drury_. Beregra, _Wlk_. replenens, _Wlk_.

Fam. HYPOPYRIDÆ, _Guén_. Spiramia, _Guén_. Heliconia, _Hübn_. triloba, _Guén_. Hypopyra, _Guén._ vespertilio, _Fabr_. Ortospana, _Wlk_. connectens, _Wlk_. Entomogramma, _Guén_. fautrix, _Guén_.

Fam. BENDIDÆ, _Guén_. Homæa, _Guén_. clathrum _Guén_. Hulodes, _Guén_. caranea, _Cram_. palumba, _Guén_.

Fam. OPHIUSIDÆ, _Guén._ Sphingomorpha, _Guén._ Chlorea _Cram_. Lagoptera, _Guén_. honesta, _Hübn_. magica, _Hübn_. dotata, _Fabr_, Ophiodes, _Guén_. discriminans, _Wlk_. basistigma, _Wlk_. Cerbia, _Wlk_. fugitiva, _Wlk_. Ophisma, _Guén_. lætabilis, _Guén_. deficiens, _Wlk_. gravata, _Wlk_. circumferens, _Wlk_. terminans, _Wlk_. Achæa, _Hübn_. Melicerta, Drury. Mezentia, Cram. Cyllota, _Guén._ Cyllaria, _Cram_. fusifera, _Wlk_. signivitta, _Wlk_. reversa, _Wlk_. combinans, _Wlk_. expectans, _Wlk_. Serrodes, _Guén_. campana, _Guén_. Naxia, _Guén_. absentimacula, _Guén_. Onelia, _Guén_. calefaciens, _Wlk_. calorifica, _Wlk_. Calesia, _Guén_. hoemorrhoda, _Guén_. Hypætra, _Guén_. trigonifera, _Wlk_. curvifera, _Wlk_. condita, _Wlk_. complacens, _Wlk_. divisa, _Wlk_. Ophiusa, _Ochs_. myops, _Guén_. albivitta, _Guén_. Achatina, _Sulz_. fulvotænia, _Guén_. simillima, _Guén_. festinata, _Wlk_. pallidilinea, _Wlk_. luteipalpis, _Wlk_. Fodina, _Guén_. stola, _Guén_. Grammodes, _Guén_. Ammonia, _Cram_. Mygdon, _Cram_. stolida, _Fabr_. mundicolor, _Wlk_.

Fam. EUCLIDIDÆ, _Guén_. Trigonodes, _Guén_. Hippasia, _Cram_.

Fam. REMIGIDÆ, _Guén_. Remigia, _Guén_. Archesia, _Cram_. frugalis, _Fabr_. pertendens, _Wlk_. congregata, _Wlk_. opturata, _Wlk_.

Fam. FOCILLIDÆ, _Guén_. Focilla, _Guén_. submemorans, _Wlk_.

Fam. AMPHIGANIDÆ, _Guén_. Lacera, _Guén_. capella, _Guén_. Amphigonia, _Guén_. hepatizans, _Guén_.

Fam. THERMISIDÆ, _Guén_. Sympis, _Guén_. rufibasis, _Guén_. Thermesia, _Hübn_. finipalpis, _Wlk_. soluta, _Wlk_. Azazia, _Wlk_. rubricans, _Boisd_. Selenis, _Guén_. nivisapex, _Wlk_. multiguttata, _Wlk_. semilux, _Wlk_. Ephyrodes, _Guén_. excipiens, _Wlk_. crististera, _Wlk_. lineifera, _Wlk_. Capnodes, _Guén_. *maculicosta, _Wlk_. Ballatha, _Wlk_. atrotumens, _Wlk_. Daranissa, _Wlk_. digramma, _Wlk_. Darsa, _Wlk_. defectissima, _Wlk_.

Fam. URAPTERYDÆ, _Guén_. Lagyra, _Wlk_. Talaca, _Wlk_.

Fam. ENNOMIDÆ, _Guén_. Hyperythra, _Guén_. limbolaria, _Guén_. deductaria, _Wlk_. Orsonoba, _Wlk_. Rajaca, _Wlk_. Sabaria, _Wlk_. contractaria, _Wlk_. Angerona, _Dup_. blandiaria, _Wlk_. Fascellina, _Wlk_. chromataria, _Wlk_.

Fam. BOARMIDÆ, _Guén_. Amblychia, _Guén_. angeronia, _Guén_. Hemerophila, _Steph_. Vidhisara, _Wlk_. poststrigaria, _Wlk_. Boarmia, _Treit_. sublavaria, _Guén_. admissaria, _Guén_. raptaria, _Wlk_. Medasina, _Wlk_. Bhurmitra, _Wlk_. Suiasasa, _Wlk_. diffluaria, _Wlk_. caritaria, _Wlk_. exclusaria, _Wlk_. Hypochroma, _Guén_. minimaria, _Guén_. Gnophos, _Treit_. Pulinda, _Wlk_. Culataria, _Wlk_. Hemerophila, _Steph_. vidhisara, _Wlk_. Agathia, _Guén_. blandiaria, _Wlk_. Bulonga, _Wlk_. Ajaia, _Wlk_. Chacoraca, _Wlk_. Chandubija, _Wlk_.

Fam. GEOMETRIDÆ, _Guén_. Geometra, _Linn_. specularia, _Guén_. Nanda, _Wlk_. Nemoria, _Hübn_. caudularia, _Guén_. solidaria, _Guén_. Thalassodes, _Guén_. quadraria, _Guén_. catenaria, _Wlk_. immissaria, _Wlk_. Sisunaga, _Wlk_. adornataria, _Wlk_. meritaria, _Wlk_. coelataria, __WlK_. gratularia, _Wlk_. chlorozonaria, _Wlk_. læsaria, _Wlk_. simplicaria, _Wlk_. immissaria, _Wlk_. Comibæna, _Wlk_. Divapala, _Wlk_. impulsaria, _Wlk_. Celenna, _Wlk_. saturaturia, _Wlk_. Pseudoterpna, _Wlk_. Vivilaca, _Wlk_. Amaurinia, _Guén_. rubrolimbaria, _Wlk_.

Fam. PALYADÆ, _Guén_. Eumelea, _Dunc_. ludovicata, _Guén_. aureliata, _Guén_. carnearia, _Wlk_.

Fam. EPHYRIDÆ, _Guén_. Ephyra, _Dap_. obrinaria, _Wlk_. decursaria, _Wlk_. Cacavena, _Wlk_. abhadraca, _Wlk_. Vasudeva, _Wlk_. Susarmana, _Wlk_. Vutumana, _Wlk_. inæquata, _Wlk_.

Fam. ACIDALIDÆ, _Guén_. Drapetodes, _Guén_. mitaria, _Guén_. Pomasia, _Guén_. Psylaria, _Guén_. Sunandaria, _Wlk_. Acidalia, _Treit._ obliviaria, _Wlk._ adeptaria, _Wlk._ nexiaria, _Wlk._ addictaria, _Wlk._ actiosaria, _Wlk._ defamataria, _Wlk._ negataria, _Wlk._ actuaria, _Wlk._ cæsaria, _Wlk._ Cabera, _Steph._ falsaria, _Wlk._ decussaria, _Wlk._ famularia, _Wlk._ nigrarenaria, _Wlk._ Hyria, _Steph._ elataria, _Wlk._ marcidaria, _Wlk._ oblataria, _Wlk._ grataria, _Wlk._ rhodinaria, _Wlk._ Timandra, _Dup._ Ajuia, _Wlk._ Vijuia, _Wlk._ Agyris, _Guén._ deliaria, _Guén._ Zanclopteryx, _Herr. Sch._ saponaria, _Herr. Sch._

Fam. MICRONIDÆ, _Guén._ Micronia, _Guén._ caudata, _Fabr._ aculeata, _Guén._

Fam. MACARIDÆ, _Guén._ Macaria, _Curt._ Eleonora, _Cram._ Varisara, _Wlk._ Rhagivata, _Wlk._ Palaca, _Wlk._ honestaria, _Wlk._ Sangata, _Wlk._ honoraria, _Wlk._ cessaria, _Wlk._ subcandaria, _Wlk._ Doava, _Wlk._ adjutaria, _Wlk._ figuraria, _Wlk._

Fam. LARENTIDÆ, _Guén._ Sauris, _Guén._ hirudinata, _Guén._ Camptogramma, _Steph._ baccata, _Guén._ Blemyia, _Wlk._ Bataca, _Wlk._ blitiaria, _Wlk._ Coremia, _Guén._ Gomatina, _Wlk._ Lobophora, _Curt._ Salisuca, _Wlk._ Ghosha, _Wlk._ contributaria, _Wlk._ Mesogramma, _Steph._ lactularia, _Wlk._ scitaria, _Wlk._ Eupithecia, _Curt._ recensitaria, _Wlk._ admixtaria, _Wlk._ immixtaria, _Wlk._ Gathynia, _Wlk._ miraria, _Wlk._

Fam. PLATYDIDÆ, _Guén._ Trigonia, _Guén._ Cydonialis, _Cram._

Fam. HYPENIDÆ, _Herr. Sch._ Dichromia, _Guén._ Orosialis, _Cram._ Hypena, _Schr._ rhombalis. _Guén._ jocosalis, _Wlk._ mandatalis, _Wlk._ quæsitalis, _Wlk._ laceratalis, _Wlk._ iconicalis, _Wlk._ labatalis, _Wlk._ obacerralis, _Wlk._ pactalis, _Wlk._ raralis, _Wlk._ paritalis, _Wlk._ surreptalis, _Wlk._ detersalis, _Wlk._ ineffectalis, _Wlk._ incongrualis, _Wlk._ rubripunctum, _Wlk._ Gesonia, _Wlk._ *obeditalis, _Wlk._ duplex, _Wlk._

Fam. HERMINIDÆ, _Dup._ Herminia, _Latr._ Timonalis, _Wlk._ diffusalis, _Wlk_ interstans, _Wlk._ Adrapsa, _Wlk._ ablualis, _Wlk._ Bertula, _Wlk._ abjudicalis, _Wlk._ raptatalis, _Wlk._ contigens, _Wlk._ Bocana, _Wlk._ jutalis, _Wlk._ manifestalis, _Wlk._ ophiusalis, _Wlk._ vagalis, _Wlk._ turpatalis, _Wlk._ hypernalis, _Wlk._ gravatalis, _Wlk._ tumidalis, _Wlk._ Orthaga, _Wlk._ Euadrusalis, _Wlk._ Hipoepa, _Wlk._ lapsalis, _Wlk._ Lamura, _Wlk._ oberratalis, _Wlk._ Echana, _Wlk._ abavalis, _Wlk._ Dragana, _Wlk._ pansalis, _Wlk._ Pingrasa, _Wlk._ accuralis, _Wlk._ Egnasia, _Wlk._ ephyradalis, _Wlk._ accingalis, _Wlk._ participalis, _Wlk._ usurpatalis, _Wlk._ Berresa, _Wlk._ natalis, _Wlk._ Imma, _Wlk._ rugosalis, _Wlk._ Chusaris, _Wlk._ retatalis, _Wlk._ Corgatha, _Wlk._ zonalis, _Wlk._ Catada, _Wlk._ glomeralis, _Wlk._ captiosalis, _Wlk._

Fam. PYRALIDÆ, _Guén._ Pyralis, _Linn._ igniflualis, _Wlk._ Palesalis, _Wlk._ reconditalis, _Wlk._ Idalialis, _Wlk._ Janassalis, _Wlk._ Aglossa, _Latr._ Gnidusalis, _Wlk._ Isabanda, _Wlk._ herbealis. _Wlk._

Fam. ENNYCHIDÆ, _Dup._ Pyrausta, _Schr._ *absistalis, _Wlk._

Fam. ASOPIDÆ, _Guén._ Desmia, _Westw._ afflictalis, _Guén._ concisalis, _Wlk._ Ædiodes, _Guén._ flavibasalis, _Guén.._ effertalis, _Wlk._ Samea, _Guén._ gratiosalis, _Wlk._ Asopia, _Guén._ vulgalis, _Guén._ falsidicalis, _Wlk._ abruptalis, _Wlk._ latimarginalis, _Wlk._ præteritalis, _Wlk._ Eryxalis, _Wlk._ roridalis, _Wlk_. Agathodes, _Guén._ ostentalis, _Geyer_. Leucinades, _Guén_. orbonalis, _Guén_. Hymenia, _Hübn_. recurvalis, _Fabr_. Agrotera, _Schr_. suffusalis, _Wlk_. decessalis, _Wlk_. Isopteryx, _Guen_. *melaleucalis, _Wlk_. *impulsalis, _Wlk_. *spilomelalis, _Wlk_. acclaralis, _Wlk_. abnegatalis, _Wlk_.

Fam. HYDROCAMPIDÆ, _Guén_. Oligostigma, _Guén_. obitalis, _Wlk_. votalis, _Wlk_. Cataclysta, _Herr. Sch._ dilucidalis, _Guér_. bisectalis, _Wlk_. blandialis, _Wlk_. elutalis, _Wlk_.

Fam. SPILOMELIDÆ, _Guén_. Lepyrodes, _Guén_. geometralis, _Guén_. lepidalis, _Wlk_. peritalis, _Wlk_. Phalangiodes, _Guén_. Neptisalis, _Cram_. Spilomela, _Guén_. meritalis, _Wlk_. abdicalis, _Wlk_. decussalis, _Wlk_. aurolinealis, _Wlk_. Nistra, _Wlk_. coelatalis, _Wlk_. Pagyda, _Wlk_. salvalis, _Wlk_. Massepha, _Wlk_. absolutalis, _Wlk_.

Fam. MARGARODIDÆ, _Guén_. Glyphodes, _Guén_. diurnalis, _Guén_. decretalis, _Guén_. coesalis, _Wlk_. univocalis, _Wlk_. Phakellura, _L. Guild_. gazorialis, _Guén_. Margarodes, _Guén_. psittacalis, _Hübn_. pomonalis, _Guén_. hilaralis, _Wlk_. Pygospila, _Guén_. Tyresalis, _Cram_. Neurina, _Guén,_ Procopialis, _Cram_. ignibasalis, _Wlk_. Ilurgia, _Wlk_. defamalis, _Wlk_. Maruca, _Wlk_. ruptalis, _Wlk_. caritalis, _Wlk_.

Fam. BOTYDÆ, _Guén_. Botys, _Latr_. marginalis, _Cram_. sellalis, _Guén._ multilinealis, _Guén_. admensalis, _Wlk_. abjungalis, _Wlk_. rutilalis, _Wlk_. admixtalis, _Wlk_. celatalis, _Wlk_. deductalis, _Wlk_. celsalis, _Wlk_. vulsalis, _Wlk_. ultimalis, _Wlk_. tropicalis, _Wlk_. abstrusalis, _Wlk_. ruralis, _Wlk_. adhoesalis, _Wlk_. illisalis, _Wlk_. stultalis, _Wlk_. adductalis, _Wlk_. histricalis, _Wlk_. illectalis, _Wlk_. suspicalis, _Wlk_. Janassalis, _Wlk_. Nephealis, _Wlk_. Cynaralis, _Wlk_. Dialis, _Wlk_. Thaisalis, _Wlk_. Dryopealis, _Wlk_. Myrinalis, _Wlk_. phycidalis, _Wlk_. annulalis, _Wlk_. brevilinealis, _Wlk._ plagiatalis, _Wlk._ Ebulea, _Guén._ aberratalis, _Wlk_. Camillalis, _Wlk_. Pionea, _Guén._ actualis, _Wlk_. Optiletalis, _Wlk_. Jubesalis, _Wlk_. brevialis, _Wlk_. suffusalis, _Wlk_. Scopula, _Schr_. revocatalis, _Wlk_. turgidalis, _Wlk_. volutatalis, _Wlk_. Godara, _Wlk_. pervasalis, _Wlk_. Herculia, _Wlk_. bractialis, _Wlk._ Mecyna, _Guen_. deprivulis, _Wlk_.

Fam. SCOPARIDÆ, _Guén_

Scoparia, _Haw_. murificalis, _Wlk_. congestalis, _Wlk_. Alconalis, _Wlk_. Davana, _Wlk_. Phalantalia, _Wlk_. Darsania, _Wlk_. Niobesalis, _Wlk_. Dosara, _Wlk_. coelatella, _Wlk_. lapsalis, _Wlk_. immeritalis, _Wlk_.

Fam. CHOREUTIDÆ, _Staint._ Niaccaba, _Wlk_. sumptialis, _Wlk_. Simæthis, _Leach_. Clatella, _Wlk_. Damonella, _Wlk_. Bathusella, _Wlk_.

Fam. PHYCIDÆ, _Staint_. Myelois, _Hübn_. actiosella, _Wlk_. bractiatella, _Wlk_. cautella, _Wlk_. adaptella, _Wlk_. illusella, _Wlk_. basifuscella, _Wlk_. Ligeralis, _Wlk_. Marsyasalis, _Wlk_. Dascusa, _Wlk_. Valensalis, _Wlk_. Daroma, _Wlk_. Zeuxoalis, _Wlk_. Epulusalis, _Wlk_. Timeusalis, _Wlk_. Homoesoma, _Curt_. gratella, _Wlk_. Getusella, _Wlk_. Nephopteryx, _Hübn_. Etolusalis, _Wlk_. Cyllusalis, _Wlk_. Hylasalis, _Wlk_. Acisalis, _Wlk_. Harpaxalis, _Wlk_. Æolusalis, _Wlk_. Argiadesalis, _Wlk_. Philiasalis, _Wlk_. Pempelia, _Hühn_. laudatella, _Wlk_. Prionapteryx, _Steph_. Lincusalis, _Wlk_. Pindicitora, _Wlk_. Acreonalis, _Wlk_. Annusalis, _Wlk_. Thysbesalis, _Wlk_. Linceusalis, _Wlk_. Lacipea, _Wlk_. muscosella, _Wlk_. Araxes, _Steph_. admotella, _Wlk_. decusella, _Wlk_. celsella, _Wlk_. admigratella, _Wlk_. coesella, _Wlk_. candidatella, _Wlk_. Catagela, _Wlk_. adjurella, _Wlk_. acricuella, _Wlk_. lunulella, _Wlk_.

Fam. CRAMBIDÆ, _Dup_. Crambus, _Fabr_. concinellus, _Wlk_. Darbhaca, _Wlk_. inceptella, _Wlk_. Jartheza, _Wlk_. honorella, _Wlk_. Bulina, _Wlk_. solitella, _Wlk_. Bembina, _Wlk_. Cyanusalis, _Wlk_. Chilo, _Zinck_. dodatella, _Wlk_. gratiosella, _Wlk_. aditella, _Wlk_. blitella, _Wlk_. Dariausa, _Wlk_. Eubusalis, _Wlk_. Arrhade, _Wlk_. Ematheonalis, _Wlk_. Darnensis, _Wlk_. Strephonella, _Wlk_.

Fam. CHLOEPHORIDÆ, _Staint_. Thagora, _Wlk_. figurans, _Wlk_. Earias, _Hübn_. chromatana, _Wlk_.

Fam. TORTRICIDÆ, _Steph_. Lozotænia, _Steph_. retractana, _Wlk_. Peronea, _Curt_. divisana, _Wlk_. Lithogramma, _Steph_. flexilineana, _Wlk_. Dictyopteryx, _Steph_. punctana, _Wlk_. Homona, _Wlk_. fasciculana, _Wlk_. Hemonia, _Wlk_. orbiferana, _Wlk_. Achroia, _Hübn_. tricingulana, _Wlk_.

Fam. YPONOMEUTIDÆ, _Steph_. Atteva, _Wlk_. niveigutta, _Wlk_.

Fam. GELICHIDÆ, _Staint_. Depressaria, _Haw_. obligatella, _Wlk_. fimbriella, _Wlk_. Decuaria, _Wlk_. mendicella, _Wlk_. Gelechia, _Hübn_. nugatella, _Wlk_. calatella, _Wlk_. deductella, _Wlk_. Perionella, _Wlk_. Gizama, _Wlk_. blandiella, _Wlk_. Enisipia, _Wlk_. falsella, _Wlk_. Gapharia, _Wlk_. recitatella, _Wlk_. Goesa, _Wlk_. decusella, _Wlk_. Cimitra, _Wlk_. seclusella, _Wlk_. Ficulea, _Wlk_. blandulella, _Wlk_. Fresilia, _Wlk_. nesciatella, _Wlk_. Gesontha, _Wlk_. captiosella, _Wlk_. Aginis, _Wlk_. hilariella, _Wlk_. Cadra, _Wlk_. defectella, _Wlk_.

Fam. GLYPHYPTIDÆ, _Staint_. Glyphyteryx, _Hübn_. scitulella, _Wlk_. Hybele, _Wlk_. mansuetella, _Wlk_.

Fam. TINEIDÆ, _Leach_. Tinea, _Linn_. tapetzella, _Linn_. receptella, _Wlk_. pelionella, _Linn_. plagiferella, _Wlk_.

Fam. LYONETIDÆ, _Staint_. Cachura, _Wlk_. objectella, _Wlk_.

Fam. PTEROPHORIDÆ, _Zell_. Pterophorus, _Geoffr_. leucadactylus, _Wlk_. oxydactylus, _Wlk_. anisodactylus, _Wlk_.

Order Diptera, _Linn_.

Fam. MYCETOPHILIDÆ, _Hal_. Sciara, _Meig_. *valida, _Wlk_.

Fam. CECIDOMYZIDÆ, _Hal_. Cecidomyia, _Latr_. *primaria, _Wlk_.

Fam. SIMULIDÆ, _Hal_. Simulium, _Latr_. *destinatum, _Wlk_.

Fam. CHIRONOMIDÆ, _Hal_ Ceratopogon, _Meig_. *albocinctus, _Wlk_.

Fam. CULICIDÆ, _Steph_. Culex, _Linn_. regius, _Thwaites_. fuscanus, _Wied_. circumvolans, _Wlk_. contrahens, _Wlk_.

Fam. TIPULIDÆ, _Hal_. Ctenophora, _Fabr_. Taprobanes, _Wlk_. Gymnoplistia? _Westw_. hebes, _Wlk_.

Fam. STRATIOMIDÆ, _Latr_. Ptilocera, _Wied_. quadridentata, _Fabr_. fastuosa, _Geist_. Pachygaster, _Meig_. rufitarsis, _Macq._ Acanthina, _Wied_. azurea, _Geist_

Fam. TABANIDÆ, _Leach_. Pangonia, _Latr_. Taprobanes, _Wlk_.

Fam. ASILIDÆ, _Leach_. Trupanea, _Macq_. Ceylanica, _Macq_. Asilus, _Linn_. flavicornis, _Macq_. Barium, _Wlk_.

Fam. DOLICHOPIDÆ, _Leach._ Psilopus, _Meig._ *procuratus, _Wlk._

Fam. MUSCIDÆ, _Latr._ Tachina? _Fabr._ *tenebrosa, _Wlk._ Musca. _Linn._ domestica, _Linn._ Dacus, _Fabr._ *interclusus, _Wlk._ *nigroseneus, _Wlk._ *detentus, _Wlk._ Ortalis, _Fall._ *confundens, _Wlk._ Sciomyza, _Fall._ *leucotelus, _Wlk._ Drosophila, _Fall._ *restituens, _Wlk._

Fam. NYCTERIBIDÆ, _Leach._ Nycteribia, _Latr._ ----? a species parasitic on Scatophilus Coromandelicus, _Bligh._ See _ante,_ p. 161.

Order Hemiptera, _Linn._

Fam. PACHYCORIDÆ, _Dall_ Cantuo, _Amyot & Serv._ ocellatus, _Thunb_. Callidea, _Lap._ superba, _Dall._ Stockerus, _Linn._

Fam. EURYGASTERIDÆ, _Dall_. Trigonosoma, _Lap._ Desfontainii, _Fabr._

Fam. PLATASPIDÆ, _Dall._ Coptosoma, _Lap._ laticeps, _Dall._

Fam. HALYDIDÆ, _Dall._ Halys, _Fabr._ dentate, _Fabr._

Fam. PENTATOMIDÆ, _Suph._ Pentatoma, _Oliv._ Timorensensis, _Hope._ Taprobanensls, _Dall._ Catacanthus, _Spin._ incarnatus, _Drury._ Rhaphigaster, _Lap._ congrua, _Wlk._

Fam. EDESSIDÆ, _Dall._ Aspongopus, _Lap._ Janus, _Fabr._ Tesseratoma, _Lep. & Serv._ papillosa, _Drury._ Cyclopelta, _Am. & Serv._ siccifolia, _Hope._

Fam. PHYLLOCEPHALIDÆ, _Dall._ Phyllocephala, _Lap._ Ægyptiaca, _Lefeb._

Fam. MICTIDÆ, _Dall._ Mictis, _Leach._ castanea, _Dall._ yalida, _Dall._ punctum, _Hope._ Crinocerus, _Burm._ ponderosus, _Wlk._

Fam, ANISOSCELIDÆ _Dall._ Leptoscelis, _Lap._ ventralis, _Dall._ turpis, _Wlk._ marginalis, _Wlk._ Serinetha, _Spin._ Taprobanensis, _Dall._ abdominalis, _Fabr._

Fam. ALYDIDÆ, _Dall._ Alydus, _Fabr._ linearis, _Fabr._

Fam. STENOCEPHALIDÆ, _Dall._ Leptocorisa, _Latr._ Chinensis, _Dall._

Fam. COREIDÆ, _Steph_. Rhopalus, _Schill._ interruptus, _Wlk._

Fam. LYGÆIDÆ, _Westw._ Lygæus, _Fabr._ lutescens, _Wlk._ figuratus, _Wlk._ discifer, _Wlk._ Rhyparochromus, _Curt._ testaciepes, _Wlk._

Fam. ARADIDÆ, _Wlk._ Piestosoma, _Lap._ picipes, _Wlk._

Fam. TINGIDÆ, _Wlk._ Calloniana, _Wlk._ *elegans, _Wlk._

Fam. CIMICIDÆ, _Wlk._ Cimex, _Linn_. lectularius, _Linn._?

Fam. REDUVIIDÆ, _Steph._ Pirates, _Burm._ marginatus, _Wlk._ Acanthaspis, _Am. & Serv._ sanguinipes, _Wlk._ fulvispina, _Wlk._

Fam. HYDROMETRIDÆ, _Leach_. Ptilomera, _Am. & Serv._ laticauda, _Hardw._

Fam. NEPIDÆ, _Leach._ Belostoma, _Latr._ Indicum, _St. Farg. & Serv._ Nepa, _Linn._ minor, _Wlk._

Fam. NOTONECTIDÆ, _Steph_. Notonecta, _Linn._ abbreviata, _Wlk._ simplex, _Wlk._ Corixa, _Geoff._ *subjacens, _Wlk._

Order Homoptara, _Latr._

Fam. CICADIDÆ, _Westw._ Dundubia, _Am. & Serv._ stipata, _Wlk._ Cioafa, _Wlk._ Larus, _Wlk._ Cicada, _Linn_. limitaris, _Wlk._ nuhifurea, _Wlk._

Fam. FULCORIDÆ, _Schaum._ Hotinus, _Am. & Serv._ maculatus, _Oliv._ fulvirostris, _Wlk._ coccineus, _Wlk._ Pyrops, _Spin._ punctata _Oliv._ Aphæna, _Guér_. sanguinalis, _Westw_. Elidiptera, _Spin_. Emersoniana, _White_.

Fam. CIXIIDÆ, _Wlk_. Eurybrachys, _Guér_. tomentosa, _Fabr_. dilatata, _Wlk_. crudelis, _Westw_. Cixius, _Latr_. *nubilus, _Wlk_.

Fam. ISSIDÆ, _Wlk_. Hemisphærius, _Schaum_. *Schaumi, _Stal_. *bipustulatus, _Wlk_.

Fam. DERBIDÆ, _Schaum_. Thracia, _Westw_. pterophorides, _Westw_. Derbe, _Fabr_. *furcato-vittata, _Stal_.

Fam. FLATTIDÆ, _Schaum_. Flatoides, _Guér_. hyalinus, _Fabr_. tenebrosus, _Wlk_. Ricania, _Germ_. Hemerobii, _Wlk_. Poeciloptera, _Latr_. pulverulenta, _Guér_. stellaris, _Wlk_. Tennentina, _White_.

Fam. MEMBRACIDÆ, _Wlk_. Oxyrhachis, _Germ_. *indicans, _Wlk_. Centrotus, _Fabr_. *reponens, _Wlk_. *malleus, _Wlk_. substitutus, _Wlk_. *decipiens, _Wlk_. *relinquens, _Wlk_. *imitator, _Wlk_. *repressus, _Wlk_. *terminalis, _Wlk_.

Fam. CERCOPIDÆ, _Leach_. Cercopis, _Fabr_. inclusa, _Wlk_. Ptyelus, _Lep. & Serv_. costalis, _Wlk_.

Fam. TETTIGONIIDÆ, _Wlk_. Tettigonia, _Latr_. paulula, _Wlk_.

Fam. SCARIDÆ, _Wlk_. Ledra, _Fabr_. rugosa, _Wlk_. conica, _Wlk_. Gypona, _Germ_. prasina, _Wlk_.

Fam. IASSIDÆ, _Wlk_. Acocephalus, _Germ_. porrectus, _Wlk_.

Fam. PSYLLIDÆ, _Latr_. Psylla, _Goff_. *marginalis, _Wlk_.

Fam. COCCIDÆ, _Leach_. Lecanium, _Illig_. Coffeæ, _Wlk_.

CHAP. VII

ARACHNIDA--MYRIOPODA--CRUSTACEA, ETC.

With a few striking exceptions, the true _spiders_ of Ceylon resemble in oeconomy and appearance those we are accustomed to see at home. They frequent the houses, the gardens, the rocks and the stems of trees, and along the sunny paths, where the forest meets the open country, the _Epeira_ and her congeners, the true net-weaving spiders, extend their lacework, the grace of their designs being even less attractive than the beauty of the creatures that elaborate them.

Those that live in the woods select with singular sagacity the bridle-paths and narrow passages for expanding their nets; no doubt perceiving that the larger insects frequent these openings for facility of movement through the jungle; and that the smaller ones are carried towards them by the currents of air. These nets are stretched across the path from four to eight feet above the ground, hung from projecting shoots, and attached, if possible, to thorny shrubs; and sometimes exhibit the most remarkable scenes of carnage and destruction. I have taken down a ball as large as a man's head consisting of successive layers rolled together, in the heart of which was the den of the family, whilst the envelope was formed, sheet after sheet, by coils of the old web filled with the wings and limbs of insects of all descriptions, from the largest moths and butterflies to mosquitoes and minute coleoptera. Each layer appeared to have been originally suspended across the passage to intercept the expected prey; and, as it became surcharged with carcases, it was loosened, tossed over by the wind or its own weight, and wrapped round the nucleus in the centre, the spider replacing it by a fresh sheet, to be in turn detached and added to the mass within.

Walckenaer has described a species of large size, under the name of _Olios Taprobanius_, which is very common and conspicuous from the fiery hue of the under surface, the remainder being covered with gray hair so short and fine that the body seems almost denuded. It spins a moderate-sized web, hung vertically between two sets of strong lines, stretched one above the other athwart the pathways. Some of the spider-cords thus carried horizontally from tree to tree at a considerable height from the ground are so strong as to cause a painful check across the face when moving quickly against them; and more than once in riding I have had my hat lifted off my head by a single thread.[1]

[Footnote 1: Over the country generally are scattered species of _Gasteracantha_, remarkable for their firm shell-covered bodies, with projecting knobs arranged in pairs. In habit these anomalous-looking _Epeiridæ_ appear to differ in no respect from the rest of the family, waylaying their prey in similar situations and in the same manner.

Another very singular subgenus, met with in Ceylon, is distinguished by the abdomen being dilated behind, and armed with two long spines, arching obliquely backwards. These abnormal kinds are not so handsomely coloured as the smaller species of typical form.]

Separated by marked peculiarities of structure, as well as of instinct, from the spiders which live in the open air, and busy themselves in providing food during the day, the _Mygale fasciata_ is not only sluggish in its habits, but disgusting in its form and dimensions. Its colour is a gloomy brown, interrupted by irregular blotches and faint bands (whence its trivial name); it is sparingly sprinkled with hairs, and its limbs, when expanded, stretch over an area of six to eight inches in diameter. It is familiar to Europeans in Ceylon, who have given it the name, and ascribed to it the fabulous propensities, of the Tarentula.[1]

[Footnote 1: Species of the true _Tarentulæ_ are not uncommon in Ceylon; they are all of very small size, and perfectly harmless.]

By day it remains concealed in its den, whence it issues at night to feed on larvæ and worms, devouring cockroaches[1] and their pupæ, and attacking the millepeds, gryllotalpæ, and other fleshy insects. The Mygale is found abundantly in the northern and eastern parts of the island, and occasionally in dark unfrequented apartments in the western province; but its inclinations are solitary, and it shuns the busy traffic of towns.

[Footnote 1: Mr. EDGAR L. LAYARD has described the encounter between a Mygale and a cockroach, which he witnessed in the madua of a temple at Alittane, between Anarajapoora and Dambool. When about a yard apart, each discerned the other and stood still, the spider with his legs slightly bent and his body raised, the cockroach confronting him and directing his antennæ with a restless undulation towards his enemy. The spider, by stealthy movements, approached to within a few inches and paused, both parties eyeing each other intently: then suddenly a rush, a scuffle, and both fell to the ground, when the blatta's wings closed, the spider seized it under the throat with his claws, and dragging it into a corner, the action of his jaws was distinctly audible. Next morning Mr. Layard found the soft parts of the body had been eaten, nothing but the head, thorax, and elytra remaining.--_Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist._ May, 1853.]

_Ticks_.--Ticks are to be classed among the intolerable nuisances to the Ceylon traveller. They live in immense numbers in the jungle[1], and attaching themselves to the plants by the two forelegs, lie in wait to catch at unwary animals as they pass. A shower of these diminutive vermin will sometimes drop from a branch, if unluckily shaken, and disperse themselves over the body, each fastening on the neck, the ears, and eyelids, and inserting a barbed proboscis. They burrow, with their heads pressed as far as practicable under the skin, causing a sensation of smarting, as if particles of red hot sand had been scattered over the flesh. If torn from their hold, the suckers remain behind and form an ulcer. The only safe expedient is to tolerate the agony of their penetration till a drop of coco-nut oil or the juice of a lime can be applied, when these little furies drop off without further ill consequences. One very large species, dappled with grey, attaches itself to the buffaloes.

[Footnote 1: Dr. HOOKER, in his _Himalayan Journal_, vol. 1. p. 279, in speaking of the multitude of these creatures in the mountains of Nepal, wonders what they find to feed on, as in these humid forests in which they literally swarmed, there was neither pathway nor animal life. In Ceylon they abound everywhere in the plains on the low brushwood; and in the very driest seasons they are quite as numerous as at other times. In the mountain zone, which is more humid, they are less prevalent. Dogs are tormented by them; and they display something closely allied to cunning in always fastening on an animal in those parts where they cannot be torn off by his paws; on his eyebrows, the tips of his ears, and the back of his neck. With a corresponding instinct I have always observed in the gambols of the Pariah dogs, that they invariably commence their attentions by mutually gnawing each other's ears and necks, as if in pursuit of ticks from places from which each is unable to expel them for himself. Horses have a similar instinct; and when they meet, they apply their teeth to the roots of the ears of their companions, to the neck and the crown of the head. The buffaloes and oxen are relieved of ticks by the crows which rest on their backs as they browse, and free them from these pests. In the low country the same acceptable office is performed by the "cattle-keeper heron" (_Ardea bubuleus_), which is "sure to be found in attendance on them while grazing; and the animals seem to know their benefactors, and stand quietly, while the birds peck their tormentors from their flanks."--_Mag. Nat. Hist._ p. 111, 1844.]

_Mites_.--The _Trombidium tinctorum_ of Hermann is found about Aripo, and generally over the northern provinces,--where after a shower of rain or heavy night's dew, they appear in countless myriads. It is about half an inch long, like a tuft of crimson velvet, and imparts its colouring matter readily to any fluid in which it may be immersed. It feeds on vegetable juices, and is perfectly innocuous. Its European representative, similarly tinted, and found in garden mould, is commonly called the "Little red pillion."

MYRIAPODS.--The certainty with which an accidental pressure or unguarded touch is resented and retorted by a bite, makes the centipede, when it has taken up its temporary abode within a sleeve or the fold of a dress, by far the most unwelcome of all the Singhalese assailants. The great size, too (little short of a foot in length), to which it sometimes attains, renders it formidable; and, apart from the apprehension of unpleasant consequences from a wound, one shudders at the bare idea of such hideous creatures crawling over the skin, beneath the innermost folds of one's garments.

At the head of the _Myriapods_, and pre-eminent from a superiorly-developed organisation, stands the genus _Cermatia_: singular-looking objects; mounted upon slender legs, of gradually increasing length from front to rear, the hind ones in some species being amazingly prolonged, and all handsomely marked with brown annuli in concentric arches. These myriapods are harmless, excepting to woodlice, spiders, and young cockroaches, which form their ordinary prey. They are rarely to be seen; but occasionally at daybreak, after a more than usually abundant repast, they may be observed motionless, and resting with their regularly extended limbs nearly flat against the walls. On being disturbed they dart away with a surprising velocity, to conceal themselves in chinks until the return of night.

But the species to be really dreaded are the true _Scolopendræ_, which are active and carnivorous, living in holes in old walls and other gloomy dens. One species[1] attains to nearly the length of a foot, with corresponding breadth; it is of a dark purple colour, approaching black, with yellowish legs and antennæ, and its whole aspect repulsive and frightful. It is strong and active, and evinces an eager disposition to fight when molested. The _Scolopendræ_ are gifted by nature with a rigid coriaceous armour, which does not yield to common pressure, or even to a moderate blow; so that they often escape the most well-deserved and well-directed attempts to destroy them, seeking refuge in retreats which effectually conceal them from sight.

[Footnote 1: _Scolopendra crassa_, Temp.]

There is a smaller one[1], which frequents dwelling-houses, about one quarter the size of the preceding, of a dirty olive colour, with pale ferruginous legs. It is this species which generally inflicts the wound, when persons complain of being bitten by a scorpion; and it has a mischievous propensity for insinuating itself into the folds of dress. The bite at first does not occasion more suffering than would arise from the penetration of two coarsely-pointed needles; but after a little time the wound swells, becomes acutely painful, and if it be over a bone or any other resisting part, the sensation is so intolerable as to produce fever. The agony subsides after a few hours' duration. In some cases the bite is unattended by any particular degree of annoyance, and in these instances it is to be supposed that the contents of the poison gland had become exhausted by previous efforts, since, if much tasked, the organ requires rest to enable it to resume its accustomed functions and to secrete a supply of venom.

[Footnote 1: _Scolopendra pullipes_.]

_Millipeds._--In the hot dry season, and in the northern portions of the island more especially, the eye is attracted along the edges of the sandy roads by fragments of the dislocated rings of a huge species of millipede,[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_, Temp.]

[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 which 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.

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.]

[Footnote 2: _Gelasimus tatragonon_? 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 armfuls of sand; which with a spring in the air, and employing its other limbs, it jerks far from its burrows, distributing it in radii 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, which is the only equestrian promenade of the capital; but so infested by these active little creatures that accidents often occur by horses stumbling in their troublesome excavations.

[Footnote 1: _Ocypode ceratophthalmus_, Pall.]

[Footnote 2: _Ann. Nat. Hist._ April, 1852. Paper by Mr. EDGAR L. LAYARD.]

_Painted Crabs._--On the reefs which lie 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, which 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 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. The coffee planters, who live amongst these pests, are obliged, in order to exclude them, 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 semicircular 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, their hands being 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 edge 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 of life. Both Marshall and Davy mention, that during the marches 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 of them perished.[3]

[Footnote 1:

_Hæmadipsa Ceylanica_, Bosc. 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. THUNBEBG, 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, (_Hirudinèes_, 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 _Diet, 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 I. 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 extremity, thence graclimlly tapering forward, and with the anal sucker composed of four rings, and wider in proportion than in other species. 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 Dr. 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."]

[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 be, like the _Rotifera_, dried up and preserved for an indefinite period, resuming their vital activity on the mere recurrence of moisture?

Besides the medicinal leech, a species of 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, to which the cattle resort by day, and the wild animals by night, to quench their thirst and to bathe. Lurking amongst the rank vegetation which 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 that approach them. 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 into 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 paddifield 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 of full size, 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 Colonna Corle 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.

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. 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 of division of the membrane is scarcely perceived by the sufferer from its attack.]

[Footnote 3: Even men are not safe, when stooping to drink at a pool, 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 have gained admission and caused serious disturbance.]

ARTICULATA.

_APTERA_.

Thysanura.

Podura _albicollis_. _atricollis_. _viduata_. _pilosa_. Achoreutes _coccinea_. Lepisma nigrofasciata, _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_. _flaviceps_. _pallidus_. Craspedosoma _juloides_. _præusta_. Polydesmus _granulatus_. Cambala _catenulata_. Zephronia _conspicua_.

_CRUSTACEA_.

Decapoda brachyura.

_Polybius_. Neptunus pelagicus, _Linn_. sanguinolentus, _Herbst_. Thalamita...? 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_. Matuta victor, _Fabr_. Leucosia _fugax, Fabr Dorippe._

Decapoda anomura.

_Dromia...?_ Hippa Asiatica, _Edw_. Paguras affinis, _Edw_. _punctulatus, Oliv. Porcellana...?_ Decapoda Macrura. Scyllarus _orientalis, Fab._. Palinurus ornatus, _Fab._. _affinis_, _N_._S_. _Crangon...?_ _Alpheus...?_ Pontonia inflata, _Edw_. Palæmon carcinus, _Fabr_. Stenopus...? Peneus...?

Stomatopoda. _Squilla...?_ Gonodactylus chiragra, _Fabr_.

_CIRRHIPEDIA_.

_Lepas_. _Balanus_.

_ANNELIDA_.

Tubicolæ. Dorsibranchiata. Abranchia. Hirudo _sanguisorba_. _Thwaitesii_. Hæmopsis _paludum_. Hæmadipsa Ceylana. _Blainv_. Lumbricus...?