Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 1.djvu/627

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fil wood of England, that it may be found in all degrees of petrifaction, from that ofalmoft unaltered wood, to abfulute ilone or mineral matter, with only the fuperficial grain of •wood. Of the firft kind is all our bog wood, or the trees or parts of trees found in bogs, which burn at leaft. as well as the Dryites of the antients; and of the latter, is the wood found in our itone quarries or gravel pits, converted as it were into a mere ftone ; and in our clay pits, fo filled with the matter of the common vitriolic pyrites, as only to fhew the exter- nal appearance of wood, the infide being merely a mafs of that mineral matter. The famous petrifactions of the lake called Lough Neagh in Ireland, afford us alfo an inftance of wood being partly petrified, partly left unaltered, except as to its natural decay ; fome of the mafTes found there, being in one part hard ftone, and in the other wood, yet capable of burning and only decaying thro' moifture without the leaft par- ticle of ftony matter amung them. See Fossil Wood.

DRYOPEIA, Apuom,i«, in antiquity, an anniverfary day ob- ferved in memory of Dryops, one of Apollo's fons. Potter Archfpol. Grxc. 1. 2. c. 20. T. i. p. 385.

DS JERENANG, a name by which fome authors have called a kind of fpecies of palm-tree from the fruit of which is pro- cured a dragons blood. Kempfer, Amoen. exot. p. 552.

DUCENTESIMA, in antiquity, a tax of the two hundredth penny, exadted by the Roman emperors. Vid. Pitifc, Lex. Ant. in voc.

DUCK, anas, in zoology, the name of a very large genus of birds, the characters of which are thefe. The beak is {hott- er in proportion, than that of the goofe, and the feet propor- tionably larger. The legs are fhorter and are placed farther backward, and the back is flatter, and the body more com- prefled. Some of thefe love the frefh waters, others are found only at fea, and of both thefe there are very numerous fpecies. Ray'% Ornitholog. p. 276.

This fowl is furnifhed with a peculiar ftru&ure of vefTels about the heart, which enable it to live without refpiration a con- fiderable time under water, as is necefTary for it in diving. This made Mr. Boyle think it a propercr object for experiments by the air pump, than any of the other birds. A full grown duck being put into the receiver of the air pump, of which fhe filled one third part, and the air exhaufted, the creature feemed tn bear it better for the fir ft moments, than a hen or other fuch fowl ; but after about a minute, {he gave great figns of difcompofure, and in lefts than two minutes her head fell down, and {he appeared dying, till revived by the leting in the air. Thus whatever facility of diving, this and other water fowl may have, it does not appear, that they can fubfift with- out air for refpiration, any longer than other animals. A young callow Duck was afterwards tried in the fame manner, and with the fame fuccefs, being reduced very near death in lefs than two minutes. But it is obfervable, that both birds fwelled extremely on the pumping out of the air, fo as to ap- pear much larger to the fpedators, efpecially about the crop. It not being intended that any water fowl ftiould live in an ex- ceedingly rarify'd air, but only be able to continue on occafion fome time under water. Nature tho' me has provided them with the means of this, has done nothing for them in re- gard to the other.

The ftrongeft inftance of this creatures being calculated to live any where, we have in the accounts of the blind Ducks of the Zirchintzer lake in Carniola. It is now well known, that this lake communicates with another lake underground in the mountain Savornick, and fills or empties itfelf accord- ing to the fulnefs or emptinefs of that lake ; the waters of the upper lake running off at the time of its emptying by large holes in the bottom, and that in vaft quantities. The Ducks ■which are very plentiful in the water, are often carried down with it, and forced into the fubterraneous lake the wa- ters retire to. In this unnatural habitation, many of them doubtlefs perifh, but fome remain alive; thefe become blind and lofe all their feathers, and in the next filling of the lake, both they and vaft numbers of fifh are thrown up with the water. They are fat at this time, but make a ftrange appear- ance in their naked ftate, and are eafily caught, for want of fight to avoid the danger. In about a fortnight they recover their fight and their feathers, and are then of the fize of a common wild duck, but of a black colour, having a white fpot upon their forehead. When opened on beino- taken on their firft coming up in their blind ftate, their ftomachs are found full of fmall fifties, and fomewhat refembling weeds. It feems from this, that they cannot be absolutely blind, but that the degree of light to which they have been accuftomed in their dark habitation, had formed their eyes to fee by that fmall quantity, fo well as to get their food by it ; and their blindnefs on coming into broad day light again, is no other than that of a man who has been long in the dark, on hav- ing in an inftant a large blaze of candles fet juft under his eyes. The eye in neither cafe can bear the fudden change, and nuift be habituated to it, before it can fee objects by it. Thefe blind Ducks are not only caft up in this lake, but after great rains they are frequently thrown up at a hole in the Sdppi, Vol. I.

mountain Storfeg near the town of Laas. The water gufti- ing out at this hole with great force on thefe occafions, brings away with it thefe blind and bald ducks; and their frequency on thefe occafions in thefe places, makes them efteemed no rarity; but the common people underfhnd that there are underground lakes, which they inhabit, and out of which they are thus thrown. Phil. Tranf. N°. 191.

Northern Duck, Anas arctica, a name given by Clufiusto a water fowl well known on our coafts, and called by feveral other names both by authors and our own common people. Al- drovand calls it Pica Marina, and Fratercula from Gefner, and Wormius and Hoier, the Lunda. We call it in fome places the Puffin, and in others the Golden-head, Bottlenofc, Helegug, Coulta-ncb or Countermb and the Mulleit and Pope. It is fmaller than the common Duck ; its beak is flatted fide- ways, and is broad and fhort, fomewhat of a triangular figure, and ending in a point ; it has a callous fubftance at its bafe, like that over the beak of the parrot. It is partly grey, part- ly red and has three remarkable furrows on it. Its legs are placed very backward, and are yellow when the bird is young, they afterwards are red, and have no hinder toe. Its head, neck and back are black, its breaft, throat and belly white ; but there is a remarkable black ring which furrounds the throat. The fides of the head are alio whitifh, or of a very pale grey. Its wings are extremely fhort, and furnifhed with very fmall feathers; yet by the help of thefe it flies very nim- bly along the furface of the water, but it cannot fly at all ex- cept its wings continually touch the water. It builds no neft, but lays its eggs on the naked earth, or in the deferted rabbit- holes ; and what is very remarkable, each lays only one egg. This is very large, and of a reddifh colour. They breed with us, but are birds of paflage, leaving us in autumn, and re- turning about March in fmall numbers, as if to examine the place; after which they again depart, and in May return with the whole numbers; and if it happens to be a ftormy feafon, multitudes of them are thrown dead upon the fhores. For they are neither able to travel, nor to get food, except in calm weather. Ray's Ornitholog. p. 244.

Brafilian Duck, Anas Brafilienfis, the name of an American bird of the Duck-kind, but of the fize of the goofe. Its beak, legs, and feet are brown, and its body is all over black, ex- cept that the upper part of the wings is white. It is not how- ever, of a dead or dusky black, but has a very ftrong glofs of green among it. It has a creft compofed of black feathers on its head, and over the origin of the bill a large red flefhy tubercle, and a naked red membrane round its eyes. They fly up to the tops of the higheft trees, and are a very flefhy and delicately tafted bird. Margrave's Hift. Braf.

the Jharf -tailed Duck, Anas Caudacuta, in zoology, the name of a peculiar fpecies of Duck, having a long tail like a pheafant. It is called in fome places the fea pheafant, but more generally is known with us, by the name of the Cracker. See the ar- ticle Cracker.

Horn -Duck, Anas Cornicenfis, the name of an American Duck, defcribed by Nieremberg, and having its name from its imita- ting with its note, the found of the hunt/man's horn. It is a very bold tho' a weak bird, and is very difficultly tamed. This is one of the many birds mentioned by this author, which from his imperfect account, it is impoffible to know whether a new fpecies, or fome of thofe defcribed by Mar- grave or others. Ray's Ornithol. p. 100.

Indian Duck, Anas Indka, the name of a bird of the Duck kind defcribed by Gefner and others, as a diftinct fpecies, but feeming by the defcription to be the fame, with what we call the Mufcovy Duck.

Lybian Duck, Anas Lybia, a name given by Aldrovand, Bel- lonius, and fome authors to a fpecies of Duck, brought from that part of the world, but which appears to be the fame with what we commonly know, by the name of the Mufco- vy Duck. Ray's Ornitholog. p. 295.

Mufcovy Duck, Anas Mofcata, the name of a fpecies of Duck, the largeft of all the Duck kind. The general colour both in the male and female is a purplifh black, though the female is fometimes quite white. It has red flefhy protube- rances about its beak and its eyes, and its voice is hoarfe, very foft, and fcarce to be heard, unlefs when it is angry. The eggs of this bird are of a remarkably round figure. Ray's Ornitholog. p. 294.

The fly-catching Duck, Anas Mufcaria, a name given by feve- ral authors to a fpecies of Duck, from its catching flies that play on the furface of the water. It is defcribed as a diftin£r fpecies, but Mr. Ray fuppofes it the fame with our wild Duck.

The black Duck, Anas niger, a fpecies of Duck larger than the common kind. The head and neck in this, are of a green- ifli black, the legs and feet red on the anterior part, and yellow below, and behind ; the webs of the feet very black • all the body is black except a ft.-eak of white of an inch long on the wings, and a white {pot on each fide of the head behind the eyes. All the feathers are k> glofly and fhininjr, that the bird looks as if coated with the fineft Jattin. It 9 M never