Tennent's Ceylon - 1860

CONTENTS

OF

THE FIRST VOLUME.

PART II.

ZOOLOGY.

CHAPTER I.

MAMMALIA.

• Neglect of Zoology in Ceylon 127
• Monkeys 128
• • Wanderoo 129
  • Error regarding the Silenus Veter (note) 129
  • Presbytes Cephalopterus 130
  • P. Ursinus in the Hills 131
  • P. Thersites in the Wanny 132
  • P. Priamus, Jaffna and Trincomalie 132
  • No dead monkey ever found 133
• Loris 133
• Bats 135
• • Flying fox 135
  • Horse-shoe bat 136
• Carnivora.—Bears 137
• Their ferocity 138
• Singhalese belief in the efficacy of charms (note) 139
• Leopards 139
• • Curious belief 140
  • Anecdotes of leopards 142
• Palm-cat 144
• Civet 144
• Dogs 144
• Jackal 145
• • The horn of the jackal 145
• Mungoos 145
• • Its fights with serpents 146
  • Theory of its antidote 147
• Squirrels 148
• • Flying squirrel 148
• Tree rat 149
• • Story of a rat and a snake 149
• Coffee rat 149
• Bandicoot 150
• Porcupine 150
• Pengolin 151
• Ruminantia.—The Gaur 151
• • Oxen 152
  • Humped cattle 152
  • Encounter of a cow and a leopard 153
  • Buffaloes 154
  • Sporting buffaloes 155
  • Peculiar structure of the hoof 155
• Deer 156
• Meminna 157
• Elephants 158
• Whales 158
• General view of the mammalia of Ceylon 159
• List of Ceylon mammalia 159
• Curious parasite of the bat (note) 161

CHAP. II.

BIRDS.

• Their numbers 163
• Songsters 163
• Hornbills, the "bird with two heads" 164
• Pea fowl 165
• Sea birds, their number 165
• I. Accipitres.—Eagles 166
• • Falcons and hawks 166
  • Owls—the devil bird 167
• II. Passeres.—Swallows 167
• • Kingfishers—sunbirds 168
  • Bul-bul—tailor bird—and weaver 169
  • Crows, anecdotes of 170
• III. Scansores.—Parroquets 172
• IV. Columbiæ.—Pigeons 173
• V. Gallinæ.—Jungle-fowl 174
• VI. Grallæ.—Ibis, stork, &c. 175
• VII. Anseres.—Flamingoes 175
• • Pelicans 176
  • Game.—Partridges, &c. 176
• List of Ceylon birds 177
• List of birds peculiar to Ceylon 180

CHAP. III.

REPTILES.

• Lizards.—Iguana 182
• • Kabragoya, barbarous custom in preparing the cobra-tel poison (note) 183
  • The green calotes 184
  • Chameleon 184
  • Ceratophora 185
  • Geckoes,—their power of reproducing limbs 185 , 186
• Crocodiles 186
• • Their power of burying themselves in the mud 187
• Tortoises—Curious parasite 188
• • Land tortoises 189
  • Edible turtle 190
  • Huge Indian tortoises (note) 190
  • Hawk's-bill turtle, barbarous mode of stripping it of the tortoise-shell 190
• Serpents.—Venomous species rare 191
• • Cobra de capello 192
  • Instance of land snakes found at sea 193
  • Tame snakes (note) 193
  • Singular tradition regarding the cobra de capello 194
  • Uropeltidæ.—New species discovered in Ceylon 195
  • Buddhist veneration for the cobra de capello 195
  • Anecdotes of snakes 196
  • The Python 196
  • Water snakes 197
  • Snake stones 197
  • Analysis of one 199
  • Cæcilia 201
  • Large frogs 202
  • Tree frogs 202
• List of Ceylon reptiles 203

CHAP. IV.

FISHES.

• Ichthyology of Ceylon, little known 205
• Fish for table, seir fish 205
• Sardines, poisonous? 206
• Sharks 207
• Saw-fish 207
• Fish of brilliant colours 207
• Curious fish described by Ælian (note) 207
• Fresh-water fish, little known,—not much eaten 208
• Fresh-water fish in Colombo Lake 209
• Immense profusion of fish in the rivers and lakes 209
• Their re-appearance after rain 209
• Mode of fishing in the ponds 210
• Showers of fish 210
• Conjecture that the ova are preserved, not tenable 212
• Fish moving on dry land 213
• • Instances in Guiana (note) 214
  • Perca Scandens, ascends trees 215
  • Doubts as to the story of Daldorf 217
• Fishes burying themselves during the dry season 218
• • The protopterus of the Gambia 218
  • Instances in the fish of the Nile 218
  • Instances in the fish of South America 219
  • Living fish dug out of the ground in the dry tanks in Ceylon 220
  • Other animals that so bury themselves, Melaniæ, Ampullariæ, &c. 220
  • The animals that so bury themselves in India (note) 220
  • Analogous case of (note) 221
  • Theory of æstivation and hybernation 221
• Fish in hot-water in Ceylon 224
• List of Ceylon fishes 224
• Instances of fishes failing from the clouds 226
• Overland migration of fishes known to the Greeks and Romans 227
• Note on Ceylon fishes by Professor Huxley 229
• Comparative note by Dr. Gray, Brit. Mus. 231

CHAP. V.

MOLLUSCA, RADIATA, AND ACALEPHÆ.

• I. Conchology—General character of Ceylon shells 233
• • Confusion regarding them in scientific works and collections 234
  • List of Ceylon shells 235
• II. Radiata.—Star fish 244
• • Sea slugs 245
  • Parasitic worms 245
  • Planaria 235
• III. Acalephæ, abundant 246
• • Corals little known 246

CHAP. VI.

INSECTS.

• Profusion of insects in Ceylon 247
• • Imperfect knowledge of 247
• I. Coleoptera.—Beetles 248
• • Scavenger beetles 249
  • Coco-nut beetles 249
  • Tortoise beetles 250
• II. Orthoptera.—Mantis and leaf-insects 250
• • Stick-insects 252
• III. Neuroptera—Dragon flies 252
• • Ant-lion 252
  • White ants 253
  • Anecdotes of their instinct and ravages (text and note) 254
• V. Hymenoptera.—Mason Wasps 256
• • Wasps 257
  • Bees 257
  • Carpenter Bee 258
  • Ants 258
  • Burrowing ants 262
• VI. Lepidoptera.—Butterflies 262
• • Sylph 263
  • Lycænidæ 264
  • Moths 265
  • Silk worms (text and note) 265
  • Wood-carrying Moths 266
  • Pterophorus 267
• VII. Homoptera 267
• • Cicada 267
• VIII. Hemiptera 267
• • Bugs 267
• IX. Aphaniptera 268
• X. Diptera.—Mosquitoes 268
• General character of Ceylon insects 269
• List of insects in Ceylon 274

CHAP. VII.

ARACHNIDE, MYRIOPODA, CRUSTACEA, ETC.

• Spiders 294
• • Strange nests of the wood spiders 295
  • Olios Taprobanius 295
  • Mygale fasciata 295
  • Ticks 296
  • Mites.—Trombidium tinctorum 297
• Myriapods.—Centipedes 297
• • Cermatia 298
  • Scolopendra crassa 298
  • S. pollipes 299
• Millipeds—Iulus 299
• Crustacea 300
• • Calling crabs 300
  • Land crabs 301
  • Painted crabs 301
  • Paddling crabs 301
• Annelidæ, Leeches.—The land leech 302
• • Medical leech 305
  • Cattle leech 306
• List of Articulata, &c. 307