Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/837

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ZAUSCHNERIA The chief river is the White Koros, a tributary of the Theiss. The principal occupations are mining and the raising of cattle. Capital, Koros-Banya. ZACSCIINEKIA (named after M. Zauschner, an amateur Bohemian botanist), a brilliant flow- ZEBRA 807 Californian Zauschneria (Zauschneria Californica). ering plant introduced from California more than 25 years ago, of which there is only one species, Z. Californica, and which has not yet received a common name. It belongs to the evening primrose family (onagracece), and is a perennial, with numerous stems 1 to 2 ft. high ; its ovate or lanceolate leaves, with the rest of the plant, are softly downy ; the flowers are sessile in the axils of the upper leaves, and form a kind of raceme ; they are about 2 in. long, and have a strong resemblance to those of the fuchsia, which belongs to the same fam- ily ; the long calyx, situated at the top of the linear ovary, is four-lobed, and the corolla four-petalled, both being of the most brilliant scarlet ; eight stamens and the long style pro- ject beyond the corolla. It is a very free bloomer, the flowers appearing in ]ate sum- mer and through the autumn. The seeds (generally kept in the seed stores) are each furnished with a tuft of silky hairs by which they are dispersed. It does not succeed in a wet soil, but in a dry and rather sandy one it is hardy near New York, as it is in New Eng- land if protected during winter. ZAVALA, a S. W. county of Texas, drained by the Nueces river and the Rio Leona ; area, 1,005 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 133, of whom 4 were colored. The surface is level. It is de- voted to stock raising, and has little land suita- ble for cultivation. Timber and water are scarce. It is unorganized. In 1870 there were 38 horses, 3,893 cattle, and 270 swine. ZEA, or Tzla (ano. Ceos), an island of Greece, one of the Cyclades, about 15 m. E. of the S. E. extremity of Attica; area, about 70 sq. m. ; pop. about 4,000. Mount St. Elias rises in its centre, and at its W. foot is the town of Zea. The island produces wine, excellent fruit, cot- ton, and silk. In antiquity it was originally inhabited by lonians. Simonides was a native of the island. ZEALAND, or Zeeland, a S. W. province of the Netherlands, lying in and around the delta of the Scheldt, bordering on South Holland, North Brabant, Belgium, and the North sea ; area, 680 sq. m.; pop. in 1874, 184,215. Be- sides the mainland S. of the West Scheldt, Zealand comprises the islands of Walcheren, North and South Beveland, Tholen, Duiveland, and Schouwen. The surface is but little above the sea level, but is protected by dikes. The soil is fertile; its healthfulness has been im- proved by the draining and filling up of the marshes, and large tracts of land have been reclaimed from the sea. Zealand produces madder, hemp, cattle, and sheep, and has linen and other manufactories, salt refineries, and ship yards, and a considerable export trade. The largest towns are Middelburg, the capi- tal, and Flushing. ZEBRA, the common name of the striped horse-like animals of South Africa, of which one has been described under QUAGGA. They come nearer the ass than the horse, having the tail furnished with long hairs only at the tip, and the hind legs without warts, and have ac- cordingly been placed by Gray in his genus asimis; they are whitish or pale brown, ele- gantly striped with broad black bands. The best known and the handsomest is the common zebra (asinus zebra, Gray), rather smaller than the wild horse, which name it bears among the Dutch colonists at the Cape of Good Hope; it is a mountain species, and the bands exist on all parts of the body and limbs, even to the hoofs. The zebras are very wild, living to- gether in herds, going with great rapidity from Zebra. place to place; they seek the most secluded spots, grazing on the steep hillsides, and post- ing a sentinel ; the senses of sight, smell, and hearing are remarkably acute, and their speed is very great ; when attacked by man or beast, they form a compact body, with their heads in