Euboea

“ EUBŒA. — CYCLADES. Among the Ionic portion of Hellas are to be reckoned (besides Athens) Eubœa, and the numerous group of islands included between the southernmost Eubœan promontory, the eastern coast of Peloponnesus, and the north-western coast of Krête. Of these islands some are to be considered as outlying prolongations, in a south-easterly direction, of the mountain-system of Attica; others, of that of Eubœa; while a certain number of them lie apart from either system, and seem referable to a volcanic origin. ”

“ The rivers of Euboea are few in number and scanty in volume. In the north-eastern portion the Budorus flows into the Aegean, being formed by two streams which unite their waters in a small plain, and were perhaps the Cereus and Neleus concerning which the story was told that sheep drinking the water of the one became white, of the other black. On the north coast, near Histiaea, is the Callas; and on the western side the Lelantus, near Chalcis, flowing through the plain of the same name. ”

“ The next largest plain was that of Histiaea, and at the present day this and the neighbourhood of the Budorus (Aḥmet-Aga) are the two best cultivated parts of Euboea, owing to the exertions of foreign colonists. The mountains afford excellent pasturage for sheep and cattle, which were reared in great quantities in ancient times, and seem to have given the island its name ”

“ The southern part was occupied by the Dryopes, part of which tribe, after having been expelled from their original seats in the south of Thessaly by the Dorians, migrated to this island, and established themselves in the three cities of Karystos, Dystos and Styra. The population of Euboea at the present day is made up of elements not less various, for many of the Greek inhabitants seem to have immigrated, partly from the mainland, and partly from other islands ”

“ The island of Eubœa, long and narrow like Krête, and exhibiting a continuous backbone of lofty mountains from north-west to south-east, is separated from Bœotia at one point by a strait so narrow (celebrated in antiquity under the name of the Eurīpus) , [p. 164] that the two were connected by a bridge for a large portion of the historical period of Greece, erected during the later times of the Peloponnesian war by the inhabitants of Chalkis. ”

“ So forces were at once sent as an assistance to them. But among the men of Eretria there was no sound counsel Those who had summoned the Athenians were themselves divided between two opinions: for some intended to abandon the city and betake themselves to the higher ground of Euboea: but others, hoping for private gain from the Persians, were preparing to betray the city. On ascertaining this, one of their chiefs begged the Athenians to return home, lest they should perish together with the men of Eretria. So all returned at once to Athens, and escaped the danger. ”

“ The whole of the eastern coast is rocky and destitute of harbours, especially the part called Coela, or “the Hollows,” where part of the Persian fleet was wrecked. So greatly was this dreaded by sailors that the principal line of traffic from the north of the Aegean to Athens used to pass by Chalcis and the Euboic Sea.
Euboea was believed to have originally formed part of the mainland, and to have been separated from it by an earthquake. ”

“ In the allied genus Eubagis, both sexes of some of the species are plain-coloured and nearly alike; whilst with the greater number the males are decorated with beautiful metallic tints in a diversified manner, and differ much from their females. The females throughout the genus retain the same general style of colouring, so that they resemble one another much more closely than they resemble their own males. ”

“ Internally the combs are arranged concentrically, more or less parallel with the external covering which affords them support.
The members of the two remaining families, the Eumenidae and the Masaridae, resemble one another in their solitary mode of life; only males and normal females, exist—no workers being found.
Family 2. Eumenidae.—Solitary species, with three submarginal cells in the fore wing; antennae with thirteen joints in the male, twelve in the female; abdomen sometimes pedunculate, posterior segments contractile. ”

“ It occurred to me that my ancestor, Eryops, would have been perfectly at home, for in front of me were clumps of strange, carboniferous rushes, lacking leaves and grace, and sedges such as might be fashioned in an attempt to make plants out of green straw. Here and there an ancient jointed stem was in blossom, a pinnacle of white filaments, and hour after hour there came little brown trigonid visitors, sting-less bees, whose nests were veritable museums of flower extracts—tubs of honey, hampers of pollen, barrels of ambrosia, hoarded in castles of wax. ”

“ After a sound so mighty and bewildering, the bellowing of the wind through the rigging, the hiss and roar of the sea as wave broke against wave, the flapping of the brailed courses, the creaking and straining of the timbers, seemed as nothing—the very silence of death—while the Eugenie tore on, through mist and spray, through darkness and obscurity, with the foam flying white as winter drift over her bows and martingale. ”

“ The Eumenidae, or solitary wasps, are very little noticed by the ordinary observer, but they are nevertheless more numerous than the social Vespidae, about 800 species being known. In Britain we have sixteen species of the solitary, as against seven of the social wasps. The Eumenidae exhibit a considerable diversity in form and structure; some of them have the pedicel at the base of the abdomen very elongate, while in others this is so short as to be imperceptible in the ordinary position of the body. ”

“ While she was endeavoring, with angry scolding and cross words, to hasten the children’s departure, Eulaeus came into the room. Euergetes, as soon as he saw him, set every limb with rigid resolve, and drew breath so deeply that his broad chest heaved high, and a strong respiration parted his lips as he went forward to meet the eunuch, slowly but with an enquiring look. ”

“ In the male of the genus Eucera, they have a remarkable extension, being as long as the body, whereas folded back they are rarely so long, or not longer than the thorax in other males, speaking in reference only to our native kinds. In the females they are not often longer than the head. It is in the males of the genus Halictus that they take the greatest extension. In the male of the genus Eucera, we also find the remarkable peculiarity of the integument of some of the joints being distinctly of an hexagonal structure,—a peculiarity often observable in natural structures. ”

“ Cope, in his diagnosis of the genus Eobasileus, there is full accord: It "indicates a remarkable combination of structure not before known to naturalists. The gigantic size of the typical species (E. cornutus) adds to its interest, and shows it to have been the monarch of the remarkable fauna disclosed by recent researches in Wyoming." The genus is "established on remains of five individuals of the average size of the Mastodon Ohioticus.... From the manner of the occurrence of the relics, this animal probably went in families, or herds," as do the existing elephants. ”

“ The most remarkable of these exceptions occur in those species of Euonymus, which, contrary to the usual structure of the genus and family they belong to, have pendulous ovula; and, as I have long since noticed, in the perfect ovula only of Abelia.* In these, and in the other cases in which the raphe is on the outer side, or that most remote from the placenta, the ovula are in reality resupinate; an economy apparently essential to their development. ”

“ If that fellow’s dagger breaks he can kill his victim with those teeth, as a fox does a duck, or smash his bones with his fist.”
“But, my lord,” replied Eulaeus dryly and with a certain matter-of-fact gravity to King Euergetes—for he it was who had come with him into the room adjoining Klea’s retreat, “the dry little Egyptian with the thin straight hair is even more trustworthy and tougher and nimbler than his companion, and, so far, more estimable. ”

“ Why, she had no idea herself. She wondered if she were going to be ill; she had never been ill in her life, being strong as a little bird that has never known cage or captivity.
When the day was done, Bébée gave a quick sigh as she looked across the square. She had so wanted to tell him that she was not ungrateful; and she had a little moss-rose ready, with a sprig of sweetbrier, and a tiny spray of maidenhair fern that grew under the willows, which she had kept covered up with a leaf of sycamore all the day long. ”

“ Fig. 28—Nidification of solitary wasps: section through nest, A, of Odynerus reniformis; B, of Eumenes arbustorum. a, The suspended egg of the wasp; b, the stored caterpillars. (After André.)
It is known that other species of Eumenes construct vase-like nests; E. unguiculata, however, according to an imperfect account given by Perris, makes with earth a closed nest of irregular shape, containing three cells in one mass. The saliva of these builders has the power of acting as a cement, and of forming with the clay a very impenetrable material. ”

“ But at that period, when the higher Eutheria were in the ascendant, Australia and the islands to the north became cut off from Asia, and thus became freed from inroads of Eutheria, which were partly prevented by the physical barrier of the sea from effecting a settlement, and partly perhaps prevented owing to the ground being already taken up by the Marsupials. Likeness of habit gave the older inhabitants victory in the struggle for existence. ”

“ In the midline of the body are two triangular dorsal fins, each attached to the body for about half its length. The basal portion of each is thick and muscular, and contains supporting cartilages embedded in the muscles. The remainder of the fin is flexible and semi-transparent, horny fin-rays being faintly visible between the layers of skin. In front of each fin is a strong spine which seems to serve both as a cutwater and a weapon of defense. (Eugaleus has no spines.) ”

“ The number of kites was in a fair proportion to that of the geese; and dozens of them were watching us from the neighbouring trees.
We found a new Eugenia, a tree of rather stunted growth, with broad opposite leaves, and fruit of the size of an apple, of a delicate rose-colour, and when ripe, a most delicious refreshment during a hot day. We had frequently met with this tree on sandstone ridges, and in sandy soils, but had never before found it in fruit. The day was distressingly hot, but we had several light showers during the afternoon. ”

“ It is as lithe and active as a Malay, as black as a negro, and as hairy as a gorilla, looking like a little ursine sweep.
The genus Eucera, of which we have but one representative, although considerably more than fifty species are known, has not so wide a range as might be expected from their numbers. Our own is found throughout Europe and in Algeria. Other species occur in Russia, the Morea, Albania, Dalmatia, and Egypt. In Asia some are found in Syria, and at Bagdad; and from the New World they have been sent from Cayenne and the United States. ”

“ The absorbing duty of springtime is nesting, and to this art the Audubons give themselves with becoming ardor. The female does the work, while the male cheers her with song, and not infrequently trails about after her, useless but sympathetic. Into a certain tidy grove near Tacoma the bird-man entered one crisp morning in April. The trees stood about like decorous candlesticks, but the place hummed with Kinglets and clattered with Juncoes and Audubons. One Audubon, a female, advertised her business to all comers. ”

“ Passing to another family of British mining-bees, we come to one species that is remarkable not only for its form, but for its economy. This is the Eucera longicornis, the only known species that inhabits England. In form it is chiefly remarkable from the fact that the antennæ of the male are as long as the entire body. The pupa of this insect is enclosed in a thin membrane, and when the male insect is about to emerge from its pupal shell, it has recourse to a rather curious expedient. ”

“ She laid great heaps and the bees ran up, took the little eggs in their mouths and carried them into the new cells. [101] Every egg got its own little room; and, when they were all disposed of, the queen ordered the bees to put doors to the cells and to shut them tight.
“Good!” she said, when they had finished. “Now you can build me ten big, handsome rooms at the outer edge of the hive.”
The bees did so in a trice and then the queen laid ten beautiful eggs, one in each of the big rooms, and put a door before them.
Every day, the bees flew out and in and gathered great heaps of honey and pollen ”

“ The subject of Euphorbia is interesting—a woman to whom marriage brings non-fulfilment, whose husband tramples and uproots the red-and-white wild flower she loves. When at length the man dies, the mother has one fearful moment in which her child reaches toward a bit of euphorbia [Pg 289] with she knows not which intention. ”

“ They walk on moist land, as pasture-grounds and newly turned earth, in search for insects and their larvae; but some species, as those of the genus Promerops, seek for minute insects in the corollas of flowers. The Family is confined to the Old World, and most of them are African and Indian.
Genus Upupa. (Linn.)
The true Hoopoes have the beak very long and slender, slightly curved through its length, and compressed at the sides: the nostrils are basal, small, covered by a scale, and surmounted by the feathers of the forehead. The wings are long and rounded: the tail long and broad. ”

“ Although the nature and extent of movements in reptiles in general, and in lizards especially, are poorly known, my findings are perhaps what might [100] be expected from the studies of earlier workers on various other species of reptiles.
Goin and Goin (1951:29) observed that Eumeces laticeps in Florida lives in hollow stumps, each individual excluding other adults from its stump but tolerating young. Movements have not been studied in detail in any member of the Scincidae, however. ”