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OF
COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY,
AT HARVARD COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE, MASS.
Founded by private subscription, In LSGL.
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Deposited by ALEX. AGASSIZ.
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QUARTERLY JOURNAL
OF
MICROSCOPICAL SCIENCE:
EDITED BY
EDWIN LANKESTER, M.D., F.RB.S., F.LS.,
AND
GEORGE BUSK, F.R.C.8.E., F.R.S., Sze. LS.
VOLUME VI.—New Series.
GHith Allustrations on Wood and Stone.
LONDON: JOHN CHURCHILL AND SONS, NEW BURLINGTON STREET.
"1866.
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INDEX TO JOURNAL.
VOL. VI, NEW SERIES.
A.
Achromatic condenser, additional stop recommended for oblique illumina- tion with the, by B. Wills Richard- son, 86.
Acarus, on a new species of, by C. Robertson, 201.
Edogonium, on the resting-spores of, 149.
Aphides, reproduction of, by Balbiani, 253.
Archer, W., remarks on genera, 141. Ascaris Dactyluris, on the anatomy of, by Alexander Macalister, 79.
»» wigrovenosa, on the develop- ment of, by E. C. Mecznikow, 25. an . on the develop- ment of, 100.
B. Balbiani, on reproduction of aphides, 254
Barkas, T.B ., on the stanhoscope, 263. Beale; Lionel, Dr., F.R.S., micro- scopical researches on the Cattle Plague, 141. Beale’s, Dr., glass reflector, 105. Berkeley, Rev. M. J., on parasitic fungi, 260. Binocular microscope, Collins’s, 49. ne vision, note on, 50. Birmingham Natural History and Microscopical Society, 195. British Association, papers from, 259. Bryozoa, on the perforating, of the family Terebriporide, 157.
C.
Cattle plague, microscopical researches on the, by Dr. Lionel Beale, F.R.S., 141.
Cecidomyiz, Meinert on, 255.
Cells, on, 161.
VOL. VI. NEW SER.
Cilio-flagellate Infusoria, proofs of the animal nature of, 44.
Circulation of the inferior animals, 93.
Connective-tissue, Ordonez on, 257.
Corethra plumicornis, the raetamor- phoses of, 88.
Crystallization, further remarks on, by R. Thomas, 177. .
Curtis, F., on improvement of micro- scope, 264.
Cypridinze, on the organization of the, 35.
Cypris ovum, nearer knowledge of the young forms of, 33.
D
Diatoms, how to make them stick, 168 » mounting, 106. Dipterous larve, on the reproduction of, 33. Dublin Microscopical Club, proceed- ings of, 58. 0 2 » 120. NGO: 2 29 ” 266. Duncan, P. Martin, histology of the reproductive organs of the Irid, 12.
E
Echiniscus Sigismundi, of the North Sea, 92. ;
Entozoa, the so-called “spurious of diseased meat,” 96.
F.
Frog’s skin, on the ephemeroid layer of the, 38.
23 ”
G.
Gregarinide, 40. Greville, Dr. Robert Kaye, F.R.S.1., 199.
| Growing slides, 105.
U
282
Gulliver, George, F.R.S., on raphides as natural characters in the British flora, 1.
H
Hackney Microscopical Society, 194.
Hesse on a new crustacea, 255.
Hyperosmic acid, on the action of, on animal tissues, 39.
i. Icthydium, on, by E. C. Mecznikow, 41
Illumination, Count Francisco Castra- cane’s new method of, 48.
Tllumination, stops recommended for oblique, by B. Wills Richardson, FoC.S.1;, 10.
Intestine of the child, on the nervous plexus in the, 39.
Irid, histology of the reproductive organs of the, by P. Martin Dun- can, M.B. Lond., 12.
L.
Larval eyes, 88.
Leptothrix-swarms, and their relation to the vibriones, 155.
Light reflected from transparent sur- faces, 167.
M.
Macalister, Alexander, on the anatomy of Ascaris dactyluris, 79. Manchester Literary and Philosopbical Society, proceedings of, 73. 22 2 130. Mecznikow, E.C., on the development of Ascaris nigrovenosa, 25. on Icthydium, &c.,
= on Rhapéocera, 25. Meinert on Cecidomyie, 255. Microphotography with high powers,
164.
Microscopical Society, proceedings of, 53, 108, 170.
Moxon, Dr., on motor nerve termira- tion, 235.
N.
Nervous laminz, on the, of motor fibres, 42.
Nerve, on termination of motor, by Dr. Moxon, 235.
Noctiluca, Robin and Legros on, 258.
INDEX TO JOURNAL.
O.
Ordonez on connective-tissue, 257. Oxford Microscopical Society, 137, HE :
Parasitism in an undescribed animal, 43.
Pediculus, on the structure of the mouth in, 95.
Phreoryctes Menkeanus, on, with re- marks on the structure of other annelids, 37.
Polyzoa, on the development and fat- corpuscles of the, by F. A. Smith, 99
Prussie acid, effects of, by T. S. Ralph, 163, 225, Q
Quekett Microscopical Club, 119.
R
Ralph, T.5., on the effects of prussic acid, 163, 225.
Raphides, on, as natural characters in the British flora, by George Gulli- ver, F.R.S., 1.
Raphides, 46.
Rhabdocela, Mecznikow on, Rhynconella Geinitziana, on the micro- scopic structure of the shell, 45.
Richardson, B. Wills, on stops recom- mended for oblique illumination, 10, a on an additional stop re- commended for oblique illumination with the achromatic condenser,
Robertson, Charles, on a new species of Acarus, 20.
Robin and Legros on Noctiluca, 258.
Royal Society of Tasmania, 36.
8.
Spermatozoa, on the, and their deve- lopment, 89.
Stanhoscope, 8S. P. Barkas on, 263.
Sympathetic cord, researches on, 154.
es
Tubes, on cleaning glass, 49.
Ms Vorticellidan parasites, anatomy and physiology of, 159. Vulcanite cells, price of, 168.
PRINTED BY J. E. ADLARD, BARTHOLOMEW CLOSE.
ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS.
On Raruipes as Naturat Cuaracrers in the Britisu Frora. By Grorce Guiiiver, F.R.S., &c.
Iv has been well remarked by Dr. Lankester, that “the biography of our British plants has yet to be written, micro- scope in hand; and it is not till the minute details of the cell-life of each plant have been recorded that we shall be in a position to arrive at the laws which govern the life of the vegetable kingdom.” And, it may be added, until due atten- tion has been paid to this important subject, we shall never be able to comprehend and realise all the mysterious plans and specifications by which nature has marked, for our instruction, her own affinities and contrasts among allied groups of that kingdom.
As a fragment towards this desirable object, it is now pro- posed to give an abstract of my researches on the distribution of raphides in the British Flora, compiled from numerous papers published piecemeal in the ‘ Annals of Natural His- tory’ and other journals ; with elucidations, by some expe- rimental trials and facts, now first submitted for publication. Besides these new observations and the inherent interest of the subject, the present digest may afford materials for useful - help to such botanists as may like to try the value of raphides as natural characters in our native plants, and for the employment of these characters, should the verdict be ' favorable to them, in appropriate parts of future editions of the British Flora.
Of the former papers a summary, with many fresh observa- tions, was given in the ‘ Popular Science Review’ for October last ; but I was then so much engaged with the exotic Flora and other parts of the subject as to be obliged to dismiss our indigenous plants with a curt and insufficient notice. How easily and pleasantly these researches may be made, and with what hopes of success, I have shown in that Review. And now it remains to display more particu-
VOL. VI.—NEW SER. A
2 GULLIVER, ON RAPHIDES.
larly the treasures in question of our own Flora, ever bounti- fully spread before us for the prosecution of the inquiry, and well fitted to afford many agreeable and instructive “ half- hours with the microscope.”
Though nothing like a primary importance is claimed for the raphidian character, it is constant in and diffused through- out the species, snd sometimes exhibits the only visible dis- tinction at all, as in fragments of plants; while I believe that a fair examination will prove that raphides may give a diagnosis at once as fundamental and universal, and as simple and truly natural, between plants of some different and proximate orders, as any one of the secondary characters heretofore used for this purpose in systematic botany. That raphides are a true exponent of an essential function of the cell-life is shown by their constancy in certain plants ; bearing in mind, too, that the question is not merely one of such saline crystals as have ever yet been made by the art of the chemist. An excellent observer, Edwin Quekett, thought he had formed them artificially, and Mr. Rainey has given several very instructive observations concerning the mineral structure of vegetable and animal cells. But John Quekett, Payen, and others, came to the conclusion that raphides either have an organic basis or pellicle ; and certain it is that they commonly occur in bundles, within a living and beautiful cell, the whole forming an organism as inimitable by mere chemistry as a spore oragrain of pollen. We must, therefore, attach a far higher meaning to raphides than would be implied only by the term crystals.
Concerning the exact value in systematic botany of the raphidian character, far more observations are required than I have been able to make. As these are extended, more or less irregularities and exceptions will surely be found, some in proof of and others irreconcilable with the rule, especially in the Flora of the World. Among exotic species I have already met with anomalies in the Palms, Vines, an Onagrad, and a Chenopod. But a close examination might show that many of these exceptions are rather apparent than real. The abundance of raphides throughout the frame of the foreign Thelyyonum, as well as the thicker, larger, and angular crys- tals in the testa of that plant, cannot yet be reconciled with our present knowledge of the intimate structure of the species of English Chenopodiaceze. But the Palms may, in truth, in- clude more than one order. The deviation in Vines occurs in Rhaganus, a genus lately removed, on other grounds, from this order ; and Montinia, in which I have failed to find raphides, perhaps does not really belong to the order Onagracee.
GULLIVER, ON RAPHIDES. 3
' An amusing and not uninstructive asserted exception among our indigenous Exogens was lately brought to my notice by a friend. He took a fragment from a plant in his collecting- box, put it under the microscope, and told me to look and declare fairly what I saw. Plainly many small raphides. I then learned that the plant was a Dodder; and much to my surprise, as I had never found raphides in our plants of this genus. Accordingly some flowers and bits of its stem were carefully examined, and with much interest, when no raphides could be detected. The plant was at last given to me, when, in reply to my question as to the part in which he had shown them, he pointed to what he called the scales. And these turned out to be nothing more than small withered leaves, probably of Sherardia; certainly forming no part of the Dodder, and as surely belonging to a species of the raphis- bearing order Galiacex !
Even granting that the production of raphides, or other plant-crystals, as the spheraphides of Rhubarb, may be more or less modified, either by climate, soil, situation, or other conditions, numerous experiments have led me to the con- clusion that such agents or influence have so little power as not to affect the value of raphides as natural characters in the British Flora, if in any flora; and we shall soon see how constantly they are present in the plant at all stages of its growth.
Of our native Onagrads I have for years, and at all seasons, been examining specimens from various localities, and ever with the very same result as.to the raphidian character of these plants ; and so, too, of the Daffodil, Blue-bell, and Star of Bethlehem. Raphidian and exraphidian plants variably preserve these respective characters in my garden. A Bed- straw and St. John’s-wort will always show this difference, though taken in the same clod from the hedge-row; so will the Black Bryony and its supporting Guelder-rose or Hawthorn, and their red berries ; while the next bank, whereon the wild Thyme grows, mingled with the Little Field-madder, will as surely never fail to give through them the same answer when- ever questioned. A profusion of Daffodils and Ramsons grow together, and often in very contact, under cover of a wild thicket, whence I have always obtained an abundance of raphides in these Daffodils, and none at all, in any single instance, from their companions the Ramsons ; this, too, after attentive examinations during several seasons and years, and in the face of my opinion, before entertained, of finding results to the contrary. Two or three species of Duckweed, touching each other in the same pool, will differ constantly in the quan-
4 * GULLIVER, ON RAPHIDES.
tity of their raphides. The Bur-reed and Water Plantain grow with their roots close together in a neighbouring ditch, and yet I find the former plant regularly abounding in raphides, while the latter plant is as surely destitute of them.
To turn from nature’s own experiments to artificial trials : I have often had growing, from their seeds onwards, in one pot of mould, a raphidian and an exraphidian plant, when both of them preserved these distinctive characters as well as in the wild state. In short, I know of no means by which a raphidian plant can be grown in health, if at all, so as to extinguish this character, nor by which a plant regularly devoid of raphides can be made to produce them. If we sprinkle over the surface of a pan of soil seeds of a Willow Herb and Loosestrife, plants not far apart in our Flora, every one of the former species may be easily picked out, merely by the raphidian character, as soon as the seed-leaves are well grown. But nature, no doubt, requires much further questioning as to the constancy of raphides and their cells, their significance and form, and the conditions under which they may or may not be produced or checked, or modified either in quantity or quality. A multiplication of such inquiries would be easy and desirable in different localities, and a pleasant and instructive addition to rural amusements.
Many more experiments than are here mentioned have I made to the same effect, especially on seedlings of different orders, and seldom without the questions occurring to my mind—- What other single character, heretofore used in systematic botany, would serve for the diagnosis between these infant plants; or, during the winter months, by mere fragments of the roots and underground buds, between old plants of the same kind and others with which they are liable to be confounded? How can a character invariably present in the seed-leaves, and thenceforth throughout the frame, from the cradle to the grave, be otherwise than a natural result of an important and intrinsic function of that plant? And how can a phenomenon thus constant in the cellular tissue be without a certain share of the value belong- ing to this most fundamental or elementary organ of the vegetable kingdom? Moreover, as no botanist is likely, in the present day, to underrate the importance of this tissue, surely its structure and functions, when at all characteristic, ought to form a part of the history of every plant, not- withstanding the present neglect thereof throughout the descriptions of allied orders, and their subdivisions, even
GULLIVER, ON RAPHIDES. 5
in the latest, truly valuable, and most comprehensive books of systematic botany. Therefore it is hoped that this memoir may pave the way for British botanists to pursue at least some part of this subject, and with the effect of establishing a few diagnoses at once novel and true, easy and useful, in their own Flora. To this end raphides will be chiefiy considered now; and, for the sake of perspicuity, short characters first given of raphides, crystal prisms, and spheraphides, leaving casual exceptions to be dealt with in- cidentally, and referring for measurements, more particular descriptions, and further information, to the October number of the ‘ Popular Science Review.’
Raphides are the well-known needle-shaped crystals occur- ring in bundles within an oval or oblong cell. They are very easily separable from each other and from their cell; each raphis is generally without any obvious faces or angles on the shaft, which gradually vanishes, without any angular ap- pearance, to a point at either end.
Crystal prisms are also acicular forms, but occur, for the most part, scattered singly, seldom more than two or three in contact, and then as if partly fused together; they are with difficulty separated from the plant-tissue or from each other; faces and angles are always plain on their shafts, which do not gradually taper to points at the ends, but pre- sent either variously sloping angular shapes or pyramids there. These prisms are for the most part larger, and some- times smaller, than raphides. The best examples of crystal prisms occur in exotic plants, as Quillaja, Guajacum, Four-
-croya, and [ris ; they may be seen, too, in most of our Iri- daceze, and, of smaller size, with occasional modifications of form, in the ovary-coat of British Cynarocephalee, and in the bulb-scales of the Onion and Shallot. -
Speraphides are more or less rounded bodies, aggregations of minute crystals, sometimes with a granular surface, and often with the tips of the crystals jutting so as give a stellate appearance to the spheraphides. This term includes the conglomerate raphides of Quekett and the cystoliths and crystal glands of Continental writers. Sphzraphides occur in very distinct cells, and sometimes so regularly in acellular network as to form that which I have depicted under the name of sphzraphid-tissue. Good examples of this tissue occur in the leaves or sepals of our Lythracez, Geraniacee, &c., and in the leaves and bark of exotic Araliaceze. Sphe- raphides are more or less abundant in many orders of the British Flora.
And now, proceeding in company with Professor Babing-
6 GULLIVER, ON RAPHIDES.
ton’s ‘Manual of British Botany,’ taking the objects in lineal sequence as they occur in that book, the exotic Flora will only be noticed when some of its members may be cited as additional evidence as to the character of a British order.
DIcOTYLEDONS.
Of this class I have never seen true raphides in any of our trees and shrubs, nor in any of our Spurges. The confusion arising from the vague application of the term raphides to all microscopic crystals in plants has led to the prevailing state- ments as to the frequency of raphides in the Lime, Elm, and many other trees, &c.; while the starch-sticks of the latex of the Spurges, as described in the ‘ Annals of Natural History’ for March, 1862, p. 209, have probably been mistaken for saline crystals. Only three orders of British Dicotyledons can as yet be characterised as raphis-bearers, and these are—
Balsaminacee, Onagracee, and Rubiacee.—In our Flora this character isso truly diagnostic that by it a plant of either of these three orders may be easily distinguished at any period of its growth, even in the seed-leaves, from the plants of its neighbouring orders; and the diagnosis has never yet failed in the many trials which I have made of all the exotic species at my command of the first two orders, excepting Montinia before mentioned. Even in the some- what irregular members of Onagracez, Circea and Lopezia, the character is as good as in the other genera, and I have examined one or more species of all the sections placed by Lindley under Onagraceze. But the exotic Rubiacez, com- prising very different plants, divided by that eminent botanist into the two orders Galiaceze and Cinchonacee, afford different results. While I have never found any plant of Galiacee, native or foreign, devoid of raphides, I have always failed to find them at all im the large or shrubby Cinchonacee ; and yet in the herbaceous species of this order raphides occur as in Galiacez, that is to say, commonly less in size and quantity than in Onagracez. But in the trees or shrubs of Cinchonacee spheraphides are beautiful and abundant.
In the event of a revision of the old order Rubiacez, sys- tematic botanists will have to consider what value may belong to these characters. And, besides the interest which I have shown to be possessed by the raphidian character in exotic plants, as detailed in the ‘ Popular Science Review,’ the re- markable conflux and limitation of this character to three widely separated orders of our native Dicotyledons so surely indicate an important and intrinsic function of the plants of
GULLIVER, ON RAPHIDES,. C
these orders as henceforth should claim a place in every true de- scription of their nature. Were Lindley’s plan of Alliances used in our Flora, the shortest and most constantly present mere diagnosis for Balsaminacee might be—Geraniales, abounding in raphides ; and in like manner of the two other orders.
MonocryLepons.
Raphides are much more plentiful in this than in the pre- ceding class, so no wonder that a partial examination should have led to the belief that “they are abundant in Monoco- tyledons generally.’ This and other such vague and incor- rect statements are current in our best and latest treatises of phytotomy; whereas the truth is that, however raphides may abound in many Monocotyledons, they are either very scarce or absolutely wanting in several’ extensive orders of this class. As before mentioned, our indigenous plants only are now under consideration ; and we shall soon see that about a fifth part of the ‘ Manual of British Botany’ is occupied by Monocotyledons and Cryptogamez Ductulosz, which I have searched in vain for raphides.
Dictyogene.—In all our plants of this group raphides are plentiful, and they occur in every one of the exotic members of it that I have examined; only in Roxburghia raphides are mostly replaced by crystal prisms. I have found that the beautiful shrub Lapageria is also a raphis-bearing plant. In the lineal series of the natural arrangement the Dictyo- gene stand isolated by this character between Coniferze and Hydrocharidacez, two orders in which it is wanting.
Hydrocharidacee.—This order is remarkable as devoid of the raphidian character, though standing between two groups, Dictyogenz and Orchidacee, in fuil possession thereof.
Orchidacee.—Raphides were found in every plant, British and foreign, that I have examined of this order. They are by no means confined to the sepals, as might be supposed from current descriptions, but are common in the placenta and ovary, in the stem and leaves, and parts which are mo- difications of leaves, and in the roots. The raphides are commonly much shorter than their soft pale cells, and may be well seen without disturbing them through the semi- transparent edge of the leaf of Neottia spiralis.
Iridacee.—True raphides are scanty and often not to be detected in this order, but it abounds in crystal prisms (‘ Annals of Nat. Hist.,’? March, 1865). These last occur in all our plants except Sisyrinchium anceps, in which, as well as in the exotic S. Bermudianum and S. striatum, I have failed
8 GULLIVER, ON RAPHIDES.
to find any such crystals. They are very remarkable in the common garden species of Iris.
Amaryllidacee.—In all our Amaryllids raphides occur. They may be well seen in the leaves, scape, ovary, bulb- scales, and bulb; and smaller and less plentiful in the bulb and perianth.
Asparagacee.—All our plants of this order are raphis- bearers. This character is common in the root, leaves, peri- anth, and ovary of Asparagus, &c., and more remarkable in the perianth than im the leaves of Ruscus.
Liliacee.—Of the four tribes of this order, as they stand in the ‘Manual of British Botany’—I, Tulipez, destitute of raphides; II, Asphodelez, with Gagea and Allium, also de- void of raphides, though they abound in Ornithogalum and Scilla ; 111, Anthericez, perhaps without raphides, as I could not find them in a dried bit of Simethis ; while in both plants of IV, Hemerocallidez, raphides are abundant. Crystal prisms also occur more or less, especially in the exotic plants of the order, and these, with the distribution of raphides in foreign and native Liliacez, and a notice of the prismatic crystals in the bulb-scales of certain Onions, are more fully described in the ‘ Annals of Nat. Hist.’ for April, 1864, and March, 1865. In our plants it is easy to distinguish by the raphidian cha- racter alone, even in mere fragments of the leaves, the He- merocallidez from Tulipez and Allium.
Colchicacee.—Excepting a few minute raphis-like objects in the root-fibres, the British plants of this order are quite without raphides. The sphzraphid-tissue occurs in Tofieldia ; and, among the foreign plants, Veratrum presents beautiful examples of this tissue, and abounds also in raphides.
Eriocaulacee.—I could find no raphides in dried leaves of Eriocaulon septangulare.
Juncacee.—In our indigenous species of Luzula and Juncus I have in vain searched for raphides. A few small raphides, or objects resembling them, occur in the leaves of Narthecium.
Alismacee.—Raphides are wanting in our native species, as well as in the few foreign ones that I have examined.
Typhacee.—All our plants are raphis-bearers.
Aracee.—Raphides abound in drum, but are wanting in Acorus. All the exotic Araceze that I have examined are raphis-bearers, and so are all the orders of Professor Lind- ley’s Aral Alliance. As to Acorus, it is placed by him in the Juncal Alliance of his ‘ Vegetable Kingdom ;’ and as the type of the distinct order Acoracez, between Juncacee and Jun- caginacee, among our native plants in his ‘School Botany.’
GULLIVER, ON RAPHIDES. 9
And as I have found these last two orders, like Acorus, defi- cient in raphides, an additional reason appears for separating this genus from an order in no species of which have raphides yet been found wanting. I have, however, discovered a few small raphides, like those of Narthecium, in the exotic Gym- nostachys.
Lemnacee.—Raphides occur in all our plants, more abun- dantly in Lemna minor and L. trisulca than in L. gibba and L. polyrrhiza ; and are very plentiful, with sphzraphides, in the tropical Pistia Stratiotes.
Potamogetonacee, Naiadacee, Cyperacee, Graminacee, and Cryptogamee Ductulosee.—In none of these plants, which conclude and form so large a share of the ‘ Manual of British Botany,’ have I yet found raphides.
Thus, besides the Cryptogamez Ductulosez, above half of the British Monocotyledons would appear to be devoid of raphides ; and it is remarkable that most of these plants, still more than half of all our species of Monocotyledons, occur together at the end of this class in the ‘ Manual.’ Among the foregoing orders the results are equally noteworthy. Dictyo- genee abounding in raphides, though these crystals are totally wanting in the orders immediately preceding and succeeding that subdivision. Our plants of Hydrocharidacez are, on the other hand, without raphides, which yet abound in the orders between which that order is placed; and, indeed, as far as my observations have yet gone, the orders of the Hydral Alhance of Lindley’s ‘ Vegetable Kingdom’ are de- void of the raphidian character. Raphides are plentiful again in the next succeeding orders, except Lridacez, as far as, and inclusive of, some sections of Liliacee; then suddenly disappearing or deficient in the four continuous orders Colchicaceze, Eriocaulacee, Juncaceze, and Alisma- cez; present again profusely in Typhacez, Aracez, and Lemnacez, three orders thus characterised, and yet stand- ing together between Alismacez and Potamogetonacez, two orders in which, on the contrary, this character is want- ing; and finally wanting also in all the succeeding orders. Thus, the main or parallel-veined group of Monocotyledons begins and ends with exraphidian orders. And not less re- markable is the contrast between Lindley’s Aral and Hydral Alliances, the former pregnant with, and the latter sterile of, raphides. Of Liliacez, the regular presence of raphides in the whole or parts of some sections, and the equally regular absence of raphides from the whole or parts of other sections, are phenomena of which the exact significance can be learned only by further research in this direction. And, in truth,
10 RICHARDSON, ON STOPS FOR OBLIQUE [LLUMINATION.
how far the raphidian character may prove useful in the re- vision which this and some of the other orders seem to re- quire remains to be decided after a careful extension and correction of these observations, especially as regards the Flora of the World, by judicious inquirers, who may have the requisite materials at their command, and the will to use them, for the elucidation of the question of the value of raphides and their cells as natural characters in systematic botany. Meanwhile it is hoped that the present memoir may induce some of our countrymen to study the subject in their own Flora.
Stops recommended for Oxsutque ILtumination with the Acuromatic ConpenseR. By B. Wiis Ricwarpson, F.R.C.S.1., Surgeon to the Adelaide Hospital, Dublin.
Tue attempts to resolve the markings of certain diatoms with oblique light are frequently attended with considerable difficulty, so much so that the management of oblique illu- mination requires very great patience to prevent failure. One moment the field is too milky, at another the glare is most distressing, next the valves are too thick, and at last, after a great deal of trouble and strain of vision, a tolerably good view is obtained. But, on the other hand, we may not be so fortunate, and, notwithstanding all our perseverance, com- plete failure in procuring a satisfactory demonstration is often experienced. Of course, I assume that the object-glasses are properly adjusted, a neglect of which is of itself sufficient to interfere with the delineation.
Not only have I seen the difficulties enumerated expe- rienced with the mirror and condenser, but likewise with the prism, when used for oblique illumination. And even when the diatom markings are sharply brought out with the latter, there is often a milkiness of the field and object very distressing to the eye of the observer.
During the course of the summer I devoted a few evenings to the making of a variety of stops for my achromatic con- denser, hoping that by so doing I might succeed in construct- ing stops better adapted for rapid demonstration of markings by oblique illumination than the solid discs I had hitherto been in the habit of using.
RICHARDSON, ON STOPS FOR OBLIQUE ILLUMINATION. ll
After numerous trials I was successful in forming some stops for my Smith and Beck’s achromatic condenser, with the assistance of three of which, in particular, the markings of many diatoms requiring
oblique illumination can be
quickly and beautifully exhi- & © bited, and with a field, I
may say altogether, free from
the glare and milkiness so
often experienced with the
mirror, as well as with the
prism.
Ido not know a more exqui- site microscopic object than a properly mounted P. Hippocampus, seen with stop third of the illustration and Smith and Beck’s 1th objective. In fact, nothing could be more perfect than the definition of both sets of lines on that diatom with the above combination. Again, P. angulatum, which requires a nicer management of the light than P. Hippocampus, with the mirror, condenser, and ordinary disc stop, is instantly resolved clear and sharp with the same objective, and either stops second, third, or sixth of the illustration. The fourth stop will be found useful for exhibiting diatoms with only one series of lines, longitudinal or transverse. And the first and fifth are also adapted to illumination of some diatoms with the so-called double lines. The first likewise gives a very excellent black ground with low powers, and is a useful stop for examining Coscinodiscus, Arachnoidiscus, Heliopelta, Triceratium, &c.
As the only high powers of English makers I have used were the 1th and 1th of Smith and Beck, I cannot, of course, say how the stops would act with their higher objectives, or with the glasses of other English opticians ; but I can confidently recommend the second, third, and sixth particularly to those microscopists who possess Smith and Beck’s powers above mentioned, for to my eye, at least, the definition of their 1th and 1th with those stops could scarcely be exceeded.
It is essential for the most perfect illumination with the stops, they should be so arranged that they can be rotated. The tube, therefore, which carries them ought only to slide in that of the achromatic combination, and should also be of sufficient length to project inferiorly, in order that it may be easily got at for rotation and for rapid change of stops, if required. The projecting extremity should be provided with a milled rim, at least half an inch wide.
12
Since the above was put in type I have made a seventh stop for oblique illumination, and which Ȣ produces such excellent results with the condenser that I likewise had an engraving made of it. This stop works well with the jth.
The Wistotocy of the Repropuctive Oreans of the Irip, TiGRIDIA CONCHIFLORA ; with a DESCRIPTION Of the Puz- NomENA of its Imprecnation. By P. Marrin Duncan, M.B. Lond., Sec. Geol. Soc., &c.
ConrtTENTS.
I.—IJntroduction. I1.— General description of the anatomy and development of the ovule. IlI.—The pollen-tube, its origin, growth, cellularity, func- tion, and decadence. IV.—The changes in the ovule consequent upon impregnation. V.—Remarks.
I.—Some years ago, when the great German structural botanists were investigating, and not with their usual calmness, the phenomena of the development of the embryo in flower- ing plants, I was led to follow in their path of research. In- stead of examining the complicated phenomena of the impreg- nation of Dicotyledonous ovules, I laboured amongst Mono- cotyledons ; and the following history of ovular development, of the growth and function of the pollen-tube, and of the impregnation of the embryo-sac, may be taken as a fair Son of part of the philosophy of reproduction in that class.
The abstract of the original paper, which was read at the British Association, and published in the ‘ Transactions,’ gave a fair analysis of the new matter. Since then the notion that the embryo was formed out of the end of the pollen-tube has been proved to be fallacious by its once very resolute supporters. It is a matter of satisfaction that the ideas of English botanists have passed safely through the ordeal, and that time has proved the correctness of the following obser- vations.
The Tigridia conchiflora was chosen for the following reasons :
DUNCAN, ON THE TIGRIDIA. 13
lst. The flower is very large, and therefore easily studied.
2nd. The organs of generation are very distinct, and there s no fear of impregnation taking place before the expansion of the perianth.*
3rd. The life of the flower is very short, and the passage of the pollen-tube down the long style very rapid.
4th. The ovary is large, the impregnation of one of each pair of associated ovules very certain, and the facilities for ‘making transverse sections are very great.
5th. There are several flowers in each spathe; they bloom in succession, and the development of the ovule and the maturation of the seed may be studied in the same plant.
IJ.—The flowers blow in July and August, opening at about 8 o’clock a.m., and the perianth closes and decays long before sunset.
The stamens encircle the style for three inches and then become separate, and the style, suddenly losing its protect- ing tissue, issues forth to end in a triple termination. The anthers are large, and their opening is external. The ovary is large, inferior, and its apex is surmounted and surrounded by the origin of the combined stamens. The style, even at its entrance to the ovary, is thread-like, but is supported by the encircling filaments of the stamens. The tripartite stigma is covered with papillz, and has an oleaginous secretion. The remote end of the style is continuous with the tissues com- posing the axis of the ovary which supports the ovules, and whose tissues are to be traversed by the pollen-tubes.
The ovary is divided into three cells ; each cell has its rows of ovules, and placentze, and is separated from its fellows by strong tissue.
A transverse section of the ovary shows two ovules, side by side, in each of the cells (Pl. I, fig. 1); the ovules are attached to the central axis by the continuity of their vessels and general structure, and the micropyle (fig. 1, e) is external and touches the placenta (fig. 1, e).
The placentary axis of the ovary is a very complicated affair; it has to give off vessels to three pairs of ovules, over and over again; moreover, it has to produce, under each micropyle, a papillary structuret (fig. 1, c), which is usually perforated by
* Some imagine that impregnation occurs only in the perfect flower, but this is a mistake, and that it is so may be well proved in the Leguminose.
{ This papillary structure cannot be the homologue of even part of the placenta; it is perforated by the pollen-tubes, and has nothing to do with the nutrition of the ovule. The whole of the nomenclature of the sexual parts of flowers has been complicated by the attempt tO recognise the
14 DUNCAN, ON THE IMPREGNATION
the pollen-tubes in their passage from the axis to the micro- pyle; neither the axis, the placentz, nor the papillary struc- ture, are hollow for the passage of the pollen-tubes; on the contrary, the tissues are remarkably cellular and well supplied with moisture.
The ovules, when ready for impregnation, are large, very cellular and transparent; and a very simple manipulation splits off the external coat from the long and narrow nucleus.
Each ovule is attached to the axis by its hilum, is a long oval in shape, and the orifice through which the pollen-tube has to pass is external to the hilum. Transverse sections show this orifice very well. The orifice of the micropyle is not at the extremity of the ovule, but is close to the hilum; the ovule is therefore “ anatrope” in appearance, but not so in reality, for there is no reflection of the ovule during its development, but one half of it is, from the first, devoted to the vascular system, and the other to the formation of the coats and embryo-sac. There is no space between the ovule and the walls of the ovary until long after impregnation. The micropyle is very distinct, being situated in the long mam- miilary end of the nucleus, which projects considerably below the external coat (figs. 1, b, e; fig. 4, c).
For all the purposes of the study of its impregnation, the ovule may be first examined in the rudimentary flower, whose anthers are as yet uncovered by the perianth ; secondly, when the anthers are covered; and thirdly, immediately before impregnation, or when the flower is in bloom.
1. A transverse section (through the axis) exhibits the ovules adherent by their cellular and vascular tissue to the axis (at the placenta), shows the projection of the nucleus cropping out of the external cellular coat, and presents to the eye the situation of the upper and globular part of the nucleus, covered now by the external coat, distinguishing it by a track of transparent tissue. By gently removing one of the ovules, and placing a piece of thin glass over it, and pressing the glass gradually with the handle of the knife, the nucleus may, in the majority of instances, be slipped out of its external cellular coat.* Then the nucleus is proved to be cylindrical, rounded at one end, and tubular, with the micropyle at the other (fig. 2). It is very tender, and consists of two parts—a body and a neck. ‘The neck is
homologies of the sexual apparatus in animals. The anatomist may well be perplexed at a placenta inside an ovary, and part of it perforated by the male element.
* This external coat is cellular, the cells being square in their outline ; it leaves more than two thirds of the neck of the nucleus uncovered,
OF TIGRIDIA. 15
the part which projects, and which is tubular and nearest the hilum of the ovule; it is open at its free extremity—the micropyle—and is traversed by a canal, leading from this open extremity to the body of the nucleus—the canal of the micro- pyle. Its structure is cellular, the cells being long ovals, their long axes being parallel to the canal. The orifice is formed by a circular series of these cells (fig. 4, c; fig. 2, c*). The body of the nucleus is joined to the neck, and at the point of junction the canal ceases. The rounded end of the body is imbedded in the cell structure of the ovule, and at this early stage is barely cellular; but nearer the neck, square cells (fig. 2, d”), with a cell-nucleus in each, are seen. The contents of the body of the nucleus at this period are fluid; there are neither granules nor cells in it, and the canal of the micropyle is in existence, but barely patent.
2. At this period the external coat has covered all but the free third of the neck of the nucleus; the canal of the micro- pyle is recognised by a dark line in the axis of the neck, and the micropyle is more open and better rounded (fig. 2, a, 6, c.) The same plan of manipulation as in 1, sets free the nucleus, whose body is now seen to be perfectly cel- lular outside, and filled with more than a simple plasma or fluid. Proceed now as follows:—Having obtained several nuclei free from their external cell-coats, take a fine-pointed knife and operate, under the 13-inch object-glass. Glycerine and water, plain water, and olive oil, are good media, and should be tried separately. Pierce the nucleus at its round extremity, and place it under a piece of thin glass; use the handle of the knife as before, and with a little jerking pres- sure a delicate globular-looking film will escape through the rent in the nucleus. This is the early embryo-sac; it is of tolerable distinctness, being composed of a very fine layer of cells, forming a membrane and enclosing a quantity of fluid. The embryo-sac nearly fills the body of the nucleus, and its contents are not granular; neither is there any trace of cell growth in them. 'The membrane of the sac is so delicate that the edges of its cells are barely distinguishable, but their position may be inferred from the presence of cell-nuclei (fig. 2, e). It requires an object-glass of +-inch focus to determine the structure of the embryo-sac, but one of 4-inch focus is sufficient for the examination of the nucleus ; but in all cases, the lowest power must precede the employ- ment of the higher.
The anterior extremity of the embryo-sac, when it is within the nucleus, is in contact with the canal of the micropyle; and the effect of the cylindrical shape of the nucleus at this
16 DUNCAN, ON THE IMPREGNATION
spot is to make this extremity of the sac rather angular in outline.
A dark line shows the margin of the embryo-sac when the nucleus is examined by transmitted light, and the globular shape and refractile contents of the sac throw the sides of the nucleus in shade, and its centre in high light (fig. 2).
The cells of the nucleus are more perfect.
3. The ovule, when ready for impregnation, is larger than in the imperfect flower, the neck of the nucleus is more covered by the external coat, and the micropyle is close to and touches the “ papillary structure. The same method of manipulation suffices to show that the canal of the mi- cropyle is open, that the cell-coat of the embryo-sac is perfect, and that its anterior extremity blocks up the end of the canal. The embryo-sac is now of considerable size ; its con- tents are not granular, however, but consist of simply colour- less fluid. The appearance of the membrane of the sac is now distinctly cellular, the cells being delicate, and, generally speaking, they overlap each other at the edges (fig. 3, c).
The cells. of the external coat of the nucleus are larger, more perfect, and firmer. The ovule is now ready for the pollen-tube.
I have never found any cells in the embryo-sae, and it is evident that the cells of the membrane of the sac, when seen through, cause many illusive appearances in the fluid below them.
I1I.—The pollen-tube issues from the pollen-grain, in- sinuates itself between the papille of the stigma, passes into the central tissue, and descends the style. The base of the style is traversed, and the tube enters the axis of the ovary ; the ovules are then only separated from the pollen-tube by the tissue of the axis and the “ papillary structure” opposite and touching the micropyle. The tube has to deviate from its course and pass at right angles to.gain the base or attach- ment of the “ papillary structure ” to the axis, and this devia- tion is determined by the direction of the vascular bundles, which pass from the axis at right angles to reach the hilum of the ovules. The pollen-tube cannot traverse the dense tissue of the vessels, but is turned outwards and runs along them to the base of the placenta, and the “ papillary struc- ture,” whose cellular structure is easily pierced, the cells making way for and nourishing the tube in its marvellous course. Arrived at the margin of the “ papillary structure,” the micropyle, being open and pressing against the papille, is speedily gained ; the tube now passes along the canal of the micropyle and abuts against the anterior and convex end of
OF TIGRIDIA. Se
the embryo-sac. I propose to describe the pollen-tube in various parts of its course, to state the results of experiments performed by Dr. Maclean* and myself, upon the indepen- dence of the tube of the pollen-grain after it has once passed into the style, and to explain the change which occurs in the tube at its contact with the embryo-sac.
The pollen-grain of Tigridia is large, oval, and contains in its external coat much oil; it is barely visible to the naked eye, yet it is the originator of a tube which passes along at least four inches of stigma, style and axis, in less than twenty- four hours ; this tube perforates the stigma, insinuates itself between the cells of this organ, and reaches the so-called con- ducting tissue of the style. This tissue ought, for reasons presently to be given, to be called nourishing tissue.
The fact is that the life of the pollen-tube is very short, and the period which elapses between the application of the pollen- grain and the entrance of the tube into the ovule must be found out before the phenomena of impregnation in the plant in question can be determined with any accuracy.
The received ideais as follows :—That upon the stimulus of the secretion of the stigma upon the pollen-grain a tubular prolongation of its internal membrane is ejected and thrust between the papille and superficial cells of the stigma; that this tube reaches the central tissue, and finally gains the ovule—and all along the course the tube acts as the pipe through which the granular fovilla, spermatic fluid, and its granules, pass from the pollen-grain to the ovule ; whether the theory that in the ovular end of the pollen-tube the future embryo is developed holds good or not, the theory of the descent of the contents of the pollen-grain has always been inferred.
I wish to be understood that I am now about to speak of Tigridia alone, and that I believe that the following processes occur in all Monocotyledonous plants, with long styles.t The experimenter must remember, before he follows the path of these investigations, that water influences the pollen-tube in the following manner—it swells out the tube between the denser and solid parts in the axis of the tube and the tube- wall; it moreover puts an end, generally speaking, to the movement of the granules, but oil or glycerine will give a good idea of the normal size of the tube.
The mechanical ideas of the primary formation of the pollen- tube must be abandoned ; it is essentially a vital process, and
* Allan Maclean, M.D., of Colchester, one of the greatest raisers of hybrids and a most careful observer.
+ The phenomena can be readily traced in the Crocus.
VOL. VI.—NEW SER. B
18 DUNCAN, ON THE IMPREGNATION
is not dependent upon endosmosis and exosmosis; it is a growth of the cell-wall of that layer of the pollen-grain which contains the granules and fluid usually termed protoplasma. The growth is peculiar to the perfect pollen-grain, and occurs at a certain period when the viscid secretion of the papille of the stigma is strong enough to hold the pollen-grain in perfect apposition, and to resist the effects of the pressure exercised by the end of the pollen-tube upon the tissue of the stigma before entering. Were this viscidity insufficient, the gentle force of perforation could not take place; and when the viscidity is sufficient the growing tube, with its conical tip, is held forcibly against the cell-structures of the stigma; the force to cause these to diverge and to admit the tube between them is “ growth.” “The amount of force employed may be roughly estimated by adding water to the viscid secretion, some hours after perforation has taken place ; the pollen-grain is released from its durance vile and jumps away from the stigma; its restraining fluid having been rendered inefficient.
Once entered between the cells of the stigma, the pollen- tube, consisting of a cell-wall enclosing the spermatic mate- rials, closed by a conical end, and continuous with the pollen- grain, begins to elongate with extraordinary rapidity (fig. 5, a,b). The following are the results of experiments by Dr. Maclean and myself :
1. Four hours after the application of pollen to the stigma the pollen-tubes were detected one inch down the style; day fine, and good sun.
2. Highteen hours after application, the pollen tubes were detected at the base of the style, three and a half inches from the end of the stigma.
3. Twenty-four hours after application, the pollen-tubes were seen in the micropyles of several ovules.
4. Thirty hours, impregnation is complete, and the pollen- tubes are wasting in the micropyle.
Series 1].—Ezperiments by Dr. Maclean and myself.
lst. Tigridia fertilised with pollen-grains by twelve o’clock in the day (not much sun).
The perianth closed as usual about five o’clock, and at nine o’clock two inches of the style were removed with the stigma, and the rest of the flower placed in water.
In these two inches of style, hundreds of pollen-tubes ex- isted, and the diameter of the style was considerably increased by their presence. They were cellular, and the cells of the
OF TIGRIDIA. 19
pollen-tubes were long and very distinct (fig. 5, a, 6), some being filled with granules, others containing but few, and those near the end of the cells.
At twenty-four hours after the application of the pollen- grains, the rest of the style and the ovary were examined. Pollen-tubes were found in both, and many of the ovules contained pollen-tubes in their micropyle-canals (fig. 6 e, Pies fig: 7,4, 0):
2nd. Tigridia fertilised with the last. At the same hour in the evening all the style but one inch was removed. Ovary examined at the same time as the other, viz., twenty-four hours after the application of the pollen-grain, and multi- tudes of pollen-tubes were in the cells of the ovary and in the ovules.
3rd. These experiments repeated, with same results.
4th. Two inches of the style and stigma were removed four hours after fertilisation, and in the removed portion, the pollen-tubes were seen in abundance.
5th. Dr. Maclean endeavoured in vain to prevent the plants seeding, by removing the style from the axis before the perianth had fallen.
From these experiments it is proved that the impregnation is perfected in a little more than twenty-four hours; that the pollen-grain produces a tube-cell, which grows according to the manner of cells, which passes through stigma, style, and to the remotest ovule in the ovary—a space oftentimes of five inches—in twenty-four hours; that, taking the average length of the tissue to be perforated to be four inches, the pollen- tube grows at the rate of one inch in six hours; that before the pollen-tubes are half way down the style, if their con- nection with the pollen-grain be destroyed, they still grow and impregnate; that after the pollen-tube has fairly entered the style it is independent, both as regards its subsequent growth and impregnating properties, of the pollen-grain; and that the varying conditions of the atmosphere influence the ra- pidity of the growth of the pollen-tube, and consequently impregnation.
Tearing the style with needles suffices to show the long pollen-tubes, and it is as well always to examine a non-impreg- nated style with the impregnated. No one can mistake the one for the other ; the abundance of very long cellular tubes, where all divisions are at right angles to the cell-walls, and which are to be traced several times across the field of the microscope, indicates the fertilised style.
It is evident that a force of some kind is requisite to propel
20 DUNCAN, ON THE IMPREGNATION.
the conical end of the pollen-tube at the rate of an inch in six hours, at the rate of an inch in four hours, and sometimes at even double that rate, through cellular tissue whose forma- tion is very much adapted for the transition. It is demon- strable, from repeated experiments, that this force is exercised most efficiently when the direct sunlight and heat are accom- panied by a warm and humid atmosphere, and most ineffi- ciently when there is no sun. In fact, the greatest stimuli to vegetable growth are those which strengthen all the powers of the pollen-tube.
From the above experiments it is to be proved that the force just spoken of is exercised when the pollen-grain, and even one half of the pollen-tube, are removed.
It is manifestly no force arising from the pollen-grain as a fixed point. The whole secret is contained in the pollen- tube itself; and in Tigridia, if by careful manipulation in making longitudinal sections of the style and tearing with the needle a few tolerably lengthy pollen-tubes are exposed, it will be noticed that the pollen-tube is not one continuous elongation of the cell-wall of the pollen-grain, but that it is CELLULAR (fig. 5, a, 4). Transverse inflections of the tubular cell-wall exist every now and then, and the pollen- tube is really a tube formed by elongated cells. These cells resemble, in a most singular manner, those of the Conjuga- teze, when their spiral contents are removed ; the cell-wall is beautifully definable by the highest powers, and it is evident that the cylindrical shape of the tube is often lost when, pass- ing between the long cells of the style, no great space can be obtained. I have found the cells of the pollen-tube in all parts of the style, and also within the canal of the micropyle. The force of the progression of the pollen-tube is then cell growth; the cells, in their passage through the style and axis, are nourished by the juices of the cells of the style-tissue contiguous to them; and each cell, by its elongation upwards and downwards, tends to produce a force which thrusts the free end of the pollen-tube along. It may be observed that the pollen-tube is in intimate contact with eells throughout the whole of its course, and that these cells are as delicate in structure as itis. The stimuli to cell growth affect the nu- trition of the cells of the style, and these contribute, under most favorable circumstances, to the most rapid nutrition and consequent elongation of the cells of the pollen-tube. The contrary is equally true. The cutting off the pollen-grain, and the bisection of the pollen-tube, before its free end has even reached half an inch below the line of incision, prove the independence of the remaining part of the tube to depend
OF TIGRIDIA. 21
upon its cellular character. Each cell is independent of the one above it, that is to say, of the one nearer the pollen- grain. The influence of the female organ in thus nourishing the male “spermatic tube” is very interesting, and is seen in the animal kingdom in the effects of the vaginal and uterine mucus upon the spermatozoa.
The length of the cells of the pollen-tube varies; and it appears to me that whenever any difficulty in the passage has to be overcome by a little exertion of fresh force the cells are nearer together, and that when the passage is free the cell is found very long.
The contents of the pollen-tube, the fertilising agents, are granules; these often contain—more especially in the terminal cell (Schact noticed this years ago in Pedicularis silvestris) — small highly refractile globules, larger masses of filmy looking stuff, and the fluid of the tube. This fluid is certainly denser than water, for the application of this swells the space between the fluid of the cell and the cell-wall. This liquor seminis is secreted by the cell-wall of the pollen-tube, after the formation of the first cell in the tube; and its individuality and specific male properties are not influenced by any length or any amount of subdivision into cells.
In many spots the cell-contents are very scanty, and the tube is ribbon-shaped, but the free end of the tube, and especially where it passes from the papillose placenta into the canal of the micropyle, is cylindrical, very turgid, and filled with granular masses and cell-fluid (fig. 5, c). I have already noticed that at the time of impregnation the Open micropyle is in contact with the papillary structure close to the placenta, and it will be as well to observe that there is an indubitable vital attraction between the end of the pollen-tube and the micropyle of the ovule, quite as great as there is in many plants between the anthers and the stigma.
Once within the canal of the micropyle, the pollen-tube is nourished by the contiguous cells of the nucleus ; and here a cell is usually added to the pollen-tube, and oftentimes two. The free end, completely fillmg the canal of the micropyle (fig. 7, a, 6), passes onwards, and as the nutrition of the cells of the nucleus is active, so is its progress rapid; it impinges, at last, against the anterior convex cellular wall of the embryo-sac. The progressive force still continues, and the terminal cell of the pollen-tube presses the embryo-sac, at the point of contact, backwards, until, at last, the end of the pollen-tube-cell is hidden by the wall of the embryo-sac.*
* This was well shown by Schleiden, but he mistook the bulbous end for the embryo.
22 DUNCAN, ON THE IMPREGNATION
According to the previous turgidity of the terminal cell of the pollen-tube, so is the amount of pushing inwards which the embryo-sac-wall suffers, and the more rounded does the end of the pollen-tube become (fig. 6, a, y).
It must be distinctly understood that no foxiemtiea of the embryo-sac occurs; that the pollen-tube presses the sac inwards, and produces, as the finger does upon a bladder, a concave depression ; and that the pollen-tube swells out from a vis a tergo, and fills the whole of this artificial depression. If the pollen-tube be pulled out of the canal of the micropyle its very shortness will tend to disprove the idea that it per- forates the embryo-sac.
Twenty-four hours after impregnation, and forty-eight hours after the application of the pollen-grain to the stigma, the terminal cell of the pollen-tube—z. e. that im contact with the embryo-sac—is found to be nearly empty. The anterior surface of the embryo-sac, which was in contact with the end of the pollen-tube, is perfectly identical, in its overlapping cell structure, with the rest of the sac; but within the sac,in its former cell-less, granule-less contents, a change has occurred. After this time the pollen-tube decays.
IV.—The appearances of the embryo-sac and the non- granular plasma within it, in the flower whilst in bloom, but before impregnation, have been noticed; the overlapping, circular, or ovoid cells of the sac, each with a distinct nucleus, are most delicate, and the simplest pressure will cause them to take on various forms or to rend. After the contact of the cell-wall of the pollen-tube, the ceils of the embryo-sac being pressed in upon the fluid contents of the sac, and yet not ruptured, suffer great flattening, and this must also be the case with the end of the pollen- tube. The trans- mission of the contents of the last or ultimate pollen-tube- cell—its fluid plasma and granules—from the interior of the tube-cell to the interior of the embryo-sac, is effected very shortly after the contact of the end of the tube-cell with the small cells of the embryo-sac; and in a few hours the contents of the embryo-sac have become granular, whilst ’ the pollen-tube’s last is empty cell (fig. 9, e). If the pollen-tube be forced out of the canal of the micropyle forty-eight hours after the pollen has been added to the stigma, and the nucleus, with its large embryo-sac, submitted to the compressorium, under the lowest power of the micro- scope, and then the anterior part of the embryo-sac examined with the highest powers, it will be seen to be intact, to have
OF TRIGIDIA. 23
retained a somewhat concave form, but the small cells are overlapping, and present no symptom of violence (fig. 9, a, 6).
On the third day after the impregnation of the ovule, the granular contents of the impregnated embryo-sac have col- lected together in a more or less elongated form, the anterior extremity being in contact with the imner surface of that spot of the embryo-sac where the contact with the pollen- tube occurred. The anterior end receives a sort of concave edge from the still existing depression in the anterior part of the embryo-sac. Ten days elapse, and the ovules, greatly increased in size, have a tough external coat, and the embryo- sac is very remote from the micropyle ; the presence of cells is now evident within the sac, whose simple overlapping cells are becoming thick and hard.
V.—There is no difficulty in the manipulation necessary for these investigations ; the ordinary flat knives and needles will suffice as instruments, and water, glycerine, and the usual reagents, are necessary. The impregnation of the ovule differs as regards the time it occupies in most species ; more- over, temperature and moisture determine its rapidity. The stigmas of some plants are impregnated before the flower is perfectly open; others remain virgin for a long period. It will then happen that, unless the nature of the efflorescence, the duration of the flower, and the time of the increase of the diameter of the style be noticed, the microscopist may look in vain for any trace of pollen-tubes. The rapidity with which some ovules in plants with very short styles are im- pregnated can be well imagined after what has been brought forward in reference to the rate of pollen growth in Tigridia.
Immediately after the impregnation, changes commence in the pollen-tube, as well as in the whole of the female organs. The tubes become flaccid, all granular movement ceases, and they lose their tenseness. The style is swollen by the de- scent, through cell-growth, of the numerous pollen-tubes ; the nutrition of its central cell system is at its height, and this vital activity is kept up until the tubes pass into the axis of the ovary. Then the stigma and upper part of the style droop, and the perianth begins to lose its brightness, to be- come flabby, and to fold. The ovules are not yet impreg- nated. After a few hours the pollen-tubes passing down the axis, nourished by its juices, are turned off laterally by the barriers formed by tough vascular tissue which passes off to each ovule; the tubes pass through the papillary structure near the placenta, and reach the micropyle. The nutritive
24 DUNCAN, ON TRIGIDIA.
processes of the upper part of the axis are vastly increased in activity, the tissue swells, and the nutrition of the perianth, the style, and the filaments of the stamens, is interfered with by a pressure from within outwards, which diminishes the calibre of their cells and vessels. The ruin of the flower is clearly produced, in part, by the increase in calibre of the lower part of the style and the upper part of the axis. The balance between the rapidity of the pollen-tube growth and the development of the micropyle of the embryo-sac is, of course, exact when the impregnation is being perfected, and it is the chance of this balance being incomplete which ren- ders fertilisation by strange pollen generally so difficult. The influence of the female organ in nourishing the male element is very suggestive.
TRANSLATION.
On the DrvetorpMENT of ASCARIS NIGROVENOSA. By E. C. Mrcznixow.
(From Reichert and du Bois-Reymond’s ‘ Archiv,’ 1865, p. 409, pl. x.)
In the following pages the anthor proposes to communicate the result of researches on the peculiar development of Ascaris nigrovenosa, which have been conducted in the laboratory at Giessen, and of which a brief report has already been given by Prof. Leuckart.*
The fully developed worm, as is well known, inhabits the lungs of the brown frog (R. esculenta), and feeds upon its blood.
The lips surrounding the mouth are but very slightly developed. Behind the oral orifice lies a minute cavity with chitinous walls, and usually regarded as the pharynx. To this succeeds the so-termed cesophagus, in the interior of which, besides the transverse striz, may be noticed opaque granules and clear nuclei. The cuticle of the body, as well as the subjacent muscular layer, are comparatively thin, a circum- stance which well accounts for the little mobility of the animal. The remainder of the cavity of the body is filled with numerous granules, either isolated or aggregated into a few common masses.
Ascaris nigrovenosa deposits a great number of ova 0'013 mm. in length, and which contain fully developed embryos, whose development has been already described by Kolliker.t
The fully formed embryos when liberated from the egg are 0°36mm. in length, and present the following charac- ters. They are cylindrical in form, tapering more behind than in front. The mouth is surrounded by a cuticular lip, and it communicates with an organ resembling the pharynx of the parent worm. The esophagus presents two enlarge-
* « Helminthologische Experimental-untersuchungen,” 4 Reihe, ia ‘ Got- tinger Nachrichten,’ 1865, No. 8, p. 219.
ft Miiller’s ‘ Archiv,’ 1843.
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26 MECZNIKOW, ON ASCARIS NIGROVENOSA.
ments, the second of which contains a peculiar chitinous apparatus first described by Professor Leuckart. The intestine runs straight backwards, terminating in a rectum; its wall exhibits clear nuclei surrounded by a granular cell-substance. In the middle of the body is placed a largely developed rudimentary reproductive organ, in which may be perceived numerous cell-nuclei inclosing nucleoli, and which are lodged in a.common protoplasm. Similar cells occur in the caudal and in the anterior portions of the body.
These embryos therefore are characterised especially by the considerable development of the rudimentary sexual organ, and by the double dilatation of the cesophagus—character which they possess in common with the free-living genus Diplogaster (Rhabditis), and which characters have previously been pointed out by Professor Heuckart as existing in the young larve of Dochmius trigonocephalus (I. c.).
From the lungs, the ova, that is to say the embryos, find their way into the intestinal canal of the frog, collecting themselves for the most part in the rectum. In this situation, though increasing considerably in size (0°55 mm.) , they undergo no other changes, which do not occur until the embryos have been voided, and been deposited in the moist earth.* Under these conditions the young larvz continue to grow as before, and cast their skin for the first time at the end of about twelve hours. But it should be remarked that the length of this period depends very much upon the season of the year, so that in summer the entire development of the free larve requires only half the time that it does in autumn.
After this ecdysis, individuals of two kinds may be distin- guished. One of these kinds presents a close similarity with the early larval form, from which they differ merely in their larger size and the rather considerable growth of the sexual organs. But the second kind of individuals exhibits much greater differences, the most striking of which consists in a considerable shortening and curving of the caudal extremity. In these individuals the rudimentary sexual organ assumes the form of a band, which extends as far as the rectum;
* In water the embryos invariably perish, to which circumstance the miscarriage of my first experiments was due. But in order to afford the embryos an opportunity of further development, the contents of the rectum of the frog in which they were found must be mixed up with the moist earth, and placed in a watch-glass in a moist room, It should here also be remarked (as pointed out by Professor Leuckart, |. ¢., p. 227), that the Ascaridan larve, taken directly from the body of the parent, do not become completely developed ; a circumstance which would seem to indicate the necessity of a residence in the rectum.
MECZNIKOW, ON ASCARIS NIGROVENOSA. 27
which part of the intestine, moreover, is distinguished by its thickness and solidity.
The further growth, besides the increase in size, consists in a further differentiation of other organs, and, above all, in the transformation of the sexual rudiment into perfectly de- veloped reproductive organs. These changes are completed as early as the third day of free life (in summer), at which time the distinction between the males and females is ob- vious ; and it will be found that the former are produced from the short-tailed individuals above described, and the females from the others.
Thus it is manifest that the larve of Ascaris nizrovenosa, which differ in many respects from their parents, enjoy a free existence, in which they attain to a sexual development.
The organization of the fully developed males of this free generation of A. nigrovenosa resembles, in general, very closely that of the above described short-tailed larvee, but differs from it in the further differentiation of certain organs.
The body of the male is tolerably plump, its length being not more than about 14 to 1, as compared with its diameter. In dimensions, individuals differ considerably, some attaining a length of 1°] mm., whilst others are not more than 0°55 mm. The inwardly curved tail is tolerably thick and blunt; and on each side of this part may be observed a row of minute conical projections (Zapfen) which are connected together by a delicate membrane, and thence represent the similar organs which occur so frequently in various free and parasitic nematodes.
In other respects, the external organization of the body of the males differs from the structure above described of the younger larve simply in the presence of a special excretory orifice in the anterior part. During the course of develop- ment, the intestine undergoes no particular modification, whilst at the same time the cells occupying the anterior part of the body constitute a central nervous ring. And at this stage also differentiated muscular fibres may be discerned.
The reproductive organs consist of a single tract, at whose upper (usually curved) end the sperm-cells are visible, behind which lie the excessively minute spermatic corpuscles. The inferior portion of the sexual apparatus consists of a thick- walled vas deferens, which opens into the rectum. From the walls of the same part of the intestine arises the copulatory organ, consisting, in the present instance, of two connate spicule and an undivided chitinous sheath or groove.
In the caudal portion of the body is lodged a mass of glan- dular cells, which opens on the exterior.
28 MECZNIKOW, ON ASCARIS NIGROVENOSA.
The female differs from the male chiefly in in its longer and slenderer tail. The excretory orifice is present as in the male; but it is otherwise as regards the nervous system, which in the female appears to consist simply of an aggrega- tion of undifferentiated cells.
The fully developed female possesses a plumper form than the male, its length not being more than twelve times its diameter. During the growth of the ova, that is to say, of the embryos, the female continues to increase in thickness. In length it generally exceeds the male, but differences in this respect may be observed. Whilst some individuals may be seen 113mm. in length, others will be found barely 0°65 mm. long.
The vagina is situated in the middle of the body ; it leads
into the double reproductive organs, which are of extremely
simple structure. They consist merely of contiguous cells, which are developed into ova, of which only those which lie nearest the sexual orifice complete their development. In the female reproductive organs I have been unable to detect any special walls, whose existence has been affirmed by Pro- fessor Leuckart (l.c., p. 228). And the impregnated ova also are equally without any membranous covering.
The embryonic development of the new generation goes on in the interior of the free-living female, and presents nothing worthy of remark;,, The new embryos, which are not enclosed in any special sac; and are developed to the number of from one to four, straighten themselves out soon after their com- pletion, and exhibit spontaneous movements in the interior of the maternal body. Atthe same time they begin to devour the undeveloped ova, as well as to prey upon the internal organs of the mother, in consequence of which they grow very ra- pidly. At the end of a few hours nothing remains of the maternal body except the cuticle, within which the actively moving embryos may be perceived, surrounded with nume- rous opaque granules.
On the fifth day after the exit of the young larve of As- caris nigrovenosa from the rectum of the frog, the embryos of the new generation just described are ready to quit the cuticle of their devoured parent. These new larve, about 0°65 mm. long, differ from their parents in their lively move- ments and far slenderer form, the proportion of their length to the diameter being as 25 tol. ‘Their cuticle exhibits dis- tinct, sharply defined longitudinal strize. The minute oral orifice leads into the cesophagus, which for some time, as in
‘the parents, is furnished with two dilatations; but subse- quently this conformation disappears, when the cesophagus
MECZNIKOW, ON ASCARIS NIGROVENOSA. 29
represents a slender elongated organ, dilated at the extremity. The intestine continued from it is straight and cylindrical, with a contracted calibre. The anal orifice is placed in the hinder part of the body. The sexual rudiment of these larvie is placed in the middle of the body, and is of very inconsider- able size.
The habits of the above-described larve differ from those of their parents in the circumstance that they are normally aquatic, and are capable of performing extraordinarily rapid, serpentine movements.
In this condition the larve live for an indefinite time in the mud without undergoing any change whatever, until they have entered the body of the frog.* When small frogs (especially the green frog) are fed with the mud in which the new generation of Ascaris nigrovenosa has been developed, the larve are afforded an opportunity of making their entrance into the lungs. When they have reached this locality they cast their skin for the first time, and at the same time some other changes will be observed to take place. The old longitudinally-striped cuticle is now cast off, in con- sequence of which the tail appears much blunter than before. The head, after the ecdysis, presents minute projecting lips encircling the oral orifice. In individuals in this condition the excreting orifice is also apparent, as well as a differentia- tion of the future muscles, which at this time consist of an exterior homogeneous and an internal granular layer con- taining cell-nuclei.
During their abode in the frog’s lung the larve increase considerably in size. On the fourth day of their parasitie cxist- ence the author has noticed some already well-grown larvee in the act of their second ecdysis, but unfortunately was unable to preserve them alive sufficiently long to allow of drawings being made from them. Eight days after the migration of the young larve into the body of the frog he observed these parasites in a further stage of development. Their length is now about 1°25mm. The oral orifice snrrounded by minute lips leads iuto a cavity furnished with chitinous walls. The succeeding csophagus, like that of the fully developed Ascaris nigrovenosa of the frog’s lung, exhibits only a terminal enlargement, and in the interior, granular transverse streaks and clear cell-nuclei. The intestine of
* The mediation of the fresh-water molluscs in the transmigration of the Ascaridan larvee into the frog, which from the earlier observations on this subject (Leuckart, |. c., p. 229) was deemed to be requisite, has been shown to be unnecessary, since the larve are able to effect a direct entrance by themselves.
30 MECZNIKOW, ON ASCARIS NIGROVENOSA,
individuals in this stage is an elongated tube with glandular walls, which runs straight to the rectum, and is always seen to be filled with reddish-brown contents consisting of the altered blood-corpuscles of the frog. The rectum, as usual, is represented by a slender canal, which opens on the ventral aspect of the body. At the point where it is continuous with the proper intestine, gland-cells of large size are placed; and cells of less size are also to be seen in the caudal pro- longation.
In the above-described individuals will also be observed a peculiar granular gland lying on the ventral side of the anterior part of the body, and communicating by a duct with the excretory orifice. In the interior of this glandular body one or two cell-nuclei containing nucleoli will be seen. The nervous system at this period consists of an cesophageal ring and of two trunks, which become fused into the muscular layer. The muscles appear as completely developed fusiform cells. The strongly-developed lateral lines consist of closely contiguous cells 0°013 mm. in diameter, in which may be perceived a nucleus containing a large nucleolus 0:006 mm. in diameter. I have been unable to perceive any lateral vessels.
All parasiticindividuals of Ascaris nigrovenosawhichtheauthor has had an opportunity of examining in the above-described stage of development have proved to be females. This cireum- stance speaks strongly in favour of the supposition thrown out by Leuckart (1. c. p. 230) that the parasitic female of Ascaris nigrovenosa is parthenogenetic.* The female gene- rative organs are double, and even at this stage exhibit a differentiation into ovary, vagina, and uterus. In the first of these three divisions large germinal vesicles, with a germinal spot 0°025mm. in diameter, are lodged. The vagina is represented by an elongated canal.
All the observed parasitic specimens in the just-described stage were taken in the act of ecdysis, since the old skin could be seen raised up from the surface of the body.
When the individuals inhabiting the frog’s lung just described are compared with the fully developed para- sitic Ascaris nigrovenosa, we shall be satisfied that the difference between them is only a gradual one, consisting as it does mainly in the greater size of the latter, and in the disappearance of certain internal organs. On this account, the want of observation of the later intermediate stages be- comes of less consequence.
* It is equally favorable also to the view expressed by ourselves in 1846, that the parasitic guinea-worm was a parthogenetic female.—G. B.
i ee ee es, ee he ee
MECZNIKOW, ON ASCARIS NIGROVENOSA. 31
But, from what has been observed, it is manifest that As- caris nigrovenosa has two sexual generations, of which one is parasitic, whilst the other, which presents the characters of the genus Rhabditis, enjoys a free existence.
This fact shows not only a remarkable mode of propaga- tion, but also indicates peculiar relations between the para- sitic and free modes of life. The correspondence of certain free nematodes with the parasitic has been partially recog- nised by many earlier writers. Goeze and Dujardin,* for instance, observed that the young larvee of Ascaris acuminata are capable of living in water; and Willt has shown that Angiostoma limacis occurs, not only in the interior of snails, but also free in the water.
But the genetic relations between the parasitic and free nematodes were first made clear by the observation of Pro- fessor Leuckart, who watched the growth in the free state of the Rhabditis-like larvee of Dockmius trigonocephalus.
These intimate relations, as well as the circumstance that the nematodes possess a much better-developed digestive ap- paratus than all the other parasitic helminths, suffice to prove that the mode of life of the parasitic nematodes must exhibit peculiarities of some kind. It appears more than probable that many of the nematodes found in the intes- tines of animals are not true parasites, since they feed, not upon the living tissues, but upon the excrementitious matters of their host. In favour of this view may be adduced the observation made by Dujardin fourteen years ago, of the pre- sence in the intestine of Ozxyuris curvula of various solid vegetable particles. The author has also found in the intestine of the Sclerostomum of the sheep abundance of fecal particles in great variety belonging to that ruminant.
Having thus indicated the principal circumstances attending the development of A. nigrovenosa, the author feels compelled to pass to a more unpleasant and far less scientific task, viz., to the assertion of his right to the credit of this discovery, which has not been fully admitted by Professor Leuckart.
The Professor speaks thus: ‘‘ What I have to relate in the following pages contains only that part of my observations which has been brought to a more or less complete conclu- sion. The greater part of my researches were instituted during the past winter semestre, and in them I have in almost every point enjoyed the assistance and co-operation of Herr Meczni- kow” (1. ¢., p. 221).
* * Hist. des Helminthes,’ 1845, p. 228. + ‘Archiv fir Naturgesch.,’ 1849, p. 179.
32 MECZNIKOW, ON ASCARIS NIGROVENOSA.
Although the terms “ assistance” and “ co-operation” have no definite meaning, no one, probably, would understand them as conveying a recognition of perfectly independent dis- coveries, no small number of which it has fallen to the author’s lot to make. The most important of all the facts adduced by Professor Leuckart in the memoir above cited is, beyond doubt, the peculiar mode of development of A. nigrovenosa, which was discovered by him alone during the autumn vaca- tion, when Professor Leuckart himself was no longer at work in the laboratory. But not only was the fact of the origin or a sexual free larval generation from the embryos of Ascaris dis- covered and demonstrated by the author, but the method also in which the experimeats must be conducted (consisting in the placing of the young larve in moist earth) was determined by him quite independently of Professor Leuckart, who had recommended him to try various other unsuccessful modes.
In the anatomical investigation of the various stages of de- velopment he owns himself indebted to Professor Leuckart for directing his attention to several particulars, and especially to the existence of chitinous structures in the second eso- phageal enlargement (as before remarked).
The last stages of the development of A. nigrovenosa in the frog’s lung were observed by himself alone.
Lastly, he ventures to express the hope that the reader, as well as Professor Leuckart himself, will not hesitate to recog- nise his claim to the discovery.
QUARTERLY CHRONICLE OF MICROSCOPICAL SCIENCE.
GERMANY.—Kolliker'’s und Siebold’s Zeitschrift. Fourth Part, 1865.—< New Researches on the Reproduction of the Viviparous Dipterous Larve,’ by M. Hanin, Prosector in the University of Charkow. The author of this paper, which deals with a most interesting subject, gives the following con- slusions to be drawn from his observations:—1. That the development in these animals does not result from the corpus adiposum. 2, That the young larve originate from eggs, which develop in an ovary. 3. That the process of egg formation presents some resemblance to the formation of the egg among some mature Diptera (Musca vomitoria, Sarco- phaga carnaria). The egg originates from more cells, and is further distinguished from the egg of mature insects by the deficiency of the germinal vesicle. 4. That the egg, before it becomes fertilised, commences to develop embryos, and that the commencement of the development of the embryo has some likeness to the development of the same among some perfect Diptera. The development of the embryo proceeds from one part of the primitive embryonal mass. And finally, 5. That in consequence of what has been said, the phenomenon of the increase of the larve, instead of being an enigma, as it appears according to Wagner’s interpretation, receives a very natural explanation.
“ Contributions to a nearer knowledge of the Young Forms of Cypris ovum” is the title of a paper by Dr. C. Claus. His results are as follows :—1. The Ostracoda pass through a kind of metamorphosis, in so far as in the various steps of their free state of existence they possess a varying form of shell, and first acquire the full number of their limbs by gradual development. 2. The youngest stages are shells bearing Nauplius-forms, with three pairs of limbs for move- ment, namely, the two antennz and the mandibular “‘append- ages. 3. There are in Cypris ovum nine successive stages, which are distinguishable from one another ; of these the last
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34 QUARTERLY CHRONICLE.
represents the sexually mature form. 4. These stages of de- velopment are marked by the stripping off of the skin; there are therefore eight corresponding moults. 5. The mandibles arise first in the second stage, as powerful j ek -prolongations at the basal joint of the mandibular foot. 6. Only the hinder antenne already possess at the youngest age the complete jointing and figure of the sexually mature animal. 7. In the second stage the anterior maxille and anterior feet, except the antennz and mandibles, are attached. 8. The maxillze of the second pair originate first in the third stage, consequently later than the following pair of jointed bodies, distinguished as the first foot. 9. The maxillee of both pairs and the hinder foot present in their first appearance a nearly corresponding form as a triangular plate running out into a little hook. 10. The anterior feet proceed from the top to the base in their jointing. 11. The abdomen gives rise to two long furcal joints.
: Dr. Claus also contributes a paper “ On the Sexual Differ- ences in Halocypris.”
A very lengthy and exhaustive memoir also appears from Professor Wilhelm Keferstein, entitled ‘‘ Contributions to the Anatomical and Systematic Knowledge of the Sipunculide,” which, though perhaps not a microscopical paper, will doubt- less be found of much value by the readers of this Journal. A complete résumé is given of all that is known of the ana- tomy of these doubtful annelids, and the known species dis- cussed, while many new forms are added to the list and new anatomical details described
The same indefatigable naturalist contributes a paper on the “ Anatomy of Janella bitentaculata, Q. et G., of New Zealand.
Herr Mecnikow has a paper “ On some little-hnown Lower Animals,’ in which he deals with the anatomy, &c., of Chetonotus, Chetura, Icthydium, and others.
Perhaps the most valuable paper in the quarter’s ‘Zeitschrift’ is that by Dr. Hermann Dorner, “On the genus Branchiobdella of Odier.’ In this paper the author deals in a most able manner with the anatomy of Branchiobdella and its allies, and discusses the homologies of its organs and those of the genera investigated by Claparéde, Kélliker, Herring, and others.
Dr. Leonard Landois publishes the fourth part of his monograph “ On the Lice which infest Men.’ In this part he treats of the Pediculus capitis, and also reverts to Pthirius inguinalis.
We avail ourselves of a short translation of a paper by
QUARTERLY CHRONICLE. 35
Professor Claus “ On the Organization of the Cypridine,” given in the ‘ Annals and Magazine of Natural History,’ the original of which we chronicled last quarter as appearing in ‘Kolliker’s und Siebold’s Zeitschrift, p. 143. During a residence at Messina Professor Claus turned his attention to the little Crustacea which swarm in the waters of the sea. He was particularly struck by a small Ostracode, of the genus Cypridina, in which he detected, even with a low power of the microscope, an accessory single eye in addition to the large, paired, compound eye, and a heart beating with regular pulsations. This latter discovery naturally surprised him, as in the other two families of Ostracoda (the Cypride and the Cytheride) the heart is entirely deficient. A more atten- tive examination of these Crustacea soon showed, however, that the Cypridine differ much more from the other Ostra- coda than the Cypride and Cytheride from each other. The fact that an organ so important as the heart may sometimes exist and sometimes be deficient in animals so nearly allied to each other is doubtless surprising, but by no means without precedent. Thus, it has been demonstrated that the Copepoda are in the same case. M. Claus himself has shown that if the Cyclopide, Harpactide, and Coryceide are always destitute of a heart, the allied Pontellide and Calamide are always furnished with one. Moreover, the author is not the only person who has observed the heart in the Cypridine, as M. Fritz Miller mentions it in a recent work (‘ Fir Darwin,’ 1864). The sole visual organs hitherto known in the Cypri- dine were the paired eyes, in which M. Lilljeborg has detected a complication of organization very similar to that of the eyes of the Cladocera, although the latter are fused into a single mass, forming, as it were, a median eye. Nevertheless, traces of a primitive division into two halves in the Side, the Lyncei, and the Estheria, enable us to establish unhesitatingly the homology of this apparently single eye of the Cladocera with the paired eyes of the Cypridine. A further homology is presented when we find in the Cypridine, besides the large compound eyes, a small, simple, median eye, perfectly similar to that which exists, in addition to the compound eye, in the Daphnia. The Cypridine present other peculiarities worthy of mention. As a general rule, the Ostracoda are characterised by the small number of their appendages, as there exist only two, or at most three, pairs of locomotive appendages behind the gigantic maxille. In fact, the last pair of feet disappears completely, and the others are converted into organs of manducation. On the other hand, the mandibles are con- verted into locomotive appendages. The antennz also serv-
36 QUARTERLY CHRONICLE.
ing for locomotion, we find that throughout their whole life the Cypridine employ the three anterior pairs of appendages as locomotive organs. Now, this is exactly the case in all Entomostraca during the Nauplius-phase, and furnishes a new argument to be added to those adduced by Fritz Miller in favour of the derivation of all Crustacea from the Nauplius- form.
Max Schultze’s Archiv fur Mikroskopische Anatomie.—The second and third parts of this valuable contribution to microscopical periodical literature have appeared, forming a part about equal in size to the first part. The contents are of equal value and interest to the former, and the illus- trations are copious and excellent. The sight of such copious and well-executed plates, eleven in number, and all but two of quarto size, and nearly all more or less coloured, makes us wonder more and more, and still more lament the strange condition of things that wholly prevents our doing the same in this country. Whether it be owing to an absolute dearth of artists capable of making such drawings, which, we fear, is very much the case, or the far higher rate of payment pub- lishers are compelled to submit to, the truth is no less cer- tain that the illustrations given in nearly all the numerous journals, &c., of Germany and France, but especially of the former country, completely put to shame our puny attempts in the same line. The time really appears to be coming when we shall be obliged to have recourse to foreign artists and lithographers for the proper illustration of natural his- tory works. It is true we may justly be proud of several artists in that line, who are excelled by none of any country, and perhaps scarcely equalled in any; but no one can deny that the number of good artists available for the current exigencies of periodical literature more especially is very re- stricted, and only those who know it can tell how much this scanty supply necessarily enhances the cost of all illus- trations at all worthy to compete with such as issued so copiously in such journals as that we are now noticing, Kolliker’s ‘ Zeitschrift,’ Reichert’s ‘Annalen, and several others which might be named, in Germany, France, and else- where.
Having thus vented the natural feelings of an editor, we will proceed to state the contents of the present part of the ‘ Archiv fiir Mikroskopische Anatomie.’
1. The first is a long and elaborate article, by Professor W. His, of Basle, entitled “‘ Observations on the Structure of the Mammalian Ovary.” Professor His’s observations refer chiefly to the mature ovary of the cow and its corpora
QUARTERLY CHRONICLE. 37
lutea. The ovary of the cat, whose structure has already been amply discussed by Schroén and Pfluger, has also formed part of his study, im consequence of which he has been enabled, he says, to establish rather more definitely than before certain points with respect to the mode and formation of the membrana folliculi. He has also added some prelimi- nary observations on the structure of the human ovary in the foetus. And his researches on this subject have led him on to the study of the earliest stages of development of the sexual glands, a subject of great general interest.
2. The second paper is one by L. Cienkowski, “ Contribu- tions to a Knowledge of the Monadina,” in which will be found much matter of great interest to all microscopical ob- servers, but of which it will be needless here to say more, as we shall hope, in our next number, to give a translation or full abstract of this valuable communication. The author, we may say, is not inclined to adopt the opinion of those who regard all the Monadina as motile spores of various Algz and Fungi, being convinced that, although this may be true of a great many of these Infusoria, still there are whole series of whose independent existence there can be no doubt.
3. The next contribution is ‘‘ Researches on the Develop- ment of the Urinary and Sexual Systems,” by Dr. C. Kupffer, of Dorpat.
4. “ On Phreoryctes Menkeanus, Hofm., with Remarks on
the Structure of other Annelids,” by Professor Leydig, of Tubingen.—The extraordinary worm which forms the subject of Professor Leydig’s communication was originally discovered by Herr Menke, in a brook at Pyrmont, and it was first de- seribed by Hofmeister in the ‘ Archiv fiir Naturgeschichte’ for 1843, under the name of Haplotaxis Menkeana, which was afterwards changed to its present appellation. A further account of it will be found, by the same author, in his ‘ Arten der Regenwiirmer’ (1845). Fora long time the only known habitat was the original site in which the worm was discovered, or its immediate vicinity; but it has since been met with by Leydig at Tubingen, and it is stated by Leuckart (1860) to be common at Giessen, so that we may hope to hear of its occurrence in this country. A second species, apparently belonging to the same genus, was de- scribed by Schlotthauber in 1859, in the ‘ Report of the Got- tingen Meeting of Naturalists, who proposed to change the generic name to Georyctes.
‘It is impossible here to give even a summary of the excel- lent account, illustrated by beautiful figures, given by Leydig, of the structure and affinities of this remarkable creature
38 QUARTERLY CHRONICLE.
and we shall content ourselves with a description of its ex- ternal form and appearance.
The worm, which from the figure strongly resembles a Gordius, has a cylindrical body about half a line thick, and more than a foot long. When viewed alive with the naked eye or a pocket lens, it is at once seen to present all the characters of a true Annelid. The body is divided into very numerous segments, of which the most anterior forms a pointed ‘“head-lobe,” in which lies the upper portion of the nervous ring, and beneath which lobe is placed the mouth. The an- terior or cephalic extremity, except just at the point, is less attenuated than the posterior or caudal, nor is it so much tinged with red; whilst in the rest of the body the trans- parent walls allow the numerous red blood-vessels to be seen through them. There are four rows of setz on the sides and ventral aspect, each segment presenting on either side a larger seta, which is placed quite on the ventral aspect, as in the com- mon earthworm, and a smaller one, which might, from its posi- tion, almost be termeddorsal. Everysegment, except the cepha- lic and the penultimate and ultimate caudal, are thus furnished. In the middle portion of the body the ventral setz some- times occur in pairs on either side, but more usually only one is met with. The sete themselves have a slight sigmoid flexure, with a slight enlargement in the middle. The free end is blunt and straight, whilst the other is usually sharp- pointed and sickle-shaped. According to Schlotthauber, the proper habitat of the worm is moist earth; but according to Leydig’s observations it would seem to be truly aquatic, or at any rate to require exceedingly wet mud for its abode.
In the remaining part of the paper numerous interesting observations will be found relative to various pomts in the organization of other Annelids, and especially of Lumbricus and Hirudo.
5. “On the Epidermoid Layer of the Frog’s Skin,” by Dr. M. Rudneff, of St. Petersburg.—In his investigation of this structure the author employs a weak solution of nitrate of silver (1 to 1000), in which the swimming membrane of the frog is immersed for a quarter, or at most half, an hour, when the animal, having been rendered motionless by the adminis- tration of a few drops of alcohol, the microscopic examination is proceeded with. By this procedure the author is able to define accurately the outlines of the epidermic cells, which are marked by black lines, and has discovered the existence, in the intercellular spaces, of bodies having, at first sight, the appearance of cell-nuclei, with which it is probable they have hitherto been confounded, but from which the bodies in
QUARTERLY CHRONICLE. 39
question differ in the capacity they possess of being black- ened by the argentine solution. In speculating upon the nature of these peculiar bodies, which are of a cellular nature, the author suggests that they may bear some analogy with the peculiar bodies described by M. Schultze in the nasal mucous membrane, or those noticed by Hensen, also in the frog’s epidermis, as being connected with nerve-fibres; he also adduces the bodies described by Schultze, Kolliker, and HH. Miiller, in the epidermis of Petromyzon. And it appears not improbable that they may, in fact, represent a sort of corpuscula tactis.
6. ‘Further Remarks on the Action of Hyperosmic Acid on Animal Tissues,” by M. Schultze and Dr. M. Rudneft.— These observations are in continuation of those given in the former part of the ‘ Archiv’ on the same subject. The prin- cipal subject in which the acid was employed seems to have been in the investigation of the luciferous organ of Lampyris, and the chief property of the reagent is that of rendering the nerve-fibres distinct, in consequence of the readiness with which the nervous tissue is coloured by it. It would seem to possess properties well worthy the attention of histologists.
7. “On Nobert’s Test-plates,” by M.Schultze.—M. Nobert, it seems, now prepares his celebrated “ tests” in a new form. The specimens described by Schultze contain nineteen groups
1 ut
of lines, from =,” to +4,” apart, and thus arranged :
Ist set, +50: Ath set, s55, &c. 4 es eee 18th ,,- osc: 3rd +P) ZV o° 19th ” 70000"
The highest set M. Schultze has been able to define with central illumination is the 9th, which is resolved by Hart- nack’s immersion system No. 10, and by Merz’s immersion system ;. With oblique illumination he has not been able with any combination to get beyond the 15th. He considers the most difficult specimens of Pleurosigma angulatum to be about equal to the 8th or 9th set of Nobert’s lines, and the larger instances to correspond with the 7th.
Reichert’s und Du Bois-Reymond’s Archiv (Muller’s).— In an- other part of our pages we publish a translation of a paper which appears in the ‘ Archiv,’ by Herr Elias Meczniknow, “ On the Development of Ascaris nigrovenosa.”
Dr. Albert Eulenburg, of Greifswald, publishes a long essay in the same journal on the “ Action of Sulphate of Qui- nine on the Nervous System,” in which the physiological part of the question more particularly is dealt with.
“ On the Nervous Plexus in the Intestine of the Child” is
40 QUARTERLY CHRONICLE.
the title of a paper by Dr. P. Schroder, in which he gives the following as the results of his labours:—1. The observers who hitherto have written on the nerves in the intestine are. not in accordance as regards their statements; they have only this in common, that they view the structure in ques- tion as belonging to the nervous system. 2. The bodies of Billroth become developed from a network of vessels filled with stagnant blood, as Reichert, and after him Hoyer, have already some time since described. 3. The bodies named belong to the part of vascular system which is intermediate in the passage of the capillary to the vein, and forms net- works in the stratum vasculosum. 4. The bodies of Billroth are wanting in every characteristic mark of nerve-fibres, or ganglion-corpuscles, or of nerves and ganglia. 5. By injec- tion of the vessels of the intestine with carmine solution one can find injected uetworks in the stratum vasculosum, which have quite the structure of the “ bodies of Billroth.” Through- out the injected mass one can perceive the characteristic for- mation for the same. 6. Passages between undeniable ves- sels and the Billrothian bodies can with certainty be deter- mined. 7. Also in intestines of growing animals, in which it is not usual to find the networks in question, one can detect these same bodies, by skilful management, in the re- gion of the portal vein. 8. The formation of Billroth’s bodies can be prevented in the intestines of new-born animals if the conditions under which they arrive at completion be removed.
It is so long since anything has appeared on the Grega- rinide that a paper from Dr. Lieberkthn on some points connected with them is of great interest. In the ‘ Trans. Mic. Soc.’ for this quarter also will be found a paper on Gregarinide. Dr. Lieberkiihn, whose researches on the Monocystis Lumbrici are so valuable, observes that in the perivisceral cavity of the earthworm are to be found, between the intestine and integument, numerous cylindrical Gregarine, which exhibit a uniform longitudinal striping of changeable length and breadth, disposed on the inner surface of the whole cortical substance of the saccule which constitutes the Gregarina. 'They may be observed to perform lively movements in water, whereby the fluid matter contained in their interior, together with the granules and vesicle, are driven about from end to end. The same moye- ments were observed in other examples which were under- going the pseudo-conjugation peculiar to these creatures. In these cases the Gregarine were so tightly jomed as not to be separable without tearing, and the body wall was observed
QUARTERLY CHRONICLE. 4
to be as thick at the line of junction as elsewhere, and the long striations as perceptible. Here and there a Gregarina is to be found still moving iése/f, but enclosed by a structure- less, enveloping, elastic “ veil,” which resembles a cyst-mem- brane. The Gregarina, frequently swollen in the middle, is so placed that the finer ends are bent towards the thick- ened wall, so that they touch, the one under the other. The body-contents are alternately driven from the middle into the turned-up ends, and back again; or into one of the ends, when the walls of the hollow sac fall together, and part again so soon as the granules and fluid return. If the enveloping “veil” burst, the Gregarina stretches itself out straight again. The appearance of Gregarine within cells has been observed tooccur. They are often found in the vesicular corpuscles of the testicular sacs of the earthworm, when the spermatic filaments, in various stages of development, are disposed around their outer envelope. Such a Gregarina is sometimes so small as not to equal in size the third part of the diameter of the filamentous vesicle, in other cases so large that it quite fills up the vesicle, and in others it is still wider. These must not be confounded with the cyst-membranes, in which also the Gregariné sometimes show movements. By the movements of a large round Gregarina in water the hyaline cortical layer may be seen to thicken itself at particular spots, and thereby the upper layer to sink in. If the thickening extends itself upon the whole Gregarina annularly, it appears more or less laced in; the thickenings may also appear in more spots at the same time, and the resulting depressions - give the Gregarina the appearance of an Ameeba with short pseudopodia. In smaller examples this alternate thickening and thinning does not occur, since the cortical layer is too thin to permit of the separation appearing. It has been as yet universally admitted that the Gregarine become sur- rounded by a cyst, when the formation of pseudo-navicule or psorosperms takes place. As a rule, this is the case; and the published researches of Kolliker, Stein, and others thereon have received confirmation and assent. The formation of pseudo-navicels, however, takes place without encystation, as is evidenced by the minute groups of pseudo-navicules to be found in the testes of worms unencysted, yet held together by some glutinous substance.
The remaining papers do not deal with microscopical mat- ters, excepting a very short one by Dr. Anton Schneider, “ On the Hematozoa of the Dog.”
Archiv fur Naturgeschichte (Leuckart und Troshel), Third Part, 1865.—There are the following papers in this journal
42 QUARTERLY CHRONICLE.
dealing with micro-zoology, which will, therefore, interest our readers :—Professor Grube, “ On the Genera Estheria and Limnadia, and on a New Apus.’ Dr. J. E. Schédler, “ Di- agnoses of some Daphnide.” Professor Fritz Miiller, “ On the Cumaceans.” 'This appears to be a very valuable contri- bution to our knowledge of these remarkable little Crusta- ceans, which have been already written of by Kroyer, Van Beneden, Milne-Edwards, Goodsir, Spence Bate, and others.
The two most interesting papers, however, are by Profes- sors Leuckart and Mecznikoff, the one “ On the a-sexual Reproduction of the Larve of Cecidomyia,’ and the other on the development of the same larva. The results of Herr Hanin’s paper on the same subject we have already given above, and intend to return to Professor Leuckart’s paper hereafter.
A short but interesting communication from Professor Mayer, ‘‘ On the Chorda Dorsalis in Fishes,” completes the list of microscopical papers in this journal.
Hedwigia——We have two numbers (6 and 7, of 1865) of this spirited little journal before us, which is devoted to eryp- togamic botany, and is printed in the German characters. No. 6 contains a paper by Dr. Ferdinand Cohn, of Breslau, “On Two New Beggiatoe.” The first of these is Beggiatoa (Oscillaria) mirabilis, the second B. pellucida. Dr. Cohn also describes a variety B. alba, var. marina. The species are carefully drawn in a plate accompanying.
In No. 7 Dr. Cohn describes a form of Chlamydomonas, C. marina, which he obtained, as also his Beggiatoe, from his marine aquarium. The Chlamydomonas, which is of very © simple structure, and colours water green by its presence, is illustrated in a woodcut. The same number contains a re- view of Mr. Mordecai Cooke’s little book, “ On Rust, Smut, Mildew, and Mould.”
FRANCE.—Comptes Rendus.—A communication from Pro- fessor Kuhne, “ On the Nervous Lamine (pldques) of Motor Fibres,” occurs in the ‘ Proceedings of the French Academy’ of the 16th of October. The nervous laminz, which the author described as the continuation of the cylinder axis in the nervous cones of the muscles, has been contested by some authors. Thus, M. Rouget (an abstract of whose researches will be found in our Chronicle of last April) believes that it is produced only by a series of fissures, of vacuoles, and coagulations, which form after death. He rests the prin- cipal proof of his explanation on the fact that some parts of the lamina offer no continuity with the nervous fibre. Kuhne found this also himself, but believes that all the parts of the la-
QUARTERLY CHRONICLE. 43
mina form a complete organ, without interruptions. Moreover, he has made his examinations on fresh specimens of tissue, in which contractility and irritability still remained. Sections were cut from frozen muscles, by which means very thin yet unchanged specimens could be obtained. Osmic acic (OsO‘) was used to test whether the terminal lamina possessed pro- perties similar to those of the medullary part of the nerve. It was found that there was no coloration of the tissue, and hence it is inferred that the terminal lamina has none of the medullary matter of the nerve in it.
“ On a New Mode of Parasitism observed in an Undescribed Animal” is the title of a paper by Dr. Lacaze-Duthiers in this journal for the 13th of November. In studying the marine fauna of the coast of Tunis M. Duthiers observed on the polyp of an Antipatharian little, flattened, reniform bodies, of arose colour. On opening one of these bodies a colony of living animalcules escaped, which were seen to be embry- onic Crustacea. The body from which they escaped appeared to be a nest, but when placed beneath the microscope it was found to be a living organism. It has the appearance of a minute lobster, with six pairs of claws, and a large alimentary canal of a brown colour. Dr. Duthiers proposes to call this little Crustacean Laura Gerardie. The most remarkable part about the animal is its mode of parasitism; it is at- tached to the polyp by a number of little tubular “ roots,” which spring from the carapace, and plunge into the tissues of the Gerardia. The liver is very largely developed indeed ; the circulatory and respiratory organs are at a minimum. The generative organs are very remarkably disposed, since the parasite is hermaphrodite. M. Duthiers promises other memoirs as the result of his investigations when on his voy- ages.
In the ‘Comptes Rendus’ for the 20th November the same author publishes a paper “ On the Multiplicity and Termina- tion of the Nerves in the Mollusca.” He takes Thetys lepo- rina as his type, and proceeds in the present memoir to deal with the distribution and termination of the buccal nerves in a most detailed and careful manner.
The same number contains some interesting researches by M. P. Bert “On Animal Grafting.” The microscope may well be applied to investigate the phenomena of growth which are here manifested.
Annales des Sciences Naturelles.—The June number of this journal contains two valuable microscopical papers, one by M. Lacaze-Duthiers, “ On the Spicules of Gorgonie” as specific characters, and the other by M. Alexander Agassiz,
44 QUARTERLY CHRONICLE,
“‘ On the Embryology of the Echinodermata,” in which he gives the results of some very careful observations, leading him to differ, to a certain extent, from the views of Johannes Miller and others. The July number contains ‘ A second Memoir on the Antipatharians,’ by that most diligent and accomplished naturalist, M. Lacaze-Duthiers; whilst the August number is devoted to a very valuable and extensive memoir “ On the Family of the Tridacnide,” by M. Léon Vail- lant, in which many microscopical matters concerning the anatomy of these molluscs are entered into.
ENGLAND.—Annals and Magazine of Natural History.— In the October number of this journal is a valuable paper by Professor H. James Clark, read before the American Academy of Science and Arts, with the title “‘ Proofsof the Animal Nature of the Cilio-flagellate Infusoria, based upon Investigations of the Structure and Physiology of one of the Peridinia (Peridinium cypripedum, un. sp.).’’ The author commences by speaking of Darwinism as a resuscitation of previously advanced doctrines, wherein we must be allowed to remark that he appears to misunderstand the work which Mr. Darwin has done. The species of Peridinium which Professor Clark has studied differs from those described by Professor Allman, in the third volume of this Journal (1856), and for it he proposes the name cypripe- dum. It has an oblique, pyriform outline, more than one third longer than its greatest breadth, and hollowed on one side by a broad longitudinal depression, extending from the narrower end to a short distance beyond the broadest part of the body. Not far from the narrower end the so-called flagellum is attached, in the middle line of the broad depres- sion, and is so long as to project beyond the end near to which it is situated. As the narrower end is always the pos- terior, and the broader end the anterior, in the act of swim- ming, and the relations of the other parts of the body, such as the position of the mouth, and particularly of the cesopha- gus, correspond to these, the one which precedes should be called the anterior, and the other the posterior, end of the body. Two shallow furrows encircle the body; the whole of it pos- terior to the narrower of these furrows is clothed with vibra- tile cilia, but the anterior end is devoid of them, and appears to be covered by a low cap, in the form of the segment of a sphere. Close to the posterior end is the large, clear, con- tractile vesicle, which has hitherto escaped notice, owing, it is believed, to the incessant and rapid movements which the animal performs.
Professor Clark manages to confine his Peridinia by strewing the glass slip on which the water containing the specimens
QUARTERLY CHRONICLE. 45
is to be placed with abundance of indigo. In this way little lagoons are formed, in which the Infusoria become imprisoned, and are examined without the use of a glass cover. The systole of the vesicle takes place once in forty seconds ; be- tween diastole and systole the vesicle is more or less irregu- lar in outline, but gradually approximates to a spherical form, and the contraction is sudden and rapid. If the water in which the specimen is placed be not renewed the systole occurs five or six times in a minute, owing to the unhealthy condition. Tincture of opium stops the action of the con- tractile vesicle at once; the effect is to swell it to an enor- mous size, and then, breaking through the posterior end of the animal, it expands to a dimension often exceeding that of the whole body before it bursts. The mouth, esophagus, and digestive vacuoles, are carefully described. It appears that the flagellum has nothing to do with the mouth, which is entirely dependent on the small cilia surrounding it for the introduction of food. The vacuoles are sometimes very large, but the particles of food taken in are excessively minute. No anus was detected, as, indeed, was not expected. The flagellum is composed of several filaments, which fre- quently divide into two groups or are spread out at times as. a brush. Its function appears to be that of a powerful rud- der and axis of gyration. ‘The so-called cuirass is evidently a part of the whole investing tunic, but differs from the rest in its punctuation. The nucleus in December had a U-shaped form, and was of large size. Frequently it was observed to be invested by a delicate envelope, and close to its dorsal re- gion a vesicular corpuscle, appareutly the nucleolus or testi- cule, was observed overlying it. Reproduction from the egg was not observed, but transverse division, as observed by Allman, occurred in many instances.
“ On the Microscopic Structure of the Shell of Rhynconella Geinitziana” is the title of a paper, by Dr. Carpenter, in the November number. It may be remembered that a somewhat unequal discussion has been going on between Dr. Carpenter and Professor King, of Galway, as to whether, as Dr. Carpenter ably maintains, the shell in question and the Rhynconellide generally are imperforate in their histological structure, or whether, as Professor King asserts, the Rhyncopora Geinitziana has a perforated structure similar to that of the Terebratu- lide. Dr. Carpenter has re-examined his preparations made from specimens supplied by Mr. Davidson, and clearly points out the origin of Professor King’s mistake. The internal sur- face of the debated shell is pitted. When the outer surface is abraded these pits appear as complete perforations ; and a
46 QUARTERLY CHRONICLE.
careful examination of vertical and horizontal sections, made with a binocular microscope and a magnifying power of 120 diameters, shows this to be the case. Professor King used only a Stanhope lens and unprepared specimens. Dr. Carpenter very fairly urges, upon similar grounds, the improbability of Professor King’s assertions with regard to another histological matter, viz., the foraminiferous nature of Hozoon Canadense, which the Galway ‘ savant’ pronounces to be a product of che- mical and physical agencies.
Raphides.—Professor Gulliver is still adding to his proofs of the importance of microscopical structure in the diagnosis of allied orders of plants. In the November number of the ‘ Annals’ he compares Vitacez with Araliacez, and gives the results of his examinations of Heemodoracez.
He has now examined species, including Pterisanthes, of each of the genera included by Lindley under Vitaceze. They all prove to be characterised by an abundance of true raphides, ex~ cepting Bersama and Natalia (Rhaganus), in which two genera raphides are replaced by crystal prisms. Sphzraphides also occur plentifully with the raphides in the typical Vitaceze. In Aralia spheraphides only appear, and this often in a spheera- phid-tissue, which forms a beautiful microscopic object im the A. spinosa. He recommends the leaves of this plant and of Vitis apicifolia for comparison. As to Professor Lindley’s observation that, ‘if Aralia had an adherent calyx, erect ovules, with stamens opposite the petals, it would be a Vitis,” Mr. Gulliver now shows that the addition also of raphides to an Aralia would be required to make it a Vitis.
The departure of Rhaganus from the true structure of a Vitis is a curious fact in favour of the value of the raphidian character, for Rhaganus has lately been separated on other grounds, by Bentham and Hooker, from Vitacez.
Of Hzmodoraceze Mr. Gulliver has examined fragments of species of Lindley’s three subsections, and finds raphides abundant in Heemodorex and Conostylee, but wanting in Velloziez ; an interesting observation when we recollect that Don proposed to make an order of the Vellozias, but which Lindley well declared would be premature till their structure and that of the bloodroots had been thoroughly investigated.
In the December number of the ‘ Annals’ Mr. H. J. Carter has some remarks on Professor Clark’s paper “ On Peridi- nium.’ He considers that Professor Clark is mistaken in supposing his animalcule to be a Peridinium. It is, he states, Urocentrum Turbo, of Ehrenberg. He further observes that Professor Clark “has confounded two kinds of Infusoria, which, although extremely alike, belong, one to the animal,
ry
QUARTERLY CHRONICLE. 47
and the other to the vegetable, side of the imaginary (?) line which divides the two great kingdoms of organized beings.” In fact, the deductions as to the animal nature of the Péi- dinens which Professor Clark seeks to draw from his re- searches do not apply to these beings, since the Infusorian he examined was not a Peridinium, but a Urocentrum. This does not, however, detract from the value of Professor Clark’s observations.
Miscellaneous—An ingenious device for a growing slide is given in ‘ Silliman’s American Journal of Science’ for Sep- tember, 1865, by H. L. Smith, of Kenyon College, U.S. The “slide” consists of a rectangular glass cell 3 x 2 inches, and about th inch deep. A small hole is drilled in the cover, which is closely fitted and cemented to the cell, ex- cepting at one corner, which is cut away so as to allow the introduction of water into the cell by a pipette. The living object which it is desired to keep supplied by fresh water is placed near the small hole drilled in the cover, and it and the hole are both covered by a piece of thin glass. As the water in which the object is placed dries, more is absorbed by capillary attraction from the cell through the small hole. The cell will need replenishing (through the larger hole left by the cutting away of the corner of its cover) but once in three days. ‘This simple little appliance seems to be a very valuable addition to microscopical apparatus.
NOTES AND CORRESPONDENCE.
Count Francisco Castracane’s New Method of Ilumination.— Will you allow me to offer a few remarks on the letter refer- ring to a new mode of illumination by Count F. Castracane, which appears in the last number of the ‘ Quart. Journ. Mic. Sci.,’ especially with reference to the diatoms on which it is desirable to test the powers of the new method of illumina- tion. It is perfectly true that a few years ago Pleurosigma angulatum was recommended as a valuable test object for good objectives; but it, ike the scales of Podura, is now scarcely recognised as a test for the best 4-inch and higher objectives of large angular aperture. You very properly observe in your foot-note P. angulatum is now recognised as very easy of resolution. I beg to suggest to Count F. Castra- cane the desirableness of his trying experiments with all or any of the following diatoms, the striz on which are much more faint and close than are those of P. angulatum, and the
proper resolution of which is a severe test, not to tths and
ths only, but to objectives of even higher power.
If the monochromatic mode of illumination suggested by Count F. Castracane enables him to resolve with moderate distinctness the markings on Pleurosigma arcuatum, Donkinia carinatum, D. rectum, D. minutum, its adoption would be of great service to all microscopists who are interested in the study of Diatomacez.
I have endeavoured, but unsuccessfully, to resolve the markings of the diatoms just enumerated, and have used an excellent 1th with Nos. 1 and 3 eye-pieces and draw-tube. Pleurosigma angulatum, Foxonidea insignis, Pleurosigma lan- ceolatum, and other finely marked diatoms, are easily resolved by the appliances I have at command; but the other forms named baffle all my endeavours to resolve them.
I shall be most happy to supply Count F. Castracane with specimens of all the Diatomacez I have named, gathered from the Northumberland coast, either mounted ready for inspec- tion or prepared in readiness for being mounted. No address
MEMORANDA. 49
is given in connection with the count’s letter; I therefore beg you will grant me this mode of addressing him.— T. P. Barxas, Newcastle-on-Tyne.
[We have received a communication from Mr. Barkas, in which he says that since forwarding his note relative to Count F. Castracane’s new method of illumination he has succeeded in resolving the striz in Donkinia rectum, D. carinatum, and D. minutum, with the appliances named in his paper, but that the lines are exceedingly faint and difficult to detect.— Count F. Castracanez, “ Rome.”—Ed. Q. J. M. 8.)
On Cleaning Glass Tubes——I have just been reading the communication of Mr. Wenham in the October number of your Journal, and certainly felt great surprise in learning the marvellous effects of passing a metal wire through a glass tube, the more so as I have for years been in the constant daily habit of cleaning my tubes precisely in the manner described without in a single instance observing the result mentioned. I use glass tubes with an internal diameter of say 1th and ;!,th of an inch. These are used to draw from the test-tubes the supernatant water in cleaning diatoms, and are afterwards most carefully cleaned by being first washed out and then having a pellet of cotton-wool forced through the bore by means of a metallic knitting-needle. This practice I have followed constantly for upwards of ten years, and have never experienced the bursting and cracking recorded by Mr. Wenham. I need scarcely say that the wire came in contact with the tube as frequently as not. Possibly the phenomenon mentioned in Mr. Wenham’s paper may be only produced in tubes of larger diameter and stouter glass. It is nevertheless very strange I should never have witnessed it in the small ones.—Geo. Norman, Hull.
Collins’s Binocular Dissecting Microscope.—This is a cheap, handy, and convenient instrument. We would particularly allude to the great advantage of binocular vision for low powers in dissecting ; and to the superiority of this little in- strument over others at present employed, on account of its portability and great efficiency when in use. The case, when closed, measures 6 in. by 33 in. The top and front let down by hinges, and on them can be fitted the instruments requi- site for dissecting, as shown in the diagram. The sides draw out 5 in., and serve the purpose of rests for the hands. A circle of glass is in the centre of the gutta-percha trough,
VOL. VI.—NEW SER. E
50 MEMORANDA.
so that light can be transmitted from the mirror. Altoge- ther it is the best and most useful instrument we have seen.
It is made by Mr. Charles Collins, 77, Great Titchfield Street, Oxford Street, from the plan of Dr. Lawson, Pro- fessor of Histology at St. Mary’s Hospital—Lancet.
Note on Binocular Vision.—I have made what I consider a very important observation, and one which, so far as my reading is concerned (which is rather extensive on subjects of this kind), is new. I scarcely dare call it a discovery.
In order to explain myself, I will relate a few observations which I made about thirteen years ago, when stereoscopic science was in its infancy. I must premise that for many years past it has been an uncontrollable habit of mine to converge the optic axes of my eyes upon any two objects of whatever kind, similar or dissimilar. The following experi- ments, made, as I said, thirteen years ago, astonished me amazingly.
I laid myself on my back, with my head directly under a cane-bottomed chair, looking towards the ceiling of the room. I combined the two contiguous openings, when a beautiful example of solidity and lustre was produced; but when I combined one opening with the second from it, thus,
the bottom of the chair instantly separated into 662d two distinct planes, the one the natural distance, which I could touch with my finger, and the other removed to a considerable distance. But the strangeness of the thing consists in this, that the holes of the more distant ones were apparently double the size of the nearer ones, and the whole
MEMORANDA. 1
plane expanded likewise to double the size. The effect was still more striking when I superposed each third.
In the latter case the size of the holes was SO Od colossal. When I say I have performed 1000 experiments in this direction, I do not in the least degree exaggerate.
Tending to the same point were experiments made in taking stereoscopic pictures with one camera (single). If I take two landscapes without moving the camera, 7. e. at the same angle, and combine them in the stereoscope, all objects near at hand and afar off are projected upon the same plane, so that a person standing, say fifty yards from the camera, and say fifty yards nearer than a house, he seems in absolute contact with the house, and therefore, of course, immensely large. The same experiment succeeds, though not so strik- ingly, by taking two cartes de visite from the same negative, and superposing them in the stereoscope.
On the contrary, if two pictures be taken of the same view and of not very distant objects, at a large angle, say ten or twenty yards, the combined picture, instead of being a true representation of nature, is nothing more than a small model, and the nearest objects almost seem to touch the nose. The conclusion, therefore, to be drawn from these experiments is this—the larger the angle the nearer the objects, and the smaller ; and, conversely, the smaller the angle the more distant the objects, and the larger they are. This I have proved in in- numerable instances, and in no simpler way than the follow- ing :—Frequently, when I am reading the services of the Church, my eyes almost touch the words, then the words are extremely minute; but instead of being apparently on the surface of the paper, they are suspended in the air, about midway between the surface and my eyes, and surrounded with intense lustre. If, without converging the optic axes, I shut one eye and look at the letters with the other near, they are, of course, magnified im proportion to nearness. Besides, if I take a pair of stereoscopic pictures, and make a very sudden effort at superposing them, instead of getting the usual effect, the combined picture is suspended midway in the air, and, as I said before, almost buried in lustre.
And now to the microscope (the binocular). When the rays from the object emerge from the left-hand tube (en- closed) they do so at a great angle, and therefore, according to what I have shown, the picture is formed near the eye, and comparatively small, notwithstanding the magnifying power of the glass. If the left-hand eye-piece be brought to a state of nearer parallelism with the right-hand or vertical one, the angle of emergence will be diminished, and the pic-
52 MEMORANDA.
ture will be thrown further from the eye, and be very largely increased in size. The picture no longer seems to touch the end of the tube, but is formed far away from it. The effect altogether is to me astonishing.
I proceed in this way :—I use the second pair of eye-pieces with the l-inch objective. I draw them as far out of the tube as they will bear, to: hold, and, as they fit rather loosely, I grasp the two eye-pieces with my left hand, and bring them as parallel as I can, when the picture will instantly start off to a great distance and become magnified; and if the left- hand eye-piece is moved backwards and forwards, 7. e. from left to right, &c., the image will alternately approach and diminish, and recede aud enlarge, in a strange way.
This is a subject which requires both physiological and mathematical investigation. For the absolute truth of the principle I can vouch.—Reyv. J. Maynarp, Cape of Good
Hope.
Ar a soirée given by the Professors of University College on the 14th instant we had an opportunity of seeing the ap- plication of a new mode of illumination of opaque objects, when viewed by high powers, in an instrument exhibited by Messrs. Smith and Beck, and in one shown by Messrs. Powell and Lealand. The illumination was, we believe, effected in the same way in either case, although in Messrs. Smith and Beck’s instrument the object-glass was 1th, and in Messrs. Powell and Lealand’s ~,th. The effect was marvellously beautiful, and the definition of the object (the scales of some Coleopteron) remarkably good and distinct. The way in which this successful result was brought about is remarkably simple, consisting simply of a piece of thin plate glass intro- duced into the lower part of the tube, immediately above the object-glass, and placed in an oblique position, so that rays of light impinging upon its under surface, and received through a small lateral opening, and thrown down through the object-glass, and of course concentrated in the focus of the latter upon the object, whilst the transmission of the magnified image is not appreciably interfered with by their passage through the thin glass reflecting diaphragm. In the American contrivance for the same purpose the light is thrown down in the same way by a metallic reflector, which covers about one half of the object-glass, and thus, of course, destroys at least half of the illumination. The contrivance above described, we believe, was hit upon about the same time by the two celebrated firms we have named.
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.
Microscoricatn Society.
OcroBeEr 11¢h, 1865. JamMES GuAIsHER, Esq., President, in the Chair.
Mr. Roper read a communication received by him from the Royal Society of Tasmania, and added that copies of the “ Trans- actions ”’ of that Society had been transmitted and would be placed in the library.
The Secretary stated that there were no papers to be read. He also announced the resignation of the late Curator of the Society,
‘and the appointment of Mr. Evans to that office. The members
were requested to return to the Secretary all books, &c., belong- ing to the Society, in order that a proper account might be taken of the Society’s property. With reference to papers to be read at future meetings the President suggested that he should be in- formed beforehand of their subjects, so that notice might be given in the ‘Athenzeum,’ and otherwise, thus giving gentlemen qualified to discuss them the opportunity of coming to the meetings pro- perly prepared. «s Mr. Ince called the attention of the Society to some diseased wheat from Droxford, Hants. It was grown on a field of three acres and three quarters, and the crop was so seriously damaged that the whole sold for only £6. He hoped by thus bringing the matter before the Society to elicit some information as to the nature of the disease in question.
Mr. Stack said—If I had known that there were no papers to be laid before the Society this evening, I would have brought and shown to the Society the new form of spectroscope I received, a few days ago, from Mr. Browning. I expressed at the last meet- ing a belief that the best spectroscope would be a direct vision one. I thought that looking round a corner was an inconvenient thing for microscopists to do, and if a spectroscope could be arranged to pull in and out with facility, and capable of being adjusted with nicety, it would be highly appreciated. Now Mr. Browning has been experimenting with Mr. Sorby for some time on a spectroscope which is being brought out, and I believe he
54 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.
calls it the “Sorby-Browning spectroscope.”’ It is a few inches long, contains an eye-piece, and between the two lenses of the eye-piece there is an apparatus for adjusting the slit. You can adjust the slit in the usual way by a side screw, so as to get any amount of opening you like. You can further adjust a vertical shutter up or down the slit, so as to reduce the limits of the spectrum in that direction. That you can form a little cage in which small objects can be optically placed, and isolated from all surrounding objects. The prism fits on the top of the eye-piece, which carries the slit and other apparatus, and indeed very much in the same way in which you can put the analysing prism of a polariscope on the top of an ordinary eye-piece. By removing the prism or opening the slit you look through the two lenses of the apparatus which constitutes an eye-piece, through your object-glass, and see the object that you have in the field. You can then bring any portion you wish into the centre of the field, and adjust the dimensions of the field, if necessary, in two directions, and obtain your spectrum either by transmitted light, viewing the object as a transparent one, or by reflected light, viewing it as an opaque one. There is also a provision for sending a second beam light through the prism, it enters on one side, strikes against a little right-angled prism, and passes through the slit to the chief prism: thus you can easily get two spectra for comparison, at the same time, in the field. The general arrangement of the apparatus carries out the ideas that were expressed in this place, by Mr. Wenham and other gentlemen who have discussed this subject. Historically speaking, I believe the matter stands thus: To Mr. Sorby belongs the merit of introducing this kind of inves- tigation, and he applied it at first exclusively to small quantities of fluids contained in cells. Mr. Huggins then sent in a paper which was read a meeting or two back, and Mr. Wenham made some special remarks on it. That paper and Mr. Wenham’s observations called our attention to the importance of obtaining the spectra of opaque objects, and to the very curious fact that some mineral and other objects yielded mono-chromatic light, while others were deficient of the rays they might be expected to possess. I saw, and others who are here also saw, a card with a small drop of dried blood upon it, and I was told that Mr. Sorby had obtained an excellent spectrum from that object. Now, in this instrument of Mr. Browning’s these things can be accom- plished with very great ease; you take an infinitesimal quantity of blood, and you may either view it as an opaque object when dry, or as a transparent one, and you can immediately detect its characteristic spectrum. Remembering the hint of Mr. Wenham, I took a small quantity of fresh blood, and viewed it under Messrs. Smith and Beck’s excellent =,th. I isolated a single globule, closing the slit horizontally and vertically, so that there was no other globule in the field. I immediately got, as Mr. Wenham said we should get, a beautifully characteristic spectrum with the two distinct dark bands indicating blood. This form of spectro-
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 55
scope can be placed under the stage when it is required, but it is my present opinion that this will not be a very frequent mode of using the instrument. It appears to me that the plan of putting it on as an eye-piece would in the majority of cases be most con- venient. When you have an ordinary-sized drop that would fall from a bottle of any such fluid as aniline-dye, you do not want an object-glass at all, as you get its spectrum clearly without. If you operate upon a good-sized drop you can do it very well with a three inch or two inch power; if you take a very small drop such a power as a three inch would be convenient, and with a smaller quantity you may work with as high a power as Messrs. Smith and Beck’s 35th, or even with Powell’s 25th. I found a very con-— venient mode of operation to be, to put a glass stage upon the microscope with a rim all round so as effectively to prevent corro- sive fluids from running over, and, if I had one made on purpose, I should make the bottom rim stick up a little at an acute angle. If you take a little piece of glass tube and draw it out to the size of a needle and turn it round the corner, like the crook of an umbrella, you can hook up a small quantity of fluid and transfer to the glass stage a drop so small as to have no chance of falling down, and which will yet last several minutes without disappearing from evaporation. JI find that in this way a series of minute experi- ments could be carried on with great facility. The union of spectroscope with microscope opens a most interesting range of inquiry, and not the least interesting result, in one point of view, will be the getting a better notion of what the colours of certain objects really are. It is well known that we can take two solu- tions which are very nearly alike to the ordinary eye and are perhaps undistinguishable by it, and yet the spectroscope dis- criminates them at once. I apprehend that when we view an object—a transparent or an opaque one, as the case may be—the spectroscope shows us precisely what our eyes would show us if they were more exact; and it is interesting to know exactly what rays are deficient in particular colours, and also to see how the application of small quantities of different reagents can effect such molecular or chemical changes as to change the spectrum.
Mr. Slack did not know, when making those observations, that some of the new spectroscopes were in the room.
The PrestpEntT announced that several microscopes to which the Sorby-Browning principle was applied were in the room for the inspection of the members.
Mr. Lozs gave an account of a vacation visit to Oakshott, near Leatherhead, in Surrey, and to Keston, near Bromley, in Kent. At Oakshott he had found in a spring on the heath great abun- dance of Closteria, with scarcely any admixture of other genera. The gathering was exceedingly pure. At Keston he had obtained Desmidiacee of almost every genera and species figured in Ralfs : among them he had discovered what he thought was a new species either of Cosmarium or Staurastrum ; there was, however, a diffi- eulty in deciding which. The frond has conic spmes round the
56 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.
edges, each segment being full of granular endochrome, surrounded with thickly-set hyaline rays extending to some distance beyond the segments, similar to those of Actinophrys Sol, but far more
Y yy Z
Af yy NY Ui e
[>
closely set together ; between the segments the rays extend in a straight line, the frond having something of this appearance. Should it be a new species, Mr. Lobb thought it might not be in- aptly named Cosmariuwm radiatum.
NovEeMBer 8th, 1865. JaMES GLAIsHER, Hsq., F.R.S., in the Chair.
JaBEz Hoaa, Esq., F.L.S., read a paper entitled “ Further observations on vegetable parasites, particularly those infesting the human skin.” (‘Trans.,’ p. 10.)
Dr. Hunt said: Mr. President,—As Mr. Hogg has very kindly mentioned my name in connection with his paper, I take the liberty to rise for the purpose of making a few remarks upon it. The subject of skin diseases is not attractive to those who are not engaged in medical practice. It is one of those depart- ments of nature which illustrates (and in a very important manner) certain laws of nature. I think in the paper read to- night there is involved a very important question, viz.: the question relating to that law of nature by which Providence pre- pares a remedy for all physical evils. Wherever there is a decay nature immediately prepares some animal or vegetable structure to remove the decayed matter. That we are familiar with from the carrion crow to the mites in cheese. We know that decay or even death cannot be, but there must be some animal or vegetable designed by Providence to carry away the dead or. decayed matter. Now, from my experience in skin diseases I may say
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 57
that they all tend to produce decayed matter on the surface of the body, and this matter is sometimes situated too deeply to be cleared away by ablution. Here Providence has prepared the parasite to eat it away or to be sown into, and, so to speak, nourish it away. Where the parasite is vegetable there is a soil produced; in that soil the parasite thrives, and it carries away the soil until at length, in many cases—the common ringworm for instance—though nothing is done to remove it, the whole soil is after a few years absorbed by the parasite, and the disease is cured by the parasite—cured by its own agency irrespective of the physician. Now, there is a tendency in all diseases to be cured by nature. There never was a fever or any other disease in which there was not to be found (if you would search for it) an effort of nature to remove that disease. We are apt some- times to be blind to this; but, if we have anything to do as medical men, it is to find out what nature is doing to assist nature when she seems feeble, and to check her when she seems to be doing too much—for, strange to say, nature often does too much. Sometimes to relieve inflammation she produces gangrene ; gangrene would destroy life, and therefore we must cut off the gangrene. Sometimes parasites do too much, and, as Dr. Tilbury Fox has rightly remarked, they produce disease ; but they do not originate disease, for disease always originates them. I deny that the so-called new class of diseases called parasitic diseases are a class at all, and I demur to the term altogether. If the term means that diseases are produced by parasites I deny it im toto. The disease forms the anides, a soil or food for the parasite, and the parasite comes to feed upon it; the disease is there before, or the parasite could not be there. But then, if what is meant by “parasitic diseases” is that they are not diseases produced by parasites; that they are diseases attended by parasites, incidentally or accidentally, then I maintain that there is no distinction, for every disease is accompanied by parasites. There never was a disease of animal or vegetable matter that was not attended by parasites, or for which some parasite has not been prepared to carry away the results of the disease, and it is only because we shut our eyes to one half of nature while we are dreaming of the other half that we do not see these things plainly. It is a law of nature that Providence sends no evil in the shape of a disease for which it does not send the remedy ; and, therefore, [ am sorry to have observed that many clever men both here and abroad have taken upon them- selves to say that there is a distinct class of skin diseases pro- duced by parasites. They might as well say that there was a distinct class of eye diseases, of brain diseases, or nose, or any other diseases. These diseases, in common with all others, are attended with parasites, as may be frequently discovered by the microscope, which is nothing but a peep into nature. He con- cluded by stating that if any of the members were desirous of
58 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.
examining the parasitical products of skin diseases, he should be happy to afford them two or three hundred cases a week.
Mr. Stack said—In some prolonged examinations of the vinegar plant made under various circumstances, I have found nearly all the forms of cells which Mr. Hogg has described as re- sulting from the spores or cells generated by certain peculiar forms of disease. I paid some attention to the development of these fungi, and I was exceedingly pleased to find so distinguished an authority making havoc among the numerous species of these minute bodies. 1 think it would not be without interest if the members would get so easily obtainable a thing as a vinegar plant, and, by growing it under different conditions, find these different cells all associated with a great quantity of bactrium cells as they appeared in one of Mr. Hogg’s experiments. I think that experiment confirms the opinion I have expressed, that when a large quantity of bactrium cells are associated with yeast cells, the acetous fermentation appears to set in.
Dr. Varuey explained the curative effect of carbonic acid gas in certain diseases, and detailed the method of application as pur- sued by himself and his late uncle.
The PresrpEnt, after some remarks on the importance of the microscope in pursuing medical inquiries, proposed a vote of thanks to Mr. Hogg and Dr. Hunt, which was carried with ap- plause ; and announced that the former had promised to present to the Society a number of specimens illustrative of his paper.
The PrestpENT announced the receipt of a paper from Dr. Greville, on “ New and Rare Diatoms.” (‘ Trans.,’ p. 1.)
Dupriixn MicroscoricaL CLus.
May 18th, 1865.
Mr. Archer exhibited, from a gathering made near Enniskerry, a number of globular, densely spined bodies, with green contents, the spines very numerous, very slender throughout, and acute. These bodies were generally to be found distributed in pairs over the field, and they might easily at first sight be taken for so many zygospores of some Desmidian ; but, much as such a struc- ture resembled a possible zygospore, these bodies were not like that of any known Desmidian, nor was there any evidence in the gathering that they might actually be zygospores of any form not yet known in the conjugated state. Hence, but for an obser- vation made by Mr. Archer on a previous occasion, the source of the curious bodies now exhibited would have been not a little puzzling.
In a gathering made (not, however, from the same locality) during last year, Mr. Archer had taken a quantity of the rather
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 59
common Desmidian, Peniwm digitus, and a number of these showed, some individuals one, the majority two, and a few three, quite identical stellate bodies in the interior of each cell. These were evidently formed at the expense of the cell-contents of the individual Penium in which they occurred. Some of these showed the cell-contents partially absorbed, and the remainder dead and brown ; whilst others did not exhibit a trace of the original con- tents, but contained the (generally) two stellate bodies, green and vigorous, one in each half of the old cell-wall of the Penium which still enveloped them. But afterwards these bodies might be found without the encompassing old membrane of the Penium, and usually distributed in pairs over the field.
Now, although in the present instance Mr. Archer was unable to trace back these spinous bodies to a Penium, their identity in appearance in every way, and the fact of their having been found distributed in pairs (as if left behind, as Mr. Archer had seen on the previous occasion, by the decayed or dissolved outer wall of the Penium), seemed to point out that, be their nature what it might, these bodies were in both instances one and the same thing, and that in the present instance, like the former, the spinous bodies exhibited owed their origin to Peniwm digitus.
These bodies were, in fact, the “‘asteridia” of the Penium, to adopt Thwaites’ term as applied to the stellate bodies occurring within the cells of other Conjugate, and, like such similar bodies, must probably be regarded as parasitic growths. These, indeed, were altogether unlike the smooth, rounded, or irregularly shaped, opaque, brownish spore-like bodies, often seen in various Desmi- diacez, whose nature continues equally problematical. In the present instance, in regard to these bodies, though with green cell-contents, like other asteridia, the fact of the cell-contents of the original Penium becoming mostly all absorbed—if not quite all absorbed, the residue becoming quite effete and brown— seems to speak for their parasitic nature.
But besides the spinous bodies, Mr. Archer likewise drew at- tention to anumber of slightly smaller, globular, green and smooth cells lying over the field, in some of which a directly transverse well-marked light line could be seen, indicating a commencing self- division. A few of these bodies might be seen loosely invested by a colourless coat, externally covered by slender spines ; these loose external coats stood off from the inner spherical, smoothly bounded bodies, the whole somewhat like the doubly bounded spores of Volvox globator before these assume the golden hue— that is, of course, excepting the fact that in the latter the outer coat, as is well known, is then destitute of spines. These loose outer coats permit the escape of the definitely bounded inner smooth cell by the rupture of the former by a large rent. After escape this body, in some measure, called to mind, as before men- tioned, the still green inner spore of Volvox, or a very small specimen of Eremosphera viridis (De Bary), but any one acquainted with these forms would at once recognise that it was neither the
60 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.
one nor the other that he'had before him. It is possible that some of these smooth green bodies may have originated from the Penium, and never had a spinous coat developed. In a small form of Mesocarpus (which, not being conjugated, could not be identified) Mr. Archer had lately seen a number of minute stellate
bodies (“asteridia”’) similar to those not infrequently seen in —
Spirogyra, but with fewer and longer spines. But what makes that circumstance more especially worth noticing is that he had observed the slipping out of the smooth inner cell from the spinous outer coat by a rent, and this taking place still within the joint of the Mesocarpus ; he had not, however, noticed any evidence of any further growth or of a self-division. Be, then, the nature of these curious bodies in the Penium, in the Mesocarpus, or the more common similar growths in Spirogyra, what it may, it is at least highly probable that they are all analogous structures, and, in our present want of knowledge as to their true nature, they must remain “ asteridia.”’
Mr. Archer likewise exhibited a Cylindrocystis (Menegh.) as yet undescribed, and for the purpose of comparison and contrast placed side by side therewith, under other microscopes, specimens of Cylindrocystis Brébissonti (Menegh.) and of Cylindrocystis erassa (De Bary), when the absolute distinctness of all three spe- cies was readily apparent; and not only was their distinctness striking when viewed microscopically,but the difference in their ap- pearance in the mass to the unassisted eye was abundantly evident. The present plant Mr. Archer had as yet seen only in one locality, near Lough Bray, and there in several pools he had noticed it for three years past, but he regretted that, although he had annually taken specimens, he had not as yet been fortunate in finding this species conjugated. This plant formed a red stratum at the peaty bottom of the shallow pools, of some two or three inches in depth. It was greatly narrower and greatly longer than O. Bré- bissoniz, the ends truncate, and a microscopical examination showed that its red colour was due to the tint of the cell-wall, and not to that of its contents. In this year’s gathering it was mixed in some pools with C. Brébissonii, but these two very distinct plants side by side maintained their own characteristics absolutely. When Cleve’s name, Pentwm rufescens, for a new species (in ‘ Ofversigt af Kong]. Vetenskaps-Akademiens Férhandlingar,’ 1863, p. 493) first caught his eye, Mr. Archer imagined that the red colour rendered it likely that these two plants were the same, but an examination of the description and figure sets the point at rest— they are absolutely distinct, and could never be mistaken the one for the other ; besides, Cleve admits the genus Cylindrocystis as distinct from Penium, thus precluding the likelihood of his de- scribing the plant now exhibited (if, indeed, he had found it) under the latter genus.
Captain F. W. Hutton then brought under the notice of the
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 61
club a small pair of forceps, manufactured for him by Messrs. Yeates and Son, 2, Grafton Street, Dublin, to be used in connec- tion with Messrs. Smith and Beck’s “ opaque-disc-revolver.”’
He had found, when using the dises as supplied with the re- volver, that great inconvenience resulted from having either to fasten the object on to the dise with some sort of cement, or else to place it in a drop of water to prevent its slipping off when the disc was inclined at an angle with the horizon. For practical working purposes both of these processes are very objectionable ; the first on account of the time it takes and the trouble in changing the object, the second on account of many parts of the object being covered by a film of water with rounded surfaces, which completely alters its appearance, and also because when the object is under examination for some little time the water dries up and the object suddenly slips out of view, perhaps, in the middle of an observation.
To remedy this he asked Mr. Yeates last autumn to make a small pair of forceps to fit into the hole in the “ revolver” like an ordinary disc, which he succeeded in doing, and which Captain Hutton had found to answer his purpose perfectly.
In construction it is very simple, and will be readily understood from the accompanying figure, which represents a section of the forceps drawn about four times the natural size, in order to make it clearer; the shaded portion representing that part of the “ disc- revolver”’ into which the forceps fit, the unshaded part the forceps themselves.
ED ty
a b Isa disc of brass of the same size and shape of the discs upplied by Messrs. Smith and Beck, a round hole of the same size as the hole in the “revolver” being drilled through the centre. cd Is an arm of the forceps fixed firmly into a 6, and has a longitudinal groove cut in the inside, into which the movable
62 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.
arm e f fits, and turns on the pivot g. The lower part of the groove is occupied by a small spring (#) which keeps the points of the forceps closed.
The pivot should be placed below the disc so as to admit of the points of the forceps being brought as near as possible to the upper surface of the disc, and yet allow them to open sufficiently wide to be practically useful.
He found that if the points of the forceps project about an eighth of an inch above the dise the whole of an object held in them (except, of course, that part actually covered by the forceps) can be viewed with a 2-inch object-glass without any difficulty.
The advantage of this little piece of apparatus will be obvious to any one who has fumbled for half an hour or more over a com- mon pair of forceps, a pin, and a piece of cork, without, perhaps, in the end obtaining a good view of his object in the required position. But it has more important uses than simplifying ma- nipulation, for it enables the same specimen to be viewed and drawn in any number of positions and aspects, while by the old method several specimens must generally be employed when dif- ferent views are required, on account of the difficulty attending the taking of a minute and delicate object out of the forceps and replacing it in another position without damaging it, thus often, perhaps, leading to error.
Mr. Woodworth showed a considerable number of excellent photographs of microscopic objects on various enlarged scales ; amongst these were tongue of cricket, saw of saw-fly, jaw of spider, butterfly scales, &c., &c. These all showed the minute structure beautifully. Mr. Woodworth stated his intention to continue his experiments in this direction.
Dr. Moore showed illustrations of Dr. Seemann’s characters for distinguishing the British, Canary, and Asiatic species of ivy, by the hairs on their calycine segments and petioles of the flowers. The common ivy, with its varieties, were shown to have the hairs with eight rays, which is very constantly the case. The hairs on Hedera Canariensis have as constantly from eleven to fifteen rays ; whilst the Asiatic ivy, Hedera colchica (Koch) has the hairs on the calyx and pedicles in two-lobed scales, each lobe having*from seven totenrays. Dr. Moore, however, stated that he could not reconcile his views with those expressed by Dr. Seemann, in considering the large-leaved ivy, cultivated as Hedera Regneriana in gardens, and the very rare, small-leaved, yellow-fruited one from the Himalayan Mountains, Hedera chrysocarpa (Wallich), being states of one species.
Dr. Moore drew attention to the rapid growth in the Victoria Tank, in the Botanical Garden, of a species of Spirogyra, seem- ingly S. longata. In eleven days, since the tank was filled, this plant had covered surfaces of many feet.
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 63
Mr. Archer further exhibited some rare minute alge, amongst which were Cdogoniwm Itzigsohnii (de Bary) in fruit (vide de Bary, ‘ Ueber die Algengattungen Oedogonium und Bulbochete,’ p. 56, t. iii, f 29-32). This minute species Mr. Archer had picked up several times, and often showing its peculiarly-lobed oogonium, but he had never found the male fructification ; he believed the plant must turn out to be a dicecious species; he had sometimes noticed a minute notch-like depression on the upper outer margin of the oogonium, probably indicating the “ micro- pyle.” He drew attention to the character, not adverted to by de Bary, that the apical or terminal joint of the filament possessed ashort acute spine or mucro. This, in old plants, frequently is not to be seen, as the terminal joint, or, indeed, considerable por- tions of the filaments, often become detached, and chiefly in a young condition only are the plants found entire.
Mr. Archer likewise showed specimens of Leptocystinema Kinahani (ejus). This well-marked plant he had but once found since he ventured first to describe it (‘ Proceedings of the Dublin University Zool. and Bot. Association,’ vol. i, pp. 94, 105 ; also
Nat. Hist. Review,’ O.S., vol. v, p. 234.) The present specimens were gathered by Captain Hutton on a late visit to the County Donegal, and- kindly given to him by that gentleman. Mr. Archer had never seen this plant conjugated, but, beyond doubt, it must so reproduce itself, and it would be interesting to note any minor peculiarity which it might present during that process.
There was also shown by Mr. Archer the form called Plewro- coccus superbus by Cienkowski (see ‘ Botanische Zeitung,’ No. 3, Jan., 1865, p. 21). He likewise exhibited Ophiocytiwm apiculatum (Nag.) and Polyedrium tetraedricum (Nag.).
June, 15th 1865.
Dr. Moore exhibited a Sirosiphon= Hassallia compacta (Hass.).
Dr. Moore also showed specimens of Chroolepus Arnottii, ob- tained by Admiral Jones in Scotland. Dr. Moore had himself taken this plant in Ireland, but he regarded it as very rare.
Mr. Archer mentioned that Admiral Jones had kindly given him a specimen of the plant shown by Dr. Moore. Mr. Archer had never met it near Dublin, and could only refer it to Chroo- lepus, but was afterwards informed by Admiral Jones that it was OC. Arnottii. In looking over the specimens Mr. Archer thought he could perceive the torulose filaments formed by this plant to be accompanied by slender cylindrical filaments, attached to the former, and apparently of the same nature as those appertaining to Chroolepus ebeneum. Now, in this latter Mr. Archer was quite disposed to regard these accompanying filaments as part of the
64 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.
organization of the plant, as he had mentioned at the meeting of the club on the 19th January last; and it seemed to him at least probable that here, too, they bore a relationship to the torulose filaments corresponding to that of the similar threads in C. ebe- neum ; that is, that C. Arnottit may be, in truth, when found in fruit, proved to be a lichen, the slender accompanying threads representing the fibrous element in a typical lichen, and the torulose filaments themselves, here the marked and conspicuous part of the plant, the gonidial element. This, of course, until one or both of these plants be found in fruit, is but a conjecture, but one not without foundation, as Coeenogonium, in its fruit a true lichen, is quite as aberrant in its thallus, the structure of which latter seems essentially to agree with that of the plant under consideration.
Dr. Moore exhibited the seeds of Disa grandiftora by reflected light. The reticulated outer skin of these formed very pretty objects.
Mr. Archer showed fine specimens of Sciadiwm arbuscula (Al. Braun) new to Ireland. This remarkable little alga had been recorded from several localities on the Continent, but only once before in Britain. The record in Britain was founded on three minute imperfect specimens, discovered by Currey in a pool on “ Paul Cray Common,” in Kent (‘ Quar. Journ. of Mic. Science,’ Vol. VI, p. 212); but although those specimens were not fully developed, they were quite enough to determine the plant. The specimens now exhibited showed the most varied stages of growth, from a simple, nearly cylindrical cell, mounted on a slender peduncle, by which is was attached (and in this stage it might-be readily mistaken for a Characium), up to a complete tree-like structure, with tertiary umbels. Very frequently the cells were very elongate, and sometimes considerably curved, in this respect unlike the figures given by Braun in ‘ Algarum unicellu- larium genera nova et minus cognita,’ t. iv. But in length and breadth, and in general outline of the cells, in the different speci- mens great variety occurred; and Mr. Archer thought that there was no ground for assuming more than one species, although Braun had described three forms as distinct (loc. cit., pp. 106-7). There is undoubtedly great affinity between Sciadium and Ophio- cytium, a.young Sciadium, if detached before forming the first umbel, being very like some individuals of Ophiocytiwm apicu- latium (Nag.). But no plant of Sciadium presented itself so much curved as is the casein Ophiocytium (in which the cells are mostly spirally contorted, often forming many coils) ; not to speak of the umbellate mode of growth of the former, by the gonidia remaining in the form of an umbel at, and becoming developed around, the opened apex of the parent cell, and in the latter the gonidia becoming wholly free and developed as separate, isolated indi- viduals. These specimens were taken in a pool near Bray, and were attached chiefly to Gdogoniwm tumidulum and to Vaucheria.
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 65
Dr. E. Perceval Wright exhibited the dental apparatus in situ of a tubicolar Annelid, which in all probability is the Nereis tubicola (O. F. Miiller), as described in ‘ Zoologia Danica,’ but which does not belong to the genus Onuphis (Milne- Edwards). The teeth are like those commonly met with in that section of the family Eunicea distinguished by having teeth, and they consist of a pair of sickle-shaped and three pairs of serrated horny teeth, in addition to a pair of well-developed teeth con- taining carbonate of lime.
Dr. John Barker showed fine examples from a copious gathering made in the Pheenix Park of the always beautiful Volvox globator.
Mr. Archer wished, while Volvox was before the meeting, to mention that he had lately made some observations on the ame- boid condition of the gonidia of this organism, largely confirming Dr. Hicks’s interesting statements.
Mr. Archer then exhibited fine and beautiful fresh examples of Mougeotia glyptosperma (de Bary) in every stage of conjugation, from the first approach of the parent filaments up to the fully formed and remarkably grooved zygospore. He showed de Bary’s figure of this plant (‘ Untersuchungen iiber die Familie der Conjugaten,’ t. viii, figs. 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25); also living conjugated examples of Mesocarpus parvulus and M. scalaris, in order to draw attention to the distinctions between Mougeotia glyptosperma and the latter —distinctions surely correctly regarded by de Bary as of generic value. This plant, as accurately identified, must be called new to Britain ; but it is not impossible that it may have been before met with, and recorded under the name of Mesocarpus intricatus ; but Mr. Archer had never seen authentic specimens of the plant known by the authorities under the latter name. Professor de Bary does not himself seem to have seen living examples of his Moug. glyptosperma, as his descriptions are drawn up from dried speci- mens from Professor Alex. Braun’s herbarium ; therefore it would seem asif this plant must be accounted rare. But the present remarkably pretty plant, as De Bary well points out (loc. cit.), is not truly a Mesocarpus, but in its mode of conjugation more nearly approaches certain Zygnemata, Ina systematic point of view, it presents double affinities, but it is nevertheless per se at once readily and unmistakably distinct, especially when seen conjugated. It is, no doubt, related, on the one hand, to Meso- carpus (Hass.); like it, the endochrome forms a compressed lon- gitudinal band, and like it, too, the zygospore is formed half-way between the two conjugating joints. But it is distinguished strongly by the fact that here the whole cell-contents, “ primordial utricles” and all, of the two conjugating joints, completely coa- lesce, leaving the old cell-walls wholly empty, in order to form the zygospore ; whilst in Mesocarpus the contact of the “ primordial utricles” of the two conjugating cells is not followed by a complete coalescence of the two into the zygospore, but, by a concentration of the principal part of the green and solid contents in the con-
VOL, VI.—-NEW SER. F
66 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.
necting canal half-way between the two joints, and the shutting off thereupon of the residue of the pale granular contents re- maining in each parent joint, the denser central portion becoming the spore, and that cut off on each side eventually becoming effete and lost. Hence, in Mougeotia glyptosperma (de Bary) the spore is the actual result of the complete fusion of the entire cell-con- tents of the two conjugating joints—it is the true zygospore; whilst in Mesocarpus the ultimate spore is a daughter-cell, as it were, of the zygospore. Therefore, on the other hand, the present plant shows an affinity to Zygnema; but it is, of course, com- pletely distinct in the flattened band of endochrome, not doubly stellate, as in that genus—not to speak of the extremely different comparative length of the cells, which, within the limits of each, is constant. The complete emptying out of the conjugating cells in this plant imparts a peculiar smooth, almost shming appear- ance to the filaments, which, coupled with the curious elliptic, grooved, and ridged spores, gives this plant, in this state, a very pretty appearance. The peculiar keeled form of the spore just alluded to can hardly be regarded as more than of specific im- portance. Other forms of the genus may present themselves pos- sibly without this character, and the genus must rest on the peculiar plan of conjugation. Mr. Archer thought it was to be regretted that Professor de Bary had revived the name “ Mou- eotia” in a new sense, as it may lead to confusion, he having proved that Mougeotia genuflexa (Ag.) is properly to be regarded as a Mesocarpus. In fact, when the genus now drawn attention to is mentioned, in order to avoid ambiguity it must be written Mougeotia (de Bary, non Ag.)—Mougeotia (Agardh) being in part equal to Mesocarpus (Hass.), de Bary. The differential character of the two genera were well exemplified by the speci- mens exhibited, contrasted with W/esocarpus scalaris, which species, so far as it goes, agrees with Mougeotia glyptosperma (de Bary) in having an elliptic spore, and in both the longer diameter thereof running at right angles to the conjugating joints. But, notwith- standing these resemblances, no one could examine them eyen for a moment without at once perceiving that they were quite specifi- cally distinct, though they might at first sight, perhaps, be thought to be of the same genus. But in this regard, too, a brief inspec- tion would show, as above detailed, that the characters appertain- ing to each were of abundant importance to separate generically Mesocarpus (Hass.) from Mougeotia (de Bary, non Ag.).
Mr. Archer laid on the table a number of very rare Desmidi- ace which he had lately been so fortunate as to encounter. The rarest was Stawrastrwm pungens (Bréb.), new to Ireland. This pretty little gem has only two localities mentioned by Ralfs, but it is recorded by de Brébisson at Falaise and by Bailey at New York. The present specimens were taken from a pool at the margin of “Callery Bog,” top of the “ Long Hill,” near “ Sugar- loaf”? mountain. The spines were finer and rather longer and not
PROCEEDINGS OB SOCIETIES, 67
quite so divergent as in the figure in Ralfs, but there could not be a doubt but that the present plant was the same species.— Another rare form was Stawrastrum oligacanthwm (Bréb. in herb.) ; this, however, Mr. Archer had once gathered here before. The present specimens came from the same pool as St. pungens. Staurastrum oligacanthum is an unpublished species of M. de Brebisson’s ; that skilled algologist had sent specimens and draw- ings thereof to Mr. Archer a couple of years ago. Of the identity of the present plant with the French specimens there could be no doubt, nor of the species being in itself exceedingly well marked and quite distinct. He supposed it would be presently figured and described.—Another rare species exhibited by Mr. Archer was one he was inclined to regard as Stawrastrum (Phycastrum) Griffithsianum (Nig.); of this form he, of course, had never seen authentic examples, and he had long been disposed to regard Phy- castrum Griffitheianwnm (Nag.) (‘Gattungen einzelliger Algen,’ p. 128) as identical with Stawrastrum spongiosum (Bréb.). But Staurastrum spongiosum (Bréb.) occurs, too, as a somewhat great rarity near Dublin, and, comparing the present plant therewith, especially in the end view (best seen in an empty frond), it seems to agree much better with Nageli’s figure (op. cit. t. viii, c. 2). In St. spongiosum the end view shows the sides convex, the spines evenly distributed, whilst in S¢. Griffithsianwm there is a some- what deeply rounded concavity, destitute of spines at the middle, on each side. These two seem, therefore, distinct. Their rarity, however, prevents a due examination and comparison.— Mr. Archer also showed specimens of Closteriwm prelongum (Bréb.), this being, so far as recorded, the second time it had occurred in this country. On the first occasion it was met by Mr. Dixon in a stream running into the Grand Canal near the city, mixed amongst attached filamentous alge (Bangia atropurpurea and Ulothrix zonata), but exceedingly sparingly. The present specimens occurred amongst Spirogyre and other Closteria in a ditch close beside the Royal Canal, also near the city. The examples now found were not quite so long as those which presented themselves on the first occasion, nor as De Brébisson’s figure (‘ Liste des Desmidiées observées en Basse-Normandie,’ t. ii, 41), but this notwithstanding they both represented one and the same species, one exceedingly elegant and well characterised.
Mr. Archer likewise laid on the table fine examples of Coleo- chete scutata in all stages of growth, from young plants of two cells up to the largest discs, the latter showing the oogonia fully developed.
July 20th, 1865. Mr. Archer showed a large (Edogonium, which he felt inclined
to regard as exceedingly closely related to, if not identical with, Vaupell’s Gdogonium setigerum, described in his ‘Iagttagelser
68 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.
over Befrugtningen hos en Art af Slegten Oedogonium.’ It seemed, however, so far as Mr. Archer could judge, to become a question whether this plant might not be identical with Prings- heim’s Cdogonium apophysatum, described in his ‘ Jahrbiicher fiir wissenschaftliche Botanik’ (i, p. 71). Pringsheim does not, indeed, describe his particular plant in all its details, as Vaupell does, but the characters, so far as given, seem in the main to coincide. But opposed to this supposition is the consideration that Vaupell, whea ue wrote, must have had Pringsheim’s memoir before him. The plant now exhibited had been found for three successive years in the same pool, in the “ Featherbed Bog,” and last year Mr. Archer had been disposed to regard it as Gidog. apo- physatum (Pringsheim), but he had not then seen Vaupell’s memoir. With the plant described and figured by the latter writer, so far as Mr. Archer had been able to see the characters, the present one best accorded; yet it disagreed in other points, which if, indeed, but comparatively of secondary importance, were yet sufficiently striking. The plant now brought forward has ege-shaped oospores ; the oogonium opens about the middle by a lateral aperture, which is minute, and bounded by a slight but evident projecting rim ; fructification “ gynandrosporous ;” dwarf male plants elongate, somewhat curved ; always seating themselves near the lower end of the cell, immediately beneath the oogonium, and with “foot” and “outer” antheridium; antheridium one or several-celled.
Now, all this accords so closely with Pringsheim’s description that one might be justified in taking it as the same plant. Butso far as the characters mentioned are concerned, and comparing them rather with Vaupell’s figures, this plant seemed best to agree with the latter. However, as Pringsheim is silent upon some points in connection with his plant upon which, in regard to his own plant, Vaupell dilates, the question as to the identity of the two is not rendered more certain. And in regard to the plant now exhibited, the difficulty is enhanced, as it is precisely the very points referred to by Vaupell that could not in the present instance be accurately made out. Vaupell describes the mother- cells of the androspores as forming nearly square or quadrate joints of the filament, and in direct succession, mostly four to eight, but sometimes as many as eighteen, which are separated by thick-walled septa; thus, as it were, as if an enlarged sporangium had become many celled. The lateral walls are described as of various thicknesses, indicating that they are developed both from “ sheath-cells”’ and ‘‘ cap-cells,”’ the lowest of the series being always a “ sheath-cell,” the highest a “cap-cell ;’’ whilst some of the intervening cells may be, he thinks, formed without the (cir- cumscissile) bursting of the parent cell, characteristic of ordinary growth. The androspores find their way out of these cells by a minute parietal aperture, not by a dehiscence. Now, the origin of the androspores is a point not dwelt upon by Pringsheim, as especially regards his @dogoniwm apophysatuin.
aT
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 69
In Mr. Archer’s plant instances of such series of quadrate cells were frequent, but in no instance were they found empty, nor could he see any indication as to which he would feel at all satis- fied that in his plant these peculiar cells were the mother-cells of androspores. Yet it is probable they may have been, for, although he had not been able to perceive the origin of the androspores, the dwarf male plants were present in abundance, and the andro- spores from which they were produced must have originated somewhere, although this was, unfortunately, failed to be made out.
Again, Vaupell lays great importance on the terminal hair-like prolongation to the filaments, and he names his plant setigerwm accordingly. Now, this character is one met with in other forms, and Pringsheim attaches little weight to it, and Vaupell himself mentions (loc. cit., p.20) that even in his plant they were not always, but only mostly, found. Perhaps, however, like thé terminal mucro, which in Gidogonium Itzigsohni (de Bary) is certainly a special character, and seemingly always present in young plants (as pointed out by Mr. Archer at last meeting of the club), it may often become detached, and thus many of the filaments seem as if destitute of this prolongation. But be this as it may, and its pre- sence or absence worth what it may, in the plant now exhibited it may be most safely said that it does not exist at any time, which circumstance, so far as it goes, serves to remove it from Vaupell’s. And the presence or absence of these hair-like attenuated pro- longations may, perhaps, be of more value than Pringsheim sup- poses, inasmuch as Vaupell believes that the vegetative growth ot this part of the filament follows another plan from that of the ordinary Cdogonium-plant, m that here, he says, the growth is like that of ordinary Conferve, and that no “ cap-cells’” exist. If this be true, these hair-like prolongations exhibit a perhaps note- worthy differentiation of structure from the rest of the plant.
With the foregoing exceptions, the present plant seemed quite to agree with Vaupell’s plant, the form, structure, and position of the dwarf male plants being alike, as well as that of the antheridia, spermatozoids, and oogonia. ‘Two oogonia sometimes occurred, indeed, in direct succession.
By a fortunate coincidence, Mr. Archer was able to place on the able living fruited examples of some other_species of G@idogonium, as to which he thought no doubt could exist as to their identity with certain of Pringsheim’s species, though he had unfortunately been unable to preserve any specimens. These were Gidogoniwm tumidulum, Cegemelliparum (?), and Gi. Braunit. He was unable to lay hands on @. echinospermum, though he had met with it lately. He took the opportunity to mention that he had lately taken an (Edogonium which he could not but refer to @. Rothii, which presented the peculiarity of the oogonia being developed in direct succession to the number of eleven and lesser numbers. Although the number of eleven was not infrequent, it was perhaps singular that he had never once seen a greater. This peculiarity gave the
70 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES,
filaments a remarkable and exceedingly pretty moniliform appear- ance.
Tn continuation, Mr. Archer dilated at some length on the cha- racters which seemingly hold good as specific marks in this in- teresting genus, thanks to Pringsheim’s masterly researches; ex- pressing his regret likewise that authors continue to describe species on the false characters of length and breadth of cells, and such like. It would seem far better wholly to omit them from descriptive works than to insert these spurious species, or at least, species some of which may be good, though inadequately charac- terised, owing to the real, though more recondite, specific charac- ters being ignored. It is to be regretted that Rabenhorst’s in most respects so exceedingly valuable work, ‘ Kryptogamen- Flora von Sachsen,’ &c., is, as regards this genus and Bulbochete, no exception to this fault. But, in expressing this opinion, Mr, Archer would not wish to be supposed to hold the characters de- ducible from the comparative dimensions of the joints in this genus to be quite valueless. Within certain limits, and in a secondary point of view, they are doubtless of importance, although here, as is well known, varied comparative dimensions of cells occur in one and the same filament. For instance, even any isolated jot from a barren filament of the present plant could never be supposed to belong to, nor be mistaken for, a joint of Gdogonium Itzigsohnit. The former is amongst the largest, both in length and width (which, indeed, vary amongst themselves within their own limits) ; the latter is amongst the smallest, the joints not varying greatly in width, which is always very slight.
Mr. Archer would quite coincide with Professor Pringsheim’s opinion, that the genus Psichohormium (Kiitzing) was likewise founded on false characters, and that the mineral incrustation of the filaments on which this genus was founded, is, as a character, quite untenable. He thought Gdogoniwm twmidulwm very prone to this condition ; and it does not seem impossible that other forms not belonging to Gidogonium might acquire this extraneous coat- ing, and so be by Kiitzing placed under his false genus Psicho- hormium.
In two places in his beautiful memoir Professor Pringsheim promises to give a more detailed systematic description of the species known to him of the two genera (idogonium and Bulbo- chete, and it is greatly to be wished that he should redeem that promise ; however, what he has given beautifully shows the plan which should be followed in studying these forms; and though they are more recondite than those superficial characters usually had recourse to, he has shown us the points upon which the true specific characters seem to depend, albeit one must trust to mostly a rare good fortune in finding the specimens in the condition in which those characters are fully displayed.
Mr. Archer exhibited specimens of a Desmidian which, as far as he was aware, had not been found in Ireland—Cosmarium curtum
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 71
(Ralfs) = Peniwm curtum (Bréb.). Mr. Archer had but once before seen living specimens, and they were brought by Mr. Crowe from Wales. The present specimens occurred in considerable quan- tity by the road-side in a little shallow pool—almost a puddle— close by the foot-path just before you come to the bridge over the Dargle-River on the road between Bray and Enniskerry. This very habitat might indicate that this species may be more common with us than might at first sight appear; occurring where one might almost least expect to find it, and far removed from the situations where other Desmidiacee abound, it may be overlooked. Alex. Braun, in his ‘Rejuvenescence in Nature’ (p. 203, note), adverts at some length to this pretty species, and he blames Ralfs for placing it in the genus Cosmarium, remarking that a regard to the arrangement of the cell-contents should have saved him from the error of placing it in that genus, and not in Penium, to which Braun thinks it properly belongs. But if the endochrome being arranged in fillets (radiately in end view) should remove this plant, notwithstanding its possession of a distinct constric- tion dividing the frond into two segments, from Cosmarium to Penium, the same reason should hold good as regards Cosmariwm Ralfsii, 1 very large and very deeply constricted form. That pretty and, with us, rare form, Cosmarium moniliforme, likewise shows an arrangement of the endochrome in fillets. However, in making these remarks, and in drawing attention to the fact that Braun’s reasoning must apply to other forms than COosmariwn curtum (Ralfs), Mr. Archer would by no means aver that the dis- position of the endochrome in these plants may not be of even greater importance than the outward figure, and there can be no doubt but that it is at least equally constant and characteristic, in its way, of certain species. Thus, the genus Pleurotenium may be very good, containing, as it does, forms referable in outward figure on the one hand to Cosmarium, and on the other to Doci- dium. But, again, characters-drawn from the arrangement of the endochrome are under the disadvantage of not being available unless the specimens are quite fresh and recent ; in mounted pre- parations the cell-contents become so altered that such characters mostly become quite irrecognisable. Moreover, if this course were fully carried out it would seem almost as if Penium and Closte- rium should be united, as the endochrome in both genera is in fillets (radiate in end view), a step which Braun and those who hold with him do not adopt or sanction.
Mr. Archer likewise presented specimens of Closteriwm linea (Perty), common here, but the peculiarity consisted in the numerous examples having become aggregated in greater or less numbers into bundles or fascicles, the individuals closely approxi- mating and cohering, sometimes juxtaposed side by side into long-drawn-out chains, more or less overlapping. ‘The central pair of each bundle, closely encompassed by numerous othet fronds, had become conjugated, ‘and the subcruciate zygospdre
72 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES,
(elliptic in side view) was fully formed. The whole mass thus assumed a most remarkable appearance. It would be hard to guess why each conjugating pair became so closely embraced by so many other fronds, seemingly themselves with no intention to conjugate, or how they were held together, no common mucous investment or matrix being evident. It was only by pressing them out and so separating the fascicles of fronds, that the conju- gated pair with its zygospore could be fully disclosed, although without doing so the dark central zygospore could be seen through the mass. These specimens occurred as a thin floating film on the surface of a pool in “ Feather-bed Bog,’ exposed to the warm sun, and almost looked to the eye as if dry on the upper surface. Some of this thin stratum was easily made to flow into a small bottle, when it was readily seen that it was composed of quantities of this species, to the naked eye, in this aggregated state, some- what like the little clusters or fascicles formed by Aphanizomenon flos-aque, but, of course, of a different hue and on a scale consider- ably reduced.
Mr. Archer also showed specimens of the minute Palmel- lacean plant, Nephrocytiwum Agardhianum, var. minus {Nag.). Be this a form or a species, it must be counted new to Britain, for, even as may be contended, that it is but a developmental stage of some higher plant, it is at least one which has not before been detected in this country. Nigeli, indeed, himself considers the two forms described by him as varieties of one and the same plant; and the fact that in the present gathering both forms— that is, Mephrocytium Agardhianum majus (Nag.) and NV. Agard- hianum, minus (Nag.)—occurred, seems, so far as it goes, to strengthen this view, but Mr. Archer had not as yet seen any forms that could be regarded as intermediate. The former occurred very sparingly in the gathering, the latter tolerably abundantly. On the other hand, the former (“majus”) had occurred to Mr. Archer once before in a pool near Lough Bray (the present gathering was made in the “ Rocky Valley’’), and again in a gathering made by Captain Hutton, in spring, in the County of Donegal, and in neither instance did the latter (‘‘minus”) make its appearance. The plant now exhibited agreed very well with Nageli’s figure; there was the same elongate, elliptic, or somewhat reniform outer envelope—the same elongate figure of the contained cells—the same spiral arrange- ment of these, and seemingly the same dimensions. - The greatest difference seemed to be that in the present plant the cells imme- mediately after division appeared to be somewhat attenuated towards the ends turned towards each other where division had just taken place, lending to such a somewhat cuneate figure. But this difference may arise from Niigeli’s drawing being taken some time after division had been accomplished, when the cells seem to acquire a like figure at both extremities, thus losing the attenuated ends, and as they grow in length assuming a slight
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 73
curvature, as it were adapting themselves to the form and adjust- ing themselves to the confinement of the outer, somewhat firm, cominon investment. Families occurred with two, four, eight, and sixteen cells; specimens with a greater number did not pre- sent themselves. Families also presented themselves, to the number of eight, contained within a very large reniform common hyaline envelope—that is the individual cells of an old family had given rise each to a new young family without becoming freed from the original investing envelope, which thus became inordinately distended for the accommodation of the new young families, still however retaining its original reniform figure, a condition not mentioned by Nigeli.
Specimens of the zygospore of Euastrum elegans and of Stau- rastrum orbiculare, in a fresh condition, Mr. Archer likewise laid upon the table.
MancnHester LiteRARY AND PuHtLosornicart Soctrnry.
The following observations on Foraminifera were made at a meeting of the Microscopical Section, held November, 28th, 1864:
Notes on Natural History Specimens lately received from Connemara. By Tuomas Atcocx, M.D.
The series of specimens which I have now to lay before you is so extensive, and I believe so interesting, that parts of it might properly form the material for several distinct communications ; but at present I propose to show them as a whole, and, with the specimens, to hand in as complete lists as I can of the species in each class.
The richness of the coast of Galway is well known to ever student of British marine zoology ; for to whatever branch of the subject he devotes himself he finds alike that here some of his rarest treasures are to be obtained. It is not with the hope of making known to you much that is new that I am led to introduce this subject to your notice, but chiefly because I am convinced that natural history work amongst ourselves is best promoted by the formation of exact lists of the species which we actually know to have been found at some particular localities ; and such lists of Connemara specimens, imperfect as they must necessarily be at first, I have now to lay before you. It is, however, no more than might be expected that, in the course of careful examinations of so many objects, some points have occurred to me which I think
74 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES,
worthy of notice, and these I shall mention as I come to them in their natural order.
In the first place I have to show specimens of three species of Nullipore-—-namely, IV. polymorpha, N. calcarea, and N. fascieu- lata; also NV. ealcarea, var. depressa.
The list of Foraminifera is an extensive one, especially con- sidering that all my specimens are from shore-sand and from one locality. This sand is from Dogs Bay, Roundstone, and consists of many kinds of small shells of Mollusca, among which Risso and Lacune are more noticeable at first sight, fragments of Lepraliz and other Zoophytes, spines of Amphidotus, and sponge- spicula, while the finer parts are made up entirely of Foraminifera. Of these I have found fifty-eight species and named varieties, and also six very distinct forms which are not mentioned in Professor Williamson’s ‘Monograph on Recent British Foraminifera,’ Specimens of these, and of all the other forms contained in the list, are mounted for inpseetion.
In the course of my frequent examinations of these objects I have made a few observations on several of them, which may per- haps be interesting. ies.
ft find Orbulina wniversa common in the Dogs Bay sand; that is, [ have picked out some hundreds of specimens. They vary greatly in size, the largest being four or five times the diameter of the smallest. They have the surface frosted with larger and smaller tubercles, arranged with a certain kind of regularity ; but, though thus rough externally, the texture of the shell does not appear to be arenaceous, as stated by Professor Williamson—at least, if by that term is meant that it is formed of agglutinated grains of sand, as is the case with some other species. When examined with a high power and transmitted light, the larger and smaller tubercles show black from their density, and the spaces between them are partly occupied by objects lke very transparent thin plates, of a uniform size and an imperfectly squared figure ; the impression these convey being that they have been produced by a kind of crystallization of the material of the shell at the time of its original formation. I conclude that the colourless condition of my specimens depends on the perfect manner in which all animal matter has disappeared, and I think for an examination of the mere structure of the outer case this must be an advantage, Tt may be interesting to note that among the specimens are a few with one or more protuberances of parts of their surface, destroy- ing the regular spherical figure, and indicating an incipient budding before the shell hardened; there is also one large and very handsome double specimen.
Besides the Orbulinas, I have an example of another kind of spherical object, which for convenience I will mention here, though I do not suppose it to belong to the Foraminifera at all. It looks like a sphere of the most transparent glass, and is without colour or markings of any kind.
I have found all the forms of Lagena, excepting ZL. vulgaris
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 75
typiea and L. gracilis. Lagena striata and interrupta are abun- dant ; and these, with very few exceptions, have the cost passing forward to the extremity of the neck, in which case it is only one half of the whole number which do so, each alternate one stopping short at the base. Specimens where the coste wind spirally around the neck are equally common: with those in which they take a straight course. These Lagene have the appearance of old coarse shells, but they do not seem to have suffered from attrition ; they are scarcely ever found with the neck broken short, though it may perhaps be almost equally rare to meet with one absolutely perfect. The varieties clavata, perlucida, semistriata, and sub- striata, are comparatively rare, and all of them have forms and characters very distinct from striata and interrupta, while the two latter agree perfectly excepting in the matter of the coste, which are found in different specimens to be interrupted in a great variety of ways, those with the costs perfectly continuous being the least common; so that the conclusion I am inclined to come to is, that they need not be separated even as varieties, and that, whatever doubts may remain as to some of the other named varie- ties, the great abundance of these two and the constancy of their general characters make it certain that together they will form a good species under the name of Lagena striata. A. few speci- mens of this species have a mucro at the base, and deformed ones are not uncommon ; these, besides having the body variously mis- shapen, often have the neck bent, sometimes even so much as to give the specimen the form of a retort.
The Dogs Bay sand contains many forms of Entosolenia, some of them agreeing with those described by Professor Williamson, but others distinct ; and of these latter ] have ventured to name two, which may be described as follows:—1. Hntosolenia William- soni, a very abundant form, might pass at first sight for Lagena striata with the neck broken away, but a close examination shows it is a perfect shell, the body like Z. striata, but rather less full in proportion to its length than is usual in Connemara specimens, and the texture a little more glassy ; its chief peculiarity, how- ever, is in the neck, which is short and formed of two distinct portions, the first directly continuous with the body and having an outline similar to that of the lower part of the neck of Lagena abruptly cut short, and the second a cylindrical tube of com- paratively small diameter continued from the middle of it. The first portion is ornamented with three circles of hexagonal reticu- lations, which are continuous below by their inferior angles with the longitudinal costz of the body, and present an interesting combination of the superficial characters of #. costata and LF. squamosa.—2. Entosolenia Montagui is a squamous form, but differs from the named varieties of H. sqguamosa in having its surface really covered with a pattern like scales instead of with raised reticulations. Well-developed specimens are not all flattened, though many are found as if crushed, and they then present an appearance resembling a dried fig; the true shape,
76 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.
however, is a perfect oval, full and well rounded at the smaller end, and from the middle of this projects a short, smooth, eylin- drical tube. Wiih a low power of the microscope the whole surface of the body appears to be made up of small, aimost square facets, arranged in distinct longitudinal rows, but when these are more highly magnified each flattened surface is seen to rise a little anteriorly, and to have the front border rounded so as to give exactly the appearance of a covering of scales. }
So far as I have yet seen, the forms of Dentalina and Cristellaria are very rare in this sand, Nonionina Jeffreysii and elegans are also scarce, but Patellina corrugata, which is described as a rare species, is not very uncommon, and some remarkably fine speci- mens have been met with. All the forms of Rotalina occur excepting two, and there are several undescribed ones in addition ; at present I have seen only one specimen of the rare species 2. inflata. There are two distinct varieties of Globigerina, one with the chambers globular, the other having them considerably flattened, which gives quite a different character to the shell. ‘Prunuatulina lobata is by far the most abundant species, and with Miliolina seminulum, constitutes the chief bulk of the sand. The two forms of Cassidulina are equally common, and specimens have not been met with presenting intermediate links. Polymorphina lactea occurs in profusion, and, though the forms which are dis- tinguished as typica, oblonga, and commuwis, are well marked, a considerable proportion of the whole number of specimens collected seem to indicate an absence of any definite plan in the arrange- ment of the segments, the chambers being evidently thrown together without order, and in some cases producing an irregular - nodulated mass, with two, three, or more distinct and perfectly formed open mouths on different parts of the surface. I find also specimens consisting of nothing more than the primordial segment, and these might be mistaken for a form of Hntosvlenia globosa but for the peculiar texture of the shell and the radiating grooves around the mouth; they are worthy, I think, of particular notice, as possibly capable of furnishing some more reliable marks of distinction than are found in adult shells, though at present all I have seen are of one character.
The forms of Textularia are numerous, and among them are four which can readily be separated, but may still pass for varie- ties of 7. cuneiformis ; one of them, however, differs considerably in having the texture of the shell much finer, and the chambers fullandrounded. Tewxtularia conica is abundant, and its character in these Connemara specimens, is so distinct from 2. cwneiformis that it seems impossible to admit it as only a variety of that species. In many of the specimens the apex of the cone is broken, exposing always three chambers, which are arranged like a trefoil and are placed almost on the same plane.
An examination of the specimens before you of the two forms of Biloculina, named respectively in Professor Williamson’s work B. ringens typica, and B. ringens, var. carinata, will suggest, I
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. taf i
think, a doubt as to whether it is correct to throw them together as one species, the texture of the shells as well as the form of their mouths being very different.
All the named varieties of Miliolina oeceur in abundance, and among them are great numbers of evidently distorted and mis- shapen specimens, which appear to me to give no help whatever by the way of supplying inosculating forms, but may prove useful in indicating facts bearing on the general development of the animals. Specimens with the Jast chamber, not broken, but clearly left in- complete, are by no means uncommon.
A cepgeataag® tee
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~~
ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS.
On the Anatomy of Ascaris (ATRACTIS) DACTYLURIS. By ALEXANDER MacatisteEr, F.R.G.S.I., L.R.C.S.1L.*
As the attention of the Members of the Natural History Society of Dublin has been of late directed to the considera- tion of the group of Entozoa, I think it might not be unin- teresting to communicate a few anatomical facts with regard to the structure of a species of intestinal worm which has lately fallen under my observation. While engaged in ex- amining the anatomy of Testudo greca, I was surprised to find that the alimentary canal in all the individuals which I dissected was filled with worms in large quantities, in fact, that entozoa constituted more than half their feecal contents ; of these there were several species, but that which was most numerous was the small, white, usually straight, and some- what shuttle-shaped Ascaris dactyluris, first discovered by Bremser, and named by Rudolphi. The species is described by the latter naturalist in his ‘Synopsis Entozoorum,’ pp. 40- 272, as “ Ascaris dactyluris capite nudo, corpore utrinque eequaliter attenuato, caudo femine longa subulata, maris apice brevis obtuso depresso ante quem spicula passim substantia passim egressa vasa in vaginam fimbriatam.” In his sub- sequent description he refers to it as being found in great abundance; he obtained “ multa millia specimina ut maxima feecum pars lisdem constaret,” exactly according with my own experience as stated above; he likewise describes it as being from two to two and a half lines long, with a three-valved head ; a straight, narrow cesophagus, which is longer in the male than in the female, a subglobose stomach, and elliptic oblong ova, each with a large and obscurely divided nucleus. There are several points of greater or less importance which he has omitted in his description, but on the whole these characters are very distinct. Dujardin, in the appendix to his work on ‘Intestinal Worms,’ refers to this animal, and states his opinion that it should be separated from the genus Ascaris on account
* Read before the Natural History Society of Dublin, 2nd June, 1865. VOL. VI.—NEW SER. G
80 MACALISTER, ON ASCARIS DACTYLURIS.
of its obscurely bi- or trilobate mouth and its unequal spicula ; he does not enter into any further details respecting its struc- ture, but expresses his regret at not having been able to fulfil his original intention of thoroughly examining its internal organization. <A few notices of this species likewise occur in Siebold’s ‘ Anatomy of Invertebrates,’ but, with these excep- tions, I am not aware of there being any special anatomical description of this creature extant.
The specimens which I have been enabled to examine are whitish in colour, mostly straight, though at times a little curved at the distal extremity, and measuring as an average about two lines and three fifths in length, the range being from one line and a quarter, as a minimum, to five lines as a maximum ; the breadth in the centre varies from one tenth to one quarter of a line, and in some of the largest exceeded that amount. The males, which are very much fewer than the females (at least among those that I examined not one in fifty were males), are much smaller, and average in length a line and seven eighths ; they are more curved than the latter, and sometimes exhibit a partial dorsal constriction at the junction of the anterior and middle thirds. The females are usually about two and a half to three lines in length.
The integument is transparent, wrinkled tranversely or annulated; but this appearance is not always distinct in recent specimens, or in those kept in aqueous solutions; when, however, they are immersed in any dense fluid, which will cause a rapid exosmosis, the animal becomes slightly shrivelled, and the annulations are then seen with the utmost clearness ; when placed in spirits of wine the integument be- comes firmer and less transparent, and the annulations also seen with considerable distinctness. A few longitudinal striz are visible on the outer layer, but they do not seem to be regular in their position or arrangement. Towards the taila considerable number of distinct oblique lines are occasionally seen radiating from the anus to the dorsal aspect, but they do not seem to be deeper than the superficial tegumentary layer ; they commence at the ventral line and extend symmetrically on either side of it towards the dorsal surface, but stop short about the middle of that aspect. Two lateral lines can be traced with great facility, commencing narrow at the head, widening slightly in the centre, and passing backwards to the posterior extremity or tail, where they also taper a little, and end near its tip by gradually diminishing ; but whether these lines be muscular, as Rudolphi thought, in other species of Ascaris, or vascular, as supposed by Eberth, or nervous, as imagined by Cuvier, Willis, and Cobbold, I could not even
MACALISTER, ON ASCARIS DACTYLURIS. 81
conjecture in such a minute species. These lines appear to be made up of longitudinal striz, with dark granules in their intervals. Anterior and posterior lines are also visible, but less distinct in general than the lateral. The tail is very variable in shape; in the female it sometimes is short and rapidly acuminated; in other specimens it is long, attenuated, and occasionally even uncinated at its extremity ; near the tip small papillz or elevations are obvious, and in some indi- viduals these give an obscure appearance of serration to its -margin. The tail of the male is much shorter, blunter, and more rapidly narrowed to its rounded end, which is more be- velled in its ventral than on its dorsal aspect, to accommodate the masculine organs of reproduction.
The head presents three tubercles, which are nearly equal in size, but they are not so distinct as they appear to be in other allied species; they exhibit several small irregular granulations on their inner or oral aspect ; on using gentle compression I was able in several individuals to see a fine, slightly curved tube projecting between the three tubercles ; this, I think, is similar to the tube referred to by Bremser in other species of Ascaris, which he takes to be the true mouth, but which appearance Wedl considers to be due to the protru- sion of the everted lining of the cleft proboscis. Through it I was enabled to evacuate, by gentle pressure, currents of granules from the cesophagus.
In a few of my specimens two lateral ale exist, one on either side of the head ; but this appearance seemed rather un- common, as I could only find it in about eight per cent. of the examined specimens ; when present these wings commence immediately outside the tubercles by a raised or prominent circular collar, behind which the flat, slightly wrinkled ale start and extend backwards and outwards for a short distance, when they rather suddenly contract until their margins be- come continuous with the wrinkled integument. Though this appears the usual disposition of the wings, it is sometimes departed from ; as in one individual I saw the wings extending down the anterior part of the body for a considerable distance, and gradually diminishing until they were lost about half a line behind the head ; in one case, also, the naked subglobose head was united to the trunk by a narrow neck, which was bordered by aslight ala. These variations show, I think, how | little these appendages, per se, are to be valued as marks for the distinction of species. I could not associate their presence with any conditions of age or sex, for though I only saw them in females, they were by no means frequent in that sex, and seemed completely irrespective of youth or maturity.
82 MACALISTER, ON ASCARIS DACTYLURIS.
From the head the esophagus passes backwards, and is variable in position and length. It is usually curved, with its concavity directed forwards, and it forms about one third of the entire diameter of the animal’s body; it is not, how- ever, uniform in calibre, for in some individuals it exhibits slight constrictions, while in others it was dilated into shallow pouches. Its cavity seemed to be like that of other ascarides, rather triquetrous than cylindrical, and its walls were marked with longitudinal strie; but whether these were due to muscularity or no I could not positively pronounce, though, from the thickness of the coats, it is most probable that it is a muscular tube. As remarked by Rudolphi, it is much longer and straighter in males than in females, and varies from one third to one tenth the length of the entire body, being shortest in those females which were crowded with eggs, and longest in the adult males, Its lower end, after a slight constriction, became suddenly dilated into a globose stomach, called by Rudolphi the proventriculus, which is very thick in its coats, and filled with a greenish-coloured mass. Its cardiac orifice is rather narrow and constricted, while the pyloric aperture is wider, and when compressed seems some- what valvular, the granular contents passing more freely from the stomach to the intestine than in the contrary direction. In some individuals this cavity was perfectly globular, in others it was slightly conical and flattened; its usual shape is that of an oblate spheroid, to the poles of which the cso- phagus and intestine are attached. A similar globose cavity in Ascaris infecta is described under the name of gizzard by Dr. Leidy, in the first part of the ‘Smithsonian Contribu- tions, page 43. From the inside of the body-wall three or four apparently solid curved processes pass to the wall of the stomach, and serve to suspend it in the animal’s body-cavity. The intestine commences by a clavate dilatation, which gradu- ally narrows, and passes in almost a straight course back to the anus, which is a slit-like orifice, situated a little in front of the tail. Shortly before it reaches this point the gut ex- hibits a slight enlargement, below which the narrower sub- cylindrical or pyriform rectum turns off at an obtuse angle, and terminates the canal. Around the constriction, which marks the origin of the rectum, are arranged four small pyri- form sacs, one in front, one on either side, and one posteriorly, granular in appearance, and having their narrow peduncles or necks continuous with a duct which opens into the gut immediately above its termination. In one specimen a spur was seen distinctly passing backwards to the body-wall from the anterior extremity of the cceca. Concerning the nature
MACALISTER, ON ASCARIS DACTYLURIS. 83
of these bodies we may hazard several conjectures ; they might be the representative of such a compound or branched alimentary canal as is found in other Entozoa and in Annelida, or they might be special secreting organs. With regard to the first of these theories, it is known that intestinal cceca do occur in other species of Entozoa. Mehlis, in ‘ Isis,’ for 1831, p. 91, describes several of these in various species of Ascaris; and Leidy (loc. cit., p. 49, and Pt. vii, of art. 2) figures a large coecum in Zhelustomum appendiculatum. In these, however, the diverticula arise high in the digestive tract near the point of junction of the stomach and cesophagus, and often directly below the cesophageal constriction, which is far from being the case in the subject before us. Their granular nature, narrow necks, and constant low position, as well as their number, and the length and distinctness of their ducts, have led me to think that they might perhaps be organs of excretion; mayhap the earliest traces of renal organs in the animal kingdom. It may be remembered, wiih regard to this, that the presence of distinct secreting glan- dular organs in Nematoid Entozoa is no new fact, for Professor Owen has described salivary cceca as existing in Grathostoma aculeata. Other glands also have likewise been described, which I will notice more particularly hereafter. From the side of the intestine, below these ceca, fine lateral threads pass off, and are lost on the body-wall above the anus; these seem to suspend the gut and the cceca, and might be named retinacula.
The nervous system, if any existed (which we may suppose to be the case from analogy), completely eluded my search. There are, as I have before stated, dorso-ventral lines, and in some individuals the ventral was much the larger and more distinct ; it may be nervous in its nature, but presented no distinct character by which I could recognise it as such.
On the ventral aspect of both sexes, corresponding to a concave and well-marked sinuosity or depression of the super- ficial abdominal line, a very small bilobate aperture was visible on the body-wall opposite, or a little above the level of the upper dilated end of the intestine; in one or two, however, it was much below this point; from this a small tube passed for a very short distance inwards, and then gave off four small prolongations, two of which pass forward, and are lost in the anterior part of the lateral lines, while the other pair pass back into the posterior portion of the same lines, where they expand into very small dilatations, beyond which they are not traceable.
It was with very considerable interest that I detected this
84. MACALISTER, ON ASCARIS DACTYLURIS.
structure, which is similar to that described and figured in the appendix to Bagge’s ‘ Dissertatio de Evolutione Stron- gylus auricularis, and which has been traced by Diesing in other Nematodes. Mehlis, in his paper in ‘Isis, 1831, p- 81, describes a similar organ as existing in Strongylus hypostoma, but imagined he saw it passing as far forward as the mouth, in which he thought that it terminated; but this error was corrected by Von Siebold; and in many of my specimens the character of the external foramen is seen with extreme clearness. This undoubtedly is a glandular organ, but of what nature it is hard to say. Mehlis (loc. cit.) has put forward a not improbable hypothesis regarding its use, and imagines that it pours out an irritating secretion, which stimulates the wall of the intestine of the host, and so causes it to pour out an increased amount of pabulum for the animal’s wants : such may be the case, but we have no evidence on the subject.
Enveloping in its convolutions the intestinal canal in the female, a tortuous elongated ovarian tube can be traced, usually single, though in three of my specimens I found it to be double; it commences by a narrow but not very sharp- pointed extremity, which is apparently attached slightly to the deep surface of the body-wall, near the lower end of the cesophagus; from this point it courses tortuously, measuring, when extended, twice or three times the length of the entire body of the animal. At its commencement it contains a finely granular, almost homogeneous, mass, which shortly becomes consolidated into oval vitelline masses, which soon, at a small and very imperfectly marked dilatation in the tube, become perfect ova of a narrow elliptic shape, composed of a dark granular, at first obscurely divided, vitellus, which occupies one half of the bulk of each ovum, and is surrounded by a transparent albuminous fluid enclosed in a hard casing or shell. These ova are arranged in a single row in the lower or uterine portion of the oviduct, and occasionally from a rupture of this tube they may be seen floating free in the body- cavity of the parent.
The perfect ova are not so numerous as they are described to be in other species of Ascaris. I have found them to range between twelve and fifty-five in number. The uterine tube or oviduct terminates at a small and oblique opening on the ventral aspect of the animal, and usually at a point midway between the stomach and the anus. In case the oviducts be double, they coalesce shortly before they arrive at the vulva. Siebold refers to this opening as being a transverse slit with swollen margins, but it certainly seemed to me to be roundish
MACALISTER, ON ASCARIS DACTYLURIS, 85
and bordered by a slightly prominent lip or margin. The coats of the duct thicken, and the cavity contracts imme- diately before it ends at this aperture. When some of these females were left immersed in water for a week the ova commenced to become developed. At first the eggs were filled with the finely granular, irregularly divided vitellus, which regularly segmented. Its first stages of segmentation escaped my observation, and many ova presented six, nine, or more globules of the parted yolk when first I examined them. Soon the mass became finely granular, and assumed an ellip- tical shape, which in some became curved or arcuated. The two extremities then begin to be differentiated, and from the posterior end a lateral turn or projection extends, at first short, but soon considerably elongating, until it becomes re- markably like the tail of the adult, twisted to one side. The anterior end becomes blunt and somewhat flattened, and no granules appear in it. At this stage, in some of the more perfect, a moniliform thread appears to pass down the centre of the body from the mouth to the root of the tail SG ese forming the primitive trace of the alimentary canal.
I was not able to observe the development of the ee tory apparatus, but it is probable that it does not appear until the young animal has become liberated from its shell. All the changes which I have noted took place inside the oviduct of the mother, but I also observed ova floating in the sur- rounding fluid in similar conditions of development.
The male sexual organs are made up of, first, a testis, tubular and elongated, but not as long as the ovary; this begins small and rapidly thickens, until it rivals the intestine in size; this is at first filled with an indistinct granular material, but afterwards contains more perfectly elaborated spermatic fluid. These tubes are not easily unravelled, and in some males (probably those which are immature) the whole glandular mass seems as though it were a lobulated indivisible structure. _ Near the posterior extremity of the body the testicular tube ends in a large dark, rough, bilobed, seminal vesicle, which lies on the ventral surface of the intestine, and sends off below a narrow duct to the root of the intromittent organ. In front of the blunt bevelled tail projects the spiculum, a slightly curved body with a pointed pen-shaped extremity ; half of it is included in a canal in the animal’s body, from which it passes by a small opening, whose pro- jecting margins overlay its sides for a short distance.
A little im front, and to the side of the large spiculum, a smaller one is seen, much more acute, and communicating with the spermatic vesicle by a small canal. This second
86 RICHARDSON, ON STOPS FOR OBLIQUE ILLUMINATION.
smaller organ did not escape the attention of Dujardin, and it was noticed by that naturalist as a character marked enough to separate this species from Ascaris, and to elevate it into a genus by itself. To this distinction I think we will be able to confirm its claim after our careful examination ; first, on account of its unequal spicula; second, from its rudimentary ccecal secreting appendages; thirdly, from the comparative indistinctness of its oral tubercles ; and so, follow- ing the great French helminthologist, I think we are justified in naming it Atractis dactyluris.
I cannot close these remarks without taking the opportunity of recognising my obligation to Dr. John Barker for his in- valuable assistance in the course of my investigation, in veri- fying from independent observations almost all the results which I have tabulated in this paper.
AppITIONAL Stop recommended for oblique illumination with the Acuromatic ConpEenseR. By B. Witis RicHarp- son, F.R.C.S8.I., Surgeon to the Adelaide Hospital, Dublin.
In the January number of this Journal I drew the atten- tion of microscopists to some advantages which I had derived from the use of peculiar-shaped stops delineated in that communication. After my paper had been printed I further experimented on oblique illumi- nation with stops, one of which I found so par- ticularly useful that I have had the accompanying illustration made of it. :
It might be thought that with this stop and high powers, such as the 1th and ~,th, the light would be too much inter- cepted. It is not so, however, for at the present moment I have before me the markings of P. Fasciola beautifully dis- played by it, and a 4th of T. Ross’s make. I can, therefore, also speak as highly of this stop as I did of those recom- mended in my last communication. In the short paper just referred to, 1 mentioned that at the time of writing it, the highest powers I had used with the stops were the 1th and 1th objectives. Since then, I have tried them with Nachet’s objective 7, which is equivalent to about the =,th of English makers, and have found that it performs excel-
—
RICHARDSON, ON STOPS FOR OBLIQUE ILLUMINATION, 87
lently with some of the stops ; best, however, with the second of the former illustration, the stop with the largest circular holes. The Nachet’s 7 I use, is without a covering glass adjustment, so that it is really wonderful the definition it gives with the aid of the stop I have described.
QUARTERLY CHRONICLE OF MICROSCOPICAL SCIENCE.
GERMANY.—Kolliker’s und Siebold’s Zeitschrift. No. 1, 1866.—The first part of the sixteenth volume of this most satisfactory journal appeared in March. It contains the following papers:
1. “ Researches on Connective Tissue and its Ossification,” a valuable paper by Dr. Leonard Landois, which may be compared with Dr. Waldeyer’s essay on ossification in Max Schultze’s ‘ Archiv.’
2. “Larval Eyes (Ocelli compositi, mihi) ,” by Dr. Hermann Landois.—Malpighi was the first anatomist who recognised these eyes, of which he speaks in his essay on the silkworm. Dr. Landois here goes thoroughly into their structure and form in various insects, treating of them under the following heads :—1. The situation of the eyes. 2. The larval eye. 3. The cornea. 4. The lenses. 5. Theiris. 6. The so-called crystalline body. 7. The envelopes. 8. The muscles of the larval eye. 9. The two enveloping membranes. 10. The optic nerve. 11. The trachez of the eye. 12. The innerva- tion of the eye. 13. Morphological and physiological remarks. 14. Comparison of the larval eye with the facetted eye.
+ 3. “The Metamorphoses of Corethra plumicornis,’ by Dr. August Weismann.—This is one of those able memoirs on insect anatomy for which the Professor of Zoology at Freiburg is so well known. The Corethra-larva has already furnished anatomists with interesting facts relative to the natural history of the Diptera, its excessive transparency and abundance rendering it a ready object for study. Dr. Franz Leydig some few years since published some observations made on these larve, in which he demonstrated the relations of the tegumentary hairs to the nervous system, and gave other important details of structure. Dr. Weismann’s paper is a most extensive essay, illustrated by five large and care- fully executed plates. He commences with a very detailed description of the various organs of the larva, and then traces
QUARTERLY CHRONICLE. 89
the changes undergone by each part through the pupa to the imago stage. The little air-sacs which are so noticeable in the Corethra-larve are, Professor Weismann considers, to be regarded as a hydrostatic apparatus rather than respiratory. The type of metamorphosis presented by Corethra is con- trasted with that presented by Musca, and is thus briefly stated :—The segments of the larva are changed directly into the corresponding segments of the body of the imago; the appendages of the head are changed into those corresponding in the head of the imago; those of the thorax commence at the last larva-moulting as outgrowths of the hypodermis round a nerve or a trachea, from which cellular integument the formation of the tissues in the interior of the appendage proceeds. The larval muscles of the abdominal segments remain unchanged in the imago; the peculiar thoracic muscles of the imago, as also some further abdominal muscles, are developed in the last larval period from indifferent cell-strings already sketched out in the egg. The genital glands date from the embryo, and develop steadily ; all other systems of organs pass without any or with little change to the imago. Not any or only an insignificant corpus adiposum exists. The ‘pupa state is short, and presents an active life.
4, “ Researches on the Embryology of the Hemiptera,” by El. Mecznikow.—This is the record of some observations on the ova of various insects, made in the laboratory of Professor Leuckart at Giessen. The genera studied were Corisca, Coccus, Aspidiotus, Chermes, and others; also Phryganea and Simulia. The author combats Professor Huxley’s view with respect to the rudimentary abdomen of Aphis.
Max Schultze’s Archiv fur Mikroskopische Anatomie. Fourth Part, 1865.—The concluding number of the first volume of this valuable journal has at last made its appearance, and a very beautiful number it is, with eight plates, excellently executed, and much interesting matter in the form of original papers.
1. “On the Spermatozoa and their Development,” by F. Schweigger-Seidel.—This is a somewhat extensive essay on the subject, the author reviewing the work of his predecessors in this field, and remarking on the development of the spermatozoa in the frog, newt, barn-door fowl, finches, and various mammalia. He finally states his results as follows : —1l. The spermatozoon is not a simple nucleus structure (KG6lliker), but answers to a whole cell. The spermatozoa are modified flagelliferous cells. 2. In accordance with this, the spermatozoon is developed, not, as Kolhker makes out, in the inside of a cell. Cells with spiral rolled-up sperm-threads
90 QUARTERLY CHRONICLE.
do not occur as normal structures in the contents of the testicular canals. (Henle, ‘Handb. d. System Anat.,’ ii Bd., s. 356, makes the same objection against Kolliker relative to the rolled-up sperm-threads.)
3. In the testicular canals occur two sorts of cells (Henle), not only in mammalia, but also in birds and amphibia. Only the one kind, with smaller clear nuclei, enter upon the change into spermatozoa. Many peculiarities in the form of the sperm-elements are, without doubt, dependent on their some- times quick, sometimes slow, sometimes complete, and some- times imperfect development.
4. The relations of the parts in their formation appear in the simplest way in the frog. In semen taken from the testis long-shaped cells may be observed, in one end of which the rod-like nucleus has located itself, while the other grows out to a hair-like cilium. The peculiar cell-substance disappears more and more in further development, until there is only a small compact piece between cilium and nucleus left remaining. It is this which is the middle-piece in the complete spermatozooid, and we can therefore draw the parallel—the head, the nucleus; the middle-piece, the modified cell-substance; and the tail, the hair-like cilium formed from the material for a cell. (Ankermann also regards the spermatozooids of the frog each as consisting in itself of a nucleated cell, but he assigns to them a somewhat different mode of development. )
5. The main features are the same in the mammalia as in the frog, only that here the “ middle-piece” undergoes a more peculiar modification. The nucleus of the sperm-cell is intimately connected with the head of the spermatozooid. In quadrupeds the head is characteristic in its form, as in the mouse one can see lying at the edge of the yet round sperm-cell the nucleus already transformed, whilst from the side, more or less directly opposite, the tail sprouts forth. Thusalso the threesegments iu the spermatozoa of the mammal find their explanation in the manner of their development.
Herr Schweigger-Seidel’s paper is illustrated by a plate containing drawings of the spermatozoa of the frog, triton, house hen, finch, sheep, field mouse, house mouse, hedge- hog, pig, guinea pig, and rabbit, in various stages of develop- ment.
2. “ On the Alveolar Gelatinous Tumours,” by Professor Franz Eilhard Schulze.—This is apparently a valuable paper on the histology of the disease called Carcinoma alveolare by J. Miller, Cancer aréolaire gelatiniforme by Cruveilhier, Gelatiniform cancer by Carswell,and Gelatinoma,Gum cancer, &c., by others. It is illustrated by a clear and well-drawn plate.
QUARTERLY CHRONICLE. 9]
3. “ On Darwinella aurea, a Sponge with star-shaped horny Spicules,” by Fritz Miiller.—This is a detailed description of the structure of asponge of which Fritz Muller had previously sent a fragment from Desterro to Max Schultze. Professor Schultze gave it the name Darwinia, which, however, had been already applied by Mr. Spence Bate to an amphipod crustacean. Herr Miller therefore changes the name of the sponge to Darwinella. Its fibres are dendroid, and not conjoined into a network, while the spicules are large and numerous and soluble in caustic soda. The chief interest attached to this sponge les in its stellate horny spicules, which Herr Miller considers as presenting an important piece of evidence in connection with the Darwinian theory, since they serve to bridge over the gap between sponges with siliceous and sponges with calcareous spicules.
3. ‘ Onthe Process of Ossification,”’ by Prof. Dr. Waldeyer, of Breslau.—-In this paper the subject of ossification is treated at some length, and a plate illustrating Dr. Waldeyer’s views is attached. The views of H. Miiller, Gegenbaur, Max Schultze, Sharpey, Beale, Landois, Virchow, and others, are discussed.
5. “The Movement of the Diatomacee,” by Max Schultze.— The movements of the Diatomacez still continue to puzzle microscopists, and various explanations of this phenomenon have been advanced. Professor Schultze has carefully studied a number of species—Pleurosigma angulatum, Pleurosigma fasciola, Nitschia sigmoides, Surirella bifrons, and others— making various experiments and observations upon them. He is led from these researches to conclude that a glutinous organic substance, which is concerned in rapid movement, is spread over the external surface of the Diatomacee. It is by this protoplasmic sheath that the Bacillarte become adherent to one another. Professor Schultze does not con- sider that this view affects the question of the animal or plant nature of diatoms. He considers that they must be left with some other unicellular beings, as of ‘ uncertain king- dom,” until we know more of what constitutes the boundary, if there be any, between plants and animals. Professor Schultze’s paper is illustrated by an elaborate coloured plate.
6. “On the Formation of the Spermatozoa,” by V.la Valette St. George.—This is the first part of an essay on the seminal corpuscles. The author gives many careful observations, and states that his researches lead him to confirm Kolliker’s statements, and with him and Henle to regard the bodies or heads of the spermatozoa as changed nuclei.
7. “ Experimental Studies on the Fatty Degeneration of Mus- cular Tissue,” by Alexander Stuart.—According to the auhtor,
92 QUARTERLY CHRONICLE.
in this disease, the muscular fibres become the seat of a thorough change, which, pursuing its various stages of develop- ment, presents, as a final result, the conversion of the protein substance of the muscular fibre into fat. The changes are carefully traced, and a plate illustrating the structure of: the diseased tissue is given.
8. “ Echiniscus Sigismundi, an Arctiscoid of the North Sea,” by Max Schultze.—In the first number of the ‘ Archiv ” was a very valuable paper by Dr. Richard Greef on the ner- vous system of the Tardigrada, and here we have a no less interesting paper by the editor on a new species of these very curious little ‘‘ bear-beasts.”” Though Arctiscoids are to be met with in moss on the roofs of houses, on trees, and in dykes and ditches—everywhere (so says Professor Schultze) in great numbers—yet the sea has only as yet furnished one species to the observations of zoologists. This form, called Lydella, was discovered by a pupil of Dujardin’s, while crawling on the side of a glass vessel containing sea water, and was described and named by the French savant. Professor Schultze, while at Ostend, searching the weed-grown piles of the harbour for Anguillula, Ameba, and Infusoria, was for- tunate enough to discover a new form of Tardigrade living on the sea-weed, and belonging to the genus Echiniscus. Dr. Richard Greef at the same time observed this form in Heligoland, in various positions, but especially among the weed subjected to tidal action. The greatest length of the specimen observed was ‘08”’ to ‘09”’, so that the extreme minuteness of these animals may well explain the paucity of marine species known to us. Professor Schultze names this form E. Sigismundi, in honour of his father, who did some valuable work in connection with the Arctiscoida. The ceso- phagus and intestinal canal appear to be the only organs which are conspicuous when the Echiniscus is placed beneath the microscope, the curious little legs and eye-spots, and a few dermal hooklets, being also noticeable. Professor Schultze’s paper also contains some general remarks on the genus Echiniscus, and is illustrated by a coloured plate.
9. There is also a notice of the compendious little micro- scope constructed for Dr. G. Harley, of University College, by Mr. Collins, of Great Tichfield Street, and a few words from Herr H. Frey “ On Good and Sound Microscopes.” The microscopes of Oberhausen of Paris, Merz of Munich, Zeiss of Jena, and the cheap instruments of Pillischer and Smith and Beck, are noticed. The finer instruments of our three great London houses are not known to Herr Frey, nor is he able to give an opinion on Messrs. Powell and Lealand’s 4th, on accouut of its great expense.
QUARTERLY CHRONICLE. 93
FRANCE.—Comptes Rendus.—In the number for December 18th we observe a paper, by Dr. Lacaze-Duthiers, ‘‘ On the Circulation of the Inferior Animals’? The author observes that it is impossible to take up any ordinary mollusc and examine it without observing that a fluid exudes from its body in sufficient quantity generally to thoroughly wet the hands of the observer. The answers to the questions as to what is this liquid, whence it comes, and how it escapes, are the object of the present memoir. There is no doubt that a great number of the lower animals deprive themselves of the liquids of their economy by voluntary bleeding; but this does not take place in the same way in all groups. With regard to the Mollusca, positive facts demonstrate beyond doubt that there is a communication between the circulatory apparatus and the external world. It has been shown by MM. Langer and Gegenbauer in Pteropods and Lamellibranchs, and by Dr. Duthiers himself in the Gasteropoda. In the Thetys leporina of the Mediterranean, between each pair of branchiz (numbering from fourteen to twenty on each side) which it carries on its back, is an oval fossa, containing a little pro- jecting body -pierced by an orifice. An injection carefully introduced at this orifice passes into the veinous system, or, if merely made to play on it, will be rapidly taken in. There are thus, then, in the Thetys from twenty-eight to forty ori- fices by which water can be introduced into the circulatory system or the blood be expelled. It is not, therefore, sur- prising that when one handles this animal the hand becomes inundated with fluid. The orifices are here provided with two nerves, regulating sphincter muscles. In some cases the contraction of a mollusc may be so violent as to cause the blood to rupture the tissues and escape without the use of the normal exit. In Dentalium and Pleurobranchus M. Duthiers has described a valve and two muscles which regulate the passage of the liquid. In the Gephyrians (Sipunculus, &c.) M. Duthiers compares the “ perivisceral fluid” to the blood of the Mollusca, since it can be expelled by the generative ori- fices and by the canals of the renal glands. We may add, that in the Oligocheta (earthworm, &c.) a constant commu- nication exists between the.perivisceral fluid and the exterior, both by the segmental organs and by the dorsal pores disco- vered by Mr. Busk, and figured in Mr. Lankester’s paper on the earthworm (‘ Quart. Journ. Micr. Science, Jan., 1865). In the cclenterate zoophytes the author considers the mouth itself as representing these orifices of exudation. In the solitary forms, however (Actinia, &c.), we have the tips of the tentacles perforated for the egress of the perivisceral
94. QUARTERLY CHRONICLE.
fluid. M. Duthiers concludes, from the facts which he adduces, that the blood of the Mollusca, Gephyrea, and Zoophyta must be very different from that of Vertebrata, on account of the direct connection which it has with the external world.
M. Balbiani, in a later number, records some remarkable observations on “ Animal Cells.” Some time since, the author described contractile vesicles which he had noticed in the unimpregnated ova of various animals, and he now adds some observations on the existence of canals communicating with these contractile vesicles. His observations have been made principally upon the egg of Geophile longicornis ; but he has also studied the ova of various Vertebrata, of Annelida, and Turbellaria. The facts which M. Balbiani describes seem to indicate a sort of circulatory system in these cells similar to that of the Infusoria; but some confirmation of his opinion will be required before such a remarkable structure can be accepted as an undoubted truth.
Annales des Sciences Naturelles—In the number of this journal for last November is a paper by Dr. Lacaze-Duthiers on “A new Genus of Ascidians.’? The remarkable little molluscoid described in this paper presents characters which will doubtless render it the type of a new group of Ascidia. While presenting the usual anatomical structure of that class, it possesses a bivalved shell, not unlike that of some sessile Brachiopoda, and affords a further confirmation to the views of Messrs. Huxley and Hancock, who have associated the Polyzoa, Truncata, and Brachiopoda. Dr. Duthiers proposes to give this Ascidian the generic name Chevreulius.
The first number for this year is devoted to a part of a memoir by M. Jules Chéron, entitled “‘ Researches to serve for the history of the Nervous System of the Dibranchiate Cephalopods.” This is a very extensive and valuable essay, and is illustrated by two plates, illustrating the nervous system of Eledone, and another.
Journal de l’Anatomie et de la Physiologie (Robin’s). 1, 1866. —Among various other valuable physiological papers in this journal is a microscopical one by Dr. J. F. B. Polaillon, en- titled “Studies on the Texture of Peripheral Nervous Ganglia.” The present paper is the first part of an essay on this subject, and consists of a very able historical review of the literature of peripheral ganglia. The author claims for Ch. Robin the merit of first propounding the view of “ bipolar nerve-cells ” which is now generally current.
ENGLAND.—Annals and Magazine of Natural History.— In the March number of this magazine is a translation of
QUARTERLY CHRONICLE. 95
Professor Leuckart’s paper on ‘‘The Sexual Reproduction of the Larve of Cecidomyia.”’ In our last Chronicle we referred to this paper, and noticed Herr Hamin’s essay on the same subject. Professor Leuckart describes very carefully the germ-stocks and germ-balls of the larve, and makes some valuable remarks on the homological aspects of this curious case of agamic procreation. He points out that the germs which are developed in the larvee, while possessing many of the characters of eggs, and occurring in the position which is usually occupied by the ovaries, are yet but pseud-ova, since they are not under any circumstance capable of receiving impregnation. The name pseud-ovum Professor Leuckart considers would be well applied to such bodies as these, had it not already been used by Professor Huxley for true eggs capable of being impregnated, which develop spontaneously without coitus. The case is regarded as quite parallel with that occurring in Aphis, the germs in the latter case being arranged in such a manner as to make them approach more closely in character to ovaries. These larvee may be sought for in most decomposing vegetable matters, such as dead trees, rubbish heaps, &c., with a fair chance of meeting with them, though they are liable to escape observation on account of their exceeding minuteness.
“The Histology of Rhynchopora Geinitziana.”—Professor King returns to the contest on this subject in the last number of the ‘ Annals.’ He has now made examination of various specimens with a good compound microscope, and still main- tains that the valves of this Brachiopod are punctured through and through, and not merely pitted. He explains away the evidence brought forward by Dr. Carpenter (noticed in our last Chronicle) by the supposition that, although the sections made by Dr. Carpenter were vertical, the perforating tubes do not run vertically, but take a slightly oblique direc- tion. If this were the case, as Mr. King maintains, a vertical section would, of course, truncate the tubes, and produce the appearances given in Dr. Carpenter’s figures.
“ On the Structure of the Mouthin Pediculus,” by Professor Schjodte.—This paper is translated from the Danish, and deals with its subject in a most vigorous and interesting manner. Dr. Landois, whose ‘‘ Researches on the Pediculi of Man” have lately been published in ‘ Kolliker’s Zeitschrift,’ maintains with others that the mouth of these animals is provided with a pair of mandibles. Swammerdam and other old observers described it simply as a sucking apparatus. Professor Schjédte now comes forward to support the latter view. He believes that Landois and others have been misled
VOL. VI.—NEW SER. H
96 QUARTERLY CHRONICLE.
by their method of examination, which consists in cutting off the head of the insect and placing it between two pieces of glass. The pressure destroys the natural arrangement of the parts, and rupturing the integument brings into view two small chitinous bodies which are mistaken for mandibles. The form of the head, narrow and pointed, is not adapted to supporting the muscles necessary for moving jaws; and, moreover, when the head is examined without pressure by reflected light, no jaws or mandibles are to be seen, but simply a sucking mouth. The author obtained several Pedi- cult from a workhouse, and kept them shut up in a box until they were hungry; he then placed one on his hand and care- fully watched its movements. No bite was inflicted; but a long delicate tube was protruded and passed into one of the sweat-pores of the skin, and a rapid rhythmic motion was observed in a sacular body near the mouth, whilst peristaltic movements were seen in the intestine. In this way the little animal was soon gorged with blood, when the author cut off its head quickly and examined the apparatus by which its operations had been effected, which he minutely describes. The mouth is simply a modification of the true Rhyncote type, and the Pediculi should merely be considered as bugs modi- fied to suit their circumstances. The instances of “‘lice-blanes,” &c., brought forward by Dr. Landois to support the view of the biting-power of Pedicu/us and Phthirius, can, says Pro- fessor Schjédte, readily be explained by other facts, and should rather be attributed to disease than any peculiar powers possessed by the parasites.
“ The Chevreulius Callensis of Dr. Lacaze-Duthiers.”—Mr. Joshua Alder has written a letter to the ‘Annals’ (March) relative to the little Ascidian whose description by Dr. Duthiers we have chronicled above. It appears that the genus is not new, but has already been named three times previously—once by Professor Stimpson, whose name Schi- zascus, has priority, and twice by Mr. Mac Donald, who first called it Peroides, but afterwards changed this name. Neither of the earlier descriptions, however, are at all complete, and do not in any way detract from the value and interest of the paper by M. Lacaze-Duthiers.
Miscellaneous.—The so-called “ spurious Entozoa’”’ of Dis- eased Meat.—A large field of inquiry has lately been opened by some researches on the microscopic character of the flesh of animals that have died from the cattle plague. Minute bodies, varying from =},th to 1 of an inch in length, have been met with among the ultimate muscular fibres of such meat, and it was at first supposed that they had some
QUARTERLY CHRONICLE. 97
connection with the cause of the disease. Before proceeding any further, however, we must at once state that they have nothing whatever to do with it, as a cause; the interest attached to them is, nevertheless, very great to the zoologist, since the study of them promises to add some valuable facts to the knowledge we at present possess of that most interest- ing group of Protozoa—the Gregarine. The bodies observed in the flesh of oxen are described by Dr. Lionel Beale, who has carefully examined them,as elongated spindle-shaped sacs, containing granular reniform bodies arranged horizontally, and apparently capable of multiplying by division. The in- vesting sac is covered with minute, motionless, hair-like bodies. No nucleus is present in the sac; but the reniform granular masses are stated by Dr. Cobbold to possess nucleoli. The structure thus presented is not far removed from that of many Gregarine, particularly of the larger individuals occur- ring in the earthworm, though the hair-like processes some- times observable on these are considered as extraneous by Dr. Lieberkiihn.* The compacted reniform masses may be con- sidered as the results of a process of segmentation, similar to that by which the pseudo-naviculee are formed. The bodics thus described are by no means peculiar to diseased cattle; they are met with in the healthy muscles of the ox, sheep, pig, deer, rat, mouse, mole, and perhaps other animals. Dr. Cobbold, in an article in the ‘ Lancet,’ gives an excellent résumé of the case.
Miescher, in 1843, described such bodies from the muscles of a mouse, and a very good account of them, obtained from the muscles of a pig, is given by Mr. Rainey in the ‘ Philo- sophical Transactions’ for 1857, though he erroneously regarded them as the young stage of cestode entozoa. They have been described under a variety of titles, such as worm- nodules, egg-sacs, eggs of the fluke, young measles, corpuscles produced by muscular degeneration, &c. When considered in connection with the minute cysts described by Gubler, Virchow, and Dressler, from the human liver, they have an especial interest ; and the observations of Lindemann on the psorospermial sacs obtained from the hair of a peasant at Nischney-Novgorod, and in the kidneys of a patient who died from Bright’s disease, bear very strongly on the nature of these bodies. The people of Novgorod are believed to get these parasites from washing in water in which Gregarine abound. The most interesting inquiry which is placed before us by these various facts is whether, as Professor Leuckart
* See our last ‘‘ Chronicle.”
98 QUARTERLY CHRONICLE.
has observed, the psorospermiz (and we may add the “spurious entozoa” of cattle, and even many so-called Gregarine) are to be considered as the result of a special animal development, or whether they are the final products of pathological metamorphosis.
REVIEWS.
On the Development and Fat-corpuscles of the Marine Polyzoa. By F. A. Smirr. (Om Hafs-Bryozoernas utveckling och fettkroppar.) Stockholm, 1865. 6 plates.
Unper the above title we have to welcome the appearance of an extremely interesting communication on the subject of the development and several points in the life-history of the Polyzoa, or as the author terms them the marine Bryozoa.
Unfortunately this essay is written in one of the almost unknown tongues, and we have consequently found so much difficulty in its perusal as to be at present prevented giving such a full abstract of its contents as we could have wished, and hope to be enabled to afford, with some assistance as to the language, at a future opportunity. On this occasion we will content ourselves with giving a summary of the contents of a former, as it would seem preliminary paper, on the same subject, which was published as an Inaugural Dissertation at Upsala in the year 1863, under the title of “ Bidrag till Kannedomen hafs-Bryozoernas utveckling.”’
For the following summary of the chief points noticed by M. Smitt in this Dissertation we are indebted to Professor Leuckart’s Report on the Natural History of the Lower Animals for the year 1863—just received.
In the Bryozoa the author distinguishes six different forms of cells, viz.:—animal-cells, ovicells, avicularia, vibracula, radical fibres, and stem-cells ; but all of these, it should be stated, are never found existing together. In the Cyclosto- mata the animal-cells are found either alone or in conjunc- tion with ovicells (Crisia) ; in the Ctenostomata, these cells are often met with conjoined with radical fibres (Vesicularia) into a common stem, whose cells contain the colonial nervous system, which has repeatedly formed the subject of the author’s observation; and amongst the Cheilostomata are found species, as Cellularia, which exhibit a still greater
100 ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF ASCARIS NIGROVENOSA.
diversity of individual forms.* All these parts arise in exactly the same way, by budding, and when incompletely developed are indistinguishable from each other. The germ- capsules arise from animal-cells, whose tentacular apparatus and alimentary organs are aborted. The embryonic develop- ment of the Bryozoa, is, speaking generally, very diverse, since it may be effected not only by fertilized ova and stato- blasts, but occasionally: also as in Lepralia, by gemmules springing singly from the inner wall of the animal-cells, or of the ovicells. The formation of the rest of the contents of the cell (the digestive and respiratory apparatus, the sexual organs, and the statoblasts) also takes place, according to M. Smitt, by gemmation, so that he is disposed to assign to the Bryozoa (Polyzoa) a double polymorphism, an external and an internal, the former having reference to the cells and the latter to the viscera, which also may be more or less in- dividualised, as has already been pointed out by Allman.”
In the paper of which the above is a summary, the author’ investigations were conducted in Crisia aculeata,.Alcyonidium gelatinosum, A. parasiticum, Flustrella hispida, Citea truncata, Eucratea chelata, Scrupocellaria scruposa, Canda reptans, Flustra truncata, Fl. membranacea, and several species of Membranipora and Lepralia.
In the memoir whose title heads this notice, M. Smitt describes a new species of Gitea in the following terms :—
CE. argillacea, u. sp.
(HK. elongata, recta, punctata, basi constricta.
_ Hab. In mari Bahusiensi, nullo alio loco, ut videtur, ad- hue reperta; per Modiolam oculine, affixam serpens myenta est. (Mus. Holm. Lovén).
Species Citez ligulate (Busk), maxime affinis, a qua tamen facilé basi sua constricta dignoscitur. Longitudo teste erecte circ. 1°55 mm., cujus dimidiam partem superiorem, tenet apertra testz obliqua.
On the DevELopMENT of ASCARIS NIGROVENOSA.
In our last number we gave a notice of some late researches on the development of Ascaris nigrovenosa,t+ by Herr E. C. Mecznikow, who at the same time claimed to be the original
* Tn this class, all the six forms of cells (so termed) are certainly, not unfrequently, co-existent in the same polyzoary.—G. B. + ‘Quart. Journ. Mic. Sci.,’ Jan., 1866, p. 25.
ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF ASCARIS NIGROVENOSA. 10]
discoverer of the curious circumstance that that nematode is capable of sexual reproduction, both in the parasitic and its free state, in which latter condition it resembles the genus Rhabditis.
This claim on the part of Herr Mecznikow has, as might be expected, called forth a reclamation from Professor Leuckart, who was thus, as it were, inferentially charged with having appropriated to himself in his previous communi- cation some of the results of his pupil’s independent re- searches. In a recent paper* Professor Leuckart indignantly repudiates this charge, and, although he allows that the par- ticular fact with respect to A. nigrovenosa was first noticed by Herr Mecznikow, this only happened in the course of an investigation into the life-history of the Nematoda which was carried on by that observer under his own immediate auspices and directions, and in his own laboratory and with the aid of his own materials. A reply to this reclamation of Professor Leuckart has been published in a separate form+ by Herr Mecznikow, and, upon consideration of the whole case, it appears to us that, although Professor Leuckart, might, per- haps, have been more liberal in his acknowledgment of the assistance afforded him in his researches on the subject of the Nematoda by his quondam pupil, still that the latter has claimed rather more originality than he is entitled to, seeing that, although he actually observed the fact of the dimorphic sexuality of A. nigrovenosa, he was led to this observation during an investigation directed in a course pointed out by his distinguished teacher. But leaving this very unpleasant and unprofitable subject, we would draw attention to some of Pro- fessor Leuckart’s observations upon the other contents of Herr Mecznikow’s highly interesting communication.
With respect to the “cuticular lip” mentioned by Mec- znikow in the embryo of A. nigrovenosa, Professor Leuckart remarks that it is not a continuous structure or border around the oral orifice, but composed of three distinct papillz, as in all other nematode embryos hitherto observed by him. The rudimentary sexual organ, whose considerable size and high degree of development forms so characteristic a feature of this Ascaris-embryo, is an elongated body about 0°08 mm. in length, and 0°012 mm. broad, and containing, not a proto- plasm filled with nuclei, but distinctly isolated, though mem- braneless cells, 0°007 mm. to 0°008 mm. in diameter, and
* © Archiv. f. Anat.,’ No. 6, 1865, p. 641. + ‘ Entgegung auf die Erwiderung des Herrn.’ Prof. Leuckart, &c. Gottingen, 1866.
102 ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF ASCARIS NIGROVENOSA.
furnished with a vesicular nucleus 0:0048 mm. in size. In the immature embryo these cells exactly resemble those of the intestinal epithelium, their only further change consisting in their eventually becoming more transparent.
With respect to the sexually mature Rhabditis-form, he observes that the pharyngeal walls are by no means muscular throughout their whole extent, as described by Herr Meczni- kow. Radial muscular fibres can only be noticed indwo situa- tions in them, viz., in the hinder enlargement, where they serve for the movement of the three chitinous teeth ; and more in front, almost in the middle of the more cylindrical cesophageal tube, at which point the chitinous covering is also developed into a sort of armature. The caudal papille also in the male are not hair-like, but tolerably thick and conical in form.
The larger-sized female, which in summer usually exceeds 1 mm. in length, has quite as distinct a nervous ring as the male, although this organ is by no means so distinctly de- fined in A. nigrovenosa as in many of the nematodes. The female organs are imperfectly described by Herr Mecznikow. They do not consist, as asserted by him, of a membraneless string of ova, but of two elongated sacculi, which stretch for- wards and: backwards from the genital opening ; and at the time of copulation, besides the vagina, two other divisions of the sexual tube may be recognised, viz., a uterus and an ovary. The former represents a tolerably thick, short canal, of narrow calibre, and apparently having cellular walls, whilst the ovary is formed by a very delicate, but nevertheless dis- tinctly demonstrable, structureless membrane ; and its interior is filled with ova.
He further remarks that, although the description given by Herr Mecznikow of the embryos is in the main quite cor- rect, that observer has overlooked the interesting fact that these embryos, whilst they are within the emptied body of their parent, present the Rhabditis-form of pharynx, possess- ing not only the two characteristic enlargements, but also furnished with three chitinous teeth, smaller, it is true, than they are in the preceding generation, but of the same form, and, like them, moved by distinct muscular fibres. When liberated from the maternal body these teeth are lost, the muscular striz disappear, and the pharynx assumes a more Ascaridan form; the creature at the same time has become capable of being developed in the lungs of the frog into the well-known A. nigrovenosa.
Professor Leuckart then describes experiments with respect to the introduction of the liberated Ascaridan embryos into the lungs of the frog. This experiment, it would seem, is
ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF ASCARIS NIGROVENOSA. 103
not always successful, but sufficiently often to show that the lungs are the true destination of the embryos, which, if swallowed, invariably perish after a time in the stomach. Professor Leuckart has carefully traced the development of the embryos into the perfect A. nigrovenosa in the frog’s lung, and has found that they are all invariably females, so that there can be no doubt that the production of young in the parasitic Ascaris is entirely parthenogenetic. It is beyond doubt also, he says, that this mode of parthenogenesis is widely diffused among the nematodes, and cites as a tolerably certain instance of it the case of Filaria medinensis. With respect to which species, he remarks, that from Carter’s observations, it would seem probable that Filaria medinensis, like A. nigrovenosa, exhibits two kinds of generations — a parasitic and a free, and that thus it would present an exact analogy with the parasite of the frog’s lung.
He is of opinion, however, that this notion is erroneous. And he is led to think so from the circumstance not only of the slight degree of development of the embryonal rudimental reproductive system, but further, from the striking similarity between the embryos of F’. medinensis and those of Cucullanus elegans. According to all analogy, the embryo of F. medinensis is equally destined to migrate as is that of Cucullanus, though whether this migration is confined to the human subject or not it is impossible to say.
At present, he says, notwithstanding his pretty extensive experience on the subject of the developmental history of the Nematoda, that of Ascaris nigrovenosa stands alone.
On this account it is the more interesting to record the same phenomena in other groups of the lower animals, amongst which he notices the extraordinary fact discovered by Hackel, of the production, within the visceral cavity of the mature Geryonie, by a process of budding, of Medusoids of quite another organization (Cunine), which also in their turn reach sexual maturity. He adverts next to the life-history of Coccus formerly described by himself.* In this case, as in A. nigrovenosa, two successive generations of different kinds are thrown off, both of which become sexually developed, and both of which exist under different conditions. It is true that the vital conditions in the Aphis-like winged and the Coccus-like wingless generations are not so strikingly dif- ferent as in A. nigrovenosa ; but the difference between the two cases is only one of degree, and as such points distinctly enough to the analogy which exists between them. It is remarkable, also, that in Chermes the dimorphism of the suc-
* © Archiv f. Naturgesch,’ 1859, p. 208.
104 ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF ASCARIS NIGROVENOSA.
sessive sexual generations is combined with the phenomena of parthenogenesis, which in this case is even exhibited in both generations.
For this mode of development, with the intervention of two sexual generations, which, on account of the sexual perfection of the intermediate generation, does not come under the same category with the usual form of “ Alternation of Generation,” Professor Leuckart proposes henceforth to employ the term— HeEtTeERoGOoNY, a word which, it is true, has been otherwise applied, but which, in its present sense, implies pretty closely what it was intended to express by its first employer, Johannes Miller. Whether Hackel’s AtLzoconzsis should be included under Heterogony is at present doubtful, and can only be decided when we learn the fate of the offspring derived from the fertilised ova of the two generations. But, however this may turn out, we have clearly in this case, as in Chermes and Ascaris nigrovenosa,at any rate an instance of two different sexually developed generations which form links in the deve- lopment of one and the same species.
Hitherto, he concludes by observing, we have been accus- tomed to regard sexual reproduction, not only as the end and aim of animal life, but also as the criterion of specific indi- viduality. But neither of these assumptions is any longer admissible.
““ Nature follows its course, and what at one time appears as an exception becomes a law.”
NOTES AND CORRESPONDENCE.
Dr. Beale’s Glass Reflector—I have made several glass reflectors of various kinds and different thicknesses of glass, for drawing and measuring objects, after the plan of Dr. Beale. None of them were made, however, of neutral tint or coloured glass. There is a peculiarity attending them, to which I wish to direct attention, as I have not seen it noticed before. I had made several of glass from +, to + thick, but I could not at first get quit of the double reflection from the two surfaces of the glass, which rendered it impossible to draw or measure objects satisfactorily. I found, however, after many trials, that with every piece of glass I used there are two positions in which it may be placed distant 180° from each other, in which the glass reflects only one image to the eye, and in this position, therefore, the glass reflector must be placed. This position may easily be found upon trial for each piece of glass, as upon looking at the reflected image of a window, for instance, by turning the glass round in the position it would be placed were it arranged for drawing, the two reflected images of the bars of the window will be found to converge into each other, and at the proper place disappear into one, and this will take place twice in one revolution. I understand the difficulty caused by the two images or double reflection suggested the use of thin glass for the purpose, but the method I have indicated is simple, and so perfect as to render it equal to, if not superior, to a camera lucida. Iam not aware if any of your readers are cognisant of this peculiarity, but, perhaps, some of them may inquire into and explain it.—W. Forean, 3, Warriston Crescent, Edinburgh.
_ Growing Slides—The American growing slide described in the ‘Annals of Natural History’ for November, and mentioned in the discussion at the last meeting of the
106 MEMORANDA.
Microscopical Society, is now made by Mr. Baker, of Holborn; the pattern has also been sent to Messrs. Claudet & Houghton.
For operations where a large quantity of water in reserve is wanted, and there is no necessity for the object to be nearly close to the stage, Mr. Beck’s slide answers admirably.
Those who are able to cut glass with a diamond can easily make the American slide for themselves at the cost of a few pence ; the best tool for drilling the hole is a small triangular file with the point ground to the form of a pyramid, used with turpentine ; the glass being pressed against a piece of cork for support, the points can be made without heat by using thick gold size.—W. T. SurroLtx, Claremont Lodge, Park Street, Camberwell.
Mounting Diatoms.—Can you or any of your readers inform me how to make microscopic objects (diatoms, for instance) stick on a slide after they are arranged? I have tried many ways, but none of them answered to my satisfaction when I compared my slides with the beautiful ones arranged by the London mounters. I find no difficulty in picking off and arranging the diatoms in any patterns, but what I fail in is to make them adhere to the slide after I have put the balsam on them. I am now engaged with some beautiful forms from the Montray and Les Angeloss deposits, and it is exceedingly annoying, when I have got the diatoms arranged nicely on the slides, to find them floating away; when the balsam is put on I have no doubt there is a very simple way of over- coming this difficulty, and perhaps you or some of your numerous subscribers can assist me to it.—W. Warp, Hull.
We have recently had an opportunity of examining two new forms of instruments constructed by Messrs. Murray and Heath, in one of which the great object of furnishing a stand at a low price, but which should yet be capable, if desired, of being adapted to the use of the highest powers, and fitted for the addition of all accessory apparatus, has, it seems to us, been very satisfactorily obtained. The stand itself is remarkably steady, and the objectives—which, we understand, are furnished with it for £5—are a + inch of 75° and an inch of 15°, both, as tested by ourselves, of excellent quality.
The second instrument is one which has been contrived for
MEMORANDA. 107
use in the demonstration of objects to a class of students. It is but too well known to those who are engaged in teaching how liable the objects exhibited, and sometimes even the object-glass itself, are to be injured in the hands of those unaccustomed to use the microscope. In oder to avoid this risk, Messrs. Murray and Heath have constructed an instru- ment intended to combine an ordinary with a demonstrating class microscope. It consists of a small microscope, the body of which can be inclined at any angle, with a mirror on a ball-and-socket joint, and a universal movement to the stage- plate. When it is to be used as a class microscope the slide is placed in a shallow box, into which it is locked by means of akey. The same key locks this box firmly on the stage- plate. When the object has been found this latter can be secured firmly on the stage in the same manner. After focusing, the body is also locked in its place with the same key, the final adjustment being made with the eye-piece. The body is then placed in a horizontal position, and fastened with ascrew. The instrument can now be passed round a class-room without possibility of injury either to object or object-glass. The illumination can be obtained either by holding the instrument against the window or by means of a small lamp similar to that employed by Dr. Beale, and which can be so adjusted as to be used either for opaque or transparent objects. This instrument appears to be very well adapted for the purposes for which it is intended, and, at the same time, if without the contrivance for locking, to be a useful portable form for general or professional purposes.
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.
MicroscopicaL Society. December 13th, 1865. James GuarsHER, Esq., F.R.S., President, in the Chair.
Tur PresIpENT read the 7th Rule of the Society, with respect to the retirement and election of certain members of the Council and other officers, and announced that the Council recommended to fill the office of President for the ensuing year, himself; as Treasurer, C. J. H. Allen, Esq.; and as Secretaries, G. E. Blenkins and F. C. S. Roper, Esqrs.; and that H. A. Freestone, R. Mes- tayer, Hsqrs., Dr. Millar, and Samuel Charles Whitbread, Esq., should be elected members of the Council, in the place of Dr. Beale, H. Deane, Esq., R. Hodgson, Esq., and J. Newton Tomkins, Esq., who retired in accordance with the Bye-laws of the Society; and that the names of the gentlemen recommended would be suspended in the usual way.
Mr. Beck read a paper entitled “ A Short Description of a New Species of Acarus, and its agamic reproduction.” (‘ Trans..,’
. 80.) E Mr. Stack.—With reference to this interesting subject, I may mention a report, in the ‘ Archives des Sciences’ for October, of some remarks made by Dr. Claparéde at a meeting of the Société Helvétique des Sciences Naturelles. Dr. Claparede said that several of these acari were bimorphic; that is to say, the male and female present very different appearances as regards form and size. He said that the so-called genus Hypopus (I believe, a kind of acarus without mouth or digestive apparatus) were the males of a species in which the females were much larger and very different in aspect. His remarks are somewhat imperfectly given, but I gather from them that in these cases of dimorphism the male acari are so different from the female as to justify the apprehen- sion that they belong to a totally different species. I find the Hypopus described in the ‘ Microscopical Dictionary’ as without
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 109
mouth or intestines; and if these organs are absent, they would resemble the male rotifers, the nature of which Mr. Gosse and others have elucidated. Mr. Beck was kind enough to show me his specimens, and I thought it would be as well to call attention to Dr. Claparéde’s remarks, because they show the importance, when experimenting on the agamic reproduction of acari, of excluding individuals of different shape that might prove to be males in disguise.
A vote of thanks was accorded to Mr. Beck.
A paper “On Cells and Cell Mounting” was read by James ' Smith, Esq., F.L.S. (‘ Trans.,’ p. 34.)
Mr. Beck then read a paper “On Improved Growing Cells.” (‘ Trans.’ p. 36.)
Mr. Logs (referring to Mr. Beck’s paper) stated that he had received a letter from Professor H. L. Smith, of Gambier, Ohio, U:S., calling attention to an article on a new growing slide in ‘Silliman’s Journal’ for September; and he had also received a slide from that gentleman.
Mr. Jasez Hoee.—I do not think Mr. Beck’s cell will replace that of Mr. Smith, or the one that was shown by Mr. Suffolk. It seems to me that the great use of that cell would be in viewing very fine objects, that is, in using very high powers for the pur- pose of viewing them. If we use Mr. Beck’s cell we have an interference with the light through the thick glass, but in viewing objects in Mr. Suffolk’s ingeniously-contrived cell it appeared that we had obtained the long-desired use of the thin glass for objects in fluid, and I think there is very little to be gained by going away from the live-box that has been so long in use to the old deep, thick glass cells, and that the live-box will even be as serviceable as the one proposed by Mr. Beck. I do not think we should get the same good from his proposition that we do from the other. I rather differ from the view he has taken of the inge- nious cell shown to us the other night by Mr. Suffolk. I should like to hear what Mr. Suffolk has to say about this cell, because he has had the opportunity of using it over and over again.
Mr. Surrotx.—The cell is not my own contrivance; I copied it from the description in ‘Silliman’s Journal.’ Mr. Hogg, I think, mistakes the use of the cell, which is to keep a feeding-cell for the animal. I have seen Mr. Beck’s cell to-night, and I think it will answer the purpose perfectly ; but I am afraid it has the disadvantage of not allowing the parabola to work closely enough to the under glass.
Mr. Becx.—I have not altered in any degree the principle suggested by Mr. Smith, except that in Mr. Smith’s cell we look through a considerable thickness of water, which would entirely prevent the use of the parabola, whereas here we look through a piece of glass. Mr. Smith has two thicknesses of glass and one of water, whereas I have only one of glass. It is the same principle, and I do not claim anything for this invention.
Mr. Hoee.—Mr. Smith’s cells can be easily cleaned by taking
110 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.
off the front glass and cementing it down again. It may be done easily by any one used to cleaning glasses.
Mr. Haut rose for the purpose of making some remarks on Mr. Smith’s paper cells, and bringing to the notice of the Society some of Mr. Lee’s cells, made on the principle of pill-boxes. He said—I thought them very good when I received them, and the only possible objection to them is that they might be affected by damp. Mr. Brooke, our then President, thought that if they were made with cement instead of ordinary gum that difficulty would be overcome; I think I have overcome the difficulty by soaking them in Brunswick black. I wish to call special attention to these cells, which I consider better than Mr. Smith’s, and for this reason—because, made in the way I have mentioned, they can be made as cheaply as Is. a gross, or thereabouts. They can be cut any depth or size, and can be made very accurate. They have another advantage, and that is, that the edges of the paper in the pill-box cells are placed upon the glass slide, and the upper part is covered with the fine glass, which prevents any dam passing by capillary attraction. Now, if I understand Mr. Smith’s cell, the reverse is the case, for, being punched out of flat card- board, the edges of the paper would be upwards, and thus render them liable to be affected by damp. I wish to call attention to these cells that I have soaked in cement, as I think the process will be found better and far less troublesome than to punch them on Mr. Smith’s plan.
Mr. Henry Ler.—I beg to thank Mr. Hall for introducing to the notice of the Society the cell 1 mentioned some time ago; but, though it was very useful in its way, I think Mr. Smith’s has an advantage which has not been mentioned, inasmuch as he is able to do a greater number on one sheet, and it is all done in one operation, by which a great saving of time is effected.
Mr. SHapgBout.—lI object to paper cells of every description ; I think them thoroughly bad. I never saw an object mounted on a paper cell that would last any length of time; and I am the more induced to call attention to that fact just now, because the gentleman whose paper has been read has alluded to a certain material for mounting his cells that, in my opinion, is better adapted for making them; I] mean marine glue. Now, some fifteen or twenty years ago I was in the habit of mounting a large number of microscopical objects, some dry, some wet; and the mode I found most efficacious for the dry cells, and the most ready of application, was to make the cell itself of marine glue. I got a common iron spoon, into which I put my marine glue, and held it over a spirit-lamp until it was softened. I then threw it on a flat surface while soft, so that it might be squeezed or pressed to any degree of thinness. When that was done all I had to do was to place it on a card, and, with two or three gun- punches, punch out a number of discs of various sizes, and thus get smaller or larger rings of glue. I then simply take the glass slide, warm it over a spirit-lamp, pick up one of the rings of
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. pA)
melted glue and drop it on, and it fixed itself. I could prepare 200 or 300 of them in the course of an evening, if necessary. If the object will bear a little warmth, we have only to heat the thin glass dise with which I cover it, put it on to the marine glue, and it cements itself. The whole thing is done without any difficulty.
Mr. Wenuam.—lI beg to confirm what Mr. Shadbolt has said as to the use of paper being unsafe in damp places, and I also wish to call attention to a substance for making cells which is not generally known. In mounting Podura scales and other similar objects on thin glass, it is generally my practice to put the scales on the thin glass covers, and fix them with common heel-ball, drawing a hot iron round the edge of the thin glass, which cements it perfectly.
Mr. Surrotx.—lI have another material to mention—pure tin, which is a soft metal, and can be cut with a knife or pair of © scissors, or punched. It is acted on by nothing but nitric or hydrochloric acid, and I have used it both for wet and dry objects. I have only obtained one thickness, but the metal will roll to any degree of thinness that may be necessary.
Mr. Broox.—I have to mention one other material for the mounting of dry objects, for which, as far as I know, we are indebted to Dr. Golding Bird, who used it extensively for mount- ing specimens of Bryozoa, viz., small vulcanized India-rubber bands cemented down to the glass with a solution of India rub- ber, and then the slide was cemented on with the same material. They certainly entirely obviate the difficulty of any moisture getting in, as they are wholly impervious to wet. I have fre- quently made use of card discs myself, especially for mounting dry objects. I merely punched out small discs on the card, and then, with a small punch, punched out the centre so as to leave an annulus. That has been attached to the glass slide, and the thin glass laid over that with any kind of adhesive material; but I have always taken the precaution of varnishing round the whole of the slide, to prevent the growth of Conferva. With that pre- caution, I think a cardboard cell safe; but to protect the edge from the transmission of moisture by a layer of varnish only is wholly insufficient.
The Rey. J. B. Reapz, F.R.S.—I may mention that Mr. Water- house, of Halifax, has used sheets of ebonite for the purpose of making cells; and he approves of it very highly, and speaks of it in the strongest terms of satisfaction. It is better than paper, certainly.
Mr. Deane.—I think, where economy is an object, that there is a great advantage in the paper cell according to Mr. Smith’s plan. Ebonite cells and glass cells, and many others, are very expensive ; but if you can multiply paper cells and render them impervious to water in the way proposed by Mr. Smith, I think a very great service will be rendered to those who cannot furnish themselves with the more expensive descriptions of cells. I know Mr. Matthew Marshall used to mount-a great many objects in paper
VOL. VI.—NEW SER. I
112 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.
cells, and he had a machine by which he could punch holes without leaving a burr; and I have now some dry objects mounted by him, and in no instance have I ever seen Conferva. With regard to Con- ferva growing on paper cells, I think it may be obviated by dipping the card, after its being punched, in a weak solution of corrosive sublimate and spirits of wine—one grain of sublimate to an ounce of spirits of wine, would be sufficient to poison the card- board thoroughly; and instead of tin shells, when cells are made in sheets, I would have a contrivance something like a photo- graphic bath full of the varnish (which might be easily made), so as to prevent evaporation, and dip them once or twice, or more, as occasion might require; and, if it were thought needful, a very small quantity of corrosive sublimate in the same proportion might be put into the varnish, and thus all the difficulty as to the growth of Conferva might be obviated. I think these economic methods of preparing cells the most convenient.
Mr. Janez Hoee.—I think the great merit of Mr. Smith’s cell lies in its cheapness; and I am also of opinion that the marine- glue method meets the Conferva objection. JI have some dry objects which have been mounted twenty years, and they are perfectly good. Indeed, I thought that both in Mr. Smith’s invention, and in that of Mr. Suffolk’s, the chief merit was that these cells might be made for 2d. That being so, the objection as to cleaning the cells was easily disposed of, because if there was any difficulty of that kind the glass could be thrown away; and although Mr. Beck’s plan might be an improvement, yet it would cost a sum of money, and I think with Mr. Deane that the great merit of these inventions is the cheap way in which they can be brought into use.
The Rev. J. B. Reapz.—I admit that paper is cheaper than ebonite; but then “time is money,” and you have to buy corro- sive sublimate and spirits of wine, and spend time in mixing them and putting them on, before the paper (the cheap article) is fit for use, so that I think that time and paper, as against ebonite, would be the more expensive of the two.
Mr. Dranze.—You may buy a pint of methylated spirit for a small sum, and twenty grains of corrosive sublimate for a penny. The preparation would not cost more than a shilling.
Mr. Harzu.—In support of the Rev. Mr. Reade’s remarks, I beg to call attention to vulcanite. I have placed vulcanite cells in the hands of Mr. Bailey, of Fenchurch Street, upon condition that he supplies them at 4d. per dozen.
Major Owzn.—It would be a great desideratum to have some- thing always procurable in the market, and at the same time very cheap. There are brass rings which you can purchase for, I think, 3d. per hundred. They are flattened on either side; and if these brass rings are put on in the form of cells with any cement, I think they are the cheapest and easiest to procure, and I have never found any objection to them.
Mr. Smiru.—I have felt some difficulty, as a young micro-
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 113
scopist, in bringing this subject before the Society. As I have before stated, I do not attach so much importance to the mate- rials employed as to the method of preparing them. The method I propose has been found very good in many cases; Mr. Hall’s proposed method of dipping would be excellent; and I think the two might be very well worked together. What I wish, however, particularly to say is, that in every case, after the cell has been mounted on the thin glass, it should be properly finished with marine glue or cement or gold size outside; and if that is done, I do not see how damp can affect it. Ido not put the cell on and leave it, but always properly cement it, and in that case I do not think it can be reached by moisture.
The discussion was concluded, and a vote of thanks was pro- posed to Mr. Smith and Mr. Beck, which was duly carried.
A paper from EH, Ray Lankester, Esq., “ Notes on the Gregari- nida,” was read. (‘Trans.,’ p. 23.)
The thanks of the Society were voted to Mr. Lankester for his communication.
The President laid before the Society the subscription list of the “ Quekett Medal Fund,’ which he recommended to their support.
The following communication to Mr. Suffolk from the Post- office authorities, with reference to sending microscopic slides by post, was read:
“G.P.O., 10th Nov., 1865.
“ §$1r,—In reply to your letter of 28th ultimo, I beg leave to state that, inasmuch as glass is not allowed to be sent by post, the microscopical specimens which you have furnished, being mounted on glass, cannot be forwarded at the pattern rate of postage.
“T am, Sir, yours obediently, a aw ina ori
The meeting was then adjourned to the 10th January, 1866.
January 10th, 1866. JAMES GLAISHER, Esq., F.R.S., in the Chair.
Mr. Lozz produced for the inspection of the meeting an illuminator referred to in a letter of Professor Smith’s, of Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio. He also explained, by reference to dif- ferent parts of the instrument, the improvement which had been suggested therein by Mr. Beck and Mr. Lealand. He then read a paper “On Illuminating Objects with High Powers.” (‘See Trans.,’ p. 39).
Mr. Becx read a paper entitled ‘‘The Object-Glass its own Condensor, or.a new method for Illumination for Opaque Objects under High Powers.”
The thanks of the Society were voted to Mr. Lobb and Mr. Beck.
114 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.
Mr. WenHam.—Upwards of five years ago Mr. Hewitt suggested to me, and I believe to others, the principle of making an object- glass its own illuminator. I immediately gave the mode a trial, and I have here the reflector by which the experiment was made. It is a brilliantly polished speculum, with an aperture in the centre just sufficient to admit the pencil of rays from the object-glass. This I placed obliquely in the axis of the microscope, through the side of which was an opening for admitting the light from the illuminating source, and the rays from the object returned through the central hole. I got an extraordinary amount of light, but the internal glare was so great that I found it had obscured the object, which had a kind of fog thrown over it. Consequently I abandoned the trials. I informed Mr. Hewitt of the result. Mr. Beck informed me at the last meeting that the light might be too brilliant. He said that the partial reflection from the single disc of glass is of the proper degree of intensity, and that with the speculum, I did not make use of the most valuable or central portion of the rays. With a piece of plain glass! it is known that the more oblique the incidence the greater the light reflected. On asking the question whether this might be put at a more oblique angle than 45°, he said that generally that did not answer, the light being over-abundant. Then, as regards the question of the application of a thin disc of glass for illuminating an object, that is an eld idea. I have in my hand a micrometer eye-piece made by Troughton and Sims for a telescope in which the same plan is employed for illuminating the cross wires, and it is used to the present day. Mr. Wenham exhibited the eye-piece, and explained that the light was thrown in sideways upon a dise of glass, which, of course, must be perfectly ground and polished; the light is then thrown downwards on the wires. The first piece of glass was to prevent the access of dust.
The Presipent.—I know this quite well.
Mr. Weyuam.—lI do not wish to disparage the idea at all, for, in my opinion, it removes a difficulty against which we have been labouring for years, in attempting to illuminate an object with high powers, where it is almost in contact with the front lens.
Mr. Stacx.—I have had the opportunity of trying the ilumi- nator of Messrs. Powell and Lealand, and also that of Mr. Beck. I have not had the opportunity of trying (although Mr. Lobb was kind enough to show it to me) the one devised by Mr. Smith, of America. On reference to ‘Silliman’s Journal,’ it will be found that Mr. Smith speaks of using glass to reflect the rays of light downwards. The meaning of the passage is not very clear; but he says that the result of using the glass covers was that he did not get sufficient relief; that the field looked too flat, which was not the case when he used the small silver mirror. His allusion to using several thin discs is rather puzzling, because it is not to be supposed that he placed his one behind the other, and thus created ‘a confusion of reflections. Mr. Slack then suggested that Mr. Lobb should state his opinion of the silver reflec-
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 115
tor, and said that he was inclined to suppose that, at all events, for some purposes, the silver reflector would be best. In Messrs. Powell and Lealand’s plan a piece of glass of notice- able thickness, perhaps a sixteenth of an inch, occupies the place of this thin disc of Mr. Beck’s. With as high a power as 3th, this sloping piece of glass, not used as an illuminator, but simply looked through, allows the Podura scale to be seen so as to exhibit those marks that are so beautifully shown in Mr. Beck’s drawings. Thus, it does not introduce any noticeable errors, although it makes a slight difference in the adjustment. With respect to the comparative advantage of a noticeably thick glass and a thin one, my opinion is rather in favour of the thin glass, except that it is so easily broken. Mr. Beck, however, used a size of disc that is very common amongst covering glasses, and, when broken, it is easily replaced. With reference to the diaphragm which Messrs. Powell and Lealand have copied from the American pattern, it will be found useful in cutting off the glare from parts of the field not absolutely in focus. Messrs. Powell and Lealand fix their piece of glass, which acts as a reflector; but Mr. Beck makesit movable. I believe the movable arrangement exists in Mr. Smith’s instrument. The power of motion is a decided advantage, and therefore I cannot say that I am entirely satisfied with their illuminators, as it 1s exceedingly difficult, with some objects, to get rid of a kind of milk-and-watery appearance of the field. This milkiness sometimes accompanies very good definitions of minute objects; and I suggested to Messrs. Powell and Lealand that, possibly, introducing a condensor, to get a very small pencil of light, might obviate it. Mr. Smith, of Bow, showed me an illuminator he had fitted up with a small condensor, and whether from this cause or from contracting the aperture, his in- strument was more free from milkiness. Professor Smith seemed » to think that by his arrangement he gets a more slanting illumi- nation; and if so, it would have a decided advantage, for most purposes. Diamond-beetle scales come out beautifully with Messrs. Powell and Lealand’s or Mr. Beck’s illuminator. In addition to a number of vertical lines, some curiously arranged groups of curved lines will be seen. I tried to trace a relation between the character of the patterns formed by these lines and the colours exhibited, but did not succeed. Great importance is to be attached to a remark of Mr. Beck, “that you want a means of slightly changing the angle of the object when under view.” It must be remembered that objects are seen with these illuminators under nearly verticalillumination. The effects of this mode of illumi- nation may be advantageously studied with lower powers and Mr. Beck’s Sorby illuminator. With this instrument a brilliant slanting illumination may be instantly changed for a vertical one; and it is most instructive to witness the great alteration that takes place in the appearance of the object.
Mr. Broox.—I have not yet had the opportunity of using this instrument, and therefore I cannot speak of it from my own expe-
116 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.
rience; but I think it would be an advantage if this reflecting disc were made of parallel glass, that is, glass the surfaces of which are accurately parallel to each other. Iam hardly prepared to say whether the glass should or should not be of the ordinary thickness, but [ am not aware that it makes much difference. It is a fact that, if we take any number of ordinary rounds for cover- ing objects of the usual diameter—} or 3 inch—we find some of them to be of sensibly different thicknesses in different parts ; and when high powers are used I cannot help thinking that if any portion be wedge-like it will to a certain extent interfere with the perfect definition which can be obtained from the best- constructed glasses of very high powers. If these glasses are parallel glasses, of course, im the passage of rays from the object- glass up to the body of the microscope, the rays will all be refracted equally. Ifthe two surfaces are accurately parallel to each other every ray will be refracted parallel to itself, that is, the direction of the rays will not be in the slightest degree altered ; but if, on the contrary, this glass be wedge-like, of course a dif- ferent amount of refraction will take place, and there will be a certain amount of chromatic dispersion of every ray transmitted through the wedge to the eye-piece, and that, 1 think, might be found sensibly to interfere with the definition.
Mr. Becxk.— With reference to Mr. Brooke’s remarks, I would state that any variation of thickness in the glass of the illumi- nator would be far more evident with the lower than with the higher powers. It is well known that in the case of binocular prisms for the microscope a bad prism will give a greater amount of error with low powers than with high ones. In connection with this illumination, I found, when examining some of the Diatomacez, that the definition was much improved by cutting off half of the aperture in the side of the illuminator; and it then
struck me that a piece of semicircular glass with its diameter .
across the field of view would answer best of all, but I found the loss of definition to be very great. Definition is also lost by cutting off any considerable portion of the aperture of the object- glass; and if I rightly understand the American plan, an opaque substance comes over a portion of the aperture of the object-glass.
Mr. Loss.—Very little indeed—scarcely perceptible.
Mr. Becx.—Then I cannot understand how sufficient illumina- tion is obtained.
Mr. Rorrr.—I have tried Mr. Beck’s and Messrs. Powell and Lealand’s new illuminators, and I quite concur with the observa- tions already made, that the plan will be a useful one, especially for the examination of the Diatomacez, the minute structure of which is in many cases difficult to make out, by ordinary methods of illumination. With respect to the difference between the plan proposed by our English opticians and the American method, I have been told, that half the field was cut off by the opaque mirror which is interposed between the object-glass and the eye- piece in the American plan, which I consider to be a great objec-
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. Li?
tion, and it was this defect that induced Mr. Lealand to introduce glass as a reflecting medium. My own impression is that the glass being movable, as in Mr. Beck’s arrangement, is an advan- tage, but I am unable at present to give any positive opinion. Both plans will, I think, be useful; and we are greatly indebted for the improvement made on the American plan, and to Mr. Beck for having brought the subject before the Society.
Mr. Bocxerr.—I have worked with both these instruments. LT applied myself to Messrs.. Powell and Lealand’s, but my first trial was anything but successful. There appeared to be too much glare; indeed, so much that I took back the instrument and asked that the cause of this might be explained. I was informed then that the glass was really parallel glass, and that, in all probability, my manipulation would be found to be at fault. I studied the matter very closely, until I found that my great fault lay in using too much light. When too much light is used a glare is produced, and the very best way to get rid of that glare is to use just sufficient light for the purpose of illuminating the object. I found, by using the Sorby instrument, and getting the light just to fill the aperture of the diaphragm at the side of the illuminator, and no more, and then stopping it down with the next-sized stop, I nearly got rid of the glare, and that often the second aperture got rid of it altogether. I cannot say that with Mr. Beck’s illuminator I could entirely control the light in the same way that I could with Messrs. Powell and Lealand’s. I mention this because I think the glare of light is often the cause of fault being found with the instrument, when it really lies with the parties using too much light. I also observed another import- ant tact—that by introducing a small piece of light thin glass between the orifice, if there was any milkiness, it was so absorbed by the altered nature of the light that really the object was pleasant to look upon.
Mr. Becx.—I should like to say a few words in reply. I have found the best mode of proceeding to be as follows :—Place the light on the left-hand side, and obtain a distinct image of the flame across a portion of the field of view; it is then evident that, if you have the illuminating rays in focus at the same time as the object, you must also secure the best possible definition. The effect of a diaphragm at the side is merely to limit the area of the illuminated part, a result which may readily be obtained by interposing a condensing lens between the light and the illumi- nator. By slightly altering the position of this lens the whole of the field of view or any part of it may be illuminated. Mr. Beck then sketched the appearance of the fine “tenent hairs” on the foot of a fly as seen under this new mode of illumination, clearly indicating the same structure as those on some of the beetles which have been so admirably illustrated in Mr. Tuffen West’s paper on the feet of insects, published by the Linnean Society ; and he mentioned, what might not be known to all, that the true action of these hairs is still a point of discussion between
Mr. West and Mr. Backwall.
118 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.
Mr. Lapp suggested that much of the milkiness might be owing to the refraction of the light, because nearly one half of the light was reflected on the object, and the other half was reflected through and would strike the side of the object. It was difficult to destroy the whole of the light from the surface, and a great deal of the milkiness was, he thought, due to this cause.
Mr. Hatt said that, in using Messrs. Powell and Lealand’s reflector, he had got rid of part of the milkiness by covering up the back portion with a piece of black paper as a temporary expe- dient, with a hole in the middle of it as a diaphragm.
A Member thought a better plan would be to use a piece of black velvet, with a hole through the opposite side; and if the milkiness proceeded from the cause supposed, the light would then die away.
Mr. Logs expressed the pleasure he felt at being made the medium by which Professor Smith introduced his plan to the notice of English microscopists, and felt confident that, in the end, good results would be obtained from it, though it was yet in its infancy. He did not wish to object to any method, nor was he prejudiced in favour of the American plan, but certainly it had the advantage of possessing a motion for turning the silver reflector at any angle, and putting it at any distance that might be necessary, when using different powers. Mr. Lobb then referred to the objection that the reflector covered too much of the field, and explained Professor Smith’s diagrams with a view to show that it really covered very little of it. As regarded parallel glass, he thought with Mr. Brooke that this was a very important point, and that Mr. Lealand’s idea of placing a piece of perfectly parallel glass at the proper angle might be carried out with the best pos- sible results. Mr. Lobb proceeded to explain an object-glass for the polariscope he had some time since invented in order to look at erystals above the eye-piece, and explained, by a reference to the various parts of the illuminator, the way in which it had been applied to that instrument.* The field was beautifully illuminated, and the object came out without cloud or milkiness, and by using a 1 object-glass the whole field might be easily illuminated with-- out any fog. There was a fog which partly arose, as Mr. Slack had explained, from using high powers, but then with high powers a small portion only was in focus. That portion, however, was perfect, and no more than this was wanted. Mr. Smith, of Bow, had called upon him (Mr. Lobb), and communicated to him a very ingenious idea. Mr. Smith used a binocular instrument, the prism being the illuminator; there was a reflector placed at a certain angle above the left-hand tube of the binocular body, and the eye-piece being removed, and the light sent down from this reflector and by the prism, the object was illuminated ; and this, it was stated, answered admirably. The objects must all be unco- vered, and some study was necessary to determine the best ground to put the object on. At present the best ground was perfectly
* To give this in detail diagrams would be necessary.
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 119
parallel glass, though different modes might be necessary for different objects. Another matter he should mention was, that Professor Smith had informed him that Messrs. Powell and Lea- land’s object-glasses worked the best. This was because they were all black inside, and there was no double reflection. His own +'; object-glass did not work well; Mr. Powell suggested that this might be caused by the brass inside, and blacked it, after which it worked excellently.
A Memeer thought it would be necessary to have a horizontal stop, so as to cut off, when necessary, different proportions of large-angled glasses. He could not find any object that worked well with extravagantly angled glass.
Mr. Gray spoke in favour of Mr. Smith’s arrangement, which, he thought, left nothing to be desired. It provided a means of modifying the light to any extent, and thus preventing the milki- ness complained of.
Mr. Beck objected to that arrangement—first, because it cut off part of the aperture of the object-glass, and, secondly, because the microscope could not be used with the binocular. He (Mr. Beck) had worked with ;,th with the illuminator, which showed the scales, &c., with the binocular.
Mr. Weyuam said that the binocular was suggested more than five years ago by Mr. Hewitt, and he ignored it then because in the high powers it cut off half the aperture of the object-glass. This was a defect, inasmuch as it cut off half the field.
Mr. Gray suggested that this disturbance might be remedied by a piece of glass placed between the object-glass and the eye- piece. They would then have one half the object-glass entirely unobstructed, and the illumination thrown upon the other half was what was required.
The PresrpEent thanked the gentlemen who had spoken, in the name of the Society, for having given the results of their experi- ence, and announced that at the next ordinary meeting papers “On a Brass Slide” would be read by Dr. Maddox, and “Ona Small Holder for a Clip” by Mr. Smith, and a further paper by Mr. Tuffen West.
- Adjourned to 14th February, 1866.
QueEKerr MicroscoricaL Civs.
The Monthly Meeting of this Society was held by permission of the Council at University College, Gower Street, on the 23rd ultimo, (March) ; a removal to more commodious rooms having become necessary from the rapidly increasing number of its members.
Mr. M. C. Cooke, V.P., who occupied the chair, read an interest- ing paper on “Universal Microscopic Admeasurement,” the object of which was the advocacy of the universal adoption of the French measurement with the “millimetre” as the standard for
120 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.
microscopical objects. A discussion ensued, after which the pro- ceedings terminated with a conversazione. Hight members were elected and seven candidates proposed.
[The Offices of the Club remain at 192, Piccadilly, where letters addressed to Mr. Bywater, Hon. Sec., will have prompt attention. |
Dousiin Microscorican CLUB. August 19th, 1865.
Read the minutes of the preceding monthly meeting, which were confirmed.
Dr. John Barker exhibited specimens of Cdogonium Itzigsohnit (de Bary), which showed the remarkably lobed oogonia of this species fully formed.
Mr. Crowe showed specimens of Carchesiwm polypinum, in active vigour, forming a fine object.
Mr. Archer showed specimens of Spondylosium pulchellum (ejus). This was the first time he had had an opportunity to exhibit this well-marked little plant to the club, as hitherto he had not found it except in pools close to Lough Bray, where it seemed to be very rare. Indeed, he had himself seen it but once or twice since he first ventured to describe it in the ‘ Proceedings of the Dublin University Zoological and Botanical Association’ (vol. i, pp. 116-7), and he was glad again to find it maintaining all its characters. This little Desmidian, so far as is known, is the only British repre- sentation of its genus, one founded by de Brébisson to receive forms which, but for the absence of any “ glandular processes,” would fall under Sphzrozosma. Indeed, when Mr. Archer first found this well-marked little plant he was unaware of the genus Spondylosium (Bréb.), and, while drawing attention to the discrepancy as regards the point referred to, unavoidable without constituting a new genus, had described it under Spherozosma (Corda). Dr. Wallich also, in his paper on “ Desmi- diacez collected in Bengal” (‘Annals of Natural History,’ 3 Ser., vol. v, p. 184), two only of which have been as yet published, likewise unaware of de Brébisson’s genus, instituted an identical genus for the reception of certain Bengal forms, which -he called Leuronema. De Brébisson’s Spondylosium, however, has the priority ; therefore several forms which had been referred to Sphzrozosma and Wallich’s species and varieties of Leuronema must be called by de Brébisson’s name.
Mr. Crowe exhibited specimens of Atropos pulsatorius, or Death. watch, taken by him from behind a picture which had been un- disturbed on the wall for some time. A discussion followed as to whether this little insect or Anobium striatum should enjoy the
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 121
title par excellence of the Death-watch, both insects possessing the power of producing the ticking sound so well known and so like that of a watch. It was generally admitted that the latter was the creature to which that sobriquet was originally given.
Mr. Archer exhibited the, with us, rare Cosmarium moniliforme. This species, well marked and very pretty, he had not seen for several seasons. He mainly drew attention to it now for the pur- pose of pointing out the arrangements of the cell-contents in “fillets,” as bearing on his remarks on Cosmariwm curtum (Ralfs), at last meeting, especially, as on that occasion he had not a speci- men of C. moniliforme to exhibit side by side therewith. This plant seems to have a quite similar arrangement of the cell-con- tents to C. curtwm, and therefore equally to fall under A. Braun’s remarks as to its properly holding a place in the genus Cosmarium at all. If, indeed, the very faint constriction of C. curtum would nearly shut it out of the genus Cosmarium, what of C. moniliforme, in which the constriction is so deep as that the species may be best called to mind by conceiving two absolute spheres in contact and held together by an isthmus so narrow as to appear reduced toaminimum? It may be replied that Plewroteniwm Cosmarioides (de Bary) is deeply constricted, and externally a Cosmarium, yet by that author it is placed, owing to its parietal chlorophyll-contents arranged in bands, side by side with certain Docidia ; therefore why not C. curtuwm (Bréb.), Ralfs, (and C. moniliforme (Turp.) Ralfs, and C. Ralfsii (Bréb.) too) be separated from Cosmarium ? Mr. Archer would not be prepared to argue that they should not, nor that the mode of arrangement of the contents, being equally constant, may not be equally of value as the outward characters, but only to urge that, so long as the genus Penium is characterised as it is, without constriction, plants with a constriction should not be forced into it. Hence, if it be held that the species here adverted to must go out of Cosmarium, there should be a new genus, Cosmarium-like as to outward form, and Penium-like as to the internal arrangement of the contents. Will observers (de Brébisson, Ralfs, Nageli, de Bary, Wallich, Cleve, Grunow, and others) agree to this? Mr. Archer would venture to urge here, in reply to possible objections, that a question like this, as to the generic location of the species alluded to, nor any difference of opinion thereon, in no way speaks for the want of permanence or individuality of the forms themselves; and the difficulty is not that of recognising and identifying forms which constantly present the same idiosyncrasies whenever met with, but that of making their individual specialities tally with the genera as laid down in our books, whose limits may be, perhaps, either too wide or too narrow, and whose diagnosis cannot be expected to meet every possible contingency.
Mr. Archer drew attention to a Bulbochete which he could not but regard as new, inasmuch as it is not described by Pringsheim
122 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.
in his memoir “‘ Morphologie der Gdogonien,” published in his ‘ Jahrbiicher fiir wissenschaftliche Botanik,’ Band i, p. 1, for, with the exceptions of the species described by Profs. Pringsheim and de Bary, Mr. Archer, so far as he could judge, felt necessitated to regard almost all the forms both of Gidogonium and Bulbocheete to be found in books of any other authors as of less value than if they never had been described, and that it would be greatly the more advisable course quite to ignore them ; but inasmuch as the distinctions put forward in Cidogonie are founded, not in the essential characters presented by the fructification, but simply on comparative dimensions, it would be quite impossible to be certain, therefore the proper course seems to be to follow Pringsheim and name the present plant, for previous naming and previous descrip- tion, not being available, must of necessity, as it appeared to Mr. Archer, be wholly discarded. The fact is that it is quite probable that the true species in Gidogoniex are by no means so numerous as are the pseudo-species recorded on unessential characters in books. The following may, perhaps, serve as a description of the plant now brought forward.
Genus ButBocHmTE (Agardh).
Bulbochete Pringsheimiana, Sp. nov.
Oogonium elliptic; dwarf male-plants (“ Zwergmannchen,” Pringsheim) straight, multilocular, in length nearly equal to the length of the oogonium, nearly always seated on the oogonium about the middle, rarely close under it, with “ foot”’ and “ outer” antheridium ; mother-cells of androspores immediately above the oogonium ; septum of the cell immediately below the oogonium (the supporting cell, “ Stiitzzelle,’ Pringsheim) very high up (or absent ?); micropyle of oogonium very close to its upper end; oospore elliptic, orange-brown when mature, seemingly not filling the oogonium, but leaving a hyaline border; whole plant rather slender, cells averaging about twice as long as broad, growth unilateral.
It will thus be seen that this species falls under the subdivision of the genus with elliptic oospores, all which are characterised by Pringsheim as having the dwarf male plants, which are always here of the structure called by him “ outer” and with a “ foot,” seated always near to, but never on, the oogonium. Now, the present plant is well characterised by having mostly a single dwarf male plant seated on the oogonium, upon which it stands vertically ; sometimes there are two upon one oogonium. Thus, this plant presents a striking exception in this respect to the characters laid down by Pringsheim, and this circumstance alone would seem to mark it out as distinct. It agrees, indeed, with the other elliptic-spored species in the dwarf male plants having a “ foot-cell” and “outer” antheridium ; but it differs from them by the circumstance of the oogonia being immediately surmounted by the mother-cells of the androspores, all the other elliptic- spored species described bearing above the oogonia either ordinary
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES: 123
vegetative cells or simply a bristle. Further, no species seems to possess the septum dividing the cell supporting the oogonium so high up therein as is the case in the present plant. Indeed, when seemingly absent, Mr. Archer was inclined to think that this was due to its being so close up under the oogonium as to be obscured by it, and to be made appear as if absent.
It is, indeed, much to be desired that the promised descriptions of all the species known to him in this genus and in GQidogonium should be published by their able exponent, Professor Pringsheim ; at least such a desirable additional contribution to the knowledge of these interesting algw had not met Mr. Archer’s observation. Should this description of a form, probably, indeed, already well known to Professor Pringsheim, though seemingly not described by that distinguished observer (and should he approve of the same), ever meet his eye, Mr. Archer trusted that, i token of the great gratification he had enjoyed from several of his (Pro- fessor Pringsheim’s) beautiful researches and masterly writings, he might not quite disdain the compliment intended to be con- veyed by so humble an individual in this far-off western island, in calling this plant Bulbochete Pringsheimiana.
Mr. Archer drew attention to a peculiar condition of Dinobryon sertularia (Ehr.), and he mentioned that he had just happened to meet with a notice of what seemed to him to be asimilar condition of this organism. This was by Dr. Hermann, who, in a paper “Ueber die bei Neudamm aufgefundenen Arten des Genus Characium” (in Rabenhorst’s ‘ Beitrage zur niheren Kenntniss und Verbreitung der Algen,’ Heft i), incidentally mentions a state of Dinobryon doubtless quite identical with that observed by Mr. Archer. Although neither, indeed, threw much light on the question as to the development of this organism, yet the present observation would be a confirmation, so far as it went, of that of Dr. Hermann, and both went to indicate that Dinobryon passes through a phase not apparently generally known. The change in the present specimens consisted in the living part of the indi- viduals comprising the colony becoming encysted, not, indeed, within the “lorica,” but at its mouth, into a globular green body, smoothly bounded, and contained within a hyaline globular infla- tion, whose bounding wall passed off into, and seemed a continu- tion of, the somewhat expanded mouth of the well-known campanulate colourless “lorica.” This encysted portion, the original lorica being left out of view, had somewhat the appear- ance of a minute form of Chlamydomonas, though, of course, quiescent, and contained some pale green granules. Many speci- mens were to be seen empty, the hyaline, original, campanulate lorica and its globular inflated addition having become vacated by the globular green spore-like body ; but Mr. Archer had never been able to perceive the moment when these were set free. In the water in which these specimens pretty plentifully occurred there abounded a number of minute Chlamydomonas-like active
124 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES:
bodies, in vigorous movement, quite globular, of the same size and exceedingly like the green bodies near them, still held within the round inflated expansions of the Dinobryon, and, although with denser and greener contents, their great similarity seemed to suggest the possibility of their being further stages in the develop- ment. Here this very scanty observation, guantum valeat, ceases ; nor does that of Dr. Hermann, of what 1s, doubtless, the same phenomenon, throw any additional light on the matter. This author describes also a very similar encysting and formation of a “resting spore” in a Characium, called by him Characiwm epipyzis, which he compares withthe phenomenon in Dinobryon; andhe then goes on to say— The supposition of some affinity between Chara- ciumepipyxis and Dinobryon pressed itself upon me at each observa- tion more forcibly, although I could gain nothing certain upon the point. Dinobryon resembles a colony of Characiwm epipyzis, or as budding-off; Dinobryon occurs, besides, very frequently in company with our Characium.’’ Mr. Archer, however, remarked that Dinobryon occurs frequently where no Characium at least pre- sents itself; although it cannot be omitted to be mentioned that, in the very gathering in which the present specimens of Dinobryon were noticed, a Characium was present in considerable numbers ; but he could not make himself satisfied that it was the form called C. epipyxis by Dr. Hermann.
September 21st, 1865.
Read the minutes of the preceding meeting, which were confirmed.
Mr. Archer exhibited specimens of a Staurastrum (Kiitz.) Nag., new to Britain, which he now referred to Staurastrum spinulosum (Nag.), though, before he had been able to see a specimen with the constituent cells well spread out, so as to display accurately their form, he had been in some doubt as to the actual identity with Nageli’s plant, though there could be none as to the genus to which it belonged. Although no mode of reproduction is known for this genus, it can hardly be doubted but that it, as well as Celastrum, belongs to Pediastree. Inasmuch as the well- marked form in question had been ignored by the authors of the ‘ Micrographic Dictionary,’ it may be well here briefly to describe the plant. It consists of a definite number of cuneate compressed cells, united by their smaller ends in a radiate manner into a solid family ; the outer margins with rounded angles, and concave at the middle, in the present plant, or in Kiitzing’s species, Soras- trum echinatum, bifurcate. In the present plant, 8. spinulosum, the cells bear, at each of the outer rounded angles, two minute, rather acute, short spines ; thus, each cell bears four spines, but as these are placed in pairs opposite one another, not im a single line, when a cell presents fts broad or cuneate side to the observer
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 125
it often happens that only two spines seem to exist, as one is behind and hidden by its companion spine. Whenan oblique view of a cell is towards the observer, then the four spines can be at once seen. This plant is exceedingly minute, even the largest families ; and, unless when few-celled, the form of the individual cells, and their mode of combination, is not readily, at first sight, made out. This appears to be a rare little alga; Mr. Archer had, indeed, met with it but on two or three occasions. The present gathering was made in the “ Rocky Valley,” near Bray.
Dr. John Barker showed a fine specimen of Amaba villosa (Wallich). Some months previously, in company with Mr. Archer, he had seen examples of this rhizopod; but as the character of the specimens did not then appear to him (Dr. Barker) as sufficiently well marked, and as only a comparatively few had been found in the gathering, he had thought it better to wait until some more numerous specimens should present themselves, to become quite satisfied as to the identity of this form. The present were taken from a pool in the Rocky Valley, near Bray, and in the usual rep- tant state he had found them to average 4,” in length, and about giz! in breadth. The anterior extremity is broadly rounded, the motion reptant, continuous, and rapid. The posterior villous en- largement appeared to Dr. Barker to be, as 1t were, made up of tubes radiating from a space clear of motile granules, and contain- ing one or more small vesicles. This villous patch was of a gray colour, and small foreign objects appeared to adhere markedly to it, and were carried along during the progression of the Amceba through the surrounding débris. The contractile vesicle appeared generally in the neighbourhood of the villous patch, and the nu- cleus was also well seen. The villous appendage sometimes ap- peared to be trilobed ; that is, the villous portion seemed to radiate from three centres. When meeting with an obstacle in front, the organism often put forth pseudopods from the neighbourhood of the villous appendage. There were specimens of Ame@ba diffiuens, as well as other reptant Amcebex, without pseudopods or any villous appendage in the same gathering. The specimens kept for upwards of a month, and gradually disappeared. Dr. Barker regarded these as all but varieties of one and the same ordinary Ameeba, influenced by peculiar conditions of growth, &c.
Mr. Archer believed there could not be any doubt at all but that the Ameba alluded to by Dr. Barker as having been seen by both in company some time ago was truly none other than A. vil- losa (Wallich) ; just as little, indeed, as that the form now shown by Dr. Barker was actually the same.
Mr. Archer, sufficiently opportunely along with Dr. Barker’s exhibition of A. villosa, was able to show one of those remarkable polymorphous conditions of the gonidia of Volvox globator first drawn attention to by Dr. Hicks in the ‘ Microscopical Journal.’ The present specimen was, indeed, languid and sluggish, as com-
126 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.
pared with those he had seen at an earlier period of the year, and which he had mentioned at a previous meeting; but he was not on that occasion able to exhibit to the Club any actual specimens, yet the polymorphous condition, and slight locomotive power of the gonidia now exhibited were sufficiently evident.
Dr. J. Barker could confirm the truth of these observations; he had himself, on a previous occasion, seen the transformed gonidia of some specimens of Volvox move reptantly about, seemingly to all intents and purposes as veritable Amcebe.
Dr. Frazer exhibited two specimens of diseased hairs; the first example of hair growing on a patch of baldness caused by Tinea tonsurans, the upper part white, the shaft gradually acquiring a dark colour towards the base; the second being a diseased hair, with atrophy of the bulb, taken from a bald patch resulting from Alopecia areata, and intended to show the state of extremely im- paired nutrition of the hair.
Mr. Archer showed fruited examples, with oogonia and the dwarf male plants, of Gdogoniwm Brauni ; also the seemingly rare, mi- nute little plant, Polyedrium tetraedricum (Nag.). (See ‘Gattungen einzelliger Algen,’ p. 83, t. iv, B. 3.)
Captain Hutton exhibited fruited specimens of Metzgeria fur- cata, rarely met with in a fertile condition, although the plant is common. He showed the fruit nicely under the binocular.
Dr. Richardson showed various Desmids in good condition, mounted five years ago in glycerine and a trace of liquor potasse.
Mr. Yeates exhibited Smith and Beck’s new metallic reflector for opaque objects, which seemed to be very satisfactory.
October 19th, 1865.
Read the minutes of last meeting, which were signed.
Captain F. W. Hutton presented a list of Diatomaceze found by him in the washings of a small portion of seaweed from China. The material had not been boiled, but steeped in weak acid. The specimens shown were very clean, and many very pretty. The following is the list :— Aimantidium ’; Amphicampa mirabilis; Licmophora, sp.; Grammatophora serpentina; Gram- matophora marina; Grammatophora hamulifera; Melosira, sp. ; Coscinodiscus limbatus ; Arachnoidiscus Ehrenbergu ; Biddulphia pulchella; Cocconeis pseudomarginatus; Cocconeis scutellum; Coc- coneis pretexta; Achnanthes? sp.; Navicula didyma; Navicula, sp.; Pinnularia, sp. This seaweed had been obtained by Captain Hutton in February, 1864, but he felt satisfied that it could not
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 127
be assumed to be the source of the Arachnoidiscus Ehrenberghu noticed by him as occurring in a gathering made at Malahide, Co. Dublin, in December, 1864, and recorded in the Minutes of the Club for that month, and this for the conclusive reasons then advanced. (See ‘Quart. Journ. Mic. Science,’ vol. xii, p. 1382 and p. 167.)
Mr. Archer showed a minute alga which formed a new species of the genus Dictyospherium, Nig.; and, for the sake of com- parison, he showed along with it the tolerably common but remarkable little plant, Dictyospherium Ehrenbergianum, Nag. Before, however, describing the present form, inasmuch as the genus Dictyospherium, as well as many others of the “ unicel- lular” alge (quantum valeant) have been ignored by some—for instance, the authors of the ‘ Micrographic Dictionary’—it might be well here as briefly as possible to give the generic characters, following as closely as possible Nageli’s own words (‘ Gattungen einzelliger Algen,’ p. 72) :—* Cells elliptic, with thick confluent mucous investment, combined in numbers into free-swimming, one-layered, hollow-globular (microscopic) families, one always at the ends of delicate threads which proceed from the central point of the family and which become repeatedly branched towards the periphery ; division at the commencement of a series of generations in all directions of space; afterwards, as regards the middle point of the aggregate family, as arule, alternating only in the two tangental directions.” As will be presently seen, the three forms otherwise referable to this genus, possessing cells which in each are respectively elliptic, reniform, and constricted, renders it necessary that the foregoing characters be modified so far as relates to this particular. In this palmellacean genus the cells form little definite families or colonies primarily originating from a single cell by constant division, each new cell being supported on the summit of a slender thread or fibre-like stipes of extreme delicacy, which thus during the increase in number of the consti- tuent cells of the family becomes usually dichotomously divided, the whole family being imbedded in a definitely bounded mucous or gelatinous investment. The form on which the genus was founded by Nageli (Dictyospherium Ehrenbergianum, Nag.) is very minute, and, in suitable places, common, the families in the ageregate forming a globular or broadly elliptic, or sometimes subcubical figure; the rate of growth of the delicate thread being equal all round, the cells at the ends of each of its dichotomous ramifications stand at nearly equal distance from the original centre—hence the regular figure of the aggregate family. In this species the individual cells are elliptic, as in Nageli’s original diagnosis of the genus founded on this as the then only known type, and are very minute. Another species in this genus has been described by Rabenhorst (in ‘ Kryptogamen-Flora von Sachsen,’ &c., p. 132) under the name of Dictyospherium rent- ‘orme (Bulnheim in Hedwigia, 1859). This plant possesses larger
VOL. VII.—NEW SER. K
128 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.
irregularly shaped families, seemingly owing to the development of the delicate supporting fibre not going on in the same regular manner as in D. Hhrenbergianwm ; and the cells themselves are much larger, and are reniform. In the form now exhibited by Mr. Archer the aggregate family is larger than in either of the foregoing, and the branching of the fibre less regular than in D. Ehrenbergianum, and seemingly more so (to judge from the figure) than in D. reniforme. The total family sometimes acquires a divergent or lobed character, owing to the fibre or thread, on the subdivision of the original cell of the family, becoming drawn out to a greater extent than during subsequent growth, thus the cells of the second generation becoming further pushed away from one another than is the case in the subsequent generations. Thus, the aggregate family may appear like twin families, or, as it were, as if certain portions or branches of it had started from two or sometimes more fresh centres. The cells themselves, moreover, were neither elliptic, as in D. Hhrenbergianum, nor reniform, as in D. reniforme; but they are somewhat irregularly figure-of-8- shaped, that is, constricted at both sides, the ends tapering in a somewhat triangular manner to the bluntly rounded extre- mities; they are, besides, larger than either of the preceding, much larger than those of the first. This plant is, indeed, wholly different from, yet congeneric with, both. It might, indeed, suggest itself, from the fact of the cells being seated at the summits of the branches of a delicate thread-like stipes, and their being constricted, that this plant might belong to De Bré- bisson’s genus Cosmocladium ; but in that plant the stipes is thick and broad, and the aggregate colony forms a dendroid struc- ture seated epiphytically on Confervoids, not freely swimming, and the growth radiating from a common original centre. Still, there must, perhaps, be a certain amount of affinity; yet there can be no doubt but that Mr. Archer’s plant far more properly belongs to Dictyospherium (Nag.) than to Cosmocladium (Bréb.). Be, then, this growth a species or a form, be it swe generis or but a transitional state of some other species—a question which it would be at present impossible to decide—the present plant is quite as well marked as either of the two previously described, and therefore quite as worthy of arecord. As to the nature of the curious dichotomous, extremely delicate, fibre-like stipes in this genus on which the cells are borne, Mr. Archer found it impossible to throw any light. So delicate is it that it often requires a peculiar illumination to perceive it properly; but so constant and so peculiar a character must have some signification, and seems to give the minute alge possessing it a special generic type, and, pending more knowledge as to their origin and nature, a claim to be accorded a special generic rank.
Dr. John Barker exhibited a minute Cosmarium gathered by him on the occasion of the Club excursion to Lugnaquilla, which, with the information at disposal, he was inclined to regard as Cosmarium quadratum, or a small variety of that species. It is
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minute, oblong; constriction deep and linear; segments rather longer than broad, quadrate; all the angles rounded; sides and ends rather deeply concave ; frond compressed ; side and end view elliptic; empty frond minutely punctate. Mr. Archer was quite disposed to regard this plant exhibited by Dr. Barker as not Cosmariwn quadratum. It is a good deal smaller, and wants any notable inflation at each side at the base of the segments; besides, the ends are concave, and not convex, as in C. quadratum. It might, perhaps, by those who had not seen Cosmarium sublobatum (Euastrum sublobatum, Bréb.), be mis- taken for that species, which it most decidedly is not. The pre- sent form is often seemingly quite or nearly as much expanded at the ends as it is at the base, whereas in Cosmariwm sublobatum the segments very considerably taper towards the ends, and that species is also larger than the present, and wider in proportion to its length. Ewastrum pusillum, Bréb., appears to have some affinity with Dr. Barker’s plant, but Mr. Archer had not seen specimens of that form; it appears, however, to be smaller, the upper angles to be acute, not rounded, and the concavity at the ends with a well-defined obtuse angle at the centre, not gradually curved. On the whole, Mr. Archer was himself quite disposed to regard the present plant as undescribed ; the somewhat punctate empty frond would form a further distinction.
Mr. Woodworth exhibited a great variety of photographs of microscopic objects, some of them high-power objects, and all very excellent.
Mr. Archer showed in fructification specimens of a diccious (Edogonium, which, pending, indeed, information on one point as regards it, he would refer to Cdogoniwm gemelliparum, Prings- heim. The present plant showed the oogonia, its lateral aperture (micropyle) high up, the oospore nearly filling the oogonium, the separate male plants with their antheridia forming series of very short cells, more or less numerous. But the point requiring elucidation as to the identification of this plant with Pringsheim’s species, just mentioned, was whether there were two spermatozoids evolved from each antheridial cell by a division taking place in the direction of the length of the parent filament, or whether only one spermatozoid was produced from each daughter antheridial cell, the division taking place, as ordinarily, transversely ; and it was just this point he had been unable to make out. He had found this plant for some weeks in a pool hard by the “ Rocky Valley” near Bray, and had on several occasions taken specimens always showing oogonia, but not until now had he found the male plants, which, indeed, had been first detected in these specimens and pointed out by Dr. J. Barker.
Dr. E. Perceval Wright exhibited some specimens of a beautiful pink Podura. Various species of Nullipora grow in great quantity in Bantry Bay, and they are dredged up for the purpose of being
1380 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.
used as manure. The Nullipore remains are collected in large heaps, and, by exposure to the air and sun, soon become quite bleached, presenting the appearance of coral sand. Running over
.and jumping upon these mounds, Dr. Wright discovered those pretty apterous insects. So far as he could determine, they belong to an undescribed species of the genus Heterotoma.
Mr. Tichborne exhibited some crystals of creatine found in Liebig’s extract of beef. They were recognised by their form and by their reaction with chloride of zinc.
MancHestER LITERARY AND PHILosopHicaL Society. MICROSCOPICAL SECTION. October 16th, 1865. A. G. LatHam, Esq., President of the Section, in the Chair.
This being the first meeting of the session, the President delivered an address reviewing the past proceeding of the Section, and referring with satisfaction to the proposal to extend its objects to subjects of natural history generally.
Mr. Sidebotham read “ Notes on Atlantic Soundings.”
He said that in the unsuccessful attempt made to raise the Atlantic Cable after it had unfortunately parted, the ropes and grapnels brought up from the bottom small portions of ooze or mud, some of which was scraped off and preserved, as stated at the time in the newspapers. Believing that a careful examination of this deposit might prove of considerable interest, he wrote on the sub- ject to Dr. Fairbairn, who, after considerable trouble, obtained for him a fine sample, mounted specimens of which he now pre- sented for the cabinet and to each member of the Section. In appearance the deposit resembles dirty chalk, and under the micro- scope reminds one much of the chalk from Dover ; indeed, it has all the appearance of being a bed of chalk in process of formation. It is composed entirely of organisms, chiefly in fragments. In the short examination he had made he observed several forms which give promise of interesting results, and he thought it would be desir- able to frame a complete list of the species found, which would be best accomplished by two or three members taking temporary possession of all the slides, and preparing a report on their united observations. The sample now distributed was obtained at Dr. Fairbairn’s request by Mr. Saward from Mr. Temple, one of the Engineering Staff, who states that it was got in grappling for the Cable, August 11th, 1865, Lat. 51° 25’ 15” N., Long. 38° 59’ W.
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 131
November 20th, 1865, A. G. LatuaM, Esq., President of the Section, in the Chair,
Mr. Parry read a paper on ‘‘ Collecting Foraminifera on the West Coast of Ireland.” He said that in June last he visited the coast of Connemara, for the purpose of collecting Foraminifera, more especially at Dogs Bay; he was accompanied by Mr. Burns, of Doohulla Lodge, who gave him much assistance. After he had procured a considerable quantity of the shell-sand in the usual way, he noticed some white floating material on the surface of the advancing tide ; he collected a quantity of it by means of a muslin net, and on examination found it nearly all composed of perfect dead shells of Foraminifera. On the second visit to the bay Mr. Burns discovered a pool near high-water mark, covered with the floating shells, and of these Mr. Parry collected a large quantity, portions of which he had since distributed to members of the Section. He cbserved that the underside of the rocks forming the pool were covered with Foraminifera, and he therefore con- cluded that these minute creatures live there, and from what he saw he was led to believe that Dogs Bay is a breeding-ground for them, and that they may also be found living in “ Burns’ Pool.”
Mr. Dancer, F.R.A.S., read a paper “On the [lumination of Opaque Objects under the High Powers of the Microscope.”
The author’s attention was drawn to a paper on this subject which appeared in the ‘ Scientific American,’ and was copied into the ‘ Mechanics’ Magazine’ of October 20th, 1865.
Mr. H. L. Smith, of Kenyon College, had contrived a plan for the illumination of opaque objects, by placing a small mirror in a rectangular box, which could be attached to any ordinary micro- scope; this mirror was made adjustable immediately over the opening of the back of the objective ; a light was placed at the side of the box and reflected down through the objective on to the object. In this manner the object could be illuminated when the high powers were used.
Mr. Hurst sugested that a discussion on this subject would be of interest to the members of the Microscopical Section. The author, not having time to make one of Mr. Smith’s apparatus, thought it possible to arrive at similar results by the employ- ment of the binocular microscope, an instrument which is now more common than a monocular instrument. The trial quite answered hisexpectations. Thesimplest method,andonewhich gave good results, is to remove the eye-piece from the oblique body and fix a reflector on the top of the body in such amanner as to throw the rays of light down to the Wenham’s prism, and thence through the object-glass on to the object.
If a plane mirror is employed a lens of suitable focal length should be placed in the body, in order to get the field of view entirely illuminated.
182 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.
A concave mirror or lenticular prism can also be used for the same purpose, provided the focal length is adapted to the length of the body and object-glasses.
Various modifications can be adapted so as to vary the character of the illumination to suit the particular object to be viewed. In some cases the Wenham’s prism may be withdrawn a little, to produce the proper effect.
Uncovered objects only can be seen to advantage, owing to the light reflected from the surface of the covering glass. The surface on which the objects are mounted should reflect as little as pos- sible, and be a marked contrast in colour to the object.
Ordinary Meeting, November 28th, 1865. R. Anaus Surru, Ph.D., F.R.S., &c., President, in the Chair.
Mr. Francis Hampson, solicitor, was elected an Ordinary Member of the Society.
Mr. Dancer, F.R.-A.S., said that in a paper “ On the Illumina- of Opaque Objects under the High Powers of the Microscope,” read before the Microscopical Section of this Society, November 20th, he had described a method of employing the oblique body of the binocular microscope with Wenham’s prism, for illumination of opaque objects, and he had also exhibited an instrument fitted up for this purpose, giving the members present a practical demonstration of the advantages which this mode of illumination afforded under certain circumstances. He wished now to describe another method of illuminating opaque objects, and, as it is equally applicable to monocular and binocular microscopes, it appears worthy of some consideration.
In the method of Mr. H. L. Smith, of Kenyon College (which was briefly described in the paper beforé mentioned), and also in the use of the Wenham’s prism, there is a considerable loss of angular aperture (which is a very important consideration). It occurred to the author that by modifymg Mr. Smith’s contrivance this loss might be diminished in some degree; this has been attempted in the following manner.
Instead of placing the mirror immediately over the opening at the back of the object-glass, a small speculum }th of an inch in diameter is introduced into the front of the body of the micro- scope, 24 inches above the top of the objective. A lateral opening is made in the body at right angles to the speculum, for the admis- sion of light to be reflected down through the objective to the object below.
The interposition of the small speculum does not produce any disagreeable effect in the field of view, and in the examination of objects it is easy to use that portion of the field which is between the centre and the edge. With proper manipulation very good
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 133
La
definition can be obtained by this method when the speculum is of the proper curvature. This contrivance can always remain attached to the microscope without interfering with the general appearance of the instrument, and when the use of the speculum is not required it can be withdrawn or turned aside out of the field of view, and the aperture at the side of the body may be closed by a small shutter. It is obvious that the use of the binocular body is not interfered with by this arrangement.
A binocular and a monocular microscope with this arrange- ment were exhibited to the members at the close of the meeting.
December 18th, 1865. J. B. Dancnr, F.R.A.S., in the Chair.
Mr. Parry exhibited some sections of fossil wood and Echinus spines, most beautifully cut by Mr. John Butterworth, of Oldham, and presented some of the slides to the Section.
Mr. Parry also presented to the meeting, for distribution among the members, mounted slides of the contents of a shark’s stomach, from the Madras coast, consisting almost entirely of Diatomacez.
Mr. Hurst then made a few remarks on late improvements in illuminating opaque objects under the higher powers of the micro- scope. He said they consisted of three different methods. Firstly that of H. E. Smith, of Kenyon College, America, described in the English ‘ Mechanics’ Magazine’ of the 20th October, 1865, in an extract from the ‘American Journal of Science and Arts.’ This gentleman employed a box, or adaptor, between the object- glass and the Wenham’s prism of the binocular, with a side perforation, opposite to which was a small silver reflector or a common thin glass cover, acting as a mirror and capable of adjust- ment to any angle, thus enabling it to throw the rays of light admitted by the side aperture through the object-glass down on to the object itself.
The disadvantage of this method is that all adaptors cause unsteadiness, and, however skilfully constructed, injure the accu- rate centering of the object-glass ; and while, on the one hand, the thin glass cover appears to produce some distortion of the image, the reflector so near the object necessarily casts off a number of the rays proceeding from it. This plan also seems to require lamp-light and the use of a condenser. Messrs. Smith and Beck appear to have patented the use of the thin glass cover.
Secondly, a modification of the foregoing by Mr. Dancer, of this Section, who places the thin glass or reflector between the eye-piece and the Wenbam prism, cutting an aperture in the body of the microscope to admit the light. This dispenses with the objection inherent to adapters, and theoretically seems the most perfect of these new methods; but Mr. Hurst’s experience
134 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.
in its use was as yet too limited to form an opinion. He hoped, however, to report on the subject at the next meeting.
Thirdly, that invented by Mr. Dancer, who places a circular mirror over the oblique tube of the microscope, previously remoy- ing the eye-piece; the light is thrown down to the Wenham’s prism, and thence through the objective on to the object. The only disadvantage of this method was that of not admitting of binocular vision; otherwise its simplicity, cheapness, and great facility of adjustment, render it far preferable to the others, while its effects are fully equal to theirs. It answers, moreover, equally well by day- or lamp-light, and does not require a condenser to be used. Mr. Hurst thought every binocular microscope would be fitted with it when their owners had seen its working.
‘Mr. Hurst wished meanwhile to draw the particular attention of the members to the extraordinary beauty and clearness with which opaque objects—hitherto the despair of microscopists— were displayed by these methods of illumination, some being shown as clearly as if enlarged into a relatively gigantic model and viewed by the naked eye. Another peculiarity connected with them is that, as the object-glass itself acts as a condenser, the amount of light is increased with the magnifying power of the object-glass, contrary to the effect of other modes of illu- mination.
Mr. Hurst thought the subject was in its infancy and that great improvements would yet be made, but that the idea of Mr. H. E. Smith, of making the object-glass its own illuminator, would prove to be one of the greatest steps in modern micro- scopic science ; and, as improved upon by Mr. Dancer, it was one so costless in price and rapid in its adjustment, that every micro- scopist, however economical either of time or money, could readily avail himself of its assistance.
Mr. Coward then exhibited some interesting plants from India, illustrating abnormal forms of different natural families, especially of Leguminosez.
January 17th, 1866. A. G. Latuam, Esq., President of the Section, in the Chair.
The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.
The following donations were announced:—Roper’s ‘ Catalogue of Microscopie Works,’ by the Author; Kélliker, ‘Manual of Human Microscopic Anatomy ;’ ‘ Beck on the Microscope,’ by the Secretary ; six slides of Seeds and Fungi, by the Secretary; several slides of sections of a Cidaris from the Indian Ocean, by Mr. Parry. The following purchases by the Section were ex- hibited :—A mahogany cabinet; Pritchard’s ‘Infusoria.’
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 135
The Secretary reported that he had made a catalogue of the collection of microscopical objects belonging to the Section.
Mr. Sidebotham exhibited a design for a ticket and covering- paper, to be used for the Section’s collection of slides, which, with a trifling alteration, met the approval of the members, and the Secretary was ordered to take the necessary steps to have it encraved.
Mr. Sidebotham remarked on the best cement to use in forming cells for fluid preparations, and stated that gold size appeared to prevent the entrance of air-bubbles better than Japan varnish or Brunswick black, which latter in time became porous, and also, from the evaporation of its turpentine, brittle. He said he and Mr. Thwaites were, perhaps, the first to use this method of mounting objects, and that he possessed slides of gold-size cells, which were still quite perfect, while those he and mounted with Japan black ink were most of them spoiled, that he had again reverted to the use of gold size for the formation of the cell, using Japan varnish for its final closing only.
The Secretary said gold size remained viscid for a long time, and that if the cells formed of it were not well dried for a considerable time, or even baked in an oven, the size was very liable to “run in” and spoil the preparation. He had re- varnished the Section’s collection with a mixture of Japan varnish and gold size, and thought the gold size would prevent the Japan varnish from becoming brittle or porous, while the Japan varnish would prevent the gold size from running in; but he strongly recommended that all collections should be re- varnished every five years, and deprecated the use of covering papers on slides of fluid preparations, as it prevented this.
Mr. Latham recommended the addition of a solution of India rubber, and Mr. Parry of wax, to Japan varnish, to obviate its tendency to become porous and brittle.
The Secretary exhibited Messrs. Smith, Beck and Beck’s side Lieberkuhn for illuminating opaque objects under the medium powers of the microscope, such as 3 to 1 inch.
Mr. Heys showed a well-mounted specimen of the exuvium of the larva of a dragon fly, and stated he found these insects were easily brought to cast off their skins by changing the water in which they were kept; if soft, to hard, and vice versd; or if muddy, to fresh.
Mr. Parry exhibited mounted sections of an Ammonite.
Dr. Alcock said that among Foraminifera from Dogs Bay which he had lately mounted he thought there were some slides likely to interest the members. Many of the deformed specimens of Lagena striata (Williamson) were very curious, and a double one, having the neck as well as the body double, deserved particular notice. He said that he was quite convinced the striated Lagena with a mucro at the base is not a mere sub-variety of Lagena striata, but is very distinct from it ; there were many specimens
136 : PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.
of it, all agreeing in their peculiar characters, and he proposed for it the varietal name of L. mucronata. The Lagena with a collar at the base of the neck, described by him in a previous paper, was undoubtedly distinct from any of the named forms, and he pro- posed to call it Lagena antigua. In his examinations of the Dogs Bay sand one specimen only of Lagena vulgaris typica (William- son) had occurred, though Z. clavata was comparatively common. Perhaps the most interesting kind was a perfect and characteristic specimen of Lagena crenata, a form lately described and figured by Parker and Jones, from Australia, but he believed not hitherto observed as British in the recent state. The very magnificent specimens of ntosolenia mels also deserved notice; and the curious specimens of Truncatulina lobata, with the later chambers “yun wide,” and various monstrous forms of Miliolina, would be examined with interest.
Royat Socrrty or Tasmanta, Hopart Town. Microscopical Soirée, June 18th, 1865.
AGREEABLY to a resolution passed at the last monthly evening meeting, the Museum and Library of the Society were this even- ing thrown open for a Microscopical Exhibition; and as each Fellow had the privilege of introducing two ladies, the rooms were soon thronged with visitors.
Seventeen microscopes were arranged on tables, and to each instrument a card was attached, containing the name of the exhi- bitor, with a list of the objects for examination. The instruments were by Ross, Pritchard, Smith and Beck, G. Oberhausen, Varley, Eden, &e. &e.
Of the Fellows of the Society, Mr. F. Abbott, Mr. F. Abbott, jun., Dr. Agnew, Mr. M. Allport, Dr. Butler, Colonel Chesney, Mr. W. Johnston, Mr. F. Giblin, Mr. Napier, Mr. Roblin (Curator), and Dr. Turnley exhibited instruments; and Dr. Bright, Mr. Stone, and Mr. Legrand kindly acted as volunteers for the occasion. The microscope (by Smith and Beck) belonging to Mr. Stone attracted attention, as being the only one present of the binocular construction.
With so many good instruments, and with powers ranging from 50 up to 1000 diameters, a great variety of objects were submitted for examination. Amongst others might be noticed the circulation of the blood in animals (tail of tadpole) ; circula- tion of sap in plants (Nitella) ; animal tissue; vegetable tissue ; method of measuring accurately microscopic objects; diatoms in great variety from this colony, England, and elsewhere; infu-
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 137
soria; crystals; photographs; and a variety of other objects of a miscellaneous character.
The evening was far advanced before the various objects were exhausted ; and, on retiring, the visitors expressed so much satis- faction with the exhibition that it is probable a similar meeting will be held at the close of the session, at which period of the year (summer) many natural objects which cannot now be pro- cured will be obtainable.
J.W. Acnew, M.D., Hon. See.
Oxrorp Mtcroscopicat Sociery.
On the CRYSTALLIZATION, af VARIOUS TemMPppRATURES, of the Dovste Sant, SutpHate oF Maewnesia aad SULPHATE OF Zinc. By Mr. THomas.
ArtER making experiments according to Mr. Davies’s method, as explained in the ‘ Microscopical Journal’ for July last, I left one of the slides, with which I had been working, on my table for about half an hour. The sun was shining on the table at the time. On looking at the slide I found that crystallization had taken place; and, on examination under the microscope with a 2-inch object-glass, I discovered what seemed to be a remarkable change in the form of the black cross, viz., that instead of running straight across the axis, as is generally the case in crystals with one axis, the two arms appeared to approach the centre, and then suddenly curve back, much in the same way as in a crystal of nitre. Also I noticed that, in other crystals on the same slide, each arm of the cross on approaching the centre made a slight curve, then passed through and formed a similar curve on the other side. It was from seeing accidentally this arrangement that I was induced to make a series of experiments at various temperatures with a Bunsen’s gas-burner and a stand on which I could arrange the slides at various distances, a thermometer being placed as close as possible to the slide under observation.
At about 75° Fahr. I find that the arms of the cross are curved in the singular form here represented (see diagram 1). It seems also that the two salts combine at this temperature in two pro- portions, to form two distinct crystals, one having a distinct axis with a considerable amount of double refraction, which may be called crystal a (see diagram a) ; the other being in the form of rounded masses with small foliations and a less amount of double refraction, which may be called crystal B (see B). The latter, whose details come out more slowly, and, as a rule, from the circumference to the centre, constitutes a limit or boundary, as it were, to the former, which radiates invariably from the centre to the circumference. This, it seems, shows clearly that the two
138 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.
salts combine in two proportions, and that it is by the loss of some of the atoms of their water of crystallization that these varied effects are produced. Water it is which gives the crystals their naturally free and beautifully leafy structure; and I find that by allowing them to form at higher temperatures in a drier atmosphere, where crystallization can take place with fewer atoms of water, they assume a more rigid appearance. At about 80° the cross becomes more angular or pointed (see diagram 2), while the crystals become smaller and more numerous.
At 85°, 90°, and 100°, the waves become smaller, and resemble
fine wires, flowing into each other, and forming apparently a system of delicate rings round the centre (see diagrams 3 and 4). At these temperatures the foliated structure is nearly lost in a, and B has almost entirely vanished from the slide. It is some- times possible to allow B to form a level granular structure on the slide, and then, by suddenly reducing the temperature, to make a form upon it, by which a most beautiful effect is produced (see diagram 5). By raising the temperature to about 117°, the highest point at which these crystals will form, the system of rings becomes obliterated, and the crystal arranges itself in planes radiating from the centre, with a black cross similar to that in a crystal with one axis (see diagram 6). The higher the tempera- ture, the longer is the time required for crystallization. Thus, at 117° about three hours are necessary for the perfecting of the
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 139
erystals. Some little allowance must also be made for the dif- ferent hygrometric states of the atmosphere. Thus, from two salts a series of objects may be produced which, when viewed by polarized light, can scarcely be surpassed for beauty.
The crystals of sulphate of copper and sulphate of magnesia will give even more beautiful results than those of the double salt in question, and, as far as my observations have gone. at much lower temperatures. It is possible that a knowledge of the variety of forms which can be thus artificially produced by heat may, when applied by scientific men, lead to a more intimate acquaint-
ance with the ultimate arrangement of atoms in natwral forma- tions.
Mr. Robertson exhibited some Acari obtained from the abdomen and chest of the common fowl. The fowl, he stated, appeared perfectly healthy, and was killed for dissection. The Acari were seen, after the abdomen had been opened, in the form of numerous small white specks scattered all over the surface of the viscera, and were easily removed with the point of a needle from the surface of the peritoneum. They were also present in the chest around the bifurcation of the trachea, and dotted over the surface of the lung. None were observed under the skin, in the muscular tissue, or in the trachea. Examined microscopically, all the Acari had four pairs of legs, each composed of six joints. In some the
140 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.
last joints had a rounded, club-like extremity; in others they were singularly short and stout. The palpi and parts about the mouth were not well defined with a high power. In some a faint line extended across the body between the third and fourth pair of legs.
Professor Westwood exhibited a species of Acarus that had been found in the unopened buds of the black-currant tree, and sent him for examination. He stated that, inasmuch as the animal only possessed four instead of eight legs, the number proper to the Acari, he was in doubt whether it was merely an undeveloped form (which would account for the absence of some of the legs), or really a fully grown four-legged species.
He also showed some small pieces of wood from a dog-kennel which were riddled with holes. In these holes were contained, in great number, the ova and six-legged young of the dog-tick.
ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS.
Microscoricat ResearcHes on the CattLte PLAGUE. By Dr. Lionex Bratz, F.R.S., &c.
In the third report of the Cattle Plague Commissioners Dr. Beale’s observations bear particularly upon the facts of diseased conditions in general, and open out in a very special manner what may be called tissue actions as contradistin- guished from blood alterations. Dr. Beale’s researches, if true in their inferential aspect, must very materially modify pre- sent pathological notions as to the nature of fevers and in- flammatory conditions. Dr. Beale takes as his starting- point the congested state of the capillary vessels so constantly seen in rinderpest, and proceeds to show that as this is *“by no means uniform in all different textures, or of equal degree in every part of the same tissue, while the capillaries of some organs (those between the uriniferous tubules of the kidney, those of the lobules of the liver, those of the mammary, and probably some other glands) are not as much congested as they are often found in healthy animals killed suddenly, it cannot be referred to any general impedi- ment in the circulation ;’ but, on the other hand, the con- gestion would seem to have a local origin, for there are patches of various sizes, but distinctly separated from one another by uncongested, or only slightly congested, portions of tissue
.. the patches are of an intensely dark red colour, of cir- cular form, as though the congestion had commenced at and radiated from a central spot. The result of the congestion is
VOL. VII.—NEW SER. L
14.2 DR. BEALE, ON THE CATTLE PLAGUE.
an increased pouring out of nutrient matter and a growth of the germinal matter (usually termed nuclei) of the vessels and tissues. Dr. Beale thinks that whatever causes the local congestion is the cause of rinderpest.
1. Changes in the vessels and in the blood—The small vessels, arteries, and veins, of congested spots are distended with blood-corpuscles ; the arteries are at first relaxed, but become subsequently more or less contracted, so that their outline is more or less uneven, the diameter varying very much in the smallest distance; the coats are granular; often- times, indeed, there is considerable atrophy. These changes
Fre. 1.—Surface of mucous membrane of fourth stomach, corresponding to a thin depressed circular spot like an ulcer; superficial capillary vessels, varying very much in calibre, filled with granular matter and minute par- ticles of germinal matter. The orifices of several gastric glands are seen, and the deeper vessels also obstructed are on a lower plane. X 350.
are seen in the annexed illustration (Fig. 1), showing the capillaries encircling the mucous glands from the mucous membrane of the fourth stomach.
In addition to these changes, there is another alteration of most striking character present in every case—viz., a large increase in the size of the masses of germinal matter in the walls of the vessels. This is well seen in Fig. 2, which repre- sents a capillary from the connective tissue of the alimentary mucous membrane.
The vessels are sometimes distended with red corpuscles (more or less altered), sometimes filled with a colourless or slightly yellowish fluid; the white corpuscles are always increased in the small veins and capillaries; and in additio
DR. BEALE, ON THE CATTLE PLAGUE. 143
myelin masses are seen, with minute particles of germinal matter in large number.
Fic. 2.—The masses of germinal matter of the capillary are very much en- larged, and are dividing and subdividing to form new masses. x 700.
Fig. 3 represents some of the contents found in a vein in one of the congested spots. The germinal matter also of the epithelial ee lining of the vein is augmented so much that ‘S : oftentimes it forms projections into the in- ~ terior which interfere with the circulation Fie. 3.—Very small through the vessels. This germinal matter ™2ss¢s of germinal
: 5 matter, interior of may actually plug up a capillary, as is re- small vein. x 4.
presented at 4 im Fig. 4.
Fic. 4.—Small artery from connective tissue beneath depression of mucous membrane of fourth stomach. Cattle plague. a, Small cells with nume- rous oil-globules ; 4, a large mass of germinal matter obstructing capil- lary. x 700.
144 DR. BEALE, ON THE CATTLE PLAGUE.
Dr. Beale discusses the origin of these masses of germinal or living matter, and thinks they may be enlarged white cor- puscles; or caused by the adhesion together and subsequent growth of other particles, perhaps from the growth of germs derived from without; or, lastly, an outgrowth from the lining membrane. The congestion is probably due to the impediment offered by the increase of material just noticed. Dr. Beale notices that inflammatory lymph is not frequently met with, and thinks this is due to the fact that the capilla- ries become completely obstructed before time has elapsed for the outpouring of liquor sanguinis. In inflammation, however, the stage of dilatation is more prolonged, and the arrest less sudden ; as a consequence of this, the thin walls allow the passage of fluid more readily. It would appear, then, that the local congestions produced by the increase of germinal matter lead in turn to an alteration in the composition of the blood and the tissues around.
2. Changes in the tissues.—A like increase of germinal matter is observed in the tissues generally, as well as upon the free mucous surfaces, as a consequence of the congestions.
The papules which project above the level of the skin, in
Fic. 5.—Fibrous tissue of the corium or true skin from the softened part of the papule. The intervals between the fibres are occupied with germinal matter, ‘‘ contagium,” growing and multiplying rapidly. ~x 215.
the seat of the “ eruption,” are due to the increased growth of the germinal elements of the derma and the cuticular cells, as well as of germinal matter derived from without. These minute masses of germinal matter multiply with great rapidity, and extend amongst the bundles of the fibrous tissue, making their way, in part, to the surface, in fact, separating the bundles of the areolar structure, and even causing thin atrophy. The fibres soon become replaced by
DR. BEALE, ON THE CATTLE PLAGUE. 145
“an amorphous mass of minute masses of germinal matter, varying much in form and products resulting from the decay of some of these particles.”
The connective-tissue-corpuscles increase in size. These changes are well seen in Fig. 6, contrasted with the healthy state shown in Fig. 7.
Fic. 6.— Enlarged connective-tissue- Fic. 7.—Connective-tissue-corpuscles. corpuscles. Surface of mucous mem- Surface of healthy mucous mem- brane over epiglottis—cattle plague brane over epiglottis, just beneath just beneath the epithelium. 700. the epithelium. x 700.
The same increase is found in the cuticle, especially about the middle layers, the true epithelial cells being invaded and often replaced by the nuclear bodies, which invade from the exterior, as seen in fig. 8, so that there are two processes taking place at the same time, both, however, consisting of the growth of germinal matter; but the germinal matter is of two kinds—1, that belonging to the normal tissues, which
ows in consequence of being supplied with an increased amount of pabulum; and_ 2, particles of germinal matter which have invaded the tissues from the blood. The last are alone considered to be contagious. These are seen in fig. 8, in the outer part of the cuticular cells.
Fic. 8.—Cuticular cells under scab. Eruption on mamma, showing how the cells are invaded by the growth and multiplication of the minute particles of germinal matter (contagium?). x 700.
146 DR. BEALE, ON THE CATTLE PLAGUE.
Dr. Beale gives full details of the special changes of a similar kind in the various secretions and in the alimentary tract, but we have not space to give them here. After some remarks upon the general increase of germinal matter found throughout the tissues of the body, Dr. Beale notices the bearing of this matter upon the question of the rise of tem- perature so constantly noticed in this and other fevers: —“It will have been remarked that the changes which I have demonstrated in connection with the germinal matter of the tissues generally in fevers precisely resemble those ob- served locally in inflammations. In fact, the local phenomena of inflammation precisely correspond, up to a certain stage, with the general phenomena of fever. The former reach a degree to which the latter cannot attain, because, as it is scarcely necessary to observe, the death of the man or animal must occur long before general suppuration could be brought about.
“ It is remarkable that, while this increase in the germinal matter is taking place, the temperature rises some degrees above the normal standard, and I think that the elevation of temperature in this disease, as well as in fevers and inflam- mations generally, can scarcely be due to increased oxidation, for both respiration and circulation are often seriously im- peded, but attribute it rather to the phenomena occurring during the increase of the germinal matter and connected with this increase. If this is so, it is probable that an in- crease of germinal matter is invariably associated with the development of heat.”
After discussing many other interesting poimts, Dr. Beale sums up thus :—‘ Without, therefore, pretending to be able to identify the actual materies morbi of the cattle plague, or to distinguish it positively from other forms of germinal matter present in the fluids on the different free surfaces and in the tissues in such vast numbers, I think the facts and arguments adduced tend to prove, first, that it is germinal matter ; secondly, that the particles are not directly descended from any form of germinal matter of the organism of the in- fected animal, but that they have resulted from the multipli- cation of particles introduced from without; thirdly, that it is capable of growing and multiplying in the blood; fourthly, that the particles are so minute that they readily pass through the walls of the capillaries, and multiply freely in the inter- stices between the tissue elements or epithelial cells; and, lastly, that these particles are capable of living under many different conditions—that they live and grow at the expense of the various tissue elements, and retain their vitality al-
DR. BEALE, ON THE CATTLE PLAGUE. 147
though the germinal matter of the normal textures, after growing and multiplying to a great extent, has ceased to exist.” But more than this, if we would still wish for some more definite answer, it is clear that we should be most likely to find the contagious material in the secretions of the vagina, the eyes, the nose, or intestines, which are admitted by all to hold the poison of cattle plague. Dr. Beale believes that such particles as he has represented in figs. 9 and 10, the one from the fibrous tissue of the skin, the other from the vaginal mucus, and also those observed amongst the bundles of fibrous tissue already shown in fig. 5 and those in the cuticle, fig. 8, constitute the active living contagious material.
Fic. 9.—Contagious particles from the vaginal mucus of acow. Cattle plague. a, Bacterium amongst these. 4, A mass of ‘ : germinal matter containing minute parti- ee ae Be ercker NSS cles like fungi. These are seen in the white (Bie 8 nai 1800 ep blood- and pus-corpuscle, &c. x 2800. ig. 8.) ;
Fig. 10.—Minute particles of germinal matter (contagium ?)
We take it that these particles are the nuclear corpuscles noticed by Dr. Bristowe and Dr. Sanderson, especially On in the skin eruption. Such particles 5. 1) 4 small porti P é ape portion have been found in the breath and sur- © of one of the smallest rounding air of diseased beasts. Hence, _ vessels represented in fig. though the normal nuclear elements |) showing particles of
F 2 : J germinal matter coloured are increased in quantity, there is @ eep red by carmine, large addition of new living matter re- amongst a quantity of sulting from the growth of particles ‘debris. x 2800. derived from without the organism. Dr. Beale, therefore, considers that the “ poison,” “virus,” “contagium,” “materies morbi,”’ consists of the germinal or living matter constituting the cell-like or nuclear bodies found in such number, not only in all contagious fevers, but in specific inflammation and other affections, syphilis, gonorrhea, &c. He has de- scribed the movements and mode of multiplication of mucus and pus-corpuscles, which may be demonstrated with the aid of the highest powers now in use. Dr. Beale says that the poison “ consists of very minute particles of matter in a living
148 DR. BEALE, ON THE CATTLE PLAGUE.
state, each capable of growing and multiplying rapidly when placed under favorable circumstances. The rate of growth and multiplication far exceeds that at which the normal ger- minal matter of the blood and tissue multiplies, and that they appropriate the pabulum of the tissues, and even grow at their expense,” leading to all the many general symptoms of rinderpest.
Dr. Beale’s report contains many more most interesting questions, but we have attempted to draw attention to the bare outline of the more important points which have an im- mediate interest to the practitioner in reference to the causa- tion of contagious diseases.
Dr. Beale’s hypothesis puts into very definite shape the ideas which have long been loosely held as to the influence of organic life in the production of disease. No doubt a large number of chemical actions are at work, and play most im- portant parts in disease, but it is not unlikely that these in their turn are dependent upon the action of living material. It has lately been shown that fermentative changes are de- pendant upon the nutritive act of the torula cells, and in a similar sense it is admissible to entertain the idea that the phenomena of contagious diseases are intimately connected and probably depend upon the development and increase of germinal growing living matter.
It is interesting to notice that the views of Dr. Beale upon the nature of the contagious material have been remarkably confirmed by Mr. Crookes, who, from purely chemical in- vestigation, has proved that the active contagious substance is in a living state. The results detailed in Mr. Crookes’ report are extremely important, and we beg to direct atten- tion to it.
[This Report, from the ‘ Medical Times and Gazette,’ has been carefully revised for this Journal. ]
TRANSLATION.
IAKTTAGELSER dfver den HvVILANDE CiDOGONIUM-SPORENS UTVECKLING. (OBSERVATIONS on the DevELopMENT of the Restine-spores of GipoconiuM.)
gE Ofversigt af Kongl. Vetenskaps-Akademiens Forhandlingar,’ Stockholm, 1863, p. 247, Tab. II.)
TuroucH Pringsheim’s distinguished researches on the mode of propagation in the lower Algse, it is now known that, besides the still longer-known propagation by means of motile gonidia or zoospores, there exists a mode of reproduction by means of spores, which are formed by the co-operation of a male and female organ. The development of these spores, which in their mode of origin correspond to the seeds of the higher plants, has been observed in many cases ; but the mode whereby new plants proceed from these has not yet been fol- lowed out in several groups of Algze. The genus Gidogonium, rich in species, belong to these latter Algze. It has been long known that certain cells of the Gidogonium-filaments were distinguished from the remaining cells by their egg-shaped figure, and by their densely crowded contents, surrounded by a cell-membrane ; but Pringsheim was the first who succeeded in giving a satisfactory explanation of their significancy. Pringsheim found, namely, that the round bodies enclosed in the inflated cells are spores, which are formed through the fertilising influence of a male organ. With the greatest ac- curacy Pringsheim has observed and described the mode of formation of these spores, but not how they become developed into new plants. Im order, then, to become perfectly ac- quainted with the mode of reproduction of the Cidogonia, knowledge as to the further development of these spores is wanting; and I hope, therefore, that the following descrip- tion of the germination of the spores of a species of Cido-
150 ON THE RESTING-SPORES OF @DOGONIUM.
gonium will present a contribution to the natural history of these lowly but interesting plants.
Last summer I encountered, in a little collection of water in the neighbourhood of Upsala, some sterile Gidogonia, en- tirely covered over by Closteria. Chiefly with the view that these latter might develop themselves, I placed the mass of Algze in a little water, and, at the expiration of some weeks, I had the pleasure to find several hundreds of the Closteria in conjugation. I wished now to follow the further development of the newly formed spores ; but the rapacity of a little species of Cypris rendered this wish of no avail. During the time, the (Xdogonia also had begun to fructify; but as I had already had opportunity to observe the fructification in several species of Gidogonium, I paid no attention to it. This is the cause why I cannot give any description as to the species of the present Cidogonium, the development of which I observed. The water, wherein the Algze were kept, evaporated, so that towards the close of the month of September of last summer there remained behind but a green dry mass. This was laid aside till the middle of the month of January of the present year, when it was covered over with water. In the course of a month this green slime, which covered the bottom of the vessel, was examined, and in it, besides a quantity of minute green Algee of the genus Scenedesmus, were found also some minute @dogonium-plants, much resembling those which ori- ginate from the germination of the zoospores. This prompted me to try to discover the mode whereby they proceed from the spores ; but it was only in the month of March that I was able to find a sufficient number of germinating spores in order to follow out consecutively the remarkable mode in which they are developed.
Previous to germination, the spore (PI. III, fig. 1) has an egg-shaped figure ; the cell-contents are densely crowded, and composed of minute brownish-green granules, closely sur- rounded by a distinct cell-membrane. Outside this membrane there is found, besides, a quite distinct cell-membrane. Upon germination there are formed in both membranes slit-like openings, whereupon the cell-contents emerge, surrounded by an extremely delicate hyaline covering (figs. 2 and 3). The cell-contents are composed, not of one, but usually of four green masses, each surrounded by its cell-membrane. Some- times also, as it appears, abnormally, the masses are two or three in number (figs. 6, 7). The four cells which proceed from germination possess an oval form, and their cell-mem- brane is hyaline. After the contents of the spore have emerged, there remains behind the outer membrane, enclosing
ON THE RESTING-SPORES OF HDOGONIUM. 151
the inner one, as shown in figs. 8,9. After the four cells have remained some time enclosed in the hyaline covering, this becomes resorbed subsequently, and the four cells lie still and motionless; but after the course of a short time there sets in a remarkable change—the cells burst, namely, at one end, by means of an annular slit, and the apex, separated thereby from the remainder of the cell-membrane, becomes raised up like a lid. Through the circular opening the cell- contents now emerge, which, at the part turned towards the opening, is colourless (fig. 11). This apex moves with vigorous motion backwards and forwards, and, after the brief space of an hour, the cell-contents, in the form of a zoospore, leave their place of detention, which we now find to be a doubly contoured cell-membrane (figs. 1O—13). The little zoospore wheels in a lively manner about with a circling movement, whereby the colourless point becomes directed downwards towards the mirror of the microscope. Its appearance is puzzlingly like that of an ordinary zoospore, and, like it, it possesses an oval form and a lighter apex, furnished with a crown of cilia, which during the motion is always directed forwards. After the course of some time the movements become faint, and finally cease altogether. The cilia disap- pear, and the light end becomes elongated into a root, which sometimes becomes formed into an organ of attachment, quite like that which is produced in the germination of the ordinary zoospores (figs. 14—19). The rounded end of the germinating zoospore acquires a little point-like apex (figs. 15—18), indeed, herein much resembling the ordinary zoo- spores. This young unicellular growth becomes divided by a transverse septum, and a little two-celled Gidogonium has now originated.
From each spore produced by fructification there are thus formed, in general, four Cidogonium-plants.
Through Pringsheim’s researches we already know the development of the resting spores of an algal species, Bulbo- chete intermedia, which much approaches CEdogonium ; but though, indeed, its development agrees with Cdogonium, there are likewise found considerable dissimilarities. Ac- cording to Pringsheim,* the mature Bulbochete-spore ger- minates in the following manner :—The spore, after its exit from the sporangium, assumes an oval form, whereupon its contents become divided into four masses. The cell-mem- brane increases in size, but simultaneously diminishes in thickness, whereupon the four masses become surrounded
* * Jahrbiicher fiir wissensch. Botanik,’ p. 55 (1858).
152 ON THE RESTING-SPORES OF HDOGONIUM.
each with its crown of cilia, and emerge from the extremely thin membrane. ‘Thus, the sac which surrounds the four Bulbocheete-zoospores is the original spore-membrane. Ac- cording to what I believe to have found, the covering which in C&dogonium surrounds the four cells is not the original spore-membrane. In Bulbochete the four masses originating from the division of the cell-contents directly form the zoo- spores; in Gidogonium, on the other hand, they are surrounded by a distinct cell-membrane, within which the formation of the zoospores takes place. The metamorphoses in the ger- mination of the spores in Gidogonium are thus greater than in the spores of Bulbochete.
QUARTERLY CHRONICLE OF MICROSCOPICAL SCIENCE.
GERMANY.—Kolliker’s und Siebold’s Zeitschrift.—The microscopical papers in this number of the ‘ Zeitschrift’ (issued in May) are as follows:
“ On the Auditory Organ of Locusta,’ by V. Hensen.—The nerve, trachea, and modified cuticula of the leg forming the auditory organ in Locusta viridissima, are minutely described. The termination of the nerve presents a very peculiar struc- ture, which is figured with other parts of the organ in a beau- tifully executed plate.
“A Contribution to the Knowledge of the Gall-ducts in the Liver of Mammalta,” by G. Irminger and H. Frey.—The au- thors have made researches on the distribution and arrange- ment of these canals by means of injections in the liver of the dog, guinea-pig, cat, and pig. The views of MacGillavry and Beale are briefly discussed.
“On the Lymph-follicles of the Conjunctiva,’ by C. Hu- guenin and H. Frey.
“On the Histology of the Muscular Stomach of Birds,” by
Heinrich Curschmann.
“On the Development of Myzostomum,”’ by Elias Mecznikow. Semper, Schultze, and Schmidt have already studied the very curious genus Myzostomum ; but the conclusions they have arrived at with regard to its position in the animal kingdom are so far unsatisfactory that one considers them as belong- ing to the Trematoda, and others place them among the Arthropods. Herr Mecznikow, after carefully describing the development of M. cirriferum, compares it with various An- nelida in incomplete stages of development, and is inclined to consider it as the representative of a new group of Chetopoda, to be called Chetopoda ectoparasita.
“On the Natural History of Caprella,’ by Dr. Anton Dohrn.—A complete account of this interesting little crusta-
154 QUARTERLY CHRONICLE.
cean, illustrated by a very clear drawing of the whole animal, is contained in this paper.
Archiv fur Mikroskopische Anatomie. April, 1866.—Ano- ther number of Professor Schultze’s excellent journal has appeared during the quarter, and contains some valuable papers. It is much to be hoped that the present crisis in Germany may not in any way retard or prevent the appear- ance of another in due course. The papers are as follows:
1. “ The Intimate Structure of the Spinning Organs of Epeira,’ by Hermann Oeffinger.—The author distinguishes and figures five sorts of glands in these spiders, as follows :— 1. Glandule pyriformes; 2. Glandule cylindrice; 3. Glan- dule ampullaceze ; 4. Glandule aggregate; 5. Glandule tu- berosee. Particular attention is devoted by the author to the histological characters of these glandules, and their deport- ment with different reagents, such as caustic potash, acetic acid, and hyperosmic acid.
2. “ Researches on the Sympathetic Cord,” by L. G. Cour- voisier.—This is an extensive essay, illustrated by two plates. The author gives the following statement of results at the end of his paper:
(1) The sympathetic cells of the Vertebrata are connected either merely at one pole (‘“‘ Holopol’’), as in the frog, or at more—two, for instance—as in other Vertebrata; always with two fibres, of which one (‘the straight”), after loss or diminution of its fatty sheath, penetrates straight through the cell-substance, and ends in the nucleus, whilst the other (‘the spiral”) places itself in connection with the nucleolus, by means of a network of fibres (Fadennetz). In other cases (Hemipolen) fibres (commissural filaments) arise from the network which connect these cells with other sympathetic cells.
(2) Each commissural ramus extends from cerebro-spinal bundles, which hasten to the sympathetic nerve and to the sympathetic fibres of different ganglia which pass from above to below, diminished in number in the spinal nerves, and occupying a central position, but with increased numbers peripherally.
(3) The “straight fibres” of the sympathetic cells are cerebro-spinal, that is to say, they give origin to the cells of the spinal-cord of the spimal and brain nerve-ganglia, and enter into sympathetic cells. The “spiral fibres” are as good as the genuine sympathetic “ commissural filaments ” con- nected with them by their origin, and proceed from the cells of the sympathetic, either to the visceral portions of the
QUARTERLY CHRONICLE. 155 latter, or to strengthen the spinal-nerves, or, lastly, to pass into the brain or spinal cord.
(4) The sympathetic-cells are—although they receive “ cerebro-spinal fibres’”-—not to be viewed as possessing a positive function in connection with the sympathetic-fibres, but either only as “ nutrition centres” (Schiff), or as “ centres of negative function,” in opposition to the positively active cerebro-spinal cells, as checks on the function appropriated to these.
(5) The sympathetic has also, no doubt, a most imtimate relation to the so-called ‘‘ animal” nervous system; yet a weak individuality cannot be denied to it, which shows itself, for example, in the circumstance that from always a single “straight fibre *”?—here and there two, three—may be only one—“ spiral fibres,” can arise.
3. “ On an Instrument for Microscopical Preparation.” By V. Hensen.—This an instrument for making sections on the stage of the microscope. The author calls it the “ Quer- schnitter,”’ which may be translated “ cross-cutter.”’ Its princi- pal use is in making sections of very minute objects. The author first used it in examining the auditory organs of Crustacea.
4. “Onthe Germinal Spot, and the Explanation of the Parts of the Egg. By la Valette St. George.—This a short paper, illustrated by a few good drawings of various ova. Its object is to point out that the egg at its origin by no means bears the indication of its future destiny ; that it originates and developes just as every other cell, until it arrives at a certain point. This had only been’ clearly shown in a few cases until the paper of M. St. George.
5. The Leptothrix-swarms, and their relation to the Vibri- ones. By Ernst Hallier.—The author of this paper, which appears to be one of great value, and the result of careful research, arranges these fungoid bodies in the following developmental series:—(1) Mould series; a, Brush-mould (Penicillium) ; 6, Head-mould (Mucor); ¢c, Jointed-plants (Oidium) ; a, upon moderately damp firm substances, and on the upper layer of liquids ; 4, on firm, somewhat moist sub- stances; c, on pap-like and fluid substances, which are thoroughly putrescent,
(2) Achorion series. Syn., Achorion Schoenlenit. Within fluid or very juicy substances of various chemical composition, throwing off spore-chains in irregular branches (Ozdium) ; it arises from germinating brush-mould.
(3) Leptothrix series. Syn., Leptothrix ‘buccalis: Bacte- rium of many authors. a, Thin Leptothrix-chains, arising from the swarming plasma-granules of Penicillium, of the
156 QUARTERLY CHRONICLE.
jointed Conidium, of Macroconidium, and, perhaps, of most or all the thread-cells upon fluid fermenting substances. Under spirituous fermentation they appear as pure chains ; under acid fermentation as Leptothrix-felt ; under ammonia- alkaline fermentation as swarming cellules. 6, Thick Lepto- thrix-chains, arising from mucor-thecaspores upon putrescent substances. :
(4) Leptothrix-yeast. Syn., Cryptococcus. In fermenting substances, built up from the broken chains that have fallen in, and generally from the “ swarms.” a, Penicillium-yeast. Rounded, weakly refracting, with large nucleus. 6, Mucor- yeast. Globular, highly refracting, fine-grained. Here, too, belongs the light yeast which arises in oil from Mucor.
(5) Torula-yeast. Syn., Hormiscium. Arising through germination of Penicillium-spores in fermenting (alcoholic) liquids. .
(6) Jointed-yeasts. Arising from the off-thrown conidia of the jointed-plant of Penicillium or Mucor by acid, and also ammonia-alkaline fermentation. The cells originate singly the process by which they developed from the mother-plant, and can place hydrocarbons in acid fermentation.
(7) Acrospore-yeasts. Syn., Trichophyton tonsurans. Developing itself by chain-like growths of the Penicillium- spores upon oil. Within the oil the jointed chains mostly separate themselves quickly. (Oil-fermentation.)
6. “ Experiments on the Solution of Berlin Blue as an Injection-colour,’ by Ernst Bruncke.—The ferrocyanide of iron forms, as is well known, in this country an excellent injection-colour. The receipt given by Dr. Lionel Beale is as useful and cheap an injection as can be desired.
7. “On the Behaviour of the Blood-corpuscles and some Colouring Matters in Monochromatic Light,’ by W. Preyer.
8. “ Researches on the Structure and Natural History of the Bear-beasts (Arctiscoida),” by Dr. Richard Greeff.—This paper, which is very lengthy and exhaustive, is devoted to the genus Macrobiotus, the species of which are described, while the details of their anatomy are also fully discussed and beautifully figured in two large plates. The Tardigrada have been sadly neglected by English observers; in Dr. Greeff’s bibliographical survey not a single English paper is quoted. We are not able here to give an abstract of the paper, on account of its length, but would remind those who wish to enter upon the subject that the latest observations on these animals are to be found in the pages of Prof. Schultze’s ‘Archiv,’ where there have already appeared two other memoirs on species of this group of very remarkable animals.
QUARTERLY CHRONICLE. t57Z
9. “The Trichina in relation to the Microscope,” by V. Hensen.
10. “On the Generation of Red Blood-corpuscles,” by Professor von Recklinghausen.
11. The journal concludes with a number of short essays by Professor Max Schultze, which are each of considerable in- terest ; that on “‘ Reichert and the Gromia,”’ and “ Researches on Noctiluca,”’ in which hyperosmic acid has been made use of, appear to be well worth attention. The last is on the * Anatomy and Physiology of the Retina.”
Muller’s Archiv. May, 1866.—There are the following microscopical papers in this journal :
“ On Redia and Sporo-cysts of Filippi,’ by G. R. Wagener.
“ On the Extension of Nerve-fibres into‘the Epithelium of the Horn-skin,” by Professor H. Hoyer.
“ Remarks on Max Schultze’s Article, ‘Reichert and the Gromia, ” by C. B. Reichert.
“ Remarks on Dr. H. Landois’ Essay ‘ On the Development af the Cluster-formed Spermatozoa in the Lepidoptera,” by H. Meyer.
FRANCE.—Comptes Rendus.—“‘ On the Perforating Bryozoa of the Family Terebriporide,’ by P. Fischer.—This is a paper of considerable interest. The existence of perforating animals has been ascertained in nearly all the classes of Invertebrata, Mollusca, Annelida, Hchinodermata, Spongi- aria, &ec. The vegetable kingdom likewise presents us with examples of Protophyta hollowing out their residence in shells and stones. Perforation, and consequently the destruction of the perforated bodies, are, therefore, the effects of a great law of nature. By the side of the creatures which accumu- late masses of calcareous polyparies, and of those of which the shells strew our shores and cover the bottom of the sea, nature has placed other organisms, smaller, but not less powerful in their effects, which restore to the ocean the elements which have been drawn from it.
Among the Bryozoa the existence of terebrant cells is almost a new fact. It was known that some Lepralie and Cellepore slightly alter the surface of the shells to which they attach themselves; but before the discovery of Alcide d’Orbigny no one had ever seen them lodged in the very interior of the shells. The agents by which the perforation is effected are still unknown to us. We have been unable to detect siliceous corpuscles in the excavations of the Terebri- pore, a circumstance which of itself would suffice to distin- guish them from the terebrant sponges (Cliona, Thoosa), even if their organization were not infinitely superior. Until we
VOL, VII.--NEW SER. M .
158 QUARTERLY CHRONICLE.
acquire fuller information, therefore, we shall assume that the perforation is due to chemical action. The genus Tere- bripora was established by A. d’Orbigny for two Bryozoans collected during his voyage to South America, one on the coast of Peru, the other at the Falkland Islands. D’Orbigny indicates that this genus differs from all others in its class by its cells hollowed out in the very substance of shells, their arrangement being identical with and their mode of produc- tion similar to those of Hippothoa. Since the publication just referred to no author has made mention of the Terebri- pore. The investigations undertaken by M. Fischer, upon the terebrant sponges in a fossil state, led him incidentally to ascertain how widely the Terebripore are diffused in the secondary and tertiary beds. He has detected four or five species in the former, and as many in the latter. Their pre- sence in the middle tertiary beds of Touraine and the Astésan led him to expect that this genus was, perhaps, not yet extinct in the European seas, when, in September, 1865, he collected in the harbour of Arcachon (Gironde) an oyster perforated by a colony of Terebriporee. The same species occurs in the Me- diterranean. From the examination of this specimen it is easy to rectify some incorrect statements made by d’Orbigny, who represented the apertures of the cells as round, whereas they are furnished with a notch of greater or less extent, a character of great importance in the classification of the Bryozoa.
Besides Terebriporz, M. Fischer has found on the coasts of the Gironde a Bryozoan belonging to the same family and having the same habits, but differing in having its cells borne upon alternate axes. It leaves upon the shells elegant im- pressions resembling the ramifications of the Sertudarie. He proposes to name it Spathipora. The living Spathiporz are not numerous. There are only two living species known, one from the coasts of France and the Mediterranean, the other from the Pacific.
The Terebripore and Spathipore constitute a very natural group, of which the species are probably very numerous. The interest which it presents is increased by the evidence of its existence during the whole series of secondary and ter- tiary deposits. M. Fischer arranges the family Terebriporide in the order of Cheilostomatous Bryozoa, side by side with the Hippothoide. The latter family is composed of the true Hippothoide (H. divaricata, Patagonica, &c.), and the new genus Cercaripora Fischer established for the reception of (tea truncata, ligulata, argillacea, &e.
Annales des Sciences Naturelles, March, April.—‘“‘ Re- searches on the Vitality of the Tissues’’ is the title of an ela-
QUARTERLY CHRONICLE. 159
borate memoir by M. P. Bert, part of which appears in this number of the ‘ Annales.’ A number of experiments—over one hundred in all-—are detailed, in which the tissues of one animal were transplanted to another, two plates accompany- ing the paper giving microscopical sections of the united parts. The experiments were made chiefly by means of rats, the tails being removed and transplanted. The object was to observe the nature of the tissue produced, and the effect on the trans- planted tissue. In many cases absorption of the bone took place, and great vascularity was induced. The conditions of relative age and health seem to have a modifying influence on the result of the transplantation. A curious experiment is suggested by the author, which, however, he has not tried— it is, to cut off the tail of a fully mature rat, and to trans- plant it beneath the skin of a rat much younger. When this one begins to get old the grafted tail is to be extracted, and introduced beneath the skin of an animal in full vigour of development; and so on. It is obvious that, if this process is carried on, the tail will live much longer than the animal from which it was detached, and perhaps for an indefinite time. Some interesting conclusions may be drawn from such an experiment as this.
“ Some Crustacea from the Coast of Brittany’ is the title of a paper by M. Hesse in the same journal, in which he de- scribes species of the genera Slobberina, Cirolane, and a new genus, Eucolombar.
Journal de l’Anatomie, &c. (Robins). May and June.—This number contains a very interesting paper by Dr. Marey, the inventor of the sphygmograph, “ On the Nature of Muscular Contraction,’ which is, however, unfortunately, not a micro- scopical one. It also contains the continuation of M. Polail- lon’s paper on “ Peripheral Nervous Ganglia.”
MM. Ranoier and Cornil contribute a paper “ On the His- tological Development of Epithelial Tumours (Cancroid),” which will be found very valuable by those interested in pa- thological microscopy.
“<< Researches on the Structure of the Brain of Fishes, and on the homological signification of their different parts,” by M. Hollard, is a good paper, illustrated by three plates. He describes a typical form of encephalon in each of the large groups of fishes, and in all these carefully points out the ho- mologies with the parts of the human brain.
ENGL AND.—Annals of Natural History. June.—* On the Anatomy and Physiology of the Vorticellidan Parasite (Tri- chodina pediculus, Ehy.) of Hydra,’ by Prof. H. James Clark.—This paper was read before the Boston Society of
169 QUARTERLY CHRONICLE.
Natural History, and contains a very minute account of the infusorian which forms its subject. Trichodina pediculus is found in great abundance, creeping over the body, and even to the tips of the tentacles, of our common brown and green fresh-water Hydras. Oftentimes it may be seen with the middle of its base applied directly over the centre of a group of nettling organs, the former fitting the latter like a cap, and without seeming to disturb the Hydra in the least. It appears that this animal has been much abused in European works on Infusoria, its portrait having been taken from speci- mens when under pressure, thus causing its true doubly conical, dice-box form to assume the appearance of a broad cylinder or a turban. In describing the cesophageal cilia of this animal, Professor Clark says that the so-called “ bristle of the vestibule” of Vorticellide, which was first described as such by Lachman, is an optical illusion. He has satisfied himself that it is an effect produced by the right and left rows of cilia, and has confirmed his opinion by observations on Epistylis, Carchesium, Vorticella, and others. One great test of the genuine character of the filament would have been its disappearance when the focus was slightly altered; but Professor Clark found that it did not disappear, as would be the case in observing the outline of a transparent cylinder. After dealing very carefully with the prehensile cilia, the author passes on to those devoted to locomotion and the other prolongations of the body adapted to that function. The adherent organ is one of these, and is a complex appa- ratus, which altogether forms a thin circular disc, whose border reaches to the margin of the base, or, in other words, to the inner edge or line of attachment of the velum. About one third of the radius of the adherent organ, at the peripheral margin, is occupied by a striated annular membrane, which is separable from the rest of the apparatus. It lies in front of the centrifugally projecting hooks with which the organ is provided, but is closely pressed against them, and extends centripetally as far as their bases. This membrane is pos- sessed of two sets of striz, which radiate from its inner to its outer margin. One set of striz occupy the anterior face, and are comparatively quite coarse, and in number about ninety-six, 7. e. about four times the number of the hooks of this organ. They lie wide apart, and are arranged so uni- formly that two traverse the interval between every two hooks, and two overlap every hook, where they run to the proximal margin of the membrane. ‘The other, or posterior set of striz, is much more readily detected than the anterior one, and the striz are about three times as numerous. The
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membrane is very flexible, and is frequently made to undu- late, apparently by the successive impacts of the vibrating cilia. ‘The apparently most important members of the adherent organs are the hooks. ‘They vary in number from twenty-two to twenty-four, and curve in a direction which is diametrically opposite to the upward coil of the vibratory organ; 2. é. they are leotropic. They are separate pieces, of an L-formed shape, the upright part of the Z being the hook proper, and the horizontal limb the base of it. These hooks are arranged in a circle, with their horizontal limbs all pointing one way, and nearly or quite touch each other, according to circumstances. Immediately within the row of hooks a series of nail-shaped pieces extends in a circle, and they are arranged in such order that each one lies opposite the horizontal part of a hook. The tip of the nail-head pro- jects between the point of the succeeding nail and the base of a hook, the two latter constituting a sort of socket in which the former appears to slide. This would seem con- clusively to show that this complicated ring may be enlarged or diminished at the will of the animal. Faint radiating ridges, occupying the central two thirds of the adherent apparatus, are attached one by one to the point of the nail- shaped bodies just mentioned, and at right angles to them. In dying specimens the adherent organ readily separates from the body en masse ; but shortly after the striated mem- brane loosens from the circle ‘of hooks, and they become dis- jointed. It is worth noting that, after a cursory examination of this radiate apparatus, Professor Agassiz was rash enough at once to pronounce Trichodina as the medusoid of Hydra, while at the same time he asserts that Vorticellide are simple forms of Bryozoa. Assuredly, Professor Clark remarks, if the one is a medusoid the others are, and if these are Bryozoa so is the asserted medusoid. Hence we should have Acalephan Bryozoa or Molluscan Acalephe. ‘'The rest of the paper de- scribes the digestive, circulatory, and reproductive organs in an equally careful manner. The contractile vesicle is a simple cavity, which performs its systole once in fifteen seconds. The paper is illustrated by two clearly drawn plates, and is a valuable contribution to microzoology.
Quarterly Journal of Science.—A curious and interesting paper “‘ On Cells,” by Prof. Fick, of Zurich, appears in the last number of this journal, from which we quote the following passage : ‘
“1f it be once admitted that animation extends downwards into the lowest forms of the animal kingdom, then it is also admitted that there exist single cells, which are to be reckoned
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individually as animated beings; for there are numberless animals belonging to the order infusoria which consist of a single cell. Such an animal, for instance, is an Amoeba, a minute, microscopic, protoplasmic mass, with nucleus and nucleolus. If its actions are observed under the microscope, one can see how it alters the form of its body at will ; how it sends forward prolongations here and there, draws out the mass of its body, and so changes its place. On outward irritation it generally rolls itself up into a bullet-shaped lump, and rapidly draws in again all the prolongations lately stretched forward. Often one may observe it engulf smaller bodies in its substance, where they are changed—one may say, digested—and half disappear, the undigested leavings being again ejected. The little animal grows, and goes on propagating itself by division.
« A cell which belongs to the tissues of one of the higher animals behaves exactly in the same manner asa single-celled infusorium. For example, in the blood we have cells; the so-called white blood-corpuscles, which are exactly like certain infusoria. Thus, they stretch out prolongattons of their sub- stance subject to their will, and upon irritation and the like they show the well-known reactions. The cells in connective tissue deport themselves similarly, They crawl regularly about in certain chasms in the substance of the tissue formed beforehand, which they elaborate for themselves, which, in fact, they have constructed as their dwelling. What is particularly worthy of attention is that these cells, when they have left the tissue, can move themselves for some time in a fluid, and show all the phenomena described. These facts are truly among the most beautiful acquisitions to our knowledge lately derived from micro- scopic research. They had for a long time escaped the attention of microscopic observers, because animal tissues were not examined under the same condition in which they exist in the living organism. It has already been mentioned that cells in the tissues of highly organized animals are exactly the same in their growth and reproduction as single-celled organisms. And, in the last place, to complete the identity, all the cells of a whole animal are actually the brood of one single cell—namely, the ovum. We have here before us exactly the phenomena which we regard as the characteristics of an animated being—movement at will, and reaction on outward irritation. Thus, then, we can by a well-connected chain of strict analogies arrive at the proposition which was placed before us. Each cell, whether it be an independent
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animal or part of the tissues of a higher organization, is in itself, subjectively, an animated being. The want of self- dependence in the cell, which forms a part of the tissues of a higher animal, is really not greater than in the single-celled infusorium, which lives freely by itself. In fact, each organism has its own conditions of life ; and as the tissue-cells can only live, for any length of time, in a certain fluid, or in their appointed self-wrought habitation, where they dwell as a compound organism, so can certain single-celled infusoria live persistently only in certain fluids ; they also die if placed under conditions to which their organization is not adapted. I am not, moreover, at all certain, as before said, of the im- possibility of a cell, if once removed from the blood or con- nective tissue of a higher animal, and placed in another soil (as it were) under favorable auspices, proceeding with its life as an independent animal, and becoming the mother of a brood of infusoria.
“From the standing-point which we have now gained, we cannot call an organism which consists of more than one cell an individual. Such an object is much more like an associa- tion of individuals, which live together in a habitation wrought by them. ‘The cells have themselves secreted the materials for building from their bodies. Association makes a division of labour possible. It is no longer necessary for each cell to execute for itself every organic function—diges- tion, assimilation, &c., in their different stages. One group is able much more satisfactorily to execute this, and another that office for the whole household ; and thus the particular functions are brought to greater perfection, and the per- formances of the entire organism become more varied and numerous.
“ The best type of such an association of organic individuals is a plant. Here we see different groups of cells execute different offices which benefit the whole plant. One set extracts material from the ground, another elaborates it in various ways ; others again draw material from the air ; others are especially fruitful in producing new generations. But we do not attain to the higher efforts of physical activity in the plant. The reason of this is easily seen.
“In plants each single cell surrounds itself directly with a membrane of the so-called cellulose, the substance which we have before us in wood, in cotton, and in paper. The cells are by means of this individually shut up; they can, it is true, influence one another to a certain degree, in that they can transmit material to one another; but they cannot influ- ence one another to an unlimited extent; they cannot share
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their conditions, their sensations, we may even say their experiences, with one another. Each therefore is confined to the bare circle of its own sensations (which we are as little able to dispute in plant-cells as in animal-cells), and there- fore it can reach to no higher grade of physical life.
“The cells of a plant are, in a word, like a number of men shut up from childhood together in a cellular prison, who perhaps might have exercised much important influence on one another, but between whom all spiritual intercouse has been prevented. ‘These men would never display the deeper characteristics of spiritual development.
“Tn the higher animals there are numerous groups of cells which are disposed in a manner analogous to that observed in the plant cells; that is to say, they lie isolated, yet near each other, though not enclosed in the same hard dwellings: as in plants. Such aggregates of cells, for example, are the blood and the epithelium. The epithelium is the name given to the layers of cells which he arranged like strata wherever an organic structure is bounded towards external space, as in the outer skin (epidermis), and the slime-skin, or mucous membrane, which lines the surface of internal cavities open to external space. Many other tissues also form the same kind of cell-masses, upon the principle of the plant’s organization. Their action has been long designated as ‘ vegetative,’ correctly referring to the analogies which they present to plant-life.
“ In the higher animals a new system of cells is added to this vegetative group, which are disposed on a totally different plan. It defines what is truly animal, and its actions are rightly designated ‘ animal.’
“Tn fact, the difference between plants and animals does not really lie in their elementary components. The distinction can only be clearly shown where one has to deal with complex organisms formed of many cells. The true characteristics of the two kingdoms are to be found in the manner in which the colony is built up by its imdividuals, and thus especially in that system of cells just mentioned which gives its peculiarity to the animal kingdom. This system is a series of cells widely spread through the whole body, in which the proto- plasmic matter is maintained in unbroken continuity through- out, by fine, long threads. It is the ‘nervous system.’ ”
NOTES AND CORRESPONDENCE.
On Microphotography with High Powers—In the ‘ Quart. Journal of Microscopical Science’ for July, 1865, Vol. XIII, p. 249, I notice an interesting letter on a new method of illumination, by Count Francesco Castracane, who proposes the use of monochromatic light, by “the employment of one of the component rays of the solar spectrum, which was made to fall on the mirror of the microscope.” It appears, also, from this paper and the accompanying editorial remarks, that Count Castracane has succeeded in obtaining a good photograph of Pleurosigma angulatum, in which the minute markings on the frustule appear as hexagons.
I take pleasure in confirming the statement thus made as to monochromatic light, and especially would mention the advantages of violet light for microphotographic purposes.
For some months before I read the paper above referred to photographs had been successfully made by Dr. Edward Curtis, Brevet-Captain U.S.A., in the Army Medical Museum, with all powers up to 1000 diameters, the illumination being the direct rays of the sun reflected on the microscope mirror by a heliostat, and the pencil thus obtained being thrown through a cell containing a solution of the ammonio-sulphate of copper before falling on the achromatic condenser.
To obtain the full effect of the violet light, however, the objective should be photographically corrected, that is, in determining its curves the index of refraction of the violet ray should be considered, and not that of white light. With such a lens the actinic and visual foci coincide if violet light is employed. Several such lenses, of excellent quality, have been constructed for the museum by W. Wales, of Fort Lee, New Jersey. A brief note on this subject was published in my report to the Surgeon-General, October 20th, 1865, “On the Extent and Nature of the Materials available for the Preparation of a Medical History of the Rebellion’ (see p. 148, circular No. 6, Surgeon-General’s Office.
166 MEMORANDA.
At the date of that publication both Dr. Curtis and myself believed the markings on Pleurosigma angulatum to be hexa- gonal, the photographs on which this opimion was based being magnified, originally about 1000 diameters, and afterwards enlarged to 7300 in a copying camera. Subsequent observa- tions with higher powers, however, have satisfied us that this opinion is erroneous, and that, as, in fact, Mr. Wenham had previously suggested, the real conformation of the markings is circular.
The photographs on which this opinion was based were some of them made with an objective of one fiftieth of an inch focal length, constructed by Powell and Lealand, some of them with a Wales’ objective of an eighth of an inch focal length, corrected for photography as above indicated, and the neces- sary amplification being given by the introduction into the draw-tube of an achromatic concave also corrected for photo- eraphy. No eye-pieces were employed. With either of these arrangements Dr. Curtis obtained direct photographs of ‘ excellent definition and powers, varying with the distance up to 2500 diameters, with about three feet distance, beyond which, in either case, the pictures began to diminish in clearness. To obtain any given power, it was found the one-fiftieth required a few inches’ greater distance than the one-eighth and amplifier. The use of an eye-piece, or of a concave amplifier similar to that used with the one-eighth, but of much lower power, was carefully tried with the one-fiftieth, but it was found that the results were not well defined, so that 2500 diameters must be regarded as the maximum power to be obtained photographically with the one-fiftieth. With the one-eighth and amplifier the same power was attained with perfect ease. The negatives taken in this way were readily enlarged in the copying camera to 19000 diameters. I enclose albumen prints of the pictures with both powers, and by both glasses, for comparison. The enlarged prints are almost fac-similes of those of about 2500 diameters ; that by the one-fiftieth is perhaps a trifle sharper, but it was acciden- tally taken with 200 diameters less than were allowed the one-cighth. The flatness of field is, of course, greatest im the one-eighth picture.
It might be suggested that the eighth being photographi- cally corrected, had the advantage over the fiftieth in this comparison; but the photographic correction for an eighth is already small, and that for a fiftieth may be regarded as too trifling to modify the results very greatly. .
In both the small pictures and the large you will notice the markings are perfectly circular spaces, which in the small
MEMORANDA. 167
picture (with 2500 diameters) appear hexagonal, but reveal their true structure under a lens; in the large are quite distinctly circular, but will assume an hexagonal appearance if reduced by a concave lens of sufficient power, or even by mere distance.
If these pictures appear good enough to give interest to the above statements, I beg you to give a place to this communi- cation in the pages of your valuable Journal.—J. J. Woop- warp, M.D., Assistant-Surgeon and Brevet-Major U.S.A., in charge of the Record and Pension Division, Surgeon- General’s Office, and of the Medical Section, Army Medical Museum.
Light Reflected from Transparent Surfaces.—At present this subject, being one of interest in relation to recent binocular arrangements, I beg to record some notes. Selecting a few examples of the amount of light reflected from the surface of crown-glass, having a refractive index of 1°525, they range as follows :
Quantity of light Angle of incidence. reflected from 1000 of incident rays. GP vk eed eg, ete Re ee al a tok vee oe OO Dee Pitta he a ew GO | (eigenen iiss beaded | aed Ye:
These examples are taken within the limits of useful applica- tion, and show the small quantity of light really obtainable from crown glass such as is used for prisms. It consequently became a consideration to ascertain what increase would re- sult from the use of dense flint glass of a high refractive power. Certain formule have been given for this which claimed a very promising result, but which is scarcely con- firmed by experiment. Mr. Huggins kindly undertook to try this, being possessed of very perfect photometric appa- ratus, and as I had suggested that the dense glass prisms of a spectroscope might have their numerous surfaces coated with a thin film of albumen, with the view of lessening the quantity of reflected, and consequently increasing the amount of transmitted, light (which theoretically it should do, as the refractive index of albumen is nearly as low as that of water).
The following is his letter to me, dated April 16th:
“ Dear Sir,—On Friday evening last I tried the reflection from different transparent surfaces, and found the difference
168 MEMORANDA.
too small to be measured with the photometer. I then placed two different surfaces together in a straight line, so that half a small beam of light (from a candle enclosed in a magic lantern, from which the lenses had been removed) was re- flected from one surface, and the other half reflected at the same angle from the next surface. The light reflected was received on a sheet of paper some fect distant. Jn this way, the light being feeble and the room dark, the difference of illumination could be easily detected by the eye. When one surface was dense flint, and the other optical crown glass, the difference, at an angle of 45°, was only just appreciable. The quartz surface reflected more light than either. I then coated one surface of a dense flint prism with diluted albumen, and this was compared with the surface of a second prism made of the same glass. There was less light reflected from the albumen, but the difference was surprisingly small. These experiments led me to the conclusion that the working of the surface is more important than the quality of the glass; also that coat- ing with albumen would not make sufficient difference to compensate for any inconveniences that might be caused by air-bubbles or irregularities of the film.—W. Hueains.’— F. H. Wennam.
How to make Diatoms Stick.—In your last Journal (April) Mr. Ward asks how to make diatoms stick on a slide after being arranged. I have done a little in setting diatoms, and never had any trouble with their moving when covering. My plan is to centre the slide with a spot of ink on the reverse side before putting it on the stage, then with a dipping-tube to take a drop of the water the diatoms are in, put it on the slide, but not on the centre; now with a bristle and the aid of an object-glass pick out the diatoms wanted, and push them to their position with a little water adhering to them. When the number are arranged, dry the slide over a gas flame, and mount in the usual way with thin balsam. I find, when the diatoms are perfectly dry, that it takes some force to move them, and some of them will even break before they can be moved.—R. Lricu, Aberdeen.
Price of Vuleanite Cells, &e.—You will oblige by correcting an error in your report of my remarks on vulcanite cells pub- lished in the last number of the Journal, p. 112. ‘The price
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at which I stated these cells are sold was 6d., not 4d., per dozen. Mr. Bailey informs me he has been put to some in- convenience in consequence of the misprint.
I may also note that, as the seconder of the resolution pro- posed by Mr. Tyler (p. 64), you have called me Hill, instead of Hall. Again, at p. 65, in the vote of thanks, the word “Treasurer” should be inserted between “ President” and “ Secretaries.”-—W. H. Harz, Hackney.
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.
Microscoricat Socrery. March 14th, 1866. JAMES Guasuter, Esq., F.R.S., in the Chair.
THE minutes of the previous meeting having been read and confirmed,
A MEMBER inquired, in reference to the proposed incorporation of the Society, if it could take the ordinary style of the “‘ Royal’ Microscopical Society.”
The PrestpEnt explained that, to entitle the Society to use the style “ Royal,” it was necessary that some royal personage should be connected with it. The primary object would be to obtain the Charter in the form in which they could then take it, and, if necessary, it could be subsequently renewed under the altered name.
A paper “On a Brass Slide Clip,” by Dr. Maddox, was read. (‘Trans.,’ p. 65.)
A vote of thanks to Dr. Maddox was passed.
Two papers by Mr. Tuffen West were then read. (‘Trans.,’ pp. 67, 69.)
The thanks of the Society were tendered to Mr. West.
A paper by Dr. Greville was also read. (‘Trans.,’ p. 77.)
The usual vote of thanks was awarded.
A paper by Captain Mitchell, Superintendent of the Madras Government Museum, “On the True Reading of Measurements with the Cobweb Micrometer,” was read, and the thanks of the Society awarded for the same. (‘Trans.,’ p. 71.)
A paper by H. Charlton Bastian, Esq., M.A., F.R.S., commu- nicated by Mr. W. H. Ince, F.L.8., was read. (‘Trans.,’ p. 86.)
After some remarks by Mr. Brooks and the President, and the thanks of the Society having been given to Mr. Bastian and Mr. Ince. A paper “On a New and Adjustable Diaphragm,” by Sydney D. Kincaid, Esq., was read. (‘‘Trans.,’ p. 75.)
After a few remarks from M. Wenham, the thanks of the So- ciety were voted to Mr. Kincaid.
Dr. Hatirax produced some specimens of Insects, chiefly Bees,
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. ek
Wasps, &c.,prepared by him, and explained his method of preparing them. The objects were operated upon by the ordinary cutting instrument, with a cylinder in the middle of the brass plate, and the object is raised by means of a screw rod working a small circular plate that rises up in the cylinder, or the well, as he should call it. The only alteration he made was to enlarge the instrument, so as to adapt it to the size of the object, it being usually furnishet with but a small aperture which is not sufficient to receive a large bee or a beetle, or even a wasp. This he endeavoured to accomplish by means of an additional plate, placed over the ordi- nary brass plate, having a larger aperture, being an adaptation of the well of the smaller instrument, so that the same screw may operate upon the plug, and raise the object, the same as in the smaller instrument. He might add, that he found a glass surface answer better with regard to the razor or cutting instrument than the ordinary plate. ‘The razor works very easily over the surface, and is less liable to injury from scratches. The object must, of course, be fixed, in order to be available for the cutting of the razor ; and this he effected by placing the object ina paper cell, and imbedding it in wax. (Dr. Halifax produced a specimen prepared in this way.) Then the plug or block, which is to be received by the well of the cutting instrument, will consist of a little cylinder, made up partly by a small cylinder of wood, and partly by a small cylinder of wax, and wax contents. In some cases the objects become almost useless, from the difficulty of removing the wax afterwards ; and, to avoid that, he previously immersed the object in stiff gum, and allowed it a very short time to harden betore inserting it im the wax capsule. Dr. Halifax concluded by show- ing several specimens, and explained fully the details of the plan adopted by him.
The Prestprnt announced that the Soirée of the Society would be held on the 4th of April; also that the meeting to be held on the 9th of May would be made special, to take into consideration the changes in the constitution of the Society suggested by the Council, and, if approved, to adopt them. He also read a com- munication received by the Committee from the Committee of the Hackney Working Men’s Institute. (See p. 194.)
ANNUAL SOIREE. April 4th, 1866.
Tur Annual Soirée of the Microscopical Society was held in the Society’s Rooms, King’s College, London, on April 4th, and was attended by nearly a thousand members and visitors. The walls of the rooms were hung with beautiful drawings and diagrams, illustrating various microscopic objects and minute tissues of the animal and vegetable kingdom. On the tables were arranged two hundred microscopes, a large portion of which were first-class
172 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.
instruments. The whole of the arrangements and preparations for the Soirée were under the superintendence of Mr. Blenkins, one of the Honorary Secretaries, and the company were received, on entering, by the President, James Glaisher, Esq., F.R.S.—Mr. Williams had charge of the ancient microscopes,’ including the large Martin microscope, the property of the Society. This collection excited much interest, as showing the gradual improve- ment and development of the instrument.—Mr. Wenham exhibited an improved form of binocular microscope for the highest powers, starting from the recent idea brought out by Messrs. Powell and Lealand of obtaining the whole aperture of the object-glass in each eye by means of the direct transmission and partial reflection from an inclined plate of glass placed behind the object-glass. It seems most desirable to increase, if possible, the quantity of hght in the reflected image, as when the disc of plate glass is inclined at an angle of 45° the quantity of light is less than jth part of the incident rays. Mr. Wenham has succeeded in effecting this by reducing the number of transmitting surfaces and obtaining the light in the inclined tube by means of two reflectors. A small prism is used, in form and size resembling the common binocular prism, but with the two reflecting surfaces more inclined, so as to be beyond the angle of total reflection. In contact with the first reflecting surface is another small triangular prism, whose upper plane is parallel with the base of the main prism ; the rays from the object-glass will then pass direct through without refraction, and the same rays are reflected from the two contact surfaces in the inclined body in the usual way. The arrangement nearly equalises the amount of light in each eye—Mr. Browning exhibited some of his now celebrated micro-spectroscopes, such as has been so successfully applied by Dr. Bird Herapath to the detection of blood-stains in the Ash murder case. Mr. Browning also exhibited some very beautiful, curious, and interesting spectra, among which we noticed Cochineal, Brazilwood, and, most curious of all, Sumach.—Mr. Conrad W. Cooke exhibited an in- strument designed by him, and to which he has given the name of “ Micrographic Camera;” one of the purposes for which it is intended, being to facilitate the figuring of microscopic objects to any desired scale. By this instrument an image (with perfect definition) can be thrown on a sheet of paper placed in a hori- zontal or slanting position, so that an uneducated eye can appre- ciate the form, and any one may trace the outlines and detail, with a fair amount of accuracy, on the paper. It is useful also for purposes of demonstration, for two or more persons may at the same time conveniently examine the image formed on the paper: this, for the explanation of minute organic structure to students and others, may be found of value. This instrument may be worked as well in an illuminated room as in a dark one, because the head of the observer is isolated from external light by means of a curtain which falls over the back of his chair. Measurement of the objects shown in this camera may very easily
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 173
be made, for it is furnished with boxwood scales corresponding to the magnifying powers of the different objectives employed. Thus, the image may be treated as a drawing, and measured and delineated with rules and compasses in the usual way. All the necessary adjustments can be effected from the inside, in order to avoid the inconvenience to the observer of continually altering bis position. The use of this microscope is not entirely confined to the examination of transparent objects, for an image of many of the opaque bodies may be shown with it on the paper. The effects of dark field illumination (with the paraboloid and Lieber- kuhn) and those of the polariscope may be shown on the paper without loss of definition, and all these accessories, as well as the objectives used, are the same as those of a microscope of the ordinary construction. The whole apparatus is made to fold up so as to occupy as little space as possible for the sake of portability. Mr. Cooke also exhibited a simple form of heliostat, which is useful when the camera is worked for a long time with sun-light. Mr. Ross, relying on his well-earned fame rather than on question- able novelties, exhibited, in a collection of his highly-finished first- class instruments, a variety of specimens of marine Polyzoa, &c., remarkable for their beauty and the perfection with which they were shown.—Messrs. Powell and Lealand showed their new binocular with some first-class instruments. Under one of their instruments was exhibited a beautiful illustration of the marvellous power of the eye of a beetle. A likeness of the Princess of Wales was reflected through the 100 facets of taat compound structure, and in each part was distinctly seen a perfect image of the Princess. Mr. Lealand also showed the objects for which he is so celebrated, the circulation in the Vallisneria and the Volvox globator.— Messrs. Smith and Beck exhibited a variety of beautiful objects under many of their best instruments.—Mr. James How had some beautiful examples of Zoophytes with expanded tentacles, Halodactylus, Sertularia, &c.; the larve of the shore crab, circu- lation of the blood in the frog, specimens of Trichina spiralis in human muscle, &e. Mr. How also exhibited, in one of the rooms upstairs, by means of the oxyhydrogen light, a selection of photo- micrographs by Dr. Maddox, consisting of vegetable structures, diatoms, parasites, parts of insects (some of these exibited for the first time), such as preparations of the head and wings of the male and female gnat,and larve and pupa state of the same, and a fine photograph of the tongue of the house-cricket.—Mr. Baker showed binocular microscopes, under which were many striking illustrations of pond and marine life—such as Tabularia and Campanularia, minute crabs, and other crustaceans, fresh from their native element, a novel feature in objects usually shown at these meetings.—Mr. Charles Tyler exhibited silicious sponges from Barbadoes, opaque and in section; new Grantias from Australia ; keratose sponges, with a new variety from Australia ; a unique sponge with inhalent orifices. Dr. Miller showed Conochilus Volvox in his usual beautiful manner, and recent VOL. VII.—NEW SER. . N
174 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.
Desmidie.—Mr. Henry Lee exhibited living young salmon, living larve of gnats, and preparations of Asteride. There were numerous other exhibitors with most interesting objects, which were highly appreciated and most attentively examined by the large numbers assembled on the occasion.
May 9th, 1866. JaMES GLAISHER, Esq., F.R.S., President, in the Chair.
Two papers by James Smith, Hsq., F.L.S., “On a Leaf-holder for the Microscope,” and “On a revolving Slide-holder with Selenite Stage,’’ were read. (‘Trans.,’ p. 100.)
The thanks of the Society were tendered to Mr. Smith.
A paper, by F. H. Wenham, Esgq., “ On a Binocular Microscope ‘ with High Powers,” was read. (‘Trans.,’ 103.)
Mr. Beck thought a distinction should now be drawn between the binocular microscope and the microscope with stereoscopic vision. Hitherto the binocular microscope had been looked on as giving stereoscopic vision; but in the present case there was rather a tendency to give the objects a flatter appearance. He was of opinion that Mr. Wenham’s invention would render little aid in matters of research, and remarked that Mr. Wenham had not in his paper given any instance in which his own arrangement or Messrs. Powell and Leyland’s prisms would be of any real advantage. |
Mr. Brownine supported Mr. Beck’s views with regard to stereoscopic vision. He had been unable to get stereoscopic effect from any arrangement of the kind under discussion, and when he attempted to do so a part of the field of view was cut off. It was too far from the object-glass necessarily used with high powers. There was, no doubt, a certain comfort in being able to use both eyes, and in this lay the real merit of the invention. The same advantage attended the use of the binocular telescope, as it enabled the observer to continue his observations with less fatigue ; but he had never been able by it to produce the slightest stereoscopic relief.
A Memeperr thought it would be difficult to overrate the value of being able to use both eyes. He had attempted to improve the binocular telescope with a view to bringing it to a moderate price; but though he had not succeeded in that object, he had produced some good binocular telescopes which answered very well, and but for their being less portable he thought no one who could obtain a binocular telescope would use a monocular one.
Mr. Srack said that his two eyes differed in focus to such an extent that he did not care for the ordinary binocular arrange- ment, but thought that persons whose eyes were ordinarily nearly alike in focus would be sayed fatigue in making quick compa-
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 175
risons, as by using both eyes alternately one eye could be kept comparatively fresh, and this alternation would be favorable to the prolonged examination of exceedingly delicate objects. He thought, too, that Mr. Wenham’s invention would be exceedingly valuable for objects which required the stereoscopic effect of com- bining two dissimilar images. He presumed it would not be doubted that this result would be obtdined. No one could look at the moon through an ordinary stereoscope and say it appeared flat; and he (Mr. Slack) had never met with any person who could see even an approximation to flatness, and though in his own case he could not say that the invention produced the stereo- scopic effect of the combination of two dissimilar objects, it certainly did not give the idea of flatness. Mr. Slack concluded by asking Mr. Wenham whether in his arrangement each eye got exactly the same proportion of marginal and peripheral ray, as a difference in this respect might produce a difference in result.
Mr. Wenuam said that with the eight and twelve and higher powers the images would be identical. On drawing out the prism it would simply cut off a portion of the field of view, and this would be done simultaneously with both eye-pieces.
Mr. Gray thought Mr. Slack had combined two things which were essentially different—the stereoscopic effect produced by single vision, such as looking through a telescope, and the effect of viewing the same object binocularly. There were two ways of arriving at a conclusion whether an object was flat or not. In the case of the moon they would see the shadows of that body.
Mr. Wrenuam.—I spoke of the full moon.
Mr. Gray continued—If any one doubted that there was a difference between real stereoscopical vision and inferential stereo- scopical vision, let him examine stereoscopic slides of the moon where a corresponding image was taken of two extremities. He could not say that the moon would appear flat through a telescope ; it would appear as if reduced into a small globe; but in the stereoscopic slides they saw more than a hemisphere, say three quarters of the diameter, and bearing this difference in mind would simplify the distinction between real stereoscopical and inferen- tially stereoscopical vision. Mr. Slack had mentioned that one of his eyes differed from the other in focus, and he therefore pro- bably did not fully appreciate the effect that most persons received from a stereoscopic picture, and was therefore the less able to distinguish between the inferentially stereoscopic and real stereo- scopic vision.
Mr. Becx said that Mr. Slack’s remarks confirmed his opinion that the moon could not be seen as flat through an ordinary tele- scope, but he thought it would be seen flat through a binocular telescope. The effect of the binocular telescope, with its two telescopes placed any farther apart than the ordinary distance of the eyes, would be rather to diminish stereoscopic vision. For instance, a tolerably near object, such as a flower-pot standing outside a window, would, with an ordinary-vision telescope, appear
176 PROCEEDINGS OF SOUIETIES.
to be outside the window; but with a binocular telescope it would appear in the same plane with the window. The telescope drew the object nearer the eyes, but did not increase the distance of the eyes apart. So an artist, directing the attention of a spectator to a picture, would ask him to look at it with one eye, because looking at it with both at once would show that it was a flat sur- face; and a similar effect would follow from the use of the bino- cular telescope.
Mr. WENHAM could not agree with Mr. Beck in not being able to procure stereoscopic vision from the binocular telescope. He had used it in his travels on the Nile, in a country where it was difficult to measure distances, and there he bad certainly got the effect of distance. He (Mr. Wenham) had a telescope, made many years ago, in which, viewing the objects with both eyes, they did appear to be stereoscopic. It might be imaginary—in- deed, it ought to be—but the object certainly did appear to stand out.
The PresipEnt, in concluding the discussion, proposed a vote of thanks to Mr. Wenham for his paper, which was duly carried. He could, from his own experience, speak of the fatigue caused by the continuous use of one eye only—not, however, to the eye at work, but to the closed one. Anything that could relieve that fatigue, and enable the observer to use the high powers of the microscope with more comfort, would be a great benefit.
A paper by Mr. Beck was then read.
The meeting was then made special.
The SecRETARY, in moving a resolution approving of certain alterations in the laws of the Society, stated that certain modifi- cations would be necessary in anticipation of the Royal Charter of Incorporation, endeavours to obtain which were being made on behalf of the Society. This would also afford an opportunity for making a better arrangement of the clauses. In 1840 a law was passed, providing that past Presidents should be permanent members of the Council; but at the suggestion of the present President it was proposed that, while that rule should be acted on up to the year 1866, henceforward there should be four Vice- Presidents. He therefore moved—“ That in the clause relating to the constitution and government of the Society the words ‘four Vice-Presidents’ be inserted immediately after the word ‘ President.’ ”’
Mr. Cuartes Trier seconded the motion.
The PrusmeEnT, in putting the motion to the meeting, explained that retiring Presidents would be eligible to serve as Vice-Presi- dents.
The motion was unanimously carried.
It was moved by the SzcrErary, seconded by Mr. Henry Lez, F.L.S., and carried unanimously—* That the laws, as revised by the Council, be the laws of the Society from the 9th May, 1866.”
The PrestpENT announced that the draft of the Charter had been prepared, and that a Committee, consisting of himself, the
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.
177
Treasurer, and Secretaries, had been appointed to act in the
matter with Mr.
SUBSCRIBERS TO THE CHARTER FUND OF THE MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY.
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Burr, and that a sum of £135 had been subscribed towards the expenses.
Oxrorp Mtcroscopicat Society.
FurtHER REMARKS on CRYSTALLIZATION, By R. Tuomas.
Tue following diagrams illustrate a series of singular crystalline forms, which I have been enabled to obtaim from solutions of sulphate of copper, by carefully crystallizing that salt at various
178 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.
temperatures. I have ventured to apply the term “ spiral erystal- lization” to this peculiar and very beautiful series of phenomena. The first and most difficult stage of the process consists in eva- porating a solution of sulphate of copper in such a way that the evaporation be not conducted too slowly, and that the heat em-
ployed be not excessive. By steering warily between these two extremes, we avoid on the one hand crystallization of the solution, on the other the formation of small granular masses, which cover the slide and spoil it for future operations ; and we are enabled to
Fig. 2.
obtain an uncrystallized film, out of which the different crystal- line forms under consideration may presently develop themselves. If, now, such a film be subjected (after the manner indicated in my paper contained in the April number of this Journal) to a
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 179
temperature of about 60° Fahr., numerous foliated crystals radi- ating from centres will soon be seen to form, and, if the slide be examined minutely, other small round forms will be noticed, which
have no connection with the foliated crystals, but which consti- tute the first stage of the spiral. (Fig. 1.)
At 65° the foliated structures are lost, and the round erystals only are seen in great numbers, clearly showing a further advance
in the direction of the spiral, and presenting a well-marked but curved black cross. (Fig. 2.)
At 70° the spiral is still more marked. (Fig. 3.)
At 80° to 90° the lines are smaller and more numerous, while the spiral is evidently more pronounced. (Fig. 4.)
180 PROCEEDINGS OF SUCIETIES.
At 90° to 100°, if the slide be kept free from dust, numbers of the most perfect spiral crystals, some right- some left-handed, will be seen to cover the slide. (Fig. 5.)
I have no doubt that some of these crystals are, in reality, cones standing out in relief from the slide. Of this I have satisfied myself by allowing them to form in a partial vacuum in the receiver of an air-pump, and then suddenly letting in the air upon them, when I have seen the apex of the cone broken or forced in by the atmo- spheric pressure. I may also add that, under all circumstances, the erystals thus formed in a vacuum are more perfect than when exposed to the air, owing to the exclusion of foreign matters, such
as small particles of dust, which are apt to interfere with the formation of the curves.
Very beautiful effects may likewise be produced by allowing the film to crystallize gradually in Canada balsam. The balsam should be gently warmed, but not sufficiently heated to drive off the few atoms of water contained in it. The salt gradually ab- sorbs this water, and crystallization is slowly effected.
Dustin MicroscoricaLn Civus.
November 16th, 1865.
Dr. E. Perceval Wright exhibited some spirally twisted cases of a phryganidous insect, collected by Professor Harvey some years ago in Australia. They had been taken, with a large
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 181
number of minute Helices and Bithinie, from under stones on the borders of a pond, and had been overlooked as small shells allied to Valvata. A microscopical examination, however, not only at once showed that they belonged to the genus Helico- psyche, of Bremi, but likewise made apparent the dried-up thorax and limbs of the insect. At present, Dr. Wright knew of but two species of this genus, H. Shuttleworthii, Bremi, from Corsica and Como, and H. minima, Bremi, from Porto Rico, which they resembled ; and, looking at the differences in the localities of these two species and of the one he now exhibited, he believed it would be found that these helicine cases belonged to a different phry- ganidous insect, to which he would venture to give the provisional name of H. Sieboldiz, after the distinguished Professor of Zoology at Munich. Dr. Wright had not, however, been enabled to con- sult Dr. Hagen’s paper in the Stettin’s Entomological Society’s Proceedings.
Mr. Archer exhibited specimens, obtained from Yorkshire (near Market-Weighton), through the kindness of Professor Gagliardi, at present resident there, of Closteriwm aciculare, West. This elegant form seems to be rare; he (Mr. Archer) had only once met with it in Ireland, in a collection made by Mr.’ Porte in the King’s County. These specimens, however, were not so very long, in proportion to their extreme slenderness, as the original specimens described by Mr. Tuffen West; hence Mr. Archer sent some on that occasion to that gentleman, who kindly informed him that the Irish specimens were truly his ©. aciculare. The specimens now exhibited seemed to Mr. Archer quite to agree with those he had previously seen.
In the same Yorkshire gathering Mr. Archer drew attention likewise to some specimens of Gonatozygon Ralfsti, De Bary (= Docidium asperum, Ralfs), in which the characteristic _super- ficial roughnesses were the least evident he had ever seen. Indeed, at first glance one would have thought them absent; but a closer examination revealed their existence, and the comparatively smooth appearance of the surface seemed to be due to the pellucid cha- racter of the minute granules, but they were probably also less elevated than usual. There could not, however, be a doubt as to the identity of the plant.
Mr. Porte exhibited a gold-fish having a large patch of Sapro- legnia growing upon its side, and which stood out, perhaps, three- quarters of an inch. This proved to be in the state of developing the zoospores, some of which were discharged, others just dis- charging, and some with the secondary or tertiary sporangia formed one within the other, thus identifying the genus. This growth had manifested itself upon the side of the fish where it had met with an accidental injury, thus indicating that its pre- sence was a consequence, not the cause, of disease.
Mr. Archer showed specimens of Cosmarium quadratum, in allu-
182 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.
sion to the Cosmarium shown by Dr. J. Barker at last meeting of the Club, in order to draw attention to the great differences between them, both in size and figure.
Dr. John Barker exhibited blood of the Napu Deer (Tragulus Javanicus), composed mostly of red corpuscles which are amongst the smallest in mammalia, measuring, according to Gulliver, s+zizs" in diameter. As far as Dr. Barker could see, they are
not perfectly round.
December 21st, 1865.
Dr. John Barker showed specimens of an Acineta, which had become produced in considerable quantity in a gathering made so long ago as the occasion of the Lugnaquilla excursion. It was very interesting to watch the disappearance and gradual return of the well-marked circular contractile vacuole. He had noticed a curious kind of swarming movement of the granular contents, not like the jerking or dancing movement of the granules (as, for instance, in the Desmidiacex, &c.), but aslower and more decided change of place of the particles in a curious writhing manner.
Mr. Archer drew attention to the seemingly not uncommon but remarkable organism <Anthophysa Miilleri, lately taken by Dr. J. Barker near Finglas. Mr. Archer read a lengthened extract from Professor Cohn’s remarks on this curious production in his ‘Untersuchungen tiber die Entwickelungsgeschichte der mikroskopischen Algen und Pilze,’ pp. 109 et seg. The specimens now exhibited, probably being too long kept, did not show any of the Uvella-like bodies at the summits of the so-called “Stereonema” filaments, which Dr. Barker and he had seen in company. How- ever, at the apices of some of the younger, pale greenish, or colourless filaments of the same, and not a distinct organism, a single globose body was here and there seated, with pale granular contents, seemingly the forerunner, by subsequent division, of a future Uvella-like family. On the present occasion a specimen turned up in which the body at the apex of one of the filaments, here of an elliptic shape, had its contents divided into a number of portions, still confined within their common boundary. It became a question as to this being a more advanced state, tending towards the Uvella-like family. In any case this may, perhaps, be of some interest, as Cohn had not seen these bodies otherwise than as fully developed Uvella-like clusters. Mr. Archer was disposed to think that the filaments themselves grew and branched, and that the indications seemed to point to the conclusion that the Uvella-like bodies were a subsequent development at the summit of certain seemingly soft, and younger, and nearly colour- less branches, not that the Uvella-like bodies developed the stipes analogous to that of Gomphonema, &c., amongst diatoms. Thus,
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 183
the guondam Stereonema filaments and their accompanying Uvella- like terminal clusters together form Anthophysa Miilleri, that is, both these portions of this curious growth are part and parcel of the same organism, though it is not easy to perceive, regarding the Uvella-like group as germs, how these would again develop a new “Stereonema” thread, giving the stipes that name as a convenient one, though, of course, as Cohn most justly states, “Stereonema,” as either an algal or fungal genus, quite falls to the ground ; but, on the other hand, it might, perhaps, be too hasty an assumption that all Uvelle were but detached groups or clusters of Anthophysa.
In connection with the foregoing, and as in a measure supple- mentary thereto, Mr. Archer took occasion to exhibit a production seemingly not uncommon in certain localities, and which he has several times brought down to the meetings, but had never presented, as on those occasions so many other objects had pressed themselves on attention. Of this production he had not been able to find any record, though doubtless such may exist ; he thought the present a good opportunity to show it to the Club on account of a possible affinity—at least, a certain amount of resemblance—to Anthophysa. This formed a much-compressed, plane, broad, more or less and indefinitely branched production, the branches plane, broad, more or less curved, divergent, gradually widening from below upwards; the ends abruptly rounded off; their surface furnished with interrupted coarse ridges, giving the whole the appearance of being formed of elongate cells ; the whole’ structure free ; colour yellowish, reddish, or brown. This produc- tion Mr. Archer had met with several times, but without being able to make anything more of it, until on one occasion, in company with Dr. Barker, who,indeed, drew attention to it,aview of a further characteristic was obtained. At the broad and tolerably sharply rounded-off extremities of the compressed branches was seen, in several instances, a subconical projection of colourless granular substance, from which was distinctly seen to emanate usually two long flagelliform cilia, which waved about in the water with much vigour. That this remarkable addition to the usual organization of this production was really part and parcel of it, and not an accidentally located foreign organism, was evidenced by the regularity with which it was seen in just the same way and in just the same situation, as well as by a kind of movement, comparable to a kind of circulation, of the contained granules of the terminal conical protuberance mentioned as bearing the cilia, somewhat downwards below the broad and expanded extremities of the branch bearing the same, as if the terminal body were not, indeed, seated on the extreme margin, but may have originated within it. But of this terminal body no definite structure could be made out; its outline externally was not very sharp; and in this state the observation rests. Perhaps further experience may throw a light upon the true nature of this curious organism. Perhaps ad interim a certain amount of analogy with Anthophysa
184 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.
may be worth keeping in mind. In the one the (quondam) Stereonema threads are elongate, round, and tapering; in the other the stems (so to call them) are short, compressed, broad, and expanded towards the summits ; both, however, are of a brown or yellowish colour, and both bear at their summits monad-like bodies bearing flagella, in the one, however, eventually combined into groups or families—Uvella-like—in the other seemingly solitary and with one or two more drawn out flagella. Pending knowledge, however, of these two productions, more especially of the latter, no more can be said than that there exists this certain amount of analogy, an analogy which may, indeed, by no means indicate a true affinity.
Dr. J. Barker likewise exhibited the organism Anthophysa Miilleri under his microscope. The gathering had been made in an overflow of the river Tolka, the submerged plants presenting a reddish-brown colour from the quantity of this growth. In Dr. Barker’s opinion there are two different organisms nearly allied — one the ordinary reddish-brown, nearly opaque, branching stems, which bear on their summits groups of Uvella-form buds; each of these buds has one or two flagelliform cilia; each group is very slightly attached by a considerably long, soft, gelatinous, and granulated termination of the stem. These groups become free, and are found very abundantly rolling about. These have been described by Cohn. Dr. Barker had observed also another kind, more rarely met with. It has a transparent, straight, or slightly curved stem; this stem is frequently seen in gatherings of the ordinary Anthophysa. He had noticed, also, a very active single bud, like one of the Anthophysa groups, but about three times larger; this organism seemed to possess more than one or two cilia, and to be very active; on more than one occasion he had seen this organism attached singly to the clear stem, just like the Anthophysa groups, and struggle, as it were, to get free; it was likewise attached to its stem by an interval of granular mucus, as in Anthophysa. Dr. Barker expressed his view that, as a general rule, many organisms found moving about in gatherings are the free buds of attached plants, just as certain diatoms are first attached by stems and afterwards become free.
Dr. Moore showed spiral vessels from the leaf of Nepenthes Rafflesiana, forming very pretty objects under the polariscope.
Dr. J. Barker showed Staurastrwm scabrum, new to Ireland; also S. Griffithsianum (at least, the form which Mr. Archer was so disposed to name, and not S. spongiosum, as mentioned by him at a previous meeting).
January 18th, 1866.
Dr. Moore exhibited the prothallia of some Ferns, showing the antheridia and spermatozoids.
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 185
The Rey. E. O’Meara, A.M., showed a new Gephyria, which he proposed to name, after Professor Harvey, G. Harveyi, and which he characterised as follows :—Frustules much smaller than those of G. incurvata and G. media. In front view the costate margins are rounded, and elevated above the surface of the connecting zone, which is narrow, not costate; the side view is elliptical, the terminal spaces on ventral surface small, the median line indis- tinct ; the median line absent on dorsal surface, the coste running across the valve. Found on Haloplegma Preissii, from Port Fairy, Victoria.
Mr. Archer exhibited several forms of fresh-water Rhizopods, all which occurred in the same pool, indeed on one slide. These, so far as Mr. Archer could identify them, and taken in the order of the comparative frequency of their occurrence in the gathering, were Difflugia pyriformis, D. corona, D. spiralis, Arcella vulgaris, A. aculeata, Euglypha alveolata, Gromia fluviatilis, Actinophrys sol, A. Hichornii, anda Plagyophrys (?). As so varied an assemblage of these forms in a fresh and vigorous condition, though indi- vidually, as regards some of them, not rare, does not seem very frequently to present itself, Mr. Archer thought the present would not be without interest. It is to be regretted, indeed, that Rhizo- podous creatures do not bear a transit from one house to another, spread out upon a slide, without more or less shrinking in, with- drawing their pseudopods, and ceasing to present their character- istic conditions; and this was more especially the case with the beautiful Gromia. <A fresh dip from the supply of the material brought down fortunately, however, amply presented a group in good condition of the Difflugize and Arcelle. Mr. Archer said it would, indeed, not well become him too hastily to put forward an opinion of his own opposed to tkose who had bestowed large attention upon these interesting organisms, such as Dr. Wallich or Dr. Carpenter, yet he would venture to suggest that, so far as the fresh-water forms of this group are concerned, they seem in themselves sufficiently constant to make it probable that the former writer at least was somewhat premature in the views set forth by him in the ‘Annals of Natural History,’ 3rd ser., vol. xiii, pp. 215 et seqq. The Difflugie and Arcelle seem to turn up again and again, and apparently so far duplicates of one another that one can at least say that such a given recurring form is at least the same thing one has seen before; though it may be possible, indeed, that some assumed as distinct may be younger states of other forms, and thus that Dr. Wallich may be right in part and wrong in his too comprehensive ultimate conclusions. Between the different forms now exhibited there did not seem any puzzling nondescripts. It may be said the next adjacent pond might pro- duce them: a gathering from another pond on the same heath was on the table, and though by no means so rich in Rhizopods, there unmistakeably were those frequent forms, Difflugia pyri- formis, and Arcella vulgaris, and A. aculeata. But, again, it might
186 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES:
be said a gathering from a few hundred miles away might produce them. There was on the table a gathering from Yorkshire (due to Mr. Archer’s obliging correspondent, Professor Gagliardi), and in it was Arcella vulgaris,and A. aculeata,and Euglypha alveolata.
But the gathering now brought forward seemed to present a certain amount of interest in another point of view, and that was the number of these organisms which presented themselves “ con- jugated ’’—or, if this term, as it has been elsewhere applied, be considered a begging of the question, and as presupposing a pro- cess analogous to the phenomenon which takes place in the Con- jugatz amongst Algee—these Rhizopods were at least coupled in pairs, and the tests in contact by their frontal openings. Now, be Carter right or wrong in the views he has published on this phenomenon, and difficult, on account of the opacity of the tests, as it is to discern what goes on during the continuance of this coupling, it cannot be a meaningless process, and, as it has been seen by so many observers, it cannot be a merely occasional, or simply casual, or accidental one. It must, indeed, point to a process important in the life-history of these creatures, and it seems most reasonable to conclude that that process is connected with repro- duction, even not to speak of Carter’s observations. Now, a point which deserved attention as regards the specimens at present ex- hibited, and which quite accorded with all observations made on the subject, was that, although the individuals were numerous, always like form was “ conjugated”’ or in contact with like form ; and this was true as regarded Difflugie, Arcelle, or Euglyphe respectively. Whilst, then, with his own comparatively very slender acquaintance with these organisms, Mr. Archer hoped it might not be thought undue temerity in calling in question Dr. Wallich’s views as to the convertibility of these organisms, he could not but for the present dissent therefrom, and this for the two reasons set forth—first, that the same forms seem continu- ally to present themselves; and, secondly, be the precise physio- logical significance of the phenomenon what it may, that like form always chooses out like form when about to “ conjugate.”
As regards the identification of the forms on the slide, whatever difficulty there might be in reconciling them with species as described, the same forms seemed, at least when met with, always to be like one another; yet it seemed that D. pyriformis could hardly be mistaken. Doubtless it sometimes appeared more globose and inflated, sometimes more elongate, sometimes with a more or less elongate neck; but still pyriform seems to be its characteristic. Again, as to the form, Mr. Archer would refer somewhat doubtfully to D. corona; it may appear paradoxical to say that no two specimens were absolutely alike, and yet, so far as the individuals from this heath, they could all at a glance be pronounced to be one and the same thing. If, indeed, this be D. corona, Dr. Wallich’s figure is too regular and symmetrical, too diagrammatic, the adherent foreign particles too accurately adapted, and too much of one size, and the horns (so to call them).
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 187
too short. But in the existent state of knowledge it would be eure to give this form a name. That these animals seem to ave a power of selection of the materials wherewith to bwi/d their habitations is evident. D. pyriformis seems to use very small, tolerably regular-sized, particles; the horned’ form huge crags and boulders (microscopically speaking) in comparison, as well as large Pinnularia frustules, &c.,and these laid on in any and ever way, and projecting irregularly in every direction. Whilst the surface of the first seems somewhat evenly paved, the latter carries about a complete little rockery, and this, added to the different form of each, gave them a character that stamped them at once.
Again, as bearing on external distinctions, Mr. Archer’s atten- tion was first attracted to the solitary Gromia on the slide, not by its pseudopods, for they were not then visible, but, even under a low power, by its contour, for its opaque test had much the same colour ‘as the Difflugie. Here was an egg-shaped form, its surface less rough than that of the Difflugiz around; this was enough to attract observation. Upon the slide being laid aside for a little, however, and this egg-shaped form again examined, there were the beautiful pseudopods of this curious creature expanded to the full, to three, four, or even five times the length of the test, rami- fying in every direction, and inosculated here and there, and occasionally expanded. The majority of the pseudopods projected in front, but, as in Carpenter’s well-known figure, not a few radiating laterally and posteriorly, and a beautiful “ circulation” going on like that of the protoplasm of the cells of the hairs of the stamens of Tradescantia. Now, here external form and external character were enough to indicate that this was, at all events, not the same thing as the Difflugie around; actually how very different has been seen. It could not be contended that Kuglypha is not a different thing from Difflugia, per se, nor can any genetic affinity be founded on possibilities. Another curious Rhizopod in the present gathering was the Plagiophrys. Mr. Archer’s only acquaintance with the genus was that afforded in Dr. Carpenter’s work, for he had not Claparéde’s work. But at all events here was a type quite distinct, be it referred correctly or not to that
nus. It did not appear to agree quite with the figure given by
arpenter; the body was elliptic, minute, and the pseudopods emanating from one spot in a kind of tuft, not distributed, and so it approached more to a Lagynis, as it were, without a test. Of the Actinophrys it is, of course, unnecessary to speak.
Now, if Dr. Wallich be right in assuming that, the animals being alike in Difflugie, the different forms are but the result of, and in obedience to, local conditions—how could these several distinct. and varied forms, not to speak of different types of Rhizopods, be the products of identically the same circumstances and exactly the same local conditions—that is, how could one and the same cause produce several distinct results? It is argued that the tests only are different—that the animals are alike—but not more alike than the cell-contents, the analogous portion, in
188 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.
the different forms of Diatomacere (for instance), are to one another.
Again, as regards the so-called conjugation, how is it that, “ the animals being the same,” not only does Difflugia unite with Difflugia, and Arcella with Arcella, and Euglypha with Euglypha, but these seemingly only specifically with each other? It is true that Dr. Wallich alludes to an instance of this phenomenon taking place between Difflugia and another smaller one regarded as a distinct species. Now, in this present gathering, besides the very many instances of forms alike in size as well as outer characters conjugating with each other, several examples presented them- selves quite like that so well figured by Wallich (* Ann. Nat. Hist.,’ 3 ser., vol. xiu, pl. xvi, fig. 39); and it would seemingly never otherwise suggest itself than to look upon the smaller individual as simply but a smaller and younger individual of one and the same species. It has been said, indeed, that this process iS not a conjugation or union in any sense of the word at all, but merely a budding-off—that is, that a portion of the original animal becomes simply extended through the frontal aperture, then clothing itself with a test, and afterwards separating from the first, as a distinct individual. But how is it that no intermediate stages present themselves? All the specimens in contact are of full size and figure in ninety-nine cases of a hundred, and never an unclothed or partially clothed one seems to be found united with a fully clothed one. It might, perhaps, be @ priori thought that so lowly organized a creature could have no power of electing amongst its neighbours only another individual of its own species with which to unite. That such an idea would be too hasty, indeed, is seen when we find them able to a great extent to select the materials of their habitations. But when about to conjugate we cannot deny to them that they may be impelled by some kind of inherent attraction, species for species, when we see vegetables—Meso- carpee, Zygnemer, and Desmidiex, finding out and conjugating with those only of their own identical species, admitting the pro- cesses in each to be analogous.—In one instance two of the Arcelle, upon being separated, seemed to have extended between them what appeared to be a tubular plicated membrane, proceed- ing from the mouth of each test. The great opacity of the tests prevents an insight being gained into the internal conditions.
On the whole, therefore, while Mr. Archer would deprecate being supposed as dogmatically setting up his own views against those of a Wallich ora Carpenter, yet he thought he might venture so far as to say that their arguments, as regards the fresh-water Rhizopods only, had not yet convinced him of the total want of stability in these forms, and he thought that the considerations he here ventured to bring forward could not be regarded as devoid of significance or importance.
Mr. Yeates showed Smith and Beck’s new illumination for opaque objects, in which the object-glass is made its own illumi-
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 189
nator by reflecting the light from a lateral opening down through the object-glass.
Mr. Porte exhibited a series of slides of vegetable sections showing a variety of spiral vessels.
Dr. Moore showed a Scytonema, the same as the one sent by him to Dr, Hassall, and named by the latter S. hibernicum. Dr. Moore had taken this on the occasion of the Lugnaquilla excursion.
February 15th, 1866.
Dr. E. Perceval Wright brought forward a number of diatoms from Mauritius, collected by Captain Crozier, R.E. These Mr. O’Meara undertook to examine and report upon.
Mr. Archer exhibited side by side on the same slide two rare species of Staurastrum. These were Stawrastrum oligacanthum (Bréb. in litt.) and Stawrastrum (Phycastrum, Pachyactiniwn) cristatum (Nag.)=Staurastrum nitidum (Arch.). He brought them forward, however, chiefly for the purpose of drawing atten- tion to their marked distinctions, and yet to the possibility of their being mistaken the one for the other. The first species he had seen only a very few times (see Minutes of Club of June 15th, 1865), the second only from the pool in which these speci- mens were found ; but in this he had taken it for three or four successive years. It is not easy to bring the distinctive characters of these two forms before other observers without the specimens, but yet Mr. Archer thought no two could be more distinct. In fact, with an inch object-glass one could distinguish them, once their characteristics have been seized upon. In front view S¢. cristatum has its ends convex, the lateral extremities sub-mammil- late, and the end view has the sides convex. In St. oligacanthum in front view the ends are flat, the lateral extremities subacute; in end view the sides concave at the middle, the angles inflated, then acute.
The Rev. E. O'Meara, A.M., showed a new Striatella found by him on a frond of Haloplegma Preissii from Australia. As only two other species of this genus are already known, this acces- sion would possess an additional interest. The characters of the genus are stipitate, septate, the septa alternate, and not extending across the valve. By such peculiarities, the form under considera- tion would be at once recognised as a Striatella, of which genus Mr. O’Meara felt himself quite warranted in regarding it as a new species. In Striatella unipunctata the stipes are remarkably long ; the septa rectilinear, with bead-like expansions at the distance of about ird the length of the frustule from the margin. In the form under consideration the stipes are not remarkably long; - the septa are curvilinear, and curved in opposite directions in the
VOL. VII.—NEW SER. )
190 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.
two attached frustules; the bead-like expansions are marginal. In the front view in the centre of the upper margin there is a remarkable depression ; corresponding with this on the side view there is a region with curvilinear boundaries. Besides this pecu- liarity, there is in the side view a remarkable difference between the present form and S. wnipunctata, the latter being elliptico- lanceolate, the former linear-oblong. Mr. O’Meara proposed for this form the name Striatella curviseptata.
Mr. Vickers exhibited a fine diatom, Eupodiscus Rodgevi, for- warded by Mr. Stokes.
Dr. John Barker exhibited a new plan, constructed from his design, for placing a number of slides under the microscope and bringing them one by one in succession quickly under view. This consists of a large disc of wood, with a number of round openings , near the circumference, of about an inch in diameter, over each of which a slide is placed and retained in its position, with the object over the aperture, by an elastic ribbon passed through some small holes in the disc. The disc itself is fastened to the stage by a piece of projecting brass-work made to fit and hold in the central opening of the stage, and projecting out beyond the stage in front, and bearing the pivot or axis adapted to the centre of the disc, and on which it revolves. This apparatus could therefore be made to follow the stage movements, and would be suitable, of course, for opaque or transparent objects. It would be very ad- vantageous for a class, for the purpose, during a demonstration, of bringing a series of slides quickly under view.
Mr. Archer exhibited fine examples of Ameba villosa (Wallich), but he now drew attention to this seemingly not uncommon form, in order to show a remarkable addition to the usual charac- teristics of this organism. ‘This was the presence of a large and numerous tuft of very long prolongations, commonly issuing from just beside the villous patch. These prolongations, which formed a compact bundle, were slender, linear, often as long as the - ordinary length of the animal, about the middle often with a slight groove-like constriction or narrowing, their ends terminating abruptly. Seemingly nine out of ten of the specimens in this gathering possessed these appendages, giving them a yery re- markable and curious appearance. Under alow power and ata hasty glance these Amcebe appeared as if each carrying posteriorly a whole bundle of straight bacillar objects, seemingly immersed in their substance ; under so low an amplification and hastily viewed, it might be thought almost like a bundle of Nitzschie or rigid oscillatoriaceous filaments stuck into the posterior end of the Ameeba (pincushion-like) by some external foreign force, and as if as many as possible had been made to go into one spot. But upon examining these curious fasciculi under a higher power more closely, he thought it could readily be seen that they were not composed of foreign bodies either issuing from or penetrating
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES, 191
into the Amceba, but were really linear prolongations of the sar- code itself. It was only under a higher power, say a quarter-inch, that the slight central constriction of these linear appendages could be seen. At this point one seemed prone to bend, and the animal seemed to have the power again to erect it somewhat quickly. Sometimes these prolongations were somewhat more scattered, but were always very close, mostly, indeed, as has been said, issuing ina tuft. This tuft, as has been also said, in by far the greatest number of cases occurred close beside the villous patch, but sometimes a few of these linear appendages seemed. to take origin from the villous patch. Dr. Wallich, in his papers on this form (‘Ann. Nat. Hist.,’ 3rd ser., vol. xi, plate viii, fig. 2), draws attention to the villous patch displaying a number of short, narrow extensions, seemingly emarginate at the ends; these seem to be enlarged and prolonged villi, as it were, and do not appear the same thing as the very long appendages here drawn attention to, as the latter are very greatly longer, more rigid, and mostly coexist alongside the villous region, the latter exhibiting its ordinary appearance and condition. This observation, quantum valeat, seems possibly to point to a still greater differentiation of parts than has yet been observed in this remarkable form ; and be the significance of these unusual appendages what it may, Mr. Archer thought the observation would not, perhaps, be without a certain amount of interest.
Mr. Archer presented, on the part of the author, Mr. C. P. Roper, his ‘ Catalogue of Works on the Microscope,’ for which gift the thanks of the Club were voted.
Captain Crozier, R.E., at present residing at Gosport, was elected a corresponding member of the Club.
March 15th, 1866.
The Rey. E. O’Meara, A.M., exhibited Zerpsinoe musica and Pleurodesmium Brébisonii, both from slides supplied by Captain Crozier, corresponding member of the Club.
Mr. Archer showed two cells of Zygnema presenting examples of the organism named Monas parasitica, by Cienkowski, and exhi- bited the figure given by that observer in Pringsheim’s ‘ Jahrbiicher fiir wissensch. Botanik,’ Band i, t. xxiv, figs. i, ii, ili, iv, m, with which the present specimens seemed quite to agree. It seems, however, that the organisms referred to may, indeed, more likely be some stage of a plant allied to Chytridium near Sapro- legniez, let opinions differ as they may as to the algal or fungal nature of that singular group.
Mr, Archer exhibited specimens of Spirotenia parvula (ejus) (described by him, ‘ Proc. Nat. Hist. Soc. Dub.,’ vol. iii, p, 84, pl. ii. figs. 832—43, and ‘ Quart. Journ. Mic. Soc.,’ n. s., Vol. I, p. 258, pl. xii, figs. 32—48), presenting the peculiarity of being suspended
192 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.
together into indefinitely long chains by a cylindrical mucous . investment, comparable to that of Hormospora mutabilis (Bréb.), fresh specimens of which latter he was also fortunately able to lay on the table. He had never seen this Spirotenia, nor, indeed, any of the other species of that genus presenting this condition. When he first took this very well-marked and very minute species there were never more than two cells, as is usual in the genus, held together by a mucous coating, which two cells usually be- come disassociated before the next ensuing self-division of either cell takes place. Though thus held together, the so-connected chain could not, strictly speaking, be called a filament, as the cells themselves did not remain united, but were, indeed, often separated by a perceptible interval, thus unlike such forms as Hyalotheca, Sphzrozosma, &c. With some, indeed, a question might arise as to the advisability of holding filamentous genera in Desmidieew as distinct per se from free genera. Thus, as regards Diatomacee, Heiberg has already propounded the view that distinctions founded on the external conditions, or on the mode in which the cells are held more or less definitely together, in filaments or otherwise, should not be regarded as of generic value. And, as regards Desmidia, in this point of view, Dr. Wallich finds a filamentous Docidium and a filamentous Micrasterias in Bengal; but, on the other hand, while Des- midium might, perhaps, be regarded as representing a fila- mentous Staurastrum, Spherozosma a filamentous Cosmarium, Hyalotheca also a filamentous Cosmarium or Euastrum, yet cer- tain of these seem formed to exist as filamentous types (such as Spherozosma, Aptogonum, and some Bengal forms), by reason of the connecting processes between the links forming fulcra of attachment. But, of course, in the Spirotenia now shown there were no uniting processes ; as already said, the only bond of union being the tubular mucous investment. As the cells themselves showed no distinction whatever from the form already described, there could be no doubt but that this was S. parvula, and a beauti- fully distinct and constant form. Like most, it must be examined fresh to see its characters, with the parietal band of endochrome of one or two turns.
Mr. Crowe showed Cosmarium curtum (Ralfs) = Penium curtum (Bréb.) taken from a shallow rut in the avenue before his own door at Bray. The first occasion he had taken it was on a visit. to North Wales. He had watched it for some time in its present locality, but had not found it conjugating.
Mr. Archer remarked that probably this well-marked form might turn out to be more common than we had supposed, as this situation agreed so much in character with that in which he had himself found it close to the “ Dargle” gate, and which is unlike that in which Desmidiew are usually found. Unfortu- nately for a protracted observation of this species as to its conju- gating state, it seems to have occurred only in pools which are
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 193
so shallow and so little fed with water as to be sure to become dried up with the first continuance of dry weather.
Mr. Draper showed recent specimens of Trichina from pork.
Mr. W. H. Baily exhibited a number of slides of fossil Foraminifera, collected by Mr. Joseph O'Kelly, of the Geological Survey of Ireland, at the Tajares Tile Pits, near Malaga. ‘The following species have been determined by Professor 'T. Rupert Jones:
1. Nodosaria Raphanistrum, Linneus. 2. £ longiscata, D’ Orbigny. 3. Nodosarina Raphanus, Linn. 4. Cristellaria arcuata, D’Orb. 5. 4 Ariminensis, D’Orb. 6. a calecar, Linn. 7. 5 cassis, Fichtell & Moll. 8. 45 cultrata, Montfort. 3h 3 echinata, D’Orb.
10. 33 Italica, Defrance.
iy " ornata, D’Orb.
12. rotulata, Lamarck,
” 13. Hrondicularia complanata, Defy. 14. Dentalina acicula, Lam.
15. - communis, D’ Orb. ,comprising sub-varieties D. pauperata, D, elegans, D. inornata. 16. be soluta, Reuss.
es 17. Biloculina ringens, Lamarck. Miliole ee a: Brie ahi "18. Quinguiloculina semilunum, Lam. : ' >) Known to be one and 19. Orbulina universa, D’ Orb. ) the same species. Orb.
Globigerina bulloides, D’ Orb. j Sah ala ee ones.
20. Planorbulina Hardingerii, D’ Orb.
21. Polymorphina lactea, var. problema, W. & J.
22. Polystomella crispa, Linn., var. macella, F. & M. 23. Pulvinulina Schreibersii, D’Orb.
Professor Rupert Jones remarks that “the Malaga forms of Foraminifera are almost the exact counterpart of those from the clays of the Vienna Tertiary basin, In the Mediterranean, from the shore to a depth of 100 fathoms, we have a similar group of Rhizopods, though the Wodosarie and Cristellarie do not approach the size of those of Malaga.” (‘Journal of the Geol. Soc. of London,’ vol. xv, 1859, p. 600.)
Mr. Archer showed a fresh Characium, very slender, ensi- form, both extremities very acute, which seemed to come nearest to Characium tenue (Hermann), in Rabenhorst’s ‘ Beitriige zur niheren Kenntniss und Verbreitung der Algen,’ Heft i, 1863, in a paper by Dr. Hermann, entitled ‘‘Ueber die bei Neudamm aufgefundenen Arten des genus Characium,”’ p. 29, t. vii, fig. 1¢.
194 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.
Mr. Archer showed some fine living examples of Volvow globator, and stated he had taken some of this beautiful organismin summer vigour and condition every month in 1865 since April last, and in January and March, 1866. He had not visited the pond in February, 1866, but he entertained no doubt, from getting a copious gathering in December and January, and another in March, but that he should have met it had he looked for it. He thought it seemed almost as if the history of Volvox was, so to say, inverted last year. In May, 1865, he took it in the “autumnal” state, that is, as the guondam “ Volvox aureus,” and then, also, specimens showing the remarkable polymorphous con- dition of the gonidia ; and in winter he took it as vigorous and as normal, but not so abundantly, indeed, as it usually presents itself in spring or summer. As it seems to be generally held that the active motile “summer” characteristic condition of this plant does not present itself in the winter months, Mr. Archer thought that this notice of a fact, seemingly new in itself, might, perhaps, possess some interest.
Hackney Microscopican SorRkeE.
A Microscopic Scientific and Artistic Conversazione was held at Pembroke Hall, Lamb Lane, Mare Street, Hackney, (Dr. Christie haying lent the hall for that purpose) in aid of the funds of the Hackney Working Men’s Institute.
An appeal was made by the committee of the said institute, through Mr. W. L. Freestone and Dr. Millar, to the Council of the Microscopical Society, for their assistance and co-operation, which appeal was announced by the President to the meeting held in March last, which was most cordially responded to, and a high-class entertainment was the result, which was patronised by a considerable attendance of the first families of Hackney and Clapton, and ably supported by many distinguished members of the microscopic and other scientific societies of London; and on the first evening James Glaisher, Esq., F.R.S., was present. All the principal microscope makers were represented, viz., Messrs. Ross, Smith & Beck, Baker, Crouch, Steward, Browning, Salmon, Bailey, &c. There were shown altogether about sixty micro- scopes, and many works of art and articles of vertt were exhibited, several cabinet stereoscopes, a fine selection of glass slides, and also a variety of beautiful objects, living and prepared, amongst which may be mentioned—
Dr. Millar exhibited the eggs of an insect of elaborate form.
Charles Tyler, Esq., F.L.S., many interesting specimens of sponge-spicule, &e. :
Henry Lee, Esq., F.L.S., marine zoophytes, Echinide, and a fine specimen of the Tsetse.
Dr. Christie, a slide of Trichina spiralis in human muscle, pre- pared by W. L. Freestone. ‘
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 195
James Smith, Esq., F.L.S., diseased wheat, showing the presence of Anguillula Tritict.
W. H. Hall, Esq., a jar of the Cheirocephalus, or fairy shrimp, and many fine objects.
Mr. Crouch showed a fine preparation of Polycystina, opaque, by W. L. Freestone.
H. N. White, Esq., of Dalston, procured various electrical and galvanic batteries of Mr. Wood, Cheapside, and afforded a series of experiments.
Mr. Browning showed several spectroscopes for manifesting the presence of blood in fluid.
Dr. Millar also showed the magnesian light, tables showing waves of sound, and a fine polariscope.
John Murray, Esq., added to the interest of the evening by a piping bullfinch, and some fine bronzes to decorate the hall.
S. Helm, Esq., and four other gentlemen, all members of the Old Change Microscopie Club, showed many good objects, amongst which a micro-photographic portrait of W. L. Freestone, by Henry Davis, Esq., Cornhill; also Volvox globator, skin of human thumb, and the eel-like insects in vinegar.
Mr. How, of Foster Lane, lent six frames of beautiful micro- photographic objects by Dr. Maddox.
Mr. Bridgeman, of Hackney, lent some highly creditable oil paintings, copied by himself from several of the first masters.
Some good models, by a working man, were shown.
Many excellent diagrams by Drs. Carpenter and Lionel Beale were kindly lent for the occasion.
Specimens of the Eozoon Canadense were lent by Dr. Carpenter during each evening. The Gentlemen Amateur Band of Hackney, and some professional singers, served to cause agreeable diversion.
The funds of the institute, to benefit which this entertainment was originated, is but slightly augmented, but no doubt is enter- tained that considerable attention will be drawn to the institute, and that the addition of many patrons and subscribers to its funds will be the result.
Tne BiruineHam Narvrat History ann Mtcroscorrcar Socrery.
MIDLAND INSTITUTE.
President—Mr. Hughes. Vice-Presidents—Mr. Thos. Fiddian and Mr. L. Percival.
April, 1865, to June, 1866.
At the Microscopical Meetings of this Society held during the past and present year the following papers have been read: 1865, April 11th.—Dr. T. Bartleet read an instructiye and
196 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES,
interesting paper “On the Minute Anatomy of Bone.” The paper entered fully into the uses, chemical constituents, physical properties, structure, and development and growth of bone, and was illustrated by numerous well-executed diagrams, and by microscopical preparations.
May 9th.—Mr. Parkes read a paper “On the Respiratory System of Insects, and its direct relation to their Nervous, Nutri- tive, and Muscular Functions.”” The structure of the air-channels was explained, and especial attention bestowed on the spiracles or breathing pores. The distribution of the air-tubes was elabo- rately shown. The paper was illustrated by a great number of microscopical preparations, many of them of extreme interest, by the incomparable Bourgogne.
June 13th.—Dr. Norris read a paper “On the Physiology and Minute Anatomy of Nervous Tissue.” The paper was illustrated by diagrams and microscopical preparations.
Sept. 5th._—Dr. C. J. Bracey read a very elaborate and interest- ing paper “On the Comparative Anatomy of the Organ of Hearing.” The paper was profusely illustrated by diagrams and specimens.
Oct. 10th—Mr. F. Davis read a paper “On the Earth- worm.” ‘The paper dealt chiefly with the alimentary and circu- culating systems, the reproductive system being reserved for a second paper. The paper was illustrated by diagrams.
Dec. 12th—Mr. Thomas Fiddian read a paper “ On Starch, Raphides, Chlorophylle, and Silica.” In introducing the subject Mr. Fiddian observed that his object in choosing it was not be- cause he thought he could say much that was new, but in the hope of inducing those members who are botanists, but not micro- scopists, to study microscopy, a most useful handmaid to botany, as it often happens that without her aid botany is powerless in her endeavours to make herself intelligible to the student. The paper was illustrated by a lithographed diagram, a copy of which was kindly presented to each member present. ,
1866, Jan. 16th.— Mr. H. Webb read a highly practical and interesting paper “On Blights.” It was most profusely illus- trated by diagrams, specimens, and microscopical preparations, and was followed by a most animated discussion on the potato blight,in which Messrs. Fiddian, Scott, Pumphrey, and Dr. W. Hinds, took part.
Feb, 13th.—Mr. F. Fowke read a short but able and interesting paper on the “ Microscope in connection with the Natural Sciences.” It was most profusely illustrated with diagrams and microscopical objects and preparations.
March 13th.—Dr. James Hinds read an able paper, illustrated by diagrams and many beautiful injected microscopic sections, “On the Comparative Anatomy of the Kidney.” Some discus- sion followed.
May 8th.—Mr. F. Davis read a paper “ On the Common Earth- worm.’ It was the second of a series on the same subject, was
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 197
devoted to the description of the reproductive organs of the animal, and was illustrated by several finely-executed diagrams.
June 5th.—Mr. Thomas Fiddian read a paper “ On the Appli- eation of Micro-photography to the illustration of Papers on Microscopy.” He exhibited, on large discs, by means of the oxyhydrogen lantern, the following series of beautiful micro- photographs, from negatives, by Dr. Maddox :—Human blood, blood of newt, tracheal system of the silk-worn, spiracle of cock- chafer, eye of beetle, foot of the fly, foot of the spider, tongue of the cricket, gizzard of the cricket, tongue of the bee, tongue of the wasp, tongue of the common blow-fly, proboscis of the but- terfly, and many other objects of singular interest and beauty. At the close of the paper the thanks of the meeting were unanimously given to Mr. Fiddian for his most interesting paper.
On the motion of Dr. Norris, seconded by Mr. Alcock, the thanks of the Society were unanimously given to Mr. How, of London, for his kindness in sending such a variety of beautiful micro-photographs for exhibition to the Society.
During the past and present year the following papers have also been read:
1865.
April 4th—Rev. E. Myers, “ On Trilobites.” :
» 18th.—Mr. Adcock, “ On the Metropolis of the Moorlands.”
,, 25th.—Mr. Bird, ** On the Caster Oil Plant.”
May 2nd.—Rev. E. Myers, “On the Strata examined by the Members in the Excursion, April 17th, 1865.”
», 28rd.—Mr. L. Percival, “On the Coal-fields of South Stafford-
shire,” 2nd paper.
,, 80th.—Dr. Foster, “ On the Study of Anthropology.”
June 6th.—Mr. Thos. Fiddian, ‘“‘ On the Dodo.” » 18¢h.—Dr. Norris, ‘On Nervous Tissue.’ ,, 20th.— Mr. E. Simpson, “ On a Prolific Pond on Wandsworth Common.” » 27th.—Mr. C. Allen and Mr. G. Percival, “On the Mollusca in the neighbourhood of Birmingham.” July 4th.—Mr. Adcock, “ On the Freshwater Aquarium.” ,, 11th.— Mr. H. Webb, “ On Desmidiz and Confervoid Alga.” ., 25th—Dr. James Hinds, “On the Anatomy of Bivalve Molluscs.” Aug. 1st.—Mr. G. Price, “ On Noxious Insects.” — ,, L5th.— Rev. E. Myers, ‘‘ On the Moon.” », 22nd.—Mr. W. H. Prosser, “ On Suggestions for the better Preservation of Birds’ Eggs.” » 29th.—Dr. Foster, “On the Varieties of Mankind, dealing principally with the Anatomical Classification.” Oct. 3rd.— Mr. Gansby, “ What is an Insect ?”
» L7th.—Mr. D. Smith, ‘‘ On Terrestrial Radiation.”
» 24th —Mr. Thos. Fiddian, “ On a Six Weeks’ Tour in Anda
lusia in July and August last.”
», 8lst.—Mr, Simpson, “On Special Organs of Insects.””
198 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.
Nov. 14¢h.—Mr. Buckley, “ On the Avocet.” » 21st—Mr. Jephcott, “ Notes on a Ramble in West Somerset- shire during August last.” », 28th.—Mr. H. 8. Scallick, “On the Capture, Setting-up, and Preservation of Insects.” Dec. 5th.—Mr. W. Prosser, “ On the Egg of the Dinornis ingens, lately offered for sale in London.” ,, 19th.—Mr. Hughes, “ On Pipe Fishes.” 1866. Jan. 23rd.—Mr. Scott,“ On Birds’ Nests, and their Construction.” ,, 30¢th.—Mr. Bird, “ On the Application of Animal Substances - to Industrial Life.” Feb. 6th.—Mr. H. 8. Scallick, “On the Various Habits of Lepi- dopterous Insects,” 1st series. ,, 20th.—Mr. 8S. Allport, “ On Encrinites.”’ , 27th.—Mr. F. Enoch, “ Upon the Breeding of Insects.” March 6th—Mr. Thos. Fiddian, “On the Solitaire of Frangois Leguet.”’ y 27th.—Mr. E. Simpson, “ On British Birds.” April 10th—Mr. J. Morley and Mr. J. Pumphrey, “On a Tour in North Wales in Search of Zrichomanes radicans.” ,, 238rd.—Mr. Cotton, “ On Moss Agates.” May 22nd.—Mr. H. Scallick, “ On the Various Habits of Lepi- dopterous Insects,” 2nd series.
OBITUARY.
DR. ROBERT KAYE GREVILLE, F.R.S.E.
WE depart from our ordinary rule of not noticing the death of distinguished men, as those who contribute to our pages usually find a place in the annual address of the President of the Micro- scopical Society. In Dr. R. K. Greville, however, the world has not only lost a distinguished botanist, and a good and a great man, but we have lost a contributor whose place we cannot hope to supply, and whose contributions have been more numerous and more constant, and, we believe we may add without offend-’ ing any one, more valuable, than any other papers in our pages. These papers have been entirely devoted to the Diatomacesx, and present a series of minute and careful observations in these minute organisms such as has scarcely been presented during the same time in any other department of natural history. The illustrations of Dr. Greyille’s observations were all made under his own superintendence, from the beautiful and accurate draw- ings of his own pencil.
He was born at Bishop Auckland, in Durham, on the 13th of December, 1794. He was much interested in plants at an early age; before he was nineteen he had prepared carefully coloured drawings of upwards of 250 of the native plants. He was in- tended for the medical profession, and studied in Edinburgh and London ; but circumstances having rendered him independent of this profession as a means of livelihood, he did not submit to an examination, and determined to devote himself to the study of botany. In 1824 the University of Glasgow conferred on him the degree of LL.D. He delivered several courses of popular lec- tures on zoology and botany, and formed large collections of plants and insects, which were eventually purchased by the University of Edinburgh. A change having taken place in his circumstances, he took up landscape-painting as a profession, and several of his pictures are to be seen in well-known collections. Dr. Greville took a very warm interest in many social reforms and in various schemes of Christian philanthropy ; and, as in natural history, whatever subject he undertook he devoted to it all his energies and talents. He took a prominent part in the agita- tion against slavery in the Colonies ; he was one of the four Vice-
200 OBITUARY.
Presidents of the great Anti-Slavery Association of all countries held in London in 1840. His published works are very nume- rous: amongst the most valued are the ‘Flora Edinensis,’ ‘Scottish Cryptogamic Flora,’ ‘Alge Britannice,’ and, in con- junction with Sir W. J. Hooker, ‘Icones Filicum,’ besides numerous papers in various scientific journals. He was Honorary Secretary of the Botanical Society and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh ; an Honorary Member of the Royal Irish Academy, of the Imperial Academy Nature Curiosorum, and of the Natural History Society of Leipzig; Corresponding Member of the Natural History Societies of Paris, Cherbourg, Brussels, Philadelphia, &e.
He died at his house in Edinburgh on the 4th of June. Seldom has a naturalist retained such peculiar powers of observation to so great an age. We heard from him only a few weeks ago, promising further contributions to his latterly favorite group of organisms, the Diatomacee. Our present number contains a paper read at a recent meeting of the Microscopical Society of London, and another has since been received, which will be published in our next number.
ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS.
Nete on an Unpiscrisep Species of Acarus, found in the Picron, Columba livia. By Cuartres Rosertson, Demonstrator of Anatomy, Oxford.
(Communicated to the Oxford Microscopical Society, Feb. 15, 1866.)
Tue parasites which I shall briefly describe are small, oval, white, maggot-like animals, distinctly visible to the naked eye, and are found chiefly amongst the connective-tissue of the skin, the large veins near the heart, and on the surface of the pericardium. When few are found they generally adhere closely to the surface of the pericardium, and to the large veins near the heart. If the veins have been previously injected with size and vermilion, the white transparent acari are seen very distinctly on their red delicate walls. All the examples which I have examined were very transparent without any trace of well-defined digestive or generative organs, even when examined with the highest powers. The body does not generally present any trace of constric- tions, but in a few examples I have observed one or two faint lines, giving the body a segmented appearance, but this may be caused by a mere folding of the soft cuticle. On the ante- rior and inferior surface of the body a ridge extends inwards and downwards from the base of the anterior pair of legs, and unites with a median single backward ridge. A similar ridge runs in the same direction from the base of the second pair of legs; but instead of meeting, as in the first pair in the median line, are united by a transverse ridge, and a similar ridge is continued backwards from the points where this line joins those from the limbs. This arrangement reminds one of the head of the larva of a hexapod insect. No trace of palpi, mandibles, or suckers could be found. Four pairs of short, jointed legs were found in all the specimens examined ; the two anterior pairs are placed close together, on the ante- rior and outer extremity of the body ; the two posterior pairs have a considerable interval between them and the anterior
VOL, VII.—NEW SER. P
202 ROBERTSON, ON A SPECIES OF ACARUS.
pairs, and are attached to a hard sternum-like mass, situated about the middle of the body, in the median line. Each leg consists of five short joints, the terminal of which is straight, pointed, and slightly hooked. A few hairs project from the sides of the body and the outer surface of the legs. The last
Fig. 2. Fig. 1.
ow! ¢
°,
° °
° O.% 9
pore i) ; ake} SQor0% fos oO re O°
Ons
Fig. 1.—Portion of jugular vein of a pigeon, Columba livia, with a large num- ber of Acari attached to its walls. Natural size. 2.—Ventral surface of Acarus. About 100 diameters. 3.—Ventral surface of the head of the same. About 400 diameters. 4,—The two posterior pairs of legs, and the sternum-like mass into which they are inserted. About 400 diameters.
joints of the legs have a considerable number of longer hairs, which come out all round the insertion of the hooked extremity.
From the above description it will be seen that this acarus agrees with sarcoptes in having a considerable interval between the second and third pairs of legs, and the absence of a furrow between them.
I have seen during last vear, in the dissecting-room of the Museum, three pigeons affected with the’securious parasites, one in February and two in June.* It is rather remarkable that all the examples which I have examined should have eight legs, and the other parts presenting appearances com- mon to all. I hope shortly to meet with them in an earlier stage of development.
* T have since examined a considerable number of both the wood and the tame pigeon, and have seldom found them free from Acari.
ARCHER ON CYLINDROCYSTIS, ETC. 203
Montagu* has described a species of acarus very similar to this, which he says is constantly found, together with the ova, in the cellular membrane of the Gannet Pelicanus Bassanus. It is named by Montagu Cellularia Bassani.
OssERVATIONS on the GRNERA CyLinpRocystis (Meneghini), Mesoranium (Nag.), ard Spirorania (Bréb.) (= Pat- MOGL@A, Kiutz., pro maxima parte), mainly induced by a paper by Dr. J. Braxton Hicks, F.RS., F.0.S., on the Lower Forms of Alge.t+ By Wiitiam Arcuer.t
In a paper which I had the honour to read before this Society, in the session preceding last, on the genus Palmoglea (Kiitz.),§ I took the opportunity to bring before your notice the Irish forms. of that genus, or rather those forms by which Kiitzing would have been referred to it, but which, as I then stated, and as I still apprehend, belong more naturally to several individually distinct but closely related genera. I gave at the same time what may be called, in some measure, an analysis of the genus Palmogloea (Kiitz.), with regard to at least the majority of the forms therein included by that algologist.
Dr. Hicks does that communication the honour of a special paper, in which he expatiates at some length on the validity of the characters which may seem available for the classifica- tion of the “ unicellular” Algze, and in doing so he touches upon some of the points alluded to by me.|| This able observer has had large experience amongst those humble forms; and I have always perused his communications with all the attention to which they are so eminently entitled, and with all the interest they are always so well calculated to excite, as well as with all the gratification their richness in noyel information is sure to impart.
The paper in which Dr. Hicks does my previous one the honour of a notice abounds with observations full of im-
aa aig of the Wernerian Natural History Society,’ vol. i, 1808, . + Remarks on Mr. Archer’s Paper on Alge, in ‘Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science,’ N. 8., Vol. XII, p. 253.
~ Read before the Natural History Society of Dublin, May 5, 1865.
§ * Proceedings of the Natural History Society of Dublin,’ vol. v, p. 12; also ‘Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Scieuce,’ N.8., Vol. IV, p. 109
1864). I sistant Journal of Microscopical Science, N. S., Vol. XIT, p. 253
204: ARCHER, ON CYLINDROCYSTIS,
portance, and in it he propounds many pertinent queries. As he, however, differs with me in some of the opinions put forward in my paper, which, indeed, I do not yet see reason to change, and as I am, on the other hand, quite disposed to agree In a great measure with him on certain other points put forward by him, though not referred to by me in my previous paper, I may, perhaps, be allowed again to offer a” few observations on the subject.
Bat I must in limine contend, inasmuch as my paper was not on Palmellaceze in general, but on the genus Palmogloea (Kiitz.) in particular, that much of the reasoning and many of the questions propounded by Dr. Hicks do not therefore apply to, nor do they, I think, at all controvert, my therein- expressed views. And it is for this reason that I say I venture in some points to disagree from, and in others to agree with, Dr. Hicks ; forif we conceive Palmoglcea (Kitz.), or, more properly speaking, the three genera Cylindrocystis (Meneghini), Mesotzenium (Nag.), and Spirotenia (Bréb.), which, indeed, were the actual subjects of my paper, to be eliminated from the question, | thnk I must in a measure acquiesce in his views, though without at all consenting as yet to accept them in the aggregate.
Dr. Hicks puts forward the title of my paper—“< An Endeavour to identify Palmoglea macrococca (Kiitz.)”—as, in itself, some argument for the want of stability in the Palmoglcean species. Considering this uncertainty as regards these forms as unquestionable, he would from them, as a starting-point, argue as regards Palmellaceze generally. It is true that he attacks the independence of many of that family elsewhere on far better grounds; and it seems to me that arguments against the independence of the species of Cylindrocystis, Mesotzenium, and Spirotenia, would at least be more forcible if made through the Palmellacez than are arguments made against the Palmellaceze in general based upon the forms included im the three genera mentioned. For, irrespective of the question of the Palmellacez in general, I believe, at least as far as present knowledge goes, that these three genera seem to hold themselves quite dis- tinct, and their species to reproduce themselves by what I must regard as a true generative act. And that I entitled my paper “ An Endeavour to identify Palmoglea macrococca (Kiitz.)” seems to me not to conflict with this view, nor at all to indicate that I thought it did. If Ktitzing’s descrip- tions of these forms are so scanty, and his figures so defec- tive (1 say it with all deference, and with much reverence for so indefatigable and experienced an observer)—if the diagnoses
MESOTANIUM, AND SPLROTANIA. 205
for the species given by him are but superficial, and the in- trinsic and peculiar characteristics of the forms neglected— what else could it be but an endeavour to identify recent living examples with his? Is not, indeed, like difficulty often experienced in identifying species from descriptions, and especially if accompanied by insufficient figures, in other ‘departments of nature, where many and more readily avail- able characters and more tangible holdpoimts present them- selves, but which difficulty would probably be removed by the inspection of fresh authentic specimens? The difficulty of identifying these particular forms ranking themsclves under the three genera in question with those from which Kiitzing wrote his descriptions does not, I apprehend, in itself speak against their individuality and distinctness; and the species themselves included in these genera are indeed, after all, but few. It is true that Kiitzing himself, even in regard to alee far higher, and as to some of which an claborate reproductive organization is now known, considered them not a species (I mean in the commonly understood old sense, and as Kiitzing himself would doubtless apply the word to the higher plants), but as merely forms. Yet, even in “ Palmoglea” Kiitzing recoguises the differences from his specimens, though I think he fails to seize upon those of importance, or successfully to portray them either with his pen or pencil.
Again, Dr. Hicks seems to say, because the plant (distinct in itself, at least) which I would refer to Palmoglea macro- cocca (Kiitz.) truly belongs to Mesotwnium (Nag.), one of several genera into which the genus Palmogleea (Kiitz.) should be divided, that such a circumstance in itself would seem to argue for the complete uncertainty of any of the forms in- cluded by Kiitzing in his genus. If we have now a more accurate knowledge of the individual forms of Kiitzing’s genus and their intrinsic characteristics, than that distin- guished algologist appears to have had when he wrote, per- haps from his not having always examined living specimens, it is surely not very wonderful that it should be necessary, or at least that it should be advisable, to redistribute certain minor groups of them, agreeing in certain common charac- ters, into other genera. In order to illustrate this, indeed, 1 need but refer to the old multifarious genera, Conferva and Lichen. Because the incongruous species formerly included in these old and, as we now know, unnaturally comprehensive genera have had to be parcelled out here and there according to the special characteristics and affinities of each, notwith- standing blanks in our knowledge as regards even many of the smaller groups, it has not happened that this task has
206 ARCHER, ON CYLINDROCYSTIS,
been in many respects, or on the whole, quite a hopeless one. Nor do I think, so far as I can see, that the breaking up of the species of the genus Palmogloea which fall under’ Cylin- drocystis, Mesotzenium, and Spirotzenia, has been quite un- successful ; nor can I see how the advisability of the step can in itself be adduced as an argument as to the uncertainty of those forms, but should rather regard it as a natural conse- quence of their characters being happily better established ; the others formerly included in Palmoglcea have to be carried else- where—one, I think, at least, to Chroceoccacez ; and their true nature, I quite admit, does not seem at all so well established.
Further, Dr. Hicks goes on to remark—‘‘If by one ob- server the envelope of mucoid matter be taken as a specific or even generic sign—if the mode of segmentation be taken by another as of specific or generic value—if the size of the cell, or the position of the nucleus, or the mode of diffusion of the endochrome within the cell, be sufficient in the eyes of another to separate genera—if, as Mr. Archer contends, the oval shape is another important distinction—it seems to me no wonder that the difficulty acknowledged by all has arisen.” These remarks are intended to be applied to the genus Palmogloea; and I quite acquiesce with their author, that no wonder the difficulty adverted to should have arisen, when each single observer pays attention to one only of such characteristics, disregarding all the rest. The genera Cylin- drocystis, Mesotzenium, and Spirotznia (which are those in question), each, it is true, possesses an envelope of mucoid matter, but it indeed exists also in many Palmellacez, as well as Chroococcacez, likewise in Desmidiacee, &c. The trans- verse mode of segmentation—that is, through the shorter diameter—occurring in these genera, takes place also in Des- midiaceze, in the elongate forms of Palmellacez, as well as of Chroococcacee. The oval shape, too, is shared by the forms in question with several other forms in both those families. The size of the cell likewise varies in these plants, within certain limits, in the same species. The nucleus is very hard to be made out—indeed, I doubt if it is always to be perceived or existent even in Palmellacez. Nevertheless, I hold that the forms in question are abundantly distinct ; and that, when the eye becomes familiarised with them, they can beat once recognised. It is, of course, here as elsewhere, on the special characters possessed in common by certain groups of the species, combined with certain of the foregoing general characters, and not upon any one or more of the general chaaacters, as suggested by Dr. Hicks, that we must rely as of generic value, and on the ultimate individual proper
MESOTHNIUM, AND SPIROTANIA. 207
characteristics of the forms themselves as of specific import- ance. The special characters, which, as I think, here deter- mine the genera, exist in the peculiar arrangement of the contents, combined with certain of the general characters previously alluded to; whilst I believe the specific characters reside in the peculiar form of the cell, and in minor differ- ences in the arrangement of the contents, and in difference of colour, &c., perceptible to the unassisted eye in the general mass or stratum.
Again, Dr. Hicks seems to convey, because of the difficulty (for the reasons before stated) of assigning some of these forms to the particular ones described under Palmogleea by Kiitzing, and from there having been actually (as I conceive) included under that common gencric denomination five diverse types, that therefore “ no one algologist can tell dis- tinctly what is a Palmogloea, so as to be understood by any other algologist.”” I venture deferentially to deprecate this, as it appears to me much too hasty a conclusion. T[ must, in reply, urge that if many of the now well-established species formerly comprehended under the old incongruous genus Conferva were still referred to under the original designa- tions, and recent researches upon the forms alluded to mo- mentarily forgotten or ignored, that it is still more probable no one algologist could, under such circumstances, tell what was meant by another algologist. But if our plants be closely examined from their living examples, and de Bary’s descriptions and figures thereof carefully studied by any two algologists, I hardly think there will be any difficulty between them in understanding what the other means when; he refers to a Cylindrosystis, a Mesotzenium, or a Spiroteenia.
Dr. Hicks does not see how I can find sufficient ground to state that the condition of a developing lichen figured by him is not a “ macrococca ””?—that is, as 1 am disposed to think more correctly designated, an ex ample of Mesotenium chlamy- dosporum (de Bary). I judge from the figure ; and I think, as I stated, because it seems to me, so far as I may venture to judge, to represent something at once sufficiently unlike both the form with which I am acquainted, as well as Kiitzing’s description and figures of his P. macrococca, as to justify me in that assumption.
Again, as if it were to a certain extent evidence of the total instability of these forms, Dr. Hicks alludes to my being by no means certain what he means by Palmoglea Brébissonii, because I questioned whether the plant he has in view as Palmog glwa macrococca is the same as Palmella cylindrospora (Bréb.), considered by Mr. Ralfs as equivalent
208 ARCHER, ON CYLINDROCYSTIS,
to his Penium Brebissonii, and of which Dr. Hicks writes :— “So far as can be ascertained, Mr. Thwaites calls Cocco- chloris Brebissonii, although Mr. Archer thinks he means Trichodictyon rupestre (Kiitz.) ; the exact characters of this form, it will thus be seen, are by no means settled by any one of these observers.””’ Dr. Hicks writes, indeed, “ this form ;” but the supposed confusion is partly accounted for by the fact, that there are two distinct forms referred to under the foregoing names, and two forms which, as I hold, when once seen cannot readily again be confounded; for, even though the characters assigned to each should not be found presenting themselyes in every specimen with absolutely un- mistakeable clearness, that is, if unhealthy or deteriorated specimens should again come under consideration—yet I believe a certain tout ensemble will, even under such circum- stances, readily satisfy the eye familiarized with their appearance in their ordinary and healthy condition of their distinctness inter se. The plants adverted to under the names quoted by Dr. Hicks, but adopting here the names which I regard as the correct ones, are Cylindrocystis Bre- bissonii, Meneghini, and Cylindrocystis crassa, de Bary. Dr. Hicks, indeed, says, as I have quoted, that ‘‘the exact cha- racters are by no means settled by any one of these observers.” I may venture to refer to my own previous efforts to describe their generic characters, and I can only appeal therefrom directly to the fresh specimens themselves.
Dr. Hicks writes that—“ The question, first of all, arises, how is a single cell to be distinguished from another single cell? What reliable characters are to be fixed upon which can be considered as of generic value?” If he propounds these questions as regards the old genus Palmogleea, or rather as regards the three genera already quoted, I should have ventured to think that my previous paper was an answer in anticipation. Though in a diffuse way indeed, I think the descriptions there given may be found to contain the characters enabling an observer to decide to which, ¢#f to any, of the three genera, Cylindrocystis, Mesotzenium, and Spirotznia, a single cell belongs. Dr. Hicks asks—‘‘ How can we tell whether it be a fixed form, a separate entity, or merely a transitional form of some other growth?” Again I venture to reply, if this question be put as regards the forms imme- diately under consideration, that I should be disposed to say (so far, I think, as our present knowledge goes), that a suffi- cient answer is, that they each reproduce their like by a conjugative act, thus renewing the species. For, inasmuch as conjugation must be looked upon as a true generative act,
MESOTZNIUM, AND SPIROTANIA. 209
as I regard it, we must suppose that this takes place when the plant has reached the end of its existence, and has arrived at the ultimate stage in its history—that is when it is at maturity—each of the conjugating pair of cells surrendering individual existence in giving origin, by the union of their contents, to the spore from which is to be evolved the primordial individuals of the next generation.
And this leads to an important point in the argument, bearing on the difference of opinion between Dr. Hicks and myself on the matter immediately in question—I mean, the value or import to be attributed to the conjugative act, as to which point I feel bound altogether to agree with Professor de Bary.*
Dr. Hicks considers it “merely an act of fusion ”— that is certaily a brief but true definition of the simple act in itself; but it is not the modus operandi of the mere act that is in dispute, but the physiological significance or import of that act. From his saying that is “merely an act of fusion, not of impregnation,”+ I infer that he conceives that it has no special significancy. But can a phenomenon which has been going on for years and years uncountable, since Conjugate were—restricted, with a few exceptions, as it is, to the group so denominated, and the Diatomaceze—be simply accidental, and quite devoid of all significancy? I cannot believe it reasonable to suppose that it should be so.
I believe that the phenomenon of conjugation can be re- garded as nothing less than an indication of a distinction between germ-cell and sperm-cell, the humblest manifestation (it may be) of a difference of sex, which becomes by degrees more and more forcibly pronounced in the higher organisms, yet in none more firmly established, nor more conclusively settled, and that by direct observation, than in some of the lower Algze, which, by reason of their simple structure, range themselves (along with the Conjugatz) in the group of Con- fervoidee. It may be urged, indeed, that the conjugating cells show no so great differentiation either in organization, dimensions, or appearance, as do the spermatozoids of those Algze in which they have been discovered, from the germ- cells which it is their function to fertilize. This to a large extent is granted; but, nevertheless, a certain amount of specialization of certain conjugating cells in some forms does occur, pointing to something more than a mere fusion, with- out any significance. Indeed, the conditions which accompany
She
* Untersuchungen tiber die Familie der Conjugaten.’ + ‘Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science,’ N. S., Vol. I, p. 18.
210 ARCHER, ON CYLINDROCYSTIS,
conjugation in the different forms present a series, in their way, almost as varied as do the germ-cells and spermatozoids of other Algze—not so pronounced, it is true, but still point- ing, I think, to an analogy.
It will be proper, in pursuance of the argument, to advert to some of the varied examples ; but, in the first place, it will be advisable briefly to draw attention to certain cases where a true fertilisation has been proved in other families, and then to compare that act and its results with some of the Conju- gate.
In Vaucheria there exists a large globose germ-cell, and exceedingly minute, very numerous elongate spermatozoids, both elements of the fructification originating in neighbour- ing specially formed branches of the tubular filament, these not distinguishable at their first commencement from one another, or, indeed, from ordinary branches, though afterwards so highly differentiated. Here the difference m form and size between the germ- and sperm-cell is very great, and the resultant spore developes directly into a new plant. The difference of opinion between observers (Karsten,* Prings- heim,+ Dippel{) as to the modus operandi of the fertilisation in this genus does not seem to bear on the immediate ques- tion; for, whether the “ hornlets” (antheridia) actually inos- culate with the openings of the oogonia or not, the essential circumstance seems to be the union of the contents of the two organs. I certainly never have encountered any Vau- cheria in which any such inosculation of the two organs seemed to exist, and Pringsheim’s account appears to be the most trustworthy.
Again, in Spheroplea the cell-contents of the very long ordinary joint of a particular filament become broken up into a number of rounded germ-cells ; and the contents of another ordinary joint become broken up into an innumerable number of little biciliated subfusiform spermatozoids, which latter find their way out of their parent-cell, and into the cavity of the joimt which contains the germ-cells, through lateral open- ings in each. ‘The fertilised oospore eventually developes two coats, the outer beset with spme-like extensions. Here the difference in size and appearance between the germ- and sperm-cells is less than in Vaucheria, whilst the resemblance of the parent-cells in which they originate is still greater,
* Karsten, in ‘ Botanische Zeitung,’ x, p. 85 (1852).
+ Pringsheim, in ‘ Berichte der Berl. Akademie.’
{ Dippel, “Ueber der Fortpflanzung der Vaucheria sessilis,” in ‘ Flora,’ 1856, pp. 481, 497. q
MESOTANIUM, AND SPIROTHNIA. 211
being, im fact, but two ordinary, in no way previously special- ised, joints of the filament.*
In CGidogonium, varied as are the conditions between mo- neecious, gynandrosporous, and dicecious, under which the essential elements concerned in the reproduction present themselves, there seems to be still less difference, on the whole, in form and size of the spermatozoid and the oogonium themselves, than in the other cases adverted to.
In dogonium curvum but one spermatozoid is formed in each antheridium-cell, and, like the oospore, it is globular ; and although there is a considerable difference in size between the two, in this respect they much more nearly approach than in the previously cited cases; that is, though, of course, equally physiologically distinct, they are more nearly morphologically equivalent. In Gdogonium Cleve has shown that the oospore in germination produces, by segmentation of its contents, four daughter-cells, which become ciliated, and swim away as zoospores to reproduce the species;+ while for Bulbochete, whose fructification is gynandrosporous, Pringsheim had pre- viously shown that here also four daughter-cells are developed from the oospores, which become zoospores, and reproduce the plant.
These, then, are unquestioned and unquestionable instances of a true generative act. It would be useless, as regards the subject under consideration, to travel out of Confervoidze for further illustrative cases where a true reproduction is effected by spermatozoids and oospores, because we should be unne- cessarily receding in the system from Conjugate.
Now, in the cases which I have just so briefly alluded to, more or less varied as may be the accompanying conditions, simple or complex, or more or less specialised as may be the accessory organization, the one pervading essential circum- stance in the phenomenon beyond doubt seems to be the ma- terial union, the flowing into one, the simple fusion, of at least two primordial cells.
Now, what /ess than this is the act of conjugation in our Cylindrocystis and Mesoteenium ?
It may be, perhaps, answered that neither of the two con- jugating cells is ciliated, and that they are apparently mor-
* Cohn, ‘ Berichte der Berl. Akad.,’? 1855; also ‘Ann. des Sciences Na- turelles,’ 4 ser., vi. p. 187 ; and ‘Ann. Nat. Hist.,’ 2 ser., vii. p. 81.
+ Cleve, “Iakttagelser 6fver den hvilande Gidogoniums-sporens utveck- ling,” in ‘Ofversigt af Kongl. Vetenskabs Akademiens Forhandlingar,’ Stockholm, 1863, p. 247.
+ Pringsheim, ‘ Beitrige zur Morphologie und Systematik der Algen,”’ in ‘ Jahrbicher fiir wissenschaftliche Botanik,’ Band i, p. 55.
212 ARCHER, ON CYLINDROCYSTIS,
phologically equivalent —that two cells only co-operate, whilst many spermatozoids may take a share in the fertilisation of a single oospore. I can only say that these objections refer to conditions which seem to be in a measure accidental, and unessential in a physiological point of view. The mechanism of conjugation, if I may so express myself, does not require the special organization on the part of the primordial cells engaged in the act, which are found in Vaucheria, Sphzro- plea, some Cidogonia, &c. In these greater or less numbers of ciliated spermatozoids are produced—ciliated, probably, because they have a distance to travel—often in multitudes, to insure that some may ultimately find their way to the oospore ; whereas in the Conjugatze two cells about to con- jugate lie side by side, and are mostly joined by an inter- vening canal, formed by the walls of the parent cells, through which the protoplasmic contents are guided, and pass over by means of their own innate contractility, when acted upon by the marvellous impulse to coalesce the one with the other. Again, as to but two primordial cells co operating in the act of conjugation, whilst many (the spermatozoids) may unite with one (the oospore) in the other cases cited, the mechanism of conjugation, if no other reason, places a bar to this. I have, indeed, in such free forms of Conjugate as Closterium and Staurastrum, seen three individuals conjugated, forming a single zygospore—nay, it sometimes happens in Zygnema that the lateral processes of two joints mosculate with a single joit of a neighbouring filament, three cells thus co- operating in the conjugation. These, however, are quite ex- ceptional, perhaps even abnormal, cases. But this argument, even if adduced, I should regard as quite groundless, as it is, I presume, quite physiologically possible that one spermato- zoid might fertilise one germ-cell. Nay, even supposing that it always required the united co-operation of several sperma- tozoids to fertilise one germ-cell of so much greater volume than one of themselves, might it not be supposed that, by reason of the more nearly or altogether equivalent volume of the two conjugating cells, the force or potency would be sufficient without the co-operation of a greater number, not to speak of the mechanical impossibility in most cases, or of the unnatural dimensions which a zygospore must assume, if formed by the union of a number of so comparatively large ordinary cells?
But, even though it be reiteration of already known facts, in pursuance of our argument, it will be well momentarily to carry on our examination of the phenomenon of conjugation from Cylindrocystis and Mesotenium into other genera of
MESOTENIUM, AND SPIROTENIA. 213
the family, and briefly to trace some of the modifications displayed, and to consider how far they bear upon the ques- tion. In these we find a certain greater or less amount of complexity in the conditions contemporaneous with, and subsequent to, the act, which are so constant in their recur- rence as, I think, strongly to evidence, when we consider it,
that the phenomenon is by no means casual or insignificant.
In the first place, in our genus Mesotzenium the process of conjugation takes place by a protrusion and simple fusion of the primordial utricles and contents of each pair of cells, the parent-cell-wall slipping off in the act, and becoming discarded, and finally dissolved. The conjugating cells lie in a great variety of positions, and the different zygospores are, of course, at first of very varying outlines ; but eventually they assume externally a subquadrate or elliptic figure, and a proper cell-wall. Again, in Cylindrocystis mutual lateral processes of the two conjugating cells are put forth, which inosculate, permitting the fusion of the cell-contents of each. The isthmus between the two gradually grows wider, until the zygospore, from a form somewhat like an H or an X, by-and-by assumes a subquadrate outline; eventually, the walls of the parent-cells giving way at their suture, and becoming by degrees thrown off, the zygospores *having acquired a proper cell-wall. In neither genus does the zygospore bear spines. In the germination of the zygospore, in both genera, there are developed four daughter-cells, each of which becomes the primordial individual of a new cycle, thus reproducing the species.
Now, these cases—those of the plants in question, which I have thus so briefly alluded to—seem to present the simplest conditions in which the phenomenon of conjugation occurs. Here the contents of two cells, seemingly morphologically equivalent, and apparently of similar value, become fused ‘ into one, outside either parent cell; and it is at least note- worthy that the first result of the fusion of the two distinct primordial cells, as, indeed, in all cases of conjugation, is the formation of a new cellulose wall round each zygospore pro- duced by the act; and this is precisely what takes place when the oospore in Vaucheria, Gidogonium, Spheroplea, &c., becomes fertilised by the spermatozoids. Likewise, the circumstance of the zygospore of Cylindrocystis and Meso- tenium producing in germination four daughter-cells has its analogy in the same behaviour in the germination of the oospore of (dogonium and Bulbochxte—which fact thus, so far as it goes, seems to point to the conclusion that in each they are the result of a similar act. The daughter-cells, or
214 ARCHER, ON CYLINDROCYSTIS,
primary cells of the following generation, however, in each differ in what I should but regard as a secondary and un- essential circumstance, in that in Gidogonium and Bulbo- chete they are for a time motile, whilst in the parallel degree of development of the spore of Cylindrocystis and Mesotzenium they are, as always, still.
Examples of conditions nearly as simple are presented by many Desmidiacee, but also conditions more complex are met with in various species, to enter into detail here as to which would, however, be superfluous. Many of the zygo- spores become, as is well known, furnished with variously fashioned spine and processes, which circumstance seems to me probably to find a parallel in the less developed ones of (Edogonium echinospermum. As is well known, very varied conditions are to be met with appertaining to, and charac- teristic of, various species. Thus, the spinous or non-spinous zygospores—the simple or variously branched spimes—the orbicular, or quadrate, or characteristically lobed figure of the zygospore—the relative positions of the conjugating pairs of individuals—the, so to say, double spore of -Closterium lineatum—the conjugation following immediately on self- division in Closterium Ehrenbergiu, C. Pritchardianum—the complete and persistent fusion of the parent-membrane in Hyalotheca dissilens, Closterium parvulum—the remote outer coat of the spore of Tetmemorus levis, &c., besides minor specialities of detail proper to the various forms—all these. can hardly be considered as the accompaniments of an acci- dental phenomenon, in itself meaning nothing, and destitute of significancy.
But, in pursuing onward our examination of the conjuga- tive process and its results, the behaviour in Didymoprium Grevillii, in which species, of two conjugating filaments, the cells of one are always the receiving, those of the other the giving, cells in the conjugative act, leads us to Spirogyra, in which these conditions are constant. In this latter genus the receiving cell frequently assumes an enlarged and different figure, often preparatory to, and in anticipation of, the acces- sion of the contents of the giving cell, thus, I think, exhibit- ing a certain significant amount of differentiation.
In Spirogyra and Zygnema, as is well known, the act of germination consists in the inner coat of the zygospore ex- panding and bursting off the outer, and, while extending in length, becoming transversely divided by a septum, the lower cell remaining always undivided as a “ root-cell,” the upper becoming the first ordinary joint of the new plant, thus dif- fering from Cylindrocystis and Mesotenium. But in this
MESOTANIUM, AND SPIROTANIA. 215
characteristic we have to some extent an analogy in Vaucheria, whose fertilised oospore does not develop daughter-cells, each to give origin to so many new individuals, but grows at once into a single new plant, unicellular, of course, like its parent.
But, notwithstanding all these so varied, more or less com- plex conditions, it may, perhaps, be still urged that, after all, such conjugation is but the union of the contents of two morphologically equivalent cells.
To this objection the conditions in the genus Sirogonium seem to afford a valid answer.
Two ordinary joints of a filament in Sirogonium mutually send out short processes, as in Spirogyra, which become united ; thereupon there ensues the formation of a septum (similarly to that of the vegetative cell) in each of these united cells. In one this septum, however, unlike the septum of a simply vegetating cell, divides the mother-cell into two very unequal daughter-cells, the larger of which becomes ex- ternally expanded. This larger expanded daughter-cell is that one which bears the extension joining it to the other opposite conjugating cell, and is constantly the receiving cell—that is, the one ultimately to contain the zygospore. Its sister-cell —the smaller one—remains sterile, being shut off from par- cipating in the conjugation. The other opposite conjigating cell also becomes divided by a septum into two daughter-cells, a short and a long one; but in this instance it is the shorter daughter-cell to which the extension joiming it to the other conjugating cell belongs, and this cell is in conjugation con- stantly the giving cell; its sister-cell—the larger one— remains sterile, being shut off from participating in the conjugation. The shorter or giving cell is itself sometimes again divided into two, one of which daughter-cells is shut off from participating in the conjugation. Speedily the contents of the two connected cells become increased in quantity and density, so as more nearly to fill the cells, quite unlike the sparse, pale (yellowish-green), and narrow irregular bands formed by the endochrome of the simply vegetative cells. The contents of the two conjugated cells now become contracted from the cell-wall; the intervening septum of the tubular imosculated connecting processes becomes resorbed ; the contents of the smaller of the two passes over, as in Spirogyra, and becomes formed, within that of the other, incorporating with its contents, into a zygospore.
Here, then, is a conjugation between two cells of not mor- phologically equivalent, but which are evidently specialised structures. Here the giving and receiving cells seem to be as morphologically distinct as in Gdogonium curvum, in
216 ARCHER, ON CYLINDROCYSTIS,
which the antheridial cell gives birth to a single spermatozoid not much smaller than the oospore, the main distinctive cir- cumstance being, that in the latter the fertilising cell is ciliated, making its exit from one, and its entrance into the other, parent-cell by, an opening in each, whilst in the former neither is ciliated ; and, besides, the parent-cells being apart in the one, and joined together by firm inosculation in the other.
It being admitted, then, that this case is one of a true generative process, the reproductive elements being seemingly well differentiated as germ-cell and sperm-cell, the transition downwards through the various forms of Conjugate is easy and natural to our Mesotznium and Cylindrocystis ; and it seems to compel the admission that the process im all is a manifestation of one and the same phenomenon, with one and the same import.
But it may be further objected, that in many of the Con- jugatz spores or spore-like bodies very similar to the true zygospores, and from which young plants may be developed, are formed without any conjugation at all. However, it seems to me that these bodies may bear a relationship to the ordinary zygospores, the same as that of the ordinary zoospore of (dogonium and Bulbocheete to the four zoospores evolved from the fertilised oospore; and both bear to the plants which produce them an analogy similar to that of the buds, bulbils, &c., of higher plants to their seeds. As to the so- called “ Asteridia” (Thwaites), ‘‘ Asterophzria,” “‘ Sperma- tospheria ” (Itzigsohn), &c., they are most probably parasitic growths, and their true nature is as yet not at all under- stood.
But Dr. Hicks intends his queries, first applied to Palmo- gloea, to be extended to certain true Palmellacean forms; _ and, if applied to some of the lower forms of which, I am free to own that they cannot be so easily answered, nor can his objections be so readily met.
There is a point, however, which seems to be overlooked by Dr. Hicks, and a consequent confounding of two apparently essentially distinct groups fallen into. Dr. Hicks seems to ignore the Family Chroococeacee as distinguished. from Palmellacez ; thus, forms appertaining to Chroococcacez are sometimes, as it appears to me, indiscriminately spoken of as originating from some higher plant, whose endochrome is chlorophll, and vice versd as regards Palmellacezee. Now, in so far as we know, it seems a matter not at all to be expected that such a transformation should take place ; that is, I should be disposed to hold it exceedingly unlike that a
MESOTENIUM, AND SPIROTANIA. 217
chlorophyll-bearing lichen or moss should produce a phyco- chrome-bearing Glcocapsa, and that, too, along with a chlorophyll-bearing Palmoglea. Thus, Gleocapsa polyder- matica surely belongs to Choococcacez, and could not be regarded as proceeding from a chlorophyll-bearing lichen. A Glceocapsa-form may possibly originate from a phycochrome- bearing lichen—for instance, a collema; and I venture to think that in many cases where Dr. Hicks speaks of Pal- mellacez he means to refer to Chroococcacer. Many of the forms included amongst the latter, I am myself disposed to think, show a considerable amount of instability, and may probably be but transitory or developmental stages of higher plants. But then they must, I think, at least owe their origin to phycochrome-containing plants—some, for instance may be early stages of Scytonemez. On the other hand, many of the forms seem to be very recognisable, and are fre- quently met with, season after season, precisely like their predecessors, and under the same circumstances ; and one can often at a glance tell that a certain form under observa- tion is exactly the same thing that one has seen before. But this would not in itself be an argument that they may not be, so to, speak, if the phrase be at all admissible, “ alternations of generation ” of certain Lichens or of Scytonemez. In regard to Palmellacez, such genera as Pleurococcus, Glceocystis, and Palmella, if they are all actually but developmental stages of higher forms, could at least originate only from chlorophyll- bearing plants.
But, further, on the other hand, many of the Palmellacean genera produce a very definite structure, even what may be called a frond, and sometimes very definite forms of the indi- vidual cells themselves. So readily do these specialities strike the eye when once they have been seen, that on their recur- rence they are at once recognisable. The generic names Apiocystis, Schizochlamys, Palmodactylon, Tetraspora, Mo- nostroma (Ulva in part), Dictyospherium, Oocardium, Hormospora, Nephrocytium, Mischococcus, Ankistrodesmus (Rhaphidium), Polyedrium, Cystococcus, Dactylococcus, Characium, Ophiocytium, Scenedesmus, Pediastrum, Ccelas- trum, Sorastrum, Eremosphera, and many more, all call to mind, in a moment, forms which, some rarely, some frequently, present themselves to notice, and maintaining their charac- teristics, while at the same time no true generative process has been discovered, reproducing themselves by diverse modes of cell-division, by zoospores, by “brood-families,” &c. They are also found maintaining their characters in various places ; and I think it is not readily conceivable what yaried accidental
VOL, VII.—NEW SER. Q
218 ARCHER, ON CYLINDROCYSTIS,
concatenation of circumstances could, in so diverse localities, force a certain supposed gonidium of a lichen or spore of a moss now to develop into this well-defined form, now imto that. Therefore, if,,on the one hand, such genera, perhaps, as Chroococcus, Gleeocapsa, Synechococcus, Gloeothece (in Chroococcaceze) and Pleurococcus, Gloeocystis and Palmella (in Palmellaceze), seem, from Dr. Hicks’s researches, to be in jeopardy, it surely appears to me as yet, not to speak of our Sylindrocystis, Mesotzenium, and Spirotznia, that it would be an incautious and too hasty conclusion to sweep away all “ Palmellacez.’? Mere resemblance is not necessarily iden- tity.
Dr. Hicks puts some queries as to the value of certain characters of cells, as affording clues to their affinities—that is, as to their use in a classification. Certainly no one character can in any case be regarded as decisive, nor is such to be expected. A combination of all, however, makes up a certain tout ensemble, which often tells us that it is, at least, the same form or phase of development one has seen before.
Size of the cells? It, no dowbt, varies within certain, often characteristic, limits.
Position of nucleus? or of a starch-granule or a “vesicle”? The former is seldem discernible, and it can, on that account, rarely be of use; the latter, how constant and characteristic in certain Desmidians, and many other Confervoids.
Disposition of chlorophyll? This is in certain stages of very many forms a most useful character, e.g. Hormospora, Ophiocytium, Conjugatie at large, &c. &c. Dr. Hicks, indeed, supposes the case of “ Zygnema”’ (properly Spirogyra), in which the contents in conjugating lose their spiral arrange- ment, and become “ homogeneous ;” and then he says— “ Supposing subdivision to take place, the contents of the resulting cells would become more or less homogeneous, and thus the spiral character lost.” But this is not what takes place. The spore casts off its outer coat, and the inner one elongates, of which, upon ‘dividing the upper cell, becomes the first ordinary joint of a new filament, and the spiral arrangement of the chlorophyll is resumed, the lower remain- ing undivided as a “root-cell.”” There is, indeed, more of a characteristic uniformity in the disposition of the phyco- chrome in the Chroococcacee.
Form of the cell? This is surely in many instances of the greatest value. Dr. Hicks points to the plate illustrating my own former paper as an example of the instability of this character. But I hardly think it is a conclusive argument against the valuc of this character to regard a plant in the
MESOTENIUM, AND SPIROTANIA. 219
varying phases of its development, and say that, because such differ, that form is of no value. The phases of growth should be taken, and the comparison made, at the same point in development ; for very varied phases may certainly inter- vene, nor does this latter fact seem to me to conflict with my view. ‘The zygospore of Peniuwm Mooreanum figured on the plate referred to, or indeed that of any other Desmid or Conjugate, or that exceptional phase of Mesotznium, or the oospore of an Cidogonium, or even the zoospore of a Clado- phora or of a Drapernaldia, &c., are not more unlike, after all, to their parent or mature forms than an acorn is unlike an oak.
Dr. Hicks further writes—“ The varying forms of their divisions show that their form changes very strangely. This is observable in almost every Conferva, and the Desmidieze are good examples.” Ido not quite comprehend this. Ifa cell of a Conferva or a Desmid during division is not actually of the same figure as one fully grown, surely it attains it when the process is completed. If he means that a Conferva or a Desmid during the act of division is able to change directly from one form to another, I hold that this is wrong, and that there is no foundation for such an assumption. Nay, “the varying forms of their divisions” seem rather in themselves to afford more or less useful characters.
To pass on briefly to consider the communication from Dr. Wallich which I have just had the honour to read to the Society (vide infra), he, while contending for the greater or less instability of the Protophyta, the Desmidiez included, does not, however, make such a demand as that just adverted to. I shall, as the opportunity here occurs, venture to add a word or two in allusion to Dr. Wallich’s communication, referring mainly, as it does, to certain Desmidian forms. I have, indeed, ere now endeavoured to express my own views as fully as I could on this point; therefore I shall not here attempt to dilate at any length on the subject, as it would be but repetition.
In the first place, then, Dr. Wallich alludes to my urging the persistence of type in the Desmidiacez, because they are more or less constant in a given locality. On the other hand, he urges that, unless these characters are found to occur under every variety of conditions, he cannot accept them as evidence of the persistence of type for which I have contended. Now, it seems, at first sight, that it is asking somewhat too much to demand that every variety of con- ditions should produce no effect, when it is only under certain conditions that some forms are found at all. But he
220 ARCHER, ON CYLINDROCYSTIS,
explains that by “every variety of conditions” he means “in widely remote localities.” It will be admitted, I think, that the West, Centre, and North of Europe are widely remote localities; yet from these far-apart sources the same Desmidian forms have been collected, maintaining their special characters. In his lately published list of Des- midiacez collected in Sweden, Cleve,* while he truly enough says the specific distinctions are often founded on minute differences, states that he never found any difficulty im identifying the forms he met with with those of other countries by aid of dried specimens and figures, and he enumerates a goodly catalogue. I myself have seen some examples from other parts of Europe. Nay, I may appeal to Dr. Wallich’s paper on Desmidiaceze collected in Bengal,+ where he recognises, and is able to name from their own special inherent intrinsic characters, several of the species belonging to Britain; thus, not only from still more widely remote localities, but under circumstances of climate greatly varying from that in which the same species occur here. It is true that, in regard to several of the forms which I should be disposed to regard as abundantly distinct, Dr. Wallich would often combine several of such into a single species, under a common specific designation; but yet this does not militate against this part of my argument, for he was still able to identify the forms by their intrinsic characters there as here, although he holds a different view from that which I have hitherto found myself compelled to adopt, as to the value of those characters.
Dr. Wallich thinks, “that in these forms such differences as the number of indentations, the acuteness or obtuseness of the teeth, the number of spinous processes, and so forth, indicate mere accidental variations.” But these very cha- racters, thus succinctly recapitulated, according to the degree and mode in which they are presented, are amongst the most available holdpoints for the discrimination, not of species alone, but also of genera. In what does a Micrasterias differ from a Euastrum, a Staurastrum from a Cosmarium, &c. &c., but in the mode and way, the degree and extent, in which these characters, and characters such as these, are presented—not to speak of the various forms within those genera which Dr. Wallich goes so far as to allow are really good species. Dr. Wallich, for instance, calls such forms as
* Cleve, “ Bidrag till Kannedomen om Sveriges séttvattensalger af familjen Desmidiee,” in ‘Ofversigt af Kongl. Ventenskaps-Akademiens Forhand- lingar;’ Stockholm, 1865, p. 481.
+ ‘Annals of Nat. Hist.,’ 3rd ser., vol. v, pp. 184, 273.
MESOTENIUM, AND SPIROTANIA. 221
Micrasterias rotata and M. denticulata—Euastrum didelta and E£. ansatum—as in each case but varieties of a single species, &. Why admit certain denticulations, and incisions, and processes, and lobes, in these forms to be good specific marks, and then arbitrarily stop short, and disallow other characters of the same nature possessed by one of the dis- puted forms, and not by the other, and which each refuses to lend to the other, and say they are of no value—although, so far as we know, the species depending on them can be recog- nised wherever the two forms are found in various countries of Europe and in Bengal ?
Dr. Wallich believes that “such differences indicate mere accidental varieties, handed down, no doubt, from parents to progeny in the same locality, so long as physical conditions remain the same.” If certain external physical conditions be the cause of such minor individual characters, and if dis- similar conditions will cause their obliteration or transference, how is it that, under all conditions in which Micrasterias rotata and M. denticulata (for instance) present themselves, they maintain, at least so far as we know, their own ultimate characters? With us here they are both about equally common in their own localities. It is clear that the greater number of subdivisions of the former, its larger middle lobe, its more acute teeth, its greater size, &c., give it no advantage over the latter in the “ struggle for life,” although both have the preponderance in numbers (in whatever the advantage may consist) over certain other well-marked allied forms. I think it seems to follow, from Dr. Wallich’s statement of his views, that “natural selection” must in his opinion fall into the background so far as these organisms are concerned ; for, according to him, characters derived from parents, however seemingly inherent here, must at once succumb to varying surrounding physical conditions.
Dr. Wallich says that the onus probandi, as regards that side of the question against which I contend, does not lie with those who think with him; but “ that it is sufficient to show a fair number of cases (as, for instance, in the genus Micrasterias) in which unquestionable interchange of those characters is to be met with, which by Ralfs and others have been seized upon as indicative of a distinct origin.” Dr. Wallich will, I hope, excuse me if I still hold that such cases have not yet been shown in the established species of Micrasterias ; and that those “interchanges of characters” are founded upon assumption of what it is presumed might be, rather than what is. I venture to hold still.that the interchange of characters between the various species of
222 ARCHER, ON CYLINDROCYSTIS,
Micrasterias (I do not, I need hardly say, restrict myself to that genus, but rather mention it as an example) has yet to be demonstrated. I venture likewise as yet to hold that the admission of some forms as species, and others not less well marked as varieties, in this family (I do not now, of course, refer to Protophyta in general), is, on the whole, altogether arbitrary; and I for one cannot refuse to go the length that Nature seems to me here to go, and admit as species all those ultimate forms which seem to be constantly distinct, keeping their ultimate characters to themselves; and each of which, by its own idiosyncrasies, one can at a glance perceive is the very same identical plant which, described or unde- scribed, one encounters more or less rarely or frequently in its own suitable localities.
It will thus be seen, while I venture very deferentially, and with the highest respect, to differ on points in relation to some Protophyta from Dr. Hicks and Dr. Wallich, that there are others on which I cannot but agree as yet with both observers. Nor does it seem to me that the views here put forward conflict with those I ventured to express in my paper read to the Society last session, on an ameeboid state of Stephanosphera, as regards the, perhaps in individual opinion, debateable but, as I still hold, by no means actually convertible, lower forms of animal and vegetable life. Because some organisms are not always what they seem to be, inasmuch as, in the course of their development, they may submit themselves to several apparently more or less diversified phases, whilst others (as our Mesotzenium and Cylindrocystis) seem to be in this respect more restricted, is not, I think, in either case an argument that Protophyta, or even some Palmellaceze, may not be subject to specific limits, not to speak of a change from one kingdom to another. With Dr. Hicks I must, indeed, wholly coincide, that in the study of the Protophyta it is especially desirable that the history of each be, as far as possible, made out, in order to discover the mature forms, and to trace out the seeming changes through which they may pass; but is not this, after all, in other words, to endeavour to find out what are the species and their limits, and to learn to discriminate between them? But assuredly, were all this known, many spurious “ species ” would have to be erased, at least among certain types. But, whatever phases they may run through, they at least must revert eventually to the parent or type-form ; for the same forms turn up and vanish again and again, and season after season, each in its own kind of situation or habitat; and it seems more reasonable that we should sup-
MESOTANIUM, AND SPIROTANIA. 223
pose—be the intermediate phases what they may—that these would naturally begin and end their cycles in themselves, than that all the many well-defined types and well-marked forms, some more and some less frequently recurring, in- cluded under ‘“‘ Palmellaceze,” should need constant recruiting by the transmutation of lichen-gonidia and moss-spores. Perhaps the truth on some of the questions lies in the mean ; but, be it as it may, I trust I am not too firmly attached to the views I have tried to express not to relinquish them on good evidence. Meantime, in the words of Dr. Wallich, I at least hold with him, that—“ In science, as in governments, truth can never be arrived at on a large scale unless under the pressure of an opposition.”
Mr. W. Archer prefaced the foregoing paper by reading an extract from a letter addressed to him by Dr. G. C. Wallich, F.L.S., on the subject of the value of characters in Proto- phyta, more especially in Desmidiacee. Mr. Archer ex- plained that Dr. Wallich’s remarks therein were in reply to observations of his own in a paper read before the Natural History Society of Dublin on the 4th of December, 1863, entitled ‘Observations on Micrasterias Mahabuleshwarensis (Hobson), and on Docidium pristide (Hobson) ;’* and that Dr. Wallich, having done him the honour to write him a letter containing a summary of his own views on the subject debated in the paper referred to, had requested him to read the same to the Natural History Society. The following is the extract, reference to which is made in the preceding paper :
“Pray do not for a moment think me inclined to take amiss any differences of opinion on scientific matters. Every one has a right to judge for himself; and in science, as in governments, truth can never be arrived at on a large scale unless under the pressure of an opposition. Besides, the question of specific limits is still in its infancy; and those who cling to permanent specific types are most fully justified in crying out for the amplest proofs before relinquishing their ground. You know of old that I am for no such per- manence, but believe that I can trace at every step more and more conclusive evidences that there exists a constant tendency to modification by external influence.
“The point at which you and I diverge is that at which we form our estimates of the value of characters. You maintain that certain characters, hecause they are more or
* ©Proceedings of the Natural History Society of Dublin, vol. iv, Part 2, p. 79.
224 ARCHER, ON CYLINDROCYSTIS, ETC.
less constant under the same conditions—that is, in a given locality—afford evidence of persistence of type. On the other hand, I hold they cannot be accepted as evidence of this persistence unless they can be proved to occur under every variety of conditions—that is, in widely remote locali- ties. I speak from experience, when I say that many—very many—of the assumed species of Protophyta and Protozoa are identical—the distinction on which their separation has heretofore been based being entirely the result of the acci- dental conditions under which they have been reared.
“In the Desmidiacez, to which you direct attention more particularly, it appears to me that such differences as the number of indentations, the acuteness or obtuseness of the teeth, the number of spinous processes, and so forth, indicate mere accidental variations, handed down, no doubt, from parent to progeny in the same locality so long as the physical conditions remain the same; but nevertheless not to be regarded as constant, or as impressed on the organisms ab initio as an integral feature in their physiological con- stitution.
“It should be borne in mind that the onus probandi does not rest in every example on those who think with me, but that it is quite sufficient that we show a fair number of cases (as, for instance, in the genus Micrasterias), in which un- questionable interchange of those characters is to be met with, which by Ralfs and others have been seized upon as indicative of distinct origin. For such cases prove that the law which it is assumed governs the limits of species is no law, but only a conditional direction, holding good only so long as the surrounding conditions continue the same.
“Tf, however, the object in view in defining varieties under specific designations is merely to render the identifica- tion of similar forms more easy, I have nothing to say against it beyond this, that I should be loth to have to make up the lists even as they stand now, and firmly believe it will be an impossibility for the coming generation of naturalists to do so at all.”
OssERVATIONS and Experiments with the Microscorn on the Errects of Prusstc Acip on the Animat Economy. By Tomas SHEARMAN Ratpu, M.R.C.S. Eng., &c.*
Every year as it passes away leaves behind it additional testimony to the fact that the microscope is advancing to occupy a position of importance in medical practice equal to that which the stethoscope has attained; and I feel satisfied that ere many more years have passed the regular employ- ment of the microscope, as a means of diagnosis, will be maintained and duly acknowledged. The slow but steady progress which the use of this instrument has made in the hands of the medical profession should tend to point rather to the important nature of the results to which it is destined to lead us, than to accepting the doubts of some who occasionally assail its employment, and are unable or un- willing to avail themselves of its powers.
2. Several difficulties still remain in the way of its free reception into the circle of daily use by the profession at large, and among others, which time and increased confidence in its powers will banish, there are these, viz., that with the increased powers conferred on the microscope, a decrease in the expense, and also a diminution of the actual size of the instrument as a portable one, are great desiderata. The more readily it can be brought to the bedside, the more facilities which peculiarities of construction shall enable the observer to use it without performing the operation of a preliminary preparation and setting of it in order, the more favorable reception will it find at the hands of the medical student and practitioner ; and all these requirements will be rapidly met, if only the demand for them be made to those whose occupation it is to perfect the instrument.
The object I have in view is not merely to urge on the study of disease by the use of this instrument, but also to show how much practical work yet remains to be done, and that by one class especially, the regular daily practitioner of medicine, whether attached to a hospital or moving in the circle of private practice.
3. It has been my custom to examine the blood in all marked cases of disease, with the view of ascertaining if any- thing could be learned by such a process, and the following communication will show that my labour has not been lost,
* Read before the Medical Society of Victoria, December 6, 1865.
226 RALPH, ON THE EFFECTS OF
and, I may add, has proved rather a stimulus to further efforts in the same direction.
A healthy young child fell ill with hooping-cough, and after the lapse of a few days was brought to me labouring under an early state of pneumonia; extensive puerile re- spiration had set in, and there was considerable congestion of the cutaneous capillaries of the extremities. A few drops of blood were carefully taken from the back of the hand im the way I have recommended, 7. e. cleansing the skin first by rubbing it with a wet towel, and then puncturmg it and taking the blood on a glass slide, without touching the skin. The blood presented no unusual appearances, save the presence of some dark-coloured bodies larger than blood-dises, to which, however, I did not attach any definite importance. On the following day more blood was taken, and I noticed in two shdes that some bright blue particles were present, resembling in colour starch when first acted on by iodine, and also some dark purple particles. The following day three shdes were charged; these attracted my attention more forcibly, and occasioned me considerable perplexity, as more blue and purple coloured particles were present, and the blood had been carefully taken in every instance; the child, also, had been healthy hitherto, and had had no exhibition of iodine I knew of, and had not been in other hands than mine.
4. Prior to the second supply of blood taken, and after the first examined, I had ordered Scheele’s prussic acid, and it was directed to be continued up to the third time of taking the blood. The decided character of these blue particles, their persistence for hours on the slide, their increased amount in the subsequent examination, all tended to cause consider- able perplexity as to their possible origin. After some re- flection and one or two chemical examimations, I instituted the following experiments, which tend to show that these blue particles in the blood are most lhkely composed of Prussian blue, and are due to the reaction of prussic acid on the iron in the blood.
5. Ist Exp., Aug. 22nd.—Seven or eight drops of Scheele’s prussic acid were given in divided doses to a rabbit; after a lapse of five hours, some blood taken from the ear exhibited a number of bright blue particles. ‘lwo more drops were given, and at the end of twelve hours, two slides of blood showed some blue particles; subsequently three drops were given at one time (the doses were all more or less diluted with water) ; the animal struggled under the influence of the poison, and most likely would have succumbed but for the administration
PRUSSIC ACID ON THE ANIMAL ECONOMY. 227
of ammonia vapour. One hour after, the blood exhibited blue particles satisfactorily.
2nd Exp., Sept. 12th.—A kitten was killed by inhalation of prussic-acid vapour. Blood found to contain many large irregularly rounded dark-coloured bodies, too dark to ascertain if of a blue color. One or two light blue flaky masses were found; also, in and about the sheath of the sympathetic nerve, one indigo-blue film of some size. This was decolorized by action of potassa; colour restored by application of acetic acid. The decided bright blue particles do not appear to yield to potassa; medulla oblongata examined; some blue points and several dark ones seen.
drd Exp., Sept. 14th.—Tincture of iron diluted was in- jected into the stomach of a frog, and vapour of prussic acid was soon after administered. Died after some hours. Some decided bright blue particles were seen in the blood; also, dark partreles of irregular form (peroxidized iron?) in abundance.
4th Exp., Sept. 19th.—Dog killed by prussic acid dropped on the nose and mouth; death in a minute and half. Blood from heart presented some dark-coloured bodies, and one large decidedly indigo-blue mass.
5th Exp., Oct. 4th.—Frog killed by concussion; blood gave no evidence of blue particles.
6th Exp., Oct. 6th—A frog slowly poisoned by prussic acid administered ; the animal did not die from the effects of the poison, but was killed and examined. Obtained some blue reaction in the blood, and about the larger nerves going to the extremities.
7th Exp., Oct. 7th.—A full-grown cat had three drops of Scheele’s prussic acid given her, undiluted, by means of a glass tube introduced in the pharynx. In the space of a minute she lay down and gasped, and died,.with the usual symptoms, in two minutes more at the furthest. Seven hours after, body quite rigid; heart removed for examination; two or three specimens of blood from it showed either dark blue coloured particles, or black ones; one large flake of indigo blue was seen. Muscular fibre from the interior of the heart gave as satisfactory evidence.
8th Exp.—A frog killed by concussion (second experiment of the kind) ; the blood examined showed no blue-coloured particles ; a leg of the animal cut off immediately after death had prussic acid applied to the cut surface ; one side of blood examined exhibited a solid amorphous body with a blue coloration at one end, while the other was colourless,
9th Exp.—A strong, recently caught frog, poisoned by 4
228 RALPH, ON THE EFFECTS OF
gr. of cyanide of potassium, injected into the stomach. Three specimens of blood examined only showed a slaty-blue colour in one or two large flakes or patches. The blood-discs appeared to be dotted over with small oily looking dots.
10th Exp.—A_ blow-fly was killed by exposure to the vapour of prussic acid. The muscles lining the thorax, in the vicinity of the principal nerve-centres, were examined. Several dark blue points were seen, and one large particle of a decidedly bright blue, equal to any seen in the experiments already quoted.
llth Exp.—The same repeated, and with a bee, with similar results.
Norr.—tThe bright blue particles are, I believe, really due to the action of the prussic acid, but I have also noticed in some flies not killed by prussic acid that there were present some indigo-blue coloured particles. These I refer to the natural pigment of the insect, serving, perhaps, to tinge the deep steel-blue coloured hairs; fragments of which will be met with in such examinations; hence this insect is not a fit subject for yielding positive results. With this in view I in- stituted the
12th Exp.—The maggot of the blow-fly, which is very difficult to kill by prussic-acid vapour, was subjected to its influence in the fluid state. Two so treated exhibited the characteristic blue masses and particles. This experiment I consider to be very satisfactory, as all the organs appear to be free from pigmentary matters.
13th Exp.—A rabbit six weeks old had four slides of blood taken from the ear; these exhibited no blue particles. It was then killed by inhalation of prussic-acid vapour, admi- nistered on two separate occasions ; it was intended to exa- mine the blood without killing the animal, but the second application of the vapour killed it very suddenly. The blood in one specimen exhibited a very large, brilliant, Prussian- blue concretion; some blue particles in the blood from the axillary vein, and also from several other sources.
6. I will now, before proceeding, give a résumé of the ex- periments, and some observations on them. Eleven experi- ments in all gave evidence of the action of prussic acid, by the presence of blue-coloured particles, masses, or films, When I have used the term mass, J mean a solid substance occupying a space which twenty or thirty blood-dises would cover.
The inhalation of the vapour of prussic acid goes to show that, in some of the experiments at any rate, but a very small quantity sufficed to kill, and its traces were detectable.
PRUSSIC ACID ON THE ANIMAL ECONOMY. 229
The object of giving the tincture of iron to a frog, and then killmg it by vapour of prussic acid, was to prove that the change was due to the presence of iron in the blood, and, if so, a superabundance of iron might yield a proportionate in- crease in the amount of the blue particles. This did not seem to be the case, but will be noticed further on.
7. The impression left on my mind by these experiments was, that the bright blue particles were due to the action of prussic acid on the iron in the blood or tissue in some state of organic combination, and that Prussian blue had been formed.
The dark-coloured or indigo-blue masses appear to me to be a mixture of Prussian blue and perhaps some oxidized state of iron unacted on by the prussic acid. The adminis- tration of prussic acid in a concentrated state, 7. e. without further dilution of the Scheele’s strength (=4 per cent. of real acid) appeared to me to be followed by a greater forma- tion of the dark blue particles than when given in diluted and distant doses.
The two experiments not subjected to the action of prussic acid, Nos. 5 and 8, gave negative evidence in favour of the same view.
The instances quoted of blue-coloured particles occurring in the blow-fly without previous action of prussic acid, may depend on the cause I have noticed, or on another. This roving insect may derive sufficient cyanogen materials from the putrescent substances it is in the habit of visiting, or may possibly derive them from the flowers it seeks to, which I believe it is in the habit of doing, as I have seen pollen-grains in abundance about its body while making these observations.
I would here remark that the frog’s tissues contain pig- mentary matters in abundance, and these might be mistaken for the dark blue particles I have instanced ; but when these bright and dark blue objects have once been seen elsewhere, no mistake of the kind need occur, or be charged against the experiments. I here specially refer to examinations of the nerves of the frog.
8. For the purpose of further testing the action of prussic acid on the blood, I obtained some from a patient in the Melbourne Hospital, who was and had been taking this me- dicine lately for some days. I felt some objection to this case, as the tincture of iron hadebeen freely administered prior to the prussic acid, and I thought its action might in- terfere with the character of the experiment.
Four slides were charged; in each of these the peculiar blue particles were distinctly seen, but it required much care
230 RALPH, ON THE EFFECTS OF
and the use of a magnifying power of 500 diameters. The films of blood examined were remarkable for the great amount of black-looking particles which were present. These I am inclined to regard either as iron in a peroxidized state, or they are dark particles of Prussian blue, and due to the iron lately taken by the patient. These dark particles recall the appearances seen in the 3rd experiment. The blood on each slide was not greater in bulk than the head of a large pin.
9. In a patient of mine, a child to which I had occasion to administer prussic acid (one minim and a half in twelve hours), I took blood on four slides, and in three I found blue particles. The acid was continued to the same ex- tent, and six more slides charged; each showed the blue particles in greater abundance, and also some dark blue or indigo-coloured films. The bright blue particles which I always look for as the most characteristic colour indi- cating the action of prussic acid was in this case so de- cidedly associated with concretionary masses peculiar to the blood, that there could be no possible doubt as to their in- ternal origin, and not from any extraneous source. Liquor ammoniz and potasse and nitric acid, separately, do not ap- pear to act on the blue particles, but the last two do so when following each other.
10. From these observations, I feel satisfied in advancing the opinion that prussic acid causes a change in some of the constituents of the blood, that it attacks the iron when in some particular condition, and, with perhaps the aid of some alkaline base, the Prussian blue is formed; that the deep or indigo-blue particles may be some mixture of iron and Prus- sian blue, or a state of Prussian blue not definitely known to us; for this chemical compound is not yet fully understood as to its exact composition, and is found to vary both in colour and composition in the laboratory of the chemist, and may do so also in that of the animal economy. On the other hand, I find there is a cyanide of iron known which turns blue on exposure to oxygen, and perhaps ultimately these blue particles in the blood may be found to belong to this cyanogen compound.*
11. Continuing my observations on the blood as oppor- tunity presented, I detected the presence of these blue par- ticles in one or two cases in which no prussic acid had been given, and I could in no way satisfactorily account for their presence. This led me to examine the blood in three indi-
* ‘Watt's Chemical Dictionary,’ vol. ii, p. 221, “Some of the compounds called Prussian blue have the composition of cyanides of iron; they appear to be double cyanides.”
PRUSSIC ACID ON THE ANIMAL ECONOMY. 2a
viduals who were in full health, and in all these I found the same kind of particles. The majority of these particles, as well as several obtained from the experiments narrated, were tested with oxalic acid, which readily decolourised and dis- solved them away.
The evidence at this pomt of my observations assumed a very contradictory character; and if I had not been at the time in possession of other facts which supported me in my views, I should have been brought to an unsatisfactory stand- still.
12. In the course of my experiments I took occasion to examine the prussic acid itself as to its purity, and the fol- lowing observations will tend to clear up the evidence. Prussic acid, like some other powerful and effective agents in the hands of the medical man, possesses the property of ra- pidly undergoing a chemical change and of losing its powers as a medicine; this lability to change has been referred to the action of light, and also been noticed to occur more fre- quently the greater the degree of its concentration. Hence, it is now usually kept covered up from the action of light, and preserved in a certain state of dilution, and also appears to be more permanent when prepared after a certain manner.
13. If the ordinary prussic acid of Scheele be examined under the microscope under a power of 200 diameters, the acid, if pure, will present nothing worthy of remark; but occasionally specimens will be met with which contain bright blue particles, consisting, as I suppose, of Prussian blue, and also a number of starchy looking bodies, which actually turn purple with iodine. Or, sepposing the acid to have been pure, these changes will be found to take place in it, if the bottle is repeatedly opened and portions taken out ever so carefully, by dipping a glass rod into the fluid; at least such is my experience.
14, These remarkable changes appear to me to be due to the renewed access of air, and minute particles of dust get- ting in, and to the possible electric state of the glass rod with which I have been in the habit of dipping out the acid, having always previously carefully wiped it.
If, after the occurrence of these accidents, extended over a period of many days, the bottle be shaken, and a drop placed on a slide and examined with a microscope, bright blue par- ticles will be seen associated with a number of starchy looking bodies, which polarize feebly and turn purple with iodine, like vegetable starch.
15. On taking a drop of prussic acid, free from such con- tamination, as, for example, by using some which has not
232 RALPH, ON THE EFFECTS OF
been opened and has been kept undisturbed, and some organic matter be added, as blood or albuminous fluid, these starchy bodies will make their appearance. First of all a minute dot, resembling an oil-globule, will be seen, which, if steadily watched for a time, will be observed to increase in size, some- times attaining to that of an ordinary starch-grain, oval or rounded in form, and then it will assume a thicker consis- tence and solidify into a starch-grain, occasionally presenting a laminated structure, or a grooved line in the long axis of the oval form.
Whenever these phenomena occur I have also noticed the appearance of the Prussian blue particles, and it appears to me that when prussic acid comes into contact with organic substances containing iron then a decomposition takes place, part of the iron combining with the cyanogen to form ferro- cyanic acid, and the remainder uniting with this ferrocyanic acid to constitute Prussian blue—that is, according to the accepted chemical views on this subject; the hydrogen liberated uniting with the carbow and oxygen of the organic substance, which has brought about this decomposition, to form the starch-grains.
16. So, in lke manner, when the blood of an animal which has been killed or partially poisoned by means of prussic acid is examined by the aid of the microscope for the presence of Prussian blue particles, there may be seen, in very many instances, bodies which resemble these starch- grains, varying in size from below those of a blood-dise to four or five times one in extent. These, when acted on by iodine, may be seen to turn purple, and they also polarize. So, again, in those instances which I have noticed the presence of blue particles in the blood of patients, whether they have been taking prussic acid or not, I have frequently observed similar-looking bodies, and these tested with iodine have also reacted purple. .
17. From all these observations I conclude that prussic acid is more or less neutralized in the blood by the iron present in it, and in proportion to the iron thus withdrawn there is so much starchy matter set free; whether the starch in this condition is prejudicial or harmless, owing to its semi-fluid condition, yet remains to be determined.
18. The interest which attaches to the facts I have brought forward is not limited to chemical theories, or to our use of prussic acid as a remedial agent, but the facts observed may also serve to explain important points in physiology and pathology. I here briefly allude to some discoveries in pathological science, which relate to amyloid
‘PRUSSIC ACID ON THE ANIMAL ECONOMY. 233
substances discovered in the animal tissue, and about which so much has been written during late years. That the so- called corpora amylacea, or starch-grains, found in different organs of the human subject, and referable to some morbid condition of the blood, may take their origin from some similar chemical changes as those to which I have drawn attention, and that perhaps in many instances these have only been formed at the time of death, and are referable to post-mortem change, except in such cases as resemble the one of epilepsy recorded in the ‘ Mic, Journ.’ of 1855, by Mr. Stratford, of Toronto.
19. If we refer to the history of these corpora amylacea, we find that they have been gradually associated with amyloid degeneration of the tissues, a condition which is regarded by Virchow as essentially different,* as the tissue becomes directly filled with a substance of an amyloid nature, possessing, however, the peculiarity of never be- coming blue under the action of iodine alone, and only by a subsequent application of sulphuric acid, and, therefore, ap- pearing to be more allied to cellulose; and this deposit, he supposes, is conveyed to the part from without, as he has been unable to discover any change in the blood from which the inference might be drawn that this was really the source of the deposits. But what he states further on goes to show that the disease in the lymphatic glands consists in a thicken- ing and narrowing of the arteries, and in the conversion of the small cells of the follicles into corpora amylacea, thus linking together these bodies and amyloid deposits, and tending rather to lead us to regard their origin as traceable to the blood.
20. I think the facts which I have brought forward, show- ing the formation of corpora amylacea in organic fluids, both while in and out of the body, due to the action of prussic acid, tend rather to the view that the blood directly supplies the material from whence these starchy bodies are formed, and points out to us that a chemical change has been brought about in it. I am, therefore, inclined to the opinion that some change in the blood, analogous to that produced by prussic acid, is the most likely explanation of the mode by which these bodies are formed in the animal economy, and that we shall probably find other substances beside cyanogen possess the property of eliminating starch-grains in the blood of animals, and that amyloid deposits are only a further step of the same process.
21. From whatever point of view we look at these facts, it
* Virchow’s ‘Cellular Pathology,’ p. 371, &c.
VOL. VIIL—NEW SER. R
234 RALPH, ON PRUSSIC ACID.
appears to me that a large and important field of inquiry has been opened to the investigations of the chemist, and among the speculations to which these facts may lead there is this to consider—that perhaps Prussian blue should rather be regarded as a cyanide of iron than a sesquiferro-cyanide ; and that iron, perhaps, performs other functions in the blood than that connected with oxygen—that of being a vehicle or medium for holding carbon and hydrogen together, for their more ready distribution to the building up of tissues, and to the preserving them in a condition which may be more easy of change by reason of their union with the iron.
22. The fact of the formation of Prussian blue in the animal economy from the action of prussic acid should suggest the possibility of detecting this poison in cases of poisoning, remembering that, while the volatile and easily decomposable nature of this agent enables its traces soon to fade away from our chemical grasp, those portions of the poison which have gone to form Prussian blue in the blood may remain for an indefinite périod as evidences of its presence. On the other hand, if it be true that in some cases prussic acid or some cyanogen compound may be formed spontaneously in the body, as has already been suggested by others besides myself, so we may have an increased difficulty presented to us in a judicial point of view in arriving at the conclusion on microscopical evidence alone, that anyone has been poisoned by this agent.
23. Again, with respect to the spontaneous formation of Prussian blue in the blood, the suggestion presents itself— may not the iron in the blood be the normal antidote to the cyanogen so formed; and supposing that iron was not pre- sent in a suitable condition or sufficient amount to neutralize the cyanogen, then spontaneous poisoning would be the result; and may we not, with this view of the process, be warranted in endeavouring to ascertain if the occurrence of some diseases of the nervous system, as chorea, convulsions, &c., may not be due to some deficiency in the blood at the time of a suitable condition or amount of iron? And, further, the pathologist will have to ascertain more par- ticularly what organs are more especially liable to injury under the action of prussic acid.
24. Before concluding this communication it may be desirable to direct attention to the fact that some years ago the formation of indigo was pointed out as taking place both in the tissues of the body and also in the urine. The papers on this subject are by Dr. Hassall, and may be consulted in the ‘ Transactions of the Royal Society of Great Britain’ for 1855.
DR. MOXON, ON A MOTOR NERVE. 235
The experiments I have recorded show that the blue particles in the blood answer to tests which indicate either Prussian blue or a cyanide of iron, and that no reasons exist for supposing them to be composed of indigo.
25. If, a year ago, I had been asked if it were possible to detect the effects of prussic acid on the animal economy by the aid of the microscope, I should have unhesitatingly answered for myself, I could not, and if any one else could I should be only too glad to learn how, for it seemed to me to be out of the reach of the instrument to investigate and reveal its effects. But the direction and extent the present investigations have taken encourage me to expect that ere long many more important facts will be brought to the con- sideration and study of the medical man armed with the assistance of the microscope, even while endeavouring to fulfil his daily duties in medical practice, and that more and more additional inducements will be held out to him to work with it, with a fair promise of receiving the due reward for his labours.
Description of the PertpHerat TERMINATION of a@ Moror Nerve. By W. Moxon, M.D., F.L.S.
In the spring of the year 1862 it chanced to me, in the course of observations upon the anatomy of insect larve, to light upon an example of a muscle on which the ending of a nerve can with certainty and exactness be seen.
So much light has since that time been thrown by Con- tinental observers upon the manner of termination of nerve upon muscle, that in my observation there is now not much that is new. But I am induced to publish it because the weight of authority in this country at the present time determines to the total denial of such manner of termination, and because the insect on which the observation was made is plentifully distributed, and any competent microscopist can easily find the particular muscle and assure himself of the mode of motor nerve ending.
So long ago as 1836 Doyere first saw the ending of a motor nerve upon a muscle in Tardigrada. He described the nerve as ending in a conical expansion, the base of the cone resting on the side of the muscle, whilst its apex was continuous with the nerve, which approached the muscle at right angles.
236 DR. MOXON, ON MOTOR NERVE.
His account is fully verified by Dr. Richard Greef, in Max Schulze’s new journal (Bd. i).
In 1840 Quatrefages saw Doyere’s cone in Holidina para- doxa, and other observers in other animals, especially nema- toid worms; all agree in describing the conical ending of the one fibre on the other, but the muscle was in all cases of the unstriped kind, and the nervous nature of the fibre which joined it could not be proved. The muscles of Tardigrada, in which the observation is most satisfactory, are unstriped and without sarcolemma.
In 1846 Wagner made a doubtful statement as to the ending of a nerve by piercing a muscle.
In 1858 Munk spoke of nerve-fibres in frogs disappearing like stumps broken off.
In 1860 Kihne, and Margo six months after him, described the ending of nerves by piercing the sarcolemma of trans- versely striated muscle, and since that time several other observers, especially Rouget, Krause, and Cohnheim, have given similar descriptions, differing in points of minute detail.
In 1860 Dr. Beale gave a description of an essentially different mode of nerve termination, in which he was sup- ported by Kolliker, Rouget, and Krause; but the latter two observers have since described the nerves as ending directly upon the muscle-fibres. Dr. Beale has since, so lately as 1864, reaffirmed the same view, describing the nerves as con- tinuous, with a nucleated meshwork outside the sarcolemma.
Although it is now late to appear with such a claim, yet it is quite true that the accompanying observation was made in the spring of 1862,* and was entirely independent of any other observations. Indeed, it was only recently, in reading the subject for the purpose of this paper, that I became aware of the existence of descriptions of direct union of nerve with muscle. The books used by English students do not allude to such a mode of termination.
When investigation is made upon groups of muscle-fibres there are many obvious sources of fallacy which are avoided by using an instance such as that I now offer, wherein the muscle-fibre is single, and is supplied by a single nerve-fibre.
Again, in scrutinising with the high powers necessary for these observations the muscles of vertebrata we are apt to be misled by the corpuscles of connective tissue found in the course of nerves and vessels in all animals of that sub-kingdom. On the other hand, I believe I may say that no true connec-
* The drawing was shown to Dr. Braxton Hicks in 1863.
DR. MOXON, ON MOTOR NERVE. 237
tive tissue exists in invertebrata—certainly not in the insect larva in question—and so this source of error is absent.
Then, again, the small size and transparency of these larvze enable an observer to examine the muscles during the life of the creature, and the muscle in moving moves the nerve attached to it, so as to render abundantly evident the fact of its attachment, and to enable the observer to be certain of the attachment or otherwise of structures lying in its imme- diate neighbourhood.
The muscle to which I would direct attention is the re- tractor antennz of the larva of a gnat common in ponds in the spring of the year. This is a fibre about +,),, of an inch wide, provided with sarcolemma, which itself has nuclei upon it. The transverse striation of the fibre is complete and regular. That the nuclei are upon the sarcolemma I have not known from this muscle; but in larve which have been made dropsical by forty-eight hours’ confinement in airless water (after Doyere’s method) I have seen in muscles of the trunk the appearance shown in fig. 4 (Pl. IV), the sarcous substance torn across, and the sarcolemma bearing nuclei, extending between the broken ends of it.
From the antennal lobe of the insect’s cephalic ganglion comes the antennal nerve, a nerve of some size, which has a neurilemma-sheath provided with nuclei (hk); at some distance from the base of the chitinous antenne the nerve expands to form a long spindle-shaped ganglion fullof ganglion- cells (a), and then in this ganglionic condition enters the antenne, the cells still discernible through the chitin. About two thirds of the distance from the encephalon to the ganglion the nerve gives at right angles to its own course a branch (8) smaller than itself; this proceeds at once to the outer edge of the antennal muscle and joins the outer edge; the motor nerve is just so long as to allow the play of the muscle in its frequent contractions.
At the point where the motor antenne nerve leaves the sensory antennal nerve there is a corpuscle (f), whether neurilemmar or no I cannot say, also there are two small nuclear corpuscles (h’) close to the end of the nerve on the muscle. The union of the neurilemma and sarcolemma is a direct continuity.
I have very carefully examined the point of union in order to ascertain what is the relation of the proper fibre (axis cylinder) of the nerve with the sarcous substance of the muscle-fibre. The muscle in contracting preserves a straight border, beautifully distinct from the sinuous folds (gg) into which the sarcolemma is thrown. During extreme contrac- tion the sarcolemma is gathered up into wrinkle-like folds,
238 DR. MOXON, ON MOTOR NERVE.
and this to a very different extent on the side to which the nerve is attached (gg). On the opposite side to this attach- ment the sarcolemma fits at all times closely to the sarcous tissue, and it requires careful observation to see the wrinkles ef the membrane during contraction; but on the side to which the nerve is attached this membrane is then raised in the most obvious way into bulging folds. The inequality of the folding of the membrane on the two sides produces a puckered appearance of the oat acres, very striking during extreme contraction.
What it is that occupies the space which is thus shown to exist between the sarcous tissue and the sarcolemma on the side whereto the nerve is attached I could not be certain. Nuclei appeared to exist at the spots where the folds became most prominent, and these nuclei (or this appearance of nuclei) are visible at the same spots in the uncontracted or but slightly contracted state. It should be said that these nuclei (gg) are very distinct from the nuclei of the sarcolemma (ee), both in disposition and in appearance.
But it is not doubtful that the sarcolemma and neurilemma are simply continuous with each other, and that their respec- tive contents become continuous at the point where their union takes place.
The nervous contents of the neurilemma are, then, continu- ous with a pellucid material disposed along the same side of the fibre between the sarcous substance and the sarcolemma.
The question of the exact mode of termination of the nerve- cylinder after entering the muscle-fibre is hotly enough con- tested by Messrs. Rouget and Kiihne, and the points at issue have become extremely refined. In the larger fibres of verte- brata, on which their observations were made, the expanded end of the nerve-cylinder axis, which they agree to describe, may pro- bably be rendered necessary through the larger mass of sarcous tissue to be influenced by the nerve-fibre. In the instance I am describing the muscle-fibre is so small in proportion to the nerve-fibre that such an expanded nucleated plate could not find room, and it may be that the long, clear, uneven layer seen between the sarcolemma and sarcous tissue in continuity with the nerve may represent an equivalent structure in another shape. The large proportionate size of the nerve is worthy of remark, as it is in striking contrast with the much smaller relative size of the nerves of the muscles of the trunk in the same insects. The antenne are being constantly pro- truded and withdrawn, and in serving their purpose of sensory organs must be held under very complete and direct control by their muscles, It has been remarked, I think, first by
DR. MOXON, ON MOTOR NERVE. 239
Mr. Hilton, that the nerves of muscles are large in propor- tion as the muscles are required to be in frequent or con- stant operation, and, I may add, as their action is delicate. For the first proposition the large nerves of the sphincter ani and of the deltoid, with the other muscles whose constant operation is needed to maintain the apposition of the bones at the shoulder-joint, will serve as illustrations; for the second, the size of the nerves of the muscles of the eyeball and larynx. Another general law of the relation of muscle to nerve is also prettily illustrated in this instance, the same nerve supplies the sensory organ and the muscle which moves it, just as in human anatomy the nerve which supplies a muscle supplies also the part moved.
The muscle-fibre is so far separated from others, the space about it is so clear, and its direction so different from that of any other fibre in its remote vicinity, that no doubt could exist about any further continuation of the nerve-fibre, such as is described by Dr. Beale, if such continuation existed, and this assurance is further verified during the contraction of the muscle, for then the nerve-fibre is drawn up and down, so that | whilst its connection with the muscle is put beyond doubt, its freedom from any other connection is made certain; any other connection, if present, must at once strike the eye during movements of the muscle and nerve among quiescent parts.
Whether the nervous elements are throughout distinct from the muscular, or whether they join and unite with them, is a question of prime importance to any apprehension of the manner of action of nerve upon muscle. It was long ago surmised, and the supposition still lingers, that the loops of nerve believed to cross the muscle-fibres might induce in them contraction, as cross currents of electricity cause _ magnetic phenomena. If the view put forth by Dr. Beale were correct this theory might still find place, but the direct ending of nerve-fibres iz muscle-fibres does away entirely with the analogy, an analogy which, though attractive, was never satisfactory, because it could not be shown how the current supposed to course in the nerve-fibres could be imsu- lated.
In conclusion, I would remark the proof of a direct ending of nerve upon striated muscle-fibre in a single case must hold good for all cases alike, for I submit that no one can suppose that sometimes the nerve does go into the muscle and some- times it does not.
Nothing in all the history of Nature is so astonishing as the identity of the constructive elements of the most different
240 DR. MOXON, ON MOTOR NERVE.
animal forms, so that the muscle-fibre of a most insignificant insect grub should be in all points identical with the muscle- fibre which moves the human eye in following its motions. But such is the fact. The sarcolemma, the transversely striated contents—even the distance of the strize-—the nuclei, are all exactly such as they are in the highest vertebrata. The nerves in insects have nucleated neurilemma and axis eylinder, but want the white narrow sheath, which is not con- stant in vertebrata.
No one can doubt that muscle and nerve universally iden- tical in their construction have an equally universal identity in their manner of connection.
TRANSLATION.
CoNCERNING SOME LiTTLE-KNOWN Forms or ANIMAL. By Exias Mecznixow.*
I pusxisH the following remarks because, however deficient and incomplete they may be, yet they touch upon a number of interesting and almost forgotten animals whose natural history is so little known, that every fact that relates to them deserves attention.
I. Comtonotus anv its AtLies.—Ehrenberg has described under the name of Chetonotus and Ichthydium two genera, which, together with Ptygura and Glenophora, he considered as Rotatoria, forming a separate family of themselves. Dujardin considers these two genera, together with Coleps and Planariola, as representatives of a particular division of Infusoria, “ Infusoires symmetriques.” Other naturalists, such as Vogt and Perty, have classed the Ichthydina with the Vermes. This idea was taken up with great zeal by Max Schultze, who added to the two former known genera a new one, Turbanella. This able naturalist considering the Ichthydina to be animals most nearly related to the Tur- bellaria, places them near the Microstoma and Dinophilus, as Arhynchia monoiea. Schmarda considers the Ichthydina to be Annelids, and places them under the Naids. Leydig and many other naturalists hold the opinion of Schultze.
In recent times one has almost forgotten the Ichthydina, because neither Carus nor Troschel mentions them in their handbooks.
Ehlers alone mentions them, but without saying anything certain about them ; he says, ‘The Ichthydina are wrongly connected with the Rotatoria. I do not know if a muscular system lies under their chitinous integument, but I should guess from the bristles on Turbanella, and from the organisa- tion of the digestive tube in all, that they form a small particular division of worms which is best placed under the Nematodes.”
* Translated from Kolliker and Sicbold’s ‘ Zeitschrift,’ 4th part, 1865.
242 MECZNIKOW, ON ICHTHYDIUM, ETC.
From the foregoing it will be seen that the Ichthydina form an interesting, but, as yet, little known group of animals.
Ehrenberg has described three species belonging to the genus Chetonotus, to which Dujardin adds a fourth, Cheto- notus tesselatus. The diagnoses and descriptions of these naturalists are too incomplete to determine certainly the differences of species; hence later naturalists, as Perty and Schultze, have merely guessed the identity of the above- mentioned species. As for the forms described by Ehren- berg, I think I am right in uniting them in a single species under the name of Chetonotus larus, whose chief character consists in the form of the dorsal bristles, which are not, as those described by Schultze, formed of two diffe- rent parts, but consist of one single, simple, crooked bristle. That form which is described by M. Schultze, and most likely also by Perty, as Chetonotus maximus, must be con- sidered as a new kind, and therefore may well be named Chetonotus Schultz. If now it is considered that the dorsal bristles are the criterion of species among the forms belong- ing to the genus Chetonotus, one must consider that de- scribed by Dujardin as Chetonotus tesselatus, as a distinct species; and, in fact, this kind (of which I have found not a few in Charkow and in Giessen) differs remarkably from all others, in the peculiarly scaly form of its dorsal bristles. Besides these, I know another form of Chetonofus which I consider new, because of the peculiar form of the back bristles, one of which I have figured in fig. 6a. This form, which was found in the marshes of Giessen, I name Chetonotus hystrix ; it is 0°12 mm. long.
Of the genus Ichthydium I know a new one which was ex- amined by me in the province of Charkow, and which from the peculiarities it presented I name Ichthydium ocellatum. This bottle-formed species as represented in fig. 4 is pro- vided on the forepart with some pretty long hairs, and, besides this, with a ciliated covering on the ventral surface.
Besides the two forms just mentioned, I have noticed two which I consider to be representatives of two peculiar genera. One of these is stretched longitudinally, and not bottle- shaped, as Chetonotus, Ichthydium, and my other new genera ; the head is in fact somewhat broader than the rest of the body ; the back is provided with elevations which are placed one after the other. The ventral surface is covered with a tunic of cilia; on the back of the tail-end there is a row of strongly bent bristles. On the hind part of the body there are two dichotomous furcal appendages which are very cha- racteristic of the animal.
MECZNIKOW, ON ICHTHYDIUM, ETC. 243
In the summer of 1863, during my stay in my fatherland (Charkow), I noticed a single example of this, which was equal in size to Chetonotus larus, and which I name Chetura (nov. gen.), capricornia (nov. spec.). It was found in a marsh. (Pl. V, figs. 2 and 3.)
Another form of the family Ichthydina is also known to me from a single example which I noticed in Giessen in the autumn of the following year. This is a small species, 0°08 mm. long, which I name Cephalidium (nov. gen.) longisetosum (noy. spec.). It is also bottle-formed, and has a blunted broad head, whose foremost end has a distinct mouth-appa- ratus, and is provided all over its surface with long vibratile hairs. To the head follows a thin neck, which joins itself to the body; this is provided on the dorsal surface with very long and strong bristles, and on the ventral surface with small vibrating hairs; at the posterior end there are no furcal appendages, but on the side of it right and left there is a bristle placed on a little knob, which represents without doubt a sensory organ (fig. 4).
As regards the anatomical properties of the forms described, I must remark that there is generally no complexity or in- tricacy. The cuticula of the Ichthydina protects them from reagents, as in Rotatoria and many Infusors. It is easily dissolved in sulphuric acid, whilst in other acids, and even in alcohol, this is not the case. At least, I may so say from experiments which I have performed in a different way to other naturalists. I have placed animals which were being treated with a solution of ammonia into this fluid, together with sand granules, and was still able to distinguish the very fine and comparatively generally opaque cuticula, because through the contact with the sand granules the outline of the cuticula became plain.
The cuticula in most of the bristleless kinds is provided with fine diagonal stripes. Under the cuticula lies a granular layer which passes directly into the parenchyma, formed of simple grains. In this I could find as little trace of muscles and nerves as my predecessors ; although these observations do not in any way shut out the possibility of there being such formations, yet their non-presence seems to be nothing unnatural ; it is satisfactorily known that very young embryos perform the same motions by means of different tissues which are performed by the muscles in the adults. I need only call to mind the Nematodes, among which there are forms which even when in an adult state permit no signs of muscles to be seen.
One could say the same in regard to the nervous system ;
244 MECZNIKOW, ON ICHTHYDIUM, ETC.
if in our case its absence should seem to stand in contradic- tion to the important development of the sensory apparatus. Besides the presence already mentioned of complicated eyes and light-breaking bodies in Ichthydium ocellatum, the sense organs of these animals are represented by various sensitive hairs, such as the dorsal bristles of all kinds of Chetonotus (those bristle-formed elevations mentioned by Schultze in Turbanella, must also be reckoned among them), as well as the long bristles of Cephalidium, and those stiff erect hairs on the foremost part of the body (see in Ichthy- dium ocellatum, Plate V, fig. 1). To these belong also the above-mentioned fine bristles on the tail-end of Cepha- lidium. Besides this, the cuticula carries vibrating hairs, which in all sorts of Ichthydina are disposed on the ventral surface, and are present in Cephalidium, only on the head, in the form of long cilia. The vibrating hairs are either of that kind described by M. Schultze in his Chetonotus maximus (Schultzii), or are disposed as a simple covering of equal- sized hairs. Through the movement of these ventral cilia a current of the surrounding fluid is made, even when the animals themselves are at rest.
The digestive apparatus is the same in all Ichthydina. The mouth opening at the fore end, on the ventral surface of the body, is surrounded with a chitinous ring which appears in some kinds of Chetonotus as a body provided with vertical thickenings. In Cephalidium the oral aperture is placed on an expanded plate, not being provided with a mouth-ring. The mouth leads into a narrow pharynx or cesophagus, which is provided with strong chitinous walls, and which is sur- rounded by a thick layer, in which in some species distinct square markings are seen, whilst in others it is perfectly homogenous. The true chylus intestine follows the esophagus. This runs straight to the anus placed on the back, and is provided with numerous oil-globules.
With regard to their generative powers I must own that my knowledge is far from perfect. But this much is certain, that all those which I have examined are of different sexes, and not hermaphrodites, as those described by M. Schultze, which, perhaps, may be only impregnated females. The female generative organs of those individuals examined by me, which were old enough to enable me to distinguish the sex, have all the same simple structure which Schultze has described in his species. As I have discovered in Chetonotus larus, they produce two kinds of eggs, which are clearly the so-called winter and summer eggs, phenomena which have long been known in the Rotatoria.
MECZNIKOW, ON ICHTHYDIUM, ETC. . 245
In the same example of Chetonotus larus I found in the cavity of the body a number of eggs from 0°19 mm. to 0:026 mm. long, which were without the egg covering, and were observed in the process of segmentation. We may consider these hitherto unknown forms as summer eggs. The winter eggs which have already been examined by other naturalists have, as is known, other characters; they are in the same species of which I examined the summer eggs, 0°06 mm. long, and have a thick shell.
As to the male generative organs of our animals I still remain in the dark ; but still I retain the hope of finding out their relation through other experiments. I can only put forth the supposition that certain cellular bodies which I found in some individuals of Chetonotus represent the male genitals. This supposition cannot be proved, but still it is possible that our animals, as the Rotatoria, show a sexual dimorphism, and that the rare male has till now entirely escaped me.
Amongst different alge, Infusors and Rotatoria, I once found a few eggs which were 0:02 mm. to 0:033 mm. long, and which were provided with a pretty thick shell, whose in- side contained a perfectly formed, lively embryo in a bent-up position. These embryos, which belonged to Ichthydium podura, were perfectly like their parents, and were only to be distinguished from them by wanting the generative organs. This remark is at least interesting, because it shows the absence of any metamorphosis in the Ichthydina.
Having made these incomplete remarks on the interesting family of Ichthydina, I shall allow myself to make some observations on the systematic position, that is, the relation- ship of these animals.
Ehrenberg has already made known that the Ichthydina differ from the Rotatoria in many respects, an idea which Dujardin takes up much more strongly, separating our animals entirely from the Systolids. The difference between these two groups is in the absence of the jaws and a resistent body-covering in Ichthydina, and in the want ‘de cette con- tractilité, qui est tout-a-fait caractéristique chez les Systo- lides.” Although the first point, namely, that of the absence of jaws in Ichthydina, on the whole is quite right, yet I do not think that we can consider this character as an impor- tant one, because we know for certain that the Rotatoria show a great variety in their digestive organs. I need scarcely re- mind you of the male, who is completely without these organs, or of the presence or absence of the anus in different forms of Rotatoria. We know, too, that the jaws which are con- stantly present in the female show often a striking variation,
246 MECZNIKOW, ON ICHTHYDIUM, ETC,
as, for example, in Aldertia crystallina ; but most probably the absence of jaws in the Ichthydina is a property which will always serve as a certain distinction between them and the Rotatoria.
But it is otherwise as regards the other. points put forth by Dujardin, since the absence of a stout integument and a peculiar kind of contractility cannot in any way be used as a systematic character. Strictly speaking, this statement of Dujardin is net at all true, because there is no difference between the movements of some kinds of Notommata and those of Ichthydina.
I leave the idea of Schmarda, namely, that the Ichthydina belong to the Naids, without further notice, because even Schmarda himself does not try to prove his view. I am quite certain that this view is as worthy of acceptance as the supposition that the Rotatoria are stationary annelid larvee.*
Max Schultze finds other grounds for the separation of the Ichthydina from the Rotatoria. He says, ‘ A uniting of the Ichthydina with the Rotatoria is impossible, because of the want in the former of the vibrating organs on the mouth and the back, and of the perfection of the muscles, nerves, and water vessels, which are so characteristic of the Rotatoria.”
Against the truth of the first position of Schultze I may advance the presence of cephalic cilia on Cephalidium, and the form of the vibrating apparatus in some wheel animals (for example, Furcularia, Diglena forcipata, and Notommata), where it is represented by a simple vibrating patch which lies on the surface of the belly. The other suppositions of Schultze are also wrong, because different muscles and nerves are wanting just as much in many lower Rotatoria as they are in Ichthydina. The nervous system is found in a very few Rotatoria. Moreover the water vessels in many Rotatoria consist only of contractile bubbles, and are wanting altogether in Albertia crystallina, as Schultze himself says.
We cannot agree with Schultze, that the Ichthydina are more nearly allied to the Turbellaria than to any other group, and we even believe that our animals bear only a very distant likeness to the Turbellaria, that is, to the Annelids.
Let us try to prove the relationship of Ichthydina with the Turbellaria by nearer comparison. As to the properties of the body, we cannot fail to remark that the typical flattening of the more or less oval body of Turbellaria does not exhibit itself in any of the animals belonging to the group of
* It is Prof. Huxley’s explanation of the morphology of Rotatoria which the author rejects.
MECZNIKOW, ON ICHTHYDIUM, ETC. 247
Ichthydina, whilst the peculiar bottle- or retort-like shape of the latter is entirely strange to the Turbellaria. The furcal appendages on the tail of Ichthydina present also a striking difference between them and the Turbellaria. In the same way the characteristic integuments show very con- stant and important differences. The outside covering of the Turbellaria consists of a soft epithelial tunic, whose cells are all or nearly all provided with vibrating hairs, amongst which there are comparatively seldom stiff feeling-hairs. A cuticula is wanting in all Turbellaria in Arhynchia, as well as-in Rhynchocela. I may state this the more safely in contradiction to Keferstein, who describes the Nemertina as having a cuticula, because I have searched in vain for it in all the Nemertina which I found in Heligoland.
But the outside covering of the Ichthydina is quite different; these possess, as I have before stated, a firm cuticula, which consists of chitin, and which bears a number of different firm excrescences. The vibrating hairs of our animal are, in com- parison with those of Turbellaria, very closely distributed, and are also peculiar on account of their conjunction with the cuticula. These differences in the integument, which also give rise to the differences of form in the two groups, seem to be so striking that we may readily use them as proofs against the opinion of Schultze, whilst the anatomical properties also of these animals do not present any striking agreement. Besides this, I must remark that, as we have seen above, the peculiarly simple organisation of the Ichthydina cannot have so great a systematical worth as other naturalists think. If one were to consider the negative character, the want of muscles, nerves, and water vessels, of our animals as important in regard to their systematic position, we could use the same character in regard to Infusors, and, in fact, to all animals which show a like want.
Neither can I agree with Ehlers’ idea above mentioned, since I can see no important reasons for the relationship of Ichthydina with Nematodes in the alimentary apparatus of the former. The winding of muscular tissue in the cesophagus is present in Rotatoria and Tardigrada, and the straight intestine in a number of lower animals. The secondary like- ness in the formation of the digestive organs loses all import- ance when we compare the other organs of the Ichthydina and Nematodes, which have nothing in common.
From the foregoing remarks it is easy to see that I believe the nearest allies of our animals to be the Rotatoria. This is shown, not only by the above attempts at combating the ideas of Schultze and Dujardin, but also by a nearer com-
248 MECZNIKOW, ON ICHTHYDIUM, ETC.
parison of the two groups of animal. Concerning the former we must admit that the bottle-shaped forms of Cheto- notus, Ichthydium, and Cephalidium, are like no forms of Rotatoria; but, on the other hand, we may add that our Chetura bears a great resemblance to certain soft wheel animals, for example, to Notommata tardigrada. The furcal appendages of our Ichthydina find analogous forms only in the Rotatoria. The similarity of form of the vibrating apparatus, which becomes apparent especially on comparing the interesting ciliated apparatus in Cephalidium with certain- wheel animals, I have mentioned and considered as a point of relationship between the two animal groups. The presence of two kinds of eggs in our animal speaks strongly for my idea ; -as regards the other organs, we can satisfy ourselves if we remember the above critique on the ideas of other naturalists. We add only one more proof, namely, that the highly developed sensory organs in the Ichthydina agree with the same structures in the Rotatoria. The relationship between the two groups cannot be carried into details. The absence of jaws, and the presence of ventral cilia, in the Ichthydina, together with a few secondary properties, show striking differences between them. If we reckon all these circumstances together, we come to the conclusion that the Ichthydina form a small group of themselves, which is related to the Rotatoria, and is best named Gastrotricha. If we call the wheel animals after their most striking character, Cephalotricha, then we can perhaps not unfittingly form a new class out of these two orders, which possess some re- lationship with the Vermes, and a still more distant one with the Arthropods.
The arrangement of the Gastrotricha consists at present of six genera:—Chetonotus (Ehrenb.), Ichthydium (Ehrenberg), Turbanella (Schultze), Sacculus (Gosse), Chetura (Mihi), and Cephalidium (Mihi).
II. Remarks on Ecuinoprres.—Dujardin has described under this name a remarkable animal which he found at St. Malo, which appeared to be related to the Worms as well as the Rotatoria and lower Entomostraca. The same animal was found by Leuckart in Heligoland, and was considered to be a Dipterous larva. Claperéde has lately made some further remarks concerning this creature, which he calls Hchinoderes Dujardinii, and has added some remarks on a second new form, namely, Echinoderes monocercus.
I have found and examined both the species mentioned, in Heligoland ; but, nevertheless, have found nothing which can
MECZNIKOW, ON ICHTHYDIUM, ETC. 249
give any conclusive result as to the nature of these remark- able animals ; therefore my wish is only to amplify or correct some conclusions of Claperéde, which merely touch upon the outside skeleton.
The body of our animal (Hchinod. Duj.) is convex on the back, and, on the contrary, concave on the belly, so that the diameter shows a kidney-like form. The three foremost segments differ in that they seem to be convex on the ventral surface. The first body-segment consists of a thin lamella, which is provided with perpendicular thickenings of the cuticula, with a bending character, and which therefore differs from all the other rings. It is a formation which is obviously necessary for the pushing in and out of the snout- like head. The following segment possesses a strong cuticula, which is simply thickened on the upper edge, and which shows on the lower edge a fine marking. The markings resemble thickened stripes on the edge of the cuticula, and form in no way, as Claperéde represents, “a girdle of stiff bristles, which arise from different pieces of chitin.’ The third, which is also biconvex, differs from the others principally because on its thickened ring begins a division into sections. ‘Two tergal pieces are formed by a looping on the middle line in the back, which pass to the side parts of the body, and stop again at two symmetrical loops of the unequal sternal portion. On the back surface of the third segment is a middle unpaired tuft of bristles.
The skeleton commences only in the fourth segment, and does not occur, as Claperéde states, in every segment but the first. Here the sternal plate splits itself into two separate pieces by a deep crack which lies in the middle of the body, formed by bending in the concavity of the ventral sur-
face. In this segment, as well as in all following, the above- mentioned indentation, which divides both the tergal portions, can be plainly seen—a fact which Claperéde has quite over- looked, as he described the whole skeleton as consisting of only one tergal and two sternal parts.
The formation of the skeleton as described by me in the fourth is true for all the following, and for the last or furcal segment which is formed by two plates. The strong ventral and more weakly marked dorsal indentations both continue to the end of the body. The furcal parts carry on both sides a long and a shorter tuft of bristles, which, like the bristles on the penultimate segment, arise from the ridge of the skeleton. But the other bristles are placed very diffe- rently. In the middle of the back, in the neighbourhood of the dorsal indentation, there is a bristle from the third to the
VOL. VII.—NEW SER. s
250 MECZNIKOW, ON ICHTHYDIUM, ETC.
ninth segment, and on the sides of the body there is from the sixth to the tenth segment just such a one on each side.
Besides the EL. Dwardinii upon which the foregoing re- marks touch, I have also examined EH. monocercus as described by Claperéde. I have also a few remarks to make on this form.
This second kind is about 0:2 mm. long, and is easily distinguished through the pale colour of the skeleton, but one finds still further differences if one examines it closely. Claperéde speaks as follows about it :—“ Instead of the long terminal bristles of H. Dujardinii, we find in E. mono- cercus an unequal tail-tuft of bristles which really belongs to the back, so that the anus comes to lie underneath it; as to the rest, the exo-skeleton of HE. monocercus agrees with that of H. Dujardinii.”” But in spite of this plain statement the skeleton of both these kinds is strikingly different; not only in EZ. monocercus is the division of the exo- skeleton into four parts wanting, but it differs from the former species in that the unequal bristles on the posterior segments increase in size. The tail-bristle in L. monocercus agrees therefore in no way with the last bristle in LE. Dyardinii, as Claperéde believes. The correctness of my idea is borne out not only by the circumstance that this bristle lies above the anus, but also by a peculiarity of HL. monocercus, which Claperéde had overlooked, and which first induced me to oppose his ideas. This peculiarity is that EH. monocercus consists of eleven segments, and not twelve, as HE. Dwjardinii. Therefore the last furcal segment is wanting in E. monocercus, and the last segment in this species agrees with the last but one in the other. The difference in the bristle armature of the two kinds consequently reduces itself to this—namely, to the presence of the dorsal, that is, the side bristles on the last segment of EH. monocercus.
But at the same time I think J may consider this kind to be only a young condition of E. Dujardinii.
As regards the inner inaccessible organisation of our animal I can only add some remarks to those of Claperéde. I must first state that our animal possesses a layer of side muscles under the integument, whose single broad structure- less fibres stand far from one another, and run through the whole length of the body. I may also add, that the sexual organs described by Claperéde cannot be counted as male or any other part of the generative apparatus, because they consist of an ill-defined mass of cells, which lie on each side in the four last segments, and have no plain communication with a tube or efferent canal, as Claperéde supposes.
MECZNIKOW, ON ICHTHYDIUM, ETC. 201
As to the systematic position of this animal, through our incomplete knowledge of it, it is difficult to say much. It seems to me possible that the Echinoderes represents the larval condition of a perhaps unknown creature. At all events, the independence of this animal can scarcely be proved. This much is certain, that the Echinoderes bears no remark- able relationship to the Ichthydina, as M. Schultze believes, and still less to Nematodes, as Ehlers maintains.
IIT. ConcerNING THE OUTSIDE STRUCTURE OF DesMoscoLex. —After having spoken of a very little known animal, I will now pass on to a still less known one, which was discovered by Claperéde, and named by him Desmoscolex minutus, which I have found in Heligoland. This animal possesses, besides the head, eighteen strongly chitinised brown-coloured rings, which are separated from one another by pale elastic spaces. From the brown rings (the head being omitted) spring peculiar tubercles, which Claperéde considers to be compound Annelid bristles, and which he has used for the foundation of his ideas on the zoological nature of these animals. But the closer examination of these bristles allows us to contradict the idea of Claperéde. Each such bristle forms an uninterrupted continuation of the segment ridge itself, and is not therefore planted in the space of the same, as is the case with Annelid bristles. To this may be added that the somewhat crooked and tapering bristles show in the inside a fine canal, and pass at their end to a fine flat point, which must be considered as a particular part of the bristle, but which at the same time can give no foundation for a com- parison with a compound Annelid bristle. Both parts ‘stand in uninterrupted connection with one another, and therefore present a form which I consider as a sensitive hair, and would in a certain sense compare with cirrhi and tentacular cirrhi.
After my description and elucidation of the bristles, their position on the head will lose all that is paradoxical. Besides the four head bristles, Claperéde describes in his species others which are placed on each side of the second, fourth, sixth, eighth, &c., segments. This description does not entirely agree with his drawing, where there is no bristle to be seen at the sixteenth segment, but where on the other hand the following segment is provided with four.
In on species—if it represents a new kind at all—the position of the bristle is still more peculiar. Our animal bears through- out, besides the four head bristles already known, one pair on each segment (with exception of the eleventh and fifteenth). One of the bristles lies in the median line of the animal in the
252 MECZNIKOW, ON ICHTHYDIUM, ETC.
second, fourth, sixth, tenth, twelfth, fourteenth, and seven- teenth segments, on the ventral surface, and in all the rest on the dorsal surface (compare Pl. V, fig. 9). The side bristles are placed on the left of those segments which carry the ventral median bristles, and in the rest on the right. The last, and at the same time the smallest, ring forms an excep- tion, in that its two terminal bristles are very near one another, ‘and arise from the under edge of the segment.
These remarks may be sufficient to show, in spite of the contrary supposition of Claperéde, that these animals are not in any way allied to the Annelids, and in fact not to the Worms at all. It strikes me as being probable that Desmos- colex is the larval condition of a known or unknown Arthropod, and I can only hope that more fortunate researches may very soon give a firmer footing for a judgment on the question.
QUARTERLY CHRONICLE OF MICROSCOPICAL SCIENCE.
GERMANY.—We fear that our anticipations expressed in the last Chronicle have proved too true. We have not received any number of the ‘ Zeitschrift,’ or of Max Schultze’s ‘Archiv,’ since last May, and can only conclude that the excitement and pressure caused by the late war have delayed their publication.
Muller’s Archiv. July.—The following microscopical papers occur in this number :— Microscopical Researches on the Texture, Development, &c., of Fatty Tissue,” by Herr Czjawicz. “ On the Black Pigment of the Lung and the Iung Cuticle,” by Herr Mettenheimer. ‘“ On the Trachee of Tenebrio mo- litor (Meal worm),”’ by Drs. Landois and Thelen. ‘ On Spiral Bundles in the Sympathetic of the Frog,’ by Dr. J. Sander. “ On the Typical Structure of the Echinodermata,’ by Dr. Dornitz.
FRANCE.—Comptes Rendus.—“ On the Reproduction and Embryogeny of the Aphides,’’ is the title of a paper lately laid before the Academy by M. le Dr. Balbiani. The author remarks that, “ according to the ideas which observers have formed of the nature of the reproductive organs of these insects, their multiplication has been referred sometimes to the phenomenon of alternate generations, sometimes to those of parthenogenesis. As regards the opinion which assumes an androgynous condition in these animals, and is still main- tained by some authors, as well as by Leeuwenhoek, Cestoni, and Réaumur, it rests upon a mere hypothesis which has not yet received its demonstration by the detection of the male element in the viviparous Aphides.” It is this last view which M. Balbiani defends in his paper, by adducing observations which he considers afford the positive proof for which science
254. QUARTERLY CHRONICLE.
has waited since the time of the illustrious observers who first pronounced in favour of the hermaphroditism of these creatures. He believes that this state is the normal condition of the Aphides throughout the viviparous period of their existence, and that, under certain determinate conditions, a separation of the sexes is effected, and their mode of reproduction reverts to the law common to the gene- rality of species of animals.
The ovary of the viviparous Aphis is minutely described by the author, and the changes undergone by the ovum or pseud-ovum, in its earlier stages, in the first part of his paper. In the second, the embryonal development is entered upon, and the evolution of a seminal vesicle and two male glandular cords is described. The seminal corpuscles are stated to be developed from larger coloured cells which con- stitute the mass of the male organs situated in the vicinity of the ovaries. They have an amceboid form, and sometimes break up into small, unequal bacilli, ‘(005 mm. in length. M. Balbiani states that several times he has succeeded in seeing some of these corpuscles in the ovarian tubes, or forming small groups at the bottom of the terminal chamber of the ovigerous sheaths.—The third portion of the paper is devoted to the consideration of the oviparous-sexual Aphides. Up to the period of birth, the development of both oviparous and viviparous Aphides is stated to be the same. It is only when their development has become considerably advanced that the first tendency to the separation of the sexes is ma- nifested. The separation is not effected by the atrophy of one of (what M. Balbiani considers to be) the sexual appa- ratuses. The male apparatus is said not to disappear, but is found after birth, in individuals of both sexes, with characters scarcely differing from those which it presents in the vivi- parous Aphides. M. Balbiani says that this male embryonic organ must not be confounded with an ordinary testis; but he will not say what it is until another occasion. He main- tains that this male organ arrives at maturity even in the females which are to produce eggs in the usual manner, to be fertilised by copulation, and that it, in some mysterious manner, fecundates the ovum within the female before copu- lative fertilisation has occurred. It really would be very desirable that we should hear a little more about this extra-_ ordinary male organ, which is not a testis, and which never- theless is said to impregnate the ova of viviparous and ovi- parous Aphides, which possess it. Surely it is not correct to apply the term hermaphrodite to a female simply because she may possess this very questionable organ. Like too many of
+ QUARTERLY CHRONICLE. 255
his countrymen, we notice that M. Balbiani pays very little regard to what previous observers have written on the same subject.
Annales des Sciences Naturelles. Tom. V.—‘ On a New Parasitic Crustacean, belonging to the order Lerneida, forming anew family,’ by M. Hesse. The very remarkable crustacean described by M. Hesse was observed by him very commonly burrowing in the scales of the Green Wrasse (Labrus Dono- vant). It has five thoracic and six abdominal segments ; the head terminates in a round point, and has a single median eye. The maleisunknown. M. Hesse systematises this form as follows among the Lernzida:—“< Family Lerneosiphono- stomee. Females fixed upon their prey by means of the scales of the latter, in which they hollow out a residence. Several footjaws placed around the mouth. Head not horned. Oviferous pouches, large and flat.—Genus Lepidophilus. Body fusiform, divided into eleven segments which are very distinct, with the exception of the third and fourth; of these five are thoracic and six abdominal ; all surrounded by a transparent border. Head small, rounded at the apex, bearing above a median eye, and beneath presenting the buccal orifice, which emits, in a proboscidiform process, some denticulated jaws adapted for the trituration of objects, and laterally three pairs of prehensile footjaws. Antenne very small, rounded at the end, and terminated by divergent hairs. Abdominal segments retractile and capable of invagination ; last segments termi- nated by divergent appendages. Embryo ovulate, furnished with three pairs of feet. Eggs agglutinated, and forming a broad fiat mass.—Species Lepidophilus Labri. Colour vary- ing from yellow to pale red. Length about 10 to 12 mm.”
July.—* New Observations on the Multiplication of the Ceci- domyie,’ by M. F. Meinert.—The author gives an abstract of two papers published by him on this subject, of the greatest value ; they appeared in M. Schjédte’s ‘ Naturhistorisk Tids.. skrift,’ 3rd ser., vol. ii. In the first, entitled “On the Origin of the Germs in the Larve of Miastor,’ he maintains, contrary to the opinion of Pagenstecher, that the germs of the larvze originate in the adipose tissue (see former Chroni- cles). The second, which is entitled “ Some further Words on the Miastor,” contains some remarks on the formation of the germs in another larva of the Cecidomyiz, and on the for- mation and the development of the egg in animals in general. And here the author describes more minutely the relation between the germs and the corpus adiposum. He also was the first to show that two forms of two very different genera have been the subject of the researches of different authors;
256 QUARTERLY CHRONICLE.
That of Wagener is the Miastor, that of.Pagenstecher and Leuckart is Oligarces.
In Miastor, the cells which become germs form part of the adipose tissue ; but in Oligarces they are a little separated from it, though they do not form an ovary properly speaking, for all the cells develope into eggs and larve, and none serve to form the stroma, or envelopes of the eggs, nor any analogous functions. M. Meinert explains the peculiarities of the Cecidomyia larvze by the following general views :—-The egg is composed either of a single cell, the “‘ germinative cell,” or of the germinative cell accompanied byothers—“ vitelline cells,” or their secretion the “vitelline mass.’”? The mammalian egg, and that of most inferior animals, belongs to the first category. That of other animals, and especially that of birds, belongs to the second, and that of most insects to the third sort. The single “ germinative cell” of which the nucleus is the “ germinal vesicle” is subject to the vitelline segmentation so much discussed. The “ vitelline cells” and the “ vitelline mass” are never broken up, but pass without any form of development to the nutritive vitellus. The germinative cell divides by “vitelline segmentation ” (or, as one ought by rights to call it, “segmentation of the germinative cell”) into minute cells (embryonic cells). One part of these embryonic cells, which are not absorbed by the formation of the embryo, furnish the material for the new ovaries and testicles ; and generally some of the cells form a stroma which separates and encloses a more or less consider- able quantity of other cells. The non-separated cells which remain form, among the insects, what one calls “ the adipose tissue.” Another element, the sperm, is necessary among most animals in order that the egg, or rather the germinative cell of the egg, may be able to develope ; but this stimulus is not always necessary among a large number of inferior ani- mals. The development-of the egg does not depend at all upon 2 certain more or less advanced point of development of the maternal animal, or of its ovary; for the maternal animal attains sometimes a complete development, even with the external and internal genital marks (partheno- genesis, the Bee); sometimes it advances only to the larval condition without genital marks, and this may repeat itself through several generations—in some cases under the same larval form (our Cecidomyia), sometimes under a diverse exterior (alternating generation, or rather metagenesis, Trematodes). M. Meinert does not at all admit that there is a marked limit between parthenogenesis and metagenesis, and that one can, for example, explain in two ways the mode of
QUARTERLY CHRONICLE. 257
propagation in the Aphides. In relation to other insects, he considers it as characteristic, that whilst it is necessary in general to draw a distinction between the epithelial and vitelline cells, and that these last serve solely to nourish the embryo, the epithelial cells in this case, on the contrary, serve for the epithelium and vitelline cells of the larve.
Journal de l’Anatomie et de la Physioligie (Robin’s)—In the number of this periodical issued for the months of July and August, will be found a paper “ On the Organisation of the Linguatule of Serpents,’ by M. Jacquart, the best part of which is the plate. The nervous system is well figured, the author having established the fact of the existence of a sub- cesophageal ganglion, but he has failed to trace any cerebri- form ganglion. The embryos of the Linguatule described are figured, and the author remarks that they are quite similar to those of the Lernzans.
The number for September and October contains some good papers.
“* Microscopic Researches on the Lymphatic Vessels of the Penis,’ by M. le. Docteur Al. Belaieff.—This paper is accom- panied by two plates illustrating preparations described by the author. The bulk of the paper is occupied by a descrip- tion of the method of preparation adopted, the disposition and form of the lymphatics being best shown by the plate.
“* Study on the Development of Fibrillous (called Connec- tive) and Fibrous Tissues,” by M. le Docteur E. C. Ordonez. —This is a long essay illustrated by two plates. The author finishes by giving the following conclusions :—1lst. The cor- puscles, called indifferently plasma-cells and corpuscles of connective tissue, are not permanent elements belonging peculiarly to fibrillous or connective tissue, but rather transi- tory elements belonging properly to elastic tissue, and in which the existence of a cavity cannot be demonstrated by any means. 2nd. The primitive fibrille of fibrillous tissue, called “ connective,” possesses no central canal ; no procedure can demonstrate such a canal. 3rd. The elastic fibres are certainly not canaliferous. Hence the theory proposed by Virchow in his ‘ Cellular Pathology’ is no longer supportable, for it has no foundations but hypotheses, and our study has led us to oppose to these hypotheses, facts, which any observer can verify.
“ Researches on the Structure of the Pulmonary Vesicle, and on Emphysema,” by M. Villemin.—This paper appears to be of some pathological interest. It was originally com- municated to the French Société de Micrographie.
258 QUARTERLY CHRONICLE.
Among the miscellaneous extracts and notices at the end of Robins’s Journal, we would draw attention to—
‘“‘ Hematozoa found in the right Heart of a Dog,’ by M. Collas. —It appears that the dog in question fell down dead, when a post-mortem showed a mass of entozoa, fourteen to fifteen in number, packed together in the right ventricle, auricle, and pulmonary artery. The largest was 230 mm. in length. When the worms were crushed, little worms came out from them 72 mm. in length, very fine and thread- like. The parasite appears to be the Pseudalius filum of Dujardin, common in the Porpoise.
“ On the Action exercised by Electricity on the Noctiluca miliaris,’ by MM. Ch. Robin and Ch, Legros.—In the first place, the authors feel satisfied that the phosphor- escence exhibited by Noctiluca is not localised at any particular spot, but is exhibited at the centre of irritation. If the irritation is increased, the phosphorescence becomes general. A current of electricity was made to pass through a vessel containing Noctiluca. The effect produced was a line of phosphorescent Noctiluce between the poles of the battery used, the phosphorescence ceasing and recurring with the making and breaking of the electric circle.
ENGLAND.—Annals and Magazine of Natural History. July.—* On the Affinities of Peridinium Cypripedium, Jas. Clk., and Urocentrum Turbo, Ehr.,” by Prof. H. James Clark, A.B., B.S., Soe. Am. Acad.—In this paper Mr. Clark replies to an attack upon his identification of Peridinium, lately made by Mr. Carter in the ‘Annals.’ An abstract of the original paper was given in these pages.
“On the Rhabdocela,” by HK. Mecznikow.—This is a translation, by Mr. Dallas, of an interesting paper by this hard-working observer. In the first part of his paper he discusses the reproductive organs of Prostomum, describes a new species, P. Heligolandicum, and states that he met with Claparéde’s P. Caledonicum in Heligoland. Secondly, he briefly describes a marine species of Acmostomum, a genus established by Schmarda on two North American brackish- water forms. Thirdly, he describes a remarkable Turbellarian allied to the Alaurina prolifera of Busch, once found at Malaga, and similar also to a form described by Claparéde as a larval Turbellarian occurring on the Scottish coasts. Both these animals were sexless. Herr Mecznikow’s specimens were composed of four parts, the foremost being longest, the total length of the animal being 14 mm. The anterior part was furnished with a tactile proboscis, differing in colour from the body, and in the absence of the fine coat of
QUARTERLY CHRONICLE. 259
cilia by which that was covered. There were no strong vibratile hairs as in Claparéde’s animal, but there was a long posterior seta similar to those of Busch’s Alaurine. The pharynx was muscular, and the intestine straight; no trace of a nervous system occurred. On either side of the body was a fine water-vascular stem. This Alaurina is evidently not a larva, since in each segment hermaphrodite organs were present. The four parts are not to be considered as buds which will separate, but as analagous to the joints of the animal colonies of Cestoda, as suggested by Prof. Leuckart to the author. He would classify the Microstome and Alaurine as allied families under the Rhabdocela.
August.— Observations on the Microscopic Shell-structure of Spirifer cuspidatus, Sow., and some similar forms,’ by F. B. Meek.—This abstract from ‘Silliman’s American Journal ” for May, 1866, is of considerable interest as bearing on the late controversy between Dr. Carpenter and Professor King as to the structure of Rhynchopora Geinitziana. My. Meek shows that the shell of Spirifer cuspidatus, both of American and Irish specimens, is clearly punctate, contrary to the decision of Dr. Carpenter. It must, however, be borne in mind that the statements of so practised and able an observer as Dr. Carpenter are not lightly to be called in question either by Mr. King or Mr. Meek.
September.—‘‘ On two New Species of Freshwater Poly- zoa,” by Edward Parfitt. The species described and figured are called Plumatella lineata, and Pl. Limne. The first is from a pond, the second from the canal at Exeter.
British Association Microscopical papers were not abun- dant at Nottingham, but we have one or two to chronicle.
“ On the Movements of the Protoplasm of the Egg of Osseous Fishes,’ by Dr. Ransom, of Nottingham.—This and the paper the title of which is given below are, to a certain extent, parts of a memoir lately presented by the author to the Royal Society, of very great interest, and the result of very careful researches. The contractions exhibited by the yelk were shown to be independent of the action of spermato- zooids, and to be reactions following the entrance of water into thebreathing chamber ; and this not only as regards the rhyth- mic waves which pass over the surface of the food-yelk, but also the fissile contractility of the formative yelk, by virtue of which it cleaves into irregular and unsymmetrical masses, and which the author conceived only to be regulated by the influence of the seminal particles. The cortical layer of the food-yelk, or inner sac, shown to resist in a remarkable man- ner osmosis, is found to be the rhythmically contractile part,
260 QUARTERLY CHRONICLE.
although requiring for the manifestation of movements the presence of acid food-yelk upon its inner surface. Evidence was given to show that the contractile property of the yelk of both kinds requires, as an essential condition of its manifesta- tion, the presence of oxygen in the surrounding medium. Proofs were given that a certain moderate rise of temperature increases the activity of these contractions. The reactions of the yelk under the stimulus of galvanism were also recorded, the food-yelk and cortical layer alone being excited to con- traction by it. Poisonous agents had very little effect on the yelk-protoplasm : carbonic acid, however, rapidly destroyed the contractility, and chloroform arrested it for a time.
“On the Structure of the Ovarian Ovum of Gasterosteus leiurus,” by Dr. Ransom.—This paper will be published in full, with illustrations, in the next number of this Journal.
“ On the Question, Whether Carbonate of Lime exists in an Amorphous or Crystalline State in the Egg-shells of Birds,” by Dr. John Davy.—The author gave his observations, which led him to conclude that the condition was amorphous. In the discussion which followed, Mr. Charles Stewart, of Plymouth, maintained that the polariscope revealed a crys- talline structure in what Dr. Davy regarded as amorphous particles.
“ On the Action of Carbonic Oxide on the Blood,” by Dr. A. Gamgee.—When carbonic oxide is passed through venous blood, it acquires a persistently florid colour, which was first pointed out by Claude Bernard; and the colouring matter, although it possesses a spectrum identical with that of ordi- nary blood, is distinguished from it by not yielding, when treated with reducing agents, the spectrum first described by Stokes as that of reduced or purple cruorine. This property of carbonic oxide blood was first published by Hoppe. Asa result of his own investigations, Dr. Gamgee has found— First, that the peculiar compound of carbonic oxide and blood colouring matter is formed even when the latter has been reduced, and is still in the presence of a large excess of a reducing solution. Secondly, that when the compound of carbonic oxide and colouring matter is treated with acetic acid, whilst heematine is formed, carbonic oxide is disengaged. Thirdly, that carbonic oxide, besides modifying the optical properties of the colouring matter of blood, affects in a re- markable manner the point at which it coagulates, so that, under its influence, an almost perfect separation of the hema- toglobulin (using the term to express the normal colouring matter of the blood) from the albumen may be effected. Normal ox’s blood, when diluted with nine times its volume
QUARTERLY CHRONICLE. 261
of water, becomes turbid at 145° Fahr.; and when the tem- perature has reached 172° Fahr. its colour is completely de- stroyed. If such a blood solution have been treated with carbonic oxide, whilst, when the temperature has been raised to 172°, the albumen has separated in flakes, the blood colour- ing matter remains wholly unchanged. It is only when the temperature is raised to about 185° that the colouring matter commences to coagulate. The coagulum which is obtained on further heating is of a reddish colour, unlike that of nor- mal blood. Fourthly, if blood be saturated with CO, and evaporated to dryness at a temperature below that at which the colouring matter coagulates, the dry residue yields its colouring matter to water, and the solution presents all the optical properties of carbonic oxide blood. When this solu- tion is boiled, the compound with the colouring matter yields carbonic oxide gas. Fifthly, poisoning by pure carbonic oxide, or by the fumes of charcoal, invariably leads, before death occurs, to those changes which are characteristic of carbonic oxide blood, becoming quite irreducible. Sorby’s micro-spectroscope answers admirably for these investigations; and the solution which Dr. Gamgee recommends for this spe- cial process is one containing tin, in preference either to sul- phide of ammonium or protoxide of iron. Sixthly, whilst it results from Dr. Gamgee’s researches that no gas or poisonous agent exerts the peculiar action on blood colouring matter which is produced by CO, it is specially to be noticed that prussic acid and laughing gas, which have the power of ren- dering blood florid, do not prevent its being reduced. Thus, the question which Claude Bernard suggested some years ago, as to whether prussic acid exerts on blood a similar action to that of carbonic oxide, is answered in the negative.
“ Remarks on the Rhizopoda of the Hebrides,” by Henry B. Brady, F.L.S.—The author stated that whilst the question was still occasionally raised as to the amount of good resulting from the annual money-grants of the associations for aiding researches in marine zoology, it was obviously the duty of those who had facts of interest obtained by their means to bring them before that section. It was with this view that he presented a few points concerning the Forami- nifera contained in Mr. Jeffrey’s dredgings in the Hebrides. He proposed merely to touch on the subject, leaving details to a future paper, when he should have had time to conclude his examination of the material. Of the total number of species and tolerably permanent varieties hitherto numbered in the British fauna—which might be regarded as 121— seventy-six had occurred in the Hebrides dredgings: In
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addition to these, a new Lugena, having an acerose surface and spiral ornament round the neck, had been found, which he proposed to call L. Jeffreysii. A specimen of Lagena crenata, P. and J., hitherto only known as a Tertiary fossil, and L. gracillima, Seguenza, which could scarcely be said to have been recorded from a British locality, were noticed, and three other species, viz., Hauerina compressa, VOrb., Cristel- laria cultrata, Mont., and Marginulina Raphanus, Linn.
The distribution of the different families of the Rhizopoda in the area dredged was found to be as follows :—Of the twenty-one species of Miliolida inhabiting the British seas, eighteen were obtained, and the whole of the six species of Lituolida were found most of them in considerable abundance Of the Lagenida 2*, of the Globigerinida 23, and of the Nummulinida =, had been noticed, but it was probable that further search would increase these numbers.
“On the Systematic Characters of the Echinoidea Regularia,” by C. Stewart.— The author of this, a very valuable and suggestive paper, dwelt on the importance of the minute structure of the hard parts of the Echinoidea as bases of classification. He particularly drew attention to a series of calcareous spicules, entirely new, discovered by himself, scattered in the alimentary canal, and highly characteristic of the different genera and species.
“On the Asexual Reproduction and Anatomy of Cheto- gaster vermicularis, Mill,” by E. Ray Lankester, of Christ- church, Oxford. The fissiparous propagation of this minute worm, which lives on water-snails, was minutely described, and shown to present some peculiarities in regard to the relation between parent stock and zooids. The anatomy and general morphology of the worm had never been before dis- cussed. The chief points of interest were—lst. The exceed- ingly small number of segments composing an individual (four or five). 2nd. The remarkable degree of cephalization, the cephalic bristles differing from the rest possessed by the worm, and being connected with the mouth, separated by a wide gap from the succeeding bundles. 3rd. The total absence of cilia in the animal. 4th. The presence of stiff sensory (?) hairs on the cuticula. 5th. The absence of marked segmentation. 6th. The non-occurrence of any individuals bearing sexual organs. Prof. Huxley considered Chetogaster a larval form, and suggested a comparison with Sagitta.
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NOTES AND CORRESPONDENCE.
The Stanhoscope.—Until within the last few weeks I have been unable to obtain a lens sufficiently powerful to be useful and sufficiently portable to be convenient, in examin- ing diatoms on the spots where they were gathered. I have tried compound microscopes, and found their arrange- ments on the open field or on the seashore tedious and awkward. I have used the ordinary Stanhope and triplet lenses, but none of them gave satisfaction; the latter being much too low in magnifying power to enable me to deter- mine with any certainty what species or even genera I had gathered.
The Stanhoscope, however, is excellently adapted for field purposes, its power, is great, ranging from 100 to 150 diameters, its field is clear, and the method of using it is simplicity itself, all that is required being to place the object to be examined, say diatomace, desmidez, scales from moths’ wings, &c., on the square end of the lens, and then look through the apparatus towards the light. The size of the entire apparatus is only one inch in length and five eighths of an inch in diameter ; it is therefore exceedingly portable, and is also very cheap. The lens is of French manufacture, and may be had of any optician who deals in foreign goods, or of any respectable toy dealer for 1s. 6d.; it can also, without fear of injury, be sent post free to any address on payment of eighteen postage stamps.
These Stanhoscopes of French manufacture, being originally made as toy microscopes, and very cheap, are, of course, not in every instance so perfect optically as is desirable; one half of those sold are very good, but the remainder are either im- perfect or very inferior. In order that the public might be supplied with really good articles, at not too high a price, I wrote to a London optician, requesting him to turn his atten-
264 MEMORANDA.
tion to the subject of manufacturing a portable article on the French principle, but with care as to optical details. He, in reply, stated that a small pocket lens of the kind referred to could be manufactured, upon the working of which reliance might be placed, and which would answer every purpose required by a microscopist in search for diatomacez, desmidez, or infusoria, but that the price could not be less than five shillings.
As a proof of the power and clearness of the better Stan- hoscopes of French manufacture, I may state that I can recognise with ease Nitzschia closterium, N. reversa, and even Cocconeis excentrica, when they have been prepared and the endochrome has been removed by acid.—T. P. Barxas, New- castle-on-Tyne.
On the Improvement of the Compound Microscope.—You would much oblige me by the insertion of the following remarks on the improvement of the Compound Microscope, as sequel to a contribution of July, 1863, to which I must refer your readers. Concave mirrors in place of lenses in the eye-piece, so inclined as to reflect the body of rays into the form of a figure of 4, would afford a convenience of manipula- tion almost irrespective of the dimensions of the instrument. If approved, a mirror as objective also might afford additional mechanical facilities. On a smaller scale the form of the letter N might be preferred. Attached to each objective should be a length of tube twice or more its focal distance. To avoid moving the body of the instrument, I would apply the adjustments to the stage.
The experimental instrument of glasses described in 1863 performs admirably, on a white enamelled watch-case, on the surface of a flea, on solid deal, on mouse’s hair, and on the surface of the pollens of whin, broom, and geranium, without condenser. The field is remarkably flat, and available at every part.—F rep. Curtis, 44, Church Street, Stoke Newing- ton, N
The Rev. M. J. Berkeley and Mr. Hogg.—In the January number of the Journal, p. 21, Mr. Jabez Hogg has brought a charge of inconsistency against me which is quite un- founded.
In the first place, the passage in the ‘ Outlines’ cited by him does not run “it is possible,” but “it is probable.” And, in
MEMORANDA. 265
the next place, it does not refer to cutaneous affections at all, but to those of the mucous membranes. There is not, therefore, the inconsistency with which he charges me. Moreover, I have not cited Mr. Lowe as an authority for the production of diseases by the rubbing in of the spores of fungi. What I say is, that “‘ Dr. Lowe has induced skin-diseases by inocula- tion with the granules of yeast, and he is inclined to attribute a great deal more to the agency of fungi than has hitherto been allowed.”—Outlines of Brit. Fungology. M. J. BERKELEY,
VOL. VI.—NEW SER. Hh
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.
Dustin MicroscoricaL Cius.
April 19th, 1866.
Dr. E. Perceval Wright exhibited portions of the ambulacral feet, ling membrane of the intestine, and ovaries of several species of Echinidw, showing the very peculiar arrangement of spicules which appeared to be characteristic of each. His atten- tion had been.called to this subject by his friend Mr. C. Stewart, of Plymouth, who had read a very elaborate paper on these struc- tures as they occur in the Regular Echinoidia before the Linnean Society, and from what he (Dr. Wright) had been able to observe he had little doubt but that the comparative form and structure of these spicules would be of vast importance in helping to dis- criminate not only between the families, but also between the genera of these Echinoderms. He regretted not being able to show a series of these preparations from Mr. Stewart himself, as he had at first expected, as he had not succeeded in mounting his specimens at all in the same manner as those he had seen prepared by that gentleman: but the specimens he brought to the meeting would still be quite sufficient to justify the remarks he had made. Specimens were shown of the following :—Leiocidaris papillata, Psammechinus microtuberculatus, Psilechinus variegatus, Toxo- pneustes lividus, Tripneustes ventricosus, Echinometra lucunter, and Acrocladia mammillata. The importance of drawing up diagnoses of the Genera of Echinida, not as is usually done, simply according to the number and position of the ambulacral pores and the characters of the spines, but based upon details of all the structures met with in the recent animal, was strongly insisted on. Until some such plan is adopted nothing but an appeal to type specimens will determine genera and species that have been insufficiently described, even by such authors as Dujardin and Hupé, Forbes, Agassiz, and others.
Mr. Archer drew attention again to the Rhizopod he had shown at the January meeting, and which he referred, as yet somewhat doubtfully, to Difflugia corona, in order to point out a peculiarity
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 267
which had since then presented itself, and which seemed suffi-
ciently remarkable. This consisted in many of the specimens
presenting from one, two, or the whole three of the posterior
horn-like extensions, a tuft of very slender linear appendages, of greater or less density, issuing from the apex of the horn, and
oftentimes as long or longer than the whole creature, test and all.
These curious fasciculi were sometimes very dense, the individual
linear elongations being very numerous, or these latter were
sometimes few only, or reduced even to one. Under a moderate
power these tufts might suggest fasciculi of so many minute
colourless algoid or fungoid filaments issuing from the apex of
the horn-like extension ; when viewed under a higher power they
were seen to be pellucid, with a central series of granules some- . what irregularly disposed. A question presented itself as to the
nature of these novel appendages— Were they prolongations of the sarcode or mass of the body of the Difflugia within, or were
they parasitical growths of any nature? For the first assump-
tion their considerable resemblance to the slender linear prolonga-
tions from the body of Ameba villosa, brought forward by Mr.
Archer at the February meeting, seemed to speak. Besides, if
they were parasitical growths, it might be presumed that such
would take place rather on dead or diseased specimens than on
active living ones, and these were sending forth the usual pseudo-
poda from the frontal opening very vigorously, and making quite
their usual progress along. For the second assumption, indeed,
the seeming want of change of form of these appendages and
their seeming power of being shed would appear to speak. There
did not seem to be any internal flow of the central granules.
But as regards their being sometimes cast off, it seems undoubted
on the other hand that Actinophrys Hichornit could be made to
shed its rays, unquestionably sarcode. (See Kiihne—“ Unter- suchungen tiber das Protoplasma und die Contractilitat’’; ‘ Die
Bewegungserscheinungen der Actinophrys Eichornii,’ pag. 68.
Leipzig, 1864.) There does not seem any vegetable filament to
which these, indeed, could be well compared. Be then their
nature what it may, Mr. Archer thought that the singular. appearance presented by these Difflugize carrying about these
remarkable-looking tufts or appendages at the least worth this
crude and brief note.
Rev. E. O'Meara, A.M., exhibited Aulacodiscus orientalis, well showing its spines, also Omphalopelta punctata.
Dr. John Barker exhibited and explained a modification of Smith’s new Growing Slide, which he had contrived. This con- sists of a shallow glass box, as in Smith’s, but both upper and lower plate having cut out of each a circle of about an inch in diameter, and a piece of glass tubing set therein and cemented, so as again to hermetically close the box. Immediately over the aperture thus made through and through the box, a circle of
268 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.
glass, a shade wider in diameter and rather thinner than an ordinary slide, is cemented, thus again closing the aperture through the box at one of the surfaces. The upper surface of this circle of glass forms the table on which the object for examination is placed. At the right hand side, just beyond the edge of this circle of glass, and near the lower edge of the box, a small hole is drilled through the upper plate of the box, which is the feeding hole for the water, which is introduced into the box by a small opening ground away at the lower right hand corner. The object is now covered by a square of thin covering glass in the usual way; one angle of the cover extends at the right hand side beyond the circular table, and reaches so far as to cover the little feeding aperture in the box, and the flow is estab- lished. There is a little strip of glass cemented at the lower side to prevent the square cover slipping. This plan has the advantage of allowing the light to come up from the mirror, not through a stratum of water, however thin, but directly through a thin plate of glass, permitting, too, the use of the achromatic condenser if needful. Dr. Barker stated he had found this plan to act very well.
Dr. E. Perceval Wright exhibited also Smith and Beck’s new modification of Smith’s principle of Growing Slide.
Mr. Yeates exhibited a soap-bubble under the microscope, forming a very gorgeous object, owing to the magnificent and ever-changing play of colours which was presented.
17th May, 1866.
Mr. Archer exhibited specimens fully conjugated, and in various stages of conjugation, of a filamentous form, which at first sight might be supposed to belong to the genus Zygogonium, as modified and explained by de Bary in his ‘ Untersuchungen tiber die Familie der Conjugaten,’ p. 79. But though de Bary employs the name Zygogonium, he does not do so in the same sense as Kiitzing. The name Zygogonium is one of Kiitzing’s, and his genus so denominated may be most briefly defined by saying that it comprehends those Zygnemata in which the zygospore is formed in the middle space, half-way between the conjugating cells; whereas to the genus Zygnema, as understood by him, Kiitzing would consign those forms only in which the zygospore becomes formed within one of the parent cells, the endochrome in both presenting the characteristic doubly stellate arrangement. Now, there can be no doubt but that de Bary is quite right in doing away with this distinction as a generic one, nor would the distinction be, manifestly, at all available as regards a barren filament. Therefore, although de Bary refers
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 269
the genus Zygogonium to Kiitzing, Zygogonium (Kiitz.) is not the same thing as Zygogonium, de Bary.
Now there could be almost no doubt, Mr. Archer ventured to think, but that the plant now exhibited would fall under the genus intended to be established by Prof. de Bary under this name— that is, had this distinguished observer been present and asked to what genus the plant exhibited should be referred, that he would doubtless have replied that it belonged to Zygogonium, as laid down in his work. There could not be any doubt but that the present, though not the same plant, was at least congeneric with de Bary’s. But, on the other hand, if Prof. de Bary be correct in his appreciation of the characters of his plant, and in his views of the genus founded thereon, Mr. Archer thought the present plant could zo¢ fall under Prof. de Bary’s genus as laid down by him, that strict attention being paid to the characters given by him which is enjoined by a rigid scientific accuracy. In other words, assuming the present plant to be really congeneric with that examined by de Bary, then his genus must be regarded as based on a somewhat erroneous foundation; and, if it should be retained at all, it should be so, not for this plant, but for the typal form Zygogonium ericetorum, Kiitz., or possibly for some others of Kiitzing’s forms in which no conjugation has been seen and whose special characteristics, therefore, in this regard, are, of course, as yet problematical.
In order to draw attention, then, to the reason why Mr. Archer had formed this opinion and ventured on this statement, it would be necessary to give the characters of Zygogonium as modified by de Bary, then to describe the plant now exhibited, and afterwards to compare it with such diagnosis and endeavour to point out its divergencies therefrom, and, finally, to indicate what appeared to Mr. Archer to be its proper location.
The diagnosis of Zygogonium, as given by de Bary (op. cit.), is as follows :—‘ Cells cylindrical or barrel-shaped, with thick often many-layered cell-wall: towards the middle at each side an irregular chlorophyll-corpuscle, furnished with a starch-granule, both often confluent into an axile string (in the very thick-walled filaments mostly covered with granules). Union of the conju- gating filaments ladder-formed. The processes of the two cells of the filament which grow opposite one another and take up the chlorophyll contents, become cut off as fructification-cells by septa, which then become fused together to a non-contracted, zygospore.” (‘ Untersuchungen,’ &c., p. 79.) 3
The type of this genus so defined is supposed to be the common Z. ericetorum; but, as it appears, according to de Bary,. that the typical Z. ericetorum has not been found conjugated, his allusion to the process in the generic diagnosis is founded on dried examples, from Professor Rabenhorst’s collection, of a form named Z. didymum, which he (Professor de Bary) considers very closely to resemble the water-form of Z. ericetorum.
Now, the plant exhibited by Mr. Archer had short. cells,
270 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.
varying in this regard from nearly quadrate to three or four times longer than broad, according to the interval of time elapsed since division ; the contents bright herbaceous green, forming an axile compressed band (never separate stellate chlorophyll bodies, as in Zygnema) ; the conjugation taking place by short, wide processes, which, along with the shortness of the cells or joints, gives the pair of conjugating filaments somewhat the appearance of a per- forated ribbon-like structure; the total cell-contents of each pair of conjugating jomts become massed together into an elliptic zygospore within the inflated transverse tube ; the longer diameter of the zygospore placed vertically to the length of the filaments; the cavity occupied thereby not shut off by any septum from the cavities of the parent joints. .
That the total cell-contents, “primordial utricle” and all, wholly coalesced to form the zygospore, Mr. Archer had com- pletely satisfied himself both by there being no granular matter whatever left behind in the parent conjugated joints, and by no further contraction of any contents taking place on the applica- tion of re-agents. In the same way it was equally evident that there was no septum separating the zygospore from the cavities of the parent-cells, but it lay freely in the inflated transverse process, though frequently in contact with its walls about the middle.
A seemingly fair figure of this type is given in Rabenhorst’s ‘Kryptogamen-Flora von Sachsen,’ &e., p. 162; but the plant is referred by that author to Zygogonium in the Kiitzingian sense, and de Bary’s characters are not taken into consideration. Little information can be drawn from the figure referred to as regards the arrangement of the endochrome in the unconjugated joint, whether doubly stellate or forming a compressed band. If the former it would be a Zygnema, with the zygospore in the middle. It may be assumed, however, that the figure may represent the broad or flat view of the band of endochrome as towards the observer. Therefore, Rabenhorst’s figure would be still more likely to represent a plant congeneric with the present, seeing that here the whole cell-contents are represented as fused into the spore, which is not shut off by any septum from the cavities of the parent joints.
Now, the foregoing characters of the plant now exhibited, as has been described, would seem at once so decisive that it should be referred to Mougeotia (de Bary, non Agardh), and not to Zygogonium in either sense, that it might almost be asked why there should be any question on the subject, or any allusion to the genus Zygogonium, de Bary, or Zygogonium, Kiuitz., as con- nected with it. For the definition of this well-marked genus (Mougeotia, de Bary, non Ag.), see de Bary’s already quoted work (pag. 78, t. viii, figs. 20—25), also Mr. Archer’s observa- tions thereon, and on the only hitherto established form therein, Mougeotia glyptosperma, de Bary, in the ‘ Microscopical Journal,’ vol. xiv, p. 65 (in the separate copies of the Club Proceedings,
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 271
p- 27). In the examples now shown we have a plant whose endochrome forms an axile band, whose zygospore is formed by the total fusion of the entire cell-contents of two conjugating joints into the-zygospore within the transverse tube, and without any septum between it and the cavities of the parent joints, This plant is not a Mesocarpus, being quite shut out from that genus for the last reason mentioned. It is in truth a Mougeotia, in the de-Baryian, but not the Agardhian sense. It is to be dis- tinguished from Mougeotia glyptosperma, de Bary, by its much shorter and wider cells, much wider transverse tubes, by its cells not becoming kneed or curved during conjugation, but presenting (as before mentioned) the appearance of a perforated ribbon-like structure, not a wide-looped network, and above all, by its zygospore being simply elliptic and destitute of the grooves and ribs, and the somewhat acute keel which form so distinguishing features of that of I. glyptosperma.
But another reason for bringing Zygogonium, de Bary, into the question in connection with this plant, besides its no doubt con- siderable general resemblance thereto, was that at certain stages of the process of conjugation the present plant presented appear- ances so like de Bary’s figure (op. cit.), but perhaps still more like Rabenhorst’s, as to lead to the view, as before mentioned, that it and his plant are congeneric, notwithstanding that de Bary made a separate genus of his plant.
This circumstance alluded to is a standstill, as it were, sometimes noticeable, of the globular mass of the contents of each parent joint, just within the connecting tube, where they became defi- nitely bounded, to appearance as if distinct individualised cells, ultimately, however, coalescing into the zygospore.
Now, the question arises—May de Bary’s figures (it will be noted, made from dried specimens) have been possibly taken from examples arrested at this stage of advancement of the process of conjugation, and, from the same cause (that is, dried and dete- riorated specimens), may he not have supposed these bodies, thus partially advanced towards conjugation, to be portions only, not the total cell-contents, wholly retracted from the cell-wall? May some external granules have lent to the specimens an appear- ance of certain granular contents left behind within the parent conjugating cells; and, as regards the two bodies, not; yet coalesced, represented by him as specially coated by a cell-wall and separated by a septum from the parent-cells, may they not have been, just as in the specimens now exhibited, simply the con- tracted total cell-contents, without any special coat, arrested or caught at the point just before mutual fusion ?
But great as is the resemblance of the plant figured by de Bary, when we reflect on the beauty and accuracy of his observa- tions in general, it is indeed with difficulty that we can bring ourselves to believe in his having misconceived the character of the plant he describes and calls Zygogoniwm didymum; and if there be really after all no such misconception, then the present
272 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.
plant now exhibited cannot be Zygogonium ericetorum, nor any variety, nor can it indeed fall under the genus Zygogonium at all, either as Zygogonium (de Bary), or as Zygogonium (Kiitz.) ; for as already mentioned, as will be seen from the characters above detailed, it must find its place truly in Mougeotia (de Bary, non Agardh). If, on the other hand, de Bary have really erred as regards his plant, the genus Zygogonium, as constituted by him, may possibly not stand, or at least it may have to remain contingent on its being necessary to retain it for the common plant Zygogo- nium ericetorum (Kiutz.), for it should not certainly be main- tained for those species of Zygnema only, which form their zygo- spores within the transverse tube.
In endeavouring to identify this plant with any form already described, Mr. Archer ventured to think that it comes quite close enough to Zygogonium leve (Kiitz.) as to render it probable that they are indeed one and the same thing, though Kiitzing describes only the barren plant. And if this view be correct, adopting the genus Mougeotia (de Bary, non Agardh), this plant should be henceforth called Mougeotia levis.
Mr. Archer had to apologise for the present somewhat round- about description of this plant. It is not easy without a figure to convey at once a definite idea of the points dwelt upon, but he trusted his meaning would be sufficiently apparent to observers who have made themselves acquainted with the peculiarities and the characters of these interesting Algew. Those who have be- come familiarised with these forms will well know that these dis- tinctions are by no means imaginary, and will, he thought, accord with him in feeling that they each possess an individuality, and that we can know and recognise the same thing, time after time, when it offers itself to observation, although we may not be always able to tell exactly why. And that feeling seems to be increased and strengthened when, as in the present instance, we are able to follow up the characters of a perhaps tolerably familiar form to its fructification, compare it in its various stages with its allies, and, though they are sometimes hard to describe, note its differences and its idiosyncracies.
Rey. E. O’Meara exhibited a species of Coscinodiscus found in a frond of Vanvoorstia spectabilis, Hary., from Ceylon. In its general appearance it so much resembles Coscinodiscus symmetricus, Greville, that Mr. O’Meara was disposed to identify it with that species. There are, however, slight differences worthy of notice. In the case of C. symmetricus the fasciculi of radial beaded lines are seven in number, whereas in the form now presented there are eleven such fasciculi of lines; the marginal portion of the dise in the present case is smooth ; in the case of C. symmetricus it is striated. This form seems of exceedingly rare occurrence in the material, only one specimen of it having been found.
Dr. Moore showed fine and numerous specimens, perfectly un-
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES, 273 mixed with other forms, of Closteriwm Pritchardianum (Arch.), which species had presented itself copiously in one of the warm tanks in the Botanic Garden, watered from the River Tolka.
Read, the following extract from a letter from Professor Hodges, of Belfast, dated 27th April, 1866, accompanying a sample of the material alluded to therein :
“Some time ago I received a specimen of the enclosed substance for analysis; and on submitting it to the microscope I was sur-
rised to find that it consisted almost entirely of Diatomacee. The person who forwarded it to me stated that it appeared on the surface of a lake near Seaforde, Co. Down, in May, 1865, and covered about 500 square yards, forming a layer three or four inches in thickness, having been driven by the wind into a sort of estuary. The smell was so intolerable that the people were obliged frequently to leave off work in the adjoining fields. I found it to consist, in the 100 parts, of—
PUES eo Ae a ec ee 87°50 Organic matters, ».:.0. 20.20.08... 10°30 Inorganic matters ............... 2°20
100°00
“The mineral matters were chiefly oxide of iron and silica. You will find the substance very rich in Diatoms.”
Mr. O’ Meara had carefully examined a sample of this very bad- smelling stuff, and had found the following Diatoms :—Oyclotella operculata, Synedra radians, S. capitatum, SN. delicatissima, Cocco- nema lanceolatum, C. parvum, OC. cymbiforme, Navicula crypto- cephala, Diatoma elongatum, Tabellaria flocculosa, Fragillaria capu- cina, Epithemia Argus, E. gibba, Cocconeis placentula, Plewrosigma attenuatum, P. Spenceru, Himantidium bidens, Nitzschia parvula, Gomphonema constrictum. Also a few sponge-spicules; and he suggested that Spongilla might have had something to do in pro- ducing the very bad odour proceeding from this curious deposit.
Mr. Archer exhibited a number of fresh examples of the zygo- spores of some Desmidiacez, which, so far as he was aware, had rot yet been met with.
Amongst these novelties was the zygospore of Xanthidium fasciculatum. Of this he showed the only two specimens he had ever seen; for, although the plant itself seems to be pretty com- mon in suitable localities, he had never before met it conjugated, nor did he think the zygospore was recorded. It is orbicular, large, beset with very long slender spines, broadest at the base, and tapering in a concave manner upwards (Eddystone Light- house like) to the bifid apices. This formed an extremely pretty object.
edie: that of this fine species, and in the same gathering, he was able to show, not yet recorded, the zygospore of Xanthidium aculeatum. It, too, is large, und beset with spines, at the base
* 274: PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.
like those of Xanthidium fasciculatum, but somewhat broader, and tapering upwards to the blunt and uncinate extremities.
In the same rich gathering the zygospore of Arthrodesmus con- vergens presented itself, and it also does not seem to be before known. It forms a contrast to both the foregoing, being quite smooth, and altogether destitute of spines. This is a fact some- what singular in the free short forms of Desmidiacee.
Mr. Archer was likewise able to show fresh specimens of the zygospore of Cosmarium margaritiferum in many stages. It is arrayed with spines very like those of the zygospore of C. Botrytis.
Spherozosma vertebratum, too, was there also conjugated, and it was worth noting that the zygospore of this species is beset with numerous slender, subulate, acute spines. ‘This was the third occasion in which Mr. Archer had taken this species conjugated ; and, that the zygospores are spinous deserves a note, making an exception amongst filamentous genera in that fact, just as Arthro- desmus convergens and a few others make, on the other hand, rare exceptions amongst the short free forms, in having smooth zygo- spores. In all books Spherozosma vertebratum is, unfortunately, erroneously stated to have smooth, non-spinous zygospores.
In this same gathering Mr. Archer was also able to show fresh zygospores of Stawrastrum controversum and Staurastrum Dickiei,. both rare, as well as of Hwastrum binale, and several others mor frequently met with in the conjugated state. .
Mr. Archer was quite disposed to hold that, if we were only as familiar with the zygospores of the different species of this Family as with the mature forms themselves, we might be able to deduce from the former quite as good characters as are presented by the latter; for instance, the difference between the spines of the zygospores in the two related species, Xanthidiwm fasciculatum and X. aculeatum. It was indeed very beautiful to see all these varied species distributed over the slide, sometimes in pairs ready for conjugation, the contents now partially emerged, and again, the zygospore more and more adyanced and in different stages, each parent individual unerringly making choice of its own spe- cies—the rare, as it were, seeking out the rare, and the abundant freely conjugating with the abundant.
Resolved, that the members of the Club desire to express and place on record their unfeigned sorrow at the announcement of the death of Professor Harvey, one of their two honorary mem- bers.
June 21st, 1866.
Dr. Moore showed samples of the substance found in some quantity, scattered on the ground, houses, &c., by Mr. R. A. Duke, C.E., in the neighbourhood of Templemore, County Sligo, after a night’s rain, and which had been sent to the Rev. Pro- fessor Haughton under the impression that it was sulphur. This
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 275
‘turned out to be pollen of Pines, indeed that of, the Scotch Fir, which Dr. Moore verified by showing some pollen of that species side by side under another microscope ; nay, Dr. Moore had found that several of the grains at first thought to be sulphur, and then by some regarded as possible insect’s eggs, upon being moistened developed a pollen tube.
Mr. Crowe exhibited a very minute Cosmarium from Bray Head, which was sufficiently puzzling, as it seemed to come exceedingly close to Cosmarium tuberculatum (Arch.), and yet not to be truly that form. The plant is very minute, segments broadly elliptic, constriction very obtuse and shallow, isthmus broad, surface smooth.
Mr. Archer said this seemed, no doubt, a very puzzling little form; indeed, as much so as he had ever met. Leaving the minute tubercles and somewhat smaller size of C. tuberculatum out of view, the present plant seemed fairly to agree with that form. It is to be drawn attention to that the figure of C. tuberculatum (‘ Proceedings Nat. Hist. Soc. Dub.,’ vol. iii, pl. ii, figs. 11—15; also, ‘ Quart. Journ. Mic. Sci.,’ N. 8., vol. ii, pl. xii, figs. 11—15) gives these very minute tubercles as much too large and prominent and pellucid. They, on the other hand, are exceedingly minute and opaque. However decidedly Mr. Archer felt disposed to rely on the permanence of these forms, he would not insist too strongly in any case, without a much closer acquaintance with the forms in question than he had as yet been able to make. Tbe plant now shown by Mr. Crowe may indeed be but a variety of C. tuberculatwm, for the actual differences are but slight, but it may be premature to pronounce until these little forms are more frequently met, and any characters deducible from their zygospores discovered. But, be it as it may, Mr. Archer thought that this plant could be mistaken for no other than C. tuberculatum. Nor could either (@f they should indeed turn out distinct) be at all confounded with any other species.
Mr. Porte exhibited some pupa cases of aphides, all of which had been inhabited by Ichneumons, leaving the well-known curious aperture by which these insects made their exit.
Dr. E. Perceval Wright exhibited sections of the pitcher of Sarracenia purpurea and S. flavans, showing the peculiar arrange- ment of the cellular tissue of these strangely metamorphosed leaves, and especially the glands, which were found underneath the outside layer of the epidermis. He alluded to Vogl’s paper in ‘Sitzungsberichte der k. Akad. der Wissenschaften,’ Band 1,
p- 281
Dr. John Barker showed the (with us rather rare, and withal very elegant) Micrasterias Americana, Ehr., gathered on the occasion of the Glen-ma-lur excursion.
276 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.
Dr. Frazer, referring to a former instance in which portions of the pulp of an orange had been sent to him as hydatids taken from the human stomach, mentioned another instance of the same blunder having been made within the last week. This was a good instance of how easy it is to fall into an error from want of a sufficiently accurate diagnosis of various objects, which may more or less simulate each other, without having the smallest affinity or community of nature.
Mr. Archer had an opportunity to show specimens of Coleochete orbiculare, quite barren, unfortunately. These were, indeed, mainly remarkable for the great number of bristles issuing from the frond, whereas Pringsheim, whilst he justly regards this character as of little importance, describes this species as re- markable for the fewness of the bristles.
Mr. Archer would here venture to observe that it seemed to him quite probable that the plant lately recorded by Dr. Gray in Seeman’s ‘ Journal of Botany’ as a Phyllactidium, is in reality a Coleochete ; but without figures it would not be easy to form a definite opinion, and it is to be hoped that Dr. Gray may fulfil his promise by giving a plate of his plant.
Mr. Archer showed, likewise, a Bulbochete in fruit, which he regarded as Pringsheim’s Bulbochete gigantea, these specimens being chiefly remarkable for the very short “foot” to the antheridium, and the somewhat varying sizes of the oogonia, as compared with Pringsheim’s figures and descriptions of his species.
Mr. Archer drew attention to the record in de Bary’s recent work treating of Lichens, in Hofmeister’s ‘ Handbuch der physio- logischen Botanik’ (Band ii, p. 270), of what he (Mr. Archer) conceived was nothing else than the plant we know as Chroolepus ebeneum. As Mr. Archer had already exhibited this plant, and
showed its structure, and referred to it on two occasions at the-
_Meetings of the Club (‘ Quart. Journ. Mic. Sci.,’ vol. xiii, p. 168), indicating reasons why it may be considered a lichen rather than an alga, and predicating for it an apothecium whenever it may be found fruited, he thought it right to mention that that idea was not then borrowed, and that until he saw de Bary’s work a few days ago, he did not know that lichenists had already claimed this species.
Mr. Archer showed also a number of dried Desmids from Italy, thanks to the kindness of Professor Gagliardi, which were quite identical with British species.
ee
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. Pl
QuexetTr MrcroscoricaL Crus.
Ar the Annual Meeting held at University College, July 24th, Dr. Lankester in the Chair, the following Report of the Committee was read by the Secretary :—
“Tn making this their first report of the progress and present state of the Quekett Microscopical Club, your Committee consider it a subject of congratulation that the Club has not only made a great step towards the carrying out the objects for which it was started, but can also, from the earnestness with which the advantages of the Club have been accepted by the members, entertain the most sanguine expectations that in the future its objects will he fully realised.
“So rapidly has the number of members increased, that your Committee found it necessary to announce through the chairman at the seventh meeting—what was already evident to the members generally,—that the room in Sackville Street was no longer capable of accomodating the Club ; and our grateful acknowledgments are due to the Council of University College for their kindness in permitting use the us of their noble Library for our meetings.
“ No small amount of our success has been due to the influence of our President. Ever foremost in any movement haying for its object the advancement of popular science, Dr. Lankester at once placed himself at our command, and although from his numerous public engagements his attendances here have not been so frequent as he and ourselves would have desired, he will vacate the chair this evening (in accordance with our Bye-Laws), carrying with him the sincerity and hearty thanks of your Committee and yourselves.
“The Committee regret to announce for the first time the loss of one of the members of the Club by death. At the June meeting, Mr. Joseph Toynbee, F.R.S., was proposed, on the recommendation of the Committee, as President for the ensuing year. At the July meeting it becomes their melancholy duty to record that his services are lost to them for ever. The circum- stances under which this unfortunate deprivation took place are generally known to members, and nothing is left us but to mention his name with honour, mingled with expressions of the deepest regret.
“ The subject of class instruction has been tested with the greatest success. Through the kindness of our Vice-President, Mr. P. Le Neve Foster, a room at the Society of Arts was placed at the service of a class formed under the direction of Mr. Suffolk, who has generously given much time and patience to impart to the members of it a thorough grounding in those important and fundamental principles necessary to working with the micro- scope, and there is little doubt that a second class, which
278 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.
that gentleman has signified his willingness to undertake, and for which there have been numerous applications, will be equally successful.
“ Field excursions, which have been long established in the north of England, have not been forgotten by your Committee. Two experiments have been made under the superintendence of Mr. M. C. Cooke (Vice-President) and Mr. W. W. Reeves. The first excursion was to Hampstead on the 2nd ult., when about twenty members and their friends attended, and an excellent collection of objects was made. The second excursion was to Darenth Wood and Northfleet marshes, on the 26th ult., when about the same number attended. Having the advantage of Mr. M. C. Cooke as their guide in the wood, and Mr. Joseph Smith as their guide in the marshes, the members were able to lay in ample stores for microscopical work at home.
“ With regard to the formation of a Library of Books of Refer- ence, &c., your Committee have to announce that they have already received several donations from Messrs. R. Beck, W. M. Bywater, M. C. Cooke, R. Hardwicke, and 8S. Highley, in furtherance of that object.
“The formation of a Cabinet of Objects has been most successful, the following slides having been presented, viz. :—
“ From Mr. Hislop, 39 slides; Mr. Marks, 24; Mr. Quick, 24; Mr. Archer, 11; Mr. Hailes, 8; Mr. Bockett,6; Mr. Bywater, 6 ; Mr. Breese, 5;—making the number 123; and through the liberality of Mr. Charles Collins, in presenting the Club with a cabinet, those slides are now rendered accessible to the members on the evenings of meeting.
“The following are the papers which have been read during the year, evincing much careful research and patience :—
“Mr. M. C. Cooke, on ‘ Work for the Microscope; R. Beck, on ‘ Spiracles of Insects ;?> M. C. Cooke, on ‘ Five New Forms of Micro- scopical Fungi;’? M. C. Cooke, ‘The Application of the Microscope to the discrimination of Vegetable Fibres ;’ J. Bockett, on ‘ How to Arrange and Keep a Cabinet ;’ W. Hislop, on‘ A New Form of Micro- scope; J. T. Suffolk, on ‘Class Instruction ;’ J. A.‘Archer, on ‘ The Respiratory Organs of Insects;’ D. E. Goddard, on ‘ Manipulation with Canada Balsam ;’? M. C. Cooke, on ‘ Universal Microscopical Ad- measurements ;’ S. Highley, on ‘ The Application of Photography and the Magic Lantern to Microscopical Demonstrations ;> H. Wigg, on ‘Some Motions in the Pale Blood-corpuscles ;’ N. Burgess, on ‘ The Pigment Cells of Plants in some of their varied Forms and Structure.’
“Tn December last a Sub-Committee was appointed for the . examination of vegetable fibres. They gave considerable attention to the subject during the past winter, and at the termination of their investigations an interesting Report may be looked for.
“From the 14th of June, 1865, when eleven gentlemen held the preliminary meeting, until the present time, 155 members have enrolled themselves in the Quekett Microscopical Club, and their
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 279
unabated interest in its proceedings has been manifested, not only by the good attendance at the meetings, but also by the free discussion and friendly intercourse which has been maintained, and which it is hoped may be still further increased by the genial influences of a soirée at no long distant day.
“ Satisfied with the past, hopeful in the future, it only remains for us to remind the members that it rests chiefly with themselves individually to advance the interests of the Club. Let the pleasure which they may have experienced at these meetings be extended by the introduction of their friends, and as new members are enrolled, we shall be multiplying the sources of enjoyment, and at the same time be enlarging the usefulness of the Club.
On retiring from the office of President, Dr. Lankester delivered a short address; and the following gentlemen were elected officers for the ensuing year :—
“President—Ernest,Hart. Vice-Presidents—Arthur E. Durham, F.L.S.; Tilbury Fox, M.D.,M.R.C.P.; William Hislop, F.R.A:S.; K. Lord, F.Z.S.
“ Treasurer—Robert Hardwicke, F..8. Secretary—Witham M. Bywater.
“ Committee—J. A. Archer; Richard Beck; J. Bockett; C. J. Breese ; P. Le Neve Foster, M.A.; W. Gibson; H. F. Hailes; S. Highley, F.G.S.; E. Jaques; T. Ketteringham ; W.W. Reeves ; Joseph Smith. Excursion Committee—W. J. de L. Arnold; W. W. Reeves; Joseph Smith; W. T. Suffolk.”
The first meeting of the second session, 1866-67, was held in the Library of University College on Friday evening, August 24; Ernest Hart, Esq., President, in the chair. After the usual. preliminary business, the Secretary announced that the special classes open to all members for the instruction of beginners in microscopic manipulation, which had been so successful during the last session, would be continued; Mr. Suffolk having again kindly consented to undertake the direction of them. It was proposed to limit the number in each class to fifteen, and, if necessary, several classes would be formed. The next field-day excursion into the country in search of living natural-history specimens will be advertised, with the time and place of meeting, in the September number of Hardwick’s ‘ Science Gossip.’ Dr. Tilbury Fox, one of the Vice-Presidents, then read a papef “On Human Vegetable Parasites.” The author’s chief aim was to elicit from the members information in regard to the part played by fungi in the production of diseased conditions of plants, men, and insects ; and he confined his remarks to the following points —first, the probability of the frequent existence of the germs of fungi in the textures of healthy living beings, and in situations to which the external air has no access; the modes by which fungi effected an entrance to those spots; the fact that parasitic germs enter the systems of plants and animals at a much earlier date than is generally believed, through the soft textures of the young
280 PROCEEDINGS OF SUCIETIES.
tissues ; that fungi lie dormant a long time in the system, until favourable conditions occur to promote their growth; that fungi only become sources of inducers of disease when they develope to an undue amount; that fungi will not flourish on a healthy surface; the distinctive features of vegetable and animal structures, especially artificial germination; and the effects, chemical and other, produced by the growth of fungi. Dr. Fox illustrated all these different conditions by a reference to the phenomena of “ringworm” and allied diseases. Mr. M. C. Cooke gave anumber of very interesting facts in reference to the parasitism of plants, entirely confirmatory of Dr. Fox’s observations, detailing cases in which the germs of mildew and rust must have entered very early indeed into plants, and even been contained in the seed, develop- ing as the “‘plant grew up;” also where the elements of rust entered through the first pair of young (cotyledonous) leaves. He also stated that he never looked for parasitic fungi on those plants that appeared vigorous and healthy, but was sure to find them on those which looked sickly or grew in unhealthy places. After a few complimentary remarks from the President and others, a second and short paper was read “On a New Mode of Mounting,” by Mr. N. Burgess, who exhibited a number of beautifully pre- pared specimens in illustration of the process which he recom- mended. Mr. Burgess uses slides of a much larger size than usual, so that the whole area of a large object can be displayed in the same specimen, and his method is one well worthy of adoption by amateurs. The meeting terminated with the usual microscopic conversazione.
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JOURNAL OF MICROSCOPICAL SCIENCE.
DESCRIPTION OF PLATE I,
Illustrating Dr. P. M. Duncan’s paper on the Histology of the Reproductive Organs of the Ivid, Tigridia conchiflora ; with a description of the Phenomena of its Impregnation.
Fig.
1.—Transverse section of one ovarian cell, showing two ovules, one
ready for impregnation (13-inch object-glass). @. External coat. &. Projection of the nucleus. c. ‘‘ The papillary structures,’ a por- tion of the placenta which is usually perforated by pollen-tubes, and
~ with which the open micropyle is in contact when undisturbed by
Q.—a.
4.—a.
manipulation. d. Position of the body of the nucleus, the embryo- sac being in its interior. e. Position of the micropyle when sepa- rated from the papillary structure near the placenta. (This portion of the placenta is continuous with the so-called conducting tissue of the style; the name placenta ought properly to be restricted to the tissue through which the vessels pass from the axis to the ovule). The ovarian wall is closely applied to the ovules in nature, but is readily separated by violence ; as growth proceeds after impregna- tion the wall becomes distant.
Nucleus stripped of its external coat (4). d. Body; the unshaded central oval spot shows the square cells, and denotes the position of the internal pellucid embryo-sac. dw. Cells magnified (4). 0. Neck of the nucleus composed of elongated cells. c¢. Circular opening of the micropyle whose canal can be traced as a dark line extending upwards to the central light spot. ¢, «. Micropyle (mag. 4 object- glass). e. Part of immature embryo-sac, the position of its cells being shown by their nuclei (3).
. Micropyle and “the papillary structure” slightly separated (4).
ec. Overlapping circular cells of embro-sac (4). d. Some square cells from the upper part of embryo-sac (4). The ovule has reached its full devlopment before impregnation.
Cells of external coat of ovule. 4. Cells of the projection of the nucleus. c. Micropyle in an ovule not fully developed.
. Pollen-tube (cellular) from the stigma. 6. From thestyle. ¢. Drawn
out from the “papillary structure” close to the micropyle; very turgid. d, e. Hair and cells of the conducting (nourishing tissue) tissue of the style (all + inch).
. Cells of anterior end of impregnated embryo-sac (3). J. Same (2).
PLATE I (continued).
. Pollen-tube pulled out of the micropyle; one end remains in the
papillary structure,’’ and the other is bulbous, has lost its granules, and the contiguous cells of the embryo-sac have come away with it (¢). 4. Bulbous end of pollen-tube (}). 2. Embryo-sac-cells. y. End of pollen-tube. c. End of pollen-tube, not yet become bul- bous, impinging on, and slightly pressing in, the cellular coat of sac (¢). 4d. Embryo-sac removed from nucleus. d, x. The position of the indentation by the pollen-tube (2).
. Pollen-tube drawn out of the side of the ovarian cell-wall, and
remaining in the micropyle-canal. 4. Tube drawn out of papillary structure, it being tight in the micropyle canal, twenty-four to thirty hours after application of pollen to stigma (4).
. Terminal cells of pollen-tube; the empty cell has been drawn out of
the ovule ; it is not bulbous. 4, c, d. Forms taken by terminal cell
(3).
e and d. Outline of embryo-sac after impregnation. wz. The position of contact with the pollen-tube ($). e. First trace of granular embryo in embryosac.
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JOURNAL OF MICROSCOPICAL SCIENCE.
DESCRIPTION OF PLATE II,
Jilustrating Dr. Macalister’s paper on Ascaris (Atractis) dactyluris.
].—Male. a, Tuberculated mouth. 6. Stomach. c. Cecal glandular apparatus. d. Testicular tube. e. Vesicule seminales, J. Intestine. g. Vas deferens. A. Spicula, large and small. i, Glandular apparatus around the dilated lower end of the intestine. 2.—¥emale. a. Mouth, with exserted proboscis. 6. Commencement of ovarian tube. “ec. Lateral line. d. Cardiac constriction of stomach and tooth-like processes ? e. Pyloric valvular constriction. J. Intestinal dilatation. . Secreting cceca, perhaps renal. . Cornu of ccecun. . Ducts of cceca around rectum. Anus. . Ovarian tube, containing perfect ova. . Opening of ovarian tube. . Cecal glandular apparatus.
3.—Head of the alate variety of 4. dactyluris.
4.—Tail of female. a. Glandular ceca, renal ? b. Ducts. c. Tubercles on the curved cauda.
5.—Fine prolonged tail, found in immature females. 6.—Termination of oviduct, and ovarian orifice.
7, 8.—Secreting cceca of males and females.
9, 10, 11.—Ova with yolk in process of segmentation.
12, 13, 14.—Ova further advanced, eee the development of the in- testinal canal.
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JOURNAL OF MICROSCOPICAL SCIENCE.
DESCRIPTION OF PLATE III,
Illustrating the Translation of ‘ Observations on the Develop- ment of Resting Spores of Gidogonium.’ Fig. 1.—A resting dogonium-spore before germination.
2and 3.—Germinating spores, which are releasing the contents divided into four masses and surrounded by a delicate hyaline covering.
4 and 5.—The four masses surrounded by their covering.
6 and 7.—Abnormal formations, the spore-contents forming three or two masses.
8 and 9.—The two spore-membranes after the contents of the spores have emerged; a the outer, d the inner membrane.
10 and 12.—The membranes of the four cells formed in germination after the zoospores have left them.
11.—A zoospore emerging from its mother-cell. 13.—A free zoospore. 14 to 19.—Young Cdogonium plants.
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TRANSACTIONS OF MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY.
DESCRIPTION OF PLATES XI & XII,
Illustrating Dr. Greville’s paper on New Diatoms. Series XX.
Fig. 1.—Plagiogramma elongatum, front view. 2.— * valve. 3.— a angulatum, front view. 4.—Cestodiscus Stokesianus. 5.— pulchellus.
6.—Aulacodiscus sparsus. 1.—Gephyria gigantea, \ower valve, frout view.
§.— s 5 valve, side view. 9.—Rutilaria elliptica, front view. 10.— w a valve. 11.— 5, superba, front view. 12.— ~ » valve, side view.
13.—Cocconeis armata. 14.—Omphalopelta Moronensis. 15.—WNavicula excavata.
16— ,, Sgyptiuca, front view. Wi 3 = side view. 18,19.— ,, permagna, very large, from Berbice. 20.— ,, 3 small var., from Berbice. 2h—"- v,, re var. from Delaware River, U.S. (out- line of Dr. Lewis’s figure). 22.— ,, Zanzibarica. 93— =, Jamaiceasis. Q24.— strangulata. 2.— ,, rimosa.
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JOURNAL OF MICROSCOPICAL SCIENCE.
DESCRIPTION OF PLATE IV,
Illustrating Dr. Moxon’s paper on the Peripheral Termination of a Motor Nerve.
Fig. . 1.—Root of antenna, with its nerve, ganglion, and muscle, seen with 3th inch object-glass. a, ganglion; 4, motor antennal nerve coming, at 4, from, a’, the sensory antennal nerve; c, motor anteanal muscle; d, root of antenna; ¢e, the nuclei of its sarcolemma; g v, apparent nuclei in the space between the edge of the sarcous sub- stance and the sarcolemma; / 4’, nuclei on motor antenne uerve.
2.—The same muscle in a state of contraction. Letters as in Fig. 1.
3.—Partial outline drawing of the head of the larva of Culex. Specimen seen from above with }th inch object-glass. Letters as Figs. 1 and 2. m, eye; 2, antennal lobe of encephalon; 0, optic uerve ; p, end of dorsal vessel; g, part of armature of mouth; s, con- strictors of, 7, pharynx; v, cesophagus.
4.—One of the muscles of the trunk, seen with }th inch object-glass. Its sarcous tissue torn; the sarcolemma remaining perfect. e, a nucleus upon the sarcolemma.
JOURNAL OF MICROSCOPICAL SCIENCE.
DESCRIPTION OF PLATE V,
Illustrating Herr Mecznikow’s paper on some Little-known Lower Animals.
Fig. 1.—lIcthydium ocellatum. 2 & 3.—Chetura capricornia—e, their tail- -hristles.
4.—Cephalidium lougisetosym—o,,the proboscis; @, sensory hairs.
5.—Chetonotus Larus—ov, summer eggs.
6.—Chatonotus Hystriv—c, cellular organ; A, a dorsal bristle; 8, mouth apparatus.
7.—Chetonotus. tesselutus.
8.—Hinder part of the body of Hehkinoderes Bein a sternal bristle, & : ivéss 2 9
9.—Desmoscolex. ; 9a.—A sensory bristle of the same.
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