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THE JOURNAL OF
THE POSTAL MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY.
EDITED BY
ALFRED ALLEN,
Honorary Secretary of the Postal Microscopical Society.
ASSISTED BY
SEVERAL MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE.
VOL. V.
Xon^on :
BAILLIERE, TINDALL, & COX, KING WILLIAM ST,
STRAND, W.C.
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I, CAMBRIDGE PLACE.
C. SEERS, PRINTER, ARGYLE STREET, BATH.
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a
HE Journal of Microscopy and Natural Science
has now reached its Fifth VoUime, and we may
congratulate ourselves upon the steady increase in
the number of our subscribers and readers as a proof
of its good standing and prosperity.
^ The testimony we so frequently receive as to
the aid of the Notes selected from the Note Books of the
Postal Microscopical Society, in opening up new avenues for
enquiry in Microscopical study, more especially with respect
to their value for constant reference, is of itself sufficient to
increase our expectation of a more extended and substantial
success.
We have taken care to select from the contributions sent to
us, only such articles as we feel certain would be of the greatest
interest and usefulness to all engaged in Natural Science; and
we earnestly ask the co-operation of our friends, and especially the
members of the Postal Microscopical Society, to help us in
extending the circulation of our Journal, so that the influence of
the work may be felt in yet wider circles.
With respect to Reviews and Notices of New Works, it is our
desire to notice every book sent to us whatever be its position in
IV. PREFACE.
the ranks of literature, our aim being simply to give such a
description of it as will at once satisfy our readers that it is, or
is not, such a one as they may require.
It is with much satisfaction that we look back to the work
of the past year ; it was a period of great labour^ and of much
anxiety, which however has borne goodly fruit, and we beg very
cordially to thank our numerous contributors for their valuable
papers. Our thanks are also due to Dr. Muter, Editor
of the Analyst^ for permission to transfer to our pages the
interesting paper on Microscopic Crystallisation, and for the loan
of the blocks from which the plates illustrating it were printed.
Nor must we omit to thank very heartily our many subscribers
for their generous and Uberal support. We are pleased to be
able to inform them that we have a number of very excellent
papers in store for our Sixth Volume. AVe also beg to state
that a General Index is in preparation, and will be issued with the
October part of Vol. VI.
THE JOURNAL OF MICROSCOPY
AND
NATURAL SCIENCE:
the journal of
The Postal Microscopical Society.
JANUARY, 1886.
presibential Hbbreee*
October yxH, 1885.
President : Rev. E. T. Stubbs, M.A.
N taking my seat as your President for this year,
I have to thank you in the first instance for the
honour you have done me, in electing me to this
high position, for which I feel myself so unworthy.
You will allow me in taking the chair, to say a
few words about our Society itself I feel that
those words are to reach forth to a further and a
wider circle than that now before me, and that
they will become known, not only to the members
of the Postal Microscopical Society who are in
this room, and to the kind visitors and guests who have honoured
us with their presence, but to many others besides.
This address, then, is for a more extended audience than this
room contains, for I know that by means of our Journal, as well
as by other ways, what I say now will be read by the members of
Vol. V. B
2' PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS.
this Society, who are scattered throughout the United Kingdom.
You will pardon me, then, if any of my remarks may appear not
altogether suited to the present assemblage.
I wish to speak about our Society itself, — its special character ;
the advantages which seem peculiarly to belong to it, and how to
improve these ; its disadvantages, drawbacks, and hindrances,
which are not altogether inseparable from its constitution ; and how
far they may be corrected ; in a word, I want to consider how best
to carry on the Postal Microscopical Society ; how to make the
most of it ; how to advance and improve it ; how to make it a
useful and a pleasant Society to belong to.
But before entering upon the special subject which I have
chosen for this address, let me express the sorrow of myself and
of the Postal Microscopical Society, at the removal by death from
amongst us of Dr. Brown, of Ealing, a late President of this
Society, and one of its earliest and most distinguished members ;
a man ardent in the study of microscopy, very sincere and earnest
in his work for the Society, whose notes in our note-books were
frequent, and always instructive, and whose slides were most
interesting ; his loss will be greatly felt, and his place not easily
supplied.
Now, since the object and aim of the Postal Microscopical
Society is simply to promote Scientific knowledge, and research in
the world of minute objects, every honest worker, then, ought to
find a welcome amongst us. It surely should not check that wel-
come, or lessen our cordiality, that he has not mastered the mere
elements of his work ; we should be glad to reach forth to him a
helping hand ; was there not a time in the lives of each of us
when we too were beginners, when we had not learned even the
alphabet of our Science ? We must, therefore, on our part, act
towards him, just as we expect the beginner on his part to be
modest and diffident, and not mistake his crude ideas for
undoubted truths ; but to go on adding to his stores of knowledge,
making sure progress, and treading on firm ground, by using as
he may the observations and experience of his elders in the
science. But we must not forget that our main' desire is to enhst
in our ranks those to whom we can look for further help and
profit in our microscopical studies. And, then, let us all endeavour
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 3
to stimulate each other to closer research into the microscopic
world of nature, so many of whose departments have been hardly
yet investigated. For all our members ought to be more or less
workers, not mere drones, doing nothing for the Society's general
good, and taking no interest in microscopical pursuits.
Very various and diversified is the classification of our mem-
bers. There is the soldier, the sailor, the lawyer, the clergyman,
the merchant, the tradesman, the physician, the chemist, the
schoolmaster ; the man of toil and the man of ease ; the gentle
lady, the invalid, and the strong ; professional and non-professional
men: all these belong to us. England, Ireland, Scotland, and even
Portugal, contribute their quota of members ; there is vast diver-
sity of training, of surroundings, of taste, and of leisure amongst
us ; and the common bond which unites us all, is a love for
microscopical pursuits.
Now, it is no small advantage and benefit to have in our Society
men of such varied training and of such diverse habits, not to
speak of the further differences of mind, and systems of thought
which so strangely mark different nations, and even different
portions of the United Kingdom. For the same thing will strike
different people in very difi'erent ways ; so we must expect a great
variety in the expression of opinion amongst ourselves ; and we
ought to welcome such differences, for in this way it is that a
statement or a matter can more thoroughly be investigated, when
it has to endure the fire of criticism. But I need not say that the
criticism should be kindly given, and as kindly received. A man
is not worth his salt if he cannot bear to see his pet hobby upset
and declared to be absurd, or his favourite opinion proved wanting
and impossible ; shallowness of information and scantiness of
knowledge generally betray themselves by irritation and impatience
of criticism, just as, on the other hand, poor and trifling criticism
shows a meagrely furnished mind.
Now, one great disadvantage under which the Postal Micro-
scopical Society labours, arises from the fact that we have never
and can never meet altogether ; our homes are so wide apart, and
w^e are practically an aggregate, not so much of individuals isolated
and at a distance from each other — though this is the case in some
instances, but an aggregate of many smaller societies which
4 PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS.
gather each around its own centre, but which may know little or
nothing of other centres. It is a great advantage to be able to
look one another in the face, and in living words to discuss and
criticise each other's conclusions ; but the very constitution of the
Postal Microscopical Society necessarily precludes this personal
intercourse, and we can know each other merely through the
inspection of our slides, and by the cold criticism of our note-
books. There is, however, a counter-balancing advantage ; for as
our remarks have to be all written, they are more carefully thought
over, and more accurately expressed; for we all recollect that,
Litera scripta manet; and besides this, we are often given very
valuable extracts from works on microscopical subjects, to which
we may not have had access, or at least towards which our atten-
tion had not been before directed. I am aware that some of our
members have objected to the insertion in our note-books of
extracts from well-known authors, but it seems to me that, on the
whole, even such extracts are an advantage rather than otherwise.
But with respect to the notes we may make on the slides which
come to us^ it surely is a good rule to lay down for our own guid-
ance, " If you have nothing to say, don't say it," as on the other
hand, " If you have anything to say, don't be afraid of saying it."
Don't shrink from making a remark because you think it possibly
has been made before ; some may find your remarks quite
new to them, and to those who have heard it before, it is
often an advantage to have old information furbished up and
freshened in the memory. There are one or two points respecting
our note-books which it would be well to remember. There ought
to be some uniform system of arrangement ; begin each note-book,
not on the first page, but leave at least four pages blank, and
begin your notes on the fifth page ; the secretary will require
those first blank pages to affix the list of circuit, the catalogue of
shdes, etc. ; write on one side only of the page (the right side is
preferable) ; and number the pages so written coTiseadively^ for the
purpose of reference ; in this way the notes will be clearer, and
much confusion will be prevented. The blank off-sheets will serve
for any small sketches which you may find necessary to insert ; I
here allude to diagrammatic sketches. But regular drawings or
photographs ought to be made upon special paper, which the
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 5
Secretary will send to any member who desires it, and these should
be placed at the end of the note-book, beginning at the last
page, and thus must be numbered the reverse way, that is, back-
wards. It is the greatest possible help to our notes, to accompany
them with sketches or more careful drawings ; and every member
should, if it is in his power, give some with his slides; but it is all-
important that they should be done in something permanent, not
surely in pencil, but in some way in which they will bear rubbing,
and will retain exactness of outline.
There is here one great disadvantage under which we all
labour. We dread to risk our best slides and most carefully pre-
pared specimens to the unavoidable rough treatment of the postal
bags, as they are flung down upon the platform of a roadside
station from a passing train ; and it is with no small sigh of relief
that we greet our slides when they return unhurt to our hands,
after a two years journeying about from member to member ; just
as on the other hand there is a pang of sorrow when we find the
cover-glass displaced or broken, and our choice specimens
irretrievably damaged. I can only advise all our members to
cement their slides most carefully, and not to study appearance
and finish so much as security ; and I need not say that our
indefatigable Secretary ought at once to be made cognizant of
any accident which may occur to either boxes or note-books, or
damage to the slides. Still, in spite of this disadvantage, and in
the face of this risk, do not let us withhold from circulation our
really good and useful slides ; for as most of us have read, —
" Great objects exact a venture, and a sacrifice is the condition of
honour."
And, now, having alluded to the Secretary, I may be permitted
to say a word about our relations with him. The Secretary of
every Society, scientific societies especially, is really the most
important ofiicer ; the President is little else than an ornamental
addition, — he takes the chair at meetings, and directs pleasant
gatherings like the present one ; but it is the Secretary who man-
ages the entire working, and in a Society so constituted as this is,
upon such management the very existence of the Postal Micro-
scopical Society depends ; the Secretary is the head to arrange and
plan the different groups of members ; he is also the heart to keep
6 PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS.
up the circulation of boxes to the furthest extremities and most
distant parts of the Society. When I have seen the pile of boxes
and the multiplicity of material heaped up in his room, I have
often marvelled that such regular issue of boxes can be kept up,
and any orderly management carried out. Now, we should do all
in our power to assist the Secretary in his work, by not detaining
unduly the boxes as they come into our hands, and by at once
communicating to him any irregularity that may be perceived, and
every accident that may occur.
From the peculiar constitution of the Postal Microscopical
Society, one of the very essentials of its success — indeed, I may
say, of its existence — depends upon the regularity and punctuality
of each member in the circulation of the boxes. The Secretary
does his best to maintain that circulation, but each member must
heartily second his efforts ; let the name of Box-stopper be felt to
be a stigma, for recollect that every box-stopper so far impairs the
vitality of the Society.
I find that very frequent complaints are made both of the non-
receipt of boxes, and also of their overcrowding ; one evil follows
the other ; congestion of boxes follows their stoppage. Not very
long ago eight boxes were received from one member by the Sec-
retary in one parcel, and four boxes from another ; and both
members at the same time sent in their resignation, giving as a
reason, that they could not pay proper attention to the require-
ments of the Society. Now, of course, we wish to retain all our
working-members, but those who either stop or congest boxes,
and who find it impossible to observe regularity in the circulation
of them at proper dates, had far better resign at once, with honour
and credit, than first to allow boxes to accumulate for four or five
months from their own unpunctuality, and then resign ! Surely,
there is no more eftectual way than this of throwing the entire
machinery of the Society out of gear, and casting discredit on its
management, besides diminishing its usefulness.
And it is often very difficult to trace the box-stopper ; frequently
ten or twelve letters must be written in the endeavour to find him
out, — thus giving trouble, expense, and annoyance, to many
who are quite innocent. It is in fact the inflammation which
attends congestion. A little foresight will generally prevent any
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 7
detention of boxes ; as when a member is going off for a holiday,
or hkely to be absent from home for some time, he should^ if be
can, apprise the Secretary of this a few days previously, and also the
previous member on his list. The Secretary not unfrequently
receives a note " Please send me no more boxes for two months,
as I start for the Continent to-morrow ! " A day's post is lost in
writing to the preceding member, on the part of the Secretary,
while that member may probably have already despatched one or
more boxes to the intending tourist, who thus becomes, I am sure,
very unwillingly, but for want of a little foresight, a box-stopper !
I would like to add a word about the Journal which is associ-
ated with our Society. I think I am right in saying that the Postal
Microscopical Journal has well-nigh fairly established itself before
the public. There are certain difficulties peculiar to it, and certain
disadvantages which it has had to encounter, some of which arise
from the fact that the ground has been more or less covered by
other periodicals of a similar kind, and which have had the advan-
tage of a prior starts and this was urged as an objection to its
publication by one very valued member. It was in order to meet
that difficulty in some degree that the scope of the Journal was
enlarged, and its title consequently added to, and it now bears
the name of " The Journal of Microscopy and Natural Science :
the Journal of the Postal Microscopical Society."
I think the notes of the Postal Microscopical Society's Note-
books ought to form a very principal and prominent item in each
number of the Journal, so as to keep up and maintain its claim to
the latter portion of its title. But it is a much greater labour than
many can be aware of, to select from a mass of notes of a most
miscellaneous character, that which is of most value. That some
of our members do insert in the note-books matter which is
extremely useful and important, we well know ; and that there are
sketches and illustrations accompanying many of those notes
incomparable for beauty of execution, and accuracy of detail, and
fineness of work, we are also well aware ; all these are
worth preserving. I know that, in spite of the great labour
entailed thereby, the editor of the Journal is sincerely anxious to
do this.
There is another disadvantage attaching to the Journal which
8 PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS.
I must allude to. Though it bears the Society's name as a portion
of its title, it is really a private adventure made by our Secretary,
who is wholly responsible for it. Such is not the case in other
scientific societies, their Journals are their own property, and they
bear the burden of the maintenance of them. In fact, this Jour-
nal was set on foot simply because the Secretary had in his possession
an immense mass of valuable matter, scattered up and down in
miscellaneous notes of the note-books, which books had finished
their circuits among the members, and he was unwilling that these
should be consigned to oblivion and perish ; it seemed to him that
these notes and their accompanying drawings were well worth
preserving ; it was then for this reason that he has, alone and
unaided, set on foot the Journal. Now it rests with ourselves
especially to make that Journal a success, and this may be effected
by each member taking one or more additional copies for their
friends ; recollect that as now arranged each member is entitled to
one gratuitous copy ; and we may forward its progress as well as
raise the character of the Society itself, by each member taking
very special pains in the notes and drawings inserted in the note-
books of the Society.
Let me, before I close, point out some well-nigh untrodden
domains of microscopical study, and whither it would be well to
direct our researches. The Sections of Roots is a department
almost unstudied, also Sections of Ovaries and Seeds ; then, there
is that immense world of Marine Life, so various in both its
animal and vegetable structure ; the variety and strange forms of
Marine parasites, which the different Aquaria in England and in
other countries are gradually making better known. There is
much to be discovered in these branches of study, and our patient
investigation is sure to be rewarded. It was once proposed to
introduce living specimens into our circulation, but that was of
course found to be quite impracticable; however, I need not point
out how important it is that each of us should, so far as opportunity
serves, study the living specimens. I recollect how much more
I learned in seeing in a living specimen of one, of the Siphonos-
tomata, and how much I learnt by studying the action of the
mouth and also the intestinal movements of the creature, of which
I had never read a description. And this year I had a good
opportunity of observing the circulation in the Argulus Foliaceus.
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 9
And now, in conclusion, let me add a word or two upon the
advantages to be derived from the general study of nature ; pre-
mising that the following remarks are not original, but noted down
by me from an author whose name I have forgotten, but which
may perhaps occur to some of you.
When we study with care and attention the order of Nature,
we shall find in what direction such obstacles lie in our path which
cannot be surmounted. It is well to know where the path is really
barred and where impossibilities stand in the way of research ; we
learn then not to waste time or effort. Marvellous things have
been done, for example, in the investigation of diatom valve-mark-
ings ; but as we all know, when we use the higher powers, dif-
fraction and interference of rays come in to obstruct and to hinder,
so much so, that some men have thought that research into these
cannot be possibly pushed much further. And search how we
may, we see fresh forms shadowing themselves forth, which we
vainly try to define, and of the object and purpose of which we
may not be able to form even an idea. But further, we are enabled
by experience to use those means in our research, which are
adequate to the purpose in hand, or which at least are not opposed
or ijiconsistent. And further, again, we learn to make use of the
easiest and most economical^ and most efficient means to accomplish
our end. And, lastly, we are induced to go forth into paths
hitherto unknoiun and tintravelled, and to make research in
directions unattempted and untried before. In a word, the close
and careful study of the order of Nature, will point to four
things : — i. — Where impossibilities are to be met with; 2. — What
are the best means to make use of; 3. — What is the best method
to adopt ; 4. — To encourage research.
We are all engaged in such investigations ; we are all learners
from the great book of Nature ; the best of us are hardly able
even to spell out its great words of truths ; we all feel that we
have grasped but the slightest portion of the surface of the vast
infinitude of the microscopical world. We can but as children
dip only into the shallows and tiny pools that lie before us, while
there stretches away into the far distance the mighty ocean of
further marvel, wisdom, and design, still remaining unfathomed
and unknown.
lo
U\)c /Iftoutb^^roans an^ otber Cbaractenstics
of tbe
:fiSnti6b Geobepba^a (Ground prebaceoiis JSeetles).
By Robert Gillo.
Plates I., IL, III.
PERHAPS a few words of general introduction may not be
out of place to get as clear an idea as possible as to what
the characteristics of the Coleoptera really are. Of all the
different characters by which beetles may be known, we can only
detect two which are constant — namely, Mandibulate mouth-
organs, and Complete metamorphosis. By the latter term we mean
that they pass through four stages : the egg, larva, quiescent pupa,
and imago or perfect insect. It ought to be stated in passing that
Kirby and Spence in their great work, and other old authors,
describe the metamorphosis of beetles as incomplete. This was
evidently the accepted opinion of the naturalists of that age, but
now the metamorphosis of beetles is always considered by
naturalists to be complete.
Since writing the above, "Westwood's Introduction to the
Modern Classification of Insects " has come into my possession,
and in it I find this note : — " It has been usual to apply the cha-
racter of the pupa to designate the peculiar nature of the meta-
morphosis in general. This is, however, very incorrect ; since the
Coleoptera are thereby defined to have an incomplete metamor-
phosis, whereas their metamorphoses are complete, in the ordinary
acceptation of the word, the pupa being, on the contrary, incom-
plete. Moreover, Linnaeus applied this and other similar terms to
the pupa and not to the metamorphosis ; the confusion originating
in their misappropriation by Fabricius." The pupae of beetles
generally have all the parts of the future imago plainly visible,
being encased in thin sheaths. In some instances, however, the
limbs are closely soldered to the body, and apparently enclosed in
THE BRITISH GEODEPHAGA. ll
a single sheath, thus approaching very near to the pupae of the
Lepidoptera.
Of the other characteristics, the most striking, and the one to
which there are fewest exceptions, is that which led Aristotle to
name them Coleoptera, or sheathed wings. This designation
refers to the hard wing-cases called Elytra, which normally meet
in a straight line down the back and protect the membranous or
flight-wings from injury when they are present. Usually, these
wing-cases are quite hard and brittle ; but by way of exceptions
we have the whole of the family of the Afalacoderma and many
others, which have the elytra soft and leathery. The Soldier
Beetles {Telephoriis) are good examples. Again, we have the
females of Drihis flavescejis and Lampyris noctiluca (the glow-
worm), which are entirely wingless and possess no elytra. The
former, and more particularly the female, is very rare ; both it and
the glow-worm are carnivorous, feeding on slugs and snails. There
is also another species of beetle, Phosphcenus he?jiipterus, of which
the female is entirely apterous ; the male has very short elytra and
no posterior wings. It is a very rare insect.
In the genera Metoecus and Sitaris (Figs, i and 2) the elytra
touch only at the base, and do not cover the posterior wings,
giving the insects very much the superficial appearance of the
Hemiptera, or bugs. The genus of the first was originally called
RhipipJwrus^ from the form of the antennae of the male, which has
processes on both sides of each joint, arranged in a fan-like
manner ; this name is still retained for the sub-family. The
specific name, Paradoxus^ was given to it because nothing was
known of its life-history ; but from careful observation, it has been
ascertained that it inhabits the nests of wasps, its larvae being
parasitic on the larvae of w-asps. The second example, Sitaris
inuralis, is also parasitic on certain solitary bees which inhabit
holes in walls. It appears that the Sitaris lays its eggs at the
entrance to these holes, and the young larvae, when hatched, crawl
into the nest and attack the larvae of the bees. It is a very rare
beetle in Britain, but is common on the Continent.
In the well-known Oil Beetle {Meloe proscarabczus) we have
another example of elytra which not only diverge, but actually lap
over at their bases; they are also very soft, and the posterior
12 THE MOUTH-OKGANS, ETC., OF
wings are entirely absent. This beetle lays its eggs in the earth at
the root of some suitable plant. As soon as the larvae are
hatched, they crawl up the stem of the plant, and get into the
flower, where they rest until a bee alights upon it, when they
attach themselves to the bee, and in this way get carried to the
bee's nest, when they immediately leave the bee and attack the
larvae. It appears worthy of notice that these three beetles,
which, from a study of their structure, were placed close together
in classification, should, when their life-history became known,
prove to be so similar in their food and habits. It would seem to
show that there is not only a similarity of form, but a real rela-
tion or kinship. Numerous other instances may be cited to the
same effect.
In a great many genera of beetles, the posterior wings used for
flying are very well developed, and in the Longhorns and those of
similar form they merely rest one on the other without folding ;
the great length both of the body and of the elytra rendering
folding unnecessary, but in the case of the majority of the beetles
(such as the Cockchafer, Dor Beetles, etc.) this is not possible, and
therefore they have to be folded. In the wing of the Dor Beetle,
it will be observed that the great costal nervure at the point of
flexure has a kind of knee-joint, and the other nervures are so
arranged as to naturally fall into folds. It is a much simpler
arrangement than that of the Earwig, which is folded both trans-
versely and in a fan-like manner, and differs considerably from
that of the crickets, which have wings that close up precisely like
a lady's fan.
In the case of the Brachelytra^ which have long, membranous
wings, and very short elytra under which they have to be stowed
away, the method of folding is the same, except that there are two
additional folds ; the knee-joint in the costal nervure is folded only
one-third of the entire length of the wing from its base, the
remaining two-thirds being folded once over and once under.
The eyes are compound, generally two in number, but the
Water Beetle (Gyrinus), or Whirligig, has four distinct compound
eyes, two of which are for looking upwards or above the water,
and the other two for looking downwards into the water as it spins
about on the surface, looking like a drop of quicksilver. Some of
THE BRITISH GEODEPHAGA. 13
the Longhoms, also, have four eyes. Many of the small Brache-
lytra have stemmata, or simple eyes, as well as compound ones.
Ho7nalium rivulare may be named as an example, and there are a
great many others.
Again. Some beetles are entirely eyeless, as the Claviger
foveolattis (Fig. 3), a small yellow beetle, only one-twelfth of an
inch in length, found in the nests of the yellow ant in chalky
districts. A popular writer tells us that this beetle also has no
mouth ; but this is incorrect, as it has well-formed mouth-organs.
The ants appear to be very fond of it, and are continually licking
it over on account, I believe, of a fluid which it secretes, and
for which the ants have a great liking. Another beetle that
is quite blind, is the A?iomniatus duodecim-striatus (Fig. 4), a
beetle about one-sixteenth of an inch in length, found in stores
of flour and meal. Both of these insects are rather rare.
The antennae of beetles are of very various forms, and are in
a great many cases the basis of classification, as the Lamelltcornia,
Clavicornia, Longicornia^ and so on. I must not say anything
about them in the present paper, but will only remark that nor-
mally the antennae have eleven joints, although to this rule there
are exceptions, some having more and others less.
The beetles now known to inhabit Britain are about 3,250
species ; these, in the most modern classifications, are divided into
twelve sections, the first of which is the Adephaga, or predaceous
beetles — the carnivora, so to speak, of the Coleoptera. This
section is divided into two well-marked and distinct sub-sections,
namely — the Geodephaga, those which live on the land, and the
Hydradephaga, or Water Beetles. Although the mouth, which
is the important point in this section, is similar both in the Geode-
phaga and in the Hydradephaga, the general form of the beetles
is very dissimilar, as will be seen by comparing Figs. 5 and 6,
so that there need be no fear of confusion. Those of the
one sub-section have a more or less triangular head, square or
heart-shaped thorax, and parallel-sided elytra, not deeply inserted
one into th^ other, but each part free and distinct ; the legs, also,
are long and suited for running on the land. Those of the other
sub-section are so formed that they are of a nearly oval figure,
without any projections ; in a word, boat-shaped, with legs spe-
14 THE MOUTH-ORGANS, ETC., OF
daily constructed, something like oars, for propelling the insect
through the water.
The mouth-organs of beetles, although all mandibulate and
constructed on the same plan, exhibit a great variety of forms in
their respective organs, according to the nature of the food on
which the insects subsist. Thus we find the carnivorous beetles
have mandibles very much hke the canine teeth of the tiger;
whereas those that feed on vegetables have their mandibles modi-
fied so as to act partly for cutting, but more particularly for crush-
ing, their food, like the molar teeth of the mammalia. At the
outset we are struck by the fact that all insects have mouth-
organs which work laterally, whereas all the vertebrata have the
motion of their parts vertically.
The mouth-organs of a beetle consist essentially of six parts,
namely : the labrum, or upper lip j the labium, or lower lip ; and
between these there are two pairs of jaws, known as the ma?idibles
and the ?}iaxillce. The head which carries these organs is a box,
or perhaps more correctly a ring of chitine, articulated at its base
into the thorax, and open at the apex for the reception of the
various parts of the mouth. The front of this ring, or head, on
the upper side is called the Clypeus, on to which the labrum is
hinged like a flap \ it is usually square or oblong, but sometimes
rounded, slightly emarginate, or deeply cleft. On the under side
of the head there is, first, a plate, called the metitujn or chin,
generally straight at the base, rounded at the sides in front, and
deeply emarginate, sometimes with a projection or tooth in the
centre, which is often again notched ; attached to this is the
ligula, the representative of the lingua, or tongue. Beetles have
no true, free tongue, such as is possessed by the crickets. In
some — as the Dor Beetle, for instance — it is fleshy and partly free,
but in the Geodephaga it is attached to the labium, and forms, in
fact, its inner surface. To the base of the ligula is attached a
pair of palpi of four joints, and at its sides are a pair of pieces
called Paraglossia, but in a great many cases the Paraglossce are
cemented to the sides of the ligula, so that they are merged into
it ; they may be considered as a part of the tongue. These alto-
gether constitute the labium, or lower lip.
Immediately under the labrum are the mandibles — a pair of
THE BRITISH GEODEPHAGA. 15
hooked jaws articulated at their bases to the sides of the head,
and worked by powerful muscles. They are of various forms, but
those in the examples selected are as typical as any. It will be
noticed that the mandibles are not alike, the one on the left-hand
side being longer than that on the right ; also, that the right-hand
mandible has a deep notch at about half way down, whilst the other
has only a very small notch near the bottom (see/^, in Fig. 9).
The use of these notches is evident ; they act, in fact, like a pair
of garden-shears, where the notch in one blade holds the branch or
other material whilst the other shears it off. The tips of the man-
dibles act more like canine teeth. The mandibles are always
strengthened by being very much thickened towards their outer
sides, and their cutting-edges are tipped with specially hard
chitine.
Under the mandibles is the other pair of jaws, or maxillce^
composed of several parts : first, the cardo, or hinge, attached to
which is the stipes, or stalk, and the palp if er, which carries the
palpi, composed of four joints, and on its inner side the inner
palpiform lobe, which is like a palpus of two joints. Here we
have the distinctive character of the section Adephaga. In all
other sections, although variously modified, this lobe is not of a
palpiform shape, and is more or less clothed with bristles, so as to
look like a brush. Also attached to the stipes is the lacinia, or
blade, terminating in a sharp hook. This blade is always fringed
with a series of bristles^ the use of which seems to be to prevent
the escape of the food from the mouth sideways during the
process of mastication.
It may be useful to superficially examine the mouth of one of
the Brachelytra by way of contrast, and for this purpose I think
" Ocypus olens'^ or "The Devil's Coach-horse" (Figs. 10, 11, and
12), a very suitable example, as it is typical of the section and
is a carnivorous beetle. It will be noticed that the inner palpi-
form lobe {g.g., Fig. 12), which is the distinctive feature of the
Geodephaga, is here much shortened, and becomes a compact brush.
This is the most important characteristic, but there are many other
points of interest, such as the large, square, flat head, deeply-cleft
labrum, straight mentum, without any emargination or tooth,
emarginate ligula, short palpi, and long hooked mandibles, which
16 THE BRITISH GEODEPHAGA.
give it quite a different character to the Geodephaga. The mandi-
bles (//) are worth looking at, to notice the processes on the
inside of each, some distance below the tip. These, it will be
observed, are not alike on each mandible, but a projection in one
works into a hollow in the other, acting in effect like molar teeth,
so that with the points of the mandibles as they pass each other,
acting like canine teeth, the insect has very much the advantages
which the higher animals have from a complete set of teeth.
Another feature is the brushes attached to the root of the mandi-
bles on the inside. This we do not meet with in the Geodephaga.
Perhaps owing to the mouth being wider and not so much enclosed
as the Geodephaga^ these brushes are needed to help sweep the
food into the centre, and prevent it slipping away.
The British Geodephaga consist of 312 species, divided,
according to Herbert Cox's Handbook, into 61 genera. I men-
tion and give prominence to this book, because, before it was
pubHshed, we had no means of finding the names of beetles
except by consulting and comparing the works of foreign authors,
books which are quite unattainable to most of us, and require,
when obtained, a knowledge of at least six languages to read them.
It is true, there are " Stephens' Entomology " and his " Manual " ;
also Curtis's great work. But these for determining species are so
full of error, and so many species have been discovered since their
publication, that they are nearly useless.
It will be seen by the chart of the classification of the
British Geodephaga given on the opposite page, that the
Geodephaga is divided into two families — the Cicindelidce and
the Carabidce. The first, or Tiger Beetles, is represented in this
country by only one genus, Cidndela, of which there are four
species. They are very beautiful and most interesting, and have
a well-marked distinctive character, namely — the hooked top to the
blade of the maxillae, which is rigid in all the rest of the Geode-
phaga, whilst in this family it is moveable. The mandibles, too,
are very remarkable. The drawings (Figs. 13 and 14, and 15) will
explain their peculiarities better than any written description, and
I think will prove that any insect would have but a poor chance
of escape when once between such jaws, particularly as these
beedes are very active, running and flying with great rapidity.
f Cicindelidae
Ph J
P
o
Carabidae .
Elaphrides
Carabides ...
scaritides ...
Brachinides
Dryptidea
Lebiides ...^
Lebiidea
fLORICERIDEA
Panagaeidea
Chlaeniidea
LiCINIDEA
Broscidea
Pterostichi-
Harpalides -{ dea ...
PIarpalidea
pogonidea
Trechidea
Bembidiides
VOL. V.
.. Cicindela, Lin. ... 4
( Notiophilus, Dumer. 6
, . . *N Elaphrus, Fab. ... 4
vBlethisa, Bon. ... i
'Cychrus, Fab. ... i
Carabus, Lin. ... 12
Calosoma, Weber. ... 2
} Nebria, Latr. ... 4
I Pelophila, Dej. ... i
l^Leistus, Froehl. ... 5
f Clivina, Latr. ... 2
' • • 1 Dyschirius, Bon. ... 10
, . . Brachinus, Weber. ... 3
{Drj'pta, Fab. ... i
Polystichus, Bon. ... i
Odacantha, Payk. ... i
I'Aetophorus, Sch.-Goe. I
Demetrias, Bon. ... 2
Dromius, Bon. ... 11
Blechrus, Motsch. ...
Metabletus, Sch.-Goe.
Lionychus, Wissm....
Cymindis, Latr.
Labia, Latr.
^Masoreus, Dej.
... Loricera, Latr.
... Panagaeus, Latr. ...
rCallistus, Bon.
...'\ Chlaenius, Bon.
vOodes, Bon.
f Licinus, Latr.
'" iBadister, Clairv.
( Broscus, Panz.
'"{ Miscodera, Eschsch.
'Sphodrus, Clairv. ...
Pristonychus, Dej....
Calathus, Bon.
Taphria, Bon.
Anchomenus, Er. ..
Olisthopus, Dej.
Stomis, Clairv.
Platyderus, Steph. ..
Pterostichus, Er.
Amara, Bon.
^Zabrus, Clairv.
fDiachromus, Er. ..,
! Dichirotrichus, Duv.
J Anisodactylus, Dej.
' I Harpalus, Latr.
j Stenolophus, Er. ...
l^ Brady cellus, Er.
f Patrobus, Dej.
( Pogonus, Dej.
I'Trechus, Clairv.
A Aepus, Leach.
vPerileptus, Schaum. .
^ Lymnaeum, Steph. ..
Cillenus, Curt.
Tachys, Ziegl. ... a
Bembidium, Latr. ... 43
.Tachypus, Meg. ... 3
Genera, 61; Species, 312
c
I
3
I
2
5
I
I
2
I
4
I
2
4
I
I
I
I
7
X
21
I
I
I
22
26
I
I
2
2
30
II
7
3
3
9
2
I
I
I
18 THE MOUTH-ORGANS; ETC., OF
The Carabidce is divided into seven sub-families, all of which
have their special peculiarities. It would occupy too much space
to attempt to enumerate them, I will, therefore, point out a few
prominent examples, which seem to possess marked characteris-
tics. The Elaphrides are little highly-polished gems, which run
very actively in the sunshine, generally near water. The common
Carabus is, as the name implies, an example of the next sub-
family; but there is another which we must notice, namely —
Cychriis rosfratus, or the Beaked Beetle. Its peculiarity consists
in the great elongation of the mouth-organs as well as the special
form of each organ individually (Figs. i6 and 17). The bi-lobed
labrum, the long hooked and three-toothed mandibles, the bi-lobed
mentum without any tooth in the centre, and very remarkable
palpi, distinguish it at once from all other British beetles. Leistus
is another genus which is interesting. If we look at the under-
side of the head (Fig. 18), we notice that the outer edges of the
maxillae are set with spines recurving inwards, and that the mentum
and sub-mentum are also set with spines so as to form a complete
cheveaux defrise. The ligula, too, is peculiar, being a trident, and
the very long, attenuated palpi are worthy of notice.
The Scaritides (Figs. 19 and 20) are small beetles, which
burrow a good deal in the earth and sand. Their general form is
peculiar, being very cylindrical, with the thorax not joined closely
to the abdomen. The legs are very short, the front pair being
very powerful, having the tibiae constructed for digging, the tarsi
being very small. The mouth, too, has some peculiarities, such as
the toothed mandibles {a.a.^ Fig. 20), which are dissimilar, and
interlock one into the other when closed, and the very large
fusiform terminal joint of the palpi.
BracJmius crepitans (Fig. 21) is of rather a peculiar form,
having the elytra truncated posteriorly, and not covering the abdo-
men ; hence its name. But it has, perhaps, more interest from its
having the power of ejecting from its anus a liquid which volati-
lises on reaching the air, from which fact it is called the Bombar-
dier. This practice is resorted to as a means of defence, for
when pursued by another insect it fires off its artillery, which
generally so dismays its enemy that it is able to reach some crack
or place of shelter in safety.
THE BRITISH GEODEPHAGA. 19
The genus Di'omius^ or runners (Fig. 22), is an example of the
next sub-family, their principal pecuharities being the abbreviated
elytra, like Brachinus^ and their very flat form. This fits them
to live under the bark of various trees, their thinness enabling
them to insinuate themselves into very small spaces in pursuit of
the sub-cutaneous larvae on which fhey subsist.
The next sub-family, the Harpalides^ is very vast, and com-
prises a great many dissimilar forms ; but Anisodactylus binotatiis
(Fig. 23) is a very good general example. It is of a more robust
form than any we have previously noticed. The genus Harpalus^
containing thirty species, are all of this character ; so also is the
genus Amara^ containing twenty-six species, all bright, shining
little beetles, commonly called " sunshiners," on account of their
running about on pathways with great activity in the brightest
sunshine. They are very difficult to determine, being so much
alike. It is worthy of notice that those beetles which are active
by day are usually bright and shining, bronze, green, or blue;
whereas those that prowl about by night, and during the day hide
under stones and such-like places are generally black and dull.
The modern genus, Fterostichus, contains twenty-two species, some
of which are very common, and is interesting on account of its
being originally divided into eight distinct genera ; now, however,
they are all put together. This grouping doubtless has its advan-
tages, but it certainly brings together very dissimilar forms.
A small beetle, Stomis pu7?iicatus^ which belongs to this sub-
family, has rather singular mouth-organs, having the mandibles
much elongated, the right one being notched and very much
hooked at the tip, whilst the left is much straighter and without
any notch (Fig. 24). They are both curved downwards, like the
blades of scissors used for clipping horses. There are a great
many more interesting forms, but we will pass on to the last sub-
family, the Bembidiides. These are all small beetles, the largest
being about one quarter of an inch in length, whereas one, Tachys
bistriatus, is only one sixteenth of an inch long, and is the small-
est of the British Geodephaga. They may all be known at a
glance by the palpi, the penultimate joint being very large, and
the last joint small, looking very much like a shoemaker's awl
stuck in its handle (see Fig. 25).
20 THE MOUTH-ORGANS, ETC., OF
The Antennae do not exhibit any striking variety ; they are all
eleven-jointed and simple in character. The Claws are generally
simple, but in some cases they are toothed on the inside. The
genera Dejuetrias^ Calathus^ Frtsto?iychus, and Taphria are instances
of this pecuHarity (see Fig. 26). There is an important character-
istic possessed by all the Geodephaga, except the section Cicindelidce.
and the sub-sections Elaphrides and Cai-abides. I refer to the
hollow on the inside of the anterior tibiae (Fig. 26). This is of
peculiar form, being placed obliquely, and furnished with comb-like
bristles. One of the large spines which is usually found at the
tip of the tibiae is set at the root of the hollow; a friend has
suggested that this remarkable organ may be for cleaning the
antennae, and although I have not been able to prove it, I think
it is very likely that such is the case. A similar arrangement
exists in the Hymenopfera, but in this case the hollow is in the
first joint of the tarsus. It is well shown in the foot of the
common wasp.
In " Westwood " I find the following note : — " Mr. Curties has
noticed an interesting peculiarity in the anterior tibiae of the genus
Cillenuifi, which are not only armed with the two ordinary spurs
(one above and the other below the notch), but have, also, two
additional deflexed spines at the outer extremity of the notch,
between which spines, he presumes, the lower moveable spur is
received ; hence he conceives that these notched anterior legs of
the Carabidce, are used in seizing and retaining their prey, for the
limb of an insect being received into the notch, and the lower
moveable spur being pressed upon it, the insect would be effect-
ually secured." It is quite possible that in this particular genus it
may have this use, although I very much doubt it ; but in the
numerous other genera it is obviously of a character unsuited for
this purpose. Its obHque direction, and the fringe of bristly hairs,
something between a comb and a brush, together with the curved,
hair-like spines, which close over the hollow like a spring, all show,
I think, an adaptation to a use, such as drawing the antennae
through to cleanse them from dust and dirt. The Humble Bees
possess this notch, and use it for the purpose of a pair of nippers ;
also, the Carder Bees use it for hackling the moss with which they
build their nests. In these instances the form of the notch is
THE BRITISH GEODEPHAGA. ^1
very different, besides possessing the blade which shuts down upon
it like the blade of a pocket-knife.
The remaining characteristics to which I wish to direct
attention are entirely sexual. Very nearly all the males have the
joints of the anterior tarsi dilated in some way or other (see Fig.
27). The few examples shown in the drawings exhibit some of
the more general forms of these dilated joints, but there is a great
deal of variety in the different genera, some being square, others
triangular or heart-shaped ; whilst in others we find one, two,
three, or four joints modified in this way. Again, the genera
Anisodactylus and Harpalus have both the anterior and interme-
diate tarsi dilated, the use of which is, beyond dispute, to enable
the male to grasp the female ; those that are not thus provided
seem to have an equivalent in some other organ. A reference to
the drawing of the head of Cychrus rostratus (Figs. 16 and 17) will
show the enormous spoon-shaped palpi of the male compared
with those of the female, which are evidently used for the purpose
suggested.
There is yet another point, namely — the very peculiar append-
ages attached to the under side of these dilated joints, which are
called tenent hairs (Fig. 30). These hairs are very remarkable in
form, suddenly swelHng out at the tip ; trumpet-shaped nearly
describes their form, only with this difference, that a trumpet is
round, whereas these hairs terminate in a much-flattened ellipse,
and seem to be hollow, suggestive of a sucker. They are placed
in rows on each side of the tarsi joints ; their number and exact
form differ in various genera and species. Good examples are
shown in the drawings (Figs. 28 — 32). The hairs act, undoubtedly,
as organs of prehension. It may be by their exuding a peculiar
sticky fluid, particularly at the time of union of the sexes, or they
may act more as suckers, or both functions may have something
to do with it. I have been unable to find any information
respecting these hairs in any work that I have had access to,
except in a paper read before the Linnaean Society in 186 1, by
Mr. Tuffen West. I find his observations exactly correspond
with my own. Connection is also assisted in some genera —
Harpalus, for instance — by the females having their elytra granu-
lated and rough, instead of highly polished, as those of the males.
22
THE MOUTH-ORGANS, ETC., OF
In some of the Water Beetles this is carried still farther, the
females having their elytra deeply sulcated, as in the genus
DytiscuSy and grooved and hairy in Actlius. AVe see how very
important this is when we remember that insects, unlike the
higher animals, unite but once only ; the male dying very
shortly after, whilst the female lives on until she has deposited
all her eggs. Nature has provided a receptacle called the
spermatheca, in which the seminal fluid of the male is stored
up, and it is so arranged as to fertilise each egg before it is depo-
sited. The celebrated John Hunter actually succeeded in fertilis-
ing the eggs of a female beetle which had not been in connection
with the male, by touching them with the fluid which he found
in the spermatheca of another female.
I have tried to point out some of the most important features,
as they appear to me, in those beetles of the section Geodephaga^
which I have had the opportunity of examining. Much more
might have been written, and doubtless there are many other
species which would have proved quite as interesting, or even
more so than those I have chosen. In another paper I hope to
describe the Larvae of Beetles, and also to contrast the form of
the mouth-organs in the Carnivorous Beetles with those of the
Vegetable and the Dung-feeding species.
EXPLANATION OF PLATES I., IL, IIL
Fi
g-
V
1. — Metoecus paradoxus, $ ; length, one-third of an inch.
2. — Sitaris muralis ; length, half an inch.
3. — Claviger foveolatus ; length, one-twelfth of an inch.
4. — A^iommatus duodecim-striatus ; length, one-sixteenth of an
inch.
5. — Anchomenus alhipes, $ ; length, three and a-half lines.
6. — Acilius sidcatus, S ; length, five-eighths of an inch.
7. — Mouth-organs of Nehria brevicollis, dorsal view.
8. — Ditto ditto ventral view.
1
.Journal of Microscopy, Vol. 5, PI. 1.
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THE BRITISH GEODEPHAGA. 23
Fig. 9. — The same, dissected.
a, Labrum, or lower lip.
h, Mentum, or chin ; to which are attached — c, Ligula, or
tongue ; d.d, Labial palpi ; b to d together constitute the
Lower lip ; /./, Mandibles ; g, Inner or Palpiform lobes ;
h, Maxillary paljDus ; i, Lacinia, or blade ; k, Palpifer ;
I, Stipes, or stalk ; m, Cardo, or hinge ; g to m together
constitute the Maxillae. In this insect the Paraglossse are
not largely developed, and do not show in the drawing.
,, 10. — Mouth-organs of Ocypus olens ; dorsal view.
,, 11. — Ditto ditto ventral view.
,, 12. — The same, dissected.
«, Labrum, or upper lip ; h, Mentum, or chin ; c, Ligula,
or tongue; d.d, Labial palpi ; e.e, Paraglossae ; b to e together
constitute the Labium, or lower lip ; /./, Mandibles ; g, Inner
or Palpiform lobe; h, Maxillary palpus ; i, Lacinia, or blade ;
k, Palpifer ; /, Stipes, or stalk ; m, Cardo, or hinge ; g to m
together constitute the Maxillae.
,, 13. — Mouth-organs of Cicindela maritima, dorsal view; mouth
closed as in repose.
14. — Ditto, open.
15. — Ditto, ventral view ; the labial palpi have been removed to
show organs underneath. One of the labial palpi is shown
at) ct. •
16. — Mouth-organs of Cychrus rostratus, ^ , dorsal view; the Palpi
of the female are shown at a a.
17. — Ditto, ventral view. The Palpi of the female are shown,
at a. a.
18. — Mouth-organs of Leistrus spinibarbis ; ventral view.
19. — Cliviiia fossor ; length, one quarter of an inch.
20. — Mouth-organs of Clivina fossor ; ventral view, a.a, Mandibles.
21. — Brachinus crepitans^ the Bombardier Beetle; length, one-third
of an inch.
22. — Dromius quadrimacidatus ; length, two and a quarter lines.
23. — Anisodactylus binotatus, S' ; length, five lines.
24. — Mouth-organs of Stomis pumicatus, dorsal view.
25. — Mouth-organs of Bembidium littorale.
20. — Toothed Claws of — a, Calathns; b, Demet7'ias ; c, Pristony-
chus ; and d, Taphria. Notched Anterior Tibiie : — e, Bight
tibia, ventral view ; /, Left tibia, dorsal view.
27. — Anterior Tarsi of the Males and Females, compared in — •
a, Loricera ; 6, Harpalus ; and c, Bembidiun}.
28. — Leg of Amara communis, ^^ x 50.
29. — One of the appendages (tenent hairs) in profile, X 300,
30. — Leg of Ptei'ostichus niger, ^ , x 25.
24 A LETTER FROM MAORI-LAND.
Fig. 31. — View of some of the appendages (vesicles), x 100.
,, 32. — One of these still more enlarged, x 200.
Figures 28 — 32 are after Tuffen West ; the others are drawn
from nature by Robert Gillo.
a Xetter from fll>aori*=Xaiit)*
By Thomas Steel,
Auckland, New Zealand,
Corresponding Member Greenock Natural History Society.
Plate IV.
THE land of the Maori and the Moa had long been to us a
kind of scientific El Dorado : a land teeming with all
manner of strange and weird objects of the natural world,
a very antipode to all that we had been accustomed to at home,
and stranger even than that land of strangeness, Australia. It
was natural, therefore, that we should have looked forward with
joyful anticipations when it fell to our lot to go to the storehouse
of the new and the wonderful, and we are glad to say that our
experience of New Zealand has quite come up to our expecta-
tions. Before coming here, we were told that we were going to a
beautiful and delightful country, and certainly that portion of New
Zealand which we have seen has fully sustained the prestige which
the designation, " Land of Loveliness," would lead us to expect.
The climate of Auckland is almost a perpetual springtime, and has
been described by those who have travelled much as being not
often equalled, and perhaps never surpassed, by that of any other
portion of the world.
The province of Auckland, in the north island of New Zea-
land, has been called " The Wonderland of the World," and it
certainly does possess a full share of those curious objects which
are so great an attraction alike to the scientific and unscientific.
A LETTER FROM MAORI-LAND. 25
It is not our intention to dwell so much on what are perhaps the
more generally attractive features of that portion of the land
which we have had opportunities of inspecting, as to speak of
some of the more striking natural history objects, which, by their
contrast with what we have previously experienced, naturally
attract our first attention, and are more likely to prove of interest
to our old friends at home. Many people have remarked that
the country around the city of Auckland bears a very striking
resemblance to home scenes. By home we of course mean the
old country, and it is curious how people out here, even though
born and brought up in the colonies, invariably speak of the
mother country as home !
Persons going by road or rail to one or other of the charming
little villages in the vicinity of Auckland might very easily imagine
themselves to be in some of our Scottish country districts, for the
aspect of the land is certainly more Scotch than otherwise.
Indeed, going by rail from Auckland to the suburban village of
Remuera, the scenery bears a startling resemblance to that with
which we are so familiar between Greenock and Kilmalcolm.
On either side of the line are the farm-yards, with their fields
fenced in with hawthorn, and the national Scotch " Dry-stone
Dyke " ; on every side are vast quantities of the golden blossoms
of the yellow whin bushes, which here attain a luxuriance of
growth seldom surpassed even on the bonny hills of Renfrewshire,
and which, when in all their glory of bright-coloured blossom, well
seem to merit the tribute paid to them by the great Linnaeus. At
frequent intervals are '' plantings " of Scotch and American firs ;
while scattered everywhere are poplars, oaks, and other familiar
trees, to say nothing of the hosts of docks, thistles, and other
weeds, which, having found a congenial home, have flourished
apace.
The native trees and plants are quite in the minority ; for one
New Zealand plant we find dozens of foreigners. Still, those
native plants which do flourish side by side with their imported
rivals have about them such a stamp of originality as to prevent
us losing sight of the fact that we are indeed in the home of a
strange flora. By their mere individuahty, the native trees are so
striking in appearance that they at once attract and rivet atten-
26 A LETTER FROM MAORI-LAND.
tion, and were it not that the home plants are so familiar and
well known to us, we should certainly pass them over almost
unnoticed in favour of the quaint and curious natives. Nothing
could, for instance, be more pleasing and attractive to the eye
than the bold outline of a hillside against the sky, crowned with a
feathery ridge of the graceful cabbage-tree {Cordyline Banksii).
This curious tree is to our mind the perfection of gracefulness.
The trunk is slender and clean, and rises straight upwards for from
lo to 15 feet, though many trees attain much larger dimensions ;
it then strikes into several equal short branches, which in their
turn again equally subdivide; each branch bears a clump of
strong, rush-like leaves, which expand in all directions. Occasion-
ally, several trunks spring from one root, but more commonly
there is one stem only. The blossoms appear about December,
and being very full of nectar prove a great attraction to various
birds and insects. Several species of this genus are found in
Australia, and are popularly known as "lily palms." The general
appearance of the New Zealand cabbage-tree reminds us of the
common Australian screw-pine, Pandaniis pedunculatus (R. Brown),
the generic name of which is derived from a Malay word, meaning
" conspicuous."
The New Zealand flax, Phormium tenax, is a very useful
plant, and forms quite a feature in our New Zealand scenery, and
takes a high place as an article of commercial value ; it is only
found in New Zealand, and grows freely in all localities. The
plants of flax generally grow in clusters or groups, and sometimes
large stretches of land are densely covered with them. In
appearance they are like huge flags ; the long, broad, grass-like
leaves making the plant very conspicuous. The flowers are pro-
duced on long stalks, not unlike those of the aloe, and are so full
of nectar, as quite to overflow with it, and the natives used for-
merly to collect the sweet secretion as an article of food. We do
not remember to have seen any plant which can at all compare
with the Phormium in the abundance of this secretion. The
great value of the Phormium tenax consists in its being a fibre
producer. The leaves are excessively strong, and are very largely
used for making the fibre known in commerce as New Zealand
flax. The Maori have long used the leaves for a great variety of
A LETTER FROM MAORI-LAND. 27
purposes, and a multitude of articles, from cloth and ropes, to the
walls of their huts, are or were made from it
Any mention of New Zealand plants would be quite incomplete
without reference to that noble native tree, the Kauri gum, Dain-
mara Australis (Lambert). This splendid tree is at once the
monarch and the chief glory of the New Zealand forest. It
grows to an enormous height, 150 feet being frequently reached,
the circumference being commonly 30 feet. Logs of 60 feet are
often cut. Mr. Griffin alludes to one tree on Totamoe Mountains,
the trunk of which is ()6 feet in circumference or 22 feet in dia-
meter. The Kauri tree is exclusively confined to the northern
portion of the North Island, being found nowhere else. The
trunk is a beautiful clean column, crowned with a graceful head of
dense foliage. The leaves are short and flat, and the cones are
very small in proportion to the size of the tree. When a notch is
cut in the bark, the semi-liquid gum exudes, exactly as in the case
of the pine tree. The gum quickly hardens by exposure ; when
fresh, it has an aromatic taste, and is largely used by young people
as a kind of sweetmeat. It appears to be formed in large
masses in or about the roots of the trees, and all the Kauri gum
of commerce is obtained by digging it out of the earth at those
places where years before the trees have lived and died. There
is some mystery about the ultimate destination of the gum, but
the great bulk of it is exported to America, where it is used as an
ingredient in the preparation of varnish. We suppose, also, that
a portion finds its way into commerce as Gum Dammar.
The Kauri tree sheds its bark and branches in a curious
manner. The branches and twigs die and drop clean off, leaving
a regular scar exactly similar to that left by the petiole when ordi-
nary trees shed their leaves. The bark is shed, not in irregular
pieces, but in what we can term nothing else than regular scales.
These flakes, or scales, of bark become detached all round, and
then drop off; they strongly remind us of the scales of a fish. It
is, however, as a timber tree that the Kauri stands unexcelled.
The wood is almost exclusively used in New Zealand for all
manner of outdoor and indoor work, it takes a beautiful polish,
more especially in the knotty parts, and is suitable for cabinet and
other fine work.
28 A LETTER FROM MAORI-LAND.
Owing to the great demand for the timber, the Kauri trees are
rapidly diminishing in number, and though in the less accessible
mountain districts there are still magnificent Kauri forests, still we
cannot but think that if strong measures are not put in force, and
that soon, the Queen of the New Zealand forest will at no distant
date take its place, with the Moa, among the things that have
been. Truly, it w^ould be a great pity if such a thing should
occur. We have lost the Moa ; let us preserve the Kauri and the
Kiwi !
The large trees of the New Zealand forest have to contend
with a multitude of climbing and parasitic plants. Everywhere
one sees huge trees quite smothered under a load of vegetation,
or else lying dead and prostrate, having broken down under the
weight of their uninvited burthen. The Lawyer vines {Calamus)
of the Australian scrubs are here represented by the New Zealand
Raspberry vine, Ruhus Aus traits, a plant having much the same
habit as its Australian counterpart, but not being so formidably
armed. We have also the curious Supple Jack {Rhipigonum
scandens), a trailing climber, which well deserves its title.
The approach of Christmas is heralded here, not by frost and
snow, as in the dear old country, but by sunshine and flowers, by
the blossoming of all manner of bright and glowing plants and by
the ripening of delicious fruits. But the herald of the joyful
season, par excellefice, to us is the breaking out in glorious profu-
sion of blossom of the magnificent Pokutukawa, or Christmas
Tree {Metrosideros fomefitosa). This is a large, dark-foliaged
tree, which grows profusely about Auckland, more especially
along the coast. When not in bloom it is a sombre-looking
tree, though graceful and ornamental, but when in the full glory of
blossom it is truly a splendid object. The flowers are clusters of
little groups of bells, three bells in each group ; the calyx is thick,
fleshy, and cup-shaped ; the petals are very small and rudiment-
ary, while the stamens are long and of a brilliant crimson colour,
and it is to them that the tree when in flower owes its singular
beauty. The flower-cups are full of nectar, each containing a
large drop. It is fertilised by the birds, which come to feed on
the nectar, and in so doing get the pollen from the long, stiff
stamens on their feathers, A large Christmas tree in full blossom
A LETTER FROM MAORI-LAND. 29
is like a huge crimson fire, and is a sight not soon to be forgotten.
Nowhere, perhaps, in the world is there to be found such a
profusion of ferns of all sorts and sizes, as in the damp, sheltered
nooks of the New Zealand forests. Most conspicuous amongst
them are the graceful Tree-ferns, great fellows towering to the
height of 20 and 30 feet, and at the same time looking so delicate
and airy that one almost fancies it possible to take one on each
shoulder and walk off with them.
Climbing ferns are here found in great profusion, and of these
one of the commonest, yet most curious, is Polypodium serpens
(Foist), the barren fronds of which are quite round, while the
fertile ones are long, and both are entire and fleshy. They are
covered with a dense coating of beautiful stellate hairs, and are
most interesting under the microscope. We are all familiar with
stellate hairs in many plants, but it is somewhat unusual to meet
with them in the fern tribe. P. serpejis is also found abundantly
in Queensland.
Polypodium Billiardari (Brown) is another very pretty climbing
fern, having a thick, fleshy, creeping rhizome, and whose sections
prove quite a treat for the microscopist, it being just of the right
firmness of structure to cut into sections, and presenting under
the instrument a most curious structure. It is a common fern,
climbing over trees and rocks everywhere.
We admire exceedingly some of the larger Lycopods, and we
would like to speak more about them and the multitude of other
beautiful plants which abound here; but we have many other
topics on which we wish to dwell, and so are reluctantly compelled
to turn away from these charming Flora. A convenient object to
utilise as a stepping-stone between the consideration of the plant
and the animal worlds, is the very curious organism known as the
New Zealand " Vegetable Caterpillar." Though but an exagger-
ated example of a very common species of parasiticism, this
object is sufficiently strange to warrant more than a passing glance.
The caterpillar is the larva of a moth, Hepialus virecens (Roberts),
and feeds upon the leaves of a tree.
Before changing into the chrysalis, the caterpillar buries itself
in the earth, and it is then that the curious phenomenon of which
we are now speaking takes place. About the month of March, in
30 A LETTER FROM MAORI-LAND.
places where these caterpillars are found, may be seen slender,
brown, spear-like stems, a few inches in length, projecting from
the ground. On digging them up, we find that they proceed from
the body of a caterpillar. These spikes are the bearers of the
spores of a fungus, the mycelium of which completely fills the
body of the caterpillar. On examination we find that the fungus
has completely replaced, with a dense, corky mass of mycelium,
all the internal organs of the caterpillar, though externally there is
nothing to indicate this, the skin of the insect being quite
unchanged and retaining its natural shape. The manner in which
the caterpillar becomes infected with the spores of the fungus is
not exactly known, but it is probable that they are either eaten
adhering to the leaves which form the food of the insect, or else
that they enter by the spiracles in the manner so well known in
the insect world. The name of the fungus is Cordyceps Roberi-
sii (Berk). The drawing (PI. IV.) will give an idea of the
appearance of this specimen. Similar organisms are, I under-
stand, found in Queensland, India, and China. In Nature, Vol.
XIV., p. 224, is a notice of a specimen from Queensland being
exhibited at a meeting of the Entomological Society of London ;
and I think there is mention somewhere in the Transactions
of the Geological Society of Glasgow of a specimen from India
being exhibited at a meeting of that Society by Mr. John Young.
A curious circumstance in connection with New Zealand is that
though rich in plants which secrete a great abundance of nectar
there are no indigenous bees. There are also no snakes, though
lizards are abundant, and a frog is also native to the country.
The absence of snakes is striking when we consider that all the
adjacent lands have them in abundance : Australia, Tasmania, and
Fiji all have snakes. The well-known absence of reptiles from
Ireland is analogous, but it is curious that we in New Zealand
should have other kinds of reptiles, but no snakes. It has been
given as a joking reason for their absence from the Green Isle
that it was such a forsaken spot that even a snake would not stop
in it ; this cannot be said of New Zealand, it is much too
lovely a land for that ; indeed, we might carry the joke a little
further, and say that New Zealand was such a beautiful land that
snakes had not the presumption to enter !
A LETI'ER FROM MAORI-LAND. 81
Perhaps the most singular of New Zealand reptiles is the
well-known Tantara lizard, Sphenodoti pundatum (Gray). This
lizard has long been an object of interest to naturalists from the
unique position which it occupies amongst living reptiles. It
seems that it stands in a position nearer to that of the birds than
any other reptile, and that it also serves as a link between the
lizards proper and the crocodiles.
It is said that this lizard has the curious habit of living in
perfect harmony and in the same burrow with a small tern, the
bird occupying one side of the chamber at the end of the burrow
and the lizard the other. This is not our experience, for we have
found both bird and reptile, but in different burrows. The Tantara
lizard is not common, being now found only on some of the
islands composing the Barrier group off Auckland. It is a pretty
creature, nocturnal in its habits, and is quite harmless. We are
informed by people who have camped on the islands where it
occurs, that at night it comes crawling about the camp, attracted
by the light and the fire, much to the alarm of those who regard
all such creatures with aversion.
Of late, our great aim has been the collection of the bones of
the Moa, that curious, extinct, wingless bird which has attracted
so much attention. There were several species of Moa. Some
attained the height of ten feet, whilst others did not exceed three
feet. The Moa was hunted by the Maori, and it is about their old
camping grounds that we search for the remains of the feast — the
dry bones, which, I may safely say, furnish a richer feast to the
Pakeha (white man) than did ever the flesh to the old Maori. By
carefully searching the sandhills along the Manaia and Patna
beaches at Whangarie, we have found many good specimens of
different bones of Dinoniis parvus (Owen), D. Oweni (Haast),
and of D. Gracilis (Owen). It was only the other day that in
exploring one of the numerous little caves in one of the lava
fields near Auckland, that we came on a skeleton of D. Owaii
in a fair state of preservation. It was very interesting to
find the curious calcareous rings of the throat lying beside the
neck vertebrae, and the other bones in their natural position. The
Moa seems to have had a habit of retiring to the dark recesses of
caves and holes to die, and to this habit science owes some of the
32 A LETTER FROM MAORI-LAND.
finest specimens which have been found. The food of the Moa
seems to have been entirely of a vegetable nature, and small
pebbles were swallowed to aid in the grinding of the food.
Another of the characteristic birds of New Zealand which
seems doomed to follow its relative the Moa and become a thing
of the past, is the pretty little Kiwi, Apteryx Manteli (Bart).
This bird is still moderately common in the more secluded
mountain forests, but not having the power of flight, and being
entirely dependent on its acute senses for safety, it is gradually
becoming rarer. We have had the pleasure of minutely inspecting
several fresh specimens. The wings are exceedingly rudimentary,
being merely little naked stumps, and are entirely concealed
beneath the dense covering of long, hair-like feathers. The legs
are strong and heavy, the beak is long and slender, having the
nostrils at the tip. We have seen birds infested with large
numbers of parasites, but we think we have never seen one so
overwhelmed with them as the poor little Kiwi. A species of
mite (Acarus) is found about the shafts of the feathers, literally in
myriads. After the bird is killed, they come crawling in writhing
masses on to the ends of the feathers, and so excessively numerous
are they, that the feathers are quite hid beneath the great
multitude. Then there are three or four different species of
Ixodes^ or Ticks, the smaller species of which can be counted in
dozens, and the larger ticks are nearly as abundant. Truly it is a
hard matter to understand how the poor bird manages to exist at
all under such a load of blood-suckers. The Kiwi and the Tree-
Fern are incorporated in the national arms of New Zealand, and
it would be a great pity if such an interesting emblem of a past
age, as this bird is, were allowed to die out.
We have but little more to add to this paper. It was our
intention to say something about the Maories themselves, regard-
ing whom we have been able to glean much exceedingly interest-
ing information, but we are greatly hampered through want of
time. All our leisure is naturally given up to the collection
and preservation of the numberless specimens, new to us, which
are constantly coming under our observation.
Journal of Microscopy, Vol 5, PI. 4
K ^
^
^
^
^
^
^
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f^ t^ ^
f$^'0-^t
'■^m-:
Its li. --x*--?
[33]
Part I.
By George Norman, M.R.C.S., etc.
THE older botanists divided the Cryptogams into Thallogens
and Acrogens ; the modern German school requires three
divisions : Thallophytes, Muscineae, and Vascular Cryp-
togams. In either case, the first division, Thallogens or Thallo-
phytes, remains the same, and includes Algae, Fungi, and Lichens.
The characteristic common to these three groups is the
presence of a vegetative body, or Thallus, which exhibits no
differentiation into stem, leaf, and root, or, if it does so at all, it is
only in a very rudimentary degree.
Without entering into the disputed question of the position
the Lichens should assume in this division, we may say, speaking
generally, that the Alg^ and Fungi form by far the largest and
most important section.
About the beginning of this century, little was known about
either group, plants being frequently referred to the one which
really belonged to the other, and even in the full light of modern
investigation there are still genera whose position is extremely
doubtfal. One point has, however, been brought out by modern
investigation, and that is, the slight difference that exists between
these groups from a morphological point of view. In conse-
quence, an attempt has been made to arrange Algae and Fungi
together in classes according to the method of reproduction, but
this has been only partially successful owing to our ignorance of
the details of the life-history.
As to the differences that exist between Algae and Fungi, the
most striking one to all observers is, the presence of chlorophyll
in the AlgEe and its absence amongst Fungi ; and following on
this is the difference as to habit and mode of life. The Funsi
are adapted to absorb organic carbonaceous nutriment from their
surroundings ; if they obtain it from living bodies, we have
parasitism in its various forms ; if they have the capacity of
consuming dead organic remains, their habit of life must vary
accordingly.
VOL. v. D
34 FRESH- WATER ALG^.
Algse are able themselves to produce carbonaceous food-
materials out of carbonic acid by assimilation ; they are not
therefore usually either parasites or saprophytes, but can maintain
an independent life. Their dependence on assimilation requires
that they should inhabit localities where there is free access of
light ; while Fungi are not absolutely dependent on light for their
supply of food.
The Fresh-Water Algae ought, from a strictly scientific point
of view, to be considered in conjunction with the marine Algae, as
they both belong to the same group. The only excuse for consider-
ing them apart is that of convenience to those microscopists who
desire some acquaintance with the organisms to be found in the
numerous ponds and canals of their neighbourhood.
The classification of Algae, like that of Fungi, is still in a
transition state, and for the same reason, viz., that we are as yet
unacquainted with the full details of the life-history in many
species.
For practical purposes, the classification adopted by Cooke in
his recently completed work on the Fresh-Water Algae answers
very well. He mentions that all Algae are associated under five
classes, viz. : —
I. — CHLOROPHYLLOPHYCEiE, with the Cell contcnts mostly of a
chlorophyll-green.
2. — PHYCOCHROMOPHYCEiE, with the cell contents mostly of a
bluish-green.
3. — Melanophyce^, with the cell contents olive, brownish,
or blackish.
4. — Rhodophyce^, with the cell contents rosy, purple,
crimson, or violet.
5. — DiATOMOPHYCE/E, with an incombustible siliceous skeleton.
The third class are all marine, and the majority of the fourth,
so that, exclusive of diatoms, which are a special study, the
Fresh- Water Algae are mainly included in the first two classes.
The classification proposed by German botanists and accepted
by some in this country is made according to the method of
reproduction, and is similar to that of the Fungi, viz. : —
I. — Protophyta, in which the multiplication of individuals is
effected by fission of the vegetable cells,
FRESH-WATER ALGJC. 35
2. — Zygospores, in which two similar cells coalesce and
produce a reproductive cell termed a zygospore, which germinates
after a longer or shorter period of rest, and gives rise either to
spores, or to a plant of the same kind as that in which conjuga-
tion took place.
3. — Oospore.^, in which the two reproductive cells are essen-
tially different. The female cell, or Oosphere, is enclosed within
an older cell, the Oogonium. The male cells, the Antherozoids,
are enclosed within a larger cell, the Antheridium, and are
endowed with motion by means of vibratile cilia. They swarm
round the Oosphere and cause its impregnation by the coalescence
of their substance with it ; the Oosphere becomes invested with a
thick cell wall, and is now called the Oospore. After a longer or
shorter period of rest, the Oospore germinates, and gives rise
either to a plant resembling the mother plant, or to a number of
Zoospores, each of which finally gives rise to a plant like the
mother plant.
4. — Carpospores, in which there is a general resemblance to
Oosporeae, but a great deal more individual variety. The female
element consists of one or more cells, and is called the Carpogo-
nium. The male cell varies greatly, consisting of antherozoids
either swarming or passively motile, or of tubular pollinodia.
Fertilisation is effected by the entrance of antherozoids into the
female cell as in the Oosporeae, and the product is called a Spo-
rocarp. This is sometimes a single cell germinating directly, or
through the medium of zoospores, or more generally a multicellu-
lar body from which spores are finally produced.
One essential difference between Sporocarps and Oospores
consists in this : that in the production of the former certain cells
also take part which were not immediately concerned in the act of
impregnation ; and that the portion of the fructification producing
the spores is surrounded by a sterile envelope, which serves
merely for protection, or for further nourishment.
There is, however, another method of propagation common to
all these four classes — viz., by means of Gonidia, which are pro-
duced quite independently of any act of fertilisation. The
Gonidia often arise from the Thallus by the whole of the contents
of certain cells dividing, and producing two or more Gonidia,
36 THE MICROSCOPE
which become detached from the plant. But in other cases
special supports or receptacles are formed in the Thallus, the sole
function of which is to produce Gonidia, either by the abstriction
of the ends of special branches (Stylogonidia), or by free cell for-
mation in the interior of large cells (Endogonidia). The Gonidia,
when they escape from the mother cell, possess no cell-wall, and
are motile ; hence, they are now called Zoogonidia. The anterior
end is hyaline, and in some cases a minute red dot lies at one
side ; two cilia are attached to the anterior end, or to the side, or
to both. Sometimes the anterior end is encircled with cilia, or
even the entire surface of the Zoogonidium.
During swarming a cell-wall is secreted, the Zoogonidium
comes to rest, attaches itself to some body by its anterior end,
the cilia disappear, and germination commences, the end which
was posterior during swarming now becoming the growing point,
and hence the anterior end of the young plant.
It is well to mention here that in some cases swarming cells
are seen to conjugate ; in this case they cannot be regarded as
Zoogonidia, but as motile sexual organs which should be placed
in the class Zygosporese.
It must not be supposed that all the Fresh-Water Algae are
reproduced exactly according to one or other of the methods now
described ; on the contrary, although allowing of a general classi-
fication under one or other of these heads, there is very great
diversity amongst them, the details of which it would be impos-
sible to give within a reasonable length. Taking, however, this
classification as a basis, in our next paper, we will glance at
some of the principal genera.
^be fIDicroecope an& bow to use it
By V. A. Latham, Late Hon. Sec. U.J.F.C., Norwich.
D
Part V. — Double-Staining, etc.
OUBLE-STAINING is a subject which requires to be very
much more worked out than it has been hitherto. There
is no pursuit in which patience and time for experimenting
AND HOW TO USE IT. 37
are more required than in that of double-staining. The student
must not be discouraged by many failures, as from each there is
some new fact to be learned and noted, and in the application of
these to future experiments some brilliant results are sure to be
obtained. Let us give a hint before going further. Always note
the stain, strength of it, the time required for the operation, etc.,
in a note-book, to be kept specially for that purpose, as it will be
found to be of great value. The following are some of the best
combinations : —
I. — Picro-Carmine and Logwood.
2. — Picro-Carmine and Safranine.
3. — Picro-Carmine and Iodine Green.
4. — Eosin and Aniline Blue.
5. — Eosin and Logwood,
6. — Eosin and Aniline Green, etc.
7. — Aniline Rose and Aniline Green.
8. — Bismarck Brown and Aniline Green.
9. — Borax Carmine and Indigo Carmine.
10. — Methyl Green and Induline.
II. — Gold Chloride and AniUnes.
1.— Picro-Carmine and Logwood.
To Stain Sections of the Scalp, Skin, or Tongue. — Stain the
sections first in picro-carmine (10 drops to a watch-glass full of
distilled water), let the sections remain in this for from 20 to 30
minutes, then wash in water, place in distilled water acidulated
with I or 2 drops of acetic or picric acid. Leave for about one
hour ; then remove and place in dilute logwood stain (5 to 7
drops in a watch-glass of distilled water) ; do not let them stain too
deeply. When coloured as required, wash to remove the excess of
logwood, and mount in the ordinary way. This is very good
when used with fresh tissues, as mucous membranes ; it brings out
connective tissue corpuscles in the mesentery of a newt, and
shows non-striped muscular tissue very well. It is also useful in
bringing out delicate tissue in the tubuli seminiferi of the testis,
and showing the developing spermatozoa there. Developing
bone shows very well.
38 THE MICROSCOPE
2.--Picro-Carmine and Safranine.— This is especially applic-
able where you wish your specimen, owing to its structure, etc.,
to be very clear and transparent. Stain in picro-carmine first,
then with saft-anine. The former stains all the connective tissue
and nuclei, while the latter stains muscle, epithelium, etc.
3.— Picro-Carmine and Iodine Green.— This is one of the
most useful combinations of which we know. Stain the sections
in picro-carmine, wash well in water slightly acidulated with acetic
acid, then stain in a watery solution of iodine green, take care
they do not become overstained, which can easily be ascertained
by washing them in water. If a section, say of the posterior
third of the Tongue, be stained, all the connective tissue and the
muscles will be red, whilst the mucous glands and adenoid tissue
will be green. The serous glands do 7Wi take up the green stain,
therefore the combination is of utmost value for gland tissue.
Most exquisite effects are produced in the cerebellum, bone, and
intestine by this method. The sections are generally mounted in
dammar, or Canada balsam and benzole. Sections stained in log-
wood and iodine green, and mounted in dammar, are very good.
The acini of the mucous glands are stained a bright green, while
the epithelium in the different ducts is of a logwood tint. A high
power shows the nuclei stained with logwood.
4.— Eosin and Aniline Blue give good results, but require to
be used cautiously, as, if the staining is too deep, the section
becomes opaque. The section should be very thin, and must be
well washed after staining with eosin, and then just immersed for
a few seconds in aniline blue.
6. — Eosin and Logwood are very good for staining the zone of
ossification in growing bone. The sections of decalcified bone are
first immersed for a few days in a J % solution of chromic acid, or
I % solution of bichromate of potassium, soak the sections in i %
solution of carbonate of soda for lo — 20 minutes, which will be
sufficient ; wash well. Prepare two watch-glasses, containing a
dilute solution of logwood, place the sections in one, let them
remain for a minute, stir them round, and then place them in the
other ; stain till deep enough. This prevents a deposit of granules
over all the sections ; then, after washing well with water, stain in-
AND HOW TO USE IT. 39
a watery solution of eosin, etc. In young bone, where ossification
is progressing, the cartilage matrix is blue, while the nuclei of the
cartilage-cells adjoining the line of bone are red ; the contents of
the medullary spaces also are bright red, while in the bone
trabecules there is a coiiibinatmi of blue and red.
Logwood and Eosin :—
(i.) Make a strong infusion of logwood chips in tepid water,
add 3 or 4 drops of this to a watch-glass full of distilled water,
and place the sections in it for about 15 minutes.
(ii.) Wash the sections thoroughly in ordinary water, and
transfer to acidulated water for a few seconds (30 minims of acetic
acid to I pint of distiUed water), to get rid of superfluous
staining ; re-wash thoroughly in ordinary water.
(iii.) Place in rectified spirit * for an hour.
(iv.) Transfer to an alcoholic solution of eosin (3 grains to i
ounce of alcohol) for an hour, or the sections may remain in this
solution for any length of time, as the eosin only acts upon the
tissue elements to a certain extent, and no further.
(v.) Wash quickly in rectified spirit. If the sections are
allowed to remain in the spirit, the eosin stain will be removed, hence
it is necessary merely to rinse them in spirit, and transfer them
quickly to oil of cloves, previous to mounting them in Canada
balsam or gum dammar.
6.— Eosin and Aniline colours.— First stain in an alcoholic
solution of eosin, then in a i % watery solution of an aniline
colour (dahlia, methyl-violet, or aniline green). Care must be
taken not to extract the colour when dehydrating the specimen in
alcohol according to the usual method ; very deep staining is
therefore desirable.
Eosin and Bismarck Broivji. — Put the sections in a strong
aqueous solution of Bismarck brown, remove after about 2
minutes, set in a weak acetic acid solution (4 %), then place in a
weak alcoholic or aqueous solution of eosin, and then again in
the acetic acid solution ; dehydrate with alcohol, mount in
dammar varnish.
* Rectified Spirit of sp. gr. o"3SS should be used here ; where, however,
it cannot be easily procured, ordinary methylated spirit will do.
40 THE MICROSCOPE
7.— Rosein or Aniline Violet. — Immerse in a spirituous
solution of rosein or aniline violet, then in an aqueous solution of
aniline blue or iodine green.
9.— Borax Carmine and Indigo Carmine.— Two fluids are
required, red and blue.
The former is made as follows : — carmine 7 J grains, borax
J drachm, distilled water i ounce. The blue contains indigo
carmine ^ drachm, borax ^ drachm, and distilled water 7 ounces.
After thorough trituration, the ingredients are mixed and left in a
vessel ; the supernatant fluid is then poured off. The sections, if
previously hardened in bichromate, picric, or chromic acid,
should be well washed ; they are then to be placed for a few
minutes in a mixture (equal parts) of the red and blue fluids, then
transferred, without washing, to a saturated solution of oxalic
acid, and allowed to remain in it rather less time than in the
staining fluid. When sufficiently bleached, the sections should be
washed in water until every trace of oxalic acid is removed.
Sections thus prepared may be mounted in Canada balsam or
gum dammar. Connective tissue substances are blue, while the
nuclei are red. The osseous lamellae of bone are blue, the cells
in the lacunae red, while the marrow is apple-green.
10.— Methyl Green and Induline.— The one stains the nuclei
of the cells of the sub-cutaneous tissue, the nuclei of the vessels
of nerve sheaths rose colour, while the ceUs of the corium and
their nuclei are a violet red ; the other colours the cells of the
Malpighian layer a greenish blue.
Methyl Green and Eosin are also very good. Eosin i part
and methyl green 60 parts are to be dissolved in a 30 % solution of
warm alcohol. The epithelial nuclei take a violet blue, the
nuclei of connective tissue a greenish blue, and the cell-body a red
colour.
Note the singular differentiations : — Thus, while the striated
muscle is red, the nuclei are green. On the other hand, smooth
muscular tissue is green, the intercellular substance red. In the
salivary glands the cells of the excretory ducts are stained blue,
while the so-called secretory cells are red. Induline dissolves in
warm water and in dilute alcohol. Take a concentrated watery
AND HOW TO USE IT. 41
solution, dilute it with 6 times its volume of water, then immerse
the preparations from 5 to 20 minutes, wash them out and clarify
in oil of cloves, or glycerine. The peculiarity of this material
is that it never affects the nucleus, but only the cell-body. More
frequently, however, it is the intercellular substance that is coloured
blue.
Sulphindigotate of Soda and Carmine.— Stain as usual in
carmine, wash in rectified or methylated spirit, remove the
sections from the spirit into 5 parts methylated spirit, and add to
it I part of pure hydrochloric acid for about 10 minutes. Wash in
strong rectified or methylated spirit, and allow the sections to
remain in it for an hour or two, so that all trace of the acid may
be removed. Transfer the sections into a large quantity (from 2
to 3 ounces) of the following for from 6 — 8 hours : — Add 2 or 3
drops of a saturated solution of sulphindigotate of soda to i
ounce of methylated spirit. This solution should be made as
required, from time to time. Mount in Canada balsam or
dammar (Cole, vol. i.).
Ribesin and Eosin.— For the method of making the first
stain see the additional recipes in our next. A double stain
may be at once obtained by adding a little eosin to the above
ribesin solution, and filtering. (The filtrate should be
cherry red.) Wash the sections with absolute alcohol, charged
with a little eosin, and clear with clove oil also charged with
eosin. The blue of the ribesin remains fixed in the nuclei. In
many respects this is a better double stain than Renaut's
Haematoxylin eosin.
Treble-Staining. — Gibbes recommends (i) picro-carmine, (2)
rosein, and (3) iodine green. Stain the sections well in number
I, and soak them in acidulated water. Immerse the sections for
2 — 3 minutes in a few drops of a solution of rosanilin hydrochlor-
ate diluted with spirit, then remove to methylated spirit, and wash
off the excess of the colouring matter. Place in a dilute solution of
iodine green. Coming from spirit the sections will float on the
top of the watery solution, and this in many cases, when the green
stain is not required very deep, is sufficient. If a deep stain is
required immerse them altogether, and let them remain a minute
42 THE MICROSCOPE AND HOW TO USE IT.
or two ; bear in mind that this colour cannot be washed out again
if too deep. Although the spirituous stain may do, it is better to
have a section apparently overstavied in the rosanilin solution,
while it is even under-stained in the iodine green. After washing,
mount the sections in the usual way. (A good deal of the
rosanilin will come out in the second immersion in spirit, which
it is necessary to change until no more colour comes away ;
otherwise the oil of cloves and Canada balsam will be coloured,
and the specimen spoilt). The results vary with the length of
time the section is immersed in each of the two last colours, and
also the strength of the solutions. If the sections are to be laid
aside before mounting they should be kept in oil of cloves. The
best results are obtained from material soaked in chromic acid,
when only a few are stained at once. The staining process is
well shown in a section of the base of a cat's or dog's tongue, cut
through one of the circumvallate papillae, including some of the
mucous glands. Muscle fibres, connective tissue, protoplasm of
cells, etc., stained with picro-carmine, are red ; all nuclei in the
superficial epithelium, serous glands, non-striped muscle tissue,
in vessels, etc., are green. Take only a few sections at a time
and do not hurry over the different processes, after a few trials the
exact time of immersion will be learnt, and should be recorded.
Always keep a note-book handy, and enter any little items which
are likely to prove useful in future work.
Staining with four, five, and six different pigments, (i) Picro-
carmine or eosin, (2) logwood, (3) aniline rose, (4) aniHne green,
and (5) iodine. If the tissue has been already stained in gold
chloride or nitrate of silver, which also gives good results, six
stains will have been used. I have seen specimens so stained,
such as sections of Tongue with taste organs, salivary gland,
ovary, and testis ; in each case the different parts came out with
remarkable distinctness.
11.— Gold Chloride and Anilines.— Striking results may be
obtained by first staining fresh tissues, especially growing bone, in
a chloride of gold solution, then decalcify and harden in spirit.
When hardened sufficiently, sections may be cut and stained with
two colours. What action chloride of gold has on those parts,
HALF-AN-HOtJR AT THE MICROSCOPE. 43
which it does not stain is not known, but that it has some, is
evident, from the difference of the action of aniline dyes to those
specimens prepared with gold. For example, take the tail of a
young rat or mouse, place in J % solution of gold chloride for an
hour or two, then decalcify and harden as usual. Very thin
sections should be cut and stained, first in rosanilin and then in
iodine green. It will be found that the periphery shows gold
staining, bringing out the tendon cells and giving a dark hue to
everything for a certain distance from the outside ; but within, a
great variety of colour will be found. In the middle the bone
trabeculae will be seen faintly stained, the calcified cartilage in
their centre is stained a bright colour, totally different from the
rest. All these colours may be varied by using different anifine
colours ; a pretty result may be obtained by simply staining with
iodine or methyl green.
1balf=*an=*1bour at tbe flDicroecope
mttb /IDr. Uutfen mest, 3f,XS., ff.lR./ID.S,, etc
Seeds of Campanula earpatica (PI. V., Fig. i). — Seeds have
been much less frequent visitants in our travelling boxes than
they deserve to be, both on account of their beauty and interest.
Would the exhibitor of the present slide enlighten us as to the
cause of the iridescence here shown ? It would be necessary to
make transverse sections, and then to separate each coat of the
testa, mounting each in glycerine jelly. It will probably be found
that the external walls of the cells forming the outer seed-coat are
exceedingly thin, and in consequence polarise the light passed
through them ; a similar property being possessed by superimposed
plates of glass, as is familiarly known to soiree attenders. In
some cases the membrane named is so thin that it is difficult to
believe it present when the seed is viewed as an opaque object ;
this may be well seen in the seed of the ^^'hortle-berry ( Vaccitiium
myrtillus). In the seeds of a very extensive natural order, the
Sola7iacece^ the outer membrane becomes entirely absorbed during
the process of ripening, whence arise appearances very difficult of
explanation, without watching the changes during development.
44 HALF-AN-HOUR
A paper on this subject was laid before the International Botani-
cal Congress of South Kensington in 1866, and will be found in
the published report of their proceedings.
Polycystina from West-Indian Soundings (PI. V., Fig. 2). —
This slide contains a large number of forms ; and for its correct
appreciation it requires to be gone over carefully, seriatim;
examining every specimen with Maltwood's finder, taking the
place of each, drawing and taking notes on everything present.
Even fragments must be treated with the same care, for they
often throw a light on structure which examination of perfect
forms fails to reveal ; they are, in fact, dissections made ready to
hand. The slide will then be found to be truly a multum in
parvo. To stimulate, not satisfy, inquiry, a few have been
sketched. Access should, if possible, be obtained to Ehrenberg's
original papers on the subject, published in the Transactions of
the Berlin Academy ; a few forms are figured in " Carpenter on
the Microscope," pp. 520 — 23 (ed. 1856); also in the Microgra-
phic Dictionary, " Opaque Polarising Objects." Some figures
executed on a large scale by a lady were to be seen at various
places in London a few years ago. Thus, in the Proceedings of
the Linngean Society (1866 — 7) are some valuable papers on
" Living Polycystina," by Major S. R. J. Owen \ an abstract of
these will be found in "Hogg on the Microscope " (1867). Dr.
Wallich also has had some important papers on the subject, and
there have been various notices of these interesting forms in the
accounts of the Challengei- expedition. It would be desirable to
state when they were obtained, by what vessel, the depth whence
procured, and any other particulars of value.
Foraminifera from March, Cambridgeshire (PI. V., Fig. 3).
— In this instance again it would have been desirable to give
particulars whence the specimen shown was obtained, and when ;
the character of the bed, etc. Though there are many forms
here, the number of species is not great. A few of the roost
marked types have been sketched to stimulate examination and
inquiry. The slide will be found to present much of interest on
proper study. The work to read in connection with it is William-
son's " Foraminifera," Ray Society, Monograph, 1857 ; Carpenter's
"Introduction to the Study of the Foraminifera," Ray Society,
vol. for 1862, may also be read with advantage. These two will
probably satisfy most of our members' appetites for the present :
to those who have strong digestion, it may just be remarked in
passing that the literature of the subject is a vast one. I believe
it correct to state that the beautiful glass bottles classed under
various specific names in the genus Lagena are most abundant in
AT THE MICROSCOPE. 45
a semi-fossil deposit found in the fens of Lincolnshire, much like
that whence the present specimens were obtained. There are
here also some valves of Entomostraca. To learn these it would
be requisite to study the monograph on this subject, recently pub-
lished by the Palaeontological Society, of which Geo. S. Brady and
another are the authors.
Head and Leg of Aphrophora spumaria (PL V., Figs. 3 — 10).
— Aphrophora belongs to the Cirpopidce^ and is a good and
readily-procured example of that family, one of the generic cha-
racters of which consists in the presence of ocelli on the crown of
the head ; these, of course, from their position, we cannot see in
the example before us. The antennae are three-jointed ; inserted
bet7uee7t, not beneath, the eyes ; the last joint looks just like a very
fine bristle. The face has a large, swollen, transversely striated
piece. The mouth is of that type to which the term " promuscis"
is applied ; the lower lip turns upwards at the sides, forming a
sheath to the remaining organs. The determination of the true
nature of these is not easy, so greatly are they modified ; but I
should judge that the two outer, which form a pair, are maxillae ;
the two inner, so closely united that they appear to form but one,
and apparently superposed, would in that case be labrum and
lingua. We must dissect this in the coming season, and see how
far such determination is correct. Labial and maxillary palpi are
both absent. The dentation of the posterior tibiae forms a valu-
able character for the determination of species. Here two strong
spurs are present, with a group of the like at the end of this limb
and of the two first tarsal joints. I'he tactile hair proceeding
from the base of each spur is a noteworthy feature ; its object
being to convey impressions to the brain of the nature of the
object on which the creature may be at the time, or amongst
which it may be moving. In specimens taken shortly before
exuviation, the two skins may be well seen, the one within the
other ; such form very interesting objects. I have never seen
exuviae in the frothy matter, but must look out for them. See Dr.
Moore's note, p. 50.
Antenna of Oak-Eggar Moth, Lasiocampa Quercus (PI. VI.,
Fig. 11). — The Oak-Eggar belongs to the BombycidcB. A syste-
matic display of the antennae from male and female moths in this
family would be highly interesting and valuable. The power pos-
sessed by the males of finding their mates is most remarkable.
Old entomologists tell curious stories of this kind. One narrates
to me how that, carrying some female Bombycides by train
between Liverpool and Manchester, several males of the species
dashed against the windows of the carriage in which he was
46 HALF-AN-HOUR
travelling with them in a closed box. How could these gentle-
men become aware of the presence of their partners? By
hearing, by smell, or by some power unknown to us. Westwood,
too, narrates facts of a similar kind, and refers to others (Intro.,
M.C.I. , XL, 384). The antennae of Silkworm Moth, <^, is
another interesting example of corresponding formation in the
antennae.
Tail of Larva of Puss-Moth, Cerura vinula (PI. VI., Fig. 10).
— After E. Lovett's graphic description of the habits of this
creature (see page 49), Uttle need be said further on it ; but we
should much like to see the whole tail, whip-lash, butt, and all.
It would not be difficult when rearing the larvae to induce one to
put them out ; then snip off close with a pair of sharp scissors
kept ready to hand for the purpose ; then mount (probably, with
gentle pressure). I remember an example in the cabinet of a
friend ; in this case, the larva was just hatched, and is preserved
entire (see PI. VIIL, Fig. 5). I see no reason to think there can
be any poisonous secretion ; for the scale-armour of the Ichneu-
mon, against which they are used (which, on the authority of
Westwood, is Ophion luteum), would suffice to shield it from such
injury. It appears that these whip-like organs are the last pair of
pro-legs specially modified!
Lepidopterous Larva found'about Cheese (PI. VL, Figs. 1-9).-
Here indeed we have a puzzle presented to us, which, I fear, will
take a long time to unravel. Did you ever hear of a caterpillar
eating cheese ? I never did. And, what is more, I couldn't have
believed it, but that here we have the Epicurean barbarian made
to tell what he has been up to, as surely as any whining beggar,
when police action reveals the contents of his wallet, to find
therein all sorts of goodies, with money, banking books, and even
a post-office order for ;z{^io ! to pay a fine imposed by the magis-
trates with costs — " If anything over, the balance to be returned
to the sender ! " I am quoting here a literal case which occurred
recently in this neighbourhood (Fareham, Hants) that I was
reading about only yesterday. The only thing that can now be
done with the present fellow is to take his portrait as accurately as
possible, and by-and-bye some of the " detectives " in our Society
will find out who and what he ist 'Tis certainly a most singular
case ! The claws of the pro-legs very curiously resemble the
strings of griz^zly bear claws worn by Red Indian warriors in proof
of their prowess !
Larva of Beetle (PI. VII., Figs, i — 4). — I wish I could com-
municate the pleasure felt in having, after giving it a " world of
AT THE MICROSCOPE. 47
thought," attained a clear conclusion as to the specimens now
before us, and being enabled to say that it is a " Wireworm," the
larva of one of the larger "Click-Beetles" (see Fig. 5, PI. VIL).
Jumpers we used to call them when I was at school. We put
them on our hands, back downwards, and with a sharp click and
a spring they would fall on their legs, and then proceed to run
away — a provision, we are informed, for enabling them to recover
their balance when they fall in a wrong position (which they are
very much given to, feigning death on the slightest disturbance).
It would not be difficult to surmise how the three earth-lovers
came into the sewer (see p. 52); they evidently lived well there.
The mode of their removal to daylight is truly a very curious
part of the story. The termination of the last segment furnishes
a character whereby the actual species may be determined.
Haltica fuscipes (PL VIIL, Fig. i). — Many thanks to J. Car-
penter (p. 50) for illustrating his subject so carefully. This is the
right way to do. Every member, on enclosing his slide, should
submit a drawing of it, with careful notes, the best in his power to
obtain. The main difference, by-the-bye, between our Society
and those longer established, and meeting at stated times in
definite localities, will be that, owing to the variety of mind,
acquirements, and occupations in our body, we shall learn much
faster ; have vastly greater opportunities of acquiring specimens
and information of all kinds.
It needs for me here to say little. But as J. C. has not
marked the mouth-organs I will indicate them in an appended
outline (PL VII., Fig. 8), for we shall have to make ourselves
thoroughly familiar with them in all their modifications.
I have further added a sketch of the hind tibia of H. conctnna
for contrast with the present example of the genus Haltica, in
which it will be seen that these peculiar spikes are entirely absent.
The most remarkable part about Haltica concin?ia to myself is the
structure of the legs, the enormously incrassated posterior thighs
for leaping, the dilated tarsal joints, the penultimate having
numerous curved hairs, serially arranged, and expanded at their
extremities to form suckers, after the manner of those in the
common fly, etc. It is curious to watch the mode of progression
in ordinary walking of these beetles, which may be readily seen in
the live-box. The feet of the posterior pair are brought forwards,
so as to be right under the centre of the body ; the advantage of
this in connection with the powerful spring may be readily con-
ceived. The curious array of spines terminating the tibiae I take
to be principally for enabling a firm grasp to be obtained on
alighting after the leap on the polished stems, leaves, etc., it
48 HALF-AN-HOUR AT THE MICROSCOPE.
mostly lives on. Just for the same reason as the mountain-
climber on ice gets a pair of boots with strong, sharp spikes in
their soles to enable him to retain a firm footing on the treacher-
ous surface he moves on.
Animal of Barnacle (PI. VII., Fig. 6). — By the kindness of
Charles Darwin, I have been enabled to consult original speci-
mens and figures prepared for his (Ray Society) work on the
Cirripedia. The history of the creature reads like a romance.
When first hatched, it is a free swimmer, in shape like a kite with
six legs, the two hinder pairs forked (Fig. 7., PI. VII.). After
successive moults, it settles on its head, the antennae lay hold of
what the creature considers a suitable object for adherence to,
cement-glands at their base pour out a secretion, and thenceforth
what is known as " retrograde metamorphosis " takes place. The
head becomes, so to say, lost, as well as the abdomen ; the part
that is left is thoracic ; the shell, the thoracic shield. Of the five
pairs of limbs left, the first appears to assume the functions of the
lost antennae. " Each of the cirrhi is composed of a series of
semi-corneous pieces, exhibiting at each joint long, stiff hairs.
Every pair of cirrhi arises from a single prominent stem, and
those most distant from the mouth being the longest and most
ostensible, the whole apparatus, consisting of twenty-four " (twenty
here, I think ; another species is under description), forms, when
protruded from the body, a kind of net of exquisite contrivance,
in which passing particles of nourishment are easily entangled, and
thus conveyed to the mouth. The latter is seated on a prominent
tubercle, and is composed of three pairs of mandibles, the two
outer horny and serrated, and of a lip with rudimentary palpi.
The digested food passes out through an orifice behind and at the
base of the last pair of cirrhi. Arising from this part is seen a
long, flexible organ, the nature of which has much puzzled inves-
tigators ; it has been taken for a tail^ a petiis^ an ovipositor. The
latter supposition appears to have most to support it. There are
good grounds for believing that an eye is present. " Mr. Darwin
observes, vision seems to be confined to the perception of the
shadow of an object passing between them and the light ; they
instantly perceive a hand passed quickly at a distance of several
feet, between' a candle and the vessel in which they may be
placed." There is also an organ of hearing of a simple kind.
Our limits will not permit of more extended remarks here. A
good summary will be found in Rymer Jones' " Outlines of the
Animal Kingdom," pp. 449 — 463, ed. 1861.
TuFFEN West.
[49]
Selecteb IRotea from tbe Societij'0
Tail of Larva of Puss-Moth, Cerura vinula (PI. VI., Fig. lo).
— The tails, two in number, are more fully developed in the young
larva than in the adult, where they appear to decay or shrivel up
from the end downwards, so that by the time the larva is ready to
assume the pupal form, I have known the tail to have entirely
disappeared. In the young larva they are long and black, and
when the insect is alarmed it assumes a most comical position,
throwing up the end of its body and raising its head, only holding
on by the middle feet (see PI. VIII., Fig. 3) ; and, what is most
remarkable, the tail throws out a long, thread-like membrane,
which is withdrawn after the cause of alarm has disappeared.
Two questions occur to me : — Are these appendages used
by the young larva as a means of defence from the attacks of the
Ichneumons, which have an especial liking for depositing their
eggs in the body of the -larva of C. vinula ? and. Are the red
threads poisonous, or merely used as a whip to keep off the
enemy ? I fancy, if fellow-members or readers would record their
ideas and observations on the subject, it would meet with much
approval.
It is curious to observe the various ways by which larvae show
their fear or disapproval of being disturbed. The larvae of the
Sphinges throw back their head and fore-part of the body, waving
it to and fro as if very angry at being interrupted at their meals ;
whilst most of the hairy larvae — such as Arctia caja and others —
roll themselves up in a ball and drop, not caring where, for their
long hair prevents their receiving any injury ; but if by chance
they fall into water, as they sometimes do, they very quickly unroll
themselves and struggle to get out. Then, again, the Loopers, or
larvae of the Geometridce^ often assume a position exactly resem-
bling a branch or a twig, holding on only by the anal claspers, as
in Fig. 4, PI. VIIL; and so closely do they resemble the twig that
an experienced collector will often overlook rare and valuable
larvae when they are just under his very eyes.* This strong
resemblance between insects and their food-plants is also most
strikingly shown in many tropical insects, as all naturalists are
aware, and is a grand provision of Providence for their protection.
E. LOVETT.
* We once plucked a small branch of the wild rose, and had carried it in
our hands for half-an-hour, before discovering that a full-grown '* Looper "
was attached to it. — Ed.]
VOL. V. E
50 SELECTED NOTES FKOM
American Potato-Beetle, Doryphora decem-punetata (PI. VIII.,
Fig. 2). — Shall be glad to learn the ideas of our readers as to the
probability of this beetle becoming naturalised in Britain. How
is it that we have not heard of it before ? By the side of my
drawing will be seen a cross, giving the dimensions of the beetle
when living ; when dead, the head and thorax are bent down
unless properly set, so that a badly set dead specimen does not
look quite so long as a living one.
Edward Lovett.
Aphrophora spumaria, Cuckoo-Spit (PI. V., Figs. 4-10). — The
Aphrophora is an Hemipterous insect, included in the sub-order
Homoptera ; it is the common Cuckoo-Spit, or Frog-Hopper.
The larval, pupal, and perfect states are all alike except as to size
and the presence of wings, which are only found in the imago.
Casts of the larva and pupa, may always be procured in abund-
ance by removing the frothy secretion so commonly seen in our
gardens, and are interesting as showing the completeness and
neatness with which the change of skin is made.
Daniel Moore.
Foraminifera to Mount in Balsam.— The plan I adopt to get
rid of the air in Foraminifera is to boil them in dilute potash for a
few moments, afterwards in pure water, and then thoroughly dry
them. Now, put them into a test-tube with spirit of turpentine,
and boil for a few minutes over a spirit-lamp. When wanted for
mounting, place a drop of balsam on a slip, take up a small quan-
tity of the shells on the point of a penknife or a homoeopathic
spoon, and immediately place in the balsam ; then put on the
cover-glass, but do not use any pressure. They require baking in
a slow oven for some time to thoroughly harden the balsam.
John Carpenter.
Haltica fuscipes (PL VIIL, Fig. i) is a small beetle, resembling
the farmer's pest, the " Turnip Flea," so called on account of its
habits. In September (1875) I found a quantity of H. fuscipes
on the leaves and flowers of some hollyhock plants here, whose
appearance was completely spoiled, the leaves being riddled with
small holes, the work, I presume, of these beetles whose jaws
seem well adapted for the destructive work. I have not yet suc-
ceeded in finding the larvae, but probably they are hatched from
eggs laid on the under-side of the leaves, the young caterpillars
THE society's NOTE-BOOKS. 51
living between the cuticles in the same manner as the larva of the
Turnip-Beetle, H. nejnorum.
The drawing is from the slide now sent, but of course it gives
no idea of the colour of the living insect ; the wings also are not
shown. When living, the beetle is black underneath, and of a
dark metaUic green colour above. On attempting to catch them,
they make a spring and drop on to the ground, folding their
legs under the body, apparently feigning death.
John Carpenter.
Notes on Haltica. — Haltica fuscipes, Haltica 7iemoruvi^ and
Haltica cojichma. In modern nomenclature there is no such
thing as either of these insects. The first is Podagrica fuscipes^
the second Phyllotreta 7iemorum, and the third Plectroscelis
co?icinna, all belonging to the sub-family HalticidcB. Some of the
distinguishing characteristics are as follows : — The genus Plectros-
celis has the posterior tibiae toothed in the middle of the outer
side. The genera Haltica^ Podagrica^ and Phyllotreta^ have no
tooth on the outer side of the tibiae. In the genus Haltica there
is a transverse furrow at the base of the thorax. The genera
Podagrica and Phyllotreta have no furrow at the base of the
thorax. In the genus Podagrica the clyta have punctured striae ;
and in the genus Phyllotreta the elytra is either confusedly punc-
tured or smooth. There are other characteristics, but the above
suffices to at once separate the four genera mentioned.
Robert Gillo.
Ichneumon Flies from Chrysalis of Butterfly. — In August,
1872, I obtained a chrysalis of the Atalanta butterfly, which had
the appearance of burnished gold. I placed it in a glass-top box,
and waited for the development of the butterfly, instead of which
I observed two small holes in the case, and issuing therefrom in
quick succession was a number of beautifully-coloured Ichneumon
flies in a perfectly developed form. Being somewhat surprised at
this and at the number, which amounted to 157, I carefully
opened the deserted chrysalis, and there found an equal number of
cast skins, which had just been thrown off previous to their
emerging from the case. How so great a number could exist and
go through their metamorphoses in so small a space to me appears
marvellous.
James Fullagar.
52 SELECTED NOTES FROM
Larva of Beetle (see Mr. West's note on p. 46). — An old
sewer-rat used to pay his visits every dinner time ; he was caught
at last, and killed by drowning. I was surprised, on taking him
out of the pail, to see three large horny larvae escape from his fur.
In life they resembled meal-worms, slightly darker and more
active. Shall be glad if some friend will name them.
B. Wade.
Barnacle.— T. R. Jones, in "The Animal Kingdom," p. 236,
states that the Barnacle, when young, has six ^^ pairs" of swim-
ming legs that act in concert, like oars. There is a very good
description of the Cirripedia in this book, which will be interest-
ing if read as a sequel to Mr. Tuffen West's valuable notes.
E. E. Jarrett.
Tail of Larva of Puss-Moth.— I have a slide showing the red
thread exserted, but I cannot make anything of its structure or
use. There is a short, stiff bristle at each spur, which is worthy
of notice.
H. E. Freeman.
Living Insects. — I am endeavouring to make myself acquainted
with the appearance and habits of living insects in their native
beauty, on the wing, feeding, and at rest. It appears to me that
far too much time is devoted to mounting and examining slides,
and very little to studying insects alive. It is generally much
easier to identify mounted insects from living, or at any rate
unflattened insects, than to identify living specimens from the flat
preparations of the opticians. These beautiful preparations have
their uses, and I am a strong advocate for " whole mounts/' but I
hope all our members will not be content without seeing, as far as
possible, living specimens. I believe many so-called unco77imon
insects are merely so because people fail to recognise them, or
that they seek them in wrong places. Further, it is desirable
to confine one's attention — say, for each season — to, at most, one
order, or, better still, one genus of insects.
H. E. Freeman.
THE society's NOTE-BOOKS. 53
EXPLANATION OF PLATES V., VL, VIL, VIH.
Plate V.
Fig. 1. — Seed of Campanula carpatica, x 50 diam., viewed as an
opaque object.
,, 2. — Polycystina from West Indian soundings : —
a, Podocyrtis Schomhargkii.
6, Encyrtidium eiegans.
c,
dy Astromma Aristotelis.
/, Lychnocanium lucerna.
g, Lychnocanium falciferum.
i, Lithocyclia ocellus.
I, Haliomina Humholdtii.
m, AnthrocyrtiSy ? sp. All x 100 diam.
,, 3. — Foraminifera from March, Cambridgeshire.
a, Rotalina injlata, with contained animal.
b, Textularia variabilis typica.
c, Truncatuliaa lobata.
d, Rotalina concamerata jun.
e, Botalina or Truncatulina. Edge view.
/, Nonionina umbilicatula.
g, Miliolina seniimdum typica.
h, Shell of Entomostracan. All x 50 diam.
5, 4. — Head of Aphrophora spumaria, seen from the front : — at.
at.y antennae; oc. oc, mark the position of the ocelli ; at
the lower part is seen the promuscis, to view the internal
setae of which the greater part of the lower lip has been
removed ; mx. m:c., maxillae ; Ibr. and Ig., labrum (upper
lip) and lingua (tongue), x 15 diam.
,, 5. — Ends of maxillae more enlarged, x 100 diam.
,, 6. — Outline (side view) from another specimen, showing under-
lip, lb., which forms a sheath to the inner organs.
,, 7. — Side view of the same.
,, 8. — Hind leg ; the under surface shown, ex., coxa; tr., trochanter;
/., femur ; tb., tibia; trs., tarsus, x 15 diam.
,, 9. — Lower dentation of the (posterior) tibia.
,, 10. — Spurs terminating the tibia, wdth tactile hairs arising from
the base of each.
Drawn by Tuffen West.
Plate VI.
Fig. 1.— Caterpillar found about cheese, x 7 diam. The segments
are numbered consecutively. jp.Z. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, signify first,
second, etc. , pairs of prolegs.
,, 2. — Head more enlarged, x 15 diam.; e.e., eyes, consisting of
(apparently) only two ocelli each ; six is a usual number.
»)
54 NOTES FROM SOCIETY'S NOTE-BOOKS.
Fig. 3. — Trophi, x 25 diam. ant, antenna; md., mandible; Ihr.^
labium ; mx. , maxilla ; Ih. , labium ; Ih.p. , labial palp.
,, 4. — Proleg of the second pair, x 50 diam.
., 5. — Proleg of the fifth (terminal) pair, x 50 diam.
,, 6. — Spiracle, and one of its vibrissas, x 100 diam.
,, 7. — Albumino-oleaginous pellets, i.e., Cheese, x 50 diam.
,, 8. — Cheese-Mite in the intestine, x 50 diam.
,, 9. — Ovum of Cheese-Mite from ditto, x 50 diam.
,, 10.— Tail of Larva of Puss-Moth.
,, 11. — Antenna of Male Oak-Egger Moth.
Drawn by Tuffen West.
Plate YII.
Fig. 1. — Larva of Coleopteron (Click Beetle), x 4 diam. 1 — 13 indicate
the segments composing it, 1 being the head ; 2, 3, 4, the
thorax (pro-, meso-, and meta-) ; 5 — 13, the abdominal
segments ; sp. sp. , spiracles ; p>ss- j prosternum ; pig. , position
of the large fleshy retractile tubercle ("proleg") employed
as a seventh leg in progression.
2. — Head, x 10 diam. ant., ant., antennae; md., mandible;
mx. , maxilla ; mxp. , maxillary palp ; Ibr. , labrum ; lb. ,
labium ; the labial palpi not seen, their position is just at the
outer angles of the labium ; o.o., minute eyes.
3. — Feet of the third pair, x 10 diam., armed with strong, short
spines, and terminated each by a sharp claw.
4. — Terminal segment, x 10 diam.
5. — Outline sketch of Click -Beetle (Imago of Wire-Worm).
6. — Animal of Barnacle or Acorn-shell, Balanus tintinnahulunif
X 10 diam.
1 1, The first pair of cirrhi.
2 2, The second ditto, and so on.
VI., the mouth ; st., stomach.
op., op., op., op., ovipositor.
7. — Newly hatched Barnacle.
8. — Outlines of part of Mouth of Haltica fusdpes (see also Fig. 1,
Plate VIII. ). md., mandible; mx., maxilla; the inner lobe
is furnished with a brush of short, stout hairs. The outer
lobe is barrel-shaped, and has some organs of taste appended
to it ; it is marked by mx, 2 I. mxp. , maxillary palpus ;
Ibr., labrum (upper lip), through this is seen lb., the labium,
with its Ib.p. , labial palpi ; mt. , mentum, on which the
labium is hinged at antenna.
9. — Left hind leg from above, for comparison with —
10. — End of tibia from Haltica concinna, to show the strong, sharp
spikes terminating it ; this appears to me to indicate a pre-
eminently saltatorial species.
Drawn by Tuflfen West.
5J
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COKRESPONDENCE. 55
Plate VIH.
Fig. 1. — Hollyhock Beetle, Ealtica fuscipes, x 15.
Drawn by J. C. Carpenter.
,, 2. — American Potato-Beetle, Dorypliora decem-punctata.
3. — Larva of Puss-Moth.
4. — Larva of one of the Geometridce.
Drawn by E. Lovett.
,, 5. — Young Larva of Puss-Moth, from a mounted slide.
Drawn by Tuflfen West.
5)
Corresponbence.
The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the opinions or
statements of their Correspondents.
To the Editor of the Journal of Microscopy a7id Natural Science.
" POND LIFE."
Sir,—
Mr. Hoyle, in his paper on " Pond Life," in the October
number of this Journal, gives, in four pages, a brief account of
the Infusoria, which contains so many mis-statements, some of
them of a very important nature, that it seems worth while
correcting them. I will take them in the order in which they
occur.
I. — It is stated on p. 248 (Vol. IV. of this Journal), that it is
an open question whether the eye-like pigment spot of the EuglencR
is really an eye or not. Accurate observations are said to be
needed, and to be difficult on account of the activity of the
animal.
NaturaHsts, generally, have given up the idea that these spots •
are eyes. They are considered to be oily or pigment corpuscles,
resembling the isolated coloured corpuscles possessed by many
unicellular plants. It is easy to reduce the activity of EuglencB
to any extent required. Engelmann's recent researches show that
while Euglena, like some other Infusoria, is sensitive to light and
darkness, and is differently affected by the different rays of the
spectrum, this result is not due to the eye-spot, for the motion
begins before the shadow reaches the eye-spot.
2. — " They illustrate one group of the Infusoria, characterised
by having one long hair-like process, whence they are known as
Flagellata."
56 CORRESPONDENCE.
This seems to assert that all the Flagellata have one flagellum.
A great many of the Flagellata have two, three, or more flagella.
3. — On page 250 it is stated that when Vorticella divides by
longitudinal fission, one of the zooids swims away by means of
the cilia, which, when the animal is fixed, make a whirlpool to
catch its food.
I do not believe that there is any authority for this statement.
As far as my own experience and reading goes, the zooid which
becomes free develops a supplementary ring of cilia towards the
base of the body, and it swims away, so to speak, tail-foremost.
When it has found a convenient place for settling down, it fixes
itself by this temporarily foremost end, and proceeds to grow a
stalk ; the supplementary row of cilia is absorbed, and the cilia
round the mouth developed.
4. — On the same page, encysted Vorticellse are said to give
birth to sucker-bearing animalcules, which subsequently become
Vorticellse.
This is the celebrated Acineta theory of Stein, which was
started by that distinguished naturafist in 1849, and fully
developed by him in his work pubUshed in 1854. But Claparede
and Lachmann conclusively showed, in their works published
between 1855 and i860, that these supposed young are really
parasites belonging to a totally different and higher group of the
Protozoa. Stein himself has abandoned the theory in his later
works, and it will not be found in any recent text-book. Now-a-
days no one holds this theory, or has done for the last 20 years.
5. — On p. 251, in the description of Paraincecium^ it is stated
that the function of the contractile vacuoles is to force out the
fluid contained in them, and to carry it along tubes all through
the body. This process is said to be analogous to the circulation
of the higher animals, the vacuole is called a heart, and the
radiating tubes blood-vessels.
The tendency of all recent investigations has been to show that
the radiating tubes act simply as drain-pipes, to collect the liquid
from the general mass of the protoplasm, and convey it to the
contractile vesicle, which, in contracting, expels it from the body.
Fine openings have been seen on the exterior leading to the
vesicle. In ParamcEciiim^ when the vesicle contracts, the rosette-
like tubes remain filled, and this fluid seems to fill the vesicle
when it next expands. If this view is correct, and it is the
generally accepted one, there is no real resemblance to a heart.
Mr. Hoyle says his readers are not likely to see these rosette
tubes ; this is true if the animals are freely swimming about in a
healthy condition, but confinement and pressure in a live box,
or compressorium, produce them pretty easily.
CORRESPONDENCE. 67
6. — Mr. Hoyle says that Faramcectum reproduces itself by
dividing down the middle.
This was believed to be the case till 1858, when Balliani
showed that it was an error. Reproductive fission in Faramce-
cimii is always transverse, across, not down the middle. What
had previously been taken to be cases of reproductive, longitud-
inal fission, were then shown to be only cases of temporary
conjugation, which may last for several days.
7. — In the account given of conjugation, the nucleolus of one
individual is said to combine with the nucleus of the other, and
vice versd.
According to this theory, the nucleus and nucleolus function
as ovary and testes respectively, or true male and female
elements. This was asserted by Balbiani in 1878, and subse-
quently supported by other observers. But the recent researches
of Engelmann and Biitschli have rendered this theory more than
doubtful. According to these authors, as epitomised by Mr.
Saville Kent, the nucleus of each of the conjugating individuals
is entirely absorbed in the general body-sarcode, and by-and-by an
entirely new nucleus is formed by the assemblage of fragmentary
particles derived from the same body-sarcode. The old nuclei
in Stylo7iychia mytilus are broken into four fragments, and ejected
from the body. Biitschli holds that there is no essential
difference between the nucleus and nucleolus, the latter some-
times even developing into the former.
8. — After conjugation, FaramcEcium is stated to give birth to
little bodies, which develop into sucker-bearing AcmetcB^ which
remain sticking to their parents and sucking their juices for a
while. These then develop into the parent form.
This is Stein's old theory again, of 1854, since abandoned by
him and every one else. Mr. Hoyle's paper represents the state
of our knowledge about 25 to 30 years ago ; but much knowledge
has been gained since then with respect to these interesting
little creatures.
J. G. Grenfell.
To the Editor of the Journal of Microscopy and Natural Science.
Sir,—
I make no pretensions to being a specialist as regards the
Infusoria, and, in common with your readers, am obliged to
Mr. Grenfell for correcting any points in my lecture which may be
at variance with recent researches. I may remark, however, that
most of the statements which he has contradicted, are to be found
58 REVIEWS.
in the pages of Huxley's " Anatomy of Invertebrated Animals,"
London, 1877, which is still regarded as a reliable work of
reference.
The second of Mr. Grenfell's criticisms is quite just ; the
passage should have read " one or jnore long hair-like processes ;"
and as regards the sixth, I cannot understand how so obvious an
error escaped me when reading the proof.
W. E. HOYLE.
1Review6*
British Zoophytes : an Introduction to the Hydroida,
Actinozoa, and Polyzoa found in Great Britain, Ireland, and the Channel
Islands. By Arthur S. Pennington, F.L.S., F.R.M.S. pp. xiv. — 263.
(London: L. Reeve and Co. 1885.) Price los. 6d.
This work is intended to furnish a handy and at the same time a reliable
manual of the British Zoophytes, and to do for the present generation what
the Rev. Dr. Landsborough did for a former in his Popular History. The
author has endeavoured to make it a complete guide to all known British
Species, and as far as possible to give an accurate resurne of the present know-
ledge of the structure of the various organisms described. It is illustrated with
24 excellently drawn litho plates by Mrs. Pennington.
The Technology of Bacteria Investigation. Explicit
directions for the Study of Bacteria, their Culture, Staining, Mounting, etc.,
according to the methods employed by the most eminent investigators. By
Chas. S. Dolley, M.D. pp. xii. — 263. (Boston, U.S.A. : S. E. Cassino and
Co.; London: Trlibner and Co. 1885.) Price los.
To the student who devotes his attention to the Schizomycetes, this work
will doubtless render valuable assistance. The subject is treated in a very
thorough manner. Part I. gives general directions and treats of the living
forms, how obtained, etc.. Experiments in Culture, in Vaccination and Inocu-
lation, and Biological analysis. Part II. — Special Methods of Investigating
Pathological Bacteria in Anthrax, Cholera, Glanders, Hydrophobia, etc., and
in Plant Tissues. Part III. gives a great number of Formulae for Microscopical
Investigation, Mounting, &c.
Practical Histology and Pathology. By Heneage Gibbs,
M.D. Third Edition, pp. xii. — 196. (London: W. R. Lewes. 1885.)
Price 6s.
The author lays before his readers concise and simple methods by which
the various tissues of the body may be prepared for microscopical examination.
He gives also the results of his experiments with various colouring agents for
double and treble staining. Blank paper is bound up at the end of the book
for Memoranda.
REVIEWS. 5.9
Microscopical Diagnosis. By Chas. H. Stowell, M.D., and
Louisa Reid Stowell, M.S. Illustrated with 128 engravings and 47 figures
on stone, 8vo, pp. 250. (Detroit: Geo. S. Davis. 1882.)
Although this is not actually a new edition we are pleased to have the
opportunity of noticing it. The authors, who are editors of the well-known
"Microscope," now published at Ann Arbor (U.S.A.), have endeavoured to
show in the first part of the work that the Microscope is absolutely necessary
in the diagnosis of many forms of disease. Part II. is devoted to Vegetable
Histology, in which Wheat, both in the grain and the straw, is largely dealt
with. Part III. contains hints on the preparation and mounting of Micro-
scopic objects, and the whole work contains much useful information.
Album of Natural Woods. A very handsome album,
consisting of 40 stout cards, each containing three beautifully thin sections of
the more important European woods, the size of the specimens being i| in. by
4^ in. These are cut longitudinally, transversely, and tangentially, and are
open to inspection on both sides. In addition to the scientific name, they are
named in English, French, and German. The whole is enclosed in an elegant
Mosaic Wood cover, which is of itself a work of art.
The album may be obtained of M. Wilmersdorffer, 72, Finsbury Pavement,
E.G., the price being 25s,
The Chain of Life in Geological Time : A Sketch of the
origin and succession of Animals and Plants. By Sir J. William Dawson,
C.M.G., LL.D., F.R.S., etc. Second Edition, cr. 8vo, pp xiv. — 272.
(London : Religious Tract Society. 1885.) Price 6s. 6d.
Since the publication of the first edition of this capital little book, many
additions to our knowledge of Fossil Animals and Plants have been made,
many new species of which are here described. New facts are also related
concerning many species previously known. The volume is illustrated with
192 wood engravings.
Talks Afield about Plants and the Science of Plants. By
L. H. Bailey, junr. Cr. 8vo, pp. ix. — 178. (Boston, U.S.A. : Houghton
Mifflin and Co. 1885.) Price $1.
This interesting little book is written for those who desire a concise and
popular account of some of the leading external features of common plants.
It treats first of the Fungi, Algse, Lichens, Mosses, and Ferns : then of some
of the more interesting features of the flowering plants, the Flowers and
Stems, Classification and Fertilisation, being well described. The volume
closes with a chapter on plant names ; it is well illustrated.
Our Insect Enemies. By Theodore Wood. pp. xii. — 220.
(London : Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. 1885.) Price 2s. 6d.
Our readers will remember that in our last volume we called the attention
of our readers to " Our Insect Allies," to which this forms a companion volume
by the same author. With the exception of the Aphides, the Author has
treated the insects described according to their system of classification, and not
with respect to the particular crops which they frequent, but to the Aphis four
chapters are devoted. The author directs attention to the invaluable assistance
rendered by the smaller birds, amongst which we find included the much
maligned sparrow.
60 REVIEWS.
The World's Lumber-room: a Gossip about some of its
Contents. By Selina Gaye. With 57 Illustrations. Cr. 8vo., pp. xii. — 316.
Price 3s. 6d. (London : Cassell and Co. 1885.)
We find here popularly described some of the ways in which refuse is made
and disposed of, first by Nature and secondly by Man. Thus we have des-
cribed, Dust and Dust Makers, Frost, Heat, Air, Water, etc. ; What becomes
of Dust, Vegetable Refuse, and Scavengers ; Animal Scavengers, Ants, Flies,
Beetles, etc. ; Household and Miscellaneous Refuse.
Science in Sport made Philosophy in Earnest; being an
attempt to illustrate some elementary principles in Physical Knowledge, by
means of Toys and Pastimes. Edited by Robert Routledge, B.Sc, F.C.S.,
etc. Post 8vo, pp. xvi. — 332. (London : Routledge and Co.) Price 5s.
Few books will be more agreeable to boys of a scientific turn of mind than
this. It is written in the form of a tale, the scientific experiments described
being those performed for the amusement and instruction of the boys whilst
home for their holidays.
Properties of Matter. By P. G. Tait, M.A., Sec. R.S.E.
Cr. 8vo., pp. viii. — 320. (Edinburgh : A. and C. Black. 1885.)
This is an introduction to the course of Natural Philosophy taken in Edin-
burgh, a work in every way worthy of the author, who is professor of natural
history in the University. In it the difficult subjects of the ultimate structure
of Matter, Time and Space, Inertia, Centrifugal Force, Gravitation, Com-
pressibility of Gases and Vapours, Cohesion, and Capillarity, with many other
kindred studies, are treated in the most lucid manner, extracts from original
memoirs bearing on the subjects being frequently inserted, and their value
discussed in the light of modern research.
Universal Attraction : Its Relation to the Chemical Ele-
ments ; the Key to a Consistent Philosophy. By W. H. Sharp. Cr, 8vo,
pp. 53. (Edinburgh :, E. and S. Livingstone. London : Simpkin, Marshall,
and Co. 1884.)
An attempt to connect the law of gravitation with, and to supersede it by,
our present knowledge of chemistry and molecular physics. It is in reality
designed to show that " Gravitation " is caused by Wave-Motion, and that
Quantivalence," as known to chemists, is the true measure of " Mass."
((
Arithmetical Physics.
Acoustics, Light, and Heat. — Part I. A., Elementary, 2s.
Magnetism and Electricity. — Part II. A., Elementary, is.
Ditto. Ditto. Part II. B., Advanced, 3s.
By C. J. Woodward, B.Sc. (London: Simpkin, Marshall, and Co. Bir-
mingham: Cornish Bros. 1885.)
These works are in two stages : elementary and advanced. They will be
found of much service in class teaching ; the examples are well chosen, and
afford the teacher good help in testing the real advance of his pupils in the
knowledge of the subjects under discussion.
The Windmill as a Prime Mover. By Alfred R. Wolff,
M.E. 8vo, pp. xiii. — 159. (New York: John Wiley and Son. 1885.)
Price $3.
We have here a consideration of the more important features of windmill
REVIEWS. 61
theory and practice, sufficient to enable the engineer and user to decide as to
the actual state of windmill construction, its history and progress, its probable
direction and development, and the degree of economy attained as compared
with that of other prime movers. The work is illustrated with a number of
well-executed engravings.
On Light. By George Gabriel Stokes, M.A., F.R.S., etc.
Cr. 8vo, pp. vi. — 107. (London : Macmillan and Co. 1885.)
This is a second course of the Burnett Lectures, delivered at Aberdeen
in 1884, the subject being " Light as a means of Investigation." It treats of
— I. — Absorption and its application to the Discrimination of Bodies. II. —
The Emission of Light consequent thereon. III. — The Rotation of the
Plane of Polarisation, of Polarised Light, etc. IV. — The Emission of Light
by Incandescent Bodies in a State of Vapour, etc. V. — The information thus
afforded as to the Constitution or Condition of Distant Bodies. VI. — The
Influence of the Motion of Bodies on the Refrangibility of the Light Emitted,
Absorbed, or Reflected by them.
Field's Chromatography : A Treatise on Colour and Pig-
ments, for the use of Artists. Modernised by J. Scott Taylor, B.A., Cantab.
Second edition, cr. 8vo, pp. viii. — 207. (London: ^Yinsor and Newton.
1885.) Price 7s. 6d.
To some extent this is a condensed and revised issue of Field's Chromato-
graphy, by F. W. Salter, but many of the chapters are entirely re-written. It
is a handsome volume ; many of the plates are in colours.
Charles Darwin. By Grant Allen. Cr. 8vo, pp. vi. — 206.
(London: Longmans, Green, and Co. 1885.) Price 2s. 6d.
This is the first of a series of Enghsh worthies, edited by Andrew Lang.
The author deals with Mr. Darwin as a thinker and worker more than with
the biographical details of his private life. The opening chapters deal with
the world into which Darwin was born, Darwin and his antecedents, his early
days, and his works.
Numerical Examples in Heat. By R. E. Day, M.A. New
edition. Post 8vo, pp. vi. — 176. (London : Longmans, Green, and Co.
1885.)
This work contains a number of well-chosen arithmetical questions on
Heat, including Thermometers, Expansion, Pendulums, Barometrical Correc-
tions, Hygrometry, Latent Heat, Calorometers, and Thermodynamics. A
sufficient number of examples is worked out fully to enable the student, with
careful study, to test his own knowledge by answering the remainder. We
think it a most useful little book.
Cholera : Its Origin, History, Causation, Symptoms, Lesions,
Prevention, and Treatment. By Alfred Stille, M.D., LL.D. 8vo, pp. 164.
(Philadelphia: Lea Brothers and Co. 1885.) Price $1.25.
The author seeks to exhibit the specific nature of cholera drawn from its origin
and mode of propagation, to disabuse the medical profession of the erroneous
notion that disease ever originates de novo, to maintain the necessity of "quaran-
tine," to point out the channels by which cholera may be diffused, and to des-
cribe measures to prevent its dissemination and cure those who are attacked by
62 EEVIEWS.
it ; and concludes with the remark that if his doctrine be correct, the alleged
results of cholera inoculation are deceptive and erroneous. A world-map,
showing the cholera routes, is given as a frontispiece.
Cholera : Its History, Cause, and Prevention. By Ezra A.
Bartlett, M.D. i6mo, pp. 105. (Albany, N.Y. : H. H. Bender. 1885.)
Price 30c.
A book written for the people, in which the author states the latest and
best opinions on the subject, and whilst expressing his gratification at the
reported results of inoculation for its prevention, he feels that for the present
our thoughts should be directed more towards sanitation.
The Physician Himself, and what he should add to his
Scientific Acquirements in order to Secure Success. By D. W. Cathall, M.D.
8vo, pp. 284. (Baltimore, U.S.A. : Cushings and Bailey. 1885.) Price $2.
This work is written in answer to the supposed question, "What honour-
able means can I employ in addition to scientific knowledge and book-learning
in order to make my success more certain, more rapid, and more complete?"
The answer is embodied in the book before us ; our only surprise being that
many of the suggestions are not thoroughly superfluous, for we cannot help
thinking that such would be the case were they addressed to a physician in
England. The book is in its fifth edition, so perhaps we are mistaken.
An Inglorious Columbus; or, Evidence that Hwui Shan
and a Party of Buddhist Monks from Afghanistan discovered America in the
Fifth Century, a.d. By Edward P. Vining. 8vo, pp. xxiii. — 788. (New
York : D. Appleton and Co. 1885.)
An immense amount of study and research has been expended on the large
book before us. The author, with much force, shows that the country dis-
covered by the Chinese, and to which they gave the name of " Fu-Sang " and
"The Country of Women," must refer to Mexico. The map given as frontis-
piece shows the route followed by Hwui Shan. At p. 262, etc., we have a
copy with a literal translation of an extract from the Liang-Shu, or Records
of the Liang Dynasty, in which is given a description of Fu-Sang. The book
contains 31 illustrations.
Philosophic Thought in All Ages ; or. The Bible Defended
from the Standpoint of Science. By Lawrence Sluter Benson. Post 8vo,
pp. 180. (New York : The Author. 1885.)
In the earlier portion of this work, much thought and extensive reading
has been displayed, for here we have epitomised the inmost thought and deep
reasonings of learned men of all ages. Perhaps we are somewhat prejudiced
in the current beliefs of our own time, but we certainly cannot altogether agree
with the learned author in some of his concluding remarks, say after page 141,
where he treats of more modern Science.
Scientific Culture, and other Essays. By Josiah Parsons
Cooke, LL.D. Second Edition, cr, 8vo, pp. vii. — 293. (New York :
D. Appleton and Co. 1885.) Price 61.
Dr. Cooke is Professor of Chemistry and Mineralogy in Harvard College.
These essays were written at various times, and are the outcome of a large
REVIEWS. 63
experience in teaching Physical ^Science to college students. They embrace
the following subjects : — Scientific Culture ; The Nobility of Knowledge ;
Elementary Teaching of Physical Science ; The Radiometer, and many others.
Practical Chemistry, with Notes and Questions on Theo-
retical Chemistry. By William Ripper. Cr. 8vo, pp, vi. — 148. (London :
W. Isbister and Co. 1885). Price 2s.
This book, adapted to the revised syllabus of the Science and Art Depart-
ment, for the elementary stage of Inorganic Chemistry, is divided into two
parts : — I. — Elementary Practical Chemistry. 2. — Notes and Questions
on the Theoretical Course of Elementary Inorganic Chemistry, intended to
supplement the student's MS. notes of lectures, and to be used with or without
a text-book. Many of the questions have been selected from the Science and
Art and other public examination papers.
Handbook of Practical Cookery. New and enlarged
edition. By Matilda Lees Dods, with an Introduction on the Philosophy of
Cookery. Cr. 8vo, pp. xxxvii. — 299. (London: T. Nelson and Son. 1886.)
Price 2s. 6d.
The author aims to give a comprehensive insight into the general rules for
the intelligent preparation of food ; and, at the same time, clearly describes
the several means and processes of arriving at the desired results. We have
tried some of the dishes recommended, and pronounced them " very good."
Alpine Winter in its Medical Aspect, with Notes on Davos
Platz, Wiesen, St. Moritz, and the Maloja. By A. Tucker Wise, M.D.,
L.R.C.P., etc. Second Edition, 8vo, pp. 121. (London : J. and A. Churchill.
1885.)
The author describes the various health resorts, with regard to their water,
soil, atmosphere, etc. ; he gives also some useful hints on Winter Clothing,
Diet, etc. A brief sketch is also added of the walks and drives in the
neighbourhood of the Maloja.
First Years of Scientific Knowledge. By Paul Bert,
translated by Josephine Clayton (Madame Paul Bert), late of Banff, Scotland.
i2mo, pp. 344. (London: Relf Bros. 1885.) Price 2s, 6d.
We are told that in 3 years, 500,000 copies of this book have been sold in
France. The translation has been modified to render it suitable to the require-
ments of English Schools. Its scope is unquestionably a wide one, as it takes
in not only the whole of the Animal and Vegetable Kingdoms, but attempts
also Stones and Soils, Physics, Chemistry, Animal and Vegetable Philosophy,
to which is added a small Dictionary. To those who wish to obtain a know-
ledge of all the sciences in a week we can recommend this book.
The King's Windows ; or Glimpses into the Wonderful
Works of God, By Rev. E. Paxton Hood. With 48 illustrations, cr. Svo,
pp. 278. (London : The Religious Tract Society.) Price 6s.
This beautifully illustrated and beautifully got-up book is the last literary
work of its deeply lamented author. The object of the book is to increase
the delight felt on looking out on the wondrous beauties of nature, and to
develop the habit of using those windows through which something of God's
love and tenderness may be seen.
PiTCAiRN : The Island, the People, and the Pastor. To
which is added a short notice of the original settlement, and present condition
64 REVIEWS.
of Norfolk Island, By the late Rev. Thos. Boyles Murray, M.A., F.S. A
Revised and brought up to date by the Rev. C. C Elcum, M-A. Cr. 8vo,
pp. xvi. — 368. (London : Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. 1885.)
Price 3s.
An interesting account of the Mutiny of the Bounty, and of the early
settlers on Pitcairn Island. The book is very nicely illustrated.
Life and Education of Laura Dewey Bridgman, the
Deaf, Dumb, and Blind Girl. By Mary Swift Lamson. Cr. 8vo., pp.
xl. — 373. (Boston: New England Publishing Company. 1879.)
We have here an account, more particularly, of the education of Laura
Bridgman, who lost her sight and hearing, and consequently her speech,
through a severe illness, when only two years of age. The method by which
she was taught first to read, by means of small blocks of raised type, and
afterwards to converse by means of the manual alphabet, are fully described.
In process of time she learned to write, and we have a facsimile of her first
autograph letter. The book contains also an HeHotype portrait of this
interesting girl.
The Dwellers on the Nile ; or, Chapters on the Life and
Literature, History, and Customs of the Ancient Eg}'ptians. By E. A. Walter
Budge, M.A. Cr. 8vo, pp. 204. (London : The Religious Tract Society.
1885.) Price 3s,
This is Volume VIII, of the By-Paths of Bible Knowledge. A very inter-
esting book, treating of the Decipherment of the Egyptian Hieroglyphics,
the Egyptian Language and Writing, the Land of Egypt and its People, etc.
The book is nicely illustrated.
Queer Pets and their Doings. By Olive Thorne Miller.
Illustrated by J. C Beard. Foolscap 4to, pp. 326. (London: Griffith, Farren,
and Co.) Price 5s.
The strange doings of some very queer pets are linked together in a pleas-
ing tale. The book is intended for the amusement and instruction of young
people, its value is greatly increased by the illustrations, which are mostly
drawn from nature ; it is printed on fine paper, gilt edged, and the illustrations
are good.
Forests and Forestry in Poland, Lithuania, the Ukraine,
and the Baltic Provinces of Russia. By John Croumbie Brown, LL.D., etc.
Post 8vo, pp. viii. — 276. (Edinburgh : Oliver and Boyd ; London : Simpkin,
Marshall, and Co. 1885.) Price 6s.
Those who take an interest in Forestry will find much to interest them in
this book. We have first an interesting account of sleigh-travelling in Russia,
and of a journey from St. Petersburg to Poland ; followed by chapters on
Exploitation in Poland, in Lithuania, etc.
Five Acres too Much : a Truthful Elucidation of the Attrac-
tions of the Country, and a careful consideration of the question of Profit and
Loss as involved in Amateur Farming. By Robert Barnwell Roosevelt. Cr.
8vo, pp. 309. (New York : O. Judd and Co. 1885.)
This is not a Scientific Book, but it is a very interesting one ; a vein of irony,
which the' author, who is both a sportsman and a scholar, knows well how to
use, runs the entire length of the book.
REVIEWS. 65
Handicraft for Handy People. By an Amateur Mechanic;
I2mo, pp. xii. — 233. (Dublin: M. H. Gill and Son. 1885.)
Plain and good instructions will be found here on the choice and use of Tools,
Carpentery, House-painting, Paper-hanging, etc. Seventy-five illustrations
are given. The handy man or youth will find this book useful.
Sanitary Suggestions ; or, How to Disinfect our Houses.
Prepared for Popular perusal. By B. W, Palmer, A.M., M.D. pp. 58.
(Detroit (Mich.) U.S.A. : Geo. S. Davis. 1885.) Price 25c.
A resume of the latest Information in the Household use of Disinfectants,
Deodrants, and Antiseptics ; and of Practical Precautions Preventive of
Cholera, Diphtheria, Scarlet Fever, and other Infectious Diseases ; worth care-
ful reading.
Healthy Foundations of Houses. By Glenn Brown.
l8mo, pp. xi. — 143. (New York : D. Van Nostrand. 1885.) Price 50c.
A reprint of a series of papers published in the " vSanitary Engineer." It
treats of Natural Foundations, Drainage, Foundation Walls, etc. There are
51 illustrations.
Civil Service Arithmetical Examination Papers. By
Laurence J. Ryan. i2mo, pp. 153. (Dublin: M. H. Gill and Son ; London:
Whittaker and Co. 1885.)
This book, now in its 34th thousand, gives examples of questions likely to
be met with in Civil Service and Competitive Examinations. The author, a
teacher of long experience, believes that if the student will make himself
acquainted with all the questions in this book, he cannot fail to receive very
high marks in his examination.
Intellectual Arithmetic, upon the Inductive Method of
Instruction. By Warren Colbourn, A.M. Post 8vo, pp. xii. — 216. (Boston,
U.S.A.: Houghton, Mifflin, and Co. 1886.) Price 35c.
In noticing this book, we cannot do better than quote Mr. G. B. Emerson,
an eminent Massachusetts educator: — " It evolves in the mind of the learner
himself, in a perfectly easy and natural manner, a knowledge of the principles
of arithmetic, and the power of solving mentally, and almost instantly, every
question likely to occur in the every-day business of common life."
Arithmetic. By A. G. Blake, M.A. Post 8vo, pp. 197.
(Dublin : Alex. Thom and Co. 1885.)
A practical little book ; the various rules are given in so simple a manner,
that the learner will have but little difficulty in grasping their meaning. The
sums throughout the book are by no means difficult, and we have pleasure in
recommending the book for junior schools.
Arithmetic Primer : A Guide for Elementary Instruction in
Arithmetic according to the " Kindergarten " method. By Friedrich Krancke.
Translated by Miss Bickell, of Leeds. 8vo, pp. no. (London: Simpkin,
Marshall, and Co. 1885.)
The "kindergarten " is doubtless a capital method for teaching very little
children, and the instructions here given are as simple as it is possible for
them to be.
VOL. V. F
66 CURRENT NOTES AND MEMORANDA.
A System of Rhetoric. By C. W. Bardeen. Cr. 8vo, pp.
xxxix. — 673. (New York : O. S. Barnes and Co. 1885.) Price $1.75.
A thoroughly practical book, written, as the author tells us, from the stand-
point of one whose daily work for years has been to read, select, and publish
manuscripts, who knows from experience the actual difficulties and faults of
young writers, and who wishes to help them.
Alexander Thom's Writing Copy-Books.
Alexander Thom's Drawing-Books. (Dublin : A. Thom
and Co.)
A set of these books have been sent to us. We notice that the publishers
have broken from the stiff *' Copper-Plate " style of our own school-days, and
have given us a series oi facsimiles from actual writing; the letters are well
formed without being pai7ifully uniform. The writing-books consist of 24 and
the drawing-books of 18 pages ; they sell at 2d each.
Young England : An Illustrated Magazine for recreation and
instruction, Roy. 8vo, pp. 572. (London : 56, Old Bailey. 1885.) Price 5s.
We can confidently recommend this Annual Volume as an acceptable present
to any boy or girl. Whilst the tales are of thrilling interest, they at the same
time convey a moral not likely to be forgotten. The pictures too are sure to
please.
Indian Domestic Architecture. By Lockwood De Forest,
9, East 17th Street, New York. 1885.
A series of 25 very beautiful Heliotype views, size of each page lo^ by 13^,
giving views of a House at Ahmedabad in the i6th, another in the 17th, and
another in the i8th century; a reduced copy of one of the Bhudder Windows
at Ahmedabad (full size being 7 ft. by 10 ft.), made by Mr. De Forest, and
sold to the South Kensington Museum, The remaining pictures are equally
beautiful. Mr. De Forest has resolved that he will not allow arts to die out,
that, with all the advantages of the caste system of the East, have taken cen-
turies to bring to such perfection. Many of the plates show the Mahomedan
influence in Rajupatana and Northern India.
Current 1Rotc6 anb ^l^emoran^a♦
The Scientific Enquirer. — We regret that we have been
unavoidably delayed in the publication of Part I of this new Journal ; it will
be ready on ist February. All Queries, Notes, etc., for insertion, should
reach us not later than the 14th instant. From the vast number of letters
already received, we feel very sanguine as to the success of our new venture.
The price will be 4d,, of all booksellers, or 4/6 for the year, free by post.
Wanted. — Members for a Scientific Circulating Magazine
Society, which offers the choice of Three Parcels of Magazines for perusal
every month. — Address T. F. Uttley, 17, Brazennose Street, Manchester.
CURRENT NOTES AND MEMORANDA. 67
Cole's Studies. — Since publishing our October part,
we have received Nos. 9, 10, and 11 of each series of the above Studies. No.
12, to complete the vol., will be published about the middle of Jamiary. The
very excellent character of this work has been well maintained throughout.
We have not heard whether a fourth volume will be published.
The Garner and Science Recorder's Journal is the
title of a new journal, the first three numbers of which have been received.
It is edited by Mr. A. Ramsey, F.G.S., the editor of the Scientific Roll.
The Garner aims to be a Popular Natural History Journal.
Cement for Fixing Wood to Glass. — According to the Echo
Forcsticr^ a cement for this purpose may be made by dissolving gelatine in hot
acetic acid, in such proportions that it solidifies on cooling. — Chem, Rev.
Fine Red Ink. — Grind up Carmine in a mortar with a solution
of Silicate of Potash, until a uniform liquid is obtained. It must be kept in a
bottle closed with an oiled stopper. The ink dries rapidly, and is very
brilliant. — Ch6m. Rev.
The Palpi of Insects. — Fehx Plateau has recently published
(Bull. Soc. Zool. France) a series of interesting experiments on the Palpi of
Insects, the results of which are quite opposed to the current idea that these
oral appendages are essential both to the recognition and seizure of food. He
found that beetles, cockroaches, etc., may be deprived of either the labial or
maxillary palpi, or both, and still retain the power of identifying and masti-
cating their food. It is very curious that the function of such well-developed
organs should so entirely elude us. — Science.
No. 1 1 of Mr. Bolton's Portfolio of Drawings is to hand. It
consists of one example in the Vegetable Kingdom, viz., Synedra pulchella, on
a piece of alga. There are also 14 examples from the Animal Kingdom. A
description of the object represented is given at the back of each plate. These
Portfolios are published at is. each.
Fixing arranged Diatoms and Sections. — Among the many
methods of fixing diatoms and other minute objects upon a slide or cover-
glass, the method of M. Threlfall has been very highly commended. The
diatoms are arranged upon a perfectly dry surface of caoutchouc spread upon
the slide, and fixed in place by application of gentle heat. The details may
be briefly given as follows: — First prepare a solution of caoutchouc in benzene,
adding sufficient caoutchouc to produce a jelly-like mass. Of this take a
portion as large as two peas, and dissolve it in thirty cubic centimetres of
benzene. This dilute solution is the one that is used. Crude caoutchouc
should be used, or such as has not been vulcanized.
This solution affords an easy means of attaching thin sections in series, as
well as diatoms, to a glass slip. In either case the slip is coated with a thin
layer of caoutchouc, by flowing it with the solution, as a photographic plate is
coated with collodion. The solvent rapidly evaporates, leaving the caoutchouc
in a thin film on the glass. The sections, ordinarily included in paraffin, are
68 CUERENT NOTES AND MEMORANDA.
arranged in series on the caoutchouc. The slide is then warmed to a tempera-
ture of 50° — 60° C, when the caoutchouc softens, and the sections become
fixed in place. The paraffin is then removed by petroleum spirit, and, if it is
desired, the sections may be stained in position. To attach diatoms it is only
necessary to arrange them on the layer of caoutchouc, and warm gently.
This method of fixing diatoms is highly commended by P. Francotte
(Bull. Soc. Beige de Micr.J.
We have pleasure in stating that " The NaturaHst," a
Monthly Journal of Natural History for the North of England, Edited by
Mr. Wm. Denison Roebuck, F.L.S., and Mr. Wm. Eagle Clarke, F.L.S.,
will be enlarged in the January and future issues.
To Transfer Prints.— It is said that Printed Engravings may
be copied on any paper of an absorbent nature by damping the surface with a
weak solution of Acetate of Iron, and pressing in an ordinary copying press.
Old writing may also be copied on unsized paper, if wetted with a weak
solution of Sulphate of Iron, mixed with a small quantity of Solution of Sugar.
The Hoosier Naturalist.— Edited and PubHshed by A. C.
Jones and R. B. Trouslot, Valparaiso, Indiana, U.S.A. We have received
the first three numbers of this new magazine, and we certainly wish it much
success. It would appear, however, that the publishers scarcely know their
own mind as to how to publish it at present. Parts i and 2 are 4to, on
good paper, part 3, 8vo, very poor paper, but we are told that better
paper will be used in future. The articles are interesting.
Castor-Oil Plant.— It is said that flies will not enter a room
in which this plant is growing. Our friends will do well to remember this,
and endeavour to secure a plant for their parlours before the summer.
Preparing Leaves to show Starch-grains. — A very interest-
ing experiment, showing the influence of light upon the formation of starch in
leaves, can be readily performed according to a method recently described by
Prof. J. Sachs. To show the starch-grains a leaf must be bleached and made
transparent in this way : The fresh leaf is placed in boiling water for ten
minutes, after which the chlorophyll is extracted by placing it in alcohol. The
colour is thus removed without rupturing the cells which retain the starch.
The latter is then made visible by treatment with iodine. The cellular tissues
become stained dark blue or lighter, according to the quantity of starch present.
Comparative experiments may be made by exposing half of a leaf to sunshine
while the other half is protected. A leaf collected in the evening contains
much more starch than in the morning. — Ainer. Mon. Micro. Journ.
The publishers of the " Garner " are about to issue reprints of
some of their articles relating to " Local Science;" the first, published at i|d.,.
wall relate to the Mullusca of Sussex.
/sibtCt^^
THE JOURNAL OF MICROSCOPY
AND
NATURAL SCIENCE :
the journal of
The Postal Microscopical Society.
APRIL, 1886.
Cbarles ©anvin*
Highbury Microscopical and Scientific Society.
President's Address for the Year 1885.
Read before the Society on November 12th, 1885.
By Mr. H. W. S. Worsley-Benison, F.L.S.
N a Society where not only the science of Microscopy
is ably represented, but where from time to time
we justify the second part of our title by discus-
sions in the realms of Geology, Zoology, and
Botany, I have thought it not inappropriate that I
should, as your President for the time being, take
as the theme of my address the life and work of
one who has done more to revolutionize current
error and guide modern thought in the scientific
world than any other man of his age.
Therefore, I propose to-night to render some sort of tribute,
even though it be but a humble and inadequate one, to the
memory of our great scientific leader, Charles Darwin.
VOL, V. G
70 CHARLES DARWIN.
I cannot, of course, attempt to sketch his life, or to give you
an exhaustive account of all the mighty work which that life
accomplished in every branch of natural science. To compre-
hend that fully, you must diligently read through and through all
the 19 or 20 volumes written by Darwin, together with expositions
thereon by Huxley, Wallace, and others. I must content myself
with presenting you with a very few details of his early years, and
with showing you, in brief outline only, the result of his wonderful
labours in the sciences to which he devoted his best years and his
highest powers.
Surrounded by those whom he very tenderly loved, in his own
home near the quiet little village of Down amid the pleasant
Kentish hills, at four o'clock on the afternoon of Wednesday,
April the 19th, 1882, Charles Darwin passed from amongst us,
and finished
" A noble hfe-work, nobly crowned."
To all who knew, even in small degree, anything of him, the
message in the daily papers of April 2Tst was one laden with sorrow
and a sense of loss. When that life ended, there ended one of a
man in whose spirit were blended all that is great and all that is
beautiful in human nature. The greatest genius, the most prolific
thinker, the acutest reasoner, the most brilliant generalizer in the
domain of biological science, he was at the same time one who
possessed the " child-spirit " in all its exquisite simplicity, one in
whom the scientist and the philosopher were exalted and ennobled
by the courtesy and kindliness of the true Enghsh gentleman.
Charles Darwin was a descendant of two very remarkable
families, and in the history of these we can see the " condi-
tioning circumstances which finally led up to the joint pro-
duction of the man and the philosopher, the thinking brain and
the moving energy.''
Early in the last century there lived in Nottinghamshire one
Robert Darwin, "a person of curiosity,"' having "'a taste for
literature and science." He was a member of the celebrated
Spalding Club, a friend of Stukeley the antiquary, and appears
to have pursued the study of Geology as far as, in that age, it
could be pursued. Of his four sons, Robert, the eldest, and Erasmus,
the youngest, were authors and students of Botany. Robert issued
CHARLES DARWIN. 71
a Principia Botanica, which reached its third edition. Erasmus
was a physician at Nottingham, a man of robust health and un-
tiring energy both of body and mind. In him we find, beyond
doubt, the first of the name in whom the Darwinian intellect
began to assert itself. He was spoken of in 1731 as "poet,
physician, philosopher, naturalist, and philanthropist." Such was
the grandfather of the Charles Darwin of our own time. He was
the author of the Botanic Garden^ a work containing two long
poems, entitled The Ecoiomy of Nature, and T/ie Loves of
the Plants, which, in spite of their rhapsodical extravagances and
quaint fancies, are, even in our day, worth reading. Not a few of
his " reveries in science " were converted by his grandson into
accepted truths. He wrote other books, but it is in his Zoo-
noffiia that we see the " prophetic sagacity " which was attributed
to him rightly enough by his grandson Charles. Prophet he cer-
tainly was, and as such was before his time.
" Soon shall thy arm, Unconquered Steam, afar
Drag the slow barge, or drive the rapid car,"
said he, years before the first railway-engine astonished the natives.
The spread of temperance, the abolition of slavery, the humane
treatment of the insane, were all themes of intense interest to him.
Prominent among his prophetic utterances, however, are those
to be found in his Zoononiia, where the titles of many of
Charles Darwin's books and the phrases now in universal usage in
respect of development are expressed in words of his own. The
whole theory of organic development lies in embryo in this book.
He saw clearly the unity of parent and offspring, and one sentence
of his has in it the germ potential of the theory of descent.
"Owing to the imperfection of language," says he, "the offspring
is termed a new animal, but is in truth a branch or elongation of
the parent, since n part of the embrvon-nnimnl is. or was. n pnrt of
the parent, and therefore may retain some of the habits of the
l)arent system." He constantly emphasized the hereditary nature
of some acquired properties, and carefully sought out any that he
heard of from time to time. Although he never saw what was
reserved for Charles Darwin to discover, the great truth of
* natural selection,' the agency by which variety is brought about
72 CHARLES DARWIN.
through modification of pre-existing types, he did in a dim and
crude fashion set forth the theory of evolution itself. Erasmus
Darwin gave us conjecture coming near the truth, and suggestion
fertile and brilliant. Charles Darwin went beyond this, and made
suggestion and conjecture unassailable fact, abundantly proven by
investigation and experiment. Not that Erasmus did not conduct
experiments. He defined a fool as "a man who never tried an
experiment in his life ; " but he lacked the patience and persist-
ence, as well as the keen reasoning faculty of Charles, and hence
he apologized "for many conjectures not supported by accurate
investigation or conclusive experiments." Charles Darwin spent
28 years over <9;z^ experiment, which removed him to a fair distance
from his grandfather's definition of a fool, and then gave his great
theory to the world supported by cumulative proof, the result of
untiring, and we may say unequalled observation and experience.
We must not dwell longer here. I have said this much to
show the part Erasmus Darwin played in the " conditioning cir-
cumstances " that were to bring about the work of his greater
grandson.
In 1786, nearly a century ago, Robert Darwin, the third son of
Erasmus, settled as a physician at Shrewsbury. He was a F.R.S.,
and to gain that honour he must have had something worthy of
his name in the way of intellect ; but, according to his son's esti-
mate of him, which we may be quite sure- was a generous one,
" he did not possess a scientific mind, but he was incomparably the
most acute observer that I ever knew." This power seems to have
found exercise mainly in the domain of medicine. In 1796
Robert Darwin married Susannah, daughter of Josiah Wedgwood,
the famous potter, and there, in quaint old Shrewsbury, at a house
called The Mount, he settled down for fifty years of prosperous
and useful life. There, in the Unitarian Chapel, two years later,
Coleridge preached his sermon from the text, "He went up into a
mountain apart to pray ; " a sermon to hear which Hazlitt came
through fog and mud from his house at Wem, and said it was
" like the music of the spheres ! " Robert Darwin was to be
envied the society of such men, for Coleridge and Hazlitt were
both friends of the Wedgwood and Darwin families. At The
Mount; on February the 12th, 1809, Charles Darwin was born.
CHARLES DARWIN. 78
He was the second son, the eldest being Erasmus, the friend of
Carlyle, who " preferred him to his brother Charles for intellect ! "
Erasmus died in 1881.
Josiah Wedgwood, potter, artist, chemist, road-maker, and
school-builder, was a man of enormous energy and wonderful
activity, and he possessed that which Carlyle has defined
genius to consist of — />., " the infinite capacity for taking
pains." Speaking of him and of Erasmus Darwin, the elder, Mr.
Grant Allen says : " Is it not probable that in their joint descen-
dant the brilliant but discursive and hazardous genius of Erasmus
Darwin was balanced and regulated by soberer qualities inherited
directly from the profound industry of the painstaking potter?
When later on, we find Darwin spending hours in noting the suc-
cessive movements of the tendrils in a plant, or watching for long
years the habits and manners of earth-worms in flower-pots, may
we not reasonably conjecture that he derived no little share of his
extraordinary patience, carefulness, and minuteness of handicraft
from his mother's father, Josiah Wedgwood ? "
Charles Darwin was educated at Shrewsbury Grammar School
under Dr. Butler, afterwards Bishop of Lichfield. Here he made
little mark, and he afterwards looked back on the time spent there
as almost wasted, the main portion of it being given to classics,
which he very cordially disliked. " Siim^ Fui^ Esse,^' were not to
his taste, and the little of Euclid which he mastered he used to
regard as the only real education he obtained at Shrewsbury.
In 1825, when 16 years of age, he went to Edinburgh Uni-
versity for two years. Up to this time his only passion seems to
have been one for "collecting." Eggs, shells, seals, minerals,
coins, etc., etc., were assiduously gathered and purchased. At
Edinburgh, where he was sent to begin a course of medical educa-
tion, the first definite evidence of the bent of his life asserted
itself There, on the shores of the Firth of Forth, on the Fife-
shire coast, and in the islands round about, he pursued natural
science studies with great eagerness, gathering information on
every hand both in Botany and Zoology. It was while at Edin-
burgh that Darwin made his first recorded discovery in science.
He found organs of motion in the floating ova of the common
Fltcstra, or sea-mat, and read a paper on his discovery at the
74 CHARLES DARWIN.
Plinian Society on March 27th, 1827, being then a little over 18
years of age.
In 1828 the medical profession was abandoned, and Darwin
entered at Christ's College, Cambridge, where his father hoped he
would in due time proceed to Holy Orders. This hope was, for-
tunately, doomed to extinction. He took his B.A. in 183 1,
coming out tenth among the 01 ttoXXoi, and his M.A. was granted
him in 1837.
The year 1831 proved an eventful one in Darwin's life-history.
Inheriting, as we have seen, considerable taste for natural history,
coupled with an indomitable energy in its pursuit, he had the good
fortune to find around him at Cambridge several scientific
teachers, prominent among them Professor Henslow, the botanist,
to say nothing of Ramsay, Airy, Sedgwick, and others. It was
natural, therefore, that he should seize with peculiar eagerness on
the chances thrown in his way. He did so, and while at Cam-
bridge took up his first really earnest study of Geology. To this
partly is due, beyond doubt, his being led towards the question
of Evolution as opposed to special creation, and from this time to
his death he never lost hold of it.
In the autumn of 1831, almost immediately after taking his
degree, occurred the event which made that year famous. The
British Government, were sending out H.M.S. Beagle^ under
Captain Fitzroy (a man of high scientific attainments) in order to
complete the survey of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, to define
by map the shores of Chili and Peru, and of some islands of the
Pacific, and to carry a chain of chronometrical measurements
round the world. Fitzroy wanted a competent naturalist to collect
and preserve plants and animals during the voyage. He wrote to
Professor Peacock, of Cambridge, asking him to recommend a fit
person for the post. Henslow was consulted, and instantly pro-
posed his diligent pupil, Charles Darwin, as one " who knew very
little, but wlio, he thought, would work." Darwin accepted the
appointment witliout salary and paid his own expenses in j)art,
only asking that he might retain for himself the specimens that he
might collect during the voyage. He left England on December
27th, 1 83 1, returning, after a five years' cruise, on October 2nd,
1836.
CHARLES DARWIN. 7o
To this voyage, and to the use Darwin made of the rich and
golden opportunities afforded him, may be traced, through
many stages and by slow degrees, the Origin of Species^ the
Descent of Man, and to a large extent nearly all his other
works. As Grant Allen says, speaking of the countries visitedj
their glorious scenery and marvellous contents, " This was the real
great University in which he studied nature and took his degree.
Our evolutionist was 7iow being educated."
Before touching at the Cape de Verdes, Darwin had begun his
work by observing that the fine dust falling on the deck contained
no fewer than 67 organic forms, together with particles of stone so
big that they measured "above the thousandth of an inch square " !
*' After this," says he, " one need not be surprised at the diffusion
of the far lighter and smaller sporules of cryptogamic plants."
From these islands the Beagle passed in due course to Bahia, Rio,
Monte Video, and the East coast of South America, on to Buenos
Ayres, Patagonia, and the Falklands, to Chili and Peru, to the
curious and interesting islands of the Galopagos Archipelago,
where our hero found a veritable " happy hunting-ground " ;
thence to Tahiti and the glorious scenery of Polynesia ; on to New
Zealand, Australia, Tasmania, and Keeling Island of ' Coral
Reef renown; thence to Mauritius, St. Helena, Ascension,
Pernambuco, and ' Home.' A great opportunity and the man
ready to use it ! " Organism and environment in perfect harmony ! "
What wonder that with these two so wondrously moulded there
should have come into action all that almost superhuman industry,
perseverance, patient research, and untiring conquest of difficulty
that gave to us the life-work of Charles Darwin ?
On his return to England, tlie history of the expedition
was published as a series of volumes together, entitled The
Zoology of the Voyage of the Beagle, the whole being under
his own editorship, the various parts being undertaken by
Owen, Waterhouse, Gould, Jenyns, and Bell. The Botan-
ical department was undertaken by Hooker, Berkeley, and
Henslow. If we add to all these the volumes that Darwin
himself wrote and issued, we gain some idea of the enor-
mous amount of material collected, and the " capacity for taking
pains " shown by the great naturalist. The fuller account of the
76 CHARLES DARWIN.
voyage was published as the Journal of Researches in 1839.
This was afterwards issued in separate form as A Naturalisfs
Voyage Roimd the Worlds Darwin's first pubUshed volume, a
work whose power to fascinate it is not easy to describe. It must
be diligently read to comprehend how entirely the reader yields
himself up to the spell of this power.
Soon after Darwin's return he was elected Fellow of the Royal
Society. In 1837 he read before the Geological Society a very
short paper on the Formation of Mouldy and 44 years later he
published to the world in his final volume the result of his
researches in this subject. His uncle, Josiah Wedgwood, had sug-
gested to him that the sinking of stones and other surface material
into the earth might be due to the action of earth-worms. In
1842, on some land of his own at Down, he spread a quantity of
broken chalk all over the surface of a field to test this theory. In
187 1, twenty-nine years later, a trench was dug along the field, and
a line of white nodules could be traced seven inches below the
surface. x\nother field, called " the stony field," was turned into
pasture in 1841, and Darwin wondered if he should live to see the
flints covered. In 1881 a horse was galloped across this field
without striking a stone with its hoofs !
Is it astonishing that a man who could work like this, and
wait 40 years to prove his theory, could do anything he chose to
undertake in logically testing a scientific truth ?
In 1838 Darwin read at the Geological Society his paper on
The Co7inection of Volcanic Phenomena 7vith the Elevation of
Mountain Chains ; when, as Lyell said, "he opened upon De la
Beche, Phillips, and others, the whole battery of the earthquakes
and volcanoes of the Andes." In the same year, at the early age
of 29, we find him filling the honourable post of Secretary to the
same Society.
In 1839 Darwin married his cousin. Miss Emma Wedgwood,
and after a very short residence in London settled at Down House,
near Down, in Kent. Here he spent the remaining forty years
of his life. Of these forty years, his published works, to which
we shall presently refer, tell the tale. He was rarely seen away
from home, but was one of the speakers at the Oxford meeting of
the British Association in 1847, when Robert Chambers read a
CHARLES DARWIN. 77
paper, and John Ruskin acted as Secretary of the Geological
Section.
In his quiet, comfortable home he sat at the feet of the ' Great
Mother,' looking steadfastly into her countenance until he read
the inmost secrets of her heart, and wrested from her the hidden
evidence of the grandest and most sublime miracle, natural and
yet Divine, that she has ever given to man. There, in spite of ill-
health, brought on by perpetual sea-sickness during the Beagle
voyage, from which he never recovered, he worked steadily and
patiently on among his fowls and pigeons, his plants and insects,
seeing how the worms liked candle-lights and pianos, how pitcher-
plants greedily devoured unwary insect intruders, and the like. To
bed at lo p.m. and up at 5 a.m., he was very often at work by 8
a.m., after an early walk and breakfast. I need not say that he
worked by system. No man could have accomplished that 40
years' labour except by this plan. " In preparing all his books he
had a special set of shelves for each, standing on or near his
writing-table, a shelf being devoted to the material destined for
each chapter." With all his work he invariably devoted part of
every evening to sitting with his family, chatting over various sub-
jects, or listening to the novel read aloud by Mrs. Darwin or one
of the children. He was no less great as husband and father than
he was as scientist and philosopher. To his patient and loving
instruction his sons, George and Francis, owe much of their
present success and undoubted ability in research.
Before I refer briefly to his services in the different sciences, it
will be well to remove one or two misconceptions that exist con-
cerning him in the popular mind, at all events, and to see also what
was the state of things in respect of evolutionary science at the
time when he astonished the whole civilised world by the issue of
his Origin of Species. Many people regard Darwin as the
founder of the great evolutionary hypothesis. They believe that
he was the first to arrive at the idea of all plant and animal forms
being the outcome of slow modification of pre-existing types, and
not of 'special creation.' They believe, too, that he first
propounded the theory which supposes that man can \^q physically
and anatomically traced back through remote ages to an ancestry
more or less akin to the Anthropoid apes. He was not the
78 CHARLES DARWIN.
originator of either of these hypotheses. He held them both
as articles of scientific faith, but they existed before his time, and
he never claimed their authorship. Darwin's grand discovery was
not ' descent with modification,' but that of ' natural selection,'
the age7icy by which, "as he was the first to prove, definite kinds of
plants and animals have been slowly evolved from simpler forms,
with definite adaptations to the special circumstances by which
they are surrounded." An abstract of his theory can be given in
half-a-dozen concise sentences : —
I. — More organisms are produced than can survive.
2. — The fittest survive, />., in the struggle for existence.
3. — No two are alike — the tendency is to variation due to
sundry causes.
4. — Variations are transmitted.
5. — Variations must be in harmony with surroundings. This
is the very essence of natural selection.
6. — Variations repeatedly produced result finally in new
species.
7. — Ages of time must be postulated as necessary for the
various changes and developments from the primitive organism up
to Man.
All these steps in the process of descent by modification
through the agency of natural selection can be proved from
Embryology, Morphology, Geological succession. Geographical
distribution, and Classification, as well as by our own application
of the theory in the variation of plants and domestic animals.
Thus Darwin did not discover ' descent by modification,' but
he did discover the machinery by which such a result could come
about. To quote Grant Allen's way of putting it : "He was not, as
most people falsely imagine, the Moses of evolutionism, the prime
mover in the biological revolution ; he was the Joshua who led the
world of thinkers and workers into full fruition of that promised
land which earlier investigators had but dimly descried from the
Pisgah-top of conjectural speculation. Darwin raised this theory
from the rank of a mere plausible and happy guess to the rank of
a highly elaborate and almost universally received biological
system."
The doctrine of the * Fixity and Immutability of Species,'
CHARLES DARWIN. 79
which was almost universally held up to the close of the i8th
century, was that every species of animal and plant originally
existed in, and owed its present form to, a special act of creation.
No variation of importance had occurred between the types ; the
plants and animals individually kept their original form quite un-
changed down through the ages.
This crude belief was supported in popular thought by some
verses in the ist chapter of Genesis, and no one ever paused to
think whether the words in Genesis really presupposed any such
notion. They did not stay to enquire whether the author, whoever
he was, was a scientific man, or whether he wrote for a scientific age
or not, but accepted the doctrine preached without gainsaying.
This is the less to be wondered at, because the wonderful variety
of living beings and their variability, known in our time well
enough, were then unknown, especially to ordinary observers. I
need not stay, here and now, to point out the foolishness of
adhering to such a belief in the teeth of overwhelming evidence to
the contrary, or the unwisdom of any man who, " before distin-
guished audiences at the Mansion House " and elsewhere, tries to
prove the exactest accord, even in minutest detail, between ' Moses
and Geology.' Suffice it that I have said that this doctrine of
* Fixity and Immutability ' prevailed up to 1800 or thereabouts.
Linn?eus gave the weight of his authority to this belief, and, so
far as we know, never accepted any other. Buffon, first among the
great naturalists, was the one to timidly suggest the doctrine of
modification. He pointed out that under external differences there
were fundamental likenesses suggestive of common origin, and
yet so strong was the power of the then accepted teaching that he
used to say, "No, it cannot be after all;" indeed, we are told
that once, at least, he had " to submit and demand pardon from
the offended orthodoxy (?) of the Paris faculty." His suggestion,
however, did bear fruit. " The startling plop of Buffon's little
smooth-cut pebble," as Grant Allen calls it, caused a wave of
thought and investigation, whose circles spread wider and wider,
and we may question if even yet the outermost circle has found its
shore. Geoffrey St. Hilaire, Goethe, and Erasmus Darwin each
independently saw the probable truth of Buffon's theory. It was
reserved for Lamarck, in 1 801, to fully take up the subject and
80 CHARLES DARWIN.
bring about a state of affairs in which the earnest attention of all
scientific thinkers was directed to the probability of change being
the result of law rather than of spasmodic miraculous interpo-
sition. He made the scientists of his time begin to see that, as
Emerson says : —
" The world was built in order,
And the atoms march in tune."
It was his Philosophie Zoologique that touched to its very
centre the course of evolutionary research all over the science
world, and not even the genius of the immortal Cuvier himself
brought to bear against the doctrine could stifle it in its slow but
certain growth.
Geology and Astronomy were not less moved than was Biology
by the on-coming wave. Murchison, Sedgwick, Buckland, Lyell,
Phillips, De la Beche, Agassiz, Kant, Laplace, and Herschell were
all, consciously or unconsciously, contributing to the massive
phalanx of discovered facts that went to support the modification
hypothesis, some of which facts could be explained by this
hypothesis only, and which, dim and unsuggestive without it, were
bright and significant in its brilliant light.
Into such a world of science and philosophy Charles Darwin
was born in 1809. What wonder, that coming from the families I
have named into an, atmosphere where men of the profoundest
powers of research and thought were busy looking into this newly
discovered evolutionary realm, he, endowed with a Divinely-given
genius, should have set himself to find out the ^ why ' and the
' how ' of the doctrine which had already found wide acceptance ?
All around him he saw men who were building up the theory of
slow modification from previous types into a grand and glorious
certainty \ it was for him to make known the one thing needful to
its final adoption — the means by which this age-long process had
been and was being accomplished. Let me quote in full, for the
sake of its own beauty and completeness. Grant Allen's picture in
words of the scientific world when Darwin came into it, before we
try to see the work he performed : — " On every side evolutionism
in its crude form was already in the air. Long before Darwin
himself published his conclusive ' Origin of Species,' every
thinking mind in the world of science^ elder and younger, was
CHARLES DARWIN. 81
deeply engaged upon the self-same problem. Lyell and Horner
were in alternate fits doubting and debating. Herbert Spencer had
already frankly accepted the new idea with the profound conviction
of d priori reasoning. Agassiz was hesitating and raising diffi-
culties. Treviranus was ardently proclaiming his unflinching
adhesion. Oken was spinning in metaphysical Germany his
fanciful parodies of the Lamarckian hypothesis. Among the
depths of Brazilian forests Bates was reading the story of evo-
lution on the gauze-like wings of tropical butterflies. Under the
scanty shade of Malyan palm-trees Wallace was independently
spelling out in rude outline the very theory of survival of the fittest
which Charles Darwin himself was simultaneously perfecting and
polishing among the memoirs and pamphlets of his English study.
Wollaston, in Madeira, was pointing out the strange adaptations of
the curious local snails and beetles. Von Buch, in the Canaries,
was coming to the conclusion that varieties may be slowly changed
into permanent species. Lecoq and Von Baer were gradually
arriving, one by the botanical route, the other by the embryo-
logical, at the same opinion. Robert Chambers published in
1844 his ' Vestiges of Creation,' in which Lamarck's theory was
impressed and popularised under a somewhat spoilt and mistaken
form. It was not till 1859 that the first edition of the ' Origin of
Species ' burst like a thunderbolt upon the astonished world of
unprepared and unscientific thinkers."
Having thus attempted to show you something of the man and
his antecedents, and briefly indicated the general position of the
world of science into which he came, I wish in the time remaining
to me to place before you quite simply, and in outline only, a
sketch of the wondrous work Darwin did in the various sciences
during those 40 years of retirement in Down House. I purpose, in
order to do this, to name the volumes and to point out the general
drift of each in relation to the Science with which it is specially
concerned.
Geology. — In this science Darwin's work has exercised at least
as great an influence as that of any man of his age. Besides the
papers already referred to as having been read at the meetings of
the Geological Society, he issued three volumes dealing with the
geology of the Beagle voyage. In 1842 appeared the first, The
82 CHARLES DARWIN.
Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs, a. now recognized
classic in geological literature. It is a masterpiece of scientific
method. Every fact that Darwin had observed is duly marshalled,
and step by step, through cautious watching and crucial experi-
ment, we are led up to the grand conclusion that ' fringing-reef/
' barrier-reef,' and ' atoll ' are to be explained by the gradual
subsidence of parts of the bed of the Pacific ; nay, more, we are
shown in the author's own matchlessly logical style that the
fringing-reef of yesterday becomes the barrier-reef of to-day, and
the barrier-reef of to-day is destined to be the atoll of to-morrow.*
In 1844 he followed with his second w^ork, Geological
Observations on Volcanic Islands^ in which we are told the story
of the gradual upheaval of those islands. In 1846 he published
the third of this series, entitled Geological Observations on
South America, in which he deals with the slow and oft-
interrupted rise of that country during recent geological time,
tracing the marine shells for more than 2,000 miles along the
coast, and to as high a level in certain spots as 1,300 feet. In
addition to these three volumes, concerning the first of which
Geikie says, " This treatise alone would have placed Darwin in the
very front of investigators of nature," we have his papers on
Erratic Boulders in South America, on the Geology of the
Falkland Isla?ids, and a very celebrated one in 1843 on British
Glaciers, the result of a visit to Snowdon and its district. Our
record is imperfect unless we include here his chapter on the
Imperfection of the Geological Record, and the two on
Geographical Distribution in the Origin of Species. It is
almost impossible to rightly estimate the importance of these three
chapters, or their influence on the geological questions of our time,
especially as showing how much of palaeontological fact can be
readily explained by Darwin's great theory, and how the presence
of groups of organisms can be made to tell us the history of the
long-continued interchanges of land and sea.
Botany. — With his accustomed and innate modesty, Darwin
always said that he was not by any means a botanist. Perhaps he
was not one in the ' dry-as-dust ' sense of the term, and we are
thankful that he was not. To the science of Botany, however, he
* See note at end of paper.
CHAKLES DARWIN. 83
made more numerous and more important contributions than any
known botanist, for the very good reason that — as in all other
pursuits — he went below and behind mere classification and collec-
tion, and found out the hidden secrets of plant life ; not only
telling us the reasons of a multitude of well-known but unexplained
facts, but also bringing to light a vast array of hitherto unknown
life-histories in the plant domain.
In 1862 the botanical world was at once surprised and de-
lighted by his volume on the Fertilization of Orchids, in which
are chronicled the results of almost endless experiments carried on
^Yith the love of accuracy that so distinguished Darwin. The first
44 pages of this book no student of the science should leave un-
read, and I will answer for it that the remainder of the volume will
not be left unstudied. The whole treatise is an introduction into
a veritable " Fairy-land of Science," and we put it down with the
feeling that the wonderful flowers have been transformed into per-
sonal friends, a sentiment which, I believe, Darwin himself often
possessed.
The Movements and Habits of Climbing Fla?its followed
in 1865, in which the evolution of the various ' cHmbers,' from
the earlier existing ' twiners,' and of ' tendril bearers ' from
* climbers,' is admirably worked out. The details of this paper I
have in a former paper placed under your notice.
In 1868 appeared the two volumes called Variation of
Animals and Plants under Domestication, for the materials of
which the whole universe was literally ransacked. All the htera-
ture of agriculture and horticulture, of the breeding of horses,
cows, dogs, cats, fowls, and pigeons, besides an enormous list of
magazines, reviews, journals, newspapers, and treatises were laid
under contribution for the preparation of this work. It is utterly
impossible to do more than name it.
Vr\ 1875, 1^76, and 1^77. with a rnparity (^'i production that
showed more than ever his fertility of resource, power of ob.-^(::r-
vation, unsurpassed accuracy, and care for detail, he gave us
Insectivorous Plants, The Effects of Ci'oss and Self Fertilization
in the Vegetable Kingdom, and Different Forms of Flowers on
Plants of the same Species. In the first we were told the story
of the Venus' Fly-trap, Sundew, Butterwort, Bladderwort, and
84 CHARLES DARWIN.
Other marsh and bog plants, in relation to their insect prey.
In the second he shows that nature abhors self-fertilization, because
it ultimately leads to degradation and extinction, and that cross
fertilization produces the best offspring in respect of growth,
strength, and fertility, proving that in spite of the fact that most
flowers are hermaphrodite, there is usually some provision for the
transference of pollen from the flowers of one plant to another of
the same species. In the third he proved that the different
positions of stamens and pistil in the flowers of even a single plant,
in such cases as those of Primrose, Cowslip, Loose-strife, and Flax,
was really in order to ensure cross-fertilization, and to render self-
fertilization impossible, thus securing an abundant, healthy, and
vigorous offspring.
In 1880, when 71 years old, Darwin issued a book on the
Powe7- of Movement in Plants. Here he traced the windings
of the tiniest rootlets and stems, and assigned to these their cause
and effect ; still further, he investigated the wonderful phenomena
seen in such plants as Mimosa (the Sensitive plant), and others
whose leaves are said to " sleep," and taught us the meaning of
the " sleep " in all these cases, as well as leading us to see the
relation of the opening and closing of flowers to difterent times of
day or night, to varying seasons, and to geographical habitat.
No more interesting, volume came from his pen than this one
from many points of view.
Finally in 1881, only a short time before his death, his last
work on the Formation of Vegetable Mouldy to which I have
previously referred, was in a sense as much related to botanical
science as it was to that of Geology.
Zoology. — The Naturalisfs Voyage of course abounds
with zoological facts and especially deals with geographical distri-
bution of species, but in 185 i and 1844 were published the only
purely zoological works that Darwin wrote. These were 2 volumes
issued by the Ray Society, one on Recent Barnacles, and a
second on the Fossil species of the same family. They were
together called A MotiograpJi of the Cirripedia and proved
abundantly that had he resolved to devote his life to pure Mor-
phology only, he would indubitably have taken a foremost place
as an anatomical investigator.
CHARLES DARWIN. 85
I cannot give here even an epitome of the Ongi?i of Species
(1859), the Variations of Anifuah and Plants under Domesti-
cation^ or the Descent of Man (187 1), all three of which
books are more or less zoological ; to the second of these I briefly
referred under the head of Botany ; neither can I go further than
to say that we find the marks of Darwin's genius not only in the
three sciences already named, but also in that of
Psychology. — His book entitled The Expression of the
Emotio?iSy published in 1872, together with a single chapter in
the Origi?i of Species and three in the Descent of Man^ are all
nearly related to this science. To these we must add what I
believe w^as his last-written paper, published in Alind, on the
Psychogenesis of a Child, an Essay on Infantile Intelligence.
I have said enough to show the wide-reaching grasp of his
mighty intellect and the debt that all the world of sciences owes
to his labours.
Regarding his greatest work. The Origin of Species, and
that which twelve years afterwards followed it, The Descefit of
Man, I need only say a few words. For the most admirable and
masterly epitome and exposition of these books I refer any of you
to the lately-issued volume, ' Charles Darwin,' by Grant Allen,
forming the first of ' English Worthies.' Pages 58-143 of this
beautiful tribute to Darwin's memory will charm every reader of
them.
We are all more or less familiar with the story of the Origi?t
of Species. The " idea " of the work occurred to Darwin in
1837. After five years' collecting of facts, ht "allowed himself to
speculate on the subject, and drew up some short notes;" in
1844 he enlarged these into " a sketch of probable conclusions ;"
from then up to 1859 he " steadily pursued the same subject."
Twenty-two years did Darwin wait before he ventured to send
forth his epoch-making book ! And yet the Quarterly Review, by
way of a monstrous perversion of truth, charged him with " a con-
tinually growing neglect of the facts around him ;" and the Edi?i-
burgh Review warned the members of the Royal Institution (who
had listened to Huxley's favourable lecture on the book) against
such " abuse of science " !
The immediate cause of the issue of the book must not be
VOL. V. H
86 CHAELES DARWIN.
passed over without notice. In 1858 Wallace was working at the
Natural History of the Malay Archipelago, whither he had gone in
1854. He sent home to Darwin a memoir, in which it was found
when the latter opened it that Wallace had independently arrived
at the same conclusion regarding the Origin of Species, namely,
that ' natural selection ' was the great factor in the process. The
letter accompanying the memoir requested that Darwin would for-
ward it to Sir C Lyell for presentation to the Linnean Society.
What did Darwin do? He at once sent it with strong and
generous commendation to Lyell, who sent it on to the Society.
Lyell and Hooker, who were both aware of the fact that Darwin
had come to a similar conclusion, backed up by more than twenty
years' gathering of detail and fact, advised him to issue a digest of
his own work side by side with Wallace's paper. He did so, and
the two papers were read on the same evening, July the ist, 1858,
before the Linnean Society. The story of this double recognition
of a rival's worth is one of the brightest records in scientific
renown. It is to the immortal honour of both men. " The elder
naturalist never strove for a moment to press his own claim to
priority against the younger ; the younger, with singular generosity
and courtesy, waived his own claim to divide the honours of dis-
covery in favour of the elder. Not one word, save words of
fraternal admiration and cordial appreciation, ever passed the lips of
either with regard to the other " I After the reading of the papers,
Darwin diligently laboured to finish the first great work that was
destined to such fame, and on November the 24th, 1859, a date
not to be forgotten, the Origin of Species was presented to the
astonished world.
We all know the result. Atheist, Materialist, Iconoclast,
Ishmaelite, were among the mildest epithets hurled at him and his
work by men who knew absolutely nothing about it. At the
Oxford meeting of the British Association a stormy debate was
held on it, when Henslow, Darwin's old friend and tutor, presided
over the Biological Section for the last time. A grand passage-at-
arms was witnessed between Bishop Wilberforce and "young
Huxley," who warmly defended the book and its author. It was
Huxley, who, when asked by one of the opponents whether he was
related on the paternal or maternal side to an ape, replied that if
CHAKLES DARWIN. 87
he had his choice of an ancestor, whether it should be an ape, or
one who. having received a scholastic education, used his logic to
mislead an untutored public, he should not for one moment hesi-
tate to choose the ape ! The crowded audience, which began by
loudly cheering the onslaught on Darwin, ended by cheering
Huxley to the echo.
For long the storm raged in pulpit and in press. One of our
great poUtical leaders declared himself " against Mr. Darwin and
on the side of the angels " ! Even the Royal Society waited until
1864 before it bestowed on nim the Copley Medal. In two
months a second edition of his book was called for and issued.
Gradually the storm abated, Darwin all the time bearing himself
nobly, quietly, generously, courteously, alike to friends and foes.
Very soon the leading scientists one by one enrolled themselves on
his side. Hooker, Lyell, Spencer, Huxley, Henslow, Asa Gray,
Fiske, the ]\Iuller brothers, and others, all avowed themselves evo-
lutionists and " Darwinians." Later on Tyndall and Allen
Thomson joined the array. In due time a younger regiment of
workers, who for years had sat at the feet of the great master in
science, declared themselves his disciples and accepted his theory.
Balfour, Romanes, Lubbock, Ray Lankester, Thistleton Dyer,
Andrew Wilson, Grant Allen, are among the most popular expo-
nents of his grand discovery. In 1880, when in all quarters of the
globe Geology and Palaeontology, Zoology and Botany, were yield-
ing unassailable evidence of the truth of the evolutionary doctrine,
Huxley delivered that masterpiece of eloquence at the Royal
Institution on the Coming of Age of the ' Origiji of Species,^
and was able to say, " Evolution is no longer a speculation, but a
statement of historical fact." So, after 21 years of storms and
calms, of opprobrium and approval, the great crowning victory
came to the earnest, patient worker, and Charles Darwin took his
only proper place amongst his peers — king over them all.
To the last he set an example of a noble and beautiful life,
which had, as Dr. Carpenter, so lately gone from us, finely said,
" no ' other side.' " He had, as Huxley tells us, " an intellect
which had no superior, and a character which was even nobler
than the intellect." Grant Allen writes : — "His conspicuous and
beautiful love of truth, his unflinching candour, his transparent
88 CHARLES DARWIN.
fearlessness and honesty of purpose, his child-like simplicity, his
affectionate disposition, his modesty of demeanour, his kindliness,
his courtesy to opponents, kindled in the minds of men of science
everywhere a contagious enthusiasm, only equalled, perhaps,
among the disciples of Socrates.'^
On the 26th of April, 1882, he was laid to rest in Westminster
Abbey, close to the grave of Sir Isaac Newton — a worthy resting-
place, by the side of the man he equalled !
The Dukes of Devonshire and Argyll, Russell Lowell, Lord
Derby, Spottiswoode, Hooker, Wallace, Huxley, Lubbock, and
Farrar were his pall-bearers. The anthem composed for the occa-
sion, " Happy is the man that findeth wisdom," was singularly
appropriate, and not less so was that sung at the grave of him
around whose head so many storms had sounded, '' His body is
buried in peace."
After his burial a hue and cry was raised by some self-con-
stituted guardians of ' truth,' because, said they, he wrote, " I do
not believe that any Revelation has ever been made." They put
the full stop, and then said that " he discredited the Scriptures of
Almighty God." What was it that he did say? "I do not
believe that any Revelation has ever been made as to the iiature
of the future life." A very different sentence from that imputed
to him by his impertinent critics I You need only go to ' In
Memoriam ' to find very similar words in reference to the raising
of Lazarus. When the Duke of Argyll asked him, shortly before
his death, if he did not think the discoveries he had made could
only be understood as the effect and expression of initid^ he looked
at the Duke for a moment, and said, " Well, it often comes over
me with overpowering force, but at other times it seems to drop "
— words only showing us how to the greatest minds there comes a
veil of mystery hiding the truths behind it, the faith of such minds
being all the stronger and surer for the darkness, when God lifts a
corner of the veil and reveals Himself Depend on it, Darwin
pondered during his long life the problem of a future one more
anxiously than many who loudly declaim him because he was not
afraid to say he could not solve it. Does he not say in so many
words, " A man may be an ardent Theist and also an Evolutionist.
Kingsley and Asa Gray were both. I have never, in my extremest
CHARLES DARWIN. 89
fluctuations, been an Atheist; the term 'Agnostic' (in the sense
of being unable to comprehend God) comes nearer to defining my
position, and that only at times, but more so as I grow older."
He has solved the problem now ! And who dares to say that
he is not at rest with the Master, the Creator of the worlds whose
wondrous potentialities and forces he so loved to study and think
of, alone with God !
And yet of this man such lines as the following are written in
1883 in sober earnest : —
" Darwin believes man but a beast,
Sprung from a lowly root ;
Superior to frogs and apes —
A highly-cultured shoot ;
Forerunner of a higher race —
But not what Scripture states,
Possessed with an immortal soul ;
On minds like his that grates."
Who gave Miss Georgiana Farrar, the author of the above and
of some six or seven thousand other verses, authority to state that
Darwin disbeUeved in an immortal soul ? If she possessed a
fraction, infinitesimally small, of the mind she sneers at, she
would have spared the much-enduring public the infliction of such
unmitigated twaddle, and her pubhshers the probable loss on the
first and (let us hope) only edition of her poems.
Moreover, we hear of a " Society for the Suppression of
Blasphemous Literature," and funds are being collected to prose-
cute Messrs. Huxley, Tyndall, Spencer, Argyll, Lubbock, and
Martineau for their blasphemies, Darwin being omitted only
because he has passed from human grasp. How strangely true is
it that religious fanaticism does sometimes border on insanity !
While Darwin lived, patiently watching in his peaceful Kentish
home, the birds, insects, and worms, the flowers, trees, and fields,
that all had voices for him, laboriously, carefully, cautiously,
through all those years gathering up his facts, uttering no word
concerning any of them until anticipation had become certainty,
the critics were busy all around him ; Exeter Hall rang with pro-
testations against him and all his works, as if he were the very
"Anti-Christ" incarnate, and his Origin of Species^ the result
90 CHARLES DARWIN.
of nearly 30 years' unceasing work and research, was sneered at as
*' half-digested facts '"' by men who pattered sermons and scrawled
volumes at almost the same rate with which the Times printing-
machines provide us with our daily budget of news.
The heathen raged furiously, and shouted, " He blasphemeth ! "
Listen to one sentence of the so-called " blasphemy " ! " It is
not more irreligious to explain the origin of man as a distinct
species, through the laws of variation and natural selection, than
to explain the birth of an individual through the law of ordinary
reproduction. The birth of the species and of the individual are
equally part of the grand sequence of events which the mind
refuses to accept as the result of blind chance. The understanding
revolts at such a conclusion." Noble, earnest, wise words such as
these were " blasphemy," and they who so miscalled them pre-
ferred, I suppose, the conception of creation emanating from the
fertile brain of an American Divine, " God Almighty once took
some nothing, and in a week produced the universe as it stands,
and one man " ! Others said they could " make short work of
the absurd theory of modification." Anyone who can make " short
work " of Darwin may, as Mr. Grant Allen says in a letter to
myself, " be safely neglected." As Mr. W. S. Lilly reminds us in
the Fortnightly for January, 1886, such men should remember a
precept of the Talmud, " First understand — then argue ; " and
that " A fact is not altered by a hundred texts."
Now Darwin has passed away. His pen is laid aside for ever-
more. His mighty genius has gone to be made yet more glorious
in another sphere ! Behold the transformation ! He, who hailed
with delight a discovery by Wallace, Lyell, or any other observer,
and yielded them homage, born of his great, sympathetic, unselfish
nature, is exalted to the position of one " who reverenced his con-
science as his King," who loved and sought the truth, who wil-
lingly disturbed the faith of no man — a great discoverer, a noble
philosopher, an English gentleman ; preachers and writers speak
true and loyal words in his praise, and Westminster Abbey opens
her avenues to receive his remains into her guardian care, followed
by a princely retinue of England's greatest divines, scholars, and
scientists.
CHARLES DARWIN. Ol
I am deeply conscious of the poverty of this tribute of rever-
ence for the Ufe and work of the greatest man of our century. The
wreath I place on his tomb is only one of modest wild flowers,
grouped by an unartistic hand ; but it is the outcome of sincere
admiration and respect for the memory of one who, from my boy-
hood upwards, has been my ideal of all that is noble, patient,
earnest, and lofty in human nature.
Let Grant Allen's own words finish the story — I know none
worthier with which to close any estimate of such a man : —
" Charles Darwin was a great man, and he accomplished a great
work. The Newton of biology, he found the science of life a
chaotic maze ; he left it an orderly system, with a definite plan
and a recognizable meaning. Great thoughts like his do not
readily die ; they expand and grow in ten thousand bosoms till
they transform the world at last into their own likeness, and adapt
it to the environment they have themselves created by their
informing power. Alone am'ong the prophets and teachers of
triumphant creeds, he saw with his own eyes the adoption of the
faith he had been the first to promulgate in all its fulness by every
fresh and powerful mind of the younger race that grew up around
him. The Nestor of Evolutionism, he had lived among two suc-
cessive generations of thinkers, and over the third he ruled as king.
With that crowning joy of a great, a noble, and a happy life, let us
leave him here, alone in his glory."
Sutton^ Surrey ; November, i88^.
NOTES.
I must express my obligations to many authors in the prepara-
tion of this paper : prominently' among these to Professor Huxley,
Mr. Herbert Spencer, Hermann Miiller, Fritz Miiller, Mr. A. R.
Wallace, Mr. H. W. Bates, and Dr. K. Wilson.
From the works of Charles Darwin himself I need scarcely say
I have derived the choicest material of all, as coming from the
fountain-head of evolutionary science.
92 FRESH-WATER ALG^.
To many others I might also confess myself indebted for valu-
able information as to the influence of Darwin's work on biology
as a whole ; but my special and grateful thanks are due to three
authors, from whom I have gleaned many facts, and whose words
I have largely quoted. I refer to Mr, Romanes, the writer of
' Charles Darwin ' in the ' Nature Series ' ; to Mr. Woodall, for
his Memoir issued in the ' Transactions of the Shropshire Archae-
ological Society ' ; and most of all to Mr. Grant Allen, the author
of the lately published book, ' Charles Darwin ' in the series of
' English Worthies.'
Referring to Darwin's work in Geology, and more especially to
his work on Coral Reefs ^ on page 82, I wish to add that I used
the words, " recognized classic in geological literature " quite
advisedly ; but it is only right to advert to the fact that the more
recent researches of Murray and Agassiz in 1880 and 1883 respec-
tively would appear to force us to conclude that we cannot now
accept Darwin's theory as offering a complete solution of the
problem of these reefs. For an admirable digest of the researches
of the naturalists above named, I refer my readers to the two
papers on the Origin of Coral Reefs, by Professor Geikie, in
Nature, vol. xxix., pp. 107 and 124.
H. W. S. W-B.
By George Norman, M.R.C.S., &c.
Part II.
Plates 9, 10, 11.
Class I. — Protophyta.
IN this class we commence with the simplest form of plant-life
— a little mass of protoplasm, with or without a cell wall. The
cell-wall is usually to be found, but when the plant assumes an
amoeboid condition the cell-wall is absent. An example of this is
FRESH-WATER ALG^. 93
to be found in the widely-distributed Protococcus phtvialis^ which
may be found in ahuost any house-gutter. An aUied species,
Protococcus nivalis^ the so-called red snow, was long supposed to
be confined to the arctic regions and to snow mountains, but it
has been found in this country on the borders of lakes, especially
affecting calcareous rocks.
Glmocapsa shows a little advance in organisation, the thallus
being gelatinous and enclosing cells and families irregularly dis-
posed, and presenting fine example of cell division. The colour
of the cell contents is sometimes greenish yellow, but more
commonly red ; G. sa7igut?iea, an example of the latter, is a
favourite slide with microscopists.
There are numerous other simple genera included under this
class, but it is probable that many of them are not independent
species, but only stages in the development of some higher form,
and that in course of time such families as the PahtiellacecE^
ProfococcacecB, and Chroococcacea. will disappear altogether from the
catalogue.
As we go up in the scale we find the derivative cells, instead of
separating and carrying on an independent life, remaining united
and forming slender rows of cells, or thin lamellae.
Thus in the Nostocs we find a more or less firm jelly, in which
chains of small rounded cells are imbedded, with here and there a
large cell, termed a heterocyst, which has to do with the propaga-
tion of the species. Some of the Nostocs are supposed to be
parasitic (especially Nostoc lichenoides)^ and are described as such
in the leaves of Hepaticae and Mosses, by various French and
German observers.
The Oscillarice consist of rigid cylindrical filaments of varying
thickness, divided into disc-like cells by delicate transverse septa.
The filaments are straight or a little curved, rarely spirally convo-
lute, and mostly brightly coloured in various shades of green and
blue ; they revolve on their axis, and on this account the filaments
often get matted together in large masses.
O. cenigesce7is is mentioned by Dr. Drummond as existing in
such quantity in Glasslough lake, Ireland, as to impart a decided
green tinge to the water. The plant seemed diffused all through
the water of the lake, but in a ditch extending from the lake he
94 FRESH-WATER ALG.E.
found large masses of it, several inches thick and above a foot and
a half in length.
O. thermalis has been described by Hassall as having been
found in warm water, and O. tejiuissima as peculiar to the Bath
Mineral Water, but neither species has been identified by Cooke.
In Rivularia the frond has a tendency to a hemispherical or
bladdery form, the filaments of rounded cells are agglutinated by
mucilage and radiate from the base of the frond ; at the free end
the filament runs out into a long hyaline hair, while at the central
end is a large heterocyst, which gives the whole filament the form
of a riding whip.
This is one of the Algge associated with the phenomenon called
" Breaking of the Meres," which is thus described by Professor
Dickie in his " Botanists' Guide : " — " For some years excursions
were made with students of my botanical class to a loch on the
estate of Parkhill, about four miles north-west from Aberdeen.
The sheet of water in question is about a quarter of a mile in its
greatest length ; on almost all sides it is surrounded by extensive
deposits of peat, with the soluble matter of which a great proportion
of the water passing into the loch is impregnated. The locality
was generally visited in the beginning of July. Nothing particular
had ever been observed till the summer of 1846, when my attention
was arrested by a peculiar appearance of the water, especially
near the edge, but extending also some distance into the loch.
Numerous minute bodies, with a spherical outline, and varying in
size from 1-2 4th to i-i2th inch in diameter, were seen floating at
different depths, and giving the water a peculiar appearance. In
some places they were very densely congregated, especially in
small creeks at the edge of the loch. A quantity was collected by
filtration through a piece of cloth, and on examination by the
microscope there could be no doubt that the production was of a
vegetable nature and a species of Rivularia^ associated however
with another genus, Trichor7mcs^ in small quantity. In the first
week of July, 1847, the same species were observed similarly
associated, but the Trichornms was now more plentiful. In July,
1848, it was observed that the Rivularia was as rare as the
Trichornms had been in 1846 ; to the latter consequently the water
of the loch now owed its colour, which was a very dull green.
FEESH- WATER ALG^. 95
Other two lochs in the vicinity did not contain the plants alluded
to."
Dr. M. C. Cooke says that in July, 1884, this alga {Rivularia)
was sent to him from a large pond between Haslemere and
Farnham, where it rendered the water quite opaque, like a mixture
of pea-soup and water.
Lyngbya consists of long rigid or flexuous filaments, bluish-
green or yellowish-green in colour, rarely branched. Some species
are found in large masses in boggy pools, others in the brackish
water.
Class II. — Zygospores.
In this class the plants differ greatly in the structure of their
vegetative body, and we are at present acquainted with but few
intermediate transitional forms connecting the various sections
belonging to it. The formation of a tissue, in the ordinary sense of
the term, occurs only in a few cases, the thallus being unicellular ;
nevertheless, there is a decided advance in the degree of
organisation as compared with the Protophyta.
The Fandon?iece consist of cells which are either isolated, or
united into families by a gelatinous envelope, and then called
ccenobia. In this state they still have the power of motion, each
cell possessing two long cilia which protrude through the cell-wall.
Pcvidorijia was the first instance in which conjugation of
zoogonidia was observed (Pringsheim), and the process is very
curious. Each of the sixteen cells contained in a coenobium breaks
up into sixteen smaller cells, the gelatinous envelopes of which
become softened and let the zoogonidia escape. They are green,with
a red spot in front, where they bear two cilia, by means of which
they move rapidly about. Two of them now coalesce, forming a body
at first constricted, then round, and of much larger size than the
combined zoogonidia, of which however the four cilia and the two
red corpuscles are still seen, but these soon dissappear. The
colour of the cell now changes from green to brick-red, and
the cell, which has greatly increased in size, breaks up and
allows the escape of several large zoospores. The zoospores, after
a short period of swarming, surround themselves with a gelatinous
envelope, and by successive divisions give rise to sixteen primordial
cells, forming a coenobium similar to the mother plant.
96 FRESH-WATER ALG^.
Equally interesting is the life history of Stepha-nosphcEra^ but
our space forbids our dwelling on it : it has been calculated that
in eight days, under favourable circumstances, more than sixteen
million famiUes might be formed from one resting cell.
Pediastriim has also been included in this class, on account of
its general affinities, for the phenomenon of conjugation has not
yet been observed in it. When the coenobia multiply a large
number of zoogonidia are formed in each mother cell, within
which they move about for some time, ultimately coming to rest,
congregated in some definite arrangement, ]^and continuing their
development unitedly.
The same uncertainty applies with regard to Hydrodidyon,
which forms a beautiful object, Hke a miniature green net, the
meshes being very distinct. Dr. Wood, in his " American Fresh
Water Algss," says that this genus grows in great abundance in
Philadelphia, in the ditches and stagnant brick-ponds in the low
grounds below the city, where it forms floating masses several
inches thick, and many feet in extent, of a yellowish-green colour.
It is in great profusion in June and July, is hardly to be found in
the autumn, but reappears early in the spring.
Mesocarpiis and Zygmena both consist of cylindrical segmented
filaments of a green colour, and in both the phenomenon of
conjugation may be well observed, as it may be also in the well-
known form Spirogyra and its allied genus Rhyiicoiiema. In
Characiiim the zoogonidia, after swarming in the mother cell,
escape by a lateral rupture, and move rapidly about with the aid
of their cilia : no conjugation has been observed. This form is
frequently found attached to other filiform algae.
Hydruriis is apparently propagated only by means of gonidia ;
the thallus is elongated, covered with delicate fibres, and of a
bright green colour and of gelatinous consistence ; the fronds are
often found in large clusters.
Class III. — Oospores.
The Thallus may consist of undifferentiated cells, or of a
single tubular cell, which often branches freely. In the higher
forms the thallus consists of branched and segmented filaments
composed of cells of different kinds, and the plant, which is
FKESH- WATER ALG^. 97
generally fixed to a substratum, manifests a marked contrast
between base and apex.
Sphceropha is the simplest of the Oospores. The filaments
consist of very long cells, the contents of which are a colourless
protoplasm, a green chlorophyll, a watery liquid and granules of
starch, the whole so disposed that the liquid element forms large
vacuoles in a row, like the pearls of a necklet engirdling the
plant.
On approaching fructification the vacuoles multiply to such an
extent as to give the endochrome the appearance of a frothy mass,
in which the starch granules are irregularly scattered. Soon
after the starch granules assemble in twos, threes, or larger num-
bers, and around these groups the green plasma becomes more
plentiful, so that in time they appear as so many equadistant cysts
in the axis of the thread. These green clots assume a stellate
appearance, then become flattened to resemble partitions, which
by and by disappear, and the whole thread breaks up into a
number of free globular masses, which, after various modifications,
become the young spores.
All the cellules of the same filament do not undergo the
modifications described. In a large number the green rings^
interspersed with colourless vacuoles, gradually change to a reddish
yellow, and the grains of starch disappear. Soon the coloured
matter thus formed becomes granular, and is finally broken up
into numerous rod-like corpuscles.
In the sexual reproductive process some cells give rise to
antherozoids, others to oospheres ; after fecundation the oospore
changes from green to red, and becomes enclosed in a stellate
covering. The filaments of Sphceropha do not root themselves,
both extremities being similar, and vegetation being carried on by
sub-division of the central cells, so that the terminal cells remain
the oldest.
Vaiicheria consists of a single elongated cell, branched in
various ways and usually fixed to one spot.
The antheridia are lateral, sessile, or cut off by a septum from
the branch bearing them ; the genus has been sub-divided, accord-
ing to the special characters of the antheridia. The oogonia are
lateral, sessile, or stalked, and after fertiUsation become red or
98 FRESH-WATER ALG^.
brown and invested with a thick cell-wall. The sporangium is
terminal, and gives rise to one large zoospore, densely clad with
vibratile cilia. Probably reproduction also takes place by means of
zoogonidia, as Mr. Bates, of Leicester, found some filaments of
Vaiicheria beneath ice in a pool, in which zoogonidia were appar-
ently in the course of formation. Some species of Vaiicheria are
infested by Cyclops lupula^ which occasions the growth on the fila-
ments of extraordinary looking appendages, in the midst of which
the parasites reside.
The Volvox family contains two most pleasing and well known
genera, Volvox and Eudorina, the coenobium of the former con-
taining a great number of cells, and of the latter either i6 or 32.
The genus Eudorina very much resembles Pandoriiia in appear-
ance ; there is, however, a great difference between them physio-
logically — Pandorina bemg reproduced by conjugation of
zoogonidia, as has already been described ; Eudorina by means of
antheridia and oospheres. Non-sexual reproduction is efi"ected
in Volvox by the repeated division of certain cells — in Eudorina
by division of any of the cells.
■ The well-known rotary movement of Volvox is produced by
the combined action of the numerous pairs of cilia in which the
gonidia terminate and which protrude through the cell wall. The
rapid appearance or disappearance of large numbers of Volvox in
the same pool is doubtless due to the fact that a slight change in
external conditions suffices, on the one hand, to favour the
development of countless thousands of young plants, and, on the
other, to destroy the vitality of the colony, or to drive it to seek
refuge in deeper water.
The monograph of Mr. Wills on this genus, to be found in the
Midland Naturalist^ for 1880, is a classical one in English botani-
cal literature.
Eudorina is much smaller than Volvox, and also possesses the
same rotary motion. It also appears and disappears in the same
rapid manner as Volvox.
The family yEdogoniece contains two genera, yEdogoiiium and
Bulbochoite, which are fixed at the lower end often to the sub-
merged parts of other plants.
In yEdogo?iiu?n the thallus is unbranched, in Bulbochate it is
FRESH-WATER ALG^. 99
branched, and in both cases it consists of rows of cells which
multiply by intercalary growth, while the terminal cells elongate
into hyaline bristles. The slender filaments of ^dogo?iiiim
resemble those of Co?iferva at first sight, but are distinguished by
transverse parallel striae at one or other extremity of the cells
indicating the mode of increase. In Bulbochcete the growth
proceeds by continuous division of the basal cell, and the cell
membrane is usually punctate.
In both genera the asexual reproduction is of the usual
character, but the sexual reproduction is varied. In yEdogoniiim
the plants may be monoecious, or dioecious, and the dioecious
species may be further divided, according as the male filaments
are derived from certain privileged cells in the female plant, or
are from the first distinct from the female filaments. The
Bulbochxte are divided into two sections, according to the shape
of the oogonia, whether globose or ellipsoid. The first section is
dioecious, and is further sub-divided according as the dwarf male
plants are unicellular or bicellular. The second section is sub-
divided into monoecious and dioecious species.
The Confervece^ like the j^dogniece^ consist of rows of cells or
segmented filaments, which either remain unbranched as in
Chcetomo7'pha^ or become branched as in Cladophora^ Stigeodoiihmi^
Draparnaldia, and ChcBtophora. With reference to their repro-
duction, it is only known that macro- and micro-zoogonidia are
formed in the cells of the filaments ( ChcBtomorpha^ Cladopho7'a)j
the sexual significance of which is still unknown ; and that in the
other above mentioned plants, resting spores are formed in
certain cells of the filaments. Pringseim suggests that they are
probably equivalent to oospores, but that they are produced
parthenogenetically. The UlvacecE are probably allied to the
ConfervecB. In them the cells are arranged so as to form a delicate
membrane ; whilst in the other genera the cells form slender fila-
ments of a soft membraneous nature. In C/uefo/norpha the long
filaments are interwoven either in lax tufts, or in dense strata,
each filament being curled, twisted, or bent somewhat irregularly.
In Cladophora the filaments are irregularly branched and
curled, of a light membranaceous substance, and often forming
detached floating tufts. Some species are found in great abun-
100 FRESH-WATER ALG^.
dance at the bottom of ponds or lakes, occasionally rising and
floating on the surface.
Draparnaldia is recognised by its filaments being furnished
more or less densely with penicellate, fasciculate branchlets, alter-
nate or opposite, composed of smaller fertile cells. The terminal
cells of all the branches are empty, hyaline, and sterile, and more
or less elongated into a bristle.
Class IV. — CARPospoREiE.
This class, while possessing many points in common with the
class OosPOREiE, is nevertheless characterised by the formation of
the spore fruit, or sporocarp, which consists of two distinct parts,
viz., a fertile part, derived directly from the female organ, and
ultimately producing spores, and an investing part, which encloses
the spores until ripe, but which is relatively small and merely
appendicular in the fresh-water Algae, although attaining great
prominence in the Fungi.
The ColeochcetecB are small discoid algce of a bright green
colour constructed of branched rows of cells, attached to the sub-
merged parts of other plants in the form of little circular masses.
The name of the genus is due to the fact of certain cells of the
thallus bearing colourless erect bristles.
The reproduction is by a sexual zoogonidia and by resting
spores. The resting spores do not at once produce new plants,
but zoospores. The zoospores produced early in the year from a
sporocarp of the previous year, produce only asexual plants for
several generations. At length a sexual generation arises which
may be monoecious or dioecious, and fertilisation produces one
oospore in the carpogonia, which clothe themselves with a peculiar
layer of cortical cells, and the oospore itself developes into a
parenchymatous reproductive body, from the cells of which
zoospores proceed in the next period of vegetation.
Batjachospert7iecR contains the two genera, Batrachospenmim and
Thorea. In Batrachospermum the thallus is moniliform, com-
posed of a simple series of medullary cells and a cortical accessory
parallel series, clothed with sub-globose clustered fascicles of
branches.
In Thorea the thallus is filamentose, attenuated at the apex
FRESH-WATER ALG.E. 101
with a solid central medullary stratum, surrounded by dichoto-
mously divided branchlets. The asexual reproductive organs or
gonidia are generally formed in fours in a mother cell ; hence they
are termed Tetragonidia. The sexual reproduction is usually
dioecious ; the antheridia are single cells at the end of long articu-
lated branches, each producing only one antherozoid ; the carpo-
gonium consists of a single cell, which is prolonged upwards into a
trichogyne. The roundish antherozoids have no cilia and do not
swarm, but are moved along passively by the water ; some of them
are thus brought into contact with the trichogyne, adhere to it,
and in consequence of the absorption of the cell walls at the
points of contact, their contents pass into it, the trichogyne
remains otherwise permanently closed. After fertilisation the
basal portion of the carpogonium becomes multicellular, in conse-
quence of divisions having taken place ; the cells thus formed
bulge outwards, and give rise to a dense aggregation of short
branches, the terminal segments of which are the carpospores.
This simple sporocarp acquires a loose investment by the out-
growth of prolongations from the cells beneath the carpogonium.
Lemanea probably belongs to this class ; the thallus is setaceous,
almost simple, hollow, nodose, having an internal and a cortical
layer of cells, the latter of a brownish or obscure colour. Lemanea
is said to flourish in rapid currents, contrary to the habits of most
algae — they may be found in mill sluices and in the most im-
petuous cascades. Chantraiisia and Bangia are both doubtful
members of this class ; the thallus is filamentous, and purple or
violet in colour, and tetraspores are found in each genus.
As regards the process of sexual reproduction, it has as yet
been observed only in a small proportion of the numerous genera
of Algae ; nevertheless, it is permissible to assume that in some of
the remaining genera such a process actually takes place, an
assumption which is strengthened by a similarity of development
in certain instances between the two.
The whole subject is, however, itself in a state of development,
and the present scheme will probably require alteration and re-
arrangement before it can be universally accepted. The presence
of the fructification is an important point in determining a given
species of Algae. Cooke says that a great many species described
VOL. V. I
102 FRESH- WATER ALGiE.
by authors, even up to the time of Hassall, cannot be definitely
placed on account of this deficiency.
Cooke describes over 120 genera of fresh-water Algae, some of
which contain many species — the genus JB,dogoniuin possessing
over 50 species; other genera containing from 12 to 20 species,
and fresh species are frequently being described.
This description includes only British species ; those common
to the Continent of Europe generally being much more numerous.
Fresh-water Algae have been found in all parts of the world, those
from the tropics being often very luxuriant in their growth ; the
fresh-water Algae of America have been fully described and illus-
trated by Horatio Wood.
Bibliography.
Berkeley's Cryptogamic Botany, Hassall's Fresh-Water Algae,
Cooke's British Fresh Water Algae, Journal Royal Microscopical
Society (new series), Annales des Sciences Naturelles (3rd, 4th,
5th, and 6th series), Braun's Rejuvenescence in Nature (Ray
Society), Sach's Botany (2nd English Edition), Grevillea, Vols.
1-12, etc., etc.
EXPLANATION OF PLATES IX., X., XL
Plate IX.
Figs. 1-8 — Development of Sorastrum.
1. — Colony of unicellular individuals.
2. — A separate cell
3.-6. — Formation of new cells.
7. — A new colony.
8. — A double colony of old and new cells.
,, 9-11. — Conjugation and production of zygospore in Pandorina.
,, 12. — The same in Rhizopus.
,, 13. — Adult form of Pandorina.
,, 14-15 — Various stages in development into separate plants, con-
taining clusters of zoospores.
Plate X.
Fig. 1. — Continuation of Figs. 14-15, PI. 9.
Journal of Microscopy, Vol. 5. PI. 9.
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NOTE ON HYDROPHOBIA. 103
Fig. 2. — Small plant of JEdogoyiium showing oogonia and anther-
idia (6), The upper one is fecundated ; the lower
unfecundated.
3. — A separate unfecundated oogonium.
4. — Entrance of antherozoid into oogonium.
5. — Completion of fecundation.
6. — Free antherozoids.
7. — Oospore
8-9. — Carpogonia and sporocarps of PodosphcEra.
ui. — Female organs before fertilisation.
m. — Male organs and entire sporocarp.
li. — Its envelope, c.5,, the spores.
Plate XI.
Figs. 1-2. — Lemanea with fructification and thallus at base.
,, 3-4. — Longitudinal section of fructifying filament, a. 6., central
axis ; it. , trichogjTie ; a. , antheridia fixed on it ; in. , bundle
of filaments developing by budding at the base of the
trichogyne.
,, 5. — Fragment of thallus much enlarged, showing distribution of
endochrome.
,, 6. — Fragment of spore bearing filament much enlarged.
IRote on tbe /lIMcroscopical Hppearances in tbe
nervous centres, after Deatb troin 1F3^t)ropbobia»
By W. B. Kesteven, M. D., St. And., Enfield.
Plate XII.
MICROSCOPICAL investigation of the nervous centres in
man, after death from Hydrophobia, have as yet revealed
nothing therein as specially characteristic of this malady.
I have thought, however, that an additional record of nearly
negative results may not be without a relative value in the history
of the disease. I have therefore availed myself of the opportunity
open to me by the present from a friend of a portion of posterior
convolution, from a case of undoubtedly genuine hydrophobia.
My lamented friend, the late Dr. Lockhart Clarke, once placed
in my hands, for examination, a spinal cord from a case of hydro-
phobia, in which only deep red colour w^as observable by the
104 NOTE ON HYDROPHOBIA.
naked eye ; and, when examined microscopically, nothing beyond
intense congestion was discovered. Dr. Clarke himself has placed
on record the fact that he had examined the brain and spinal cord
from hydrophobic death, without having noticed anything
abnormal.
In the present instance, the most obvious appearance is the
great abundance of nuclear cells with which every section is
crowded (PI. XIL, Figs, i, 2). This proliferation, or hyperplasia,
of nuclei extends to the minute vessels and their coats, and is
well seen in strands of the fibres of the nervous structure
(Fig. 3). Under a high power, an eighth, leucocytes were to be
seen, and had the appearance of passing through their tissue.
The vessels were much dilated from distension during Hfe.
Colloid bodies are also to be seen sparsely scattered in the
neuroglia.
What has here been recorded would seem to be in accordance
with previous observations. Dr. Gowers dwells upon the evidence
of preceding extreme conjestion, especially about the nuclei of the
hypoglossal and pneumogastric nerves in the medulla oblongata.
The article in Ziemssen's Cyclopaedia describes also congestion as
the most uniform, if not the only, pathological condition. Dr. Long
Fox, of Bristol, in his exhaustive work on the *' Pathological
Anatomy of the Nervous Centres," sums up the lesions in
hydrophobia as consisting in vascular conjestion, distension,
infiltration, and haemorrhage, with occasionally traces of grey
degeneration.
The preceding observations, although not adding any positive
information, are not, as already observed, devoid of interest from a
negative point of view.
Explanation of Plate XII.
Fig. 1. — Dilated vessels and proliferation of nuclei in the neuroglia of
the Brain substance — Spots of Colloid degeneration.
,, 2. — Dilated vessels with Leucocytes, and proliferation of nuclei in
the neuroglia.
,, 3. — Proliferation of nuclei, on, and within the vessels, and among
the nerve fibres.
Drawn under | objective by W. B. Kesteven.
Journal of Microscopy, Vol. 5, PL IE.
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[ 105 ]
^be flDicroecope anb bow to uae it
By V. A. Latham, Late Hon. Sec. U.J.F.C, Norwich.
Part VL — Double Staining (continued).
Ribesin and Eosin.* — After expressing and throwing away the
juice of black currants {Ribes nigrum), boil the skins for some
hours in a lo per cent, solution of alum. The resulting deep-violet
solution may be conveniently diluted with water, and after a lapse
of a day should be filtered, and may be used for staining. The
stain resembles Boehmer's Logwood, but is a still more precise
nuclear stain. It is a bright, somewhat greenish blue, agreeable,
distinct, and permanent. Alcoholic objects stain quicker than
chromic acid ones, but the most suitable are bichromate of potash
objects. A ribesin stain may be followed by eosin. Brain and
spinal cord give good results, especially when hardened in
bichromate.
Carmine Staining with Palladium.— When tissues, and espe-
cially nerve tissues, have been over-hardened in chromic acid,
carmine may entirely fail to stain them. In such a case, the fol-
lowing method (Merkel) is of much service : — Place a large drop
of \ per cent, of watery solution of palladium chloride on a slide,
and on another slide a large drop of a strong ammoniacal solution
of carmine. Allow the section to remain in the palladium for
about two minutes. Wash it in water, and place it in the carmine
fluid for about three minutes. Then wash again in water.
To obtain good results with Carmine.— After staining, the
superfluous pigment is removed by washing in water acidulated
with I per cent, hydrochloric or glacial acetic acid, or in rectified
spirit 60 parts, water 39 parts, hydrochloric acid i part (Pritchard).
The acid heightens the colour. Tissues stained with carmine may
be mounted in Farrant's solution, glycerine, or dammar.
*See page 41, ante.
106 THE MICROSCOPE
Process of Colouring Preparations with Picric Acid and
Aniline Blue Solution.* — This is very useful, both for normal and
pathological specimens. It is well known that certain tissues — as
spleen, lymphatics, cerebral, and spinal nervous tissues — retain
their colour better and with more elegance when anilin blue is
used- Picric acid and anilin blue, mixed together either by sub-
jecting the preparations to be stained to a solution of aniline, and
then to another of picric acid. The solutions, whether of picric
acid or anilin, ought to be saturated, which can be done easily by
leaving an excess of each substance at the bottom of the vessels
in which the materials are placed to dissolve. In this way we are
always sure of using only saturated solutions. When it is re-
quired to make use of the picric anilin solution, loo cc. (for
example) should be taken of the saturated watery solution of
picric acid, and into it should be poured 4 or 5 cc. of the blue
liquid, also saturated. The resulting solution stains admirably a
preparation of the lymphatic glandular system in the space of a
few minutes. If it is desired to use the two substances separately,
keep the preparation in the anilin solution for a few minutes, and
afterwards place it in picric acid. In working thus, we can see
that the preparation is not stained too much by the analin, and to
this end it is well to take it out so soon as it has acquired a light
sky-blue tint. By taking it out now, one is always sure that it will
show the nuclear elements sufficiently coloured, whilst the proto-
plasmic parts and others will be only very slightly stained. By
waiting until the preparation has taken a dark-blue tint, and then
submitting it to picric acid, it becomes obscure and confused.
Preparations treated with the anilin solution, as above, and placed
in picric acid, pass in the course of 15 minutes from sky-blue to a
delicate green. The tissues show the nuclei, both free and cellu-
lar, stained green ; the protoplasm and the fibres coloured pea-
green, though faintly and with a delicate tint. It is possible to
stain with great advantage not only fresh tissues, but also those
which have been subjected to different hardening re-agents, such
as alcohol, chromic acid, bichromate of potash, etc. Preparations
obtained by these processes may be preserved like others in fluids
or balsam (note, that picric acid, being soluble in water and alco-
hol, might easily be removed from the preparations upon which it
* Journal de Micrographics
AND HOW TO USE IT. 107
has been made to act). To prevent this, it is important that the
glycerine used to preserve the preparations should be slightly
tinged with picric acid, and if balsam is used, it is necessary to
dehydrate the preparations in alcohol, containing also a small
quantity of picric acid in solution. In the latter case, after this
treatment, the preparations may be at once placed in oil of cloves
or turpentine without fear of the stain suffering from it. If it is
intended from the first to mount the preparations in balsam, the
operation may be abridged by transferring the specimen immedi-
ately from the solution of anilin blue to a bath of alcohol to
dehydrate it, the alcohol containing J per cent, of picric acid in
solution. Intestinal injections may also be made with it, and small
artificial oedemata may be produced with a Praraz's syringe. In the
lymphatic gland the colouring matter can be made to penetrate
into the cavernous system, where the endothelial cellules may be
recognised lightly coloured green. If a small oedema be produced
under the skin of the groin in a rabbit or guinea-pig, the connec-
tive cellules and fibres between which they are situated may be
studied to perfection by means of eosin, which is soluble in water
(Renant). The picric anilin solution may be well employed in
interstitial injections, when the picric acid, instead of being dis-
solved in water, is dissolved in one-third part of alcohol. Prepa-
rations thus stained are not affected by the weak acids — acetic,
phenic, etc. — whilst alkaline solutions rapidly destroy their
beautiful outline. The picric acid solution is especially recom-
mended for the study of the lymphatic glandular system,
complete sections of the medulla oblongata, and normal and
pathological tissues.
Double Staining with Eosin and various colours (Schieffer-
deckar). — The advantage of this method is that it can be applied to
preparations hardened either in alcohol or chromic acid. The
eosin is used according to Fischer in an alcoholic solution, one
per cent, solutions in water are made of dahlia, methyl-violet, and
anilin green (alcoholic solutions do not stain enough to be of use,
eosin cannot be mixed with the other colours). Stain the section
in a small dish containing alcohol, to which a few drops of eosin
have been added. Time varies from half an hour to several
hours; being left too long in the eosin is not detrimental. The
108 THE MICROSCOPE
section is rinsed in water, and loses some eosin ; it is then laid in
a watch-glass wdth a solution of one of the other colours and allowed
to remain some minutes, till it is coloured very deeply, almost black.
Rinse again in water, and then place in alcohol, which dissolves both
the colours if not carefully watched. This is in my opinion the
most critical part of the process : — i.e. hitting the right moment
when both the colours have been sufficiently drawn out. A good
plan is to take a section out and view it in oil of cloves under the
microscope ; if found too deep, replace it in alcohol. In general,
it is better to remove the preparations when still too blue, as the
eosin is drawn out somewhat quicker than the other colours. The
oil of cloves, in which the preparations are put after the alcohol,
does not affect the eosin, whilst it dissolves the other colours. Any
desired relation between the colours can be thus obtained. When
stained as required, the oil of cloves is withdrawn as completely as
possible by blotting paper (the best plan I find is to lay the paper
on one side of the preparation on the stage and place it slanting).
Then apply Canada balsam in Benzole or Chloroform. If too much
oil of cloves is left behind, a further extraction of the blue takes
place, and the object is surrounded by a blue halo. The skin,
nails, hairs, muscular tissue, bones, cartilages, nerve system
(though not good for the peripheral nerve system), are finely dis-
played. Methyl violet, but not the other colours, stains the fine
nerves in the skin of the lamprey very beautifully. The alimentary
canal, glands aquiparous and muciparous, in the root of the
tongue, glands sub-maxillary and sub-lingualis, parotid, pancreas
(the lachrimal have most peculiar red cells). The epithelium of
mouth, tongue, and oesophagus separate on being stained in the
superior and inferior layer ; the epithelium, glands of stomach,
and intestines are excellently adapted for this staining.
Purpurin : — Take about as much as will lie on the point of a
pen-knife, boil in 50 cc. of glycerine, (it may either be concentrated
or have a litde water added to it), allow to stand for two or three
days, and then filter. Unlike Ranvier's solution, it may be kept
months without precipitation; it is quite permanent when mounted
in Canada balsam and benzole, or glycerine slightly acidulated.
A simple and speedy method of staining Animal and Vege-
table sections : — After cutting sections, wash them in water and
AND HOW TO USE IT. 109
allow them to soak for awhile ; transfer them to a solution of
anilin violet i part, dissolved in 300 parts of acetic acid (com-
mercial), leave them till sufficiently stained ; which may be
determined by removing the solution to clean water. Return if
not stained enough. Mount after staining by transferring them to
a clean glass slide, drawing off any excess of fluid, and add a drop
of a solution of acetate of potash of the following strength : —
Acetate of potash, i oz ; Water, J oz. Cover and fasten it
with a ring of varnish, if it is desired to preserve it. The advan-
tages are the simplicity and beauty of the results obtained ; it is
also good for exhibiting the structure of cartilage.
Heidenham's Hsematoxylin : — A. — ^ to i per cent, aqueous
solution of HaematoxylJn, and B. — \ to i per cent, solution of
Bichromate of Potash. Small pieces of tissue well hardened in
alcohol are placed in 8 to 10 c.cm, of A., and after from 8 to 10
hours for a similar length of time, in a nearly equal quantity of B.
After they have taken a black colour throughout, the excess of
Bichromate of Potash is removed by water. Then dehydrate with
alcohol, imbed, etc., cut the sections extremely thin. A blue stain
is obtained if, instead of treating the tissue with Bichromate of
Potash, a i per cent, solution of alum is used. The nuclei are
mostly black ; the tissue elements more or less of a dark grey or
black colour, but so that different elements take an entirely different
shade of grey. In epithelial tissue the outlines of cells are ex-
tremely sharp, the protoplasm darker, so that a richness of different
cells in protoplasm and its distribution in separate cells is well
shown. Nerve fibres and markings of primitive bundles are also
well shown.
A good stain for Spinal Cord, etc:— A solution of H^ematoxylln
prepared with water and alcohol. The sections are kept immersed
in it during an hour, and the temperature is maintained between
40° and 50^ C. =^ 104° to 122° Fahr. They are then removed
from the solution, washed and placed for 3 hours in a 2 per cent,
alkaline solution (Borax), or in one of potassium ferricyanide.
Afterwards they are submitted to the influence of alcohol, xylol,
and Canada balsam, in the usual manner.
110 THE MICROSCOPE
Corrosive Sublimate for Brain, etc— After the preparation has
been hardened in Miiller's fluid, instead of putting it in alcohol,
place it for some days in a 5 per cent, solution of corrosive sublimate,
which is renewed every day until the solution is no longer coloured.
If left too lo?ig the preparation becomes black, or if ^wt long enoiigh
small black points appear. It is very elastic and firm, and very
thin sections can be cut ; it stains very well without ammonia,
carmine, etc.
Saure-gelb, Chrysoidin, Rocellin, etc.*— The first colours bone
a beautiful orange, tracheal cartilage, and connective tissue, lemon
colour, is not suitable for chromic acid preparations. Chrysoidin
is useful for bone and all kinds of connective tissue, which it colours
a bright yellow. Its best effect is on fresh preparations. Bismark
Brown has its best effect with nuclei (either alcoholic or chromic
acid preparations), and unicellular organisms, bacteria of all kinds,
colourless blood corpuscles, etc.
Rocellin colours bone, muscle, connective tissue, glands, and
epithelium cherry-red ; gold or orange serves for fresh or alcoholic
or chromic acid preparations. Bone is stained deep orange red,
cartilage, gold, connective tissue, reddish ; especially valuable for
glandular tissue ; it gives a splendid appearance to liver injected
with Berlin blue, the blue vessels showing on a gold ground ;
sections of skin give fine results. Preparations after washing
and cleaning are best mounted in Canada Balsam ; oil of cloves is
mostly used for cleaning, but where the colours are very delicate,
use oil of Lavender or quite colourless oil of Aniseed, as the
yellow colour of the oil of cloves injures them.
Staining with Rose Bengale, Iodine Green and Bleu de Lyon.
— If dissolved in water it is very useful for staining Chromic Acid
preparations — e.g. — Spinal Cord, the grey substance of which is
stained a deep red, while the white substance is paler. It is also
adapted for muscles and connective tissue of Vertebrata and
Invertebrata, but not satisfactory for glandular tissue or bones. It
is especially suited for double and treble stainings, in conjunction
with Iodine green, and Iodine green and an aqueous solution of
* Mikr. Anat, xxii. (1883), p.p. 132-142.
AND HOW TO USE IT. Ill
Bleu de Lyon ; the nuclei of the gland-cells or the organ of Bojanus,
hardened in alcohol, come out emerald green, the protoplasm is
unstained ; cell membranes and cilia are stained red. A transverse
section of the edge of the foot oi Afiodonta from an alcohol specimen
should be washed in distilled water, drawn quickly through a dark
solution of Rose Bengale, then washed in pure distilled water, and
placed for some seconds in Iodine Green, washed again in dis-
tilled water, and placed for about five minutes in absolute alcohol
to fix the colour and remove possible excess ; the sections are now
drawn two or three times through a solution of Bleu de Lyon
with two parts of absolute alcohol, and three of distilled water,
transferred to absolute alcohol, clarified in oil of aniseed and
mounted in dammar. The result will well repay all the trouble of
preparing.
Stains for Fresh Tissues of Vertebrata :— For fresh or recently
dead tissue and thin parts capable of ready examination by trans-
mitted light. The stain recommended is Mayer's Violet Blue of
Bindschedler and Busch (Bale), in about the proportions of one
gramme to 300 c.c. of \ per cent, solution of salt. The mesentery
is very well stained by this reagent, the vascular system being very
clearly brought out^ while the connective tissue is rendered pale
red ; this is best seen in one of the taches laitenses of Ranvier.
The piece should be first shaken up in a test-tube with some of
the \ per cent, salt solution, then spread out smooth on a glass
plate with a brush covered with a drop of staining fluid for ten to
thirty seconds, then removed with a bristle and washed with salt
solution for examination. The method is preferable to injection,
from the distinctness with which the vessels are brought out,
the definition of the structure of their walls, the superior rapidity
and simplicity, and the prevention of misleading appearances.
Specimens too deeply stained can be made paler by washing in a
\ per cent, salt solution ; specimens which are quite fresh require
a rather lengthy staining, viz., from half to one minute. Another
very good object to which to apply this method is the hyaloid
membrane of the frog's eye. It is also especially useful for ex-
hibiting smooth muscular fibres, as found in the serous mem-
branes of the pelvis, abdomen, and thorax.
2)eatb of
flDr. 3, 36. Jeaffreson, riD-IRCS., OLSa.
OUR Journal has sustained a great loss by the somewhat
sudden death, on January 12th, of the above gentleman.
For some time he had been one of our principal contributors,
Rece7it Researches among the Bacteria^ and The Microscope in
Medicine^ being both from his pen.
He was President of the Highbury Microscopical and Scientific
Society during 1884, and his Presidential Address on Animal
Metamorphosis appeared during last year in our pages. He was
an accomplished microscopist and an earnest student of natural
history, and as such was ever foremost in the work of that Society,
whose loss is in more ways than one irreparable. His kindly
criticism, his never-failing courtesy, his ready help to all members
and on all occasions, his wise judgment, his suggestive counsel —
to say nothing of his genial presence and almost boyish enjoy-
ment of the country excursions of the Society — will ever remain a
cherished memory in the hearts of all who associated with him.
For twenty-six years he had moved among a large circle of
patients in Highbury and Canonbury ; the skilled physician, the
true English gentleman, and — as many bear testimony — the warm
personal friend in their homes.
To me personally he was a true friend, and many are my
pleasant memories of his visits, usually bringing a newly-mounted
slide, a fungus of which he wished to define the limits, a puzzling
water-crustacean, or some specimen, animal or vegetable, that was
engrossing his attention, and over which he wished to talk.
If I were asked to name the quality for which I most
respected him, I should unhesitatingly say his conspicuous and
unwavering regard for all that was noble, righteous, and good in
human nature, coupled with an inflexible justice in all his dealings
with men and things.
At the early age of 48 he has been called away. He is not
dead / All that was good and true has only gone where it is still
nobler and loftier. We may most fitly write as his epitaph the
one word Emigravit — he has gone away !
H. W. S. Worsley-Benison.
[ 113 ]
1baIf==^an^1bour at tbe fiDlcroecope
Mitb /IDr. TLnttcn Mest, jf^XS,, jf»1R./ll>,S., etc.
Catenicella ventricosa (PI. XIIL, Figs. 1—2). — Catenicella is
the name of a genus of Polyzoa. The general structure^, of the
animals forming these elegant habitations was given in connection
with Fhistra foliacea (see Vol. I., p. 147). Two other forms
have been exhibited : the first, Gemellaria loriculata (Vol. I., p.
187), the second Lepra! la unicornis, an excellent specimen, but
wanting ovicells. By the kindness of Professor Buck, who takes
much interest in our Society, I have had opportunities of carefully
examining all the species which are known to him. They are
twenty-seven in number ; all inhabit the southern portion of our
globe, as New Zealand, Australia, Tasmania, Bass's Straits, etc.
There is a strong family likeness amongst them ; all have a grace-
ful and elegant appearance, and many are curiously sculptured.
They are divided into two sections, according to the position and
character of the ovicells. In the first section these are sub-
globose and terminal ; of this the example before us may be taken
as a type. The other section has the ovicells galeriform (galea,
a helmet), and placed below and in front of the opening of a cell.
The structure of the Catenicellida shows an interesting adaptation
to resistance amongst stormy seas ; the calcareous cells being
strung, so to say, on flexible, horny branches, like delicate beads
on a tough string, whereby they are able to bend freely to, instead
of being broken up by, the waters. The animals were unknown
when Mr. Buck wrote ; perhaps some of our readers may have
friends or relatives in southern parts who would be glad to assist
science by forwarding specimens wdth the animals in spirits. I
should much like to know the history of this specimen ; those in
the British Museum collection came from New Zealand and
Australia.
May I take this opportunity of pointing out how greatly atten-
tion to the derivation of words helps towards their correct remem-
brance, besides adding interest to our studies by the images they
are thus rendered capable of picturing forth ? Catena, a chain —
Catenicella, a little chain — is charmingly descriptive, and brings to
mind at once the most striking feature in the genus. Then again,
Ve?itricosus, like a sail bellied out by the wind, in allusion to the
gracefully curved outlines of the cells. I notice that, through an
inadvertence in naming the specimen, four of our members have
stumbled over this latter word, beginning it with a d, whereby it
becomes pointless and unmeaning.
114 HALF-AN-HOUR
Acari from Linnet's Nest (PI. XIV., Figs, i — 5) are probably
examples oi Der77ia7iyssus aviu?n, an acarine parasite found in the
cages of tame singing birds, of which I have for long been in
quest of living specimens. Some time ago I purchased a slide
of " Bird-mites^'' which shall be sent round for comparison whilst
the memory of the present one is still fresh. The mandibles of
mine are chelate ; whether they are so here I cannot feel quite
sure. Chloride of calcium is the preferable medium for mounting
Acari, so that the minute details of structure may be precisely
made out. The mandibles of the male D. avium are said to have
" a long external claw " ; those of the female to be ensiform.
They appear to be truly sword-like in a larger species, D. galli?ice,
not uncommon in poultry houses, and which I have had the
opportunity of dissecting.
Eggs of Lace Wing Fly (PL XIIL, Figs. 3— 8).— This slide
shows close observation of nature, and careful endeavour to pre-
serve phases in a curious and instructive life-history. These
qualities I trust to see more and more of with our members. It
is not by purchased slides, ready prepared, that insight is best
gained into the ever-fresh wonders and beauties of Nature, but by
carefully observing and truthfully recording what we see. The
specimens tell this tale so well that it will be unnecessary here to
dilate upon it.
Dr. M has asked, " How is the stalk formed ? " We
learn from " Lowne on the Blow-fly '' that in that insect there is,
at the anterior extremity of the common oviduct, a pouch. Into
this pouch the orifices of the albumen glands and of the receptacle
seminis open, and that it appears probable that as the eggs pass
through this pouch they are fertilised, and immediately covered
with a sort of varnish secreted by the albumen glands. (For
diagrammatic sketch see PI. XIIL, Fig. 7.)
Now, if we suppose the eggs in the " Lace Wing Fly " to be
covered with a somewhat larger quantity of albuminous material,
that shall be rather longer before it finally dries, we shall have the
required conditions, as in a, b, c, d, Fig. 8 (same plate), where a may
be taken to represent the egg at its first protrusion, coated with a
viscid fluid, indicated by the dotted line ; b, c, the same, still in
the grasp of the ovipositor, but adhering to the object on which it
has been deposited, and so being drawn out. At d, the thread
having attained its full length, the parent insect has left it to
repeat the operation. I should expect to find an account in
either Swammerdam's ^'- Biblia Natiirce^'' or in the works of
Reaumer or De Geer. The subject is deserving of investigation
in the light that may be thrown on it by our modern
microscopists.
AT THE MICROSCOPE. 115
Gizzard of Small Foreign Cockroach (PI. XV., Figs, i — 2). —
This is so interesting a specimen that one would wish to see other
examples in which the relations of the parts have been less dis-
torted, as also to ascertain the correct name and habitat of the
insect whence it has been taken. The number six is so usual in
the division of insect gizzards that I am led to ask if it be not
possible that in so delicate a dissection one of the segments may
have disappeared ? I should, in making such a preparation, be
content with carefully cutting down one side, laying the parts open
gently, washing, and then putting up in glycerine jelly. From the
appearance of the parts here, I can hardly be wrong in believing
it to have been submitted to the action of potash, and in that way
seriously injured. It is not unusual to find in a family
of insects some species having carnivorous habits, although the
majority of the species composing it are phytophagous. Now, in
the nature of their food, the Blattae are known to be mostly
omnivorous, and I imagine, looking at the specimen before us, that
its possessor was of insectivorous habits, and that soft larvae most
likely formed its prey. The gizzards of insects form, when
systematically examined, a most interesting study. [Interesting
notes on the " Gizzard of Beetle" will be found in Vol. IV., p.
256. — Ed.]
Green Flies. — These beautiful flies are examples of one of the
ChalcididcE, parasites on one of the Gall-insects. Some of these
occasionally appear on our windows in great numbers in the
autumn. They are not, properly speaking, " Ichneumon-flies."
There is an ovipositor in the females, but it is short, and con-
cealed in its sheath ; the minuter parts are scarcely displayed in a
way to render identification safe. The gorgeous colours seen on
the wings are (like the prismatic hues of a soap-bubble) a purely
optical effect of their extreme thinness ; to this display of colour
the term " iridiscence " [iris, the rainbow) is applied. There
are no scales on the wings of any of the Hymenoptera. The
minute hooks which unite the two wings in flight are well shown
in one or two examples, and recall in their simplicity the very
similar arrangement present in the wings of Aphides. They con-
trast well with the numerous powerful hooks on the posterior pair
of wings in Bo?nbus ierrestris.
TuFFEN West.
[116]
Selected IRotee from tbe Societi^'e
sting of Wasp. — My idea of a well-mounted Wasp's Sting is
this : — I St. — It should be in a natural position. 2nd. — It should
show the poison bag and duct. 3rd.— The barbs must be extracted
from the sheath. 4th. — It must be transparent enough to see the
chitinous parts well, but yet not by any means so transparent as
such slides are usually mounted.
H. M. J. Underhill.
Iridiscence of Fly's Wings.— I do not think Mr. Tuffen West's
explanation of extreme thinness more than half accounts for the
iridiscence of the wings of a fly. The colour is certainly not due
to scales, as suggested by another member. Anyone who has
blown soap-bubbles will remember that their iridiscence only
appears in all its splendour when they are extremely thin ; when
first blown, and when the film is (comparatively) thick, the
iridiscence is slight. Now, these wings are thicker than the film of
a soap-bubble ; consequently they ought not to be iridiscent. I
have seen it stated, and from my own observation I beUeve that
the statement is correct, that insects' wings are composed of two
membranes. These may sometimes be partially separated, and
when a wing is staified the staining fluid will get between the two
membranes. Now, the fact that these two membranes touch one
another is sufficient to produce iridiscence, just as " Newton's
rings " are formed by two pieces of glass when they touch. That
the colours are in more or less regular waves confirms this
explanation.
H. M. J. Underhill.
Dermanyssus (PI. XIV., Figs. 7 — 9). — Can anyone suggest
what is the use of the most extraordinary second pair of legs ?
Are they for sexual purposes, and analogous to the palpi of
spiders ? In the ? specimen on the slide can be seen what I fancy
are the reproductive organs. The structure of the mouth is well
worth careful examination, and is best seen in the 9 specimen, and
also well shown in the drawing. The mouth is composed of a
lower lip, which I hardly know whether to call labium or mentum.
Just within this is a curious triangular membrane, which is very
difficult to see. Inside the mouth are two mandibles or chel?e,
with one moveable joint at the end, so as to form a pincer. This
SELECTED NOTES FEOM SOCIETY'S NOTE-BOOKS. 117
is minutely serrated on the inner side, and is opposed to another
claw, which is immovable. Fig. 8 in PL XIV. shows one chela
inside the mouth and one protruded. In Fig. 7 the basal joints
only are drawn, so as to avoid confusion. It will be noticed that
the palpi have each a small tuft of hairs at the tip. The spiracle
is curious. In the specimen on the slide the muscles can be seen.
Their chief centre seems to be in the ventral plate. My
Dermaiiyssi were not parasites, but were found during the month of
February amongst moss on the top of a wall.
H. M. J. Underhill.
Fish Parasites (PI. XV., Figs. 3 — 5). — Caligus Rapax is
common on salmon when they first come into season, and may be
picked off the fish as they lie on the salesman's counter. I extract
the following from Baird's '' Student's Natural History " ; it may,
perhaps, prove interesting : —
" The animals of the genus Caligus^ as established by Miiller,
though all agree in living as parasites upon fishes and other
aquatic animals, and having the organs of their mouth adapted for
suction instead of mastication, present so many differences among
themselves that it has become necessary to separate them into
various genera, and even into several families. In all, the mouth
is provided with an apparatus by means of which the little
creatures can puncture the skin of their hosts, and suck up the
nourishment derived from their bodies. They attach themselves
to the fishes on which they are found by a set of sharp-pointed
hooked claws, called foot-jaws. In general they are not immovably
fixed there, many of the species being able to move from one part
of the body to another. The eggs in the female are numerous,
and are generally contained in long slender ovaries, which depend
in a straight line from the abdomen. When hatched, the young
are very unlike their parent, and, like those of the Cyclopidcs^
which they resemble considerably in appearance, they undergo a
series of changes in their progress to maturity. They are at first
free and unattached, swimming freely in the water, and do not
acquire their parasitic habits till after several moultings and
changes of skin. Many species have their head in the form of a
broad flat buckler, while the thoracic and abdominal segments are
uncovered. These form the restricted family of Caligidce^ with
the genus Caligus as the type, the species of which live on marine
fishes, though in the case of the salmon they are capable of living
for some time in fresh water also. Other species have a series of
lamellar plates, like the elytra, or wing cases of beetles, extending
along the dorsal surface of the body. These form the family
Paiidaridce^ with the genus Fandarus as its type, when these plates
VOL. V. K
118 SELECTED NOTES FROM
are two or more in number, and the family Cecropidce, with the
genus Cecrops as the type, when only one plate exists. They are
all parasitic upon marine fishes, and the fishermen commonly call
them fish-lice. ^^
H. E. Freeman.
Caligus. — I am rather surprised that although several members
have well described the Caligus^ or " fish-louse," no one has
explained, for the benefit of the unlearned, that it is really a
Crustacean^ not an insect like the louse, nor an arachnidan like the
mites.
H. F. Parsons.
Cidaris (spines of). — This slide introduces us to one of the
last surviving members of a once numerous family. The genus
Cidaris was very abundant in oolitic and cretaceous times, but few
living representatives now remain. Cidaris and its allies differ from
Echinus in the mode of articulation of the spines to the tubercles.
In addition to the capsular ligament there is a central ligament,
which is inserted into a little pit on the summit of the tubercle,
like the " ligamenhim teres " of the hip joint ; this, however, is
not shown in the specimen before us. Pedicellaria with long
stalks may be seen among the spines. The spines of the fossil
species are very like the present specimen, but larger, some six
inches in length.
— H. F. Parsons.
Santonine. — A neutral crystalline substance, obtained from a
species of Artemisia^ allied to the Wormwood. It is not an
alkaloid, like quinine and morphia, for it contains no nitrogen,
its formula being C15, H,8, O3. This slide has, I believe, been
prepared by fusion. I have got a similar appearance by spread-
ing a thin layer of melted santonine on a slide and touching it in
a number of places as it cooled. When deposited from hot spirits
santonine crystallises in prisms, most of which appear of a steel
blue by polarised light.
H. F. Parsons.
Santonine is most easily prepared as a polariscope object by
dissolving it in chloroform and then evaporating a few drops on a
glass slide. If the slide is previously heated, and the solution be
dropped upon it, floriated and radiated crystals are obtained, and
the forms vary according to the amount of heat to which the slide
has been subjected. Fusing santonine does not answer, as most
of the substance evaporates. C. F. Tootal.
THE society's NOTE-BOOKS. 119
Dermanyssus. — These appear to be very nearly alike from all
kinds of birds, except that from the tom-tit, which is a most extra-
ordinary creature, having the second pair of legs turned back, and
reaching a long way beyond the whole length of the mite.
J. Beaulah.
Dermanyssus, to avoid the curling up of the legs in mounting.
— When the animal can be got alive I have avoided this " curling "
by allowing it to walk on the slide ; then drop tolerably cool
glycerine jelly on to it, and whilst it is trying to grasp the situa-
tion, with all its li7?ibs exteiided^ drop the warm cover on, and on
examining when cool the object will be found to be well displayed,
colour natural, and no air bubbles.
J. C. Thompson.
Bird Parasites, to mount. — My usual plan is to catch them
alive, if possible (with a needle dipped in turpentine), and
immediately put them into a bottle of turps. When they have
been soaking a few hours for the small ones, and longer for the
larger ones, lift them out with a tube, and deposit a drop of turps
on the slide with two or three parasites in it. Arrange with a
needle, and then, taking a small quantity of balsam on a needle,
touch the slide near the objects, draw a thread of balsam across
and round about them, then put aside for the turps to evaporate.
Afterwards a drop more balsam and a cover will settle that slide.
By adopting this method I have seldom had any trouble with the
smaller kind of parasites.
H. R. BouLT.
Santonine. — I subjoin my process for preparing this slide.
Having dissolved from three to six grains of santonine in a drachm
of chloroform, I place a sHde on the turn-table, and take a small
drop of the solution in a pipette, and, giving the wheel a rapid
motion, cover a sufficient space, and with a point make a ring
round it. I then remove, and subject it to such a degree of heat
as experience dictates, until crystallisation is completed. The
slide is now ready for mounting dry. Balsam is destriiciive. In
order to view it effectively, I place the analysing prism m a hioiim
position, and then turn the polariser until it gives the selenite
a salmon colour, which produces the most brilliant results. A very
small move of the analyser reduces the effect.
A. Nicholson.
120 SELECTED NOTES FROM
Spicules of Spongilla Fluviatillis (PI. XVI., Fig. i). — I have
had under observation a hving specimen of this sponge for the
last ten weeks, during which time it has grown, producing new
sarcode, in which also is rapidly forming new spicules, the form of
which is shown in plate, being bulged out in the middle. The
mature spicules are smooth and even, and pointed at the ends,
and slightly curved.
Jas. Fullagar.
Foot of Fly (PI. XVI., Figs. 2— 3).— In the foot of this fly,
which is very commonly found in corners of walls, etc., the pads
are unusually delicate and beautiful, the central one being
prolongated almost like a riband, I think there are not any
suctorial terminations to the hairs, that being entirely unnecessary,
owing to the flexibility of the pads themselves.
E. TUTTE.
Caligus (PI. XV., Fig. 3). — I wish to point out that the name
fish-louse, by which this animal is popularly known amongst fisher-
men, is not actually correct, though quite near enough in its
accuracy of definition to suit the purpose. It is a crustacean,
parasitic on many of our salt-water fish, and is itself subject to the
attack of a parasite, which lives upon or just under the edge of its
carapace. My observations of its life-history lead me to think
that its presence is not a certain indication (as has been asserted)
of disease in the fish upon which it is found ; for taking one large
family — the cod — it is rare to meet with one on which no single
specimen of this parasite can be seen. Yet it is ever found in
greater abundance on weakly and wasted individuals than on the
more robust and healthy members of the shoal. I remember two
years ago examining closely one morning over a hundred large
cod caught that morning at Newfoundland (a fishing ground just
oif the North Foreland), among which was one poor, flabby,
wasted fish, whose right eye had by some accident been torn out,
and was lying three parts out of its socket upon his cheek. The
injury was evidently of long standing, and the fish was poor
and out of condition, and overrun with the Caligus. I took
over forty of these parasites off it, and it was one of these which,
after being mounted by Mr. Topping, I sent round. The figure
in Baird's Entomostraca (Ray), so faithfully copied in our Note
Book, shows (at h) a second pair of jaws. These, however, I
have been unable to make out clearly in my own mounts or in the
vastly better mounts of Mr. Topping.
W. Lane Sear.
THE society's NOTE-BOOKS. 121
Caligus. — The family Caligid^ contains four British genera: —
I. — Caligus. Fourth pair of feet slender, of only one branch,
and used for walking. A pair of small sucking discs on the lower
surface of the frontal plates.
2 — Lepeoptheirus. Fourth pair of feet as in Caligus. Frontal
plates destitute of the sucking plates.
3. — Chalifnus. Feet as above. Frontal plate provided with
a long and slender prehensile appendage, arising from centre of
its anterior surface ; and
4. — Trebius. Fourth pair of feet slender, and divided into two
branches, adapted for swimming. No sucking discs on frontal
plate.
Caligus is divided into (a) C. Diaphanus, (b) C. Rapax, (c)
C. Mulleri, (d) C. Centrodonti.
The lunules are sucking discs by which the Caligi attach them-
selves to the fish.
The mouth consists of a siphon, composed of two long slender
styliform organs, armed on their points with about twelve feet.
The three pairs of foot jaws are used to fasten themselves to
their prey.
The Caligi are only found on marine fishes. They can move
about on the fish and swim. Their food is doubtful. Some say
that they drink the blood of the fish. More probably by moving
their branchial feet they carry to their mouth the molecules from
the water and molecules from the fish.
They change their skin. The young, when first hatched, differ
greatly from the adult (see Figs. 4 and 5).
H. W. Elphinstone.
Fresh Water Larvae, sent by Mr. Vial, was mounted without
pressure and without the use of potash. It was simply placed on
blotting-paper to drain, then soaked in oil of cloves for a month,
and mounted in balsam.
Weevils — It is said there are 10,000 specimens of Cur cults ^ of
which 400 are British. They are very destructive to plants and
fruit. Balaninus mneum attacks nuts, boring the shell, for which
purpose its mouth is adapted, and depositing its eggs, which in
due course produce the larv^, who, after feeding on the nut, at
maturity bore their way out.
H. E. Freeman.
Coccus from Malta Orange. — On this slide will be found the
shell or case under which the creature lives, and in which it may
122 SELECTED NOTES FROM SOCIETY'S NOTE-BOOKS.
be imperfectly seen, eggs in various states of development, and
the creature itself separate from its dwelling ; also some broken
and damaged specimens, which, notwithstanding, have interest.
The mouth structure will well repay examination.
It will be seen that the creature has no legs, and its motion
when living is vermicular.
W. Case.
Anguillula tritici. — This slide contains two males and one
female near them ; the latter is an eel of the usual adult size. It
is well known that the black grain called " burnt corn " is a mass
of torpid eels, which become active in moist ground ; such of them
as come into contact with a fibre of wheat root enter it, and pass
up the straw into the ear, and luxuriate on the nutriment it finds
there. In the meantime, having grown to an enormous size, the
female discharges her hundreds of eggs and dies. The young
eels leave the egg their full size, and live on the nutriment as long
as it lasts ; they then become torpid, and remain so until revivified
in the way of their parents. Some curved processes will be seen
near the end of the tail of the male eel, which I have reason to
believe are for clasping purposes. Further particulars may be
seen in Science Gossips March, 1877.
A. Nicholson.
Trichina spiralis encysted in Human Muscle. — This Entozoon
is introduced into the human intestine in the larval form by eating
measly pork (uncooked German sausage being a fruitful source),
and rapidly arrives at maturity. The young filaria, travelling
through all surrounding tissues, shortly after their birth, make their
way straight to the voluntary muscles, where they usually become
encysted. Some of these cysts are calcified, and so hide the
worm. One cyst on this slide shows two worms in it. Boiling the
meat well is the best way to destroy these Entozoa.
T. W. Reid.
Larvae of Vapourer Moth. — These insects are placed by
Westwood among the Arctridcc^ the same family to which the
Tiger Moths belong, whose hairy larvae are known by the name of
" Woolly Bears." He says : —
" Other larvae, especially those of Orgyia, are furnished, in
addition to the long slender hairs all over the body, with several
short, thick, truncated tufts of hair on the back as well as at the
side, with several other longer and more slender tufts of hair, each
EXPLANATION OF PLATES. 12
is
hair being thickened at the tip. Of these tufted larv^ the majority
produce species not materially differing in the sexes ; but some,
forming the species Orgyia, have females with the smallest rudi-
ments of wings, and large swollen abdomens, and which are
exceedingly sluggish in their habits, whilst the males are constantly
on the wing, flitting about in the hottest weather of autumn ;
thence, probably, called Vapourer Moths."
A. Hammond.
"Coralline." — lam sorry to see that some of our members
use the term " Coralline," as appHed to Polyzoa or Bryozoa. It
was a term formerly used to include organisms both of animal and
vegetable structure, as may be seen in Ellis's standard work on the
subject, which represented what was known on the subject in 1755.
As the term Coralline is now strictly applied to a genus of Algae
which is entirely vegetable, and is characterised by a deposit of
carbonate of lime in its structure, it is not correct to speak of one
of the Polyzoa as " Coralline." A familiar English term for it is
Zoophyte, but that even is not a good term, as what are called
Zoophytes include families belonging to two widely separated
divisions of the animal kingdom, viz., the Hydrozoa, or Hydroid
Zoophytes, which belong to the Radiata^ a division of the animal
kingdom, and the Polyzoa or Bryozoa, which is a division of the
Mollusca, and is much higher in the scale of organisation.
G. D. Brown.
EXPLANATION OF PLATES XIIL, XIV., XV., XVL
Pkite XIIL
Uppe7' Portion.
Fig. 1. — Represents a specimen of Catenicella ventricosa, natural size.
,, 2. — A portion magnified 25 diameters, and showing : — c.c,
ordinary cells ; m., mouth, whence the inhabitant issues ; st.,
horny connecting stalk ; h.h.p.j " avicularum," or bird's head
process ; ovc. , ovicell.
Lower Portion.
Eggs and Larva of Lace- Wing Fly.
,, 3. — Larva just issuing from the egg.
,,4. — ,, ,, ,, somewhat further advanced.
,, 5. — From another specimen of the same series, in which the
young creature is fully liberated and about to capture prey.
,, 6. — Lower portion of one of the stalks, to show the expanded
base of adhesion and the wrinkling to admit of flexion.
124 EXPLANATION OF PLATES.
Fig. 7. — Diagram explaining how the eggs are fertilised and coated
with glutinous matter in the parent insect, ovd. , ovd. , two of
the oviducts; p., pouch ; c.o., common oviduct; a.g., a.g.,
albumen glands; r.s., r.s., receptacula seminis of the Blow-
,, 8. — Diagrammatic representations of the method in which the
long stalk is produced, numbered a to d. (See Mr. Tuffen
West's notes, page 114.)
Drawn by TuflFen West.
Plate XIV.
Fig. 1. — Acarus from Linnet (Dermanyssus avium). d.s., dorsal
shield ; a.s., abdominal shield ; sp., spiracles, x 50 diam.
,, 2. — Oral organs, x 100 diam. ; m.d.^ m.d.^ mandibles ; pp.^
palpi.
,, 3. — Portion of a specimen in the j)ossession of the writer, supposed
to be a male of the same species, sjj. , spiracle.
,, 4. — Foot from second limb of right side, x 200 diam.
,, 5. — Oral organs from a male of Dermanyssus avium, taken from
the figure in the Micrographic Dictionary, and put into
diagrammatic form for the sake of clearness.
,, 7. — Male Dermanyssus, x 33 diam., showing remarkable develop-
ment of second feet. m. , mentum and labium ; 2?. > palpi ;
ch., basal part of chelse (see Fig. 8) ; sp., spiracle ;
V.J vent.
,, 8. — Mouth organs, x 51 diam. ; m., labium and mentum ; p.,
palpi ; ch', chela when at rest, as shown in Fig. 7 ; ch", chela
thrust out and open as for eating.
,, 9. — Side view of foot, x 166 diam. A front view of the same is
much like Mr. West's drawing. Fig. 4, above.
Figs. 1 to 5 drawn by TuflFen West.
,, 7 to 9 ,, H. M. J. Underhill.
Plate XV.
Upper Part.
Fig. 1. — Represents the different parts of Gizzard of small foreign
Cockroach, as shown on slide, x 25 diam,
,, 2. — One of the teeth and punctate lateral plates, enlarged to 100
diam.
Drawn by Tuflfen West.
Lower Portion.
,, 3. — Caligus diaphanus, from " Baird's British Entomostraca." a,
lunulas, or sucking discs ; b, antennae ; c, hrst pair of foot-
jaws ; d, rudimentary appendages ; e, analogues of the two
pairs of jaws in other orders of Crustacea ; /, mouth ; g,
organs representing the posterior pair of jaws ; h, second pair
of foot-jaws ; i, third pair of foot-jaws ; j, sternal fork ; k,
first pair of thoracic feet ; I, second pair of ditto ; w, third
pair of feet j n, fourth pair of feet.
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REVIEWS. 125
Fig. 4. — Ovum of Caligus.
5. — Very young Caligus.
jj
Plate XTI.
Upper Portion.
Fig. 1. — Immature spicules of Spongilla fluviatilis.
Drawn by Jas. Fullagar.
Lower Portion.
„ 2. — Foot of fly found in corners.
, , 3. — Shows their method of congregating together.
Drawn by E. Tutte.
Plates XV. and XVI. are unavoidably deferred ; they will be
given in our next.
1Review)6.
American Medicinal Plants : An Illustrated and Descrip-
tive Guide to the American Plants as used as Homoeopathic Remedies ; their
History, Preparation, Chemistry, and Physiological Effects. By Charles F.
Millspaugh, M.D. Fascicle III. (New York : Boericke and Tafel. i886.)
Price I5.
It gives us much pleasure to call attention to the third instalment of this
grand work. The part before us contains 30 beautifully coloured large 4to
plates, drawn from nature and of natural size. The text accompanying each
plate is well printed and thoroughly descriptive, and the work when completed
will prove a valuable addition to the Hbrary, whether of the Homoeopathic or
Allopathic Practitioner. Fascicle IV. will be ready shortly.
Gray's Botanical Text-Books. Sixth Edition.
Vol. I., Structural Botany; or, Organography on the Basis
of Morphology, to which is added the Principles of Taxonomy and Phyto-
graphy, and a Glossary of Botanical Terms. By Asa Gray, LL.D., etc.
bvo, pp. xii. — 442.
Vol. II., Physiological Botany. Part I., Outlines of the
Histology of Phsenogamous Plants ; Part II., Vegetable Histology. By George
Lincoln Goodale, A.M., M.D. 8vo, pp. xxi., 499 — 36. (New York : Ivison,
Blakeman, Taylor, and Co. 1885.) Price §2.30 each.
Professor Asa Gray is certainly indefatigable. In his 75th year he has
brought out a sixth edition of his very valuable text-book ; and with him we
know that a new edition means a thorough re-writing and re-arranging the
whole matter. The present work will consist of four volumes, and will, when
finished, form a most valuable and complete system of Botany. Of the two
volumes before us the first is written by Professor Asa Gray himself, and is
126 EEVIEWS.
devoted to "Structural Botany;" it contains many additions not found in
former editions — notably, the chapter on the "Adaptations of the Flower to
the Act of Fertilization."
The second volume, by Professor Goodale, is also a complete botanical
work in itself, but treats specially of the Microscopic Structure, Development,
and Functions of Phsenogamous plants, their Physiology being treated in a
most efficient manner. Vols. III. and IV. are in preparation. The series v/ill
prove invaluable to the advanced botanical student.
Handbook of Mosses, with an account of their Structure,
Classification, Geographical Distribution, and Habitats. By James E. Bagnall,
A.L.S., Vice-Pres. of the Birmingham Natural History and Microscopical
Society, Post Svo, pp. vii. — 96. (London : Swan Sonnenschein and Co.
1886.) Price IS.
A very handy and useful book for the young collector, nicely illustrated
with about 40 engravings. We cordially endorse the words of the author when
he says : — "Study Mosses; no objects are more readily found. And if you
desire a study which will present you with a constant supply of interesting
objects — whether you take the varieties of leaf form, or notice the elegant
designs of the little capsules ; . . . .if you desire a study which will tind
you employment the whole year round, let me advise you to study Mosses."
A Course of Practical Instructions in Botany. By F.
O. Bower, M.A., F.L.S., and Sydney H. Vines, M.A., D.Sc, F.L.S. With
a Preface by W. T. Thiselton Dyer, M.A., C.M.C, F.R.S., F.L.S. Part I.,
Phanerogamse — Pteridophyta. Crown 8vo, pp. xi. — 226. (London : Mac-
millan and Co. 1885.) Price 6s.
A valuable work for the practical botanist, dealing entirely with the prepa-
ration of the different tissues of plants and their examination under the micro-
scope. A list of the various staining media and chemical re-agents, with
directions for cutting and mounting sections ; followed by a study of the
Phanerogamge and Pteridophyta, in which the tissues and organs are carefully
and accurately described, with practical directions for their microscopical
examination. It also explains how to cultivate the Pteridophyta from the
spores. We can highly recommend this book.
An Introduction to Practical Bacteriology, based upon
the methods of Koch. By Edgar M. Crookshank, M.B.Lond., F.R.M.S.,
etc.. Demonstrator of Physiology, King's Coll., London. (London: H. K.
Lewis. 1886.) 8vo, pp. xxii. — 249. Price 14s.
This valuable work, which embodies the notes made by the author in
various laboratories, is intended to help the student beginning the study of
Bacteriology. The methods of pure cultivation of the Bacteria are very con-
cisely given. In Part I. we have a description of Apparatus, Materials, and
Re-agents employed in a Bacteriological Laboratory ; Microscopical Examina-
tion of Bacteria in Liquids ; Cultivations on Solid Media and in Tissues ;
Preparation and Staining of Tissue Sections ; Preparation of Nutrient Media
and Methods of Cultivation ; Experiments upon the Living Animal ; Examina-
tion of Animals Experimented upon ; and the Methods of Isolating Micro-
organisms from the Living and Dead subject. Part 11. is systematic and
descriptive, with special microscopical methods. The work is illustrated with
30 plates (many of them are beautifully coloured), and 42 wood engravings.
REVIEWS. 127
Synopsis of the Fresh-Water Rhizopods : A Condensed
Account of the Genera and Species, founded upon Professor Joseph Leidy's
" Fresh-Water Rhizopods of North America." Compiled by Romyn
Hitchcock, F.R.M.S. Crown 8vo ; pp. viii. — 58. (Washington, U.S.A.:
Romyn Hitchcock. 1881.)
This is a synopsis of Professor Leidy's grand work on the Fresh-Water
Rhizopods, gwing the general characteristics of the Rhizopods, and a brief
description of the Genera and Species.
Clinical Therapeutics : Lectures in Practical Medicine,
delivered in the Hospital St. Antoine, Paris, by Prof. Dujurdin-Beaumetz.
Translated by E. P. Hurd, M.D. Royal 8vo ; pp. xvii.— 491 (Detroit,
Mich., U.S.A. : Geo. S. Davis. 1885.) Price $4.
The eminence of the author of this important work as a teacher of
practical therapeutics, is so well known that the book has already run through
four editions in French, and has been translated into the Spanish, Italian,
Greek, and Russian languages; it is written in an interesting style, and
discusses practically and thoroughly the most modern methods of treatment.
There is a full index.
Lewis's Pocket Medical Vocabulary. i6mo, pp. 215.
(London: W. K. Lewis. 1886.) Price 3s. 6d.
A most useful pocket companion for the medical student. The principal
words are printed in heavy black letters (Clarendon), thus making it most easy
and convenient for reference ; in many cases, the Greek root is given.
The Principles of Political Economy. By Simon New-
comb, Ph.D., LL.D. 8vo. pp. xvi.— 548. (New York: Harper Bros.
1886.)
This work is intended to embody an exposition of those principles of
economic science which must be mastered by every one who would form an
intelligent judgment of the causes which influence the public well-being. It is
divided into the following sections : — L The Logical Basis and Method of
Economic Science. H. A description of the Social Organism. HL The
Laws of Supply and Demand. IV. The Societary Circulation, V. The
Application of Economic Science.
A Geographical Text Book for Beginners. By William
B. Irvine. 4to, pp. 32. (London : Relfe Bros.) Price is.
A capital little book, containing much information in small space. There
are eleven clearly printed and nicely coloured maps.
The Lake Dwellings of Ireland ; or, Ancient Lacustrine
Habitations of Erin, commonly called Crannogs. By W. G. Wood-Martin,
M.R.I. A., F.R.H.A.A.L, Lieut. -Colonel 8th Brigade North Irish Division
R.A. ; royal 8vo, pp. xxii. — 268. (Dublin : Hodges, Figgis, and Co.
London : Longmans, Green, and Co. 1886.) Price 25s.
Any contribution to our knowledge of the Lacustrine Dwellers is welcome,
specially because they formed a link between prehistoric and the present time,
and also because our more accurate information respecting the Dwellings
themselves is of such recent acquirement.
But the work before us has additional claims upon us : it gives us informa-
128 KEVIEWS.
tion about a country close to our shores, and respecting which there is so little
actually known on this side of the Irish Channel, and our interest is consider-
ably increased by finding that these Lake dwellings were in use in Ireland
down to a much later period than in other countries — in Switzerland, for
example. One is mentioned in the County of Derry as inhabited as a fortress
in 1643.
The book is written by one who evidently took pleasure in his work, and
who by culture and observation was well fitted for the task. It is extremely
well illustrated.
It is difficult to select any one chapter of greater interest than another in a
book like this, which is all interesting ; but we found most attractive that part
at the beginning which treats of cannons and weapons belonging to the Lake
dwellings, and that other part at the end of the book which is entitled
"Historical Notices of Crannogs." The number of Lake dwellings in Ireland is
given as two hundred and twenty-one, but this must be under the mark, as
there is one not noticed near Barnesmore, in county Donegal, where was
found the remains of a man dressed in skin. We commend the book to the
public.
A Treatise on Analytical Geometry of the Point, Line,
Circle, and Conic Sections; containing an account of its most recent exten-
sions, with numerous examples. By John Casey, LL.D., F.R.S. Crown 8vo,
pp. xviii, — 331. (Dublin : Hodges, Figgis and Co. London : Longmans,
Green, and Co. 1885.) Price 7s. 6d.
In this work the author gives a comprehensive account of the Analytical
Geometry of the Conic Sections, including the most recent additions to the
Science.
The work is somewhat of an advanced character. There are a great
number of exercises for the student ; those following the examples being less
difficult than those at the end of the book. We are sorry to notice so long a
list of errata, but this will most probably be avoided in subsequent editions.
Geometrical Drawing ; comprising the use of Scales and
Practical Geometry, with numerous examples. By Rev. J. H. Robson, M.A.,
LL.D. Second edition, revised and enlarged, crown 8vo, pp. 162. (London :
Relfe Bros. 1886.) Price 3s. 6d.
The work before us has a well-executed plate of Geometrical Scales. The
exercises throughout are carefully explained. The subject-matter of the
present edition has been wholly re-arranged, the problems on the Straight
Line, Triangle, Circle, Polygon, and Quadrilateral being placed in separate
chapters. The book will doubtless be found useful by young students.
Helps to Higher Arithmetic, for the use of Schools and
Candidates for the Public Examinations. By the Rev. G. F. Allfree, M.A.,
St. John's Coll., Camb., and T. F. Scudamore, B.A., Christ's Coll., Camb.
(London : Hamilton, Adams, and Co. Brighton ; H. and C. Treacher.
1885.) Crown 8vo, price 3s. 6d.
If not the best^ this is one of the best, books of the kind we have met with.
It is divided into 20 sections, and contains nearly 150 examples worked out and
fully explaintd ; the worked-out examples in each section are followed by a
collection of exercises sufficient to make the learner thoroughly acquainted
with the subject under discussion. After the different sections have been
thoroughly treated, 1,200 miscellaneous questions are given. The method of
working out the various examples, and the arguments employed, are so clearly
given that the student is sure to go through them with pleasure,
EEVIEWS. 129
A Practical Arithmetic. By G. A. Wentworth, A.M.,
and Rev. Thos. Hill, D.D., LL.D. For High Schools and Academies.
Crown 8vo, pp. xvi. — 351. (Boston : Ginn and Co. 1885.)
This is a very useful book ; the method of teaching is in some cases slightly
different from that to which we have been accustomed. We notice that
decimal fractions are introduced at the beginning of the book ; this is doubtless
owing to the American currency. They are more fully explained at a later
period. Many of the rules are quite new to us, and very practical.
Elements of Inorganic Chemistry : Descriptive and
Qualitative. By James H. Shepard, Instructor in Chemistry, Ypsilanti High
School ; crown 8vo, pp. xix. — 377. (London : G. F. Putnams and Sons, 27,
King William Street, Strand. Boston, U.S.A. : D. C. Heath and Co. 1885.)
This in the hands of an efficient teacher will prove a very useful book for
junior pupils who have facilities for practical work in a good laboratory.
We notice the author coins the word " chemism " as a substitute for our
more general, and we think preferable term, " Chemical affinity; " the word
"valence" is also used for "valency." The book is nicely got up, and has
about 20 illustrations.
The Human Body and its Structure, with Hints on Health.
A Practical Treatise on the Design, Nature, and Functions of the various parts
of the Human Frame. Post 8vo, pp. viii. — 175. (London : Ward, Lock, and
Co.) Price is.
The design of this book is to give a practical treatise on the nature and
construction of the human body, exemplifying its structure, the philosophy of
the various organs, tissues, bones, muscles, etc. ; it contains in a popular form
many of the principles of anatomy and physiology ; it is well illustrated with
86 wood engravings.
Illustrated Lectures on Ambulance Work. By R.
Lawton Roberts, M.D. Post 8vo, pp. xiv. — 171. Price . (London :
H. K. Lewis. 1885.)
These lectures were originally delivered to Ambulance Classes, held in
connection with the Winnstay and other Collieries to members, who consisted
chiefly of colliers, furnace-men, fitters, carpenters, &c., and who displayed
remarkable aptitude in the pursuit of their studies.
The lectures embrace all the points laid down in the Syllabus of Instruc-
tion issued by the St. John's Ambulance Association, are very pleasantly written,
and exceedingly well illustrated. The book is nicely got up.
Diet for the Sick : A Treatise on the value of Foods, their
application to special conditions of Health and Disease, and on the best
methods of their preparation. By Mrs. Mary F. Henderson. Crown 8vo,
pp. ix. — 234. (New York : Harper Bros. 1885.)
The author tells us " A proper dietary is surely as essential to the recovery
of an invalid as medicine ; and yet it will be observed that medical works
give a thousand pages to medical therapeutics to one of dietaries."
The work before us gives us some remarks about Beverages and Foods ;
New Health Foods ; Artificial Digestion by means of Pancreatic Ferments ;
Grape Juice ; Diet in Different Diseases, &c. ; Receipts for the Sick and
Convalescent, &c., &c. It will be found useful in the Sick-room.
130 KEVIEWS.
Buz; or, The Life and Adventures of a Honey-Bee. By-
Maurice Noel. Fscap. 4to, pp. 140. (Bristol : J. W. Arrowsmith. London:
Simpkin, Marshall, and Co.)
A pretty little story, in which is interwoven an interesting account of the
honey-bee. The narrative, except such parts of it as are obviously imaginary,
describes nothing that the author has not witnessed in his own hives. The
frontispiece, drawn by Linley Sambourne, represents the bee in conversation
with a butterfly and a snail.
Domestic Annals of Scotland, from the Reformation to the
end of the Rebellion of 1745. By Robert Chambers, LL.D., F.R.S.E., etc.
Crown 8vo, pp. 416. (Edinburgh and London: W. and R. Chambers. 1885.)
Price 5s.
We heartily commend this book to our readers. It brings to light in a very
forcible manner the historical, political, and religious circumstances of the
times. It is nicely printed and well illustrated.
A Guide to Sanitary House-Inspection ; or, Hints and
Helps regarding the Choice of a Healthful House in City or Country. By
William Paul Gerhard, C.E. pp. 145. (New York: John Wiley and Son.
We have in broad outline the main features of a sanitary house-inspection,
the object of the author being to offer a guide in the search for defects, with
useful hints for their rectification.
Manuel du Touriste Photographe. Par M. Leon Vidal.
Seconde partie, post 8vo, pp. 238. (Paris: Gauthier-Villars. 1885.)
It is now our pleasure to notice the second part of this useful French
Manual, to the first part of which we called attention on page 125, Vol. IV. of
this Journal. It contains some very valuable chapters on the requirements of
instantaneous photography, and on the various classes of errors and failures
that perplex and discourage the beginner. It is illustrated with several en-
gravings and a photogelatinographique frontispiece.
Photographic Mosaics : An Annual Record of Photographic
Progress. Edited by Edward L. Wilson, Editor of the " Philadelphia Pho-
tographer." i2mo, pp. 144. (Philadelphia: E. L. Wilson. 1886.)
This annual, now in its twenty-second year, is not quite so large as our own
Photographic Year-Book ; it nevertheless contains a good deal of valuable
information.
The Modern Practice of Re-Touching, as Practiced by M.
Piquep^ and other Experts, French, English, and American. 8vo, pp. 38.
(New York : Scovill Manufacturing Co. 1885.)
This is a second edition of Scovill's Photo Series, No. 7, and gives useful
instructions in the various departments of re-touching negatives, prints,
enlargements, etc., as practiced by the photographer.
* . „ , ,
Odds and Ends of Useful Knowledge for Junior Students
preparing for Oxford or Cambridge Examinations. By a Lady. Post 8vo, pp.
36, (London : Relfe Bros.) Price Qd.
This little book is divided into four subjects, viz. — History, Geography,
Odds and Ends, and Historical Dates.
REVIEWS. 131
A Classified and Descriptive Catalogue of Scientific and
Technical Books. 8vo, pp. iv.— 216. (London : Geo. Phillip and Son.
1886.) Price 2s. 6d.
It often happens that we wish to read up certain subjects, but are at a loss
to know what books are to be had that will give us the desired information.
The Catalogue before us is what has been wanted for a long time. It is
arranged according to subjects, which follow in alphabetical order, e.g., Accous-
tics. Aerostation, Agriculture, etc, etc. Under each subject the'books are alpha-
betically arranged, giving the author's name, title of book, size, publisher, and
price. We notice date of publication is omitted, and that Scientific Journals
are not mentioned. The book will, however, prove most useful, and we
prophesy for it a large sale.
Legends and Superstitions of the Sea and of Sailors,
in all Lands and at all Times. By Fletcher S. Bassett, Lieut. U.S. Navy. Cr.
8vo, pp. 505. (London : S. Low and Co. 1885.) Price 7s. 6d.
We have here a large collection of myths and folk-lore of the sea and
its belongings ; they are collected from various sources, and are told in a most
interesting manner. The illustrations are good.
The Sisters Sarah and Angelina Grimke, the First Ameri-
can Women Advocates of Abolition and Women's Rights. By Catherine H.
Birney. pp- 319. (Boston, U.S.A. : Lee and Shepard. 1885.)
The volume before us gives an account of two good and noble women, who
gave their lives to the active promotion of various reforms with fearlessness,
independence, and devoted purpose to make the world better. The subject of
slavery, with which they had been long and painfully famihar, troubled them,
and they became openly abolitionists, and devoted themselves to the propaga-
tion of anti-slavery views ; and as the younger sister had great elocutionary
powers, her lectures were eagerly listened to. The book is a most interesting
one.
We Two Alone in Europe. By Mary L. Ninde. Post 8vo,
pp. 348. (Chicago, U.S.A. : Jansen McClurg and Co. 1886.)
A charmingly interesting account of the travels of two young ladies, who
came over to England from America with their father, and then alone visited
the principal cities of Europe, Cairo, the Pyramids, Palestine, and Athens.
The trip appears to have occupied them two years, and to have been thoroughly
enjoyed by them both. The book is dedicated to L.R. P., the other one of
"We Two."
With Pack and Rifle in the Far South-West : Adventures in
New Mexico, Arizona, and Central America. By Achilles Daunt. Post Svo,
pp. 389. (London: T. Nelson and Sons. 1886.) Price 5s.
Besides the numerous adventures and hair-breadth escapes described in this
book, we have a good and accurate description of the Mexican prairies, and the
foundation of the country. We have also an account of some of the ruined
and buried cities. The book, which is well written and exceedingly interest-
ing, is illustrated with 25 well-executed plates, and is nicely bound.
Frank's Ranche, or my Holidays in the Rockies ; being a
contribution to the enquiry into what we are to do with our Boys. By the
Author of " An Amateur Angler's Days in Dovedale." Fcap. 8vo, pp. xvi. —
214. (London : Sampson Low and Co. Boston and New York : Houghton,
Mifflin, and Co. 1886.) Price 5s.
132 REVIEWS.
In the book before us we have one of the most interesting accounts of a
holiday that it has been our good fortune to read. The author starts for
America in the good ship Cunardia to visit his son, who has taken a Rancke
near the Gallatin River at the Foot of the Rocky Mountains. His travels are
pleasantly described. The book contains many illustrations, prominent
amongst them being Frank's Ranche, drawn by himself, a map of the route
over which the author travelled, and several others. Useful hints are also
given to the would-be emigrant.
Evolution and Religion. Part I. Eight Sermons Dis-
cussing the Bearings of the Evolutionary Philosophy of the Fundamental
Doctrines of Evangelical Christianity. By Henry Ward Beecher. 8vo, pp.
145. (New York : Fords, Howard, and Hulbert. 1885.) Price 50c.
The author says, " For myself, while finding no need of changing my idea
of the Divine personality because of new light upon His mode of working, I
have hailed the Evolutionary Philosophy with joy." We have read these
sermons with much interest, and cordially recommend them.
The Laws of Nature and the Laws of God : A Reply-
to Prof. Drummond. By Samuel Cockburn, M.D., L.R.C.S-E. Post 8vo,
pp. 154. Price 3s. 6d,
The author of the book before us expresses a hope that he may, to some
extent, neutralise what he describes as the " baneful effects resulting from the
attempt now being made in different quarters to square the teachings of
revealed religion with the uncertain findings and ever-changing speculations of
modern science and philosophy." The book is well written, and the argu-
ments consistent.
Famous Caves and CatacOxMbs Described and Illustrated.
By W. H. Davenport Adams. Crown 8vo, pp. xii. — 204. (London : T.
Nelson and Son. 1886.) Price 2s.
An account is here given of some of the most famous Caves and Cave-
temples in the world, in which the researches of modern antiquaries have
discovered the remains of a prehistoric age : — The caves of Ancient Egypt,
Ancient Hindustan, Ancient Greece, the Caves and Catacombs of Ancient
Rome, the Grottoes of Modern Times, including the Catacombs of Paris. The
book contains some 40 plates and illustrations, and gives some very useful and
interesting information.
To the Members of the Postal Microscopical Society.
It is necessary that the slides now in circulation should be
exchanged. The Hon. Sec. will be glad if Members will let him
have six or twelve slides, with notes, at their earliest convenience,
and will be pleased to send MS. book for notes on application. If
Members will send the slides in one of their own boxes, he will
return it as soon as possible with their own slides now in circu-
lation. Please let him have slides by the middle of April.
By Rule 10 it is arranged, "That Members of the General
Section who are unable or unwilling to circulate slides may com-
pound for the same by paying an Extra Annual Subsci'iption of
5/-," but slides are just now urgently required.
THE JOURNAL OF MICROSCOPY
AND
NATURAL SCIENCE:
the journal of
The Postal Microscopical Society.
JULY, 1886.
Hnagallie arven^ie.
By R. H. Moore.
Plates 17, 18, 19.
^^^^
c-O
V5
HIS little plant with its bright scarlet flowers profusely
ornaments, as its specific name indicates, our corn-
fields. It is the only British wild plant, with the
exception of the more showy but delicately petalled
Poppy, which possesses a corolla of pure scarlet. It
is one of those miniature gems in the floral world
which must be searched for to be admired. The
children who are captivated by the more showy
blossoms of heath and meadow pass it by, and we
seldom see its gay little petals in a bouquet of wild flowers. It is,
however, a favourite with the botanist, and has inspired the song
of many a poet : —
" With its eye of gold
And scarlet, starry points of flowers,
Pimpernel dreading nights and showers."
VOL. V. L
134 ANAGALLIS ARVENSIS.
One of its characteristics thus alluded to has never been for-
gotten. It is one of those sensitive little flowers which opens and
closes its petals according to atmospheric changes ; hence it is
supposed to be an infallible weather guide ; a field barometer, which
the rustic studies, and arranges his work from its appearance.
This curious trait in the Pimpernel has given it the significant
name of Shepherd's weather glass, and is alluded to by many early
writers. Even Lord Bacon referred to it as a flower which, if not
open in the morning, was a sure indication of a rainy day. This
peculiarity of the Anagallis enabled Linn^us to include it in his
botanical clock, and its habit is stated to be to open every morning
at eight minutes past seven, and to close its petals at three minutes
past two p.m., but authorities differ slightly as to the exact minutes.
It generic name is said to come from the Greek " avaytXdcj " —
" to laugh," because of its supposed cure for mania, or for its
efficacy in liver complaints. One old medical recipe is as follows :
— 20 grains of the powdered herb placed in a strong infusion
of the plant, and 15 drops of hartshorn added, to be given every
six hours, is a sure remedy for hydrophobia. It was alleged to be
serviceable in consumptive cases, in failing eyesight, and in cases
of epilepsy, so that, independently of its beauty, it made a mark
in the archives of ancient medical science.
In the artificial system of botany it was placed in the Class
Pentandria, Order Monogynia. In the natural system it is found
in the Order Primulace^, genus Anagallis^ No. 1049, of the
London Catalogue, 7th edition; and there is a very good descrip-
tion of our little favourite in page 90 of Liftdkfs School Botany^
with excellent drawings to accompany the text. Of the genus
Anagallis there are only three species in the British Flora :
A. arvefisis, A. ccB7'ulea^ and A. tenella, known respectively by the
common names of Scarlet, Blue, and Bog Pimpernel. Some
botanists have considered that A. ccerulea is but a variety of
A. arvensis^ but it has a separate number allotted to it in the
London Catalogue. Like many others of our common flowers, it
is found in all temperate regions of the globe, and follows the
civilisation of man. It inhabits Persia, China, Cape of Good
Hope, Egypt, United States, and Mexico, but it shuns the arctic
regions and the tropical districts. The Bog Pimpernel, A. tenella^
ANAGALLIS AHVENSIS. 135
is perennial; the Scarlet, A. an'e^isiSj'is an annual. The former blooms
only in July and August, the latter from May to November. It is
included in the same natural order as the Oxlip, CowsHp, Primrose,
Auricula, and Cyclamen. The inflorescence consists of a single
flower surmounting a long stem, which springs from the axil of
each leaf. The leaves are opposite, and thus there is a pair of
flowers springing from the bases of each pair of leaves. (See PI.
XVIL, Fig. I.)
The calyx of the Anagallis has five divisions or sepals united
at the base, and the sepals are distinctly seen in the open blossom
extending between the deep clefts of the corolla. The corolla is
of a beautiful scarlet colour, monopetalous, rotate, and with five
lobes. The five stamens are attached to the corolla, and when the
latter is fully expanded, they lie almost flat upon its lobes. The
anthers, covered with pollen, appear like nuggets of gold upon the
scarlet back ground, and the purple ring at the base of the corolla
adds much to the beauty of the floral display. The ovary is
globose, with a pink coloured style and capitate summit. The
capsule opens with a lid, the upper half being dehiscent, so that
the seeds, when the lid has fallen off, are seen closely packed
together in a miniature cup. (See Fig. 2.)
The floral structure may be represented by a pentagon of five
equal sides, all the angles equidistant from its centre : five calyx
sepals, five corolla lobes, five stamens, all either uniting or lying in
close proximity at the centre of a mathematical pentagon. Artists
have caught the inspiration of Nature, and the beautiful traceries
of our church windows and other ornamental designs are hers by
sovereign right. Emerson eloquently observes — " The Gothic
Cathedral is a blossoming in stone subdued by the insatiable
demand of harmony in man ; the mountain of granite blooms into
an eternal flower, with the lightness and delicate finish, as well as
with the aerial proportions and perspective of vegetable beauty.''
My description of the Anagallis arvensis has been hitherto
connected with beauty which can be seen without the aid of the
microscope, and even in this, one is led to exclaim with Tegner —
" If so much of beauty doth reveal
Itself in every vein of life and nature.
How beautiful must be the source itself —
The Ever Bright One."
136 ANAGALLTS ARVENSIS.
As this, however, is intended to be a microscopical paper, I will
attempt to describe the hidden beauties of this exquisite little wild
flower, commencing with The Root, which is fibrous, of a dark
brown colour, and having a few knots in its structure. There is
nothing particularly striking in its appearance under the microscope.
The more delicate fibres are branched, with an external develop-
ment of large, somewhat rectangular cells, which surround a darker
central system of dotted tubes closely packed together.
The Stem of Anagallis arvensis is procumbent, dividing into
several branches, which trail over the ground on every side of the
point of attachment to the earth. The stems are acutely angled,
although they appear of square form to the unassisted eye. Under
the microscope they show a partially winged character at each of
the four angles (see Fig 4). The transverse sections which I have
prepared show the beautiful chains of single cells which ornament
the exterior portion of the stem. The epidermal cuticle is sparsely
covered with minute glandular hairs, and the stomata are readily
distinguished upon the epidermal tissue. In transverse sections
of the stem, the exogenous character of the plant is well seen, the
pith surrounded by the fibro-vascular bundles which divide it
from the outer cortical bark-cells, and these are enclosed by the
epidermis. The central portion of the pith is composed of very
large, irregular-formed cells. Outside these are cells of hexagonal
form, and we may suppose that in the most mature stems the
centre would become quite hollow. The fibro-vascular bundles
which surround the pith are packed very closely together, giving
strength and solidity to the stem. The spiral fibre may be seen
very distinctly in stained and mounted preparations, as in Fig. 5.
This spiral fibre, or tracheae, as it is sometimes called, appears of
flat ribbon-like character, and forms a beautiful object under the
;|-inch objective. Exterior to the fibro-vascular bundles the woody
fibre is found composed of fusiform tubes mixed with dotted cells,
while some of the fibro-vascular tissue shows a decided annular
structure (Fig. 6). The fibro-vascular and the woody cells so
completely surround the pith, that they appear at first sight to form
an impenetrable sheath around the medulla, but careful focussing
will show communications from pith to bark, which in older stems
would become the medullary rays of the exogenous division of the
ANAGALLIS ARVENSIS. 137
vegetable world. The fibro-vascular tissue is not only very dense,
but also very closely attached, so that long soaking and patient
teasing is required to display the spiral tissue. The logwood stain
which I have used upon the specimens has given to the spiral
tissue a pretty effect, and the advantage of being easily distinguish-
able. The growth from spiral to annular tissue is also readily seen,
and the staining of the tissue has rendered the dotted ducts very
distinct. In vegetable physiology, the spiral tissue contains the air,
while the ducts convey the sap from the root, through the stem, to
the leaves of the plant. Some of the ducts upon the slides show
also the scalariform character.
The Leaves of Anagallis arvensis are opposite : some are ovate,
others lanceolate, generally sessile, although some of them possess
a short stalk. The leaves are reticulated, with a dark green upper
surface, and a lighter green with a greyish tinge beneath. The
under surface abounds in dots, which on examination appear like
clusters of coloured cells of a reddish tint, and which appear at
intervals as coloured dots showing through the thin epidermal tissue.
The leaves are destitute of hairs, and appear to the naked eye
entire, but under the microscope they display a pretty papilla-like
fringe of single cells running from the apex half way down the
margin of each leaf (see Fig. 7). The upper cuticle is not
readily detached, its cells are sinuous with thick cell-walls, and are
freely covered with stomata. The under cuticle can be easily stripped.
The cell-walls are also sinuous, but of a finer character than those of
the upper cuticle, and the stomata are far more abundant (Figs.
8 — 9). I have not detected any crystals in the leaves which have
been decolourised and stained, and they show no striking features
beyond the venation and cellular tissue.
The Flower of the Scarlet Pimpernel is the most attractive por-
tion of the plant. I have already sketched its external beauty, and
will now treat of its anatomy. To the ordinary observer it appears
to have five petals, but if the botanist removes it from its calyx, it is
found to have but one petal with five deeply cut lobes. Each lobe
is seen under the microscope to be fringed with minute glandular
hairs. In Lindlefs School Botany the petal is described as being
minutely notched, but a very low-power objective will show that
this description is not correct. The notched appearance is easily
138 ANAGALLIS ARVENSIS.
resolved into a margin of glandular hairs, which extend some
distance on either side of each lobe towards the point of union
with the remaining lobes (see Fig. lo). Under a J-inch objec-
tive the dry mounted lobes display these hairs with a globose head
of rich ruby colour on a transparent stalk attached to a papilla-
like cell on the margin of the lobe. Some of them are turban-
shaped. The hairs are referred to in some microscopical descrip-
tions of the petal, but no one, so far as I can gather, has ventured
a theory as to the part they act in this particular plant. The
surface of the petal is quite free from them, but they are found very
sparsely scattered upon the sepals and stem of the plant. I can
detect no fragrance in the flower which would identify these hairs
with the oily secretions which exist in such plants as the Lavender,
Sweet Briar, or the Primula sine?isis. Their office, however, may
be to absorb rather than secrete. Darwin, in his " Insectivorous
Plants," states that " the glandular hairs of ordinary plants have
generally been considered by physiologists to serve only as secret-
ing organs, but we now know that they have the power, at least in
some cases, of absorbing both a solution and the vapour of
ammonia. As rain water contains a small percentage of ammonia,
and the atmosphere a minute portion of carbonate, their power
can hardly fail to be beneficial, nor can the benefit be quite so
insignificant as it might at first be thought, for a moderately fine
plant of Primula sinensis bears the astonishing number of about
2\ millions of glandular hairs, all of which are able to absorb
ammonia brought to them by the rain." In the light of this
quotation, I should consider the hairs upon the corolla and other
portions of the Anagallis to be organs of absorption. The lobes of
the corolla of this flower are densely packed with masses of spiral
fibre which penetrate into them from the flower stem, and undoub-
tedly these organs, either from the dampness of the atmosphere, or
the declining heat of the sun, preserve their moisture, and the
spiral contraction which ensues closes the corolla in the pyramidal
form so often noticed in this pretty flower.
In considering the motile and irritable parts of plants, Sachs
alludes to the phenomena, known as the Waking and Sleeping of
plants, and he gives many illustrations of the habit, although he
has not dwelt upon this particular flower. His remarks, however,
ANAGALLIS ARVENSIS. 139
will, I think, throw some light upon the opening and closing of the
Anagallis. He states, that " many petals are sensitive to warmth
in such a way, that any increase of temperature causes such a
curvature of the contractile organs as to place the petals in an
expanded and completely unfolded position, while any decrease
in the temperature produces the opposite curvature, causing the
petals to fold up," In the one case, we have the waking or
diurnal position, in the other the sleeping or nocturnal position.
As stated earlier in this paper, the Anagallis closes soon after 2
p.m., even in the hottest days, and remains closed until a little after
7 a.m. If the increasing heat of the sun expands the spiral fibre
of the corolla lobes so early in the day, there is a difficulty in
understanding why after 2 p.m., when the heat of the sun is still of
great intensity, the petals should gradually close into a sleeping
position. I shall, however, again refer to this movement when I
consider the fertilisation of the AnagaUis.
The Calyx is divided into five sepals : inferior, regular, and
persistent. The sepals are lanceolate, of equal length with the
corolla lobes, and they form a close protection to the corolla. The
upper portions of the sepals are slightly membranous or chaffy, and
they are composed of large cells with thick cell-walls. On one
side of the sepals there is a papilla-like series of cells which render
them pretty objects for the microscope, and these cells are probably
useful in interlocking the sepals when folded up, and protecting
the corolla (see Fig. 11).
The Organs of Reproduction consist of five stamens
inserted at the base of the corolla, the globose germen occupying
the centre. The filaments of the stamens are exquisitely beautiful.
From base to anther they are beautifully clothed with white and
purple hairs, simple cells united at their edges to form miniature
necklaces of pearls. In fresh flowers they present an irridiscent
beauty never to be forgotten. Fig. 1 2 will afford some idea of the
beauty of the filament decorations, but we lose a large portion of
the charm when looking at artistic productions or mounted
specimens. Each filament is surmounted by a heart-shaped anther
gorgeous as gold. The anther lobes are Hterally packed with
yellow pollen. When mounted in balsam the anthers polarise with
fine colours, and they are fringed with cells formed with as
140 ANAGALLIS ARVENSIS.
exquisite a regularity as the facets in the compound eyes of insects.
The Pollen grains, as shown in Fig. 13, are drawn from a
dry mount by the neutral-tint reflector. They appear generally of
an elliptic shape with a dotted surface, and a fissure running down
the centre of each grain. But with careful focussing they are seen
to be formed on the plan of a triangle with curved sides, and there
are probably three sutures in the three angles. In some of the
grains the appearance is as if the triangular-shaped grains are
flattened at one of the extremities.
The Style of the Pistil is rose-coloured in a fresh specimen,
and the stigma is enlarged into fleshy lobes well adapted for receiv-
ing the pollen. The style also is closely packed with spiral fibre.
The germen is globose, attached to the calyx, with a central
placenta surrounding the ovules, each of the latter lying in a
loculus or cavity of the placenta. The ovules vary in number ; I
have counted as many as twenty-four. They are composed of
irregular-shaped cells filled with granular matter. They are stalked,
and the funiculus or stalk which attaches the ovule to the placenta
is at the base of the ovule; the foramen is near the base also, and
through the latter the pollen tubes enter to discharge the fovilla of
the pollen to fertilise the ovule. The drawing, Fig. 14, is copied
from one of my slides j the staining of the ovule has clearly marked
the central portion with a deeper shade of colour. This dark por-
tion is the nucleus which will develope into the embryo of the
mature seed.
The Seeds of Anagallis arvensis are enclosed in a globular
capsule as large as a small pea. The capsules are dehiscent, the
suture causing them when ripe to separate into two hemispheres,
the upper one falling off, the lower half remaining as a cup, and
exposing the dark brown seeds which are scattered around the
parent plant. The capsule is termed a Pyxidium, and the Henbane
is the only plant which has a capsule of similar character. The
cellular structure of the capsule lid is worthy of observation. It is
composed of large cells with richly-ornamented cell-walls prettily
curved ; the cells are distinguished by an interior deposit of a
sclerogenous character. The drawing (Fig. 15) of this cellular
formation was made under the neutral-tint reflector, and the slide
from which it was copied gives a beautiful effect under polarised
ANAGALLIS ARVENSIS. 141
light. The seeds, Fig. i6, are of trigonous shape with three angles
and three semi-convex facets. The testa, or outer covering, is
tubercular, and under the microscope appears to be composed of
a number of pellets closely joined together. It is a good object
for polarised light, which reveals a series of short prismatic crystals
that are not detected except by the use of the polarising prisms.
The testa is the only portion of the plant which contains crystals
(see Fig. i8, b). The plant instinct in the distribution of seeds
is an interesting study. The mature blossom is upright, but as it
fades and the capsule matures, the spiral tissue of the stem
contracts and curves downward until the capsule faces the earth,
the lid falls of and the seeds are discharged upon the ground. In
closing the life history of this little flower, I shall refer to its
Fertilisation. Sir John Lubbock, in his interesting book on
" British Wild Flowers considered in relation to Insects," calls
attention also to the sleep of flowers. He suggests that the habit
has reference to the visits of insects for the purpose of fertilisation.
Flowers which require night-flying insects would have no occasion
to open in the day; those which require such insects as bees would
not have any advantage by opening at night. He states that the
habit of closing preserves to the plants the honey and pollen, of
which other insects than those useful to their fertilisation would
deprive them. It is, however, questionable if the opening and
closing of the Anagallis arvejisis depend upon this agency alone,
because Sir John Lubbock states in another part of his book, that
in this particular flower the stamens and pistil ripen simultaneously,
and that the flowers contain no honey.
He further states that the plant is seldom visited by insects,
and that consequently it depends upon self-fertilisation. I am,
therefore, inclined to think that the opening and closing of the
flower is not perhaps so dependent upon the heat of the sun as the
above quotation from Sachs may at first lead us to infer, especially
when we remember that the Anagallis sleeps so soon after noontide
heat. May we not rather look back upon the phenomenon as
another instance of vegetable sagacity ? The abundance of spiral
tissue in the corolla has its special oftice to fulfil just at the right
time and for a particular purpose, namely — the self-fertilisation of
the ovules. The corolla lobes, stamens, and stigmatic surfaces are
142 ANAGALLIS ARVENSIS.
all expanded and exposed for atmospheric agency to nourish,
strengthen, and ripen them. When closely drawn together, the
pollen is carefully preserved from continued heat, wind disturb-
ance, waste from rain and insect depredation, and the operation
of self-fertilisation is wonderfully secured. In its pyramidal form
the corolla folds all its precious treasures securely within its bosom,
simply for its own preservation.
I trust that, in writing this paper, I have shown how much of
the beautiful may be discovered in one of the commonest objects
by which we are surrounded, and that every one of them may not
only afford the pleasures of investigation, but that they may be ser-
viceable for the highest teaching.
" The humblest flower is a poem by Him
Who dwells 'midst the blazing cherubim.
Read it well ;
It has something to tell.
In rhythm of colour, it will confess,
God loveth beauty and gentleness."
EXPLANATION OF PLATES XVII., XYIIL, XIX.
Plate XVII.
Fig. 1. — The Scarlet Pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis), natural size.
,, 2. — Ripe Capsule, with fruit, slightly enlarged.
5)
3. — Diagrammatic form of blossom, showing the pentagonal shape.
J)
)>
5)
Plate XVIII.
4. — Transverse section of stem, x 40.
5. — Spiral vessels in stem, x 210.
6. — Pitted ducts and annular vessels of stem, x 210.
7. — Portion of leaf drawn from a decolorised and stained speci-
men, showing venation and marginal cells, x 15.
a. — Transverse section of leaf, x GO.
8. — Upper Cuticle of leaf, x 200.
,, 9. — Under Cuticle of leaf, x 200-
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ON THE POWER OF MOVEMENT IN PLANTS. 143
Plate XIX.
Fig. 10. — Lobe of the Corolla, x 15, and some of the glandular hairs
from the same, x 200.
11. — Sepal, X 15.
12. — Three of the Stamens, x 15.
13. — Pollen, X 285. a, Diagrammatic representation of a section
of one of the grains.
14. — Ovule, X 20. a, Portion of same, x 200.
15. — Cellular structure of the Capsule, x 200.
16. — Seeds (opaque), x 20.
17. — Development of the Seeds, after Sachs.
a, Longitudinal section of flower-bud, showing, 1, Sepal ; 2,
Corolla ; 3, Anther ; 4, Carpel ; 5, Apex of Floral axis.
h, Gynoecium further developed. 1, Stigmatic formation ;
2, Ovular formation.
c, Section of Pistil and Ovary. 1, Pollen ; 2, Stigma ; 3,
Style ; 4, Central Placenta ; 5, Ovules.
d, Fruit (unripe). 1, Placenta, fleshy and swollen, and fill-
ing spaces between Ovules ; 2, Ovules.
,, 18. — a, Transverse section of seed (from a stained specimen,
x 30.
h, Crystals in Testa seen by polarised light, x 200.
®n tbe power of flDovement In plante*
By H. W. S. Worsley-Benison, F.L.S.,
Lecturer on Botany at Westminster Hospital ; Late President of
the Highbury Microscopical and Scientific Society.
THE power of movement in some form or other is an essetitial
condition of life. We are quite unable to think of the two
things apart from each other. I do not say that the movement is
always spontaneous^ or that it is the result of volition ; far from it.
Neither do I say that it must needs involve in all cases a change of
place, or that it even extends throughout the 7vhole organism,
although this is in scores of instances exactly what takes place.
I speak just now concerning the phenomenon of motion as
seen in the plant-realm, whether in part or as a whole \ whether
144 ON THE POWER OF MOVEMENT IN PLANTS.
involving change of locality, or not involving it; whether it be
movement of a single cell, or a tissue of cells forming a plant, or
even of only the contents of a cell.
It is quite impossible in a paper such as this to do more than
outline the subject, and by so doing, to try to give some notion
of the variety of movements to be met with, and, in some cases,
to point to examples. My paper will therefore be, in the strictest
sense, only an elementary chapter, written as it were with the
presumption that my readers know absolutely nothing of the
question, and that I am asked to try to tell them some simple
facts, to lead them just over the threshold of our inquiry, and
leave them there to pursue it for themselves.
I do not intend to speak of passive movement at all : I mean
movement occurring as the result of external forces, such as wind,
or wave, or the weight of fruit ; nor of the means by which a
bough denuded of its fruit-weight goes back to the position it
occupied when that fruit existed only potentially in the blossom.
All I say will have direct reference to motion as the result of life and
its processes^ admitting only the mention of such external forces as
light and heat, to which an organism responds on virtue of the life
which it possesses. It will be seen instantly that such response
is active, and totally different from the passive movement above
referred to, which would ensue in inanimate bodies just as much
as in those endowed with life.
There are several varieties of movement of which we might
speak, but we will confine ourselves to the chief of these, and where
it is possible to do so, find out how the motion comes about and
the use of such motion to the organism.
I
CLASS I.
Movements dependent upon the Protoplasm contained in
Plant-cells, or upon the presence of Cilia, or small
Hair-like Processes on their surfaces.
A. — Motion of the Contents of Cells.
This is seen to be of two kinds :
l.-Rotation^ where the current courses only along the walls either
spirally or reticulately. Remember, this is not, as it was formerly
ON THE POWER OF MOVEMENT IN PLANTS. 145
thought to be, a movement of the watery cell-sap ; it is that of the
protoplasm making paths for itself in the cell-sap.
It may be seen in many plant-cells ; notably in the Stoneworts,
Nitella and Chara. In Chara it is the inner layer of protoplasm
that rotates, carrying the nucleus with it, while the outer layer, or
'primordial utricle,' as it is called, immediately \^ithin the cell-
wall remains motionless, as do also the chlorophyll grains. The
motion in Chara is at an angle with the wall, not parallel to
it. In Vallisnerta, on the other hand, it goes on parallel to
and all round the wall carrying the chlorophyll grains with it.
It is beautifully seen in the bristles on the ovary of Circcea, the
Enchanter's Nightshade. Cold retards it. Heat accelerates it.
Electrical currents stop it, but it instantly sets off again on
breaking the current. Jolting the cell, or pricking it, also stops it.
Speed varies : in Circcea bristles, which are about half a ' line ' long,
it completes the round in about one minute ; in ValUsneria it
moves at the rate of the one-hundred-and-eightieth part of a line
per second ; sometimes in this plant much faster.
II. — Cirailation, where the protoplasm is hollowed out and
the motion is in net-like currefifs radiating from and returning to
the nucleus, passing in threads and bands through the cell-sap.
This is seen in the cells of the purple hairs of Tradescantia
(Spider-wort), in the cells of Celandine, in Nettle-hairs, and in
many others. Here the movement is less regular and more
spasmodic, now advancing, now retreating, now ceasing, now
recommencing. The hairs on the buds of Althcea^ the Marsh
Mallow, show it exceedingly well.
The cause of these movements is still a subject for investiga-
tion. Endless theories have been and are being advanced, and
held most pertinaciously by some observers, who think they can
cry * Eureka^ and put an end to all further discussion. Generally
speaking, we may write down the following as among the causes
of movements inside cells : —
Constant Chemical Changes^ such as the formation and evo-
lution of carbonic acid, the formation of starch and the albumi-
noids ; these cause successive changes in the equilibrium of forces
and produce heat, and probably also electrical currents. These in
turn give rise to forces of astounding magnitude, setting atoms and
146 ON THE POWER OF MOVEMENT IN PLANTS.
molecules in motion, and representing an amount of ' work ' that
is often enormous. Starch, for instance, in dry grains absorbing
water of the same temperature, will cause a rise of 2° or 3° C,
while boiling water is only raised 0*078° C. by a pressure of ten
atmospheres. Absorption of water alone then means the develop-
ment of an enormous force.
Te?isio?i of Tissues or cells due to unequal growth of layers
is another cause.
Tiirgidity, or pressure of cell-sap on the cell-wall, does its share
in promoting motion by disturbance of equilibrium, turgidity being
caused by attraction of water by the substances dissolved in the
cell-sap.
Diffusion of Gases assists in the general bringing about of
motion.
Light and Heat play an important part in the same direction,
as is well seen in the action of these agents on chlorophyll grains
and Algce spores, causing them to visibly shift their positions.
So we may see evidence of the transformation of light and
heat into energy and motion, and the law of the correlation of
physical forces finds here abundant illustration. 'Heat as a mode
of motion ' can be said to find expression in the phenomenon of
movement in cell-contents.
B. — Motion of Naked Cells, or Primordial Cells. .
If protoplasm confined by a cell-wall can show such activity,
we can very easily imagine that when not so enveloped, it might be
able to move of its own accord fro7n one place to a7iother. This
actually occurs in the abnormal group of Fimgi called Myxo7nycetes.
For instance, take j^thaliimi or 'flowers of tan,' an orange-
coloured organism growing in and around tan-pits. It exists as a
Plasmodium^ a mass of protoplasm with no cellulose wall, slimy or
creamy in appearance, and made up of a number of anastomosing
net-like channels, along which a pretty constant current of proto-
plasm passes, carrying all kinds of foreign bodies with it. This
Plasmodium moves slowly but freely from place to place by project-
ing at its edge a number oi pseudopodia, or arm-like processes, into
which this current of moving protoplasm flows, thus increasing
their size ; this has only to persist for a time, and the whole mass
ON THE POWER OF MOVEMENT IN PLANTS. 147
has shifted its position. It has a singular tendency before its
period of fructification ensues, to cUmb up any erect object
like a tree, or stump, and here it may be found at rest forming its
capsule containing spores which by-and-bye are set free as naked
masses of protoplasm ; these myxamcehce^ as they are called,
coalesce later on, three or four of them or more making a
Plasmodium such as we started with ; they are also endowed with
power of motion, using this power in order to coalesce. The
Plasmodium of Didymium will travel as fast as ten millimetres in a
minute.
A similar power is seen in the protoplasmic filaments ejected
from the glandular hairs on the leaves of the Common Teasel,
where Mr, F. Darwin has proved their power of absorbing nutri-
ment from the bodies of insects drowned in water contained in
the cups formed by the connate leaves. It is seen also in the
cups of the leaves of the celebrated Compass plant of the prairies.
Here the power of movement, as in our first case (cell-contents), has
to do with the protoplasm, and is quite independent of any
external agent.
C. — Motion of Embryonic Cells, or ' Zoospores,'
AND OF ' AnTHEROZOIDS.'
This is accomplished by means of vibratile cilia with which the
organisms are provided. These forms are seen in two chief varieties :
I. — The Zoospores or Swarmspores of certain Algce^ for instance,
Froiococcus, the Red Snow Vl^nt, y^dogofiiutn, Vaucheria, etc., and
of some Fu?igi, such as Peronospora infestafts, the Potato fungus ;
they consist of embryonic cells set free by rupture of the parent-
cell, and are naked masses of protoplasm provided with these
cilia, but destitute of any cell-wall during their motile period ; they
move with astonishing rapidity, sometimes rotating on their own
axis, sometimes with a comical rolling motion, lashing the water
with one cilium, while the other trails behind, sometimes fixing
themselves by one cilium and spinning round on it by means of the
other ; after a time, they lose their cifia, develop a cellulose coat,
become respectable members of society, and having " sown their
wild oats," gradually grow up to adult forms.
II. — The Atitherozoids or male elements of reproduction formed
148 ON THE POWER OF MOVEMENT IN PLANTS.
within, and set free from the A?itheridm of some AI^cb, and also of
Characece, Ferns, and other higher Cryptogams ; these resemble
the Zoospores in their appearance and motile power, although their
mission is of course a different one.
In both these cases the cilia are the agents of motion, but
the internal causes of the movement of the cilia themselves
are still among the unknown, let us hope not among the unknow-
able. The general opinion, so far, is that the causes are analogous
to those of the rotation of protoplasm already referred to.
D. — Motion of Entire and Adult Plants.
This is abundantly met with. In many cases — as for instance
in the adult Frotococcus, and in the ' cell-families,' such as Volvox
globator^ where several unicellular AlgcE unite to form a colony —
the motion iseffected by cilia. In others — such as the OscillatoricB^
a filamentous group of AlgcE^ and the Schizomycetes, containing
Bacterium^ Vibrio^ Spirillum^ and Leptothrix^ Algae which are just
now supposed to be the quite innocent causes of nearly all the
diseases to which we can possibly succumb — there are no cilia, and
yet their vibratile, oscillating, and creeping movements are perfectly
well known, although the causes and mechanics of such move-
ments are still involved in obscurity.
In the Diatoms again, we find brisk activity, and yet no cilia,
so far as we know. It is supposed either that they move by minute
projections of protoplasm through spots in their shells (something
after the fashion of Echinus)^ or that it depends on osmotic
currents, due to interchange of matter between their cell-contents
and the water in which they live.
It would be well if a considerable portion of the valuable time
and talent devoted to investigating the marking of their shells
were spent in working out their life-history, of which next to
nothing is known. May be, we should be able to lay part of the
odium now showered on the poor unfortunate Schizomycetes^ upon
their brethren the Cofijiigatce !
CLASS II.
Movements purely Mechanical and due to Physical
Causes.
I say purely Mechanical, because there are many other move-
ON THE POWER OF MOVEMENT IN PLANTS. 149
ments seemingly so, but which we cannot explain by physical
causes alone ; of these presently.
In this Class are included the bursting of spore-cases in Cryp-
togams ; for instance, the rupture of the sporangia in Ferns, the
breaking away of the opercula in Mosses, and the unwinding of
the elastic elaters on the spores of Equisetums. Also the dehis-
cence, or bursting of anther-cells for the escape of the fertilizing
pollen, and the dehiscence of the Fruit in Flowering plants.
All these are cases of ' warping,' so to speak, and are the
destruction of parts in a sense 'dead,' resulting from some intrinsic
structural conditions acted on by external physical phenomena.
In the cases of anthers, dehiscence is produced partly by pressure
of the pollen grains on the coats of the anther-lobes, causing partial
absorption of the latter, partly by special action of the fibrous cells
lining the anther.
The main causes, however, of this class of movements are two :
varying power of imbibition of moisture, and varying degree of
elasticity in the tissues. These again are effected by the hygro-
scopic condition of the atmosphere ; nowhere is this better seen
than in the elaters of Eqidsetum^ where, first of all, the spore-case
splits at the proper time, and then the individual spores, whose
outer coat has furnished (by splitting in narrow strips, which become
detached) the said organs, uncoil their club-shaped elaters, which,
acted on by the moisture of the air, assist in the carrying of the
spores. Power of imbibition varies greatly, the degree of expan-
sion of cells due to this varying from one-thousandth to one-half
of the cell-diameter.
Expansion due to turgidity varies through a smaller range than
that due to simple imbibition, the range being only from one-eight-
ieth to one-fifth of the diameter of any cell. If unequal absorption
of moisture takes place in various parts, distortion or curvature
comes about and often permanent rupture. Moreover, if different
degrees of elasticity should ensue, the equilibrium of turgidity is
still more displaced. These, together with the well-known con-
tractile powers of protoplasm and its power of motion from cell
to cell, will probably account for most of these movements.
The dehiscence of seed-capsules or Fruits, be it valvular (that is,
longitudinal), or by pores, as in Poppy, or by a circular slit, the top
VOL. v. M
150 ON THE POWER OF MOVEMENT IN PLANTS.
coming off like a cap, as in Pimpernel, or by genuine valves, or
uplifting flaps, is in all cases governed by the same physical forces,
where also the varying anatomical structure of the several layers
bears a part. Examples are seen in the twisting of the awns of
Oat and other grasses, in the separation of the fruit-valves of
Wallflower, Geranium, Spurge, and perhaps most notably in the
capsules of the Balsam^ Impatiens-Noli-me-tangere^ taking its name
from the fact that when ripe, you have only to gently press the
middle of the capsule, when it suddenly coils up from each end,
the middle part rises into a hump, and the seeds are shot out, as I
have seen them often, to a distance of six or seven yards.
We will now pass on to the third and the most interesting
class, where we find ourselves surrounded by phenomena at once
wondrous, varied, and beautiful in their complexity and adaptation
to useful end and purpose.
CLASS III.
Movements occurring in Living Parts of Plants during
Active Growth.
We are confronted at the outset with an almost insuperable
difficulty, viz.^ the classification of such movements. After trying
three or four systems, I have selected the following as, on the
whole, best suited to my purpose in a paper such as this ; it is to
group them under two heads : Periodic — £^., occurring at regular
times and under constantly similar circumstances ; 2ind I?iduced-i.e.,
brought about by, for the most part, mechanical stimuli, such, for
instance, as touch, concussion, etc., not simply by heat or light.
Under both these divisions we come upon instances where
external influences are brought into play, and instances where,
seemingly, it is not so. The two divisions, however, merge into
each other almost insensibly, and many instances would fairly
come under both heads, as we shall see. Others are with difficulty
localised under either, as, for example, the constant movement all
through life of some roots and stems. I can only lay before you a
selection in each division, and only briefly touch on even these.
A. — Periodic Movements.
The morphology both of this movement and the Induced
kind, consists for the most part of a folding up, or curvature of
ON THE POWER OF MOVEMENT IN PLANTS. 151
some sort. We also usually find either some peculiarity in tissue-
co?istrnction^ or in the tmion of the moving organ to some other
organ, such as the stem, etc.
Heat and light usually play a very important part in. Periodic
movements ; for example, in the Mimosa^ or Sensitive plant,
movement is not seen at a temperature under 15° C, while death
occurs if we get above 52^0. Prolonged darkness causes rigidity,
and therefore loss of motile power.
As the most notable kind of Periodic movement we may take
the so-called Sleep of plants, or of plant-organs.
I. — Sleep of Leaves. Mimosa^ or Sensitive Plant. This leaf is
bi-pinnate, i.e.^ the compound leaf is divided into four pinnce. or
leaflets, arranged like the sprays of a feather on the main axis, and
again, each pinna is divided into a series of pmnules similarly
situated. At night the pinnules fold upwards on one another all
along the axis, like butterfly-wings: the pinnae — />., the four leaflets
move up and laterally, closing over one another like the flaps of a
fan ; then the whole leaf-stalk bends downwards, getting closer to
the stem. In fact, a steady but general collapse takes place.
These movements are effected, Darwin shows us, in two differ-
ent ways : first, by alternately increased growth on the opposite sides
of the leaf, leaflet, or leaf-stalk, as the case may be, the alternation
usually being in the stalk at some part or other ; this increase of
growth on one side, or on the other, is preceded by an increase
in the turgescefice of their cells ; secondly (and in our specimen
probably, except in the very young plant, the only method), by
means of an aggregated mass of cells called a pulvi?ius. The cells of
this pulvinus have no chlorophyll, and form a little lump or
swelling at the articulatiojt of the leaf-stalk with the parent stem^
consisting of a vascular bundle wrapped round with soft parenchy-
matous tissue ; they exist also at the articulations of the leaflets
with the common leaf-stalk, and there is a separate one for each
pinnule, or ultimate leaflet, where it joins its common axis ; the
swellings here are called strtwice.
These swellings act as follows : the parenchymatous cells,
which are the irritable ones, fill with water drawn from the plant ;
their ctW-walls are not irritable, but they are elastic. Let the cells
be irritated by a touch, or by concussion, or by degree of light or
152 ON THE POWER OF MOVEMENT IN PLANTS.
heat, their contained water passes out from them, their turges-
cense is lessened, and their elastic cell-walls contract, the contrac-
tion affecting the side of the whole mass on the touched side of the
pulvinus ; the result is that the contraction of the touched side is
communicated to the stalk, and it is moved up or down, as the
case may be. In Mimosa^ both at the main joint and the secon-
dary ones, it is the imder surface of the pulvinus which is irritable.
You may touch the upper side and no result follows; but the
strumce are irritable only at the upper part. Hence, if the tinder
side of the pulvini be touched, the leaf-stalk and the scondary
stalk fall down^ depressing the leaf as a whole ; but the 7ipper side
of the strumas being touched induces an upward movement of the
ultimate leaflets, causing them to fold on one another.
Touch a struma at the tip of a leaflet, and the folding of the
leaflets goes from tip to stalk-joint, the closing of one pair being
sufficient to communicate the disposition to close to the neigh-
bouring pair, this to the next and so on. Hence, if the lowermost
pair be made to close, the impulse travels from joint to tip, by the
same sympathetic influence. The movement is not hindered by
the vascular-bundles inside the pulvinus, owing to their being
extremely flexible. After depression has ensued, a fresh flow takes
place of water into the emptied cells, turgescence sets in afresh,
the leaf is raised, and the leaflets open again.
All this is effected periodically in the Mimosa by the light and
heat of the atmosphere, which are the stimuli ; the sleep com-
mences just before sunset, the waking precedes the sunrise. So
you see the Mimosa closes its leaflets and drops its leaves gradually
during the day, and during the night is gradually raising the
leaves and opening the leaflets, whereas many sensitive plants raise
their leaves by day and droop them by night. Understand, the
sleep is not comparable to that of animals, there being no relaxa-
tion, but the rigidity of tissues is persistent, although the organs
may be in different positions.
One thing more. Mimosa shows a curious tendency on a
succession of mechanical shakings of getting used to it. Desfon-
tai?ies proved this experimentally by carrying a Mijnosa on a stage-
coach journey, when after a time, although at first affected by the
jolting, the plant showed an admirable indifference to the inconve-
ON THE POWER OF MOVEMENT IN PLANTS. 153
nient series of shakes, and bravely kept its leaves extended in
spite of them.
Anyone who wishes to see the poetical side of this phenomenon
cannot do better than read Shelley's exquisite poem, entitled 'The
Sensitive Plant.'
Another wonderful instance of this curious movement is
afforded by the Telegraph-plant, Desmodiwn gyrans. It is a
trifoliate leaf, the terminal leaflet being very large, the lateral
leaflets very small (in this species). During the day the end
leaflet gradually follows the setting of the sun, sinking slowly
until its under surface lies quite back against its own stalk, or
petiole. The pair of side leaflets, on the other hand, are perpetu-
ally moving up and down with a jerky motion all day long, and in
experiments on the plant it has been ascertained that this goes on
until between 3 and 4 a.m., and commences again about 8.30 a.m.
Both the end and lateral leaflets move in virtue of pulvini at
the base of their petioles. The end one would seem to be
influenced by the sun in some way, but the lateral leaflets seem to
be quite independent of external influences of all kinds. Their
movements are not absolutely perpetual, but in spasms, stopping
now and then as if to overcome some unseen obstacle. The
motile condition (but not the movements) seems dependent on
degrees of heat, Hght, and presence of water. The movements
themselves appear to result from the alternate lengthening
and shortening of one side of the petiole. Their motion is on
their own axis, being circular as well as up and down, and each
moves alternately with the other, the down stroke being rapid, the
up stroke much more steady. It is called the Telegraph-plant,
from the motion resembling the movements of the two arms of
the old-fashioned Semaphore-signal. One curious fact remains to
be noted; viz.^ that as the terminal leaflet falls, its petiole rises, so
that at night the leaves are all drooping and the petioles upright,
thus greatly reducing the diameter of the plant.
There can be no doubt, that, in all instances, this sleep of
leaves is brought about in order to expose less of their surfaces to the
effect of chill by radiatio7i from those surfaces at ?iight. Hence, they
assemble themselves together as closely as they can, and nowhere is
this more beautifully seen than in Desmodiuin^ where the rising of
154 ON THE POWER OF MOVEMENT IN PLANTS.
the petioles of course very greatly assists to this end^ while the
vertical position of the leaves themselves acts in a like direction.
In many plants exposed to a clear sky on a frosty night, this
alteration of position means simply life or death. Darwin by many
beautiful experiments has conclusively proved this.
Many other instances of the periodic movements of leaves
might be here adduced, had I space. From the age of Pliny, who
first noticed it, down to the time when Linnaeus wrote his Soimius
plafitarum, the list of known cases has been increasing, and is
destined to increase. If som^e few enterprising seekers after fact
and truth could arrange a series of all-night watches between them
on different trees and plants, I have no doubt many would be
added to the list. We find one rule pretty generally operating ;
it is this : that plants that sleep do not get a good night's rest unless
they have been exposed to a proper degree of temperature the day
before, the degree varying of course in nearly every case. The
leaves of French Bean sleep better in full summer than in
early summer. A violent wind-shaking will sometimes keep species
oiMaranta (Arrow-root) awake for two nights in succession. Among
a perfect host of plants whose leaves sleep, we may just name the
following : Stitchwort, Mallow, Flax, Wood-Sorrel, Balsam, Ti'opoz-
olwn^ Lupine, Clovers, Loftis, Acacias, Wistaria, Milk-vetch, and
many Leguiimioscn ; Evening Primrose {CEnothera), Passion-flower,
Tobacco-plant, Polygonum, Goosefoot, Spurge, Arrowroot, and
only one among Cryptogams, namely Marsilea or Pepperwort.
II. — Sleep of Flowers. The ' Floral Clock ' of good old Linnaeus
was a happy idea, but it must be taken cum gra?io, because a dull
day or a bright one, a dry morning or a moist one will often
modify the accuracy of the statements. Still, there is no doubt
that certain flowers have a tendency, in many cases very pronounced,
to open and close at specific times, or within a few minutes of
those times.
A sufficiently accurate idea of these times may be gained from
the following list, made out by Linnaeus, but abbreviated by De
Candolle, who confirmed each instance : —
Purple Convolvulus ... ... opens at 2 a.m.
Great Bindweed „ „ 3 — 4 a.m.
Chicory , „ 5 „
ON THE POWER OF MOVEMENT IN PLANTS.
155
Dandelion, Nipplewort, and Blue
Convolvulus ... ... ... opens at 5 — 6 a.m.
Water Lilies
7 )>
Scarlet Pimpernel
8 „
Marigold
9
Red Sandwort
9 10 »
Star of Bethlehem
II n
Blue Passion-flower
noon
Pyrethrum
2 p.m
Night-flowering Catch-fly
5—6 „
Evening Primrose
6
Evening Campion
7
Night-flowering Cereus
7-8 ,,
Then, some flowers close at certain hours. Of these, just two or
three suffice. Goatsbeard closes at noon. Hence, the name given
to it by the dwellers on the Wye, of * ] ohn Go-to-bed-at-noon.'
You seldom or never see this vary outside the limits of 11.45 ^^^
12.15.
Pimpernel
Marigold
closes at 3 p.m.
jj )) 4 5 >>
J) )j 5 ))
towards sunset
Yellow-wort ...
JLJaisy ••• ... ...
Those opening at 6 p.m. or later, are really night-flowering
plants, and to make up for being unable to show their colours they
are all fragrant to a high degree, and so attract the night-moths as
their fertilizers.
Some flowers, such as the Red Sandwort, just named, close
instantly on being plucked ; others once opened remain open
until they wither, as do most Orchids. Others, like the Commercial
Flax {Liiimn)^ close a few hours after expanding, never to open
again.
Some vary in their time of expansion. Water-lily remains open
for twelve hours ; Purslane closes after an hour's expansion at
noon.
All these movements depend not on the Direction^ but on the
Intetisity of Hght ; it is needful to mark this, as will be seen. The
Mechanism of the movements is not so well known as that of the
156 ON THE POWER OF MOVEMENT IN PLANTS.
movements of leaves, but probably has to do with the contractile
power of protoplasm in the attached parts of their organs, and
with variation in turgescence.
Moisture has to do with some floral movements in what are
called Hygroscopic plants, and so we can predict meteorological
changes often with tolerable accuracy. The Siberian Sow-thistle
closes at night if the following day is going to be fine, and the
reverse. Bindweed, Marigold, and Pimpernel, if open, close on
the approach of rain. Many leaves are hygrometric, as are also
some larger Algce^ giving similar indications. Of these flowers,
Pimpernel is most reliable, keeping its petals closed if clouds are
coming or come ; open if a fine clear day is at hand. This flower
is called ' Poor Man's Weather-glass.' It is not only a very eco-
nomical barometer, but a very sure one, which is more than we
can say of some of those costing ;^20, or so ; if Pimpernel be
wide open at 9 a.m., you may leave coat and umbrella in your hall
with almost perfect safety.
The time of year at which flowers open has to do with Jjitefisity
of light, and fairly comes under our present head ; we are so accus-
tomed to regard it as a matter of course, that Daffodil opens in
March or April, Rose in June, Borage in July, Tansy in August, and
so on, that we are apt to lose sight of the ' why ' of the facts. The
* why ' lies in the amount of light needed to stir their opening
mechanism, the amount needed for them to do their work, and the
amount they can bear, so to speak, as also of heat. Plants forming
their floral-buds in the Autumn, and opening next Spring, are
usually short-flowered ; those budding and expanding in the same
year usually remain open much longer.
So it is with Geographical differences. A plant opening at 6 a.m.
in Senegal does not open here until 8 or 9 a.m., and in Sweden
not until 10 a.m. One opening in Senegal at 10, opens here at
noon, and not at all in Sweden ; one opening at noon in Senegal
will not bloom either here or in Sweden ! So plants existing, say
at Smyrna, Berlin, and Stockholm, flower in February, April, and
June respectively. Along these same lines are the 'forced' plants,
as we call them, acted on by artificially increased light and heat,
as in the cases of Hot-house and Stove plants, and those grown in
electric light.
ON THE POWER OF MOVEMENT IN PLANTS. 15?
Our last instance of Periodic or regular motion shall be taken
from the phenomenon known as Heliotropism^ or turning either
towards or away from the light.
Positive Heliotropism^ or turning towards the sun, is common
enough, and is seen in the internodes of growing stems, in petioles,
and peduncles or flower stalks. Here, the part turned to the
light — i.e.^ the concave side — is retarded in growth ; the convex side —
or part turned away from the light — grows more rapidly, a remark-
able case of inequality of growth. Among flowers, the Compositce.
furnish us with many examples, one being specially prominent —
the Sun-flower — whose peduncle twists in a circle during the day,
bringing its flower constantly toivards the sun. In the old Roman
mythology, Clytie is made to follow Sol wherever he goes, in the
form of a flower called Helioti- opium. We do not know what this
was. It was not our Heliotrope, because Ovid says it resembles a
violet in its form ; it was not our Sunflower, since this was a native
of America only, and, therefore, unknown to the Roman writer.
Ripening Corn inclines to the South, not to the North.
Negative Heliotropism — i.e.^ turning away from the light — is a
rarer phenomenon, reversing the above process, the part exposed
to the sun growing more rapidly, and therefore being convex^ the
coficave side being turned away from the sun. Cases are seen in
the older branches of the Ivy-plant, and in Vine-tendrils, by means
of which process these are enabled to cling to their support ;
also, in the tendrils of Big7ionia^ the flower stalks of Cyclame7i^
and the plasmodia, or moving masses of ^thalium. In Cyclameri^
it enables the plant to scoop a hole with its peduncle in the earth,
or sand, and bury its own seed-pods.
One example, although not truly heliotropal, I cannot omit.
The Compass-plant of the Texan and other prairies quite invari-
ably grows with the edges of its leaves North and South, the
faces or surfaces being East and West. This is done in order to
expose both surfaces to an equal amount of light, there being in
this plant an equal number of sto?nata on both surfaces.
The trappers use this plant as a compass on dark nights to
find their way by, so true is it to its purpose ; and very wonderful
is this provision for those who may be even in the daytime lost on
the prairies. Mayne Reid, Burton, Lieut. Albert, the Prince of
158 ON THE POWER OF MOVEMENT IN PLANTS.
Wales, and others testify to this. Sir J. W. Hooker says, that in
railway-journeys through these parts, we can tell at once any
change in direction by noting the position of these leaves.
" Look at this delicate plant, that lifts its head from the
meadow.
See how its leaves all point to the north, as true as the
magnet ;
It is the compass-flower, that the hand of God has sus-
pended
Here on its fragile-stalk, to direct the traveller's journey
Over the sea-Hke, pathless, hmitless waste of the desert."
Thus does Longfellow in ' Evangeline,' tell us in poetry, of a
beautiful fact in nature !
I need scarcely say, that the sleep of the flowers is, like that of
leaves, a provision for securing them from the ill effects of too great
radiation, and that the Directto?t, and not the Intensity, of light is
that which governs both positive and negative Heliotropism.
I have no space left to speak of Positive and Negative Geotrop-
ism, directing most stems upwards or away from the earth in the
latter, and roots downwards and to the earth in the former, nor of
the effects of positive Geotropism in securing a decent and useful
burial for the pods of subterranean Clover, and some other flowers.
Our second division of Class III — viz.—
B. — Induced Movements — i.e., those brought about by
mechanical stimuli, and in no way Periodic — I must also leave
untouched.
I can only indicate briefly what this division includes by
referring to —
I. — Liduced Movements in Leaves, such as may be seen in
Mimosa and Desmodium (already noted as also illustrating Periodic
motion), and in Sundew and Venus' Fly-trap {Dionosa), where
insects are the agents, sacrificing their own lives in the process.
Also to such cases as the leaves of Schinus and Rhns, which can
be made to execute a literal dance by throwing them into water.
In Utricularia, or Bladderwort, the fine, hair-like leaves are
furnished with floating bladders ; these possess valves which close
with a certain and fatal snap when the wanderings of aquatic
grosse's classification of the mallophaga. 159
insects, or the restless, prying curiosity of young fishes, lead them
to touch the bladders.
II. — Lidiiced Movements in Floral-Organs, seen in the irrita-
bility of stamens in Barberry, Pellitory, Nettle, Saxifrage, Rue,
Grass of Parnassus, Periwinkle, etc. ; in the movements of the
styles of Passion-flower, Cactuses, and others ; in the mutual
approach of stamens and styles in OnagracecB (Fuchsia), etc., and
the Mallows ; in the raising and lowering of the lahellum of many
orchids, and the central parts of the same flowers.
All these cases except the last and those of the Leaves have to
do with fertihzing processes ; those of the leaves of Drosera and
DiofiQ^a, and of the bladders of Utricularia with the actual
nutrition of the plant.
Of Climbing Plants I will, if opportunity offer, write at some
other time, and try to show the meaning of twiners, root-climbers,
hook-climbers, leaf-cHmbers, and tendril-bearers.
Sutton, Surrey ; April, i88^.
(5ro66e'6 Claeeification anb Structure of tbe
Bir&^Xice or flDaUopbaga.*
Abstract by Professor G. Macloskie.
(For the American Naturalist.)
Plate 20.
THE MALLOPHAGA, or bird-lice, are wingless insects with
incomplete metamorphosis, mandibulate mouth-parts, two
or three-segmented thorax, eight to ten abdominal somites.
They live on mammals and birds, feeding on their scales, hairs,
and feathers. The genera w^hich are found on mammals never
occur on birds, and vice versa. Redi first observed (1688) that
there are some lice with haustellate and others with mandibulate
mouth-parts. Nitsch (1842) carefully examined them, and Von
Giebel (1874) improved on his work.
* Beitrage zur Kenntniss der Mallophaga, von Dr. Franz Grosse in Strass-
burg. Zeitschrift fiir wissenschaftliche Zoologie, Bd. XLIL, pp. 530 — 558,
mitXaf. XVIII. (1885).
160
GROSSE S CLASSIFICATION AND
Nitsch divides them into two chief groups — PniLOPTERiDiE
and LiOTHEiDiE. The Philopteridae have filamentous antennae
and no palps : the Liotheidse have clavate four-jointed antennae
and palps. The Philopteridae comprise two families : (i) Tricho-
DECTES, the only genus, characterized by three-jointed antennae
and one-clawed feet; (2) Philopteridae, strictly with five-jointed
antennae and two-clawed feet.
The LiOTHEiD^ have likewise two families : (i) Gyropus, the
only genus having one-clawed feet ; and (2) Liotheid^, stricte^
with two-clawed feet.
Trichodectes and Gyropus occur only on mammals, the
other genera only on birds, and are classified according to the
presence or absence of appendages on the head (trabeculae) and
their motility, to the sexual differentiation of antennae, their atti-
tude, the form of the head, the consistency of the thoracal
somites, and the form of the last abdominal somites.
Philopterid^, strict}.
1. Trabeculae motile, antennae nearly alike in
both sexes ... ... ... Docophortis.
2. Trabecule not motile.
a. Antennae filiform, no sexual differentiation.
(«) Hind-head rounded off, terminal
somite of male rounded off ... Nmnus.
{b) Hind-head abruptly angled, abdo-
minal somites fused in the middle Goniocotes.
b. Antennas of male forcipate by a process
from the third segment.
{a) Hind-head angled, terminal somite
of female tubercle-like, of male
rounded off ... ... Goniodes.
(b) Hind-head rounded off, terminal
somite of male notched ... Lipeurus.
Liotheid/E, strict}.
I. Mesothorax wanting, antennae generally concealed.
a. Head very broad, no orbital sinus ... Eureunu
b. Head elongated, with lateral aijgles
directed backwards.
STRUCTURE OF THE MALLOPHAGA. 161
{a) With sharply marked-off clypeus and
shallow orbital sinus ... Lamohothrium.
(d) With only wavy head-margins, and
long lateral lobes on the labrum... Physostomum.
2. Mesothorax present.
a. Mesothorax large, sharply marked-off,
head three-sided, antennae concealed Trinotum.
b. Mesothorax small, only indicated.
(a) Orbital bay deep, antennae mostly
elongated and visible ... Colpocephaluin.
{b) Orbital bay very shallow or obso-
lete, antennae concealed ... Me7iopon.
Crosse's researches have been largely on a Liotheid found on
a pelican from Chili, closely related to Menopon^ and forming the
type of a new genus and species, Tetrophthalmiis chilensis. The
male is 4 — 4|mm long, the female slightly less. He also contri-
butes important emendations of our knowledge of the other
species.
Head. — In Tetrophthalmus the head is somewhat constricted,
is broader than long, slightly convex above, concave below, and
somewhat uniform, the occipital angles being rounded off. The
hinder limit of the clypeus shows on each side a notch, about a
third from the front of the head ; two dark spots are seen on each
side of the head, the larger one near the notch, the other behind
it and outwards. The antennae lie concealed in a lateral cavity of
the under side of the head (as in Lcemohothriiim^ PL XX., Fig. i, at).
Two eyes, whose pigment is seen from above, lie on each side below
and behind the antennal cavity. Hairs are distributed over the
head, along the borders, and on its ventral and dorsal surfaces.
On the under-side of the head is the funnel-shaped mouth-open-
ing, surrounded by the mandibulate mouth-parts. Crosse de-
scribes the mouth-parts of Mallophaga in detail, as previous
writers err greatly regarding them.
Labrum (oberlippe). — This is not, as in other insects, inserted
on the anterior border of the head, but in all Mallophaga it is on
the under side of the head. In all Liotheid^ it is similarly
formed (Fig. i, /^.), being a thin transverse arched swelling, with
162 grosse's classification and
chitinous margins bearing small bristles. The labrum of the
PhilopteridcB. has a broad disc-like basis fixed on the under side of
the head; and is divided by some transverse furrows (Figs. 2, 3, 5,
lb.) There is a broad furrow, separated from the mouth by a
plate of chitin, and farther forward a deep narrow furrow, next the
anterior boundary of the labrum. In the living animal the
labrum is constantly moving ; and in PniLOPTERiDiE it can adhere
to glass like a suctorial disc. The labrum can thus hold on to
hairs or feathers.
Mafidibles. — As a type, we take the mandibles of Tetroph-
thalmus (Fig. 4). They have each two strong, long teeth, some-
what different in their structure.
The under tooth of the left mandible has a protuberance with
curved point and an arched surface ; its upper tooth has two
points. The right mandible has two stout teeth, which fit the left
mandible on closing. This serves for cutting particles held
between the labrum and the first maxillae. The large pointed
teeth serve for removing dermal scales. The mandibles of the
Philopterid^ are long, triangular, and two-toothed, the teeth
short and thick (especially in genus Docophorus).
First maxiU(B. — These are conical, and have a basal and a
terminal segment or blade, distinguishable in young specimens.
The inner side of the blade has booklets (not in Docophoriis\
(Figs. 5, 6). The maxillse seem to take no part in comminuting
the food beyond aiding in its prehension. With all care Grosse
has never been able to find the palps of the first maxillae which
Nitsch ascribes to Liotheid.e. Nitsch figures them in Trinotum
conspurcatum^ but this can scarcely be correct, for he places the
four-jointed papillae on the blade near its anterior border. In
Tetrophthalmus the palps belong not to the first but to the second
maxillae. The same is true of MenopoJi pallidum, Colpocephalum
zebra, a Laemobothrium from Gypogera?ius serpentarius, and a
Trinotum from the swift, and probably is the case with all the
genera and species.
Second maxillce (unterlippe). — These are flat, fused, bounding
the mouth posteriorly. They consist, in LiOTHEiDiE, of two parts,
which are united by a transverse fold (Fig. 8). The basal part
(mentum, mt,) represents the coalescing stipites and squamse of
STRUCTURE OF THE MALLOPHAGA. 163
normal first maxillae, and bears the four-jointed labial palps. The
upper part is the ligula or glossa (g.), corresponding to the inner
blade (lacinia). Laterally on the ligula are the paraglossse (/.),
corresponding to the outer blade (galea). A chitinous band
limits the glossa where it bears the paraglossa, as if the parts of
both had coalesced.
Rudow seems to have mistaken the antennae for the labial
palps. Melnikow overlooked the labium, and erroneously com-
pared the products of the oesophageal intima with the proboscis of
Pediculina, in consequence of this false comparison referring the
Mallophaga to Rhynchota.
The labium of the Philopterid^ has no palps (Figs. 7). It
is usually triangular, with rounded angles, and is sometimes very
small, as in the genus Lipeurus, the mentum being smaller than
the ligule. The ligule is emarginated in Docophoriis and Lipeurus.
The paraglossae of Philopterid^, as in the Liotheid^e, are Hke
tactile organs, remarkably long in species of Goniodes.
In all LiOTHEiDiE the intima of the ventral end of the oral
cavity forms a fold-like duplicature as in Philopterid/e (hypopha-
rynx. Fig. 2, hy.). In LcBmobothriuin and Tetrophthalmus this
extends forward over the labium, and its lateral borders are
strongly bent upwards (Figs, i, 8, hy.).
For the study of the head Grosse made transverse and saggital
sections of specimens fresh from moulting and hardened in chromic
or picric acid. From absolute alcohol they were placed in chloro-
form, and after two hours embedded in paraffin, being kept for a
time in melted paraffin under the air-pump. The sections were
attached to the slide by means of albumen or oil of cloves,
stained by alcoholic carmine-solution, treated with acidulated
alcohol so as to show the nuclei, and then enclosed in Canada
balsam.
Thorax. — In the genera Trinotum, Colpocephalum^ and Tetroph-
thalmus^ the three thoracic somites are present, especially manifest
in the young. The prothorax of Tetrophthalmus has above a
rounded swelling, and ends forwards in a bristly point on each
side. Within the prothorax, but visible through the transparent
dorsum, is a cross-band of chitin, as in Meuopon^ for the attach-
ment of muscles. The mesothorax is much narrower than the
164 grosse's classification and
other thoracic somites. The metathorax is of trapezoidal form,
and much broader and shorter than the prothorax. The borders
of these somites are strongly chitinised. There are no wings or
rudiments of wings. The foremost of the three pairs of limbs
are the shortest, and they act as foot-jaws, drawing fragments of
food to the mouth. In the male Tetrophthalmus they are large,
and also serve for holding the female. The tibia of all the limbs
of the male have their inferior end extending into a knob with
sharp processes like a "morning star." There are only two tarsal
joints, the distal one being the longer and bearing two incurved
claws, inclosing between them a soft lobe (pulvillus). The bristles
on the tibia and the " morning-star " processes of the male serve
for holding the female, which indeed often clambers among the
feathers of the host.
Abdo7nen. — The female of Tetrophthalmus has ten abdominal
somites, the terminal one soft and rounded. The male has nine,
as the last is invaginated so as to serve as a sheath for the penis ;
the hind end of the male is pointed and more chitinised, and
more darkly coloured than in the female.
Digestive track. — Two types of crop are found in the Mallo-
PHAGA. In PHiLOPTERiDiE the crop is a lateral diverticulum of
the oesophagus ; in LiOTHEiDiE it is a club-shaped symmetrical
enlargement of the oesophagus. Kramer divides the intestine of
Lipeiirus into an oral cavity, an oesophagus, crop, chylus-stomach,
and hind-intestine. The oesophagus reaches back to the abdomen,
and has a homogeneous chitinous intima. The intima of the crop
has spines, and its cells appear to secrete a fluid. The chylus-
stomach extends to the entrance of the malpighian tubules.
Grosse finds in the oesophagus of Tetrophthalmus, behind the
hypopharynx, a chitin bar produced by thickening of the intima,
consisting of a groove-like mid-piece, and running forward and
backward into two diverging branches. The hind branches have
muscles from the occipital border of the cranium. These chitin-
ous bars are not haustellate, but support the oral intima, and in
their groove are sent along comminuted fragments of feathers,
retained by the retrorse spines and denticulations of the dorsal
part of the intima.
Goniodes has two squamous oesophagal pieces, a dorsal and a
STRUCTURE OF THE MALLOPHAGA. 165
ventral (Fig. 2, ds.^ vs.). The ventral piece has posterior processes
joined by muscles with the occipital border. The dorsal piece
sends forward a muscular bundle, which bifurcates, and its divi
sions are inserted on the anterior cranial border. Two ducts
(probably salivary) run forwards through these scale-like pieces,
uniting into one. The chylus-stomach is cordate at its beginning,
and has no chitinous intima. The hind intestine has six longitu-
dinal grooves and rectal glands, with richly branching tracheae and
a chitinous intima.
The mode of nutrition of Mallophaga is not fully ascertained.
Nitsch stated that they eat the epidermal products of birds and
mammals, and sometimes blood. Grosse finds that blood is
rarely taken, and only in cases where the bearers (birds) are so
injured or diseased as to have blood among their plumage ; and
Leuckart gives the same result as to Trichodedes canis of the dog.
In Lcemobothrium., Grosse found the intestine filled with the limbs
of its own kind, as if it ate the product of its own moulting.
Malpighian vessels. — These are four, not branched ; have a
lumen, and ganglion-cells (not separated from the lumen by any
membrane).
Salivary glands. — There are two pairs ; and exceptionally the
Philopterid^ have one-celled glands as on the crop. Grosse
found one of these cells undergoing division. The salivary organs
include salivary glands and salivary reservoirs. The glands usually
adjoin the crop or stomach, and have a cell-layer with nuclei,
covered externally and internally by a fine homogeneous epithe-
lium. Before the entrance of thin ducts into the oesophagus, a
gland and a salivary vessel unite into a common duct.
Sexual organs. — The male sexual organs are of the usual type
of insects, paired testes, spermatic ducts, a seminal vesicle, ejacu-
latory duct and penis. Nerves supply the seminal vesicle and
ejaculatory duct ; and in Tetrophthalmus the terminal somite of
the abdomen is withdrawn so as to be concealed, serving as a
sheath for the penis. The female organs consist of paired ovaries
(three pairs of ovarian tubes in Liotheid^, five pairs in Philop-
terid/e), two oviducts uniting into one and a seminal receptacle.
The egg-case has a lid which springs open at the exit of the young
insect.
VOL. V. N
166 grosse's classification and
Respiratory apparatus. — There are seven pairs of stigmas : one
in the prothorax and six abdominal. Each stigma has internally
a crown of fine hairs to protect from impurities. A pair of strong
longitudinal tracheae send branches to the stigmata and are united
to each other by a strong cross branch in the abdomen, and
smaller ones in the head and thorax.
Dorsal vessel. — Grosse could not succeed in making a prepara-
tion of this, but in the recently-moulted living animal it can be seen
pulsating through the back.
Nervous system. — This consists (in PniLOPTERiDiE) of two
cephalic ganglia and three thoracic ganglia. The preoesophageal
ganglion is much larger than the suboesophageal, and they are
united by strong commisures. The last thoracal ganglion is large,
and sends back nerves to supply the abdomen.
Antennce. — In LiOTHEiDiE these are four-segmented, club-shaped
or knobbed, the terminal segment spherical, lying in a hollow of
the sub-terminal one (Fig. i, at). In a cross-section of the termi-
nal segment of LcE??wbothrium are seen round nucleated cells,
apparently ganglionic enlargement of nerves. The Liotheidae
have the antennae alike in both sexes, but in Philopterid^ the
third segment of the antennae of the male has a lateral process,
sometimes so large as to make the antenna resemble a lobster's
claw. Nitsch states that it is for holding the female.
Eyes. — These lie on the margin of the under surface of the
head behind the antennae. Authors have hitherto ascribed a
single pair of eyes to all Mallophaga. But in all Philopterid
genera examined {Goniodes, Docophorus, Lipeurus, Nirmus) the
author found a single pair, and in all Liotheid genera {Tetroph-
thal??ius, LcBmobothritmt, Menopofi, Trinotum, and Colpocephalwii)
he found two pairs of stemmata. If this character holds good for
the remaining genera, it will still further separate the two chief
divisions of the Mallophaga.
The eyes of Mallophaga are simple, provided with a lens-
shaped thickening of the cuticle. In young specimens the eye
has no pigment, but in older specimens it has pigmented retinal
cells. The eye of LcEmobothriu7?i, examined by means of sections,
has, under the chitin-thickening (Fig. lo, /.), twenty-four pig-
mented retinal cells (r.), clavate and nucleated with nucleoli.
Journal of Microscopy, Vol. 5, PL 20.
^oc-
f.%>v
V
5
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STRUCTURE OF THE MALLOPHAGA. 167
merging gradually into the pigmented optic nerve {oji.). Each eye
is directly innervated from the precesophageal ganglion. The
hypodermal cells are interposed between the lens and the retinal-
cells, as cubic cells in old specimens, but as a hyaline body
consisting of cylindrical cells in young or recently-moulted spe-
cimens. There are no rhabdites in the eyes. The eyes of
Mallophaga resemble those of Phryganea grandis, as described
by Grenacher.
EXPLANATION OF PLATE XX.
Fig. 1. — Ventral view of head of Lcemobothrium, from Gypogeranus
serpentarius, x 30.
2. — Median section through head of Goniodes dissimilis, x GO.
3. — Labrum of Goniodes dissimilis, x 60.
4. — Right and left Mandibles of Tetrophthcdmns, x 60.
5. — Head of Lipeurus heterographus, seen from below, x 60.
6. — First maxillae of TetrophtJialmus, x 75.
7. — Second maxillae of Nirmus, x 60.
8. — Second m.six\l\8& oi Tetro2Jhthal?nus Chilensis, x 60.
9. — Second maxillae of Lcemobothrium, x 60.
10. — Eye of Lcemobothrium, seen on cross-section of the head,
X 190.
Explanation of reference letters in the figures : —
at, antennae ; ch., chitinous bar ; d.s., v.s., dorsal and ventral
parts of oesophageal sclerites ; g., glossa (ligula) ; g.s.,
glassy body; h. hypodermis ; hy., hypopharynx ; i.s., o.s.,
inner and outer side of maxilla ; I., lens-shaped chitinous
thickening ; lb., labrum (upper lip) ; l.md., r.md., left and
right mandibles ; l.jy., labial palp ; m. , muscle ; rnd., man-
dible ; mt., mentum ; mx.% first maxilke ; mx.-, second
maxillae (labium, or under lip) ; oc. , eyes ; oes. , oesophagus ;
o.n., optic nerve ; p., paraglossa ; r., retinal cells.
[ 168 ]■
®n flDaftiiiG ITlacful Collcctione of 3n6cct6 :
H plea for tbe /iDore General mse ot tbe
Compound /llMctoscope b^ Collectors*
By Robert Gillo.
THOSE who make collections of Insects ought to do so pri-
marily for two reasons : first, to study their construction
and habits ; and secondly, to admire for themselves, and
to be able to show their friends their marvellous beauty of form
and colour. I say they ought to do so, because there are those
who collect merely for the sake of making collections. To such
individuals the pleasure of acquisition is paramount, and the con-
sciousness of possessing and being able to say that they have so
many species or specimens without hardly ever seeing them, and
much less studying them in detail is their sole delight. It is true
that the desire to make a collection may be, and in fact often is,
the means of inducing an individual to commence the study, and
when he sees the immense variety of form, colour, and wonderful
modification and adaptation of the various parts, according to
the requirements and habits of the insects, clearly showing a unity
of design throughout the whole which he did not suspect, a
genuine scientific interest is awakened in him which ultimately
leads to good results.
How is it that there are so many collectors of British Butter-
flies and Moths, and so few who study any of the other orders of
insects ? I think it is not only because Butterflies are prettier
objects superficially, of larger size and more showy appearance,
but also because there is no difliculty in finding their names ;
whereas all other orders of insects are difficult to name correctly,
owing to the immense number of species, superficial resemblance,
absence of striking marks, and often their minute size, so that the
only means to effect this is by patient study and comparison of small
details ; in fact, a thorough investigation of every external part of
the insect. This, I suspect, is the real reason of so few workers
in this field. Those who collect Lepidoptera only know nothing
of the hours of close study often spent in attempting to satisfacto-
ON MAKING USEFUL COLLECTIONS OF INSECTS. 169
rily determine the name of a particularly minute insect. Of course,
they do not experience the keen pleasure which is felt when, after
a long search, it is beyond a doubt correctly named and classified.
The lepidopterist, to name his specimens, has often only to
refer to an illustration, or sometimes to get a friend to name them
for him ; but even if he has to refer to a description for the pur-
pose, the colours and markings are so striking and well distin-
guished, and the number of species so comparatively few, that it is
a matter of little or no difficulty. It may be said that the very
small moths — as, for example, the numerous family of the Tineina
— are difficult to make out, and doubtless such is the case ; but
here most collectors fail. The majority collect only the larger
species, commonly called Macros, and altogether ignore the Tor-
tricini and Tinetfia, or the Micros. This habit is so general that
lists are published of the Macro-Lepidoptera only. These ento-
mologists like the fun and excitement of collecting and showing
these large and brilliantly-coloured insects, and expatiating on
their beauty and rarity ; but are found to be sadly wanting when
required to make out the particular species of an insect, which can
scarcely be seen with the naked eye, and is, superficially, so like
dozens of other species, that it is only by an intimate knowledge
of the whole that any particular one can be determined with
certainty.
It may be urged that Butterflies are easier to obtain than other
insects, and that this is the reason why they are so generally col-
lected ; but this, however, is not really the case, for not only is the
season of collecting Lepidoptera more restricted, but the captur-
ing and bringing home are much more difficult. In proof of this,
when we speak of the insects of the entire world, or of those
of any foreign country, the case is exactly reversed, for the
greatest number of species collected and described have been of
those insects which are easiest to obtain and to send home.
Hence, the species of Beetles known and described far outnumber
those of any other order of insects. Beetles can be easily pre-
served by being placed in spirit, in which they will keep any length
of time and retain nearly their original brilliancy, and in this way
one moderate-sized bottle will suffice to contain an immense
number of specimens. Butterflies and Moths, on the other hand,
170 ON MAKING USEFUL
are, when caught and killed, not easily packed for transmission ;
the usual and, I beHeve, best plan being to wrap up each speci-
men in a triangular piece of paper and place them all in a box
together. But this method is very unsatisfactory, the insects being
liable to get rubbed, and only too often eaten up by mites before
they are relaxed and reset at home.
There have been and are now genuine workers who have
studied the Macro-Lepidoptera only. Some of these have not
only collected many rare species, but have worked out the life-his-
tory of each by rearing the insects from the eggs, and have made
accurate drawings and descriptions of the larvae and pupae. I
need only mention the very beautiful and careful drawings of the
larvae and pup^ of the Lepidoptera made by the late Mr. W.
Buckler, and of which those of the Butterflies have been published
by the " Ray Society" as their annual volume for 1885. Again,
the preserving specimens of the larvae and placing them in the
cabinet by the side of those of the perfect insects, has of late
years been prosecuted by some energetic and enthusiastic collec-
tors with great skill, one of the most successful of whom is Lord
Walsingham, whose magnificent collection is said to be a treat to
see. Another who has persevered in this line is Miss Golding-
Bird. I may also mention that several ladies have distinguished
themselves in rearing these insects through all their stages, and
would more particularly name Mrs. Hutchison, of Leominster.
Such earnest workers deserve the greatest praise, but compared
with the number of collectors these genuine entomologists are
very few.
I think one thing which prevents collectors from turning their
attention to small insects — particularly beetles — and those even
who do so from the more general study of their minute structure,
is the want of a microscope. One of our very best authorities on
Beetles says, " If you cannot determine the species of your
insect with a pocket-lens, and a Stanhope or Coddington for the
very small ones, give it up and take to collecting stamps or some-
thing similar." He, however, goes on to say, " If you want to
study the structure of your insects, you must dissect them, and
then a compound microscope is necessary." It is a fact that the
majority of collectors do not possess a microscope ; they simply
COLLECTIONS OF INSECTS, ETC. 171
examine the insect with a pocket-magnifier, and if they can see a
certain mark, spot, or peculiarity of form or colour, it is sufficient
for them because it enables them to name it. They then place it
in the collection, and there it remains. We are all liable to fall
into this way of making collections, as there is a natural feeUng of
pleasure in filling up gaps and improving the general look of our
cabinets.
Undoubtedly, the first and most important thing is to find out
the name of any insect we may have, and it is of little use to
study its habits and structure, unless it is ascertained beyond a
doubt what the insect has been called by a particular author, or if
it should be proved to be a new species, to describe it accurately,
give it a name, and pubhsh it with the description. Here is the
great use of all the systems of classification, for without a system
of nomenclature it would be impossible to name the thousands of
species we meet with in such a way that would lead to anything
but confusion.
Some popular books — no doubt, with the object of simpli-
fying the study of insects and rendering it more attractive — write
rather disparagingly of making collections of the numerous
species, and, as they say, arranging them in rows in a cabinet.
They argue that it is better to study their habits and life-history
without troubling about their long and difficult Latin names ; but
this is a fallacy, for no observations can be of any use unless it is
known beyond a doubt to what insect they refer. For this purpose
any popular or local name, even supposing the insect has one, is
often worse than useless and sadly misleading. Most of the facts
relating to insects recorded by ancient writers are, for this reason,
of very little value, because it is a matter of considerable doubt to
what insects they bore reference. Some naturalists even, from not
attending to this important point, have rendered their observations,
which would otherwise have been of great scientific value, of com-
paratively little real use.
A practical instance of this came under my notice recently.
A gentleman living near where I reside asked me if I had a speci-
men of the " Hop-Dog " in my collection, because if I had not he
could get for me as many as I might wish off the fruit-trees in his
garden. This aroused my interest, as the larva of Dasychira
172 ON MAKING USEFUL
piidibunda, or Pale Tussock Moth, is called the Hop-Dog in the
hop-growing districts ; but for it to abound on fruit-trees in Bath
was quite a new thing to me. A description which he gave me
failed entirely to enable me to discover what the insect really was
which he called the Hop-Dog, but I suspected it was not the larva
of the Tussock Moth. Fortunately, it was possible for me to go
to the garden and see the insect, when it turned out to be the
larva of Orgyia antiqua^ or the Vapourer Moth, which is very
common everywhere, even in the metropolis. He, however,
thought it was the Hop Dog, and that the wind had blown the
eggs or the insects over from the hop-gardens of Kent ! Now,
suppose for a moment that he had published his own account
either in a scientific or a local paper, how difficult, if not impos-
sible, it would have been, in after years, to have discovered the
real facts of the case !
I need not point out what a very superior and correct view of an
insect is obtained when it is seen under a good binocular micro-
scope, compared with that which it is possible to get by the use of
the pocket-lens ; but from the manner in which our cabinets are
usually arranged, the specimens are not readily available to place
under the microscope. They have to be removed from the cabi-
net, and, after examination, again replaced, this removal being in
itself attended with some considerable risk, and consequently it is
not likely to be often done. I was once shown a type collection
of small beetles that had been arranged by a foreign professor.
They were painfully exact and uniform. Each specimen was pre-
cisely the same height ; the pins were placed perfectly upright and
in straight rows. It was much admired by the gentleman who
owned it for its supreme neatness and regularity ; but he would
not on any account allow a specimen to be touched because he
was afraid he should not be able to replace it with the same regu-
larity as before ; hence the collection was useless, although the
specimens were intended as types to determine doubtful species.
I do not wish it to be understood that I advocate a slovenly
arrangement of badly-set insects; on the contrary, I think the
objects are so beautiful and interesting that a collection of them
ought to be as neat and attractive in appearance as it is possible to
make it. Nevertheless, I maintain that it may be laid down as an
COLLECTIONS OF INSECTS, ETC. 173
axiom that the true use of a collection is for reference, and that
that collection is the best which is the most useful.
Our collection should consist not only of specimens of each
species, both male and female, exhibiting both the upper and
under sides, but also any peculiar variation, and all those peculiar-
ities of structure on which the genus is founded ought to be
clearly shown, and the specimens should be in such a form as to
be readily available for examination at any moment without our
feeling that we are pulling our collection to pieces or incurring any
risk of damaging our specimens. It is to point out how I think
this end may be attained, and how a collection may be made
which shall be useful as well as ornamental, that this paper has
been written.
As I collect and study beetles only, it is about them in parti-
cular that I purpose speaking, but the same methods may be
adopted with other insects with, perhaps, some slight modi-
fications. In the first place, whatever plan or method we may
adopt to render our collection useful for reference and the speci-
mens easy of access, we must have a collection arranged in boxes
or drawers in the usual way — that is, in order of classification, and
with spaces for the whole of the known British species, so that we
may place an insect in its proper position as soon as it is deter-
mined without shifting any other specimen. This plan obviously
has its advantages ; besides, the larger species could hardly be
treated in any other manner. As I before pointed out, we ought
to have male and female specimens of each species, exhibiting both
the upper and under sides ; and those insects which fly should be
represented by at least one specimen of each sex, with wings
extended ; but in addition to this, I think, a dissection of some of
the larger and typical species, so arranged as to clearly show every
part of the external structure of the insects, would be of immense
advantage. In fact, a reference collection can scarcely be con-
sidered complete without it, as we should then be able to ascer-
tain the form and structure of any part, without, as is now usually
done, taking a specimen and picking it to pieces, and thereby
destroying it.
So far, it is very much on the lines usually carried out by all
collectors, although I have seen some extensive collections in
174 ON MAKING USEFUL
which every specimen was placed in one position, showing only
the upper side, and none with the wings extended, whilst the idea
of placing a dissection in the cabinet was quite unthought of.
The form of cabinet, and the method of mounting and arranging
the specimens may be a matter of individual taste, but even here
advantage may be gained by adopting a certain form of cabinet
and a certain system of mounting. I am strongly in favour of
using boxes in preference to drawers. They are more portable,
and do not require the glass covers which all drawers containing
insects must have. This in itself is a great advantage, for to
examine any specimen from the drawers the glass top must be
lifted out of its place. Again, if, when the collection was first
arranged, sufficient space was not left, or it has since been thought
desirable to add more specimens to illustrate peculiar varieties,
the whole of the collection must be re-arranged, which in a thirty-
drawer cabinet is such an undertaking as would scarcely be
attempted, unless all the drawers are precisely alike, and therefore
interchangeable, which is so rarely the case that practically we
may say that it never is so. Whereas, if you use boxes, it is only
necessary to introduce another box just as you would a book on
your library shelf. The size of the boxes may be a matter of
opinion. About ten by fifteen inches seems to be a very conven-
ient one, but it is certainly a mistake to have very large boxes.
They must, of course, all be of uniform size, and labelled and
numbered distinctly on the outside.
This applies alike to all orders of insects, but now my remarks
will more especially refer to Beetles. Coleopterists usually mount
each individual specimen on a separate card, taking as much care
as possible to have all those of one species on cards of uniform
size. A pin is inserted at the foot of each card, which is pushed
up to the head, so that by using pins of one size only all the spe-
cimens may be of one height. It is obvious that the only means
of removing the specimens is by using a small bent pair of pin-
cers. I prefer using cards about two inches long, and of a width
suitable to the size of the insects, and placing on each card
from two to six specimens. The size of the cards enables me to
write on the under side the name of the species, locality, and
any other information.
COLLECTIONS OF INSECTS, ETC. 175
Those who use a separate card for each specimen adopt the
plan of numbering each and keeping a book of reference. The
objection to this method is that very soon the number of speci-
mens becomes so enormous, and the entering in the reference-
book takes so much time, that it is soon discontinued. One
reason why separate cards are used is because it is often difficult
to determine whether several specimens are really of the same
species. They are, therefore, mounted singly, and put aside for
consideration at some future time, whereas if they are to be asso-
ciated together on the same card, this point must be decided at
once. This is, I think, rather an advantage than a drawback, as
these difficult points get cleared up at once instead of being put
off and forgotten, and perhaps never properly worked out at all.
I now come to the points to which I feel many collectors
would object. I think we ought also to have specimens mounted
in such a form that they can be placed on the stage of the micro-
scope at once, and at the same time to be so protected that they
may not get injured by repeated handling and examination. This
object, it seems to me, may be attained by mounting the insects
on the usual three-by-one inch glass slips in a dry cell as solid
objects. After trying various kinds of cells, I found nothing at
that time better than cardboard, punched out with a gun-punch,
and stuck on with gum-tragacanth, to which some drops of car-
bolic acid had been added. The cells were made of the required
depth by building up, piece upon piece, as many thicknesses of
card as were necessary, and when dry the inside of the cell was
brushed over with benzole, containing about lo per cent, of car-
bolic acid. The insects were placed in the cells, and attached
with the smallest quantity of gum-tragacanth, and, if not too deli-
cate, such as the green weevils, were lightly brushed over with
benzole. This removes grease, which is a condition Beetles are
very likely to assume, and effectually prevents the growth of
fungi. The precaution was also taken, before putting on the
cover-glasses, to place the slides in a moderately hot oven for a
short time, so as to ensure their being quite dry. They were then
covered with coloured paper in the usual way, and distinctly
labelled, marking not only the name and locality of the specimen,
but the peculiarity, if any, which the particular slide was intended
176 ON MAKING USEFUL
to show. The glass slips were of the commonest quality, selected
thin and flat, and cut to the exact size. The edges were not
ground, but the extreme sharpness was removed from them by
dragging one edge over another, and if this is thoroughly done it
is a very good substitute for ground and smoothed edges. I think
the plan I have described better than metal, porcelain, or glass
cells sealed up hermetically, as dry mounts often fail owing to
imprisoned moisture. One may suppose that a cell of cardboard
which is not perfectly air-tight would be best. However, be this
as it may, I found all to go well for a time, but after some months
I noticed some of the larger Beetles showing signs of the old
enemy, grease. This, of course, was fatal, so I set to work to
find another and I hoped a better way. I thought of a metal
cell, with a cover which could be removed when viewing the
object ; in fact, something like a small, shallow box with a lid to
it. The next thing was to see if such a cell could be obtained,
and I found that it would in the first place be necessary to have
special dies made. The cost, however, of these was such that it
was quite out of the question. Then I thought of pill-boxes, and
I think I have secured all the advantages wished for in a very
simple way, by merely affixing a pill-box of one inch in diameter
of the kind known as "Frank's Postal Pill-Boxes" on the centre
of a slip of glass, which has been previously papered; and to
prevent particles of paper being frayed off and getting on the
objects, the pill-boxes were brushed over inside and out with
shellac varnish or patent knotting. This very much strengthens
them and improves them in every way. The plan of varnishing
all pill-boxes used for collecting purposes is a very good one, as
they then last very much longer and are not readily affected by
damp. Mounted in this way, the objects can be readily treated
with the proper remedies if anything goes wrong with them, and
there is not the interference of the cover-glass, which is an im-
portant consideration, if it is wished to view the object at all
obliquely.
Of all the larger species, dissections of the mouth-organs may
be easily made and mounted in this way. Dissections will not be
required of every species, but only of those typical of the genera,
or that show any striking pecuUarity. The very large insects
COLLECTIONS OF INSECTS, ETC. 177
cannot, of course, be mounted in these boxes entire, but they are
few in number, and parts of them exhibiting all their characteris-
tics may be readily preserved, and be of every use, whilst the
entire insects would be kept elsewhere in the usual cabinets.
There is another plan which has many advantages — namely,
using the largest-size homoeopathic pillule tubes (not bottles), and
mounting the insects on strips of card the length and width of the
inside of the tube. These strips are attached to the corks by
being pushed into a cut made with a penknife, so that the card is
not only kept in position in the tube, but on taking out the cork,
the strip of card with the insects on it comes out also, and in a
way convenient for viewing. The genus and species of each
should be written on the back of the card. Of course, these
tubes must have a specially constructed cabinet, with hollows for
their reception, so that each may lie securely and not be loosely
rattling about. One advantage of this method is the total freedom
from any chance of their being attacked by mites.
Specimens of most of the medium-sized insects should be
rendered transparent and mounted in balsam without pressure.
The details of the process for accomplishing this I have described
in the Journal of Microscopy^ July, 1885, p. 151. When any
insect is prepared in this way, all the organs can be seen in their
proper position and can be examined with any power of the micro-
scope, so as to make out the exact shape and character of any
particular part. Of the larger species, heads should be prepared
in this manner, and it will be found that the best result is obtained
by cutting the head in halves at the sides, so as to have the
clypeus, labrum, and mandibles in one object, and at the side, or
above it, the ventral portion of the head — namely, the mentum,
labium, maxillae, palpi, etc. — as another object, but mounted in
the same cell. The smaller insects and parts of larger ones may-
be mounted in balsam in the usual way with pressure. This
method, at the best, somewhat distorts the shape of the insect,
and alters the relative position of the parts ; but as we have the
same insect as a solid object to refer to as a guide to general form
and colour, this is not of so much moment. The method has
many advantages, particularly for small objects, when used in its
proper sphere.
178 ON MAKING USEFUL COLLECTIONS OF INSECTS.
These slides must, of course, be kept in the usual microscopic
cabinet. That form in which each slide lies flat is decidedly pre-
ferable. Each slide must bear a distinctly marked number, so
that it may be replaced in the cabinet in a moment. For finding
them a register must be kept having an index to the genera at the
end. Having found the page in the register where the genus
occurs, it is very easy to find the species and the particular object,
which will show exactly what is wanted.
I fear many entomologists will object to the system I have
tried to sketch out on account of the trouble and time it would
take to make a collection with any completeness in this way. No
doubt it would take a good deal of time and a great deal of appli-
cation, but I maintain that the genuine student of Nature knows
no such thing as trouble, and if the time at his disposal is not
sufficient to deal with the whole of the Coleoptera, for instance,
let him take one group, such as the Geodephaga or the Hydrade-
phaga, and work it out in a genuine and conscientious way. Not
only would his collection be more useful and interesting, but the
information he would be able to impart would be of considerable
scientific value. It is decidedly better to take a group and make
a collection of it in as complete a way as possible, and to study the
structure of the insects so as really to know something about them,
than it is to collect thousands of species, and merely place them
in drawers or boxes, and know nothing more about them than
simply to recognise the insects at sight.
In conclusion, I would wish most emphatically to express my
conviction, whether the foregoing ideas of making collections be
accepted or not, that certainly the majority, if not all, of our col-
lectors of insects would get on better and make more genuine
advancement if they would use the compound microscope more
generally than they do.
[ 179 ]
Zbc flDicro0Copc anb Ibow) to '\ri6C it
By V. A. Latham, F.M.S.
Part VII.
Hardening Agents. — The most essential point in microscopic
investigation is the proper hardening of the material to be exa-
mined, and this must be done gradually, as if any tissue is placed
in a strong solution the elements of which it is composed at once
shrink, and it is impossible to form a correct idea of their nature.
It will be impossible to give more than the usual strengths of the
fluids, as it is only by constant practice and experience that the
strengths can be learnt ; each fluid differing slightly for the various
organs, and most histologists use various strengths. Hardening
solutions, as a rule, do not require filtering. The best plan is to
make a large quantity at a time — say, a Winchester quart,* which
holds about 2,400 cc. of water. This quantity should be mea-
sured into the bottle, and the height of the fluid marked on it with
a diamond. The amount of the chemical used should be written
on the label, so that when a new supply is wanted the bottle has
only to be held under the tap until the water reaches within a few
inches of the mark. The quantity of the hardening agent is then
weighed out and put in the funnel, and the bottle filled up to the
mark. This method answers with substances which dissolve
readily ; others have to be pounded in a mortar with warm water.
A. — Hardening.
Chromic Acid, i per cent, solution. — Weigh 10 grammes of
crystallised chromic acid, and dissolve in i litre of distilled water.
This can be diluted as required. I generally make a i — 6th per
cent. (15 grammes to the pint).
Chromic Acid and Spirit.— The most useful hardening agent
is this mixture : — Make a i — 6th per cent, solution — i gramme to
600 cc, or 15 grains to the pint. Take of this 2 parts, and ordin-
ary methylated spirit i part. Stir and allow to cool before using.
To use the solution, the material must be cut into small pieces,
* A Winchester quart is a'glass bottle holding about half-a-gallon, — Ed.
180 THE MICROSCOPE
about a quarter to half-an-inch square, and a large quantity of
fluid used ; a large, wide-mouthed, stoppered bottle, holding from
six to ten ounces, according to the quantity of material, is best.
Change the fluid at the end of twenty-four hours, and again every
third day, and the material will be hardened in from eight to
twelve days, as can be easily proved by taking out a piece and
feeling it. If not hard enough, they feel elastic like India rubber
when slightly pressed between the thumb and finger. If allowed
to remain too long, it gets brittle. When it is found to be mode-
rately hard, usually after about eight or ten days, pour off the
chromic acid mixture, and wash well ; replace it by dilute spirit,
made thus : — Methylated spirit, 2 parts ; and water, i part. Let
the material remain in this for from twenty-four to thirty-six hours,
never longer than three days, and then replace it by pure methy-
lated spirit. It may remain in this for an indefinite time, but it
will often be found that the spirit becomes cloudy and full of
deposits in a few days. In this case, it is only necessary to
change the spirit until it remains clear. In some cases a i — 6th
solution of chromic acid may be used without the spirit with
advantage. In other cases, it may be necessary to use a solution
much weaker, as a i — loth per cent.
Chromic and Bichromate Solution.— Dissolve i gramme
chromic acid and 2 grammes potassium bichromate in 1,200 cc.
water.
Chromic and Nitric Fluid. — Chromic acid, i gramme; water,
200 cc. ; then add slowly 2 cc. nitric acid.
Chromic and Osmic Acids. — A mixture of chromic acid with a
few drops of osmic acid is often very useful, as it combines the
advantages of both reagents. Since I used the above, Dr. Max
Flesch has brought out a modification, which is as follows : —
Osmic acid, o-io ; chromic acid, 0*25; distilled water, 100
parts. Mix. It answers particularly well for the auditory organs
of smaller animals, many details of structure of the cochlea
coming out with quite diagrammatic clearness. The hairs of the
air-cells are, however, mostly lost. It answers well for examina-
tion of the growth of bone in the epiphyses of small animals, and
for general views of the retina, conjunctiva, cornea, and eyelids. In
AND HOW TO USE IT. 181
these latter many details suffer, especially the bacillary layer of
the retina. The objects for examination are placed fresh in the
fluid, and kept there from twenty-four to thirty-six hours. There
is no need to keep them in the dark, as the osmic acid, in con-
junction with chromic acid, does not undergo such rapid changes
by light as when alone. In the case of cochlea, young bones,
etc., a further treatment with 0*25 per cent, to 0*5 per cent, of
chromic acid may be necessary for complete decalcification. The
object is then washed and placed in spirit, and the sections, when
cut, may either be examined in glycerine, or treated successively
with alcohol and turpentine, and then mounted in Canada Balsam.
The great advantages of this fluid are its rapid hardening proper-
ties^ and the fact that no further staining is necessary, the osmic
acid giving sufficient colour to the cells even when mounted in
balsam.
Muller's Fluid takes a longer time to prepare than chromic
acid. It is made as follows : — Bichromate of Potass., 2 parts ;
sulphate of soda, i part; water, 100 parts. The ingredients
should be pounded in a mortar, and then warm water added
until they are dissolved. The advantages of this mixture are,
first, that larger pieces can be hardened in it ; second, it does not
require changing after the first week or two, but it will take from
five to seven weeks to harden anything, according to its size.
When sufficiently hardened, wash well and place in dilute spirit,
as recommended for the chromic acid mixture.
Muller's Fluid, a Variation of (sometimes called Ehrlich's
hardening solution). — Take bichromate of potash^ 2 to 2 J parts ;
sulphate of copper (J per cent, solution) i part (instead of
sulphate of soda) ; and water, 100 parts. The hardening proper-
ties are far superior to those of Muller's fluid.
Muller's Fluid and Spirit.— Three parts of Muller's fluid and
I part of methylated spirit. It is good for nerve tissues, muscle,
and retina. This must be kept in a dark place to prevent the
chromium salts from separating.
Methylated Spirit. — Many tissues can be hardened in spirit
alone if they are placed in dilute spirit at first, so that the ele-
VOL. v. o
182 THE MICROSCOPE
ments of which they are composed are not shrunk. This process
is also used after hardening by any of the other methods. Dilute
spirit is made by adding i part of water to 2 parts of methylated
spirit. Material to be hardened must not be left in the mixture
more than from twenty-four to forty-eight hours ] then transferred
to pure spirit.
Bichromate of Potash, i or 2 per cent, solution. — Dissolve 20
grammes of the salt in i litre of water. A solution can be made
much more quickly with warm water than with cold. The harden-
ing of the material takes from three to seven weeks, according to
the size of the specimen, and the frequency with which the solu-
tion is changed.
Bichromate of Ammonia.— A 2 to 5 per cent, solution is used
precisely in the same manner as the former. Useful for Brain,
Spinal Cord, and Nervous System generally.
Ammonium Chromate.— Make a 5 per cent, solution — that is,
I oz. of the salt to 20 ounces of water, or 5 grammes to 100 cc,
and filter. It hardens fresh tissue as the mesentery in twenty-four
hours, which must then be washed until no more colour comes
away, and is invaluable for revealing the rod-like structure in the
renal epithelium of the kidney, and demonstrating the existence
of the intra-cellularand nuclear plexus of fibres in cells.
Absolute Alcohol.— Of s.g., 0795. This hardens very rapidly,
in twenty-four hours ; but it causes considerable shrinking, though
it is invaluable for gastric mucous membrane and for secretory
glands in general — e.g.^ salivary glands and pancreas. Tissues
become stained very readily after hardening in pure alcohol.
Ranvier's Alcohol (Alcool au tiers). — Mix i part of rectified
spirit with 2 parts of distilled water.
Iodine. — One part of iodine combined with 3 parts of iodide
of potassium to 500 of water is used for tinging animal cells. It
serves for the recognition of amylum, and, in combination with
sulphuric acid, of amyloid substances and cellulose.
Caustic Potash (hydrate of potassa). — Thirty per cent, to 35
AND HOW TO USE IT. 183
per cent, solutions are excellent re-agents. An exposure of from a
quarter to half an hour or more is an extremely useful means of
isolating muscular and nerve elements, glandular passages, and
even ordinary ciliated and olfactory cells.
Chloride of Iron is used by Billroth and Fiihrer for hardening
spleen, which becomes sufficiently hardened in from one to two
hours in a solution of the colour of Madeira or Malaga wine.
Chloride of Mercury.— The chemical effects of the sublimate
are well known. Macerating for several days in a solution of this
salt may be advantageously used for hardening and isolating the
axis cylinders. This re-agent forms an element of several very
serviceable preservative fluids.
Chloride of Platinum hardens and gives flattened organs a
diffused yellow tinge. Equal portions of chromic acid and chlo-
ride of platinum (each i '400) are recommended for the connective
tissue framework of the retina.
Alcohol and Acetic Acid renders spinal cord marvellously
clear, even in a few hours, and permits many things to be better
recognised than by any other methods. The recipe is, naturally,
to be modified according to necessity. The proportions usually used
are 3 parts alcohol with i part acetic acid (L. Clarke).
Moleschott's Strong Mixture modified from Clarke's Method.
Strong acetic acid (I'oyo s.g.), i part; alcohol (o*8i5 s.g.), i part;
distilled water, 2 parts. Very serviceable for hardening many
organs ; causes connective tissue portions to become transparent,
renders albuminous matters distinctly prominent.
Beale's Alcohol, Acetic, and Nitric Acid, for Examination of
Epithelial Structures, etc. — Water, i ounce ; glycerine, i ounce ;
spirit, 2 ounces ; acetic acid, 2 drachms ; hydrochloric acid, h
drachm.
Alcohol and Soda. — Eight to ten drops of caustic soda to each
ounce of alcohol. Tissues are rendered very hard and transparent,
particularly adapted for investigating calcareous matter deposited
in various morbid processes ; also, in tracing the stages of ossifica-
184 THE MICROSCOPE AND HOW TO USE IT.
tion in the early embryo. A foetus, prepared by being soaked for
a few days in this fluid, and preserved in weak spirit, forms a very
beautiful preparation. Useful also for soft granular organs, and of
special service for the liver (Beale).
CoUodium is used for recognising the axis cylinder of nerve
fibres.
Sulphuric Acid is useful in investigating horny structures (the
cornified epitheHum, the nails and hair), and for isolating the cells
of these tissues. Alone, or combined with iodine, it forms a good
re-agent for cholestrin, and in combination is useful for cellulose
and amyloid substances. Sugar and sulphuric acid redden many
organic substances, such as albuminous and amyloid bodies, oleic
acid, etc.
Nitric Acid, mixed with chlorate of potash, destroys connec-
tive tissue in a short time, and is therefore a good medium for
isolating muscular fibres (Kiihne). Strong acid is used for isolat-
ing connective tissue corpuscles, bone corpuscles and their pro-
cesses, and also for dentinal canals.
Hydrochloric or Muriatic Acid dissolves the intercellular sub-
stance of connective tissue organs, and for isolating the connective
tissue corpuscles and their radiating tubular systems, as in the
cornea, teeth, and bones. It also dissolves the intercellular sub-
stance of the muscles (Aeby) and of the urinary tubes (Henle).
Pyroligneous Acid (or acidum pyrolignosum rectificatum) is
used for rendering connective tissue structures transparent, and,
with a certain pre-dilection, is used also for pathological tissues,
for recognition of corneal cells and contents, course of nerves in
sub-mucous connective tissue, structures imbedded in connective
tissue, as pathological new formations, glandular elements, and for
extracting the bone earths from calcified cartilage and from normal
and pathological bone-tissues.
Acetic Acid renders muscles transparent, so that the nerve
terminations may be discerned, and vinegar is used to boil such
animal tissues as are to be dried.
[185]
Selcctcb IRotee from tbe Societ?'6
1Rote^Booft0*
staining. — I think there can be no doubt that staining adds to
the value of a shde. It differentiates the component parts of
tissues, and enables the elements to be recognised with much more
facility. Not that an educated eye cannot distinguish them
without staining, but I find from experience that in demonstrating
histological specimens to men who see the structure for the first
time, it is useless to show unstained ones. I have used chiefly
hsematoxylin and carmine fluids. Carmine does not as a rule
stain so evenly as hsematoxyHn, and it takes a much longer time,
which is an objection with delicate sections, and, moreover, there
is such a glare caused by it — especially when working at night —
that the object becomes more or less hazy, thus counteracting to
some extent the value of the staining. The fluid which I always
use, and which I strongly recommend, is as follows : — Extract of
HaematoxyHn, i drachm (60 gr.); Alum, 3 drachms (180 gr.). To
be well rubbed together in a mortar, and then 5 drachms of water
added by degrees whilst still triturating. Filter, and to the filtrate
add Rectified Spirit, J drachm. For use, three or four drops of
this fluid should be added to two drachms of water in a watch-
glass, and the mixture carefully filtered, as some precipitation
occurs. E. C. BOUSFIELD.
Spine of Dog-Fish.— The "spine" (scale) of dog-fish, like that
of other placoid fishes, shows an approach to tooth-structure ; the
dentinal tubules are stouter and more branched, and less parallel
than those of the mammalian tooth, though closely resembling
those of the teeth of some fishes. The enamel seems absent.
H. F. Parsons.
Shell of a Brachiopod. — Brachiopods differ from ordinary
bivalves, in that the valves are front and back, instead of right and
left. The ventral valve is prolonged in many species into a perfo-
rated beak, like that of an ancient Roman lamp ; hence, they are
called "lamp shells." There are also internal anatomical differ-
ences so great, that by some modern zoologists the Brachiopods
are removed altogether from the Mollusca. The existing Brachio-
pods are the few lingering remnants of a once numerous family.
If nobility be measured, as some people measure it, by length of
186 SELECTED NOTES FROM
pedigree rather than by personal quahties, the Brachiopods may
claim to be the aristocracy of the animal kingdom, for they have
existed almost unchanged from the time when nearly the earliest
fossiliferous rocks were deposited to the present day. The shells
are generally well preserved both in form and structure. Terabra-
tula mferjuedia is a large oolitic species, one of the common and
characteristic fossils of the corn-brash. It often retains traces of a
yellowish colour. The shell of Terabratiila is composed of elon-
gated prismatic fibres, placed obliquely to the surface, and perfo-
rated by numerous minute canals, which run from the inner surface
nearly to the outer, and in the recent state contain processes of
the mantle.
In Rhynchonella the structure is similar, but the perforations
are wanting. Rhyjichoiiella obsoleta is a long species, common in
the Bradford clay (lower oolite). The cavity in the specimen before
us is filled with crystals of calcite. Such slides should be viewed
with the polariscope and selenite.
H. F. Parsons.
Proboscis of Drone Bee.— Is the shortness of the proboscis of
the Drone Bee the cause of the shortness of its life, and does it
die of hunger after being driven from the hive ?
E. Hunter.
Staining. — The logwood stains have become general favourites
among surgeons, especially those in hospital practice, as the rapid-
ity of action enables a portion of excised tissue to be stained and
examined before the patient is removed from the operating table.
Schaffer's formula, substantially the same as Mr. Bousfield's, is as
follows : — Five grammes Extract of Logwood and 5 grammes Alum
rubbed up thoroughly in a mortar with 100 cc. Water. The mix-
ture to be covered and allowed to stand overnight, then filter, and
add a few drops of Peroxide of Hydrogen. Will keep for two or
three weeks, but requires to be filtered immediately before use.
W. Teasdale.
Shell of Box Fish.— The hexagonal plate of the defensive
armour and the dentated suture of this sluggish fish suggest
extreme facility for the growth of the animal by marginal accretion
of new material. I bought three little box fishes from a Parsee at
Suez some fifteen years ago, but have reason to suppose that they
came from the China and not from the Red Sea, although they
are found in both, and also in the waters which lave the shores of
THE society's NOTE-BOOKS. 18?
intertropical America. In some of the species a transverse sec-
tion of the body is triangular in outline, in others quadrangular,
and because my little specimens were triangular, I perhaps too
hastily adopted the specific name, Triquetra^ which belongs to the
largest of the genus, about i8 inches long, whereas mine are
barely three inches long.
Washington Teasdale.
Templetonia nitida is one of the scale-bearing Podura, figured
in Mr. Mclntyre's paper in Science Gossips Vol. III., p. 57. It
is not, I believe, considered a " test " scale. Templetonia nitida
well deserve their name ) they are very pretty, cream white, active
little fellows. I have generally a few about my window plants,
with the curious Campodea.
H. E. Freeman.
Parasite of Elephant— Idolocoris v- Hsematomyzus Elephantis
— is well figured and described by Mr. Richter in Science Gossips
187 1, p. 131, and is also mentione din Murray's Econoniic Ento-
mology as H, Elephantis^ on p. 385. It is considered to come
between the Pediculidce and the Cimicidce. " It resembles the
former in the number of joints in and structure of the antenna,
in the number of segments of the abdomen, and in the single
claw terminating the tarsi. It differs from bugs in the antennse,
in the unjointed and produced rostrum, and in the single tarsal
claws. The spines of the body and extremities are also quite un-
like the characteristic spines of the bugs. The structure of the
rostrum is very complex, and with its reflected plates or teeth it
somewhat resembles the central organ of the trophi of the Ixodes.
Eyes simple. In every particular this strange little insect
appears to be exactly fitted for the locality where it is stated to
occur " (Richter). It appears to me to come nearer to the
Hcematophini than the bugs, while it also approaches the Ixodes,
as indicated by the rostrum ; at any rate it is a fine illustration of
adaptation to peculiar circumstances.
H. E. Freeman.
Templetonia nitida is one of the spring-tailed family which
has proved so destructive to the underground telegraph wires.
There is a very excellent monograph on the family by Sir John
Lubbock, and published by the Ray Society. The genus was
named Tenipleto?iia by him.
W. H. Preece,
188 EEViEWS.
Fredericella Sultana. — This is one of the fresh-water Polyzoa.
Some of the tentacles are extended. This was effected by placing
a portion of the Polyzoa in a deep vessel containing a little
water ; then, seeing that the tentacles were extended, I suddenly
added boiling water, which appeared to produce instant death.
If instead of merely mounting the houses^ as is usually the case,
we could have the inmates peeping out of the windows, collections
of marine and fresh-water Polyzoa would be much more interest-
ing. The boiling-water plan appears to me likely to prove effect-
ual, but if any friends have had better success with alcohol or
osmic acid, the information would be welcomed by many.
Isaac C. Thompson.
Practical Introduction to Chemistry. By W. A. Shen-
stone, Lecturer on Chemistry in Clifton College. Crown 8vo, pp. xiv. — 109.
(London: Rivingtons. 1886.) Price 2s.
This little book is intended to give pupils a sound knowledge of some of
the chief elementary facts of chemistry. This, the author very properly
insists, can only be done by habituating them to experiment, to observe, and
write out clear accounts of the results of each experiment for themselves. He
also advocates the early use of the balance and other instruments of precision,
in order to obtain quantitative results. This must prove a handy little work
for young pupils who are taught to use their own hands in chemical work.
The Chemist's Pocket Book ; for Chemical Manufacturers,
Metallurgists, Dyers, Distillers, Brewers, Sugar Refiners, Photographers,
Students, etc. By Thomas Bayley, Assoc. R.C.Sc.L Fourth edition.
(London : E. & F. N. Spon, 125, Strand.) Price 5s.
This small Pocket Book will save every practical chemist who uses it a
vast amount of time in searching various publications for special tables and the
technical information he requires. It is nicely got up, and the type, though
necessarily small, is clear, It should meet with a large sale, as it appears to
supply a distinct want.
A Manual of Chemistry. By A. Dupre, Ph.D., F.R.S.,
etc. etc., and H. Wilson Hake, Ph.D., F.C.S., etc.; with a coloured table of
Spectrae. (London : C. Griffin and Co. 1886.) Price 7s. 6d.
This is a well written and nicely-arranged text-book, which will be found
useful to chemical students of all classes. Amongst its more prominent
features are the physiological actions of the substances on which it treats, and
the very useful footnotes giving the origin of many of the technical terms used.
We are pleased to be able to recommend it heartily.
Qualitative Chemical Analysis, Inorganic and Organic.
Part I. — Elementary Stage. For Schools and Science Classes. By J. Patchett,
F.C.S., 1st B.Sc. (Lond.). Crown 8vo, pp.44. (Leeds: Bean and Son ;
London : Simpkin, Marshall, and Co.) Price is.
REVIEWS. 189
A little work of 44 pages, giving the chief tests for 24 metals, and the
principal acids. It is quite elementary. Its chief feature consists in the
reactions which occur during each test being given under the test in the form
of an equation.
Signs and Seasons. By John Burroughs, author of " Wake,
Robin," " Winter Sunshine," etc. Royal i6mo, pp. 289. (Edinburgh :
D. Douglas. 1886.) Price 6s.
A book with which the naturalist will be charmed. The table of
contents embraces — A Sharp Look-Out, A Spray of Pine, Hard Fare, The
Tragedies of the Nests, A Snow Storm, etc. etc. It is a book full of interest-
ing facts relating to the Animal and Vegetable Worlds.
Sea-Weeds, Shells, and Fossils. By Peter Gray, A.B.S.
Edin., and B. B. Woodward, of the British Museum. Post Svo, pp. 94.
English Coins and Tokens. By Llewellyn Jewitt, F.S.A.
With a Chapter on Greek and Roman Coins by Barclay V. Head, M.R.A.S.,
etc. Pp. 128. (London : Swan Sonnenschein, Le Bas, and Lowrey. 1886.)
Price IS. each.
The above form two volumes of "The Young Collector" very useful
series of books ; a series with which we are much pleased. They each give a
good epitome of the subjects of which they treat, and are both well illustrated.
The volume on Coins gives also a good account of many of the Trader's
Tokens of the 17th century, whilst that on Sea- Weeds, Shells, and Fossils,
gives some good hints as to where the collector should look for these things,
and how to arrange and preserve them when obtained.
Where did Life Begin ? A Brief Enquiry as to the
Probable Place of Beginning and the Natural Courses of Migration therefrom
of the Flora and Fauna of the Earth. A Monograph, by G. Helton Scribner.
Post 8vo, pp. vi. — 64. (New York : C. Scribner and Sons. 1883.)
In this little Monograph the author bases his arguments on the generally
accepted theory of the gradual cooling of the earth, and that consequently
the poles must at one time have been the only spots capable of sustaining life.
We think his arguments throughout are very reasonable.
Rus IN Urbe : or, Flowers that Thrive in London Gardens
and Smoky Towns. By Mrs. Haweis. Illustrated. Sq. i6mo, pp. 136.
(London : Field and Tuer.) Price is.
Mrs. Haweis assures us that many plants ivill grow in London, if only
proper means be adopted ; and it is her object in writing this little book to
tell how that object may be attained. The book is divided into three parts —
The House with a Garden ; The Garden in the House ; and What will Grow ;
followed by a long list of Trees, Shrubs, Ferns, etc. etc.
A Book About Bees : Their History, Habits, and Instincts ;
together with the First Principles of Modern Bee-Keeping for Young Readers.
By Rev. F. G. Jenyns, Rector of Knebworth. With Introduction by the
Baroness Burdett-Coutts. Post Svo, pp. xxiv. — 200. (London : Wells,
Gardner, Dalton, and Co. 1886.) Price 3?. 6d
This little book, which is most pleasantly written, gives a very plain
account of the Habits, the Work, and in fact the Natural History of the Bee.
The best kind of Hives are described, and full instructions for the manage-
ment and care of Bees. It is nicely illustrated with several full-page and
smaller engravings.
190 REVIEWS.
The Scientific Angler : Being a general and instructive
work on Artistic Angling. By the late David Foster (compiled by his sons).
Crown 8vo, pp. viii. — 354. (London : Bemrose and Sons. 1886.) Price 3s.
The work before ns, now in its third edition, goes very thoroughly into
the science of Angling. It treats of the Habits and Haunts of Fish, Bottom
Fishing, and Pike Fishing. There is a good chapter on Piscatorial Entomo-
logy, in which a great variety of Artificial Flies are discussed, coloured plates
of the real and artificial flies being given side by side. Several plates are
also devoted to Apparatus.
How TO Photograph Microscopic Objects : A Manual
for the Practical Microscopist. By J. H. Jennings. 8vo, pp. 36. (New
York : E. and H. T. Anthony and Co.) Price 50c.
The instructions here given appear to be very practical. We do not
remember to have seen the book published by an English firm, although the
publishers tell us that " the author's standing among English scientific
workers is a sufficient guarantee for the thoroughness of the methods described."
The subjects treated of may be briefly described as follows : — The Micro-
scopical Photographic and Illuminating Apparatus; Exposing the Plate;
Development ; Defects in the Negative ; Printing ; Preparing Objects for
Photography, etc.
The Amateur Photographer : A Manual of Photographic
Manipulation, intended especially for Beginners and Amateurs. By Ellerslie
Wallace, jun., M.D. Crown 8vo, pp. 205. (Philadelphia: Porter and Coates.)
Price $i"oo.
This is an excellent hand-book, containing a large amount of information.
The directions appear sufficiently practical and complete to enable anyone to
learn the photographer's art. The table of contents embraces all the usual
subjects, including microscopic photography. The volume is nicely bound and
illustrated with suitable engravings and a fine silver-print frontispiece.
The Homes of the Birds. By M. K. M., Author of " The
Birds we See," etc. Crown 8vo, pp. 243. (London : T. Nelson and Sons.
1886.) Price 2s.
In a series of seventeen very interesting chapters the author conducts us to
the homes of the birds, and gives us an account of their natural history ;
some of the scenes visited being — The Mountain and Desert, The Ocean and
Shore, The River-side, etc. The book is illustrated with 65 engravings by
Giacomelli.
The Butterflies of the Eastern United States, for
the use of Classes in Zoology and Private Students. By G. H. French, A.M.
Crown 8vo, pp. 402. (Philadelphia, U.S*A. : J. B. Lippincott and Co.
1886.) Price |2.
This work gives a brief description of the several stages of butterflies,
their habits, methods of capture, killing, and preservation, rearing butterflies
from eggs and larvce. The accentuated list of butterflies will be found very
serviceable for young students and collectors. The book is nicely printed and
well illustrated.
Hazell's Annual Cyclopedia, 1886. Edited by E. D.
Price, F.G.S. Revised to the end of March, 1886. Crown 8vo, pp. xii., 566.
(London : Hazell, Watson, and Viney. 1886.) Price 3s. 6d.
REVIEWS. 191
This most useful Cyclopedia contains nearly 2,000 concise and explanatory
articles on every topic of current political, social, and general interest referred
to by the Press and in general conversation. It is claimed for it that it provides
UP TO DATE information only on such subjects as are now, or are likely soon
to be, in the mind of the public, thus forming a companion to the newspaper
and a guide to every-day topics of conversation. It contains an unusual
amount of most valuable information.
Stories of my Pets : Tales of Birds, Beasts, and Reptiles.
By the Author of " Moravian Life in the Black Forest," etc. Crown 8vo,
pp. 240. (London : Swan Sonnenschein and Co. 1886.) Price is. 6d.
In this very cheap little book we have some capital stories, which we are
informed by the author are all true. Many of the pets really belonged to him,
and their wonderful little ways and doings are in nowise exaggerated. The
tales are charmingly told, and must interest young readers.
The Queen's Resolve : " I will be good " ; with Anecdotes
and Incidents. A Humble Memorial. By Rev. Charles Bullock, B.D.
Royal 8vo, pp. 64. (London : Home Words Office. 1886.) Price 2s. 6d.
This handsomely got up volume, by the Editor of Home Words, forms a
graceful memorial of her Majesty's Jubilee, and will doubtless be read with
much interest by a great number of her loyal subjects. The frontispiece to the
volume is a likeness of the Queen from life, by George H. Thomas, from a
picture lent by the Earl of Bradford, and bears her autograph. The other
illustrations are numerous and good.
Man and his Handiwork. By the Rev. J. G. Wood.
Crown 8vo, pp. xii, 668. (London : Society for Promoting Christian Know-
ledge. 1886.) Price los. 6d.
This is, we think, one of the most interesting of Mr, Wood's works. It is,
to use his own words, "in no sense a treatise on Technology, but a brief
sketch of human handiwork. It deals with man, to whom was given the
Divine command to subdue the earth, and shows some of the means by which
he is steadily carrying out his high mission."
In a most pleasing way the author begins by comparing the hands and feet
of man to those of the gorilla and other animals. The primitive pick-axe is
then described, followed by some of the earlier homes of man. Then his war-
implements and instruments used and methods resorted to in procuring food,
and finally some of the luxuries of savage life, musical instruments, the pipe,
etc., are described. The illustrations are good and very numerous.
The New Agriculture, or, The Waters Led Captive. By
A. N. Cole. 8vo, pp. 223. (New York : The Angler's Publishing Company.
1885.) Price $2.
Mr. Cole describes here a process of sub-surface drainage and irrigation,
from which he has obtained most wonderful results, cereal crops being increased
fourfold. The size, flavour, and production of fruit increased fivefold. Vege-
tation is said to be rendered absolutely free from disease, and drought effectually
prevented. The book is nicely illustrated.
The Naturalist's Diary : a Day-Bo ok of Meteorology,
Phenology, and Rural Biology. Arranged and edited by Charles Roberts,
F.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., etc. With a Chart showing the Blossoming of Spring
Flowers in Europe, and an Introduction on Natural Periodic Phenomena, etc.
8vo, pp. xlvi., 365. (London : Swan Sonnenschein and Co. 1886.) Price 2s. 6d,
192 REVIEWS.
Every practical naturalist will find this a most useful book in which to
make daily observations. There is a page for every day of the year. Each
page is divided into two columns, one being printed and the other left blank
for new entries, and the blank spaces between the different sections or headings
are for entries of new observations. At the date of the earliest appearance of
flowers, insects, etc., the naturalist is told to LOOK FOR such. Naturalists will
be glad to avail themselves of so complete a diary.
Evolution versus Involution : A Popular Exposition of
the Doctrine of True Evolution, a Refutation of the Theories of Herbert
Spencer, and a Vindication of Theism. By Arze F. Reed. 8vo, pp. xii. — 275.
(New York : Jas. Pott and Co. 1885.) Price $2-50.
The chief object of the author of this work is to stem the torrent of
sceptical or Agnostic belief which is sweeping away old land-marks and essay-
ing to undermine the very foundations upon which religion and morality are
based. The first chapter is devoted to a brief historical sketch of the subject,
the second defines what is to be understood by Evolution, and in succeeding
chapters the subject of Cosmogenesis, or the Evolution of the Universe, is
ably discussed under various heads, e.g.^ Astrogenesis, Biogenesis, etc. etc.
Where are We and Whither Tending ? Three Lectures
on the Reality and Worth of Human Progress. By the Rev. M. Harvey.
8vo, pp. 134. (Boston, U.S.A. : Doyle and Whittle. 1886.) Price 75c.
The question of human progress is unquestionably one of very considerable
importance. In the pages before us the whole subject is carefully reviewed,
and whilst the difficulties and objections suggested by Pessimists are freely
stated and carefully considered, the author builds his strong arguments in the
reality of progress on the slow and gradual accretions of good which the past
has witnessed, and the steady diminution of evil which is clearly discernible.
The book will repay a careful perusal.
Evolution and Religion. Part II. Eighteen Sermons
discussing the Application of the Evolutionary Principles and Theories to the
Practical Aspects of Religious Life. By Henry Ward Beecher. Pp. 440.
(London : Janes, Clarke, and Co. 1885,) Price 5s.
On a former occasion it was our pleasure to notice the first part of this
series of sermons. They are all written with Mr. Ward Beecher's usual
eloquence, and deal more especially with the application of evolutionary
principles and theories to the practical aspects of religious life, and their effect
upon its duties, hopes, fears, and tendencies at the present time.
Gardens of Light and Shade. By G. S. C. Crown 4to,
pp. 70. (London : Elliot Stock. 1886.) Price los.
A handsome volume ; well printed, and illustrated with a number of fine
photos. The writer endeavours to show how insignificant plots of ground
may be made to yield something in perennial beauty ; and with the information
he has here given, supplemented perhaps in regard to details of planting and
treatment by some good work on gardening, it is possible that many suburban
plots, now given over to nine months' barrenness, may be made pleasing all the
year round at small cost.
Euclid Revised. Part I. Containing the Essentials of the
Elements of Plane Geometry as given by Euclid in his First P'our Books.
With additional Propositions and Exercises. Edited by R. C. J. Nixon, M.A.
CrownSvo, pp. viii.— 222. (Oxford: The Clarendon Press. 1886.) Price 3s. 6d,
REVIEWS. 193
This is not merely a new edition of Euclid, but one which shows consider-
able originality in the demonstration of the propositions. Unlike most works
on the subject, the definitions, axioms, etc., are introduced as required, and
copious notes are included wherever necessary. The type and drawings are
clear and accurate, and there is a freshness about the whole work, which,
together with the numerous deductions, recommend the book as one that,
in the hands of an able teacher, should make the learning of Euclid not so
mechanical an art as it often is.
The Unrivalled Cook-Book and Housekeeper's Guide.
By Mrs. Washington. 8vo, pp. viii. — 640. (New York : Harper Bros. 1886.)
An unlimited amount of excellent receipts, some 200 of which are from
Creole sources, whilst others are North and South American, English, Scotch,
French, German, Italian, and Russian. We scarcely expected to find receipts
for Devonshire Clotted Cream, or for Oatmeal and white Scones, in a book
published on the other side of the Atlantic. We find the various receipts
arranged together under their various heads, thus saving the reference to a
large index. At the end of the book are blank pages for additional receipts.
The Creole Cookery Book. Edited by the Christian
Woman's Exchange of New Orleans, La. Crown 8vo, pp. xxvi. — 216.
New Orleans : T. H. Thomason. 1885.)
We have here some 900 recipes for the preparation of every conceivable
kind of Soup, Fish, Meat, Bread, Pastry, etc., from that part of the United
States where Thackeray says "you can eat the most and suffer the least."
Many of the dishes are doubtless good, although some we think contain too
much of a mixture to please us. There are a number of blank leaves for
extra receipts at the end of the book. The Creole cook, whose portrait forms
a frontispiece to the volume, is not a beauty in our estimation.
An Aid to the Study of Moral Philosophy. Specially
designed for Students Preparing for Examination. By Auxilium. First,
Second, and Third Series. Crown 8vo, pp. 280. (Glasgow : W. S. Sime ;
London : Houlston and Sons. 18S6.) Price 6s.
The subject of Moral Philosophy is so extensive, that few students, if left
to themselves, can undertake it successfully with their other studies. The
object of the work before us is to give an outline, in a condensed form, of the
subjects treated, in their order ; so that anyone who wishes to devote himself
to the study of Moral Philosophy, may become comparatively familiar with
the subject before entering the class. We believe the work may also be had
in three parts separately, which will perhaps be found more convenient.
Army and Civil Service Examination Papers in Arithmetic,
including Mensuration and Logarithms, with Arithmetical Rules, Tables,
Formulae, and Answers. With an Appendix containing Supplementary
Papers to date. By the Rev. A. Dawson Clarke, M.A. Pp. 294. (London:
Rivingtons. 1866.)
The Arithmetical Rules, Definitions, etc., which occupy the first 50 pages,
are concise, clear, and good, and will prove of great practical value. The
rest of the book consists of copies of Examination Papers for admission to
the Army, Civil Service, etc. etc. ; the carefully working out of them will, in
our opinion, well repay the student.
HoBBES. By George Croom Robertson, Grote Professor of
194 REVIEWS.
Philosophy, of Mind, and Logic in University College, London. Pp. vii. —
240. (Edinburgh and London : W. Blackwood and Sons. 1886.) Price 3/6.
In the work before us the author has endeavoured to bring together all the
previously known, or now discoverable facts of Hobbes' life, and to give some
kind of fairly balanced representation of the whole range of his thought,
instead of dwelHng only on those humanistic portions of it by which he has
commonly been judged. It forms one of the volumes of Blackwood's
Philosophical Classics.
The Philosophy of Art. An Introduction to the Scien-
tific Study of Esthetics. By Hegel and C. L. Michelet. Translated from
the German by W. Hastie, B.D. Crown 8vo, pp. xvi. — 118. (Edinburgh:
Oliver and Boyd. 1886.) Price 2s. 6d.
This little book consists of two parts. I. — Hegel's Introduction to the
Philosophy of Art as the Science of ^Esthetics, and II.— Michelet's Philosophy
of Art, which is further subdivided into Formative Art (Architecture, Sculp-
ture, Painting), Musical Art, and Poetical Art (Epic, Lyrical, and Dramatic
Poetry).
The Life and Genius of Goethe. Lectures at the Con-
cord School of Philosophy. Edited by T. B. Samborn. Crown 8vo, pp.
XXV. — 454. (Boston : Ticknor and Co. 1886.)
A series of thirteen lectures which were delivered by various professors and
others at the Concord School of Philosophy in July, 1885. They treat of
Goethe's Youth ; Goethe's Self-Culture ; Goethe's Titanism ; Goethe^ as a
Playwright, etc. etc. Two portraits are given, one representing him in his
youth, before publishing any except his earliest works ; the other is engraved
from Rauch's bust, which was made in August, 1820, when Goethe was
seventy-one years of age. A Bibliography of Goethe's works, and of works
relating to him, is also added.
The Glasse of Time in the First and Second Age. Divinely
handled. By Thomas- Peyton, of Lincolne's Inne, Gent. Scene and
allowed. London : " Printed by Bernard Alsop for Lawrence Chapman, and
are to be sold at his shop over against Staple Inne. 1620." Pp. 177. (New
York : John B. Alden. 1886.)
An extremely rare poem, written some years before Milton's great works,
and is supposed to have been the source of his conception of Paradise Lost.
In the introduction to this book several parallel passages are given. It is an
accurate transcript of the valuable copy in the British Musem, the quaint
spelling, punctuation, and use of capital letters of the original being maintained.
Glimpses of Maori Land. By Annie R. Butler. Post
Svo, pp. X — 260. (London : The Religious Tract Society. 1886.)
We would recommend those of our readers who are interested in mission
work to read this book. It gives a graphic description of the country, and a
most interesting account of character and customs of the Maori, and the
progress these people are making under Christian and civilising influence. The
illustrations add much to the interest of the book.
Through Tumult and Pestilence. By Emily M. Lawson.
Crown 8vo, pp. 159. (London : The Society for Promoting Christian Know-
ledge. 1886.) Price IS. 6d.
A particularly interesting tale of the Bristol Riots, which occurred in 1831,
and of the Cholera lime. It is illustrated by J. Nash.
REVIEWS. 195
A Working Man's Philosophy. By One of the Crowd.
Crown 8vo, pp. Ii6. (London : Chapman and Hall. 1886.) Price 3s.
We fear this book is not of much practical value. It speaks of the vast
changes in many religious beliefs which have been brought about by more
careful study and accurate investigation. But the writer forgets that this more
accurate investigation applies no less to the Bible than to Nature around
us, and while in one direction some old beliefs have been unseated, in
another the value of the historic truths of the Bible has been made more certain.
Authorised New Testament and Revised Contrasted.
By B. Wadsworth. With the Translator's Preface to the Reader. Crown
Svo, pp. xxxvi — 171. (Manchester : Brooke & Chrystal ; London : Simpkin,
Marshall, and Co. 1886.)
This is a severe attack upon the revised version, made by one who is no
doubt sincerely attached to the old version as we have been accustomed to
read it. We fear that his defence of the old and attack on the revised versions
have been made without a thorough knowledge of the history of the original
texts and the various MSS. That the revised version is faulty no one has
shown more clearly than Dean Bergon, but the author does not appear to
know where the real faults lie.
Theism : The Baird Lecture for 1876. By Rev. R. Flint,
D.D,, F.R.S.E. Fifth Edition. Crown Svo, pp. ix — 447. (Edinburgh and
London: William Blackwood and Sons. 1886.) Price 7s. 6d.
For those who have a taste for metaphysical subjects this book will be
welcomed ; indeed, we may add that the quiet perusal of it will do good to
any one who can give real thought to its matter, though we must confess that
its style is a trifle dry and unattractive. We would particularly commend the
last chapter upon the insufficiency of mere Theism. It is a disadvantage —
perhaps unavoidable in this case — that the Appendix is so lengthened out
as to form one-fourth of the book itself. But these are all minor faults in the
presence of the importance of the subject treated of.
Popular Songs of Scotland, with their appropriate Melo-
dies arranged by A. C. Mackenzie, J. T. Surene, T. M. Mudie, Finlay Dun,
H. E. Dih)din, and Sir George A. Macfarren. Illustrated by critical and
other notices. By George Farquhar Graham, author of the article Music in
the seventh edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. New edition, revised,
with additions and notes. Royal 8vo, pp. x. — 401. (Edinburgh : J. Muir
Wood and Co. London : Cramer, Chappell, Novello and Co. 1884.)
Price los. 6d.
A splendid edition of Scottish Songs, which we can scarcely praise too
highly. Many of the songs included in this work, although not often heard at
the present date, are selected from the earlier collection known as " Wood's
Songs of Scotland," and are considered worthy of a place here on account of
their wit, quaintness, or the beauty of their melody. The historical notes
accompanying each song add much to the value and interest of the work.
The volume contains about 400 Songs and Melodies.
The Medical Annual : A Record and Review of the
year's progress in Medicine, Surgery, and General Science ; and the Prac-
titioner's Index : a Work of Reference for Medical Practitioners. (London :
Henry Kimpton. 1886.)
In this year's Annual, which we notice is again considerably enlarged,
attention has been given to a summary of recent advances made in Medicine
196 CURRENT NOTES AND MEMORANDA.
and Surgery, in which the editor had the co-operation of a number of medical
men. The Review of Popular and General Science is by Dr. Taylor, the
well known editor of Science Gossip. This is followed by Reviews of Thera-
peutics, the new Materia Medica, Phychological Medicine, etc. etc. The
Practitioner's Index is edited by Dr. Percy Wilde. The whole work forms
a most valuable year book.
Current IRotee anb fll^emoran^a♦
In addition to the Special Monthly Circular which we have
regularly received from Mr. W. P. Collins, of 157, Great Portland Street, he
has sent us his new Catalogue of Microscopical Literature, comprising almost
every known work in Microscopy, and a large selection of books relating to
Micro Natural History, more particularly Invertebrata and Cryptogamia.
Educators will be interested in the announcement that D. C.
Heath and Co., of Boston, U.S.A., have in preparation a series of Mono-
graphs on Education. Number one of this series will be a Bibliography of
Pedagogical Liter attu-e^ carefully selected and annotated by Dr. G. Stanley
Hall, Professor of Psychology and Pedagogics, John Hopkins's University.
The Biological Student will find the Syllabus of Instruction in
BiOLOGV, by Delos Fall, of Albion College, U.S.A., a great help to them in a
course of Biological studies. It gives instructions for the study of 16 type
forms of animals, and a less number of plants, ranging in each case from the
lowest to the highest forms. A large amount of instruction is compressed
into 24 pages.
We learn from a newspaper just received from New Zealand,
that the First Annual Meeting of the Auckland Microscopical Society was held
April 1st. The Society appears to combine the double advantage of being a
Postal and a Local Society. Boxes of Slides, after the manner of the P.M.S.,
are sent to members, and local meetings held during the winter. The Society
was originated by Mr. Thos. Steel, late of Greenock, whose name is still on
our books as a member of the P.M.S. We wish the Auckland Society every
success.
John Weldon's Catalogue of Books, just received, contains a
very large assortment of Zoological Works, comprising — Ornithology, Mam-
malia, Anthropology, etc.
The Annual Report of the Belfast Naturalists' Field
Club contains Reports of Excursions, Presidential Address, and several papers
of much interest, among which is one by Dr. Malcolmson, on the Ostracoda
of Belfast Lough, and another by the Rev. H. W. Lett, on the Fungi of the
North of Ireland. Dr. Malcolmson's paper and several others are illustrated.
Messrs. Hammond and Co. inform us that they hope to
publish the first part of STUDIES IN MICROSCOPICAL Science, "Vol. IV., on
the loth July (instant).
1
^
^^B
1
^^^
^^^^^S
^
^^
SSSa
S-iitfiCTiwSS
SSSSEd
WKSiMHi^g
SSfeS?
THE JOURNAL OF MICROSCOPY
AND
NATURAL SCIENCE:
the journal of
The Postal Microscopical Society.
OCTOBER, 1886.
Ibow plants Climb.
By H. W. S. Worsley-Benison, F.L.S.,
Lecturer on Botany at Westminster Hospital ; Late President of
the Highbury Microscopical and Scientific Society.
^y^X^
f
gJV^'
O WARDS the close of a paper on The Power of
Movement in Plants^ I briefly referred to this power
as exhibited by many climbing plants. I then said
that such movements came under the third or last
class of the three which we then discussed — viz.,
motion occurring in living parts of plants diwing
active growth.
I promised at some future time to say some-
thing more in detail concerning the various
methods by which this climbing process is accomplished ; this
paper is an attempt, in some small degree, to redeem my promise.
That plants do cHmb, no one who takes an ordinary country
walk, or sees the row of scarlet runners in his garden, or looks at
a Virginia creeper, with its exquisite October hues, can for one
moment question. How and why they do so, very few stay to
enquire.
VOL. V. p
198 HOW PLANTS CLIMB.
The student who is ignorant of the researches on this subject
and of their results, leaves unread one of the most fascinating
chapters in botanical romance. Prominent among such researches
are those of Ludwig Palm and Hugo von Mohl in 1827, of
Dutrochet in 1843, of Asa Gray in 1858, of Darwin in 1865, of
Fritz Miiller in the following year, and lastly of Hugo de Vries in
1873.
Although gathering information from each of these in part, I
take as the chief groundwork of my paper Darwin's book entitled
The Movements and Habits of Clhnhing Plants^ which is now, with
us, the acknowledged text-book on the subject. It is a small
volume compared with most of his works, but none the less does
it show the grasp and force of his mighty intellect. I can only
give you a very few of the facts from which Darwin deduces the
laws which govern the movements of the various classes of
climbers— only attempt to lead you across the threshold of the
' Fairy Land of Science ' — only go with you just through the gate
which opens at our touch. You must for yourselves explore the
field and search for treasure. The treasure is there, and much of
it has been spread out to view, by the untiring, unceasing work of
Charles Darwin, for those who have eyes, and use them for their
right and reasonable purpose.
Darwin divides climbing plants into four Classes, as follows : —
I. — Twiners. — Those which tiuijie spirally round some sup-
port, unaided by any other movement. ■
n. — Climbers. — Those ascending by the aid of sensitive or "
irritable organs, which, touching an object, clasp it. This Class is
further separated into two Divisions, graduating to some extent
into each other :
A. — Leaf-Climbers. — Those retaining their leaves in a func-
tional condition, and climbing by either \h.Q\x petioles, or
their produced mid-ribs, or tips ;
B. — Tendril-Bearers. — Those having true tendrils, these
being filamentary sensitive organs, consisting of modified
petioles, leaves, fioiuer-stalks, or stipules.
in, — Hook-Climbers, or Scramblers. — Those climbing
simply by the aid of hooks.
HOW PLANTS CLIMB. 199
IV. — Root-Climbers. — Those ascending by means of rootlets
attached to their supports.
Let us take the classes in the above order, and ascertain the
manner in which each set of cHmbers pursues its way by studying
a few examples.
I. — Twiners. This is the largest class, and for several
reasons appears to be the oldest and simplest type.
Darwin takes Hiunuhis h/piiltts, the common Hop, as a fair
example. Its first two or three internodes are straight and quite
stationary. Then comes one that, while young, bends over to one
side, and travels slowly round its support in the direction of the
hands of a watch ; as the next internode is developed, the two
rotate, and usually a third. The ordinary velocity is soon attained,
and this was found to be about 2 h. 8 m. for each revolution. As
the lowest internode grows old, it gradually ceases to rotate,
although the revolutions continue in the terminal two or three of
the shoot, so long as the plant continues to grow. Thus, inter-
node by internode, the shoot twines itself round its support, each
'joint' of the stem gradually becoming stationary, while the last
two or three keep up the revolving motion, until the final inter-
node, or tip, ceases to move. In most plants, Darwin found that
three internodes were revolving at the same time, but in every
case at least two were at work, " so that by the time the lower one
ceased to revolve, the one above was in full action, with a termi-
nal internode just commencing to move." A Hop-shoot with
three internodes revolving was carefully watched. It was 14
inches long, and at such an angle to its support that its tip swept
a circle of 4 ft. 9 in. This it did in 2|- hours, giving an average
movement of 23 inches an hour. With another plant, one of the
AsdepiadacecE^ a shoot consisting of five internodes, measuring
altogether 31 inches, described a circle of 16 ft. 6 in. in 6 hours,
giving an average speed of 33 inches an hour.
The rate of revolution varies widely in different plants. The
shortest periods for one revolution ranged from i h. 40 m. in the
white Convolvulus to 18 J hrs. in an exotic plant i^SpJicej'osteind).
The rate by night or by day differs but little. Vigorous health
and moderate warmth favour the movement. The twining Poly-
200 HOW PLANTS CLIMB.
gonnm does its work only during the middle of summer ; it grows
vigorously in autumn, but with no tendency to climb.
With regard to the direction which the revolving movement
takes, there are very many interesting facts. We can only notice
at present that some twine from left to right, or against the hands
of a watch, while others take the opposite direction. These terms
are used in different senses by different writers. The simplest and
best method to clearly apprehend the terms is to imagine the pole,
or support in front of the observer, and then to note in which direc-
tion the first revolution is made. If it be from right to left — i.e.,
with the watch — it is called sifiistrorse ; if from left to right, it is
dextrorse ; the terms being used to specify the hand towards which
the shoot twines.
By far the greater number of twiners revolve from left to right,
dextrorsely ; the purple and white Convolvuluses, French bean,
and Morning Glory are examples. A few take the opposite
direction, as, for example, Hop, Honeysuckle, and Black Bryony
[Tanws). Very rarely do plants of the same order twine in
different directions. Darwin met with no two species of the same
genus that did so, but different individuals of the same species
are sometimes found to twine in two ways : the Woody Nightshade
[Solannm dulcamara) of our hedges, for example. In some cases,
as in the Chili Nettle, some individuals twine in one way, some in
the other, others in both, the petioles of its opposite leaves afford-
ing a fulcrum for the reversal of the spire. This double move-
ment in the same plant is rare. It occurs in Hibbcrtia, where the
twining is always dextrorse, while the revolving movement varies ;
thus the plant is adapted for twining in order to ascend, and at
the same time is able to wind from side to side through the thick
Australian scrub.
Our indigenous twiners can ascend a support as thin as ordi-
nary thread, some, such as Woody Nightshade, being able to climb
only round very thin and flexible stems ; they can ascend stems of
moderate thickness, but Honeysuckle is the only one that ever
twines around tree-trunks. In the tropics, on the contrary,
twiners can ascend forest-trees, and this is needful for them, or
they would be unable to reach the light and air. In England,
our annual twiners would be unable in their single season to reach
HOW PLANTS CLIMB. 201
SO high as the level of our forest tree-tops, so they select smaller
and shorter supports in other situations.
The main purpose of plants becoming climbers in any way is,
of course, to reach such a position as to enable them to expose
their leaves to the action of air and light, with as little expendi-
ture of matter as possible. In the case of twiners, their first step
is to fi7id some support on which they can rely, towards the
attainment of the end in view. It is in order to find such support
that the spontaneous revolving movement is carried on by day
and night, the shoot sweeping in wider and wider circles. This
shows us how the plant twines, for when a revolving shoot meets
with a support, this support of course arrests the movement at the
point of contact, while the free portion continues revolving.
Thus higher and higher parts are one by one arrested, and the
shoot winds round its support. Such is Darwin's own explanation.
How is the revolving movement effected ? It was formerly
supposed that it v.-as wholly due to a twisting of the shoot or
stem on its own axis. This is now conclusively disproven, for
many plants clearly revolve, especially among leaf-climbers and
tendril-bearers, and yet their internodes are in no way twisted.
We also meet with instances where different internodes are
twisted in opposite ways, and even in an opposite direction to
that of their revolutions. The axial torsion seems rather to bear
relation to ruggedness or inequalities of the support, and to the
power of revolving freely without any support.
Nevertheless, seeing that although many plants, not being
twiners, are axially twisted, and that this tendency is much
stronger and more frequent m plants that do twine, it is probable
that there is some relation between the power to twine and the
presence of their axial twisting.
The revolving movement is effected as follows : — It is a
successive bowing over of the steni^ first in one direction, then in
another, and so on, until a circle has been completed — i.e., the
stem i?, pulled over, so to speak, by some internal force, acting in
turn all round the stem in the direction in which it is sweeping, so
that the circuit is made without any real twisting. This is not
easy to explain in words, but suppose we paint a dotted line along
the upper or convex side of a shoot bent towards the South. Let
202 HOW PLANTS CLIMB.
it move round a quarter of a circle, say to the East : the dotted
Hne will be on the side of the shoot facing the North \ move the
shoot another 90 degrees, />., to the North : the dots are on the
under or concave surface ; when the shoot points West, the dots
again appear on the side ; bring it round South again, and the
dots appear once more on the u}jper or convex surface. No
twisting has taken place, but the shoot has completed its circle of
sweeping, and this by successive bowings over of itself in the
direction of its revolving movement.
Now, let us substitute for the dotted line on the convex
surface, a very much more rapid growth of the cells on this
siu'face than on the other three, preceded by turgescence of the
cells. This unequal increase of growth would cause the shoot to
bend down in the opposite direction, making the Southern side
concave- — in other words, it effects the bending of the shoot to
the South. Now, let this turgescence and unequal increase of
growth creep round the shoot (just as we made the dotted line to
twist round it) in successive stages, until it lias gone the entire
round of the shoot. As it travels, it causes each part of the
circumference to bend or bow to the opposite side, the result
being that the shoot gradually sweeps in an entire circle round the
support, the circumference of the circle being dependent on the
length of the shoot and its inclination to the support.
In this, we have the true explanation of the revolving move-
ment, or, as it is now termed, circuvijuttation. I referred to this
same process of turgescence, succeeded by unequal growth on one
side, when describing the phenomenon of Heliotropism. A similar
process explains the folding of young leaves over the end of their
stem, and their subsequent unfolding, the under surface suffering
increase of growth in the former case, the upper surface growing
more rapidly in the latter.
The circumnutation of twining-plants is simply the ordinary
circumnutation of the stems and roots of seedlings, and of leaves
in general, modified by bei/ig increased in aiiiplitiide.
The power is innate, and is not excited by external agencies,
beyond those necessary for growth and vigour. The process itself
once clearly understood, the revolving movement of climbing-
plants is no longer the mystery it was before.
HOW PLANTS CLIMB. 203
We pass now to our second Class. This consists of plants
climbing by means of sensitive or irritable, organs, which, touching
any object, clasp it in some way or other. These are —
II. — Climbers. We divide this class into two groups for
convenience' sake : —
A. — Leaf-Climbers.
B. — Tendril-Bearers.
In some cases these shade the one into the other.
A. — Leaf-Climbers.
These are intermediate in some respects between twiners and
tendril-bearers. They climb in two ways ; some by means of
\}ci€\x petioles^ and others by their produced mid-ribs^ or tips.
In nearly all the species examined by Darwin, the young
internodes showed a revolving power, in some cases quite as
regular as in a twining-plant ; in most cases the revolutions were
rapid.
The purpose of the revolving in these leaf-climbers is not to
climb around a support, but to enable the leaf-stalks, or the leaf-
tips, as the case may be, to get near to some object which they
can clasp. Of course this power of revolution greatly assists the
plants in making use of their sensitive organs.
As in true twiners, the first internodes do not revolve, nor
do the petioles or tips of the earliest formed leaves appear to be
sensitive.
There are some eight orders in which we find leaves with clasp-
ing petioles. Prominent among these are sundry species of
Clematis.^ Tropceolum^ Solannni, and Fwnaria. In many of these
there is a tendency to revolve in opposite directions, thus differing
from true twiners. They are, of course, inferior twiners.
The petioles are enabled to clasp any object in virtue of an
extreme sensitiveness to toitcJi. On being touched, or rubbed, they
bend towards the irritating object, or towards the point of irrita-
tion. If they find a twig or stalk of any kind, they grasp it,
sometimes taking two or three turns round it. If they find
nothing to hold by, they gradually uncoil and straighten them-
selves again ; in this position they remain permanently.
In some species, the young leaves spontaneously shift their
position — /.£?., without any external stimulus ; their petioles
204 HOW PLANTS CLIMB.
gradually bend down until at right angles to the stem ; remaining
there for a time, they arch downward until the leaf points to the
ground with its tip incurled. This is their fashion of looking out
for a support, which the revolving motion of the shoot may bring
them near to. They then act as I have just indicated, according
to whether they find the support they seek, or fail to find it.
A petiole coming into contact with a support for a short time
only, usually continues curved for some time, but can afterwards
regain its upright position, and so be ready to act once more ;
but if it clasp its support for any length of time, then it cannot
straighten again. In some species, markedly so in some of the
Clematis family, the petiole having coiled around its support, in
two or three days begins to swell, and gradually thicken, either
laterally, or through its whole diameter, until it becomes twice as
thick as an unclasped petiole. It then becomes much more
woody internally, like a stem, and instead of being easily snapped
in two, it is so tough and rigid that force is needed to break it.
This change of structure gives greater durability, firmness, and
strength ; it hinders the unwinding of the petiole, and of course
enables it to withstand the force of the wind, or of shock from
any other cause. The appearance of a cross-section of such a
petiole under the microscope, shows a complete riiig of woody
tissue, as opposed to the semi-lunar one of an ordinary leaf-stalk.
It is a fact worthy of note that this change is effected merely by
the act of clasping a support.
Petioles are usually sensitive only when young. They are
sensitive on all sides, although this differs in different species.
The rate at which they respond to a touch varies. In some
species of TropcEolum a slight rub took effect in three minutes ;
in others the response occupied six, ten, or even twenty minutes.
In other cases — for instance, in some species of Clematis — it took
several hours. In others, two or three days or more pass by
before the process is complete.
The degree of sensitiveness varies. In some, a weight of only
one-sixteenth of a grain will cause bending to ensue ; in others,
the touch of the exceedingly fine flower-stalks of the Quaking-
grass ( Briza).
This sensitiveness extends in some cases to the stems and to
HOW PLANTS CLIMB. 205
the flower-stalks. In the latter case the reason is hard to find.
since no use is made of this property for climbing purposes.
Four families exhibit the power of climbing by their produced
mid-ribs, or tips.
Two notable cases are Gloriosa, a genus of Liliacece, and
Nepe7ithes, the Pitcher-plant.
In Gloriosa, the tip of the leaf grows into a ribbon-like pro-
jection, which gradually coils down into a well-formed hook.
Only the inner or under surface in this case is sensitive to
touch. If the hook becomes coiled into a ring it loses its sensi-
tiveness entirely. When very young the plant can support itself,
and no hooks are developed ; when it has done growing the
sensitiveness vanishes. In neither case are the hooks needed ;
therefore, they are either absent or their sensitiveness departs.
In Nepenthes, the curled tip of the leaf is used both for climb-
ing by, and as a support for, the pitcher. The coiled portion in
the latter case is, nevertheless, thickened by way of providing
additional strength.
B. — Tendril-Bearers.
These are plants having true tendrils — i.e., thread-like sensitive
organs, which are used exclusively for climbing. We do not in
this definition include spines, hooks, or rootlets.
Tendrils may be modifications oi petioles, leaves (or portions of
leaves), flower- stalks, or stipules. Sometimes the branches are so
modified as to become tendrils. In some cases authorities are in
dispute over the homological nature of certain tendrils. These
we shall do wisely to let alone, confining our remarks to such
tendrils as those whose homology is pretty clearly made out.
I can only in such a paper as this give the merest outline of
the facts and functions of tendril life — a sketch of the more
prominent and interesting points, referring the reader to pages
84 — 182 in Darwin's book for fuller detail, pages well worth
diligent study and verification.
I. — Tendrils wJiich are modified Petioles.
Of these a good example is that of Lathyrus, the Yellow
Vetchling. There are no true leaves, their places being function-
ally supplied by large stipules. The petiole, or perhaps this and
the mid-rib as well, is converted into a true tendril, sensitive
206 HOW PLANTS CLIMB.
chiefly on the concave side at the end. It does not revolve, but
the young internodes do so, carrying the tendrils with them.
2. — Te7idrils which are modified leaves.
Several orders contain examples of this type of tendril. A
familiar one is Fisuin sativum, the common Garden Pea. Here
the leaf has a few pairs of leaflets, one or two pairs of tendrils, and
a terminal one, often branched— /.<?., some lateral leaflets and the
terminal ones are changed into tendrils. The young internodes
and the tendrils revolve in eflipses. The motion in this case is
independent of light, the latter neither retarding nor quickening it.
When young the tendrils are sensitive to so small an irritant as a
loop of thread one seventh of a grain in weight — i.e., on their
concave surface only.
Many other examples could be quoted. The Bignojiiacece,
or Trumpet-flower Order, furnish perhaps the best. Darwin made
extensive researches on many species of Bigiionia, which I can-
not stay to quote now. Some species have tendrils with claws
like those of a bird, highly sensitive, and capable of such firm
grasping that Darwin says these species could probably ascend a
highly polished stem, even when tossed by storms. The claws
end in hooks, which, of course, increase the power of the grip.
Bignonia Tweediana can twine, has clasping petioles as well as
hooked tendrils, and moreover presently emits aerial roots from
the bases of its leaves, which curl round the support. It thus
very curiously unites four difterent movements of climbing plants,
viz., twining, leaf-climbing, .tendril-climbing, and root-climbing.
" One species climbs by spirally twining and then by grasping
the stick with opposite tendrils alternately, like a sailor climbing a
rope, hand over hand. Another pulls itself up like a sailor
seizing with both hands together a rope above his head." Others
develop an instinct for inserting the sharp ends of their tendrils
into chinks and crevices of wood, or any other support which may
possess these, sometimes prying into one hole, and, finding it not
to its liking, seeking another ! In Bignonia cap7xolata, after the
tips had crawled into the crevices, or the hooked ends had seized
on a projecting point, the tips began to swell for two or three
days, and then to form whitish balls or discs, one twentieth of an
inch in diameter. These secreted a viscid matter, which would
HOW PLANTS CLIMB. 207
firmly glue together 50 or 60 fibres of flax or wool in a mass. This
power is used naturally by this species to fasten itself to the
forest-trees of North America, which are covered with mosses,
lichen, and other rugged and rough organisms.
3. — Tendrils luhich are modified floiver-pcdtuicles.
Excellent examples of such tendrils are seen in the Vine, the
Virginia Creeper, and the Passion-flower. The first two belong to
one order, the Vitacece. In these the action is much the same as
in the cases of tendrils which are modified leaves
In the Vine the tendril is two-branched, one branch always
having a scale at its base. Rubbing causes the branches to bend,
but they will afterwards become straight again. A tendril clasp-
ing any object contracts spirally. Of this, later on. There is
clear spontaneous movement in the tendrils. We can trace
every single stage of gradation from the state of flower-stalk to
that of a true tendril ; from one bearing 30 or 40 flower-buds
even to a full-sized perfect tendril bearing one flower-bud !
Hence we cannot question the nature of the tendril in the Vine.
Where the flower-stalk and the flower-tendril exist together, the
latter is always at such an angle with the former that it assists
later on in carrying the burden of the fruit.
In the Virginia Creeper there is no revolving of either inter-
nodes or tendrils ; only a movement away from the light to the
dark, a process seen in several tendril-bearers. The tendrils are
specially adapted for attachment to a flat wall or other surface by
bringing their hooked tips into contact with it. These then
develop the well-known discs or cushions of a bright-red tint.
These undoubtedly secrete a viscid fluid, inasmuch as they can
cling to smooth polished surfaces, such as an Ivy-leaf or painted
wood. Warm water with dilute acetic acid and alcohol will not
loosen any flinty particles that may have become attached to the
discs, but warm, essential oils will loosen them entirely, pointing
to a resinous fluid as the one secreted. Discs are not developed
except under the stimulus of contact. The attached tendrils
contract spirally ; unattached ones do not, but in time shrivel up
and drop away. The spirally-contracted tendril becomes very
elastic. At first it is brittle and weak, but soon acquires strength
and increases in thickness. It dies during the next winter, but
208 HOW PLANTS CLIMB.
adheres firmly, although dead, to the wall and to its own stem.
Such tendrils will remain like this for 5, 10, or 15 years !
Darwin found that a single disc-bearing branch would bear a
strain of two pounds ; a whole tendril, usually carrying five
branches, would therefore endure a strain of ten pounds !
Of the Passion-flower I can only say that Passiflora gracilis
was found by Darwin to exceed all other climbing plants in
rapidity of action, and all tendril-bearers in the sensitiveness of its
tendrils.
4. — Tendrils which are uiodified Stipides.
I simply name one case — Sniilax aspera — where this occurs.
Their position places the matter beyond doubt. As they grow
they diverge from each other, and are thus enabled to clasp an
object behind the stem. They avoid the light, and do not
spirally contract. Neither they nor their internodes revolve.
Sniilax is in all respects an imperfect climber. There are no
tendrils in the young state ; the stem is zigzagged and furnished
with spines, growing only to some eight feet high. The reason of
the existence of these tendrils is not easy to explain. Darwin
regards it as a kind of degraded relic of a genus formerly possess-
ing highly organised tendrils, seeing that even now some species
have much longer ones than S. aspera.
A few isolated and brief remarks on tendril-life as a whole
must close our somewhat rambling study of this class. In most
tendril-bearers the young internodes revolve in ellipses, varying in
rate from one to five hours, a smaller range than that of twiners.
Twining power is almost ;///, but the revolving motion serves to
aid the tendrils in finding support. Tendrils themselves revolve
spontaneously in most cases, sometimes with the internodes,
sometimes at slower speed ; some do not revolve — e.g.^ Lathyrns^
as we saw just now. In one case — the A^irginia Creeper— neither
internodes nor tendrils revolve.
Tendrils revolve by curving of the whole length, except the
base and tip. The movement is due to unequal growth travelling
round the tendril and bowing it, a process we saw before in the
twining stem. To this cause is due not only revolution, but
movement to and from the light, and spiral contraction.
Darwin thinks that motion following touch in tendrils is due to
HOW PLANTS CLIMB. 209
contraction of cells on the concave side ; a point on which he
differs from Sachs, who attributes this motion, as wtII as all
others, to the unequal growth spoken of.
Tendrils, when revolving, manage, in a way very wonderful
to see, to avoid clasping the stem to which they belong (Gray).
All tendrils are sensitive, the degree, of course, varying.
They curve towards the side touched. Usually they are not
sensitive to the touch of other tendrils^ or of water-drops. Has
the latter fact anything to do with their relation to showers of
rain ?
Some tendrils are retarded in their movement by light, others
quickened ; others, as those of the Pea, not influenced at all. In
some the invariable bending from light to dark is as certain as
that of a vane from the wind.
Tendrils contract spirally when their ends are caught by any
object. This shortens them, and renders them elastic. This
spiral contraction is almost without exception ; it may ensue in
the branches only, as in the Pea ; in most cases, the base does
not contract.
It is due to unequal growth. It is independent of revolving
motion, and not necessarily related to the act of clasping, since
many tendrils unattached perform this act either as a helix or as
a spire ( Passiflora). In this case there is only one spire formed,
but in attached tendrils the spire is always double and reversed,
with a straight part between the two spires. There is, of course,
a simple physical reason for this, into which I cannot now enter
more fully. (" Climbing Plants," pp. i66 — 169.)
For a summary of the use and service of contraction, I refer
the reader to Darwin's own words ("Climbing Plants," pp. 163, 164).
III. — Hook-Cliaibers.
Examples are seen in Galium aparine^ Brambles, and some
Roses. There is no revolving power, the plants climbing solely by
the hooks. Smilax and Hop, belonging to former classes, have hooks.
IV. — Root-Climbers.
Of these. Ivy is a very good type. Rhiis^ or Poison Ivy, is
another. Fiais repe?is, a species of Fig, emits drops of viscid
fluid to assist its upward progress. Cusciita (Dodder) has root-
like suckers used for a similar purpose.
Sutton^ Suri'ey ; July^ 1886.
[210]
IRotes on tbe S^entiflcation of HlF^aloi^s an^ otber
Cvystalline JSoMes I)\? tbe aiC) of tbe /Ibicroscope.*
By a. Percy Smith, F.I.C, F.C.S.
Plates 2t, 22.
THE number of cases in which a crystaUine substance can be
identified by the microscope alone is extremely limited ;
but as a test of purity, microscopical investigation has a very wide
application. When vre are dealing with a substance that, when
pure, crystallises in a definite form from any particular solvent,
it is manifest that any departure from that form would lead to the
suspicion of adulteration.
Again, if we take such a substance as bark, or opium, it is quite
possible to distinguish from each other the various alkaloids which
it contains. Besides the form assumed by the free base, it is of
importance to convert it into a salt, as there is frequently a marked
departure in the form of the crystals — ^.o-,, quinidine and quinidine
sulphate ; cinchonidine and cinchonidine sulphate. There may be
cases in which the salt and the base possess the same crystalline
form. I have recently met with one in cocaine, which, as well as the
hydrochlorate, crystallises i 
