EM'ETINE Lat. (met ie) , C„,11,„,N1).. nil:Mold which forms the ;int ive principle of ipeeacuanha-root. It is a yellowish white powder, which is slightly soluble in cold water, hut dissolves readily in alcohol. When taken internally, it exhibits violent emetic prop erties. See IPECACCANHA.
EMEU (Port. circa, probably from an Austra lian word). A ratite bird of Australia, closely allied to the cassowary, but larger, sometimes weighing about 130 pounds, and next to the ostrich in size. It differs from the cassowary in having the bill horizontally depressed, the head feathered and destitute of a bony crest, and the throat nearly naked and with no pendant wat tles. The feet are three-toed, as in the cassowary, and the wing,s are mere rudiments hidden be neath the loose filamentous feathers of the body. The color is dull brown, mottled with dingy gray; the young are striped with black. When assailed, emcus strike backward and obliquely with the feet, like the cassowary, and they are so powerful that a stroke of the foot is said to be sufficient to break a man's leg. They cannot fly, but run very fleetly. They are timid and peaceful, and trust altogether to speed for safety, unless hard pressed. In a wild state they some times occur in small flocks, but they have now be come extinct in the more thickly settled parts of Australia. The extinction of the genus will
be prevented, however, by its being preserved in a state of domestication, as they are very easily domesticated, breed readily in that state, and the flesh and eggs are excellent. The common emeu has frequently bred in Europe, where it is constantly seen in menageries, or domesticated in English parks. The eggs are six or seven in number, dark green; the male performs the prin cipal part of the incubation. The fat beneath the skin contains much oil; six or seven quarts are obtained from a single bird, and on this ac count it has been much hunted in Australia. Its food consists chiefly of roots, fruits, and herbage. The only note is a drumming sound. whielt is frequently emitted. Two species of emelt are recognized by ornithologists, the most common of which is Drommus above described. A less-known, slender species, of Western Australia, is Dronurus inornutus. These constitute the family of which a fossil species has been discovered in the Ter tiary deposits of India. See Plate of CAsso wAturs.